Life returned to normal following Clover the Clever's departure, or as close to normal as the small town could achieve given its penchant for being under attack by various magical threats. Rainbow Dash realized her life-long dream when she finally joined the Wonderbolts, something that everypony was sure to know of, whether she was personally acquainted with them or not. It was a bit of a rocky start, with Rainbow attempting to show off to the team but eventually found her place among their ranks. Spike was called alongside his fellow dragons in participating in the Gauntlet of Fire and against all odds, won the right to be named Dragon Lord, though he gave the title to fellow dragon Ember and earned a friend in the process. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, meanwhile, attempted to have time apart in order to better understand themselves and dedicated themselves to helping others with cutie mark problems based on their own experiences.
The two months were a bit rough for Starlight but she persevered, intending to prove to herself that she was the mare that Clover believed her to be. She attempted to make friends but had some great difficulty before meeting Trixie, another reformed villainess who also knew the struggles of trying to repent while others continually questioned their motivations. Although a wedge was driven between the two when it turned out that Trixie was initially hanging out with Starlight to hurt Twilight, Starlight forgave her and the two made up. For the first time in a long time, Starlight felt at home.
The sun had just risen over the trees and building of Ponyville and from up on the hill, Starlight had the perfect view of the orange and yellow light streaming down upon the land. She often came to sit up here, either to think or just to enjoy the scenery. Every now and then, she'd remember the good times she'd had with Clover and would get a little sad at the thought. It was hard to lose somepony that had such a positive effect on your life as he did but she remained strong. In fact, while she missed him, a part of her was glad he was back home with his own family.
Princess Celestia told her that while the memory spell had erased all visual and auditory traces of Clover's visit to the past, it didn't remove the emotions he'd experienced, that those parts of him that stayed in his heart remained there. Starlight wasn't comforted by this but still hoped that wherever he was or whenever he was, Clover was happy. She rose to her hooves and shook her hindlegs, feeling the gentle tingling of pins and needles setting in. She'd been there long enough and had errands that she wanted to run. Life after grief was still live.
She trotted across the park, taking in the sights of foals at play when there was a flash of light and she bumped into something fleshy. It was a tail and it happened to belong to the town's resident Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Said spirit was glancing down at the mare with a massive grin.
"Hello Starlight! Fancy meeting you here!"
Starlight rolled her eyes. "Hi Discord. Let me guess: I still owe you that favor and you've come to collect?"
Discord's head changed into a pair of giant, snapping scissors. "No need to get snippy with me. After all, a deal's a deal." A quick snap and his normal-ish head returned. "We had a deal and it's time to honor it."
"Alright, so what do you want me to do?" Starlight was quickly dreading this.
"I'll show you!"
SNAP!
They appeared in what Starlight could only assume was Discord's house. The walls were a combination of wall paneling, drywall and brick, covered in upside down picture frames and windows that led out to nothing. There were stairs that went to a second floor and stairs that went nowhere at all. Furniture clung to the walls and ceiling as origami fish soundlessly glided through the air. Lava seeped through a volcano on the ceiling and a floor lamp with chicken legs was running through the kitchen. Starlight shuddered to think what would happen if Discord decided to become an interior decorator.
"So what do you think? I'm in the middle of redecorating."
A cobweb in the corner caught Starlight's attention. Stuck to it was a fly with a pony's head and foreleg. It turned to her and screamed in a high-pitched voice, "Help me!"
"It's, um...unique?" Starlight smiled weakly.
"Glad you approve!" Discord pulled out a tray of thin wooden chunks covered in melted cheddar cheese. "Care for a chip?"
"No thank you. Listen, Discord-..."
"Hold on!" He vanished, then reappeared with a stack of board games. "I have Hazard, Apology!, Cattle Ship, Scramble, Monopony and Hint. Although Monopony takes too long and Hint? What a bore!"
"Wait a minute!" Starlight rubbed her face. "You brought me here to play board games?"
Discord passed the pile to his right, where it remained in mid-air. "Of course! You owe me a favor!"
"You could've just asked!"
He took a seat on a floating recliner made of clouds and crossed his arms. "If I had, would you have come?"
Starlight held up a hoof opened her mouth but no sound came out. She then dropped her hoof and responded, "Well, no but-..."
"Well there you go! When opportunity knocks, accept the free pizza."
"That's not how that saying goes."
Discord opened a can of soda and guzzled it, causing the exterior to slowly vanish, leaving behind a liquified, soda can-shaped construct of dark purple. "Tomato, potato. Let's get our game on!"
~*~
As it turned out, game night with Discord wasn't actually that bad. Okay, he cheated nonstop, changed the rules and at one point even ate the board game when Starlight managed to win, but overall, wasn't as bad as she thought. It didn't necessarily mean that she'd want to go back there but at least it made for an interesting story. After that, Starlight didn't see too much of Discord unless it was with the others. Perhaps he'd gotten bored of hanging with her?
