//------------------------------// // Epilogue: Ghosts // Story: The Education of Clover the Clever // by Daedalus Aegle //------------------------------// It was a week after the exam, and Canterlot House was quiet. Clover the Clever had been reading the same page of her textbook – Coffeemancy for Advanced Learners by Bearded, the, et al – for fifteen minutes, but had not absorbed a word of it. Her mind was occupied with other things, as it had been a lot lately. “Professor?” Clover said, looking at her teacher. The stallion was sitting quietly on the library platform in the center of the house, reading a book. “Hmm?” “I’ve been thinking a bit more about the infant multiverse. And I have some questions.” “Oh yes? Do tell.” – – – The three Discordians sat alone in the barn on the edge of Cambridle. It was just the three of them now. All their allies and followers had returned to their homes, and they sat in awkward silence, each waiting for one of the others to speak. “Maybe… We can think of something else to try,” Gallopsky said quietly. “Well,” Cutting Edge muttered, “I think… it can be worth keeping the parts that worked. But yeah.” Gallopsky ran a hoof through his wild mane, and scratched behind his ears. “Yeah… Maybe.” They fell silent again. “Well… Maybe we could—” Silk Road began, then broke off. The other two looked at her, and she winced. “No, nevermind. You’ll hate it.” She drooped her head. “I want to help. But I know I don’t fit in here, and I know you two don’t… like me much. I’m not an idiot. I get it.” “We like you,” Cutting Edge said. Silk Road scoffed, but Cutting Edge nodded. “We do! We just…” She saw Gallopsky’s eyes narrow. “I’m just no good at showing it. But I wouldn’t keep letting you hang out here otherwise.” Gallopsky rolled a hoof, a gesture that said ‘keep going’. Cutting Edge glared at him. “Look, you’re… Well, yeah, you’re kinda stuffy. You’re all about the boring stuff. That doesn’t mean you don’t fit in. It just makes it funnier that you’re here. And… we need someone to do that stuff, I guess. You know?” “It wouldn’t be Discord if everything fit perfectly together,” Gallopsky said. “I don’t really say it enough. But I’m glad you’re here. Both of you.” Silk Road blushed, and Cutting Edge blushed and turned away, glaring. Gallopsky squeed and rubbed his hooves together. Both mares glared at him, then softened their glances. “You know, I’ve wondered,” Gallopsky began, “just what does your dad think we do in here all night, anyway?” Cutting Edge shrugged. “Make art? Honestly, I think he’s just happy I have some friends.” “I’m happy to have you as a friend too,” Silk Road said quietly, and she smiled. “It’s not the end of the world.” “You know…” Gallopsky said. “I was walking home from town earlier, and they were putting up posters for a thing…” – – – “The Hoof said that it had torn you to bits," Clover said to her teacher. "And at first I thought that you only woke up when I defeated the Hoof and found Chocolate Bunnies… like you told me to do. But then I realized something. Because while I was in there I met Swirly Star the Wise.” – – – “So many books,” Chocolate Bunnies muttered, looking up at the mountainous pile. “It looks worse than it is,” Clover the Clever said. “Don’t worry! We have almost all summer. Plus I’ve prepared a reading list for when I’m away. I’ll be quizzing you once I’m back, so don’t fall behind.” “I’ll bring a book when I’m in line at the circus,” Chocolate Bunnies said, and sighed. “Really, I’m just happy they agreed to let everypony retake the exams before the second year starts. Even me.” “Star Swirl rule,” Clover said. “The university is pretty forgiving about students who succumb to demonic possession.” She gave her friend an encouraging nudge. “Not to worry, Bunnies. Thanks to the Professor, I know this material inside and out. I’m going to tutor you to within an inch of your life.” Bunnies chuckled. “Thanks, Clover,” she said. “And thanks for letting me use your room. Mine is still full of unused weapons.” “We probably need to decide what to do about the trebuchet, too,” Clover said. Bunnies nodded, and the two of them looked out the window to where the elaborate sculpture of the Lord of Chaos still stood in the street, smirking at passersby. “You think the animal shelter ponies would like it?” Bunnies suggested. – – – “It took me a while before I spotted that clue,” Clover admitted. “I thought the sprite that was following me around was really you, and that Swirly Star was herself… But I know that much as you want to deny it, Swirly Star really is almost exactly the same as you. 98.2% parallel, wasn’t it?” Star Swirl very carefully showed no expression. Clover continued. “Which means it’s almost completely certain that while I was talking to her, you were talking to my stallion double, and he was running around with Swirly Star the Sprite as he tried to deal with the same problem I was dealing with on the other side of the multiverse. And that makes perfect sense, in some strange way, because his world and mine