//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Away and Afar // by PropsValroa //------------------------------// "You're not going to be able to find a seapony that can create a portable flame for you. No one bothers, and the rare one that does care are hard to reach, and expensive too. Such magic and technology is widely useless for us, and hard to learn for those who seek it." Alkali points over to the foundry. "See this? It's only possible because we're sitting on a geothermic vent, and is used for industry. Almost every single other source of fire is used for a similar purpose. Only real exception is heaters used in homes where the water is colder, but those are also expensive and rare, and no one needs it here." he stated. He then explains that the cost of the extension wouldn't be much, about half of what they had remaining. Cheaper than the purifier itself, since it would be simple materials and metalworking needed, no complicated mechanisms or components like pistons and filters. Collapse would proceed to pay up for the 3rd chamber extension after she listened to him speak. "Well, that is all very interesting. We talked to your leaders or some other seaponies about everything where we come from. I'd expect word to eventually reach you about that, but we found an abandoned building with some sort of heater device and we made use of it last night." Collapse stated. She looks over to the foundry. "We have things like magitech powered machinery, although that isn't as common in most areas. Lots of us have magic, but as for your filtration systems for the water it is one of the largest filtration systems I've seen so that is quite impressive that you managed to build all that down here, as well as this foundry." she remarked as she watched the seapony workers doing their jobs. "Thank you, we'll have it ready in a few hours from now, so come back later." Alkali said as he took the money from her. "Now, you say you have a heater already? Very lucky of you. It seems like you won't have much of a problem after all. Just use that to heat up the water instead." He didn't know what to say about the last part. First she was explaining things that the ponies, then complimenting them on things they had instead? "Ok...? Thanks...?" was all he said, sounding uncertain. Collapse didn't really seem to get his confusion before she nodded. "Alright, sounds like a plan to me. We'll be back in a few hours, thank you for your time!" she chirped and looked to Jump Start as if a cue to leave. But if Jump Start wanted to check out anything here while they were here, Collapse wouldn't object to that. Alkali nodded, then bid them farewell as he moved back to his workstation next to the foundry. "While we're here... can we check out what they're wearing and how they're going to be shaping our purifier extension? I'd like to know how they manage to stay near this heat for so long." Jump Start asked. "Of course we can. I wanted to see how they did things around here as well. I would imagine they have some sorts of suits. Maybe their badges are magical and put up some sort of shield that protects themselves." she smirks. "Or we could you know, ask." she giggled as she proceeded to look around a little bit but not getting too close to anything she shouldn't get close to. Jump Start began to move towards where she saw some of the other workers, ones that were not so close to dangerous equipment at the moment. "Well asking was what I was going to do." she said. Once she was close enough she greeted the seapony worker, who appeared to be working on a piece of sheet metal by punching holes through it with a sharp looking spike on a piston. "Hi, I just wanted to ask a question if you don't mind?" she said. The seapony nodded, waving a flipper to give her the ok to ask. "The things you wear, what do they do?" The seapony began her explanation, pointing to her chestpiece as she did. "This is a Cryo-Stabilizing Personal Protection Equipment, or Cryo PPE for short. It regulates our body temperature in hot places, keeping us cool so that we don't overheat. We can't survive high heat for long because we dry out, so it's necessary." She pointed to each of the small glowing blue crystals. "Each of these contains the power and enchantments, and the suit distributes the cooling energy around ourselves." Collapse walked up to the seapony and looked at the chestpiece. "Hmm, and how long have these PPE's been around for and how are they built? I've never seen anything like that." she said in a fascinated manner as she looks to the blue crystals. She wondered what sorts of modifications. She could imagine that it could be easily made into something that can warm a pony up with a different kind of crystal. Already she was thinking of all sorts of ideas. The chestpiece looked like it was made out of a tough fabric, with possible plating around some areas that seemed flexible. Collapse could count 6 very small crystals, all of them dimly glowing. It didn't reach below the shoulders and only went halfway down their back, but the seapony seemed quite comfortable in the heat despite this. "We've had these for... I don't know, decades. I don't know how they're built either. We don't make them here." she says. Collapse takes note of what was seen. She wanted to tell Magloria all about this later when they inevitably met up with her again. "Ah, I see. Still either way, its pretty cool. No pun intended." she giggled. Looking to Jump Start she would ask, "Anything else you wanna