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

Turns out, Comet and Borealis and Tynan's parents were not wrong-- Santa's warehouse had been the next place struck by the villainous Toy Taker, this proving that these rumors of his existence weren't just rumors.

Comet had informed his friends that a meeting was scheduled to take place at the castle within the next little while, and that's why our heroes had to hurry.

If they missed that meeting, they would miss vital information on how they could potentially get the toys back and prevent Christmas from being ruined.

XXXXXXXX

Elves, reindeer, forest creatures, auroricorns and ponies all gathered in the ballroom, murmuring out of worry as Comet, Violet Frost, Santa and Mrs. Claus stood on the stage to address the crowd.

Like Sunny and her friends expected, Santa seemed to be the most downtrodden of all, sighing heavily as he shook his head. “I should have guarded the toys myself…”

“Oh, Papa,” Mrs. Claus said to her husband reassuringly, “you mustn't blame yourself.”

“She’s right, Santa,” Violet Frost said comfortingly. “Even with me and Comet nearby last night, he somehow managed to slip by us.”

“And,” Comet sighed, “he took every single toy that the elves made!”

The Boss Elf nodded from next to Violet Frost. “And even the toys guarding the toys!”

That’s when Frostbite, who is a dark purple stallion with a blue and green mane and tail, blue eyes, pink and green jewels in his necklace and a crystal cutie mark of a snowflake, raised his hoof. “Can’t we just make new toys?”

“Frostbite, listen to yourself!” Polar Faith scolded. “There’s no way the elves can make a year’s worth of toys in three days… there’s just not enough time!”

“I have to agree with Polar on this one,” Violet said, her ears pinning against her head in guilt. “I'm afraid it's going to be a toy-less Christmas this year.”

“No toys for Christmas?” Izzy managed to squeak. “Neigh way!” Pipp protested. “Think of all those heartbroken kids!”

“Pipp is right,” Rudolph said boldly. “We can’t give up!”

“Rudolph has a plan, right? Right!” Coach Comet said before turning to the young reindeer and fox princess next to him. “What’s the plan, champ?”

“Well,” Rudolph pondered out loud, “what if we catch the Toy Taker and get the toys back by Christmas?”

“Now that’s a plan worth considering!” Amethyst Flare smirked with pure determination. “I’m with ya, Rudolph!”

That’s when another auroricorn mare, named Icy Spirit (who had a blue pelt, a blue mane and tail with pink tips at the end, blue eyes, a greenish-blue glitter gradient on her legs, a green gem on her necklace and a crystal cutie mark of a crystal) stepped forward. “I’m in too!”

Soon, many more auroricorns volunteered their services, but there was still one question that Santa couldn’t shake off his mind. “But by golly, how does one catch such a slippery scoundrel?”

“Oooh… good point,” Hitch frowned as many North Pole residents began to mutter. “I don’t think he’s gonna give those toys up willingly, even if we do find them.”

“Think, everyone, think!” Zipp encouraged them, holding up her FlyPad. “Someone must’ve seen something last night.”

That’s when Hank, one of the taller elves of the North Pole, raised his hand. “I did.”

This led many to mutter out of confusion, and Violet Frost and Comet hopped down to face him. “Okay, start from the beginning,” Violet said gently. “What exactly did you see, Hank?”

Hank hummed and thought back to the night earlier. “I was up late reading last night,” he explained, “and I saw...well, it looked like a giant flying football, I thought I was just seeing things.”

“...I saw it too.”

Suddenly, another auroricorn seemed to appear out of thin air, causing Negro and Borealis, along with some others, to yelp in surprise. This auroricorn mare, named Ebony Snowflake, had dark purple pelt, a bluish-green mane and tail that sweeps partly over her face, blue eyes, a purple gem on her necklace, a crystal horn, a dark blue glitter gradient on her legs, and a cutie mark of a snowflake.

Sunny looked over at this mare before trotting closer. “You saw this… flying football too? What’s your name?”

“Ebony,” the auroricorn answered. “Ebony Snowflake.”

“Ebony has the unique auroricorn power to completely blend in with her environment,” Violet explained. “She was always good at keeping an eye out for Allura back when she had control of Starlight Ridge.”

Zipp held her FlyPad up again. “And you can vouch for what Hank is saying, Ebony?”

