St Trineighans School for Fillies

by SamuelK28

Day 3 Part 2: Ghostly Goings On

“So, who’s the Home Economics teacher?” Apple Bloom queried as they hastily made their way down several flights of stairs after lugging Sweetie’s new plush up to their dorm.

With the new lock and alarm spells they had had to disarm to enter their dorm and then reapply as they left, they were now running mightily close to being late to their next class.

“You know what? We actually don’t know. We know Tree Hugger teaches Biology as she’s a very good friend of Fluttershy’s and was at the careers’ day but the Home Economics teacher sent a couple of students in her stead,” Scootaloo admitted.

“My cousins to be precise, Cherry Pie and Blue Berry,” Ruby added. “They’re third years now but when I asked at the careers’ day, they refused to tell me anything, the insufferable gits. All they told me is 'you’ll see'.”

“Yeah, all we’ve managed to establish is she’s a miserable grouch,” Scootaloo supplemented.

“And that it’s best not to anger her further,” Ruby stated as they hurried down the final corridor.

“Why it’s imperative we get to class on time,” Scootaloo finished as they made it to the door to the classroom just as the bell rang to indicate the end of break and the beginning of second period.

“Made it,” Scootaloo sighed as they pushed the door open and headed toward their desks.

In this classroom there were three lines of desks once again except this time the desks were doubled up so that pairs of students faced each other. Each pair had access to an oven and a hob and shared a sink with another pair.

“Not a great first impression,” a voice growled from the front of the class. “I expect you to be ready to bake when that bell goes not sauntering into my classroom. Next time I shall not be so lenient, understood?”

“Yes Miss…” four of the five fillies began only to realise they did not yet know their teacher’s name.

“Pie, Limestone “Lightning” Pie to be entirely accurate,” Limestone droned as she began trotting round the classroom. “And before any of you ask, I am the only known pony to be directly struck by wild lightning and survive. On the downside this resulted in the right side of my body being permanently disfigured and I’m blind in my right eye. On the plus side, if you annoy or make me angry…” she paused as she raised her left forehoof and, to the first-years' astonishment, sent lightning shooting from it into the back wall leaving an explosion of black in its wake.

There were numerous audible gulps after that demonstration and Sweetie literally dove under her desk in fright. Scootaloo meanwhile had spotted that their teacher’s one remaining cutie mark was a lightning bolt striking diagonally across two stones with a lime above them.

“Rule number one, never piss me off or you’ll likely receive a permanent burn in return. Understood?”

Everypony that was visible swiftly nodded their heads in response.

“I can’t hear you,” Limestone bellowed in reply as she ducked her head under Sweetie’s desk to scowl at the frightened filly.

“Yes, Miss Pie,” the class bellowed in return aside Sweetie who curled tighter into a ball as tears welled in her eyes.

“Better. But I still don’t hear all of you,” Limestone hollered, continuing to scowl at Sweetie.

“Hey,” Scootaloo unwisely interrupted. “Leave Sweetie alone. It’s not her fault she’s practically mute.”

Limestone’s head momentarily popped out from under the desk. “Shit, she’s Rarity’s sister?” she said with a look of worry before her head returned under the desk not waiting for an answer. “Hey filly, sorry to scare you. Don’t tell anypony this but I’m actually really pleased to finally meet you. We have a lot more in common than you can imagine.”

Sweetie continued to refuse to unfurl herself so Limestone pulled a lollipop from her mane and attempted to bribe the filly.

“Always keep a raspberry one on me in case of emergencies. It was my sister’s favourite flavour. You know, I lost her the day I gained my powers, just like you lost some ponies close to you. Lightning bolt went right through me and made a significant fracture in the ground underneath my hooves. I was nearly dead by this point and unconscious, didn’t even see the large boulder roll of the cliff and…” Limestone choked, unable to finish the sentence as tears welled in her eyes, the memory just as painful now as it was when she’d reawakened in hospital.

“KERSPLAT!” A second voice interrupted. “Pinkie Pie pancake,” the voice giggled as a translucent pink head appeared through the floor under Sweetie’s head. “Hi little one, my name’s Pinkie Pie and I’m a nice ghost, woooooooooo. Don’t mind Grouchy McGrouchington over here, her bark is a lot worse than her bite…actually that’s probably not entirely true but she does have a kind heart in there somewhere,” Pinkie giggled once more.

