Yeah. So I'm finally going to update this; I've just been really lazy lately. Not gonna lie. The real reason for my procrastinating on this is that I'm not at the interesting/fun part yet, and I just hate filler. But anyway...here you go.

The three ponies took off across the island. Ralph's eyes widened, taking in the vast beauty of the sandy beach. On one side of him, the ocean roared and waves slapped against the shore. On his other side, the jungle was alive with the sounds of the creatures that lived there.

"We should make a map," he said.

"Yeah...but how?" Jack stopped suddenly and turned to face the other unicorn.

"We could use bark," said Simon. "I mean, I guess if we're going to have a fire, we can use the ashes to make marks."

"Only the unicorns can do that," Jack reminded him. "Without a pen, you can't write anything with your mouth."

"Of-of course," said Simon. The three foals walked on and soon reached what seemed to them was a large mountain. It was so tall they couldn't see the top of it, and they grinned at each other, excited for this new challenge.

"Um, maybe you guys should stay here," Simon said. "It might be hard to climb up there, and we can't be away from everyone for too long. I'll be right back." He flapped his wings and started to take to the air, but Jack grabbed onto the Pegasus's tail and jerked him back to the ground.

"Just wait a minute! We don't know if we can trust you to make it the whole way up there without passing out again. Besides, I want to go up there anyway. The others can wait."

"But it'll only take a few minutes," said the Pegasus pony. "I can do it, Jack...don't you trust me?"

Jack frowned. "No." He leaned in close to the small pony and spoke through gritted teeth. "You know how weak a flier you are. You can't really even fly. Now come on, let's just walk up there. Don't pretend you can do something you can't." Jack backed away and turned to Ralph. "Why couldn't you have picked Maurice? If you really wanted to bring a Pegasus, you could've at least picked one who could fly."

"Let's just all go," Ralph said. "We're explorers, remember?" He smiled brightly, not wanting this exciting afternoon to be ruined by pointless arguments. "Come on." The brightly-colored unicorn led the way up one side of the mountain, which was covered in sharp pink rocks. All three of the foals had to watch their hooves to make sure they didn't step on any loose stones or trip on extra branches. Simon tried his wings a few times, but the result was the same—a bit of a flutter, rising maybe a foot of the ground, and then nothing. He wished he could fly like Maurice and Henry, but it was only a fleeting thought.

Soon the three foals reached the mountain's peak and were staring down at an island alive with lush greenery and dazzling wildlife. It was perhaps a few miles wide.

"Looks like we have this island all to ourselves," said Ralph, his eyes shining. "We can do whatever we want. No grown-ups!" He let out a whoop and giggled excitedly, dancing on his hooves.

"We can hunt—"

"And play in the sand—"

"And explore the jungle—"

Ralph turned to face the other two. "But...we still have to be rescued eventually. I'm sure we'll have fun while we're here, but" –he took a deep breath— "I miss my parents. Just a little. And we'll have to go back to school...we can't stay here forever."

"I know," said Jack. "I'm studying advanced magic."

Simon looked at both unicorns, seeming a bit frightened. "I-I want to go home," he said. "I don't like this island..."

Ralph smiled. "Don't worry. We'll be rescued. Princess Celestia knows about all the islands in the world, and my daddy's a Royal Guard. They'll get to us." Simon smiled, but his smile seemed forced.

The foals started their descent and continued chattering.

"I go to a special school just for unicorns," Jack was saying. "We learned all about magic and jobs that only unicorns can do."

"I only go to a normal school," said Ralph, "but I have a lot of friends, and we play sports together."

"Unicorns don't play sports," Jack said. "We're supposed to be scientists and scholars and stuff. That's what my dad tells us."

"But Earth ponies and Pegasi can do those things, too," said Simon. "Right?"

Jack offered no reply and instead turned to Ralph again. "Why do you play sports? Unicorns shouldn't 'waste their potential'."

Ralph sighed. "I don't know. I guess I'm not into all that bookish or magic-y stuff like you are. Sports are fun! Besides, no one cares whether you're a unicorn or a Pegasus or an Earth pony at my school."

"That's because your school has to 'accommodate' the others. My choir isn't through the school and that's why I got stuck with them. They aren't half bad, but I'd much rather be around other unicorns."

Ralph frowned. "My daddy says that nopony is better than any other pony, and that we all have special jobs we're supposed to do. So that's what we have to do here on this island—everypony has to have a job, like building shelters or keeping the fire. That way we can live here and have fun and be rescued."

Simon said nothing. Instead, he floated rather dreamily behind the others and enjoyed the natural beauty of the island. His mind was filled with memories from home and thoughts about what would happen after the big war. The thought of staying on the island unnerved him, so he tried not to think about it. Suddenly, something caught his eye.

