Within the cold north, but not at the full reach of the Crystal Empire, lay a massive forest spreading in all directions. Many in this timeline call it different names, the ones in the future call it the Everfree Forest. And it was here that Clover finally came to a stop. Princess Platinum had led her this far by sensing the dark magic emanating from Rex. he had to be here, or at least nearby.
Their camp was settled at the edge of this forbidden forest and the sun had begun to set, bathing the land in an orange glow. The princess sparked a fire with some wood and a quick spell, before sitting at the far end of the camp. Though the two have been traveling together for several weeks now. There not had been enough time to build a proper repour between the two yet. Clover knew from what her adopted daughter told her that Platinum would one day be like her best friend. The princess barely cared to give a note to Twilight's comments or Clover's desires to follow. She was so distant and kept mostly to herself.
Clover sat on the other side of the fire. "You should rest. I'll take the first watch." She tried to give her the best excuse to end any possible conversations. "I can watch for Rex."
Platinum's eyes never left the fire. "I do not tire easily, nor do I need to sleep. My kind do not require such things."
Clover gave a soft sigh at the visage of the princess's new maroon crystal limbs. "You might be half an alicorn, but you still treat yourself with the same level of vanity as any classic unicorn brat."
"I am not vain," she growled back, her tone low and threatening. "This is just a necessity."
"And I don't believe you." Clover got up and moved to sit next to the princess. "And frankly, Rex would say colder words if he was here with me."
"Then perhaps we should be on our way to find him. The sooner you reunite with your beloved, the sooner we can be free the Spiraling Mountain that Twilight mentioned." She turned away from her, hoping to end the conversation there.
Clover refused to be put down. She understood the words of the alicorn from the future. Twilight was wrong about a lot of things, but one thing that became clear with each place they traveled, she wasn't wrong about the big details. Commander Hurricane had a connection with Private Pansy, according to reports, Chancellor Puddinghead was connected to Smart Cookie in some way. Thus there had to be something between Princess Platinum and Clover in the future leading up to the supposed event that would unite the species. She placed a hand on Platinum's shoulder. "If Twilight was right. You will one day become my closest friend. That's why I want to be there for you, unlike I wasn't there for her when she was a filly."
She shook off Clover's hand. "Twilight has a big mouth and says too much. You are not her mother, just connected to her supposed strong bloodline. Such thoughts can't decide fate, especially not my fate."
"And that is why I won't accept you pushing me away. I can't change what happened between you and me, but I can prevent the rift from forming now." Clover was determined to stay by Platinum's side and prove herself as a friend. She needed to find some way to bond with her. "Please... I want to get to know you." Her hands felt the scars going down her back and decided to be upfront about that first. "We both have a damaged past. You removed your wings... and I-" She was stopped Platinum stepped off the log and stood tall, her voice filled with venom and anger.
"Remove them?! You don't have the slightest clue of what I did to myself. I did not pluck them off with a spell. I had them removed the bloody old-fashioned way. A knife and a lot of pain. The process took several weeks of repeated cuts until the limbs stop growing back and all senses inside them faded away." She took her gaze down to her new crystal limbs. "Losing these was nothing compared to the utter agony of removing those wings!" She raised her hand and pointed directly at Clover. "The only thing that saved my sanity... he was standing right beside me every step of the way..." Her lips shivered and twisted. "My Dimitri never left my side until his death. Your Rex ran away without a single thought."
Clover lowered her head and tears tipped in her eyes. She had no idea the full depth of pain her friend must have gone through. However, that didn't change one colder factor that she couldn't deny. Hearing these details alone did spark something, just not what either of them expected. There was a connection between them, as bold as the moonlight overcasting them now. "You suffered as a mere child, right?"
"I was young and foolish, that pain was the worst thing to ever happen to me. I had to suffer alone, for the right reasons-"
"No!" Rex finally stepped out of the shadows to join them. Clover's eyes raced to him, but he stopped her, gesturing that the princess who tracked him here. "You weren't alone during all those nights covered in blood. Dimitri was there every step of the way."
"Yeah... And?!" She growled at his sudden appearance. "Meanwhile, she had you, and her many siblings. Legend told of the many children of her all-powerful father had!" She grabbed her rapier out and swung it through the flames. "One of the three legendary lords under the alicorns. Lord Stygian, creator of Shadowmancy and bearer of a thousand unicorn souls!"
