The Christmas Reindeer

On her end, the unicorn was patching up as many tinsels as possible. Her little magic was exhausting her and she felt weirdly warm. Maybe the layer of clothes didn't help, but she ignored all those problems, there were more important matters.

"If someone had told me the fate of Equestria would be decided by a pair of tinsels..."

She lifted said tinsels in front of her.

"... ugly at that. I hope Rarity will never see them."

Lost in her out-loud thoughts, she looked at the houses. Most of them were already decorated enough, well, relatively speaking. But something bothered the unicorn.

The cabins were bathed in nice colors, indeed, but they were only nine in such a big valley. In the end, having only them being decorated made the whole thing even sadder, lonelier.

"There should be a few more things. How come there's not even a bench or a well to bring some life to this village?"

The unicorn truly regretted the place being so empty. With that said, she could still decorate Scootaloo's pine, couldn't she?

As she was thinking, a detail caught her attention. A spot of green light, in the snow, not too far away.

After a few well-placed hooves gestures, she exhumed... another decorative ball. Weirdly enough, a little far away from the houses. Had it fallen over time?

When she tried to lift it, the unicorn realized it was held down by a cable, just like the tinsels. The string was plunging diagonally in the snow and seemed solidly attached.

"What's that now...?"

Momentarily forgetting the urgency of the situation, carried by her curiosity, the filly investigated. After a few minutes spent digging the snow, another dim light was seen, reddish, this time, coming from another luminescent sphere.

So a whole tinsel had fallen down a long time ago? Slowly covered by snow? In any case, it was still going down, under the thick blanket of snow, askew. Yet, something was bothering Sweetie Belle, and she managed to put her hoof on it right as she uncovered another oddity. A wooden fixation in the ground. This wasn't there by accident.

The wind squealed in her ears. A shiver made her come back to reality. This wasn't the time to linger on that. She had to make that village pretty, and following a trail of abandoned tinsels wouldn't help. Or at least, not fast enough.

No, she was seeing bigger. More central. The pine could become magnificent with the proper lighting. It wasn't often that she felt the stylist streak of her sister, but this time, it was the illumination.

"Ew, I hope it won't happen to me often."

Nonetheless, she got to work. Gathering the little materials she had at her disposal, trying to make appropriate decorations.

Apple Bloom tried to laboriously open her eyes. Her head was hurting, her eyes were hurting, her eyebrows were hurting. On the other hoof, the cold pain in her legs felt far away. Very far away. Just like the voice echoing in her ears.

"Apple Bloom! Wake up!"

What had happened to her? Her ideas were in shambles. But she didn't want to wake up. That place was so comfortable. Her eyelids were heavy. Why did she have to wake up?

"Hey!"

She suddenly felt two hooves grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her sharply, forcing her out of her drowsiness.

"Woooa!"

Shaking her head, she finally opened her eyes, even if that didn't really make a difference at first. She was in a dark place, almost deprived of light. But soon enough, she distinguished something shiny in front of her. Shiny and magenta.

"Scoots'?"

"Finally! How did you get here!?"

The earth filly rubbed her head, still disoriented.

"Where is 'here' even...?"

"A cave. From what I got. It's not easy to be sure without light."

Apple Bloom tried her best to think. Trying to remember how she had even got here.

"Ah went to look for you in the forest... Then I think Ah fell?"

"I heard you yell either way. You probably walked into a crevasse."

The earth filly thought, before remembering.

"I had a light, didn't I?"

"Yeah, it's there," Scootaloo said, pointing at a small sphere resting a few meters away on a pile of snow.

Apple Bloom hurried to get it back, going back to her friend after wiping away the water covering it.

"And you? How did you get here?"

"When I fell, I hit a few branches, and I landed in the snow. Well, not for long since I went through. And I ended up here."

"Are you hurt?" the farmer worried.

"No, I'm alright. A few scratches here and there because of the trees, but that's it. I barely feel anything."

"That's ain't very reassuring," her friend noted. "If you don't feel anythin' with the cold, it's not good."

"Now that you mention it, I don't even feel cold anymore," the pegasus noted, slightly anxious about that fact.

"We should head out and get back to the village."

"Where's 'out'?"

The two fillies looked at each other, their faces barely lit by the shining sphere. As one, they turned their eyes up to the ceiling. A star could be seen.

"Unless you can fly, it's gonna be tricky."

"We'll look for another exit. Lead the way, you're the one with the light."

Apple Bloom opened the way, sinking into the cave with her friend. The ground was relatively flat, far from what they had imagined about a crevasse. The weak glow struggled to light the surroundings, but at least they could see where they were putting their hooves.

"At least there's no wind here," Scootaloo commented. "I really thought we were going to freeze outside."

