All Wrapped Up
All Wrapped Up
By: TomaTanuki
"...And as always, with good friendship and teamwork, ponies can accomplish anything."
Twilight Sparkle smiled proudly as she dictated her latest letter to Princess Celestia, explaining the lessons she learned during Winter Wrap Up. Granted things didn't go too well at the start but, in the end, everything worked out and Spring had arrived in Ponyville.
"How's that Spike?" she asked, hoping for some input from her assistant. However, she didn't recieve any response from the baby dragon. "Spike?"
Looking behind her, Twilight saw the little dragon fast asleep in his rocking chair, the clipboard and quill hanging limply in his claws.
"Haha, oh, Spike," Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her little asisstant, wearing his little robe and fuzzy slippers. He may have been a little cranky during the event but looking at him now she couldn't blame him for wanting to go back to bed that morning. The poor thing had even caught a cold after falling asleep on a chunk of ice in one of Ponyville's lakes.
With a motherly smile, Twilight enveloped Spike in her magic and gently lifted him from the chair. Taking extra care not to wake him, she made her way up the stairs and set him down in her bed, lifting the blankets over him to keep him warm. Her task done, she leaned down and gave him a little kiss on his forehead.
As she made her way back down the stairs, Twilight took up the clipboard with her magic to look over her letter, making occasional changes with her quill. Once Spike was up to it she'd have him send it to the Princess.
A knock on the door made Twilight look up from her proofreading. Focusing her magic on the door she pulled it open, revealing Applejack standing on the other side.
"Heya Twilight!" The orange earth pony greeted, tipping her hat to her. "I didn't see ya at Pinkie's "Winter Wrapped Up" party and thought I'd drop by. Mind if I come in?"
"Of course," Twilight replied, waving her friend over, "You and the other girls are always welcome here, you know. Can I offer you a drink?"
Applejack chuckled as she trotted into Twilight's library, gently kicking the door closed behind her, "Actually I was just about to offer you somethin'," She said, nudging her saddlebag. "How's some fresh spiced apple cider sound?"
"Oooooh, I've never tried that before!" Twilight exclaimed as the farm pony pulled a small glass bottle from her bag and set it on the reading table. Turning towards the kitchen, Twilight activated her horn to open one of the cabinets and levitate a pair of glasses to them.
As Applejack watched the unicorn work her magic she fidgited a little, a bit of pink appearing on her cheeks.
"Umm, listen Twi, there's another reason I came here."
"Oh?" Twilight asked, tilting her head a little. "Is something wrong?"
Applejack sighed, nodding her head. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Twilight I...I'm really sorry fer snappin' at you the way I did. You were just tryin' to help and...I-I just hope I didn't hurt yer feelin's too bad."
Twilight cringed a little as she recalled what Applejack was referring to. She had tried using her magic to move a snow plow, something unicorns weren't allowed to do during Winter Wrap Up, and ended up causing a big mess. Applejack had scolded her for it afterwards and she ran off crying.
Blushing at the memory, Twilight shook her head at her friend. "It's okay. You don't have to apologize, Applejack. I shouldn't have tried using magic in the first place."
"Well, from what I hear you tried yer darnest not to," Applejack replied, her ears drooping. "The gals told me all about how you were runnin' around, tryin' everythin' you could think of to help out. I'm guessin' by the time you got to the farm you were a mite frustrated."
Twilight opened her mouth to protest but nothing came out. She simply nodded her head and squeaked out something that sounded like 'a little.'
With another sigh, Applejack moved beside Twilight and gave her a gentle nuzzle. "An' if that's the case I can't very well blame you for doin' what you did. You wanted to help out so bad didn't ya, sugarcube?"
The unicorn gave another soft nod.
"Come on now Twi, it's okay. If anypony's to blame here it's whoever forgot to put ya on a team in the first place. I feel terrible that we left ya out of the plannin'. Maybe if we hadn't things woulda gone better fer everypony."
Wiping a stray tear away, Twilight looked up again. "What do you mean?"
"Think about it," Applejack said, giving her a warm smile. "If you were on a team then you wouldn'a been worried about fittin' in as much as ya did. An' at the same time everypony would prob'ly still have wound up arguing and you'd have seen what a mess things were. Then you woulda come in and used your noodle to get everything runnin right an' proper just the same!" She chuckled, gently rubbing her hoof against Twilight's head and grinning when she was rewarded with a giggle from the unicorn.
