//------------------------------// // 158. The Clover of War // Story: Rebirth of the Damned // by Borsuq //------------------------------// “She’s fast!” Arthas realized as he jumped away immediately after Clover the Clever appeared between them all, an instant before he sensed that she was readying a spell. “She cast that teleportation spell so quickly that I hadn’t even noticed her horn glowing; she’s as good with it as Luna and Celestia’s father was…” he noted, thinking back to how Luna had showed him briefly how Prince Yellow Flash fought in that memory dream. If he would have had more time to think, he would’ve rolled his eyes at himself for referring to Clover the Clever in present tense instead of past, but the echo was almost equally fast when it came to casting other spells, too. Spears of ice erupted around her, intending to pierce through him and his paladins. Already having moved, Arthas only needed to jump a bit farther back, so instead of worrying about himself he quickly glanced around at the others, words of blessing and protection already at the tip of his tongue. However, as he turned his attention to his paladins, he was relieved to see that they didn’t need his help, at this moment at least. Both Storm and Tucker had moved out of harm’s way, Storm jumping into the air with a flap of his wings while Tucker dodged the ice spears with the speed and agility belying the plate armor he wore. Guard and Serenity weren’t as fast as the other two, but they both dealt with the danger in their own way; Guard had brought down his shield between himself and the ice, successfully blocking the attack (although Arthas noticed that there were now small cracks running through his shield), while Serenity didn’t move an inch, instead wrapping herself in the Light’s barrier that protected her. Seeing how they all avoided the attack, Arthas allowed himself a brief moment to feel satisfaction with his paladins’ skill, and a touch of pride. But it lasted less than a second; they were in a battle, after all. Focusing once again on the unicorn echo, Arthas grabbed his hammer, and, filled with the Light’s strength, smashed through the ice, then, after taking a leap forward, he aimed another strike at Clover’s head. Except the strike missed. Just as the head of the hammer was about to smash against her, the unicorn disappeared, teleporting again. “Thou art fast,” he heard her speak from further ahead; she had retreated by several yards with the teleportation spell. Arthas immediately turned his full attention to her as the echo regarded them in turn. Gone was the emptiness he had spotted in her eyes, the look that he had seen and knew to be common for those who had seen the horrors of war; now she was staring at them with grim interest. “And possess intriguing powers… all of ye, actually,” she added, her gaze sweeping over the other paladins. She then sighed and closed her eyes. “I’d better-” Arthas didn’t give her time to finish. As soon as she closed her eyes, he cast a Light-made hammer at her, then hurried after it, doubting it would be enough to take her down. Indeed, before the holy attack could harm her, it dispersed against a magical barrier that appeared around Clover. The unicorn, her horn now alight, opened her eyes slowly as Arthas brought his glowing with the Light hammer against the arcane shield. The head of the hammer smashed against the barrier, emitting a vibrating sound… and save for sending a few small ripples across it, it did nothing. “- study ye,” Clover finished her earlier sentence, the echo looking him straight in the eyes. “Light dammit…” Arthas thought, grimacing; he had thrown all of his strength behind that blow, and yet it had no effect. What’s worse, he could sense that the barrier’s power hadn’t even diminished by much, meaning it would take a while to weaken it enough to break through it, even if all of them were to strike at it. “I doubt she’ll just stand still while we chip away at her defenses… still, better than doing nothing,” he added as he readied another strike. But this one didn’t even hit the barrier. Just as before, when his hammer was about to make contact, Clover disappeared. His senses alerting him that she was behind him, Arthas jumped forward and turned around. Indeed, she was there, looking him up and down. “Pray tell, what is this magic?” she asked him, tilting her head a little. Around her, Arthas’ paladins began to position themselves for an attack, but she ignored them; based on what he had witnessed of her abilities so far, rightly so. “I have grown familiar with the elemental magic some of thy people have stolen from the earth elementals, but this… this is something else.” “‘Thy people’… she sees us as griffons,” Arthas thought, having already suspected that when she had attacked them. “Great, of course this had to be the case with probably the most powerful echo on this island.” “Tell me what this magic is, and I promise I shall grant ye a quick death,” Clover’s echo continued. “I would have offered to take you prisoners, but… after what thy king has done to Private Pansy, the prisoners we take don’t survive for long.” “I don’t suppose telling you that we’re not griffons will do much, won’t it?” Arthas asked with a sigh; he was sure such thing never worked. “Nay, it won’t,” Clover the Clever replied; a faint smile appeared briefly on her muzzle. “Though it is somewhat heartening to see that some people managed to retain their sense of humor… while not having lost themselves to the bloodlust both sides often exhibit.” At that moment she came under simultaneous attack of all four of Arthas’ paladins. Guard and Tucker came at her from her sides, Guard bringing down his hammer upon her barrier and Tucker his sword, both weapons glowing with the Light. Storm dropped on her from above, using the diving maneuver’s momentum and gravity to further empower the strike of his Spring Binder. Serenity remained further behind Clover, forelegs raised with the Holy Light burning around her hooves as she gathered Its energies in order to smite against her barrier. Arthas, doubting that it would be enough to break through echo’s defenses, gathered the Light’s energies within himself and released it through his forehoof, launching a valley of holy magic against Clover. Having seen Serenity attempt similar kind of attack, he wondered if it would be more effective; Clover’s unfamiliarity with holy magic could maybe disrupt her concentration when they’d