Clover and Melody: A Follow-Up
From: DD
To: Princess TS
You and Starswirl really sent me down a rabbit hole, looking up those names. The regular archives were incomplete, the Restricted Section has a lot of deliberate holes, and the backup Restricted Section looks to have been converted into a second Party Cave.
May want to talk with Pinkie about that one. Especially since she tossed “all those boring documents'' into the backup-backup Restricted Section, which is apparently a death-trap labyrinth lying twelve floors down and beneath the Lunar Observatory. Cabbie and I almost died trying to get in there, only to find out Luna had the stupid thing put in as a personal gym, and had forgotten to unlock the secret entrance.
You’d think I’d be upset, but this was the most exciting wedding anniversary I’ve had in years!
Right. Findings. Luna helped out with that, actually. She’s a bit more familiar with the old writing conventions, and she did live around the same time period as the ponies you wanted me to look up. Between the four of us – once Starswirl came down to help – we managed to get somewhere.
Memento Melody was born about two years pre-Hearth’s Warming. She was from a large earth pony family without any obvious connections to anypony of note before then; one of the infinite, faceless commoners who make up the world. Melody showed a lot of promise in the arcane arts, even as an earth pony, and so once Starswirl was stuck in Limbo, Clover the Clever decided to train her personally.
Their falling-out didn’t make it into official records, instead becoming nothing more than myth and legend with the “Seven Trials of Clover the Clever” largely turning the event into a morality tale, instead of what it really was: a lover’s spat.
Seems she didn’t take Clover’s transforming via Harmony Magic into a mare very well. Luna remembers only fragments of what happened, and only partly because she was so young at the time. But from what she had recalled, Melody tried to “fix” Clover using the memory-deleting effects of the Memory Stone. This went on for a few weeks before Melody essentially had a complete breakdown over what was happening, and Clover figured out what she’d done.
Melody had her own memories erased, and she was dismissed from service. The records are a bit fuzzy, but from Luna and Starswirl’s notes, Cabbie was able to determine that she moved to the Griffish Isles, and settled down in a place called Lillypuddle, a little ways west of Trottingham. He’s surprisingly good at cartography, even taking some old instruments out to test the route she took himself.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not so much, Melody wound up having a whole litter of foals. Ever unlucky with love, she married three stallions, all of whom died young, leaving her with children from each marriage.
No, there’s nothing sinister in the records to suggest foul play. Life was just that dangerous, back then. Sad fact.
We were originally going to leave it at that. Melody had a brood of children, and seemed to have lived a very long, productive life. Happy ending, right?
Ah, well. That’s when Gabby got involved. The griffon? She was the courier between here and Trottingham for record requests and, apparently, she stopped in for tea with Diamond Tiara and Pip on their family vacation up in Glasscow. Pip’s folks own an estate there, and his second cousin is a bigtime historian. Once she heard Gabby mentioning our research, it got Miss Fenn Loch thinking.
Lo, and behold! She digs up old family records and a few rare tomes that actually started spelling out Memento’s entire family lineage, from then till now!
Turns out, Melody’s foals and grandfoals had really made names for themselves. While a few lines died out here and there, most of the local Peerage are related to Melody by blood, as are/were a number of famous politicians, inventors, scholars, mages, etc, etc.
Almost all of her modern, living descendants are regular ponies, living regular lives all over Trottingham and the Griffish Isles, and even further out across Equestria.
But you already met two of them. Your very own Wallflower Blush is a nearly-direct descendant of Memento Melody! Her family split off only four generations back, making Melody Wallflower’s Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-etc Aunt, through Melody’s fourth child, Salad Tosser, the famous writer of The Canter-Burro Tales.
Considering how the hooman world is 90% aligned with our own, on a cosmic level, I suppose that Wallflower might also be descended from a woh-man named Memento Melody. Should look into that sometime.
The second one is actually even more directly related, being Melody’s direct descendant through her firstborn, Crumble Well. He was a celebrated lawyer and businesspony back in the day, though his current descendant seems more into the music business these days.
Next time you see Octavia, say hi for me!
But Melody wasn’t the only pony to settle down. Clover actually married as well, to one of the very first Captains of the Day Guard. Sunshade was a rather exemplary unicorn warrior, and a renowned poet. Apparently, during everything going on with Hearth’s Warming and Clover’s later transformation, he’d pined after Clover, and sent them endless sappy poems expressing their admiration.
Sunshade and Clover went up north, away from Canterlot, and founded their own little town. Sunshade was a Baron, as it turned out, so he could do that.
The town they founded?
Sire’s Hollow.
I bet you think you know where this is going.
Being unicorns, Clover and Sunshade had a rather small family, and the number of branches on that family tree is comparable to most unicorn families. A few lines die off here and there, and a number of other ones vanish into history, but a few make it to nearly modern Equestria.
You’ve also met the descendant of Clover, by the way. The current direct heir to Clover’s name and legacy, just so happens to be your fellow Princess Alicorn and Ambassador to Hoomanity:
Sunset Shimmer.
But her line of descent is through her father’s family.
That’s right. Sunburst, a stallion famous for being about as magically impotent as Trixie, is the direct male descendant of Clover the Clever. You probably thought it’d be Starlight Glimmer, right? I did too! But, as it turns out, sometimes talent like that is an anomaly. Starlight’s just Starlight.