"Hahaha! M-Maybe!" Twilight squealed as she slipped out of the earth pony's grip. Smoothing her mane down a bit she sighed and sat down beside Applejack. "Well either way I'm glad everything turned out okay. And I'm also glad that I'm not in any trouble."
"Trouble?" Applejack asked, her eyebrow raised in confusion. "What're you talkin' about? Why would ya be in trouble?"
Twilight seemed just as confused. "Umm, I used magic, remember? That's against the rules right? There's some kind of penalty for breaking it right? Like, maybe community service or something. I can't be the first unicorn who broke the rule, can I?"
"Twi..." Applejack began softly. "Ya do know why we don't use magic fer Winter Wrap Up right?"
"Of course I do," Twilight replied. "It's because Ponyville was founded by Earth Ponies who had to make do without it. It's been that way for hundreds of years right?"
"Hundreds 'a year-...Pffff-hahaha!" The farm pony cracked up. Completely caught off guard, she fell backwards onto the floor, cracking up with laughter. "Hahaha! Oh mah that's a good'un!"
Twilight was taken back by this, not to mention confused as she watched Applejack roll around with laughter. "What's so funny?"
Panting for air, Applejack slowly picked herself back up and sighed. "Hooo! I-heheh I'm sorry 'bout that Twi." She took a deep breath and composed herself. "Alright, I-I'm alright. Ahem! Listen sugarcube. First off, Ponyville ain't been 'round fer hundreds a' years."
"It hasn't?"
"Nope. In fact, Granny Smith was just around mah age when her family settled down here."
"WHAT!?" Twilight cried, her eyes going wide as she jumped to her hooves. "So...your family founded Ponyville!?"
Applejack blushed a little and smiled at her, "Well, pretty much. Princess Celestia gave a plot 'a land to mah Great Grandpappy. Once they got an orchard up and runnin' more an' more ponies came to settle. Before they knew it, a town had sprouted up around 'em."
"That's incredible," Twilight said, awestruck by what she had just heard. However, a fresh feeling of guilt suddenly overcame her. "No wonder you were so upset with me for-"
"Now hold it right there!" Applejack exclaimed, stamping her hoof for emphasis. When she saw Twilight flinch she quickly calmed herself and moved to her friend's side, giving her a warm smile. "Lemme finish what I'm sayin' before ya start that again, alright?"
Twilight blushed a bit but nodded.
"Now, as I was sayin', back then it was just Earth Ponies settlin' around here. So, just like you said, when winter came 'round they had to take care of things themselves. It was real hard work but with everypony pitchin' in and workin' together it didn't seem like that much of a chore. So as time went on it went from somethin' everypony was dreadin' to the big 'ol event we have today. Ya understand what I'm sayin'? Winter Wrap Up ain't just about gettin' ready for spring. It's about the whole town comin' together."
"I see." Twilight nodded, tapping her chin with her hoof. "I guess that does make a lot of sense. Back in Canterlot the weather teams and unicorns take less than a day to clean up winter. To ponies there it's just another day."
Applejack nodded along with her, chuckling as she finished. "Well that brings me to the next part of the story. Now, they still needed pegasi to help with the clouds and weather of course so Cloudsdale sent a few teams to help out. I guess some of 'em liked the charm of the place because a few of them moved their families here. Not long after that, the first unicorn families came in from Canterlot."
"And by that point Winter Wrap Up was a popular annual event, right?"
"Exactly!" Applejack nodded, winking at her friend.
Twilight gave her a bright smile and continued. "So, the unicorns weren't allowed to use magic so Winter Wrap Up could go on."
Applejack's smile fell a bit at this. "Ehh, yes and no. See, I don't know that much about magic but I'm bettin' it takes more than a few unicorns to handle everything. Am I right?"
"That's right," Twilight said, "In fact the Royal Guard are the ones who handle most of it. And even they need to start going through drills a few weeks beforehand so they'll be able to cast the proper spells."
"Well, there ya go!" Applejack exclaimed, "Most of the unicorns who moved out here back then could only do the simple stuff with magic, like liftin' things. An', in fact, more than a couple of 'em found it was easier goin' with their hooves anyway."
"So when did they decide not to allow magic?"
