The curtains were pulled shut, casting almost total darkness within the treebrary. Bodies stirred in Twilight’s bed, moving and unconsciously groping each other. Suddenly, Twilight sprang to full alert when her internal clock told her what time it was. “Guys! Guys, wake up.” She nosed her bedmates awake. “It’s winter wrap up day!”

“Ugh, five more minutes,” Trixie groaned. Her forelegs interlocked with Twilight’s and tried to pull the mare back under the covers. “Too cold.”

“Yeah, what she said.” Spike yawned from his spot behind Trixie. His morning wood was wedged snuggly between her ass cheeks. With his claws around her waist, he pulled himself up just enough to stroke his meat across her warm and soft buns, providing a welcome tingle to maintain his erection. “Too cold,” he sighed as Trixie hissed from the stimulation of having her pucker touched. He then moaned when she clamped her rump around his rod, flexing her muscles to tease in retaliation.

Twilight rolled her eyes and wrenched herself free of Trixie’s vice-like grip. “Alright, lazy butts. Time to get those asses in gear.” Using her magic, she levitated the mattress up and dumped the sleepers onto the floor.

“Ugh, you know I’m not a morning pony,” whined Trixie. With sleep no longer an option, the mare on her back kicked in the air and attempted to roll over. “By what ungodly magic are you this lively so early?”

“She’s just always been like this.” Spike yawned and tiredly marched down the stairs, his expression resigned to his fate. “Come on, Trixie. We got stuff to do.”

Trixie gave a long, exaggerated whine. She knew that no one would listen to her, but she might as well share her misery around.

“How are you two not excited?” Twilight asked the pony and dragon, who moved like zombies. “The first day of spring is tomorrow, so everypony in Ponyville needs to help clean up winter. Now help me get ready.”

With heavy bags under her eyes, Trixie yawned as she went straight for the coffee. “Pony in Ponyville. You ever notice that when you say a word enough, it stops sounding like a word?” she tiredly asked. “Pony. Pony. Ponyyy.”

“Clean up winter?” Spike questioned from the stove as he lit a burner with his dragon flame. “Who cleans up winter? Don’t they just use magic to change the seasons?”

“In unicorn provinces like Canterlot, yes,” replied Twilight. “However, Ponyville was founded by earth ponies.”

“Pooonyyy,” Trixie rambled.

“So, they use earth pony methods to clean up winter. Oh, I’m so excited,” Twilight happily squealed. “This is the chance to experience authentic earth pony tradition up close and personal. These practices have gone unchanged for hundreds of years, getting by without innovation of any sort.”

Trixie exhaled a slow and tired laugh as she sipped her brew. “You should tell that to Apple Jack. Trixie is sure she’d looove your interest in authentic earth ponies.” She took another sip and imagined Twilight going off on a ramble that earned her a hoof to the face from the farmer. The thought warmed her more than the beverage.

Going on autopilot, Spike went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He’d heard the intent in Trixie’s voice, but was too tired to care.

“Apple Jack?” Twilight pulled out her day planner and flipped through her notes. “Hmm, the labor is divided into three main teams. The planters, weather control, and animal care. AJ is the captain of the planters, so she’ll have her hooves full with readying the fields for seeding.” Touching her hoof to her chin, Twilight added, “I wonder if she can find the time for other kinds of seeding, hehe.”

“Do you not know?” groused Trixie as she gave Twilight a mug. “Here’s yours, not that you need it.” She chugged her mug empty before going for the pot to refill it.

“What do you mean, do I not know?” asked Twilight indignantly.

Scowling, Trixie turned to Spike. “If the mistress suffered brain damage last night, Trixie is holding you accountable.”

“What? How is it my fault that Twilight kept us up so late to run all those experiments?” demanded Spike.

“Because it’s your job to keep mistress in line, so she doesn’t fly off the deep end.”

“Normally, sure, but I’m not a miracle worker. Even I can’t stop Twi once she gets on a roll like that.”

Twilight scratched her head. “Last night? Oh, I remember.”

“Praise be the goddesses,” declared a monotone Trixie.

“I was running tests on the fertilization potential of my magical futa penis,” Twilight recalled while gesturing at her neglected bobbing fifth leg. “The results seemed promising. I really ought to share my findings with Apple Jack.”

Trixie turned back to Spike. “Did she cum her brains out or something? Because, if anypony is going to accomplish such an amazing feat, Trixie has every confidence that her mistress is the mare for the job.”

Spike snorted a snicker.

“Thank you,” Twilight beamed, and then she thought about it. “Hey, wait a minute. Just what are you getting at?”

Trixie rolled her eyes and took another sip. “You’re on administrative duty, remember? It’s your job to coordinate all three teams to make sure that ponies don’t trip over each other. Mistress got this job because she’s sooo great, and not because she failed at all the other test jobs. Though, Trixie is fairly certain that you’re just the face of the operation while Spike does all the heavy lifting, by which, Trixie means the pen.”

