Berry stepped off the train and took a moment to stretch before she swept her eyes over the horizon. "The journey here was long and tough, but I made it, and it's time to find a castle..." Her eyes fell on the huge purple structure outside of town. "Figures..." She began walking towards it. "I'll conquer any distance to reach you, my dearest Indie. Don't worry, I'm coming!"
Indie shivered for no particular reason.
"Cold?" asked Cherry as she sorted through the replacement parts and got to slowly inserting each piece in the gradual process of replacing the engine. One piece at a time and turning it from a mass of rust to a gleaming network of new metal. "You should ask Spike for a blanket."
Inidie blinked at that. "The dry hardly gets half as cold as the ocean gets. I'm fine, just... felt funny for a second there. Need any help?"
With Cherry's guidance, he was soon holding up a part as she detached it and slowly worked in its replacement tightly, connecting the two tubes together with turns of her wrench. "This is looking great! I can't wait to see it working."
Indie backed away a step. "You never did explain how you're going to use this without tracks."
Cherry tapped her hooves together too quietly to make much of a sound. "Well, I was saving that for last. No point in worrying about it rolling until the engine's working right."
"And the brakes." Indie nodded severely.
"Brakes, right, of course we'll look at those." Her eyes darted around as she mentally added brakes to the list of things needing a look at. "Anyway, the real problem are the wheels. They're made to roll on tracks. There's no reason we can't put on different wheels with the same attachment so it can roll on other stuff."
Indie sat up at the news. "That would be pretty amazing, Cherry. What if it could swim? Just give it some flippers!"
Cherry pointed at the engine. "It's not so simple as that. Even if the wheels were turned into flippers, the engine's made to run on dry, which means it needs to be dry. If you take it underwater, poof, no more dry!"
Indie frowned at the arcane machine. Most of its functions were alien to him, but... "What if you made it closed, so the water couldn't get to it? You'd have all the water you need, you know, being in the water..."
"Yeah..." Cherry perked her ears and frowned a little with thought before she grabbed the next part in her mouth and got to replacing the old version of it with it. "I'll think about it, but it won't be easy. Let's get it working at all first."
Spike opened the door hesitantly and looked up at... Cherry? No, it was the wrong colors for Cherry. "Uh?"
Berry kicked open the door. "Hello, dragon. Are you here to prevent me from reaching my love?"
"No?"
"Oh." Berry frowned a little. "That would have been romantic."
"We could pretend if you like?"
Berry perked up. "Could we? You're a nice dragon. Oh, wait, I shouldn't get distracted. Do you know where my precious Indigo is and that traitorous Cherry lurks?"
Spike hiked a thumb. "They're out back, working on Cherry's train."
"She has a train?" She'd only just learned what a train was. "You win this round, but this fight's far from over..."
"Uh, hey, so you are...?"
"Berry, Sea Berry." Berry stood proudly, turning to the side to show off her full profile, metal legs included. Unlike Cherry's screwdriver and wrench mark, hers was three interlocked cogs. "And I'm here to get my Indigo back."
Spike looked her over. She looked about the same age as the others, so parent was right out. "How is he... yours?"
"He's my coltfriend, of course." She frowned at Spike. "It wasn't obvious?"
Spike blinked slowly. "Not really..."
"Why not?!" Berry stepped forward towards Spike.
"Well, he's kind of trying to get the attention of Cherr--"
"What?!" Berry stomped a forehoof on the ground and turned, storming off.
Cherry wiped her brow as she sat back. "Plenty more to go, but let's take a break. What'd you bring for lunch?"
Indie pulled out a bag and set it down before nuzzling into it and pulling out two wrapped sandwiches. "They call it a 'tunafish melt'. I tried one, it's delicious!" He set one before Cherry. "Try it."
She didn't need to be sweet-talked into trying whatever was producing that lovely scent. She reached to pull it closer with a hoof when the door to the engine suddenly burst open.
"I have arrived!" Berry came in with purposeful steps. "Now come on, Indie. It's time to get you home."
"What? Berry?" He blinked at her as his sandwich fell from his mouth to flop to the ground.
"Yes, 'tis I! I've come to rescue you from the foul siren, Cherry, AKA, Miss Cerulean."
Poking in her head over Berry, another familiar face appeared. "I take offense to that." Sand smirked a little. "What's with extra legs and running away from home? I'm getting a reputation for foal retrieval."
Berry spun around to face the actual siren. "Another obstacle! You won--"
"Enough." Sand held up a hoof. "You didn't even have the manners to get caught in the net like Cherry." Cherry went red at the memory. "Now what are you doing up on dry land? This is the home of the other ponies, and sirens sometimes, not you hippocampi. Your parents went running to the Master of the Waves and off I went to follow you, and here we are."
