[Solo] Seasonal Solos for Seasonal Stall - Spring Edition

[Bluedemonwolf]

Going to do one thread for all of my solos for the Seasonal Stall and just for spring the Spring Hare Party. Copying the two prompts for that here for ease of access for myself. Each post will be a different solo and different pony.

Another note to self - each solo needs to be at least 250 words but can be more than that.

Prompt 1 -
Spring is finally here! Well, for a corner of Everchange it's always spring, it always is, but Dream Valley goes through all the seasons, and spring has sprung!

Ponies everywhere are celebrating it in various ways. How does your pony celebrate it?

Prompt 2 -
Ah! There are hares everywhere, and they're... dropping colored eggs around Dream Valley? Seems like Spira wants to have an egg hunt and has asked the local population to help! Describe an experience finding one of these colorful eggs!

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

Prompt 1 -

Spring had sprung in Dream Valley and Boid was all for it. Birds were out and singing, little critters scampered around here and there, and flowers were beginning to bloom! Boid was so happy he had chosen to come to Dream Valley to visit a quaint little town at this time. There was nothing better than getting to experience spring in all of its glory while taking a little vacation. Okay.... the fresh bread he was munching on might be considered better than that but he figured it was part of the experience and only enhanced this lovely spring morning.

Deciding that a stroll through the well kept park was the best way to celebrate spring he made his way through town to the park. Sure there were no leaves on the trees just yet but if you looked closely you could spot some buds starting to appear. Plus the grass was starting to turn a nice bright, alive green and flowers in the flower beds were starting to poke their heads up through the soil. Taking his time on his walk he examined every little sign of spring he encountered. He stopped frequently to enjoy the birdsong as small birds hopped around on the ground looking for worms or flew to the trees with small sticks and other nest materials. He also got stopped a few times by some hares crossing his path. Some seemed to be on a mission of some sort while others were playing games and just happened to wander out of the wooded areas onto the path. He smiled at every creature he saw which at times seemed to freak some of them out. Maybe it was the sharp teeth he had.

Nothing could put a damper on his mood, not even a sudden yet short spring shower. The cool rain began to lightly fall in a mist before becoming a light rain. He moved towards a covered picnic area to take shelter. Reaching the covered area he stepped into that space just as the rain became a down pour. It didn't last long, a few minutes at most, before the heavy rain turned back into a light mist. Within ten minutes the rain was done and soon birds began to sing and flock to the grass to hunt up the worms coming up from the ground.

Boid watched the birds for a while, his little smoke wisps moving lazily around his neck and legs. He loved listening to the birds and watching them as they went about finding food or materials to make a nest with. Finally ready to go back to his walk, Boid left the picnic area and went back onto the path. He only had a short walk through one of the wooded areas before he had finished the trail through the park. It wouldn't take long and once he was done with that he'd go back into town to where he was staying and would see if the little cafe next door had any good tea and baked goods. A scone or two sounded absolutely wonderful right now! With a small smile on his face he began to walk along the path with his new destination in mind. (wc: 538)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

Momijigari was enjoying a nice, relaxing day at home in Harvest Town. Their Lotoise companion was outside sunning himself out on the small pond. They had heard about how spring was starting in Dream Valley, in fact they had received an offer from a co-worker to go with them on a spur of the moment vacation to Dream Valley, but they had turned them down. Spring was nice and all but Momijigari much preferred fall and didn't really feel up to going on a trip right now. Plus he'd have to find a sitter for Peeper who didn't care for being separated from Momijigari.

So instead of going away for a vacation they opted to stay home for a little stay-cation. Much nicer and also gave them plenty of time to do some cleaning in honor of spring cleaning. They cleaned out the pond with the help of Peeper and got the yard raked. Just in time for some more leaves to fall off the trees and cover the ground again with leaves. Which didn't bother him in the least. He enjoyed the colored leaves on the trees and on the ground. It was fun to rake them into piles and jump in them with Peeper.

