//------------------------------//
// Opening Salvo 
// Story: The Sun and the Clover 
// by BG9 
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She stared at the picture of her brother. It had been nearly two months since he went to that strange bus stop and he vanished. the policed gave up their search a week ago. They said to her and her mother 'it was as if Anon has simply gotten onto the bus and vanished into thin air.' She dread to think what might have happened to him. Kidnapped no doubt. And the last words between them were a fight. If she could take it all back she would have just to see him one more time. She turned and looked out the window to a strange sight. It was a woman in armor surrounded by robbed men and women. She held a staff and banged it to the ground. Like magic, an intricate circle lit beneath her as if from no where. All she heard were the words 'then let us start with a bang' before the ground began to shake. She opened the window and looked above, not believing what she was seeing. The vast night sky above her was opening into a large black void. Not the kind of void that is characteristic of space, there was not a single star shining. Just vast black emptiness. Then something came flooding out. She had to squint to really see what it was. Creatures. Demons. Grotesque beasts with long fangs, sharp claws and wings. She called down to the woman.

"What the hell did you do!?"

The woman turned to her and looked her up and down closely. A man with red hair whispered something into her ear.

"You're right Flam. The resemblance is striking." she looked at the girl "Girl. What is your name?"

"Anna E. Mouse."

"Sister to Anon E. Mouse?"

Her face went white as a sheet. Was this who was responsible for his disappearance?

"What did you do with him!?"

"Flam. Take her away please."

"Yes, my lady."

She watched as the man turned into smoke and appeared behind her

"Keep her out of harm. We may be able to use her as leverage."

"Yes, my lady."

She struggled but his grip was like that of a steel vice.

"Count yourself lucky." he said "For now you'll be spared the pain and agony all mortals rightfully deserve."

"Mortals!? What are you talking about!?" Anna yelled "You're crazy!"

"You'll learn soon. And you can thank your brother, Anon for this."

"I said get off!"

Suddenly her hand flashed brightly and a shockwave emitted from her body, knocking him straight against the wall. The force knocked him out cold. Anna looked at her hand to find a glowing tattoo of a clover.

"What the hell?"

She couldn't waste any time. She had to get out of her as fast as she could. She was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, even if she didn't fully understand it. She ran down the steps and went outside. All seemed normal at first until she looked off in the direction of the city center. There was smoke and in the dark she could clearly see fires rising high. Apart from the fires from the city, she could scarcely see a thing. If only she had... light! She look at her hand to see a fireball suspended above her palm. Despite its proximity to her skin, she couldn't feel even a slight burn. It was as though she was using magic. The rift in the sky was still open, demons pouring out by the thousands. In those numbers they'd make it to the country any minute. She clutched her head, a huge headache coming from out of nowhere. Her vision went dark for a moment and she saw what looked like a well furnished guest house. It was as though she was right here. In her right hand she held a stick and was running it up and down someone's chest. The chest was blackened, as though it was a corpse. Her face turned to see what body she was examining. It was Anon! She heard a voice.

"I don't think we'll be able to cure it, at least not with what we have here. We'll have to escape. It's the only way."

"How are we going to do that?"

"Did the King tell you anything?"

"No. Before we got here he just said some nonsense. Something about a painting, a Green Knight."

"That's it!"

"Anon, that's it!"

She snapped back to reality again. What was that? Suddenly a cold hand grabbed her arm once more.

"I don't know where you learned that, girl. But I'll be sure not to let it happen again. Just a little blood won't hurt."

She turned around to see the man again, only his skin had turned dark and grey and his teeth had become long fangs. His eyes were like cat eyes and his hair turned from red to pitch black. Before she could even try to wrench away, he sank his teeth in her neck. She was unconscious in seconds.

Anon woke with a start, gasping for air. That dream... it couldn't be. Nightmare Moon had invaded the mortal world and Anna, his sister, had his crest. That was just a dream. Right? Anon walked to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face then looked into the mirror. His blood went cold. Behind him was a tall man in a brown robe, a black sack over his face with three shields painted on it. He held a large knife in left hand and a wand in his right. Anon turned around only to see no one there. He then remembered the words the King said "looking into mirrors may be hazardous to your health." His heart began to race. He wanted to look back at the mirror to see if the apparition was still there.

"What's the matter, Clover?" a voice in a rough Yorkshire accent asked "Afraid to look back in the mirror?"

He looked around and could see no one. Just the dimly lit bathroom. He inched over to the door slowly, not taking his eyes off the mirror and turned the door handle. As he opened the door her felt a large body tackle him to the ground. He turned over to see the man, his knife getting ready to plunge.

