• 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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A Monster in the Dark

Once more, Black Flag found himself trotting through the forest. He’d done a lot of back and forth tonight, and it was starting to take its toll on him. Between poor rations, being up and fighting the previous few nights instead of catching sleep, and crossing the damned islands several times, he knew he was beginning to suffer from exhaustion. Unfortunately, it started to hit him at the worst possible time. He needed his energy and focus for whatever he would encounter tonight, and that was already slipping away from him.

Whether or not the survivors felt it as well, he couldn’t tell. The seven ponies all marched in a group, and he knew that Jolly Roger still circled behind them, watching their backs. Still, the divisions were there, and plain to see. Whereas Flag and Hayseed kept to one side of the group of ponies, the five survivors kept to the other, maintaining an invisible line dividing friends and temporary acquaintances. Both sides eyed each other almost as much as they paid attention to their surroundings and where they were going.

But soon enough, they finally reached the opening to the temple, and the seven ponies collectively stopped. Flag shot the yawning entrance a worried look, a sentiment shared by everypony around him. Not only did the dark entrance to the tomb stare back at them like an infinite abyss, but blood decorated the steps leading down to it, as well as spattering the rocks just above the stairs. A steady trail of dripping, dribbling splatters moved further down the stairs from the twin pools of blood, and even bloody hoofprints decorated the dirty stone. It looked almost exactly like how Champagne had told it; two ponies were obviously shot on the stairs and collapsed but still managed to shrug it off and keep walking. No sane and normal pony could do that.

“Looks like we missed whatever happened here,” Ratchet said, frowning down the stairs. “They’re already inside of the temple.”

“That’s not good,” Flag said. “We might already be too late.”

Ratchet craned his neck back to look at the sky. “Champagne, you’re a pegasus. How much time do we have before those clouds building out there block the moon?”

Champagne raised her head and squinted at the skies. “No more than two hours, I think.”

“Then we’ll have to be in and out in an hour fifty-nine.” Ratchet started down the stairs, gesturing for his crew to follow him. “The world hasn’t ended yet, so we might not be too late. Let’s just be quick and careful in here, okay?”

“It might not be a bad idea to post somepony at the entrance,” Flag said. “Leave one of yours to stay behind.”

Ratchet shot a look at him. “I don’t want to divide our numbers any smaller,” he said. “I think we’ll need everypony.”

Shrugging, Flag just pointed up at the moon. “If we get locked down there, we’re all dead.”

“Let Champagne stay behind,” Clever Ruse said. “The poor mare’s already done enough tonight.”

Ratchet nodded and turned to the pegasus. “Your thoughts? It’s up to you.”

Champagne shuddered but tried to stand tall. “I can fight,” she protested. “I can help.”

“You’ve done enough,” Ruse insisted. “Take a break under the moonlight. Don’t worry about us. We can’t ask anything more of you.”

Reluctantly, Champagne backed down and nodded. “Okay,” she said, though her voice let a little relief sneak into it. “I’ll keep an eye out for more strange things up here. You all just be careful, okay?”

“We’ll be fine,” Ratchet said. Then, glancing at Black Flag, he nodded. “Ready to move?”

“No, but we’ll do it anyway.” Gesturing for Hayseed to follow, Flag started down the stairs. “Let’s get this done with so we can go back to hating each other.”

“I thought that never stopped,” Hayseed muttered.

The ponies started moving down the stairs and closer and closer to the dark entrance. The whole place gave Flag a bad vibe and made his skin crawl. At the very least, he wasn’t expecting a betrayal from the survivors, especially if they weakened their numbers like that. Depending on what they found inside the tomb, Flag figured there might be some opportunities to settle the war between his crew and the survivors once and for all. With Jolly Roger still concealed outside the tomb, he could easily kill Champagne and then assist in dealing with the rest of the survivors with an element of surprise. That would be how he and Hayseed walked away from this if things went bad.

