Chapter 1

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Hello, everyone! This is my first ever story on FIMFiction.net. I’m sure that by reading the summary, you gathered that it is about my OC, Steel Anvil and his romance with Rainbow Dash. But Steel is hiding something… So, y’know, I’m kind of a hopeless romantic. I’m glad to post this finally, because I have been planning it for quite a while. So, I hope you guys enjoy it!

Moonlit Eternity

Chapter 1

Rainbow Dash was, in every sense of the word, tired. She had just spent nearly the entire day on weather patrol, trying to contain the heavily clouded weather, as was her job. But it was hard. Nearly a third of her staff was off sick with the Pony Pox. Even working at their full strength, the pegasi of the weather patrol had barely kept a torrential downpour off of the roofs of Ponyville. A heavy layer of gray clouds blocked the sun as far as the eye could see. The clouds were moving away, however, and Rainbow Dash and her crew had done their job well. She huffed as she flew down from the sky into Ponyville, due to the fact that she had promised Twilight Sparkle and the others that she was going to be there for a little get-together they all had planned. Even now, it was probably already underway. She touched down in front of Golden Oaks Library and gave three firm raps on the door. Twilight answered and smiled warmly.

“Rainbow! So great to see you.” She said happily, her face quickly changing to minor concern after seeing Rainbow’s worn expression.

“Good to see you too, Twi. Sorry if I’m late. Weather patrol was murder today.” Rainbow responded, brightening up to show that she was okay.

“Oh, only about half an hour or so. Come on in.” Twilight said as she stepped to the side to let Rainbow Dash into the library. Rainbow walked into the common room and found all of her friends. Applejack was speaking to Fluttershy, seemingly reassuring her about something, as usual. Spike was sitting in a chair, shooting small looks over at Rarity every five seconds or so. Pinkie Pie was talking incredibly fast about a prank she pulled on Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon earlier that day, believing Rarity to have been listening to her, but Rarity appeared to have toned her out sometime before then. Rainbow felt the innate urge to run when she saw Pinkie notice her presence and brighten up considerably.

“Dashie! Where have you been?!” Pinkie said, shooting toward the cyan Pegasus at near super pony speed and pulling her into a tight hug.

“Working, Pinkie…” Rainbow said, nearly out of breath from the embrace. The hug continued for a while. Rainbow then started to push Pinkie away. “Alright, Pinkie…you can let me go now.”

“I just can’t help it, Dashie! I just haven’t seen you in such a long time!” Rainbow applied more force and managed to get the pink party pony off.

“Pinkie, it’s been two days!” Dash said, half laughing.

“She’s got a point, though, sugarcube.” Applejack said while walking up to her. They did a quick hoof bump and a one hoofed hug. After several greetings and socializing, they all prepared to leave.

“Well, shall we leave to get dinner, then?” Rarity said. “I’m simply famished!”

“Oh, yeah!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Read my mind, Rarity!”

“I agree…if it’s not too much trouble for everypony else…” Fluttershy said, looking to the side and blushing. Applejack leaned up to Fluttershy and whispered something in her ear. Fluttershy looked as if she had realized something, and said

“Oh! Right, yeah, we totally should go now!….I mean, if it’s okay with everypony…” The poor mare was trying to look self-assured, but was failing miserably. Applejack just sighed heavily and slowly shook her head.

“We’ll get ya there some day, Fluttershy.” She said as she put an arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders.

“Well, I have no qualms in leaving now.” Twilight said with a smile. “You guys want to go to Sugarcube Corner?”

“We always go to sugarcube corner.” Said Applejack. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

“How about the Café du Mane?” Rainbow Dash suggested. “They have good stuff.”

“Oh, yeah!” Spike agreed. “I love that place!” Everyone seemed to agree in some way, shape or form.

“Alright, it’s settled then. Let’s go.” Twilight said as she opened the door for her friends. Applejack continued to talk to Fluttershy about her meekness problem as Pinkie bounced happily along saying “Café du Mane!” in an extremely strange accent. Rarity just sighed and threw her nose up into the air as she walked out of the large library. Twilight left the library with Rainbow Dash, who yawned.

“So…what exactly are we doing today again?” Rainbow asked. “I kinda forgot.”

“We’re going for an early dinner at the Café,” Twilight said. “Then, after that, we’re going to the spa for a relaxing beauty day.” These words struck a small chord of fear in Rainbow Dash. Whenever she went to the spa with the other girls, they would try to make her get a pedicure and massages. To tell the truth, Rainbow Dash didn’t mind the massages all that much, but the pedicures bothered her to her core. Twilight noticed Rainbow’s expression and giggled.

“You okay, Rainbow?”

“Wha? Oh, me? Hay, yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about something.” She quickly said in her nervousness. She smiled a fake smile and laughed lightly.

“Are you sure it’s not because you don’t want a pedicure?” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow and smirking heavily.

“Oh, Celestia yeah, I…no.” Rainbow said plainly. Twilight laughed as they approached the Café as Rainbow’s stomach growled. She was always the hungriest she ever was right after a big job.

_____

After the delicious and filling dinner of a daffodil sandwich with hay on the side, Rainbow and the girls all went to the spa and got their individual special treatments. It didn’t take much convincing to get Rainbow Dash to accept a back and wing massage. She even got into the hot tub. But the girls just couldn’t swing a pedicure. Even with the help of Lotus Blossom and Aloe, they couldn’t restrain Dash long enough to get a full pedicure. They all teased Dash about it on the way back to the library.

“Rainbow, Ah just don’t get it! Why won’cha get a pedicure? They feel really nice.” Applejack said, lightly nudging Rainbow Dash.

“I just don’t like other ponies touching my hooves, okay?” She said, a little irritated. “Besides, I took the massage and I got in the hot tub. Isn’t that enough for you?”

“Hey, Ah’m just lookin’ out for ya. You’d like it if ya gave it a try.” Applejack retorted.

“I’ll take my chances.” Rainbow said plainly. They all continued to walk, a few words thrown back and forth between them before the library actually came back into sight.

“Does anyone want to stay the night?” Twilight asked before they reached the library. “It’s pretty late.” She looked up at the sky and saw Luna’s full moon in the sky, surrounded by millions of stars. The clouds from earlier that day had largely dispersed, yet a few still stayed in the sky, hanging on by a thread, fading away as moments passed.

“Ohmygosh I would love to!” Pinkie exclaimed, putting extra emphasis on the word love. Twilight smiled and looked at everypony else. Fluttershy smiled back.

“I suppose I could, but Angel will be kind of angry when I get back to the cabin-”

“Wait up a second, sugarcube.” Applejack said, looking at something in the distance. “Anyone know who that pony is?” They all turned in the direction in which Applejack was looking and saw who she was talking about. A short distance away, there was a rather large, dark red stallion. He was an earth pony with a slightly scruffy coal black mane. He looked to be about Big Macintosh’s size, if not a little smaller. He was pulling a large cart behind him into Ponyville, which looked like it required a decent amount of strength just to pull. This stallion was pulling the cart uphill. Pinkie brightened up heavily and gasped.

“A newcomer?! We have to go welcome him!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I agree.” Rarity said, with a small smile. “Let’s go meet this new stallion.” Applejack rolled her eyes and scoffed at Rarity’s trance-like state over the large stallion. Rainbow Dash, in all honesty, couldn’t blame her. Even with her proud attitude, if one of the others had asked her what she thought of the newcomer, it would be extremely difficult to say that he wasn’t drop-dead attractive.

“Alright, fine. Let’s go meet ‘im.” Applejack said, nudging Rarity heavily, earning her the death stare from the prim white unicorn. They all walked up to the Stallion, who did in fact notice them. He smiled warmly and walked over to them. Pinkie Pie reached him before any of the others did. The stallion recoiled a bit, but smiled. Pinkie took in a huge breath and sang-

“Weelllllcooooommmeee-” before Applejack ran up behind her and muffled her before she could begin one of her spectacular musical performances.

“Howdy there, stranger!” Applejack said happily, waving to him. She stopped for a second, noticing his red eyes.

“Hi.” He said in a deep, smooth voice. “I’m Steel Anvil. But you can call me Steel for short.”

“Name’s Applejack, friend.” Applejack said, tipping her stetson at him.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said. “I’m the local librarian.” Pinkie Pie broke free from Applejack’s grasp and smiled very widely at Steel Anvil.

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” She exclaimed. “Welcome to Ponyville!” Steel laughed heartily and smiled at Pinkie.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Pinkie Pie.” He said warmly. Applejack pushed Fluttershy up to the large red stallion. She ducked down and shivered a little.

“I-I’m….Fluttershy….” She said, blushing and putting her hooves over her face.

“Hey, hey…It’s okay, Fluttershy…” Steel said soothingly. “You don’t have to be afraid. I’m here to make friends, not enemies.” His smooth, soothing, kind voice led her to move her hooves and look up at him. She got on all four hooves and smiled and blushed. She giggled lightly.

“My name is Rarity.” She said, flipping her mane stylishly. Her heavy blush visible through her white fur. “And may I just say, your eyes are simply fascinating.” Steel smiled.

“Why thank you, my dear.” He said, giving her a suave look. “It’s only like this in the light of Luna’s beautiful moon.” Rarity nearly fainted, and was caught by Applejack, who slapped her lightly.

“Snap outta it, Rarity.” She whispered as quietly as she could. Rarity’s eyes returned to normal as she nodded slowly and composed herself and laughed nervously.

“And who is this?” Steel said, cocking an eyebrow and looking at Rainbow Dash, who stood there, a light blush on her face. Rainbow puffed out her chest and smirked, her bravado showing through her thoughts.

“I’m Rainbow Dash.” She said, unfurling her wings and standing proudly, raising a hoof up off the ground. “I’m the one who won the Best Young Fliers Competition. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

“Umm…nope. Can’t say I have. Sorry.” Steel said with a small smile on his face. Rainbow‘s eyes widened slightly and her wings sunk to her sides. Steel noticed this. “But it’s good to meet you all the same. I wouldn’t doubt that you won that thing, though. You sure do look the type.” He said. “Perhaps you can give me a demo of your skills some day.” He finished. Rainbow, while deeply flattered to have been complimented in such a way by a complete stranger, couldn’t let it show. Her bravado returned in full.

“Perhaps…” She said with a smile, unable to hide a blush on her face. ‘What the buck? Control yourself Rainbow Dash.’ She thought to herself.

“So, where did you come from?” Pinkie asked him. “What are you doing here in Ponyville?”

“Well, I came from Manehattan. I was a blacksmith there for quite a long time, hence my cutie mark.” He said, gesturing to his flank. It was adorned with an anvil and a hammer. “I worked the forge there for a while, but now they don’t really need me there anymore, I was out of a job for a while. But one day, I heard that Ponyville needed a blacksmith, so that’s why I’m here.” He finished.

“Oh yeah. The forge is there, but it hasn’t been used in a really long time.” Twilight said. “It’s good to know that someone will be operating it from here on out.”

“I’m glad to be here…Twilight Sparkle, is it?” He asked. She confirmed with a nod.

“Just call me Twilight.” She said with a warm smile.

“Will do.” Steel said with a nod. “And what exactly do all of you do around here?”

“Well, Ah run a farm on the outskirts of Ponyville called Sweet Apple Acres with mah family.” Applejack said. “Fluttershy keeps all the critters around Ponyville in check, Rarity runs the local boutique, Pinkie’s a baker, and Rainbow Dash-”

“Is the captain of the weather patrol!” Rainbow interrupted Applejack. “I’m responsible for clearing the skies above Ponyville, or making it rain when we need it.” Rainbow threw her head up proudly.

“Wow.” Steel Anvil said. “That’s pretty awesome.” Rainbow Dash, not expecting that reply, lost her bravado and blushed. She quickly gained it back, however and straightened up again. She looked at Steel who was just smiling at her. She wanted to melt. He was by far the most attractive Stallion she had ever seen. He was on par with Soarin of the Wonderbolts, even. Her bravado dropped, yet again, with a look at his red eyes, his muscular body, his smooth, yet slightly messy mane. His charming smile. At that moment, she realized that she was staring at him like a complete idiot, while earning the stares of all her friends and an amused smile from the stallion before her. Rainbow Dash, yet again, straightened up and nodded at him, before she moved to the side. Spike walked up to his front hoof. Steel looked down at him.

“Well, hey there, little guy. What’s your name?” He said, looking down at the tiny dragon.

“I’m Spike. I’m a dragon.” He said with a proud look on his face.

“You’re just a baby right now, right?” Steel said with an understanding expression.

“Yes! Finally somepony who understands!” Spike exclaimed. Steel Anvil laughed out loud.

“Well, it’s kind of obvious. You’re gonna grow up to be a large, terrifying dragon. I know it.” He said and smiled.

“Twilight, I like this guy.” Spike said. Twilight giggled.

“Why yes, Spike, I do too. I think he’s going to be a great addition to the population of Ponyville. So welcome, Steel Anvil.” She said, offering him her hoof. He shook it.

“Thank you very much, Twilight. I’m glad to be here. It’s a welcome change from the bustling streets of Manehattan.” He said.

“Ah look forward to seein’ ya do your work, partner.” Applejack said. “Expect mah patronage sometime in the future. Ah’m a sucker for some good metal work.” Steel nodded. He walked up to Fluttershy and got down to her eye level.

“Fluttershy, it was great to meet you.” He said calmly and sweetly. The saccharine tone of his voice bringing Fluttershy just a little bit more out of her shell.

“It was good to meet you too, Mr. Steel.” She said with a small smile. Steel could not deny it. The yellow Pegasus was unbearably adorable, but the cyan Pegasus standing to the side grabbed his attention more than the rest. Pinkie Pie jumped up and grabbed him in a tight hug.

“I’m so glad to have you here!” Pinkie said happily.

“It was good to meet you too, Pinkie.” He said, lightly hugging her back.

“So kind.” He heard Rarity mumble through another one of her trance-like states. He walked over to Rarity and smiled and nodded at her.

“Ms. Rarity.” He said. “It’s been a pleasure.” Rarity giggled.

“The pleasure is all mine.” She said, blushing heavily. Rainbow Dash was doing no better. When Steel walked up to her, she nearly melted again.

“Rainbow Dash, I really look forward to seeing your talents in the sky.” He said with a warm smile. Rainbow smirked and stomped her hoof. Years of bravery and toughness could not prepare her for this stallion. She was suddenly happy she decided to go to the spa with the girls.

“It was good…” Rainbow cleared her throat. “meeting you too, Steel.” She said, the inherent blush still on her face, but the confident expression that had made it’s home there so many times in the past was, in fact, present.

“So…Could one of you kindly hook me back up to my cart and point me in the direction of the forge? I’m sure you guys are wanting to get to bed. It’s pretty late.” He said.

“Oh, yes, that reminds me. Why are you moving into Ponyville at night? It’s a lot harder to find things in the dark.” Twilight said.

“I left Manehattan this morning and the journey took me all day. I just wanted to get the trip over with.” Steel responded.

“Well, I can’t argue with that. Pinkie, would you mind helping me hook him up?” They hooked the cart to his sides as he nodded to them all.

“I’ll be seeing you guys later, I suppose.” He said before he started off in the direction Twilight pointed him in. When his back turned to leave and he got far enough away, Rainbow exhaled and looked after him as he left with half-lidded eyes. She felt an elbow nudge her side. She snapped out of it and looked to her side, seeing Applejack smirking at her.

“Looks like somepony’s got it for the new Stallion in town!” Applejack half-laughed. The girls, save for Rarity, giggled and smiled at her. Rainbow blushed heavily and got a look of defiance on her face.

“What, are you kidding me?” She said. “I just met him!”

“It’s nothin’ to be ashamed of, sugarcube.” Applejack said with a smile. “We’re only teasin’ ya.”

“So…” Twilight said. “Who still wants to come spend the night at the Library?”

Obligatory end-of-chapter Author’s Note: Well, guys, that’s my first chapter. I remembered that there was a restaurant other than Sugarcube Corner in Ponyville that Twilight ate at in one episode of Friendship is Magic. But I couldn’t, for the life of me, find a name for that restaurant. I then remembered that the waiter at the restaurant had a very French-like appearance, so I made up a French-sounding name- Café du Mane. I would really appreciate it if you would leave a comment and tell me what you think so far. Thanks, you guys!

Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

Rainbow Dash flew through the sky effortlessly, dodging clouds, not because they would hinder her flight at all, but simply because she could. She performed a double-loop around a rather large cloud, feeling the g-force affect her body. The effect was marvelous. She continued to do complicated maneuvers and tricks in the sky for what seemed like an eternity to her. She may have been the captain of the weather patrol, but she never had a problem with wasting a little time. Everypony around knew how quickly she could clear the skies, and how good she was at doing it. After more aerial merriment and debauchery, Rainbow decided it was time to get the job done. She flew to Derpy Hooves, who was laying on a cloud, rolling around innocently, with a small clipboard tied around her neck, minimizing the chance of the ditzy little Pegasus losing it.

“Hey, Derpy.” Rainbow greeted cheerfully, still slightly elated from her flying earlier.

“Rainbow Dash! Heeeyyy…” Derpy said happily, continuing to roll around on the cloud.

“What’s this week’s weather order?” Rainbow asked, holding her hoof out for the paper, telling her and her weather team how and where to clear the skies above Ponyville this coming week. Derpy brightened up and let out a small exclamation.

“Oh yeah. Here ya go, Rainbow!” Derpy said, handing her an envelope. Rainbow looked at the envelope. It was addressed to one Rarity. Rainbow always wondered how the good-natured, but dumb, Pegasus managed to keep a job in the mail service.

“Derpy, this is addressed to Rarity.” Rainbow said. “I need you to give me the one that is addressed to Rainbow Dash.” Her annoyance showing more than Derpy probably noticed.

“Ohhh…sorry. Lemme get that for ya.” Derpy slightly slurred. She then pulled out a letter addressed to Rainbow Dash.

‘Celestia, only the second try this time.’ Rainbow thought to herself as she took the letter. “Okay…thanks Derpy.” Rainbow said, opening the envelope. She read it and moved to her team, who had been waiting for her since before she started her little series of tricks.

“Sorry for the wait, guys.” Rainbow said. “Okay…looks like the order is to keep it decently cloudy until Wednesday, then gradually start clearing it up until it is completely clear by Saturday. Oh, and leave the Cumulonimbus clouds where they are until Thursday. Let’s get to work!” And so the Pegasi did. The skies above and for miles around Ponyville were worked on tirelessly by the dedicated ponies. Rainbow in particular. She bucked and rammed those clouds, dissipating them and making small pockets for the sun to shine through. She gracefully moved back and forth among them, doing her work with near perfection. The hard work continued for hours, and when she and the rest of them were finished for the day, she got the Pegasi back together.

“Alright, everypony, great job today. Be ready tomorrow! We have more clouds to clear. Go get some rest now, you did good.” She said happily. They all dispersed. Today was a great day for Rainbow Dash. She and her team had done their jobs two hours ahead of schedule. She had some extra time to kill, not to say she never had a lot of time to kill. She considered all of her options for this excess of free time. Pranks with Pinkie Pie? Nahh. A race or some other physical competition with Applejack? Nahh. Checking with Twilight to see whether or not the newest Daring Do novel was in the library yet? Nahh. A nap in a tree close to Ponyville? Perfect. Rainbow flitted around Ponyville, waving at the occasional wayward pony who greeted her. Finally, she found the perfect tree. Nice and shady with stable, wide branches. The view of Ponyville was relaxing as well, showing all the ponies doing all of their necessary steps for their respective daily routines. She looked at the old blacksmith forge…last she had heard, the forge was closed down. But then she remembered the Stallion who moved to Ponyville to become the new blacksmith…

“Rainbow Dash!” She heard a loud, deep voice call. Startled, she fell out of her tree and landed in a rather compromising position. Quickly, she corrected the strange position with a proud stance.

“I meant to do that.” She said, not knowing who even yelled her name in the first place.

“Yeah, yeah, of course you did.” She looked and saw, at last, who it was. Steel Anvil. The stallion who had moved to Ponyville the previous day. He had a sly look on his face. Rainbow, having had years of training of keeping her facial expressions the way she wanted, had to try extremely hard to keep from swooning right there. But her accursed cheeks broke out in a blush. His firm, toned muscles under dark red fur, his pure black mane, blowing ever so slightly in the breeze.

“Hey, uh…Steel Anvil, right?” Rainbow said, trying to make it seem that she did not remember him that well. He didn’t look like he was fooled.

“I saw your flying up in the sky there a while ago. It was very impressive.” He said, taking a step toward her. She blushed harder, but maintained her bravado.

“Nahh…it was nothing.” She said, closing her eyes and putting her chin up in pride. ‘Dear Celestia, why do I find him so attractive?’ She thought.

