As Horse chases after the shadow and the herd chases after Horse, the group falls headlong over a cliff and crashes down onto a houseboat, utterly destroying it. Unfortunately, the houseboat is the home of the first shaman they were looking for, the half-hippo Waterbaby. The latter is decidedly unimpressed with the destruction, and requires the group to rebuild it before she'll help them. The herd sets about rebuilding the houseboat, except for Horse (who is chasing after the shadow) and Wammawink (as Waterbaby wants words with her specifically).
Wammawink is revealed to have been Waterbaby's apprentice once, before she left her training, and Waterbaby wants her to demonstrate some of the magic she taught her before she'll help her. Wammawink finds herself unable to fulfill the request — that she levitate a whole bog — until she's able to get past her intense nervousness, after which Waterbaby retrieves a chest from the former swamp bottom.
Meanwhile, the shadow Horse is chasing turns out to just be a walking tree. When she returns to the herd, she finds that their bumbling has only produced a garish, useless pile of garbage. She manages to wrangle them into building a halfway livable houseboat, but it soon falls to pieces anyway. Despairing at the thought of never going home again, Horse — after briefly trying to hold in her emotions — falls into a fit of desperate crying. This turns out to have been what was needed to begin with, because a returning Waterbaby collects some of her tears and uses them to open the chest she was carrying, revealing an object that slots into the artifact Horse is carrying.
As Waterbaby explains, Humanworld and Centaurworld used to be connected, but were separated by a barrier than can only be crossed using a special key. The key was sundered and each piece given to a shaman; to return home, Horse will need to find and talk to each of Centaurworld's shamans. She then rebuilds her houseboat with a snap of her fingers and retrieves her piece, saying that Horse needs to earn it first, and the herd leaves for the next shaman.
As the herd vanishes over a cliff, a figure — an old human woman — comes out of the woods. Waterbaby admonishes her for her carelessness in being seen, and that she was lucky that the tree from earlier looks like a human when seen in silhouette. The woman asks if Waterbaby is certain about what she's doing, as the plan she's crafting could endanger the world.
This episode contains examples of:
- Brief Accent Imitation: Wammawink puts on a British accent when she meets Waterbaby again after many years, presumably out of nervousness. When they're alone, Waterbaby tells her to cut it out.Zulius: Why is Wammawink talking like she spent a semester abroad?
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Wammawink was Waterbaby's Shaman apprentice, and while she prefers to focus on using her magic for silly things, as she says, with a bit of prodding and focus she can levitate and shape the water of an entire bog.
- BSoD Song: Horse has "Frustration Tears" as she sings about how upset she feels and tries to suppress it.
- Furry Confusion: Played for Black Comedy. The centaurs are extremely distressed at learning that glue is made chiefly from boiled hooves. Horse is a lot more sanguine about it, while Glendale finds that learning what glue is made of makes her like it more.
- Gave Up Too Soon: Wammawink is revealed to be this when she's studying with Waterbaby as a shaman.
- The Reveal: The amulet is one of six parts to the Key, an artifact which will unlock the ability to travel between Centaurworld and Earth.
- Running Gag: Horse keeps mistaking Gebbery for Rider even during the song where he took Rider's place on her back.
- Tears of Remorse: Horse sheds them as she becomes upset and frustrated with herself, which she tries to shrug off. To the point of having a BSoD Song about it to boot.
- Trickster Mentor: Waterbaby could have fixed her houseboat with magic all along. She wanted the group to learn a lesson from trying to fix it, and an excuse to get Wammawink to focus on her magic.
- Wham Shot: After the herd leaves, a human appears to speak to Waterbaby, warning of danger should the Key be reassembled.
