A Strange Quill Ahoof (OC Story)

[BionicBrony 385]

A Strange Quill Ahoof
Staring Quillina Script and Princess Luna, as well as some other magical ponies of Equestria!

In the cozy apartment of Quillina Script, famous Equestrian writer, publisher of over 200 books, friend of Princess Luna and talented scripter, the sound of a door being knocked on could be heard. The sound nearly made her jump out of her skin as the banging was audible in her ears. As she turned to look in that direction, she heard the noise of an impatient sigh on the lips of whatever pony was outside waiting for her.

Quillina was a small pony, and she looked like a filly that had just managed to mature. She had a gray mane and tail, which she wore straight and flat. The rest of her body was a soft purple, and her eyes were a simple blue. In her right hoof, she clutched a quill still dripping from the ink that it had just been dipped into. On her flank was a cutie mark of a pen and ink cup, signaling her career and talent as the famous writer that she was.

“Hmm?” Quillina looked up from her massive pile of large stacks of writing, scattering some of them as she struggled to her hooves.

A stallion, red, large and imposing, looked down at her and grunted, “You’re needed for a special assignment for Princess Luna. Her highness wishes to see the latest draft of your novel you’ve been working on.”

Working on? She raised one eyebrow at the stallion, which began to snort in his utter impatience. The sight of a royal guard, and such a colorful one at that, was startling to her. Normally, she would get maybe a visitor a month; the last had been a strange pony who’d interviewed her briefly and published the transcript. Normally, the only ponies she ever got to see grace her cramped apartment was either

publishers

or editors that came to talk to her. Normally, she never saw much of the latter. Seeing a large pony in golden armor, and holding a small pike in his left hoof, was more starling than anything.

It took a few moments, but Quillina blushed deeply as she realized what he meant. Sure, the last character she’d printed on her scroll was similar to Luna’s character. And maybe she was also given a backstory that almost mirrored her’s. And quite possibly she was rather strange and queer, and quoted the princess multiple times. And finally, perhaps that pony may have mentioned at one point that the princess of the night was strikingly similar to her. Okay, Quillina had to admit to herself that her pony, Star Shine, really did reference Luna.

“I-I’m not quite done yet!” she ran back over to her desk and stealthily buried that particular scroll among her other works. Luckily, as the entire place was a large mess of towers of billowing papers, she knew he wouldn’t find it unless he had magic.

The stallion came over and Quillina saw that he was in fact a Unicorn. She watched him warily, even though, in complete honesty, she had no exact reason to fear. The pony put his horn to the spot where she’d tossed it away and then, after he had levitated a few pages, drove a hoof into the large piles of sheets, yanking out the newest copy of her scroll she’d made. She went to grab it from him when he snorted at her, showing her that, even though it was her work, he was in charge for now.

As the famous Equestrian writer sat down and watched him, she brushed her newly-dyed gray haired mane out of her face and sat down, wiggling her haunches until she was finally able to sit still. Without any magic herself, the only way she was able to do anything was through that neat quill and ink pen that sat on her writing table. This was reflected by that exact same cutie mark, which showed that she, had an affinity to writing. While some ponies preformed or made movies, she instead sat down and began to work on writing. She usually spent more time with a quill in hoof than she did with a friend by her side.

As she began to contemplate that last thought, she realized that the stallion had finally stopped reading and looked at her with an unreadable expression. With a snort of both annoyance and admiration, he handed her the wound scroll and motioned that she had to follow him. Bewildered, she stood up and started to stumble across the sea of papers to get to him.

As the pony began to pick herself up, suddenly the stallion wheeled on her and two iron cuffs were slapped on her front hooves. Before she could react, he had also forced her against the wall and pushed her hooves up so she was unable to fight back against him. Her eyes went wide when he took the key in his mouth and tucked it into a pocket on his uniform.

“W-what are you doing?!?” The purple pony tried to yank her hooves apart, but the chain simply rattled. She looked up at the red unicorn and he grunted.

“You’re under arrest is what.” He pulled on the chain, making her fall to the ground. As she scrambled to her hooves, he then went behind her and cuffed her back hooves. Then, as he began to yank her to his feet, he then magically levitated the cuffs so she was floating in mid-air. When she squealed, he dropped her again and she felt the aura fade, dropping her unceremoniously to the ground.

