"The World is the greatest mystery of all."
- Clover the Clever
The founding of the Principality of Equestria created one of the most prosperous and culturally rich nations in history, which today still applies to a certain extent. Although Equestria has fallen behind on the technological curve in comparison to the far more advanced Gryphonian Kingdom, many of the world's leading figures in the arts and sciences were children of Equestria. One of the nation's most notable figures, if a bit obscure today, was Clover the Clever.
Born sometime before the founding of Equestria into the Unicorn Kingdom, Clover's early life has proven significantly hard to track down. The most hardcore historians have at least pinned down that she was a unicorn serving as the apprentice of famed unicorn wizard Starswirl the Bearded. Her connections to Starswirl, coupled with her quick wit and intelligent ideas led to her landing a position as the Royal Advisor for the King. When the Long Winter encroached into the three pony tribe's territory, it was she who argued for cooperation with the others, though she was often brushed off by her ambassador counterpart Princess Platinum. However, her magical potential combined with the forging of a friendship with the earth pony Smart Cookie and the pegasus Private Pansy allowed the destruction of the Long Winter and the extinction of the Windigoes. This paved the way for the founding of the Principality of Equestria.
After Equestria's founding, Clover served a large role in the nation's development. She opened the first school for unicorns to practice magic and learn spells. She also helped found the nation's first city, although its original name has been lost to time and a horrible burning of a library, the location of this city can be traced down to Fillydelphia. She served as Fillydelphia's and the surrounding area's governor, introducing various reforms such as integrating unicorns into the previously pegasi exclusive military and creating the first democratically elected council in Fillydelphia to govern while she was away.
She was away for quite a lot of time indeed. Beyond her role in Equestria's founding, she was a famed explorer of the world beyond Equestria's borders. Although today Equestria is relatively isolationist, much of the nation's understanding of the rest of the world comes from her records. Famously, she circumnavigated the world to prove Pytheas, the well-known griffin explorer and archeologist, wrong after he proposed the world was round. In her circumnavigation, she discovered an amazing number of lands that hosted other races such as the Pandas, the Zebras, the Camels and even ponies disconnected from Equestria. In the end, while she ended up proving herself wrong, she provided the first map of the world. While at the time incomplete and missing several continents that escaped her notice, it provided a greater understanding of the world and indeed proved the world was round.
However, her life took quite the spin for the worse. After circumnavigating the world, she wrote records of a mythological city of Thule which she claimed she had discovered far underground. Her claim was viewed as relatively wild by her unicorn compatriots, and her works beyond Thule ended up being dismissed by others. Although it ended up destroying her career and reputation, Clover never once back down on her claims, and continued to argue Thule's existence. As was normal for powerful unicorns of the time, she lived to be over three centuries. How long she lived and her date of death is unknown however, as one day, she simply disappeared without explanation. The only thing left behind were her immense records on everything, warranting its own wing in the Canterlot Library. One of the things missing and unaccounted for in these records are her findings on Thule, compiled into a journal. The Journal of Clover the Clever has so far, faded into myth, with many dismissing its existence.