Twilight scowled as she remembered the humiliation as she attempted each trial job in the prep course. Given that most ponies in town already knew what they were best at, most of Twilight’s fellow students were foals, meaning that they were especially merciless when everything she touched turned to mud. Her attempt at making nests made Rarity cry, and that was one of the better results. Narrowing her eyes in accusation on Trixie, Twilight asked, “Oh, yeah? And what is the Great and Powerful Trixie going to do, hmm?”

“Weather control,” answered Trixie dismissively. “Trixie isn’t half bad at ice skating, and that’s how they break up the ice in lakes.”

“Don’t worry, Twi,” Spike encouraged, stepping away from his pancakes. “I’ll help you out.”

Her spirit lifted, Twilight smiled and nuzzled the drake’s cheek. “Thanks, Spike. I can always count on you.”

“You most certainly can, mistress,” agreed Trixie as she picked up where Spike left off with prepping breakfast. “The Versatile and Dedicated Spike is always there for others to depend on. He’s not some big-city unicorn who’d fall all to pieces if told to confront a problem without magic.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Trixie. “And how are you any different?”

“Hey, don’t get snappy with Trixie for passing on what others said,” remarked the blue unicorn. “That’s right. Trixie overheard other ponies speaking, and, guess what; they were unicorns. Yes indeed, unicorns who were proud of their magic, but equally proud of their adaptability to handle problems with their own four hooves, instead.” Taking another sip of her brew, she smugly added, “Trixie respects the well-roundedness this town encourages, as opposed to the overly specialized and blunt city methods. It’s hard to think that Apple Jack doesn’t share this sentiment,” she finished while taking another sip of her brew, not needing to try too hard to look like a total ass hole.

Later that morning, Twilight approached town hall. Spike rode on her back while Trixie walked with a limp by her side. The mare’s blue rump was swollen red from the spanking, yet her tearful expression showed a profound lack of regret. All the other ponies had gathered in the town square and already divided into their respective teams based on their colored vests. There was a sign-in booth just off to the side, which the later risers stopped by first.

“*Hic* Name?” asked Berry Punch, wobbling as she sat with a pen in one hoof and a bottle of wine in the other. Her vest included all three colors.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Just Spike.”

“Trixie Lulamoon.”

With half-lidded eyes, Berry skimmed through her paperwork. “Okay, that’s *Hic* good. Trixie is weather control. Blue vest,” she directed to the nearby vest rack. “Twilight Shmarkle is… is ad-minus-tration. Ha, ministration,” she giggled. “Multi-colored vest. Just Spike, huh? Hmm, jussst Spiiike. *Hic* Wait, are you Justice Spike? I thought you died!” Berry exclaimed.

Spike rolled his eyes. “No, just Spike. As in, my name has only one word, Spike, because I was named by a filly who hadn’t developed a sense of imagination yet.”

“Heeey.”

“Oh, that’sh right. Uh, admin… admini… the multi-one.” Berry looked quite pleased with herself for this accomplishment as she motioned the trio aside to make room for the next ponies in line.

“I can’t believe a pony like that is on administrative duty,” Twilight grumbled as she manually donned her vest instead of using magic.

“I think it explains a lot about government,” Spike replied, doing the same.

“Trixie is envious of her ability to drink on the job. However, Trixie has a duty to actually do things today, rather than sit around and look important,” she boasted. “Well, Trixie is off to join her team. Best of luck, mistress and Spike. Don’t set anything on fire you weren’t supposed to.” She trotted off to join her team, only to turn back and clarify while looking straight at Spike, “You know who Trixie meant, right?” He saluted, and she resumed her trot.

Twilight hung her head low. “She’s not right, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I did botch up those other tryouts. What if the administration team is just the bin where they throw away all the ponies who aren’t good at anything else?”

Spike blinked and frowned. “Since when do you care what Trixie says?”

Twilight gave a low whine in her throat. “But she’s not right, right? I can do things… other than magic. I’m pretty organized. Well, you do a little…” Seeing Spike’s raised eyebrow, Twilight amended, “Okay, a lot. But I still do things.”

“Of course, you do. You do things all the time. You’re very anal about making sure every little thing is in its place.” Spike affectionately patted Twilight’s butt. “You’re perfect for telling others what to do, which is what administration is all about.”

“What about Berry?” Twilight asked.

“Firstly, did you actually remember her name this time, or did you just read the nametag?”

Twilight perked up and proudly answered, “I remembered.”

“Good pony.” Spike scratched her behind the ears. “And Berry’s just doing intern stuff, which is only technically part of admin duties. I’m sure it doesn’t reflect on the team as a whole. You’re gonna do great, Twi.” He rubbed her neck until he felt the tension leave her muscles.

“Thanks, Spike. You really do know just what to say,” Twilight cooed.

“Years of practice,” Spike boasted.

Finally, the pair joined Mayor Mare on the town hall porch where other admin ponies had assembled.

“Thank you, everypony, for being here bright and early. We need every single pony’s help to wrap up winter and bring in spring,” she said to the audience’s cheer. “Now, I see you all have your vests, which were masterfully crafted by our very own fashion genius and hero, Rarity,” she said to another round of applause. “And I’m not just saying that because she threatened to throw me in her basement for the rest of the day.” This time, her words brought the others to giggles. “So, let’s do even better than last year, and have the quickest Winter Wrap Up ever!”