take a look at?" "I sort of wanted to see the casts and stuff they used to make their materials, but it'll be near dangerous stuff. Besides, I think seeing this sheet metal being made is good enough to tell us that they'll be able to make the purifier extension easily." Jump Start said, now ready to leave the place. "So, where next? Was there anything else that we were supposed to be doing?" Collapse turned and was also ready to leave. "I think we pretty much completed our objective. We should go find Magloria again, we don't want to get seperated from her too long, do we? Let's head back to the home." Collapse said calmly to Jump Start. "Yeah alright. To home it is." she agreed, beginning her walk towards the lake. "I guess we can't really do much with the money we have left anyway. We've only got... a bit under a quarter of what we started with." She thought over what she said a bit more before coming to a realization. "Wait, that's still a week's worth of food. Still quite a bit of money, actually. But then again, we shouldn't just frivolously spend it." Collapse follows Jump Start. "That's why I decided to spend it on the purifier and the third extension. But beyond that, I won't spend anymore unless we actually need it. I can go without eating nicer meals, personally. I'm fine with mushrooms." Collapse giggles as she slipped back under the water. "What do you think of everything, so far?" "I don't know what to think of everything so far. Is it amazing? Is it terrifying? Is it so many different things that it's just a big confusing mess of experiences?" Jump Start said as she followed Collapse down into the watery depths. "Actually thinking about it, it's definitely the last thing. Just a big ball of wibbly wobbly thoughts that I'll have to untangle later, preferably once this is all over." “I agree. I think it is really amazing though, but the whole things with the spiders, the whirlpool and all that…I never want to relive that. It was horrible!” Collapse said and shook a bit, leading the way home. “I hope we don’t have to go through it again. But I am glad the seaponies are mostly friendly and I like them.” she giggles. “Cute whiskers.” she adds with a blush. A slight blush formed upon Jump Start's cheeks. "I will admit, I do like their whiskers as well. It makes them look so curious. Like they could wrap all their whiskers around your face if they got close enough to you." she replied softly. They soon found themselves in a part of the district that they knew. Finding their home would be easy. As they resurfaced, they saw their home waiting for them, and Magloria was too, sitting next to the doorway, idly watching the cave around them. Seems like she got bored, because several new crystal figurines were sitting next to her atop a small metal box. Collapse giggled again at Jump Start's statement. "Oh definitely. I like seeing all the seaponies, they are all unique like normal ponies but they are all sort of...different because of all their different types. Swimming about the lakes. Wait a minute, if they are all in lakes here, why are they not called lakeponies?" Collapse joked as they proceeded up onto the shore. "Hi Magloria, how are you?" Collapse asked sweetly upon seeing Magloria. "Probably because they came originally from the sea, and they never bothered to change their name after that. Technically this is still the ocean, just below it." Magloria casually cut into their conversation, getting up from her spot and moving closer to the others as she did so. "I'm fine, however I only managed to get medical supplies, inside the box behind me, and the directions we needed. Weapons and armor? Hah, that was a big no. Like I said, they don't trust strangers with their protective equipment." she said, moving her hoof as if to dismiss the words of the seaponies she talked to. Collapse sits down next to Magloria and takes a moment to stretch out and look into her eyes for a moment as she speaks. She loved listening to Magloria talk, it was a bit entrancing to her. "Yup, that would probably be the case. As for us, we managed to get a water purifier and we met that Alkali one again in his refinery. Despite them not really wanting outsiders in, we were allowed in and they offered to create an extension for it so we can boil purified water to create fresh water. A portable flame though, they couldn't manage." Collapse spoke in an informative manner. "They also had suits that allowed them to be in there despite the extreme heat. Using blue crystals in some sort of holder that circulated the cooling throughout their suits." she adds. "Hmm, not exactly the way that I would've gone about doing that, since evaporation purifies water anyway, unless there's some tainted magic in the air. But I suppose if it works, it works. As for the suits, good for them I suppose, but I doubt we're going to need anything like that." Magloria shrugged. Her horn lit up, bringing the metal box towards them, minus the figurines. Opening it up, she showed Collapse and Jump Start the contents. "Several rolls of bandages, antibiotic ointments for cuts and a few pain numbing pills, each surprisingly water resistant. Simple supplies, nothing major for things such as broken bones, but if it comes to that we can just make splints." she professionally explained. Collapse moves forward and looks at the contents of the box. "Ah yes, thank you. This will be of great help for us in the future. Its quite a shame they didn't allow you near their weapons and armor. But we