There was a knock on the door, awaking Clover from her sleep. A little rude, she thought as she barely managed to move her legs to get to the floor, let alone the door. She had never walked for a thousand years, she needs to get used to her new body. Once she got a grip on at least limping to the door, she opened it, somehow expecting there to be somepony there, but there was nothing. The hall was empty.
It stung a bit, her body ached to stand, let alone walk; strains urged her to collapse on the floor, but she refused to let a little pain stop her from enjoying life again. Continuing, she was amazed by the beauty and elegance of this strange place, a castle that belongs to a friend of Sunset’s.
As she came downstairs, she could see that Twilight’s friends were already waiting around, as if expecting her arrival, like the red carpet has been unfurled at her feet. Everyone’s eyes were on her, even Twilight’s. There was something new, something confident and flush, resonating from Clover. It was like she was a whole nother pony entirely. Not the small, reserved, depressed Sunset, but something else. Something cynical in her smile. Something flagrant in her pose; typical brat.
“G’morning ma’am,” Applejack greeted, “Twilight didn’t say she had a sleepover. Why weren’t we invited?”
“Sorry, girls, I guess it slipped my mind,” Twilight rubbed her hair in an embarrassed fashion. “This is Clover, she’ll be staying with me for a while until I can help her with some issues.”
“Oh, Twilight, you jest about ‘issues’, problems have I not, for thou hast given me credence, casting me away from poor Rainbow Dash, who found it trivial that I befriend rivals before friends.”
“Hey! I’m right here,” Rainbow huffed, crossing her hooves as she hovered over her. “I don’t know what you said, but it sounded like an insult.”
“Not you, equine, I refer only to the Rainbow Dash who finds home in the portal Twilight has secured upstairs, rather the impregnable safety of the Frozen North.”
“Portal?” She questioned.
“What portal? Twilight, what is she talking about?” Rarity had no clue.
“Hark to me an me alone, and I will tell thee the honest tale. My knowledge exceeds dear Twilight’s, for the creator is none other. Mirror by day, but a twisted portal by the night of 30 moons, thrice in succession, where the reality of this world is reflected and to each within one side of the mirror be seen again on the other; human to a degree.”
“Why make something like that?” Fluttershy chimed in. Clover responded in apathy. She didn’t love her like Sunset did, it appeared to Clover.
“Why, indeed...” Clover smirked, laughing to herself with no remorse. “Ah! How I relish what I had once been; humorous almost. In memory, dear Twilight regards me as Sunset Shimmer, who hath been repugnant, holding in her hands a fool’s tongue and an infant’s smile; her melancholy disposition yields her pretension to others. Nay, I am Clover; my absolute resolve for existence and abhorrence for the safety of the kingdom hath given me life today.”
Twilight looked at her in confusion. This was not Sunset, or at least not the Sunset she remembers. Her posture was straight, her eyes were bright with a stare that pierces through lies like popping a balloon. Even her mane swayed a different way than Sunset’s diminished colors that frayed near her face. She also spoke with a strong, ancient voice that had been dead a thousand years.
“Sunset…” Twilight managed to say in a soft whisper. “You’ve changed.”
“You mark my words not! I am Clover. Must I repeat myself? Is your honor beneath you?” Clover stamped her hoof into the ground with a seismic thud. “To say it once more, call me Clover.”
Terror dispersed through the room, it was a different aura; not peaceful.
“Now, now, Darling, calm down,” Rarity tried to say calmly. “It’s a slip of the tongue, no need to get all bent out of shape.”
“Rar’s right,” Applejack added, “Jus’ think of it as a nickname. We all have ‘em.”
“Sunset, as you call her, had been long a painful thorn whose pointed spike wedges itself no less three inches!” Clover declared, trying to calm herself from the frustration. “Sunset is beneath me, her dissolved passion hath made her weak. Her only duty was to equivocate me to her level.”
Twilight reached over to Fluttershy and whispered to her, she needed to get someone over here, she needed Discord ASAP. Clover was too busy not caring to see Fluttershy escape out of the side door, behind the others.
It was different, where Discord resides, far from society, as well as all of his friends. He prefers the niceties of isolation, as does Fluttershy, but the occasional visit always brings a happy evening. Discord was just finishing his nap when Fluttershy dropped in. She was shaking herself off and straightening her mane from the wind.
“Ah, Fluttershy. I thought you were with Twilight the whole day. Did something go wrong?” Discord said with half concern and half intrigue for a good show. Fluttershy was too breathless to speak, so she forced her head up and down.
“Come, then! Sit by me and tell me all about it. I love to hear about your tensions.”
“Discord, that’s your name, right? Well, Twilight brought home Sunset. She’s the mare who came from the mirror, who she helped Twilight.”
“And also tried to ruin her, if I recall?”
“Yes, her. Well, she isn’t herself, she’s talking weird and she calls herself something else, too.”