From there, the audience divided to find their team leaders to receive their tasks. Rainbow and AJ led the weather and planter teams, respectively, but the animal care leader was a mare Twilight didn’t recognize. Twilight approached the mayor and asked, “So, since you’re the leader of the admin team, what’s my first assignment?”

“Well, what do you prefer? Admin mostly handles things like list-making and resource allocation for the other teams. You’ll be like an assistant, following them around and making sure they have everything they need to do everything they need.”

Twilight frowned. “Excuse me, resource allocation? That’s not the kind of thing you can do at the last minute. Why wasn’t I given the paperwork to sign, you know, a week in advance?”

The mayor scoffed. “Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head. That part’s already been taken care of. This is your first Winter Wrap Up, so you’re assigned to list-keeping. In fact, since you’ve got a thing for Apple Jack, why don’t I just assign you to work under her? Sound good?”

“Normally, that’d be terrific. She could sit on my face, or dictate orders while penetrating me,” Twilight explained, trying to maintain her anger as her cheeks flushed with arousal. “However, I feel like I’m being underutilized here.”

“This is your first day, dear. Why don’t you wait and get a feel for how we do things? Then you’ll be qualified to tell ponies how you think they can do better. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some real work to do.” And the mayor disappeared into her office before Twilight could further question her.

Purple smart whickered her annoyance. “This is gonna be rough.” She went over to where the paperwork was being distributed. Most ponies were content with only a few sheets, but Twilight decided to grab extra, which she gave Spike to read as she trotted over to AJ. Along the way, she observed everyone else going about their tasks with positivity and certainty in what they were doing. It was hard not to feel envious.

“Hey, Gilda,” Spike greeted as she flew overhead. “What’s up?”

The large predator flew down and landed with a powerful *Thud* near the pair. “Hey, guys. Not much. They got me on the animal team, though,” she said with a little disappointment as she pulled at her vest.

Twilight’s brow furrowed even more intensely. “I’m beginning to think that the job assignment system is faulty.”

Gilda rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. I was all set to fly with Rainbow, but then some idiot thought I’d do better with bird wrangling. For fuck’s sake, I’ve been on the weather team for months, but they put me with stupid birds. I don’t know shit about birds.” When it looked like Spike might say something, Gilda cut him off. “Not one word.”

Spike replied with a shit-eating grin and zipping his lips.

“They’re probably thinking that you can act like a sheepdog and herd the flock,” Twilight offered. “However, there’s a good chance that an unfamiliar predator will cause them to spook and scatter. I don’t suppose there’s a way for you to tone it down, just a tad?”

Gilda sighed. “I’ll try, but this is so totally lame. Say, before I head off, would you guys mind helping me relieve some stress?” She motioned with her talon’s thumb at her flanks.

“Definitely.” Spike hopped from Twilight’s back and surprised the wren by waddling around to her front. “Come down here and give me a taste of that beak. I’ll give you a taste in return.” He bounced his eyebrows while moving his hips to bounce his member.

“You sure? I mean, I’d love to taste some dragon dick, but, ya know…” Gilda trailed off and tapped her beak.

“I’ve never had beak before. And if Rainbow likes it, it’s gotta be worth something.”

“O-okay,” Gilda said with barely restrained excitement as she squatted down. The non-griffons who weren’t scared away by her beak could be counted on one talon. Since coming to Ponyville, Rainbow was almost her exclusive source of oral fun, so Spike freely offering himself to play with got her a little jittery. She eyed the little pink spear. All the little bumps made her mouth water in anticipation. Then she felt a weight on her rump. Gilda spared a glance to confirm that Twilight had set her front hooves on the feline backside, but didn’t seem to be lining up anything.

Twilight also licked her lips as she eyed the griffon’s twitching pink pussy sandwiched between those soft, fuzzy buns. Without further ado, she planted her lips to the griffon’s and formed a seal with her mouth. Her tongue sank inside and widened the walls to allow for even deeper entry. Once far enough, Twilight lapped up the wren’s sexual fluids like a thirsty dog, making both shudder in delight. At the same time, her horn lit, and a magical aura encompassed her own pussy. She simulated a tongue and muzzle based on Trixie’s, letting her imagine her slave doing her job without any sass for a change.

Seeing Gilda’s eyes roll to the back of her head, Spike grabbed her feathery cheeks and gently guided her beak down to his erection. While he trusted her, he was still surprised by just how soft the thing was. Apparently, there was a way for griffons to soften their beaks to simulate lips. However, this was still distinctly different from any mouth Spike had taken before. It was wider, and the tongue wasn’t as big, yet the oral appendage was much quicker. It was like pressing a vibrating bead to his shaft, causing his whole body to tremble with delight.

