Friday, March 24th, 1701 AFE. Ponyville Town Square. 7:40am.

Dusk gently hoisted Barb onto his shoulders, ignoring the little dragoness' resentful muttering. Dressed in her heaviest winter coat and pants, she had quickly approached the shape of a ball, and had been threatening to return to the warmth of her bed if he made her walk any further.

Offering Bronze his arm once he had Barb properly balanced, Dusk led her on to Town Hall, where already a growing crowd of ponies had begun to gather. Watchful of the sheer number of ponies, Dusk altered the topic of their conversation. "I'm glad you decided to come along this morning, Bronze. I'm sure Dash will have some work you can help out with, and if you feel too crowded, you can always go back to the library to cool down for a while."

Bronze had looped her arm around his, and was leaning against his side until he got to the part about returning to the library. Then she stood up tall, and leveled an evil glare at him as she squared her shoulders and attempted to casually unhook her arm from his elbow. "If I get tired doing work with the weather team, I'll take a break and sit on a cloud while I catch my breath. I'm doing quite alright otherwise, thank you very much, Dusk."

Dusk couldn't hide his grin as the mare started walking a little faster to get ahead of him, and snorted with laughter when she indignantly snapped her tail in hardly-veiled frustration. "I'm very proud of you, Bronze, really I am. Few ponies have your fortitude."

If Bronze heard him, she tried her best to hide any sign of it, but her tail gave a flick that showed she’d relaxed a little and returned to a more natural sway in time with her hips. Before he could think any more on her, a very oily voice oozed its way to his side, reminding him that he needed to pay more attention in public if he planned to continue avoiding its owner. “Dusk, my boy! A wonderful morning for Winter Wrap-Up, isn’t it?”

Filthy Rich threw an arm around Dusk’s shoulders and gave him a winning grin, while internally, Dusk began looking for the quickest way he could find to escape the older stallion’s company. Putting on a brave face, he gave a nod to the wealthy stallion. “Mr Rich. A fine morning, indeed. I’m glad to see you’ve come to help out with Winter Wrap-Up. Here I thought you’d be too busy with your business to help out.”

Filthy Rich gave Dusk's words a moment of serious thought before answering, always the cunning rogue. "No, no. When it comes to important civic events, you'll never find me or my darling filly Diamond Tiara far from the center of things! Just the other day, we donated the fabric to Rarity so she could make the vests up for all the teams. Or during the Running of the Leaves, where I supplied the water stations and paid for the shirts for the runners. It's all about promoting yourself, Dusk. And you could learn a thing or two about self-promotion. True, you're the youngest Magistrate in years, but you're stuck here in Ponyville. Work with me, and I'll see that Princess Celestia promotes you to a position on the Magistrate Council of Canterlot in no time! I know of at least one mid-city magistrate looking to retire somewhere in the countryside in the next two years."

Dusk couldn't help but admire Rich's business savvy, but blanched at the idea of rushing back to Canterlot permanently, not to mention the casual way Filthy tried to get involved in matters like royal appointments. From behind his shoulders, Barb stirred, the sleepy dragoness' smart mouth ready to fire even this early. "At that rate, he'll be Prince in the next four years."

Putting on the official serious face he'd learned from his mother, Dusk gave Mr. Rich his best smile and shifted the mouthy dragoness across his shoulders, away from Rich before trying to smooth over her comment. "That is simply fascinating, Mr. Rich, but as much as I do admit I'd love to see my hometown more often, how could I abandon Ponyville in its time of need? Besides, Applejack would never leave her farm, and Rarity might love Canterlot, but her little sister goes to school here. Her family, her customers, they all rely on her; it would be devastating to Ponyville's economy if either of them left town, let alone both!"

Clearly stifled by Dusk’s emotional plea for the well-being of Ponyville, Filthy half-stuttered in his stride, staring a moment in shock before quickly recovering. "Quite right, quite right indeed. I must say, you really are a forward-thinking lad. Besides, as small as Ponyville is, more and more of Canterlot's elite discover it as a home away from home in the summer! Why, I have it on good authority that Fancy Pants and his bride Fleur-De-Lis are planning to visit sometime next week. I'm sure rubbing elbows with the smartest of Canterlot's nobility will go a long way to serve you in the future, right?"

Winking conspiratorially as if he was sharing with Dusk some secret tip, Mr. Rich backed away, finding another pony to rub elbows with. Dusk couldn't ignore the lingering thought of Rich's final remark. "Does that mean everypony in Canterlot knows about Fancy's plans to train me? Or did Rich really not know and simply thought he was sharing an opportunity with me in hopes of currying some favor or another? It is still so tempting to overturn his plans by tossing that wrench into the gears... I wonder if he'd be impressed or annoyed by the idea that I already know Fancy Pants? More to the point, why didn't he know I was at their wedding?"

Putting all of those thoughts on the back burner, Dusk pressed on towards Town Hall, offering a small wave to Carrot Top and her mother Golden Harvest. They waved him over and invited him into their conversation about the summer planting season, which to them, meant carrots. Dusk joined in the best he could, and immediately felt more at peace than when talking with Filthy Rich. "At the very least, they don't try to swindle favors. I wonder if Mac and Carrot ever made peace?"

Approaching the stage setup just outside Town Hall, the mares split off into the crowd, who had left a little path open up to the stage. Getting used to this pattern by now, Dusk followed the clearing and found the mayor, Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Amethyst all waiting for him on the stage, each wearing one of the three team jackets. Letting Barb off of his shoulders, Dusk let her sit down on the stairs before joining them on stage.

Now Dusk suddenly felt out of place, made worse by his heavy black magistrate robes compared to the colorful vests everypony else wore. As he took his place on the stage, Bronze suddenly appeared at his side, having acquired one of the blue weather team vests.

When she saw that he had moved into position at her side, Mayor Mare launched directly into an inspirational speech she'd clearly been preparing for days. "Thank you, everypony, for being here bright and early. We need every single pony's help to wrap up winter and bring in spring!"

For a moment, she fell silent, and the crowd roared with a shared cheer of joy. Waiting a moment for silence, the mayor gestured to the gathered team captains on the stage with her. "Now over the last few days, you all should have been assigned a team and been given your team vests. Members of Rainbow Dash's weather team, gather by her house, members of Pinkie's ice carving team, meet her at the big pond north of town. Members of Applejack’s snow removal and seeding teams, meet her at the south edge of town. Members of Rarity's nest building team, gather outside her boutique. Finally, those in Amethyst's animal team, head to Fluttershy’s cottage. Oh, and anypony without a team, please wait here and I'll try to assign you to whatever team you can best assist."

Again the happy chorus roared from the waiting crowd, and Mrs. Mare waited for them to fall quiet again before turning to Dusk, giving him a nod. “Now, Magistrate Dusk Shine is here to say a few words before we begin Winter Wrap-Up!”

Bowing to the side, Mayor Mare waved for Dusk to take up position by the microphone and adjusted the angle for his height. "First, I want to say good morning, everypony! It's the perfect weather for the first day of spring, am I right?!"

Dusk felt like he was finally getting a feel for handling crowds, as they roared back at him, laughing and cheering, all overflowing with exuberant pride. In the lull as he waited for the audience to calm down, Dusk noticed Apple Bloom had perched on top of Big Mac's shoulders and was waving at him, frantically trying to get his attention. Giving her a wave back he laughed a little at how much she beamed, then stepped back up to the mic. "Now, this is my first traditional Ponyville style Winter Wrap-Up. And I know some of you were really looking forward to putting on a show for me. Now, I don't want to let you down too hard, but I'm not the kind of stallion to stand around watching other ponies doing work. So if you see me around, do not be afraid to ask for my help. I'll try my best to get to see how everypony does their thing; and I apologize if I don't make it to everypony, but you do outnumber me near six hundred to one."

Again the laughter, and Dusk let it drown him out for just a minute before clapping his hands together near the mic. "Now then! If everypony is ready!? Let's Wrap Winter Up!"

As the crowd began to disperse to follow the mayor’s directions, feeling Applejack’s hand across his back and over his hip came as a pleasant surprise, giving him an excuse to lean against her for a moment and flash a grin at the towering mare. The roar of wings behind him made it clear Dash and Bronze had taken off together. “I hope nopony had anything really big planned. I just don’t see the point in wasting their time, right?”

Applejack’s hearty laughter was reassuring and she squeezed him against her side for a moment in a hug. “You did fine sugarcube, really you did. I can’t wait to see you at the farms. Try and make it around noon, we’ll be starting Sweet Apple Acres if everything goes by Amethyst’s schedule.”

Dusk laughed a little and looked back at Amethyst. "What do you think? Is there any easy way for me to visit the major projects? I'd like to try to get a hand in with everypony."

Flipping through her schedule, Amethyst gave him a nod. "It should be easy enough. Just go catch up with Dash before she takes off. Once she gets airborne, she isn't scheduled to return to ground level for quite some time, probably not until dinner time, really."

Watching the last of the crowd trickle away, Dusk made up his mind and straightened up. "Alright, then that's settled. I will try to catch up with Dash since she's already headed off to the rally point at her place, and afterwards make my way around town. Until then," Dusk slipped from AJ's arms and gave Amethyst's hands a squeeze. "Take care of things, Amethyst. I'll be around if you need help re-organizing anything."

Turning to Rarity, Dusk was met with a strong hug and a matching kiss, which probably lingered a little uncomfortably long. The true shock was Fluttershy, who waited at Rarity’s side. Taking both of his hands and squeezing them, Fluttershy blushed darkly for a moment before stepping in against him and kissing his cheek. Her words, whispered so low he could hardly hear them still managed to make him blush. "Thank you for last night, Dusk."

Still distracted by the openness of Fluttershy’s action, the impact of a snowball thrown by Pinkie caught him completely off guard. Wiping away the slushy mess, Dusk turned a glare at the whooping mare who was already bowled over with laughter despite the best glares the others had leveled at her. Confused himself, Dusk had to ask. "Pinkie... why?"

Hardly able to stand up, Pinkie was bent in half and still snorting with laughter, but she made the attempt when Dusk stepped closer, resting her hands on her hips for support and offering him her wickedest grin. "Two reasons, Dusk! First, because after whatever Fluttershy whispered to you, you looked all hot under the collar and I thought it might cool you down."

If Fluttershy had a reaction to Pinkie's teasing answer, Dusk couldn't see it, so he wiped away the last of the slushy snow from his cheek. "And the other?"

Snorting, Pinkie snatched up Dusk’s hand and the remainder of her snowball, and splattered herself in the face before giving him a broad cheeky grin. "Because if I didn't take the time to hit you with a snowball today, it'd be nearly a year before we can have another snowball fight together, duh!"