“Very impressive…” He said, his voice getting lower and closer. “very attractive.” With that, Rainbow Dash’s eyes shot open in shock. He was very close to her, and looking right into her eyes. He was taller, so he had to bend down to meet her rose irises. Rainbow swallowed nervously and smirked.

“What are you doing?” Rainbow Dash asked, her voice no longer proud and boastful, but low and vulnerable.

“Just initiating what I know we both want…” He said as he slowly inched toward her face. Her heart skipped a beat. His lips inched closer and closer to hers as they connected…

_____

Rainbow Dash moaned into her pillow before she woke up. She blinked as she looked around the bedroom of her cloud home and sighed. Rainbow pressed her hoof to her forehead as she caught her breath after her steamy dream.

“Geez…what is it with that Stallion?” She asked herself as she got out of bed and went to her bathroom to take her morning shower. She looked at herself in the mirror and appraised herself. For a Pegasus that had just gotten out of bed, she didn’t look bad at all. She ran a comb through her rainbow mane the customary one time for each day. The prismatic mane stayed separated all on it’s own normally. She started the shower and waited for the water to get hot. Just as she was about to get in, she heard a knock at her door.

“Oh, come on.” She said to herself as she cantered to the door and opened it. There stood Pinkie Pie, under the effect of Twilight’s cloud walker spell.

“Hey, Pinkie…” Rainbow said, nervously, awaiting whatever Pinkie had planned for that moment. “What do you need?”

“Hiya, Rainbow Dash! You know that new stallion in town, Steel Anvil?” Pinkie spouted.

“Yes…I remember him from last night.” Rainbow said, plainly.

“Well, since he was so nice and kind to us, I’m gonna throw him a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party tonight!” She said. “And you’re invited! There’s gonna be cake, snacks, drinks, music and games! SO many games! Oh, and the music, the music’s gonna be perfect! It’ll be the latest track used by Vinyl Scratch and-”

“Yes, Pinkie…I’ll be there.” Rainbow interrupted Pinkie hurredly. A chance to see Steel Anvil again? She was most definitely in. She worked to hide her sudden rush of excitement. “But, if you please, I have to go to work in an hour and I need my morning shower, so-”

“Oh, okay. It’s at 8:00 tonight in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres! See ya then!” Pinkie said cheerfully as she started to bounce back to Twilight Sparkle’s hot air balloon, which Rainbow could only have assumed Pinkie borrowed. Pinkie seemed to wave at hypersonic speed to Rainbow. Rainbow returned the wave with a warm smile. She loved Pinkie Pie, but she could be very overbearing at times. Rainbow Dash shut her door and moved to her bedroom.

“Did you hear that, Tank?” Rainbow said to her pet tortoise happily. He looked up at her from his sleep lazily. “Steel Anvil’s gonna be at Sweet Apple Acres today!” She stopped when she remembered that Tank had no possible way of even knowing who Steel Anvil was. “He’s the new stallion in town….and he’s awesome.” She said, the final word causing her to swoon. She stopped herself immediately. “Dear Celestia, what’s happening to me?” She said as she moved to her bathroom to get ready for her day at work.

_____

“Okay, guys…another great day!” Rainbow said to her weather crew. “But Gust, you need to watch out for those Cumulus mediocrises. They are very tough to clear without help.” The blue and white Pegasus she spoke to nodded. “Alright, let’s get the hay outta here.” They all left and Rainbow turned to move in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. She thought of Steel Anvil and all of his splendor. His charm, his looks, his kind personality. She continued to fly and eventually saw Sweet Apple Acres come into view. She flew down to the barn, toward the sound of booming music. They started without her. She frowned a little as she landed in front of the barn. The door was open and everypony was inside, having a grand time. She moved inside and immediately was tackled in a hug from an already running Pinkie Pie.

“Dashie! You made it! You’re late, but you made it!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“I’m late?” Rainbow said. “How late am I?”

“Oh, about half an hour, maybe forty five minutes. It’s no big deal.” Pinkie said. “We’re just happy to have you here, silly filly!”

“Oh, yeah, you know…what’s a party without me?” She said proudly as they got up.

“Indeed. Like I said last night, you look the type.” She heard a deep, smooth voice behind her. She turned to come face-to-face with Steel Anvil, the stallion of the hour. His irises were now a rich brown, in contrast to the bright red irises he had in the moonlight. She had to look up slightly at him, his size was impressive.

‘Great.’ Rainbow Dash thought to herself. ‘Nice way to impress the new stallion. Show up late to the party in his honor.’

“Yeeeah, sorry I'm late…” Rainbow said with a slightly airy giggle, very much unlike her, more close to Rarity, who was staring at her currently, jealous at the attention she was currently getting from their subject of admiration. She straightened up quickly and smirked. “Weather patrol was bad today. Had a lot of clouds to clear…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you could make it.” He said with a smile. Rainbow blushed heavily and smiled back at him.

‘He’s glad I’m here…awesome.’ She thought. “So…what’s it like in Manehattan? I heard that there’s a lot of hoity-toity ponies there who think that they’re better than everypony else.”

“Well, yeah there are ponies like that in Manehattan. But there’s ponies like that everywhere. Sure, there’s a lot in Manehattan, but Manehattan’s a big city. It’s a nice place and the ponies are decently friendly there. I suppose that there’s not as many like that in Ponyville, however.”

“Oh, believe me, there are a couple.” Rainbow said. “But we all try to accept each other and get along. It works out well, most of the time.”

“That’s pretty cool.” He said. “So, your friend Pinkie Pie told me a lot about you. That you’re the fastest flier in Equestria.” Usually, Rainbow would confirm that with a boastful outburst, but she felt an extremely strange feeling…one she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. One she didn’t like, but couldn’t control at the moment….modesty.

“Oh, well probably not the fastest…” She began. ‘What the hay am I saying?’ She thought to herself.

“But Pinkie said that you can perform a sonic rainboom on command.” He said.

“You know what a sonic rainboom is?” She said. It was not common knowledge for an earth pony.

“Well, yeah. The Pegasus in question goes so fast, they actually break the sound barrier and the visible light spectrum all at once. Only the fastest of the fast can perform it.” Rainbow Dash blushed and looked away.

“Well, you know…”

“I also talked to your friend Twilight Sparkle.” He continued. ‘Oh, Celestia…what did Twilight say?’ Rainbow thought.

“She said that you are many things…fast, competitive, kind, awesome, loyal most of all, but certainly not modest. I could see that from your introduction last night. What’s with the sudden personality change?” He asked her. She continued to blush.

“Hey, Steel!” Rainbow Dash heard Applejack yell from across the party. Rainbow thanked Celestia and Luna for Applejack’s sudden interjection. Steel Anvil looked and acknowledged her. “Come’ere for a second!” Steel nodded and started walking toward her.

“To be continued.“ He said to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash gulped nervously and followed him. When they reached Applejack, they saw that Big Macintosh, her brother, was also there.

“Please, sis, don’t do thi-” Big Mac started, but was interrupted by Applejack.

“Hush up, now.” She spouted quickly. “Would you say you’re strong, Steel?”

“Uh…I suppose so. I mean, I hate boasting, but I guess I’m pretty strong, yeah.” He said to her. Rainbow scoffed. What could Applejack be possibly playing at?

“Well, mah brother, Big Macintosh, is the strongest in ponyville.” She said proudly.

“Ya don’t know that sis-” Big Mac said.

“Yes Ah do.” She said, matter-of-factly. “If you can beat mah brother in a hoof-wrestle, we’ll give ya a homemade apple pie for free.”

“Uh, I don’t think so…” Steel said unsure.

“Come on, Steel.” Applejack said. “What’s wrong with a 'lil friendly competition?”

“Well, your brother sure seems like he doesn’t want to.” Steel said, motioning toward the slightly larger stallion. Big Mac nodded.

“Oh, he’s just bein’ modest.” Applejack said. “Now whaddaya say?”

“Come on, Friend.” Big Macintosh said. “Let’s just do it so she’ll quit buggin’ us about it.” The big farm pony moved to a small table and sat.

“Okay, then. I suppose.” Steel Anvil said, sitting across from Big Mac. They put their elbows up on the tabletop and locked hooves. Big Mac sighed.

“Okay, boys.” Applejack said, walking up and putting both hooves on their locked ones. “This is gonna be a fair hoof wrestle, no elbow movin’, no body leanin’. This is purely a competition of physical strength.” Applejack paused shortly. “Ready…” She began. “Go!” She removed her hooves and the contest began. Big Mac and Steel Anvil began pushing as hard as possible, Big Mac obviously putting incredible effort into it, straining and grunting, even breaking a sweat. Steel Anvil appeared to be doing nothing, keeping Big Mac in the position they started in. After a few seconds, Big Mac began to gain the advantage, moving Steel Anvil’s hoof over slowly.

“Come on, Big Mac!” Applejack said. “You got ‘im!” Rainbow Dash watched as her heart began to pound, hoping Steel Anvil would win. She had nothing personal against Big Macintosh, but her crush on the new, dark red stallion compelled her to root for him.

“Don’t let him put you over, Steel!” Rainbow counter-cheered, urging Steel Anvil on, still appearing to put in no effort, yet still being beaten by Big Mac. At this point, many of the ponies from the party had gathered around the table, shouting out random cheers and remarks.

“Oh, godesses! It’s so intense!” Pinkie Pie nearly screamed, grabbing Fluttershy in her arms and clenching her teeth in nervousness. Fluttershy giggled lightly and nodded.

“I don’t think anypony’s ever lasted this long against Big Macintosh.” The yellow Pegasus remarked. Big Macintosh, groaned in effort again, struggling to put Steel over, who was holding him just above the table.

“Come on, Steel!” Rainbow Dash said again. “You can do this!” Steel Anvil looked back at her and smirked. At that moment, Steel began coming back, moving Big Mac’s hoof up to the starting position. He then pushed and had Big Mac’s hoof down on the other side of the table in a second. Big Mac’s eyes opened quickly, widening at this sudden upset. Rainbow Dash cheered and threw a hoof up in the air. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy gasped in unison. Rarity nearly fainted, Bon Bon catching her just in time. Twilight Sparkle froze, eyes widening. Big Mac stared at the table then looked at Steel. His eyes then softened as he smiled and walked over to the blacksmith and patted him on the back.

“That was some mighty fine hoof wrestling’ Steel.” He said, genuinely. “We need to go for a drink sometime, you an' me.”

“Thanks, Big Mac. You almost had me there.” Steel Anvil responded. Big Mac laughed heartily and nodded.

“Well, ah think ah’m gonna head out.” He said, ambling over to the door. “Good meetin’ ya, Steel.” He nodded back at Steel as he walked out. Steel chuckled.

“You’re brother’s a good sport, Applejack.” He said to the orange farm filly. “Most of the stallions I beat say I cheated or had some hidden skill that I failed to mention.”

“That’s mah brother, always a good sport and a healthy competitor…” She said, still quite amazed at what had just taken place. “Even so…Nopony’s ever beaten Big Mac before…not that Ah can remember.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything!” Rainbow Dash interjected. Applejack scowled slightly. “I believe you owe this stallion an apple pie!”

“I guess Ah do, huh?” Applejack said. “Good job, Steel! I‘ll get it to ya sometime tomorrow, okay?”

“Don‘t worry about it, Applejack. If I’m gonna get a pie from your family, it’s going to be bought with bits." Steel said. Applejack smiled warmly and nodded, before turning to talk to someone else. “Now, Rainbow Dash, where were we-”

“Wow, Steel!” Pinkie Pie said, running up to them. “That was so amazinglyawesometacular!”

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Steel said, happily.

“I mean, when you-” Pinkie said.

“Uhh, Pinkie?” Steel interjected.

“Yeah?” She smiled widely.

“I’m kinda talking to Rainbow Dash right now. But, I’ll be happy to talk to you about it later on.”

“Oh. Okay!” She said, just as happily. She turned and walked away, eager to go talk to anypony else.

“So…without any further interruptions…” Steel said, turning to a flustered Rainbow Dash. “You changed from last night. You were all proud and happy with yourself, now, you’re being all modest with me. What’s up?”

“What? ME? Nooooo, I…just…couldn’t really think of what to say.” Rainbow said, a proud smirk gracing her face. “But now I do. I can perform a sonic rainboom! And nopony else can. Just me. And I would be surprised if there is another pony anywhere in Equestia that’s faster than me!” Steel laughed.

“There’s the Rainbow Dash I remember from last night.” Steel Anvil said.

“So, yeah…how’s your party so far?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Enjoying it?”

“Are you kidding?” Steel said. “It’s amazing. I’m telling ya, your pink friend over there can really throw one.” He gestured toward Pinkie Pie, who was playing a game of twister with Rarity. Rarity fell and Pinkie screamed out in triumph. Rarity harrumphed and stood up. “The food is great, and this music…I don’t really know who made it, but it’s awesome.”

“It’s the latest mix made by Vinyl Scratch. She’s a really famous DJ known throughout most of Equestria. But most ponies just call her DJ Pon-3.” Rainbow said. Steel Anvil nodded in acknowledgement. At that moment, Derpy Hooves flew right into Steel. Steel stumbled a couple steps, but quickly regained his footing. Derpy, however, was on the ground stopped in her motion. Steel immediately went to her aid.

“Miss! Are you okay?” He said worriedly, helping her up.

“Yeah, I’m okay! Pinkie Pie just scared me right off of the ground.” Derpy said with a small giggle. Steel and Rainbow looked over at Pinkie who was giggling madly, rolling around on the floor.

“Derpy!” Rainbow said sternly. “Watch where you're going!” Derpy wilted, her ears lowering and her head dropping.

“Hey, come on.” Steel said to Rainbow, then looked at Derpy. “She obviously didn’t mean to do it. Just be more careful, next time, okay?” Derpy nodded, smiled and started to amble away.

“Hey, Derpy!” Rainbow called. Derpy looked toward Rainbow Dash. “Sorry.” Derpy smiled.

“Ooohh…It’s okay, Rainbow Dash!” She then turned and began to mingle with the other party goers.

“Hey Rainbow.” Steel said to the cyan mare next to him. She looked at him. “How about a game of Twister?”

_____

The party continued for what seemed like hours. The fun and games seemed to be in near unlimited supply. Steel eventually lost to Rainbow in twister and after that, proved himself to be quite the prankster, impressing even Pinkie Pie. They danced, moving to the music of Vinyl Scratch and other artists. Rainbow enjoyed dancing with Steel the most, though she didn’t show it. The stallion brought a feeling to her that she couldn’t explain, that she had never felt for any other pony before. Over the course of the night, different ponies left and welcomed Steel Anvil to ponyville. A few even placed orders for different metal decorations. It came to a point eventually where only Steel Anvil, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle and Spike remained in the barn. The baby dragon was asleep on a table, eventually scooped up by the magic of Twilight Sparkle. Steel was approached by the purple unicorn.

“Steel, it was a pleasure seeing you again. And again, welcome to Ponyville.” She said warmly.

“Thanks, Twilight.” Steel responded.

“You sure are a nice stallion, Steel. Ah’ll look forward to seein’ ya again.” Applejack said. Steel smiled and nodded at the mare as she left. Pinkie squealed and hugged him tightly before running out of the barn to catch up with Twilight. Fluttershy passed Steel and blushed heavily and looked down.

“I-it was g-good to see you again, Steel.” She said. Steel chuckled and nodded.

“Good seeing you again too, Fluttershy.” He said, smiling warmly. Rarity got to Steel and blushed. Steel nodded.

“Miss Rarity.” He said. Rarity let out an airy giggle as she walked out of the barn. Steel then walked out, Rainbow Dash following behind.

“Sooo…some party, huh?” She said.

“Yep. It was great. Thanks, you guys! I really appreciate this. I’ll see you guys later!” He called to everypony. They all bid farewell to him as they all parted ways.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash.” Steel said to the cyan mare. She turned, slightly eagerly, but trying to hide it. “Before you leave, how about a race from here back to Ponyville?” Rainbow brightened up heavily.

“Really?!” She said, excitedly, nearly bouncing up and down.

“Yeah, if you think you can handle it.” Steel said with a sly smirk.

“Are you kidding me?” Rainbow said. “Of course I can!” Steel drew a long line in the sand in front of them.

“You know what that is. Remember, just a race to Ponyville. I hope you know that I‘m not going easy on you because you‘re a mare.” Steel said as he got behind the starting line.

“Oh, come on, don’t make me laugh!“ Rainbow Dash said as she got into position and looked over at the red stallion. He winked at her with his bright red irises, reflecting the moonlight. Rainbow Dash blushed, but kept her head in the game. She had to win this…she had to earn his respect.

“Ready…” Steel uttered quietly. “Set…GO!” And they were off, like two rockets through the night. They blazed down the path leading from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville. Neck-in-neck, shot-for-shot. Rainbow Dash could not deny that she was impressed. Even running, she was one of the fastest ponies around. She looked over at Steel, who had a look of pure confidence on his face.

‘Strong and fast.’ She thought to herself. ‘He’s so awesome…’ In the midst of her thought, Steel had begun to pick up speed. He inched ahead of Rainbow gradually. Rainbow huffed and put her all into it, getting to an even position with him again. Then, out of the blue, Steel sped ahead with blinding speed, leaving Rainbow in the figurative and literal dust. He moved like the devil, gaining meter after meter on Rainbow Dash as the seconds passed. She was amazed. He would be able to last a little while against her even if she was flying. Eventually, he reached Ponyville. He sat there and waited for Rainbow for what seemed like a full minute or two, before she finally came galloping into the town, breathing as heavily as she ever had. She fell onto the ground, gasping as if she had exactly no oxygen left in her lungs. Steel walked to her and helped her up. She caught her breath eventually, enough to speak.

“You cheated!” She said indignantly.

“Celestia, preserve us!” Steel said, half chuckling. “Are the great Rainbow Dash’s, winner of the best young flyers competition and performer of the sonic rainboom, feathers ruffled?”

“No.” She said, huffing and crossing her front hooves. “I just don’t like cheaters!”

“How exactly did I cheat?” He said, a smile plastered on his face. “And I refuse to believe that you, of all the ponies here, don’t like me.” Rainbow’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Her face turned the color of one of Applejack’s apples.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and standing to face him, her face inches away from his.

“Whatever you think it means.” He responded simply, smiling at Rainbow in a way that made her want to strangle him, and kiss him at the same time. He then moved past her and walked toward the forge he had moved into earlier that day. He turned back to her and said, “Goodnight, Rainbow Dash…and just know, that out of everypony I‘ve met here so far…you’re my favorite.” He turned and walked away. As he did this, Rainbow looked after him dreamily and smiled widely, her eyes half lidded. She began to fly up to her cloud home.

“Goodnight…” She said longingly, sure he couldn’t hear her. “Steel Anvil.” At that moment, Rainbow thought she heard a chuckle coming from below.

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author’s note: Okay, there’s the second chapter. I pretty much already have the first third of the story already planned out. I would appreciate a comment or mini-review or whatever. What’s Steel Anvil’s big secret? Stay tuned to find out!

Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

“Oh, blast it!” Rarity exclaimed, as one of the crates on the heavily-stacked wagon she was pulling fell. She had just gotten a new shipment of supplies to use for some dress orders she had recently received. Unfortunately for her, the order was quite the tall one. “Why must this happen to me?” She unhooked herself from the wagon and moved to the side to pick up the crate. It was extremely heavy. Far too heavy for the prim, white unicorn to manage on her own, anyway. To make matters worse, it was drizzling rain, and the moisture was terrible for her mane. The sun was completely hidden behind an overcast of clouds.

“Need some help with that?” She heard a strong voice say behind her. Her ears perked up and her heart skipped a beat. She would recognize that voice everywhere. One that had such a profound effect on her. The voice of Steel Anvil, the new blacksmith stallion in town. She turned to him, his strong features and perfectly muscled body called to her. She looked up at his eyes. Smooth brown, which were accentuated by his slightly scruffy, jet black mane. He smiled at her warmly.

“What me? No, no I…” She began, trying to sound confident. She looked down at the crate, felt her hair start to become unkempt, the water playing down her shoulders. “Yes, please.” She said with a nervous giggle. Steel gave a small chuckle and lifted the heavy crate easily to the top, his height making the task even less difficult. He walked to the front of the wagon and turned to the fashionista.

“Could you hook me up?” He asked her. She nodded silently and moved closer to him. She secured the straps, while silently marveling at his well-toned body, struggling to keep her composure.

“Okay,” Rarity said, nearly out of breath. “it’s secure.” Steel nodded and pulled the wagon down the road to Rarity’s boutique.

“So, what is all this stuff?” Steel asked.

