Chapter 1 - The company of myself
“Rainbow Dash!”
Huh? I hear a voice. A very subtle... quiet voice.
“Rainbow Dash!”
Ugh... who is it? I try to open my eyes, but I can't, I only just woke up from the most peaceful slumber ever... and this cloud is so comfortable, smooth and soft. I don't want to move.
“Rainbow Dash!”
I... I gotta wake up, or that voice is going to continue nagging. I gently pull my eyes open. I see the sky, the sun, clouds... something yellow which isn't the sun. Everything is blurry, I'll have to focus a moment...
“Rainbow Dash!”
Still calling? As my eyes come into focus I realise the source of this voice... It's Fluttershy, flapping her wings gently to keep herself airborne. It's far too early to wake up... “Fluttershy... what's the time?”
“Half past one.”
Yeah... it's too early. But I sit up and give my right eye a quick rub. There must be a reason why she's waking me up, so let's find out! “Fluttershy, why are you waking me up?”
My eyes are in full focus now. I can see the full detail of the expression on her face, and she doesn't look pleased... why would she have a problem with me sleeping? I do this every Saturday weekend...
“Rainbow Dash... I was just wondering if...” Her sentence trailed off into senseless mumbles. I haven't a clue what she just tried to say, and she's gone shy now so...
“Yes, Fluttershy?” I say, trying not to reveal any trait of how irritating being woken up in the middle of an afternoon nap is. “You were wondering if...?”
“I was wondering if...” She can't say whatever she's trying to say. Maybe there's something wrong which she can't tell me... that happens surprisingly often.
“Umm... are you okay?” I ask, trying to resolve whatever possible problems she may have. There's definitely something a bit odd about what she's trying to say, if it wasn't serious then she wouldn't be acting quite this shy...
I stare at her, waiting for an answer. It takes a few seconds, but I can see the shy attitude slightly departing, leaving her with more confidence to react with my friendly invitation to speak. “I- I was wondering if you were going out with anypony... for... for Hearts and Hooves Day?”
Woah... what? Of course I'm not. Not at all. Never. She should know that... wait... is she making an offer here? I mean... if she wants to know then... oh, Celestia, no, I don't want that at all...
“Fluttershy!” I begin, raising my voice. “If I ever went out with anypony, it would be myself!” That should do it...
Wait… what did I just say?
Her gaze changes again. She's not really shy any more, no, she's a bit worse than that now. She's afraid. I watch as she slowly flies backwards, fearing my enraged tone, she'll hide away from me for a while now that I've made a sudden outburst like that... “Err... really?”
No... I don't seriously want to go out with myself... never. But she's looking at me like I just confessed to being pregnant or something...
“Yeah. Sure. Now please leave me alone.” I don't really want to be so mean to her, but I don't want to discuss the topic of romance after that little outbreak.
She floats away more, still staring at me... Why?
I know that was a weird statement to make, and I don't know why she said it... Though I really don't know why I'm suddenly feeling so embarrassed about it... It's not like I was being serious or anything, but I feel a little too warm all of a sudden... I've never liked the feeling of embarrassment.
In a few seconds she's gone. I lay my head back down on the cloud and close my eyes again... I just unintentionally admitted love for myself. There's probably some sort of reason I'd say that. I mean, there's no other pony who I'd rather love than myself... even if that is a bit weird.
Anyway, romance is for the weak, and I'm...
***
Huh? I must've drifted off... the air is very cold... I open my eyes, only to realise the world around me is dark. The moon is high in the sky with stars glittering around it. I overslept... I sit up. Time to speed home as quickly as possible.
I jump up, start flapping my wings powerfully, and look for the direction of my house. In a few moments I begin bolting towards Ponyville, head first and speed at maximum. No time to think.
Ponyville is pretty at night. Nothing like Canterlot with huge towers and overpowering lights but... It's nice. I fly above and look down at all the houses dominated in the dark. With so many silent homes it must be quite late. I can't believe I slept for so long, that never happens...
