Earth pony customs are queer indeed. Apparently, Earth pony foals can go for years without being given a name, as they feel that all names should mean something. To give a name that means nothing is equivalent to slapping a child in the face to them. And to make matters even more complicated, the parents themselves aren't allowed to name the foal, nor are anypony related to them allowed to take part in the process. The Earth ponies allow complete strangers to name their children! Outrageous!
Butter Biscuit assures me that the tradition of strangers naming their foals has never had any unsavory results. And when the process is done, more often than not the parents will have forged a relationship with somepony they otherwise would not have ever known. It creates a strong sense of community and unity among the Earth ponies and many of them would not choose to have it any other way. In fact, he says that he himself has been searching for someone to name his daughter for a little over a year now. What a fascinating bunch these Earth ponies are.
Addendum: Still no sign of the Commander. And I promised Rain I wouldn't read more than one of her letters in a day, and, honestly, with all the information she packs into one letter I don't think I'd be able to handle it. So I've taken to watching the girls play about. They all seem to be having a grand time, and Clover seems to be getting along especially well with Butter Biscuit's daughter. In fact, out of the whole bunch of them, that plucky little Earth filly seems to be the only one capable of keeping up with my little one. When I mentioned what a smart cookie she must be to Butter Biscuit, he got a funny look on his face.
Addendum #2: Biscuit's daughter's name is now Smart Cookie. I 'm more than a little honored.
Makes sense that he would end up naming Smart Cookie.
and now Butter Biscuit will say that Starswill's daughter is, and i hope he says it just like this:
"that Clover sure is clever".
5337626 Well, now if I do that I'll feel like I'm ripping you off.
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you could say you drew the inspiration from someone you admire. or despise. or neither.
either way, you're going to have to explain from where the "the clever" comes from. maybe if i keep pulling ideas out of my.. lets say hat, to keep you from using them, you will have to come up with something awesome. not that what you write isnt, but...
lets start over. i wont delete what i already wrote because i'm sure someone will get a chuckle out of it.
pretend the actual comment starts here: it would be cool if you wrote it like that. or in a manner in which Starswil thinks changing his daughthers name isnt that much big a deal but Rain does.
if she's still alive. seriously, i think she wrote a lot of letters before dying, and gave the instructions of only reading one a day so Starswil wouldnt know of her death until he had already sorted out the problem of the meeting. so he wouldnt be devastated during the meetings. but since the commander is still out and the meetings are not being held yet but Starswil is reading the letters... well, i feel he will read the last letter stating that Rain is dying before the meeting... man, that would be... i dunno, interesting to say the least.
Wow! Another great chapter!!
At first I was hesitant to ready a story where each chapter was so small, but it actually works great! I am really in love with this story and hope you produce more soon! <3
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Maybe she's just called "the Clever" because she actually is clever? She learned the teleportation spell as a toddler, so she's obviously pretty smart. Starswirl doesn't have to name her that, it could just be a title like "Starswirl the Bearded". He isn't actually named "the bearded".