A.N. Many years ago I found and recorded this Christmas special called Donner (animated, it came out in 2001). I always loved it, especially since it put 'acting like a kid' in a positive light (plus most of the main characters are amusing). I've been wanting to write a story for the special, and that's where this came from.
It was the following year after Donner discovered who he really was and regained his flying ability. But life didn't become better for him despite that. Sure he was back on the team, had two new friends, and had gained more respect from the rest of the flying team (including Blitzen which isn't an easy task). Unfortunately, Donner's true self was that of a kid-at-heart. And since Christmas revolves around kids, this meant that kids were highly thought of up at the North Pole. Meaning that Donner now was popular, which was something that he never wanted.
Oh sure the team were now true friends to him, since they had the decency to apologize for their earlier treatment. Well except for Blitzen, in his case 'apologizing' meant 'changing how you treat someone'. In this case Donner was no longer yelled at for being late or anything else, though he still was often scolded for slip-ups. Dasher on the other hoof was a little jealous of Donner's new popularity at first, though was a good sport about it and even offered to give Donner some tips. Donner declined, unless Dasher's tips were about getting rid of popularity. That caught Dasher off guard, though it also stopped his jealousy. Instead Dasher felt sorry for Donner for getting caught up in something he never wanted, and apologized for not having been nice to him earlier.
The rest of the team found out about Donner's problem through Dasher, and tried in their own ways to help. Dasher helped by not hanging out with Donner a lot in public, since he was still a popular reindeer and would probably add more unwanted attention towards Donner. Vixen did the same thing as Dasher, except when a female recruit showed up looking as if she wanted to hang out with Donner. If Vixen was around at the time she'd then go straight to Donner and talk to him friendly-like. This would stop the advancing female and make her leave, since no one could compete with Vixen. Comet offered to give Donner a jetpack or something for quick getaways, but Donner declined. He already had more than enough explosions from his two elf friends Skeezer and Tubby. Cupid helped by not doing anything. This was helping because the other female reindeer tried to get him to hook them up with Donner, but he always backed down. Blitzen helped by offering to put him through more training to keep him too busy for his fans. This Donner definitely turned down, the current training was already too much for him. Dancer knew that dancing wouldn't help Donner, since Donner was trying to avoid his fans and dancing with them wasn't avoiding. So instead Dancer helped by showing true friendship: he offered to try one of Donner's activities. This Donner didn't turn down, and he especially appreciated the offer. Dancer tried a few kid-like things, though really only liked the games. Especially DDR, which was how Donner had become an unknowingly good dancer. Prancer offered to teach Donner some meditation techniques to ease his frustration, which Donner again accepted. They worked too.
Skeezer and Tubby, the two elves who helped Donner realize who he really was, also tried to help but Donner said that their friendship was enough. The three of them had become even closer over the years, especially since Donner was now their Toy Consultant. Skeezer and Tubby did have a tendency to go overboard with their toy ideas, so Donner let them know when they did. Everything else was sent to Santa for a second opinion. Fortunately for them since Donner knew more about what kids would like Santa switched to just testing the new toy for safety, meaning that almost all of Skeezer and Tubby's toys passed. This also meant that they were put back in the toy making department, Donner after all wasn't one to back down on a deal. Even if his realizing who he was was mostly him, Skeezer and Tubby did do their best to help. All this also meant that eventually Donner became the Toy Consultant for all the toy making elves. This Donner liked, since it meant that he got to play with toys a lot along with being the first to try out a new toy.
However, all this may have helped with Donner's frustration and grumpiness about his new popularity, but it did not help him with something important: his sadness. Even though he wasn't interested in dating at the moment he did know that that's what all the female recruits wanted from him but only because of his popularity. Which meant that once he changed his mind about dating, he would only have a bunch of fanatics to pick from. Since he would never date a fanatic, this would mean that he would probably be alone for the rest of his life. Unless a miracle happened.