Away and Afar

by PropsValroa

Chapter 6

"You may be right about that." Jump Start said, her ears flicking towards the sounds ahead. "Whatever it is, it sounds like there is a lot of water moving about. It could also be a waterfall maybe? Or a faster part of the river?" she pondered. At the mention of finding something, Jump Start grew nervous. "Uh... now that you mention it, I'd rather not find something at the moment, or rather it finds us." she said. Her golden eyes now searching the darkness on occasion, just in case something was watching them.

Soon they got close enough to the source of the noise to see it. A massive waterfall of water leaking down from the roof, filling up an absolutely massive lake below it. The only reason why they could see it at such a distance was the overabundance of glowing plantlike hanging from the rocks above, from the other side of the lake, and the schools of glowing fish in the waters below. Judging from the fish, the pool seemed to be at least 100 meters deep. The sheer volume of water seemed to be endless. "Look! Over there! What's what?" Jump Start pointed, shifting her catfish lamp to shine light at what she saw. Strangely enough, there were several chunks of what appeared to be a crystal of sorts floating around the lake.

When they end up at the source of the noise Collapse had stopped at the shores of a lake and looked up at the massive waterfall with an awed expression. "Wow that is...really something, isn't it?" she asked Jump Start and looks down into the pool of water seeing how many fish were down there. She looks to the crystals floating in the lake. "Well, crystals don't usually float...do they? They could very well not be crystals but some sort of plant maybe? I don't know, but crystals aren't supposed to be floating..." if she is able to she would try to reach her telekinetic field to go and grab one of them from the distance they are at.

"Whatever this place is, it is quite pretty!" Collapse smiled, overlooking the plants and the various details. She didn't expect to find something like this. "As beautiful as this is...we should probably go look for the others." she stated.

From her observations of the waterfall, it seemed to be where they came from, for certain. The amount of water that was leaking down from above was enough to put every land waterfall to shame. Her observations of the fish below, she could see an enormous variety. Every cooler of the rainbow was down there, giving off an extraordinary display. Then there were the fish themselves. The usual ones with fins, eels, octopi, she even saw something that might've been a shark warning off another fish with a pulse of light

. It must've been a trick of the reflective waters, but from closer observation the crystals weren't floating in the air, rather they were floating on the water itself. "I don't really know if crystals float or not. I'm not exactly a geologist... or a herbologist for that matter." Jump Start mentioned while Collapse tried to grasp one of the crystals. She successfully manage to hold onto one, and slowly drag it across the water towards the shallows. Jump Start nodded. "I agree we should search for the others, but... this is an amazing discovery anyway! If we ever get back to our home, what a story it would be to tell!" she said as while she watched the crystal. "When you're done playing with your pretty rocks, of course."

Collapse grabs the crystal and overlooks it. There were so many amazing things in this environment she felt no idea what to look at for long. After overlooking the crystal she looks back and forth between the massive waterfall and the lake itself. "Well, if that waterfall is any indications we may have been washed down that waterfall but how would we survive that? That wouldn't make sense to me..." Collapse mutters as she stares into the crystal. "From what I know crystals don't float, at least...I think." Collapse smirks to Jump Start.

"This really is an amazing discovery! But we should go look for the others. We can always come back and look at this, and don't you think it would be better to admire this with the company of the others?" Collapse turns away, but she really didn't want to because of how beautiful this area was. But her new mission was to find the others, and it outweighed this beautiful landscape. "Let's head back to where we came and look around for the others." Collapse's aura brightens a bit.

The moment Collapse grabs the crystal with her hooves, she can feel an icy chill run through her legs. The crystal is cold! Like a massive chunk of ice! Jump Start also grabbed onto the crystal and came upon the same realization before letting go. "What is this stuff!? Is this ice?? What is ice doing down here?" Jump Start exclaimed. She looked back down where they had come from, then over to the lake again.

"Collapse... back where we came from isn't the only way the water flows..." She pointed over to the shoreline in other parts of the lake. Several other rivers were also branching out from the massive lake, leading to who knows where. They could immediately walk over to another one, a decent distance away from them. In order to follow the other rivers however they'd have to cross over the two they were between, and likely get wet in the process if they had no other way of crossing.

Collapse was quite surprised at how cold the crystal was. "Wow! That's cold!" she exclaimed and dropped it with her hooves and then picks it up in her magic and looks at it closer. "Its a wonder how it hasn't froze the water around itself. Alright! Lets explore these rivers." she stated, looking along the shoreline and then realizing they didn't want to get wet yet, at least she thought. "Let's check around the shoreline first, seems easier!" Collapse said with a grin, trying to be hopeful here by injecting humor into their situation.

