//------------------------------//
// New Friends, Dangerous Foes 
// Story: Doctor Whooves Episode 19: The Rifts 
// by Doctor Perseus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 3: New Friends, Dangerous Foes


Sunny Island Museum, Sunny Island Port, Elmheim, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.

Daring quickly shoved Colgate, Matilda, Bright Eyes, and Clockwork aside as Rainbow Dash flew down towards them. Colgate fell backwards and hit the ground while Matilda, Clockwork, and Bright Eyes stumbled to the side. Daring charged at Rainbow Dash and attempted to knock the rod from her muzzle. Rainbow was quick and nearly managed to jab the electrified tip into Daring's gut. "And just when things were starting to get interesting," Matilda sighed as she looked up at the fighting pegasi.
What the hell is Rainbow Dash doing?! Why is she attacking us?! Clockwork thought as he looked on.
Daring was beginning to lose the fight and her slightly sprained wing wasn't helping. Daring's eyes went wide as Rainbow finally managed to get a good hit. The tip grazed Daring's hoof, but that was more than enough to send her falling back to the ground in a fit of electrical pain. Clockwork lunged forward and caught Daring in his forelegs to soften her fall a bit. Rainbow Dash laughed as she flew towards Daring and Clockwork.
Just then, an orb of blue magic flew out of nowhere and knocked Rainbow Dash to the ground. "Leave them alone!" Colgate snapped as her horn emanated a bright, blue light. Unfortunately, Colgate's attack wasn't extremely effective and Rainbow was able to recover quickly.
"You'll regret doing that!" Rainbow snapped as she flew towards Colgate with her rod aimed at Colgate's chest.
"GET OUT OF THERE!" Bright Eyes cried. Colgate didn't move. She remained still and stood her ground as Rainbow drew closer and closer to her. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Colgate winked at Bright Eyes as Rainbow's rod collided with her chest...and proceeded to snap like a twig. Rainbow came to a sudden halt in front of Colgate and her eyes widened upon seeing what had happened to her weapon. "What?!" she asked.
"Surprised?" Colgate asked with a big grin before pulling one of her forelegs back and throwing her hoof straight into Rainbow's jaw. Rainbow fell back onto the ground screaming in pain as a few of her teeth fell out.
"Wow...that mare's got some muscle," said an impressed Daring Do.
Rainbow clutched her injured jaw as she reached into her cloak and pulled out a small, golden box. "This isn't over," she snapped as she clutched the box in her hoof. Then, she was gone. In the blink of an eye, the crazy Rainbow Dash had disappeared from view. The lights in the museum flipped back on and everypony in the hall was silent for a moment.
Colgate hardly had a moment to take in the scene around her before she was grabbed by Matilda. "I think it's best that we get out of here now. There's too much to do and discuss at the moment. We don't have time to answer stupid questions from the guards," she said. Matilda activated her vortex manipulator and she, Colgate, Clockwork, Bright Eyes, and Daring vanished in a flash of light.

The Sunny Side Eatery, Sunny Island Port, Elmheim, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.

Clockwork accidentally nudged Colgate when the teleportation process had finished. The group was now standing outside a friendly café connected to a large dock that extended out towards the bay. A large, yellow and red sign with the words The Sunny Side Eatery was hanging immediately above their heads. "And how nice! It's empty right now! Let's get a table in the back!" exclaimed Matilda as she trotted over to the door. She looked back at Clockwork with a teasing smile. "Well? Isn't the strong stallion going to hold the door open for us nice mares?"
Clockwork nodded quickly before running over to the door and holding it open. Bright Eyes giggled as she passed through the door alongside Matilda. Clockwork entered the café behind Daring and Colgate and followed them over to a large table in the back. A waiter was already at the table taking orders from Matilda. The waiter nodded before heading back into the kitchen. Once everypony was seated, Matilda put on a serious face. She means business now, Clockwork thought as he found her sharp eyes cutting into him.
"I think it's not dangerous to say that there's a lot of confusion right now and many questions that desire answers," she said.
"Yeah. Like how you apparently don't remember sending me here," said Colgate as she looked at Matilda.
"And why everypony's treating me like some fictional character," said Daring.
"And how you could survive that attack from Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed Bright Eyes as she pointed at Colgate.
"And how you look so much like the Doctor," said Matilda as she looked at Clockwork.
"And who exactly you are," Clockwork said right back to Matilda.
"So where do we start?" Bright Eyes asked as she looked around the table.
"Let's start with the most obvious one," said Matilda as she looked at Daring. "Daring, you are a fictional character...well, here anyway."
Daring's eyes went wide before she cracked a nervous smile. "Wait...what?" she asked. "You're not serious, right? I'm no fictional character. I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yes you are. However, remember what I said earlier about this Sunny Island Port not being the same Sunny Island Port you visited earlier?"
"Yeah."
"And how I asked you about alternate realities?"
"Yeah."
"And how I had a solid idea as to how you ended up on the beach?"
"Oh just spit it out already!"
"You're in an alternate reality, Daring Do. This world around you is not your own. You still exist in this world, however, as the main character in a book series."
