The Sun and the Clover

by BG9

You're Not Alone

Once back outside and at a normal size, Bonbon places a hand on Anon's shoulder

"Are you alright?" she asked "That was quite a bit to take in."

"I'm ok. I just need some time to decompress."

"You want to head back to the school?"

"Yes, please."

"Lyra."

"On it."

Lyra pulls out her wand and in a flash you're back at the castle gates.

"Why not just teleport us back to Generosity House?" he asked

"If we did that the school's alarms would raise a yellow flag." Lyra explained "Essentially we wouldn't be marked as intruders, but we would have a bunch of security swarming us to make sure we weren't a threat, which is a needless hassle."

"That's annoying."

"It is but it helps keep everyone safe at least. Can't really take chances with power like this."

Anon nodded and head inside the castle. He hated to admit it, but that whole experience, the vision and the dream, left him pretty shook up. Becoming one with the Greater Magic? Was such a thing even possible? Would he really one day ever want to do that? Was there something in Clover's memories that would allow him to do it? Something in her research? What was it the Clover was searching for anyway? And how did she prevent the close of the age of magic?

It wasn't hard to put two and two together that she was trying to find a solution to the Greater Magic siphoning away magic and, that in the process, she created Life Magic. But how did she get there? And why did she vanish just prior to the start of the Magic Golden Age? What sacrifice was Celestia referring too? He wanted to hit his head against the wall. He thought going through the crest memories would help him understand more but it only gave him more questions.

Anon walked back into his room, slightly fuming and sat on his bed trying to wrack his brain and figure out what this all meant. Everyone was gone except for Trixie, who was still slowly waking up. Trixie turn in her bed with one eye open, staring at him.

"How long have you been awake?" She yawned

"Quite a while."

Lyra tapped his leg

"I have an idea."

"Anything at this point."

"Why not go into the castle library?" she proposed "Maybe we can find more information about Clover there. I know she's not very well documented, but there should be at least something. And since Bonnie and I are 11th year students we can get you into places normally cordoned off."

"It certainly wouldn't hurt. I need some time to unwind a bit first."

"Feel free."

Anon pulled out the children's wand Sunset gave her and began to practice encasing. Or tried to anyway. His mind wouldn't stop spinning long enough for him to focus. He just wanted to know. Especially the biggest question of all: why him? Of all the people in the world to give one of the most powerful crests in existence, why on earth was it him?

"You alright, Anon" Trixie asked

He crossed his arms

"No, I am not alright."

Trixie smiled, flicking her wand and changing instantly into a new robe.

"Walk with me."

Anon looked at Bonbon

"Can you conjure up a room so her and I can speak privately?"

"Absolutely." Bonbon said

Bonbon took out her pink gem staff and in an instant they were on a beach. The provided a warm glow while the waves softly crashed against the shore. Trixie looked at him sympathetically.

"What's going on?"

Anon tells her about the dream and what it meant, as well as the crest memories.

"And I just don't know how it all fits together. Most of all I don't understand why I'm the one who was chosen. Why not pick some noble or someone with a long mage history like Lyra?"

"I wish I had the answers to those questions." Trixie said "But I know you'll find them. Clover had her reasons. They don't call her clever for nothing."

"Well she doesn't seem that clever if you ask me." he sighed "I wish I was mortal again. Or at least didn't have the burden of this crest laid at my feet."

"Really? Why?"

"It's so much power being a mage. So much responsibility. Too much."

"But you're not alone. You have me. Sunset. Coloratura. We're all here to help your brave this storm. It's new and new can be scary. But we won't leave you alone through it all."

"But what if I can't do it? I have only a year to prepare to fight one of the most powerful mages in all of history and I can't even get encasing right!"

"You'll do it."

Trixie puts a hand on his shoulder

"But you won't do it by yourself. When that day comes we'll all be fighting right along side you. We'd never let you stand up against a titan like Nightmare Moon alone."

Anon lets out a sigh or relief

"Thank you, Trixie. That makes me feel a little better at least."

"Glad I could help. I know this is all hard and confusing, Anon. But no matter what happens or how hard it gets we're by your side."

