Chapter 9 Carried Away
Quizzical Greystone And The Basements Of Doom
Carried Away
“Nnnnnnnngh!” Quiz clenched her teeth so tightly the other ponies thought she might shatter her jaw.
“Quizzie!” Shadow moved toward her.
“No!” Quiz managed to wave him back. “Do… not… approach… me…”
“Stay back, Shadow. She’ll explode all over you,” sneer Diamond Tiara. Then what she had just said registered. She turned away and whispered, “Oh, Sweet Celestia, she’s actually going to explode.”
“Quiz, you have to burn off the magic.” Silver Spoon told her. “Cast something, anything. Quick!”
Quiz shook her head. “Cannot… think. Cannot… focus… to cast…”
“Then just blow it off all at once,” stated Shadow. “Blast it all back down the tunnel.”
“What? No!” cried Diamond Tiara. “She’ll give us all away! The diamond dogs were bad enough when they weren’t mad about us following them.”
“I… will… not… betray you,” gasped Quiz. “I… will… be… fine!”
“You will not be fine,” stated Shadow. “Just let it go, Quizzie. Please.”
“Please, Quiz!” Silver Spoon had begun to cry. “It’s hurting you!”
“No! Don’t let her do it!” cried Diamond. “Those mutts will catch us and do something terrible!”
“We’ll cope, Quizzie,” said Shadow. “Go ahead and let it go.”
“You can’t hold it, Quiz,” said Silver.
“She has to hold it! She… oh, gosh,” Diamond began to back away from Quiz. “She’s burning up. I can feel the heat from here.”
“I… can… hold… I… can… I… I… I… can…” Then Quiz lost control.
A beam of magic fired from Quiz’s horn. Far away, at the first bend in the straight corridor, the magic gathered until it exploded.
It was brighter than noon day for as far up and down the tunnel as the ponies could see.
“Well,” said Diamond, “I think the diamond dogs noticed that.
#
“What was that?!” exclaimed a diamond dog. He was answered by the yammering of his excited and frightened fellows.
“It is a unicorn, a very magical unicorn, made sick by the storm,” said Bowser. “A very magical unicorn, to have so much magic to get rid of. Now, Chief Bowser wonders, who is the most magical student in the pretty little teacher pony’s class? Could it be the Quizzical?”
“No!” cried Cheerilee, backing away from the chief. “I told you, she couldn’t come on the field trip…”
“Yes, that is what you told Chief Bowser. It was wrong of the pretty little teacher pony to lie like that.” Bowser gave Cheerilee his most winning grin. Cheerilee backed further away. “The worthless pony has been following us, no doubt hoping for an opportunity to ruin Bowser’s whole evening. If it weren’t for the storm she would have called her little pony princess. So much trouble, your little lie could cause Chief Bowser. What should Chief Bowser do with the pretty little teacher pony?”
Cheerilee back into a wall. There was no escaping Bowser.
Snails stepped between Bowser and Cheerilee . Twist and Snips were soon at his side. Other students joined them.
“Children, no!” Cheerilee tried to push past them, but they wouldn’t let her.
“Oh, ho!” laughed Bowser. “So the pretty little teacher pony’s students like her after all. Does that mean if Chief Bowser does what he is thinking of doing to the pretty little teacher pony will he then have to do this to all the little ponies?”
“You betcha!” declared Twist.
“That might be fun,” said Bowser, grinning. The students’ resolve melted, and they were backed against the wall with Cheerilee. “But no, there is no time. Perhaps later. For now, the pretty little teacher pony must make her students march. Chief Bowser will be forgiving if the little ponies set a good pace. But if they drag their hooves Chief Bowser may find the time for a bit of fun.”
Bowser scratched his head thoughtfully. “But we cannot have the Quizzical following us. If the storm clears she will call her friends and her miserable little pony princess. Reader, go get her.”
“What? Me?”
“What is the matter, Reader? The Quizzical is just one worthless little pony, and she is sick from the storm. Perhaps she has the two obnoxious ponies with her. Take Scud and Corso and bring the Quizzical back to me.”
“Yes, Chief Bowser.”
“Then what are you all still doing here?!” roared Bowser.
Reader and the other two dogs took off down the tunnel at a run.
#
Sweetie Belle decided this might be a good time to try a new spell she had studied. Her horn glowing, she faced down the tunnel. Soft as a whisper, she sang two words.
#
“I am sorry. So very, very sorry,” Quiz moaned.
“Now what?” demanded Diamond Tiara. “She can’t even walk.”
“Diamond Tiara is right, you will have to leave me,” whispered Quiz.
