It had been a trying year for Twilight since she had tried to find out what happened to Clover the Clever after she disappeared, only to find out that Clover hadn’t so much disappeared as sent into the future. A year filled with doubt, shouting matches, research and more failed spells than she cared to count. Her friends had been there, of course, doing everything in their power to help her through the more difficult days when the uncertainty resurfaced.
When they had first heard the news the reactions had been mixed. Rarity, the one who knew the most about unicorn history, had simply ceased functioning; she had stood there for her mouth hanging open and eyes wide as saucers. Of course, all of them knew of Clover from when they had played in the Hearth’s Warming Pageant, but only Rarity had known why she was famous outside of that one legend she was told as a child. She claimed to know simply because of study sessions with a friend. And then, to think that her own friend was the very unicorn that had suddenly disappeared millennia ago.
Twilight still chuckled at how she sputtered, while futilely attempting to regain her composure after she had told them.
Applejack and Rainbow had taken it more in stride, although Rainbow had jumped off the ground, shouting “Awesome!” loud enough to make the entire room wince. Pinkie Pie had just gasped and embraced Twilight immediately. She had said something about how fantastic it was that Twilight had finally found out who she really was, despite not knowing that she was somepony else than Twilight Sparkle. The choice of words, while innocent, had sparked another bout of doubt. It didn’t last long, however, as Pinkie did her best to apologise in the form of suggesting a “You Found Out That You Were Clover and Sorry For Making You Sad Again” party.
Whatever plans Pinkie was brewing then, were, luckily—depending on one’s view—interrupted by Fluttershy’s surprisingly loud inquiry as to how exactly she had discovered her true identity. The following explanation of how she had come across her true identity was one riddled with questions from all six present ponies and dragon.
Twilight let out what should have been a happy sigh as she corrected a jagged line of chalk on the floor, but found it to instead be one of aggravation as her thoughts turned to the day when she had tried to explain it to her parents, and also ask why they had never told her that she was adopted.
It hadn’t been pretty, as Twilight’s already fragile state of mind had been tipped over completely by the shouting match that ensued. Sure, her father had attempted to keep the two mares from waking the dead, but even his best wasn’t enough to calm down Twilight as her feelings of betrayal and uncertainty were unleashed in a flood. Why had they never told her? Wasn’t it important for a child to know her parentage? More questions had followed those, each in a louder volume, and each answer returned with equal volume.
It was only when Shining Armor stepped through the door—he and Cadence having come to visit—that things calmed down. Thanks in part to a Guard Captain’s commands and Cadence’s calming presence, as well as two heavy barriers separating the mother and daughter.
Frustration as well as anger and sadness had flooded Twilight’s mind, but the calming presence of her older brother and sister-in-law helped her to get things talked out with her parents. They hadn’t told her because they never felt the time was right, and between her living in the castle and studying under Celestia, and then moving the Ponyville. They hadn’t had many chances when she was finally old enough that they thought she should be told. But every time they had visited, or she had visited, they had backed out, not wanting to ruin what little time they had together.
It had taken a few months before things had returned to some semblance of normality and Twilight had fully forgiven her parents, and Shining, for not telling her earlier.
Many more things had happened in the year since her discovery of her birth name, among those making sure that absolutely no one knew of it; she didn’t want to have the entirety of Equestria know that she was, in fact, Clover the Clever, not to mention how many historians across the world would come hunting her down for information about an age long gone that only someone who had lived there would be able to give. She was perfectly willing to share what she knew and could remember with the public, but she wasn’t keen on letting the world know that Clover was among them quite yet. She was just happy that she had had the princesses on her side.
But above all, however, she had been researching. It had been less intense than when she tried to discover what had happened to - well, herself - but it was still enough that Spike had had to take over Library duties from her every now and then.
What she had been studying was a time travel spell, but a far more complex one that had only been attempted once before, and failed miserably. She should know, after all, she was the one who attempted it.
It was with the thought of her previous failure that Twilight stood in front of a large spell matrix drawn on the floor in her library. She was watching for any irregularities or mistakes, however minor, to make sure that nothing went wrong this time. She walked around it for several minutes before she felt satisfied, only to then walk over to a book on her desk and look through her notes on how to cast it.
It was half an hour later, and five double checks on both notes and spell diagram, that she finally felt ready.
“Wish me luck, Spike,” she said, her voice wavering with uncertainty..
“Good luck, Twi. And calm down, I know you can do it. You are, after all, the greatest unicorn sorcerer in, not one, but two eras!”
She shot him a deadpan look before returning her attention to the diagram in front of her. “Not funny, Spike.”
The dragon in question just shook his head and took a single inconspicuous step closer to the kitchen where the fire extinguisher was coincidentally located.
“Alright, I’m ready. If all goes well I should be back in eight hours.” She shot a sincere, if nervous, smile at her assistant over her shoulder. “I’ll see you then.”
Spike chose to stay silent as she stepped into the centre of the circle and lit her horn.