"Yes..." Clover stood up and slowly conceded. "By that assumption alone I was never, ever lonely, right?!" She screamed at her. "Clover the Clever, sister to Clovis the Coward, Clene the Clear, Closture the Cluster, Clopin Clope Clops the three Cliplites! And so many more... only a few I ever met face to face." Her words stopped the princess instantly and ever so coldly as a truth Clover had been wanting to hide from finally came out, but what could be better said between true friends. It left the princess racing with answers to question the words and the rage tipping in Clover's breath.
"Caleigh..." The random word spoken by Rex caught Clover's attention ever so quickly and she ran into his arms. "Caleigh Cloak." He wrapped his arms around her, despite him slapping her chest for daring to speak that name out loud. "I can't remember the last time I heard somepony say your true name."
"Rex." Clover's eyes began to water, but she refused to cry in front of Princess Platinum. Instead, she leaned her face so deep into Rex's wraps under her face could no longer be seen. "Never say my real name."
"Your father did the same once long when he found you at the foot of a whore house." His eyes slowly lifted to Princess Platinum and glared with all the rage Clover refused to give her. "My master Lord Stygian... I've never known a greater whore in my life. But his lifestyle made some sense when so immortal. A fate I feared would one day consume me too. That is until I saw the infant that would one become Clover." He sat her down on the opposite log to Platinum and spoke clearly. "I will never understand why Stygian was such a monster with mares, using them and leaving without saying a word... until his latest toy died giving birth to Clover."
"Caleigh..." Platinum repeated and sat back down, her voice now trembling. "So Clover never knew her real mother... And her father was very different from mine." She raised her hand to her back and scarred remains of her wings. "I thought all mothers were cruel and vicious creatures... And when I first heard my mother's voice in my head, she confirmed my fears..." She lowered her head and stared directly into the flames. "My father raised me, therefore I sought all fathers as perfect. Maybe that's why I trusted the Wendigo so easily. He wanted revenge for his father's death... and so did I."
"Princess..." Clover spoke, finally facing her. "Parents are complicated..." She raised her hand to Rex's face. "I accepted that fact about my father long ago." She slowly moved her fingers along the edges of his chains. "And the secrets Rex has kept hidden from me, I accepted them too. That's how friendship and love works. We listen to their truths and accept them regardless."
"Friendship, huh..." Platinum finally took the moment to relax. She realized saying that stuff out loud was freeing and yet Clover couldn't be as open, not because she wanted to isolate herself. The divide between alicorn and unicorn had been strong and dangerous for millennia. However, if a unicorn like Clover could forgive her father' immortal actions, she could learn to forgive the alicorns who left her father in the void. "You're a strange pony, Clover. Friendship..." She repeated softer with a smile. "Maybe you are Twilight's ancestral mother."
"I guess that's one way to see it," Clover blushed and leaned closer into Rex's shoulder. "I would love to see my adopted daughter again."
However, this only left her beloved umbrum cold. He didn't stop her, many times he sensed them on his trail. This was no coincidence and it was clear to him. He realized it months ago when he left them behind on the clouds. Fate was guiding them all in ways he wasn't ready to accept. The Wendigo might have used Princess Platinum to spark it, but war was bound to happen one way or another. This wasn't simply an idea of if, but simply when. Now they were cast ever closer to the edge of this unseen hand. He knew he had to speak up and warn them, even if the price was his own happiness.
He chose at first to run away, but every passing day only brought them closer to finding him. They were going to come together eventually, and there was no denying it. Even if his misery was far vaster then their pain, it didn't make it right. He took a deep breath and finally faced his lover. "Clover... I will stand beside you... But you must accept that this path will only get worse before the end."
"I know, Rex." Her smile never wavered, despite watching the snowflakes falling around them. They weren't sent by the dark magic of the wendigo. No, these were the last embers of a previous year eclipsing in the flare of the Sun's final light. Summer would soon be upon them and the world would continue its journey back to the next winter, the foretold day when everything would change, and the events of Hearth's Warming would be upon them all.
Deep within the Earth Pony Conglomerate, inside a vast and empty mansion surrounded by dying gardens. This is where Sage and Vanity were sent next. They assumed this would lead to another disaster they would be forced to watch. However, unlike before they didn't protest in the slightest. They weren't ready for the event that might unfold, but their minds were now more accustomed to the possibility of what might happen.
