SunLight Sliders: Infinite

by Amber Spark

Chapter 23 - Undome Tinwe

Gray.

After Discord had ripped the passion from Twilight, the world had begun turning into nothing more than shades of gray. All her anger, her joy, her hate, had begun to fade into a muted blur. All her emotions dulled, except for one.

As she watched the portal close behind Sunset, she made herself force laughter with her body, an expression of extreme emotion generally produced as a reaction to the absurd. It was the logical response to having the vessel that held the last remnants of her the fire that burned within her run away into another world.

Twilight had tried to hold on to her… affection for this Sunset who had dragged on her on an adventure across the multiverse, using the feelings that had developed as a result of the moments they'd shared as a base to model her emotional responses. But now, with that gone, all that was left was a dull ache, an emptiness of muted emotions.

"Twilight, are you okay?"

Twilight glanced at the talking dog before her. She made her face form a smile. "I'm perfectly fine, Spike. So, what do we do now that my one companion throughout this insane trip through multiple Wonderlands is gone?"

"Our objective remains the same, regardless of Sunset's actions," Amblejoy said. "We need to retrieve the Container of Midnight and use it to free the souls bound under Lady Sparkle's thrall."

"Mother, should we not attempt to find Sunset first?" Serena asked.

Amblejoy fiddled with her TPT. "I seem to be having trouble isolating her location," she said, glaring at the device. "I suppose a Sunset as clever as she knows how not to be found."

"It doesn't matter." All eyes turned towards Twilight as she spoke. "Sunset made her choice. She ran away like a not-crazy person would." A laugh to imply that she found the situation absurdly humorous. "I should probably do that too, but since I apparently need the Container to get myself back, I guess I'm stuck here."

"But none of us have even been to her world, right?" Spike piped up from his position in Twilight's arms. "Not only was Sunset the only who knew where the Container was in her world and how to get us there, she was also the only one who knew how to plan a heist!"

Without the haze of emotion to muddle her thoughts, Twilight could see the answer as clear as day. "Sunset isn't the only one with that knowledge. Someone else helped her steal the container."

"You mean her Twilight?" Spike’s tail wagged in excitement before drooping down. "But she's in Discord's world, and that's where your resonance went kaput."

"Not entirely." Amblejoy held up her own TPT. "The signature is corrupted, but I believe we can still localize the world in question to within a few dozen possibilities."

"That's feasible for an exhaustive search." With Sunset gone, only the mission remained as a focus for her divided self. "When can we start?"

"Give me an hour to prepare a list."

As Amblejoy returned to her office, Serena looked like she was going to follow before deciding to stay with Twilight. "How do you feel, Twilight?" she asked as she sat down next to her.

"I'm fine." A grin. "Thanks for asking!"

"Truly?" Serena hovered her hand over Twilight's forehead. "Because I sense a great void in your mind, one even greater than before Sunset departed."

Twilight shook her head. "What? Nah. Let's talk about something else." Flippant misdirection. "Man, wild weather we're having, huh? At least, I think it's wild. We haven't actually gone outside here, have we?"

"I too have some experience with being left behind." Concern filled Serena's eyes as she ignored Twilight's attempts at rambling. "You would find your sorrows lessened if you spoke of it."

"What's there to talk about?" Twilight shrugged. "I knew Sunset would eventually leave me behind – it was only a question of when, not if. Ooh, we should've started a betting pool on it! I would've put five bucks on today, by the way."

Serena bowed her head sadly. "I cannot heal a mind which does not seek to be whole."

Twilight smiled, an action meant to reduce Serena's distress. "Don't worry, once we get my Midnight back everything will be a-okay again."

"We shall see. Until then, know that I always have an ear to lend to you."

"Thanks! Dunno what I'll do with an ear, but I'm sure I'll come up with some sort of experiment for it!"

The remainder of the hour passed by in silence, outside of the occasional stunted attempts by Spike to make small talk. Amblejoy returned with her TPT, and three current humans and one current dog set off to find their replacement for Sunset.

It took twenty three-jumps to reach Discord's world. Twenty-three universes, each one of them unique and odd in their own way, whether by being so close to Twilight's home but for a minor change that she would have wept with homesickness had she still been capable of feeling such a thing, or by being so wildly different and fantastic that she could feel her sense of wonder stirring within her, struggling to break free.

