Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

Stretch the Legs

Rainbow slept on and on. Rarity watched her as she moaned and grunted in her sleep; it was hardly peaceful by any stretch of the imagination. The important thing was that Rainbow was sleeping, and if she was sleeping, she could recoup her strength. She slept through dinner, but Rarity was loath to wake her up. Instead, she peeled a few star apples and set aside several cloves of sugar apple and left them by Rainbow’s muzzle. If she woke up, she’d have something to eat.

In the meanwhile, however, Rarity couldn’t bear to stay inside their shelter any longer. She’d already wasted an entire day looking after Rainbow, but now Rainbow finally seemed to be stable. Her breathing was still ragged, but her airways sounded clear and her heart beat steadily on. Rarity figured that the worst of the poison had to have passed; now Rainbow’s body just needed to clear it out entirely.

With Rainbow all taken care of, Rarity finally felt like she was stable enough to be left by herself for a little bit. The swelling in her hoof had finally subsided, so she could move around without much pain now. She needed a walk around the island to work some of the soreness out of her legs and to clear her head. Today had been an incredibly stressful day, and unless she did something to unwind, she’d be too high-strung to sleep later.

Dusk had fallen when she stepped out of their shelter, their sandy hollow filled with shadow and the sounds of birds settling in for the night. Rarity didn’t know where Chirp was, but she assumed that the macaw had his own nest somewhere that he retired to at night. Though Chirp seemed to prefer Rainbow over her, Rarity would’ve enjoyed the bird’s company. It would have made the night feel less lonely.

Rarity made it to the east shore and turned left, heading north. She walked close enough to the water that the rolling waves would occasionally splash around her fetlocks, but no higher. She wasn’t really interested in getting wet when the sun was already down and she wouldn’t have a good way of drying herself. A steady breeze beat in from the south, keeping the worst of the flies and mosquitos at bay. It was calm and tranquil, a feeling that had been seemingly missing from Rarity’s life as of late.

She took a moment to appreciate the irony of it all. The island was serene and peaceful, but her and Rainbow were barely clinging onto the edge of survival. The lagoon to the south looked picturesque and perfect, but the rocks around the east ridge were home to urchins that could kill a mare if they stuck her enough. And the oceans surrounding the island were still and harmless, but not that long ago, they’d swallowed an airship and all of its passengers save a hoofful. Even the islands, green and pleasant as they’d seemed before, were home to minotaurs that’d pick the meat from Rarity’s bones if they got the chance. This sandy island that they’d washed up on was both a blessing and a curse; it’d saved their lives, but it made no promises to keep them safe. That much was on their shoulders.

Soon Rarity found herself on the north shore heading west. She could almost imagine the depressions in the sand where she and Rainbow had washed up days ago. Off to the left, Jetstream was buried somewhere under the sand, her pretty face never again to see the sun. Rarity shuddered as she walked past where she thought the grave was. Jetstream was just one of possibly hundreds who drowned at sea, yet hers was the only body to have washed up on the island. Rarity didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hoof, her and Rainbow only had to bury one body. On the other, those other ponies were lost at sea, and nopony would ever know for sure what happened to them. Their remains were fish food; she just hoped that a burial at sea would satisfy their souls so they could move on to the afterlife.

When she started along the west shore of the island, Rarity moved up closer to the trees, ready to dart between them at a moment’s notice. She didn’t see any canoes or minotaurs in the water, but she didn’t want to take any chances. Without knowing more about their patterns and habits—without seeing one, even—Rarity had no idea whether the west shore would ever be safe for her and Rainbow. She felt confident that the minotaurs lived on the islands to the west, and maybe even the one to the south, but she didn’t really know. And why would they limit themselves to at most three of the four islands in the group? What made this one special?

Darkness beat on, and soon it started getting harder to see. By that point, however, Rarity had worked nearly three-quarters of the way around the island. She angled inland a little bit to avoid the rocks at the base of the western ridge and started climbing that. Unlike the treacherous eastern ridge, it wasn’t too hard to walk up to the top of this one, and as soon as she did so, Rarity flopped down on her stomach. She nibbled on a little grass just for something to do, and soon she found herself just watching the sky as it darkened to night. Before she knew it, the diamonds of the night lit up the dark blanket, and Luna’s moon hovered over the water. Rarity could imagine the dark alicorn raising the heavenly body, so far away now in Canterlot. She knew how her friends felt, but how did the princesses feel? What was Equestria saying?

Rarity crossed her forelegs and watched the moon. The newspapers and tabloids had to be going into a frenzy. Rarity was the head of a fashion company known across the nation, Rainbow was a Wonderbolt, and both were former Element Bearers. Everypony would be wondering what happened to them when they realized that her and Rainbow never made it to the Confederacy. While she knew almost exactly what the newspapers would say—“Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Airship Missing in Celestial Sea Storm”—the tabloids would always be more creative. She was sure that they’d come up with any number of headlines from alien abductions to kidnapped by pirates to simply faking their deaths and living out the rest of their days together on an island somewhere. All of them preposterous, stuff nopony in their right mind would read.

She snorted. Sometimes the tabloids were closer to the truth than anypony gave them credit for.

Still, watching the moon got her wondering. Luna guarded the dream world, right? If so, why hadn’t she found them yet through their dreams? Rarity didn’t think it’d be that difficult, especially since their disappearance would worry even the Princess of the Night herself. Luna would have every reason to try to seek them out as they slept…

So where was she?

Comments

[Grey Goat Gal]

Something tells me that Rainbow is communicating with Princess Luna at that moment.

[RoboRed]

...Y'know, that is a good question...

[Neece]

I hadn't thought of that. There's something wicked in that island, that's for sure. Let's just hope it doesn't swallow our ponies whole.

[TimeturnerJ]

I was wondering about that, but I didn't want to be nitpicky, so I didn't say anything. xD
'If the Princesses can be absent from almost every season finale, they can be absent from this story as well', was what I was thinking.
But I'm very glad you're bringing it up. :D See, I knew I could count on you as an author. You're always coming through.

[Eroraf86]

I was literally just thinking that ten chapters ago. Let’s hope Moonbutt can help.

[Czar_Yoshi]

So, Luna can't reach them? I suppose it could be a distance thing, but it would probably be common knowledge if she couldn't reach the Confederacy either, which likely means she's being blocked. Find and stop whatever's blocking her... Sounds like a victory condition?