The entire walk back to their camp, Rarity chewed her lip and kept her head on a swivel. Now that she knew the island was infested by pirates, she was afraid that they were hiding behind every tree and beneath every rock. Whether or not it was an irrational, paranoid fear, Rarity couldn’t decide. She knew that if the pirates caught her and Gyro now, they’d both be dead. Their only hope was to move quickly, quietly, and hope they weren’t found.
Of course, they were failing miserably at the first two. Rarity’s cracked ribs slowed her down enough, and then she had to carry Gyro on her back. Those two together left Rarity panting, wheezing, and dragging her hooves through the sand, hobbling along at a crawl.
“Maybe dragging me will work better,” Gyro said. “I’ll deal with the brush burn if that’s better for you.”
“I don’t want to put too much stress on your spine,” Rarity said. “At least, not along its length. I’m not sure, but I think that’s bad for it.”
“Can’t be any worse than this,” Gyro said. “My broken back’s centered right over your spine.”
“Then I suppose it wouldn’t matter anyway. Besides, I don’t have anything to drag you with.”
“My tail,” Gyro said, snorting. “You like mares’ tails, right?”
“Please, Gyro, must you? Now is not the time!”
Gyro hung her head and frowned at the sand slowly passing beneath her. “I was just trying to lighten the mood.”
“I know, darling, I know, just…” Rarity made a frustrated noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a grunt. “It’s just that literally everything that could possibly have gone wrong has gone wrong, and we haven’t even been on this island for an entire day. I don’t even know how I’m keeping my composure! I’m practically bursting at the seams right now!”
“Honestly, you’re doing fine,” Gyro said. “If you broke your back instead of me, I’d be freaking out right now.”
“I’d be freaking out if I broke my back!” Rarity shot Gyro a look. “How are you so calm? After the initial, erm, panic, you’ve been acting like it’s nothing!”
Gyro’s nostrils flared as she drew in a deep breath. “I guess it helps that I’m just a carefree spirit, right?”
Rarity pursed her lips and frowned at the sand ahead of them. “I’m… I’m really sorry, Gyro.”
“It’s not your fault… but thanks.” Then, scoffing, Gyro rolled her eyes. “Think any of these islands have some super sacred hot springs that’ll fix me right up? Fountain of youth and all that?”
“I wouldn’t hold your breath,” Rarity said. “But then again, we’re on an island chain that’s hidden behind some sort of powerful magical wards. Who knows what other kinds of magic we may stumble across?”
Finally, up ahead, Rarity saw the silhouette of the raft and their supplies nestled under the shade of the trees in the low light still clinging to the island. The sight of camp, of safety, was enough to put a little last bit of energy into her legs and propel her onwards to the shelter of the trees. Once there, she once more carefully rolled Gyro off her shoulders and tried to nestle her into a comfortable sitting position against some trees.
Gyro grimaced the entire time and slapped her dead legs. “I can’t feel my flanks, so I feel like I’m floating. Also, I guess I should warn you that I probably don’t have any bowel control, so… yeah…”
Rarity blinked and shuddered. “I suppose I’ll have to clean up after you, won’t I…”
“There’s lots of sand, I can bury it myself. Just don’t be surprised if… well, yeah. Also, just be happy I didn’t have to go while you were carrying me.”
“Can we please talk about something else?” Rarity asked. She immediately went to their supplies and dug out their food and water. “Let’s have a meal at least, especially after everything we’ve been through today.”
“Yeah, I’m starving. I can still feel my stomach, you know.” Gyro happily accepted the fruit Rarity gave her and started working on it, being careful not to upset her balance now that she didn’t have her hind legs to stabilize her if she leaned too far one way or the other. Rarity simply watched the mechanic eat, her own appetite diminished by the day’s events, exhausted both physically and emotionally. Ultimately, she only had a few star apples, a little coconut, and a few gulps of water before deciding she was satisfied with dinner.
“What do we do now?” she wondered aloud as the darkness of night fell around them. “What’s our next step?”
Gyro wiped her lips and steadied herself with a hoof so she didn’t topple over. “Well, we know that there are pirates here. At least three of them, but there’s definitely more than that.”
Rarity shuddered. “I hope their captain, Squall, isn’t with them. She was a nasty, nasty mare.”
“I hate to break it to you, Rarity, but all pirates are nasty regardless of their sex.”
“Well, then she was the nastiest.” Rarity scowled down the length of her muzzle. “But if she’s here, and she has Rainbow… I don’t even want to think about the consequences.”
“Yeah, they probably suck,” Gyro agreed.
“You’re not helping, darling.”
Gyro shrugged. “Okay, so now what? We know there’s pirates and they likely have Rainbow. We have no idea where their camp is or where this statuette thing is on these islands. All we know is this little beach and the wreckage we toppled, and that’s it.”
“So logically the next best thing to do would be to explore and get a basis for our surroundings,” Rarity said. “If we can find where the pirate camp is, we might find Rainbow.”
“Or get yourself captured,” Gyro said. “Please don’t get captured, okay? I’d rather not die alone.”
Rarity shook her head. “I have no intention of letting the ruffians and cretins catch me, darling. Rainbow and I did plenty of sneaking around on the minotaurs’ island without being caught. I know how to be careful.” Her eyes turned toward the sky, where the moon was just beginning to rise. “And if there’s one thing I remember from that adventure, it’s that the best time to scout a potentially dangerous locale is during the night. The shadows will mask my presence and allow me to navigate the jungle with ease.”
“If you say so,” Gyro said. Grimacing, she leaned to the side and fell onto her forehooves, catching herself before her torso hit the ground. “I’ll watch the fort while you’re gone. Bring me back a souvenir or something.”
Rarity rolled her eyes and stood up. “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll be back in an hour or two.”
“You better be,” Gyro said, her eyes drifting to the sand. “Don’t join Rainbow for the pirate party…”