Gilda hummed her delight. Spike’s cock was positively scrumptious, and the shape was refreshingly unique. She’d mostly had griffon dick and a handful of brave or stupid ponies, but this unusually coarse texture was delightful against her tongue. Spike’s dick also had a fun, spicy flavor that made the wren wonder if she should borrow him for special dinners with Rainbow. The tongue in her pussy wasn’t able to locate all of her sensitive spots with Rainbow’s expertise, but it was no novice, either. Twilight’s organ widened her vaginal walls as only a dick or larger toy usually could. Gilda felt each time the unicorn slurped up and swallowed her sex juices, nearly causing her to flex her powerful ass around the mare’s face. While she had more self-control than that, the unicorn put that assertion to the test when her hooves migrated south to play with the wren’s teats. Gilda’s moans intensified around her mouthful as her sensitive teats were compressed and her nipples flicked.

Pressed from both ends by two different species, Gilda’s body went rigid as she came. Her ass finally clenched around Twilight’s face. Luckily, the mare was perfectly happy to hold onto the wren’s rump and drink her cum. Likewise, Gilda did the same with Spike. She grabbed onto his plump ass cheeks like he was a pool floaty. Squeezing his cheeks caused more cum to come out, which was even spicier than his cock. Gilda sucked and guzzled on both until her orgasm petered out. Once they were all satisfied, with Gilda spying how the snow had melted around Twilight’s hooves from the mare’s orgasm, the wren nodded and took off to rejoin her team, thinking how swell it was for those two to help her out like that. This left her lovers to continue on their way.

“Yu-hoo, Spikey-Wikey. Could you come here a moment? I could use some assistance,” invited Rarity, dressed in tan.

Spike immediately leaped from Twilight and waddled at full speed toward the white mare. “Sure, Rarity. Anything for you,” he swooned. “Especially if you need a face to sit on.”

“Very kind of you, darling, but I’m already covered there.” Rarity indicated a brown, blank-flanked colt with his head and upper body completely consumed underneath the mare’s full rump. He couldn’t reach his cock, which looked painfully erect. His dimnuative twig was easy to miss so close to Rarity’s massive oak, especially with her balls spread over his stomach. A stranger might mistakenly believe that this colt was just monstrously hung. Still, Rarity occasionally stroked the colt’s tiny prick as she spoke, tormenting the little pony with her teasing as her own erection twitched with similar neglect. “Actually, I was hoping I could borrow a bit of your flames.” She then gestured to the table full of twigs, ribbons, and other miscellaneous items, including a stack of completed nests off to the side. All of them were gorgeous, elaborately designed, and unique, but there weren’t even a dozen. “I’m creating Ponyville’s finest birds’ nests, and I had a thought for making them even more extravagant.”

“With fire?” Twilight deadpanned.

“Just a tad, of course. I’d like to add just the teensiest tiniest bit of singe to the material to give it a worn but lived-in look. Why wait for a luxury home to develop character, as they say, when you can give it to them from the start? Hehe, I impress even myself sometimes,” she said while literally jerking herself off.

“I have to advise against that,” countered Twilight. “Spike’s flames aren’t exactly good for that level of precision. Now, if we’d had weeks of advanced notice, he might have practiced. However, this kind of on-the-fly thing is so…” Trailing off, Twilight pulled the papers from the still-smitten Spike and flipped through them. “There aren’t even timetables on these things. How are we supposed to know if we’re late? And this one here with the bird nests; why do we even have this? We said we were going to help the planters. Also, I can barely read this. Where does it even give the number of nests you’re supposed to make?”

“Oh, pish-posh. You worry too much, darling. Besides, I’m sure that a drake of Spike’s caliber is more than capable of such a simple request, aren’t you, Spikey-Wikey?” Rarity cooed while fluttering her eyelashes.

“Uh-huh,” Spike answered distractedly. Never tearing his eyes from his crush, Spike belched the smallest green flame in his arsenal onto one of the finished nests. To Twilight’s surprise, he did it. He frayed the edges of the twigs and decorations without causing the whole thing to burst into flames. As Spike flexed with his fists on his hips, ready to receive praise for a job well done, an errant wind blew, and cause the whole nest to burst into flames. Some stray embers blew off onto the other nests and piles of unused materials, causing them to go up in an instant as well.

Rarity’s jaw dropped as she watched hours of work crumble to ash and blow away into the unknown.

“See, and that’s why you shouldn’t use old twigs, either,” lectured Twilight, ignoring Rarity’s deadly glare. “If fresh twigs aren’t available, a simple hydration spell would—Hey, where are we going?” Twilight asked as Rarity and the table seemed to move away. She looked down to find Spike pulling her tail like the devil was on his heels. “Uh, Spike?”

“Running now!” he answered plainly. Once they were out of the danger zone, Spike explained why, even though Twilight was right, it was not appropriate to rub it in at that time. With that information absorbed, the duo resumed their trek.

“Hellooo, Twilight,” Pinkie called from a nearby frozen pond. Dressed in blue, the pink mare gracefully skated and spun, performing all manner of tricks as she skated. Sharing the pond with her, Trixie kept pace with the bundle of pinkness, matching her moves zig for zag as they danced across the ice.

