Gate of Friendship

by StoriesofAShadow

Chapter 12: Wrapping Up Winter

I was sleeping soundly till Twilight woke me up.

“Trevor! Spike! Wake up, wake up! It's Winter Wrap-Up day!”

“What in Gorlog's name are you talking about?” I asked while still having my eyes closed.

“It's where the ponies of Ponyvile wrap up winter for the first day of spring.”

I forgot to mention that it had been about two months since the snowball fight and snowman build. Surprisingly, nothing really happened during winter, though that could be because I had multiple colds and stayed inside. Twilight went downstairs and turned on the light, which I responded with a small hiss.

What time is it anyway?

I got up and looked at Twilight's little wooden clock. When I saw it was four in the morning I groaned and collapsed in my bed.

Too early!

“Come on you two. The first day of spring is tomorrow, so every pony in Ponyville needs to clean up winter. Now help me get ready,” she said.

“In case you haven't noticed, Twilight. I'm not a pony,” I said.

“You're the exception.”

Blast, too tired to think of a retort for that.

“Clean up winter? Who cleans up winter? Don't they just use magic to change the seasons like they do in Canterlot?” Spike asked.

“No Spike, Ponyville was founded by earth ponies, and Trevor’s grandfather. So for hundreds of years they've never used magic to clean up winter. It's traditional," Twilight explained.

“I can respect that,” I said.

“It's ridiculous,” Spike commented.

“Okay, let's see. Scarf, check. Saddle, check. Boots, check. Spike refusing to get up and going back to sleep, check,” Twilight listed off.

I couldn't help but snicker at the last one.

“It's a good thing I'm so organized. I'm ready, bright and early,” she said while opening the door.

And then she saw how early it was.

“Oh. Maybe a little too early.”

“Ya think?” I said.

Twilight went back inside and closed the door.

“Sorry guys.”

“No problem.”

Spike responded with a small snore. Twilight turned off the light, followed me upstairs, and we both went to our beds.

Perhaps now I can get some sleep.

I closed my eyes for what felt like only two seconds before I woke up again, this time feeling more rested. When I got up and looked out the window the sun was high in the sky.

“At least it's morning this time,” I muttered.

I saw Spike and Twilight eating breakfast when I went downstairs.

“Good morning Trevor,” Twilight greeted.

“Morning.”

I sat down and looked out the window. Snow was still on the ground and covered the town. When I heard something land on the table in front of me I saw that Twilight had gotten a glass of water for me. I thanked her for it and started drinking it until it was about halfway gone. When I set my cup down, Twilight and Spike were gone from their seats and at the door, dressed in their winter gear.

“You two going out?” I asked.

Twilight giggled at my question.

“We're getting ready for Winter Wrap-Up," she replied.

“Right, right.”

I drank the rest of my water, got on my winter clothes, and met with them at the door.

“Are you ready?”

“Set and ready to go.”

I checked to make sure I had my MP3 player in my pocket since I knew what was coming up, and found it was in my right pocket as usual. We walked out the door and headed to town hall. As we got closer we saw ponies in different colored vests.

“Those must be the team vests Rarity designed. Blue for the weather team, green for the plant team, and tan for the animal team. I wonder what team vest I'll be wearing?”

What would I be? I don't know how to move clouds around and such. I don't care for plants. Maybe I'll be on the animal team, though I'm not good with animals.

“I'll take a blue vest, the same color as my blankey, which I think I hear calling my name. Spike, Spike, come to bed. Ugh, it's too early,” Spike complained.

We got in the crowd and saw the mayor on a podium.

“Thank you every pony for being here bright and early. We need every single pony’s help to wrap-up winter and bring in spring,” the mayor announced.

The ponies in the crowd cheered.

“Now all of you have your vests and have been assigned to your teams. So let's do even better than last year and have the quickest winter wrap-up ever!” The mayor continued.

The crowd cheered even louder this time. I even saw Lyra jumping high in the air for joy.

“Oh, this is so exciting,” Twilight said.

“Alright everypony, find your team leader.”

The leaders were Rainbow Dash for the blue team, Applejack for the green team, and a unicorn mare with a pink coat and purple mane for tan team.

“And let's get galloping,” the mayor finished.

The ponies ran over to the teams they wanted to be on.

“My gosh. Where should I go? I'm not sure where I'd fit in,” Twilight said.

She looked at the three teams.

“What exactly does everypony do?”

I sensed evil coming nearby.

That can't be good.

