A Clover's Challenge

by dudenotactive

Just My Luck

It was dark, really dark, the sunlight could barely go through the thicket. A good sign that Shamrock Clover was deep in the forest and far enough from town. Which is what he wanted because he wasn't in just any forest, Clover was currently trotting through the Everfree Forest. A dangerous place to be if you were just an ordinary earth pony. But Clover didn't care, he was here looking for something, and that's some action. Armed with a cool looking stick he had just found, he sets off to find trouble in this mysterious forest.

He was thankful for being born with lime green fur, it helped him blend with the shrubbery which gave him the element of surprise. But his red mane made him stand out, so he used a small bush to cover it up. His kind might be considered prey compared to the other creatures that roamed the land, but today he was the hunter, and he will prey on a mighty beast unlucky enough to come his way.

The dried leaves crackling beneath his hooves was the only noise that he could hear, no birds or any type of woodland creature made a sound. Clover stopped and listened carefully for any sign of life but was only greeted with an eerie silence.

The only thing he could hear is his own beating heart. And just as he was about to give up, a single bush nearby had begun to rustle. A funny looking grin found itself on Clover's face, his heart began beating even faster with excitement. He could feel a bit of adrenaline flowing into his veins, and Clover was absolutely ready for what's to come.

Shamrock flinched slightly when he heard a branch snapped behind the rustling bush, he then took up arms and held the cool looking stick in his mouth preparing himself for a fight. His hoof shook with anticipation. He bent his knees and lowered himself close to the ground, a battle stance he once saw in the theaters which he was sure would be the best choice for his first strike.

A haunting moan erupted from the bush causing a shiver to run down Clover's spine.

Clover couldn't wait another longer, he launched forward with all his strength. With the stick tightly in his jaws, ready to be used against whatever beast is behind the bushes. He sailed over the wall that separated them both and he reeled back the stick, and with determination, he swung his mighty weapon to deliver a powerful blow at the mysterious beast.

But just as his weapon was an inch away from the back of the beast's head, Clover had found himself frozen in air. His body was completely bonded by an invisible force. He attempted to break free, but no matter how much he tried, he was simply stuck. Left to be in the mercy of whatever disgusting beast had caught him.

"Did you seriously tried to hit me?"

Clover's eyes shot wide open. "You can talk!?"

"It's me you idiot."

Suddenly, a bright light had lit up the darkness allowing Clover to clearly see who he had attempted to assault. A unicorn stallion with a clean white fur and a pink mane stood before him, his cutie mark was a golden star with a red seven in the middle of it. Clover would then realize who this pony was, he was none other than his good friend, Steel White.

"Oh, hey White! What'cha doin' here?"

The unicorn groaned loudly before releasing Clover from his magic and he watched his friend fall flat on his face. "Looking for you. I could ask the same question, Sham."

Shamrock hopped back onto his hooves and took a pose that radiates pure bravado. "Well dude, I myself am looking for fearsome beasts!"

"Why?" White asked.

"To hunt." And Clover gave him his answer, one so simple and dumb, that White swore he felt a vein pop from the amount of stress he was currently feeling.

"Do you know who asked me to look for you?" White waited for Clover to answer, but he only shook his head in response. "Your boss herself had broken into my house and demanded me to bring you in for work. Crazy, right?"

"Uh-oh, he sounded angry. I should totally do something." Clover thought to himself before awkwardly coughing into his hoof. "W-wow, that is crazy, dude. But why you? Are you my mother o-or something?"

"Well I might as well be with the amount of times other ponies asked about you." White gave out a light chuckle.

Clover mentally grinned after his attempt to lighten the mood was successful. "Sorry mom, I can't help it when I'm that popular!"

White couldn't help but smirk, he was mad that Clover's boss had sent him out to find said pony, but White can't really stay mad with his friend's silly antics.

"Alright, you had your fun. Let's get you to work."

"You're not mad?"

"Oh, I'm fuming." A devilish smile found itself on White's face just for a second before fading away. "But you're still my friend, and I can't stay mad at you with such a dumb reason. Also, I want to annoy your boss with your tardiness."