“Wow, not bad,” Twilight allowed. “I’m not too surprised at how good Pinkie is, since I’m conditioning myself not to be surprised by anything Pinkie Pie does.”

“Probably for the best,” Pinkie interjected.

“But Trixie, you were pretty amazing, too.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie thanks her mistress for the well-earned praise,” replied Trixie in faux humility. She and Pinkie then locked hooves and spun in place. Somehow, they went faster and faster until Trixie threw Pinkie high into the air. Her pinkness performed too many backflips too quickly to count before gracefully landing ass first on Trixie’s face. Neither broke their stride as Pinkie slid along the blue mare’s muzzle, until she planted her back hooves in front of Trixie. Pinkie’s front hooves lingered on the blue unicorn’s neck as they locked eyes, surrendered to adrenaline, and locked lips.

“Damn…”

Pinkie broke the kiss and giggled as the pair slowed to a more casual pace. “Hehe, Trixie’s great. I almost never get a skating partner who can keep up with me.”

“Indeed, Trixie is likewise pleased to have an equal partner on the ice. We shall score these sheets like never before.”

“Score?” Twilight asked.

“Yaperoony. We cut lines in lakes and ponds with our skates. That way, when the rest of the weather team comes to break the ice, it’ll be easy as a cream pie,” Pinkie explained while licking her lips.

“And as runny, yes?” Trixie added.

“Hehe, good one, Trixie.” Pinkie then kissed the blue unicorn’s cheek before taking off ahead. “Catch me if you can, horny.”

“Those pink lips shall be mine!” Trixie melodramatically declared as she gave chase.

“Aww, those two are cute together,” observed Spike. “Uh, Twi. You home?” he asked while waving in front of her face.

Twilight, however, was too focused on the ice. “You realize how inefficient this is, don’t you?”

“What do ya mean?” Pinkie asked in her usual, carefree tone.

“Cutting the ice to make it easier to melt is clever in principle, but this method is woefully inefficient. Just look at how you’re skating.” Twilight indicated the ice. “Spike, back me up here.”

Spike pursed his lips as he followed Twilight’s line of sight. “Sorry, girls, but she’s right. Sure, you’re breaking up the ice, but it looks like the chunks are so big that it won’t make much of a difference. It’d be better if you went on a grid system.”

“My thoughts exactly,” agreed Twilight. “Right now, you’re just skating around randomly. If you form straight and even lines, the ice’ll break up much quicker.”

“Aw, but that’s no fun,” whined Pinkie.

“Perhaps, but they raise a point,” Trixie gently countered. “Skating for fun is a winter thing, but this is Winter Wrap Up. We’ve had our fun, but Trixie thinks that it is now time to do as Spike says and get back to work.”

“Aw, phooey. You’re right,” Pinkie conceded. “Come on, then. Let’s get that grid going, but you’re making it up to me later,” Pinkie threateningly intoned while aiming her bottom at Trixie.

“Fine, twist Trixie’s leg, why don’t you,” the blue mare sarcastically allowed, making the pink mare grin.

“Uh, before you go off,” Twilight began and motioned Trixie over. “What did you mean by doing what Spike says?”

“Just that. Spike made a clever observation that Trixie agrees with.”

“But he didn’t make the observation. I did. He saw what I pointed out, reached the same conclusion as me, and then I told you what to do. That makes it my idea.”

Trixie’s expression looked oddly dark with her lowered chin and a small smile. “Perhaps, but an idea that you could only reach with Spike’s help. Sure, you might have reached this conclusion eventually, mistress. However, Trixie estimates that Spike saved you a minimum of a half-hour for your thoughts to coalesce into something tangible and relevant. Even if the idea was yours, you’re still overly dependent on Spike to do the thinking for you, mistress.” And Trixie skated off to rejoin Pinkie to plan out their new strategy.

As Spike began scratching along Twilight’s neck to calm her down, the purple mare began to wonder. “I’m not overly dependent on you, am I?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Spike stated matter-of-factly.

“What!?”

Spike shrugged. “What? Do you want the truth, or a lie that’ll make you feel better in the short-term, but will artificially inflate your ego, leading to more mistakes that will, at some point, domino into a massive screw up that’ll leave you looking like a total dumbass?”

Twilight whickered her defeat. “Truth, please.”

“Then the truth is that we’re a team, Twi. We work together to do things. That’s kinda the whole point of Winter Wrap Up. Everyone does what they’re best at, and we all work together to achieve something we couldn’t do by ourselves. So what if you suck at stuff like bird nests. Do you think Rainbow would do any better with making things all neat and pretty?”

Twilight snorted a laugh.

“Exactly. Trixie’s just getting in your head cuz you let her.” Spike shrugged and added, “Messing with folks is fun, but you shouldn’t let it bother you cuz we’re such an awesome team.” He finished by scratching under her chin, causing her leg to thump like a dog’s.

