Collapse would have seen the long tail fin above the water there. Was it some kind of shark? Or something else? Whatever it is, Collapse didn't want to find out what it was. Thankfully, they reached the camp safely. "Alright, I think we should take a rest or something..." Collapse said quietly, definitely exhausted and not wanting anything else bad to happen.
"Don't you want to resummon the things you got first? Surely they weigh a bit on your horn, right?" Jump Start suggested, clearly not well versed in the understanding of dimensional spells.
Magloria meanwhile set her stuff down, not going to bother sort through what they had taken in their bags until tomorrow morning... or tomorrow afternoon, depending on how long they all slept.
"We're going to be sleeping well tonight, that's for sure." Magloria said as she tried to suppress a yawn.
Collapse slipped off her boots and her saddlebags and sets them down. She looks to Jump Start. "I only have to actively think about it if there is a strain on my pocket dimension. While those machines were big, you'd need more to strain my spell - like when we cleared out the Constance." she commented as she laid down, once again looking to Magloria in the dark.
"But, I'm tired, your tired - its time for sleep. In the morning we'll look over what we managed to nag in full." she commented.
It didn't take long before they were all in their usual spots once again and drifting off to sleep. When morning came, Collapse woke up to the sight of Jump Start's tail covering her face, somehow getting into that position overnight.
Collapse enjoyed her tail covering her face like that and for a minute or so just enjoyed the softness of Jump Start's tail covering her face before gently pulling away. If Magloria wasn't up already, Collapse would have begun preparing breakfast for them.
Rising from where she slept, Collapse was quick to discover that Magloria had in fact woken up earlier. Sticking her head out of the shelter, she saw Magloria already at the campfire, setting up their morning meal.
The stuff that they had taken in their saddlebags were also laid out on a nearby slice of log. Quite a few craftsman supplies, stuff like specialist cutting knives, scissors, needle and thread and even etching tools.
Magloria gave a quick nod to Collapse before going back to turning some sort of eggplant looking vegetable... or fruit? Not sure on that one yet.
Collapse walks out to see the stuff that Magloria had already gathered up on the log there. She smiled. "Good morning. I'm going to see what of the large things we really managed to grab." Collapse spoke, and summoned in the large machines near to where Magloria had set their other stuff. She wanted to get a good look on these machines here, the interesting looking fruit Magloria was cooking was also another thing as well.
From what Collapse could tell, they had managed to get 4 different things. First was a sawmill (one that *wasn't* in use at the time), due to the large circular saw. This would let them easily cut wood into useful boards. It is however manually powered, so they'd have to put in some effort to use it.
Second appeared to be a metal press, judging from the large block of metal suspended above a table. Raise the metal block, put something underneath it, then let it drop. Flattens what's below. No metal casts though, so they couldn't do fancy shapes.
The third was what could only be described as a hole puncher. Carves holes straight into whatever's below it by forcing a drill through. Also manually powered, of course, but at least the others managed to snag different drill sizes, so there was no problem with that.
Finally, the fourth was the most interesting. It appeared to be a press similar to the second machine, but it had 2 metal blocks that would press together from both sides. It also had a barrel and hose leading to it's center. Whatever the barrel contained was likely part of how it worked, but they wouldn't know what it was until they used it.
Looking at all the machines here Collapse was impressed by what they managed to grab here. The first three would really help with building a ship, that was sure. The true issue was figuring out the process of how to build a ship in the first place. The fourth machine though, Collapse didn't know what that was, as she hadn't seen anything like it.
"Well looks like we got our machines here. But this one here, I don't know what this is." Collapse walked to it and looked around at the barrel. Perhaps it contained some sort of fluid. "Maybe it's some sort of cutting device? Or uses highly pressurized air or water to cut / drill through stuff?" Collapse suggested, but seemed unsure, as the design was not something she had worked with previously.
"It looks like we got enough here for a good start. All we'd really need to do now is put our heads together and design some sort of blue print for the ship, measurements, plans, all that." Collapse smiled.
The barrel looked like a typical wooden one, banded with iron for durability but otherwise unremarkable, with no indicator for what could be inside it. "But that one is for cutting and that one is for drilling." Mgloria said, pointing at the two other machines that did those respective tasks.
