Rarity breathed deeply and shut her eyes. Her nerves were starting to get the better of her at the worst possible time. The sharp needling sensation of panic had spread to her limbs and was working its way into her core. She had to flex and shake them just to stop herself from locking up.
It’d taken her some time, but she’d managed to work her way into position behind the chief’s hut. Everything was so quiet and still apart from the rolling waves that she feared even the slightest noise would wake the minotaurs below. And the closer she got to the hut, the louder and louder the snoring from within became. Rarity couldn’t imagine just how big and loud the chief had to be up close based on the snoring alone. He sounded enormous.
Then she found herself right against the back of the hut. Huddled down in the shadows, she tried to slow her breathing and not make even the slightest noise as she waited for the distraction. At least with the hut on one side and the steep slope of the hill on the other, Rarity felt fairly hidden and safe. No minotaur would have a reason to go wandering behind the hut, right? There wasn’t anything there. Now all she had to do was wait and see if Rainbow’s plan worked or not.
The minutes dragged on. Rarity had no way to tell how much time had passed. It felt like it’d been a few hours, but it couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes. Her limbs ached from standing in a crouched position for so long, ready to bolt and gallop away at a moment’s notice. Even the adrenalin was beginning to wear off and her exhaustion started to push through. She nearly had to bury her muzzle in the sand to stifle a yawn for fear that it’d be her last.
She craned her head around in the direction she’d come from. Had Rainbow torched the granary yet? Rarity couldn’t see from this angle. The backs of a few close huts were too crowded together for her to really see over or past them. Did something go wrong? She was certain that if Rainbow got caught, she would’ve heard it. The pegasus would’ve been kicking and screaming to no end. But all was quiet. What was happening?
Then she saw the first flicker of flame dart up into the night. The shadows began to dance on the sand, and the tiny movement startled Rarity. More and more tongues of fire rose into the air as the fire engulfed the hut, and not long after, she heard the creaking crash and boom of timber collapsing.
That was all it took to wake the village. Within moments, Rarity heard sleepy, confused voices talking through the walls of the chief’s hut. The ground around her shook and rumbled as something heavy plodded through the sand. It hardly took a few more seconds before cries of alarm started to rise through the village.
The sandy ground vibrated as dozens of heavy hooves began running toward the fire. Minotaurs began shouting at each other, and their shadows flickered across the hill next to Rarity as the fire grew. Steeling herself, Rarity hesitated for another minute before she began to creep around the side of the hut, checking this way and that for any minotaurs that might be looking in her direction. But she didn’t see any, so she slowly rounded the side of the hut until she was nearly at the front of it and found herself a good view of what was happening to the east.
Her eyes widened as she saw a crowd of minotaurs standing in front of the ruins of the granary. The entire structure was a loss, reduced to little more than burning timber and coconut fibers. But the fire was still growing, and it threatened the other huts around it. At the very least, Rarity knew that the blaze would keep them occupied for the next short while. If the minotaurs didn’t work to contain it, there was a chance that it’d sweep across the rest of their village. While Rarity hoped that wouldn’t happen, at least the threat of it would keep them busy.
Wasting little time, Rarity quickly skirted around the front of the hut and slipped inside, immediately pressing herself against the interior wall. There weren’t any lights of course, so the whole thing was dark. But she didn’t hear anything at first, at least not over the noise of the fire, the minotaurs outside, and her own pounding heart. She was inside the chief’s hut now. If a minotaur found her here, she was dead.
After a moment to catch her breath and ready herself, Rarity let her horn glow just faintly enough to make out the details of the hut. It was simple enough and looked like two circles mashed together, one behind the other. The first circle that she was in had some bedding along the sides, but Rarity didn’t see anything there at a glance. All she could tell was that the medallion wasn’t anywhere in the first part of the hut. Hopefully it wasn’t with the chief.
She moved into the second part of the hut, past ceremonial masks hanging on the walls that seemed to follow her every step. Here in the back she saw a pedestal made out of a tree stump sitting at the far end of the room. More masks and weapons decorated the walls of the hut, and hanging above the pedestal was a large minotaur skull. Rarity didn’t know why the chief had a skull from one of his own kind in his hut, but it wasn’t something she was going to question. It already creeped her out just by being there, like it was watching her and would raise the alarm if she advanced further.
But advance farther she did. She had to rise onto her hind legs to see the top of the pedestal, but when she did, she put on a relieved smile. There was the medallion, obviously very carefully placed in the very center of the pedestal. Rarity could tell that it had some kind of religious significance for the minotaurs, otherwise they wouldn’t put this much effort into keeping it safe and nice. Maybe it’d be a good idea to leave it on the island after her and Rainbow were finished with it so they didn’t anger the minotaurs too badly. The last thing they needed was a religious vendetta against them while they were just trying to survive.
They needed it now, however, so Rarity plucked it from the pedestal and held it up to her face. It looked like a star covered in all sorts of solar inscriptions that she couldn’t make any sense of. But even if she hadn’t seen the minotaur chief use it to open the temple door the other night, it wouldn’t have been too hard to put two and two together after seeing the door itself. Knotting off the excess cord so it’d fit better, Rarity dropped it over her head and wore it like a necklace. A big, bulky, heavy necklace, but a necklace all the same.
Her ear twitched at movement behind her, and her blood turned to ice. Her body acted before her mind could decide on what to do, and she readied her spear and spun in place, preparing to fight for her life to get out of the hut. She was willing and able to do whatever it took to get out of the chief’s hut, even if that meant actually using the spear. Like Rainbow had said, it was them or the minotaurs, and Rarity was too young and beautiful to die now.
But it wasn’t a full-grown minotaur like she’d been expecting. Instead, she saw a small minotaur calf, barely taller than her, watching her warily. The tip of her spear was aligned with the calf’s face; all she would have to do was thrust and it would kill him before he could even scream.
Pony and minotaur stared each other down, both tense and afraid. If the calf screamed, Rarity knew another minotaur would hear it, and then it’d all be over. The safest thing to do would be to kill the calf and slip away unnoticed. But she couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t. No matter what, Rarity had no intentions of coming back to Equestria a murderer. She’d never be able to forgive herself, and she doubted her friends would, either.
But was coming back a murderer better than not coming back at all?
The calf took a hesitant but quiet step backwards. He looked like he was about to bolt to safety at any moment. If Rarity needed to, she could catch him with her magic and drag him back before he escaped from the hut, but then she’d almost certainly have to kill him then. Practicality wanted her to use the spear. Her heart demanded otherwise.
Taking a deep breath, Rarity closed her eyes and made a choice.
There was no scream.
Moments later, she opened her eyes. She’d dropped the spear on the ground. Across from her was the calf, unmoving. But after a few seconds, the minotaur stopped trembling. He moved his fingers away from his eyes, surprised to find out that he wasn’t dead. Those same eyes turned to Rarity moments later, filled with confusion… and relief.
Rarity picked up her spear and slung it over her back. “Do not say a word to anyone, darling,” she whispered to the calf, even though she knew he couldn’t understand her. She touched a hoof to her lips and shushed for emphasis, trying to communicate with the child. When he didn’t move, she offered him a smile and walked forward, deftly skirting past him. The minotaur didn’t react as she passed, and when she made it to the entryway, she looked over her shoulder to find him still standing where she’d left him, watching her go.
Then she darted out the door and disappeared into the shadows, leaving the village behind, not daring to look back.