"And so ends the life of Clover the unicorn," said Clover as he finished his story. "A pony who wished for a better future, but lacked the power to make it possible. He had hopes, he had dreams, and he had the love of the most beautiful mare in the entire world," his eyes became downcast as he spoke. "None of it helped when he was faced with the truly powerful and their thirst for more power."

Twilight was left in shocked silence as Clover finally stood up from the couch. She had cried several times throughout the telling, felt moved at the more touching moments, and began to straight up fume when the inevitable betrayal came to pass. It had taken hours to hear the full story of Clover's young life, and twice he had been forced to pause when Spike had shown up offering the two of them refreshments. She was grateful for that. Not only because Clover seemed conscientious of how his story might affect the young drake, but also because Twilight needed a moment to catch her own breath between the seemingly endless chain of events that had befallen him. In short, she felt worn out. She could hardly imagine what it must've been like for the pony who actually lived through it all.

She had long since given up trying to take notes. Her composure had been worn away so thoroughly that she was having trouble even holding a quill. However, when he asked if she needed a break, she declined. It didn't seem right to make him stop for her sake alone when Clover seemed to relax ever more with every part of his tale he unloaded onto her. It was as if he'd carried a burden for so long that he had forgotten what it was like to lay it down at the hooves of another..

"So..." Twilight swallowed hard. She was having some difficulty finding her voice after so long. "The Tree of Harmony... That was it?.. At the end?"

"Not yet it wasn't," he said. "But it was the start of it. When I next saw it, it had grown much larger than it was before. The crystal had fully integrated into it in ways I couldn't even begin to comprehend, and in some ways, I still don't. I've been monitoring it off and on for the last two thousand years, and it still finds ways to surprise me."

"Two... Two thousand..." Twilight stuttered. It was a mind-boggling amount of time. It might also be why she had never even heard of the city he had grown up in. Most recorded history only predates Equestria by a few hundred years at most. Also, it was really hard to think about Clover actually being that old. If she wasn't aware of the role he had played in Equestria's founding, she would've only guessed him to be several years older than her at most.

"Unfortunately, I doubt anything I've learned about the tree will help you with your current problem, Twilight," Clover went on, paying no mind to her stunned state. "I have no idea why a chest would suddenly appear within its roots. It's never done anything like that before, but it's also been very good at defying expectations. We'd probably just be wasting our time trying to figure it out..."

"But..." Twilight started to say, before Clover haphazardly shoved his travel bag into her chest.

"If you still want to try to find some answers, I won't stop you," he said, his voice making him sound drained. "I'm worn, I'm tired, and I still have a lot of work to do."

Twilight scrambled to gather the contents of the bag, a number of things had begun spilling out with how full it was. She looked back to Clover once she had recovered the last of it, his face maintaining a somber expression.

"I'm sorry, Twilight," he said. "But I wish to be alone."

Twilight sat outside the closed door to Clover's study and just stared at the treasure trove of knowledge he had literally just dropped in her lap. Normally, she would be over the moon and back after coming across such a large find, but now...

Twilight let out a long sigh. She had definitely gotten far more than she bargained for by asking Clover for help. Worse yet, now more than anything, she wanted to know what happened next. What had happened to get the future of ponykind back on track? Maybe Elder Dahlia's aspirations were far too short lived before anything had a chance to really happen. Maybe the rest of the unicorns didn't see eye to eye with her once they found out what she had been doing. Maybe, just maybe, someone was there to stop her. She had to hope.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this depressed after learning something new," came a soft little voice from overhead. "Is everything alright?"

Twilight looked up to find Whisper watching her from atop one of the many shelves. "I just had no idea how much he's been through," she said. "It's almost too much to take in."

"It's rare for Clover to talk about his past so much, even to me," said Whisper. "There must be something special about you, something that makes him feel more comfortable than he does around most ponies."

"What were your thoughts when you first met him?" Twilight probed for more. "Did you have any idea what you were getting into?"

"Definitely not," Whisper answered haphazardly. "I thought he was strange at best, and a fool at worse. An honest fool, but still a fool. It's a shame his body was as messed up as it was. It could've been interesting to see what kind of trouble he'd have started up had he not died so prematurely."

"That's something I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around," she really was. The last part just didn't make any sense. "So after the two of you essentially created what would be the Tree of Harmony, Clover just died? How is he still here, then? How is something like that even possible?!"

Whisper's face looked a bit uncomfortable as she bobbed her head back and forth. "That's a bit complicated," she reluctantly said.

"Was it fairy magic?" Twilight asked eagerly as she pressed for answers. "Can you do something like that with fairy magic?"

Whisper cringed at her last question. "No, Twilight," she said. "No one can bring back the dead. Even if we could, such a thing would be unnatural to the extreme. A sad imitation of life. No, it was something else that brought Clover back. I wish I could say it was true love, or the power of friendship, or some other cheesy good feelings like that, but unfortunately, his revival had something far more sinister behind it."

"What was it?" Twilight asked eagerly. Her research on the Tree of Harmony's magic box becoming quickly forgotten in light of this new mystery.

"It's not really my story to tell," Whisper shook her head. "The events surrounding Elysium's betrayal and the events that follow are nopony's business to tell except for those who were there to live through it."

"Oh," said Twilight, disheartened. "I see."

The fairy watched the young alicorn, considering her for a moment. "Hmmm. I wonder," she mumbled to herself. "The soldier, the alchemist, and the witch. Maybe they could help..."

"The what?" Twilight's ears perked up. She hadn't quite made out the small fairy's words.

"Why do you want to know so badly what happened back then?" She asked. "Is it purely academic interest? Or is there something more?"

"No!" Twilight shook her head violently. "Well... Not completely," she blushed as she amended. "But just seeing how sad Clover looked while telling his story, I want... I want to help him somehow. No pony should be forced to carry a burden like that alone."

"I agree with you, Twilight," Whisper nodded along. "And I've tried to tell him as much, but he insists on keeping the worst of it bottled up."

"There's more?!" Twilight said in shock. "How much worse did it get?"

"Like I said, it's not my story to tell," Whisper shook her head. "However, if you're determined to see this through, there may be something we can do. It may even get Clover to loosen his tongue regarding the rest of the story. So what do you say? Are you interested?"

"Of course," Twilight almost shouted her eagerness. "If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it."

"If that's the case, and you really mean what you say," Whisper said, "then there's somepony I need you to track down. Three someponies to be exact. They can tell you more."

Author's Note

It's been a long trip already, and we're just getting started.