Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle’s Icecapades

Note: This is a story I made NOT based around Spike. (Holy sh*t, I know right?)
Well, here you go. No warnings necessary. Just enjoy the story and any comments and criticism are greatly appreciated.

It was a cold, winter’s afternoon in Ponyville. Hearth’s Warming was a few weeks ago, and the new year had rolled in after Christmas. The bitter January snow had laid itself on the ground, and Ponyville wasn’t scheduled to clear it until late February, when Winter Wrap Up would come around again. The ponies had gotten used to the cold winters coming and going in Ponyville, and the weather control could let the sun in so that some of the snow can melt.

The library itself was pretty quiet. Twilight Sparkle was the only one inside, and she had just curled up in front of the fireplace. It was quite peaceful when Spike wasn’t in, yet she does enjoy some company when he was around. Since he had nothing to do, he’d snuggle up to Twilight when she sat by the fireplace and read a book during the winter. With the fact that
Dragons are naturally cold-blooded, he had to find ways of keeping himself warm, and body heat was one of them.
Twilight had been indulged in reading romance novels recently, and had started reading them whilst Spike was away. The books had no significant protagonists or plot; it was like a collection of love stories from many other ponies. Strangely enough, the book she was reading, she had found under Spike’s bed.

A tag was tied to it, reading: ‘Why don’t you come over and share this with me sometime? – Rarity’

This lead to all sorts of questions filling Twilight’s head, but after his birthday, Rarity and Spike had gotten closer as a relationship. Some of the stories were quite adult for Spike’s age, but she dismissed that fact, acknowledging that Spike needs some time alone every now and again. She had talked about this before, and wasn’t willing to go through it again.
There was a rattling at the doorknob, and Twilight jumped in shock as she saw the knob fail to turn. She shot the book upstairs with her magic so hard, and it curved up the stairwell; she heard quite a loud crash, possibly a window breaking. She was a bit worried about what had happened, but at least someone didn’t catch him reading Spike’s book. The lock on the door turned and the door opened, revealing Spike wrapped in a coat and scarf, with some ice skates slung round his shoulder.

Spike said, “Hey Twilight, I’m back from the ice rink!”
As he closed the door behind him, Twilight replied, “Hello Spike, how’d ice skating go with you and Pinkie Pie?”
“Very well, thanks. By the way, I just saw a book fly out the window and it soared over Ponyville like a rocket. It was the weirdest thing...”
Twilight blushed and said nothing, backing up a little bit.
Spike cleared his throat and said, “Anyway, I had a great time. I don’t see how ponies skate with 4 skates, where I only need two and I zip across the ice with no problem.”
Twilight replied, “Maybe because you can’t skate on your hands and feet.”
“Oh, har har, Twilight. Very funny, SOMEONE give out the sarcasm award because I BELIEVE we have a winner.”
Twilight gave him a cold stare, not moved by his sarcasm.
Spike took off his coat and muttered, “Spoilsport.”

Twilight sat back down, and pulled out a book called, ‘Sea Pony Myths’. Spike took off his scarf and climbed up the ladder, scouring the area for books.
Spike said to Twilight, “Hey, Twilight. Thanks for recommending those Daring Do books, I loved them!”
Twilight replied, “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed them.”
“Well, I kind of knew about them already, but your recommendation gotten me to re-reading them. Shame ‘Daring Do and the Crystal Skull’ was a bit... off.”
“Well, that book did come out about 20 years after the last one, when they brought the series back. Differences were expected, Spike.”
Spike mumbled something in acceptance, picked out; ‘Daring Do and the Hippogriff’s Hideout’, and sat next to Twilight.

Whilst they were busy in their reading, Spike asked, “Hey, Twilight. What are you doing tomorrow?”
Twilight replied, “Nothing really, why do you ask?”
“Well, Pinkie and I are going ice-skating again tomorrow. She booked out the entire rink and was wondering if you would like to come along?”
“Spike, I appreciate the offer, but I’m not interested.”
“Oh, come on, it’ll be great fun! Sure, what happened at last year’s Winter Wrap Up may rose-tint your vision, but I’m sure you’ll recover and join in the fun!”
“No thank you, Spike.”
“Come on, please? Everypony else is going.”
“Who do you mean by ‘everypony’?”
“Well, Pinkie invited Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Me, and you to join her at the rink, and she really wants you to come along.”

