//------------------------------//
// Chapter 34 
// Story: Away and Afar 
// by PropsValroa 
//------------------------------//

Sometime after falling asleep, Collapse was woken up for her turn at keeping watch for anything dangerous, while Jump Start settled down to go to sleep, apparently already having had her turn.

Now that they weren't rushing through the jungle, she had the time to watch and listen to things instead. There were a lot of bug noises, mostly cricket and cicada calls. Every now and then, the call of some unknown chittering or growling would reach her.

Small blue glowing bugs would occasionally fly by, looking similar to fireflies, yet different. If she looked closely she could see flickers of lightning run through their bodies.

Nothing interesting happened, which for them right now, was a good thing. Soon she could see dawn approach, letting her know that they could travel much safer from now on.

In her time of keeping watch Collapse would watch the surroundings and would find it to be rather beautiful. While this Jungle was beautiful, the Mushroom forests below were a lot more beautiful. However Magloria said something about there being a massive centipede, and the massive snails down there were gross. Both had their pros and cons, but it was clear she was happy to see the surface.

Upon looking out over at the light of dawn approaching she smiled. She knew that Twilight rose the sun each day, if only she had caught sight of her in real life. Sure, she's seen her in books and such, but to actually see her? That'd be quite something, as unlikely as that is to happen. 

Now that she was away from the other's watchful eyes she would do a slight bow towards the rising sun. "I hope...and I pray...that my friends and I will return home. If anyone out there is listening or watching over us, I just want the three of us to return home." she said in a low whisper, for a quiet prayer.

"I hope and I pray! I hope and I pray!" came a high pitched voice from somewhere above their shelter. It was quickly followed up by "Watching over us!"

Whoever said it wasn't quiet like Collapse was (despite hearing what she said), causing the others to wake up from the disturbance.

Jump Start looked sleepy as she looked around, one eye still closed. "What was that? Collapse, you know what that was?" she mumbled.

Magloria only took a few seconds to shake off the drowsiness before she started looking around through the leaves.

"Collapse! Collapse!" they heard the shrill call again. It sounded like it came from somewhere above them.

Collapse was quite shocked at what had happened, whatever voice it was had just revealed her private prayer. Oh well.

Looking to Magloria and Jump Start she would sigh, "Maybe it is some kind of parrot or bird. I don't know what happened but it just started to call out of nowhere! This is a jungle after all..." she suggested as she looked up through the trees, wanting to seemingly bury what she had just said privately. Her eyes were scanning through the trees in an attempt to see what it was. Looking above, she was expecting a parrot or some kind of similar bird.

It was hilarious, thinking about it. Collapse couldn't help but grin.

After a bit of searching she saw something brown move. It turns out there was something that was listening and watching over them, but not entirely what she expected.

A monkey was busy snatching green and red fruits off of one of the taller trees. On one of the monkey's shoulders sat a yellow spotted bird, the marks on their feathers mimicking eyes, making it seem like Collapse was being stared at, even though she wasn't.

The bird let out a typical bird call. Neither seemed interested in the ponies on the ground.

"So, found what it is yet?" Magloria asked while she searched as well.

"It's a monkey, the monkey has a yellow spotted bird on its shoulder too. Look here." Collapse stood near to Magloria and pointed out the monkey and its bird companion. "Really interesting bird though. It's feathers look a lot like eyes, which is really interesting." she remarks in a fascinated manner. "Although now that it is daylight, we should probably get a move on." she added.

"Say, we are about a week's way away from where we left port, right? How far do you think this landmass is from Equestria?" Collapse asked Magloria, curious to see what her response would be as she keeps watch of the monkey and the bird.

"Get a move on! About a week's way!" They heard the call once again. Turns out it wasn't from the monkey and bird. They didn't know what it had come from. Probably some *other* bird that was hidden by the leaves and branches.

Magloria shrugged. "If I had to guess about a week and a half. I'd need my navigation instruments to make a more accurate estimate, both about how far away we are and in which direction we'd need to travel." she said as she started to travel in a direction, one which she thought would lead them upwards.

