Chapter 78 (Hearthbreakers & a non-canon Winter Wrap Up episode)
Hearth’s Warming Eve was coming once again. I was in the kitchen with Starlight making gingerbread cookies. I had just finished decorating my third dozen.
“‘Trot, trot. Catch me if you dare,’” said Starlight as she levitated one of the cookies. “‘But I know you won’t, I’m the Gingerbread Mare!’”
I chuckled a bit. “Say, did you have any Hearth’s Warming traditions, Starlight?” I asked as I put the plate down. “Uh...before you left your hometown of course.”
“Well, my father and I used to bake cookies,” Starlight replied. “He’d be so good at decorating the reindeer-shaped ones. We even played with them a bit before eating them.” She then sighed. “Of course, he would keep calling me ‘Chipmunk Cheeks’ afterwards.”
“Why would he call you that?”
I turned around to see the plate already half empty. Starlight’s cheeks were inflated like pink balloons.
“No reason,” her voice muffled as some crumbs grossly spilled out of her mouth.
“Well, one tradition Twilight and I have is that we open presents on Hearth’s Warming Eve instead of the morning after. It happened because I was too impatient to open my presents when I was a hatchling, and we eventually kept it as a tradition ever since. That and giving each other books.”
“Hey! That was supposed to be a surprise!” Twilight retorted as she entered the kitchen. “And I don’t always give you books for Hearth’s Warming.”
“Okay then. What was the last item you got me that wasn’t book-related?”
Twilight raised a hoof, but she said nothing. Starlight downed a glass of milk to break the awkward silence.
“Uh…oh! I just remembered that Applejack was supposed to give us some cider today,” Twilight said. “Could you head over to her farm to pick it up, Spike?”
I nodded despite knowing she was trying to change the subject. I quickly put on my winter clothes and left the castle.
I traveled through Ponyville, watching as everypony was preparing for Hearth’s Warming Eve. What caught my eye was Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash sitting on a bench drinking hot chocolate. Both of them seemed to be hanging out more often than usual. I guess it had to do with Tank hibernating and Dashie feeling lonely.
I made it to the farm just in time to see Applejack adjusting some crates in the barn.
“Hey, Applejack,” I greeted. “I’m here for the cases of cider.”
“Howdy Spike. They’re over there.” Applejack pointed to the table with three cases. “Yer lucky. Ya came here just in time.”
“Rainbow was about to grab some?”
“That and…my family ‘n’ I are gettin’ packed.”
“Packed? Where are you guys going?”
“We’re headin’ out to Pinkie’s rock farm. Pinkie and I were having a discussion the other day, and we decided this year the Apple family can come to visit Pinkie’s family for the holidays.”
“Ah, that’s nice.”
I remembered this episode: “Hearthbreakers”. In the show, Applejack and the others would have trouble getting along with the Pie family and their Hearth’s Warming traditions. It gets worse when Applejack accidentally causes the Pie family’s sacred boulder to fall in a ditch, but in the end both families were able to resolve their differences and get Holder's Boulder (the boulder’s name) out of the ditch.
That’s when I noticed a discrepancy. In the show, “Hearthbreakers” happened after Applebloom got her cutie mark, but this time it was happening before. I don’t remember hearing about a school election yet, and neither Button Mash nor Rumble told me about it.
The school playground had seen better days, though, so I know “Crusaders of the Last Mark” had to come up soon. While I didn’t want to change anything, I wondered if Tiara’s statue had something to do with the school board's depleted budget. I would have to contact Neighsay about this after the CMC get their cutie marks.
“It is always nice to visit other families,” I said as I grabbed the cases. “Say, want me to give you some advice?”
“Well, yer always doin’ that, so go ahead.” Applejack tilted her hat.
“Try to keep an open mind when visiting others. Even when you might share the same traditions, they can still do it much differently than you do. You’ve seen how different Maud was when she visited Ponyville, so there’s no doubt that the rest of her family might be the same way.”
“Well, it wasn’t easy befriendin’ Maud, but I did it anyway despite our differences. It can’t be that much harder for the rest of the Pie family.”
“From what Pinkie told me, her big sister, Limestone, acts tough like Rainbow Dash. As for her little sister, Marble, she acts shy like Fluttershy. As for their parents…they’re a bit…archaic.”
