“Miss Clever, it is ten in the morning and you still haven’t got out of bed? You have duties to attend to today and none of them are going to get done if you don’t get out of bed.”

The white unicorn mare groaned in displeasure as she took off her bed sheets and climbed out of bed and headed to the massive doors that led out to the castle's halls. Opening the doors, Clover met face to face with the pony that disturbed her sleep, Manuscript.

The unicorn stallion had a light brown coat, with his blond mane neatly combed back. His cutie mark was a piece of parchment rolled tight with a red ribbon holding it together.

When Manuscript saw Clover’s forest and mint green mane in a bedhead style, he looked upon the white unicorn mare with disgust. Clover, for her part, just rolled her eyes at Manuscript.

“This is your duties for the day,” replied Manuscript, entered Clover’s room and handed her a piece of parchment with his magic. “Since you decided to wake up so late in the morning, I saw it fitting to give you the last task that was left in my office.”

Clover grabbed the piece of parchment with her light green aurora and started to look over it. The parchment contained a list of all of the ponies she would have to check on for the Summer Sun Celebration.

I would like whoever gets this to check on the ponies who will be preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration that will be held in this year’s location: Canterlot. Here is the list of the ponies who will be preparing for the festival:

Ludwig van Beethooven - He will be in charge of the music in the festival. (You may want to bring a notepad, the old stallion is deaf and you will not be able to communicate with him without one.)

Stratus Cloud - He is in charge of the weather. He will make sure that the skies are clear on the day of the celebration.(He will be working with a team of unicorns to clear out the weather and is also one of the few pegasi left in Canterlot that hasn't left to Cloudsdale. So it should be easy to spot him.)

Grace - She will be working on the decorations for the festival. All you will have to do is to check on her progress.

Smart Cookie - She will be making the pastries for the festival. Let her know that the guard will come to pick up her pastries two hours before the celebration begins.

“So, now I am doing errands for the Summer Sun Celebration?” asked Clover a bit annoyed. “You know I am not a big fan of it.”

“As I said, it was the last task in my office and you haven’t woken up; therefore, you are responsible for these tasks, regardless of how you feel about the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“Fine, I will do it. But you better not pull this stunt again next year,” warned Clover.

Clover then walked over to her drawer and pulled out a plain, ratty looking robe. As she put on her robe, she heard Manuscript sighing.

“What’s the problem now?” questioned Clover, beginning to get irritated by Manuscript.

“Could you at least look presentable when you go out? You make the Princess look bad when you put on that poor excuse of a robe.”

Clover started walking toward Manuscript as she began. ”Well, gee, I am sorry that I do not live up to your standards. I am sorry that I am not the Canterlot citizen you expect me to be. Not all of us had the luxury of a home to come back to every day, have a family who loves you, and had enough money to send you to a prestigious school. Some of us had to struggle in life to get where they are today. And the last time I checked, I became Princess Celestia’s adviser not because of the things I wear, but because of what I dealt with. I have the experience of a lot of things, and she would come to me for advice if she needed a second opinion on something.” by the time Clover was done ranting, her muzzle was inches from Manuscript’s muzzle.

“Very well then,” he said while clearing his throat,” I will take my leave.” With that, Manuscript headed out to the door, but stopped before saying, “Just remember to give that parchment to the Princess or me once you are done with your task.”

“Alright then,” talking to herself, ”I better look at the list to see who I should see first.”

Clover opened the parchment paper with her magic as she looked over the list. First up, was Mr. Beethooven, second, Stratus Cloud, after him Grace, and then followed by Smart Cookie. Before leaving, Clover grabbed a notepad, a quill, and some ink so that she would be able to talk to the deaf musician and then headed out her bedroom door.

Ever since Princess Celestia started the celebration, she had always held the celebration in town squares, in city halls, and, at times, at parks. Clover knew that Princess Celestia always chose a place where the majority of the town would be able to see her raise the sun.

While the Summer Sun Celebration was being held this year at Canterlot, there weren't many places the festival could be held. The layout of the city consisted of narrow streets, houses too close to each other that they seemed to touch one another, and the park being too small to hold all the citizens in the city. There was only one place in the city where the ponies would be able to celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration - Canterlot Castle. Yes, the castle was the perfect place to hold an event such as this.

