//------------------------------// // A Mission Within A Mission/The Story of Borealis' Mother // Story: G5 Adventures in Rudolph's Shiny New Year // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// After the gang had retrieved Borealis from the dark woods, they got back to Starlight Ridge, only to find that a mysterious snow leopard known as Allura had put them under some sort of enchantment, and since they learned time passes differently on this island than on others, they figured that they should try and help their new friends anyway they could. The question now was… how? Once the group had gathered together again, Misty spoke first, clearly worried about their new friends. “What do we do?” “Clearly,” said Zipp, “this Allura has got all the auroricorns under a spell.” Violet Frost and Comet, both in their trances, stomped past them with stars in their auras, laughing like there was nothing wrong. “We have to snap them out of it!” Rudolph told his friends. “Sir 1023, Story Heart? Watch out for Allura while we’re gone!” “Understood!” “You can count on us!” While the knight and his pony friend stood watch over the village, the others darted after Violet Frost and Comet on a path through the woods. That’s when Sunny came up with an idea. “Maybe,” she said, “if we can get Violet Frost and Comet far away from Allura, we can get them out of the trance!” “Well,” said Island, “it’s worth a try!” Sunny galloped to stand in Violet’s way, trying to keep her from going back to the village, but unfortunately, this did not go as planned, as Violet simply plowed Sunny over, despite her pleas to stop. Izzy, O.M and Hitch tried to get Violet to stand still, but the pony kept going as she pushed past them while Izzy spun around on the snow and slipped onto the floor as they tried to catch her.  It seemed to be the same with Island, Zipp and Pipp, who tried to get Comet to stop, and then again for Borealis, Hitch and Misty trying to stop Violet again. “Wow, they are being really difficult!” Borealis commented as she and Misty lost their grip on Violet, and so did Hitch after a moment. “And happily!”  Pipp then flew in front of Violet with her arms and wings spread, “You do not want to go that way!” Rudolph pushed as hard as he could with his back hooves digging into the snow, but even with his reindeer strength, Violet was still able to push him back, and this caused Rudolph to pant tiredly for a moment. “This isn’t working when we’re trying to do it on our own!” “Rudolph’s right. We need to be organized!” Sunny said. “Let’s link up!” Everyone rushed in front of Violet and Comet, the Mane 6 at the front and Rudolph, Borealis, O.M and Island at the rear to provide extra strength. And once the auroricorns got close to them, everyone began to push against them with all their strength. And once they got a good distance from Starlight Ridge, the two auroricorns’ eyes flashed briefly before their face returned to normal as they dropped their stars before they noticed their new friends.  Violet spoke first, a bit surprised to see their new friends. “Rudolph? Sunny?”  Once he shook his head to clear it, Comet looked at the group with confusion. “What are you all doing here?” “Ha, it worked! Finally!” Sunny cheered. “Hurry!” Rudolph spoke. “Over here!” They guided the auroricorns over to a tall hiding spot nearby, where Violet sighed, a bit ashamed. “I guess you discovered our secret.” “Yeah. Violet, what’s going on?” Zipp questioned. “You can tell us.” “Yeah, we just wanna help,” Pipp added in agreement, and this caused Island to walk up to Violet and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “It’s okay. We’re friends. We can tell each other things, and we won't judge, no matter what it is.” “We didn’t wanna tell you because we didn’t wanna risk you all getting hurt, too,” Violet explained as Comet nodded in confirmation. “But, Violet, who is that?” Rudolph asked. “What does she want?” “Yeah!” O.M nodded. “She doesn’t seem like a very friendly kitty cat.” “That’s Allura,” Violet said sourly. “She’s an evil snow leopard tyrant who showed up one day with her little sidekick, Twitch. She completely took over Starlight Ridge by force.” “By force?” Sunny asked. “Yeah,” Comet nodded sadly, ears folded. “Allura claimed the most important thing in our town; a special called the Nova Charm.” “That must be what we saw in that ice cage earlier!” Island realized. “It sure was sparkly.” “The sparkliest!” Violet said as she took out her flute and began drawing what the charm looked like in the snow. “It's a special charm that our town has possessed for thousands of moons. Town law says that whoever holds the power of the charm rules Starlight Ridge. Allura managed to steal it and possess it, so she's the leader.” “So… she stole your special charm and now she’s forcing you to do whatever she wants?” Rudolph asked, and after Violet and Comet nodded, he groaned to himself. “That sounds like an evil tyrant to me.” “Aw, that sounds like no fun at all! Allura sounds like a real bully!” Izzy said before she slipped in the snow, prompting Comet to help her up. “You should stand up to her.” “I wish we could,” said Comet, “but she’s very powerful.” “And persuasive,” Violet added. “Along with her hypnotic purr, she’s