“Heh. I’ll keep that in mind, Spike.”
“Applejack!” Granny’s voice shouted.
“Uh, oh. That’s Granny’s ‘I can’t find something’ tone. Just watch.”
Granny Smith came into the barn. There were a pair of cat-eye glasses on her head.
“Applejack, have ya seen my readin’ glasses?” Granny asked.
“They’re on ya head,” Applejack replied without turning around.
“Huh?” Granny patted her forehead before she noticed. “Oh. If they’d been a cross-eyed snake, they’d have bitten me. Say, why ain’t ya packed yet, Applejack? We’re leavin’ on Hearth’s Warming Eve, not New Year’s, dagnabbit.”
“I’m just makin’ sure everything’s in place ‘til we get back. I’ll be in shortly.”
I collected my crates and headed back to the castle.
Once I put the cider in the fridge, I grabbed a couple of bottles and looked for Starlight and Twilight. I saw them at the library making Hearth’s Warming dolls.
“Come on, Starlight. My cutie mark isn't that big,” Twilight said.
“It’s just a Hearth’s Warming doll, not a merchandise collectible,” Starlight replied. “No pony’s gonna notice.”
“But the stars are reaching up to my torso.” Twilight pointed to the plush figure. “I’m sure somepony’s going to notice.”
“Hey, girls,” I said. “I brought back the cider. Here’s a couple of bottles to get started.”
“Oh, good. Thanks, Spike. We’re just in the middle of making our Hearth’s Warming dolls. Would you care to join us?”
“Sure.” I handed the girls their respective bottles. “By the way, Starlight, you need to make Twilight’s cutie mark bigger.”
“Oh, very funny, Spike.” Twilight undid the bottle cap with her magic.
The three of us later spent the entire afternoon fixing our dolls.
Hearth’s Warming Eve went rather well. True to Twilight and my tradition, the three of us opened our presents early. It was no surprise we all got books. Starlight’s book was about the history of kites, mine was a Ponish to Japonese book for when I find a manga that hasn’t been translated, and Twilight’s was about modern politics since she became a princess.
Sadly, fate didn’t rest even during the holidays. Two days after Hearth’s Warming, Applejack told us about her family’s trip to Pinkie’s rock farm. Her story was exactly the same as in the show, much to my chagrin. I was hoping that I could prevent Holder’s Boulder from falling into the crevice, but then again that seemed to help the Apple family and the Pie family come together, so I was okay with letting that one go.
Speaking of coming together, I remembered there was a scene where Marble Pie and Big Mac showed interest with one another. I found that cute, but I also remembered Big Mac’s relationship with Sugar Belle. I didn’t want to prevent Big Mac from seeing Sugar Belle, but I didn’t want Marble to be upset either. The best thing I could think of off the top of my head was that Marble could try to see somepony else, but I would have to figure out who it should be.
New Year’s went pretty well, too. After quickly explaining Starlight our New Year’s tradition, we dropped the ball off a nearby set of stairs. It bounced up to 50 inches exactly.
“Wow! That’s twice in a row a ball bounced up to a number divisible by ten!” Twilight exclaimed. “I wonder what this year’s big change is gonna be.”
“Aside from becoming a princess and getting a castle?” Starlight asked.
“Hey, you never know,” I said as I walked down the stairs. “Maybe somepony will have a baby, or achieve their lifelong dream, or get their cutie mark. Anything can happen in this year of 2012.”
“Okay. I’m just saying that it’s kinda unusual that you two can predict the future just by bouncing a playground ball.”
“When you live in Ponyville, the unusual can become usual.”
Knock! Knock! Knock!
I shot up from my bed to hear the sound of a loud pounding noise at my bedroom door.
“Wake up, Spike! It’s Winter Wrap Up Day!” Twilight’s excited voice rang from the other side. “Come on! Wake up!”
“I’m awake! I’m awake!” I retorted while rubbing my eyes.
After doing my stretches and splashing cold water in my face, I went to prepare some breakfast.
Later, I found Starlight in the dining room drinking some coffee.
“Good morning, Starlight,” I said as I entered with my toast and scrambled eggs.
“Oh, it’s morning?” A groggy Starlight asked. “It’s so dark, I can’t tell.”