"Thank you."

"Anytime. Anon if you ever need a pep talk or a shoulder to cry on, you can always count on me. To be honest, I feel your pain."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Being part of a mage family is very difficult. Most families want to take nobility status, be set for life. You're expected to be perfect, to have everything figured out."

"I can only imagine the pressure. There's already a family who occupies the spot of nobility you want to attain isn't there?"

"Yeah. I don't want to get too deep into it. I'm just letting you know. I've had a rough time of it too, especially with the idea of undue responsibility. And I'm here if you need someone. I may not know what's it's like to bare one the crest of one of the most influential and accomplished mages of all time, but I do know what it's like to be a small fish in a big pond. "

"Thank you, Trixie."

"Ready to go back out?"

"Ready."

The scene once again looked as if someone had thrown water on a freshly coated painting and they returned to their room. Anon sits back on his bed.

"So Trixie." he said "What classes are you taking?"

"I'm taking my second performance magic course, stage arrangement. Then botany and Insight."

"Insight?"

"It's a precursor course to Divination, the study of fortunate telling and foresight. It's not the field of performance magic I intend of perusing, but I find it interesting nonetheless."

"What branch of magic does it fall under?"

"Illusion."

"What about Life Magic?"

"You sure are curious today."

"I think it'll help me understand Clover a bit better."

"Life Magic falls into a combination of both Manifestation and Manipulation." she said "It's why it was so ingenious during that time. No one had ever thought to combine the two. It's practically of a school of magic it's own right, but those are it's base components."

"That's really interesting."

"Anything else mister twenty questions?"

"Nah, that's all."

"Good. If you need me I'll be in the shower."

Trixie walks out, leaving him with only Lyra and Bonbon

"Can we go to the library?"

"You changed your mood fast." Bonbon commented

"Trixie gave me a good pep talk."

"Well if you want to I don't see why not."

"I'll go with Anon." Lyra said "You get some sleep. That dilation can be pretty tough on your body."

"Dilation?"

"It's how Bonbon is able to stay half conscious to protect you during the night." Lyra said "Basically she runs such a large amount of mana into her own body that she slows her internal time by a third. So for every hour we experience, she only goes through twenty minutes. It's good for staying awake for extended periods of time but it really wears on the body after a while."

Bonbon lets out a yawn

"That sounds like a good idea. If you need me, I'll be in Closed Space."

Lyra and Anon exit and walk across the castle grounds. They had to walk a good two miles before they finally reached the castle library. It was quite impressive from the outside. It was a large, brass dome with two large towers in the front. They walked in through the large steel gates.

The inside was amazing, like something out of Renaissance Europe. The dome was entirely painted, depicting a scene of two mages fighting one another. There were book shelves as far as the eye could see. Not only that, but some of the books were actually flying about the library. The Library itself was three stories, each story seeming to comprise more books than the last. He followed Lyra to and old iron elevator with a man standing beside it.

"We want to go to level four please." she said, flashing an ID

The man nodded and motioned into the Elevator

"Yes, right this way please."

They both get on the elevator and the man uses a wand to press the button. To his surprise, they began to sink into the floor.

"By the way," Lyra said "You can't tell anyone I let you do this. I'm not technically supposed to do this."

"My lips are sealed."

"Good."

They sink lower and lower for a total of five minutes. Anon was surprised by the sight. It was completely pitch black.

"Welcome to the hidden fifth floor of Canterlot Library."

"Why is it so dark?"

"It's customary. The motto of the Library is 'Duces Cæci Sumus Omnes Ad Veritatis' or We are All Blind to the Truth. To embody that spirit, this part of the library remains shrouded in darkness, to humble us and remind us we are not as smart as we believe to be."

"No offense, but I find that tradition silly."

"I could say the same about many mortal traditions."

Lyra pulls a wand from her belt and a large amount of light cuts through the darkness. There were once again rows and rows of bookshelves stuffed with books of all shapes and sizes. However they could only see about five feet in front of them so there was no way of knowing how far it extended or even where the walls were.

