The Misfortune of Clover the Clever

It was well and truly late into the night when Clover next opened his eyes. His body was pleasantly sore in all the right places, and he could still feel the weight of Azalea pressing into him as she slept beside him. Their discarded robes remained bundled up by the foot of the tree, and even though they both might have felt more embarrassed to be seen in nothing but their own coats, after what they just shared together, it didn't seem to matter quite so much.

He allowed his eyes to lazily drift over her body, taking in every inch he had gotten to know so much better. When he made his way up to her face, he found her looking back at him, a gentle smile gracing her lips as she watched him.

"How long was I asleep?" He asked as he began to feel a bit embarrassed. He had fallen asleep on her, after all.

However, it didn't seem like she minded so much. "Not long," she said. "Maybe an hour or so." She smiled that warm smile again. "You just looked so peaceful, and I didn't want to wake you."

Clover felt freshly flustered at her comment, and even though he should've been far past the point of feeling embarrassed in front of her, he did anyway.

Azalea giggled at his reaction before leaning in to give him another quick kiss. After which, she nuzzled back into his side and made herself comfortable again.

Clover couldn't remember a single moment in his life where he felt so good to have someone else close by. To be able to wrap himself up in that warm feeling like a blanket was something he had only ever heard stories about. However, as his gaze drifted skyward, his thoughts were far from here.

He couldn't completely shake the memory of how the other unicorns had responded to his presence. The way they looked down on him, and treated him like he was something dirty. What of Azalea? Surely, she deserved someone far better than the likes of him.

"Everything will work out. You'll see," Azalea said unbidden, like she had known exactly what he was thinking.

Clover looked back to her as he was pulled out of his reverie, and he marveled at the starlight that reflected in her eyes. The way she looked at him was just so earnest, so sincere, that when she said those words, Clover couldn't help but believe them to be true.

He had lost his best friend, and he would probably never get over the gruesome way he had left this world. But in his absence, this girl, for whom he had done little more than fancy until recently, was doing her best to support him. The desire to bemoan his own fate was so strong, but as long as she stayed by his side, even someone as wretched as him could find a reason to keep on living.

Clover's eyes were halfway closed when a distant light caught his eye. At first he thought his mind might've been playing tricks on him, because it looked like one of the stars was moving. It was certainly possible for the stars to move. He and the other students of his class had been taught how to make them move, and had even done so. Although, it had been Pryus' idea, and they had gotten quite the scolding after everything was said and done. This was the first thing that came to the forefront of his mind as he watched the tiny ball of light dart back and forth, that it was just a bunch of young spellcasters trying out their newfound power. It would only be a matter of time before they were found out, and scolded like him and his peers had been.

However, this explanation was quickly brushed aside as this star was not only darting from side to side, but also moving far faster than what should be possible, like it was some sort of elusive firefly that danced its way through the night sky.

Azalea sat up beside him, having become aware of how tense Clover had suddenly gotten. She followed his gaze, and before long she spotted the same thing he had. "What do you suppose that is?" She asked.

Clover slowly shook his head without once looking away from the unusual object. "I don't know," he said. Whatever it was, he could feel it pulling at him, demanding his attention. It may have just been a trick of the light, but whatever it was, it seemed to be getting closer.

"Clover?!" Azalea shouted after him. "Where are you going?"

Her sudden outburst instantly captured his attention. He snapped his eyes over to her, only to find she was already several paces away. Without meaning to, he had started following the wandering light, similar to how he had when he chased the sun.

"I... I don't know," he said. He didn't want to worry the girl more than he already had, so he trained his eyes on the ground, doing his best not to look at the celestial object as he made his way back to her. She wasn't fooled, though.

"It was calling to you, wasn't it?" She said. "Just like the sun did?"

Clover let out a long sight. "Yes," he admitted sheepishly. There wasn't any point in trying to hide it.

"We should make you a blindfold or something," Azalea said as she started rummaging through her discarded robes. She found the end of one piece and quickly tore off one end of it off with her teeth. "We really need to find our way back into the city." She let out a discontented sigh. "My mother is going to be so mad at me. Coming home late and with torn clothes."