Twilight thought for a moment, now realising everyone else was going along for the ride. She didn’t want to be left out, and this would be an oppurtunity to recover from her past mistakes.

Twilight said, “Well, I wouldn’t want to let everypony down...”
Spike smiled at what she said and replied, “So you’ll do it?”
Twilight smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll go.”

At that moment, Pinkie Pie burst in, and hugged Twilight, saying “YAY! Thanks Twilight, you’re such a good friend!”
She let go of Twilight and skipped out the door and closed it behind her.
They both said nothing for a moment.

Spike broke the silence and said, “I’ll never get Pinkie Pie. Not now, not ever, never ever.”
Twilight bluntly said, “I can see why you would say that.”
Without saying another word, both Twilight and Spike went back to their reading.

------------------------

The following day, Spike was waiting downstairs for Twilight. He paced the downstairs room, waiting for Twilight to get downstairs and go ice-skating with her friends.
Spike looked at the stairwell and shouted, “Twilight, are you coming?”
Twilight replied, “Yeah, hold on a second.”
Twilight came down the stairs, wrapped up in winter clothing such as a coat, a scarf, and some snow boots.
Spike said, “Finally, you ready to go?”
Twilight replied, “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Twilight and Spike walked out the front door, closed it behind them, and walked towards Ponyville in the snow. Not many ponies were outside; some had taken to the fields for snowball fights, while others took to the hills near Sweet Apple Acres to go sledding. Some ponies were outside, enjoying the snow, making snowponies and having snowball fights, but others stayed inside in their warm homes.

Twilight said to Spike, “You know, I love the winter.”
Spike replied, “Yeah, winter’s awesome. There are a few things about the winter I don’t like though.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, firstly, it’s too cold.”
“Uh, well, duh. What did you expect during this time?”
“No, I mean, it’s too cold. For a cold-blooded creature such as myself, this isn’t exactly the best weather; I should be hibernating, like the other dragons.”
“Spike, if you’d hibernate for the winter, you’d never wake up.”
“Are you calling me lazy?”
“No, I’m not calling you lazy, Spike... I’m calling you, VERY lazy.”
Spike thought for a brief moment, thinking back to last Winter Wrap Up, and replied, “Okay, I’ll give you that one.”

Twilight smiled and said, “Thank you, what was the other thing you hated about winter?”
Spike was just about to open his mouth and replied, but instead got filled with a snowball, thrown seemingly from nowhere.
He spat the snowball onto the ground and said, “That, for starters.”
“Oh, Spike, everypony likes a good snowball fi—“
Twilight’s speech trailed off when she spotted a large, tasty looking cake displayed in the window of Sugarcube Corner. While she was staring, Spike made a snowball and waited for Twilight to turn around.
Twilight walked away from the window and said, “As I was saying, everypony likes a good—“
Twilight was cut off when she received a snowball to the face. Spike fell to the ground in laughter, and Twilight picked up a bunch of snow. She grabbed Spike’s coat, pulled it open, and proceeded to tip the snow into his coat. Spike yelped from the coldness and shook his body around, trying to get the snow out.

While Spike was doing his less-than merry jig to get the snow out, Twilight couldn’t help but laugh herself. When Spike had felt all of the snow fall out, he stared at Twilight, and started to laugh himself.
Twilight stopped laughing and said, “Shouldn’t we be getting a move on?”
Spike replied, “Oh yeah, of course.”

