She was walking up the way toward the throne of the three presiding Princesses.

She could hear voices singing her praises. As she reached the bottom of the steps, she bowed low.

"Clover Bloom, you are... Almost ready. Your time will come soon. But today is not that day." Princess Celestia said.

Clover smile. "Thank you. Thank you all. I'm in no hurry to overstep my boundaries, of course."

"Then awaken. Your destiny won't wait for you. Either you find it or it will find you."

When Clover awoke (once again) she found that she was stuck in a wooden chair. Her hooves seem to be bound with metal bands and what seems like a modified colander was on her head.

She thought, 'Either I'm about to be given literal shock therapy or tortured (maybe both!) or this is the setting for a B movie. At thrice the price. Let's have it.'

As if on cue, Princess Twilight trotted in wearing a lab coat. She had a potion vial held in her magic. When she saw that Clover was roused, she smiled and said, with a very obviously fake accent, "Ah! Finally, ze subject is avake! Velcome... To my laboratory! Now zat you are avake, ze experiments can commence! Mwahahahaha!!!"

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the distance, despite it not having been cloudy earlier.

Clover rolled her eyes. 'Perché non entrambi?'(1) she was relatively sure that Princess Twilight was joking. But not 100%.

The Junior Princess smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I just always wanted to have an excuse to say that. Don't worry; I've already completed all of the experiments that I needed to. Nothing invasive beyond some blood work, I assure you."

Deciding to play along a bit, Clover said, "So tell me doc... Am I going to live?"

Twilight laughed, but waved that off. "Absolutely. Your magic has definitely changed in several ways, but nothing hazardous." She then giggled. "The gaming session that Rainbow Dash has planned for later, on the other hoof..."

Clover tilted her head. "Gaming session?" She queried.

"Yeah. She said that she was planning on having a game of Ogres and Oubliettes. Discord apparently gave her a more down to earth version. Which implies that he will not be playing."

Clover asked, "Out of curiosity, what's in the vial?"

Twilight looked confused for about half a second before she remembered the Vial that was still being carried in her magic. "Oh! This? This is the sample of your blood. Well, one of them."

Clover tilted her head slightly. "How many did you manage to get?"

"I only took three. Just don't do any strenuous activity for a while and you should be fine."

Clover said, in reply, "Considering what's been happening recently, I don't think I can promise that." After that she said, "So... what did you find?"

Twilight was quick to answer. "I was told that you had been exposed to Poison Joke. When I took a sample of your blood, it appears that not only did you have the effect of it, but it has partially been Incorporated into your bloodstream. How long were you around those?"

Clover said in reply, "Well, while I was checking up the flowers in the area, I found a clump of those and took the time to sniff them."

Twilight looked slightly concerned. "How many of those did you sniff at?"

"All of them."

Twilight paused for a moment. "When my friends and I were exposed to Poison Joke, we were only standing in it for about a minute. I can't imagine how much more affected you are. I can see those blue patches. And though the patterns contrast nicely with your coat and mane..."

Clover shrugged. "Like I keep telling everypony, it's a small price to pay for how much it has improved my life."

Twilight shrugged in response. "Even if you were immersed in the cure 24/7, I don't think It would remove the effect anyway."

"Is that all? These restraints are getting uncomfortable."

"One more thing." Twilight said, releasing her anyway. "Your magic is swiftly becoming that of an Alicorn. I'm not sure how quickly that will affect you in any major way, but it's something to keep an eye out for. Both eyes if you can help it." She joked at the end.

"What should I be looking for?" Clover asked.

Twilight explained, "Well, there are some obvious symptoms and some not so obvious ones. For example, if you grow a horn you'll know easily enough. Before that you might experience some serious headaches. Also you might experience further increased strength, a desire to fly quite often, if others look up to you, then you'll begin to feel more powerful. You also might experience a Mana Flare."

"Huh? What's a Mana Flare?"

Twilight stepped over to her blackboard, illustrating quickly. "Basically, a Mana Flare is your itineris system (that which controls your magical output, generation, et cetera et cetera) shifting into a much more efficient version of itself. I experienced one of those when I was a filly. It's part of why I can control such magical strength. Starlight told me that she also went through something similar on a smaller scale."(2) She turned around, adding, "despite being an Earth Pony, your itineris system is beyond overdeveloped."

"Lucky me. Is there any way to avoid that?" Clover asked.

Twilight shook her head. "I'm afraid not. It will happen sooner or later." Twilight thought for a moment. "Oooor...."

"Or what?" Clover asked with a tilt of her head.

"I could force it. Instead of delaying the inevitable, we could get it to happen sooner instead."

Clover was a bit nervous at this. "And what would that entail?"

Twilight nodded. "Your concern is understandable. Don't worry, I will do my best to ensure that you're as safe as possible."