“Yeah, I forgot to mention Twilight really looks forward to Winter Wrap Up Day.”
“So I heard that Ponyville ‘cleans up’ winter here, is that right?” Starlight took another sip of her coffee.
“Yep. They don’t use magic to do it either. Well…that is they don’t use magic from their horns. It’s part of Ponyville tradition ever since it was found by earth ponies.”
I heard the sound of grunting noises. Twilight came in struggling to put on her Winter Wrap Up vest.
Starlight sat up. “Are you alright, Twilight?”
“Yes, it’s just my vest.” Twilight’s wings fluttered underneath the cloth. “Maybe I should’ve had Rarity make some wing holes in it.”
“Why do you need to wear that?”
“To let the ponies know which team I’m in. Since I’m the head organizer, I’m pretty much on everypony’s team.” Twilight removed her vest. “Green is the plant team, blue is the weather team, and tan is the animal team.”
“Wait! Was I supposed to sign up for a team?!” Starlight hopped out of her seat. “I’m sorry, Twilight! I didn’t know! Is it too late? Is it mandatory to…?”
“Starlight, relax.” Twilight draped her vest over her back. “It’s okay. You can join whichever team you prefer. Don’t worry. Spike and I went through the same thing last year.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think there’s an opening for a third head organizer, is there?”
“Oh, I’m actually part of the plant team,” I said. “I’m responsible for pushing the snow with one of the plows. In fact, I should get into my vest as well.”
I quickly finished my breakfast and headed back to my room. I got out my green vest from my closet and tried it on.
Unfortunately, just like my gala suit, the vest felt tight on me. I really was getting older and taller. This was a bit weird since Spike’s form never changed throughout the show, excluding the greed and molting of course. I left the vest unbuttoned and joined up with Twilight and Starlight.
Later that morning, we headed to the center of town where the rest of the Ponyville civilians were. The mayor was just outside of town hall.
“I’d like to thank everypony for coming today to help wrap up winter,” the mayor announced. “I hope that everypony will do their part and clean out the snow for the upcoming spring! Before we begin, Princess Twilight would like to say a few words.”
Twilight appeared on the platform. “Thank you, Mayor Mare. Now, I’ll try to keep this brief. I wish you all the best of luck with your assigned tasks. Be sure to read your directions carefully, and inform your team leader of any problems. So without further ado, let’s get galloping!”
The crowd dissipated into their respective teams, leaving Starlight, Twilight, the mayor, and me left.
“Oh, you’re new to Winter Wrap Up, aren’t you Miss Glimmer?” Mayor Mare adjusted her glasses.
“Uh, yeah. I am,” Starlight replied.
“Why don’t you come with me, Starlight?” Twilight offered. “We can see how the other ponies are doing and maybe you could find something up your alley.”
Starlight followed Twilight while I headed to Applejack’s group.
I arrived in an open field to find Applejack with the rest of the plant team.
“Alright y'all,” Applejack announced. “It ain’t gonna be easy to clear away some of this snow. But hopefully with Twi’s extensive organization from last year, we’ll be done before y’all can say ‘apple cider’. Let’s get started with the plowin’.”
The plowing team including me went to the snowplows. That’s when I noticed one that was rather small.
“That there’s yours, Spike,” Applejack said. “Built it with Applebloom a few months back. Figured ya needed one yer size since ya joined the plant team.”
“Oh, thank you,” I said.
I got into my plow and joined up with the rest of the snowplow team. After Applejack gave us the signal, we immediately plowed the snow in a straight line. My plow didn’t pick up as much snow as the rest of the team's, but it was significant enough to make a difference.
About an hour later, the fields laid bare while the plows had already made their own hills of snow. I got out of my plow and took a break with Applejack.
“I’m mad glad that Twilight came up with this stuff last year,” Applejack said. “Normally, it’d take us all day to clear the fields, even with the sun shining hotter than mid-August.”
“That’s Twilight for you.”
“Say, how’s Starlight? If I recall, this here’s her first Winter Wrap Up, right?”
“Right, but she’s having trouble finding out what to do.”
“Sounds just like what Twi went through.”
“Let’s hope it’s not completely what Twilight went through. You know, failing to make a nest, crashing into ice skaters, scaring creatures awake, and all that.”