"And yet, you haven't seen the windigos coming!"

"What!?"

The echo of surprise from the pegasus bounced on the walls, making the ice tinkle.

"Not so loud!" Apple Bloom issued. "You're going to make everything fall down!"

"Pff, it's been frozen for centuries, there's no risk of that. What were you talking, about the windigos?"

"Others came. And Ah really thought they were about to freeze us all! But Rudolph did... something, and it held them back."

The pegasus picked up the hesitation in her friend's voice, arching an eyebrow in her direction, even if it remained unseen in the darkness.

"What did he do?"

"You'll see when we get back," the earth filly vaguely answered, not wishing to worry Scootaloo.

"You're hiding something from me."

"What's that?" suddenly said Apple Bloom, coming to a stop.

"Don't try to change the subject!" the pegasus warned.

"But look!"

The farmer pointed her hoof right in front of them. After squinting, Scootaloo realized they were in front of a wall of snow. Only snow, not rock. Even weirder, a very weak purple glimmer was coming from inside.

Apple Bloom got close to the epicenter, curious. She shoved her hoof in and was surprised to feel that it sank in it like mousse. The snow was almost liquid, as if recently warmed. And the earth filly quickly got her explanation when she touched a small sphere radiating a bit of sweet heat.

Yet, as soon as her hoof touched it, a little "pop!" was heard, the light vanished, and so did the heat.

Something else caught Apple Bloom's curiosity. She clearly felt that a small thin cable was attached to the sphere. Its tip was actually sticking out of the snow, a few centimeters further.

"What is it?" Scootaloo asked, intrigued by her lack of reaction.

"Ah... think I know," he friend thought, frowning. "Is it possible that...?"

She looked up, staring at the ceiling, her eyebrows only becoming more suspicious. The stalactites were many meters above them, menacing and magnificent.

The earth filly's face suddenly brightened, realizing something.

"We have to get out!"

"Well, obviously," the pegasus pointed out. "It's already what we're trying to do."

"I meant that we have to get back to the village! I know how to calm the windigos!"

"Because my idea won't work, is that what you're saying!?" Scootaloo said, offended and hurt to see her friend having so little faith in her.

"No, well, it's not that!" she explained, rolling her eyes. "I know what happened to the reindeer's pine tree!"

Sweetie Belle took a step back, observing her work. She had used every little bit of tinsel available to decorate the pine tree in the middle of the village, and the result was very satisfying. The varied colors, the harmonious coiling, even the absence of a tree top wasn't that awkward. At least, not to the filly's eyes. But would the reindeer think the same? Was it really going to be enough?

And the others weren't coming back... Should she tell Rudolph that she was done? Wait for them? But wouldn't waiting for them run the risk of angering the windigos even more? And what if she failed? What if her friends had things to add that she wasn't aware of? She couldn't resolve to take the responsibility of condemning Equestria, but she didn't know which decision was the most likely to lead to that disaster!

Her thoughts tortured her mind. What to do? Buying some time, surely, that was the best thing left. But how? She didn't have any tinsels left. Weren't there any other decorations here?

"That's it!" She suddenly thought.

She had to find other decorations! After all, tinsels, those were dreary. What this place needed was diversity!

Without waiting, the unicorn threw herself towards a house, seeking new things to put on the houses and the pine. At first, she began to feel disappointed. No ribbons, no pearls, nothing.

But that was Ponyville's way of decorating, not the reindeer's way. She had to make do with the local customs, even though she didn't know them. In Rudolph's house, she found little wooden sculptures in a crate. A gift he had prepared a long time ago?

In fact, there were many crates in this room. Like some kind of storeroom. Sweetie Belle felt a little guilty to help herself to his belongings, but she was certain he wouldn't hold it against her.

The sculptures would make for nice decorations to be hung on the houses. But what intrigued her most was what laid on top of the shelf. A great box, onto which was inscribed words from a language she didn't know.

Truly, this night had a lot of magic usage opportunities in store for her. But she was more used to that kind of practice. Delicately putting the box down, what was inside intrigued her even more. A star? Bells? Some were linked by a kind of net, and others only had a simple rope to hang from.

Their noise was sweet, a pure jingling, that Sweetie Belle quickly understood the charm of. Shaken by the wind, they probably added a peaceful ambiance wherever they were put.

The star, on its end, was sparkling brightly under her horn's light. What would this look like, surrounded by the town's tinsels? The unicorn had to see that. She had to show it to the others.

On his side, Rudolph was still facing the red jail of his peers. The prisoners, silent, were staring at him in a veil of darkness.

"What did you make of Comet?" Cupid asked. "He should have gotten here before us."

"You'll know, sooner or later," Rudolph replied, clenching his teeth. "Now, be quiet."