But right now, he only had one major concern to worry about. Matchlock, Scabbard, and the other survivors they’d somehow ‘turned’ were inside the temple ahead of him. And it was up to him and an unlikely alliance with the Concordia survivors to put an end to whatever they were doing.

He just hoped he wouldn’t end up like them.

-----

Rainbow Dash, Stargazer, and Ball Bearings all hurriedly moved to one of the side chambers in the great cavern for want of a better place to hide. There, they crouched behind some rough debris and stones, but even then there wasn’t much to keep them safely out of sight. Their best bet at staying hidden relied entirely on being someplace the new arrivals wouldn’t look and remaining shrouded by darkness. But with their mere presence turning on magical blue lights, Rainbow didn’t know how much they could rely on the darkness.

But the one advantage they did have was the water. It was certainly cool and unpleasant this deep below the earth, but it was deep enough that if they kneeled they could submerge themselves entirely beneath the water. So that was exactly what the three ponies did, slipping beneath the murky water together and waiting with just their heads still exposed as the lights drew closer and closer.

Of course, almost as soon as they moved into position, a deep horror settled in Rainbow’s gut. If the newcomers were heading for the door they were standing around moments ago, then that meant they were going to try and get through it. And if they got through to the other side, then Rarity would be cornered and trapped by them. The seamstress didn’t even know that these new ponies—whoever they were—were coming.

“We have to do something,” Rainbow said. “We can’t let them get through that door.”

“Why?” Stargazer whispered to her. “Whoever they are and whatever magic is with them, I don’t want to mess with it.”

“Ditto,” Bearings said. “Let’s just hide here and let them do their thing.”

“But Rarity’s in that room!” Rainbow hissed. “And she doesn’t know they’re coming! If they get to her—!”

“How?” Stargazer countered. “We can’t get this door open because it’s blocked. How are they going to get to Rarity?”

“I don’t know!” Rainbow splashed in frustration. “With their spooky magic or whatever it is they’re doing! We have to stop them!”

“We can’t stop them right now,” Bearings stressed. “Not without at least figuring out who they are and what they’re doing.”

“Yeah, and those lights are getting pretty close, so shut it, both of you!” Stargazer said, holding out his wings.

Almost immediately afterwards, another set of lights close by burst to life, bathing the entrance of their side hall in a blue glow. The three ponies ducked down until only their eyes and noses remained above the water, trying to hold as still as possible and not make the water splash or ripple. The lights were followed by another set, and another, and then another, before the splashing of legs through the water finally approached right around the corner. Rainbow and the two stallions lowered their bodies another inch, trying to cower ever more into the remaining sliver of darkness they clung to yet wanting to see who the ponies were.

The very first pony Rainbow saw nearly made her do a double take. Soft Step marched across the water with a lifeless gait, her wings unfurled and limply dragging through the water at her sides. Her body was covered in little bite marks that oozed blood, and though she held her head high and shoulders square, something was off about her almost vacant expression. Rainbow nearly called out to the masseuse to ask her what she was doing, but a glance at the mare’s blazing white eyes carrying a tinge of blue in the pupils made her stop. She’d been around Twilight enough to know when some sort of enchantment or magic was in play, and the mare was definitely affected by something.

To make matters worse, she wasn’t alone. Blow Off followed by close behind, but then Rainbow recognized two of the pirates from Squall’s camp, Matchlock and Scabbard, the two Squall had sent off on patrol before her death. They all had the same enchanted look in their eyes, and they all marched down the hall with purposeful, nearly dead steps. They passed the entrance to the side hallway without incident, and Rainbow had to stop herself from letting out a huge sigh of relief. It wasn’t over yet.

