//------------------------------// // Reclaiming Starlight Ridge // Story: G5 Adventures in Rudolph's Shiny New Year // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// As the gang moved their plans into position so they could free Starlight Ridge from Allura so they could get back to finding Happy, the controlled auroricorns were still taking the stars from the sky as Allura oversaw them from the air. “Smile, ponies, smile,” she said. “We need that cheer to get what we want.” Twitch then started squeaking, immediately noticing that there was one auroricorn not with the others. “You’re right, Twitch,” Allura nodded. “I haven’t seen Violet Frost in... forever. Where is that pony?” With a flap of her mighty wings, Allura circled around to look for Violet, eventually spotting her in the crowd of brainwashed auroricorns. “You fool. She’s right over there,” she said to Twitch, not noticing that there was something in Violet's ears. But the bunny still felt that something was off, so he encouraged Allura to land and see what was going on. “Fine…” Upon seeing Allura land before her, Violet gasped in surprise before Allura used her magic, and Violet gave a forced smile, as if she was in the trance again. “Violet Frost, what are you doing?” “Hi, Allura! Happy to see you!” Violet spoke in a mindless tone, “I’m just looking for that special star.” With her magic, she plucked another star from the sky before walking off, and Allura turned to Twitch in satisfaction. “See? She’s in the trance.” But, Twitch was still squeaking, even though he saw that Allura put Violet under the trance herself. And honestly... it was getting on Allura's nerves. “What do you want? You’re annoying me.” From behind the trees and snow, the others watched and waited for their cue from Violet. “How is Violet resisting the trance?” Misty asked Izzy in confusion. “Oh, I made her some special crystal snowball earplugs!” Izzy explained. “Just enough to muffle the spell.” “I hope you’re right, Izzy,” Story Heart said with a frown. “Cause if she is under Allura’s spell, we’re done for!” Violet looked at the star she had and tucked it away and out of sight, before she brought out a cluster of lightbulbs that Izzy had made to look almost star-like. “The special star!” Upon hearing this, Allura stopped and turned immediately. “What did you just say?” “The special star,” Violet repeated. “I found it!” “Protect the charm,” Allura ordered Twitch, who began to pace in front of the charm as Allura approached Violet Frost. “I don’t believe it. Show me!” Violet winked to the others in hiding, and Island immediately recognized this as the cue. “Zipp, guys! That’s the signal! Start pulling!” She, O.M, Sir 1023 and Story Heart began to help Zipp and Hitch pull on the ropes to reveal the fake portal, which Allura saw.  “A portal! I did it! I finally did it! Give me that!” she spat as she took the cluster of lightbulbs into her paws. “Now I can use this star to open any portal and go to whichever realm I desire.” She then sniffed again, sensing the reindeer and arctic fox scent again, but then shrugged it off, her greed about the portal taking over. XXXXXXXX At the same time, Twitch was becoming quite tired after guarding the Nova Charm, and Rudolph, Borealis, Pipp, Misty and Sunny watched him from behind the gazebo. “What do we do now?” Misty whispered. “We need to find a way to distract him,” said Rudolph, and as they watched Twitch yawn, Borealis suddenly got an idea. “Or lull him! Pipp, can you sing a super sweet-sounding lullaby?” “You bet your tails I can!” Pipp winked before she began to hum and sing a soft lullaby. And the more Twitch listened to it, the sleepier he became, until he fell asleep right on the spot. The group gave quiet laughs as Pipp twirled in the air at her success. “You did it!” Sunny cheered. “Way to go, Pipp!” Misty complimented. “Nopony can resist falling asleep to my lullabies,” Pipp bragged with a smile, “Especially that one!” “Okay, Misty, your turn,” Rudolph said. “But be very gentle. We don’t wanna wake Twitch by accident.” Misty nodded and let her horn glow, letting the charm slowly move away and let Twitch fall to the ground, still sleeping. “We got it!” Borealis whispered. “Now, we just gotta get the charm away from Allura before she discovers what happened.” XXXXXXXX At the same time, Violet continued to get close to the fake portal while the others continued to pull the ropes, but they were getting rather