Steelhoof crept silently after them, thoughts in a whirl. The epiphany had given him a serious headache, and he could not think straight through all of these new memories. Who was this mare? Why did he know her? Were they related? Did he work on this farm before? Why can’t I remember my name? The latter had never bothered him before. He was Steelhoof now, so his old life was gone forever. But these new memories had lit a flame of hope inside of him – one he hoped to feed. But that led to the question, who was this mare he remembered so vividly? She seemed around the same age as him, so maybe, they used to be friends? He considered introducing himself, but past experience stopped him. A surprise visit from a robotic horse could terrify anypony, and almost always did, but considering he was also lurking on her property… he thought it would be best if he laid low for a bit, and try to avoid getting kicked out of the one place he remembered things. As he watched the pair of farmponies ahead of him, they came to a stop next to a fence, the one he believed to be Applejack facing her brother, who was looking away, his large forehooves resting on the fence. Suddenly, he realised how open he was, creeping down the middle of the path, and rolled into the trees on his right with a small crash. Immediately, Applejack whirled around, frowning, and Big Macintosh looked backwards over his shoulder.
“Now, Ah know Ah heard somethin’ that time.” Applejack said, taking a step toward the orchard. What in the hay could be followin’ us in our own orchard?”
As Steelhoof watched nervously, Bit Macintosh shrugged wordlessly.
“If it’s Pinkie with another one of her darned pranks again…” He heard her mutter, heading for the treeline. In return, Steelhoof hunkered down even further, despite his total inability to hide effectively.
She must have been a matter of feet away when there was a soft whooshing sound from above, and Applejack stopped, looking up. Steelhoof did the same, seeing a small blue flash streak across the sky above them, coming to a rest somewhere above Big Macintosh. A loud, boisterous, but clearly feminine voice called out.
“Hey Applejack, what’s up?”
Her ears perking slightly at the sound, Applejack slowly turned around and headed back out to the fence. Steelhoof knew that now would be the perfect time to creep away and find someplace else to hide, but once again, he found himself desperate to find out more. Sliding forward on his stomach, he made his way closer to the edge of the trees, peeking out at the mysterious pony above them.
The mare that was hovering effortlessly above them instantly enraptured the big robot’s attention. She was a light blue pegasus, with large, stunning magenta eyes that looked down on the orange mare with eager curiosity. But most spectacular of all about the mare was her midlength, tousled mane and tail, that shone with all the colours of the rainbow, making her dazzlingly bright, even more so in the summer morning sunlight. Steelhoof couldn't help but notice that the mare was very attractive, much more so than the southern earth pony a few feet to his left. He couldn’t help but stare at her slim, athletic form, her large, powerful wings, her flanks- delicate and round, yet strong and streamlined at the same time… Even though his headache was worsening, he didn’t pay it much attention, far more interested in the beautiful mare above them, gracefully dropping down onto a fencepost. It felt to him like he had been staring at her for hours, but it was only a few moments. Even through his headache, though, he could feel something else pushing at his mind. Something unfamiliar.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Applejack smile slightly, tapping her hat with her forehoof.
“Oh, howdy Rainbow dash, what brings you down to the farm?”
Rainbow... Dash... Rainbow dash... Rainbowdash rainbowdash Rainbowdash...!
His mind exploded with pain and memories again, and he sank to the floor, memories of the gorgeous pegasus who was talking with the pony called Applejack. Speed, grace, style, bravery and dedication, endless autumn days spent watching her blast across the sky, the weather at her command… The… Cloud castle…
And his mind was taken over. An image took over his mind, displaying it over his closed eyelids. He could feel himself, trotting over to a doorway, something grasped tightly between his teeth… Raising his hoof to knock-
Steelhoof supressed a scream, the pain in his head cutting off the memory. The pain made him even more short tempered than usual, and as he had come so close to remembering something important, he grew angry. He was about to slam his hoof into the nearest tree when, pain subsiding, he heard Rainbow Dash speak. He looked up, and saw her perched on a fence post, smiling eagerly at her friends.
“I was just wondering, I just perfected my newest trick, and I wondered if you wanna come see?” She almost bounced up and down with enthusiasm, smiling widely.
“Ah’m so sorry sugarcube, but me and Macintosh here are a mite busy catchin’ up with work. Some other time?”
“Uhh… sure. Yeah! Umm, see you later then?”
Steelhoof saw the pegasus’s ears drop, and the smile vanished from her face. Oddly, Steelhoof felt bad too, and didn’t understand it. He wasn’t sure why he cared so much, but he did. Against his better judgement, he decided to go and introduce himself, and try to cheer her up. As he crept away from the farmpony, he couldn’t help but feel angry at her. Why did she have to go and stop Rainbow from smiling? He shook himself lightly. What was wrong with him? Sure, her smile was nice to look at, but why did he care? Maybe I’m going mad… He thought as he broke into a light gallop, breaking out of the trees at a safe distance from the farmers. Luckily, she even left a sparkling trail of rainbow as she soared away, so following her was easy.
Rainbow dash was annoyed. Why was it that the one day that everypony was busy was the day that she had perfected her newest stunt? Twi was waiting on a new book shipment, Rarity and ‘Shy were on one of their stupid spa days, Pinkie was mysteriously absent, and now AJ was kicking trees? Why did nopony have time to give her a little feedback? She’d been accepted for a private audition for the wonderbolts in just three months, one week and two days! (But really, who was counting? Not Rainbow… It wasn’t like it bothered her…) Scowling, she put on a burst of speed, heading for her favourite flying area. Of course, once she was comfortable with a trick, she would intentionally show it off all over Ponyville, but sometimes she preferred to practice any new stunts that she had dreamed up with nopony around, so she could make mistakes without risking her reputation. This time however, unbeknownst to the pretty blue pegasus, there was somepony watching her, and was having a hard time getting her attention.