collide with her magic. As their combined attacks reached her barrier, Clover’s brow furrowed from the strain. However, the barrier held. The echo spared a few seconds to glance around all of them, before her horn began to glow brighter as she cast another spell. Arthas’ eyes widened as he felt a surge of energy an instant before an arcane explosion erupted around the barrier, throwing Storm, Tucker and Guard away from the echo. Arthas, being the furthest from the epicenter, managed to wrap himself with Light’s protection before the explosion reached him. Behind Clover he saw that Serenity, too, stood her ground, the Light’s shield around her. However, there was a pained expression on her face; Arthas guessed she must have been partially hit before she could protect herself. The Light was already washing over her, though, healing whatever injuries she might have received, and her gaze was turned to the other three, who were all lying on the ground, shaking as they tried to pick themselves up. Serenity swiftly pointed her forehooves at them and uttered a short prayer, and the Light illuminated them, healing their wounds. “Hm, curious…” Arthas heard the echo murmur, drawing his attention back to her. Clover was observing Serenity’s efforts (with almost academic curiosity, similar to the one he had seen often on Twilight’s face), still safe behind her barrier. Her eyes turned back to him as Storm, Tucker and Guard rose, healed, and she added: “Most curious… alright, how will ye deal with this?” Her horn’s glow once again increased briefly, and several blades, made out of pure arcane energy, appeared around Clover’s echo. Arthas blinked in surprise, then quickly counted them; there were ten of them. As he watched, the blades moved, positioning themselves so that each of his paladins was about to face two. “Now,” Clover said, narrowing her eyes, “display the skills of ye further.” Arthas cursed as two blades launched themselves at him. Dropping into defensive stance, he swung his hammer to knock one away and dodged the other one. Having gained himself a spare second, he risked a glance at the others; he was relieved to see that everypony was holding their ground, each fending off the arcane blades attacks, although with some difficulty. Assured that his paladins didn’t need his help, Arthas focused on the immediate threat, while at the same time kept Clover’s echo in the corner of his eye, in case she’d cast any more spells. As he blocked the blades that unleashed a series of cuts and slashes at him, he found himself… confused. He had heard that some unicorns would prefer to use their magic to hold weapons instead of hooves, as such basic spell would cost them almost no effort at all and this way they wouldn’t have to practice keeping their balance while fighting. However, from what Twilight had explained to him, this variation of telekinesis spell felt to the unicorn as if they were actually holding the weapon, as magic was a part of them as much as a foreleg was. As such, controlling such a weapon required a similar level of focus as fighting while holding the weapon in hooves. And yet Clover the Clever was fighting with ten blades, and most of the time half of them were out of her sight. Arthas’ musing was interrupted by the sounds of battle… and of his paladins’ complains. “Okay, what the-” he heard Storm exclaim, before he was cut abruptly as he was forced to jump into the air to dodge a strike. “Since when was Clover the Clever an overpowered master swordmare?!” Arthas wasn’t sure to which of them the question was directed to - probably to Serenity, who seemed to know the history of Equestria the best - but he figured it wasn’t to the one who replied. “I’m not a master swordmare,” Clover the Clever corrected him. “I have taken to studying Commander Hurricane’s fighting style and created an enchantment that... replicates it, so to speak, in the blades I conjure.” “So they fight remotely…” Arthas mused, hitting one with his hammer and frowning in frustration as the arcane blade blocked it. He had heard of a similar feat before, back on Azeroth. The most notable feat in this field belonged to none other than his old foe in that wretched life he had led: Kael’thas Sunstrider. Though he hadn’t displayed this particular ability during their final battle at the Icecrown Glacier - favoring his dynasty’s Felo'melorn, possibly believing that it would be enough to slay him and that it would be only just if Arthas fell by this blade - Arthas had learned thanks to Scourge’s various spies that the elven prince was capable of controlling in this fashion several weapons, too, all of which were very powerful at that. However… according to the reports he had gotten, by the time Kael’thas had been attacked at Tempest Keep by brave adventures (most of whom would go on to participate in the War against the Lich King, and some even being a part of the group who would fight him at the Frozen Throne), he was able to control seven weapons at the same time. “But Clover the Clever could control ten… also, she created them out of her own magic rather than used this enhancement on actual weapons imbued with magic. Does it make it harder or easier, then? And are they more dangerous than Kael’s weapons would have been? I wonder… in any case,” Arthas thought, deflecting the blades and gazing at the echo of Clover the Clever, “she seems to be as skilled a mage as he was.” His grip on the hammer tightened, and he clenched his teeth. He had beaten Prince Kael’thas. He defeated and forced to retreat the much older and experienced man that at one point of his previous life had almost intimidated him. But… he hadn’t defeated him as the paladin of the Holy Light. He had defeated him as the Lich King’s death knight. And this echo of a mare who possessed similar level of skills as him caused Sir Lightbringer the paladin and the four paladins he trained trouble. With a howl, he swung his hammer with all his might, shattering both conjured blades in a single strike. Satisfied, he took a breath to calm down, realizing that he was letting his pride and anger get the better of him. “You were surprisingly forthcoming with information regarding your skills, Lady Clover,” he told the echo, using the chance his brief respite offered him to converse with reflection of one of the Founders of Equestria. Clover the Clever, who’s eyes slightly widened in surprise as he addressed her as ‘lady’, looked at him sadly. “I am going to kill ye