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Post by fluttershy on Feb 16, 2012 19:25:32 GMT -5
An early start was probably an understatement - Fluttershy had been up since before dawn preparing her non-hibernating friends for the day ahead. Her schedule was jam-packed all day, so they'd have to be comfortable without her for the time being.
The pastel-toned mare quickly cantered her way away from the main square, having received her first task of the day. Waking the critters - honestly, she saw that coming. That was the first task of every winter wrap-up. Still, not every pony was a Ponyville regular, so Fluttershy could understand why others would need reminding. Herself, she'd been eagerly awaiting the bulk of the day. As the snow shifted beneath her hooves, the pegasus couldn't help but wonder how the ground and weather teams were going to clear it all this year. They'd had much more snow than last time around!
"I wonder who is helping me this year," the mare mused quietly, briefly glancing around at the crowd of volunteers. There were no restrictions on joining the animal team, after all.
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Post by clouddreamer on Feb 16, 2012 21:12:46 GMT -5
Cloudy was absolutely thrilled for Winter Wrap Up to come this year. For the second time she was actually excited for the day. This was all because Cloudy had her own job. She had made it up herself, tried it out the previous year, and found she could do it. Last year it was unofficial and only a handful of ponies came to her, but this year it was official, she even had her own purple vest with a black question mark for the symbol.
Her job was Problem Solver. A sort of a tech support. She wasn't in charge of ordering teams around, but helping them with their problems. Minor problems were was Cloudy was best at, more major problems she was going to try and get used to. Though Cloudy knew only information from a few books on plants, animals, and weather that she had read for Winter Wrap Up, she believed that the want to help and creativity were just as important at solving problems, so that was the job she made.
Having arrived early so she could get a spot outside the town hall for her to use, the blue pony now stood near the podium looking around at all the different ponies. She couldn't help but smile. There was something about everypony coming together that was just so amazing.
Seeing Fluttershy, a team captain and someone who the unicorn was friendly with, Cloudy waved. She wanted to make sure all the team captains knew her and her job so they would send ponies to her.
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Post by gingersnap on Feb 17, 2012 16:15:49 GMT -5
The chocolate mare bounded over the snow drifts with a look of disdain. Ponyville was starting to buzz with activity and GingerSnap couldn't have been more happy. Winter Wrap up was here! No more cold frozen hooves, no more tricky snow to deal with or ice. Best of all plants were setting themselves free of their tiny seeds and prime for the picking for her recipes. A grin spread across her face and she headed towards the town hall her green eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Already a crowd has formed in the main square, chatting among themselves, Ginger's heart began to sink. She had never been part of a Winter Wrap Up before, she wondered where her place would be in helping. Whatever would get this disgusting snow out of the way. Looking towards the podium where some of the more serious ponies focused their attention, a pale yellow pegasus and a blue unicorn stood. Clearing a small section of snow with her tail she sat on the cold ground awaiting instruction.
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Post by starshade on Feb 19, 2012 7:57:28 GMT -5
StarShade couldn't contain himself. If it were possible his smile would have gone up all the way to his ears as he giggled happily while trudging through the thick snow covering the path towards Ponyville's Town Hall.
StarShade had always imagined himself helping out in the Winter Wrap Up. The black unicorn had first read about Ponyville's yearly tradition in a magazine when he was a young foal back in Canterlot. The fact that everypony prepared the entire town for the coming of Spring without using magic had intrigued him for years, even more the part where the ponies would wake up hibernating animals. Being a cryptozoology nut, StarShade had done a thorough research about the entire events and confidently believes that he knows what he can and will do during the event. Now, the first thing he needs to do is find the right team captain.
"If I have gotten my facts right, this year's team leader for waking up the hibernating animals would be Fluttershy. She would be a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail, so it should not be too difficult for me to find her."
Making his way across the snow-covered ground and heading towards the town hall, the black unicorn turned his head repeatedly from left to right as he goes searching for his pegasus. After a few minutes, he finds her with a blue unicorn and a chocolate earthpony.
"I remember hearing that she is easily shocked and frightened. I should try not to surprise her too much, then."
He began approaching Fluttershy cautiously and silently, like a shadow which he already so much resembles. Fluttershy had her back turned to the black unicorn at that time so she probably didn't see him coming towards her from behind.
