Collapse grabbed her first aid kit and began to take out the various materials to begin tending to her wounds. As she tends to her wounds, she looked to Magloria. "Well, that's one big feral cat I can tell you that. Not exactly fond of normal Panthins, but that one? Yeah, that one takes the cake for me. Didn't seem sentient to me, but smart enough to realize when to back off." she sighed as she applied the bandages to her bleeding sides.
"I am really not fond of the idea of doing a potential 'final battle' at the beach with the regular Panthins. Knock on wood." a faint nervous smile came across her face at that.
Magloria responded calmly as she continued her gaze. "I'm not surprised that this one was so large. If anything, they were likely the size the original panthins were supposed to be. The ones that domesticated themselves then grew smaller, since they didn't need to be the best anymore."
"Given how wild this place is, if you're stupid you just end up being food for something else. Being smart enough is a requirement." she added, then gestured to the cave entrance with her head. "You should get inside in case the smell of your blood attracts even more creatures. I'll stay out here for a bit to make sure it doesn't return."
Collapse headed into the cave, having finished applying her bandages. "That makes logical sense. It probably won't come around again since it knows that we put up too much of a fight for it. At least we know the other Panthins wouldn't eat us. We are too useful for them, and they were weirded out by our colors." she spoke as she walked inside the cave, shining her horn inside of the cave. Now that she was inside, any light she made would be hidden by the cave and the plants outside.
The inside of the cave was about what Collapse could expect of one. A passage within the rock that spanned about 10 meters deep. A slight incline downwards created a small pool where water would collect, a fissure at the back wall letting any excess water escape into an unknown location that they couldn't follow without blowing a hole in the wall.
Jump Start was sitting in the cleanest, most even place she had found, watching the entrance before setting her eyes on Collapse. "Is it gone now?" she asked, an ear flopping back as she did.
Collapse would look around the cave to make sure it was safe. Thankfully it was acceptable. At least there was a water source, so that was a plus. A 5 star cave hotel, how about that? With a slight tail wag, she would sit down next to Jump Start. "It ran off thankfully, hopefully won't bother us again." she said and gave Jump Start a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Magloria will be taking guard I suppose. I sure am not in the condition to, since anything out there would probably smell my blood." Collapse added. "I feel like we should catch some sleep." she spoke, getting ready to sleep.
As if to dissuade Collapse's thoughts on later enjoying a bit of fresh water, Jump Start spoke up. "You should probably wash the blood of you, but I wouldn't drink that stuff. It's... a bit too dirty to drink. And it's still water." she said as she lied down, curling up in her spot with her tail wrapping around her side.
Sometime later Magloria came back in. The panthin hadn't returned, so it was a somewhat safe bet that nothing else would find them, especially with the plant covering they had.
And even if something did come along, they'd hear it long before it managed to reach them.
Of course, she'd keep this information to herself if the others were already fast asleep anyway.
Collapse would wash off the blood on her body there. It wasn’t all that appealing to just leave it there anyway. By the time Magloria returned she would see that Collapse had already curled up around Jump Start like normal.
One thing wasn’t normal though. She left her tail out in the open instead of curled around Jump Start. It was intended for Magloria, as if Collapse was tempting her to come cuddle up with her tail.
Magloria wouldn’t, would she? The ‘offer’ was there for her, regardless. Collapse was fast asleep if the soft snores were any indication.
Magloria spotted the pile that the other two had formed. It was going to be another one of those nights, but this time there wasn't anywhere better to lie down. She had already spent a couple minutes checking. The cave was slightly colder than normal as well, thanks to the nearby water.
So rather than lie uncomfortably on a slope of uneven rocks, she begrudgingly moved over to the others and laid herself down near them, before falling asleep.
Collapse slept. Not the most comfortable sleep to be sure, but it was sleep nevertheless. She had a few dreams, which she couldn't really remember when she got up. Not that she cared to. If she was the first one up, she would get breakfast ready for them.
As it turns out, Magloria had been the first one to wake up. But instead of going out and preparing breakfast by themselves, like what they did at the shelter, Magloria woke the rest of them up so they could all prepare together.
Her reasoning behind it was so that no one gets caught out alone in the jungle while searching for food, which was now a real possibility.
Collapse would wake up Jump Start with a gentle shake, and when she awoke - she'd get a gentle boop to the nose. Then, they would all be together for when they prepare. Breakfast would not likely be all that interesting, as Collapse was really wanting to get back to the ship.
