//------------------------------// // Science Meets Magic // Story: Rise of The Robopony // by Robobrony //------------------------------// Rise of The Robopony Chapter 2: Science Meets Magic The storm over Ponyville had finally let up and all that was left were dark clouds hanging over the town as morning came. Spike was first to wake up, he let out a yawn as he sat up in his little basket and rubbed his eyes after a good night’s sleep. He surveyed the room and saw that every pony was still asleep. He figured he might as well head down stairs to get breakfast started for them, so he quietly made his way through the room, being careful not to wake them up. He reached the door and made his way out, down the stairs, and to the kitchen. But when he got there he was in for a real surprise. There…in the kitchen….was a metal looking pony with a mane and tail that appeared to be made of light. It was going about the kitchen making breakfast already. Spike wasn’t sure what to make of it, so he tried to call out to it. “Umm, excuse me but, who or what are you and why are you in my house making breakfast?” Steele mane turned his attention away from the stove where he was making pancakes for everypony. It seemed he already had at least three plates with four pancakes on each plate ready. He looked at the new face and responded. “Greetings, I am Steele Mane, Twilight Sparkle and the other ponies found me in a forest near here and offered to assist me in regaining some memories I have lost. I thought it only appropriate to make breakfast for them as they are going to assist me. She did not mention anything about a pet lizard.” Spike took offense to that. “LIZARD! Look here pal, I am not a pet lizard, I am a dragon, and Twilight is my big sister! I also happen to be her number one assistant! My name is Spike!” Steele Mane continued to look at Spike as he responded back. “Apologies if I offended you. I have never seen a creature like you before. I meant no offense.” Spike continued with his displeasing look at this new pony. “Well, I guess I can forgive you, but what are you anyway.” Before Steele Mane could answer, Twilight and the others had woken up from Spike’s shouting and came downstairs, Twilight called out to Spike. “Spike what’s with the shouting?” “This new guy here called me a pet lizard. Who is he Twilight, and what’s with that mane and tail?” “Oh, sorry Spike, I was hoping to wake up before you so I could explain.” Twilight then told Spike about the events of last night while Steele mane went back to making the pancakes for every pony. Applejack took notice and asked, “Gosh Steele Mane, I didn’t know you knew how ta cook, where’d ya learn that.” Steel Mane never took his robotic eyes off the stove as he finished three more pancakes as he answered. “From the cook books in the library, I thought it only appropriate to make breakfast as a thank you for your offer of assistance in helping me to regain my lost data.” As he was levitating the utensils and spatula for making the pancakes, a white glow was emitting from the swirl around his metallic horn. Twilight heard this and got curious as to how many books he read. “Steele Mane, how many books did you read last night?” “All of them.” He stated bluntly. Everyone’s jaw dropped open at that statement. Twilight closed one eye as she used a hoof to try and clean out her ear in disbelief. She asked again to make sure what she heard was accurate. “I’m sorry, how many did you say you read?” Steele Mane responded in the same manner. “All of them.” “But……but……that’s IMPOSSIBLE! It took me at least a few months just to get through half of them! How did you do it in a single night?” “I am what you would call a speed reader. I need only glance at a page for a millisecond to get all the information on a page. It takes me about 5.3 seconds to get through one book.” Pinkie was impressed. “WOWIE ZOWIE! That’s some fast reading.” Rarity was in shock at this. “Good heavens.” Rainbow Dash then spoke up. “Wow, and I thought Twilight was an egghead.” Spike was too stunned to say anything as his mouth continued to hang open. Twilight finally found her senses to speak. “Well, I suppose it is possible with you being a robot and all. But, I must say, that is still impressive.” Steele Mane made an announcement. “Breakfast is served.” He then levitated seven plates, each with four pancakes, to the nearby kitchen table so the others could eat. The girls and Spike all gathered around the table and sat down to eat their meal that their new friend made. Fluttershy found the courage to compliment Steele Mane on his cooking after her first bite. “Oh my Steele Mane, these pancakes are really good. You’re a very good cook.” Steele mane just looked at her as he responded. “Thank you, but I merely followed the recipe in the cook books I went through.” Rarity then interjected. “Regardless dear, you did a fantastic job. These pancakes are absolutely devine.” Pinkie agreed. “I’ll say. They’re fantastic.” Twilight then wanted to see if Steele Mane might remember anything at all about where he was from. “So Steele Mane, is there anything