after I finish assessing your powers. What purpose would it be to hide my abilities? Thou knowest why they remain a secret to thy kind, dost thou not?” she asked, tilting her head. Her eyes became blank briefly as she explained, “Few griffons who have faced me in this war have escaped. Very, very few.” A wave of sadness and pity washed over Arthas, completely removing whatever remained of his anger. He had read up quite a bit on all the Founders - he had lived in a library with Twilight for months after all - and learned even more interesting facts - and theories - after meeting doctor Daring Do. Though of course writings hardly focused on their personalities, describing mostly the historical details, Clover the Clever always struck him as a compassionate and sensitive pony. She was the first of the unicorns to befriend the other tribes, with Private Pansy from the pegasi and Smart Cookie from the earth ponies. Her very magic responded to that compassion, giving her the power to banish the windigos. What could a war do to such pony? War during which, due to her power, she had to take part in, in order to protect the nation she had help to found? War during which she was required to kill? War in which one of her closest friends - whom she herself had performed a post mortem examination - died a death so horrible nobody ever made an official record of its causes. Arthas lowered his hammer ever so slightly. He really, really didn’t want to fight this mare, even if what stood before him was just her echo. He opened his mouth, hoping he could find words that would make her realize they weren’t griffons - or maybe even that the war was long since over, though he felt conflicted whether or not it wouldn’t be a cruel thing to do - when a pained shriek caught his attention. Turning his head sharply, he saw Serenity reaching to her right foreleg, her hoof already glowing with the Holy Light as she held it above her elbow. One of the blades managed to get past her defenses swiftly enough that she hadn’t had the time to ask the Light for protection, and struck her at the armor’s weak point with enough force to cut her through her crystal coat. The wound Serenity had received, though painful, wasn’t big enough to be of concern, but her shriek was like a wake-up call to Arthas. Forgetting about his hesitation, he focused and cast hammer-shaped Light energy at the blades that were fighting her, intending to eliminate this threat first before dealing with Clover’s echo. “One way or another…” he thought grimly; he had no intention of fighting her, just like Clover herself had no intention of fighting the griffons. But she did, to protect her nation and fellow ponies, and like her, he would fight to protect his subordinates. As the Light-made hammer spun around its own axis as it shot towards Serenity, Arthas turned his attention to the other blades, but just as he moved his eyes away, his attack was intercepted. Looking back at it, he saw the Light now entrapped in a magical sphere, similar in hue to the barrier around Clover. “Hm, interesting…” the echo murmured as she brought the sphere closer to her. By then the Light lost the shape Arthas’ will had given it and became just a mass of magical energy. “Yes, I think this is-” Arthas didn’t give her time to finish that sentence. Taken aback that she had managed to ‘capture’ his attack and angered that by doing so she had stopped him from aiding Serenity, Arthas momentarily forgot about the blades. Gathering Light’s strength, he leaped at her, taking another swing against her barrier. However, again, it brought little effect, aside from making her eye twitch slightly. It did cause her to look away from the Light she had captured to glance at him, thought. “Whether thou took part in the siege of Cloudsdale or just heard of it, surely thou must have heard about the barrier that protected the city from thy kind’s army, true? That barrier had been cast and held by me alone,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “What chance do ye stand at breaking through this one, then?” “She can cast a protective barrier around an entire city like Shining Armor?” Arthas thought, both impressed and alarmed. “If she’s so skilled with this spell, it’s no wonder she’s so calm while standing right between us while protected by her magic… dammit, I wish now that I had sparred with Shining Armor a few times, maybe I could figure a way to dispel this barrier…” As he mused, Clover’s echo continued to speak. Her next words made him stop and turn to her with anger. “Focus on saving thy companions,” she added, turning away from him as she resumed studying the holy magic. Arthas once again found himself grinding his teeth. “And now she’s lecturing me?!” he thought, growing angrier again… then closed his eyes, slowing down his breathing. “I cannot let anger control me. Remember: ‘if we allow our passions to turn to bloodlust,” he recited what Uther had once told him, “then we will become as vile as’... well, as great many things I suppose,” Arthas finished instead, allowing himself to smirk. Having calmed down, he reached out for the Light, and the Light answered. He raised his forelegs, concentrating, as he gathered the power Light poured into him and used it to attack. Blades made out of holy energy emerged from the ground, eight of them, each striking the arcane blades Clover’s echo had conjured and shattering them. Arthas exhaled, realising that he has been holding his breath. Though the holy blades disappeared almost immediately and he had to exert himself, he had managed to best Clover’s echo. For now. Smirking, he turned to her. “I don’t think you can allow yourself to focus on other things while fighting me,” he told her as she looked away from the sphere with holy energy. Clover looked around appraisingly before addressing him. “Indeed, I can’t. This magic…” she added, glancing briefly at the sphere before releasing it, causing the Light to disperse. “Thou art similar to the shaman I have read about; thou tap into energies and use them for combat and healing, to empower yourself… except this magic is different from elemental magic,” she added, frowning as she looked at Arthas. “It feels… greater, as if beyond the powers of a single world... indeed, it feels as if its source was from beyond our world. My old mentor Star Swirl the Bearded had speculated about the existence of magic like this. He had called this ‘holy magic’; would that be it?” Arthas stared at her