Collapse nods before taking another bite, and when there was a sound Collapse's hairs on her neck stood up. "Well uh, I don't suppose we want to find out what that is?" Collapse asked in a manner that suggested that going to check out what it was was what they were going to do eventually.
Magloria stood up from where she had consumed her meal, looking in the direction that the noise was coming from. "We should, since we're heading in that direction anyway."
She looked over to where Jump Start was busy 'cutting' a mushroom by crushing the parts she didn't want. "Jump Start, we're going to find out what the noise up ahead is. We can come back for that later."
Jump Start moaned pitifully, abandoning her second breakfast to rejoin the group. Once together again, Magloria began leading them towards the noise, remembering where the raft was for when they returned.
When they almost reached the source of the noise, they heard a heavy crashing sound. Whatever that was, it hit the ground with enough force that they all felt a tiny tremor.
Collapse followed Magloria off to the sound of the noise, she is expecting some large rockodile or something to be stomping about. Whatever it was, she hoped there wasn't a potential threat up ahead that they had to take down or deal with. "Well, I wonder what is causing it." Collapse stated curiously, looking to Jump Start with sympathy in understanding upon her having to leave that breakfast behind. "Any predictions?" she asked with a quirked an eyebrow.
"Don't know, I just know it's something big." Jump Start replied. She didn't really want to investigate, but it was either that or be left alone.
Up ahead they could see the mushroom forest had thinned out, but on closer inspection it turned out that many of the mushrooms had actually been cut down, leaving large amount of stumps everywhere.
"And there's the culprit." Magloria said once the source of the noise came into view. "Turns out we might be closer than we think."
Next to a massive blue mushroom were a couple of equally blue seaponies, hard to make out when they weren't moving. They each had a sharp looking machete in their mouths, hacking away at the mushroom and cutting it into smaller pieces.
Next to them was a cart, already holding several large slices of mushroom. Tracks in the spore filled dirt led off to elsewhere, likely where they had come from.
Something notable was there was no nearby water source.
Collapse looks up ahead at the large mushroom that was being cut apart after it had been chopped down. It clicks inside of her that this is what they had seen earlier with the stumps of the mushrooms in the other forest. "Ah, this is what we saw before." she commented and looks nearby to see that there was not a water source nearby. "Notice how there isn't a water source. Should we go and talk to them, ask for directions or something maybe?" Collapse asked Magloria as they moved closer to the scene.
"The lack of water implies that, if Ivory Bush was any indication, they're taking great risks to be here collecting these mushrooms. Because of this, they could be frightened easily. It would be best if we didn't get too close, but talking with them should be fine." She cleared her throat.
"Hey! Seaponies! Over here!" Magloria shouted, causing an instant reaction as they quickly looked around for the source, before setting their eyes on the group.
At first the seaponies relaxed when they saw a fellow equine, but when they noticed the lack of flippers, they tensed up again. "What is that?!" one of them asked the other. "I don't know, it looks like us, but clearly isn't!" the other replied.
"Yup." Collapse said to Magloria before she called out. She knew that Magloria didn't intend to startle them but it seemed they were going to be startled regardless. "Hey, calm down you lot. We just wanna talk. I see your um, cutting down that mushroom there. The blue ones are pretty good, aren't they?" she asked in a casual manner, trying to make them calm enough so they can talk without being startled.
It was clear that just talking to them casually about things wasn't going to calm them down. "What are you, and what do you want?" one of them asked. A mare, judging from the voice.
"Umm, we're ponies... I mean, land ponies, not you seaponies. We just wanted to know if we were heading towards Pearlth." Jump Start explained. The other of them rose an eyebrow.
"And why would 3... land ponies, want to go to our home?" they asked. This one sounded neutral, so it was hard to tell if they were a mare or stallion.
"Because we are looking for a way to go back to our home, on the surface. At least, find a way to return home to where we need to be." Collapse stated, looking at the seaponies with calm eyes. "We've ended up down here, not of our choice, but of a really, really unfortunate mishap that happened to us." Collapse said with a slight shake.
The mare whispered something to the unknown seapony, earning a response which they definitely heard. "Well of course there is that way but I'm not telling them that. They'll just kill themselves."
