//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23 
// Story: Away and Afar 
// by PropsValroa 
//------------------------------//

Just like at the place before, once they were done Magloria and Jump Start left, bidding the staff farewell.

"Alright, now that *that* unnerving experience is over, what are we going to do now?" Jump Start asked the others.

Magloria responded first. "Well we have a possible way around the feline blockade. Problem is, it's through a place we can't cross safely. So our task is to find a possible way to prevent all the nasty stuff that messes with our heads, while also having it be sustainable. A magic barrier for example is not a good solution, since we don't have enough magical power to last for that long."

Collapse follows them out and nods to their statements. "Well perhaps there are some sorts of merchants or shops around here that sell magical artifacts. While it may be rare, we might find something that does the job...and perhaps other things that would serve to benefit us. Alternatively, we could also just wear masks? It seemed to be something in the air but given the way the seaponies are I doubt they would have masks that would filter out the air without modifications." Collapse replied to Magloria.

"Something tells me that they don't sell magical items for keeping away stuff in the *air*. Keeping them wet on land I could expect but..." Magloria pointed out.

"Maybe we could try anyway? It couldn't really hurt checking could it?" Jump Start said, looking around in case she could see something that looked like a magic shop. Sadly she couldn't.

"I suppose, but I don't expect much to come out of it. Masks on the other hoof..." Magloria pondered, "Yeeeah... I doubt they'd have masks that properly work for us either, considering they would use gills most of the time, not their lungs. We might have to make something ourselves." she shrugged.

"Well we could use kelp as a way to strap them on. Perhaps they have like some sort of filters we could strap onto our faces with kelp? If not that than we'll have to look for materials to use. Probably in some general store, they could have some materials that we can use to build our masks." she stated in reply to Magloria, hoping that her words would be proved true when they go look.

"We should also look for anything we could use to defend ourselves with. Could buy tools we could use to build things out of. I'd like myself a good tool set. I miss having my tools at my side." Collapse stated. 

"They might have filters for the air, but I'd much rather have a proper mask than one made of... kelp." Magloria shook her head. "That smell could get real nauseating if you have to breathe it in non-stop."

"Tools, sure, you could buy those yourself, but you know I've already tried to obtain equipment we can defend ourselves with. They said no."

Meanwhile Jump Start was thinking over the possibilities what materials they could use when making a mask. She seemed to be deep in concentration.

"Alright then, we'll have to think more on what we could use for a mask then. I'm not sure as of yet..." Collapse spoke in deep thought. "Maybe we could make one out of twine or string, something like that maybe. But other than that I don't know. Let's see if they have any shops around here." she spoke, and began to look for any shops / stores that they could go to. If she could see any, she would lead the 3 of them inside.

There were plenty of stores that Collapse could go to, the problem is there was a vast amount of choice. Food markets, jewelry stores, hardware, the equivalent of a bar, toy stores, and many other places. Even trying a general store she would have no idea if they had what she was looking for. Her plan of just entering a store was a hopeless one unless she knew what she was searching for.

While looking she did manage to find a store that was selling spider silk as string, at least. That was when Magloria pointed out a problem. "Twine and string isn't airtight. It'll help a bit, but not enough. We need something that can act as a sealant." she stated.

"Tar!" Jump Start blurted out suddenly. "We can use tar to seal something. We'd have to have something else on the inside so the fumes don't get overwhelming, but it can also act like glue for that part." Her excitement faded to worry. "But we'd need something we can use to work the tar on, otherwise it'll just be a mess."

"Yes, tar could very well seal something! Hey, maybe since we can breathe underwater we can put a container of water up to our faces and breathe the water in the container as we walk by that forest? Since they don't have anything we could probably use for masks, maybe we should just think like they do so to speak?" Collapse spoke, the idea coming into her mind suddenly.

Upon all the choices of the stores she would point out what seemed to be a hardware store to the two of them. "Well, it seems like that could be a hardware stare. How about we go look?" she suggested.

"So your idea is to have us wear... bowls of water on our heads?" Magloria asked, before sighing. "Do you know why fish die when a pond is covered in oils? It's because the oil prevents the water from being breathable by blocking the air from reaching it. We'd also run into that problem, either that or we'd breathe in whatever's in the forest air through the water anyway."

Magloria wandered into the hardware store without replying to Collapse's second question. It would be quicker to just do it as soon as possible.

Inside the store was a variety of metal-based tools, with mushroom wood as their handles. In another section of the store was a large amount of building supplies, such as planks of mushroom wood, which were surprisingly few, cut stones of varying shapes, and metal construction materials such as nails and braces, though they were surprisingly few as well, likely due to the lack of wooden materials.

