//------------------------------// // Rebuilding // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Days passed with uncertainty hovering around them. Rainbow and Rarity simply tried to focus on rebuilding their shelter and setting aside what they could for the raft. The rains came and went, leaving them soaked for hours at a time. It wasn’t much of a surprise to either pony when Rarity came down with a cold on the second day. Still, the best thing for her was warmth and rest, but they wouldn’t have that until they finished their shelter. That left Rarity with little choice but to help Rainbow put everything back together in the rain, sniffling and sneezing as she did so. She just hoped that it wouldn’t turn into something worse, like pneumonia. By the third day, they’d finally managed to rebuild their shelter, and the rains had finally passed by, giving them sunlight for the first time in what felt like forever. Unfortunately, Rarity found herself hardly able to enjoy it. Rainbow had made her a makeshift blanket out of what cloth they had to spare, and Rarity simply sat in the doorway of their shelter, trying to get what sun she could without exposing herself too much to the elements. Rarity wanted to help Rainbow build the raft, but Rainbow wouldn’t hear any of it. She insisted that Rarity stay put and focus on getting better, and she started coercing the unicorn with little kisses and nuzzles to buy her cooperation. As much as Rarity enjoyed those, she hated leaving Rainbow to do the hard work of building tools and getting everything ready to build the raft that would take them right into the belly of the beast. It was some weird paradox of her nature. On the one hoof, helping Rainbow would be generous and selfless; on the other, it was mostly born out of a selfish desire to do anything to cure her boredom while she tried to recover from her cold. Even if Rainbow spent much of the day gone scouring the island for materials, Rarity at least had one companion in Chirp. The macaw hung around their rebuilt shelter for much of the day, letting Rarity pet him and feed him bits of coconut, and would occasionally take naps while snuggled against her side. Even though she terribly missed Opal, the friendly and sociable Chirp was a welcome stand-in for her usually aloof and irritable cat. And of course, all the time she spent around the macaw led to her trying to teach it to speak. Chirp didn’t seem all that interested in Rarity’s lessons, but she could usually buy his attention for a few minutes with a shred of coconut or a star apple. Slowly but surely, she started teaching Chirp to make noises for treats, and soon the bird started really listening to what she was trying to teach it. Still, even though Rarity could hear the bird talking to himself on occasion and trying to emulate what Rarity said, she figured it’d be a while before Chirp could actually start forming words. On the fourth day, Rainbow returned from the south hill just before sundown and scratched a line in their calendar plank. “Check it out, Rares!” Rainbow said, dropping her tool in the sand. “Isn’t it awesome?” Rarity frowned at the calendar. Fifteen lines scratched into the wood marked the passage of time. She couldn’t believe that they’d been here for half a month already. “I’m not sure I’d call over two weeks of being stranded here ‘awesome’, Rainbow.” “Huh?” Rainbow looked at the calendar plank. “Oh, not that. But yeah, that sucks.” Her hoof moved through the sand, flipping a crude knife toward Rarity. “Take a look at this thing I made!” The tool floated into the air at the behest of Rarity’s horn. It was incredibly simple, with a chipped rock jammed into a split piece of wood and tied in place with shreds of a vine. It would work in a pinch, but would likely fall apart after that. “It’s a start,” Rarity said, spinning it around to get a better look at it from all angles. “I wouldn’t trust it to save my life, though.” “Hey! I worked hard on that!” Rainbow said. “Do you know how long I spent bashing rocks together to make the blade?” “A while, I’m sure,” Rarity said. “But it could benefit from a more delicate touch. This knife will break if you try to use it with too much force.” Rainbow sat down across from her. “So how would you do it?” she asked, crossing her forelegs. “For starters, I’d shape the blade better so I have something to anchor it to the hilt with,” Rarity said. “Maybe a notch about here, at the base.” “Have you ever tried to make one of these things with your hooves?” Rainbow asked. “It’s really friggin’ hard!” “And I’m not faulting you for that, darling,” Rarity assured her. “Just saying that if we want to have the best quality tools, perhaps my assistance would be useful.” “If you say so,” Rainbow grumbled. Then her gaze softened. “How are you feeling? You sound better.” “I feel better.” Rarity said. “Thank you for your concern. I finally feel like I’m getting over it.” “That’s good.” Rainbow pressed right up to Rarity and nuzzled her behind her ear. “I don’t have to worry about getting sick then if I kiss you.” Rarity feigned offense. “I can’t believe you wouldn’t kiss me because of a little sniffle!” “It was more than a sniffle. There was a cough, too.” “Which was dainty and ladylike, I assure you.” She harrumphed and looked away. “I don’t know how you’ll ever repay me for this slight.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and tickled Rarity’s cheek with her wingtip. When Rarity turned to look at her, she grabbed Rarity’s muzzle and pressed hers against it. Rarity’s eyes fluttered shut and she pressed back, moaning slightly as she savored the kiss. When they separated, Rarity caught her breath and flashed Rainbow a smile. “I’ll consider that a down payment.” “Celestia, you’re so greedy,” Rainbow teased, giving her another kiss. “What’s the interest rate on this?” “Three.” “Three? What, percent?” “No, kisses,” Rarity said. “Three per day, or you’ll be paying that debt off for the rest of your life.” “Three’s not so bad,” Rainbow said, kissing Rarity once more. Then she smirked. “That’s my daily interest paid off for today, then. Too bad I’ll have to do it all over again tomorrow.” “Yes, too bad indeed,” Rarity hummed. She sneezed once and offered a smile when Rainbow gave her a concerned look. “I might not be entirely over my cold…” Rainbow sighed and hung her head. “I swear, Rares, if you get me sick, I’m gonna be really upset with you.” “Sharing is caring,” Rarity sung. “Yeah. Right.”