Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

Meanwhile in Sand Land...

Rainbow Dash felt uncharacteristically tired that morning. Usually, she was one to rise with the sun, but she couldn’t bring herself to actually get up and be active, even with her desperation to find Rarity. She was fundamentally and completely exhausted in a way she hadn’t felt in a long while.

She slept in for an extra two or three hours that morning, only rousing herself with a concentrated effort. Finally, it seemed, her body was starting to collapse from exhaustion and stress. With her poor diet, the torture at the hooves of the pirates, and overall lack of sleep, not to mention any lingering effects from her concussion, Rainbow felt like she was splitting apart at the seams. She knew she needed rest, lots of it, but she couldn’t afford it right now. So long as her body would survive just a few more nights of hectic activity and frantic searching, Rainbow wouldn’t stop or slow down. Rarity couldn’t afford for her to do so.

But her limbs still moved with a lethargic clumsiness that she knew would be difficult to shake off. She nearly punched herself in the face when she tried to rub at her eyes and squish away the drowsiness clinging to them by putting some pressure on her eyelids. Her mouth stretched wide open as she yawned, and almost as soon as she finished the first yawn, she had to do it again. Yet she forced herself to stand regardless, stretched her wings out to their full span, and squinted through the blistering daylight around her to survey her surroundings.

Champagne had found a nice and sheltered spot close to the north shore of the island for them to pass the night. Here, a series of trees grew in an almost V-shaped formation, and the two pegasi had used the crook of the V to shelter themselves from the winds and the interior of the island. The bases of the trunks also provided some support and a sturdy place to lodge their supplies so they wouldn’t be covered with sand or washed away with the tides, though from what Rainbow could see across the beach, high tide only came to about ten feet of where they had chosen to rest for the night. If the waters got any choppier, she knew her and Champagne would have to move everything somewhere else to keep it dry.

As for the concierge, Champagne was still asleep in the sand, snoring softly with her wings splayed out on either side of her. Her chin rested on some of the fronds Rainbow had torn out of the palm trees to give them some bedding, and her breath flicked the tip of one back and forth, back and forth. Occasionally, she’d twitch or mutter something in Prench, but she was soundly and solidly asleep. As much as Rainbow wanted to have an extra pair of eyes in looking for Rarity, she figured it’d be best if the Prench mare got her sleep. After all, it’d probably be worse for them if they both were terribly exhausted and something happened. If Champagne could catch up on sleep, then maybe she’d at least be coherent and alert as the day dragged on.

In the meanwhile, Rainbow figured that a quick walk through the water would do her some good; maybe the cold saltwater would help her wake up. Staggering across the sand, Rainbow came to the edge of the swash zone, hesitating for a few moments before finally deciding to step in. The cool kiss of the seawater around her legs and hooves sent shivers up her spine, freezing her in place like ice while she tried to adjust to the sudden change in temperature. Gritting her teeth, however, she lowered her head and galloped directly into the next wave, letting it break against her chest and splash over all her of body, instantly drenching her in seawater and soaking her coat to the skin. Gasping, Rainbow locked up like a statue, shivered, and turned tail to gallop out of the water before the next wave could batter her some more. It was certainly one way to wake up, and Rainbow felt very much awake now.

Stopping on the sand to shake as much of the water as she could out of her coat, Rainbow spread her wings and focused on letting the sun dry them. She had heard nor seen nothing the night before, and for the time being, at least, she still had no idea where to start looking for Rarity. Maybe she missed something in her flyover last night with only dim moonlight to illuminate the island? At the very least, it was worth another pass now that the sun was actually out. Maybe she’d see something new beneath the trees from up above. She just needed to let her wings dry off first… and maybe snag some breakfast.

Several minutes later, Rainbow found herself with her back against the crook of trees, a jug of water by her side and some coconut and sugar apples in her hoof. She tried eating the two together, hoping that their flavors would mix and present something new to her, but she soon remembered she’d already attempted that weeks ago. Frowning, she stuffed the rest of her meal into her mouth and tried to swallow it without tasting it too much. She’d been spoiled with the meals prepared from the crew’s rations yesterday. Returning to her fake-apple diet was almost painful to do.

She eyed the skittering movement of tiny crustaceans up and down the beach. Maybe she could go crabbing if she wanted something a little different. She hadn’t had a chance to go crabbing in a while, and the crunchy, salty sand crabs would be a perfect snack to mix up her palette a little. She was even about to stand up and go after some when Champagne finally began to stir.

Within five minutes, the Prench mare opened an eye and yawned. “Mmmrff… quelle heure est-il?” she asked in her native tongue. “J'espère ne pas avoir dormi pendant les heures de boulot...”

Rainbow smiled down at her. “Heh, good morning to you too and stuff.” She shifted out of the way slightly so Champagne could roll over and stand up, though she had to wave away one of Champagne’s wings, inadvertently extended into her face in the cramped space. “You look like you slept well.”

“I did,” Champagne said, dipping her head. “Perhaps too well. How long have you been awake?”

“Only, like, half an hour, maybe,” Rainbow said. “It took me a while to get out of bed too. That was a tiring flight last night.”

“Yes, it was.” Champagne winced as she stretched some more. “My wings are still stiff. I know I’ll be feeling that for a few more days.”

“So long as it doesn’t interfere with the flight back,” Rainbow said. “At least then we’ll have fewer supplies on us, but we might need to carry Rarity back.”

“Yes, right.” Champagne shook her head. “We should have taken the raft over.”

“The raft would’ve been too slow,” Rainbow said. “We made better time from flying. Besides, I didn’t want to thin our camp out any more than we already have by taking a unicorn to push the raft along. They need as many numbers as they can get.”

“For the pirates?” Champagne asked. Her eyes briefly fell to the sand. “I’m sorry I got them involved in this…”

Rainbow reached out with a wing and brushed her shoulder. “We needed their numbers; you did the right thing. If they’re gonna be assholes about it, that’s their friggin’ problem. Truth is, I don’t think we would’ve kept the mummies from getting out of the tomb if we didn’t have Flag and Roger to back us up.” Sighing, she added, “But I still don’t trust them to work with us completely. Sooner or later, things are gonna come to a head, and we’ll have to figure out once and for all if we can trust them. That’s why I want Ratchet to have as many capable ponies with him as he can get, just in case the pirate brothers start something. I don’t want to come back with Rarity to find out that they’re all dead.”

Champagne shuddered. “I hope it won’t come to that…”

“It won’t,” Rainbow assured her. “Ratchet and Ruse and the others can keep things under control. Plus, if they really needed to signal us, they’ve got Stargazer. He can fly between the islands quick enough to let us know something’s happening. In the meanwhile, we just shouldn’t worry about them, because they’ll be fine.”

Rainbow stood up and passed the basket of fruit to Champagne. “Eat up and stuff. We’ll have a long day ahead of us. In the meanwhile, I’m gonna fly up there and get a good look at the island.”

Champagne nodded and picked out some coconut. “I’ll be here when you’re done.”

“Good.” Spreading her wings, Rainbow started to trot off along the sand. With a few flaps of her wings, she called out over her shoulder, “Enjoy the rest while you can!”

Comments

[Elsaack]

And then the siren and the pegasus run into each other and talk about their mutual unicorn friend. Kidding, no way it will be that simple.

[Mocha Star]

I have a great idea, let's split up. Nothing bad's gonna happen.

Why you not learn, Why!?!1!

[alamais]

Yeah, but, crabs tho.

[Eroraf86]

They have to run into the siren sooner or later. That's the only way they'll ever find Rarity.

[zaponator]

Well hopefully Melody is out and about...