//------------------------------// // Chapter 30 (Winter Wrap Up) // Story: Spike The Brony Dragon // by red4567 //------------------------------// The rest of the winter wasn’t interesting, with the exception to the New Year’s party, of course. Believe it or not, Equestria marks years similar to my human world. So, after my first Equestrian New Year’s, the year was 2011, meaning it was 2010 when I first came to Equestria. I didn’t know how long the events of the entire series lasted (excluding the finale), but I doubt it was around nine years like in real time. Twilight and I had our own New Year's tradition. We dropped a ball from the stairs next to a yardstick to see how it'll bounce, and the amount of inches would indicate what kind of year we would get. If the ball reaches an even number, we’ll get a good year. If it reaches an odd but divisible number, we’ll get an average year, but the lowest number it’s divisible by would indicate what month would be the best for us. If it reaches a prime number, we’ll get a bad year. If it reaches a number divisible by 10, it means a big change will be coming for one of us. “Okay, Spike. Let it go!” Twilight called out. I nodded and dropped the ball. Since I was on the stairs, I couldn’t tell how high the ball bounced, but Twilight had a camera. She took a picture right when the ball reached its peak. “Okay, the picture’s printing...and now!” Twilight took the photo and placed it on the table. “And here it comes...Dear Celestia!” “What is it?” “30 inches! Exactly 30 inches! That means something big is gonna happen to one of us!” “Really? Let me see!” I hurried down the steps and looked at the photo. Sure enough, the ball did reach the 30-inch mark. “I can’t believe it! So who’s gonna get the big change?” “I don’t know, Spike, but whatever it is, it’s gonna be big.” “There’s something that’s been bothering me, though. How come you believe in a bouncing ball telling the future, but not a twitchy earth pony? Honestly, this feels like something Pinkie Pie would do.” “I guess I didn’t tell you about this. You see, it all started long before you were hatched. The day after New Year’s I was playing with a ball when I accidentally bounced it down the stairs. It hit a wall and went right over the railing. My parents scolded at me for playing ball in the house, but my brother noticed that it bounced near our height chart at exactly 50 inches. A few months later, we got a new babysitter, who Shining Armor and I instantly liked at the start.” “Princess Cadance?” “Yep. At first, we thought it was just a coincidence, but a few years later, it happened again. I dropped the ball from the stairs so Shining Armor could catch it, and this time it bounced 40 inches. That same year, I was accepted into Celestia’s school, and you were hatched. That’s when we decided that the ball’s bounce could predict the future.” “Amazing. But how did you determine what the other numbers meant?” “A year after you were born, the ball bounced only 43 inches. We thought nothing spectacular would happen, but we were wrong.” Twilight bit her lip. “Unfortunately, our favorite donut shop had to be closed all summer that year.” “Infestation?” “Broken glass.” “Ouch.” “That’s not the worse part. It was caused by Shining Armor, no less. He accidentally spilled his drink on the floor, and when he tried to clean it up himself, he slipped and fell head-first into the display counter. We had to take him to the hospital after that. He didn’t have any major injuries or a concussion, but he had a lot of scrapes over his body. He wore bandages for months. We weren't banned from the place, but we didn’t come back until after Hearth’s Warming Eve that year.” “Sweet Celestia!” “As for the other numbers, one year the ball reached 63. In March that year, you said your first word and learned how to walk. Another year, the ball reached 42, and I aced all of my courses in Celestia’s school for the first time. Since then, we've always dropped a ball after New Year's to determine the future. And I had data to back up its reliability." “Wow. But did we use the same ball?” “Not really. The ball would get too deflated to bounce sometimes, so we just buy a new one each year to use.” I still couldn’t believe this was a family tradition for Twilight's family. Then again, I never noticed New Year’s happening in the show before. “Spike, wake up! Wake up! Wake up! It’s Winter Wrap Up Day!” “Huh?” I slowly but surely woke up. “What?” “Winter Wrap Up!” Twilight repeated as she turned on the blinding lights. “Tomorrow’s the first day of spring. So everypony in Ponyville needs to clean up winter. Now help me get ready!” “Clean up winter?” I soon realized this was the “Winter Wrap Up” episode. After what seemed like a short winter, spring was right around the corner. In the show, Twilight would try to help her friends, but she didn't have the skills she needed to give them a hand. I doubt there was anything major I could change. "Ponyville was started by Earth ponies," Twilight said as she