//------------------------------// // Goodbye, Farewell... // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Rarity and Rainbow Dash emerged from the dining hall several minutes later and immediately sought out the stairs to the top deck. Rarity took them two at a time while Rainbow simply used her wings to ascend. The staircase ended right in front of a glass door, and Rarity pushed it open and stepped onto the deck with Rainbow not far behind. “Oh, heavens, this is simply stunning,” Rarity cooed as she trotted away from the bulwarks and into the open space below the airship’s balloon. She immediately turned to her left and approached a tall guard rail several feet from the edge of the port side of the ship. Resting her hooves on the polished brass, she sighed and watched the Manehattan skyline slide to her left, with streets hundreds of feet below her. Rainbow Dash joined her by her side, and Rarity turned to her. “I’m more envious of you pegasi than I ever have been,” Rarity remarked, bringing a sly smile to Rainbow’s muzzle. “The wind in your mane, the view, the freshness of the air…” “Heh. Yeah, we have it pretty great,” Rainbow said, her wingtips twitching by her flanks. “Life’s better a mile higher.” The airship shuddered as it found a rough patch of air, and Rarity’s muscles immediately tightened up. They finally relaxed after several seconds, but the unicorn had taken on a slight green tinge underneath her pearly white coat. “Ugh… then there’s the motion sickness.” Rainbow snickered and patted Rarity on the back with a wing. “Yeah, yeah, no need to thank me.” “Thank you?” Rarity said, raising an eyebrow. She shuddered and pressed her hoof to her forehead. “Why would I do that?” “Well, the reason you’re even alive to have motion sickness in the first place is because of yours truly.” Rainbow withdrew her wing and closed her eyes, opening her mouth slightly to taste the air. “There’s just a pressure front moving in from the southeast. There’s probably going to be a Cat One in Manehattan in a week’s time, ten days tops.” Rarity blinked. “Cat One?” “Category One hurricane,” Rainbow said. She looked over the Manehattan skyline and picked out numerous tiny specks flying between a heavy wall of clouds on the perimeter of the city. “Hurricane season is starting to ramp up, and the CWC always deploys extra fliers to Manehattan and Baltimare to shield the cities from the storms. See those pegasi out there?” she asked, pointing in their direction. “They’re making what we call a cloud phalanx. Since hurricanes are driven by low air pressure, we create a zone of high pressure over the city by piling as many clouds and stuff as we can over it so the water vapor builds up, you know?” “I suppose,” Rarity said with a shrug, although she watched the pegasi with a keen interest. “Apart from basic weather dynamics in high school, I never learned much about how the weather works. Most of my time was spent covering history, social sciences, and technical trades, like dress making.” She nudged Rainbow in the ribs. “You know, the sorts of things unicorns are expected to really focus on. Weather was for pegasi.” “Eh, I guess.” Rainbow tapped her hooves along the guardrail, then began to trace a line running from Manehattan and to the southeast. “Well, when the hurricane finally comes close enough to the city, the weatherponies there will set the phalanx loose. They break apart the cloud wall holding all the high pressure over the city and allow the winds to rush forward to meet the hurricane. If everything goes according to plan—which it should, since I helped refine it,” Rainbow said, winking, “then the winds meet the hurricane head on or slightly off center, deflecting it away from the city and weakening it in the process by hitting it opposite the direction of rotation. The trick is to make sure that you release the pressure at the right time and in the right direction, otherwise you’ll just make the storm stronger.” Rarity looked again at the cloud phalanx and at her friend, this time with a sense of admiration. “Wow, Rainbow. I’d taken you for being a brash stunt flier so long that sometimes I forget that you’re a licensed weather manager.” “Hey, Rares, a degree’s a degree, even if it’s from a trade school,” Rainbow said. “I just figured having an actual paying job while I worked on chasing my dreams would be the smartest thing to do. Well, that and I didn’t want to rely on my parents for money anymore once I turned twenty. It’s hard enough as it is to get them to stop trying to do everything for me, you know?” Chuckling, Rarity shook her head and took a step back from the railing. “If only we could all be so lucky, having parents