92. Winter Wrap-Up
It's a beautiful night, and even though the both of us would have loved to just lie there on top of the clouds and fall asleep here, we both know we'd oversleep and miss the first half of Winter Wrap-Up or something. Or worse, the pegasi would clear out the clouds beneath us.
Whatever the reasoning, we end up descending from the cloud layer as the time on my phone passes midnight. After depositing the trash from our meal in a bin, we soar towards my house, fatigue from the day starting to wear on us.
On the way there, I notice Rainbow's house floating above town. However, Rainbow shows no signs of flying to it. Instead, she stays right by my side all the way until we reach my house.
“So, how's that for a date? I bet you understand how lucky you are now, huh?” Rainbow proclaims, swaggering through the front door with a prideful expression on her face.
“Yeah, sure,” I scoff, rolling my eyes at her boasting. God forbid she just say that she had fun and leave it at that. Nope, here comes the ego stroking.
“Not just anyone can say that they've gone out with me, Ponyville's most awesome pony!” Rainbow doesn't seem to be slowing down. She's hovering in midair now, looking extremely pleased with herself. “Can you imagine how...”
“Would you shut up with the bragging already?” I tell her, my brow raised with slight annoyance. Rainbow cranes her head forward to stare at me.
“Make me,” she challenges, adopting a sly grin. I blink and huff, knowing that I wouldn't be able to make her unless I used magic, which I'm certainly not going to do. Huh...Rainbow is looking at me expectantly. What the hell does she want me to...oh.
“Fine then, you frustrating creature,” I grunt, and then without any further warning, I reach out and grasp Rainbow's face with both hands. Rainbow hardly resists when I pull her towards me. Instead, she closes her eyes and meets me halfway in what I intended to be a kiss.
Rainbow's front hooves scrabble on my chest until she has a proper grip. She holds herself to me by wrapping her front legs around my neck and letting her lower legs dangle down my chest. She kisses me back so passionately I almost fall over backwards.
When we break apart, Rainbow's face is flushed and she's breathing a bit heavily. As for me, I can tell by the heat in my face that I look similar.“Whew...and that, mares and gentlecolts, is how you end a date,” she comments with a smirk. “Now, let's get some sleep, shall we? We've got work to do in the morning.”
“Sounds good,” I reply, and then I turn and walk up the stairs, figuring that Rainbow knows her way around my house well enough. “Well, you know where the guest bedroom is and...why are you following me upstairs?”
“Because I'm sleeping in your bed, obviously,” Rainbow responds as if nothing is wrong. I'm quiet for a second, and then I sigh. I don't know what I expected. If I let her do it once, she's going to assume she's entitled to it in the future. “It was too far to my house, anyway.”
“Bullshit,” I accuse her as the two of us step into my room. Once we're inside, Rainbow starts to undress without a care for my presence in the room. She sheds her dress, passing her wings beneath the shoulder straps and dislodging the wreath from her mane. With a shake of her head, the twine tying her mane together is unraveled, causing her mane to quickly go back to what it used to be: untidy as fuck. “Did you think I didn't see your house on the way back? It would have been faster to go there.”
“Oh, would you quit complaining? You're stuck with me tonight and you're going to deal with it,” Rainbow asserts. I gaze back at her uncomfortably as she shakes her rump to knock off the rest of the dress. You know, she's generally always naked anyway, but for some reason watching her undress makes me feel weird.
“Are you going to make this a regular thing?” I demand, even though I'm already resigning myself to let her stay. Honestly, I'm complaining for show at this point. I don't mind her sleeping with me. It feels like sleeping with a cat, only it's a pony and I love her. It's just the connotations of the act that make me uncomfortable. This better not become a rumor.
“Do you want to make this a regular thing?” Rainbow returns with a coy smile, looking at me from over her shoulder. I pause and look at her, realizing what she's doing to me right now.
“You know...if this had been anypony else, I'd be seriously disgusted with the fact that I'm being flirted with,” I point out with a dry chuckle. Rainbow's smile widens, no doubt pleased by the idea that she is the only one I'd accept this kind of shit from. “Hell, or even if you'd done it in the past I'd have freaked out.”
“That just means I'm awesome and I have good timing. You can't get better than that!” Rainbow retorts. I rub my forehead and groan, realizing that I'd basically set her up for that one.
Rainbow shoves the pieces of her dress in a corner somewhere. It's a good thing Rarity isn't here. She'd have a conniption. “Aren't you going to get undressed?” Rainbow asks, indicating the suit I'm wearing. Oh yeah, I should probably take this off. Still, that's an awkward way of putting it.
“This is so wrong,” I comment, shedding the suit jacket easily and hanging it up. It doesn't take me long to remove the rest of it. The worst part is undoing the tie and all of the buttons of the dress shirt. I don't know why everything can't just have a zipper. Everything would be super easy, and there'd be no lost buttons.
