Scootaloo and the School of Ghouls

There was a strange feeling that came to Scootaloo, that odd, foreboding pause one may feel when standing before a massive wave about to crash down upon them, with the rest of the world, including that of her own, completely drowned out by the moment.

And then, Slendermare took a deep breath:

"NOCTUS HOUSE!" he roared, with enthusiasm Scootaloo thought he couldn’t possess.

And then, as if pulled back to sea by a sympathetic god, the wave receded. She stood upon the beach, baffled by destiny's choice.

A roar of thunderous applause boomed all about her, and she sighed in relief like she had never sighed before. She would be with her friends the entire semester, sleeping, eating, and generally having fun with them. Despite all the unwanted attention and sorrow she felt over her father, as well as the guilt of not wishing to be in his house as much as she thought she should, she would be able to pull through more easily than ever now.

"Alright, Scootaloo!" both Twilight and Rainbow roared, rapping their hooves upon the stony floor.

"I knew she was filled with guts, too!" Rainbow grinned, before taking a deep, prideful breath. "I guess she takes after her mentor."

"Yeah, well hopefully she won't get too cocky and start kicking dragons in the face," Twilight smirked.

Rainbow merely chuckled. "Hah! That dick had it coming and you know it!"

"Get over here, Scoots!" Sweetie called, signaling her to an empty seat before continuing with a hurricane of applause.

"One second, child," Slendermare's puppet said in its monotone voice, (and yes, Scootaloo was still unnerved by the fact a skull-pierced Twilight Soulshard had been leading the proceedings).

Scootaloo halted in her tracks, raising an eyebrow, as she turned back towards Slendermare.

"I just want to say: Nightmare Moon would be honored to have you in her house, that nutty ghoul. And I can also say for certain your father would be proud of you no matter which you were placed into, nor which one you *wanted** to be placed in."* His puppet then narrowed her eye-holes, however. "Though whatever you do, and I say this for your own sake: do not let fame get to your head. Thinking you have an advantage compared to every other ghoul is a sure-fire way to failure in my school. I've seen it with other students before of similar ilk."

"Heh, no worries about that, Slendy," Scootaloo smiled, the mirth in her voice higher than it had been all day: hell, all week. "If there was a magic that could deflect the fame thrown on me away, I'd use it in a heart-beat."

"Mph, perhaps you should speak to the Lich Queen about that," Slendermare said in a slightly amused tone, before giving her a light scoot with a tendril. "However, it seems you're on the road to keeping that oh-so-bothersome thing that is ego at bay. Good luck to you, child of dream and wake. Go make merry or whatever it is ghouls and ponies do."

At that, she gave him a polite nod and a slight smile before heading towards her new table, it already filled with still-clapping ponies. The only ghoul who didn't seem to be applauding her was Bloody Tiara, though with a slight chuckle, she did catch Silver Tongue stealthily doing so, glancing about to see if Bloody was watching.

"Congrats, Scoots!" Apple Bloom said, quickly giving her a hug, with Sweetie joining in.

"I knew we'd all get in the same house!" Sweetie chirped with what could be described best as ‘happy anime eyes’. "When Ms. Soulshard said we had a say in it, I knew it's what we'd all want ourselves!"

"Ugh... girls..." Pipsqueak muttered, rolling his eyes at the affection they were showing each other.

"Oh come on, Pipsqueak, don't be such a spoil sport!" Apple Bloom smirked.

"Come here, you crazy pirate!" Scootaloo grinned merrily, forcing him into the hug as well, as tight as it could be.

He couldn't blush fiercer.

"Oi! Ya lot forgotten bout yur guide?!" Pipbossa pouted, before giving a hearty laugh as Scootaloo rolled her eyes and pulled him into the hug as well, wincing slightly as his undead bones touched her. "Shimber me timbers! Never thought I'd be huggin' mortals and not scarin' the daylights out of em'!"

"Heh, Nightmare's gonna be flattered when she hears about this," Applemoon smiled to herself. "All the mortals that came placed in her house? Who would have guessed!"

"You're sure she'd be happy about that?" Rainbow said, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, two of them have sisters that kicked her counterpart in the face with weaponized friendship."