Even though I did... I still feel kind of sleepy. I let out a huge yawn and lower my pace across the sky. There's something not quite right... I come to a halt and just remain airborne while stationary... I just feel like I could nod off at any...
***
What the?
Where am I?
I can’t see anything; its pitch black. And my head hurts. “Oww…” I moan through my teeth, trying to push the pain away. It feels like I am lying on grass, but I can’t tell. I don’t want to stand up in case I walk into something in the dark. I slowly pull myself up into a sitting position and wave my hooves around, trying to grab onto something. But there’s nothing there. What is going on? I remember flying back towards my house…and feeling sleepy. And now I’m here. Wherever here is. How long have I been unconscious for? Maybe there’s somepony around. Maybe.
“Hello!?” I call. “Can anypony hear me!?”
My shouts echo for a second, and then disappear. I prick up my ears and listen, hoping for a reply.
Silence.
There's no wind, no birds, no nothing. Nothing but darkness, and cold. The only sound I can hear is my own slow breathing. It's very discomforting.
But then-
“Hello!”
“I can hear you!”
There is somepony here! Their voice sounds very familiar, but I can’t quite make out who it is. Whoever they were, they're quite far away.
I open my mouth and shout back. “I can’t see anything! Where are you!?”
“Uh, I don’t know! It’s too dark to see anything!”
Dammit. We’re both blind here. I think for a moment…what could I do?
“Hey! Come towards the sound of my voice!”
That’s a good idea.
“Okay!” I shout.
I slowly start to crawl my way towards the voice, calling every so often to get a reply.
“I’m over here!”
The voice is getting louder. I must be getting close. I push on, pulling myself forward, putting one hoof over the other.
“Hey! I’m here!”
The voice is very close now. I keep going, until I bump into something. I jump back in surprise and let out a yell.
“Aaah!”
“Aaah!” yells the voice.
I suddenly realise what I bumped into. It was the voice that had been calling me.
“I’m here” I say to the voice.
“Oh, you made it!” says the voice. “Do you know where we are?”
“No” I say. “I just woke up here, not being able to see anything.”
“Same here…what is going on?” replies the voice.
We’re both in the same position, we both woke up here and we both have no idea what is going on. How strange…
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it…” I say.
“Me neither…we have to find a way outta here…wherever we are…” the voice says.
“It seems we are in some sort of field” I say to the voice. “It feels like we are sitting on grass.”
“Yeah…it must be late at night.” the voice says.
Well, we’re going to have to find a way out of here… working together would benefit us both.
“I forgot to ask you your name.” I say. “If we’re going to try and work together, we might as well know each other’s names.”
The voice replied. “Oh, yeah. I’m Rainbow Dash.”
What? Rubbish. Lies. If that was an attempt at a joke, it wasn’t funny.
“Wait…how do you know my name?” I say.
“What?” The voice says, confused. “My name is Rainbow Dash.”
“But…that’s impossible…I’m Rainbow Dash.” I say.
No two ponies in Equestria have the same name. They can be similar, but never the same. I am the only Rainbow Dash here, the other pony is either lying or trying to pull off some stupid, unfunny prank.
I open my mouth to speak, but suddenly a blinding light causes me to turn away, shielding my face with my hoof. I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust to this newfound light, and then I lowered my hoof. It was the sun, ever so slowly rising from the horizon, scattering light in every direction.
Now I’ll see who this so called ‘other Rainbow Dash’ is.
“What’re you playing at?” I started, standing up and turning around, ready to have a go at this imposter.
I stopped in my tracks. My mouth dropped. I was speechless.
She was a pegasus. She had wings. She had violet eyes, and a rainbow mane. Her flanks had a sonic rainboom cutie mark.
It was…me.
I just stood there and stared. It was like looking into a mirror. I stared into her eyes, and she stared right back into mine.
We just stood there, for ages.
