The Misfortune of Clover the Clever

Clover couldn't believe what he was seeing. Elder Gladiolus... dead? He had just seen him barely an hour ago, talked to him, asked him for advice, and now he was just... gone? It didn't seem real. It couldn't be real. Could it?

"Clover!" Came the panicked cry from Elder Dahlia. "Help me... Please..."

Clover's eyes snapped back into focus. Seeing the dead body of elder Gladiolus had caused him to space out completely.

The air shook violently as the giant pegasus assaulted the elder's shield. Every blow from her hooves came down with the force of a boulder, forcing the unicorn to her knees as she recoiled under the weight of the attack.

"Dandelion!" Clover called out to her. He didn't understand what was happening. "What happened? What are you doing?!"

She didn't respond to his shouts, or even appear to have heard him at all. He moved a bit closer, hoping she might stop if she saw him for only a moment.

That turned out to be a mistake. He barely managed to catch a brief corner of her focused gaze before her next attack came in the form of a rear hoof straight to the side of his face.

The kick sent him reeling as he was thrown into a nearby chair. It broke into splinters under the weight of his own body being suddenly forced upon it. Clover pushed himself up out of the rubble, dazed and confused, more so from the shock that she had actually attacked him more than anything else. It hadn't hurt as much as he thought it would, but again, what was going on?!

Dandelion resumed her assault on the elder's shield the moment they were alone again. Dahlia's face was beginning to pale from the effort it took maintaining her defense. The marble floor was starting to crack in places, a testament to the pegasus' strength and evidence to the elder's will that she hadn't yet folded under the assault.

"Dandelion! You have to stop!" Clover moved in again, a little more wary of attack this time around.

His caution was warranted. Same as last time, the moment he was within kicking range, a large hoof once again came for his skull.

However, he was ready this time, and easily caught her flying hoof with a shield of his own. Once again, the magic provided to him by the crystal embedded in his body proved its worth in aiding any spell he wished to cast. The purple glow of Clover's shield was more than sufficient to completely halt the pegasus' attack.

Furthermore, the lieutenant seemed to take notice that her little annoyance wasn't easily swatted away this time. She turned her back on Dahlia, who finally collapsed to the ground due to sheer exhaustion, and focused her full attention on Clover. This gave him a better look at her face before she began pummeling on his shield with the same vigor she had previously reserved for the elder.

Her eyes looked completely dead, like she wasn't even conscious or aware of what she was doing. Even when she let out a warcry, increasing the intensity of her attacks with her battle fervor, her eyes continued to look distant and detached.

As for the shield itself, it refused to budge no matter how many blows landed upon it. Clover's seeming bottomless stores of magic not only kept his attacker well at bay, but also gave him the leeway he needed to do more than just defend.

A tether of power snaked from his horn and passed through his barrier without any discernible difficulty. It then proceeded to coil itself around and through Dandelion's limbs, considerably slowing her movements with each pass.

With one last push, the tether tightened its grip, instantly locking her hooves to her sides and pinning her wings tightly against her back. She flailed and struggled against her bindings, but it seemed that even her considerable physical might was no match for the magic Clover now had at his disposal.

He still felt drained as he lowered his shield, more emotionally than anything else, and spared a look in the direction of Gladiolus' body. He still couldn't believe that the kind old elder was actually gone.

And then there was Lieutenant Dandelion. He had never seen another pony act so violently. Not that he couldn't believe she wasn't capable of violence, not with the stories he had been hearing her tell over drinks. But what he had seen just now was a creature absent of all reason. It just didn't seem like her. Even as he looked over to where his magic still kept her bound, and seeing how she still thrashed and struggled, he had a hard time believing it was still the same pony. What in the world was happening here?!

"I'm so glad you were here," Elder Dahlia choked out. Her face looked particularly worn, like it had taken every last ounce of her strength to hold her assailant at bay. "I don't think I would've survived had you not been here. What about Azalea?!" She snapped, once again sounding desperate. "What about my daughter?! Is she alright?! That brute didn't hurt her, did she?"

"I think she'll be alright, at least I hope so..." Clover said. "She was only conscious for a moment, but she was far more worried about you."

"That girl," Dahlia muttered under her breath. "I told her to run, but she wouldn't listen. Still... Who would've thought that pegasus would've reacted that way..."

"Elder Dahlia?" Clover raised an eyebrow at her quiet remark. "What do you mean?"

Elder Dahlia's eyes narrowed into pinpricks, like she hadn't meant to say that out loud. However, before she had a chance to respond, the clopping of many sets of hooves filled the rest of the house.

"Is there anypony here?" A voice called out from the front of the house.

Dahlia breathed a sigh of relief, breaking the tension that had started forming between her and Clover. "It's about time they showed up... We're in here!" She called back.

About a half a dozen of the city guard rushed into the room. As they surveyed the scene, a couple of them took pause once they noticed the corpse in the room, but unlike Clover, they didn't freeze up like he had.

"What happened in here?" One of them asked.

