Would be turned into an earth pony make Rarity instantly stronger? It isn’t like the transformation would have changed Rarity’s workout routine, and earth pony strength seems to come from hard work rather than just being granted to them.
 
And there’s still the question of whether or not earth ponies are even naturally stronger than the other pony types. Rainbow Dash and Rarity have both been able to compete with earth ponies without being outclassed on a physical level. While Applejack has stronger rear legs than Rainbow, they otherwise aren’t that far apart, despite the fact that Rainbow mostly focuses on her wings rather than the rest of her body.

*then she would

@achy  
Ya.. no, we know Rarity has does so before with her horn, only change with she nwo couldn’t detect them, so she couldn’t tell it was a fake, she could still dig it up, if she was a earth pony then show would of done so more easily then she did, say 1/4 to 1/2 the time.

@achy  
Rarity’s always had that kind of strength. She does her own mining, remember? And she didn’t get any weaker when she got her horn back.
 
Simplest explanation is that Discord just removed some body parts.

How do we know that when Discord removed their horns and wings, he didn’t use a race-changing spell, turning them into earth ponies with earth pony ability?
 
My headcannon is strongly leaning towards them being earth ponies at this time, Rarity gained the strength to dig through solid rock with her bare hooves.

The Pony POV fanfic series actually brought this up. Fluttershy’s segment starts with her regarding her wings as a minor loss… and then she wishes she had them after having to walk through a large portion of the maze.

@Sjogre  
Well put, mate! :) (Cheers)

@ColdhardSilver  
Technically, all those points are true. However, Fluttershy does think of herself as a pegasi that can’t fly well. There’s a world of difference between being a weak flyer, and missing two limbs. If nothing else, losing her wings would greatly effect the issues she has about her performance as a pegasus. Those could get worse, or change to focus on how she’s effectively an earth pony without earth pony biology and abilities.
 
Even if her lifestyle doesn’t depend on her wings, they are a part of her. Losing her wings would change her life greatly.

@Sjogre  
Hmm a truly interesting view point. I think this would tie into one’s sense of value, priority, and I idea of efficiency. Fluttershy doesn’t really admire her flying (value), use it all that much(priority), or shes it as a dominate ability in her life (efficiency)

@Sjogre  
Really? I just wanted to a quote good enough for a Softer World comic.

@PonyPon  
That’s actually an interesting philosophical area.
 
Even if it’s a part of yourself that you don’t rely on, it still forms your self image. How small a loss can it actually be?

It’s tragic when you lose a part of yourself…  
…that you can do without.