"A-Ah'm gettin' to that." Applejack shifted her hat nervously before continuing. "See, as the years went by more an' more ponies came to settle down and a'course more unicorns were among 'em. And Whenever Winter Wrap Up came 'round some of the new arrivals would start usin' magic to help speed things along but the ones who've been livin' here fer a while convinced 'em that usin' their magic, well...took all the fun out of the work, if that makes any sense."
"So, wait, that means that..."
Applejack nodded as Twilight trailed off. "Yup. That's how it started. Funny how it works ain't it? Nopony ever meant it to be a rule or anythin'. But that's just how it went. Not usin' magic went from just a suggestion so everypony could work together and have a part to play, to a tradition some ponies treat like it's written in stone." The farm pony let out a sigh as she finished, lowering her head a little. "Which, I think gives me all the more reason to be here apologizin' to ya."
Twilight simply smiled at her friend and put her hoof around her. "Thank you very much for telling me all of this. And thank you for the apology. But, honestly I still feel a little bad about all this."
"How come?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"When I heard about Winter Wrap Up I didn't even bother to read up on the history, or even ask anypony why it was done this way. I just got an abridged version from the Mayor. In fact, I haven't even looked up the history of Ponyville since I moved here." The unicorn blushed a little bit. "I bet if I did, I would have understood things better at the start and I would have had an easier time today."
Applejack chuckled and pulled the bottle over to her. Using her teeth to pull out the cork, she tipped the it over to fill their glasses. "Tell ya what Twi, let's just call it even on this one." She picked up her glass and held it out. "Deal?"
Twilight giggled, lifting her glass with her magic. "It's a deal!"
The two ponies gently tapped their glasses together and drank, the warm cider tickling their throats on the way down.
"Ahh! that hit the spot!" Applejack said, dropping her glass back on the table.
Twilight chuckled, licking her lips. "You can say that again."
"Y'know," Applejack began, wiping her mouth with her hoof. "I think I'm gonna have a talk with the Mayor tomorrow, see if we can't ease off on the whole 'no magic' thing a tad. Can't help but think we wouldn'a been late fer Spring all these years if we weren't so dang focused on doin' things the traditional way."
"Oh, Applejack you don't have to do that," Twilight argued, "Everything worked out without any magic in the end and, now that I completely understand the reasoning, I think it's a good thing to uphold. Like you said, Winter Wrap Up isn't just about cleaning up winter, it's about all the citizens of Ponyville coming together."
"Still wouldn't hurt," Applejack countered, "Most of the unicorns that live here were born an' raised here an' know the whole story. But that doesn't mean everypony couldn't do with a little reminder. If we're gonna stick with a tradition, we should at least do it fer the right reasons. 'Specially now that we got an idea how it might come across to other ponies. And, at the very least, we need to make sure that no pony get's left out."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Well, either way, I'm just glad everything is settled now. Thank you for coming by Applejack, I really appreciate it."
Twilight leaned over to nuzzle the farm pony, wrapping a hoof around her neck. Applejack blushed a little but smiled and hugged her back.
"Yer welcome Twi. It's the least I could do after what ya did yer Ponyville to-"
"AAAH-CHOO!!"
The two ponies cried out in surprise as a loud sneeze rang out from upstairs.
"Spike?" Twilight called up nervously, "Are you okay?"
"Uuuugh, yeah..." Spike replied weakly, only to whimper the next second. "N-No. Do we have any tissues? It's kinda nasty up here."
Twilight let out a soft giggle as she picked up a box of tissues with her magic. "Coming right up Spike."
"Mind if I use your kitchen?" Applejack asked as Twilight started trotting up the stairs. "I know one of Granny's old recipies that'll knock that cold right on it's flank."
"That sounds wonderful! Thank you, Applejack. Spike will certainly- Ooh!" Twilight's face brightened up as she scanned the nearby shelves and picked out a book. Levitating it in front of her she scanned the pages as she continued upwards. "This is a perfect opportunity to try out that decongestion spell I found the other day."
Applejack chuckled to herself and headed into the kitchen. "Hang in there Spike! Between the two of us we'll have you better in no time!"
The End
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Heartwarming is indeed a good way to go about it. It's a good story, nice concept and executed well. AJ's accent, despite being so overly present, doesn't distract from anything, which is tricky to do. From a technical perspective, there's a few occasions where an extra comma wouldn't hurt, but it's not a gamebreaker for this story. The only real error I found was: "To poines there it's just another day".
