"Uhm..." Nicholas hesitated, his eyes looking over the height reindeers. They were all smiling in their own way. One with calm, another with childlike excitement. They didn't seem threatening, or even the bearer of bad news. All of them however did seem pleased? "I'm sorry, who are you, and how do you know my name?"
Applejack came up by side, looking with what could be described as astonishment. The male in front of them inclined his head, like a small greeting to the mare, then looked back at Nicholas. "It is kind of a long explanation. If it isn't too much trouble, could we talk inside?"
Once again, Nicholas looked at all the reindeer, then back at the lead. "Sure, but it is going to be a tight fit." He told the reindeer, stepping aside to allow the eight to trot inside his home.
One by one, the eight reindeer made their way inside Nicholas's home. He noted they were all glancing at him as they passed, almost as if they were inspecting him. For now he decided it was just his imagination, and as the last reindeer made it past him, Nicholas closed the door and walked into the living room along with Applejack.
The reindeers had done their best to spread out, trying not to make the living room too crowded. The male from before stepped forward, and gestured to Nicholas's armchair, as if inviting him to sit down in his own home. Nicholas sensed Applejack gearing up to tell the reindeer off, but Nicholas placed a calming hand on her head, and smiled. She looked up at him for a few seconds, then took a deep breath, and let it go. If Nicholas didn't mind, then she wouldn't make a big deal out of it, even if she found it rude.
The interaction didn't go unnoticed by the reindeer. "Sorry," the male said. "I didn't mean to insult you..." He said, sounding a bit embarrassed. "We've just come such a long way, and there is so much to tell."
Nicholas shook his head, moving to the chair and sat down, while Applejack stayed by his side, almost protectively. "It's alright, but you seem to know who I am. I have no idea who you are."
"Oh! Oh!" A female reindeer bounced a bit in place, seeming excited. "Introductions! Introductions!"
Another female reindeer, one with a more calm, yet playful expression put a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "No, no, Prancer, not in here. We have a lot to talk about, and it is too cramped in here."
The reindeer, apparently named Prancer, considered her friend's words, her eyes looking around, then nodded. "Oh, yeah." She let out a giggle. "Whoops, sorry, sir."
She had looked at him when she said sir, it surprised Nicholas a little, but he figured it she was just trying to be polite. He smiled kindly in return. "Don't worry about it." He assured her, then returned to look at the first reindeer.
The reindeer smiled gratefully. "I'm Blitzen," he said. Blitzen had chestnut colored hair, blue eyes, and a light brown coat. There was a calm energy about him, as if he had everything under control, and everything was going according to plan. "It's nice to finally meet you, Nicholas."
"Uhm, likewise." Nicholas said, a bit unsure about the 'finally' part.
A more thin male stepped forward. He wore reading glasses, and a calm knowing smile. His hair was dark brown, and his eyes were like Blitzen's, blue, only darker. His coat was also brown, the classic version you would color a tree with in a coloring book. "It is truly a pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Donner."
"Yeah, yeah, step aside." A female with almost blazing light purple eyes said, as she nudged Donner to the side. Looking at her, Nicholas could only think of one thing, or rather, one pony. However, it was Applejack that said it out loud, apparently thinking the same as him.
"Rainbow Dash?"
"What?" The reindeer asked, her voice not as raspy as Rainbow Dash's, but definitely the same sort of energetic attitude and dare. "No, I'm Dasher! The fas-"
"Fastest reindeer alive, ain't that right?" Applejack asked, a small smirk forming on her lips. "You remind me of a friend of mine."
Dasher looked confused. "There's no one like me, reindeer or pony!" She declared, which only made Applejack chuckle into her hoof. Dasher had a more beige colored coat, and her mane seemed to be a very light shade of brown, maybe. Nicholas wasn't sure which color described it best.
"Alright, enough already, Dasher."
A soft and smooth female voice said. The reindeer that had stopped Prancer stepped closer. She had her brown hair down, it was long and looked very soft. She had a brown coat, and a lot of chest fluff. In her antlers she had tied one snowflake ornament to each, and looking at her eyes, Nicholas could tell she wore a bit of make-up. She smiled at him, and Nicholas got a feeling she liked a bit of innocent mischief.
"My name is Vixen, it is thrilling to finally meet you, honey."
Blitzen stood a little straighter. "Vixen!" He hissed. "Show some respect, you know who he is!"