"It wasn't really that cold though." Jump Start said. The crystal was only cold enough to put a big chill through their hooves if they touched it, about the same temperature as snow. "Shorelines first... yeah alright. I guess I'll follow you then." she agreed. They could only manage to reach a thin bit of shoreline compared to the entire lake, due to the rivers on their left and right.

Still, there was enough that they could comfortably walk 10 minutes before reaching the opposite side. At first there didn't seem to be much around the place, but then as they walked, Jump Start started noticing something. "Hey... look, in the sand... Is this... wood?" she asked, brushing away a bit to reveal a piece of rotting wood, shaped like a plank. There's no way something could've grown in that shape.

Collapse nods and walks along the shoreline. After a bit of walking they found a piece of wood. Collapse still had the crystal held in her magic. "I mean if we ever get too hot this crystal can keep us cooled down, I suppose." she shrugged. When looking at the wood Collapse walks up to it and picks it up. She looks at it closely to see if this piece of wood came from the Constance. If not, then it may be from another ship. "Perhaps we weren't the only ones who had the same fate. Maybe we'll find skeletons of previous crews...I would hope not. Priority one is to find the rest of the crew, Priority two is to make sure we can survive, and priority three is escaping out of here." Collapse spoke tactfully.

The piece of wood looked like... well... a piece of wood. The fact that it was already rotting and was half buried in the sand however indicated that it was definitely not from the Constance. "I don't want to find skeletons." Jump Start whined, paling at the thought of meeting the long deceased.

"If we come across another ship, I'm not going to go searching through it. You can do that." She made to continue towards the other river, so she could try and forget what Collapse said. As they got closer they could see one or two smaller crystals on the banks. Collapse's crystal also seemed to be dripping quite a bit.

Collapse collects the crystals. "Well, we may have to in order to find resources. If we do, feel free to look away." she spoke before noticing that her crystal was dripping. "Hmm, crystals aren't supposed to drip. Hopefully it doesn't spout a water jet into my face suddenly, that would suck wouldn't it?" she asked with a laugh as they continued. "I really hope Magloria is okay..." Collapse suddenly frowned sadly. She hoped Magloria was okay.

"No... crystals aren't supposed to drip. Maybe it's a water crystal?" Jump Start shrugged, looking down the new river as they arrived. Seemed like the river they just came from, as far as rivers go. Only difference is the occasional clear crystals that look just like the first one they found. "I hope she's ok too. She's got to be down one of these rivers, I'm sure of it... sort of." Jump Start sighed. "Could take a while. She could be down any river."

Collapse was suddenly bumped by Jump Start, who drew her attention to something up ahead, lowering her voice to a whisper so she wouldn't disturb it. "Look! Over there! It's one of the fish!" True to her words, down the river they were at was another glowing catfish. The strangest part was how it was wiggling about, supporting itself on it's back fin as it practically walked across the river bank. Every now and then is would lean over and appear to eat something, then get back up and continue on.

"Probably could b-" Collapse yelped at the sudden bump and then smiled as she looks to the fish, laughing at her sudden bump there "Hey!" yelped with a laugh. "These fish are really strange, but they are really cool. Hmm, I'll pick a name for them. How about Glowfish?" Collapse asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, we arrived at a river just now. Let's see where it leads." she proceeded forward, watching the strange fish's movements with intrigue .

Jump Start raised an eyebrow. "Glowfish? Doesn't that sound a bit... I dunno... simple? You know, nevermind. It'll do for now." she said, adjusting her own glowfish atop her head. It surprised her how long it could live out of water. Did they even need water to live at all? As they approached, the glowfish on the river bank noticed and started hopping back towards the water, eager to get out of their way. It wasn't particularly fast however. They could easily reach it before it got away if they wanted.

Collapse smirks to her. "I know its a basic name, but I'm sure you would rather that than some genus phylum name or whatever they call scientific names. But as far as I know, we could be the first to discover these creatures." Collapse remarked as she watched it hobble along. She gently picks it up in her magic and gives it a gentle pet before putting it back. "I wish we had our lanterns, let's keep going." Collapse stated as she proceeds forward. (Goodnight)

Jump Start pondered her words. "First to discover them? Maybe? If the wood was anything to go by, we likely aren't the first to discover them. Though maybe the first to tell anyone about it if we get out..." The fish, confused as to what was happening when it was contained in Collapse's magic, flopped about uselessly. It didn't seem to try and protect itself in any sort of way. They're likely to be very peaceful creatures.

