The kettle whistled loudly, causing the grey coated, elderly stallion to wake from his involuntary nap. He looked about in confusion for just a moment, before he realized the sound was that of the water boiling. He grumbled good naturedly about how boiling water shouldn’t be allowed to scare stallion as old as he. A small huff escaped him as he forced his old body out of the cushioned chair, moving for the small kitchenette where the kettle whistled its horrendous tune.
The room itself was simple. It was circular in shape, with a single bed and cupboard to the right of the door. A pedestal-like desk for working stood between the bed and the wall, though it looked largely unused, with only a few pieces of paper, an almost untouched inkwell, and a quill lying neatly beside it.
To the left of the door was a small fireplace made out of stone. A twin pair of cushioned, and reasonably comfortable, chairs were placed in front of it at a slight angle. At the end of the room there was the small kitchenette, with only the most necessary equipment: bronze pots and pans, dishes, and a few utensils. Two wooden mugs completed the set, incidentally also being on top of the small mountain of dirty dishes, waiting to be washed. Two windows either side of the sink allowed the sun to illuminate the room.
Between the bed and the kitchenette was a table with four chairs, all wooden and simple in design. To the far right of the room, between the kitchen and fireplace, was a wooden door that lead to the private study and personal library of the owner of this home.
“Now now, calm down little one,” the stallion said in a kind voice, directing his words to the kettle as it was surrounded by his grey-white aura. A porcelain cup, the only one he had managed to find in the past ten or so years, levitated over. A few dried leaves made their way from a dwindling supply on the shelf, into the cup, boiling water soon following.
“Aaah,” he sighed, taking a deep breath of the brew. “Tea is such a rare thing these days. A lot of the Earth Ponies’ seeds and saplings were lost in the snow. Even now, more than ten years later, we still have trouble growing some of the more exotic plants. This place’s climate just isn’t the same as the old.”
A loud tapping on his front door brought him out of his reverie. Reluctantly, he set down his mug, turning towards the door with a small sigh. His magic grasped around the handle and he opened it.
“Yes?” He asked, looking down at a dark green earth pony stallion. His mane was shaggy and he looked as if he was barely out of his teens. He looked up at Star Swirl, quivering, his eyes betraying some fear for the unicorn even after years of being united.
“Star Swirl the Bearded, correct?” The stallion inquired, looking hopeful.
“The beard gave it away, didn't it?” Star Swirl joked, glancing down at it with a small, proud smile. “So, what can I do for you, young one?”
The other stallion appeared hesitant for just a moment before he looked up with a serious expression on his face. “My name is Rhubarb Silver --no the rhubarbs I grow aren’t silver-- and I was told to get you and lead you to the council.”
Star Swirl looked confused for a moment, before he turned and headed for the cupboard beside his bed. His magic grasped the handle of a drawer, but before he could withdraw the his cape and hat from within, Rhubarb’s voice stopped him. “They said it was urgent matter, no time to dress I'm afraid.”
Star Swirl looked back and briefly nodded. His brow furrowed at the ominous words. He followed the earth pony out of his home and headed directly for the council’s building.
The two stallions quickly found their way to the large wooden building, used as a of summit for the ruling council of Equestria. Stopping before the door, Star Swirl quickly righted his mane and beard with a small pulse of magic.
“Let’s see what the problem is then, shall we?” He smiled down at Rhubarb, and knocked on the door. As he finished knocking a deep, female voice sounded from within.
“It’s obvious! There has GOT to be treachery involved!”
Frowning, Star Swirl forwent any further knocking and opened the door, causing the three mares at a large round table in the room to turn to stare at him.
The room was large and octangular, made out of numerous large tree trunks interlocked with each other. It was a single large room with little in it, save the large table in the centre, six chairs of which three were occupied. In the far end of the room was a table laden with some cheese, bread and two cans of water, all of it just in case the negotiations and debates dragged on.
Rhubarb Silver backed out of the door as the elderly stallion trotted up to the table and gave each of the three mares a glare that spoke volumes of his worry, both for the situation that was evidently enough to have these three at each others’ throats, and the state of the three mares.
One was a unicorn clad in a purple, star speckled cape. She wore a jewel-encrusted tiara on her head and her coat was as white as the purest snow, her mane was the colour of pure platinum, held in luxurious corkscrew curls. Her piercing blue eyes were currently eyeing up the newcomer. She was often overly dramatic and vain, but also showed a
capability of cold-hearted logic from time to time.
Another was a pegasus with a faded blue coat and a short, dark-grey mane as well as purple eyes. She wore nothing, not even armour, as one would have expected. Judging by her physique, she was a trained fighter and knew her way around hard work. She was the most suspicious of the three. She barely trusted anypony, and was liable to come up with conspiracy theories if it meant she could get a problem solved quickly. Sometimes, however, she showed intelligence that no one would think she had.
The last one was an earth pony, her coat a healthy, light brown with hints of dirt hinting at recent work in the fields. Her mane and tail were brown with a hint of red, and both held in a long and tight braid. A pair of kind, yet sharp, nutty brown eyes sized up Star Swirl as he watched them all. The kindest and most light hearted of the trio. She was known to walk around town, visit the taverns and get a mug of mead with her fellow ponies every now and then. When times called for it, though, she was a master negotiator and almost terrifying to behold.
“Miss Platinum, Hurricane, Levelhead. What is the cause of this summon? When there is no time to put on my signature cloak or hat, then I sense some great urgency.”