Discord was amazed and perplexed, mixed with various disorienting emotions. All of which stem from a desired interest to hear Fluttershy speak, as well as the topic she speaks of. “Who is she calling herself? It’s a little rude to play copycat, don’t you think?”
“I think she said her name was Clover.”
Silence. Discord just stopped and wondered for a brief moment a name he has never forgotten, but still regrets to remember. The past floods to him as if he had forgotten Fluttershy was there.
“Clover? Hah! I don’t believe it for one second. She’s dead! You know she’s dead. Clover was alive when I was ruling Equestria. How could she still be alive?”
“I didn’t ask. Twilight just asked me to get you. You know more about her than we do. I just want Susnet back.”
“That is true. Clover was dear and true. And here I must give credit where credit is due. Let us pay her a visit. I want to see her for myself.” With a click of his claw, he and Fluttershy disappeared in a blink of light.
By the moment they returned in front of Twilight and her friends, Clover was already making herself comfortable, lying herself by Twilight as they conversed.
“Oh, here be my pride remembered! Discord, my favorite, whose desires run wild with valiant misdeed.” Clover exclaimed, elated to see her old friend.
“Ahahah! Who might you be? Any friend of Fluttershy’s or Twilight’s is mine too.” Discord held out his claw to Clover, grinning with his deviant smile. Clover takes it, to which Discord reels her before him; his stature appeared much larger, more threatening, close-up. “So, I’m told you call yourself ‘Clover’, is that right?”
Clover froze, reluctantly remembering how intimidating Discord is when he wants to be. “You mock me? Do you not see the remnants in mine eyes, how my posture, in all its glory, dost not quickly match the shell that entraps me? Mark it, I am Clover, the Clever.”
“I don’t believe you.” Discord says adamantly, dropping Clover on the ground. “Prove it.”
“Need I have to lower myself to label you truly?”
“Say what? What is it that you could possibly know that only the real Clover would know? She wrote everything in her books. Nothing surprises me. You cannot be her, and that is that.”
“How could I have ever parted with you in my rueing, my only son. Come hither, and give your mother a long desired embrace.”
“Say what?” Everypony responded in shock.
“Ay, tis true. The hooves I was birthed with, in turn birthed him; by the very essence of power used to seal him away all those many a year ago. Only fitting the creator be given the title, as a mother to her own, natural, creation.” Clover glared at Discord, searching him for any changes. He seems softer, quieter… kinder.
“That’s not in any of the history books.” Twilight stated curiously.
“I’m still not convinced,” Discord said adamantly. “I’m perfectly aware of those hooligan brat sirens who were thrown into that portal with you, Sunset, and they could have easily told you anything.” His eyes met hers again. Discord looked at her sternly. “You’re gonna have to try harder than that if you want me to truly believe you are some incarnation of Clover, returning to seek some sort of closure for what you did wrong. I still haven’t heard ‘I’m sorry’ from you.”
It almost pained her to hear those words. It didn’t matter what she said, it was clear to her. Discord was too thick headed to realize it was her. Pitiful. It would seem all she wanted from her travel had been worth nothing. Her own son didn’t remember her, what hope is there that anyone else will. Further, who will actually care?
“This single moment, I believed I could have been forgiven; for my actions against my friends: the sirens, to you, my beautiful son. If you cannot, however, bear your eyes upon mine with utter credence, credence without an iota of doubt for which you were given by me, then when I leave for my final departure, who will be there o’er the stone of remembrance for me? Perhaps they may stay for a while, but in thought it must be eternal, else what reason was there to die, or to be born at all?” Clover lamented, fleeting tears sliding down her stone formed face. “For what purpose I have come, I have forgotten. There is reason not to overstay my welcome. Fare thee well, Twilight. Alas, my sins remembered, Diamond Dust.” Clover swiftly turn-tailed and galloped away upstairs.
Twilight and Discord were both halted in a pause, paralyzed by a wave of guilt. How the presence of the wind changes when its true colors are revealed. When courage finally reached them, they proceeded slowly up the stairs, deciding she had already vanished through the mirror.
“No! No! No!” Clover cried from across the hall. “Impossible! This is beyond all scope of reason!”
Not just Twilight, but Discord and all of her friends were alarmed by the sound and bulleted to where she was. The first thought was amazement that she was still here, but then they took a look around. Not only was it like a twister had obliterated everything in its path, book pages and glass scattered the floor and walls. Large holes were punched out of the roof. And where Clover lied in tears, the true chaos was wreaked.
“The mirror, my mirror, It’s broken; shattered like my heart into a scattered pile of destruction and vile hatred, begone! I have no need for anger when grief is enough to weep.”
“No way.” Twilight quivered under her breath.
“How could something like this happen? We were all downstairs. Ain’t nopony got the chance to come up here.” Applejack questioned softly.
“Cease!” Clover whispered, moving her eyes ever so slightly up to see the quiet young mare in guilt and terror, her yellow coat darkening from sweat and her eyes shut, hoping she isn’t watching. “Fluttershy, the winds of memory whisper your name. Stand and present yourself, what is your purpose?” she asked.