Once the outside was cleaned up Momijigari took a break to have some lunch. They'd go back out and play with Peeper some before doing some cleaning inside. It was the inside cleaning that they were dreading. But if they did at least part of it today then they wouldn't have so much to do the next day. Plus once all the cleaning was done then they could relax for the rest of their vacation. Munching on their salad they figured the chore they'd start with today would be cleaning the kitchen. They could do their lunch dishes and then turn to cleaning countertops, cupboards, and the fridge. With that decided they finished their lunch, rinsed their dishes before setting them in the sink, and moved towards the back door. Cleaning would come after playing with Peeper, which for Momijigari was more important than any chores. (wc: 352)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

It was late at night and Miyako was outside enjoying the warmer nights of spring in Dream Valley. While they weren't super warm or hot, they were warmer than the cold temperatures of winter. The sky was clear with no clouds in sight, making it a perfect night for star gazing. She was laying on her back so she could gaze up at the night sky. Picking out various different constellations she tested her knowledge of the night sky.

She found another constellation, the kitsune, when she heard a noise. Pulling her gaze from the sky she looked around. She didn't see anything at first but then spotted an upside down hare jumping through the grass carrying a small basket in it's mouth. Rolling over onto her stomach she watched the hare stop by a tree stump and pull something out of the basket. It placed the item by the base of the stump before hopping away.

Curious as to what the hare was doing out this late, Miyako got up and walked over the stump. By the time she reached it the hare had disappeared into some taller grass. Reaching out to grab the item by the stump Miyako grabbed an egg in her paw and held it up. The starlight and the moon showed that the egg was colored but it was currently too dark out to make out the exact color. Miyako wondered why a hare was out so late hiding eggs but with the hare gone she had no way to find out. With a small shrug she decided to just keep the egg for now and return to her star gazing. Maybe tomorrow she'd be able to ask someone about the hares and eggs. (wc: 289)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

Today was the day! The day of adventure! Or well the day that Storm Surge was going to go out of their comfort zone and go on an adventure..... to the nearby city so they could hit up a store that was doing a limited time release on some sweets. If anything could pull Storm Surge out to a mostly unknown city it was sweets.

Making sure their bandanna was tied on tightly they fixed their hair and then grabbed their backpack. They fortunately had a ride to get to the city quickly but that was it. It was on them to find their way through the city, to the bakery, and to secure the sweets. Afterwards their ride would meet them at the bakery to take them back home. Simple..... right?

The ride to the city didn't take long and Storm Surge waved goodbye to their friend as they left. "Okay.... I've got this. I just gotta find the bakery and get those limited time sweets. Let's see... I packed a map in my bag before I left." They muttered to themselves. They moved off to the side and swung their bag around so they could open it to find the map. Digging through the big main pocket they didn't immediately find the map. Okay... maybe they put it in another pocket. They checked each pocket in the bag, steadily becoming more nervous and frantic. Where was the map!? They packed it, right?!

After going through the bag several times, just stopping short of dumping everything out onto the ground, they realized that no they did not pack the map. They must have grabbed it, set it down on the side table by the front door, and got distracted before placing it into the bag. Closing up their bag they fought to not panic, to not start hyperventilating over this small setback. After taking a few deep breaths they decided to go off of memory. They had memorized the address and the route to take from the drop off point after all! The map was just to be additional insurance, or at least that's what they told themselves.

Looking around they got their bearings and began to head in the direction they needed to go. It was straight up this road for 3 blocks, turn left and go 4 blocks, and then..... oh no.... what came after that?! "No need to panic... you'll remember... yeah once you get to the point you last remember you'll know what direction you need to go from there.... yeah... you've got this. It's... just an adventure... yeah..." They muttered to themselves in an attempt to pep themselves up.

The walk didn't take terribly long, the worst part was all of the hoof traffic on the sidewalks, to get to the point Storm Surge last remembered. They looked around at the intersection and was unsure if they needed to go right or left. It didn't make sense to back the way they came or to continue straight. They had to make a turn after going those 4 blocks. They looked from left to right, unsure of which way to go. Surely it was to turn right and go a block and then it should be nearby. That sounded right. Going left didn't sound right or really make sense as to why they would have needed to go the 4 blocks after that left turn instead of 3.

Figuring they were correct to turn right and go a block they went in that direction. Reaching the end of the block they looked at the street name but it didn't seem familiar to them. Maybe they needed to go another block? Yeah that seemed right. After all the street they needed, Fernway Avenue, should be in this direction. Reaching the next street they saw that that were instead at Ferrisway Road. Storm Surge's heart sank as they realized that they had no clue where they were or how to get to the bakery they were looking for. They were lost!