"Navigation instruments!" shouted the voice.

Collapse would follow Magloria and giggle a bit at the calls from the birds. "Well, I hope these birds don't fly over to the town and talk about us." she joked in a semi-serious manner.

As they walked about Collapse would keep her eyes open for anything dangerous or poisonous looking. Hopefully there weren't any massive snakes or alligators lurking within the jungle. She kept thinking about how soft Jump Start was and how she enjoyed the cuddle she gave her. While of course, she would have wanted to do more with both of them, it seems as though only Jump Start is open to cuddles for now.

Hopefully Magloria would come around in time.

An hour or two past, and Collapse saw many things that could potentially be poisonous.

A snake or two that slithered off when threatened with Magloria's spear. Some brightly coloured frogs that swam about a stream that they stopped by, to get a drink. Many pretty flowers (some of which didn't smell pretty at all) bloomed along their path, some of which were surrounded by angry sounding bees, which would also be poisonous.

With careful avoidance of these things, no one got sick and died on their first day, which was good news.

They came upon a rocky outcropping part way along. Figuring this was as good a spot as any, Magloria climbed up the steep rock to get a look at their surroundings.

"There's the ocean, and... I think I can see where the whirlpool is. The water is a strange shape in one spot." she said.

Collapse was very concerned upon seeing the various dangerous wildlife but thankfully they had avoided all of these carefully. It was most pleasing that none of them had gotten hurt. The jungle was beautiful, yet it was dangerous. That was the beauty of nature. It can be deadly yet it can also have great beauty.

After Magloria had climbed up the rock Collapse was quite curious. "Oh really? I'll come up and take a look too." she spoke. Her fly ring appeared back on her body and with it activated, she was able to slowly rise up to where Magloria was and landed next to her. Then once she was there she looked out to the ocean and scanned the horizon to see where the whirlpool was. 

"Alright, so we know where we are in relation to the whirlpool, what should we do now? What should our next objective be? Find a more permanent shelter?" she shrugged.

It was a little hard to see through the various trees, but the height that she had was enough to show Collapse a lush green island, absolutely teeming with life. They could see a beach not too far away back down where they came from, sandy and full of various rocks, with what looked like a river branching through it into the ocean beyond.

On that ocean she could see what could only be described from this angle as a dark dent, several kilometers away from the island itself. That must be where the whirlpool is.

"Our next objective is exactly that. I'd much prefer it if we set up our shelter near where there is fresh water, so that-" she pointed to the river that led into the sea, "-is where we begin. Now the real question is whether that river is big enough to support a ship that can travel across the ocean. It looks like it from here, but we can't be certain." Magloria said.

Meanwhile, Jump Start was busy minding her own business as she gave a tree she spotted a good kick, causing the tree to shudder from the impact and a series of fat yellow fruits to fall down, bouncing all over the place.

Collapse agreed with Magloria. "Yes, that sounds like a plan. We should probably head down there and make sure it would be able to fit. However, since it is just the three of us we wouldn't need a ship as large as the Constance. I mean really, this is beautiful sight, isn't it?" Collapse asked Magloria with a grin as her eyes focused on the dark dent away from the island.

"Never really thought that whirlpools could be that big. Even from here it is visible. It is massive." she remarked, her eyes widening slightly as she focused on the dark spot. "And when we have a shelter we can proceed with the next step. Do you think we would want to *find* a ship perhaps? Steal a ship? Bargain with someone to get a ship? Or build our own? We'd need sails this time as we wouldn't be using engines if we were to build our own one..." she put a hoof to her chin, thinking out loud.

Looking to Jump Start she gave a little giggle at the fruits falling down. "I suppose you found breakfast. I am *starving*. Time to eat." Collapse smirked.

"Finding a ship is going to be a difficult, maybe even impossible task. Depending on who lives on this island and what they have." Magloria said as she got down from the rocky outcrop to join Jump Start.