As soon as it was put back down on the ground, it hobbled twice as fast to the water, making a splash as it finally made it and swimming away. Jump Start pointed at her own glowfish resting on her head. "If you wanted a lantern, you probably could've kept it. Mine seems to be quite fine with sitting on my head." she said as she followed. They kept finding more crystals the further they went down the river. Some of the crystals were even out of the water resting on the river bank, seeming to be partially sunken into the sandy dirt. Some went even further away, going off to somewhere else on the opposite side of the river.

Collapse watched as the fish hobbled away with a soft gentle expression. “They are honestly pretty cute, I hope that we can tell others about this.” she then gives Jump Start a wink. “I am fine with my magic for now. It doesn’t tire me out…” she states as they end up seeing more crystals. “Wow, more of these huh? I wonder how they formed…” Collapse picks a few of them up on her magic as they walked. “I wonder what possible uses they have.” she states. “So hmm, how did you become involved with like, boating and ships? Like going on explorations? You have done it longer than me so I am sure you have stories to tell.” Collapse smiles.

Jump Start had to think over Collapse's question for a moment to gather her thoughts, but she eventually replied. "Well it's not really that complicated. I just liked the water and fish and decided I wanted to work in sailing. The Constance was actually the second ship I was a part of the crew with." she sighed, "First one was a diving ship, they went out far to search the ocean floors for stuff. Missing ships, underwater features, pearls, that sort of thing."

"The most exciting thing that I can remember was when one of the divers brought up a MASSIVE clam. Said it had a giant pearl inside and was taunting him. Well, eventually we got it open, and there it was. The biggest pearl I had ever seen! The ship made a fortune selling that to some rich snobby pony. We partied long into the night after that!" The crystals that were picked up from the water are easily taken, adding to the pile of constantly dripping crystals that Collapse had. The ones that rested on the river bank however were far harder to uproot. The first one Collapse managed to get somehow took a chunk of the river bank with it. What appeared to be a big clump of iced over sand and dirt, or something. Very strange. "Huh. The crystals don't go any further than here. Why do you think that is?" Jump Start questioned, shining her glowfish further down the river. There were simply none to be found. The only ones left were the ones that moved away from the river altogether, on the opposite side of the river.

Collapse laughs gently at Jump Start's story. "Well, thats a very interesting story! I am sure that out in these parts there can be some pretty big and strange creatures. Unlike you, the Constance was the first ship. And well, if we ever get back I may not go sailing again because of this...experience." Collapse says with a nervous laugh. "From what I remember what was said, we are further out than any diving ship, or other ship known to date. At least that's what one of the crew said...I think." Collapse pondered.

Collapse would inspect the first one that brought up part of the chunk on the river bank. She wasn't going to carry that with her since it was too much and after inspecting it she set it back down. "Maybe these crystals were part of another ship that crashed here and they sort of spilled out into this river system." she suggested as they proceeded onward. "If that is the case, I truly wonder what the purpose of these things was." Collapse drones off, wondering about possible explanations. (edited)

Jump Start nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the diving ships did go out pretty far. Mostly because the coastal parts of the ocean was fishing territory." she explained. From what Collapse could tell about the river bank rock, it was just as cold as the others, and dripping too. The top half looked the same as well, clear straight through and, if she touched it, surprisingly hard.

The bottom half however seemed to integrate the sandy dirt into it's structure, as if it was grown straight through the river bank somehow. Surely this wasn't just some common crystal formation? After hearing Collapse's theory, Jump Start looked around. "But I don't see any other debris that could've been a ship. Maybe the crystals were thrown away or the ship sank and the crystals didn't?" she shrugged, looking over to the rest of the uncollected crystals leading away from the river. "And why do they go that way?"

Collapse had inspected the river bank rock further. "Hmm, I have a theory now. See how this sand has worked into its structure here?" Collapse turned it over so Jump Start could see. "Only thing I can think of was that someone casted a spell, a crystal spell and that caused these crystals to grow into the dirt. I know of some unicorns who were capable of doing crystal spells, but whether or not this is what happens when someone casts a crystal growing spell on dirt I don't know." Collapse asked.

"If these are from a ship, perhaps the remains of that ship sunk to the bottom of that lake we saw. There is no chance of us verifying that though. I wonder if any other ships got lost out here, and why we were able to find each other but we haven't found any remains of our ship, Magloria, or anyone else." Collapse stated. "Do you think we were...chosen to find each other? Surely, going down a massive waterfall into a lake, surviving a whirlpool that destroyed the bridge of the ship and sucked us out...that seems to be too much to survive by natural causes, right?"