Finally, once I'm stripped down to just my pants, Rainbow and I get in the bed together. Once I'm under the blankets, I remove my pants and toss them aside discretely, so that Rainbow cannot see me. She wrinkles her nose when she sees what I'm doing. “You're such a prude,” she tell me, poking my bare shoulder with the tip of her hoof.
“Yeah, well, fuck you, little miss always naked,” I return with a snort, lying on my back and staring at the ceiling.
“I apologize for nothing. This is how normal ponies walk around. Sorry that your weird human customs tell you otherwise,” Rainbow teases me.
“I'm not going to play this game with you,” I sigh, closing my eyes. She knows exactly why I' don't walk around like they do. “Now go the hell to sleep.”
“Aren't you going to kiss me good night?” Rainbow asks in the most innocent voice she can muster. Of course, I see right through it.
“What are you, three years old?” I demand with a scoff. “A good night kiss. Get real. That's way too sappy for you.”
“Of course it is. I just wanted to see if you'd do it,” Rainbow reveals with a chuckle. I groan, realizing that she was toying with me again.
“Besides, if I wanted a kiss...” Rainbow continues, trailing off oddly. In the darkness, all I hear is a shifting of the covers before I feel Rainbow's lips pressing gently against mine. She pulls back a second later. “...I'd just take one.”
“Well...good to know,” I sigh, taken off guard by the sudden kiss. I don't care how many times she kisses me, or vice versa. I'm never going to get used to it. “Anyway, good night...you ridiculous fucking pony.”
“Good night to you too, jerk,” Rainbow replies with a snicker.
A particularly loud knock on my front door is what awakens me all too soon the next morning. I blink myself awake, wondering who in the hell would be bothering me so early. It feels really early. I can tell because my eyelids feel heavy and my entire body feels sluggish, which generally only happens if I haven't gotten enough sleep.
A quick glance at my phone causes me to groan and rub my forehead. It's only six in the morning. This is way earlier than I usually get up, so whoever is at my door better have a really good reason for...oh yeah, today is supposed to be Winter Wrap Up. Fucking...ugh, I forgot about that.
“Come on, you sleepy mare. Get up,” I say to Rainbow, who is currently sleeping with her front legs wrapped around my arm. Hah. And she calls me a teddy bear.
Rainbow stirs, moaning gently. I sigh and start curling my fingers in her mane. She needs to wake up soon, because I can hear whoever is at my door knocking even more insistently.
“Hey! Wake the fuck up!” I tell her loudly. Rainbow still doesn't budge, so I shove her off the bed. Rainbow wakes up immediately upon hitting the floor.
“Gah! I thought we were done with that!” Rainbow complains, scrambling around on the floor until she gets back to her feet. She releases a yawn, not even bothering to cover her mouth. “What time is it? I feel like I'm up too early.”
“That's because we are. It's like, six in the morning,” I respond. Rainbow grumps, but quickly gets over it. I'm guessing she too remembers exactly what we're supposed to do today. “Now, would you mind seeing who's at the door? I'm not exactly dressed.”
“Do I have to?” Rainbow complains, her eyelids drooping. “I just want to go back to sleep. Cloud Chaser can handle Winter Wrap-Up.”
“Oh, quit being lazy and do it already. If I have to do this thing too, then you're definitely going, miss head of the weather team,” I remind her. Rainbow groans and leaves the room reluctantly, heading to answer whoever is continuously knocking at my door.
In the meantime, I steal a glance out the window. What I see surprises me. There's snow everywhere, blanketing the whole town in a layer of soft white. It probably never stopped snowing last night, so it built up over time. While beautiful, I know that's just going to create more work for the town to do, and by extension, me.
Not just that, but there's ponies fucking everywhere out there. The town is coming alive a lot earlier than usual, each pony preparing for Winter Wrap-Up. They all seem to be heading for the town square, so I'm guessing that's where everything gets started.
Rainbow soon returns, looking as if she's shaken herself awake. “It's Twilight. She's here to tell us to meet up with everypony else in the town square in thirty minutes,” she informs me. Yup, that's what I thought. Twilight wants to make sure I show up, I suppose.
“Got it. In that case, I'm going to go ahead and get washed up,” I say with a sigh, getting up off the bed and moving towards the bathroom. Rainbow follows me at first.
“Can I join you?” Rainbow asks, a grin on her face.
“Absolutely not. You know that,” I tell her, not really perturbed at her attempt to annoy me.
“But we have only thirty minutes to get ready! You take really long showers, have I ever told you that?” Rainbow points out. I shrug. “Like, Rarity length showers. Last time I showered with her, I fell asleep because of how long she took.”
