Rainbow froze in place as she heard someone groan from further down in the darkness. Her ears flicked up as she looked in the direction of the sound. “Twilight, is that you?” she asked, recognizing something familiar about the tone of voice. She trudged forward, her hooves slipping on patches of ice, making her heart skip a beat each time.
“D-Dash?” came Twilight’s feeble voice from much, much further inside the cave.
“Twilight?! Hang on, I’m coming!” Rainbow darted forward, barreling recklessly through the darkness. She paid little attention to the pain from each impact that her shoulders took as she slammed into unseeable objects. Each touch was cold and rough. “Where are you?” she called out. “I can’t see you!”
“Over… Over here!” The sounds of retching echoed off the cavern walls.
Rainbow followed the unpleasant sounds until she felt that she was only a few steps away. “Twi?” she softly asked.
“Y-Yeah?” Twilight coughed out to her right.
Rainbow crept over to her, testing each step she took so she wouldn’t step on her. Once the tip of her hoof brushed Twilight’s shaking body, she sat down next to her and draped her right wing over her lover’s body. “Are you okay? What hurts? What happened?” she blurted out. She lay down against her side, relying on her sensitive feathers to paint an image of Twilight in her mind in the utter blackness. Her lover was slumped down on her side, her legs splayed out away from her. Fearing the worst, Rainbow pulled her up against her right side as best she could and held her tight with her good wing, hoping that she could provide a little comfort where she only felt fear.
“I… I saved us,” came Twilight’s weak response. She groaned a moment later, then muttered something that didn’t make sense.
“Where are we? Where did you teleport us?” Rainbow asked, growing more desperate for answers the longer that Twilight didn’t reply. So many questions ran through her mind, each dancing on the tip of her tongue to be let free. Twilight could only cough as she struggled to reply. She sobbed against Rainbow’s breast as she tried to push herself up, her right hoof slipping against the ice.
“What about Scoots?!” Rainbow’s ears perked up at the thought of their daughter. “Scootaloo!” she called out. “Spike!” Her head whipped every which way as her voice echoed over and over without a response. “Did you teleport them as well?” Once she uttered those words, only then did she realize the price Twilight paid to save their lives. “Your horn! Is it–”
“I don’t– wan– thi…” Twilight’s words faded off as she grew limp, her weight falling back against Rainbow’s side.
“Twilight? Twilight! Wake up!” Rainbow couldn’t help but let her fear affect her tone. Her desperate pleas earned no response even after she nudged Twilight’s head with her own, rubbing her cheek against hers. “Twilight!” Remembering what Twilight said about unicorns losing their magic if they pushed themselves too far, she froze as she feared the worst for she had never seen Twilight in such a state. She held her hoof in front of Twilight’s nose and sighed in relief as she felt short, warm breaths of air grace it.
An hour passed as she lay next to Twilight, staying alert for anything. The sound of water dripping behind her kept her from finding rest as it came infrequently. For someone who always knew what to do, in this situation she had no clue on how to proceed. Another hour passed, the time spent in the absolute darkness making her feel uneasy. She had no idea what threats there were in the cave. The mere thought of spiders crawling around in the dark, unable to be seen, made her choose to find a safer place.
With a groan, she pushed her head under Twilight’s barrel. Rainbow threaded her head through Twilight’s forelegs and stood up all the way, lifting her lover up onto her back. “C’mere, girl,” she said through gritted teeth. With her legs nearly buckling, Rainbow took a deep breath to steady herself and balanced Twilight on her back. Her lover’s breaths came in short and steady, almost as if she was fast asleep. Her warm breath teased the sensitive hairs in her ears, providing the slimmest amount of warmth in such a frigid place. She took a step forward, then another. Ugh… did she gain weight lately? She’s a lot heavier than I remember… Probably shouldn’t have snuck in those hayburgers earlier.
She froze, thinking that she might have heard the faintest whisper of a sound. Rainbow held her breath, praying to hear something, anything again. Moments later, she heard the sound of wind come from her right. She turned to face that direction and took a few steps forward, testing each patch of ground in front of her in fear of slipping and falling. After a couple minutes passed in this manner, the windy noise grew louder, making her feel a sliver of hope. Her knees trembled, though while she was unsure if it was excitement or nervousness, she was sure of one thing: she was going to save them.
With each step, she grew more confident. As the sound of wind grew a little louder, she walked straight into hard stone, surprising her. She felt around with the tip of her hoof in the complete darkness, looking everywhere as she kept Twilight’s head perched upon her own. She closed her eyes and listened for the wind again. The echoes made it hard to place where the sound was coming from, so she chose to go left, holding her right wing out in front of her so she wouldn’t walk right into another dead-end.
