The Prompt: Lips like wine, a tongue like honey. [OR] Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.
Clover groaned as her body smacked down heavily upon the rock-strewn mountain path, sore hooves thanking her even as her belly protested its uncomfortable resting place. She glanced back to find her traveling companions still behind her, their faces as wearied as her body, before looking forwards at the cave, its dark entrance flanked by grand crystal columns on either side. They'd reached the penultimate step.
After so many days trekking through the Everfree, sneaking through dragon and gryphon territories alike, they had made it…together.
"Y'all ready for this, Clover?" Smart Cookie asked, resting a hoof on the unicorn's back before withdrawing it nervously.
"Yeah… I think so." Clover smiled back, the hoof returning to its place before the earth pony helped her to her hooves. I am ready…aren't I?
"Y-you will be careful, won't you?" came the almost whispered voice of Private Pansy, the pegasus's nerves frayed, not so much by the journey anymore but by what was to come if her nervous peeks at the cave were any indication.
"'Course she will," Cookie declared, smiling almost ruefully. "Ain't called 'the Clever' fer nothing, right?"
"Heh…right." Clover let out a wheezing chuckle. "But…maybe we should take a break first."
"Breaks good! I second taking a break!" Pansy broke in, smiling a bit too wide as she swooped for their packs, grabbing them in her maw before beginning to set things up… at the far end of the mountain plateau, as far from the cave as she could muster.
"I guess we're taking a break then..."
~o~0~o~
Soon enough there was a campfire going, flicking about gently in the high breeze, each of the three ponies having settled into a spot around it.
Save the crackle of the fire and gentle breeze, all was silent upon the mountaintop, the trio of ponies seeming to have decided unconsciously to all focus their attentions upon the flicking flame.
This could be the end… couldn't it?
The question hung in the air. It had dogged them the entire way. Between braving the illusions of Everfree, the gryphon patrols and the impromtu migration of dragons, the question lingered. The potential of failure in the back of each pony's mind.
Clover looked to her companions. She could see it written on their faces. Fear beneath hope. Potentialities obscuring potentialities.
"We up to this, Clover?"
"Huh?"
"We up to it?" Cookie's eyes bored into her, their focus unnerving at the least, demanding something that Clover had hardly the heart to give.
"I…I don't know..." A non-answer was preferred to the answer she held in her heart. "If Starswirl believed we could…I want to believe him."
"But what about you?" Pansy broke in. "What do you think?"
"I…the theory is workable. If the legends are true…then a powerful enough unicorn should be able to make it." Clover glanced sidelong at the cave entrance in the faded light of the perpetual dusk.
Cookie glanced east towards their homeland. The sun and moon hung suspended above it, half-obscured by the strange storm brewing beneath. The occasional flash of light offered a fleeting glimpse of it, the land a twisted mockery of the paradise they had once settled. All because of him. "It's funny…all this time I thought it rested with you unicorns..."
"To be honest…so did I..."
"I gathered...Platinum sure didn't seem to know either." Smart Cookie broke into a tiny smirk as she glanced back at her unicorn companion. "She sure is gonna be mad when we get back, ain't she?"
Clover stayed silent, face flushing with embarrassment.
"Well, assuming those guards of hers got her down from the ceiling."
Clover flushed an even brighter red, face falling. "I'm going to be thrown in a dungeon, aren't I?"
"Well, I'm going to be court marshalled," Pansy chirped, raising her hoof like a school filly.
"An' I'm sure the council ain't gonna look too kindly on me bein' out here chasin' fairy tales with everythin' that's goin' on."
"Yeah..."
"Aw, chin up, Clover."
"I'm going to be sentenced to the dungeon and that's all you can say? 'Chin up'?" Clover demanded, her eyes panicked.
"Hey, if'n this don't work out we can always get to livin' on the road," Cookie offered as Clover stared at her hooves in sorrow. "Can have ourselves a merry band of misfit ponies."
Clover laughed at the mental image of a the trio, unicorn, earth pony and pegasus, living out of a caravan, singing merry little songs for coin.
"But we won't have ta do that anyhow."
Clover looked up at the earth pony.
"You're gonna be right an' we're gonna be send that bastard back wherever he came from."
