Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

Rarity ran through the jungle of the island. All around her, the roars and howls of angry minotaurs echoed off of trees. Bipedal shadows darted around the edges of her vision, but whenever she looked at them, they seemed to vanish. There was only the dark jungle stretching on forever, and Rarity didn’t have the stamina to run forever.

A downed tree suddenly appeared in front of her, and she tried to jump over it. But just as she tried to launch herself off the ground, her hooves slipped through mud, robbing her of distance and height. A branch twisting off of the log caught her in the chest, and she ended up flipping over and landing in a crumpled heap on the other side.

Her heart pounded and she forced herself to sit up. She knew if she stopped here, she was dead. Her legs screamed in protest as she tried to stand, and she ultimately fell back to the ground again, completely out of breath. It felt like her whole body was shutting down from sheer exhaustion.

Dark figures began to step out of the trees, and Rarity cried out and huddled against the log. They stood tall on their two legs and held spears and nets in muscular arms that could break buildings in half. Within seconds, they formed a menacing ring around her, weapons drawn and eyes burning like fire in the darkness.

But before they could close in on her with a final primal yell, something grabbed Rarity around the waist and hauled her skyward. She screamed in fear, but when she saw the treetops blurring by beneath her, her panic died out. Looking up, she saw blue fuzz filling her vision, topped with the colors of the rainbow and carried on strong wings. “Rainbow?”

“I got you, Rares,” Rainbow said, flapping her wings harder and putting more distance between them and the minotaur hunting party. “I’ll keep you safe.”

Sighing, Rarity pressed herself close against Rainbow’s chest and closed her eyes. She felt safe in Rainbow’s embrace. So long as she was there, nothing bad would happen.

-----

Rarity woke up when the sun struck her face. Grumbling and protesting, she rolled over and tried to bury her face in her pillow, only to remember that her pillow was a bed of ferns and mosses. She raised her head and spat out some of the plant matter that’d gotten into her mouth and even sneezed once or twice for good measure. Oh, how she missed the creature comforts of civilization. Even the hardest mattress was bound to be better than piles of leaves on top of stony ground. She never thought she’d imagine thinking it, but she wished she was sleeping on the sand instead of on top of this mountain. At least the sand had a little give to it!

Unfortunately, she was awake now. There wasn’t much point in trying to go to sleep again. Rolling onto her back, she stared through the cracks and holes in the ceiling that let in the outside light. The sky was a vibrant blue and the light spots on the shadowy floor weren’t too far off from the ceiling holes, so she figured it must be getting close to noon. Might as well get ready for the rest of the day.

Rainbow Dash wasn’t anywhere to be seen, so Rarity figured she was already out and about. Standing up, she picked a few berries out of the cloth Rainbow had collected them in and floated over the jug of water. It was a meager breakfast, but her stomach had gotten used to small meals since washing up on the island. At least years of eating lean portions had prepared her well for surviving on rations out here. She didn’t know how Rainbow survived as an athlete who had to eat all the time to keep her energy up.

With the morning meal taken care of, she wandered out of the ruined building, carefully picking her way down the rubble slope outside of the wall. Her hooves clopped on the stone ground when she jumped the last bit, and arching her back, she sighed and stretched her legs. She worked her neck from side to side, too, wincing and gasping when it popped and cracked. The pleasure nearly melted her into a puddle right then and there, but she managed to stay standing upright. She figured she might have to see a chiropractor too once all this was over. Sleeping on rocks and sand was probably throwing her spine out of alignment, and it’d pair wonderfully with a massage at the spa.

A little bit of wandering finally took her to where Rainbow perched. The pegasus sat almost on the sheer edge of the mountain, wings folded against her sides and leaning back on her forehooves as she surveyed the land below her. Most of the island was visible from this angle, with the tiny dots of canoes and minotaurs wandering around the shores below. Walking up to Rainbow’s side, Rarity nosed her friend’s ear and sat down beside her.

“Hey, Rares,” Rainbow said, though her eyes remained glued to the island’s bay where the canoes paddled in and out.

“Good morning, darling,” Rarity greeted her. “It is still morning, right?”

“Yeah, late morning and stuff.” She shifted slightly and put her wing across Rarity’s shoulders, sliding her closer together. Rarity didn’t resist. “You sleep well?”

“Well enough.” Rarity felt a pleasant warmth in her chest as she added, “I had a lovely dream, too.”

“Oh? Was I in it?”

“That’s why it was lovely, darling.”

Rainbow proudly grinned and rubbed her nose against Rarity’s cheek. “Glad to know I’m always on your mind even when you’re sleeping.”

Rarity scoffed and waved her hoof. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Rainbow. You’re not always on my mind.”

“Just most of the time, then?”

“Mmmm… a fair bit.” Smiling, Rarity rested her head on Rainbow’s shoulder. “It’s quite the view from up here,” she said, looking down on the island stretched before them. “You’re not worried about the minotaurs seeing us sitting up here?”