Ebony nodded softly. “I can. I was out for a winter’s walk last night… it’s what I do when I can’t sleep… when all of a sudden, I see that flying football thingy fly over the warehouse. I got scared, so I hid behind a tree, and that’s when I saw a strange… figure, climb through the roof. I turned invisible and ran, cause I didn’t want him to see me. I guess I just tried to convince myself it was just a dream cause it scared me so bad.”

Ocean Blizzard nudged her comfortingly, and that’s when Clarice spoke up, suddenly realizing what Ebony and Hank meant by ‘flying football’. “I think what Hank and Ebony really saw last night was a blimp!”

“Great bouncing icebergs!” Santa realized. “That's how he absconded with our toys!”

“Papa,” Mrs. Claus then suggested, “why don’t we look for clues?”

“Now you’re thinking like a detective, Mrs. Claus!” Zipp smiled. “I bet if we go to where the Toy Taker was last seen, we’ll find something to let us know who he is or where he’s going next.”

That’s when Rudolph got Borealis on his back, preparing to lead the way. “To the scene of the crime!”

XXXXXXXX

Within just a few short minutes, the ponies and all their friends, new and old, went into the dark warehouse, searching high and nose for clues, using the auroricorns’ horns, Izzy and Misty’s horns and Rudolph’s nose for sources of light.

Ocean Blizzard looked around, but didn’t see anything that could be dubbed as a clue. “What exactly do we need to look for?”

“Well… we’re not sure yet,” Borealis said as she sniffed the ground, with Rudolph giving her some light. “All we need to do is keep searching until we find something that is out of the box, or unusual in a warehouse setting.”

Winter Wind used her horn to provide a light for Hermey to search by, and Polar Faith used her horn to provide a light for Boss Elf... but what the two auroricorns weren't expecting was the fact that Hermey and Boss Elf would eventually run into one another...

...and Boss Elf was not that happy to see Hermey after all this time. “You again!”

“Actually,” Hermey said innocently, “I’m a dentist now.”

“Dentist, schmentrist, you no-account rebel!” Boss Elf snapped. “You left my staff one elf short!”

“Boss Elf, this isn’t the time to be terrorizing poor Hermey about his life choices,” Polar Faith scolded. “She’s right-- you’d better be nice,” Hermey said to his former employer with an innocent smile. “One of these days, you'll need a dentist and I'm the only one around.”

“I wouldn't let you touch my choppers with a 10-foot pole, you-- you tooth maniac!”

“Okay, okay, that’s enough!” Pipp said as she got between the two elves, looking at Boss Elf with a stern expression on her face. “Boss Elf, I personally remember when you told Hermey he could be a dentist, and you didn’t seem to have a single problem with it then. So, why don’t you just let Hermey prove you wrong and leave him alone?”

“Wow…” Winter Wind muttered to Polar Faith while Boss Elf looked stunned. “I wish I had guts like that.”

Polar Faith could only nod, equally as amazed. “You and me both.”

“Guys, come here! Quick!” Negro called from where he and Clarice stood. “We found something!”

Everyone turned to see Clarice and Negro near a small speck of stuffing, and Clarice nudged it over to Santa, who picked it up. “Uh, glad you told us something, kids,” Tynan frowned, “but that just looks like old stuffing to me.”

Santa sniffed the stuffing a bit before taking a taste with his tongue, recognizing the stuffing almost immediately. “Oh, it's stuffing, all right. We stopped using this kind years ago.”

“Hmm… stuffing that hasn’t been used in years winding up in the middle of the warehouse?” Comet looked confused. “Could that be some sort of clue?”

“It sure could!” Zipp said with an enthusiastic grin as she put the info down into her FlyPad. “We better keep an eye out for anymore, in case there’s a trail.”

“Footprints?”

Everyone turned to see what Rudolph and Borealis had found going down one of the aisles-- they looked like they had some sort of imprint, but it didn’t seem to match any kind of shoe or hoof the ponies had ever seen.

Hermey hummed at this, finding the footprints quite strange. “How peculiar…”

“Sunny? What happens now?” Violet Frost asked. “Even with these clues, there’s still not a lot to go on.”

“Well… I suggest we break up into search parties,” Sunny suggested. “That way we cover a lot more ground and try and find the blimp faster.”

“Good thinking, Sunny dear!” Nora smiled. “Tynan and I can give out assignments to every elf, reindeer, auroricorn and forest creature we can find!”

“And Negro and I are going out into the field too,” Borealis then said. “We need to help out as much as we can in order to find those toys before Christmas.”

