//------------------------------// // Crossing Over // Story: The Rift Between Worlds // by kurusagi16 //------------------------------// When Fluttershy came to her senses, she felt lightheaded, not only that, but she seemed to be surrounded by a crowd of concerned-looking ponies. "Do you think she's alright?" Asked one pony. "She just collapsed in the street." "Could somepony call for a doctor?" "I'm fine, really." Said Fluttershy, trying to stand up. "I've got The Doctor." Cried a gray Pegasus Stallion, holding up the hoof of a brown mare with a collar and tie around her neck, and a hourglass cutie mark." "Dippity, as I've told you many times, I'm not that kind of doctor." The mare said, pulling her hoof out of the Pegasus' grasp. "Come on Doc, you can still take a look at her. She appeared out of nowhere and then collapsed in the street." Dippity insisted. The mare heaved a sigh. "Oh alright, I'll take a look. But I don't see how I'll be of any help." The mare then cut through the gather crowd to where Fluttershy was. She stopped and stared at her for a minute, a look of intrigue on her face. "How interesting." She murmured. She then grabbed Fluttershy's hoof and pulled her away from the other ponies. "Come, let us go to my house, where we can take a better look at you." "You really don't have to do that, I'll be okay, you don't have to go to all the trouble." Fluttershy said, trying to slip from the mare's tight grip. But it was no use. The mare just continued to pull Fluttershy along toward her house, while Dippity followed close behind, waving goodbye to the crowd they were leaving behind. The mare's house reminded Fluttershy a lot of Twilight's old lab from her old library. Full of wires, beakers, strange machines, and curious contraptions strewn about. The mare sat Fluttershy down on a stool and offered her a cup of tea. "Would you like one lump or two?" She asked. "Oh, um, two please." Fluttershy said. The mare plopped a couple of sugar cubes into the tea, giving it a little stir before handing it to Fluttershy. She then sat down across from Fluttershy and said, "I should probably introduce myself. I am Doctor Whooves, or Doctor for short. There are also many who call me Time Twist, so, whichever name you prefer you can call me that." "Um, alright...Doctor." Fluttershy said nervously, taking a sip from her tea. The Doctor the looked upward and pointed a hoof at Dippity, who was playing with one of her contraptions hanging from the ceiling. "And that dear fellow is my friend, Dippity Doo." Fluttershy waved politely at him, to which he waved back with a large smile. "It's nice to meet you both, but I should probably head back home, I have some groceries that I need to put away." "Please don't go yet." Said the Doctor. "It's not every day that we get a trans-dimensional visitor to our world." Fluttershy froze, nearly dropping her tea cup. "A...a what?" She asked, not sure if she heard correctly. "A trans-dimensional visitor." Repeated the Doctor. "You know, someone visiting from another world." Fluutershy stared at her for a moment before saying, "Not to be rude or anything, but you must be mistaken or something. I mean, what makes you say I'm from another world?" "Ah, I was hoping you would ask." The Doctor said, hurrying over to one of her machines and pulling from it a long sheet of paper. On it were calculations that Fluttershy couldn't understand or make out. "Just this morning or so, something strange occurred. A large dimensional shock wave ran through Ponyville without any warning or noticeable cause. Upon closer analysis I have found that the shock wave has caused multiple rifts to open, leading from our world into what I can gather is your world. Not to mention, when I saw you, you reminded me of this one Stallion I see from time to time. A Pegasus by the name of Flutterbye." Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise. "my name is...Fluttershy." She murmured. "Aha! I knew it!" The Doctor cried triumphantly. "But, I'm not from another world." Said Fluttershy. "I'm from here, in Ponyville, in Equestria." The Doctor rubbed her chin. "Alright then, if that is true, then answer me this. Who is the current ruler of all Equestria?" "Princess Celestia." She answered. The Doctor shook her head. "I'm afraid the ruler here is Prince Solaris." "What?" Fluttershy looked from the Doctor to Dippity Doo, hoping that one of them would tell her that it was just a joke and that they were messing with her. But as she got a better look at them, she realized just then how eerily similar they looked to other ponies she knew. A stallion who was also called the Doctor, and a mare named Ditzy Doo. "So it's true." She said, staring out in shock. "I...I think I need a moment." The Doctor reached over and refilled Fluttershy's cup. "Take all the time you need." Meanwhile, Flutterbye came too as well, finding himself in the middle of the pathway home. He looked around, checking to see if anything was out of place but couldn't find anything