The Sun and the Clover

by BG9

Succession War

"This is an outrage!" shouted Wallflower's father "Wedding with the murderer of one of the greatest mages to ever exist is tantamount to treason! You think we'll just let this happen!?"

Wallflower's father was not what you'd characteristically describe as a noble. He was tall and skinny, with glasses and a rather messy style of short hair. He wore his beard out long and full and rather than wearing robes like the other families, he wore a lab coat.

The whole room filled with whispers and murmurs. The silhouette of the king rose from its seat.

"As the king my word is law."

"You're no king if you marry that wench. I hear by invoke my Right to Succession!"

The whole room was dead silent. By invoking this right, he was directly challenging the kings status to the throne. This right hadn't be invoked in nearly six centuries, much less by a newcomer.

"Very well." He said, calmly "I acknowledge you right. Who stands by our would be ruler?"

The tension in the room skyrocketed. Whoever sided with the loser would be punished severely for sure.

"Now hold on a moment." a voice echoed from behind

It was Sombra. He stood tall with a mean glare in his eyes.

"Before we go further, surely there must be a good reason for this marriage. I'd like to hear our lord's reasoning for such a bold decision before resorting to such drastic action."

"Outrageous! No explanation could possible be worth-"

"Silence!" the king boomed "My reasoning is as pure as I am. I wish to negotiate with her. Try to steer her off the war path."

His eyes were filled with rage

"Lying snake!" he yelled "You are and always have been a tyrant, always looking to grant more power onto yourself. My evocation stands."

"Very well. Those who should side with me rise their hand."

The Sombra family, the Montage family and the Sparkle family rose their hands. The Cadenza family, the Shimmer family and, of course, the Blush family sided on his behalf. Wallflower pleaded with her dad.

"You can't do this! There's no way you'll be able to stand up to him! You'll be killed for sure."

He just smiled

"Don't worry. I have a plan for this."

Tirek emerged from behind the vail, dressed in fine silk robes

"So be it. Since the vote is evenly split we will settle this as those long past have always done. A trial by combat."

Sunset yelled from across the room

"Don't do it! You can't beat him!"

"Quiet, Shimmer." he said

He turned back to face Wallflower and extended his hand. Wallflower began to get tears in her eyes.

"My daughter, it is time for you to make our family great. I trust you."

He grabbed her hand, the wallflower family crest shinning brightly.

"Dad don't!"

In a flash of light he passed the crest and unto Wallflower. She was now head of house and a noble while her dad was now without most of his power. He took out his wand and faced the king.

"Now. Let's see what you're made of King Tirek."

Tirek began to have a fit of laughter

"Even as you stand before me without your teeth you're as confident as can be. I may miss you."

Tirek reveal his staff and took a strong pose.

"At least they can say you died with dignity."

"At least."

Anon was walking through the school grounds trying to get the edge off after his contentious encounter with Lyra. Slapping her wasn't the best move in retrospect. But the idea that she'd just abandon Bonbon offended him to the core. He'd find a way. He couldn't bare the idea of saving the world while sacrificing the person who risked life and limb to save him.

As he took his stroll he noticed something was off. There was tension in the air. The regular jovial, happy voices of students taking their break was instead replaced with whispers and panicked faces. He noticed that each of them had a paper. He heard running footsteps behind him. It was Coloratura.

"Anon, you have to take a look at this!"

She shoved the paper in his face. He pushed it back and read the headline. It stated simply "Head of Wallflower family killed after challenging the king." Anon's eyes went wide.

"What? This can't be right."

"It is."

He scanned the page quickly trying to find news of Wallflower

"What happened to Wallflower? Was Sunset there too?"

"Apparently she was. Though nobody knows what's happened."

"We have to find a way to contact them."

"We can't. They're likely still in the High King's domain. No messages will be able to sent too or from."

"Damn it." he cursed

Coloratura hugged him tight

"I hope they're both ok."

"I hope so too."

The day passed by slowly. Every second he was wracked with more and more worry. It wasn't until late that evening that Sunset returned, heading straight for Anon's room. He rushed right to her and hugged her tightly.

"Sunset! I was so worried."

Sunset hugged back tightly as tears rolled down her face.

"What happened?"

Sunset tearfully explained the events the occurred. Wallflower's father didn't even last two footsteps ahead of him. He died near instantly. Wallflower Blush herself had been imprisoned.

"What do we do now?" Anon asked

"I don't know." Sunset replied

"We can't just leave her there!" Trixie said "She'll be executed for sure!"

"She's awaiting trial isn't she?" he asked

"Yes but the king is a tyrant. He'll kill anyone who opposes him."

"What do we do then?"

"We have to break her out. We have too!"