"If you're talking about the exit to the surface, we already know about it's dangers. We're going there anyway." Magloria told them in a nononsense tone.
"Well if that's really what you want..." The mare sighed, pointing a flipper in a direction. "That way leads to a river that flows into Pearlth. Just don't upset anyone while you're there." she replied, leveling a glare in Magloria's direction.
"Thank you." Magloria turned to Jump Start and Collapse. "They pointed where our river was heading. Looks like it's taking us in the right direction."
Collapse nodded and whispered to Magloria. "That is, if they are telling the truth." she spoke in a manner so that the seaponies didn't hear. She looks back to the seaponies. "Well, what is so dangerous about it, if I may ask? If we are going in that direction it wouldn't hurt to have some extra knowledge about what it is or what anyone knows about before going there ourselves." Collapse stated in a calm, serious manner.
"We don't know any more than you do, and none of us want to find out. Horrible things happened and it's best you keep away." The mare told her sternly. The other one got back to work, machete in mouth as they cut up mushroom pieces.
"Well unless you want to ask them anything else, we better be going." Magloria stated, prepared to turn around and head back.
"Alright. We will keep that in mind as we continue. Thank you for your time." Collapse said calmly, undeterred by how stern that mare was as she turned around to head back. She thought the seaponies were being needlessly rude, as if they were hiding something. Her curiosity began to grow within her.
After they were out of earshot of the other ponies she looks to Magloria and Jump Start. "I believe it will be wise for us to be adequately prepared in order to face whatever it is they are referring to at the exit point. That means maybe like, maybe finding or making our own armor. Training ourselves, getting better weaponry. That sort of thing. I know you can defend yourself Magloria, and I know that I can do a little bit, but Jump Start here likely doesn't have any experience that I know of." she said with sympathy towards Jump Start.
Jump Start began whining at the suggestion of taking part in combat. "But I don't want to fight things. And armour is heavy. And fighting things is scary." she complained, sounding awfully like a little filly.
"Collapse may still have a point." Magloria said. "If whatever is in our way is as dangerous as what they say, it would be best if we teach you how to properly fight. It's better to know and not need it, than to need it and not know."
Jump Start merely whined again, still unhappy about the whole thing as the group came back to the place with their raft.
"Oh and Collapse, just in case you think I can make armour, you're dead wrong." Magloria added, "Crystal armour does work, until your opponent manages to break it. Then it feels like a thousand glass shards stabbing into you."
Collapse felt bad for Jump Start there. Her reaction was saddening to Collapse and she looked on in sympathy. “Don’t worry, we will do our best to teach you.”
“Although I will need to be taught as well. I am not exactly a spring chicken when it comes to fighting.” she laughed nervously.
Upon Magloria’s statement about crystal armor she nodded. “I can definitely see how that would be the case. To be honest with you I was going to ask about that but I was imagining we would wear some sort of protective layer inside the crystal so it wouldn’t hurt.” but Collapse had an idea.
“I wonder if you can make lots of dangerous crystal or ice shards and save them and then use your magic to make them fly out at whatever would be attacking us.” Collapse states trying to sound smart but it may not work. She knew Magloria was a lot more intelligent than her. (I quite like that.)
"Hmm. Swarms of knives aren't exactly my favorite choice of weapon." Magloria said, eyes narrowing at the thought. "They're easy to throw, but harder to aim properly due to being lightweight and have less power behind them without shattering. Only really effective on many unarmoured targets, or for fanning out in the hopes that one gets their eye."
She didn't look entirely convinced over their usefulness, compared to a long, heavy spear. "I'll think about it as a weapon for you, but I'm sticking to my spears." She said as she moved over to the boat, but first harvested some mushrooms to eat later.
Jump Start grabbed her own mushroom that she dropped before, took it over to the raft, cleaned it in the waters then began eating it while she waited.
Collapse would gather up her smaller mushrooms and place them into the boat. After that was done, she sits into the boat at her usual spot. "Alright. You seem to know a lot about weaponry and tactical skill. Have you been in many fights or situations before?" Collapse asked Magloria before she started to eat another mushroom as she was still hungry.
After swallowing it she would say, "I think it is a good idea for us to have varied skills so any opponents can't use the same tactics on all of us? If that makes sense?" she suggested.