Jump Start was looking at the crystal sands, but she didn't really understand what Collapse was on about, aside from a unicorn grew them. All she could really do was shrug. "Ok...? I mean, a unicorn made this? Sure... if you say so." she said. "Well I mean, this place is pretty big and very dark. If we wanted to find our crew, our captain or our ship, we could be wandering for days." she pointed out. She was deeply skeptical about Collapse's 'chosen fate' theory. "I don't know about us being chosen... I don't know what happened, but you'd think that Magloria would be here if that was the case. She was with us, wasn't she?"

Collapse raises an eyebrow at Jump Start's confusion. "Well, maybe. I don't know, and there is no real way for me to prove it. I'm just spouting off." she shrugged as they continued along. "Yes, she was with us. Maybe if we go back to the area we were in before we could find her? Since she was nearby to us, it would be logical to search in the areas we ended up, and those nearby, right?" Collapse suggested, with a hoof to her chin.

"I just... don't know. We could've all gone down the same river, but there is no way that we could know for sure. I could count at least... 4 other rivers, I think. And that was just the ones that we could see!" she shook her head. She points down the river, then over to where the crystals were leading. "We're here now. We should just finish searching this way first. That way we can be absolutely certain that... she's not here." she said, feeling a little saddened as she realized what she said last.

"We have all the time in the world...at least I hope we do. There is no time to waste. If we want to get out of here alive, we are going to have to find Magloria and the others. Then again, we have no idea where the ship went..." Collapse sighed sadly. "Yeah, let's just search that way first. That's a start." Collapse said and continued down that river along the shoreline. She was hoping they could find something of value, or someone.

Jump Start realized a problem they might have if they stayed too long. "We might have all the time in the world, but we don't have all the fresh water in the world." She looked at the water. "We can eat fish if we need to, but this is salt water. We can't drink it. If we don't find or make a source of fresh water, we'll die." As they wandered further down the river, now absent of crystals, they came across a second lake which the river flowed into.

This one was far smaller and shallower, but still big enough to prevent their crossing, at least without tiring themselves out. What was strange however, was there was a large number of what appeared to be big rocks. The strange thing about it was how they all seemed to be free of the river bank. None had sunken into the sands, which was something that should've inevitably happened. An echo came from somewhere on the other side of the river. Some sort of high pitched growl, followed by another and another.

Collapse stopped at the other river. Due to its apparent depth, she wouldn't want to cross it. "You have a good point...we'll have to make haste in our act-" Collapse cut herself off upon hearing the growls, instinctively putting a hoof in front of Jump Start. "...Those aren't ponies." she whispered and took note of the rocks. "Look at those rocks...that's not supposed to happen but we have bigger things to worry about now.

We should head back." Collapse stated as her horn brightens to hopefully allow her to see what else was across the river. Perhaps whatever was making those noises. Collapse was on high alert now and her adrenaline started to flow through her.

"I don't think ponies growl..." Jump Start whispered back, crouching a little lower in a mediocre attempt to remain unseen. With Collapse's glow combined with the fish on Jump Start's head they were able to see what was on the other side of the lake. To say Jump Start was shocked was an understatement.

And to say those were rocks were an illusion. At the other side of the lake they could see massive brown spiders with spikes covering their bodies in combat with what appeared to be a massive lobster.

What was most interesting was how the lobster had the same grey texture of all the rocks on their side of the lake. It seemed quite formidable as well, capable of fending off several of the spiders at once despite it's slow and cumbersome fighting style, breaking any attempts to ensnare it with webs. Jump Start turned to watch the 'rocks' on their side. Thankfully they weren't moving. They must not care about their presence, or something. (Goodnight)

"Y-yeah we really should be more careful. There is nothing down this way...other than these creatures." Collapse whispered and rose a golden shield around herself and Jump Start as she backed away. "Clever though...disguising themselves as rocks, or maybe they are like chameleons and can assume textures and colors of things which makes this area more dangerous than I like..." she adds and as she backs off she hopes none of the massive spiders and lobsters would come across the lake. Collapse was obviously quite scared of those things as she hadn't seen anything like them before at all. (Goodnight!

Jump Start was just as eager to leave the place as Collapse was. She didn't know why Collapse had decided to bring up the shield though. It wasn't like they were being targeted. "They're still going at it." she said, referring to the battle happening. "And it looks like the lobster is winning." 2 of the 3 spiders had already been killed or incapacitated. All the lobster had to show for it's injuries were some gashes and a large amount of webbing. If they ever had to deal with one of those lobsters, they'd have a really bad time. When they had backed off a large enough distance, Jump Start calmed down. "Well now what are we going to do?" she asked.

