FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"It's... kind of cold."

Winter had come to the forest that Simba lived in. The golden-furred deer never experienced a seasonal winter as a lion. This would be his first and with it came snow.

"You never seen snow before, have you?" asked Bambi. The young lion was paying a visit to his old home and had ran into a confused-if-not-grumpy Simba.

"No," Simba replied bluntly.

"It's not that bad, really," Bambi insisted, "It comes with living in the forest."

Something clicked in Simba's mind. He was used to being a deer by now and thought there wouldn't be any more surprises.

"Come on," Bambi urged, "I think you should see something." Reluctantly, Simba agreed and followed behind.

Simba was right. It was cold. Bambi had experienced winter before, of course but this was his first time experiencing it as a lion. He wasn't convinced that lion bodies were meant to handle these conditions. He could only imagine what Simba must be thinking.

Regardless, they pressed on. They climbed up a familiar hill. Simba quickly realized where they were going. "What are we doing here?" He asked.

"Just look out there," Bambi said simply. Simba did so; the view of the forest was very nice. Everything was covered in a blanket of snow and it had a certain charm all its own.

Simba smirked. "Okay, I get the hint," he said. He playfully kicked up some snow towards Bambi. The lion backed away sharply.

"Hey!" Bambi exclaimed. He smirked back. "You be careful. I pinned you once, I can do it again."

"I'd like to see you try," Simba replied. He felt much more cheerful now. He shot off down the fill once more with Bambi chasing behind. Judging his moment, he leapt towards Simba and managed to catch him.

"Hey!" said Simba, pretending to be irritated. He didn't have time to say much else as he fell forward and began to roll head-over-hooves down the hill with Bambi following suit. The wind seemed to pick up as they rolled but they didn't have time to worry about that now. Snow was building up around them as they tumbled until they were two large snowballs rolling down the hill.

At first, they found it fun but Simba soon began to feel sick and Bambi suddenly grew concerned about stopping. They didn't stop until they hit a pair of trees. Snow flew in all directions and the snowballs turned into snow drifts. Simba and Bambi poked their heads out of their respective drifts.

Simba shook the snow from his head. "I win..." he said woozily.

Bambi didn't reply, he took a moment to get his bearings. His head soon stopped spinning, then a thought struck him. "Simba," he asked, "where are we?"

"At the bottom of the hill. Where else?"

"Yes, but... where is the hill?"

Simba looked around and saw what Bambi was talking about. The ground around them looked fairly level with no obvious signs of any hills. "Maybe... we just rolled really far," Simba suggested.

Bambi noted that there was no path for two large snowballs to roll without turning. "I don't think so."

"Yeah, I didn't really think we did."

The pair just sat there for a moment, wondering what they should do. Nothing seemed familiar and it made them anxious.

Then, "Did you hear that?" asked Simba.

"Hear what?" replied Bambi.

"Sh! Listen."

Bambi strained his ears. A pair of voices could be heard. They were too far away to make out what they were saying. Simba picked himself up and slowly walked in the direction of the voices. "Simba, what are you doing?" asked Bambi.

"I want to see who those voices belong to."

"Uh, Simba, I don't think..."

"I'm not talking about going up and interacting with them. All I know is that we don't know where we are and those voices probably do. Besides," the deer added confidently, "do you really think whoever those voices belong to really have a chance against us?"

"Uh, no. No, I don't," Bambi replied though he had his doubts. He got up and ran after Simba.

As they got closer, they could hear what the voices were saying more easily.

"Did you bring something, just in case?"

"Yes, a couple of scarves. Tis the season, after all."

The pair peeked from behind a bush and we're surprised by what they saw. Standing there was a female deer, that was normal enough, and a fennec fox standing on two legs with a swirl of black hair on his forehead and wearing an elf's outfit. Standing behind them was a large red sled with gold legs.

Simba and Bambi stared in intrigue. They hadn't seen anything like the fennec or the sled before. "What do you think is going on?" asked Bambi, a little louder than intended.

"Sh!" hissed Simba, "You don't want them to hear you, do you?" The fennec's ears swiveled. "And I don't..." Suddenly something tickled Simba's nose. "Ah-Ah-ACHOO!"

"Sh!" Bambi hissed back.

"Sorry. I don't know... ACHOO!" As Simba sneezed again, his nose lit up dimly.

"Bless you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Bambi," Simba replied.

