Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

You're Not the Only Ones

Rarity would’ve thought that Rainbow Dash hadn’t seen her for years with how enthusiastic she was in the bed. She didn’t exactly blame Rainbow, though; she felt much the same way. Those few days apart had felt like an entire lifetime of suffering and loneliness without each other. It felt great to finally be reunited again, and to express their joy in more carnal ways.

Afterwards, the two mares simply lied side by side on the bed, holding on tightly to each other and snuggling in each other’s embrace. While Rainbow almost immediately passed out cold from sheer exhaustion, Rarity remained awake and clingy, holding onto Rainbow like she feared the pegasus would disappear if she ever let go. She’d gone through Tartarus and back ever since separating from Rainbow’s side beneath the tomb, and she was not keen on reliving that horrible experience.

Still, her worries wouldn’t go away. While she’d been afforded a brief respite, now that the ecstasy was wearing off, her fears about what would come in the next few weeks started to crash back down upon her. Neither her nor Melody had expected things to be this bad, but if what Rainbow was saying was true, than they all were truly in a race against time to escape and contain the dark spirit before it was too late. While Rarity obviously didn’t know as much about the islands and their dark history as Melody did, she had still learned enough from Melody to know that the islands were on the verge of something incredibly bad happening. That it had shaken Melody enough to force the siren to leave and think worried Rarity, too.

Unfortunately for her, she had to suffer through those worries alone for almost half an hour. She tried to sleep like Rainbow, but found it all but impossible. Her mind could only puzzle through the myriad different ways things could go horribly wrong by the time the next full moon around and how she could try to fix them.

So she was thankful beyond relief when Rainbow woke up from her quick nap. The pegasus mumbled something and lifted her head, where it took a few seconds for her bleary eyes to focus on Rarity’s face. When they did, she blinked and used her wingtip to rub at her eyes. “Mmm… I think I dozed off.”

“A little more than a doze, darling,” Rarity said, the corners of her mouth twitching a bit upwards. “You were practically out cold.”

Rainbow grimaced and began to fidget, stretching her different limbs in succession. “I haven’t gotten much sleep these past few days. Maybe I can finally get some tonight when we’re back home.”

Rarity slowly nodded. “Some rest would certainly do you good, Rainbow. I’m flattered that your worry for me has led to many sleepless nights for you, but really, your own health should have come first.”

“Nah. There was no way I was ever gonna get good sleep without you by my side.” She smiled and rubbed her nose against Rarity’s. “I’ve grown too used to the good life.”

Rarity giggled in return. “I’m glad to know that I’m still ‘the good life’, even though I look like I’m straight out of a war movie.”

“Scars can be sexy, too,” Rainbow said. “Pegasi are warriors at heart. We love a few good scars here and there.”

“Then I guess I should consider these a blessing.” Rarity touched the wound where Squall had nearly cut out her eye. “It’s going to be nothing but pure Tartarus for me when I return to the fashion world, though.”

“Ah, screw them. You should just impress them with a fashion line about tropical survival and stuff.” Rainbow smirked at her. “Soon, everypony will be dressing in tattered, salt-stained rags, bandages, and eyepatches! It’ll be the next big trend!”

“Pssshhh, as if.” Still, Rarity couldn’t help but giggle a little bit more at that. “Though I’m sure I’ll be dominating the headlines of fashion magazines for months. Everypony will want to hear about my story.”

“I’m sure it’ll make, like, a good story to tell the other ‘Bolts at a bar or something,” Rainbow said. “It’ll probably get me a bunch of free drinks.”

Rarity blinked. “Why, I would have thought that your team would be more worried about what you’d been through.”

“I never said they wouldn’t,” Rainbow said. “But, I mean let’s face it, we’re all jocks on the Bolts. Jocks don’t talk about emotional stuff like that. I’ll get a bunch of drinks out of a few cool stories, and then we’ll be back to flying routines and stuff. It’ll be almost like it never happened.” She extended her free wing and frowned at it, noting the disheveled feathers jutting out from the limb. “It’ll take me a while to get back into shape, though. I’m suffering from muscle loss just being out here. My diet isn’t good enough to maintain mass and tone while I’m barely surviving on grass and fruit and coconuts. I just hope I don’t have any lasting damage.”

“Is your wing going to be fine?” Rarity asked her. “Has it been bothering you since it healed?”

Rainbow shrugged and tucked her wing back in against her side. “I mean, it’s good enough for now,” she said. “It still feels a little off, and I probably won’t know how well it healed until I get the team physician to look at it. I mean, I was running around in an improvised sling of vines and moss until it healed. There’s no way I got it set as well as it should have.”

“But it hasn’t interfered with your flying?”

