"Starswirl," Clover whispered as he lowered her head, "everypony's staring at us."
As the wizard and the filly strolled through town on their way to Cornish Fields, he glanced around with a pleasant smile pasted on his face and saw that many ponies were, indeed, staring at them with faces curled up in deep disgust. Starswirl expected that, though; it was simple logic that the farming folk would live out on farms while the mining folk lived in houses close to the mines.
"Just smile back, Clover," he admonished. "Don't let it bother you."
She hissed, "But it does!"
"Well, don't act like it bothers you, then."
They neared Orrin Tin's house, and passed behind four ponies biting down on a rope to haul beams of timber up to the burnt-out roof on a makeshift pulley system.
Suddenly Diamond Joe, one of the hauling ponies, slipped and stumbled to the ground. The other three couldn't support the log's weight and got dragged forward, despite digging their hooves into the ground to stop it from falling and crashing into the roof.
With a tilt of his head, Starswirl surrounded the timber with his cerulean aura and stopped it an inch away from crashing into the head of a cringing pony atop the roof. The earth pony opened one eye and glanced up at the glowing beam hovering over his head, then gave a yelp and jumped back, apparently forgetting that he was atop a roof. Starswirl used a levitating spell on him as well, and he hung upside-down in the air with his nose brushing the grass.
The wizard magicked the timber down to the ground and righted the fallen earth pony.
"You should pay more attention," the wizard called out cheerfully. "These situations do have a knack for getting the drop on us, don't they?"
Ettin Tin strode over with a saw in his mouth. For an instant, he had a gleam in his eye like he was tempted to use it, then let it drop from between his teeth.
"You did that on purpose!"
"No, Ettin," Diamond Joe said, tugging at the red bandanna around his neck and removing his hat to wipe the sweat off his brow. "It was my fault. I slipped, true as all that."
"He used his magic to make you trip," Ettin snarled.
Starswirl glanced at the pony he'd saved, raising his eyebrow as if to say 'don't you have something to add'?
The pony gulped, then stammered, "It-it feels funny when you he gets his magic round you, though--"
Ettin slapped him across the back of the head. "Whose side are you on?!"
The wizard turned and continued on his way, calling out over his shoulder, "You're welcome, by the way."
As they ambled onwards through the waking town, Starswirl's ears picked up as he noticed he had a lightness of step he hadn't had before. Not only must he have slept better than he thought, but his act of kindness must have soothed the turmoil in his heart. When he spoke to Clover, the words flowed easily:
"That is how you don't let it bother you, Clover. The first step is to realize why a pony does as he does. As I've said, often you find fear behind their actions, and when you realize how much they suffer because of it, it becomes that much easier to pity them."
"And....pity's good?"
"It's a good start, anyway. At least pity forges some sort of emotional bond between you and the other pony, whereas hate does nothing but divide you."
"You sound like you're back to normal," she said.
"Yes, I must've slept better than I thought."
"Now, about my horn...."
"Patience, Clover, patience."
She sighed. "I knew you were going to say that."
The morning air felt crisp and refreshing as it filled Starswirl's lungs. He and Clover ambled down the road. As they neared the main gate of Cornish Fields, he indeed saw where Golden Vein had kicked a section of fence down. The wizard paused for a moment, bent down, and lit his horn up with magic. The pieces of wood flew into the air and re-knit themselves back together.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!"
Starswirl turned around and saw Lockhorn Plenty bearing down on him.
So he still doesn't trust me, then.
"Your fence was broken," Starswirl said as he stepped aside, "and after having had a taste of local government, I was overcome with sympathy."
Lockhorn kept his eyes narrowed, but he sputtered out, "Oh, well, I-I...."
For the second time in under an hour, Starswirl said, "You're welcome."
The boss pony clenched his jaw and raised his head in a dignified manner. "I suppose you're not as much of a fool as I thought you were."
"Thank you."
Lockhorn Plenty nodded at Clover. "What's she doing here?"
"I'm sure you heard about....last night?"
"I....mayhap heard something."
"Well, she hasn't been able to stop shaking since, and now she absolutely refuses to leave my side. Carmine is feeling, ah, a bit under the weather. Several tons of snow, let's say, and I'm afraid being plowed isn't the solution to his ailment."
Quite the opposite: it's the source of it.
"So here I am, ready to work," the wizard finished. "Also, I don't think I got a chance to thank you for believing in me." He reached over and shook Plenty's hoof without waiting for the ochre stallion to offer it.
"Err, believed in you, yeah," Lockhorn said, at a loss for words. "That's it."
"I really must thank you from the bottom of my heart," Starswirl said. "Brandy Apple told me a little about the last time something like this happened, and I thank you that I was able to avoid the same fate."
The boss pony's ear twitched, and he almost seemed to flinch.
Struck a nerve there, Starswirl thought.
"Well, that's ancient history now, you hear?" Lockhorn said brusquely, his tone implying not to ask anymore questions. "You want to work? Then get to work already."
"Of course," the wizard said. "Come along, Clover."
"Why can't we be doing that?" Clover moaned.
Starswirl glanced down at the little filly struggling under the weight of the bushel balanced on her back. He then followed her gaze to the rows upon rows of earth ponies digging up the ground and planting seeds.
"Because earth ponies have a connection to the land," he explained." Their magic touch makes crop grow. Well, better than unicorns, anyway. But in consolation, we can--"
Then he glanced down at her again and saw she was moping with her ears flat against her head and her head bowed; she looked on the verge of bursting out in tears.
"I'm sorry, Clover, I spoke without thinking."
She mumbled something that sounded like, "It's alright."
The wizard turned to the next stalk and started magicking ears of corn off of it and levitating them over to the bushel. As he did so, he tentatively reached out and tried to touch the Harmony again. He couldn't feel it, but he found the five attributes came easily.
Honesty, Fidelity, Generosity, Merriment--
As he thought that he tore an ear off, which made the entire stalk shake like it was angry.
Hm, stalk, he thought.
Suddenly, a joke coalesced in his mind. Chortling to himself, he turned to the young filly standing at his side and asked, "Clover?"
"Yeah, Starswirl?" she asked morosely, barely bothering to lift her eyes up to meet his.
"Why did one cornstalk get angry at the other cornstalk?"
"I dunno. Why?"
He grinned and shook the levitating ear of corn. "Because the other one was stalking his ears off."
Clover stared at him, her mouth drawn into a thin line. "That ain't funny."
"Well, get used to it, young one." As he peeled a husk back, he said, "We're stuck here until husk."
"Still ain't funny."
"I'm sorry my corn-fed humor bothers you so much."
She struggled to contain a giggle. "That still ain't funny, Starswirl, so you better stop before you embarrass yourself."
"I'm embarrassing myself just being seen with a filly who has no appreciation for the finer points of wit. Frankly, it's--" He magically bent a cornstalk towards her and rattled it. "--a-maize-ing I bother with you at all. Ah, well, you'll learn to appreciate my corny jokes in time. No, I wouldn't even call them corny, they're more....Corny-ish."
As the loose leaves falling from the stalk fell down around her, she couldn't keep the laughter bottled up any longer, and a smile illuminated her face as she let her worries drift away; the merriment was contagious, and before Starswirl knew it he was laughing too. With Clover at his side, somehow it seemed like the day's worth of work ahead wouldn't last that long.