Chapter 3
Rarity doesn't say anything for a while. Neither of you do. The fact that you're trapped on an island in the middle of an ocean you don't even know the name of has sapped your desire for conversation. A bead of sweat rolling into your eye pulls you from your thoughts. You don't know how long you're going to be stuck here, and sitting her to bake in the sun won't do you any favors. With a sigh, you get to your feet.
"Rarity, we should head for the trees."
"No."
You stare at her for a moment.
"What?"
"I'm staying right here in case someone comes looking for us."
"Rarity, all you're going to do out here is burn up and dehydrate."
"I don't care. Someone will find us soon, I just know it."
She never takes her eyes off the ocean as she speaks to you. Whatever. She'll come to her senses eventually. As you trek toward the comforting shade of the trees, you can't help but feel you shouldn't be this exhausted. It occurs to you that you haven't had anything to drink for almost two days. As you finally drag yourself out of the sun and into the shade, you collapse again. This'll be good for now. May as well just take a short break.
Your eyes slowly open a while later. Laying on the ground, you notice something a few feet in front of your head. It's a large, green, roundish object. Huh. A coconut. You take a look up into the trees over your head. Coconuts everywhere. Seems like things may be looking up.
Forcing yourself to your feet, you walk over and grab it up. You can hear liquid sloshing around inside. You can't help but giggle to yourself as you pick a stone off the ground. Sitting down, you hold the coconut firmly between your legs and bash it with the rock. After a few good hits, it finally splits open, revealing the prize inside. Pulling the husk away, you grab the tender innards. Jamming a finger through to make a hole, you bring it to your mouth and take a drink. You almost gag at the flavor. You were expecting it to be sweet; instead it's metallic tasting. But, you're far too thirsty to be picky, and you drink every drop. Rarity would probably like something to drink by now, too. Even if it's not imported.
Turning back toward the beach, you spot the boat. Squinting, it looks like she's not in it anymore. Scanning the beach, you finally spot something on the sand in front of the boat, almost impossible to see from the glare of the sun. It looks like Rarity, laying on the sand. Why the hell would she be... Oh fuck.
You sprint down the beach toward her, renewed by your rest, your drink, and mostly determination. You come to a stop beside her.
"Rarity?"
She doesn't respond. You nudge her in the ribs with your foot. Still nothing. Getting worried, you check her pulse at her neck. Good, she's still alive, and seems fine. She probably just fainted from the heat. You've got to get her back to the shade. Unsure of exactly what to do, you grab her front legs and begin to drag her through the sand. After a few feet, you decide it's more trouble than it's worth. Stopping, you scoop her up off the burning sand, cradling her in your arms. It's not easy. She must weigh eighty pounds, easy. Stumbling a few times and almost dropping her, you make your way toward the trees. the time you reach the shade, your back is killing you, teeth clenched in pain. You gently lay her down on the ground and place a hand on her forehead. She's burning up. After a few quick shakes, she's still out. You don't want to waste the only water you have, but you don't see any other options.
Quickly looking around, you find another coconut laying on the ground. Using the rock to break the husk away, you pull the innards out and poke a hole in it. Carefully, you drip a few drops of the milk onto her face. Her eyes twitch and she winces, before finally opening her eyes.
"You ok?"
She blinks a few times before climbing to her feet.
"I'm... fine." She replies, clearly embarrassed.
"What happened there?" you ask her.
She's silent for a moment, then sits down on the ground.
"After a few hours in the sun, I decided the shade sounded pretty nice. I suppose I waited too long."
She shifts uncomfortably, not looking you in the eyes.
"Thank you, Anonymous."
You hand her the coconut.
"I know it's not what you're used to, but it's all we have."
She levitates the coconut to her mouth and takes a drink. She grimaces, but downs the whole thing in one go. She sets the empty coconut on the ground beside her. The two of you sit wordlessly for several minutes.
"I guess we should get ready for nightfall." you say.
"How do you mean?"
"Well, we have water for now. We need a fire, next."
You glance at her horn.
"I don't suppose you could, like... magic us up some fire?
She rolls her eyes and scoffs.
"Honestly, Anonymous! Could you be any more clueless?"
You shake your head and sigh deeply.
"Fine. I'll try and get a fire started."
This was nothing you've ever actually tried, but you remember seeing something about it on TV. It didn't look so hard. You set off looking for a flexible stick. Walking deeper into the island, you find plenty of sticks littering the ground. Looking around for a good one, you see movement out of the corner of your eye. Turning your head, you see a chicken standing there, staring right back at you, before walking on it's merry old way. Looks like there are wild chickens, here. That is information worth knowing. For now, you go back to your search.
Spotting a good looking stick, you snatch it up off the ground along with a shorter, thicker one, and a large dead one about as thick as your arm. You awkwardly carry everything back toward where you left Rarity. She turns to face you when she hears you approach. She seems to be wearing a sun hat made of palm leaves on her head.
