//------------------------------// // Time Bought with Blood // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// “There! We’re almost there! Come on!” Rarity could feel the burn coiling its way through her body like a hot river of lead from her tail to her neck. She’d pushed herself so much and so hard throughout the night that she was amazed she had any energy left. She felt like she was running on fumes, and she knew she wasn’t the only one. Gyro also seemed on the verge of collapse, and she knew that Rainbow had been much, much more tired than she’d let on when she’d flown off to the island on her own. If they survived through the night, Rarity knew they were all going to sleep for a full day before they all felt like themselves again. But right now, she had to push through the remaining stretch of sea between her and the island. Gyro was right; it was so tantalizingly close now. What had felt like such a long sprint to the finish was finally just about at its end. All she had to do was get close to it and then collapse the south hill on the shrine—killing Soft Step, Rainbow Dash, and anypony else trapped inside. She faltered. Could she really do that? Could she really drop an entire mountain of stone and dirt on the shrine below? She’d seen the cave in that had killed Uncharted Lands so long ago. She knew that the ground was loose and wouldn’t be hard to collapse. It wasn’t a matter of whether it was physically possible—the matter rested entirely with her conscience. Could she kill the pony she loved—the pony she’d only discovered she loved a month ago—to save the world? It was a much harder decision than the one Rainbow had faced earlier. Where Rainbow only had to kill a tormented and twisted friend, Rarity would have to do far, far worse. She didn’t know if she would be able to live with herself afterwards. And if it did kill everypony in the shrine, it could very well just end up being Gyro, the minotaurs, and herself left on these islands. Sirens lived a long time; if the barrier never fell, would she take Melody’s place as the mythical creature lost to time and desperate for companionship? “Can you do it?” Rarity blinked and looked down at Gyro, who had craned her head to look up at her. “Erm… do what, darling?” “What Rainbow asked,” Gyro said, her voice wavering a little bit. “Her plan to end this whole thing.” “I… I-I don’t know,” Rarity admitted, feeling lost. “I don’t think I can just… just kill everypony like that. Coals might even be in there! Aren't you concerned about that?” Gyro winced and drew back. “I... I-I mean... what choice do we have?” she asked her. “We can’t beat her in a fight. I don’t know if there’s another way. And if she pulls this ritual thing off, we’re all boned. Coals and Rainbow included.” Rarity bit down on her lip, nearly drawing blood with her sharp teeth. Her eyes wandered to the sky, which had already lost most of its dark, shadowy color. The moon had nearly set, and the sun would rise very soon. It had been quite the night and now, right at its conclusion, the fate of the world hung in the balance. Everything was running down to the wire. Either the nightmare would end tonight, or it would last forever. But she was at the island now, and she wasted no time in quickly hopping over the western ridge sheltering the lagoon from the sea. Gyro shouted in surprise and held onto the log for dear life, but Rarity clutched it close to her chest so the mare was in no real danger of falling off. She landed in the lagoon a bit harder than she would have liked due to the shallow water, but she safely deposited Gyro on the sand and turned her attention to the hill rising up in front of her. Gyro staggered a safe distance to the shore, where she flopped down on the sand. “Oh, sweet land!” she exclaimed, practically kissing the sediment. “I thought I’d never see you again!” Rarity dragged herself halfway out of the water and sized up the hill in front of her. Somewhere beneath that mound, the fate of the world hung in the balance. How deep was it, really? How thick was the hill on top of it? How did she bring it down? Gyro turned around and raised an eyebrow at Rarity. “What are you doing, Rarity? We gotta hurry before it’s too late!” “I know! I just… I don’t know how!” Rarity nervously pawed at the sand, shoveling huge piles around the beach. “Melody never taught me the songs for this! I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!” “You’re a siren!” Gyro exclaimed. “Music should be like, second nature to you! Just sing!” “It’s not that simple! I wasn’t born a siren!” Rarity felt her heart begin to pound. Should she just try to flop on it? She surely had to weigh a considerable amount. It might be enough to drop the shrine, but if it wasn’t, then she’d just be giving Soft Step a warning to hurry things up. And she would be killing all her friends, too. She couldn’t do that. If she did, she was a monster. A monster who saved the world, but a monster nevertheless. Was there really no better way? She heard birds begin to chirp and call through the darkness of the dusk. They were already waking up, preparing themselves for the new day. The glow to the east was slowly growing brighter; daylight was quite literally minutes away. Then she remembered what Melody had told her. All she had to do was sing, and the notes would come to her to shape her song. And here she was, changing the song minutes before the concert. “Stand back,” Rarity said, rising up straighter and focusing on the east side of the hill. “I’m going to try something, and I don’t know how well it’s going to work.” Gyro shuffled back into the water and away from the hill, and she shot Rarity a nervous look. “Should I be ready to run?” “It might not be a bad idea.” Then, slowly drawing in a fresh breath, Rarity closed her eyes. “Please be okay, Rainbow,” she murmured to herself. Then she opened her mouth and began to sing.