The Misfortune of Clover the Clever

What had he seen?

The question was easy enough to voice, but when it came to actually trying to find an answer, Clover wasn't even sure where to start looking. Well, that wasn't completely true. Azalea sounded pretty convinced it was some kind of prophecy, and while that hadn't been his primary area of study, it was obvious where he needed to go if he wanted to learn more.

The library, of course.

Aside from Elysium's many lecture halls, it also boasted an exceptionally large collection of literature. Dozens of shelves stretched out as far as the eye could see, containing thousands upon thousands of tomes. The collection was so vast, rumor had it that more than one librarian had gotten lost in here, never to be seen again, or at least that was how the story goes.

However, despite how large the place was, so many of the books contained a lot of the same information. At least half of them had been dedicated to spells for controlling the movements of astral bodies, something that every unicorn in the city had to study at length from an early age if they were to play their part when it came to moving the sun, the moon, and various stars. This also included their responsibilities when it came to keeping the astral beasts from escaping their heavenly prison, something that hadn't happened in Clover's admittedly short lifetime.

That wasn't the only thing a young pony with a thirst for knowledge could learn here, though. A lot of the library was dedicated to the study of alchemy, transfiguration, and various enchantments everyone could use in their daily lives. There had even been a recent rise in herbalism, a sign that a number of residents wish to free themselves from their reliance on what they considered to be a lesser tribe. Everyone had to eat, after all. However, despite their efforts, no one had even come close to growing food anywhere near as well as an earth pony.

It had taken some time, and getting lost at least twice, before Clover was able to locate a section dedicated to divination. He hadn't been too interested in the subject, but that was before he had seen what must've been a distant future.

"I dream of water," Clover read from the first book he picked up. "A place where I might find sanctuary, safe from the trials of the land, and the only cares I may have would be those from above." It seemed pretty straight forward, since it did sound like it was just describing Elysium. They were surrounded by water, after all. He read a little further, finding the book went on to describe how the unicorn eventually lead them to the city they lived in now.

Setting the book down, he picked up another. "The flames climb ever higher," this one read. "Friends and family burn around me, my home crumbles to dust. Everything I once knew reduced to ash and carried away on the wind." This was a bit dark, Clover thought. Parts of it did sort of remind him of his own recent experience with fire, but when he looked into it further, the pony who had that vision died at least a good sixty years ago. Maybe there was a great fire some time before he was born. He'd have to dig through the history archives if he wanted to know for certain, but that could take days if he was lucky, weeks if he was not.

Clover continued to dig through the various prophecies and predictions, discovering that very few of them came with descriptions of what they had actually been foretelling, if anything. Fires, floods, earthquakes, and any other kind of natural disasters seemed to be chief among the visions his tribe had over the years. He did find a few warnings against attacks from pegasi and other winged fiends, and one odd account cautioning against sharing a table with keepers of the land. Earth ponies, if he had to guess.

Clover started to get all excited as he found one describing a fire from above, hoping it might give him a clue about that meteorite he found. He was soon disappointed when he realized it was just another version of the sun-moving spells that had been put back on the wrong shelf.

Several hours of searching later, and with only a headache to show for his trouble, he decided it was time to take a break. He had been reading from a book about the most absurd prophecies and visions he had ever heard, stopping after reading about some unicorn who had been preaching about how chaos would fall upon the world if ponies kept forcing order on it. It wasn't too much of a surprise when the section ended with how that same pony had been declared a lunatic and was subsequently banished from the city.

Clover set the book down and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "That's enough crazy for one day," he said with a sigh. He hadn't made any progress in finding some semblance of an answer, and he had been at this for the better part of the day. At least he was now a little better versed in a subject he had known little of before, and it wasn't too hard to see how Azalea could believe what he saw to be some sort of prophecy. It certainly seemed to fit with everything else they had on record.

Speaking of Azalea, Clover thought. He hadn't seen her since their adventures the day before. Hopefully, she was alright. She did go back to take care of her mother. Clover visibly cringed, the memory of his fight with the elder still bothering him. Not just that he came to Azalea's defense, but that it had been his actions that had escalated things. It just wasn't like him. Usually, he was far more reserved with his actions, unlike Pyrus who had always been the one to act like the biggest dog in the room. Maybe he had rubbed off on him? Clover found himself thinking, but then there was also the matter of his magic. Those spells had come to him unbidden and were cast far too quickly. Far faster than Clover knew that he, himself, was capable of. Almost as if they had a mind of their own.

The thought worried him deeply. Maybe there were some records of others having a similar experience? Maybe something in the mental arts? He didn't want to think he was crazy. Maybe he was overthinking it. Maybe his reflexes were just all messed up. Maybe...

A deep growl echoed from the pit of his stomach, cutting off his thoughts. Maybe he was just hungry? Come to think of it, when was the last time he had eaten? After leaving Elder Gladiolus' place, he had barely made it back to the dorms before passing out, and he had slept until the following day.

Clover let out a long sigh. Whatever was happening, it could wait until he got some food in him. Hopefully he'll have a little more clarity after a short break. He stood up and stretched as a flicker of purple magic danced off his horn. That was all it took to scoop up all of his research materials, and sent them careening back to their appropriate shelves. His concern about his magic's unusual behavior wasn't completely gone, but he couldn't deny it now had a measure of convenience to it. He probably just needed to get used to it. That was all.

