Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

The House of the Rising Sun

Rarity’s rest was fitful. Nightmares plagued what little sleep she could get, and by the time she woke up, she felt even more tired than when she started, if that was even possible. It certainly didn’t help that she didn’t have a sleeping mask to keep out the morning light. Once more, she found herself missing the creature comforts of civilization. Why did she have to be such a light sleeper?

Her ears twitched as she picked up on unfamiliar sounds; namely, conversation between two ponies. That was so odd to her that she grunted and raised her head off of the stone floor almost immediately. Who could Rainbow even be—?

Of course, it was the other mare! Rarity shook her head from side to side. For some reason her befuddled and tired mind had thought finding the starved mare was just another dream. But no, she was real, and not only was she real, but she was sitting up and talking with Rainbow. Yawning, Rarity squeaked and stretched her legs, catching the attention of the other two mares in the room.

“Hey, Rares,” Rainbow said. “You’re finally up!”

“What I wouldn’t give to sleep for another twenty-four hours,” Rarity muttered, rubbing at her eyes. Then her smile brightened and she forced herself to move over to the group. “And our new friend is awake, too! I honestly didn’t know whether you would wake again, darling, you were so weak!”

The mare dipped her head. “You saved my life,” she said. “Thank you so much.”

“Her name’s Gyro,” Rainbow said. “She was one of the engineers on the Concordia. We weren’t the only survivors after all!”

“Really?” Rarity was astonished. To think after all this time… “Were there others?”

Gyro’s eyes fell. “Yes… but not anymore.”

“Oh.”

Rarity rubbed her hoof behind her neck. That probably wasn’t a good topic to ask about. Instead, she shifted the conversation toward simpler matters. “I hope the food we brought was good. Rainbow stole some of it from the minotaurs.”

“That makes it all the better,” Gyro said. “Thank you. I haven’t eaten in so long…”

“The minotaurs locked her up here shortly after the Concordia crashed,” Rainbow said. “They only gave her a little to eat or drink since then. I think they were keeping her here for an evil ritual or something.”

“Then it’s a good thing we found her and freed her!” Rarity exclaimed. She plucked a sugar apple out of the basket and started working on it, picking off only a few cloves to eat for now and rationing the rest. Who knew how long they’d need to stretch their food and water until they could find a way out.

Rainbow shot the food and water supplies a concerned look but didn’t take from them. “We should just find out where this little statue thing is and then start looking for a way out. I’m willing to bet those minotaurs are camped in front of the temple, waiting for us to try and leave.”

“Either that or searching for another way in,” Rarity said. “If they find a way in before we find a way out, then we’re finished.”

“We won’t go down without a fight,” Rainbow said. “That’s what the spears are for. Speaking of which…” She hooked a hoof under one and flipped it to Rarity, who caught it in her magic. “We should take these just in case.”

Rarity nodded and tucked the shaft in the crook of her leg for the time being. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to use it. Celestia, she could see that minotaur calf’s frightened face again just from thinking about it.

Rainbow turned to Gyro and patted her on the shoulder. “You just stay here and rest up, ‘kay? Focus on getting your strength back. You’ll need it whenever we decide to make a dash for our raft.”

Gyro nodded and shifted from sitting upright to lying down flat. “I’ll try,” she said. “I can keep watch on the supplies, I guess.”

“Just shout if you hear anything,” Rainbow said. “We’ll come running back.”

Rarity and Rainbow left the worship room behind, once more returning to the main entrance. The statue of the sun god continued to stare down the hallway to the left, and both ponies hesitated as they approached the corner. At the very least, it was a huge relief to Rarity when she saw that the doors were still firmly shut after what was almost assuredly an entire night of minotaurs trying to break in.

“Should we listen to see if they’re out there?” Rarity asked. She noted that the torches were all still alight from when Rainbow had lit them the night prior. Hopefully they’d find what they needed before the torches ran out of oil.

Rainbow shook her head. “I don’t see why we need to,” she said. “We know they’re out there and we know they can’t open the door without the necklace thingy. Let’s just not worry about it.”

“If you say so…”

They moved across the short hallway and stopped in front of the door on the other side. Once more, Rarity produced the necklace, and once more she used it to open the door. Both ponies jumped back when they saw a charging stone horse greet them on the other side.

“It’s just a statue,” Rarity said to herself when she got a better chance to look at it. “I feel silly now.”

To be fair, the statue looked incredibly lifelike, with flared nostrils and neatly carved teeth. Furious eyes stared straight ahead, and the pegasus’ wings looked like they blazed with the fire of the sun. The craftsmareship was astonishingly detailed, much like everything else in this temple. Rarity knew collectors in Canterlot who would pay fortunes for something like this.

Rainbow smirked and ran her hoof over the statue’s muzzle. “These ponies sure loved their sun god,” she said, tracing its features. “Look at that chiseled jaw and stone-cold stare!”

Rarity responded by lightly smacking Rainbow over the back of the head with the butt of her spear. She forged onwards without a word, letting her disappointment speak for itself.

“C’mon, Rares, that’s comedy gold,” Rainbow grumbled, falling in line behind her. “You just don’t appreciate good humor.”

“I appreciate humor as much as the next mare,” Rarity shot back. “That simply wasn’t humor.”

“Yeah, right, sure.” Rainbow shook her head. “I wish Pinkie was here.”

Another door greeted them at the end of a hallway that sharply turned right and left. This door, however, was inlaid with gold, and some of the paint the natives had once used long ago still clung to the carvings. Though tarnished by time, it still looked brilliant and impressive. Once more, sun motifs and embellishments decorated almost every available inch of stone, and again, an open slot for the medallion had been chiseled into the stone.

“Looks like there’s something important through here,” Rarity said, sliding the star into the hole. She gave it a twist, and then stepped back while the doors slowly parted and opened. She was determined to be ready in case another statue greeted her on the other side, but once again found herself surprised.

She found her eyes craning up, up, up.

Even Rainbow seemed at a loss for words.

“Celestia…”

Comments

[PonySage86]

Oh Rainbow. You're so punny it hurts. I love you.

[Starlight Nova]

When does the sex first happen?

[PropMaster]

8536767
Rated T. Probably will only be implied.

[zaponator]

It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I think you've got a rock-solid sense of humour that Rarity takes for granite.

[AstraPony]

8639039
...why...