A few days later, Sunburst came to visit and Starlight got to spend the whole day with him, seeing as how the royal crystaller didn't have as many responsibilities as he would've liked. Still, they got to hang out more and there was no complaints there. After a picnic by themselves, they spent hours looking at yard sales and digging through trashcans. What? One pony's trash was another pony's treasure. The pair the arrived back at Twilight's, eager to take stock of their haul.
"You know, you still haven't told me what Clover whispered to you before he left."
Sunburst merely grinned, "That's for me to know and you to find out. Eventually."
"You're impossible!" Starlight groaned, though secretly loving his playful side. "Anyway, I think we have a great haul from today, don't you?" She magically hefted a stained-glass lamp from out of one of the paper bags. "This'll look great on my nightstand!"
"No kidding!" Sunburst pulled out a lion's head doorknocker. "I've been meaning to replace my old one."
The door opened and Twilight arrived with an old-looking envelope floating beside her.
"Hi Sunburst, Starlight! I'm glad you're here because I found something in the mail for you!"
"What is it?" Starlight took the envelope and looked it over, finding her name, address and the date scribbled in cursive. On the other side, she gasped when she saw a wax seal with Clover's cutie mark. "Where did you get this?"
"A pegasus mailpony had flown all the way from Canterlot with it. Apparently it's been in an iron chest in their office for the past millennium with explicit instructions not to retrieve what was inside of it until today."
Starlight retrieved a letter opener and gently cut the envelope open, slowly pulling out the letter it held within. She unfolded the piece of paper and began to peruse it. It was a birth record and the name written on it was...
"I don't...I don't believe it..."
A Thousand Years Ago...
Clover the Clever opened his eyes, his eyelids fluttering as the light struck him in the face. He stared around puzzlingly in the alleyway, unsure of how he'd gotten there. He was taking his daily stroll through Canterlot when he blacked out. Shaking his head, Clover left the alleyway and quickly found himself back on the way home. He glanced at a nearby sundial and to his relief, discovered that he'd only been gone for five minutes. Gusty didn't like it when he was gone for too long.
For whatever reason, he found an incredible sadness deep within his heart though he hadn't any semblance of an idea why. It felt as though he'd lost somepony recently-a group of someponies, actually-and would never see them again. An unfamiliar weight shifted in his cloak pocket and Clover retrieved a red notebook, one that he'd never seen before. The writing inside looked to be that of a mare's but what was interesting were the magical formulas inside. Flipping to the last page, he found a slip of paper tucked away:
As soon as you place your daughter's name on her birth record, make a copy, seal it in an envelope and write down the following name and address on it, as well as the date. Lock it up in a thick iron chest, give it over to the Post Office and instruct them not to open it until the day written on the envelope comes to pass.
-D
Clover shook his head and shoved both the paper and the notebook back into his pocket. A voice at the back of his head told him to hang onto the information and he never doubted his senses. Making a right at the bakery, he trotted up to his house, which was smaller than one might expect as befitting two national heroes. This was done on purpose as so the family could live in peace without harassment from the public. After all, everypony knows that famous ponies exclusively live in big houses.
"Gusty!" He called, shutting the door behind him. "I'm home!"
A unicorn mare rose from her seat beside a cradle to greet him. Taking her into his forelegs, Clover lightly pressed his lips against hers. She happily reciprocated, pressing against him before peeling back, her aquamarine eyes meeting his green ones. Her green mane was streaked with red and her coat was a light tangelo. Despite the wrinkles and stress lines, byproducts of the Umbrum-Draconequus War, Clover believed her to be the most beautiful mare he'd ever seen.
"I missed you," Gusty murmured and settled against his chest, delighting in the sound of his heartbeat.
"I miss you too, my love." He couldn't quite put his hoof on it, but Clover had this nagging feeling that he'd just arrived from a long journey, one that placed him far away from his beloved. He kissed the crown of her skull and they nuzzled their cheeks together, soft pleasurable hums emanating from the both of them. "How is our daughter?"
"Still strong and fair," Gusty said proudly. "Earlier she tried to steal my best ladle with her magic."
"Is that so?" Pulling away, Clover lightly treaded over to the cradle and peered inside. A cream-colored unicorn filly laid inside, kicking her hindlegs around until her dark blue eyes caught sight of her visitor. She smiled and held up her forelegs, hooves reaching for her father. Tenderly lifting her up with his magic, Clover placed the filly into his forelegs and settled into the nearby chair. He gently brushed her scarlet mane, humming and rocking back and forth as he did so.
It was still bothersome that she had yet to have received a name but the couple agreed that when the right one came along, it would be hers. Peering down at the cooing infant in his embrace, Clover was reminded of...somepony. Although he didn't have a mental picture, he knew that it was somepony that he'd helped in some way and had even been close to. The filly's eyes met his again. Over her left eye was a curious birthmark in the shape of a star, something that the midwife had declared was a sign of good fortune and a long, happy life.
He thought back to the name on the slip of paper, sounding it out in his head.
"Starlight..."
"What did you say?" Gusty wondered.
Clover turned to her and beamed. "I think that we shall name her Starlight."
Gusty snaked her forelegs around Clover's neck and rested her head on his shoulder.
"It's perfect. Starlight."