The Misfortune of Clover the Clever

"The first pony I need you to track down is Storm Chaser. I believe he's currently at the Wonderbolts' training ground. Doing what? I have no idea. However, he may very well best your rainbow-maned friend when it comes to drawing attention to himself, so he shouldn't be too hard to find."

With only unanswered questions and that cryptic lead for company, Twilight took off for the Wonderbolts' training ground first thing in the morning.

The flight there was uneventful. She had decided to fly there herself, of course. Rainbow Dash had been getting on her case about not getting enough practice in since she first sprouted wings, and she didn't want to set herself up for the inevitable earful she'd get if she had just rented a balloon. Lectures, as it turned out, aren't as fun when you're on the receiving end of them.

Fortunately, it was a pretty nice day for flying. The sky was clear, the wind was calm, and it wasn't as chilly as it could be when you got this high up. She was about to note again how nice the weather was when she spotted an errant storm cloud, close to where she was looking to land.

That was weird. She didn't think there were any storms scheduled for today. In fact, she was sure of it. But there it was, clear as day, a storm cloud down close enough to the runway that you could touch it. The pegasi surrounding it didn't even seem all that concerned that it was there.

She landed in what appeared to be a clear spot, eliciting a few oohs and ahhs when she did. It finally stopped happening around Ponyville, but she still drew some attention any time she traveled abroad. She was still just a pony for Celestia's sake! Her mentor did her best to assure her that other ponies would eventually get used to her new status, but that helped very little when ponies started to stare.

These thoughts were interrupted as a crack of thunder sounded from the center of the storm cloud. Almost at the same time, she felt someone throw a hoof over her shoulder and forcefully pull her to the ground before she knew what was happening.

It was a good thing too, for no sooner had she been pulled out of the way then a rainbow blur came rocketing out of the cloud right where her head had been just moments before. She had been present for enough of Rainbow Dash's antics to recognize the blur for what it was. What she hadn't expected was the identity of her rescuer.

"Fluttershy?!" Twilight exclaimed once she recognized the butter yellow pegasus for who it was. "What are you doing here?"

The blow of a whistle and someone shouting "Next!" was the only answer she got as Fluttershy hastily pulled her out of the way before yet another boom sounded, followed by another streak rocketed out from within the storm cloud in the same direction Rainbow Dash had flown.

"Are you okay, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked her once they were clear of what was apparently a crash zone. On closer inspection, she probably should've realized there was a reason the space had been cleared. It had been filled with fluffy white clouds that seemed to be placed there for the sole purpose of catching everyone who had been ejected from the depths of the dark storm.

"Yeah," Twilight was a bit shaken, but otherwise unhurt. "I'm alright, but what's going on?! What are you all doing? And why are you here, Fluttershy?" The last part probably confused her the most. "Rainbow Dash I could understand, but why are you here?"

"Well, Harry went and broke his hammock, and I ran out of nails for the birdhouses, and bits have been kind of tight this month," Fluttershy rattled off like it was a perfectly logical explanation to her presence.

"Huh?" Twilight tilted her head in confusion, like any normal pony would.

"Ow, my head," Rainbow Dash complained as she hobbled over to join them. "You figured he'd start pulling his punches after the twelfth time."

"You really should stop, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said, as encouragingly as she possibly could. "It's only a matter of time before you get seriously hurt."

"Hah!" She scoffed. "And let Lightning Dust be the first pony to land a solid hit!? Not a chance. I still can't believe they let her back on campus."

"Wait a minute," Twilight said, straining her memory. "Wasn't she the one..."

"The one who knocked your balloon out of the sky with a tornado? And got kicked out for her trouble?" Rainbow finished for her. "Yeah, that's her. Apparently, the invitation is open for anypony who can fly. Even if you're a dropout."

"The fifty bit incentive doesn't hurt either," came a new voice as a turquoise green pegasus strolled up to join them. "I was going to turn it down out of principle, but then I thought, why miss the chance to show up my old wing pony."

"I told you to stop calling me that..." Rainbow growled between her teeth.

"And I told you," Lightning Dust smiled right back. "The winner of our bet can call the loser whatever she wants."

"You haven't won yet," she snapped back.

"But I'm going to," her smirk was even wider. "It's gonna be me who knocks that stallion on his rump."

Their argument continued its back and forth, though it appeared to have been going on for a while, if how heated they were when they started was anything to go by. All the while, the black cloud let out its occasional boom as it ejected yet another pegasus. Twilight did her best to piece together what was happening through Dash and Dust's bickering. As best as she could tell, Storm Chaser had shown up with enough royal backing behind him to start what was, from the looks of it anyway, some kind of one pony fight club.

The thundercloud suddenly let out a boom far louder than any that had come before. Just as quickly, a black streak shot out of it, dissipating the dark cloud in the process. The form shot through several layers of safety cloud, shredding each of them until one finally succeeded in stopping the errant projectile.

A hushed whisper fell over everyone present, it was enough to even silence the two bickering pegasi as well. The entire group had just fallen completely quiet as dozens of heads turned to see what had just happened.