"Oh yeah! Nightmare loves the mortal realm almost as much as Twilight," Applemoon beamed, chuckling slightly. "Without them, there'd be no Nightmare Night for her to scare ponies on! And though she dun like to admit it, Twilight always says she really wants to be both liked n' feared by them now that the black cat's out of the bag about us, as much of an..." She squinted in thought. "Oxy... oxymarion(?)... ugh, can't think of the word…."

"Oxymoron," Twilight said in a helpful tone, raising a hoof.

"Oh yeah," Applemoon said, faceclawing herself. "An Oxymoran it sounds like."

"A swing and a miss," Rainbow chuckled to herself.

"Mph... we'll see if the child is all she's cracked up to be," Shadowed Armor muttered, before tilting his head slightly. "I suppose I can sympathize with her position, however. Her fame follows her about like a swarm of bees. Something she never really wanted..."

"Oh don't tell me you don't like being everyone's go-to ghoul," Princess Congeria grinned teasingly.

Shadowed 'glared' her way in response. "Not really, because when ghouls 'go-to' me, half the time it's to announce our flank is collapsing..." He then gave a grunt. "Dear night, I hate this damned General's promotion... too many variables for my mind to handle in a real battle. Fame is a wind that always sails you in the wrong direction."

The Siren Princess folded her arms. "You know what I meant, sweetie." She then lifted an eyebrow. "Though I have to say, it sounds like these 'skirmishes' you've been fighting are more than just 'skirmishes'."

Shadowed gave a disgruntled groan. "Yeah... I'll talk to you about that later. I haven't written to you with the truth because of how worried I know you can get, but I guess I might as well spill it since they won't be able to cover it up much longer. All I can say is this: don't believe everything the media tells you."

He then glanced towards Scootaloo suspiciously, quickly changing the subject... though naturally, to something just as grim.

"You know... one of the Void Callers reported they sensed something unusual about the child... and Void Callers aren't something whose clicks you take lightly. I'm keeping my eye on that one."

Princess Congeria rolled her eyes. "The sins of thy father don't always pass on, you know. She hasn't even met him!"

"Mph, some would argue it wasn't a sin," Shadowed growled, before glancing back at Scootaloo. "However, I do know one thing: there are some things that can and will follow one up the family tree, and I'm not just talking about genetic traits. We'll see if I'm right or wrong, but I hope it's the latter."

As he spoke, the sorting Slender continued to call names and houses.

"Silver Tongue!" Slendermare called.

"MORTUS!" she was placed in.

"Woooo yeah!" Bloody cried, though honestly, Scootaloo could sense a slight hint of... reluctance on Silver Tongue's face.

"Nails!" Slendermare shouted, a version of Snails who seemed to have rusty nails sticking out of his head making his way to him. Or pins... she couldn't tell for sure, though she could see that his chupacabra-like, bloody pools for eyes couldn't seem any more saturated with apprehension.

"WINTERCALL!"

"ALRIGHT, NAILS!" Nips cheered, his second mouth leaping enthusiastically out of its primary one.

Then came Scootaloo and her friend's counterparts. And though she wished for all of them to be in the same house as her, the whole Lycan thing could have been an issue...

"Rotten Belle!" Slendermare shouted, the ghostly version of one of her best friends making her way to the sorting Slender... and oddly enough, the tendril seemed to touch her head like any other, like she wasn't an entity completely made out of what might as well be smoke.

And stranger still, despite her being a being of the afterlife, Scootaloo still saw a bit of fear on her face.

"VOID HOUSE!" Slendermare roared, Rotten the Friendly Ghost beaming merrily and making her way to the table, seating herself next to a still lonely-looking Metus.

"Apple Doom!" Slendermare called, the Lycan version of Scootaloo's other best friend making her way up to him.

"WINTER HOUSE!" he cried, a look of both disappointment and mirth on her face as she headed to the table, applause following her the whole way.

"Awww, that sucks. I was kind of hoping they'd be in our house, or at least all together," Sweetie frowned.

"Yeah, that's kind of weird," Apple Bloom said, squinting an eyebrow.

"Scootaweb!" Slendermare called, the spider-pony quickly scurrying over to him, a look of pure-nerve on her face Scootaloo thought she probably had on as well.

Both her and Scootaloo waited in anticipation, as naturally, this was the counterpart the latter had been waiting to be analyzed all night.