tired, and weren't sure how much longer they would be able to do this. “How… long did Izzy say… we had to do this again?” O.M asked, panting tiredly. “She didn’t say,” Story Heart spoke, “but I hope not for too much longer…” “Yeah,” Hitch nodded. “My hooves are getting tired!” Island was getting tired much quicker than the others, and once she gave the rope one final tug, she fell back in the snow, completely exhausted. “I-I’m okay…” Upon seeing Island collapse, Violet began to grow nervous... especially since the lightbulbs began to flicker, much to Allura's confusion. This didn’t seem like any kind of star she had ever seen before. Beginning to notice something was off, Allura reached out and plucked one of the fake snowflakes from the portal prop. “A fake!” Izzy looked behind the trees as she grew nervous before she tried to wave to her friends about how Allura figured their plan out, but Allura saw her. “Oopsie!” Allura growled angrily as she turned to Violet, who chuckled nervously as Allura slammed the fake star to the ground and flew off. “Double oops.” “Time to flee!!” Sir 1023 shouted, and the group behind the trees ran to join their friends, running toward the banquet hall and waking Twitch as they ran past. “We got the charm!” Borealis called, which made Twitch rush to Allura, who she allowed on her back as the two flew after the thieves. XXXXXXXX Upon reaching the banquet hall, Comet approached the group, now free from Allura's trance. “I can’t believe you got the Nova Charm back!” he exclaimed in surprise, adjusting his glasses. “You saved us!” “We’re finally free!” Violet cheered. Then, a huge gust of wind blew toward them as they noticed Allura flying their way. “LOOK OUT!!” Island shrieked, and everyone dove out of her way as the snow leopard landed before them. “12 little strangers wandered into my territory and tried to destroy my plans?” Allura questioned as she turned to O.M, Island, Izzy and Pipp, who backed away fearfully before she flew up to Sunny, Rudolph and Borealis. “Who do you think you are?” Rudolph wouldn’t allow the group to be intimidated so easily, stomping his hoof to try and get Allura to back off. “We know who we are. We’re the auroricorns’ friends!”  “And we’re not going to let anypony, or not-pony hurt them!” Sunny finished as she let her alicorn form ignite. Upon seeing it, Allura merely chuckled. “A reindeer, a Northern Lights fox and an alicorn! How cute…” “It’s too late, Alura. You lost!” Violet said as she levitated the Nova Charm. “We have the Nova Charm now!” “Lost? You think I need that pathetic charm to have what I want?” Allura gave a growling purr as her magic hit Comet, bringing him back under her control and making him bring the Nova Charm back to her. “Silly ponies, I don’t need the charm to do anything,” she said as Comet placed the charm next to her. “I can have whatever I want. All I need is the power of purr-suasion.” As her hypnotic purrs headed toward the group, they all tried to dash away, but Misty, Izzy, Sir 1023, Story Heart, Pipp, O.M, Island and Hitch got hit while trying to escape, and they too were brought under Allura's spell. Zipp flew around to avoid Allura’s attack, and thought she was in the clear, but Allura got in front of her and used her magic on her, putting her under her control as she landed down. “This place is so great!” she said with a creepy forced smile, just as Allura approached Borealis and Rudolph. “You two aren't going to be entranced next… but you will become my next meal...” Borealis growled, and as Rudolph pawed the ground to charge, Borealis sent a magic blast at Allura, causing her to growl in pain from the bright light, and Rudolph pounced on her, sending her down to the ground so they could reach Sunny and Violet. Unfortunately, their entranced friends began to surround them with no intent of letting them go. Once regaining her footing, Allura smirked over at the group not in the trance. “Maybe I’ll let my little army have a little fun with you four before I make you join them.” “Back! Get back!” Borealis swiped at her mind-controlled friends to keep them away, but when that didn’t work, Rudolph lit his nose to disorient them long enough for them to run a good distance away. “What do we do, Sunny?!” Borealis asked nervously as their friends marched up to them. “We can’t lose our friends or Starlight Ridge to Allura!” “And you won’t!”  