Author's Note

This is a continuation of the previous chapter we'd written some years ago, in the mean time we'd been toying with the idea of expanding on the setting and developing a short plot for this, meant to include some intrigue and of course more sex. We've been pretty excited to resume work on this and hope you enjoy where we take this.

Chapter 2: Caravan to Lost Hope

Steel sighed and set her pencil down on the table in the observation deck. An hour of cleaning up and rewriting of notes had left her more tired than usual, though that was unsurprising considering the way the "mare's" recent orgasm had drained her.

Coin Toss had, after all, left Silk to go and take her bath, Steel had briefly lost sight of her as she left the room but she very quickly reappeared in the bathroom on the other side of the observation deck. Steel turned her attention off of the sleeping Silk Tongue to quietly watch Coin. Her body was cooled off and her lusts slaked, this time she would have some semblance of self control even if Coin did, after what seemed like very satisfying sex, decide to pursue a little more fun on her own.

The voluptuous mare closed the door behind herself, she seemed more used to the unusual grandeur of the house, but even so she scraped a hoof over the cool tiling of the bathroom, almost as if in disbelief. Then she noticed the 'mirror' that dominated the side of the bathroom nearest to Steel. Green eyes gazed curiously at Steel. Well, she was looking at the mirror, but her intense stare made the titan feel as if she may just see right through the façade. She eventually relented and turned her attention to the bath tub; if not the only, it was definitely the largest she'd ever seen in tact.

Steel's interest in her half faded as she scribbled the last of her private observations into the notepad. Steel's mouth worked somewhat excitedly, detailing her perversions for later perusal. A mare got lonely, writing and masturbation were two appropriate hobbies for somepony posted outside the close-knit living of a bunker. It was true that she was meant to be studying the ponies and creatures she so graciously hosted, but in the absence of data, no ranger back home, scribe, paladin or elder would question how she otherwise passed the time. Especially if she never told them and they would never find out.

The sound of running water drew Steel's eyes back up to Coin Toss. She ran a somewhat dusty hoof through the pouring water and withdrew it sharply, her face twisted into one of exaggerated pain and confusion. Steel smiled around an awkwardly mouth-gripped pencil as Coin Toss kissed herself better. Steel found her reaction oddly adorable, a kiss certainly wouldn't alleviate any pain from the scalding water and yet she seemed to find some relief in it. She tapped cold water into the bath as the room steamed up. Steel grumbled softly to herself as her view fogged up and the pretty little mare became an obscure blur beyond a pane of one-way glass. Steel could only make out an idea of her form as she slid into the bathtub, her chestnut colored coat dipped out of view beneath the brim of the tub. She was about done anyway.

Steel's little observation deck had two ways in and out, both as discrete as the Rangers could construct. Powered suits of armor may not have seemed subtle, but the genius of the Steel Rangers knew no limit and for all their bombastic action they were exceedingly capable when it came to more covert operations. Truth be told, Steel was convinced at first that it was some cruel punishment that she had been sent to this post, but several weeks and the interesting company of ponies passing through had somewhat warmed her to her awful fate.

Steel reached into her saddle packs, slipped on a set of cloth hoof wraps and put away her notes before setting off for the second door in the observation deck, one that would lead directly to her private abode. The door slid silently across as she pushed, fresh bearings and well fitted paneling barely even whispered as the door glided open and she stood facing the inside of a small vault that remained open in her home. Steel dipped her head and stepped through, crossing the threshold directly into her workshop and closing the door behind herself.

The unfairness of Steel's assignment sank in as soon as her eyes adjusted to the barely lit gloom of her real home. She hadn't been afforded the incredible luxury of the reconstruction, her home had still been constructed like a makeshift bunker; cold stone floors, cold stone inner walls and a scrap metal-walled lobby all sucked the joy of the old world right back out of her. Still, it was sturdier than most shacks throughout the wastes and even a cheap Steel Ranger installation could be quite homey with some care. Steel sighed, not defeated but definitely deflated.

One thing that did help to soothe her was the fact that she'd been allowed access to a database containing a good number of technical manuals. It felt a little like she'd been re-tasked as a scribe, but Elder Shortbread and Star Paladin Heavy Set had assured her it was a temporary posting to assess her after her last... Foul up. Regardless, Steel had always taken an interest in keeping her mind active and staying a step ahead of her fellow Rangers, she smirked and entertained the thought that she might know more than most of their scribes. Though, as tempting as pouring over technical data sounded, she still had work to do. Steel dropped her saddlebags beside her bed and donned her battle-saddle as she had every evening; She'd almost become a nocturnal pony, having to keep watch over the Sanctuary. The only way to get good sleep was to get it at first light and wake in the mid afternoon as the last rays of what ponies somehow called sunlight were chased by growing shadows. Then a knock came at the door of Steel's bunker.