"Ah, there you are! Just give me a moment and I'll have yours ready."
She uses her magic to weave a mass of the leaves together. After a few seconds of twisting and wringing, the leaves take the shape of a boonie hat. She levitates it over to you.
"Here you are! That should make this dreadful heat more bearable."
"Oh. Thank you!"
You drop your sticks to the ground and snatch the hat out of the air, putting it on your head. It's a good fit, and you already feel cooler. She eyes the sticks you dropped by your feet.
"What are those for?"
"These are for the fire."
"How are you going to make a fire with just sticks?"
"How do you ponies make fire?"
She scoffs at your question.
"With flint and steel, like any sane pony would."
"Well, we don't have flint or steel. So we have to improvise."
Tearing the hem off your shirt, you twist it taut and tie it to the ends of the flexible stick. There's your bow. You find a sharp rock and carve a notch out of the dead branch and stuff it with any flammable looking grass you found. Finally, you loop the shorter stick through the bow and stick one end into the notch. There, looks like it's all set up. This has all been surprisingly easy so far. Rarity looks at your handiwork with a raised eyebrow.
"Anonymous, are you sure you haven't spent too much time in the sun?"
"No, that would be you, if you remember."
She huffs at the comment, her face blushing slightly.
"Anyway, why do you ask?" you retort.
"Do you honestly believe you'll be able to start a fire with that... thing?"
"There's nothing to it," you say with a smirk. "I'll have a fire going in no time."
About 30 minutes later, it's getting dark, and you're no closer to a fire than when you started. This is exhausting, and your arms are already sore from rowing the boat earlier today. So far you've had to stop and drink from a coconut twice. Rarity is just sitting there, watching you struggle with a bemused look on her face. It looks like she's trying hard not to say "I told you so." Which is good, because you'd probably smack her. Arms aching, thirsty, hot, sweat pouring down your face, you keep at. Is it possible for your arms to be so tired they fall off? Because it really feels like it. Just a little more, come on.
No, you can't do this... you can't- Wait, is that a spark? YES! You drop the bow, and quickly begin nursing the budding ember. Gently blowing on it, you sprinkle more kindling on top. Your heart begins to sink when you accomplish nothing but cause the grass to smolder, until finally, a small flame erupts.
"AHA!" you shout, startling Rarity half to death.
She stares speechless as you pile on additional sticks until the fire is a respectable size. Completely drained, but with a smile on your face, you sit down next to the fire. Looking over at Rarity, you can help but laugh at her expression.
"And what, may I ask, is so funny?" she asks dryly.
"I told you so."
Rarity might have resisted the urge, but you don't feel the need to.
"I suppose you did," Rarity says, taking that jab with annoying dignity. "Now we have water and fire. All we need now is a bite to eat. I am absolutely famished."
You point back to where you came from with your thumb.
"There's some grass growing back there. I know it's far from ideal, but at least it's something."
"I see. Thank you." She says, climbing to her hooves. "What about you?"
"I can't eat grass. But right now, I'm just tired. I'm going to sleep."
"Then you'll be happy yo have... this!" She magics up a gigantic square made of woven palm leaves. It's pretty amazing what she's capable of with her magic.
"I made it while you were starting the fire. I thought it would be nice to have."
"Oh wow, a blanket? Thanks!"
You grab it from the air. Laying down on the still warm sand, you cover yourself with it. For being made of leaves, it's actually quite nice.
"G'night, Rarity." you say through a long yawn. Rarity, who was walking toward where you said the grass was, stopped for a second. For a moment, she stood silent.
"Good night, Anonymous."
As you open your eyes, you realize you can't see anything. At first you're scared by this, until you realize it's just night. Looking over at the fire, you see it's almost out. That also explains why you're so cold. With a frustrated groan, you begin to force yourself up, when you feel something beside you. Carefully reaching out to see what it is, you find that it's Rarity. It takes your half asleep mind a few seconds to realize she must have gotten under your blanket with you to fight the cold. Getting out from under the blanket is like stepping into a freezer.
You quickly run behind a nearby tree and do your business, before gathering up some more wood. It's not easy seeing as it's almost pitch black out. You feed the hungry fire more wood until it's burning nice and warm again. You delicately climb back under the blanket, as to not wake Rarity. Getting in comfortably is difficult, laying on sand.
You accidentally bump into Rarity as you climb under. She lets out a loud snort and mumbles to herself. It's all you can do to keep from laughing. She flails around a bit before finally colliding with you. Once she feels you, she scoots back into you and lets out a contented sigh. It's a little uncomfortable, but you can't deny she's warm.
With a yawn, you lay your head back down on the ground. Before you can drift off, your stomach growls, loudly and painfully.
"Shut up," you say. "I'll deal with you tomorrow."
End part 3