Lessons in quirks

by Mike84

Chapter L

"Well...", Rainbow Dash sighed, "...let's go to the library, Pinkie. I just wish we had something more to tell Twilight."
But almost the moment she said it, Rainbow Dash's face brightened up a little as she saw Scootaloo closely followed by Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom coming round the next corner.
"Hi Scoots, hi girls!" she said.
"Hello Rainbow!" Scootaloo said, stopping her scooter, her face too brightening up at the sight of her idol.
"Are you coming from Miss Cheerilee? How is she doing?" Pinkie Pie asked while, in memory of having been cornered by the Cutie Mark Crusaders the previous day, she took a little cover behind Rainbow Dash.

"She's alright, Ah reckon", Apple Bloom said. "Better at least than she was yesterday."
"But she still doesn't remember anything about yesterday morning", Sweetie Belle said. "Zecora came by and tried to help her remember something, but she didn't."
"What did she do?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"First she just talked to her and then, when Miss Cheerilee agreed to be hypnotized, she gave her some very weird looks. Reminded me a bit of Fluttershy's stare, but still different somehow. She also gave her some fancy potion to drink. It made Miss Cheerilee all relaxed and engrossed, but she ain't rememberin' a thing about before we found her yesterday", Apple Bloom answered.
"Zecora said that Miss Cheerilee just doesn't seem to have any memory at all to that time and that therefore there isn't any memory to restore."

For a moment, Rainbow Dash was wondering what it might have sounded like to hear Zecora lay out all that in rhymes.
"Are the others still there with Miss Cheerilee?" she asked.
"They're right behind us", Scootaloo said. "Applejack, Rarity and Zecora, that is. When we told that Twilight said it would be safer for everypony not to stay alone, Big Mac decided to stay for the time being."

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes so ostentatiously that it was impossible for Pinkie Pie to ignore.
"Don't you like that? I thought you even poisoned them into liking each other?"
"An' we won't ever hear the end of that story, will we?" Apple Bloom said annoyed. "I swear he just calls her shmoopy-doopy when we are around to hear it just to rub it in!"
"Would you rather have him call her that when we are not around as well?" Scootaloo asked.
"Of course not!" Apple Bloom said looking horror-struck at the idea of her big brother sounding like a goofball without it being the result of either a poisoning or deliberate acting to annoy her.

At this moment Applejack, Rarity and Zecora came round the corner from where the Cutie Mark Crusaders had come before.
"Hi Rainbow, hi Pinkie", Applejack greeted. "Ah was wondering if we would still find y'all here. You didn't have a chance to talk to Inkhorn yet?"
"We did talk to her", Pinkie said.
"We were about to head to Twilight to tell her about it", Rainbow Dash added. "Though there is really nothing new to tell about. Inkhorn says she just didn't see Swallowtail's name because she looked in the wrong part of the register and she didn't say anything about Frank attacking her that hasn't been said during the hearing already."

Rainbow's voice had given away her disappointment and frustration quite clearly.
"We do not have so many news to tell her either", Rarity said as if to comfort Rainbow. "Only that Miss Cheerilee is feeling better, but still does not remember a thing about yesterday morning."
"Does she remember talking to Filthy?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Rarity frowned at the use of the name Mr. Rich didn't like himself and it was Applejack who responded: "She does remember that one, but it's not like there was anything special about it. Cheerilee says Mr. Rich just asked some general stuff like how school was running, how many kids were in her class at the moment... stuff like that."

"Nothing at all about his daughter and Frank?" Rainbow Dash asked raising an eyebrow.
"Not from what Miss Cheerilee remembers and she said she remembers everything until the next morning where she doesn't remember anything at all anymore", Rarity said.
"And you couldn't help her, Zecora? And what about Mr. Rich? Did you talk to him too? Did he remember anything?"
Zecora began to chant:

"I talked to Mr. Rich before
I knocked on Miss Cheerilee's door.
He told me the memory of her
suffers from the selfsame blur.

But alas more than blur it is
that with their memories is amiss.
Talking, potion and hypnosis
dispensed in proper doses
should have had the desired effect
to make them both recollect.

But they can recover
only memories which are there
even if of them
they are unaware.

I'm afraid these memories
are not simply missed
but much rather I fear
that they do not exist.