like yours.” Rainbow shrugged and likewise stepped back from the railing. “Trust me, it wears out its welcome fast enough.” “Oh, I’m sure.” The two friends made their way to the center of the deck, where many of the other passengers aboard the Concordia had gathered to the sounds of music and even more offered food. Even though they’d both just ate, Rarity and Rainbow lined up next to one of the tables and began to fill small, square plates with fruit, cheese, and crackers. As Rarity forced her telekinesis through the restraining spell placed on her horn, she glanced at Rainbow. “So what, you can tell what the weather’s going to be like a week from now, or were you just spouting off weather reports?” Rainbow blinked, hovering in place as she reached for more food to scrape onto her plate. “Huh?” “Darling, just a second ago,” Rarity said, stepping away from the table with a loaded plate in her magical grasp. “You were talking about the hurricane on its way to Manehattan.” Rainbow followed her to the edge of the gathered crowd. “Oh, that. I can, like, taste the weather. Like the moisture and stuff in the air.” At Rarity’s face, Rainbow held up one hoof while balancing her plate in the other. “No, seriously. I’m really good at predicting the weather. It’s in my blood or something, you know?” Rarity thoughtfully chewed on a slice of cantaloupe. “You know, I could believe that,” she said. “I’ve got an eye for fashion, Fluttershy’s got a heart for animals, and you’ve got a… tongue for the weather?” “Jeez, Rares, when you say it like that, it sounds dumb,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. “You’re the one who claims she can taste the weather,” Rarity retorted. “Yeah, but that still doesn’t mean you should make it sound dumb. Don’t make it sound dumb,” Rainbow grumbled, finishing her tirade by shoving her muzzle into her plate. Rarity giggled and patted Rainbow’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, darling. I’ll try to refrain from such an ill choice of words in the future.” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed at her. “Now you’re just being snooty.” Rarity gasped and lightly smacked Rainbow. “Snooty? I never!” Rainbow’s grin only sharpened the frown on her face, and she pointedly harrumphed and stuck her nose into the air. “I am not snooty!” “Whatever you say, Rares.” Rainbow stuffed a slice of pineapple into her mouth and quashed its juicy flesh between her teeth, inadvertently spraying Rarity with some of the juice. The unicorn squealed and wiped the liquid away, shooting Rainbow an angry look. Unfortunately, that only emboldened her, and she threw another piece of fruit into her mouth before Rarity’s magic stole her entire plate from her. “Hey! Give that back!” Blue magic floated the plate over the side of the ship and dumped its contents thousands of feet to the ground below. Satisfied, Rarity returned the plate to Rainbow and stuck her tongue out at her. The empty plate fell into Rainbow’s outstretched hooves, and the pegasus simply gave it a hollow look while Rarity went back to eating off her own platter. Rainbow’s brow dropped and she glared at Rarity. Setting her plate on a small table, she folded her forelegs and maintained an irate hover several inches above the deck. “Element of Generosity, my flank.” “Being generous doesn’t necessarily mean being nice,” Rarity teased. Her magic floated a stalk of celery up to Rainbow’s snout and tapped it, then offered it to the pegasus. Rainbow snatched it in her teeth but kept her glare locked on Rarity as she chewed the crunchy stalk to pieces, the leaf on the end slowly inching towards her lips with each bite. Rarity giggled and held a hoof to her face. “My, Rainbow, you’re quite the adorable little pegasus when you’re pouting.” “Wrong A-word,” Rainbow muttered, abandoning the argument and finding something else to focus her ire on. Her ears perked at noise coming from the center of the deck, and she hovered a little higher to get a better look. “Hey, look, it’s Misses Smiley.” Rarity turned in that direction, and sure enough, she saw Jetstream gaily flutter into the open. She had a microphone grasped between her feathers, and she twirled it and brought it up to her lips as she approached the throng of ponies. “Good morning, passengers! I hope you’ve all been enjoying yourselves!” Her electronically-amplified voice gathered the attention of the few ponies who weren’t looking in her direction, and soon she had all eyes on her supermodel figure. “I’d like to offer my warmest regards from the captain of this fine ship, as he couldn’t be here to say farewell to Equestria with us. He is, after all, preoccupied with a rather important