Quizzical Greystone Meets Her Old Magic Tutor · 2:23am Apr 2nd, 2017
(this takes place in the future; eight, perhaps nine, oh let's just call it several seasons into the future. Spoilers may occur. Or maybe not. If concerned, consult a calendar then relax).
The banging of the door knocker at the entrance of the Castle of Friendship rang through the castle's front hall.
"I will get it," called Quizzical Greystone.
"Quiz, you're a guest, sit down and relax, one of us will take care of it," answered Twilight Sparkle.
"It is no trouble, Princess Twilight. I was already on my hooves."
"Quiz, that's for me, let me get the door!" cried Starlight Glimmer, as she came dashing down the stairs from her room. She was hoping to intercept the visitor she expected before the bombastic mare completely overwhelmed the shy little unicorn.
"I am already at the door, Miss Starlight," answered the teenager. Quiz opened the door, allowing the mare waiting on the front step to sweep inside with a flourish.
"This evening may now begin, for the main event has arrived!"
"Miss... Lulamoon?"
"Quizzical?"
"Quiz? You know Trixie?" asked Starlight.
"Quizzical, it is you!" cried Trixie. Spike, Princess Twilight, and Sunset Shimmer entered from the throne room just in time to see Trixie lift Quiz in a exuberant embrace and spin her around. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has dearly missed her Little Assistant!"
"Eep!" gasped Quiz. "I... also remember you... quite fondly... Miss Lulamoon. Oh, dear..."
"Please, my Little Assistant, there is no need for formality between us. I asked you long to call me 'Trixie.'"
"Of course, Miss Lulamoon."
Trixie let out a pleased sigh. "It is good to know that some things will never change."
"Oh, I have to hear this," said Sunset. "Your 'Little Assistant'?"
Quiz blushed furiously. "Miss Lulamoon tutored me in magic during my first year at Princess Celestia's School. As I recall, my parents had grown a bit concerned about me, and hoped that Miss Lulamoon's somewhat flamboyant approach might do me some good. They were ready to try anything."
"And they were right! When I came to you an adult couldn't speak to you without inducing a panic attack!"
"That is true," admitted Quiz. "By the time Miss Lulamoon left I was able to be alone in a room with another pony without hiding."
"It was clear from the start that conventional methods would be pointless. As a practical magician poor Quiz was hopeless. No aptitude for teleportation, transmutation, or weather spells. She was also the weakest telekinetic I have ever known, though she did compensate for her lack of strength with outstanding fine control..."
"That's enough of that, Trixie," snapped Twilight. "Quiz is a brilliant theoretician. There's more to spell craft than just practical magic, you know!"
"Naturally, you would say that, Twilight. Quiz did show some skill with screens and wards, and her light and illusion spells showed great promise, even if all her applications were sadly bland. I actually learned a bit from the little filly in that respect."
"I did think your brute force approach to displays seemed impractical, and put some thought into finding a simpler and more elegant method," said Quiz.
Starlight laughed. "She's got you there, Trixie."
"Yes, well, fine. I hope you went on to do something useful with that, Quiz. Oh, and if you want funny stories I could tell you about Quiz's first attempts at the Come-To-Life spell."
Quiz sighed. "Again, true. Miss Lulamoon's teaching is the foundation for everything I know about that spell."
"That explains a lot," said Spike.
"Oh, I know you've improved since then," said Trixie. "Why don't you show me a little something..."
Spike, Twilight and Starlight cried out in unison, "Not inside the Castle!"
"This doesn't answer my question," said Sunset. "'Little Assistant'?"
"As Trixie has already said, conventional instruction would not work with poor Quizzical. So I decided instead to train her in stage magic."
"What?!"
"We had a little stage in the garden," said Quiz, very softly. "And we did shows for the servants, and my little sister."
"And Trixie has never worked with a finer stage aid! Quiz could work every lever, every rope and pulley, every trap door, and Trixie never had to repeat instructions! Quiz could cross the stage in full view of the audience and never be seen! Admittedly, all eyes were always on Trixie, but how Quiz managed to remain invisible in her sparkly costume continues to boggle the mind."