Nicholas was about to ask what he meant, but Vixen interrupted. "I'm sorry, Blitzen dear. I just can't help myself." She winked at the two other male reindeer, and Nicholas could tell they were blushing. Even Blitzen was blushing, although he tried to hide it behind a mask of discipline.
"My turn!" A big bulky muscular reindeer stepped forward, smiling confidently. Unlike the others, his hair was dark blonde, and his coat had a sort of reddish color, his eyes purple, and he had an air of supreme self-confidence. "Nice to meet you, Santa. I'm Comet, and while Dasher may be the fastest, you won't find a reindeer stronger or braver than me!"
"Pfft..." Dasher rolled her eyes.
As Comet went back, another female reindeer stepped forward. She was very beautiful, elegant, and with the most unique coat and mane color Nicholas had ever seen. Her hair was a sort of light pink color, her coat the same, just in a darker shade, just like her eyes.
She reminded Nicholas and Applejack of Fluttershy, but unlike Fluttershy, she did not seem overly shy. She had the same spark of kindness, but also an inner daring streak. She smiled, sweetly. "My name is Cupid, and I am very happy we finally got to meet you, Santa." She bowed her head a little, then stepped back.
It hadn't escaped Nicholas' notice that they referred to him as Santa, something only the elves and the foals of Ponyville called him. However before he could ponder or so much as ask about it, the final male reindeer stepped forward. His hair was dark blue, he wore sunglasses and a massive grin. He had a brown coat, and Nicholas was pretty sure he had green eyes.
"This is so cool!" He said. "Truly epic! The name is Dancer, and trust me, I earned that name. You want music, I'm your reindeer, and if you want the latest sick moves!" He let out a laugh, and made a strange wiggling movement Nicholas could only imagine must be some sort of dance move.
Prancer giggled, then bounced forward, almost playfully pushing Dancer to the side. "Hi! I'm Prancer, but you already knew that." She said with a big smile. Like so many others, she had brown hair, but she had hers tied up behind her head. Her coat was light, not brown, perhaps closer to the color of caramel. Her eyes were very unique, amber colored. "I'm so excited to finally meet you, and be on the flying squad, but most of all to finally meet you, Santa Claus!"
She seemed to be ready to squeal in excitement, but kept it back as she moved back to her spot. The reindeer named Blitzen then stepped in front of Nicholas again. "Now you know who we are, and as you know, we know who you are."
"But, how, why?" Nicholas asked, his head spinning a little.
Blitzen looked apologetic. "Well, it is not really for me to tell you, not here at least. Aurora, Bori and Alice told us to travel to Ponyville, and take you to see them at the grove."
"The grove?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's a place far to the north." Cupid said. "We've all been working very hard to prepare it."
"Who's been working hard, and to prepare what?" Nicholas asked, leaning forward in his chair.
"Us and the other reindeer of course." Comet said. It seemed like he was about to say more, but Blitzen cut in before he could say anything else.
"We know you have a lot of questions, and I wish we could answer them all, but I don't think you would believe us." He said, sounding apologetic. "If you come with us we could tell and show you everything, but this isn't really the place."
"Now hold on just a minute." Applejack said, taking a step forward. "I don't like to sound rude, but how do we know you ain't just spinning up some funny tale to trick Nicholas here?" Applejack didn't want to sound like a suspicious type, but this was her oldest friend in the world, she didn't want him to walk into trouble. "We don't know anything about you." she looked around at them all. "Any of you."
"Applejack..." Nicholas tried, but Applejack shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Nicholas, but better safe than sorry. Why should we trust you?"
Blitzen nodded. "It's a fair question," he admitted. "I guess you can say you have to take a leap of faith, but really, we don't mean Nicholas any harm." Blitzen said, and found himself looking into Applejack's deep green eyes. There was a long drawn out silence, only the fair place breaking it with occasional crack of a log.
"Well," Applejack said after some time. "You ain't lying, but that still doesn't mean you are not up to something." While Applejack had only known Twilight Sparkle for a year, well, barely, in her time as her friend, she had come to expect the unexpected. From dragons, to swarms of musical hating insects, Applejack wanted to be sure Nicholas was safe.
Blitzen looked to his fellow reindeers, as if asking for their opinion. Cupid sent him an encouraging nod, and so Blitzen looked at Nicholas. "We know you have been having dreams about the Crystal Star, and we know what they mean." Nicholas's eyes widened, and even Applejack took a step back in surprise. "We will tell you everything, but this isn't really the place for it. Please, will you come with us?"