Zoey-Doey

As of early 2018, Zoey is now NO LONGER ACTIVE on this blog. Due to not attracting much activity, she has since been relocated to my multimuse blog, and may now be found at:

@whereverthemusetakesme

The three fillies looked in awe at the the facility’s inside. Being children in a toy factory this was inevitable.

It was also a nice bonus that they were finally out of the cold. The little ponies walked further in slowly and kept looking around the hall as they dropped their winter clothes.

“This is awesome!” Scootaloo said, looking over a few toys that remained in the factory. Maybe they weren’t finished or not needed.. maybe they were for the next year none of them could know.

“So, this Mr. Santa delivers Toys all around the world? And they are made here?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously, wondering how many toys had to be made in the building.

Their reactions... Zoey couldn’t help but chuckle a little as the three girls gazed around them with such wide eyes. Once upon a time, Zoey knew, that must have been her reaction when her parents had first shown her the factory - every young inhabitant of Christmas Town got to visit it once they reached a certain age, as a kind of tradition - and it brought back a few old memories of her own.

She trotted up behind Scootaloo; her own eyes, too, trailing over the remaining toys.

“It is, isn’t it?”

There weren’t many left, but it seemed almost inevitable that the elves each year ended up making just a few more than were actually needed. Spares in case any got damaged as the sleigh was loaded, she supposed.

“That’s right.” She nodded in response to Sweetie Belle’s question. “Elves work here all year round, making all the toys that will be given out tonight. Tomorrow is Christmas, you see; so Santa and the team deliver them all to every child in the world before morning.”

That did beg a question, however.

“Thats very nice of you, Zoey.” Sweetie Belle replied for the trio. She herself was very excited by the sight of the workshop, such a big place sure was going to be fun to explore.

“A-ah can’t wait for it.” Apple Bloom said, shivering a little in the cold of the night.

It wasn’t like she didn’t have enough warm clothing but after traveling through a snowy landscape for as long as they did. The fillies sure could need some warming up.

“Got it.” Scootaloo dashed back to her scooter and hopped on. She nodded over to her friends to hop back into the sleigh. They quickly sat down again and Scootaloo flapped her wings to propell them forward again, following Zoey towards the building.

Her smile took on a sympathetic edge as Zoey noticed the slight tremor in Apple Bloom’s voice. The wind was starting to pick up, now that the flight team had departed, and not even a resident of Christmas town could fail to feel its harsh edge. The sooner the poor girls got into the warm, the better.

The ride Scootaloo retrieved got a quizzical tilt of the head from Zoey, who - though familiar with sleighs - had no concept of animals like them being able to drive a scooter, but now was hardly the time to question it.

Glancing back to check the girls were following, Zoey made her way back up the hill. The runway was mostly clear now, with most of the spectators either returning to their homes, or heading to the hall to prepare for the next day’s party. Of the few who lingered, no-one questioned the appearance of three strangers, and they reached the workshop doors without incident.

“Let me welcome you to Santa’s toy factory.”

With that, she pushed the door open enough for the three fillies to slip inside. The lights were on inside; but for perhaps the only day of the year, no-one was manning the factory, and the many assembly lines stood still and silent.

The kiss was rewarded with the expected result.

His nose glowed as bright as his cheeks did. Even then, after they had been dating for as long as they had, the red-nosed buck still was as blushy as ever whenever he received affection. He couldn’t just let Zoey do all the affectionate gestures, though. When she pulled away, and after she’d asked her question, Rudolph followed through with kissing the side of her own muzzle. There; now they were even.

“The flight went over smoothly, thankfully,” Rudolph said. “We did run into some rain and snow in a few places, but we all worked together to get through it.” Typical Rudolph. He wasn’t one to brag or take all the credit. Even after his most famous flight, he’d still given his father, uncles, and the rest of the team the credit they deserved. The same had occurred just then.

Now seemed like as good a time as any to give her her gift, too. Rudolph knew that most would have opened presents way before then, but that hardly mattered. He wanted to give her his gift.

“I know I didn’t have to, but I have something for you,” he said. He turned to where he’d hidden the gift, and after a moment of rummaging with his muzzle he successfully retrieved a small, neatly wrapped box. He had the elves to thank for that. Rudolph had personally requested that they wrap this, and when he’d mentioned it was a gift meant for Zoey? They were more than willing to aid him.

“Merry Christmas, Zoey,” he said. He nudged the box forward with his muzzle shortly after that. Inside was a necklace made from a shimmering crystal he had found while helping Slyly find a new home at the beginning of the year. The arctic fox just hadn’t had luck with caves. With Slyly and Leonard’s help, they’d made it into a beautiful gift. Slyly had found the silverish metal chain length, and honestly? It was a labor of love.