"I totally believe that," said Spike.
Twilight did a double take. "Wait, did you say 'sparkly costume'?"
"It had sequins," moaned Quiz. "Many sequins. An astonishingly great number of sequins, given how little fabric there was."
"Unfortunately, as good as she was managing the stage, that did not translate into being a good magician's assistant. The magician's pretty assistant is meant to show off the various magical apparatus, not to hide behind it. The point to being on a stage is to be seen by an audience, Quiz always seemed confused by this simple concept."
"So, what happened to your teaching career, Trixie?" Spike glared at her. "Did the Greystone's double check your credentials?"
"Um... well, yes... actually..."
"Miss Lulamoon's teaching certificate was traced to a print shop in Manehattan called 'Diplomas Galore!' We were told she was a regular and received a bulk order discount." said Quiz. "I was the only one you said good-bye to before taking the money and running."
"I couldn't leave without saying good-bye to you," said Trixie. "Would you feel better if I said the money was life changing for me? By that, Trixie means it was enough money to escape from the rock farm, with enough left over to make a small purchase."
"Small purchase?" exclaimed Twilight. "You used money from Quiz's parents to buy...?"
"Actually, Trixie, why don't you join us for dinner," interrupted Sunset. "You could tell us about little Quiz, and we could tell you what Professor Greystone has been doing since you knew her? Want to know about the two times she was lost in another dimension?"
"Really? Twilight, have you been losing your student through the portal?"
"Actually, the second time was my fault," said Starlight.
"I am no longer allowed in the room when the portal is active," said Quiz, pouting a bit.
"You know, Quiz is the only pony Aria Blaze actually likes," said Sunset. "True story."
"Excellent! Let me run out to my wagon for my photo album. You'll be amazed how adorable Quiz looks when she's sparkly!"
And so, they all enjoyed a fine dinner, and embarrassed Quiz with many very spoilery stories that I simply don't have the heart to write.
Thank you, and good night.
Seems legit!
Excellent.
I'm quite interested in this, and I'll be delighted to see this story posted. I'll admit though, I'd love to see you finish the current long-running Quizzical story before you jump into the future like this.
Pretty good story-lette. A few corrections:
Losing.
Dinner.
Only Quizzical could hide in plain sight while wearing sequins,
Quiz is the only pony who could exchange with her human mirror self for a week and nobody would notice.
4480573 <<<This. More Quizzical is always good but we'd love to finish the journey she's on.
Her lack of contractions is still entertaining.
You know, if you really wanted to troll us, you could have had Nyx running in at the end.
I have so many questions...
4480584
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Darling as always n_n
4480973 I have so few answers...
4480937 I didn't think of that. Problematic, as believe it or not I have never read Past Sins.
4480573
4480590 How badly would you like to know how Basements of Doom ends? I could PM you that right now.
I will finish! And I won't get side tracked with anything bigger than a novella before that (no epics for me until Basements of Doom is finished). If you're frustrated then try and imagine how I feel. I can see what Quiz is doing into middle age.
4481146 Oh, I can wait, I just know that sometimes stories get put on endless hiatus, and considering how long it's been since the last update, I wasn't sure what was going on with the story. I know sometimes it can be easier to put a new idea out there than to work on an old one, especially if you're facing writer's block, but I'm glad to hear you're pressing on.
4481146 No nonononoonononononono. no.
As much as we love your world I think we were worried you were starting another story before ending Basement of Doom.
I can wait,
Oh, right, this is April Fools. The canonicity of this is unknown... Whoops!
Really love how this ties people together, especially loving the interactions between Quiz and Trixie!
So, Quiz's first year was in Season 2 or so... What happened to her when Discord escaped??
... Then there's Tirek, and everything... But that's after the current present of the timeline, in Basements, so disregarding that.
All I really want to know, to get the timeline straight, is if Quiz joined Twilight and Spike to retrieve the Element of Magic, or if she wasn't part of that adventure. A simple yes or no, please?
That Aria Blaze bit, though. Wow.
4847418
No, Quiz didn't go on that adventure. Twilight actually finds ways to keep Quiz safely out of the way for most adventures.