“...both of you, be careful,” Tynan said to the fox pups gently. “Nora and I… we wouldn’t know what to do if we lost you.”

“Don’t worry, Dad-- we’ll be fine,” Negro said. “Come on, guys-- we’ve got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it!”

XXXXXXXX

And so, Santa, Mrs. Claus, Violet Frost, Comet, Nora and Tynan broke every elf, reindeer, auroricorn and forest creature into search parties. Their mission; find the Toy Taker by Christmas... and they had very little time to get the job done.

But you might be wondering... where would such a big job start?

Well, that's what we're about to find out.

XXXXXXXX

In the back of the Tooth-Mobile, Zipp and Hitch managed to work together in order to make a map of all the places the Toy Taker had been striking, and once it was put together, Zipp took the liberty to explain to the others what it meant. “After carefully studying all the newspaper articles about the Toy Taker’s movements,” said Zipp, “Hitch and I have put these pins on this map of the world. The pins mark the Toy Taker's path of mayhem and plunder.”

“He sure gets around, doesn't he?” Clarice asked, causing Negro to nod. Then Rudolph noticed two unmarked spots on the map and pointed to the first one with his hoof. “He hasn’t been here…”

“O-Or here!” Winter Wind quickly pointed to the other one with her hoof. And within an instant, Borealis seemed to recognize those spots. “Castaway Cove… and the Island of Misfit Toys!”

“Then that’s where we have to go,” Hermey said, preparing to get in the driver’s seat. “And we need to get there fast,” Misty frowned, “before anything worse than the Toy Taker strikes.”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, causing Clarice to hum. “Who could that be?”

“Let me find out,” Sunny said cautiously before opening the door, revealing Amethyst Flare standing outside. “Oh… Amethyst Flare. This is a surprise. Has there been any update on the Toy Taker?”

“No, but… I had a thought. You said Allura’s worked with a lot of shady characters before, yes?” Amethyst Flare asked sternly. “Well, she might be working with the Toy Taker to lead all of you into a trap to steal those star shards!”

“Oh, yikes…” Hitch grimaced. “I-I didn’t think about that.”

“Now that you mention it, Amethyst, it would be a good idea if you came along,” Rudolph told the auroricorn mare. “Your super speed might come in handy.”

“I’ll gladly come along,” said Amethyst, a smile beginning to form, “but… you have to take the rest of us with you too.”

Pipp blinked in surprise when this was said. “Hold on… the rest of us? What does that mean exactly?”

That’s when Ebony Snowflake appeared out of thin air, and soon, Ocean Blizzard and Polar Faith walked over to them. “What she means,” Ocean Blizzard smirked, “is that you’re going to have to take ALL of us before you plan on going anywhere.”

“All of you wanna come?” Zipp honestly looked surprised. “But aren’t you scared of Allura?”

“Well… she does give me the heebie-jeebies,” Ebony whispered softly, “but… you’re our friends.”

“Yeah! And there’s no way we’d let you go alone,” Ocean Blizzard said confidently. “Five auroricorns are way better than one, after all.”

Borealis seemed touched by this act of bravery. “Thanks, girls. Well, if we’re gonna get to Castaway Cove before the Toy Taker strikes, we need to get going. Just follow along behind us!”

XXXXXXXX

With Amethyst, Ebony, Ocean and Polar trotting behind as sort of a lined-up lookout for trouble, the Tooth-Mobile headed past the peppermint mine, where Yukon and Bumble were sitting in front of a boarded-up mine with a sign hanging above it. “Out of business?” Rudolph read the sign in confusion. “What happened?”

“There's not a peck of pepper or morsel of mint left in that stinky old peppermint mine!” Yukon said with frustration and depression. “Me and Bumble mined it clean!”

Bumble nodded, mumbling in agreement. “Well, now that you boys have a little bit of free time,” said Izzy cheerfully, “how about you help us catch the Toy Taker?”

Clarice nodded at this. “There won't be any toys for Christmas unless we find him.”

“And with you two on our team,” said Polar Faith with a smile, “the Toy Taker will have a least likely chance of escape!”

This remark made Yukon Cornelius smile. “Well, what are we waiting for? Wahoo!”

Then, he turned and whistled, causing the sled dogs he heavily relied on to come out, barking and pulling the sled. Yukon jumped into the sled, but after that, the dogs simply wouldn’t move. “Mush! Come on, mush!!”

However, the dogs refused to listen to reason, causing Amethyst to sigh. “Oh brother… come on, ladies. We better give Yukon a hand with the sled.”