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Post by tongs on Feb 22, 2012 0:24:12 GMT -5
Rolling off the bench located just inside of the shop a tall and stocky soot covered mare planted her feet to the ground. Rubbing her bright red eyes as she yawnedWhat on Equestria is all this commotion? She froze for a moment then remembered. It had been a long night of replacing old rusted plows and forging new ones. Tongs had briefly remembered she had at least three more to shape, but couldn't remember if she had finished or not.
Looking around the morning lit blacksmith shop she found the newly made plows stacked neatly with each other. Bellows, her aging father, must have continued to work after she had unexpectedly fallen asleep. Her nostrils flared a bit now annoyed with herself for falling asleep on such an important assignment.
She shook her head sending her black and grey mane jingling with the bits of metal she had affixed to her ratted hair. The only type of vanity she would ever allow herself. As more ponies passed by the shop window she quickly summoned the cart with the reddish glow of her horn. As she then focused on loading she called up to the house over her head. Papa! We must hurry or we will be late for Winter Wrap Up!
An older lighter grey unicorn entered the shop carrying a small package of provisions a moment later. "And who's fault would that be Tongs?" he chuckled deeply, " 'Just resting your eyes a moment?' " Tongs turned and gave her father a moment of scowling as they both buckled themselves into the cart's harness, You shouldn't have let me sleep, Papa.You know how important today is, besides you shouldn't have finished up for me!
Bellows gave his only daughter a light kick, "You're welcome, Tongs my girl." and gave a quick pull before she could react. The grey unicorn bit back her retort and began pulling along side her father. She made a mental note that her father would need a sound scolding later on tonight.
Soon they had arrived in the main square and approached another group of stallions awaiting to start the plowing. She scanned the group looking for one of her brother hoping she wouldn't have another incident like last year. Her father looked towards the stage and smiled, "Looks like Fluttershy is captain this year, good for her." Tongs scoffed under her breath, That Pegasus probably couldn't even move a sack of flour.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2012 5:21:12 GMT -5
Strings walked down the road toward the town hall, on his way to the meeting for the annual Winter Wrap-Up. Much like a lot of Ponies, Strings greatly enjoyed the Winter Wrap-Up. On his way he was greeted by many ponies also on there way to the town hall, and a lot of them commented on the fact that he didn't have his guitar with him today, which he usually had strapped across his back. He decided not to bring it to the Wrap-Up, as it is very possible to break it.
He reached the town hall, and stood in the massive group of other ponies, waiting for instructions. He had a feeling that this years Wrap-Up was going to be the fastest yet, because since Twilight Sparkle reorganized the way that they do it, Ponyville had been getting quicker each year. Strings had worked in the weather team the last two years, and he thoroughly enjoyed that, so he was hoping to be doing the same thing again this year.
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Post by gingersnap on Mar 13, 2012 23:41:14 GMT -5
GingerSnap's ears felt frozen solid. No pony seemed to be moving much towards getting the Winter actually wrapped up. She had had enough of waiting, all ponies chattering around her. This was an important tradition in Ponyville! It needed to happen. With no sight of any pony taking action, Ginger quickly made her decision.
The little brown mare burst from her spot in the crowd and landed next to the podium. Giving her a moment to compose herself she shook her green mane back into its wavy shape and approached the podium.
GOOD MORNING EVERYPONY! She announced catching most of the gathered ponies' attention. Let's get this year's Winter Wrap Up Started!After seeing the amount of confused looks at her sudden takeover, a wave of nervousness made her voice tremble.
I'm from Hoofington, not to far from here...But we need to get this going so I'm taking over to get things started! Ginger Snap smiled nervously seeing some ponies shrug and others listening. If you know what team you are one please make sure you have your team vest! Blue for weather cleanup! That includes the ice scorers for the lakes and ponds! She paused reaching into the box next to her she fished out a green vest. For the Plant team, Green is your color! Their responsibilities include plowing the snow from the fields and making sure all seeds get planted afterward!
Some ponies had already begun dispersing as Ginger wriggled into her green vest. For the animal teams, please grab a tan vest and start GENTLY waking up the hibernating animals. A couple ponies gave her still confused looks. If you do not wish wake them up please proceed over to Carousel Couture, to begin making bird nests for the Southern Birds. Scanning over she saw a blue Unicorn with a purple vest just as some ponies were beginning to wander towards their tasks.
