"Get ready," the reindeer warned, snorting a bit, getting in position, hoof scratching the ground.

The little unicorn and the pegasus immediately hooked themselves on the railings that were on each side of the couch-like thing they were on. Apple Bloom, in the middle, didn't find anything to grab onto.

The harness' lashes tensed up as the reindeer pulled on them. Despite his fractures, he put an impressive strength in it and the jolt sent the fillies against the back of their seat. The snow could be heard cracking under the sleigh, as it took on speed.

Scootaloo looked at the ground going by, head above the railing, fascinated.

Apple Bloom was looking at her guide with some worries as he was picking up in pace, and the edge of the clearing was getting close. Did he really intend on going in between the trees? Or was the legend true?

At the same time, a thought crossed Sweetie Belle's mind, and she said out loud:

"Shouldn't we have warned Twilight and the others, at least...?"

Both her friends turned their eyes towards her, taking a few seconds to process the information.

"I-," Apple Bloom started.

Suddenly, the sleigh was violently shaken. The earth filly was projected into the air and, after a little back somersault, she landed in the back, among her pilot's belongings.

"Ouch..." she mumbled, rubbing her head. "What happened?"

She got back up, leaning on the backrest of the couch, looking in front of her. The trees were gone. Instead, she only saw the green-antlered reindeer, her two friends holding tightly on the sleigh, the starry sky and the clouds.

"We're flying..." Sweetie Belle answered in a distant tone, shocked, looking downward.

The forest was going by. As they were gaining altitude, the landscape was getting smaller.

"Really!?" said Apple Bloom, excited, getting close to the edge to see that.

"We're already so high!" Scootaloo commented, impressed. "And we're going fast!"

"You think so?" gauged the farmer. "I don't see the trees moving really fast."

"That's normal, the higher we are, the slower they seem to move!"

"How do you know that, Scoot?" Sweetie Belle asked. "You've never flown."

"Not by myself," the pegasus said, a bit hurt in her pride. "But Rainbow Dash already carried me. Even higher than that!"

The little unicorn looked up, in search of something. And she found it quickly, to her left, slowly fading away. Ponyville, barely visible under the moonlight. All the landscape was now under a heavy coat of snow. And she couldn't be sure of it because of the air lashing her face, but it looked like the wind was picking up.

"I hope we won't take too much time to get back..." Sweetie Belle said, more to herself than to her friends.

"But how are you flying without wings?" Scootaloo asked at the same time.

The reindeer turned his head towards her, looking like the question was irritating him.

"By magic. You're not the only one able to practice it."

"And you can do some other stuff, aside from flyin'?"

Their host sighed, tired. Then, he swayed his head and the tip of his antlers went red. A sudden burst of warm air went by the fillies and the surroundings. The clouds right above them dissipated and the snow stopped.

The three fillies looked at it, extremely enthralled. What he had just done usually required a few good minutes to Ponyville's weather team. They observed with wonder the stars and the circular hole it had formed in the clouds.

As everything seemed calm, the moment suspended in time, the reindeer declared with a dark tone:

"I shouldn't have done that..."

"Huh?" said the Cutie Mark Crusaders, turning their eyes to him.

At the same moment, a strong gust hit the sleigh and all were shaken, their vehicle oscillating dangerously in the air. Scootaloo barely got time to hang onto the railing, before hearing a tearing cry. She looked up and saw Apple Bloom flying over her head, thrown in the air, before falling into the void, yelling.

"Apple Bloom!"

The pegasus didn't think twice and threw herself out of the sleigh to go to her friend's rescue. Putting her hooves in front, she flapped her small wings to catch up to her. The ground was far away, yet closing in fast. She didn't have much time.

Apple Bloom wasn't even looking at her. She was yelling, looking down, towards the snow-covered trees. Another scream of terror escaped her mouth when she felt two hooves going below her legs, before she understood those hooves were actually trying to lift her.

Looking up, she saw Scootaloo trying her best to carry her. Pulling as much as she could on her small wings. But despite all her efforts, the ground was only coming faster towards them.

"Come on Scoots!" Apple Bloom desperately cheered, her eyes tearing up because of the wind blowing on her face. "If ya wanna learn to fly, now's the moment! Flap those wings!"

"What do you think I'm trying!? Would be easier if you weren't that heavy! You should go easy on the apple jam!"