"Aw what? Boo!"

"Whatever, go suck a lemon." Both chuckled lightly, clearly enjoying the little moments in life. "Anyways, wanna go back to my place and get some snacks? I got some leftover fries from yesterday... Or was it last week?"

Clover shook his head. "Nah, I got a little camp just nearby, I packed a lot of bags of potato chips and a few bottles of soda." Clover said before he gestured a hoof for White to follow him.

"Awesome."

Steel White began to follow Clover to his campsite. Clover gleefully whistled a tune as they walked towards their destination while his eyes darted around. White had noticed this strange action, and knew what Clover was doing.

"So, what are we going to tell your boss?"

Clover stopped his whistling and glanced over to White. "We could tell her that I got stuck in a sinkhole."

"You used that one a few days ago. She won't just bite on the same excuse."

"But why not? It's me who we're talking about, I get stuck in sinkholes all the time!" Clover proudly held his head high. "And I know myself more than others."

White smiled and shook his head. "It really does, but like I said, your boss won't take that excuse twice."

Before Clover could tell his friend that he was wrong, both stallions heard the rapid footsteps of a wild beast heading their way.

The feeling that Shamrock Clover felt before had returned, his mind began to fog up with anticipation while his heart started pumping blood even faster. A wild grin was on his face as he tried to find out which direction the beast would come from.

He reached a hoof over his back to retrieve his cool smacking stick, only to find nothing, he realized that he had made the mistake of leaving his weapon behind.

"If fate wanted me to fight with nothing but my hooves, then so be it!"

With his resolve strengthened even further, Clover stood his ground, ready for the encounter that he had waited for. And without any more delay, the beast finally revealed itself. With its wooden paw firmly planted on the ground, it let out a fearsome howl that was loud enough to stagger Clover in his place.

A mighty timberwolf proudly stood before him, its jagged wooden teeth bared and ready to rip Clover's throat, and he wanted it no other way.

Clover waited for a chance to strike, his eyes met with the wolf's green glowing orbs. This is where he can finally quench his thirst for action, where he can prove to all that he could fight.

The timberwolf prepared itself to pounce, Clover did the same. But before the timberwolf could even make the move, he violently exploded, sending bits and pieces everywhere. The foot of the beast had flown too close to Clover and nearly gave him a light cut on the cheek. He didn't flinch or move at all, he only stared at the spot where the timberwolf used to exist.

"Dibs."

"White!" Clover immediately glared at White, knowing full well who caused the wolf's destruction. "Why did you steal that from me!? I had it!"

"Well maybe you shouldn't have called it when I'm around."

"Wait, you knew about that?"

"It was obvious with how high you were whistling earlier. Not enough to be annoying, but enough to catch the attention of anything with sensitive ears, which would be the timberwolf in this case."

"Yeah, alright. But still, I could have handled it!"

"You could, but what would you even do?"

"Well, I always did wanted to try out this wrestling move I saw."

White held back his laughter but he couldn't stop a titter from coming out. "Ahem." He pretended to clear his throat. "Dude, I'm pretty sure some silly wrestling move wouldn't hurt a timberwolf."

"Nah, I'm absolutely sure it can! Just watch me, when another wolf pops out, bam! I teach it a thing or two!"

"Easy there Clover, save it for the next monster that comes in our way." A very villainous grin occupied White's face. "If you're fast enough that is..."

Clover grinned back at his friend. "Hah! You may have magic, but nothing beats pure earth pony strength!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Yes it is."

White only shrugged his shoulders before he walked past Clover. "Alright then, we'll see how your strength would compare to magic."

"Yeah, and you'll see how capable I am in a fight!"

White was about to say a very funny quip, but something else had popped out in his mind. "Hey wait, this actually gives me an idea."

---

"Kidnapped by a pack of timberwolves." Cheddar Blaze, a pegasus mare who owns the pizza parlor where Clover worked, repeated White's excuse. "Why did a pack of timberwolves kidnap Shamrock!?"

Steel White could only let out a tired sigh. "Idiot went stargazing near the Everfree and fell asleep a little too close. I would have left him with those wolves if it weren't for the fact that my telescope was taken with him."