ALSO! If you have any issues or difficulties we have a new team currently consisting of this little unicorn in purple! She waved a hoof at the technical unicorn. Now lets get moving! GingerSnap jumped from the podium and headed towards Apple Acres to start the seed sorting passing by a very grumpy gray dirty mare assisting a stallion into a snow plow.
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Post by starshade on Mar 18, 2012 1:53:49 GMT -5
StarShade stopped approaching Fluttershy when he heard the announcement. Turning his head to face GingerSnap on the podium, the black unicorn listened to the green-maned pony's words carefully, memorizing every instruction the mare was giving. His eyes grew wide when GingerSnap pointed everypony towards a certain purple unicorn.
"Sweet Celestia", he suddenly said, "is that who I think it is?" He eyed the purple unicorn, moving slowly forwards to get a better view. All the sudden, the crowd around him began to shuffle as everypony started preparing themselves.
"Oh no," he cried, "it's started! What should I do? Relax! Calm yourself, StarShade. First thing's first, get the vest. The tan vest. Hurry!"
After a struggling journey through a sea of ponies, the black unicorn managed to get his hooves on a tan vest and quickly attempts put it on. "Wow, I have never put on clothes without magic before. This is quite difficult. Nonetheless, I shall try my best."
Minutes later, after succeeding in wearing his vest, StarShade took hold of a bell with his mouth and proceeded to follow another group of ponies also wearing tan vests and with bells either in their mouths or under their wings. Yes, he thought to himself, now off to wake up the hibernating creatures. Perhaps I shall discover a new species, or at least be able to document the habitat of wildlife outside of Canterlot. Marvelous! This is so exciting! And with a happy hop, he was off.
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Post by clouddreamer on Mar 18, 2012 9:14:41 GMT -5
Cloudy watched as all the ponies gathered. It seemed as if all of Ponyville, neigh, most of Equestria was here! The unicorn smiled, excited to watch winter be wrapped up super quickly. Though she didn't want it to be filled with problems, nor did she want to just be standing there for hours, Cloudy hoped for a few small problems, but nothing that would hurt the speed of Winter Wrap Up dramatically.
As she was announced Cloudy waved to the group of ponies. She figured she shouldn't say anything, as a green-maned mare was saying more important things. So she simply waved a few times and smiled.
Out of the corner of her eye Cloudy saw a pony looking at her and moving towards her. Did he know her? Wait- what if he was at the ritual? What if he saw her?! The blue pony quickly turned her head away from the black unicorn, and looked elsewhere in the crowd.
Once everypony began to get their vests and join their teams, the unicorn walked to her booth by the town hall. It had a banner reading 'Problem Solver'. Now she just had to wait. But while she waited, she'd watch the other ponies do their jobs, and winter would be turned into spring.
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Post by tunnelnexus on Mar 18, 2012 18:16:55 GMT -5
Tunnel Nexus trotted into Ponyville, grumbling. She had nothing on aside from the mottled green-and-yellow neon scarf she wore, and so it was a little chilly. Really, the only reason she was here was because a friend had made a bet with her; Nexus had perhaps bragged a little too much about some fictional events at a previous Winter Wrap-Up, and was called out on it. So now she was here, cold and grouchy (she'd had to get up early in order to arrive on time).
Tunnel noticed the large congregation of ponies in the main square, and caught snippets of some mare giving directions to the ponies. Something about teams and scoring ice and plowing snow. Blegh. Then at the end there was a part for anypony having problems.
She began looking around for said purple unicorn. Upon finally seeing, Nexus blinked in surprise; she hadn't expected to see Cloudy here. Without a second thought, the spelunker went over to see the mare in question. Unfortunately, Cloudy began to move away, so Tunnel had to push through the crowd to keep sight of her. A few ponies got in her way, so she trod over them with a mumbled apology.
Finally catching sight of her quarry stopping at some booth, Nexus approached Cloudy.
"Hey, what's up with the move?" she asked, grinning. "I've got a problem that I need solved- I don't have anything to do. Can you help me with that one?"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 2:26:59 GMT -5
Strings watched the green maned pony as she gave out the instructions for this years Winter Wrap-Up. When she was finished talking, everypony started running about, getting vests and going to do their certain duties. Strings carefully walked through the huge crowd and got a blue vest, as he as always been on the weather team, and did not plan on changing that now. He quickly put it on and flew up into the sky, looking for the rest of the weather ponies.
