A nice wrap up. I enjoyed this a lot and look forward to the inevitable sequel. At the risk of beatings dead horse, I did roll my eyes a little when Clover bemoaned being saddled with a title they didn't want. There is going to be conversation at some point.

Forgive me if I'm just forgetting but is it ever mentioned what Clover did to ascend? Or has he always been an Alicorn? I remember him finding the newly ascended Celestia and Luna when they first raised the Sun and Moon but I don't think we've heard of what his life was prior to being the Mage.

11352480
that'll be covered in the next one, he didn't start as an alicorn

You never truly forget your first.

Oh. Oh wow.

There was a character I was anxious to meet but it never happened. The Everfree Shade guy. The mysterious ancient entity that roams around does his own important thing and there is little you can do about it but to wait for the fallout.
But then he kinda morphed into Clover.

He does not really feel like an immortal does he? Clover's just your regular middle aged mlp poner that explodes in a pile of confetti if embarrassed enough.

Guess it is a bit boring to write or read about some ancient elf, an old-man-in-a-teenagers-body.
Well they do it all the time on this website... admittedly with varying success, but there are a lot of Sunbutt fics. Seemingly all they do is roll her back to 'She lives in a moment, so that makes her young'. There are a lot of different mechanics to an immortal character tho.

How does a sapient 'humanlike' being cope with immortality? You don't have to be a Corpse on a Throne in the forest somewhere, waiting for your boat ride to Valinor. Do you dump your memory into distant experience every couple of centuries? Do you reinvent your whole personality and environment around you once every couple decades, 'The Man from Earth' style? Do you simply fake it, until you start believing your own lie?
He still can be wrapped around compassion or loyalty or whatever else all day long, as long as he remains at least somewhat disconnected from the world, like MacLeod.

Whichever is the closest I can hardly believe censerity of Clover being able to blush. At all. He had sex once? With the bug Queen? Once in a thousand years? Five thousand? Ten?
And what for? To be more relatable emotionally? Generally speaking Alicorns aren't ponies. If ponies are childish humans, than Alicorns are 'Non-human'. So wouldn't his uniqueness be more important than for him to be relatable? Perhaps, present time MC could use a third iteration, or a hint that there is more 'under the hood'?
Probably overthinking it quite a bit, but immortality is one of my favorite tropes in fiction.

Also, I really hope he does what Sunbutt says, not only so he could be embarrassed of his title a couple times? Because there is a lot of interaction potential between the three alicorns. After all he is the only being in existence that is able to tell Sunbutt to go to her room.
Not to just argue, because that is their relationships. But to actually say: No. I. Know. Better.
Now that is what you do not see every day in a horse fic. But that particular ship might have already sailed.

Anyway, really enjoyed your work and hope we get the third one sooner rather than later.

11355066
As far as one character morphing into another. Clover and Spectrum almost ended up being the same character during the first version of the first story (I took that version down, so it's no longer available). I'm glad I made the decision to deviate away from that.

As far as why he slept with bug queen, he felt guilty for hurting her during his emotional outburst. We've seen several iterations throughout the franchise for how an alicorn's emotional states can be taken to the extreme and how it can manifest with their magic. We saw this with Nightmare Moon, and I showcased it with tales of Daybreaker and Midnight Sparkle during the first story.

In regards to Clover having a little more going on under the hood. You'll just have to wait for the third story. There's more than just a little to unpack there.

wow this is a amazing story.
i am completely impressed and am really hopping for a sequel?

11431123
The sequel is coming.
It's just taking me a bit to get in the right headspace.

11431259
take your time and never force your muse.

I am with you so far... keep em coming.

11440575
Glad you enjoyed it.
The encouragement helps.