After much debate with Starswirl I have decided to test my theory to determine if earth ponies do indeed have magic. It has been a constant subject of debate lately, and I have conversed at great lengths with Starswirl and Smart Cookie, both of whom agree that my ideas are intriguing. I am still trying to work out means to allow for testing, which is a trying task.

Finding a subject was an easy task. All I had to do was walk the streets of Founder’s Rest and try to find a promising looking orphan. Which I have. Subject is a young earth pony, a filly, approximately two years of age. A feral foal. I have named her Clayberry, after the berry of the same name, which grows along the riverbanks in the red clay mud. I did so because of her rusty red-brown coat, which is roughly the same shade as the berry. She is tow headed, has violet eyes, and an overly curious demeanour, which is how I was able to catch her. She was the only foal that took the bait. After the initial scuffle, during which she bit me, the subject seems friendly enough. I took the time to bathe her, which caused her a great deal of distress, and applied a tincture to her coat to be rid of the fleas and lice she had acquired. Subject seems malnourished, and has a rough patchy coat with bald patches. I have also given her a parasitic purgative to hopefully remove any parasites of the gut, as the subject has a terrible case of muddy plot.

Here’s to hoping that Clayberry provides results.

Clover lay in bed in her stone cottage listening to the wind blowing outside. It was a cold and blustery night. Winter was finally ending. Spring promised new hope. Equestria needed hope, Clover reflected. Luna, mighty Luna, she who had lead the armies of Equestria to victory against Equestria’s many foes, had turned into Nightmare Moon just last fall, during the harvest, plunging the world into darkness. Celestia now remained sequestered away in her grief. It had been a terrible winter.

But spring always brought new hope.

Not far away, Clayberry stirred in her bed, snorting, and rolling over in her sleep. Clover pulled the blanket back over the foal, feeling a moment of fondness, a curious sensation that she could not name.

Finally, after many hours of laying there, thinking, sleep finally claimed Clover, and she drifted into slumber…

The day was sunny, threatening to melt the snow. A fire crackled in the fireplace. Two unicorns sat, drinking cider, a foal playing on the floor between them.

One was old and wizened, white, with a long beard that nearly touched the floor. He wore a tattered cloak covered in stars, and his hat sat nearby on a table. On his face was a soured look, wrinkles pinched around his eyes from so much time spent scowling and squinting.

The other unicorn was a soft green, with a light orange mane. She too, was older, but not too old, and her eyes twinkled. She had a faint smile on her lips, and she seemed to enjoy the company of the old white stallion.

“Can you believe that my servants have forced me to wear bells on my clothing so that they know when I draw near? So they can flee before my arrival? Do you have any idea how annoying all those bells are?” Starswirl asked. “They threatened to quit if I did not agree to those silly bells. I can’t get anything done with all that jingling.”

Clover chuckled faintly. “Starswirl, old friend, you are a bit cranky in your old age.”

“How dare you say that!” Starswirl said crankily. “I am not cranky.” He grumped. He scowled at Clover. “My student of all ponies, trying to tell me that I am cranky. The nerve of it all.” He scowled.

Clover continued to smile.

“And Celestia telling me I need friends. I have you. My former student. We have a fine professional relationship. What need is there for anything else?” Starswirl demanded. “I have too much work to do before I die. Celestia needs to stop making such unreasonable demands. And she took my servant’s side about the bell issue! The nerve of that mare. Ugh!” Starswirl took a pull of cider from his mug. “I’ve had just about all that I can take from her. She threatened to hire a crier to announce to the world at large that I am coming, saying ponies needed to be warned of my presence, saying that bells were not enough.”

“Now now, be a dear.” Clover said. “She’s had a rough go. Discord. Sombra. Losing her sister. So much has happened in such a short span. And be honest. You are a bit acerbic.”

Starswirl scowled at his former student. He grumbled something incoherently.

Clayberry approached the old unicorn cautiously, looking up at him, her violet eyes wide. She moved slowly, unsure of the old unicorn, a worried look upon her face.

Starswirl scowled down at her, which sent her running. She took refuge under a table and cowered.

“Starswirl the Bearded, that was completely uncalled for!” Clover scolded, her smile now gone. She glared at Starswirl angrily, teeth bared, eyes narrowed, her ears folded back against her skull.

A brief look of guilt formed on Starswirl’s face. He heaved a sigh and turned his gaze back to Clover. “I didn’t mean it.” He grumbled.

“For shame!” Clover scolded. “I should throw you out for scaring my student.”

“Your student?” Starswirl said quizzically. “I thought she was a test subject.” His scowl intensified. “Unicorn foals are students.”

Clover harrumphed and turned her nose up at Starswirl. “I am confident that she has magic. And when I prove it, she will be worthy of being my student. I intend to teach her how to write. How to read. I will teach her social graces.”

“Why?” Starswirl asked. “What does an earth pony need with those things?”

Clover’s mouth dropped open. “Smart Cookie does quite well for himself, and is one of the most educated ponies of our age. How dare you you old coot!”

Starswirl shrugged. “How many educated earth ponies do we need? What we need are ponies to pull plows and grow food. Clear the land. Manual labour. Earth ponies are suited to that. Unicorns are suited towards scholarly efforts. Pegasi contribute to the martial efforts with the occasional unicorn for support. What if all the earth ponies stopped tilling the land and tried to become scholars?”

Clover scowled. “I do not much care for your reasoning.” She said flatly.

“We do what we do.” Starswirl said. “We are born into the body we are graced with, we develop marks that foretell our destinies, and then we do whatever fate pushes us towards. And earth ponies are destined for… Earthy things. Like tilling the soil. Pulling wagons.” Starswirl shrugged. “You can’t change destiny. At least not yet. I am working on it though.”

“There may be some truth in what you say, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Clover said, shaking her head. “A pony has to be able to dream. To have hope of better things. To have some choice. Some sense of freedom to choose their own path.”

“Smart Cookie is only a smart cookie because fate chose him to be so.” Starswirl said. “Otherwise, he’d be just another plow puller as well. For whatever reason, he had a scholarly mark, and fate conspired to make him what he is. He had no say in the matter.”

“And what of Clayberry?” Clover asked. “Did fate bring her to me?”

Starswirl nodded. “What else?” He said cryptically. “How else would she be here? She has a fate like everypony else. If fate wills it, she will do whatever it is she is intended to do. Earth pony or no.”

Clover frowned. She hated these discussions. Was she fated to hate these discussions? The thought made her uncomfortable. She had never understood these things, not in the same way her teacher did. Starswirl seemed to have an amazing grasp of fate, perhaps because it was his fate to understand.

Clover’s mind reeled. Free will, choice, self determination, all of those things she valued, she wondered if she had any say in life at all.

“Come over here Clayberry.” Clover called, gesturing, trying to coax the foal out. Clayberry took a worried glance at Starswirl and remained where she was.

Clover sighed, feeling a tinge of resentment for her teacher.

Author's Notes:

Just something I'm curious if there is any interest in...

Otherwise, I'll stick to other projects, of which I have plenty.