wrong. "What was that?" He wondered aloud. "Was it all a dream?" Shaking his head, Flutterbye decided that it would be best to hurry back to his cottage to check on his animals, and perhaps, if he was lucky, Discordia might drop by again and could help him figure out what that little dizzy spell was. Quickly as he could, Flutterbye sped toward his cottage, making it there in almost no time flat. He opened the door and called out, "I'm home!" The animals came out of their hiding places, curious to see who this visitor was, only to be completely surprised by who they saw walk through the door. Angel hopped forward to Flutterbye, regarding him with a careful eye. "Oh, hello Angela." Flutterbye said with a sweet smile, reaching down and patting Angel gently on the head. "Did you miss me?" Angel hopped away from Flutterbye, rubbing the spot where he had been petted. Flutterbye blinked in confusion as he took in how skittish his animals appeared to be. "Angela? What's wrong?" He tried reaching out to the little bunny, but Angel backed away further. Like the other animals, Angel was baffled by this strange pony. He looked like Fluttershy, and even seemed to act and smell like her, and yet they knew that this wasn't their dear Pegasus. As Flutterbye looked out at his friends, wondering why they were acting like this, he too began to sense that something was off. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the animals were different from his woodland friends. For one thing, many of them were male instead of female, like Angela and Harriet the bear. Flutterbye stumbled backward into a drawer, knocking over a picture frame. As he lifted the picture back up, that's when he froze, gazing at the image before him. The frame that once had a group shot of him and his friends, now showed an image of six mares and a young boy dragon. What's even more shocking was how eerily similar the mares resembled him and his friends. He gazed up from the photo at the equally baffled animals and said softly, "What in Solaris' name is going on here?" Fluttershy and Flutterbye weren't the only ponies having an other worldly experience. Back in Fluttershy's world for instance, Lyra and Bonbon were hanging out in the park, having a picnic. Lyra was resting her head against Bonbon's shoulder, when suddenly Bonbon disappeared, and in her place there appeared a stallion who bore an uncanny resemblance to her. Both ponies let out a cry of shock, jumping up to their hooves. "You're not Bonbon!" Lyra exclaimed. "And you're not Lyre!" The stallion cried. It was like this all over Ponyville, as ponies suddenly found themselves swapped with their dimensional counterparts. Needless to say, it didn't take long before the ponies flew into a panic over what was going on. The mayor was holed up in the town hall, trying to address the throng of ponies looking for answers. Some of them even began banging on the castle doors, hoping that Princess Twilight could help them. The doors opened up and out stepped Spike, hoping to quell the uproar of the crowd. "Alright everypony, listen! Twilight is doing everything that she can to help with the situation, but in order to do that, she can't be distracted. So please try to remain calm and we'll let you know if we find anything." Unfortunately Spike's attempt did little to calm the nerves of the masses, if anything it riled them up even more. Spike shut the door behind the crowd, letting out a sigh as he slumped to the floor. He glanced up at Twilight as she approached him "Found anything yet?" He asked. "I think so." Twilight said. "I've been taking some readings, and it seems that somehow a rift has opened up between our world and another." "Well, guess we found out what the doosy Pinkie Pie was talking about was." Spike said. "So, got any ideas of what this rift is doing?" Before Twilight could answer, the door was forced open as Starlight Glimmer managed to squeeze herself inside. "What's going on here?" She asked. Spike and Twilight exchanged a look. "Do you want to tell her or should I?" He asked. Perhaps I should do it, in the meantime I'd like you to send a letter to Princess Celestia. Perhaps she might know something we can do." Twilight replied. "On it." Spike said, rushing off to write the letter. Twilight then led Starlight through the castle to the throne room, explaining the entire situation to her. "Wow, seems like you guys have got a lot on your hooves." Starlight remarked. "Tell me about it." Said Twilight. As they entered the throne room, Starlight asked, "Do you have any idea what could've caused this?" "No clue." She answered helplessly. "I'm not even sure what the full extent of the rift's damage is." "I can help answer that." Starlight and Twilight gazed up, only now just noticing Discord hovering just above their heads. "Discord, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked. Discord scoffed. "Really, Twilight, do you think I wouldn't notice a disturbance in space time?" He crossed his arms over his chest