Winter Wrap Up

"Ponyville was started by Earth Ponies, so for hundreds of years, they never used magic to clean up winter. It's traditional..."

- Twilight Sparkle

Winter Wrap Up is the eleventh episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, season one. In this episode, winter comes to an end, and Ponyville prepares for an annual cleanup to make way for spring.

Episode summary
Every year, Ponyville takes part in the Winter Wrap Up, an annual "spring cleaning" community event where winter ends and spring is introduced. In this case, the ponies literally clean up winter to prepare for spring.

Long ago, the town was founded by the earth ponies, and as such, no magic was ever involved in the Winter Wrap Up. An eager Twilight Sparkle wanted to take part in this activity and was willing to keep the tradition by not using her unicorn magic.

The cleanup was divided into three teams: Weather, Animals, and Plants. However, Twilight could not find an appropriate team to work with. She volunteered to help Rainbow Dash and her flight crew, but she lacked the wings to take off. She then decided to help Rarity with nest-weaving for the birds guided back from the south, but the one she made left a lot to be desired. She left to find another line of work while her elegant friend tried to fix the nest.

She soon met Pinkie Pie on the frozen lakes, where she found out the energetic pony was an expert skater. She had been tasked with scoring the ice so that it would melt more easily when the weather pegasi brought out the sun. Twilight tried to help, but she lacked the balance and finesse to ice skate without falling.

Twilight then decided to assist Fluttershy with waking all the animals from hibernation. She seemed to have an easy job ahead of her, until she was scared by a den of snakes. Panicked, she ran into a cave of bats, got stung by bees, and was sprayed by skunks. While Twilight was busy cleaning herself up, Spike suggested that she break her "no-magic" promise so her work would be easier. However, she insisted on keeping her promise.

That changed when she helped Applejack and the plant team with clearing the snow from the fields in order to prepare for seed planting. Despite her best efforts, she could not muster the physical strength to push a snow plow. Taking Spike's earlier suggestion, she decided to use a small amount of her power to move it. Unfortunately, the spell she cast soon lost control, resulting in an even bigger mess than before. Applejack berated Twilight for her use of magic, who ran off in tears.



With no options left, Twilight chose to stay out of the way until the Winter Wrap Up was over, but she soon learned that everyone in Ponyville was not faring much better. Applejack wanted the snow quickly melted for seeding, but Fluttershy wanted to clear the animal homes beforehand. The ice covering the lakes was not melting quickly due to poor scoring. Rarity was so focused on fixing Twilight's nest, she had fallen far behind her minimum quota. And somehow, a member of Dash's team had gone north to guide back the southern birds. The Mayor of Ponyville lamented that her motivational speech from earlier had fallen on deaf ears. It appeared that Ponyville would finish their Winter Wrap-up late. To Twilight's surprise, this was not the first time the town had been late in cleaning up winter, with similar issues plaguing past years. At this point, the unicorn remembered her one other talent besides magic: organization. She broke up the argument and volunteered to guide everyone in their tasks.

With careful planning and teamwork, the residents of Ponyville were finally able to finish their work on time. Thanks to her exceptional leadership skills, Twilight Sparkle was designated 'All-Team Organizer' as the town's pony populace celebrated their accomplishment.

Twilight learned that everyone has hidden talents, and if they're patient and diligent, they'll find them. Also, she learned that everyone can accomplish anything when they work together and treat each other as friends.

Notable story points

 * Twilight Sparkle learned about the Winter Wrap Up event.
 * Twilight earned the title of "All-Team Organizer" for organizing the event.

Notable events

 * Twilight is learned to have both fear in snakes and bats.
 * Twilight goes into emotional breakdown after being scolded.
 * Pinkie Pie is learned to be an exceptional ice skater.

Quotes

 * Spike: (after Twilight wakes him up) Huh? Mommy?
 * Twilight Sparkle: Winter Wrap-Up!
 * Spike: ...You're not mommy.


 * Twilight Sparkle: Scarf? Check. Saddle? Check. Boots? Check. 'Spike refusing to get up and go back to sleep'? Check. It's a good thing I'm so organized. I'm ready!


 * Spike: (referring to Twilight's nest) That nest needs to be condemned!
 * Rarity: Oh Spike... It's not so bad. Maybe the birds can use it as a...
 * Spike: An outhouse?


 * Spike: (laughing) You ARE a natural Twilight...a natural DISASTER!


 * Pinkie Pie: I'm sure my first time was just as wobbly and bobbly and crasherific as yours.
 * Twilight Sparkle: Really?
 * Pinkie Pie: ...No.


 * Applejack: Nuts Twilight, you used magic.
 * Spike: The nerve. Can you believe her?
 * Applejack: That's not how we do it 'round here, Twilight, and especially not on MAH farm.
 * Twilight Sparkle: Well, see, I just wanted to... (goes into emotional breakdown and runs away crying)


 * Spike: You're good at a lot of things... Just not nest-making... Ice-skating... Animal waking... snow clearing...
 * Twilight Sparkle: (sarcastic) Thanks a lot for making me feel sooo much better.
 * Spike: That's what I'm here for, sister.

Gallery



 * Complete image gallery for Winter Wrap Up.

Trivia

 * The episode title is based on the event of the same name, which is the central plot of the episode.
 * The musical number in this episode was the biggest and most elaborate yet, featuring parts for all six main pony characters (until the season finale The Best Night Ever's musical number). The sequence was leaked to Youtube a month before the episode aired by the series composer. Without context for the song's lyrics, fans spent weeks speculating as to what the song was about.
 * While the weather and plant teams were led by main characters, the animal team was led by a background pony, despite the fact that both Fluttershy and Rarity were on the team. The character has been given the fan name "Sparkler."
 * Cherry and Cheerilee are both seen on both the plant team and the animal team.
 * Bon-Bon is seen on all three teams. In one scene, she is seen helping both the plant and animal teams simultaneously.
 * While the team vests are introduced, Linky is seen wearing a team leaders vest – although Applejack is the real leader of the plant team.
 * This is the only episode to see Twilight Sparkle go into a emotional breakdown after being scolded. This is however due to her breaking her vow to her friends and making things worse.
 * Tomato juice does not remove skunk odor. Rather, it helps mask it for those forced to smell it over a long time.
 * During the Winter Wrap Up song, pegasus ponies are on the roofs of other ponies, holding out shovels with their hooves. However, most things are held by using magic or their snout because of lack of opposable thumbs.
 * When the song is playing, Cheerilee is seen with only 3 legs due to an animation error.
 * Also, during the first chorus, Rarity is seen as closer to the viewer than Doctor Whooves, despite being further away (as seen by their shadows).
 * In one scene, a pony tells Rainbow Dash, "Ditzy-Doo accidentally went North to get the Southern birds"! Ditzy-Doo is believed to be Derpy Hooves. She may have went the wrong way due to her Lazy Eye (being cross eyed) or dyslexia.
 * In the beginning of the episode when Twilight walks out there is no snow for some reason.
 * Twilight's 'come to life' spell which she used on the snow plow is possibly a reference to Walt Disney's Fantasia.
 * Right before Twilight's finale in the musical number, you can find clones of Cherry, Bon-Bon, Daisy, and Berry Punch.