The Encore of Clover the Clever
by Ice Star
First published
Clover the Clever is dead. Or at least she should be. But the black void she had expected just didn't seem to come. Although an unexpected opportunity for redemption did.
Clover the Clever is dead. Or at least she should be. But the black void she had expected just didn't seem to come. Although an unexpected opportunity for redemption did.
Side story to Divine Move and obvious sequel to The Symphony of Dawn Contribute to the TVTropes page!.
Proofread by Word Worthy
Part One
The light of a thousand prisms flew around me, swirling the multicolored hem of my skirt about softly.
"Hello?!" I yelled as a chaotic wind threw me around and about this vast and yawning nowhere. My hooves touched no ground and could find no path in this strange void.
Yet everywhere... was light. Weren’t the voids of tales meant to frighten foals thought to be naught but darkness? How could this be? If the tales of the most learned of our kind were false, then what can be true?
"Am I not deceased?!"
That, at least should be true, if anything is anymore.
The vortex paused almost as if it were trying to get a rise out of me. As the bright pastel lights continued, I ran a hoof through my mane hoping to snag one of its short tangles to toy with in my uncertainty. To my horror, the bobbed cut which I had died with was regenerated, grown out, and swept to one side in an even more matted mess bound only by a small brown tie.
The mane of my youth, my dread, and my fear.
I swept around finding myself no longer grounded by the ailments of age only to see my lovely dress and apron had been shifted into a familiar rough cape with its itchy hood settled about my neck waiting to hide my gray eyes once more. I hated this old thing, and hated see it now. This is all wrong! I wanted nothing, nothing at all, and instead I get... whatever it is that this is!
"No! Stop it! I'm a bloody atheist, this shouldn't be happening!"
Will nothing listen anymore? At least the sound of my own voice is a comfort. Who could bear silence in a formless place like this?
I screwed my eyes shut and stomped my hoof until the gusty tugs of this unearthly wind quieted into a nipping spring breeze which better suited my tastes. I may not be a pegasus but it was nice to see I could still do something even though I was still angry. Did I die for nothing?
"I don't believe in a freaking afterlife! This shouldn't be happening, all this light and rainbow bursting! Make it stop!"
With an almost sorrowful silence the wind lessened even further, down to an autumn whistle. I felt my hooves settle on solid ground somehow, even if I could see that I really was standing on nothing at all.
"Mayhap you should start believing in us, Dear Little Miss Clever-was-I, for us gods and immortals, as sure as the misery of a thousand souls, do exist, whether you like it or not. Nothing you believe has any prayer of changing that," growled a rough masculine voice, almost brimming with unspoken malice.
"Of course I knew god-immortals existed! I merely chose to ignore them, since they never meddled in the lives of anypony, or appeared at all. That was how I thought, until news was delivered otherwise. The other tribesponies, of course were sincere atheists, believing absolutely nothing I am seeing now, gods and others of the sort. Most important of all: Why do I need to meet anymore?"
I received no comment from the speaker and I opened my eyes faster than this stunned being could come up with a reply.
A gasp escaped my lips for I was no longer in the plain, flourish-deprived city of Canterlot but rather a magnificent pavilion with architectural styles even I did not know. Pillars with ivy patterns carved out of stone with the smooth likeness of silk! A pond with water the color of starbursts, if it was water at all! And lo, the pavilion I was in was floating above a place half bathed in a moon's shine and a sun's rays for both hung in the unearthly lavender sky, bound in what looked like an eternal twilight.
Two smooth and clear crystal thrones sat at the far end, an hourglass betwixt them, sands flying about within like a demon-mad pony instead of falling into place.
On this hourglass was a thick and mangled gray talon, connected to a garish red-feathered limb which was in turn attached to a vicious looking griffon...
But not just any griffon, for it was a hideous being with the same garish red feathers all about its body with primary feathers composed entirely out of what appeared to be actual flame. The same was true of the tail's tip and the goat-beard adorning his crooked black maw of a beak, as well as the deep black lines underscoring his eyes that made the bags under my own eyes appear faint in comparison to his, for he was a creature that looked as if they had never known the notion of sleep. These orange eyes were framed by thick inferno eyebrows. Large red wings were spread wide, a behavior I knew from pegasi that meant he was ready to take flight.
Atop his head was a tarnished silver crown shaped like it was constructed out of bones with blood rubies wedged on top. A large blue onyx was pinned to a blue cape that was torn and bloodied with pale blue fur trim did nothing to conceal the fact that just like a pony... he had a marking...?
The skull of an indeterminable species coupled with a sprig of black holly berries was present on his hindquarters as if he were a pony. Or one of them, after all, those two could change their shape well.
