Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

The Pursuit

Rarity galloped through the undergrowth, trying to be at once both quick and quiet. The ground was firmer here so her hooves made more noise, but she didn’t want to linger around the village any longer. There were no guarantees that the minotaur calf she’d spared wouldn’t tell anyone else what he saw, and in that case, she could expect the whole village to be after her shortly. The firelight grew dimmer behind her, though whether that was from simple distance or the minotaurs finally starting to control the blaze, she didn’t know. At the very least, she had no intentions of finding out.

The medallion bounced uncomfortably against her chest with each running step. Occasionally the edges of the star would jab directly at her, making her wince a little; they were a lot sharper than she thought they would be. Plus, it was heavy. She hadn’t thought much of the weight at first with the more pressing concerns she had to deal with, but now that she was running for the hills, it was really starting to weigh on her neck. Maybe she could pass it off to Rainbow when she found her.

Skirting around some more trees, Rarity blinked and skidded to a stop when she abruptly found herself on the eastern beach. Inky black waves lapped at the sand, frothing and foaming as the moon dragged the tides in. The sand bit into her coat and skin as she ended up on her rear, staring out across the water. She hadn’t expected to hit the ocean so quickly.

But then she turned around. Where was Rainbow? Rarity would’ve started chewing on her hooves if they weren’t covered in sand. Rainbow should’ve had the shorter job; Rarity would’ve expected her to make a dash for the beach as soon as she’d torched the granary. Why wasn’t she here?

Rarity waited and waited. Seconds ticked by into minutes that lasted for hours. She started pacing even though she knew she should be hiding in cover somewhere. If Rainbow was near, she wanted to be visible.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the leaves rustled before a soot-streaked pegasus burst through them. Panting, gasping, wheezing, Rainbow hardly made it a few steps over to Rarity before she collapsed in the sand. “Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed, her hooves kicking up sand as she galloped across the beach to Rainbow. She slid to a stop and almost ate sand when her hooves slipped out from under her. But, pressed against Rainbow’s side, she helped the pegasus sit up. “What happened?” she immediately asked, brushing some of the soot out of Rainbow’s feathers.

“Got a little bit more personal with the fires than I wanted,” Rainbow said once she’d had a moment to recover her breath. “Got stuck between the flames and the minotaurs.”

Rarity blinked. “How? Fires? Plural?” She didn’t miss the way Rainbow looked away. “What did you do, Rainbow?”

“I burnt their canoes,” Rainbow said. Adamant ruby eyes fixed shocked sapphires. “They won’t be following us back once we’re done with this place.”

“You what?” Rarity asked. “You burnt their canoes?”

Rainbow nodded.

Rarity’s eyes wandered to the seas. “But… but they need those to survive!” She looked aghast at Rainbow. “We burnt down one of their granaries… and now we burned down their means of collecting fish for the village? Rainbow, they’re going to starve!”

“They won’t die,” Rainbow insisted. “A village of that many minotaurs can rebuild a bunch of canoes in like a week! It’ll just make sure that they don’t chase us when we try to leave, and they’ll have to use those canoes they rebuild for getting food to the village instead of trying to find us.”

Rarity wanted to hit Rainbow. “You just made them much angrier, Rainbow!”

“Angrier than they’re gonna be when they find out we stole their religious medallion thingy?” At Rarity’s pale look, Rainbow forced herself to stand. “Did any of them see you?”

Rarity tapped her hooves together. “Well…”

“Rarity, if you got seen, then we’re in danger. Like, super really bad, awful danger. It won’t take much for them to put two and two together. Did you at least cover your tracks?”

“Erm… about that, darling.” It’d entirely slipped Rarity’s mind; she’d been so preoccupied with sneaking into and out of the chief’s hut without getting caught that she hadn’t remembered to get rid of her hoofprints in the sand. Not that it mattered all that much anyway. “I didn’t manage to get the medallion entirely without being seen, I suppose you can call it that.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know what else I’d call it. What happened?”

“There was a minotaur calf inside the chief’s hut,” Rarity said. “I think it was his son. He saw me take the medallion.”

“And?” Rainbow craned her neck to look at Rarity’s spear. “Did you…?”

“I would never,” Rarity insisted. “I will not murder a child.”

“But you left him back there to tell all those minotaurs about what he’d seen.”

“What other choice did I have?! Take him with me?”

Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, but angry shouting breaking through the night stole her words. Both ponies worriedly turned their heads back to the west, in the direction of the minotaur village. “Crap,” Rainbow said. “They’re looking for us!”

“We need to go,” Rarity said. “We need to get to the temple before they do. If they know that I stole the medallion, then they have to know what we’re going to use it for!”

“Then we can’t waste any more time!” Rainbow insisted. She helped pull Rarity to her hooves, and then the two Equestrians began galloping to the south. “Come on, we gotta pour the lead out! We’re faster than they are, let’s go!”

Rarity followed suit, trying to glue herself to Rainbow’s tail and follow her across the beach and through the undergrowth. Torchlight began to emanate from the trees behind them, and Rarity suddenly felt like death was breathing down her neck. Her and Rainbow had chopped open the beehive to get the honey, but now the swarm was after them. If they slowed for even a moment, it would be the end of them.

Gulping hard, Rarity focused on navigating the terrain and keeping her hooves squarely under her. The last thing she needed was to trip and fall now.

It could very well be the last thing she ever did.

Comments

[Matthewl419]

Remember Rarity, you don’t have to be faster than the minotaurs, you just have to be faster than Rainbow.

[Flare]

8526445

Well yeah, but she aint. So she really need to be faster than the minotaurs.

[RoboRed]

Hoooboy...time is definitely limited.

[dzonewolf]

8526445
As if Dash would leave her behind.