Cold.
Clover the Clever's teeth chattered as her body erupted into light spasms, and rubbed her hooves together, staring at the emptiness that threatened to consume her. She drew out a long breath, making sure it warmed. "Preposterous." She muttered angrily.
"How can I be stuck here if I'm alive? It's scientifically impossible!" She slammed her right hoof down, though it only made a soft click. Her eyes shine with tears as she sat on her hunches. "But yet, here I am."
Her ear flicked. She could hear voices. "She looks dreadful!" A young voice cried, and the sentence rang in her mind. "They're talking about somepony." She concluded.
"The workers have been doing all they could to help, but she has no sign of waking." A second pony said, and it's tone was calmer, as if she was trying to conceal her emotions. Clover's apprehension went to high levels. "Who are you ponies speaking of?" She yelled out.
"They are speaking of you. What art thou doing in this realm?"
This voice was new. Clover whipped her head, horn wrapped with overpowered magic for her size. "Who makes them known in my presence?" She yelled, but her voice wavered as she tried to take a step back. But her body went rigid as she bumped into a taller being.
"Be calm, mare." The shadow's tone sent her mind to dead, and she swiftly obeyed, her body relaxing. "Thou hast no reason to be scared of me."
The unicorn's sense returned as she glared in the opposite direction. "Why would you need to tell me how? That would suggest you are hiding a secret that would make me afraid of your presence." She responded.
A long sigh drew out into the air. The atmosphere grew dense. "Please, I am true to my words when I say that I mean no harm."
Clover squinted, turning around. All she spotted was a dark shadow, its shape changing as the figure swirling without a single movement. "Then show me your true form." She waved her hoof, it passing through the smoke without try. "I can tell this is not how you usually present yourself."
What appeared to be its head dipped down. "I no longer have a form to take hold of." It whispered, Clover's eyebrows raising in surprise. "A beast of terror took control long ago." it lifted it's head to act as if it stared the unicorn in the eyes.
"But thou beest not here for that purpose." It reached outward, a leg forming front the mist as if rubbed against Clover's cheek. The mare flinched, backing away. "Why are you here? And can you explain what is here?" The questions wanted to rush from her muzzle, but she kept quiet.
The mist wavered, and Clover found it easier to tell the being's identity. It was a pony; a mare. And her actions made her look in distress. "I need thou to return to reality." She murmured.
Clover cocked her head. "Reality?" She said the word as if it was foreign on her tongue. "Aren't I still encased from the Ice of Eternal?"
The mare shook her head, a flowing mane of midnight blue coming into focus. "Thou hast been rescued by thine sister and her comrades." she explained. "But thou hast still not able to awake. Thou's magic has been drained by guardians of the Windigos."
The world around her began to shake. Clover glanced wildly, her terror growing as the mare only hummed. "Ah..." she whispered, her appearance now giving her a long horn. "Somepony of the outside world has called for thou."
She pulled her head down, caressing Clover's muzzle. "Thou hast to find the Elements before the Summer Sun Celebration, or all shall be lost."
Clover's stumbled back, her brain now filled with an overwhelming horror. Her usual though process was interrupted. "Why?" She shouted, not anymore patient. "I need more answers before I can wake!" She pushed forward, struggling as her body became harder than stone.
Wings produced from the unicorn's back. "Please, I cannot defeat the Nightmare on thy own. Find the Elements of Harmony."
"I don't even know what you are speaking of!" Clover the Clever shouted, tears beginning to form as her confusion came too much to bear. "Just tell me how!"
The alicorn's appearance was finally revealed, and Clover had to squint to see. Her breaths came as ragged shots. "Selene?" She murmured, and the mare's own eyes shrank to prinpricks. She was able to move simply, and stopped before Clover as the reality came to an end. "Clover." She whispered, just as said pony's world went dark.
It was cold again.
"Rainbow Dash!" Clover heard the earlier voice say in a scolding tone, her hearing advancing to normal as she lightly groaned. She assumed the ponies didn't seem to notice as they continued to shuffle.