“Excuse me! HELLO?!” Steelhoof yelled, but there was still no answer.
“damnit…” He grumbled, scowling at the floor. “HELLO?!!” He shouted at the top of his lungs.
He saw her stop mid-flight, her ears perking, before she slowly began to circle down toward the ground.
Rainbow Dash sighed to herself, frowning. What was it now? She wasn’t really in the mood for talking with strangers, and he was interrupting her practice. Couldn’t he see she was clearly busy? And who the hay was he anyway? Nopony was ever wondering around this far from the village, and his voice wasn’t familiar. And even from this distance, there was something unusual about his grey coat.
She closed her wings, dropping the last ten feet or so to the ground, ready to give him a piece of her mind. Why did she never get any privacy when she wanted it? However, the second she touched down, she was finally able to see him clearly, and her words died in her throat. The sight she was greeted with was quite frankly terrifying. The pony standing before her was enormous, at least as tall as Big Mac. But that wasn’t what unnerved her. The massive grey pony stared down at her, his face expressionless and his body huge and armour plated. He looked like some sort of demon knight, his dull blue mane spiked spiked into a backward-facing Mohawk. Every inch of him was armour plated, even his face. She looked up at it, and wished she hadn’t. his eyes aren’t natural, she thought and shrank back. They were piercing yellow, and just not 100% real. But there was life in them, and the thing moved.
“umm… are you okay? You look a little…” The stallion spoke in a deep, but not unfriendly voice, and was apparently trying to look unthreatening.
Rainbow dash shook herself. She wasn’t afraid of anything! She opened her mouth to speak, and she did, although it was a lot quieter than she expected.
“who the hell are you?” She asked, trying to sound confident.
The metal stallion seemed taken aback.
“Oh, sorry. I’m new here and-”
“Well go see Pinkie Pie. She does all of that welcoming stuff.”
“Are you okay?” Whatever he was, he sure was persistent.
“I’m fine. Leave me alone.” She snapped. As she went to turn away, she noticed a change in his eyes – they went from yellow to a soft shade of blue, and his whole body seemed to sag slightly, producing a muffled whirring sound from deep within his armour. All of his previous intimidation was now gone, and he looked more lost than frightening. Rainbow dash couldn’t help feeling bad. It wasn’t his fault she was mad, and she’d shouted at him.
“Sorry big guy, I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just having a bad day.” She said in a semblance of kindness, before the usual rainbow dash returned. “Name’s rainbow dash – but you’ve probably heard of me.”
“You could say that...” The big stallion replied.
That caught her attention. She’d never met him, but he knew who she was? “So I’m famous?” Rainbow dash asked, taking a step forward in curiosity, her beautiful magenta eyes sparkling slightly.
The metal pony simply shrugged, and simply replied: “Damned if I know.”
Rainbow dash was confused and a little irritated by his vague answer, and shook herself, returning her mind to the topic at hand.
“And you are?” she said, slightly forcefully, to ensure she received an answer.
“Name’s Steelhoof. I hope you haven’t heard of me. If you have, I swear tha-“
“Never. What’s with the armour? Seems stupid to be wearing it at a time like this.”
For the first time since she had seen him, the stallion known as Steelhoof smiled. “It ain’t armour, Miss dash. This is my skin.”
Steelhoof saw her recoil in horror. He prepared for the inevitable, for the-
“That’s… different.” The pretty young mare said, clearly choosing her words wisely. He was unable to resist a chuckle. She looked at him quizzically.
“Nopony’s ever put it like that before, Miss.” He then went on, saying “so what has you down in the dumps then?”
“Oh, it sounds stupid, I know, but… I just perfected a new aerial stunt that I’m gonna use at the wonderbolts try-out in a few months, and everypony’s too busy to see. I guess I kinda sound a little pathetic, really. I mean, it could be worse.” She was unable to stop herself staring at Steelhoof’s armour plating.
He coughed uncomfortably, obviously picking up on her train of thought. “Well, if you like, you can show me. I mean, I’m not much of a judge, but if I remember anything from your past stunts it should be spectacular.”
Rainbow dash blushed slightly. “You seen a lot of my stunts?” That confused her a little. A lot of ponies had seen her stunts. Why was he any different? Was it because she felt sorry for him?
“Possibly. I don’t remember much about anything, but I do remember you… and something about aerial stunts... So, can I see?”
“…I don’t know. I’m not sure if it’s ready for the general public yet.” She said, feeling strange around the mysterious stallion. He did seem awfully eager.
“C’mon, I’m not the general public!” he said, desperately. “I don’t even know anypony here yet!”
She tapped her chin slowly, deep in thought. On one hoof, she did kinda want to show off her new move. It was, after all, pretty spectacular. However, this Steelhoof was a little strange,even if you didn’t take the metal body into account. She wold have preffered to unveil her new stunt to one of her friends, at the very least. And besides, he did say that he didn’t know anypony yet, so it wouldn’t matter if he saw her fail… Ah, what the hay. Why not? “Well, okay then, but don’t think I’m gonna show you these every day” she said with a mischievous smile, taking to the air.
