Hello Icee lovers! Welcome to my very first MLP fanfic! I started out wanting this to be a series of one-shots, but after my rough draft turned into a final draft... well, this is what I came up with. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and let's get on with it. Without further ado, here's chapter 1!

Clover's POV

It was a normal day, very uninteresting. There weren't any other ponies with my imagination, it seemed. Only a few ponies allowed me to express my wild ideas, and one of them was a pegasus named Firefly.

"Clover!" she called out to me as I was walking down the gravel road. "Over here!" I galloped over to where she stood, looking at a new poster.

"What's that?" I questioned. Anything that could get Firefly this excited was worth asking about… plus I was pretty bored.

"This… This is… Oh! Just read it!" I rolled my eyes and looked at the poster. On it were three pegasi, all wearing uncomfortable-looking uniforms. It read: Join the EUP! Now looking for fast and fearless pegasi! Auditions Wednesday, July 23rd. I read it several times through. Firefly had told me countless times about how she was going to join the EUP as soon as they were accepting new members. She'd been practicing her flight tricks, and they were pretty good. Not only that, but she had done extensive research on wingspan, trajectory, speed. She had figured out that, with just the right movements, a pegasus could perform a legendary trick known as: the sonic rainboom.

"Oh my goodness, Firefly! That's great. But, wait, auditions are next month. How long will you be gone? Does Scarlet know?" I was flooding her with questions, partly because I was curious, partly because… She was one of my only two friends. The other was Scarlet Heart. Scarlet was a good friend, but she wasn't enough. I needed Firefly, too. I started thinking that maybe there was a spell I had learned to erase her short term memory, or maybe just make her not want to leave. But what kind of a friend would I be then? I waited for her to answer.

"Well, I don't know how long I'll be gone, but if I'm accepted… I guess I'll move to Canterlot. It's a big IF, and I haven't told Scarlet yet, but this is the opportunity I've been waiting for my whole life! I really hope you can be happy for me. I'll write everyday, I promise!" The blue-maned pegasus looked at me hopefully, and I sighed.

"Of course I'm happy for you, Fly. But you're leaving. And that's kind of a downer for me." She smiled at me, then put a hoof around my neck.

"Hey, it's not like I'll be gone forever. I'll visit." Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she gasped excitedly. "Or, you guys could visit me! You could see me being accepted into the EUP, maybe even the Wonderbolts! Oh, I know! When I become an admiral or general, I'll make it to where the Wonderbolts can perform amazing stunts for all of Equestria! I'll show 'em the loop-dee-loop spin around combo! And the-"

"What's all this about Wonderbolts and loopy-loops?" called a soft voice approaching us from the street. Scarlet was walking towards us with her saddle bags loaded down with new art supplies. The paintbrush and canvas on her flanks were hidden, but you didn't need to see her cutie mark to know what her talent was.

"Hey, Scarlet. Firefly was just going on and on about how she's going to be captain of the Wonderbolts." Scarlet turned her head to Firefly. The red curls of her mane were slightly frizzing, and her left wing was hidden behind her bag. This was when something seemed… off.

"Is that so? I didn't realize all of those stunts of yours were… were for… for-" She fainted. Right there on the side of the road, she fainted. Firefly was quick to catch her, and raced Scarlet up to a big cloud. I cast a spell of flight, and joined them. Flying was quite the achievement for a unicorn, but controlling flight was a feat all its own. It took a lot of practice to learn how to fly properly. Firefly had offered to teach me some tricks, which I declined for fear that I would just confuse myself.

"How is she?" I asked once I reached the cloud. Firefly looked panicked.

"I don't know. She was moving while I was carrying her, but now she's not! Clover, what do we do?!" I thought I saw a nervous twitch, so I put my hoof on hers.

"Go get a doctor. I'll stay here and try to figure out what's wrong." Firefly nodded, and flew off at her fastest speed, which was probably close to the speed of sound. I looked down at Scarlet. The possibilities ran through my mind: hay fever? No; pony pox? No; the feather flu? No. I thought of all the known pegasus illnesses, and then all the known illnesses in Equestria. But she wasn't showing symptoms for anything except… the Dragon's Sleep. But that was unheard of, unthinkable in such a small town.