“For a smart pony you sure say some stupid things, Quizzie.” With one wing Shadow easily flipped Quiz onto his back. “Wow, girl you are even lighter than you look.”
“Yeah, she’s really scrawny,” said Diamond.
“What do we do now?” asked Silver Spoon.
“We move out,” said Shadow. “The first rule of hide and seek is never stay the last place they saw you. There’s a cross tunnel a few furlongs back, we take that, and a few more turns, and we lose ‘em.”
“Won’t we lose our friends, too?” asked Silver. “That’s why we were following them.”
“We know where they are going,” muttered Quiz.
“That’s right, I think,” said Shadow. “Do either of you think they aren’t headed for the old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters?”
The girls looked at each other then shook their heads.
Sweetie Belle’s voice rang out from the walls, singing at deafening volume, “Quiz, run!”
“You heard her, guys, we run,” said Shadow. He spread his wings and the girls took hold of one wing while he used the other to brush the wall to keep track of their position. The little party headed down the dark corridor at a gallop.
#
Spike was in the rocky barrens outside Ponyville, looking at the hatch he’d found under a bush. He marveled at how well concealed it was. Spike was sure he could have spent a lifetime searching without coming close to finding it.
Of course, with a copy Quiz’s painfully detained directions, Spike walked right to it.
The location of the secret entrance to the warrens of the diamond dogs was known only to the Princesses of Equestria and Quizzical Greystone. It had been built in case the Princesses ever needed to contact the diamond dogs in an emergency, or in case Quiz ever felt like visiting.
Spike used the key he’d taken from Quiz’s desk and opened the hatch. This revealed a ramp spiraling gently into the ground. Spike stepped down onto it.
Spike stepped back.
Spike took a deep breath and stepped onto the ramp again.
He stepped back.
Since Princess Luna had forced a treaty on them, the diamond dogs had mostly behaved themselves. Many ponies had come to believe that the dogs weren’t all bad, once you got to know them. Some, like Quiz, even had some friends among the diamond dogs.
Spike didn’t. He did not like the diamond dogs at all.
“Come on, Spike!” he told himself. “You have to do this. These mutts aren’t so tough! You and Rarity almost took a bunch of them all by yourselves.”
Spike stepped onto the ramp.
He stepped back.
“Do it for the kids, Spike! Or start rehearsing your speech to Twilight. You either do this, or you look her in the eyes and explain why you left Quiz and the other kids down there in a dark, smelly tunnel when you could have helped.”
Spike made what he thought was a fierce face. He even snarled a bit.
Then he stepped onto the ramp and followed it down into the warrens of the diamond dogs.
#
“Can we please stop.” Diamond Tiara was out of breath, and what was meant to be a whine came out as more of a wheeze.
“We can… rest a bit…. ” Shadow was in the most physically fit of the four of them, by far. He realized that if he was breathing hard then the two spoiled fillies had to be completely exhausted. They stopped running.
Diamond and Silver unceremoniously collapsed to the tunnel floor.
Shadow looked over his shoulder, even though he couldn’t see anything in the dark. “How ya doin’, Quizzie?”
“I will be fine,” moaned Quiz.
“Feeling that bad, huh? Hey, what’s this in your mane?”
Something behind Quiz’s right ear feebly glowed green.
“It’s her hairbow,” said Silver. “It must have been splashed by some of that magic water.”
“Eww, get it off of her!” gasped Diamond. “It’ll turn her whole head to mush, then what will we do with her?”
“No,” Quiz weakly protested. “I cannot lose it.”
“If it’s that important to you Quizzie then I’ll hold it for you.” Shadow removed the little bow with his teeth, and dropped it in his saddlebag. “I’m not magic, so it won’t hurt me.”
“Fine, save the tacky thing, magic slime and all! It’s not as if we have anything more important to worry about!” Diamond had already recovered enough to go into full whine mode. “I’m exhausted, my feet hurt, I haven’t eaten since forever, it’s cold, it’s dark, the diamond dogs are going to catch us and eat us, and you’ve turned us around so many times I’m dizzy!”
“Well, at least that last part is a good sign, Di.” Shadow was lucky she couldn’t see his grin in the dark. “If you’re dizzy then we probably lost the diamond dogs. Now, me, I’ve got a better than average sense of direction, and I counted every turn. Once more to the left and we’re back on course.”
“I’m so confused,” complained Silver. “I can’t believe you know where we are.”
“Well, I do!” declared Shadow. “For the most part.”