That’s when a pegasus in a blue vest flew in.
“Howdy,” greeted Applejack. “Somethin’ wrong?”
“Yeah, we need a bit of help,” the pegasus replied.
“Sorry, but I’m with the plant team, ma’am. You’ll want to find Rainbow Dash for help with the weather stuff.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t know where she is. We can’t get rid of any more clouds until she gives us the go-ahead, but none of us have seen her.”
“Huh, strange. I know I saw her by the town hall during the mayor’s speech.”
“I think I know where she is.” I stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
I left the fields and went into the forest to find Fluttershy. It didn’t take me long to see her on a log tying bells to a rope.
“Hey, Fluttershy.” I said. “Have you seen Rainbow Dash lately?”
Fluttershy looked up. “Oh, hello, Spike. I did see her earlier. She came by asking for one of the bells. I think she might be looking for Tank.”
“Yeah, I had a feeling that was the case. Let’s go find her.”
Fluttershy and I walked across the forest until we found a location that looked familiar. Sure enough, Rainbow Dash was at the clearing, digging into the snow.
“Oh, here it is.” Rainbow uncovered the rainbow-colored flag from the snow. Its colors remained unchanged despite it being outside for three months straight.
Rainbow pulled a bell out from under her wings. She crouched down in front of the burrow and quickly chimed the bell. She waited patiently for her pet tortoise. Fluttershy and I were watching silently from the bushes. This was a moment for Rainbow Dash after all, and neither of us wanted to ruin it.
Dirt slid out of the burrow. Soon, Tank slowly crept his way out of the hole. Dashie gave a small smile.
“Hey there, Tank,” Rainbow greeted softly. “Sleep well?”
Tank sluggishly smiled. Rainbow picked him up and hugged him.
“Good to have you back, little buddy,” she said. Her voice crack did not go unnoticed.
Neither were the yellow hooves wrapped around my body.
“Fluttershy?” I asked.
“Oops. I’m sorry.” Fluttershy quickly let me go. “I can’t help it; I get all warm and fuzzy at moments like these.”
Rainbow quickly turned around. “Woah! Uh…how long have you two been there?”
“Long enough,” I replied as Fluttershy and I stepped out of the bushes. “We didn’t want to interrupt your touching reunion.”
“Thanks…I guess…”
“You don’t have to hide it,” Fluttershy said. “We were all there when Tank began hibernating.”
I cleared my throat. “Anyway, somepony from the weather team came looking for you.”
“Already?” Rainbow put Tank on her back. “That can’t be right.”
She looked up at the sky. About half of the sky was cloud-free, with the sun’s rays piercing through the rest of the tufts of evaporated water.
“Heh, I guess Twilight’s method really works.” Rainbow opened her wings and grabbed Tank. “Tell the weather team I’ll be back in a jiffy. I gotta take someone home first.”
Rainbow flew away. After Fluttershy and I told the pegasus worker about Dashie, we returned to our duties.
However, I hardly got into my plow before Applejack stopped me.
“Sorry for botherin’ ya, sugarcube,” she said. “But I just saw Starlight leavin’ the fields by herself before I got a chance to talk to her.”
“Twilight’s not with her?”
“Nope. Didn’t see her.”
“That’s weird. I’ll go talk to Starlight.”
I found Starlight brushing snow off a park bench before sitting on the cold wood.
“Hey, Starlight,” I said. “Is everything alright?”
Starlight sighed. “Not really. I’m having trouble figuring out what to do.”
“Wasn’t Twilight supposed to be with you?”
“She was, but then something came up and she had to return to the mayor for a while. So she told me I had to be on my own. I promised I would try my best to find something, but…”
“You’re not good at any of those tasks?”
“That’s the problem, I haven’t even started. I keep trying to ask, but everypony’s so busy that they can’t hear or notice me. And with Winter Warm Up almost done, I’m pretty much left out.”
“Don’t feel bad,” I sat next to Starlight. “Even with Twilight’s organization skills, we still have a long way to go. You’ll find something in time; you just have to speak up.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Starlight sat up. “Maybe you could…vouch for me?”
“Starlight, I can’t always speak for you. Can you imagine how awkward it would be if I had to talk to every friend for you?”