“I can shorten them if I need to. I just generally like to relax while inside,” I defend, shrugging. “I'll be out in maybe ten minutes. I'm not going to waste time grooming myself too much when it's all going to get messed up while I work anyway.”
“Spoilsport,” Rainbow remarks as I walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. “Hurry up! I still have to wash up too!”
Like Rainbow said, I don't have time to take a long relaxing shower like I usually do, so I rush through my cleaning routine. That means I don't really get time to think either. I wish I could just skip this whole Winter Wrap-Up thing, but I also want to be there as well, if only to see how ridiculous it is. I'm assuming it'll be hard work though, so that's the downside.
Once Rainbow and I are both cleaned and ready, we leave the house and head for the town square. I'm dressed in some warm clothes as well as a jacket to keep out the cold. It's a good thing I did, because it's frigid out here.
The snow crunches beneath my boots, fresh and undisturbed. It isn't until we near the town square that I start seeing hoofprints everywhere. Not just that, but a large amount of ponies are moving through the streets, congregating in the middle of the square around the town hall.
“Okay, I'm headed to the front. I'm the head of the weather team, after all,” Rainbow boasts, proudly puffing out her chest to display the blue vest she's wearing. “I'll catch you later once this is all over.”
“Alright, seeya,” I say as she zooms off towards the town hall, where I can see Applejack standing on the front steps. Twilight is there as well, with another light purple unicorn standing just behind her, looking rather pleased with herself.
Noticing Pinkie just arriving with Bon Bon, I move to join them, figuring that it would be better to hang with ponies I know rather than stand awkwardly in the middle of the crowd. I still think Bon Bon's a bitch, but at least I know I can talk to her if I wanted.
“Morning Sethie! Are you ready for Winter Wrap-Up?” Pinkie greets me brightly, presenting me with a random cookie that she pulled out of her mane. “Have a cookie!”
“Sure, I'm definitely ready to have no idea what I'm doing,” I remark, accepting the cookie. Just out of habit, I check it over for hairs or anything, but as always, it's clean and fresh. Pinkie makes no kind of sense, ever. Eh, it's better than having no breakfast. I take a bite out of it.
“Oh, don't worry! It'll be fun! And then tomorrow I can throw a Seth's first Winter Wrap-Up party!” Pinkie assures me, bouncing up and down with excitement at the idea of throwing another party.
“Gonna have to take a raincheck on that one. Octavia is coming over tomorrow, so I'll be busy with her until she has to leave,” I tell Pinkie. Pinkie looks disappointed for about half a second. That's it.
“Oh goodie! That means Tavi can come to the party too!” Pinkie declares confidently. “This is happening now. No, you don't need to thank me, silly. You can only have one first Winter Wrap-Up!”
“Right...whatever. I feel like we had a party a few days ago,” I comment, looking away from Pinkie. Why did I even try arguing with Pinkie about a party? It's just going to happen whether I want it to or not.
“You aren't used to her parties yet?” Bon Bon finally speaks up, looking away from the stage. I guess we're still waiting on somepony to get here. “You should know by now that Pinkie doesn't care when the last party was.”
“I suppose you're right,” I admit, putting on a wry grin despite my annoyance. That's when I notice that Bon Bon is looking at me with a bit of an awkward look on her face and...is that a blush? What the hell? “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I wanted to talk to you actually,” Bon Bon says, shuffling her hooves in the snow. She beckoned to me with her head. I think she wants me to move closer, which I do. “So...you remember seeing me at the restaurant yesterday?”
“I do. What about it?” I reply hesitantly, wondering what she's going to say. I don't know if that actually was a date they were on, so I shouldn't assume.
“I was there because...because Lyra asked me out,” Bon Bon reveals, her blush intensifying. Aha, I knew I was right. Still, why is she telling me this? Doesn't she still hate me. “She said it was because you encouraged her.”
“That's right,” I confirm, a small smile crossing my face. It's funny. This whole situation with Lyra, Rainbow, and I could have turned into a real mess, but now it looks like everything is going to turn out well for everyone involved. “I told her that if she wanted companionship, she should look right next to her.”
“Yes, and I wanted to thank you,” Bon Bon tells me, her gratefulness showing in her eyes. “But I don't understand why you'd do something so nice for me. Don't you hate me?”
“Yeah well, I've hated a lot of ponies for practically no reason for a while now. Like I was trying to tell you before, a lot has happened since the last time you and I spoke. More than I can cover in a simple conversation,” I explain, my arms crossed. Just as I'm about to continue, I notice Mayor Mare walking out of the town hall. “Anyhow, it looks like things are getting started. Talk to me later if you're still interested.”