in surprise. Before he had been brought back to life on Equestria as a pony, this world had never known the Holy Light. Of course, the records of the past further than two thousand years ago were scarce (and beyond few thousand more practically non-existent), but it would have seemed reasonable that if there ever were any practitioners of holy magic on Equestria, there would be some trace left by them. And yet… “Star Swirl the Bearded had theorized Its existence, and Clover - or her echo, whatever - was able to deduce Light’s nature in mere minutes after first witnessing it,” Arthas thought, both surprised and impressed. “Can’t wait to tell Twilight about this…” Pushing the thoughts of the loving lavender unicorn to the back of his mind, he noticed that Clover had managed to read his expression. “So I am right… We had no reports of any other griffon using such powers. Thou art possibly one of the few who managed to learn how to use it, I assume?” However, the echo didn’t wait for the answer. She sighed and shook her head. “I suppose this does not matter anymore.” And with those words, she was gone. “No, not gone,” Arthas thought, sensing her presence further up the ridge. “What is she-” His eyes grew wide as he noticed the amount of power she was gathering, as well as how brightly her horn was glowing. “Paladins to me, now!” he barked an order, ignoring the fact that, technically, Storm was supposed to be leading them; this was an emergency. Either they all sensed that, or simply they had great trust in him, as all four of them jumped to him before he could even finish that sentence. Normally, Arthas would nod with acknowledgment at their fast reaction, but there was no time; hastily, he raised his forehooves into the air, channeling a prayer of protection, as a dome of Light surrounded all of them… just mere seconds before the barrage of arcane missiles would have pulverized them. Grunting from the strain, Arthas banished all distracting thoughts and emotions from himself, focusing only on the Holy Light and the barrier. His breathing slowed as he continued to hold it while Clover continued to blast wave after wave of arcane missiles against it. She was powerful, Arthas had to give her that, incredibly powerful even; he had began to suspect that she could easily measure up with some of the greatest mages of Azeroth, such as Kael’thas, Khadgar, or Jaina. But her power was still nothing against the Light. Calm and concentrated as he was, Arthas could easily channel the Light’s power into protecting the five of them, even from such powerful attack. He suspected the area outside of the barrier was slowly being turned into a wasteland, but he had no time to look or even worry about it. After all, there wasn’t much wildlife on this island to being with, and every animal that had been close to them when they’d begun this fight must have long since fled. Clover’s echo must have realized that her attack wasn’t working, as soon Arthas had sensed that the pressure against the barrier had increased. Opening one eye to asses the situation, he realized that not only was the echo shooting arcane missiles at them, she had also conjured a blizzard around them, and now big icicles were dropping down on them. Still, it wasn’t enough to break through or to make him let go. Focusing on the Light solely once again, Arthas held the barrier. It didn’t become really strenuous until flaming, exploding orbs had also began to fall on it. “Oh for the-” he began to think, annoyed with the amounts of spells the unicorn threw at them, before he caught himself on wavering and pushed all of this down, regaining his composure before he would let the barrier drop. Which for all he knew he could have very well done, for the pressure of holding against such barrage was becoming unbearable. However, he wasn’t alone; he felt somepony's strength adding to his, aiding him. As his eyes were closed and senses focused on the barrier, he couldn’t be sure, but Arthas guessed it to be Serenity. Not that it soon mattered, as the other three too began to chant prayers of protection; even though they weren’t as skilled as Serenity - not to mention Arthas himself - when it came to channeling the Light, their strength was greatly appreciated in this situation. Together, they held the barrier through the worst of Clover’s attack, until it had stopped. Opening his eye once again as she felt the barrage of magic that shot at the shield had stopped, Arthas looked around. The air was full of smoke and dirt, obscuring his view, but there was no denying that Clover’s echo had stopped casting spells at them. Slowly he allowed the barrier to disperse; even without arcane missiles, blizzard and flamecores smashing against it holding it still took effort. Since he was given the opportunity to rest a moment, he was going to take it. “Alright, new plan,” he told the others after taking a few deep breaths. “The four of you will retreat and try to find another way to reach the abandoned tower. I will join you after I deal with this echo.” As he caught a glimpse of his paladins confused and borderline shocked expressions, he briefly asked himself just why he wanted to stay. Surely, it was only because otherwise Clover’s echo would follow them all, and not because he wanted to prove anything to himself? It annoyed Arthas that he couldn’t be so sure of that. His practical loss and near death at the hands of Illidan’s image back at the Abbey still stung, and to now find himself facing a foe with similar abilities to Prince Kael’thas… “I am better than I was back then,” he thought firmly and decisively, images of the past life in which he had faced those two flashing before his eyes. “And I am stronger. I can defeat her.” But even as he reassured himself that he could do it, his paladins were still doubting him (which was understandable given the circumstances). “Sir, with all due respect…” Storm began to say, clearly opting for diplomatic approach and to adhere to protocols. “Have you lost your mind!?” Tucker cut him off. The others all shot him warning looks, but the unicorn continued to speak his mind - and probably the others’, too - unabated. “It took all of us to keep up that shield from her attack! And that’s besides the fact that she can teleport before a guy can blink, conjure impregnable shields and create ten freaking swords out of thin air that fight by themselves, and Light knows what else! You can’t fight her alone. Sir,” he quickly added