can't get all we need, so I suppose we have to make do." she stated and looks to the figurines, seeing who they were as they talked. "We had to buy the extension and the purifier. We still have a good margin of shells left though, enough to last us another week .Plenty of time to get jobs if we need to." she added. The figurines didn't look like anything special. Just several random seaponies that Magloria must've seen while she was waiting for them to come back. One even had incredibly thin whiskers, so delicate that they likely would break off if touched too hard. Magloria didn't look particularly impressed with the report on their remaining funds. "Not the best situation to have, but I suppose it can't be helped. Still, don't forget that the jobs you find need to be temporary, until we can find one that's above the water. We don't want to have to keep reapplying for the water breathing spell if we don't need to." Collapse looks to the figurines closer. "Hey, these are some really nice figures you've made here. Pretty cool." she complimented before pondering something. "Well, I'd really hate to be underwater when the spell runs out. So above ground would be preferable." Collapse spoke in agreement. "So whats next, I think we just relax now. We have a few hours until the purifier extension is done." Collapse states. "Well we could hunt for those jobs that we're after. We might even be able to do one or two if they're quick and simple to do." Jump Start suggested optimistically. Magloria stroked her chin in thought. "I wonder... say Jump Start, how much are you against stereotypical physical labor, being an Earth Pony and all?" she asked. "It's not my favorite thing, but I can do it. Why?" Jump Start questioned. "Think about it. How effective are seaponies at doing anything on land?" Jump Start thought about it. "Not very-" "Exactly." Magloria interrupted. "I bet you could do the things they do on land 10 times faster than they could. Imagine how valuable that would be." "You're right! Why didn't I think of that before?? I was so focused on working in other ways I didn't think about the simple things they did up here!" Jump Start exclaimed in amazement. Collapse giggles. "While I am a unicorn, I too could very well do physical labor myself. I likely am not as strong as Jump Start here, but still likely more apt than most seaponies are." Collapse spoke with a hoof to her chest as she looked to Jump Start's eyes and finding her exclamation to be nothing short of adorable. She wouldn't speak of that though. "I have yet to see them cast large spells. While I am no mage, I can do some things I suppose." Collapse stated. "Sure, I guess you could do that as well, but there's probably other things you can do better than manual labor. Try finding something like that before going after physical work." Magloria stated. She began pacing, looking over at the lake as she did so. "Considering that they said the water breathing spell was a simple one, I'd say it's definitely possible that they can cast larger and more powerful spells. I'm a good aquamancer, but I think it would be safe to say that there are seaponies here that are even better than I am, if a bit different with how they do it." "That is reasonable to think that. I can imagine that they are capable of things we haven't been told of. We haven't even seen their armor or anything offensive from them yet." Collapse states. "I could probably work in a refinery, maybe the one at Alkali's but I am not sure if they would let outsiders work there." "Although I wonder if you could teach me your water and ice magic. If you are willing, of course." Collapse grinned meekly. "I don't think they really know about our telekinesis or our capability to handle higher temperatures. Maybe if you could convince Alkali to let you show you what you can do, you can work there?" Jump Start offered. "I could try, but elemental magic isn't something that just every unicorn is capable of learning. It takes a lot of work to attune yourself to an element, and it usually means devoting yourself to it completely to get anything better than minor manipulation." Magloria informed Collapse. "For example," she paced closer to Collapse, "I'd be able to teach you how to move water in a way that can propel things within it, such as a raft or yourself. However if you wanted to do things more advanced like crystallization and temperature manipulation, you'd have to learn for months, if not years to understand it." "As an example, I know very little about other elemental types of magic, since I have not studied them, except a bit of natural magic. Nature and water go hoof in hoof after all." Collapse agrees with Jump Start. "Good idea. That would definitely be a good place to start." Collapse nodded, liking the suggestion. Then Collapse turns to Magloria and listens. "I would be happy to learn what you can offer me. Even propelling myself in water easier than others, or simple things such as rafts or collecting water easier will be useful. As for those advanced things, perhaps when we find ourselves in moments of free time we can try to do that together. I am quite fascinated by what you are capable of, and what you have to offer me." Collapse smiles, and puts her hoof to her chin. "As for what I am capable of, my magic is really something that is only really strong when I have access to tools and machinery. For example I can move parts of machines a lot quicker than others can with magic, and I am very intricate with my