Indie tilted his head a little. "Was I the only one who told their parents where they were going?"
"Yes," replied Sand in a matter of fact tone. "So why are you here? You weren't dragged here by your extra legs, the way I saw it."
Berry cleared her throat. "Ah, yes." She turned to Indigo and thrust a hoof. "I've come to free you from her--"
"She's not forcing me to be here."
Berry frowned. "Stop interrupting!" She stomped a hoof before snorting. "Indigo, I, Sea Berry, do declare my undying love for you."
Indigo blinked emptily a moment before he began to pale, the importance of this statement settling on him. "B-berry, really?"
Cherry clopped her forehooves together. "Aww! You have an admirer!"
Sand glanced between the three of them. "I think everypony here but me has an admirer. I presume you'll be staying then?"
Berry waved her hoof at Indigo. "I either go with him, or I stay, also with him."
Sand let out a little sigh. "That's what I figured."
Cherry approached her 'rival' with a smile. "Where'd you get those legs?"
Berry glanced back at her mechanical hindlegs. "You think you're the only seapony with mechanical talents? Ha! I made them in half the time and I got here without the help of some fancy princess along the way."
Cherry blinked softly before she leaned in to study the legs. "Did you already get the different dry swimming modes down?"
"Huh?"
"Watch." Cherry began to walk, then trot and even a bit of cantering and galloping to show off all the different ways her four legs could work together. "I used my fins as--"
"I use my fins too." Berry waved it off, even if she did look a little intrigued at the idea of all those different gaits. "I didn't know dry swimming had so many different ways to paddle."
Sand shrugged softly. "Don't look at me, I float. Slow float, fast float, it's all the same float in the end. Anyway, you kids are having your fun, so keep at it, just be sure to send a letter home to your folks, alright?"
Indigo looked between the two mares, the one he wanted, and the one that wanted him. Why did life have to be so complicated? He settled on Berry's cutie mark, or at least, what she had drawn as one. "Is that your mark?"
Berry gestured to it. "Isn't it great?"
Cherry tilted her head at it, paying proper attention now that focus had been placed on it. "It's actually pretty cool."
"Then you admit that I will win?"
Cherry reared back at that. "What?"
"You'll let me take Indie." Berry waved a hoof. "He's mine."
"He's his own pony." Cherry frowned a little. "He can make his own decisions."
Berry glanced over at the lost looking stallion and back to Cherry. "And he hasn't. He's still confused, so I'll just have to show him which path is obviously better and which mare he has to choose."
Sand shook her head. "Right, well, enjoy yourselves." Without waiting for the drama to deepen, she tipped a hat she didn't wear and scooted off to report the whereabouts of the missing foal she'd been sent to find.
Indigo took a slow breath. "Berry, why don't you join us?"
Berry began to burn brightly. "Is that how they do it in The Dry?"
Indigo blinked in confusion before the blush spread to him and burned hotly. "No! Not like that! We're doing a big project. You're good at mechanics too. Why don't you join us, as a friend?"
That caught her attention, and in a way that had little to do with romance. She approached the steam engine and let her eyes wander about to take in all the complex mechanisms that made the train work. "Why does some of it look so much newer than other parts?"
Cherry smiled brightly. "We've been restoring it. It's a great train, but it's old. We're going to make it run like new again! If you want to help, that'd be great. Every hoof would be good to have." She offered a hoof out in potential friendship.
Berry considered that hoof a moment before she reached one of her own to clop against Cherry with a loud sound. "Very well. Let this be the real competition. We'll restore this machine, and by the time it rolls, I'm sure Indigo will realize his mistake and we'll go home, together."
Indigo jerked with a sudden thought. "Where are you going to stay while you're with us?"
Berry tilted her head. "Where do you stay?"
Cherry pointed out to the castle closeby. "Twilight made us a nice room to sleep in, all full of sea water and everything."
"Great!" Berry smiled. "I'll stay there too."
Sand, don't worry. I admire you... even if your storyline was the worst.
I blame the typos.
Oh great, Berry's the delusional crazy romantic. I kinda don't like how she's implying that she's better for Indie and stuff and I certainly hope she grows out of it or finds someone else.
And this is how Twilights castle started to become the first water fun park in Equestria.
I am just wandering how many more typos will be coming out of the sea to follow these seaponies. Great chapter can't wait for more.
This is turning Harem Comedy. That's not a bad thing
Its like watching Gadget Hackwrench and Low Whiney again.
Poor Indigo. the girl of his dreams hs met the met the machine of her dreams to crush the nightmares, and the girl of his nightmares is wanting him to be the one of her dreams.
Pinkie will be calling round with the cake for the four way wedding before they realise it.
7254772 Is the train #4?
Typo! Honestly, this is the first one I've found in this story at all...
