The Adventures of Starswirl and Clover

Clover’s POV
I groaned when I woke up. I felt a cold, hard surface beneath me, and heard faint crackling noises from nearby. With a great effort, I forced my eyes open. Starswirl was reading a book titled A Unicorn’s Guide to Survival. I looked around and saw that we were in a damp cave. Outside the opening, rain was pouring down. Carefully, I attempted standing up, but tripped when I began moving. This caused Starswirl to turn his attention to me. He rushed over and helped me sit up.

“You really should just rest,” he told me. His voice was hoarse, and I saw little dark ringlets beneath his eyes.

“What happened? Where are we?” I didn’t recognize the dark forest outside. After I blacked out, I was sure that we weren’t going to make it out. I wondered if Celestia had simply banished us.

Starswirl sat back down. “We made it through a mirror. This is an alternate world,” he replied. “I haven’t been to explore it yet, with you being unconscious.” I studied the walls of the cave, and noticed a few chips in the rocks where Starswirl must have tried to strike a fire.

“How long was I out?” I asked, praying it wasn’t too long.

“About half a day,” Starswirl said, pulling his book back to his face. The rain seemed to be clearing up, and I was starving.

I walked up to Starswirl, slowly getting my balance back. “Can we please get something to eat? I’m hungry, and I’m sure you must be, too,” I asked. He looked up from his book, then at the entrance to the cave, then at his stomach, as if trying to determine whether or not this was a good idea. “Please?” I pleaded.

He sighed. “Okay, but let’s not get crazy. We eat, observe, then come back. You never know when there could be another you walking around,” said Starswirl. I jumped up and made a brown tweed cloak appear to wrap around myself. Starswirl created a dark purple cloak appear, decorated with bright stars. He picked up his hat, and walked with me to the exit. “Ready?” he asked. I nodded.

Starswirl’s POV
Clover and I walked for what seemed like hours before we reached any civilization. The forest had begun to thin, and there was now a clear dirt pathway to follow. Clover was speeding up slightly, and soon we reached the edge of the forest. A large sign was there, welcoming us to…

“Ponyville? That’s where I live, but it looks so,” Clover paused, “…different.” She was right. The dark and gloomy town was now bright and colorful, full of busy ponies of all species. I had to grab Clover’s cloak to keep her from running in without thinking.

She stared at me with slight agitation. “Wait, Clover. We need to keep a low profile, remember? Let’s find somewhere to eat,” I told her. She looked at the small town and walked through the gates. I stayed by her side, observing the numerous ponies. Clover stopped and was looking at a building. It looked like a small bakery.

“What about there?” she asked. I didn’t have time to answer, because a second later she was dragging me along with her into the store. When we entered, I smelled the sweet scent of cake batter. Several ponies were in line ahead of us, and an overactive pink pony tended to the cash register. It looked like the currency used here was the same as in our Equestria, which was good, seeing as I still had plenty of bits.

Once we reached the front of the line, the pink pony took in a long, loud, exasperated breath, and ran up the flight of stairs behind the register. Clover and I looked at each other, surprised. A few moments later, the pony rushed back down the steps with a small white box and a mini cannon. My eyes widened and I took a step back.

Seconds later, the pony had blasted the cannon and placed the box in front of us. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! I saw you and I had never seen you before and that meant you just got here and that meant you had no friends so I got my party cannon and threw a party and now everyone here is your friend!” She giggled. “So, what are your names?” Well, so much for keeping a low profile. I didn’t want to seem suspicious, so I answered Pinkie.

“I am Starswirl the Bearded and this is Clover… the Clever,” I responded. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clover smile a crooked smile. “Listen, Pinkie. This is very nice and all, but we’re only passing through, so-“ I was cut off by a delicious lemon cupcake being stuffed into my mouth. I looked at Clover and saw that she was the culprit. She had opened the box and was smiling as she gazed over the many cupcakes inside.

She smirked at me. “Lighten up, Starswirl. We can enjoy the party for a bit, right?” she asked. Clover looked up at me with her big puppy dog eyes. I rolled my eyes.

