The Misfortune of Clover the Clever

The next couple days was a really bad time to be a pegasus in or near Elysium. Even as unicorns young and old were signing up to join the new found army, the guard had already mobilized to neutralize anyone unfortunate enough to be born with wings.

Although, those who were only captured by the guard may have been the fortunate ones. More than one group of vigilantes rose up around the city to take justice into their own hooves. The only mercy they offered was a quick end, but even that was hopeful at best.

As for why the pegasi didn't just simply fly away? The magic of the unicorns turned out to be more than sufficient to bring them down as soon as they were airborne. Some of them attempted to hide near the water at the base of the city, where there were alcoves aplenty, but it was insufficient in the face of a spell that had been recently rediscovered. This spell allowed any unicorn with sufficient magic to take to the air with their own wings shaped from the mists surrounding the city, of which there were plenty.

And Clover? He felt completely sick with what was happening around him. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been so close to the events before they snowballed out of control; maybe if he had never gotten to know some of the pegasi so well; and maybe if the ever-present vision that had taken up permanent residence in the back of his head, a vision of the tribes unified and at peace, had never been shown to him. Unfortunately, all of that had happened. If it hadn't, he may very well have been one of the many ponies signing up to fight the winged menace.

"Are you going to be alright?" Azalea lay against his side. She hadn't once left him since her mother's proclamation of war. She hadn't needed him to tell her what was bothering him since she had been there through all of it.

"I just don't know," Clover sighed. He could barely feel her by his side. He could hardly feel anything at all since it all started. "How did it all go so wrong?"

"I wish I could tell you." Azalea had been just as depressed. She had really looked up to Lieutenant Dandelion, and this betrayal was obviously eating away at her.

Speaking of the large pegasus mare, there was something else that had refused to leave Clover alone. It was the look in her eyes before, during, and after the conflict. She had been so playful before, never once seeming to shy away from bawdy jokes and employing a number of them herself. Those same vibrant eyes had been completely vacant during the attack. It wasn't until she had been subdued that the light seemed to return to them. Unfortunately, by the time she seemed to come back to herself, it was too late for her to do anything.

"Would you help me?" Clover asked Azalea as he sat up. He couldn't just sit here any longer. Something was wrong and he wouldn't be able to rest until he found some answers.

"Of course," she answered without hesitation. "What do you need?"

They waited until nightfall before carrying out their plan. The prison that held the pegasi may have been very well guarded, but between Azalea's magical expertise and Clover's ability to add his considerable pool of strength to keep her from exhausting herself, they managed to slip in unnoticed.

Well... Unnoticed by everyone except the pegasi that were being held captive. Dozens of them had been crammed into cages like wild animals, many of them even sporting a number of injuries ranging from bruises to wings that stuck out at odd angles. The edges of several cages had been stained by blood, further evidence to how roughly they had been handled upon capture. The worst part were the broken expressions so many of them carried, ponies who had already given up the fight.

"This is awful," said Azalea after seeing the mess that had once been their visiting cousins. "How could mother condone such treatment?"

"I don't know," the sight had been unlike anything Clover had seen before. However, he had been starting to grow numb as he jumped from one catastrophe the next. The only thing he cared about right this moment was finding some answers.

"Over here, Clover! I think I found a door!" Azalea called from the distant corner.

He followed her voice to find a heavy steel door set into the stone. Her eyes were screwed in concentration as she seemed to be struggling with the lock.

"It seems to have some strong enchantments sealing it shut," she whined after spending a few more minutes trying to force the door. "I don't think I can break them, either. Whatever's down there, they apparently don't want anypony getting in."

"Why though?" Clover wondered. It might've just been to keep the more important prisoners safe, but what would be the point? Elysium had already openly declared war, and it didn't sound like the kind that was going to resolve peacefully either. It just didn't make any sense. "Stand back," he said, the time for subtlety was over.

"What are you... Ah!" She jumped back in alarm upon seeing the red-hot glow emanating from Clover's horn and the determined look in his eyes.

The air around them vibrated as a beam of energy cut into the door. The enchantments built into it fizzled and popped as magic they were never meant to hold up against tore them apart. What had likely been an alarm sounded for only a moment before even that fell victim to the magical assault, the accompanying claxon falling silent almost as soon as it had begun.

With a loud clang, the door fell from its hinges and slammed into the ground, the metal having no chance of holding up under Clover's arcane might.

"You're completely serious about this, aren't you?" Azalea stared dumbfounded at her partner before glancing back to the door he just destroyed. "They'll know someone was here."

"It don't care anymore," Clover remained resolute as he climbed over the wreckage and began making his way down the stairs. "Nothing about this feels right, and I won't let anypony keep me from finding out what's wrong."