"MORTUS HOUSE!"

Both of their eyes widened, though she could detect a hint of a smile on Scootaweb's face. Scootaloo couldn’t have felt any more disappointed, however, both for the fact that her counterpart seemed to be like her a lot, and was now in Mortus, and the fact that she was hoping to spend time with her.

"Woah, Mortus house?! I didn't think she was like Bloody or nething!" Apple Bloom said.

Sweetie shook her head, before saying like she was quoting someone, or some Slender, "ambition isn't always a bad thing."

As Scootaloo shook an incredulous head after glancing upon the road not taken, she felt she was no longer really interested in who was put where, and at that, her and her friends continued to dine, chatting and celebrating the rest of the night.

"Archer Windrunner!" The Slendermare cried, an undead, black-eyed version of the filly Archer making her way from where she sat.

"Er, actually, I go by my middle name, 'Slyvanus,'" she peeped, smiling at the Slendermare, to which he actually gave an apologetic look back at, before announcing:

"MORTUS HOUSE!"

And the names continued... on and on into the night, as the commotion and celebration in the hall gradually diminished to tired chatting.

"Moon Glimmer!"

"NOCTUS HOUSE!"

"Twisted!"

"VOID HOUSE!"

"Mini-Burns!"

"VOID HOUSE!"

"Mmmm... excellent, excellent."

"Gak Attack!"

"MORTUS HOUSE!"

Finally, as Slendermare's puppet took a deep breath and cleared his throat, it appeared all of the four hundred to five hundred ghouls were sorted.

"Congratulations to all for wherever you were assigned," Slendermare announced. "You may or may not have gotten where you wanted, but I can assure you that you have all been placed where you belong. Unfortunately, though, these assignments are here to stick, but I'm sure you will all grow to love your new homes if you examine the good things about the traits they represent, instead of simply the bad ones. Now, I believe I've talked more than I have in three centuries, which is probably growing tiresome to all of us. I will be giving the honored Ms. Soulshard her mind back to her now. Good luck to you all. It is unlikely any conversations in the future with me will be more than... one sided."

At that, he ripped the tendril out of the undead Twilight's mind, her white pools for eyes flickering back on as she shook her head in a daze. Immediately, she gave Slendermare a joking glare.

"Slendermare, you got that song stuck in your head stuck in mine now!"

Slendermare quirked his head in an almost innocent-like expression.

Ms. Soulshard folded her arms. "This sound familiar?"

She took a deep breath before singing:

"Things that bother you,

Never bother me,

I'm so happy and fine!

Burning in the sunlight,

Haunting in the moonlight,

Having a wonderful time!"

Ms. Soulshard finished, tapping her hoof in annoyance as Slendermare merely shrugged in response. Twilight then rolled her eyes, giving him a sarcastic smile before turning every which way around the hall and saying:

"Anyway, as Slendermare said, congratulations to all of you for your chosen houses! I was aware during the whole, horrible ordeal, so there's no need for me to catch up on anything." She held up a hoof. "Remember though, only with diligence, perseverance, and fortitude, can we help you to help yourselves in Bogmorts! But most importantly," she said, her eye's becoming laced with a manic look before she roared:

"ALWAYS READ YOUR TEXTBOOKS, FOR THE LOVE OF THE NIGHT! STUDY! STUDDDDDDYYYYYYY!.!.! OR THE LANGOLIERS WILL COME AND GOBBLE YOU UP!.!.!.!.!"

The entire room blinked.

Mouths parted.

However, Twilight Sparkle merely smiled, nodding her head as if to say, 'I like this ghoul. She knows.'

And for some reason, Scootaloo heard Dinky give a tiny, disbelieving giggle.

Soulshard then took a deep breath, putting on a sheepish grin. "Well, at least that's what my parents always told me." She cleared her throat again, nodding towards the staff table "Now then, since we do not have any prefects selected yet, you will be led up to your house dormitories by their respective leaders."

There was renewed sense of commotion, as four ghouls (and one Eldritch Abomination) took position before the staff platform, calling various houses over to them:

"Alright, Void House, you're with me!" Twilight Soulshard chirped, gesturing the students over towards her and the Slendermare, the various students of it quickly complying.