"Uh, Simba... that wasn't me."

Both slowly turned their heads. The fennec was standing right there. "Hello," he said simply.

Simba and Bambi jumped. "Easy there," said the fennec, "we won't hurt you."

"You're right, you won't!" said Simba brashly, "You'd be sorry if you did!"

The doe came up to him. "You're a feisty little guy, aren't you?" she said sweetly, rustling the fur on the top of his head.

Impulsively, Simba shuffled away further. "Hey!" he snapped, "You're messing up my mane!"

The bigger deer backed off. She and the fennec just looked at each other. "Allow me to introduce ourselves," he said, trying to break the tension, "My name is Oliver and this is Lucy. Who are you two?"

"Simba. Bambi," they answered, respectively.

Oliver scratched his chin interestedly. "It's nice to meet the two of you."

"Uh, excuse me," Bambi said, "what exactly are you?"

"Huh? Oh! I'm a fennec fox. Well, I am now, anyway."

"Now?" asked Simba. He and Bambi exchanged a look. "What do you mean 'now'?"

"Oh right, well..." Oliver paused for a moment. "I wasn't always a fennec fox. We were just walking along after when we came across that sleigh there. It turned us into this."

"It's true," said Lucy, "I used to be a wolf." Simba suddenly felt a connection and even a little sympathy for Lucy. He was tempted to explain that he hadn't always been a deer either when Lucy spoke up again. "It seems like it's already affecting you too," she said with a hint of concern.

Simba was taken aback. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Your nose," said Oliver, pointing to his own.

Simba took as good a look at his nose as he could. He caught a glimpse of a light emitting from it. "Huh?!" Once again, he tried to shuffle away but of course the light followed him.

"Does... does it hurt?" asked Bambi.

"No, not really," Simba answered, "It's just a little surprising when you see your own nose light up!"

"I can imagine," said Oliver, "You're okay, right?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Good, that's good."

Simba's nose dimmed down to mere shimmer. At that moment, something caught Lucy's eye. "Bambi, why are your claws unsheathed?"

Bambi twisted his head to the side. "Huh? They're not..." He looked down and sure enough, his claws were out. "But I didn't do that. At least, I don't think I did." He began to feel a familiar sensation.

Bambi's claws dulled and began to fuse together. As his paws reformed into hooves, his legs trembled. Oliver and Lucy stood on either side of Bambi; they could guess what was going to happen. Even Simba moved closer. Bambi's legs thinned out and were once again deer legs. He wasn't expecting it and his legs slid out from under his weight. Simba's nose flared up again as he rushed over quickly but Bambi was already being gently hoisted back to hooves by Oliver and Lucy.

"Don't worry, we got you," they said.

"Thank you," said Bambi gratefully. He turned to Simba "and thank you too."

"Well, I wasn't just going to let you collapse," Simba replied, knowingly.

Of course, the transformation wasn't over yet. Bambi's tail shrunk to little more than its tuft and with a shake, turned into a deer's tail. His muzzle grew out a little longer and thinner while his ears stretched. Finally, his body lost plenty of its bulk and new fawn spots appeared as Bambi finished his transformation (back) into a deer.

Bambi couldn't believe it (neither could Simba, really). It felt so familiar yet so different at the same time. Still, he couldn't help but smile. He looked between Oliver and Lucy. His smile faded when he turned to Simba.

"Don't worry, Bambi, it's fine," said Simba reassuringly.

A small smile returned to Bambi's face.

"Hm, interesting." Both Simba and Bambi jumped slightly. For a second, they forgot that Oliver and Lucy were there. Once again, Oliver was scratching his chin. "This sleigh is definitely tied to the Christmas season... I wonder how powerful it is."

Lucy suddenly remembered. "Oliver, what about the scarves?" she asked. She gestured to Simba, whose face was scrunched-up as he tried to look at his glowing nose, and Bambi, who was trying to (re)adjust to being a deer.

The fennec snapped his fingers. "Yes, of course!" He hurried over to the sleigh. Lucy watched him go.

"Um, miss Lucy."

The female deer turned. The two other deer had come up next to her. "Yes?"

"What's 'the Christmas season'?"

Lucy smiled. "It's a time of year that's about celebrating and spreading joy and peace on Earth." The two smaller deer's heart felt a little warmer. It caused Simba's nose to start glowing again. He stared at it, a little annoyed.