Guided by hornlight, they climbed down the steep steps as they made their way deeper underground. Wherever the path led, it seemed a bit excessive to just be a cell for holding prisoners. It went on for so long that neither unicorn would've been surprised to find that they had made their way completely beneath the lake.

The tunnel looked like it would go on forever, but eventually it leveled out to reveal another door. However, there didn't appear to be any special enchantments built into this one. It was unextraordinary wooden door and it wasn't even locked. It was as if whoever had placed this down here had fully expected the first door to stop all intruders.

Clover placed a single hoof against the door, suddenly nervous again about what he might find. He felt someone place a foreleg on his side and looked back to see Azalea looking back at him. She looked just as nervous as he did, but she still nodded her support. This was it. Whatever was going on here was likely behind this door. He leaned into the door, opening it with a heavy creak, and cast his light into the room beyond.

Inside was what appeared to be a study of sorts. Several bookshelves lined the walls with a tome-laden desk next to one of them. There was also what looked to be a large stone table. Thick leather straps hung from the sides and on closer inspection, there were hints of dried blood and scattered feathers around the edges, like whoever they had been used to secure fought against their captors with everything they were worth.

"I don't like this, Clover," Azalea started to look a bit green upon seeing the table. "I really don't like this..."

"Clover?" A raspy voice came from a distant wall. "Lad? Eh dat yu?"

He knew that voice. Clover cast his light to the distant wall to find three very familiar pegasi chained up. Lieutenant Dandelion sat in the middle of group and looked back at him with a spark of hope in her eyes. He stepped forward, only truly seeing their poor condition once he moved closer.

Dandelion definitely appeared to have been roughened up the most out of the group. Scrapes and cuts littered her muscular form, and fresh blood glistened from her manacles when the hornlight found them. The part where the chains had been fastened to the wall shifted considerably when she moved, like she had been spending every moment and every ounce of her strength in an effort to free herself, and may have likely succeeded after a short while longer.

In contrast to her, Storm Caller seemed none the worse for wear, like he had just sit there and calmly let his jailers do as they please. Either that, or he was conserving his strength for the ideal opportunity.

As for Commander Thunderhead... He wasn't moving. He just lay there limply in his shackles and didn't even appear to be breathing.

"He expired yesterday," Storm offered. "At least I think it was yesterday. Hard to keep track of time without the sky overhead."

Azalea let out a gasp upon seeing the corpse of the pegasus leader. "What have they been doing to you down here?"

"Sum kinda magical sumthin or other," said Dandelion. "They were talkin' a bunch of fancy mumbo jumbo while doin it too. Can't say Ah understood it even a little. Say," she rattled her chains. "While Ah'd luv to stay 'ere and chat, think yu could do sumthin bout these?"

Clover took a closer look at her bindings. It turned out to not need more than a few sparks to crack them open and have them fall to the ground in pieces. It seems that whoever was bent on keeping this place secure had invested everything into the initial entrance. Although to be fair, that would've stopped just about anyone else.

Both Dandelion and Storm stretched out their aching limbs once they were free. They also took the opportunity to shake out their wings which had been secured tightly against their own bodies for who knows how long.

"Oi," the giantess gave her familiar gusto as she stretched. "Yu hav no idea how good dat feels."

However Storm was more focused on the task at hand. "So what's the plan now?" He asked. "Do you have a plan for getting us out? How bad is it out there, by the way?"

Clover cringed inwardly. He hadn't originally meant for this to be a rescue, but when he saw the state his new friends were in, he couldn't just leave them there.

"It's bad," Azalea said. "Elysium's openly declared war on Mount Boras. All pegasi are being arrested on sight. I don't know if any of them got away, or if anypony anywhere else know what's happening right now."

"Even if they don't," Storm Caller said with certainty. "It won't be long before scouts start scoping out the area. We've been gone far too long for the rest of command to sit idly by."

"By the way," Clover looked to Dandelion in an attempt to get back on track. "What happened before? Why did I find you attacking Elder Dahlia? Did you really kill Elder Gladiolus?"

The question seemed to be enough to curb her perpetually positive attitude as she narrowed her eyes. "Aye, Ah've actually been findin myself asking the same question the whole time we been down 'ere. Not much else to do." She idly rubbed at one of the places her leg had been rubbed raw by the chains. "Last thing Ah really remember was Ah was waitin' fer the two o you. Ah might've nodded off once or twice, but next thing Ah knew was Ah being held by half a dozen guards with you an the old crone hovering o'er me."

