Rainbow Continuity

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...