In one world, they met a pony Sunset who never went through the mirror and instead befriended a pony Moondancer, who had helped her to become a better person that deserved the position of Celestia's personal protege. She and her friends – including a pony librarian Twilight – had helped them charge up the TPT for their next jump.

In the next world, they found themselves caught up in the hopes and wishes of an Equestria at war with the griffons, where a dread knight fought to keep his ponies safe. They'd only managed to find the Twilight of that world, a unicorn who had generously taken the time to get them to their next jump before returning to the war effort.

On and on it went, and some small part of Twilight that hadn't faded away yet wished she could still enjoy the sights and sounds of the variety of the multiverse, and that she had her flame-haired friend by her side to share in these experiences.

On the other hand, there were times where she could appreciate her muted emotions, like when it shielded her from the horrors of a pony Cheese Sandwich wielding the Alicorn Amulet, or the devastation of a world struggling to rebuild after a costly war with the Crystal Empire that had left Cadance as the ruler of an Equestria under the Empire's control.

Throughout it all, her companions stood fast, protecting each other from danger and working together to power the next portal as they continued their search. Serena tried several more times to reach out to Twilight, to speak to her about the hole in her mind and soul, but Twilight had rebuffed her each time with her flippant disregard of her mental state.

As they waited for a Twilight who had taken time out from studying pegasus body language to help them, she had finally shut Serena down by informing her that the best way to "cure" her would be copious oral applications of Sunset Shimmer.

Finally, after jumping from a world where Sunset was a construct of Starlight Glimmer's old friend, the multiversal quartet found themselves standing in front of a familiar cottage, one that they had visited just hours before. They knocked on the door, and a familiar, universally constant pair opened it.

"Oh, it's you again," an annoyed Twilight said as she glared at them. "What do you want? And who are your friends here? And where's Sunset?"

"Sunset skipped town," Twilight said brightly. "And we're planning an epic heist to save your brother. Wanna go on an adventure?"

A multitude of emotions flashed across the other Twilight's eyes before they hardened again. "Come in."

Once inside the quaint home, Twilight had started giving a brief summary of what had transpired, but Amblejoy quickly took over when Twilight's meanderings went a little too far.

"So, we need someone with knowledge of your world to help us plan the retrieval of the Midnight Container," Amblejoy said as she finished their story. "Are you willing to help?"

Silence filled the room as the other Twilight and Sunset stared at each other, a wordless conversation passing between them. Sunset gave the other Twilight a slight nod and an encouraging smile, and the other Twilight turned towards the quartett. "Fine, I'll help you."

"Thank you," Amblejoy said. "Shall we wait outside while you prepare?"

"Everything I need is still in that world." The other Twilight walked over towards a chest of drawers and pulled out a medallion. "Besides this, that is. I've got the coordinates for my old hideout already programmed in, so we just need to make the jump. Let's go."

Before they left, the other Twilight and Sunset shared a passionate kiss, Sunset whispering "come back safe, my love" to her before letting her go. The sight stirred up something within Twilight, and this time she very deliberately prevented it from rising to the surface. It was better that way. She focused now. Calm. Cool. Collected. Ready to save the multiverse.

The other Twilight opened a portal, and the five of them jumped through.

They landed inside what looked like an alchemy lab. Rows of shelves covered in complicated-looking machinery surrounded them, with locked cabinets interspersed between them. Most of the room was covered in a thick layer of dust, with the exception of a few empty spots on the shelves.

The other Twilight immediately rushed over to one of the empty shelves. "Oh Tartarus," she growled, "Sunset must've taken it when she left."

"Actually, I just nabbed it when I got back."

Five heads turned towards the shadows on the other side of the room, where a Sunset with a mohawk had appeared. "Hey, Twilight, Sparky," she said with a nervous chuckle. "Fancy meeting you here?"

"Sunset," the other Twilight hissed. "What are you doing here? I thought you abandoned these people once they'd lost their usefulness."

"That was the plan, but, uhh, things got a bit complicated," Sunset replied with a sheepish grin, "and then I ran into a friend."

"A friend?"

From the shadows, another figure stepped out, a unicorn with a dark coat.

Sunset smirked. "Sparky, you remember Skylark, right?"

Author's Note:

Chapter written by Undome Tinwe!