“Okay,” Bon Bon returns, shooting me one last grateful smile. Wow. I guess I have to reevaluate my opinion of her. She's always been a bitch to me...but to be fair, I wasn't exactly acting like a model citizen in return. And then she turned around and thanked me? Who knows, maybe I should visit her shop sometime, wherever it is. Hanging with her and Lyra might actually be fun now.
“Thank you everypony, for getting here so early,” Mayor Mare addresses the crowd, which I'm pretty sure consists of the entire town. “This year I expect we'll do even better than before, thanks to our very own Twilight Sparkle!”
As the crowd of ponies cheer, I can't help but feel I'm missing a bit of context here. Twilight is wearing her own vest, unlike that of any of the other ponies. Of course, I don't have one either. I figure I'll just be doing what Twilight tells me.
“Now, team leaders, if you'll get your assignments and schedule from Twilight, we can get started! Let's work together to welcome spring, everypony!” Mayor Mare finishes, and the crowd of ponies release another rousing cheer.
The area explodes into activity as the ponies split and head towards their respective teams, as sorted by their differently colored vests. Pinkie for some reason is on the weather team, if the blue vest is anything to go by. I see that Bon Bon is on the...the uh...the hell is the green team even? I have no idea what I'm doing.
“Alright, you ponies know the drill! Sunshower, Cloud Kicker, I want you and your teams up with me getting rid of these clouds. Derpy, put that muffin down and get ready to head south! SOUTH, you hear me!? Oh, and Pinkie...” I hear Rainbow ordering her team. I chuckle and shake my head when I see Derpy shoving the aforementioned muffin in her mouth and nodding. Pinkie bounces away from me after giving me a departing wave.
“Keep close, everypony! Big Mac an' I completed harvestin', so it's time to get them seeds sowed for this year. We got a lot of work to do!” Applejack calls to her team. Among her team I can see Cheerilee, Carrot Top, and Noteworthy, but I don't know the others by name. Bon Bon also moves to join them. “Spike, are you comin'?”
“Right behind you!” Spike responds, following Applejack closely behind.
“Come on, we have to make sure we're ready to receive the animals from the south! Rarity, we need nests ready on the double! Fluttershy...” the light purple pony commands. With that, I watch all three groups depart, leaving practically no one in the square except for a few earth ponies that are cleaning up the snow in the streets.
“Twilight, what do you want me doing?” I ask curiously, moving up to where she's standing at the town hall with a clipboard floating in front of her, grasped in her magic. “I'm not part of any of these teams.”
Twilight lowers the clipboard to look at me. “Of course, I have some tasks for you, though I believe you'll be working mostly with Applejack and the Plant team, because you're already familiar with how they work,” she explains. When I nod, a strange expression crosses her face, similar to nostalgia. “You know, it's funny. Last year, I was in your position.”
“Right. Except in your case, I expect you were running around like a chicken with its head cut off, failing at everything,” I joke, earning a flinch and a sheepish smile from Twilight. “Anyway, what are you going to have me do?”
“First, I'd like you to head to Rarity and help her get a good head start on the nest-weaving. She'll tell you what to do from there. Once she releases you, I'll have you working with Applejack for most of the day,” Twilight tells me, looking down at her clipboard. Suddenly, she sets the clipboard aside and rummages through a box behind her with her magic. “Oh, I almost forgot! You're on the Plant team officially, so I had this made for you.”
Twilight lifts a green vest like the ones some of the other ponies were wearing out of the box and passes it to me, beaming with excitement. I raise an eyebrow at it, finding it incredibly tacky. “Do I have to wear it?” I complain, grabbing it from her reluctantly and holding it between two fingers.
“Yes, you have to wear it. It's part of the tradition!” Twilight scolds me, stomping the ground lightly with her hoof. “Now hurry, we're on a tight schedule, and there's so much to be done. Put that on and go find Rarity.”
“Fucking hell...” I grunt, and then I slip on the vest whilst grumbling beneath my breath. I guess it's not too bad, but still, did it have to be bright fucking green? I feel like a lime. You know, I'm only doing this because it looks like it's expected of you to help if you live in town. “Alright, I'm going.”
I power up my magic, and just after I take off, I hear Twilight shouting at me. “Seth! Get down here!” she cries. I groan and do so, wondering what her problem is this time. “I forgot to mention, but you can't use magic at all while you're doing this.”
“What? Why not?”
“It's a Ponyville tradition. This town has always wrapped up winter without using magic, so using magic is frowned upon. Even I was yelled at when I tried it last year,” Twilight reveals, much to my annoyance.
“Fucking great,” I groan, and then I start to jog towards where I saw Rarity go. No magic. That's just ridiculous, especially because this world fucking runs on magic. Why deliberately make something harder on yourself? Who cares if it's tradition? Ugh.