"She's right, Clover," Pansy reassured, Clover jumping slightly at the sensation of the pegasus' hoof on her. She hadn't noticed the pair inching towards her.
She kinda has to be... Clover thought bitterly, shaking her head to rid herself of the dark possibilities. "I think I'm ready."
"Oh! Are you sure?" Pansy yelped. "I mean, you need to be at full strength, right? Otherwise y-you won't be able to overcome the crystals."
"Pansy."
"You'll be ripped to shreds!"
"Pansy."
"Torn limb from limb!"
"PANSY!" Cookie shouted.
"Oh!" the pegasus relaxed, letting Clover out of her bone-crushing grasp. "Um…sorry."
"It's okay..." Clover panted, trying to recapture the oxygen that had been so forcibly squeezed from her.
"It's just that…um…everypony is counting on us...all of Equestria and… Oh dear, I'm just making things worse, aren't I?"
"That's alright, Pansy." Clover sighed. "We all know what we're here for."
"You sure you're recovered enough?" Cookie coughed, focusing her attention on a few stray fibers of her hat's plume. "I mean…we can wait another lil' bit. Ain't no sense in rushing this."
"No…the longer we do nothing, the longer everypony suffers under Lord Discord." Clover looked up, staring at Cookie as the earth pony avoided her eyes. "I'm rested enough."
"Good… good luck, Clover." Pansy smiled, rising alongside the unicorn.
"Yeah…good luck."
"Cookie?"
"Jus'…do be careful, okay?"
"Hey, they don't call me Clover the Clever for nothing, right?"
"Right." Cookie smiled, rising and trotting towards the cave alongside her companions before suddenly they were halted.
A barrier shone as the reached it, sending Pansy and Cookie back onto their rumps as it flashed with arcane light. Clover stood at the barrier, horn glowing as she pressed in on it with her aura.
"Guess you weren't kidding when you said unicorn's only, were ya?"
"I only wish we could go with you..." Pansy murmured solemnly, testing the barrier with a hoof.
"So do I..." Clover whispered almost inaudibly, eyes closed as she moved slowly, carefully into the bubble of magic before suddenly she found herself thrown forwards, all resistance gone.
"Clover!" came the worried cries as Clover picked herself up off the ground.
"Fine…fine…that was just… easier than I thought it would be," she replied with a sheepish grin, Cookie shooting her a disapproving glance.
Okay, get it together, Clover, she berated herself. This was serious after all.
She was dealing with an almost unknown with the fate of all Equestria on the line, with the fate of the world on the line for all she knew. There were too many variables hidden from her to be anything less than one hundred percent careful.
This was where Starswirl was...
"Clover."
This was the exact spot where he…where he...
"Hey, Clover, can you hear us?"
And they... she glanced up at the crystal spires flanking the entrance. She could feel them radiating magical energies, pulsing with latent magics the likes of which the unicorn could hardly comprehend. If they could do that to Starswirl...
"Clover?"
"I'm fine!" she shouted much more loudly than she had meant, her voice cracking audibly.
"Clover…just…deep breaths..."
Clover only just noticed how fast her heart was beating, the rivulets of sweat coursing down her face, the trembles running down her spine. She breathed, shallowly at first, then deeper and deeper.
"Deep breaths...just slow and deep..."
Slowly, but surely her body calmed. She glanced back to find Pansy with her hooves on the barrier, pressed against it. The pegasus radiated calm, her kind demeanor ever reassuring.
Clover sat, hard. "'Only the highest level unicorns can even hope to comprehend the magicks at the entrance, much less combat and subdue them,'" Clover murmured verbatim. "'What could such magicks be designed for if not for the power of day and night itself. We unicorns think ourselves as the holders of this power. We think ourselves worthy, but we are but the chosen shepherds, using this power only by the grace of its true, divine holder. To truly hold sway over sun and moon, one would have to best its true holders.'"
"Clover?"
"That's what Starswirl believed. That's why they laughed him right out of Unicornia even after all he had done."
Her companions simply looked on, hooves pressed against the barrier.
"I-I was still just an apprentice when they all but banished him. I looked up to him…I'd have followed him anywhere..."
"And you followed him here..."
"Yes."
"Listen, Clover. You're the probably the smartest unicorn, heck, the smartest pony I've ever known…don't be dumb."
