G5 Adventures in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys

Borealis had just received word of the Northern Light appearing in a completely different place than usual, and it appeared much earlier in the evening than usual too.

This immediately got the detective senses she got from Zipp tingling.

What could this mean? Was this some sort of sign from her mother?

Or was it just… strange atmospheric issues?

She had to keep this in the back of her mind while Sunny and the others were here. She hadn't seen them in so long, and... well... she didn't want to waste a single second on something that could be nothing.

But... she would soon realize how wrong she was about this being nothing, and how it would affect the rest of her life from that point on.

XXXXXXXX

After an amazing dinner cooked by Mrs. Claus, Santa personally guided the Mane 6 to their own private cottage behind the castle, that he had especially built for them in case they ever came back to the North Pole.

And what made it even better was the fact that Rudolph and Borealis were going to stay for a sleepover, just so they could have some time to themselves.

So, since they were alone at last, Sunny decided to show Rudolph and Borealis all the star shards they had collected thus far, laying them out on the floor. “Wow…” Borealis gasped, her multi-colored eyes wide. “They’re so pretty!”

“And they all look really similar to each other,” Rudolph said as he studied the pieces. “Almost like puzzle pieces.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Zipp nodded. “But the puzzle won’t be complete until we find that last star shard.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be too hard,” Borealis said out of innocence. “I’m sure that since you’re here, that star shard will show up at any time.”

The Mane 6 looked at each other uneasily… Allura having one star shard was the only thing that they couldn’t tell out in the open, fearing that someone might panic and send the North Pole into an arctic frenzy.

But now that they were alone, they couldn’t let their friends be in the dark any longer than they had to.

Rudolph noticed the ponies’ concerned expressions and frowned in concern. “What? Is there something wrong?”

“Well… we actually know where the last shard is,” Sunny said uneasily. “And… well… it isn’t in the North Pole.”

“Huh?” Borealis tilted her head, confused. “Then… where is it?”

Zipp took a deep breath before sighing. “Around Allura’s neck.”

“What?!” Rudolph looked stunned. “How did she get in the possession of another one?”

“She must’ve found it when we went back to Equestria after we completed one of our missions,” Hitch sighed. “She’s gotten close to nabbing a few of them, and they did temporarily increase her power, but… we were able to get those away from her.”

“But this one shard is one she’s been guarding like a hawk,” Misty added. “Or, more literally, guarding it like a snow leopard.”

“You guys are… gonna try and get it back from her, right?” Borealis asked nervously, her ears pinned. “I mean… we don’t even know what she’s gonna do with that star once it’s fully assembled.”

“We’re gonna try our best to get the shard from her, Bori,” Pipp rubbed the fox on the head. “Hopefully, we never have to find out why she wants the star to begin with.”

Rudolph and Borealis nodded at this, hoping their friends were right.

But even they couldn’t help but wonder…

…what WERE Allura’s true motives?

XXXXXXXX

Later that night, as our heroes tucked themselves into bed for a good night's rest before the next day's festivites, we move to a small, quiet village all decorated for Christmas before focusing on one house in particular.

Inside it, a little girl was sleeping soundly in her room. All is silent, with the toys she loved scattered around the floor. Suddenly, flute music began to play, and the little girl's rocking horse came to life, as if in a trance of some kind, as she silently rocked herself to follow where the music was coming from. Then the toy chest opened and out from it burst a ball and six blocks, following the music as well.

It must be some catchy tune, right?

Well... it's a sort of melody toys can't resist.

By this point, lots of toys, including a panda doll, a tea set, a ball, the rocking horse, the blocks and many others started following the music, in the deepest of spellbound trances.

The toys came up to the chimney, with the ball going up the chimney first, and the blocks piled up into a staircase so the other toys could climb up.

On the roof, the ball bounced out of the chimney and kept bouncing to something, unknowingly passing a figure responsible for the music.