Face still coated in the slushy remains she'd smacked herself with, Pinkie swooped in on Dusk and kissed him several times, in rapid, aggressive succession. Finally satisfied, she used her dryer glove to wipe his face clean and turned to run over to Applejack. "Well? Come on, AJ! Let's go!"

Shocked and a little unimpressed, AJ gave Pinkie a slight push before jerking her thumb to point to the north. "Just what in tarnation do you mean ‘let’s go’? You’re the one foaling around and trying to start snowball fights with Dusk! Besides, your gathering point is a duck pond to the north of town, while my groups gathering at the south end!"

Giggle-snorting a little, Pinkie slapped her forehead. "Oh, wowie! You're right AJ. I swear, I'd lose my head if it wasn't screwed on!"

As Dusk scooped up the slumbering Barb and left them, a rather timid voice broke up the banter on the stage. "Excuse me for cutting into your conversation, dear mares. But, Amethyst, might I lend a hand today?"

Turning as one, it was clear nopony else knew the stallion, so Amethyst made introductions quick. "Time Turner? Oh, my. I apologize! Ladies, this is Time Turner, my new tenant. Mrs. Mayor named the others here earlier, but I should properly introduce you all.” Stepping beside Applejack she smiled up at the towering mare. “This is Applejack, she runs the biggest farm in the area for her grandma with her brother’s help. The unicorn is Rarity, owner of our local boutique, I think I mentioned her earlier, right?” When she queried him, Time Turner gave them both a small bow of the head. “This is Fluttershy, our local vet, and Pinkie Pie, who will probably want to put on a welcoming party for you today, but I think I can convince her to wait until at least tomorrow since everypony’s so busy today, right Pinkie?””

Pinkie had inflated with delight as Amethyst talked, but when she was introduced, the reality hit her and she gave a sigh, stepped forward, and hopped from the stage, suddenly hugging Time Turner tightly. “That’s true, Amethyst. I’m really sorry, Time Turner, normally I wouldn’t let a day go by without properly welcoming somepony, but it is Winter Wrap-Up after all. Will you forgive me for being a bad host?”

Shocked at suddenly being lifted off the ground by Pinkie’s hug, Time Turner patted her arm and coughed in an effort to recover his breath, at last convincing Pinkie to let him down on his own feet. “I- err... Right. I don’t see the harm in waiting for a quieter day to have a party, Mrs. Pie. After all, my landlord told me I have to give her a few days warning before hosting anypony.”

Pinkie Pie, ever the exuberant card, laughed at him and shook her head. “Psssh, I'm not a 'Mrs.'... well, not yet anyway, but I hope to be some time in the future! Anyway, just call me Pinkie; all my friends do and I want you to be my friend! Will you? Huh? Huh?! Pretty please with a ton of chocolate marshmallow frosting with a really big cherry on top?!'”

Amethyst was glad he had managed to at least temporarily derail Pinkie’s train of thought, and admired him for a spirited attempt, but she knew Pinkie well enough to foresee her finding her way back on topic after such a simple distraction. Instead, she interrupted them to get things moving. “I didn't really think you'd be interested in helping out with Winter Wrap-Up, Time Turner, what with all you were saying about the long and exhausting trip to Ponyville. Of course, if you want to help, we’d gladly accept it! What is your special talent? Anything that might help out any of our teams?"

Suddenly the center of attention from a half-dozen mares, Time Turner looked more hesitant, but tried to keep his cool. "Well, not particularly. Unless fixing the bell in the Town Hall clock tower is on the list. It's nearly seven minutes slow!"

As if that was all the answer she needed, AJ hopped off the stage and offered the stallion a hand to shake. "Nah, the clock can wait, right Amethyst? Like Amethyst said, I'm Applejack, but you can call me AJ. It's a pleasure to meet you, Time Turner. You're a strong-looking earth stallion, and we always have extra plows to push or ground to seed. If you don't mind a little hard labor, we'd be happy for the help."

The matter settled, Applejack took a spare green vest from Rarity and led the stallion away while the rest of the team leaders split off, each moving to prepare for spring.

Friday, March 24th, 1701 AFE. Outside Rainbow Dash’s home. 8:17am.

The gathering crowd of pegasi that waited around Dash's home had taken perch on every available space; on neighbouring roofs, several fences, and even her freshly shoveled yard. But at Dusk's approach, a path opened up, some taking flight and circling overhead when no convenient perch was available.

Dusk was impressed. Unlike the gathering at town square, the pegasi were organized, already collecting into groups and preparing. A few more ambitious ponies had already begun clearing nearby roofs, shoveling with care into carts set up around the base of homes. Spare earth ponies came to collect the carts to haul the snow to designated melting fields outside of town and away from the farms. That made sense as many were scheduled for planting in the next few days, and careful planning allowed them to avoid any flooding in the freshly cleared fields. The efficiency of Amethyst's plans impressed Dusk, but the expansive ambition of her plans was daunting, and he couldn't help but wonder why they were so concerned with getting everything done all on a single day. "I've double checked the town grain reserves. Even accounting for a bad spring that Dash couldn't get a handle on, they've stored up more than enough to last until late summer. More than enough time for the early crops to start coming in."

Shrugging it off, Dusk carefully pushed past the last few pegasi, still carrying the sleeping dragoness on his shoulders and at last found Dash in consultation with Thunderlane, Flitter, and Raindrops, while Cloudchaser was demonstrating something with a cloud to Bronze Feather and a few of the younger ponies, her voice just loud enough for him to make out over the general hubbub of the crowd. "But you have to be careful, because it hurts if you try to make a cloud soak too much snow at one time. Bronze, would you like to try first?"

As Dusk watched, Bronze took a hold of the small white cloud with both hands and seemed to concentrate, pushing it into a nearby snowbank. At first, the effect was minimal, a slight shrinking of the cloud as it pressed into the snow. Then, the snowbank began suddenly to retreat from contact with the cloud, while the cloud itself expanded in her arms. Soon, what had once been a pillow-sized cloud was now nearly six feet across, and from the strain on Bronze's face, it had taken more effort than she'd likely admit. But the four-foot snowbank was gone, and at Cloudchaser's whistle, Rumble rushed over and accepted the cloud from Bronze.

Dusk missed out on hearing her directions of where to dump the overstuffed cloud when Dash's circle broke open and she swaggered to his side, wearing a wolfish grin. "Well well, Dusk, I'm glad you came by. This might seem kind of cool, but back in Cloudsdale, they could put on a real show. Picture it: forty pegasi flying wingtip-to-wingtip, all pushing a single massive cloud and soaking up an entire field of snow in a single pass. I’ll admit, sometimes on days like today, I miss Cloudsdale. Winter Wrap-Up is like a parade there."

Dusk shifted his weight to lean in close to her while he watched the three ponies she had been talking to begin picking out ponies from the crowd and reorganizing them into five groups. "Impressive coordination and organization, Dash. But I suppose two-thirds of the pegasi in Ponyville already work part-time with the weather team, they are probably used to how you like things done."

Dash laughed and subtly shifted her hips so she was inconspicuously leaning against him in return. "Thanks, Dusk. Don't worry, we can move all the snow from town no problem. With clouds for the worst of the snowbanks, and carts to help lighten the load, it will be a snap. I'm just glad I wasn't here last year. Man, the stories everypony tells me, it was a real mess!"

Cloudchaser soon took off to join the other ponies organizing the five groups in the air, and Bronze, trailed by a collection of foals came charging over, her face flush with mortification. In a tone that hardly masked her annoyance and embarrassment, she hissed at Dash. "Can you tell me why I'm being given foal-sitting duties, Dash!? I'm a stronger flyer than half your team! I can pick up the cloud stuff easily enough, it's just been a few years since I had to."

Dash rolled her eyes and straightened up, grinning and giving the foals a wave before hooking a hand across Bronze's shoulders and pulling her close so they could talk without many others overhearing. "Now look, Bronze, it's nothing personal, but I could tell, soaking up that snowbank made you light-headed. No need to admit it, it's just not something that you’re used to doing, right?"

Frustrated, Bronze bit her lip until it went white, and for a moment, Dusk was worried she'd make it bleed before she finally let it go and answered back. "Alright, so you got me there. I don't remember squat about weather, and what I do know is rusty as Tartarus. But foal-sitting?!"

Dash tried to rally some of Bronze's enthusiasm. "You're not foal-sitting! You're cleaning up the town flower garden. The foals are just your assistants. Look, nopony under ten is allowed; they're all being foal-sat. You’re just showing the younger members of the weather team how to clean up an important civic place that just so happens to be fenced in on all sides, all right?"

Bronze's embarrassed glance at Dusk told him she wanted to be in the sky, showing off with the other pegasi, so he decided to make it a little easier on her. "Think about it this way, Bronze. Once the garden is fully cleared, a small team of earth ponies will come to plant seeds and flower bulbs, and do some maintenance work on the stonework. If you ask them, they might like having your foals help out, since most of the younger earth ponies will be helping with the snow plows or the planting sledges. If they’re okay with it, I’m sure you can catch up with Dash then, right?”

Dash looked relieved at his offer of help, and gave Bronze a light punch in the shoulder. “See? A solution. That’s Dusk for you. Besides, I’m sure the foals will be more interested in hanging out with their school friends by then, instead of continuing to work on projects.”

Bronze deflated, but a glimmer of hope shone in her eyes, and she made herself straighten up and grin at Dusk. “Alright. I’ll polish the garden and then show these kids a few tricks from the guards. I guess I can do that much, right?”

Dusk threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a sideways hug. “Exactly! Show the foals the skills and strength the royal guard taught you, and if you can’t catch up with Dash, come find me, I’ll probably be somewhere around town. Or go to AJ. She’ll never turn away a helping hand when things are so busy.”

Part of that brightened Bronze up, and she leaned into Dusk for a moment before shaking free of his arms and pulling a brass whistle from under her shirt. Blowing a chord that Dusk now recognized, she gave him a nod before rushing over to the foals who had recognized her signal and were attempting to mimic their parents and older siblings by forming an organized line.

For a few minutes, Dusk and Dash watched in silence as Bronze organized the foals and then, managing with surprising success, led them marching away, mostly keeping them in formation. At last, Dusk gave Dash a small nudge. "So how can I help out your team, Dash?"

Shocked she gave him a serious look, and unfolded her wings, flapping them a little. "Really Dusk? I mean, not to get personal, but without a pair wings, I don't know if you could keep up, let alone do very much to help."

