Jump Start nodded, getting the attention of Magloria who was in the middle of a discussion about restorative ointments and their effectiveness in a recovery tank. They both got ready for the spell.
"Alright, each of you stand a few meters apart. I just need to get some things ready..." The doctor said, bringing out what appear to be small tablets. He got up onto land and offered the tablets to each of them. "Take one of these and swallow it. It'll help the spell focus on you, and what part is being altered."
After Jump Start and Magloria swallowed theirs, the doctor began performing his spell. His finned mane stretched out fully as a calm blue glow began rushing through it. The tips of his flippers let out small waves of energy as he concentrated.
Several pale red runic circles suddenly surrounded Jump Start, who yelped in shock. "Stand still, please." The doctor ordered. The runic circles started to float up and around her, spinning in all directions in a marvel of magic. As they did, they shrank, right up until the circles were completely absorbed into the center of Jump Start, who looked alarmed at the feeling.
"And you're done. Who's next?"
Collapse observed the effects of the spell that was placed upon Jump Start. She had no preconceptions on what the spell would look like, but what would it feel like? That would be something Collapse would find out next as she stepped forward. "I will go next." she spoke, looking to Jump Start. "How do you feel? Probably something you never really felt before." Collapse suggested as she took the pill and swallowed it.
Upon walking up in front of the doctor Collapse would nod to him. "I'm ready to breathe underwater." she stated with a grin and then calmly stood still. The doctors knew what they were doing so Collapse felt no fear or hesitation from it.
Jump Start breathed heavier for a little bit, but soon calmed down as the feeling settled. "It feels weird, my lungs became all tingly." she said.
Once Collapse was in place, the doctor went through the same procedure, runic circles spun around Collapse until they shrank down inside her.
Suddenly she felt as if her lungs had gone numb and tingly, making it hard to tell if she was breathing or not. The feeling slowly dissipated, until all that was left was a slight tingle.
By that point, Magloria was going through the process. Once it ended she started breathing heavily as well. "Wow... that's an... uncomfortable... side effect." she said between breaths.
"Alright, you all seem to be taking the spell well. I guess my work here is done." The doctor turned to Deep Current, "Am I dismissed?" he asked, which earned a nod.
"In that case I'll take my leave. Come on." he addressed one of the other seaponies that Magloria was talking to, and they both dove back under the water.
Collapse stood there, breathing heavily. She never felt anything quite like this and looked to Magloria and Jump Start. "I...never...felt this...before." she spoke between breaths as she looked to Magloria and then turned to the doctor and that other seapony, before she could ask what exactly happened they were gone. After a minute or so Collapse would steady herself and look to thewater. "So uh, are we able to breathe under the water now?" Collapse asked
"Yes, you should be able to breathe underwater." Deep Current stated, pointing a flipper in the direction of the lake. "I've heard it's described as unpleasant to be breathing water into your lungs at first, but you'll get used to it in time."
Jump Start and Magloria moved over to the edge of the lake. "Sooooooo... who's going in first?" Jump Start asked.
Magloria let out a sigh, rolling her eyes as she turned around, then started running. Right before she hit the edge, she jumped into the air, landing in the water with a large splash.
One of the nearby seaponies checked on her, and judging by the fact that they weren't rushing her to the surface again, it seemed to be working.
Collapse watches as Magloria runs off and splashed into the water. "Sploosh!" she giggled and then looked to Deep Current and Jump Start. "Me next, I'll go next!" she giggled and ran back a ways and started to run in a similar manner as Magloria. She jumped into the air and said, "Sploooooooooosh!" just before she hit the water. When she went into the water she made sure that her head was under the water. She inhaled, not really knowing what breathing water would be like. It worked for Magloria, so it should work for her. She hoped it would, and if it didn't she knew there would be those around who would help her.She wasn't afraid.
Collapse's lungs filled with water, causing her to sink down further. Turns out she was tricked, and she eventually drowned. The end.
The moment that water entered her nose, it felt like something was going the wrong way, like when you want to sneeze or cough. But as the water settled in her lungs is started to feel like she was breathing again, if the air was a bit thicker.
"Welcome to Pearlth Midhigh district, proper." Deep Current said, now that she had returned under the water.
Another large splash occurred, Jump Start in the middle of it. She appeared to be holding her breath with her eyes shut.
"Jump Start, you're supposed to breathe in the water." Magloria said. Her voice was muffled slightly, but it was still clear enough to be understandable. Jump Start began breathing normally, slowly opening her eyes as she did so.
