A red-nosed reindeer in trouble

Today was the day that everyone was looking forward to. The most cheerful day of Winter. With snow, sweets, and presents galore. Hearth's Warming Eve. And despite the snowstorm outside, everyone was happy about this holiday.

Come evening of this wonderful day, Fluttershy prepared to go to Pinkie Pie's house to celebrate with her friends. She packed a bunch of cookies and chocolate into a bag. While she knew that Pinkie Pie had a lot of baked goods, it couldn't hurt to bring more.

"I wonder if Pinkie Pie likes these cookies that I made...", Fluttershy said. She made a bunch of cookies based on a recipe that Rushing Wind gave her, and they tasted much better than she thought.

She wanted to go upstairs and put on her winter attire, when suddenly, she heard a crash.

"What was that?", Fluttershy said, slightly startled. She was very sure it came from outside near her house. Looking out the window, it was hard to see anything, but she had to check what that was.

She slipped on her green and white boots and threw a pink scarf around her neck before she grabbed a flashlight and went outside into the storm. Fluttershy lit up all possible areas, but couldn't spot anything on first sight.

"Hello? Anyone out here?", Fluttershy called out. Since her call was usually softer than others, she didn't expect anyone to hear it. Suddenly, she heard a sneeze and groaning, and out of the storm came a young reindeer with a red nose.

"Hey, you! Come here, little guy!", Fluttershy called out to him.

The young reindeer ran over to Fluttershy, and together, they went inside, into warm safety.

"Are you okay?", asked Fluttershy, with worry in her voice.

"Yeah. Thank you.", said the reindeer before it let out another sneeze.

Fluttershy felt the reindeer's red nose and became even more worried. "Oh dear, your nose is all cold!", she said.

"Tell me about it... We had no idea it would be this cold tonight.", said the reindeer.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine.", said Fluttershy as she wrapped her scarf around the young reindeer's neck.

The reindeer smiled. "Oh, so warm... Thanks.", it said.

"No problem.", Fluttershy said, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Rudolph."

Upon hearing that name, Fluttershy gasped, becoming more worried each second. "Rudolph? Y-you mean THE Rudolph we all heard about in the legends our parents told us when we were young?", she asked.

"Just the one.", Rudolph said.

"What on earth happened for you to get here?", Fluttershy asked.

"I was on my way with Santa and the rest of the sleigh team to deliver the presents, and we just passed Canterlot City when out of nowhere, a tree caught me by surprise, knocked me out of the line, and I crashed.", Rudolph explained, "And my team couldn't find me at first glance and left me behind."

Fluttershy's eyes almost filled with tears. "Oh my, that's terrible.", she said.

"Worse still," Rudolph said, "without me, Santa and the sleigh team are going to be lost in the snowstorm, and the presents won't be delivered in time!"

Fluttershy gasped again. Under no circumstances did she want that such an important holiday would see such an awful end to it. She would do all she can to make Rudolph feel better.

One thing she wanted to try was to make him a soup. Whenever Fluttershy was sick, Rushing Wind made her a soup, and it usually helped, so maybe it would work with Rudolph as well.

While she worked on the soup, she asked Rudolph: "Hey, I'm curious. What is your history?"

"Well, if you want to know...", Rudolph said, "I'm the son of Blitzen, who also is a part of the sleigh team. When I was younger, everyone mocked me for my red nose, so I ended up running from home..."

"Oh dear.", Fluttershy said, "What happened then?"

"The Aurora Spirits told me that Zoey, one of my closest friends, has been captured by an evil witch named Stormella.", Rudolph explained, "So I went on an adventure with two other friends to save her, and we managed to even melt her icy heart. Unfortunately, Stormella already casted a spell to unleash the worst snowstorm ever, and Christmas, as we call it, was right at the brink. And if it wasn't for me, the ninth and most recent member of the sleigh team, I doubt we would have made it through that storm. And since then, I became a part of the sleigh team of Santa."

"Wow. You certainly have seen your share of exciting adventures, just like me.", Fluttershy said, remembering those events with evil Sunset, the Dazzlings, Gaia Everfree, and so on. And just like herself, Rudolph also had a strong and adventurous heart.

Eventually, Fluttershy finished up the soup and presented it to Rudolph. "Here you go. That should do the trick.", she said. And, as Rudolph started to lick the soup, Fluttershy wondered: "But how do we let Santa know that you're here?"

"Red flares should do the trick. Maybe they will know that I'm here.", Rudolph suggested.

Knowing this, Fluttershy slipped her boots back on and quickly opened one of her drawers. Inside were three red flares that Rushing Wind gave her, in case of dire emergencies. And this emergency was plenty dire to her, so she took one and went outside. Then, she ignited the flare and put it in the snow. Maybe the sleigh team will spot it and know that Rudolph is here.

Going back inside, Rudolph recently got done eating the soup. "Thank you, Fluttershy. I feel a lot better now.", he said.

"No problem, Rudolph. Helping animals in need is what I can do best, and reindeers are no exception.", Fluttershy said and smiled.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Fluttershy opened it, and when she saw the figure standing in front of her, she didn't know if she was dreaming or hallucinating.

"Oh my...", she said in awe.

"Ho ho ho! Greetings, dear Fluttershy!", said the figure, obviously known as Santa Claus, "I saw the red flare from above. Is Rudolph really here?"

"He's right over here.", said Fluttershy and led Santa to the kitchen, where Rudolph was waiting. When they came in, the red-nosed reindeer jumped up.

"Santa! You're here!", Rudolph said happily.

"Rudolph! It's good to see you're okay!", Santa said and patted his young flyer on the head.

"Yeah. I caught a cold outside, but Fluttershy cured me, and I'm ready to go.", Rudolph said bravely and lit up his nose brightly to show it.

"Ho ho ho! That is good news!", Santa said happily, and then turned to Fluttershy, "Dearest Fluttershy, I have to thank you. You found and cured our Rudolph and saved Christmas. I can assure you, you earned yourself a special spot on the Nice List."

"Wow, thank you!", Fluttershy said, "It's an honor."

"An honor that only few had so far.", said Santa, "Now if you'll excuse us, we got a lot of presents to deliver."

Santa left the kitchen, and Rudolph followed him. Fluttershy went outside too and got a glance of the sleigh and the nine reindeer. She was stunned by the sheer looks of it, and in the meantime, the snowstorm subsided a bit.

Rudolph looked over to Fluttershy. "Hey. Thank you for everything.", he said.

"It was a pleasure, Rudolph.", Fluttershy said and waved to him.

Then, Santa gave the all-known command: "Up, up, and away!"

And on that note, the reindeer accelerated and took off into the night sky. "See ya! Take care out there!", Fluttershy called out to the group. She hoped that they can now get through the snowstorm safely now that Rudolph is back at full strength.

Once Santa's sleigh was out of sight, Fluttershy went back inside. After slipping out of her boots, she turned down the heat a bit. She smiled at the thought of Rudolph flying in the air with the group, guiding them through the night, and she knew that he was lucky that he found her, otherwise, Christmas would have been doomed for the first time ever.

Looking at the clock, she was running late for the party at Pinkie Pie's house. So she went upstairs, changed into her winter clothes, grabbed her bag with sweets inside, and went out of her house. She locked her door, and then headed straight for Pinkie Pie's house to celebrate Hearth's Warming Eve. She knew in her head that her friends will never believe the events of this fateful night.

But in her heart, they were as true as her love to animals...

THE END

Author's Note:

Yes, I decided to use Rudolph's backstory from a Rudolph movie from the late 90s that I recently watched. In case you watched it, let me know in your comment.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed the story. Merry Christmas, everyone!

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