Flustered, Dusk stammered as he searched for some answer to her words, keeping himself busy, he settled Barb on the steps of Dash’s house and turned around, trying to reach for something, anything he could use as a defense. Desperate, his mind brought back Rumble's exam from the day before. "Well... but I can do this!"

Reaching up with his magic, Dusk tried to catch one of the clouds with his grip, but found the effort of grabbing the fluffy white mass simply ripped the fragile cloud in half. Cursing under his breath, he tried again, softer this time, but with similar failure when his focus broke as he blinked.

As he tried a third time, Dash took a hold of his hand and whispered in his ear. "You have to push clouds. They're way too fragile to hold directly. Come on, you know how to do this, right? Rarity let me read the sports section of her gossip magazines. They said you were great at handling those anti-magic balls, right?"

Dusk was shocked by her comparison, but saw what she meant, and shifted his focus from trying to grip the cloud, and instead formed a net of pressure on one side of the cloud, pushing it east, away from town. Sweating from the focused effort, he gave Dash a grin. "Well, see? No need for wings, right?"

Dash laughed, and swept him into her arms, wings folding around him and holding him close. "You did great, Dusk. But you should understand why we stay high most of the time, and move fast. I'm sure you can help a little, but why exhaust yourself here? You can help the others better without tiring yourself out."

Dusk was shocked by Dash's affection and kind words, but relented to her logic. "Alright, you win, Dash. Go join your brigade. But try to let Bronze help out with some of the real work? It'll do her good to feel useful."

Dash laughed, biting his lower lip and tugging viciously before releasing him and hopping into the air. "That I can do, Dusk. Trust me, I know how she feels, feeling useless is soul crushing. Now go pick Barb up and move on, and I'll try to do some kind of paperwork this year, since I know that makes you feel helpful." Dusk could only laugh and wave at the cheeky mare as she flew away.

Friday, March 24th, 1701 AFE. Outside Rarity’s Boutique. 8:25am.

The light, musical sound of Rarity’s voice let Dusk know where she was in the crowded yard outside her boutique long before he could see her. Her yard had been meticulously cleared of snow in a perfect square, and tables were set up like some bizarre kind of craft show. At one table, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon watched as an older stallion, whom Dusk half-remembered seeing work as a butler at Mr. Rich's home, weaved dried straw into a bird's nest, using a very small amount of a clear resin to ensure it would hold together.

Impressed by the agile handiwork of the old man, Dusk gave Sweetie Belle a small wave, readjusted Barb’s sleeping figure on his shoulders and then detoured to Diamond Tiara's table. A small crowd of onlookers had been watching the stallion's demonstration, but parted to make room for Dusk as he approached. "A mighty impressive job. You're Randolph, right? Mr. Rich's Butler? That was a fantastic job you did with that nest."

The old stallion straightened up as if he'd only just realized that he was being observed, but as he lifted one bushy eyebrow to study Dusk with a piercing intensity, Dusk couldn't help but find himself a little off-balance by the odd old stallion. As quickly as Dusk noticed the stallion’s odd behavior, he lowered his brow and gave Dusk a small bow. His dry voice was raspy, yet he moved with effortless grace, making Dusk wonder just where the truth of the stallion lay. "Of course, sir. I've been in the employ of the Rich family for nearly seventy years now. These days, I am lady Tiara's man-servant. Now if you’ll forgive me, sir, I must return to work on the nests, I can't let lady Tiara fall behind the competition."

The rest of the crowd took that as a sign to wander away, returning to their tables and continued to build nests. Dusk, however, could see at least one thing that bothered him in the old stallion's answer. While there were plenty of supplies on the table for making nests and extra ribbon for giving them some flair, they were all piled before the butler, the two fillies simply leaning against the table and talking once the other onlookers had melted away, leaving the real work to the elderly butler. Rather than point out Diamond and Silver's laziness, Dusk gave the old man a nod and raised his hand to offer him a wave. "Well, you certainly make the highest quality bird’s nest I've ever seen, I'm sure Diamond will be proud of your help... if she ever happens to notice."

The old stallion shot Dusk a glare for that attempted joke, and began work on another pile of twigs and straw, clearing his throat and dismissing Dusk with his tone. "We are quite proud to be of help to Lady Tiara, magistrate. Thank you for your interest."

Dusk took the warning in the butler's tone seriously and moved away, still wondering just what about the old stallion had made him uneasy. As he began to cross the crowded yard to the table where Sweetie Belle was working, he saw Rarity pat Berry Punch on the arm, and was just able to hear her reassuring words. "It's okay, really it is! You've done simply marvelous for your first try! Now, if you just shift this end a little this way, and reinforce this side a tad, you'll see that you have made a perfect, snug little nest for any lucky bird!"

Berry watched Rarity’s adjustments closely, then tried to repeat the changes. She finally relaxed as the nest took shape at last. "So then just add the resin and let it sit? I didn't use any ribbon like you did, is that okay?"

Rarity laughed, and gently patted Berry's arm. “Of course it's okay! Some animals like to decorate their own nests, while others like nests that don't stand out and can be camouflaged easily. In either case, you've done very well! Remember, if you need anymore help, just call for me, I'll be around helping others, or at my table with Sweetie Belle, okay?"

Dusk crouched down beside Sweetie Belle who was industriously at work on a nest of her own, a vivid green ribbon entwined as both a support and showpiece of the nest, and he could see she was nearly done. That didn't prevent him from smirking as, deep in concentration, Sweetie's tongue popped out between her teeth on the right side of her mouth and stuck upwards, as if somehow it was assisting her efforts to weave together the nest.

Dusk waited and watched her technique, admiring Sweetie's persistence and focus, even with all the noisy ponies all around her. At last she finished, and raised the nest up to admire, turning it this way and that to take in the shape and how the light hit it before giving a satisfied sigh and settling it on the table. Finally, Dusk reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "A fantastic job, Sweetie! I think your sister would be proud."

As if she'd been unaware that anypony was around, Sweetie Belle jumped at his words and touch, twisted around to stare at him for a moment before recognition dawned in her eyes and the filly relaxed, jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly. "Dusk! Good morning! You like my nest? I think it's nice too, but I don't think that mine are nearly as nice as Rarity's."

Dusk laughed a little and hugged Sweetie Belle in return, his fingers tenderly stroking through the foal’s hair for a moment before giving a shrug. "I think it looks awfully good, and that's all that matters, right? Now how about you show me how to make a nest. I've never done one before, and I might as well help out a little while I’m here, right?"

Giddy, Sweetie nodded, straightened up and smoothed out her dress, grabbed his hand, and directed him to the pile of straw and ribbons waiting on the table. Settling Barb down on the empty side of the table and making sure she was still sleeping soundly, he left her to nap, knowing how badly the cold affected her, even as mild as it was today. Following Sweetie’s directions, Dusk began to weave together the base of a bird's nest, while she watched him intensly. Halfway through the construction, Dusk began to feel more confident and reached for a purple ribbon, to give the nest a hint of flair. He didn't even realize anything had gone wrong until Sweetie made an odd noise and reached over to give one piece of straw a little tug before muttering to herself. "That's odd. Just... just let me try to fix this Dusk."

Letting the filly take over, Dusk stepped back a little and gave a look at his attempt. "It does look a little... slumpy compared to yours, doesn't it, Sweetie?"

The foal, still busy with her efforts to repair his sagging nest, gave him an inquisitive look. “I- what? Slumpy?”

Dusk laughed a little and shook his head, smoothing some hair from his damp brow. He couldn’t believe he was so nervous about something as simple as making a proper bird’s nest, and now he was panicked as the foal attempted to fix his mistakes. “It’s… I think I made it up. It’s like both a slum and dumpy, right? So it’s a slumpy nest.”

Catching on, she looked up at him her eyes going wide. “Wow… you can make words!? That’s really cool, Dusk! Can you make more words? Or are magistrates limited to a few new words a day?”

Embarrassed at the scenario she was making him picture, Dusk tried to push the conversation back to the little nest she was still fighting with. "No, it's not like that, Sweetie. Anyways, have you figured out what I did wrong when I made that nest?"

Her tongue once again sticking out of the side of her mouth in effort, Sweetie pulled at two of the threaded pieces of straw and tugged them free of the bundle. Fluffing up the nest with satisfaction, she grinned up at him. "You just got the weave twisted around itself, so half the straw was pinning the other half down! See, doesn't it look-" as she spoke, the nest began to sag again, one side sinking down while the far side began to curl overtop of the rest, making the nest resemble a broken eggshell. Defeated, her shoulders slumped and she finished her sentence. "-so... much... better. ARGHH! Stupid bird's nest!"

Shocked awake by Sweetie's frustration, Barb sat up and turned to look with bleary eyes at Dusk's nest and Sweetie Belle before she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "That nest needs to be condemned!"

As if summoned by Barb’s words, Rarity appeared at Sweetie's side and cupped Barb’s checks, shushing her and gushing for just a minute over the sleepy dragoness. "Oh hush, Barb darling! I know the cold makes you drowsy, but you needn't be so harsh!"

Soothed by the attention from Rarity, Barb slumped forward a little, and Dusk stepped up beside the table, supporting her weight against his chest and scratching behind her right ear hole where he knew she was sensitive. As her leg began to twitch, Dusk looked at Rarity, who had joined Sweetie in inspecting the catastrophic nest. "I think it may be a lost cause, Rarity. Sweetie's been trying to repair it for a good ten minutes and... well, just look at it!"

Rarity lifted a finger to hush him, then drew her hand back so she could carefully pin her bangs back behind an ear. "Now Dusk, don't be so harsh on yourself. It only needs a little love and care!"

As if the nest were listening to them, three pieces of the straw suddenly snapped, curling up with a twang. Taking that personally, Rarity began to try reweaving the straw nest. Yet as she worked, the nest battled back, a straw breaking here, while three others got entwined together and knotted around one another. Dusk could see Rarity's eyebrow twitch in frustration before she paused, clearing her throat. "...Sweetie, get my red reading glasses from my sewing room, please."

As Sweetie rushed back from the house with an engraved silver glasses’ case, Rarity removed her fashionable winter jacket, revealing her white blouse beneath. Wasting no time, she rolled up the sleeves on both arms and unbuttoned the collar before accepting her red-rimmed glasses from Sweetie Belle. Pushing them up squarely with the bridge of her nose, she swiftly launched back into the fray.

For a while, Dusk didn’t think she’d manage it, as for every piece of straw she straightened, two more got gnarled. For every knot she cut out, another piece of straw needed to be removed, and for every new piece of straw she weaved in, another got interweaved in the mess, and refused to come free. Yet at last, brow drenched with sweat, Rarity stood triumphant over the nest, standing over the table, her hands on her hips. “There! See, Dusk?! No trouble, really!”