“The ribbon’s just for decoration, I’m told. The top should come off easily enough.”

She smiled widely at the touch of his lips on her muzzle, eyes closing as she enjoyed the sensation. Zoey, in contrast, wasn’t a blushy doe; in fact, she was a kisser through and through, and about as liberal as could be with such affection. She’d often kissed others, even apart from any relationship--

Though the action did take on special significance when it was with her buckfriend.

“That’s good. And I bet your nose helped those times, in particular.”

She knew Rudolph was modest, too; but all the same, Zoey wouldn’t let him give all the credit away if she could help it. Of course it had been a team effort, she wasn’t denying that - but Rudolph was at the head of that team for a reason, after all.

At the mention of a gift, Zoey turned to look as Rudolph brought out a brightly-wrapped box. Of course he was right, he hadn’t needed to get anything, but it was nice that he had - and she had something for him, too. Just, not with her right then; she’d been saving it to give him at the Christmas party later on.

Nudging the lid off, the doe gave a gasp of delight as her eyes fell on the shining crystal.

“It’s beautiful, Rudolph!”

She hadn’t worn a necklace since she’d given her pendant to Rudolph for luck in the reindeer games; and as such, Zoey wasted no time in slipping this one over her head. It settled nicely into place around her neck, and she beamed down at it for a moment, before turning her attention back to the one who’d given it.

Luck was on their side, as the momentum Zoey had gained was just enough to drag him off the dangerous bit of ice. A ‘whoa’ of surprise broke free from Rudolph’s lips as he found himself being dragged away, and he had to quickly work with Zoey to make sure that nothing else disastrous happened after that. All the while, big brown eyes were focused on where he had been standing moments before.

The ice he’d previously been standing on cracked apart and broke into pieces, only to float uselessly in the newly revealed frozen water. Rudolph’s heart was beating like a drum as a mixture of fear and relief waved over him. On the one hand, he had been saved from meeting a watery doom by his doefriend. On the other hand, he’d realized just how close he had come to potentially drowning.

Rudolph’s hooves made contact with more solid ice, and he finally allowed himself to relax. The ice already felt thicker where he and Zoey had likely ended up. Relief was all he felt.

“Gosh… that was close,” Rudolph said at last. “Thanks, Zoey…” He had no idea what was going through her mind right then. He hoped she was okay, though.

Well--

She had a mouthful of tail fur, and no idea where she was going with this. Zoey had no real specifics in mind; so it was a good thing for both their sakes that her momentum kept her moving, even when her line of thought had paused. In a matter of moments the pair of reindeer were skidding across the ice, and Zoey’s hooves skittered on the slick surface as she struggled to keep herself upright without letting go of Rudolph’s tail.

Didn’t quite manage it. She was too off-balanced by the way she was dragging him awkwardly behind her; the doe slipped to her rear, inadvertently releasing Rudolph in the process, and rolled over a couple of times before coming to a stop.

Winded but not hurt; and, thankfully, no longer on the thinnest part of the ice. Shaking her head, Zoey looked up, reassuring herself that Rudolph was indeed safe too, and climbed back to her hooves.

“Yeah. Too close.”

She looked past him for a moment, at the break in the ice where he’d been standing a few moments ago. Seeing how near he’d come to disaster... the competitive spirit that had got them into the situation in the first place died away, as did the rush of adrenaline, and it left her feeling cold.

The two other fillies were quickly with them to watch the take-off. All three of them watched in awe as the sleigh taking flight.

“Cool!” Scootaloo was completely awestruck. She didn’t really think much about how the reindeer could fly without having wings. Seeing the team take off was just amazing to look at.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Zoey.” Sweetie Belle looked back up to the doe as she take-off was over. “Do you think someone around might know how we can get to the Chrstal Empire?”

“And maybe a place ta warm up? It’s getting kinda cold out ‘ere.” Apple Bloom added. They’d been driving through the snowy area for what felt like an eternity.

“Oh, of course.”

She hadn’t really considered the fact; but of course, these fawns didn’t look as if they were accustomed to the cold in the way that the reindeer and elves of Christmas Town were. They must have been freezing out here - and her standing here and talking about the Christmas team wasn’t helping the matter.

“Santa’s workshop is just over there, where the fliers took off from. It’s always warm inside; and it’ll be quiet too, as all the elves will be preparing the Christmas day party for the team’s return.”

She could, alternately, have guided them down to Christmas Town, but that was a longer walk, and the girls all looked cold and tired. Besides, how often did the North Pole see visitors?