"That doesn't answer my question." Clover deadpanned.

"I was getting to that. It would require you to enter my blast-proof chamber here and then I would force that to occur. At length, you will be able to come out of that without any risk to those around you. The only one around you will be me."

"So what will happen then?"

"I don't know yet."

Clover blinked thrice. "What? What do you mean?"

"Until it occurs, we have no idea what will happen. It could cause any number of things to occur. When I had mine, I transformed my parents into plants and made Spike into a kaiju until Princess Celestia came along and set things to rights. This happens to very few Ponies."

Clover took a deep breath. Then she exhaled sharply. "Okay. Let's do it. The sooner the better, right?".

Twilight looked pleased. "All right! Let's do this then!"

The two of them went to the aforementioned blast chamber. Twilight, of course, made sure that Spike knew to keep anypony else from coming in. She brought along several violet coloured crystals.

"Do you know what these are?" Twilight asked.

Clover tilted her head slightly. "I can't be entirely sure, but those look like solidified Mana crystals."

"Precisely!" Twilight said, looking quite pleased. "This will be used to erect a barrier and defend from any side effects. Like I said, after all, this happens to very few Ponies. Just stand in the center of the room, over there." She finished, arranging the crystals in a relatively circular pattern.

Clover trotted over and stopped in the exact center, of course. "Potrai sparare quando sarai pronto, comandante.(3)" She said, nodding.

"You aren't ready for this." Twilight warned.

"Don't you mean are you ready for this?" Clover queried.

"Nope." Twilight said, firing off a beam of energy.

The beam hit Clover in the chest, holding for a few seconds. The effect was visible shortly. Clover began to rise in the air, a field of cyan Wind and viridian green Earth energy swirling about her. There was also a third colour, but I think you can guess what that was.

Clover, for her part, was feeling like she was partially detached from the situation. She could see all of what was happening in real time, from any angles she wanted, oddly enough. But she could still feel the fire flowing through her veins in a muted way. She figured that that must be a way for her mind to mitigate the pain this surely was causing.

She tried to kind of relax and let whatever was happening happen, but that was pretty hard. This was, of course, more energy than she'd ever felt going through her. Suddenly, her perception shifted. She felt like she was connected to all of nature for a moment. Like the very land itself was trying to speak with her.

Despite being in a sealed room, flowers began to sprout out of the very floor that was beneath her. Granite usually didn't break that easily. Right?

Within seconds, they'd grown to full size, wafting back and forth in a breeze.

Suddenly, it was over, and Clover landed in a patch of soft grass that was suddenly beneath her.

Twilight, for her part, was staring at Clover wide-eyed. Looking around the lavender Princess, Clover noticed that each and every one of the crystals that Twilight had brought out was shattered.

Clover began to walk toward her, a smile on her face. "Well, that felt interesting." she said. Also, a trail of flowers was spreading up behind her.

"Are you feeling okay, Clover?" Twilight asked.

Clover tilted her head. "Never better, oddly enough. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you're speaking with the Voice of the Land and also you're having a Path of Life effect on the granite floor. Also, your eyes are entirely green."

Clover's eyes widened. She shook her head briefly. Her eyes returned to normal. She turned her head and looked behind her. "Okay, that's enough. You can cut that out now." After that, she was able to walk over to Twilight, stopping a couple of meters in front of her.

"So how do you feel?" Twilight asked.

"Well, kind of okay? I'll say this much: that was exciting! Frightening! It was absolutely amazing! But I hope never have to go through that again."

Twilight chuckled. "Well, you should be okay. Until the time comes, you'll live a healthy, if slightly odd, life. Just as before."

"And the.. other kind of magic? What about that?"

Twilight cast a scanning spell. "As far as I can tell, all three types have completely incorporated into your body. Even if you ate something that nullified magical effects, it wouldn't dispel it. Looks like you'll be graceful from now on."

"Well, that sounds pleasant enough." Clover said, with a smile. "So why am I not Poison Joke blue?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Twilight shrugged. "It's still settling in, I suppose. It was taking a while before; It'll finish at its own pace."

"Can I go home now?"

Twilight laughed aloud at that. "I think we are done here. Can you make it? I'll carry you, if not."

Clover experimentally jumped a couple of times. She trotted in a circle. She did some stretching. "I think I'm good." She said. "Maybe I'll see you sometime later?" She added.

"I'll be glad to. Until then." Twilight smiled mischievously. "Future Princess Bloom."

Clover turned a bright shade of pink. With a different mane style she would have almost looked like Pinkie Pie.

"Oh, stop!" She said, with some embarrassment evident.

At least she was able to get back home by herself, that time.

Author's Note

1: why not both in Italian.
2: I'm relatively sure that isn't actually canon, but until I'm corrected...
3: That means you may fire when ready, Commander, in Italian.