Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

A Day on the Lagoon

Even though Rarity kept an eye trained toward the mouth of the lagoon, the siren never reappeared. The green sea creature was simply gone, vanished somewhere into the deep blue sea. Whether she was still hanging around the island or miles away, Rarity didn’t know. But a part of her kept hoping that she’d return, consequences be damned.

Rainbow and Gyro seemed much more contented with the current state of affairs. Without the siren and her song, Gyro didn’t have to worry about keeping an eye on the other two, and Rainbow could enjoy the beach in peace. Her and Gyro ended up chasing each other across the shallow water and starting impromptu races. Rarity was at least glad Rainbow had Gyro for that; the earth pony could keep pace with Rainbow on the ground, whereas if Rarity had tried to race, she’d be left in the dust. That just meant more time for Rarity to lounge on the sand and enjoy the sun.

So that was exactly what she did. Though the experience would’ve been so much better if she had a margarita or something fruity to drink, Rarity made the most of it. The sun was warm, it wasn’t too humid, and there was a gentle breeze off the lagoon to keep her from getting too hot. Even without the basic comforts of civilization, it didn’t get much better than this.

At some point, Rarity heard the fluttering of feathers and cracked an eye open to see a colorful red bird stalking across the sand. Chirp stopped right in front of Rarity’s nose and angled his head back and forth, obviously looking for something to eat. When Rarity didn’t move to offer him anything, he lowered his head and lightly pecked at her nose to convey his frustration.

Rarity sneezed and sat up, frowning at the bird. “Oh, Chirp, must you?” she asked. Still, Chirp cautiously padded closer and started pecking at her fetlocks. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything to eat down here.” Her eyes flicked up the slope of the hill and she pointed in that direction. “You know where the food is, why don’t you go find it yourself?”

Instead, Chirp simply looked up at her and worked his beak from side to side. “…Ello.”

It took Rarity a few seconds to process what she heard. “…Chirp, did you say something?”

“Ello,” the macaw said again. “Ello!”

Rarity was flabbergasted. She looked around and spied Rainbow and Gyro splashing across the water and waved them over. “Girls!” she exclaimed, pointing to the macaw. “Chirp is talking!”

The other two mares stopped what they were doing and turned back to Rarity. “He’s talking?” Rainbow asked, her voice ripe with disbelief. She bounded her way across the water to Rarity, shaking her head the whole time. “No way,” she said. “Really?”

Gyro followed her in and raised an eyebrow at the macaw, who was on the receiving end of loving head scritches from Rarity. “I always thought he was trying to say things before. What’d he say?”

“He said hello,” Rarity said, smiling at Chirp. “Come on, little birdy, say it again.” Chirp, however, was too busy letting Rarity scratch his head to be bothered to respond. Sighing, Rarity drew her hoof back and glared at the macaw. “You’re not going to make me look like a fool in front of these two, are you?”

Chirp angled his head from side to side for a few more seconds, expecting scratches that never came. Eventually, after pecking at Rarity’s hooves for a few seconds, he ruffled his wings and looked at Rainbow. “Ello?”

“Hey, that actually sounded like something!” Rainbow exclaimed, lowering her head to look at Chirp from eye level. “Good job, little guy! Can you say ‘Rainbow?’ C’mon, my name’s awesome, it’s the perfect thing for an awesome parrot like you to learn.”

“I don’t think he’s that far along yet,” Rarity said. “This is the first we’ve ever heard him talk. I doubt his vocabulary is much larger than that single word.”

“Ello,” Chirp reiterated.

“He’s at least passionate about it,” Gyro quipped. “That oughta count for something.”

Rarity scratched Chirp's head some more and stood up. “He’s owed a treat at the very least,” she said. “We want to reward him for talking if we want him to keep doing it.”

Gyro chuckled. “I guess head scratches aren’t good enough for your spoiled little bird.”

“I prefer to think of him as our spoiled little bird,” Rarity said, picking Chirp up with her magic and setting the bird on her shoulder. “He’s like the island’s mascot.”

Chirp responded by fluffing his wings and picking at a strand of Rarity’s salty mane, making the mare giggle. Rainbow watched him for a moment, then nudged him with a blue wingtip. “He’s a pretty great one if you ask me. We definitely need to keep him when we get outta here.”