"Steel? Are you in there?" His voice came steadily, inquisitively, maybe a little impishly.

"I'll be right out!" She called back as she hurried along with belts of ammunition.

True to her word, she barely kept the stallion waiting, though her countenance must've soured visibly because as soon as he got a good look at her he put on a wounded expression. "Aw what's wrong, Steel? I thought you'd be happy for some company!" the charcoal coated earth pony's face curled into a beaming grin. It was unflattering on such a scarred and naturally angry-looking stallion.

"The Sanctuary is always open, even to the likes of you, Metalscrap." Steel replied, giving him her most gracious smile. Metalscrap was one of the ponies who'd been hired from Lost Hope to help build Sanctuary, he wasn't a bad pony and as far as anyone knew he was a raider well on his way to recovery, but as reformed as he was, ponies around him always seemed to be slightly less fortunate than usual. Still, he wasn't an obvious threat and the ponies in town liked him well enough. His wasn't the worst company to be had, even if he normally stopped by the Sanctuary only after causing enough mischief with his teacher, which led to Steel's obvious next question, "Though one of these days you're going to have to stop getting on poor old Aurum's nerves, he's about ready to have a heart attack if he so much as sneezes too hard. What have you done this time?"

Metalscrap shrugged and stepped aside, slinging a pistol from his barding to his shoulder, ready to join Steel on watch. "Can't a stallion just sneak away to admire a divine example of heroic equinity in his own back yard?" he shut the bunker door behind her and walked beside as she moved on.

"Why yes, surely. Let me know when you find her," Steel snorted.

"Found her."

"Metalscrap, that was your cue to leave, don't you have a job to do in the morning? If you don't need shelter-"

From the corner of her eye Steel caught a panicked look that vanished as soon as it'd appeared. "Okay whoa, hold on there, some scrap may have gone missing and there may have been a few quotas not met for the month which we might have got into an argument about... I'll go back as soon as Goldie calms down some."

Part of Steel suspected he was lying. "There are ponies inside, main bedroom and barracks. Be quiet on your way in." She'd expected him to rush inside for warmth as soon as she relented, but he gave her a pleading look and kept step with the giantess, "What is it, Scrap? I'm supposed to be keeping an eye out for brigands, I don't have time for your games."

Metalscrap stopped walking. Steel frowned and took several steps forward, not wanting to stop for him. He'd stopped by Sanctuary several times since it was built and stayed longer in total than any other pony had. He always caught her in the evening while she was on watch and always joined her and pestered her until she'd allow him to stay at Sanctuary, after which he usually scampered off into the home and treated himself to a short vacation from Lost Hope and his troubles; Metalscrap was like an addict searching for his own escape in the poisons he chose, but like all addicts it seemed that he needed more each time. Something inside Steel gave and she stopped and turned around to look back at him.

Metalscrap was shivering, the night had become icy and snow was starting to fall once more, Steel watched him with growing concern as he stood silently in the dark. Almost a minute passed without either of them saying a word, "Need some help?" Metalscrap eventually said. "With Sanctuary I mean." in the dark, Steel couldn't place the look on his face, but he seemed nervous and the way his voice cracked she couldn't discern his expression as anything but uneasy. She half rolled her eyes, tapping the ground beside her with a hoof.

"You think you could help me?" Steel asked.

"Well I know you get lonely out here. Why not? I could help you look after the house, I'm real useful with both a wrench and a gun," he started listing off all the ways he thought he could help, but none of them, save for company, would be useful considering the proximity of her fellow Steel Rangers. Of course, ponies like Metalscrap wouldn't have known about Steel's support from or even her affiliation with the Rangers. "C'mon Steel, give it a shot, let me take over watch now and then or something. Wouldn't you like to get a good night's sleep?"

"Lonely? Ponies pass through here regularly, I've all the company I could ask for. You can stay here a few days until you have to move on, Lost Hope won't build itself to any fame if its ponies are dodging work or causing trouble."

Metalscrap frowned, "Or maybe it'll get better if we can get more ponies passing through Sanctuary to get there in the first place." he said, Steel could almost hear the gears in his head grinding.

"No! Oh no! No we can't have too many more ponies passing through, there's only so much space." Steel quickly replied. He just looked confused as they rounded the corner and stepped under an awning beside the porch of the main building, covered only partially on its one side.

"I thought you were helping ponies here, why does getting a little bigger sound so awful you need to say no three times?"