adjusted the saddle on her back. "So for hundreds of years, they've never used magic to clean up winter. It's traditional." "Wait, Granny Smith said that her family established Ponyville when she was a filly," I pointed out. "I'm not an expert on pony biology, but I don't think a non-alicorn pony can live for centuries." "Okay, so I'm exaggerating." Twilight put on her scarf and read her checklist. "Scarf? Check. Saddle? Check. Boots? Check. Spike pointing out an inconsistency? Check. It's a good thing I'm so organized, I'm ready." "Isn't it a bit too early to start?" I said as I lied back down. "I told you, Spike. Spring is tomorrow. We have to clean up winter today, or…" "I meant timewise. It's 5 a.m." I pulled the covers over my head. Twilight looked at the cuckoo clock on the wall. "Oh. I guess I'm a little too early." Two hours later, we got up for real this time, did our morning routines, and headed for town hall. “Those must be the team vests Rarity designed,” Twilight said as we passed some ponies. “Blue for the weather team, green for the plant team, and tan for the animal team. I wonder which team vest we'll be wearing.” “Do they even allow dragons to participate?” I asked. “I doubt dragons were on friendly terms with earth ponies back in the days.” As we approached the town hall, the mayor gave us a rousing speech and hoped that we would clean up winter as fast as possible. After everypony dispersed, Twilight was left confused. “Oh gosh, where should I go?” Twilight asked. “I'm not sure where I fit in. What exactly does everypony do?” That’s when everypony sang. Once again, there was no background music, but Twilight and I joined anyway. "Winter Wrap Up" was one of my favorite songs from the show. After the song ended, Twilight and I approached Rainbow Dash. “Oh, hey Twilight and Spike,” Dashie greeted. “What’s up?” “What are you doing?” Twilight asked. “Sending off one of my flight crews to retrieve the birds that have flown south for the winter.” “Oh, can I help? How about if I help clear out the clouds?” “Uh, Twilight? I don’t think you can fly without magic.” “Oh, right. No wings.” Give it time, Twilight. Give it time. “Sorry, Twilight.” Rainbow then dashed off. “Great, now what do we do?” Twilight asked me. “Winter needs to be wrapped up, and I'm determined to do my part...somehow.” We went to see Rarity, who was building a nest for the birds. “Rarity, please tell me there's something I can help you with,” Twilight pleaded. “Well, how would you like to help create Ponyville's finest birds' nests?” Rarity suggested. Twilight agreed. Rarity handed her the supplies she needed, and Twilight instantly went to work. Sadly, like in the show, her nest-making skills left something to be desired. The end result was...less than perfect. Way less. “There!” Twilight said. “It looks just like...yours...oh my.” “I’m...sure the birds won’t know the difference,” I said. “A nest is a nest, right?” “Spike! How could you say that?!” Rarity asked. “You’re lucky Fluttershy wasn’t in earshot. Most of the birds are very selective when it comes to their homes.” She then approached Twilight. “Don’t worry, darling. It's just a little rough around the edges. Let me lend you a hoof.” Unfortunately, Rarity was too focused on fixing the nest. Twilight and I decided to look for somepony else. We headed down to a lake to see Pinkie Pie skating. But it wasn’t just for fun. Since Pinkie was a pro at skating, she was assigned the job to cut lines in the ice so that it would break apart easily. “You sure have a lot of work ahead of you, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “There's quite a few lakes in Ponyville.” “Ha, tell me about it. Hey, Twilight, wanna help me out?” Pinkie asked. “Would I?” “Come on, put on those skates over there. I bet you'll be a natural too.” Twilight did just that. However, she soon found the ice too slippery for her to balance, let alone skate. “On second thought...” Twilight nervously said. “Come on, Twilight. There’s a first time for everything,” I said. “You gotta play your part in Winter Wrap Up somehow.” I gave Twilight a big shove as she slid across the ice. While I did find it funny how Twilight struggled to gain control on the ice, I soon realized what would happen next. Twilight rammed into Pinkie, and both of them were coming straight at me. With quick thinking, I dove out of the way right as the girls zipped past me. The two then slammed into a tree, knocking the snow off and turning them into a snow pony. “Are you girls alright?” I hurried up to them as they shook the snow off their bodies. “Twilight, you did a great job your first time around,” said Pinkie Pie. “I'm sure my first time was just as wobbly and bobbly and crasheriffic as yours.” “Really?” Twilight asked. Pinkie thought about it. “...No. But did I make you feel better?” “Y-Yeah, I guess.” Pinkie then suggested that we should go see Fluttershy. After Twilight took off her skates, she and I went to look for Fluttershy. In no time, we found her waking up a few