Both Spike and Twilight walked through Ponyvilles snowfall and eventually reached the ice-rink.
As Twilight opened the door, she saw no-one in the ice-rink. She looked around the rink, and there wasn’t a soul to be seen.
Spike said, “Huh, we must be here early.”
Twilight replied, “Hang on, I’ll go ask.”
Twilight walked around the stands, and called out, “Hello?”
No response.
She tries again, “Hello?!”
Nothing.
Spike replied, “Odd, do you think they might still be at home?”
“I hope not... Pinkie never did give us an exact time of when to be here.”
“You’ve got a point, but Pinkie’s never one to...”
Spike stopped mid-sentence and sniffed.
He recognized the smell from anywhere, “Hot chocolate, then someone must be here.”

Hot chocolate had recently become common outside of Canterlot when ponies had found a way to make chocolate with a different recipe that isn’t poisonous to equines, but Spike had drunk mugs of the regular stuff at Pony Joe’s when he lived in Canterlot. He always became fond of the smell, and could recognise it from anywhere, no matter how what was in the changed recipe.

Spike looked at the viewing area upstairs, and saw a light in the cafe located next to it. Twilight walked up the stairs and opened the door, looking round the viewing area. Nopony was there, but there seemed to be singing emitting from the cafe located to the left of her. She walked past the tables and opened the door, and there was Pinkie.
Spike walked beside Twilight and saw Pinkie sitting at a large table drinking a mug of hot chocolate.

Spike called out, “Hey, Pinkie!”
Pinkie put her mug down, turned to Spike and Twilight and said, “Spike, Twilight, you made it!”
Twilight walked towards Pinkie, and she gave Twilight a hug.
Pinkie said, “I’m so glad you could make it. I thought you wouldn’t come.”
Twilight replied, “Well, I wasn’t at first, until Spike told me the rest of you were coming here.”
Spike laughed and said, “And a bit of begging.”
Twilight giggled and said to Pinkie, “Well, now that we’re here, we can put our hooves up while we wait for everypony else.”
Pinkie Pie asked, “Can I get you two a drink?”
Spike replied, “That would be great, thanks.”
“Alright, two mugs of hot chocolate coming right up!”

With that, Pinkie had skipped back into the kitchen, and Spike and Twilight were alone. They sat down on the sofa and took off their scarves and hats.
Twilight turned to Spike and said, “How come Pinkie can use the kitchen?”
Spike replied, “Well, yesterday, she was talking to the owner of the ice-rink and asked her if she could borrow the place for a day. Apparently, Pinkie did the owner a favour recently and he wanted to make it up to her.”
“What did Pinkie do in order to rent out the entire ice-rink?”
“Well, it was something to do with helping him get over the grief of his recently dead wife. She didn’t go into detail, apart from the fact she threw a memorial party and invited his family and friends to help with his troubles.”
“Wow, that’s wonderful of Pinkie!”
“I know, and she said if she could borrow the rink for a day or two for her friends, and he happily obliged.”

“I’m glad to hear that. It just goes to show what amazing things ponies can do.”
“Yeah, you’ve done some amazing things. I mean, you’ve saved Ponyville on many occasions, become Princess Celestia’s personal student, and made some great new friends.”
“What about you?”
“Me? I’ve fallen in love with the girl of my dreams, become an adult Dragon and wreck the entirety of Ponyville, and confessed my love while free-falling 300ft from the sky. I really don’t think that’s much.”
“Not much? Spike, that’s more than anypony could do in their lifetimes.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Pinkie opened the door, and two mugs of hot chocolate were balanced on a tray. She placed it on the table and said, “Here you go, enjoy!”
Twilight replied, “Thanks, Pinkie. I really need this.”
Spike added, “Yeah, thanks Pinkie.”
Both of them took sips from their mugs and relaxed on the chairs.
Twilight said, “Pinkie, I just heard about what Spike said about you and the owner of this place, and I must say what a wonderful thing you did for him.”
Pinkie blushed and replied, “Thanks, Twilight. I really wanted to help him, and I’ve known him for a while now. I couldn’t stand idly by without doing anything.”
“Well, I think you did a very kind thing for the owner.”
Pinkie smiled, and she jumped in surprise when she heard the door open, and there was Applejack and Rainbow Dash, wrapped up in scarves.