They followed the insane Carnival Carnage through the dusty old mansion. The place looked so old that they were surprised anypony was living here at all. It was so far abandoned that it didn't even have servants, which was even more strange for the rich view under all the web. Despite these voids, there were occasional disturbances in the dust on the floors. There was an echo in the halls that seemed coming from the direction they were being led.
They finally made it to a grand doorway with clearly fresh handprints all over it. "Oh, he is home..." Carnival laughed and rolled over on his unicycle. He pushed the doors open rather easily and revealed the strangest sight in stark contrast to everything else. Instead of more emptiness and void of life, they found the complete opposite.
A table covered in tons of the freshest food, cleanest water, and an arrangement of wine. The longer they looked the more expensive everything appeared, much like the mansion it was found in. However, these good and delicious decadents stood as if in total defiance to the harsh shape of the walls and doors around the room. It was as if this table was from a different reality, where this mansion wasn't abandoned. Yet this was real, no dream or illusion.
The smell hit them and lured them closer. They hadn't eaten in so long they forgot how hungry they were. Their mission from their Wendigo master had kept them on a constant move and never stopped for any more than a single bite. Was this an act of kindness after everything they witnessed, or something more?
"I see you like my arrangement." A new voice echoed at the far end of the table. There was a rather young earth pony, bounded to a wheelchair. His body was so contorted from the neck down it made it impossible to tell if he was even looking at them without looking directly into his eyes. The only thing that did seem to function was his left hand, and even then it was very limited.
He moved the lever in his hand, and several gears in the wheelchair started to turn. "Please, join me for dinner." He gestured his head toward the chairs that were placed around the table. "I'm sure your journey has been long and difficult. You are my guests. Please sit, and relax."
Sage and Vanity flipped back at each other for a few looks before taking their seats. They were weary of what this earth pony wanted with them. But he seemed far kinder and certainly more sane than Carnival Carnage. Perhaps he could be reasoned with? Maybe these events they came here to witness wouldn't be as bad this time around.
"I am Counselor Gravyback." He introduced himself and took a sip of the straw beside his mouth. "I see the great priest, Carnival Carnage, has brought you to my estate. I am honored." His neck barely moved toward the clown priest and winked back.
"You know his name and rank too?" Sage raised an eyebrow.
"Of course." Counselor Gravyback smiled, "All earth ponies know each other?!" He laughed so hard that spit gagged out of his mouth randomly.
"Sorry..." Sage stopped, realizing that he was talking in more racist slang, throwing him off. The counselor seemed so kind that it was rather telling that he would assume such a thing outright for ponies he had just barely met five seconds ago. Sage looked over to Vanity, who seemed as baffled as him, but both didn't want to push it any further, eating enough and waiting to hear him out.
"No, it's fine. Carnival actually served under my father before joining your master's mission."
"Oh, yes. How is Servantus Gravestone?"
"Been dead for more than ten years now!" Gravyback laughed harder than he wanted to, coughing to hide his joy. "Go ahead and eat as much as you like, particularly try apple cookies as they are my mother's favorite recipe. She would make them every Sunday evening, and I never missed a batch." Counselor Gravyback smiled so fondly as if recalling a memory. He turned his wheelchair to the left and right, moving around the table.
"Shame we couldn't meet with your mother, Cenior Puddinghead!" Carnival slipped the name seemingly on purpose. This caused a strange reaction from Counselor Gravyback.
The paralyzed earth pony slammed his movable hand so hard on the lever that the skin tore. It caused the chair to jolt violently. "She's very busy... again" His spit was so bad that vomit was mixed in, making it so much more difficult to understand him. However, his voice was loud and clear.
Vanity and Sage exchanged another glance, clearly seeing another mystery in plain sight. Where was this mother of his, if she made the food. Vanity, as a doctor, was far more concerned about his health. Sage, on the other hand, was trying to see the angle happening here as if he sensed a lie somewhere in the actions.
Counselor Gravyback finally managed to compose himself. He let out a long sigh and relaxed his chair. He leaned over and grabbed a cookie. His hand was too weak to reach his mouth at all so he just caressed the cookie ever so softly. "Let's get onto the details of why you're here."
just out of these ruins, unknown to the meeting happened, a pair of friends wandered through the market of the city. Starlight was growing impatient and frustrated, she wasn't afraid to show it. Reaching her limit she finally screamed out loud, stopping the group in their spot. "This is all pointless! We could search this country for eternity and never find Puddinghead. We need to storm that castle!"
