//------------------------------// // Gather 'Round the Campfire // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash felt a horrible sense of déjà vu as her group entered the survivors’ campsite. Her first glance revealed a firepit and structures made from palm fronds surrounding it. The survivors had even coincidentally constructed a lean-to to keep their supplies under as well. It gave her flashbacks to Squall’s pirate camp she’d just escaped from, and the irrational part of her brain flipped into panic mode when it thought that somehow she’d ended up back there once more. But once she finally got a chance to look at everything, she calmed down. This camp wasn’t surrounded by bloodthirsty and salt-crusted pirates. It was surrounded by fellow survivors from the Concordia. Not only that, but there were a lot more of them than there were pirates. Rainbow counted four ponies, one mare and three stallions, sitting around the fire. The buildings erected next to it could’ve housed double that number. Coupled with Ratchet and Clever Ruse, Rainbow figured there had to be around ten survivors gathered here. At the very least, that was more than she could say for the pirates. The four ponies around the fire looked up as Ratchet led the newcomers to the warmth. “I brought us some new friends,” he said, sitting down on the sand, letting the warmth of the fire dry out his coat, now doubly soaked by the rain and the sea. “They helped us thin the pirates some before we found them.” “Don’t give us too much credit, darling,” Rarity insisted, sitting down on the fire-dried sand. She shivered in delight as the warmth of the fire started to dry her dirty and damp coat. “Oh, this already makes me want to curl up into a ball and sleep for a thousand years!” Rainbow sat down by her side and wrapped a damp wing around Rarity’s barrel. “You’re gonna miss out on so much awesome stuff if you sleep that long, Rares,” Rainbow teased. “Especially the most awesome pony around.” “Rainbow Dash and Rarity?” The other mare sitting across from them sat upright and fluttered her green wings. “You’re alive! Oh my gosh, this is amazing!” “Yeah, I’m amazed we’re still alive, too.” Blinking, she nearly did a double-take. “Wait, you’re that massager pony from the spa place! You’re alive, too?!” The green mare giggled and pawed at the sand. “Yeah, I am. Soft Step, in case you forgot.” Gyro chuckled and carefully laid down on the sand next to Rainbow. “Don’t worry, she probably forgot. She’s like that.” Rainbow stuck her tongue out at Gyro. “Quiet, you.” “What happened to you, Gyro?” one of the stallions asked. “Did you get that fighting pirates, or did you just fall out of a tree?” Gyro rolled her eyes. “Blow off, Blow Off. Even without half my legs I’m still twice as good at my job than you.” Ratchet shook his head. “Can it, you two. Save it for another day,” he said. Then, pointing a hoof at the other two stallions, he listed off their names. “The unicorn’s named Ball Bearings and the pegasus is Stargazer. The former was on my maintenance team, and the latter was the ship’s navigator.” “Glad to see you two are alive. Plus, a navigator’s pretty useful.” Her attention shifted once more to the gray and white spotted stallion sitting across the fire from her. “It’s not like these islands have any valves for Blowhard to pop.” The maintenance pony stood up and scowled at Gyro. “I think I’d rather go visit the pirates. Better yet, maybe we should leave you out as bait for them.” “Been there, done that, fuck off.” Blow Off deepened his scowl for a second and marched away from the fire towards one of the structures erected around it. Ratchet just watched him go, sighed, and glared at Gyro. “Even out here, with all we have to deal with, you two can’t put your squabbling aside and just work together?” “I only worked with him when the Concordia depended on it,” Gyro muttered. “There’s no Concordia anymore, so I don’t give two shits.” Rarity winced. “I don’t pity him. I’d imagine he’d have to do something quite severe to make such a sarcastic mare like yourself cross.” “Idiot’s been trying to get under my tail since day one,” Gyro grumbled. “I know I complain a lot about not getting laid, but that’s not an open invitation to treat me like I’m a hooker.” “Eh, screw him,” Rainbow said. Only when Rarity slapped her cheek did she realize that she chose her words poorly. “Errr… you know what I meant.” “I was hoping he’d died in the crash,” Gyro grumbled. Soft Step gasped. “That’s horrible!” she protested. “You aren’t serious, right?” Gyro merely raised an eyebrow at the mare. “Would it make you feel better if I said no?” The masseuse frowned at Gyro and lowered her head, sulking. “We’re not gonna get anywhere if we’re at each other’s throats.” Ratchet nodded, but started walking away from the fire. “I’m going to find the doc. We need to get this stallion some medical attention immediately,” he said, nodding to Coals on his back. “You all take care. When you’re ready to turn in, you three, just go and find some bedding in the big house to sleep on. We… don’t use it all, anymore.” The implication of that was clear enough for Rainbow, and she nodded. “Will do. Thanks for taking us in, dude. You’re awesome.” Ratchet offered her a smile in return. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash. That means a lot coming from somepony like you.” And then he walked away, taking Hot Coals with him. Rainbow noticed out of the corner of her eye how Gyro’s pale blue eyes watched him cross the camp. Her lips moved in some silent prayer, but other than that, she didn’t move. Rainbow offered the engineer a wing. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” she assured her. “If they’ve got a doctor then he’s already in good hooves, right?” “It’s Doctor Gauze,” Stargazer said, piping up for the first time since he’d been introduced. “There’s nopony better suited to take care of him.” “Who is he, by the way?” Soft Step said. “He doesn’t look like another survivor.” “He’s my colt—erm, my friend,” Gyro said. “He’d been a prisoner of the pirates. Rainbow and Rarity helped rescue him.” “That dreadful pirate captain shot him,” Rarity said. “But he’s tough. If he’s lasted this long, then I think he’ll make it.” “Doc Gauze’s the best there is,” the masseuse said. “Celestia knows he’s had to treat all of us for something or other in the years since the Concordia’s launch.” “And I think I can sleep better knowing that.” Yawning, Gyro laid her head down on crossed forelegs. “You know, I think I’m just gonna fall asleep out here,” she said. “Trying to move this stupid walker is a pain in the flank. Somepony tell Celestia to do me a favor and keep the sun below the horizon for an extra hour or five in the morning.” Rainbow and Rarity chuckled, and Rainbow stood up to offer Rarity a helping hoof before the seamstress could even move. “I think we should turn in as well,” she said. “It’s been a long night.” “Yes, quite,” Rarity agreed, taking the offered hoof. Then, smiling at her new acquaintances, she started walking toward the palm house. “See you all in the morning! I look forward to getting to know you all better then.” “Yeah, what she said,” Rainbow said, waving a wing and accepting their goodbyes with a smile. They made their way across the campsite toward the structure, but before they could enter inside, Rainbow pulled Rarity away from the entrance. The white mare stumbled, surprised by the sudden change in direction, and raised an eyebrow at Rainbow. “Rainbow? Where are we—!” Rainbow pulled her lips away from Rarity’s and wiggled an eyebrow at her. “Shut up and there’s more where that came from.” Rarity blinked once, and then a smile settled on her muzzle. “Consider me interested…”