James and Ruby went to the practice field so often that their footprints wore a trail through the snow, trampling the tender lichen hiding underneath. Despite all that training, the Present Delivery Relay arrived far too soon for their comfort.

The crowd had already been a sight to behold from inside the judges' booth, but nothing could have prepared James for the thousands of eyes watching him and Ruby enter the arena alongside the other contestants. Even with so many people cheering them on, the noise failed to drown out the thunder rumbling through the clouds overhead. Frigid wind whipped the participants as they waited for their names to be called.

Ruby shook a thin crust of frost off her fur. "It's going to be a tough flight," she said.

"For you, maybe," said a doe with short, slightly crooked antlers. She twitched her ears as if she was dismissing a fly. "Those of us who can do more than fall like half-melted icicles shouldn't have any trouble."

"Lay off, Crystal," said a pure white buck. James recognized him as Mambo, the first reindeer he'd scored during Launch and Landing. "She'll be fine."

"Oh please, what would you know about flying? What did you get for your takeoff, a ten?"

"A nine," he mumbled.

"Well I got an eighteen, and they don't just give those out to just anybody, especially not a pair of donkeys."

"Somebody's on the naughty list," James muttered as Crystal marched off with her nose high in the air.

"I'll say," Ruby said. She smiled at the young buck. "Thanks for sticking up for me."

"Don't mention it," he said. "Looks like they're about to get things started."

Nick rose from his seat near the rest of the Clauses. His perpetual frown deepened as Santa muttered something in his ear. After taking a moment to tighten his crimson tie, he spoke into his microphone. "As I am sure you are all aware, we are experiencing inclement weather that will likely last the rest of the holiday season."

"This had better not mean the Games are canceled," yelled a shrill voice from the front row. "I traded a year's supply of chocolate for these tickets!"

A rumble of discontent rippled through the stands. Ruby stamped her hooves. "And we practiced real hard, too," she muttered.

"They're not actually—" Nick began.

"Since when did the Clauses let a couple clouds ruin the Games?"

"If you would just—"

"More like the Reindeer Lames, am I right?"

"Quiet!"

A hush fell over the audience as Nick's face reddened to match his tie. Santa massaged his forehead, refusing to even look at his son.

Nick cleared his throat. "What I've been trying to say is the Games will continue as originally scheduled, at least for now. In light of the adverse weather conditions, this event will be weighted even more heavily than usual when we're determining who will help deliver presents on Christmas Eve."

A look of concern flashed across Santa's face. As soon as Nick returned to his seat beside him, the two began whispering heatedly as Mrs. Claus scanned the herd of contestants. When her eyes met James's, he tugged at the scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, and she gave him a thumbs up.

"Good luck," Mambo said as stable staff ushered all the reindeer and their riders into their assigned positions in the holding pen.

"You too," Ruby said. She settled down in front of the refreshments trough and helped herself to an apple as she watched elves set up relay points throughout the crowd. Specially selected audience members sat with buckets in their laps and massive signs showing what toy needed to be delivered to them. As the thunder's roar grew closer, the wind hurled snow into the buckets. By the time Crystal sauntered back into the arena with her sleigh loaded with presents, the buckets had already accumulated enough for more than a few snowball fights to break out.

She launched herself into the air with a single powerful leap. Her elf barely had to nudge the FAST for her to guide them from one relay point to the next. By the time he was dropping a present into the bucket waiting below, she was already turning toward the next target without even sparing a glance to the audience.

"Man," Ruby said, "can you imagine some poor kid having her deliver their presents on Christmas Eve? I don't think she even knows what a smile is."

James watched the rest of Crystal's flight silently. Even as her elf struggled to prevent the presents from being thrown off the sleigh by the wind, she moved through the air with unwavering focus and precision.

At least, she did until one of the children in the audience threw a fistful of tinsel at her.

James wasn't close enough to hear what she said, but the way she reared back and sneered at the now crying kid before racing to the next target told him all he needed to know. Santa would never let someone like her pull one of his sleighs.

Right?

Ruby nudged him with her antlers. "Look at me," she said with her nose pointed in the air and her chest puffed out. "I'm an amazing flier, but my head's so swollen it's a miracle I don't float all the way to Pluto."

James laughed. "She's even more full of herself than Nick."

Ruby smirked. "Wonder what would happen if those two ever met. Their egos are so big there wouldn't be room for anyone else!"

The other reindeer chuckled along with them. The tense mood in the holding pen shifted as the contestants chatted amongst themselves. "She reminds me of Uncle Tango," Mambo said. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I think he just pretends to be grouchy all the time though. I saw him dancing on the clouds above the training field once. He almost fell through a cumulonimbus when he saw I was watching."

"Tango, dancing?" Ruby shook her head. "Now I've heard everything. The most fun thing I've ever seen him do was spook Gloria that one time, and he didn't even mean to sneeze so loud."

"Hey, maybe you'll get him to stop being such a Scrooge someday." Mambo's ears perked up as his name was called. "Guess I'm up."

"Good luck!" James said.

As the event continued, it became harder and harder to see the contestants through the storm. The lashing snow and roaring wind sent more than a few contestants careening too close to the crowd, hooves accidentally kicking away the hats of a couple unlucky elves.

James shivered and tightened his scarf as the wind's coldness sank into his bones. Ruby and the other contestants huddled close to him as they all squinted through the snow.

By the time it was Ruby's turn, the wind was howling so loudly they couldn't hear her name being called, only knowing she was next since she was the only member of the junior division who hadn't gone yet.

