//------------------------------// // Reindeer Game Runaways // Story: G5 Adventures in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// A few more months slowly passed until it was April, when the Reindeer Games would be taking place-- a special place where young reindeer could play and show off their skills, hoping to be on Santa's sleigh team when they were older. Rudolph was really nervous for this day, and Borealis was nervous for him-- what if her best friend and brother's secret was exposed, and he became a laughing stock? And what if others found out that she was an orphan being raised by reindeer? They almost agreed that they weren't going to go on any circumstances, but Donner seemed so persistent about pleasing Santa that they couldn’t get a word in edge-wise. So... they just decided to go and please Donner, despite their overshot nerves. XXXXXXXX “Are you sure that you guys will be close to us during the reindeer games?” Borealis asked Sunny and the other ponies as they all hung out in the ponies' sidecave. “You know... just in case something goes wrong?” “Of course we will-- neither of you have to worry,” Sunny reassured them. “We’ll be right there on the sidelines in case something happens, but more importantly, cheering you on.” “And while you're off making new friends and having a great time,” Pipp said, holding the guitar that she got for Christmas a few months ago, “I'm going to be busy writing a new song for the holiday party!” “Pipp, this is spring-- Christmas isn’t for another couple of months now!” Zipp tried to point out. “You can never get too much practice in, Zipp,” Pipp told her sister. “Especially if you want your performance to be perfection...!!” “Rudolph! Borealis!” Mrs. Donner called from outside the cave. “It's time to go! We don't want to be late!” “Coming, Mama!” Rudolph called back. “You two go on ahead,” said Hitch, “and we'll be right behind you.” Rudolph and Borealis nodded and galloped out of the cave, just as Izzy got a new idea. “Hey, we haven’t worn the necklaces that Hermey gave us yet!” she realized, getting the box out of hiding. “And the reindeer games would be a great place to show them off!” “Sure, Izzy. It was really nice of him to give us those,” Sunny said, “and it would be a shame for us to not wear them.” Izzy nodded and opened the box, revealing deep blue necklaces with different charms and a locket with a ruby red heart, handing them out to the ponies that she felt that would best suit their personalities: Sunny would get the heart locket, Pipp would get the necklace with the music note charm, Izzy would get the necklace with the diamond charm, Zipp would get the necklace with the lightning bolt charm, Hitch would get the necklace with the shield charm, and finally, Misty would get the necklace with the butterfly charm. But as they settled the necklaces around their necks, the ponies felt a strange sensation and looked down to see that their bodies were gaining a whole new look! Their hooves were painted icy blue or a cool purple color, along with sparkly blue and purple glitter on their legs, and blue and purple on their horns, manes and tails. “Oh-ho, whoa!” Zipp said as they admired their new looks. “I can barely feel the cold anymore! These necklaces have cast some sort of amazing winter magic on us!” “These looks are so beautiful!” Misty said, admiring her new tints of blue in her mane and tail. “We really look like members of Christmas town with these!” “Well, what are we waiting for, ponies?!” Izzy asked excitedly. “Rudolph, Borealis and their family are waiting for us!” “She's right!” Pipp cried. “Reindeer Games, here we come!” XXXXXXXX Needless to say, the Donner family and Borealis were stunned to see the ponies new winter looks, but proclaimed that they looked amazing, prompting the ponies to thank their new friends before heading off to the field near Santa’s castle, where the reindeer games would take place. Finally, they arrived to the site of the reindeer games, and Santa would be arriving soon to look over the new fawns born last spring. Upon seeing all the young reindeer having fun in the field, Borealis' fears instantly melted away. “Wow... there are so many fawns to play with, Rudolph! We could have a lot of new friends after today, and with your nose cover, maybe we really won't have anything to worry about!” While Borealis' fears seemed