"Yeah...you have a good point there. I suppose than I am out of ideas then for a mask." she stated to Magloria. Her optimism in her ideas seemed to fail her whenever she came up with an idea. That made her frown slightly upon that realization.

However when they wandered inside the store, her eyes would visually light up at the various tools and things they had seen throughout the store. With the tools she had found she would purchase a tool set of various tools including a hammer, pliars, and assortment of screwdrivers. That would come in handy if they ever were going to build something themselves. For the cut stones she would look to see if any of those were sharp enough to be used in combat. If they were, she would get one of those as well.

While they went throughout the place, she would see if either of them wanted to purchase any of those.

The tools were readily available for purchase. The sharp stones however were not. The cut stones were designed for construction purposes, typically being brick-shaped.

Even still, if they managed to file down some of the thinner slabs they could be used as blades of an axe. However stone doesn't typically last long, due to it's brittle nature.

On the flipside, there were woodcutting axes for sale. Probably not the greatest for getting through tough armor, but could definitely do so with enough force put behind it.

Jump Start had an idea of using fabrics as the base of some masks, so it would be soft on the inside and free of the stench of tar. A few pouches made from spider silk, designed for carrying shells, would probably do. They'd just need to cut out a hole on the end for a purifier, seal it with tar, stick their muzzle in and tighten up the strings at the top.

Because the sharp stones weren't available she would have bought woodcutting axes for each of them. The sharp slabs weren't worth it when there were a proper weapon for them to use. Even if it wasn't made to be a weapon it could still very well be used as one.

Collapse agreed with Jump Start's idea there and supported it. She said that she had forgotten fabrics in the first place and would look for anything inside of the store that could help them out with Jump Start's idea with the masks.

Looking at the price tags of the axes (written down as little stones with numbers tar-painted on, adorable), Collapse could see that these axes definitely weren't made very often, or the materials and labor were expensive, or the mushroom farmers earned quite a bit.

Whatever the reason, the price would cut deeply into their savings if they bought 3 axes. They wouldn't be able to buy much else of worth.

She found some fabrics, tougher woven stuff made for softening handles while being durable, or the seapony equivalent of camping. It's a bit more expensive than some of the other fabrics though, but maybe the quality would be worth it?

Collapse smiles at the little stones with numbers on them. That was certainly cute, but then again everything about the seaponies was cute. From their soft whiskers, their flippers and the way they swam about. Collapse smiled wider at the thought of Magloria and Jump Start with whiskers. 

Upon seeing the prices of the axes she would get only one of them. 3 was going overkill with the prices. With the fabrics she would look to Magloria and Jump Start, "Do you think we should get some of this fabric here? Its a little expensive but the quality of it would probably work better." she suggested.

"Perhaps." Magloria shrugged. "Even if they don't work out for masks, or we get too much of it, it can still be used for something else, like makeshift repairs." she said, granting permission for Collapse to purchase some.

Collapse purchases the fabric. "Well I think that's all we really need from here for now. Unless either of you want more, I think this is what we need." she states and then would proceed to purchase it. If either of them wanted to get anything more, Collapse wouldn't have objected. Upon exiting Collapse would review the items they had purchased. Just incase anything was wrong with them, they could go back and return it if needed. 

Neither of them wanted to purchase anything else, so they all left with Collapse after the transactions were complete.

There didn't appear to be anything wrong with the equipment that she had just bought. The axe's blade was curved, sharp and ready for chopping through soft organic materials. The handle was well fitted, and the metal seemed durable enough.

The fabric was the same. Tough, durable and didn't look frayed or anything like that, despite being constantly waterlogged. 

"So, do you have an idea of how to use the materials, Jump Start?" Magloria asked.

Jump Start nodded. "Sort of, I just need something sharp for cutting, which we have, then the missing pieces, the air purifier and the tar. We can get the tar at the source later though." she said.

Collapse smirked at the way the axe was formed there and she felt more comfortable now that she had some tools to work with here. It felt like ages since she had a tool set and would cast a summoning spell on the tool set. They vanished with a gold flash. Besides, that makes them easier to keep track of and ready for use when the time should come. Collapse would keep the axe with her, though.

Upon looking at the materials Collapse would look closer. "Sounds like a plan to me. Let's try to find something for the missing pieces." Collapse suggested to Jump Start.

"Actually... I should probably start preparing the fabric. If the purifiers you get are anything like the water purifier's one, then I think I know the measurements that I'll need to cut." Jump Start said.