Clearing her mind to focus on the task ahead, she climbed higher into the sky. When she reached around five hundred feet in the air, she took a deep breath and began her newest trick. She flew out to the left, and then flew in a series of enormous clockwise circles, drawing clouds towards her. Then she began to spiral upwards, each revolution slightly smaller and slightly higher than the last. She continued in this fashion, drawing the clouds inside the eye of her personal storm. She kept this up, flying higher and higher until she reached a point where she could no longer circle. Immediately Rainbow dash corkscrewed, the currents of her spiral launching her high into the air, at incredible speeds. Finally she slowed, and viewed her handiwork. The rainbow trail that was now surrounding the perfect cone shaped cloud had been blurred by the air currents of her climb, creating an effect not dissimilar from an aurora borealis, had she ever been far north enough to see one. As a final flourish, she dove down as fast as she could, splitting the cone down the middle and dispersing it for miles around. She pulled up out of her steep dive mere moments before hitting the ground, something she had perfected before in the young fliers competition. She brought herself to a stop about twenty feet above Steelhoof, who was standing in wide eyed, open mouthed admiration. He let out a low whistle.
“That was incredible! You’re a damn good flyer, Rainbow dash!”
“I know, right?” she said, standing on a pillar of self-confidence and elation. “I don’t know what I’d do without these babies,” she said, grinning at her wings. “They’re my life!” She fluttered gently down, closer to the ground, peering at the massive metal stallion. “Say, is that a pair of wings there?” She pointed at his shoulders, her head cocked to one side.
“Oh… you mean these?” Steelhoof said, unfurling the wings folded tightly against his body. They were large, and his primary feathers were long and sharp-looking. Attached to the underside of his wings were four metal tubes. “I never really use the things….”
“You don’t use your wings?” Rainbow exclaimed, dropping to the ground. The very concept just seemed impossible to her. “Why not? Don’t you like flying?”
“No, it’s just… Here. I’ll show you.”
He crouched, preparing for flight. He made no attempt to flap his metal wings, instead just locking them in position. Then, four small jets of orange burst out of the tubes , and he rocketed into the air. He hurtled through the sky, at high speeds and apparently with no control, before slamming head first into the ground at about eighty miles per hour, digging a great furrow in the soft earth.
“Steelhoof! Are you OK?” Rainbow dash shouted, suddenly worried for the limp form on the ground. She flew over to him, expecting the worst. As she touched down, a very dirty, dazed Steelhoof sat up and turned to face her. Relief flooded through her, and she sat back on her haunches.
He coughed up a mouthful of mud.
Rainbow dash laughed, partly through relief, partly due to the amusing spectacle. Steelhoof began to chuckle as well, and before long, they were rolling around, laughing hysterically. Finally, Rainbow dash stood up, wiping a tear from her eye as she calmed down. They both sighed in unison, and shared a smile.
“I’m glad you find me so amusing, Miss.” Steelhoof said, rolling to his hooves and extending a foreleg.
Rainbow stood, ignoring his offer. “Oh, come on, you’ve gotta admit, that was pretty funny, seeing you with all that mud in your face… Besides, you were laughing too.”
“Well… I guess I was, but that’s only ‘cos your laugh’s infectious. Would you like a mouthful of mud?” Steelhoof said with a mischievous smile, digging up a huge hooffull of dirt.
“H-hey!” Rainbow said, backing away. “No way, Steelhoof…”
“Too late!”
And with that, Rainbow sprinted away, Steelhoof following in hot pursuit with the mud still held in one hoof. Eventually, the pretty blue pegasus leapt into the skies, and Steelhoof hurled the ball of dirt, missing completely. He stuck his tongue out, a silver, segmented metal organ, much like his neck.
“Flying is cheating…” He said indignantly.
“Psh, I’ve heard that one before… You’re just jealous…” She said, puffing out her furred chest.
“Maybe, Miss… Maybe…”
“Well, it’s getting on, and I’ve gotta go get some lunch. Wanna come with?” She asked, hopefully.
“Sorry, Miss. I mean I’d love to, but I can’t. For a start, I’ve got a few things that need doing. At the very least, I need to go wash up. Also, I think I’m gonna wait for the best possible moment before I introduce myself to the village. You understand, right?”
“Oh, uh, sure.” She said, clearly a little disappointed. “Wanna hang out afterwards? I’m on a day off.”
“Sure. I’ll wait for you here. See you in a bit!” He said brightly.
“Oh, and one more thing, before I go… Steelhoof?”
“Yeah?”
“Stop calling me Miss… You make me feel like a grandmother or something…” Before he could answer, however, she darted off into the ait, and flew down towards Ponyville. It did annoy her that he denied a chance of lunch with her, but she understood what she meant. What if he was to meet someone like Fluttershy? She was the bravest pony in all of Equestria, and even she was a little unnerved when he stood close to her. His size probably didn’t help much. She shook her head, Smiling to herself. I’ll introduce him to them soon, she thought. She smiled to herself as she flew towards Ponyville.
Steelhoof trotted back to the river he passed earlier, and without hesitation, plunged his head in. the water turned brown for a moment, as he shook the mud out of his hair and mouth. The strange feeling in the back of his mind was much more prominent now, and had grown during his time with Rainbow dash. He was starting to think that it was more than just suppressed memories.
A.N: Yeah, I know I'm taking a while with this... Thing is, you see... that I have a confession to make - This isn't the first time I've released this story. I first wrote this about a year ago on fanfiction.net, and have only just decided to make the decision to release it here. But in doing this, I realised how poorly it was written back then. So, I'm rewriting it to the best of my ability! The reason, therefore, that I'm tking so long, is that I'm working on the third volume on fanfiction.net, which is also eating into my writing time... So sorry about that!