He soon found the group of Pegasi, and joined them, hovering in place waiting for someone to give orders on what to do.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2012 1:17:20 GMT -5
Rainbow Dash flew up to the group of pegasi, who were all wearing blue vests. They were the weather team for that years Winter Wrap-Up, and like most years, she was the leader. Hopefully this year's weather group won't be totally useless, she thought as she hovered in front of the group and scanned her eyes across.
"Alright, listen up," she shouted, so that everypony could here her. "This year is gonna be our smoothest Winter Wrap-Up yet, ok? I expect you all to do the best you can, although don't strain yourself to be as good as me. Even I struggle with that sometimes." Rainbow chuckled a bit then said "I kid of course, I don't struggle with anything. Anyway, I'll split you into groups and each of the groups will do a certain job." She then split the group of Pegasi into three groups. "Now, group one will be in charge of retrieving the birds from the south. Group two will be in charge of melting the ice and snow and group three will be clearing the skies." She did another quick scan of the group. "Ok, now BREAK!" She shouted, and all the pegasi flew off in their groups.
Rainbow then flew down to where the group of Ice scorers were. She saw a few ponies that were professional ice skater, so she knew things were going to go well. "Now, you ponies need to skate on the lakes, rivers and ponds so when the pegasi come to melt them, they melt nice and evenly." She motioned over to the box of ice skates as she said "There are the ice skates grab a pair and start skating!" As the ponies went, she flew back up into the sky.
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Post by tongs on Mar 21, 2012 3:14:43 GMT -5
Tongs made one more kick to the nail securing the plow shovel as the little brown mare hopped by to the seed sorting station. Inside she was glad somepony had taken charge. She knew her place helping the Earth team repairing anything that might go wrong.
Winter Wrap Up was banned on magic, but Tongs didn't mind. Even with the use of her magic she had to keep herself in a physically fit stature for her work of manipulating metal. She was often scoffed at for not being feminine enough, but she learned to guard herself against it the whispered remarks and giggles.
The animal team had already sorted themselves out heading for the glens of hibernating dens their silver bills jingling. Up above Rainbow Dash had begin shouting orders to her team. This should go smoothly this year despite the unusual late start.
"Hey Tongs, we got you a nice little girly plow waiting." a voice chuckled sending Tongs' ears flat against her skull. The voice belonged to her elder brother, Smelt, her main tormentor of her childhood days. Are you sure, you didn't reserve that plow for you? You're looking a little flabby round the midsection. Her eyes narrowing as she turned around. Smelt narrowed his eyes back at her. "Is that a challenge *little* sister?"
Tongs jumped into the plow she had just finished fixing, Loser does deliveries for the shop for the next month. Smelt jumped into his plow and they became a blur, kicking up the snow to the side as they attempted to plow more than the other sibling.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2012 7:20:25 GMT -5
Strings was hovering in the air with the other pegasi in the weather team when he saw a blue pony with a rainbow mane flying up towards them. It was the one and only Rainbow Dash. He had seen her many times around Ponyville, but he still found it magnificent to watch her fly. Just the way that her rainbow colored mane trails behind her, and her raw speed. He had always wished he could fly like that.
Rainbow had separated the pegasi into three groups, and Strings was is group one, who had to retrieve the birds that flew south. When Rainbow Dash gave the signal, all the pegasi flew off, and Strings just followed his group.
He had been in the Winter Wrap-Up many times, but he never retrieved the birds before. He was glad he was doing something new. He liked being on the weather team, but honestly, he didn't really want to melt the snow again. Or get rid of the clouds for that matter, even though he had only done that once or twice.
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Post by gingersnap on Mar 24, 2012 0:12:59 GMT -5
Gingersnap made her way to the seed sorting stations. The long tables had a picture of the plant they would grow into, along with which plot they were to be planted in. The stronger ponies where moving bags of seed to the end of the tables while the other ponies would fill up the smaller sacks and place them in their correct tables.
The sorting would take a good portion of the morning to afternoon, which made time for the plowing ponies to clear the fields, and the weather ponies to clear the air of the clouds. Then the planting would begin. Ginger missed sinking her hooves into the nice fertile earth when digging up ingredients, she couldn't wait to start!
The little brown mare smiled to herself as she trotted over to the carrot table and began helping place the smaller sacks onto the table. WHOA!!!LOOK OUT! A gray blur behind a shiny new plow seemed wildly out of control, and unfortunately heading straight for the sorting tables.
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