“Three months of winter coolness,” Rainbow Dash started to sing.

Why am I always right with these things?

I quickly put my ear buds in, turned on my MP3 player, and set it to high volume.

Anything to not hear that accursed song.

The song was Time Stands Still by Blind Guardian, the Imaginations Trough The Looking Glass live version. I followed Twilight as she and the rest of the ponies sang and danced through one of the most annoying songs my ears ever had to hear. When they were done we were at the bottom of a hill. I took off my ear buds and put them away.

“Everypony belongs to a team. What should I do? Where should I go?” Twilight asked.

Everyone finds their place eventually. I've yet to find mine.

Rainbow Dash flew right passed us and went to three pegasi.

“Alright team, you're clear for takeoff,” Rainbow Dash told them.

The three pegasi took off while she landed near us.

“Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh. Hey Twilight, what's up?”

“What are you doing?”

“Sending off one of my flight crews to retrieve the birds that have flown south for the winter.”

“Oh, can I help? How about I help clear out the clouds?”

“You kinda need wings to move clouds, correct?” I asked.

“Right. No wings.”

“Sorry Twilight. Trevor, could you help?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Sorry laddie, I'm not getting into that massacre. I don't deal with birds,” I said.

“What are you gonna do then?”

"I don't know for sure yet. I may go help out Fluttershy on tan team, but again, I don't know for sure."

"Well if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me."

Rainbow Dash then flew off, going the same the three pegasi went. I did a quick observation of my surroundings and saw Pinkie Pie skating on the ice on a nearby lake.

"Maybe we could help Pinkie Pie over there."

I pointed to Twilight where she was at.

“Good idea Trevor. Come on Spike, let’s go," Twilight said.

When we didn’t get any kind of answer back, I looked and saw that Spike was sleeping in a bush. Twilight was just about to wake him up, but I stopped her.

“If he doesn’t want to do this, then let him be. We can find him or vice versa later.”

“But it’s—“

“The final day of winter. He shouldn’t freeze, most likely. We can always check on him later if need be.”

Twilight seemed to accept that answer, and the both of us approached the lake

“Hello-o-o-o Twilight and Trevor,” Pinkie Pie said.

She started spinning.

“Wow Pinkie Pie, you're quite the skater. Probably the best skater I've seen,” Twilight said.

Pinkie Pie skated towards us.

“Thanks Twilight. I've been doing this since I was an itty bitty, little little, twinkie Pinkie. Just comes naturally.”

I’m never going get that image out of my head now.

She skated off again and started doing more tricks.

“Which is probably why they designated me to Lake Scorer. I cut lines in the lake with my skates, that way when the rest of the weather team comes here to break the ice. It'll be easy as pie,” Pinkie Pie said.

“How clever. When the thick ice begins to melt, it'll break along the lines,” Twilight thought aloud.

We get it.

“Well you sure have a lot of work ahead of you. There are quite a few lakes in Ponyville,” Twilight said.

“Tell me about it. Hey, Twilight. Wanna help me out?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Would I!”

“Come one, put on those skates over there. I bet you'll be a natural too.”

“Okay.”

Twilight went over to the pair of skates Pinkie Pie had pointed out and put them on.

“I don't see this portraying well,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“I've ice skated before. It's not exactly the easiest thing ever.”

“I know that. I've read lots of books about ice skating before.”

"But there's no substitute for experience."

Twilight ignored my words and got on the ice anyway, but had trouble keeping herself up.

“Maybe on second thought.”

She fell down once and hit her head, but quickly got back up.

“Are you gonna give up after one fall? Come now, at least try for a little while.”

Twilight decided to listen to me and went further out into frozen lake. She couldn't control herself in the slightest, but managed to not fall, even after a few close calls. After a few seconds she began to spin uncontrollably.

“Steer! Steer!” Pinkie Pie yelled.

Twilight soon crashed into her and headed in my direction. I crouched down and formed my arms into an X in front of my chest. I felt them collide into my arms, causing me to stagger a bit, but I was able to regain my balance. Their heads popped up around my arms.

“Thanks for stopping us Trevor.”

“No problem,” I said.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie got out of the pile. Pinkie Pie stood beside me and we watched Twilight skate more on the ice. But, after crashing a few more times, she carefully slid back onto to the snow with me and Pinkie Pie.

“Twilight, you did a great job your first time around. I'm sure my first time was just as wobbley, bobbley, crasherific as yours,” Pinkie Pie assured.

“Really?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“No.”

I quickly stifled a giggle.

