Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

Tearjerker

Gyro’s breath caught in her throat; she nearly started choking on it. She didn’t believe that what Ratchet was saying could be true. Hot Coals had finally woken up? After four days? When Fresh Linens had died, she wondered if Coals would be next, and she’d nearly resigned herself to the fact that the stallion would never wake up. But now he was supposedly awake? Ratchet had to be playing some kind of cruel joke on her.

“No way,” she said, desperately searching his face for any sign that he was lying to her. “He can’t have just… just like that? He’s awake? You’re… you’re serious?”

Ratchet kneeled down next to her and lightly shook her shoulder. “I know I enjoy teasing you and fooling with you,” he said, “But I know how much this stallion meant to you. I would never lie about something like this.”

“So he’s actually awake?” Gyro whipped her head over her shoulder in the direction of Gauze’s hut. “Is he alright? Has he said anything? Does he need anything?”

“I guess I half-lied,” Ratchet said, an apologetic look on his face. “He’s awake and moving, but he’s hardly coherent. He’s spent the last four days out cold, so he’s more than a little confused.”

“Then I can fix that,” Gyro insisted, already trying to stand up on the sand. Her weak hind legs trembled and fought for at least a little purchase in the sand, though she could hardly put much force or weight on them. Growling, she started to use her forehooves to turn herself around, angrily waving for Ratchet to get out of her way. “I’m going to see him!”

Ratchet quickly stayed the gray mare, restraining her with both hooves gently on her shoulders. “Don’t push yourself,” he warned. “You don’t want to hurt your back.”

“Screw my back. Coals is more important.”

“If you think Coals will screw your back to health, you’re going to be mistaken,” Ratchet said, his lips twitching a few times. “At least let us help you get there instead of you trying to drag yourself across the sand like a desperate, thirsty mare.”

“But I am thirsty—in more ways than one.” But, relenting, Gyro sighed and stopped trying to struggle against Ratchet. “Fine, get me some help and get me over to that hut, otherwise I’m going to start dragging myself there again.”

“As much as I’d like to see you attempt that, I don’t want to see you hurt yourself.” Ratchet chuckled and shook his head, then waved over Stargazer. When the pegasus fluttered closer, he pointed to Gyro. “Help me move her to Gauze’s hut, Star. She’s got a date with the patient that she can’t be late for.”

“I heard he was awake,” Stargazer said, moving to Gyro’s right while Ratchet shouldered her left. “How did he even survive? He was out cold for so long.”

“Gauze is nothing if not determined,” Ratchet said. “We should all be thankful we have him here with us.”

“Yeah. Nothing beats having a trained medical professional with you when you’re lost in the middle of nowhere.”

“His temperament could be better,” Gyro joked. “I tried to avoid going to see him on the Concordia unless I was basically on my deathbed. You go there for a sniffle and you think you’re gonna get executed.”

“I always liked him,” Stargazer said. “He’s a no-nonsense guy.”

“That’s, like, antithetical to my very being,” Gyro said.

Ratchet laughed, his shaking shoulders rocking Gyro back and forth. “Gyro is a being of pure nonsense,” Ratchet said. “Of course she’s not comfortable around the doc. They’re complete opposites.”

“I thought he would have tried to cut some nonsense out of you when you went in for your back,” Stargazer said to the gray mare.

“Then I guess I’m glad Rarity was the one doing the cutting, not him.” Still, despite the banter, as soon as Gyro saw Gauze, she wanted to run forward and kiss him for saving Hot Coals’ life. As it was, supported by Ratchet and Stargazer and struggling to move on her own, she could only happily grin at the doctor and try to peer past him into the hut. “He’s really awake?” she asked the doctor, unable to see much through the little frame of fronds hiding the interior. “Did you really save him?”

“I was able to stabilize and nurse him back to health, yes,” Gauze flatly replied. “He had a better chance for survival than Linens did; he hadn’t lost nearly as much blood, even if the shock put him out for days. He’s somewhat awake and active now, but he won’t be moving anywhere soon. I’ve left him with some food and water now that he can eat and drink on his own again, and hopefully he’ll be able to work his way back up to full strength soon.”

“I’m going to see him,” Gyro announced, already leaning forward to try and convince the ponies supporting her to help her through. “I haven’t seen his stupid sexy face for years and I cannot wait another second longer!”

“Be gentle with him,” Gauze said as he stepped out of the way. “If you reopen his wound, there’s a good chance he won’t recover the second time. He’s incredibly lucky he didn’t catch an infection, but he’s still likely to be very weak.”

“If I could pounce on him, don’t you think I wouldn’t need these two to help me get over here?” Gyro smirked at Gauze. “My legs are coming along nice, by the way.”

Doctor Gauze nodded. “Good. Don’t ruin them.” Then, turning his attention to Ratchet, he nodded. “Now that I don’t need to be giving my undivided attention to any patients, I’m going to get a meal and some exercise. If somepony hurts themselves while I’m gone, it’s their problem, not mine.”

“I’ll try to keep the damage to a minimum,” Ratchet said with a chuckle. “Enjoy yourself, doc.”

“Yeah, and thanks,” Gyro said. “I don’t know what we would do without you.”

“I imagine this camp would be a lot smaller and a lot more somber than it already is,” Gauze flatly responded. Then, with only a tiny nod, he turned around and walked away, leaving the three ponies to stand outside the hut.

Gyro only let the silence last about four seconds before she tried dragging herself in on her own again. “Come on, if I have to wait any longer I’m going to explode.”

“And what a mess that would be.” Ratchet nodded to Stargazer, and the two stallions helped Gyro shuffle through the entrance to the medical hut. It was a little hard to maneuver inside three abreast, but with a little careful repositioning, they managed to lie Gyro on her stomach in the sand in front of the other figure at the back.

Ratchet patted Gyro’s shoulder and stepped back. “We’ll leave you two to it, then,” he said, smiling at her. Then, gesturing to Stargazer, the two stallions left the hut, leaving Gyro alone with the other figure at the far end.

She saw limbs move in the dim light that went through the walls of the hut, and a head rose from the sand. Two spots of reflected light blearily looked out at her, and Gyro felt her heart stop. Little by little, the figure shifted closer to her, until their dark muzzles were barely more than a few inches apart.

A gasp, and a surprised shift. Hooves pushed against sand, and soon she saw teeth in a mouth hung agape in awe. Hot Coals closed his mouth, swallowed hard, and soon, sound began to escape his throat. “G… Gyro? Is… that…?”

Gyro felt hot tears running down her face. Planting her forehooves in the sand, she dragged her body closer to Coals and began to shudder as she pressed her cheek against his. “You’re alive…” she whispered, sniffling and hiccupping. “You’re… y-you’re alive…”

Comments

[Eroraf86]

My feels...

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Aaaaaaawwwwwww, so cute

And that's when the Fire Nation attacked.

[RoboRed]

D'awwwwww

[LifeIsAMasquerade]

So much emphasis on how important Gauze is... I wonder if something's going to--
*immediately knocks on wood several times*

[Merula]

And then a couple dozen chapters later...I'll just leave that to the imagination

[Emperor Draxgaroth]

8858208
if you just Jinxed us.... i am going to throw Mount Everest at you

[zaponator]

Welcome back to the world, Hot Coals. Things have gotten much worse!

[AstraPony]

8858457
Nah, just pull a Thanos and throw a moon at 'em!