Starting to tear up they looked around but all of the city folks just marched right along either not paying attention to Storm Surge or shooting them a dirty look. Soon the tears began to flow and they just sat down with a sob. Adventures were stupid! Why did they ever want to come to this city for an adventure!? They knew this was going to happen if they came to such a big city. Fortunately for Storm Surge a passing pony stopped to check on them.

"Are you okay dear? What's got you all upset?" The pony asked with a concerned look on her face.

"I was trying to find Fernway Avenue to get to the Biscuit's Delight Bakery and I forgot the way and I left my map back at home and this was supposed to be a fun adventure but now it's ruined!" She cried, "And now I won't be able to get home because I can't find the bakery which is where I'm supposed to meet up with my friend who's my ride home." When the concerned pony motioned that they should move off to the side, Storm Surge sniffled and moved out of the middle of the sidewalk.

"There there... why didn't you ask someone for directions? Any of the store clerks here would be happy to help you. And good news for you dear, you're not terribly off track. You just needed to take a turn left two blocks back after crossing the street. About halfway down the block is Fernway Avenue. It's a little tricky for first timers since it looks like it cuts a block in half since the side we're on is actually a double block."

Storm Surge listened as the kind pony explained how to get to Fernway Avenue and basically said it was okay to ask for directions from strangers. "I...I didn't think to go inside any buildings to ask for directions and every pony on the street seemed too busy or mean to help." They explained a little sheepishly. The kind pony just tsk tsk'd them while shaking her head. "But thank you for your help. I should be able to find my way now." They waved goodbye to the kind pony and headed back two blocks. Looking down the block it did seem to be longer than the ones they had walked previously.

Crossing the road to the other side they made it to Fernway Avenue. From there they found the bakery and was disappointed to find out that all of the limited edition sweets had sold out. They were able to get some other baked goods that sounded delicious so they ate that while they waited for their friend to pick them up. Maybe this adventure wasn't all that they wanted and had a turn for the worst at one point but it had ended up okay in the end. (wc: 1158)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

Spring was here! Which meant busy days ahead for Blooming Hearts. She had a lot on her plate with Hearts' Gardening: making sure she had enough plants and flowers ordered, enough gardening supplies in stock, and enough workers to keep everything flowing and growing. The garden center had needed some cleaning and repairs after being closed for the winter but that was taken care of pretty quickly. The flower shop attached to it didn't need anything major done for the start of the spring season since it had been opened over the winter.

Finishing up placing an order for some more supplies Blooming Hearts shut off her computer and looked around her office. So far everything was lined up and in order for a good opening of the garden center in a couple of weeks. It had been delayed due to the repairs that needed to be done but since they finished them a little early it meant that the opening didn't have to be delayed for a long period of time.

Heading out of the office she did a final check on the state of the building and things. The greenhouse area with the already flowering plants was nice and warm and also where her companion, Fluer, was hanging out. "Okay Fluer. Time to head home. I've got some spring cleaning to do there so we can get ready to plant our garden." The Fae chimed a soft bell noise to acknowledge she heard and understood before floating over to Blooming Hearts.

The two left the greenhouse and made their way back home. Once home Fluer floated over towards the house plants which is where she typically hung out when at home. Making sure that the Fae was content and didn't need anything from her, Blooming Hearts headed out towards the back shed. She'd need some of her gardening tools to do her spring garden cleanup, which was her yearly spring celebration. She loved cleaning up her garden and planning what was going to go in it each year.

Grabbing the tools she moved towards the vegetable garden which would be her goal for the rest of the day. She'd get that all cleaned up, tilled, and ready for some fertilizer to be spread and seeds or seedlings planted. While she was cleaning she'd think about what she was going to plant this year; some peppers and tomatoes were a yearly vegetable that always appeared but this year she was thinking about adding in some carrots and potatoes.

It took her the rest of the day to finish cleaning and prepping the vegetable garden. Returning her tools to her shed she finalized her mental list of vegetables to grow: green peppers, tomatoes, carrots, corn, lettuce, and peas. She decided to not do potatoes this year. She wanted to expand the vegetable garden and also start a herb garden so she didn't want to start off with too many plants. Heading back inside she went to clean up before sitting down for dinner. She couldn't wait to tell her mates about her gardening plans over dinner tonight. (wc: 517)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

Charna moved quickly after hearing word about a herd of Hares helping to stage an egg hunt this spring. Getting pictures of the Hares as they hid eggs would be one of the greatest pictures she could take this season. Making sure she had her camera and plenty of film she finished checking and packing her camera bag. She had several different lenses, batteries galore, and even a digital camera just in case something happened to her old film camera. She much preferred taking pictures on film and developing it rather than using the digital camera.

