St Trineighans School for Fillies

by SamuelK28

Day 2 part 1: Return to Sender

Apple Bloom awoke the following afternoon to find herself in total darkness, the magically infused blackout blinds preventing even a spec of light from penetrating the room. Unsure of the time, she lay on her back and looked up at the base of Screwball’s bunk above hers, letting her mind wander to the chaos of the previous night’s events. There was way too much for her mind to comprehend, from her introduction to Fluttershy to her confrontations with Miss Dust and Diamond Tiara. Then there was the obstacle course and Sweetie Belle getting covered in foam after self-combusting right in front of her eyes. That last one had left her speechless for a while despite Scootaloo having already told her it was something Sweetie could do. It was one of those things where you simply had to see it to believe it. And that had only been the first half of the night! She had tired after lunch, not used to being up so late, but after Sweetie had been carted of to have another talk with Fluttershy, the three remaining Crazy Mark Crusaders, as Scootaloo had dubbed them over lunch, had decided to conduct their own tour of the castle.

Considering how large just one floor of the castle was, it was to no great surprise it took them nearly until dinner to explore all seven floors. Okay, so the top floor was out of bounds to students being the teachers’ quarters and the fourth floor was just one humongous library and the second and third floors were the students’ dorms with the second floor also host to the infirmary. Okay, so maybe they only really had to explore three floors but still, even that took over two hours.

It was in the basement that they eventually found the Chemistry labs down a maze of corridors along with a dance studio and theatre whilst in the opposite direction they came across the school kitchens and Home Economics classroom. On the ground floor alongside the dining hall was a sports hall, swimming pool and the biology classroom that was located next to a large greenhouse, the view inside of which was obscured by an impenetrable mist. Meanwhile, on the first floor, they discovered the textiles, languages and art classrooms amongst a whole host of empty and deserted rooms. By the time dinner had come around Apple Bloom had been almost too tired to eat, emphasis on the almost, and had unsurprisingly crashed on her bunk as soon as they had returned to their dorm after dinner.

“Hey,” Scootaloo’s voice pierced though the darkness. “Anyone else… Screwball you’ve snuck in behind me again, haven’t you?”

“Nope,” Screwball replied.

Scootaloo looked up and was immediately buried by Screwball and a horde of plushies.

“Surprise!” the mare giggled as suddenly the room was enveloped in a dim orange glow.

Apple Bloom stifled a giggle at the pile of plushies Screwball now sat atop, a lone orange leg sticking out from them as muffled curses emanated from the pile.

“Huh, morning girls or should that be afternoon? Who knows? Anyhow, anyone seen Scootaloo? I swore I heard her just now,” Apple Bloom enquired deciding to get in on the act as she rolled out of her bed and onto all four of her hooves.

The orange leg started waving frantically.

“No idea,” Screwball replied looking anything but innocent.

“Damn, rude of her to go to breakfast without us. Mind if I sit with you? Those plushies look mighty comfy.”

The leg started waving even more frantically.

“Sure! Would you like one to gnaw on?” Screwball replied.

“That sounds delightful,” Apple Bloom replied jumping into the pile. “That orange bone looking one looks particularly tasty.”

“Don’t you dare,” Scootaloo said firmly, her head finally breaking free of its unusual prison.

“Oh, there you are Scootaloo. We were wondering where you had got to. Dare to do what?” Apple Bloom said with mock sincerity before opening her mouth wide and looking like she was about to take a bite out of Scootaloo’s leg.

And then she suddenly stopped as her pinprick hearing picked up the most delightful of noises.

“Oh, you like that do you?” Scootaloo chuckled as another hoof forced its way out of the pile holding a peculiar looking creature that squeaked ever so delightfully to Apple Bloom’s ears.

“SQUEAKY!!!” Apple Bloom cooed, totally transfixed by the plush toy.

“Ooh, someone found the squeaky Discord!” Screwball giggled only to suddenly find the aforementioned toy in her hooves. “Uh-Oh.”

“FETCH!” Scootaloo commanded.

*

“Mind if I sit with you? Moon is still in the infirmary and those two are insufferable,” a voice said behind Scootaloo as she tucked into a pancake. “I’ve already gone through a bottle of vodka this morning alone.”