"But I remember seeing you kill Gladiolus," Azalea said, confused. "It was right in front of me, too."

"It was her eyes..." Clover muttered under his breath. When everyone else went quiet and he realized they had all heard him, he elaborated further. "It was like she was in a trance or something. Although, I don't know of any magic that could do that to another pony."

His eyes once again moved of their own accord and focused in on the distant table. This had been happening far more frequently, but with everything else that was happening, it didn't seem to matter. He followed the guidance they were offering and moved closer to look at the table itself.

To no one's surprise, including Clover, every open book on its surface was dedicated to some form of magic. There were also a few loose diagrams depicting various bits of pony biology, mostly that belonging to pegasi, if the wings were any indication.

In the middle of it all, a small brown book stood out among the rest. There wasn't any reason for him to notice, considering how plain it was, but once again, Clover found his eyes inexplicably being drawn to it. Swallowing hard, he cracked it open and began to read.

"The tests have been mostly inconclusive. Each subject seems to respond to the treatment differently. Some become docile while others show excessive violence. The only thing that remains constant is neither subject remembers anything for the duration of the effect."

"What is that?" Storm narrowed his eyes. "Why do those words set my fur on end?"

"Looks like it's a journal of some kind," said Clover. "Seems like they were testing something." He turned to the next page.

"We've been making small modifications to the original diagram given to us by the elder. How she ever managed to produce such a marvel of magic is beyond me. This is clearly the work of many years and tireless dedication to the cause."

Turning another page. "The elder showed up in a fury today. Apparently one of the subjects almost killed her out in the field. They still carried out their assigned mission, whatever that may have been. Not my concern."

Another page. "We are truly on the cusp of a grand age! The magics are finally stable. No more nasty side effects like pegasi going rouge mid-mission. Unicorns have always been limited by our naturally weak constitution. But with the strength of these pegasi added to our own... Ah, but I digress. Even with all the progress we've made here today, it will still be many years before anypony reaps the full benefits of our labor. Maybe by the time the elder's daughter reaches the same age. It's a shame the rest of us won't be around to see it."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Azalea was starting to look very uneasy. "I can't believe my mother would condone experiments like this!"

"Today I asked her..."

"Clover! Please... Just stop..." Azalea pleaded. "I don't think I can take any more."

However, Clover's eyes had gone wide as they scanned over the last page. His legs began to tremble and he grinded his teeth into his lip until he tasted blood. "I asked her how she came by such a spell," he read. "I had asked her many times before, but she must've been in a particularly good mood today. She said it came from a student who hadn't even finished his basic education yet. Astonished, when I asked which one, she said it was the same one who had been seen around town lately with crystal fused to his body. I must meet this pony. Maybe when I next have some time off, I'll seek him out."

Clover went pale as pieces clicked into place inside his head. He slammed the journal shut and began tearing through the rest of the table's contents like a pony possessed. Ancient tomes were thrown over his back, completely disregarding their historical value in his mad hunt for what he desperately hoped he wouldn't find.

He wasn't that lucky.

A loosely bound notebook lay open in front of him. Spell diagrams, dates, and trial numbers filled the pages in front of him. Descriptions of each variations' effects, as well as the negative side effects, were all listed there. Magic for controlling a pony against their will was right there in front of him. The only saving grace to Clover's sanity were the notes that said it didn't seem to work on anything other than a pegasus, at least at the current moment.

However, that was a small consolation. The spell looked familiar... Far too familiar... He turned the pages slowly, like each turn of the page was another step he took on his way to the gallows. When he saw the contents of the first page, his nerve finally broke. His stomach dropped out from under him and he began to wrench the contents of his stomach right then and there.

Bile soaked into the books and papers he had thrown onto the ground, ruining them. They would likely have to be burned later, but that wasn't the first or even the tenth thing on Clover's mind. All his thoughts were focused on one simple fact.

This spell...

This was HIS spell...

He had given a copy of this spell to Dahlia the exact same day Elder Lily had been murdered.

All of it...

His fault...

He killed them...

Gladiolus as well...

He had started a war...

Others were going to die...

And it was all because of him...

"Clover! Clover!! Clover!!!" Azalea finally succeeded in shaking him out of his trance.

Clover looked back at her, not even caring how much of a mess he was at the moment. "What have I done? I'm a monster..." He sobbed as tears poured down his face.

"No, you're not!" She pulled him close to her chest, not showing even the least bit of concern for the mess he was making. "You're not a monster. You didn't know. You couldn't have known."

"But..." He whimpered.

"No buts," she held him tighter. "You didn't choose to hurt others. They did. They're the monsters." Tears had started to run down her face as well, yet she held firm in the face of the pony who needed her at that moment. "Even if one of them is also my mother..."