She breathes deeply, feeling how it felt. "It feels really strange, like, it had more density to it. I've never felt anything like this before." she spoke to Deep Current as she looks over to Jump Start as she jumped into the water. "Well, you've Jumped into the Start of something totally new!' she exclaimed happily, in an innocent friendly manner at Jump Start as she came in. She moved over to Jump Start a bit and watched the ground as it moved further down. She hopped a bit, feeling how slow her hooves took to touch the ground after the Jump.
"Yeah..." Jump Start said nervously. Seems like she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about breathing underwater like this. Or the pun. One of the two.
Everyone else was confused at what Collapse was doing regarding her movements. After all, the lake was not exactly shallow. It had an entire district within it, with the bottom being far below. Everyone else was currently swimming in open water.
"So you had some information you wanted to share? Perhaps we should head back to my office?" Deep Current suggested.
Collapse swam up to to the others. "Yes, lets go to your office. Lets uh, swim there? I've never swam this far below the water before." Collapse stated. She looked to Jump Start, noticing her look. She felt guilty for the pun but didn't say anything of it. "If I have trouble swimming, I might need help." Collapse said to Deep Current.
Deep Current nodded. "Alright. I'll move slowly anyway, so you can keep up. If I get bored, maybe I can do something to assist." she said, and started moving down into the flurry of activity and buildings below, with Jump Start and Magloria following behind.
Jump Start was moving slowly, doing a simple doggy paddle to keep up with Deep Current. Magloria, while also doing a doggy paddle, seemed to be moving faster. Perhaps it had something to do with the glow around her horn?
Collapse follows behind as well as she can. She moved the slowest out of them, she wasn't too much of a swimmer and also did a doggy paddle but struggled to maintain a constant path and form, but after a bit she does it...well enough but still is slowly. Collapse looks to Magloria, figuring she was doing something with the water to make her move faster.
The further they went, the more Collapse ended up lagging behind. Deep Current looked behind herself, noticing the gap between everyone.
"Alright... I guess you need this..." she sighed, swimming straight over to Collapse at well over triple Collapse's own speed. Once she got close enough, she offered a back flipper. "Grab on to my flipper. I'll pull you along." she said.
Once Collapse had grabbed on (assuming pride doesn't get in the way), the flipper curls around her limb, tightening the grip. She quickly finds herself moving through the water and the main section where seaponies swim at a much faster pace.
Collapse grabs on to Deep Current's flipper. It felt very interesting for Collapse as she hadn't felt something like this before, and besides, who was Collapse to deny being in the embrace of another mare? Even if they were a seapony, the touch was welcomed and Collapse smiles happily. "Thank you, Deep Current!" she beamed with a happy grin and felt much better about herself now. She found herself amazed at how fast the seaponies could go, but that was no surprise to her, that much.
Deep Current was busy watching where she was swimming, so didn't have an opportunity to look back and smile like she wanted to. "You're welcome." she said, hoping to get most of her emotion across.
Before long they had arrived at what appeared to be a large smooth brick building, which stood out as one of the few buildings that weren't immediately connected to another building, or didn't have one above or below it. It rested on it's own rocky shelf, signifying it's importance.
Deep Current led them inside, past several seaponies with their own badges and features. It was strange, none of them they had seen were Kelpies. Were they really that rare, or were they all hidden away behind closed doors?
They reached a room which contained a variety of modest furniture. A desk, some tar and dyed tar paintings, and several smooth chairs, long enough to lie down on with something that looked soft.
Collapse felt Deep Current let go of her hoof. "Alright, we're here. I just need to go get one of my secretaries and we can begin." she said before leaving again.
Collapse understood what Deep Current had wanted to get across and smiled wider at it. She felt safe with Deep Current.
Upon being outside Collapse had looked out over the various surroundings of the buildings around it and the way it looked from the exterior. It was definitely something to marvel at, at least in her view. She had never seen anything quite like this so it was all a totally new experience to her.
Entering inside Collapse would walk over to one of the chairs and sit down. It felt strange because of how the water was, she didn't expect them to have furniture like this underwater. "Soft chairs." she stated, noticing there had not been any Kelpies around. She'd have to look into that later on, she wanted to ask but now wasn't the time. Later.
"Alright, let us know when your ready." Collapse stated to Deep Current and observed as she left.
Deep Current soon came back with her secretary, a pale orange Kelpus with whiskers and fin wings. What was interesting was the patterns that she had. Down her back and flippers she had grey stripes, similar to a tiger. Her underbelly and frontal neck lacked the stripes, instead having a more yellow colour.
Deep Current introduced them to each other. "This here is my secretary, Coral Stout. I brought her here because she has an exceptionally good memory, so can remember what you say better than I can."
Coral Stout gave a brief wave. "Sup." she said.
"Whenever you're ready you may begin." Deep Current said as everyone else took places on chairs, or on the floor, or just swam about getting practice like Magloria.