Scootaloo chuckled. “Oh, hey Ruby,” she replied through a mouthful of pancake. “Sure thing. Just don’t take Apple Bloom’s squeaky toy. The last thing I need is two werewolves wrestling on the table sending breakfast items flying everywhere.”

Ruby, a pink unicorn filly with a two-tone pink mane, chuckled as she pulled up a chair and squeezed in between Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, the latter giving her a good sniff as she did so and letting out a low growl.

Ruby raised her forehooves into the air. “Easy girl. Friend not foe.”

Apple Bloom continued looking at the other filly questioningly.

Ruby sighed and reached into her mane. “Biscuit?”

Apple Bloom’s tongue lolled out of her mouth as she opened wide to reveal an extensive range of sharp pointed teeth.

Ruby chuckled once more and threw the biscuit into the gaping maw. “I remember those times. Don’t worry; you’ll gain more control over time.”

“I really hope so. She jumped out the window yesterday chasing a bone. Thankfully, Starlight was outside to return to sender,” Scootaloo admitted with a sigh.

“Hey, it was a really good bone,” Apple Bloom replied indignantly as she started pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

“I bet if it was one of Fluttershy’s. She only ever gives the best,” Ruby responded, a glob of drool dripping from her mouth as she did so.

“Eww, Ruby, you’re drooling on the toast,” Scootaloo grumbled.

“Scratches, too,” Apple Bloom confessed, her cheeks going a rosy red at the memory as she ignored the interruption from Scootaloo.

“Damn straight. Can tell by your face she’s already made you howl with delight. It’s been two years since I was bitten and I still can’t stop myself when she hits that sweet spot behind my ear,” Ruby admitted herself. “But damn, is the embarrassment worth it.”

“Agreed,” Apple Bloom replied, innocently pressing down on the squeaky toy that sat by her bowl of cereal.

Ruby’s ears immediately perked up and her eyes went wide. “Squeaky?”

“Don’t you two even think about it or I’ll turn you both to stone until… OH LUNA DAMMIT!” Scootaloo swore as Ruby gave her cheek a slow, slobbery lick.

“Still got it,” Ruby giggled as Apple Bloom sniggered next to her.

“What is it with canines and wet slobbery licks?” Scootaloo grumbled wiping her cheek with a hoof.

“It’s our way of showing affection, that’s what,” Ruby giggled some more as she turned her attention to Apple Bloom. “Nice squeaky toy by the way, who gave you that?”

“Catch! I have plenty stashed in my mane for my mum,” Screwball interjected across the table, throwing a squeaky Celestia this time to Ruby who caught it in her mouth as her tail beginning to wag uncontrollably with happiness.

“More control over time, huh?” Apple Bloom queried with a telling look.

This time it was Ruby’s cheeks that took on a rosy glow as she dropped her gift onto the table. “To a degree but remember we are part canine and no matter how hard we try, those basic urges and needs will always still be there.”

“Huh, okay, so how would you react if I told you your dormmate called me a mutt yesterday?” Apple Bloom enquired.

“Oh, that stuck up bitch called you that to? She treats me like a damn slave and refuses to call me anything but Mutt,” Ruby growled in reply. “Drinking is about the only thing that keeps me sane and from outright attacking her. Us werewolves have a ridiculously high tolerance to alcohol in case you’ve yet to be told.”

“Alcohol, what’s that?” Apple Bloom queried.

“Something I’m going to need a lot of soon,” Scootaloo groaned, head hitting the table.

“A drink that usually only grown-ups are allowed to consume. A little can help them relax, a bit more and they forget their day even happened and to much and they pass out and feel like crap when they wake up. But as werewolves we seem to burn it off at an alarmingly quick rate, so unless we drink copious amounts in an extremely short space of time we avoid most of the negative effects. I think the only time I managed to even get somewhat drunk was after five bottles of vodka, six bottles of wine and then a bottle of my ma’s special brew on top of that. My word was Luna pissed at me and my mum after that. Went full on Nightmare Moon at both of us,” Ruby explained as a shiver ran down her back.

“Why’s that?” Apple Bloom enquired.

“Simple, I was literally running around with no idea what I was doing and could have bitten and infected any pony without knowing it.”