Sweetie stared at the translucent pink head that had just appeared through the floor with an unreadable expression, lollipop now held tightly in her hooves.

Limestone wiped the tears from her eyes with a forehoof and then grumbled, “Pinkie, I thought I told you to wait before making an appearance so as not to scare the first-years half to death.”

“Fat lot of good that did,” Pinkie retorted. “You did that all on your own,” the ghost said in a tone resembling that of a mother scolding their foal.

“I didn’t know she was Rarity’s sister!” Limestone retorted back, attempting to defend her actions.

“But you did know she was moving up to the first-year this year and a highly sensitive filly,” Pinkie continued to scold.

“And you know very well I’m not good with foals,” Limestone countered. “And that I only took this job as there was literally no chance of me getting a job anywhere else. Who in their right mind would hire a disfigured, semi-blind cripple with ODD that is bound to the ghost of her long dead sister and has a penchant for lightning?” Limestone snapped as tears started to fill her vision once more. She quickly tried to blink them away as Pinkie gave her sister a questioning look. “Damn it, Pinkie, I know that look and we are most definitely not having that conversation again now, I’ve a class to…” she stopped mid-sentence, eyes going wide, and slowly looked down to find Sweetie hugging her disfigured foreleg, lollipop in her mouth.

“D’aww,” Pinkie cooed.

The remaining bluish grey fur on Limestone’s face started to take on a reddish tinge before she pulled Sweetie out from under the desk and attempted to shake the filly off with no success.

“Fine,” Limestone grumbled, getting some odd looks from the rest of the first-years.

These only lasted a moment though before Pinkie’s translucent pink body floated up through the desk.

“Hi everypony, I’m Pinkie Pie, Limestone’s sister and teaching assistant. Oh, and I’m also dead and a ghost, wooooooooooo!” Pinkie introduced herself to the rest of the class.

“Cool,” Screwball and Petunia said simultaneously as the rest of the class looked on, muzzles open wide totally dumbstruck.

Limestone’s free forehoof met her forehead and she closed the one good eye she still had. “Everypony meet my sister. Do not be alarmed; she will not hurt you. She died shortly after receiving her cutie mark thus why she’s a filly. All she wants to do is help you bake the best sweet treats imaginable and I’m guessing all of you have tried one of Pinkie’s brand of cakes in your time?”

“Wait?” Apple Bloom interrupted. “Do you mean THE PINKIE PIE? We can’t afford much on the farm but the local café in Ponyville used to always give me one of her speciality birthday cupcakes on my birthday free of charge.” Apple Bloom never finished what she was about to say as she began to drool onto her desk, simply the memory of one of those cupcakes being to much for her brain to handle.

Apple Bloom’s recollection seemed to bring many of her fellow classmates out of their stupors as Pinkie tittered.

“Yep, that’s me! I’ll let you kiddos in on a little secret. Limestone here can’t even cook rock soup!” the ghost replied.

“PINKIE!” Limestone exclaimed in embarrassment before sighing and agreeing with her sister. “It’s true. Pinkie here is the brains behind the baked goods division here at the school. I’m just her lackey so to speak as ghosts can’t physically touch or hold anything, only float, pass through walls and, often to my annoyance, talk, especially talk. And there is literally no way to stop them talking as you can’t touch or hold onto them. Sweet Celestia does she annoy me sometimes but I love her all the same. Thus, rule two, hurt her or the marshmallow currently attached to my leg in any way and…” Another bolt of lightning struck the back wall.

Diamond and Silver looked at each other and gulped nervously. They silently agreed with each other then and there that Sweetie was out of bounds for bullying despite being the easiest target.

“Oh Limey, you are such a tease,” Pinkie giggled.

Limestone glowered at her sister. “I told you not to call me that in public,” she growled.

Pinkie simply let out another giggle in reply and Limestone wisely opted to just ignore her and proceed with the lesson.

“Okay, that’s enough time wasted on introductions. Listen up everypony. Home Economics is literally the easiest class in the entire school to pass and earn some much-needed bits from. All you need to do is follow the instructions precisely that I provide you with week in, week out and you’re sorted. The more quality goods you bake and we can ship out to Canterlot and other nearby settlements, the greater the share of the profits you receive. If you don’t want to bake, that’s fine too; you just don’t earn any bits. It is that simple. Do I make myself clear?” Limestone said firmly.