I regret I can do no more,
but where there's no memory
there is nothing to restore.
Forgotten things may be recovered
but what they didn't hear or see
I cannot bring back to the to the minds
of Mr. Rich and Miss Cheerilee."

"But she did hear and see!" Sweetie Belle protested. "She was at school yesterday!"
"Yeah, and she had us write the whole day about our homes, families, draw maps of our houses and all that and then collected all these texts", Apple Bloom agreed.
"I still don't get how she can have forgotten about all that and also not know at all where all our work went", Scootaloo said.

Suddenly Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed. "Wait a moment, Cheerilee had you write about your homes at school? And she did take all those texts with her? Did I get that right?" she asked with a sharp tone.
Scootaloo nodded, surprised and almost a little intimidated.
Rainbow Dash turned to the door of Inkhorn's and Featherscribe's home and wrenched at the doorknob.

"Dashie! The door is locked!" Pinkie Pie reminded Rainbow Dash, who now knocked the door so fiercely that it would undoubtedly be heard everywhere in the house.
"We must get in there again!" Rainbow Dash called. "We must talk to Inkhorn once more!"
She soared upwards and rapped at the window shutters of Inkhorn's sleeping room.
"Inkhorn, wake up! We know you are in there!"
There was no reaction from inside.
"What in tarnation are you doing, Rainbow?" Applejack called.
Rainbow Dash folded her wings to land right in front of the others. "We must get in there, Applejack! There's something in there that cannot be explained away like the matter with Swallowtail, unless you think it is normal that those school texts Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are talking about are lying right in there on Featherscribe's and Inkhorn's table!"

"Good gracious!" Rarity said. "Rainbow Dash, are you certain?"
"Pretty much", Rainbow Dash said. "I saw all these scribbled papers in there—"
"Scribbled papers?! They were a lot of work, you know!" Apple Bloom protested.
"...but I had no clue what they were until you told about your missing school texts."
"But why in Equestria would Inkhorn or Featherscribe take away school texts?" Rarity asked.
"Beats me, but let's find out, shall we?" Rainbow Dash responded.
"Inkhorn doesn't seem to be opening though, does she? Even if she was sleeping, she can't have missed your racket, Rainbow", Applejack pointed out. "What now, do y'all want me to buck open that there door?"

It wasn't clear from Applejack's tone if she meant this to be a serious offer.
"I think I got a better idea...", Rainbow Dash said. "Less destructive and much more uncouth!"
With a cheeky grin at Rarity, she propelled herself vertically up into the air but allowed herself to stall above the roof, folded her wings, tipped over backwards and dived headlong into the chimney, leaving behind a little cloud of black soot.
"Awesome!" Scootaloo raved while Rarity cut a disgusted face.

They heard some commotion from behind the door, but after a few moments a slightly bruised and very blackened Rainbow Dash opened the door to let them in. Applejack stepped past Rainbow Dash with a look of grim determination closely followed by Pinkie Pie. Rarity seemed rather hesitant to step over the threshold, but when the Cutie Mark Crusaders rushed in before she could stop Sweetie Belle, she resigned into participating into this trespass and Zecora too followed her example. Rarity gritted her teeth at the sight of the track of sooty hoofprints that led from the chimney to the front door. She gave Rainbow Dash a silent but non-negotiable order to make good use of the doormat before stepping in again.

"Now where are these papers you were talking about, Rainbow?" Applejack asked.
"Right over here", Rainbow Dash said as she walked over to the escritoire and tapped the stack of papers lying there, still leaving some specks of soot on the topmost sheet.
"Inkhorn? I'm not breaking in!" Rarity called. "The door was open", she called as if the detail that Rainbow Dash had opened it made her entering any less of a trespass. She knew Inkhorn and Featherscribe and it wasn't only the uncouth way in which Rainbow Dash had entered that made her feel very uneasy about this.
There was no response from above and Rainbow Dash and Applejack both gave Rarity the kind of raised eyebrow looks that made her pull herself together and approach too. With a quick spell she levitated the top sheets of paper from the stack and held them suspended in the air in front of the eyes of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Are any of these papers from the missing texts you were talking about?"
A few of the pages were clearly related to town office work, but Apple Bloom immediately pointed at one of the sheets: "That's Featherweight's writing there!"
"That one looks like Snips'!" Scootaloo said, pointing at a particularly messy looking sheet of paper. "And that is one of my pages!" Sweetie Belle said with a tone of pride while pointing at a sheet that was filled with fairly elegant looking lines which caught Rarity's interest.
"My sister Rarity is... whatever do you mean by that, Sweetie Belle?" Rarity demanded to know with a frown.
Sweetie Belle blushed. "Read on, on the other side", she said meekly.
Rarity flipped the page over and as she continued reading, her frown smoothed out and gave way to a smile. Whatever Sweetie Belle had written on the first page to the chagrin of her elder sister, the other page seemed to make up for it.