at all you remember about where you’re from?” “Negative, all I can recall is that I was flying over your town while that storm was active, trying to find a safe way through. When one wasn’t clear, I flew down into the clouds and was struck by lightning. I believe that is what caused some of the data in memory banks to be erased.” Then rainbow Dash made an observation. “Hold on, how were you flying, you don’t have any wings.” “Allow me to demonstrate.” Steele Mane made his way around the table to the center of the room to show how he was flying. As he moved, the girls then noticed that as he moved, he seemed to give off a low whirring sound with each movement. The girls also seemed to fail to notice another pair of metal rods on one side of Steele Mane that was connected by a disc like joint. There was another one on his other side, one above the other. Once he was in the middle of the room, the rods then rotated up at a 90 degree angle. Then they extended outward to form one long slightly curved rod on each side. Then three light blue clear large feathers suddenly formed from the rods. Next, the sound of rushing air could be heard as air was also starting to be blown as the light feathers began to glow brighter. Steele Mane then lifted up off the ground and hovered there for a few seconds, then came back down. The air stopped moving, the feathers disappeared, and the rods folded back in and down to Steele Mane’s side. The girls and spike were in awe at the site they just witnessed. Steele mane then spoke up to inform them of his wings. “They are my energy based thrusters. They allow for hovering, and high speed flight.” Rainbow Dash was impressed. “Wow, that is way cool. So how fast can you fly?” “According to my data, I am capable of reaching speeds faster than the speed of sound.” “That is so AWSOME! We should totally have a race, I just gotta see you in action.” “Illogical, a race against you would only prove your inferiority in speed against a machine. It is impossible that you would be able to reach such speeds without mechanical assistance.” Rainbow just smirked at him as she knew she could. “You obviously don’t know me. I happen to be the fastest flyer in all of Equestria. You have no idea what I’m capable of.” “If you truly wish to test your speed against me, I will oblige. However it will have to wait for later as a time to meet with your princess has not yet been determined.” That’s when Twilight remembered what she meant to do this morning. “Oh, that’s right. Spike, I need you to write a letter to princess Celestia about what happened last night and ask for a meeting with her.” With breakfast finished, Spike gave a salute to Twilight and went to get a scroll and quill to write down the events of last night. He sent the letter on its way to the princess. Steele mane then decided he would take care of the dishes. “Allow me to clean up.” Applejack stopped him. “Hold on there sugar cube, you’ve done plenty fer us already, why don’t you let me and Twilight take care of the dishes?” Steele Mane looked at her with a curious expression. “Sugar cube? I thought my designation was Steele Mane. Did you decide to call me something else instead?” Applejack gave a little chuckle at Steele Mane’s confusion. “He he, not really, I just like to call other’s sugar cube sometimes. It’s just my thing.” “Understood.” It wasn’t long before Spike belched out a letter from the princess. Spike picked it up while Twilight and Applejack were busy cleaning the dishes and read the letter out loud. “Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student. These events you have told me are troubling, however, I am glad to know you are safe. I will be free to meet with you as soon as you can come today. I would like to meet this new pony myself and give him my gratitude for saving you and your friends. Signed, princess Celestia.” Twilight walked out of the kitchen with Applejack once the dishes were cleaned and announced, “Looks like we’re going to Canterlot today.” Rarity was excited about this. “Oh, how wonderful, I simply love going to Canterlot, the sophistication, the glamour, the class. Oohh I just can’t wait.” Steele Mane then spoke up. “I have a question about something before we go, if I may.” Pinkie spoke up next. “Of course Steely, what’s up?” “How is it that Spike is your little brother Twilight? You two are clearly different species.” Twilight began to answer. “Well, you see, princess Celestia has a school for gifted unicorns, when I was a little filly, I was to take an exam to get in and part of the test was to hatch an egg with my magic. Spike was the baby in the egg and ever since then, he’s been like a little brother to me. So he’s really my adopted little brother.” “Understood.” “Well, if there’s nothing else, I suggest we make our way to the train station and head for Canterlot. Spike, are you ok with staying here to keep an eye on the library while I’m gone?” Spike gave Twilight a confident and reassuring smile. “Of course, Twilight. You can always count on me.” Twilight smiled back at him and gave him a hug. “Thanks Spike. Don’t know