Collapse looks to Coral Stout and smiles, finding this one to be an interesting mare. "Alright, where do we begin..." Collapse ponders.
Collapse began to tell them about their journey in detail. The whole point of their mission, where they are from and what had happened with the great water spout. Collapse doesn't leave any details out the best she can. After explaining that she begins to explain all about Equestria in general, how it is lead and ruled by the three alicorns as well as what its like there. She talks about the sun and the moon, the above ground world and all about the technology involved that they use in their lives, as well as the types of magic ponies are capable of. Collapse tries to be as descriptive as possible.
This would totally not be something worth typing out, we'd be here for a long, long time. Collapse looks to the camera and shrugs it off.
In the places that Collapse was lacking or missed out on, Jump Start and Magloria filled the gaps. Every step of the way Deep Current was patiently listening, only occasionally asking a question or for more specific information about something. Coral Stout remained silent throughout the whole process, just taking everything in.
Part way through they had refreshments brought in. Not tea or anything. More like small plates of kelp and mushroom salads. Cooking underwater seemed rather limited.
When Collapse was done, Deep Current thanked them for everything they had talked about. "I'll get this written down as soon as I can, so it can be remembered beyond today." she said.
When Collapse was done she took a long sigh. Her throat and mouth were tired from all that talking. She went ahead and ate some of the kelp and salads, while she had never had kelp before she was going to go ahead and try it. She looks to Deep Current and Coral Stout with a slightly tired grin. "So uh...what do you think of all that?" she would ask them calmly and adjust her mane a bit, a few strands of her mane were getting in her face. Her mane style was ruined thanks to all that happened, she didn't really care about that though.
Deep Current cleared her throat. "While I'll need time to think over everything that you have explained to us, right now I think that it's impressive that there is so much to learn about the world above us. If only we could reach it, then maybe we could."
"Though I do wonder if stories like this will convince others to try and reach the exit again. Sadly it probably will, but I'm not going to lock this information away. They deserve to know." she said.
"Whatever lies at the exit, I of course don't want anyone getting hurt although I think everyone deserves to know what is truly at the exit as well. Everyone needs to know the truth about what is really out there." Collapse said with a nod. "If I had a map I could show you, even if I remembered, I likely couldn't draw it accurately. I believe we are around a week away of sailing? We are already where no documented travelers have gone, even beyond the more ambitious ones previously too."
"Collapse, that's what we're trying to fix already. Find what's so dangerous, get past it, and then properly document this place, so we should get onto that." Magloria sighed, swimming over to the door as she did.
"Anyway, we should go. We've already taken up plenty of your time, Deep Current." she added. Jump Start got off the chair and moved over to the door as well.
Collapse swims over to the door, following them. "Yup, let's head out. Glad we could make some progress. Breathing underwater, telling you all about the above ground world. Lots of important things. And lots to do yet." Collapse ponders.
Deep Current told them the way out of the building, and after they all said goodbye they left, now back in the open waters of the district, seaponies swimming all around them again.
"Now, I reckon we should go about and do things that we each want to do, before meeting back at the house. Then we can prepare for the journey to the exit." Magloria suggested.
"I'm going to go and get some medical supplies. We never know when we might need them. Then I'll find out exactly where we need to head towards. Jump Start, Collapse, you should figure out what you'd need for the water purifier, then you can go do whatever you want." She said. Jump Start nodded.
Collapse nods to Magloria. "We should look for some sort of armory if they have something like that here. We'll need to be as prepared as possible for the exit. While me and Jump Start go look for materials we need for a water purifier, you could go look for an armory if we hadn't already by the time we are done with finding what we need." she suggested. "Unless that's all, lets get to looking." Collapse spoke, smiling to Jump Start.
Magloria frowned in thought. "Somehow I doubt they would allow us to use or purchase their weaponry and armour. Plus their armour wouldn't be designed for us. I'll still see what I can do. Now, let's go to our tasks." she said, before splitting off to do what she tasked herself to do.
Jump Start looked to Collapse, slowly dog paddling about to keep herself from sinking. "Soo... where do you think we should go for water purifier parts?" she asked.
Collapse watched as Magloria left and turns to Jump Start. “I am thinking we can look for any industrial looking areas. Perhaps they have some sort of filtration system that keeps the lake clean or have a more industrial area, if they have an equivalent of that.” Collapse dog paddles up a bit, she looks around to see if she could see anything from a higher vantages point.
Jump Start started looking around as well, but quickly came to a realization, which Collapse would easily be able to see as well.
"This place doesn't really look industrial to me." she said. The place they were in was more business than actual production. Alongside the representative office they were just in was other offices and various shops everywhere. No chance of finding what they were looking for, unless there was a shop for it instead.