"At least flying should warm me up," Ruby said as the judges loaded her sleigh with presents.

"Be careful out there," Gabe said as he put the FAST on Ruby, quickly testing the controller to make sure it was still working before handing it to James. "If it were up to me, this would have been postponed at the very least."

Gloria tugged down her thick, wool hat to keep the wind from blowing it off. "If you find yourself struggling, try to land in the middle of the arena. Now is not the time to take silly risks, and shooting for the center is your best shot at not hurting someone on your way down."

"Got it," James said through chattering teeth. As happy as he was to actually be in the Games, he was getting more excited about the hot chocolate he'd have afterward by the second. Holy chestnuts it was cold!

They entered the arena to a roar of applause. James glanced at their targets, which were thankfully easy to spot thanks to the giant signs depicting the toy they needed to deliver to each of the designated audience members. A giant teddy bear, a water gun, and a baby doll. Nothing light enough to be blown away by the wind, but nothing heavy enough to cause much damage if it landed on someone. Thank goodness whoever had chosen their cargo had thought that through.

James pulled the three toys they'd need from the pile in the back and put them in his lap. "Ready?"

"What?" Ruby glanced at him over her shoulder and twitched her ears. "Can't hear you."

James held up the FAST's controller before gesturing toward the teddy bear. She nodded and stamped her hooves.

With a flick of his wrist, James cracked the reigns and sent them charging forward. A blast of chocolate scent told Ruby to take them into the sky.

She skipped across the ground like a stone across a pond before finally taking flight.

James squinted through the icy December air until he spotted their first target. He flicked the joystick to the left to guide Ruby to the elf waving a sign depicting a teddy bear over her head.

The scent of mint filled the air, followed by a whiff of cinnamon to correct their overly sharp turn and freshly buttered popcorn to begin their descent. James leaned over the side of the sleigh and tossed the teddy bear into the waiting elf's bucket. She gave the present a quick hug for the cameras broadcasting the event all over the world before firing off a quick text to the judges.

James decided to deliver the water gun next. He steered Ruby in a loop around the stadium, eliciting cheers from the crowd as he searched for his second target. At last, he spotted Susie waving her sign on the far side of the arena. Her dark brown braids whipped her face as the wind picked up.

"It's getting worse," Ruby yelled. The whiteness surrounding them muffled her voice as wind shook the sleigh. What had started as a steady but moderate snowball had grown into something much thicker. Ice clattered against the sleigh as the wind shrieked over the crowd.

James shook with chills as his body heat sent snowmelt running down his back, soaking through his clothes. With the wind rocking the sleigh back and forth, he could barely keep himself centered on his seat, let alone steer them in a straight line.

The presents' wrapping paper rustled as the wood beneath them groaned. Ruby coughed as quick spurts of mint and cinnamon kept directing her to steer them back on course, despite the wind's best efforts to blow them into the stands.

"Almost there," James called out. He'd have to ask Gabe about letting Ruby have some sugar cane once this was over. She'd more than earned it after flying through this mess.

James leaned out of the sleigh with the water gun in hand. Ruby fought to hover in place as he stretched forward to drop it into Susie's bucket.

"You're doing great!" she yelled as thunderous applause broke out.

Ruby's nose flashed as she laughed giddily. "At this rate, we're going to get the top score!"

James yelped as the sleigh jolted, nearly sending a jigsaw puzzle flying. "Careful, we've still got one left."

"Wasn't me. Ow!" Ruby reared back as a chunk of ice smacked her in the back.

An onslaught of grape-sized hail clattered against the sleigh as if someone has spilled a giant bag of marbles above them. James squinted, but he couldn't see anything through the storm. "Use your nose!"

Ruby's nose glowed brighter and brighter as her breathing quickened into frantic huffs. At last, she finally illuminated their final target who sat huddled near the judge's booth, the elf's sign flailing as the wind threatened to rip it from their hands.

Santa's voice boomed across the stadium as he gripped a microphone, but James couldn't hear a word over the sound of the hail pummeling the FAST. Ice cracked against metal until the device let out a shrill beep that even the thunder couldn't drown out. The scent canisters strapped to the back of Ruby's head rumbled as they blasted all four scents at once.

James and Ruby coughed as the powerful mix of scents burned their noses. With each wheeze, Ruby shot through the air with her eyes squeezed shut against the fear-bright glare of her nose.

They careened through the sky like an airborne rollercoaster, zigging and zagging and looping and swooping in every direction as the FAST kept spewing scents into Ruby's nose. James swallowed back a mouthful of puke as she brought them out of a windswept spiral. He hurled the baby doll in the general direction of the last bucket, only knowing it had landed thanks to its frantic screaming. Or maybe that was the crowd. Or him. All he knew was he didn't give a snowflake about how well they scored.

He just wanted to return to the ground.

James pressed down on the joystick, only for the FAST to let out a noise that lived up to its former name. "Down!" he screamed.

Whoosh! Ruby dove toward the center of the arena. The extra presents flew out of the sleigh as James dug his fingers into the seat. Wind ripped at his hair, threatening to yank him into the sky. No matter how much hail hit the sleigh, he refused to let go.

"Almost there!" Ruby yelled over the storm. The ground rushed closer and closer.

Too fast.

James grabbed the reins and yanked them back. "Slow down!"

Ruby eased into an aerial trot, slowing her pace along with James's hammering heart. Almost there.

Crack!

A massive chunk of ice hit Ruby in the back of the head. The FAST wheezed a cloud of smoke as she cried out.

They fell.