"So these are the texts Miss Cheerilee had the kids write in the time to which she doesn't remember, I really want to know what Inkhorn has to say about this!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Where is she anyway?" Applejack asked. "Not like she can be unaware we are here."
"Last time Pinkie and I saw her, she went upstairs. She said she wanted to sleep some more."
"Girls, you stay down here!" Applejack said to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "We're getting up to look for Inkhorn!"

"I still don't believe it!" Rarity said. "She's from Ponyville! I've known her all my life! And Featherscribe too, we were actually in the same class!"
"She likes cherry pie!" Pinkie Pie stated as if this was an irrefutable proof of innocence.
"Let's get up and ask her", Applejack said. "It is kind of strange she is not down here by now with all the clamor we've made."
"Maybe that's because she is not up there", Rainbow Dash said. "Maybe she teleported herself away when she heard us coming in here!"
"She cannot even teleport, Rainbow!" Rarity said. "Same as I she isn't into that kind of magic!"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack went up the stairs, closely followed by Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Finally, Zecora too followed. She hadn't said a word since they had entered the house, but she was looking around as if searching for anything that could help to clear things up. The Cutie Mark Crusaders waited at the base of the stair.

Upstairs, Rainbow Dash went for the door leading to the room the shutters of which she had rapped before and pushed it open. The room was dark with very little light coming through the shutters. Rarity opened them with a quick spell. It didn't brighten the room a lot since it was getting dark outside, but what little light of day remained was sufficient. A full-size bed stood in the middle of the room and there lay Inkhorn.
The dark blue unicorn lay aslant on top of rather than covered by the blanket. Her head was not lying on one of the cushions and one of her forelegs was dangling beside the bed. In spite of this looking far from comfortable, she seemed to be fast asleep and didn't even stir when Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Zecora entered.

"Inkhorn?" Applejack asked.
"Wakey, wakey!" Pinkie Pie said stepping beside the bed, but Inkhorn didn't stir.
"Wake up!" Rainbow Dash said and gave Inkhorn's head a nudge that made Rarity push Rainbow away a lot more firmly than Rainbow's nudge had been. The nudge however only made Inkhorn's head shift a little, provoking no further reaction. Applejack had by now found the switch and turned on the light.
"Hello there?" Rainbow Dash almost shouted.
Before Rarity could stop her, Pinkie Pie forced up one of Inkhorn's eyelids and waved one hoof in front of it. Her eye remained motionless though and Inkhorn asleep and indifferent.
Zecora stepped forward and with a commanding voice she chanted:

"Step aside you all
for in such a sleep
a pony doesn't fall
it's way to deep
to be natural!"
Zecora herself approached Inkhorn, held her hoof for a moment and shifted her into a more comfortable position. She then rummaged through her saddle-bags.
"What are you doing?" Rarity asked.

"I'll try to wake her up of course
but since the normal means won't do
I'll have to use some gentle force
don't breathe deep or you might spew."
With these words, Zecora produced a cylindrical tin box with a screw lid, took a deep breath, opened the lid and held the box under the nose of Inkhorn.
The unicorn twitched and Zecora quickly put the lid back on the box.
With a gesture Zecora signaled Applejack to open the window and she quickly did so.
Even though she had followed Zecora's example and held her breath, the intense stinging smell of whatever Zecora's box contained made her eyes water and Rainbow Dash, who hadn't observed the advise as closely, was coughing fiercely and quickly left the room. Inkhorn too started coughing now.