“And what is that sound?” asked Silver. “It’s like ponies walking back and forth all around us. It’s, like, totally disorienting.”
“It is Sweetie Belle,” mumbled Quiz. “She is projecting the sound of hoofbeats to mask the sound of our escape. But she does not know the layout of the tunnels, and half the sounds seem to be ponies emerging from or entering solid walls.”
“Well, that still works,” said Shadow. “I bet it confuses the diamond dogs even more than it confuses us.”
“Sweetie Belle risks Chief Bowser seeing her horn glow.” Quiz began to sob. “She will give herself away trying to help…”
“Now, don’t get all teary eyed, Quizzie. We are, eventually, going to rescue your friends. It’ll just take a little time and luck. My only worry is that we may be heading for a choke point. We’re close to the edge of the gorge, and there can’t be too many crossing points. But we’re pretty deep, and this tunnel slopes downward. I feel lucky. We should be able to go under instead of across the canyon.”
#
“Stop! STOP!!!” Reader yelled at his companions. “Why are we running?”
The two hulking diamond dogs stumbled to a halt. They stared at Reader and scratched their heads. They stared at each other and scratched their heads. Finally, Scud tried to answer for them.
“Um… we are running because Chief Bowser told us to?”
“Even Bowser has a destination in mind when he orders a dog to run,” said Reader. “So, where are we running?”
This was the most complicated question either Scud or Corso could remember being asked. After more staring and head scratching Corso attempted an answer. “We are running to catch the little ponies?”
“What, you mean the little ponies we can hear all around us?” The sound of phantom ponies, apparently walking over the three diamond dog’s heads, made Reader’s point for him. “The clever ponies are using magic to confuse us. That seems kind of pointless in the case of you two. But it is good that the ponies are clever. We can use their cleverness in ways Bowser does not have the ambition to… um… use.”
“Ambition?” Scud was reasonably sure he had heard of this. “I don’t think we have any of that.”
Reader laughed. “Don’t worry. I have enough for all three of us. Now, these poor ponies have been too clever for their own good. They do not know that all the tunnels on this level converge at one of the two crossings. Bowser will cross the gorge at one point, we will hurry to cut the ponies off at the other.”
“Oh,” said Corso. “So… then… that is where we are running?”
“Yes!”
#
“Hello?” called Spike. “Anybody home?”
He had come to the bottom of the ramp and was in what appeared to be a straight corridor. His little torch did not cast light far enough for him to tell for sure. Spike had been expecting to run into some guards before this, but the warrens seemed abandoned.
“Seriously, is there anybody home? Where are you guys?”
“Why, we are right here, little trespasser,” answered a gravelly voice. Torches just outside the range of Spike’s were lit. Spike was surrounded.
“Um… hi?” Spike gave a little wave.
“It is bold of you to trespass here, little dragon.”
“Dragons are bitter and tough and bad to eat. But perhaps baby dragons are tender and sweet.”
“Is that true, little dragon? Are you tender and sweet?”
“Oh, I don’t know if I’d say that. I like to think I’m a pretty good guy… Oh, wait, that’s not what you meant!”
“The dragon thinks he is good?” asked one dog, rubbing his tummy. “A good meal would be nice!”
“I think a change of subject would be nice,” said Spike. “Look, this is important, I need to see your Ambassador to Equestria…”
“Who?”
“Give me a second…” Spike’s eyes rolled back as he tried to concentrate. “What did Quiz say you called him? Oh, right, got it. I want to talk to Speaker to Ponies.”
“Oh, Little Dragon wants to talk to Speaker to Ponies!”
“Speaker to Ponies is a very important dog. Very, very busy.”
“Does Little Dragon have an appointment?”
All the diamond dogs laughed, save one. “Wait. Who did Little Dragon say told him of Speaker to Ponies? Quiz? As in the Quizzical?”
“Sure,” answered Spike. “Quiz Greystone. That’s what I need to…”
“Little Dragon knows the Quizzical!”
“He knows the Clever Pony! He knows the Gem Finder!”
“Well, yeah, Quiz and me, we’re real tight,” said Spike. “Best buds forever, that’s us.”
“That is a very bold claim, Little Dragon.” A huge diamond dog stepped forward, and stood towering over Spike. “Something dangerous to lie about. Very dangerous.”
Spike planted his feet, drove his fists into his hips, and glared straight up at the diamond dog. “Who are you calling a liar, Kibble Breath? I’ve made the kid breakfast and seen her off to school almost everyday since she came to Ponyville!”
“Then Little Dragon will not mind answering a few questions.”
Spike grinned. “Try me!”
