Scootaloo and the School of Ghouls

Scootaloo awoke the next morning to the curious squeaks of Fangs. It was sort of a relief, as her previous night had been filled with strange dreams about what seemed to be a land decorated in candy canes, bright lights, and factories, though she had no idea why this was.

"Good morning, dear," a ghostly, surreal voice called from before her bed.

Scootaloo gave a yawn, the world around her still hazy. "Good morning, Rarity."

Her eyes then widened.

"Wait, what?!"

There was small laugh, before her world came into focus, and sure-enough, floating about the girl's dormitory was a ghostly, transparent version of Rarity.

"I'm afraid you've got the wrong fashionita," she said with a slight chuckle, her horn glowing brightly every few seconds as she summoned various small pieces of paper that were placed on each student's bed table. "I am the appointed ghost of Noctus tower, you see. I'm here to make sure it's kept fabulous!"

"Oh, that's right... you're uh..." She winced, trying to think of the right pun. "You're Scarity, right?"

She gave a nod, smiling warmly her way. "That is correct."

"Hey, Scarity!" Scootaloo heard Sweetie chirp merrily

"Oh, hello dearest!" Scarity chirped back, not surprisingly in a sisterly-like tone. "I must say, I'm glad you three at least made it into Noctus! I can't believe my dear Rotten would avoid her sister like that!" she huffed.

"Awww, don't feel bad," Sweetie said. "We didn't really have that much of a say in things. She was just too smart for her own good!"

Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom, now just waking up, tossed her a look.

She raised her eyebrows. "What?!"

"You do realize you're essentially tootin' your own horn," Apple Bloom smirked sarcastically.

Sweetie simpered slightly, chuckling. "Oh, heh... whoops, didn't mean to sound so... arrogant."

"Eh, it's whatever," Scootaloo said, yawning as she rose from bed and fluttered her new batwings, which she had to admit, after giving them a glance, looked pretty cool. She just wished she could still see her own reflection to check them out fully.

"Well, I do suppose I should be proud of her, then," Scarity smiled. "I wasn't there for the proceedings. I was too busy setting up Noctus tower, or at least adding to what Nightmare Moon put here! I'm sure you'll find her common rooms most luxurious!"

"Sounds awesome!" Scootaloo said, before giving a curious glance towards what Scarity was passing out. "Whatcha handin' out, though?"

"Why, your schedules, dear!" Scarity said. "I thought it'd be nice for you to be able to know your time-tables right off the bat."

"Thanks, Scarity," Sweetie beamed, before taking a glance at her schedule.

Scootaloo quirked an eyebrow, before slowly picking hers up as well and giving it a look over.

Monday Classes

Vampiric Instinct Control - Flutterfright - 7:45 AM

Basic Mathematics - The Count -  9:00 AM

The Other Side - Twilight Sparkle - 11:00 AM

Cooking With Slicey - Pinkie Slice - 1:00 PM

Killing Dark Creatures (And Being Awesome While Doing It) - Rainbow Death - 3:00 PM

Basic Potion Crafting - Zehorra - 4:30 PM

Scootaloo smiled slightly. Vampiric instinct control was her first class. Though they weren't bothering her as much lately, she was still happy she'd be able to get a head start on it. Merrily, she turned towards her friends, who were still looking over their schedules.

"Hey, did any of you guys get Twilight's class?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Apple Bloom smiled. "Heh, too bad I won't have much of a leg up there, though. Never was much for history in regular ole' school, if that's what it's about." She then scratched her head, groaning. "Ugh, I also got math with someghoul called 'The Count’, though. I don't think I could count my way out of a paper bag."

"Me too," Scootaloo sulked.

"Same," Sweetie said, though with a hint of a smile.

"This one sounds pretty neat, though," Apple Bloom grinned, reading off: "'Killing Dark Creatures - Rainbow Death.'"

"Wooo yeah! I have that too!" Scootaloo beamed. "A class taught by Rainbow Death? How could that not be anything but unleaded awesome!"

"I have that one too!" Sweetie smirked. "You know, I think it's safe to assume that any non-specialized classes, like magic for me, we're all taking together."

"You got a class in magic?" Scootaloo said, perking an eyebrow.