Impressed, Dusk stepped up to the table, leaning in and inspecting the practically-rebuilt nest, admiring how Rarity had managed to keep the old purple ribbon as part of the new nest. Stepping forward, he slipped a hand around Rarity’s hip, and pulled her close, kissing her forehead and grinning down at her. “You did very well, dear. I dare say, some bird is soon going to be a very… happy…”

As he spoke, Barb got up and waddled over to the nest, her thick, stiff winter clothing making it hard for her to walk. Poking one finger into the straw nest inquisitively, she flinched, and Dusk held his breath, but when nothing happened, he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and smiled. “- homeowner.”

With a slow and inevitable grinding noise of straw twisting around straw, the nest began to intertwine around itself once more, until with a pop and a crack of breaking threads, a dozen new pieces of straw snapped and shot out of the once more ruined nest. For what felt like an eternity, Dusk held his breath.

Rarity’s voice finally broke the stillness, tepid, but level. “Dusk?”

Very slowly releasing her, he tried to timidly answer, wishing all the while he wasn’t present. She continued before he could reply, however. “Get her out of here. Now.”

Friday, March 24th, 1701 AFE. Just outside of Ponyville. 9:10am.

As Barb stopped to stare up at the three pegasi walking clouds across the roof of a house at the edge of town, Dusk’s impatience tried to rear up again. He'd already let her down so she could walk. "Well, waddle, really. Now she has stopped to watch the pegasi for the third time, when she already slept through our visit to Dash."

Exasperated by the delays, but keeping it bottled up carefully to avoid looking angry at Barb, Dusk was surprised, and a little delighted, when the little dragoness offered a thoughtful remark on something he had not considered. “Those three must be some of the best Dash has for handling the clouds. That’s gotta be the third time I’ve seen other pegasi come to take the full clouds from them in exchange for smaller ‘empty’ looking clouds. Plus, every time somepony comes to take away the full clouds, it’s been a different pony.”

Looking up at the three industrious pegasi, Dusk made the same connection that Barb already made, his impatience replaced with sudden admiration. “You know, you’re quite right, Barb! I hadn’t even thought about that, but it really does make sense. From what little I’ve researched about weather magic, it’s far easier for pegasi to push around a cloud, even one engorged with moisture, than it is to make a cloud absorb snow the way they are. It makes sense; have your stronger flyers push around the full clouds, while the others who are better with magic fill more clouds. Far more efficient.”

Shaking herself out a little, Barb suddenly began peeling off her outer jacket and one pair of her snowpants. Watching as she folded them up together, Dusk couldn’t help but stare a little. Looking a little sheepishly at him, she offered him a shrug and pushed the neatly-folded bundle up at him. “What?! It’s warming up is all, and it’s really hard to walk with that extra layer on. I still think it’s too cold out to be running around like this!”

Glad she’d admitted defeat, even if she was indignant about it the whole time, Dusk accepted her spare clothing, tossing it over his right shoulder and decided against starting a fight. “Well, if you’re ready, Barb, we should hurry. Pinkie and the others shouldn’t be too far out of town yet. I really do want to see what the ice carvers are doing.”

Thinking for a moment as they started walking again, at last, Barb still watched the pegasi work, and asked another question that Dusk needed a while to consider. “Wouldn’t it be easier for them to fly me up there and let me carefully melt the snow with the heat of my breath? I think I could sustain it for a few hours if I was careful and ate properly the day before. Then they wouldn’t have to fool around with all those silly clouds and could just freight me around instead.”

Impatient as her pace slowed while she worked out her thoughts, Dusk tried to scoop her up only to be rejected as the dragoness backstepped surprisingly quickly out of his reach despite how bulky her winter clothing made her look. “Dusk, I’m serious! I could be helping them out, couldn’t I? The ice carvers can wait, I want to know, alright!?”

Grumbling to himself, Dusk stood back up, crossing his arms over his chest and looking squarely down at the little dragoness again. “I’ve never studied weather magic very deeply, but I suppose you might be able to help a little. But then, I don’t know if it would really help out much in the long run. You see, if I remember correctly, when water evaporates, the water itself collects in the air and, if not dealt with quickly, will cause future problems for the weather team.”

Barb stared back at him, toying with her tail and chewing on her lower lip. At last, she gave him a little nod. “So you’re saying that I might be able to help, but if I do, it might make more work for the weather team down the road if we don’t do it in the right way?”

Stepping forward again, Dusk scooped her up, successfully this time, balancing her weight on his other shoulder and finally making progress away from town. “Exactly, Barb. But it’s okay, really. I think you gave me an idea. Maybe we can stop by the melting fields and help them out by using some of your fire breath to thin out some of the snowfields, but that can wait. Let's hurry to go join Pinkie, and if any of the pegasi come by, I'll ask them to check with Dash, alright?"

Puffed up with pride at the idea of possibly being able to be of some help, Barb hugged one arm around his head while her other toyed with some of his hair. Her voice was dreamy and distant, but since she was no longer slowing him down, Dusk let her day dream. "Yeah. And think of how much I can help when I'm finally all grown up!? Then I could breathe a gentle burst of heat to thaw out all of Ponyville in a single breath! Then everypony could celebrate how helpful it is to have a useful dragoness around! Rarity might even make me a special vest for helping out. I'd be the champion of Winter Wrap-Up!"

Enjoying Barb's infectious good mood, Dusk continued on, the distant sound of Pinkie's singing voice began to rise, growing louder and clearer as he used it to guide him through the thin trees. Passing one small pond, Dusk was impressed to see somepony had set up numerous signs around the perimeter. Stopping for a breather, Dusk read one sign that had been set up nearby.

"WARNING! THIN ICE! The ice carvers have already treated this pond. Beware of melting ice or thin spots!"

Shifting Barb's weight again, Dusk gave a shrug and turned towards Pinkie's voice. "Wonder if they get some overlap between different teams skating on the same pond?"

The answer, it turned out was quite unexpected, leaving Dusk to wonder how many of Amethyst’s notes Pinkie had really read. Skating alone upon the large pond, Pinkie moved with impressive ease, crossing one leg over another as she crossed without any regular path or pattern he could identify. Walking up the path to a bench that waited right beside the white ice, Dusk leaned on another of the warning signs, and watched Pinkie’s technique, again trying to see if she at least had an overall plan to how she danced across the ice and where she planned to end her pattern. All of that ended when Pinkie suddenly called out to him.

“Dusk! You made it! That’s so great! Watch this! Weee~” Twisting her body, Pinkie suddenly leapt into the air above the sheet of ice, her built up momentum propelling her body through the air while she held her hands over her head, for just a moment, in all her chaotic behavior, this moment of majestic glory seemed to make time slow. Dusk could only stare as she glided on a trail of air while her body spun two full revolutions.

“She’s… simply glorious! Floating like a pegasus through the air without wings, her face so peaceful, even her smile is calm, revelling in the simple joy of the moment without her usual aggressive happiness she directs to anypony in sight. Does Rarity know she’s this graceful? Maybe more?”

Dusk’s inner monologue was cut off as Pinkie impacted the ice, and with three quick pumps of her legs, she crossed back over the ice to his side, her normal glee radiating off her like the sun. “Dusk! Did you see? Did you?! I’ve been practising the triple rotation jump all winter and you got to be the first one to see it!”

Realizing Pinkie was about to rush off the ice and tackle him, Dusk had to think fast. He pulled Barb off his shoulder and settled her on the top of the backrest of the bench, just in time for Pinkie to rush off the ice and give him a savage hug, burying her head in his chest. The impact of Pinkie's rush to hug him staggered Dusk, forcing him to take a minute to catch his breath. Placing a hand on the depthless pink mass of hair against his chest, Dusk found it too deep and wild, and abandoned his plan to pet her head and simply tried to soothe her more verbally, freeing his hand from her hair and stroking her back instead. "I saw it, Pinkie. I really did. You were very impressive. Have you been skating for long?"

Giddy, Pinkie pulled away and returned to the ice, launching herself across the ice in a single powerful stride, gliding in a broad circle before turning back to the shore, arriving at his side at a more casual gliding pace. "Uh-huh! My big sister Maud taught me how to as a filly. See, on the rock farm we'd leave a field to go fallow for a year or two, and in the winter, because it was so flat, we could make a really fantastic skating sheet. It was the bestest part of winter."

With a thousand new questions suddenly all demanding the right to be asked first, Dusk forced himself to remain calm and keep focused on business. "Remind me to ask you all about Maud and your rock farm, I have a lot of questions. For now, Pinkie, how can I help you out? Is there something I can do for the ice carvers?"

Delighted, Pinkie again stepped off the ice with ease for how awkward the heavy metal skates looked to Dusk."Oh, of course you can help, Dusk! I brought lots of extra skates. We'll just find a pair that fit your shoes and you'll be dancing across the ice in no time!"

An icy ripple of horror shot up Dusk’s spine, the memory flooding back even before Barb cut in with a snide remark. "Dusk? Skate? If you haven't already seen what a disaster he is on the dance floor, I can't wait to see him on skates!"

Barb’s words hurt, and not just because they brought back embarrassing and somewhat painful memories. Trying to ignore her, Dusk quickly followed Pinkie to another bench beside the pond, sitting down while she pulled a heavy burlap sack from under the bench and suddenly grabbed his right leg, pulling it back and holding it up before her face, so she could compare the underside of his boot with the width and length of the wooden base of a few of the different pairs of skates. At last, on the fifth skate she tried, she found one that was big enough for his foot, and without a moment’s pause, she braced the corked blade against her shoulder, pinning it in place with his foot before grabbing the leather straps and lashing the buckles as tightly as possible, to make sure the skate couldn’t slip. Only then did she sit back a little, popping the protective corking off the blade and lowering his foot to the ground. “How does it feel, Dusk? Good? If it’s too loose it might slip off and you’ll probably fall on your butt.”

Forcing himself to stand up, Dusk instantly felt off balance. He took several careful steps towards the ice of the pond, his legs unsteady, even shaking a little with each step as he wabbled his way to Pinkie’s side. “I think… I think so! I… It’s been years since I tried skating… Princess Cadence did a ton of tests to see if I had a problem. They all really proved nothing, so it’s always just been a nightmare I’ve yet to properly understand.”

