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Gazing to the Ocean of the Sky

by David Silver

Chapter 32: 32 - Ride Home, End Episode

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The time had arrived.

Cherry bounced on her way to the train station behind a train worker and beside Indie and Cloud.

Cloud wasn't quite as cheerful. "I had a lot of fun, getting to know you two. I hope you have a safe trip back, and if I find myself in Ponyville, I'll be sure to stop in."

Indie gestured in the general direction of the lay of the tracks. "We're not hard to find. The big purple tall building made of stone, that's the one we're staying in."

Cloud quirked a smile at that. "Is it just as imposing as the rumors? Never mind that, Princess Twilight has clearly been looking after you two, so get on back to her." She waved them off gently. "I'll catch the next train on to Canterlot, dears. If you end up in that grand city, do look me up. I'd love to share a proper cup of tea, and I'll have some new tricks worked out for you." Not that she had ever been much of a stunt flyer, but for those aquatic friends, she would manage it.

Separating from Cloud, Cherry had her eyes on her foal. It was huge and metal and a bit rusty, but it wouldn't be after she lovingly nursed it back to health. A grin was spread across her face and she couldn't make it go away, not that she particularly wanted to. "I don't even know where to begin..."

Indie's eyes moved to the smaller, but much newer, train before it. "That's going to pull this big thing?"

The engineer peeked back. "That's what she's best at doing. She's far from the fastest, but she can haul just about anything, including the Red Rocket here." He moved past the red train, though its red was hard to see with its decomposition. "You'll be riding up front."

Cherry pouted at that. "Why can't I ride my train?"

"Mess of reasons, starting with the fact that it's falling apart. If something snaps or busts, we don't want a pony inside while it's happening."

Cherry continued pouting, but followed along. A steep set of stairs took them inside, which required her giving Indie a hoof up.

The inside was spartan in design. The smaller train was built to drag heavy things, and that was all it'd do. Indigo settled himself against a wall as Cherry sank to her haunches. "Alright, we're on and ready. When do we go?"

The engineer began pulling levers and the train lurched beneath them, struggling a moment to get going before it started to gain speed, older train hauled along behind it. "Then we're off! Next stop, Ponyville."

Indigo clopped once in joy. "How long should it take us?" He had to shout over the noise of the engine. It wasn't nearly as calm and relaxing as being on a passenger car. The engine was also spewing floating ink into the air in little puffs from its blowhole. "And what's that?" Indie pointed up at the floating ink, befuddled by its presence.

The engineer's eyes rose to the black stuff being pointed at. "What? That?" He pointed as well and Indie nodded. "Well, y'see, depending on how the engine's doing, you get a nice mix of steam and smoke billowing out of there."

Cherry frowned a little. "And those are?" Why did dry ponies have so many confusing words?

"Well, steam's what happens when you heat up water too much. It's a big part of what gets this thing mo--"

"What?!" echoed Cherry and Indigo together.

Cherry leaned forward. "I thought this was powered by The Dry, you know, fire?"

He gestured ahead at the engine. "Well, it is. The fire heats up the water nice and good until it turns into steam, then the steam does the actual pushin'. Get it?"

Cherry wobbled in place. "T-the dry uses... water? But..." She sank to her belly, her mind aching with the sudden contradiction of it all. "How?"

The engineer held his hooves close together. "Water starts off like this, see? Then you heat it up and it turns to steam." He spread his hooves apart. "Steam is bigger than water, so that makes a lot of pushin' power, so it pushes, bam, train's moving! Just like that, see?"

"But if The Dry touches the water, doesn't that dry the water?"

He shrugged softly. "Sorta does, that's steam. I ain't no teacher, but do ya get it?"

Cherry rubbed her cheek with thought. Indie moved forward with clear ideas behind his sharp eyes. "You can't destroy it."

"Hmm?"

"Water, or anything." Indigo spread his hooves a moment. "You can eat something, but then it's part of you, not really destroyed. The Dry can 'eat' water, but that makes steam, it doesn't destroy it. We are all from the same sea."

He raised a shaggy brow. "Curious way of sayin' it, but that about explains it, yep. You got a good head on those shoulders, uh, what was your name again?"

"Indigo."

Cherry gestured at him. "You can call him Indie." She sat up in place, peering at the engine with newfound wounder. "So it eats water, makes steam, and that pushes the engine, so it eats more water?"

"Well, we'd like to keep what we got, but that gets complicated..." He tapped his chin softly. "See, to make steam back into water would take a lot of effort, so we just let it go. So you can think of water just like another type of fuel we have to make sure we have lots of."