Mr. Heebie Jeebies himself, otherwise known as... the Toy Taker.

Eventually, all the toys made it up the chimney one by one, where a big purple blimp is hovering above with a big hose of some sort descending from it, sucking all the dazed toys inside of it, and causing the Toy Taker to laugh like a lunatic before he jumped onto the hose and went back up into the blimp to make the next stop.

He had been stealing toys from everywhere, from the city of London, Paris, Switzerland, China... almost any place you could think of.

And he wasn't going to stop until all of the toys, even the ones currently being made at Santa's workshop, were his prisoners.

Unless... our heroes can stop his plans in time

XXXXXXXX

The next morning, Borealis was walking around the grounds of the castle before anyone else woke up.

It gave her a lot of time to think about things she needed to do that day, and she wanted to let Rudolph and the Mane 6 get their rest for the big day ahead.

I mean, it's not every day Santa asks you to lead the Christmas parade leading up to the big Snow Ball that night.

But as Borealis was thinking about a multitude of things at once, a sudden voice interrupted her train of thought.

“What’s shakin’ there, Princess Borealis?”

Borealis turned to see a talking snowman with a news reporter hat, a green scarf and a coal nose trudge over to her, using a stick as a large cane, and this sight made her smile. “Scoop T. Snowman, right? The head reporter for the Christmastown Chronicle?”

“At your service,” Scoop tipped his hat to her. “A lovely day for Christmas festivities, isn’t it?”

“It really is,” Borealis smiled. “The ponies from Equestria will be happy to celebrate peacefully, since Allura is still on the loose somewhere. But… let’s not worry about that right now. How have things been shaping up for you?”

“Well, busy as usual… but busier than ever once I heard the nightly report from an outside source,” Scoop said seriously, reaching behind his back and taking out a notepad. “I wanted to give you the inside scoop, so to speak, before I released it to the public in the coming days.”

Borealis looked at what Scoop had written down on the notepad with curiosity in her gaze. “Toy Taker Strikes Again: ‘A mysterious figure is taking toys from all around the world, and no one can identify this cloaked menace’. Man… this does sound serious. This is the fourth time in the last two weeks that the Toy Taker has struck.”

“Any official comment, your highness?” Scoop asked. “It would look good getting it from a royal source.”

Borealis sighed wearily before taking a deep breath and regaining her princess-like composure. “Not at the moment, Scoop. There’s not much information I can give that some people haven’t started whispering about. I wanna give it time in case these are just rumors.”

“Sure thing,” Scoop tucked the notepad under his hat. “Well, better get back to work. I’ll be covering the Christmastown Parade today, so I’ll see you then.”

Borealis was about to turn when Scoop spoke up to her again. “Princess?”

“Yes?” Borealis turned her head back to him. “Well, I never knew your mother personally,” Scoop said gently, “but… you’re doing a mighty fine job stepping into her paw prints.”

Borealis nodded softly. “Thank you. That’s what I’m hoping I can do.”

And with that, Borealis took her leave, in order to get primped and pampered for the parade in only a few short hours.

XXXXXXXX

Later on that day, the Christmas parade was almost ready to begin.

At a snowy gazebo not too far away from the castle itself, Santa, Borealis, the Mane 6, the reindeer, Mrs. Claus, the elves, a large batch of auroricorns from Starlight Ridge, and a couple of toy soldier guards waited for the parade to begin, with Rudolph right up front, Borealis on his back and the Mane 6 directly behind them.

Borealis fiddled with the flower crown that had mysteriously appeared on her head before the parade, and Izzy couldn’t help but question it. “Oooh, a flower crown! An excellent use of nature-y unicycling! Did you make that, Bori?”

“Actually… Negro made it for me,” Borealis said. “He knew how nervous I was for my first parade as future queen, so… he made this for me to make me feel like an actual princess, since I don’t have a real crown yet.”

Negro waved his paw timidly at Borealis from where he and his father stood with Clarice and her father, and Borealis waved back.