Much to her delight, she saw the faintest glimmer of light up ahead. Her pace quickened, each step pushing her further towards the answer that her mind so dearly needed to know. With each step, the light exposed more and more of the tunnel she trudged through. “Twilight?” she hopefully asked. She nodded upwards, hoping to wake her up. “Hey, come on… wake up.” When Twilight failed to respond, she felt her throat tighten as worry plagued her heart. “Please?” she begged.
She finally turned the last corner and found the cave’s snowy entrance further ahead, just big enough for one pony to slip through. The cold, wintery air bit into her coat, and as the path out turned into a slight incline, she paused as she thought of what to do. Seeing a spot just around the corner behind her and out of the bite of the wind, she backtracked and lay down at that spot, using her good wing to help Twilight slide off of her back. “I’ll be back soon, Twi.” As she stood up, she got a good look at Twilight’s horn. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the tiniest of hairline fractures maybe an inch or so long coming from the tip of her horn. She shook her head and blinked, praying that her eyes were deceiving her.
Knowing that their chances of survival just got worse, she leaned in and kissed Twilight’s cheek, then turned to face the cave opening. Rainbow walked out into the open and groaned: she was standing on the side of a sheer cliff that dropped down at least one hundred feet before disappearing into the clouds below. The storm still raged around them, harder than it had been back at the castle. She braced herself and peered over the edge for just a few moments, seeing nothing but sharp, jagged rocks along the face of the wall beneath her. Rainbow squinted and looked everywhere she could, trying to discern some kind of path, some way out, but alas, there was none. Perhaps she would find some way out once the night broke and turned to day.
“Ponyfeathers,” she spat out. With one last wistful glance at her surroundings, she trotted back inside the cave. She found Twilight stirring awake, making her rush back to her side. “Hey, how are you feeling?” she asked. She lay down with her back to the cave entrance, using her good wing to block the wind and shield Twilight from its icy bite. Rainbow smiled down at her as she placed her front hooves on Twilight’s.
Twilight shivered as she blearily looked up into her eyes. “Not well,” she murmured. She blinked several times, then tried to look past Rainbow’s wing. “Where are we?”
Rainbow’s smile faltered. “I don’t know. All I know is that we’re up on some mountain really high up. I just took a look and it’s… not good.” Her breath came to a halt as she thought of Scootaloo. Praying that Twilight would stay conscious long enough to answer her question. “I have to know… why here?”
Twilight winced then looked up at her as if she bore horrible news. “When I teleported us, I didn’t think of any destination when I cast the spell; I didn’t have time. I just… thought anywhere but here. With my horn already damaged, with my magic unfocused, and in the short time I had to make a decision… I… I just cast it because anywhere was better than t-there.” Her head lurched forward as if she was going to retch again, though she was able to reign it in. “I think I saw these mountains all the way off in the distance behind Brick, so I’d say there’s a fair chance we’re there.”
Rainbow glanced around the cave. Yeah, that’d be a good guess, she wryly thought. Her ears fell flat as she saw tears stream down Twilight’s face. “Shhh… you made the right choice.” She pushed herself up against her lover’s body and grimaced as she felt just how cold Twilight’s coat was. Her feathers were frigid, but that didn’t stop her from wrapping her good wing over Twilight’s back. She lay her head against Twilight’s, praying to quell her sobs. “What about Scoots and Spike? Are they safe?” she softly asked, fearing the worst.
“I th-think so. I think I saw Cadence’s horn light up right before we disappeared.” Twilight coughed. “Brick is very likely in custody.”
“I’ve got a few choice words for him,” Rainbow grumbled. “And maybe a hoof or two.”
“As do I,” Twilight laughed before it turned into a cough.
“So… any chance you’ll be able to teleport us out of here?”
Twilight shook her head, then stiffened.
“What’s wrong?” Rainbow glanced over at her, noticing that Twilight’s eyes were shut tight.
“My… my magic! I can’t feel it!” Twilight started hyperventilating. “Oh no, no, no! This can’t be happening!” She tried to stand up, but slipped against the icy ground and fell back down, her right side pressed up against the cave wall. A desperate sob slipped through her lips as she tried again, only to fail yet again. After a few brief moments, she gently touched her horn, wincing at her first touch.