“Whenever that will be…” Rarity sighed.

“Eventually,” Gyro said. “We’ll be getting there soon. I’m starting to feel like my old self again but fifty pounds lighter. I’ve accomplished every supermodel’s dream!”

Rainbow stuck out her tongue. “I don’t like toothpick mares.”

“‘Toothpick mares?’” Rarity asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what it says on the tin, Rares,” Rainbow said. “All those supermodels are always trying to get thinner and thinner. Some of them look as bad as G did when we first found her. I like it when they at least have a little muscle to them, some curves and stuff. Soft but firm when you hold onto them.”

Rarity rolled her eyes and started walking back up the hill. “You mean the plus-sized models.”

“I mean normal mares!” Rainbow huffed. “Stupid fashion making fillies think they have to look like skeletons to look pretty. Unrealistic body standards for mares, that’s what it is!”

“I don’t dictate the rules of fashion, darling, I just follow them.” She turned the comment into a teasing barb when she added, “You certainly have never felt pressured to follow them, especially not as a teenage filly in high school, I take it?”

Rainbow frowned down the length of her muzzle. “That’s not true…” she mumbled.

Rarity stopped and turned around. “Really? You of all mares I expected to care the least about beauty standards and the like.”

Even Gyro cocked an eyebrow and flanked Rainbow as she sulked lower into her hooves. “Rainbow Dash, concerned about her appearance? I’ve gotta hear this.”

“I…” Rainbow fumbled for words. Eventually, she settled on an angry huff and a deepening red blush to her cheeks. “Can we not talk about this now? You’re gonna ruin an awesome day for me.”

Rarity and Gyro both looked at each other and smiled. It was evident to Rarity that her and Gyro were on the same wavelength. “Alright, Rainbow, if you insist,” Rarity said. “We’ll put it off for now. But I do expect you to tell us about it later tonight.”

“It’ll be fun,” Gyro said. “We can all talk about our stupid crushes when we were fillies. More girl talk!”

“I hate girl talk,” Rainbow grumbled. “It’s so… girly.”

“It’s in the name, yes,” Rarity teased. “Quite an astute observation.”

“Why do we have to do this?” Rainbow whined. “It’s not important.”

“Because it’s funny,” Gyro said, her lips curling upwards into a devilish smirk.

“Because you’re not going to get any more of this unless you tell me who I have to measure up against,” Rarity said, gesturing a hoof to her body. Winking, she added, “It’s important to know.”

“Mmrrffff… Fine,” Rainbow groaned. “I’ll tell you about it tonight. Maybe a coconut will fall off a tree and break my neck or something and I won’t live that long.”

Rarity trotted a few steps back to Rainbow’s side and brushed shoulders with her. “Oh, come now, darling, it won’t be that bad. I promise.”

“I promise I won’t laugh too hard,” Gyro added, winking.

Rainbow’s head ducked even lower. “I hate you two…”

“Ello?” was all Chirp had to contribute to the discussion. “Ello!”

Comments

[jaxman147]

Rarity scratched Gyro’s head some more and stood up. “He’s owed a treat at the very least,” she said. “We want to reward him for talking if we want him to keep doing it.”

Rarity is getting quite affectionate with the new resident isn't she? Jk, it's probably just a small error, wanted to help fix it.

I'm not clear on how long it takes some birds to learn to mimic some speech, but I thought it took a bit more than just casual conversation. I'd be thinking about who else Chirp could be picking up his new vocabulary from.

Enjoying the story very much. You're doing very good work.

[The 24th Pegasus]

8584235
I mean Gyro is adorable, isn't she?

[jaxman147]

8584238
Haha! Yes, not meaning to argue that. I just thought it was Chirp's head that was being scratched, not Gyro's.

[Aurora Dimmet]

Hah! Rainbow Dash always dresses in style.

[Neece]

8584256
By the gods if THAT is her past my sides shall become the new crewman of the ISS

[RoboRed]

ello

[dotLuna]

I found this story two days ago and I am hooked. Can't wait for more ;)

[Merula]

>Inb4 Chirp becomes fluent in Ponish

[zaponator]

Chirp! I almost forgot how fun he is.