The castle had the size and beauty to celebrate the festival. When the Princess raised the sun, the castle’s marble stone walls reflected the sun’s rays making the castle shine even brighter than usual, making it look like the sun itself had descended from the heavens. That sight alone would leave anypony in awe.

Today was the eve of Summer Sun Celebration, and Clover knew exactly where to find the musician, in the ballroom at the castle. Having taken part of the festival before, Mr. Beethooven usually liked to be on the site of where the celebration would be so that his ensemble can set up and practice before the festival started.

As Clover entered the Ballroom, she could hear the ensemble practicing the music for the festival. Clover slowly opened the door so that she would not disturb them while they were practicing. Clover then sat down and closed her eyes just to listen to the music they played.

Clover herself was a big fan of Ludwig van Beethooven. She has gone to all of his concerts. The music he composed was some of the best music at the time. Beethooven was also an inspiration to her; despite his disability, he still continued doing what he loved most, music. Clover wouldn’t be surprised if ponies continued to listen to his music in the future.

The music soon ended and Clover, being the only audience in the room, started clapping. The ensemble smiled as their audience praised them; however, their smiles left their faces when their composer started talking.

“And just what are you smiling about? The Summer Sun Celebration is tomorrow and we still have a lot of work to do before we are ready to preform. Violas, your group started too early. Knowing when to start is essential or else the rest of the song falls apart. And Cellos, you missed an A Minor. If you are unsure about what note to play next, you have the notes right in front of you! Use them!”

How Beethoven was able to notice small things like starting too early or missing a note even though he was deaf was something nopony knew, but that is what made him great, and that's why he was considered the best.

After his little rant, nopony answered him, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hear them anyways.

One pony from the ensemble simply pointed his hoof across the room as it set its sights on its target. Beethoven eyes followed the stallion’s hoof until he saw a white unicorn mare with a ragged old robe with what had what appeared to be her cutie mark, three four leaf clovers with three white diamonds in between them. The unicorn stallion’s eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks when he realized who the mare was. Clover just smiled and waved.

“Miss Clever, I am sorry you had to witness my outburst. Its just that with the festival being tomorrow, I wanted to make sure there were no mistakes with the music. It is partially my fault. We have been practicing since the crack of dawn and I believe the ensemble is just tried.” Apologized Beethoven as Clover walked up to the stage.

Clover pulled out her notepad, a quill, and and some ink with her light green aura. She then began writing something on her notepad and soon after, Clover levitated the notepad to the deaf pony while giving him a reassuring smile.

"‘Not to worry Mr. Beethooven, I am sorry for startling you but you do not need to worry. I am in charge of making sure everything is ready for the festival and I just wanted to see how things are going. You have nothing to fear; your music sounded beautiful.’” Read the deaf composer aloud as he read what Clover wrote to him. “Thank you Miss Clever, it is good to know that someone as prestigious as you enjoy my music.” He mentioned as the notepad levitated back to Clover.

Clover face became a little rosy from the comment he gave her. Again, Clover’s magic took hold of the notepad and quill, making the quill dance as she wrote what she was going to say. She then returned the pad to the composer.

“‘I do not know about that, I am merely an advisor. I am only there when Princess Celestia needs my input. I do not consider myself prestigious at all.’” He said while reading her thoughts out loud. “You give yourself too little credit Miss Clever. You are her advisor because she values your opinion, and I for one have never seen the Princess not take your opinion for granted.” Replied Beethoven.

A small frown formed on Clover’s muzzle, but not enough for anypony to notice. There is one; the Summer Sun Celebration.

“Would you like to stay and listen to us practice for the festival tomorrow?” Asked the unicorn composer.

Clover was going to say yes, but, as much as she wanted to stay and listen to Beethooven’s music, she realized that she still hadn't checked on the others. Clover took her notepad and quill, then began writing on it. She levitated the notepad to the unicorn composer when she was finished.

“‘As much as I would love to, I cannot. I still need to check on the others preparing for the celebration. Perhaps another time.’” He said as he read Clover’s notepad. He smiled and said, “Very well then. I will not keep you from your task any longer. Have a good day Miss Clover.”