"Perhaps we could ask if they've got a place where they keep that stuff? You might need to be specific about what we're looking for. They might have a different idea about what a purifier is." Jump Start suggested.
"Yeah, good point. We should ask around to see if they have an area like that. It may not even be in this area of the lake, it could be in another area of the lake all together, most likely. As for a water purifier, I got a good idea of the things we might need." Collapse spoke and listed off what she had in mind. Mainly relating to the construction of such a thing and how it would be designed. After she told Jump Start about that she would ask the nearest seapony where an industrial or factory like area would be.
Jump Start didn't understand all the specific details partly because Collapse seemed to gloss over them, but she nodded anyway as if she understood regardless.
The seapony that was talked to, a common purple Campus with a pink mane, tail and flipper ends responded. They told Collapse about how the biggest industrial zone was in the Lohigh district, since most of it was industry there. She gave instructions on how to get there. It was surprisingly close, only 1 lake away.
Collapse thanks the seapony for that and smiles to her as she thanked her, she looks to Jump Start. "Well Jump Start, it's time for a swim. I've never really swam this much before. I was never a swimmer type, really. But here we go." Collapse grinned as she started to paddle off in the direction of the Lohigh District.
Jump Start also gave out her thanks as she followed after Collapse. She couldn't help but feel envious about how much faster the seaponies were swimming around them. She watched one Kelpus filly in particular as they swam by. "Even she's faster than me!" she thought.
When they reached the Lohigh district they could immediately tell that it was... different. The lake was surprisingly shallow, and there were few buildings below the surface. Above the surface however, there were plenty of buildings, likely because they needed to be kept dry.
"Wow, reminds me a bit of the docks in the morning after fishing boats came back." Jump Start said.
Both above and below seemed industrious with seaponies moving about with intent. Now all they had to do was decide on where to go, or who to ask and about what.
Collapse watched out at how fast the seaponies moved. She wish there was a spell that could make them move just as fast as the seaponies, then they would be able to get around quicker.
Upon arrival at the Lohigh district Collapse overlooks the lake. "Yeah, it reminds me of that too. I wonder why they call it Lohigh District. Is it because it is shallow, and most of the buildings are above the surface. "Alright, let's plan here. We need information on water purification, but would they even know about since they don't really need fresh water? Hmm, uh, maybe we should go to the surface and check out the buildings on the surface? It seems like the majority of what we'd need would be up there based on how many buildings there are." Collapse pointed out, beginning to lead the way to the shore by those buildings.
Jump Start agreed, continuing her pursuit. When they both reached the shore and surfaced, they both came to realize that the air was so much warmer than the water. Maybe more so than where they had been previously. Something here, likely the factories, was generating a lot of heat.
More interestingly were the large metal-reinforced glass pipes that seemed to funnel a massive amount of water upwards, from somewhere below the water. It was being pumped somewhere else, but they could only guess where.
Other than that, they could see the occasional seapony waddle about from building to building. Some of the buildings had labels painted on the sides, likely a company logo, and even fewer showed their names. The ones they could see didn't look like they specialized in water purification, or at least not the kind they were after.
Collapse stood and watched the water drip down from her mouth and across her body. She looks to Jump Start. "Feels quite warm here. It is quite surreal to come out of the water like that after our first time under the water. Wow." she said in an amazed manner.
Looking out over the scene she looks to the pipes. "First thing I am going to ask is where does that water go? Is there a settlement up above us or maybe they are just venting excess water for some other purpose. Let's go ask someone." she spoke and proceeded up to a building and knocked on the door. She wasn't going to enter inside a building without permission. She was fascinated by the logos and all of that, it reminded her of the work she used to do back home.
"Yeah. It's quite... odd staying underwater for so long then coming back up. I almost want to stay down there, actually." Jump Start said in response.
When Collapse knocked on the door, it swung slightly open. It wasn't even locked, it turns out. Inside what she saw was something that could only be described as 'factory'. Several assembly lines went through the building, with places seaponies working at certain locations. This factory seemed to create bricks and mortar for use in construction. Who knows how the mortar worked underwater.
"Honestly, I don't blame you. I kind of wanted to stay down there too." Collapse replies as she heads inside the place. Upon entering the door and overlooking the assembly lines she would smirk slightly upon what was seen. "Seems like they are capable of a lot of things that I didn't expect to find down here, you know." she would observe it, curious upon how it all worked. Especially with mortar being made underwater.
From what Collapse could tell, the assembly lines were exactly as she expected. Raw materials went in from one end, got processed by the various workers then eventually came out as bricks and mortar. The more interesting part was how they seemed to create the bricks from stone powder, initially. Seems like they wet the powder, molded it into a brick shape then heated it until it was solid, like clay but... stone.