“It’s just some supplies I needed to fulfill a dress order I received.” She responded.

“Must have been quite the order.” Steel said with a smile. Rarity giggled.

“Yes, well, it would appear that I bit off a little more than I could chew. I had no idea it would be raining today. Rainbow Dash neglected to mention it. So, now, I have an enormous dress order, that will most likely take me the remainder of the day to finish if I start as soon as I return to the boutique, and on top of it all, my mane is ruined!” The unicorn half ranted. Steel chuckled.

“You’re pretty with your hair down, in my opinion.” Steel commented. Rarity blushed.

“Oh, you.” She said.

“Yeah…speaking of, that Rainbow Dash sure is a piece of work, huh?” He added. Rarity’s blush left her face and her expression turned slightly sour at the thought of her competition for Steel's affections. She knew Rainbow liked him too.

“She sure is…” She said with a hint of acid.

“So, tell me, what’s she like?” Steel asked her, interest evident in his voice. Rarity huffed in slight anger. Why was he so interested in that tomcolt and not her?

“She’s conceited, she’s a braggart, she’s a showoff, she takes too many risks,” Rarity began, listing all of the negative traits of her rainbow-maned friend. She then remembered plummeting, falling at terminal velocity, all hope of survival lost, screaming herself hoarse, as she fell from the best young fliers competition. At the moment she was sure of her own death, that she would leave this life, somepony caught her. Somepony saved her life. Rainbow Dash. “But,” She continued, “she’s the most loyal pony I have ever met. She would do anything for her friends. She would die for her friends. She nearly died for me once, to save my life…even though I had been extremely selfish and taken her special day at the best young fliers competition away from her. True, she can be arrogant, but she can also be caring, sweet and thoughtful.” Steel seemed to be in deep thought, pondering what Rarity had just said. The boutique was coming into view further down the path.

“Interesting…” He simply said. Rarity sighed and looked forward as they continued walking.

“So, what are you doing out in the rain?” Rarity asked him.

“Oh, I love the rain.” He said to her. “The feel of the water, the sound of it. Plus, it’s amazing for my mane.” He said to her, flipping his mane and taking a model’s stance, knowing of Rarity’s profession. “Didn’t you notice?“ She laughed out loud, something she seldom did. They continued walking to the boutique, finally coming up the walkway to the door. She opened it for him as he pulled the wagon inside.

“Where do you want it?” He asked her.

“Just put it in the right corner, please.” She said to him. “Thank you for this. It means a lot to me. It would have taken twice as long if you hadn’t helped.”

“Oh, no problem,” He said, unhooking himself from the wagon. “You need any help unloading?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” She responded. “Thank you, though.” Steel stepped out of the wagon straps and moved toward the door.

“Well, I think I’ll take my leave, then, Rarity.” He said, sending a curt nod her way. “I have a rather large order to fill myself back at the forge.” Before he reached the door, he was stopped by the white unicorn.

“Wait, Steel,” She said quickly. He turned to her. A heavy blush was present on her face, very visible through her white coat. “before you leave could I...tell you something?”

“Sure…” He said. “Fire away.” She looked to her left and cleared her throat, avoiding his gaze.

"I'm just going to come out and say it, because I feel the need to tell you." Steel nodded. "Well, um..." She laughed nervously and blushed a lot harder. "I...like you...quite a bit." Steel's features didn't change a bit. He merely sighed.

"Look, Rarity. I like you too, but as a friend. And I know that sounds really cliche, but I'm interested in somepony else."

"Rainbow Dash...You asked about her...It's her isn't it?" Rarity said, sadness lacing her words. Steel sighed and looked into her eyes again.

“Yes, it is.” He said, obviously aware of Rarity’s huge crush on him. “I’m sorry.” Rarity looked to be nearly in tears. It was hurting Steel to see her like this, but he didn't feel for the unicorn what he felt for Dash. Suddenly, Rarity brightened up, seemingly on command.

“Oh, don’t worry about me!” She said, a small smile gracing her features. She looked at him. “That doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends.” Steel smiled at her.

“It would be my honor, miss Rarity.” He said to her. “Goodbye.” He turned to leave, opening the door.

“Goodbye.” She said, a single tear falling from her eye, proving the smile to be a façade. She quickly wiped it as she remembered something. “Oh, Steel, just one more thing.” She called to him. He turned to her.

“Yes?” He said. Rarity smiled warmly at him.

“You couldn’t have picked a better mare.”

_____

A flash of lightning blazed through the sky with a mighty boom, right above the head of Steel Anvil. He did not flinch. He moved slowly through Ponyville, gazing upon the buildings. Their architecture interested him. It was nothing like he was used to in Manehattan. The buildings were much smaller and more quaint, much unlike the towering exuberant buildings he knew from his home town. He eventually came to the outside of Ponyville, heading up a large hill, seeing much of the landscape. He saw Sweet Apple Acres, being pelted by the heavy rain. He looked a little closer and saw two ponies running back and forth frantically. One orange and one red. Applejack and Big Macintosh. They looked like they needed help. Steel immediately broke into a dead sprint, covering much ground in a short amount of time. He quickly reached the gates and fences of the apple farm.

“Get the cart, Big Mac!” He heard Applejack yell, panic evident in her voice. He ran down the path as they came into his view. Applejack and Big Mac were pushing enormous carts full of apples up a hill to their barn. Strain evident on their faces. “We gotta save ‘em!” Steel looked over to see several carts full of Apples, their livelihood, getting battered and bruised by the heavy rain, dangerously close to being flooded over with water. Steel jumped at a cart and began pushing. He moved the cart with no problem moving quickly.

“Steel!” Applejack said when she laid eyes on the red stallion. “What’re you doin’ here?”

“I saw that you guys were in trouble…figured that I would lend a hoof!” He responded, pushing the cart. He eventually got it into the barn, where two other carts were and went back for another. Big Mac and Applejack were managing with their carts, but they were heavy, made to be pulled in on a sunny day, at a normal pace, not rushed in during a torrential downpour. Steel ran and got another cart, pushing it easily, leaving four more to take into the barn. One by one, he brought the carts back, each holding the precious cargo of apples. Big Macintosh and Applejack managed to help with the last two carts. They all ran into the apple family’s house, Steel shutting the door behind them.

“Hoo, dawgies!” Applejack whooped, taking her trademark Stetson off. “You made that job out there a heck of a lot easier, Steel!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Steel responded. “What were you guys doing out there bucking apples in the rain?”

“Well, here’s what happened.” Applejack began. “We went out there to apple buck for the day, and we got a good bit down, but it started to rain. Not the rain we just nearly drowned in, but just normal, light rain. We figured we’d come inside for a lil’ break while the shower ran it's course, and out of the blue, this downpour came outta nowhere! We had to get out there to save the apples. We would have lost a lot if it wasn’t for you comin’ ‘round, Steel. Thank you.” Steel chuckled quietly and nodded at her.

“Ya sure are strong.” Big Mac said. “Those carts were a might heavy.”

“I guess it was just the adrenaline.” Steel responded.

“Even so, you saved us a lot of money, Steel.” Applejack said. “How ‘bout some warm cider?” Steel nodded at her.

“That sounds delicious, thank you.” He said to the mare.

“Who’re you?” Steel heard a small voice say from the other side of the room. “What’re you doin’ here?” He looked over to see a small yellow filly with a bright pink bow in her red mane. She was noticeably missing a cutie mark.

“Well, hey there.” He said to her. “My name’s Steel Anvil. And you are?” She looked over at Applejack, who nodded with a stern look on her face.

“Applebloom. Mah name is Applebloom.” She responded. “Why’re you here?”

“He just saved us about five hundred bits worth of apples.” Applejack said. “And he deserves some kinda reward.”

“A cup of hot cider will do just fine, Applejack.” Steel said with a smile.

“Comin’ right up.” Applejack said, heading to the kitchen. Applebloom looked up at Steel, curious about this strange new stallion.

“Where are you from?” She asked him.

“I came from Manehattan looking for a nice quiet place to settle down, and I read in the paper that Ponyville needed a blacksmith. So I moved here.”

“You’re a blacksmith?” Applebloom said, her voice laden with excitement. Her expression slowly turning to confusion. “What’s a blacksmith?” Steel laughed.

“A blacksmith is a pony who makes things out of metal, like tools, decorations or weapons.” He said. “And what’s your story? You look a little old to not have your cutie mark yet.” Applebloom scowled at him.

“You look a lil' weird to be so polite.” Steel chuckled.

“I suppose that’s a sore subject for you?” He mused. Before Applebloom could respond, Applejack came trotting into the living room, a tray with four cups of steaming cider in them. She placed it down on the table. They all took a cup.

“Now then, let’s have some cider, huh?” Applejack said. “Again, Ah would like to thank you for alla your help, Steel. You really helped save our flanks back there.” Steel smiled.

“Eeeyup.” Big Mac added.

“Really, it’s the least I could do for throwing that awesome welcoming party.” He responded, taking a sip.

“Well, me ‘an the girls just figured you were too nice to not welcome to Ponyville with a party.”

“You sure make some amazing cider.” He added.

“Best in Equestria.” The orange mare responded.

_____

At last, after hours of hard rain and cloudy skies, the bright sun peaked through the clouds and shined upon Ponyville. The wet grass seemed to sparkle to Rainbow Dash, who had just finished her work for the day. She flied over the ground, doing a horizontal spin and rising up above the ground. She flew in a large upward-moving arc, closing in on the small town. She flew down and landed on the ground, in front of Rarity’s boutique. Of all ponies, she figured the white stylish unicorn would know where the pony she was looking for would be. Steel Anvil. Ever since that night with the race, she had not been able to stop thinking about him. He just seemed to charm her so. She knocked on the door and waited for a while. She had begun tapping her hoof on the ground when the door was answered by Rarity’s younger sister, Sweetie Belle.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle.” Rainbow Dash said to the filly. “Is your sister home?” Sweetie Belle, aware of the fact that Rainbow Dash rarely came to their house, nodded.

“Sure. Come in.” She turned and led the cyan Pegasus into the boutique. “Rarity! Rainbow Dash is here!”

“Be down in a minute!” Rainbow heard Rarity yell back from upstairs. After the sound of cluttering and banging around rang through the large room, Rarity came out of the design chamber, hair slightly frizzled and face a little drained.

“Rainbow Dash! Darling! How are you?” She said, happy to see one of her best friends in her house, let alone one who so rarely came over to her house. Then, a portion of her happiness was taken from her as she remembered the conversation she had earlier with a certain dark red stallion.

“I’m good.” Rainbow responded. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

“What, me? Oh, I’m absolutely fine, just a rather large order I have to fill.” She said. “What can I do for you?”

“Have you seen Steel Anvil today?” The rainbow-maned mare asked.

‘Of course…’ Rarity thought, slightly annoyed. However, she swallowed her annoyance and smiled anyway. “I have actually. I believe he in back at his forge, working on an order that was placed for him.”

“Awesome! Thanks, Rarity! Get some sleep, you look absolutely dreadful.” Rainbow said, smirking and letting out a mischievous giggle. “Bye!” The cyan Pegasus left, a slight happy pep in her steps. Rarity couldn’t help but smile. Rainbow Dash really was a piece of work.

Rainbow flew up over the roofs of Ponyville, scanning for the blacksmith forge. She had remembered seeing it a few times in her regular excursions to Ponyville, but at this moment, she could not quite remember the precise location.

‘Geez, where is it?’ She thought to herself, looking for the small building. She landed and walked around, looking for any kind of sign or direction. Finally, she got tired of looking around. She needed to ask a pony. Her eyes darted back and forth until she finally saw an acquaintance of hers, Amethyst Star.

“Hey! Amethyst Star!” She shouted, and walked up to the pink unicorn.

“Oh, hi, Rainbow Dash. What do you need?” She responded.

“Can you tell me where the blacksmith forge is?”

“Oh, yeah, go down this street, take a left and continue down that street and it’ll be at the end on your right.” She explained. “Isn’t there a new stallion working there now?”

“Yep. Thanks a lot, Amethyst!” Rainbow said quickly before speeding off, eager to see the object of her recent affections. She felt slightly giddy at the thought of his charming smile. She slapped herself in the face.

“Snap out of it!” She said out loud to herself, slapping herself in the face again. She found the forge, already looking better than it did when it wasn’t in use. She walked up to the front door and knocked. When no response came after thirty seconds, she knocked again. Still no response. “Okay, what’s the deal?” She spouted, annoyed. Just then, the mare heard the sounds of metal on metal, the clanging ringing out from what sounded like around the back of the building. She walked around to find Steel, wearing protective goggles on the back patio, at the forge, hammering away at a white hot piece of long iron.

“Hey.” She said. He continued to hit the metal with the hammer, flattening it, not seeming to hear her. “Hey!” She nearly shouted. He looked up quickly.

“Oh, hey there, Rainbow Dash.” He said, smiling. “Let me just get finished with this piece and I’ll be right there.” He continued to flatten the iron pole, working noticeably faster than he was when she arrived. Before long, he had finished. He dunked the red-hot material in the cool vat of water next to him, the metal sizzling loudly. He then laid it down next to six separate iron poles the same length.

“I would have thought the forge would be inside the building.” Rainbow said, walking up to him.

“Yeah, put the fiery blacksmith forge inside a wooden building.” He said in a sarcastic tone. “Smart.” She giggled, extremely unlike her. She cleared her throat as she gained control of herself.

“Oh, shut up.” The cyan mare said, slugging his shoulder. He laughed.

“So what's up?”

“Nothing, really.” She said. “I just came to say hey.”

‘Oh, buck my life.’ She thought, mentally slapping herself.

“Oh, well hey.” He responded. “So…I think…I’ll get back to work…” He turned to head back to the forge. He took one of the pieces of metal out of the forge and laid it on the anvil. The stallion began to hit it with the hammer, flattening it to the same extent of the last one.

“Sooo…What exactly are you making?” Rainbow asked him.

“I’m making an iron fence.” He responded, not turning away from his work.

“A fence huh?” She said. “For who?”

“Filthy Rich. Apparently, his fence was destroyed by some diamond dogs, who were told that there were gems on his property. Poor guy’s yard is a mess. Full of holes. He was very specific about how he wanted it made, and it’s gonna take me a while.” He explained.

“Yeah…His daughter gives Scootaloo a lot of trouble because she hasn’t gotten her cutie mark yet.” The mare said. He looked at her, not knowing who Scootaloo was. Rainbow mentally kicked herself. "Scootaloo is this little filly who idolizes me. I kind of look after her because as far as I know, she has no parents. And that little brat Diamond Tiara won't leave her and her friends alone because they haven't gotten their cutie marks."

“She seemed mean-spirited when they came in yesterday.” Steel commented. He finished hammering that piece of metal and dunked it in the water, the sizzling sending steam up into his face. He looked up for a second. "Say, a filly named Applebloom wouldn't happen to be one of Scootaloo's friends, would she?"

"She actually is." Rainbow responded. "How do you know her?"

"Oh, I met her at Sweet Apple Acres earlier."

"What were you doing there?" She asked.

"The downpour earlier was causing Applejack and Big Mac a lot of trouble with their apples, so I thought I'd lend a hoof." He explained. 'So cool.' The mare thought.

“Do you live here?” She asked him.

“Yeah, I do. There’s room for my bed inside, so I sleep there.” He lifted the iron rod out of the water and placed it down next to the others.

“You look like you could use a break.” Rainbow said. This really wasn’t true. Steel looked as good as ever, his mane still well kept, yet slightly disheveled. His muscles pulsing under his skin. “Wanna grab some lunch at Sugarcube Corner? I was going to anyway and company would be cool.”

“Sure, why not?” He said. “I just have one more piece left to flatten. If you want to meet me there, I’ll be done in about five minutes.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. I’ll wait.” She said, sitting down. He turned to her and smirked.

“You’ll wait for me, huh?” He said slyly. Rainbow scowled at him.

“Fine. If you don’t want anypony to talk to on the way there, that’s your problem.” She said blushing and standing up to leave.

“I was kidding, okay? Geez, you‘re so sensitive.” He said, going back to his work. “It’d be great to walk there with you.” Rainbow sat back down and watched him slam the hammer into the iron, working it into a flat shape with what seemed like expert precision. After he finished, he dunked it in the water and let it cool. He then put it up with the other poles.

“Okay. Shall we?” He said, walking toward the patio exit. Rainbow stood up and walked with him They left the shade of the patio and walked into the sunlight. Steel let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes for a second, taking in a very deep breath. When they got to the street and got to a steady walking pace, it was Rainbow who spoke first.

“So, how long have you been a blacksmith?”

“Pretty much my whole life. My father back in Manehattan taught me, and his father, him. It’s kind of a family art.” He responded.

“That’s pretty awesome.” She responded.

“It’s alright. Mostly it’s pretty dull work. When you get the technique down for all the different things you can make, its just little things you do that make them all different.” He said.

“How so?” She asked.

“Well, for example, if you make a sword, you take a long piece of iron and thin it out to two very fine edges of each side and an extremely sharp point on the end. If you were to forge a spear, you would use the exact same tecnique, just make it smaller and a little thicker and attach it to the end of a pole. It get’s a lot more complicated than that, but I’m just telling you the gist of it.” He explained to her.

“It still has to be better than weather patrol.” She of course, was overstating by miles, her job was absolutely fine. “I mean, it’s fine and everything, but there are just some days where I just really hate it.”

“To tell the truth, I don’t really love the forge that much. The heat bothers me and there’s a risk of catching on fire. I do it because it’s my calling. The only thing I’m truly good at.” As he finished, they arrived at Sugarcube corner. Steel observed the heavily candy-themed architecture.

“Are you sure they serve lunch here?” He asked. “Seems a little…sweet themed…”

“Yeah, they do. They mostly serve sweets, but Mrs. Cake can make a mean daffodil sandwich.”

“I suppose, Mrs. Cake is the proprietor?” He said.

“Well, her and her husband.” She said as they entered the small building. Mr. Cake was at the counter, counting the day’s profits.

“Hey, there, Rainbow Dash.” He said warmly and with a smile. “I’ll go get Pinkie for you.”

“I’m actually just here for lunch.” She said to him.

“Even so, I’m sure it’ll make her day to see you.”

“No denying that.” The cyan Pegasus said. The lanky, yellow stallion walked into the kitchen. It took a record two seconds for the pink earth pony known as Pinkie Pie to rush out with a huge grin attached to her face.

“Dashie!” She began, positively and impossibly giddily. She saw Steel, and took on an impressed tone of voice. “And Steel! Hiya, guys!”

“Hey, Pinkie Pie. We came for some lunch.” Rainbow Dash responded.

“No problemo, Dashie! What can I get for ya?” Pinkie said.

“I’ll have a daffodil sandwich.” Rainbow said.

“Same here.” Steel added.

“Two daffodil sandwiches…coming right up!” Pinkie said. “It’ll be only a couple of minutes.” They nodded and walked out to a patio seat. Rainbow began walking to a table in the sunlight.

“Uh…can we sit at that table?” Steel said, pointing to a table in the shade.

“Why there?” Rainbow asked.

“I, um…get hot really easily.”

“Don’t you work at a blacksmith forge?” She asked him.

“Okay then, smart one. In the sun it is.” He said, nonchalantly. They sat and waited for their sandwiches.

“Okay. Weather patrol. Tell me about it.” He said to her.

“Well, it’s really not as complex as smithing. Basically, we pegasi read the weather order for the week and shape and mold the clouds based on what that order says. If the order calls for pure sun, we destroy all of the clouds. If it calls for a downpour, like the one we had today, we jump up and down on the clouds, pretty much knocking the rain out of them.”

“Well, that’s cool.” He commented as Pinkie brought the sandwiches out on the tray. She put them down in front of the ponies.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Rainbow said.

“No problem.” Pinkie said happily. “Actually Rainbow, could you come inside for a second and help me with something?”

“Uhh, sure, no problem.” Rainbow responded. “Be right back.” She said to Steel. He nodded.

“Take your time.” He said. They walked into the building.

“Okay, Pinkie, let’s make this quick. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m here with some-”

“You little love hoarder!” Pinkie nearly screamed in happiness, cutting Rainbow’s sentence short. The cyan mare blushed, looking away.

“What? What’re you talking about? I’m not a-”

“When did he ask you out?”

“He didn’t-”

“How did he do it?”

“Pinkie-”

“Did he kneel down?”

“Pinkie, I-”

“Oh, that would be so romantic if he-”

“Pinkie!" Rainbow didn’t quite yell. Just loud enough to stop the raving party pony. “He didn’t ask me out. We’re just here as friends.” Pinkie frowned slightly.

“So you’re not a love hoarder?” She said, a little sad.

