Cherry beamed at her massive train, broken and rusted as it may be. "Today's a fine day to work!" She pulled out a wrench with a manic grin and practically dove into the poor engine of the ailing locomotive.

"Wow, you must be the best at mechanical things," praised Indie, watching her work furiously. "I can't imagine another sea pony being half as good."

"It's what I was born to do~" sang Cherry as she pulled out a part and studied it carefully as it balanced on her hoof before she set it aside. "You just watch and see. I'll have this thing fixed by dinner time!"

"I doubt you'll be quite that fast..." Indie wriggled free of his wheeled chair and flopped to the ground, only to rear up. "But I bet you'll have fun doing it."

"With a friend at my side, and a train all of my own, what more could I ask for?" Cherry clopped her hooves. "Life is good!"

An angry banging on the door of the castle summoned Spike to open it. "Yeah?" It was a familiar pony. The stallion they had rented the sea-exploring device that Cherry eventually re-purposed. "Oh, hey, what's up?"

"Another!" The stallion stepped in, fuming. "Another of my precious machines has been stolen by sea ponies!"

Spike raised a brow. "She didn't steal it. She salvaged it, and you didn't want to buy it off of her, remember?"

"The camera didn't fail this time." The unicorn's horn shone, projecting a picture on the wall of a dark sea bottom before a sea pony of bright purple rushed the camera and it went to static. "See? It attacked my device! It didn't break down. What is Princess Twilight going to do about this?!"

It wasn't quite the right purple for Twilight, so Spike dismissed the idea that it was her. Another sea pony? "Huh, well, it wasn't Cherry. She's been here the whole time."

"Good for her. Where's the princess?" He scowled at Spike.

Spike held up his claws. "Hey, she's out at the moment and she left me in charge."

"So what are you going to do about it?" He raised a brow at the baby dragon.

Spike raised a finger before letting it fall. What was he going to do about it? "Uh... hold that thought." He flashed a nervous smile.

A metal hoof propelled its rider forward as a shrewd smile spread across its owner's face. "You think you're the only one that can play this game? I think not." She let out a peal of laughter as she emerged onto the sand and amidst the confused land ponies that gawked at the purple sea pony. "I'll have my little Indie back in my hooves by the end of the day."

She looked to one of the surprised land ponies. "Hey, you! Where's Indie?"

"Indie?"

"Sea pony, just like me?" She pointed at herself.

"Oh!" Everyone in that town knew about the other sea ponies. It was hard to forget. "They went to Princess Twilight's castle."

"A castle?!" She snorted loudly. "Tell me how to get there!"

Another pony shook her head at the sea pony. "Is this about the sea ponies?"

"Of course it is." She rose to her full height. "It's of utmost importance."

Certain that this was a diplomatic affair, the people of the town showed the sea pony to the train and got her on her way to Ponyville. They had done their civic duty for the day and they returned to their peaceful lives, unaware of what exactly they had set in motion.

Riding on the train, the new sea pony gazed out the window at the dry land moving past. "Cherry, you went far to take my stallion away from me, but even The Dry won't keep me away." She raised a hoof, waving it at the window. "Sea Berry's coming, so you'd better be ready!"

Cherry trotted along with Indie into town. They both bore a basket full of rusted parts in their mouths but looked quite cheerful despite it. They approached the driest building in town, the forge. The pony inside basked in heat all day and seemed toasted for the effort. How could one weather such long exposure to dry's power without becoming dry?

Despite that, the mare smiled at them. "Twilight mentioned you might be stopping by. What have you got for me, sea ponies?"

Cherry set down her basket. "We need these, but new."

Indie set down his own basket. "Mine too. We have more parts, but we'll start with these."

The dry pony approached the basket. She was neither horny nor had air flippers, but she looked strong. She grabbed one of the metal pieces, turning it one way and the other. "Delicate little bits here. What is this for, an engine?"

Cherry lit up. "Yes, that's exactly what it is. A train engine."

"Steam?"

Cherry and Indie both nodded emphatically.

"I'd better be extra careful with them then." She set the piece down. "I'll have the batch ready by the end of the week."

That was the second time caution had been specifically expressed and Cherry frowned a little. "Is steam that dangerous?"

The mare pointed to her forge and its blazing dry power. "See that? You get a bust in a steam engine and that'll seem cold in comparison. It'll burn you clean in half before you know what happened." She looked over the sea ponies. "I'm new to sea ponies. You two look like you're barely adults, if that. Are you sure it's safe to be messing around with this kind of thing?"

Indie wheeled forward. "She's been warned and she'll be extra careful, promise."

Cherry smiled at Indie's defense of her, but gently waved him side. "He's right. I'll take every precaution. We're a long way before we get to the part when it starts moving, promise." She blinked with a sudden idea. "You can come and see it if you want."

The smithing mare leaned forward, suddenly interested. "Don't suppose it's that Red Rocket that was marched through town?" Cherry nodded with a grin. "I'd love to have a peek at that..." She tapped her chin. "Restoring that would be quite a feather in my hat. Fine, I'll help, but I get to inspect it before you go lighting any fires in it. I will not be responsible for cooked ponies!"

Author's Notes:

The story's wrapping up. Could it go on? Well, of course it could. Forever! But this is a paid story and they want me working on another story, so this will be the last episode. Did you know you can hire me to lovingly craft typos for you? It's true! $10 per 1000 words.