Snow was falling over Ponyville, the first of the season. From their homes, ponies watched the flakes float down from the grey skies above, each one hoof-crafted in Cloudsdale. Each weatherpony at the factory had their own, unique design, so an observant pony could identify which flakes were made by which pony by examining them.
One pony wasn’t looking out the window. The mint-green unicorn was hunched over a desk, surrounded by sheets and sheets of screwed up manuscript paper. Being Ponyville’s premier musician came with certain responsibilities at this time of year, and every year she had the same problem.
The door swung open, interrupting her train of thoughts with an icy blast of wind. An earth pony wrapped up in coat, hat and scarf shuffled in, dumping two bags of groceries on the mat.
“Bon Bon, you’re back! How’s the market?” Lyra asked, turning around. Bon Bon tugged off her scarf and flicked it over the hook by the door.
“Closing early today, I think. I managed to get everything we needed before the stalls started packing up, though. How’re you getting on with… That?” she asked, pointing a hoof at the mound of paper.
“Phbbth.” Lyra replied.
“Phbbth? Oh my, sounds serious.”
“Lyrical block. Can’t think of where to start. I’ve got the tune pretty much done, though.”
“Well, you know I’m no poet. If you want to take a break, you could help me wrap up the gifts for Hearth’s Warming…”
“Waitwait. What was that?” Lyra asked, suddenly struck by inspiration.
“… You could help me wrap up the-“
“Yes! That’s it! Wrap up! Winter Wrap Up! Hah hah!” with sudden lyrical frenzy, the unicorn dove back into her work, quill flying across the pages. Bon Bon blinked in confusion.
“… I’ll… Be in the kitchen making some mulled punch.”
~~~
The Mayor scanned the sheets before her, and looked up into Lyra’s nervous grin.
“Well, it’s… Catchy, but I’m not sure about it, Lyra.” She said, adjusting her glasses.
“Why’s that, mayor?” the unicorn replied.
“It’s the name, ‘Winter Wrap Up’. The day’s always been called the Winter’s End Festival, we can’t just… Change the name! It’s tradition!”
Lyra chewed her lip, trying to think of a quick answer.
“Well… It’s… Maybe a new name will make it… more interesting, and, uh… help us finish on time this year?” she beamed.
The Mayor looked back down at the lyrics, and then glanced at the score again, humming a section to herself. Finally, she sighed, and handed the sheets back to Lyra.
“Yes, maybe you’re right. Winter Wrap Up it is.” Lyra grabbed the paper with her magic and tried to make a hasty exit.
“Oh! One other thing, those six solo parts you’ve written in…” the Mayor continued, and Lyra froze. “… I was thinking… That as a nice, rewarding gesture, you should give those parts to the girls who saved us from Nightmare Moon last summer? Oh, and perhaps extend Twilight Sparkle’s part, it’ll be her first year, after all.” she smiled, in the way that all politicians do.
Lyra bit back a rebuttal and forced herself to nod. She’d planned for herself and her friends to sing the coveted solos, but such was the curse of executive meddling. Once she’d left the town hall, she made straight for the post office to ready and send everypony their personal copies.
The town may have had a reputation for being late every Winter’s End Fes-… Winter Wrap Up, but they also had a reputation for the best performance, and there was no way that she was going to let be tarnished, not while it was her responsibility to uphold it.
~~~
One of the consequences of each snowflake being unique, was that they were collectable. In most cultures this would be impossible due to the sad fact that these tiny works of art tend to melt if you so much as look at them, but the tireless unicorns had the answer.
“It’s just simple magic, Spike. You see, each snowflake is made of tiny ice crystals connected together in an intricate pattern that’s unique to each craftspony up in Cloudsdale, but when the temperature rises, the ice melts and loses its pattern, so we collectors cast a simple preservation spell on each flake so that it never melts!”
Twilight smiled enthusiastically, hovering a book in front of the dragon containing carefully preserved snowflakes, accompanied by detailed sketches of the patterns as well as the date and location of finding.
“… Ponies actually… Collect these? … I thought stamp collecting was boring enough, but…” Spike replied, distinctly unimpressed.
“Spike! It’s just a hobby! And besides, some of the rarer flakes, ones made by real masters of the art, sell for thousands of bits to museums and galleries! It’s a big part of the art industry, you know.”
“Seriously?”
“Sure. I remember one noble in Canterlot who used to wear jewellery that had rare flakes embedded in the gems! You could look into it like a magnifying glass and see all the details!”
Spike was spared further tuition on chiliophily by a knock at the door. Opening the door, he was greeted by Ditzy Doo, wearing a scarf that was really far too long for her, and trailed along the ground.
“’ornin’ ‘ike! ‘Ere’s ‘our ‘ail!” she mumbled around a mouthful of letters, passing them to the dragon.
“Thanks Ditzy! How’s flying today?” Spike replied, putting the letters down on a table.
“Not bad above the clouds, it’s quite still, not much wind. I’m grounded today though, health and safety. They never let us fly our town rounds if there’s total cloud cover, just in case.”
“Explains the scarf. Would’ve thought something that long would get caught in your wings!”
“Eh-heh, yeah… Carrot Top made it for me. She’s uh… Enthusiastic about knitting right now. … Bit too enthusiastic.” She turned, showing Spike her knitted mailbag, and two pairs of knitted booties hanging from the straps. “I barely escaped the sweater alive this morning, let me tell ya. Anyway, better get on with deliveries. I’ll see you two at practice later!”
“Practice?” Twilight asked, after Spike closed the door. “What for?”
Spike shrugged, flicking through the letters. “Oh, here’s one from the town hall. Let’s see…
‘To Twilight Sparkle,
For this year’s Winter’s End Festival, (henceforth known as Winter Wrap Up), you have been selected to sing a solo part in the traditional opening performance. Please find enclosed your copy of this year’s song, and be sure to attend the weekly practice sessions.’
… Huh. Well, that explains it.”
Twilight stared blankly. “Singing!? I can’t sing! Why are they getting ME to do this!? Why not Pinkie? Or Fluttershy? Anypony! Oh, hay, I need to practice! Spike, cancel today’s plans, I need to study singing technique!”
~~~
All around the centre square of Ponyville were gathered the good citizens of the town, clutching song sheets between chattering teeth, shivering hooves, and shaky telekinesis. Fluttershy stood on the podium in front of the Town Hall, patiently waiting for everyone to arrive.
“Uhm, good evening, everypony! I… uhm, is this on? Oh, I forgot to… Ah, right, thank you. Good evening everypony! Uh, as I’m sure you’re aware, tonight’s our first practice session, and, uh… I hope everypony brought their sheets, but it’s okay if you didn’t, I brought spares… Can… Can everypony line up? If it’s not too much trouble… Oh, thank you. R-right then… One, two…”
She tapped her hoof on the podium, and gestured to Rainbow Dash.
“Three months of winter coolness…”