Starlight looked away.
I hopped off the bench. “Here, let’s go back to the fields, and maybe Applejack will offer something. All you need to do is talk to her. Oh, by the way, it’s ‘Winter Wrap Up,’ not ‘Warm Up.’”
Starlight followed me back to the fields. We found Applejack fanning herself with her hat.
“Now go ahead and talk to her,” I said to Starlight. “No need to be nervous, you talked to her before.”
“That’s not what I’m nervous about,” Starlight replied. “What if she turns me down?”
“She won’t. Everypony’s looking for newcomers this year.”
Starlight sighed and approached Applejack.
“Excuse me...Applejack?” Starlight called out.
“Uh, howdy Starlight,” said Applejack. “I saw ya leave earlier. Is there something you need?”
“Um…yeah…uh…” Starlight hoofed the ground. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Well, we’re always lookin’ for more plow pushers. Care to give it a try?” Applejack motioned Starlight to an empty plow. “We just had these oiled, so they should be easier to move around.”
Starlight entered the plow. Unlike what Twilight experienced last year, Starlight was able to move the plow on her own. She managed to scoop up a good pile of snow before stopping.
“Not bad, Starlight,” Applejack said as the pink unicorn exited the plow. “Ya got the skills to be a good plower. We could use somepony like you on board.”
“Actually, Applejack, is it okay if I try out all the other tasks first?”
“Sure. Don’t know why yer startin’ so late.”
“I had a lot of…delays.”
“Alright then. This position will still be open for ya if ya reconsider.”
I joined up with Starlight again. We headed to a frozen lake where we found Pinkie skating and making squared figure eights.
“Hey, Pinkie!” I shouted.
“Hey, Starlight and Spike!” Pinkie slid off the ice and stopped in front of us. “What brings you here?”
“Well, uh, I’m trying to find a task I’m good at,” Starlight replied. “Is there anything I can do here?”
“You could help me cut the ice before the other skaters arrive. You’re good with skates, right?”
Starlight scratched her head. “Uh…I used roller blades when I was a filly.”
“Perfect! Let’s go!” Pinkie pushed Starlight to the lake.
She then gave Starlight some skates from her mane. Starlight put them on her hooves and carefully got on the ice. I kept my distance in case this became a repeat of last year.
Thankfully, it didn’t. Starlight had a few slip-ups, but she was able to maneuver around the ice rather well. I thought she would pull a Bambi like Twilight did and slide all over the place.
“That was totally spectacular!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Maybe you should join the skating team!”
“I should,” Starlight said, “but I’d like to try out my other options.”
“Okie dokie loki!”
Starlight took off the skates and left the lake. I hurried beside her.
“So which one is better?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Starlight replied. “It would be nice to skate around the ice, but plowing the snow isn’t a bad idea either.”
That was when we found Rarity at a nearby picnic table, putting the finishing touches on one of her many nests.
Starlight cleared her throat.
“Starlight! Spike! How marvelous to see you,” said Rarity. “Apologies for not noticing you earlier, Starlight. Was there something you wanted?”
“I’m looking to help out,” replied Starlight.
“Would you care to design some nests with me?”
“I don’t know about nest-building, but sure.”
Starlight sat on the other side of the table as Rarity handed her the supplies.
“Now, remember, these have to be hoof-made,” Rarity reminded Starlight. “It’s quite a hassle, but it’s worth it to keep it traditional.”
Starlight tried her best to make a bird’s nest. Once or twice her horn would glow out of habit, but she was able to control herself without levitating anything. By the time she was done, the nest didn’t look too shabby. It wasn’t as fancy compared to Rarity’s nests, but it was better than Twilight’s first nest.
“Ooh, that does look rather nice,” Rarity said.
“Thanks, I guess all that kite-making has paid off,” Starlight said.
“Perhaps you could join the nest-making team. We could use the extra hooves.”
“Er…I’ll think about it. I wish to try out some other tasks first.”
“As you wish.”
Once again, Starlight and I left. We walked down the road until Starlight looked up at the sky. Pegasi were moving and getting rid of all the clouds.
“Thinking about joining the weather team?” I asked.
“No. I don’t have any wings.” Starlight pointed to her torso. “And I’m not allowed to use magic to move the clouds either.”
