//------------------------------//
// Completing the Checklist 
// Story: Surviving Sand Island 
// by The 24th Pegasus 
//------------------------------//

Rarity panted and wiped her brow. In front of her sat a pile of driftwood and palm fronds almost as tall as the tip of her horn. It was the product of an entire day’s work, an entire day of breaking fresh fronds off of palm trees and separating the driftwood they’d salvaged but couldn’t use from the more useful planks and boards. At least it hadn’t been all work and misery for the unicorn; she’d found a set of grooming combs and brushes inside of a suitcase they’d scavenged the other day, and she’d immediately put both to good use on working the tangles out of her mane and coat. Rainbow Dash even sat still long enough for Rarity to help groom her. Even the stunt flier had limits on how much messy mane she could tolerate, apparently.

Dinner was a simple meal of grass, fruit, and water. Though the grass was much blander than the fruit, it would help them conserve their fruit rations for the time being. Though the south hill was covered in fruiting plants, the grass grew back much faster than the plants could bear new fruit. Even though neither wanted to admit it, they were both starting to think long-term. As much as they wanted to believe otherwise, they knew that rescue was hardly a guarantee, and now with predatory minotaurs roaming the nearby islands, they had to be ready to take what they could and run into hiding if they were ever discovered.

To that end, after dinner, they found themselves sitting in front of their shelter, moving fruit between the baskets. They used the largest one they had and filled it to the brim with equal parts sugar apples and star apples. When they were finished, they had enough fruit stored away to last them a couple days of hiding somewhere in the jungle.

Rainbow looked at the basket and sighed. “Now if only we had some way to carry water with us.”

Rarity nodded, her eyes slipping to the big pot just inside their shelter. While it was great for holding a lot of water and getting it cleaned and boiled, it wasn’t exactly the most portable solution when it was full. And as far as they knew, the pond in the center of the island was the only source of fresh water apart from the rains. If they were to be driven away from that source by something, then they’d die from dehydration in a few days.

…Then again if there was something bad enough to force them to flee their shelter for a few days, they were likely going to die anyway. Or worse.

“Say, Rainbow,” Rarity asked. “What do you think happened to that ‘Captain Squall’ pirate and her crew? Do you think they survived the storm?”

Rainbow shrugged. “They were using a big freighter as their ship instead of a cruise liner like we were. It probably had a lot sturdier construction, depending on how well those pirates maintained it. But if they flew into the eye of a Cat Three, then they’d be just as screwed as we were.”

“You have a point, but for the sake of discussion, let’s assume the worst.”

“Is the worst, like, them dying, or them living?”

Rarity blinked. “Erm… worst for us, darling. Them surviving the storm. They could be out here somewhere, wondering what happened to the biggest ransom they so ever briefly held in their hooves.” She leaned in closer. “These islands were on the way to wherever they had their secret pirate hideaway, Rainbow. They could be looking for us!”

“Is that really so bad, though?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, yeah, those pirates are a bunch of sucky losers, but they want to ransom us back to Equestria! They aren’t gonna hurt us, they want us in one piece because we’re really valuable.”

“So we hope,” Rarity said.

“That’s, like, totally what Squall told us when they first captured us, though.”

“That was before the storm came through and destroyed the Concordia and probably killed a number of her crew.” Rarity tilted her head toward the sky, where she imagined a menacing freighter puttering its way across the sky. “I just don’t know, Rainbow. If Squall gets her hooves on us again, there’s no guarantee she’ll be pleasant.”

Rainbow was quiet for a while—at least until she stood up and kicked at the sand in frustration. “This sucks!” she yelled, stomping around their home clearing. “We’re in the middle of Celestia knows where and we can’t just simply call for help because there are minotaurs who’ll eat us to the west and a crazy pirate bitch to the south! Friggin’ frig, this makes me want to pull my feathers out!”

“Rainbow, please,” Rarity stood up and put her hooves on her friend’s shoulders. “We’ll… we’ll do it somehow, okay? Help will come, and we’ll get out of here. It’s only a matter of time.”

Rainbow fell to her haunches, her wingtips poking through the sand. “I don’t know how much time we have though, Rares. I’m worried that something nasty is gonna get us first. Sure, we know how to survive and find food and all that—we’ve done it all already—but minotaurs and pirates? If we’re not ready, those could be the end of us. Then it doesn’t matter if help ever flies this way, because we aren’t gonna be around to get it.”

“Then we should prepare,” Rarity said. “We have sticks and knives. We can make weapons to defend ourselves if we have to. My magic will be coming back soon, but we can’t rely on that to deal with all our problems. I’m no Twilight or Starlight, I’m a seamstress. Fighting isn’t my forte, but you were right.” She smirked and tossed her sandy mane. “I can put up a hell of a fight when I need to!”

“Heh, that you can.” Standing up, Rainbow shook some of the sand out of her feathers. “Okay, let’s do that, then. The Wonderbolts might not have participated in combat for a long time, but they’re still a military branch. I still had basic training, so I know a little bit about fighting like Equestria’s finest.” Her head turned toward the pile of driftwood, now mostly sorted and scattered about their camp. “We’ll need to find two good sticks we can use to practice with. Preferably something sword or spear shaped.” Once more, Rainbow’s devilish grin took over her muzzle. “I’m gonna show you why us pegasi are proud of our warrior heritage!”