The fire crackled softly in the grate, giving Celestia’s chambers a warm glow on that bitter midwinter’s night. It was the week after Hearth’s Warming and the city had slipped down from the fever of celebration into the subdued quiet of winter. Celestia herself had looked forward to the diplomatic low season, where there would be no interruptions and she might finally catch up on her pile of books. No one wanted to travel through the heavy snow.
Well, almost no one.
"An Audience?" Celestia lay down ‘The Return of Forelock Hooves’ on the side table as the guard nodded. "Good gracious, at this hour?"
"It is...Twilight Sparkle, your majesty."
Celestia was taken aback. "Twilight Sparkle? Here? Now?"
"Yes, ma'am," The white stallion said, not so subtly working to keep his face neutral. "She says it is a matter of national importance."
Celestia, under no such restrictions of professionalism, smiled broadly on the edge of a laugh. "Oh, well, send her in then."
With a quick salute, the guard turned to the door to her chambers and opened it broadly to reveal the little unicorn herself carrying a book much too large for any filly. She was trailed by young Shining Armor, no doubt acting as chaperone this particular visit. Celestia saw an apology hanging on his tongue, but held up a hoof to forestall him. Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s personal protégé for all of one year, strode into the room with her head held high. "Princess Celestia,” she said, “I have learned a secret that may shake the very foundations of Equestria!"
Shining Armor stepped forward beside his sister. "I'm so sorry Princess, she simply wouldn't--" Celestia waved him back and turned to her student.
"Why Twilight, isn't it past your bedtime?" she asked, offering a cushion with her wing. "And in the middle of winter? You must be freezing."
"This can't wait, your highness! There's something terribly wrong!" she said, taking the offered seat by the fire. She pulled the book out of her bag, and Celestia caught a glimpse of the title—An Illustrated History of Equestria. Then Twilight flipped it open and began to riffle through the pages.
Celestia met the eyes of the guard and nodded. He began to return to his post outside the door. Shining Armor seemed to strain at the invisible string that tied him to his sister. A bright lad with a knack for protection spells, she remembered. He would make an excellent guard one day. “Oh, Guardsman, could you show Shining Armor around? We will not be long.”
The guard paused in the middle of shutting the door, then shrugged. “Of course, your highness. Come on, kid.” The bounce in his trot made Celestia smile.
"Here, it's here." Twilight pulled her attention downward, to the a page titled simply 'Starswirl, the Bearded'. “It said in the Hearth's Warming Eve play that Clover the Clever was the student of Starswirl the Bearded—but that's impossible! Because—look here—Starswirl the Bearded was born 523 years after Equestria was founded. There is no possible way that he could have taught Clover the Clever unless—why are you laughing? This is serious, Princess! I think Starswirl the Bearded invented time travel!"
Celestia simply could not help herself. The little filly's face was just so serious—she’d seen the same expression on her royal advisor that morning. "You have quite the imagination! I'm afraid.... I'm afraid, Twilight… that the truth is much... much less interesting than your story." She quietly calmed her laughter and felt her crown slip off down her shoulders and her teacher's hat slide into its place. Today’s lesson was history. "You see, Clover the Clever was indeed a student of Starswirl the Bearded. And she was really quite the character." She said, pointing to the illustration of a red-brown unicorn with a short mane and a crooked smile wearing silver spectacles. "But," Celestia turned to the very first chapter, skimming the pages until she found the one she wanted, "it was Clover the Cunning who helped found Equestria." She pointed at a new illustration, this time of a tall green unicorn colored like the forest and wearing a tattered brown cloak. “They are two totally different mares.”
“Oh…” Twilight furrowed her eyebrows, her cheeks gaining a flush. "So the one in the play is—"
"Clover the Cunning, yes."
"Then why do they call her Clover the Clever?" Twilight mumbled, putting her tiny hoof down next to Celestia's. “Somepony might get confused.”
Celestia put her wing on Twilight’s shoulder. “Everypony makes mistakes, Twilight. Besides, didn’t you like the pageant?”
“But you know that it’s wrong, so why don’t you fix it?” Twilight said, frowning up at her teacher.