"You know the way home?" Magloria asked, which earned a nod of confirmation. "Alright, you get started on that then." she stated, giving Jump Start permission to swim off with the fabric.

Magloria turned to Collapse. "So, you know where to go to get those purifiers again? Not the whole thing, just the bit that actually purifies." she asked.

Collapse looked to Jump Start. "Good luck, we will be there with you once we have what we need." she stated and waved with a sweet grin as Jump Start swam off.

Upon Magloria's question and now that Collapse was alone with Magloria she nervously looked left, then right and thought. "You mean the purifier plant Jump Start and I got the water purifier from? I know where that is. Come on, follow me." Collapse spoke, and began to swim off towards the direction where her and Jump Start got the purifier from.

After a brief swim with Magloria following alongside Collapse (and subtly making Collapse move faster when she got annoyed at her slow pace), they reached the district where the water purification plant was in.

Magloria wasn't nearly as into technology as Collpase and Jump Start were, but even she couldn't deny the majesty of the water purification plant's technological prowess.

Here eyes widened in surprise for a few seconds. Nothing more.

"This is the place?" She asked as they approached the building.

Collapse had moved faster when Magloria moved faster. She got the hint, and made sure to keep up the pace alongside her. Seeing the surprise in Magloria's eyes she smirked at that, she was glad to see Magloria's emotions. Collapse wanted Magloria to open up to her, and she was happy to see that was sort of happening before her eyes. Even though this was Collapse's second time here, it was still just as impressive and she marveled at the sight before them.

"Yup, this is the place. They were the ones that sold the water purifier itself. They likely sell the part that we need." Collapse stated as they entered into the building. Upon entry, she would look for someone to talk to. If there was someone to talk to, she would state what they needed.

Once inside they saw pretty much the same things that Collapse had seen before. The seapony in the room recognized Collapse immediately, and welcomed her back.

After hearing what she was after, they swam off to get the parts, returning a few minutes later with 3 small discs, looking very similar to an internal piece of the previous purifier.

The price was... reasonably expensive, due to the complexity of the small devices and the materials used to create them. Even with 3 pieces on offer they were still cheaper than the whole purifier, which had far more parts overall.

Collapse smiled at the seapony, and upon them finding what they were looking for Collapse would look over the 3 small disks. "Well, what do you think Magloria? They are kinda expensive but I don't think we have another option for now." she stated calmly, showing them to Magloria in her golden aura. Collapse smiled and seemed to be relatively happy. In truth, it was because she was alone with Magloria. Something about her was just alluring. Perhaps it was due to how mysterious she was.

"We have other options, they're just riskier or not known to us. This would be the best option, so buying it we shall." Magloria said as she handed over the necessary money. "Besides, if we really need money again, we can always sell more light bulbs, as long as we keep checking new spots for those ferns."

As she turned to leave, she started thinking out loud. "Hmm... I sure hope they don't have any negative effects. That would be real unfortunate. Eh nevermind, they seemed fine with us."

Collapse would follow Magloria out and thank the seapony for the sale. She would take the 3 small disks into hold with her magic. "The bulbs? Yeah...I hope the bulbs don't make anyone sick or anything." Collapse shuttered a bit, and as they would proceed off Collapse forced herself to swim faster this time so Magloria wouldn't get annoyed.

"If you don't mind me asking you a question, what inspired you or drove you to become a ship captain?" Collapse asked calmly, her eyes looking over to Magloria casually.

Magloria shrugged at the personal question. "Exploration, changing the world, being better than what others thought of me, take your pick." she said, and refused to elaborate further on the subject.

Once they had traveled back to their house and were on land, Magloria shook herself off, straightening her mane and tail, and checking to make sure her earrings hadn't been shifted by the constant movement of water.

"Jump Start should hopefully be ready for us, then we can go get ourselves some tar and these masks would be ready for use." she said.

Collapse smirked in understanding. "Well, my pick is all three. You wanted to explore and change the world to be better than what others thought of you. To show that you could be more than what they thought you were." she stated before she shook herself off. With her magic she adjusted her mane and tail so it wasn't all a flat mess. After shaking off she would add a final word to that, "Well to me, you have already managed to do so." she said calmly.

Leading the way in she would say, "Yup. Let's see what she got." she stated as she entered and looked for Jump Start.


"Yeah, sure..." Magloria said, dismissing Collapse's statement as she walked inside the house, though despite there being no other reaction, she seemed to have done it as if she was embarrassed to talk about it.

