As they were paddling to shore, the survivors began to talk with each other, to pass the time. Steel was still looking a bit sickly after his time in the sea. Red looked at him, a little concerned. "Are you ok?" Red asked him. "I'm Red Talon, by the way."
Steel nodded at him. "I'll be fine," he wheezed. "I'll just have to try not to speak too loudly for a while." He introduced himself to the others somewhat quieter. "Steel Accord of Canterlot," he said, with one hoof on his chest and a bow of his head.
"Canterlot, eh?" Red Talon replied, as he recalling his first professional win at the Canterlot 300. Red loved to race, hence his cutie mark of a chequered flag. "I've been there a few times. The Canterlot racetrack sure is a great track!"
Clover looked up at Steel, the brave pegasus that had saved her life. She nudged him gently and smiled at him. "Thank you," she said sweetly. This was definitely a stallion she wanted to spend more time with. Handsome and brave! She then turned to the others and introduced herself to them. "I come from Trottingham," Clover added. "I have a shop there where I sell magic books. I studied magic in Canterlot, and I invent spells and write books. I came on the cruise cuz I haven't ever had a holiday, but I didn't expect anything like this to happen!" She laughed.
"Nice to meet you too!" replied Red Talon. "I live out in Ponyville, that's where my race team is based out of. I'm a race pony, competing in numerous air races across Equestria. It's the offseason at the moment, so I figured a cruise to a tropical island would be nice. Never knew that getting to the tropical island would be done in a lifeboat, though!"
By now, they had finally arrived at the shore. The group all disembarked onto the island. Sterling trotted over to greet them. He then recognised Red from the party the night before. "That pegasus... well, he may be a bad singer, but I'm sure he's a nice person inside!" he thought Sterling as he began to introduce himself. "I'm Sterling Crimson, a medical practitioner from Manehattan. I was hoping to have a calming cruise after completing medical school there, but yeah... we all know how that turned out." Sterling said. "Glad to make your acquaintance. If you noticed another pony earlier, that was DJ. I think he went into the jungle to find some things." added Sterling.
Having woken up, North crawled out of the boat, dropping onto the sand and landed on his back. He was so tired that he could hardly get to his feet. "I am... North Light... of Trotheim... Crystal... Mountains..." he said faintly, before falling fast asleep on the beach.
Neon woke up and noticed the others getting out of the boat. She was a little disorientated as she got out of the boat, before noticing North lying asleep in the sand. "Hey half-pint, you alright?" she asked him. North made no reply; he was fast asleep.
Red chuckled. "I suppose we all need a bit of rest, especially after all that has happened," he said, looking down at the small sleeping colt.
Steel nodded. "Well since we've all become a bit more acquainted with each other, I agree with Red." Steel gingerly hoisted the sleeping colt up into the crook of his right front hoof. "I say we follow Little North's lead and get some rest."
"I think we should try building some shelter and get some food!" Neon said to the others. "If we're to survive here we'll need something to eat!"
"We could use the lifeboat as a makeshift hut for the time being!" Red Talon suggested. "It would do until we could get enough materials. Is anypony here a survival pony? I'm not sure which sorts of exotic plants are safe and which are dangerous!"
Sterling smiled when heard heard this. "With respect to which plants are safe for eating, I'm your pony! In fact, I was reading a book about herbs on the cruise ship! Shame I couldn't bring it with me! Hey, maybe we should get going Red! After we've found some edible herbs, we could get some fresh water, and maybe build a beacon too!" With that Sterling and Red trotted into the jungle in search of herbs and water.
"Be sure to bring back a cupcake!" Neon said jokingly. "Alright team! Shall we find some stuff to build a shelter?" Neon said to the remaining ponies.
"Agreed!" Steel replied. He place North gently in the hammock DJ had made. "I'll gather any driftwood I can from the shore. We may even be able to salvage some supplies from the ship!" He then turned to Clover. "Would you... care to join me, Miss Clover?" he asked bashfully. She smiled and followed him off to the shore to look for driftwood.
***
A while later, DJ trotted out of the jungle again, his saddlebags filled with coconuts and a bundle of vines and palm leaves on his back. He noticed that there was now far more survivors on the island than just Sterling. "Cool! More ponies to meet! he thought to himself. "Hey there!" he said to the ponies that were at the camp. "It's a beautiful day! I know we're stranded, but that doesn't mean we can't relax!" He started making some more hammocks for the others.
When he was finished, Neon trotted over to him. He cracked a coconut in half with his front hooves and offered her half, while he gave North, who was just waking up, the other half. "Hey there! Try one of these coconuts! They're amazing! I'm DJ BRONI3, by the way. I'm a DJ from Ponyville!"
"Took you long enough!" she said. "I'm starving! Everyting was so nice, until what happened on the boat... I'm Neon Strobe. The best DJ in Ponyville!"
"Cool! You're from Ponyville too?" he replied. He then registered fully what she had just said. "Oh you, think so, do you?" he said with a mischievous grin. "Well, when we get back to Ponyville we'll have to put that to the test!" he chuckled to himself. "While we wait for the others we might as well relax. Pick a hammock, sit back, relax and enjoy yourself!"
"Oh, I don't think I'm this best DJ in Ponyville, I know I am!" Neon said, returning the grin. "You don't have to tell me twice about relaxing! I'm so tired after all that's happened!" She then got into one of the hammocks and began to drink from one of the coconuts
Suddenly, DJ realised something. "Wait a minute, what am I doing, standing around here?" he said. "If there are any more survivors, they may need help! You stay here and I'll go and take a look, just in case!" As he turned to trot towards the shore, he heard a faint voice. "Wh-where am I?" It came from one of the hammocks. As he approached it, he saw that North lay fast asleep in it.
"Hey there!" DJ said to him cheerfully. "You're safe now! Maybe do you want to come for a walk with me? I was going to go and check for more survivors. You're more than welcome to come along if you like! I'm DJ BRONI3 by the way. What's your name?"
"I am North Light... And I guess I can tag along." he replied, in a strange, slightly foreign accent. He managed to get up and slowly made his way over to DJ, placing a wing on one of DJ's front-hooves.
"Nice to meet you, North!" DJ said as he shook North's wing with his hoof. "Let's get going. If there's any survivors hurt or unconscious, the tide could sweep them back out to sea soon!" DJ started to trot off in the direction of the shore, with North following alongside him.