The Sun and the Clover

by BG9

The Eternal Rose of the North

"The Elk Kingdom?" Anon asked

As he said it something about it familiar. The whole place in fact was giving him an odd sense of deja vu, as if he'd walked through here before. It came with fond feelings, feelings of kinship, comfort and happiness. He stared at the dilapidated kingdom, which looked more akin to an a trade outpost than anything. The old wood was rooting from what seemed like centuries of frost and neglect. The stone the made the castle itself was no better, it looked so eroded that it might collapse from just a light breeze. The clay humanoid answered him.

"Yes. We were once a proud kingdom, founded in the magic ancient age. All that is left now is Princess Skystar, and I, her final servant."

"Can we speak with the princess?"

Both Rarity and Sunset gave uncomfortable looks, as if he'd just made some social screw up.

"Princess Skystar has been asleep for centuries. One of the Nine Sisters cursed her. She's been asleep ever since then."

"The Nine Sis-"

Anon was stopped with a hand over his mouth. It was Rarity.

"Hush! Do not say that aloud."

He felt the mood shift dramatically. The fear could be felt on the very air.

"I'll explain later. But for now you must never, I mean never, ever utter that or their names."

"I understand."

"Faithful servant, how do we address you?"

"Simply Golem will be suitable."

Golem waddled towards Anon on his tiny block legs. He glanced at him closely before put his hands on him. Clovers crest flashed for a brief moment.

"Ah, I see. I know now what it is you seek. Come this way please."

They followed him past the decaying castle around the back. There was a large graveyard and, at its center, the entrance to the crypt. It felt as though the air was getting colder, the atmosphere heavier. Golem opened the door to the crypt and what must have been three centuries worth of built up musk rush forth. Anon had to stop himself from throwing up his dinner across the floor. As they walked down the ancient stone steps, Sunset cast a small sun above their heads. Its warmth was welcome. His dress robes certainly weren't made for sub arctic temperatures.

"So can someone explain to me what this is all about? Why is a princess in a dingy place like this?"

"You'll... see when we get there." Sunset said

"She's not dead is she?" he whispered

"Not quite. Just be patient."

They walked deep into the center of the crypt. A dim clydascope of colors filled the room, as though someone was shining light though stain glass, despite there being no light source. Six coffins surrounded a pedestal. Atop the pedestal rested a glass coffin where a beautiful autumn haired woman in a white dress lay holding a glass rose. The glass rose sparkled brilliantly, it was the source of the colors. Once again, Anon felt an overwhelming feeling of deja vu. The glass rose called to him, it was something with immense value. Not just monetarily but symbolically. He felt so many emotions pouring from it.

"Successor of Clover, I beg thee." Golem pleaded "Release the curse that binds my princess. If anyone can do it, it's you."

"Can I take a closer look?"

"Of course. But please be careful."

"I will."

Golem removed the glass coffin top, allowing him to peer inside. Crest memories began to fill him once again.

Clover as well as others stood by the glass coffin. It was a funeral of some kind. Clover clasped her hand tight around a rose, however this one was not made of glass. The grip she had hurt, the thorns boring into her skin.

"I'll make the Nine Sisters pay for this. How dare they side with him. The king! The one who will sooner lead us all to slaughter!"

She kicked the side of the wall with force. A tall, long bearded man placed his arm around her.

"Please, Clover." he said "Her sacrifice has bore a great gift. We must use it carefully."

"I'm going to use the Forever Rose to kill them all." Clover said "Then the king will be next. They will suffer for what they've done."

The man gripped her tightly, forcing her to look him in the eye

"As your mentor I forbid it. Revenge is the game of fools. Think of all I've taught you, the way of the Druids! Nature seeks not revenge. It simply is."

"That's all this has ever been about!" Clover cried "First Arthur took away my parents, then my village, and now skystar! And it was all with the help of the Ladies of the Isle of Apples. And now even Celestia and Luna!"