Slinging the camera bag around her she headed out the door with her Nanny, Faigal. While she was no longer a foal the Nanny stuck to her side majority of the time and did her best to try and anticipate what Charna would need. "Let's go find some Hares, Faigal!" Charna said happily as they left home. They'd focus in the more obvious spots like the park or the town square. Charna figured that the Hares would be more likely to be found in spots where there were more ponies which meant that the eggs would be more likely to be found.

Reaching the town square, everything was basically business as usual. Some ponies were looking for eggs already but most were leaving that to the foals and younger ponies. Taking her camera out of the bag Charna began to snap some photos of the town square. She wasn't focused on just taking pictures of the ponies there but also of the landscape and scenery the square offered.

As she was looking through her camera lens she spotted some movement to the right and swung the camera in that direction. It was by instinct that she was already snapping pictures of the moment. A young foal had been searching for some eggs and stuck their head through a bush and was now facing Charna and the Hare directly in front of their face. The Hare looked startled with one leg held out with an egg. It must have been placing the egg down on the ground when the foal popped out of the bush startling the Hare. Charna wished she could get a shot of what the Hare looked like as it's expression must have been priceless.

The moment ended as the foal just reached out and grabbed the egg from the Hare before disappearing back into the bush with a cry of glee. The Hare's head moved down as if to look at it's paw in a 'what the heck just happened' (or at least that's what Charna thought it was thinking). It stayed that way for a moment longer before hopping away. Charna took a couple more pictures as the Hare left, pleased that she had captured such a great moment.

The rest of the day wasn't as eventful as that earlier moment. Charna had been approached a couple of times by some families asking if she could take their photo for them. She was happy to oblige and got their information so she could send them the developed picture when it was done. As dusk began to fall Charna packed up her camera bag and walked over to where Faigal was standing. "I think we're done for the day. Maybe tomorrow we can check out one of the parks to see if we can get anymore good photos." With that the two headed back home where Charna would unpack all of her used film so she could set it aside to develop another day. (wc: 593)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

Ah spring was here which meant lots of ponies out and about for robbing, either robbing houses or pick-pocketing a passing pony. Cassidy enjoy any chance she got to rob any pony. Upon hearing of the egg hunt going on in Dream Valley, Cassidy perked up. Sure she could just take the eggs that were hidden or even steal them from a Hare that was hiding them but that was too easy (never mind it might make Spira upset and send out guards to search for her and her gang). Instead she opted the steal the eggs from unsuspecting ponies. She'd let them do all of the work, swoop in and steal the eggs, and flee into the night.

With her very loose plan made Cassidy went into action. She started out by staking out basic spots where eggs were being hidden that lots of ponies could visit and gather at. From there she'd picked out a few targets to steal eggs from. One of those targets happened to be a foal, or perma-foal (she wasn't sure since she couldn't see the charm from her hiding spot), who happened to have gathered quite a few eggs. Nothing like stealing candy from a baby... or well eggs from a foal in this case.

When the basket of gathered eggs was full, the foal set it down near a blanket and went off with the two adults that was with them. Looked like they were off to get more eggs or another basket or something and felt that their things were safe enough in this semi crowded park. Cassidy left her hiding spot and walked over to the blanket and basket as if she belonged to that group. She had found if you walk and act like you have a purpose then most ponies didn't question you or think twice about any otherwise suspicious actions you may take. Picking up the basket she looked at the eggs, gave a nod as if the inspection of the eggs went well, and just walked off. Everyone else was too busy hunting for eggs to really take note of the theft and Cassidy went home with none the wiser. (wc: 364)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

Hilja was so glad that spring had come and that Spira had organized this huge egg hunt for ponies to do if they wanted. It was so much better than going on ghost hunts! Being outside and in the sunshine was more of her speed versus being out in the dark at night. She had decided to take a break from the ghost hunts her friends made her do, stating she needed a vacation and had lots of spring cleaning to do. Which was part truth and part lie. She did need a vacation and had some spring cleaning but nothing like what she made it sound like. While on her vacation she had discovered the egg hunt and decided she was all in on that.