"Sorry to cut this short," Storm Caller cut in. "But we're not exactly in the best place for this right now." He sounded fairly calm, but there was an edge to his voice that encouraged others to listen. "It's only a matter of time before someone comes here to check on us."

"Aye, he's right," Dandelion agreed. "And we're in no fit state for fight right now."

Clover still hurt, and he would probably continue to hurt for a while. Forget that vision of peace he had when he was branded by crystal. That was gone. There was no chance of that happening now. Not with all this. This was unforgivable. He pushed himself away from Azalea, and gathered up both the journal and the notebook before his nerve had the chance to break again. "I'll be okay," he told her when she reached out to him again. "But I can't spend another night in this city. This place... This place is wrong. Will you come with me?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation, despite the tears in her eyes. "My mother has gone too far. All of this... This can't be forgiven."

"It's a shame you think that, my dear, because I did it all for you."

The new voice was like an icy wind to everyone present. The source of the chill turned out to be none other than Elder Dahlia. She had apparently entered at some point during their exchange, and now her and a number of guards stood between them and freedom.

Her sudden appearance also served to harden the heart of the recently broken Clover. Regardless of whether or not it had been her original intention, this mare had used him. Used him to commit atrocities against the unicorn tribe, had used the pegasi to do it, and was even now looking to use that power to commit further crimes against pony kind.

"I wish you wouldn't look at me like that, Clover," Dahlia said, sounding disappointed. "You have so much potential, and I was starting to have high hopes for you."

"Whatever you think you have planned for me, I'll have no part of it," Clover wasn't about to budge, not anymore. "I'm leaving," he said with confidence. "Don't think you can stop me."

Elder Dahlia let out a long sigh. "If you weren't such a liability, I may have just been willing to let you go. But alas, ever since you came back looking like you do now, you've become a force to be reckoned with. It's a shame we haven't found a way to replicate the effect. Forget standing at the top of the pony tribes, the entire world could be ours."

"Mother!" Azalea cried out. "Do you even hear yourself?! What's wrong with you? You're sick. You need help. What makes you think the rest of Elysium will stand behind you?"

"They already do, my dear. This is what they want," Dahlia said smugly. "But you're still young, still naive. You haven't seen the world for what it is. Not yet, but you will."

Clover could see Azalea had run out of tears to shed as she turned to face him. "I want to leave," was all she said to him. "There's nothing for us here."

"Ever since you've hooked up with that pony," Dahlia spat, vitriol clear in her voice. "You've been listening to me less and less. I knew he was going to be a bad influence, I just didn't know how much."

"I'm taking her, and we're leaving Elysium," Clover said as calmly as he could manage. "Whatever it is you think you're doing, we refuse to be part of it." There wouldn't be any reasoning with her, and the sooner they left, the better. He prepared his magic, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. The simple act of preparing to cast a spell was enough to make his body glow with its crystal light, casting ghostly shadows in the process.

It had the advantageous effect of making most, if not all, of the guards take a step back. It's good that they were afraid, hopefully that meant he wouldn't have to fight his way through them.

However, Dahlia fumed in the face of Clover's defiance. She didn't seem intimidated by the power he was showing. If anything, she looked more determined than ever to keep him away from her daughter. She swept a single hoof before her, commanding everyone's attention.

"It's a shame you refuse to see things my way," Elder Dahlia said, almost sounding regretful. "You could've been something so much more, but now you're just another obstacle to be removed."

Clover watched the guards surrounding the elder, expecting at least one of them to move, to attack, to do something in an attempt to stop him. When none of them did so, he allowed himself a small smile. Apparently he had made enough of a name during their little scuffle that the average pony thought twice before raising a hoof against him. He hadn't thought much about it before, but Gladiolus had been right. The power he now possessed made him a force to be reckoned with.

His blossoming ego was suddenly cut short as sharp pain pierced his back. It had happened so quickly that he hadn't even had the chance to see where it was coming from. All he knew was that the light emanating from his body instantly went out and he suddenly grew very, very tired.

Even if it weren't for the additional weight bearing down on him, any strength to speak of had fled his body. Clover was powerless to stop himself as he fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

He thought he might've heard Azalea scream his name in panic, but the exhaustion that had taken hold of him was so all-encompassing that he couldn't even recall his own name. All he managed to do before darkness seized control of his rapidly waning consciousness was to move his eyes just enough to see what had happened.

A knife, blacker than night, protruded from his back. Holding the other end of it, with both hooves throwing their whole weight into driving it deeper, was Storm Caller.

His blank eyes dead to the world.