“Yes Miss Pie,” the class responded as one.

“Good. Today though I want to see just how good at baking you all are. We are always on the lookout here at the school for those ponies who could potentially improve both the quality and range of goods we provide. Laid out on the desks in front of you are an assortment of ingredients that you may or may not need. Choose wisely and remember, I may be the worst cook imaginable without my sister’s input but I’ve tasted enough breads, cakes and pastries over the past fifteen years to know what’s hot and what’s not. Thus, you are going to have to work exceptionally hard to impress me. You have one hour and fifteen minutes, GO,” Limestone commanded before she looked down at Sweetie still gripping tightly to her leg. “That means you too, marshmallow.”

Sweetie looked beseechingly up at Limestone.

“You get to play with fire,” Limestone said softly with a warm, if somewhat unnerving, smile considering her disfigurement. “Just try not to blow up the classroom.”

Reluctantly Sweetie let Limestone’s leg go and Screwball helped her friend back onto her stool.

“Awesome,” Limestone said before turning to Pinkie and giving her a nod.

Pinkie immediately got the message, watch these two.

*

Limestone stared at the three-tier pink abomination covered in way too much-icing and many-strawberries before her and then turned and glowered at her sister.

“I told you to watch them, not help them!” Limestone reprimanded.

Pinkie simply whistled guiltily in return whilst avoiding eye contact with her sister.

“You know what, never mind. At least the classroom’s safe,” Limestone sighed, turning her attention back to the cake. “And it’ll be nice to eat something decent after the utter abomination my eyes just had to endure along with the mediocrity I’ve tasted so far.”

The abomination she had just witnessed had been Diamond and Silver’s attempt at something but what she wasn’t quite sure. When the glop on top had moved, formed a mouth and then emitted an unholy shriek, Limestone had swiftly vaporised the fillies' attempt with a bolt of lightning and then put them both on washing up duty for the next month at least. To be honest, none of the other pairs so far had done anything even remotely better and she now had a broken floor and oven to fix as well.

Shivering simply at the memory, Limestone forced herself to concentrate on the task at hoof. “What’s this pink eyesore called before I try a slice?”

“Strawberry Blast,” Screwball tittered.

“Interesting and why might that be?” Limestone reluctantly asked.

“Because that's not a sparkler on top,” Screwball answered as she grabbed Sweetie and dived under the desk.

Limestone’s eyes bulged as she finally noticed the sparkler that wasn’t a sparkler on top of the cake.

“Fuck,” Limestone swore before the spark reached its destination and the whole cake exploded sending sponge, jam, strawberries and frosting, an insane amount of frosting, everywhere.

By some miracle, almost certainly Pinkie’s doing, a whole slice of the cake had ended up in Limestone’s mouth.

As Pinkie collapsed with laughter next to her, Limestone took a bite and then critiqued the cake. “Not bad. You two can come out now, I’m not going to scold you. In fact, Luna is going to love this idea for Celestia’s birthday cake next year.”

“That I shall,” Luna’s voice echoed around the classroom as she materialised next to Limestone and levitated some frosting off the mare. “Exquisite as always Pinkie. You’re such a good ghost helping our fillies nurture their special talents. Over a thousand years and I’ve never once thought about sending my sister an exploding cake, criminal.”

The translucent pink pony gave Luna a massive smile as Sweetie's and Screwball’s heads peeped out from under the desk.

“Thank you, little ones, for giving me the idea. I hope you’ll be willing to assist me when the need arises to provide my sister with one for her birthday,” Luna stated, swiping some more frosting off Limestone’s coat with a strawberry. “This frosting is particularly divine.”

In total shock at the outcome of their prank, Sweetie and Screwball could only nod in response.

“Huzzah, my sister won’t know what hit her!” Luna exclaimed. “Now, as I am already here, shall we see what the other fillies have baked tonight?”

“Unless you want food poisoning, I’d suggest you leave now,” Limestone deadpanned, not even bothering to rid her coat or mane of the cake that now covered it almost entirely.

“Oh, come now, surely it cannot be that bad,” Luna responded jovially.