"What?"
"Cookie!"
"Lemme finish!"
Pansy settled down, wings still flaring in agitation.
"I know y'all probably think that you can't even hope t'hold a candle to him."
Clover's face sank.
"But I know better, Clover."
"Yeah, well…you're just an earth pony."
"Yeah! I'm just an earth pony! What the heck would I know about magic?!" Cookie shot back.
"I didn't mean it like--"
"Yeah you did. It's alright. An' I don't rightly know much about you unicorns an' your fancy horn magic. But I know that that ain't the only kind."
Clover glanced up from her shame at the earth pony's gentle smile.
"You remember when we were in that cave?"
"Yeah?"
"You remember how we were pretty much doomed to die?"
"Yeah..."
"You remember how we didn't?"
Clover stayed silent, turning the memory over and over in her mind.
"You did something that day."
"But that took all three of us."
"Yeah, but wouldn't have happened without you. It wasn't Starswirl. It wasn't your fancy pants high council of magic. It was you." Cookie jabbed a hoof, sending a ripple of magic cascading outwards across the barrier.
"She's right…I felt it too," Pansy stated, sitting down and folding her wings meekly. "We helped…but you were the…the conduit for it."
"Conduit?"
"Magical Preparedness Training by Gale Force," Pansy offered matter-of-factly. "'All ponies have some form of magic, but only unicorns have a foci, allowing them to before acts of will beyond those of hoof or wing. Among unicorns, power level is determined by the strength of this foci element.'"
"That's true..."
"So you are the highest level unicorn. Objective fact," Pansy stated, veritably glowering at the unicorn. "And on the battlefield, objective fact is everything."
"I..." Clover bit her lip.
"If'n it makes y'feel any better, you're subjectively the best unicorn I know too." Cookie smiled.
"Okay…okay…I think I'm good," Clover decided with a nervous chuckle. Maybe she didn't really believe them. But maybe that's good enough. Windigos, gryphons, dragons...why not a crystal barrier that probably hasn't been breached for millennia.
"Get along there."
Okay…let's do this... Clover whispered silently, stepping lightly towards the entrance proper. Baby steps…baby steps...
Clover stared up at the towering crystals, looking for any sign of disturbance as her horn flared brightly in reflex.
Careful…carefu--
She flexed her aura as she felt it, the barest tendril of magic curling about her. She felt herself being dragged towards the crystals before she yanked into the air.
"CLOVER!"
The unicorn concentrated her magic, keeping her shield tight about her body as the tendrils multiplied, wrapping around her as she hung, suspended between the crystals.
Then, without warning, it breached.
Smart Cookie and Private Pansy were sent flying back, the earth pony tumbling across the mountain plateau before skidding to a stop while Pansy flipped through the air before righting herself in the air, alighting beside Cookie as the earth pony hopped back to her hooves.
"Where'd it go?" Pansy murmured as Smart Cookie raced to where the unicorn had been but a moment ago.
Motes of stray magic fell about the pair as they came to the spot where the cave had stood. It was gone. All of it was gone. The cave, the crystals and Clover, all gone.
"I…I don't know…but I think she did it...she really did it..."
~o~0~o~
"Smart Cookie?" Clover echoed as she spun, seemingly weightless and without any sense of down or up. "Pansy?"
She looked around but found only darkness as windmilled her forelegs in an effort to curb her momentum.
"Girls?"
"WORRY NOT FOR YOUR FRIENDS, UNICORN!"
Clover cried out, more in pain than shock as the booming voice seemingly assaulted her from every which way. She flung her hooves over her ears as it echoed ceaselessly.
"WORRY NOT FOR THEY!" another boomed.
Clover curled about herself as the darkness flared with a sudden light, nearly blinding her. She felt heat curling about her and, with the echoes of the voices fading away, she peered out between her hindlegs, a pair of glowing, pure white eyes meeting her.
"WORRY FOR THINE OWN SELF!" the voice shook her, the sound itself vibrating through her as it bounced around the confined space, formed entirely of crystals that she now found herself in.
Clover stared fearfully into the white hot eyes, uncurling enough to find them attached to a pony-like figure, only much larger.
