Chapter 1: A Pony as Pure as White
As I awoke from my sleep, my green mane drooped into my eyes, more of a mess than usual. My white coat gleamed in the sun, as I got out of bed. Today I would be going on an expedition to the mountains with Star Swirl and Cloudy. We wanted to go to the mountains to search for dragon eggs, as the dragon migration occurred a few days ago. We went and scouted out caves on the mountain where a dragon would have laid an egg. We found a lone egg upon the mountain and decided to take it back to Star Swirl’s chamber. Granted, what followed would only be the beginning of what would occur.
“Say Star Swirl, what are we going to learn when we get back?” I inquired.
“We will be taking a trip. Going out into the forest to bring back herbs” Star Swirl responded quickly. At this point, he would have done anything to get away from the upcoming war that would unfold.
“Why can’t we just stay in Unicronia for a while?” Cloudy responded. He had wanted to go into a war since the start of his guard duty.
“There’s trouble coming, monsters from far away—”
“Then let’s go take care of them.”
“Cloudy, we mustn’t go in charging. We have to plan—” I was quickly interrupted.
“I’m not letting my people go into a war without me. I won’t go with you. Please, understand.” Cloudy let go of his anger and started to walk ahead. He needed to be alone.
The walk back was relatively quiet. The only thing we could hear was the birds overhead and our hoofsteps. Star Swirl and I had nothing to say, and Cloudy continued to walk on without us. As we got back to Unicornia, I decided that I would take some time to meditate. I needed a clear mind to contemplate ending the war before it started.
I waited by that fountain for hours, thinking, strategizing, and taking into account my surroundings.
“Why do the Earth Ponies have to be so greedy with the food?”
“Those Pegasi are causing it to rain here on purpose, I know it.”
“I am aghast at the poor quality of goods those Earth Ponies put out. We could do better.”
These felt like normal criticisms that the other races got from us, but a closer inspection only showed that these were abnormal in speech. I could feel a false sense of confidence to every comment made. It felt unreal, almost magical.
I lost communication. The trance ended forcefully. Whatever was doing this wanted me to comply. So I did the sensible thing and ran to my post at the Princess’s side. I could not tell her of what I knew, as any indication of falsifying her majesty’s knowledge could have led to me being detained on the case of obstruction of information. And with the people growing angry, I didn’t want to risk making the Princess mad.
“Clover” Platinum sighed as she paced back and forth, “Clover the Clever.”
“I thought we agreed to just call me Clover, your highness.” I said as I bowed for her.
“You’re late, you know.” She continued to pace, “I have waited for you. I need you to bring me some of your special ink for my documents.”
“Yes, your highness.” I stood and backed away, “May I ask, what for?”
“It’s for my scribe; we are going to decide how to handle this growing situation.”
“Situation?”
“Clover, you were always slow to gain news. A war could arise if we don’t settle this food crisis.”
I stood there, deep in thought. I didn’t want a war to happen. I shook it off, and went to get the ink from my chambers. As I traveled back, all I could think of were plans to stop the war, different scenarios that would stop it. Sadly, none of them would work without cooperation. I couldn’t do this alone...
I’m Clover, and this is my tale of adventure. I have to say, the journey I went on was long and arduous. Granted, since then, I’ve had a long time to think.
It all started when I was taken in by Star Swirl. He was my teacher and taught me everything I knew. When I was inducted, I met who would become my best friend, a blue unicorn named Cloudy Midnight. He was strong and had the passion to become captain of the guard. Now, being Unicorns and disciples of Star Swirl, we were given the special treatment in Unicornia, granted, not as special as the Royal Family. Princess Platinum was the beautiful heir to the throne, but even though I had a small crush, Cloudy fell head over hoofs for her.
The King, Bullion, was righteous and always acted with the upmost respect for the people. He always encouraged education in the magical arts, so Cloudy and I were common guests. Star Swirl had apparently earned Bullion’s respect long ago, so long in fact that Star Swirl claimed he was just starting to grow out his beard. I always told myself that perseverance will pay off, and Cloudy and I continued to work on our studies.
I was under Star Swirl for many years without much happening. I studied magic, and how magic affects the world around us. Working with Star Swirl was definitely the best years of my life. As I started to near the age of maturity, I was given more freedom and more responsibility. It all came very fast, because as soon as my birthday passed. I was offered the job of being Princess Platinum’s Steward and Protector. Cloudy had been working the guard since his coming of age, so the classroom was the only time we would meet. Things were starting to finally work out for us.
Now, I guess you may have noticed the lack of any other race in our midst. Unicornia had been split from the other races for as long as anypony can remember. The three races settled on a fork in the river where the land was divided evenly. The Unicorns were given the land closest to the mountains and the Earth Ponies were given the flat land for farming. The Pegasi had no qualm about where to go as the city of Pegasopolis was built in the sky on clouds that could move wherever they wanted. I always wished to see their sky palace and what ponies claimed as a site of culture and creativity, but I was always told never to go there or risk breaking the land pact.
Winter was coming soon, and I had a bad feeling that something was going to happen, something bad. All I could do was wait for it to come, and try to help when I could. Star Swirl had continually taught me about magical creatures and how to defend myself, but I felt like whatever was coming, I had never met before.
This was only the beginning to what I would find out.