As if to torment him, Pinkie gracefully stepped back onto the pond, skating away from him with slow grace while holding out her hands for him. “Oh, don’t be silly, Dusk! You look just fine to me! See! They fit you perfectly, Dusk! Now come on, join me! I’m sure I can help you out with whatever wobbly-legged what's-it’s! Princess Cadence probably just never thought to give you a proper skating lesson!”

Attempting to follow her out onto the open ice, his knees banging together with every step, he took one step after another, all the while watching as Pinkie casually raced backwards with even strides, then suddenly shifting her steps in a way that Dusk couldn’t understand, and before he could conceive what she’d done, she was rushing towards him at breakneck speeds. Shocked, he continued his small steps, all the while trying to figure out just what she was doing, panic rising in his throat and he took two steps to the right, yet Pinkie only matched him by shifting her stride, still rushing directly at him. Panicked, he straightened up and stopped walking, his hands lifted in an act of self defense while he struggled to search for the pattern for Shining Armor’s shield spell. “PINKIEEEE!!~~~ Stop!!!”

As if it were all a lark, Pinkie shifted her weight again, once more in a way that Dusk simply couldn't conceive, a spray of snow powder firing off as she curved around him to the right in a broad arc, her momentum changing in a way he had never seen, swiftly circling around him, while the tip of one hand tickled behind his left ear before she suddenly tumbled into his arms, pulling them around her hips to make him hold her close. Then with grace and care, she began to stride forward again, pulling him after her as they crossed the pond again.

Pinkie was moving him so quickly, Dusk couldn’t even take steps anymore. He struggled to keep his legs straight, and somehow, due to the way Pinkie pulled him, it made him move with her, following after her graceful pace with his own awkward flow. “The strangest part is, she does lift her feet, but somehow she isn’t taking steps! Skating, it’s simply impossible!”

Twenty minutes and a few dozen guided laps around the pond later, Dusk tried to swallow back his fear as Pinkie suddenly pulled her hand out of his own and stepped away from him, far out of his reach as she took off across the ice. “Come on, Dusk! Enough Practice! You can do it! Catch me!”

Gliding along on what little momentum that Pinkie had left him with, Dusk strained to take his first step, trying to copy the small steps that Pinkie used to pick up speed, thrusting his step to try to pick up his pace again, driving forward across the clean sheet of ice Pinkie had been avoiding until now. From the shore of the pond, Barb sat up, her hands lifted to cup around her mouth. “Come on, Dusk. I think you really can do it! You haven't fallen over once in nearly twenty minutes! Maybe Pinkie’s right, you did just need some lessons in skating to bring out your natural-”

Just as Barb began to cry out her support, Dusk’s right foot shot out uncontrollably, sending him off balance. Panicking, Dusk struggled to pull his legs back together, suddenly finding himself off balance as he now raced on at an uncontrolled stumble, unable to find any way to get his foot back on the ice, as every time he tried to put it down again, the blade of the skate bounced off, making his wobbling stride only more dangerous. Overwhelmed, he cried out. “Pinkiee!!!!~~ Help!”

Pinkie turned at his cry and began to pump her legs in a rush to get back to his side. With only one sign of hope, Dusk reached out for Pinkie, but just as she took a grip of his hands, his right foot finally caught on the ice, way too hard, suddenly pulling him off weight, and tugging her with him, they twisted together into an off balance struggling mass that skittered off the edge of the pond and directly into the bench that Barb still sat on.

Lost in the cloud of snow thrown up by their impact to the snowbank beside the pond, Dusk lay in silence for a while, waiting to see if anything had broken in the violent impact. On top of him, Pinkie shook free some of the snow while laughing in her own little fit. “Dusk, you down there? I think… hahaha… I think I can feel you breathing, I really do! Barb, if you can get off me, I’ll try and dig him out of the snowbank.”

Breathing carefully, Dusk didn’t bother to answer, and Barb suddenly filled the silence instead. “You are a natural, Dusk. A natural disaster!”

Pinkie, digging him out of the depths of the snow, laughed a little, brushing the snow off his face before leaning in and kissing him lightly on the lips. Laying down half atop him and half in the snowbank, she stroked her fingertips across his jaw, and turned his head so she could look into his eyes. “Now, Barb!!~~ Don’t be mean. Dusk just isn’t a natural skater. Take it easy on him. Besides, he just wanted to help!”

Enjoying the soft mare’s touch and gentle kiss, Dusk relaxed a little, leaning into her, nuzzling at her touch to his jaw. “Pinkie, you’re kind to be so supportive, but I think Barb’s right. I think… I think I should move on when I get my breath back.”

Giddy, Pinkie slipped her arms around his chest to cuddle in tighter while resting her head against his chest, right above his heart. Dusk almost wondered if she was listening to his heartbeat for a moment before she finally answered back. “Then you should go see Fluttershy next! She’s part of the group that’s tending to the sleepy animals. I bet she hasn’t even woken Harry the Bear up yet!”

Giving a sigh, he gently scooted out from under Pinkie and forced himself to stand up and brush snow off of his clothing before turning back to Pinkie and offering her a hand up. Holding her hand for a little too long, Dusk heard Barb’s frustrated grumble and, at last, he let go, blushing darkly. “I’m sorry, Pinkie. I suppose we should go. Let me know if there is anything else the ice carvers need, alright?”

Leaning in to kiss him on the bridge of the nose, Pinkie giggled, and swatted his tail playfully. “Go on! Go, go! And don’t forget Barb’s extra pants! I think they’re still on the bench!”

Friday, March 24th, 1701 AFE. Near Fluttershy’s Cottage. 10:00am.

Trailing a cloud of doom behind him, Dusk marched on towards Fluttershy's cottage. The small number of ponies he passed on the way regularly offered him greetings as they paused for a moment from their work, but in his sour mood, Dusk found himself barely able to offer them more than an official smile and a small wave.

Barb, trailing behind, had gone quiet. Her second layer of jackets had been removed as the sun came out and the snow around them started to seriously melt. She must have sensed his mood as she didn't say any of her usual quips and occasionally stopped to talk with ponies they passed, as well as the still-sleepy animals they were tending to.

Two familiar voices ahead caught Dusk's attention, drawing his eye from the slushy path. "But mith Cheerilee! If the porcupine hath thpiketh to defend itthelf, how do you gently pet it to help it loothen up and warm up? The ferretth really liked that and it made them thuper energetic in no time."

Cheerilee laughed a little as Peppermint Twist scooted back from the small and spiky hedgehog, who was still drunkenly wandering around in small circles and pausing regularly to yawn, its tiny muzzle opening broadly every time. Trying to puzzle out the solution to Twist's question himself, Dusk stopped a moment to watch.

To both Dusk and Twist's surprise, Miss Cheerilee pulled her glove off her hand, and gently stroked her bare hand from the top of the hedgehog's head to hip. "It's just a matter of being very careful, Twist, dear. If you only pet them from the head towards the tail with care, you can help them wake up and warm up. But you do have to be quite careful, so for now, how about I give you these gloves, okay?"

Dusk watched for a few more minutes as the freckled filly pulled on a protective pair of gloves offered by the teacher and slowly began to scratch and pet the sluggish little hedgehog. As the creature warmed up to her, she became braver, continuing to work over the hedgehog's tiny form until, with a sudden happy noise Dusk could only call a trill, it suddenly bolted off into the trees.

Disappointed, Twist's shoulders slumped a little as she watched the still-rocking branches where the hedgehog had disappeared. Cheerilee squeezed her shoulder and gave her a grin. "Very good, Twist. Come on! Let's go to the next burrow. I bet we can have some real fun with a squirrel, right?"

Excited, Twist nodded to her and hopped up, peeling off the protective gloves and offering them back to her teacher. Finally noticing Dusk behind Cheerilee's back, she gasped a little and gave him a country girl’s rough attempt at a curtsy. "Did you thee it? Did you magithtrate? Wathn't it the cutetht hedgehog ever?"

As Cheerilee bolted to stand up in shock and turned to face him, embarrassment clear on her face, probably linked to not knowing that he was behind her, Dusk simply gave the foal a shrug, finally feeling a little bit of hope that today was going to start to be a little better. "I did, Twist. It seemed like you've got quite the understanding of how to help wake animals. Maybe your talent has something to do with them?"

For a moment Cheerilee's lips curved into the smallest hint of a frown or scowl, but before Dusk could decide which direction it was heading, she slipped into a tender smile. "Magistrate! Oh, forgive me, I mean Dusk! Already looking forward to helping out with the animals? I still argue it's the best part of Winter Wrap-Up."

Carefully making a mental note to find out what was the cause of her subtle mouth movements, Dusk gave a shrug and tugged an arm around Barb's shoulders, hugging the dragoness against his side. "I think this might be something that I can really help out with. After all, I've been taking care of Barb since she hatched!"

Squirming against his grip that had trapped her head to his hip, Barb wriggled around until all four of her limbs were pressed against his thigh, and then applied all her might in forcing him to give her more room. Finally popping free and dropping onto a pile of snow, the dragoness overdramatically panted for breath and glared up at him. "Are you kidding? For years Philomena and Night Light did all of the real work! You couldn't even hold me properly until you were seven!"

Remembering, Dusk felt his cheeks darken and turned to look down at her, still a little shocked. "Barb! I meant well, really! But they had me in school all day and I just wanted to show you how much I missed you! Besides! Back then, it was hard to tell your head from your tail! How was I to know you were upside down!?"

Grinning a little to herself, Barb flashed him her teeth. "Didn't me biting your tail kinda give you a hint that you were holding me upside-down?"

Now fully flushed, Dusk very quickly changed the subject and looked back at the teacher whose eyes were now full of laughter. Feeling a little frantic, Dusk spoke in rushed tones, trying to get this suddenly very uncomfortable conversation over with. "Aaahh! Anyways! Do you know where Fluttershy and Amethyst are? I want to see Fluttershy before reporting to Amethyst to see if I can help out!"

Clearly thoroughly amused by his antics, Cheerilee jabbed a thumb down the path towards Fluttershy’s cottage. "They are both sticking to work close to Fluttershy’s home, so that way if one of the other groups needs help, Amethyst can be found easily, and Fluttershy can assist anypony with a sickly critter or one who needs extra help waking up."

Glad to hear the news, Dusk scooped up Barb, making very sure he was holding her the right way up, and then gave them a small wave. "My thanks, ladies. I hope you have a fun Winter Wrap-Up! I'd better go!"

Giving them no time to reply, Dusk rushed down the path and out of sight. The foal watched him for some time, before slowly turning to her teacher. "Mith Cheerilee?"

Tucking the heavy gloves into her belt by her tail, Cheerilee looked back down at the foal. "Yes, Twist?"