“No, I’m not.” Rainbow said. “At least, not yet.” She gained a smirk. Pinkie immediately perked up.

“So you are interested in him!” Pinkie said happily.

“Yeah, I am.” Rainbow said. “I pretty much have been since I met him. He’s just…so awesome. I don’t know why he hasn’t made a move yet.”

“Well, you did just meet him two days ago.” Pinkie said, slightly giggling.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Rainbow said. “Well, I’d better get back to Steel. I’ll see ya later.”

“Bye, Dashie.” Pinkie said. “Good luck!” Rainbow chuckled as she walked out the door to the patio. Steel wasn’t at the table. Neither were the sandwiches.

“Steel? Where are you?” She called. “I swear, if he took the sandwiches and left, I‘m gonna-”

“Gonna what?“ A voice interrupted her from behind. She looked around the patio until she finally laid eyes on him at the table in the shade he had originally wanted to sit at. He had taken the sandwiches with him.

“You’re a nut.” She said playfully.

“Guilty as charged.” He quipped.

_____

“Don’t worry about the sandwiches, Dashie. They’re on me.” Pinkie said with a bright smile. Rainbow smiled back at her.

“Thanks so much, Pinkie.” Rainbow said happily. As she and Steel began to walk away, Pinkie pulled Rainbow Dash over to her and whispered in her ear-

“Give him a big ol' kiss for me.” Rainbow smiled and chuckled at her. As Rainbow caught up to the stallion, he shot her an inquisitive look.

“What did she say?” He asked.

“Oh, just a joke.” She responded. “You know Pinkie.” Steel chuckled as they made their way back to the forge. The sun was setting in a perfect view from the building’s front door.

“So, I guess I’ll see you later.” He said.

“Yeah, I guess so.” She responded.

“Just one more thing.” He said softly. He began to lean closer to her, his face closing in with hers. Her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes widened slightly. A huge blush crept to her face.

‘Oh, goddesses, is this it?’ She thought to herself. ‘Was that thing Pinkie whispered to me from her Pinkie sense?’ He continued to close the gap between them, a cool, confident look on his face. They were just inches apart and at this point, Rainbow thought that it was safe to close her eyes and just let it happen.

A second…

Nothing.

Another second…

Nothing.

Rainbow waited for what seemed like an eternity. No contact was made however, and she stood there. Suddenly, she felt a gentle puff on her nose. She opened her eyes to find Steel’s face, shaped in a slightly subtle look of adoration, a small blush present. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“You had a bit of dust on your nose.” He turned and walked up the steps to the door. He opened it and looked back at the mare.

“Bye.” He said.

“Bye…” Rainbow nearly whispered, still dumbstruck. He smiled again before he closed the door. It took everything Rainbow Dash had for her knees not to buckle underneath her. She began to fly up to her home in Cloudsdale.

“Wow…” She whispered to herself.

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author’s note: So apparently, many people on this site have a problem with OCs. Why is this, exactly? Perhaps it is because when someone writes an OC story, they're just writing out a fantasy of theirs. This, however, is not the case for me. I legitimately wanted to write a story with a straight Rainbow Dash romance. (I firmly believe that Rainbow Dash is bisexual.) And I just felt that Soardash is a little overdone, and I couldn't really think of anything with Macdash. But with this, I could make the OC stallion anyone I wanted him to be. And, while he does have a personality similar to mine, he is definitely not a pony version of me. I created him because I believe that he would be a good addition to the Friendship is Magic Universe....if it was a little darker that is. He has a secret, and you'll find out eventually what it is. Let's just say that it's nothing good. I really would appreciate a comment on what you think of the story so far. Please, be nice with any criticisms. PEACE.

Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

Steel Anvil brought his hammer down onto the curled iron decorative part of the fence he had been making for Filthy Rich. It had been a full month since he had arrived in Ponyville and began work on the complicated order and it was hard, arduous work. Not only did it have to withstand the force of Diamond Dogs and other hoodlums of that nature, it had to look distinguished like the rest of the rich pony’s estate. No doubt that since he was making this fence for Filthy Rich of all Ponies, he could demand a high fee. He soaked the blazing metal in the cool water next to him and placed the now-cooled iron into it’s niche in the fence. It was now nearly complete and Steel stood back to appraise his work. He nodded at the fence in approval as he felt the cool fall air kiss his skin. His satisfaction was interrupted, however, by a happy yelling-

“STEEL! HEY, COME OUT HERE!” The voice was high pitched and uplifting. The unmistakable voice of one Pinkie Pie. He sighed and walked into the sunlight, wincing a bit, and walking around the side of the building to see Pinkie, smiling widely as always, with a picnic basket clenched in her teeth, accompanied by Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Rainbow Dash. He looked to the cyan mare and smiled before turning his attention back to Pinkie.

“Hey guys. What’s up?” He said.

“Well, we know this is short notice, but we were going to go on a picnic and we wanted to know if you wanted to join us.” Rarity said.

“Well, I still have some work to do…” He said, looking back to the forge for a moment. “Why would you want me to come with you guys?”

“Are you kidding? Last Friday was great! We couldn’t not want you to come anywhere with us!” Twilight interjected. “I didn’t know you could sing like that!”

“I didn’t know Ponyville had a karaoke bar.” Steel said with a chuckle. “Alright, alright. Let me go shut down the forge and lock up.” He went around the side of the building. Rainbow Dash looked after him and let out a small sigh. She looked over to see the sly grin on Applejack’s face. Rainbow frowned at her.

“What?” She said. Applejack chuckled.

“You know what.” The orange mare replied and elbowed the Pegasus in the side. Pinkie giggled. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on.” Rainbow moaned incredulously. She then dropped her voice to just above a whisper. Twilight was in a conversation with Fluttershy, Spike and Rarity and it was just Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack. “I like him, okay? There I said it. Now how about both of you just leave it alone?” Applejack merely smiled.

“You know that ain’t gonna happen, sugarcube.”

“What’s not gonna happen?” Steel said from behind Rainbow. She nearly jumped out of her skin and pivoted around to face him.

“NOTHING!” She cleared her throat and continued. “Don’t worry about it. You probably wouldn’t care.”

“Ah dunno,” Applejack said, grinning at Rainbow. “It was pretty interesting.” Rainbow blushed and scowled at Applejack. She chuckled.

“Alright, are we all ready to go?” Twilight asked as she, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike approached.

“Ah’m good and ready.” Applejack said.

“Yep. Same here.” Steel added. He looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was still quite flustered from her conversation with Applejack. He took in her appearance. A sleek, athletic figure with well-toned muscles, gorgeous wings folded against her sides, her brilliant rainbow mane, her beautiful rose irises, her feminine facial features. It wasn’t until the other ponies started moving for the picnic spot that Rainbow caught him staring. She smiled at him and put on her sunglasses, aware of his look. She turned and trotted behind the others. She looked back at him for a split second and smirked. He ran and caught up to her.

_____

The group walked along the path, talking and making jokes, looking for a place to set up the picnic. Everywhere seemed to have some quality about it that made it undesirable for somepony in the group. Whether it was that the grass was too tall, or that there was another pony somewhere nearby. Finally, they settled down under a rather large tree in the shade. Steel plopped down and breathed heavily. He was very tired at this point and it showed. Fluttershy was the first to notice.

“Oh, my gosh! Steel, are you okay?” She asked with genuine concern. “You look pale.”

“I’m…fine…” He said. “Just give me a few seconds…” There they sat, Steel resting at the trunk of the tree, Fluttershy observing him, worried. All at once, Steel seemed to rise up and take another breath, looking refreshed. He sighed in what seemed like relief. “Alright, I feel better now. So, what’s on the menu?” He asked the group, who had already gotten into the basket.

“A bunch of yummy stuff, that’s what!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, licking her lips and pulling out an apple and taking an enormous bite.

“There’s daffodil sandwiches-” Twilight said, taking one out, only to have it quickly taken away by Rainbow Dash.

“Thanks!” Rainbow quickly said. Twilight rolled her eyes and continued.

“There’s hay pieces, apples, apple fritters, apple pie, apples and apple cider. In case you didn’t notice, we had a lot of apples to go with, thanks to Applejack.” The orange earth pony nodded, taking a bite of an apple fritter. They all took what they desired, and began to eat. Each pony enjoying and savoring their food, save for Rainbow Dash, who had already finished her daffodil sandwich and was laying against the tree with her sunglasses on, pretending to be asleep, but really observing Steel from behind her dark shades. He talked with Rarity and Twilight about some hilarious mishap he had at the forge the previous day. Spike walked up to him and tapped him.

"So, Steel, what is Manehattan like?" The baby dragon asked.

"Well, it's a lot different from Ponyville, for sure.The buildings are very tall and made out of brick and cement. There's lights everywhere at night and you can't really sleep unless you find a place that's very, very quiet. It's a very busy city." He explained.

"That's so cool." Spike marveled.

"Yeah, it is...for a while. I moved to Ponyville because I was looking for a nice, quaint place to settle down. And Ponyville definitely fits the bill." Steel said.

“So…Rainbow Dash told me that you’re fast. Very fast.” Applejack said. This got Rainbow up off her back and walking toward the other ponies.

“Oh, did she?” He asked.

“Yep. Said you beat her easily, which is something Ah consider myself capable of as well.” She continued.

“Oh, hardee har HAR.” Rainbow Dash said as she walked up to the group. “She’s just mad because I beat her in The Running of the leaves!” Applejack shook her head and chuckled.

“You wish, Rainbow. Y’all know that Ah beat you!”

“I’m just surprised that Rainbow Dash actually admitted that I beat her in a race.” Steel said, looking at the cyan mare. Pinkie Pie gasped dramatically.

“You beat Rainbow Dash in a race?!” The pink party pony asked.

“Wow! That’s awesome! How’d you do that?” Spike marveled. Rainbow groaned loudly as she removed her sunglasses.

“We were running, okay?” She said, annoyed. “If I was flying, he wouldn’t have a chance!”

“Rainbow, if you were flying, nothing in Equestria would have a chance.” Twilight said, amused at Rainbow’s flustered look at that moment.

“And ya still couldn’t beat me if ya wanted to.” Applejack said, leaning closer to Rainbow.

“Alright fine, farm pony.” Dash said to the orange mare. “You an’ me. A race. Right now, from this tree to that tree across the field.” She gestured to two separate trees on either side of the field they were next to.

“Alrighty, Rainbow. You asked for it.” Applejack said, laughing lightly. Rainbow looked at Steel.

“And you.” She said to him. “I want a rematch.” This seemed to strike a chord in Steel Anvil, as he immediately became nervous.

“Uh…uhm…I don’t think so, Rainbow.” He responded to her.

“Oh, come on. Why not?” She asked him, leaning closer to him. He backed up against the tree trunk. “You scared, or something?”

“No. I just…don’t really feel like it right now.” He said.

“It’s just a friendly competition.” Applejack said to the stallion. “What could it hurt? Plus, if you’re as fast as Rainbow said you were, you shouldn’t have a problem.” Steel looked back and forth, looking for something to say. He stood up slowly and sighed.

“Alright, fine. But just from here to that other tree, okay?” Rainbow and Applejack nodded, getting in a line, preparing for the race. Rainbow looked over at Applejack.

“You’re goin’ down, AJ. I have a special breathing technique that helps me keep all my energy.” Applejack just rolled her eyes and smiled. Steel left the shade of the tree and walked to the line. Rainbow looked over at him, preparing her usual trash talk. But she stopped herself. He was lacking his usual confident look. The look that had stricken her with desire so many times before was absent, replaced with a look of worry and uncertainty.

“Hey.” She said to him. “You okay? Something bothering you?” He looked at her and smiled.

“No, I’m fine. Just thinking.” He responded, and looked forward.

“We gonna do this, or not?” Applejack asked them. Steel nodded at Rainbow who proceeded to count down.

“Three…” The Rainbow maned mare began. Steel gulped.

“Two…”

“One…” Pinkie squealed.

“Oh, the tension! I can’t take it!” She said.

“Pinkie, it’s not really that big of a deal…” Fluttershy commented.

“GO!” As Rainbow Dash uttered this last word, the three of them were off like wildfire, moving down the hill into the field. The three of them were relatively even at this point, Rainbow and Applejack neck-in-neck with Steel lagging slightly behind. Rainbow and Applejack were putting every ounce of their respective abilities into this, pounding forward at breakneck speed. At this point, Steel fell quite far behind.

‘Oh, watch him.’ Rainbow thought to herself. ‘He’s gonna play it up like he usually does, then speed ahead of us.’ She continued to run, preparing herself for this likely occurrence with a burst of speed. Applejack also increased her speed, maintaining her tie with Dash. The Pegasus saw this and put even more power and vigor into her running. She moved ahead of Applejack by a few feet.

“If you two need me to slow down and wait for you, just ask!” She said, looking back at Applejack and Steel. She saw something that completely surprised her. Steel was extremely tired. He had a look of intense strain of his face, obviously struggling just to barely keep up with them. The night of their race, he was so cool and confident, and increased his speed when the time came with ease. He didn’t show a single bit of strain putting Big Macintosh over in their hoof wrestle, and Big Mac was probably the strongest pony in Ponyville. But now, he was breathing very heavily and was looking extremely drained of energy. He seemed to stumble. Rainbow slowed down, letting Applejack get ahead by a little.

“What happened to ya? Ah was just thinkin’ that Ah’d have to use alla my energy!” The farm pony said to Rainbow. But Rainbow wasn’t paying much attention to her rival. Steel stumbled again and lost his footing. He fell and tumbled, hitting the ground heavily. Rainbow stopped immediately.

“Hey, Steel!” She said. “You alright?” By now, Applejack had stopped and started to walk back to them.

“Steel!” She said again. He didn’t move. He didn't say a thing. She started to run over to him. “Steel!” She screamed. He still did not move.

_____

Steel awoke with a heavy gasp. He struggled to catch his breath as he looked around. Nothing but a bunch of blurry colors clouded his vision. He blinked and realized that he could not see very well at that moment.

“Steel?” He faintly heard. “Steel?” He heard it again, his hearing and vision returning to him gradually. The colors slowly turned into the shapes of six mares and a baby dragon. They all had very concerned and worried looks on their faces. The voice was coming from Rainbow Dash. “Steel, answer me. Are you okay?”

“W-where am I?” He asked, feeling that he was on a couch.

“You’re at my boutique. Are you alright?” Rarity said to him.

“Depends on what you mean by ‘Alright’. What the hay happened?” He asked them.

“We were racin’ and you just keeled over. Fell flat on your face. Me‘n Rainbow thought you were dead for a second there.” Applejack said.

“I feel dead right now.” He said, clutching his head.

“What happened out there?” Fluttershy asked him.

“Yeah, what happened?” Pinkie interjected. “We were so worried!” Steel shrugged.

“I really don’t know. I guess I just fainted.” He said. “From exhaustion, I would think.”

“Well you have been working really hard on that order from Filthy Rich, haven't you?” Twilight said. “How much sleep have you had?”

“Not very much, believe me.” He said to them.

“Well, we called the hospital to come pick you up.” Rainbow said to him. “Just safety stuff, y’know?” Steel immediately got up, but stumbled and fell to one of his front knees. Rarity and Fluttershy moved to help him back up. He shook his head.

“No.” He began, a rather stern tone to his voice. “No, thank you. I don’t need to go to the hospital.” He waved them off and began walking toward the door.

“Steel, come on, please stay here and go to the hospital.” Twilight said to him. He looked back at her.

“I said no. But thank you for your thoughtfulness.” He said to the purple unicorn. Twilight smiled at him.

“It wasn’t my idea, it was Rainbow’s.” She said to him, pointing to Rainbow. He looked at her and she smiled at him and blushed a little.

“Well, I didn’t want to take any risks.” She said to him. “I thought that you were a lot worse off than you really were.” She laughed nervously as they heard a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it.” Rarity said. She went and answered it and there stood two ponies with a stretcher.

“We got a call about somepony who needed help.” One of them said. Rarity was about to say something when Steel beat her to the punch.

“I know you did. And, I’m that pony. But, I assure you, I’m absolutely fine. I fainted, and my friends thought it was more serious than it was. So sorry for wasting your time.” They nodded and turned around, taking the stretcher with them. They turned and walked back into the living area.

“Again, I can’t thank you all enough for all of your care.” He said to them.

“Well, what are friends for?” Pinkie said to him. The girls and Spike nodded and agreed. Steel smiled warmly. He felt happy inside. Here he was, with a group of ponies who legitimately cared about him. He sat down on the couch between Rainbow and Twilight.

“Y’know, Steel,” Applejack said. “Ah’ve never seen Rainbow run as fast as she did when she saw that you weren’t moving.” Applejack obviously knew how much this actually got to Rainbow. Steel chuckled and looked at Dash. She was blushing and looking at Applejack indignantly.

"Shut up, Applejack." She said plainly.

“Well, I think that’s pretty awesome.” Steel said to her. Rainbow smiled.

_____

They spent the next few hours relaxing and talking. They hadn‘t realized how late it was until Fluttershy looked at the clock. They all left the boutique to go home for the night.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys later!” Steel said to everypony as they all split up to go home. Rainbow walked next to him. He looked over at her and smirked. She saw this and immediately got a defiant look on her face.

“What?” She said.

“I just find it funny that I keep finding you walking with me after everypony has split up for the night, that’s all.” He responded. Her expression softened.

“Well, I dunno. I guess it’s just because you’re...really cool.” The mare responded. Steel chuckled.

“Thanks Rainbow. You’re cool too.”

“Don’t I know it.” She coyly said. She looked up into the night sky. “It’s a full moon tonight.” Steel regarded Luna’s work as well.

“Yep. Beautiful, really.” They continued walking in silence for a moment before Rainbow piped up.

“Okay, now how could you beat me so easily in that race we had last month, but today, you fall over nearly dead?” She asked him.

“I really don’t know.” He said to her. “Maybe it’s because I haven’t been getting much sleep lately. It could really be a number of things.” Rainbow nodded.

“I was pretty worried when you fell.” She said. “I thought you had tripped. Nothing major. I probably would have made fun of you for it.”

“Good to know.” Steel said. Rainbow giggled and continued.

“But then I saw that you weren’t moving, and I panicked.” She finished.

“Any particular reason you were so absolutely worried about me?” He asked her. They both knew that was a rhetorical question, but for some reason, the stallion loved to make things difficult for her.

“Don’t you dare play stupid.” She said after playfully shoving him as they reached the front door of the forge. “You know exactly why I was so worried.”

“Oh, I’m kinda getting an idea, you might want to tell me explicitly.” He said to the mare.

“Why don't you come closer and I’ll whisper it to you.” She said with her eyes half-lidded, a deep blush gracing her features. The stallion blushed as well, getting closer to her. He leaned down and she put her mouth to his ear.

“I need someone to prank.” She whispered. He immediately became confused.

“You need someone to-” SPLAT! Pinkie Pie, at that moment, dropped an enormous cream pie onto Steel’s head from the front porch roof. The cream flew everywhere and Rainbow and Pinkie howled with laughter and Pinkie fell off of the roof. Steel was just purely and simply surprised.

“Oh!” Rainbow Dash said in between breaths. “Oh, my Goddesses! That was perfect! Nice job, Pinkie!” Pinkie just continued laughing, unable to stop herself. They continued for what seemed like five minutes. Rainbow eventually went and helped Pinkie up.

“Oh, GOSH! That was amazing!” Pinkie nearly screamed.

“I know! The look on his face was priceless!” Rainbow said. They laughed again.

“Thanks for inviting me to do this prank, Dashie! It was perfect. I’m gonna go ahead and go home now. Bye, Steel! No hard feelings!” Pinkie said before she started bouncing off.

“That really was something.” Steel said, wiping cream off his face, a little annoyed.

“Oh, come on, it had to happen eventually.” Rainbow said to him. After a while, she smirked at him. “What exactly did you think I was going to say to you then, Steel?” He huffed.

“Nothing.” He said quickly.

“No, no. You were thinking I was going to say something else, weren’t you?” She said, still giggling.

“Well, obviously.” He responded with a smile.

“What?” She asked.

“I’m pretty sure you know.” He said. Rainbow smiled at him. She took off into the air and did a small loop.

“Bye, Steel.” She said to him. She flitted down closer to him for a moment. “Maybe I really, really wanted to say it.” Steel’s eyes widened and he blushed. She let out a mischievous giggle before taking off into the night sky toward Cloudsdale. He looked after her with fondness.

“Wow.”

_____

Rainbow Dash returned to her cloud home and closed the door behind her. She always expected the door to make a loud slamming noise, but due to the fact that it was a cloud door, it simply molded closed. She ambled to her bedroom to find Tank laying down.