Jump Start came over and gave the unknown machine a lookover. "I dunno what it is either. These two pieces-" she tapped the metal blocks on either side, "-look like they hold or press something in the middle." she stated, then moved over to the barrel and gave it a light shove. They could hear the sound of *some* sort of liquid sloshing about inside.
Magloria sighed at the thought of spending time building blueprints, but she knew it had to be done. "I suppose we should probably do that... we've got all those documents and maps we could reuse as blueprints, the unimportant ones at least, plus charcoal to write with."
Collapse put hear ear up to the barrel as she heard the sloshing there. "Tell you what, how about you can experiment with the machine there while me and Magloria get started with the blueprints?" she would ask, taking out the unimportant maps and then walking over to the fire pit to get some of the charcoal.
"A ship for the 3 of us, doesn't have to be anywhere near as large. Can definitely have sails, yes. Probably doesn't need to be luxury or anything. A to B transport for one..." Collapse thought out loud as she looked to Jump Start. "Cargo hold for food and materials. A few rooms here and there, I guess." she tapped her chin.
"I suppose if we were to sail back, it would take a similar amount of time to get back to Equestria. We probably wouldn't end up right where we left but ending up anywhere along the Eastern Shoreline of Equestria would be nice." she remarked.
Jump Start gave a nod, getting back to looking over the machine, trying to make sense of it. "Oh? Matches?" she quietly said to herself as she discovered a small box of sticks.
"We probably won't need a dedicated kitchen, dining hall... bathroom, or any of the other things that would be necessary to support 20 crew members. Should be fairly simple to make blueprints for, though we need to keep measurements in mind..." Magloria said as she began to create some possible designs and layouts. Of course, nothing is perfect the first time it's created, so many small details had to be discussed over and ironed out over what felt like hours.
At some point during a discussion about suitable wood sealant to keep the ship waterproof, they saw a pulse of fire from where Jump Start was. Outside of the hose connected to the barrel was a small flame, focused onto a single point.
"Welder and metal cutter, I think?" Jump Start remarked as she stared at the flame.
Collapse would comment on the various designs and layouts. She favored a more spartan interior with the bare necessities. It wasn't something they had to go overboard with in her opinion, when it was intended to be A to B transport back home. Comfort was not really the goal with that, in her eyes. For a suitable wood sealant, she suggested some kind of sap for that.
Looking over to Jump Start and the machine Collapse smiled. "There we go, good job. We could probably use that if we have any metals we need to weld together. Seems like there was some sort of fuel in that barrel. Perhaps gasoline or kerosene, can't really tell but I think we've figured this one out." Collapse commented smiling at Jump Start. She gave a little hoof clap in applause.
[23-Mar-22 03:46 PM]
Jump Start merely shied away from the compliment, stating that she'd go over to figure out how all of the other machines worked too. In reality, she was trying to distract herself from the approval she received, not realizing that this would likely result in even more praise later.
Magloria meanwhile was done with the blueprint for now. There were many little details that they had to properly go through later, which are too numerous to bother writing down in any form of story. She probably could go through them now, but she, in her own words, "Couldn't care less about what a piece of paper says they need at the moment."
Collapse would watch as Jump Start would go over to the machines, perhaps she could find something that Collapse missed from her brief overview. But it was amusing for Collapse to see the way Jump Start reacted to her compliments like that. Jump Start was always the shier, orange Earth Pony.
"That's fine. At least we considered some of the things we need to do when we inevitably do." Collapse spoke as she would walk over to the fruit that Magloria was cooking, looking to see if it was ready yet for breakfast.
Turns out in their time checking over the machines and discussing potential boat designs, the fruit that had been cooking had become slightly... crisp. Not absolutely burnt mind you, but they had shriveled up considerably and had dark scorch marks where the heat rose from the fire between the grill sticks.
Magloria, upon realizing that she hasn't been paying attention, groaned at the sight of their saddened meal, but still took it off of the grill and put it on plates. "If you still want these, you can have them. We still have fresher stuff if you prefer that." she stated.
Collapse looks to Magloria. "No it's fine. I'll gladly eat this, I prefer to save food and I don't wanna waste all the effort you put into this meal." Collapse spoke, speaking as if she would eat dirt if Magloria gave it to her. Would she? Well, probably.
Collapse got it onto the plate and looked at as if it was the most tasty thing ever. Perhaps her look was a bit more forced, but she feared that if she would eat something else, she would be displeasing Magloria even though she already said the option was open.
