SunLight Sliders: Infinite

by Amber Spark

Chapter 2 - Crystal Wishes

"Wait." Twilight held up a—hoof? Did it still count as a hoof? She held up her crystalline hoof of dainty proportions. "Did you just make a deer pun?"

Fluttershy ducked her head and flashed a bashful smile, but Sunset spoke first with a slight derision in her tone. "Come on, Sparky, keep up. Ponies make pony puns. Deer make deer puns. It's the natural order of things, for some reason."

"Right. Sure, okay, yes." Twilight's eyes flicked back and forth to take in all the cervine faces around them. "I sort of remember that being a thing with Princess Twilight."

Sunset's brow raised. "'Princess Twilight'? What—"

"Excuse me," Fluttershy's little voice interrupted like a little bell, "but could we, well, could this conversation maybe take place later? When we're safe?"

Twilight felt her heart jump to her throat. "Safe?" Flashes of what she'd just experienced leapt to the forefront of her mind—the pistol, the chase, the jump. Adrenaline coursed through her veins again and she could hear her own heavy breathing. "Why aren't we safe?"

"Good question. Which deer world is this?" Sunset angled her head to look up at the trees that towered above them, each with the white-and-grey speckled bark of a birch but leaves of candy-colored hues. "Doetopia? Deeria? Buckiter?"

Irritation bubbled up from the war of fight-or-flight within Twilight and she snapped, "Now is not the time for deer puns, Sunset!"

"Please, does, please." Fluttershy stepped forward to put herself between them. "There's no need to fight amongst ourselves. Let's just return to the Hart of Feybriar, okay?"

Sunset's ears snapped forward. Twilight caught the slight widening of her eyes and asked, "Why are you making that face? What does Feybriar mean?"

Fluttershy looked up, her wings giving a small flutter that lifted her off the ground. "Oh, you don't know what Feybriar is? You poor things! Come, we must take you home!"

The pegasus... deer... pegadeer? The winged doe that shared the name of one of Twilight's friends turned to lead the way, and all the other deer followed her.

Twilight looked at Sunset, lowering her voice to privately ask, "What is Feybriar, and why do you look like you want to run?"

"Ugh." Sunset's eyes darted between the overgrown trees all around them. "We can talk about it later. The trees are listening."

Twilight's expression fell flat. "The trees are listening. Seriously? Is that pony for 'the walls have ears'?"

The look Sunset gave her suggested it most certainly was not. "No, literally, the trees are listening." She sighed and moved close enough to Twilight that their shoulders brushed together. "Feybriar is an enchanted forest. Each tree has a fey living in it, and these deer"—She nodded her head toward the entourage ahead of them—"are their caretakers."

With a rush of wonder and curiosity, Twilight tilted her head back to look up at the trees that towered over them. The air hummed with the sound of leaf-litter crunching under hooves and the deer talking amongst themselves. Leaves of seafoam green, cotton candy pink, and canary yellow served as a colorful canopy overhead, with bits of a deep blue sky peeking through the gaps.

It was easy to forget that she had wanted to go home, back to her boring life with the same old books. In a short span of time, she'd hopped through literal dimensions to arrive here—wherever 'here' exactly was, anyway.

Something shifted in her peripheral vision and her eyes flicked to catch a glimmer fade behind a dark patch of the speckled bark. She squinted and gasped when she saw the light return, a shimmering thing that somehow felt like it was looking back at her.

Her gaze darted all around the forest, and she gasped again, louder this time. It was like staring at the ground for a while only to realize it was covered in a whole colony of ants. Now that she had seen one, she could see them all: each and every tree had a bright something hovering within the trunk.

"Sunset," she managed to say, her voice high and tight, "there are things inside the trees."

Sunset rolled her eyes, but before she could reply, an unfamiliar voice chimed in.

"Those would be the Fey of Feybriar, miss."

Twilight looked ahead to see one of the deer had slowed down to walk with them. Her brow furrowed as she said, "Oh, you."

The amber-coated doe laughed in a musical sort of way. "My name is Amblejoy, but I guess 'you' will work." Her eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Neither of you are from around here, huh?"

"No, we're not," Twilight replied just as Sunset blurted out, "Of course we are."

