Lessons in quirks

by Mike84

Chapter XXI

Twilight was surprised not to find Spike in the library. She had half expected to find him still asleep or only just up, even though that would have been very late even by his standards. She was even more surprised when she found a little note he had left on top of the note she had left for him in the morning:

Sorry Twilight. I want to join you, but Inkhorn, just came here and asked me to come along to the town hall to answer some questions about the party yesterday. She says it is important (maybe they want to know how I managed to send all those invitations to everypony). I'll join you if it doesn't take too long.
See you later,
Spike

Twilight raised an eyebrow. She knew Inkhorn only casually. Inkhorn was a dark blue unicorn and was often seen with Featherscribe, a white pegasus. Both of them were working at the town hall. Maybe this pair was sort of a mixture between assistants to Mayor Mare, the earth pony, and representatives of their relative pony tribe. Pinkie had sometimes jokingly nicknamed the two as 'pen and paper'.

But why was an assistant to Mayor Mare asking Spike to answer questions about the party at the town hall? Perhaps Spike's guess that it might be about his sending out all the invitations was just a speculation of his pride over that accomplishment, but Twilight was a little suspicious. Spike's ability to send letters with his fire breath to a receiver in a matter of seconds was a talent that might be a little more interesting for any bureaucracy than Twilight approved of. Not that she had any concerns that her number one assistant might be lured into any other kind of job, but knowing just how helpful he was and how much he wished to please everypony, Twilight could easily imagine his goodwill getting exploited in case she didn't put her hoof down against any such attempts from anypony other than good friends such as Pinkie Pie.

Twilight was wondering whether she should head for the town hall right away or if perhaps that would be a little exaggerated, when the door was flung open and Spike rushed in. He only spotted her after a few steps, stopped in his tracks and looked a little disappointed.
"Hello Twilight. You're back."
"Hi Spike."
"I really wanted to join you. Now I missed the entire picnic, didn't I?"
"Oh, don't look like that, Spike", Twilight said with a tone to cheer him up. "I'm sure there will be another one soon. After all the stress yesterday I just didn't have it in my heart to rouse you this morning."

"I'll remind you of that next time you do", Spike said with a tone of sarcasm, but he smiled anyway.
"What did they want from you?" Twilight asked nodding at Spike's note.
Spike didn't look too happy. "It was a bit strange", he said. "They didn't really ask just me, but quite a few ponies were there to be asked about the party yesterday."
Twilight was surprised: "What did they ask?"
"Well, how I liked the party and if I had any ideas for a way Pinkie Pie could best be rewarded for her...", Spike seemed to be raking his brain.
"...for her 'continued services on behalf of public spirit of the citizens of Ponyville'?" Twilight asked, baffling Spike.
"That's what Mayor Mare mentioned to me too yesterday", she explained.
Spike nodded. "They didn't ask at all about the sending of the invitations", he said a little piqued.
"Not at all?" Twilight was surprised.
Spike shook his head. "They asked how long I stayed. Like they were in charge of my bed time!"
Spike folded his arms giving every impression of a very self-determined dragon.

"So what did you tell them?" Twilight asked.
"That I couldn't tell them when I left because I had fallen asleep on your back", Spike sighed clearly having caught the discrepancy of the tone and pose he had struck and his falling asleep and being carried home.
"Told them I was still up though by the time Frank left. They asked about him too."
"What did they ask?" Twilight demanded to know. She remembered having left Mayor Mare's question about Frank's accommodation unanswered.
"When he left, where he stayed... they also asked me what I could tell them about him."
Twilight gave him a look that made the question about what Spike had told them unnecessary.

"I told him he left before I did, that he wanted to put up a tent, I told them about him studying cutie marks and... well, pretty much what you told others too."
"Why do they ask you about Frank? Couldn't they ask him himself?"
"I think they wanted to. When Inkhorn came here this morning she asked for him too."
Twilight shrugged off any thoughts about the whole matter. It was not unusual for Mayor Mare to be interested in a pony that would, though only temporarily, stay in her town. If there was anything more important to ask Frank about, they would probably come again or visit him at his tent.
She suddenly remembered she still had a letter to write.
"Spike, can you take a letter to Princess Celestia?"
Her number one assistant nodded grabbing for a quill and a sheet of paper, but suddenly there was a growl of his stomach.
"I guess she can wait a few more minutes", Twilight laughed. "You didn't have any breakfast at all so far Spike?"
Spike shook his head giving her a grateful smile. "Like I said, I meant to join the picnic when Inkhorn showed up at the door."

Author's Note:

Last edited on December 10th 2015.

Comments

[Velvet-Fresh]

we share a similar OC it seems. I haven't used mine in any stories but i have a pony OC. The Similarities: Both Earth Ponies , both from Fillydelphia and both are scholars.

Differences, mine is red furred, black/dark brown mane and tail, only finished primary school before he went out of Filly to travel the world. His cutie mark represents planning/tactics, he stumbled into Ponyville after 2 years away from Equestria. He's a scholastic genius even outwitting a Canterlot professor.. but.. he's also a naive and child at heart.. and socially awkward.. more than Twilight even. In short, he's smart as an adult.. aswell as innocent and curious as a child.

[Mike84]

5980827
Hi and thank you very much for posting here
Those are some funny similarities. What is your OCs name? What does the planning/tactics cutie mark of your character show?

The pony I use as an avatar here is not the character from the story, Frank Blanket, by the way.
I liked the idea of an earth pony as a scholar and also that of one who is not born to riches. I recall that in some very, very early planing stages I thought he would become a villain, but the character turns out to be much more complex than I had expected and he keeps surprising me.
Not too long ago I noticed something that really took me totally by surprise, namely a number of paralells between this character and a historical figure. I am obsessed with history and while I am not American (or a native English speaker for that matter) I am very fascinated by Benjamin Franklin.
Quite recently I suddenly had a bit of a moment when I suddenly noticed: that not only did Frank Blanket sound somewhat similar to Benjamin Franklin, but Frank is from Philadelphia... pardon Fillydelphia, that he wears a hat that causes some raised eyebrows (as Benjamin Franklin's fur cap did when he was sent to France as an embassador), that he is very curious and (beside the Academy) much of an autodidact, that he invented stuff to make things easier for ponies (Franklin among other invented bifocals while Frank Blanket comes up with the modified horseshoe), while Franklin was not exactly a "hobo", he did run from home at a young age and both of them are writing a lot, and they both are / were socially capable (there may be a difference between our characters here). Frank Blanket is a bit of a nerd (quirky), and self-conscious about his cutie-mark, but not quite socially awkward ("showing the hoof the other pony likes best" as he put it))...
I was really baffled when I noticed all these paralells for I had never ever consciously intended Frank Blanket to be some kind of Equestrian Benjamin Franklin.
Frank Blanket also is far from perfect, quite smart, but not outwitting everypony and well aware of it. We are going to see some more flaws of his character too.