//------------------------------//
// New friends 
// Story: Steelhoof: The life I lead 
// by basalisk120 
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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!