"Would you do Inkhorn the charity
to get her a glass of water, Rarity?"
Zecora asked.
"Certainly", Rarity said, rushed out of the room and returned not much later, levitating a glass of water and Rainbow Dash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders close on her heels.
Inkhorn's look was one of utter confusion and even fear. Her first attempt to say something resulted in another fit of coughs. She accepted the glass offered by Rarity and took a swig before she asked: "What are you all doing here? What is this smell?"
Even with the windows open, the stinging smell of the content of Zecora's tin box was still lingering.

"What you smell
is a strong mix of herbs
countering a sleeping spell."

"Now, what's with those texts of Mrs. Cheerilee's school class, Inkhorn?" Rainbow Dash demanded to know. She had brought several of the paper sheets along and was waving them menacingly in front of Inkhorn. The threatening effect was not lessened by the fact that all sooty as she was, Rainbow Dash would have blended in nicely in a Nightmare Night costume party.
"Texts...?" Inkhorn looked perplexed. "What are you all doing here? What time is it? Where is Featherscribe?"
"Stop dodging! We want answers!" Rainbow Dash called, swung herself up so she hovered above everyone else and covering everyone with a thin layer of soot in the process.
Inkhorn was looking rather intimidated but shook her head as she shifted as far away from Rainbow Dash as she could.
"How do these get onto your table?" Rainbow Dash insisted to know, almost pushing the school texts into Inkhorn's face.
"What are you talking about? I have never seen these... what are they? What is going on here?" Inkhorn whimpered a little.

Applejack dragged Rainbow Dash back on the floor. "Rainbow, Ah think we may have another victim of our mysterious attacker!"
"Impossible!" Rainbow Dash blurted out. "Pinkie Pie and I talked to her right before you got here!"
The look of confusion on Inkhorn's face increased even further and there was a trembling about her that didn't fit to the usually rather assertive unicorn.

"We are in here because you didn't seem to hear us when we were trying to wake you up from outside, Darling", Rarity said. "Though that was certainly not for lack of noisy efforts", she glanced at Rainbow Dash, who put on a defiant look.
"We got some more questions because of the hearing. Featherscribe is back at the town hall to guard Mr. Blanket."
"Guard... you mean Mr. Blanket was not cleared?" Inkhorn asked surprised.
"Of course not! But you knew that! We were talking about it just a short while ago! He attacked you, you said!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Whatever are you talking about?" Inkhorn almost sobbed. "I didn't talk to you and why would Mr. Blanket attack me?"

It was Rainbow Dash's turn to look perplexed and it was Pinkie Pie who said:
"But Inky, you said he did!"
"Whenever am I supposed to have said such a thing?"
"In the hearing today Featherscribe said you told him that Frank tried to attack you!" Rainbow Dash said, sounding more confused than angry now.
"And you told us the same!" Pinkie Pie called.
"I did not!"
"You did too!"
"I was asleep!"

"You, be quiet!" Rarity told Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie with an uncommonly stern tone. "Inkhorn, what is the last thing you remember before you got to sleep?"
"I got home from the town hall this morning. I was very tired. I lay down and next thing I know was all of you waking me up with that... whatever it was."
"You really don't remember talking with us?" Rainbow Dash asked flabbergasted.
Inkhorn shook her head.
"But why is it so late already?" Inkhorn asked unsettled, looking at the window through which she saw the last rays of light on a quickly darkening, reddish sky.
"The sun is getting down early today..." Rainbow Dash said with a little frown.
"I didn't mean to sleep so long!" Inkhorn wailed somewhat exaggeratedly. "I never oversleep!"
"We couldn't wake you up at all", Applejack said. "And if I got Zecora right, she thinks you've been sent sleeping with some kind of magic?"

The zebra nodded, but Inkhorn ignored both of them. Her look was fixed at some invisible point somewhere in midair and she looked like she was trying fiercely to get her memories together.
"...I mean of course I had been awake all night but...", Inkhorn was blushing a little and fell silent.
"But?" Rarity asked firmly but friendly.
"I... I think I actually fell asleep during my watch yesterday evening", Inkhorn admitted blushing.
"You did!" Sweetie Belle called. "We saw you!"
"Hush!" Rarity ordered, giving her sister a stern look.
"I never fell asleep at work before! You all must have seen me!"
"We all?" Applejack asked confused. "Now, Inkhorn, the kids say they saw you asleepin', but we didn't."
"But you were all there! To visit Mr. Blanket. That's what I remember... when I woke up again it was dark already."
Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie exchanged confused looks.

