A Tropical Odyssey

North was at the bottom of the pit. As steep as it was, somepony his size would have to run fast to get up. Trotting back a little further into the cave, he tried to gallop up the edge, however as soon as his head poked up above the top of the pit, he lost his footing and slid back into the hole.

He tried galloping up once more, but with the same result. This time, however, he noticed a familiar pegasus galloping through the jungle. He called out, in the hope that he would be heard.

***

As DJ galloped into the jungle, frantically in search of the missing colt,he passed a large pit. From the depths of the pit, he heard an "Oi!" that sounded a lot like North. He looked down into the hole, and saw the young colt's face peering back at him.

"Hey there, North!" he said to the young colt. "Hold on, I'm coming down!" With that he flew into the pit and landed beside him. He looked around and noticed the cave that led deeper into the island. "Hey, before we go back, can we explore this place a bit? The others are a bit mad at me, and I'd rather let them cool down a bit! Anyway, this looks like there could be an adventure to be had here! Come on!" North led the way through the dark cave, with DJ trotting along behind him.

After a short while, North led him to the small cove, where the cave became a cavern. DJ looked in surprise at what North had noticed earlier. "Wow! What do you say we take this back to the others then? I think they'll be pleased to see this!"

North nodded his head in agreement. "If I hadn't had trouble with that pit, I would had gone back to the others and showed it to them. I too thought it a good idea to bring back."

DJ smiled at him. "Then let's get going!"

***

Back, at the camp, the others were trying to work out what they could do now. "What I suggest is that we build a new boat somehow," Sterling suggested. "I know these palm trees aren't great, but like Clover said, we could try finding another nearby island. The cruise did say there were many islands around these parts that many ponies have never set hoof on. Maybe we could find some more wood there!" He wasn't normally this determined, but he didn't want to stay on this island forever! He really missed his beloved Manehattan a lot.

As they were still talking amongst themselves, they all heard a strange noise like churning waves. As they turned back towards the shore, they all stopped talking in surprise. A galleon, slightly smaller than the S.S. Seagallop, sailed into view. It's large white sails billowed in the gentle breeze, as it sliced through the water like a razor sharp knife. At the helm... was DJ, North by his side.

DJ leaned over the side and called out to the others. "Hey, everypony! Guess what North and I just found! I think this just about makes up for the raft incident earlier! Climb aboard and we'll set sail! Don't forget to bring supplies!" He lowered the gangplank, which splashed into the shallows, so that they could get board the ship.

Steel was also dumbstruck. "Okay . . . this is full blown divine intervention!" He declared. "We have some one on High looking out for us, and I, for one, take this as a sign of bigger things to come!" Steel looked up at North and smiled. He had discovered this, inadvertently as it may have been. Steel had taken a liking to the young colt. Perhaps they could be friends. A thought struck Steel, "If it's a galleon . . ." He launched himself onto the deck and tried to find a way to the lower ones. "Armory, armory, my kingdom for an armory!" He said to himself gleefully.

"Well, there goes my speech..." thought Sterling, as he and Evening trotted onto the ship "Well, I'm definitely getting home to Manehattan on this beauty!" he said as he looked in admiration at the galleon.

Evening had been listening and watching everything quietly, staying right next to Sterling the whole time. Her shyness seemed to force her to stay near Sterling, due to his kindness towards her when she woke up; inviting her to come looking for plants with him even if they didn't talk much. The ship DJ and the North and brought in was quite a step up from their little raft that broke earlier. She looked back at where half the raft was and turned back to the ship, before she began to smile. "Do you want to take a look around the ship?" she whispered to Sterling.

When Sterling the soft, but tantalizing whisper in his ear, he suddenly felt like he was in some sort of paradise! To hear a mare speak to him like that... It reminded him of a song he used to hear at a musical called "South Pacific..." It was such a relaxing song to hear that it nearly put him to a daydream about being with lots of mares who loved his intelligence. Maybe it was also because of the tropical they had stranded in, but he didn't care. He was in la-la land!

Once everypony was on board, DJ pulled up the gangplank and the ship sailed gently away from the island. They were off, on the adventure of their lifetime...