Rainbow dash trotted into Ponyville, a small smile on her face, and her mind on her new friend. She had to admit, his appearance had… unnerved her at first, but she had to admit it was pretty cool. Not what she’d normally consider cool, but she hadn’t really thought about the idea of a robot pony since she was a filly. She wondered how many robot ponies there were out there. They weren’t in any novels that she’d read, so there probably weren’t many. She’d have to ask Twilight about that one. She knew all sorts of weird stuff like that…
But right now, she needed some fast and filling food. And she knew just the mare to help her out. As an athlete, she wasn’t usually one to go for sweets and cakes, but everypony had to treat themselves on occasion. Besides, how often was it that she made a new friend?
At this, Rainbow faltered slightly, a puzzled expression gracing her features. Actually, when was the last time I made a new friend? She thought to herself with a frown. Of course, she had friends, she was Rainbow dash! Since she moved to Cloudsdale, she hadn’t stopped making friends. But since she started spending most of her time in Ponyville, the list had started to dry up.
She shook her head, freeing her mind of such stupid thoughts. Why would she, the Rainbow Dash, need to doubt herself? If ponies didn’t want to make friends with her, that was their choice and not hers. And besides, that Steelhoof pony went right up to her before he talked to anypony else. Even Pinkie pie! Only the best ponies of all came and saw her before Pinkie. It was practically her job to greet new ponies to the town.
Granted, he hadn’t actually met anypony in the town yet, but that was by the by.
With a small, swift flap of her wings, she rose up into the air, gracefully floating over the heads of passers-by. Nopony even batted an eyelid as she soared over them, long used to the technicolour weatherpony zipping about town. In the distance, amid the thatch roofed buildings, she could see the familiar, frosted sight of Sugarcube corner. Not exactly the place for the most healthy meal, but the food there was tasty and pretty filling, if you knew how to spend your bits right.
After a brief moment’s flying, she was circling lazily over the confectionary. Riding on the warm breeze, she drifted slowly downwards in a gentle arc that let her touch down flawlessly on the roof just above the front door. As she instinctively flourished, puffing out her chest and flicking her mane with a grin, the door opened with a tinkle, and four ponies trotted out. Curiously, the rainbow-maned mare peered over, watching them as they left.
The well-respected Mr Cake was there, along with his wife, Mrs Cake, who was facing the door. Milling around by the pair’s hooves were Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake, colt and filly, grinning as they chatted amongst themselves quietly. The watchful pegasus smiled to herself as she remembered how dismally Pinkie had failed in looking after them when they were still babies.
“Now, Pinkie,” Rainbow heard Mrs Cake say slowly, her unusual pink mane bobbing slightly as she spoke. “Are you sure you can look after Sugarcube corner while we’re gone?”
“Oh, come on, Mrs Cake! It’s only for half an hour… What’s the worst that could happen?” Pinkie’s familiar, loud voice boomed out of the building, and her enormous poofy mane appeared in the doorway.
“I don’t want to think about what you could do in that time, dear…” Mrs Cake replied, a little more quietly.
“You say that every time! I’ve been doing this for months now! I think you can let me look after the place without the speech by now…” Pinkie complained, and Rainbow could almost see the cuddly pink pony’s pleading expression in her mind’s eye.
What she could certainly see, however, was Mrs Cake pursing her lips for a moment, as if debating whether or not this was entirely a safe idea. After a good couple of seconds, she sighed.
“Alright, Pinkie, just… Be careful, okay?”
“Don’t worry, Mr and Mrs C!” Pinkie cried, saluting. “Careful is my middle name! Well… Actually, it’s Diane, but I think careful might be my other middle name! It’s just nopony ever told me about it, ‘cos-”
The party pony paused for a moment, realising that The Cakes had taken that moment to disappear as fast as they cold without making a scene. Rainbow gave a slight smirk as she watched Pinkie vanish back inside the cake-themed building. She waited a moment before hopping down, landing lightly with practiced ease before the front door. A lot had changed in just those few short years, and it was weird. A lot of her friends really hadn’t changed. AJ was still working down at the farm, hard as ever, bringing apples all over the area in much the same way as before. Rarity had made a few important Canterlot friends, and she visited every so often, but she still based everything in Ponyville and claimed she wouldn’t ever want to leave, although both Rainbow and Applejack had shared their doubts a number of times when she was gone a day or two longer than expected. Twilight had all but finished her studies on friendship, and was beginning to tie things together and come to some pretty conclusive points, or so she claimed. Luckily, she had made the decision to stay permanently in the library, and things there weren’t about to change. Spike was about an inch taller than before, but other than that, he was exactly the same. Apparently, he wouldn’t get his first growth spurt for a few years yet. Pinkie still lived in Sugarcube corner, and although she had a little more authority than she used to, the Cakes clearly didn’t trust her with much.
And as for Fluttershy? Well, things never really changed much in that little cottage of hers, cut off from the rest of town. It was like a timeless area of peace and quiet. Not really Rainbow’s thing, but nice enough in its way.
Smiling, she pushed open the door. Pinkie stood at the far end of the room, behind the counter. She had her forehooves resting on either side of the cash register which sat on the glass display cabinet that was full of various cupcakes and delicious treats. Through it, Rainbow could see the yellow and blue floral apron that she was wearing. The room was largely empty, being far too late for the breakfast crowd, and too early for the lunchtime rush that would fill the whole room shortly after the Cakes were set to return.
The very second that the Pink party pony saw Rainbow, she broke into a huge grin, and leapt over the counter, startling the few ponies sitting at nearby tables.
“Dashie!” She squealed, galloping over to her. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”
“Ages, Pinkie?” She laughed, incredulously. “I saw you two days ago! It was somepony’s birthday!” She couldn’t really remember who it was who had a birthday, and she didn’t think that they knew her much, either. But, being a Pinkie party, she was invited.