“But did it make you feel better?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I bet you'll be super awesome at something that keeps your hooves on the ground. I know; Fluttershy could probably use your help with the critters.”

“Well, I'm pretty good with little animals. Yeah, I'll go help her.”

Pinkie Pie pointed us in the direction Fluttershy was at and walked. We found a place with caves absolutely everywhere, and eventually found Fluttershy sticking her head in one with a bell under one of her wings, trying to wake up whatever animal was inside there. She pulled her head out and two hedgehogs came out of the den.

“Aww, how cute,” Twilight commented.

“Aren't they? This is my favorite task of the whole season, when I get to see my little animal friends again when I wake them up from hibernation” Fluttershy said.

“Can’t say I’ve seen so many hibernation caves in one area, are there different animals in each one of these?” I asked.

Fluttershy rang the bell.

“Yes, there’s a different animal in each one of these caves.”

“Very interesting.”

Two porcupines emerged from the den. They yawned and hugged each other, but poked themselves with their needles in the process. Fluttershy sighed.

“But just look at all these dens. I'm worried that I won't be able to wake up every animal before spring comes,” Fluttershy said.

“And that’s why we’re here to help.”

“Really? Oh, that would be wonderful,” Fluttershy replied.

She handed the bell to me.

“Okay, let's start there,” Twilight said, pointing to a den behind us.

We walked over to it; Twilight grabbed the bell with her mouth out of my hand and poked her head into the den. She rang the bell and pulled her head out.

“Hello. Wake up little friends, wherever you are. Spring is coming,” she said.

Twilight rang the bell again.

“I wonder which cute, little, furry creatures I've woken?”

The undead.

Three snaked came out of the cave, yawning as they did.

Or snakes. Good enough.

Twilight screamed at the sight of the snakes

“Snakes! Snakes!” She yelled while backing away.

“Oh come on, it's not like they're poisonous,” I said.

At least I hope so.

I looked at their eyes and saw they were human shaped.

Was it cat eyes means evil or human eyes means evil?

I heard Twilight scream again, looked over to her and saw she was running away from a group of bats flying around. She ran directly into a tree which knocked down a beehive right on top of her.

My my, what a series of unfortunate events.

When she ran passed me with the beehive still stuck to her and the bees chasing after her, she dropped the bell at my feet. I picked up the bell and went to a nearby cave, not wanting to mess with the bees, since I had a bad experience with them as a child (being hunted by bees isn't exactly the best feeling in the world.) The den itself was bigger than the one with bats in it, though not by much. I rang the bell and stuck my head in the den.

“Wake up everyone. Spring is approaching,” I announced.

I pulled my head out and waited for some evil creature to come out of the den. Instead, I got a goat.

What in Gorlog's name is a goat doing in a den!?

The goat walked passed me, not letting out a baa or anything, and went on its marry way, doing whatever goats do.

I really hate goats.

“Uh, Fluttershy?” I asked.

“Yes?” Fluttershy replied.

“Why was a goat in a den?”

“... I don't know.”

“But... Didn't you... Never mind.”

I was too much in disbelief to ask more questions about the goat, so I continued onto the next den. The den was human-sized and looked deserted, but just to make sure, I went inside. I was right about the being deserted part, save for the insects crawling around. The light from the outside world slowly faded as I went further and further into the cave.

“Is anyone here?” I asked.

No answer.

I don't like this.

I went in a little deeper, where little light remained, and found some patches of white hair on the ground. I followed the trail until I saw Angel.

“Angel? What are you doing here?”

The rabbit looked at me.

“Well?”

He looked around in semi-panic.

“I suggest you give me an answer, pretty quickly too.”

Angel ran towards the exit. I tried grabbing him but missed him, and chased him out of the cave and near the forest. Just before he got into the forest, I leaped and grabbed him by the ears.

“Why were you freaking out!?”

He tried to kick me multiple times, but failed with every kick.

“That doesn't answer my question.”

He closed his eyes and crossed his arms, not wanting to give me any answered.

So that's how you're gonna be, eh?

I spun him in a circle while he was upside-down in the air for a minute, then held him in front of me again.

“I'll ask you one more time before I go full throttle. Why have you been acting so strange?”

He took my bluff seriously and just stared blankly at the forest. I looked over and saw a crow perched on one of the branches. It cawed at me and flew into the forest.

“You wanted to chase a crow?”

He nodded shamefully.

You're a terrible liar, but let's see what happens, for giggles of course.

