The Rift Between Worlds

by kurusagi16

Meanwhile, in Ponyville...

It was a perfectly pleasant day in Ponyville, the birds were singing, the flowers were blooming, everything was as it should be, and in the confines of her castle, Twilight Sparkle was taking advantage of this lovely day by doing a little spring cleaning. She was busily at work in her library, organizing which things she planned on keeping, giving away, or sending to the trash. As she was deciding what to do with her old battered copy of Frankenstag, Spike came in, covered in dust and cobwebs and looking a little perturbed.

"Spike, are you okay?" Twilight asked in concern.

"No, I'm not." Said Spike, flinging his feather duster onto the floor. "Was trying to clean up the farside of the castle, you know, the part that we hardly ever visit?"

"Yes." She said. "What happened?"

"Well, I thought I was prepared to get it all cleaned, but you would not believe how filthy it is there! Every surface was caked with dust, not to mention that there were cobwebs in every nook and crevece."

Twilight winced, embarrassed by how neglectful she'd been to that part of her home.

"And that's not the worst of it." Spike continued. "There were also lots of bugs, spider, and snakes. Snakes, Twilight, snakes!"

"Oh, I see." She said, glancing at the floor and rubbing the back of her head.

"I'm telling ya Twi, I think we should get an exterminator in here, and fast." He said.

"I don't know." Said Twilight unsure. "Maybe I can talk to Fluttershy, see if she can help bring the snakes and other pests out without any hassle."

Spike shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that works too. Just so long as we get rids of those things as soon as possible."

Just then, the door to the library flung open and in came Pinkie Pie. "Twilight, Twilight, you'll never believe what just happened!" She said, getting close up into her friend's face.

"Whoa, settle down, Pinkie." Twilight said, placing a hoof on the pink mare's shoulder and making her sit down. "Now then. tell me what's happened."

"Well, I was minding my own business, prancing through the market, when suddenly, wham! Right out of nowhere!" She whammed her hooves together for emphasis.

Twilight and Spike exchanged a look with one another. "Uh, what do you mean, Pinkie?" Asked Spike.

"What else, my Pinkie Sense of course." She said, sounding as though it were obvious. "It was another doosy, a lot like the one I had for Twilight, only this one was bigger and wackier."

Twilight frowned, her brow creased with worry. "Do have any idea what this doosy could be?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope, sorry."

Twilight sighed, "If that's the case, we'll have to keep a look out for any trouble."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Said Pinkie, giving Twilight a little salute. "I'll be sure to let everypony know." And with that she bounced off on her merry way.

Spike looked over at Twilight with an equal amount of concern as her. "Do you think it's some kind of enemy?"

Twilight shook her head and answered helplessly, "I don't know, Spike. I don't know."

---

While Pinkie was telling Twilight and Spike about her Pinkie Sense, Fluttershy was at the market, having just finished visiting her favorite tea shop and buying some more tea for her next Tuesday Tea. As she was strolling past the other stalls, she felt her legs wobble, almost buckling over on her.

"Oh my." She said, steadying herself. "What was that?" She checked herself to be certain that she was alright before continuing down the road.

Then, a voice called out to her, "Oh, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy turned in the direction of the voice to see Rarity waving as she hurried over to her. "Good morning, Rarity." She said politely.

"Good morning to you too, darling." Rarity said cordially. "I didn't expect to see you today at the market, what brings you out here?"

The two mares then walked together as Fluttershy explained how she'd gone out to get more supplies for next week's tea party.

"Why, that's very sweet of you Fluttershy." Rarity said. "But I don't see why you can't just ask Discord to conjure up the supplies for you. It certainly would help."

Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh no, it really isn't any trouble. Besides, I like working on our tea parties. After putting them together, its nice to enjoy all the effort that goes into it."

"If you say so." Said Rarity. "By the way, I heard that you've actually been to Discord's house."

Fluttershy nodded happily. "Oh yes, it was very nice. And afterwards, we agreed to switch off between my house and his for our tea parties." She said.

"Well tell me, what was it like there? Details, please."

Fluttershy giggled and replied, "Alright. On the outside, it actually looks like a cute little house on a hilltop. And the hill itself is floating in this vast space of chaos--"

Rarity had been nodding along, listening, when something strange started to happen. Fluttershy's voice was starting to sound fainter and fainter.

"Please speak up darling, I can't hear you." But the voice continued to get fainter. "Fluttershy are--" Rarity froze and let out a loud gasp. It wasn't just her voice that was becoming faint, Fluttershy herself was starting to fade away, her image rippling into none existence.

"Fluttershy!" Rarity reached her hoof out, hoping it would somehow help her friend. However, all it managed to do was cause her hoof to pass straight through her. Rarity quickly drew back her hoof, watching as her friend disappeared completely. Rarity's eyes then rolled up into her head as she fainted (gracefully) to the ground.

