There were fourteen mares and stallions to bear the name ‘Clover the Clever,’ though only a few had ‘Clover’ as a given name.
The first was an orphaned unicorn stallion, shortly after reaching maturity, became apprentice the then young (and beardless) Starswirl. In those days of wild uncertainty, corruption was rife and warfare an ever-present reality for the disunified tribes. Starswirl, who had little patience for tribal politics, embarked on a quest of advancing the cause of all ponykind through science, cooperation between the races, and magic, a path which brought him and Clover into constant contact with all threeTribes.
In those days, Starswirl was not the bitter stallion he would ultimately become, and rather cheerfully accepted Clover’s help, considering him both friend and research partner. A third role, that of comrade-in-arms, would be added as their work took them increasingly into places wherein corruption dominated and the law was not always the ally of justice. Sometimes legally, sometimes not, the two companions became somewhat accidental heroes, and their fame spread throughout the land.
Clover was never Starswirl’s equal in magical acumen, but he was bright enough, and crafty enough, to keep up, even showing up his mentor and friend now and then. He was also much more personable than the sometimes aloof and distracted Starswirl (to whom social niceties were often an ‘unnecessary delay’).
The adventure that earned Clover the title ‘Clever’ came during a time when Starswirl was incapacitated. A wicked mage had been using a dangerous artifact which could remove the memories of the targets. Clover pursued this criminal to a distant world and succeeded in ensuring that the artifact would never again plague Equestria, though he was unable to apprehend the culprit or destroy the artifact. Ironically, due to the effects of the memory stone, both he and Starswirl forgot about the entire incident until many months later when they came across some of Clover’s notes from that time. Piecing together what had happened, the elated Starswirl praised his partner and dubbed him ‘the Clever.’
During one of their adventures wherein the local captain of the guard (an honorable stallion) was unjustly accused of murder, they were aided in their struggle by the captain’s daughter – a brave and intelligent mare named Firelight. After winning the day and clearing her father’s name, Firelight would join their adventures, proving to be an equal partner.
Though the trio proved to be a formidable force and their friendship ran deep, eventually rifts began to form, mostly due to Starswirl’s obstinacy and single-mindedness. It came to a head when Clover and Firelight announced their intention to marry and settle down, thus leaving Starswirl’s mission behind. Starswirl, for his part, could not comprehend how anypony could forsake the dream of a united ponykind for any reason, even love. Harsh words were exchanged, and Starswirl became estranged from the couple.
That would change when the Minotaur King invaded the Unicorn lands. Unwilling to let their old friend face the threat alone, Clover and Firelight returned to aid him in battle. They won the day, but Clover was mortally wounded. As he lay dying, he and Starswirl finally reconciled.
Starswirl would be forever haunted by the death of his friend and their long separation.
Even in his grief, however, he would not abandon his quest for a better Equestria. After seeing to it that Firelight (who was revealed to be pregnant with Clover’s child) would be taken care of, he threw himself back into his work, becoming even more obsessive and obstinate than before. He retreated to seclusion in hidden towers and laboratories, leaving only for field work.
One day, Starswirl returned to one of these concealed bases to find it being burglarized by a young unicorn stallion who had managed to bypass the magical defenses. Annoyed by the intrusion, but intrigued by the pony’s skill, he captured the burglar and asked his name. The pony gave it as ‘Clover.’
Why Starswirl did what he did next is still a matter of debate. Some say it was projection; some say it was a sense of guilt; some say it was simply that he felt sorry for the colt; some say he was desperate for a companion who could keep up with him. Whatever the case, Starswirl the Bearded took the second Clover the Clever under his proverbial wing.
In many ways, the second Clover proved even more talented a pupil and partner than his predecessor, with a greater knack for combat magic and the creative application thereof.
There were other differences, however. Where the first Clover had been easy-going, generous, and genial, an honest pony who broke the law unwillingly and had an earnest belief in justice, the second Clover was much more cynical. And sly. He was talented at reading and manipulating social cues, yes, but often did so for selfish or vengeful ends.
He also shared Starswirl’s obsessive tendencies. At first, Starswirl saw this as a blessing, as he would not have to worry about his partner stepping off the path. What he failed to consider was the dark turn their path would take.