"I'm not sure," Elder Dahlia shook her head. "It all happened so fast. I was talking with Elder Gladiolus, and she," she gestured to the pegasus who was even now being further bound by the city guard. "She said something about glory to the empire, and then... and then... she killed the elder."

Muffled screams began filling the room. Clover turned to look at the source of the noise to find Dandelion fighting against her bonds. Her eyes were clearer than they had been moments before and she desperately looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't through the gag she now wore.

Elder Dahlia finally seemed to find her feet as she stood back up properly and puffed her chest out. "Regardless of the reasons," she said in a voice that captured the attention of everyone present. "Two of my fellow elders have been killed, and by delegates from our so-called allies, no less. The unicorns of Elysium may be far more relaxed than these... these pegasi, but this atrocity can not and will not go unpunished."

After that, the rest of the day just felt strange. How was he even expected to act after all that? It was just supposed to be a quick research trip followed by the long awaited trip to Mount Boras. Not only one, but two elders had now died, and seemingly by ponies who didn't seem capable of cold-blooded murder. Even with everything that had happened, he still couldn't get the look of Lieutenant Dandelion's dead eyes out of his head. Something about it had just felt... wrong.

"I still don't see how she could have been capable of killing Elder Gladiolus," Azalea said for the third time that day. She had fortunately come out of the scuffle with little more than a bump on the head. "Able, yes, but she was such a sweetheart most of the time."

"I don't understand it either," Clover admitted. "But I know what I saw." He hadn't believed it was possible for anyone to raise a hoof against Gladiolus. He was loved and respected by almost everyone in the community, especially among the younger ponies.

Further evidence of that was shown by how fast the news of his death rampaged through the city. Even faster than the news of Lily's demise, it seemed the whole city had learned of the murder before Clover had even left the scene of the crime. Like a spark let loose after a particularly harsh drought, emotions seemed to have become inflamed all at once.

"What are we going to do about this!?"

"I never trusted those feathered freaks!"

"What were the elders thinking even letting them in here!?"

Similar shouts filled the city for the rest of the day. Every corner, every store, any place you found more than a single unicorn the topic of conversation remained the same. Classes had been cancelled, the bars were empty, and the feeling running through the town that of ponies out for blood. Never before had Clover, or anyone else in recent memory for that matter, seen such a unified need for vengeance.

The otherwise reserved populace of Elysium was quickly on its way of turning into an unruly mob. The only thing that headed them off, before they had the chance to completely devolve into anarchy, were the criers that ran through the town saying that an announcement was to be made at the site of the failed Summit.

Clover and Azalea were just as interested as everyone else in what was going to be announced, and even if they weren't, no one could avoid being swept into the sea that was the crowd of angry ponies. By some miracle, they managed to make it into the hall without being trampled by their fellow ponies, even though there was far from enough room to hold everyone.

The boisterous crowd fell silent as the distant doors opened to reveal Elder Dahlia flanked on both sides not by the city guard, but by unicorns who had been dressed from horn to hoof in a vivid blue armor. The armor itself seemed to glow from enchantments that, even at a distance, could be seen etched into its metal surface.

As for Dahlia herself, her normal white toga had been replaced for one of the darkest black. Her eyes were red and puffy, and the evidence of many tears matted the fur beneath them. Despite her look of mourning, the piercing look in her gaze showed stalwart determination. She may be in pain, but she wasn't about to let that stop her from doing what she believed needed to be done.

"My fellow unicorns! Citizens of Elysium!" She shouted from the front of the stage that not long ago was being used to discuss peace, a peace that now seemed highly unlikely. "As you are no doubt aware, Elder Gladiolus has passed. Stolen from us long before his time."

Shouts and jeers resonated through the crowd and Dahlia allowed it to continue for a moment before raising a hoof to silence the crowd.

"It wasn't bad enough to take Elder Lily from us in a display of unparalleled brutality, but to have the only other elder aside from myself taken from us shortly thereafter has torn a hole in our collective hearts, especially among our youth." She lower her eyes while holding a hoof against her chest. "I may not have been standing before you either, had it not been for the fortunate intervention of a passerby who was able to overpower the assailant."

Even though she hadn't mentioned him by name, Clover quickly started going red at the ears as he felt a number of eyes fall on him. Somehow, news of his deeds had been passed around as much as the tragedy itself.

"But what of the rest of the pegasi who surely stood behind this attack." Attention once again snapped back to the front of the room. The anticipation was palpable as the last of the elders spoke. "Can we let them think they can get away with this? Take what they want? Beat us into submission? Roll over like prey?"

"No!!!" "Get them!!!" "Strike back!!!" The angry shouts from the mob made their opinion more than clear.

"No!" Dahlia called as well with a dramatic wave of the hoof. "Of course we can't! As of this moment, we will make the pegasi regret making an enemy of Elysium!"

Clover felt the blood drain from his face as he dreaded the next words that would pass Dahlia's lips. Words that, while tragic, were inevitable at this point in time. Their fates, the fates of all unicorns, of all of pony kind would suddenly change, and not for the better.

"Mares and gentlecolts!" The elder slammed her hoof firmly against the ground with finality. "Elysium goes to war!"