"Excuse me," came a voice from below. Thinking it was a doctor, I peered over the cloud expectantly. I was slightly disappointed when I saw a young stallion standing there with a funny hat. He looked slightly shocked when he saw me, and I was intrigued.

"Can I help you?"

Starswirl's POV

I stared at her in disbelief. I had seen her once before, when Queen Celestia sent me through a strange mirror to retrieve a lost spell book. I didn't talk to her, but she was with me. An older version of me, but still me. This red-maned, brown-coated pony had to be a part of my future in some way. I had only called out because of a pink and blue pegasus frantically flying from that direction. I thought I might be able to help; I mean, I did know every single spell in Equestria. I cleared my throat.

"I, um, just thought I could help," I responded. She must not have been used to Trottingham accents, because when most mares would have been enamored, she simply stared curiously. "What's wrong?" She responded with a worried look at me, and then the cloud. Something was on the cloud, and I needed to see it. I cast a simple flight spell, and then a cloud walking spell, so that I was the equivalent of a pegasus. I flew up to the cloud, and the young unicorn looked at me funnily. And then I realized that, well, she was a unicorn. It was my turn to give a funny look. A small groan came from the thing on the cloud. I saw a red and white pegasus lying there, barely moving.

"She just fainted on the side of the road. I think the only thing it could be is the Dragon's Sleep, but-"

"It's not. DS victims get fevers and sunburns. Her body temperature is normal, and her coat's as white as ever." I paused. "Unless her coat is supposed tobe a different color?" She smiled.

"No, it's just white." I nodded.

"Well, I could be wrong, but I think her body just had a big shock she couldn't handle. Has she heard any alarming news lately?" She shook her head.

"Our friend was going to leave for Canterlot, but she didn't get to tell Scarlet. Oh, uh, this is Scarlet, by the way. Anyways, I don't know of anything big or shocking she might have heard."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to study her a bit more." She nodded, and I set to work.

Clover's POV

I watched the young stallion for a while before thinking to ask him something.

"What's your name?" I asked. He looked at me quizzically. I blushed a bit and looked down. "You know, I just thought I'd ask." He had pulled several books out of his saddle bags and was reading one when he answered.

"Starswirl. Most people call me 'Starswirl the Bearded'." He showed off his short brown beard. I chuckled. "What? It's true!"

"Okay, ," I replied.

"Well, what's your name?" he asked me. For a split second, I was unsure whether or not I could trust Starswirl. I had only just met him, of course. But, in that moment, when I looked into his deep purple eyes, I knew that he was a great stallion.

"Clover Clubs. But you can call me Clover." He smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Clover." He held out his hoof, which I shook.

"Clover!" Firefly's voice echoed through the sky. She seemed to appear out of nowhere, which obviously took Starswirl by surprise.

"Who's this?" Starswirl and Firefly asked simultaneously. I sighed.

"Firefly, Starswirl. Starswirl, Firefly." I turned to Firefly. "Did you bring the doctors?" She landed on the cloud beside Scarlet.

"When I got there, they said they'd send an ambulance carriage, but that was too slow. So I said I'll just fly her over lickety split!" Starswirl nearly doubled over.

"No! You can't move her too quickly or else it'll send her body into a relapse. All your friend needs is a little nap, and she'll be fine. But do NOT move her." Firefly suddenly got defensive. She started to hover, an instinct of all pegasi to show power.

"Now listen, Swirly. I don't know who you think you are, but you don't tell me what to do!" They were seconds away from destroying each other, so I stepped between them.

"Alright, alright! Break it up you two. Firefly and I will stay with Scarlet. Starswirl, it was nice meeting you."

"Actually, I think I could use your assistance, Clover. Would you come with me, please?" I looked back at Firefly, who was shaking her head furiously, then I looked at Starswirl. I knew I shouldn't have, I knew he was a stranger, but I guess I didn't care much. I was lucky, and that was represented by the four leaf clover on my flanks. With this reasoning, I jumped off the cloud and floated onto the ground below, right alongside Starswirl. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. He started walking down the road, and I followed.

