//------------------------------// // Starlight Ridge in Trouble?/Enter Allura // Story: G5 Adventures in Rudolph's Shiny New Year // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// After the group arrived in the mysterious section of the Archipelago of Last Years, known as Starlight Ridge, they decided to flip the script and have some fun, since time seemed to pass differently in this wintry part of the realm. The auroricorns known as Comet and Violet Frost invited the group for a special celebration known as Starshine Time, and thinking they could use a little relaxation before beginning their search, the group accepted and followed the auroricorns to their first activity; enchanted ice skating. Violet and Comet skated out first, leaving beautiful designs in their wake and a very excited Sunny decided to follow them out. “Oh, I’m so excited!” she squealed. “I love skating!” “Wait for us, Sunny!” Rudolph said as he and Borealis got out onto the ice to skate with her and Violet Frost, leaving the little fox to giggle and cheer. But as the rest of her friends got out onto the ice, Izzy felt herself growing more nervous by the second. “Uh-oh! I’m not so sure about this.” “Don’t worry, Izzy,” Pipp reassured before skating out onto the ice. “You’ll do great.” “Yeah! Whoa…” Island spoke as she stepped out onto the ice with O.M on her back. “You can always skate in a friend or two! It’s twice as safe, and twice the fun. Come on!” Pipp zipped past them and did a little twirl in mid-air. “Whee! I could do this all day!” “This is pretty fun! Aw yeah!” Zipp spun around with a laugh. “I feel like I haven’t skated in forever!” Sunny said with a smile. “I missed it so much!” “This is fun!” Borealis laughed, as she skated alongside Rudolph, Island and Story Heart... all while Izzy watched on the sidelines for a moment before taking a calming breath. “Okay… come on, Izzy…” she whispered to herself. “You got this!” But the second she stepped out onto the ice, her hooves went to slipping and sliding out of control. “Whoaoaoaoaoaoaoa!!!! I DON’T GOT THIS!!!!” she shrieked before falling flat on her face. Luckily, Sir 1023 and Story Heart came to help her up. “Lady Izzy,” said Sir 1023, “are thoust all right?” “Yeah,” Izzy nodded. “But I can’t even skate for a second!” “It’s okay, Izzy,” Sunny reassured as she and Rudolph skated closer. “It’ll take some getting used to.” “Sunny’s right. I had to learn how to navigate the North Pole by never giving up, and neither should you,” Rudolph nodded. “Just go slowly.” But the second Izzy stood up again, she stumbled and fell right onto Rudolph’s back, causing him to chuckle. “Okay… maybe not.” “Ohhh…” Izzy groaned, clearly discouraged. “I’m no good at trotting on this crystal ice, and I’m even worse at skating on it!” “Don’t woorryy!!” Comet yelped as he skated over to reassure her. “I'm not very good at trotting or skating either.” “Huh?” Izzy tilted her head in confusion. “You haven’t?” “Mmm-mmm,” Comet shook his head while trying to stay balanced on the ice. “I have my own way of doing it. I call it… whoa-whoa! Heh… trip-skating!” “Trip-skating? Heh heh!” Borealis giggled. “The name sounds fun!” Comet nodded and offered his hoof to Izzy. “Follow my lead!” He and Izzy slowly began to stagger and skate on the ice, and everyone else laughed and cheered as they whirled around on the frozen pond. But something made them immediately halt… nothing bad, but something… quite wondrous.  Rainbow light began to take different shapes in the sky, causing the Mane 6 and all their new friends to look up in wonder. “What was that?” Rudolph asked as Island hopped up into the air. “It was absolutely stunning!” “Oh, that? It’s nothing,” Violet casually dismissed. “Just an aurora flare.” But, something didn’t seem to sit well with Zipp when she said that. “Um… nothing is ever just nothing.” “Is that why today is called Starshine Time?” Sunny asked. “Cause of the flares?” “Yep!” However, as Zipp looked around, she saw the auroricorns looking quite nervous at the sight of the flares, and she couldn’t help but wonder why.  