//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: Changing Seasons // Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// Not long after the Zecora incident, winter came to Ponyville. Before long there were days on end, when dark clouds filled with snow could be seen everywhere, and for the next three months Ponyville became a winter wonderland, just like the rest of Equestria. During that time Shining Armor and his sister Twilight celebrated their first Hearth's Warming together since Shining had left for the royal guard, and Twilight had left to become Celestia's student. Hearth's Warming Day was a truly wonderful day in the Golden Oaks Library. Throughout the rest of winter, Shining Armor and Twilight would frequently spend time with each other, or with their friends. Whether it was ice skating, snowball fighting, snow angel making, or igloo or snowpony building, they enjoyed themselves. Afterwards, they would warm up with some delicious hot coco from Sugarcube Corner. But all good things must come to an end eventually, and after a while someponies did start to get a little bit tired of the snow. So, as the third month of winter drew to a close, Twilight and Shining Armor learned a surpising fact. Unlike cities such as Canterlot (which magically changed the seasons), Ponyville (because it was founded by earth ponies), cleaned up winter the old fashioned way. They even went so far as to give the cleaning operation its own special day, Winter Wrap Up Day. Twilight was excited to learn about such a day, and vowed to help contribute to it without the use of her magic. Spike didn't think it was a good idea, but Shining Armor told Twilight to go ahead and try anyway. If nothing else, Twilight would learn that magic didn't hold all the answers to life. As for Shining Armor himself, Mayor Mare specificially wanted him to assist with the massive amounts of paperwork, that needed to be filled out as the clean up was carried out. When Winter Wrap Up Day finally arrived, Twilight woke up bright and early. Too early in fact, for she ended up waking up before Celestia had even raised the sun. But Twilight was too excited to go back to bed and sleep. Fortunately, the same wasn't the case with Shining Armor and Spike. As soon as the sun rose up Shining Armor stumbled awake. He really wished he could help contribute to Winter Wrap Up, especially since all of his friends were pitching in. Soarin was helping to clear away the clouds, Braeburn was part of a team that skated across frozen ponds and lakes to break them up and make them easier to melt, Big Macintosh was helping the planting team, and Thunderlane was working to get things ready for the birds that had flown south for Winter. But orders were orders, and Shining Armor was not about to disobey them. After a hearty breakfast, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Spike set off for Town Hall, where everyone was gathering. Even if Spike wouldn't stop complaining about tired he was feeling. "Thank you very much for coming everypony." Mayor Mare smiled "I'm glad to see you've all come here so bright and early, hopefully that's a sign of good things to come. You all know that no one pony has a job more important than the rest, for we need everypony's help to wrap up winter, and bring in spring." Everyone cheered. "Now, you all have your vests and have been assigned to your team. Please go to either Rainbow Dash, Applejack, or Sparkler for your instructions." Mayor Mare continued "Now let's try to do even better than last year, and have the quickest Winter Wrap Up ever!" Once again, everyone cheered. "Oh, this is so exciting." Twilight said eagerly. "I can tell you're all fired up about this." Shining Armor nodded "I'm sure you'll do great on whatever team you're assigned to." "You think so?" Twilight asked. "I know so." Shining Armor replied "I just wish I could help out too." "But you are B.B.B.F.F." Twilight reassured Shining Armor "You're helping behind the scenes to make sure everything flows smoothly. And that's just as important as any other job." "Thanks for the encouragement Twily." Shining Armor said happily. "Alright, everypony." Mayor Mare instructed "You know the drill. Go find your team leader, and get galloping." And with that, Winter Wrap Up had begun. Shining Armor watched as everyone went off to do their various tasks, and he wished more than anything that he could be out there with them. Alas, here he was, preparing to sort through stacks of paperwork. Mayor Mare had assured him that his job was just as important as any field job, but Shining Armor couldn't help but feel like the employee of a business that got, as the phrase goes 'kicked upstairs'. He just hoped that the rumors he'd been hearing about how long it took Ponyville to wrap up winter weren't true. "Ah, Shining Armor. Glad you're here." Mayor Mare greeted. "Hello Mayor." Shining Armor replied, somewhat reluctantly "I'm ready to get started." "Good, I'm glad to hear that." Mayor Mare nodded "Let's not waste any time and get to work. We've got a LOT of paperwork to sort through." "Just great." Shining Armor said sarcastically. "Relax, I'll help guide you through it." Mayor Mare said honestly "It's pretty simple once you've gotten the hang of it." "Really?" Shining Armor asked. "Yes indeed." Mayore Mare replied. A few hours seemed to tick by, rather slowly, once Shining Armor started his job. Most of the paperwork was pretty simple, and mearly explained what guidelines each team was required to meet. These forms were then distrubted to the team leaders so they could monitor their progress. Mayor Mare explained that if weren't for the fact that there had been some 'issues' in the past with lazy teams, or miscomunications, she would scrap all the paperwork and just trust the teams to do things on their own terms. Heck, if it weren't for the paperwork Mayor Mare made it known that she would take part in the cleanup process herself. She personally favored the plant team, but considered herself capable of helping any of the three teams if the need ever arose. "How do you manage to put up with this year after year?" Shining Armor asked "There's so many forms, and I'm pretty sure only half of them really need to exist." "I think pretty much the same way, but everytime I try to propose changing things up even just a little I'm always shot down." Mayor Mare explained "Like it or not, the ponies would rather have an overly complicated