- "Ponyville was started by Earth Ponies, so for hundreds of years, they never used magic to clean up winter. It's traditional..."
- — Twilight Sparkle
In the musical part of the episode, Twilight wonders how she will help in the Wrap Up without the use of her magic.
Winter Wrap Up is the eleventh episode of the first season and first aired on December 24th 2010.
Writer: Cindy Morrow
Episode Summary
Every year, Ponyville takes part in the Winter Wrap up, an annual "spring cleaning" community event where Winter ends and Spring is introduced. In this case, the ponies literally "clean up" Winter to prepare for Spring.
Long ago, the town was founded by the Earth Ponies, and as such, no magic was ever involved. Because of this, an eager Twilight Sparkle wanted to take part in this activity, and was willing to keep the tradition by not using her unicorn magic.
The cleanup was divided into three teams: Weather, Animals, and Plant. However, Twilight was having trouble finding an appropriate team to be with. She volunteered to help Rainbow Dash and her flight crew, but she lacked the wings to take off. She then decided to help Rarity with nest-weaving for the birds guided back from the South, but the one she made left a lot to be desired. She left to find another line of work while her elegant friend tried to fix the nest.
She soon met Pinkie Pie on the frozen lakes, where she found out the energetic pony is an expert skater, resulting in her being tasked with lining up the ice for the Weather team to break and melt easily. Twilight tried to help in this department, but lacked the balance and finesse to ice-skate without falling all over the place.
Twilight then directed to assist Fluttershy waking all the animals from hibernation. She seemed to have an easy job ahead of her, until she was scared by snakes and bats, stung by bees, and sparked by skunks. While Twilight was busy cleaning herself up, Spike made a suggestion to break her "no-magic promise" so her work would be easier. However, she insisted on keeping her promise and getting whatever job done traditionally.
That changed when she helped Applejack's group with clearing the snow from the fields in order to prepare for seed planting. Despite her chance to help, she could not even push the snow plow a single inch. Taking Spike's earlier suggestion, she decided to use an ounce of her power to move it. Unfortunately, the spell she cast soon lost control, resulting in an even bigger mess than before. Quickly berated by Applejack, Twilight ran off in tears.
An argument ensues, risking a delay in the Winter Wrap Up's completion. Apparently, this wasn't the first time, as the Mayor described...
With no options left, Twilight chose to stay out of the way until the Winter Wrap-Up was over, but she soon learned that everyone in Ponyville was not faring much either. Applejack wants the snow quickly melted for seeding, but Fluttershy wanted to clear the animal homes beforehand. The ice at the lakes were cut too thick to melt. Rarity was so focused on fixing Twilight's nest, that she had fallen behind her minimum quota. And somehow, a member of Dash's team went North to get the Southern birds. The Mayor of Ponyville lamented over her motivational speech from earlier falling on deaf ears. The list of problems went on, and there was a chance Ponyville would finish their Winter Wrap-up late. To Twilight's surprise, this wasn't the first time Ponyville had suffered a tardy finish, and this massive case of disorientation and starting argument was not helping at all. At this point, the unicorn remembered her one other talent besides magic: organization. She broke up the argument of the groups and volunteered to guide everyone.
With careful planning and teamwork of the three groups, all the tasks available were finished, and for the first time in a long time, Winter was wrapped up on time. Thanks to her exceptional leadership skills, Twilight Sparkle was designated 'All-Team Organizer' as the town's pony populace celebrated their accomplishment.
Trivia
- The musical number in this episode is the biggest and most elaborate yet, featuring parts for all six main characters. The sequence was leaked to Youtube a month before the episode aired by person or persons unknown. Without context for the song's lyrics, fans spent weeks speculating as to what the song was about.
- While the Weather and Plant teams were led by main characters, the Animal team was led by a background pony, despite the fact that both Fluttershy and Rarity were on the team. The character is listed as "Sparkler" on the Characters page.
Quotes:
- Spike: (after Twilight wakes him up) Huh? Mommy?
- Twilight Sparkle: Winter wrap-up!
- Spike: ...You're not mommy.
- Twilight Sparkle: Scarf? Check. Saddle? Check. Boots? Check. 'Spike refusing to get up and go back to sleep'? Check. It's a good thing I'm so organized. I'm ready!
- Spike: (referring to Twilight's nest) That nest needs to be condemned!
- Rarity: Oh Spike... It's not so bad. Maybe the birds can use it as a...
- Spike: An outhouse?
- Pinkie Pie: I'm sure my first time was just as wobbly and bobbly and crasherific as yours.
- Twilight Sparkle: Really?
- Pinkie Pie: ...No.
- Applejack: You used magic, didn't you? That's not how we do it 'round here, Twilight. And especially not on my farm!
- Spike: You're good at a lot of things... Just not nest-making... Ice-skating... Animal waking... snow clearing...
- Twilight Sparkle: (sarcastic) Thanks a lot for making me feel sooo much better.
- Spike: That's what I'm here for, sister.
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