are linked through the salt, which was the foundation for the whole infant multiverse.” Star Swirl said nothing. Clover looked him in the eyes. “You weren’t gone at all, were you, Professor? You switched places to hide your tracks, but you were both keeping close watch on us the entire time.” – – – Professor Quick Quill stretched out lazily on his towel, enjoying the summer sun on the beach, plans for the evening already sorted. He smiled. He had wanted this for a year, and now he finally had it. Even if the way it had happened was… unusual. “What? Oh. Fine.” That was what Dean Cinch had said when he had asked for some time off. She had been slumped over her desk in her office all day, ignoring her usual work of plotting her perpetuity and countermanaging her subordinates doing the same. What’s more, when they came to her asking for her instructions she told them that whatever they wanted was probably fine. They didn’t know how to deal with that. All the plots and counterplots were paralyzed, rendered ineffective by the absence of a force to push against, leaving the faculty quiet and aimless with their lesson plans. – – – “It’s true that I was not completely insensible, as the Hoof believed,” Star Swirl the Bearded said. “And it’s true that I had some safeguards in place, in the event that something somehow managed to attack my mind directly, as it did. And yes, part of me was paying attention to you as you progressed.” “Ponies’ lives were in danger, and you left it to me to figure out how to deal with it. That was very reckless of you, Star Swirl.” – – – “There,” Dusty said as he loaded the hay bale onto the cart. “That’s the last of them.” He wiped his brow with a hoof, and sat down to catch his breath. “Thanks for the kindness, stranger,” said the mare, and fastened the tail board. “It would have taken me another hour to load all that by myself.” The cart was certainly loaded, and Dusty could not imagine how the mare, no bigger than he, could possibly hope to pull its weight all by herself. Nonetheless she did, as he walked beside her, chatting, on her way to the next town. “So what brings you out on the road?” she asked, glancing up and down the unicorn. “You don’t look like somepony who spends a lot of time outdoors, no offense.” “None taken,” Dusty said. “No, I’m not. But I needed a change of pace.” “Well, if you don’t have any plans for the night, my cousin got me some tickets for a show that’s passing through town, and I got one extra. Let me repay the favor.” “Huh,” Dusty smiled softly. “That could be fun.” – – – “I will admit that the Hoof proved somewhat more resourceful than I had expected,” Star Swirl said. “But it was only a minor chaos spirit. It was never going to present a real threat. Look, it couldn’t even manage to take over the school, and that was after almost a year of planning.” “It almost became the god of its own multiverse, professor!” “Yes, it did,” Star Swirl conceded. He looked off towards the balcony, to the night sky. “But there was something else too, something whispering to me…” He looked back to his student, and shook his head. “It was not my task to complete. I watched you, and you stopped it. You can be angry at me all you want, but I can recognize a touch of destiny when I see it.” – – – It had been a warm and beautiful day when Clover stepped out of Canterlot House 1 with a list of chores to do in town. She did not notice anypony trailing her, but she realized later that of course she wouldn’t have. All she knew was that she turned a corner, and there right in front of her on a road marker there lay a bundle of fabric, simple and brown, and she knew immediately what it was. She picked it up gently in her magic, then turned all around her. The street was full of ponies going about their daily business, and her eyes moved rapidly from one to the next. A nondescript stallion met her eyes for just a moment. His head dipped, ever so slightly, and then he was gone. – – – “You know, as I moved through the infant multiverse, I began to realize there was a message in it,” Clover said. “A message for me. And for you. It’s about how ponies are connected.” Clover took a moment to put her thoughts into words, and her teacher waited for her to continue. “I knew all those ponies, except for three. They knew each other, and they knew Bunnies, and I knew her. I was the connection, and I had to rebuild it, and bring them all back together… But the one pony that was never connected to anything in there was you, Star Swirl.” Star Swirl said nothing. “You’re right, professor. There was a touch of destiny in there. And there still is. It’s not finished yet. There’s one more thing I have to do.” Clover stood in front of her teacher, her head held high. “Professor? I want you to give me a boon.” “A boon?” Star Swirl raised an eyebrow at that. He stood before his apprentice and looked at her thoughtfully, curiously. “Very well. I will grant it. What do you want?” – – – One by one the ponies filed into the big tent, having gotten their popped corn and their