That’s when Rudolph got an idea. “Bori, you and I are gonna try and distract Allura so Sunny and Violet can figure out how to save our friends!” “Right!” “Hey, Allura!” Rudolph called to the snow leopard, his nose blinding her temporarily as he let Borealis on his back. “If you want us, you’ll have to catch us!” Rudolph took off into the air with Allura close behind, the snow leopard trying to blast her hypnotic purrs at them, but Rudolph was able to quickly dodge, and Borealis sent blast of her own to get Allura off their tails. Sunny watched them for a few moments, thankful that Allura wasn't able to control them yet, but there were other problems at hoof at the moment. “They’re safe for now, but we have to save our friends, and fast!” The mind-controlled ponies all laughed as they drew closer to the three, but Izzy hoof’s slipped on the ice as she knocked Comet over to the snow, but for some reason, he was returned to normal. And as soon as he stood up, Comet was brought back under the spell again. “Huh. That was weird,” Sunny commented in surprise. “Well…” said Violet, “there were old legends of the snow having healing magic, but I’ve never actually seen it used.” Sunny gasped in realization after brushing the snow to see sparkles within it. “That’s it! That’s why Izzy’s earplugs worked!” “What?” Violet asked in confusion. “They’re made of snow!” Sunny crafted a snowball in her hooves. “The snow here is special… very special.” Sunny immediately threw the snowball at Comet, snapping him out of the trance, and Violet realized the same thing. “It’s a cure! Rudolph, Bori! We found a cure to the spell! It’s the snow!” Rudolph and Borealis swooped down and landed, letting Allura crash into a nearby tree, and this allowed them to craft snowballs and hit their friends one by one, ending the trance on them. “Sunny, you guys did it!” Island cheered with her wings spread, much to Allura's bewilderment. “But how?!” “The snow here is special. Just like the auroricorns!” Hitch said as Borealis threw another snowball at Misty snapping her out of the trance. “So we have a way to stop your plans, Allura!” Story Heart called out with a smirk. “And it’s time to put you on ice once and for all!” Allura only scoffed and flapped her wings to get higher than everypony else. “What are you going to do? Keep throwing snow at everypony?” “That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Sunny said with a smirk. “Instead of raining sunshine, now it’s snowing sunshine!” O.M tossed more snowballs that hit two more auroricorns, snapping them out of the trance. Violet then rushed to them as she held up a snowball. “Come on, everypony! Keep throwing snowballs!” However… the mares seemed very unsure. “But… she’s been controlling us for so long.” “Can we really beat her?” “Yes. We can! I know we can!” Violet encouragingly spoke. “Sunny made me remember how special of a place Starlight Ridge is.” “And it doesn’t stop there!” Pipp continued as she looked down at them while holding two snowballs, “Starlight Ridge is special, but what makes it extra special is all of you!” “You’re the auroricorns!” Island nodded. “You’re amazing! WHOA!!” Allura nearly pounced on her, and the snow leopard gave the pegasus chase as Misty stepped forward to encourage the auroricorns further. “It’s true! I know how you all must feel, being under the hoof of somepony that’s angry and just wants to control you, but it doesn’t have to be this way.” “The only way to get what you want is to have the courage to defend yourselves!” Rudolph agreed. “Being bullied doesn’t feel good… Bori and I know that for a fact. But you can either choose to do nothing or get bullied further, or take the chance to defend yourselves and celebrate what makes you unique!” “They’re all right,” said Hitch as Rudolph kicked a snowball in Allura’s face to get her away from Island. “Nopony deserves this!” “Quiet! Your plan will never work! I’ll just entrance you all again!” Allura threatened. “Well, that won’t stop us from trying!” Borealis said before Comet threw a snowball at an Auroricorn stallion, snapping him out of it as he gave a laugh. “Whoa, that… that was kind of fun!” A huge snowball fight began to ensue, with Twitch and Allura caught right in the middle of it. And as the snowball fight continued, Sunny, Island and Zipp flew over the village as the aurora flares glowed brilliantly in the sky... and the same thing was happening to the auroricorns' cutie marks. That's when it hit Sunny dead on. “That’s it!” she said, flying down to