Once they were all properly awake and had stretched out the cramps in their limbs and back, no thanks to the rocky floor, it was a simple effort to gather their breakfast. Just wander about the trees until they found one with edibles grown on it.
Even better was, since they needed to travel to continue their progress on getting off of this island anyway, they came across their breakfast along the way.
There was nothing to stop them from returning, though the heat and annoying bugs did slow them down, which Magloria quickly learned when one of them flew into her nose. Regardless, they would be able to return to the beach as the seaponies got back to work on the ship again.
As they proceeded throughout the jungle Collapse kept her eyes and ears peeled. It was unlikely for any Panthin parties to suddenly get the drop on them and hunt them down, this far out but it wasn't impossible. The Panthins seemed to be mostly nocturnal, so she hoped they could get the ship finished. Panthins didn't have interest in going near the water it seemed, so they should be safe.
As they went along she would munch on the fruit they managed to gather. She didn't have much to really say or mention on the way there.
They arrived at the coast, where it didn't take much time crossing the sands before they saw their ship. The seaponies were definitely there, however they weren't working on it at the moment.
Instead they were all on alert and were peering into the jungle, watching something nearby. The ocean was too far away, which explains why none of them were waddling back into the water. They'd have no chance at getting back in time.
Collapse looks to Magloria. "Exactly just as I feared. The Panthins are probably in the Jungle doing something. If something goes down here, I don't want any of the seaponies getting hurt. I tell you, we are *not* being taken prisoner again." she spoke in a serious tone.
Magloria kept heading towards their ship. "Well there is no point in delaying our support. Would be just as bad if our crew gets kidnapped instead. No one else would want to help." she pointed out as her walk turned into a gallop.
Hearing their approach, a couple seaponies looked over to the arriving group. "There's something over in the trees and it won't stop staring at us!" an orange Campus mare with brown ear tips said. She seemed very stressed out, and so did all of the others.
All the others saw the group and, like a waterfall of sound, they all began shouting things to them. Anything from demanding they get rid of the nearby watcher, to stating that this place was too unsafe. One screamed about how horrible it was before promptly fainting... or they looked like they did. They were still moving a bit so it wasn't a very convincing act.
Collapse would approach the seaponies alongside Magloria and would take their rather frantic explanations calmly. After that, her eyes blinked. "I would say for you all to calm down and continue working. We are here and we will defend you, should you need it. If anything dangerous happens, I would suggest for you to make it for the water as quickly as possible. We can handle the rest, should something go wrong." she said, trying her best to calm them down.
Then she looked to Magloria and said in a quieter tone. "Could just be Stanton lounging out there, or it could be one of the Panthin scouts. If that was the case, why haven't they started firing?" Collapse asked Magloria calmly. "What would we do if the Panthins discover this location? We can't just move the ship." she added, wondering what they could possibly do should the worst come to pass.
The seaponies nervously moved back to their workstations. They weren't entirely convinced by Collapse's speech about protection, but they did still have a job they needed to do.
Magloria shrugged at the question. "No idea. If they did find us we wouldn't be able to stop them taking the ship. We'd just have to try again in another spot, or wait until they get bored and leave it alone." she said as she rounded the side of the ship to get a better view of the jungle.
"Ah! There you are finally!" Came a shout from the trees, sounding very much like their familiar panthin. "I've tried to tell those daft fishies that I'm not here to eat them 5 times, but none of them listened! I just gave up by that point!"
Collapse followed Magloria and also peeked out, looking back towards the jungle. She sighed of relief when she realized who it was in the jungle. "Oh, it's you! We hired them to help us build the ship! I don't know if they will let you be around them though incase you wanna help!" Collapse shouted back in reply to Stanton. Then she looked back at the seaponies.
"Don't worry about him. He won't hurt you, he's with us." she said to the seaponies, trying to ease their senses further in hopes they would be more comfortable.
"So that's what they're doing crawling about on the thing you've built. They looked like they were just playing about when I saw them." Stanton shrugged as he stepped out into the sunny beach. His approach immediately unnerved the seaponies more, despite Collapse's reassurances.
"I'm not going to stay if he remains here. I don't want to risk anything happening!" A seapony said, which got several agreements from the others.
"Hey uh, how about this. If you guys are uncomfortable with him being nearby, how about one of us can go sit with him while the rest of you work?" Collapse suggested. "We don't want to have a situation to where you guys are too scared to work here, but he won't harm you, I promise." Collapse said to the seaponies and got close to Stanton, standing next to him as if to show her point.