"Yup, with Princess Congeria first thing in the morning!" Sweetie grinned, waving her schedule around. "Basics of General Magic."

"Mmmmmm," Vlad Seed grumbled from a nearby bed, her eyes fluttering open. "Ugh, could you guys talk any louder?"

"Sorry!" they called together.

At that, Vlad gave a yawn, rising from her bed and smacking her lips over her fangs. "Eh, it's whatever. Probably time for classes, anyway, isn't it?"

"Woah! She's right!" Sweetie cried, pointing at a nearby grandfather clock. "It's almost 6:30 and I've got a class at 7:15!  Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot!"

"Chill, Sweetie," Scootaloo chuckled. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time for breakfast."

"Y-Yeah, but what if one of those portals takes us to the wrong place! What if we run into Princess Trollestia and she holds us up! What if-"

"Are ya sure you're not Twilight's sister?" Apple Bloom smirked, before rising out of bed. "Come on, let's just relax and go n' eat!"

With that, the three collected themselves before making their way into the commons, various colt ghouls from the boys dormitory already gathered there, discussing their schedules. True to Scarity's words, the commons were quite luxurious... for a ghoul's tastes. Naturally, they were (surprise, surprise) covered in cobwebs and darkly lit, with various pieces of ancient furniture settled about them.

Still, it being Nightmare Moon's house, there was a bit of an astronomy theme. The ceilings seemed to have some sort of magic placed on them to make them look like a twirling night sky, with a brilliant, blue moon watching over them. There was also a small, transparent orb-like being floating about the ceiling, who delightfully cried:

"Space! SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE! Yayyyy! Look at all the space! Who doesn't like space? Do you guys like space?! I like it! Oooo, planets! Stars! SPAAAAAAAAAACE!"

However, to Scootaloo's surprise, in one small corner was a more brightly lit area, with fancy, real-world standard furniture sitting by a burning fireplace.

"I thought that our mortal guests may like a little piece of comfort for their own," Scarity smiled, noticing Scootaloo was looking towards it. "A bit of home away from home, you could say."

"It looks really nice, Scarity!" Sweetie beamed, before sulking a somewhat guilt-ridden head. "You didn't have to do that, though."

"Nonsense," she chuckled, rolling her eyes. "I've haunted enough houses of the other side during Nightmare Night to know how they look, and I do enjoy a good challenge once and a while."

At that, Scootaloo glanced about the room a bit more. There were a number of paintings on the wall whose eyes seemed to be following them, and on one wall a black slime of some sort seemed to be dripping down it, earning the winces of her friends. The whole thing looked positively creepy.

The centerpiece of the room, however, was a small, stone well, which had a swirling, blue substance within it.

"What's that?" Scootaloo asked the ghostly Rarity.

"Oh, just something to perk you up a bit if you need it," Scarity smiled. "Dearest Pinkie concocted it en masse, though I think it was Nightmare Moon's original recipe." She then held up a foreboding hoof. "Don't drink too much of it, though, or you'll regret it later when you start crashing."

"Oi, this stuff is bloody brilliant!" Pipbossa said, gulping down cup after cup in his fleshy form. "Bit of toad's wart n' black eel I tastes, me thinks."

Sweetie gagged slightly under her breath, as Scarity winced at the amount of the stuff he was drinking.

"Easy there, young ghoul!" she yelled, quickly aparrating to his side. "Drink too much of that and your soul will be aching later!"

"Meh, souls are overrated," he shrugged, continuing to drink.

"Uh... do you have coffee, by any chance?" Sweetie grinned sheepishly.

"Down in the Great Hall, dear," Scarity said, snatching the cup of soul juice, or whatever it was, out of Pipbossa's hooves with bit of levitating magic.

"Hey!" he grumbled, Scarity giving him a look that said he wasn't getting it back. "Oi! Fine, deny me of my good grade-juice..." he sighed, Scarity rolling her non-corporeal eyes.

"So, did any of you guys happen to get Math or this Killing Dark Creatures class?" Pipsqueak asked, turning towards his friends.

"Yep!" the Crusaders beamed.

"Ah, good, I was afraid of uh... of leaving you guys all alone. Wouldn’t want that," he said, blushing Scootaloo's way.

