The Rift

"I-I don't understand? Y-you're me!" Dr. Wolf stammered, backing away slightly at the sight of the wolf in front of him.

The wolf rolled his eyes. "Did the words 'alternate universe' not answer it for you? Geez, I thought I'd be better understanding of things in this universe. At least I have better dress sense." he muttered, staring at Dr. Wolf with an unamused look on his face.

"HEY! That wasn't very nice!" Sweetie Bloom cried, as she rushed toward the alternate Dr. Wolf.

She was stopped however, when a pink pegasus in a camoflauge uniform and messy blonde ponytail landed in front of her, a pistol clicked and pointed toward Sweet Bloom's chest.

"Take one more step and you DIE!" she threatened, making Sweetie Bloom give a small "eep!" as she backed away quickly, ducking behind DustyKatt in fear.

"DUSTY! I'M TRYING TO KILL MYSELF!!!"

As soon as the sentence left her lips, the alternate Sweetie Bloom flew over and pinned Dusty to the ground, much to the surprise of everyone around them.

"You TRAITOR!!! It's all YOUR fault this happened! You're gonna DIE for this! Do you HEAR me?! DIE!!!" the pegasus threatened, the pistol pointed at Dusty's head.

As if by some invisible force, the two Silver Quills immediately  rushed over and worked together to get the pegasus off of Dusty, who hid behind SWEETIE BLOOM once he was freed.

"SWEETIE BLOOM! YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!"

The alternate K.P gave a facehoof at the situation.

"Bloom, you got the wrong Dusty." she said in a monotone voice, making the other K.P's mouth widen in shock.

"Oh god! I'm MAUD!" she cried, making the alternate K.P roll her eyes.

"And I'M Pinkie Pie." she answered, no sign of emotion showing on her face. K.P turned away in a huff.

"I'm not Pinkie Pie. I'm the Discord princess-ship and wish to be addressed as such."

"Tomato tomauto." the alternate K.P replied.

"Oh, will you two just cut it out already! We have bigger fish to fry right now!" both Antonys said at once, causing them both to turn to each other in shock.

"JINX! You owe me a soda!" Antony said with a grin, as he poked the alternate Antony's shoulder with his hoof.

"Um...excuse me?" the alternate Antony asked, genuine confusion in his voice.

"Geez, aren't I just a little ball of sunshine." Antony said sarcastically, a look of disappointment on his face.

"You're telling ME! Not only did my ends get swapped, but I'm a mute emo in a different universe!" Silver Quill complained, as he poked his alternate self with a talon. The alternate Silver responded by sighing and pulling the hood of the hoodie back over his head, a murmur of "It's like talking to a broken record...it never shuts up." barely being heard. Silver crossed his arms.

"You know me, that wasn't very clever." he complained.

"GUYS! We don't have TIME for this! Lethal Aurora, Horror Score, and OUR Dusty are still on the loose and you're all acting like children?" the alternate wolf spat, catching everyone's attention immediately.

"Lethal Aurora? She's HERE? Man, it's been a while." Antony thought out loud, stroking an imaginary beard as he did.

"Yeah. She killed me once." K.P added casually, making everyone turn to her in shock.

"What?" the alternate wolf cried, a look of genuine fear suddenly appearing on his face.

"Antony, how long ago did Lethal and her assistants come here before we did?" he asked.

"How the heck should I know?" Antony asked.

"Not YOU! The smart one." the alternate wolf answered, causing the alternate Antony to step forward.

"OI! That's not fair!" Antony said, only to be completely ignored as the alternate Antony began typing on an unidentifiable hoof held device.

"About...10 hours before us." he confirmed, the nervous tremor in his voice being replaced with a serious tone.

"When did Lethal come here?" the alternate wolf asked.

"WOLF! I just told..." the alternate Antony started.

"Not YOU! The dumb one." Wolf interrupted, making both Antonys scowl.

"Around Halloween last year. And Horror Score around the same time." Antony answered, the look of offense not leaving his face.

"Which means that there's a time difference here. 10 hours means they're 10 months ahead of us! And if Lethal and Horror Score already got here, they must've blended into this universe somehow, especially because NONE of you have seen another Dusty?" he questioned, causing Dusty to shake his head.

"So, what did my enemies do while they were here?" he asked, making Dr. Wolf's skin feel cold. He would never use those words, and hearing his voice say them was...terrifying.

"Like I said, Lethal killed me and some others in this killer game show last halloween when we didn't agree with her. If it weren't for Mage, who now thinking about it, must be our version of Lethal, I wouldn't be here." K.P explained, her hooves moving through the air a mile a minute as she spoke.

"And Horror Score photo bombed reviews and sent vampire bats on the loose in the Rift Cafe." Dusty added, gesturing around him as he spoke.

Wolf nodded his head at those words. "Sounds like them. They must be gathering information about all of you living here. Trying to find the best way to take over. That's what they tried to do in our universe after all." Wolf said, his paw rubbing the back of his neck.

"But knowing them, they probably have thought of a plan, and if there's any way your universe is gonna be spared, we're gonna have to get some info." Wolf said, his voice showing a level of maturity...as if he's given similar pep talks in the past.

"And to do that we'll need all of you." Alternate Antony added, gesturing to Dr. Wolf and his friends.

"Wait, WHAT?" both wolves said at once, looking at eachother after they did.

"Well, it's obvious isn't it. This is a universe different from our own. We don't know it the way you all do. We need inhabitants of this universe to assist us on our mission."

"But how can we TRUST them?" the alternate Sweetie Bloom ventured, her hoof not letting go of her pistol.

The alternate Antony looked unphased by the question. "They're US aren't they. Even though there are some distinct differences, there's a 98% chance they'd respond to situations like this the way we would. We should be able to trust ourselves." the alternate Antony answered simply.

"Holy cannole! I know my STUFF!" Antony said in astonishment.

"Thank you...ME." the alternate Antony replied, a small smile on his face.

Wolf couldn't help but facepalm.

"Fine whatever. Okay everyone, we'll partner up with the alternate versions of ourselves and try to get to the bottom of things. If all goes well, we'll leave soon and bring them to justice. Let's GO!" Wolf ordered, making all the pairs leave immediately.

Dr. Wolf couldn't help but stare at his alternate self for a second.

'He's acting like someone I might have an appointment with in my office. He's anger prone, stubborn, straight forward, fast paced and seems to only focus on the goal. He seems to be the leader. But still...he acts in a way I would never imagine acting. How could this problematic character...be me?"

Wolf turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you gonna stop STARING at me like a thanksgiving turkey or are we gonna get moving? I need access to the files of this place and I need directions. Care to help yourself a bit?" he asked, not a hint of politness in his voice. Dr. Wolf rolled his eyes as he began to walk.

"Follow me."