“Aside from these two covering me and the classroom in cake, those two blew up an oven, those two created cookies hard enough to break the floor and they baked the blandest bread I’ve ever had the misfortune of tasting,” Limestone said flatly pointing one by one at Tempest and Little Strongheart, Lily and Princess, and finally Mjӧlna and Spur before coming to rest on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “And don’t get me started on what those two conjured up.”

“I saw. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baked bad go so bad. I’d love to send one of those to my sister the next time she instantly gives up on the latest fad diet but alas, even I can’t figure out how they managed to create life from simple baking ingredients,” Luna commented in reply. “And muzzle up, it can only get better from here! Look, Apple Bloom’s baked us each an apple pie!”

“How original,” Limestone droned, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t even give you apples so how…”

A snigger from Screwball behind her answered Limestone’s question before she’d even finished asking it.

“They needed strawberries; we needed apples, fair trade,” Apple Bloom said coldly toward Limestone as she pushed two plates with a slice each on them and a spoon over to Luna and Limestone. “Secret Apple family recipe passed down from my great great great grandparents or something like that according to ma granny. Best apple pie you’ll ever taste.”

“Pfft, I’ll be the judge of that,” Limestone scoffed, earning her another glare in return from Apple Bloom as she ignored the spoon and picked the slice of pie up in a hoof before taking a massive bite. Her eyes went wide. “Woah,” she mumbled through a mouthful of pie before swallowing and going back for the remainder in her hoof. “That’s good pie. Dare I say it? Even better than Pinkie’s.”

“Told you so,” Apple Bloom retorted in a snarky tone. “Only an Apple can make the best apple-baked sweet treats and, before either of you ask, the recipe is not for sale, at any price. So don’t even try to pry it from my brain. All our baked goods recipes are closely guarded secrets.”

“That is a shame as this apple pie is truly divine but I understand and respect your decision,” Luna commented, delicately finishing of her slice of pie and levitating the plate back down onto the desk. “The same can be said about all of Pinkie’s recipes. It’s why we use a simple mind fog spell on them so that students forget what they have read within a minute of doing so and why no copies of her recipes leave the lab. If her secrets were to get out to an upstart rival, we could possibly have a real challenge on our hands. As long as we can convince your family to sell under the logo of the Princess of the Night, I have no problems with only Apples knowing the secrets behind perfect apple based sweet treats.”

“Sounds fair to me. I’d think my family would be ludicrous not to accept such an offer but we’ll see. For now, would you like some more pie?” Apple Bloom said politely cutting another slice and placing it delicately on Luna’s plate for her. “I’m not sure Scootaloo can handle any more,” she added with a giggle pointing at her partner who was face down in another pie.

Luna snickered as she gratefully accepted another slice. “Indeed.”

“Erm, is she okay?” Limestone commented nervously.

“Too much pie,” Scootaloo’s muffled voice groaned from the pie tin.

“That answer your question? Total lightweight, that’s only her third pie,” Apple Bloom retorted.

Luna snickered once more finishing her second slice of pie in record time. “I do certainly hope we can come to an agreement over time,” she said as if the Apple family would have a choice in the matter; they wouldn’t. “I believe we certainly could mutually benefit one another greatly but that conversation must wait for another time when you are a bit older. For now, your baking skills will come in quite handy as we try to meet ever increasing demand for Pinkie’s baked goods.”

“Thank you Headmare Luna,” Apple Bloom replied with a polite nod before the alicorn trotted on to her daughter's and Ruby’s attempt.

Luna instantly regretted her decision and Moon immediately caught sight of the grimace that crossed her mother’s face.

“What’s wrong dear mother?” Moon cooed in a sickly-sweet tone looking up at her mother with a pained expression. “Do you not like our attempt? Sadly, neither of us have had much experience with baking; so some of the ingredients may not have been correct,” Moon explained with an obvious jab at her mother.

Luna chose to ignore it. “Erm, no, no, not at all Moon dear. It’s just different is all,” she replied, forcing a chuckle from her lips. “Might I ask what exactly it is?” she added looking down at the green and black lump covered haphazardly in white icing and sprinkles.