The vampiric filly merely chuckled.

"It's alright, Pip, you won't have to sit all by yourself," Scootaloo said, sticking her tongue out.

He quickly glanced away from her, his face turning redder.

"Come on, yall, my tummy's starting to rumble," Apple Bloom complained, glancing about. "Though where's the darn door to this place?"

"Over there, dear," Scarity said, gesturing towards what seemed to be a miniature black hole, accretion disk and all, twirling upon the wall.

"Uh... that's the door?" Apple Bloom gulped, sweat-dropping.

"I... don't know about ghouls, but black holes and mortals don't really... mix well," Sweetie squeaked, with an equal amount of nervousness in her voice.

"Oh, don't be silly, it won't hurt a bit," Scarity said encouragingly, gesturing them forward.

There was another beat of silence, the group continuing to glance upon it warily.

Finally, Pipsqueak took a deep, brave breath.

"Well, alright, I suppose if there's no other option," he said, leading his group of friends (Pipbossa included) towards it.

It was quite bright for something in the Nightmare Realm, and at first, it seemed like it was just going to be any other portal. However, as they drew closer, the group gave a collective gasp... for soon they found that they were being pulled towards it.

"Oh bloody hell! This feeeeelssss weeeeiiiirrrrrrrrrrd!" Pipsqueak cried.

And to Scootaloo's horror, the closer he got to the black hole, the slower he seemed to speak.

"Time distortion!" Sweetie gasped, desperately trying to back away from it now, glancing towards Scarity with pleading eyes. "Are you sure this is WOOOAAAAAAAH-"

Soon, Scootaloo and her friends were off their feet. And to her shock, she found herself being stretched from the tip of her rear hooves, like a great force was tugging upon it and not the rest of her body...

Though to be honest, it actually felt pretty good.

Then, the group disappeared into the center of it, Scarity rolling her eyes yet again.

"Mortals," she chuckled.

"SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEEEE!"

Scarity gave a glare, wincing slightly. "Ugh! Not so loud! Don't make me get the broom again!"

☼☼☼

A second later the group was deposited less-than-gracefully within a massive, stony hall, having come from a bright, white version of the black hole they had entered behind them.

"Ugggggh," Sweetie groaned, groggily rising to her hooves. "I'm not sure if that's the coolest thing that's ever happened to me or the worst..."

"Mmm, well, I'm sure we'll get used to it," Scootaloo chirped optimistically, before gesturing them down the hall. "Come on; let's go find the portal to the hub."

☼☼☼

After about five minutes of searching, they eventually conceded they had no idea where they were going and asked one of the various, animated portraits on the hall for directions. Finally, they were back at the Great Hall, with little time remaining (at least for Sweetie). She scarfed down her breakfast in a blur, before smiling her friends’ way and jetting towards her first class, a jovial grin on her face Scootaloo hadn't seen since the time she won the Sisters’ Social.

Obviously, learning magic meant a lot to her.

Finally, the clock struck 7:30, and Scootaloo bid ado to the remainder of her friends as she made her way to the portal hub, viewing, to her amusement, Princess Trollestia's body still scampering around, looking for her head. (Scootaloo vaguely remembered seeing it on a blue, glowing pike in the Great Hall, obviously courtesy of Shadowed. Though she supposed her body didn’t know that.)

Finally, she stepped into her first class. It was bland for the most part, though very dark considering it was for vampires. Still, she found she could see pretty well. She just wished Fangs was with her to enjoy the 'sights', for she had let him go earlier to explore the castle.

Weirdly enough, she found herself being one of the first students there. Though soon, many more began to saunter in. Most of whom she had never talked to before save for Vlad Seed. Finally, when the twenty or so seats were filled up, Flutterfright entered the room, looking nervous, but determined.

"Good morrow, class," she said.

"Good morrow, ma'm," the class replied groggily.

"M-My name is Flutterfright," she squeaked, composing herself slightly. "I'd tell you about myself, but... that probably wouldn't interest you that much..."

The class seemed apathetic, though Scootaloo, feeling sorry for her, quickly beamed her way:

"Of course it'd be interesting! Who doesn't want to hear about one of the Elements of Fear?"

