“This is truly amazing! The square root of the total energy consumed in the night spell is exactly twice of that consumed in the day spell!”
“Oh. My. Gods. Like. You are so boring just shut up,” is what Clover the Clever would have said if he wanted to be smote. Instead, he simply continued writing down Star Swirl the Bearded’s dictation.
“Are you getting this, Clover?”
“Dude, you only said two sentences and one of them was a four word exclamation,” is what Clover the Clever would have said if he wanted to be thrown out on the street and return to poverty and squander. Instead, he simply smiled and nodded.
“This officially unifies the both day and night magic, proving that the same spell can be cast using both methods. It is still unknown if night mages will be able to obtain the level of precision that day mages possess. It is also unknown if day mages are able to use any of the vast amounts of power that night mages can tap into. It is unclear, however, if this has any ramifications in the ways of the strange twilight magic. My studies into this have led me nowhere so far, as a suitable test subject has yet to be found.”
Clover the Clever’s eyes widened as he feverishly tried to write down the small speech that Star Swirl gave.
“Did you get that all, Clover?”
Clover the Clever sighed. “No, you idiot. How could I possibly get everything you said? How do you expect an orphan still learning to read and write to get like ten sentences in a row and not expect him to get like two?” is what he would have said. “No, I’m sorry. Could you repeat everything after ‘unclear’?”
Star Swirl the Bearded repeated what he said, and Clover the Clever finished writing.
“It is good you are learning, Clever. I wish to give you the, er… reins”—he shook his head as he uttered the disturbing phrase—“after I’ve passed on. You can continue my research for me.”
Clover the Clever nodded. He had known the older stallion for a few months now, and had learned much about magic. Starswirl the Bearded, however, could be extremely eccentric. He often boarded himself up in his study, only accepting audience with Clover the Clever or the High King of the Unicorns if it was direly necessary.
Clover the Clever, although he found it boring, did not undermine the research being done. Magic was such a mysterious thing, and for a very long time, no one knew about the mechanics. Spells took hundreds of years to develope and were merely passed down to kin through word of mouth.
Spells could practically not be taught without an official apprenticeship, something that Clover the Clever knew he was extremely lucky to have.
And so Star Swirl the Bearded set out to change that. His first contributions to magic were astounding: building on earlier works contemplating what exactly magic was, he created a universal, writable notation for magic. Granted, other notations had been proposed, but none were as simplistic or even as consistent.
So, of course, it was with great pride that Clover the Clever continued with his master’s research.
The silent door to the library opened up, and two unicorns trotted into the public building. Clover the Clever as nearly blown away by their sleek beauty; their purple and blue manes were pristine, and their coats were a lush blue and magenta, respectively.
“How may I help you?” Clover the Clever managed to say without stuttering.
“Oh, is this a book shop? Are we in the wrong place?” the mare in front teased.
“Oh, uhm, no. That’s just how I greet everyone.”
The mare in front nodded. “Well, in any case, is Star Swirl here?”
The other mare behind her stared down at the ground with a solemn look on her face, as if libraries made her depressed.
“Luscious, stop feeling depressed about libraries.”
“Libraries don’t make me depressed.”
“Yes, of course they don’t.” The mare nearer to Clover the Clever leaned in and whispered, “She’s illiterate—she’s sad that she can’t read.”
“I heard that! And can read! See, I’ll read a book right now!”
Clover the Clever nodded. “Maybe. What do you need him for?”
“I need a spell for freezing things.”
“An ice spell?”
“Yes…. A magical ice spell.”
“The spell is magical by default.”
“The c-cat went to the st-store. See, I’m reading as we speak!”
“No, no, a magical-ice spell.”
“Ah, yes, I actually have that spell written down somewhere.... It’s pretty old. You understand Star Swirl magic notation, correct?”
The mare nodded.
“It’s a fairly old spell, and it’s only designed for day mages. You know what day mages are, right?”
“Mhm.”
“I’ll fetch it.” Clover the Clever left the desk he was sitting behind and made his way to a case labeled “Early works”.
Clover the Clever grabbed a scroll off of a shelf and magiced it over to the mare.
“There you go. Why is that you need an ice spell, if I may ask?”
“Nothing in particular. Nothing nefarious, I can assure you.”
“Oh, my, this is simply awful!” Princess Platinum moaned.
“Dude. You are an awful excuse for life. Stop complaining or I am going to rip out your heart,” is what Clover the Clever would have said if he held no value for life. “Yes, Princess, what would you have me do?”
“Get me another ice water chalice! And this time, make sure the lemon has six seeds, not four,” Princess Platinum hissed. “And absolutely no pulp! It’s heinous!”