“Yeah, but two days is ages! Some critters and creepy crawlies don’t even live that long!”
“Really?” Rainbow said, surprised. The lifespan of other animals had never really crossed her mind, aside from things like pets. “I mean, that’s not the point, Pinkie. Do you wanna follow me around the whole time or somethin’?”
“Well, you are pretty fun to hang around with…” Pinkie said, tapping her chin thoughtfully, as if she was actually contemplating the situation. “Buuuuut, I can’t fly, can I? Plus, I’d never get anything done! So sorry Dashie, but I’m gonna have to decline…”
“I was being sarcastic, Pinkie…” She said, cuffing the energetic pony gently as she trotted past her, heading for the counter. Pinkie turned quickly, trotting alongside her.
“So, what brings you here then? You don’t visit the corner that often…”
“Well, unsurprisingly, I’m here for some lunch. It is a café-type thing here, you know.”
“I’d say it was more of a sit-in confectionary, really. And besides, I think you’re thinking of brunch, at this time.” Pinkie said helpfully, in that way that was just sincere enough not to be infuriating.
“Huh? What time is it?”
“It’s about ten past eleven, silly!” Pinkie said, beaming.
“What? That can’t be right… She said, her eyes drifting over to the clock. Unsurprisingly, Pinkie was right. She scowled.
“How can it be so early? It felt so much later…” She complained.
“Well, I don’t know, do I? I can’t read minds… But aren’t you usually asleep at this hour?” Pinkie chirped, her head cocked to one side.
“Hey, you’re right. That’s weird.” Most days, when she didn’t need to work, she rarely got up before noon. Something must have woken her up, meaning that she got some training in before she met Applejack.
Seeing that Pinkie was still staring at her with the same expression, she shrugged.
“Somethin’ must have woken me up, I guess.” She said simply.
“Okey dokey lokey!” Pinkie said with a little jump. “What can I get you for brunch then?”
“Oh, I dunno.” She said vaguely, waving her hoof. What do you have?”
“Oh, all sorts! Lik-” Suddenly, she found Rainbow’s hoof in her mouth, and it became much harder to speak.
“Okay, let me rephrase that. What would you recommend?” She said slowly and clearly.
“Mmph!” Pinkie said with big eyes.
“O-oh. Right.” Rainbow took her hoof away from her friend’s mouth gently, dropping it to the ground.
“Well, that’s easy. Would you like a slice of cherry pie? Straight out the oven…” She added invitingly, raising her eyebrows.
“Sure, that sounds pretty good.” The cyan-coated mare said, her smile returning. Pinkie pie grinned in return, and headed toward the counter, which stood between the seating area and the kitchen, from which the greatest smells could be smelt at all hours.
“Say, you sound ever so pleased this morning, Dashie!” Pinkie said as she hopped back over the counter and into the kitchen. “Something good happen?”
“What? Oh, nothing special…” Rainbow said with a smile as Pinkie returned with her order. “I just, uh… Met somepony this morning…” She replied, feigning disinterest.
“Really?” Suddenly, Pinkie was mere inches away, the generous slice of pie still balanced on one forehoof. “Anypony I know?” Usually, this was something of a given, as Pinkie knew just about everypony in town, and in the surrounding areas as well.
“Nope.” Rainbow said smugly, taking the plate of pie out of her friend’s hooves. “He only arrived this morning, and he came to see me first.
“What?” Pinkie gasped, her face pressed up against that of the polychromatic mare. “He didn’t come to see me? I greet everypony, Dash! Why didn’t you bring him here?”
“Hey, hey…” Rainbow said, taking a couple steps back, her wings flared slightly. “All in due course… Now, how much is this?” She said, putting the pie between herself and the (slightly) scary pink party pony.
“I, uh…” Pinkie stammered as the subject changed. “Three bits, please.”
Rainbow produced the coins and slid them across the smooth, green floor. “Thanks, PP.” She said with a grin.
“No problem! Now, could you please tell me where your friend lives? I wanna meet him…” She pleaded, her bottom lip shaking.
“Like I said, all in due course, Pinkie. I’ll drop the plate in through the window later, ‘kay?”
“What?” She heard Pinkie cry as she turned away toward the door. “C-come back!”
“Later, Pinks!” And with that, Rainbow spread her wings, shooting out of the door with the pie in her hoof. She shot up into the air and settled for a moment on the roof closest to Sugarcube corner, putting the plate down on the apex and lying down on the soft thatch, her hind leg hanging loosely over the edge. For once, she wasn’t really worried about Pinkie trying to pursue her. She was in charge of the shop, and regardless of whether or not there were any customers, she wouldn’t leave the shop alone for a heartbeat. In that respect at least, she was getting a lot more responsible with the place.
Hungrily, she tucked into the pie, smiling as the hot filling ran down her throat delightfully. Pinkie had chosen well. Cherry wasn’t her favourite pie, but as of today, it had to be in the top three.
After a few minutes, the plate lay empty before her, and she let out a small burp, wiping her pie-covered muzzle with her forehoof, before shaking the crumbs out of her fur. She glanced quickly up at the sky, checking the vague position of the sun. It was a good few seconds before Rainbow realised that she couldn’t much tell the time from the sun, aside for morning and afternoon. She could do day and night too, but that was easy. But she probably still had ages before Steelhoof would get impatient.
Like a professional, she grabbed the plate between her teeth and hopped down off the roof, landing perfectly on all four hooves. Strutting a little, she started making her way over to the huge old tree that made up the residence of Ponyville’s resident genius and universal expert on all things academic, Twilight Sparkle. The tree was in full summer swing, and the foliage was thick and bright green, a familiar but welcome sight in the town’s backdrop.