Steel cleared her throat and sat down, "There's more to it than just helping ponies and as absolutely charming as you are, you're as troublesome as you are insistent." Steel shook a loose saddle bag from her back and began rooting through its contents, but by the time she'd found her lighter Metalscrap had already whipped one from his shoulder sling and was setting kindling into the fire pit. He lit the scraps of dry grass and sat near as the fire grew to a warming, bright blaze. "And you'd have to give up whatever chems you're on anyway," Steel offered with a mildly annoyed snort. His pupils barely reacted to the stabbing light as he stared at her, of course he was high.

"Actually I'm a month clean as of next week," he offered, only mildly offended.

"Willing to take a test then?"

Metalscrap sat proudly upright and placed a hoof to his chest, "Only if you'll eat my ass when I pass it."

His nasty smirk told her he wasn't joking, Steel pretended to gag and his chest deflated a little, "Must you be so raiderish? It's been over a decade, come now, behave like a civilized pony,"

A chill whipped through the awning, bending the campfire low and separating embers that shuffled off in a whirlwind of dying orange sparks. Metalscrap choked and folded in on himself to fight the freezing gust."I c-can show you raiderish, Steel," he chuckled, his breath hitching with each violent shiver.

Steel offered her own laugh back as she stood, towering well above him, "Don't be ridiculous, your efforts would-" he leveled his weapon at her and her steely eyes hardened on him. He smiled, proudly displaying slightly cracked and damaged teeth around the grip of his pistol. Steel reached out steadily and pushed his gun aside, sighing with relief as he chuckled and simply let the thing fall to the floor, "They are NOT toys, idiot, do you know nothing-" And then he charged at her.

His head rammed her chest, getting a good shot between her forelegs, he almost managed to lift her, too, but her reaction came more suddenly than he expected and she simply pressed down on him until her weight and strength forced his chin to the ground, head buried beneath her incredible mass. Muffled cries for mercy, followed by his incessant tapping with a hoof signaled that he had had enough. Steel smirked and reveled in her easy triumph. His body wriggled beneath her, but she drank deep in her victory even as the warmth of the fire, which she'd come dangerously close to sitting on in her maneuver, stabbed through her clothing and saddle at her hide.

Before long, Steel realised that part of her was enjoying it far too much. She shifted uncomfortably atop him and quickly scrambled to her hooves as a certain misplaced masculine element to her anatomy began to stiffen, Metalscrap withdrew at a speed she'd never imagined possible from him, a furious blush on his cheeks and hers. Had he noticed?

"Okay you win. Fire's strong, back to watch you go," He said hurriedly, eyes obviously scanning her undercarriage, as if unsure of what he thought he'd felt. Steel nickered and tossed her mane, walking off to patrol the dilapidated suburbs around the Sanctuary.

"I'm going to take a walk and look around then, there's no need for both of us to be here, you should get some sleep and take second watch. Metalscrap, don't point weapons at ponies, it's dangerous and impolite. Rude. Yes." She stepped quickly, hooves falling hard enough against the floor to make her passage thunderously obvious, Metalscrap didn't reply, but his hoofsteps were more than clear enough to indicate he was rushing up behind her. Steel turned her head to look back and find out why he was charging when his nose pressed right between her hind legs and squeezed firmly against her balls as he searched beneath her clothing. Steel stopped and slammed her rump down on the ground, narrowly missing crushing the stallion's head.

"You're not a mare!" Metalscrap exclaimed in the sort of hushed whispering that got ponies punished during lectures in a Steel Ranger bunker. His voice was accusatory, reprimanding almost, it wasn't a particularly well kept secret that Steel was a hermaphrodite, it wasn't even something that she'd tried desperately to hide from ponies most days, yet his condemning tone and sudden curiosity were enough to have her a little flustered, among other things. Her tail whipped his nose and her head turned at breakneck speed so she could glare at him. He took a worried step back, blue eyes unsure of what part of her to look at.

"What business is it of yours? I most certainly am a mare! I just... just have a little extra!" Steel retorted, unwittingly matching his urgent whispering. He seemed hesitant, but eventually he settled on staring at her rear.

"You... I don't understand, I felt your cock, I know you have balls! How in Celestia's name are you a mare?" His eyes were locked on Steel, judging, accusing, stripping her out of her coverings until she was naked and vulnerable under his steely stare. Steel's stallionhood steadily stiffened under his gaze, throbbing beneath her winter wrappings.

"I'm a hermaphrodite, you dunce!" A vacant expression washed over his face, the illiterate idiot didn't have a clue of what the word meant. "That means I have... erm... parts of both stallion and mare. Are we done with the biology lesson now? Can we please get back to watch? This is not the time or place!" Steel urged. Even when she turned her head she could feel his stare, it didn't help her condition.

