Chapter 9

Professor Flintheart, The Potion Master

The first few days at Canterlot had been tough for Twilight and Applejack. They were constantly late for their classes as they couldn't find their way around the castle. Professor Cadance even considered transforming the two ponies into a pocket watch and map so they would make it to class on time. Despite the rough start to the school year, Twilight and Applejack enjoyed their classes and liked all of their teachers. All except for Professor Flintheart.

On the first day of potions class, Professor Flintheart stepped to the front of the classroom while giving cold stares to the first years. "While all of you are in my class, I will not tolerate disobedience!" the potion master spoke. "Those who break my rules will be punished severely!" he warned in a cold voice. This was only the first day of potions and everypony already felt terrified of their potions master. Flintheart finished calling out role call and glanced at Twilight. He was giving her the same cold stare he did back at the night of the feast. "Ah, Miss Sparkle! Our new celebrity!" he spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Don't think that you would get special treatment just because you are famous! Now Sparkle, what is the name of the potion that cures feather flu?" Flintheart asked. Twilight had no idea what the feather flu was. She didn't even know how to make potions. "I don't know, sir." Twilight told her teacher. Flintheart continued glaring at Twilight, making her feel intimidated. "Which potion would work best for curing petrification?" "I don't know, sir." Twilight repeated. "Clearly fame isn't everything, Sparkle." Flintheart scoffed.

"You clearly know nothing about potion making and showed that you have come to this class unprepared!" Twilight stared at her potion teacher in shock as Trixie and a few other Slytherins snickered at Twilight's expense. "Unprepared? But this is only the first-" "Silence!" Flintheart interrupted Twilight.

"I won't have you disrupt my class with your excuses! Five points from Gryffindor!" Twilight groaned as Flintheart marched back to his desk. This was just the beginning of the year and Twilight already lost points for her house. "For today's lesson, we will be making a cure for poison joke." Flintheart announced pushing a black cauldron to the center of the room. "I would need somepony to demonstrate the proper way to making this potion." He scanned the room and decided which pony should brew the potion. "Fluttershy! Step forward!" Flintheart commanded, frightening the shy pegasus.

"Yes sir." Fluttershy whispered. Fluttershy fearfully make her way to the cauldron avoiding eye contact with her teacher. Flintheart then gave Fluttershy a scroll that lists all the ingredients for the remedy. "I want you to follow this list exactly as it's written and don't skip any important details!" Fluttershy quickly added the ingredients to the cauldron and made sure she read the list carefully. However, Flintheart stopped Fluttershy about half way through the process. "No! No! No! It's all wrong! You were supposed to add the herbal flower before stirring!" he shouted frightening the pegasus even more.

"I'm really sorry, sir." Fluttershy apologized. "Don't be sorry! Be aware! Can't you do anything right?" Fluttershy started to cower and was more terrified than ever. "Hey! Leave Fluttershy alone! She's doing the best she can!" Twilight shouted from across the room. "Another disruption Miss Sparkle? That's another five points from Gryffindor. Keep this up and I will have you in detention for the whole month!" the potion master threatened. At this point, the cauldron started to bubble and the classroom was filled with smoke. Flintheart grabbed his wand and casted a spell to clear the room, allowing everypony to breath in fresh air.

"Well, thanks to Miss Sparkle and Miss Fluttershy, we won't be able to continue the lesson." Flintheart growled. "For homework today, I want everypony to gather the ingredients needed to brew the potion for poison joke! Class dismissed!" The Slytherins groaned feeling disappointed that they didn't get to learn anything from their potion master. The Gryffindors on the other hand, left the class in relief for surviving their first potions class.

The next morning, Twilight sat with her friends at breakfast telling them how awful potions class was. "I know some teachers are strict, but Professor Flintheart was just mean!" Twilight complained. "Listen, Twilight." Applejack spoke up. "It was nice of you to defend Fluttershy, but you wouldn't want to get on Professor Flintheart's bad side." "I must agree with Applejack." said Rarity. "Professor Flintheart can be quite nasty." "Well, teacher or not, he had no right to treat Fluttershy that way!" Twilight explained.

Everypony continued eating until they heard hooting sounds from above. They looked up to see dozens of owls flying with letters, envelopes, and news articles in their talons. They slowly descended dropping the mail to each student and teacher. "Is this how Canterlot gets it's mail?" Twilight wondered. Twilight continued eating knowing that she won't receive any mail. She saw Rarity reading letters from her parents, Applejack reading through news articles, and Fluttershy receiving a light-blue crystal orb.

"Hey look everypony! Fluttershy's got a memory crystal!" one of the Gryffindors gasped. "They say when it turns red it means you forgot something important." Fluttershy watched as the orb slowly turned red. "That's strange. I don't think I forgot anything." said Fluttershy. Twilight started to feel annoyed that she was the only pony in Canterlot who didn't receive a single letter and wanted to keep her mind off it. "Hey Applejack! Can I borrow that newspaper you are reading?" she asked. "Sure Twilight!" Applejack answered giving Twilight the newspaper. The unicorn kept skimming over the articles until one story caught her eye. An article on Diamond Dog Bank.

It read, 'Investigations continue on the break in at Diamond Dog Bank. The Diamond Dogs working there said that nothing was taken and never stated what they were trying to protect. All that can be said is that they will add extra security measures to vault 713.' "How strange." Twilight wondered to herself. "Wasn't that the same vault Big Mac and I visited?"