what I’d do without you.” Spike waved goodbye to the girls as they made their way out with Steele Mane following behind them. As they made their way through town, Steele Mane was certainly getting weird looks from the other ponies. Rainbow picked up on this and looked back at Steele Mane. “Say Steele Mane, doesn’t it bother you that all the other ponies are looking at you funny?” Steele Mane just looked at Rainbow Dash as he responded. “Negative, as I have stated before, I do not have emotions, therefore I cannot feel annoyed, happy, sad, angry, or any other emotions. Such things are unnecessary for a machine such as me. Why does it seem to bother you that they are looking at me funny?” The group continued their walk as they talked. “Well, I guess I was just concerned for a friend is all.” “Friend? What is a friend? That word was not in any of the books in the library.” The girls all looked at each other in a bit of confusion as they have never had to explain friendship before. Rainbow Dash started to try and explain. “You see, a friend is some pony who you can always count on, some pony who is always there for you.” Then Fluttershy came in. “A friend is some pony who will always be kind to you and forgive you if you accidentally do something wrong.” Rarity then came in. “A friend is some pony you can share secrets with and other things without worrying about what they think of you.” Then Applejack. “A friend is some pony you can always be honest with no matter what.” Next came Pinkie Pie. “A friend is also some pony you can always share a laugh with and have lots of fun.” Finally Twilight came in. “A friend is a great and magical thing to have. No matter what you’re feeling, a friend will always be there with you to make you happy, to share your troubles with, and will never let you down.” Steele Mane simply answered back. “Understood, however, how is it that you see me as a friend? I am merely following a part of my programming which tells me to be of assistance.” Pinkie then jumped in the air and stayed there as she let out a long gasp upon realizing something. “*GAAAAAAAASP* OH MY GOSH, that means you were made to be a friend to every pony! This is so great! We should totally have a party for you when we get back from Canterlot! We’ll have all kinds of fun and games and treats, and you’ll get to be every ponies friend!” Steele mane looked at her curiously at the fact that she just defied the laws of gravity when she clearly isn’t a unicorn or Pegasus. “How did she do that? She has no wings or horn. How was she able to suspend herself in the air like that?” Twilight turned to Steele Mane to answer. “That’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.” This was not enough of an answer for Steele Mane. “But she has no wings or horn, she should not have been able to do that. But she did, but…….illogical, illogical, illogical.” Steele mane kept repeating that as some buzzing could be heard coming from his head. The girls all stopped and looked at him with a worried expression on their faces. Twilight tried to get his attention. “Steele Mane, are you all right?” No answer, he just kept repeating the same thing. Rainbow Dash then started to scold Pinkie. “Oh great, way to go Pinkie, you broke our new friend.” Pinkie just looked at him quizzically, then an idea popped in her head and she smiled. “I know how to fix him, just whack him in the back of the head.” Twilight tried to object. “Pinkie, he’s a robot, not some broken record, hitting him might make it worse.” Pinkie didn’t listen. She walked up to Steele Mane’s side, raised her left hoof, and swung it to hit Steele Mane on the head with a loud *CLANG*. It seemed to work as Steele Mane stopped repeating what he was saying, he closed his metallic eyelids and shook his head back and forth a couple of times before opening his eyes again. “Apologies, it seems I allowed myself to get caught in a thought loop.” Rarity came in. “Don’t worry about it dear, it wasn’t your fault.” Rainbow Dash agreed. “Yeah, if I had to guess, it was Pinkie’s fault for confusing you like that.” She said as she gave Pinkie a disapproving glance. Pinkie didn’t stop smiling as she looked at Steele Mane. “Sorry Steele, I’ll be a little more careful about stuff like that around you.” With that little hiccup out of the way the group continued on through the town and to the train station. They finally reached the station and boarded the train bound for Canterlot. As they got into the train car at the end, the train started to move while the girls all found a place to sit in the car they were in, Steele Mane just stood in the middle of the isle. Applejack saw him just standing there and decided to see if she could get him to sit. “Why don’t ya take a seat there pardner?” She used her hoof to pat an empty space next to her on the seat. Steele Mane walked over to her and glanced at the seat. “My scans indicate that the structural integrity of the seat will be unable to hold my weight.” Applejack looked at him with a confused look. “Say what now?” “Simply put, the seat will collapse under my weight. I may even end