Rudolph chuckled at this. “Negro and Borealis have really gotten close over the past few months.”

“Oh-ho, we can tell,” Pipp said with a mischievous smirk. “Hey, I know that look, Pipp Petals!” Borealis said defensively. “Me and Negro are just friends. Nothing more.”

“Oh, sure, Borealis, sure,” Pipp winked playfully, causing Izzy and Misty to giggle. “Whatever you say.”

That's when the Mane 6 looked back to see the Boss Elf, someone that they hoped hadn't bugged Hermey too much about being a dentist since they left, pulling out his conducting wand, ready to conduct the band. “And a-1 uh, and a-2 uh and a-3 uh!”

And that's when a few of the elves began to sing a cheerful tune to start the parade off right.

You know Dasher and Dancer
And Prancer and Vixen
Comet and Cupid
And Donner and Blitzen

But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?

But of course, one of the elves, Hank, showed up late before playing his bass, and after his arrival, Santa, Rudolph, Borealis and the Mane 6 began to lead the parade away from the gazebo, leading everyone in an orderly line as the music continued.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows

A familiar reformed snow-monster saw the parade and grinned at the ponies, and so did a small group of forest critters, causing the ponies to smile back.

All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

By this point, Yukon Cornelius came out of the Peppermint Mine that he had started last Christmas, pushing out a cart complete with candy canes before he came out to join the others in the parade.

Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
You'll go down in history!

By the time that the parade reached the castle, the song ended, but not the music as everyone worked to decorate the large Christmas tree in the ballroom, since the rest of the ballroom had already been decorated the night before by our heroes and their Christmastown pals.

And once the ornaments and lights had been hung, everyone chattered as Bumble put the star on top of the tree with happy giggles... a stark contrast to how he acted just a short year ago. “Wow… it looks perfect!” Violet Frost smiled. “Really suitable too, since this is the North Pole.”

“But don’t you think the tree is missing a little something?” Izzy asked innocently, tilting her head. “Like… I dunno… lights?”

“You’re right, Izzy. But I know just who I’d like to light the tree,” Santa said before turning to Rudolph, gesturing the button to turn on all the lights of the Christmas tree and all around the room. “Rudolph, will you do the honors?”

“My pleasure, Santa,” Rudolph said as Borealis hopped off his back. The red-nosed reindeer in question stepped forward and pressed the button with his hoof, turning on all the lights, to everyone's amazement.

But as they stood there, marveling at all the Christmas decorations, the lights started flickering, to everyone's confusion, and then suddenly all the power in the castle went off, making everyone moan in disappointment. “Uh… not to worry, everyone!” Sunny said reassuringly as Violet Frost, Comet and some other auroricorns used their horns to light up the darkened space. “Probably just a fuse blew.”

“There’s a fuse box in the barn,” Rudolph said, letting Borealis hop on his back. “We’ll go check it out and get the lights back on.”

“We’ll go with you,” Zipp said as the Mane 6, Rudolph with Borealis on his back and Santa began to head out. “Just to make sure there are no figures bumping in the night.”

So, our heroes and their friends headed out to the barn to find the fuse box, with Rudolph's glowing nose and Izzy and Misty's horns providing extra light so the fuse box could be found. “There!” Sunny pointed to the box. “That looks like what we’re looking for!”

Santa opened the fuse box and, with Rudolph's nose showing him which one to push, moved one of the fuse levers to the other side, restoring all power in the castle.

Santa laughed heartily and patted Rudolph's head, causing the reindeer to smile before they all headed back to the castle for the party.

XXXXXXXX

Soon, the Snow Ball was in full swing, with Boss Elf conducting the elf band as they all played a lively tune on their instruments.

Even Bumble couldn't resist diving into a very large plate of gingerbread cookies that Mrs. Claus had made, but some spilled out onto the floor, causing Izzy to gobble a few of them up and causing both of them to laugh.