“Of course, Ma'm.” Clover the Clever quickly trotted out of the room and talked quietly with a maid, all the while hating his life. The maid scurried off somewhere else into the castle.
Clover the Clever met the Princess back in the throne room where she was leaning on her foreleg, utterly bored.
“Clover, come entertain me. Show me some of that magic you claimed Star Swirl taught you.”
“I swear to the gods that I will rip out your throat and make you eat it,” is what Clover the Clever would have said. “Uhm, yes, one second. I need to think of something.”
“Do not ‘uhm’ me! Plebeian! Do you forget who you are talking to? You should be grateful that I so graciously accepted you as my court mage and personal assistant!”
Clover the Clever’s eye twitched. “Of course, Ma'm.” Oh, I’ll entertain you, alright.
A deep green aura emanated from Clover the Clever’s horn. He shut his eyes in concentration for the spectacle he was about to reveal. He didn’t even care about getting thrown in the dungeons; it’s not like they could hold him, anyway. Maybe he’d just run off and share secrets with the other nations. Ha, like I know any secrets.
Clover the Clever had developed this spell in tandem with Star Swirl the Bearded just before the old mage disappeared. It was supposed to be a… practical joke with a short discharge time; however, some day mages had found it funny to remove the reversion and the spell was quickly banned and labeled “black”.
Clover the Clever let go of the spell and a smirk of satisfaction appeared on his muzzle.
The spell shot towards Princess Platinum in a light green packet of magic, waiting to be absorbed by the unlucky individual in it’s path.
Princess Platinum groaned in an un-princessy fashion and threw up her hooves. She repositioned herself on her throne, completely unaware of the spell speeding towards her.
The blob of magic rushed passed the princess.
Clover the Clever’s eyes widened as the magic hit the large gem on the throne.
The princess turned around just in time to see the spell hit the polar opposite of Clover the Clever’s intended target: himself.
A flash of blinding light flooded the room and Clover the Clever was left stunned.
Did it…?
No, it couldn’t have… it was only designed to work with mares. Right…? RIght!? he internally screamed.
It did.
Princess Platinum was bewildered at the sight in front of her: an off-white-coated, leaf-maned mare stood utterly horrified in the place of her assistant.
Princess Platinum scowled. “What have you done with Clover?”
The mare simply frowned. “Ahk…” she said, shocked.
The princess squinted as if blocking out the light in the room would help her discern the identity of the mare. “Clover… is that you?”
Clover the Clever gulped, nodding her head meekly.
“Oh….” The princess broke out in a bounding laughter, and Clover the Clever simply lowered her head in shame.
“Alright, bravo, I have not been this entertained in ages, thank you,” the princess said apathetically. “Now change back.”
Clover the Clever raised her head and lit up her horn again.
Or at least, she tried to.
Clover the Clever didn’t feel any magic emanating from her horn.
After a few moments of trying, the princess piped up. “Clover, are you going to cast the spell or not?”
This is not good. “Yes, your majesty, I, uhm….” Clover the Clever desperately searched for an excuse other than “I can’t do magic anymore”. “Uhm… I….”
“Spit it out, already!”
“I… uh… I want to…” sacrificing her shame instead of her dignity, she decided to take the low road. “I want to… discover this body!”
Princess Platinum scoffed. “You pervert! Get out of my sight!”
Clover the Clever sighed in relief.
This is not good! This is not good!
What do I do?! Why can’t I use my magic?!
Clover the Clever sat on the wooden floor of her study in contemplation. She remembered a few things about Star Swirl the Bearded's research off the top of her head, most notably that day mages found the night mages techniques extremely hard to perform, and vice versa.
Could that be it? Did that spell change my affinity for magic, too? she asked herself.
I should look at Star Swirl’s notes about night magic…. He was a night mage himself. He should have something about learning control.
“So, I take it that your meeting ended poorly, Princess?”
“Oh, no, it went quite well. The other leaders were all quite reasonable.”
“Oh… so it didn’t go as expected?”
“Oh, no. We were able to work everything out. We’ll all be moving to another country in a few days.”
“...What?”
“Oh, yes, we decided to move all of our ponies south. It’s quite cold here, don’t you think?”
“But you can’t jus—”
“Why are you still a mare, Clover?”
“...Touche.”
“We’re here! Hoozah!” Princess Platinum shouted.
“Yes, what a glorious day, indeed!” Commander Hurricane agreed.
“Sir, what is that on the horizon?” Pansy asked her leader.
“I’m not sure,” he replied. “Princess, Chancellor, have you any clue as to what that is?”
“No, no I most certainly do not. It’s rather peculiar. Is it weather by your pegasi?”
“I don’t believe it is.”