"You? Know gods?" he bellowed. "What lie are you going to spout next, Fountain? That they walk amongst you on Midgard? Do you perhaps have tea with them? Cream or sugar, dearie?"
He laughed loudly before he wiped a phony tear away from his eye.
"Liars go to Tartarus, you know. Now let me see here... how have you sinned, Mistress Clove Verre 'Clover' Felicia Magnus Laurelsdaughter-Tanglemane? That name is quite a mouthful for a peasant such as yourself."
He fluttered up onto the headrest of one of the splendid twin thrones on either side of the hourglass. He summoned the skeletons of seven pegasi with eyes like leaden coffins washed to a gray nothingness. Each appeared bearing an amount of fiery orbs depicting something in my life. They began to juggle. The griffin laughed heartily and snapped his digits, causing a ghostly guise of flesh to encircle them. All were identical, implying that these were mere conjurations rather than damned souls.
"Oh what have we here?" cackled this strange fellow. "Assisting the wicked? Turning a blind eye to the plight of others? Sinful, sinful, Mistress Clover. Tartarus could be your future. Now would like to be broiled or scorched by the flames there?"
He stopped snickering all of a sudden and focused on a orb depicting an event from my so-called apprenticeship.
Instantaneously, all but that orb vanished as his eyes caught fire and with a flash, his griffon form grew and melted, sculpting itself into a matching guise of the 'Alicorn' variety, a long red horn producing the very aura that held my memory.
I looked around quickly out of the corner of my eyes for a path of egress but all possibilities led to the unexplored edge. The only advantage I have would be in how quick I could move. Alas, I had not been well versed in physical combat in life and despite the facts that the ailments of age no longer plagued my body, I still had the gritty pacifist soul of myself and not the violent attitudes of the god-immortal.
Trying for subtle movements, I inched closer to the strange pond for perhaps it could be a vortex. This movement was noted and quickly and I was pinned to one of the columns by this being.
"Who are they?!" he bellowed once again, bringing the lighted sphere to my face as if I needed to nit-pick my own knowledge. "Where are these goddesses? How much do you know?!"
I gulped and struggled harder against his telekinetic grip, for all I knew this stallion had the intent of harm and after all that happened I could die again. Anything could happen at this point.
I closed my eyes and tried to ignite some kind of flare only to wrench them closed even further as another powerful light presence made itself known and a authoritative female voice bellowed:
"STOLAS, END YOUR TORMENT OF THIS SOUL AND RETURN TO YOUR REALM OF TARTARUS TO CONTINUE PUNISHING THE DAMNED AND EVIL!"
Author's Notes:
Thanks to Cynewulf for helping me come up with a proper name for the King of Tartarus! If you're interested in the source just click the picture of the cute owl demon.
Part Two
Powerful gusts from the swoop of a pair of wings encircled me. They felt so cold, like a windigo. I shivered and shut my eyes even tighter.
"Help..."
A warmth receded and I knew that the monster, the griffon Stolas, was gone. Whether he flew away silently or used magic, mattered nothing to me. Just the thought of him no longer being here was a blessing.
"THOU CANST OPEN THINE EYES, OUR PRESENCE IS THAT OF JUSTICE, NOT OF TERROR."
I gulped. How can I trust an ever-shouting voice? Although her speech mannerisms are vaguely familiar...
Off track. Stop this foolishness. Just ask her...
"Could you speak quieter?"
I winced at a wind only I could feel.
"Please...?"
"That we can do."
A sigh escaped me. Her low voice felt stern yet calming now that she was no longer thundering like the very storms I feared in foalhood.
But... who was 'she'?
I suppose it is time to open my eyes...
One.
Deep breath in.
Two.
By the blessed sun's light, you are safe.
Three.
When my eyes opened I was greeted with the sight of another being not quite fitting into the world I had left.
Yet, at the same time I felt as if mayhaps she did belong there, in a way, with her coat of orchid's lavender and her animate mane and tail the color of glowing gold light. Her height was colossal, and with her long legs and graceful neck it became painfully obvious that I was a mere ant to this creature.
But that was not the end of her splendor. Her inky blue eyes, which were thickly lashed, had a sky blue 'C' of cosmetics painted around them and her mark was a golden apple paired with a cabbage-colored plant sprig I could not identify.
Just like the last alicorn, she wore jewelry: a collar-like necklace made of glowing gold and studded with square cut gems of blue and white. Her boots of gold, each studded with three colorful emeralds, rubies, and sapphire, each seemed to eleganty flow and mold to her legs so one could not tell where she began and garb ended. Her crown, a radiant 'O' circlet of gold wound with the same plant on her mark rested atop her head.