“Well…” Celestia thought about it. “The Hearth’s Warming Eve Pageant is a story Twilight, it’s not a history book.” And in truth there were many more things “wrong” with it than a simple name confusion. In retelling, the story had long ago slipped into the realm of myth. “It’s not hurting anypony.”
“But think about all the fillies who think Clover the Clever founded Equestria!” Twilight burst out. “They’ll just walk around, wrong, for the rest of their lives! It’s a terrible play! Clover the Cunning would be appalled.”
Celestia put her hoof against her cheek. “I think she would have enjoyed the play very much.”
“How do you—” Twilight stopped her huffing and gave the ageless alicorn a quizzical look. Then after a pause: “Did you know her, Princess?”
Celestia chuckled softly. “No Silly Filly, didn’t you pay attention at the pageant? Not even I was at the founding of Equestria.” She smiled, “But Clover the Cunning was a famous magic historian. She wrote books thousands of years ago that we still have in our library today. We even have her own journals.”
“Wow.” Twilight said looking into the air with her eyes wide. “And people still read them?”
“Of course. She was a very brilliant unicorn. Do you know what is says on the first page of her most famous book?”
“Uh…uh....” Twilight tensed, looking around all over the floor and then down at her hooves before finally: “No…”
Celestia sighed and smiled. “That was not a test, Twilight.” She was not unreasonable. The book in question was much too advanced for a filly—even one as gifted as Twilight—and the history much darker in the absence of pageantry. She would not even think of assigning it for another few years. Regardless… “It says that ‘the greatest calling of history is to remember the lessons of the past, that we may inherit the wisdom of our forebears, not their mistakes.’”
Twilight looked up, confused. “What does that mean?”
“It means…” She said, “that we study history to learn the lessons of the past, and we write history to teach ponies who haven’t been born the lessons of our lifetime. And by doing so we make sure that ponies don’t keep making the same mistakes. Hearth’s Warming Eve is the day we remember the power harmony brings into our lives and how much the pony tribes depend on each other. And the pageant reminds us that earth ponies, and pegasi, and unicorns—"
“And alicorns?”
“And alicorns—That we’re are all ponies and we shouldn’t dwell on our differences.” Celestia said. “And we have remembered that lesson for thousands of years. I think Clover the Cunning would be proud of that.”
Twilight was quiet for a long time. She stared down at the picture of Clover the Cunning discovering the secret of the Windigos in an old cave so long ago. “Couldn’t you just fix the play?” Twilight settled her chin down on the page. “It’s just so sad that nopony will ever remember her.”
“But she is remembered. She’s right here, in a filly’s history book.” Celestia said. “And in other books, hundreds of them. Sometimes they call her Clover the Cunning, sometimes they call her something else. Many books don’t mention a name at all.”
“Do those count?”
“Being remembered isn’t always about your name, Twilight. It is about your legacy. Clover the Cunning’s legacy is a land full of ponies who care for each other. Even if every book lost every reference to her, she would be remembered at her best.” Celestia’s eyes drifted to the window where a sliver of moon shone through the clear air. “Because history is in our hearts, Twilight. If we honor her legacy, she will be remembered.”
“I guess…” Twilight muttered.
“But you know,” Celestia put a wing around her student and leaned in close. “Starswirl the Bearded did invent time travel.”
Twilight lifted her head excitedly. “Really? Really-really?”
“Truly. And the first thing he did with the spell was to go back in time tell himself it was possible.”
Twilight’s grin soured. “Now you’re teasing me.”
“No. Honestly. That’s exactly what happened.”
The filly’s face remained skeptical. “Uh-huh, did Clover the Cunning tell you that?”
Celestia brushed Twilight with her wing. “Don’t you mean Clover the Clever?”
“…Yes.” She said with a pout.
And Celestia laughed.
Author's Note
This story was inspired by watching people bend over backwards in head canon to reconcile Hearthswarming Eve with Celestia knowing Starswirl the Bearded. The Gordian Knot is cut!
Thank you to Fedora Mask and my Sister for reading this over. It is a better story for it. And thank you for reading.