Clover collapsed on the floor before a new memory appeared. Clover was relaxing in a hot spring with Celestia and Skystar.

"This is nice." Clover said with a sigh "It's been too long since I just relaxed."

Out of the corner of her eye, Clover could see the large scar plastered across Celestia's back. Every time she glanced at it, she felt overwhelming guilt. Celestia had long since forgiven her, but the sin still weighed heavy on her.

"Enjoying the bath?" Skystar asked

She spoke unusually, like that of a creature trying to study human language and behavior. All of her mannerisms were off. Her eyes had a vacant stare and her face was completely deadpan.

"Yes, very much." Clover said "So the cave. What was it you called it?"

"The Cave of Eternity." Skystar said, robotically

"Yes, that's it. How do you figure this will help us?"

"Inside lies the Forever Garden. Using it we can-"

The scene changed before she could finish. Both Clover and Skystar were sat in a dark cave surrounded by glowing blooms and an even brighter tree.

"It's more beautiful than I imagined it to be." Clover said

"Yes. Each of these roses holds the soul of one of my ancestors."

"Souls? Forgive me, but isn't that impossible given the nature of your species?"

"You think just because I'm artificial I am without a soul?"

Clover didn't respond, instead turning her head to the ground.

"This is the only solution we could come up with. Just as you fear the end of the era of magic, we fear the loss of our knowledge. The experience that makes us more than what we could ever be on our own."

Clovers eyes lit up

"That's it! The solution! Why didn't I think of this before! You're a genius!"

"The solution?"

"To the decline of magic! This is the key! With this magic will never fade!"

"I'm not sure I follow."

Clover began to skip back and forth.

"If we use this in conjunction with my Five Points, it's a way to story magic that even the Greater Magic can't remove."

"But the only way a Forever Rose is born is when someone of my race dies."

"Right. But if I use the Five Points I can overcome that. It's the perfect loophole!"

Another flash to change the memory. This time however, it was deeply disturbing. Nothing but flashes. A fire. Knights in armor. Blood. It was like he was witnessing raw, uncontrollable anger. Finally he woke with a start. He looked around only to see he was no long in the crypt but the main castle. Just in front of him a fire raged in the aging, soot covered fire place. Everyone else was asleep beside the fire. He let out a few deep coughs. The weather certainly wasn't agreeing with him.

Anon starred into the fireplace, utterly immersed in thought. That was a lot to take in, especially the last memory. What in the world was the Five Points? Was the Forever Rose the key to finding Clover? Why did these memories always leave him with more questions than they did answers? As he shifted in his sleeping bag, he felt something large nudging him. He couldn't believe it. It was Excalibur. He had forgotten it during the attack on the school. Along with his promise to the animals of the garden in that crypt where he found it. Where they still alive? What a mess everything was. He looked up through one of the holes in the roof only to spy what looked like silvery fox. It looked down at him intently, as though it knew exactly who it was. The fox waved its tail subtly and nudged its head. He got up and followed roughly where the fox was pointing. The beautiful creature waited outside, its paws barely crunching in the snow. It ran through the cemetery and into the crypt. Anon did his best to keep up with it, eventually meeting it at the glass tomb. The fox lay atop the tomb, looking down at the glass rose in Skystars hand. Whatever it was, whatever it could do, it was essential in defeating Nightmare Moon. He look around. No sign of Golem or anyone else. For the sake of the mage world, he'd need to do some grave robbing. He began to lift the case off the princess while the fox retreated to a corner of the room and watched. His hand slipped and it came down with a resounding crash. No point in trying to turn back now. He plucked the rose from her hand.

The moment the rose escape the Princess' grasp, her fair skin began to wither, her hair dried and began to fall. Before his very eyes she began to turn into nothing but bones. She really wasn't human. Her bones were not white, but an almost chrome like blue. Etched into the ribs were strange runes that gave off a light glow. Before he even had time to contemplate just what a mess he'd made of this situation, the fox jumped forth and snatched the rose.

"Hey! come back here!"