“Today was a good day, Tank.” She said to her pet. He looked up at her slowly. “Steel and me are getting closer, I can feel it.” She settled into her bed and opened her Daring Do novel to read a chapter or two before she went to sleep.

On the ground, however, where everypony was already asleep, one did not sleep. Steel Anvil had just finished cleaning the cream pie off of himself before he settled into his bed. He sat up and waited. His eyes not closing. He couldn’t sleep. He could never sleep.

Obligatory end-of-chapter Author’s Note: Oh! Now why exactly can’t Steel sleep at night? Why can he NEVER sleep at night? I’ve dropped little hints along the way up to this point. But, if you haven’t caught on yet, fear not, it will be revealed in the next chapter. And of course, things are gonna get CRAZY in chapter five. As always, please leave a comment telling me what you think of the story so far. Please be polite with any criticisms. PEACE.

Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

"Ah! Finally. The last book aphabetized." Spike said to himself with satisfaction. He had been working on putting all the books on the bookcase in front of him in alphabetical order for the last hour. And given that it was the nonfiction area, it was quite a physical task for the small dragon. He sat down on the incredibly tall bookcase ladder and looked down at Twilight Sparkle, nose in a book, as always.

"Yep. One bookcase down three to go, Spike." Twilight said to him. The baby dragon sighed in annoyance.

"Twilight, why do I have to do all of this today?" He asked the mare. She looked at him incredulously, smiling.

"What exactly is the significance of today?" She retorted. He sighed heavily again.

"Nothing, really. I just don't want to do this kind of stuff today. Today is the kind of day we'd go out and see everypony and do stuff. Not stay in this library."

"Spike, this is all very necessary. If we don't get this done today, we'll just keep putting it off over and over again until it gets too out of hand. Did you ever hear the expression, 'Diligence is the mother of good fortune?'" She asked.

"No...no I haven't." He said plainly, looking down at her again. She shook her head.

"Well, it doesn't matter." She said. "Once you get the other three done, you'll be done for today and you can do whatever you want."

"I guess so." He said, apathy lining his words. Twilight thought for a moment for something to say to insipire the baby dragon to work harder.

"You know," Twilight said, looking up at him slyly. "Rarity really likes hard workers." She had no idea whatsoever if what she had just said held any truth. But if it got Spike going...

"Really?" He said, looking down at her, all of a sudden interested.

"Yep." She said simply. "I'm sure she would see you differently if she knew how you like to do a job right." Spike stood up on the ladder and quickly rolled it to the next bookcase.

"Alright! Let's do this!" He said, excitement and a hint of passion now taking over his speech. Twilight laughed quietly and went back to her book. She continued to read about spells to heal wounds quicker than the body's normal process. A knock at the door rung out through the library.

"Don't worry, Spike. I'll get it." She said. He did not reply, busily going about his task. She barely heard him say something about Rarity before she went for the door. Another set of knocks came.

"Coming." She said. She opened the door to find none other than Steel Anvil standing before her.

"Steel!" She said warmly. "Good to see you. What do you need?"

"I just figured I could come and see what kind of books you have here." He said to her. She smiled at him.

"Well, if there's anything I know, it's books. Come on in." She said. He smiled at her and nodded. He walked into the expansive main atrium and marveled at it's size. He whistled.

"It looked a lot smaller from outside." He said. Twilight giggled.

"That's what a lot of ponies say." She retorted. "So, is there any kind of book you're looking for in particular?"

"Fiction, I suppose. I never really liked the factual stuff. I like the fantasic stories. The ones that make you think and wonder about what exactly is happening to the characters. Nothing too out there, though. Mostly action with a bit of romance maybe." Twilight had spent this time while he was describing the book to look around for the proper volume. She eventually picked one out and handed it to the red stallion with her magic.

"I have a feeling that you'd like this one." She said proudly. He observed the cover. Blood in the Snow was it's title, written in large red letters. It had a stallion crossing a frozen wasteland in nothing but a small jacket. A pair of red eyes stared at him from the darkness. "The's hero's fiancé is kidnapped by vampires, and-" Steel's expression changed as he put the book down on a small table. This perplexed Twilight.

"I don't think I'd like it, actually." He said.

"Oh, okay. Well, I guess I could find you a different one..."

"Actually, I'm here for another reason, as well." He said to her. She looked at him and nodded. "Well...you know Rainbow Dash pretty well, don't you?"

"Absolutely." She said with a small smile. "Why?"

"Well, what kind of stuff does she like?" He asked her.

"That's a pretty broad question." Twilight retorted. "Care to narrow it down a little?"

"Well, what does she like to do?" He said.

"Well, usually, she likes to sleep, or practice tricks in the sky. She-" Twilight stopped in mid-sentence. "Why do you want to know so much about Rainbow?"

"It doesn't really matter..." He trailed off.

"Sure it does. Now, tell me, or I'm not going to tell you anything about her." Twilight said. Steel chuckled.

"An ultimatum, huh?" He mused. "You don't seem to be the type to give those." Twilight smiled to herself.

"I'm full of suprises." She said. "Now spill it."

"Okay, okay." He gave in. He looked to the side nervously. "I'm...going to ask her out on a date." These words seemed to make Twilight happier than she was as she smiled widely.

"That's great!" She said. "I thought you two were talking to each other an awful lot."

"Yeah, that has been happening. So, what do you think she would like?" Steel asked.

"Honestly, Steel, I have no idea about what kind of things Rainbow would like when it comes to dating. If I had to guess, I would say to just be calm and confident. I don't think that she'd want to go out with some insecure, babbling stallion who's tripping all over himself."

"That seems like it would be true." He said.

"How were you planning to do it?" She said, leaning forward slightly, eager to hear about Steel's plans.

"Well, that's another reason I came here. I need to know if you can get me up to her home in Cloudsdale." He said to her.

"That won't be a problem." She said happily. "I can take you up there on my hot air balloon."

"Great. Then, I guess I'll just walk up to her door and ask her out. Seems simple enough."

"Well, Unicorns and Earth Ponies can't walk on clouds like pegasi can. I'd have to use my cloudwalker spell on you."

"Well, if it's no problem for you..."

"It really isn't." She said. "I'm just glad to see that you're making a move. Rainbow needs somepony." Steel nodded and smiled at her.

"Well, thank you." He said. "Could it be ready by seven o'clock tonight?" She nodded at him. "Perfect. I'll see you then." He turned around and began to leave.

"Wait, Steel." She said, before he could reach the door. "There is one more thing I think you should do when you ask her out." He nodded at her. "Do something special. Don't just ask her, make it mean something, you know?"

"I have a feeling that I do." He said. "Thanks again, Twilight." He left the library and headed for the market. He walked to the flower stand and looked around at them all. The mare behind the counter regarded him.

"Is there anything I could help you with, sir?" She asked him in a pleasant voice.

"No, thank you. I'm just looking." He considered a bushel of roses, or daisies. He looked at the mare behind the counter.

"Thank you for your time." He said to her as he turned to leave. He turned in the direction of his forge to finish a project that he had been working on for a week. He didn't need flowers. What he already had planned for the cyan mare was more than enough.

_____

Rainbow Dash struggled to focus on her Daring Do novel. It was an effort that was valiant, but doomed to fail, due to frequently passing thoughts of the dark red stallion, Steel Anvil. She started another paragraph, reading aloud.

"Daring Do, now possessing the Staff of the Basilisk, turned to face her enemy, the evil Ahuitzotl. She jumped at him and swung the staff, utilizing it's ancient powers to connect with Ahuitzotl's head. Recovering from the blow, Steel Anvil-" She groaned loudly as she slammed the book shut and put it on her bedside table. She layed in her bed, thoughts of Steel's charming face and alluring eyes invading her mind.

"Why can't I stop thinking about him?" She said to herself. She smiled to herself, remembering her exchange with him two days before. She had dropped a pretty heavy hint to him that night, after her prank, organized with Pinkie Pie was executed perfectly. He would have to be the stupidest stallion in Ponyville to have not gotten it. She had gotten him, though. She had the last laugh. She had left him flustered and blushing this time. She giggled to herself and threw a hoof into the air to congratulate herself. She sat up and looked around her bedroom, idly sitting, not seeing anything else to do besides lay in bed. She laid back, looking up at her open roof, Luna's moon hanging over Cloudsdale, lighting up her room naturally. She stared at the moon until she heard a knocking at her door. She sat up again, looking down her hallway in slight confusion.

"Who could that be?" She said to herself. She went to her door and opened it, expecting to see Derpy with some letter she forgot go give her. Instead, to her complete and utter suprise, there stood Steel Anvil. He was hiding something behind his back with one hoof. He smiled at her. Her eyes grew wide.

"Suprised to see me?" He asked her. His brilliant red eyes filling her with desire.

"Yeah, just a little bit." She said. Behind him she saw Twilight's hot air balloon. "So, you brought Twilight's balloon, huh?" She looked a little closer and barely saw a bit of navy blue and pink mane and a purple horn. "And Twilight herself too."

"I'm not here!" Twilight quickly said, blowing her already blown cover even further. Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked at Steel. He still had that charming smile planted on his face.

"So, what's this all about, Steel?" She asked him. He exhaled heavily, pulling what he was hiding from around his back. It was an iron heart, intricately made with exact patterns, lined with bronze that had a small, silver center. It shined brilliantly in the moonlight. Rainbow gasped. It truly was beautiful.

"I made this for you." Steel said to her. "So that you would know how I feel." She looked at him, blushing heavily. "I would love to take you out on a date." Rainbow smiled at the gift and looked up at Steel. She chuckled to herself.

"Geez...this is so sappy..." She said, smiling more. This cut to the core of Steel. His expression turned sad.

"Oh, okay. Well, I understand if you don't want to." He began to turn to leave, but Rainbow stopped him.

"Of course I'll go out with you." Steel smiled heavily and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back, closing her eyes to bask in the moment. She opened them to see Twilight's balloon rotating, slowly revealing Pinkie Pie clinging to one of the ropes. She squealed.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"

"I just couldn't help it! I just had to come! You two are so cute together, and back at the library, I overheard Steel talking to Twilight about it-"

"You were never at the library, Pinkie." Twilight interjected, poking her head up.

"Yes I was, I was hiding in the branches, ready to scare you. So anyway-"

"I got it, Pinkie." Rainbow said, half-laughing. "Leave it to our friends to do something like this."

"You can say that again." Steel responded. "So, when did you want to go out?"

"Well, if I go fast, I can usually get off work sometime around three p.m. So, I could just fly down to the forge tomorrow and we can go from there." Steel nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." He looked at the heart he had presented to Rainbow Dash. "Eeeehhhh....This was really sappy. I'll just take this and melt it down-"

"No!" Rainbow quickly said, grabbing it from him. He recoiled slightly raising an eyebrow, suprised. "I mean...I guess I'll take it off your hooves...it's pretty cool looking." He handed it to her slowly, not breaking eye contact.

"Okay then. I guess I'll see you at three tomorrow, then?" He said to her.

"Yep. See ya then!"

"Alright...bye." He said with another smile. She smiled back at him, still blushing heavily.

"Bye." Steel turned and walked back to the balloon. He got into it with Twilight and Pinkie.

"Well done." Twilight said to him, happy at his success.

"Oh...my...Goddesses!" Pinkie said happily, bouncing up and down. "I'm so happy for you two!" Steel looked back at Rainbow, who was headed back into her house. She looked back at him and smiled one more time before closing the door.

"Yeah..." He said. "I am too."

Rainbow had gone into her bedroom and stood for a moment. She put the iron heart on her bedside table. She went into her kitchen and got a glass of water and drank it. She walked into her living room and from her front window, she watched the hot air ballon disappear below. She then walked back to her room and flew out of her open roof and did a gigantic loop at high speed, finishing up above Cloudsdale, throwing a hoof into the air triumphantly and letting out a tremendous-

"YES!"

_____

Steel walked through the streets of Ponyville. The moon hung in the sky, suspended in near motionlessness. He had asked Rainbow Dash out on a date only an hour before, and was now back down on the ground where he usually was. He crossed onto the street that his forge resided on. He continued to walk down the street, past the forge, leaving Ponyville. He looked forward at his goal, his current destination. The Everfree Forest.

Rainbow awoke from her night's slumber with a smile. The morning sun shined through her window and lit up her bedroom with a brilliant yellow hue. She sat up and stretched, yawning widely. She hopped from her bed and regarded her pet tortoise. He was still sleeping.

"Today's the day, Tank!" She said happily. He looked up at her slowly. "My date with Steel! What I've been waiting for!" She imagined that if he could speak, he'd say something like- "Why would you wake me up like that?" in an excessively deep voice. Rainbow just snickered to herself and filled Tank's food bowl with reptile food. He looked at it slowly and got up to eat. She patted him on the head before she went to her bathroom for a shower. She needed no irrigation system like the denizens of Ponyville. She merely kept about twenty small clouds filled with water floating above an area with a small hole for a drain. She took one of the clouds and punched it lightly a few times, making a steady stream of water flow from it. She held it above herself and let it start floating as the water played down her forehead, soaking her mane and her body. She rinsed out her mouth and washed her mane, body, wings and tail. After she was good and clean, she went to her sink and brushed her teeth. Finally, after she had completely freshened up, it was time to take to the skies above Ponyville. The weather order for that day was nothing but sunshine, so she and her team had quite a lot of work to do.

"Bye, Tank!" She said to her pet before leaving. He looked up from his food bowl at her and blinked, then went back to eating. She giggled as she shut the front door behind her. She then took off at a leisurely speed. But a leisurely speed for Rainbow Dash was exceptionally fast for most other Pegasi. She bobbed and weaved through the clouds, coming to the place in the clouds above Ponyville Town Hall where she usually met her team. She looked around for anybody else, seeing no members of her team. She then realized that, in her excitement, she had gotten going about an hour ahead of schedule. She layed down on the soft, comfortable coulds and shut her eyes.

"I little nap couldn't hurt..." She drifted off to sleep, letting the clouds conform to her body shape, slowly taking her into them. She woke up. It was dark outside.

"Oh, no...How long did I sleep?" She said to herself. The darkness was nearly fully encompassing, the sky having no moon, cutting visibility down so low, she couldn't see five feet in front of her. Then, at that moment, out of the darkness opened two red eyes. They were completely red, showing through the darkness. There was only one pony she knew with eyes like that.

"Steel?" She called. "Steel, are you there?" She slowly began to walk toward the eyes. It seemed to her that with every step she took, they got further away from her. She slowly increased her speed. "Steel! Hey, come on, this isn't funny!" She continued until the eyes, finally and suddenly, were close to her. She squinted her eyes to see what exactly had posessed those eyes, whether it be Steel, or something else.

"Steel?" She said one last time. The shape of a large stallion began to take shape in front of her, but she still couldn't quite tell what exactly it was. It's mane was long and spiked, falling over the side of it's face. The mane was much too long to be Steel's. It was much larger than Steel, as well. It began to growl, low and guttural. The thing's mouth opened to reveal long, razor-sharp teeth. It began to walk toward her slowly, laughing. The laugh went from a quiet chuckle and steadily increased in volume. The thing began to howl with laughter. Rainbow's heart felt something that it had not felt in a very long time. Something she had trained herself to conquer on a moment's notice. Fear. The thing hunkered down, ready to pounce. Rainbow began to fly away as fast as she could. But it was no use. She felt a pair of hooves grasp her shoulders.

"Rainbow!" It said in a very feminine voice. It shook her a few times. "Rainbow, wake up!"

Rainbow shot up from her dream, breathing heavily, to meet two faces from her Pegasus weather team. They looked at her concerned. She stood up and sighed to herself as she regained her composure.

"Sorry, guys. I guess I fell asleep waiting for you." She said. "Thanks for waking me up, Cloud Kicker." She flitted to the front of her weather team. "Okay, everypony. You remember the weather order for today. Pure sunshine. Let's get to work!" She flew up, ready to begin. Whatever that creature from her nightmare was, it certainly wasn't Steel. She smiled happily at the thought of Steel and the date they were going to have later that day as she bucked the first cloud of the day.

_____

Twilight was three-quarters of the way through the book on advanced healing spells she had started the previous day. Given that it was nearly seven hundred pages long, it was quite the read. She hadn't gotten very much sleep the previous night, and the exhaustion was catching up to her. Her eyelids slowly began to drop, closing very slowly.

"Hey, Twilight!" Spike exclaimed right next to her head. Twilight awoke suddenly with a small shout. She looked at him, slightly annoyed, yet smiling because she knew that he did nothing wrong.

"Yes, what is it, Spike?" She said to him. He held up a book with an old illustration of a large dragon on the front.

"Anatomy and Phy-physa...." He struggled to read the title. "Mind helping me out here?" Twilight leaned forward.

"Physiology." She said.

"Anatomy and Physiology of Dragons! I have got to read this book!" He said. "Isn't it cool?" She smiled at him.

"Yes, Spike, it's very cool." She said to him. "Now please let me get back to my studies." Spike nodded and took the book up to their room. She shook her head and tried to focus on the book again. Just as she began reading about healing broken ribs, a knock sounded at her door. She groaned and stood up to open it. She opened it to find Steel Anvil standing there, again.

"Hey, Twilight. Sorry to be bothering you so much lately." He said to her. She smirked.

"Don't worry about it." She said, trying to mask her exhaustion. "What did you need?"

"Could you tell me the best way to get from Ponyville to Canterlot? I want to take Rainbow there for dinner tonight." He said.

"Dinner in Canterlot, eh? That's very expensive." She replied.

"Well, making an iron fence for the richest stallion in Ponyville does have it's perks." He said to her. She smiled at him.

"The best way is by a chariot pulled by Princess Celestia's royal guard, but I don't think they pick ponies up. I would take a train. It'll get you there in about an hour and a half, so you can have some good quality time with Rainbow and be back with a little time to spare." She said.

"Well, then, I'll take the train." He said to her and nodded. "Thanks for your help." He looked over at Spike, who was quite interested in his book. "Hey, Spike, what're you reading?" Spike looked up at him.

"Oh, hey, Steel. It's just this book about dragons. I wanna see what I'll look like when I grow up. So far, I haven't found any kind of dragon that looks like me, though." Spike replied.

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll find it eventually. I'll see you guys later." He said as he left. Twilight sighed heavily and went back to her book. She continued reading about more healing spells, turning page after page, the process continuing on for what seemed like an eternity. Slowly, her eyes began to close...slowly, she began to drift into the sweet bliss of sleep.

"Hey Twilight!" Spike's loud voice shocked her from her near slumber. She fell backwards in her chair. She looked up at him, annoyance no longer present, replaced only with exhaustion. "Oh...sorry..." He said, slightly guiltily. 'Buck it.' She thought to herself. She had the innate urge to cover her mouth as if she said the words. She sighed as she stood up, closed her healing spells book and turned for her bedroom.

"Make yourself some hay fries for lunch, Spike. I'm going to bed..."

_____

Rainbow bucked the final piece of cloud above Ponyville into apparent nonexistence. She smiled as she finally got the last bit of her work for the day done. She looked around at the clear skies surrounding her.

"Are we done for the day already?" Asked Cloud Kicker. Rainbow nodded at her and sped off toward Cloudsdale. She could now go and prepare for her date with Steel. She felt a small rush of exitement flow through her body at the thought of the stallion. She quickly flew into Cloudsdale to her home to freshen up. She quickly ran into her bedroom.

"Hi, Tank!" She said quickly to her pet as she rushed into her bathroom. She took a cloud and punched it a few times to get the water going and washed herself again. After she was clean, she went and looked at herself in the mirror. She shook her mane out and brushed it once, separating it perfectly. She then poured some reptile chow in Tank's food bowl. He slowly and gingerly began to eat as the mare looked at him in adoration. She patted his shell lightly. Rainbow looked at her wall clock. It was two forty-five p.m. Just in time. She had begun to leave when she saw a small bottle of perfume that Rarity had given her for her birthday one year, much to her chagrin at the time. It had never been opened. She stared at the bottle and wondered whether of not she should put some on for Steel. The words on the bottle, written in impressive cursive, said "Midnight's Desire: By Photo Finish"

'Oh, barf...' Rainbow thought. 'but still...' She picked up the bottle, did a spray of it into the air and smelled it. The smell was incredibly feminine, most likely made to make most stallions amorous in the moonlight, hence the title.

"Nahhh..." She said quietly to herself, putting the small bottle back on her dresser. She reached the door of her bedroom and looked back briefly. She started to turn around again when she stopped herself. She looked back at the dusty bottle one more time.

"Maybe I should...nahhh..." She said as she left the bedroom. She quickly turned back and sprayed it on her neck once. She shuddered slightly as she turned to leave. She closed the front door behind her and exhaled heavily.