telekinesis. If I had my fly ring, I would be flying too, ideally, and I had some other tools such as a multipurpose socket set that could fit any sockets or nuts, stuff like that I am good at. Besides that, only lasers and shields. Nothing else really, at least I think that covers it." she stated. "Basically, if I come with a set of tools I'm great, but without tools, I'm...weak. Ontop of that. It surprises me that I am capable of what I am." Collapse spoke with a slight sulk. Magloria shook her head at Collapse's supposed enthusiasm about advanced spells. Such a rush to get to the good parts is what causes many unicorns to fail in harnessing magic different to their own. "I neither have the reading material, nor the patience to teach you advanced spells, even as an assistant to my own spells. Basics and Standards are the best you'll get. If you want to learn more, find a proper teacher, not the former captain of a ship." she said in a stern tone, disregarding Collapse's self-pity. Collapse's ears went back upon that statement and her eyes widened at a statement. It was clear that Magloria made her nervous there and Collapse struggled to come up with the words to reply for a bit. "U-Um, that's understandable. I am fine with basic spells...just basic spells...simple spells." she gulped and felt like she was in trouble there. Magloria stopped pressing Collapse further, since it was not her intention to scold the curious filly, just to let her know that her spellcraft took hard work and wasn't something that one could learn in an afternoon. Neither pony made a move to comfort her. Jump Start didn't want to go against the word of Magloria in case she was actually scolding her, and Magloria wasn't the type of pony who would do so normally. "Anyway, it might be a good idea to ask some seaponies where the most above water work happens. That way we could find jobs that we'd prefer, instead of take the only one available." Magloria stated. Collapse nods slowly. This was a similar feeling that she remembered from school, when the teacher would move on to another topic but still the feeling of being in trouble would remain. "Yes, that is what we should do. We'll have to go and get the purifier in a few hours or so anyways, we might as well spend the time asking around and learning about the types of above water jobs they have to offer and if they are taking any extra workers." Collapse replied, calmly. "Well, if you have nothing better to do here, let's get started." Magloria said as she moved towards the water before diving in. Jump Start didn't have anything she needed to do here yet. Even checking the heater could wait until they had gotten their purifier back. Collapse jumps into the water, following after Magloria. She enjoyed the feeling of diving back in, it felt weird to dive in so casually but it also felt all enthralling. Enough to bring a smile to her face. "Yup, right on!" By the time the bubbles had cleared from around Collapse and Jump Start (who also got back in), they could see Magloria was already talking with a random seapony who she had swam straight towards. After a minute of talking she quickly returned to them. "Well it seems like their biggest source of above water jobs is a local mushroom plantation. One that we happened to pass by. Not only do they require harvesters for the 'crops', but they also occasionally require repairs for carts, axes, and even a strange device they they called a 'chainsaw' for chopping through extra large mushrooms. I can't imagine how that would work. A saw that uses chains to cut? Doubt that would work." she said. “Chainsaw? Huh, never heard of that but I would like to see how it worked. I would be interested in repairing the carts and such. Would you be interested in such a thing, Jump Start?” Collapse asked her, turning to her. “What would you be interested in doing, Magloria?” Collapse asked, not really sure what she would want to do for a job. Even then, she didn’t know or what Magloria did prior to being a captain. Jump Start shrugged. "I would, but if we fix everything they have, they wouldn't have any work left for us to do." she mumbled, before suddenly becoming eager, "But on the other hoof I do want to see what happens when I give a large mushroom a good kick! Will it uproot itself, or snap in half?" "Scouting and removing pests." Magloria plainly stated. "Things occasionally encroach on their forests and they have trouble dealing with it, so I'll be taking care of those before they can find the workers. It lets me explore the place as well, which is a bonus." "Well, we'll find out when we cut a mushroom down." Collapse grins to Jump Start. "If we fix everything they have than I suppose they would be very proud of us." Collapse gigglesand then turns to Magloria. "Definitely suits you. You made quick work of those spiders, impaled all of them. Like those things deserve, they give me the creeps." Collapse shudders. Magloria begins to swim along in the direction of the river they originally came from, and where their destination was. "Of course, if neither of you wish to do simple work like this, there is always the option of striking out on our own." "When asking about directions to the exit, I heard that the seapony settlements love receiving things found on the land, since they're hard to collect themselves. If we went exploring, I bet we could find things they'd be interested in and would pay well to obtain." "Of course, it would be more dangerous, but if you two weren't into danger