Amblejoy's eyes flicked between them before she tossed her head back and laughed. At the mirthful sound, a few deer ahead of them looked back, and she hurriedly fell quiet.

"Listen, doeface," Sunset said, pushing herself physically between Amblejoy and Twilight. "We're not looking for trouble, okay?"

Amblejoy looked at her with a raised brow, then wiggled her ears. "Somehow, I have a hard time believing that with you." She inclined her head to look past Sunset at Twilight and winked. "You, I believe."

A deer had just winked at her. Literally winked.

Yep, Twilight definitely wasn't home anymore.

The trees grew more sparse until they stepped into a serene grove of trickling water and deep green moss, of beams of sunlight filtered through the candy-colored canopy above.

"Welcome," Fluttershy said, her wings spreading wide as she turned to face Twilight and Sunset with a bright smile, "to the Hart of Feybriar."

In the center of the grove was a tree of pure white bark that rose up in gnarled twists and turns, and each deer found a place among its thick branches to nestle in. Its leaves were a deep ruby red that glistened in the stray beams of light, and the spirit that hovered within its trunk moved in a slow, lazy circle.

Fluttershy's forehooves moved to cover her little muzzle as she giggled. "Oh, yes, of course. Please let me introduce you to our Guardian, Angel."

The tree's light... fey, Twilight reminded herself. The fey of the giant tree bounced about before settling against a low knot. Fluttershy put her cloven hoof against it, and the swirling marks along her legs began to glow as she sang,

Rest tired eyes a while

Sweet is thy gentle smile,

Angel is guarding

And he watch o'er thee.

Twilight watched in amazement as the bark of every tree glimmered and a low, melodic hum filled the air. She looked up to see that each deer's marks were glowing like Fluttershy's, and they joined in all together,

The birdeens sing a fluting song

They sing to thee the whole day long,

Wee fairies dance within each Feybriar tree

For very love of thee.

At Twilight's side, Sunset stuck out her tongue. "This is why I hate Feybriar."

"What?" Twilight gawked at her. "You hate the singing?"

Sunset just rolled her eyes. Fluttershy lowered her head, mane falling into her face—classic Fluttershy, Twilight mused absently.

"Oh," Fluttershy mumbled, "You don't like it here?"

Before Sunset could say anything, Twilight hurriedly intercepted, "It's not that! It's beautiful here, really, it's just." She chewed on her lower lip, glancing between all the faces looking at them. "It's just, this isn't our home, and we have to get back there."

"Speak for yourself," Sunset muttered.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow, gaze drifting over Twilight from head to hooves before she gave a weak smile. "I don't understand, but you look like you mean it. But I'm afraid if you're not going to care for the fey, then you can't stay here in Feybriar."

"And when you say 'care for the fey'—?" Twilight asked, glancing at the nearest tree.

"Singing, of course!" Fluttershy blinked a few times. "Do you really not know?"

Sunset groaned and angled her head to stare at Twilight askew. "Song gives the fey strength. The fey protect these woods from danger. It's like straight out of a book you'd read, Sparky."

"I don't read—" Twilight stopped herself, instead breathing in and out to find her calm.

Her gaze traveled their surroundings, taking in the colorful deer and foliage, the trunks that held little balls of light in them, and the peace and serenity of the grove.

"I'd like to stay here for a bit," Twilight finally said, her gaze falling on Sunset, who looked about ready to die. "Oh, come on. We've sung together bef—I mean, well, my Sunset sings."

Sunset's ears pinned back and she looked away from Twilight, off somewhere into the woods. "I'm not yourSunset, though."

"Wait," a voice called from the tree, and they looked up to see a horned buck frowning at them. "Did you say 'Sunset'?"

A murmur ran through the crowd, and all attention became hyper-focused on Sunset. She shrank back under the weight of all the gazes, glanced at Twilight, then offered a lopsided grin.

"So, there may be one other detail I forgot to mention." Sunset swallowed, her grin turning nervous.

Twilight felt her stomach drop, and the grove went completely silent.

Author's Note:

Chapter written by Crystal Wishes!

Comments

[The Scarlett Mare]

"Wait." Twilight held up a—hoof? Did it still count as a hoof? She held up her crystalline hoof of dainty proportions . "Did you just make a deer pun?"

You just had to hadn't you?

[djthomp]

The puns!