"Hey! You take that back right now! Apple jam is an Apple family tradition since at least-"

"Now is not the time!" the pegasus yelled, feeling her wings about to give up on her, as the trees were getting dangerously close.

"Aim for the big branches at least!" Apple Bloom shouted.

As she was looking at the ground, the filly suddenly felt herself becoming lighter. Like she was being lifted.

"Ah, see, you can do it!"

"That's not me!" Scootaloo pointed out, still flapping since they were still falling, just slower.

"What do ya m-" Apple Bloom began, before she saw the sleigh positioning itself under them.

She barely had time to understand before they heavily fell in all the stuff in the back. The vehicle lost a bit of altitude because of the impact, but a big portion of it was absorbed thanks to that. Sweetie Belle collapsed as her horn was turning off, exhausted.

Scootaloo quickly jumped out of the belongings – and off of Apple Bloom's face – and went back to the front seat, looking at her friend.

"Wow. I guess it's true what they say: Unicorns ARE op."

"Your friends wouldn't have succeeded without your efforts," said the reindeer. "You both react quickly. Now, be more careful."

"Aaah..." Apple Bloom complained, getting up, disoriented. "Ah think ah hurt my leg, but ah don't know which one..."

"We should put a seat belt on you," Scootaloo said, looking at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, ah've seen worse at the f-"

Once again, the filly with a ribbon wasn't able to end her sentence. A violent gust of cold wind interrupted her and shook the sleigh. Sweetie Belle barely held onto her seat, while Scootaloo looked in front of them, panicked.

"What is that!?"

"Hum, wind?" the unicorn tried, finding the question silly, especially coming from a pegasus.

"Not that! That!"

Both her friends looked in the direction her hoof was pointing towards. The clouds had become even darker than the night itself. The clearing birthed by the reindeer before had completely vanished. The air seemed to have become even colder as well, the wind tossing the sleigh around.

Suddenly, a neigh pierced the darkness. High pitched, as if coming from another world. The reindeer clenched his teeth, muttering:

"Dasher..."

"What? Where?" Scootaloo said, surprised. "What's Rainbow doing here this late?"

"He said Dasher, not Dash," Sweetie Belle corrected, before looking at their pilot. "Who's that?"

"A friend..."

"Do you have friends that aren't windigos?" the little unicorn wondered.

A new gust of wind shook the sleigh, knocking the three fillies over. The reindeer stomped his hoof in the air and a strong crack was heard. As he took a sudden acceleration, he breathed in between his teeth:

"No..."

A new neigh echoed. Closer. Their pilot seemed to groan and tried to pull on his sleigh even more.

"So, this Dasher..." Sweetie Belle slowly understood as the wind was blowing into her ears despite her hat.

Before she could finish her thought process, she got a little tap on the shoulder from Apple Bloom. She was staring behind them, eyes wide open. Scootaloo as well.

The little unicorn slowly turned her head, fearing to see what they were looking at.

It was worse than what she had expected. Just a few meters behind the sleigh, galloping in the air, two white and cold eyes were looking at them.

Those spheres were a horror that tales had never managed to transcribed. Filled with hatred and anger. A blind furry, directed not towards anyone in particular, but against the whole entire world. This half-transparent white figure detested them. Without any reason. Simply because they existed. And that hatred would never fade. That thing would chase them until the end of times, until its icy breath would freeze them.

The three friends held each other in their hooves and yelled out of panic.

"Faster!" Apple Bloom shouted.

"I can't!" the reindeer answered, already at his maximum. "Dasher is faster than me! You have to do something!"

"Us!?" Scootaloo exclaimed, seeing the windigo getting closer.

"He's a spirit of disagreement! Of selfishness and loneliness! If you show him you're together, it should allow us to escape!"

"Together!? How do we do that!?"

"I don't know!" cursed the reindeer out loud. "You're the group of friends, not me!"

The three fillies looked at each other, confused and terrified. What could they possibly do?

"Er... Nice er... hat, Sweetie Belle..."

"Hum... Thanks, Apple Bloom... I really like your... mane...?"

The creature behind them neighed once again, knocking the three friends down. From this close, his gloomy voice was squealing in the deepest part of their ears, which they tried to cover with their hooves, but to no avail.

"It's not working!" screamed Scootaloo.

The coldness was beginning to sink in the depth of their coat. The reindeer shouted:

"Try again! Or we're doomed!"

"What do we do!?" Sweetie Belle panicked, looking at her friends as the tears flowing from her eyes because of the wind were starting to freeze.