as he realized the way he was speaking to him. “She’s too powerful!” Arthas blinked in surprise, momentarily stunned. “There must be some truth to that if it caused Tucker to be serious for a moment,” he thought, surprised with the knight’s concern. Pleased, true, but surprised. “Power isn’t the only factor that decides the outcome of the battle,” he told all of them. “I am confident I will be able to defeat her, but with her teleportation spell I am not sure if I’ll be able to protect you at the same time.” He shook his head and added more gently. “This isn’t a part of your trial. Now go,” he added, turning in the direction where he could sense Clover’s echo presence; her form was still made of necromantic magic, even if she was able to use arcane, frost and fire spells with the same ease the real Clover the Clever must have had in life. The dust scattered because of her attacks had already almost completely either fallen on the ground or gotten blown away by the wind, letting him see her outline. “I will rejoin you shortly.” “Raogrior,” he added, turning to with his thoughts to the val’kyr, “if Clover comes after them as they retreat, protect them, please.” “It will be done, Sir Lightbringer,” Raogrior promised. The echo of Clover the Clever suddenly appeared right before him. “Who did thou just talk to?” she asked from behind her barrier, tilting her head curiously. As Arthas instinctively backed away out of surprise, she pressed “I sensed thee communing with something in the Spirit World; does thy similarity to shamans extends to communing with spirits, too?” “S-something along those lines, I suppose,” Arthas replied, simply because he didn’t know what else he should say. “Hm…” Clover hummed in reply, tapping her chin as she pondered that. “Interesting… I should inform ye that thou cannot escape,” she added, glancing briefly at the others. Sadness flashed behind her transparent eyes as she continued “I cannot allow ye to cause harm to our forces here.” “Meh, it’s good, we weren’t planning on obeying that order anyway,” Arthas heard Tucker reply nonchalantly behind him. Despite their situation - and the fact that their enemy was standing about half a yard in front of him - Arthas rolled his eyes at his paladin’s refusal to obey his command. Because of that he had almost missed Clover teleporting away; he still would have if the echo hadn’t waited a second longer to smile at Tucker sadly before casting her quick spell. Because he didn’t, though, he was able to pick up her presence immediately. Spinning around, Arthas threw a hammer-shaped Light once again, right at one of the three blades of frost that were surging at them. The hammer struck against the middle one, then after shattering it upon collision it bounced off into the rightmost one, destroying that one as well. The remaining frost blade continued to fly in its tracks, almost hitting Tucker. In the last second Arthas wrapped him in Light’s protection, saving him. In the next second, as his paladins recovered from the surprise attack and began to take on battle stances, Arthas realized that Clover was no longer standing where she had cast that last spell from. Indeed, now he could feel her back behind him, further away… and with another spell already firing. Literally. Cursing as the giant pyroblast surged in their direction, Arthas jumped in its path, wrapping himself in Light’s protection. The force of the impact almost threw him off his hooves, but the Light shielded him from the worst of the attack. And from the fire. The downside to this quite effective method of blocking the magical attack from harming everypony was that his vision was momentarily impaired. The explosion had once again send dust into the air, though far less than the barrage from earlier. Being in the center of it though caused Arthas to miss the commotion that followed Clover’s pyroblast. Perking his ears in the direction of Tucker’s cursing from where the echo stood - “Guess he had teleported there.” - he run out of the dust cloud, ready to fight… Except there was no fight. Clover was now a few yards away, staring in utter surprise at Tucker, who stood where she had been just a few seconds ago. “Dammit, she’s fast,” the unicorn paladin cursed again, his energy sword held where, Arthas was sure, the echo’s chest had been. “How did thou do that?” Clover in turn asked, bewildered. “That was teleportation… arcane magic! Griffons can’t do that!” Arthas stared at her, his eyes widening briefly… and then he sighed, relaxing. “Now we might be able to talk sense into her… I should have thought before about getting her attention with Tucker’s magic…” “Oh, I’m full of surprises baby.” His jaw dropped as he turned to stare at Tucker as he began to flirt with the echo. “How about we take it somewhere private so I can show you how impressive my skills are?” he continued, his sword disappearing as he walked towards Clover with a smirk. “You leave the others and I show you some good time for… let’s say the rest of the night?” Clover’s echo blinked rapidly, clearly confused. “Um, art thou…” “Offering you the time of your life? Hell yeah baby.” Arthas facehoofed. Hard. “Um…” he heard Clover stammer, causing him to lift his hoof a bit and look at her. To his bewilderment, the echo was fiercely blushing. “Um, I t-thank thee, but I… um…” she stammered in embarrassment, looking everywhere but at Tucker. Arthas facehoofed again. “I made him a paladin…” “Um, Sir?” he heard Storm ask in a hushed voice. Glancing to his right, he saw that the pegasus approached him. “Clover… that is the echo, is distracted. Shouldn’t we be taking the opportunity to-” “No,” Arthas told him firmly, pointing with his forehoof at Tucker, “I refuse to win a fight because of that. Or to retreat thanks to that for that matter.” “Yeah, I’m going to agree with Sir Lightbringer on this,” he heard Serenity mutter behind them; glancing back, he saw her staring at Tucker with disapproval and aversion. Arthas turned his attention back to Clover and Tucker right in time to see her recover most of her composure. “T-thou dost remember that we’re enemies, right?” she asked, finally looking at him. “Meh, make love not war,” Tucker replied, still smirking. Clover, though still embarrassed, seemed almost amused by his response. Then, however, she grew rapidly sad. “Unfortunately, I can’t forget this so easily…” she said, lowering her horn that rapidly began to glow brighter. Fortunately for Tucker, it gave him