• Published 14th Aug 2017
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Surviving Sand Island - The 24th Pegasus



An airship wreck leaves Rainbow Dash and Rarity stranded on a deserted island. Together, they must find a way to survive until help comes—if it comes.

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The Sky's a Small Place

With some alcohol in her system, Rarity finally felt herself relax for the first time all day. She and Sassy shot the breeze and shared all the juicy gossip they’d stored and marinated since they’d last seen each other, eliciting gasps and cultured laughter as they let the wine flow. Hours blurred by as the two mares relaxed in friendly, casual conversation.

Soon enough, the chimes on the Canterlot clock tower heralded four o’clock, and Rarity had to cork the last splash of wine left in the bottle. After a quick chance to freshen up in the bathroom (and a moment to apply another layer of perfume to hide the smell of alcohol on her breath), Rarity gathered her things about her and set off for the Canterlot Air Harbor. Sassy Saddles accompanied her, hauling up a large steamer trunk in her magic.

It was four seventeen when the two mares opened the door to the air harbor station. Rarity led the way, and even though her hooves still felt like leaden weights from drinking half a bottle of wine, she carried the proper poise and gait all the way up to the check-in. Sassy followed close behind with the trunk in her magical grasp, and her body gracefully swayed on gently curved limbs as Rarity set her bags to be checked.

The earth pony behind the counter took Rarity’s ticket and looked it up in a spiral notebook he kept at his station. “Let’s see, ta ta ta ta ta…” he rattled as his eyes scanned the leaves of the book. “Ah! Miss Rarity Belle. Five thirty-five aboard the HMS Concordia?”

“That would be the one!” Rarity’s brilliant blue magic took hold of her two suitcases and set them on the counter next to the stallion. “Two bags and one cargo.”

The earth pony nodded and briefly weighed the two bags. The needle on the scale dipped into the red on the far right of its face for the second. “This one’s overweight,” he said, taking it off the scale and sliding it back to Rarity. “Can you get five pounds out of it?”

Rarity rolled her eyes and floated her suitcase back. “Airships,” she scoffed, unzipping the purple bag and rummaging through the dresses she’d neatly folded inside. “You can carry several tons of cargo but five pounds over in one bag will break the keel of the ship?”

The stallion shrugged. “I don’t make the rules, Miss.”

“So why are they your concern?” Rarity intoned. She lifted a trio of stunning dresses and floated them before her. “Oh, I simply can’t decide which ones I have to leave behind. They’re all so beautiful, don’t you think?”

She fluttered her long lashes at the stallion and shifted her weight onto her rear legs. Brilliant blue orbs fixed him in a half lidded stare that suddenly made his uniform feel very hot and uncomfortable. Swallowing the lump in his throat, the earth pony rubbed the back of his neck. “Y-Yes, they’re sure… sure something, Miss.”

“And to think that I’ll have to leave them behind,” Rarity pouted. Her lower lip jutted out just a hair further than her upper, and the corners of her eyes sparkled with moisture. Then she tapped a hoof to her chin like she had an idea. Her voice took on a low, husky tone, and she placed her forehooves onto the counter and leaned on them. “How’s about I slip one on, you… look after the second, and we throw the others in, free of charge, hmm?”

The stallion anxiously tugged on the collar of his uniform as Rarity draped a silver dress across his back, placed a purple one in the suitcase, and pulled a sapphire sequined dress over her white coat. When she finished, she flounced her mane and leaned forward again. “It’s not overweight now, is it, darling?”

“I… I... I… I…” the stallion stammered, unable to form a response.. Smiling, Rarity kissed her hoof and blew it in the stallion’s direction before placing her suitcase on the table behind him herself. Before he could respond, she gently tugged her ticket out of the stallion’s grasp and sauntered off, casting one last wink over her shoulder as she strode up to Sassy’s side.

Sassy held a hoof over her lips to stifle her laughter, but when the two began to walk towards the terminal, she couldn’t contain the outburst anymore. “Oh Rarity, you dame! Playing with that poor stallion’s heart, that’s just cold!”

Rarity tittered. “Please, darling, this isn’t the first time I’ve talked somepony into being generous. Besides, I left him one of my finer dresses as personal compensation for helping me out. I’d say I was more than fair.”

“‘Personal compensation’. Is that what they call bribery these days?” Sassy teased. She shook her head and tugged on the corner of her dress with her magic. “I’m not even sure what he’ll do with that.”

“If he has a wife, I’ve saved him a rather hefty expense on an anniversary present.” Rarity shrugged. “Everypony can find a use for a Rarity. They’re not dresses you oft see in donation boxes.”

The two ponies approached the back of a meandering, snaking line of passengers waiting to go through security. Rarity sighed and slapped her hoof to her brow. “Eugh, this is why I loathe airship travel. Nothing but standing in lines, getting frisked by burlesque security personnel, and delays and cancellations for as far as the eye can see!”