She against heard a sound close to a huff. "Stop blaming me for things that go wrong!" A brash voice snapped. Clover growled; these ponies were making her agitated. Her muzzle refused to utter any words, so she resounded to just a loud groan.
The others continued to take no notice. "You may have just taken a mare's life!" The first retorted, and a resounding stamp followed.
Clover shuddered, her rage close to spilling over. She shifted, turning on her side. Her eye twitched inside her eyelid as she continued to go unnoticed. "Then maybe you can fix it!" The second's tone felt like sandpaper against her eardrums.
"Stop, now." she internally screeched as a new voice boomed, scaring the others into silence. "You may be angry but do not do it here."
Clover's mind snapped.
She slammed her hooves down on the sides of what she believed was a bed, and glared at the ponies before her. "Please, will all of you be quiet!" She shrieked.
The unicorn was met with an eerie quiet. She instantly felt a crashing guilt and turned her sight away, whimpering. "I apologize." She said softly.
"How..." She looked up. A pegasus mare gaped in her general direction, wings gripping her sides. "How are you awake?" She rushed the question, and Cover reared back as if struck. Her brain turned to calculation. "It was only logical that my body would soon awake due to its continuous function."
Her eyes darted nervously at the unappreciative stares. "Well," the unicorn mare brushed off the earlier sentence with a flick of her violet mane. "This is certainly a delightful surprise, I must say!" She drifted off into squeals of joy, jittering as she failed to conceive her excitement. She only paused as Princess Celestia sent her a silencing stare.
Clover then focused her eyes on the pegasus pony on her left line of sight, who appeared more interested in the plastered walls than her. "Excuse me?" The mare stiffened, then nodded in a action to say she had heard. "Since you appear to be the more civil of the trio here, can yo-"
"What?" The old voice interrupted. The unicorn covered her vision as she gazed solely at Clover the Clever alone. "You believe she is more fancy than I?"
Clover shook her head. "I never said fancy." She said. "I explained that due to her quiet nature she seemed to be more civil and not able to easily reveal her inner emotions."
"I'm going to go now!" The cyan mare exclaimed quite loudly before shuffling her way out the creaking door, swinging it closed as she ignored the questioning stares she received from ponies traveling their way along the other side.
The mare taller than the others hid her own reaction as she breathed. "I'm sorry for her behavior." She murmured, voice having lost its regal tone. "Something out of my knowledge had made her distant from everypony else."
"Quite alright." Clover responded nearly automatically. "I've come to a realization that pegasi do not act it such a warm matter towards I."
Her brow them furrowed when the taller unicorn released a deep, harmonious chuckle. "That is no longer the case, my little pony." she stated slowly, failing to hide her increasing amusement. Only then did Clover realize that she acquired both wings and a horn, but the second the thought came it vanished.
Clover's eyebrows now furrowed with newfound suspicion, directed at the ponies she had no familiarity with. "And why would that be?" she surprised even herself with how strangely quiet her tone had become. "Has the world gone corrupted since my friends departure from the world we called reality?" she winced and began to shudder as she forced her body to straighten out from its slumped position. She watched the surprised mares before her with wide pupils, awaiting the confirmation.
It never came.
Without pause long huff drew out from her muzzle. "Taking into account your reactions, I'm assuming what I have concluded is in fact not true."
It took a moment for the unicorn to escape from her petrified state. "Well, yes darling. In fact, your doings helped all of Equestria!"
"Indeed." the fusion of unicorn and pegasus agreed. "For the past millennial ponies of all races have learned to live in harmony and peace, for the most part." she added at the last possible second, view going downcast.
Clover chose the path of not questioning her slightly mysterious actions. "If we are going to begin on formal terms, then I am Clover the Clever. Apprentice of Starswirl the Bearded and one of the three warriors that braved against the Windigos."
The unicorn seemed to have no response to her words. The white mare however, took her saying as if she heard them daily. "Princess Celestia," she began, and Clover's pupils grew threefold. "Ruler over the land of Equestria, alicorn, being of all three races, and controller of the sun."
Clover nodded, then bowed. "Apologizes, your majesty. I did not realize you had such an importance to this land." she winced at the remembrance of her actions before. "I will allow my punishment to be in any form, whether imprisonment of banishment."