"I told you, Starlight!" Twilight put her student's hand down. "There is no castle, no capital of any kind. This country is barely connected as it is. They are held together by their status as the same species and nothing more."
"Certainly so..." Silver Pear conceded. "I can see why my mother never brought us this place." He pointed toward Starlight's horn and commented on many earth ponies that looked at him strangely for even walking near Starlight.
"It's strange..." Twilight turned to Cold Blue. "We didn't deal with any problems like that on our end, but of course, neither of us could be mistaken for earth ponies."
"Correct." Cold Blue confirmed. "The earth pony race is a stubborn and staunch kind, pushed by this through thousands of years under Ixion's rule. Despite being the first race to find magic, they were the first to fall under his arm during the fall of the Titans." He turned toward the further east where the remains of the Giant Blue Hourglass were beyond sight. "After the alicorns defeated him, all the species were free to be as they were before, but the pain of his tyranny stuck longest in the minds of the earth ponies for surviving far more generations under his will than any other. This pushed them to unite together under the same banner,but never under the name of a king."
"That is why this country is so huge, united, but scattered. It's not like a kingdom or empire of previously." Twilight continued. "There is no central place of power. In the future, the unicorns look to Princess Platinum or her bloodline. The pegasi stood under Commander Hurricane and her fame, but there is very little in the history books at all as to why the earth ponies decided to follow Chancellor Puddinghead."
"So, is there even a point in finding her at all?" Starlight groaned. "This is all so confusing."
"History said so." Twilight stomped her foot. "We've meddled in the timeline and all it did was continue on track regardless of our actions. It's wise now to simply follow the path instead."
"And how can we do that when no pony will tell us anything?" Starlight complained. Lifting up her fingers, she counted the many times when ponies would just flat-out ignore them with little reason at all. "Even in the cities where they are more likely to talk, none of them would give us any useful information."
"They won't." Cold Blue stated. "Can't you see the obvious?"
"What do you mean?" Starlight turned around angrily at him.
"I mean, look around us." He gestured to the random ponies walking by. Sure none of them were listening into the finer details of this conversation but every mention of Puddinghead left their faces troubled. "They are afraid."
"Of Puddinghead."
"No, she's harmless!" Twilight waved it off. "Even if she is exactly like the Pinkie Pie we know, there is no way she would cause intentional fear in others."
"True..." Starlight stopped and backtracked. "But the history books also said that she was highly brash in her actions." Her hand raised up at the thought. "Maybe we could change our eyes to exclusively hunting Smart Cookie instead."
Twilight facepalmed at that answer. "We already are. Starlight, we were looking for both from the beginning. Weren't you paying attention?!"
"No, that's not what I mean?!" Starlight popped back. "I mean if we can find something that involves both of them instead of just one of them at a time then at least we could narrow the search."
"We should be so lucky..." Silver Pear sighed. "I've only heard rumors of an earth pony named Smart Cookie." His finger twirled around in the air as he spoke. "They said that she's nothing more than a drunk and a wench. I would hardly believe she could be found anywhere near a delegate like Puddinghead."
"That doesn't sound like the earth pony I read about." Twilight crossed her arms in disappointment. "The books always described her as the smartest and most level head of the group. She could speak with the grace and posh of any royal while having no higher blood, yet could also fight back with the same level of bite as a viper in a mud pit in the dialogue arena."
"You are reading the same book I am, Twilight." Cold Blue stepped forward. "The Smart Cookie I read about was indeed an intelligent mare, but that's the only part of the story you seem to have grasped. Ane they even said she had a friendship with a mare named Cenior Puddinghead."
"Wait?!" Starlight's eyes widened. "You're letting him read the history books!" The unicorn threw up her arms in full defiance.
"Calm down, Starlight." Twilight put her hands on her hips. "Cold Blue has been a great help thus far."
"History books, containing details of this timeline's future!" Starlight repeated. "That's like cheating!"
"How is it cheating, when every action we take pushes us on the right path anyway?!" Twilight's foot stomped again. "I trust him and Cold Blue's knowledge is proving valuable in making the right decisions."
"But..." Starlight's eyes dropped at the sheer idea. "I don't even trust Silver Pear with the knowledge that one of his descendants is one of your oldest friends and a member of the main six." She turned toward the stallion only to quickly cover her mouth upon realizing what she just said aloud.