And made of fire…don't forget made of fire... Clover thought as her eyes widened at the heat on her flanks. But… She wasn't burning. It was hot to be sure, but more the heat of blankets warmed before the hearth than that of a fire. And... "Whoa!"
Clover threw her limbs out as she felt the fiery pony's touch on her flanks. She flailed wildly in an effort to get away but found herself against the cool, crystal wall of the rather small cave.
The fiery beast balked at Clover's action, but otherwise did little as it was joined by another. Both were larger than any equine Clover had ever seen, being at least twice her own height. The pair were seemingly comprised of flames, an almost blinding orange for the first and a gentler blue hue for the second.
"WHY HAVE YOU COME?" the orange one asked, its voice seeming to have been reduced, if only slightly, as it was joined by its counterpart.
"Ce-Ce-Ce..." Clover's tongue twisted, uncooperative, in her mouth, head throbbing still from the aural onslaught.
"SPEAK, INSECT! WHY DOTH YOU DISTURB THE SANCTUM OF THE SISTERS OF SUN AND MOON?!" the second demanded in as loud a voice as it could apparently muster, Clover snapping back into a shuddering ball.
Clover, for a moment, heard only a soft whine as her ears recovered, but soon enough she could hear murmurs from just beyond her. Parting from herself a moment, she looked to find the pair debating amongst themselves, tones hushed as they snuck glances at her.
Her eyes only widened as they ceased their conference, the blue seeming to sulk as the orange snaked through the air towards her.
Oh dear... Clover shook as it drew nearer but relaxed as she felt its warmth snake over her form, her eyes half-lidded at the comforting touch.
"Apologies…my little unicorn..." Clover's eyes widened yet again at the voice, deep. It flowed through her brain like honey, filling every crevice of her being. "It seems that we have gotten off on the wrong hoof, so to speak."
"I-I-I..." Clover was flustered as she melted into its grasp, flames licking at her body, flicking at her fur.
"We have been here so long," the goddess whispered in her ear, sending shivers through her. "We have been so lonely. So few ponies have graced us with their presence…so few have been worthy even to come so far."
"Th-thank you?"
"Oh, no, thank you, dear one."
Clover felt it covering here entirely now, her mind melting into goo as she stared into its strange, beautiful eyes.
What's…what's happening here... Her thoughts bubbled up from the murky fog of her brain, a sudden pinprick of fear running up her spine. This…what'd he say... what was it?
"You should stay, dear pony…forever…and ever..." Its maw drew nearer, she could feel a overwhelming heat upon her lips, something building up inside.
'To truly hold sway over sun and moon, one would have to best its true holders.'
And then Clover exploded, magic bursting out in all directions as her brow knit with concentration. The warmth left her as the fiery pony was thrown back from her, its temptation going with it. She hung a moment, suspended in the air, the cave glowing with her aura before everything…broke.
~o~0~o~
"Dang it!" Smart Cookie cried out, throwing her hat down in disgust. "How the hay'd you manage that?"
"I…just lucky, I guess." Pansy murmured, unable to keep the smile of victory from her lips. "Wanna go again? Best of twenty-nine?"
"Heck yeah I wanna go ag--"
A sudden burst of magic nearly sent the earth pony flying from the mountain, her hooves digging in as she skidded towards the edge. She glanced back to find Pansy tumbling through the air before she too righted herself, shooting back towards the mountaintop.
"Clover!" Pansy shouted excitedly as she spotted the unicorn coughing amidst a fog of magic. Running headlong into the magical field, the pair of ponies nigh tackled the unicorn to the ground.
"We knew ya could do it!"
"I…I did?"
"Didn't you?"
"Let's do that again!" a voice cheered, piquing the interest all three mares.
There, standing in the settling fog, were a pair of fillies, one with coat as white as snow, the other with one as dark as midnight. The darker one hopped up and down in place, excitedly while the other sat, forehooves laced over her chest with a rather cross look on her face. On their flanks, a pair of cutie marks of sun and moon.
"Y-you!" Clover blurted out, thrusting a hoof accusingly at the light filly. "You're just a filly!"
"Yeah! Well you're a butt!" the lighter coated filly huffed, sticking her tongue out at Clover before turning up her nose as the unicorn retched at the realization.