With a basket in tow Hilja left her house and was immediately confronted with a Hare that was hiding an egg in her bushes. "Uh.... thanks?" She said as the Hare jumped away leaving the egg behind. She grabbed the egg and put it in her basket. She gave a small shrug and just figured she was off to a good start.

Walking around her neighborhood and in town she ended up finding so many eggs that were out in the public spaces. Some were just in some grass, some in trees, and others were 'hidden' in plain sight like on a bench. She loved the various colors and patterns on the eggs with her favorite being a soft blue egg with purple stripes on it.

Once her basket was full she decided to head home. On her way back she spotted a foal that was trying to reach an egg that was up higher on a fence separating the sidewalk from a park. Walking over she easily plucked the out of reach egg and handed it to the foal. The foal smiled at her happily and ran off with the egg. Not a word was said and soon the foal had disappeared from sight. Hilja got a sudden chill and shivered wondering what the heck had caused it. Unsure of what had happened she continued on her way home. It was only when she got home that she realized that the foal she had seen had been eerily similar to a supposed ghost sighting in that area. (wc: 384)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

With spring coming to Dream Valley, Sir Brennus had a lot to do to prep for it. Since he was the duke of Downy Heights, a position that was more like a permanent mayor, he was always busy with something or another. For spring it was the various spring celebrations and the prepping of the local animals that produced the wool that Downy Heights was known for. There was a big shearing contest and then there was all of the births that he was expected to 'bless'.

Today's agenda was about the opening ceremony for a new shop that was going to be opening. It was a specialized beauty shop which would hopefully be a big hit for all of the ladies in Downy Heights. The ribbon cutting was to happen in a few hours so he had some time before he had to head over. Later after that ceremony was done he was to head up to the farms and check on the expecting mothers and also on how the various sheep and other farm animals had held up through the winter.

When he thought he had a few moments to himself he would read or start cleaning his office or home. It seemed to be about the only time he could do those things unless he took a vacation, which he was always loathed to do. So he took advantage of these few hours to tidy up his office for a little bit of spring cleaning. Looking at the paintings on the wall and various pictures he considered if he should maybe update the look of his office. Maybe paint the walls a different color or get some different furniture? Hmmm maybe a different color for the walls would be just the thing. Bright up the office and make it look more inviting. The furniture wasn't all that old other than the desk. Supposedly it was the desk from one of the very first dukes of Downy Heights so it wasn't something that he wanted to get rid of.

A pony stuck her head into his office after a couple of hours and flashed him a smile. "Time to head over for the ribbon cutting ceremony Sir Brennus." She said before disappearing back out of the office.

Sir Brennus gave a nod, quickly checked himself to make sure his fluff wasn't in terrible shape, and walked out. It would be a short walk over to the new shop where he'd give a small speech, cut the ribbon, and take some pictures. "Thank you very much." He said to his secretary, "I'll be back a little later." With that he was out of the building and heading down the road. It was never really a slow day for Sir Brennus and the city of Downy Heights. (wc: 467)

 

[Bluedemonwolf]

Dandy Leon was out in his greenhouse tending to his various flowers. He also had seedlings started so once the weather turned warmer he'd be able to take them out to his various flower beds and get his flower gardens going. He had big plans this year on how his yard and flower gardens would look. He had some quite a lot of work in the fall to prep things including building up raised beds and areas as well as putting in a rock garden.

He was excited for spring to be here so he could go nuts on his gardening which would also give him lots of different places to hold little tea parties or tea times. He did love holding a tea time in his greenhouse but changing the scenery, even if it was still in his yard somewhere, really helped to keep things fresh and new. So making sure he had lots of different flowers to put out and make different areas of the yard look completely different from another spot was key to his plan this year.

So far the seedlings were doing quite well, some were still little sprouts while others would soon need to be transplanted either into a bigger temporary pot or out into the ground if it was warm enough. His usual greenhouse flowers that couldn't leave the greenhouse were doing great save for the one he had tried to hybridize over the winter. It was really struggling to grow and bloom for quite some time. He was probably going to have to reach out to some of his contacts in his gardening community to get some advice. Maybe he had done something wrong or perhaps it just wasn't a good combo of flowers to hybridize.

Finishing up with misting his flowers, Dandy left the greenhouse and headed towards his house. He'd go over his notes he had made about the hybrid flower and then put out a call for help about it. Well he'd do that after brewing some tea to drink while he poured over his notes and added in today's observations. (wc: 352)