“But at least you’ll be traveling in style and luxury,” Sassy said, draping a hoof across Rarity’s back. “First class aboard the HMS Concordia is no laughing matter, after all.”

“And neither are all the bits I saved and the investors’ cards I pulled in order to get it,” Rarity said. “At least the drinks are free.”

Sassy smiled, and her eyes caught sight of a large mob of traveling ponies slowly approaching the security line. She stepped forward and gave Rarity a heartfelt hug. “Oh, best of luck at the show in the confederacy, Miss Rarity! I so wish I could’ve joined you, but the boutique isn’t going to run itself, after all!”

Rarity had to raise onto her hind legs to wrap her hooves around Sassy’s taller shoulders. “And how I wish you could’ve come too. It would’ve been nice to have a familiar face around, but I suppose I’ll have to make due by fraternizing with the investors.” She gave the pale blue mare one last squeeze and then separated, backtrotting to reserve her place in line before the flood of ponies reached it. “I’ll be back in two weeks! Au revoir!

“Have a fun trip!” Sassy exclaimed, waving her hoof high. Then the throng of ponies closed in around Rarity, and she lost sight of her manager.

The smile slowly faded away from the fashionista’s face until it was replaced with a mildly annoyed frown. Grumbling, she turned in place and stared into the back of the head of the pony in front of her. She hated traveling, hated the lines, and now that Sassy was gone, all she had to accompany her was this pony’s horrifyingly frizzy green mane. Oh the things Rarity would do to that mane if she just had an hour…

The hands on the clock nailed to the wall slowly, inexorably wound their way about its face. The line shuffled and advanced along twisting paths and rope barricades. One by one, ponies had their bags checked, and unicorns had a dampening spell placed on their horns. Soon enough, it was Rarity’s turn to pass through security, and she stood still while two unicorns checked her over and applied the spell to her own horn.

A hot scorch of mana, then coolness. Rarity winced and rubbed the tip of her horn. “How long is this going to last?” she asked the security stallion standing next to her. “I have a premier that requires my magical talents shortly after I disembark.”

“The dampening spell only lasts for four days,” the stallion said. Rarity could tell by the irritated edge in his voice that he’d had to say this innumerous times already. “It only blocks higher end spells. Short-range telekinesis and other rudimentary magic isn’t affected. We want to keep the airship as safe as possible for your journey. It should wear off by the time you land in the Confederacy.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“See another security pony on the other side,” the stallion said, pointedly turning towards the next passenger behind Rarity. “They’ll take the spell off for you. Next!”

Rarity bade the security pony a good day and wandered over to her gate, making minute adjustments to her dress along the way. Simply trying to use her magic gave her the beginnings of a headache; it felt like she was trying to push her horn through a straw. Grumbling, the mare checked the time on her ticket and found an unoccupied seat in front of a window overlooking the air harbor.

Down below and all around, she saw airships of numerous sizes gently gliding in and out of their docks. Colorful throngs of ponies moved to and fro, boarding and disembarking their airships and being escorted to their respective terminals. Rarity’s eyes dipped straight down to where the HMS Concordia was moored. The crew tossed bags from one pony to the next with practiced ease. Despite the airships’ reputation for dropping and damaging luggage, these ponies at the least seemed to be careful experts of their craft.

With another half hour left before she even could board the airship, Rarity closed her eyes and let the sounds of the air harbor consume her. Ponies talked and chatted about the latest news or what the Princesses were going to be wearing to the Gala (Rarity scoffed inwardly; she already knew because she was designing their dresses). Somepony’s foals cried out of boredom, and somewhere a street performer played a charming if out of tune performance on a violin. At least those two sounds somewhat drowned each other out.

“…still in training though. So I, uh, got quite a bit to go. But even though I’m still pretty new to the team, I’ve got all the routines memorized!”

Rarity’s eyes opened. Was that… “Rainbow Dash?!”

Sure enough, hovering in place at the back of the waiting area was the sky blue pegasus, her rainbow hair ablaze in the light of the sun. A set of saddlebags rested on a chair just next to her, and she’d managed to loop several unwitting ponies into a conversation about what Rarity only assumed was the Wonderbolts. At her name, she jumped in surprise and turned towards the windows. “Rarity?!”

She zipped over with a mighty gust of her wings, ruffling the newspapers of a few ponies trying to read. Rarity had to lean back as she suddenly found her personal space invaded by the energetic pegasus. “What the hay are you doing here?! I can’t believe I ran into you!”

Rarity smiled and nudged Rainbow back. “I’m on a business trip to the Griffon Confederacy. I’m going to premier my first line of griffon dresses and garments for the population as a whole, not only mere designer garments. Why, I already have three dress lineups planned!”

Rainbow stopped flapping her wings and simply dropped a foot or so onto the ground. “That sounds pretty cool and stuff. Crazy that you’re going to the Confederacy too, eh?”