critters. “Awww, how cute,” Twilight said as some porcupines walked past her. “Aren't they? This is my favorite task the whole season, when I get to see all my little animal friends again,” Fluttershy said. “It must be really rough for you to wait until spring,” I said. “It’s a shame that neither ponies nor dragons can migrate or hibernate seasonally.” “I know it is, but believe it or not, there are those who don’t mind winter. Deers, chickadees, rabbits, and more have their own ways to adapt to the cold just like us. Some grow thicker fur, while others change color to blend in from potential predators. The best part is even though food is scarce during the winter, there’s almost no competition from the animals that do hibernate or migrate.” “That’s nice to know. I guess Angel doesn’t hibernate either?” “Not really, but he does take frequent naps, and he gets cranky when he wakes up.” How is that different from any other season? Fluttershy looked at the other dens that still had sleeping animals. “Would you just look at all these warrens and dens?” She sighed. “I'm worried that I won't be able to wake up every animal before spring comes.” “We can help you, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “You will? Oh, that would be wonderful.” Fluttershy handed us a bell each. “Just remember not to ring too loudly. We don’t want to give the animals a rude awakening.” “We understand,” I said. “If someone woke me up with a loud noise, I would be pretty upset, too.” Twilight rang a bell at a nearby den, while I did the same at one close by down the hill. “Wake up, please,” I said softly into the burrow. “Spring is here. Time to wake up and smell the flowers.” After I heard tiny footsteps approaching, I carefully backed away as the species exited their den. The species that came out was skunks. Unlike the cartoons, they didn’t smell terrible. At least none of them are like that French skunk. I’m glad reality has a way to prove itself useful sometimes. “Welcome,” I said to the striped family. “I hope you all had a good rest. I can promise you that spring will—” “YAAHH!!” Twilight’s voice shouted. “Excuse me a sec,” I said to the skunks. I quickly headed up the hill. “Twilight? What’s wro—?” CRASH!! Twilight slammed right into me, knocking us both over. I heard Fluttershy quickly approaching us. “Twilight! Spike! Oh, are you two okay?!” Fluttershy asked. “I will be once this unicorn gets off me!” I wheezed. Twilight quickly jumped off and hid behind Fluttershy. I brushed myself off as I got up. “What were you running from, Twilight?” I asked. “Snakes! Snakes!” Twilight pointed at the den that had a bunch of snakes slithering out. "Aw, good morning," Fluttershy greeted. "How can she be friends with something so scary?" You're one to talk, Daenerys Sparkle. Just wait until I’m an adult. “M-M-Maybe we should find something else to do.” Twilight shivered. “Th-Thanks anyway, Fluttershy.” We both said goodbye to Flutteshy and hurried out of the warrens. Twilight sighed with relief. “All this Winter Wrap Up stuff is a lot harder than it looks,” said Twilight. “Don’t feel bad, Twilight,” I said. “You’re just struggling a bit.” “That’s an understatement.” There was still one more friend we haven’t tried yet. It was Applejack. In the show, Twilight would try to use her magic to move the plow, but gets chewed out by Applejack. I did remember Spike suggested Twilight to use magic, but since I’m Spike now, I kept my mouth shut. We arrived at the fields to where Applejack was leading the green vest group to plow the snow. “Hey, Applejack,” Twilight greeted. “How’s everything going?” “Oh, just dandy,” Applejack replied. “A little slow startin', but peachy all the same. There's a lot of ground to clear, ya hear? We can't even start the plantin' and the waterin' until we get all these heap a' snow hightailed outta here.” Twilight offered to help, but Applejack was reluctant at first. Eventually, after some pleading form Twilight, Applejack had no choice but to accept it. So, Twilight hopped into the plow. She gave it a big push, but the plow stood firm. Twilight tried much harder, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t push the plow. Applejack shook her head.  “Here, let me try,” I said.  I slid down the hill and hopped into the plowing device. I stood in front of Twilight and pushed the bar with all my might. Soon, the plow started moving. “Hah! There we go!” I shouted. But that’s when I encountered another problem. Thanks to my short stature, I couldn’t see over the bar. “Twilight, you need to tell me where to go,” I said. “Okay...a little to the right...the right...your right!” “We have the same rights, Twilight!” I called out as I steered right. “I can hear you. It’s a bit difficult to steer this thing.” Twilight and I continued pushing the plow. Twilight gave me directions, and I followed. I noticed I’ve been making turns a lot. “Okay, Spike, slow down,” Twilight said. I did just that, but the plow resisted. “Slow down. Slow down. Stop! Stop! STOP!” I quickly