Dawn Before Twilight

It was… well… another beautiful night in Ponyville.

Twilight, Spike and I were snoozing away in our beds, dreaming pleasant dreams, when all of a sudden, Twilight was coming to, a smile of excitement on her face.

“Spike,” she said, narrowing over Spike’s bed, “wake up, wake up! It’s Winter Wrap Up!”

That was surely enough to wake up. Funny how I can be a heavy sleeper while sleeping in a hammock, but in a nice soft bed, I always had difficulties sleeping.

“What the…?” I yawned as I woke up, “Is it morning yet?”

Spike was slowly coming to, feeling a little groggy. “Mommy?” he asked, looking Twilight in her eyes.

“Winter Wrap Up!” said Twilight sternly, before getting in motion again.

“You’re not Mommy,” said Spike, lying back down, feeling grumpy right now.

As for me, I was up and at it myself. “Woah there,” I asked Twilight, “did you say ‘Winter Wrap Up’? I think I recall my mom once telling me about it as a bedtime story.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “The first day of spring is tomorrow, so everypony in Ponyville needs to clean up winter. Now help me get ready.”

“Clean up winter?” Spike asked, still in bed. “Who cleans up winter? Don’t they just use magic to change the seasons like they do in Canterlot?”

“I’m with Spike,” I added. “Why can’t you unicorns do something like that?”

“Really, Dawn?” questioned Twilight, “I was sure that bedtime story your mom told you mentioned that Ponyville was started by Earth Ponies, so for hundreds of years, they never used magic to clean up Winter.”

“That makes sense,” I said. “So everypony here is doing it through tradition.”

“Exactly,” said Twilight, as she was strapping a saddle onto her.

“It’s ridiculous,” argued Spike, as he lay himself back into his bed. “No magic,” he added, trying to go back to sleep.

“You think that’s odd, Spike,” I said, “then you and Twilight should see how things go back on Terra. There, we let nature do all the work. No magic whatsoever.”

Spike blinked. Twilight looked at me, her being surprised.

“How do you then be able to work through the seasons?” she wanted to know.

“Well,” I explained, “despite nature doing all the work, the Terran still do some things to keep things in tow. We look after certain plants, we keep the oceans clean, oh, and we even take care of all the waste we throw away every day, to name a few of our duties.”

Twilight nodded, understanding my explanation. “That is good. I see the Terran can even keep their planet clean for all their hard work in their everyday lives.”

She returned to gearing up for the day, gazing one look at her checklist, “Okay, let’s see. Scarf, check. Saddle, check. Boots, check. Spike refusing to get up and going back to sleep, check.”

“Spike refusing to get up and going back to sleep?” I questioned, giving Twilight a deadpanned glare.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s a good thing I’m so organized. I’m ready! Bright and early.”

With that said, Twilight and I opened the front door, ready to start cleaning up Winter.

We were honestly very surprised to see… that it was still nighttime.

“Oh…maybe a little too early,” Twilight admitted.

I merely looked at her.

(Later)

We galloped toward the center of Ponyville, where we noticed the vests of each of the pony teams.

“Those must be the team vests Rarity designed,” Twilight noticed, with Spike sleeping on her back. “Blue for the weather team, green for the plant team, and tan for the animal team. I wonder which vest I’ll be wearing.”

“I’ll take a blue vest,” Spike mumbled, “same color as my blankie, which I think I hear calling my name. ‘Spike! Spike! Come to bed!’ Ugh, it’s too early.”

I rolled my eyes, “Quit your moaning, Spike. I myself am aware that it’s too early, but we must be at town hall extra early, due to the mayor assigning our jobs.”

“Wow, Dawn,” said Twilight, “your mother surely wasn’t messing around when telling you those bedtime stories.”

“What did you expect?” I smiled. “She knows a lot when it comes to these traditions.”

Twilight chuckled, as we pressed on towards town hall, where the mayor was already gazing upon a crowd of ponies that had already gathered ahead.

“Thank you, everypony,” the mayor said, “for being here bright and early. We need every single pony’s help to wrap up winter, and bring in spring.”

It was already over with the speech? That was unexpectedly fast.

“Now,” the mayor went on, “all of you have your vests, and have been assigned to your teams, so let's do even better than last year, and have the quickest Winter Wrap Up ever!”

The ponies cheered. Even Twilight was getting excited to begin.

“Oh, this is so exciting!” she smiled widely.

I was also excited, and I was curious to know which team I should be on.

Maybe I should try and work with Rainbow Dash and the weather team? Just then, I saw my grandparents both discussing things with Rainbow Dash.

I rushed over to them, the three of us exchanging a hug. Rainbow was our onlooker, as she smiled at us.

“No way,” I said, letting go of my grandparents. “Grandma, Grandpa, you’re helping out with cleaning up Winter?”

“Indeed,” Grandma nodded. “We thought it would be good to assist in cleaning up Winter. And by doing so, we will all be spending time together when Spring is here..”

“Yeah,” said Grandpa, “We have been discussing a few things with our friend Rainbow Dash here about including you on the weather team, Dawn.”

“Oh?” I raised a brow, looking at my friend. “Is that so?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “Since it is clear that you don’t have anywhere else to fit in during our time to clean up Winter, I thought it would be good to have another pegasus on the weather team. So, what do you say?”

“Are you kiddin’?” A smile spread across my lips. “I think that would be awesome to be on the same team as you!”

“Great!” said Rainbow. “Now we’re talking the same thing!”

“Oh, gosh!” I heard Twilight say. “Where should I go? I’m not sure where I fit in. What exactly does everypony do?”