The fruit, as expected, was dry on the outside, tasted like charcoal in some places and didn't have much juice left inside. Still, it was sweet and food so no reason to just throw it aside.
Jump Start was less enthusiastic, but she still had loyalties and didn't want to waste, so she reluctantly ate her own fill, though visibly cringed at the texture and flavour.
Collapse smirked at Jump Start's cringing there. Collapse clearly struggled to eat some of it but she had a better containment of her emotions and ate up every single bite of the fruit on the plate. Still, burnt pieces of fruit still are worth eating, and would still have energy in them as well. When she was done she looked to Jump Start. "Yummy." she spoke happily, although in truth she was referencing Jump Start herself. How funny of her, throwing in references to her desires without making it obvious.
Not noticing the very hidden message behind Collapse's words, Jump Start shook her head. "Not nearly as good as it could've been. It tasted like chalk covered in honey." she replied, pushing her empty plate away once she was done.
"So..." Magloria said as she chowed down on her own shriveled food. "We have plenty of options for today, so what do you think we should do? Search for those other places on the map? Check the devastation that Collapse's flames did to Carocol? Perhaps take a break and go looking for seaponies on the beach?"
Collapse's ears perked up at the idea of looking for the seaponies. "I wanna go look for the seaponies. We haven't seen them in a while and I kinda wanna see what they are up to. Plus they are so colorful, seeing them all about in the sea, many colors." she smiled. "We can spend a few hours on the beach and then we can check out the flames did in Carocol afterwards." she suggested.
"Sure. A day of relaxation it is then. After what we had to go through last night, I suppose we deserve this." Magloria commented. Jump Start looked like she greatly approved of not having to do anything dangerous again, clearly excited with the way her tail flicked and hooves shifted.
Gathering everyone's saddlebags, and leaving most of their stuff inside behind since they wouldn't need it, Magloria began leading them down the path that had been cut through the trees, then through the jungle beyond when the path stopped due to lack of deforestation.
Eventually they reached the white sandy beaches and the ocean ahead, the sunlight surprisingly bright on the sand after spending a while under the tree canopy.
Collapse got her saddlebags on and seemed to jump and skip playfully upon seeing Jump Start's excitement. It was more of a response to Jump Start's behavior, than it was the idea of going to the beach. Collapse's thoughts were happy and pleased at the thought of meeting friendly seaponies out in the sea.
"I wonder what you think of the seaponies. I think they are really interesting and colorful. Each of them unique, just like ponies in general." Collapse remarked, taking a glance at Magloria's blue-ness before approaching the shoreline, she would set her boots and saddlebags by a rock by the shore, frolicking her yellow hooves in the sand a bit before going into the water.
Magloria gave a shrug in response. "They're decent folk. Maybe a bit too on the nose with the whole ocean theme, but they can't really help that." she responded, simply deciding to pace around along the wet sands, scooping up any water on the tides that got too close to her and floating it around in long stings with her magic.
Jump Start meanwhile decided to run about on the sands. Given the jungle's nature, running constantly had been hard to do for them. Jump Start's pony instincts for running were showing full force.
As for Collapse, she ~~ didn't realize that she had stepped foot in a riptide, which quickly dragged her out to sea, never to be seen again.~~ could feel the cool water splash over her hooves every time the tide came in. Was refreshing similar to dipping in the river.
Collapse's eyes rolled back as she sighed upon the feeling of the water sloshing up y her hooves. She went ahead and looked over to see Jump Start running about. "Well, consider that a challenge." she spoke, and broke off into a sprint after Jump Start, who could likely tell that Collapse was just being playful if the gentle giggles were any indication.
Magloria could see Collapse's maroon tail trailing in the wind. Collapse definitely enjoyed the sight of Jump Start's tail in the wind as well. She looks over to Magloria for a brief second, her look conveying that she wanted her to join in the 'fun'.
The moment Jump Start saw (and heard) Collapse coming up behind her, she gave a squeak and began to run even faster, as if she was being chased, which she was.
Magloria seemed to debate whether to join in or not. On one hand, she could use the exercise. On the other, Collapse is the one who is encouraging it.
Even though she had been running around for a while already, Jump Start still had more stamina than Collapse, who eventually started to tire. When she had to stop and catch her breath, she noticed Magloria walk up to her.