up falling through the floor.” The others were all looking over to see the conversation going on. Applejack didn’t believe him. “Ah hoarse feathers, just take a seat and take a load off.” “As you wish, but I did warn you.” Steele Mane then walked over to the seat and turned to where his back was facing the seat. He placed his back side on the seat and got on, sitting up in the same manner as Applejack. After a second, the seat started to creak, then the end of the seat Steele Mane was in collapsed and sent Applejack flying to the other side of the car and into the seat next to Fluttershy. Fluttershy squealed in fear. “EEEP!” Applejack then came to her senses after the short flight she took. “Whoa nelly! That was some rodeo. Guess I shoulda listened to ya Steele Mane.” She and the others all looked over to Steele Mane to see he was still sitting on the floor over the broken seat. “I tried to warn you.” After he said that, another creaking could be heard. “This is problematic.” And after he said that, he feel through the floor and onto the ground under the train that was in motion. The girls all cried out in fear. “STEELE MANE!!” They all rushed over to the back of the train car to look and see if they could see him. He was already out of sight by the time the girls got to the railing at the back of the car. Rainbow Dash cried out, “I’ll get him!” She flew off the car and in the direction of Steele mane. Soon, as she was flying, a light blue and silver blur passed by her going in the opposite direction she was going. “What the hay!” She exclaimed. She stopped and looked behind her, she was positive it had to be Steele Mane, so she quickly flew back to the train to catch up. Meanwhile the others were all standing there looking out, when all of a sudden, they saw Steele Mane flying fast to catch up to the train and noticed Rainbow dash behind him. They went back inside with smiles on their faces to let Steele Mane make a landing and get back in. Steele Mane made a landing on the platform and folded his wings back down with Rainbow Dash right behind him as he got back into the car. The girls all gave Steele Mane a group hug, thankful he was ok. Twilight spoke out for them. “Steele Mane, oh thank Celestia you’re ok.” This seemed to confuse Steele Mane. “Of course, my body is made of a very strong metallic alloy, it will take more than a mere fall through a hole to damage me. But why do you show such concern?” Rarity came forward with the answer. “Friends always show concern for friends.” “You see me as a friend? I am just a robot, how can we be friends?” Twilight answered again. “Well, that’s one of the many things that makes friendship magic, you don’t have to be like us to be friends.” “So despite the fact that I am not alive, you still see me as a friend? Fascinating, I am still unable to compute this information, but I will try to compute it later.” Fluttershy asked in confusion, “What do you mean by compute?” Steele Mane looked to her to answer. “I am unable to understand it for now, but I would like to try later.” Rainbow Dash then realized something. “So what are we gonna do about the hole in the floor Steele Mane made?” Steele Mane then turned his attention to the damaged seat and hole. “I will be able to repair the damage.” His horn lit up with the same white glow from before, then the broken seat lifted up and the hole in the floor began to close up. Next the seat came back together and was good as new. His horns glow then faded with the repair job done. The girls were impressed and Twilight just had to let him know. “Wow Steele, how did you do that? I know it wasn’t magic so what did you do?” Steele Mane then turned to her to answer. “I am capable of recreating and multiplying materials that were used in the construction of the seat and floor. I used this to repair the damage done. In the future I would appreciate it if the next time I inform you that something will not be able to support me, that you believe me.” Applejack gave a sheepish grin as she rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. “Heh heh, uh, sorry bout that Steele. I’ll be sure ta remember that.” After a while, the train finally arrived at Canterlot station. The girls filed out of the train with Steele Mane behind them. They made their way through the city and, once again, Steele Mane was getting strange looks from the other ponies, but he wasn’t bothered by it as he just ignored them while he followed the girls to the castle. They reached the front castle gates where two unicorn guards wearing gold helmets and chest plates holding spears were standing guard. They saw The group approaching, one of the spoke up. “Halt, who goes there.” Twilight stepped forward. “I am Twilight Sparkle.” The guard then responded back. “Twilight, my apologies for not recognizing you, the princess is expecting you.” The guards horns lit up and the gates opened. The girls and Steele made their way into the castle, through a series of long hallways up to a pair of large double doors where two more guards were. They saw who was coming and opened the door for the group, but not