cloud candy and their fruit juice from the stalls outside. They were ponies of every tribe, from every walk of life, come for a night of relaxation and entertainment, and they found their seats on the cheap wooden benches in the tent that had been raised overnight, and they watched as the ringleader took the stage and the show began. There were clowns, jugglers, trick archers, and a carefully staged buffalo stampede. There were lion tamers, dancing bears, and unicorn magic shows. There were synchronized pegasus formation fliers zooming around under the canopy at great speeds, leaving behind multi-colored contrails that left the audience dizzy and delighted, the air filled with ooohs and aaahs of amazement and appreciation. “And now,” the ringleader announced, “for our final act of the show! Far from the distant lands of the Griffon Empire, feast your eyes upon the death-defying stunts of the world’s greatest acrobat, the amazing Pin!” On his cue, the griffon fell backwards from the top of the tent’s center pole, plummeting towards the hard ground, the rope tied around his barrel keeping his wings closed tight. At the last moment he grabbed a rope and was flung across the ring, spinning mid-air before finally landing on his paws on a narrow platform. He turned and bowed as the applause washed over him, and proceeded to do a dozen tricks, each more daring than the last, where one false move could have killed him. All the while the audience watched in rapt attention, gasping at each new peril, and cheering at each safe landing. At the end of his routine, the magical fireworks went off and he grinned, sweating, with the satisfaction of a job well done. – – – “This was a very bad idea,” Star Swirl the Bearded said. “Don’t say that,” Clover the Clever said with a smile. “You haven’t even spoken to them yet.” Star Swirl grumbled. “How did you even find them?” “I talked to Ginny,” Clover said. “She went to the Royal Archives in Whinnysor. They found your old personal file from back when you worked for the Unicorn King.” “Those archives are classified, Clover. Those are state secrets.” “The Mystical Order of Librarians has ways of finding information,” Clover said. “Ginny found your parents’ names in there. From there it was easy.” It was midsummer, and the roads had been lush and lovely, thick with flowers under the sun. They had traveled north for a long time, and now they had come to their destination. They halted at the border of the city, and looked at it. “I never thought I’d ever go back to this place,” Star Swirl said under his breath. “You can’t save the world unless you’re part of it, Professor,” Clover the Clever said. “This will be good for you.” They stood there in silence for a minute before Clover tugged at the hem of his robe. “Come on, Professor. Let’s go.” He nodded. They stepped forward across the marker and entered the city of Edinspur. Neither of them spoke as they trotted down the street. It was evening, but the midsummer sun was still high in the sky, and all around them ponies were working to prepare for the festival. They drew a few odd looks, two unicorns in wizard robes in an earth pony city, but Clover nodded, smiling warmly, at everypony. They found the correct address, and without a word, Clover knocked. A teenage colt opened. “Hi,” Clover said. “Is this the house of Willow and Windy Wheat?” The colt turned. “Pa! Somepony to see you!” He glanced back at Clover, and said, in a stage whisper. “Somepony pointy!” “I’m coming,” a gruff voice said, and a middle-aged stallion trotted into view. Clover recognized him immediately, though she had never seen him before. He stopped at the sight of them, and blinked. His mouth opened, as if to speak, but he didn’t say a word. She looked to her teacher. He stood stiffly, awkwardly, and looked at the stallion, but said nothing. “Are you… Star Swirl the Bearded?” the stallion asked. Star Swirl made no reply. “He is,” Clover said. “You must be Willow Wheat?” The stallion nodded. Star Swirl looked intently at the stallion. “My word,” the wizard said under his breath. “Do you know, you are the spitting image of your great-grandfather?” “My grandmother used to tell us stories about you,” the stallion said quietly. “When I grew up I stopped believing them. But she always insisted.” “They were all true,” Star Swirl said. Willow Wheat turned to Clover. “And this is…?” “I’m Clover the Clever,” Clover said. “I’m his apprentice, not a relative. Very pleased to meet you.” Willow Wheat nodded. “Please, come inside. Children!” He called out through the door. “Come down, all of you. There is somepony special for you to meet.” He led them into a cozy living room where a large family had gathered for the summer sun celebration, elders and adults and teens and foals alike. The whole flock looked at them curiously as they came in. Star Swirl halted in the doorway. “We are intruding,” he muttered. “We shouldn’t have come.” Clover nudged him forward. “Go on, Professor.” He stepped inside, and they closed the door behind them. The End.