able to get us to do whatever she wants, just by talking.” “If we try to stand up to her, she could destroy our whole village without us even realizing it,” Comet added. “That's how much her powers can trick our minds. It's no use.” “That explains how Allura came into power,” Borealis said, “but what does she want exactly?” “Allura forces us to use our magic to make Aurora Flares,” Violet explained. “Then she makes us steal the stars out of them,” Comet continued. “She makes you steal stars?!” Borealis asked in shock. “I didn’t even think stealing stars was possible!” “It is when you’re an auroricorn. Our magic lets us virtually pluck stars from the sky when the flares' magic blasts across it,” Violet said. “She believes that one of the stars in the sky is special and contains the magic to open an invisible barrier that she claims was put around Starlight Ridge to imprison her. She wants to control more than Starlight Ridge… she wants to control every land she can get her grimy paws on.” “And until she finds the right star,” Comet finished, “she’s making us steal them all, until there’s virtually no stars left.” “I can’t believe that anypony would be so cruel,” Island frowned, causing Pipp to nod. “Plus, the stars are stunning. That bully does not deserve any of them!” “You all need to be free from her,” Borealis said before she got an idea. “I got it! All the auroricorns can come back to the North Pole with us! There’s plenty of snow, plenty of stars, you can help the elves make toys for Christmas… it’s paradise!” “Hey, that’s a great idea!” Comet smiled. “I’d love to come and see it!” “Bori, I know you like the auroricorns… so do I,” Rudolph said gently. “But I’m not sure that they would wanna leave their homes just like that because of Allura.” “And as beautiful as the North Pole sounds,” said Violet, “we can’t leave our home like that. Starlight Ridge is special!” “But what else can we do, Violet Frost?” Comet asked sadly before he gave a determined look and rushed off back to the village. “We have to get the Auroricorns away from Allura!” “Comet! Wait!” Sunny cried. “Don’t worry, Sunny, we’ll catch him,” Island reassured. “And we’ll stay as long as we need to in order to help the auroricorns get rid of Allura.” “Really?” Violet asked hopefully. “You mean it?” “Of course we mean it, silly goose!” Izzy smiled. “Like you said, time passes differently here, so we’ll have plenty of time to find Happy and save him from Aeon!” “Then what are we waiting for?” O.M called. “Let’s go get that cat!” “And Comet too!” Borealis said. “Before he falls back into the trance!” XXXXXXXX Comet rushed past Sir 1023 and Story Heart and went back to Starlight Ridge as fast as his hooves could take him, but the second he entered, the trance took over again, causing his smile to become forced. Allura and Twitch saw him enter town again, and Allura smirked and landed next to him. “Comet… there you are.” The groups in hiding gasped in horror, worried for the sake of their friend. “Oh no…” Sunny and Violet both gulped. “Almost got lost in the woods, did you?” Allura questioned as she circled Comet. “Happy to be back, Allura,” Comet mindlessly spoke. “That’s right,” Allura purred. “We need that happiness alive and well. Now go. Join the others.” Comet immediately galloped off, and as she watched him rush off, Allura sniffed the air with a hum of thought. “Hmm… I thought for a moment I smelled reindeer… and arctic fox… but that’s impossible. There are none of those around here…” Not seeing the others hiding behind her, Allura began to walk off with Twitch on her back and the charm at her side. “What are we going to do?” Misty asked in concern. “There’s no way we can get everypony away from Allura long enough to remove the trance,” Zipp stated. “And, if we get too close to her,” said Story Heart, who was informed of the situation when the others arrived, “we could be put under her spell too!” “There has to be another way!” Violet whispered worriedly. “There has to be!” “Well, if whoever has the Nova Charm is in charge of Starlight Ridge, then there’s only one thing to do,” Sunny started. This caused Borealis to smile, getting onto Sunny's plan. “We’re getting that charm back!” “Follow me,” said Violet as they snuck off toward the buildings. “We can sneak into the banquet hall from the back.” XXXXXXXX The Mane 6, Rudolph, Borealis and their new friends slowly moved along the backside of the buildings and past Allura into the banquet hall where the auroricorns were partying earlier, where they all sat down to think of a plan. “And if that giant buzzard wasn’t enough to deal with,” Sir 1023 muttered, banging his fist on the table, “now we have a hypnotizing snow leopard fiend as well!” “Hush, Sir 1023,” Misty said gently, “or we could get caught! Besides, we promised the auroricorns we would help them defeat Allura, and as long as we’re in this place, that’s what we’re gonna do.” “There’s got to be a way to stop her!” Sunny spoke. “Because if we don’t,” said Rudolph, “and she finds that star to break the barrier, other places in the world will be doomed!” “Well, everypony has a weakness,” Violet said. “Exactly! We just need to find hers,” Story Heart said. “Now, think. Is there anything specific that Allura cares