“Ah, I see,” Apple Bloom replied.

“Please don’t remind me. Who do you think had to catch her and then keep her on a leash during that time? As in literally,” Scootaloo’s muffled voice interrupted. “She was so out of it I couldn’t even get her to focus long enough on me to turn her to stone.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Ruby sniggered. “I woke up next to one irate chicken the next day.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes as she lifted her head up of the table. “She was more out of it than when she sees a full moon and even then, all she wants to do is howl not bite or maim anyone.” Her face suddenly dropped as realisation dawned on her. “Oh no, I need to invest in better ear muffs.”

“Yep, now I have a howling buddy!” Ruby chuckled grasping Apple Bloom with one foreleg. “It’s going to be great. Six to eight hours of nothing but howling to the moon goddess, snacks and booze, lots of booze.”

“Kill me now, please,” Scootaloo groaned, her ear drums already fearing the worst.

As if on cue, a fireball came hurtling towards her head and she was forced to take evasive action.

“Sweetie, I didn’t mean literally!” Scootaloo exclaimed, turning to see a pair of curtains on fire behind her. “Sigh, I’m going to go put that out. You,” she pointed a hoof at Ruby, “don’t give her,” she pointed at Apple Bloom, “or any of them for that matter, bad ideas.”

“Me,” Ruby said incredulously. “Would I really do…” she paused seeing the look on Scootaloo’s face. “Okay fine, we’ll just talk about how we can get back at little Miss Princess over there for all the years she’s been abusing my new pack mate. I could barely get to sleep this morning with that bitch whining on to her stooge about how they could allow such trash into the school, me included in that conversation.”

“You know what, I’m just going to pretend I didn’t hear that but if you start a prank war, I’ll turn every pony involved to stone and cart them to Glimmer’s office for punishment,” Scootaloo warned before heading over to deal with the fire.

“I think she meant it and trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to mess with Diamond. Also, did you mean that about being my friend?” Apple Bloom finished, hopeful at the prospect of a fourth new friend in two days.

“Of course, pack mate. As long as you want to be?” Ruby said with a smirk. “It would be really nice to have someone to howl at the moon with.”

“Yeah, I’d love to,” Apple Bloom immediately replied, her tail, having fully grown back whilst she slept, wagging with joy.

“Excellent. As for Miss Prim and Proper, you let me and Screwball handle that. Remember, she can only retaliate if she knows it wasn’t an accident and who did it,” Ruby stated.

*

There first lesson of the day was supposed to be an hour of physical education with Miss Dust and the second-years. Five minutes in though and the teacher was still rolling on the floor laughing her head off.

“I can’t believe you two fell for the oldest trick in the book, the old glue and feathers in a bucket on a door trick,” Lightning eventually wheezed, forcing herself to her hooves. “Alright, we were going to play baseball but I’ve a better idea. Let’s have ourselves a chicken hunt. You two have a two-minute head start and then I send every pony else after you. If they catch you, they pluck you and considering that looks like industrial strength glue, that’ll hurt, a lot. If you can avoid capture for half an hour, I’ll let you take the rest of the lesson of to go see Madam Zecora who’ll douse you with one of her potions. It’ll stink, but it’ll also be a lot less painful.”

“What!” Diamond cried indignantly. “You can’t do that.”

“Buck it. Who wants to just pluck the annoying brats now and then play baseball?”

“AYE!” everypony except Diamond, Silver, Sweetie and Scootaloo roared.

Diamond learned a valuable lesson that day. At St Trineighans, no pony cares when you scream.

*

After Diamond and Silver had finally got free and raced of crying back to their dorm, Lightning let all the remaining students go early rather than have them play baseball, especially seeing as one of the storms the Everfree was famous for was rolling in. As they headed off to the Chemistry lab Scootaloo rounded on Apple Bloom and Ruby who, alongside Screwball, were holding each other up they were laughing that hard.

“You know you’ve almost certainly started a prank war, don’t you?” Scootaloo sighed.

“Hey,” Apple Bloom interjected, “Don’t look at me. I played no part in this. I even told them it would almost certainly only end very badly.”

“Pfft, what’s the worst they going to do?” Ruby replied, not at all fussed. “Tell daddy about us? And they can’t prove anything, anyway.”

