Disclaimer: I don't own any aspects referred to in this story.

Chapter 30

Animal Surprises

Jack followed the others out of the toy car. The Conductor closed the bolted door behind them. Given how fragile some of the toys were, Jack could now understand the security. Better to take the long way up to the front than run the risk of a child sneaking inside and getting hurt or breaking one of the toys further.

The Stablemaster opened the door and Jack found himself back in the passenger car. Right back where they started. The children were still doing what they had been doing when Jack and the others had left, running around and singing songs. A few kids were talking about the rollar coaster hills that happened earlier and the black horses they thought they saw. Jack had a feeling this night would be very much remembered in those kids' minds.

All eyes turned to the Conductor as he entered. The Conductor cleared his throat, grabbing the intercom mic. "Your attention, please. As you may know, the Polar Expess went through some rough tracks earlier. Are any Polar Express passengers injured or otherwise hurt?" When no hands were raised, Jack thought he saw the Conductor give a slight exhale of relief. "Good. There usually aren't any injuries, but it's important to check. The good news is that there will be no more rough terrain for the rest of the way. I want to remind you all to please stay…"

That was all Jack heard before following the others through the door leading to the stable car. Jack wasn't as thrilled as the others were about feeding animals, but he was a little curious about what animals were riding on the Polar Express.

This time, as Jack entered the room, he noticed that the upper part of the stable doors were opened. Several golden placards with names were now hanging from the top of the doors, though Jack was too far away to read them.

The Stablemaster passed some carrots out to the kids and Jack. "Alright, you all. Just say hi and offer the carrot. If the reindeer takes it, then it trusts you. If it doesn't take the food, let me know, and I'll handle feeding for that reindeer."

"Did you say reindeer?" Elsa asked. "Are they…"

"Yes, almost all of them are Santa's reindeer. Three reindeer went south for various reasons. Dancer's coming back from Antarctica. Tap-dancer, that one, so he wanted to learn a thing or two from the penguins. Comet was doing some practice runs down by the equator. Broke his own record, heating up the equator in the process. And Prancer's coming back from seeing his son down south. We were going the same way, so they're passengers aboard the Express.

Jack nodded. It all made sense, though something was puzzling him. As he reached out for his carrot, Jack asked, "You said almost all the reindeer are Santa's. Does that mean there are some that aren't."

The Stablemaster looked over at Jack. "Good catch. There is one reindeer that is not part of the group. He's a rather special case. Can't have him missing out on seeing the fun, now can we? Why don't you go feed that one, Jack. Elsa, you can handle Prancer. Anna, you've got Dancer. Olaf, how about Comet?"

"Sounds good to me," Olaf said as he grabbed his carrot.

Everyone then went over to the corresponding stalls. As Jack walked, he noticed Dancer tapping up to Anna for her carrots. Olaf gave his carrots to a blur, and Elsa passed her carrots over to a reindeer that strode up and ate in a rather dignified way. Everyone seemed to be getting along with their reindeer.

Jack came over to his stall. There was no nametag above this one. Jack looked in and saw another reindeer. This one looked like most of the other reindeer Jack had seen. He had two antlers, a brown coat protecting him from the cold, and rather intelligent looking eyes. A large smile appeared on the reindeer as he saw Jack, giving Jack the impression that this creature exuded friendliness

Jack then passed the carrot over. "Hey, big guy. You're a nice reindeer, aren't you. You want the carrot?"

As the reindeer took the carrot, Jack took a look around the stable's interior. His eyes widened. The stable was bigger on the inside than the outside. It looked as big as his room back in Arendelle, with a fireplace, a window, and decorations on the wall. A large stack of hay sat to the side, and a soft rug sat by the fireplace. Jack whistled. "Quite the place you have here."

The reindeer shrugged. "It's no palace, but it'll do," his expression seemed to say.

Jack smiled. "You remind me a lot of a reindeer I know."

The reindeer smiled, nuzzling up to Jack. As Jack petted the reindeer, he noticed a painting on the wall. Jack looked closer, eyes widening in surprise. The painting was of Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Sven, all doing various poses while smiling for the painter. Everyone in the painting was grown up, indicating that the portrait was painted recently. Jack frowned. Why would this reindeer have a painting of the Arendelle royal family?

"Hey guys?" Jack called over to the others. "I think you might want to take a look at this."

Elsa and Anna came over. "What's up, Jack?" Anna asked.

Jack pointed to the painting and the reindeer. "Does this guy look familiar to you?"

Elsa and Anna looked where Jack was pointing. Their eyes widened. "It can't be…" Elsa said.

"Elsa, I think it is…" Anna added.

Olaf came over to the door. "What's going on?" His eyes turned to the reindeer. "Oh, hi Sven."

The reindeer jumped up and down, excited at the greeting. Jack shook his head. How was this possible? Jack, Elsa, Anna, and Olaf had been the only Arendelle passengers to board the Polar Express. They hadn't seen anyone else come aboard. And yet, somehow, Sven was now eating a carrot, smiling at the others as if being an unexpected passenger on the Polar Express was the most natural thing in the world.

And I would say this is a good place to stop for the next set. Nothing like adding twists and surprises right before the end of an episode, am I right. I hope you all have a great week. As always, please rate and review.