With the frayed fabric in hoof, she limped her way over to him. She reached up, and was about to tie her makeshift blindfold over his eyes, when a brilliant flash of light lit up overhead. The errant star had suddenly gotten so much bigger and brighter, it may as well have been the middle of the day with the way it lit up the countryside.

Azalea shielded her eyes, more out of reflex than anything else. She panicked when she realized what had just happened, looking back in a hurry to the pony she had been trying to protect. However, Clover was already gone.

The light. It called to him. It pulled at him. It needed him.

Same as with the sun and just as this new light had done only moments before. Clover was at full gallop before he even knew what was happening. The feeling went deep. The same burning sensation that crawled its way into the very marrow of his bones. He needed to burn. To join the sun in a blaze of glory and nothing would stop him from his goal. Not this time.

Clover!

This time? What had stopped him before? His thoughts wandered for only a moment when he thought he heard something. Whatever it was, it was far away. Too far away to actually matter.

Clover looked to the fireball overhead. It was so beautiful. He wanted to reach out and touch it, but that just wasn't possible. It was too far away and moving far too fast for him to catch. However, he wasn't to be deterred. Nothing would stop him and he didn't care how impossible the prospect of reaching that light was. He wouldn't stop running until he caught it.

Clover!

There it was again. He wasn't sure where the sound was coming from, but it seemed to be coming from all around him. Maybe it was coming from the light? Was it as excited about joining him as he was with it?

Clover's hooves began pounding the ground even harder, and he started to believe he might actually reach the light. It was getting closer and closer. Surely, it was trying to get to him, and Clover was ready and eager to meet it as well.

Clover! Look out!

The light. It missed him. Just as Clover was certain it was coming for him, it flew just over his head, singeing the tips of his ears just before it hit the ground in front of him with a resounding boom.

The air was shaken by the powerful force. The force of which was enough to cause even the ground itself to tremble. The ground became unsteady beneath Clover's hooves, and with how fast he had been going, the chances of him catching himself were slim to none. He fell through the grass, tumbling end over end until he landed face first in the ground.

Dirt rained around him in large chunks. It pelted his coat and soon left him buried shoulder deep in the ground. He wasn't completely sure what had happened, but all he knew was that the force driving him was closer than ever.

His goal was almost in sight. He wasn't going to let a little dirt get in his way, damn it. It was a struggle, but Clover managed to pull himself out of the dirt. It didn't get any easier after he climbed his way free. A fresh mound stretched out before him that hadn't been there only moments prior. However, faint traces of the light he had been chasing were visible just over the distant ridge. He was so close.

Clover! Where did you go?

It was difficult. The freshly turned dirt was soft and gave far too easily as he made his way upward, but Clover made gradual progress, not once stopping for a break until he reached the top. Once he was there, he celebrated inwardly as the light had finally come to a stop in the crater before him. It had sunk deep, but more than enough of it was poking above the surface that he could finally make it out properly.

And it was absolutely beautiful.

It shone the purest of white while ribbons of yellow and blue and the most vibrant of indigo snaked off it. He barely took a moment to take it all in because that tug on his center was stronger than ever. He had to get down there.

Clover slid down the crater, the trip down being far easier than the trip up, and came to a stop only a few feet from his goal. He had made it. Absolutely nothing would keep him from his goal at this point. Not pony, nor city, nor any form of magic would stop him. Not even that fresh burning smell that began clinging to his body with earnest. He lifted one hoof as he started beaming from ear to ear, and then he placed it directly on the source of what he had been chasing.

It was bright, it was powerful, and it was hot.

Very hot.

Too hot.

So hot, in fact, that the survival instinct which had been conveniently pushed down over the last hour decided to finally make itself known.

Clover's eyes completely snapped back into focus as pain tore its way up his leg and into the rest of his body. His heart began racing as a bubbling sensation coursed through his veins and into his very core. Panic set in as he tried to pull his hoof away from the object that was literally making his blood boil, but his leg refused to give way. For the second time in very recent memory, Clover experienced the sensation of his own body burning and the smell of his own scorched fur.