"I don't know!" Apple Bloom lamented, covering her head, trying in vain to keep her ears warm. "We shouldn't have left alone! If Twilight was here, she would know what to do!"

"No!" suddenly said Scootaloo, standing up, stomping her hoof. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We won't just stay there, complaining and hoping someone else fixes the problems for us!"

"What did she say!?" the unicorn yelled at her friend.

Apple Bloom shrugged, as she hadn't heard her either because of the wind. But the pegasus didn't let go of it, facing the beast.

"We're planning on saving the world! Well, Equestria! We're not going to give up at the first windigo that-"

The creature sent a sudden gust right into the sleigh, lifting it. Scootaloo fell backward, next to her friends.

"We won't make it out like that!" said Sweetie Belle, more panicked than really making a reproach.

"Sorry, I thought it would impress him!" the little pegasus replied, barely feeling her wings.

"I never should have brought you into this!" Apple Bloom apologized, looking at them, terrified. "It's my fault if we went after the Christmas Reindeer!"

"We would have ended up frozen at Twilight's house anyway!" argued the unicorn. "You did nothing wrong!"

"But we could have asked for help!" the filly pursued. "Rather than trying to do everythin' on our own!"

Their legs were beginning to be covered in ice. The sleigh was losing speed as the presence behind them was getting greater and greater.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came against Apple Bloom to stay warm and to feel each other in what seemed to be their last moments.

"Ah'm really sorry..." the farmer kept on lamenting.

"It's not your fault..." reassured the unicorn. "We should have prepared better to fight against windigos."

"I hope the others will make it out..." said the little pegasus. "I'm sorry I said you were heavy, Apple Bloom."

"It's ok," she said with a slight sad smile.

"At least, all three of us are here."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders held each other, letting the fated cold gain their bodies.

A new neigh was heard. Even more aggressive than the others, more gloomy but also filled with pain. The creature seemed to suffer. His cry went more distant, less glacial, less threatening.

Scootaloo partially opened her eyes, intrigued, seeing the windigo moving away. The reindeer snorted and pulled on the sleigh with strength, not losing any second, getting away as fast as possible as the air was getting back to a normal temperature.

"Well done!" their guide congratulated them.

"For what?" Apple Bloom asked, just noticing that her legs weren't frozen anymore.

"Aha! I knew my plan would work!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Your plan?" said Sweetie Belle, opening her eyes as well.

"Of course! Look, the windigo ran away because of my intervention!"

"Ah'm not sure..."

"I think it's because we supported each other, instead," the unicorn reasoned.

"Yeah, just like in the old tale."

"Pff," Scootaloo said, looking away with a proud face. "Now you want to rob me of my victory."

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, while her friend sighed and let her have it, admitting:

"Okay, fine. Thanks Scoots', happy?"

The pegasus rubbed her own torso with one hoof and a falsely unconcerned face, simply answering:

"I didn't hear Sweetie Belle."

"Thank you," the unicorn mumbled.

"Stay focused!" the Christmas Reindeer lectured. "If Dasher was here, it means the others aren't far behind! Do you have a plan to pass them?"

"They will probably gather around the cities, right?" Scootaloo asked which, to her friends' surprise, implied she had thought about it.

"Probably, they'll go where there are more ponies to freeze. Dasher was likely here to scout."

"So we need to turn a bit to the east," said the pegasus. "Otherwise, we're going straight to Cloudsdale."

"Couldn't we stop and ask for the Wonderbolts' help?" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Ah think they'll be too busy to listen to us seriously..."

"True, adults never listen to fillies," the unicorn muttered. "But they could listen to the Christmas Reindeer, right?"

"Don't count on me to persuade anyone," their driver replied a bit too coldly.

"But..."

"In any case, if you want to get to my home, we don't have time to stop! Unless you want to see your country covered in ice!"

"Will we be there on time at least?" Scootaloo asked, taking all this very seriously.

"By traveling by magic, maybe," the reindeer mumbled. "But it's going to attract the others."

"Perfect! We can keep them far off of Equestria for a time, then! And put my plan in action!"

"What's your plan?" Apple Bloom asked.

The young orange pegasus turned to her friend, wind in her mane and a mischievous smile on her face.

"I'll tell you once we're there. But I'm sure it'll work, if we can complete it before the windigos come!"

The two others exchanged an uncertain look. Not that they didn't trust her friend, but she often had trouble evaluating the reliability of her plans. When it was something other than scooter tricks, that is.

