High Sun 18th 3472 EE
We have a sort of winner and a loser, but even the loser has an unintended win. Luna almost bent her horn into a corkscrew trying to duplicate fully feathered pegasus wings. Trying to duplicate something that complex from raw magic… then I had an inspiration, look to other flying creatures for simpler structures. The butterfly proved to be exactly what we needed.
The world is filled with so many wonders… You know you could do a song about that. Note to self: Write a song about that. Who knows when it may come in useful?
The newly dubbed Flutterwings spell does exactly what it says on the jar, creating a beautiful pair of butterfly wings on the back of a pony. Said wings are then under the control of the pony, and combine with the levitation ability that is also a part of the spell to grant them flight. Unicorn, Earth pones, they can all now fly.
There are some downsides, firstly that it takes a lot of power to cast. But co-operative spell casting could overcome that. The wings only last three days, and they are rather fragile. So while flight is possible, great speed and acrobatics aren't. But this is a first effort. And they are very pretty.
Still working on developing the rune sets for separate levitation, its one thing to decompose the magic flows, and even be able to describe them arithmantically, another to invest runes with the correct patterns to duplicate it. Purely working on pegasus powers may be part of the problem, if we can compare unicorn levitation, we may be able to reduce the symbology for a unified approach that should be simpler…
But working with power flows gave us a chance to study the Earth pony earth stance ability. That's where we hit a problem, and my analysis says it's a fundamental one. Attempting to draw strength from the ground is tied into the basic nature of Earth ponies.
Extrapolating it was easy enough, and creating a spell to invest other ponies with the ability was one of the easiest tasks we've set ourselves. There's just one problem, which is that it doesn't work. Without that Earth nature, there's too much resistance. Luna can do it a bit, though she has a tendency to cause cracks in the earth due to uneven power flows, but it takes twice as much of her magic as she gets back. And the ratio would be worse for less powerful unicorns.
Myself, I can't get any effect from it. The great and powerful Celestia can't do something any Earth pony foal can do almost as soon as they can walk. Pegasi are creatures of the air, and the clouds, and the ontological resistance that causes reduces any earth power flow to next to nothing. I should be happy, proof that Earth ponies do have their own uniqueness is good, but it isn't spectacular. And investing horseshoes with a suitable rune set… not possible, the toughest bronze or iron would melt from the power mis-match.
But I am happy, and not just because of the new insights this reveals. While I can't draw power from the earth, under the spell I can reverse power flow and the effect and from my pegasus magic, make clouds take on certain earth-like qualities. I found it out quite by accident, but after some experimentation, I've been able to sculpt complex shapes that hold their nature for hours after I've left them.
And whereas the one is nigh impossible, this reverse effect synchronises with pegasus abilities so well that it lasts for… well, I'm not sure, Luna cast it over a month ago and I'm still under the effects. The natural power leakage from my body seems to sustain it. A second spell is implicit in the first, one, which would allow a unicorn or Earth pony to walk on clouds, though not control or shape them.
Just imagine if all pegasi had this power, we could build our own cities, castles in the sky. I know that seems the opposite of our general intent, but with an improved flutter-wings spell, and with the far simpler spell to allow non-pegasi bodies to walk and rest safely on them, unicorns and Earth ponies could visit. But they'd be pegasi homes, not roosts begrudged by the nobility, or under their control.
If only it was as easy to free the Earth ponies from such dominion. They do most of the heavy work and don't get any appreciation, and less dignity than we pegasi. Listen to me, I sound like a Cutie-Marksist. While I completely agree with the philosophy that work and workers should be respected, whatever type it is, 'Each according to their needs, each according to their cutie-mark.' hides it's own flawed assumption that all levels of effort should be respected equally.
If there is no reward for people who excel, what is the point of trying? Every-pony would do the absolute minimum to get by, and nothing would get done. Of course, there's no way that would remain stable, you'd replace dominion by aristocracy with dominion by autocracy, a dictatorship. A meritocracy would be better, but and that would still leave some ponies out in the cold. Rene Descarthorse, an Earth pony himself, once said, 'A pony is more than their cutie-mark', and I believe that too.
There must be a way to balance individual freedom and dignity with the requirements of the herd, reward the best to do their best while still making sure those who are less able have some chance to better themselves and have comfortable lives. And that includes unicorns as much as any pony.
After all, not all unicorns are nobles, though some are far nobler than the aristocrats who take that title. At least as many or more are skilled artisans, crafting the tools we need for our everyday life. Generally their magic is far more focussed than the nobility's, but superior in their own fields, pun not intended.