Rainbow Dash said, “Hey guys, we’re here!”
Pinkie replied, “Rainbow, Applejack, I’m so glad you could make it!”
Applejack said, “Well, it weren’t a problem, Pinkie. I just need some time to relax after trudgin’ through that there snowfall.”
“I’ve just made Twilight and Spike some hot chocolate, stay there and I’ll get you some.”
And with that, she trotted off.

Applejack took off her scarf and sat next to Twilight.
She asked, “So, how’ve y’all been?”
Twilight replied, “Fine, thanks. Spike convinced me to come ice-skating and everypony else was going, so, here I am.”
“Well, that’s great, Twilight. Have you ever been ice-skatin’ before?”
“Once, but I didn't really like it.”
Rainbow Dash added, “Aw, you’ll really enjoy it. It’s like flying, once you practice it, you’ll never forget it.”
Spike replied, “Yeah, but try saying that to Scootaloo.”
Rainbow Dash blushed and sat down in silence.

Twilight giggled, taking a sip from her mug. Pinkie pie returned to the table with 2 mugs of hot chocolate. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both took their mugs, and sat down on some chairs residing around the table.
Pinkie Pie said, “Now we’re just waiting for Rarity and Fluttershy. They said that they’d be here.”
Twilight replied, “Well, I hope so, you invited them here.”
And when Twilight finished her sentence, Rarity and Fluttershy walked into the room.

Rarity said, “Hello, everypony. Sorry I’m a bit late.”
Everypony greeted her and Fluttershy back and Twilight said, “It’s okay, we’ve been waiting for you two.”
“I’m glad I finally got here, I think the snow seems to be letting up.”
Rainbow Dash replied, “I dunno, Rarity, the weather control have scheduled another snowfall sometime tomorrow.”
“Oh, this’ll take forever to clear up when Winter Wrap Up comes around.”
“Yeah, but with a bit of hard work, we can clear this up in no less than an hour, tops.”
Rarity nodded and took off her coat and scarf, sitting on a chair along with the others. Fluttershy did the same and sat next to Rarity.
Pinkie asked, “Can I get you two some hot chocolate?”
Rarity replied, “No, thanks, I had something to drink before I left.”
“Okay, what about you, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy replied, “Um, no thanks, I’m okay.”
“Okay then.”

Pinkie cleared her throat and picked up her hot chocolate, taking a large, loud gulp from it.
Rarity replied, “Pinkie, manners.”
Spike gulped down his mug and replied, “Come on, Rarity, she’s like that.”
“Spike, you’re just as bad as Pinkie.”
A loud burp erupted from Applejack and Rainbow Dash replied with a loud burst of laughter.
Applejack sheepishly replied, “Heh, excuse me...”
Rarity sat there and facehoofed, saying nothing more.

------------------------

After the group had finished their hot chocolate, Pinkie added, “So, shall we go skating?”
Everyone agreed and followed Pinkie Pie downstairs. They all followed Pinkie downstairs to where the skate rental stall was, and Pinkie went behind the counter and took role of the stall owner.

Pinkie said, “Right, who’s first?”
She thought for a brief second and said, “Uh, could you girls form a queue? I can’t pick favourites.”
The girls all lined up in a queue and Pinkie saw that Fluttershy was first.
She asked, “Okay, Fluttershy, what size hoof are you?”
Fluttershy blushed and stumbled over her own words as she tried to come up with a coherent sentence.
Pinkie then said, “Or, if you’re not willing to ask, just write your name and hoof size on a piece of paper.”
Pinkie got out a quill, an inkwell, and a few pieces of paper. Fluttershy wrote her name down and hoof size. Pinkie looked at Fluttershy’s paper and walked off, coming back with 4 skates in hoof.
Pinkie then said, “Here you go!”
Fluttershy replied, “Thank you, Pinkie.”

She took the skates and sat down on the chairs behind the queue, trying on her skates.