“F-for what?” She gasped, shaking as her balance was off, “I-I didn’t do anything!”

The unicorn grabbed her front chains and started to yank her towards the door, “You are under arrest by her Highness Princess Luna’s orders.”

As the little pony was dragged out into the street, she realized that she’d look as guilty as a convict. Quillina was well known for her literally work, and thus many ponies would see her being paraded as a criminal. As panic set in about being ridiculed for something she didn’t do, the stallion pulled her out into the edge of the street. Even though it was early morning, she knew that it would be dangerous if she didn’t get out of the street. Pure embarrassment hit her and she whimpered at the cold manacles.

Then the stallion suddenly pulled her into a side alley and took her out of public eye, but still in a steady line towards the castle. Then, as they continued to walk towards it, all her mind could think of was the strange direction, strange conviction, and the now strange feelings that were around and inside her began to boil up inside. She looked around as he took her discreetly through the city, avoiding the public as she was taken off to the castle like a common criminal.

“W-what’s really going on here mister?” She whispered, her eyes tearing up and her entire body shaking with fear. The stallion wheeled on her and he grunted again into her face, annoyance flashing through his body. She instantly went quiet at this sudden act of rage against her, and she cowered down when he spoke gruffly.

“Will you shut your mouth?” He growled into her face, and she felt his saliva on her cheek, “I am taking you to Luna. That’s all. When we get there we’ll see what crime you’ve committed!”

Quillina had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Maybe that character he’d read about was too much for the works. Maybe she’d accidently said something in her work that offended either of the sisters; it wouldn’t be the first time. Or maybe she’d said something that she shouldn’t have, or maybe even published a work they didn’t think was appropriate for the city! Or maybe something terrible had happened and she was going to be framed of it!

Whatever thoughts she was going to have then were discontinued, having been suddenly ripped away as the stallion pulled her closer to himself, his horn telekinetically holding the chain so she was forced to keep moving. Now getting panicked but unable to fight him, she submitted and continued to trot into the alleys of Canterlot, moving forward towards the great castle that housed both of the major powers in all of Equestria. Every hoofstep they took was panic shooting through Quillina’s body.

After a long canter towards the Canterlot castle (ironically enough), the stallion finally had them go straight out into the open and approach the castle. Quillina turned and thanked Celestia that no one was there to see them as they did so. When they got to the large drawbridge that spanned the tiny moat inside the city, the red-coated pony lifted his pike up and waved it three times to the two brown pegasi, which were holding up the gate. Quillina gasped when a loud noise was heard and the portcullis was raised up. Then the guard grunted and dragged her across the wooden bridge and into the main courtyard.

The last time Quillina had been here, there had been a large congregation of ponies for the Grand Galloping Gala. The lawn was dotted with hoofprints and the noises of other ponies could be heard whispering and chatting all around. Now, there was hardly a single sound that penetrated the empty field, and the little purple pony swore she could hear a little insect buzzing in the grass. It was eerily silent for a bright day like today.

The guard levitated her chains to pull her under the archway that spanned the entrance gates to the castle. She looked up and nearly fell over at trying to see to the top, and she probably would have if his magic wasn’t holding her up. She watched as they approached the staircase that split in the middle to lead to the left and right wing of the halls. The last time she’d seen it, Celestia was greeting ponies on the middle step. Now there were no other ponies there, and they both adventured up the left side and into that hall.

The two ponies then moved into the great hall, and the atmosphere shifted drastically. The large room was framed by glass-stained windows, showing depictions of various events in the life of Equestria. She saw the formation of the Crystal Empire, the defeat of Nightmare moon and the return of Discord. To her right she saw Celestia and Luna banishing the same tyrant, and the two of them entering Equestria. All of them she blinked at in wonder, and the light that streamed into them gave the room a little more lighthearted feel to it all.

The room had two towers at the edge of the throne, which lead to the top floors to the towers of the princesses. Quillina knew from instinct that Luna’s was on the left, and that was the direction she was lead in. She wordlessly entered into the stairwell and began to awkward steps and jumps to get to the top. With the chains, her hooves didn’t extend quite as far and she tripped over herself more than once. The guard behind her grunted every time she slipped, so she worked quickly to try and keep up with the seemingly never-ending staircase.