Firefly's POV

I watched them. I just sat there, and watched my best friend walk off with some stranger. It wasn't like I could go after them, though. Somepony had to stay with Scarlet, and I guess that was me. As much as I hated to admit it, Swirly was right. Scarlet was better off just staying still. But, on the bright side, now I had some free time to kill to practice my moves for the EUP. I flew up and down at the speed of sound. I knew the routine like the back of my hoof. I was almost to the finale when I heard Scarlet call out.

"Firefly…? Where am I? What happened?" I flew down to talk to her.

"It's okay, you just fainted. You need to rest." She looked around, and her eyes widened.

"Where's Clover?" I didn't know what to tell her. I didn't want to freak her out too much.

"She's out for right now. She'll be back." Scarlet started to get up, but I pushed her back down. "Oh no you don't! You need to just lie down, Scarlet." She pushed my hooves off.

"Please tell me she isn't with a blue unicorn with a funny hat," she said. My body went cold, and Scarlet looked even more terrified than before. "We have to stop her or we'll never see her again!" It was all coming at me a bit too fast.

"Wait, how do you know?!" I blurted out. Scarlet looked skeptical, but told me anyway.

"The Lunar Princess." I then knew that we had to find Clover before it was too late.

Starswirl's POV

I led Clover to the tiny inn where I had been staying. Queen Celestia had sent to this small town, Ponyville, to study the magical abilities of unicorns outside of Canterlot. I didn't ask questions; I wasn't supposed to. Celestia gave me orders, I followed them, and she allowed me to keep my magic. She wasn't worried about the rest of the unicorns in Canterlot. They were all brainwashed into not wanting to use their magic. The outer towns were harder to control, even though their magic was less powerful. The Queen had told me to inform her if any unicorn had enough power to be a threat. I had asked what she would do to them, but I got no answers. The other towns I had encountered seemed pretty average: mostly pegasi and earth ponies, a few unicorns that weren't magic-wise. Clover was the only one that showed any potential- and she definitely had a lot.

"So, do you know a lot of spells?" I asked. For her sake, I hoped she would say 'no'.

"You could say that. I mean, there are only so many spell books in Ponyville." I felt my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach. That meant I had to turn her in, so she could be brainwashed or worse.

"Oh," was my meek reply. I stared at her for a moment, trying to decide what to do. Celestia would surely find out about her when she performed her mind sweep on him, so I couldn't lie. But I couldn't just turn Clover in, that would be cruel. Then I thought of a way to escape. There was room in Celestia's castle filled with different mirrors that led to different dimensions. There was a rumor that the room used to belong to the Lunar Princess, and that she watched over all the worlds. But it was just a rumor floating around the castle, no evidence to back it up.

"Starswirl? Are you okay?" Clover's soft voice questioned. Her emerald eyes opened into mine, and I knew that I had to get her to safety. I didn't know why; there was just a bond of sorts between us that hadn't completely formed, but it was there. "Starswirl?" she asked patiently. I walked toward her, and she blushed.

"Clover, this is very important. You're in danger, but I have a plan." She stepped back.

"Wait, what?!" I couldn't let her panic, so I tried to calm her down.

"Clover, I have a plan but it will only work if you trust me. Now, do you trust me?" Clover was breathing heavily, and she was beginning to pace.

"I'm in danger because of you, and you expect me to trust you?"

"Do you trust me?" She looked around, and then at the ground.

"Starswirl, I-"

"Do you trust me?!" I was growing impatient, and I couldn't help her if she didn't trust me. She looked up, studying me as if I were a picture.

"Yes," she finally answered. I nodded, put on my hat, and led her through the door.

"Hold on," I told her. Clover's hooves wrapped around my neck, and it was my turn to blush. "You ready?" I asked my voice slightly cracking. She nodded, and I cast the teleportation spell. Don't worry, Clover, I thought, You and I will be far away from here soon.

Welll? Did you like it? Did you not? Let me know by following, favoriting, and reviewing! Till next time:

~Peace Out~ Icee