you probably wouldn't have even gone on this whole trip in the first place." she said, the last bit with a smug tone to her voice. Jump Start wanted to protest that she wasn't into danger, but didn't know how to say that without making it sound like she was hiding something. She instead looked away, embarrassed. Collapse ponders that. "You know that sounds a lot more interesting. While I am very capable of fixing carts and probably using whatever a chainsaw is, I think that exploring would offer us more reward and knowledge about this place, and others. So far we've only heard of Descent and Pearlth, Void crags, whatever danger lies at the entrance, and the Lily Grotto, lobsters and spiders, whirlpool lake. There is bound to be much more than that down here." Collapse replies to Magloria. "Although it would be a less stable 'job', while normal work is a constant pay check. But the more risk, the more reward right? At least, thats how I think it goes?" Collapse asked. "More risk, more payment associated with said risk would be more accurate, but yes, that's the general idea. This whole exploration trip for example? It was going to earn us a hefty sum of money once it was over." Magloria explained. "But you also need to remember that the seaponies likely have not ventured where we intend to go, so we'll have no help at all. Even on the ship we had navigation by the sun and stars. Here? Nothing except the echoes of cave walls, and the darkness ahead." "We'd have to agree on it as a group. Going alone is suicidal." she said with finality. Collapse agreed with Magloria. "Well, I believe that we aren't ready to go. Me and Jump Start don't know how to fight properly. In order to brave the unknown, and the danger that lurks at the exit we are going to have to be properly prepared to fight. Perhaps if we work here long enough, they will trust us enough to go near the armory and we could either buy or rent equipment that we could use to defend ourselves with in a more proper context." Collapse states. "I don't like the idea of going up against something dangerous without armor or proper weaponry. But as for this whole trip, when we get back home I think we may even have enough to retire, as this is a once in a lifetime thing that ponies get to do. Nobody's ever been here before, we'll be remembered for it." she added. Magloria looked to Jump Start. "And what do you say on this matter? Safe or risky and rewarding?" she asked. Jump Start looked nervously between them. "Umm... I'd prefer to not have to deal with possible combat situations if you don't mind. I haven't really been in an actual fight and I want to keep it that way as much as possible." she said. Magloria looked ever so slightly disappointed, but nodded anyway. "Alright then, I guess we're definitely heading to the mushroom forest and offering our help." she said, continuing on until they reached the river. "We should walk from here. We can't swim against the river's currents." Magloria suggested. Collapse looks to Jump Start as she would follow Magloria out of the river. "You know Jump Start, you may have to someday. It doesn't hurt to have added knowledge and skill. It would only help you. While I am no fighter myself, I want to learn how to. If not for keeping myself safe, but to keep you safe." Collapse winked to Jump Start, and looked to Magloria. She knew very well that Magloria would be able to handle her own, however Collapse would always want to have her back in any situation they come across. Jump Start thought over what Collapse said. "But isn't combat exactly the sort of thing that *would* hurt to learn? I'd rather just not get into dangerous situations to begin with." she stated. Magloria moved to the edge of the lake and climbed out, shaking off the excess water from her fur as she did so before leading them further up the river. They could already see the blue glow of the forest up ahead. "It's good to learn a little bit about fighting, but I can understand where Jump Start is coming from. We are ponies, so naturally we don't want to fight. I guess that says something about me, eh?" Magloria mentioned. Collapse shakes off the excess water from her fur as well, upon seeing Magloria do the same. "Well we can't always avoid dangerous situations as much as I'd like to. We will have to face them one time or another, as we already have. Might as well be prepared, but I can also understand where Jump Start is coming from." she then rose an eyebrow at Magloria's last statement. "Um, I know you probably don't like questions but, how do you know all of these fighting skills? I've never really seen anyone with such knowledge as you who weren't Royal Guards. Your not one of the Royal Guards, or were you?" she asked calmly. Magloria snorted, barely holding in an honest laugh. "Those pretty show-off stallions? They wouldn't know the front end of a spear if it pierced them straight through the face." she said. "No. I am not a Royal Guard, nor I ever was. I was part of something that actually cared about the finesse of warfare, and no I will not tell you. Though if you beat me in a fair trial of combat, maybe I will." By now they had surrounded themselves in the hypnotic blue lights of the mushroom forest. In the distance they could see what looked like a warehouse of sorts, some distance from the river. The thick forest must've blocked their sight of it when they first came through. A few seaponies could be seen hanging around at the warehouse, moving carts about or casually talking.