Northern Lights

Fading Lights

T'was the night before Christmas in the place of Axle City. At the park, the racers were at the big Christmas Tree, decorating it as they always do every Christmas.

"Wow, the tree looks fantastic!" AJ exclaimed with a grin.

"Sure is!" Stripes grinned. "And these Christmas lights are almost as bright as the Northern Lights!"

"What the Northern Lights?" Zeg asked, never hearing of such a thing before.

"The Northern Lights are the brightest lights of Christmas, even symbolizing the magic of Christmas!" Stripes beamed.

"Really?" Blaze asked.

"Yep! The brighter they are, the more powerful Christmas magic is. We're supposed to have a really good view of them tonight, so we better get some good seats."

As the others rushed away to set their blankets on the fresh snow, Crusher sighed and looked away. A terrible blizzard was coming Grammy's way, so there would be no way she would be able to come spend Christmas with him this year.

Just... another lonely Christmas with no family around.

His train of thought slowly came to a close when he felt Pickle wrap a tire around him.

"Are you having those lonely Christmas thoughts again...?"

"Yeah..." Crusher sighed. "Why did my so called parents have to abandon me...? Why didn't they stick around or come for me?"

"I wish I knew, big fella," Pickle sighed. "But... look at the bright side. I'm here-- and so are the others. We're sorta like your family."

"Yeah, I guess... I guess they are," Crusher smiled.

"Come on-- we don't wanna miss the symbol of Christmas magic, do we?"

Crusher chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, I'm coming..."

They soon joined the others, resting their own blanket down on the snow before settling down with the rest of the group.

"I think it's starting!" Darington squealed.

The Northern Lights soon appeared in the sky. As it did, Stripes noticed something odd.

"Wait... they're not supposed to be that dim..."

"Do you think something's wrong?" Watts asked.

Before anyone could answer, jingle bells filled the sky, and the group glanced up at a familiar red sleigh coming their way.

"Wait... is that...?"

AJ used his visor to zoom in on the sleigh, and indeed, his guesses were correct.

"Guys! It's Santa!"

"What is he doing here? I thought he wasn't supposed to be here until later!" Gabby wondered.

"Well, we might as well get our presents while he has 'em!" Darington laughed giddily as he rushed forward.

"Darry!" Blaze laughed as they all rushed forward.

The sleigh landed on the snowy ground with a thud. They all gasped as Santa came out from the sleigh with a smile.

"Santa! It's great to see you again!" AJ smiled. "But... what are you doing here? We thought you don't deliver your presents till midnight."

"I know, but as you see, there is an issue with the Northern Lights, which means that the magic of Christmas isn't as powerful as it used to be," Santa replied.

"Well... maybe we can help with the issue if we knew what caused it," Starla figured as Pickle and Crusher were being overbeared by reindeer nuzzles.

"You reindeers are too cute!!" Pickle giggled.

"I might know the reason," Santa offered.

"You do? What is it?" Blaze questioned.

"The Queen of the Northern Lights," Santa explained. "A long time ago, the queen had fallen into a deep depression, one that I know not the reason, and over time, the Northern Lights had grown dimmer, prompting Christmas magic to weaken every year, and it has worsen this year!"

"There's a queen of the Northern Lights?" Stripes asked, dumbfounded. "Even I didn't know that!"

"That's a first," Starla muttered, prompting Watts to snicker.

"How do we help her, Santa?" Blaze asked.

"You must go to castle up in the Ice Crystal Mountains and find a way to help her joy return... otherwise... all forms of Christmas magic will disappear... forever."

The group gasped in shock, certainly not expecting this.

"No more magic on Christmas?!" Darington screeched.

"That's terrible!" Watts agreed. "We have to get to the North Pole fast!"

"But how?" Zeg wondered.

"We cam all ride my sleigh, but we have to hurry before Christmas magic runs out," Santa offered.

"Good plan," Blaze nodded. "Quick, everyone in!"

The group hopped onto the sleigh and flew off. As Crusher stared out at the dim lights, he felt his eyes glow as a vision came to him.

"Crusher..."

Voices came from out of nowhere, calling for him, crying out his name over and over.

"Crusher..."

"Get the child!"

"MAMA!!"

"Crusher?"

Crusher snapped out of the vision, shaking his head as his eyes flashed rainbow colors and as he turned back to his rival.

"Huh? Uh... yeah?"

"You okay?" Blaze asked. "You look totally out of it,"

"I... I don't know," Crusher shrugged as his eyes continued to flash.

"Whoa... Crusher, look at your eyes! They're flashing rainbow colors!"

"They... They are...?" Crusher shook his head and hissed.

"Maybe we should talk to the queen about this after everything is fixed up."

"Good idea."