to be diminishing, Rudolph's nerves seemed to be growing more and more by the minute, and the ponies knew he needed a little encouragement. “Rudolph, you guys are gonna have a great time out there,” Misty said. “You’re gonna get to make a lot of new friends, and they'll like you for you... not because of your nose. I mean... Bori doesn’t seem to be bothered by the colors of her eyes, so why shluld your glowing nose bother you?” “Your friends are right. Now, don't worry about your nose, son,” Donner told him encouragingly. “Just get out there and do your stuff. Remember, you're my little buck.” Donner pushed the little deer and his fox friend forward, and when they looked toward Sunny, she smiled. “You guys have fun-- we'll be cheering you on every step of the way!” Slowly, Rudolph and Borealis nodded and walked toward the other fawns, encountering another buck about Rudolph's age, with a tuft of blonde hair on his head. “Hi,” he greeted in a friendly manner. “My name’s Fireball. What are yours?” “Rudolph. And this is Bori-- short for Borealis,” Rudolph introduced shyly. “Wow, a fox who's best friends with a reindeer. Don't see that every day,” Fireball commented, not noticing how Rudolph talked differently cause of the cover on his nose and the colors of Borealis' eyes. “Come on-- you can be my buddies.” “Are you gonna be in the reindeer games too, Fireball?” Borealis asked. “Sure am. Makes antlers grow,” Fireball responded as they walked. “Besides, it's a great way to show off in front of the does. Come on!” Borealis and Rudolph laughed and ran after their new friend, all while the ponies watched from the sidelines. “Aww, look at that!” Izzy said sweetly. “Looks like they made a new friend already! Maybe we'll get to go home soon since Rudolph is doing so well.” “Let’s not jump to conclusions about our mission, Iz,” Zipp told her. “The slightest twist may change things either for better or for worse. We just gotta be on our guard, just in case it's for the worst.” XXXXXXXX Meanwhile, the elves were bustling with activity-- Christmas was over, but they still kept busy with lessons in elf improvement... and that included performing a new elf song for Santa himself, directed by none other than Boss Elf. “All out for elf practice!” The elves formed a line for the choir and for the band while Santa and Mrs. Claus sat on their thrones, the former checking his pocket watch, as if he was in some sort of hurry. “Let's get this over with. I have to look over the new deer.” “Okay, Santa,” Boss Elf nodded before turning back to his fellow elves. “Let's try out the new elf song I wrote. And remember, it's for Santa. And a-one... and a-two... and a-three...” And as soon as the count off ended, the elves began to sing a very merry tune. Elves: Ho ho ho, ho ho ho We are Santa's elves! We are Santa's elves Filling Santa's shelves With a toy for each girl and boy Oh, we are Santa's elves! Elf 1: We work hard all day Fat Elf: But our work is play Elves: Dolls we try out See if they cry out We are Santa's elves! We've a special job each year Tall Elf: We don't like to brag Elves: Christmas Eve we always fill Santa's bag Santa knows who's good Do the things you should And we bet you, he won't forget you We are Santa's elves! Boss Elf happened to turn his head at the bridge of the song, looking to see that Mrs. Claus was happily enjoying the tune, but Santa seemed to find it rather annoying. But that was okay-- one more verse ought to change his mind. Elves: We've a special job each year Tall Elf: We don't like to brag Elves: Christmas Eve we always fill Santa's bag Santa knows who's good Do the things you should And we bet you, he won't forget you We are Santa's elves! Ho ho ho, ho ho ho We are Santa's elves! HO HO! Mrs. Claus happily clapped as the elves finished the song, but Santa merely hummed as a reaction. “Hmm. Well, it needs work. I have to go.” And just like that, Santa took his leave, just before Mrs. Claus approached Boss Elf. “What does Papa know? It's beautiful. You keep it just the way it was. Papa? Papa!” Mrs. Claus quickly followed her husband out the door, just before Boss Elf turned to the choir and band, clearly frustrated Santa did not react the way he had hoped. “That sounded terrible! The tenor section was weak!” “Wasn't our fault, boss,” said one of the elves. “Hermey never showed up.” “WHAT?!” That angered Boss