//------------------------------// // Rock Climbing // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Once more, the natural beauty of the lagoon astonished Rarity as she and Rainbow emerged from the trees. Instead of climbing up the south hill and back down, they’d skirted around the eastern shoreline, taking in a little bit more of their island. Rarity found it amusing that for however many days they’d been stuck there, they still hadn’t done a full walk around the perimeter. It would hardly take more than an hour, maybe two, she reckoned. It wasn’t terribly big; maybe a couple of miles across at its widest. Of course, the unexplored didn’t necessarily mean untapped potential. Most of the eastern shore was just more of the same: white sands and palm trees on a gentle, curving beach. At least it was peaceful, and though she’d kept a wary eye trained over the waters for minotaurs, she’d felt much safer than if they had been walking along the west side. Once more, Chirp had come out of the trees to join them, though the macaw seemed disappointed that the two ponies weren’t climbing the southern hill to get at the fruit. Still, the bird had decided to use Rarity as its perch this time, and after a wonderful (if rough) massage Rainbow had given her, the bird’s talons felt like a lovely dose of acupuncture. Between Chirp and Rainbow, Rarity felt like she had all she needed to run a basic spa when she needed it. Rainbow wasted no time galloping into the water, leaving Rarity and Chirp at the edge of the gently lapping shore. As soon as it was deep enough to splash around it, Rainbow flung herself into the crystal water, drenching herself from head to hoof. She emerged with a prismatic splash, shaking droplets of glassy liquid everywhere and ruffling her good wing. “I needed that!” she exclaimed, falling to her knees and letting the water slide over her shoulders. “It’s too friggin’ hot! Celestia needs to turn off the sun for a couple of minutes!” “If only we could tell her,” Rarity mused, stepping into the water after Rainbow. Chirp let out an annoyed squawk and fluttered back to a crooked palm tree hanging out over the edge of the lagoon, beady eyes watching Rarity as she made her way over to Rainbow. In the smothering heat of the day, the surf felt like ice on her coat. It was warm, yes, being in the shallows, but the deep well of the ocean just outside of the lagoon made sure that it didn’t get too hot. It was the perfect temperature, and once at Rainbow’s side, Rarity followed her example and sunk her shoulders below the tiny waves. “We could’ve picked a worse island to wash up on,” Rainbow said, lowering her head until her chin just barely rested in the water. “I think we’re pretty lucky.” “I suppose the fates have to reward us in some way for everything we’ve been through,” Rarity said. “If we were truly lucky, then I don’t think we’d be here, darling.” Rainbow shrugged. “True enough, I guess. But I mean, we could’ve ended up with the minotaurs, or just in the middle of the ocean with no land around. We’d be screwed either way.” “A fair point.” Rarity dipped her head under the water. The salt that’d built up on her ears and across her face dissolved, if only for a moment; she knew it’d be back as soon as the water coating her face evaporated. Below the surface, the world was quiet and peaceful. If only she was a seapony, then she could go anywhere and not have to worry about being limited to a tiny chunk of sandy land only a few square miles in total. When she broke the surface again for air, she found Rainbow looking at her. “Feels good, right?” “I’m just glad I discovered it,” Rarity said. “It’s the perfect remedy for a day like this one.” “Yeah.” Rainbow’s eyes drifted toward the eastern ridge at the mouth of the lagoon. “I’m cooled off enough to go hiking. Want to come with?” “May as well,” Rarity said. “There’s always the water to come back to. If I lie here any longer, my legs may turn to jelly!” “Or marshmallows,” Rainbow teased, poking her hoof into Rarity’s soft cheek. “I didn’t think it was good for little mallows to be in the water like you are.” A deep-set frown unfolded over Rarity’s muzzle. “I am not a marshmallow,” she protested, holding her frown despite Rainbow’s hooves playing with her cheeks. “Heehee… Of course you aren’t, Rares.” She let go of Rarity’s cheeks and stood up, shaking the water out of her wing and coat. “Ready?” Rarity followed suit, and soon the two of them were marching across the lagoon toward the eastern ridge. They kept their hooves in the water, enjoying the slightly cooler air hovering around the lagoon while the stifling sun beat down on them from above. Though they both regularly glanced toward the north, they didn’t see or hear anything resembling an airship. Rarity