Clover the Second grew bitter at the slow pace of their mission. He believed that extreme measures were needed to correct the many ills of ponykind and proposed Dark Magic to accomplish their goals. When Starswirl vehemently rejected this course of action, Clover did it in secret, and soon fell into Darkness.
The first overt signs of trouble came when several corrupt nobles of the Unicorn Kingdom were killed. Soon, similar killings happened in the Earth and Pegasi Tribes. All the killings bore the same magical signature. Starswirl, worried that about the prospect of a dark mage of such skill on the loose and fearful that the killings threatened the tenuous peace between the Tribes, made hunting down the perpetrator his sole mission.
He caught the killer in the tunnels beneath Drakestooth Mountain. To his horror, the killer proved to be Clover the Clever.
There were no witnesses to their confrontation. All that is known for certain is that Starswirl emerged after an hour of bitter fighting with the corpse of one he had thought of as a son.
The first Clover’s death had left Starswirl vulnerable. The second left him cold. He came to see attachment as a weakness – a distraction at best and a liability at worst, an impediment to his reasoning. He still labored for a brighter world, but there was little brightness left in him. If a hard pony was needed to safeguard ponykind, then so be it. He would be that hard pony.
Those to whom Starswirl still showed any warmth in those days were precious few: only Firelight and her daughter… the third Clover.
Starswirl’s relationship with the young mare Clover was a difficult one. He was afraid of showing her affection, lest he lose her like her father, and he was hesitant to pass onto her his passion, lest it turn dark like her father’s successor. Instead, their relationship was that of master and student, with his words strict and his lessons hard. He praised little and demanded much. Where the other Clovers had been partners in his work, the third was not. While Starswirl ranged the pony lands far and wide, Clover was assigned to the Court of the Unicorn King, to do what she could to further his vision there.
Clover bore all this with good grace. Her mother had taught her well of the tragedies of Starswirl, and she treated him with such patience that, at times, he would forget his professional distance, and a familial warmth would light his cold face.
Ironically, it was in the Court of the Unicorn King, where Starswirl had sent her in part to keep her from becoming too deeply involved in his work, that she would help bring his dreams to fulfillment. Clover the Clever, against the objections of many prominent nobles, earned the patronage of Princess Platinum and became her personal Mage and Steward. This placed her in a position to journey to the lands that would become Equestria along with the Princess. There, she and the Founders overcame the windigos, forged an alliance between the Three Tribes, ended the long feuds, and founded the great pony nation of Equestria.
When Starswirl heard what she had done, he is said to have wept for joy.
The pair would labor for decades to build a stable Equestria, with Starswirl forming the Pillars to guard its citizens and Clover’s wisdom guiding the government. When Starswirl found young Celestia and Luna and saw in them the potential to bring lasting peace to the newborn realm, it was often Clover who cared for them when he was away.
She was also one of the only ponies in whom the enigmatic Starswirl ever confided his fears, his dreams, and his hopes for the two sisters who would become Equestria’s defenders and leaders in the ages to come. When he vanished, she continued to fight for his dream of a great Equestria.
Clover would not live to see the ascension of Celestia and Luna to the throne, as she passed away not many years after Starswirl and the Pillars disappeared. The hard work of founding a nation and guiding it in its infancy had taken a severe toll on her, and, though the youngest of the Founders, she was one of the first to die, following only Pansey, who gave her life in defense of the innocent during the First Equestria-Griffonstone War.
The legacy of Clover would live on in her daughter, a mare originally named Somber Rain, who was given the title ‘Clover the Clever’ upon her mother’s death. This began the tradition that Archmage of the House of Clover would always take on the name ‘Clover the Clever’ and bear it so long as they held the role.
For generations the Clovers served the throne faithfully, long after Luna’s banishment and into the Golden Age of Equestria. The fourteenth Clover the Clever would give her life in defense of that Golden Age during the Sangbleu Rebellion, dying to kill the rebel leader – a stallion who, tragically, was her own husband.
As the fourteenth Clover had no children, and House Clover had never been blessed with many children, the line is thought to have ended with her, though there is some speculation that the bloodline may have survived through one of the other family relations farther back in the lineage. The most likely would have been the unicorn soldier Dawn Watch, brother to the ninth Clover the Clever, who is known to have had at least two children. However, this has never been proven, and the entire matter remains a matter of lively scholarly debate.