dug my feet into the ground as I struggled to get the hunk of metal to decelerate. I heard Applejack yelping and diving out of the way. Thankfully, the plow stopped completely. “Dang, boy!” Applejack called out. “Whatcha tryin’ to do? Scare the hat offa me?” “I was just following Twilight's orders," I said as I peeked over the bar. "This thing is kind of hard to control." “Sorry about that, Applejack,” Twilight nervously said. “But honestly, it feels like Spike was just doing all the work while I just stood by as a bystander.” “Not true. You were giving me directions. I couldn’t see anything over the push bar. Without you, I could’ve crashed. We’re like a small team working together.” “Yes, but anypony can give you directions, Spike.” Twilight sighed as she hopped out of the snowplow. “I need a moment.” Twilight galloped away. I climbed out of the plow. “Uh, Applejack? Are you sure the workers are plowing properly?” I asked. “What do ya mean, Spike?” Applejack adjusted her hat. “They’re pushin’ the plows to move the snow. It's the quickest way without magic.” “I mean, they’re all moving in different directions and adding more snow on paths they already plowed. Shouldn’t they all go in a straight line in the same direction?” “Uh.” Applejack looked at fields and back to me. “I don’t know...” “It’s not breaking tradition if you’re just changing tactics without magic, you know.” “Well, we could—” Applejack looked up at the sky. “Oh, fer land’s sake! The sky’s still cloudy?! No wonder the snow’s not melted yet. I gotta go find Rainbow.” Applejack left for town hall. “See ya later, Spike.” I needed to find somepony as well, so I followed Applejack. Eventually, I found Twilight sitting on a bench staring at the sky. “There you are, Twilight,” I called out. “Why did you leave?” Twilight sighed. “Because I wasn’t fit for the job. You were more qualified. They could’ve just made a smaller plow for you and you’d be all set. I'd like to have a position here, too, but I can’t do anything without my magic.” “This is the first time we had to clean up winter without magic. I’m sure you’ll pick up the skills soon enough.” “But no matter what I do, it always ends in a complete disaster. I can’t help Winter Wrap Up if I can’t skate, fly, build, wake, or plow. Magic is the only skill I got.” “Not true. You’re pretty good at organizing...and giving directions. Neither of those require magic.” “Well...” “Rainbow Dash!” Applejack yelled. “Y'all on the weather team need to melt the rest of the snow here on the ground and the trees, pronto.” “Huh?” Twilight and I looked to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack near town hall. Fluttershy quickly approached them. “Wait,” Fluttershy pleaded. “My poor little animals' homes will get flooded if the snow melts too fast.” “Hey! Hey! What’s going on here?!” I called out. “These two are giving me mixed messages!” Rainbow Dash said. “Make up your minds! You want the snow to melt fast or slow?” “Fluttershy, isn’t there a slightly faster way for you to wake the animals up?” “Spike, waking animals up the right way takes time,” Fluttershy replied. “What in Equestria are you all arguing about?!” The mayor called out. “This sort of silliness is why we were late for spring last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. I was hoping my amazingly inspirational speech would urge everyone to do better than last year, but now it looks like we're going to be later than ever. I mean, just look at this catastrophe! The ice scorers made the ice chunks too big to melt. The nest designer is horrendously behind. And don't get me started on all the clouds in the sky, the icicles on the trees. This isn't good, not at all!” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Dear Celestia, this town’s so chaotic during Winter Wrap Up, it makes Discord look like Twilight. Don’t you ponies ever hear of organization?” “Do you have any ideas, Spike?” Rainbow asked. I pointed to Twilight Sparkle. “Twilight, I don’t know if you have OCD or not,” I said. “But I do know you have a thing for things organized. That is just what Ponyville needs right now.” Twilight thought for a moment and then said, “Spike, get my checklist and clipboard, STAT.” “Yes, ma’am!” I quickly hurried to the library and brought back the clipboard with the checklist. Thanks to Twilight’s organization skills, a lot of tasks were done almost immediately. The nests were made swiftly, the ice melted equally, the plowing and planting was made easily, the animals were awaken softly but quickly, the weather was changed drastically, and so much more. The next day, it was already spring. The mayor had granted Twilight the title “All-Team Organizer” for helping every team, and gave her a vest with all three colors.  Since I helped with the plowing a bit, I joined the plant team and got a small green vest. I could’ve joined the animal team with Fluttershy, but I knew building up strength could help me in the long run. Also, I didn't get a cold from sleeping on a melting ice block.