//------------------------------// // A Nose that Glows and Eyes that Shimmer // Story: G5 Adventures in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// For the next week or so, the ponies made themselves comfortable in Christmastown (AKA, the North Pole), and made good friends with Mr. and Mrs. Donner while they helped the soon-to-be parents get ready for their little doe or buck getting ready to come in just a few days. Izzy and Pipp helped to make the straw bed that Mrs. Donner had been resting on that much more comfortable, Misty helped Sunny make some foods to keep the parents' strengths up (as well as theirs) while Zipp and Hitch took shifts looking out for any dangers, at Donner's suggestion of course. But that got them confused... what dangers would they have to look for in such a snowy, magical... Christmassy place? This was something that the ponies would sure find out soon enough. XXXXXXXX One early morning, the ponies were sleeping peacefully on the hay beds that Pipp and Izzy made for all of them, when there came a pained scream that woke all of them up immediately. “GAH!! I'm up, I'm up!” Hitch yelped before yawning. “What was that?” “Call me crazy,” Misty said worriedly, “but that sounds like Mrs. Donner! And she sounds like she's in pain!” “Come on, guys!” cried Sunny, and they rushed into the next room to find Mrs. Donner groaning in pain, and Donner sitting right beside her, trying to soothe her discomfort. “That’s it, sweetheart. Just keep breathing!” “Uh oh! It looks like Mrs. Donner is going into labor a week early!” Hitch cried out before he looked rather confident. “Don’t worry, ladies-- I got this!” He marched forward to Mrs. Donner to see if he could help, and kneeled down to Mrs. Donner's level. “All right, Mrs. Donner, just keep breathing and you're... gonna be... passing out now...” One look at the current situation, and Mrs. Donner's bulging stomach, was enough to drive Hitch into unconsciousness, causing Misty and Pipp to shriek in surprise. “Great, the only one who might know HOW to deliver a baby is out cold in the coldest place on earth!” Zipp groaned in panic. “Anypony else got any ideas?!” Sunny took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself. She had never delivered a baby before in her life, but she had heard plenty of stories about her father helped her mother deliver her when she was only a tiny filly. It might have been their one true chance. She took off her saddlebag and handed it to Izzy. “Iz, there should be some washcloths in my saddlebag. Find them and get them out.” “Uh...” Izzy looked a little surprised at how seriously Sunny was being. “S-Sure thing, Sunny!” “Misty, there's a pond not too far away that we passed on our walk with Sam a few days ago,” Sunny turned toward the blue unicorn. “Use that bucket over there and go get some water, and then you and Izzy can use your magic to heat it up to the right temperature.” “Sure, Sunny! Be back in a flash!” Misty grabbed the bucket and galloped out of the cave. “Pipp and Zipp, your job is really important,” Sunny stated. “I need the two of you to go find Santa and let him know what's going on.” “We can do that! Let's go, sis!” Zipp urged as she and Pipp flew out. “Izzy and Donner, keep Mrs. Donner calm,” Sunny said. “I'm gonna try and get Hitch outside and awake so maybe he can help us with this.” XXXXXXXX “Come on, Pipp! Shake a wing feather!” Zipp said as she flew through the winds. “We gotta get to Santa's castle and let him know about Mrs. Donner's condition!” Pipp tiredly panted as she heeved through the high snow levels. “I'm... I'm coming!” the pink pegasus huffed. “Phew, why do these freezing cold places have to have the most snow?!” “You know, it would be a lot easier if you flew!” “Oh... yeah, I hadn't thought about that yet...” Pipp took to the air after her sister, and in no time, they reached Santa's castle, where Zipp pounded her hoof on the door. “Santa, it's Pipp and Zipp! We gotta take you to the Donners' cave, now!” A woman with black hair and a purple dress opened the door, causing the pegasus sisters to immediately back up. “Oh, hello. I'm Mrs. Claus,” the woman introduced. “Is there something wrong, my dears? Is Mrs. Donner in trouble?” “Well, I guess you could say that... in a way,” Pipp told her. “Get Santa as fast as you can-- Mrs. Donner is giving birth to her baby right now!” XXXXXXXX Misty, at the same time that Mrs. Claus was fetching Santa, had reached the lake and put the bucket into the water, filling it to the top line. “There-- that should be enough to get Mrs. Donner through these labor pains.” But before she could leave, there came a sound that sounded like a creature running through the bushes. Unfortunately, when she turned, she didn't see anything. “Huh... that's strange. I thought that I heard something...” Shrugging, she galloped off to get back to the others, unaware that Nora was hiding in the bushes with her small, whimpering cub. “Settle down, little one,” Nora whispered. “If we follow the unicorn, maybe she knows of a place I can bring