Magloria shook her head, then once they were all ready she moved the raft back into the middle of the river. "Only really had to fight a few times. Most of it is what I've learned in books or the times when I was able to train with more experienced fighters. That's how I learned about the armour and daggers. You quickly learn what not to do." she answered.
"Or at least, I quickly learned what not to do. I've seen quite a few slow ones that just didn't understand the concept of 'dodge the pointy stick'." she added.
Collapse nods and gulps at that response. She never would want to fight Magloria in a million years. Collapse knows that she would likely get defeated in less than a fraction of a second, honest. "That is um, most impressive. Knowing what not to do is a good place for me and Jump Start to...start. You know while we are on this raft heading to our next destination, why don't we learn more about ourselves? I poured my heart out when I thought we were going to die so...yeah." Collapse grins nervously.
Magloria looked quite disinterested in the concept of 'pouring her heart out'. "Yeah... count me out. I'd rather not go on about what happened in my past. It's a needtoknow basis, and let's be honest, you don't need to know." she said, with no real sympathy if Collapse felt upset about it.
Jump Start was a bit disheartened at Magloria's words, but decided to tell a little bit about herself anyway. "Umm... let's see... before I joined any ships, I worked mainly on a farm. It wasn't picking fruit or feeding animals though, it was more about keeping their tools working. Oil them, sharpen them, put them back together when they broke. That sort of thing."
"I also went out to other farms to repair their tools as well. If I was desperate for money I also helped out with their harvests. I always preferred the water though, even in a place as 'earth pony' as you could get."
Collapse sighs sadly at Magloria's response. "II understand if you feel that way, Magloria." she felt quite taken back by that. Collapse almost wanted to cry upon hearing that but she held back the tears and sucked it in as she listens to Jump Start. "Ah, I see you were always going about fixing things and repairs. You are a natural." she said sweetly as she inched closer to Jump Start. "What else about me, hmm, I suppose I'm similar to you although I've never worked on any farms myself though. I know some friends that did similar line of work as you did but I've always generally done my own thing and made my own paths."
Jump Start shook her head. "No, not as much of a natural as you might think. I never worked on anything to do with heavy machinery when I was at the farms. The biggest thing I got to work on was some repairs that were needed for a barn, but it's hardly complicated, you just need to stick wood and nails in the right places." she said.
By now they started rounding bends in the river, passing by the place where they met the seaponies. The forest had started turning more... stumpy. Seems like the seaponies used this as a main food source, if the sheer number of mushrooms harvested is any indication.
Due to the thinning amounts of mushrooms Collapse figured they were beginning to reach closer to Pearlth. In her mind, they harvested the ones closer to the city first.
"Well the little things always have their role." she smiled sadly as a thought crossed her mind. "While as for me I've tinkered with much more...complex machinery. My main creation was an antigravity device known as a Fly Ring. I took it along with us, although I never had a chance to demonstrate what it was capable of in front of your eyes. I planned to use it on our exploration of our intended destination. Now it is lost. Years of hard work and joy...gone." she muttered in shame, burying her face in her hooves.
Collapse couldn't see it, but this was one time when Magloria actually looked sympathetic towards someone else. She knew how heartcrushing it could be to have something you've worked on for years taken away from you.
She quickly hid her sympathy before speaking up. "Your fly ring isn't gone, it's just out of reach. Remember that there is an entire civilization around us that is capable of diving down deep underwater, where the Constance sank. We might not be able to get it now, but it's not impossible to get someone to help."
"Speaking of which, here they are now." She added as they came up to their destination.
Descent was tiny compared to this place. They hadn't even entered Pearlth and already they could see an enormous lake ahead of them, splitting off into several other lakes in view. Each one held what appeared to be an entire district of seaponies and their homes, all glowing below like a magnificent light show.
In some places there was water flowing into the lakes in big waterfalls. It was odd how that worked, maybe there was another river elsewhere that came higher?
Though it was extremely hard to make out, to the point that it's unnoticeable in the constant glow, their raft was already getting attention from a few curious seaponies.