"Do you think those little things have a chance?" the white shape gently mocked. "Look at you, you're on the verge of becoming just like us. To unleash your anger against those who robbed us. And you will help us punish this world of its greed."

"Yeah, right!" Prancer bawled. "The second I get out of here, I'm going to make a mess of red-snoot for impri-"

The windigo was interrupted by Blitzen's head violently hitting his.

"Shut it!" he cursed.

"Oh, but he isn't that naive," said Donner, staring at Rudolph. "Red-snoot knows he will be the first one. Doesn't he?"

"We should have done that from the start," Blitzen muttered.

"Why wasn't Vixen with you?" Rudolph cut, ignoring the question. "Usually, only Dancer and Dasher move alone."

"Yadi yadi yada, as if we're going to answer!" Prancer snickered.

"You told us to be quiet, after all," Cupid followed with a scathing tone.

The semblance of ice around the windigos abruptly tightened in a sinister crack. The four of them intensified their own aura in response, menacing but for now inoffensive. The old friends fixed each other.

"Those walls won't hold up forever..." Blitzen blew.

"It's not my problem, it's yours."

"Rudolph!" suddenly said a little voice approaching.

Sweetie Belle arrived by his side, worryingly glancing at the reindeer at first, then at the windigos.

"What is it?" the great ungulate asked with a not very courteous tone.

"I-I'm done," the unicorn replied, intimidated.

She didn't have the courage to wait for the return of her friends. Scootaloo couldn't really do better, and Apple Bloom had cleared the houses enough for them to be presentable, with some amendments from Sweetie Belle.

"Are you sure?"

The unicorn slowly nodded, even if that question had just sprouted a lot of regrets inside of her.

Rudolph turned back his attention on his kind, his face dry.

"This filly has already done more for you than you did for her."

The reindeer closed his eyes, focusing. The ice prison slowly rose in the air, under the worried and curious gaze of Sweetie Belle.

"What are you...?" she began.

Before her sentence was even finished, the jail shattered into pieces, freeing the four windigos.

The filly froze on the spot, but weirdly enough, the creatures didn't attack. Instead, they looked surprised, staring at Rudolph in silence. The reindeer let out a long sigh, his tone still dark, but with a faint sincerity, a request, a hope.

"If there is still an ounce of generosity in you, give those fillies their chance. They came from far away, to try and appease creatures they only knew from terrifying legends. You bring death to their world, they bring you a new life."

The four shapes looked at each-other. Despite their large eyes of ice, one could see they were dumbstruck. Could it have been that the Cutie Mark Crusaders' intentions had reached them?

Without a word, they began to hover over the town, observing.

The houses were still covered in snow, but Apple Bloom had cleared a good chunk of their entrance, and Sweetie Belle had made do with what she'd been given. The filly had simply laid out the snow to make it fully part of the scene. As if the dwellings were dug in the mountains themselves, giving them a charming, warm side.

The tinsels surrounded the entrances, releasing a beautiful colored light. Well spread out, the fact there weren't so many of them wasn't too noticeable.

From the sky, one could also see little shapes carved in the snow. Notably, paths going from each cabin towards the center.

"Like before..." thought one of the creatures, remembering trails now long erased.

And at the center, of course, the tree. The pine, displaying thousands of colors, wrapped in tinsels, decorated by the sculptures projecting shimmering shadows. And, at its top, the star. The great star, reflecting the light like thousands of sparkles, covering the town in green, red, yellow and blue petals. A true dance of colors.

The windigos slowly descended to get a closer look. When they touched the ground, the wind seemed to cease. The snow wasn't falling anymore. The clouds dispersed.

Faced with their silence and their shape not letting any emotion show through, Sweetie Belle found the courage to get closer, shyly asking:

"Is it well done...? We don't have many great pine trees in Equestria, but Scootaloo tried to make one similar to ours... But she didn't have time to finish it."

"Ours was taller..." one of the creatures let out in a breath, without it really sounding like a reproach. "Way taller... Christmas... The last gift from the elders..."

"I know it won't replace it..." the filly confided. "But we wanted to build this one to allow you to pay your respects."

In reality, Sweetie Belle was improvising on that last part. The goal was to not end up frozen, and to help the windigos – no, the reindeer – to move forward.

"Maybe..." Cupid slowly said, thoughtful, eyes fixated on the snow made edifice.

A slight blow of fresh air swept through the valley. The unicorn looked at the four shapes with a foolish hope. Was that truly going to work? Their voices weren't that menacing, or unpleasant.

As the filly's heart was tightening with apprehension, a tragedy stabbed her hopes. The heat released by the tinsels finished melting the load-bearing parts and the whole upper side of the tree fell backward, splattering onto the ground, quickly followed by the lower branches detaching as well, only leaving a simple snow stump.

