//------------------------------// // Aurora Rainbow-alis // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Gyro merely focused on breathing. It was all she could do at the moment anyway. Her back hurt so much that to try and do anything else was guaranteed pain and suffering. It was already late at night, and though she longed for sleep to at least take her away from the discomfort and hurt in her spine, she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she passed out from sheer exhaustion. So in the meanwhile, she tried to content herself with staring up at the night sky. At her request (and incessant pestering), she managed to get Dr. Gauze to move her out near the entrance to the hut where she could see the stars. Or, at least, where she would’ve been able to see the stars had the thick clouds not blocked her view of the night sky. But nevertheless, she hoped to catch a glimpse of Rainbow clearing the clouds to let the moon shine through like the pegasus said she would. Watching Rainbow work her pegasus magic would certainly be a treat by itself. But so far, there’d been nothing. Gyro wasn’t sure if it was merely because of the angle she was watching the clouds over the tomb or something else, but nothing seemed to change about them. They were still a thick blanket of gray choking out the moonlight, making the night very dark and difficult to see through indeed. What was taking Rainbow so long? Was the storm really that tough? Gyro sighed and laid her head back down on her crossed forelegs, wincing as several more invisible knives dug into her spine and continued to carve it up. Maybe they’d just have to wait until tomorrow to try it, Gyro figured. After all, it’d been raining for two nights in a row now; what were the chances that it’d continue for a third? As it was, she didn’t see any way that Rainbow was going to get sufficiently clear skies for what she wanted to do tonight. She just hoped that they wouldn’t miss their opportunity if they waited another day. Gyro really didn’t know if the full moon was supposed to be tonight or tomorrow night without seeing the sky, and she didn’t know if it would really matter. Did the temple need the full moon to open up, or did it just need enough moonlight? Or did it need something else entirely? A bright flash of light suddenly lit up the horizon, and Gyro raised her head in surprise. A ring of expanding colors illuminated the islands with a crack of thunder, evaporating and destroying the clouds as it expanded outwards. The colors shimmered and shifted as the ring expanded, revealing a rainbow trail piercing through its center, a trail that curved and twirled before her eyes as the figure in front of it pulled off loops and stunts. The rainbow ring seemed to last forever, the colors only fading away once they’d traveled many, many miles out toward the horizons. In its place, a full moon hung overhead, accompanied by millions of stars decorating the night sky. Gyro had never seen anything like it. She’d heard about the Sonic Rainboom before, but she’d never seen one live. And here she was, hundreds if not thousands of miles away from civilization, and she just got to witness one clearing the night sky. Perhaps it was simply the excitement of seeing one, or maybe it actually had to do with the dark backdrop of the night, but the fading colors of the rainboom were still so much more vibrant than any rainbow she’d ever seen in her life. The light and the noise was enough to startle the wildlife roosting in trees or on the ground, and for a few moments, the islands came alive with noise. But then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the rainboom fizzled out and vanished, and soon the island returned to the familiar calm of the night. But its effect lingered even after it dissipated. The clouds had almost been completely purged from the sky, leaving only a few tattered and weak wisps trailing at the edges of the rainboom’s effect. Even the rain had stopped falling, following a short flurry of high intensity. All was clear and calm as a gentle spring night, and would be for at least several hours to come. Gyro couldn’t see off to the west where the storm originally came from, but she couldn’t see any clouds in that direction for as far as she had sight through the trees. Of course, the tradeoff was that if she could see it from the survivors’ camp, then anypony else on the island had to have seen it as well. But if that was the only way to clear the clouds and access the tomb… Gyro just hoped that her friends would be alright. ----- The sudden boom that shook the temple startled Rarity. She’d been so caught up in listening for something to shift or change around the tomb that the loud noise practically scared her witless. Once her heart slowed down to a more manageable hundred beats per minute, she quickly scampered outside of the shrine and turned her eyes skywards just in time to see an expanding ring of rainbow light pushing the clouds away, turning them into fine mist and leaving behind clear and starry skies. “Was that a rainboom?” Ball Bearings asked, scurrying outside next to Rarity. “A Sonic Rainboom?” “I’ve never seen one before,” Blow Off said. “That’s certainly something.” Within seconds, strong moonlight began to fall over the temple as the rainboom pushed the clouds away. It didn’t take Rarity long before she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. “Rainbow’s cleared the skies,” she told the two stallions with her, “so that means we need to do our job now! Quickly, now that the rain has stopped, let’s look to see if anything ch—!” Before she could even finish her sentence, the temple began to shake and rumble. Somewhere far beneath them, enormous stones grinded past each other, the vibrations rocking Rarity’s teeth within her jaws. She pointed her ear around to try and pinpoint the source of the noise, but it was too loud and all encompassing for her to figure out where it came from. Eventually, after rattling the ground and gravel for nearly a full minute, the shaking came to a stop with a thunderous boom, followed by what sounded to Rarity like a moaning sigh that sent a cold shiver down her spine. “Five bits says that was the temple door opening,” Blow Off said, already beginning to walk in that direction. “So much for having to listen for something quiet.” “Yeah,” Ball Bearings said. “I bet the whole island had to have heard that.” “Forget the noise, I bet the whole island saw the rainboom.” Blow Off shook his head and turned his attention skyward. “If the pirates didn’t know we were here, they definitely do now.” Rarity trotted off after the two stallions. “If they come, then we will simply have to fight them off. There isn’t much else we can do anyway.” Her blue eyes picked out the rainbow streak looping and twirling in the air, and she shook her head. “There better have been a good reason why you gave us all away, Rainbow. I might strangle you myself otherwise…”