//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Away and Afar 
// by PropsValroa 
//------------------------------//

There were no real changes to her daily routine after what happened that morning. Just keep everything well tightened, lubricated, charged and inspected, and occasionally get called up to another part of the ship to do some maintenance work when it was needed.

She did get some brief time to rest and clean off the various oils, dusts and enchanted powders that she'd been using, so at least she knew that she was quick enough. Or that today was one of the slower days. One of the two, it was hard to tell.

Collapse attended to her duties to the best of her ability and without question. Occasionally she interacted with the other crew members in between jobs. She was obviously feeling a little down today, in part due to her interrupted sleep but she forged on. She would even do some preliminary inspections, and double checked everything to make sure it was in flawless working order. 

Today felt more of a work day anything to her, but it was uneventful. Getting cleaned after the work was done was rewarding and she took as little time in the shower as possible but enough to get cleaned well enough.  When she was on break, she would go to the upper deck of the ship and overlook the waves with an almost melancholy expression. She longed for the sight of land, and her watchful eyes looked out over the horizon. 

When she looked into the waves, the color reminded her of Magloria's earings. Even in calm moments like this, she was reminded that her captain was always there and in command.

Upon on top deck was far more activity. Crewmates moved about, tending to their tasks. Most of them were doing maintenance checks, similar to what Collapse did down below. Difference is they were capable of talking to each other while they worked. 

Magloria was there as well, up at the steering deck and making sure that the boat didn't drift the wrong direction. She wasn't paying attention to her crew at the time, her mind seemingly occupied elsewhere, so didn't see Collapse arrive. Collapse would have to keep longing, as there seemed to be nothing but the usual blue waves completely surrounding the boat. At least from this height anyway. 

The pegasus up in the crow's nest hadn't called out yet, so they couldn't spot land either. The sky seemed to add to her melancholy, as it was filled with grey clouds. Looks like it's going to rain sometime. One upside of the engineering job is at least you don't get rained upon.

Collapse would attend to any duties she had to attend to on this deck like making sure all the doors were smoothly operating and other minor things which took some time. She wouldn’t allow any oversights.  If anyone noticed she would keep her lantern by her side at all times. She hummed quietly as she worked, while she joined in with some of the chatter it was only small talk.

She didn’t know what else to talk about, Magloria was on her mind truthfully. She could see her through the windows of the steering deck with her hooves on the wheel. She couldn’t tell Magloria’s expression from this distance.  Looking up into the clouds reminded her of her youth. 

Remembering watching the clouds roll by outside the classroom window. She smiled as she was filled with nostalgia, reminded by the fact she was very far away from her home. She remembers her smiling mother and her friends, they would always support her decisions even if it meant going to the furthest reaches of the known world. 

With one last look out over the ocean she headed back down to the lower decks to resume her duties. She even checked any bulbs and swapped any that had blown as well as making sure all the doors were opening and closing. Such tasks may seem mundane but to her even the most simple fix is rewarding enough for her to smile.

Eventually the sun had started to set. With a hard day's work behind her, she would've been longing a good meal. She knew that breakfast (and lunch) were the only times she got free delivery. Dinner however was different, since everyone on the ship knew that the daily duties had been attended to. 

There wasn't much left that would require ponies to stay away from the dining halls, so if one was hungry, they'd have to get served there. Only some of the crew that did their job constantly, such as the spotter in the crow's nest, got exceptions. Most of the crew would be at the dining hall as well, captain included. Plus the evening meal would be much more tasteful than the morning's oatmeal. Their chef could definitely deliver, and Collapse knew that.

Collapse was certainly looking forward to dinner, herself. As she was walking towards the dining hall she licked her lips as she could smell the dinner throughout the halls. Upon waiting in line to receive her meal which wasn't too long of a late. Today she hadn't been that late unlike some other days.

With her meal she would sit down next to Magloria if the seats weren't taken. She would also had set her lantern down next to the chair. Just in case, the lights could always go out suddenly at any moment and that lantern was the most important object Collapse could ever own, she would carry that thing to the grave, perhaps even beyond! Collapse smiled at her own mental jokes, there. If she was able to sit down next to Magloria, she would turn to Magloria casually. "How was your day?" she asked calmly. 

Unfortunately for Collapse, the seats next to Magloria were already taken by the couple of pegasi that like to keep the outside of the boat free of damage. Brother and sister, with similar red and grey colours. An annoying pair, if you happened to be on their bad side. 

Nevertheless, Collapse was able to converse anyway. Magloria's response to this was rather neutral. "The usual, I suppose. It'll take us at least another week to find anywhere interesting."

A random worker piped up, "That's how far the divers go right?"

"Yep. Won't go anywhere beyond that. Says there's nothing worth finding." another replied. Some blue earth pony Collapse rarely sees, their profession unknown.