"Mortus students! The Great and Powerful Wicked Witch of the West demands your presence!" Trixie Elphaba called, with spirit she seemed to have found since the Nightmare Night incident.

"Winter House, you'll be following me," Flutterfright squeaked, half of her students still staying at their seats, apparently having ignored her. "Well... if you're not too tired that is. I mean, we can always stay a bit..."

"Come on, Flutterfright: backbone!" Rainbow Dash encouraged her. "Ugh, you're like my Fluttershy before she went through that assertiveness thingy."

"Oh my... but I don't want to seem too demanding to the little dears," Flutterfright peeped.

"You're right, Flutterfright, ya can't show too much assertiveness, or they'll just think yur on a power-trip, or just a mean spirit in general," Applemoon advised. "But if ya show too little they won't come to ya at all. Watch n' learn." She then winked, took a deep breath, before calling in a stern, loud tone: "All Winter students please line up next to Flutterfright here!"

Those who had been ignoring her quickly turned their heads, before tiredly sauntering over towards the yellow vampire, Flutterfright sulking her head slightly with a sigh.

Scootaloo quirked an eyebrow. The only remaining ghoul was someone who she had not expected to even be a teacher.

"All Noctus house students, please come to me!" Princess Congeria called with a light smile, Scootaloo and the rest of her massive house making their way over to her. As she grew closer, she began picking up details he hadn't seen before about the Siren Princess, including a set of gills etched on her neck and almost flipper-like protrusions extending from her hooves.

"What?!" Pipbossa growled, his eye twitching ever-so-slightly as he trotted. "She's the bloody leader of the house of courage?! What yellow-bellied black-spotted Leviathan-humping foal put her in charge?! I wouldn't be sayin' lurin' wicked sailors to the blackened drink with their bloody singin' be courageous!" He then gave a sarcastic laugh. "If that's courage than ya can call me Jack Sparrow!"

Pipsqueak's eyes widened, before his suspicion-filled eyes glanced upon Pipbossa, who didn't seem to notice them.

At that, the houses all went the same way at first, out of the Great Hall and towards a smaller stone room Scootaloo hadn't seen before, it filled with a number of green, glowing portals.

"Alright, everyghoul! This is the main teleport hub,” Twilight Soulshard announced.  “It contains portals that lead all over the school. Each is labeled, so it's unlikely you'll be able to take the wrong one, but take heed: they are controlled by forces outside our own... and sometimes like to play little 'pranks' on students. That meaning you might end up in an area of the castle you didn't wish to go... or in rare cases, one of the other holiday realms...."

The Group's eyes widened, to which Soulshard chuckled at. "Just kidding! At least about the last part."

However, a new, yet familiar voice soon contradicted her:

"Haha, nice save widdle Soulshard, but it’s definitely no joke," Princess Trollestia called, grinning wickedly as she floated into the hub.

As the students glanced upon her curiously, Soulshard gave a long, annoyed moan. "Ugh, princess, can't you go bother Shadowed or someghoul else!?"

Princess Trollestia frowned. "I tried, but when I did he stuck that magic sword of his right through me! It actually hurt!"

She gestured down to a hole through her chest, the group giving a collective wince.

"Hehe, but that's alright! That gives me more time to give our lovely widdle students the rundown of the school..." she continued, still grinning wickedly. "And to tell them about its... history."

At that, she began to float around the hub, Soulshard rolling her eyes.

"It's true that you can wind up in some of the other holiday realms..." Trollestia chirped with a hint of a sinister edge. "But being exposed to the overly-jolly cuteness of Hearth's Warming Eve is the least of your worries." Her eyes narrowed, though her grin widened. "Do you all want to know why the school was closed down in the first place?"

"Ooooo, this sounds like a scary story!" Scootaweb smirked. "Go on, tell us!"

"Yeah! Come on, let's hear it!"

"Heh, I almost forgot everyghoul in the Nightmare Realm likes being scared," Twilight Sparkle smirked, walking into the hub with Rainbow at her side, who immediately narrowed her eyes at Princess Trollestia, almost as if she could pick out who she was in an instant.

"There's good scaring, and then there's bad scaring, and Princess Trollestia is notorious for the latter," Soulshard grunted, before shivering slightly, a haunted look coming upon her. "And if this is the tale I think it is... I don't want to hear it."