“Clover, what do you make of this?” Princess Platinum asked.
Clover the Clever thought for a moment before responding. “I’m not sure. It’s probably nothing, though.”
The two mares and stallion-mare backed up into each other as they tried to escape the cold creeping into the cavern.
“Windigos!” Clover the Clever exclaimed.
“Windigos? What’s that?” Smart Cookie asked.
“That’s the plural, idiot. As in more than one windigo,” Pansy corrected.
“Well, what is it?” Smart Cookie asked.
“It’s an ethereal creature that feeds off sorrow and misery,” Clover the Clever explained.
“Oh… so it’s like a reverse changeling?”
“No, no, of course not.”
“Why?”
“Because… changelings are bugs and windigos aren’t.”
“I meant their feeding habits.”
“Shut up.”
“Why?”
“Because shut up.”
The three unfortunate assistants watched as their respective rulers were cornered by the cold air and frozen solid.
Princess Platinum let out a loud scream, while Chancellor Puddinghead and Commander Hurricane remained quiet with fear evident on their faces.
Pansy was moved: she had never seen her commander scared, or even remotely phased. She supposed anyone who faces death is allowed to show fear, however.
The lurking frost inched closer to the ponies, and they hugged each other in an even tighter embrace.
“Before I die, I would like to say that being a mare isn’t all that bad. In fact, I actually like it a lot,” Clover the Clever said with anxiety. She could feel the grip of the others loosen ever so slightly. “What?”
“What was that?” Pansy and Smart Cookie asked in unison.
“It was a confession. You’re supposed to do them before you die.”
“...No you’re not,” Pansy said.
“Yes you are.”
“Why would you do it right before you die? How does that make any sense?”
“Because… It’s something ponies do.”
“Pfft, unicorns, maybe.”
“That’s racist,” Smart Cookie interrupted.
“Shut up.”
The mares made one final squeeze on each other as the cold approached.
Out of desperation, Clover the Clever tried everything she knew of magic. Night magic was not her strong suit, of course, but that didn’t stop her.
Clover the Clever put as much force into her magic as she possibly could.
And it was working!
She could feel the magic building up in her horn, creeping to life.
A spell woven out of desperation charged up on her forehead.
And, just as the cold began to creep up on the three mares, it stopped.
Clover the Clever’s spell flickered to life, but Pansy tapper her shoulder; Clover the Clever’s spell fizzled out and she quickly flung her head towards the soldier and glared. Pansy gave Clover the Clever an uninterested look.
Clover the Clever was confused and looked around to find the cold receding.
“What? What’s going on?” Clover the Clever asked.
“Do I look like I know?” Pansy asked, annoyed.
“Screw you too,” Clover retorted.
The three ponies bundled close together eventually spaced out. They looked at each other in befuddlement.
“Why did it stop?” Smart Cookie asked.
“I really don’t know…” Clover the Clever said, raising a hoof to her chin.
As she speculated, a familiar mare trotted into the cave nonchalantly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the past hour.
“Hello,” the mare said with a casual smile. Her presence seemed to stand above the other mares in the room, making the others unconsciously step back.
Clover the Clever blinked. “Do I know you?”
The mare nodded. “Yes, I believe we met a few years ago while you were studying under Star Swirl, Clover the Clever.”
“O-oh?”
“Do you know this freaky mare, Clover?” Pansy asked, slightly irritated.
“I guess I do,” Clover the Clever shrugged.
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know her, know her, sheesh.”
“Hm, yes. Well, I have one more favor to ask of you,” the mare spoke up.
Clover the Clever looked confused. “What?”
“Find two fillies named Celestia and Luna, and bring them to Equestria.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“But I don’t get it. Why? Where are they? What’s Equestria?”
“Ah, ye—”
“Why are you asking me? Why don’t you do it yourself? What’s so important about these fillies, or Equestria that you’d ask me? I mean, not to be egotistic or anything but I’m like the sole pupil of Star Swirl.”
“Okay, okay! I get it. Equestria is what this land you are in is called. Or will be called… soon.” The mare shook her head. “Once those three rulers wake up, they’re going to name it Equestria.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, so, do it. Seriously.”
“Why?”
“Because Princess Platinum doesn’t need you anymore and if you don’t bad things will happen! Stop asking so many questions!”
“Stop being cryptic.”
“I can’t!”
“Why?”
The mare’s eye twitched.
With a flash of light, she was gone.
Many, many years later, a hot summer struck the land.
A hoof pierced it’s way through it’s frozen cage, and a tendril of hatred forced it’s way into the astral being’s true spirit. It may not get revenge on the evil mare, but it would forever remember the name of the one who left it to rot and betrayed it:
Celestia.