"Here we go..." She said to herself as she took off in the direction of Ponyville. After a short time, she reached the small town and touched down close to Steel's forge. She ambled over to the building and knocked on the door. Steel answered and brightened up significantly when he layed his eyes upon Rainbow.

"Hey, Rainbow." He said to her, smiling. "Ready to go?"

"Yep!" She said to him as he locked the front door behind him. "Where exactly are we going, anyway?"

"Well, I figured that we'd take a train to Canterlot and I'd take you to an early dinner. After that, we could just look around for something fun to do while we're there, and then I guess we'll just come back." He said as he walked next to her.

"Canterlot, huh?" She said to him, smirking. "That's pretty huge for a first date."

"This isn't our first date, and you know it." He said to her as they approached the train station. She snickered at his comment.

"So, we're taking a train?" She said.

"Yep. Twilight told me that's probably the easiest way to get to Canterlot." He responded. They sat down and waited for the train to arrive.

"Alright. So, how exactly did you make me that heart? It's pretty awesome looking."

"Well, like I said," He responded to her. "Smithing is kind of an art for me. It took quite a while. But as far as I'm concerned, it was time well spent." Rainbow smiled and blushed. "You sure were prompt today. I'm guessing you had your team work extra hard." She nodded. "Couldn't wait to see me, huh?" He said, smirking. She looked at him and slugged him in the shoulder.

"Oh, shut up..." She said, smiling. Steel laughed. The train arrived at the station, squealing loudly.

"All aboard for Canterlot!" The conductor yelled. Steel stood up and turned to Rainbow.

"I guess that's us." He said. "Let's go." Rainbow nodded and followed Steel onto the train. They took their seats across from each other.

"You look great." Steel said to her. Rainbow snickered.

"That's all you could come up with?" She said, smirking at him.

"I was saving all of the interesting stuff for dinner, thank you very much." He responded. Rainbow laughed. Steel sniffed the air briefly. "What are you wearing? It smells fantastic." Rainbow raised her eyebrows in complete and utter suprise. She hadn't thought that he would notice from one spray.

"Oh, it's Midnight's Desire: By Photo Finish." She said in a model-like tone of voice and struck an outrageous pose. Steel laughed.

'Thank you, Rarity.' She thought as she sat back down. The train had begun moving toward Canterlot, and Rainbow eagerly anticipated what would happen.

Obligatory end-of-chapter Author's Note: Originally, this chapter was upwards of ten thousand words long. Seeing as how that is a lot to take down in a multi-chapter fic, I have decided to split it up into two seperate chapters. Cheers!

Chapter 6

View Online

Chapter 6

Their train arrived in Canterlot nearly an hour and a half later, as Twilight had predicted. They exited and took in the awesome site of Equestria's capital city. Steel in particular was stunned. Rainbow looked over at him and smiled.

"What, you've never been in Canterlot before?" She said to him. He shook his head slowly. Rainbow laughed.

"It's so...so..." He said, at a loss for words. "Massive..." Rainbow nodded.

"It really is..." She responded.

"I can't help but feel underdressed, like I should have a tuxedo on or something." He said.

"Don't worry about that, Steel. Odds are that you'll never see any of these ponies again." She said to him. "So, where are we going to go eat?" Steel looked at her and gulped.

"I...uh...hadn't expected it to have this wide of an array of choices. Wanna take a look around? I'm sure we'll find someplace good." He said to her.

"There's no bad place in Canterlot. The worst this city has is adequate." Rainbow said. Steel chuckled as they moved down one of the streets. Many different restaurants presented themselves in an array of ways, all getting their respective points across fairly well. One served down-home cooking, similar to the Apple Family's, others were fancy and stuck up restaurants only for rich ponies. Eventually they came across a small, quaint restaurant with decent atmosphere that seemed to serve a wide array of foods to customers, mostly middle class ponies. They entered and walked to the hostess.

"Table for two, please." Steel said. The hostess nodded and led them to a quiet corner of the restaurant next to a fireplace. The hot air from the fire felt good against Rainbow skin in comparison to the decently cool air of Autumn outside. They sat down. Not shortly after, a tall, lanky waiter arrived and looked at them.

"May I take your drink orders?" He said to them, putting their menus in front of them.

"Yes, we'll have a nice bottle of wine." Steel said to him. He nodded. He looked at Rainbow.

"Did you want anything else, Ma'am?" He said to her. She looked up at him.

"I'll have a water with the wine." She said to him. He nodded and left to get the drinks.

"This city is insane. It makes Manehattan look small." Steel marveled as he picked up the menu and looked at it. He looked over at her. "Go ahead and order whatever you want." Rainbow smiled at him.

"Alright. So, I don't assume you've ever been here before?" Rainbow said to him. Steel shook his head. "Well, it's awesome and everything, but like Manehattan, it's always pretty busy and active. I still prefer Ponyville."

"Yeah, it seems like the constant movement and almost no rest would get to a pony after a while. It's what happened to me in Manehattan." He said. The waiter arrived with their drinks and poured the wine in glasses for the two of them. Steel nodded to the waiter, who nodded back.

"Are you ready to order dinner?" He said to them.

"Uh, yeah, I'll have the fire-grilled Squash and buttered mashed potatoes." Rainbow said to him. The waiter scribbled down the order on his small notepad.

"And for you, sir?" He asked Steel. Steel studied his menu for a few more seconds and looked up at the waiter.

"I suppose I'll have the Baked Potato with a side salad." Steel said. The waiter nodded again.

"Very good, sir. What sauce did you want on the salad?" The waiter asked.

"Caesar is fine, really." He responded. The waiter turned and took the order note to the kitchen. Rainbow took the wine and poured it into the glass. When she was finished, Steel took it and poured himself some. They both took a sip and marveled at the great taste.

"That's really good." Rainbow said, taking a moment to bask in the taste just a small amount of time longer. Steel shrugged.

"It's not the best, but it's not bad by any means." Steel responded. Rainbow nodded.

"True. I could be wrong because I don't drink that much wine." She said with a small smile.

"This really has been a long time coming, hasn't it?" Steel said to her.

"Oh, please. You're flirting was so obvious, Pinkie could pretty much taste it in the air." Rainbow retorted. Steel laughed.

"I was flirting? You're the one who couldn't stay away from me. Remember, it was your idea to take me along on that karaoke night." He said.

"Yeah, and as a result, you were cemented in a group that genuinely cares about you. You're welcome." Steel nodded his head at this statement.

"Can't argue with that." He said. "All of you girls and Spike are some of the best friends I have ever had. I really do appreciate how accepting of me you all have been." Rainbow smiled.

"Well, you shouldn't be suprised that you're so good at making friends. You're just a very likeable pony." Rainbow said to him. Steel raised his glass and nodded.

"Thank you. That means a lot." He said to her. She nodded and clinked her glass against his. They both drank and sat looking at each other for a second. Rainbow couldn't help but marvel at Steel's appearance, and Steel could barely take his eyes off of the rainbow-maned mare before him.

"Hey, uh, Rainbow..." He said, earning the Pegasus' attention. "I need to tell you something...it's really important." Rainbow nodded.

"Okay." She said. "Shoot."

"It's really difficult to say, and it's gonna sound really crazy...Really really crazy." He said. "I'm...a vampire." Rainbow looked at him.

"Uhhh...what?" She said.

"I'm a vampire." Steel said. "I have been for nearly two-hundred years..."

"You're a vampire?" Rainbow said, her tone dropping to deadpan.

"Yes." He responded. They were both quiet. Rainbow suddenly began to laugh. The laugh escalated to a full blown crack-up. She laughed for about fifteen seconds before she caught her breath.

"Oh, Goddesses, you're a bad actor." She said, still half giggling. Steel looked at her and laughed himself.

"Yeah...I thought I could get you with that. You're a smart Pegasus." He said. Rainbow bowed her head.

"So..." Rainbow started again. "You've noticed the way Rarity looks at you, right?" Steel nearly fell back in his chair at the mention of their white unicorn friend. He thought about what do say, whether he should tell her about the conversation he had with Rarity at her boutique or to play dumb. He decided to go between the two.

"No, not really." He responded. "I mean, she's my friend as well as yours, so she looks at me sometimes, but I don't think it's in a romantic sense." Rainbow nodded and took another sip of her wine. "But, I'll tell you something." Rainbow looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah?"

"I was helping her move some supplies for a dress order into her boutique quite a while ago and when I asked about you, she talked about how you can be a little stubborn and self absorbed," Rainbow huffed and furrowed her brow. 'Oh, yeah, that sounds like Rarity.' She thought. "but when it came down to it, you are one of the greatest mares she knows and that you are a phenominal friend. That you would die for your friends and you care about them deeply. That you stop at nothing to defend them when they need protection, or comfort them when they're hurt. I have seen this for myself, Rainbow, and I could not agree more." These words struck a chord in Rainbow Dash. She began to tear up slightly. She quickly wiped her eyes and smiled.

"That's really..." She struggled for a word to finish her sentence. 'Awesome' could work, but it didn't seem sincere enough. Finally she broke and said- "sweet. That's really sweet." Steel smiled. At this moment, the waiter had brought their food to them and placed it in front of them. Rainbow couldn't help but sniffle. The words that she had just heard touched her heart in a way that hadn't happened in quite a long time.

"Haven't heard you say that word, before, Rainbow. Don't tell me that you're getting sappy on me already. This is our first date."

"It's not our first, remember?" She said, half-lidding her eyes and smiling at him. Steel tilted his head slightly and smiled at her. "And who're you calling sappy?" As she said this, she picked up a peice of squash and threw it at Steel, it landing square on his nose. She laughed. "Hey, uh, Steel...You got something right there..." She pointed to his nose and laughed again.

"Oh, you just went and started something you can't finish, kid!" Steel said to her. He grabbed a small peice of his salad and threw it at Rainbow. She dodged it, however and the peice hit a mare who was eating with her friend who had her head turned. She gasped and turned to face her friend. Steel's eyes widened heavily and he put his head down on the table.

"What the hay, Jade?" She said to her friend.

"I didn't-" Her friend began, but was interrupted by a chopped tomato in her face. The table next to them got the idea and began throwing food as well. A peice of lettuce hit a pony across the restaurant and food started being thrown over there as well.

"Food fight!" A foal yelled from across the restaurant. Steel's head was still down on the table, and Rainbow Dash took this oppurtunity to plant a huge glob of mashed potatoes onto the back of Steel's head. She howled with laughter as Steel took his baked potato and threw it into her mane. After a period no longer than thirty seconds, nearly the entire restaurant was engaged in a massive food fight. Those who were not partaking were taking cover under their tables. Steel looked around at the chaos surrounding him.

"What are the bucking chances?!" He yelled happily as he dodged a banana. He and rainbow each took their plates and went back to back, using them as shields.

"I know! These ponies know how to have fun!" Rainbow responded as she blocked a peice of cake with her plate. They both continued dodging different foods. Steel looked over toward the front of the restaurant. The manager dialed a fimiliar three digit code into the phone and began to speak frantically into the receiver.

"The police are gonna be here soon! We need to leave now." Steel said to her. She nodded.

"Yeah! On the count of three, we rush toward that exit over there!" She said as she pointed toward the back exit of the eatery.

"One..." Steel said.

"Twothree!" Rainbow quickly finished the countdown. They both put their plates back down on the table and ran for the exit. Rainbow opened the door to leave when she was interrupted by a hoof on her shoulder.

"Wait!" Steel yelled.

"What?!" Rainbow yelled back.

"I have to pay for the food!" Steel said. He hurried back to the table and threw down a bag of 35 bits. He ran back to the door, but not before taking a cupcake to the side. The sun had hidden behind a group of clouds for the time being, putting a slightly darker hue on everthing they saw. They both ran out and away from the restaurant. After they got a good distance away, they stopped and laughed until their sides hurt.

"Oh, my Godesses! What the hay was that?!" Rainbow said, still hysterically chuckling.

"I don't know. I guess not everypony in Canterlot is as stuffy and self-absorbed as ponies say. I'll tell you one thing, that waiter is going to get a heck of a tip." They both laughed again as they began walking.

"We have to get this food washed off. But where?" Rainbow said. Steel shrugged as they continued to walk for a while, earning strange looks from Canterlot's usual inhabitants.

"What savages..." Rainbow heard one mare with an outrageous hat say. She thought she felt a vein pop in her forehead. She pivoted to face the mare behind her.

"You think I can't hear you, cow?!" Rainbow said angrily. She walked up to the mare, who was a unicorn, looking her straight in the eyes. The mare laughed, but couldn't lose the nervous expression on her face.

"Who do you think you are, judging me and my friend here?"

"What exactly do you think you're going to do?" The mare said. "You'll be arrested if you harm me physically, I assure you..." The unicorn got more and more nervous the closer Rainbow got to her.

"Are you sure you want to find out what would happen? Then call me a savage again. Do it." The mare inhaled to say something, earining a glare from the fiery rainbow pegasus. The mare scoffed and started to walk around Rainbow. When Rainbow started to follow her, the mare began to walk very quickly. Steel sat back, an impressed expression on his face. He smiled and looked at his date. She stood in front of him and smirked.

"If you don't let 'em know who's boss, they'll walk all over you." She said. Steel nodded his head.

"Come on. Let's go find someplace to wash this food off." He said to her. She nodded and they continued for three blocks before they both heard the sound of running water and foals laughing and playing. They followed the sounds until they came to a massive square. At the center, there was a massive fountain that shot into the air and down into the center. Many ponies, mostly foals played and relaxed in the falling water. Rainbow and Steel looked at each other and smiled. They walked into the water and Rainbow almost immediately shrank back with a loud exclaimation of terror.

"Goddesses!!! That water's like ice!" She yelled. Steel laughed as he entered the water without any kind of flinching or recoil. Her reached out and grabbed the mare and pulled her into the water. Rainbow yelled again and shrunk down. The cool Fall air did nothing to help. Steel just laughed harder and pulled Rainbow into a close hug. She laughed too and looked up at him. He was looking down at her and smiling with adoration. She stood there, nearly hypnotized by his eyes. Then, as quickly as he had pulled her in, he let go and ran further into the fountain, laughing again.

"Hey!" Rainbow exclaimed, her mane matting down onto her face. "Come back here!" She chased him into the fountain and caught up to him. She tackled him and they both rolled around on the ground, playfully wrestling. It ended with Rainbow pinning Steel to the ground. She smiled down at him, blushing heavily, despite the freezing water running down her face at the moment. Steel winked at her. 'Buck it.' Rainbow thought to herself. 'This has been a long time coming.' She began to lean down, inching her face closer to Steel's. Her blush still present, her eyes closed. Steel closed his eyes as well, ready for what was most surely coming at this point.

"Are you guys gonna kiss?" Said a high, foallike voice. Both of their eyes shot open quickly. They both realized what a compromising position they were in, especially in front of this many foals. "Gross." The second foal next to them said. Rainbow immediately shot off of him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, kid." She said, her wings, once flared out powerfully now folded neatly at her sides. "We were just wrestling." Steel stood up as well.

"Yeah, wrestling." He added.

"Then why were both of your eyes' closed?" Said a second foal, next to the first one.

"Well, water was in my eyes." Rainbow said. Steel nodded.

"Yeah, me too." He said. The foals looked at the two lying, lovesick ponies incredulously.

"Fine..." Said the first foal. They both left to go play some more. Rainbow looked at Steel, who was smirking more than he ever had.

"Smooth." He said to her. She pushed him and giggled.

"I didn't hear you come up with anything, smart one." She said. She realized that Steel had no food on his body anymore. She checked herself and looked at him. "Is there any more food on me?" He looked at her and shook his head. "Well, then, let's get out of here."

"Fine by me." He responded. They both exited the water and shook the water out of their manes, tails and coats. Rainbow Dash's mane fell perfectly into place. Steel marveled at how good she looked, even after being completely soaked in water. She looked at him and smiled. Steel nearly keeled over at the outrageously attractive mare before him.

"So..." Rainbow said, still blushing slightly. "We still haven't eaten yet."

_____

The date lasted another hour. They managed to get into a nice, small restaurant and place their orders. After a good quality meal, they went for a walk through the city, seeing several sights, such as a group of marvelous street performers, doing things earth ponies should not be capable of, the Princesses' Castle, which was always a sight to behold and a fight between two stallions over who's wife was the better mare. Steel and Rainbow, after an incredibly interesting afternoon in Canterlot, moved back to the train station and boarded the train back to Ponyville. They both sat on the same side, Rainbow's head leaning down on Steel's shoulder. She smiled up at him.

"Best. Date. Ever." She said contentedly. Steel chuckled.

"Agreed. I never thought I could have so much fun in the span of one day." Steel said. "If I was with anypony else today, I probably wouldn't have." Rainbow giggled slightly and snuggled into Steel's shoulder. They both sat there in comfortable silence for about ten minutes.

"So, Rainbow, how was-" Steel started, looking down as he said this. He stopped, seeing that his date was asleep peacefully. He smiled and kissed the top of her head and settled into the seat, taking care not to wake up the sleeping mare. The train ride went by for what seemed like half a day, endlessly moving to their destination. Finally, the train squealed to a halt outside the Ponyville train station. Steel gently nudged Rainbow, waking her up.

"We're back, Rainbow. Come on, let's get out of here." He said. Rainbow yawned and nodded, standing up to leave. They exited the train to meet the intense light of sunset. Steel flinched slightly, attracting the attention of Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked him. He nodded.

"Oh yeah. I just have a stitch in my side from the ride back." Rainbow giggled slightly nervously.

"Yeah...sorry I fell asleep on you. I was just so comfortable." She said.

"Rainbow, you falling asleep on my shoulder was the absolute right thing to do." He smiled at her as they turned to leave the train station. They walked onto a field between the station and Ponyville, looking upon the small town.

"Well, I would offer to walk you home, but you kind of live in the sky." Steel said. Rainbow giggled.

"That's okay. I'll walk you home." Rainbow said to him, heading toward Ponyville. They continued through the field, their bodies pressed against each other's affectionately. The sun sinking lower and lower, relieving Princess Celestia of her duty and giving way to Princess Luna's moon. Steel looked down at Rainbow.

"Y'know..." He said. Rainbow looked up at him. "I have felt a spark betwen the two of us since the night of my welcoming party. And ever since then, it has grown stronger and stronger. On this date, I felt that spark turn into a fire. I have feelings, for you Rainbow. I feel like we're both supposed to be here right now." He said to her. She nodded.

"I know, Steel. I've known for a while." She said as the continued to walk. Suddenly, Steel placed a kiss on her cheek, suprising Rainbow slightly. She then smiled as she stopped walking and looked into his eyes.

"Steel?" She said.

"Yes?" He responded. Her face got very close to his, her eyes never breaking contact with his.

"You missed your mark by a few inches." She immediately slammed her lips onto his in a full blown kiss. They stood there, liplocked for a while before Rainbow broke the kiss. She immediately pushed herself into him for another. She moaned into the kiss, having wanted this for so long. Steel wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. His tongue barely brushed along her bottom lip. Rainbow took this as a sign and opened her mouth, allowing Steel's tongue entrance. Their tongues wrestled with each other, brushing inside the other's mouth. After about thirty seconds, they broke the kiss. Luna's moon was now hanging in the skies, illuminating hundreds of thousands of stars. But the two ponies standing in the field were not focused on the skies. They were focused on each other, their eyes still never breaking contact. Steel's bright red irises, reflecting the moon's light. Steel nuzzled Rainbow's forehead. She, in turn nuzzled under his neck.

"Wow..." She said, nearly breathless.

"Ditto." Steel said. They both turned back into the direction of Ponyville. They both continued walking for a while. As they reached the outskirts of Ponyville, they came across a gaunt stallion, walking through the field, away from Ponyville. Steel nodded at him as they passed. The stallion nodded back. Rainbow and Steel continued to walk in the direction of Ponyville when suddenly, Steel felt Rainbow's presence leave his side, accompanied by a shout from her.

"Rainbow?!" He exclaimed, turning quickly to see the stallion they had just passed, holding Rainbow in a headlock, restraining her. She was fighting and struggling with all her strength, but the thin stallion was a lot stronger than he looked. He looked Steel in the eyes.

"Your bits...give 'em all to me, or I break her neck." The stallion said. Steel felt a surge of anger as the assailant said this.

"I have already spent all of the bits I had on me in Canterlot." Steel said. "Just let her go, and we'll forget about this."

"Oh, well in that case..." The stallion said, moving to let Rainbow go, giving slack in his front legs, softening his grip. Steel's stomach lept as he walked toward her. "BAM!" The stallion yelled as he immediately pulled Rainbow back into his brutal grip. He laughed evilly and made perverted kissing noises in her ear.