"Well said, Lucy." Oliver returned with two scarves. One was red-striped, the other green-striped. "These scarves are meant to reverse transformation effects."

"Wait a minute," said Bambi, "There's only two?"

"Yes... there is..." Realization dawned on Oliver. He looked between the three deer. "I'm sorry. I'm willing to give up one of these for you."

"So am I," Lucy added. The pair turned to Simba and Bambi.

"You really don't have to..." Bambi began.

"It's really okay," assured Oliver as he approached them. "Consider them gifts."

Simba and Bambi just grinned softly. Oliver tied the scarves around their necks. The red scarf, he gave to Simba and Bambi the green scarf. Admittingly, the scarves felt a little a little strange to them, at first but they quickly got over it.

"Aw, you both look so cute!" said Lucy, giddily.

Bambi blushed but Simba puffed up his chest. "I'm not cute...! I'm handsome..." he proclaimed.

"Okay, whatever you say," said Lucy, kindly. No one bothered to tell Simba that he was blushing too.

All four waited to see if Simba and Bambi's transformations would revert but nothing seemed to happen.

Oliver scratched his chin again. "Interesting. I'm sorry the scarves were no help." He turned to the sleigh. "That must be some powerful magic."

"That's okay," said Bambi, "Thanks for trying."

"So, now what do we do?" asked Simba.

"Well, first thing's first. We take this back to 'The Archive' and keep it safe until we know what to do with it." Oliver got behind the sled and started to push with his tiny fennec body. He had no chance.

"Do you have any idea what's happening?" Bambi whispered to Simba.

"I'm still trying to figure out what an 'archive' is," answered Simba.

"Oliver. Oliver. OLIVER!" Lucy called. At once, Oliver stopped pushing. "Oliver, this isn't working. I can just pull this sled home."

"Lucy, I can't ask you to do that," said Oliver.

"You're not. I volunteered." Neither noticed a pair of whispers from behind them.

"Well, if you don't mind... Thank you, Lucy."

"My pleasure."

"Could we help too?" Oliver and Lucy turned to Bambi and Simba.

"That's okay," said Oliver, reassuringly, "We don't want you two to lose your way home." Lucy shook her head to emphasize the point.

"That's the thing..." said Simba, "We kind of already have." And he and Bambi explained what had happened.

"So we really would like to help you," finished Bambi, "After all, it is Christmas."

A gentle smile spread across Oliver and Lucy's faces. "That's very kind of the two of you," said Oliver, "However, if we're going to do this, we're going to do it right." He turned to Simba whose nose started glowing again. "Simba, with your nose so bright, won't you guide this sleigh tonight?"

Simba raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh... sure..." he said slowly.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Oliver, "Now let's all get ready."

The sleigh, as if knowing this would happen, had three team harnesses. Two normal ones and one larger red one with bells attached.

"I guess this one's for you, Lucy," said Oliver as he put the harnesses on the doe.

Lucy looked over the harness. It was flashy but if she had to wear it, it didn't look too bad.

In no time, the three deer's harnesses were linked together and attached to the sled. Lucy was nearest the sled, Bambi in the middle and Simba at the front. Oliver climbed in. "Is everybody ready?" he called.

"Yes!" Simba called back and jerked forward, pulling Bambi with him.

"Whoa!" Bambi exclaimed.

"Easy there, fella!" said Lucy, "You're not pulling us too. We all need to pull together."

Simba blushed and looked at his hooves. "Uh, sorry."

"It's okay, I'm fine," said Bambi.

Oliver waited for a couple of minutes to let them recover and regain their composure. "Are you all ready again?" he called at last. They all answered "Yes". "Okay then, let's go!"

On cue, Simba, Bambi and Lucy all pulled, the sleigh began to move. Slowly at first then they began to speed up.

"Easy!" called Oliver, "There's no rush!" Just as he said, Simba felt the ground beneath his hooves with one step, the next there was nothing. Bambi felt it too and finally Lucy as they took to the sky. Oliver and Lucy were taken aback, but their shock wasn't as strong as the two leading deer's.

"What, we're flying? What? What?!" exclaimed Bambi.

"Just keep going," called Simba, trying to keep a level head, "If we stop... I don't like the idea of falling out of the sky!"

Bambi didn't intend to stop. The further they went, the more his nerves melted away. After a while, the way they flew, you'd think they've been doing it for years.