"If... if magithtrate Duthk Thine thtill hath embarrathing momentth like that... doeth that mean I might be thomepony important thomeday too?"

Cheerilee gave a happy sigh and hugged the foal softly across her shoulders. "Dear Twist, you can be anything. From a world famous candy maker to a private chef who works exclusively for Princess Celestia alone."

Fluttershy's sing-song voice carried through the clearing as she bent down, teasing the sleepy badger with a wagging finger under the jaw. Delighted by her attention, the stout critter striding out of it's hole, blinking at the brilliant sunlight and taking a moment to rub against Fluttershy's hand before marching away from its den. Trailing behind their mother, three badger kits each took a turn repeating their mother's affectionate nuzzle against Fluttershy’s hand before following her off into the bushes.

"Oh my! I see you've had a very exciting winter, Mrs. Badger! I hope your kits have behaved!"

As if to answer Fluttershy, the badger turned back at the edge of the bush her kits had rushed into and made several noises while nodding her head. Blushing a little, Fluttershy clapped her hands together and tried to shush the critter. "Oh, my! Mrs. Badger! Please! What if somepony else heard you being so graphic! Well, I'm glad you and Mr. Badger are getting along well!"

As if she'd summoned him with her words, Dusk came out of the bush, picking broken branches out of his hair as he escaped into the small clearing with Fluttershy. "What a relief! I kept hearing your voice through the bush, but when I yelled back at you, I couldn't seem to get your attention." Brushing the last few leaves from his shoulders, he looked behind him to check on Barb, who trailed behind him at a safe distance to avoid the trail of broken and falling tree branches he left in his wake through the woods.

Fluttershy froze up and clamped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide and tail rigid, as if she were staring straight through him. Her whisper-quiet voice came out muffled from behind her clenched hands. "Oh! Hi... Dusk. I- well, er... you didn't hear any of what Mrs. Badger just said, did you?"

Looking from the shocked mare to the tail of the retreating bager, Dusk began to wonder, not for the first time, just how well she understood animals. However, he decided to save that line of questioning for a day when he hadn't already messed up three times in a row. "No, sorry Fluttershy, I couldn't make out much of what you were saying. I was just glad to find you through the thicket! I never realized how thick the woods are around your home until now!"

Fluttershy watched him very closely for a minute and appeared to be lost in her own thoughts, but just as Dusk began to step toward her, worried she had more on her mind than whatever her animal friend had been talking about, she suddenly snapped out of whatever was distracting her, rushing to his side and grabbing both of his hands with her own and squeezing them against her cheeks. "It's so good to see you, Dusk. I... I'm- Well, that's all!"

Due to her still-flushed cheeks, Dusk needed to only look into the limpid pools of Fluttershy's eyes to see what was on her mind. Coughing a little to help break up the tension, Dusk pulled his hands back, if a little regretfully. "So, Fluttershy! How is your work going? Best Winter Wrap-Up yet?"

Smiling up at him and turning around to admire the hints of green that had begun to appear through the melting snow, Fluttershy lifted her hands and gestured for him to take it all in. "Oh, Dusk! It's been fantastic! I've been able to see so many of my little critter friends that I haven't seen in ages! If only you'd come earlier, you could have helped me wake up Harry the Bear! The sleepy baby rolled over on me the first three times I tried to get him up! I'm afraid I had to get a little rough on the poor guy."

For a moment, Dusk tried to picture meek Fluttershy getting rough on somepony as big as Harry the Bear. His mind reeling, the only viable comparison he could think of was their recent encounter with a feral dragon. Worried for Harry's sake, he simply had to know more. "Oh, dear. I... I hope you didn't hurt him too badly."

For a moment the innocent look of total confusion that crossed Fluttershy's face made Dusk feel guilty for ever even considering the idea, before a devilish grin crossed the mare's lips. "I don't play nice with grumpy sleepy heads who refuse to get up! So I pulled out the big guns!"

Barb's sudden grip on his right hand nearly made Dusk jump, but the tiny dragoness' voice was filled with just as much trepidation as he too felt. "Wh- what did you do to him Fluttershy?"

Suddenly giddy, Fluttershy covered her mouth with both hands, and tittered with delight. "Why, Barb! I made a giant pot of acorn cinnamon oatmeal with extra honey! You should have seen how quickly he was up out of the cellar and suddenly begging like a cub! It was simply adorable!"

Relief flooding them both, and Dusk let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding for some time, bending down to scoop up Barb into his arms. He scratched a trail down her spine, working his nails deeply between her scales until her stiff spine softened a little at last. "Really Fluttershy? That's... Simply fascinating. Well, I’m very glad to hear that you can handle yourself around somepony eight times your weight.”

Fluttershy stepped in beside Dusk and cupped Barb’s cheeks, leaning in close against him while her thumbs rubbed each of the dragoness’ cheeks. “I adore critters of all kinds. From any cute little dragon to the biggest and grumpiest bear. Care to help me out for a little, Dusk?”

Barb, her eyes rolling back in her head from joy, stretched both arms out to wrap around Fluttershy’s neck, pulling out of Dusk’s arms to cling against her neck before opening her slitted eyes just enough to look back at Dusk, her voice a near purr of content. “Do anything she asks, really. Just don’t you dare let her stop scratching!”

Sharing some soft laughter with Fluttershy, Dusk placed an arm across her back, below the wings, and rested his hand on her hip. For a moment she froze up and blushed, then just as quickly relaxed into his side, her tail coiling around his own. He looked down at the little dragoness who was clearly relishing every single hint of attention she received, most of all the light scratching of Fluttershy's nails around her jaw and the underside of her chin. Walking along a path he hadn't been able to see until Fluttershy led him into it, Dusk laughed and gave Barb a nod. "You're the boss, Barb my dear. Fluttershy, I'll try whatever I can to help you and your critter friends out today!"

Kneeling before the open burrow, a sudden sense of imminent disaster had returned to flood the depths of Dusk's stomach until it lay threatening to overflow from the back of his throat. Swallowing, he lowered a knee to the snow and looked over at Fluttershy, who stood a little too far away for comfort, holding the still-wiggling-with-delight Barb in her arms. "So... Fluttershy, just what kind of critter was this again?"

Cradling Barb against her throat, Fluttershy had to look over the happy little dragoness to meet his eyes. "Oh, that burrow belongs to Miss Skunk. But don't worry, she is really affectionate. She'll only spray in self-defense, honest!"

As if he was watching the pieces of a puzzle drop into place, Dusk added that fact in, and immediately felt like he had a full picture of what was about to come. Carefully lifting the small silver bell Fluttershy had given him, Dusk gave it the smallest jingle he could manage. "H-Here little critter. Time to get up Miss Skunk~"

The softest sounds of dirt shifting came from the depths of the hole, and Dusk was sure something was moving around. The sudden sound of a pair of beating wings overhead pulled at his attention, but focused on avoiding another disaster, he ignored whatever pegasi were joining them, and stayed focused on the hole.

Rainbow Dash's suddenly jovial voice came from just over his shoulder at a volume that nearly made Dusk jump out of his skin. "Helping Fluttershy wake the animals, Dusk? Good! We’re stuck in a holding pattern until the last of the critters are finally out of their holes." Turning away from him and speaking towards Fluttershy, Dash pressed on. "I mean, come on Fluttershy! I know you like your little animal friends, but we can't open the clouds and let the snow melt until Amethyst gives us the all clear. We're so close to falling behind, I sent Derpy ahead alone to go find the summer birds cause I couldn't spare anypony else to help her!"

Derpy tightened up and stopped in midflight, taking a moment to turn around in place as she bit down on her lower lip. “I swear to The Light, I heard somepony talking down there… I know Rainbow Dash would go down and look into it… Sh… should I? I… I just don’t have her courage.”

Suckling on her trapped lower lip, Derpy looked to the west to the distant flock of birds she could swear were just flying in circles just to frustrate her with endlessly chasing them. Looking back down at the trees she could swear she saw a shift in the branches, and the continued distant conversation was growing louder, just enough for her to hear. “Dreamer, this is far enough. It should take a good week or so from here.”

“Fine, Winter, but bury it deep, we need the time. It can’t escape too soon, or it might starve before it reaches town.”

“Better than letting it reproduce first instead. We don’t need a forest of these.”

“That’s it! I gotta look into this. Whoever these ponies are, they gotta be really lost to be wandering this far from town!” Turning towards the ground and folding back her wings, Derpy tried her best to copy the emergency dive that Rainbow Dash had been showing off after Dusk left this morning’s weather team meeting.

Her mistake became rapidly apparent as she crashed through the overlapping branches of two trees and misjudged the spacing between them. Impacting hard and getting tangled up with broken branches as her raw momentum carried her through the rest of the thick canopy of trees, she had no time to spread her wings and thus headed face first towards the ground. "Oh, nertz!"

Five feet from impacting the snowbank nose first, a silver light enveloped her whole body. She yelped from the shock of hitting something that felt like an invisible wall and from the pain that jolted up her entire spine. She could barely make out that one of the two mares was yelling as she lost consciousness. "Derpy!? By The Light! Just what is she doing here, so deep in the Everfree?"

Tension flooding his shoulders, Dusk swallowed a lump in his throat and gave the little bell a second shake, while behind him, Fluttershy took Barb up as a shield of sorts between herself and Dash. "So what?! Derpy is great with birds! Amethyst would have assigned her to my team if you didn't get priority on all pegasi! So just leave us be!"

Focused on the burrow, Dusk tried to ignore their light bickering, writing it off as their way of blowing off stress on a busy day. "Besides, they've been friends for years. I've no place to butt in." A strong hand on his right shoulder made Dusk finally look up, only now realizing that it was Bronze who had landed with Dash.

Her grip firm but friendly, she gave a half gesture to the bell in his hand and the hole before him. "Hey, um, Dusk? I did like you suggested. The earth mares in charge of planting the town garden said they'd be more than happy to watch over the pegasus foals... but... uh... well." Her cheeks turning a fiery red, she looked away from him, her hand releasing his shoulder so she could push the tips of her fingers together while her voice dropped off to a mumble that would have made Fluttershy proud. "You... didn't tell me they'd all be pregnant..."

It took a moment for Dusk to realize what had Bronze so bothered about such a simple thing as a half-dozen pregnant earth mares. Then it dawned on him. "She's been in the military since probably before she had her first heat. Has she even ever had to deal with another mare who was pregnant, let alone a half-dozen?"

Shifting his weight to the other knee and putting the bell down in the snow, Dusk reached out and gently stole one of Bronze's fidgeting hands, giving her a strong squeeze. "Bronze, are you okay? I didn't mean anything by it, really."