This outcome seemed to be acceptable, but the seaponies still didn't want Stanton to approach any closer. They weren't willing to risk anything just because Collapse said it was fine.
Staton sighed and sat down, his hind legs folding out due to exasperation. Or laziness. Or both. "I guess there is not much for me to do here then. Not sure why I even bothered to come in the first place." he grumbled.
Collapse would volunteer to take 'watch' of Stanton, allowing for the others to continue the work for now. While she was with Stanton, she more or less began to tell him some various details of Equestria. Not too much details, more so the general landscapes and the races found there, as a way to pass the time while she watched them help build the ship. If they continued working, Collapse would eventually have joined the construction, allowing for Magloria or Jump Start to be with Stanton. Taking 'shifts', as they usually seemed to do.
While Collapse was busy talking with Stanton, the others including Magloria and Jump Start had returned to their work, setting planks into place, nailing them down and spraying water everywhere to keep the workers comfortable.
Stanton occasionally conversed back to Collapse, pointing out things in the jungle that were of interest. A lot of the stuff she already knew, like the mountain ranges at the edge of the place or the quicksand pools.
Some she didn't know about, such as a place that Stanton described as a glade hidden in a valley between 2 hills, populated with many beautiful flowers and trees. It was a common place for 2 budding panthins to go to and relax. It was also rather secluded in case they wanted to do more than relax.
He also deliberately stated that he hadn't been there with anyone, nor did he plan to, in case Collapse inquired.
After several shifts between the ponies (up to the point where Stanton decided to leave because he was bored and should go check on other things) and many more hours, the boat was mostly finished. They just needed a little bit more work involving the sails that they didn't have yet, and to pull the entire thing out into the waters before anchoring it.
Collapse did enjoy conversing with Stanton and would tell him about some of the other places. Like the ruins they went to among other things they have seen. She found the location Stanton told her about to be of interest. She did indeed inquire more, and the thought flickered into her mind of her, Magloria and Jump Start 'doing' more than relaxation. Though, it was mainly just her and Magloria in her imagination there. The soft blue mare amongst the flowers and pretty trees, would be a dream come true for her. Work came first, though.
When he left she would wave and tell him goodbye, in the meantime after that she'd be with the others helping with the boat and all that. Through the hours, she was most certainly glad that the ship was coming together. Getting the sails was the last part they really needed to do before anchoring it. Hopefully they would be able to do that soon.
With that in mind, she would ask the others for what they would have to do for sails. Whether the seaponies could get something like that, or if they'd have to find it on their own. If the seaponies could get materials for the sails, Collapse would say they would cover the cost for that, with their remaining shells.
Magloria pointed out that they already had a plan set for the sail where they would buy the materials from the seaponies. When this plan was discussed with the workers however, they mentioned that the remaining money they had would only be enough for a small sail.
It wouldn't be all that effective, and would make the trip a lot longer. Something that they probably could not afford waste time on, lest they get used to eating a lot of fish.
Before the seaponies collected their payment for the day, Magloria ordered them to do one more thing, throwing out ropes for each of them to tie to themselves, with the other end tied to the front of the boat.
With the kelpi channeling water to the sand around the boat and making it easier to drag, they all started to pull. It was slow going, but over time the boat moved closer and closer to the ocean. Once the seaponies could pull from the water, things got much faster, only taking a few more minutes before the ship slid into the shallows.
And with that done, the seaponies collected their pay. Jump Start hammered a chunk of wood into the sand nearby, to tie the ship to afterwards so it doesn't float away.
Collapse was a bit disappointed with the idea of a small sail but it would be something she would possibly be willing to accept over the idea of having to fend themselves off against feral Panthins or whatever else the jungle decides to throw at them. With a small smile, she'd watch them move the ship into the shallow waters, clearly proud of their achievements. It was very good that they managed to complete everything they needed to today, so it was a job well done for today.
She'd thank the seaponies and watch as they left. Honestly, she wish they could take some seaponies home with them, but they probably wouldn't fair to well on the ship or the journey back. The seaponies were just so helpful and friendly to her, they were amazing, weren't they? Oh well. At least she hugged a few of them previously. When the seaponies were gone, Collapse turned to Magloria and Jump Start and said, "Job well done. Hopefully we'll be outta here soon." she said.