without giving Steele Mane a suspicious look. The large room they found themselves in had beautiful multicolored stain glass windows along the walls, and a long red carpet going along the floor from where they entered to two thrones at the end where princess Celestia and princess Luna sat, waiting to greet them. The princesses got off their thrones to meet the group halfway through the throne room. They all bowed before their beloved ruler and greeted her in unison. “Greetings princesses.” Celestia and Luna smiled at them and Celestia gave her greeting. “Greetings my little ponies, you may rise, it is always a pleasure to see you.” Then Luna spoke with her greeting. “Yes, we are most pleased to see you. We are glad you could come.” Celestia then spoke again. “Now Twilight, who is this mysterious pony you found in the Everfree forest that saved you from timberwolves?” Twilight answered. “His name is Steele Mane your majesty. At least, that’s what we started calling him since he can’t remember his own name.” “And you believe that I can help him regain some of his lost memories, correct?” “Yes princess. He did save our lives after all.” “I understand. Where is he?” The girls stepped aside to let Steele Mane come forward to meet the princesses. Once he came forward, Celestia and Luna gave him curious looks at him while he gave a respective bow before them. Luna couldn’t contain herself. “Goodness, he looks to be made of metal. Are you wearing some kind of armour?” Steele Mane rose up from his bow to answer. “Negative your majesties, I am a robot. I am made up of metal, wires and circuits. Mostly things you seem to lack on your planet.” Celestia then responded back. “Well, that does sound rather unusual. However, the fact still stands that you saved my student and her friends from danger. I am princess Celestia and this is my little sister Luna. Tell me, how did you lose your memory?” “All I can recall is that I was flying over Ponyville while a storm was raging last night, trying to find a safe way to get through the clouds, when one wasn’t visible, I made my descent through the clouds and was struck by lightning, thus causing some of the data in my memory banks to be deleted. I have no information as to where I came from or what my purpose is.” Luna became a little confused at some of the words he used. “What do you mean by memory banks and deleted?” Celestia tried to see if she understood. “I think what he means is some of his memory was lost.” Luna nodded in understanding. Celestia then asked, “And how did you save them exactly, Twilight wasn’t very clear on that.” Twilight then interjected. “I was kind of wondering that myself. I just forgot to ask. All I saw him do was shoot out these red bolts.” Steele Mane then proceeded to explain. “I have a pair of energy based heat rays.” Two long rectangular holes opened up on each of Steele Mane’s sides just above his wings. Then, two cylindrical shaped objects about half a foot long emerged, then they doubled in size, becoming a foot long. There was a long light green rod with two discs of the same color on each rod. At the end of them was a round red orb. “These are my main weapons, I use them for self-defense should it be needed. They fire concentrated beams of heat in short rapid bursts or a single continuous beam. When I used them on the timberwolves, they were on a low setting. At maximum setting, the beams can easily cut through the strongest of metals.” Rainbow Dash interjected. “Dude, you have got to show us that later!” “As you wish.” Steele then retracted his lasers back into his body. Celestia spoke up again. “Well Steele Mane, I’m not sure if I will be able to help you restore your lost memories, but I would be more than happy to try.” Steele Mane looked at her as he responded. “Any assistance is appreciated, even if the attempt fails.” Celestia took a step closer to Steele Mane, she closed her eyes and began to focus her magic in her horn. She lowered her horn to where it was touching Steele’s head, she used her magic to try and feel around inside Steele’s head to find what she was looking for. As she looked, her magic seemed to cause some kind of reaction inside Steele Mane’s head. The circuits started to spark, the magic from Celstia was mixing with the technology. Celestia looked as if she was struggling to find what she needed. Soon, the sparking from the circuits and magic became so intense, Celestia had to stop. Steele Mane started to let out sparks from his head as clouds of smoke seemed to begin to erupt from inside him. His head started to vibrate as all the ponies looked on in worry and concern. Finally a beeping started to emit from Steele Mane. His light mane started to flicker and finally went out, his tail did the same. He started to repeat, “Error…error…error.” After the third error, Steele Mane’s head went flying straight up into the air, his left front leg exploded off his body and went flying across the room, his right back leg did the same. His whole body let out a metallic creaking as it slowly tipped to the left and fell over with a loud clang that rang throughout