A deep laugh finally broke the silence, originating from whoever had been thrown from the storm far too hard to be safe.

"Hahahaha!!" Bellowed Storm Chaser as he dug his way out of the cloud bank. His black mane had been frazzled, and his white coat was singed in several places. Despite his injuries, his face was beaming. "That's what I'm talking about!" He shouted enthusiastically. "I want that mare on my team!"

Someone had actually managed to score a hit on the pegasus who had been scoring home runs since the early morning?! Who?! And how?! As one, everyone turned back to see who was left standing in the remains of the storm cloud.

"Oops! My bad." The well-practiced apology rolled off the tongue of the dirty blonde and wall-eyed pony who remained. "I didn't mean to break your cloud. I'm sorry..."

"What?!" Rainbow cried out. Similar shouts of disbelief echoed throughout the crowd. "Derpy?!"

"Oh..." Derpy turned as she recognized her. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!" She waved enthusiastically as she flitted over. Her wings almost seemed to be vibrating as she flew over, and her mane started to stick out in every which way as she came in to land beside them.

"Wait!" Shouted Storm Chaser in a panic. "You're still charged up from the storm! If you touch the ground you'll..."

"Huh?" Said Derpy, but it was already too late.

The moment she touched down and plopped her rump on the ground, what was apparently thousands of volts of electricity arced out from her body and shot through anyone within shouting distance. As one, every pony affected suddenly found their muscles seizing up as they toppled to the ground. Not just the ones on the ground either. The lightning sought out any pony who had been flying too close to the ground at the time, causing them to fall to the ground in a heap of fur and feathers. Not even Twilight had been spared from the torment as every fiber of her being, all the way up to her horn, was lit up. It was even worse than that time Pinkie was testing out her new super shocker sour candies.

"Oops!" Derpy apologized again. "My bad."

A recess had to be called after the shocking turn of events, during which Storm Chaser retreated from the open field and made his way to some kind of impromptu office. It looked like it had been set up in a hurry, if the mess was anything to go by, and was likely just used for storage before he appropriated it.

"So, what can I help you with, Princess?" He said, once he had made himself comfortable behind a small desk. Twilight had followed him inside, along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, making the small space seem even smaller. "I can't imagine you came here hoping to try your luck, and I seriously doubt you're hurting on bits. Besides, Miss Ditzy Doo already went home with the whole pot."

"No," Twilight shook her head. "I'm alright. Wait..." She scratched her head. "The whole pot? You were placing bets?!" No one openly denied it. "All of you?! No," Twilight shook her head. "It couldn't be. Rainbow Dash I could sort of understand, but surely Fluttershy wouldn't..." When the buttercream pegasus started to blush and hide behind her mane, Twilight's jaw dropped. "You too?!"

"Everypony looked like they were having fun," she said in her singsong voice. "And I wanted to show my support."

That earned a laugh from Storm Chaser. "You've got a lot to learn about pegasi if you're surprised by that. With as badly as I was kicking everypony's flank, I guarantee you there were at least half a dozen side bets on who would land the first solid hit." He spared a look in Rainbow's direction. "You were starting to get awfully close for a moment there. I was starting to worry I'd lose my fifty bits to Spitfire."

Rainbow seemed to be caught off guard as her eyes widened. "You bet against me?! Please tell me you didn't bet on..."

"Lightning Dust?" Guessed Storm. "Sure did," he said as he drank in her shocked expression. "Sorry, Dash. You may be faster, but your friend is far more creative."

"Not my friend..." Rainbow muttered as she started to pout.

"So, Storm Chaser," said Twilight as she tried to regain control of the conversation. "Why are you doing all this? Was this all just for fun or was there some point?"

Instead of a completely jovial response, like she had gotten so far, Storm Chaser turned a bit more serious. "While it certainly was fun whooping the flanks of every pegasus from here to Trottingham, there actually was a reason for it. I want to reestablish the Storm Wings, and I've been trying to find some pegasi to fill the shoes. Right now, Equestria is lacking for any sort of proper aerial defense, and there are real threats out there beyond the borders that it isn't ready for. The Wonderbolts may be exceptionally skilled flyers, but they wouldn't stand a chance in a real fight. After how easily I made their top three eat dirt, I knew I couldn't let things stand as they are."

"I... I see..." Twilight didn't have much more to say than that. Very little was known about the lands outside Equestria other than it wasn't safe for ponies.

"But all that aside," Storm said as he leaned back and resumed his cocky tone. "What brings you here, Miss Sparkle? I can't imagine you came here hoping to make a move on me. Besides, I'm sure Clover's already back home by now. Surely somepony like him's more your type?"

"I heard you might be able to tell me more about what happened to Elysium," Twilight said before getting distracted further. "I want to know more about what happened back then."

As soon as Twilight mentioned the name of the city, the pegasus stallion dropped all pretenses of being relaxed. His brow narrowed and his eyes took on a piercing gleam. "Where did you hear that name?"

