//------------------------------// // The Morning After // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Whatever festival or ritual the minotaurs were celebrating, they kept at it for some time. After Rainbow and Rarity found a new building further from the road to hide in, they huddled together in a dark corner and simply waited. While Rarity drifted off to sleep almost immediately, Rainbow forced herself to stay awake and keep watch. It wouldn’t do for both of them to be caught sleeping if a minotaur happened to wander their way. For better or for worse, the minotaurs returned from whatever they’d been doing inside the temple after about an hour. Soon, their raucous cheering and laughter filled the night, and the noise gave Rainbow something to focus on to keep her bleary eyes open. It went on for hours, but little by little, it died down until she couldn’t hear the music anymore. She awoke with a jolt the next day, her fight-or-flight reflexes immediately kicking in as she struggled to remember where she was. Within a few seconds, however, the events of the night prior came back to her, up to the point where she simply passed out from sheer exhaustion while trying to keep watch. Thankfully, no minotaurs had found them while they were both asleep. Otherwise, Rainbow knew she’d be staring down the lengths of a couple spears right now. Yawning, she shifted slightly, stopping when she felt a weight on her side. Rarity was still curled up against her and breathing softly, resting and recovering after an exhausting day. Rainbow stroked the mare’s shortened mane with a hoof, gently separating the salty strands and tucking them back behind a white ear. That royal purple mane was simply magical; no matter what you did with it, it always looked good on Rarity. Even roughly chopped up and caked with white streaks of salt and sand, it was still perfect. Rainbow smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and decided she needed a drink. Unfortunately, the jug she’d stolen last night was just out of reach. Frowning, Rainbow tried to shimmy a few inches over and buy herself some room to stretch with, but her hoof came up just short. She could poke the handle a few times, but trying to pluck it back with a blunt instrument like her hoof didn’t quite work. And of course, Rarity was lying on her good wing and she couldn’t use her other wing, anyways. All that effort only served to wake Rarity from her sleep. Rainbow froze when she felt the mare shift against her side, and then she heard a dainty yawn. She looked back over her shoulder to see Rarity sitting upright and rubbing at her eyes. After a moment to get adjusted to her surroundings, Rarity looked at Rainbow. “Mmmrff… good morning, darling,” she mumbled, slouching back against Rainbow’s side. “Morning, Rares,” Rainbow said, nuzzling around Rarity’s horn. “Sleep well?” “As well as I could.” Another yawn. “Not as much as I should’ve.” “Blame the minotaurs for that.” Rainbow cast another forlorn look at the jug. “Can you bring the water over here super quick? Please?” “I hate focusing as soon as I wake up,” Rarity grumbled. She furrowed her brow and a shaking hand of telekinesis appeared around the handle of the jug. Rarity simply dragged it across the earth until it was within Rainbow’s reach, not sparing the thought or effort it would take to pick it up completely. Yawning a third time, Rarity pressed her cheek into Rainbow’s chest. “This is nice,” she purred. “You make a good bed.” Rainbow rolled her eyes and brought the jug up to her lips. That was probably the best thing about the minotaurs showing up last night. Now they had something to hold and transport water with. It’d be very useful even after they left the island. Hopefully the minotaurs wouldn’t miss it too much. After five minutes of laying there, cuddling with Rarity, Rainbow gently nudged her marefriend’s head off her chest. “Come on, Rares,” she said when the unicorn started mewling in protest. “We’ve gotta get up. We’ve only got so much daylight to work with.” She eventually got Rarity to sit up and stop using her as a pillow. Passing her the water jug, Rainbow stood up and stretched her muscles. Her legs and back were all sore from sitting in one position for so long and sleeping on dirt and rocks, but she’d live. Another drink and a bite to eat and she’d feel good as new again. Speaking of which, she curiously examined the basket of bread she’d stolen the night before. There were four whole loaves of bread inside, made with some kind of dark grain that Rainbow couldn’t place. The loaves were certainly a lot harder and coarser than what she was used to getting from a baker or the supermarket, but she confirmed it was still bread after taking a little bite. The taste of something familiar that wasn’t grass, fruit, or coconut seemed to awaken a dormant hunger in her gut, and she ravenously started chomping off huge bites of the loaf and swallowing them almost without taking any time to chew. Sure it wasn’t the tastiest bread she’d ever had, but it was amazing nonetheless. The noises she must’ve made drew Rarity’s attention. “What is that?” she asked, setting the jug aside and forcing herself to stand. She winced a few times as her joints snapped and popped. Making her way to Rainbow’s side, she put her head on the smaller mare’s shoulder and spied the basket. “Bread? You stole that from the minotaurs?” “They weren’t watching it,” Rainbow said, shrugging. “It’s not super fancy bread or anything, and it’s a little rough, but it’s awesome.” A loaf floated out of the basket in a blue field of magic. Rarity took a cautious bite at first, but it was only a few seconds before she started eating it with as much of a frenzy as Rainbow. Rainbow watched the whole thing disappear in a minute before smirking. “So much for manners, right?” “Shut up,” Rarity told her, grabbing a second loaf. She held it up to her mouth, thought better of it, and then put it back in the basket. “We should save those last two,” she said. “Who knows how long we’ll have to stretch our food supplies.” “We’ve got a basket of fruit at least,” Rainbow said. “I figure we can live off of the fruit and the bread for another couple of days if we’re careful.” “And the water, too,” Rarity said, shaking the jug. A disappointed frown appeared on her muzzle. “We’ve already drank half of it.” “We were thirsty?” Rainbow suggested. Rarity’s magic put it on the ground with the bread, protected from the sun and the outside world by the shade. “We can always get more, at least. It’s not too much of a walk.” “It’s still enough of a walk to be dangerous,” Rarity warned. “If the minotaurs are willing to come this far up the island, then they could be anywhere at anytime.” “I doubt they’ll be hanging around up here all that much,” Rainbow said. “There’s nothing up here except rocks and more rocks.” “And a temple…” Rarity looked over her shoulder even though she couldn’t see the peak through the stone wall. “We need to go take a closer look at it.” Rainbow nodded. “I got a decent look at it last night, but it was dark and then the minotaurs showed up. Maybe we’ll find something more useful now that the sun’s out.” “I certainly hope so,” Rarity said, standing up and moving to the doorway. “Otherwise I don’t know what we’ll do.”