enough of a warning to teleport himself out of the magical beam’s way. “Are you done?” Arthas asked him as he appeared beside them, staring at him with a deadpan. As the unicorn paladin shot him a grin, Arthas realized that maybe it would be better to not hear his answer. “Forget it, just focus on the enemy.” “I’m surprised you managed to remember to get away from her,” he heard Serenity told Tucker, almost scathingly. “Pff, I always remember to pull out before I get into trouble. Bow-chicka-bow-wow!” Arthas groaned and rolled his eyes to the back of his skull, praying to the Light for patience. “Can the chatter,” he told his paladins, himself focusing fully on Clover again. The echo - who by then had stopped blushing - regarded them with thoughtful expression. “How interesting are ye… especially thou,” she added, her gaze locking with Arthas’. “Thou not only possesses greater powers than thy companions, but art also quick and resourceful. To be able to react in time to so many of my spells, not to mention block them… I definitely cannot allow thee to escape with thy life,” she finished, taking a battle stance. Arthas narrowed his eyes; whatever she was planning, it couldn’t be good for them. “You four, stay together and watch each other backs; she could teleport behind you in any moment. I’ll...” He trailed off as Clover began casting a new spell. However, the magical energies that emerged from her horn were moving too slowly to be another attacks. As Arthas and the others watched, they floated around them, slowly changing their shape… Four more unicorns - that is, the echoes - surrounded them. All were light gray with green manes, clad in brown cloaks and all conjuring the same arcane barrier around themselves. “My duplicates shall occupy thy companions while I deal with thou,” Clover’s echo, the real one, spoke. “This just keeps getting better and better…” Arthas muttered grimly. “Don’t panic,” he added in normal voice, turning to the others, “those… duplicates, I guess, can’t be as powerful as the real one.” “Also,” he thought to himself, “creating them must have weakened Clover.” “I will deal with the real one, you four fight together against them,” he instructed his paladins before he started to walk slowly towards Clover’s echo, gathering Light’s power. “With her teleportation, she can easily get out of my reach and attack me from long distance,” he thought as he walked, preparing a strategy for the battle. “I might be able to call upon the Light to attack in similar manner, but my attacks lack her destructive power, and it takes longer for me to channel Light than for her to cast spells. So a fight in close range is the only option… however, the only reason why she allows us to get close to her is because of that barrier. She probably wouldn’t even be doing that if she wasn’t so intrigued by our powers… and because attacking from longer distance gives me enough time wrap myself with Light’s protection; I might not be able to keep it up as long as she keeps up her barrier, but she must have realized by now that it makes me immune to damage for those short periods… Still, if it would look like I’d be about hit her barrier with enough force to break through it, she would probably use teleportation to get away.” “Thy subordinates might have a chance against my duplicates,” Clover spoke up as he stopped about a yard away from her. Arthas didn’t miss how she’d stressed the word ‘might’. “But even after sparing some of my power to create them, thou still stands no chance against me.” “I’ll have to take her by surprise, then, and act fast after creating an opening,” Arthas finished, the plan already formed. “And it would be best if I would settle this quickly.” “Well,” he said out loud, allowing himself to smirk with confidence, “I’ll guess we shall see about that.” Basking in Light’s power, he leaped at her, swinging with his hammer. As he expected, the barrier stopped his strike. A slight twitch of echo’s eyes betrayed that it did put some pressure on her briefly, though. Arthas would have smirked if he had the time, but Clover acted fast; her horn’s glow increased an instant before she fired a magical blast. Barely moving out of its way in time, Arthas brought his hammer for another strike. Instead of taking it on or teleporting away, Clover simply backed away, the hammer missing her barrier by a hair, and readied her next spell. She stopped, though, as a blade of pure Light emerged from the ground beneath her, making her rise on her hind legs as the barrier that was wrapped around her didn’t let it get through. Having made her lose her balance, Arthas came in for another attack, but before he could finish his swing, Clover was gone. Without giving it much thought, he continued the swing along its arc, spinning around and letting the hammer’s head strike behind him… right at Clover’s barrier. Taking advantage of having caught Clover by surprise which had temporarily stunned her - though honestly, Arthas thought she should have figured out he would have figured out she would attack him from behind - and caused her to drop the spell she was about cast, Arthas focused on the Light, channeling it through him into the ground on which they fought, consecrating it. Clover’s eyes snapped wide as she glanced down, cracks and streaks of gold light run through the earth, emanating holy energies that would be causing her excruciating pain if it weren’t for her magical shield. As it was, though, her shield would be constantly draining more power should she have remained within the range. Clover must have realized that, and so she teleported further away before Arthas could deliver another attack. Frowning as he spotted her appearing away from the consecrated ground, Arthas readied himself for her next strike. He wasn’t given much time; already the echo was lowering her head, her horn glowing brightly as a beam shot from him. Gathering his power, Arthas channeled the Light through his forehoof, shooting a beam of golden Light that collided with it. Almost immediately he grunted as his attack began to be pushed back by Clover’s. He emptied his thoughts and focused on the Light, trying to pour more of it through him, but to no avail; he was still being pushed back. Just as he predicted. As Clover’s beam drew closer and closer, Arthas opened himself fully to the Holy Light, basking in Its power and letting him surge throughout his entire body. The familiar sensation, identical to the one he felt when