Next was Rarity, she walked up and Pinkie said, “Right, do you want to say, or write it out?”
Rarity replied, “I’ll write it out, please.”
Rarity took the quill and wrote on the paper.
As Pinkie took the paper, Rarity whispered in Pinkie’s ear, “Show that to anypony else and I’m going to kill you. Understand?”
Pinkie backed off slowly and came back a short while later, with 4 skates for her.
As Rarity took the skates, she calmly replied, “Thank you.”
Pinkie replied, “Weird, anyway, who’s next?”

As the queue eventually reached its end, it was Twilight’s turn to receive skates.

Pinkie asked, “Hey, Twilight, what’s your hoof size?”
Twilight replied, “Uh, I’ll write it.”
As she finished writing her name and hoof size on the paper, Pinkie took the sheet and returned with 4 skates, to which Twilight took.

She perched herself on one of the chairs behind her and put on the skates. They fit quite snugly and Twilight helped herself up, well, tried to. She felt a bit uneven walking on skates but she propped herself onto the rink wall and hung over the edge. Her legs still shook as she tried to keep her balance.
She waved with her hoof and said, “I’m alright. I’ll be on the ice in no time.”
Everypony gave her a look and walked to the rink entrance.
Twilight replied, “Wait up! Don’t leave me here!”
She tried to walk, but with the skates on, it was pretty much impossible. So, the only reasonable thing to do was to shimmy across the wall. Her friends watched as she slowly made her way across, and she finally regained her balance to stand up.
Applejack asked, “You alright there, Sugarcube?”
Twilight replied, “Fine, thanks.”

Pinkie turned to the ice and said, “Ready? We’ll go on 3... 3!”
And with that, Pinkie Pie darted onto the ice.
Spike replied, “Hey, no fair!”, and followed after her.
The rest laughed and followed the two onto the ice, save for Twilight, who stared at the entrance nervously. She gulped in a large breath and placed a hoof on the ice. She stopped and placed another hoof on the ice. Nothing bad was happening yet. She walked onto the ice and stood perfectly still, trying to keep her balance.
Twilight thought to herself, “Okay, I’m on the ice. Now, just take a step forward...”
She lifted a hoof to move, but ended up losing her balance and falling flat on her face.
Spike skidded past and said, “Having fun, Twi?”
Twilight responded with a muffle, “Barrels of fun, Spike.”

She helped herself up and held onto the wall, standing on her hind-hooves. She perched her front hooves onto the ice and decided to give herself a push. She kicked a hoof of the ice and pushed herself forward, only for her to lose her balance and skid around like she was performing a river dance during an earthquake.
In short, she slipped around and fell over.

Rainbow Dash stopped beside her and said, “Need any help getting up?”
Twilight replied, “No thanks, I’m okay.”
She tried to push herself up, but she kept slipping and falling back down. Rainbow Dash could only watch as Twilight tried to get up.
After 10 seconds of trying to get up and failing, Twilight asked, “Is that help still up for offer?”
Rainbow Dash smirked and helped Twilight up onto her hooves.

Rainbow Dash said, “Gee, Twilight, you’re not very good at this, are you?”
Twilight flatly replied, “What gave you the impression?”
“Aw, come on, Twilight. You’ve gotta really practice in order to achieve something!”
“Yeah, but I don’t know, everypony else seems to be doing alright, and I’m here, not doing very well at all.”
“Hey, don’t be saddle-sore. Sure, Pinkie has the skating skills of a god, sure, and Spike is actually pretty good for a little guy.”

The two watched as Spike slid straight under Pinkie and she replied with a dash and a leap straight over him, twirling in the process. Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy all watched in amazement as they darted across the rink, pulling tricks like nopony’s business.

Rainbow Dash said to Twilight, “That’s pretty awesome.”
Twilight replied, “Yeah, but you’re right, everypony’s got to start small, and I’ve got to really strive to achieve!”
“That’s more like it! So, would you want me to train you?”

Twilight gave Rainbow Dash a cold look, placed a hoof on her flank, and shoved her towards the others, saying nothing more.
As Rainbow Dash slid across the ice, she slowly stopped in front of the others and quietly said, “I’ll take that as a no.”