She unsheathed her shortsword and took a piece of fruit in her magic. "The felines are the only ones we know who may have the ability to build boats. We'd have to search along places that they use, and if we find a boat, we'd have to steal it from them. Without them noticing their big boat going missing."

"What we need is a better look at the island we're on. The felines are much more likely to have a map than a ship, and they'd likely have encounters with other creatures that are sentient like they are and would keep records about them. Going back may be a bad idea, but the information we could get would be invaluable." she finished, slicing the fruit in half and exposing it's pink insides.

She handed one half to Jump Start, then to Collapse, before beginning to cut up some more.

Collapse follows down the rocky outcrop with her fly wheel and looks to the fruits. Collapse cautiously takes a bite out of it and takes time to examine taste of it as she converses with the others.

"Getting a map from them would open up the door to further expedition crews to come here far in the future. Who knows, there could be something on a map that could point us in the right direction. I would be willing to go back, but we better be careful. If we go back and get caught the felines would probably figure out that it was us that set the tree on fire." Collapse spoke in between chews of the fruit. Her cheeks were stuffed with the fruit cutely.

"Perhaps if we go back we could even find out what they are doing underground. I do hope that if we get caught, that they wouldn't be violent about it and would be able to be reasoned with." Collapse added.

The fruit tasted tart and slightly bitter, like an orange or lime. Probably good when made into pastries, icing or some sort of drink, but something you could probably get fed up when eaten raw constantly. There's probably other things to eat at least, so they don't get tired of it.

Magloria shook her head at the suggestion to get information on the caves. "We don't need to know what they're doing down there. It would just be an unnecessary risk. We just go in, find a map, and maybe a compass and other similar navigation tools, then get out."

She finished cutting a few more fruits and rested them down on the rocky outcrop. "Now, the real hard part about all this is finding where they would even have these things. We cannot just walk door to door and ask, so hopefully they clearly label where they keep their various supplies." she said, then grabbed her own fruit half and taking a bite.

At least the fruit didn't taste disgusting or have an instant poisonous reaction when they bit into them. It was alright, but it wasn't something she wanted to eat forever. Collapse would if she had to, but it was interesting to taste something that wasn't mushroom.

While Collapse would have been a bit disappointed by Magloria's response she understood the risks. "And if they don't, than we would just be putting ourselves into extra risks. So maybe we can try to find some other settlement or something, one that doesn't have walls and obstacles that make it hard to get in and get out. Just an idea." Collapse suggested to her.

Looking to Jump Start she would smile. "Do you like the fruits?"

Magloria raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and I suppose you know where any other settlements are that we could reach, without wandering around aimlessly in search of them?" she asked, pausing to take a bite out of her meal. "The seaponies don't count. They wouldn't have an appropriate map that we could use."

She finished off the half and threw the peel away. "Our only other option would be to find the highest point around here and climb that, then we might be able to see through these trees. That's assuming this place has anywhere like that."

Jump Start gave a shrug in response. "They're alright, but I'd prefer something to counteract the bitter flavor" she stated.

"Well, I have a feeling we are going to do that anyway to get an idea of where we are. I would much rather we get an idea of the lay of the land, before we go back to that town." she shrugged and looked to the peel on her fruit. "Yup. I suppose I'm the only one here who likes to eat things with the peel. The peel is the best part! Especially when it's plastic." Collapse joked.

Looking to Jump Start she would nod in agreement before something crossed her mind. "Since we are out in the jungle I should have put my boots on. How could I forget? Hmm, I suppose I'll let it slide this time. I don't normally like wearing them since they can get scratched. But-" she stepped away from them and her horn glowed gold for a few seconds. In a bright gold flash her boots were on. Made out of the same material as her fly ring. Spray paint of a gold color over steel with some cushiony parts on the inside.

They were perfectly tailored to fit her legs. There was a slight adjustment strap on the back of them incase she needed to adjust them a bit. There were also some gems encrusted into it. Likely some kind of colored quartz. Nothing too expensive, though. 