She could feel the power build up, almost see it with her mind’s eye. The light from her horn slowly grew stronger and stronger until it shone like a beacon. The notes and different sections of the spell slowly took form in her mind, clicking together like pieces of a puzzle. Ethereal winds blew around her, whipping her mane and tail around her.
Almost there.
The feeling that you feel when you are about to put in the last piece of a puzzle, a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment, welled up inside Twilight as she felt the spell near completion. And, after several more moments, a wide grin spread across her muzzle as she felt the final note of the spell fall into place and whisk her away on the streams of magic that permeated everything.
Spike, for his part, came walking out of the kitchen with the fire extinguisher and immediately started dousing the small fire that had been left in the wake of her teleportation. While doing so he took in the toppled table and chairs, the papers and books everywhere as well as the remains of a half-eaten sandwich slowly gliding down the wall.
“You would think she’d learn,” he mumbled.
Twilight shook her head, clearing herself of the dizziness that often came with teleportation, and opened her eyes. She glanced around and saw several wooden houses, all nearly identical, as well as simple dirt roads. A large mountain loomed in the distance with the moon peeking up just behind it.
So this is what it looked like. In hindsight, that thought was somewhat stupid given the fact that she had full memory of the place, but being here was something different from just remembering. It should be… Ah! Over there!
She turned to the closest house, her face illuminated by the soft yellow light that poured from the window. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and only looked different because of the light coming from within. She trotted over to it and knocked on the door thrice before stepping back to wait. No, what made this house unique wasn’t the way it looked, but the pony who lived there.
The door opened and a dark grey stallion with a long grey mane and even longer white beard looked out, green eyes piercing through the darkness with a grumpiness so often seen in old ponies. That grumpiness, however, melted away and was replaced by a dumbfounded look when his eyes landed on the sheepishly smiling Twilight. Or, as he knew her—
“Clover?!” Star Swirl exclaimed, wrapping his front legs around her with a surprising amount of strength from such an old stallion. “Young filly, I… Wait. You look....” He released her from his grip and stepped back, scrutinizing her with a nearly uncomfortably level of intensity. “How come you look so much younger than when I last saw you?”
“It’s… a long story. Can I come in?” She tried her best to appear calm and nonchalant, but found it difficult in the presence of her biggest idol. It was all she could do not to squee of delight.
The stallion stepped back and held the door open for her, letting her enter, and then closed the door after her. “I have some tea brewing, why don’t you take a seat by the fire and I’ll have it ready in a moment.”
Twilight nodded and went to the fire, taking the chair nearest the door.
Her attention was drawn from the picture above the fireplace when a small porcelain cup floated in front of her. She gladly accepted it and blew on it before taking a small sip. She grimaced; it was still too hot.
“So, Clover,” Star Swirl said, sitting down in the other chair, his green eyes focused solely on the other unicorn. “You have a lot to tell me, I assume. You disappear suddenly, your home is nearly a ruin, and when you return after a month you look ten years younger. Tell me, what happened?”
Twilight sighed, taking another sip of the tea while sorting out her thoughts. “A lot happened, actually. The short version is that I was propelled thousands of years into the future.”
“WHAT?!” Star Swirl was on his hooves, staring at her with wide eyes. “Thousands of years? Don’t be ridiculous, such a thing is impossible!”
Twilight shook her head. “It isn’t.” A small smile tugged at her lips as her former mentor sat back down, still somewhat stunned. “It’s very much possible, and that’s also how I returned. The time travel spell you created has survived for millennia, and I used a modified version to return here. As for my story, it’s a long one, but let me start from the beginning. You once gave me the notes for your time travel spell when I asked for it to try and make you capable of staying in the past, or future, for a longer time than just a few minutes.”
“I noticed how there was a timer that couldn’t be changed without making the arrival point uncertain, so I tried with implementing some parts of the Age Spell in it. You know how the timer worked: When you become a set amount of time older, you are transported back. So, using the Age Spell, I tried to make the spell make you younger every time the timer ran out. That way you could stay for however long you wanted. It didn’t quite go as planned, and although I ended up roughly where I wanted—I had aimed for four thousand years into the future—it failed. The part that made me younger went out of control and made me a newborn filly. When it could no longer make me any younger, because I was literally zero seconds old—new-born. It fizzled and stopped. I was then found by a pair of ponies and adopted, and lived there for the past 24 years.” She smiled faintly and took another sip of her tea before resuming her tale: Her life, her discovery of her own journal, the subsequent search for anything related to Clover’s disappearance, her ‘dreams’, friends and her discovery of her true identity.
Once she had finished her tale he sat in contemplative silence for several minutes, just staring at the fire and enjoying the company of his friend and former pupil. “Do you wish to be called Twilight, then?” He looked at her, face impassive.
“No.” She shook her head, smiling. “I am Clover, but I’m also Twilight. You knew, and know, me as Clover, so that’s what I want you to call me.” That got a smile out of the older stallion.