“Still doesn’t mean they won’t retaliate at the most likely suspects. And you forget, they have money. Money equals power. You’ve put a target on all of our backs,” Scootaloo countered, continuing to argue her point.

“Hah, I’d like to see them try,” Ruby interjected before attempting to change the subject. “Now, shall we see what my mum’s got planned for us today?”

“Five bits says she’s already passed out on her desk,” Scootaloo retorted in reply.

“Your loss. Even she won’t have drunk that much by first period,” Ruby replied with a shrug of her shoulders as she took Scootaloo’s outstretched hoof and shook it to confirm the bet.

“With your mum Ruby, nothing would surprise me. Hey Bloom, you know Ruby’s mum was so desperate to finally drink after nearly a year sober when her daughter was born, she misspelt the surname on Ruby’s birth certificate because she was so out of it at the time. That’s why she’s called Ruby Pinch instead of Ruby Punch,” Scootaloo informed Apple Bloom as Ruby gave her a glower. “Hey, don’t look at me like that, you were the one who wanted to change the subject.”

“Are you being serious? Our Chemistry teacher is an alcoholic?” Apple Bloom questioned, unwilling to believe what she’d just heard.

Ruby’s glower turned to a look of confusion. “Have you not told her?”

“Told me what?” Apple Bloom cut in.

Scootaloo sighed, “I was trying to break her in gently. Okay, remember when I told you the school’s a front for the biggest crime organisation in Equestria?”

“Eeyup,” Apple Bloom replied with a nod of her head.

“Well, let me put it this way. Rather than a school, imagine this place as a factory and we’re the workers. The school’s motto is if it doesn't make you a profit it isn't worth doing it. Chemistry is just a front for brewing bootleg liqueur. Ruby’s mum, despite her love of the bottle, is the best in the business at that. Biology, a front for growing all kinds of narcotics that if not used by Madam Zecora are shipped all across Equestria for exorbitant amounts of bits. Textiles and design, in just six years since graduating Sweetie’s sister has cornered the Equestrian fashion market and put every other designer not under Luna’s pay out of business. How has she done that? Using us students to pump out large quantities of her latest designs in record time. No other maker could keep up. There may have also been some espionage involved which is where art class comes in. As far as I’m aware it is actually art of espionage. The kind of markets the school is working in there are always some upstart competitors or clients who need to be shown their place. Understood?”

Apple Bloom stared at her friend for a moment before slowly nodding her head, still trying to comprehend just what her friend was telling her.

“Scoots, you forgot the best part,” Ruby interjected. “Unlike regular school, we get a share of the profits. The more we help, the more bits we make and by the end of our schooling we’re pretty much guaranteed a job at one of Luna’s subsidiaries across Equestria and beyond. She’s recently been branching south to the Buffalo lands, north to Yakyakistan, east into dragon and griffon territory and even been sending expeditions into the unknown west. Celestia might be Equestria’s figurehead but Luna is Equestria’s heart and brain.”

Apple Bloom took a deep breath and then replied, “So, what yah telling me is that Luna is basically breaking every foal labour law in the book, not to mention making us all criminals in the process.”

“In a sense, yeah but she’s also providing us with vital skills, lifetime work and, unlike school, we’re paid for our work and it’s not even mandatory. If we don’t like a subject, no teacher is going to come barging down our dormitory door questioning where we were. We just don’t get paid is all. Rather than a negative penal system, forcing us to take subjects we have no interest in, Luna rewards us for doing work we want to do,” Scootaloo explained. “They don’t even mind if we stop going to certain classes and instead focus on a single subject and join some of the older year classes. By your final year you are pretty much free to study whatever you like.”

“Yeah, I’m going to see what the other subjects are like but I’ll likely drop a few very quickly and just focus on helping mum. Not many other students are keen on brewing alcoholic beverages,” Ruby explained and for the first time Apple Bloom noticed the other werewolf’s cutie mark, a green bottle filled with crimson liquid, the label of which sported a werewolf howling at the moon.

“Okay, not to sound rude or anything but where are you getting all of this information from? You told me the early years students are kept separate from the rest of the school and furthermore, although I understand your logic, it sounds like you’ve been brainwashed by a cult,” Apple Bloom blurted out.