Elf beyond comparison-- when he found Hermey, he was going to make sure he never missed another elf practice again... count on it. XXXXXXXX Where was Hermey, you might be wondering? Well, he was in the toy building room, working on the teeth on one of the many dolls the elves had been working on, thinking this was a good way to still practice his dentistry, but make toys like an elf was supposed to do. “Now this won't hurt a bit.” Hermey gently began to tap on the doll's teeth, but as he did, Boss Elf stormed in, more angry than ever, which worried Hermey. “Why weren't you at elf practice?!” “Just fixing these dolls' teeth,” Hermey responded nervously. “Just fixing-- now listen!” Boss Elf threatened the misfit elf. “We have dolls that cry, talk, walk, blink, and run a temperature. We don't need any chewing dolls!” Hermey looked down at the floor at his employer scolding him, feeling very out of place. “I just thought I found a way to... to fit in.” “You'll never fit in!” Boss Elf growled before storming back toward the door. “You come to practice and Learn how to wiggle your ears... and chuckle warmly and go 'hee hee' and 'ho ho' and important stuff like that. A dentist! Good grief!” And just like that, he slammed the doors and left Hermey alone. That's when Hermey seemed to make the most reinforced decision he had ever made in his entire life... other than to follow his passion and become a dentist, that is. “No. I just can't. It's like he said: I'll never fit in.” Swiftly grabbing his dentistry book, he walked over to the window and opened it, using it as an escape method to run away from all these cruel words and thoughts of doing something he didn’t want to do. “I guess I'm on my own now...” Hermey muttered to himself before setting out to make a life of his own. XXXXXXXX “No no no no! UGH!!” Pipp groaned in frustration, still strumming with her guitar. “That still doesn’t sound like the right pitch!” “Having trouble with your new song, Pipp?” Hitch asked. “Ugh, yes!” Pipp said in exasperation. “I’ve tried practically every pitch for the lyrics I wrote, but none of them really sound right!” “Hey, maybe watching Rudolph and Borealis play with Fireball will give you some inspiration!” Izzy said, pointing to the three of them. “They sure look like they’re having fun!” Truth be told, Izzy was right-- Borealis and Rudolph were happy to be playing with Fireball, the first fawn who approached them, and they were having such a great time when Fireball noticed they were being watched. “Hey, look!” he said, looking behind them. “Does!” As Rudolph and Borealis looked behind them, three does were indeed watching them and giggling, and one of them, wearing a red and white polka-dotted bow, blinked sweetly at Rudolph-- something Pipp immediately took notice of. “Oooooh… ponies, look! One of those does is making an impression on our assignment!” “Awww!” Misty cooed. “They’d be so cute together!” “I didn’t know you loved love, Misty!” Izzy said, shooting her friend a playful look. “Well, I do!” Misty giggled. “I just never expected Rudolph to have a crush this early on.” At the same time, Fireball noticed the doe making those cute faces at Rudolph and instantly smiled. “Hey, what did ya know? One of them likes ya. Ha ha!” “Yeah, Fireball?” Rudolph said. “Do you really think so?” “Go on, Rudolph!” Borealis whispered. “Smile back at her!” “You sure, Bori? I-I don't wanna give her the wrong idea.” “Come on, you’re my best friend! Would I ever steer you wrong? Besides... she already seems to like you, and you seem to like her!” So, Rudolph built up his courage and blinked back at her, making Borealis’ tail wag. Unbeknownst to her or anyone else for that matter, sparkles seemed to come from her tail, just before a whistle blew off to their right. “Uh oh!” Fireball spoke. “Here comes the coach!” “We better hurry, or we’ll miss the start of the games!” Borealis said as she walked forward a bit, and this gave Rudolph a chance to look back at the doe again before joining the other bucks and his fox friend. A tall buck with a whistle around his neck and a hat on his head approached the young deer, speaking in a serious tone. “All right. All right, yearlings. All right, now!” At his call to attention, the yearlings and Borealis stopped their chatter. “That’s better,” the coach said. “My name is Comet. Even though I'm your instructor, I want