I’m not saying anything bad about Sunburst, mind you. Guy’s pretty cool, from what I know. But it’s well-known that he’s a scholar first. A great wizard? Not his skillset.
And a final note. If you were hoping for a happy ending to this little tangent, well, you’re getting one. Years and years later, Clover and Melody began writing letters to each other when they realized they were among the very last remaining ponies who witnessed the original Hearth’s Warming event (Melody having at best vague memories as a foal notwithstanding). Through their correspondence, they became friends again, and shared everything about their lives with each other. Though they never saw each other again, those letters proved they were about as close as any two ponies of the age could be said to be.
When Memento Melody died, surrounded by her family and friends, it was the one-hundredth anniversary of Hearth’s Warming.
Her dying words? “Clover lives.”
Except, she didn’t. Clover had died a few hours before, likewise surrounded by family. The very last of the founders to pass on.
It’s a really cute story. And a fascinating bit of history finally de-mystified! I really didn’t think this is the kind of work I’d be helping with when you called me in to helm this project, but I’m glad I said yes now.
I just realized I spent the last four days working on this aside. This should have been a couple paragraphs, and instead I’ve got a whole essay in my hooves.
Crap.
I’ll just send this along and get back to editing Trixie’s Journal.
Sorry!
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I got it. It was when Jefferson and Adams died within hours of each other, and one of them, don't remember whom, said that quote.
Sunburst is an Excellent Wizard So is Trixie.
Being a wizard isn't about being powerful in the arcane sense The wizard has always been the 'Pony who knows;’ our trade is in knowledge and its proper application. The true wizard evaluates the price of knowledge, and, with proper understanding, does not hesitate to pay all their purse can bear if the potential for reward is great enough.
Ok, so Sunset and Wallflower are technically related?! I guess that kills Sunflower possibilities.
Why did Clover decide to turn into a mare?
There's a Wallflower on Equestria's side of the mirror?! Who is she and what's she doing? Does the Wallflower on the human side have some sort of history in this universe?!
I NEED ANSWERS NINJA!
10924369
I mean, to roughly the same degree you and I might be related. Several hundred times removed.
Because they wanted to. Probably because they felt like they were born in the wrong body.
Ahem...
10924345
It was Jefferson. Awesome guess!
10924358
Can't toss a fireball? Not a wizard.
10924377
Somehow my mind didn't register that the first sentence refers to the pony version of Wallflower. I hope both of them are doing okay.
PS: Fireballs are mandatory for Wizards.
Trixie is a Wizard Because she is incredibly skilled and clever in how she applies her knowledge and magic.
She can't cast fireballs either but with her knowledge and how to apply it she does better than any pyromancer any day of the week,
When the crystal heart was shattered by the Doombringer aka Flurry heart Sunburst was crytical
in applying his knowledge.
Sunburst is a Wizard in the oldest defination of the term without him and his knowledge and how to apply it the crystal empire would be a block of Ice. Besides Celestia called him a Wizard .
Diamond Tiara and Pip? I guess he had greater expectations than I realized.
In any case, fascinating bit of genealogical headcanon. Wallflower being a sort of heir to the Memory Stone is a great tidbit, to say nothing of how we got from Clover to her most notable contemporary descendants.
10924384
Fireballs are mandatory. Not just for wizards!
10924397
Good point. Daring probably just suffers from fireball envy.
10924402
The relationship was mentioned in Anarchy, but I don’t remember if you finished reading that.
Finding weird little genealogical connections is super fun to do with ponies.
10924414
Indeed the Fireball is a MUST for ANY spell caster! Just ask Lina Inverse!
What makes you say that?
Oh darn, I was about to guess GlimGlam myself.
But then again, that was probably the idea, wasn't it?
I'd answer the history question too, but I see 10924345 already beat me to it, so I'll just let them keep that victory.
10924369
Wait….. no. Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking. Sunset is a descendant of Clover. Wallflower is from Memento’s family.
10924468
The one time the world would recognize Trixie‘s greatness? And it’s April fools day? Just the sort of luck she has in my stories.
10924646
You have been rused, sir. Bamboozled!
Nice reference to Adam's and Jefferson there.
Wow that is a lot of information what Clover and Melody been through wow
10924414
Head canon, Sunset Shimmer can conjure a miniture sun with just a fingertip. That's right, I can legit see Sunset using Frieza/Cooler's Supernova, but more burning than actual planet exploding ki
10929636
That’s honestly a cool idea… so I’m super glad to say that I already thought of it!
See: Sunset Glimmer chapter 5 for details!
Oh. And, uh… yeah. Let’s hope it involves less planetary destruction.
10929658
i remember, the fireball with delay timer inside the house right? Its like that but from start to finish, Sunset just holds a finger up as the fireball starts as a normal light before expanding ontop of her head as she points up. You know Sunset's cocky enough to charge up a fireball with just one finger lol
10929667
Oh, I was talking about the freaking Phoenix she summoned but that's also a good point.
Oh... what lovely fireworks...
10929682
Sunset's Phoenix herself, with near deadpool like healing factor and complete immunity to fire. Lmao
Clover lives?!
False alarm boys, false alarm. Clover is dead.
Didn't expect to see a Jefferson - Adams historical ponification reference here.. Nice.
11186796
Nopony expects the Sp…!
Oh, wait. Wrong reference.