Clover nodded and picked up her things quickly so that the ensemble could continue practicing. When the white mare was out of the ballroom, Beethooven cleared his throat, “Alright, you had plenty of time to rest. Let us continue practicing.”

Leaving the castle, Clover levitated the parchment to see who she needed to see next. Clover’s heart skipped a beat as she read the pony she had to check on—the next pony on the list was Stratus Cloud.

“Come on Clover,” she said to herself. “You just need to check on him to see that the weather will be cleared for tomorrow.”

However, she found it difficult to calm herself down. She felt her forelegs growing weak and being unable to support her own body. Clover also began to feel hot; she was beginning to regret wearing her robes. Her stomach was also full of butterflies as she thought of the pegasus. To say that Clover had a crush on Stratus Cloud was an understatement. She really liked Stratus Cloud, but she found it difficult to express her feelings to him because of her past experiences with stallions.

Many of the nobles in Canterlot have tried, and failed, at wooing Clover. She knew the nobles were just trying to use her to get to the Princess. Eventually, Clover began to believe that she would never find somepony to be with. That is until she met Stratus Cloud.

Stratus Cloud was different though. When she first meet him through a mutual friend, she thought he was just another Canterlot snob trying to get his way up the social ladder. But, as she got to know him, she realized that he was just a normal pony just like her. In one of their conversations, she asked why he was the only pegasus in the Canterlot weather team. He mentioned that after the incident with Nightmare Moon and her bat ponies, many of the pegasi were seen as monsters and many of the nobles wanted them out of Canterlot. Many of the pegasi did leave; the only pegasi left were the ones who were either too young or too old to leave the city. Stratus Cloud was too young and had no family to go to, so he lived in the Canterlot Orphanage at the time. Once he was old enough, he applied to the weather team at the city.

“You should have seened it Clover,” he told her the day he applied. “Nopony had any idea of what they were doing before I started working there. Canterlot was always behind schedule when it came to the weather. No offence to you unicorns, but pegasi are more in tune with the weather. After I got the job, things started to fall into place. Soon after, I became head of the Canterlot Weather Team.”

Stratus Cloud was a very laid back kind of pony, never stressing himself out with things he needed to deal with; things always seemed to work out for him. Clover envied that about him, and she also liked him for it as well.

As she made her way to the center of the city, Clover noticed a unicorn stallion moving around a small number of clouds.

Might as well ask him if he has seen Stratus. She thought as she made her way to him,. “Hello, my name is Clover the Clever, and I noticed that you were moving these clouds around. You wouldn’t happen to be a part of the weather team, would you?”

“Excellent. Do you happen to have Status Cloud in your team? I am here on royal duties checking on everypony preparing on the Summer Sun Celebration to see their progress.”

“Of course, Miss Clever. He should be up ahead at the park clearing up what clouds are left,” answered the weather pony.

Clover made her way to the park. Canterlot Park was located at the center of the city, so it was relatively small, but the size didn’t stop the locals from enjoying what the park had to offer.

Nearing the entrance, Clover saw that the park was full of life. Fillies and colts were running around the park playing a game of tag. Near the edges of the park flowers bloomed throughout, giving Canterlot Park its colors retaining freshness and luminosity.

At the far side of the park, Clover could see a group of unicorns taking out the remainder of the clouds with their magic.

“Alright everypony, we are almost done. Just a few more clouds and we can head out to lunch,” the pegasus team leader giving encouragement to his team.

Clover waited as the weather team worked. Using their magic to dissipate the clouds, the unicorns took out the clouds with ease. But even their magic had limitations. Their magic could not take hold of the clouds higher up in the sky. Though for Stratus Cloud, he had no limitations as he used his wings to reach the clouds to take care of the ones that were too high for the unicorns to reach with their magic.

As Stratus took care of the last cloud, he spotted Clover. Grinning, he began doing some aerial stunts as he flew his way over to her. He did every trick he knew, starting from a simple cartwheel to a daring nose dive. This is great, Stratus thought to himself. If I show her how great a flyer I am, she will think I am good enough to join that new aerial team, the Wonderbolts, and, once I join, I will be an important enough pony to have a chance at asking Clover out.