“Just asking.”
We went to the outskirts of town. We found Fluttershy once more, resting a string of bells on a protruding stick.
“Hey, Fluttershy,” Starlight greeted.
Fluttershy gasped quietly. “Oh, Starlight, Spike. You surprised me.”
“Sorry about that. I wanted to know if I could help you in any way.”
Fluttershy looked around. “Uhm…oh. You can ring these strings of bells to wake the critters up.”
“Uh…okay.” Starlight grabbed the string with her hoof.
“N-not too hard now. We don’t want to scare the animals awake.”
Starlight gave the string a light tug. The bells gave a barely audible dingle.
“Time to wake up, critters,” Fluttershy said.
“Shouldn’t it be louder than that?” Starlight asked.
“Oh, don’t worry. Give it time.”
A few seconds later, all of the critters who heard the bell came out of their holes yawning and stretching.
“You know…there’s still a few creatures left to wake up,” Fluttershy said to Starlight. “Would you care to join me?”
Starlight remained unsure and wished to think it over. I followed her to the town hall. Twilight was there looking over her checklist.
“Oh, hey, Starlight,” Twilight put her checklist away. “Sorry I had to slip away for the moment. Did you find something you were good at?”
Starlight replied, “Yeah, but…”
“But what?”
“There were too many things that I’m good at. I don’t know what to pick. What if I join the plant team but realize I’m more interested in the weather team? What if I prefer nest-making but get stuck ice skating?! What if—?!”
“Starlight, get a hold of yourself.” Twilight quickly suspended Starlight with her magic. “I know that this is all overwhelming, but there’s no need to panic. I had trouble fitting in here as well during my first Winter Wrap Up.”
“But you got to join all three teams at once. I have to choose only one.”
“Who told you that?” Twilight put her student down. “Just because you pick a team for one year doesn’t mean you have to stay on that team for the rest of your life. Trust me, a lot of ponies have changed teams over the years here.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“While I was talking to the mayor, she brought up past Winter Wrap Up records and I had to see for myself. Turns out some ponies have been on multiple teams over the years. Mayor Mare allowed it after repealing the idea to assign random ponies to random teams and have them remain there.”
Starlight sighed. “I’m sorry, Twilight. It’s just that there are so many choices, and I’m spending more time deciding on what to do than actually doing it. And given how things are going right now, I might not have the chance anymore.”
“Oh, don’t worry. It’s not too late to decide. You still have time before winter is completely wrapped up.”
“Well...okay...uhm...I could try nest-making with Rarity again since she’s closer to the town hall.”
With that, Starlight left to find Rarity.
“You might want to head back to your duties as well, Spike,” Twilight reminded me.
“Right. Will do, Twilight.” I quickly hurried back to the fields.
The rest of Winter Wrap Up went pretty well. Spring was able to come on time once again. The citizens of Ponyville gathered in front of the town hall.
“Well done, everypony!” the mayor announced. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed by this year’s Winter Wrap Up. Thank you all for doing your part.”
Everypony cheered and disbanded. I met up with Twilight and Starlight.
“I’m glad you found something to do for Winter Wrap Up,” Twilight said to Starlight. “Love the tan vest you have there.”
“Thanks.” Starlight pulled out a green vest and a blue vest. “Rarity also made me vests for the other teams.”
“Maybe we should’ve had Rarity fix our vests as well, Twilight,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, I was wondering why you didn’t button yours up,” said Twilight.
This was a good day, all things considered. Winter Wrap Up was a breeze, Rainbow was reunited with Tank, and Starlight managed to find something to do. Now all I hoped was that Rarity could upgrade Twilight’s and my vest a bit for next year’s Winter Wrap Up.
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Because she tends to stuff a lot of cookies in her mouth, making her cheeks puff whenever her mouth is full.
I think it's adorable actually.
Uh, you're joking right Dave? You do realize this is the same Chancellor who happens to be the biggest racist in all of Equestria, who nearly started a war between five kingdoms, who scolded and called the Young Six monsters because of a misunderstanding, and held them prisoner because he thought they were responsible for stealing magic, despite them being kids, and none of them knew how to do that.
Now that was a great chapter, and it was worth the wait.
