Rarity and Chirp watched Rainbow work from the shade of a nearby palm tree. After a brief foray back to their shelter to recover the shovel, they’d returned to the campsite and started digging through the sand. They’d each taken turns at it, though right now it was Rainbow’s turn. So far, they’d uncovered a few interesting tidbits: the firepit, another horseshoe, a rusty first aid kit with bandages and gauze inside, and a compass. Rarity had to shake the sand out of the compass when Rainbow uncovered it, but after that, the thing worked fine. Even though she could orient herself by the sun, a working compass would probably come in handy sooner or later.
After some time, Rainbow finally buried the shovelhead in the sand and fell back to the ground. “I’m not sure we’re gonna find anything more here,” she said. “The ponies that made this camp didn’t leave much behind when they left. Just that stuff we’ve found.”
“Here I was hoping to find something that would provide us some insight.” Rarity sighed and stood up, Chirp wobbling on her shoulder as she shifted positions. “There certainly has to be some reason they were here.”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing here.”
“Hmmm…” Rarity flipped the compass around, getting a detailed look at its scratched and tarnished surface. “The iron needle isn’t too terribly rusted, and the compass still works. Its brass shell is tarnished in spots, but not all over.” She tapped her chin and thought. “If I had to take a guess, I’d say this compass was made sometime within the last twenty years.”
“Really?” Rainbow asked, taking the compass from Rarity. “How can you tell?”
Rarity tossed her salty, sweaty mane out of her face. “I work with gems all the time, and the properties of basic metals and alloys aren’t all that much different. They’re things I learned in my technical schooling when I was studying to become a designer.”
“Huh.” Shrugging, Rainbow passed the compass back. “Okay, so there were ponies here twenty years ago or something. That’s pretty neat, but why? What happened to them?”
“I don’t know,” Rarity said. But then an idea hit her. Smiling, she poked Chirp’s chest feathers, getting the macaw’s attention. “I know someone who might, though.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Chirp? Why might he know?”
“Think about it for a second, darling,” Rarity said. “Look at how friendly Chirp is. He’s obviously comfortable around ponies. But he’s also a wild animal. Why would a macaw be so friendly with us if he hadn’t seen or interacted with ponies before?”
“Good point.” Rainbow trotted a little closer and stood almost nose to beak with the big bird. “Did you know these ponies, Chirp? You know what happened to them?”
Chirp turned his head to the side, watching Rainbow with one eye. Then, squawking, he fluttered up to a nearby tree, clinging onto the palm fronds for a second before flying further southwest.
Rarity watched the bird hop from tree to tree, hesitating between each jump and looking back at them. “Should we follow him?”
“Duh!” Rainbow exclaimed, trotting after the macaw. “That’s what he wants!”
“How do you know that, darling?”
“I’m a pegasus! We’re practically siblings!” She blinked. “Or cousins. Or something! C’mon, we don’t want him to fly too far!”
They followed Chirp through the island, warily watching their right as they got closer to the west beach. The waters between the islands were a little choppy today, and a layer of haze made the far islands shimmer and dance, blurring their details. Rarity thought she saw a simple outrigger canoe in the water several times, but every time she blinked and looked again, it disappeared. Perhaps her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Still, the two ponies stayed within the safety and shelter of the trees as they moved southwards. Chirp remained a couple of wingbeats ahead of them the whole time, always looking back over his shoulder to make sure they were following. Eventually, his flight took them to the western ridge, where the two had watched the sunset together a couple of days earlier. There, Chirp came to a stop on the rocks, his talons scraping off the stone.
Rarity frowned and looked around them. “We’ve already been here,” she said, lifting up a loose stone and pushing it around with her hoof. “I didn’t notice anything particularly interesting here last time. Apart from the view, of course.”
“Maybe there’s something we’re missing,” Rainbow said, her good wing held open for balance as she shuffled around the rocks and grass. “We didn’t exactly give this place a good search when we were here. Let’s take a look.”
Shrugging, Rarity started nosing through the rocks alongside Rainbow. It wasn’t a very large ridge, and there was more grass than rocks, so there wasn’t much to look at. She did take the opportunity to munch on a few blades of grass, however. It might have just been her imagination trying to make it taste better, but she felt like the grass at different corners of the island had different flavors. It was a tasty treat to enjoy after a day of walking in the sun and digging through the sand, though.
Her hoof slipped on a rock near the edge, and she lunged back towards solid ground as the rock clattered away from her. Rainbow’s head shot up when she heard the commotion, and she galloped back to Rarity. “You okay, Rares?” she asked, helping Rarity stand.
“I’m fine, darling, just had a simple misstep.” Rarity turned around and looked over the edge of the ridge to where the waves crashed into the rocks below. “I suppose I could have had it worse had I followed that rock over the edge as well.”
Rainbow joined her and looked down. Her face screwed in concentration after a few seconds, and she pointed to the breaking waves. “Why’s there a gap in the surf down there?” she asked.
Rarity followed her hoof to where she was pointing. Sure enough, the waves would crash and foam white over the rocks, except for a small stretch a couple of feet across. “Odd,” she said, moving further along the ridge to get a better look. “What would cause that?”
“Maybe we should take a look,” Rainbow said. “Come on, I think I see a way down!”
Rainbow started to make her way down the rocks, though Rarity hesitated to survey the landscape before following. “Watch out for urchins, Rainbow! They love to hide in the rocks, and we don’t need a repeat of that accident!”
“Believe me, Rares, I’m watching for those little pointy assholes!” She threaded her way down the rocks, carefully picking a path along the most stable. Rarity followed a few steps behind, relying on Rainbow to test the path. Eventually, the two found themselves on the very edge of the rocks, where the submerged sand abruptly fell away to their left.
“There’s a hollow in the rocks here,” Rainbow said, watching the waves sail into a small chamber before crashing against the rocks in the back. “That’s why we couldn’t see them breaking right away.”
“Is that it?” Rarity asked, trying to look around Rainbow’s shoulder on the narrow space they had to stand. “Surely we didn’t come all this way for nothing.”
Frowning, Rainbow began to walk closer to the hollow. After a few steps, she stumbled forward, and Rarity reflexively bit down on Rainbow’s tail to haul her back. Shaking water off of her dripping muzzle, Rainbow pointed downwards with her wing. “The sand just stops. I think it’s an underwater cave!”
“Really?” Rarity asked. “Does it go somewhere?”
“Only one way to find out!” Rainbow exclaimed. She took a deep breath, and before Rarity could stop her, she jumped down into the water.
“Ugh! Rainbow! Why must you insist on being like this!” Rarity nervously looked at the waves; she didn’t know if it was high or low tide or if they were changing. Swallowing hard, she inched closer to the drop off. “Fine. I guess we’ll be that way then.” She closed her eyes and inhaled as much as she could, then leapt into the churning waters after Rainbow.