Fortunately, Story Heart broke the silence by asking a question. “So… what activity is up next?” “Whoaoaoaoa!!” Izzy and Comet cried before crash landing onto the ice, causing O.M to chuckle. “Maybe something that doesn’t involve standing on the icy-cold ice?” Violet hummed in thought before she got an idea. “Oh! I know just the thing!” She and Comet led everypony off the ice and toward town again, but as they walked, Borealis' ears began to hear a faint voice. Definitely feminine. And it was like... it was saying her name. “Borealis… Borealis, beware…” Borealis immediately halted at this. “Hello? Is someone out there?” “Beware the dangers of Starlight Ridge…” said the voice. “There is not just one Baby New Year who needs your help… this whole village does.” “The whole village?” Borealis asked, but then she saw something entering the forest nearby. “Hey! Wait! Come back!” “Bori?” Rudolph looked back to see Borealis darting into the woods alone. “Bori, where are you going?!” “Zipp, Misty and I will go with you to find her,” Pipp told Rudolph. “And the rest of us can go look for Happy!” Sunny agreed. “Violet, we’ll join you as soon as we can, I promise.” And with that, the groups set off in different directions, just as bells began to ring in the heart of Starlight Ridge. “Oh no…” Comet muttered with wide eyes. “Is she back already?!” Violet sighed sadly before turning and walking toward the town. “Come on, Comet… we best not keep Allura waiting.” XXXXXXXX “Hey, wait!” Borealis cried as she chased whatever she saw earlier through the forest. “Come back! What did you mean?! How is Starlight Ridge in danger?!” But when she reached the center of the forest, she screeched to a halt… there was absolutely no one in sight.  Borealis was alone. With a sigh, she started to turn around, thinking it was a prank, when she stopped. “Hey… which way did I come from?”  Her tracks had been covered by the snow falling from the trees, and her own scent was hard to follow.  Upon this realization, Borealis gasped in horror. “Oh no… no no no!! I’m lost in the woods, and my friends don't know where I am! What do I do?!” The poor fox zoomed around, looking for the glowing lights of Starlight Ridge, but unfortunately, the trees blocked her view. After a moment of heavy breathing, Borealis felt herself sob, falling into the snow with a heavy heart. She should have never wandered away from her friends, but... she was just so curious. Now she was lost and Happy may never be found in time. And there was the voice's warning that Starlight Ridge was in some sort of trouble. What was she to do now? She had been sobbing in the snow for a few minutes when a soft noise caused her to sniffle and look up to see Pipp and Zipp flying above the trees. “Pipp, Zipp! Down here! Help!!” “There she is! Thank goodness!” Pipp sighed before looking behind her. “Rudolph, we found her! She's in the clearing!” Rudolph then flew in that direction, landing in the clearing and hugging the little fox he had come to love tighter than ever. “Bori, I was so worried about you! Why did you run off like that?” he asked. “We don't know this place like the North Pole... you could have gotten hurt or way worse!” “I'm really sorry, Rudolph...” Borealis said in an ashamed tone. “I thought I saw someone in the woods, and there was this ominous voice, and--” “BORI!!” Borealis grunted as Izzy dove onto her and enveloped her in a huge hug as the rest of the ponies, O.M, Sir 1023 and their ponies joined them in the clearing. “Thank goodness you're safe!” Sunny sighed in relief. “Why did you run off like that?” Borealis took a deep breath after Izzy had let her go. “I thought I saw someone in the woods, and there was this really freaky and ominous voice, and... well... it told me that Starlight Ridge was in trouble.” “Trouble?” Zipp raised an eyebrow at this. “What kind of trouble?” “I'm not really too sure... the voice never said specifically,” Borealis said. “She did know my name though, and....she sounded kinda familiar. Since time passes differently here... maybe we should go and see if the auroricorns are okay?” “A fine idea, Lady Borealis!” Sir 1023 stated. “The wee babe doesn't seem to be here, and we do have time to spare before we have to continue our search.” “Sounds good to me,” Rudolph said. “If Bori thinks Starlight Ridge needs our help, then help is what they'll have!” The group began to walk in the direction of Starlight Ridge again, and Borealis and Rudolph walked side by side for a while. “I am sorry I wandered off,” Borealis said. “I got really lost and really scared that you would never find me... or that you would forget about me.” Rudolph looked down at the fox in surprise as they slowed to the back of the group. “Why would you think I would forget about you?” “I mean... it seems like my mom has. I mean... I heard Violet Frost say something about a fox being in Starlight Ridge a while back, so if she was here... why would she not come and find me?” “I think we need to ask Violet Frost more