My brain could not understand. This must be some sort of trick. There had to be a logical explanation for this. I thought, and I thought hard. But there was no explanation. I was looking at myself…Rainbow Dash.
I slowly started to move, circling around her slowly, examining any and every detail of her, to find some sort of flaw that proved that she was an imposter. But there was no flaw. She was physically identical to me in every single possible way. I came to a stop in front of her, still not being able to understand what was going on.
Then she started to circle around me, as I did with her. She made a full circle around me and came to a stop in front, where we stood, staring at each other again.
She was the first to speak.
“What are the names…of your best friends…” she says, not breaking eye contact.
“Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight and Rarity” I say slowly. “How fast can you clear the skies?”
“10…seconds…flat…” she says. “What was wrong with your gala dress?”
“It needed to be about twenty percent cooler” I reply. “How many times have you pulled off a sonic rainboom?”
“Twice” she says.
It was real.
***
I'm still a little suspicious. Even after at least an hour of staring, studying every detail, asking more, deeper questions, I still feel this is all a big trick. But I can't claim it is... That pony is an exact copy of me, perfect in every way. Surely this is impossible? I am – and have always been – the real Rainbow Dash. I have no doubt this is still a big joke, one of Twilight's magic spells to try and trick me I suppose...
Anyway... we're in a field. The sun is just coming up above the horizon. The air is cold, very cold, exactly what you'd expect from an early, winter morning. I try to recall the events of last night. I woke up, late at night, flew home. Then I think I fell asleep in the open sky. Must've been painful when I hit the ground, but I don't feel any bruises or cuts...
I'm not exactly sure where we are... I know I definitely wasn't flying over a field when I fell asleep, I was in the middle of Ponyville... so where am I?
Or, more importantly, who is she? She…cannot be me…it’s not possible… although...
I can't take my eyes off her, and she can't take her eyes off me. We're trapped in an endless game of... eye contact. One of us is going to have to say something to end this...
I open my mouth. “Stop staring!” I shout, but there was something a little odd when I said that... I sounded perfectly in sync with... myself.
We continue to stare, but in realisation that we just spoke in perfect sync without one of us signalling to do so... that's creepy.
Okay. I might be wrong about the whole possibility of it being a trick. I'm hardly definitely wrong though. This barely proves anything, though my mind is beginning to unwillingly change. If she was a changeling then she would’ve attacked me by now, or ran off, which rules out that possibility. We are the same; we're both reacting in the same way and behaving in the same way.
Appearances match. Behaviours match.
Another thought crosses my mind. I remember an event of yesterday, my conversation with Fluttershy after she rudely woke me from a peaceful slumber. I told her that I had a crush on myself... no, that if I had a crush, it would be on myself. She reacted strangely, almost as if she took my statement seriously... nah...
Fluttershy would never find a way to create something like this. But I can't keep my mind away from the possibility that it may be related... when I look over myself it becomes a good question whether I was being honest. Could be true. I could actually have a little soft spot for... myself.
No, that's just weird. I draw my thoughts away from that...
At least now I have a clear understanding that she must be me. No more confrontations in my mind about whether this is truly happening. It is. And we've been standing here for far too long; it’s about time one of us does something...
I clear my throat.
“Are we gonna continue staring at each other or are we going to figure out what the hell is going on?” I shout, tilting my head.
The other ‘Rainbow Dash’ tilts her head to mirror mine.
“We could go to Twilight?” she asks.
“Yes…” I reply. If there was anypony who could understand and explain what was going on, Twilight could.
Finally, we break eye contact. I turn away, examining the surroundings properly for the first time. The field we are in is quite small and mostly empty, apart from a few bare trees here and there. It is on a slope, and towards the top end of the field are a few larger hills, and mountains in the distance. It is cloudy. The sun that had appeared on the horizon earlier has disappeared into the clouds, and it had begun to snow very lightly.
I turn around and look down the other end of the field, to see a cyan mare standing there, looking over at the horizon. I wonder what she’s doing.