Collapse could see the lobsters and spiders fighting for a bit over the banks as they left. She didn’t particularly care which ones had won, just as long as they didn’t have to be dealt with. Hopefully they wouldn’t. “Oh well.” Collapse states as they were, and brings down the shield. She was afraid of them doing a fast charge across the river. Collapse looks to Jump Start. “We go back to searching and not go down this area again.” she suggested and started to lead them back where they came from.

"Alright. Just as long as we don't come across any more of those things." Jump Start agreed. Along the way back they came across the crystal Collapse had uprooted. Speaking of crystals, the ones Collapse were holding seemed to feel... lighter than they did before. They were also still dripping. But before they could make it back to the massive whirlpool lake, they heard a sound that they wished they didn't. More high pitched growls, in the direction they were headed. That meant spiders or lobsters. They hadn't worked out which yet.

Collapse wasn't sure why the crystals were lighter than they were before, it was weird. "For some reason these things feel lighter. I don't know why." she stated. Upon the sounds of the growls she looked to Jump Start nervously. "Well, we s-should probably go look to see what they are doing. I hope they aren't attacking anyone, I mean, I don't really care if they kill each other but we'll have to defend ourselves and any others here.' Collapse whispered in a serious tone. Collapse headed along quietly, making sure Jump Start was near to her at all times, looking to see where the lobsters and spiders were.

Collapse quickly found the source of the growling noise, and what's worse, it found her. There were no lobsters at all, only spiders. Some of which were on their side of the river. These ones weren't as big as the ones they saw before, though they were still big enough to be at least half their size, with fangs the size of daggers. The spiders began approaching them, their many legs making unnerving noises as they did so. Jump Start paled at the sight, her ears folding back. She looked ready to run, which would be a bad thing for Collapse if she didn't keep them together, since Jump Start had the only constant source of light.

Collapse looks to Jump Start. "I know it is quite scary...stay by my side." Collapse said to Jump Start quickly. Collapse turns towards the spiders and her horn lights up a bright gold color. From her horn fires a gold laser that she sweeps back and forth over the approaching spiders. She magnifies the intensity a bit. It was a fairly simple offensive spell. In Collapse's mind, she wanted all those things to die. She wasn't going to allow them to stand in the way of her mission to find the others, it was self defense.

Collapse's sudden attack was unexpected from the spiders, who didn't have time (or the reflexes, or the cognitive function) to dodge. The sweeping beam repeatedly shoved them back, causing them to stumble or roll away from the force. However when she was done, it seemed as though her attack only slightly injured them, with only a few of their legs and an eye or two actually injured.

Seems under their brown fur was a carapace that most insects and arachnids have, which was basically armour. Her sweeping beam did almost no damage to it, aside from dozens of scorch marks across their front. If anything, her attack just made them mad, if their faster approach was any indication. They were quickly getting closer, but made no change to their strategy. Jump Start's morale didn't improve either, still just as frightened as before, if not more so.

Collapse looks to her crystals and suddenly tosses them at the spiders to see how they would react to the freezing cold of the crystals. Collapse looks to Jump Start and does a motion, beginning to back off from the spiders to put more distance between her and Jump Start. "You know, why don't we just run? Perhaps we can out run them! If not, then we'll hold them off!" Collapse stated, "Let's run that way!" Collapse pointed down the river and began to run as she makes sure Jump Start stays by her side. If the spiders got too close to them, Collapse would have fired more lasers, aiming at their legs.

The crystals strike them in the face, their legs and their back, but other than causing a bit of blunt trauma it doesn't have much of an effect. They avoid getting close to the crystals after the fact regardless. It must still be cold enough to be uncomfortable. Jump Start quickly nods after witnessing the second ineffective attack, turns and starts running alongside Collapse. The spiders begin their pursuit, keeping up with their pace but never being fast enough to reach them. Soon they arrive at the lake with the 'lobster rocks' again. There are no other spiders there, the ones that were there previously were already taken care of. None of the lobsters react to their approach, or at least, they can't see any reaction.

Collapse made sure that Jump Start was near to her at all times. Upon the lake with the 'lobster rocks' Collapse kept running. Hopefully the lobsters would attack the spiders if they got close enough. Collapse would fire a few more lasers aimed at the spider's legs and eyes. Whether or not it was accurate was more or less up to fate to decide. "This makes it worse, doesn't it?" she asked Jump Start in a scared manner. She would keep firing lasers at the spiders until a large part of them had hopefully collapsed.