them. “When you’re happy, you’re powerful!” “So, we need to have real fun,” Comet realized, “and be truly happy in order to take back our town!” “That’s a great idea!” Violet called as she brought out her flute and as her cutie mark began to glow. “I now declare today… Super Starshine Time!” “All right!” cried Comet, and all those in the village began to stomp their feet, paws and hooves as the snowball fight continued, and Violet Frost began to sing and play and Borealis quickly joined in, much to Allura’s anger. Violet: (Everypony, come on!) (Time to shine now!) (You gotta shine now!) Hey, put those workin' hooves away We're gettin' in the groove Borealis: We're out here shining brighter Than the stars above the moon Rudolph then led the pegasi of the group and Sunny through the skies, soaring past the aurora flares and keeping an eye on the snowball fight from above. Violet: Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh Borealis: Feels like I'm one with the aurora Violet: Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh (We shine) The magic's here, it's shining on us Ohhhh-oh-ohhhh (So bright, it's shining on us) It's like it's up there callin' out to me To me, yeah! Violet: Starshine Time We're only gettin' brighter We're glowin' up together We shine, shine, shine (We shine) Borealis: Starshine Time We're only gettin' brighter We're glowin' up together All: We shine, shine, shine (We shine!) By the time the song was over, the aurora flares were shining brighter than ever before, showcasing the happiness of the auroricorns. Allura growled with her wings spread, eyes filled with savage anger. “No!” Rudolph and Borealis led the auroricorns with snowballs closer as Allura picked up the Nova Charm in its ice cage and held it high. “Stop singing! Listen to me! I’m your leader!” Somepony then threw a snowball at the Nova Charm out of her paws before the auroricorns threw snowballs at her and Twitch, which knocked them back into the ground as they fell into a pile of snow. Once getting out, Allura glared at her newfound enemies with immense hatred. “You might as well give up, Allura,” Rudolph spoke. “The auroricorns aren’t under your control anymore, and you and Twitch are heavily outnumbered.” “Give up?! HA!! I’ll get you back, ponies!” she threatened with her wings spread. “I want out of this realm and I always get what I want!” And then, with Twitch hanging on, she flew off and out of sight. “Oh, I can't believe we’re finally free!” Comet cheered. “And now, even if she does return, you know your secret weapon,” Sunny said as she spread her wings up, “Fun, signing, and lots of snowballs!” As they spoke, Misty stomped the Nova Charm out of the cage and gave it to Violet Frost. “Here you go, Violet. It’s back in the right hooves.” “But… don’t you want to rule Starlight Ridge?” Violet asked. “You all did save us.” “We have our own homes to get back to,” Rudolph said. “Besides… I can think of nopony better to lead than you.” True to his word, all the auroricorns were chanting Violet's name, prompting her in a decision. “Okay! I'll do it! I'll lead Starlight Ridge!” Everyone cheered at this, but then, Sunny turned to her friends. “We need to get going, guys. We still have a Baby New Year to find!” “Will you come back and visit?” Comet asked. “Of course we will!” Borealis said. “And… if you see my mom again, get Big Ben to tell me as fast as he can.” Violet Frost nodded with a giggle. “Promise.” Then, exchanging heartfelt goodbyes and hugs, the group walked off toward the beach to resume their search. XXXXXXXX “Wow, you all were sure gone for a long time,” Big Ben commented when they finally returned. “Did you find Happy?” “No… we didn’t. But we did save an entire community from the paws of an evil snow leopard,” said Borealis. “Come on… we still have a lot of searching to do.” Everyone hopped onto Big Ben’s back, and the whale swam back into the open ocean, unknowingly slipping through a tear in the invisible barrier. As she was flying after the group, Allura saw the tear and flew through it, causing Allura and Twitch to become free. “Free at last… free at last!!” she cried with a malicious laugh before turning to her sidekick. “Come, Twitch. We must lay low and wait… because wherever those ponies came from will be our next target.” Twitch maliciously giggled before Allura flew high and above the fog, laying in wait until the portal appeared… so she could find the perfect opportunity to strike.