Twilight and Spike hear the shouts, recognizing Rainbow Dash’s characteristic rasp and Applejack’s drawl, long before they can see them. She picks up her trot, expecting a brawl from their hostile tone. The pugnacious shouts of the other ponies either egging them on or half heartedly begging for a diplomatic solution, but not in so many words, doesn’t help matters either. She skids along the snow as she turns past Rarity’s nest table, nearly throwing Spike off of her as she rears back in surprise.
The surprise being the third pony engaged in the heated argument. “Fluttershy?” Twilight mutters to herself, shaking her mane to clear her eyes, half expecting to see somepony else. What could have happened to make the normally meek pegasus so furious? She trots closer, peeking through the crowd of ponies to try to get a better view of her herdmates.
“Well, that wouldn’t be a problem if’n you cleared the whole sky instead of just bits here and there!” Applejack stamps a hoof on the ground, Apple Bloom mimicking the action right behind her.
“What do you think we’ve been doing?” Rainbow Dash shouts, throwing her hooves to the sky as she hovers. “Do you think we’ve been laying on the clouds all morning? Or can you possibly lift your eyes off your hooves for two whole seconds to see what’s going on around you?”
“Have you seen what’s going on around you, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy demands, sweeping her foreleg towards the melting snow. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t be happy about it! Not at all!”
“Excuse me!” Twilight exclaims, pushing her way past the other ponies and stepping into the makeshift arena, one hoof rocketing towards Rainbow Dash. “That is no way to talk to a Friend, much less anypony!”
“But, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash huffs as she points a hoof at each of Applejack and Fluttershy. “They keep telling me to do different things! And we don’t have the wingpower to do everything! Not all at once!”
“Oh, dear!” mourns Mayor Mare, a tan hoof coming up to her gray mane. “All this arguing! Ponyville is going to be late bringing in spring again! Just like last year, and the year before that!”
“Late?” Twilight’s grin grows maniacal. But in a good way. “Not if I can help it.” She boots Spike off in the direction of the Golden Oak Library. “Spike, get me my checklists and quills, stat!” She looks around the gathered ponies, picking out Meringue and Amethyst Star. “Anypony with an ounce of organization, I need your help!” Not seeing Doug, she turns to Mayor Mare. “I need topographical maps of Ponyville, now!” The mayor’s two assistants rush off towards the town hall.
Twilight spins her hoof towards Applejack and Fluttershy, the two curiously watching the purple unicorn practically flying into action. “I know I got here after the fact, but you’re going to need better arguments than that!” She pulls out her lists of all the actions that the ponies perform, slamming them down on the table brought out by Noteworthy. “Mind explaining to me what’s going on?”
All three of her Friends talk at once.
“I’ve got too much to do and not enough ponies to do it!” “We need the clouds cleared up to melt off all this snow!” “We need the animals woken up without their homes being flooded!”
“STOP!!” Twilight glares, though at least they all go quiet. Diamond Tiara joins Meringue and Amethyst Star at the table. Twilight points a hoof at Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, until we know what needs to be done first, I want you to stop doing everything piecemeal.” Twilight looks over her list of weather pony responsibilities. “Until I tell you otherwise, I want the lakes scored and houses cleared of snow. Leave the clouds as they are.”
“Who put you in charge?” demands Rainbow Dash, though it looks like Diamond Tiara had the same question on her lips.
Twilight meets Rainbow’s eyes. “What we need here is organization. Up until now you’ve been like three ponies pulling a cart three different ways. We need somepony with coordination! And if we want any chance of finishing on time, we need direction! And I’m just the pony for the job! I’ve got Organization, Coordination, and Direction in spades!” Her hoof spreads over the parchment like they are so many accolades. “Anypony else want the job?”
“Just tell us what to do!” shouts Diamond Tiara eagerly, all saccharine smiles and cheer. “And we’ll get it done!”
“Exactly!” Twilight Sparkle turns to Rainbow Dash. “Do I need to repeat myself?”
Rainbow Dash snaps a hoof to her mane. “No, ma’am!” She spins around, rocketing into the air. Pinkie Pie drops a whistle on the table as she pronks off towards Sugarcube Corner, dozens of pegasi soon swarming over the houses.
“Applejack!” Twilight motions to her list of earth pony objectives. “I know you want that snow melted off as soon as you get it pushed to the lakes and streams so you can clear more. I-”
“No!” shouts Fluttershy, ignoring Twilight’s raised hoof. “That’ll melt it too quick, and anycreature who made their burrow near a stream will be flooded!”
“Fluttershy,” Twilight says patiently, taking a calming breath and briefly staring at the ground before she meets her herdmate’s eyes. “I know you have your own concerns. Please trust me to get to them, and take them into account. Once I hear what Applejack has to say, I will get your side; and Amethyst Star’s, if she has anything else to add.” Twilight’s eyes flick to the purple unicorn. “Agreed?”
“Oh, um,” Fluttershy stammers. “I… I just wanted to make sure the animals were taken care of. I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.” Twilight turns back to Applejack. “Applejack, I want a list of the highest priority objectives you have. Things that need to be done first. Along with that, the order that you want fields to be cleared.” She motions to the topographical maps Mayor Mare is bringing over. “More importantly, I want to know what areas need to be cleared of clouds first. The places that you push snow to be melted, that sort of thing. Work with Diamond Tiara on that.”
Applejack looks over at the young pink mare. Reluctantly at first, but then more confidently, she nods. Diamond Tiara gives an imperious nod back; her eyes find Apple Bloom, then flicks her head towards the papers. Applejack rolls her eyes a little, though her expression falls as she sees Big Mac walk up with a sorrowful Caramel in tow.