Zoey was honestly looking forward to showing them around the heart of Santa’s operation.

As she spoke, all three of the fillies looked back up at her. As Zoey mentioned the flight team, esspecailly Scootaloo’s ears perked up.

“A flight team? Like the Wonderbolts? Awesome!” The pegasus immediatly dashed to peak around the corner, the reindeer had approached them from to have a look.

Her friends looked after her for a moment, though shrugged it off, esspecially as she came to a hold just at the corner, still pretty close.

Sweetie Belle looked back at the doe. She didn’t know where they ended up, nor had she ever met a reindeer before. But it seemed like this wasn’t a very dangerous situation.

“I’m Sweetie Belle. This is Apple Bloom. And that over there is Scootaloo” She introduced herself and her friends in one go.

Who were the Wonderbolts? Zoey didn’t know; but she also wasn’t going to ask outright then and there. Perhaps there would be time to ask later; but the child who had prompted that thought had already sped off to watch the tail end of the lift-off.

“Sure; it’s a big deal around here. Usually, we reindeer can’t fly; but on this one night each year, the Christmas magic allows Santa’s specially chosen team to take flight.”

A nod was given to acknowledge the introduction.

“Pleased to meet you! My name’s Zoey.”

She trotted over to stand behind Scootaloo, waving for the other two to join them. The sleigh was just leaving the runway, and Zoey felt the old thrill and rush of excitement at the sight.

Her thought process wasn’t entirely off. Even though Rudolph was a bit of a seasoned flier by then, going from one timezone to another and then another all in one night was still exhausting. The first year had been a thrill. Of course, when he’d returned it had just been a day spent celebrating his job well done. He’d been too tired to do much after that. This year? There wasn’t any grand celebration. Instead, after Santa had congratulated them all on an excellent flight, Rudolph and Blitzen had just gone home together.

He’d seen her there, of course, when the team had touched down. However, he hadn’t gotten a chance to say much to her. That was okay, though. All would be rectified soon enough.

Rudolph had slept about as much as he could have to recover from everything. By the time Zoey had arrived, though, the buck was beginning to drift away from REM sleep. Her voice, soft and sweet, was what finally beckoned him into wakefulness.

“Hi, Zoey,” Rudolph greeted. He sounded a bit sleepy still, but that was just because he’d only just woken up. Slowly, he got up from his bed of hay and gave himself a little bit of a shake. It was a good thing she was there, honestly. He wouldn’t have been much of a buckfriend if he didn’t get her something for Christmas, and he’d wanted to give it to her in person. The gift was nestled away, out of sight, and just waiting to be given to her.

“I hope you weren’t waiting for me too long,” he said. He’d have hated for her to just be sitting around with nothing to do. While he was sure his mother and father would have been more than willing to accommodate her, he just didn’t want her to have been bored.

He looked so peaceful there; Zoey made no attempt to hide the smile that slid across her face as she watched her buckfriend sleep. She counted herself as lucky, honestly; Rudolph was the sweetest buck she knew, not to mention the bravest, and she just couldn’t understand why no-one else had been able to see past his nose when they’d been young. It didn’t even look bad, it never had; had all their classmates really just been that shallow?

It was the sight of him stirring, and the sound of his own voice, that brought Zoey’s thoughts back to the present. He still looked tired, and the doe could only imagine how exhausting the Christmas Eve flight had to be; but he looked just as happy to see her as she was to see him. Rising to her hooves, Zoey stepped closer.

“Merry Christmas, Rudolph.”

Before he could quite have time to anticipate it, she gifted him with a light kiss on the side of his muzzle. A grin touched her cheeks as she anticipated the male’s reaction.

The three fillies looked up at Zoey as she approached them. They were covered with winter clothes, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom sitting in a cart that was turned into an obvious makeshift sled, which Scootaloo had been pulling, while standing on her Scooter. It’s wheels had been removed.

“North Pole?” Apple Bloom asked before looking over to her pegasus friend. “Scoots, Ah told ya this ain’t the way to the crystal empire!”

“You try to find a way here.. that snow makes everything look the same!” Scootaloo replied. It had been a long way for them and pulling their sled all the way hadn’t been that easy.

“Wait.. what take-off?” Sweetie Belle asked, both interested in what the doe was speaking off and trying to calm the tention between her friends in that situation, as much as she understood both sides.

Apparently not; the trio sounded lost, more than anything else. Zoey's head tilted slightly as the first two does - she assumed that does was the correct term, even for girls of a different species - argued. If she’d known what the Crystal Empire was, Zoey would have loved to help the youngsters; but she’d never heard of such a place.

The white-coloured child’s question, though, was one she could answer.