"The workers seem a bit... busy. So... who are we going to ask here?" Jump Start asked.
Collapse looks to the creation of the bricks from the powder. She hadn't seen something quite like that before. "Perhaps we should find some sort of factory manager or owner here. They likely overlook the process every now and then." Collapse suggested and started to proceed into the factory. Looking for someone of that position, if there was one in this location.
They quickly find a manager of sorts, or to be more accurate, they find them. "Hey! What are you doing in here?!" someone shouted from the far side of the factory.
From the open window of an elevated room they could see a grey seapony with a brown mane. If they squinted they could also make out a badge on their chest, with the company's logo on it. The seapony was looking straight at them, their gaze unwavering.
"Umm, sorry for barging in but we need a bit of help finding something." Jump Start shouted in reply.
Collapse nods and looks over to the seapony. She felt guilty for intruding on something they could very possibly not been allowed to anyways. "We are in need of finding information and resources to build a water purifier. Long story short, we aren't seaponies, and we need fresh water to survive. If that's not too much of a problem for you or if you don't know of any materials we could use to build that we will be on our way and we apologize for intruding." Collapse shouted in reply.
The seapony came out from the office they were in, down a ramp and towards them, skirting around assembly lines like nothing. "A water purifier. You're not going to find anything like that here. We make bricks and mortar for construction purposes."
"If you're after a company that deals with water, just go to the Aquacore building. It's hard to miss, just look for the building with large pipes coming out the top. I don't know if they can make fresh water though. We don't need it, so have never made it. Only fresh water around here are when some gets too close to the thermal vents." they said.
Collapse nods, and was amazed at the way the seapony came down the ramp. Likely they moved like that since they have been here for so long, and have done that action so many times. "Thank you for that information. We've been to an area where the freshwater is, although we need a more portable source of it in order to really go anywhere else." she spoke, and turned to leave.
Considering that Collapse was leaving, the seapony had no idea why she even said that. It wasn't like she was staying for conversation anyway, but talked as if she was. How rude. With a raised eyebrow then a snort of irritation, they returned to their office, once they were sure that Collapse and Jump Start had left.
Jump Start, now outside again, pointed over towards the large water pipes. "So that's where we're going, somewhere down there." she said.
Collapse noticed the irritation of that seapony and felt guilty, but decided to not speak anything of it as she looked to the large water pipes. "Yes, I think we'll follow the pipes and arrive at the Aquacore building." she spoke, looking for any buildings that had large pipes coming out of the top.
She couldn't clearly see any buildings that had large pipes coming out of the top... mainly because the building was likely in the water... where the water was coming from. There were definitely buildings down there, but the ripples in the water made it constantly hard to actually see the correct one.
By this point Jump Start had already walked over to the water and slid in. She turned to look at Collapse. "Are you coming?" she asked.
"Yes definitely. Looks like we will go be going back under." Collapse smirks as she slides in, feeling the water envelop her as she enters into the water. "Sometimes I really wonder to myself. How I am able to build things, yet I didn't think to look at the water...where the water is in those pipes." Collapse laughed nervously.
Jump Start looked concerned as Collapse talked to herself about that. "Are you feeling alright? Normally you slow down and think before you act a bit more than this. Did the water breathing spell do something? Should I take you to a doctor, or Magloria...?" she asked.
"No, no, I am fine. I just overlooked those things for some reason. I don't know why, my mistake. I am not the best thinker, clearly. I will admit that. It's not because of the water spell, it is because of my mistake." Collapse stated to her in an apologetic manner as she fully dives down into the water, putting her head under the water in hopes of seeing the Aquacore building.
"Ok... if you're sure..." Jump Start said, not entirely convinced that Collapse was fine, but not determined enough to press any further. She dove down under the water.
With Collapse's head under the water she could clearly see about a dozen or so buildings. Two of them had the large water pipes extending out from them. Those must be the buildings that belong to Aquacore.
Collapse began to lead Jump Start towards the buildings down below. "Ah, there it is!" Collapse spoke with a grin upon seeing the buildings down under the water. She would dog paddle in that direction, her maroon tail trailing her. Maybe it was cute the way her tail went, but her tail was absolutely a mess.
Jump Start obviously refused to look in the direction of Collapse's tail. She was no pony who's peek at what she knew was there. Especially without gravity helping to hide them.
Soon they reached the buildings. Jump Start watched in awe as the massive pipes funneled an insane amount of water upwards. "You really gotta wonder what they do with all that water. And more keeps flowing in from the rivers. Just what are they doing to it all?" she pondered.
Collapse was quite in awe of everything. "Wow, to think they could build something like this down here is nothing short of amazing." she comments, pondering much the same. "Maybe they are filtering the water, or venting the excess water out so it doesn't overflow or flood? But I honestly don't have much of a clue besides that." she spoke as she swam closer, looking for a main door to enter into.