“What... is the Quizzical’s favorite color?!”
Spike rolled his eyes. “Gray. What, you thought I was going to say ‘beige’? C’mon, I thought these were going to be tough questions.”
This inspired a round of excited chatter from the diamond dogs. “It is true! Little Dragon does know the Gem FInder!”
The hulking dog interrogating Spike showed no sign of being convinced. “What is the Quizzical’s favorite condiment?”
Spike gave an exaggerated sigh. “You think you can fool me with a trick question? Quiz doesn’t use condiments. How anypony can eat hay fries without ketchup is beyond me…”
The excited chatter increased. “He really is the Finder’s friend!”
The big diamond dog pretended to be unimpressed, but it was obvious his resolve was fading. “You still have one more question, Little Dragon. What is the Quizzical’s favorite mineral?”
“Favorite? You mean as in, picking just one?” Spike suddenly lost most of his bravado. “But Quiz never found a rock she didn’t like!”
The big diamond dog sneered. “There is one, just one, that the Quizzical would call her favorite. Name it. Name it now, Little Dragon!”
Spike scratched his head as he puzzled over this. Quiz didn’t have a lot of room at the Golden Oaks Library, so she left her rock collection at home in Canterlot. But if she did indeed have a favorite Spike thought Quiz would have a sample of it on her desk, and use it every day as a paperweight.
Quiz had two paperweights.
#
“Shadow?” asked Quiz asked, softly. “I am feeling well enough to walk on my own.”
“That’s good to hear, Quizzie,” answered Shadow. He continued walking down the dark tunnel.
“Shadow, I am ready for you to set me down.”
“And that’s good news, Quizzie. That means you’ll be feeling even better when I’m ready to set you down.”
“I no longer need to be carried, Shadow.”
“That’s nice, Quizzie.” Shadow continued walking. “Now just be still, and rest, and ride along.”
“Shadow, being carried is not dignified.”
“You’ll get over it, Quizzie.”
“Bother.”
Silver Spoon failed to suppress a laugh, and Diamond Tiara didn’t even try.
“If Quiz-ik-al doesn’t want to ride, you can carry me, Shadow,” said Diamond.
“Maybe later, Di.” Despite the dark, but from his tone they could tell that Shadow was smiling.
With a roar a huge diamond dog smashed into Shadow. Shadow was slammed against a wall, and Quiz went tumbling across the floor.
“Oww! My wing!”
“Hello, little ponies,” said another diamond dog. “My name is Reader, and I’ll be your captor this evening. Surrender now, and no more rough handling will be necessary. If you come quietly, my companions will be only slightly more brutal than necessary.”
Next to her, Quiz could sense Shadow struggling to get to his feet. “Girls, run, I’ll hold them off... oh, wow, that smarts….”
“Please, if you all will just cooperate I can offer you a much better deal than simply to return you to Chief Bowser. I am a dog of great ambition, and I have great plans that might just include you clever little ponies…”
As Reader pontificated about his ambitious plans, Quiz took advantage of the moment and whispered, “Shadow, it is your wing that is hurt? Can you still run?”
“Yeah, sure. Why?”
Quiz’s horn began to glow, she raised her voice, “Everypony, close your eyes as tightly as you can!”
“I’m not closing my eyes just because you say…Oww!!!” Diamond Tiara was interrupted by Quiz casting the brightest light spell of her life.
The flash was not aimed at her, and pony eyes are not as sensitive as diamond dogs’, and Silver Spoon had the sense to put a leg in front of her friend’s eyes. Diamond did not fall to the floor writhing in agony as the diamond dogs did. But it did hurt a lot.
The ponies ran, with Silver guiding Diamond Tiara.
“She might have warned me!” whimpered Diamond. Silver did not have the heart to point out that Quiz had.
#
“We wait for an answer, Little Dragon.”
“Give me a minute, give me a minute!” Spike considered the two rocks on Quiz’s desk. One was fine, polished Canterlot marble. It had come from the quarries of Quiz’s home, and it was a gift from her family. The other was a sort of brown rock.
Spike suddenly knew which answer the diamond dogs expected. The brown thing was a gift from Speaker to Ponies.
“Ponyvillite,” declared Spike. “Quiz says its metamorphic, and it’s got magnesium and iron and stuff in it…”
“It’s true! He is a friend of the Quizzical!” The diamond dogs cheered.
“Yes, he is Quizzical’s friend,” came a voice from behind all the dogs. They all fell silent, and parted to let the new arrival through. “His name is Spike, and Quizzical speaks well and often of him. Also, you should all be ashamed of yourselves for teasing the little dragon. We all know you would not eat a pony friend. It upsets the ponies.”