With Yukon Cornelius, he dipped the tip of his pickaxe in a bowl of figgy pudding, before taking it out and tasting the drop of pudding. This made him grin in delight, and it even made both halves of his mustache roll out.

On the other side of the room, Santa and Mrs. Claus were dancing together, giving Sunny the idea that she should find a partner and join in the fun. “Come on, Hitch!” she said, grabbing the sheriff’s hoof. “The dancing isn’t gonna do itself!”

“WHOA!!” Hitch yelped as he was drug onto the dance floor, but soon relaxed as he and Sunny started dancing together, with Izzy and Comet joining in after a moment, finding a close friendship with each other.

Around the same time, Rudolph and Borealis were both looking for Negro and Clarice when they saw Clarice approaching Negro at the fireplace.

Negro and Clarice had grown almost as close as Rudolph and Borealis had over the past few months, and it was heartwarming to see that Clarice had her own little fox friend with his own special magic.

After a moment, Clarice noticed Rudolph and gave him a flirtatious smirk, which made Rudolph gulp hesitantly as his nose beamed. The doe came away from the fireplace and near the door leading to the hallway out of the room, with Negro on her heels, and the little black fox gave the duo the signal to follow.

Hermey and Zipp walked over by that point, with Hermey carrying a tray of fruit, and it didn’t take long for them to figure out what was going on. “Come on, you two, get a move on,” Zipp said, nudging Borealis while Hermey gave Rudolph a little nudge. “We can handle the party for a while.”

“Well, I… okay, but only if you’re sure,” Borealis sighed before turning to Rudolph. “Come on, Rudolph… can’t keep Clarice and Negro waiting.”

And so, seeing Clarice and Negro heading out into the hall, Rudolph and Borealis took off after them and into the cold, night air.

But when they stepped out into the snow, they looked around, not seeing Clarice and Negro anywhere. “Huh?” Borealis looked around, confused. “Where’d they go-- GAH!!”

A snowball hit Borealis right in the face, causing her to shake her head to clear it away. That’s when Clarice and Negro came out of hiding, giggling to themselves before running off, giving Rudolph and Borealis the chance to pursue.

Here in the night
Just you and me…

Clarice and Negro stopped near the gazebo and looked behind them, but noticed that Rudolph and Borealis weren’t chasing them anymore.

So where in the world were they, you ask?

Well, Rudolph had flown up to the top of the gazebo, with Borealis hanging on, of course, and some snow falling from the top of the gazebo alerted Clarice and Negro to where they were.

Negro giggled at this before he and Clarice rushed off again, ushering another round of the game.

In all of the world
You’re all I see…

Then, with Borealis on his back, Rudolph made a daring leap into the air before soaring off into the heavens to keep up with Clarice and Negro.

If we could fly away
Together we’ll fly someday
And be who we are
Somewhere beyond the stars

Clarice and Negro eventually stopped at the top of a distant hill to catch their breath, and Rudolph and Borealis landed behind them, with Borealis hopping off of Rudolph’s back to greet her fox friend.

If we made a wish
It might come true tonight

The two reindeer and the two foxes circled one another for a moment, smiling tenderly before rearing up and rushing away together once more.

Just listen to the dreams in your heart
Hold them and wish them with all your might

Rudolph and Borealis came to the part of the hill where you could overlook the night sky without a care in the world, and gestured for Negro and Clarice to join them after a few moments... even nuzzling one another as they gazed out at the starry sky.

Then perhaps someday
We'll know how closer we are
Love is waiting there, beyond the stars

We can find our way, beyond the stars...

XXXXXXXX

At the same time that Borealis, Rudolph, Negro and Clarice were enjoying their moonlit frolic, a yellow kite was flying frantically through the winter area, as he was in Christmastown for a very reluctant reason. Then he comes to a red mobile building and gasped upon seeing a sign labeled "The dentist is out" on the back door. “The dentist is out?!” he exclaimed. “How tragic…”

“Try the Christmastown Snow Ball,” Scoop T. Snowman told the kite as he approached, a smile on his face. “First castle on your left-- matter of fact, the only castle on your left.”