idly wondered just how long it’d be before one made its way this far south. Rainbow stopped at the base of the ridge. Lots of craggy and fractured rocks made up the ridge, and grasses grew out of the cracks where sand and dirt had accumulated over time. It also jutted out a bit over the lagoon, providing some shade along the water. More battered rocks poked out of the shallow sands beneath the ridge, where Rarity could see several spiky black and purple balls just beneath the surface. “Sea urchins!” Rarity exclaimed, splashing through the water to take a closer look. She was exceedingly careful with where she placed her hooves; the last thing she wanted to do was step on one and get a nasty prick to the frog of her hoof. Most of the urchins had a body only two or three inches in diameter, but their spines were often much longer than the width of their bodies. Who knew that such little spiky creatures had chosen the sheltered cove of the lagoon to make their home? “Huh. Neat,” was all Rainbow said, giving them a quick look. Then she set her eyes on the ridge above her. “Been awhile since I’ve done some climbing. This will be fun!” Rarity stood back and let Rainbow work herself into position. “You go find the easiest way up, darling, and I’ll follow.” She smirked when Rainbow rolled her eyes. “This ‘marshmallow’ is far too soft to do the hard work of trial and error up this treacherous slope.” “Lame,” Rainbow groaned. She found a few hoofholds and started off, carefully scaling the craggy wall. “I hope you’re watching me.” “Oh, I am, darling,” Rarity assured her, sitting down in the water a safe distance from both the ridge and the urchins. “Show those rocks who’s the boss… while I sit in the cool water, safe from both the sun and the flies.” “Meh,” Rainbow grumbled, continuing her climb. Despite her teasing, Rarity watched her friend carefully scale the ridge with keen interest. Rainbow seemed like she knew what she was doing; she placed every hoof with care and only moved after testing the rocks to make sure they wouldn’t slip or roll. Over the next ten minutes, she made great progress, almost making it to the top. Then one of the rocks shattered under her hoof. Rarity gasped as Rainbow scrambled for purchase on the rock face, barely managing to hold on with three hooves anchored in precarious positions. Her wing opened and fluttered, trying to provide enough lift to secure her position. “Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed, standing up and splashing through the water back toward the ridge. She flinched and yelped in pain when she felt something pierce the bottom of her hoof, nearly causing her to fall over. Instead, she sat back down on the sand, holding up her right front hoof and noting the tip of a black spine sticking out of it. About two inches of spine protruded from the bottom of her hoof, and Rarity noted a little bit of her own blood running through the hollow spine and out the bottom after a few seconds. Needing little more motivation than that, she carefully grasped the spine in her teeth and gave it a few gentle tugs. A horribly bitter taste settled over her tongue, at odds with the salty taste of seawater she expected, but she managed to remove the spine without breaking it under her skin. Then water splashed over her and, startled, she looked to her right. Rainbow broke the surface with a cough and a sharp cry of pain; it wasn’t too hard to see why, with the numerous long, black spines sticking out of her flank and side. Rarity wasted no time in helping her friend get out of the rocks, this time being more careful to avoid the urchins lurking beneath the water. They immediately sat down on the closest bit of dry sand they could find. “Goodness, Rainbow, are you alright?” Rarity asked, ignoring the spines for now in favor of checking Rainbow for any other wounds. Spines could be dealt with easily; broken bones, not so much. “Stupid fucking rocks!” Rainbow swore, writhing in pain from the spines in her side. “They gave out on me and—agh! Get them out! They burn!” If Rainbow had been hurt worse than getting pricked by sea urchins, Rarity was confident that her friend would’ve been more concerned about that than the spines. Moving to Rainbow’s left, she carefully began pulling the spines out, one by one. Rainbow shook and moaned as Rarity removed each spine, but soon she was finished, leaving seven narrow gouges in Rainbow’s hide, each one gently bleeding. “Let’s get you back to shelter,” Rarity said, helping Rainbow stand. “I think that’s enough rock climbing for today.” She shook her head at a finger of dizziness poking at her brain; the excitement must’ve been too much. “Let’s rest and eat some food.” Rainbow silently nodded and soldiered on with Rarity. “Yeah… food sounds good.”