Then, to her surprise, the princess before her chuckled once more, giving her a comforting smile. "I would never do such a thing to anypony, my dear. You were confused on your location, and did not know who was around you. I understand if you would act hostile towards us and try to keep your distance."
Clover felt a wave of relief wash over her frail body as her stress rapidly decreased. "T-Thank you, your highness." She murmured gratefully, intertwining her hooves.
"Please do not use such formality. You can just refer to me as Princess, or even Celestia. Since you did not live in a time when I and my-" she froze, then coughed lightly. "I regaled over the kingdom, you do not need to think of me as above you."
The unicorn beside her when still as Princess Celestia switched her attention to her silent body. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"
"Ah!" The mare cried, then readjusted her composure. "I am Rarity."
Her eye's darted nervously when Clover remained unresponsive. "Excuse me, darling? Are you alright?"
That seemed to snap her out. "Absolutely. It is just...what place do you have next to the princess?" she ventured. Rarity seemed shocked at her sentence, rearing back with disgust. "I have just the right to be next to our princess than any other! I am sorry, but that is a very rude thing to a-"
"Hiya!" A squeaky voice interrupted, the door to the room slamming open as a bright pink mare entered. Her expression then drooped as she eyed Rarity's pout. "What's the matter Rares? Did Dashie get you upset again?"
"I don't believe so." The mare's ear flicked at the calm voice. "She is distressed over the fact that I did not compare her as equal to the princess."
Rarity scoffed, eyes narrowing. "Why I never! Do you still think that assumption is true? Pinkie Pie, tell her oth-" she was again interrupted as Pinkie plugged her hoof into the unicorn's muzzle, gasping wildly. She began to shake as she leaned over to Clover the Clever, as if she could not comprehend what she now saw. "Ohmygoshohmygosh." she repeated swiftly. "You're...you're..."
"Clover the Clever. I am she so yes, that would be correct."
Pinkie shook her head, now bouncing on her hooves. "No, not that silly!" she giggled, then gave a unusually large grin of excitement. "You're awake!"
The sheer volume of the accusation made Clover push her body back against the bed, giving an awkward smile. "Y-Yes." she replied.
"This is great!" Pinkie cheered, clapping. "Ah, ah, Cooks! Hurry up, come on!" she raced back to the door, staring down into the hallway.
A barely audible groan followed. "I would, if you had decided to come back and help me after you ran to meet our friends." Pinkie winced, the raised a single hoof to the group as she backed out the door, letting it swing close.
Seconds later Rarity shrieked as a loud bang echoed from the new opening. Pinkie jumped back through, balancing a small try of what appeared to be glimmering cupcakes. "For you." she explained, carefully placing the tray upon the cloth that covered the unicorn.
Clover's smile wavered as she stretched it further. "Thank you," she forced. "I am very grateful of your charity."
"Oh, but there's more!"
Her words seemingly called another mare, who was encased in the shadows as they tried, failing, to pass through the cracked door. "Pinkie?" she called desperately. "I think I need your help."
"Sure!" The pink earth pony whipped her tail out, backing to the door. A shaking hoof of pale brown grasped it, and a mare came flailing through the door, screaming. Princess Celestia's horn was encased in it's signature glow as the abnormally large cake was caught in her magic hold.
Clover's breath hitched in her throat. She stared, eyes becoming misty as she watched her once-lost friend release a shaky cough as she stood. "Cookie?" she asked softly, unsure.
Smart Cookie froze. "Clover?" her own tone was high as she turned to the bed, muzzle opening to an o as she eyed the unicorn. "Clover!" she sprang forward, wrapping her hooves around her friend's body.
Both cried out joyfully, hugging each other as if they would never let go.
Rainbow Dash watched the world below solemnly, eyes glazed over as she saw ponies of all ages and genders tending to their own business. Her head then whipped over to the throne room's doors as they opened with an echoing creak, revealing a familiar pristine white coat.
"Hey, Rares." the cyan mare welcomed, not bothering to mention the names of the ones who followed. "Why are you here?"