"But that doesn't explain why they would just drag a random pony away!"

Both Blaze and White looked over to Clover who shifted under their gaze. "W-well... I was kinda covered in... strawberry jam. I was eating so much of it that I kinda got messy after. Yeah, maybe that's why."

Blaze slammed her hoof against the table, the condiments that were meant for customers shooked and tumbled over.

"You have missed an entire day of work just because of strawberry jam!?" To say that Blaze was angry was an understatement. She was literally fuming so much that you could place an uncooked pizza on her head and it'll be done in eight minutes. "If you weren't the best employee I have in this place, I would've booted you out right now."

"I'm the best?" Clover muttered to himself.

"Don't get it over your head, you have just ruined your perfect attendance with that stupid decision you made. Now get out so I can cool down!"

Before the two stallions could even say another word, both were immediately thrown out of the building by the angry pegasus.

"And don't be late a second time!" She warned the pony who was currently on his back.

After a short minute, Clover gave White a cheeky grin. "And that takes care of that."

"Did you see her face? It was really priceless!" He said as he patted the dirt off himself.

"Well, are you happy with your petty revenge?"

White only laughed in response before he helped Clover back on his hooves.

It was an eventful day for the two ponies, though Clover didn't get the action he wanted but at least he enjoyed his time in the forest. With nothing else to do and with the sky changed in hue from blue to orange, the two friends gave their farewells and went their separate ways. Even though he risked getting fired, Clover was feeling alright.

Clover walked with a big bright smile on his face. He didn't get what he had wanted today, but at least he had some fun. Especially when he had bothered Cheddar so much with his tardiness, he didn't expect her to be so angry with something so little. Like Blaze had mentioned, he had a perfect attendance. Clover doesn't ever miss his shift and was always on time.

So he was pretty sure it wouldn't be that much of a problem.

Before Clover even knew, he was already home. A simple apartment building stood before him, nothing much was interesting with the building itself, but it was home to Clover nonetheless. It didn't take long for Clover to get to his place, nothing much had happened besides greeting a few of his neighbors while he made his way here. Really uneventful unlike this morning.

"I'm home!"

He waited for a response, after a minute a snake with green scales slithered into light and flicked it's tounge at Clover.

"Hey Spaghetti! You would not believe how my day went." The snake now known as Spaghetti didn't listen, it only slithered forward and up his leg and laid itself on top of Clover's back. "Are you hungry? Me too!"

Clover went straight to his kitchen area and over to the fridge. While the snake simply stayed still on Clover's back, the pony was browsing his own fridge trying to find something edible for both him and his pet. Seconds later he produced a jar of strawberry jam and a single egg. He placed down Spaghetti on the floor and gave it the egg before he went over to the breadbox nearby, not forgetting the butter knife to help spread the jam.

But to Clover's shock, the strawberry jam had a very strange smell coming from it. Realizing that the jam obviously went bad, he reluctantly tossed it into the bin and just decided to eat a plain old slice of bread.

He finished the bread in seconds with an unsatisfied look on his face, he just didn't like how his jam expired so quickly. He glanced over to Spaghetti to find it devouring the egg with ease.

"At least someone is enjoying their food..."

After the disappointing dinner, Clover went back to his fridge to get a drink. But just as his hoof held the pitcher by the handle, it slipped out of his grasp and spilled it's contents all over the floor. With no other choice he took a glass and drank tap water instead, right after he had cleaned his mess.

After cursing fate for the unfortunate event, he sluggishly walked towards his room. He stumbled a little on his way but he caught himself and prevented a meeting between his face and the floor.

He sighed, just this morning he was having a lot of fun, but right now he wasn't the same. Well, he wasn't really successful with his original plan this morning because of White's interference. There was only one timberwolf encounter and Clover was ready to fight, only for his glory to be stolen by White. Clover was envious with his friend's magic, sometimes Clover wished he could do it as well. Things would be easier, like holding a pitcher of water and not spilling anything.

After he reached his room, Clover dragged his hooves to his bed and crawled into the covers. With a final sigh, he settled comfortably in his bed and closed his eyes.