At that, the class showed a bit more enthusiasm for the prospect. Scootaloo smiled slightly to herself. At least her fame could be used as a tool for decency, and not just an annoyance prodding her every second.

"Yeah, let's hear it!" Vlad Seed chirped.

"I vould very much desire to hear it as well," another vampire said, who Scootaloo recognized from the assigning as Alucard.

"W-Well, alright..." Flutterfright said, smiling slightly. "If it’s alright with you, h-here it goes.

Flutterfright then gave a brief recap of her life, including her activities at the most recent Nightmare Night, and to Scootaloo's satisfaction, the class actually seemed to be at least somewhat interested before she finished up a few minutes later.

"Now, then," Flutterfright said, a bit of confidence gaining in her voice. "You're all probably wondering why Instinct Control is an entire class, and not just a portion of a more general one. The answer to that is simple: it takes a lot of practice to master. I know some of you probably don't mind feeding off others, especially mortals, but I personally find it... s-somewhat distasteful. Um... no pun... intended? And even so, there will always be a time where you need to keep it at bay."

Scootaloo gave a smile. At least this teacher and she seemed to have a somewhat similar mindset.

"N-Now, I will start you off with the theory on how to control it, as well as some techniques. And then, at the end of the week, you will be given a test that will judge your ability to handle yourself... with live prey being brought in the room. On the day of it, all blood fountains will be turned off... as... cruel as that sounds, I suppose.”

There was a grumble of disapproval in the room, though noghoul seemed to object further.

"Anyway" Flutterfright said. "Instinct control is not about fighting the voice in your head directly. It's about learning to simply ignore it. This may seem easy enough, but at times, it will become grating. Only time itself will help you fully master doing this, as you gradually become less perturbed by it and more comfortable, but there are certain techniques I can teach you that will help keep it in the back of your head, the main being meditation."

"Ugggh... seriously? We're going to be learning how to meditate? How boring can you get!" one of the vampires groaned from the back of the room.

"Well, I know it sounds boring," she whimpered, before a small, black bunny with glowing red eyes who had been standing by her prodded her slightly, which seemed to snap her into a more assertive modus operative. "I mean- I'm sorry if you feel it's... beneath you!" Flutterfright growled, surprising Scootaloo with a bit of a backbone. "B-But it's the best way to control it. The calmer you are, the easier it is to deal with. One of the most famous vampires in history, whose daughter sits right before you-"

Scootaloo simpered slightly, sulking her head in embarrassment.

"-once said that your instincts are like an annoying troll. Arguing with it can be called 'feeding the troll.' Don't feed the troll and it will eventually get bored and saunter off back to whatever basement it crawled out."

'She lies! We's no troll! Don'ts listen to her! She's a faggots! She's retardeds stupids! She's a retardeds stupids faggot!' her instincts suddenly growled.

"Ugh, shut up will you?! I'm trying to pay attention!" Scootaloo whispered to herself, before wincing at the fact she just fed the troll.

'Hahas, there is nos stopping me! Feeds me Scootaloo... feeeds me all night long...'

"Celestia, strike me down... please just strike me down..." Scootaloo whimpered.

"So... that will work against Princess Trollestia, too?" one of the students asked.

"W-Why yes," Flutterfright nodded, before sniffing slightly and gulping: “well, unless she's pelting you with water balloons filled with liquid rainbow the night of the Yule Ball... when you have date with Nosferatu..."

The class raised their eyebrows.

"Not that that ever happened to me, though!" Flutterfright grinned sheepishly, before clearing her throat and saying: "Now, can anyghoul tell me exactly what meditation is?"

A few ghouls raised their hooves, as Scootaloo desperately tried to block the voice in her head chanting:

'Fresh bloods is best...'

Scootaloo gave a tremendous groan, as the class... and the morning itself dragged on and on.

☼☼☼

Basic Mathematics

9:00 AM

"I hate math... I hate math... I hate math.... Math sucks….  Math sucks..." Apple Bloom muttered to herself, all but banging her head on her desk as a purple-coated stereotypically-dressed vampire droned on and on their lesson.

"Now! Vat comes after nine?" he said, grinning.