The higher they went the more the wind picked up. Snow buffeted the sleigh and the deer pulling it. Despite this, Simba's nose shone brightly, cutting through snow and showing the way. He felt very pleased with himself.

After a while, the wind died down for a brief moment. As it did, Simba looked to the side and could've sworn he saw the snowy forest abruptly turn into a green jungle. "Is that...?" he thought. But he didn't have time think further on it. The wind had picked up again and he to concentrate on the "path" ahead.

Eventually they pulled through the wind and snow and a light shone on the ground below.

"That's it, that's our house!" said Oliver

"House?" Bambi whispered to Simba.

"I don't know," Simba replied. "Okay," he called back to Oliver, "but how do we land?"

They didn't need to worry about that. As they got closer to the house, their altitude gradually dropped until they eventually touched down and came to a stop right next to the house. Oliver jumped out. "Ha, ha!" he exclaimed as he unharnessed the deer. "Excellent job, all of you!"

"Well, thank you," said Simba. He couldn't help feeling proud.

Bambi felt proud too but was also felt a little bashful about saying so. "Yes, thank you." Before he could think of anything else, he felt a warmth coming from his scarf. "Hm?"

"What?" asked Lucy.

"My... scarf, is it? It feels warm."

"No that you mention it," Simba put it, "Mine does too."

Oliver scratched his chin, then it hit him. "Oh! They're working now! The sled's magic must be weakening."

He was right. Bambi turned back into lion once more and Simba's nose dimmed down until it was back to normal. Despite this, they looked surprised.

"What?" asked Oliver.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just sort of thought that... um..."

"You thought you'd stay a deer," Oliver turned to Simba. "and you thought you'd turn back into a lion, didn't you?"

The species-swapped duo both stared, dumbstruck. "How did you...?"

"Trust me, I can tell," Oliver winked.

"But... why wasn't that reversed too?" asked Simba.

"I'm not sure," Oliver admitted, "Whatever did this to you must have been powerful too."

No one really knew what else to add so Bambi quickly changed the subject. "So, Lucy, do you want a scarf now? Since I don't think they'll do anything else to us."

Lucy shook her head. "That's okay. They're yours to keep." Oliver nodded in agreement. "Besides," she added, "we have plenty of other things in 'The Archive' that can change me back."

Simba and Bambi looked at each other then back to Oliver and Lucy. "Thank you very much."

"Yes, thank you."

"You're welcome," smiled Oliver, "and speaking of 'The Archive', lets get this sled inside and we'll help you find your way home."

"Actually," said Simba, "I think you already have." All eyes turned to him and he explained about the jungle he saw. "...so I think we'll be okay on our own." Simba concluded.

"Okay," said Lucy. She exchanged a look with Oliver then turned back to the lion and deer. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure," Simba stated.

"And I trust him," Bambi added.

"Now about the sleigh..."

"Don't worry," said Oliver as a large door on the side of the house opened up, "Lucy and I can take care of from here. You two best start heading home now."

"Well, it was very nice to meet you both," said Bambi.

"Yes," Simba agreed, "It was very... interesting." He winked.

Oliver chuckled. "Very nice to meet the two of you. Thank you very much again for the help with the sled."

"Our pleasure," said Bambi, "Thank you again for the scarves."

They said their goodbyes and Simba and Bambi headed off into the forest again.

"Oh and Merry Christmas!" Oliver and Lucy called.

Simba and Bambi turned to face them again. "Merry Christmas!" They couldn't be too sure but as the door closed, they could've sworn that Oliver looked bigger and that his tail seemed to be curly.

***

"Yes, it was definitely this way," said Simba as he tried to find his and Bambi's way back home. Suddenly, there was a strong gust of wind. The lion and deer shut their eyes to shield them from the snowflakes. Regardless, they still pressed onward.

At last, the wind died down. When they opened their eyes, the forest they were in seemed different.

"Do you think..." Bambi began.

"Bambi, I think it is," said Simba.

The lion went forward past Simba and took a good look around. "Yes, we're finally back!" After everything they had been through, the wintery forest had never looked more beautiful and peaceful. He said as such.

"Yes..." Simba's answer trailed off.

Bambi looked back. Simba had raised a hoof and was looking at the ground. "What?" Bambi smiled, knowingly.

Simba looked up. His ears folded back a little and he smiled awkwardly. "Its, heheh, still kind of cold..."