Equestria, Sweet Equestria...

“Twilight, come on, can’t I sleep this one out please?”

This is what Twilight Sparkle, a lavender colored unicorn, had heard Spike, her assistant of so long, say while still in bed and barely awake.

“Come on Spike,” Twilight insisted while nudging the sleepy dragon, “It the same with you every year, its Ponyville’s tradition and every pony has to-”

“Help clean up winter…” Spike mumbled as he slowly got out of his basket bed, “…is it me or are they starting this thing earlier and…*yawn* earlier every time…”

Twilight only gave a chuckle to that remark as he put her boots and scarf on before lacing up her saddle. As Twilight checked off the items on her list for the day, she began to recall the vents of her first Winter Wrap Up.

“Hurry up Spike,” Twilight said eagerly, “I heard Rarity needed a little extra help with the nest making this year.”

Twilight saw Spike lose his sleepiness at the news as he quickened his pace and ran out the door. Twilight gave another chuckle as she walked out of her tree home and library. Twilight saw Spike already a ways away before she followed towards the center of town.

Every pony was gathered ready to work the same jobs once again as the usual speech was given by the Mayor of Ponyville, Mayor Mare, and Twilight was ready to organize the groups as she had done in previous years.

CRASH!

The sudden noise drowned out every thought on every pony’s mind as the ground shook violently in the manner of an earth quake. Ponies plowing the snow were either tossed around or found large portions of snow tossed on them. The seeds that had been recently planted in the fields were tossed right out of the ground. The ice skaters found themselves falling over onto the ice as it began to crack beneath them. Most of the pegasuses noticed the commotion after having removed a good portion of the clouds already. Smoke was drifting up from near the center of town as every pony made their way cautiously towards the sight. Initially, what they all saw, having arrived in masses at town center, was a crater the size of a building with smoke emitting from its center. The sense of curiosity that had developed amongst the crowd was now lingering on, but no pony was willing to go any closer and see who…or what could have made the crater. A murmur ran through the crowd till eventually a few ponies began to walk forward. There was a sense hesitation between each step of their hooves as they drew ever so closer to the crater…

There was the sudden sound of something moving in the carter as the noise of shuffling across dirt filled the ears every pony in the crowd. Then suddenly a white hoof shot up and tossed itself over the edge of the crater. The ponies backed away a bit to see the figure emerging from the crater. It managed to get itself up out of the crater and slumped forward with its face into the ground.

It was a pony…an earth pony at that. Its fur was white and stained with dirt. Its brown mane was short in the back and hung in bangs over its forehead. Its upper body was dressed in what looked like a red and gray striped dress with sleeves that went down to its hooves. Its flank was void of any cutie mark and its tail hung just past its hunches. The pony began stir with its face in the ground while letting out a low groan.

Rick could feel every muscle in his body aching as he became somewhat conscious. As far as he could tell, he could feel that he was slumped over and figured he had fallen asleep awkwardly. He drew in a breath to calm himself now figuring he would find himself in his nice warm bed ready for a new day. He began to lift himself up…not feeling his fingers…or his hands... His eyes shot open as he pulled his head up to look down to his arms… only to be greeted with a pair of hooves. He then noticed he was laying on…grass rather than the sheets of his bed. He used his “hooves” and began to push himself up hoping what he was seeing was a dream. He found himself on his feet… and ‘hooves’ with disorientation having full grip on him as he noticed he was… a little shorter than his normal height and his neck seemed more craned back then parallel with his torso.

What the…? He thought as he finally began to take in his surroundings.

Already wondering if he was dreaming, he eyed a large crowd of… ponies ranging from various colors. He turned on his legs and ‘hooves’ to see buildings of bright colors covered in snow. He then realized that…all the eyes of the ponies were on him. Rick was at a loss for words as the reality or what he could call it dawned on him.

“Uhhhhh…. Hello?” Rick managed to get out with a nervous smile on his face

Rick could hear the murmurs going through the crowd of ponies in front of him as he stood there not sure what to do or say. Despite his silence, many questions were running through his head… but his thoughts were cut short when he had a pink pony come right up in his face with a giant smile.

“Oh my gosh a new pony!” It shouted with rapid secession while hopping rapidity up and down, “This calls for a PARTY!”