Spike stared at this new diamond dog. He was a little shorter, and much slimmer than the average dog. He was certainly a better speaker. “Are you the Ambassador?”
The dog nodded. “Welcome to our warrens, Spike. A friend of Quizzical’s is a friend of mine. Now, please tell Indy what has happened to Quizzical. Indy knows something is wrong, or you would not be here. You would think Quizzical would know that she does not have to get into trouble just to visit her old friend Indy.”
#
“Let’s stop. I want to check your wing, Shadow,” said Silver Spoon.
It seemed as if several minutes had passed since they could last hear the echoes of the diamond dogs anguished cries, so stopping was probably safe, if only briefly. They got a torch lit, and Diamond held it while Silver probed Shadow’s injury.
“This is so annoying,” grumbled Shadow. He grit his teeth as Silver poked a sensitive spot. “I always hated it when Daring Do hurts a wing and can’t fly. Yearlings’ done it in 5 books so far, and it always seems like cheating, you know? She should write stories where being able to fly doesn’t ruin the plot. Now it’s happened to me!”
“I don’t think it’s broken,”said Silver. “But you’ve hurt the last joint, and I don’t think you can fully spread that wing.”
“Darn, that’s half my lift. I’m almost grounded. Hey, Quizzie, when did you learn that trick? That was pretty cool!”
“The light spell? I have always been reasonably good with those,” said Quiz. “But I never thought to use it as a weapon. Miss Twilight and Princess Luna suggested I practice this, after I was abducted the first time. For some reason they suspected this might happen to me again.”
“Quiz, are you having trouble breathing?” asked Silver.
“See, I said you weren’t recovered enough to go running around yet,” insisted Shadow.
“No, that is not it. But the air is growing thick with magic again. We must be near an opening.”
Silver walked down the tunnel away from the torchlight, and peered into the darkness. “I think it looks lighter up ahead. Like the whole passage opens up.”
“Let’s go see,” said Shadow.
The end of the tunnel was not far away, and the little troop found themselves on a ledge jutting out of a cliff face.
“Well, I was wrong about being deep enough to go under the gorge,” said Shadow. “We have to cross here.”
“How?!” Diamond Tiara pointed to a rope and plank bridge that dangled from a ledge on the opposite side. All that remained on their side were two posts with the frayed ends of ropes tied to them. “The bridge is out, and you can’t fly. What do you want to do, jump in the water and try to swim across?”
Below them they could just make out a small river at the base of the gorge. Their torchlight made the eyes of several creatures cruising just at the surface glow.
“We can’t go back,” said Silver. “The diamond dogs are blocking that way.”
“And, boy, has Quiz-ik-al made them mad!” exclaimed Diamond.
“Relax, girls, I got this.” Shadow went to a tree that was growing out over the edge, and tore loose the end of vine growing from it. He began testing the weight it could hold, pulling himself up and swinging from it. He seemed satisfied with the results. “There’s more than one way to fly.”
Quiz stared at him. She looked at the ledge, and the gap to the other side, and looked long and hard at the vine Shadow was holding.
“Really?” she finally said. “Could we not find a less exciting way to cross?”
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This better be the end of hiatus and not just a one chapter teaser then resumed hiatus. Don't threaten me with a good time!
Ooh, suspense!
Should be wheeze.
I guess Daring/Yearling's just really unlucky here.
Excitement! Adventure! Thrills! Quiz would like to get off this train now.
Now kiss! For luck.
Indy returns!
Fraid not Quiz. You know how Narrative Causality is, especially in magic laden worlds. The less adventure you want, the more you get!
Oh my god... the horror... the horror...
*pulls out bag of Lay's Ketchup chips*
So glad to see Indy again!
*Snerk* Poor Quiz. Everyone demanding she be exciting.
Read up to Chap. 5: not surprised by Pinkie nor Mac's hobbies, Derpy is a pleasant surprise, poor poor Fluttershy, of course Quiz doesn't understand, and I can't help but wonder what would cause a 'magic blackout' and why it doesn't affect earth ponies and pegasi (or does it?). Can't wait to read to find out!
Oh, I need to find out what happened! Will you write some more?
I just began reading Quiz' stories about a week ago, but she's quickly become one of my favorite OCs. I would very much enjoy if this story was continued.
1.) what a cliffhanger
2.) I think Caves of doom would be a more appropriate title unless we start seeing a lot of basements soon.
Welp. I'm all caught up.
Time to start on the X-mass one.