Squeezing his hand back, Bronze's eyes were distant but her lips curved into a little grin. "No, they were very nice, Dusk. I've just never had so many mares asking such personal questions, that's all. It was a shock, really... I'm sorry, it's just a lot to think about. Do so many mares get pregnant all at the same time?"

Feeling pressure rubbing against his hand on the ground, Dusk shifted his fingers, idly dragging his nails over the spine of whatever critter was seeking a good back scratch. "No, it's not really unusual, Bronze. There are more than 400 ponies in Ponyville alone, plus the farms around town send all the pregnant mares to work in the town garden since the foals they are looking after can do the majority of the work for them."

The critter, enjoying Dusk's scratching attention continued to pester his hand, so he continued scratching, working in around the ears and the back of the head. Bronze gave a happy sigh and squeezed his hand back before nodding at Dash, whose argument with Fluttershy had turned into some very embarrassing shared whispering while they both watched Dusk and Bronze very closely. "That does make sense, I suppose. I guess as a new face in a town as small as Ponyville, I'll just have to get used to all the questions everypony keeps asking."

Looking over to Dash and Fluttershy, Dusk noticed the snoozing figure of Barb in Fluttershy’s arms and a memory flared up, demanding he ask. The critter beneath him curled up against his knee, and was playfully gnawing on the tips of his fingers, crooning at the attention he gave her belly. "Hey, Dash? Barb wanted me to ask, is there any way she can be of assistance to your snow melting team? She thought she might be able to make the snow melt faster with a little fire..."

Dash, almost without a moment to consider, dragged a hand through her hair, running the damp locks between her fingers to squeeze out some of the moisture that had collected in her rainbow locks. She looked at Dusk as the water pooled at her shoulder and ran down the back of her thick blue winter flight jacket, before finally answering. "It's a sweet idea, and I'm sure Barb meant well, but with all the evaporation from Princess Celestia's efforts with the sun, we are already drenched as it is up there. Adding onto that dangerous steam clouds we need to dodge, I just don't know if it's worth it." When she realized that sleepy Barb had sat up and was staring at her with eyes filled with disappointment, Dash got nervous, and began to stammer. "It's, well, it’s like... it's nothing personal, Barb. Really! It's just- well, steam! It's like, nearly impossible to control, alright?"

Fluttershy answered Dash before Dusk could find an example from his time at SSU that fit Dash's explanation, and while her voice was unsteady, she had taken Dash's hand in her own and squeezed it to get Dash's attention. "But Dashie, I remember seeing you and the teachers at flight school do just that. The four of you circled that explosion from the storm factory and made the steam coming off it into a rain cloud to help put out the fire. So why couldn't Barb's idea work?"

Dash's attempt to look thoughtfully at Fluttershy in response to her reminding Dash about whatever accident they were talking about was ruined by the way she blushed and stammered the first two times she tried to reply to Fluttershy. Finally pulling herself together, she looked back at her older friend, but let Fluttershy keep her hand trapped. "Well, you see... steam, right? Steam isn't uncontrollable, but it's, well, it's dangerous, Fluttershy! Anypony in Ponyville I asked to help me try and handle a burst of steam like that is risking their feathers molting off from the sheer heat! I-I couldn’t be responsible for some untrained pony getting hurt like that." Looking down from Fluttershy's deep and soulful eyes, she encountered Barb's instead, lifting her free hand to scratch the dragoness around the ears. "Tell you what... when Rumble's fully trained, we can try it, alright?"

Barb, already looking dejected at the conversation that had come from her offer to help, perked up and nuzzled into Dash's affectionate attention. "Really? You mean it Rainbow Dash?!"

Dash laughed, and shifted her hand under the dragoness' jaw to continue scratching there, and gave both Dusk and Fluttershy a look before grinning down at the dragon. "I mean it, kid. You had a good idea. If we could melt the snow faster, we'd be able to reduce the number of earth ponies that are plowing their fields manually."

The matter settled, Fluttershy's attention turned back to Dusk, and she gave a happy little gasp. "Dusk! You and Miss Skunk made friends already?! I'm so impressed!"

Looking down for the first time at the black furred critter who'd been playing with his hand for some time now, Dusk was shocked to notice the trademark white band of fur that warned off all who were wise enough to recognize the warning. Tightening up as a flare of panic spread, he looked down at the critter who was still playfully gnawing on his thumb knuckle, her tail lazily lashing through the slush and snow beneath him. “I... I suppose I did, Fluttershy... I think I've finally gotten something right today..."

As a flood of relief began to push back against the wave of panic, Dusk felt a weight rub against his kneeling leg's ankle, and looked up to Fluttershy. "Hey, I thought you said she was Miss Skunk. Who is her friend behind me?"

Looking over his shoulder, Fluttershy laughed and shook her head. "Oh that isn't her friend. That's Mrs. Snake! I think she's just trying to crawl up your pant leg for warmth."

Friday, March 24th, 1701 AFE. Dusk’s Library. 10:40am.

Groaning a little, Dusk sank back into the bathtub of tomato juice, rubbing his face vigorously with the soaked wash cloth. The sudden pressure against his head made him squirm and turn to look back over his shoulder at Barb frowning a little. "You're still wearing the clothespin. Surely it doesn't still smell that bad!"

Adjusting her grip on the hastily-constructed washcloth on a stick she'd put together so she didn't have to get too close to him, Barb scowled for a moment, and hesitantly unclipped her nose to take a tiny whiff of the air. "I-it's not fair, Dusk! Dragons’ noses are way more sensitive than ponies’! Just ‘cause it makes me wanna hurl doesn't mean anypony else might notice. What about your robes? Should I take them to Rarity while you soak for a while?"

Remembering her state when they passed by the boutique on the way back home, Dusk shook his head. "She looked overwhelmed already, dealing with another nest that just wasn't cooperating. Why give her an extra headache? Let's just wash them a few times by themselves and hope the smell goes away when we hang them on the balcony, okay?"

Wincing, Barb gave him a little nod. "Yeah, okay. But you get to lug them around and hang them up. I can't believe how bad they still stink. Did you really have to freak out so badly? The snake was just looking for some warmth in your trousers."

Glaring at her, Dusk shifted in the brilliant red bathwater, and again started vigorously rubbing his face with the cloth. 'I'd like to see if you could do any better with a snake climbing inside your dress."

Barb laughed, and set down her pole, shaking her head. "I'm just saying, I sympathize is all. I'd still rather curl up in bed or go back to napping in Fluttershy’s arms than go outside again right now without the promise of somepony to cuddle up to for warmth. But hey, you tried your best. At least you got to experience most of Winter Wrap-Up before things went catastrophically wrong!"

Tossing the cloth down, Dusk turned his head to look at the dragoness and shook his head. "Oh, no. We aren't done. Applejack is expecting me. And I can't fail her. Not after everything else that's gone wrong today!"

Barb deflated, and gave him a little pout, pleading with him a little. "Well... then can I stay here and clean up the tub or something? I don't think I could take another trip out into the cold!"

Dusk glared back at her, and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You were down to a single coat. It's not the cold that has you making excuses, Barb. Admit it, you think I'm going to mess up again, don't you?"

Embarrassed, Barb wouldn’t meet his gaze, instead staring at her feet and kicking the bathroom rug absently. "I just... I don't wanna see you this upset anymore, Dusk."

Slipping from the tub and pulling on a towel, Dusk set his face in stone and put a hand on Barb’s shoulder. "Then be my cheerleader, my number one assistant! Together we can do this, right?"

Looking up at him, Barb got a dreamy look in her eye and gave him a big grin. "Right! Whatever I can do! After all, I am the world’s best assistant!"

Friday, March 24th, 1701 AFE. Applejack’s Farm. 11:30am.

Dusk unbuttoned the top horn button that kept the collar on the cotton shirt closed, running his finger around his neck to help it breathe. "I know AJ bought this shirt for me, Barb, but do you have any clue why they include a top button too tight to comfortably wear when the rough spun cotton is rubbing against your throat with every step? And what is this pattern called? Dark red patches with random green streaks?"

Barb, clearly amused by his choice of topic to focus on instead of the wake of disaster he had built up over the day, laughed a little, rolling her eyes sarcastically before answering. "Well, first: I've never seen AJ wear her shirt buttoned up to the collar, and you always seemed to enjoy that fact. Maybe you aren't supposed to do up the last few buttons. Second: I think Rarity called it Shepherd's Check, but I've no clue what Applejack might call it. Probably comfortable."

Giving her a momentary cross glare, Dusk couldn't help himself, and clapped his hands together. "Alright, that I can agree with. Now let's try to start today again, properly this time!"

Giving Barb a scratch behind the ear as they resumed walking, Dusk let the resilient cotton shirt do its job, enjoying how light but protective the shirt was, even against occasional cold gusts as a group of busy pegasi passed overhead.

If the coming of spring wasn't obvious inside Ponyville, the moment he passed the southern gate, it was shocking just how much they'd already cleared back from the main road south.

While not every field had been cleared, judging by eye alone, Dusk could already tell they'd cleared every field on both sides of the path at least 700 feet back from the path. Possibly even 750 feet if he'd been paying proper attention to Surprise, when she had been drilling the Wonderbolt Cadets on how to accurately estimate distance while they hunted the dragon in the fall.

The sudden sound of whistling broke Dusk’s concentration, and he had to look around to find the source. From the south, nearly too far away for him to see clearly, came a few shapes he could hardly make out in the fields to the west of the road. As they continued to approach, he could finally begin to identify some details.

Roseluck was pulling a dirt plow via a yoke across her shoulders, cutting into the dirt and leaving several lines for seeding as they marched on. Behind her came Golden Harvest, pulling a cart, with at least three foals sitting on the hitch. Heavy bags of seed filled the cart, and the foals were carefully sprinkling the seeds as they jabbered away with youthful joy.

"Oh, of course! They plow the road clear and plant some flood resistant plants along the road! That way they have time to seed whatever fields need the most time to grow first! It all makes sense now! They probably won't be plowing the snow from Applejack’s orchard, but their wheat fields. The orchard can soak up most of the snow melts after all." Proud of his revelation, Dusk grinned down at Barb. "So, think they'll ask us to help with seeding? I’m sure that's something I can't mess up!"

Barb rolled her eyes and poked a finger in his belly. "You? No way! You’re way too big to sit on the cart hitch. Maybe they'll ask me, I'm not much bigger than most of the foals."

Somehow feeling his pride had been poked, Dusk turned up his chin and marched on. "We shall see about that, Barb!"