As she stood there, sculpted eyebrows arched in an almost rebellious manner, I noticed that she herself seemed to be glowing, now radiating light as yellow as a cat's eyes catching the light of a harvest moon.
"We sensed a peasant-soul in need of aid. Might it be you?"
I nodded, utterly dumbstruck.
"Doth thou speak?"
"Yes," I whispered.
"How fortunate. The mute ones can be rather difficult."
"Where am I...? And... umm... who are you?" My voice continued to be naught but a hoarse whisper.
"We are Elysium, Queen of Paradise. And as for where you are..."
Elysium's horn lit up and a bright aura as pure as any gilded substance encircled me like a snake.
"...we can show you."
I yelped in surprise as she telekinetically dragged me over the side of the floating pavilion, leaping into flight once more.
...
In my life the divided pony tribes always squabbled. We squabbled over territory and superiority. Over knowledge. Over food.
Over beauty.
Some ponies had more trouble with this than others... to some the outer look was everything, like the castes and races they were born into. My dear friend Platinum had battles fought over her foolish remarks and her appearance. They were all empty inside. 'Lara, Starswirl, Kaw.
...I barely knew 'Lene. Nopony knew much about that demon.
Though the realm we now flew over was anything but a hollow shell of vanity. A sun and moon both hung in the sky shedding light over the unearthly landscape below. It contained two 'halves' divided by a fiery mountain ringed chasm whose bottom was unseen.
Whilst I attempted to view the world veiled in this eternal twilight, I was startled as I gazed below me with nothing more than the aura generated by the queen's magic to keep me afloat.
The land so far beneath me obeyed no laws! The massive continent stretched out from across all directions. Behind me were shining cities with strange houses bearing flat roofs and many courtyards scattered across the hills. They varied in size, some are alone, some are close together creating what look like small towns.
Spreading out from there were all sorts of things that should not be: plains rolling into forests and rivers. Snow began to appear on mountains that looked to be many days away from these villages, while stretching toward what I assumed was the north there was a bare expanse of dirt, with nothing and nopony to speak of.
"We see thou art puzzled by the desert," the queen called, "What doth thou think of the realm?"
"It is all impossible!"
Her expression did not falter. "We see," she answered flatly.
"It is!"
"Mere mortal, thou hath overreacted."
"Why do you keep speaking like that? Like a noblemare I would see at a court."
"We thought you might have adopted a speech pattern of the court in your later years, despite spending most of your life as an errand filly to a fraudulent excuse of a wizard."
Fraudulent?! I thought, Master Starswirl knew more than the entire Unicorn Court, how could that be fraudulent?
"Perhaps you should face in front of you, as there is nothing noteworthy behind you, Clover 'the Clever' as you were ironically called. Do you not wish to see more so-called 'impossibilities'?"
I nearly jumped at her venomous tone, but alas there was nothing below me. I watched the strange queen with a mane that put gold to shame recompose herself before I faced forward.
Author's Notes:
Silly Clover, you spent all your life as a peasant and don't know what an olive branch is.
Also, if my early modern English is off please let me know.
Part Three
I no longer cared about what may lay behind me, for what I now saw outshone all the horribly vast landscapes I had seen. It was a castle! Finally, a decent place to rest among all this wildness. However, what I saw was a very strange castle and it was that strangeness that made me nervous, as all good ponies of the tribes were taught to avoid anything or anypony that was strange and chase them away if possible. This castle was made out of gleaming crystals as purple as the queen's coat. Three spires rose up above the clouds, chiseled unlike any other structure I had known - the craftsmanship was too advanced! Not even ponies had anything close to this, yet this horned and winged beast has managed to craft such a thing?
These violet spires were riddled with windows and stretched above the clouds. With each flap of Queen Elysium's wings, we neared the palace, where this oddly regal creature dwelled. I made the mistake of looking down to see nothing but water below me! It was so horrifying that I was too scared to scream.
This much water was not possible! How many rivers would one have to stretch for this to exist? The magic required to do this would exceed the capacity of twenty five mages! It had to be an illusion, although a rather stomach churning one.
Everything about this place was just as nerve-wracking. I did not even bother to try and figure out how whatever misrule governed this world permitted a so much water to exist in one place as well as allow a small patch of land to float on its surface. From there, the castle rose taller and larger than any building I had ever seen before.
...
I cannot think of just how to properly express the elation I had when my hooves touch the gemstone floor of one of the eyries carved into the tallest spire in the middle. The queen lands effortlessly but the crystal feels unnatural beneath my hooves. From the looks of this place, where I am sure the air would prove too thin for me if I were still alive, the entire palace was somehow carved out of what must have been a monstrous block of crystal.
