As the day beat on, Rainbow’s strength slowly returned. By nightfall, she was almost back to her usual self, apart from a slight ache to her stomach that wouldn’t go away. She knew that by morning, she’d be one hundred percent once more. Nothing was going to keep her down for long, not even a close brush with death.
And it wasn’t just the rest that helped her recover quickly; the attraction growing between her and Rarity kept them both in high spirits. Though neither would directly admit it—Rarity was too proud to let herself fall for another pony and it was uncool for Rainbow to be all lovey-dovey—what had happened on the beach had only intoxicated them to desire more. Their feelings were finally beginning to surface, and all Rainbow wanted to do was hold Rarity in her forelegs and kiss her all night long. She was almost certain that Rarity felt the same way, and she didn’t blame her. Not everypony got to make out with an awesome mare like her.
They changed their bedspreads before they went to sleep that night, replacing the dry and browning palm fronds and moss with new, softer, greener material. This time, however, they pooled them into one big spread in the center of the shelter instead of two separate spreads divided by a line of sand. When they retired for the night, they laid down next to each other and held on tight, sharing their warmth and company as the wind gradually picked up and the wildlife began to fall silent.
By the time morning came around, the skies were dark and angry, and the harsh winds bent the boughs of the trees. Each made a quick run to the trees to relieve themselves, and then they both hunkered down inside their shelter before the rains could hit. Chirp even sought them out, flying inside their shelter to protect himself from the wind and rain. Once more the bird perched on Rainbow’s hindquarters, calmly preening himself as the skies finally tore open and began to drown the island.
Rainbow and Rarity watched the rain beat down on the sand outside from the safety of their shelter. The trees surrounding their sandy cove broke up the wind somewhat, but even that caused the beams to creak and the fronds lining their roof to ruffle. If they’d built their shelter out in the open, the storm would’ve taken it down. Rainbow knew they would have to make repairs anyway once the storm had passed; at least it wasn’t as strong as a hurricane. Then they might really have lost their shelter.
The hours beat on, but the rain never let up. A small pool of rainwater had formed by now in the hollow, its surface rippling and splashing in the storm. Chirp still sat on Rainbow’s back, his head turned around and tucked into the feathers on his back as he napped. All was peaceful in the midst of the storm, save Rainbow herself; the mare was unbelievably bored, though as much as she wanted to roll around or move in the slightest, she didn’t want to disturb the macaw resting on her hindquarters.
Rarity saw how tortured Rainbow looked, so she smirked and nosed Rainbow’s cheek. “Bored?”
“Bored,” Rainbow grumbled. “There’s nothing to do. The dumb storm’s just gonna keep us inside all day.”
“I guess we couldn’t have good weather forever,” Rarity said. Her eyes drifted up to the roof of their shelter, where a few dribbles of water poked their way through the fronds. “At least our shelter is holding up nicely.”
“Yeah, thank Celestia for that.” Rainbow sighed and placed her chin on her crossed forehooves. “This would be the perfect day to just sit back and read a Daring Do novel. If only we had a few books with us.”
“They wouldn’t have survived the sea anyway,” Rarity said. After a moment, she brightened up at a new idea. “Perhaps we should make one of our own for this!”
Rainbow cocked her eyebrow. “Huh?”
“Let’s imagine for a second that we’re in one of Daring Do’s books,” Rarity said. “Think about it. Our situation has all the trappings of one: two ponies survive a shipwreck and wash up on a deserted island, where they have to find the means to survive until help comes. It’s the solid premise for one of her books isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I still don’t know where you’re going with this.”
“What if there’s more to this island than meets the eye?” Rarity asked. “There are four islands here, and we know that there are minotaurs on at least one of them, but for some reason they don’t set hoof onto this island all that often. Why wouldn’t they? It’s a perfectly fine island, and living on a small archipelago like this, I would assume that one would want to make use of every inch of land available.”
“Uh huh…”
“And then there’s another thing. Have you seen Princess Luna in any of your dreams since we made landfall here?”
Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, but closed it and thought a minute. “No,” she admitted, her eyes falling on the sand. “And I’ve had some pretty nasty nightmares since we washed up here. Where is she?”
“A question I want to know the answer to as well,” Rarity said. “If Princess Luna found us in our dreams, we could easily explain to her what happened and where we are. We’d be off this island in a few days. But she hasn’t seen us yet. Why is that?”
“Good question,” Rainbow said. She chewed on her lip for a few seconds. “She either thinks that we’re dead or she can’t find our dreams for some reason. Or maybe something’s happening back in Equestria; I don’t know.”
“Let’s assume that everything is alright back home. If it isn’t, it’s not like we can do anything from here. That leaves two options, and I don’t think the princesses would give up so easily on us. It’s hardly been a week or so; I’ve lost count of the days, honestly.”
“We should make a calendar board or something,” Rainbow suggested.
“Perhaps, but that’s not important right now. That leaves us with one logical explanation: something is keeping Luna from finding us and our dreams. But what?”
Rainbow thought, trying to put together tropes and pieces from all the Daring Do books she’d read over the years. “It has to be something about this island,” she said, frowning at the sand like it was about to betray her. “Something about this island is keeping the minotaurs away from it, and it’s stopping Luna from finding our dreams.”
Rarity nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking, too. But what?”
“I don’t know, Rares,” Rainbow admitted. “But there’s only one way to find out.”
“And that is?”
“We need to do some better exploring,” Rainbow said. “We have to comb this island over from end to end. There has to be something here that explains it. Maybe an ancient temple or something! There’s definitely some weird stuff going on here, and we’re gonna solve that mystery!”
Thunder rumbled above, and the rain redoubled across the sand. It came in so thick that the two ponies could barely see the end of the sandy hollow on the opposite side. The wind picked up, whipping across the puddle in the hollow and forming tiny little waves on its surface.
Rainbow sighed and rested her head on her hooves again. “But we gotta wait, first…” she grumbled.
Rarity giggled and rolled onto her side, pressing her back against Rainbow’s wing. “I don’t particularly mind,” she cooed, snuggling up to Rainbow. “More time for us.”
“Heh… don’t make Chirp jealous.”
“I’ll try not to.”