This story is a sequel to Quizzical

Quizzical Greystone is about to have her first Hearts And Hooves Day in Ponyville. She takes copious notes. Not a Quiz shipfic (probably).

When a botched assassination attempt send Celestia and Luna to the hospital, it's up to Twilight and her friends to see to their duties. Item one on the agenda: preventing a war with the griffons.

Princess Celestia is the paragon of everything good and pure. Noble, fair and righteous. Beloved by all, and pillar of stability for Equestria since the time of Discord.

And currently not available.

My name is Frank, the new guy in charge of this body. I'm here to fulfill all your princess needs, until I find something better to do.

Human turned X fic. Post Season 3, but ignores season 4.

Cover art by Nun2artzy

Applejack expected a lot, when she got an invitation from Cherilee to talk about Applebloom.

But not this.

A little One-Shot, I had to get out of my head.

Edit February 12th, 2014: Major props to Frission, for proofreading the story and making it more readable. You rock!

I don't plan to add something as of now, but maybe I will in the future.

Applejack lives under the sword of Damocles. Her family, her friendships, and her happy life in Ponyville would come crashing down if anypony ever asked her one simple question: "Are you an alicorn?"

Berry Punch was an alcoholic. Everypony in Ponyville knew this. She knew this.

But she never had a good enough reason to quit drinking.

And then, one night, she got one.

When Rarity is overwhelmed with making designs for an agriculture exhibition, she turns to Applejack for advice. But when she gives Applejack a hair style treatment in return, the apple farmer lets her accent slip from southern drawl to sophisticated Manehattenite. The result? More fancy parties than you can shake a candy apple at!

On an unassuming carnival midway in central Equestria sits the key to your dreams: A machine that lets you, for a short time, live a life in which your greatest regret never occurred.

These are the stories of what happens after those fantasies are over.

Each chapter is a complete, self-contained vignette (though their order of presentation is deliberate).

Reviews and other word-of-mouth:
• Highly Recommended by Titanium Dragon! "Each of the four stories is good in their own way."
• Featured by Seattle's Angels! "If the introspection or feels aren’t quite up your alley, the comedic punchline just might be, thus this fic has a little something for everyone."
• Also reviewed by PaulAsaran, Present Perfect, City of Doors, and Chris! Recommended by The Brony Bookclub!
• "'The Lotus Eaters' was the story that made me realize horizon wasn't just good, he was really good." —Bad Horse

CONTINUITY NOTE:
This is set in the same continuity as my previous story No Regrets. Reading that first will enhance your enjoyment of both stories, but is not required to appreciate this.

After you're done with TLE, here are the author's notes (contain mild spoilers).

There is a Party that is every party. One day, it wanted a friend.

*The Pinkie Pie vector for the image was originally done by DrDraze. The main body of the picture is M. C. Escher's Print Gallery*

It's Ponyville's 100th birthday, and Mayor Mare has a plan. Like all great plans, it is simple:

1) Give the greatest speech she's ever written.
2) Impress everypony in the audience (including Princess Celestia).
3) Get out of this hick town with its hick politics, and take her rightful place among the Canterlot Council.

She's even got Granny Smith, Ponyville's oldest and most scatterbrained living resident to give the opening remarks. After an introduction like that, there's no way she could look anything but spectacular. Right?