Clover recoiled as he stepped out of the building, bracing himself against the midday sun. He had forgotten how it felt to feel the sun on his face, not realizing how much he had actually missed it until it was gone. While he enjoyed the feeling, he was a bit distracted by the veins of indigo running through his raised leg. Part of him couldn't deny how strange it looked, while other parts of him found it completely fascinating with the way the sun shone through it.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one taking an interest in his recent changes. He caught a glimpse of a few others stealing glances at his oddities as they passed by. Their looks ranged from curiosity and intrigue to outright disgust at the deformity. For Clover's part, he felt a lot more conscientious about his appearance than he had a minute ago. Sure, it was a step up from the angry mob he had dealt with before it had happened, but it still left him feeling very uncomfortable.

"Clover! There you are!" Came a cheery shout, pulling him out of his reverie. He knew that voice.

"Azalea?" Clover called back. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course," she said as she threw her forelegs around him. "I haven't seen you since yesterday and I was starting to worry."

"Worried? About me?" Said Clover, earning himself a scowl from the young lady.

"Of course I'd be worried," she said. "So much happened yesterday." She looked over his shoulder at the building. "So you were at the library? I probably should've checked there first. Learn anything interesting?"

"Yeah... A bit," Clover said nervously. Why was he being nervous around her? After all the time Azalea spent with him after the accident, and after everything they did together on that starry night, the last thing he should feel is nervous around her. Was this normal after a night together? Did other ponies feel this way, or was it just him?

Clover's eyes drifted upward to other said ponies, noticing that they hadn't once taken their eyes off of him. Far from that, since Azalea arrived, the number of onlookers had only increased and even now seemed to be attempting to take him apart with their eyes.

Azalea followed Clover's gaze, quickly discerning the situation for herself. "Come on," she said quickly as she began pulling him along. "You must be hungry, and I don't like the way everypony is looking at us."

It didn't take more convincing than that to get moving. The opportunity to get away from the public's prying eye and, more importantly, the promise of food, was all he needed to match Azalea's gait as they ran off to fulfill both objectives.

Food was fairly easy to find since the city stores were usually plentiful. Only a handful of ponies were involved in the actual process of bringing and storing food, so Clover wasn't too keen on all the details. He knew that they got their food from an earth pony caravan that stopped by every other week, but that was about it. As far as his daily life was concerned, it didn't really matter. That had been true his whole life, and there was no reason to believe that would change.

Why was he suddenly thinking about the metrics of how they got food into the city? Probably because he was more hungry than he realized, but at the moment, it was also a welcome distraction. Even though he had the most beautiful mare in the entire city running by his side, it wasn't enough to completely distract him from the looks he was getting. Everywhere they went, the eyes of ponies were practically glued to him. Clover wasn't a fool. He was well aware how strange he must look to them. Unicorns typically wore a toga to maintain a semblance of modesty. These were usually white in color, but they did branch out to include various pinks, light blues, and other bright colors. On a rare occasion, you might find one in a darker hue, especially if that pony had particularly bright coat.

Not only was Clover wearing something in a vibrant green, but his cloak was also a completely different style than how everyone else was dressed. If that wasn't bad enough, bits of crystal would occasionally sparkle around the edges. Every time the light hit his body just right, Clover swore that at least three more ponies would start staring at him.

It was distracting enough that, despite how hungry he was, he didn't dig into the sandwich he had picked up until they had both retreated a respectable distance from the crowd and under the shade of a nearby tree. The latter of which was in hopes that he would stop sparkling like the main character from a trashy romance novel.

"Do ponies really have nothing better to do than stare at me?" Clover grumbled between bites. With everything that had been happening lately, he was starting to wonder if there'd ever be a time where he wasn't drawing attention to himself.

Azalea shrugged her shoulders as she finished swallowing. "You know, nothing interesting ever really happens around here," she said. "I give it another month and everypony will get bored of my new coltfriend, even if I'm not."

Clover had been mid-bite when she said that, leading to him choking on the last of his sandwich. Azalea's face lit up with glee even as she quickly passed him some water. "Coltfriend?" He finally said once he could breathe again.

"Of course," Azalea giggled as she stroked his mane. "What else would I call you by now?"

The parts of the bewildered unicorn's face that weren't a crystal purple began to shift to a pale scarlet. His coat began to itch, and he would've tucked his head in and completely disappeared beneath his cloak had it not been for the opportunely positioned foreleg preventing his escape.

This only resulted in Azalea latching even harder to his side, laughing as she pulled him down the ground with her. They rolled around in the grass for a bit before finally settling down, now nestled into each other with Clover as the bigger spoon.

He let out a breath of contentment as he enjoyed the warmth of a kindred spirit so close to him. Why was he worrying about everything so much? This was what really mattered, right here. Everything else could wait.

"I love you," he spoke softly into her mane that smelled of mint and honey. "Have I told you that yet?"

"Not in those exact words," she said as she wriggled excitedly in his grasp. "I already knew, but let me hear you say it again."

So he did. As they both settled in for a nap in the midday sun, he did. And he would tell her as many times as he needed to.