The students didn't seem to catch this look, though the rest of the staff gazed upon her with wary, but curious eyes.

"Awwww, I can't believe the queen of scares is going to deny them of a good one," Princess Trollestia smirked towards her.

"Come on, Twilight! Let her tell the story!"

"Pleeeeease, Ms. Lich Queen."

"Ugggh..." Soulshard moaned, gulping slightly as she gazed downward with eyes of the past, before sighing, “fine… go ahead."

The princess of trolling smirked. "Very well then, here it goes!"

She then gave a brief cackle, before dancing all about the hall as she took a deep breath and said:

"Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems,

A tale that is sure to haunt your dreams,

Have you ever wondered why this school is beyond time’s rot?

That's because of what it draws from its chosen spot."

☼☼☼

Over nine hundred years ago, the four founders gazed warily upon a spot they had deemed perfect for construction...   all except for one minor detail: it was covered in the remains of what was once a great, icy spire.

"We can't build the school here," Blackfire said, narrowing her eyes. "This is where the rift to Null Space is. Where we banished him after... dealing with him. If someghoul were to see it... there's no coming back."

"But think of the power we could draw from it!" Nightmare Moon interrupted her, her eyes filled with wonder. "This school could outlast eternity with its energies! We could do things with it beyond any mortal or ghoul's dreams!"

"Yes, but the risk... there's always the risk of someghoul looking into it... and it would take only a few minutes after that..." Sleighbell said warily.

"Then we'll make sure that doesn't happen. We'll place it in a sealed room where it can never be discovered!" Nightmare said, before lifting a hoof. "However, with my powers we should still be able to make use of it from a distance! I'll just need to channel its essence properly..."

☼☼☼

"Unfortunately, even her judgment can be wrong as it was found,

For as said, trust in these portals cannot be completely sound,

And it would cost my sister oh-so-dearly,

When one day her own student was caught in Sleighbell’s theory...."

☼☼☼

"D-Dear night, NO!" Nightmare Moon shrieked, tears dripping onto a stone floor as she stood by a bed holding a barely living Twilight Soulshard. "P-Please tell me... p-please tell me she didn't gaze into it for too long!"

"I-I'm afraid we only found her by chance," Blackfire squeaked, a lump in her throat so large it nearly blocked her words. "She was missing for an entire day..." She then gave a shiver, slowly shaking a downward glancing head as she whispered, "imagine it... only a child... staring into all of time and space... it was too much even for her mind..."

"So many worlds..." Twilight squeaked to nopony but herself, her voice growing weaker by the second as her eyes remained sealed shut.

"S-She's still speaking?" Nightmare Moon said in a hope-filled tone.

Blackfire glanced away from her. "It's just... ramblings, Nightmare, echoes… T-There's nothing either of us can do. I’ve already escorted her soul to the gates… S-Soon, she’ll be gone..."

"...S-So many universes before our own..." Twilight continued, her voice now a whisper, tears now squeezing out of her lids, her tone as pained as her teacher's. "We are all... echoes.... rhymes... dust in the wind... all dust in the wind..." she continued. "One blink... one thought..." She gave a horrible shudder. "... and it's all gone... oh, you were so beautiful... holidays of heart... and your cities... of gray and black..." She shook her head ever-so-slightly, a small smile actually coming to her face. "No... of *gold*... of blood and sweat... such passion... so alien... yet you were so..."

She paused.

Nightmare gulped.

The room came to a standstill.

And then came her final words:

"Beautiful... Winter…"

At that, her breathing halted.

And she was no more.

Nightmare Moon collapsed upon the floor, sobbing uncontrollably,  Blackfire gazing at her with cold, yet sympathetic eyes.

…

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally stood back up, gazing down upon her deceased student, while trying to dam an undamable river of tears with a hoof.

"W-Why... w-why did you always have to be so curious?" Nightmare whispered, her tears now dripping on Twilight's face as she knelt down to her level, nuzzling her cheek. "W-Why couldn't you have just said: no! I should just turn back... find a way out of here…"

She then turned towards Blackfire, the latter taking a deep breath as she glanced away from the moon goddess.

"W-Well, aren't you forgetting something?! Go ahead! Tell me 'I told you so!'" Nightmare growled, a sudden shade of anger in her voice. "Come on! I'm waiting for it!"