She would pose slightly suggestively with her boots and wink to the two of them as if she was showing off. Then with a glance to Magloria she would speak, "Let's attempt to find a good high point. Tell you what, when we all get back I'll get you both a set of these boots and anything else you'd like. I'd make it unique for the both of you." with that said, she'd allow for Magloria to lead the way.

Magloria looked at Collapse's boots (while attempting to ignore Collapse's 'parade' as she did so, only made sense to keep focus in situations like this), then to her fly ring, coming up with an idea.

"Actually I have a better idea. How high can your fly ring send you? If you can get high enough you can see where points of interest could be, or failing that, you could see above these trees and find the highest point that we should travel to immediately." she suggested.

She wasn't interested in the offer for a pair of boots though. Those things looked heavy. "No thanks, I'd prefer to keep nimble. Those boots look... protective, but it's going to weigh you down for sure." she replied.

Jump Start wasn't very enthusiastic about the offer, but accepted it nonetheless. "Thanks. Maybe it could help me do something... like kicking stubborn machine parts into place."

Collapse was a bit disappointed that Magloria didn't accept the offer. "Suit yourself." and then she looked to Jump Start. "Yeah, they definitely could. You would be good at that." she grinned before looking up and considering Magloria's idea.

"It's not really a question of how high I can go, it is more of a question of how far I am willing to fall if it gives out. I'll go above the trees at least." she would look up at the trees to determine the best route. After about a minute or so of judging she found one. Looking to them she would smile. "Adios!" and with a salute she would levitate off into the air.

Once through the trees she would fly a bit above and then she would examine where everything was in relation to her and look out over the horizon too.

The moment she burst through the canopy she was hit with the bright sunlight. After blinking away the sudden brightness, she could make out the jungle surroundings.

One spot off in the direction that the river came from was mostly clear of trees, with some visible rock and wooden formations. It was probably where those felines lived. There was a few thin streams of smoke coming from that way, but they seemed spread out, so it likely wasn't the fire they had caused.

Off in another direction she could see a couple of tall hills. They could probably be considered mountains, but given how trees and other plants could still be seem growing up the sides of it and there was no snow cap, it probably wasn't tall enough.

Across the horizon she could see... water. Lots and lots of water, maybe an outcropping of rocks here and there closer to the shoreline. This piece of land was big enough that the ocean didn't wrap around it, so it wasn't some tiny tropical island that they had landed on.

Everywhere else seemed like it was full of trees and hills. She couldn't make out much of the details with the foliage concealing it all. No other signs of smoke either, either too small or too far away to properly see. Who knows what else was in this place.

After taking in these wonderful sights for what felt like a few minutes she would return back down to the ground. It was very interesting to see the way everything was. As Magloria wanted to travel to the highest point, that is the very first portion of information she would relay. The direction and path of the tall hills. Collapse would also relay the other things she had seen, naturally. She was sure to land in the same orientation she was as she had flown, so she could point her hooves in the direction they wanted to go, accurately.

Collapse would then proceed to lead them towards the tall hills. "Well above all else, it doesn't seem like we are on some little island. Likely another continent, or at the very least a large island. When we get to the tops of those tall hills, I'll fly to the top and see what else I could see from there. I'll definitely be able to see a lot more. Perhaps we could take refuge on those hills, hopefully there would be some kind of clearing to where we can build some kind of shelter." Collapse added as they walked in that direction.

"Hrm, I'd rather not set up our shelter on top of a massive hill like that. Unless it has a river that flows down from it or at it's base, it would make travel for water a nightmare, and I don't want to have to condense water from the air constantly just so we can survive." Magloria mentioned her dissatisfaction at the idea.

Nonetheless, she agreed with the idea to head to the closer of the two hills, and after finishing off the rest of the fallen fruits, they set off.

First they had to walk down the other side of the hill they were already on, but they had no other choice if they wanted to reach their destination. Jump Start would make small talk as they moved, occasionally pointing out roots or holes that they could avoid tripping on or falling into.