Because of his daydream, Stratus was oblivious to the fact that he was heading straight at the ground. Clover noticing that he was not paying attention and cried out, “Stratus, pay attention to what you are doing you goof ball!”

Snapping out of his little world, he yelped in fear as he noticed where he was headed. Acting as quickly as he could, Stratus forced his wings to flap as fast as they could to slow down his momentum, but he was going too fast in order for him to make a smooth landing. Well this is just great. Instead of me taking her out to someplace, she will be taking me to the hospital. Realizing that he will not get out of this without any injuries. Stratus Cloud shrieked in terror.

“Damn it, Stratus,” Clover said to herself as she watched in horror. “I came here to check on you to see the preparations for the festival, and here you are horseplaying around like there is no tomorrow,” Stratus Cloud was just a few inches from slamming face first into the ground. “You owe me for saving your sorry ass,” Her horn started to glowing as her light green magic enveloped Stratus.

Clover’s magic moved Stratus’ face away from the ground and placing his stomach for the impact. Reaching the ground, Stratus landed by sliding as he slowed down; tearing apart the grass and finally stopping when he hit the garden full of purple coneflowers.

“What the hay where you thinking Stratus?” Clover scolded him as she made her way to him.

Stratus sighed in disappointment, looking away from Clover, “Sorry Clover. I just wanted to impress you with my moves because I really like you, but I should have realized that I never had a chance to be with with you.”

“You like me?” Clover repeated gazing at the deflated pegasus. Stratus replied wordlessly with a nod. A small smile formed on Clover’s face as she realized that the stallion she cared for also felt the same way.

She knelt down next to Stratus, tapping him on the shoulder turning his attention to the mare, “To be honest Stratus, I loth the nobles, or the ‘important ponies’ as you call them. Every day I have to deal with them trying to wrap me around their hoofs, trying to serenade me, and telling me how I am the second most beautiful mare in Equestria. But I know their true intentions. I had to keep my guard up because I am the advisor to the Princess of Equestria. But when I am with you, I know that I can be myself since you treat me like any other pony. And that is why I also feel the same way about you.” Clover put her hoof on top of his as she looked at him with sincerity in her eyes.

Stratus Cloud was dumbstruck. He could not believe that the mare he had taken a liking to shared his feelings. It was not long before a wide grin was plastered into his face. “So does this mean…”

“Yes, I would love to be your marefriend,” she said before he could finish his question.

“YYYAAAHHHOOOO!” Stratus Cloud jumped off the ground, hollering out loud and flapping his wings out of joy. It didn’t last long though; Stratus winced when he felt a sharp piercing on his wings.

Clover rolled her eyes playfully at her new stallionfriend as he completely forgot his injuries, “And now you have somepony to make sure that you will not hurt yourself too much so that you will not end up in the hospital.” Stratus gave her an apologetic smile.

“So I believe you are done with the weather duties for the celebration?” Clover asked as she got back to why she was there for.

“Yes, Canterlot park was our final spot for clearing up the skies. My team and I will continue to go around Canterlot for the rest of the day to make sure and clear out any clouds that come by.”

“So, are you going to be busy tonight? I was thinking that we can go out and eat out at a restaurant before the festival starts.”

“I am sorry Stratus,” nuzzling him as she spoke, “but there is too much preparing to do for the Summer Sun Celebration. I promise after the festival is done, you can take me out for dinner.”

Stratus’ body went stiff when he heard the cry of a very unhappy gardener. Fearing for his life, he slowly started walking away, avoiding the gardener by going the opposite direction.

The gardener noticed Stratus’ rigid walk. “Dang nabit! You come back here you weather pony and fix mah garden!”

The pegasus bolted out of the park with the gardener trailing right behind him. Clover giggled at her stallionfriend’s reaction when he was caught.

Clover was now heading toward the fashion store, Glamorous Trends, as she went to check on how the unicorn mare was farring with her decorations for the Summer Sun Celebration.

