Never Too Clever is Cancelled · 11:47pm Apr 5th, 2019
This was a hard decision to make.
Unfortunately, as life has happened to me, I’ve realized that this side-story as I originally planned it has grown to become a bit more than I can chew with my current set of obligations, and the set of obligations that I’m likely to deal with for the forseeable future.
It also doesn’t help that, as an anthology of vignettes and oneshot narratives, I found myself at a loss for ideas of what to do with it after the current story arc. And also that the current story arc, a murder mystery, has proven to be a bit too complicated for me to keep track of with the extended length of time between chapters. There are a few plot details of what I had mapped out that I feel are worth mentioning here, but I’ve yet to go to enough length to fully flesh them out. Here’s what I’d had so far
- The true murderer is General Hurricane, who had been secretly meeting with Queen Gladeroot long before the three tribes sent official representative to Thicket. They had planned combine the deers’ alchemy with the Cloudsdale Legion’s cloud manipulation, in order to construct a permanent series of wind currents across Equestria. Resentful of the ways the unicorns and earth ponies have betrayed their claims to be equals, instead forcing the pegasi into a permanent uncerclass, he plans to use the wind currents to allow the pegasi virtually unrestricted mobility, letting them establish themselves as the economically and militarily dominant force on the continent. At some point, negotiations turned sour (most likely the Queen demanding a greater share of Pegasi wealth from their conquest), prompting Hurricane to frame Star Swirl for murder. This would force the deer into a conflict, for which Hurricane would use to blame the unicorns and leverage for a political and military alliance with the deer.
- ”Kluge von Ego”, the prosecutor, is a false name and identity. Her real name is Artemis Lulamoon, and she harbors a particularly strong grudge against Star Swirl, wanting to not only see him dead, but utterly humiliated. Clover notes that “Lulamoon” is the same name as a famous oracle, Cassandra Lulamoon. Cassandra was tried for sedition by Lord Advisor Rimewind, and sentenced to exile in the Frozen North, for predicting that Empress Platinum (then still a princess) would drive the three tribes apart and bring about the end of Equestria. While Clover doesn’t know what role Star Swirl played in this, it’s obliquely hinted at that this may have something to do with his belief that all divination is fradulent — implying that he may have been called to testify against Cassandra at some point. Regardless, Artemis swears revenge on Clover and Star Swirl, before making her exit.
- While investigating the murder, Clover finds the blueprints for the cross-Equestrian wind currents. While the diagrams are far too advanced for him to understand, Rubedo points out that there’s something wrong with the alchemical formulas used. Even most deer wouldn’t be able to see it, but the plans include some strange temperature-reduction effects, as well as unusual concentrations of Mercury-element transmutations... that is, transmutations involving the elemental essence of water. Later, when Clover confronts Hurricane in jail, he points out that this wouldn’t create a permanent series of wind currents across Equestria, but a permanent blizzard. Hurricane admits that he received the plans from an anonymous source, who claimed to be acting in his own interests, and trusted it solely out of desperation.
- The story arc ends with a meeting between the leaders of Equestria, the Council of Three. While Puddinghead and Platinum take their normal place, Pansy has stepped up to fill the role of Cloudsdale’s consul in Hurricane’s place. She’s been very clearly hurt and traumatized by the trial process, and has visibly hardened — she takes no nonsense from the other leaders, and opens the meeting by threatening to have the pegasi cease all weather unless they get a more equal share. While her threat of a weather strike is successful, inter-tribal tensions have very clearly risen as the meeting ends. Standing off to the side, unseen, is a tall blue unicorn with a wild black mane, and distinct cutie mark... he smirks, and his pupils vanish as his eyes glow as white as a glacier.
Where the story would go from there, I largely haven’t decided, and I feel it’s unlikely that I will.
...That said, don’t count out seeing my version of Clover again in the future. 
Damn it, Heidar, just because your magic relies on low-temperature superconductors doesn't mean you get to ruin it for the rest of us!
In all seriousness, I'm sorry to hear about the cancellation, but I do understand your reasoning. Thanks for not leaving the mystery unsolved, though you may want to put a link to this blog in the last chapter's author's note.
Always sad to see a cancelled fic.
But things don't always come out in they way we want them to.
Called it. Suspected it was him the second you mentioned lightning in your story.
Too bad it's cancelled, can't wait to see Clover again.