At the bottom they encountered what looked to be an extended beach of sorts. There wasn't water anywhere near at the moment, but there were large patches of sand and only a few scarce islands of vegetation. It was all low enough that rough, stormy waves could potentially reach here.

"Oh fun..." Magloria sighed as she saw what was ahead.

Collapse accepted Magloria's dissatisfaction and proceeded forward. After a bit of chewing on the fruits she had finished her remaining fruits off. Her stomach was decently full of fruit. While it may not have been the best thing to eat it still was filling, so Collapse couldn't complain too much.

Collapse would also do much the same as Jump Start as they proceeded down the side of the hill. She would also point out things that would have posed an obstacle to their progress and would hold other small talk with her as she stuck close to her and Magloria incase any beasts of the jungle were to lunge out at them suddenly. Even though it seemed like they were in the clear, it could easily turn out to not be the case at a split second notice.

When they had ended up at the bottom Collapse had inspected the beach. "Seems like this could be low tide, but that's just my guess. This isn't good though, I'll say." Collapse remarked, feeling the sand under her boots as they walked.

Collapse managed to take a few steps across the sands before she started to get a sinking feeling. "No wait!" Magloria shouted, but couldn't stop her in time.

Turns out the sand here was waterlogged from whatever rains and tides came, becoming quicksand that Collapse started descending into, definitely not helped by the fact that she was wearing a lot of metal. Probably not a huge issue, but it would've been lethal if she was some other creature without magic.

"Well good job. At least you can get out yourself." Magloria huffed, rolling her eyes at Collapse's predicament. Her horn charged and blasted a patch of sand, freezing the water within it enough to make a small, frozen sand bridge that led to the nearest clump of vegetation.

As soon as Collapse had felt herself sinking into the sand she had used her fly ring to get out of it and go the nearest spot of vegetation. But still, it had greatly annoyed her and she stayed silent throughout the situation. 

Collapse absolutely hated doing things that made her look like an idiot. Especially in front of the others. While this was completely unintentional and unexpected it still made her look stupid in her eyes.

When she was out and by the others again she remained silent, clearly wanting to move on and not speak of this event further.

As Collapse was freed from the quicksand it made a horrible sucking noise, making it even more clear to everyone nearby what she had done.

Collapse's boots and part of her legs were now covered in wet sand, and some of it even seeped into the boots as well, making her hooves feel uncomfortable.

Not that the other two seemed to bother with taunting her about it. They just kept an eye on her as she floated and landed, to make sure that she wasn't in trouble. Magloria continued to mark a path through the quicksand.

Eventually they reached the other side which looked like more jungle, but slightly different plants. On the upside, it began to slope upwards again meaning they were getting closer to their destination.

Once she was freed she had looked over to the quicksand with a clear scowl on her face. Before proceeding forward Collapse would have taken her boots off and cleaned them out with her telekinesis. Using her telekinetic field to 'wash' the sand out of her boots. It took a bit but the sand was removed easily enough, as well as from her legs. She wasn't going to be walking around like that if she could help it.

On the way forward she still stayed silent. She was very much also embarrassed by what had happened and kept an eye on their surroundings. If anything looked dangerous she would point it out to the others so they could avoid it as they moved upwards.

Hours of walking passed again, because climbing a large hill isn't easy. On the way, Jump Start moved slightly closer to Collapse so they could talk.

"You know we don't blame you for that, right?" she asked, not sure what else to say at the moment.

Around them, a group of monkeys chittered from the trees above. Large red flowers could be seen growing in places, big enough that they could easily use them as beds (if it weren't for the floral stench for attracting bees). Might be decent enough idea to use the petals for real, actually.

Collapse looked to Jump Start and sighed. "I-I uh, it was just really embarrassing. I mean, I have a habit of doing embarrassing things..." she chuckled nervously as she looks into Jump Start's eyes. "Am I embarrassing to be around?" she asked with a smirk. 