Smiling to herself, she trotted a little faster, making a beeline for the library. After all, who could be better to brag about a robot pony than the studious scientist? I bet she’s never met a robot pony. She thought, her smile becoming one of smugness. It wasn’t often that she got to one-up her book-worm friend.
Without knocking, she trotted up to and pushed open the front door, setting the plate down unceremoniously outside the front door. The first thing that she noticed was a tired and grumpy-looking Spike trudging across the room, picking up various books that were, for some reason, all over the floor and trying to replace them in their original position. Not wanting to disturb the young dragon from his business, she slipped inside and closed the door quietly behind her. However, as soon as the door closed behind her, she had an idea. It wasn’t a great idea, or even a particularly useful idea. But it would be a pretty funny idea, or certainly from perspective at least.
Suppressing a snigger, she trotted up behind the baby dragon, who was stacking books in a shelf that faced the door, meaning that he was completely unaware of the vibrant pegasus’ presence. With surprising stealth, she approached him, listening to him grumble to himself quietly as he strained upward, desperately trying to slide a book between two others, both of which were just too high for him to reach. Before long, she was about a foot behind him, and she stopped, crouching.
“BOO!” She shouted, jumping a little into the air as she did so.
Spike, on the other hoof, leapt about a foot, screaming. Accompanying his rather unmanly cry came a bust of green fire, engulfing the book that he was holding and blinking it out of existence. He landed on his back, sliding so that he was facing up at Rainbow, who was biting her lip and trying not to laugh.
After about a second of silence, she failed, cracking up and rolling away onto her own back, holding her sides.
Twilight, who had apparently heard the commotion, appeared at the top of the stairs, frowning at the technicolour mare lying on the floor.
“Rainbow? Look, as much as I like your visits, could you please refrain from distracting my assistant? We’re doing some pretty important restacking here, and I’m behind on my studies.”
Rainbow slowly rolled to her hooves, shuffling her wings a little to realign them on her back. Wiping a tear of mirth from her eye, she smiled warmly up at her bookworm friend.
“Studies? I thought you were finished with all that stuff…” She said slowly, hopping over an open book as she stepped away from Spike, who was looking about himself worriedly.
“What? Oh, no, there will always be things for me to learn.” She said humbly. “But I have all but finished the research I did on my personal circle of friends. What I need to start on now is advanced extended friends theorem.”
“Advanced what?” Rainbow said curiously, looking away from the frantic dragon.
“Friends of friends, Rainbow.” The purple mare replied, trotting down the stairs from her bedroom.
“Why couldn’t you have just said that?” Rainbow asked with a small flick of her tail.
“Things have to be explained properly, Rainbow.” Twilight said carefully. “To avoid confusion.”
“Oh yeah, that avoided a ton of-”
“Uh, Twilight?” Spike said quietly, breaking the conversation.
“What is it, Spike?”
“I’ve uh… You know that book about divination?”
“Well, of course I do. I read it just last month.” Twilight replied matter-of-factly.
“I might have just… Sent it to the princess.” Spike winced, looking away.
“You what?"Twilight almost shouted, her face suddenly inches from his. Fearing for the sanity of her friend, Rainbow scooted away quickly.
“I-I didn’t mean to!” Spike cried. “She made me jump and it just happened!”
“Oh, sweet Celestia…” Twilight murmured, pacing back and forth. “We’re supposed to be an efficient team here, Spike! We can’t just be sending things willy nilly all over the place! What will the princesses think?”
“Uh, Twi?” Rainbow interjected quietly, her hoof raised in protest. “Don’t you think you’re-”
“I mean, really Spike! I’m stressed right now, and this really isn’t helping!”
“I-if… If it’s any better… I might have just incinerated it instead…” Spike mumbled, starting to sweat nervously.
“Better? That’s worse!"Twilight cried, flailing her forehooves in the air. “I’m a librarian! I can’t just… Just…”
“Come on, Twi… It wasn’t his fault… I did it…” Rainbow stepped in, placing her hoof on the frantic mare’s shoulder.
As if by magic, this seemed to switch off the inner crazy within the lavender mane mare, and she stopped, breathing deeply for a moment.
“Yeah… You’re right. Sorry, Spike. I’m just under a lot of pressure right now, what with this assignment and all…” She mumbled, looking more than a little embarrassed.
“N’aww, that’s okay. We know you’re a little crazy at heart…” the cyan coated mare said, giving her a light cuff on the shoulder.
“Laugh it off, Rainbow. You’re never under any pressure.”
“What?” She said indignantly, flaring her wings a little. “I’ve got a Wonderbolt audition in a few months!”
“A few months? Come on, Dash. We know how you live. That’s a lifetime for you…”
“Psh, Whatever.” Rainbow said dismissively, looking away and prodding at a book with her hoof.
“Well, never mind all that. You… don’t have any time to give us a helping hoof here, do you?”
“I don’t know, Twi. I’ve got a really busy schedule…”
“Oh, come on. Please?” Twilight asked, drooping her ears and sticking out her bottom lip.
“Oh, come on, Twi… I can’t…”
Twilight stared at her, her eyes huge and pleading.
Exasperated, Rainbow gave a frustrated sigh. “Fine, I’ll help you tidy up for a little bit.”
“You will? Oh, thank you!” Twilight cried, beaming once more.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s only ‘cos I owe you for doing something to that book of yours.”
“Well nevertheless, it’s still ever so good of you. I take it you know how to organise these books?”
“Uh, sure.” She said uncertainly, picking one up and looking it over. “How hard can it be, right?”
“That’s the spirit!” The studious unicorn beamed, levitating a few books with her horn.