He smiled widely, then laughed loudly and joyously. “If that’s what you want, Clover. Still, it’s good to see that you are well and learning. This Celestia sounds wonderful, she must be a fantastic teacher. Better than me, I suspect.”
“You have different ways of teaching, but you are both equally great and famous, even.” Twilight was silent for a moment, her thoughts suddenly turning to the time. Out the corner of her eye she could see that the moon was about to dip below the horizon; she had been here for many hours already. “Speaking of Celestia… it’s about time that I have to return.”
Star Swirl sighed, his ears splaying back against his skull. “I had expected as much. It does not make me happy, but I suppose that it is inevitable. If you discovered who you were via research then that must mean that you did not stay, or there would be records of your presence here after your disappearance. It saddens me to see you go, but I guess such things are inevitable. Just… promise me one thing, Clover.”
Twilight looked at him, noting how he looked so sad yet so happy at the same time. Knowing that she was all right had to make him happy, but now knowing that she had to go would be almost as crushing as realising that she was gone in the first place.
She nodded.
“Just promise me that you will take good care of yourself and your friends. You were the only one I ever had, and I treasure you as much as you seem to treasure them.” He shook his head. “I hate to say goodbye, but they are inevitable.” He smiled sadly. “Goodbye, Clover. It was good to see you again. And don’t worry, I will keep quiet about your little visit. After all, we can’t have the history books say that you suddenly appeared again. Wouldn’t make much sense now would it?”
His chuckle seemed to warm her heart; it made her happy, and it also gave her an idea. “You know, I don’t think this will be goodbye,” said Twilight, watching as he raised an eyebrow, clearly confused. “I’ll come visit every now and then.” His eyes shone, a smile already forming on his eyes. “Once every month, I can come visit if you want. We’ll have to keep it private and a secret from everypony here, but it shouldn’t be so hard. After all, there are no records of me ever returning after I disappeared.”
Star Swirl smiled. He smiled wider than he had in years. The past month had been a hell for him: His only friend had disappeared and none of the search parties had returned with any clues as to her disappearance, nor could any of the other unicorns find out what spell she had cast from the residue magic in her home. That, coupled with the Great Winter only a decade prior and the ensuing squabbles that had followed the discovery of what was now Equestria, had made his life an almost depressive one with no reasons to smile. Only Clover’s presence had ever really made him smile genuinely.
He bowed his head, grinning from ear to ear. “I would like that very much.”
Twilight smiled too and went forward to hug him, an embrace which he returned eagerly. They stood like that for a few moments until an ethereal wind started to pick up around them.
Twilight stepped back and turned her head this way and that way, watching as small arcs of energy spread across her body at random. The wind continued to grow stronger until it was strong enough to low her hair up and around.
“I’ll see you in a month, Star Swirl,” she said, the arcs of energy becoming more and more frequent. It almost looked like she was glowing.
“And I will see you, my friend.”
The arcs now covered her entire body, jumping to and fro. Then a large spark seemed to erupt from her core, blinding both unicorns, and seemingly swallowed up Twilight.
When Twilight opened her eyes again she found herself in the middle of Golden Oak’s Library. Nothing had changed except perhaps for a few books being out of place and a small amount of fire extinguisher foam left here and there where it hadn’t been cleaned up.
That, however, wasn’t the important part. A quick look out the window revealed it to be morning, and that meant that the market stalls were open. Which, in turn, meant that it was time somedragon got out of bed.
“Spike. SPIKE!” Twilight shouted, only to cringe as the sound of something hitting the floor came from upstairs.
“Huh! Who’s there?!” Spike shouted back, peeking down from the top of the stairs. “Twilight? You’re back! Did it go well? Did you meet Star Swirl?” While talking he had walked down the stairs and was now standing on the lowest step.
“I did, and he was actually really kind. Anyway, I need you to go out and buy me some more chalk. We’re going to need a lot more from now on.”
“Huh? What for?”
She smiled at him, a smile that clearly showed him she was looking forward to something. “I’m going to be visiting Star Swirl once a month from now on. And don’t worry, we won’t be discovered.” Her smile morphed into a smirk. “It isn’t in the history books, so nopony ever saw me there.”
“Uuh… alright. Does it have to be now, though? I was in the middle of stuffing myself with three times my weight in Emerald Cake.”
Twilight shook her head. “It’s already past the time you should be up. I’ll get some breakfast going in the meantime-Hey, don’t look at me like that. I learned how to cook.”
Shrugging, Spike walked towards the door and opened it, throwing a look back at Twilight before he went out. “I’ll be going then. Also, emerald dust in my portion, please.”
“Sure,” she replied, chuckling.
Star Swirl stood for a few minutes and watched the place where Clover had been standing when she returned to—as much as it pained him to say it—her own time.
A sigh escaped him and his eyes trailed towards the ceiling. She may have been born here, but her life in this time ended a month ago. Now her life is in the future, and all I can do is wait for her to visit… I’m looking forward to it.
“It looks like,” he said, closing his eyes and smiling. “You finally discovered the Fate of Clover, my dear Pupil.”