And thus begins what I believe is going to be a very long and difficult day. Now, Rarity went with the others towards where Fluttershy's house is, so that's where I find most of them. As I near the area where I saw Rarity and the other members of the team with the tan vests are working, I spot them doing the things that Twilight mentioned just yesterday.
Fluttershy and a few others are poking their noses into animal lairs and waking them through various means, while others are preparing food for some reason. Rarity and a few other unicorns are weaving nests just as Twilight said they would be, though they seem to be short on materials. I guess that's where I come in.
“Rarity! I'm here to help,” I call out, getting her attention just as she finishes up the first nest. Rarity looks up from her work and beams at my appearance. She pulls out a chair for me and pats it with a hoof, indicating that she wants me to sit next to her.
“Delightful to see you, Seth. You're just in time! We were just about to start the song,” Rarity reveals to me. My brow goes flat at her words. That's right, I forgot about the stupid fucking song. “Would you like to join us in singing?”
“Hell no,” I tell her flatly, much to the surprise of some of the other ponies around us that don't know me so well. I sit down next to her, because I'm going to be working with her. “I'm here to help you with work, that's all. I'm certainly not going to sing.”
“Oh, but you simply must! It's a darling little song, and I'm under the impression you possess a fair bit of musical aptitude,” Rarity reasons with a little smile. “Oh, can you pass me those branches over there?”
“That I can do,” I reply, doing as she asked and passing over a pile of thin, flexible branches over to Rarity. “Aptitude or not, I don't like to sing.”
“That's a shame. Suit yourself then, I suppose,” Rarity expresses with a disappointed frown. However her happy expression returns as she gets to work again. “Okay, so this is what I want you to do. Help me by gathering materials for these nests. These are the things that you need to get for me...”
After hearing Rarity's list of materials, I nod and get to work. Because I can't use magic, it takes me a bit longer than it usually would. I've forgotten how much slower walking is compared to flying. And wow, listen to me. Oh my god, walking! You know that human thing that all humans do? God, it's such a pain. Heh.
Not long after I get started, the ponies start singing the song, except it's a later part in the rather long piece. That's not surprising, as they're singing about what they're doing at the moment, rather than about the tasks that aren't their job.
I hate it already. I can just tell that it's going to get caught in my head. How do I know that? It's because I can't keep myself from humming the chorus every time it comes up. It's as childish as I surmised before, but it's catchy, and I groan, knowing that it's going to drive me nuts by the end of the day.
Rarity has her own portion of the song, and when she starts to sing, I realize that I've never actually heard her sing. It's always been Pinkie or Twilight, generally. I have to say, I'm a little impressed. She has a gorgeous voice, and she knows how to use it. She enunciates her words clearly and distinctly, and projects fairly well, such that I can hear it even as I'm gathering other materials. On the longer notes, her voice seems to swell, accompanied by just the right amount of vibrato. Damn, this mare is really talented. I'm a little jealous.
I'm a music nerd at heart. Even though I can't sing for shit, I know choral techniques and terms. Vocals are a vital part of music, after all. Therefore, even though I would rather die than sing this song, I guess it isn't horribly written.
As the song continues into a verse, Lyra passes by me on a task of her own. I guess she's part of...whatever this team is. I'm going to say it's the animal team, considering that practically everything we're doing has to do with animals. Anyway, Lyra comes to a halt when she spots me.
“Hey! I didn't know you were going to be helping us out,” Lyra comments, pausing in her singing to talk to me. She sets down the tools she's carrying next to the rest of them by the tables. I nod tersely, carrying some materials of my own. Lyra's eyes suddenly light up. “Oh! The chorus is coming up. You should sing with me!”
“Absolutely fucking not in a million years,” I retort, focusing on not dropping the branches I'm holding.
“Aw, please? It'll be fun! Sing with me, Sethie!” Lyra doesn't seem to be giving up. You know, you'd think she wouldn't use that goddamn nickname with me when she's trying to get me to do something.
“Hold on, let me tell you a story about a thing called hell fucking no!” I snap at her, reaching the table where Rarity is singing with the other unicorns there in preparation for the upcoming chorus. Lyra's face falls, but then she shrugs.
“Aw, you're no fun. Anyway, I gotta get moving,” Lyra responds, probably figuring that she has too much to do to stand around arguing with me. As she walks away, she goes right back to singing as the chorus begins. “Winter Wrap-Up, Winter Wrap-uuup~”
By the time the sun passes its zenith, Twilight comes to find me, sending me on my way to where the Plant team is situated. And by that, I mean Sweet Apple Acres. I can't help but chuckle at the irony as I plod through the snow to Applejack's farm. Annual event nothing, I'm still just going to work on the fucking farm.