“Oh, well,” Scootaloo chuckled nervously, “We had a careers day with Fluttershy towards the end of last year, a presentation followed by being escorted to the main hall where they’d set up a load of booths with the teachers to discuss certain career paths we might like to follow. Call it an early introduction to the course.”

“And?” Apple Bloom questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“What do you mean and?” Scootaloo chuckled nervously once more.

“We may have snuck out the annexe a number of times when left unsupervised despite that being a big no no and pretty much the only rule,” Ruby admitted sheepishly. “You see, until those final few lessons before graduating from the early years class, they try to keep all the shady stuff hidden and solely focus on your basic education as well as for a lot of us helping us come to terms with whatever trauma we have suffered to end up here in the first place. Luna simply doesn’t want to burden us with stuff we are unlikely to understand until we are older along with the fact we could very well get hurt if we ventured into the forest…”

“Or got drunk and went all werewolf?” Scootaloo deadpanned.

“You just had to bring that up again, didn’t you?” Ruby sighed.

“Well, you brought it up first. Aside from the absolute rollicking you got, I think they confiscated all your alcohol and confined you to your dorm for six months. Plus, didn’t they deduct your mum two months’ pay?” Scootaloo stated.

Ruby shivered. “Don’t remind me, please. I’m still paying her back now. And you forgot the worst part. The only time I was allowed out of the dorm was under Vice Principal Glimmer’s supervision and I don’t remember any of that. Hours upon hours I don’t remember.”

Scootaloo snickered. “Oh yeah, I remember. If you like, we’ve got the photos to remind you again. You made a very good maid and I’m sure Apple Bloom would like to see them as well.”

“NO,” Ruby immediately squeaked, her cheeks once more imitating her name.

“I thought not. Anyway, on a serious note, we don’t talk about our excursions as even now we fear they might lead to severe repercussions, understood?” Scootaloo explained for Apple Bloom.

“Understood, as long as you tell me why you snuck out in the first place if you knew you could get in serious trouble?” Apple Bloom queried.

“We were inquisitive, bored and it seemed exciting to defy the rules at the time. After Ruby got so severely punished though and we had a stern talking to from Luna herself, not one of us dared risk it again. And that’s all I’m going to say on the matter, so no more questions,” Scootaloo said firmly. “Especially as we’ve… ah shit.”

“That’ll be five bits please,” Ruby tittered holding out a hoof as she watched her mother stagger into the classroom.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll give it to you as soon as Luna coughs up the five bits she owes me for Sweetie not lasting twelve hours before trying to set our room on fire again last night,” Scootaloo responded.

Sweetie looked up from the ball of flame that she was passing between her hooves and smiled at Scootaloo.

“Humph, fine,” Ruby responded pulling her hoof back in, “But you better have it for me by the end of the night,” she added firmly.

“You know I will,” Scootaloo replied as they followed Mrs. Punch into the classroom.

The room contained three long tables laid out to face a chalkboard and projector at the front of the classroom. Notebooks, quills and ink pots had already been set out for sixteen students. Seeing as their classmates had already taken most of the back two rows, the Crazy Mark Crusaders decided to stay together and squeeze into the front row as Mrs. Punch started counting them. She could barely stay upright yet still managed not to spill any of the drink from the bottle she held in her right hoof. It was barely a quarter full.

“Twelve, “hic”, thirteen, “hic”, aah, close enough,” she stammered swaying from one side of the room to the other before heading to the chalkboard and writing Mrs Bunch in barely legible hand writing on the board.

“All right, first years,” she called turning to the first-years. “I’m Mrs…” she paused and turned back to the board, squinting to help her focus. “Bunch, yeah, that sounds about right.”

Ruby’s head met her forehooves. Seriously, how had her mum got this drunk since breakfast?

“And I’ll be teaching you how to brew a variety of alcoholic beverages over the next few years,” Berry went on. “To start “hic” I was going to have you working in the orchard harvesting the grapes for this year’s wine but I’m afraid due to the storm you’ll be having a theoretical lesson and discussion on how to brew the best vodka whilst I take a nap right about…”

She slumped to the ground, snoring gently as she hugged the bottle of wine in her hooves to her chest.