Thus, as if on cue, Rainbow started to sing. Yeah, yo heard right. She was singing!

“Three monts of coolness

And awesome holidays.”

And then Pinkie joined in on the song.

“We’ve kept our hoofsies warm at home

Time off work to play.”

And Applejack soon joined in as well.

“But the food we’ve stored is runnin’ out

And we can’t grow in this cold.”

Soon, Rarity joined in.

“And even though I love my boots

This fashion’s getting old.”

And then, both Twilight and I continued the song together, as I was flying in the sky with Rainbow and the rest of the weather team, while Twilight was running on the ground with Spike on her back:

“The time has come to welcome spring

And all things warm and green

It’s winter we must clean.”

I was helped Rainbow cleaning some of the clouds, while Twilight continued the song.

“How can I help?I’m new, you see

What does everypony do?

How do I fit without magic?

I haven’t got a clue!”

And we all sang the choir, while me, Rainbow and the weather team cleaned the sky:

“Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!

Let’s finish our holiday cheer

Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!”

And then I sang:

“‘Cause tomorrow spring-

-is here!” Rainbow finished the sentence.

The choir:

“‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

I continued working with the weather team, as Rainbow sang further:

“Bringing home the southern birds

A Pegasus’s job begins

And clearing all the gloomy skies

To let the sunshine in

We move the clouds.”

I helped her kick some of the clouds away from the sky with my hindlegs. While she was hovering, I assisted three pegasi with blowing a larger cloud away.

“And we melt the white snow!”

Soon I joined with Pinkie as all three of us continued:

“When the sun is up

Its warmth and beauty will glow!”

And while I continued assisting the weather team, we sang with a choir:

“Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!

Let’s finish our holiday cheer

Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!

‘Cause tomorrow spring is here

Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wap Up!

‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!

‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

We continued cleaning up the winter snow and clearing the clouds from the sky.

“Little critters hibernate

Under the snow and ice.”

That was Rarity singing, while we of the weather team continued helping each other, while Fluttershy continued the song.

“We wake up their sleepy heads

So quietly and nice.”

Rarity added:

“We help them gather up their food

Fix their homes below.”

Fluttershy:

“We welcome back the southern birds.

So their families can grow!”

And the choir continued while we worked further on the town:

“Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!”

“Winter, winter!”

“Let’s finish our holiday cheer!”

“Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!”

“Winter, winter!”

“‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

“Winter, winter!”

“‘Cause tomorrow spring is here

‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

I helped the weather team clean the snow off the wooden branches from the trees, letting the snow fall down to the Earth ponies, who gather the snow up.

Twilight, on the other hoof, was covered in snow by Rainbow Dash. I snickered at the scene before me, while the unicorn glared at me.

Applejack continued the sing:

“No easy task to clear the ground

Plant our tiny seeds

With proper care and sunshine

Everyone it feeds

Apples, carrots celery stalks

Colorful flowers too

We must work so very hard!”

Cherry Berry and Golden Harvest joined her:

“It’s just so much to do!”

And we continued working while singing into the last phase of our song:

“Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!

Let’s finish our holiday cheer

“Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap -Up!

‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!

Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!”

Pinkie:

“‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

We added, while we of the weather team pulled the snow off the rooftops:

“‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

I noticed Twilight was trotting along by herself once more:

“Now that I know what they all do

I have to find my place

And help with all of my heart

Tough task I face

How will I do without my magic

Help the Earth pony way

I wanna belong so I must

Do my best today

Do my best today!”

The final choir of the song, as we all sang together:

“Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!

Let’s finish our holiday cheer

Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!

‘Cause tomorrow spring is here

Winter Wrap Up! Winter Wrap Up!”

And Twilight and I finished the song together:

“‘Cause tomorrow spring is here

‘Cause tomorrow spring is here

‘Cause tomorrow spring is here!”

I was with Rainbow Dash, Grandma and Grandpa, while the my friend was giving the order to the rest of the weather team: “All right team, you’re clear for takeoff!”

We landed on the ground near Twilight. “Rainbow Dash! Dawn!”

“Oh, hello, Twilight!” I called with a smile on my face, seeing her gallop up to us. “How are things going? Did you find a team yet?”

“That’s just the thing I was about to say,” she replied.

“Oh, what’s up, Twi?” said Rainbow.

“What are you doing?” Twilight countered.

“Sending off one of my flight crews to retrieve the birds that have flown south for the winter,” explained Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, can I help?” Twilight offered. “How about I clear out the clouds?”

“Um…” I began, “Twilight, you do realize you need pegasi wings to clear the clouds…right?” I pointed my hoof to my wings.

“I’m with Dawn,” Rainbow added in agreement. “Sorry, Twilight.”

I whispered something in her ear, and she nodded.

Twilight gasped. “Great,” she started, while Grandma, Grandpa and Rainbow were off. “Now what do we do?”

“I don’t know about you,” Spike said, “but I’m gonna be nappin’.” He then snored, laying on her back.

I shook my head at the baby dragon. That was then Twilight realized I was with her.

“Dawn, why aren’t you with Rainbow?”

“I thought of helping you find someplace to be in the clean-up,” I replied. “Besides I told her I would be helping you, and she was fine with it.”

“Oh, thanks!” Twilight said appreciatively. “I knew I could count on you!”

“Hey, what are friends for?” I grinned.

She smiled warmly at me, then she looked at her dragon friend. “Come on, Spike, this is some serious business. Winter needs to be wrapped up, and I’m determined to do my part. Somehow.”

“Maybe Rarity would be willing to help?” I spoke up.

“Good idea!” she agreed with a nod. “Let’s find her!”