Daring was silent for a moment. "I...uh...I...I don't believe it!"
Matilda reached into her red purse and pulled a few books out. "See for yourself," she said as she slid the books across the table.
Daring's hooves were shaking as she picked up the books and looked at them. "Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone? Daring Do and the Griffon's Goblet?! Daring Do and the Half-Blood Princess?! Daring Do and the...the Elmheim Temple!" Daring said as her eyes scanned over the books. Daring felt her body freeze in disbelief. 
"Uh...is she okay?" Bright Eyes asked as she waved a hoof in front of Daring's frozen face.
"It's just reality shock. She'll get over it in a minute or two," Matilda replied.
The waiter returned a moment later with a tray of hay fry platters and glasses of water. "Hey! Cool Daring Do costume!" said the waiter as he looked at Daring. "My daughter's been trying to pull it off for years!" 
It wasn't until the waiter retreated back into the kitchen that Daring snapped out of her shocked state. "I...just...can't believe it," she said as she looked up at Matilda. "How...how did I end up here?"
"My guess is that it was one of those dimensional rifts that I've been looking into."
"Did you say dimensional rifts?!" Clockwork asked.
"Yes. I suppose you've heard of them before."
"Yes." Clockwork looked at Bright Eyes. Bright Eyes gave a consoling nod. Clockwork nodded back before turning his attention back to Matilda. "In fact...that's how Bright Eyes and I ended up here." Colgate leaned in further and her ears perked up upon hearing this. "I assume that you know the Doctor and Derpy Hooves, Matilda."
"More than you or they know," she replied with a grin.
Clockwork then glanced at Colgate. "And you know them too. Right, Colgate?"
Colgate nodded in defeat. "Yes...I do."
"Then I guess I can trust you with this information. Bright Eyes and myself are alternate versions of Derpy and the Doctor respectively from another dimension."
Alternate versions of the Doctor and Derpy?! Colgate thought as her eyes moved between Clockwork and Bright Eyes. It certainly explains a lot, but still...wow.
"I figured as much upon meeting you back in the museum," said Matilda. "At first I thought you were the Doctor, but then I noticed that you didn't feel the same as him."
"I didn't feel like him?" Clockwork asked.
"Exactly. You give off an different aura than he does. A much younger aura, I must say. However...your eyes are just like his almost."
"How?"
"They're sad," Bright Eyes said suddenly. "They've been sad for a long time." She reached over and placed one of her hooves on one of Clockwork's hooves. 
Clockwork smiled back at Bright Eyes before turning towards Colgate. "And that's our story. So what's your story, Colgate?" he asked nicely.
Colgate sighed and rubbed her temple. "I haven't known the Doctor that long. I only met him recently," she explained. "He helped me deal with a problem I had."
"What sort of problem?" Matilda asked.
"Does it have something to do with you being able to survive that attack from the crazy Rainbow Dash?" Bright Eyes asked.
Colgate nodded. "Yes," she replied. "That was part of it. Somepony was stalking me. Somepony who had a connection with a series of odd, terrible abilities that I was born with. This somepony turned out to be a creature from the Doctor's universe known as a Weeping Angel." Matilda and Clockwork gave worried looks. "You know about them?"
"I've come across many in the past," Matilda replied.
"I've seen some in my dreams, which sometimes show the memories of the Doctor," Clockwork explained.
"Yeah, well, this Weeping Angel turned out to be my father," Colgate stated with a hint of disgrace. Matilda and Clockwork glanced at each other. "That's why I was able to survive Rainbow Dash's attack. As long as a living creature is looking at me, my skin becomes as invincible as the toughest of stone. It's also why I have an hourglass cutie mark. You see, I was born with my cutie mark."
"How can you be born with your cutie mark?" Daring asked. Her voice was still a bit shaky for she was still coming to terms with the fact that she was in a dimension where she was a fictional character.
"It makes sense when you think about it," said Matilda. "Weeping Angels are creatures of time and energy. An hourglass cutie mark would make sense. In terms of you being born with it, that too makes sense for you aren't entirely of pony DNA."
"So, if your father's a Weeping Angel, does that mean that you can do what they do?" Clockwork asked. "Like...send others back in time by touching them?"
"I used to have that ability. I hated it. Thankfully, the Doctor was able to block it," Colgate replied.
Clockwork was about to ask if she had actually sent others back in time, but, from the look on her face, he was able to tell that she had and that she deeply regretted it. I better not dig up anymore bad memories, he thought.
"And what happened to...your father?" Matilda asked.
"Gone," Colgate sighed. "A dimensional rift pulled him into another universe. The Doctor thinks he might have gone back to his original universe but I don't know, and I don't care. I'm glad he's gone." Her voice cracked a bit. Matilda tried to console her but Colgate hastily pulled away from her. "And now let's talk about you, Matilda."
"Okay," Matilda said back.
"Why are you acting like you've never met me before? I clearly remember meeting you."
"Before I answer that, could you tell me about the times you met me?"