But much to his dismay, he felt something disturbing on his nose. His eyes snapped open and was greeted by an offending roach, it stared into his eyes for a second before Clover threw a hoof at it. The bug immediately flew and Clover's hoof instead struck his own face. With a painful grunt, Clover launched off his bed and glared at the roach on the nearby wall.

Clover glared at the insect with intent. "You of all insects chose to invade my home? Big mistake."

The cockroach answered Clover by flying away from him.

"Hey!"

Clover began to chase after the poor little bug around in his bedroom. It landed right on the door of his room and Clover attempted to smash the roach but it was quicker than him and managed to fly away from his hoof, leading to the creation of a hoof sized hole on Clover's door. To which the roach took advantage of and used it to escape Clover's wrath. Blinded by petty rage, Clover smashed head first through the door and locked his eyes on the escaping roach.

As it flew, Clover had realised where the roach was heading once his eyes saw the window in his kitchen was completely open.

"Not today you roach!"

Just before the roach could reach the window, Clover pulled a hoof back and pounced at the insect. Time seemed to slow down as Clover launched his hoof at the intruder, but even though Clover was quick, the roach was quicker.

The roach somehow managed to change its own direction as if it had landed on something and flew away from Clover's devastating attack. Clover tried to stop himself, but he was already in motion and couldn't prevent himself from going straight towards the window. But to his surprise, fate was smiling upon him as his body had collided with an invisible wall. He bounced backwards and crashed into the floor instead of falling out of the building, which would be bad since he lived on the second floor which would have gotten him some injuries if he had gone through the window.

But the strangest thing was that he had hit something. With his curiosity getting the better of him, Clover reluctantly peered out his window. There he discovered a pony in tight black leather armor sprawled out in the grass.

Clover would then realise that this was not just any pony, they were a burglar! And he just took care of them with ease.

But before he could even call for the police, his eyes had landed on an object on the floor. Upon closer look, it was a picture of him eating a sandwich, the same sandwich he had eaten last week.

The dread he felt grew as he came to a conclusion. This wasn't a burglar, this was a stalker! Faster than you could even blink, Clover closed the window, nearly breaking it with his speed and strength.

After he was sure he was protected behind the glass barrier, Clover peaked out the window and carefully watched the stalker who was still lying on the ground. This worried Clover, as much as he was freaked out by the stalker, he didn't want them to get hurt or anything. So against his own judgement, he rushed out of his apartment to check on the stalker.

After going through the flight of stairs and out through the front door of the building, Clover was already by the stalker's side. He inched forward to check if they were still breathing. Thankfully they were.

So now came the next step, he gave them a light shove, trying to wake them up. After the second shove, the stalker stirred awake. They took a second before opening their eyes, and the stalker's eyes went even wider once they landed on Clover. They let out a gasp and crawled away from the stallion with fear written all over them.

"Easy, I won't hurt you." Clover spoke in a low voice as to not scare them, as much as Clover was scared right now. "I-I won't call the police or anything. But I don't tolerate this obsession, it's very unhealthy."

"W-what do you mean?" They were a her! And she was shaking, it was obvious with the way she spoke.

Clover shook his head, he pitied the poor mare. She was definitely feeling heartbroken right now. "I know you're a stalker, and I don't like it one bit. You should just move on."

"H-how did you know!?" She asked with tears on the corner of her eyes, it threatened to fall as she shook in place.

"It was pretty obvious..." He stopped to think for a second, he didn't like seeing this mare in such a sad state. "Alright, fine. I'll let you follow me around, but the moment you do something that bothers me, I'm not gonna give you a third chance."

"I u-understand!" She yelled before she stood back and ran away from Clover.

"Wait! At least tell me your name!" His words couldn't get to the mare as she was already gone, vanished from his sight. "Dang it, I just hope she won't cause any problems."

He sighed, the reason he gave her a second chance was to help her grow out of her strange obsession. He wanted to give her a hand so she could move on. Though it might have been a mistake allowing her to stalk him freely and not talking face to face. Well, Clover will just see what he can do when he gets there.

"Sure hope that didn't wake Spaghetti up..."

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