------------------------

Sometime later, and Twilight still not gotten any better at ice-skating, and this self-training wasn’t helping in the slightest. She had fallen over now at least 14 times, and had made it halfway across the edge of the rink, which took about 20 minutes.
As she was slowly shimmying her way across the ice, Fluttershy and Rarity had stopped by and wanted to chat.
Fluttershy said, “Hi, Twilight. Having fun?”
Twilight replied, “Yeah, plenty.”
Rarity added, “It certainly doesn’t look like it, you haven’t even left the wall.”
Twilight replied, “I know, it’s just that I’m not very good at this.”
Fluttershy said, “Well, neither are we, but we can at least give it a go.”
Rarity asked, “Are you sure you don’t want any help?”
Twilight turned to the two, picked them up with her magic, and gently placed them down at the other end of the rink. The two exchanged glances and said nothing else. She turned back to Twilight, and she fell on her face with a thud. The two shrugged and skated off.

Spike and pinkie stopped behind Twilight, helping her up from the ice.
Spike asked, “Twilight, are you sure you don’t need help?”
Twilight replied, “No, I’m fine.”
Pinkie added, “And stubborn, don’t forget stubborn.”
Spike said, “Pinkie’s right, Twilight, you’re becoming a bit stubborn with not asking for help, and we are just trying to help you at least stay up on your hooves.”
Twilight replied, “I know, it’s just I wanted to do this myself... Now that you mention it, I may need some help.”
After Twilight finished her sentence, she was tackled to the ground by Pinkie giving her a hug, admiring her for finally asking for help.
Pinkie said, “Twilight, you’re the best friend I could ever ask for!”
Twilight crawled out from under Pinkie and replied, “It’s okay, now stop hugging me.”

Spike called out, “Alright, girls, move out the way, Twilight’s going to learn how to skate!”
The girls all moved out of the way, making a large space for Twilight to practice skating.
Spike got behind Twilight and said, “Okay, on the count of three, I’m going to give you a push.”
Twilight replied, “Spike, is that really necessary?”
“Of course it is, it’s the easiest way to learn about ice skating. I also promise not to push hard at all?”
“Okay, Spike, take it away.”

Spike placed his claws on Twilight’s flank, and readied himself. He asked, “Ready?”
Twilight asked, “Spike, could you be gentle at fi—“
Spike pushed with all his might and said, “Go!”
As Twilight darted across the ice, she shouted, “SPIKE, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
Twilight sped across the ice, not moving a muscle of her body. She tried moving her legs to control herself, but she continued to slip around.
Spike shouted out to Twilight, “Twilight, use your right hoof!”
Pinkie called out, “No, your other hoof!”
“Twi, turn right and be careful of the—“
*CRASH!*
“Wall...”

Twilight regained consciousness and found herself arched over the wall, facing a large row of seats. She looked about her head and saw a circle of books with angel wings. She must be dreaming, and if she did, she didn’t like this dream at all.

Spike and Pinkie skated towards Twilight and said, “Twilight, on a scale of 1-10, your skating was... uh...”
Twilight sarcastically replied, “Awful?”
Spike replied, “Yeah, that’s the word!”
Twilight sighed and got back up, still dizzy from collision with the wall.
Pinkie asked, “Once you regain your balance, do you want to go again?”
Twilight sighed and said, “Go on...”

Pinkie got behind Twilight, placed her hooves on Twilight’s back and skated off, pushing Twilight as she went on.
Twilight felt a rush and said, “Yeah, this is alright, I’m actually enjoying this.”
Twilight saw she was rushing towards her friends at a high rate and asked, “Uh, Pinkie, could you turn here?”
No reply.
“Pinkie Pie, are you even—“
She looked behind her and saw Pinkie had pushed her away, making her skate on her own.
Once she gathered that Pinkie wasn’t there, she said to herself, “Oh, cra—“
*BANG*

Twilight found herself, once again, flat on her front. She looked around, and found out she had collided into Fluttershy.
Fluttershy lifted her head up and said, “Sorry, I guess I forgot to move.”
Twilight replied, “I could say the same thing.”
Both of the girls rested their heads, trying to regain their vision.