the throne room. Steele’s head lay at the hoofs of Celestia as she looked down in horror at what she felt she was responsible for. Fluttershy started to let out a quiet sobbing while the others just looked on in sadness. Celestia took a few steps away from the destroyed form, she looked to her student as Twilight slowly made her way over to the body. The girls all gathered around Steele Manes form as Twilight lifted Steele Manes head with his eyes closed. “Oh, Steele Mane, how could this have happened?” Celestia then came forward again, Luna stayed silent as she didn’t know what to make of the situation. “Twilight, I am so sorry about your friend. I don’t know what happened.” Twilight looked up at her mentor with a solemn expression. “It’s all right Celestia, this was an accident, there really was no way of telling what would happen if you used magic on him.” Twilight looked back down at Steele Mane’s head as she held it in her hooves. The others gathered around to quietly mourn the loss of their robotic friend. “That was unexpected.” “AAAHH!” The girls all shrieked as the head of Steele Mane spoke after its eyes shot open. Twilight quickly dropped his head and it landed on the floor with a loud clang. Twilight and the girls all looked down at the head in curiosity and surprise. Twilight spoke for them. “Steele Mane, are you all right?” The Princesses were also in shock at this as they looked at the scene with wide eyes. “One moment please, begging self-repair process.” Steele Mane’s head then levitated up and floated over their heads to his body, his legs followed suit. The body rose up and repositioned itself back into a standing position. His legs and head reattached to the body, his head spun around a bit and stopped to where it was facing forward. His light mane and tail came back on. Steele Mane was back to normal. Rainbow dash was again impressed. “WHOA, no way!” Applejack then spoke up equally impressed. “Well I’ll be.” Twilight had trouble finding the words as she studdered. “But…how…who….HUH!” Steele Mane could tell why they were confused so he began to explain. “I have a self-repair system built in. in the event that I take great damage such as what just happened, I can simply reassemble myself or repair any damage I take. It does require a lot of my energy from my battery storage unit.” Rainbow Dash just had to make another comment about this. “Now way, so like, your pretty much indestructible, right?” Steele Mane looked to her to answer. “In a way, yes, however, it is only as long as I have plenty of energy stored in my battery storage unit.” Fluttershy finally decided to speak up now that the drama was over. “So, if you are able to fix yourself, then how come you aren’t able to restore your own memories?” “It seems that, by my self-repair system being activated, a theory I had on the matter has been confirmed. I assumed that my memory would come back on its own through my self-repair system. However, since it has not, that means that the circuits holding the information I lost was completely destroyed. The data I have lost is gone for good. This is problematic. If I cannot recall my purpose, then I have no reason to exist.” The girls all got worried at his words, Rarity spoke up. “What do you mean dear, why would you need a purpose to exist?” Steele Mane continued with his explanation. “I am a machine. All machines are built for a purpose, if I have no purpose, I have no reason for being.” Applejack came forward, thinking she might have an answer for his predicament. “Well, why don’t ya come back to Ponyville with us, I’m sure we could help ya find a new purpose.” Pinkie agreed. “Yeah, there’s lots of stuff to do in Ponyville, It’ll be just like trying to help a young pony find their cutie mark.” Twilight thought this was a great Idea. “That a great idea girls, what do ya say Steele Mane? You want to come to Ponyville with us? I just know we could help you find something your good at that could be considered your purpose.” Steele Mane looked at Twilight as he answered. “Since it seems my options are limited, I will do as you suggest. I will find a new purpose in Ponyville. Thank you for your help.” Celestia then came forth to address Steele Mane. “Steele Mane, I am sorry for causing you to fall apart like that, you are more than welcome to stay in Ponyville.” “Appologies not necessary your majesty, even I did not know what would happen when your magic mixed with my technology. All is forgiven.” Celestia gave a warm smile to Steele Mane. Luna finally decided to speak up. “We wish you the best of luck in finding a new purpose for yourself in Ponyville Steele Mane.” The girls and Steele Mane gave a farewell bow then a wave to the princesses before they left. Twilight said her goodbye for them. “Goodbye princess, I’ll be sure to include Steele Mane’s progress in my friendship letters if you want.” Celestia called back. “I would like that very much Twilight. Take care.” And so the girls and their new robotic pony friend made their way back to the train station to go back to Ponyville to begin helping Steele Mane find a new purpose.