Soon, the splashing stopped, along with the lighting of the torches. The cave returned to dead silence once more, and it stayed that way for several seconds. Eventually, Rainbow’s curiosity got the better of her instincts, and she emerged from behind her cover, slowly drifting through the water to avoid making a sound. Though she received alarmed looks from her companions, she pressed on regardless. She just had to see what was happening at the door…

-----

Rarity fumbled blindly through the oppressive darkness. No matter how bright she illuminated her horn, she couldn’t push the light farther than a few inches. She occasionally tripped or stumbled across rocks or cracks in the floor, and she even struggled to see her nose. Her single ear pivoted about wildly, trying to make sense of her surroundings in the complete and utter darkness.

“H-Hello?” Rarity squeaked, her voice breaking the silence like a strangled scream. She immediately flinched back at how loud that single word seemed and tripped over her own hooves. She fell to the ground with a grunt and smacked her cheek against the stone of the floor, her horn briefly illuminating it before she lifted her head and it vanished once more. Rarity realized that she’d turned herself around and disoriented herself now. Swallowing hard, she stood up and started walking once more, not even sure if she was proceeding in the same direction as before. A tiny Rarity in her brain started panicking that she’d get lost in the darkness and never find her way out. She tried to shut it up and ignore it, but its screams were very loud.

“Hello?” Rarity squeaked again. Chewing on her lip, she shook her head and carefully advanced one step at a time. “I don’t even know why I’m talking,” she muttered. “Perhaps its because I’m terrified I’ll die alone down here, wandering the darkness forever. At this point I’d almost prefer some horrifying monster to be down here with me just to stave off the loneliness.” Her mind immediately conjured several horrifying scenarios of her being ambushed and slaughtered in the darkness, either by something pouncing on her or something ensnaring her leg and dragging her away, kicking and screaming. Neither scenario did anything to slow her hammering heart.

“I’m going to be trapped down here forever, aren’t I?” Rarity whimpered. “Please, please, I don’t want to die alone, alone and forgotten!”

Her outstretched hoof bumped into something and she immediately shrieked. When she realized it was stone, however, she moved closer, carefully feeling around it to try and get an idea of what exactly she was dealing with. Her hoof glanced over a jagged edge, and Rarity flinched as it sliced the frog of her hoof open, dotting it with blood. Rarity drew her hoof back and sucked on the surprisingly painful cut, when suddenly, faint blue lines began to appear on the structure in front of her. Little by little, they formed into runes, and they shed a soft light strong enough to illuminate their immediate surroundings. Under their glow, Rarity saw what looked like another altar of obsidian, with a few drops of her blood running down a spike in the middle.

Rarity blinked. That wasn’t a spike. Was that… a horn?

A clammy breeze rushed through the chamber, sending shivers down Rarity’s spine. The shadows seemed to shift and swirl around her, almost like they were alive. The darkness momentarily lessened and something shifted through it, but then it came crashing back, stronger than ever. Everything vanished from Rarity’s sight, and she couldn’t even see the light cast by her horn anymore. She’d gone completely blind, unable to see her hoof in front of her face even when she held it the tiniest sliver of distance away from her eye.

“Is… is somepony there?” Rarity asked, trembling and cowering in fear.

YES.

The single word punched its way through Rarity’s ear and into the center of her brain like her skull wasn’t even there. She yelped and flattened herself against the ground, hooves over her head. After a few moments, she dared to open an eye again, for all the good it did her. Utterly petrified by fear, Rarity couldn’t do anything more except cower in silence with her chin on the floor.

The darkness shifted again. Rarity could feel another presence around her, even if she couldn’t see it. Whatever it was, it felt like it was everywhere and nowhere at once, both very far away and living inside of her quickly seizing heart. Bit by bit, it receded until Rarity could see the altar again. Tilting her head back a few degrees at a time, Rarity soon thought she could see the silhouette of a large equine leering down at her out of the dark, a pony given shape by even darker shadows separating it from the pitch black of its surroundings. Eyes flashed, ethereal teeth swirled in its maw, and once more, its powerful, haunting voice sliced through her very being.

WHO ARE YOU, MORTAL?

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