“If it was, I wouldn’t have been able to fly between all these islands,” Rainbow said. “I know my limits and when to take it easy. So far, it hasn’t interfered with that.”

“That’s good.” Rarity closed her eyes and pressed her chin to Rainbow’s forehead. “Well, I’m just happy to know that you’re alive and well, darling.”

“Yeah, same,” Rainbow said, happily snuggling up against Rarity’s body. “Unfortunately, it’s not gonna last all that long. Soon, we’re gonna be outta here and right back into the fire. If we don’t come up with a plan soon… if we don’t find the last figurines? We’re all done for.”

“I managed to snag the unicorn figurine from the temple, but Melody dropped it in the water,” Rarity said. “She’s worried about us taking down the barrier and letting this dark spirit destroy the world.”

“Well, the dark spirit’s got an alicorn and an army full of mummies, so he’d get it sooner or later, regardless of what that siren thinks.” Rainbow huffed and frowned at Rarity’s coat. “But that still means we’re down a statue. This whole temple is underwater apart from a few rooms. We can’t get to them, not without Melody’s help.”

Rarity nodded. “Then I think we’re going to have to convince our friendly siren to help us.”

“Hopefully she does,” Rainbow said. “If she doesn’t, we’re all screwed.”

-----

When there wasn’t anything to do, Gyro loved to nap. She always found herself constantly taking naps when it wasn’t her shift in the boiler room of an airship, and usually spent half of her days off asleep in bed. Now, being stuck on an island with an injured back, she had plenty of time to sleep. It didn’t hurt that the tropics and the sunlight just seemed to suck the energy right out of her and send her into a deep sleep even from just doing nothing but lying on the sand all day.

What did hurt her was her dreams, and how they constantly teased her. She dreamt that she was surrounded by mushrooms of all kinds, grilled, sautéed, even raw and fried. Her mouth watered constantly, and they always just seemed to be out of reach. She felt like if she was trapped in this mushroomy wonderland any longer, she’d go insane from the aroma and mouthwatering fungus all around her, so tantalizingly close but so horribly far away.

Thankfully for her, somepony shaking her shoulder woke her up from her nightmare. She awoke with a start, her legs kicking out at the sand. It was still in the early afternoon, so she couldn’t have been asleep that long. Who could possibly need her and her useless legs now?

When she looked up, she saw Ratchet looking back down at her. There was a soft smile on his face, which confused Gyro at first. “Did I interrupt your dreams?” he asked her. “I’m sorry if I did.”

“No… no, it was more like a nightmare.” Gyro moved her tongue around, and it was then she realized she must’ve been drooling in her sleep. Laughing nervously, she wiped some of the spittle off of her chin and raised an eyebrow at her boss. “So? What is it? Or do you just feel like messing with me?”

Ratchet shook his head back and forth. “No, I don’t. In fact, you’ll probably think you’re still dreaming when I tell you what I have to say.”

Gyro blinked. “Still dreaming? What do you mean? Did something happen?”

“Yes, actually.” Ratchet smiled at her again, making Gyro just even more confused. But when he spoke again, she finally understood why. “Hot Coals just woke up.”

Comments

[Elsaack]

Rarity, isn't it a bit rude to have sex in someone else's bed? I mean, at least clean the sheets for Melody. Also, hooray for carnivorous allies!

And the pirates haven't killed anyone yet. Though I wonder how Hot Coals will fit now that he's awake. Not a survivor of the crash, but not welcome among the pirates. Though he could help bring the groups together.

Rarity might be able to broker some kind of alliance better as well, social butterfly she is. She could realistically claim to be able to convice the princesses to not charge the surviving pirates for services rendered, saving the world and all that. A lot can be forgiven there, as Squall is dead. Excited for this story!

[RoboRed]

YAY

[Merula]

Happy Gyro in 3...2...1...

[Aurora Dimmet]

8856201

Sirens gotta get off too and she's been alone for eighty years. I'm sure she needs some new material.

[Eroraf86]

I wonder what, exactly, Melody is thinking about/studying right now. Too bad Rarity can't use Twilight's Breezy spell to transform herself and Rainbow into sirens. Will we ever see the inside of the water temple?

[zaponator]

Hey it's ya boi, Hot Coals, back at it again!

[FloydienSlip]

8856700
Underrated comment, right here.

[Circut Breaker]

let the renunion sex begin!

[AstraPony]

Thankfully for her, somepony shaking her shoulder woke her up from her nightmare. She awoke with a start, her legs kicking out at the sand. It was still in the early afternoon, so she couldn’t have been asleep that long. Who could possibly need her and her useless legs now?

As soon as I read that I knew immediately that Hot Coals woke up. I'm smarter than you think author!!