"What's that?" he wondered out loud.

The two unicorns walking ahead of him were pulled out of their conversation, curious as to what Simon was talking about.

"What's what?" asked Ralph.

"Those...those flowers," Simon replied. He pointed.

"Oh. Those?" Jack sounded unimpressed. He took up his knife with a glowing horn and chopped one of them in half. A sweet, fresh scent spilled out from where Jack had cut it, and Simon stopped to take it in.

"You can't use them for anything," Jack said, putting away his knife.

"They're like...candle-bushes," said Simon. "Candle-buds."

"Come on, let's keep going." Ralph was already a few yards ahead of the choir-ponies, looking over his shoulder at them. "We have to get back to the others before it gets too dark."

Soon the three were heading through the undergrowth again, avoiding sharp branches and stepping over large roots. Thick vines hung from the trees, whose dense canopy hid the light of the setting sun. The air was heavy and damp.

A high-pitched squeal and the sound of rustling leaves made all three foals turn their heads and prick their ears forward. A small, pink piglet had entangled itself in a mess of vines and loose branches, and was struggling to pull itself free. Jack stepped forward and levitated his knife over the wriggling animal.

"Wait a minute!" Simon cried. "We're vegetarians—we don't eat meat! You don't need to—"

Jack's knife flashed, and he hesitated. The piglet broke away from the thick vines and tore into the forest. At this, the unicorn spun around and glared at the small Pegasus.

"You made me lose it!" he shouted. "If not for you, I would've—"

Ralph sighed. "He does have a point: we are vegetarians."

"Well, the pigs might eat all of our food. Besides, I've always wondered what meat tasted like. Dragons eat it, and it doesn't hurt them..."

"We aren't dragons," Simon pointed out, which earned him a darkly disapproving look from Jack. There was a pause, and then Ralph smiled cheerfully and trotted ahead.

"Coming?"

The other two had to drag themselves after him, Jack brooding and Simon slightly embarrassed. The small Pegasus really hadn't meant to make Jack angry, but he was so irritable sometimes that it was difficult not to. Even Ralph had managed to annoy him, and he was a unicorn.

Ralph ignored Jack and Simon on the way back to the platform. This was a good island! They had plenty of food and clean water and places to explore. But they couldn't stay here forever—their parents would miss them after the war was over. Besides, Canterlot was a good place, too. And if they were ever going to be rescued, all this arguing had to stop. They all had to work together just like mares and stallions.

Soon the three were climbing back onto the platform. Ralph raised the conch with his horn and blew, bringing all the colts back to their unspoken official meeting place.

"This is a good island," said Ralph. "There's food, clean water, and a mountain—up there—where we can light the rescue fire."

"There are candle-buds," Simon added.

"And pigs," said Jack, "so we can go hunting for them. I saw one, and I would've killed it, except Simon—"

Ralph turned to the other two. "This isn't working," he said. "We can't all be talking at once. Then no one will hear what we're saying. Why don't we have a rule about the conch? Whoever has the conch gets to speak, and nopony can interrupt."

"And when someone breaks the rules—" Jack began, but Ralph shook his head.

"You don't have the conch." Ralph turned to the assembly. "Now, then. We need to have the fire lit at all times. And we all have to get along." He glanced at Jack and Simon briefly. "All right. Anypony else got something to say?"

The fat, grey colt—Piggy—stood, surprising the rest of the group. He walked forward with as much dignity as an overweight foal with glasses could possibly have and took the conch from the glowing aura of Ralph's magic. Tucking the shell under one hoof, he turned to the assembly. "All right, I got something to say. First, who knows we're here? Our moms and dads don't know, our teachers don't know, even Princess Celestia don't know. Second, how do we know they're still alive, what with the war and all? Don't you see? We could be stuck here for the rest of our lives!"

Ralph's horn glowed and suddenly the conch was hovering again. "Stop that, Piggy! Of course we'll be rescued. We just all have to work together."

Piggy opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't have the conch, so he sat beside Ralph and sulked.

"Anypony else?" asked Ralph. Again, the assembly was surprised by the colt who answered. It was a young unicorn with a mulberry-colored mark on his face. He crept forward, looking around in an almost paranoid fashion, until he was at Ralph's feet.

"What is it?" asked Ralph. The small pony just looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes. "Come on, tell us."

The colt did not reply. Instead he started to tremble. Tears formed at the edges of his eyes. The assembly roared, chanting and laughing. Piggy approached the foal amidst the howling and unruly screeching of the crowd. Finally he stood and took the conch from Ralph.

"He says something about the beastie. The beastie, and the Windigos."

Yes! Chapter two is finished. Told you I wasn't done working on this stuff. I'm just lazy. Enjoy.