The spiders behind them seemed to take even less damage than before, due to how Collapse no longer had a steady aim and they moved faster. One thankfully took a hit to it's face, causing it to stop pursuing to recoil in pain. It definitely was not dead, however. Collapse's lasers of magical energy just weren't that great at piercing armored targets. Now among the rock lobsters, they could see that Collapse's haphazard firing behind them was definitely causing some interest to peek. They could see a few eyes blinking in their direction and even several claws and legs stretching out. One in particular which they were headed towards uncurled itself and rose it's claws in the air. It was easily twice as tall as them, and looked incredibly intimidating.

The problem was, the faster Collapse ran, the closer she got to the lobster rearing up in front of her! The only other options to run were back where the spiders were, straight into the lake or off into the darkness away from the lake. Jump Start by this point was practically freaking out at all the bad things happening. She seemed almost ready to break free from Collapse's magic, just so she wouldn't feel as restricted. In fact, she's already started resisting. The lobster, however, didn't seem to react much to their approach at all. If finished rearing up, then set it's claws down, and it's eyes on both the ponies and the approaching spiders.

"Back this way!" Collapse stated, moving back away from the lake to get away from the lobsters and the spiders. Collapse wasn't going to provoke the lobster, hopefully the spiders would distract that lobster long enough for the two of them to get away. "Hopefully we can get away from them now! Let them kill each other!" Collapse stated as she moved away, still making sure that Jump Start was by her.

Now turned away from the lake and running off into the darkness, they encountered significantly more stalagmites than around the river, probably due to how the river was often traversed. There were no noticeable landmarks here, so they'd have to get lucky to find anything without turning back. Behind them, the sound of 2 heavy splats were made. Seems like the lobster had some exactly as Collapse expected of it. Taking cover behind a stalagmite a few rows deep, Jump Start stopped to catch her breath and calm her racing heart. "Are they- huff -gone now? huff When I signed- huff -up to go sailing- huff -this was not what I had in mind! I hate this place!" she said. Fear, exhaustion and grief could be heard clearly in her voice.

Collapse was glad the lobsters had 'dealt' with the spiders there. She assumed the splats were the sounds of the lobster's claws crushing the spiders or something of that sort, upon Jump Start taking cover behind the stalagmite Collapse quickly did so as well. Collapse pants, catching her breath. Her heart was racing as well. "I-I huff really hate it too! Ugh....huff scary spiders and lobsters! This is the last thing I expected here! Ugh...." Collapse inhales quickly, her manner of speaking quite similar to Jump Start's own. She looks to Jump Start with a rather apologetic look across her face. "I hope that...the others...are okay...we know where to not go now." she states firmly.

"But those spider things came from behind us!" Jump Start cried out, "How are we supposed to get back when there might be more of them along the river?! Where are we supposed to go now?" She looked back around the stalagmite to see the lobsters were now slowly shuffling about, greeting each other with looks and glances instead of words, and searching for food. Jump Start felt shocked when she saw one reach over to a stalagmite, break a piece off then shove it into it's mouth. If they could shatter stone like that, what would they do to a pony's spine?

Collapse glanced around the stalagmite at the lobsters, seeing the same scene. "It seems like those lobsters are more...capable than what we may imagine." Collapse also shuddered at how they ate a stalagmite. "I really, really don't want to go back over there now. We should find some other way around them or exit..." Collapse was trying to think about another way around.

Jump Start looked in the other direction, searching for any other paths, or anything out of the ordinary. It seems that aside from a large amount of stalagmites up ahead, there wasn't anything to find. Or there was and there were too many stalagmites in the way. "Maybe we could go around them...?" she suggested, "But without the river, we risk wandering off to who knows where and getting lost. This place could be a maze if we're not careful." She looked back at the lobsters, the one who ate a rock was apparently finished with it's meal and turned back to slowly join the rest of the lobsters. At the very least, there weren't any spiders in a pretty big zone around the lobsters.

"Well I don't want to risk running by them so I don't want us to get attacked by them, so we should wait for a while until they are all gone." Collapse stated as she looks out at the lobsters. Surprised at one of them eating a rock. "They can eat rocks, spiders...definitely ponies...y-yeah, let's wait this one out." Collapse suggested, she was definitely quite nervous at what she was seeing. Collapse then sat there, and proceeded to wait until they were hopefully gone. (edited)

Jump Start merely let out a slight whimper before settling down, keeping a constant eye on their surroundings. Unfortunately for Collapse's plan, the lobsters didn't exactly go away. This was where they rested before, and this was where they rested now. Over time they ended up curling back into their rocky disguise to sleep or do whatever a rock lobster did, but leave they did not. Judging from their lack of movement, they were going to stay for a long while. Collapse is going to have to come up with a better plan than that. Given their seemingly slow nature, why did she think they'd leave in an acceptable amount of time anyway?