A beat.

Nightmare Moon stood trembling.

"I'm not going to say that," Blackfire finally said, her eyes narrowing. "But I will say one thing..."

...

She then shook her head, shivering slightly. "T-This is the last straw... I can't take it anymore... I-I know I've... escorted a lot of good people before, but... I just can't... w-with Sleighbell... still sleeping..."

Nightmare took a deep breath, shivering yet again. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that..."

Blackfire merely smiled sorrowfully at her in return.

"It's alright…" she said in a soothing tone, placing a warm hoof on her back.

There was another second of silence, before Nightmare began shaking her head, her eyes narrowing in a stern resolve.

"N-No, no it's not alright!" she growled, still shaking her head rapidly, her tears flying every which way. "N-Not alright at all! It's not happening again! I'm not losing anyone else! I'm not losing Twilight!"

Her horn then began to glow a piercing purple, as her mind rapidly descended into chaos.

"What are you doing?!" Blackfire gasped, before her eyes widened in realization. "No! That sort of necromancy... you can't! She's already beyond the golden gates! She'll *hate** you for it!"*

"S-She'll never hate me," Nightmare said, her voice a half-a-squeak at this point. "S-She could never hate me... s-she's my student... nono... she'd never... s-she'll thank me... she will! S-She won't remember anything she saw!"

She then stamped a hoof, before roaring up at the heavens:

*"YOU’LL THANK ME!.!.!"*

And the light of her horn became as brilliant as any sun's.

☼☼☼

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Soulshard roared, the eagerness and intrigue in the young ghouls' faces around her giving way to shock.

"Ms. Soulshard, are you OK!?" Silver Tongue eeped, gaining a glare from Bloody.

"W-What's wrong? Did she know the student?" Rainbow trembled.

"Sourcube... it's OK..." Applemoon said, moving to her side and nuzzling her. "It's alright... your friends are all here..."

"It was a long time ago..." Trixie whispered, nuzzling her as well. "Nothing to dwell on, Twilight..."

Still, Soulshard's rage continued to boil over into her expression.

"Oooo, looks like I hit a widdle nerve," Trollestia giggled as she held a sarcastic hoof up to her mouth. "Watcha gonna do, Sniffle Queen; going to go cry to my dearest sister? Or how bout your big, bad brother? You mad, Twilight?"

"BUCK OFF!" Soulshard roared, snapping towards her as her horn began a threatening glow.

"Dawwww, she is mad!” Trollestia chirped, now prancing about, before singing in a childish tone:

"The widdle girl who took a peak,

At something no eye should ever meet,

And whose poor teacher just couldn't let lie,

That it led her student to close her eyes.

Hehehehehe!"

"Oh my gosh... it was her..." Rainbow whispered in awe, unable to take her eyes off the Lich Queen.

As Scootaloo's jaw nearly hit the floor, a look of pure spite that she had never seen before came upon her new teacher's face.

"I SAID, BUCK OFF!.!.!"

However, just as she was about to perform a spell, a glowing blue sword came out of nowhere, decapitating the ghostly Princess in one, lightning-quick motion.

"Word of advice, bitch," Shadowed Armor growled, landing with a tremendous CLANK! and glaring at her as she began scampering about the floor like a headless chicken. "Don't mess with someone's sister when her brother owns a haunted blade."

The students of the group's jaws dropped, gazing up at Shadowed with both a mixture of fear and wonder.

SHIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNG!.!.!

He merely shrugged, sheathing his sword.

"What? She's a ghost. She'll get over it," he said coldly, before glaring at her again. "Though that's the thing about them: they don't meet the law of equivalent exchange. They can dish out more than they'll ever have to answer for if they abuse the gift they were given."

He then gestured towards the portals. "Now, I believe you have some sleep to get. Classes are still at 0700."

Clank!

Clank!

Clank!

He then turned, moving out of the room without saying another word.

After that, the mood was beyond tense, at least for those who knew Ms. Soulshard. The rest of the ghouls, however, still conversed about themselves merrily as they made their way into separated quarters.

By the time Congeria had led them to their dormitory, though, Scootaloo felt ready to collapse. She was barely aware of what was going on as she made her way to the first available bed she could find, placed Fangs on its nearby nightstand, and glided into a deep, haunted sleep.