“Erm, Rainbow Dash, what can you see?” I call down to her.
It sounds strange saying my name out loud, even if I am actually talking to another Rainbow Dash…
Especially if I’m talking to another Rainbow Dash, but what else can I call her? Rainbow Dash number two?
She doesn't respond, but I don't push her for an answer. The horizon attracts my attention too... I see somepony... an alicorn, in the fog. I'm not sure who she is, yet she seems familiar. Her coat is pink, but from this distance I can’t make out her face.
We stare for a few moments before the mysterious alicorn rises into the sky and speeds off. I look back to Rainbow Dash and she stares back at me.
“Who was...?” We start in sync. I wave my hoof forward, tempting her to continue.
“Who was that?” She asks.
“I... we don't know.” If I don't know, she doesn't know. We have the exact same knowledge... and we might be thinking the exact same things as well. I’m glad we can’t hear each other’s thoughts. Now that would be annoying.
“We gotta find a way back to Ponyville” Rainbow Dash says. “But this fog is not going to be helpful.”
Flying in the fog would be too dangerous. Who knows what kinds of obstacles are hidden by the thick mist.
“Agreed,” I reply, “let’s go down the hill below the fog, perhaps there won’t be any there.”
We start off down the hill, unsure of what we might find. For all we knew, we could be a thousand miles from Ponyville. We just have to keep walking.
As we walk the fog becomes thicker and thicker, limiting our view to only a few metres. The fog isn’t letting up. The further down we go the thicker the mist seems to become. Soon we're struggling to see each other, and to make matters worse, it has begun to snow very heavily.
***
We move in closer together, to prevent us losing sight of each other. We have been walking for some time now, but I have no idea how long. Feels like forever. The falling snow has built up at least four inches on the ground, making it harder to walk. Neither of us has spoken to each other since we left; we were too busy gritting our teeth and battling against the freezing blizzard. I don't know how much longer I can go on for. The constant fighting against the cold wind and blizzard is beginning to take its toll… I feel my muscles aching. Every step is almost painful, and we have taken up walking in a single file, so one of us could take the brunt of the storm, while the other walked behind, recovering and preparing for their turn. It's a crude tactic, but it works. It is better than both of us freezing at the same time.
We do a rota of five minutes each, and then switch. It is the end of my turn at the front, so I stop to let Rainbow Dash pass me and take the lead. I wait a couple of seconds and then turn around.
She isn’t there.
My stomach drops. Oh Celestia, I’ve lost her. I turn and look around frantically. She isn’t in sight. I follow my hoof prints back, only just being able to make them out in the ever-falling snow. I run, looking at the ground, following my hoof prints in hope that they would lead me back to her. Another set of prints catch my eye. They veer off from mine slightly, and end at an abrupt halt before a small hole. She must have fallen in there. I run over to the edge of the hole and look down. Sure enough, she is there, stuck. The hole is so narrow that she can’t move, let alone fly out.
“Rainbow Dash!” I call down.
Rainbow Dash looks up at me, and I can see tears in her eyes. She gasps.
“Rainbow Dash!” she calls back. “Thank Celestia you’ve found me! I thought I would be stuck down here forever!”
I lie down on my front and put my hoof into the hole.
“Grab my hoof!” I say.
She raises her hooves up, and tries to take hold of mine, but she can’t reach. The hole is small in diameter, but it is pretty deep.
“Try again!” I say, pulling myself forwards and lowering my hoof a little further.
This time it works. She grabs onto my hoof, and I use the last of my strength to pull her free. We collapse in a heap by the edge of the hole, panting. Rainbow Dash wraps her hooves around me and pulls me into a hug.
“Thank you!” she says. “I would’ve been a goner if you hadn't come back!”
She breaks off the embrace and stands up.
“I owe you one” she says, winking.