I knew this but didn't really think on it, as I've spent far too much time around the other sort. Of course, not being a noble doesn't automatically mean you'll be nice either. In fact some of them are even more stuck-up and toplofty than the nobility they're trying to copy. What I'm trying to say, rambling as usual is that things are more complex than my first entry made them out to be.
Atlas of all ponies brought all this home to me recently. He regularly travels around Ponyville, the principal town on our lands, and he's struck up friendships with a number of the unicorns and Earth ponies there. Certainly everyone knows him, and likes him. One in particular is the daughter of the alchemical supplier, a unicorn mare by the name of Blue Mane. I think big brother's got a case of the hots for her, in fact a whole wagonload of cases.
I was overflying at the time, so I saw and heard it for myself. Clearly he'd decided to go collect the materials for our latest series of experiments himself, and taken the opportunity to stay and chat with Blue Mane. I may have flown down and landed on the roof purely to rest my wings. If that put me right next to the chimney and a way to listen in, that was purely coincidental. Besides, you never know when a sister may need some juicy blackmail material on her brother. Heh heh heh!
Note to self: Investigate the possibility of putting in tubes inside a house specifically for carrying sound.
So there he was, chatting away though his usual aplomb was slightly less evident. Not that I think Blue Mane would mind she would probably have listened to him reading a work on philosophy in Zebrican. Methinks she is not averse to his attentions, and I also don't think she's interested because of his title. I've done a little investigating since, and she does seem to have a good head on her shoulders, calm, pleasant, almost no one had any harsh word to say about her, or her family.
Except for the final player in the drama, who entered stage left, or at least through the front door. Silver Tongue is her cousin's brother-in-law, and spends most of his time and money in Canterlot, attempting to social climb, and only comes to Ponyville to borrow money off his family so he can spend some more. He's one of the non-nobles who's even snootier than they are.
Clearly he didn't know who Atlas was, especially since my brother never bothers to take an escort or wear noble clothing. He immediately lit in on big brother yelling at him about 'a common Earth pony talking to his sister as if they were equals' and 'get back to your master's house before I have you whipped'. He rattled on about his powerful friends in Canterlot, and how disgraceful it was, while big bro just stood there and took it calmly.
Blue Mane was clearly mortified from the sounds she was making, but she couldn't get a word in edgeways, the bozo was so in love with the sound of his own voice. Then he rounded on her, and demanded to know what she was thinking disgracing the family like that. He lambasted her and she burst out crying. Then he exited the shop at some speed, and not under his own power as the hoof prints on his chest showed.
Big brother stormed out and proceeded to beat him like a drum, to the amusement of passersby. It seems Silver Tongue isn't popular in Ponyville generally. I was ready to fly down and help, but Atlas was handling things quite nicely. Obviously Silver Tongue was no match for my brother physically, and it's hard to work up a spell when you're being forced to eat flowerbed by a hoof on your head.
Then the Watch arrived, and called for them to stop brawling. Atlas finally let Silver Tongue up, and the unicorn immediately started yelling about having him arrested, and how his powerful friends would see he never saw daylight again. The Watch captain asked 'How can I help Milord?' and bozo the pointy-head took it to mean him.
He started going on about how he'd been assaulted, and how they should drag the offender off in irons. Watching his face when the Captain made it clear he was speaking to Atlas gave me a little warm glow.
Atlas finally introduced himself, and Silver Tongue realised just how much trouble he was in. He went from protesting to pleading in a heartbeat. And of course Blue Mane was stood in the doorway, stars in her eyes. Blue Mane's father, a nice old stallion called Indigo, came out and started apologising profusely.
Atlas handled it all with his usual common sense. He assured Indigo that he didn't blame him for his relation's drooling idiocy, and promised to have the door fixed. He told the Watch to dump Silver Tongue in the cells for a night, which was a lot less than he could have done for the insults he'd been given.
I don't think we'll have any more trouble from him, even if things go the way I expect. After all, Blue Mane is far better for big brother than any of those vicious, spiteful unicorn fillies I had to put up with in Dressage school. I only hope that someday I can find some stallion that does for me what she does for him just by being there.
Enough maundering. Romance later, science now! I have some further ideas about non-magical flight I want to play with, and it would be wonderful to take the whole package to the Academy rather than releasing our ideas piece-meal. I will have plenty of time for love.