Looking to the large red flowers she looked to them. "We could make some beds out of those petals if we just take them off. It will hopefully be a nice soft thing to lay down on for maximum cudd-" she cut herself off there from speaking further.

Perhaps she answered her own question.

Jump Start felt awkward being asked that question, especially when she knew stating the obvious wouldn't help with anything.

"Uh... n-nooo... you just umm, need to... maybe think things through first...? It could help, sort of..." she haphazardly replied.

Magloria looked over towards the big flowers. "Hmm... I've never really considered using flowers as bedding before. A bit like sleeping on your food isn't it?" she paused for a moment to think over what she said. "Nevermind, we sleep on hay. Well, as long as these are soft." She hacked away at the flowers several times with her sword, tearing off 6 large petals, 2 for each pony.

Collapse smiled as she grabbed the petals for her and Jump Start. "Well, I wouldn't mind sleeping on a giant donut or an apple. That'd be funny, wouldn't it?" she joked before looking to Jump Start and whispered, "Yeah I probably do, honestly. I *am* embarrassing to be around so there is no shame in you agreeing." she giggled.

Once they had the petals Collapse would look up at the sky to judge the time as they proceeded forward. She kept thinking about the next cuddle she would have. The mare couldn't help it. While the petals were soft, Jump Start was a lot softer and warmer. "Hmm for hypothetical conjecture, lets just say we are unable to find a ship or a boat. What should we do? Build our own over the course of a really long time?" she asked openly.

Jump Start didn't look enthused about the idea of sleeping on donuts or apples. "I don't know... apples aren't soft and they would roll all over the place, and donuts would make a mess of your fur." she shuddered, imagining the feeling of having her entire coat all stuck together and uncomfortable from the sugar.

It looked to be past noon at this point, and they still had many hours of walking to go. They likely would have to find a place to settle down at and continue the morning after. The midday sun was swelteringly hot, thankfully blocked by the large number of tall trees. That idea of having a close water source to where they would live was getting better by the minute.

"If we're unable to find a suitable ship, we'd have 3 options from my understanding. One, exactly as you said. Two, we get help to build our own. This would require finding help willing to build a boat for us. And three, we give up and live here, but that's not going to happen." Magloria replied.

Collapse understood what Jump Start said, although her statement was more of intended to be a joke if anything. "Oh, well if anything you can just imagine putting a donut on my horn. Ring toss, but with donuts?" she suggested with a grin, although the question clearly wasn't serious.

They would have to get water soon it seems. But at least the scorching sun was blocked by the trees. "I am not giving up either. I don't really think anyone would want to help us build our own but then again...we haven't asked, have we? It could just be as simple as asking. Maybe the felines are kind. If not, than we run the other way." Collapse suggested. 

As they walked up the hill Collapse was quite pleased that they may finally get a better view of things.

Jump Start didn't know how to respond to this, other than smiling nervously and glancing away awkwardly. 

"Well whether they're kind or not will clearly have to wait, because we're hours away and I'm not willing to backtrack before we've accomplished what we set out to do in the first place." Magloria said, pressing on just that little bit faster in defiance and determination.

By this point they could just about see what they previously could from the other hill through the various gaps in the leaves. They were probably about halfway up.

Many more hours later, a pair of tree snakes and another fruit tree with hoof indentations later, and they were most of the way up, with the sun just starting to set on the horizon. "We should look for a place to settle down for the night." Stated Magloria.

Collapse didn't object to what Magloria said, as she agreed with it in full. The hours were relatively boring for Collapse and she held casual chatter with Jump Start although she tried to get Magloria in on more casual conversations. After all, she has been able to do what she wanted with Jump Start but not Magloria yet. Magloria is one tough cookie, isn't she?

Upon arriving towards the top of the mountain with a fruit in her mouth Collapse would look to Magloria and would swallow the rest of her bite. "Of course. That's the best part." she smirked and began looking around for a more suitable place to settle down. 

Once they had settled down Collapse had put the pedals down. Notably the petals were combined in one area, leaving Magloria to have her petals to her own, and for Jump Start and Collapse to share some pedals. Or the other way around. Which ever way they preferred. 