duty; namely, guiding the ship through the crowded and busy Manehattan airspace.” As she said that, the sounds of another pair of propellers filled the air, and the ponies on deck looked to their left to see a heavy freighter passing by the Concordia’s port side, massive screws beating at the air. The large mechanical wings protruding from the underside of its hull turned and pivoted at its captain’s command, guiding the freighter well clear of the Concordia while still remaining close enough for the deckhooves to wave to the passengers from above. “Yeah, no kidding,” Rainbow said, nudging Rarity’s shoulder. “Manehattan’s not a good place for leisure flying, at least not in certain air zones. There’s too many airships flying about, and trust me, the last thing a pegasus needs is to be turned into a cloud of feathers when they get whacked by one of those props.” Rarity let loose a little offended gasp and slapped Rainbow on the shoulder. “Inappropriate!” she hissed. “And rather… erm, morbid.” Rainbow snickered. “I’m a pegasus, I’m allowed to make jokes about it.” “Of course,” Rarity muttered, shaking her head and redirecting her attention to Jetstream. The aquamarine mare had fluttered over to the port side of the ship, and was busy pointing out the sights to the ponies congregating around her. She hovered above the deck so everypony could see her, and Rarity noted how she fluttered sideways while she spoke so that she stayed in the same spot over the moving airship’s deck. “…and through those tall brown skyscrapers, you can see Bridleway avenue, home to the dozens of professional theatres collectively called Bridleway. The greatest actors and musicians from across Equestria gather here to share their work and experience life under the Manehattan limelight. After all,” she added with a wink, “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” “I wonder if I can see the Saddle Row from here,” Rarity murmured, trying to look through the skyscrapers. “I wonder how my boutique is doing.” “Probably pretty great,” Rainbow said. “I did help pick the employees to keep it running.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yes, even though you missed the point entirely and just hired all of them.” Shaking her head, she added, “At least the boutique does well enough for me to comfortably maintain their employment. And besides, having three employees does help reduce wait times and keeps the whole business running smoothly. With the revenue Rarity For You generates, I’m sure I’ll be able to open a couple more boutiques in Manehattan within a few years.” “I’m sure you will, Rares,” Rainbow said, placing her hooves on the rail alongside Rarity. “If there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you don’t let anything stop you.” “Awww, that’s so sweet of you,” Rarity said, smiling at Rainbow. “Eh, don’t push it.” “If you insist.” Rarity went back to watching the city slide by, noting that she was craning her neck more and more to the left to see what she wanted to see. They’d be past the Statue of Harmony in the water soon enough. A sweeping melancholy began to settle into her bones, and she sighed, resting her chin on the rails. Rainbow’s ears perked at the sound, and she glanced to her right. “What’s up?” “Oh, it’s nothing,” Rarity said, feigning indifference. She let the little lie linger in the air for an appropriate amount of time before she added, “It just feels like life is moving so fast, you know?” “Uh… sure?” “I mean, honestly,” Rarity said, gesturing towards Manehattan, “Fashion Week was… what, three years ago? Four?” Rainbow blinked. “You’re asking the wrong mare.” “Oh it doesn’t matter,” Rarity huffed. She crossed her forelegs, thought better of it, and opted instead to simply rest her elbows on the railing and her chin in her hooves. “The point is, it feels like it was just a few weeks ago. Time has gone by so fast, and I’m afraid that we’re all—you, me, the girls—we’re all drifting apart.” “Like that’d ever happen,” Rainbow scoffed. When Rarity’s expression didn’t change, she bumped Rarity’s cheek with her snout. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Nopony’s going anywhere. Not if Loyalty has anything to say about it!” she finished, proudly placing a hoof over her chest. Rarity wasn’t so convinced. “But that’s just the thing, Rainbow,” she said, pivoting to face the colorful pegasus, “I’m opening new boutiques one at a time, and it’s only a matter of time before I have to move my operations from Ponyville to someplace like Fillydelphia or Manehattan. Ponyville just simply doesn’t have the resources I need to run a large, successful business. “And you!” she added, gesturing to the skies, “You’re a Wonderbolt now! An honest to Celestia Wonderbolt! You’ve been on tours for months at a time, traveling all across Equestria. We’re only be able to see you when you’re on leave these days, or the team happens to be visiting Canterlot or somewhere else close.” Rainbow’s smile faltered, and she sighed, adopting a similar position as Rarity. “I… yeah, I guess you’re right,” she muttered, choosing to stare at the water far beneath the airship rather than at the passing city. “I’d never really thought that far ahead. Making the Wonderbolts had always seemed so… you know. Far away and stuff.” Silence hung between them, save for the perpetual beating of the airship’s props and the excited din of Jetstream’s voice as she went on and on about the Statue of Harmony in the harbor. “Man, that’s kind of a downer, isn’t it?” “In simple terms, yes,” Rarity said. “But I guess there’s nothing to be done save enjoy the time that we have left.” “Yeah.” Rainbow lifted her head, and the wind blowing across the deck mussed her mane in all different directions. Giving her head a shake, she regathered her mane, then chuckled. “We should get the rest of the girls on one of these things sometime. Seeing the world together would be totally awesome.” “Oh, it’d be amazing,” Rarity purred, choosing to follow Rainbow’s example and drop the uncomfortable topic. “The seven hills of Roam, the countryside of Prance, and of course Mareis itself, followed by a trip to Las Pegasus for some moral-free gambling and camaraderie—what a wonderful idea.” “Yeah, well, you’re welcome for it.” “Hush, you.” The two mares watched in silence as the Statue of Harmony passed before them, depicting a stern mare of copper patina balancing on two legs, with a tablet in one forehoof and a torch in the other. Her stoic visage was forever pointed across the ocean, in the direction of the Confederacy, a reminder to all ponies and griffons alike about the friendships that tied their two nations together since the Neighpoleanic wars more than a century ago. At least, that’s what they heard Jetstream saying from her group a few paces down the deck. Neither mare was really that knowledgeable about history. When the Concordia finally passed the Statue, there was nothing around them except open ocean for hundreds of miles, stretching to the east for as far as the eye could see. Smiling, Rarity leaned over the railing and waved to Manhattan. “Au revoir, Manehattan! Au revoir, Equestria!” Rainbow Dash merely shrugged. “What she said.” Rarity rolled her eyes and began to trot away from the railing, Rainbow Dash close behind her. “Ah, well, that was fun. Now for the rest of the three day journey!” “Yeah. So, what, are you just going to be sketching dresses and stuff?” Rainbow asked, fluttering behind Rarity and likewise adopting the angled flight Jetstream had used to keep up with the ship. “I’m sure there will be plenty of time for that,” Rarity said, “but Jetstream promised a spa somewhere below us, and I’m going to find it.” She gasped and turned to Rainbow. “You should join me!” Rainbow frowned and crossed her legs. “Yeah, sorry, no. Spas aren’t my kind of thing.” Looking around the deck, she saw a fenced off section beneath the bridge, painted green with white lines and a low net strung across the middle. “Oooh, they have tennis! C’mon, I’ll play you!” Rarity scoffed. “As if exerting myself beyond my normal yoga and daily exercises was on today’s agenda. I’ll pass, thank you.” “Filly,” Rainbow teased, sticking her tongue out at Rarity. “You just know I’d win.” Rarity’s hooves clacked together as she straightened her posture. “I did not say that. Simply that beating you into a pulp would be valuable spa time going to waste.” Smirking, Rainbow touched down in front of Rarity and poked her chest. “Careful, Rares. Them’s fighting words. Besides, you don’t want to chip your hooves or something.” “I’m sure I can get another hooficure after I take you to the house… and then to the spa.” Rainbow flinched, and it was all Rarity needed to drive the attack home. “Unless you’re afraid of losing to a fashionista. I won’t look down on you if you back out, Rainbow, I swear.” Rainbow flared her wings and bumped noses with Rarity. “Oh it’s on. I’ll go to the spa with you if by some miracle I happen to lose to a snooty unicorn like you. But when I win…” She grinned and fluttered backwards, rubbing her hooves together. “We’re gonna get you absolutely shitfaced and see what you’re like then. You know, what the real you is like.” “A lady is never ‘shitfaced’,” Rarity said, matching grins with Rainbow. “And I don’t expect that to change any time soon.” “We’ll see about that.” “Oh, indeed we shall.”