It's featured because there's lots of cool stuff and added depth here.
Blaming Fan for things like this is always fun. I hope to continue to blame them for a long time going forward.
Can't wait for Jacques in EQG. The magic there is much more traditionally miraculous, and ties to song, and he sings.
Fascinating. There's always fun opportunities to be had with lost birthrights and family traditions, some ancient legacy might crop up in the strangest place!
9846518
Well, thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. I just find it ironic that the Supplement gets featured because of a stream-of-consciousness bit of lore while Homecoming, a story that I really slave over, hasn't been featured once that I've noticed. Taste is a fickle thing.
(Edit: Just so we're clear, because I've now realized I phrased this badly, I'm not criticizing anyone for not reading Homecoming. Such stories aren't for everyone. I'm just remarking on the irony.)
9846739
In that particular case, I haven't read Homecoming yet because it sounds really heavy and I'm not sure I'm up for it, even if I'm positive it's amazing given it's your writing and all.
I gladly accept your blame if this is what came of my aside. Fascinating stuff throughout. And with a name like Dawn in the lineage, the question isn't which Skylight Lightverb is a lost scion of House Clover, but how many.
9846739
In all honesty, I haven't read Homecoming because of the tags. Not a fan for overly dark stories such as what those tags imply, and yet 14th just...hooks me. Idk. Maybe one of these days!
Mostly the uh...third big red tag. I tend to prefer to sidestep around those, myself.
9847054
Dangit, FoME! Why do you keep inspiring people to do cool stuff?
And yeah, I also suspect we've met a number of Clover's descendants. How many do you figure Celestia is directly aware of?
9847126
I was more remarking on the irony of what gains people's attention than anything else. People's tastes are what they are. As for that third red tag, totally understand. You're right - people have to be responsible with what they expose themselves to. I think it's important to raise awareness about things like veterans' trauma (and civilian trauma for that matter) with stories, but I also think it's important to be cognizant of how stories may negatively affect us. However good or bad a story might be on its own, if it's going to be bad for us to read it, we shouldn't read it. Again, remarking on the irony of viewership, not griping - sorry if it came across that way. Thank you for your patronage.
9847054
"Skylight Lightverb"
You never know. Given my tendency to screw with expectations, it could be none of them, all of them, one that isn't obvious, or the one everyone expects.
9846974
Very understandable, and I get that. While it's not as dark as you may think (with the exception of certain chapters), the overall theme is a heavy one, based heavily on a number of veterans I've known or known of who had a hard time coming home. Like many of those experiences, it's mostly slice-of-life, more upbeat than not, but with a periodic weighty reminder of how much things have changed and what scars need to heal. Like I said to ArceausFan, I'm not criticizing people for not reading it (and I'm sorry if it sounded that way). I'm just remarking on the irony that a story I technically started working on before 14th C. Friar is less known than a Supplement. One of those humbling reminders that there's very little in life we have control over, so it's better to be grateful for what we have.
9847281
Oh it didn't sound like that at all! It was more of a reply to the overall notion and as to why I, myself, haven't contributed to it's view-count over 14th and the Supplements. Your stories are absolutely superb and I don't begrudge you for any remarks, I was just...replying for the sake of replying I suppose. I don't personally think your statement came off as cynical or griping, as it were, I just wanted to not, justify? But rather, clarify my current status. I thoroughly enjoy your works, which is why I even made the comment that I might swing around and give it a read one of these days. It's just, at the moment, I know my limits and currently don't believe that I would enjoy the story, yet. In any case, enough rambling! I enjoy what you put out, and I don't begrudge any statements you think may have appeared negative in any case. I just want to continue to read what you put out because of the high quality we continue to see, alongside the worldviews you present. Thanks for continuing as you do, I look forward to continue on enjoying what I read!
9847351
Danke
9850146
A certain degree of enlightened laziness helps, if you really don't want to spend too much time on a task you'll be motivated to get it done quickly and properly.
9850249
I love scenarios like this where traditionally negative traits wind up looping around into positive ones due to application.
"I'm so lazy I do the job right the first time so I don't have to do it again."
9853696
Exactly! You work as hard as you can so that you have more time to sit on your butt.
Fascinating work, I really enjoyed this expansion of Starswirl's backstory and of the various Clovers as well! ^_^
9868246
Glad to hear it!