On my way, I come across a small frozen lake, where a few members of the weather team are gathered. Wait hold on, are they really just...what the fuck? From here, I can see a bunch of ponies skating around on the ice, slicing the frozen surface into smaller pieces. This includes Pinkie Pie, who looks like she's having way too much fun with it. In fact, she's having so much fun I can hear it from here. “Weeeee!!”
Right, well, they can have fun skating or whatever it is that they're supposed to be doing. Pinkie is ridiculous, but she doesn't shirk her work, so I'm guessing that what they're doing is a ridiculous pony method of making ice melt or something.
Above me, I can see the pegasi wheeling overhead, steadily clearing away the clouds and allowing the sun to shine down on the snow below. Feel the sun's rays on my body makes me aware of the fact that the sun is actually warm, unlike how it usually is during the winter. Whatever we're doing, spring is definitely coming. Fucking magic.
A cacophony of bird calls passes over my head, causing me to look up. Derpy is up there with two other pegasi, leading a massive flock of birds behind them. If I didn't know what was going on, I'd have probably freaked out and proclaimed it was the end of the world or something. Heh.
“There ya are, sugarcube,” Applejack greets me when she sees me approaching the field where the other ponies are working. Oh joy, ever since I went to dinner with her family, she's been using that nickname again, even though I don't care for it. “Just in time. We're gittin' ready ta plow the next field, an' we could use yer help.”
It looks like one or two fields is already getting done, but some of the others have yet for the snow to be removed. As such, there are snowplows out there ready to be used. The ponies in the field are singing as well, but it's a different portion of the song than what Rarity and the others are singing. It seems like it's a verse right now, so Applejack is taking a moment to speak to me.
“Okay. Tell me what you need me to do,” I reply, not looking forward to doing farm work without magic. At the very least, I'll be giving my abs a workout.
“See if you kin help Bon Bon an' Big Mac with clearin' that field over there. We're just 'bout finished sowing these fields and we need the next field ready when we do,” Applejack requests, indicating the field in question with a hoof. Over there, I can see Bon Bon struggling to push one of the plows, while Big Mac is handling one all on his own. Overall, it looks like it's going slowly.
I should probably help out with that other plow, otherwise Bon Bon will keep moving at a snails pace. Why the hell did she think she was strong enough to handle one by herself?
I make my way to her, passing a raucously singing Berry Punch on the way. Bon Bon looks over with surprise and curiosity when I duck under the bar and join her in the strangely constructed plow. It's pretty tight quarters in there, but it's not suffocatingly so.
“Seth? What are you doing here?” Bon Bon asks. Her eyes trace down to the green vest I'm wearing, and she connects the dots. “You're part of our team?”
“Yup. I saw you failing over here and thought I'd lend a hand,” I reply, placing my hands on the bar. “Come on, let's try this with the both of us.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Bon Bon grunts as she pushes on the bar again. When I add my strength to hers, the wheels of the plow finally start moving, pushing through the snow on the field. “There we go. Now we're moving.”
We work in silence for a while. When the next chorus of the song begins, I soon notice that Bon Bon isn't singing. “Why aren't you singing?” I ask curiously as we reach the end of the field and turn the plow around for another pass.
“I'm too out of breath to sing,” Bon Bon answers, her chest heaving from the exertion of pushing one of these. “I drew the short stick this time around, so I have to push the plows instead of Carrot Top or Noteworthy. What about you?”
“Like I'm really going to sing a song about something that shouldn't even physically be possible,” I retort. I notice as we pass Big Mac that he's singing surprisingly well in a deep bass tone. Suddenly, I have an urge to fly up into the clouds and hear what Rainbow's singing voice sounds like. Too bad I'm not allowed to use magic. “Seasons changed on their own back in my time.”
“Sounds really convenient. I'm jealous,” Bon Bon pants, taking a moment to wipe away the sweat forming on her brow. “Whew. This is hard work.”
“No kidding.” The two of us continue on our toils, saving our breath in order to work faster. As we do this, I end up hearing Applejack's voice as well, though unlike Rarity she gets to sing by herself with the other ponies acting as accompaniment. She's not bad, but she's literally singing in an accent. That's kinda funny.
“You know, you're a lot easier to deal with now,” Bon Bon says. She scrambles a bit to keep her balance after stepping on a slippery piece of slush. Thankfully I'm there to grab her front hoof and keep her upright. “I don't think I've even heard you curse once.”
“Well, that can't be right. Better fucking change that,” is my immediate response. Bon Bon sighs with exasperation.
“I...you...I don't know what I expected,” she remarks, shaking her head. “Anyway, I feel like I need to treat you to some cider at some point, for helping me with Lyra.”
“Don't worry about it. I wasn't really thinking about favors when I was talking to Lyra,” I say, dismissing her offer with a wave of my hand. “I was just trying to let her down without crushing her.”