About ten minutes later, Rainbow could feel herself starting to reach breaking point. For the first time, she realised the sort of patience that Spike had to put up with this kind of thing for a day, let alone years. She knew that she didn’t have that kind of patience.
“No no no, Rainbow!” Twilight scolded her for what felt like the umpteenth time. She could feel her eye twitch slightly, and she tried to slow her breathing.
“What is it this time, Twi?”
“Biographies and autobiographies are arranged in alphabetical order according to author, not title!”
“Why the hay is that? All these other stupid books aren’t!” She bit back, just short of a shout.
“Because ponies look for the pony writing the biography, not what it’s called.” Twilight stated with irritating slowness.
That was the final straw. If she didn’t get in what she came for right now, she was going to leave. Scowling, she stalked back to the bookshelf, taking out whatever books that she could remember placing and trying to find new homes for them.
“Hey Twi… I’ve got a question.” She said slowly, not giving anything away.
“Really? I did wonder why you came in here… The next Daring do release isn’t for at least another month.”
“Hey! I visit for other reasons too!” She snapped, before catching herself. “Well, I do have a question. It’s all about robots and stuff.”
“Robots and stuff?” Twilight turned to her, cocking her head slightly to one side. “That’s a pretty unusual topic from you. I didn’t know you were interested.”
“Well, normally I’m not, but…” She paused for a moment, trying to come up with an excuse. “It just crossed my mind a few days ago, and I started wondering… Is it possible for a pony to have a robot body or something?”
“A robot… body?” Twilight replied sceptically. “You have some strange thoughts, Rainbow. But… to be honest, I don’t know the answer… We do have some basic prosthetics and stuff should a pony loose a limb, but most organic functions are waaay out of our technological range.”
Dead wrong, Twi… Rainbow thought to herself with a small smirk. But the lavender coated mare didn’t notice. She was already in full librarian mode, and was trotting across the room, mumbling to herself.
“Well, Rainbow…” She finally answered again, dragging a huge book out of the shelves with her magic. “I know that nopony in Equestria have that sort of technology, but these ponies might.”
And with that, she slapped the massive tome down on the floor before her. On the faded cover read the words: Arcaeni Automatons and Mechanical Designs.
“What… What the hay is an Arcaeni?” She asked, prodding at the worn golden lettering.
“Oh, the Arcaeni are a long-extinct subspecies of unicorn! They died out nearly three thousand years ago, but their technology is still almost totally beyond our understanding. This book is most of the more simple stuff…”
“Simple stuff?” Rainbow said incredulously, raising an eyebrow. “There’s gotta be at least two thousand pages in this thing!”
“Two thousand, three hundred and eighteen, actually…” Twilight mumbled in response, almost ashamed of the pointless knowledge. “B-but regardless, it’s a great read if you’re interested in robotics… It’s even got a lot of references and passages by Aurora!”
The colourful mare, even though she was long used to not understanding her well-read friend, still felt the compulsion to ask. “Okay, who’s she?” She asked with a sigh.
“Oh, just one of the world’s greatest field scientists. She’s something of an expert in this field, and I think you’ll like her. A lot of ponies claim that she’s the real-world inspiration for Daring do!”
“Really?” That did pique her interest a little. “That’s pretty cool.”
“I knew you’d think so!” Twilight pushed the book closer to the reluctant pegasus with her magic. “I really advise you to check it out.”
“Oh, alright…” Said Rainbow, who had precisely zero interest in reading it.
“Wonderful! It’ll answer any questions you’ll have much better than anypony around here could.”
“Well, that’s great I guess, but I really must be going.” She said evasively, hefting the enormous tome up onto her back, more to be polite than anything else. She felt a little annoyed that her attempt at a quick brag had ended up with the purple genius lumping her with a book for the next few days. But she did have one last plan.
“Going? But you only just got here…” She complained in response.
“Yeah, well… I promised a new friend of mine that I’d meet him this afternoon.” She admitted truthfully.
“Really? A new friend? Oh, that’s marvellous news for my research. You’ll have to introduce me to him soon.”
“Oh, I will…” Rainbow replied, opening her wings slightly to stabilise the book as she headed for the door. “But one last thing, before I go.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“Well… Just curious, but have you ever been wrong before? Like, properly wrong?”
“Well… Of course I have. Everypony has at some point in their lives.” Twilight said frowning, a little confused.
“In that case, you’re gonna have to add to those mistakes soon…” She said slyly.
“Really? Why’s that?” Twilight took a step forward. If there was one thing about Twilight, it was that she couldn’t bear to be left in the dark.
“Ah, you’ll find out in a couple days.” Rainbow said dismissively, waving a hoof. “Bye guys!” And with that, she was out the door, letting it close just as Twilight’s voice tried to stop her in her tracks. She sighed, taking a look at the sky once more. She still didn’t have much of an idea of the time, but it looked suspiciously close to noon. Bending down, she grabbed the plate between her teeth again, and started making her way toward the confectionary, her various new possessions in tow. She knew that she didn’t have to worry about leaving the plate outside the library, as there was pretty much never any theft or vandalism in the small town. And even if there was, a plate wasn’t really worth stealing, despite its rather attractive decorations, as per the standard sugarcube procedure. Even if, somehow, you weren’t a fan of the delicious desserts, you had to concede that customer service was great.
That thought on her mind for a moment, she cantered quickly down the road, largely ignoring the ponies around. She was just starting to feel just the tiniest bit guilty for just leaving Steelhoof by himself for so long. Picking up the pace a little, but not so much as to dislodge the collosal waste of paper weighing her down, she hastened over to the iconic building.