Inside they could see Jump Start laying down on the couch on her back, in a very relaxed position, apparently asleep. On a nearby surface were what appeared to be 3 fabric 'bags' with a larger hole in one end, for their muzzle, and a smaller hole in the other end, for the purifier.

Apparently she had also set up a few strips of metal in the smaller hole, for where the purifier would be held in place. No clue where she got the materials from.

Collapse noticed Magloria's dismissal and probable embarrassment. Collapse spoke nothing about that but knew that Magloria was not wanting to talk about it. She wouldn't press further because then Magloria would likely harden up and deny Collapse further information. Collapse knew that if she was to find more about Magloria she would have to ask small bits at a time, slowly. After all, Collapse never wanted to make Magloria uncomfortable. 

Upon seeing inside Collapse would smile sweetly at the scene and would quietly set down the 3 disks by the 'bags'. Looking to Jump Start she blushed slightly at what she sees there. "Gotta hand it to her. She is quite creative. I am impressed." she said to Magloria quietly. "Well, it seems as though our next step is chosen for us. Time to sleep?" Collapse asked.

Luckily for Collapse, the only reaction from Jump Start to the sound of her placing down the purifiers was a slight leg twitch.

Magloria nodded her head. "Yes, to sleep it is." she said, slowly making her way to the bedrooms. "While I know we can leave immediately once the masks are properly assembled, knowing what we might face has brought to my attention that leaving as soon as possible might not be the smartest idea. Still though, it's not like we could prepare much else to deal with it." she shrugged, reaching one of the bedroom doors as she did.

Collapse slowly followed Magloria but seemed to stop short of the door as she listened to Magloria speak. "I remember you said something to me. We could possibly recover wreckage with the help of the seaponies in the whirlpool lake. Now that we can swim, it is probably possible for us to go to the bottom of it. Perhaps we could return to that area and see what we could recover? I also don't think leaving as soon possible is the best of ideas." she said quietly, with one hoof raised. She really wanted to ask if she could sleep in the same room as Magloria, but also wasn't too willing to push her luck.

Magloria took on a serious look, thinking about the idea of going back to where the wreckage of their ship was. "Hmm... there's no telling where it could be down there, nor what we could face. We don't even know if we can stand the pressure if it's deep enough..." she said, then continued.

"But it's worth a shot. There were many things in our ship that could help us. Plus, if we get lucky we can find even more from any other ship that came down."

She opened the bedroom door, stepping through the opening. "Anyway, tar the masks first thing tomorrow, then when they're done, we can see about heading back to the whirlpool. Goodnight." And with that she closed the door.

Collapse agreed with Magloria's statement. She imagined that they would first go into the water and look directly down and then go down in slow increments to make sure that it was safe. The depth of it was completely unknown. Collapse hoped that it wasn't a deep abyss that they couldn't get down into. Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Goodnight Magloria. Rest well." Collapse spoke to her before she shut the door. After the door was shut Collapse stood there for a moment and thought about what just happened. In her mind she felt like she succeeded in having a one on one conversation with Magloria. 

Collapse would quietly walk towards Jump Start on the couch. If there was enough room to where she could lay down on the couch she without disturbing her, she would want to lay down with Jump Start. If not, Collapse would pick the other couch and would proceed to fall asleep there. In either case, the cream colored Unicorn would wrap her tail around her and curl up into a fluffy ball and go to sleep.

Well, it certainly would be a puzzle in positioning herself, but it certainly would be possible to sleep with Jump Start.

The problem was the way that she was sleeping, it took up most of the couch. The solution it turned out was to give Jump Start a gentle nudge, making her sleep on her side instead. That way Collapse could use her as a nice, soft, warm pillow.

Regardless of where she slept, she would eventually wake up, and find herself to be the first to awaken for once.

Collapse had nudged Jump Start aside gently as to not wake her up. With enough room, Collapse laid down in the available space she had just made. With that done Collapse would smile sweetly as she lays herself against Jump Start and fluttered her eyes closed. Collapse's hooves gently rested against her as she snuggled up to Jump Start. While she did this she made sure to be gentle. Collapse wanted to make it look like her snuggling of Jump Start was an accident in her sleep just in case she got caught.

Her eyes went heavy as she felt the soft warmth of Jump Start against her. It was quite comforting for Collapse. *"Goodnight, Jumpy."* Collapse thought to herself and found herself in the realm of dreams. Her dreams were not really rememberable, perhaps that was due to how much she exerted herself today. Today, well they had no way of knowing what time it actually was. All she could do was guess.