As tiredness began to set in, they were greeted by a small platform and the entrance to the tower that housed the princess herself. She blinked and stood back as the stallion knocked on the door twice, standing back. The door had a moon symbol on it that flashed when he did so, and then the boyish-yet-feminine voice of the princess echoed from inside, “You may come in now.”

The guard made her move in first, and Quillina was shaking from head to hoof as she did so. There, sitting on her bed on her stomach, was the Queen of the Night herself. She was just as they had described her: tall, a deep shade of blue, and a mane flecked with tiny stars. The hair on her mane and tail constantly shifted, even if she was sitting still, which puzzled her. The princess was scratching off something form her horn as the earth pony was dropped on her knees in front of her. Luna’s green eyes pierced into her for a second before turning to the guard who brought her here.

“Why is this pony in chains?” She thundered her voice loud and imposing as she looked at the now-cowering stallion.

The guard looked like he’d been told that he was in fact a mare, and he took a few steps back, “M-Ma’am I-I was told to b-bring her he-”

“And so you chain her up and drag her out of her house?” Luna was on her hooves now, and Quillina realized that she was almost double her height; she’d grown from the last time they’d talked.

“Yes! I mean no, I mean-” The guard was backing out of the room now, bewildered and not a little petrified by Luna’s sudden rage, “-well you told me!”

“That wasn’t what I meant at all!” She magically opened the door, which swapped the stallion on her rear quarters. The guard gave a short grunt and almost cried in pain when it happened, and then he looked back up to the princess of the night. From this angle, Quillina noticed that, even though the stallion was roughly almost three-fourths as tall as Luna, he still was dwarfed by her. It was a bit strange, but it appeared that, what Luna lacked in her extra alicorn height, she somehow channeled her strength into and made up for it. It made her appear all the more imposing as she was yelling and stomping her hoof at the guard.

With a final yelp of fear, the guard dashed out of the room before he could be stripped of his duties by the princess. The door was enveloped by a slightly bluish-purple aura that held the door before slamming it shut. Then, with almost an exaggerated sigh, Luna looked down at Quillina and undid the chains of her hooves before sitting back down on the bed, gaze now fixed on the bewildered writer.

Quillina rubbed the bottom of her legs to get circulation back into them, and then she focused on taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. The actions, she assumed, would normally make a princess upturn their eyes at her, but instead the face that Luna wore was almost mischievous. She blinked in confusion as the two mares looked at each other for another minute, Luna’s gaze boring into her.

Suddenly, the pony realized what she probably wanted and she gasped, falling to her knees and bowing pony-style to her, “I-I’m so sorry princess!” she panicked in her body, her body starting to quiver as fast as her quill did.

Luna sighed, a sound which was one of the last things she ever expected to hear from her. Quillina gasped when she made the sound, and then became even more flustered. This was, after all, the princess of the night, and co-ruler of Equestria. The very act of showing displeasure was something that she couldn’t afford to do, correct? Blinking, she started to now visibly tremble while still kneeling on the ground.

The next thing she felt was a hoof on her shoulder. She gasped again, and then in took her breath a second time when she looked up. Luna’s hoof was cold yet smooth, and the leg attached to it was long and slender. The alicorn easily dwarfed her in her sheer size, and Quillina felt even more nervous; any more of this and she would probably break down and cry. She waited for several more instants, thinking about the hoof and only that as she waited to hear her punishment for the crime she’d so called committed.

“Rise, young writer,” Luna wasn’t thundering now and her voice was gentle, as if she was a child talking to a young pet. Quillina felt the hoof be taken off her back and her body suddenly managed to respond to her actions. With a small exhale, she stood back up and gazed upwards to look at Luna directly.

The princess sat down on her bed once more and looked at Quillina, “My apologies Quillina, I didn’t mean for them to misinterpret my orders as they did. Sometimes I really need to be clearer when I say to ‘fetch’ somepony for me.”

Quillina blinked, and she then had to tell herself she’d met Luna and interviewed her before, so of course the alicorn would at least know her name. She looked thoughtful and began to ponder what she meant. That guard certainly hadn’t been playing an act; he’d acted like it was official royal business. How else could he mistake her orders for dragging her out under an arrest warrant for her, decreed by the princess herself? Come to think of it, hadn’t something like this happened sometime earlier? In fact…

“Was that…was this all…a prank?” Quillina gasped in both revelation and sheer bewilderment.