“Fine, you can stay for a while. I’m going to finish reading my book over in that corner.” I tilted my head towards a table in the corner of the small building. Clover’s smile widened, and she hugged me before running off to socialize and look over the delicious pastries. I blushed before walking over to the table and pulling my book from my saddle bag. I tried reading it, but couldn’t concentrate. After a few tries, I gave up and closed the book. A wave of exhaustion passed over me, and I played my head down on the table’s surface.

I wondered why I had even bothered with Clover. She certainly wouldn’t have been the first unicorn I turned over to the Queen. When I had done it, I kept telling myself that it was so that she could be my apprentice. But it became clear to me that this was not the case. Clover was a part of my future, of that I was sure. It was now time to decide how.

Sometime during the party I must’ve fallen asleep, because Clover had to wake me up. “What time is it?” I yawned out. As I sat up, I stretched my legs. When I got a good look at Clover, I saw that she had acquired a black eye. “What happened?!”
She shrugged. “Long story.”

Clover’s POV
A couple hours after we had met Pinkie Pie, the party was beginning to die down. Most of the sweets were gone, and the sun was setting. I looked at Starswirl, who was using his book as a pillow to nap on. Smiling to myself, I began putting a few cookies in my saddle bag. I knew Starswirl would want something other than cupcakes to snack on in the cave.

I heard the bell above the door ring, and I looked to see who had entered. A buff tan pegasus was approaching me. His steps were slow and wobbly, and the smell of alcoholic apple cider emitted from him. I quickly turned away, hoping he would just leave me alone. Unfortunately, he didn’t.

“He-ey, babe. Why do-don’t ya come on o-ver and give me a lit-tle smooch?” His words were slurred, and he put his hoof around my neck, forcefully pulling me towards him. I pushed him off, and he growled.

I scoffed at him. “Little early to be getting drunk, don’t you think?” I said sarcastically. He scowled and got closer to me, reaching his hoof out to grab me again. I dodged his first attempt, but the second time his hoof nailed me in the eye. My reflexes made me cast a defense spell. The shield knocked the stallion to the ground, and I placed a hoof over my eye. I saw my reflection in the store window, and saw a hideous black eye forming. I groaned loudly and went to wake up Starswirl.

“What time is it?” he asked, sitting up. “What happened?!” He sounded worried, and that made me jump a little on the inside. It was kind of concerning that I wanted Starswirl’s approval, but I didn’t want to think about it.

I sighed. “Long story.” As Starswirl stood up, I saw him casting a spell I didn’t recognize. The pain from my eye slowly died away, and a warm sensation spread across my body. “Woah… Was that you?” I asked him. He nodded, and I was amazed. “You know healing spells?” He nodded again.

“I’d love to tell you all about it, but can we get back to the cave? I’m more interested in how that black eye of yours came to be,” he said. I followed Starswirl out of the bakery and back to the edge of the forest. “Come on. I don’t feel like walking.” He gestured to his back, and I gently put my hooves around his neck. Starswirl teleported us to the cave, and I made a mental note to make him teach me about teleportation.

I began telling him about the tan pegasus and how he gave me a black eye. With each word, Starswirl tended to the fire with more and more force, until I was pretty sure he would hurt himself. “Are you okay?” I asked when I finished my story. He stopped messing with the fire and came to sit down next to me.

“Yeah, it’s just,” he started, pausing to think, “it makes me wonder how you can have any friends when you know that they could turn into something like… that.” He looked at me, expecting an answer.

I sighed. “Swirl, you need friends. I’m your friend, you can test me out if you want. But you have to learn to trust,” I responded. I didn’t regret calling him a nickname, it was a friend-thing.

“And you have to learn to not trust everypony you meet.” He turned his head away, and I scoffed.

“I trusted you, didn’t I?” When I didn’t get a reply, I stood up and walked to the side of the cave. “I guess that was a mistake.” I conjured up some blankets and lay down on them. I drifted off to sleep.