Ask Quilliam Bartholomew Inkwell III

How was your name passed down to you? Was it some sort of tradition?

Ah! My first question! Wonderful!

Well, as you may have guessed already, the Quilliam Bartholomew Inkwell name was first given to my grandsire, Sir Quilliam Bartholomew Inkwell the First. He was well known in many of the upper class Canterlotian circles, and for a time, he was on the board of trustees of Misakitonic University. He achieved knighthood status through meritorious (though non-combat) service to her Majesty Princess Celestia.

He married my sweet, wonderful grandmother, Butterscotch Cream, a humble baker of confections and sweets. Her shop still exists on the corner of Clover Lane and Spruce Boulevard. It's called Cream's Confections. If you ever spend any amount of time in Canterlot, I would definitely recommend stopping there. Say hello to my grandmother for me! ^_^

Where was I? Ah, yes, my name. The name Quilliam Bartholmew Inkwell seemed to be synonomous with "success" so my grandsire and grandmother elected to give the name to their firstborn colt, Quilliam Bartholomew Inkwell II, hoping that he would gain the same renown and sucess of my grandsire.

My sire was indeed a very successful stallion. Not in terms of wealth or power, neigh. He actually makes a living as a well-respected professor of Political Sciences at Misakitonic University, where he met my mother, Garnet Whirl who was, and still is, the Assistant to the Head Librarian. His success comes from the respect and admiration he has garnered from his many, many students over the years.

My sire had no special reason to give me his name, as it no longer seemed to bring the kind of wealth and power that my grandsire seemed to have. He simply liked the name. My mother had no objections so, as they say, the rest is history.

If you wonder whether I'll petition my future Special Somepony to give our firstborn colt my name, the answer is "Maybe."

I have grown quite fond of my name, and would not mind passing it on. ^_^

>Miskatonic University

I see what you did there.

Lol, then you're quicker than me. xD

So Quill, do you have a very special somepony?

I...uh...

>///>

No.

No, I do not.

[size=-2]I mean, she's barely aware of my existence and we haven't gotten along in the past and, well...[/size]

*cough*

Next question, please.

Uh, no. MISAKI tonic University.

It's a well-respected university in Canterlot. I've not had the privilege of attending it myself (I attended Celesti's School for Gifted Unicorns), but I hear that the classes are very engaging and the students often get to travel abroad and learn about the many different races and cultures of the world.

Yeah, like when that one group of students saved Ponyville from that...thingy that Twilight summoned.

By the way, you should totally ask her out.

I heard about that. While visiting my mother at the University, I ran into my old tutor Mister Medias Res. It sounds like it was quite the fearsome beast.

I sincerely hope that Miss Twilight is okay. I'd hate for anything to happen to her.

I should what now?
*ahem*
Believe me, my friend, you are not the first to say that. My "niece," Chishi Cherrystripe has expressed the same sentiments after finding...certain unfinished letters of mine.

The thing she doesn't understand is that I never intended to finish those letters. They were...um...practice. My penmanship is impeccable, and I like to keep it that way for professional and personal reasons. I'm quite proud of my penmanship, you see.

Those letters to Miss Twilight that Chishi found were nothing more than mere doodles of a wandering mind.

Nothing more.

Next question, please. ^_^

Somepony's in denial.

Anyhow, I'll stop bugging you about that.

Are you a scribe? With a special talent like that, I'd think you'd be in the business of writing and/or transcribing books...

Thank you. *nod*

I'm not a Scribe yet. Currently, I'm on a probationary period, until Her Majesty has measured my worth, so to speak.
(And I'm afriad that with my recent "redecorating the Royal Library", my probation may have been set back several millenia.)
*sigh*

Mister Medias Res saw fit that my talents should be put to use in Her Majesty's Royal Court, transcribing letters, copying spells, and replicating documents.

My Special Talent isn't actually penmanship, but rather I'm exceptional at manipulating quills with my magic. Before becoming a scribe in training, I had never actually realized that those with good penmanship are so hard to come by. Miss Twilight's penmanship is quite...beautiful... It's extraordinary, really, the way she curls her "Q's". She actually makes them correctly, rather than simply an "O" with a line through it, it's truly quite a sight!

...

Where was I? Ah, yes. My talent. You see, there's a certain...amount of dexterity required to write with magic. It's much harder than, say, lifting a pot and placing it upon a table. It takes an entirely different set of skills. One must first manipulate the correct end of the quill, then not repeatedly smash it into the parchment, and...well, I don't want to bore you with the details.

Suffice to say, I'm better at it than most. In fact, I've spent a great deal of time practicing a spell that allows me to write with multiple quills simultaneously. It requires a great deal of concentration, so I don't use it all that often, but I'm capable of it, if I must. ^_^

As an aside, I've also perfected throwing quills, more for sport than anything overtly violent. Next time you pick up a quill, try to toss it and you will see how exceptional a feat it is.

Until next time!