Twilight stared at the dark look he now carried. It was almost as if she had done something wrong by asking. What didn't she know? Did something even worse happen than what Clover had already told her?

Both of Twilight's friends picked up on the drop in mood as well. "Twilight, what's going on?" Rainbow asked nervously.

"What's going on, Rainbow Dash," Storm Chaser growled between his teeth. "Is it seems that Twilight here has been sticking her nose where it doesn't belong."

The silence that followed was palpable, with Storm Chaser continuing to glare daggers at Twilight while her friends watched on in confusion.

"How much did Clover tell you?" He finally asked, breaking the uncomfortably growing silence.

The look in his eyes was making her feel more nervous than the one time she got an A- on a test. "He told me about the sunrise," she finally eked out. "And the Summit, and about Elder Dahlia's betrayal."

"So he told you everything," he said as he let out the hard breath he'd been holding. "Even the part about what they did to my father?"

"Your father?" Twilight adopted a puzzled expression as she mulled over the pieces she had learned from Clover the day before. "Wait a minute!" She cried out as pieces fell into place. "So Storm Caller was your father?!"

Storm Chaser nodded. "He was," he said sadly. "He was lost to us before I had a chance to really get to know him. The only reason I know anything about him at all is because of what Clover told me of him later."

"How did you meet Clover anyway?" She asked, her curiosity peaking. "It didn't sound like you would've had the chance after he ended up in the Everfree Forest."

"So that's where he left off," he said while seeming to be deep in thought. "Still, I'm surprised he told anypony about the spell he created. He's always considered the reformation spell his greatest shame."

"Reformation spell?" Rainbow Dash suddenly blurted out. "Wasn't that the spell you were going to use on Discord if we couldn't get him to behave?"

"You what?!" Storm Chaser roared as he shot up from his seat. His wings instantly snapped to their full length as he rose, despite the confined space. At the same time, lightning began to crackle all over his body. It didn't stop there though. As it made its way to his wingtips, it began to arc out and fill the rest of the small space. From the way everything in the room now seemed to glow, it was clear that there was an enormous amount of power at Storm Chaser's disposal, just waiting for him to unleash it.

If Storm Chaser hadn't made it clear how angry he was, it was certainly made clear by anyone who paid closer attention to the rest of his body. As a second wave of electricity came shooting out of him, still not having actually attacked anyone yet, the edges of his body began to change. First it started looking just a bit hazy, but as time went on, it gradually became far more translucent. Within moments, Storm Chaser's now clear body more closely resembled a walking plasma orb, with exceedingly dangerous looking levels of electricity threatening to break free of the glass while a brilliant blue gemstone floated at the very center of his body.

With everything that had happened since Clover's official return, be it her visit to another world or the dark vines that had entangled the better part of Equestria, Twilight had completely forgotten about Clover's companions and what they were. Or to be more accurate, what they weren't. They weren't ponies. Not in the strictest sense of the word, anyway.

Clover had somehow found a way to create what appeared to be a near-perfect imitation of life. Something that was theoretically impossible. Even if you found a way to make a functioning pony body, it wouldn't be able to demonstrate any form of intelligence outside of following basic commands. Yet, against all odds, Clover had still found a way. Twilight had tried asking him how he managed to pull it off, but all he had said was that it was just as impossible as she was imagining it, and that she wouldn't understand it, even if he did try to explain.

Twilight had gotten so lost in her analytical fantasies that she had completely stopped paying attention to how much danger she was potentially in. At least, until her friends placed themselves between her and the living embodiment of a natural disaster.

"I... I don't know what's going on," said Rainbow even though she was shaking in her boots. "But Twilight didn't do anything wrong!"

"Besides," said a just as scared Fluttershy, who had done a slightly better job keeping up with the conversation. "Discord ate every copy Twilight had of that spell before she had a chance to use it."

Storm Chaser's eyes took on a more normal appearance from within the storm as he began to blink rapidly. "Discord... ate it?" He asked in disbelief. His body started fading back into view just in time for everyone to catch the smirk that threatened to break loose on his face. He wasn't quite at the point of letting it get that far, but at the very least, he no longer looked like he was about to light them up like a Hearth's Warming tree. Gradually, the power he had loosed withdrew back into his body, and by the time his body was completely solid again, no sign remained that he had been about to barbeque every pony in the room.

Still, as he sat back down and folded his wings against his sides, he kept his eyes locked on Twilight, as if daring her to say or do the wrong thing. "Discord doesn't deserve this level of respect, not even close," he said at last. "But if I were you, I'd be kissing his mismatched hooves for stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

Twilight finally felt like she could breathe again. She hadn't even noticed she was holding her breath until she let it out. "How bad did things actually get back then?" Was the only thing she could really ask.

"It was bad, Twilight," Storm Chaser said as his nostrils briefly flared. Apparently, he hadn't completely calmed down yet. "Very bad. The war started by the unicorns' betrayal had only one way it could really end. With our utter and complete annihilation."