Polar, Ocean, Ebony and Amethyst trotted over to the sled and harnessed up the best of their ability, and once everyone was on, the groups set off again… even if the sled did seem a little heavier now that Bumble was riding.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Arctic Circle, the Toy Taker's blimp was heading toward a giant icy glacier with a new load of toys that he had only stolen just a few hundred miles away.

The Toy Taker began to unload the toys one by one until they were all inside a cold, icy cavern, and when all the toys were unloaded at last, the Toy Taker came down to them, sliding down a large tube and causing all the captured toys to gather around him. “Welcome,” the Toy Taker said to the toys, old and new, that he had collected, “to your new home.”

“Well, what was wrong with our old homes?” the rocking horse that was stolen a few days ago asked, and unfortunately, the Toy Taker had a dead-set response. “They were infested with children!”

That’s when a small purple duck came forward, his eyes sad and longing to be back with his owner again. “But we love children…”

“And children may love toys at first,” the Toy Taker told the toys, “but it's a fickle love that never lasts.”

“Hold on one cotton-picking moment!”

That’s when all the toys turned to see Charlie-in-the-Box, a misfit toy the Mane 6 met the year before hopping forward to speak his peace. “I used to live on the Island of Misfit Toys, until Santa found me a home of my own. That was the happiest day of my life,” he said, reminiscing before getting back to the topic at hand. “Take me back! My little Sarah needs me!”

That’s when Dolly, a rag doll that the Mane 6 also met the year before, stepped forward, a pleading look on her face. “Please, Mr. Toy Taker, let me go home as well. A toy is never truly happy until it is loved by a child.”

“Well,” the Toy Taker said bitterly, “the truth is that children always outgrow you, and if they stop eating you, have mercy. They'll toss you aside like yesterday's trash!”

All of the toys gasped in shock to this claim, never hearing anything so horrible in their lives. Dolly, however, refused to believe the villain's claim. “Not my little girl…”

The purple duck toy softly whined and sniffled a bit while the Toy Taker picked him up and strokes him a bit, trying to comfort him before setting him down and turning to Charlie. “Charlie-in-the-Box…” the Toy Taker began with a heavy sigh, patting Charlie on the back. “Think of how lonely life must be if a child stops needing you. But I'll always take care of you.”

Suddenly, something in Charlie’s mind seemed to click. “Wait a minute!” he said, pushing himself away from the Toy Taker and whatever trick he was trying to pull. “I read about you in the papers! You're not our friend-- you're a crook!”

Then, much to the surprise of the toys, the Toy Taker began to sing a defensive claim to whatever gossip the toys may have heard about him in previous days.

Toy Taker: You think I'm mean and a nasty fiend
Cause I'm known for stealing lots of toys
But close your ear to those things you hear
They're lies from sniggly girls and boys

Cause they might flatter you on Christmas Day,
But sooner or later they will grow away
And they'll leave you behind when they go out to play
No, they won't take you

But I am a wonderful guy
I'd never treat a toy the way those children do
And though you may not want to go
The Toy Taker, that's me, will take care of you!

And you, and you, and you
And you, and you...

The toys seemed to spare a glance at one another at these words-- for some reason, the Toy Taker didn't sound COMPLETELY heartless... but there was something about him that deemed him as a villain.

Toy Taker: A brand-new toy full of pride and joy
At first, will have a primo time
But then some kid drops you on your lid
And poof-- you're gone before your time!

A broken nose, that's the way it goes
A missing wheel, think of how you'll feel
When your paint peels off and you start to cough (Cough, cough, cough)
Will they ever know?

But I am a heck of a guy
I'll treat you with respect until my face turns blue
And yes, I am filled with finesse
The Toy Taker, who else, will take care of you
And you...

I'm a really peaceful fellow
At heart I'm soft as Jell-O
My modus operandi
Is influenced by Gandhi

Knowing that it was probably time to get out there and get more toys, the Toy Taker hopped aboard the bottom of the tube he used to suck the toys up and began to ride it out of the cave and toward his blimp once more.

Toy Taker: So cheer, 'cause the Toy Taker's here
You'll never be discarded or be thrown away
I swear, what I'm saying is true
The Toy Taker, that's me, will take care of you

And you, and you, and you, and you!

And after the Toy Taker had lifted out of their sights, the toys realized they were alone, and they were going to be alone forever if someone didn't rescue them soon.