“Pshh, no way.” Rainbow shook her head. “You see how tiny they are from all the way up here? How are they gonna notice you and me with the sky at our backs?”

“You certainly have a bit of color to you, in case you’d forgotten,” Rarity said.

“Which is pretty much unnoticeable from all the way down there. Besides, why would any minotaurs look up all this way? I think we’ll be fine.”

Rarity shrugged. “If you say so, Rainbow.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, simply admiring the view and each other’s company. Ultimately, it was Rarity who broke it again. “We’re risking everything tonight, aren’t we?” she asked.

“Pretty much,” Rainbow agreed. “Either this works or it doesn’t. One way or another, we’ll be a step closer to ending this whole stupid thing.”

“And you still haven’t told me what your plan is,” Rarity said. “I’d like to know what exactly we’re doing instead of going in blind.”

“I’ll tell you about it before we do it, I promise.”

“Now is before we do it, Rainbow.”

Rainbow smirked at Rarity’s frustration. “Later tonight.”

Groaning, Rarity put a hoof to her brow. “Are you just not telling me it because it’s a stupid plan and you don’t want to be called out on it?”

Rainbow’s silence lasted suspiciously long. “…No.”

“Celestia, spare me,” Rarity muttered under her breath. “I suppose we’ll still need to get all this wood anyhow, though.”

“Yep.”

“And when are we going to do that?”

“Not for a bit yet,” Rainbow said. Smiling, she squeezed Rarity closer against her side. “I want to enjoy the moment for a bit, first.”

That was at least something Rarity could get behind. A ladylike grin wormed its way onto her lips, and she raised her head to kiss Rainbow’s cheek. “I certainly wouldn’t mind,” she said, stroking Rainbow’s chin. “If we’re going to dive head first into certain death based on your stupid plan, then we ought to enjoy ourselves while we still can.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “It’s not stupid, it’s unconventional.”

“Unconventional, my—!”

Rainbow flipped Rarity onto her back and smothered her with kisses. Giggling, Rarity tried to resist at first, but Rainbow was persistent and determined, and that more than made up for the size difference between them. No place on Rarity’s head and neck was safe from Rainbow’s lips, and she covered the whole thing in kisses, from the tip of her chipped horn to her collarbones. Their dirty tails twisted together, and Rarity’s outstretched hind legs kicked at the open air beyond either side of Rainbow’s flanks as they held her in place. Soon, Rainbow’s hooves joined in too, exploring the curves and firm spots of Rarity’s perfect body. Rarity suddenly gasped when she felt a hoof touch sensitive spots on her underside, and she shot Rainbow a sultry look.

“Did you find something, darling?” she asked, fluttering her eyes. Though the fake lashes had fallen off long ago, she knew she could still pull off the effect when necessary.

“You’ve got some hard spots down there,” Rainbow said, winking at her. “Might want to get those checked out.”

“Maybe…”

“You want me to take a look?”

Rarity’s manners as a lady finally overtook her there. “Perhaps we shouldn’t do that out in the open under the sun,” she said, blushing furiously. “It’s not exactly right and proper, now is it?” She nervously laughed.

Shrugging, Rainbow leaned back in and pressed her lips to Rarity’s. “If you say so,” she said when they broke off. “Just let me know if you change your mind.”

“I shall… and I will,” Rarity said. “Just not now. Maybe if we survive this whole ordeal. After all, what’s the point in prematurely celebrating?”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” Rainbow said. Sighing, she rolled onto her side and let Rarity hold onto her. “I love this.”

“I love this, too.”

It wasn’t exactly the words Rarity knew her heart wanted to hear, but it was a start. Those would come in time. For now, she could just enjoy the calm before the storm with Rainbow. For all she knew, peaceful, quiet moments like this might not come again.

But she had faith in Rainbow’s plan, even if she didn’t know what it was. So long as Rainbow had a plan, then they were already a step closer than they were yesterday.

Tonight, they’d finally see if it was a good one or not.

Comments

[RoboRed]

[FloydienSlip]

Each chapter, I grow more and more suspicious that the minotaurs are actually cool guys, and that Rarity and Rainbow are just presuming they're savages based on their tattoos and spears and such.

[Aurora Dimmet]

8519039

Did ye forget about the discarded, chewed up pegasus wing they found at the Minotaur camp on their island?

[Snow]

8526008
I'm half wondering if they don't eat ponies to try and gain their power, or some similar tribal reasoning. We also don't really know if the pegasus was killed by the minotaurs or not.

[Eroraf86]

8542670
May I remind you, the remnants of flesh on the wing were relatively fresh, as were the minotaur tracks. The only logical conclusion is that the two are causally connected.

[kitsune119]

8793681
It could have washed up on the beach and the minotours showed up and checked it out