//------------------------------// // Reflections // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash didn’t sleep as long as she would have liked. Even though she’d been up for almost a full day, she barely slept more than five or six hours before she woke again. The sun scorched down on her from overhead, and she had a suspicion that the high noon light searing into her eyeballs was to blame for interrupting her rest. Though she had wanted to go back to sleep, she didn’t for fear of what it would do to her sleep schedule. Instead, she reluctantly forced herself to her hooves even as everypony else slept around her. Though she still felt tired and drained, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the sheer exhaustion that had driven her to pass out earlier. For a moment, she wondered if everything was a dream; it all seemed too surreal to be true. But when she looked over her shoulder, she saw a white siren sleeping with her head against the sand, and when she held out her wings, the stripe of crimson running through her feathers proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that what she remembered was no mere dream. And just like that, it all hit her again. The guilt. The shame. The frustration. So many ponies had suffered and died because of her foolish idea to open up that tomb so many nights ago. All in the quest to go home. Was it really worth all that pain to go home? Did it make home worth it if she sailed there on a raft made of bodies? Would it somehow be better if she was the selfless sacrifice that got everypony home safely? Rainbow growled at herself in frustration. There wasn’t any need to think about this. Thinking about it was a waste of time and energy for now. There would always be time to find another solution, another way. She didn’t need to rush headlong to her death because she didn’t want to take the time to puzzle out an alternate, bloodless way to get home. Between Rarity’s siren prowess and the sudden change of heart the minotaurs seemed to be showing, there were no more threats to their continued survival out on these islands. Which led Rainbow to another thought: would it really be so bad if they never went home? She didn’t plan on giving up—far from it. She planned to use every possible means to get home. But if it all came down to it and the only way they could ever go home was through a blood sacrifice, maybe it wouldn’t be worth it. Sure, it would suck never being able to go back to Equestria, and it would suck to know that everypony back home would think she was dead, but not having to sacrifice a friend would be worth it. All this worry about what might happen was starting to drive Rainbow crazy. She growled to herself again and paced about for a few seconds before her stomach helpfully reminded her that it’d been at least twelve hours since she last ate anything, and likely far longer. Thankfully, most of the fruiting plants on the south hill were still intact despite the gash Rarity had torn open on the shrine, so all Rainbow had to do was flutter up to the top of the hill and start tearing into the assortment of fruits available to her. She never would have thought a week ago that star apples and sugar apples could taste so delicious, but after fighting a demigod for far longer than any mortal should have been able to… well, the taste was far more pleasant than she remembered. Next on the agenda was water, so she casually hiked down the hill into the interior of the island. Here and there, she’d come across the still and smelly remains of a mummy, its preserved flesh finally decaying in the extreme moisture of the island’s jungle after remaining sealed beneath the earth for so long. Whatever magic had once animated them was long gone, and they were food for flies now. Rainbow shivered and tried not to hurl as she walked past one after another. If they were going to be on this island for some time, then Rainbow knew she needed to organize everypony to help get rid of the bodies as soon as possible. Maybe with Rarity’s help they could lash all the bodies to a log and sink it deep in the sea. That would certainly take care of the problem. The water of the lake was cool and refreshing, and perhaps most important of all, free of mummies. If the minotaurs had killed some mummies and dumped them into the only source of freshwater on the island, Rainbow would have been very upset, to say the least. But the little pond’s water was crystal clear, and Rainbow felt like it practically sparkled as she slaked her thirst. She’d pushed herself so hard for so long the night before that she’d shoved all of her body’s basic needs out of mind, but now they all came crashing back. Simply addressing them was like a shot of adrenaline and a tickle of ecstasy at the back of her mind for finally catering to her survival instincts. She heard gruff voices calling out to each other through the trees, and she tensed with her wings half-spread. The gray and muscular bodies of the minotaurs moved between the branches ahead of her, carrying something between them. At first, Rainbow thought that they were stealing their salvage, but after a second to peer through the darkness, she realized that the minotaurs had fashioned a stretcher from some of the survivors’ material and were using it to bring their dead through the jungle. They must have begun bringing their fallen warriors back to their canoes so they could return them to their home island. “Pohnaa’ae.” Rainbow nearly bolted upright at the deep voice behind her. Whirling around, she spread her wings and readied herself for a fight, but instead only saw a single minotaur watching her from afar, arms crossed and weapons nowhere to be seen. It only took Rainbow a second to recognize the minotaurs’ chief by the skull on his head, even if it was cracked next to a harsh line of bruises and welts on the side of the bull’s face. But when the minotaur didn’t move after nearly ten seconds of tense silence, Rainbow started to relax. “Oh… okay then.” She cleared her throat and let the smallest hopeful smile settle onto her lips. “I take it that since you aren’t trying to rip me to pieces and stuff that we’re cool now, right? You know, with the whole evil alicorn thing?” The bull’s brow lowered ever so slightly before Rainbow realized that he likely had no idea what she was saying. Sighing, she shook her head. “Well, uh, in any event, I’m super jazzed and stuff that you guys showed up to help kill the mummies. Even if Soft did kill a bunch of you. I’m really sorry about that.” She awkwardly fluttered her wings, and the red stripe running through the feathers seemed to catch the chief’s attention. His eyes widened the slightest bit, and he bowed his head slightly toward Rainbow. “Saksi flaga beleten’sot U’a,” he said, and he seemed to look away in reverence. “A sogolo’set of fumpo’sat U’a. A noal.” Rainbow blinked. “…Right.” She shuffled her feathers back together and folded her wings by her sides, then coughed awkwardly into her hoof. “Uh, look, dude. We’re gonna be staying here for a while. This has been great and all, you know? Like, really swell. But do you guys think you can turn down the pony murder? Just a little bit? That’s what being a good neighbor is all about, you know.” All she received was a blank and confused look from the chief. Shrugging, Rainbow took flight, looking for a literal way out of the conversation, as much as it could be called one. “You know, you guys have a great idea taking care of your dead and stuff. In case I don’t see you around any time soon, uh, it was fun, dude. But now I’ve got my own… my own friends to take care of, ya feel me?” When the silence dragged on for too long, Rainbow instead smiled at the minotaur and winked once. “Maybe try a vegan diet, you know? Or one that doesn’t involve ponies. But, uh, yeah! Gotta fly!” And then she was gone, leaving the confused bull behind.