The white coated mare, Princess Platinum, spoke up first, a hoof held to her forehead as if she was about to regale some great tragedy in a pageant. “Oh, Star Swirl, it is simply horrendous! A terrible accident has occurred, something we do not yet know anything about nor will we-"
“Oh for the love of.” Hurricane massaged the bridge of her nose with a hoof. “Star Swirl, something has happened and we believe you might know something Cl-”
“No! We must relay the news to him gently, Hurricane,” Platinum interruped, slamming a hoof down on the table while glaring daggers at the pegasus. “Do not go about your brutish ways here, we must put it in gentle terms!”
“Platinum, he’s the most powerful sorcerer in history, he can handle our news without scooping jam all over it and pretending it’s a caravan like you do when you feed a foal its medicine!”
“I have never! Mister Swirl is by no means a child, and nor should you insinuate that he is! I am simply saying tha-”
“Enough!” the sole earth pony in the room bellowed, slamming both of her hooves down on the table with enough force to leave small dents. Both Platinum and Hurricane ceased their argument to stare open mouthed at Levelhead. No matter how many times they were told or how many times they witnessed it, the serious side of the otherwise friendly pony was shocking. Even Star Swirl felt the hairs on his neck rise at her outburst.
She sighed and shook her head in an exasperated manner, the two other ponies having seated themselves silently. She looked up at Star Swirl. “Clover has disappeared, Hurricane believes that there is some treachery involved on her part. We don’t know anything save that the state of her home is - well, most is destroyed, or toppled over.”
Hurricane stood with such force that her chair toppled behind her. “You realise how big a chance there is of that being a ruse!?” she exclaimed, pointing a hoof at Levelhead. “Give me one reason why she should have left us, one measly reason that would tell us why she isn’t here and there’s no evidence of her not setting up the entire thing as a decoy, making us think some accident happened! It’s as likely as anything that she wants the unicorns to rule again and fled to plan for it to happen!”
“That’s absurd,” Star Swirl snorts derisively. “I’ve known that filly her entire life. She was never one to betray anypony regardless of what happened. She certainly wouldn’t do it now of all times! Not to mention that she was one of the few unicorns that did not suffer from some form of megalomania.”
“Megalo-what?” Commander Hurricane looked positive puzzled, one eyebrow raised and her face betraying her lack of understanding.
“Megalomania, superiority complex,” he explained with a sigh. “She saw ponies as ponies, none any more important or powerful than the others like so many unicorns did.” A small embarrassed blush spread across Platinum’s cheeks. “She would treat an earth pony as she would her neighbour. Why would she betray the unity we created to do something so pathetic as rule now that we're all united?”
“Regardless!” Levelhead cut in. “I believe we should show you the extent of the damage wrought to her home. You, being who you are, may have some greater insight into what happened once you see the mess. You may even be able to sense something, if what I've heard of your skills from Platinum is any indication.”
Star Swirl nodded, beard bobbing. “That would be wise. Lead the way.” The three mares stood up and went out through the door, with Star Swirll in pursuirt..
They reached the small wood cabin in a few minutes. It was much like Star Swirl’s own cabin: two rooms, one with a bed and kitchen, and a work place in the other. The largest difference here was that Clover’s main room was her ‘study room’, and the adjacent room her sleeping quarters with a small kitchenette. A decently sized fireplace was located in the right side of the room between two bookshelves. Most noteworthy, perhaps, was the large hourglass in the far left corner of the room, as well as her overstacked and her well-used desk on the left side of the door.
Or…
That’s how it should have been. More research papers than anypony with bother to count littered the floor. Several bookshelves were tipped over and more than a few of them had scorch marks, if they weren’t missing entire parts. The hourglass’ top half had shattered, the sand within spread across a large portion of the floor. In the middle of the floor was a massive scorch mark. Around it was nearly nothing; no papers, no inkwells, no books. It was as if a shockwave had pushed everything back.
“What in the name of Titania happened here?” Star Swirl whispered, cautiously stepping inside.
“Titania?” Hurricane muttered, sounding confused.
“The entity who gifted us with our magic, according to legends. I assume Pegasi have similar stories about Jupiter, and Earth Ponies have stories of Eponia,” Star Swirl answered automatically. Hurricane nodded, satisfied, even though the elderly stallion couldn’t see it.
He walked around the paper-littered room with his nose close to the floor, searching for something. Having made one round, he stood up and closed his eyes, letting his horn flare bright for a brief second. When he opened his eyes he wore a troubled look on his face.
“There are traces of extremely powerful magic in the air,” he finally said, turning to face the others. “There are a few possibilities. One, she had a magical surge again and teleported herself in the last second before she destroyed the entire building. The teleportation and release of energy was so violent that it did this,” he gestured at the room. “It happened to me once, too. The other possibility is a magical battle. The destruction is enough that it could look like it.”
He stood silent for a moment, neither of the three council members moved either. After a minute of contemplation he finally spoke up, his tone commanding. “Organise a search party. Ten kilometre radius, and make sure that every rock is upturned. Last time we checked her teleportation range was eight kilometres. If it was a magical surge, she may have extended that range a bit by accident.
“If she was kidnapped, I doubt whoever got her could be far away. Clover is immensely powerful, and if anyone battled her they wouldn’t have very much magic left afterwards.” All three mares saluted, even Platinum, and immediately turned.
Turning around, the stallion headed for the hourglass, having spotted something a few moments before, and started wiping away the sand. Beneath the sand he found a small book with several research papers. He just had to look at the blank cover to know that it was probably Clover’s diary. Holding it aloft and out of the way in his magic, he took a look at the research papers. What he found confused even him. On the papers was a spell matrix so complicated that even he had trouble deciphering it. The only thing he could gather from a glance was that it would require a large amount of magic.
He turned towards the window at the right side of the room, looking out at the setting sun. His brow furrowed into a concerned frown and his mouth became a thin line.
“Where are you, Clover?”