in a huffy fashion. "Honestly, I'm a little insulted you didn't think to call on me when you started to notice the imbalance." "Oh sure, because you've always been so willing to help us out in the past." Twilight said sarcastically. "I'll have you know I've been plenty helpful...when I'm in the mood to be." "Enough you two." Starlight said, getting between them. "Now Discord, do you know anything about this dimensional rift?" "Of course I do!" Said Discord. "For one thing, it's not one rift, it's a dozen small ones scattered all over Ponyville." "A dozen?" Said Twilight, looking at him in disbelief. "So, how are all these rifts transporting ponies from one dimension to the other?" Asked Starlight. "The answer to that is quite simple." Discord said, donning a lab coat and glasses, and conjuring an animated chalk board. "You see, the rifts don't just act as an opening in space time, but also allow for the energies of the two dimensions to leak out, causing some of the nasty side effects to occur." The chalkboard showed an animated illustration of energy passing between two portals. "So, in a matter of time, if left to its own devices, the rifts will continue to pull our world into the other dimension and vice versa." With a snap, Discord poofed the chalkboard and his costume away. "And that concludes our lesson, any questions?" "Uh, yeah." Said Twilight. "If you were able to sense this going on, then why didn't you, oh I don't know, do something to stop it?" "I was planning on intervening, " Discord said. "However, as I was about to , I noticed that some of the holes were already starting to close." "They...they were?" Discord gave Twilight a nod. "Yes, either they're closing up on their own, or someone on the other side is doing the job for us. Either way, I don't think the rifts will be a problem for long." "Uh, what about all the ponies that crossed over into our world?" Said Starlight pointedly. "Oh yes, how could I forget." He said. "Hmm, that might be a bit tricky, as we'll have to find a way to gather up all of the ponies that crossed over and then figure out how to get them back to their world while also bringing the other ponies back here." "Couldn't you just open up a portal like the one you made during the Grand Galloping Gala?" Suggested Twilight. Discord's body seemed to bristle at the recollection of that little incident and answered, "No, I don't think it be very effective, and I know how much you love effectiveness." He said. "Besides, I don't think you'd want to risk some of the ponies meeting their dimensional counterparts." "Why's that?" Asked Starlight. Heaving a sigh, Discord rolled his eyes. "Because, if ponies begin to meet with their counterparts, it could lead to dire consequences. One example being that the one or both of our worlds could implode." Starlight and Twilight stared at Discord in shocked silence, before Twilight found her voice and said, "But...but I've met my counterpart in the human world, and aside from things getting awkward, nothing bad happened." Discord chuckled and wagged a talon at Twilight. "That's only because you were lucky, Twilight Sparkle. True there are worlds where you can enter without any hassle, but then there are those that can have catastrophic repercussions just by one's mere existence." He then puffed out his chest and placed a talon on it proclaiming, "I however, being a creature of chaos, am a rare exception to this rule." Twilight rolled her eyes at Discord's bragging. "Well then, if you're such an expert on dimensions, what do you suggest we do to get everypony back to their own worlds?" "Oh I have no idea." Said Discord. "But I'm sure you'll figure something out, you usually do." "So you aren't going to help us after all." Twilight said. "Hey, I've been plenty helpful already." Discord said defensively. "I've told you all you need to know about the rifts and what you'll need to do to take care of them. Besides, you can always just give me a call if you need any further assistance." "But--" Twilight was interrupted by Rarity who rushed into the throne room looking quite distressed. "Oh Twilight, something terrible has happened." Rarity cried. "Uh, not to be rude Rarity, but we're kinda in the middle of something here." Said Starlight. "But it's Fluttershy, she's gone missing!" "What?!" Cried Discord, rushing up to Rarity and grabbing her by the shoulders. "Where and when did this happen?" "A little while ago." Rarity answered. "I was walking with her in the market when she just vanished into thin air!" Discord removed his grip on Rarity and turned towards Twilight, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. "Uh Discord, are you okay?" Twilight asked worriedly. "Whatever help you need, Twilight, you can have it." He said, a slight edge in his tone. "Fluttershy's in the other world, and if we don't get her back soon..." He didn't finish his sentence, his body instead tensing up over whatever he was thinking. "Needless to say, you wanted my help, and now you've got it."