//------------------------------// // Homesick // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Rarity woke up right where she’d fallen asleep on the beach. The sirens’ song had been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hoof, it was beautiful, beautiful in ways Rarity couldn’t describe with words. But on the other, it was sad, and some of that sadness had followed Rarity into her dreams. She felt tears matting the hair around her eyes, left over from her dream. As gingerly as she could, she dabbed at them with her fetlock, trying to make sure she didn’t get sand in her eyes. The feelings of loneliness and loss that the sirens had weaved into her dreams stuck to her brain like glue, no matter how much she tried to gently shake them out. Something mumbled at her side, and Rarity felt a blue wing tug on her shoulders. Rainbow Dash was still asleep by her side, her chin and cheeks covered in damp sand, legs sprawled out on the beach. Her hooves would occasionally twitch, and her wing would pull on Rarity every so often. Rarity smiled and brushed Rainbow’s cheek. “I see you’re sleeping just fine,” she whispered. She didn’t have to worry too much about being quiet. The crashing waves nearly drowned out her words entirely. Her eyes turned to the sea. The waves almost looked gray in the early morning light, blocked and scattered by thick clouds. She tried to imagine where the sirens had gone between their performance last night and now. Maybe they were still near the islands, or maybe they were already a hundred miles away. What was life like when you had the huge emptiness of the ocean to explore? Did sirens ever get sentimental about places they swam to? Did they ever have a reason for going where they went and singing as they pleased? If only Twilight was here. Rarity was sure Twilight would know a thing or two about sirens. She wondered if they were all as nasty as those three that Twilight had encountered through the mirror those years ago. The ones singing last night certainly didn’t sound like they were performing with malice. Maybe they would sing again tonight. She certainly hoped they would. Rainbow started to stir, and in a few minutes, she opened her eyes. Yawning, she licked her lips, but recoiled at the taste of salt and sand. It took her another few seconds to take in her surroundings and notice Rarity at her side. “Rares?” she asked, rubbing at her eyes. “Where… did we spend the night out here?” she asked. She yawned again, stretching her jaw wide. “I don’t remember falling asleep…” “Neither do I,” Rarity assured her. “It was almost like a lullaby. Next thing I knew, I was waking up next to you.” Blue cheeks turned a shade of rose. “Yeah. Huh. Still, I think that’s the best sleep I’ve had since we got here.” “If only we could get them to sing every night.” “You think they’re still around?” Rarity shrugged. “I don’t know the habits and patterns of sirens. Maybe, maybe not. I suppose we’ll only know for sure if we hear them again.” “Yeah, I guess.” She smirked and added, “Think they’ll want to join us for a random musical number sometime?” “I certainly wouldn’t mind making their acquaintance—presuming, of course, that they don’t want to lure us into the sea and eat us.” Rainbow blinked. “Do they do that?” “If you ask any salt-streaked sailor, they’ll say so,” Rarity claimed. “They say sirens try to lure stallions off the decks of their ships, then drown them and eat them. Some ships even carry unicorns whose sole purpose is to cast a silencing spell around the ship to keep the crew from hearing their songs.” “Huh. Never knew that.” After a moment, she shook Rarity’s shoulders a bit. “Good thing we’re both mares then, right?” Rarity giggled. “I’m sure that will help us greatly,” she said. “We’ll have to ask them the next time they’re around.” The two ponies sat on the beach for a while, but minute by minute, Rarity’s glum face returned. Rainbow noticed it and nosed Rarity’s shoulder. “What’s wrong, Rares?” “Their song was so beautiful and so sad,” Rarity said. “It must have stuck with me into my dreams, because my dreams were sad, too.” “Oh?” Rainbow asked. “What were they about? I mean, if you don’t want to talk about them, that’s cool, too. Don’t mind me.” Rarity rolled her eyes; typical Rainbow. At least she was trying to be empathetic. “I dreamt that I was home. I don’t know how long I was supposedly gone in the dream, but it had been some time. But everything was different. Our friends were gone and moved on, my boutiques were all sold out to different companies, even my little Sweetie was grown up! And she hardly recognized me, and none of my ex-clients cared that I was back! They’d… they’d forgotten about me, Rainbow. I was an unwanted ghost from days long past and nopony wanted me!” She shook and shivered. “I don’t want Equestria to forget about us,” she whimpered. “I don’t want to go back home only for home to not come back to us. If nopony ever finds us…” Rainbow interrupted Rarity before she could continue her train of thought. “Rarity, you’re worrying too much,” she assured her. “We’ve barely been here more than a week! We’re still probably the talk of Equestria! Nopony’s gonna forget about us, I promise!” Rarity nodded. “You’re… you’re right, darling. I’m just being foolish.” She sniffled and dabbed at her eyes. “I suppose it was just the sirens’ song. It must have colored my dreams.” “Probably.” Rainbow hugged Rarity close, then turned her eyes skyward. “Sun’s coming up. Wanna get breakfast? We’ve got a big day of exploring ahead of us. We gotta comb this island over from shore to shore. Maybe we’ll find something!” “I suppose you make a fair point,” Rarity said. She nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek and gently stood up, shedding the wing from her back. “Let’s go make sure that Chirp hasn’t eaten all of our fruit yet. We’ll need to get more at some point.” “Yeah. Little guy’s like a pig or something, he eats so much.” Rainbow also stood up and waited for Rarity to go first. “After you!”