Luna looked more than surprised when she nodded, “I knew you would be some of the smarter ones.” She winked at her, her tone still the voice of a playful child trapped in an adult’s body and knowledge. Somehow, the way that Luna was talking to her was soothing her, for the way that she spoke was more than enough to quell her fears. Slowly, taking that statement in, Quillina suddenly broke out into a blush and looked at the ruler.

“So…was it a prank on him or me?” She whispered.

Luna was a heavy prankster, and this one would be no different. IT was an odd pairing up, seeing as she was considered high-class royalty, yet it never seemed to cease that Luna was a heavy and avid prankster. She’d done so on royal occasions, around the city, on trips. In fact, it seemed that, since she’d come back from the crazed town of Ponyville, she’d been a completely different pony; she was lighter, brighter and more quick to experience as much fun as she could. Unfortunately, sometimes that fun came out as taking it out on other ponies. Specifically, it meant causing her distress and embarrassment at Luna’s pleasure.

“Ah yes, Fire Cracker is his name,” Luna giggled, something most unlike what Quillina had ever expected, “See, he was a little bit of a silly pony when it came to following my orders. He would screw up his orders, and then let other ponies take the blame for his actions. He wouldn’t know it, but I never punished anypony that I knew was at his expense. So I decided to let him see what it felt like when he was the one who was getting the blame. He won’t be on the guard for a few days.”

Quillina looked up with two emotions: astonishment and fear. She was unable to grasp the fact that Luna had killed two birds with one stone: she had brought her to the castle and got back at one of her guard. However, she also feared that, now that she’d seen what Luna normally had planned, she could possibly do something wrong and make her angry. The thought of angering her made her become even more afraid than she normally would be. Adding this on top of her petrification, she almost wanted to jump out the window and take her chances as they came to her.

Luna noticed this and she softened her face, “Oh I terribly sorry.” She played the fancy phrase on her tongue a bit oddly, as if she was reading off of a script, “I just wanted to get at Fire Cracker, I didn’t mean…” Her tone now had a rather sad note to it, as if she was more than sorry; she was upset with herself for her own actions, “I just…oh I’m sorry Quillina.”

Quillina felt the urge to yell and scream at the pony rise on her tongue, yet years of a quiet and quaint life as a writer won and she bit back the remark. Even though she felt at ease, yelling and spitting at the princess of Equestria was sure to get her sent down to the dungeons for her foul mouth.

(Not many ponies knew it, but Quillina actually had a razor-sharp tongue when it came to her anger. Years of writing and observing meant she was able to speak almost as well as she could weave her penmanship. Some ponies joked that she had a tongue as sharp as a quill plucked straight off a bird sometimes.)

Quillina blushed before she shook herself and stammered, “Y-yes Princess, it’s quite alright. Really, it is!” She shuttered out before her shyness came back and she looked back down.

Luna turned to her and she bent down, resting on her forelegs so they were now at eye level. She smiled, a strange and noticeable twinkle in her eyes as she used her hoof to lift up her chin, “I expect as much as my new personal scribe.”

“Personal scribe?!?” Quillina shot her head upwards, her body both shaking and shuddering all at one time, “Oh princess do you really mean it?!?”

Luna nodded, but said nothing. She took her hoof and guided her over to the large bookcase on the left wall, next to a large amount of music playing devices. Pointing at them, she indicated an entire row of books, all written by her! Every book she’d ever published was there: If the Saddle Fits, Strange Tidings are Ahoof, Look About My Eyes, and even Hearts and Hooves: Reality. All of them were arranged alphabetically on her shelf, and Quillina looked up with barely surprised joy in her gaze.

“W-what are all of these?” She reached out and touched one of them, just to be sure if they were real, “W-why did you keep all of them?!?”

Luna looked down at her and slid a copy of one of them, a long and red one, into the proper place so everything was alphabetized again, “You’re one of my favorite writers. I noticed your published works were starting to go on the decline and wondered if you were still writing. I got anxious and decided to see if you wanted to have a change of pace in your writing skills.” She looked down with that obvious little tidbit of information inside of it.