“That just makes me want to buy you that cider more,” Bon Bon informs me with a smile. I sigh, but I don't protest that much. Technically I did set her up with Lyra, and I certainly wouldn't mind free cider. “Still, I'm curious. I remember that you used to look mad whenever you and Lyra would meet. When did you start caring about her feelings?”
“Once I realized that the whole reason I didn't like her was because she was a little flirtatious, during the time I hated you ponies,” I respond, trying to answer her question without getting as personal as my promise to Vanta down in the ruins. “Now I'm in a relationship with Rainbow, so I realized continuing to hate her would be pretty dumb. Plus, I've been...trying to care about how others view me, and how I treat them.”
“That's...wow. I think...I'm honestly starting to respect you,” Bon Bon admits, much to my surprise. “If you mean what you're saying, then...that means that you had the gumption to try and change yourself. That's not easy; not just anypony can do that.”
“Yeah...you're damn right about it not being easy. I still have these urges to clam up or yell at somepony every time I do something that's a little outside my comfort zone. Old habits, I guess,” I confess, realizing that I'm self disclosing to Bon Bon, a pony that I've hated for a really long time. But now I'm realizing that it was probably my fault we got off to such a bad start. “But...I figure it's worth it. It would be a shame if I lived my whole life here, completing ignoring the fact that there's good ponies here worth knowing.”
“If I had some cider with me right now, I would drink to that. Those are words to live by, Seth,” Bon Bon tells me with a bright smile. Just looking at her makes me feel a little embarrassed that I just spilled all of that out without really thinking about it, especially to a pony that I used to hate. “Anyway, we've just about finished this half of the field. We'll be meeting up with Big Mac anytime n...”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac responds, his plow just reaching ours. Looking around, I see that the field is completely clear of snow now. Now all that's left is for the snow to be removed elsewhere and left to melt. Wow, talking with Bon Bon made that go by pretty quick.“This field's done.”
“That's right. That means it's time to get planting!” Carrot Top announces, approaching us with bags of seeds. “Can you three move the snow to the waste pile and then meet me back here?”
“Sounds fair. Let's go, Seth,” Bon Bon replies, nodding to Carrot Top. I shrug and help her navigate the plow over to the large piles of snow on the edges of the field. Whew, this will be a lot of work.
“Mares and gentlecolts, I would like to congratulate you all on a job well done!” Mayor Mare announces from her position just in front of the town hall. I'm standing in the middle of the crowd with Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy at the moment. At the mayor's announcement, the crowd erupts with cheers, though I remain silent. I'm just fucking exhausted. “We've successfully wrapped up winter even faster than last year, marking a new Ponyville record!”
I worked my ass off for this stupid winter thing, and I did it all day as well. The sun is setting now even as we speak, causing the shadows cast by the town hall to engulf us all. Right now, all I can think about is finding some food and getting some sleep.
“I wish the best for all of you in this coming spring. And now, I bid you all good night. Good work today, everypony!” Mayor Mare finishes, and then she retreats inside the town hall just as another exultant cheer rushes through the crowd.
“Nice work today, Seth,” Twilight says appreciatively as she passes by on her way home. “I hope you enjoyed your first Winter Wrap-Up in Equestria.”
“Enjoyed. Sure. That's the word. Christ, where is my bed? I'm tired!” I reply, much to the amusement of the ponies surrounding me.
“You're still weak! I feel just fine!” Rainbow brags, popping out of the crowd and sidling up next to me. I give her a glare, because I can see the sweat stains on her vest and the way she's breathing slightly heavier. “Still though. Nice going. Too bad you didn't get to hear my awesome solo.”
“Seth, ah won't need ya for work tomorrow,” Applejack informs me as she heads in the direction of her farm along with Big Mac. “Ya did good today.”
“Oh good, I can sleep in,” I emit, stretching out my arms in an attempt to alleviate some of the soreness I'm already starting to feel.
“Me too! The weather is supposed to be clear tomorrow, so I got nothing to worry about,” Rainbow expresses.
Around us, the different ponies all head their separate ways, every one of them eager to get home and relax in the wake of a hard day's work. I end up acknowledging the greetings of a few more ponies like Lyra and Bon Bon before I'm finally able to head home.
“Are you coming with me?” I ask Rainbow, even though I already know the answer due to how she's flying alongside me.
“Of course. What would I do without my favorite teddy bear?” Rainbow teases, nudging me playfully. I quirk an eyebrow at her.
“I don't know what's worse: the fact that you still sleep with a teddy bear, or the fact that said teddy bear is me,” I remark, earning a laugh from Rainbow. “Let's go home then. I'm dead tired.”
“I hear that! Right behind you!”
With that, I take to the air alongside Rainbow, on my way home to enjoy some well earned relaxation. It's a damned good thing I won't have to do something like this again until next year.
Now, there's a bed that's calling my name. I don't want to keep it waiting.