system, rather than no system at all." "I don't really understand the logic behind that." Shining Armor explained "Especially because I'll bet that's at least somewhat responsible for the rumors that this town always wraps up winter late." Mayor Mare paused in her work and looked away, as if she were ashamed of something. "Was it something I said?" Shining Armor asked. "I guess there was no way this could stay secret from you and your sister forever." Mayor Mare sighed "Those aren't rumors." "So then, this town really does have that problem?" Shining Armor asked reluctantly. Mayor Mare sighed. "Yes." she confessed "It's been a problem that's been going on since this town was first founded I'm afraid. I really have tried to help streamline the process, and make things flow smoother. But it's a losing battle I'm sorry to say. As far as these ponies are concerned, tradition is more important than getting things done on time. Even Manehattan doesn't have this problem, and they have an even larger population than this town." "Wow, I had no idea." Shining Armor said honestly. "Indeed. It is unfortunate." Mayor Mare said glumly "If I wanted to make a difference I should've been born back when it was possible to change ponies minds about the process." "You mean none of Ponyville's other mayors made an attempt to change things so winter could be wrapped up on time?" Shining Armor asked. "Yes." Mayor Mare confessed "For a time it wasn't really a problem, and it just meant an extra hour or two of winter. But it got worse as time went by, and ponies stopped caring about it. I've been constantly trying to inspire the town into wanting to get it done on time for a change, but I guess I've failed at that." "I wouldn't say that, at least you're trying." Shining Armor said. "Perhaps, but I don't think I'm trying hard enough." Mayor Mare said somberly "Perhaps if I'd been born several decades ago I could've become mayor and corrected the problem before it was too late. Alas, I've been mayor of this town for only a year at most. And yet I've barely been able to do anything at all." "No one could've forseen any of the events that have taken place over the past few months." Shining Armor encouraged "Things like the return of Nightmare Moon and the Ursa Minor rampage caught everyone by surprise, even me." "But I also wasn't able to do anything when Gilda or Zecora showed up." Mayor Mare sighed "And in Zecora's case, I really had no excuse. I could've been the one to help Zecora, and make it so that ponies weren't afraid of her. But you and your friends ended up doing it instead." "So, in the end things worked out for everyone." Shining Armor stated "And with your help Zecora is pretty much welcome by everyone." "Still, I feel like I'm not really living up to my role as Mayor of Ponyville." Mayor Mare sighed, and looked out the window. She could already see ponies starting to argue about things such as how quickly to melt the snow. "Just great, there's arguing already." she said with a groan "Now I'm going to have to go sort it out. And the worst part is, all this arguing and squabbling is going to set Ponyville back even further." "GO!" Applejack shouted. "STOP!" Fluttershy shouted. "Ugh! Can't you make up your minds?!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "Oh! What in Equestria are all you arguing about?" Mayor Mare asked crossly "This sort of bickering foolishness is the reason why we were late for spring last year, and every year before that. I was seriously hoping that 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; ourt nest designer is horrendously behind, we need several hundred, and Rarity's only made one, and don't even get me started on all the clouds in the sky, the icicles on the trees... This isn't good, not at all!" "We're trying our best Mayor!" Thunderlane shouted. "Well I'll tell ya one thing" Applejack spoke up "it's gonna be all to pieces disastrous if we can't get our seeds all planted soon." "Chillax Applejack, we're bustin' our chops as fast as we can." Rainbow Dash replied "Soarin's been a big help." "No, not fast, we have to wake the animals slowly." Fluttershy explained. "Uh, AJ? We've got a problem." Big Macintosh said nervously. "Oh good gravy, don't tell me!" Applejack groaned "That darned Carmel went and lost the grass seeds again, didn't he?" "Eeyup." Big Macintosh replied, wishing that such a statement wasn't true. "Dang it Carmel!" Applejack shouted "You had ONE job!" "Rainbow Dash, oh thank goodness I found you!" Soarin said, panting slightly "Ditzy Doo went north to get the southern birds." "Not again!" Rainbow Dash facehoofed "Didn't that featherbrain learn her lesson last year when she went west?" "Stop this at once!" Mayor Mare complained "We don't have time to argue! It's almost sundown! Spring is going to be late, again! And that meas another year of scandal and shame! If only we could be more organized." "Organized you say?" Shining Armor asked "I think I know just the pony for the job." "And who would that be?" Mayor Mare asked. "My sister, Twilight." Shining Armor explained "Organization is right up her ally." "And you think she'll agree?" Mayor Mare asked. "I know she'll agree." Shining Armor smiled. And he was right. Thanks to Twilight, there was finally someone who could organize every aspect of Winter Wrap Up and streamline the process in a way that made everyone happy. Because of this, it was no surprise when she was appointed All Team Organizer for all future Winter Wrap Up Days. "I can't thank you enough for getting your sister to sort out this mess." Mayor Mare said to Shining Armor the next day "Thanks to her we FINALLY got winter wraped up on time." "It was nothing, I'm glad I could help." Shining Amor said modestly. "Even so, I owe you big time for this one." Mayor Mare said honestly "If you ever need any sort of legal favor I might be able to grant it." "I can't ask you to do that Mayor." Shining Armor replied "What would everypony else think?" "Considering your reputation I'm sure no one would mind." Mayor Mare stated "Besides, what's the point of having connections in the political world if you can't pull a few strings here and there?" "There's no way to talk you out of this is there?" Shining Armor sighed. "Nope." Mayor Mare smiled. "Well, I guess I'll just have to hope there never comes a time when I'll actually need that favor." Shining Armor said reluctantly. "Time will tell." Mayor Mare said.