After the seaponies had all scattered to the waves, Magloria replied. "We do have a little bit of time before we can set up our sail, so I'd like to make sure that we gather enough cash before we do. Would we have anything that we could sell back to them that they could use?" she asked.
At that prompt, Jump Start began to search her bags, shuffling around the things inside. "We do have a few things like tools, but I don't know how much they would go for." she paused, "There is also that prismal stone if we *reeeally* need to..."
"What if we sell off some of the tools we don't need, I could probably give them those. I have duplicates of tools, perhaps that would cover the cost." she said to them and looked to Jump Start. "I would prefer we keep the Prismal Stone, unless if we have no other options." she spoke calmly and also shuffled through her bags and looked.
Magloria slowly rubbed her chin with a hoof as she thought about what they could get rid of. "Another thing we could do instead of selling what we have, is produce more." she suggested.
Jump Start nodded. "Oh yeah! I bet some of them would really appreciate some of the foods that grow up here. None of them would've tasted these fruits before."
"And I might be able to create some intricate crystal... things that they could use. Not many, of course." Magloria added.
“Could very well do that. Why don’t we return to the cave and see what things we could create or gather for them?” Collapse suggests curiously, wondering what Magloria has in mind for crystal things.
“We can also collect fruits for them too along the way.” Collapse also added in agreement with Jump Start.
On the way back to their cave they collected what they thought would be useful to the seaponies. When they weren't busy with something else, Magloria has her focus on a bubble of water that she had collected, and was slowly shaping it into an object.
They got back to the cave without issues. The cave somehow looked even more miserable than the first time they entered. Barely worth it compared to their previous place.
When they were arrived back at the cave, Collapse had her saddlebags full of fresh fruits from the trees, and she looked over to Magloria as they went and watched what she was creating there. She didn't ask yet though, and allowed her to focus. When they returned to the cave, Collapse shined her horn into it to make sure there weren't any dangerous predators within the place.
There was nothing inside the cave except the rocks, the unsafe to drink pool of water and a small amount of yellow, orange and light blue hairs in a corner.
Jump Start looked around the cave a bit, searching for if she missed something. "Um, why did we come back here again?" she pondered aloud.
"Because there was no reason to sit on the beach when we could be doing things. That and we can offload anything we don't want to lug around should we go searching for more." Magloria replied, adding the finishing touches to an ornate handle of a crystal knife. It looked razor sharp, something you wouldn't want to drop on your forelegs.
Jump Start suddenly thought of something. "Wait a minute, didn't we get some stuff from the ruins we've visited?"
"Yes we did. I got some of the holding pieces to the prismal stone, if I remember correctly but I would rather we keep that for ourselves." Collapse spoke as they entered into the cave and she sat down in the corner where they were before and looked to Magloria's new crystal knife. "That looks really nice, I am sure they would appreciate it." Collapse spoke to Magloria, smiling in approval.
Jump Start checked through a few of their bags again. "No, not those. I'm sure we had some other things as well. Ah! Here we are!" she said as she pulled out 2 things. The crystal eye, and the marble filled with strange liquid.
Magloria shrugged, flipping the knife around casually as if it wasn't a dangerous tool. "Yeah well, it is still just a knife. Maybe we could convince them it's something better and sell it to some dumb noble."
"We could give them the eye and the marble if what else we have is not enough for them, perhaps. I'd only give that to them in that case." she spoke calmly, looking to the marble and the eye. Collapse forgot those two items existed ~~as well as I~~.
"So that's everything we have to offer then?" Magloria asked. "The eye, the marble, some tools and whatever food we find and trinkets I make."
She gave out a sigh. "This might be enough, but that relies on how valuable they find terrestrial artifacts to be. We'd just have to wait until tomorrow to see."
After a good old timeskip occurs, the group arrived at the beach, while Collapse kept an eye out for anything suspicious. Collapse smiles to Magloria as they saw the newly constructed boat at the shoreline. "Well, time to see if what we have is enough for the sails." she spoke, about to walk up to the seaponies to give them the various items they have set out to give them.
There didn't seem to be anything suspicious looking, at first. The seapony traders (which they had totally requested beforehand) were found sitting around in the shallow waters, heads poking out of the waves as they waited for the group to approach.
When they noticed each other, some of the seaponies moved up to the dryer sands, waiting to see what rare and exotic land treasures the ponies had to offer them.
Collapse took out the fruits and the various items they wanted to trade to the seaponies, such as the eye and the tiny marble. Collapse would watch their reactions, hoping that what they have is enough to cover for the sails that they needed.