he faced the image of Illidan, returned, and his power increased. His entire body began to glow with the Holy Light, and he guessed the wings made out of the Light must have manifested again on his back, but he didn’t bother to check. Now able to pour more power into his attack, he did just that, blasting the approaching beam with a new surge of Light, causing the two colliding beams to create an explosion. Though he was closer to it than Clover and suffered some of the blast’s force, Arthas didn’t let it bother him, and immediately leaped forward. Using the cover provided by the dust stirred by the explosion, and Clover’s surprise, he managed to cross the distance between them before she could react, and brought his hammer upon her barrier with a mighty roar, shattering it and reaching the echo it protected. The barrier took the brunt of the attack, which was why the blow that reached Clover hadn’t killed her, but only merely threw her several yards across the ground; if she was a living pony, that blow would have quite possibly broken a few bones. Regardless, Arthas felt confident that he would reach her to deliver the final blow before she could concentrate enough to cast another spell. He jumped after her, hammer raised. When Clover gave him a sharp stare, he knew that it wouldn’t be the case. Her horn began to glow as he swung his hammer, and it struck something that appeared between him and the echo. However, it wasn’t another barrier, but… water. In a brief instant, Arthas thought that she had somehow conjured a wall of water between them, but as he looked up, taking in the figure before him, he know that it wasn’t the case. He didn’t managed to get a good look at water elemental before it retaliated. Its ‘fist’ struck him across his chestplate with what felt like the full power of a raging river. At the same moment Arthas felt the hit, a stream of water shot from the limb, blasting him away. An unpleasant shock went through him as the cold water washed over him, but he did manage to notice shards of ice appear in the air around the elemental a moment before they were launched at him. “Raogrior!” he called out mentally, unable to focus enough to call upon the Light. The ice shards almost reached them when suddenly a golden shield, held by a golden glowing arm, appeared between him and them. Arthas fell to the ground as the val’kyr also blocked the stream of water that was pushing him away. He grunted and got up on his hooves, shaking slightly and already healing himself with the Light. “If it weren’t for my armor, my chest would have been caved-in by that attack,” he noted as the Light spread through him. “Thank you, noble val’kyr,” he told Raogrior, standing beside her and turning to regard the water elemental the echo had summoned. Not that he could take a proper look at her, Arthas realized that it wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill water elemental magi on Azeroth would often learn how to summon (the one Jaina would summon being the most familiar example for him). Instead of roughly-humanoid shaped blob of water he had expected, he found himself staring at a shape similar to the sea ponies he had become familiar with, except made of water. It was easily two times bigger than a pony, if not three. It stood upright, with its tail serving as a stanchion; instead of ending with a long fin it had droplets of water surging around its base where it would connect with the ground. What he had previously taken for a fist was in fact a long fin. There was a necklace around its neck, made out of seashells and pearls, and a tiara adorning its head with a pearl in the middle of it. Its ‘mane’, made out of water of a slightly darker colour, waved behind it as it regarded them in turn, then glanced back at Clover’s echo and smirked. “My my, isn’t this nostalgic,” she - as her voice coupled with feminine look suggested - remarked with amusement, her voice resonating like a ripple across the surface of water. Clover, who was staring at the val’kyr, her expression a little pained after Arthas’ strike and favoring her left foreleg, turned to glance at the water elemental with confusion before shaking it off and speaking “Apologies for summoning thee so suddenly, Lady Coralia; I had to improvise.” “It’s fine,” the elemental answered, waving off her water-made fin. “I didn’t expect her to summon a water elemental,” Arthas mused, slightly unsettled; it was clear that it was quite a powerful elemental on top of everything. “I was under the impression that unicorns didn’t know this particular trick… not to mention that she is an echo while the elemental clearly isn’t...” “You’re welcome, Sir Lightbringer,” he heard Raogrior replying to him. “I assume you wish for me to aid you in the battle?” “Well, there are two of them now,” he said, feeling a little annoyed that he had to resort to asking for the val’kyr’s help. The fact that Clover had also summoned an ally was his solace in this. “If you would be so kindly, take care of this water elemental, Lady Coralia; I will finish my fight with Clover.” The echo and the elemental could clearly hear them from this short distance, as evident by the latter’s laughter. “You think this… weird, glorified ghost can take me on?” Lady Coralia asked, tilting her head playfully as she took in Raogrior. “That’s rich.” Whether Clover didn’t share the water elemental’s opinion or she was simply less boastful, she didn’t support her claim. Instead, her gaze was travelling between Arthas and the val’kyr. “Curious… I guess I underestimated thou a touch,” she said, turning to Arthas. “I had hoped to save most of my power in case Hurricane would need my aid against King Friedrich, but I have to take thee down now.” For the first time since they began to fight Arthas started to really worry. “She… she wasn’t fighting at her full power?!” He clenched his teeth and took his battle stance; he would have to give his all if they were going to survive this. Clover closed her eyes as her horn began to glow, and with a bright flash, a staff appeared next to her, enveloped in her magic. Not an transparent echo of one, an actual staff. It was long, made out of three entwining poles, with its top adored with a crystal on which a symbol was carved. It showed three spirals that were connected to each other by their lines in the middle that formed a small triangle, all surrounded by a circle. “I…” Clover began, only to trail off as she shook. She then blinked