I slowly set the rabbit down and he hopped to where I assumed Fluttershy's house was. I didn't see Fluttershy or Twilight around, so I just picked up the bell and continued to wake up some of the animals. As I had just finished waking up the animals in the area, I heard a voice in my mind that made my skin crawl.

“Tell me what ails you, dear child,” the voice from the rock tomb said.

Shut up!

“That's not very nice to say to the one who saved your life.”

And the one that made me cough up blood, and the one who's been mentally messing with me almost the entire time I've been here!

“Oh come on, it's all been in good fun.”

“Fun for you perhaps,” I hissed.

“Don't give me that. I want to help you.”

For all I know you want destroy this place, and me along with it.

“Come now. Why would I use you just to destroy you?”

Let's see. I'm no longer useful to you, I'm a threat to you, and I’m just a liability. I could think of many others.

“Don't be silly. Through you, I will usher in a new age. Not just for here, but for this entire planet.”

Sorry, but I don't feel like making history at the moment.

“You will one day. I know you; I've known you since you got here.”

Stalker much?

I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and coughed up some blood.

“Don't mess with me, boy.”

I snickered.

You won't kill me. You still need me, remember?

“Doesn't mean you're not replaceable.”

What do you mean?

No response. Who or whatever that thing is was gone now, hopefully for the better.

“Trevor, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

She looked at the blood and looked back at me in disbelief.

“What happened?”

Let's see how I get out of this one.

“Let's just say someone been watching over me since I got here.”

“And they did this to you?”

“Seems like it. Don’t worry, they’re gone now.”

“Do you want me to walk you to the hospital?”

“No thanks, I’m feeling better now. I don’t think whoever was messing with me will do it again.

That was a lie, and Fluttershy saw right through it.

“Are you sure? Me and the rest of the girls could help you look for them and teach them why it’s not nice to hurt others.”

Did you just make a threat? I’m a bit impressed Fluttershy.

“Again, no. If they come by again I’ll be sure to let you and the rest of the girls know.”

Though I would already have their head on a pike.

“Have you got all the dens in that area done?”

“Aye, I was going to check on Twilight to see how she was doing. She had a bit of trouble with waking up the animals last I saw her.”

I had that sense that someone was behind me. I turned around and saw Lyra in a tan vest.

Why am I not surprised.

“Fluttershy, team three is done with the seventh den spot,” Lyra said.

“Great. Have them go to third; me and Trevor will finish up here. Have you met Trevor?” Fluttershy asked.

“We've met,” she said with a sneer.

“On multiple occasions,” I said, returning the same sneer.

Lyra left and went back to her team.

“So how many dens spots are there?” I asked.

“Eight,” Fluttershy said.

The perfect number.

“And which one are we at?”

“Six.”

Fluttershy walked with me as I tried to find Twilight, so I told her about what happened with Angel.

“I'm glad it wasn't something serious,” she said.

“Aye, I still find it a bit strange though.”

“Still, thank you for doing that.”

“No problem. Let me know if anything else strange happens to him.”

Fluttershy nodded her head and I left the den spot and searched around for Twilight. I found her, Spike, and Applejack in a snow pile.

“Did I miss something?” I asked.

“Just Twilight using magic,” Applejack said with spite, “That's not how we do around here Twilight, and especially not on my farm.”

I could see tears forming in Twilight's eyes.

Not good.

“Well see... I just wanted to--” Twilight began to say.

She popped out of the snow and ran away.

Blast it.

I followed her into town. She hid in a snow covered bush in town square. I walked up to the bush and sat next to it.

“Twilight, come on out,” I said.

“Go away,” she said with sorrow in her tone.

“Not until you come out and try to get something done.”

“I'm a winter mess up.”

“No you're not. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“I can't ice skate, wake animals, or clear snow.”

“That doesn't mean you're not useful.”

“Then how am I useful?”

“I can’t say I know for sure now, but Winter Wrap-Up day isn’t over yet. So I’m sure you’ll find something.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Rainbow Dash, ya'll on the weather team need to melt the rest of this snow here on the ground and the trees, pronto,” Applejack said.

“Got it,” Rainbow Dash confirmed.

She started to take off until Fluttershy got in her way.

“You can't, my poor little animals homes will get flooded if the snow melts too fast,” Fluttershy informed.

“Got it.”

She turned and tried to take off in the other direction, but this time Applejack was in her way.

“I'm tellin' ya Rainbow, you gotta melt that snow, now,” Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash took off into the sky.