As she made her way through the city streets, she spotted the store. The building was unique to the rest of the buildings; while the buildings of Canterlot had a soft vanilla-like color to them, Glamorous Trends was vibrant orange around the top of the building, making the store being easy to find. The bottom half of the store was made up of granite rocks, the shingles on top of the building were made from clay, giving off a bright red color, and dark brown oak base gave the store an exotic tropical look.

Then again so was the owner. Grace was not from Equestria; she was born in Coltombia, a country located far below Equestria. She moved to Canterlot three years ago, wanting to bring her country's style of fashion to Equestria.

Clover arrived at the store and saw that the front door had a closed sign hanging on the door. “Hmm...Grace must not be here,” she whispered to herself, ”but I should knock, just in case.” Clover knocked on the door and waited.

A couple seconds later she heard somepony’s voice, “I am terribly sorry but the store is closed today due to the fact that I am helping with the festival.”

“Grace it is me, Clover. I came to check on how you are doing with the decorations for the festival.”

A moment later the store’s owner opened the door. The bright yellow unicorn had a vibrant red mane with her eyes as dark as the night blue sky. Her cutie mark was several different gems being sewn together with a thread going through each gem.

“Clover, cariño, how are you? Please come in.” Grace said as she greeted her friend at the door.

The interior of the store was just as exotic as the outside. The store had a oak floor throughout, different types of flora filled the room giving it color. There were various clothing, from shirts to sandals, with full length mirrors nearby on the left side of the store, while the right side had a small jewelry shop, containing many diamond rings and necklaces. It seemed like Grace was taking full advantage of the season with what she was selling. Grace was taking Clover to the back of the store, where her kitchen was.

“I am fine, thank you very much. I am just here to check on your progress with the decorations, so I will not take much of your time.”

“I have just finished the last of the banners just before you came, but I must say, it looks like you did not prepare yourself.” Looking at Clover’s messy bedhead style.

“Oh, that,” Clover said as she saw herself in one of the mirrors. “I did not have a lot of time to get ready when I woke up.”

“Cariño, you have to look presentable. You are the adviser to the Princess and you should look the part.”

“I am sorry Clover. I know you do not like being compared to the nobility of Canterlot and I understand your reasons, but Manuscript is right. You need to put your stubbornness to the side. At least look nice when the princess calls you in for an opinion.”

“Certainly, it will be my pleasure,” using her magic, Grace opened one of the drawers, taking out a hairbrush with her magic. Clover raised an eyebrow at Grace’s action. “What? You never know when a beauty problem arises.” Clover shook her head as Grace began combing her mane.

“Besides, how will you get any stallion to notice you if your are not at your best.”

“Oh, the stallions notice me, but it is not because they are interested in me. They just want to use me to get to Princess Celestia,” she gave Grace an irritated look, “But it no longer matters; I found a special somepony, so that should keep the nobles off my back.”

“Really, who is it?” wondered Grace, finishing Clover’s mane and starting with her tail.

“If you call doing stupid stunts that would have killed him romantic, than yes he did.” Grace groaned when Clover told her what happened. “But, he was being honest with me when he told me that he liked me and that is what I want, somepony who can be honest with me. So, we will have our first date after the Summer Sun Celebration is over.”

“Well, I hope that your first date with Stratus goes well,” Grace said as she stopped working on her friend’s tail, giving her mane and tail a less frazzled look.

“Well anyways, do you think I can see the banners before I leave?” Clover asked, trying to change the subject.

“Of course, cariño. Let me go get them,” she headed out of the kitchen and went upstairs, returning a few minutes later with two large banners, shining dark red polyester fabric with Princess Celestia’s cutie mark embroidered with a golden silk.

“Wow! Grace, they are beautiful,” Clover told her friend, clearly amazed at her work.

“Of course they are. I used my best fabric for the banners. After all, it is an honor to make these for the Princess.”

“Well then, I will take my leave,” just as Clover ended her sentence, a low rumble coming from her stomach, her cheeks becoming rosy from embarrassment. “Sorry, I did not eat anything for breakfast this morning so I am famished.”

“It is a good thing that the next pony I am checking on next is Smart Cookie.”

Nightmare in Equestria

by Paragon Knight

Chapter II