The Misfortune of Clover the Clever

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Cold...

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Dark...

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Nothing...

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Nothing except a slight itch that continued to gnaw at his back.

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Just let me sleep...

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The itch refused to leave him alone as it slowly worked its way to becoming something more. Something more than just uncomfortable.

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Okay... Fine...

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He lifted his head towards the source of the discomfort. He would deal with whatever it was and then he would rest.

Feeling around with his teeth, he searched his back for the source of the problem. When his efforts found something solid and foreign, he knew he had found its source.

Taking hold of whatever it was, he sought to remove the thorn from his side. He only managed to move it a little bit before the discomfort turned to something far worse.

Every nerve lit up and Clover's eyes shot open as he looked at what he had grabbed. A chunk of something was sticking out of his body! Whatever it was wasn't supposed to be there. If he had been thinking clearly, he might've left it and waited for help, but panic has a way of making creatures lose hold of their reason and doing something irrational.

He bit down hard, despite the pain, and began to wrench out this thing that didn't belong. Energy poured into him with every inch he managed to extract. A shiver ran down his spine as fresh sensations poured into him. Another inch saw some light return to the crystal in his body. Another after that and he could see the broken blade sticking out of him more clearly. There couldn't be much more of it still inside. Just one more pull and...

"Mother! How could you?!" Azalea cried out, tears pouring down her face as she held onto the limp form of Clover.

"He was a threat to the new world we're making," Dahlia stood resolute, completely sure of herself. "He was too powerful to leave unchecked, and it would only be a matter of time before he turned on us."

"Turned on you, you mean," Azalea spat. "Can't you see what power's doing to you?!"

"Can't you see. I'm doing this for us. For you."

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"No!!!" Azalea screamed. "I won't let you have him!"

"He's already gone, my dear," Dahlia consoled with a devilish grin on her face. "Whatever the meteor did to him made him far stronger than any other unicorn who's ever lived. Just think how much greater we could be if we studied it."

"I said no!!!" Azalea clung harder to Clover's body. "I won't sit by and watch as you defile his body."

Dahlia sighed as she looked to her guard. "My daughter isn't well. Please see her home."

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"Think about what you're doing!!!" Dahlia shouted over the roar of swirling magics.

A veritable cyclone of arcane might surround the two young ponies. Magic poured from Azalea's horn, her normal pink glow shining so bright that it took on a pure white color. She had never once pushed herself so hard before, but she had never once been so desperate.

The other unicorns at the edge of her view made several attempts to get closer, but whatever it was she was doing with her magic was being guided more by primal instinct than conscious thought. She needed something from it, and refused to let anyone interfere. No matter what it may cost her.

"I'm sorry, Clover," she wept without tears, for those had already been spent. "I wanted to see that world you saw. Really, I did. And I wish we would've had more time."

"Azalea... Stop..." The voices were barely discernible over the vortex she had wrapped around them.

"I can't let her have you... or your body..." Azalea choked up at the words like she didn't want to believe them herself. "I won't let her use you just so she can further her own ambition. Taking us even further away from the ideal world you saw. You deserve better than that."

The magic wrapped more tightly around them, clinging tightly to limp body she held as the spell she wove began to take on a proper form.

"I wish I could go with you. Escape this place. But I only have enough magic for one, and somepony needs to stay behind and see to it that she's stopped." She pressed her forehead against his as one last tear managed to find its way out. "I'm sorry."

"NO!..." Dahlia's shouts were now barely a whisper over her daughter's storm.

"I love you."

And then the world vanished.

The broken blade fell to the ground with a muffled thud. Having finally removed it, Clover felt like he could breathe for the first time since waking up. He lay there, taking in large gulps of air as the scene replayed in his head again and again. Had all of that really happened?

He looked back down to the discarded weapon that had recently been sticking out of his back, he had felt so drained when it was in him. Sure, he had never been stabbed before, but with how quickly his strength had left him, it had to be more than a simple knife.

Looking closer, he could barely make out a glassy sheen on the weapon's surface, the soft light emanating from Clover's body just barely providing enough light to see it by. He also hadn't stopped glowing since waking up.

Clover cautiously reached out a hoof to the broken blade. He marveled at how perfectly smooth it felt beneath his touch, but with that touch, Clover quickly began to feel heavy again. His leg felt cold, the light started to dim, and he might've passed right back out again then and there, but he managed to pull back before it was too late.

"So do you also stick your hoof in a fire to see if it's hot?" A soft voice snickered from somewhere overhead.

Clover jumped at the sudden noise. He turned his head in an attempt to find its source, but aside from not being able to locate who had just spoken, it was the first time he noticed he was in some kind of forest.

"Well, don't let me stop you," they continued. "I'm sure something will come along hungry enough to eat something looking as strange as you."

He didn't jump the second time he heard the voice, but he did heed its warning and took cautious step back from the magic draining blade.

"So you're not completely stupid. Whatever you are?" This time Clover was able to pick out a small pink light in the overhead canopy. "Still... It's not everyday something dead appears in my forest only to spring back to life moments later."