about the fox she saw before we jump to conclusions,” Rudolph told the downtrodden fox. “But... even if we don't find your mom, you know that Mama, Papa and I will always be your family... right?” “Yeah, I do,” Borealis nodded before smiling up at her best friend. “Thanks, Rudolph. Now, come on-- Starlight Ridge is waiting on us!” “Wait for me!” Rudolph laughed and proceeded to chase the fox toward the rest of the group. XXXXXXXX By the time that the group arrived back to Starlight Ridge, the aurora flares seemed to be even brighter than before. But... that's not what struck them as odd. Comet and a few other auroricorns were standing in front of the fountain, wearing eerie fake smiles on their faces while their horns lit up. “Huh?” Island questioned. “What are they doing?” “I guess they just wanted to keep having fun without us…?” Izzy asked with a sniffle. “But why?! We’re super duper good time!” “Let’s go take a closer look,” Zipp suggested. “Something’s definitely making my detective side tingle.” When they got closer that the auroricorns seemed to pluck stars from the sky and began to walk toward the forest, as if they were possessed by something. That officially got Rudolph and Borealis worried, never seeing anything like this before in the North Pole. So, the two Christmastown besties and their friends discreetly followed Comet as he went from tree to tree... as if he was using the star to... search for something. “Comet? Comet?” Sunny called. “Can you hear me? What's going on?” Unfortunately, Comet didn't answer... even when Izzy made a bunch of ridiculous faces to get his attention. Instead, he just ignored them and continued walking between the trees. “Huh... even my Izzy boinks and bonks didn’t snap him out of it! That usually works...” “Uh, w-wha-- what do you think he’s doing?” O.M wondered. “I have no idea,” Pipp answered, “but he’s definitely acting odd.” “Uh, I know odd,” Izzy interrupted. “THIS was even odder than that, which I normally love… but not this time!” “Looks like Bori was right-- something is wrong,” Hitch nodded. “Yeah,” Zipp nodded. “I’m not so sure this fits into their fun Starshine Time.” “Then…” Sunny watched Comet walk away, “why do they all look so… happy?” “Those aren’t real smiles,” Story Heart told her. “I’ve been around Sir 1023’s island long enough to recognize real smiles from fake ones. And those smiles… they look forced and faked. But… why would they fake their smiles to begin with?” As Comet walked back into town, Misty spotted Violet Frost near the gazebo, but she hadn’t spotted them yet. “There’s Violet Frost. Should we go talk to her?” But before the others could respond, another figure flew into their line of sight, looking like a purple snow leopard with purple, blue and green feathers, a mane with those three colors, savage golden eyes, and a purple rabbit on her back, purring some strange sound waves right at Violet Frost. Beside her was a strange glowing object trapped in an icy cage, but it was the sight of the snow leopard that got the group even more on edge. “Oh my hoofness!” Island cried. “Who is that?!” “I have no idea,” Hitch said, “but I think we can all agree that she does not look friendly.” “Ehhh… neither does he!” Izzy pointed to the sinisterly-chuckling rabbit on the snow leopard’s back. Zipp then let out a growl of frustration. “I knew something was off about this place!” “It’s like the voice said!” Borealis realized. “The auroricorns are in trouble!” “You’re right,” Sunny told the fox. “Maybe if we can get closer to Violet Frost, we can hear what they’re saying!” “Grand idea, Lady Sunny!” Sir 1023 said, only for the group to shush him and not blow their cover. “Oh… a silent mission. Very well.” As the group crept closer, they could see Violet Frost struggling under whatever the snow leopard was casting on her, as if she was trying to resist. “Let… go of me… Allura!! Ugh!!” “Don’t try to fight it, Violet Frost,” the snow leopard, now known as Allura, said in a sinister tone. “Find me the star that I desire.” She continued to purr as her rabbit minion chuckled, and eventually Violet succumbed to the spell, becoming like her fellow auroricorns almost immediately. “Yes, Allura…” “Don’t forget to smile,” Allura told her. “And have fun!” And just like that, Allura flew up and away, and Violet too seemed entranced, sparking the group’s worry. Happy may have been important, but while they were on this island, they had to figure out what was happening with their new friends… …before things escalated to another, more serious level.