The Bigger Pony

by Kiernan

Chapter the Tenth: The Ties that Bind

When Rarity returned, Rainbow had some free time available, and they spread out the fronds over the planks. Rarity had collected enough that, even after they had put several layers on the floor, they could put the roof panels on and cover them completely. They even moved the slab into place, meaning that tomorrow, a little bit of patching and a door was all that stood between them and a reasonable shelter. Even after all of that, a few more fronds remained, which Rarity rolled up to act as pillows.

Glad to finally be mostly done, the two sat next to the fire and looked out over the ocean. It'd been three long days of hard work to reach this point, but they were finally situated properly. Any improvements they made to their situations from this point would just be gravy; unnecessary, but still welcomed.

"So what's left?" asked Rainbow. "We have food for as long as these coconuts will last, a safe enough place to sleep, water to drink..."

"We're pretty well taken care of," agreed Rarity. "We can upgrade the seals tomorrow, but that won't take but five minutes. After that, who knows? I'm all for taking the day off. We can go for a swim, have a long walk, or just lounge in the sun. Dealer's choice, I suppose."

"Lounging sounds pretty good," smirked Rainbow. "Only, without being able to fly, and with none of the trees around here actually having branches, I guess my only option is to lie in the sand."

"What's wrong with that, darling?"

Rainbow pointed down to the beach. "Crabs. Lots of them."

Rarity nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. How about making a hammock, then?"

Rainbow shrugged. "I don't know how. Not tying the ropes into a hammock, not making the rope, I don't even know how much we'd need."

Rarity chuckled. "Rainbow Dash... All you have to do is ask. I'll gladly make one for you."

Rainbow waved her hooves. "No, no, you don't need to bother yourself. You've been working just as hard as I have, and I don't want to diminish your relaxation. I'll find something else to do, you just relax."

"Oh, it's no bother at all," smiled Rarity. "It's hardly a difficult task at all, and it'd give me something to do. Really, it's my treat."

Rainbow took a deep breath. "Thank you. Really, I mean that. It's very generous of you to offer."

"Oh, think nothing of it. I'd do the same for anypony."

"You certainly would. What can I do to repay this?"

"Don't worry about it. It's my treat."

Rainbow furrowed her brow. "Rarity, I can't just let you do stuff for me like this. Seriously, anything."

"Darling, it's fine," insisted Rarity. "You've done a lot to shape this islet into a livable space, and I'm not going to make you keep working. Some time off will do you all kinds of good. Trust me."

"Do you really think I can relax while I know you're doing something solely for my benefit?"

"If the benefit I'm giving you is the ability to relax, then yes."

Rainbow stood up, walked just into the woods, and came back a moment later with a hoofful of grass. "Show me."

Rarity looked from Rainbow's face to the grass. "Show you what, dear?"

"I'm going to help you. You're not doing this on your own. I'd never leave you hangin'. I'm going to make some rope with your instruction."

Rarity chuckled and shook her head. "This is your solution to our impasse?"

"And' I'm not taking "no" for an answer."

Rarity let out a small, reserved chuckle. "You truly are incorrigible." She sighed, stood up, and returned with even more grass. "It all starts with a simple twist. Figure out how thick you want your rope to be, then start with half of that."

Rainbow followed Rarity's example, doing exactly as she said and showed. By the time Rarity had made half a metre, Rainbow had finally reached the end of her first twist, mere centimetres long.

"So, how do you make these longer?"

Rarity looked over at Rainbow's cordage. It wasn't as finely controlled as hers, but as Rainbow was new to this, she wasn't expecting perfection. It was also quite a bit thicker and a bit uneven. It took practice, something Rainbow had not had, for reasons that were her own.

"Where the two ends meet, stuff some more grass in. The closer you are to the middle, the better; it means your strands will be about equal length at the end if you do it right. And remember, if it's clockwise on the inside, it's anticlockwise on the outside, and vise-versa."

Rainbow nodded. During the demonstration, Rarity had mentioned that four times in just as many minutes. It was the most important thing to remember about the process, as it was the main function as the rope went on. The beginning and ending would only happen once per line, and the joints would only come along every so often. For all of these, however, that single rule would exist.

The two kept going for as long as it took to cook dinner, plus a bit longer, as they were really working on it. Rarity had made just shy of four metres of cordage, and Rainbow had made about half of a metre. It was not nearly as long, not nearly as clean, and not nearly as uniform in its thickness. It had thinner sections and thicker sections that were easily noticeable at a glance, whereas Rarity's was passable as being purchasable at a hardware store.

"Of course, I'll need a lot more of this," mentioned Rarity, scraping flesh from the inside of her coconut. "Depending on exactly where we want to try hanging it, and what other materials we're going to use, the amount we'll need will vary. Have you given any thought to where you want to hang it?"

"Not at all. By the time it came up, it was too dark to find a place. We'll look in the morning."

Rarity nodded. "We'll certainly have the time. And Rainbow?"

"Yeah?"

Rarity bowed her head. "Thanks."