"To plan our next move." Rarity responded. "We need to find Pansy in as little time as possible." she gestured with a flick of her head to the other unicorn, who leaned on Smart Cookie for support. "It was certainly a surprise, but Clover had enough energy to get up."
"Clover the Clever's magic was suppressed when she was frozen. When we released her from her inprisonment, she had enough to heal almost instantly." Princess Celestia said. Clover nodded silently to confirm the sentence.
"Cool."
Rarity's eyes narrowed, but she bit her tongue as the group moved along. "But first, Rainbow?" said pegaus looked over at the mention of her name. "Would you like to meet our new member?"
Tranquility never seemed so alive in that moment. It was than shattered at Rainbow's single response of "No." Rarity cocked her head, agitated. "Pardon?" she questioned.
"I said no thanks. You guys can introduce me, but I'll be somewhere else."
"What?" Rarity cried. "You think it is kind to just leave our new guest." She glared at Rainbow as she trailed after. "Stay here and meet her!" She instructed harshly.
"I almost killed her, Rares! How can I know she doesn't hate me for it?"
"I do not." Clover spoke up, raising her hoof. A hard stare from Smart Cookie took her back to silence. She still watched, however, scanning each movement in a once more stale silence.
"You need to speak with her! From what I know your magic shall be what awakens Pansy the most. What if Clover can't trust you to come near?" Rarity nearly shouted the question.
Rainbow Dash snapped straight back. "Then I'll force my way past her!"
A loud cough then broke their anger as if it was mere glass. "If I may," Clover began, ignoring the look of concern she received from her old friend. "I have been calculating how out both are acting, and I seem to have finally reached a verdict."
She waited for the backlash, and sighed as it never came.
"And raking in record ask the evidence I have unraveled and placing them together in one simple conclusion, I could concur that you both hold affections toward one another vastly different than ones in a normal situation."
Rainbow blinked. "Speak Equestrian. I haven't been to the library that long." The snapped, but her anxiety grew as Rarity remained quiet, gaping.
Smart Cookie smirked at her chance for revenge. "Clover means she thinks you two love each other." She deapanned.
There was an awkward silence as Rainbow Dash had a spark of understanding.
"What?!" Both mares shrieked, their muzzle's beet red. Rarity dissipated in a flash of magic, later reappearing on the far side of the room. Rainbow however remained in place, satisfied with staying still. They both sat on their hunches as they crossed the front hooves.
"Preposterous!" Rarity scoffed.
"Crazy!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Maddening!" Rartiy's remark followed.
Rainbow Dash glared. "Insane." She spoke clearly.
Clover The Clever raised a brow. "Obvious." She said, shocking the mares into a stale silence. "Agreed." Cookie offered after a few seconds.
"How is it so easy, darling?" Rarity ventured, gingerly trotting closer. Clover shrugged. "Couples are the pairs who seem to fight the most. Calculating from the time I have woken up, you both have made at least a few hundred harsh remarks about one another ."
Rarity's brow furred. "We do not! In fact, this is the only fight we have begun!"
"I did not say you did all of them for us to hear as well."
Princess Celestia joined. "She does have a point." The alicorn mused. Rainbow groaned. "Not you too, Princess!"
Rarity stomped her hoof, angered by the situation she had been placed into. "We are not officiated with one another." She forced. Rainbow Dash nodded, grinding her teeth.
Princess Celestia hummed as a scroll apparatus in her vision. "I do have a relative who can sort this all out." She said.
"Yeah," Rainbow spoke. "What is this pony? Princess of Love?" Her voice dripped with an easily recognizable sarcasm.
"Precisely." The pegasus' muzzle snapped shut, her already bright blush seemingly darkening. "Oh," she mustered. "Well, good for her."
Pinkie Pie giggled as she watched over Princess Celestia's shoulder. The alicorn's expression never shifted as the quill she had conjured whipped across. "Ah, it's been so long since I've seen Princess Cadence!" She squealed.
Rarity tilted her head. "You've met this mare before?" She questioned.
The pink mare grinned foolishly. "Nope!" She called, bouncing as Rainbow Dash rammed a hoof against her forehead.