rapidly, looked at the staff, then back at him. She raised her hoof and pointed at him. “You’re not griffons!” she exclaimed, her eyes wide… then grew even wider as her gaze travelled to her outstretched hoof. “I… guess the power of this staff made her break through the bindings the ritual that created her forced on her mind?” Arthas wondered, confused by what was transpiring. “I did try to tell you that, Lady Clover,” he tried, unsure of her reaction. However, the lack of noises of fighting behind him indicated that the fight had reached its end. “Y-yes, I remember…” the echo murmured, still staring at her transparent hoof, then over the rest of her body. For a moment panic spread on her face, but it was soon replaced by a look of resignation. “I see… necromantic magic. But this spellframe… hm…” she mused, some of her curiosity returning, as she glanced at her stuff. Planting it at the ground, she caused a wave of energy to emanate from it, which passed Arthas and his paladins harmlessly. Seeing that the echo of Clover no longer seemed hostile in any way, Arthas let the accumulated Light’s power leave his body, dispersing his wings. As Clover concentrated on whatever she was doing, Arthas noted that the water elemental was looking at her with a strange, difficult to describe expression (the fact that her face was made of water did not make reading it easier), before letting out a sight. “Just when it was looking to be fun…” she muttered; Arthas could swear that she pouted. Arthas glanced behind him as he heard his paladins approach. “So…” Storm began, “is it over?” “It would appear so,” he replied, still unsure what was going to happen. “More importantly,” Tucker spoke up, “why is there a giant chick here on our side? Not that I mind,” he added, winking at the val’kyr. “And what’s with the water chick?” “I will explain this when we make camp for the night,” he said, not bothering to rebuke the paladin. Turning to the val’kyr he said “Raogrior, you may return to the Shadowlands for now. Thank you.” Raogrior nodded and spread her wings, ascending into the air as she flickered away, disappearing from the realm of the living. “Somepony attempted a necromantic ritual… and it failed, giving the raise to beings such as me,” he heard Clover speak. Turning to her, he saw that she had closed her eyes as she examined the magic around the island, apparently. As she spoke, though, she opened them. “Echoes. Reflection of those who were on this island once. I understand now. I have to apologize again, Lady Coralia,” she said, bowing her head to the water elemental, “that a thing like me summoned thou-” She was cut abruptly by the elemental’s laughter. “You are indeed just like Clover; only she would have bothered with something like that. You have the same memories up to that battle, same skills and personality; why would you think of yourself less is beyond me. Especially since you can’t die now;” Lady Coralia added, smirking, “pretty sure that’s an upgrade for you fleshlings.” “Um… I suppose so,” Clover replied, seeming both confused and amused by the elemental reply. She finally smiled at her. “Thank thee, Lady Coralia. And thank thee for coming to my aid.” “My pleasure. It’s been fun to see you again; I had hoped we’d get to relieve some of the good times,” she added, glancing towards Arthas and the rest, “but I guess you no longer want to fight them?” “No, I…” Clover said, looking at them as well, then hesitated and turned back to the elemental. “It… it has been a long time since I died, I take? The real me that is.” “Short time for me, for you fleshlings…” Lady Coralia replied, then shrugged and shook her head. From beside him, Arthas noticed Serenity shift. “Um… Lady Clover, ma’am?” she spoke up, taking a step towards her. “It… it has been about two thousand years since your passing.” Clover’s eyes widened. “Really? That is… a long time… how does Equestria fare?” she asked, worry in her voice. “Great,” Arthas replied. “We have known only peace for a long time, minus a few, um, incidents. Actually, we came here so these paladins could gain some battle experience because it’s one of the few places left on this world where they could.” Clover’s expression brightened. “I see… that’s great to hear. Would thou…would thou mind if I accompany thee for a while? I would like to learn more of what had transpired since the battle of this island.” Although slightly surprised, Arthas was happy to nod in agreement. “Of course; we were about to reach the site we have selected as a camp for the night, we can share stories there.” Clover smiled and bowed her head. “Thank thee, noble warrior. And, um… I apologize for attacking thee,” she added, looking away in embarrassment. She looked as if ready to explain herself further, but Arthas wouldn’t have any of that. “It’s alright, we understand; on our way here we have already passed many similar cases,” he said, not wanting to use the word ‘echo’. Smiling at him gratefully, Clover glanced at her stuff. “Yes, I suppose thou had to… fortunately, Triskelion’s power allowed me to snap from it-” “What?!” a sudden exclamation from Serenity cut her off. “That’s Triskelion?! The staff of the Archmages of Unicolt?! B-but… it was supposed to have disappear after Star Swirl the Bearded’s passing!” “Um…” Clover stummered, brushing the back of her head with slight embarrassment. “Yes, well, my old mentor had a different opinion as to whom should succeed him than the king, and so he had hidden the staff. I found it shortly before the exodus down south.” “Not that this exchange hadn’t been entertaining,” Lady Coralia suddenly spoke up; her tone of voice didn’t quite much to what she was saying, “but I was in the middle of something in the Endless Ocean when you had summoned me.” “Oh, right, forgive me,” Clover quickly replied, her horn starting to glow as she began the spell to send the elemental away. “Summon me sometime soon, Clover, we’ll catch up,” Lady Coralia added, winking at the unicorn, before disappearing. Arthas couldn’t help but feel a little relieved that the elemental who had managed to wound him so was gone. He pushed those thoughts aside and trotted towards Clover the Clever. “It won’t be long now before Princess Celestia sets the sun and Princess Luna raises the moon,” he said, talking to her and his paladins. ”Let's try to reach the campsite before that.” As Clover nodded along with everypony else, she suddenly stopped and blinked rapidly. “Wait… who does what?”