"When you're ready for another round, maybe we can catch up to her and get her." she suggested calmly.
Collapse chased after Jump Start. It was interesting, to see the almost child like look in Collapse's eyes there. She would have been a playful yellow filly, one would figure. Perhaps it was easy to imagine a yellow fuzzball like her running around the place. But despite Collapse's best efforts, she was not able to catch up to her Earth pony companion.
Collapse would slow down and stop to catch a breathe she'd look over to the blue mare who walked up to her. "Of course." she spoke, as if not expecting Magloria to suggest something like that. "Perhaps we could even do an obstacle course, with the water right by - would be relatively easy for you to make one." she added.
"It would be relatively easy to create one, but we wouldn't be able to use it for very long out in the sun like this. I'd have to channel magic into it constantly to keep it from melting, so perhaps not." Magloria replied, then pointed over to Jump Start who was now trotting casually across the sands.
"We can however hunt down that foolish little filly who thinks she's safe from us without any problems. We take 2 different directions, then trap her and grab her."
"Well alright." Collapse said, not going against Magloria's word there as she looks at Jump Start trotting about. However, she smiled at Magloria's plan to chase after Jump Start. "Oh, we can definitely do that. The orange little filly won't know what's coming for her. The blue and yellow fillies have the right idea." she nodded excitedly and took her position and would gesture to Magloria to proceed, when the two of them were ready to play their little game with Jump Start.
Magloria's expression dropped at Collapse's comment about her. "Don't call me a filly." she warned, then as if nothing happened, she began her run towards Jump Start, though didn't go straight for her, instead moving to the side.
Jump Start, in response, went from a trot back to a run again, though with Magloria coming in from the side, she started to turn away from her approach in the opposite direction.
Did Collapse know what to do next, or was hunting techniques beyond her understanding?
Collapse mimicked Magloria's motions the best she could but mirrored. It was something that she had to actively think about, in a sense. It wouldn't make sense for her to just go straight, but instead to mirror Magloria's actions, in an attempt to cover the whole 'picture' so to speak. As this happened, her enjoyment of the situation was a bit reduced to Magloria's expression there.
When Jump Start started to get away from Magloria she felt a sense of relief and accomplishment, until she realized that the more she turned, the closer she ended up getting to Collapse instead, she squeaked, turning the other way again.
This only caused her to lose ground. Magloria moved around even more, subtly guiding Jump Start in the direction of the ocean waves where there would be no further escape. Her hooves splashed into the shallows as she tried to get away, but now the wet sand and water was slowing her down.
She made a desperate attempt now to run back across the beach, but in doing so she had to change direction, which put her even closer to Collapse, and this time she *wasn't* running away from her in a straight line.
Collapse changed directions suddenly in a way that would make it seem she was moving further away, only for her to move diagonally in an attempt to block Jump Start off from moving where she wanted to go. Across Collapse's face, there was that almost devious filly look across her face. She couldn't help herself there. She could easily use magic to grab Jump Start but in her eyes, that would be cheating, now wouldn't it?
As Collapse takes these actions, she occasionally looks over to Magloria to see where she was to plan her actions accordingly. It was interesting, the way Collapse seemed to be 'replying' to Magloria's moves, though her own moves.
Out of the corner of her eye Jump Start saw Collapse approach, but she couldn't manage to move fast enough to avoid her. The only way left she had was into the ocean, and she couldn't do that.
Magloria at this point was behind Jump Start, blocking off any escape that she might've had if she decided to turn around and run back. The only way Jump Start could go was into the clutches of Collapse.
Which left the decision up to Collapse. How was she intending to catch the mare? lunge at her and pin her down? Perhaps push her off her feet into the water? Or just hoist her into the air with magic since she was close enough anyway?
Collapse just decided to reach out with her hooves and gently bring Jump Start close to her and give her a warm gentle hug. She smiled widely. "And thus the little Jump Start is captured." she said, giving Jump Start some gentle pats. Her tail wagged in the wind a bit - as if this little game made her more excited than she was normally.
At Jump Start's speed that she was going and strength she had initially caused Collapse to be dragged along with her, but when she realized that she had been caught in a non-forceful way, she stopped and whinnied.
"No fair, you both were going after me. How was I supposed to keep away from both of you?" she complained.
"No one said it had to be fair, even you." Magloria pointed out as she caught up with the pair.