The rest of their walk was mostly quiet, save the occasional wave to the passing teams of ponies plowing up the dirt and planting seeds. Much to Dusk's relief, it became clear there were at least a dozen teams working to seed both sides of the road, meaning each simply went at their own pace, meaning you never knew what face would pass next.

Approaching the freshly painted gate of Sweet Apple Acres, Dusk could guess what Big Mac must have been up to lately. Besides the gate's fresh paint, the farm yard had been plowed, and ruts in the half-mud half-frozen ground told him Granny Smith's hip had been bugging her again, since only her wheelchair left ruts like that. He could hear the distant sounds of what he could only estimate to be more than a hundred ponies at work, chatting away in easy conversation.

Cresting the hill between the apple orchard and the wheat fields, Dusk finally got a great view of the astounding work and impressive progress the veritable army of earth ponies had already made. Every farm he could see was outlined from his vantage point due to their plowed fields and cleared paths. Even as he watched, a hundred earth ponies crossed the Apple's wheat field, standing nearly shoulder-to-shoulder, pushing snow with steel bladed plows in a massive wave. Behind the line of adults, easily three dozen different, smaller plows followed, always grouped together in threes, picking up the small banks of snow that the army had missed, or that were created when somepony had gotten off pace and left a gap in the steel wall.

Far off, near the edge of sight, easily six kilometers away, he could see the building mound of snow that was clearly the destination for the snow from the Apple's farm. Overhead, he could barely make out Flitter and Cloudchaser directing a production line of pegasi, one team dive-bombed the growing snow bank with clouds, soaking up as much snow as the cloud could handle before passing the engorged clouds to a pony of the second team, who carried the fat clouds to the west, somewhere near the border with the Everfree. They returned with empty clouds, and gave them back to the first group, the process labor intensive, yet he couldn't see any snow piles at the other neighboring farms, proving the process worked.

Three fillies with smaller plows passed below the ridge of the hill he stood on, and Dusk recognized Apple Bloom and two of her classmates. Descending the hill to join the filly, Dusk called out. "Hey there, Apple Bloom! It must be good to see the farm ready for spring, right?"

The filly, looking up at him waved excitedly but kept pushing her plow in line with her classmates. "Oh! Dusk! But we’re way behind! Cousin Caramel and the team they sent with him haven't returned from the seed barn yet! And we gotta plow the dirt next, and then there’s-"

Laughing a little, Dusk matched the foals pace and gave Apple Bloom a squeeze on her shoulder. "Calm down, calm down. You're doing great, no reason to work yourself into a tizzy over nothing! How about I go talk to AJ and see if I can offer some help?"

Excited, the filly pointed to a makeshift repair area at the edge of the field. "AJ is over there with Aloe and Lotus. She's trying to fix a few of the busted plows while they run orders to keep everypony else working on schedule. Good luck, Dusk!"

Waving to the filly and turning towards the makeshift repair area, Dusk could see Aloe suddenly step out from under the tin roofed 'shed', turning towards the main road she took off at a run, going directly through the unplowed snow as if the knee-deep snow didn't bother her for a moment. As she disappeared into the distance, Lotus came jogging out from the great line of plows, waving at Dusk as she reached his side and slowed her pace. "Why hello, my dear Mr. Magistrate! You picked a good time to visit! We are just mopping up the snow before the dirt plowing starts! Half the team moves the plows to the next farm while the other half plow the dirt; much easier than the heavy snowplowing!"

Laughing at her playful creation of an odd nickname out of his title, Dusk pointed to some of the thin lines of snow that still needed cleaning up. "Well, hopefully Applejack has an extra plow to spare, I could use the exercise and it would be a pleasure to show I can help."

If he'd called for her, Applejack couldn't have come any faster, pushing one of the full-sized plows out of the 'shed' and into a thin line of snow that ran the border of the field. Busy with her own work, she gripped down at the wooden handle with both hands, hard enough to make the wood strain under her fierce grip. Walking the plow a few feet with only a mild grunt of effort, she gave a satisfied sigh and wiped the sweat of intense concentration from her brow, at last noticing his approach. "Dusk! It's about time you showed! I could've used your help repairing that buggering plow’s wheel! You could have just magicked the oil in place instead of me having to break off the bolts that had fused up!"

Laughing a little and holding Applejack's hand as she climbed out of the freshly repaired plow, Dusk enjoyed the smell of her hair as she leaned over him, and for a moment their eyes lingered-

Clearing her throat loudly and aggressively, Lotus cut in on the quiet moment. "Big Mac is taking a few of the stallions to bring the carts to the far side of the field to start loading up the plows, AJ. He wanted to let you know that once they move them to the next farm, they'll be heading to town to grab lunch from Mrs. Cake. Mac promised to see what was taking your cousin Carmel so long."

Their intimate moment destroyed, AJ and Dusk both snapped back into professional mode, Dusk taking his time to inspect the snow plow’s rather simple mechanics while Applejack walked off in a lazy circle with Lotus talking water tables, soil fertility, and other farm factors he simply filed away and registered in the back of his mind for proper digestion when he could reference the details he only half-understood with a good book on the topic.

"So wheat in the east half of the field, peas in the west. No problem AJ. I can keep an eye on everypony here. You gonna join Mac or go check up in town?"

Bored, Barb wandered into the makeshift shed, leaving Dusk alone to investigate the plow. An easy leap brought him over the side of the plow, and after feeling around for more mechanisms, he took a grip on the push bar. For a moment his feet sank into the loose snow in the holes AJ had left behind, and as he braced himself, Dusk found the plow as mobile as a rock no matter how hard he strained against the bar.

Stopping to pant for breath, the quiet, dry laughter of Granny Smith made Dusk's cheeks flush with embarrassment, before the ancient mare cracked a grin at him and wheeled her way to the side of the plow. "Don't take it personally, sonny, even if you'd remembered to turn off the brake, you're a unicorn. Not one unicorn in a thousand has the strength to push a steel snow plow, right?"

Looking around again, he found the hand brake switch, just behind the push bar, and flicked it to the open position, releasing the pressure that held the plow still. Giving the old mare a shrug, Dusk grinned. "No, most couldn't handle it, Granny. But give me a little faith! Applejack's been working with me for months. I simply have to try and help, right?"

Cuffing him on the shoulder quite a bit harder than Dusk felt was strictly necessary and laughing warmly at him, Granny gave him a wink. "Good for you, Dusk my boy. Do AJ proud and give it your best. Celestia willing, you might make it five feet before passing out!"

His cheeks now simply burning with embarrassment at Granny's version of wit, Dusk shifted his weight and found that he was simply too far from the push bar to get any proper leverage, leaving him with no progress for all his best effort. Freeing first one foot, then another, he stepped into the knee deep snow, closer to the bar to get a better angle and bit his lip, preparing to start all over again.

Leaning into the wooden bar, Dusk ground his foot into the loose snowpack, clenching his jaw as his foot sank ever deeper. His shoulder muscles bulged at the effort, straining to handle the weight, as he put all of his effort this year to use. After what felt like an eternity, his right foot found solid ground, nearly two feet below the snow, and at last found some purchase. Sweat beaded down his neck as he continued what now felt like a futile attempt to force the plow to move, driving his left foot deep into the snow a few feet in front of his already buried right foot.

A sudden cool pressure on his neck nearly made Dusk stop, but he ignored it, pressing against the unresponsive boulder of a plow. Applejack's bare hand squeezed his shoulder as she tried to get his attention. "Dusk, sugarcube, stop. The plows are just too heavy for you. We worked hard this summer, but you can't do it, so don't strain yourself, you'll pull a muscle!"

Unwilling to surrender, Dusk continued his futile battle with the stoic plow, hissing for breath between his teeth. "She's right, Dusk. Look at Apple Bloom. She's nearly a foot shorter than you and the plow they got her pushing is half the size, and you know she's stronger than you are already." Dusk ignored his own thoughts, and ordered them to refocus, like a griffon mid-hunt, on a single important point: The plow. Will. MOVE.

His left foot impacted with the ground beneath his body, finding purchase at last, and he recalled the long summer with Applejack. Hauling wood from deadfall trees, carrying apple barrels and loading the cart, dragging the wooden sledge plow across a fresh field to break the dirt. Hissing for breath, he leaned into the wooden bar, his fingers squeezing down and his eyes shutting, as he poured himself into this one single act.

A voice, familiar only because he had met its owner twice in the last 24 hours, called out. "By jove, is it... did he really get it moving? Jolly good show, Dusk!"

As if the newcomer's words were the last pound of pressure needed, Dusk felt the plow shudder at long last, and the wheels moved, reluctantly making the first shift of a quarter loop. Seizing the hint of momentum, Dusk ripped his trailing right foot from the snow, pressing forward on his leading left, and plunged his right into the gap in the snowbank that the plow had finally cleared.

Dusk heard AJ's proud whistle, and Apple Bloom's voice cheering him on, but he ignored them, just as he ignored the jeers of the watching stallions, some going so far as to offer to help him with the heavy plow. His whole body tightening up with the effort, he pressed on, pushing the plow forward another foot, then two, finally able to at last free his now trailing left foot.

Already out of breath, and his muscles straining with the effort, it wasn't until Dusk looked back at Granny Smith as she called out at him that he realized he had made it nearly twenty feet already. "One unicorn in a thousand couldn't do that, Dusk. Guess that's why my lil' AJ likes you. You're one in a million." Winking at him playfully, the old mare cackled with laughter and wheeled back towards the farmhouse.

Shaking his head and putting one foot before the other, Dusk pushed on, glad the old mare seemed to be joking with him. "I'm glad she likes me. I get the feeling she'd make life hard for me and AJ if she didn't." Looking down at the snow, Dusk made some quick calculations, ignoring the burning pain in his back, a few inches below his shoulder blades. "If I'm estimating this right, I've got another 900 yards to go. My lungs are on fire and now everypony from Applejack to Derpy's renter, Time Turner, is watching to see if I can make it to the end of the field. Am I just creating my own disasters now?"

In the distance, Dusk heard Barb hop onto the roof of Apple Bloom's plow and begin cheering him on again. Blushing once more, he leaned onto the push bar, and turned off his brain to the pain in his muscles. "880 yards to go. Just remember: every single step counts."

Author's Notes:

With Winter Wrap-Up finally going in Dusk's favor, what comes next? See you soon for Part 4!

Hey guys, sorry for the wait on this chapter! I just kinda got into a rut of writing two or three paragraphs a day and never really managed to break out of it. I hope you all enjoy, and that I can produce the next chapter a little more timely.

As always, I look forward to your comments, critiques and concerns!