Fluttershy opened her eyes to see the group all staring her down. She was, in one word, terrified.
“Do my eyes deceive me, or have you a glimmer of guilt in your eyes, Fluttershy? Tell me what you’re hiding. I am in no mood to be lied to. Grief hath o’ertaken me. If you are, indeed, the emissary from the other side, explain yourself!” Clover narrowed her eyes, locking her view on Fluttershy alone.
“I… I didn’t mean to. I mean… I didn’t know they were going to follow me.”
“What do you mean, ‘emissary from the other side’?
Clover saw it in her weak, young, petrified eyes. They looked so familiar, and even she knew there was a difference between the ponies and them. “You’re the Human Fluttershy!”
“Yes, but please listen to me. I didn’t break the mirror. I swear!”
“Liar! You cannot deceive me. I hath seen you wander to your chambers in the night, I watched you peering for certainty that not a soul had discovered you were not the equine. You hid in the shadows, for only darkness can mask the horror you’ve unleashed. Lust hath brought you here, your insatiable desire to have your dear Sunset in your arms. My mirror is in pieces, irreparable beyond anything you could have conceived! But now, now we are alone trapped in this alternate world, of which you do not belong.”
“No! That’s not it!” Fluttershy stammered. “I did it to warn you. I couldn’t bear to stand aside and let them kill you. They want you dead for what you did to them. I swear it’s the truth.”
“Who are they? Has something else been hidden in your lips you keep so tightly shut as to not be open at the most appropriate of times?”
“They crossed over and broke the mirror. They said they will never be your prisoners again. Please, don’t hurt me!”
“Who are they?” Clover repeated again. “Speak!”
“The Sirens.”
Clover was livid, but a question still lingered in her mind. “And by this account, you should’ve told me sooner. Where be your manners? You make me a beggar’s daughter to be told too little, too late that we are going to starve. Speak! Why hast thou been so silent?”
“I wanted to tell you in private. I can’t just walk in and start saying things. I’m still Fluttershy.”
“Hey wait…” Rainbow started, “Where’s our Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy hid her face completely in her mane. Her expression was enough to tell what happened. For Clover, for Sunset, it had just gotten personal on many different levels.
“As I say once, it must be said times twice more.” Clover said straight to Fluttershy. “You’re lying! Speak!”
Fluttershy glanced up at her stern, exotic expression. With a breath, she said it with a bite in her voice, crisp and true; a desire to see what had vanished long ago. “I wanted to tell Sunset. Not you.”
“But… this is Sunset, Deary.” Rarity responded. “Isn’t it?”
“No,” Fluttershy continued. “Sunset didn’t want to come here. She wanted Twilight to help her. She wanted me to be by her side. She wanted…”
“Cease your incessant groans!” Clover snarled. “How irritating it is to hark your abated resolve to revive poor Sunset; it is like a ringing that groans in mine ears. It hurts not the slightest, but drives me to the point of madness.”
“Sunset’s still inside you. I know she is.” Fluttershy said passionately.
“Hark! This is futile to discuss blame, I am weak. Stronger issues require our attention, now which of us deserves to bow our heads o’er the basket, if the other shall walk away with clean hands?”
“Good question.” Fluttershy snapped.
“Alright, hang on.” Twilight said, holding her hooves out to keep her and Clover from going at it. “Clover’s right. We should work together. Those Sirens could be anywhere and doing anything. Can’t you two put your quarrels aside?”
“I don’t like you,” Fluttershy whispered to Clover. “I’m doing this because I trust Twilight. I know what The Sirens are capable of, and I also know it’s because of you that they even exist. They would be at peace if you hadn’t cursed them and so would I if you hadn’t taken Sunset from me! Give her back!”
“Insolent child!” Clover shouted as she struck Fluttershy with her hind hooves into the wall. Fluttershy collapsed to the ground, motionless; pain paralyzed her beyond the ability to think. All reason was voided from her mind.
“Sunset…”
“Fluttershy!” Twilight cried as she sped towards her, assisting her to her hooves and sustaining her on her shoulder.
“Selfish pursuer of vanity, whence will you realize that the mare once called Sunset has been erased. Every memory, every fragment of her being hath my new self absorbed. What need do you have for anger if you’re not well enough to use it?”
Fluttershy, with what little energy remained in her, suffering the torment of hearing a voice she once felt so warm to hear now insult her and break her heart into crumbs to be scraped off a plate, kicked with all her might at Clover’s head. She fell and destroyed what remained of the mirror, the solid frame for which there had remained a small chance of repairing it.
“I don’t like being talked to that way. Don’t you ever insult me or Sunset again or I will be the last thing, by Celestia’s grace it will be so, that you will ever behold with your eyes, even if I must relinquish them myself! I’m not the pony Fluttershy. I had to grow up with bullies and meanies bossing me around. Animals were all I ever had, and they taught me how to fight back. Do not cross me, Clover, or it will be a very sudden denouement.”