"But what would they overflow or flood?" Jump Start asked as they reached what appeared to be the main door to one of the buildings. "Unless maybe the buildings on land? Would be pretty bad if many of the buildings on the surface got wet."
Once they had arrived, Jump Start opened the main door. Inside seemed to be a reception area, with a seapony idly watching what appear to be 2 small glowing fish swim about chasing each other.
0901
"Remember the great water spout. Maybe this has something to do with that since that waterfall keeps flowing down into the lake below which feeds into the rivers, last I remember. Just a thought." Collapse spoke as she heads inside the reception area. She approaches the seapony. "Hello, is this the Aquacore building? We are curious about what the purpose of this place is, if you don't mind me asking." she said in a friendly voice.
The seapony stops what they're doing and looks over to the pair. She muttered something under her breath that neither could catch before addressing them.
"Greetings. Yes, this is the Aquacore company building, for keeping Pearlth's Low districts clean of detriment and chemicals." she answered.
"We were looking around for anyone who may know of materials for a water purifier, we aren't from around here and we would like to have a portable source of fresh water." Collapse commented calmly, nodding at the information that was told to them.
"You want to build a purifier for fresh water?" she asked, "Well I don't know why you're in a seapony settlement asking for fresh water. We don't need that." she said.
"Please, even if it only gets us some of the way, it'll still be a big help." Jump Start said.
The receptionist frowned in thought. "Hmm... This place is for cleaning up unwanted chemicals and debris, then reoxygenating the water so we can breathe it as it's brought back into the districts. However we don't remove the minerals from it."
"We could sell you a portable cleaning kit if that's what you're after, then you can do whatever to figure out how to remove the salt." she said.
"That would definitely be a great help for us. We aren't seaponies and we need fresh water to survive. How much would a portable cleaning kit be? At the very least that would be something we could start off with." Collapse stated. "Its a long story but we we would really appreciate it." Collapse also adds.
"Wait here." she said before she swam to a door, opened it, passed through and closed it behind her. A minute or two later and she reemerged, with what looked like a metal jug with a piston attached to it.
"Simple to use. It's got a carbon filter in the middle. All you need to do is feed water in through the top-" she pointed at the piston end, "-then press down until the water passes through and out the other side. It'll be free of chemicals, and anything in the water will get caught by the filter. Also comes with a storage, if you need to use it above water."
She placed it on the ground between them, giving them a price that was within their range, but cut through a decent amount of their shells.
"And to restate, this doesn't remove the salt, only the pollutants." she stated.
Collapse inspects the device. "Hmm, this looks like something we can work with. All we'd need to do is do something to remove the salt. Probably attach a small boiler to it so we can boil the salt off. Something like that possibly." she mused as she looks to Jump Start. "Price is a bit steep, do you think Magloria would be okay with this? I'd say I would be, given that we can get jobs and earn more eventually." she commented, waiting for Jump Start's thoughts before she could proceed with the purchase.
The inspection of the device shows that it's got a rather simple design. A hole for water feeds into the first chamber, which is then compressed using a piston, using a crank. The water is forced through the first chamber and through a filter, before emptying into another chamber on the other side. It's a little heavy, since it's mostly made from metal, but nothing they or the raft couldn't handle. Both chambers had little shutters, to keep the water from spilling out.
"I don't know, she should be if this helps us get what we need, though I'm not sure where a boiler could be attached..." Jump Start said as she inspected the machine.
Collapse looked at it closely. "Hmm, we could attach a boiler here with a part going off above it and to another pan where the fresh water collects, leaving the salt down in the bottom part." she said doing some motions. "Heat source can go here, below where it would be." she pointed her hoof to where she was talking about. She also would tell them about other more specific concepts she had relating to the size of it, how the part going off would be. It was relatively sound, but the problem was they had to get the materials and tools for that addition.
"But how does it catch the steam and the fresh water without it falling back into the salt water? It's only got two chambers and they lead directly into each other. We'd need... a third one or something, and make it so the steam can escape into it, but the water can't flow back." Jump Start said.
"Indeed. We'll need to build a third chamber and have a method so the steam can go into it. I'd likely build it on a different level in relation to the others so the water can't flow back into it. How does that sound? But in order to do that I am going to need tools and to find a suitable 'third chamber' if you will." Collapse replies.
Jump Start blinked in confusion. "Uh... umm... sure. Just, where are we going to find a suitable third chamber? Or the tools to modify the purifier? Wouldn't we need heat to weld the pieces together to keep it airtight?"