---

In the other Ponyville...

The Friendship Express pulled into the Ponyville train station, hopping off of it was a pale yellow Pegasus stallion with a pale pink mane and teal eyes. This was Flutterbye. Flutterbye looked rather sad, letting out a depressed sigh and hanging his head as he walked off the train platform and headed for town. On his way down the road, a rainbow blur rushed passed him.

"Hey, Flutterbye!" Cried the cyan Pegasus, Rainbow Blitz. He flashed Flutterbye a toothy grin as he landed beside him. "I thought you weren't gonna be back until tomorrow."

Flutterbye heaved a sigh. "I was, but the trip got cancelled."

"Man, sorry to hear about that." Rainbow said, giving Flutterbye a supportive pat on the back.

"And I was really looking forward to it too." He said. "We were going to be visiting the homes of the ophiotaurus."

"Well, there's always next time, isn't there?" Said Rainbow, trying his best to brighten the Pegasus' mood.

Flutterbye lifted his head. "I guess so."

"Oh, speaking of visiting homes, I saw Discordia hanging around your house earlier looking for you. I bet if you asked her she'd take you to that ophie-tortoise thing you wanted to see."

"Ophiotaurus," corrected Flutterbye. "And do you think so?"

"Of course! I mean, she can basically do anything in snap, right?"

Flutterbye glanced back down at the ground, rubbing his arm anxiously. "I don't know, I mean, I wouldn't want to impose on her." He said.

"Ha!" Rainbow couldn't help but cry loudly. "Impose? Please, if anything I think Discordia would be overjoyed if you asked her if it meant spending time with you."

"Really?" Flutterbye asked, his overall expression seeming to brighten. Rainbow nodded. Flutterbye tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, it has been a while since Discordia and I have done anything together, outside of our tea parties of course. Alright then, I'll go ask her."

Flutterbye then picked up his pace, trotting ahead of Rainbow. Rainbow himself couldn't help but shake his head. He liked Flutterbye dearly, but sometimes his shyness was just unbelievable. He was then about to take off back into the sky, when he heard Flutterbye let out a fatigued groan and saw him buckle to the ground.

"Flutterbye!" Rainbow cried, rushing to Flutterbye's side. "Are you okay?"

"I...I'm not sure. I feel, strange." Flutterbye said dizzily, putting a hoof to his head.

What happened next made Rainbow Blitz recoil in shock, as Flutterbye faded into transparency.

Flutterbye stared at his fading body in wide eyed fear, then looked up to Rainbow reaching a hoof out toward him. "Rainbow..." In a ripple of light, faded completely, but not before Flutterbye managed to utter one last word. "...help!"

---

Back in the Golden Oak Library...

Evening Star paced the floor of the library, becoming more and more panicked with each pace. "Oh man, oh sweet Solaris." He muttered under his breath. "This is bad, Nightfall is going to kill me when he finds out."

"Now now, let's not be hysterical, Evie." Discordia said, lounging in midair and attempting to calm the anxious stallion. "Sure Nightfall will give you a little scolding, but it's nothing that we can't fix."

Evening stopped mid-pace and gave the Draconequus a narrowed glare. "How can you be so calm? You said it yourself that this wasn't good!"

"That I did." She said, shifting into an upright position. "However, that doesn't mean that we should lose our heads over it." Discordia then flicked a talon, decapitating her head, catching it in her open paw.

Evening took a deep breath. "I guess you're right, if we're gonna fix this mess, we'll need to keep calm." He glanced up at Discordia's head. "So, any ideas?"

"The answer is quite simple." Discordia's head said with a smile. She then tossed her head back onto her neck. "All we need to do is seal up the rifts. A simple task for one as amazing as I."

"Wait, did you just say rifts?" Questioned Evening.

"Oh yes." Said Discordia with a nod. "You see, that shock wave caused multiple rifts to open up all over Ponyville, instead of merely just one."

"How many more?" Evening asked.

"I'd say about a dozen or so." Discordia answered. "It may take a bit of time to get them all sealed up, but like I said, it's nothing I can't fix."

Evening Star took a glance at the crystal mirror before replying, "Alright then, you go take care of those rifts, while I put the mirror back. Hopefully we can fix this before Nightfall finds out or before any trouble happens."

Discordia gave him a dramatic bow. "Consider it done." And like that, she was gone in a flash.

Comments

[zachary12]

nice work on both chapters.

[PonySage86]

The Twin

Why are the Flutters the only ones effected? (So far)

[kurusagi16]

8718984
Honestly, I wanted to have one of the mane 6 disappear and I figured, why not the Flutters? Especially if Discordia was thinking about Flutterbye not too long before she messed things up.

[kurusagi16]

8718984
Also, to give a little incentive for Discordia/DIscord later.