"Clover!" Her voice was all too clear now, and Clover followed it to find a panicked Azalea as she slid down into the crater.

Clover tried to call out to her as he reached out with his other hoof, but the words died in his throat. The only thing that made its way out was the acrid taste of ash. Nothing could help him. Not now, and not ever again. The last thing he saw before his whole world went white was Azalea reaching out for him.

...

...

...

Clover's eyes shot open as he woke with a start. Something had to be seriously wrong with him. Was he having a bad dream or something? The source of that light was obviously dangerous. Why would he willingly run towards his own death like that?

The bandages were gone, most likely burned away in the first couple of moments after touching the burning rock. He ran his hooves over his exposed body, the sensation of burning flesh still fresh in his mind. However, upon further inspection, what he found left him incredibly confused. Not only was there no sign that he had been recently burning, but he also couldn't even find any of the scars left on him by the sunrise. If that wasn't bad enough, his body also had an unusually glassy look to it. At first, he thought it was just a trick of the light, but when he looked closer, he found he could also see right through his own body.

"What in the world..." He started to say, or at least he tried to. He had opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out when he tried. What in the world was happening? Without any sort of answers available, there was nothing left for Clover to do except to try and figure out where he was.

It appeared he was sitting on some sort of dirt path. It must have been regularly traveled with all the packed hoof prints he could make out. With how messy and unkempt the path was, he couldn't possibly be back in the city. The unicorns responsible for maintaining the roads tended to throw a fit if even a single stone was out of place.

The thick fog surrounding him made it difficult to make much out, but there were a few distinguishable shapes that could be barely made out through through the gloom. Clover made a few experimental steps, hoping to clear up his view. Once he was a bit closer, the large shapes appeared to be some kind of huts or some other kind of dwelling.

The wonderment at who would think to use dried grass to crown such a shelter was interrupted as the sound of laughter made its way to his ears. It didn't sound like the sort that had any real purpose behind it, but instead it sounded like the simple sound of foals at play.

Wherever he was, it couldn't be too bad if young colts and fillies were running around without a care in the world. It was a bit strange that they'd be doing so when it was still so dark outside. Their parents were probably close, and if he was lucky, he might be able to find a unicorn who could tell him what was happening to him. So, without a better plan to work with, he followed the sound in hopes of finding help.

However, when he found the source of the noise, it wasn't quite what he expected. It was indeed the sound of ponies he heard, but not all of them were unicorns. A huge crowd of mixed equines we're all gathered together. Sure, there were a number of unicorns among them, but Clover spotted several sporting wings, as well as many who lacked either adornment.

It felt strange seeing ponies from all the tribes milling about. He had never seen anyone from the other tribes, but he had heard plenty from the others and he had no reason not to believe them. Earth ponies were supposed to be uncivilized and dirty, and while pegasi were widely known for being excessively proud, they weren't all that bright. None of that made itself apparent with the way everyone was acting right now. In fact, if it weren't for the slight physical differences, he wouldn't be able to tell them apart at all.

Clover was so caught up in his own thoughts that he almost missed it when a hushed silence fell over the crowd. Every pony had all turned as one to face a stage that looked over the whole crowd. He followed their gaze, and what he saw took his non-existent breath away.

A figure had stepped out onto the stage taller than any pony Clover had ever seen. He couldn't make out anything more than that. He wasn't even sure if it was a pony he was looking at, for they were as bright as the sun.

He didn't think it was possible for anyone to glow so brightly, but then as the figure made its way to the front of the stage, they started to glow even brighter. The warm glow cast its light over Clover. At first, he was worried that he'd lose himself to the same burning desire that had been plaguing him, but this felt different somehow. More peaceful, yet far more powerful.

The ponies around him began to bow in the presence of this shining figure. Even as the sun finally started making its rise over the distant horizon, Clover could not, for an instant, tear his eyes away from that figure. It was looking right at him, he didn't know how, but he knew it was. As he looked on, its light poured into him, seeping into ever fiber of his being, filling him up, making him feel whole. Whatever it was that was happening, it stole his breath away, and it wasn't much longer before he joined the crowd of ponies, and bowed as well.