to be your pal. Right? Right. My job is to make bucks out of you. So let's go.” Comet blew his whistle, earning attention to the group once again. “All right. Our first game is called ‘Takeoff’,” he explained. “We all want to pull Santa's sleigh someday, don't we? So we must learn to fly. Now, who's first to try?” “Me me me me!” all the fawns and Borealis (who knew she couldn’t fly but still wanted to make an attempt) seemed to shout all at once. “One at a time! One at a time!” Comet shouted before looking to one of the yearlings. “You. You're Dasher's little boy, aren't you? You go first.” “Aww…” all the bucks seemed to pout. “Don’t worry, yearlings!” Sunny shouted from the sidelines. “You’ll all get your turn eventually!” “Yeah! Just be patient!” Hitch shouted after her. Comet smiled at them for calming the yearlings before turning to Dasher’s young one. “All right now. The whole trick is getting up enough speed and jumping into the wind,” he explained. “You got it? Go ahead!” Dasher’s boy took a running start for a good ways, and when he felt like he was fast enough, jumped into the air… and landed right on his face in the snow. While the other fawns chuckled and laughed at this, Sunny and her friends cheered him on. “Whoo-hoo!” “All right!” “Good try there, little guy!” “Yay!” “Great job!” “Very good!” Comet said, pleased. “For a first try. Next?” Borealis kept looking back at the doe Rudolph seemed to like, and noticed that there was quite a long line for jumpers. So, she decided to help her friend take the first leap to talking to her. “He won’t get to you or Fireball for a while yet,” she whispered to Rudolph. “Now’s your chance to get acquainted with that doe!” “You mean it? You want me to go talk to her? Won't you be lonely over here, all by yourself?” “Go ahead, buddy. I’ll be right here waiting to hear all about it when you get back.” The other ponies seemed to urge him to go talk to the doe too, and with a nervous giggle, Rudolph trotted over to her, keeping his head held low until the doe spoke in a soft tone. “Nice day.” “...yup,” Rudolph got that one word to escape, that’s how nervous he was. “For takeoff practice, I mean,” the doe clarified, and Rudolph responded with that one word once again. “Yup.” “How’s he doing over there, Pipp?” Zipp asked her sister, watching the two through her visor. “On the Pipp scale of one to ten,” Pipp hummed, “I’d give him… a 6 for effort.” “A six? He actually went up and talked to her!” Hitch whispered. “That earns him a 10 in my book.” “I bet you’ll be the best,” the doe told Rudolph, making him blush heavily. “Well… I don’t know.” “Something wrong with your nose?” the doe asked Rudolph, and Rudolph froze, thinking she had seen his nose glow underneath the cover. “I-I mean… you talk kinda funny.” Rudolph had to keep his secret, otherwise whatever feelings this doe had for him would be diminished just as quickly as they surfaced. “What's so funny about the way I talk?” “Don’t get angry,” the doe said gently. “I don’t mind.” “You don’t?” The doe shook her head, deciding to finally introduce herself. “My name’s Clarice. Hi.” “My name’s Rudolph,” the red-nosed reindeer in disguise greeted back. “Hi.” “Hi.” “He’s doing it…” Sunny whispered in delight. “He’s making a doe friend!” “WAY TO GO, RUD--” Izzy began to cheer before Sunny and Pipp covered her mouth, but it was enough to get Rudolph and Clarice to look at them. “Those are my pony friends over there, from Equestria,” Rudolph said before turning toward Borealis, who watched them from beside Fireball. “And that’s Borealis, my best fox friend.” “Hi…” Borealis whispered a hello, causing Clarice to bow her head in greeting. That’s when Rudolph finally built up his nerve just enough to ask her an important question. “Hey, Clarice... after practice, would you-- would you--?” “Rudolph!” Comet called. “You get back here! It's your turn, you know.” “Gee, I got to go back,” Rudolph began to leave before turning back to Clarice with hopeful eyes. “Would you walk home with me?” “Uh-huh… Rudolph,” Clarice said sweetly before leaning to whisper in Rudolph’s ear. “I think you’re cute.” That seemed to trigger something in Rudolph’s heart that swelled him up with happiness. “I’m cute!” he repeated, leaping into the air and soaring a great distance. “I’m CUUUUUUTE!!!” Finally, his descent put him right in front of Comet, who was wide-eyed