"Yes, we would need to weld it together. Maybe they have some sort of metal plant or scrap yard around here where we can find a third chamber or find something to build it from. We probably should go look for tools first."
"But how are we going to do that? We need to find a forge, or foundry, or something like that first." Jump Start said. Her expression became brighter when she realized something. "Actually you don't need to find tools at all. A place where we can properly heat the purifier to allow welding would have tools already there."
"Yes that would be perfect. Something like that would probably be where they construct pipes and other constructs, the tools would already be there for it and we could likely find help for adding the third chamber onto it." Collapse looked to the seapony. "We'll buy it." she took out the shells. "How much?"
"We'll likely have to get permission from whoever owns the place first, so I hope you're good with convincing others." Jump Start worried.
The seapony tells them the price again. It's a decent amount, cutting their savings in half, at least. Metalworking is unlikely to be a cheap practice, given the water everywhere.
Collapse buys the water purifier and takes it with her magic. She thanks the seapony for it and wished them safety as she turned to leave. "I hope so too. If all else fails at least we have the water purifier. It's a good start, you know?" she said hopefully.
"I guess. So where do you think the closest place where we can find an extra canister would be?" Jump Start asked as she followed along beside Collapse, passed the building's doors and back out into the open water.
"Didn't that one seapony say he worked at a refinery? It wasn't in this district, but it was somewhere. Perhaps they could help us, especially if one of them knows us already." she suggested.
Collapse carries the water purifier with her magic as they exit out the door. "Yes, we should try to look for where that refinery would be. Let's look around." Collapse started to swim out into the open water and as she does so her horn glows a brilliant gold and casts a spell on the water purifier. It is now tied to a summoning spell. She unsummons it so they don't have to lug it around anywhere. "Unsummoned!"
"But I just said that-" Jump Start begins, but is interrupted by the golden flash of Collapse's horn. After clearing the spots from her eyes, she hurriedly follows after Collapse.
"I guess that makes it more convenient, but as I was saying, the refinery isn't even in this district. How are we going to find it by just looking around?" she asked.
Collapse looks back to her. “Lets look around for someone who would know where it is. Didn’t they say it was dangerous though? I think the seapony who said that wasn’t too fond of the idea of outsiders, right?” Collapse asked as she looked for any seaponies she could approach that were closeby.
"But any place with flames hot enough to weld and melt metal is going to be dangerous. It would be no different no matter where we tried to go." Jump Start pointed out.
There were many seaponies that could be seen about the place. Some looked like they were busy with supplies or other tasks, others just swam about the place or talked with each other. Quite a number of them had clothing and badges, depicting which company they worked for.
"Good point. Well the thing is, melting metal underwater would likely make a lot of bubbles, right? Due to steam? Welding underwater is definitely a thing though. Not sure about melting and casting metal." Collapse mused and then went to approach one of the company seaponies and asked directions to the refinery.
"But we can't weld underwater. That would require super specific tools that could constantly inject large amounts of heat, and I don't think you can create a fire spell hot or controlled enough that wouldn't also burn your face off." Jump Start stated.
Collapse's request gave her directions, but to a refinery that was in their current district, not the one that Alkali worked at. She could probably press forward and ask directions to Alkali's refinery in Midhigh, if she really wanted to.
"Yes, I can't. I don't have any fire spells myself. Perhaps someone else can or we could pay someone to do it for us." Collapse suggested to Jump Start but to the seapony she indeed would press forward and ask for Alkali's refinery in Midhigh. Better luck with someone who knew of them previously.
Jump Start blinked in shock before pressing further. "You don't understand. Using a fire spell in water? Unless you have some serious protective equipment, you'll burn yourself! Have you ever been touched by boiling water? It hurts!" she said.
The directions were longer and more complicated, but Collapse got what she needed. It would be found somewhere on the surface, around the same place as the tar writing facility. Apparently it was blocked from view by a part of the caves splitting different places apart like dead ends. There could be a surprising number of buildings on the surface and they wouldn't know unless they thoroughly checked.
Collapse sighs. "That is not at all what I meant. What I am saying is that I don't have any fire spells, and my point is we can pay someone or find someone who can build the third chamber for us that way we don't have to do it ourselves. It is unlikely they use fire spells for it underwater. Likely have a method we don't know of." Collapse clarified.
Collapse thanks the seapony and begins heading off as the directions stated. "Sorry if I am confusing to talk to sometimes. I'll try to be more clear in what I am saying." she said a little meekly.
Jump Start groaned in frustrated acceptance, not willing to keep going on about what Collapse is saying. Better to quit while she's ahead than to confuse herself even further.
Along the way to their new destination they passed through a thinner river-like zone, indicating that they had passed from one lake district to another. It's likely that all the districts are connected in similar fashion, with only a few larger connections spread around.