Sweetie Belle slowly widened her eyes, feeling like she was going to faint. She couldn't believe it.

A heavy silence fell into the valley. The filly didn't even dare to look away, staring at the stump, while she felt a tear coming to her eye. But it didn't have time to run down her cheek, as it froze almost immediately in front of her eyelid.

"So unicorn magic is more thermal than ours..."

Sweetie Belle slowly turned her head towards the windigos, astonished by the calmness of that reaction, but still horribly terrified.

The four shapes were standing in the same spot, their ethereal aura peacefully dancing in the quiet of the night, as they were still looking at the remains of the snow edifice.

"I-I'm sorry," the small unicorn stuttered, getting closer to the tree, trying to put it back in place with her magic, to no avail since she was so exhausted.

"It's nothing," Cupid said slowly.

Sweetie Belle stopped, looking at them shyly.

"You're not angry...?"

"The thought and the heart put into a gift count more than the success of said gift," Blitzen slowly explained with a deep voice.

"S-So it worked?" the unicorn immediately inquired, hope coming back to her eyes, expecting them to turn back into reindeer any second now.

But none of that happened.

"It won't be enough," said Donner, looking at his peers. "Won't it?"

"Your action momentarily appeased our rage," Cupied confirmed, staring at Sweetie Belle in the eyes.

"But our hatred is deeper than that," Blitzen followed.

The unicorn could tell just by seeing them. Their eyes were still cold. The wind was less strong, but it was a true calm before the storm.

"And now good luck showing that to the others," Prancer pointed out. "So, when they'll come, it's-"

A violent high-pitched screech pierced the night and the eardrums of everyone. The filly covered her ears, turning to Rudolph. He was surrounded by an overwhelming red aura, which didn't stop growing.

"You told me it would work!" he screamed with rage.

He rose in the air once more as his coat began to totally disappear, leaving in its place a browning halo rapidly turning purple. His antlers finished their transformations into long ethereal manes, his shape growing ever so slightly.

"Rudolph!" the filly shouted, understanding what her failure had caused.

"You had a debt to pay back! I can't even trust my own kind, I should have never hoped you would be any different!"

"No! I-It's not that!"

Sweetie Belle was on the brink of collapsing into tears. No. They had truly done their best. And their plans had worked, at least in part!

"I should have let you freeze..."

"Red-snoot is getting angry," Prancer commented in a mocking tone.

The aura around Rudolph began to concentrate around him, starting the last phase of his transformation.

At the same time, a bolide came crashing down onto him, burying him in the snow. A long ashen shape descended from the sky right after, hovering over the point of impact.

"Rudolph, returned home. But not to become one of us."

Sweetie Belle collapsed on the ground. That voice was almost worse than all the others. It was numbness incarnate, the tiredness of the cold, the feeling of abandonment, all into one simple whistling sound.

"Comet?" the windigo called, starting at the crater in the snow.

Another creature came out of it, rising in the air without taking its eyes off its prey. The so-called Comet silently stood by the other creature's side.

The latter suddenly stared at its four congeners still in front of the pine's remains.

"Why didn't you take care of him!?" the windigo berated.

"He got us by surprise," Cupid hissed.

"And imprisoned us," Blitzen added.

"But we got away," Prancer continued.

Sweetie Belle looked at them in disbelief. Were they consciously lying? Had they already forgotten that Rudolph had freed them to witness the Cutie Mark Crusaders' work? Their gift?

Seeing the wind coming back, and their voice becoming unnatural again, the unicorn understood. Yes, they had forgotten. Their nature pushed them to erase any act of kindness from their memories.

"Oh that's your specialty, criticizing others, isn't it, Vixen?" Donner threw with contempt.

"And you, always defending your incompetence," Vixen spit, bringing its attention back towards the crater where Rudolph was lying, outside of the unicorn's field of view. "In any case, I finally caught up to him, that's the most important part. To think he had managed to escape despite the damage on his leg."

The windigo slowly landed, snorting.

"This is all a thief like him deserves," Comet approved.

His voice was more brutal. Stronger, like an avalanche.

"You're the one who hurt him!?" Sweetie Belle shouted with anger, understanding Rudolph's wound hadn't only been caused by his fall in the forest.

A strong whistle came to her ears, as Vixen was straightening her head, turning it slowly towards the filly, imitated by the other creatures. The unicorn quickly understood her mistake, lowering her ears from fear. They had forgotten about her, for a moment.

Alone, faced with six windigos.

"What is another creature doing in our village!?" Vixen thundered, her voice going into horribly high-pitched range.

Sweetie Belle collapsed on herself, shaking even more, feeling the wind suddenly rising.