Collapse eventually realizes that the lobsters weren't going to move and sighed. "Well they are pretty huge so, maybe if we run by them really fast with a shield up over us they won't be able to catch up to us in time. We could try that...or do you have any better ideas? We could try to see if there is an exit through these stalactites, hmmm. What do you think?" she asked Jump Start curiously, trying to think of a better solution.

"Maybe we should just..." She watched the lobsters. "...Sneak past them. They don't seem to be doing much. Just lying there." she pointed out. "If they start to move, then we run." she offered. "Hopefully they won't be able to see the fish though." She worried, referring to the glowfish atop her head.

"We will go with that plan. Quickly, follow my side." Collapse spoke as she got out from behind the stalagmite to make sure the nobsters were in a state of rest and that there were no more spiders about. "We will run, and I'll put up a shield over us as we run past them." Collapse suggested.

From Collapse's observations she could tell that none of the lobsters seemed to be moving, and there were no visible spiders around. Jump Start smiled, happy that Collapse had agreed to go with her suggestion. She moved along with Collapse in preparation of executing their stealth attempt When she heard what Collapse said next about running, she felt confused and somewhat hurt. "Wait, what? I thought you wanted to go with my plan!" she stated.

Collapse looks to Jump Start. "S-sorry about that! Sighs I have a hard time remembering things sometimes! Even when they are blatantly stated to me... Like when I forgot that lantern on the ship but just to be sure, you want to sneak by them? Sounds better than my suggestion. Lets do it." she smiles awkwardly and walks quietly over to the rock lobsters in a sneaking fashion.

Jump Start nodded. "Yes, I am sure I want to sneak past them. Running would just attract their attention, and well... not to sound rude or anything, but I don't think your shield will be capable of taking a hit from them." After she was done speaking, she crouched down, keeping herself low to the ground and taking lighter steps to reduce the noise she'd make. She followed after Collapse. They couldn't see any sort of reaction as they approached. So far so good.

Collapse nodded to her. "None taken." she spoke quietly and carefully snuck around the lobsters with light hoof steps. Collapse looked to Jump Start and the lobsters constantly but made sure her friend was safe. That was the bottom line above all else. The safety of the one she cared about most. Collapse looks at the glowfish on her head, at this point she thinks its cute how Jump Start is wearing it.

It's probably a good thing that Jump Start couldn't read minds, or that would've been a rather embarrassing to know about, the last part also rather inappropriate given the situation they were in. Unless she can read minds? Hmm... nah. Now among the lobsters, none of which seemed to react still, they had a choice. They could either go back the way they came, back towards the whirlpool lake, or they could keep following to wherever the river leads to, and who knows what could be in that direction. Alternatively, they could go straight into the lake, for whatever reason. Maybe they want a saltwater swim?

Collapse smiles to Jump Start. Her plan worked! She was quite glad that she listened. Now presented with the options of where to go Collapse would point in the direction of where the river was leading. They already looked enough back at the whirlpool lake, or so Collapse thought for now. With a sneaky, yet confident stride Collapse would proceed in leading Jump Start in that direction. Looking to the lake, she'd normally be one for water and pools but this wasn't the time for that, she thought.

When they got far enough from the group of lobsters, Jump Start ceased her sneaky movements, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Well glad that's over. I hope we don't have to go back in that direction... or that we don't meet another group of those things." she said. But their problems weren't over yet, or at least that's what Jump Start initially thought when she saw yet another spider up ahead. She started panicking, only to realize a surprisingly big difference about this one. It had a long shard of crystal straight through it's abdomen, and it was not moving at all. Whatever caused that to happen definitely killed it.

Collapse agreed with Jump Start. She was glad that they were past the lobsters without anything happening to the two of them. “Yeah, I hop-“ Collapse cuts herself off at the sighting of the other spider and looked at it closer go see the large crystal stabbed through it. “Well, I don’t think those lobsters were capable of doing that. Maybe someone else is around here who we haven’t seen.” Collapse suggested as her golden aura lights up and further illuminated the area in search of anyone nearby.

Jump Start wasn't sure about what Collapse said. "I don't know if this was the work of the lobsters. Did you see any of these crystals when we were with them?" she asked, also checking around the place in case, shining the glowfish around. With the extra light they could see that this wasn't the only one. At least a few other spiders could be seen lying around, completely dead. Even some across the other side of the river. Many was stabbed straight though, like the first one, while one was completely encased in the crystal. Jump Start shuddered at the number around them. "W-well... whatever did this clearly does not like spiders..." she said with a worried tone.