“A simple iced sponge,” Moon said with a devilish smirk. “Here, why don’t you try a piece,”

Luna’s face dropped as Moon began cutting her a slice of the cake, Limestone’s earlier warning about food poisoning returning to the forefront of her mind. The last thing she wanted tonight was food poisoning but she also knew declining the offering was not an option unless she wished to offend her daughter. So, she took the somehow burnt yet undercooked off-colour offering that was handed to her, closed her eyes and forced herself to take a small bite… only to find the whole slice being thrust into her mouth. As Luna’s eyes shot open with surprise, she saw Ruby looking away from her with a clearly guilty look, her horn illuminating a similar colour as her mane. That little devil. Slowly Luna forced herself to devour and swallow the slice of cake in her mouth, closing her eyes as she did so.

As the last piece slid down her throat Luna opened her eyes. “That was vile. I must agree with you dear daughter that you and Miss Pinch do indeed need more than the standard amount of tutoring in regard to baking. I am very sorry for my negligence in regards to this area of your education and as such, will line up a couple of tutors immediately for an extra two hours on Hornday evenings for the rest of the first term for you and your friend. I believe Miss Pinch’s cousins would be more than willing to help.”

The smiles that adorned Moon’s and Ruby’s muzzles fell away in an instant.

“Unless of course you wish to taste your own creation and write me a thousand-word report on exactly where you went wrong?” Luna said with a wicked leer. “And then, just maybe, I might feel you’re both at the level you need to be.”

Ruby instantly grabbed a hoofful of the cake and shoved it into her gob. Even in spite of the taste, it was still worth it over having to be tutored by her insufferable cousins for a whole term. She gagged as she finally managed to force herself to swallow it.

“I see you’ve made your choice; what about you dear daughter of mine? How would you like to improve upon your baking skills? Tutoring or self-learning?” Luna said mockingly as she turned her head towards Moon.

Moon scowled at her mother and then took her own hoofful of cake and shoved it into her mouth. The taste very nearly made her throw it back up again but she forced herself to eat it.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? You certainly wouldn’t offer something to your own mother if you weren’t willing to try it yourself, would you now?” Luna mocked as she leaned in and lifted her daughter’s head with a hoof.

Moon tried to scowl at her mother but the lingering aftertaste of the cake prevented her from doing so. Finally, she spat out, “No, mother,” and then crossed her forehooves mutinously in defeat.

“Excellent. I’ll expect those essays by Sunday,” Luna said, releasing Moon’s head as she did so. “Just remember Moon darling, I’ve a thousand-year head start on pranking over you and am both your mother and headmistress. Nice try but you’ll have to try a lot harder next time if you wish to get one over on me. Anyhow, who’s left?” Luna asked turning to a stunned Limestone behind her.

“Erm, just Petunia and Dinky,” Limestone gulped as she caught the glint of a fang at the edge of Luna’s mouth. She could count the number of ponies that scared her on her hoof. Luna, or more specifically Nightmare Moon, was that pony.

“Wonderful. I need something to clean my tastebuds with,” Luna replied licking her slowly sharpening teeth.

Limestone seriously hoped for the fillies’ sake their cake was good or she feared filly flambé might be on the menu.

Author's Note:

Home Economics classroom based of this: https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*pU2WPqUD5CqkmjbbI3-WnQ.jpeg

Thought I'd throw in a couple of cheap adoptables to I found and bought (You can find the Cherry one by scrolling through the comments: https://www.deviantart.com/celes-969/art/Adoptable-CLOSED-914455013

ODD: Oppositional Defiant Disorder, a pattern of angry/irritable, argumentative/defiant behavior, or vindictiveness. This behavior is usually targeted toward peers, parents, teachers, and other authority figures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder). Simply put, Pinkie's death resulted in Limestone becoming very defensive and viewing everyone as against her, her remaining sisters and her parents. Why, when Luna came calling, Igneous and Cloudy Quartz, though reluctant, knew the school would be best for their troubled daughter.

Hornday is the equivalent of Friday in Equestria. From Monday to Sunday, in this verse it goes Moonday, Hoofsday, Wingsday, Fursday, Hornday, Magicday, Sunday.

And finally this chapter did start to hit a stumbling block towards the end. There are only so many scenarios I can think of of the top of my head but hope the ending is okay, enjoy and if you have any more questions feel free to ask!

Edited 07/05/2022
Finalised 02/08/22