Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

Bon Voyage

Coat brushed, hooves polished, and mane curled, Rarity left her room just under an hour later. She found Rainbow Dash sitting on the floor across the hall with her nose pressed to the window. At the sound of Rarity’s door opening, her ears flicked back and she turned her head. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Rarity said, trotting over to Rainbow. She’d forsaken formal wear for the time being, instead opting to casually stroll around the ship in the nude. “What are we looking at?”

“We’re approaching Manehattan,” Rainbow replied. “Last bit of Equestria we’ll see before we hit the ocean.”

Rarity leaned over Rainbow’s shoulder to get a good look at the ground below them. Sure enough, the carriage roads, waterways, and rail systems all linked up into one slithering pattern on their approach to the metropolis. Farmland became homesteads, homesteads merged into small towns, and soon those towns retreated from the ever-outward march of Manehattan’s towering skyscrapers. A few airships puttered on the distant horizons, some passenger ships like the Concordia, and others heavy cargo freighters with two or more pairs of enormous propellers lining their hulls.

“Pretty,” Rarity breathed, eyes flitting between the skyscrapers and the emerald fields. She nudged Rainbow’s shoulder and gestured with her head. “Come on, we can grab breakfast and get a great view from the top deck.”

Rainbow grunted and stood up with a shake of her wings. “Sounds good to me, I’m starving!” She flapped her wings and began to hover down the hall while Rarity kept pace by her side. “I’ve been waiting to eat for like, forever!”

“Oh please, Rainbow, it’s only been an hour,” Rarity said. “I’m sure you’ve gone longer without food.”

“Well, I was actually up at eight, so two hours.”

“Oh really?” Rarity remarked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you would’ve been sleeping in. You know, enjoying the room that I’m certain Celestia herself has slept in.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I’m always an early riser. I’m used to practicing first thing in the morning before doing anything else. I’m usually up at six to get a head start, so it’s kinda like sleeping in.”

“And yet you stay up long after the sun goes down. I guess that explains why you take so many naps.”

“Hey, it doesn’t matter when you get your eight hours, only that you get eight hours,” Rainbow said, gradually flying upwards while Rarity climbed the stairs to the upper decks. “So I get four at night, then an hour nap at nine and five, and a two hour nap at one.”

Rarity shook her head. “And how does that fit now that you’re a Wonderbolt?”

“Eh, I have to shift them around a little bit. I’m not the worst offender, though,” Rainbow said, winking.

“And us poor ponies who actually have to work forty hours or more a week to do our jobs would love to have a flexible sleep schedule such as that,” Rarity said. The staircase opened up before them, and the two ponies stood face to face with a large glass door leading into a lounge area. “I suppose the food is through here?”

Rainbow closed her eyes and sniffed the air. “If it’s not through there, I don’t know where else that delicious smell could be coming from.” She fluttered over to the glass door and opened it. “Come on, there’s some seats by the window.”

Rarity took the door from Rainbow’s outstretched hoof as the pegasus darted into the lounge. A few quick sniffs were all she needed to find the breakfast buffet, and she immediately began piling food onto her plate. Not a single tray was left untouched by Rainbow’s ravenous appetite, while Rarity more casually picked through the offerings to put a slim and balanced meal on her plate. With her breakfast in her magical grasp, she trotted over to the window seat Rainbow had found and set her plate down on the linen tablecloth.

Already muzzle deep in her food, Rainbow spared Rarity only a glance before she returned to stuffing more breakfast down her gullet. The noise and ferocity of her meal attracted the attention of a few nearby passengers, and again Rarity found herself wishing Rainbow knew at least a few manners. At this point she’d settle for just two rules of etiquette. Maybe one if things looked really bad.

“This stuff’s delicious!” Rainbow exclaimed between mouthfuls of food. Cramming another serving of eggs into her mouth, she belched and contentedly slouched back in her chair. “You know, I was kinda expecting it to be kinda bleh, because airliner meals, but these guys don’t fool around!”

“It certainly is a good breakfast,” Rarity agreed. She paused to take a sip from her orange juice and looked out the window. The towering skyscrapers of Manehattan seemed almost close enough to touch, and the ponies filling its streets looked indistinguishable from colorful specks. Sighing, she rested her cheek in her hoof. “I wonder how Coco is doing.”

Rainbow’s face screwed up in thought. “Who?”

Rarity made a small gasp. “You don’t remember Coco Pommel?” she asked, incredulous. “Don’t you remember when we all went to Manehattan for Fashion Week? She was Suri’s assistant—or I guess former assistant—and she helped me out when Suri passed off my lineup as her own?”

The blue pegasus shrugged. “I guess?”

Rarity rolled her eyes and went back to looking out the window. “Rainbow, darling, sometimes you amaze me. And not in the good way,” she added when she saw Rainbow open her mouth.

Before Rainbow could respond, a familiar blue and white pegasus trotted up to their table. “Rarity Belle and Rainbow Dash?” Jetstream exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. “I thought I’d seen your names on the register, but I didn’t believe that CelestiAir would be accommodating two Element Bearers! What brings the two of you to the Confederacy?”

