Rainbow’s wings twitched in her sleep. Over the course of the night, she’d spread out into a sprawling mass of limbs, her side resting against the wall of the shelter. “Mmmf,” she mumbled. “No, Spitfire… I mean, I would… heheh… you mean it?”
She rolled over, forelegs outstretched like she was caressing somepony. All that ended when she buried her muzzle in the soft sand between the two bed mats. Snorting and sneezing, gasping and sputtering, Rainbow jolted awake. White sand covered her nose, and when she forcefully exhaled, particles flew out and showered her chest. Her head throbbed, and she put her hooves to her skull to try and suffocate the pain that was equal parts alcohol and inhaling sand.
“I need a bigger bed,” Rainbow muttered. “That or some actual floors…”
There wasn’t a point to lying in bed any longer than she already had, so Rainbow forced herself to get up and go outside. The sun was nearly blinding overhead, and Rainbow hissed at it and shielding her eyes. But she’d already wasted enough time; she liked to be up by the dawn, and here she was, sleeping in until nearly noon. “Stupid alcohol…”
Much like Rarity before her, Rainbow’s first priorities were getting something to eat and drink, and relieving her bladder. She idly wondered where Rarity had gone off to, but she wasn’t too worried about that. They were stranded on an island together; it wasn’t like Rarity could really go anywhere, right? The fashionista would turn up sooner or later. Rainbow assumed she was at the beach, maybe trying to be helpful and hauling in the last of their salvage. They already had a pretty big pile of wood and other scrap they needed to sort through back at their camp.
Rainbow finished off the last of the water in the drinking pot; they’d need to boil more, otherwise they’d have to drink from the pond, which probably wasn’t the healthiest. If only they’d done it last night… but the champagne had held their attention much better than the necessities of survival had. At least there was enough to slake her thirst for the time being, which only added to the urgency she felt between her legs.
Her hooves kicked up sand as she trotted out of the clearing and towards some trees facing south. Once in the shelter of a crooked palm tree, Rainbow squatted and sighed. Of course, the rustling of some low fronds in front of her interrupted her peace and quiet, especially when Rarity’s head poked through the leaves and locked eyes with Rainbow.
Rarity blinked, swallowed, and quickly ducked back into the leaves. “Sorry!” she exclaimed. “Just… let me know when you’re done!”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and finished her business moments later. “Alright, Rares, it’s fine,” she said, taking a few steps away from the tree. “It’s not like you’re not familiar with what that’s all about…”
Once more Rarity advanced through the foliage, only more cautiously this time. “Sorry, Rainbow, I wasn’t paying attention,” she admitted, setting some strange fruit she was carrying in her teeth on the ground. “I was entertaining my passenger.”
Rainbow’s eyebrow climbed up her forehead. “Passenger?”
“Oh, yes!” Rarity finished emerging from the plants, revealing the red parrot sitting on her hindquarters with a piece of fruit in its beak. “I found this lovely little macaw while I was exploring earlier! He’s very friendly, and he loves fruit!”
The macaw angled its head at Rainbow and clicked its beak. Rarity smiled at it and offered it another piece of fruit from the bundle she’d put on the ground. The macaw bounced on her back a few times before taking the piece and quickly tearing it apart with its beak.
Rainbow was more interested in the fruit, though. “Where’d you find this?” she asked, snatching the fruit off of the ground before Rarity could pick it up again. She brushed some of the dirt and sand off using her coat, then bit off a few of the smaller bodies hanging to the center of the bundle. Creamy sweetness blanketed her tongue, and she quickly stuffed more fruit in her mouth, crushing the seeds between her teeth. “It’s good! Certainly beats grass!”
“There’s a whole ton of fruit bearing trees and bushes to the south!” Rarity exclaimed. “There’s a big hill overlooking this gorgeous lagoon, and the south side of that hill is covered in trees and fruit like this. I wanted to go and harvest what we could, but I need something to carry the fruits back in.”
The macaw shook its head and flung little pieces of the fruit stuck to its beak everywhere. Rarity winced as one struck her cheek, and she quickly wiped it off. “Oh, and this macaw hasn’t left my hindquarters since I fed it some fruit. If he was a pony, I would’ve accused him of being surprisingly forward with me,” she added with a giggle.
“Seems pretty tame,” Rainbow remarked, stepping closer to the bird. When she was almost nose to beak with it, she grinned. “He’s as colorful as I am! We should call him Rainbow Two!”
Rarity frowned. “Really, Rainbow? That’s the best you could come up with?”
“It’s certainly the most awesomest thing I could come up with!” Rainbow protested. When Rarity scowled at her, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Rares. Fine, what about Birdbrain?”
The macaw spoke for itself when it hissed at Rainbow and turned away, flicking its tail.
“Hey!” Rainbow shouted back at it. “I’m just being honest here!”
“I wanted to name it something more elegant,” Rarity said. She smiled at the macaw and tried to nuzzle it. “Scarlet? Dazzle? Ruby? I think all of those are wonderful names!”
The macaw tilted its head like it was thinking, considering Rarity’s names. Rarity smiled at it and managed to nuzzle its chest. Its feathers were soft and downy, like she was burying her nose in a pillow.
Then it extended its tail and pooped on Rarity’s flank.
Rarity shrieked in disgust and began jumping and bucking, and the macaw fluttered from Rarity’s back to Rainbow’s. While the unicorn writhed in the sand to try and get the bird droppings off of her coat, Rainbow sat down and put both her hooves to her muzzle to try and stifle her laughter. But even with that aid, it was too much for her, and she began howling as she watched Rarity’s reaction. Wiping tears from her eyes, she grinned at the macaw. “I like you! You’re great!”
The macaw chirped and warbled a few times before proudly preening its chest feathers.
“I’m just gonna call you ‘Chirp,’” Rainbow said. “What do you think of that?”
The macaw stopped what it was doing to run its beak through Rainbow’s mane, parting a few strands that’d been clumped together by sand and sweat. Rainbow giggled as the bird preened her, and when Rarity finally calmed down, a huge grin broke out across her muzzle. “He likes that one! Chirp! Hah! It’s such an awesome name!”
Rarity glared daggers at the bird as it innocently preened Rainbow’s mane. “I wouldn’t mind calling him ‘Chicken Wing’ after that,” she huffed. Storming back to the camp, she held her nose high and her eyebrows low. “I’m going to get something to gather fruit in. The farther that bird’s rear end stays from my beautiful ivory coat, the better!”
Rainbow watched Rarity trot back into the clearing and begin rummaging for something to collect fruit in. Turning to the macaw, she nuzzled it and giggled when it rubbed its head against her cheek. “Don’t worry, Chirp, I’m pretty sure she likes you.”