“No, you simply must wait,” Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash halted.

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Go,” Applejack said.

“Stop,” Fluttershy said.

“Go.”

“Stop.”

Rainbow Dash groaned.

“Make up your mind!” She yelled.

“Oh. What in Equestria are all of you arguing about? This sort of silliness is why we were late for spring last year, and the year before that, and the year before that” The mayor said as she walked in.

Twilight popped her head out of the bush.

“Did she say late?” Twilight asked.

I grinned.

“See what I mean? Never give up too quickly,” I said.

She replied to me with a smile, and the both of us sat back to see what the rest of the situation was.

“I was hoping my amazingly inspirational speech would urge everyone to do better than last year, but now it looks like we'll be later than ever. I mean just look at this catastrophe. The ice scorers made the ice chunks too big to melt. The nest designers are drastically behind, we need several hundreds and she's only made one. And don't get me started on how all the clouds still in the sky, the icicles on the trees. This isn't good, not at all,” Mayor said.

“And it's gonna be all the pieces of disastrous if we can't get our seeds planted,” Applejack said.

“Chillax Applejack, we're bustin' our chops as fast as we can,” Rainbow Dash informed calmly.

“No, not fast, you have to wake animals slowly,” Fluttershy said.

Big Mac and an orange pony with a brown mane came up to Applejack.

“Uh, AJ,” Big Mac said.

Applejack face-palmed and sighed with irritation.

“Good gravy. Caramel lost the grass seeds again, didn't he?” Applejack asked.

“Eeyup.”

A pegasi suddenly flew near the group.

“Ditzy Doo accidentally went north to get the southern birds!” she announced.

“Oh that feather brain. Didn't she learn her lesson last year when she went west?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The whole group started arguing on their different problems.

“Stop this at once, we don't have time to argue. It's almost sundown, spring's going to be late again. Another year of scandal and shame, if only we could be more organized,” Mayor mourned.

Twilight popped out of the bushes.

“Trevor, get my check list and clipboard, stat,” Twilight ordered.

“Aye!”

I ran back to the house and got a check list, clipboard, quill, and a container full of ink and brought them back to her. She levitated the items out of my hands and started writing things down. I got out my MP3 Player again and set it to high volume once again. When I turned it on it started playing Revolution by Flogging Molly. I felt that I had no more parts to play at this point, so I sat down by a nearby tree and tried to get some sleep back that was stolen from me by Twilight. I peeked from time to time to see what was going on occasionally, but after a few minutes a giant burst of wind woke me up completely. It was so strong I was surprised my glasses didn't lodge itself in my skull. I closed my eyes again, in hopes of getting some sleep without being interrupted, until I felt something nudging my right arm.

I can’t win today, can I?

When I opened my eyes I saw Twilight, wearing a combination of all three vests.

“So how did everything go?” I asked groggily.

“It went great! Spring arrived on time this year. And I got a finally got a vest,” she said with joy.

I looked behind her and saw the green grass, blooming flowers, and birds flying around.

“Impressive. How long was I asleep for? Felt like only a few minutes.”

“For a few hours now.”

“Apparently that wasn’t enough. How’s Spike doing?”

I heard a scream in the distance, most likely from Spike.

“Waking up from his nap by the sound of it.”

The both of us laughed and went over to where we left Spike, and found him looking around, sniffling and occasionally sneezing. The three of us went home and stayed there for the rest of the day. I sat next to the fire with Spike, who was wearing a green bathrobe and some slippers, while Twilight was nearby, reading more of her books. I stared deep into the flame.

I need to figure who brought me, and how to get home. I think it’s safe to rule out that Twilight brought me here by mistake, she would have said something much sooner if that was the case. Celestia could still be hiding something from me. Wait, what about that man on the ship? Everything’s gone so crazy that I completely forgot about him. Though I shouldn’t completely take Celestia out of the picture, if fanfictions and the show have taught me anything, it’s that Celestia has more power than she lets on.

“Spike, take a letter,” Twilight said.

Spike got out of his chair, went to the writing board and got out a quill and piece of paper.

“Dear Princess Celestia: Winter Wrap-Up was one of the most special things I've ever done here in Ponyville. It helped me to learn that we all have hidden talents, and if we're patient and diligent, we're sure to find them. And as always, with good friendship and team work, ponies can accomplish anything. How's that Spike?”

When he didn’t give a response I looked over to where he was at and saw that he was asleep.

“I think it was good,” I said.

Me and Twilight laughed for a while, until there was a knock at the door.