Indie tilted his head, looking up at the puffy clouds of stuff. "So what happens to the steam?"

"Most simply, it turns into clouds."

"Oh." That made sense enough to Indigo.

Cherry stepped forward, eyeing the levers and dials that dotted the inside of the train. "Can you show me how to work it? Everything you can show me would be a huge help with my own train."

The engineer raised a brow. "You're a brave and foolish sea lass to think you can monkey with a locomotive like this." A smile spread on his face. "I like that. So sit down and pay attention." He started pointing to levers and explaining what they did, while warning to not actually pull or push anything. He showed the meters and dials and how they helped keep an eye on what was going on in the engine, even if looking made him pull a lever one notch while he was talking.

It was a long trip back to Ponyville, but it was an educational one. Cherry's day was made ten times better when she was given permission to pull on the part that made the whistle on the train shrilly cry out.

Indigo wheeled up opposite the engineer. "Excuse me. You said it eats water, and that was one of the things it ate. What else does it eat?"

The engineer nodded. "Smart question. It mostly runs on coal."

"Coal?"

He popped open a bin and reached inside, coming out with a black and sooty rock that he set on the ground. "There you go, coal. It burns really nice, uh, you could say its full of 'The Power of The Dry', as you like to phrase it."

Cherry frowned a little. "I'm going to have to get some of that to feed my train."

"That's hardly the first thing you need, but yes."

Eventually, they arrived at Ponyville station, slowing to a gentle stop with the squeal of brakes being put to the test. "Last stop!" He smiled at them both. "Ya made it, in one piece too. I'll see ya 'round on the tracks, alright?"

They both waved as they got off the train, Cherry assisting Indie to the platform. There were a lot of familiar faces gawking. The green horny pony approached, Lyra? "Wow, that's a big train!"

Cherry beamed with pride and turned to it. "It's mine now."

A mare beside Lyra with a beige coat and colorful mane tilted her head a little. "What are you going to do with it? You can't keep it here."

As if in answer for that, a team of burly earth ponies pushed through the crowd. "Where's it going?" asked one as they swarmed over the train, detaching it from the smaller tugger.

Indigo pointed up at Twilight's castle. "Five minutes past that."

Off they went, lifting it with a communal grunt and slowly making their way right down the main road with their oversized load. Cherry took off after them, keeping an eye on her newest possession and soon-to-be project. "Be careful!"

The crowd began to disperse as the train was removed, but Lyra and her friend remained. Lyra nodded at Indigo. "What's your friend going to do with something like that? I mean it's huge! They must not use that for passengers, 'cause I never saw a train quite like that before."

"Lyra." The other pony nudged her. "That's clearly a cargo train."

"If you're so smart, Bon Bon, what's it called?"

"A Red Rocket." Bon Bon rolled her eyes.

Lyra's jaw dropped. "How do you know that? You make candy, not play with trains."

Bon Bon snorted at the idea. "As if a mare can't have hobbies." She focused on Indigo. "Your friend has a real piece of history there. I thought they already retired all the Red Rockets. Nasty problem with the steam regulation."

Indigo blinked at that. "Steam what?" He wheeled himself closer to Bon Bon. "Can you tell me about it?"

Bon Bon shrugged softly. "Well, I did say it was a hobby. I don't know too much about it, but if you ran the engine too hot, it had a nasty habit of exploding. Be sure to tell your friend to be careful."

Indigo shivered at the idea of Cherry being caught in an explosion of dry. "I-I'll tell her, promise."

Lyra reached out and patted Indigo right on the head. "You're a good friend, following your marefriend around like that."

Indigo darkened swiftly. "I-it's not like that!"

Bon Bon gave a gentle smile. "Even if you're not ready to tell her, we have your back. Now you'd better catch up before they get out of sight." She turned to the procession with the huge train. "Though that may take a while at the rate they're going..."

Indigo nodded at both of the mares before taking off, wheeling himself swiftly down the smooth road to move alongside Cherry, who was focused steadfastly on the careful moving of her train. "Everything alright?"

Cherry smiled. "They're so strong! I didn't know dry ponies could be this strong. Look, just the five of them, moving that huge thing..."

Indigo nodded. "Yeah... that is impressive, oh! Lyra's friend said to be careful."

"Of?"

"Don't let the engine get too full of dry power or it'll explode."

Cherry blinked softly. "I'll be careful..."

Author's Notes:

So there is a reason the Red Rocket was retired, all due to a typo in its design.

That's the end! Of the episode at least.

Next Chapter: 33 - Episode 5, The Wave Begins Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 43 Minutes
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