"Get off me!" She yelled as she elbowed him in the face and bucked his shin. He exclaimed in pain, but his grip never slackened. He reared his hoof back and punched Rainbow in the back of the head, hard. The light faded from her eyes as she went limp in his hooves. A trickle of blood flowed down her forehead.

"Rainbow!" Steel screamed. Veins bulged under his skin from anger.

"Now, I don't believe you." The assailant said to him. "Give me all your bits." Rainbow's eyes fluttered open as she slowly became aware of her surroundings again. "Ah, look! She's alive." He said. "Now, give me every bit you have, and it'll be a happy ending for everypony."

"I don't have any bits, I assure you." Steel said in a low, angered voice. "But I will promise you something."

"Oh, yeah?" He responded. "And what exactly is that?" Steel began trembling with rage.

"If you don't let her go in three seconds...I'll break your neck." The stallion let out a guffaw.

"Oh, puh-lease!" He said. He looked at Steel, and lost all of his confidence. Steel was changing. His muscles were bulging under his skin, pressing the veins into complete visibility. He began to grow taller, and his eyes had turned pure red. Steel's teeth grew into razor-sharp fangs, glistening in the moonlight. Before Rainbow and her attacker stood a hulking beast, breathing heavily.

"Steel?" Rainbow said, her voice low with terror.

"One..." Steel said, his voice deeper and more beastlike than usual. Suddenly, his corporeal form transformed into a flock of bats, they all flew in separate directions. The stallion was trembling now, whimpering to himself. Rainbow just stood, paralyzed in fear.

"Two..." Came a disembodied voice. Steel was nowhere to be seen. The stallion gasped quietly.

"Stay away!" He said. "Or she dies!" Extremely quickly, the flock of bats came behind the attacker and materialized into Steel Anvil.

"Three." He whispered in the stallion's ear before he shot a hoof into the middle of the attacker's back. A sickening crack was heard as he immediately let go of Rainbow as his spine broke in half. Rainbow immediately turned around to see what was happening. She fell back onto her flank and watched in horror. The stallion screamed in pure agony, tears streaming from his eyes and blood flowing from the edges of his mouth. Steel grabbed the stallion's head in his hooves as the attacker screamed himself hoarse. In a single quick, smooth motion, Steel snapped the stallion's head to the side, snappind his neck with a nasty series of crackling noises. The attacker's eyes rolled up in their sockets and his tongue fell from his mouth as his corpse fell to the ground, contorted like some kind of sick sculpture. The hulking beast standing over body immediately shifted down into Steel's previous form. He looked dazed and oblivious. He looked at Rainbow, on the ground, trembling in fear.

"Rainbow!" He exclaimed. "Are you okay?!" As he began to walk forward to check on her, his hoof hit the corpse below him. He looked down at it and shrunk back in pure horror, as he realized what he had done.

"No..." He said, his voice trembling. "Oh, Goddesses, please no!" He screamed. Rainbow Dash stood and ran in the opposite direction.

"Rainbow!" He yelled. He immediately gave chase, catching up to her barely as she had begun to start flying. He pulled her into a hug as she began to fight. She yelled as she threw punches at his face. He took every punch, each blow bruising his face, but he still held her. After she had fought for thirty seconds, Steel held her even closer in a tight embrace.

"Rainbow, for the love of Celestia, please stop!" Rainbow felt tears hitting the top of her head. What was strange was that Steel didn't sound like he was crying. "I would never hurt you. I would die before I hurt you." She looked up into his eyes tears were indeed flowing down his cheeks. At that moment, he gave her a tender kiss on the lips and stroked her mane. She realized that Steel was not going to harm her. She stopped fighting and collapsed into him. He held her as she sobbed, both from her previous experience with the assailant, and the massive fright she had just gone through. They both collapsed on the ground, holding each other, Rainbow's face pressed into his chest. His head resting on top of hers. Like this they layed for five minutes. Rainbow calmed down and looked up at him.

"Are you going to hurt my friends?" She said, her voice now calm but still slightly shaky.

"Rainbow, I have been Ponyville for almost two months. If I wanted to hurt you or anypony else we know, I would have done it already. I care for you and our friends deeply." He kissed her forehead. "What you saw back there, was not truly me. It was a manifestation of my emotions. When my emotions become too strong, they take control of me and turn me into...that. When he knocked you unconsious, I broke. Seeing you in his arms like that...." His voice broke, showing finally that he really was crying. "What I did back there was only in protection of you...I thought you were dead..." He pulled her closer, embracing her. His tears wetting her shoulder. She hugged him. They both sat there for another ten minutes, eventually laying down against each other, Rainbow laying her head on top of his. They were both now completely in control of themselves.

"You weren't acting, were you?" She said to him.

"How's that?" Steel asked her.

"At the restaurant...You really are a vampire, aren't you?" She said.

"Yeah."

"That's why you wanted to sit in the shade at Sugarcube Corner. That's why you beat me so easliy in the race after the party. That's why you fainted in the race at the picnic...you're a...vampire..." He moved his head up and looked at her in the eyes. His red irises now made sense to Rainbow.

"Yes...all of that is true." He responded. "I have been living with this curse for a long, long time. I am dead...but I can't die. My heart doesn't beat. Food tastes like nothing to me and gives me no sustenance. Water doesn't quench my thirst...I'm forced live off of blood."

"Who do you..." Rainbow said with a small gulp. "feed on?" Rainbow asked, putting a hoof to her neck, feeling for any bite marks.

"Not ponies." Steel said. "A vampire can stay inactive for years without blood. But, when I can, I go into the Everfree Forest to find a sleeping animal. I feed on it and leave it alone. They rarely wake up." Rainbow nodded.

"I can't die, Rainbow..." Steel said to her. "I am immortal. I have been for one hundred and seventy-two years. And I was foolish to fall for you. It was a selfish decision on my part. If you don't want to be with me, or if you want me to leave Ponyville...I will understand." Rainbow immediately shot a look at him. She kissed him on the lips and wrapped her arms around him.

"I don't regret falling for you at all." Rainbow said to him. "And if you leave Ponyville, I will never stop looking until I find you." Steel smiled and nuzzled Rainbow's cheek. Rainbow smiled as well. He stood up, as did Rainbow. They walked into Ponyville, back to the forge. They stood outside.

"We still have one problem." Steel said to her.

"What is that?" She said to him.

"There's still a corpse out there." He said to her. "Should I turn myself in?"

"No." Rainbow said to him. "Not yet, at least...let them find it and say what they will. They have no way of knowing that it was you." Steel nodded. He kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight." Steel said to her. He turned to go into the building as he was interrupted.

"Wait..." Rainbow said. Steel turned to face her. "Let me stay here tonight...I don't want you to leave me."

"Are you sure?" Steel asked. She nodded. He let her into the building and shut the door behind them. They both climbed into his bed and Steel held her in his arms. She kissed him as she closed her eyes to fall asleep. Steel Anvil could not fall asleep, but with Rainbow Dash in his arms, this was the most peaceful he had felt in a long time.

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: Alright, six chapters in and I'm feeling good about this story. And now you all know Steel's big secret. He's a VAMPIRE!!! (I know, cliche, right?) It's funny because I actually got the inspiration to write this story by reading the classic Dracula by Bram Stoker. (Masterpeice.) So I made Steel's vampirism as close to Dracula's as I could. I really would appreciate a comment on what you think of the story so far. Peace, guys.

Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

Twilight Sparkle awoke from her long night's sleep with an enormous yawn, stretching extravagantly and blinking a few times. After a full day of next to no sleep, a good night's rest is exactly what the mare needed. She looked over at Spike, who was still fast asleep, most likely dreaming of Rarity in some way, shape or form. He mumbled something under his breath, unintelligible to the purple unicorn. Twilight just laughed quietly and got out of her bed. She walked to her kitchen and began to prepare her normal breakfast of hay pops and milk. She didn't usually put much effort into the most important meal of the day. She sat down at her table and looked upon her book of healing spells that she was reading the previous day. She was temped to open it again, become enraptured in the splendor of magic and it's properties. She picked it up and studied the cover. It was a unicorn, seemingly raising a pegasus from the dead or some heinous injury. Healing spells went far in all situations, particularly for minor fractures that did not need to be set. Rainbow Dash flashed across Twilight's mind, remembering one of many trips to the hospital for another failed stunt. Then, straight after that, she remembered that Steel Anvil and Rainbow Dash had a date the previous day in Canterlot. She had no problems believing that they had had a great time. The chemistry between the two was undeniable. Twilight finished her hay pops and moved back up the stairs. She went into her bathroom, took a shower and brushed her teeth. After she had freshened up considerably, she went into her bedroom and lightly nudged Spike.

"Spike." She said soothingly and quietly. "I'm going to the market. You want to come?" Spike mumbled again and pulled his covers back over himself and shook his head a negative. "Well, do you want anything?" Spike snorted. Twilight sighed as she turned to leave her library. She half expected Steel Anvil to be standing there with another request for her. It's not as if the mare didn't like doing things for the stallion, she tried to help anybody whenever she could. She was purely just hoping for a good, long, lazy do-nothing day. She walked out of her library, through the streets of Ponyville. The sun shining brightly with a few, sparse clouds peppering the ascended blue. She waved to Lyra Heartstrings and Bon-Bon. Lyra waved happily back at her. Bon-bon just looked at her and blinked a few times. Lyra noticed this and elbowed her companion in the ribs. Bon-bon waved quickly and they continued on their way. Twilight moved into the market to see Applejack and Applebloom at their apple stand, typically set up weekly.

"Howdy do, Twilight!" Applejack greeted happily.

"Hey, Twilight." Applebloom said.

"Hey, Applejack, Applebloom." She responded. "How's business today?"

"It's alright, Ah guess." Applejack said. "We've sold 'bout a quarter of the apples we brought. Usually we sell at least half by this time'a day."

"Well, I'll take ten apples. That ought to help, don't you think?" Twilight said with a smile.

"Yep." Applejack said happily. "Thank ya kindly. And of course, you get the usual discount."

"What discount?" Twilight asked.

"Well, only the discount for bein' one of the best dern mares I know!" The farm pony responded. Twilight giggled.

"Come on, Applejack. Give me full price. I want to pay what I really owe."

"No can do, Twilight." Applejack said to her. Twilight knew that once Applejack set her mind to something, nothing would ever change it. The purple mare nodded and took the bag of apples and put it in her saddlebag. She moved on from store to store, getting anything that she and Spike might need. She saw a Police officer standing at the street corner, watching over the market. After she had gotten everything she needed to get, she moved to leave the market, waving goodbye to Applejack, who had a small line forming in front of her stand. She passed a pair of stallions talking to each other outside a store. As she passed, she heard-

"Yeah, they just found the guy, all broken and-" She moved on, her curiosity nearly getting the better of her, but she kept walking all the same. She went down the street leading to her library as she layed her eyes upon her yellow pegasus friend, Fluttershy. She seemed to be breating heavily and looking over her shoulder more than often. An extremely worried look plastered on her face. Twilight approached her.

"Hi, Fluttershy. What are you up to?" Twilight asked.

"Oh...n-nothing...I just...you know..." She said, still quite shy.

"No, I don't know, Fluttershy." Twilight said, trying to coax Fluttershy out of her fear.

"I was shopping for some carrots for Angel's lunch and, well...um...it turns out that there...was a murder on the outskirts of town last night." Fluttershy said, nearly collapsing onto the ground and covering her eyes. Twilight's jaw dropped in suprise as her eyes widened.

"Oh, no!" Twilight said. "A murder? Who?"

"Well, um...I don't really know for sure, but I think I heard that he was a criminal who mugged defenseless mares before he went to prison. He was released two days ago for good behavior." Fluttershy said.

"Well, better somepony like him than somepony like us." Twilight said to her friend reassuringly. Fluttershy smiled at the unicorn. "What are the police doing?" Asked Twilight.

"The police have been posted at the head of every street in shifts to keep the town under surveilance. And they're looking at all of the different evidence that was on the crime scene. So, I think I'll just go back to my cabin now." Fluttershy said. "Angel must be angry. I haven't fed him today and he's probably very hungry.

"Okay, Fluttershy." Twilight said. "Be safe." Fluttershy looked at the purple mare, smiled warmly and nodded as she left. Twilight then moved down the street that led to her library and opened the door to find Spike eating hay pops in the dining room, barely awake and looking more tired than a foal who hadn't gotten all of her sleep. Spike looked at his friend.

"Hey Twilight." Spike said to her. "Where were you?"

"The market. I told you." Twilight said to him.

"Didn't hear it.You must not have been speaking very loud. And I was asleep too." He responded. Twilight had begun to put the groceries inside their pantry, organizing the products one by one, making them as perfect as they could have been. Spike looked at Twilight's book on the table.

"Are you gonna finish that book today?" Spike asked Twilight, who turned and looked at the book for a moment.She thought about it steadily for a while before she smiled at Spike.

"No." She said to the baby dragon. "How about we relax today, instead?"

_____

Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered open as she nuzzled into Steel Anvil's chest. She yawned and looked up at him, him smilling down at her.

"Good morning." He said to her. She smiled back at him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Morning." She responded. "You know, aside from me nearly being murdered by a psychopathic theif and finding out that you have to survive on the blood of other living things to survive, yesterday was awesome." He laughed and nodded his head. He looked to be wide awake at this point. "Didn't you sleep last night?" Steel shook his head.

"I don't sleep." He responded. Rainbow frowned at this.

"Well then, how do you rest?" She asked him.

"I don't. It's part of this curse." He said. "But, I'll tell you what. When you were sleeping on my chest last night, I was the most at peace I have been in a long, long time." Rainbow chuckled.

"Laaaaammee...." She said, long and drawn out before kissing him. "Sweet, but laaaaammmeee." Steel smiled at her and pulled her into his arms.

"So, do you want some breakfast?" He said. "I was going to have to work at the forge today, but I figure I can take the day off." Rainbow nodded.

"That sounds really good." She responded. "Do you have a shower here?" He nodded and pointed his hoof down the incredibly small hallway.

"It's on your first right. It's not much, but it'll get the job done. There's shampoo in there as well." He said.

"Alright." She responded, kissing his cheek again. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She left for the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Steel sighed heavily. She was fantastic. She had found out the previous night that he was basically a monster that had to live off of the blood of other living things to survive. True, he had told her that he didn't ever hurt anything doing this, the mere concept in and of itself was savage and disturbing. Despite all of this, she had stayed with him. Anyone else would have kept trying to run, screaming into the night, but not Rainbow. No, Rainbow was strong, brave and she knew what she wanted. She was the element of Loyalty, after all. He sat up in his bed, looking around his room, marveling at how incredibly dull it was. There wasn't anything there to make it look even a smidge better. He never really needed those things, but it still would have been good to have. Steel was always getting by on things that he needed.
He never really ever got the things he wanted. That, however, wasn't technically true. He looked back at the bathroom as Rainbow came out. She was shivering, drying herself off with a small towel.

"That water might as well be ice." She said to him.

"You know, you could have waited five minutes for it to warm up." He said. Rainbow shrugged.

"Ehh, you know waiting's not my style." She said.

"Alright, it's my turn in the shower now. Be back in a jiffy." He said. Rainbow chuckled.

"In a jiffy?" She said. "Wow." Steel shook his head.

"Fine, a few minutes. Is that okay for you?" He said to her. She laughed.

"Just go get your shower." She said to him, still chuckling a little.

_____

After a nice, delicious breakfast at Cafe du Mane, Rainbow and Steel went to the local park and sat under a tree. Steel sat back, and watched the foals playing in the field. Tag, by the looks of it. Rainbow sat down next to him and looked at him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"Me? Oh, I'm fine, why?" He responded.

"Well, it's sunny out...and you're a-"

"It only damages me physically if I expend any kind of energy. Other than that, it's just very, very bright." He said. As he looked on into the field, he said- "Rainbow, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She said. "Fire away."

"I, uh...I'm still a vampire. I can't die, unless I'm killed." He said. "How is this going to work between the two of us?" These words struck a chord in Rainbow Dash. She thought for a moment.

"Is there a cure?" Rainbow said. "If vampirism is a condition, there could be a cure."

"I have heard rumors from other vampires I've met, but I've never seen any concrete evidence of one." He responded. "Couldn't we just continue living on? Like this never happened?"

"We could, but regardless of anything that will happen, we'll still be having to live in secret, and really, what kind of life is that?" She said. Steel felt hard-pressed to agree.

"So, what do you propose we do?" He asked her.

"I think we should investigate a cure." She said

"I already told you, I looked for a cure for a while. There's rumors, but nothing for sure." He said to her.

"No, you don't understand. If there's a cure anywhere, it will be in a book somewhere in Twilight's library." She responded.

"So, you want to go to Twilight's library, tell her about my vampirism, potentially ruining our chances to be together, all just to try to find a cure that in all likelihood probably doesn't exist? I mean, we have no idea what she'd do if she found out." He said to her. She nodded slowly, firm in what she thought they should do. Steel thought for a moment and nodded.

"Okay, let's go." He said. They both stood and walked toward the library, preparing for what could either go very well, or very badly. They walked though the streets of Ponyville, observing the daytime activities of all the other ponies. Rainbow pushed her body against Steel's as a public display of the affection she held for him. They walked until they came to the marketplace. They passed Applejack's apple stand to see Applebloom and Scootaloo sitting in front of the orange mare with pleading looks on their faces.

"Oh, come on, sis! Please? Me, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell were gonna go try to get our cutie marks again today!" The filly said.

"No. Absolutely not. Now Ah've spoken my peace about it an' Ah don't wanna hear another word about it." Applejack responded sternly to her younger sister.

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo suddenly said. "With a stallion?"

"Why d'ya seem so surprised, squirt?" Rainbow said, ruffling Scootaloo's purple mane.

"You just don't look like the type to be all sappy." Scootaloo said.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo! I'm full of surprises!" Rainbow said to the filly, who beamed with admiration. "Besides...it's cool to be different."

"So awesome..." She said. Rainbow laughed. Applejack turned and marveled at the couple in front of her.

"Well I'll be tarred and feathered! Ya finally grew a backbone and asked him, Rainbow!" The orange mare said to them.

"Can it, work pony. He asked me." Rainbow said to her as they did a small hoof bump. Applejack looked to Steel for confirmation. He nodded, smiling at her.

"Well, whaddya know...Ah'm glad to see that you two finally got together." Applejack said genuinely with a warm smile. Rainbow returned the smile.

"Thanks, AJ. I appreciate it." Rainbow responded. Applejack tossed an apple to them. Rainbow caught it.

"On the house for the new couple!" Rainbow smiled.

"Thanks so much, Applejack. This is awesome." Rainbow said turning to leave. She turned back around quickly. "Oh yeah, have you seen Twilight today?"

"Sure have. Just bought some apples from me 'bout five minutes ago. You could probably still catch 'er if ya hurry." Applejack responded. "By the way, have you two heard the news?"

"What news?" Rainbow said. Applejack's voice dropped down to a whisper as she, Rainbow and Steel all leaned in closer.

"Last night, there was a murder on the outskirts of Ponyville. Supposedly some criminal." Steel coughed into his hoof heavily for a few seconds and then shrugged.

"Aw, that's weird. But I haven't heard anything." Rainbow said. She could have been a con artist. "Thanks, AJ!" Rainbow said as she turned to leave.

"See ya, Applejack." Steel said.

"Bye y'all!" Applejack said as she went back to tending her apples. As she waved to the couple, her hoof hit the top of the small, fancy-looking pyramid of apples she had made on the stand, knocking it over completely.

"Aw, ponyfeathers!"

_____

Twilight Sparkle was almost done cleaning the dishes when she heard a knock at her door. She put down the plate she was washing and went to the door. She opened it to find Rainbow Dash and Steel Anvil.

"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow said happily.

"Hey, you guys." She said. "What's up?"

"You wanna hang out? Me and Steel just got done with breakfast and figured that it'd be cool to stop by for a chat." Rainbow said.

"Yeah, maybe I can get that book I asked about." Steel added. Twilight looked at them for a second, then smiled widely at the thought of two of her friends coming over just to say 'hi' and to have a conversation.

"Absolutely!" Twilight said happily, mentally stopping herself from jumping up and down with excitement. "Come on in!" She opened the door wider for the two of them and walked inside. Spike saw that Steel and Rainbow were here and smiled.

"Rainbow? Steel? What're you guys doing here?" He said.

"Just came to say 'hey'." Steel said. "You still reading that dragon book?" Spike nodded at him.

"Yeah...I didn't finish it. I read about half and looked at all of the pictures. Not one of those dragons looked anything like me." He said, drooping slightly.

