Once more, Rainbow Dash relished the feeling of air beneath her feathers. She only truly felt like she was in her element when the great blue skies surrounded her and the air filled her wings like sails, carrying her from one part of the world to another just like that. And while she was only moving between one island and another in a chain, the mere freedom and joy of flight always left her feeling alive in a way nothing else possibly could.
Beneath her, the blues and greens of the shallow tropical waters rolled and swelled with the waves bouncing between the islands. They dazzled and glittered with the noon sun’s light, and beneath their glossy surface, Rainbow could make out the faint white contours of sand and rocks as the land declined deeper into the sea. A few small outcroppings of coral dotted the sea floor here and there, outposts of the larger and fuller body far to the south. If Rainbow squinted, she could see some larger fish wandering through the water, looking for their next meal. She idly wondered if there were any sharks in these waters. She certainly hadn’t seen any, and the fish didn’t seem all that nervous or bothered. Then again, fish didn’t seem bothered about anything, especially not from so high up.
She lifted her head and looked around, the wind tossing her rainbow mane across her face. Behind her, Champagne and Stargazer flew at either of her flanks, all three of them ascending together as the home island dwindled behind them. They’d only taken off fifteen minutes ago, and Rainbow knew they still had another hour or two before they landed on the archipelago. That would still give them six or seven hours of sunlight to work on covering the tomb before the moon began to rise. They’d be fine.
Still, she hated the sinking feeling in her gut as she flew away from the island, knowing that the band of survivors, her friends, were all splitting up to try and find some way home. The horrors she’d encountered and had to deal with on these islands had all taught her that there was safety in numbers, that splitting up would only end in terrible tragedy and danger. It had nearly gotten her killed at Squall’s hooves. But now, three pegasi had taken off to the west, two sirens had flown to the south, and half of the remaining crew made their way beneath the island, attempting to decipher runes and glyphs with no real way to do so. It was a desperate hope, but since the statuettes had failed to change their situation at all, desperate hopes were the only hopes they had left.
But would they find anything? Rainbow Dash honestly didn’t know. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, Rainbow wished that Twilight was here with her. If anypony could have made sense out of the dilemma they faced, it would have been the bookish alicorn. No doubt she would have known what to look for or simply what to do to get rid of the wards. She probably could have figured that out solely from feeling the magic in the air. But Rarity, Ruse, and Gauze were no wizards, and they all lacked the magical expertise to figure out what to do, even if they did have horns. They were all on their own, with only their wits and intuition to figure out what to do.
Rainbow Dash did not feel all that confident that she would be particularly useful in those endeavors. Thankfully, she had two ponies with her who were likely more than able to pick up the slack.
With that in mind, she beat her wings harder, rising up another few dozen feet, and letting the calmer airs and thermals ease her flight to the archipelago.
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Rarity had hesitated before leaving the island, watching with anxious eyes as Rainbow and her force took wing to the west, until they were nearly too far away to make out clearly. She didn’t wait until they were completely out of sight, because she knew her eyesight was much keener with siren eyes, and she didn’t want to keep Melody waiting that long. But when they were finally reasonably along, Rarity sighed, sunk her head beneath the waves, and pushed away from the sandy beach with a strong flip of her tail.
Melody was waiting for her not too far through the water, her beak grinding while her fins idly waved to keep her in place. Though Rarity wasn’t that good at reading siren body language, she had a feeling that Melody was trying to be supportive or assuring when she smiled at Rarity’s approach. “Are you worried about her?” she asked, gently waving her tail and beginning the trek to the atoll to the south.
“It would be a blatant and pointless lie to say I’m not,” Rarity stated. “I’m sure that you’re aware that we were a romantic couple.”
“I did catch that,” Melody said with a little nod of her head, though the motion was largely lost in the undulating movements of her swimming body. “But… ‘were?’ What do you mean by that?”
Rarity blinked. “Oh, I didn’t mean it like that. We’re still together and still wildly infatuated, I would say. It’s just… difficult to maintain the physical connections of our relationship when I’m a siren and she’s a pegasus.”
Melody opened her beak to make a little ‘ah’ and chuckled. “Yes, I imagine that would be kinda difficult, wouldn’t it?”
“Quite.” Rarity shook her head. “I’m afraid I’d crush her.”
The green siren at her side snorted in amusement. “I guess it’s a good thing that pony-siren relationships aren’t that common.”
“As in ‘nonexistent,’ then sure,” Rarity said, reflecting Melody’s amused snort. Though there was a layer of sadness that tempered it. “Maybe that will change when relations between our two species improve.”
“Maybe,” Melody said. But instead of adding anything more in her usual wit or cheery excitement like Rarity had grown so accustomed to, Melody remained mostly silent. Instead, Rarity saw that the siren had clammed up, and the fins around her cheeks fluttered uneasily.
A smile slowly broke out on Rarity’s face as she came to a conclusion. “You like Clever Ruse, don’t you?”
“I-I… what?” Melody nervously chuckled, but to Rarity, an expert at reading social cues, it failed to cover Melody’s true feelings. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?” Rarity asked. She paddled her tail harder to fall in line at Melody’s side so the two could swim shoulder to shoulder. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, darling. It would be quite adorable, in my opinion.”
“B-But it would never work!” Melody protested. “You just said so yourself! He’s a pony and I’m… I-I’m a giant siren. If I tried to touch him, he’d shatter like coral!”
Rarity chuckled; even if she was a century old, Melody still acted like a flustered schoolfilly when it came to discussing romance. “I know you are a very gentle soul,” she said. “You would never hurt Ruse—accidentally or otherwise. And I do say, you two would make a beautiful couple,” she concluded with a wink.
Melody rubbed her hooves together. “W-Well… if you really think so…”
“I do,” Rarity said, grinning at Melody. “I know the two of you would be very happy. So when we come back later, don’t hesitate to talk to him about it. Do it somewhere private, one on one, and just… talk. You’ll sort your feelings out very quickly with nopony to watch you, I think.”
“Mmmm…” Melody smiled softly to herself, and her eyes seemed to drift off into her thoughts. Rarity chuckled to herself and took the lead while Melody absorbed herself in her thoughts. She wanted so very badly for Melody to find happiness with Ruse, as unlikely as such a pairing seemed. In the face of so much desperation, sadness, and tragedy, how could she stand by and not fan whatever sparks of happiness smoldered on the island?