And that’s exactly where the little kite flew off to, trying to find the only dentist around for miles… Hermey himself.

XXXXXXXX

Around that same time, Rudolph, Clarice and their fox friends were heading back to the castle when Rudolph decided to make Clarice an offer. “So, uh, how about a flying lesson tomorrow afternoon, Clarice?”

“Really?” Clarice asked in surprise. “I mean, you're not too busy being so famous and all.”

“Well, you wanna earn your wings, don’t ya?” Borealis asked. “And it’s been a while since we’ve practiced, so it never hurts.”

“That would be amazing!” Negro said. “Dad said I can spend the day with Clarice tomorrow anyway, so let’s meet at the Northern Woods at, say… 5 o’clock.”

Borealis smiled. “Works for us.”

XXXXXXXX

“Hey, there they are!” Misty pointed to her friends and Tynan as Rudolph, Clarice and the young foxes came back into the ballroom, and they immediately trotted over to greet them. “Hey, guys,” Hitch smiled. “How was that moonlight run of yours?”

“It was fun!” Borealis smiled. “I actually stayed on top of the snow longer this time!”

“Well, now I know why my son was so eager to be at this party,” Tynan said with a mischievous smile. “To spend time with his favorite little fox friend.”

“Daaaad!!” Negro said in an embarrassed tone, causing Tynan to chuckle. “Just kidding, son. I’m just glad you kids had a good time.”

At the same time, one of three young fawns, named Adina, saw Rudolph and came up to him, holding a book of some sort in her mouth and placing it down at his hooves. “Uh… Mr. Rudolph, sir? May I have your autograph?”

Borealis nodded to Rudolph, knowing he couldn’t resist such an innocent smile. That’s when Rudolph put his hoof in a little ink pad nearby and stamped it into an open page, making Adina giggle emotionally before grabbing the book and running off to show her friends.

Sunny couldn’t help but chuckle at this. “You sure are popular these days, Rudolph.”

“Popular?” Hermey repeated with a smile as he approached with Comet and Violet Frost. “Actually, he's the most famous reindeer of them all.”

That’s when Yukon Cornelius approached with his own auroricorn pal-- Amethyst Flare, who had a dark magenta coat, dark purple eyes, a dark blue mane and tail with magenta tips and glitter in it, a dark magenta crystal in her necklace, a dark blue crystal gradient on her hooves and a crystal cutie mark of a firework.

Amethyst sometimes helped Yukon with the Peppermint Mine, whenever her firework talents weren’t needed around Starlight Ridge or Santa’s workshop. “Famous?” she repeated with a smile. “He’s more like a legend!”

Sunny noticed that Rudolph seemed to be getting a bit embarrassed by all the attention he was getting, and that's when Yukon raised his mug and tapped it with a spoon, clearing his throat in the process. “Everybody, a toast to our true-blue bosom buddy, Rudolph!”

“TO RUDOLPH!!” everyone shouted, raising their mugs and drinking some of their hot cocoa, when suddenly, Yukon noticed something. “Bad Bumble! Bad!”

Bumble was devouring all of the figgy pudding in one gulp, causing Bumble to put the bowl back on the table and whistle, as if he hadn’t done a thing wrong. “One word for you, my friend,” Hermey told him with a smile. “Dentures.”

The yeti looks thoughtful about the offer, but everyone in the room starts chanting one word and one word only. “Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!”

“Come on, Rudolph,” Borealis said, pushing against Rudolph urgingly. “Say something!”

Rudolph decided to take the fox up on her offer, and headed up onto the stage, much to the delight of the chanting crowd. Boss Elf adjusted the microphone and turned it on, causing feedback to go off, making the red-nosed fawn to wince a bit before the feedback finally stopped.