"Now tell me, Inkhorn...", Applejack said. "...do you remember Twilight asked you to check out Swallowtail in the register of citizens of Ponyville?"
Inkhorn gave her a blank look.
"Whom?"
She shook her head.
"But you said that you just found him only after Twilight had left!" Pinkie Pie said. Even she, who usually had the least trouble when things got confused and confusing, seemed to be disturbed now.
"What in Equestria are you talking about?" wailed Inkhorn.
"Now, now, it's okay Inkhorn", Rarity said, patting one of Inkhorn's hooves.
"And you're saying that Frank did not attack you this morning?" Applejack asked.
"Sweet Celestia, no!" Inkhorn shouted, sounding really upset now. "I just brought him the breakfast tray and he was all appreciative about it. He did look a bit gloomy."

Gloomy was also a word that well befitted Inkhorn's state by now.
"I want to see Featherscribe!" she called and her eyes were tearing up now.
"I will stay with you", Rarity said in her most reassuring voice and looking at the others, she said: "See what you can do. I think Twilight needs to know about this."
She pointed at the door with her head which Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie took as a cue to leave the room, ushering out the Cutie Mark Crusaders while Zecora stayed in the room with Rarity and Inkhorn.
Rainbow Dash sighed once they were out of earshot from the sleeping room.
"Just why do things always get even more complicate every time we find a certain clue? She didn't look like she was lying, did she?"
Applejack shook her head.
"She seemed a bit like Miss Cheerilee yesterday", Scootaloo said. "Not quite as much but still..."
"And just before you arrived she told Pinkie and me the exact opposite of what she is telling now and these school papers..."
"They could have fallen from Featherscribe's bag!" Pinkie said.

Rainbow Dash stared at her. "You're right Pinkie! They probably got mixed up with the papers on the table! And Featherscribe has been acting all strange today. He wanted to keep us away from Inkhorn and... we never actually saw the two of them together when we were here! Now I don't know what exactly is going on, but we should go to Twilight immediately and tell her about this. She'll know what to do! Applejack, will you stay here with Rarity, Zecora and the kids? Pinkie and I will get Twilight!"
"Hurry", Applejack said, nodding her agreement, "Ah don't know exactly what is going on either, but it feels a bit like a race and we are catching up!"
"Race sounds good to me!" Rainbow Dash said and with Pinkie Pie on her heels she ran for the door and on towards Golden Oak Library.

While Inkhorn had been questioned, Frank Blanket had finished reading a passage in the storeroom of the town hall. He was goggling stunned at the page he had just finished in the flickering light of a lantern. The book in general had been an interesting read although the author had sometimes expressed his views and opinions in a rather direct manner.
But what in all probability was the chance to find all the answers in a book that just happened to lie around in a room that had happened to have become his cell? Probable or not, Twilight had to know about this! He began to stomp fiercely onto the hatch to call for his current keeper.

Author's Note:

This chapter sort of concludes a kind of build up phase of the story. While there is still a little buildup in the upcomming chapter most of the stage is set for a kind of "showdown" phase of the story.

Last edited on December 16th 2015.

Comments

[Chronicler06]

Now the story is starting to get very interesting. All the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing where it all leads.

For editing advice... I'm sorry to say that I'm now reaching an impasse. As much as I'd like to keep helping you (and how much you appreciate my assistance), I'm afraid to say that I'm now struggling to figure out what advice I should give. Storywise, it's certainly very good, but for grammar and sentence or paragraph structure, although I can definitely see a lot of room for improvement, I must confess that my specific knowledge on that subject is rather limited, and if this story is going to get the improvements it needs, I think it might be best for you to seek further advice elsewhere.

Luckily for you, I managed to stumble across something only yesterday that I think could help. This group is dedicated to helping writers find editors for their stories, so if there's anything on this site that can help you, I believe this would be your best bet. Again, I'm very sorry that I'm now struggling to offer any further help, but perhaps you may soon be able to find a much more qualified editor.

[redmar]

It is very clear that the ponies that were enchanted were sleepwalking and being controlled.
Featherscribe's aggressive behaviour is suspiscious as well.