you. Come on.” XXXXXXXX “Sunny, Sunny!” Misty cried as she entered the cave. “I got the water, and Pipp texted me that she, Zipp and Santa are on their way! How’s Mrs. Donner and Hitch?” “Your friend is... well, still unconscious,” Mr. Donner shrugged as he watched Izzy fan the unconscious sheriff. “Sunny's keeping Mrs. Donner calm, but that baby is gonna come at any minute!” “That's why I need everypony except Donner out of the cave until I know for sure that this will work!” Sunny said. “I've never delivered a baby myself, but someone here has to try while Hitch is in dream-land over there!” Everyone looked a little concerned at this, but ultimately... they trusted Sunny, so Hitch was drug out of the cave by Izzy and Misty, and once they were out of the cave, Sunny turned back toward Mrs. Donner. “Okay, Mrs. Donner, I want you to do some breathing and then when I count to three, push!” Mrs. Donner panted tiredly as she turned to look at Sunny, a tired smile on her face. “You know, Sunny... you may have never delivered a baby before, but without you and your friends-- ugh!!” “We wouldn’t have the slightest idea of what to do,” Donner said in relief. “Thank you... and we wanna thank your friends too.” “It's our pleasure,” Sunny smiled back, just before she turned to the panting reindeer doe. “All right, Mrs. Donner, on my count. One... two... three... and PUSH!!” XXXXXXXX Hitch groaned and woke at the sound of screaming from inside the cave, looking up to see Izzy and Misty looking down at him. “What took you so long, Mr. Big Shot?” Misty asked with a chuckle. “Sunny is with Mr. and Mrs. Donner, really pulling off this baby delivery thing.” “Oh, that's good...” Hitch said, smiling and closing his eyes until he realized what Misty just said. “Wait... what did you just say?!” “SHH! Listen!” Izzy whispered, and all three ponies lifted to hear something... but heard nothing at all. “It's... super duper quiet for some reason.” “What do you think it means?” “Do you think the baby's okay?” Just then, Sunny emerged from the cave, looking tired, but very proud of herself as she put on her saddlebag. “...Mr. and Mrs. Donner had a baby boy!” Izzy squealed excitedly and hugged Sunny around the neck. “You did it, Sunny! You did it!” “Come on!” Misty said excitedly, trotting in place. “I wanna see my first ever baby reindeer!” The four ponies quietly entered the cave, and when they got inside good enough, they found a young baby reindeer drinking from his mother's milk, causing them to coo. “He's so precious!” Misty said, causing Sunny to nod. “He is... and my dad would be so proud that I tried to do something that I had no idea how to do.” “Have you picked out a name yet?” Hitch asked softly. “We sure have,” Donner nodded. “We'll... we'll call him Rudolph.” “Rudolph is a lovely name,” Mrs. Donner said lovingly. “Rudolph.” Hearing his name for the first time, the baby reindeer lifted his head, with his big red nose, and gazed up at his parents. “Hey hey!” Donner commented. “He knows his name already!” Suddenly, before the eyes of his parents, the little deer's nose began to glow a bright red, causing the ponies to gasp in surprise. “Papa,” he addressed his parents. “Mama.” Izzy could hardly believe it when she first saw the remarkable display... it was amazing! “He's... he's got a shiny nose!” “Sh-Sh-Shiny? I'd even say it glows!” Donner exclaimed as Rudolph's nose glowed three more times in a row. After looking at her son for another moment, Mrs. Donner actually liked her son's glowing feature... it made him unique. “Well, we'll simply have to overlook it.” However, her husband looked at Rudolph with a disapproving gaze. “How can you overlook that? His beak blinks like a blinking beacon!” “Uh... what?” Hitch blinked, not understanding a word of what Donner just said. “I think his glowing nose is kinda cute!” Misty said as she kneeled down to the little deer. “Hi there, little fella!” “Aww, he's so cute!” Izzy cooed, just before a familiar, jolly laugh echoed through the cave, revealing Santa, Pipp and Zipp, the pegasus sisters panting tiredly from trudging through the wind and snow. “Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. Well, Donner, where's the new member of the family?” he asked, approaching the family patriarch. “After all, if he's going to be on my team someday, he'd better get to know me. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.” “Did you two fly all this way with Santa?” Hitch asked the sisters. “We took turns carrying him on the ground and in the air,” Zipp said, “but... somehow, we still ended up just as exhausted!” “But... it was all worth it to see that little cutie pie,” Pipp smiled over at the baby reindeer, who looked up at Santa as he approached. “Well, hi there!” Santa said, patting Rudolph on the head. “Aren't you the sturdy little fellow? Ho, ho, ho, ho.” “Santa?” Rudolph spikeup, causing Zipp to chuckle. “And he's smart, too!” Suddenly, Rudolph's nose lit up bright red again, causing Pipp and Zipp to gasp and caused Santa's eyes to widen. “Great bouncing icebergs!” “Now I'm sure it'll stop when he grows up, Santa,” Donner spoke reassuringly. “Well,” Santa spoke, “let's hope so if he wants to make the sleigh team someday.” “Who's to say that he can't have a glowing nose and fly the sleigh?” Sunny asked. “I mean, if he's anything like his papa, he'll have natural, sleigh-pulling instincts.” “Sometimes it doesn't work that way, Sunny. I'm afraid we can't just have both,” Santa frowned before turning to look at Rudolph. “You see, little fellow, every year I shine up my jingle bells for eight lucky reindeer.” And so, to explain things a little better to the baby reindeer, Santa decided to sing a little song. Jingle, jingle, jingle You will hear my sleigh bells ring I am old Kris Kringle I'm the king of jing-a-ling Santa then grabbed a harness of sleigh bells, placing it around Donner, and little Rudolph watched his papa fly to the cave ceiling in wonder. Jingle, jingle reindeer Through the frosty air they'll go They are not just plain deer They're the fastest deer I know Ho ho! Rudolph tried to take his first steps, but fell flat onto the floor, only for Sunny to help pick him up as the song continued. You must believe that on Christmas Eve I won't pass you by I'll dash away in my magic sleigh Flying through the sky Misty lifted Donner's harness for little Rudolph to slip through, letting the bells jingle as his nose gleamed once again. Jingle, jingle, jingle You will hear my sleigh bells ring I am old Kris Kringle I'm the king of jing-a-ling I am old Kris Kringle I'm the king of jing-a-ling Ho ho! And by the time that the song was done, Santa tipped his hat to the ponies and reindeer family before taking his leave, with Rudolph watching him go. “Bye-bye.” “You never know what the future may hold, Donner. Who knows?” Zipp said, rubbing Rudolph on the head with her hoof. “Maybe Rudolph's special gifts will help him become an amazing sleigh puller.” “No, Santa's right... he'll never make the sleigh team,” Donner said before he seemed to get an idea. “Wait a minute! I've got it! We'll hide Rudolph's nose.” This seemed to surprise the ponies and Mrs. Donner all together. “Hide it?” “Yeah! Come here, boy.” Rudolph went over to his father as Donner pawed the ground with his hoof, getting a little dirt on it. “You'll be a normal little buck just like everybody else, right? A chip off the old antlers.” Donner put the clump of dirt he gathered up onto Rudolph's nose, making it look like a standard reindeer nose. Unfortunately, Rudolph didn't seem to enjoy the dirt being on his nose as much as his father did, but Donner merely brushed the thought aside. “Now, now. You'll get used to it. Put it there, son.” Rudolph cuddled against his father, making the ponies coo in delight. “Awww...” Mrs. Donner kissed Rudolph on his nose, much to accidentally pull off the dirt and causing his red nose to shine. After Rudolph cuddled with his parents some more, Misty stepped forward. “You think Rudolph is ready to go outside and play in the snow?” “We'll keep an eye on him the entire time,” Zipp promised. “All right then,” Mrs. Donner smiled. “Just be careful out there!” The ponies guided little Rudolph out into the outdoors as a gentle snowfall came down from the sky, and Rudolph leapt up and down giggling as he rolled and jumped around like a foal in a bouncy house. But after a moment... he stopped, his eyes focusing on something beside the entrance to the cave. While the others were too busy having fun to really notice, Sunny tiled her head at what Rudolph was looking at. “What is it, little guy?” She trotted over to where Rudolph was and gasped at what he saw... a little arctic fox cub, whimpering and shivering in the snow, her multi-colored eyes slowly beginning to open. Sunny picked it up into her hooves and looked around, not seeing a mother fox anywhere in sight. “What do you think, Rudolph? You think your parents will let this little cutie stay with us until her family comes looking for her?” “Uh-huh,” Rudolph nodded softly, looking at the white fur ball in Sunny's hooves before and the earth pony mare moved back toward the cave to show the little one to Rudolph's parents. XXXXXXXX “Hey, there she is!” “After her! Come on, idiots!” “Don't let that fox get away!” Nora panted heavily as she darted to get away from the poachers, since her baby was going to be in the safe hooves of the reindeer family she saw earlier. Now all she had to do was save herself, or else there wouldn't be any Aurora Borealis arctic foxes left! Upon seeing the ocean ahead, she leapt onto a nearby ice piece and pushed it out to sea, causing the poachers to screech to a halt and yell at her to come back. But the current swept the poor fox and her ice piece away from land, and this left the poor mother fox to be worried, causing her to sigh. “I'll be back soon, my little Borealis. Protect those you love, and I'll be back for you soon.” And just like that, she floated beyond the North Pole's boundaries, leaving her cub and the only world she had ever known behind for... well, who knows how long.