Collapse nodded to them, internally disappointed she couldn't sit down next to Magloria directly. "Another week? Ah, well I certainly hope what we find is worth it." Collapse stated.

"Correct me if I am wrong, are we already beyond the known boundaries of previous explorations? Or are we reaching beyond that boundary now?" Collapse asked curiously as she looked to the various ones that were talking. Collapse would begin to eat as they conversed, slowly. She wanted to savor her food.

The blue one turned to face her. "We're not there yet. Still a day or so of sailing before we reach the very end of known waters." she paused, shoving a piece of roast potato into her mouth before chewing and swallowing. "But once we get there, we'll be able to see waters that no one has seen before." 

"And the lands that come with it. Don't forget that." yet another worker, a beige and orange one by the name of Jump Start, added to the conversation. 

"When we get there don't forget about your little lantern. The unknown can be dangerous and you never know when you might need it." someone from across the table said. Judging from the slight smirk, they were digging into Collapse's mistake. They must've learned about it from someone else. 

This however did not go over well with Magloria, who immediately saw what they were trying to pull. "Rope Burn, I'd advise you not to keep going. She's already been reminded of it, and she doesn't need that from you." she frowned. Rope Burn immediately shut up, nodded then looked away.

Collapse internally felt a sense of gratefulness for the way Magloria stood up for her. She looks to Magloria with a sense of gratefulness. "Thank you, captain." Collapse states before looking into Rope Burn's eyes with a serious glare

. Collapse was generally a nice caring mare, but she had no tolerance for comments like that. She didn't speak more of that, though as she turns to Jump Start and the Blue One. Collapse took another bite of her roast potato and then of the slice of pizza before swallowing. 

"I see. When reach those waters I'd recommend we keep an eye out for anything. I do hope that we are prepared to engage in combat should we come into contact with any hostile forces, but should we come into contact with anyone out here and they are not hostile we should ask for directions with a grain of salt in mind." Collapse took a sip of her drink. 

"I truly do wonder if we could stumble upon a civilization of sorts. We could be the very first to contact with them and our names would be in the history books forever, if that is the case. If not, we could stumble into a strange landscape that we've never seen. The possibilities are endless. It is exciting." Collapse grinned happily. "Whatever the case may be, expect the unexpected."

Magloria gave a grunt of acceptance at Collapse's appreciation, but spoke no further on it. What happened was over, so she moved on. 

Jump Start waved a hoof dismissively. "I wouldn't worry about any sort of combat like that. Most of what we're doing is just charting out new lands. Maybe setting shore on a good looking place, get a few samples of what it has, refill our supplies, that sort of thing."

The blue one nodded before speaking, "Civilizations would be a great find! Imagine what they could offer us. Medicines, minerals, magic-"

"And exotic new foods." interrupted someone else. The chef, it seemed, a white earth pony with orange patches, had taken an interest in the conversation. "All the new dishes I could make..." 

Magloria cleared her throat. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is all if we encounter a civilization. We don't have the correct supplies to journey far inland, so we may not even encounter anything unless it's close to the shoreline." she stated. The others quietened down, somewhat disappointed by the reality that they may not even find anything.

Collapse nodded to all that. "Who knows, perhaps we may find a stream that leads inland or a river? But you have a point there, yes." Collapse says to Magloria as she looks to the chef. "I would be quite pleased to see what you can come up with if we are able to do that. Your dishes are mighty fine if I say so myself." 

Collapse said to her with a happy grin. "But still, perhaps we may come across pirates or something. We have no idea what we are stumbling into so we should be prepared for it no matter what it may be." Collapse concluded and leaned back on her chair as she ate more of her meal. She was hoping that they would find a new civilization that would provide benefit to them.

The idea of new dishes was quite appealing but Collapse was more of interested in materials and resources she could use for her inventing hobby. Perhaps making a new variant of her Fly Ring. Maybe a gift to someone. "Then again, we may not even reach land at all. We could be heading into a vast abyssal ocean, and if that is the case we'd have to change our path or head back." Collapse shrugged.

Over at the opposite end of the table some muttering could be heard, a pair talking to each other about how pirates were even less likely than finding a civilization. They didn't seem to want to address Collapse directly. Jump Start shrugged. "Even if we don't reach land, we've got enough food, fresh water and mana batteries to last us a couple weeks. We can make it back easy. 'Sides, if we need to we've got fishing nets for food and unicorns for magic." Some of the other members recoiled at the idea of eating fish, which didn't go unnoticed by Jump Start.

"Oh you think that now, but when you're hungry enough to chew your own tail you'll start thinking fish is a delicious 5-star meal." she stated. 

A low rumbling sound interrupted the conversation, hushing all conversations. "Thunder?" someone asked. Magloria let out a sigh, wiped her muzzle with a napkin and stood up. "Excuse me, I need to go check this. Do continue your meals." she said, before leaving the room and heading up to the top deck.