“Oh, simply business, darling,” Rarity said, shaking Jetstream’s offered hoof. “I have a new line for griffons I’ll be premiering there, and it wouldn’t be right if I wasn’t there to personally oversee the final preparations.”

Perfectly white teeth glistened as Jetstream’s picture-perfect face fought to smile even wider. “Wonderful! Well I do hope that your line does well, Rarity. I have one of your dresses from your fall line last year. I love it, and so does the husband,” she said, ending with a wink.

Now it was Rarity’s turn to smile. “Thank you! You should see the lineup I have planned for this fall. If you thought last year’s was grand…”

“I look forward to it!” Jetstream exclaimed, “Although I’m not sure my bank account does…”

“Pish posh!” Rarity exclaimed. “Next time you’re back in Canterlot, go to my boutique there. Tell the manager, Sassy Saddles, that I sent you to take your pick of the lineup. Anything you want, it’ll be on me!”

Jetstream gasped and took Rarity’s hoof between her own. “Oh, everything they say about you is true, Rarity! You’re too generous!”

Rarity smiled and tried not to let Jetstream dislocate her foreleg. “It’s simply who I strive to be, it’s no big deal at all.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and stacked her empty plates atop each other. “You should see her when she sees something she really wants. Like a bouquet of flowers.”

Rarity scowled at Rainbow Dash, but the pegasus’ comment drew Jetstream’s attention and allowed the fashionista to free her hoof. “Oh, I could only possibly imagine,” she said. “And what about you? I don’t see why Equestria’s fastest pegasus would bother riding a slow airship across the ocean.”

“Because oceans are big,” Rainbow said. “That and the Cloudsdale Weather Control and the Wonderbolts paid top dollar for the royal suite to get me across in style.” She barely managed to cover a burp and patted her stomach. “Plus the food’s really great too. It’s a bit different from energy drinks and snackbars.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Jetstream said, nodding. “And you’re traveling in the royal suite? Well, I can’t possibly think of a better place for you to stay.” She turned back to Rarity. “And you’re in the…?”

“Business class,” Rarity said. Shooting Rainbow a teasing glare, she added, “I didn’t have a corporate card to pay for my accommodations.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Life’s life.”

“Well, I hope that both of your accommodations have been acceptable to you,” Jetstream said, smiling and taking a step back. “If there’s anything you need, anything at all, please let me know, and I’ll have it taken care of right away.”

“Of course, of course,” Rarity said, gently waving aside the question. “Trust me, darling, the rooms are perfect. They have everything I could possibly want on a cruise… except for a spa, or a place to do yoga.”

Rainbow shrugged. “It’s fine I guess.”

Again Rarity rolled her eyes, but Jetstream only nodded. “I’m glad to hear. There is a spa in the mezzanine, if you’re interested.”

Rarity grinned. “Then I’ll have to take a gander sometime, won’t I?”

“We have some of the best masseuses in the world! I personally visit them more than I care to admit.” Winking, Jetstream added, “Will you be joining us above deck for the farewell to Equestria?”

“Why, that sounds lovely,” Rarity said. She looked at Rainbow Dash, who was still attempting to lift scraps of food from her plates. “Although I do think Rainbow’s still famished.”

“Just a little,” Rainbow grumbled, eyeing up the buffet behind Jetstream.

Rarity smiled and placed a hoof on Jetstream’s shoulder. “We’ll be right up after we’re finished here, darling, don’t worry about us.”

“Wonderful! I’ll be sure to look for you upstairs,” Jetstream said, backtrotting away from their table. She nearly bumped into a waitress and muttered a quick apology as she turned towards the other end of the lounge. “If I don’t see you again, I hope you have a wonderful trip!”

The hostess wandered over to another table to talk to some more passengers as Rarity waved. Chuckling quietly to herself, Rarity poked at the last of the food on her plate. “Such a lively mare.”

“I’ll say,” Rainbow remarked. “She’s really… smiley.”

“Well, if you were the premier airliner corporation in the skies, would you want a glum or somber face in charge of interacting with all of your passengers?” Rarity asked. “Although, yes, she is awfully ‘smiley’.”

“Kinda like Pinkie Pie, except with less diabetes,” Rainbow said, to which Rarity snickered and shook her head. Standing up, Rainbow took wing and began to drift over to the buffet line. “One last run, then we can go above deck. I need to get one of those omelets!”

“Have fun,” Rarity said as Rainbow merged with the buffet line. She stuffed another bite of her own omelet into her mouth and thoughtfully chewed as the skyline of Manehattan passed them by. She could already feel the first traces of inspiration reaching out to her from a vantage point this high up. She’d have to sketch some ideas later.

She yawned and set her fork aside. No matter how rough it had started, she could already tell it was going to be a great trip.

Comments

[PonySage86]

The Twin

Really like this story, the interactions are great and the characters are perfect. Good job

[Czar_Yoshi]

Jetstream is way too happy, and also a pegasus. She's going to die, isn't she?

[FloydienSlip]

Kinda like Pinkie Pie, except with less diabetes

Yep, definitely sticking with this story now. Best line ever.

[GroovyMoonbird]

8369070
A slow and painful death yes