One by one each of the items was inspected and taken into consideration. The tools had reactions that one would expect. They'd be worth something, but not much. If anything they may just be melted down for the metal instead.
When pressed by Jump Start, they said that they did indeed have a place for melting metal. They're not exclusively aquatic after all.
The fruits were a bit better. Exclusive food, but still just food. Could be worth a pretty piece.
The marble was next. They didn't really know what to think about it, given it looked like a marble and had an unknown liquid inside it. It might've gathered more interest if the ponies knew what it did, but they didn't, so the seaponies didn't want to gamble on it.
The crystal knife, and a newly created figurine that Magloria had worked on on the trip here were considered quite valuable. None of the seaponies were capable of crystalizing water without it melting again, so these would be exclusive items that a collector would enjoy.
And finally the crystal eye gained the most interest. Made out of proper gemstone and with magic-sensing powers to boot? An extremely valuable thing that may have many possibilities. Someone would definitely buy that for a good amount.
]
Collapse told them that they were willing to part with all of these items in exchange for them getting the sails that they needed. After that, it seemed like they had everything they needed ready to go in order to sail back home. At the very least when they get back, Collapse can give a detailed report about the crystal eye they saw and perhaps someone back home can tell them what it might have been used for. If it meant getting out of here, she was willing to part with it.
That is, if the other items were enough to cover the cost without the eye being needed for the sails. Whichever way, Collapse would accept the response and hope they can find something used to create the sails of the ship with. Collapse was more than ready to finally leave this place, and go somewhere else. Home.
After a bit of talking back and forth about offerings and the things they needed, they finally came to an agreement. All of this stuff and the money they had would be able to pay for what they need, which would be delivered to them as soon as they can find someone to put in the request.
It would even be done quickly as well, at a slightly increased cost from the extra labor needed. One that Magloria was happy to pay. It should be ready by the afternoon, which would give them enough time to set it up before sunset.
Collapse agreed with this and happily handed the various items over to them. She was glad they were able to come to an agreement and when they would leave to go off and get the sails, Collapse would get on the ship and look over the interior to make sure it all seemed fine.
With the seaponies gone, Magloria and Jump Start decided to head back into the jungle in search of more food, as they would need it when they set sail.
Collapse had to wade through a bit of water (or levitate over) to reach the ship, but once she was on she found it keeping together rather nicely. It was a bit barren compared to what they were used to, but still fine.
At some point Stanton was heard arriving at the beach, shouting out in case anyone was here.
Collapse was pleased with what she saw inside of the ship. While it may lack amenities, that was the last thing on her mind at the moment. It was A to B transport after all. At least they wouldn't crammed in the small walls of the boat like sardines - wait, Collapse would probably like that, wouldn't she? Her pondering to her own thoughts was interrupted by hearing Stanton's shouts outside the ship.
Then she'd get outside of the ship and back onto the beach after a brief swim through the water. While she could have levitated over the water, she wanted to take a quick dip for the sake of it. She'd wave to Stanton with a smile on her face, and when she went up to him she'd tell him they were going to be leaving soon once they finished the sails.
Stanton nodded at the information he was given. "So this is finally something I can help you with, instead of never being in the right place at the right time? Great! Though I feel like I should warn you about Carocol. They're done with the immediate search around its location and now they're moving on to everywhere else. You won't have much time before they decide to try the beach."
Moving over to the waves lapping at the wet sand, he put a paw down before retracting it as a wave washed over it. "But this... I'm going to regret this part. My fur is going to be all ruined once I'm on board." he groaned.
"Well, we better be quick here then. I don't want to have to fight them off, but this is one of the things I would be more than willing to fight with. I hope you understand that." she spoke and watched as his paw got wet there. "It's your choice to come with us or stay, I'm not going to make you choose." she said calmly, smiling slightly.
Stanton sighed. "I wouldn't even be here if I didn't want to go. In fact, if I didn't want to see new things you would be back in cages under constant watch. Back at the compound I saw you breaking free ages before I revealed myself. You would've been surrounded before you even got your stuff back." he stated.
Bending down in a pouncing stance, he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do, then suddenly leapt forward into the water. When he surfaced, the discomfort he was experiencing was obvious to see.
"Oh this is more horrible than I thought it would be!" he complained as he swam over towards the ship.
It was strange though. The sun was already past midday and yet there was no sign of the seaponies yet.