And once it did, Rudolph was finally able to say something. “Gee, guys… thanks,” he said with a small smile. “Being famous is swell and all, but the truth is, I never did anything to deserve it.”

“And he’s modest, too!” Yukon said, causing many to murmur and nod. But Rudolph didn’t feel that his speech was over just yet. “All I ever wanted was…”

“Glow your nose, Rudolph!” Winter Wind called out from the crowd, causing the crowd to cheer in agreement, and for Rudolph’s face to fall. “...to be like everybody else.”

“Come on, champ!” Coach Comet shouted urgingly. “Let's see the trick with the disco ball. Right? Right!”

“Disco ball! Disco ball!” the crowd began to chant repeatedly. “Disco ball!”

“You got this, Rudolph!” Izzy shouted. “We believe in you!!”

Rudolph looked up at the disco ball hanging above, causing him to sigh rather wearily before shining his nose at the ball, with the light reflecting off the ball and shining the light all over the room, making everyone clamor in amazement. Of course, it only lasts briefly before Rudolph gets tired and got his nose to dim as he headed off-stage. “I guess I'm just a novelty act around here.”

“Oh, come on, Rudolph,” Zipp said, trying to cheer the reindeer up. “They’ve just never seen a nose do that before, and they admire you for it, that’s all.”

“Either way… I understand how Rudolph feels,” Borealis said, her ears pinning slightly. “Being treated as famous when… all you want is to be treated like everyone else? I mean… I love being a princess and all, but… life was a little less chaotic before I found out my mom was a queen.”

Hermey, Borealis and the Mane 6 frowned at how unhappy Borealis and Rudolph seemed, but before they could do anything, a voice caught their attention.

“Hermey the Elf, D.D.S?”

The same yellow kite from before flew through the ballroom before stopping in front of Hermey, who bowed in response. “At your service.”

“King Moonracer has a royal toothache,” the kite explained worriedly. “Can you come to the Island of Misfit Toys?”

“You bet!” Hermey nodded, just as Borealis and Rudolph stepped closer. “Need some assistants, Hermey?” Borealis asked, causing Hermey’s smile to widen. “What pals.”

“Actually,” said a voice from the crowd, “I don’t think going there is a good idea.”

That’s when another auroricorn stepped out from the crowd, holding a clipboard in her magic aura. This auroricorn had a dark blue pelt, green eyes, a light blue mane and tail with dark blue tips, a purple gem in her necklace, a blue crystal gradient on her legs and a cutie mark of an ocean wave.

Amethyst Flare looked at her in confusion. “Ocean Blizzard? What do you mean they can’t go?”

“Yeah,” Zipp nodded. “Just who are you?

“I’m the resident weather auroricorn around here,” Ocean Blizzard said with a little snip in her voice, “and I don’t think it’s safe for Princess Borealis and her friends to go to an area of the ocean that’s known for having rough storms. You could get lost at sea, or worse!”

Borealis groaned under her breath-- she appreciated everyone looking out for her, but she had faced dangerous situations with her friends before. She was certain she could find a way out of a weather-related one with Rudolph by her side.

But before she could say anything, Sunny stepped up. “She won’t be going JUST with Rudolph and Hermey-- us ponies will be going too.”

“And to make sure you’re all safe out there,” Violet Frost added, “I wanna send one of my auroricorns with you, for extra security.”

“Well… I have always wanted to see the Island of Misfit Toys for myself,” Winter Wind said with a bashful smile. “I can go with you.”

“Great, Winter Wind!” Rudolph smiled. “We’re really excited to show it to you.”

“Let’s head out first thing tomorrow morning,” Zipp suggested. “That way if there is bad weather brewing, we can be back before it hits.”

The other ponies and everyone else nodded in agreement, making a silent oath to stick to the plan before the party resumed, leaving the group to enjoy the beginning of the best time of the year.