The pink pony took off with great speed through the crowd as Rick just stood there with wide eyes that blinked a few times before he turned to look at the ponies around him.

“Ummmm….I’d best be going now,” Rick said as he began to attempt to walk on all fours, “Don’t mind me...”

Walking on his new found hooves with his back legs didn’t prove to be difficult as he was more level then trying it with legs and arms. As soon as he got the hang of it, the quickened his pace and ran right through the crowd, which parted as he came closer. He transitioned into a...gallop as he broke away from the crowd and proceeding past several buildings. He whipped his head from left to right looking at all the buildings, which were bright and colorful with signs hanging above their doors on metal hangers. He came to a direct halt before looking quickly around hoping to find some salvation...something to wake him up..

“HEY!”

The shout came from behind him shattering his hope of a dream and in placing reality as he whipped his head around. He didn’t see one of the ponies following him but his gaze shifted up to see one of them flying right at him. A pegasus, if he remembered the term correctly. He made a mad dash for his life with no matter of where he was going but only hoping to get away. He could hear the wind suddenly rush and something collide with him. He found himself on the wet grass once again as he felt something pinning him down not letting up one inch. He lifted his head up and turned to be greeted with a cyan Pegasus with…a rainbow mane.

“Alright, who are you,” It asked staring directly at him with its eyebrows lowered, “And why are you in such a hurry for?”

Rick, letting instinct take over, faced the ground and swung his head back while pushing himself up with his front hooves striking the Pegasus square in the face. The moment he felt that he was free; he pushed himself up onto all fours and took off once again. He saw a large field of grass off in the distance as he pushed himself for the edge of the town. Sooner he was away…the better. He was coming right up on the last building for what he could see and couldn’t hear any sounds of anything chasing him. Just as he was about to clear past one of the corners of the building…

“SURPRISE!”

Rick went wide eyed and let out a shout as he slammed down on his hooves causing him to come to a screeching halt but with the momentum gained during his run he found himself moving forward. He came off the ground for a second going head first into an object that easily broke apart before he fell onto his new friend, the ground. He felt his entire faced engulfed in a gushy and almost…creamy substance. His nose was greeted with the smell of strawberry frosting and a quick lick on his upper lip confirmed this. He opened his eyes to find the outer parts of his vision crowded with pink and once he lifted his face to be parallel with the ground he noticed pink hooves.

“Whoopsy doodle...” A familiar voice said from above.

Raising his gaze upward, he was greeted….with the same pink pony from before...this time with a nervous smile on its face. He heard something land behind him and pull at the collar of his shirt. He found himself lifted up just enough to where he was on his feet and hooves once more. He didn’t even get a chance to move before his face was greeted up close with the cyan pony from earlier….whom was steaming mad and had blood trickling from its nose and sliding over its upper lip.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The pony asked through clenched teeth.

“uh…that way…” Rick replied with the only thought to come to his mind while finding his voice as a nervous smile crossed his face.

"Yeah. I don’t think so,” The pony said before jabbing Rick in the chest with a hoof, “You’re goanna go back and explain yourself to everypony.”

Rick lowered his eyebrows as his mind raced to think of a plan of action.

“Don’t you think about trying anything,“ The pony pressed while taking a step forward, “You're dealing with the fastest flyer in Equestria.”

“You can’t…” Rick began while stepping foward.

In a split second, Rick saw the cyan pony soar up into the air before he felt something grab at the collar of his shirt once again. He felt the wind rush by him as he was carried from the groundat great speed. Looking ahead he saw they were coming up right on the crater and the crowd of ponies, but it seemed a bit smaller then his initial greeting. He began to shake himself in hopes to wrench the collar from the pony’s mouth.

“I wouldn’t do that from this height if I were you,” He heard it say over the rushing wind.

Can’t argue there, Rick thought while letting out a sigh and slouching with his hooves dangling.

Right as he did that, he felt something give and immediately he found himself free falling with the wind rushing past him at a greater force. He let out a scream as he plummeted like a rock before shutting his eyes tightly. The last image he saw was of him coming right up on a roof of building. He felt himself slam right into a hard surface with his hooves taking most of the force before the rest of his body slamming down. He felt gravity pull him over a edge before finding himself falling once more onto the ground and going unconscious.