//------------------------------// // Take a Bath // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// The sun was still low in the sky by the time Rainbow woke up the following morning. It took her more than a few dazed moments to sort through her memories and remember where she was and how she got there. Little by little, the haze over her mind lifted, and she remembered the events of the night before. She groaned and sat up, letting sand fall off her shoulders and out of her messy, tangled mane. By her side, Rarity didn’t look much better, but at least she slept with a smile on her muzzle. The sand all around them was tossed up and turned over, a testimony to what had happened last night. Even a lingering scent occasionally tickled Rainbow’s nose, glued to the hairs around her muzzle. Rarity stirred in her sleep, humming and squeaking and making those other strange noises that only she made. Smiling, Rainbow lied back down on the sand and wrapped her forelegs around her marefriend, gently drawing her closer against the sand and into a cuddly hug. Nosing through Rarity’s mane, she hummed and kissed her head, fluttering her eyes shut and simply enjoying her scent. The good memories of the previous night came trickling back to Rainbow. It’d been everything she’d hoped for… and more. She knew she’d remember that night fondly for quite some time. Hopefully Rarity felt the same. Eventually, one sapphire eye opened, squinting at the dawn light. “Mmmrrrrr… Rainbow?” Rarity mumbled, her brain struggling to wake up. “Are you awake?” “Yeah,” Rainbow said, kissing Rarity’s head again. “I’m up.” “Mmmm. Good.” She felt lips peck at the base of her neck and Rarity squirmed into a better position. “Hold me closer, darling.” Rainbow obliged, finding some way to pull the seamstress even further into her downy embrace. They snuggled together on the beach for a long time, listening to the crashing of the waves around them and the chirping and calling of the birds in the trees. Little by little, the island woke up, and little by little, Rainbow felt the itchiness brought on by laziness gnawing at her limbs. Given that she really had to relieve herself as well, she finally wormed her way out of Rarity’s embrace and shambled over to a nearby tree. When she returned, she found Rarity lying on her stomach, chin in the sand, watching a pair of sand crabs fight along the water’s edge. Padding across the beach, Rainbow found herself at Rarity’s side and smiled down at her. “Enjoying the show?” “It could use a dramatic orchestra and some better special effects,” Rarity grumbled. One by one, she drew her limbs in until they were coiled at her sides, then stood up and shook a smattering of sand off her coat. She yawned once and arched her back, then turned to Rainbow. “My legs still feel like jelly. I needed that, apparently.” Rainbow snickered. “I’m glad I was up to snuff for a diva like you.” Rarity’s horn flared for a moment as she gave Rainbow’s shoulder a light telekinetic shove. “You obviously need practice,” she said, smirking as she walked past the pegasus. “But it was good. Thank you, Rainbow.” “So long as I didn’t disappoint,” Rainbow said, falling in at Rarity’s side as they made their way back to their camp. “You’ll have to teach me some of those moves. Where did you learn all that?” “I thought I made it evidently clear last night when talking with you and Gyro that I’ve had plenty of time to practice. For some of the better ones, thank Twilight.” Rainbow stopped. “…Twilight?!” Rarity blinked, then chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean in that way. I just meant that… well, she has a library that rivals the one in Canterlot, right? Sometimes you have to… ask for help to find what you’re looking for.” “Ohhhhhh…” Rainbow shook her head and caught up to Rarity. “Okay, that makes a lot more sense. I was gonna say, I didn’t know that you and Twilight had a… thing.” “Oh, no, nothing like that. I love the mare to death, but I want love and passion in a relationship, not a paranoid and nervous mare trying to woo me over with relationship advice she’s reading from a book she brought to our date for that exact purpose.” “Heh. True that.” “I mean, she’s sweet and all,” Rarity continued, stopping for a brief moment at the top of the south hill to pick a sugar apple off its plant. “And I have no doubt that someday she’ll find someone who will make her very happy. She just needs to learn to get out there and not do everything from behind the cover of a book.” “I just assumed she’d be single forever,” Rainbow said. “I wonder how she feels having Starlight around the castle. Ponies just fall into that mare’s lap.” “I’m sure she wouldn’t let it go to her head. Twilight is understanding like that.” They made it back to their camp and approached the hut, within which they could hear heavy snoring. Rainbow took a moment to cover her muzzle and suppress a laugh before turning to Rarity. “Gee, you’d think Big Mac was sleeping in there or something. She’s so loud!” “Astonishingly louder than you,” Rarity teased. “Hey!” Rainbow frowned. “I don’t snore… loudly!” Rarity winked at Rainbow. “How would you know? You’ve never been awake when it happens.” “Shut up.” Rarity sighed and took a step closer to the door. “Should we wake her up? She deserves her rest, don’t you think.” “Yeah, probably. I—!” Rainbow cut herself off and wrinkled her nose. “Oh wow, that smell!” Rarity blinked. “She hasn’t bathed since we saved her from the temple, has she?” Rainbow emphatically shook her head. “Nope. I don’t know how we didn’t notice it earlier. We must’ve been too busy with other crap and trying not to die to the minotaurs.” “The hut probably concentrated the odor,” Rarity said with a shudder. Straightening her shoulders, Rarity let her horn flare to life and stuck her head through the door. “Alright, that’s it, missy!” she shouted, and moments later, she dragged Gyro out of the hut with a startled yelp from the mechanic. “You need to take a bath! You smell like rotting cabbage!” Gyro flailed and struggled in the sand as Rarity dragged her toward the beach, magic wrapped around her tail. “Ack! What did I do?! What’s going on?!” Her eyes locked with Rainbow’s and she frantically clawed at the sand. “Rainbow! Help! She’s gonna kill me!” Rainbow instead fell down laughing, hooves kicking at the sand as she rolled around. “Oh, Celestia, this is too good!” she shouted between giggles, watching as Gyro’s four hooves tore four shallow lines in the damp sand as Rarity approached the water. Her laughter redoubled when Rarity flung the mare about ten feet into the surf and through a breaking wave. Moments later, Gyro’s head popped out of the water, and the two mares started shouting at each other from across the waves, at least until another knocked Gyro down again. Shaking her head, Rainbow stood up and trotted down to the water after them. She could already tell that Gyro would at least keep things lively until they managed to get back home. And really, with nothing but long and hot days on the horizon for the foreseeable future, that was a godsend.