Can't wait to see what else happens. It's going to be so exciting.
11204044
Better to either get his rulebook and play his game Better than him or get Celestia to make sure he can't ruin it. And he and that rulebook will given the chance.
great wrap up!~
keep it up!~
11204052
Can't argue with that. Although if I recalled, Celestia didn't do anything to change his mind.
Strange that there isn't a higher up of the EEA, like say a Secretary of Education, and they're in charge of every single educational system. But, meh, what can you do.
I wonder what Fluttershy’s parents are going to think of Her and Spike’s relationship
11204055
I'm not sure if twilight told her or not and mister only ponies can do friendship certainly would have gotten an earful about not ruining diplomatic relations by insulting them to their faces had he told her.
11204084
In other fanfic stories, Celestia did try to convince and reason with him, but he refused to admit he was wrong.
If you asked me, he didn't insult them for the sake of Equestria, he insulted them because of his own fears without giving them a chance and his mindset is from a thousand years ago. He doesn't even recognize that Equestria has changed.
To quote from the series Static Shock, his dad would say if he talked to Neighsay "I've seen your kind. I've seen your kind all my life. Outstanding bigots, whose nose is so close to the ground they barely see anything else. Meanwhile the world changes and grows and the likes of you are too blind to see it, ignorant, and proud of it too. Those creatures are amazing kids. One of the best and brightest i've ever seen. And because the way you are, you'll never get to know them. They hated ponies long before Equestria was founded and who could blame them."
Take the Hearths Warming Eve play for example. It's to show that no matter how different you are, friendship is always important, but he's so focused on the ponies, he missed the whole lesson.
Plus he lets the power of Chancellor go to his head, despite him being a minor political figure.
😁 Nice reference to I Love Lucy.
11204105
Yeah like lots of idiots he missed the message of unity in the play and twilight students were the ones who saved the day. And unfortunately in the show Celestia didn't roast him for his big mouth. I assume it because she was never told what happened. Twilight outside her reports never really talked with Celestia even after becoming a princess. Spike only talked with her once to calm twilight down.
11204116
Hopefully Spike/Dave can do a much better job.
11204129
Well I know I would have read the rules inside and out to beat them at their game as well as tell Celestia exactly what he said about the non pony kids in front of their families some of which are leaders of other countries. He can have all expenses paid vacation to the moon.
For a moment, I thought Thorax would show up and he and Spike would have a private Hearth's Warming (for obvious reasons)
11204138
Yeah that's a smart move actually.
This is chapter is worth the wait
This was a good holiday chapter, plus a very sweet follow-up to *Tanks for the Memories*, well worth the wait!
Not sure about Neighsay though, hopefully Spike/Dave can figure something out before he opens his big mouth in front of the different kingdom rulers! ( or at the very least have Celestia do something about him for once)
Thank you for the chapter keep up the good work
This is a good chapter. I kept wondering whether Twilight still participate in the event or not since she became a Princess.
I think it should be Rockhoof.
Looks like you got my idea about the conspiracy of the schoolhouse funding and the Diamond Tiara statue. I can't wait for that to blow over.
Nice set of chapters you got here.
11204105
Oh, it was the ground. I thought it was the grindstone.
11205741
*shivers*, now that would be scary.
Congratulations on getting featured
11205814
Thank you.
11206400
In my opinion, i think the naked jokes are alright.
11206486
You went all the way back to October's comments to correct me?
11206400
Yeah, once.
Er, ONCE where it didn't make sense for them to say (AJ, like I mentioned before). Then a couple times where it did make sense (Rarity), and NONE involving a certain silly brony dragon and his SEVERAL attempts at HUMAN humor that was fated to be lost on a PONY audience. . .
We're talking about the difference between how a human (or former human, or one familiar with the ways of humans) may allude or respond to the fact ("You know/Oh I get it, cause they're nekkid! That's the punchline!" 😛
), and how a native of Equis may allude or respond to the fact ("Yeah, we're naked, what of it?"😕). Which you have been pretty faithful to, I might mention.
It's also the difference between in-universe jokes and the laughs we bronies share out of our own observations of the material.
It's just, yeah it was cute once or twice, these attempts of his at "humorous" allusions, but now it's kinda getting old for me and I'm gonna groan every time he/you try it in the future. . .