Collapse looks across the carcasses of the spiders. "Well, it clearly wasn't the lobsters. I think someone else is with us here." Collapse states in a somewhat worried tone as well. "I hope that its one of our crew, so that we can have someone else with us in our search for the rest of the...crew..." Collapse looked to the carcasses again and shivered slightly at what she was seeing here. "There was no crystals with the lobsters, this might...prove what I said earlier, that those crystals were casted by a spell."

"But if these were cast by a spell, then where's the spellcaster?" Jump Start questioned, nervously approaching one of the dead spiders to give a crystal a poke. "Eeek! It's cold, like the others!" she yelped. Apparently not all the spiders were dead though, though given the size of the cave, that was hardly a likely outcome. A scuttling noise was heard from the other side of river. The spider looked different from it's usual brown brothers and sisters. This one had yellow stripes and looked like it had more spines on it's body. A different spider altogether? Thankfully it didn't seem intent on attacking them however, just would rather mind it's own business as it moved along. The river in the way probably had something to do with that.

Collapse notices the other spider across the river, looking at it, it was different from all the others. "Well, are we really sure it was a spell caster? Maybe it was that other spider over there across the stream...although spiders attacking other spiders with crystals sounds highly unusual." Collapse stated as she kept her eye on the other spider across the river. Collapse wasn't going to provoke the other spider as they proceeded forward along the river in the as of yet unexplored section.

"I think some sorts of spiders attack each other back home..." Jump Start offered. She didn't know much about spiders, so she didn't have much else to add to the conversation. The yellow striped spider eventually left their field of view, wandering off into the dark somewhere else. But this didn't mean that there weren't any spiders left. This was made especially apparent when they came across webbing running up the sides of some of the stalagmites. Thick, white cables of dusty, silky material just hanging off of the rocks. It seems they were heading even closer to the spiders territory. Jump Start grew more nervous. "Uh... heheh... umm... maybe we shouldn't be going this way." More scuttling echoed through the cave. Jump Start turned to where she heard it, but couldn't see anything.

Collapse froze up in nervousness upon seeing the surroundings they were heading into. She looks to Jump Start and whispered, "L-lets head back and go the opposite way..." she whispered with nervousness. Collapse's adrenaline heightens up quite a bit and now she would be prepared to move at a second's notice. Collapse turns around slowly to make sure that no spiders would suddenly be jumping up from behind them and then would proceed back while making sure Jump Start was by her side at all times. "Theres gotta be another way around all of these...dangers..." Collapse ponders quietly.

Luckily for Collapse, no spiders suddenly decided to jump out at them from behind. Unluckily for her however, as they retreated from the webbed area she came to the sudden realization that the spiders didn't only search around in webbed areas. A spider was busy inscribing web graffiti on a wall consuming what looked like a small green mushroom that had grown out of a patch of muddy soil.

The mushroom had been uninteresting when they first passed by. It was just a mushroom. But now with a spider next to it... And that spider noticed them. Apparently hungry for something better than a mushroom, it began mindlessly approaching them, causing Jump Start to yelp as it did. It was only one, but given how the others had shrugged off her laser spell, could she really hope to stop it? The sounds of water splashing could be heard, but with the spider approaching, was it really a good idea to distract herself by turning around?

Collapse casts barrier over her and Jump Start as the spider runs at them. "Shit! Why must we be stuck in a cave full of weird spiders and lobsters!? I'd honestly much rather be dead than have to deal with this!" Collapse joked darkly there at the heat of the moment before looking back and forth. "...Maybe not, but this is still pretty bad!" Collapse shouted and she started to move off away from the approaching spider. She heard the sound of the splashing water nearby ,but for now the approaching spider was the main issue. "Look behind us, see what's moving in the water!" Collapse said to Jump Start

The spiders ends up crashing straight into the newly created barrier, it's front 4 legs clawing all over in order to try and get in. It wasn't succeeding, and it's impacts against the barrier were minor, though direct force wasn't a spider's main weapon. Jump Start, at Collapse's request, turned her head to see what was creating the splashing sounds. Whatever she saw caused an expression of shock to appear on her face.

She was about to say what it was, but before she could... The spider was no longer moving. A long, thin shard of almost pure crystal, just like all the others, was speared straight through it's head and body, pinning it to the ground. An oddly familiar voice spoke out.

"I guess you've never been in combat before, huh newbie?"