“It’s all still there,” Rainbow murmured. “But it has a crack in it.” When Twilight’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates, she cleared her throat and corrected herself, “B-But it’s not that big; I can barely see it.” She put on a reassuring smile even though she didn’t feel it herself. “I’m sure your magic will come back. It came back enough for you to teleport us who knows how many miles away.” She grabbed her hoof tightly. “And I’m sure those stories about unicorns losing their magic didn’t think about all-powerful alicorns, too.”
Twilight sniffled, though she seemed to calm down a little bit. “Y-You think?”
“Sure, why not? Celestia or Luna must have cast some pretty powerful spells in their time and they’re still able to use magic. You know alicorns are much stronger than the rest of us.” She couldn’t keep herself from shivering as a particularly ferocious gust of wind penetrated her coat. “Right?” she prompted.
Twilight nodded. “Y-Yeah, right,” she said, her voice sounding a little more confident. She cast her gaze out towards the cave’s opening. “Help me up. I want to see where we are. Maybe we can signal someone for help.”
Rainbow looked her up and down in what little light they had. “I already looked. It’s bad.” Twilight looked at her with fresh concern in her eyes. “Yeah, it’s that bad. And with my busted wing, I–” She gingerly held it up, making Twilight gasp. Remembering how Scootaloo’s wing was healed, a glimmer of hope slipped into her mind before it got crushed with the memory of Twilight exclaiming that she can’t feel her magic anymore.
“You should have said something earlier,” Twilight sternly said, her tone grim. Though while her strength eluded her, she still pushed herself near Rainbow's broken wing to get a better look. She held out a shaky yet gentle hoof and helped Rainbow hold it up as best she could for a few moments, then helped her fold it back against her side.
“Why?” Rainbow felt a knot form in her throat. “You can’t fix this, can you?” she defensively asked, unable to keep herself from snapping at her. Twilight wordlessly shook her head. The sheer helplessness she felt pushed her to say, “So then there was nothing to be gained from me telling you I was hurt. I didn’t want you to worry about me.” She looked away from her as tears sprang to her eyes. The wind picked up outside, sending more snow into the cave. Wanting to dispel the awkward situation, Rainbow wiped the tears from her eyes and put on a fake facade of strength. “Look, it’s late,” she said. “We’re not going anywhere any time soon; that storm is too dangerous for anyone to fly in. We should get some rest.”
“Look at me,” came Twilight’s words.
Rainbow fought down her pride then looked back into Twilight’s eyes.
“We need to rely on each other if we’re going to get through this,” Twilight said. “And with it being so cold, we may not last that long by ourselves…”
Rainbow caught on to what she was saying. “So we should snuggle to share our body’s warmth,” she said. Twilight’s smile warmed her heart. “Best time as any,” she said as she wiggled her way against Twilight’s side again, positioning her between the wall and the cold air that blew down the tunnel. She settled down on her stomach and wrapped her good wing over Twilight’s back as she did the same to her.
“We’ll make it out of here,” Twilight whispered. “Everyone will be out looking for us, after all…” She flicked her tail to cover Rainbow’s rump as Rainbow did the same.
“I know…” Rainbow lay her head between her forelegs then felt Twilight’s head lean against hers. “Say, you didn’t teleport any blankets with us, did you?” she asked after several minutes. “It’s too cold for me to fall asleep.”
“Yeah, that wind doesn’t help, either.” Twilight pushed herself up and grimaced before her expression brightened. “Oh, I know! Let’s use the snow to build a wall to block the wind!”
Rainbow grinned. “Smart as always, Twi. If you’ll stay here, I’ll push the snow inside and you build the wall. Deal?”
“Deal!”
It only took a couple minutes of work before the tips of her hooves grew numb. The wall was only a few feet tall, but it was good enough to block most of the wind. Rainbow lay down next to Twilight once more and rubbed her hooves together. “Can’t feel these darn things…” she muttered.
“You too?” came Twilight’s worried tone. She breathed on her own hooves which gave Rainbow the idea to do the same.
“How long do you think we’ll last?”
“I don’t know. Not long in these conditions.”
“What if we go back into the cave? If there’s a natural opening here, there might be an opening somewhere else. Maybe there’s a way out somewhere back in there.”
“Maybe, but there’s no way to be sure. We could get lost in there. If someone comes looking for us, we’d have a better chance of staying here.”
“Is that what your books said?” Rainbow asked in a playfully yet snarky tone.
“Actually, yeah. I read a while ago that it’s much easier for rescuers to find those that are lost if they stay put compared to if they’re moving around.”
“Do we have a choice?”
“We always have a choice.”