It definitely looked like they were in the Midhigh district, if the residential and business locations they passed by were any indication.
They surfaced at a part of the lake they hadn't been at, revealing what looked like a similar building to the factories they saw before. From the building they could see several miniature ducts, with something glowing a hot orange flowing through.
Several workers were strewn about, monitoring the refinery's progress. Each one seemed to have a protective chestpiece with several small glowing blue crystals embedded into the fabric.
Collapse kept an eye out and took in all the sights they had seen from area to area as they went. The passage between lakes she found most interesting, however. The buildings under the water was something Collapse could never get bored of seeing. It felt so surreal to her. Part of her wanted to stay here if she was honest, but she had a mom, a home, and friends back home she wasn't willing to let go of. Maybe when they escape they could convince the Equestrian leadership to send out an official envoy to maintain connections here. But that was far in the future.
Upon exiting the lake she took notice of the workers with protective parts on their uniforms and looking up at something hot. "Quite the place isn't it? I think its pretty cool." she said, pointing out the hot glow flowing through the ducts.
"I guess so? It just looks like a metal refinery to me." Jump Start shrugged as they got closer.
A seapony noticed them and began to waddle towards them. "Excuse me, but I'm afraid you can't come here. This place is restricted to only workers and those with special permission. It's too dangerous for civilians to be allowed here." he says.
"We are uh, looking for some help on a very specific problem we need to solve." Collapse said to the seapony. "We met one of the ponies here, named Alkali. We really need some help with a water purifier and building another chamber so we could create fresh water with it." she replies.
"Oh. Uh, alright. In that case I'll take you to him, just don't get close to the hot metal. I don't want to have to report another accident." he said, turning to lead them into the building.
Inside the building they could see where the flowing liquid metal was coming from. A massive structure of heat-resistant brick and plating, with brilliant white liquid pouring out from within. Up above they could see a few seaponies preparing a cart, filling it up with ores for when they would put in the next batch.
Alkali was one of the seaponies up above, helping out with selecting certain ores to be placed inside.
Collapse follows inside. "Alright, we won't touch or go near what we aren't supposed to." she watches the situations around them. It was quite something, and it is what she'd expect from a refinery. She was still surprised all of this existed underground, in the caves. It was fascinating.
Following the other seapony towards Alkali, she thought that Alkali could possibly be a friend of theirs eventually. "So amazing, all of this is." she remarks.
Alkali turned his head towards the sound of Collapse's voice, just as the seapony escorting them spoke up. "Found these two approaching. They said they met you, and needed help with something to do with a water purifier." he explained.
Alkali looked closer at the group, then smiled slightly in recognition. "Ah, you. The ones that had some precious metals. Thank you for the appreciation, it's hard work keeping this refinery running, so it's good to know that someone can recognize the effort needed." he said, moving away from the ore cart and towards them.
"So, what exactly is it that you need? If you need something metal, I'm sure we can help, obviously."
Collapse smiles happily at Alkali. With her magic she summoned in the water purifier right next to her with a bit of a gold flash. "No problem! We have this water purifier here we purchased. We are going to need a third chamber of which we can boil purified water to make fresh drinking water. This will be most appreciated and helpful to us. We need a portable fresh water source if we are to survive, likely." Collapse stated, pushing the device closer to him so he could examine it.
Alkali began looking over the purifier, turning it around a few times to take it all in. "Hmm, well we could definitely make something for this. I'm thinking of having the chamber run off the side of the bottom one, letting the steam flow upwards, before condensing back into water droplets, then sliding down the side into a collection bowl. What do you think?" he asked.
Jump Start couldn't imagine what Alkali was thinking of, so just stood there looking rather confused. "If it works...?" was all she could say.
"Perfect, that is along the lines of what I was thinking. So we'll have one large chamber off to the side so it would like two purifiers in one? Maybe? Either way, if it works it works." she smiled in agreement. "Perhaps we could construct some sort of switch or automated flame so we don't have to manually start a flame with it to boil the water." she added.
"Sorry, but we don't have any capabilities to produce a portable flame like that. The best we have are burning oils, and even then that doesn't cover the actual mechanisms." Alkali stated, shrugging as he moved back from the purifier.
He looked over towards the others, who were now unloading the cart into the foundry. "Plus, we only produce raw materials here. We don't have anything to do with the more complicated works. We can build you an extension for collecting steam and fresh water, but nothing much beyond that."
"An extension it is then." Collapse stated and was quite satisfied with that for now. She glanced over at the others who were unloading the cart. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. As for a portable flame or other mechanisms we'll likely have to look for someone else who can cover that for us. If you know of anyone who can do that for us that would be great. What would a third chamber or extension for this purifier cost?" Collapse asked.