with amazement at such a takeoff. “Magnificent!” “I’m cute! I’m cute! She said I’m CUTE!!!” Rudolph shouted before taking to the skies, causing the spectators around him to gasp and ooh in delight. Even Santa was impressed! “Not bad!” he said. “Not bad at all!” The ponies rushed to their little friends as he landed next to Fireball and Borealis, both of them majorly impressed. “Hey!” Fireball exclaimed. “You’re okay!” “Rudolph, that was amazing!” Sunny told her friend. “Yeah!” Misty spoke with a nod. “You flew higher and farther than any other fawn! It’s like that doe supercharged something in you!” “She said I'm cute!” Rudolph cheered. “Ha ha!” As the ponies and Borealis cheered for their friend, Rudolph and Fireball engaged in some rough play, sparing with their antlers and kicking up their hooves. That's when everything seemed to take a turn for the worst. Rudolph's fake nose popped right off, revealing his bright glowing nose, causing Fireball to back up with wide, fearful eyes. “For cryin' out loud!” “Fireball?” Rudolph questioned out of worry. “What's the matter?” “G-G-Get away! G-Get away from me!” Fireball said, completely terrified. “Fireball, I know you're a little freaked out,” Borealis said comfortingly, tail wagging as her eyes began to glow brightly, “but if you give us a chance to explain, we can--” Fireball screamed a second time and backed away again, this time even further. “She's casting some sort of freaky magic on me!” “Now, now! What's this nonsense here, bucks? After all-- aah!!!” Comet screamed in surprise, causing the other young bucks to gasp before surrounding Rudolph and Borealis, practically shoving the ponies aside as they began to laugh at the two misfits. “Hey!” one buck began the teasing. “Look at the beak and peep-holes!” “Hey, Fire Snout!” “Rainbow Fox Witch!” “Red schnoz!” “Hey!” Borealis snapped. “Stop calling me and my brother/friend names!” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Borealis the Rainbow Freak Fox!” “Adopted freak!” As the bucks continued to laugh, Santa was in the middle of scolding Donner, who hung his head out of shame. “Donner, you should be ashamed of yourself. What a pity. He had a nice takeoff, too.” “We have to find a way to stop this!” Zipp angrily demanded. “Can't the other adults do something?!” Thankfully, Comet blew his whistle to draw the other yearlings back to him. “All right, all right now, yearlings. Back to practice!” The other fawns rushed off, but as Borealis and Rudolph were about to join them, Comet stopped them in their tracks. “Oh no. Not you two,” he said firmly. “You better go home with your folks. From now on, gang, we won't let Rudolph and Borealis join in any reindeer games, right?” “Right!” “Right!” Borealis and Rudolph looked betrayed and hurt by that point, tears running down their faces as they looked back at the laughing fawns and adult deer before running off toward the forest. “Rudolph! Borealis! Wait!” Sunny tried to stop them, but Clarice had already gone after them. That's when Sunny had just about enough. Her cutie mark lit up as she leapt into the air, changing into her alicorn form as she landed, silencing everyone with stunned gasps. “I can't believe-- no... me and my friends can't believe how immature and selfishly you all are acting!” she scolded harshly. “You all liked Rudolph and Borealis long before their secrets got out!” “Yeah!” Zipp agreed. “We sat over there thinking that Rudolph and Borealis might make some friends today, but instead, they ran away because of how poorly they were being treated! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!” “If I was the sheriff of Christmastown, I would make sure you were all punished!” Hitch agreed fiercely. “But since I'm not...” “And since we're the only ones that Rudolph and Borealis can seem to trust,” Misty finished, “we're going to go make sure they're okay, and try to convince them to come home... not that you guys seem bothered by what you just did.” With that, the ponies ran off in the direction that Rudolph and his little fox friend ran off in, as well as Clarice. Everyone stood muttering for a few minutes, but no one felt worse than Donner, because as much as he hated to admit it... ...the ponies were right. By trying to change who Rudolph was... he was the first to tease his son and adopted fox daughter, sending them on the run and away from home.