Collapse looked aimlessly down at the boat. Magloria and Jump Start could have seen a few silent tears gather in Collapse's eyes. She looked to be devastated upon what she was thinking about. It took Collapse a few seconds to recognize what she had said to her and Collapse looks into her eyes with a look of thankfulness, although she couldn't tell that Magloria was being sympathetic. In her eyes, she was just being distant and rather logical as usual. Still though, it felt good to hear that.
"Yes, yes, I know that...if we are able to recover it, I will let you both try it out and use it. Of course I'd have to teach you about it and its likely going to need repairs...I remember I had modified it a bit before we went on this mission but whether it was able to go undamaged or not is up to fate to decide." she spoke. "You will teach me how to fight, I will teach you how to fly." she said with utmost sincerity.
Upon looking out over the massive lake she could see others out in the distance. This place was jaw dropping and amazingly beautiful. Upon seeing all of the homes and lights under the water she would wipe away her tears and smile with hope.
Collapse hadn't given up.
"Hmm... Perhaps, but teaching you how to fight can come later, after we're through this" Magloria stopped when she noticed the steadily increasing number of curious expressions slowly getting closer. They were close enough now that it looked like a very wide circle, or technically hemisphere, around them. Almost everywhere they looked below them they could see faces of every colour, with eyes constantly watching them.
"But it seems like we'll have to deal with this first." Magloria sighed.
"Is this what that minotaur felt...? Jump Start whispered to herself.
Something they couldn't see nudged the raft. Then another nudge, and another. Seemed like someone was playing with their raft.
"Yeah, yeah." Collapse agreed and looked over the side of the raft in an attempt to see who it was. Collapse looked more nervous or shocked if anything if anyone was paying attention to them. Upon not able to see whoever it was below the raft she would sit up and she would slowly wave to the onlooking seaponies. If they were close enough to be able to be heard, Collapse would smile nervously and say, "Hi. We are um, travelers. So to speak..." she spoke with hesitation.
If the seaponies were too far away to be heard Collapse would stay silent and just watch them quietly.
By now they could head whispering and muttering throughout the crowd, somewhat muffled by the water. The most they got out of it was stuff like "Strange things", "Why are they floating?", and "Weird flippers".
A splashing noise was heard when a pair of the seaponies surfaced, breathing out the water in their nose. "Travelers? Where did you come from?" one asked. "What are you here for?" the other also asked.
This was beginning to feel like the pair in the mushroom forest, but more curiosity and less hostility. Plus a lot more of them.
“We are here by mistake. We were in a near fatal crash. The rest of us died. We are from very, very far from here.” Collapse said to the two seaponies in an informative manner.
“We are looking for a place to settle down. At least for now, as we gather our time and such to attempt to return to where we are from so we can return to our home. If that is at all possible…” Collapse added with a hopeful expression.
"A fatal crash? Oh, I'm so sorry. It sounds like it was absolutely terrible for you dears. You must feel terribly alone." A red mare said as she surfaced.
"If you're looking for a place to stay, there's a number of inns around this district. All you need to do is swim down and ask them for a room." A white stallion said, removing the water from his... head fin...? as he did so.
"We can't swim down that far. We're not seaponies. Could you tell us about places that are above the water?" Jump Start asked.
This caused a bunch of muttering to break out about how they can't go underwater.
"Well that explains the floating thing you're on." the red mare said, "There is... one place you can stay in this district, on the surface. It's not actually an inn, more like a place of storage. You could ask the owner if you could stay there."
Collapse nodded, appreciating the sympathy. "We would appreciate something like that so we can gain our bearings. We cannot breathe underwater like you can, as we are from an entirely different place of the world. I'm not sure if you will be able to conceptualize what I mean." she pondered and then a question formed in her mind.
"Do you have any writing utensils or places where we can write information? That would be very important for our purposes." she stated, seeming very confused by the white stallion's removal of the water from his fin. She didn't know what that was.
"The floating thing we are on is called a raft. Made of ice." Collapse added.
More whispering at the mention that they can't breathe underwater and where they were from. Some thought they were seaponies that wandered the caves too long and grew hard flippers, others thought they came here from a portal. Various other speculations were made too.
"You want to go to the tar printers if you're after writing utensils. Luckily for you it's one place that is above water, with to how it messes with the heat." The white stallion said.
"Bring your... ice raft and I can take you there." he added.