Sunset shook her head

"No one in all of history has ever successfully broken out of the kings jail. The place is impenetrable."

"But!" Trixie protested

"I said no! We can figure something out. We just can't afford to be rash right now. We'll find a way. I'm sure I can think of something, use my royal privileges to work something out. Until I do though you can't be hasty."

Trixie slammed her fist against the side of the wall.

"God damn it."

"I know you're angry right now. But we have to play our cards right or things will get worse. We have to be extremely careful going forward. No doubt they'll have more eyes on me for siding with Blush."

Anon sighed

"This is bad. We can't have the king breathing down our neck like this."

"What's done is done. Just tread carefully is all I'm saying. Don't say anything you'll regret."

"So what does this mean for the sword?"

"We have to go through with it," Sunset said "We don't have much choice at this point. Knowing Lyra, she'd probably go with or without us."

"Are you coming?"

"No. Things are way too hot right now for me to be making any risky moves like that. I can give you this though."

Sunset rifled around in a satchel tied to her waist pulling out a smooth red stone. Beyond the clear stone was Sunset's crest glowing brightly. It felt warm to the touch, as if it'd been laying in the sun all day.

"What's this?" he asked

"It's a mana stone. The material has a special property of being able to store mana for an extended period of time. If you find yourself in a bind all you need to do is crush it in your hand. When you do you'll get the power stored inside. I don't know what you'll find down there but hopefully this will be enough to get you out of trouble."

"Thank you, Sunset."

Coloratura sighed

"I wish we could come."

"It's alright. Lyra said she'll be bringing friends. And Rarity will be tagging along as well."

The new day began without much delay and at the crack of dawn. Lyra instructed him via a secret note beneath his pillow to meet her just outside the castle grounds. He prepared as best as he could, taking a small bag with a wand, the mana stone and a few other essentials. and scurried off to the meeting place. There he found Lyra, Rarity and three others.

"Glad to see you've made it." Lyra said "Allow me to introduce our friends. We have Nurse Redheart, a true talent in the field of healing magic, Flitter, an expert in shielding magic as well as familiar summoning, and, finally, her sister Cloud Chaser a master lightning mage."

"We've got quite the team together." Anon whispered

"Yes. Let's hope it'll be enough."

Rarity placed her hand on Anon's shoulder

"Stay close by my side. Whatever happens, do not get caught alone."

"Right."

Lyra called for a horse drawn carriage, the same one bonbon used during the trip to the lake. As the rode high into the clouds the mood was intense. You could cut the tension with a knife.

"So where are we heading?"

"It's a bit complicated." Rarity said "We're going to London, but not as you'd know it. We're going to cross into London's shadow, a parallel universe. It's like London only the inhabitants are mostly monsters and demons."

"Clover picked quite the place to hide it."

"There's a reason no mage since her time has ever been able to recover it."

The carriage descended beneath the clouds, dropping them off just outside the city. Lyra pulled out her wand and it began to pulse lightly, almost like a metal detector. He followed the group closely until they reached a shadow.

"The signal seems to be strongest here." Lyra said "Are you ready?"

The whole group nodded

"Lets lock arms."

Everyone did so and Lyra placed her wand against the shadow. The world around them seemed to blink out of existence for a moment. When it came back it was London, but bathed in ghostly shadows and pale light. It was quiet and completely devoid of people or activity. Not even the sound of wind could be heard. It was unnerving.

"Alright." Lyra said "According to previous accounts, the sword should be inside the Tower of London. Luckily we're pretty close. We have to move quick and quiet."

The group began to file down the streets, checking each and every corner for enemies. As they closed in upon the castle, they could see monsters of all shapes and types gathered around it. Flying circles around the tower were tall vulture like beasts with two heads each and rows of fangs lining their beaks. Every now and again they'd let out a bone chilling caw.

"The sword must be emanating so much mana that it's attracting them." Redheart said "Like a beacon. This means they'll be in a feeding frenzy."

Anon felt his heartbeat quicken and his breathing become labored. He felt like he had been dropped bleeding into an ocean of starved sharks with nothing but the clothes on his back. Nurse Redheart turned her head and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Be calm." she soothed "We have very capable fighters on our side. This is nothing for us."

"Sorry. I'm just not used to this is all."

Lyra took the lead and made a plan.

"Alright. I'll take front with Cloud Chaser. In the center we'll have Flitter, Anon and Redheart. To the rear, Rarity. Flitter I need you to cast a barrier to protect us. Should that fail, protect Anon at all costs. Got it?"

The group nodded. Flitter removed the staff attached to her back and began to chant. Like a fountain spewing water, blue energy began to emanate from the top of the staff until it formed a bubble around the group. Everyone got their wands at the ready.

"Alright. Let's go."