“Okay, fair enough,” Twilight allowed and resumed her trot. However, Trixie’s words lingered in her mind like an irritating itch that couldn’t be scratched. Luckily, Twilight saw something that made her feel so much better. Fluttershy was bent over with her ass high in the air. Her tail was off to the side, granting a clear view of her tight-looking filly pussy and anus. The rest of yellow quiet was inside a den, where sucking sounds and animal grunts could be heard. Those animal sounds were the only things keeping Twilight from lunging at the mare and grabbing a taste of her sweet and supple lips.

“Hey, Fluttershy’s ass,” Spike greeted. “It’s been too long.”

Fluttershy yelped and hit her head on the den’s ceiling, causing a small avalanche that buried her. She quickly pulled herself free and looked at the ones who’d startled her with a relieved grin. “Oh, hello, Spike and Twilight. I didn’t know you were assigned to the animal team.”

“We’re not. We were on our way to help AJ, but I keep running into everypony else. Funny, I don’t remember the farm being this far away,” Twilight pondered. “Anyway, what are you doing?”

Fluttershy licked her lips clean. “I’m just giving my sweet little babies a gentle wake-up call to let them know that hibernation is over. The little darlings are so backed up from sleeping the last few months that it makes their orgasms extra thick and potent.” She licked and smacked her lips in satisfaction.

“I’ll bet,” agreed Spike in subdued revulsion while he felt Twilight tense, like she was ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. He tried to think of something to distract from her apprehension of any ornery animals looking for sloppy seconds. “Uh, so, you just go around and wake the animals one den at a time?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, yes. Every one of my little babies deserves an extra special wake-up.” Her expression fell as she took in the numerous holes in the ground. “Although, just look at all of them. I’m not sure I can wake them all before spring.”

“No pony is helping you?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not many. Ponies rarely volunteer for wake-up duty, and the rest are off handling all the other dens and warrens.”

Twilight tapped her hoof to her chin. “Well, have you considered bells?”

“I have a bell, but I prefer to get up close and personal,” Fluttershy said while indicating her bell.

“Trust me. I get it. There’s no better wake-up call than somepony’s mouth, pussy, or ass, but it’s not very efficient. Pinkie had a similar issue: she was too focused on having fun skating rather than breaking the ice.”

“Um, okay. Well, I guess waking them all up is the most important thing,” Fluttershy submissively conceded. “What do you think we should do?”

“Hmm, if you gave me enough bells, I could ring them all with levitation. A single large bell would be more efficient, but that’d probably scare the animals.”

“Or, since Ponyville doesn’t use magic,” Spike interjected. “We could put a bunch of bells on strings and hang them up over all the dens. You’d get a lot more volunteers that way, and Fluttershy, you could suck them all off afterward.”

Fluttershy clopped her hooves in low-key applause. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Hold on. Spike, wasn’t there some animal team forms mixed in the ones we took?” Twilight asked.

Spike flipped through the papers until he handed her the relevant documents. “The authority to requisition extra labor if the original task force is running behind.”

Twilight beamed. “Perfect. Just keep doing what you’re doing, Fluttershy. I’ll be right back with help.” She then ran back to town hall, where, much to her relief, ponies in multi-colored vests were running around and looking busy. She tried to get someone’s attention, but they were all too wrapped up in their respective tasks.

Then, purely by coincidence, Spike belched a massive plume of green flame into the air that caused everyone to stop and stare. Smirking smugly, he waited for Twilight to offer her hoof, which he bumped while channeling his inner cool guy.

“Excuse me; may I speak to a liaison for the animal team?” Twilight inquired. “I’d like to request a labor reassignment to help Fluttershy wake the animals.”

“Pardon, but what’s this I hear about reassignment?” Mayor Mare asked as she approached.

Twilight flipped her mane back and prepared for a confrontation to assert just how smart she was. Then she felt a claw pinch her ear. She looked back at Spike, who gave her a withering stare until she relented and assumed a less aggressive stance. “Mayor, I’ve noticed certain inefficiencies with Winter Wrap Up.”

“Oh, such as?”

“Well, you have a terrifying-looking griffon working on wrangling weak-hearted birds, for one. Just her being there is likely to make the poor things scatter, which’ll just make more work. For another, you put a perfectionist like Rarity in charge of making bird nests. From what I saw, she approaches each one like one of her dresses, taking her time to make each one unique and fabulous. As a result, she’s hardly finished any. A mass production line would be far more efficient, which I’m not sure Rarity is capable of pulling off. That’s just not her style.” A scratch behind the ear told Twilight that she’d done well so far.

The mayor smiled flatly. “Okay, fair enough. But what did you want me to do? Tell Rarity that no, she can’t make pretty bird nests? Sorry, but I only just got feeling back in my teats after the last time she strung me up, and I’d rather not do that again… at least until we hit a slow period where I can afford the time to recover,” the mayor amended. “Also, my research team assured me that griffons are perfect for herding birds.”

“Yeah, into nets to eat, not to guide along migration routes,” Twilight corrected. “As for Rarity, appeal to her ego. Send her somewhere that her perfectionist streak can be useful, rather than a hindrance. For example: reassign her to the weather team and have her clear the snow from the trees. Stress that she has to rid them of every last flake to get them nice and pretty for the new season. I’m sure she’d like that.”