Elysium started towards the center of this lookout. She spoke no orders, but I saw her magic reveal what couldn't have been a panel, for I saw no hinges. It slid open without a sound, merging into the crystal around it as if it had never been. She gestures to follow down the staircase I see now, which is also made of the same flawlessly cut stone.
I lower my head, and obey without a word as I would any other royal.
...
I was overwhelmed by the interior. Every inch of the walls was carved with scenes of things I did not understand in detail that was frighteningly life-like. More winged and horned monsters, these Alicorns flew across the rippling and glossy surface and beside them were ponies as if consorting with their kind as if it were normal!
These ponies were like Equestria, in a way. Earth, pegasi, unicorn and some that I did not recognize ran and flew about with swords and magic, journeying across vast landscapes and consorting with creatures I knew nothing of. In the background cities constructed like none that were around today rose and in them ponies of all kind of trades huddled around vast stores of books and silly looking trinkets.
I turned away to face the queen. I could not tell what she was feeling but her expression was far from calm. Did she see how I looked at these images?
She silently showed me through more hallways, none of them bore any more of those strange, abnormal markings and strange pictures. We had arrived in a large room, or at least I thought it was a large room until I looked up to see that there was no ceiling! I do not how how this was possible, but then again nothing here seemed to be right as it should be.
Shelves of more books than I am sure anypony had ever seen lined each floor and stretched up high so that I became dizzy just looking. Scrolls and tomes zoomed everywhere, grasped in magic, the same magic the queen used. How could this many scrolls even exist? How could so many of them be enchanted to do this? What kind of monstrous being would need so many?
None of these sights fazed Elysium, she strolled past all of these sights as if they were something that was not a cause for nervousness. She saw fit to lead me through more winding halls until we came to a balcony that felt too exposed.
From here I could see most of her strange land and that the pavilion I stood on floated right in the sky even though it was not a cloud! I nearly fainted but the queen placed a cold forehoof on my withers to steady me.
Standing on the balcony's edge was a small filly with a coat darker than smoke and unshorn fetlocks revealing shiny black hooves like coal. She turned to look over towards me but I could not see her eyes, for they were beneath a shaggy tangled bob the same color as her coat. She had no horn that I could see but her wings were a fearsome shape I did not know how to describe.
In her dark colored aura she held a wreath of multi-colored roses which she seemed to like, for she smiled as she levitated more of the colorful flowers from a pile next to her before twisting them into her crown. When she was done, the filly rested it on her head only for it to wither to a circlet of thorns some sizes too-big that rested atop her fluffy mane.
"HELLO!" She shouts much like Elysium did earlier, her voice nearly blowing me away.
She did not sound like most children, air-headed and carefree. This strange foal with the voice of a god was too serious in the way she conducted herself despite her innocent activity.
What had I gotten myself into now? I never wanted to go on any adventures or doing anything interesting. Founding Equestria was enough.
Part Four
There was so much for Elysium to tell, I'm not sure if I understood everything she said, and what I did understand I wasn't entirely sure if I really believed everything. Queen Elysium used to consort with the other being that I saw, Stolas, who lives in the realm of Tartarus. She told me that Tartarus is accessible through a portal in the chasm I saw. She hasn't been to this Tartarus in a long time but when she was, Tartarus was divided into two parts.
She did tell me that the little filly that continued to play nearby, Thōdan, was her daughter even though this little filly was not her only offspring. She had two sons as well, Lady Thōdan was the youngest of these, the middle son's name escaped me but Lord Scorpan sounded familiar. Her sons, who were much older than their sister had gone out into the world. I think she could sense I knew what became of them.
However, I was baffled by the appearances of the three. Why were they not Alicorns? This question only seemed to delight the Queen, I saw her eyes gleam slightly through her stoic demeanor.
"They are Reapers."
"What?"
"Immortal, yes, possessing equinoid forms, yes. But they were born in worlds like this, that aren't quite 'alive' by your standards, Miss Clover. This gives them forms somewhat different from mine and they have the ability to open gates to, well..." She waved a forehoof about, pointing over the balcony and such.
"However, I'm afraid that since Tirek only took magic and Scorpan only followed him for quite some time, only Thōdan is left to learn the skills of a Reaper who guides the souls of departed mortals now that I see that Stolas' teachings have failed and-"
"And what?"
The queen did not enjoy this interruption but answered me in a level tone. "Stolas taught Tirek all he knew about magic, and when Tirek was questioned on whether he wanted to officially be a Reaper and guide the souls of the departed, he refused and persuaded his older brother to go out into the world to 'make something of themselves'."