It took a solid moment for the truth to hit him like a curveball to the face. His eyes widened and his face grew pale. "Wait, I have children in the future. Who are they, are they famous? Do I have a wife, no a husband, no wait, no way I'm not going to be the marrying type? Am I even going to be alive after this journey?!" He stopped and turned to Starlight with a raised eyebrow, his hand trembling toward her rear like the classic jokes of old.
Starlight grabbed the hand and crushed it, quickly killing his joy. "Nice try, Applejack's bloodline is almost pure earth pony through and through!"
"You can't just say something like that and not expect me to assume what might happen later on between us." Silver Pear whimpered at his hand.
"Nothing will happen between us, because nothing needs to happen." Starlight groaned, turning to the side, and flipping him to the ground. "You've always been a massive player, for all we know you've already forged that family line somewhere."
"Starlight, don't say it like that." Silver Pear groaned. "I might not get lucky ever again with that line of thought!"
"That's what you get." Starlight's voice went low, but not enough to not be heard by the others. "Never touch my ass!"
Twilight started to snicker at the scene as Starlight pinned the earth pony. After a second, Cold Blue joined in, his laughter increasing the volume of her own. The alicorn felt her heart flutter at his voice combining with her as she inadvertently leaned in his direction. The siren caught her hand and affirmed her thought that this was the perfect time to take a break.
After their conversation, Sage and Vanity were given rooms to stay in on the far ends of the mansion and clear far away from the table of seemingly endless decaudants. No matter how much they ate, the amount never faded. At the same time, Counselor Gravyback wouldn't eat a single bite, holding the cookie and caressing it until it finally crunched to dust in his hand. Their conversation ended and the three left, leaving the paralyzed earth pony alone.
Once the doors was closed and the earth pony was alone, Counselor Gravyback leaned back and took a deep sigh of relief. After another moment, the wall behind him popped open and revealed that another had been listening in on the whole conversation. This figure stepped forward and walked over to the counselor. The moonlight revealed it to be a large blue buffalo with sharp horns on his head.
He approached the earth pony from behind and placed an aqua chrysoprase jade in his hand. The paraplegic smiled at the sight of it, squeezing tightly on it. The jade began to glow and a faint light escaped in the direction of his wound. The cuts sealed up instantly and the muscles of his arm started to pulse as the jade got brighter.
The aqua glow shined over his whole body. His bones started to pop back in place and his spine stretched out. After a long groan, his other hand moved freely as if unburdened at all. This was followed by his legs and full body, jumping clear out of the chair. The paralysis was gone and the Counselor leaned over to the table as his balance was still off.
"I've never felt so alive!" Counselor Gravyback smiled at the buffalo. "You really are a lifesaver, Blue Bull."
"You're very welcome." Blue Bull smiled and bowed to his master, "Really, the alathar does all the work." He rubbed the jade in the Counselor's hand and it started to fade. He leaned over the back of the earth pony rather intimately. "But deceiving them too?"
"I have my reasons." Counselor Gravyback whispered, "Mostly because they only see me the same way my mother did. As a cripple, bound to a chair." He slammed his hand on the table. "Nothing but a tool, as I prefer them to see me."
"You are not." Blue Bull whispered, "Never in my eyes... Thank to the Tear of the Sky." His eyes winced as pain tore through his own body. His left hand twisted and contorted in the same way Gravyback's hand was previously.
Gravyback turned around and saw this, taking the hand tenderly in his grip. "Don't force too much of my wound upon yourself." The alathar shined between them, fixing Blue Bull's hand, but breaking Gravyback's hand in return.
"I can take your pain." Blue Bull leaned into the earth pony's face, "For you, I will take all of it."
"And for you." Gravyback leaned in and kissed the buffalo deeply. His hand still caressing the white horns, encouraging their actions. "I will end this entire twist country. Destroy everything that my mother left to rot. This is my revenge for everything she and my bastard of father did."
"Yes..." Blue Bull picked up the earth pony. Taking the plate of cookies in his hand and the chair in the other hand and moving both of them and Gravyback into the secret room. Beyond this was a place of way more life, devoid of all the dust and decay. The doors behind them closed shut, sealing them inside. The table and all the food glowed the same color as the alathar did. All of its decaudants faded and rotted so fast within mere seconds of them leaving, showing this too was affected by the power of the Tear of the Sky.
Neither of them noticed a red snowflake sticking to the outside of the window, witnessing the whole scene. The wendigo outside laughed and flew away. He never trusted them to begin with either. He could feel the betrayal before it had happened and would reveal this detail at the right time.