Mayor Mare was unamused. She wanted so badly to argue, but in front of all these ponies, she couldn’t fault Twilight’s logic. “Was that all?”

“No. Trixie and Pinkie were scoring the water, but their method was inefficient. I told them to start moving on a grid system. I check on them on my way here, and, sure enough, the ice was already cracking in nice, neat little chunks.” Twilight’s grin was broad and punchably smug. “However, I actually came here with another issue. I’d like to reallocate ponies to the animal dens to set up a bell system to wake up all the creatures at once, rather than one at a time.”

“I don’t think Fluttershy will be too happy with that. She has her own system, you know,” warned the mayor.

“True. However, she agreed that my system was better-Ow!” Twilight hissed when Spike heeled her ribs. “Ugh, I mean, I explained things to her, and she agreed that my method was more efficient.” She looked back at Spike, who nodded. “I just need, maybe, ten ponies for half an hour. We can finish what would normally take Fluttershy all day, and then reassign her to damage control the bird situation.”

Mayor Mare narrowed her eyes, only to give a defeated sigh. “Oh, fine. You can have some of the admin team. I know they might look busy, but many of them are just really good at faking it. I’ll put the fakers to work with the dens. Anything else?”

“Spike?” inquired Twilight.

The drake handed over the stack of paperwork with countless red marks on every page. “No offense, but whoever wrote these has penmanship almost as bad as Twilight’s. Other than that, I think we’ll keep walking around and see if there are any other improvements to make. Also, and this is the most important thing of all, griffons give pretty good head. You should try it sometime.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Mayor Mare allowed.

With their mission accomplished, the duo of drake and mare exited town hall with a spring in Twilight’s step. “Ngh, that felt so good!”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Spike chuckled. “You really like lording your smarts over others.”

“Damn right, I do! Although, was it really necessary to take that swipe at me with the penmanship?”

“Yup. Self-deprecating humor helps to soften the blow for stuff like that. I pointed out the problem without looking too much like an asshole.”

“Huh, I guess I can see that,” Twilight allowed. “But is it really self-deprecating when you remove the ‘self’ part?”

“What? Was I supposed to speak ill of my fine and illustrious writing?” Spike asked, thickly laying on the posh drama. “Not on thine life.”

“You’re an annoying little bastard, Spike,” Twilight said with an indignant huff. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Rely solely on Trixie to take care of your morning wood?”

Twilight shivered. “Not even as a joke.”

“Oh, come on. She’s not that bad.”

“No, but she’s not you…” Twilight trailed off, uncertain of what to say next. The thought of going without Spike was, well, hard to comprehend. Even when they split up to do different things throughout the day, she still depended on seeing him eventually. She wished that she could say as much. However, the scratching behind her ears told her that Spike already knew, warming her heart.

Finally, at long last, they arrived to find AJ overseeing the planters. Specifically, she was barking orders at the ponies pushing the snowplows to clear the farms.

“Apple Jack, it’s so good to see you.” Twilight ran up and kissed her girlfriend’s cheek. She tried to pull back, only for a hoof to grab her neck.

“Oh, no, ya don’t.” AJ yanked Twilight forward, crashing their lips together as the earth mare’s mouth dominated the unicorn’s adoring lips. As AJ continued the aggressive kiss, pushing past Twilight’s lips to explore her mouth, the farmer noticed Spike looking left out. So she broke off the kiss, leaving Twilight looking dazed. “Aw, don’t look so down, sugar cube. Ah got some sweetness fer you, too.” She then pulled Spike into a similar kiss. His sharp teeth were fun for her tongue to explore, and the scaly texture of his lips felt equally exotic against hers before she righted him. Then AJ pulled away, grinning proudly as she looked upon those struggling to stay upright after locking lips with her. “So, havin’ fun?”

Twilight rapidly shook the dizziness out of her head and slapped her cheek to wake up. “Yes, hello, I’m here.”

“Sure ya are, cutie,” AJ chuckled and guided Twilight to stand beside her overlooking the field. “Anyhow, we’re a little slow startin’, but it’s goin’ peachy all the same. There’s a lot ‘f ground ta clear, ya hear. We can’t even start the plantin’ ‘n’ the waterin’ ‘til we get this heap ‘f snow hightailed out ‘f here.”

“Well, I’d like to help,” Twilight said as she nuzzled into AJ’s neck and drank in the farm mare’s aroma. The contours of her muscled frame also felt splendid as the earth mare’s barrel expanded and shrank with each breath. Twilight had to bite her lip to keep her imagination from wandering too much.

“Uh, ya sure? Ah won’t say no to a hard worker, but Ah can’t exactly see ya pushin’ one ‘f these here plows.”

“I’m pretty sure Twilight meant admin help, and not embarrassing herself by failing to push a plow,” Spike amended. “The admin team kinda, well, sucks. We’ve been all over Ponyville, and Twilight’s spotted all sorts of problems, which she then advised on how to correct.”