------------------------

Sometime later, Twilight had still not gotten any better, even with the training.
Spike and Pinkie, after Twilight’s 8th attempt, where she slipped and knocked over Applejack in one fell swoop, went up to her and said, “Twilight, shall we try again?
Twilight replied, “No, I’m just getting annoyed!”
Spike said, “Twilight, I know how hard this may seem, but we’re still willing to help. We all are.”
“Spike, I’ve had enough of this. I want to get off this ice!”
“Twilight, please, once more!”
“No! I don’t want to do this anymore!”

Applejack walked up to Twilight and said, “Look, Sugarcube. No-one expects you to do things right on the first day. You’ve got to learn to take it slow and work your way up.”
Twilight replied, “Applejack, this is getting ridiculous. I’m tired, frustrated, and I just want to go home.”
“Twilight, I said the same thing when I first tried my hoof at Applebucking. At first, I was getting tired of not getting down a single apple form the trees, but after much patience and time, I finally did it. Heck, even Applebloom is going through the same phase.”
Rarity added in, “Everypony’s got to practice through trial and error before they get good at something. You were no different at magic when you were little.”
Applejack replied, “Twilight, we’re just saying that to do things right, you’ve got to really try. Give it your all, and keep your spirits up!”
Twilight sighed and said, “Alright, I’ll give it one more go.”

Spike and Pinkie smiled and said, “Okay, how do you want to go?”
Twilight replied, “Give me a really good push; I want to see this one through!”
Spike and Pinkie grabbed Twilight’s flank, emitting a squeak from Twilight, and said, “Ready?”
Twilight braced herself and was ready to take on this challenge.
“One, two, three!”
And on three, they pushed Twilight.

As Twilight sped across the ice, she wanted to keep her balance. She remained upright and saw the wall heading up to her. She panicked and didn’t know what to do next. She started to wobble and wanted to place her flank on the floor to try and brake, hoping that she wouldn’t hit the wall.
Suddenly, her mind blanked and time seemed to stop around her when she heard Applejack’s voice in her head.
Applejack’s voice rang through her head and said, “Twilight, we’re just saying that to do things right, you’ve got to really try. Give it your all, and keep your spirits up!”

With those words, she planted her hooves firmly, and made a large right, missing the wall. She thought she had finally overcome her obstacle that plagued her the first time, until she collided with the other one in front of her.

As she crashed, the others ran up to her to see if she was alright.

Twilight regained her balance, and Spike replied, “Well, at least you turned.”
Twilight, realised that after 9 attempts, she still can’t skate for the life of her. She ran off in frustration and hid in the mare’s bathroom. The girls and Spike stood there, as Twilight ran off into the bathroom.

Pinkie replied, “Do you think we pushed her too far?”
Rainbow Dash replied, “I don’t think so. I think she’s just way too frustrated.”
Applejack added, “I told her that Nopony expects things like this to be done on the first day, and now look where it’s got her.”
Fluttershy asked, “Do you think somepony should go and comfort her?”
Spike thought and said, “It’s best we left her alone, she needs to calm down for a bit.”
The girls nodded and continued to skate, feeling bad for Twilight being frustrated.

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That evening, the girls had all worn themselves out from ice-skating and proceeded to leave the rink. Twilight finally left the bathroom earlier, but she sat at the chairs surrounding the rink, watching her friends skate. Spike sat by her earlier and talked about how she was feeling, which cheered her up a bit, but not much.
As Pinkie Pie was the last one to leave, she saw Twilight sitting on the chairs and asked, “Hey, Twilight, you coming or what?”
Twilight looked up and said, “I need to go to the bathroom again, give me the keys and I’ll lock up.”
“Okey-dokey.”

Pinkie Pie left the keys to the rink beside Twilight and walked out the main door with the rest of her friends.
Twilight looked around and saw the rink still lit up. She thought about today, and how she got angry over something so trivial. She felt bitter, and her mind wanted her to make up for it.

