Race
Once upon a time, there was a pony. And that was sufficient.
Eventually however, the pony’s boundary conditions changed, which produced another series of changes, and so on and so forth, until its steady state was not sufficient. Then, it asked a question.
“Are these the mares you spoke of earlier?” Celestia asked Begat. He nodded.
Celestia was not sure she liked that answer. Though her experience with emotions was much greater than it has been only a few hours ago, the complexity of her emotions seemed to be increasing as well. There was something she felt, looking at the three mares, and it was not entirely positive.
All three of the mares were small, like begat, but they were not exactly the same as him. One was a dappled grey, and had a horn but no wings. She rested upon a dais in the garden. One was a bright blue, and had wings but no horn. She rested upon a cloud. One was a light tan, and had neither wings nor a horn. She was working to plant a row of flowers in the garden, covered in dirt and mud.
“Hello,” said Celestia, and all three mares took notice of her. “Who are you?”
“I am Enchantment,” said the one with the horn but no wings. “I’m a unicorn.”
“I am Wind,” said the one with the wings but no horn. “I’m a pegasus.”
“I am Toil,” said the one with neither horn nor wings. “I’m an earth pony.”
“Oh,” said Celestia. “Are you also ponies?”
“Yes,” explained Enchantment. “Unicorns are ponies with horns. Unicorns are responsible for for maintaining and regulating magic in the world.”
“And Pegasi are ponies with wings,” added Wind. “Pegasi are responsible for maintaining weather and wind patterns in the world.”
“And earth ponies,” said Toil, with a sigh, “are ponies without wings or horns, and we are responsible for the garden and all its plants.”
“Is that correct?” Celestia asked. “Begat has a horn but no wings, but his responsibility is to mate, not to maintain and regulate magic in the world.”
“Race,” explained Enchantment, from her relaxed position upon the dais, “is extra. Begat is responsible for mating and for magic.”
“As our Creator explained it,” Wind continued, “every pony has a race, and everypony’s extra duties are just as important as their regular ones.”
“We cannot neglect the duties of our kind,” Toil added.
Begat and Celestia both looked uncertain at this news, glancing at each other as they considered their reply. Celestia was worried. If every pony had a race, and she was a pony, she must have had a race. That meant she had responsibilities she was unaware of, and thus was not fulfilling.
“What is my race?” Celestia asked.
“You are a unicorn,” said Enchantment, “because you have a horn.”
“No, you are a pegasus,” said Wind, “because you have wings.”
Toil said nothing, and after a time, Begat spoke in her place. "What must I do in order to maintain and regulate magic in the world?"
"Nothing right now," Enchantment said. "At least, as far as I am aware."
Begat nodded, and after a time, he stepped up alongside Toil, and began to dig with her. She smiled at him, and Celestia watched as a blush appeared in her cheeks.
“Actually,” said Celestia. “I am an earth pony.” At that, all four ponies around her stopped and stared, for her statement seemed to contradict what they had all just heard.
“You see,” said Celestia, “A unicorn has one horn and zero wings, but Enchantment has said that I am a unicorn, even though I have wings. This means I have one horn and zero wings, which makes me a unicorn, plus one set of wings. So I am a winged unicorn.”
Enchantment nodded at this, but Celestia continued speaking. “Further,” she said, “A pegasus has zero horns and one set of wings, but Wind said that I am a pegasus, even though I have a horn. This means I have zero horns and one set of wings, which makes me a pegasus, plus one horn. so I am a horned pegasus.”
Wind nodded at this, but still Celestia continued. “However,” she said, “An earth pony has zero horns and zero wings. I have zero horns and zero wings, plus one horn, plus one set of wings. Therefore,” she concluded. “I am a winged horned earth pony.”
“In fact,” she added after a moment’s more thought. “By the definitions you have given, every pony is an earth pony, and we are all equally responsible for the garden.”
Wind and Enchantment looked at each other with growing concern, and after a moment, hopped from their perches to rush to assist Toil. Toil accepted their help, but she smiled only at Begat.
Nearby, Celestia ate grass, and thought.
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This continues to be odd and eerie and all too interesting. I am glad to see it return and hope the next gap isn't half a year, because I want to see more of this world!
Thank you!
It took me a moment, but Celestia made a very good point.
Shame that it would be forgotten within a few generations.
Logic! :D
Hurray! Does this mean we can expect more of these excellent updates soon?
I'm glad to see this story continued.
completly twisted, I read something similar before and of course I don't remember where. I will probably go 
bonkers trying to dig it out ;)
Celestia's explanation was
-edit, gone-
Chapter#3
Begat does not have a horn or wings,
clashes with (from previous chapter):
(Begat's) horn was shorter, and it had no wings.
5136719
*gasp!*
I'm PONY RACIST. I assumed Begat was an earth pony just because he was a sweet, inoffensive guy who is amazing in bed.
Fixed. Along with the typos. Thank you.
(And yes, that's a stereotype. Positive stereotypes are hurtful too you know!)
Stamina theory!
But you know; unicorns' horns never go limp. Never
This is utterly fascinating. Eagerly looking forward to more, whenever it may come.
This is beautiful. And very Douglas Adams.
I approve.
Like and fav.
awesome!
I like Begat's name, it lends itself nicely to the creation mythos while still being fantastically pony! But I don't know what a boundary condition is so that bit is lost on me. And don't worry about all your secret responsibilities Celestia, just keep calm and eat grass.
I look forward to the future of this story.
Oh, that's my drawing up there.
6074939
Heeeeeeey!
I owe you a debt of thanks.
This is really weird. It's like you took Douglas Adams, The Little Prince, some philosophy textbooks, and a fair few creation myths, and rolled them all into one strange, genius, errily minimalist story.
I love it.
Write more.
... I would be very interested in reading more of this.
*Tracked*
Just stumbled upon this and it's really underrated.
Revive this please?
No, you're a hippogriff. The fish one are hippocampus. And those are longma, not kirin. Begat apparently been getting around