"I was, well you see... what were you going to say before I interrupted you?"
"You got here on your own, Miss Clover."
"Yes?"
"Did you know that you're very lucky? Normally, a spirit gets lost without the direct aide of myself, Stolas, or a Reaper and wander about your realm until one of us finds you. It is rare and inefficient for this to happen, and for the living it can be dangerous since if they come too close enough to where they can traverse borders between realms... well, they explode."
"Is there any way a living mortal could survive?" Do I want to know? Will I even believe it? It was stupid to ask.
"One. There is only one theoretical way for a mortal to survive and that would be if a god, not a Reaper, were to give them access to my land of Paradise or Stolas' land of Tartarus. However the creature in question cannot be either living or dead since only a Reaper or an Alicorn with a similar talent like Stolas or myself can guide the dead and as I said before, if this creature were alive they won't find themselves like that for much longer."
"B-but how do they survive if they are dying?"
"Well, Miss Clover, they will cease the progression and become an immortal for their form is neither living nor dead, so it must adjust. Think of it like upgrading something."
"But isn't immortality... well... it's..."
"Incomprehensible to you?"
"Yes," I admit and hang my head. Elysium turns and faces her kingdom, clear blue eyes looking at all below her and her castle's balcony. The only sound is the wind and the filly's busy playing, which still has not ceased.
"It isn't as atrocious as you believe. You may not be as bright as your title of 'the Clever' would suggest but unlike most of the ponies you have known, you still possess the ability to learn."
"...Oh... thank you?"
"Now, I suppose you think that immortality is simply an eternity spent gradually shriveling and forgetting all around you as you descend into senility."
"Yes."
"Well, it is not. Let us say you, Miss Clover the Mortal, were in this position. How old were you when you looked like this?"
"Like this?" I question looking down upon my restored youth. "I was oh, twenty-two? It's been so long."
"If you were an immortal," Elysium continued, "a true immortal, not some sorcerer's twisted fantasy or faux philosopher's attempted drabble you would not age physically past what you are now. Your mind would mature somewhat, and adjust to be able to recall so much more, but there are certain sealing spells that can have a similar effect even after they are dispelled, but you will not be reduced to muttering nonsense simply for existing so long since you seem to under estimate this power as a fraud. Magic is capable of more than you realize, simply living can prove this but there are still vast instances recorded in my library where fates are kept recorded and lost knowledge can be found."
"You control fate?!" I exclaimed, horrified for this must be the greatest impossibility of them all.
"I do not control fate in any way, but I can record what has happened. Do you not have texts that detail your histories? It is like that. If you were like this you'd still be able to learn more, but not everything, I do not know in full what you view me as but immortals are hardly all-knowing and our power is not limitless, even if it can seem like it, but I do not think that you have much knowledge about Alicorns."
"Well, not really..."
"The last change that would be made is hardly a change at all but the magic of somepony who went through this would be enhanced. I know not what else would happen but let us leave this at how glad I am that this will not be occurring if I can prevent it."
"B-but why did you bring me here?" I try to sweep my hoof in an arc but my hoof almost hits the orchid coat of Queen Elysium and none of the effect is kept when I do it.
"Do you really think that you are as evil as Stolas makes you out to be?"
"But I have not done anything worthwhile either!"
"Clover, you are not as clever as your name suggests, but you are not a wicked pony."
"Why did you want to talk to me then?"
There was that strange look in Elysium's eyes again. "Do you know why Stolas failed in teaching Tirek?"
"I do not."
"Stolas taught him only to want power, and to take it. He never taught him what power was, nor did he let Tirek dwell on it, he encouraged him to seek power endlessly and to topple all those who had it is what one of Tirek's goals became."
I wait to see if she will keep talking since I have nothing to say to this. I already knew of the creature that was her son.
"He does not appear to be so but Stolas was always the better teacher of magic than I, which is why he taught Tirek, whose nature I should have noticed, and Scorpan."
Her tone is somber, without a doubt she misses both of them. The filly, Thōdan, has come over to where I talk with her mother. She had created many flower crowns in the time, some which had been transformed into thorns. I still did not know how she could see through that mane of hers. She nudged one of the thorny circlets over to me, looked up at me, and even though I could not see her eyes, the oddly serious look had turned into a small, shy smile that blatantly told me this was a gift.
"If that is true, then who will teach her?" I asked, as I carefully grasped one of the circlets.
Elysium's next look told me all as I looked at this little filly.
After a few nervous gulps, I accepted.