The reindeer slowly changed course to deviate off of Cloudsdale's route, looking not that enthusiastic about doing something that would suddenly lure his own kind.

"Are you sure you want to go there with magic?" he grumbled, even though he knew the answer he was going to get.

"Certain!" Scootaloo exclaimed, facing the wind. "And well, your friends have to be there if we want to give them back their normal appearance, so we might as well bring them."

"Fine. Brace yourself then. I won't turn back if any of you fall."

The three fillies obeyed immediately, taking refuge at the back of the sleigh, where they could find the most things to hold onto.

"We're ready!" the pegasus declared once she was installed in the belongings.

The reindeer briefly shook his antlers. They took on a deep blue taint, like the night. The halo first spread on the tall ungulate's body, then went to the straps around him, before taking the whole sleigh in.

The wood reacted to the magic. It began to vibrate. Sweetie Belle didn't need much more to understand:

"It's enchanted."

As soon as she pronounced those words, a huge detonation happened. Like fireworks, including the pyrotechnical effects. Their transport suddenly took a deep acceleration, sticking the three fillies at the back of the sleigh.

The wind blew on their face for a brief instant, before it stopped. The acceleration also seemed to have ceased, but they were zooming in the sky, faster than anything they had ever seen or imagined. Encircled by a blue halo protecting the whole vehicle and the driver, they were looking, flabbergasted, at the landscape of Equestria going by so fast it was blurry.

They also saw the sky darkened even more than it already was. The last rays of the moon disappeared, leaving an almost total obscurity in its place. Never had the night been so dark in Equestria.

Or rather, north of Equestria. Because they weren't in their homeland anymore. The immense mountains above which they were flying didn't belong to their nation.

"We're... already at the Crystal Empire...?" Sweetie Belle stammered, as she couldn't get over it.

Barely had she ended her sentence that the mountains were already but a distant memory. Now, it was great monotone tundras, with just some pine forests and hills sprinkled here and there, right below them.

"Why did we have to dodge Cloudsdale if we could do that from the beginnin'!?"

"This sleigh reacts as much to my friends' magic than mine," said the reindeer with a bitter voice. "They would have stopped us without any trouble. Instead, they're just going to chase us."

"How did we go so fast?" Scootaloo wondered, coming back to the front seats.

"The sleigh has been enchanted to help us in distributing our gifts to the other races. Hold on tight, we're getting there."

The fillies didn't wait for him to say it once more. Quickly, they grabbed the sides of the sleigh.

Barely had they done it that their vehicle was struck by a brief but intense shake. They weren't dashing through the continent at an incredible speed anymore. The reindeer was slowly moving in the sky, progressively losing altitude.

The three fillies looked down, catching the glimpse of a snow-covered valley. Plunged into the darkness cast by the clouds, the Cutie Mark Crusaders wondered how their guide was able to make his way in between the mountains. For them, there was only the night and, sometimes, a big shadow passing by, indicating they had just brushed past a rocky peak.

"It's here?" asked Sweetie Belle, putting a hoof above her eyes to protect them, squinting to try and make something out.

"The lights have been off for a long time," said the reindeer with a dark tone. "But yes, it's my village."

The great ungulate's hooves touched the snow, then so did the runners. Carefully, he landed, slowing down until he came to a stop in the middle of the valley.

"How many are you?" Scootaloo asked, catching sight of a few houses thanks to her pegasus eyes.

"We were nine."

"So there were only nine windigos attacking Equestria?"

"Eight," Apple Bloom corrected. "Since he wasn't a windigo. And it wasn't even Equestria yet."

"Still, that's not a lot."

Their guide simply replied:

"Enough to plunge the world into an eternal winter."

The three looked at each other, worried. Then, another question came to the pegasus' mind.

"We saw Dasher, but you, what's your name?"

"It doesn't matter," the reindeer muttered. "Now hurry, the others will be there in less than an hour."

"Oh, but we didn't introduce ourselves!" the small earth pony realized. "Ah'm Apple Bloom!"

"I'm called Sweetie Belle."

"And I'm Scootallo!"

The reindeer turned his eyes to the three fillies, which were all putting on a great smile. Their insistent look showed they were waiting for him to do the same. He sighed, his red nose lowering as a sign of defeat.

"Rudolph."

"Nice to meet you, Rudolph!" they said in unison before jumping from the sleigh.