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aaw no horrible seth singing for ponies to make fun of
Ah, good old slice of life.
I love how Seth is acting so... human. Really now, what human in its good mind would sing randomly about changing seasons? Not me, anyway!
AND.... Despite the fact that you said you would not write any clop, may I dare say that it's really sad? Your story has one of the nicest setting for cute vanilla clop I've seen for a long time. It would be a waste not to use this opportunity. Please, just think about it. Hard.
Anyway, nice chapter, as always. Keep up the good work!
5746479 I am afraid good sir that I shall not acquiesce to your request. I would also like to mention that your grammatical skills are lacking and should therefore insight you as the one who should 'leave or die'.
Lol that was fun
This chapter was fun, and helped Seth further his new outlook on life.
Starting off we have another Rainbow and Seth moment. These scenes are honestly the highlight of the Slice of Life sections and really show us Seth in the most positive light. He still acts negative and curses a lot, but with Rainbow that doesn't matter, so he can be himself to his absolute most without having to censor himself. Rainbow as well is really flushed out here. So far over the story we have seen some excellent emotions coming from her like her rage, her competitiveness, her friendly funness, and now we are getting to see just how deep her loving sappy side can be. It really completes her character and gives her a bigger role then just the loyal sporty one that she is usually relegated to in most stories.
Anyway, the two finish up their night with a rather passionate kiss (a big step for Seth even if he doesn't realise it, as this is probably the most intimate and affectionate he has been yet and he didn't even overanalyse it in his head much. He still has a few hang ups from human culture that will be very difficult to shake, but he is slowly bringing himself around here, and it's showing) before the two head back to Seth's and Rainbow once again decides to snuggle up with Seth for the night. This scene is really cute, and the flirty back and forth dialogue is just so fun to read. This relationship is bringing so much entertainment and depth to the story, I love it.
In the morning, Twilight gets the two up for Winter Wrap Up and Rainbow decides to get all flirty and uncomfortable, trying to invite herself into the shower. I suspect that she knows it makes him uncomfortable and isn't really trying to push him into any kind of sexual scenarios (at least not yet) but she is using the flirting to try and adapt him more to the situation, so when she does doesn't to push it, it won't freak him out as much. We won't see it in the story itself mind you, but it's an interesting development none the less.
Anyway once we reach Winter Wrap Up, we get to see Seth once again forced to deal with the illogical nature of Equestria, and forced to do so without his magic. His meet up with Rarity didn't go long, but it was nice to see him further interacting with her in a friendly manner (and backing the hell out of having to sing). The brief little scene with Lyra was hilarious, just like nearly all of them have been, and it seems that despite his rejection of her, they are certainly still friends ( or at least Seth can tolerate her better). Be interesting to see if she keeps up with the flirting, knowing it makes him uncomfortable. She'll need to be careful she doesn't set off Rainbow or Bon Bon though
. Speaking of Bon Bon, the interaction between her and Seth was a really nice touch this chapter. In the past these two have been at each other's throats (with Bon Bon jealous of Lyra's crush on Seth and his rude attitude, and Seth being irritated at her insensitivity and her own rude attitude), so seeing them being friendly with each other was really interesting to read. With Seth's new attitude change, and is unintentional help setting Lyra up with Bon Bon, it seems like these two might actually be able to get along now. Still I suspect the snarkiness between them will stay, even if they are friendly with each other now. After all, Seth is still Seth and Bon Bon is still Bon Bon.
Ending off the Winter Wrap Up (and promising Seth some warmer days to come now that the winter has been officially dealt with) we have im and Rainbow heading back for another nightly snuggle session. I am just waiting for somepony to overhear their banter and start some teasing. it will not end well for them
.
Over all a fun chapter and as the Winter lifts off, we have Seth becoming warmer, both physically and metaphorically. Great work.
5746402
Clop isn't always necessary to improve the quality of a story. This one is just fine without it, especially considering Seth's own opinion on intimate relationships with ponies. Not to mention the author's dislike of clop scenes.
I like that it's just staying with the 'daaww' worthy romance. Don't get me wrong, some stories have some very nice clop scenes, but this one doesn't need them.
5748259
You my good sir, always make my day with the analysis of each chapter. Tell me, what prompts you to do so?
So who the fuck is supposed to wrap up winter in the wilderness in between towns?
I thought that his reaction to singing would be:
[youtube=Winter's F***ed Up (Winter Wrap Up Parody): https://youtu.be/lk2wqYPlLoc]
10/10 best bedtime story ever
Forgot to mention it earlier, but I suspect that the mysterious cloud of doom is Janna. It's too convenient not to be.
Now this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down..
7862396
And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the human of a town called Ponyville.
7980550
It all started in my collage when I ran into a creepy guy