What was... No... Clover shook rising questions from his head. He didn't have time for this. If what he saw through his delirium was true, then Azalea could still be in danger.

"Where am I?" He asked without a second thought. "And which way to Elysium?"

"Well, aren't you determined," they said with some consideration. "I don't know of anyplace by that name, but the pony lands are far to the south. Several days from the edge of the forest, across the river, and past the griffin territories. You're a long way from home little pony."

He was how far away?! How had Azalea managed that? Was she alright? He had no idea. All he knew was he needed to get back there as soon as possible.

Clover looked up through the trees. With how dense they were, it was a miracle he could see the sky at all. However, he did recognize the few stars he could see. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out which way is south from here.

"Sorry for bothering you," he apologized to his surroundings. "I'll be going now."

He had never actually tried this spell before now, but thanks to Azalea, he at least knew how it should feel. He knew the theory, but had always lacked the raw magical power to even attempt teleporting himself. That should no longer be the case and he needed to make his way back to the city right away if he was going to rescue her from the machinations of her mother.

He reached into the vast reserves of power he had at his command, confident he should have more than enough to accomplish the feat. It wasn't hard to find, especially since he hadn't once stopped glowing since waking up. It existed just beneath the surface ready to be called on at a moment's notice. He began drawing it out, ready to carefully shape the spell he'd never used before...

Only to have his legs immediately give out from under him. Clover collapsed to the ground, exhausted and feeling like he had just run a hundred miles. He tried to force his body to stand back up, but he couldn't even feel his legs, much less get them to move. He looked down only to find that his legs were no longer glowing. Instead, the deep purple glow seemed to have moved to a puddle he now found himself lying in.

"Well, that's interesting," the tiny light said as it picked itself off the branch and zipped down to where he was laying. Now that it was closer, Clover could make out the tiny form from within the light. It had the shape of a pony, but aside from being far too small for one, it also sported what appeared to be a pair of glittering wings.

"A... a fairy?" Clover practically whispered. He was so tired. It was drastically different than when he had been stabbed, his strength had just left him in a instant due to the nature of the knife. This however, this seemed to keep growing, making him more and more tired as time went on.

"It seems you're bleeding out," the fairy had landed beside the glowing puddle and was sniffing at what was apparently his own blood. "Weird that it's glowing like that."

"...Help," Clover wheezed out. He couldn't even lift his head anymore. How was he going to save Azalea like this?

"So what are you?" The fairy seemed more curious than ever, despite the dying unicorn's current predicament. "Last I checked, ponies didn't have large chunks of rock growing out of them." She poked at some of the crystal still clinging to his limp form. "Whatever it is, it's powerful."

He wasn't going to make it, he was sure that's what his body was telling him. He may have been the only unicorn who would've been able to stand against Elder Dahlia, and she had removed him before he had a chance to do so. This power was dangerous, she had been right about that, at least. It wasn't something he could let her or anyone else with evil intentions get ahold of. But how to keep it safe?

"Danger," he managed to say. "Crystal..."

"Hmmm?" The fairy looked at him curiously. "So this stuff is actually dangerous? I could believe that."

"Destroy..." By this point, Clover was having trouble just keeping his eyes open.

"I doubt I could destroy something like that, but I could hide it if you want," the fairy said. "I might just do that anyway instead of letting it lay around."

"Please..." He wanted to sleep so badly.

"I suppose," the small creature sighed. "And I was having such a relaxing day too."

The fairy reached a small hoof into her mane and began fishing around until she pulled out a small seed. She seemed to consider it for a moment before smiling to herself. She then softly blew on it, as if trying to breath life into it. Right away, a tiny sprout poked its head out of the shell, making the fairy smile at the result. She then gingerly, almost reverently, placed it in the magically rich fluid that poured from Clover's body.

As soon as it touched the blood, roots shot out and drank in the violet substance. The roots grew more with every passing moment and snaked their way through them until they coiled around Clover's body. Once there, it seemed to dig into the crystalline portions of his flesh, finding cracks in the hard surface until it managed to start breaking it down into chunks. The whole time this was going on, the little sprout grew in size. First it was just simply getting larger, but then it started to change its hue to match the substance fueling its growth.

It felt like it had barely been a moment, but the roots were already pulling away from the unicorn, having devoured its crystalline meal. The tiny seed had quickly grown into a small sapling, and the whole thing was now glowing the same purple color with traces of blue outlining it.

As for Clover himself, his strength was now completely gone. He had watched and felt the process as the crystal that had barely kept him alive was removed. Rest would no longer be denied him as his eyes drifted shut. He really wished he could've had more time, that he could've done so much more, but it wasn't meant to be.

As the last of his consciousness faded away, he saw Azalea's face one last time. If he regretted anything, it was that he couldn't have helped her escape the city that no longer felt like home.

"I'm sorry," he spoke with the last of his breath before the darkness finally claimed him for good.