Night fell, and both Rarity and Rainbow lingered by the east shore much later than they usually did in the hopes of hearing the sirens again. But the seas were quiet and calm that night, and the only thing they heard was the crashing of waves and a stiff breeze blowing through the trees. Not wanting to spend another night sleeping on the sand by the shore, Rarity eventually decided to pack it in, and she and Rainbow retreated to their browning shelter for the night. Rarity knew that they’d have to start replacing it soon; the water and sun were deteriorating the palm fronds that made up the majority of it surprisingly quickly.
She and Rainbow laid together that night, the space between their two beds gone as they’d combined them into one. For some reason, sleeping wasn’t as much of an uncomfortable and itchy experience for Rarity when she had Rainbow to hold onto. And judging by how quickly Rainbow Dash fell asleep in her embrace, it wasn’t just her imagining that. Perhaps with some minor horror, Rarity realized that her standards for refreshing rest had fallen from a comfy and cushy four-poster bed to clean moss and somepony to hold onto.
She wondered if Rainbow would still help her fill her bed whenever they both came home. Would they still have this when they got off the island? Rainbow’s hair tickled her nose as she breathed in her scent. Was this an actual attraction between them, or a desperation for companionship on an island with danger, death, and loneliness all around them?
Rainbow snorted in her sleep and curled closer to Rarity. At least she didn’t have any quandaries to debate in her rest. Rarity realized that once again, her habit of worrying over the little details was keeping her awake at night. She just needed to let go and worry about those things later. Right now, the most important thing was staying alive and keeping her sanity intact. Worrying about the future of her budding relationship with Rainbow certainly wasn’t helping her achieve that last part.
Laying her head back down on the ground, Rarity tried to adjust her bedding into something more comfortable for the growing crick in her neck and exhaled. Then it was just a matter of slowly counting her breaths until she fell asleep.
It felt like the blink of an eye, but soon Rarity found herself yawning as the morning sun peered through the spaces in their shelter. She realized how tired they must’ve been when she saw that neither her nor Rainbow had moved at all during the night; she still held onto Rainbow, and Rainbow still had her forelegs wrapped around Rarity’s back. And now as a result, Rarity’s neck was stiff and even moving it was a pain.
Grunting, she gently rolled Rainbow back so she could stand up and get out. The pegasus snorted and shifted, but she went back to snoring after a few seconds, leaving Rarity to shake her head and step out the door. It was a good thing Rainbow slept so hard; Rarity was certain she could bury Rainbow in the sand while she was asleep and her friend wouldn’t notice.
She chuckled to herself; maybe she’d try it the next time she caught Rainbow napping on the beach.
After taking care of her morning business and getting a drink from the bucket, Rarity plucked one of their last sugar apples from the basket and started picking it apart. Her eyes wandered to the pile of scrap wood they’d salvaged, and the nearby pile of unsuitable wood they’d pooled to create their signal fire. How much wood could they salvage from those piles to build a raft? It was all they really had to work with, unfortunately. They didn’t have any tools for cutting down trees and using them to make a raft. The only sharp metal tools they had were the cleaver, the shovel, and the knife, and none would be very good at cutting down a tree. Besides, her and Rainbow simply couldn’t afford to break those tools in the attempt. They were too valuable to waste in that manner.
Maybe her and Rainbow could make some stone tools? There was certainly a lot of rock to comb through on the south hill and the two ridges framing the lagoon. With a little bit of looking, perhaps they’d find some rocks that would be suitable for turning into an axe head. They could probably be tied to sticks using some coconut fibers spun into thread. At least that was one thing Rarity knew how to do, though working on it without a spinning wheel or other such modern tools would be difficult. But she was confident she could do it with enough time and effort. And really, her and Rainbow had all the time in the world.
She heard the palms shift behind her, and she waved to Rainbow as she groggily staggered out of the shelter. “Good morning, darling! How did you sleep?”
“Like a rock,” Rainbow muttered, rubbing her eyes with her wingtip. “I had this dream that—your magic is back?!”
“I wish it wasn’t a dream,” Rarity said, taking another bite of her breakfast. “It’d certainly be useful.”
“No, like, actually, your magic is back!”
Rarity blinked, then stared at the piece of fruit hovering in front of her mouth, surrounded in a blue field. She dropped the clove in surprise, and she felt around the end of her horn. Sure enough, the crack was mostly healed, leaving nothing more than a chip in the end.
“I didn’t even notice!” Rarity exclaimed, jumping to her hooves. Sure enough, she could pick up the piece of fruit with a thought. Spinning it in the air, she chucked it across the clearing. It landed in the sand ten or fifteen yards away, catching Chirp’s attention, who swooped down from his perch to pick up the half-eaten clove. “Oh, Celestia, my magic is back! This is wonderful! I must’ve been too groggy to notice it earlier, but now I’m ecstatic!”
“You and me both,” Rainbow said. “Having your magic back is gonna be super awesome for us. Now we’ll have reach and a bunch of other stuff that we could really use.”
Rarity picked up a streak of sand and began shuttling it along in patterns and waves in mid-air. “I’m mostly excited to have my telekinesis back. Now I won’t have to pick everything up in my mouth. And my fine manipulation is still as sharp as ever!” She giggled and pranced about in the sand. “I feel like a foal on Hearth’s Warming! This is the best present I could’ve asked for!”
Rainbow smiled, sharing in Rarity’s joy. “The ponies want to know, Miss Rarity,” she said, doing her best imitation of a reporter’s voice, “what will you do now?”
Rarity’s eyes turned skyward, and she spotted out the nearest fruiting palm tree. Several ripe coconuts hung from its trunk, and she licked her lips in anticipation. “I think I’m going to eat something different today,” she said, her blue magic already wrapping around one of the coconuts. With a forceful tug, she pulled it off of the tree and floated it down to her and Rainbow. “It’s time for some delicious coconut!”