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// Clyde the Woodcutter 
// Story: Clyde's Tales 
// by Salivanth 
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Clyde the Woodcutter


Once upon a time in a vast forest lived an eminently sensible earth pony named Clyde, who made a living cutting wood.

One day, Clyde passed by a pond.  As he was sure-footed and always kept his humble bronze ax properly fastened in its holder, he walked right past without incident.  Suddenly, a voice called out from behind:

“Thank the stars!”

Clyde turned to find a seapony popping its head out of the pond.

“May I help you?” asked Clyde.

“I just wanted to say how eternally grateful I am that somepony walked by my humble pond without fumbling their junk into the water,” the seapony huffed.  “In gratitude for your prudence, I grant you everything that has ever fallen in.”

She wiggled her fins and suddenly a multitude of axes appeared before Clyde: some bronze, others stone, and there were even a few wooden ones.  He stared for a moment, blinked, and stared again.

“I’m not a rubbish pony,” he stated.

The seapony’s smile strained.  “I’ll turn your ax to gold if you just get rid of it all for me.”

“How can I cut wood with a golden ax?” Clyde asked.

“Platinum?” the seapony pleaded.

“How about you turn the junk to gold?” Clyde suggested.

“Oh.  OH!  Shoo-be-doo-be-doo!”  The seapony fluttered her fins, and the whole pile turned to gold.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Clyde said, scooping up the loot.

Moral of the story: Be patient with fairytale creatures: there’s no qualifying exam.