The unicorn and the pegasus managed to land with grace on the snow, then heard a little "pomf". Turning their heads, they only saw a hole where their friends should have stood.

"Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo called.

"How is it that the snow is so weak!?" the earth filly grumbled, dragging herself out of the hole.

"A lot of snow falls here all the time," Rudolph explained. "Especially with the avalanches. It takes a bit of time before it becomes solid. Be careful. And hurry."

He took off the harness and sat down in the snow, massaging his legs. The Cutie Mark Crusaders gathered in a circle and began to focus.

"So, Scoots', what's the plan?" Apple Bloom asked, pawing at the ground with impatience.

"For now, we can't put it into action. We can't see anything."

"Could we put the lights back on?" Sweetie Belle said to Rudolph.

He sighed again. His horns glowed once more, this time with a pale green color.

A slow sound rose around them. A deep vibration that gained in volume as small lights were piercing the shadows. Red, green, golden, silvery and blue, they rapidly gained in intensity, revealing the town.

It was in between three tall mountains, in a small valley. Each house was built on an abrupt slope, on one of the mountainside. Above, they could see a pine forest.

Everything was covered in snow. The wooden framework of the habitations was barely visible. They were also rather quaint, slightly crooked and entirely made of wood. True little cabins.

Each house possessed a frontage decorated with luminous bulbs. The light came out of them. Despite the house being the only one lit, it was enough to let the whole valley bath in a soft glimmer. At least, at first.

As the filly looked at them in awe, many spheres began to crackle, one after the other, then simply turned off one by one. In a few seconds, only a fourth of them stayed on.

"What's goin' on?" Apple Bloom asked, a little saddened by this.

"They haven't worked for years," said the reindeer with an annoyed sigh. "The magic inside of them must have gone. The one in the center already didn't turn on anymore when the pine was stolen."

"And where was it?" Scootaloo followed very seriously.

"At the center of the valley. About where we are currently standing."

Rudolph's eyes went lost towards the sky, while he began to dream out loud:

"I remember all the lights on it. The decorations on its branches, the spheres holding our magic, the painted sticks surrounding it, the gifts laid at its foot. The celebrations done around it."

His sigh was sad this time. Then, he fell silent.

"So, now that we can see, are you going to explain your plan?" Sweetie Belle inquired, looking at her friend.

"Oh, you'll see, I find it's a super plan!" the pegasus boasted, sticking out her chest.

"Get to the point, Scoots', we don't have time for that."

"Alright, so listen up."

She put one leg on the neck of each of her friends to get them closer, exposing her idea:

"The reindeer all became like this because they didn't give anything in a long time. And the three pony kinds fought them with cooperation and friendship."

"Yeah, nothing new there," the unicorn pointed out, arching an eyebrow.

"But for now, nopony has tried to offer them something in return," Scootaloo continued, with an ambitious smile. "Giving is a big part of their culture, but receiving can also be one. An appropriate gift could help them to calm down."

"And what are you proposing...?" Sweetie Belle asked. "In case you didn't see it, we didn't come with gifts."

"We're going to give them their pine back! Well, we're going to give them a new one. And make their village look as good as new!"

"How do you plan on doin' that? Ya got an ax with you to cut down another pine and bring it here?"

"No need for that. We're going to make one with snow and decorate it like they did."

"In an hour?" said Sweetie Belle, a bit skeptical.

"There's three of us. Four, counting Rudolph. We already did more with less time before."

"Ah don't know..." Apple Bloom winced, rubbing her cheek. "That plan sounds a little... light."

"Trust me."

The pegasus gave them a confident smile. The two others exchanged a look, before agreeing.

"I'll get on clearing out the roofs from the snow," the earth filly proposed. "Sweetie Belle, you'll get the decorations done and Scoots', you'll do the pine tree."

"I hope it won't end up like the spectacle," the unicorn said with worries. "I'm not sure the windigos want to have a laugh."

"Don't be defeatist like that," said the pegasus, letting go of them. "Come one now, we don't have all night! Cutie Mark Crusaders!?"

The three fillies united their hooves with a smile.

"Tonight, we save Equestria!" Scootaloo declared.

"Yeah!" said the two others, raising their legs in the air.

Immediately, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went their own way, hurrying in their search for stuff that could help them. Scootaloo, on her side, stayed where she was and undertook gathering as much snow as she could in between her hooves, beginning to make it roll.

Author's Note

This, along with the next part, used to be part 2.