He remained silent as he stepped closer. Steel frowned and squirmed as she sat again, trying to keep her erection from being too obvious beneath her clothing. Then his muzzle nudged her flank. Steel stood and knocked him aside with her hips, bowling the smaller stallion over onto his side. His modest wraps weren't nearly enough to hide his growing excitement, Steel rolled her eyes and turned away, then licked her lips as discreetly as possible. "Can I see?" His question came so casually and innocently Steel almost forgot that he had been a raider in days long gone. Bashfully she shook her mane, walking off with her traitorous body refusing to calm itself.

"We're on watch. Stay focused and be grateful I'm allowing you to join me." Steel snapped, mildly annoyed at his brashness. Annoyance met frustration in equal measure, though, part of her did want him to see her, part of her wanted to be with... well, any pony, it'd been a long time since a pony had looked at her that way and been so obvious about it. Mercifully or perhaps unfortunately, he relented. Steel heard him grumble as he went back to the campfire, she saw him lie down beside it just before she rounded a corner and disappeared into the suburbs of old Winsome Falls. Despite being the routine when she had guests, it somehow felt just a little colder and more lonely leaving the only local pony who'd ever offered help without the promise of recompense.

***

Hours had passed. Nothing but the creaking of old architecture and the cackling of long dead voices that echoed on the wind had stirred in the vicinity of the Sanctuary. Steel stared Northward at the lights of Lost hope, tucked low against the side of a mountain many miles away. It seemed so close, looking from the bus she was resting against, but the reality was that it was simply large enough to be seen on the horizon from a distance that seemed never to close no matter how long a pony walked.

Thoughts crept among the cramped corridors of Steel's mind, her next report was due in a few days. Nothing useful was coming from the investment the Steel Rangers had made in Sanctuary, not directly anyway. Steel's eyes wandered down the dilapidated street over rusted vehicles until they rested on the low fence of Sanctuary, there was barely an hour and a half left of darkness. Ponies would be waking soon, moving. Talking. She needed sleep, too, Metalscrap's offer to help seemed quite tempting in her bored and exhausted state, though she'd likely need approval from the Elder. It wouldn't happen. She shrugged, already having dismissed the idea in her head, then rolled to her hooves and walked off on the final leg of her beat. Hooves fell silently, but it wasn't her usual measured pace that kept her movement quiet, it wasn't the whipping of the wind, she'd slowed down enough that her hooves were just about dragging on the ground. She struggled to find reason to keep her chin up and was almost rewarded with a solid smack on the nose when she'd idly wandered too near to a fallen skywagon, saved only by her slow movement. Her nose brushed against cold steel and she recoiled, jolted closer to wakefulness. This was new.

She blinked in the darkness, trying to discern if she'd ever seen this particular wagon before; she'd walked almost the same route every evening for months, she knew it like the backs of her hooves, what was this doing here? It hadn't fallen recently or at any time Steel might have heard it. She flicked a torch from her saddle on and the beam fell over the long decayed vehicle, scanning the ground beneath, this wagon hadn't fallen here at all, despite the crumpled chassis beneath, the road showed no sign of damage that might have come from such a vehicle impacting it; the skywagon had been moved, but by who? She sniffed at the air and suddenly adopted a more guarded stance, illuminating her surroundings with the torch, searching for any signs of life. Nothing to be seen. Steel's breath hitched and then held as her beam fell on carcass after carcass of vehicles that weren't there before, some of them had ponies within, not living, but too near to it to have been dead very long. They might have been mistaken for living ponies had their necks not ended abruptly instead of extending into bodies. Metalscrap's raiderish cackling echoed from somewhere in the distance, somewhere very far away; had he been watching her? Had she somehow not noticed he'd followed her? Was he responsible for... this?

Steel shook her mane and gritted her teeth, if not Metalscrap, it was bound to be raiders or some other denomination of wasteland psychopath, but who would arrange heads in cars, busses, trucks and wagons? What for? And when? There hadn't been a shot fired in the vicinity of Sanctuary in weeks, Steel found herself wondering if Metalscrap was even capable of something like this. Skepticism of his character and his history suggested that he might be, but part of her really hoped he wasn't. Whatever the cause, she got the sense it would reveal itself sooner rather than later.

Steel was considerably unnerved, so when hoofsteps drew near it was only natural that she bit into the bridle that would cycle the weapons on her battle saddle, she stood ready and facing the hoofsteps but when the beam of her torch fell on Metalscrap his eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks, "Easy, friendlies! Remember what you were sayin' about gun safety and all that? Wouldn't wanna be rude now," Metalscrap joked, clearly nervous.

Steel snorted, then spat around a mouth full of metal, "Heavens, no. Not unless I've a reason to use this unsafely against you," with the light of Steel's torch directly in his eyes, Metalscrap couldn't see much of anything in the dark, but panic seeped into his features. He looked ready to run, or to charge. Steel prayed to Celestia she wouldn't have to put him down, but just then it was out of her hooves. "So tell me, raider, do I have reason?"