Twilight turns to Fluttershy. “You’ve been very patient, Fluttershy. Now, I understand that you’re concerned about the burrows flooding. What areas are those, and how much water can we safely run though each? Are there any other considerations we should take into account?”
“Oh, well, every place is different.” Fluttershy places a hoof on the furthest east stream. “Without flooding, the flow rate here can go up to about-”
“As long as Applejack understands how much snow they can dump there per hour, I don’t need to know.” Twilight smiles to herself. “Well, I want to know, I just have higher priority issues right now than trivia that I may or may not put to use later.” Twilight clears her throat. “Anyway. Work with Amethyst Star and Meringue on calculating those numbers. Let the Green team know as soon as you can. I would also like some sort of list that details the best places for the cleared snow to be taken, and pass that on to Rainbow for them to clear out the skies.”
Fluttershy snaps a salute, beaming. “You got it!”
“And this is more of a future consideration, but perhaps we can convince some of the animals to not make their winter burrows so close to waterways.” Twilight taps a hoof against her chin. “But, I can’t worry about that now.” She looks up to the sky, grimacing at the scattered clouds that don’t let any sunlight through. “That’ll make melting the snow uneven. Actually, it already has.” She scribbles on her papers, grinning as Spike returns with a quill and extra parchment.
Rainbow Dash flies up to Twilight. “Well, we’re out of shovels, and Pinkie Pie's about done distributing skates. Anywhere else you want us, or just hang tight?”
“Hmm.” Twilight considers for a few seconds, Rainbow and the dozens of pegasi behind her getting antsy. “Hang tight. I’m waiting on Applejack and Fluttershy to get back, and they’ll let you know where to start clearing. If you want to send pegasi to help with animals or plowing, that’s up to you. But resting might not be a bad idea.”
Rainbow nods. “Alright, everypony, you heard her. Take a well deserved, but I expect you to be ready to go as soon as we get the say-so! You’re off until my whistle!” She grabs the whistle from the table, two quick bursts before she flies up to a nearby cloud, pushing it down to take a quick nap in earshot.
Several minutes later and Doug and Trixie arrive, both carting plows. “So, we’re clearing Ponyville’s streets again?” He looks at the papers strewn about the table. “What’s going on here?”
“Organizing. Busy.” Twilight flicks a hoof towards the houses that are being cleared of snow first. “You know what to do.”
“...Right.” Doug shrugs at Trixie while Applejack and Fluttershy, having come to a provisional agreement of where to start. The two grin at each other, walking in step towards Twilight.
“You need something?” Beat. “Anything?” Beat. “Something, anything, everything that I can do! It’s nothing!” Twilight beams at Doug as he stands around.
Doug clears his throat. “Oh." Beat. "No." Beat. "Can’t say anything’s wrong. Just expecting a song.” Beat. “Or a montage.” He grimaces as Rarity, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle begin drumming on the nests they are busily making, tossing bits and pieces to each other that seem to magically fit into place. “Oh sweet Celestia it’s happening.”
Twilight leaps onto the table, hind legs barely missing all of her papers as she stomps to the beat of shovels against the roofs. Forelegs gesture at double time, distributing assignments first to the right, then to the left, then both hooves to the air, practically throwing lists as ponies approach. Even Pinkie Pie, pronking along with a line of skate wearing ponies bouncing behind her, gets a list.
“You know what this looks like to me?” Doug remarks, watching as all the little ponies leave to their assigned duties.
“Mm?” replies Twilight, pondering over the next set of things that need to be done, the timing required, and various contingency plans if things don’t go perfectly. Behind her ponies burst into action, in unison singing or humming along.
“This looks like a test case of running a country.” Doug motions to all the various groups going about their tasks. “How well you can best utilize your available resources, plan for eventualities, and even broker deals and smooth relationships. All the things a ruler would do.”
“Oh sweet Celestia you’re right.” Twilight grimaces, pawing through her various papers. “What if I miss something? What if I missed something already, and didn’t notice it? What if-”
“Well, I’d say you’re doing a pretty bang-up job already.” Doug pats Twilight as she looks up at him. “And by that I mean you’re doing a good job. You'll be able to handle it, or hoof it, no matter what comes up!”
Twilight grins, a bit of the mania leaving her face. “Maybe you’re right, Doug.” She looks over at the town, marveling at the sight. “And look what it’s let me do!” She grins as Applejack and Fluttershy draw near, followed by Rarity. Pinkie Pie pauses her pronking, and Rainbow Dash drops from her cloud to listen.
Twilight beams at each of them in turn. “My Generosity to help others, and my Loyalty to my fellow Ponyvillians, got me to undertake a difficult task that I otherwise would have had no inclination to do. And Kindness helped get me through it!” Twilight looks to Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, smiling wider. “In the same way, true Friends can be honest with each other. Even when, especially when the words their Friend needs to hear don’t make them happy. As long as the words are spoken from a desire to see your Friend improve! Nothing can be more optimistic and joyous!”
Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie grin, leaping forward to embrace Twilight.
“Because True Friendship comes from knowing your Friends! Understanding them; the things they enjoy, even the things they don’t. The challenges they face, and how you can help them overcome them! I'm so lucky to have each and every one of you as my Friends!”
Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Trixie, and Doug eagerly join in the embrace. Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are right behind, squeezing in between to hug Twilight.
The large magenta star on Twilight Sparkle’s flank glows, matching the five white stars. Twilight grips as tightly as she can, hooves wrapping around every one of them. “And with you all by my side, I know there is nothing we can’t do!”