Ruby sighed and rose to her hooves as Scootaloo tried to hide a snigger next to her. This earnt Scootaloo a slap to the back of the head.

“Ouch, that was mean,” Scootaloo exclaimed, rubbing the back of her head.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m now in charge and that means as the teacher I can do whatever I please,” Ruby whispered into Scootaloo’s ear as she ignited her horn and locked the door. She then turned and addressed the rest of the class.

“Listen up. Due to my mum being incapacitated right now I’ll be taking the lesson. Anyone got an issue with that…” Ruby paused and opened one of the slim rectangular windows at the top of the classroom with her magic. The intense roar of the storm invaded the room for a moment until she closed it once more with a lot of effort, the storm trying its very best to force its way into the classroom. “…You can take your chances out there.”

“Yeah, you and whose army, pipsqueak,” a voice hollered from the back of the room to a few sniggers and snickers.

“Oh shit. Ruby, remain…” Scootaloo began to say but Ruby was already gone and had pinned Tempest to the back wall, her sharpened canines a hair’s breadth away from the clearly panicking filly’s neck. Her eyes had gone from their usual lime green colour to a blood red. Tempest gulped, fearing every breath would be her last.

Slowly she removed her teeth from the other filly’s neck and called to the class. “Lessons one and two for you all. Write these down!” she barked. There was hasty scrabbling behind Ruby as everypony raced to grab their quills and open the notebooks set out for them in double quick time. “Lesson one, don’t rush into battle without knowing every little detail about your enemy first. Lesson two, don’t fuck with a werewolf unless you want to be their next meal, understood?”

Rapid nodding swiftly erupted around the room.

“Excellent,” Ruby replied turning back to Tempest still pinned up against the wall with the cheekiest of grins across her face.

“You’re all right, Miss Pipsqueak.”

“As are you Miss Berrytwist,” Ruby replied to an astonished look as she lowered Tempest to the ground.

“How?”

Ruby simply tapped her nose with a hoof and turned to address the class once more as she trotted back to the front, leaving a dazed and bewildered Tempest in her wake. “Now, where were we? Oh yes, vodka is one of the easiest spirits to brew and probably the biggest money maker due mostly to the fact it doesn’t have to age, thus meaning you can produce large quantities of strong alcohol for sale in a relatively short period of time. Today I will go over the six key steps and give you tips and tricks on how to brew the best vodka along with the dangers that you need to look out for along the way. Later this year, after the wine harvest, those of you who don’t ditch the class will be tasked with brewing your own vodka, which, if deemed good enough, will be sent out for sale across Equestria. Now, onto step one…”

*

“Seriously Ruby, how did your mum ever get her job?” Scootaloo enquired stretching her left wing that had cramped up from so much writing.

“She’s exceptionally good at her job, even when drunk. You should see how much me and her can brew on the nights she’s not teaching. And trust me, it’s the good stuff. Luna may have control over orchards and alcohol making facilities across Equestria but anything labelled Punch’s is usually sold at double the going rate and even then, it flies out faster than stores can stock it. Simply put, it takes an alcoholic to know alcohol and none more so than my mum. She also knew I would be there and, having been brewing vodka with her since I was five despite Princess Luna’s reservations, could easily handle taking the class, especially considering how much I still owe her for the drunken werewolf debacle.”

“Huh, okay, well I’m convinced,” Scootaloo conceded. “But did you have to make us take so many notes, my wing’s killing me,” Scootaloo groused.

“Try writing with your mouth,” Apple Bloom grumbled whilst Sweetie rubbed her aching horn.

“You need to be thorough when making booze. Every mistake equals wasted product and eats into your profit. Not to mention the poisons that need to be carefully extracted and not consumed. Better to be over prepared than under prepared. A mistake could prove costly not only financially but also to your health. Now, come on. I need to drop a copy of these notes of to Moon before we head to art class.”

*

Diamond and Silver still weren’t present as they entered art class and sat down in pairs at the desks that were spread throughout the room. Neither for that matter, was the teacher.

“Huh, not a great start when…” Apple Bloom began before something clamped onto her hindhoof and made her wince. “Yow, what the?” she queried looking down to see that her left hind leg now adorned a clamp that was chained to one of the desk legs. Said table she now also noticed was nailed to the floor.