"Ah, what a day of jungle and fruit I'll say. But now that we set ourselves up, I'll go have a look above the trees." she spoke. If neither of them had objected, Collapse would have flown above the tree line to take in the sights and the horizon. No doubt a higher place of viewing would provide a better reference to where everything was in relation to them.

They had found a place as the sun began dropping below the horizon. It wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't bad either. A small place beneath a rocky overhang, creating a roof over their heads. They still had to deal with dirt and various grasses, which thankfully the flower petals would protect against.

"If you want, but you're probably not going to see as much right now." Jump Start replied when Collapse stated her actions. Neither objected though, so she was free to float upwards.

Collapse saw the golden rays of the sunset falling across almost everything around her. From this height she could clearly make out the feline settlement and the river snaking it's way through the trees. It looked like it definitely could be used for transporting ships.

But she could see a problem. The river went right past the feline settlement. If the group settled further upstream, they might be spotted when their ship is eventually built or obtained.

She couldn't see what was on the other side of the hill yet, as they weren't at the top. But even from this altitude she could see wispy smoke clouds. Seems like someone else could be out there.

The place they had found was adequate. Collapse wasn't going to complain about it, after all it was just for one night. It was pleasing that nobody had chased them through the jungle, especially after what went down in the town. There was a long way to go. Two days in the jungle may just be the beginning.

Upon floating upwards Collapse had taken in the sights of what she saw above the trees. Due to the fact of the sunset's beauty, she was sure to spend more time up there in admiring the sights of the sunset. Looking out over the area she noted the feline settlement as it was before but before long she noticed that problem. If they wanted to build a boat and not be noticed, they would have to find another area completely if they still wanted to go through with that plan. 

The smoke on the other side of the hill was another thing. They weren't alone out here, at least not as alone as they thought. After a few minutes of taking in the details Collapse would fly back down and relay the details to the others.

Magloria spoke up as Collapse returned to the ground. "What kept you so long? I had started to wonder if you had flown away and left us behind." she said. It was hard to tell if this was a joke or not. From what Collapse knew about how she acted, it really could be either.

"Well the river going by the felines is to be expected. It's what any settlement large enough would do, otherwise they'd die of thirst. Still, I'm sure they could be 'reasoned' with when they see us go past. Maybe by that point we wouldn't even need to worry about them, for one reason or another." she shrugged.

Jump Start spoke up. "Who do you think could be on the other side? More felines? Other ponies like us? Or... hey, do you think seaponies live around in the waters here? We might be able to convince them to help us make a boat!" she exclaimed, sounding excited at the idea she just came up with.

Collapse smiled at Magloria lightly. "The sunsets are always beautiful, especially over such a foreign land that my eyes have never seen." she got closer to Magloria and hesitated a bit, and decided not to do what it is she wanted to do. Magloria's snoot looked so inviting to boop! But she had to resist, at least for now.

Looking to Jump Start she rose an eyebrow. "That is best left for tomorrow to find out for sure. I think that we won't be able to do much without interacting with anyone here. Unless of course you two are willing to go scavenging for materials to build a boat with and spend months under the forest canopy when attempting to construct a boat ourselves...so I think that our best option is to do as Jump Start suggests, but we must be weary as we do not know who they are or what they are." Collapse spoke calmly, smiling at Jump Start's excitement. That was cute.  

"It may just be simple as asking for help. If not, at least we'll know more." she added.

Magloria started to reply, turning away and moving over to her petal bed as she spoke. "First we reach the top of the hill in the morning, then we can check out whatever is making the smoke that Collapse spotted, *then* we can go all the way back down to the ocean to check for seaponies. We don't want to go off wildly chasing whatever pops into our head."

She sat down on the large piece of plant, getting comfortable.

Jump Start shrugged and decided that she should probably start relaxing on her petals as well. She lay down and curled up, tucking her legs and tail in, forming a ball of pony.