//------------------------------//
// Raft of possibilities 
// Story: A Tropical Odyssey 
// by DJ-BRONI3 
//------------------------------//

Steel and Clover were busy collecting driftwood from the shore, so that they could build a fire for the others. Steel also had another goal in mind. He was searching the pieces of debris that had washed up from the cruise in the hope of finding some particularly special possessions of his. He was not a materialistic stallion, but there were a two of his belongings in particular that were very precious to him.

Just then he noticed a large piece of wood that was long and relatively straight. He dropped the load of driftwood he was carrying and picked up the wood in his mouth. He swung it about for a while, as if in combat with other individuals. He grinned, relishing the familiar movements. He spun on his hooves, and swept with the stick, before backflipping and using the stick to send sand flying as he swept it downwards. He landed and spun around again, sending water flying everywhere with his wings.

Steel, panted, slightly tired, and smiled, before looking at the stick he had been brandishing and frowning. He set it down, picked up his load and trotted back to where Clover was still collecting driftwood. "Look what I found!" she said, proudly to him. "I know some spells I can use to build the huts as well! In fact, I know a lot of spells, some of them invented by me. It'll be fantastic to finally be able to put them to practical use here!"

"That's great!" Steel replied. "Having a skilled spell caster will no doubt prove a great boon to us. Especially when we endeavour to journey home." They trotted back off towards the camp.


***


When DJ arrived at the small clump of trees, he started to have doubts. "Well, I guess I should have planned ahead a bit further than finding a group of trees!" he said out loud. "How in Equestria am I going to cut all these down, let alone get them back to the others? Well, I guess all I can do is try!" DJ tried to kick one of the trees down, until finally he gave up. "Nope! Not gonna work!" 

He then tried flying up to the top and pulling the trees to the ground, hoping that they might snap. Instead, the tree sprang back, catapulting DJ into the sea and leaving his sunglasses behind him on the sandy beach. A soaking, exhausted and far from happy DJ then plodded back to the trees, put on his sunglasses again and sat down in front of them, trying to think of a way to knock them down. "If only there was some way to cut those down. I doubt I can actually pull these down otherwise." he thought to himself.  Just then, he noticed Steel and Clover approaching. "Hi there!" he said to them. Clover trotted over to him.

"Looks like you need some help! Let me!" she said to him. "I created some spells for a unicorn lumberjack a little while ago as one of my commissions; I think it would come in very handy. Let me demonstrate." She concentrated, her horn glowing, and immediately, blades of magic sliced the trees at top and bottom, laying them neatly in a pile. Clover had a very tidy mind, so the logs were very neatly cut.

DJ's mouth hung open and he sat down in surprise. "W-wow!" he managed to say. "Uh...thanks!" He then began to laugh. "If I'd known it was that easy for you, I would have asked in the first place! Can you use your magic to help me get these back to the others too?" he then proceeded to pick up a few of the logs, put them on his back and began to trot slowly back, carrying the heavy logs with him. Clover used her magic to carry the rest of the logs back to the camp with them.

When DJ, Steel and Clover returned to camp, they set down the logs in a pile, ready for them to use. North was lying in a hammock, eating a coconut, while Red and Neon were talking to one another. Sterling and Evening were not there.

DJ trotted over to Red and Neon. "Hey guys! Do you think you could help us build a raft? We have lots of wood, and the vines for the hammocks could tie the logs together. We should try and get off this island, because I don't know if we'd last long out here!" 

As the group began to build the raft, North, unseen by the others, got up from his hammock and trotted off into the jungle. Everypony was too busy coming over to help make the raft to notice. North didn't get very far, before tripping and falling into a deep pit in the jungle. Inside the pit, was a small, dark cave. "Finally, some proper darkness..." he said to himself as he trotted deeper into the cave. The cave was slightly damp, with water dripping from stalactites on the ceiling. After a short while, he came to an exit, almost on the other edge of the island. It looked like he had found a small cove! Suddenly, he spotted something. "Now... This could be useful..." he said to himself, before galloping back the way he had come to go and find the others.


***
 

The group all worked together to make the raft. It was tough work, and took them long into the afternoon, but eventually they were able to finish building it. They stood back to admire their handiwork. It wasn't the sturdiest of sailing vessels, but looked like it would be able to support them in the sea for long enough to get them to civilisation. "Well, now that that's finished, we may as well test it to see if it floats!" DJ said to the others.

The group pushed the raft to the shore. DJ pushed it into the shallows and hopped onto it. "Hey, this doesn't seem to be too bad!" he called out to the others. "We've done it! It works! Now we ca..." Suddenly, he heard a loud cracking sound beneath him. "...Oh boy..." he said, before the raft began to split. 

He quickly flapped his wings and took off, flying above the raft as it split in half and sank into the water. “NO NO NO NO NO! Oh, hay!” said DJ angrily to himself. He flew back to the shore and landed on the beach. Looking up, he saw the others sporting less than happy looks on their faces. He shrugged and grinned apologetically at them. “Umm… sorry?”

Clover stared at DJ, crossly. "Now look what you've done," she said. "If you'd waited, I could have put a strengthening spell on the raft and that probably wouldn't have happened. At the very least, it would have held together til we could have reached a wooded island!"

"DJ!" Neon yelled "I can't believe this! We could have gotten off of this island but you destroyed the raft! You should have been more careful!" Neon said madly then sat down on the sand "Now how are we gonna get out of here?" Neon said less mad. Neon cried a bit, she was used to being indoors, she didn't like it here.

His ears drooped. “W-well, everypony. I-I’m sorry… I, um…” He looked at them one by one, looking at their looks of annoyance. Suddenly, he realised that somepony was missing. “Umm… not to change the subject or anything, but has anyone seen North? He’s disappeared!” Determined to make his new friends happy again, he had an idea. “Stay here guys, I’ll go find him! I bet he ran off into the jungle!” Maybe he could regain their faith in him if he was able to find North! He then galloped off into the jungle in search of the young colt, almost bumping into Sterling and Evening as they came out of the jungle.

"Hey, DJ!" Sterling called. "Wait! What's wrong?" he then looked over at the beach, seeing a few splintered pieces of wood floating in the shallow water. "Oh..." Sterling said. "Now how are we going to get home?"