"How are we supposed to find a book on Clover in all this? We can barely see the direction we're going."

"Easy. We call upon the Keeper."

"The Keeper?"

"Allow me to show you."

Lyra claps her hand twice and what sounded like a thousand tiny legs tapping on the floor began to get closer at an alarming speed. Finally the thing making the noise came into the light. It was utterly horrifying, like something out of a nightmare. It was a long, centipede like creature at least half as tall as them. Only it had long, dirty black hair, a big red horn in the middle of it's face, and giant, sharp jaws curved into an unnerving smile. It's eyes were completely white and it turned it's head slightly to the left, as if it were an animals studying a new object. It had hundreds of tiny legs poking out from it's hair and the body extended so far back that it was out of view from the light.

"We need everything you have relating to Clover the Clever." Lyra said

The hideous monster nodded slightly, it's smile not fading for a single second. It crawled on the bookshelf and disappeared back into the thick darkness. He could still hear the awful tapping of it's thousand little legs the entire time.

"What the hell was that thing?"

"That's the Keeper. It's a creature that came from the Abyssal Trench and one of the few that won't eat your head off or tear you limb from limb. He looks pretty scary but I assure you he's harmless."

"The Abyssal Trench?"

"Right. It's the dimension the lies between our world and the Greater Magic. It's pitch black and filled with an unholy amount of monsters."

"You mean it's actually possible to get to the Greater Magic?"

"In theory. However no one who's tried has ever succeeded. It seems to go on infinitely, like space. No matter how far anyone goes they never seem to reach anything." she said "It's also highly dangerous due to all those monsters."

The tip-tapping of the legs begins to get closer again and the Keeper appears, dropping a small pile of books on the floor.

"Good boy! Here's something for your trouble."

Lyra takes out her wand and poofs a bucket full of dark brown sludge into existence, giving it to the Keeper who happily gobbles it down.

"Let's head back up to the surface. Be a lot easier to read this stuff in the light."

Lyra conjures a bag to put all the books in and they return to the elevator, riding up and returning to Generosity house. The books were quite ornate and old, some looking to be on the verge of falling apart. Anon took a look at the first book to catch his eye: A Comprehensive Look at Clover the Clever: What We Know So Far. He opened it up, allowing a large amount of dust to escape.

"Damn how old is this thing?"

"Most of the books about Clover were done during the Magic Silver Age, so close to seven-hundred years old more or less."

Anon began to pour through each of the books but, unfortunately, was left with little that he wasn't already aware of. There were only three important things of note: 1. Clover was last seen in a place called the Heavenly Forest, home to the World Tree, 2. Clover was highly interested in using the Greater Magic to the magic world's benefit, rather than seeing it as an obstacle to be overcome and 3. Clover's battle with Nightmare Moon left her mortally wounded and near death at the end of it. But it was through this near death experience that she discovered life magic

By the time he was finished reading it was already two o'clock. Both Coloratura and Wallflower had returned, their arms full of snacks and a few various items like stuffed animals and toys.

"What are you working on?" Coloratura asked

"Trying to figure out more about Clover's past." he said "Unfortunately even with all these books I didn't learn too much."

"You ought to take a break for today. I know! Why don't you join me and Trixie at the World's Eve tonight?"

"World's Eve?"

"It's another event the school is putting on this week. It's a huge fair, similar to the ones you mortals have, only far more interesting. This time it's in the Heavenly Forest."

Anon cocked his eyebrows. He certainly couldn't turn her down now.

"Alright I'll go. When time is it?"

"It starts at seven and goes till three in the morning. Oh and another thing: you'll be expected to be in formal dress. We'll have to do some shopping to make you presentable."

"Sounds good. Let's do it."

"Follow me. I'll take you to one of the nicest shops in the town."

Comments

[deathoverlord]

Ok the story is pretty interesting because of the different roles the mlp characters take, but whats with this arrogance towards normal humans. Almost every chapter had some flak towards normal humans.

[BG9]

8931163
I’ll delve into the details in later chapters but the long and short of it is that mages and humans have bad blood between them due to persecution. I’ll explain it much further in later chapters.