(Btw, where did Discord make a "naked" joke? I don't remember that. . .)
11206613
I wasn't correcting you, I was joking about the typo you pointed out as being in the original posting of the chapter. Sometimes an author's errors can be funnier than the humorous stories they're writing. I just try to contribute from the peanut gallery. Speaking of peanut gallery...
Looks like the nature of the 7th Element was finally revealed: Dave/Spike is the Element of Snark.
Also, it looks like something else rather major got changed by Dave that may or may not annoy Fate in the future:
Starlight must have learned how to self-levitate between the Cutie-Map and the Cutie-ReMark episodes in the original timeline--but in this timeline, it doesn't seem that she ever did.
11207225
Alright. I was just a bit confused is all.
11208349
In the episode "Trade Ya"
11215362
Actually, he does. Spike/David never took him home.
Which is gonna be the next episode???
11229972
That was not 'constructive criticism'. That was 10 consecutive replies of straight up bashing people who had anything positive to say about the story.
11230303
I disagree on that view
Anyway, enjoying the rest i didn't read yet
Very good chapter and damn fine progress for Starlight Glimmer. The pony that never become a villain but instead become a great pony.
11230303
Eatch chapter got at least one comment 
My reading Marathon is done. Enjoy the comment section
The start was very weak, but damn did he improve a lot! red4567 come a long long way... I think this song fit the bill very well:
Red4567 finaly accended from Pinkie Earth Pony riding on Gummy to Pinkie Earth Pony letting Gummy ride on her
When is the next chapter???
11245013
I'm still working on it.
I bet it’s gonna be a good one it’s taking this long
When are you going to upload the next chapter
11205923
So spike when are we gonna see more of your episode changing adventures
11258865
Will you be patient?
11258871
I can try but I'm just excited for new idea's you come up with
Or maybe her flank is just too small. C'mon Glimmy, you gotta put some more stuffing in there! 😁
Btw what about Star's little problem with Hearths Warming that led to Twilight reading "A Hearths Warming Tail" to her? Are you sure it has to wait till season 6? Or did you consider her stated motivation in that episode a little too basic for your story?
Self-imposed cartoon design limitations? You should've figured, bruh!
Uh, speaking of Bambi. . . we never did hear what happened with Starlight's mom. . .
I repeat what I said before, I think I enjoy more original chapters rather than the ones that follow episodes
Also, until now I never realised how much i wanted to see Starlight participate in Winter Warp Up, hopefully we get more with other characters
Hearthbreakers:
There I think there is no problem with the theme of the families of Pinkie Pie and Applejack; but it won't matter. So Applejack would be patient and understand her friend's traditions. If Spike gave her some advice to have a good time and good to know about sharing her traditions. So much when he met Maud.
Note: I still like Maud. But her sisters are very complicated for her. Have a good time on the day of warm hearts. Even though Spike sang the Christmas carols.
If you ask that Big Mac will have a partner, it will not be Pinkie's older twin sister or teacher Sherry. Well they would solve the problems anyway.
Although it's over I guess I'm ahead of myself and I'm almost done with the fifth season of the series. Good thing Spike set Applejack straight.
While the Crusseders of the lost mark from episode 18... Where the Crusseders met Pipsqueak as the classroom president and helping for the school repairs about the problem he had against Tirek.
Well only that there he could give the reincarnated a chance for Diamond Tiara to change (in the beginning it was a struggle and complicated; although it turned out to give her advice so that it would be important for her companions and she repented) and also face her mother. Leaving selfishness and well, even if he met the crusseders. Asking an apology to his colleagues and repairing that mistake; also earn trust and respect Well Pipsqueak met Spike at school and talking about how it happened in the plot. Well, the change of Diamond Tiara worked for herself, she managed to reconcile and also encourage the crusseders. Well just like them if they got their cuties marks. The crusseders did it and well, although it needed a long way to go.
Well, although the chapter is already done and the truth is that I am grateful for the chapter that was added to the plot.
In a part that mentions the authors about the origin of King Sombra and his dark past. Something that would become a more feared villain. Although how would their phrases be that any of them are right.
Basically me
Or the Big Stallion can have enough love for both? Big Red has excellent genes so spread to both mares...