Some of the dialogue also feels a bit unnatural, but that might just be me reading it too quickly. Get a second opinion on that one. All in all, the story's heavy on tell and exposition, which is definitely not a bad thing when done well. (Not that my own stories tend to be heavy on exposition ) The real trick is adding enough emotion and weight to the revelations so the reader is willing to go along with it. While that is the case for the explaining part, I think some of the dialogue afterwards might be a bit offputting. Then again, this is early in Twilight's stay in Ponyville, so there's definitely some leeway there.
Yeah, enjoyed it.
explaining
Second paragraph.
Other than that, cute little story. I always like the episode-based ones.
I think there should be a Winter Wrap Up fic where Spike is near death thanks to the prank (Dragons are cold blooded... and icy waters are hazardous to their health)...
Short and sweet.
The characters acted the way they should and it felt like a fitting continuation of the episode it's based on.
There wasn't any off the wall plot that doesn't fit which is what you'd usually see with fics based around a single episode, this more feels somewhat like something that could actually have happened on screen if the episode was a few minutes longer.
Have a thumb up.
Have you ever wonder why Twiight's friends weren't shocked the fact that she has a brother?
I have been toying with the idea of writing a fic around this issue for ages. Of course, I'm lazy so I doubt I will anytime soon (I still am glad this wasn't quite like the direction I planned to take it though). But its nice to see someone else thinking that that was a bit harsh.
Well you got that right, it's definitely a heartwarming story. And it does solve the inconsistency between winter wrap up and family appreciation day. Plus it's a nice bit of backstory.
...oh wow, I can actually read this now. Thanks for cleaning this up! Now everyone can see its joy, love, and other cliche super-happy feelings that I know I can't get enough of.
PROTIP: Get a cover. Screencap WWU or something. Once you do, I'll take care of the rest~
The main thing I liked about it was that this story cleared up the continuity error of how long Ponyville was around for.
A good read short, simple and to the point.
3587053
Cold blooded creatures lack internal mechanism to both raise and lower their body temperature. If dragons were actually cold blooded, Spike would have died from jumping in the lava pool.
I'm all for stories that expand on headcanons like this one, and actually, this makes a lot of sense. You managed to tie it in with Family Appreciation Day quite nicely (as well as tie up other loose ends), and both Twi and AJ sounded very much in-character. Applejack's suggestion to abandon the tradition is a bit odd seeing how stubborn she usually is, but in this circumstance, I can buy it. I accept this headcanon into my own, and for that, I salute you.
This was great!
It's a nice epilog to winter wrap up
3587962 Well it was all thanks to your notes and suggestions. Took me a while to get things just right but it's so much better than it was.
I've been looking for a pic to use as a cover for a while, and for some reason my computer can't screen cap. I was hoping to use the image of AJ and Twilight bumping hooves near the end of the episode but I can't find a cap of it anywhere. I'll keep looking though, thanks. ;)
Edit: nevermind. Friend of mine walked me through it. How's that look?
3590863
Pfft. Is that all? Could've just told me.
This is PERFECT! This is exactly what needed to happen in the episode. It was the one thing that really bugged me about it was that AJ never apologised for how she went off at Twi. Also the ammount of time that Ponyville existed thing bugged me too, you hit two problems at once, BRILLIANT! You have no idea how happy this makes me.
I loved this. Both Applejack and Twilight felt in-character to me. While Applejack can be stubborn, she's not unreasonable and can actually be quite sweet, and Twilight is really nice and does have the tendency to blame herself even if she's not at fault. I don't really blame Applejack for getting mad. I love Twilight, she's my favorite character, but part of that is acknowledging her faults, and I acknowledge Applejack DID have reason to be annoyed. Still, having Applejack apologize isn't out of character, as it shows she's thinking about how Twilight feels, and I do think she's the one among the Mane Six who has done the best job at actually being a friend to Twilight.
So yes, you kept them in character, addressed some notable inconsistencies, and truly heartwarming to boot! Yes, this deserves a favorite
I think you made the right choice
While there are times the characters deserved to be chewed out, I do prefer they actually work things out and make amends given what the show is supposed to be about.