“Well I have um…been getting a little stagnate.” She blushed when she was forced to admit it, seeing as there was no point in lying, “Well you see…I’m just…having issues coming up with ideas. So I…started to stop publishing.” She left out the fact that a growing number of her work was reflecting other famous writers in the city, many of which were what were known as ‘clop-fiction.’ Unable to publish works like that without making a certain name for herself, she had stopped her main focus of writing and was starting on that new work with Luna’s doppelgänger when the stallion had intruded upon her.

“Celestia has a scribe,” She murmured to her, almost inaudible, “So she suggested that I get one too. I-I couldn’t help but notice you lived alone,” She let her head drop a bit, “I may have been watching the area.” She admitted.

The thought of being paid attention to by the princess was more elating than it was off-putting, “You were…interested in me? Of all ponies? And now you want me to be a scribe?” Quillina gasped a bit inside, “You want me to help you?”

Luna’s eyes lifted up and she nodded, a sly smile appearing on her face as she stood back up at her full height, “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking. I’m sure you understand the duties of the royal scribe. You will also have access to any piece of the castle that you are able to get into. You’ll simply record daily parts of my life, decrees, stuff and blah blah blah!” She giggled like a schoolfilly, “Basically you write about me all day.”

Quillina’s eyes widened to the point where the whites of them swamped out her large pupils, “Yesyesyyeesyeyseyyeyse! Yes I’ll be you scribe princess!” She was bouncing up and down now, before she tried to stall herself while heat rushed to her face, “I mean…yes, I most certainly accept this and hope to be of great service to you!”

Luna’s body relaxed from some of the tension she’d seen before and a smile broke across her lips, “Perfect! There is a study that you can occupy just across the hall. I’m most certain that you’ll have adequate time to both write about your own idea and my boring life between it all!” She gestured to a large wooden door that jutted from the left end of the staircase. The room was slightly visible, and it looked like any old library study.

To Quillina, it was a lifelong dream she never she knew she had come true.

“Yes princess yes!” She cried again, then shook her hoof respectfully and looked at her, “When do I start?”

“Tomorrow Quillina.” She smiled, then a slight frown crossed her face, “By the way, I will have to refer to you as Ms. Page now when we’re in formal settings. And you cannot call me Luna.” Then she smiled back again, “Oh I sound like my sister sometimes!”

Quillina had actually begun to take that note down when she saw that Luna was no longer in her direction. She laid the script down, which she’d taken from a nearby table, and then blushed and replaced the pen again. When Luna turned around, she broke into a huge grin and smiled, “You’re a natural at it!” Then she yawned, as the sun was starting to finally make its way across the horizon.

Quillina had forgotten that this particular princess slept during the day and awoke at night. Quillina was used to such a schedule, and she’d just have to adjust her sleeping patterns and start to stay up. Perhaps even more interesting things happened during the night than just in the day!

“Princess,” She began, slowly standing up to her full height, “May I exit to my quarters?” The formal speech was, again, a side-effect of her affinity to writing long articles and stories on an almost daily basis.

Luna, bemused by her strange turn to formality but finding it slightly cute, nodded, “Yes, you are dismissed until I summon you. Be ready at dusk.” Then Luna turned her back, signaling that she could go.

The pony carefully shut the door on her way out and then walked down the hallway inside Catnerlot Castle. She blinked, stared, gaped and marveled at her luck of getting into this castle! Sure, the way she’d been brought in was a little rough and unnecessary, but it was swept away by being offered a chance to pursue writing even further! She was a scribe to Princess Luna herself! This was more than remarkable, it was extraordinary!

Quillina entered the room and the door slammed shut on its own accord. She blinked at it, and then noticed that the room was all cozy. The left wall had a nice fireplace on it, which was crackling with a tiny fire. The next two adjacent walls were full of half-occupied bookshelves, little storage bins, and a large flat screen which she didn’t understand. The third wall only had one piece of furniture: a writing desk, stool and quill and ink pen, both complete with a blank scroll ready to be written on.

Quillina dashed over and seized the two pieces, sighing happily at her luck. She’d just gone from average writer pony to royal scribe. This was a strange quill ahoof, yet she wasn’t complaining. No, this day was absolutely perfect.