"Ten!" the class chirped.

"Yes! Ten! Ah ah ah!" he laughed.

"Good Celestia, does he think noghoul here learned how to count?" Sweetie whispered to Scootaloo, who merely shrugged in response. At least this class would give her the chance to practice meditation.

"Very good! You have all mastered the prime numbers!" the Count said merrily. "Now, for basic addition. Who here can tell me what one plus one equals?!"

Sweetie all but facehoofed.

"Ooo! Ooo! I know that one!" Apple Bloom chirped, raising her hoof.

"Ves! You!"

"Two! One apple added to another apple equals two apples!" Apple Bloom smiled.

"Very good, young mortal!" The Count grinned. "Five points to Noctus House! Ah ah ah!"

☼☼☼

The Other Side

11:00 AM

"Hello everypony!" Twilight Sparkle chirped, Spike standing near her looking bored as could be. "Or everyghoul, I should say!" she giggled to herself.

The class stared at her blankly in response, as crickets chirped from… somewhere.

"Uh, Twilight... maybe you should uh... stick to your guns, no offense," Spike said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Er, right," Twilight simpered, before composing herself and saying, "Anyway, welcome to the first ever class in Bogmorts dedicated to teaching you the ways of the other side!"

"Yeah, and I wonder why they didn't do it before?" Bloody Tiara growled. (This class had a mix of Mortus and Noctus students in it). "Oh, that’s right! Because it's friggin' stupid! Who cares about the other side?!"

The other Mortus students giggled, Scootaloo quickly shooting them a death glare.

"Actually, it wasn't my idea," Twilight Sparkle said, her smile not faltering. "I was asked to come here by Ms. Soulshard."

"Surprise, surprise," Bloody grunted. "Our ever-competent former headmistress wants us to learn a bit about the oh-so-delicate mortals-“

Suddenly, she was halted by a hiss coming from the shadows.

"Hmmmmm?" it echoed.

At that, both Twilight and Spike stood stoically as Shadowed Armor stepped out into the damp light, the entire class's eyes widening as a collective gulp was given from both houses.

"Oh, sorry everyghoul! I forgot to mention that Shadowed was observing this class," Twilight smirked.

"Simply for my own curiosity's sake," he said softly, his armor standing still, and somehow, the fact his expression was hidden from everyghoul made him all the more menacing. "I want to see if this class is worth the time."

Twilight took a deep breath at that, though her smile did not falter. "I'm sure it will be, Shadowed."

"We shall see," he growled, before gesturing her onward. "Well, carry on, then. Impress me..."

"Haha, she is totally screwed!" Bloody grinned.

At that, Shadowed’s head snapped towards her so fast Scootaloo thought it was going to twist off its armor.

"She's here to impress me, not you," he growled. "And I must say, showing disrespect to your teachers would normally lead you to finding yourself against the whipping board at the school I formally taught in."

Bloody quickly gulped.

"Luckily for you, though, we're not at the guard academy,” he said softly. “Twenty points from Mortus."

The Noctus students giggled in delight, to which Shadowed quickly gave a growl at as well, their mouths immediately snapping shut.

"Thank you, Shadowed," Twilight said, giving him a slightly annoyed look. "But if you wouldn't mind... it is my class."

"My apologies," he said, without the least bit of a hint he was. "I will... refrain from speaking the rest of my time here."

"Thank you," Twilight said, smiling, before clearing her throat. "Now then, I'm having Spike here pass out a small test that will allow me to accurately judge your knowledge of my side of the fence. Please fill it out to the best of your abilities. However, be advised that this test isn't going to be graded."

There were sighs of relief at that, before Scootaloo turned towards Sweetie and whispered:

"What's with the whole points thing?"

Sweetie merely smiled. "It's a competition," she whispered back. "Whoever gets the most points by the end of the semester wins some sort of prize."

Scootaloo's eyes widened, a competitive grin coming upon her. "Well, guess we have a goal to work towards, don't we?"

"Scootaloo," Twilight said with a sarcastic smirk. "Something you want to tell to the rest of the class?"

"Er, no ma'm," she gulped, straightening herself. "Sorry, ma'm."