I'm glad you didn't, it would have been out of character for Twilight, and it would have been hypocrisy on Spike's part, considering HE'S the one who goaded Twilight into using magic, and then forced her to take the blame.
Before the event
Spike: Right, because there's no magic. Why don't you just use magic, Twilight, and get it done the right way?
Twilight Sparkle: No, Spike, I have to do it the traditional way. Ponyville has never needed magic to wrap up winter.
Spike: Well, they never had you here before, either. Think how much quicker they could wrap up winter with your magic.
During the event
Spike: That's my girl, following my advice.
Applejack: And what in tarnation does that mean?
After the event
Applejack: Nuts, Twilight, you used magic.
Spike: The nerve. Can you believe her?
So that's why magic isn't allowed. Great explanation as well, it didn't feel as forced as another fic that I read.
It's already been said, but I'll say it again.
This is a perfect wrap-up to the Winter Wrap-Up episode.
AJ's harsh treatment of Twilight seemed out of character, but necessary to the plot. How else do you get Twilight to give up trying and sulk? Also, your explanation to the Ponyville's slavish adherence to "No Magic" is a wonderful example of, 'we've always done it that way' getting out of hand.
Excellent.
I love these types of fics~
They give a nice after story and usually dole out info that makes me go all "Oh, yeah, that did happen, didn't it?"
I think you definitely made the right choice with the more heartwarming approach. In all honesty, fanfics lose me quickly when they address issues the author had with the show in a way that is completely against the spirit intended. I admire stories that make an episode work more smoothly by adding to them, however.
Spike should have been called out, not Applejack.
This is now headcanon in my book. Congrats, an awesome fic
Now this is absolutely perfect. Great work on this fic.
A smart bastard you are. I never thought of it like that how they weren't following rules, but blindly following tradition. Keep it up ese, you've got talent that well surpasses a lot of other writers I've seen on this site, including my own.
I love this. There's a couple episodes I feel like had loose ends that needed to be tied up: this and Dragonshy, both, interestingly enough, concerning ponies never seen apologizing for their actions.
I believe a heartwarming approach is the way to do it. I hate it when people try to respond to a fight with more fighting. It just makes me feel even more bitter about the whole thing.
You really nailed the season one characterizations.
I'm really glad you went with this version of the fic. I probably would have hated the original idea-- even if I felt bad for Twilight, that's no excuse to try to sneak around and ignore something other ponies have requested. There are two sides to every story, and by letting the two most reasonable ponies be reasonable about it, you wrote a sweet fic that reinforces the value of seeing others point of view.
Thank you for taking the time to do that yourself.
5348852 Thank you for such a nice comment. And that was pretty much the idea. We could clearly see in the episode Applejack was upset when Twilight ran off so just spewing my anger out didn't seem right. So, I wanted to come up with a good reason behind the no magic tradition that wasn't just "earth ponies were here first." Judging by some of the reactions I think I accomplished that. Thanks again.
nice recon of Ponyville's true age and the no magic issue.
This was the perfect fanfic to read at the end of a long winter.
This scene feels like it could have been part of the actual episode if the writers had more time. I love how you made Ponyville's history fit "Family Appreciation Day" - the last half of that episode remains one of my favorite moments in the entire series. And I'm really glad that you decided to go with the heartwarming route; it shows that you put actual thought and effort into it instead of just a ranting "author mouthpiece" fic. Applejack was abrasive at times, especially in the earlier seasons, but she also usually apologized without much prompting, and in S3 and S4 she's shown a lot more sensitivity towards others' feelings.
(And as others have mentioned, Spike's as much to blame as AJ in "Winter Wrap Up", but I guess he has the excuse of being younger.)
This was a great FIC. It certainly serves as a way to bring some form of reconciliation between AJ and Twi on the matter. This was well executed and I have no complaints. I give this my David Crespo stamp of approval.
media.tumblr.com/f3a78916cdf5abf6620b5a90312e8a0f/tumblr_inline_mqc60vLnjw1qz4rgp.gif
This was a sweet story, and more world building is always good.
6648471 Thank you very much. I'm happy that you think so
This is like a delete scene
Lovely bit of friendshipping. Still as good as I remember it. I love how AJ explained to poor Twi that she wasn't in trouble. I could see Twi panicking about that.
In my opinion going for the heartwarming approach was the right choice!
A fantastic little story to address something I don't think gets a lot of addressing.