“Do I really need to go through my list of reasons why this is a bad idea?” Twilight asked as she followed behind Pinkie, her head held low as she trudged through the snow.
“You can if it’ll make you feel better!” Pinkie replied with a smile. Pinkie had dozens of different smiles, Twilight had come to learn over her years in Ponyville, and this one meant that the earth pony knew she had the upper hoof.
Twilight gestured to the blue, green, and brown vest she was wearing, the sight of which filled her with pride – as well as a little bit of disgust. She wasn’t as picky as Rarity in this regard, but she really needed to get around to changing the vest to something that didn’t clash so horribly with her coat. “As always, I’m the All-Team Organizer, so I really should be back at Town Hall keeping track of our progress,” she offered.
Pinkie gave an exaggerated shake of her head. “And you’re so super organized that the teams will run like clockwork for the hour that you’re gone!”
“The last time I tried to do this, I was, to quote a certain snarky dragon, a ‘natural disaster,’” Twilight said, wincing at the memory.
“Hmm… that is true.” Pinkie nodded sagely, and Twilight saw a glimmer of hope, but then that poofy mane gave another shake. “But that just means you’re not a natural like me! That’s why this time I’m going to teach you, nice and slow, so you can get the hang of it.”
Twilight would have sworn when she started this list that there had been more to it, but she was left grasping at straws as she said, “I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of other ponies.”
Pinkie abruptly stopped and turned to Twilight, the unicorn almost stumbling as she tried to halt her forward momentum. “It’ll only be you and me at the lake. I convinced Rarity that Spike’s little claws would be ideal for helping with the bird’s nests – and Spike certainly didn’t need much convincing to help out Rarity – and I looked at your giant enormous master schedule. You don’t have anypony assigned to do anything anywhere near this lake for hours yet.” Pinkie smiled another one of her smiles at Twilight, this one sincere and reassuring. “That just leaves little old Pinkie, and you know you never have to be embarrassed around me, Twilight.”
Twilight couldn’t help but blush at Pinkie’s words, her own tongue failing her as Pinkie took the lead once again. She only managed to find her voice as they crested the last snow-covered hill and she saw the lake below them. ‘Lake’ was definitely the right term; this wasn’t like the pond she’d stumbled upon Pinkie at a couple of years ago. This had to be one of the largest lakes in Ponyville.
“Pinkie, you really have to handle this all by yourself? I must have made a mistake in the schedule…” Twilight said as she finally trotted down the hill, catching up with the pink pony already putting on her skates. She couldn’t believe she had made such a terrible error. Maybe if she got back to Town Hall quickly enough, she could find some ponies who had finished their assigned tasks early and—
“I’m not handling it by myself, silly!” Pinkie replied as she finished tightening her rear skates, jumping onto her now-bladed hooves and stepping towards Twilight with yet another one of her smiles. “Relationships are all about give and take; I read that in a book, so it must be true, right? I teach you how to ice skate, and then you help me take care of breaking up this enormous lake. Sound good?”
Twilight smiled back at Pinkie’s planning, practically the equal of her own, and nodded eagerly as she started putting on her skates.
“Oh, and Twilight?” Twilight looked up from the task at hoof to see one more of Pinkie’s smiles, this one a sly smirk. “I’m not from Ponyville, so if a little magic happens, there won’t be anypony around who would really care.”
“Heh. Thanks, Pinkie, but I’ll try not to cheat. After all, what would Applejack say?”
Twilight smirked as well, but inwardly, as the master planner made another scheme. She’d show Pinkie a little magic, alright, the sort that all her friends would approve of, even on Winter Wrap-Up Day.