Anon chased after the fox but even with his enhanced speed gifted from the life magic, he was nowhere near quick enough. It was gone before he even exited the tomb. Golem came running out.

"What have you done!? You must retrieve that rose! It is of the utmost importance!"

"That fox took it!" Anon said

"Well track it down! I must stay with the princess. She must live! You have to retrieve it within three days or she'll never see the sunlight again!"

"I'll grab Sunset and Rarity. They'll know what to do."

Anon ran back to the castle as fast as he could and woke the two of them up, explaining the situation. He grabbed excalibur in his hand.

"Any ideas of where to start looking?" Anon said, coughing a few times

Rarity was shaking with anger

"When we find that rose I swear..." Rarity said "Come on. I have a few tricks I can use."

Sunset stared daggers at him as they followed Rarity outside

"I can't believe you." she said with a hiss "I understand the weight of this mission but I thought you were better than that."

"I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"Didn't know what!?" Sunset snapped "That you shouldn't grave rob? That you shouldn't defile the dead!? Or is that custom just common practice for you sickening mortals!?"

Sunset's eyes went wide as dinner plates and she covered her mouth with her hands

"I..." she paused "I'm sorry. That was too far."

"It's ok. I'm sorry also. We'll make this right. Golem said we have three days."

Rarity walked to the middle of the clearing, pulling out a long wooden staff from what appeared to be nowhere. Her eyes filled with light and she slammed it to the ground.

"Oh Great One, I call upon your wisdom. Point us to the goal we must seek. To this I offer a sacrifice worthy."

Rarity pulled out a knife and, without a moments hesitation, cut her pinkie clean off. The severed pinkie became a small beacon of light.

"This will point us to the wherever the fox went."

"Rarity! Your finger!"

"We don't have time to worry about that now! We have to go!"

The beacon moved forward and the trio followed behind. It didn't take them long to find the fox, only it wasn't a fox anymore. There, holding the Forever Rose was Nightmare Moon.

"A pity we had to meet again so soon." she whispered

Anon became filled with a deep, primal rage. Without even thinking, he charged forward.

"Anon, don't!" Sunset yelled

Nightmare Moon just smiled and lifted her wand. With just a single flick of the wrist, he was sent flying straight into the side of a tree. A cascade of pain spread throughout his entire body. Moon just snickered.

"You're very lucky I need crest of yours. The way you charge into danger I'd have killed you a hundred times over."

Through the pain Anon got back up while Rarity and Sunset began to set up their own counter attack. Sunset began to fire bolts of flame at Nightmare Moon. She deflected them easily, as though brushing away flies. Rarity shot a bolt of her own magic, one that Nightmare Moon had to dodge.

"What's a matter demon?" Rarity taunted "Can't handle holy magic?"

"It has a certain distaste about it certainly." Nightmare Moon replied

Sunset raised her wand to her lips and began to blow against it. From her breath came a red-orange mist the quickly engulfed Nightmare Moon.

"Rarity!"

"Right!"

Rarity shot a bolt of holy magic into the mist. In a fabulous light show it burst into a large explosion, Sunset's intense flames combined with Rarity's magic sent her into a fit of screams. Before Nightmare had a chance to make her counter move, Anon swooped in behind her, excalibur in hand, the blade going straight towards the Witch's neck. As it came mere inches away from her jugular, what felt like an intense pressure filled every corner of his body. It was as though gravity itself had strengthened to the point where he could no longer support his own weight. The world around him became dark and a chilling, unnerving cold filled him. Not the cold of the north, something much worse. It was the chill of fear. All he could make out was Nightmare Moon's eyes, piercing the eyes like that of a hawk.

"I'm coming Clover." she said "I'm coming."

The pressure and darkness vanished, as did Nightmare Moon taking Forever Rose along with her.

Comments

[Moonlit_Stardust]

squeeeee I found this again! I lost track of it three chapters in and could never find it! I have soooooo much catching up to do!

Thank you for an awesome story BG9!