“Why, yes,” Rarity said. Then she narrowed her eyes. “You’re also going to the Confederacy? By airship?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Business trip.”

“Business trip?” Now those were words Rarity thought she’d never hear Rainbow say. “For the Ponyville Weather Control?”

“Pssh. Nah. This is straight from the top.” Rainbow smirked and crossed her forelegs. “Cloudsdale Weather Control is looking to set up shop in the Confederacy. The griffons don’t have weather factories like we do, and Cloudsdale wants to see if it can work something out with them. You know, create rain clouds locally so that they can make their arid land more farmable at a lower cost rather than relying on rain imports from Equestria. But to do that, they needed to send somepony who knows her stuff and just might be the teensiest bit world famous. And a member of the Wonderbolts doesn’t hurt, either; Spitfire wants me to feel around for interest in a tour their way next year, while I’m there..”

A cocky grin dominated Rainbow’s face, and Rarity couldn’t help but reflect some of that back at her. “So you’re saying that Cloudsdale Weather Control and the Wonderbolts chose you to be the lucky pegasus to deliver their sales pitches to the griffons?”

“Yeah! Duh! I’m not speaking fancy or anything like that!” Rainbow proudly placed a hoof over her chest. “They’d only chose the best for something like this. I mean, between the two of them, they gave me free tickets and a room. How cool is that?”

“Oh I’m sure,” Rarity said. A tinge of envy needled her that Rainbow was flying free to pitch something for somepony else while she was paying top dollar for some of the best rooms on the ship. “But you aren’t just flying there yourself?”

Rainbow dismissively waved a hoof. “Well, I’d like to, but the ocean’s a little too wide to cross by wing. I may be a heck of a lot faster than an airship, but I can’t keep that pace for a day and a half.” She flexed her small, speedy wings for emphasis, then shrugged. “That’s how long it’d take to cross the ocean if I was going full out. Well not, Sonic Rainboom speeds, but still pretty fast. I’m a sprinter, not an endurance flier. I can’t keep my speed up like that without breaks every so often. It’s too far for me to cross by wing, safe to say.”

“Plus you don’t want to miss out on the free food,” Rarity added with a wink.

Rainbow smirked and brushed her hoof against her chest. “Yeah, that too. I mean, complimentary meals and drinks and room service? Why would anypony give that up?!”

Rarity opened her mouth to reply, but a ringing bell interrupted her. She and Rainbow both turned towards the central podium in front of the staircase going down to the airship, where an aquamarine pegasus with a blue and white mane stood in front of a microphone. “May I have your attention please!” she said into the microphone. “The five thirty-five flight for the Griffon Confederacy is about to begin boarding! My name is Jetstream, and I’ll be your hostess for your four day flight.”

Jetstream paused to brush her mane back behind her ears; her emphatic, smiling head movements had shaken it loose from where it’d been tucked. She smoothed out the navy blue fabric of her uniform with a hoof before donning her bright smile again and returning to the microphone. “We here at CelestiAir sincerely thank you for choosing to fly with us, and we look forward to accommodating any and all needs you may have during our voyage. You can find me in the lobby of the ship at nearly any time, and if I’m not there, somepony will be willing to take care of you.

“Now,” Jetstream continued, pointing at the staircase behind her, “we’re going to begin calling our Harmony members first. If you’ll simply go down the stairs behind me, our wait staff will escort you to your rooms, where your luggage is waiting. Everypony else, please just sit tight for a few more moments, and we’ll have you out of here in no time at all!”

Jetstream pressed a button on the microphone to turn it off and shuffled out of the way as business ponies in formal suits began to queue up and descend the staircase. Rainbow Dash took to the air with a single flap of her powerful wings and smiled at Rarity. “Well, Rares, guess I gotta be off!” She flashed the colorful plastic card emblazoned with the logo of the Cloudsdale Weather Control and began to drift towards the line. “We’ll meet up later, kay?”

Rarity nodded. “Oh, I look forward to it, Rainbow.”

Rainbow waved and flitted over to the crowd of business ponies where she roughly inserted herself into the line. Some of the ponies cast her odd looks, and even Rarity couldn’t help but smile at how out of place Rainbow looked, naked amongst all the pressed suits. But the line cleared out fast enough, and soon Jetstream was moving towards the microphone again.

“Alright, fillies and gentlecolts, time for our business class!”

Rarity stood up and shuffled over towards the line—one last little line—and let her thoughts wander. She smiled inwardly as she handed Jetstream her ticket and began to descend the staircase. What were the chances that Rainbow Dash would be on the same flight as her out to the Confederacy?

At the least she wouldn’t be lonely or bored during the flight, or for much of her time across the sea. As she exited the staircase and looked up at the enormous hull of the airship, she smiled. Maybe traveling like this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

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