With a careful heave, she pushed open the front door, which once again opened with the same cheery tinkle. Judging by the large queue, and the general frantic sounds coming from the kitchen, Rainbow quickly deduced that the Cakes had yet to return, and that Pinkie was having a little trouble with the pre-lunch crowd. With a sigh, she trotted past the queue, who barely batted an eyelid as she did so. Being such a long-time friend of the bubbly baker meant that nopony really noticed when she cut the line.
Without hesitation, she trotted past the counter and into the kitchen. Gummy, the still-toothless baby crocodile stood in the middle of the miniature cooking tornado that was the magenta mare who was, at present, hurtling around at speeds even Rainbow Dash herself would consider to be unnecessary. Frowning, she set the plate down before her.
“Hey! Pinks!” She called out over the clattering of pots and pans that accompanied the party pony’s every move.
“Hmm?” Pinkie said, screeching to an abrupt halt, her mane taking a second or two to catch up. Then, she noticed the vibrant mare standing, the plate at her hooves. “Dashie!” She cired, zooming up to her. “Have you come here to introduce me to that new friend of yours?” She looked over Rainbow’s shoulder. “Ooh! Is he a book?” She asked, still smiling.
“What? Pinkie, my friend isn’t a book…” She said calmly, shaking her head. “I just came back here to give this plate back, and I need someplace to put this book for the time being. Can I dump it someplace in the kitchen?”
“Huh? Oh, sure! Just put it over there!” Pinkie said, waving her hoof in the general direction of the nearest corner.
“Thanks, Pinks.” Rainbow replied, nodding gratefully and making her way over to the corner. “I couldn’t just go and talk to my newest friend with a book this size weighing me down…”
“Wait, you’re going to see your new friend now?"
Rats.
“Uh, yeah…” She said, putting the heavy old book down carefully on the counter. “What of it?”
“Now I can follow you and find out who he is!” She beamed, a devious look in her eyes.
Rainbow frowned. “Uhh, Pinkie? Customers.”
“Oh! By Celestia, silly me!” She giggled. “Well, I’ll just have to hunt you two down later!”
“Yeah, good luck with that…” Rainbow murmured. Nopony knew where she practiced, not even Pinkie, who seemed to know a lot of things that, by all rights, she shouldn’t even know of, let alone about. “Well, it’s been nice catching up, but I’ve gotta head out. Places to be, ponies to see, you know?”
“Well, in your case, just the one pony to see, but okey dokey!” Pinkie said cheerfully, but ever so slightly less happily than before.
“Uhuh!” Rainbow said with a nod. “Have fun at work!” And with that she left again, flapping her wings broadly and powering herself out of the nearest window. Without looking back, she shot toward the distant meadow, the wind ruffling delightfully through her mane as she soared through the sky, her wings pumping. It was no secret that she adored the sensation of flying. The speed, the wind, the adrenaline pumping through her veins… It was unbeatable.
With practiced ease, she swooped upward, angling herself quickly away from the ground. In seconds, she was far above the town, and closing in quickly on the meadow, far beneath her. Then, with fluid grace, she angled even more, looping all the way over and piercing straight through the technicolour trail that she left behind her as she flew. Now facing downward, she closed her wings, narrowing her eyes and licking her lips in anticipation as the ground came ever closer. Then, at the last moment, her wigs snapped open, and she flapped furiously, levelling out for a moment before pulling up sharply, the air currents that she had created whipping through the mix of grass and wildflowers, pulling up any leaves and petals that were loose and sending them fluttering through the air on the little eddies of dispersing wind. Smiling to herself, she touched down, her feathers just a little more ruffled than usual as she folded them against her back. The second she was down on the ground, she strutted over to the massive stallion gleaming in the sunlight.
Steelhoof was almost exactly where Rainbow dash had left him, lying down next to the riverbank, using the sun to dry himself off. His hide shone in the sunlight, and she smiled to herself as he stirred at the sound of her wings.
“So… what do you wanna do now?
00000000
The pair was sitting on the crest of a small hill, overlooking the sun as it set over the everfree forest. Rainbow Dash leant against the shoulder of her new friend, sharing a moment’s silence after a busy and exciting day. Taking her eyes off of the sky for a moment, she turned to Steelhoof.
“Hey Steel, how come your eyes are green? I swear they were yellow before.”
“I… I don’t know.” He said, sounding a little mystified.
“What do you mean? They’re your eyes.”
“Well, they’ve never been green before.”
“How come they change in the first place?” Rainbow dash asked.
“I don’t know why, but apparently, they change with my emotions.” He explained, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Sort of like… A mood ring or something. Normally, they’re yellow, but they tend to get redder when I’m angry, and they go a sort of bluey colour when I’m sad.”
“I… see. Well, what about happy, and stuff like that?”
“I don’t know, really…” He murmured, turning back to the sky. I can’t realty remember the last time I was happy…”
Rainbow dash stared blankly at the metal pony, horrified at the thought of never being happy. She couldn’t remember the last time she was unhappy, at least for a long period of time.
“Well,” Steelhoof said, breaking her chain of thought. “I think we can safely say that green is probably a good colour…” He turned and smiled at her, his metal skin given an orange glow by the setting sun, and she smiled back, lost in the moment.
Then the sun set, and they were bathed in a cool, blue darkness.
“I guess I better get going.” Rainbow said at last. “See you tomorrow, right?”
“Sure. Meet you here?”
“You know it!”
“Okay then, g’night Rainbow!”
“’Night, Steel!” She threw herself into the sky, a huge smile on her face as she thought about the things they could do tomorrow. The whole summer seemed to stretch out before her, full of endless ways to enjoy the metal colt’s company.
