Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus


A Single Quiet Moment

The two sirens kept their performance up for an hour… or maybe it was all night. Rainbow didn’t really know. The music gripped her and twisted her heart, driving knives of ice into her chest as pangs of homesickness clawed at her breast. The haunting melodies of siren song clawed at her brain, dragging out her emotions and twisting them into the magic they needed to live and perform incredible feats.

If she hadn’t been helping Rarity by listening to the music for so long, Rainbow might have tried to tear herself away earlier. While it was beautiful and unlike anything she could ever have dreamed of experiencing, the notes left her feeling drained, haggard, and weak. The tears dripping down her muzzle were difficult to stem, even for a mare who didn’t like crying.

Eventually, however, the wonderful torment did come to an end. The final notes of the final song drifted away into the wind and the night sky, vanishing among the stars, and then all was quiet save for the gentle crashing of waves around the island… and a few sniffles from the audience. It was like the lagoon had been placed under a trance, and nopony had the willpower to break it with imperfect, grating noise after the wonder of the sirens’ songs.

It was some time before Clever Ruse seized that mantle and that responsibility. “Thank you for that,” was all he said at first. A few seconds of effort later, and he managed to summon a few more words. “That was something I’ll never be able to forget.”

“I’m worried I overdid it,” Melody said. “Siren music is powerful. Very powerful. I can’t really control the emotions I prey on too easily.”

“Eh… no harm, no foul,” Rainbow insisted, forcing herself to stand if only to prove she was stronger than the music. “It was very good. Great stuff.” She shook her head and let her shoulders sag some. “Hopefully we’ll be able to hear it again under better circumstances. Like after we get the barrier down.” She turned questioning eyes to Melody and Rarity. “Can you do happy songs? I know you eat sad emotions and stuff, but what about the other side of the coin?”

Melody rubbed her hooves together. “I used to sing happy songs to myself to try and keep my spirits up.”

“And? How about now?”

“I… haven’t sung them in quite a while.” The green siren lowered her head. “I didn’t have a good reason to until late.”

“Then maybe we can hear one sometime,” Rainbow said. “I know I’d like to.”

“I’d certainly like to right now, but it is getting late,” Ratchet said. Yawning, he stood up and shook out his legs. “There’s no real reason to stay up much after dark out here. That’s one thing I’ve learned from nearly two months of this crap. It’s better to sleep while it’s dark so we can make the most use of the daylight we have. Light is precious when there’s no electricity to go around.”

“Eh, true enough. You guys go on ahead, I’m gonna spend some time with my marefriend.” Rainbow waved to the other survivors as they stood up and started to head back, and soon the lagoon was empty save for her and the two sirens. Turning her eyes to Rarity, Rainbow sat down on the beach and reclined onto her back. “So, where are you and Melody gonna crash tonight?” she asked. “I think the hut’s a little too small for you, now.”

“Somewhere around here would be fine, I’d imagine,” Rarity said. Nevertheless, she glanced at Melody for confirmation. “That wouldn’t be too problematic, would it?”

Melody shrugged. “I usually sleep back on my atoll. It’s nice and secluded there. But it shouldn’t really matter out here. I feel like we can trust these ponies.”

“I’d trust them with my life,” Rainbow said. “We’ve been through a lot of crap in the few short days we’ve known each other.”

“Then I suppose I can sleep here,” Rarity said. “The water is nice and shallow. I think it will be fine.”

“I’m going to sleep down in the water some,” Melody said. “I usually like sleeping in surf a little deeper than this. I feel like my scales get all dried out if I keep them out of the water for too long.” She grimaced and scratched at her body, knocking loose one or two stray emerald scales.

“My scales could probably use some time to dry out and harden.” Rarity shrugged and laid her head down on the sand next to Rainbow. She followed it with a large yawn, her fanged maw stretching wide and revealing her horrific teeth to the world. Grunting, the fins at the base of her jaw twitched, and her slitted eyes turned to the sky. “It’s been a very long day.”

“That it has,” Melody said. She patted Rarity on the back and started to pull herself back out to sea with her tail. “I’ll be on the other side of the island where the water’s a little deeper,” she said. “I’ll get us some breakfast when the sun comes out. I imagine you aren’t exactly ready to catch and kill fish with your teeth yet.”

Rarity shuddered. “Yes, I think I’d rather avoid that experience for the time being. I’m still hoping this will only be a temporary stay. Though I do appreciate you helping me collect some magic.” Her cleft hooves clawed at the sand around her as she settled into a more comfortable position. “It at least is helping me patch the empty void in my chest.”

“Perhaps tomorrow I’ll teach you how to use it,” Melody said with a smile. Then, once she finally entered the open water, she waved at Rarity. “See you in the morning!”

“You too, darling.” Rarity flipped her tail in Melody’s direction, and then she closed her eyes. Her nostrils blew two warm jets of air out of her beak, and the pointed tip sliced a narrow trench in the sand. “It is nice for it to just be the two of us, again.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said. She looked at Rarity, whose scales glowed like a moon in the darkness of the light. “All those nights apart weren’t that fun.”

“I’ll say. A lot of horrible things happened on the archipelago. Almost from the minute we arrived.” She shook her head, her chin pushing up sand as she moved it. “Maybe if you hadn’t have flown off on your own we wouldn’t have had such difficulties there.”

Rainbow shrugged. “It all worked out in the end. We just… got a little messed up.” She grimaced and sucked on the chips and gaps in her teeth. At least through the hectic chaos of the last few days, that particular remodel of her face hadn’t been bothering her as much. “I’m gonna need to have Twilight fix my face when we get back home. I can’t really do photo shoots for the Bolts when my teeth look like one of Applejack’s cousins.”

Rarity giggled. “I’ll need to see Twilight for the same, then,” she said. “A missing ear and an eye scar do not a beauty model make.”

“You’ll always be beautiful no matter what,” Rainbow said.

“Thanks, darling.” Rarity smiled and shifted her head to the side so Rainbow could nuzzle it and rest against it. “It isn’t perfect, but at least we’re together.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed, nuzzling Rarity’s beak. “We just need to enjoy it while it lasts.”

Rarity slightly nodded. “You will be safe tomorrow, will you?” she asked.

“Of course I will. We’re in the home stretch now. I don’t want to mess it up, trust me.” Rainbow closed her eyes and listened to Rarity’s breathing. “I don’t even have to ask you to be safe, right?”

“I do try to be cautious.” Rarity drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out, letting her body settle into the sand. “We’ll get through this okay. I believe in that.”

“We’ll get through it more than just okay. We’ll do it and be awesome.”

Rarity smiled. “That we will be, Rainbow. I have no doubt in my mind.”