“Uh-huh,” AJ skeptically replied. “An’ ya’ll think ya can tell a farm mare how ta work a farm better?”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, just from what I’m seeing, it’s a similar problem with Pinkie’s scoring.”

AJ rolled her eyes. “Ah saw, but we ain’t wastin’ time with fancy spinnin’. This here is hard work, ‘n’ everypony out there is doin’ their share.”

“Yes, their work effort is commendable. No question there. However, just look at that.” Twilight pointed to where one plow crossed paths behind another. “That stallion just pushed his plow through an already clear spot. Don’t you see how inefficient that is?”

“Well, Ah guess.”

“In fact, everypony is completely disorganized, just going off and doing their own things. It’d be more efficient if you put all your plows in a row and have them move as a single unit. It’s the same principle for vegetable farms planting in rows to maximize the use of limited space,” Twilight explained, trying not to sound like a know-it-all.

AJ stared critically out over her team and what they’d done so far. Then her hoof met her forehead with a thunderous *crack*. “Dammit! How did Ah not see that?”

Just before Twilight could answer, she heard Spike clear his throat, and chose her words carefully. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. You just, uh, needed an overly critical know-it-all to jump in and tell you how to live your life.”

AJ turned slowly and deliberately to face Twilight. Purple smart wore the broadest, most awkward grin AJ had ever seen on her. Sweat trickled down her head, and her knees quaked as she awaited the earth mare’s judgment. After letting her stew for a few more seconds, AJ burst out laughing and pulled Twilight into a fierce yet affectionate noogy. “Yeah, maybe Ah do. Now, c’mon. Let’s go wrangle these workhorses into some straight lines.” AJ released Twilight and walked ahead. She then lifted her tail to walk with an extra swagger in her step. She didn’t need to look back to know that Twilight was drooling.

Spike pushed under Twilight’s chin to close her gaping mouth. “Good job on the self-deprecating humor.”

“Thanks. For a second there, I was worried that AJ was gonna be mad with me,” Twilight said as she followed behind the earth mare, hopefully far enough to be out of earshot while watching those luscious apple flanks sway.

“Nah, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Spike assured like a good friend. “Apple Jack knows you’re an idiot who sometimes speaks without thinking. Even I can’t catch everything, so I’m sure she’s learned to be lenient with you,” he assured like a great friend.

Twilight whickered her annoyance, and then chuckled. However, thinking on Spike’s words reminded her of what Trixie said. “Spike, I’ve been thinking.”

“Should I get my helmet?”

“No! Well, maybe. I know what you said about us being a team, but I can’t help but think that Trixie might be right. Even AJ knows I’m helpless without you.”

“Twilight, where’s this going?” Spike asked worriedly.

“Molestia said that Trixie was a quiz, but I think a long-term study would be more accurate. Interacting with her is supposed to teach me something. Well, what if this is part of that something? What if I’m supposed to learn how to do things on my own, without you?” Twilight turned around to see Spike’s hurt expression. “Obviously, I don’t mean for all things. I’m well aware that when Trixie said not to burn things, she was talking to me. I just mean, you know, maybe I ought to try a few things without my safety net.”

“Um, if you want to…”

“That’s the thing, Spike. I don’t. Fucking and fighting monsters is one thing, but my job—whatever it is—likely requires a level of social interaction that I’m not too comfortable with outside my friends. If I want to overcome this challenge and prove myself to the Princess, then I have to face my weaknesses. So…” Twilight trailed off until she spotted Apple Bloom in a green vest with a shovel in her mouth. “Do you think you can help the foals for a bit while I help the planters?”

“Um, I guess that’s fine,” Spike allowed as he hopped from Twilight’s back. “I’ll be nearby if you need me.”

Smiling gratefully, Twilight bent down and sealed her lips over Spike’s. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” And they split.

AJ slowed down enough to walk alongside Twilight. “Tryin’ ta go it on yer own, eh? Good fer you.”

“Oh, you heard that, huh?” Twilight sheepishly asked with cheeks tinted red.

“E’yup, ‘n’ Ah’m proud ‘f ya fer steppin’ out ‘f yer comfort zone. That’s mighty brave.”

Twilight held her head a bit higher. “Brave enough to earn a reward? Because the mayor suggested that I work under you today.”

AJ raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Ya’ll think ya can carry all this” —she gestured along her muscled frame—“around all day while Ah lead ponies?”

“Uh, depends. How flexible is the no magic rule?”

“Not very. Though, Ah’ve got somethin’ else we could try,” AJ explained to Twilight’s eagerness.

Author's Note

We begin this section by going through most of the motions from the episode. Twilight is her usual, analytical self but quickly starts noticing numerous inefficiencies in the town’s procedures. Naturally, a know-it-all like her can only hold her tongue for so long before she has to correct everyone else’s mistakes. However, that doesn’t mean she’s impervious to criticism. It’s fun playing with Trixie as a low-level antagonist meant to create obstacles for Twilight to overcome. She’s understandably resentful, but I try to avoid making her outright mean. Hopefully, I succeeded with this dynamic.

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