“Silver,” Ruby growled next to her. “Madam Trixie has done her homework.”

“Madam…” Apple Bloom began before a female voice reverberated around the room.

“Greetings firsties and welcome to the art of espionage. I’m your wonderful teacher the Elusive and Mysterious Madam Trixie. Your first lesson is a simple one, lock picking. Good luck…oh and try not to drown.”

“Dangnabbit,” Apple Bloom cursed next to Ruby. “I’m an Earth pony; we’re not exactly built for this sort of thing. What do you think she meant as well by that…” she paused as something wet trickled past her hooves. “Ah.”

Water was seeping into the room from somewhere.

“Use your claws,” Ruby instructed, her horn already alight.

“Won’t that hurt?” Apple Bloom replied.

“Yes, but would you rather drown over and over and over again?” Ruby replied.

“Fair point,” Apple Bloom responded transforming one of her hooves into a paw and beginning on the lock.

Although a total novice and under extreme pressure with the water level rising every few minutes, Apple Bloom found the lock wasn’t actually that difficult to pick, even if it was a lot longer than Ruby who had the lock of within a minute and was hunting for a way out of their watery tomb.

After ten minutes and with her now working underwater, Apple Bloom finally managed to pick the lock.

“How you doing? Oh, neat you got it off,” Ruby commented as Apple Bloom looked around the room. Aside two others, she’d been practically the last to pick the lock. “Well, now the bad news.”

“She sealed the room,” Apple Bloom deadpanned.

“Tighter than a barrel of wine,” Ruby replied.

“So, it’s an escape room scenario. How we doing with clues?”

“Clues? All of us have just been hunting for a way out of this mess,” Ruby said with clear exasperation.

“She told us it was a lock picking exercise. Please tell me one of you had the brains to check the teacher’s desk.”

Everypony looked at her blankly until Sweetie’s head popped up from behind the teacher’s desk waving a selection of five keys.

“Thank goodness Sweetie had some brains. Let’s get out of here,” Apple Bloom sighed with relief only to see Ruby’s grim expression in reply.

“We need a key card for the door,” Ruby explained.

Apple Bloom looked to the ceiling as the water reached her underbelly. Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple. “Everypony, fan out and get searching for anything with a lock on it. In case you haven’t realised yet Trixie is also testing our teamwork here. We’re either getting out of here as a class or none of us are at all, simple as that,” Apple Bloom said bluntly. “I don’t care who wants to be in charge but we’ve no time to argue with this water rising so just listen to me for now and get hunting.”

*

Twenty minutes later the room had been turned into a swimming pool but they had at least found the lock and key that had shut the water of before the water had got too deep giving them just a little more time to think. The only problem was that they’d exhausted all possible hiding places above the water and still not found any other clues or means to escape the room, of course. As such, Ruby, Screwball and Dinky were now scouring the depths for further clues and means to escape the room while the rest of the class sat on the half-submerged desks.

“So,” Apple Bloom started, trying to break the awkward silence that had descended upon the classroom. “How much longer do you think they’ll be down there?”

“Who knows?” Scootaloo replied, shaking a hoof in a vain attempt to keep herself dry considering she was standing ankle deep in water.

“Anything else you’d like to inform me about to prepare me in future lessons. Like, I don’t know, how to detect poison in cupcakes in Home Economics or making suitable clothing in Textiles to avoid being fatally stabbed to death?” Apple Bloom said flatly.

“Nah, all of those are more likely to happen with Madam Trixie,” Ruby said sneaking up behind Apple Bloom.

“Don’t you know it isn’t wise to sneak up on a werewolf?” Apple Bloom chastised turning to face the unicorn.

“Nah, it’s fine if you’re also a werewolf,” Ruby responded impishly.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes as Ruby pulled herself onto the desk “Anyhow, what did you find? Hey, is it me or is the water going down?”

“Yep, we managed to find four locks for the four remaining keys in the floor. Two revealed drains whilst another held this,” Ruby informed throwing what looked like a pack of cards in a sealed waterproof bag onto the table.

“Interesting,” Apple Bloom said picking up the pack of cards. “I’m guessing one of these will be the card we need but considering how tricky Trixie has made it for us this far, I bet if we try to many the door will lock us out for a set amount of time.”