She looked around and saw her ice-skates beside her, and thought that one last ice-skating session wouldn’t hurt. She put on the ice skates and walked towards the ice, standing on the entrance to the rink. She gulped and walked onto the ice. She looked around and kicked her back leg, thinking she could move.

Fearing the worst, she braced herself for impact, but it turns out that she kept her balance surprisingly well. Thinking that this was a sudden fluke, she motioned her legs to turn round. She turned. Twilight gasped at this sudden revelation, she could skate. At long last, she could skate!

Twilight said to herself, “Oh sweet Celestia, I can skate! Ha ha, I can skate!!”
She had a big happy grin and felt a rush as she pushed herself forward. She made a steady turn at the corner and made her way forwards.
Twilight watched herself as she skated and shouted, “Look at me go, Ha ha!!”
The sudden adrenaline rush made her laugh uncontrollably, and she rushed forward.

Meanwhile, outside the rink, the girls and Spike were heading back home, when Spike checked his coat pockets.
Spike sighed and said, “Hold on, I’ve forgotten my house key.”
He turned back and walked towards the entrance of the building. He suddenly noticed Twilight skating on the ice and gasped.
Spike called out, “Hey, girls, come here, you’re not gonna believe this!”

The girls dashed towards the entrance and all watched Twilight skating on the ice.
Applejack said, “Well, what do ya know, she did it!”
Rarity added, “I know, and she does it so well!”
Rainbow Dash asked, “What are you waiting for? Let’s go in!”

The girls walked in and watched from the rink walls as Twilight skated. Twilight didn’t notice her friends watching and decided to do the impossible, a jump. Twilight made a run-up, ducked and jumped in the air, twirling in a 360o manner, and landed.
She stopped, and shouted, “Whoo, That was awesome!!”

She suddenly heard the cheers and applause of her friends, who had been watching her during her skating session. She turned and blushed, smiling as she skated towards her friends.

Pinkie Pie cheered, “That was amazing, Twilight!”
Applejack replied, “I ain’t never seen someone learn so quickly, Twilight. You were great!”
Rainbow Dash added, “You were simply awesome, pure and simple.”
Rarity said, “You’ve performed an act so amazing, words cannot describe how proud we are of you!”
Fluttershy said, “You were truly great, Twilight. I guess our training really did pay off.”
Spike added, “Not only did it pay off, it showed that anyone can learn anything in such short time. Let’s hear it for Twilight!”

Everypony cheered for Twilight who replied, “Thanks, guys. I guess you really did help.”

------------------------

As Twilight and her friends sat in Sugarcube Corner, helping themselves to a milkshake or two, Twilight wanted a letter written to Princess Celestia, and Spike wrote down her words.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I’ve learnt that if you’ve not good at something you want to be good at, it always helps to ask for help from your friends, and not get stubborn about it. I’ve also learnt that getting upset over your failures isn’t the way to take things. You should stop, and ask friends for help, and you could achieve something truly amazing, in the short space of a day.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle”

Spike rolled up the letter, and sent it up in a blast of fire. The letter disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Pinkie Pie asked, “Hey, I’ve got the rink for another day, do you girls want to go with me again?”
The girls calmly declined the offer, saying how they’ve had too much fun today.
Twilight asked, “Pinkie, if you need help during Winter Wrap Up, I’m always available for help.”
Pinkie Pie added, “Well, sure I could fit you in. You’ll make a great addition.”
“Great, we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Pinkie nodded and said, “I can’t wait for this year’s Winter Wrap Up, it’s going to be so much fun!”
Spike added, “It sure will, except I don’t want Twilight waking me up at about 4 in the morning. You all know what happened last time.”
Twilight giggled and replied, “We sure do, Spike, we sure do...”

The girls laughed and Spike giggled to himself, admiring what a great day this has been for Twilight, and he couldn’t have it any other way.

The End

Author’s Note: Third Story Complete! I’ve got another Spike one planned, so stay tuned! Any comments and criticism are, as always, greatly appreciated.

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