"You thought you could hide from me in a new body did you, Clover? Thought I'd not recognize you?" he chuckled "And here I thought you was meant to be clever!"

"I'm not-"

The man started to swing his knife down into Anon's soft flesh. Just before it made contact with his left arm, the masked man was knocked into the opposite wall by a blast. Sunset had fired a burst of mana straight into his back.

"We'll meet again Clover. And next time you won't have any help." he said

He got up, straightened his robe and vanished into the air as if was nothing but steam. Sunset helped him to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"As alright as I can be, I suppose."

Suddenly his crest flashed and he was plunged into another memory, mostly pictures with little context. He saw a butchers shop. Could smell rot and decay. Clover was chained to a wall in a dimly lit room, the man standing over her. Fear. So much fear. A title. The Mage Killer of Yorkshire. Then finally a name written backwards on a mirror, a name he couldn't make out. As he came back from the memory, he felt searing pain in his arm and chest. He started to cough excessively, not even being able to stand. It felt like he was about to cough his lungs out of his mouth.

"Anon!" Sunset cried, kneeling down "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

It took him a solid five minutes before the coughing died down enough to allow him to speak.

"It must be the hex." he gasped "I got another memory from Clover's life."

Anon pulled back his sleeve. It was what he feared. Him viewing the memory caused the hex too rapidly spread down his arm, all the way to his wrist.

"We really need to find a way out of this prison. We can't let this spread much further."

"I know. You said you had a solution didn't you?"

"Yes. But we need to wait till we can go back outside. It's only a hunch, but I think he may have given us a secret code. We'll need to access the Royal Archive here to learn more."

"So what do we do until then? I'm sure you can understand that after having a knife nearly plunged into my chest and coughing so hard it felt like my spine would break that I'm not all too keen on going back to sleep."

Sunset tapped her chin

"Why don't you tell me about you. What's mortal life like?"

"What do you mean?"

Sunset took her wand and sent a small, pea-sized sun into the air just above their heads. Despite its size, it lit them up perfectly.

"I mean surely it's different than the lives we mages live, what without magic and all."

"It is in a few ways. What do you want to know?"

"What is family life like? Without magic crests it must be wildly different."

"My family certainly isn't like yours that's for sure. Though I wouldn't say I like my family all that much, even my twin sister."

"You have a twin sister!? What's her name?"

"Anna."

"What is she like?"

"Cold mostly. We don't talk all that much. We're two very different people and tend to avoid one another."

"If only my siblings were like that."

"What are your siblings like?"

"Cutthroat and ruthless, especially my older sister. She still hasn't forgiven me for taking the family crest."

"I could think of no better holder than you."

"It does get exhausting though. Being the hero, I mean."

"I know exactly what you mean," Anon said with a sigh "all too well."

"I didn't really realize it but I guess we are quite similar in that respect. Thrust into responsibility we didn't want or ask for."

Back at the school things were looking bleak. Valencia had left Sombra in charge while she was away. Like her late father, Sombra was ruthless and unrelenting if not more so. All the noble families that had sided with the Blush family in their short lived rebellion had been put in the dungeon along with the school headmaster Rom. Rom was frantically trying to figure out a way to escape. He knew what stage of the plan Nightmare Moon was in, no doubt butchering the mortals to reawaken the Devil once again. The king's prison, however, was an unbreakable fortress. Twilight Sparkle walked down isle with two guards by her side delivering food to the prisoners. As she reach Rom's cage, she took out her wand, flicked it twice, and in that instant both guards were dead. She began unlocking the cage.

"Twilight. I knew you'd come through."

"Always. We need to get out of here now. Nightmare Moon is launching an assault on the mortal world. I'll release the Cadenza's as well and they can help us."

Twilight undid the locks on the other cages

"What about the Montage and Shimmer families?" Cadence asked

"Juniper is waiting for us outside her family house and Sunset is aiding the Clover's Successor in his journey. So, for now, this is all we have to stand up to Nightmare Moon."

"And what of Sombra and Chrysalis?" Rom asked

"How thoughtful you should be so concerned with us." a woman's voice said in the distance "Twilight, for aiding these traitors to the crown and killing the royal guards, you have been condemned to death." 

Both Sombra and Chrysalis stood at the only exit to the prison. Even though they were outnumbered, their speciality in assassination magic made them especially dangerous. The fact that they revealed themselves so openly only proved how stacked the odds were against them. Not only that, but Twilight was the only one able to use magic due to the shackles that bound Cadence, Amore and Rom.

"If you guys find an opening to escape, take it." Twilight said "I'll hold them as best I can."