“Yeah,” Ruby chuckled nervously next to Apple Bloom, “That’s something we can ill afford to happen.”

“And why might that be?” Apple Bloom sighed not wanting to hear the answer.

“Wait, didn’t you say there were four locks, yet you’ve only revealed what was behind three,” Scootaloo’s brain finally clicked into action.

Screwball chose that exact moment to pop her head out of the receding water. “Hey gals, we found a bomb!”

“Congratulations fillies on making it this far but can you escape the room before the bomb explodes. By the way, I’ve sealed all the cupboards so don’t even think about trying to stifle the explosion,” Madam Trixie’s high pitched and extremely annoying voice abruptly reverberated around the room once more.

Apple Bloom’s eye twitched. So far in this lesson she’d suffered a nasty burn on her left hind leg from the silver chains, aimlessly hunted through countless cupboards for locks and now knew what “wet dog smell” meant, as if a werewolf's natural odour wasn't bad enough. So far, she’d put up with Madam Trixie’s antics and games but no more. It was time to show Madam Trixie that you don’t fuck around and play games with werewolves.

“Erm, Bloom, you okay there?” Scootaloo asked looking seriously concerned.

“Lily, would you be a dear and join me by the door please,” Apple Bloom said in a voice that clearly indicated it was a demand and not a request.

The timid pink Earth pony with pigtails and a hedgehog cutie mark reluctantly did as she was told.

“W-what d-do you need me for?” she stammered.

“Is it true you’re super strong even by Earth pony standards?” Apple Bloom replied.

Lily blushed and looked at the floor before nodding in reply.

“All right, then on three we’re going to buck this door down and pay Madam Trixie a visit to give her a little present, understood?”

Lily wanted to argue that the door was at least fifteen centimetres of solid metal and they were more than likely going to break their hindlegs in trying to do so but wisely opted not to argue with the clearly seething werewolf. Instead, she nodded and prepped herself.

“One, two, three,” Apple Bloom commanded.

To Lily’s utter astonishment she did not suffer a serious injury, rather, the door did instead. It was now embedded in the wall opposite the classroom.

“How long we got left on that bomb, Screwball?” Apple Bloom barked.

“Four and a half minutes,” Screwball giggled in reply.

“Excellent. Seeing as Madam Trixie likes to play games, how about we take a little trip to her office?”

*

For once Starlight’s evening had been less than eventful and she’d actually managed to get on top of the ever-increasing mountain of paperwork that seemed destined to cause her poor desk to collapse from the weight.

And then, the explosion happened. Seeing as it was extremely close this time, she knew it couldn’t be from the Chemistry lab. She knew allowing Trixie to have the office next to hers was a bad idea even if she was her best friend and Moon’s godmother.

Stepping out of her office she saw a gaggle of retreating first years disappearing down the end of the hall. She wondered if she should go after them but thought it best to see what damage the explosion had caused. The door to her friend’s office was now barely hanging on by a single screw that looked like it could give way at any moment. Smoke billowed out from the room and, as she expected, the fire alarms started to blare out once more. Brilliant, just brilliant, there went her quiet evening. Stepping through the smoke into the former office that now looked like a bomb had hit it with several individual fires across the room, she realised Trixie was nowhere to be seen.

Just what in Equestria had she been up to this time? Starlight thought to herself as she pushed through the smoke and stopped as she realised there was no more floor ahead of her. In fact, the entire outer wall had been blown away and the fierce storm outside now battered into Starlight. She didn’t flinch an inch. Whatever Trixie had been playing with, it must have been awfully powerful to cause this much damage.

“Erm, Starlight,” a meek little voice said just below her feet.

Looking down Starlight saw Trixie precariously hanging onto a makeshift rope made up of multicoloured handkerchiefs.

Starlight let out another sigh and levitated her friend back onto solid ground whilst giving her an inquisitive look.

Trixie chuckled nervously. “I think the bomb might just have been a little too much in the first years' first lesson.”

Starlight levitated up a sign. You think?

Author's Note:

Second part up shortly. Welcome Ruby to the pack! They always say two werewolves are better than one or something like that. Edited by Rich online

Finalised: 27/07/22