7254803 Oops, fixed!
7254786
Given the size of Red Rocket, it might end up #4, #5 And #6
Don't you mean Berry?
7254945 Oops, fixed! Damn those typos.
Sea pony one: "I am here to take back he who is rightfully mine!"
Sea pony two: "Great! Hey we could use another hoof or two over here. Wanna see if we can make this train fly?"
Sea pony one: "YES!"
7255074 This is a fair summary of the chapter.
7254814 Um, it still says 'say' instead of 'stay'.
7255148 Odd. I think it's fixed now?
7255150 Yes it is.
Anyway, loving this story. Wonder how Twilight will react to a third seapony guest?
7255152 She's busy trying to find and establish contact with the Master of the Waves.
7255156 now i want to see her come home to find a dozen sea ponies
7255215 she'd flip out at that, but I so agree with you.
Ah Berry...
...BREAK HER
7255557 Let me get this straight, Greed the Giving responded to Snowfyre whom responded to David silver whom responded to Leo Archon whom responded to David Silver whom responded to Leo Archon whom responded to fictional fanatic, and fictional fanatic was also commented by David Silver. How can you keep track of these comments?
7255654 now you and I have added two more layers to it.
Oh sweet Celestia...
It's the CMC underwater edition!
You're using a lot of breaks all of a sudden.
Run-on sentence. Perhaps you could start a new sentence after "inserting each piece"
scent. She
Considering you're supposedly trying to wrap up this story, this is a terrible time to introduce a new character. Especially a new character with no explanation who is somehow a copy of Cherry. She has no relevance to the plot you have been working on thus far. One more seapony is still not a wave. The story would have been better served if you had left this chapter out and instead wrote about what's happening with Twilight (which you led us to believe will be very important and exciting). Then Sandy appeared magically beside someone who was alone the whole way here. Why?
(Oh, and you should probably remove the drama tag, and replace it with slice-of-life or comedy)
7255953 Typos fixed.
7255833 Now with 100% less tree sap! We substituted clam juice!
Welcome, everyone, Berry the insane Mary Sue!
Keep going! ;)
7255966 Was I too harsh? I didn't mean to be. It's not like I've written anything better.
7256156 The story could continue, if anyone wanted to take up the support of it. Wanting it and paying for it are not the same thing though.
Berry is a PHONY! That's right, a PHONY!
7255662 Now it's three. When will this end?
cdn1.smosh.com/sites/default/files/legacy.images/smosh-pit/052011/inception-meme-recursion.jpg
7255833 You made me had flashbacks of Mako mermaids. Now I'll think of shipping them with stallion sea ponies.
7256058 Berry Sue?
honestly I see one more showing up wanting Cherry.
one new layer, and this is my last one 7256321.
It feels like the story's being rushed now. Time skips 'n' stuff, not as much detail.
7255833
*quickly looks through the comments to make sure the joke has not been used*
THERE ARE NO BRAKES ON THE RAPE TRAIN!!!
I'm late to this chapter, so it looks like all the typos are already eliminated. I'll have to find breakfast elsewhere...
*****
And that is the story of the beginning of Princess Twilight Sparkle's home for wayward seaponies.
I'll wait and see what kind of character Berry turns out to be before making any judgments, and until then I'm imagining the restoration as a montage set to this - All aboard the Love Train!
7256977 A song with many uses for sure.
7254745
And centered around one of the harem members, not the 'master', which is a new one for me.
7256058 There was a sound like thunder, screaming, and then nothing... Indie crawled from the wrecked engine and found Cherry, injured but still breathing--By the Waves! Alive! They lay together for a few moments, catching their breath and just happy they hadn't lost each other, when finally the missing sea-pony came to mind. "Was she really a Berry Stu?" Cherry asked, quietly.
Indigo turned to the steaming pile of metal and replied, "More like Berry Jam, I'd say." <You WENT there!)
Why do I feel like this is turning into Ranma 1/2?
Hmm... Yep i finally see what hath brought me to this amazing story!
Twas' the heavy change of perspective from the land-dwellers to the sea-dwellers
That is all i have to say :3
Spike... Never change.
Think Twilight will put Sand aside and learn more about Sirens?
Another mechanical seapony?!
No. Just no.
I expect that the owner of the robot will come along to see that Sea Berry has stolen parts of his robot and demand money. That will create a lot of fuss and probably drama as well.
For buck sake Berry! You can't just march in and declare a guy to be yours.
And why didn't Sand do anything about taht!?
I mean, really?
The story made her sound like a villain coming for revenge.
Now she sounds like a villainous filly trying to compete for a guy who doesn't want her.
Well that was definitely a thing? I thought that was his mother not an admirer?
8248217
Same.
Bruh...
She just wants to fix the train 🚂