//------------------------------// // Backs to the Wall // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash sucked down the last of the coconut water from the drupe in her hooves. She sighed and licked her lips; it certainly beat plain old water in terms of the nutrition department, and the fact that she had to work so hard to get it just made it all the sweeter. Plus, since Rarity had disappeared into the island, she’d had all the water from the coconuts to herself. She certainly didn’t have any way of setting it aside for the time being, not if Rarity expected her to get all the meat out of the fruits as well. And why waste that sweet nectar hidden away inside shells she worked so hard to open? The meat of the coconuts she’d already harvested had dried out surprisingly quickly in the sweltering sun. They made a perfect snack to munch on while she worked, a subtle sweet and cool flavor to contrast with the much more aggressively sugary tastes of the other fruits they’d had to eat so far. When Rainbow glanced at the basket next to her, her brow slid down her face and she set the coconut aside. She could’ve sworn that she’d collected at least twice the amount of coconut meat in the basket. Her eyes drifted to Chirp, who watched her from a tree. “Quit stealing so much of it, you birdbrain,” she scolded him, idly stuffing a few more chunks into her muzzle. “This stuff is valuable.” The leaves of some ferns and shrubbery rustled and shifted as Rarity suddenly burst through them, her coat covered in glistening sweat. Rainbow had been about to make a joke until she saw the way Rarity panted and the concerned look on her face. Abandoning the coconut, she scrambled to her hooves and found herself at Rarity’s side in no time at all. “Rarity!” she exclaimed, helping the exhausted mare stand. “What happened? What did you see?” Rarity tried to speak, but she had to swallow hard and suck down a few more breaths first. “Min… Minotaurs,” she finally managed. “They’re here.” Rainbow’s ears shot up and she looked back in the direction Rarity had come from, half expecting to see a pack of minotaurs come running out of the woods after her. When they didn’t though, she helped Rarity sit down and started to question her. “Where? How many? Did they see you?” “The lagoon,” Rarity said. “A single canoe. Four of them. And no, I don’t think so.” “Great,” Rainbow said. She paced in the sand, her wingtips fidgeting at her sides. “We need to go back there and keep an eye on them. We can’t let them find out we’re here.” Rarity swallowed hard. “Yes, you’re right. Just let me… let me catch my breath for a moment.” Rainbow patted Rarity’s shoulder and nuzzled her cheek. “You did awesome,” she said. “I’ll go take a look for now. Catch up when you’re able.” The unicorn nodded, and that was all the confirmation Rainbow needed. She was off in a flash, the branches and leaves of the native plant life whipping and scratching at her coat the entire time. The birds sung around her, oblivious to the peril the two ponies living there were in, and they made it difficult for Rainbow to concentrate on what was ahead of her. At least until, abruptly, they stopped. It took Rainbow’s brain a few seconds to process it, but when she did, she slid to a stop and scooted over to some bushes. It wasn’t a moment too soon; within a few more agonizing seconds, she heard several gruff voices making their way toward her. She couldn’t understand anything being said, but when she saw hooves stomp across the ground toward her, she hid her breath and curled up as tightly as she could in the bush. If they saw her, if they found out she was there, Rainbow knew they’d kill her. There wouldn’t be any way to escape. The hooves marched closer. Through a gap in the leaves, Rainbow got her first look at the minotaurs. They were as big as that one minotaur that’d come to Ponyville a long time ago, maybe even bigger. Bulging and powerful muscles slid beneath stone-gray coats, and their coats were covered in all sorts of tribal patterning and war paint. Each minotaur carried a net across their shoulder and a long spear in one hand. Rainbow didn’t have to imagine too hard what would happen to her if she got caught. They’d get the net over her, and then they’d stick her with a spear. And Rarity wouldn’t even know. Rarity… her heart jumped into her throat as she realized that the pair of minotaurs were walking back in the direction she’d come from—the direction of their camp. If they found it, they’d find Rarity. Even if Rarity managed to hear them coming and hid, the presence of a fresh camp on the island would let them know that they were still hiding around. Rainbow felt like her and Rarity were being pressed into a corner, and the way out was getting smaller and smaller by the second. She had to do something. If she just hid in that bush, it was only a matter of time before the minotaurs got one or both of them. They hadn’t made it for this long only for a couple of minotaurs to end it all. But right now, Rainbow still had the drop on them. There had to be something she could do. She found a possibility in a large rock lying in the sand by her hooves. With no better ideas, she picked up the rock and heaved it as hard as she could off to the side. The rock hit a tree trunk, producing a solid crack before it fell into the sand with a muted thump. And, to Rainbow’s relief, both minotaurs heard it. They stopped what they were doing and turned to the left, walking over to investigate the source of the noise. Rainbow wasted no time. As soon as they were out of sight, she carefully slipped out of her cover and galloped as quietly as she could through the sand. Thankfully it muffled her hooves a bit, but she knew that only a casual glance would let the minotaurs pick her out from the foliage. Celestia damn it, why did she have to be so colorful? The minotaurs didn’t seem to notice her running away, or at least, she didn’t think that they did. There certainly weren’t any shouts or cries of alarm. But she was an athlete, unlike Rarity, and so when she returned to camp, she wasn’t quite as out of breath as Rarity had been. Rarity stood up in surprise and trotted over to Rainbow. “You’re back? Are they—?” Rainbow nodded. “Two of them. Coming this way. Quick, we gotta tear this stuff down!” “Tear it down?” Rarity asked. “But it’s our shelter! We worked so hard on it—!” “And it’s gonna be the death of us if it doesn’t look like it’s been abandoned!” Rainbow hissed. She pushed past Rarity and started tearing at the palm fronds making up the walls. “Use your magic and start ripping it apart, then throw sand on it! We’ll only have like two minutes, so we gotta go!” Rarity swallowed hard and did as she was told. Rainbow watched as her friends’ magic started tearing and pulling on their shelter. In mere moments, they’d undone all the hard effort that’d gone into making their shelter, leaving only a leaning frame standing, with dried and browning palm fronds hanging off of it. Then her magic kicked up a wave of sand, blanketing everything in a thin layer. Rainbow grabbed the basket of emergency provisions they’d set aside. “Grab those coconuts,” Rainbow said as she ran past. “We can’t leave them sitting here, they’re too fresh.” The coconuts levitated in a blue field as Rarity followed Rainbow to the edge of the trees. “I can’t believe this is happening,” Rarity worriedly muttered. “Oh, Celestia, keep us safe!” “Celestia can’t help us here, Rares,” Rainbow said, swallowing hard. “We’ve only got ourselves.”