"Um...okay. Before I met the Doctor in Ponyville, I traveled to Canterlot to seek some help with my problem. I ran across you in a tea shop and you directed me to the Doctor. Then, after the Doctor helped me, I was leaving Ponyville and waiting for my train. You appeared on the platform next to me and told me about how a storm was coming and something else about the Doctor and his allies needing to come together. You then used that thing on your foreleg to send me here."
Matilda reached into her purse and pulled out a blue notebook. She then quickly jotted down a few notes. "What's that?" Bright Eyes asked.
"My notebook. A dear friend of mine got it for me. She prefers to use a diary but I'm a notebook mare myself," Matilda replied as she stored the notebook away. She then turned to look at Colgate. "I have no doubt that you've met me before, but I'm telling you the honest truth when I say that this is the first time that I have met you." Colgate tilted her head in confusion. "It's actually quite simple. This thing on my foreleg is called a vortex manipulator. It allows me to travel between locations, times, worlds, dimensions, etc. Because of this, I'm sort of stuck in an 'out of chronological order' basis with the Doctor and his friends."
Colgate nodded her head as she put the pieces together. "So what you're saying is that when I met you in Canterlot and in Ponyville, those were your future selves?" Colgate asked.
"Exactly my point."
"And you wrote down what I just told you in that notebook, didn't you?"
"Yep!"
"So that means that-"
"You telling me about what I'm going to do is going to lead to me doing what you told me what I was going to do which, in turn, will lead to your past self telling my then past self, who is currently me, what she will do."
"My head hurts," said Bright Eyes as she rubbed her head.
"I'm right there with ya," said Daring.
"Explaining time travel does that to you," said Matilda. "Now that we're all on the same page, let's get down to business."
"Business?" Clockwork asked.
"Yes. Obviously, the five of us ending up here is by no means a coincidence. The multiverse has drawn us together." Matilda pointed at Clockwork and Bright Eyes. "You two are alternate versions of the Doctor and Derpy Hooves." She pointed at Colgate. "You're a new ally of the Doctor's who my future self sent here for, what I assume are, important reasons." She pointed at Daring. "You're an adventurer who's currently seeking out the Elmheim Temple and has now been pulled into this universe by a dimensional rift." She pointed at herself. "And I'm a big ally of the Doctor's who has come here to search for the hotspot of dimensional rifts in this universe."
"Are these dimensional rifts really that important?" Daring asked. "I was starting to think that they were just random things."
"Oh no," said Matilda. "They're much more than that. These dimensional rifts aren't natural. They're being caused by something. Something out there amongst the many worlds of the multiverse. Something desperately is trying to find its way into this universe and I have a feeling that it isn't good."
"So what's the plan?" Clockwork asked.
"We find the source, of course. And, in order to find the source of the rifts, we need to find the biggest hotspot of rifts in this universe: which happens to be right here in Elmheim."
"And do you have an idea of where to look in Elmheim?"
"Of course. In fact, I think I know the very location."
"And that is?"
"The Elmheim Temple, of course!"
"The Elmheim Temple? But that's just an old legend."
"Oh, I don't think so." Matilda turned towards Daring. "Because you found it, didn't you, Daring?"
Daring looked away from the books about herself and faced Matilda. "Yeah. It's where I was right before I ended up here. It's also where I came across Rainbow Dash."
"Don't worry. The Rainbow Dash in this universe is much nicer. I have a feeling that the Rainbow Dash who fought you and attacked us in the museum is another dimensionally displaced pony."
"And we probably haven't seen the last of her."
"Wait a moment," said Clockwork. "Getting back to the Elmheim Temple, no offense to you, Daring, but that was in a book: Daring's universe! The temple may exist in Daring's universe but it may not exist here!"
"Who knows?" Matilda asked with a gleam in her eye. "One thing's for certain, there's a rift hotspot in that jungle and I'm here to find it." She began looking around the table. "And, I could probably use some help."
"I'm in!" said Bright Eyes. "The five of us must have been brought together for a reason!"
"Well if you're in, Bright Eyes, then I'm in too," said Clockwork. "Besides, I think you could use a Doctor, Matilda. Even an alternate one." Clockwork and Matilda exchanged teasing glares.
"And what about you two?" Matilda asked upon facing Daring and Colgate. Her eyes focused on Daring. "We could use an adventurer like you to get through the jungle."
Daring was silent for a moment. A confident smile appeared on her face as she grabbed her hat. "This may not be my universe, but that doesn't change my love of adventure! Besides, I'd love to get that Rainbow Dash back for earlier!" Daring replied.
"And you, Colgate?"
Colgate, like Daring, was quiet at first. She let out a deep sigh and leaned back a bit. "The future Matilda obviously sent me here for another reason other than to keep this cycle of time going. From what she said, I can guess that what we'll do here will help the Doctor and the others save this world from whatever's out there. The Doctor and his friends helped me out in my time of need. I think it's only fitting that I help them out in return," she replied. A small smile appeared on her face. "Yeah. I'm in."
"Hurray!" cheered Bright Eyes.
"Then it's settled," said Matilda as she raised her glass of water. "Tomorrow, we enter the jungle. And, dearies, it's certainly going to be an interesting trip."