about? Something we could potentially use against her?” Violet hummed in thought, thinking of a few items. “Well, the portal, escaping Starlight Ridge, the stars, the Aurora Flares….” “Is this why you and the others were being so strange about the Aurora Flares earlier?” Zipp asked. “Because of Allura?” “Yeah, sorry about that,” Violet apologized. “But when we're happy and having a great time, the aurora flares blast across the sky. We can't help it. Allura uses her powers to trick us into feeling happy. She forces us to make the flares against our will.” “That’s horrible…” Hitch frowned. “I’m all for making my friends and loved ones happy,” Island stated, “but forcing them feels wrong on SO many levels.” “It does,” said Story Heart. “They should be happy because they WANT to be happy, not because they’re under a spell.” “That’s why whenever she leaves, we celebrate Starshine Time!” Violet added. “A time when we make the flares happen by choice. Our real happiness.” “Everypony deserves to be happy,” said Sunny, just as Misty began to think about something. “Why does Allura want to do such bad things? Has she always been this way?” “I don’t know for sure. Nopony really knows anything about where she came from or why she was banished here,” Violet shrugged. “All I know is that Allura's determined to find that other realm by any means possible. And she has the Nova Charm, so she's in charge.” “Then we're just going to have to find a way to make Allura give it back,” Sunny said. “But we’ve tried to steal it from her before,” Violet pointed out. “It’s impossible!” “Then we just have to be creative,” Borealis said, flicking her tail, “and make sure this plan works.” “Did somepony say ‘creative’? That’s ah, kinda my thang,” Izzy smiled. “But… I could use a little fox helper!” “Oh-ho, yeah!” Borealis smiled. “Me and my magic are ready to help!” With the flick of her tail’s magic, cabinets to supplies opened and Izzy pulled out a bunch of things before they got to work, even singing a song in the process.  Izzy: Come on! (Ooh-ooh) I got a good feelin' (Ahh-ahh) In my so-o-oul (Ooh-ooh) Let's put our manes together (uh-huh) Borealis: (Ahh-ahh) Let's lose contro-o-ol (Ooh-ooh) Oh, yeah, we got that vision Izzy: (Ahh-ahh) Told you befo-o-ore (Ooh-ooh) I'll make somethin' outta nothin' Borealis: (Ahh-ahh) So here we go-whoa-whoa Izzy: Can you see it? Borealis: Oh, yeah, I can see it Just follow my vibe, no, we don't need a blueprint (Uh-huh) Izzy: Life is random, sometimes it's chaotic But in a bit of time, oh, pony, it'll be lit (Whoo!) Both: Every little thing, yeah, has got a purpose (Izzy: Oh, pony, can ya feel me?) Every little thing, yeah, just needs a pla-a-ace (Izzy: Oh, pony, can ya hear me?) Every little pony has got their own destiny And I'm gonna live mine with a little creativity With a little creativity Izzy: With a little creativity (oh, pony) With creativity Borealis: With a little creativity! By the time everything was done, they had created a fake portal and a fake star with Borealis' otherworldly magic glow, leaving Izzy and Borealis proud of what they accomplished. “I gotta say, Izzy,” said the special fox cub, “we make a really good team!” “Yeah we do, Bori-Bori!” Izzy said, nooging the fox’s head. “Now we just gotta make sure everything works!” “Hey… Borealis? Rudolph?” Violet called from nearby. “Could I talk to you?” “Uh… sure, Violet,” Rudolph nodded before turning to the others. “Iz, lead the others in one final check to make sure everything is in order. We gotta talk to Violet real quick.” As the others began to talk about the plan, Rudolph and Borealis approached Violet with worry on the fox’s face. “Is something wrong, Violet?”  “Oh, no. I just… needed to ask you something,” Violet said. “How long have you had those powers, Bori?” “Oh… these? I figured out I had them about a year ago,” Borealis said. “My friends have helped me learn to control them so I can do good at the North Pole. Why do you ask?” “Heh… it may sound crazy, but… I met someone with those same eyes and those same powers,” Violet admitted. “Her name… was Nora.” “Nora?” Rudolph asked. “Do you know where she is?”  “No, I’m afraid not,” Violet said. “She came to us about a month before Allura showed up last year, tired and weak, having run from poachers. We auroricorns helped her get well enough so she can move on and get back to her cub, which… I’m assuming is Bori. Every second she thought about you, wondering if you were okay. But… I don’t know what happened to her after she left Starlight Ridge.” Borealis looked down at the snow for a few moments, but then smiled. “Thank you for telling me, Violet. It makes me feel a lot better to know that my mom didn’t abandon me because she didn’t want me… she just wanted me to be safe until she lost those poachers.” “We’ll find her someday,” Rudolph promised. “Right now, we have a plan to get underway.” “We’ve got it all built up,” Zipp said. “While me, Hitch, Story Heart, O.M, Sir 1023 and Island operate the portal and star system, the rest of you can try and get the charm away from Allura.” “Yep!” Island smiled. “There’s no way this plan can backfire, especially with Izzy’s unicycling.” “All right, everyone,” Sunny said. “Operation ‘Save Starlight Ridge’ is a go!”