The snow is still falling as heavily as ever. Continuing walking is too dangerous, that was too close. It is just too easy to lose each other in the blizzard. We have to find shelter, and find it fast. It's beginning to get dark. Being out in a freezing blizzard at night is not good at all.
“We need to find shelter!” I say. “We’ll freeze if we stay out here for too long!”
The wind has picked up, and I have to shout to even hear myself over the howling of the wind.
Rainbow Dash nods.
We look around the area where the hole was, hoping for some sort of enclave, or something.
Rainbow Dash calls over to me. “Hey! Over here! I found something!”
I run over to her, and she points into a small opening in a rock face.
We run over to it and peer inside.
“It looks safe enough.” I say. To be honest I couldn't really care less if a timber wolf was in there. I just want to get out of this damn blizzard.
We walk inside and duck our heads under the low entryway. It's a small cave, but it will suffice. The wind can’t get in, and neither could the snow. We can rest here until the blizzard passes.
I'm tired, and very cold. I lie down against one of the cave walls and rest my head on my hoof and take long, slow breaths. I shiver. Even in here, it's still cold. But I can’t complain; we’re out of the biting wind and the freezing snow. Rainbow Dash walks up and lies down beside me, extends her wing and puts it over me, like a blanket. I look up at her and smile, and she smiles back. Our combined body heat would keep us warm throughout the night, and hopefully the blizzard will be over when we wake up.
I close my eyes.
***
It's been an hour. I can't sleep. Too busy thinking about what's going on. Strong snow, thick fog, stuck in the middle of nowhere. Another Rainbow Dash! This is all so strange. She's like a mirror of me... I guess she is in a way.
I'm done thinking this is all a big trick. It's all too real... but I don't understand why we were stranded in the middle of nowhere like that. Almost like a dream – or a nightmare – but it isn't.
Anyway...The clinging thought in my mind is what I said to Fluttershy yesterday. I felt stupid when I said that, and now an opportunity to prove it right or wrong is being laid before me. I've been thinking. I think there might be some truth in what I said...
Perhaps... we've had the same reactions to everything so far... is she still awake and thinking the same thing? If I were about to check if she's awake, would she be about to check if I'm awake? Only one way to find out...
Nah...
I'll hold back, no need to talk about this now. Let's wait and see how I – we – feel in the morning. Right now I should just let myself drift to sleep...
***
I open my eyes. Morning? It feels like morning. There's that scent of morning in the air, a feeling. Cold, but quite settling. I'm rejuvenated, though not mentally prepared for any...effort.
I sit up, noticing the other me do the same...
She's rubs her eyes a bit, clearly feeling a little dozy still...as am I. But I hold back from rubbing my eyes, I don't want to make this look any weirder. Doing the exact same things at the exact same time…
She just gives a faint nod and stands up to slowly trot out of the cave. I expect she wants to get on with the journey... and so do I. Neither of us has spoken about what we're actually going to do when we find Ponyville, or any civilisation for that matter... Can we go our separate ways? Will we have to battle each other to the death to decide the real Rainbow Dash?
I know that sounds a bit extreme... but I'm serious. There can't be two of the same pony in the same world... can there?
Maybe Celestia will step in, beam one of us away to the other side of the moon...
I shake my head to get rid of those thoughts. It’s stupid. Nothing like that would ever happen. I’m sure Twilight will be able to help us; she’s probably the most talented unicorn in Equestria. She could sort this out.
We continue walking... we don't know where exactly... at least the sky is looking better, and the wind is down so we don't have to wander around in single file any more. There's less fog, so we can see many more metres stretching out in front of us... However, the snow is still here, seems to have settled quite thoroughly. We're now wading through a foot of this, and it continues to fall... where are the weather pegasi?
If there's such a storm here which isn't being controlled then I wonder if we must be... outside of Equestria? Either that or there must be some major cloud problems going on.
Outside of Equestria. Now that’s a scary thought.
Oh well... I'm sure we'll find something soon. I hope it is Ponyville...