"It's alright, though everyghoul please try to keep the chatter down when there's a lesson in progress," Twilight said, a few groans emanating afterwards, to which she quickly rolled her eyes at, sighing. "Yes, I know it's no fun, but it's for your own good. The more you focus, the better your grades will be."

"And the better of a teacher she'll look," Spike grinned from the front of the room, the class quickly chuckling.

Twilight quickly tossed him a glare. "Shouldn't you be hanging out with your bony counterpart?"

"Na, he said he's catching up with some old friends," Spike smirked.

☼☼☼

"Spyro, got any threes?" bone-dragon Spike grunted, sitting around a table in a hidden room with a few fellow, pint-sized dragons.

"Go fish," the purple dragon smirked.

"Awww man," Spike sighed, grabbing another card.

"Ugh, this game is so stupid! Can't we just go... you know... hit the hubbly bubbly?” another dragon grinned deviously. “It’ll help you get back to sleep.”

"Puff, that's all you ever want to do," Spike groaned. "And I'm made of bones! I can't get high on that stuff anymore!"

"Dude, it's not the high that matters ... it's the... it's the moment, you know? The magic moment of hitting it that counts!" Puff the Magic Dragon oozed, his eyes sparkling.

Spike face-clawed in annoyance. "You're such a bucking idiot, Puff."

☼☼☼

Cooking With Slicey

1:00 PM

A strange, charred and burnt version of Pinkie danced around a boiling cauldron, now not wearing the curious clawed glove Scootaloo had seen on Nightmare Night, though her fedora still sat upon her head.

She seemed to be a competent teacher for the most part, and the class wouldn't be so bad; if not for the fact she treated it like a horrible musical:

"All you have to do is take some Eye of Newt,

And add it to the mix!

Now for something anyghoul's soul can consume,

Some liquid Rainbow, just a pinch!

Baking these treats is such a cinch!

Just a teaspoon of Frog's Brain!

Add a little more, and you count to four,

And it'll never be a pain!

Hellcakes! So black and tasty!

Hellcakes! Don't be too hasty!

Hellcakes! Hellcakes, Hellcakes, HELLCAKES!"

The ghouls of the class applauded and hollered in glee as she finished, all except for the token mortals.

"Where's the waste basket?" Apple Bloom said, her cheeks puffing out and green.

"Yep, scurvy's sounding nice right about now," Pipsqueak groaned.

Scootaloo, however, found herself to be less sick than... hungry.

'Hehehe, you likes it, don'ts you?'

"Shush..." Scootaloo grunted.

'Fresh bloods is best...'

At that, Scoots eye twitched.

"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

"Whoops! Time's up!" Pinkie beamed merrily. "I'll see you all on Wednesday! Sweet dreams... hehehe..."

There were a few groans of disapproval as the class packed up their things and made their way outside.

"Uhhhh, does that sound totally wrong to anypony else?" Pip gulped.

"Don't worry, she's not that creepy, she just likes tormenting people in their dreams," a ghoul said from nearby.

"I feel so much better now..."

☼☼☼

Scootaloo and friends then sauntered out of the class and into the hall, most of them already looking tired. And the day was only half over…

"Ugh... well that was kind of a drag," Sweetie said, grunting. "I liked my first class, though! Congeria knows her stuff when it comes to magic!"

"Yeah, my first class was pretty cool, too," Scootaloo smiled. "Flutterfright's actually a decent teacher. And Twilight's class wasn't bad either."

"Heh, yeah, cus we scored like thirty points to Noctus in it," Apple Bloom grinned. "I don't think Bloody's face could have been redder."

A slight chuckle soon followed.

"Eh, I don't know bout you lot, but Pinkie’s class was bloody wicked!" Pipbossa smirked. “Never seen anyghoul add Frog’s Brain to Hellcakes before, but I think it’s bloody genius now that I think of it.”

The mortals gave him a blank look. "Wicked for a ghoul maybe," Sweetie grunted, before glancing towards Scootaloo. "So, what's next, anyway? I went and lost my schedule…"

A curious look coming upon her, Scootaloo whipped out the small piece of paper, quickly glancing it over as a wicked grin came to her face.

"Killing Dark Creatures with Rainbow Death."