"You know what that means, right, buddy?" Steel said. Spike shook his head. "It means you're a rare breed of dragon. For a book that's all about dragons to not have a picture of a dragon like you? Sounds like dragons like you haven't been seen before. Heck, you could be the first!" Spike smiled.

"I never thought of that!" Spike said. "Thanks, Steel!" He turned and walked into his room, but not before speaking to Rainbow Dash. "Hey, Rainbow. You don't come here very much."

"Whaaat..." Rainbow said. "A mare can't stop by and say 'Hey' to her friends these days?"

"I guess so." Spike said. "It was good to see you guys. I think I'm gonna take a nap. Bye!" He said as he went to the bedroom that he and Twilight slept in. Twilight returned to the kitchen and set down three cups of hot cider onto the table.

"So, guys..what have you been up to?" Twilight said giddily and with a smile. "You never stop by Rainbow, except to get the newest Daring Do book."

"Actually, Twi," Rainbow said to Twilight, her voice dropping slightly. "There is something we came here for." Twilight frowned, half in sadness and half in annoyance.

'Of course...' Twilight thought to herself. 'Nopony ever just stops by the library to see little ol' Twilight, do they?'

"Okay..." The purple mare said, still frowning. "What did you need?"

"Well, it's actually more like something I need." Steel said. "If it's not too much trouble." Twilight nodded.

"Go on ahead...what is it?" She said.

"Before we get into that, I would like to tell you something." Steel said. Twilight nodded. "Now, I know that this sounds crazy, but...I'm a vampire." Twilight smirked.

"Are you?" Twilight said. "You're a vampire? You're a creature that survives on the blood of other creatures?" Steel frowned.

"I told you it was going to sound crazy..." Steel said.

"Sounds like a joke." Twilight said, matter-of-factly.

"No, Twilight..." Rainbow said. "I've seen it for myself." Twilight chuckled.

"Oh, now I know it's a joke!" Twilight started. "You're in a relationship with Rainbow Dash, the biggest prankster in Ponyville next to Pinkie Pie, and you expect me to believe this?"

"Remember back when we were all at Steel's welcoming party?" Rainbow said to her. "Have you ever seen anypony beat Big Macintosh in a hoof wrestle?"

"Granted, but there had to be somepony out there who could." Twilight said.

"Well, what about that time when Steel, Applejack and I were in a race? Remember? Now, you'd think that somepony with such physical strength and endurance would be able to run a race on a cool Fall day without fainting, right?" Rainbow said.

"Everypony get's tired, Rainbow." Twilight retorted.

"You really think that Steel and I have been spending the last two months planning a prank on you?" Rainbow said in pure disbelief.

"With your track record of pranks, Rainbow, yes. Yes I do." Twilight said. "I've seen you in the sunlight, Steel. If you're a vampire, why didn't you burn or disintegrate?"

"Vampires can survive in the sunlight." Steel explained. It just completely saps their energy and makes them exremely weak."

"Uh huh, sure." Twilight said. "If you're a vampire, you must have superpony strength, right?" Steel nodded. "Then pick up that bookcase over there." She gestured to the largest bookcase in her library, completely filled with books. Steel sighed and moved over to it. He stood on his hind legs and put his front two hooves under the case. With a small amount of effort, he lifted the bookcase over his head. Twilight's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. That bookcase must have been over half a ton easily. Rainbow smirked to herself and narrowed her eyes smugly.

"Told ya s-" She was interrupted by a zap of magic from Twilight's horn that connected with Steel's midsection. He cried out in pain and flew into a wall, slamming into it hard and dropping the bookcase in the process. Books went everywhere as Steel curled up on the ground, clutching his midsection, breathing slowly and heavily.

"Please..." He said. "Stop, Twilight...or I'll- AH!" He yelled as he was hit by another blast of magic.

"Twilight, stop!" Rainbow yelled. "You don't know what you're doing! He doesn't wanna hu-"

"Oh, yes I do!" Twilight said. "I'm detaining a monster to be taken to Princess Celestia!" Rainbow looked at Steel, who was still on the ground. His muscles began to grow and morph, Twilight noticed this. Steel opened his eyes and they were starting to turn red...very red.

"Oh, no..." Rainbow flew up to Steel's side extremely quickly. "Steel...look at me...look into my eyes! Calm down." Steel was breathing very heavily and straining to keep the beast down.

"Rainbow!" Twilight said, holding her spell in for when the Pegasus would move. "What are you doing?"

"Just shut up for a minute, Twilight!" Rainbow yelled at the purple mare. "Steel, calm down. Calm down. Listen to my voice." Rainbow made her voice as soothing as possible. Finally, she slammed her lips against Steel's, kissing him deeply. His eyes widened slightly as they faded back to their original color. Twilight witnessed this and felt nothing but sheer suprise. Rainbow disconnected from the kiss. She looked down at him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" She asked him. Steel nodded.

"Yeah...I'm alright. Thanks." He responded.

"Rainbow, I'm-" Twilight started.

"No!" Rainbow yelled loudly, suprising her friend and scaring her slightly. "Why didn't you listen to me when I was trying to tell you that he doesn't want to hurt us?! He's been in Ponyville for two entire months! Don't you think that if he wanted to hurt any of us, he would have by now?! He doesn't even drink ponies' blood! He goes into the Everfree forest at night and feeds on sleeping animals, who most of the time, don't even wake up!" Rainbow paused for a moment, seething as she breathed heavily. "You know what? We came here looking for a cure and we thought that you could help us. Guess we were wrong!" Tears began to well up in Twilight's eyes.

"Rainbow, please. I really thought-"

"Well maybe you oughta think less!" Rainbow continued to yell.

"That's enough!" Came an incredibly stern reply from Steel Anvil behind them. He had recovered from the magical assault he had just suffered. "It was your idea to come here, Rainbow." He said as he walked toward them. "What would you expect her to do, Rainbow? She had just found out that one of her friends is a blood-drinking monster. What would you have done?" Rainbow looked to the ground for a second and then at her friend. Twilight was wiping a tear from her cheek as a result of Rainbow's angry assault of words.

"I'm sorry, Twilight...I didn't mean to scream at you..." Rainbow said genuinely.

"No, Rainbow. I'm sorry...I should have listened to you..." Twilight looked at Steel."And Steel...I'm so sorry for attacking you. I've heard the legends, about how ponies have been murdered mysteriously and.... I just wasn't thinking like I usually do. If you wanted to hurt us, you would have by now."

"I don't blame you in the slightest." Steel said kindly. "If our roles were reversed, I would have done the same." Twilight smiled and wiped her eyes again.

"What's going on down here?!" Spike yelled, running down the suitcase.

"Oh, you know, Spike..." Steel said, thinking for a moment. "Stray Phoenix flew in through the window...we're pretty lucky it didn't burn anything."

"Amen to that." Spike said. "Alright. I'm going back to bed." When the baby dragon had left, Twilight immediately went to work, looking through each bookcase, using her magic to view two books at at time. She eventually found one book. On the cover it read- "Sanguis o Vita"

"The Blood of Life." Twilight said, putting the book down on the table in front of them. "I read it Nightmare Night before last. It's all about vampires and the legends surrounding them. Now, everypony thinks that vampires are only myth. I used to, until today. I don't exactly remember reading about a cure in here, but it talks about the origin of vampires, if I remember right. And perhaps if we read the origin, we'll know where to start looking for a cure." She said, viewing the table of contents and quickly turning the pages. Steel and Rainbow came up on either side of her as she looked in the book. "Aha! It says here that the first ever vampire originated from..." Twilight stopped as her eyes grew wide. She just stared at the book. Rainbow looked at her, worried. Steel waved a hoof in front of her face.

"Twilight...what did the first vampire ever originate from?" Rainbow asked. Twilight looked at Rainbow and gulped.

"Discord..."

Obligatory End-Of-Chapter Author's Note: Oh, yeah, baby. That happened. I wanted to include discord in a way because:

1: I love Discord.
2: He's a great antagonist. (Though he won't be the main antagonist.)
3: I f*ckin' love Discord.

I'd appreciate a comment on what you guys think! Cheers!

Chapter 8

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Chapter 8

"Discord?" Steel said. "You mean the spirit of disharmony that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated and turned to stone a long time ago? I thought that was just an old foal's tale."

"No." Twilight replied. "Discord is real. He broke out of his imprisonment when the Elements of Harmony were transferred to myself, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow."

"He caused a huge amount of chaos for Equestria, mostly Ponyville, and nearly destroyed our friendship." Rainbow added. "But we overcame him and froze him in stone again. He's been in Canterlot ever since. Everypony still thinks he's just a statue, but that's the real Discord." Steel nodded his head.

"Well, that kind of leaves us all in a predicament, doesn't it?" He said. "If he's still frozen in stone in Canterlot, how are we gonna find any kind of a cure from him?"

"That's what I'm still trying to consider." Twilight said. "Maybe we can try to find a book about Discord?" Rainbow and Steel considered this.

"Couldn't hurt." Rainbow said. Steel nodded.

"Let's try it." Twilight left and came back after about thirty seconds with a rather small book. She put it on the table and sighed regretfully.

"This is all I have here that might even have anything on Discord." She looked down at the small book and frowned. The title read- Equestrian Folk Tales

"Honestly, Twilight. I'm a little suprised that this is all you have here on Discord. Ah, well...let's go ahead and take a look." A purple aura surrounded the book and the pages flipped quickly to the tale of Discord. It was the exact "foal's tale" that Steel had described earlier. The ponies all sighed heavily.

"Yep. There it is. Any other ideas?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm still thinking." Twilight said. They sat there, pondering what exactly to do. Rainbow looked at Twilight, who was thinking heavily of what to do. She seemed to be oblivious to the world around her, rubbing her chin with a hoof. Steel just sat there, a sad expression on his face, his ears lowered. He breathed heavily and blinked slowly. Rainbow walked over to him, sat down and put her head on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She said, looking up at him. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Yeah...I'm alright." He said. "I just knew that this was a pointless effort." Rainbow frowned at him, irritated.

"I'm gonna hit you if you say that again. There's hope, Steel. There will always be hope. If we keep looking, I'm sure we'll find something." She said before she kissed him on the cheek. He chuckled that chuckle that always used to turn her to cyan goo. She smiled warmly at memories of a time when they weren't together, merely flirting for what seemed like an endless period of time. She kissed him.

"I've got it!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed, startling Rainbow and Steel out of their romantic exchange. Rainbow blushed heavily, rubbing the back of her head. Steel just looked at her.

"What is it?" He asked. Twilight looked at them and raised a brow.

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are the ones who stopped Discord a long time ago, right?" She said. They both nodded. "Well, who else would know very much about Discord other than the ones that were actually alive when Discord still ruled Equestria through chaos? The Princesses themselves!" Rainbow raised a brow herself, but not out of pride over an idea she had, but rather skepticism.

"Twilight," She said. "I don't think that the Princesses would appreciate us interrupting their day to talk to them about Discord."

"But that's the thing..." Twilight said. "We won't be telling them that we're coming just to talk about Discord. I can arrange a meeting between myself and Princess Celestia under the guise of reporting on friendship in Ponyville. Then, after I make something up, we can talk to her." Rainbow and Steel were utterly suprised. This plan seemed like the last thing Twilight Sparkle, of all ponies, would want to do. But nevertheless, Twilight had a reassured smile on her face.

"You really think that it'll work?" Steel asked her. She nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm sure it'll work. If the princess doesn't know about a cure, she could hopefully point us in a good direction." The purple unicorn said happily. "I can even request a chariot to come pick us up. We'd be there in half the time it would take for a train." Steel looked at Rainbow, who shrugged and nodded.

"I suppose we'll do it." Rainbow said. "But are you sure about this? I can tell that you don't want to do this." Twilight smiled warmly.

"Rainbow, no matter what it takes, I'll always want to help my friends. You two obviously aren't exceptions." Rainbow felt warm inside. "Spike!" Twilight called. The baby dragon came plodding down the steps, yawning largely and looking slightly irritated.

"What, Twilight?" He said. "Just tell me so I can get back to sleep..."

"Take a letter to Princess Celestia." The purple mare said, holding a quill and parchment in front of Spike's face with her magic.

"Why so early in the day?" He asked. Twilight just looked at him, irritated. "Alright, fine. Fire away." He took the quill and parchment. Twilight cleared her throat.

"Dear Princess Celestia, I realize that I have been reporting to you regularly on the different characteristics and qualities of friendship in Ponyville, a task I have been enjoying heartily. However, I have realized that I have not seen you face-to-face in quite a while. Therefore, I would like to request a meeting with you today to further discuss friendship and issues surrounding it. Perhaps over lunch. Rainbow Dash and Steel Anvil would like to come. Steel has wanted to meet you for a long time. Your faithful and loyal student, Twilight Sparkle." She said eloquently. This was understandable, as a letter to Princess Celestia herself was to be written well. The formalities came with the actual meeting. Spike finished writing on the parchment and rolled it up and wrapped it in a brilliant red ribbon. He inhaled deeply and blew fire on the parchment, turning it into shining, floating green mist. It flew upwards, out of the window. Steel looked on in amazement.

"That was awesome." He said, spellbound. Spike sighed and yawned again.

"Now, I'm gonna go back to bed." He said, slowly turning to go back to his small resting place. Twilight wrapped a hoof around his shoulders.

"Hold on there, Spike. It's mid-afternoon. You shouldn't be sleeping still." She said. "And, we have to wait for a reply. You know that she's usually prompt." Spike grumbled and sat on his rump, crossing his arms. After about five minutes of silent, eager waiting, Spike burped and out came a letter returned from the Princess. Spike opened it and read.

"Dear Twilight, I would be happy to have you, Rainbow Dash and Steel Anvil here for lunch. I agree that it has been far too long since we have seen each other. If nothing else, a simple chat would be nice. I have dispatched a chariot to pick you up. See you soon! Princess Celestia."

"Alright!" Twilight said happilly, clapping her hooves together once. "That settles it. Get ready to go to Canterlot. The chariot will most likely be here in about ten minutes." They both nodded as Twilight left them in the room. Rainbow put a hoof on Steel's cheek and brought his head up to face her. She kissed him tenderly and smiled.

"Don't ever lose hope." She said.

_____

The chariot had arrived a mere two minutes after Twilight's prediction. The ride to Canterlot had been a brief one, consisting of moderate banter between the three ponies riding. Rainbow became bored at one point and jumped from the chariot. This scared the two guards flying the chariot and they plummeted down for a second, thinking that she had commited suicide and that they had to save her. But when she flew back up and did a spiral around the chariot, they both sighed with relief and slight annoyance and continued on their path to Canterlot. They arrived at the palace chariot stable and got out of the large, golden seat. They bade farewell to the guards and headed for the palace entrance. The incredibly large door opened, seemingly on their own, to reveal the welcoming countenance of Princess Celestia.

"Twilight! Rainbow! It's so good to see you two again." She said happily, her long, flowing multicolored mane, her large, beautiful eyes and gigantic wings stunning Steel completely. All three bowed before her, simply stricken by her royal grace and beauty. When Twilight and Rainbow came up from their bow, Steel remained close to the ground, eyes closed, unsure of when exactly he needed to stop bowing. "This must be Steel Anvil." The royal alicorn said. "You can stop bowing now." Steel rose from his kneeling position.

"It is an honor to meet you, your majesty." He said to her.

"The honor is mine. Twilight has told me many things about you in her letters. Oh! That reminds me..." She said as she looked at him and Rainbow. "Congratulations to the two of you!" Rainbow blushed and Steel nodded, smiling happily. "So, you're the new blacksmith in Ponyville, correct?"

"Yes, your majesty." He said, nodding curtly.

"That's enough of that, Steel." She said, smiling, amused at his perfect manners. "I would appreciate it if you called me by my actual name. Because I'm quite sure my name isn't 'Your Majesty"." Steel chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, your maje-...Princess Celestia." He said. The princess chuckled to herself.

"Well, then. Now that the formalities are over and done with, I have and excellect lunch spread out in the courtyard. Shall we?" The Princess said, ushering the three ponies into her palace. They all walked through, Twilight and Rainbow currently focusing on their predicament, Steel focusing on the amazingly intricate architecture and it's patterns. They reached the courtyard, the spectacular statues and fountains were accentuated by the beautiful plants and trees perfectly. Rainbow nudged Steel in the side before she nodded towards a rather large statue of what looked like some kind of dragon with an expression of terror on it's face. She looked to him and nodded slowly. That was Discord. They all sat as the dishes were revealed across the table. These dishes were artisan made salads and pastas, soaked and tossed in all but the finest sauces. For dessert, a massive white cake that appeared to be vanilla. A waiter came and poured wine into all of their glasses and bowed as he backed away, leaving the courtyard. Rainbow's and Twilight's eyes widened in hunger and anticipation. Steel saw this and immediately started acting hungry, faking lust for the foods before him. Princess Celestia chuckled.

"So, you're all hungry I take it?" They nodded. "Well, help yourself. I don't mind at all." They all went to work, dishing themselves servings of the delicious, saccharine foods before them. Rainbow looked over at Steel, who was still acting as if the food was delicious, with a pang of intense sympathy. It all probably tasted like flavorless goo to him. They all finished their food and sat back in their chairs, satisfied.

"Princess Celestia, if we could all go somewhere private, I would like to share something with you." Steel said to the royal alicorn.

"Surely." She responded. They all left and went to the Princesses' throne room. The Princess sat in her throne and looked at Steel. "Now, what is it you wanted to speak to me of?" Steel looked at Rainbow and Twillight. They both looked confused, yet aware of what he was planning to do.

"I have a confession to make." He said. "I'm sure you're familiar with the murder on the outskirts of Ponyville recently." The Princess nodded. 'No.' Rainbow thought. 'He can't be doing this...not now.' "Well, Princess, I am the murderer."

"Princess, please...don't be angry with Steel!" Rainbow pleaded. "He killed that pony outside Ponyville because he was getting ready to kill me. He only did what he did because he cares about me." She ran to Steel's side and pressed herself against him. Princess Celestia's expression did not change at all. She only smiled.

"Well, while I regret the death of anypony, you were protecting somepony who is precious to you from death. I cannot rightly punish you for doing the right thing in that situation." She said. "Your honesty and bravery have been noted as well." Steel nearly collapsed from releif.

"Thank you very much, Princess." He said. "That is such a relief." The princess nodded.

"Now, is there anything else you needed?" She said. Steel looked at Rainbow at his side and Twilight behind them. They both nodded. Steel gulped and breathed heavily. He decided to just come out and say it.

"Princess Celestia, I am a vampire." He said. The Princess raised her eyebrows, legitimately suprised.

"A vampire?" She said. "I haven't seen one of you in decades. I assume you fed on that pony you killed, correct?"

"No, Princess. I don't feed on ponies. I always go into the Everfree Forest and feed on sleeping animals. It doesn't kill them. Sometimes they don't even wake up." The princess nodded.

"That is a very noble way to go about dealing with it, Steel." She said. "But why exactly are you telling me this?"

"Well, Princess, Twilight, Rainbow and I were reading about the legends of vampires and discovered that, according to legend, the first Vampire originated from Discord."

"Yes, that is accurate." Princess Celestia said.

"So, we thought that since you and your sister are probably the only two ponies in Equestria that fully know about Discord, you might know of a cure." He finished. Celestia gained a puzzled look on her face.

"I am sorry to say that while I know many things about Discord, I do not know nearly as much about vampires. I do apoligize." She said. Steel's ears lowered and he looked down.

"It's fine, I didn't expect to find a cure, anyway." He said sadly.

"However..." The Princess said. Steel's ears perked up and his eyes widened. He looked at her. "There is still hope." She quickly brought a quill and parchment toward herself and began to write a letter. This letter was finished in nearly thirty seconds. Then, she moved on to another one. Then, another one after that, then another. All in all, four letters were written when she was finished. She made them turn into purple mist and fly out of her window at breakneck speed. Rainbow looked at the princess.

"Who were those for?" She asked.

"Your friends Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie." Princess Celestia said curtly. "I am bringing them here to the palace."

"Why, Princess?" Asked Steel. "Why would we need them?"

"In time, Steel, you will know." The Princess said. "For now, remain here. Relax and wait for your friends to arrive. Guard!" She called daintily. A member of the royal guard entered the throne room.

"Yes, your majesty?" He said, ready to do whatever she wanted.

"Please wake my sister. An urgent matter has come up. But do it gradually. We have time." She said. The guard nodded. Twilight's belly lit up with nervousness. Celestia was waking Luna during the daytime. This had to be something serious.

"Leave me, please." The Princess said. "I have much to think about. I'll call you all back in when the time is right." The three of them bowed and left the room promptly, shutting the door behind them. They all went and sat in a quaint area with soft, cushinoned seats and pretty plants.

"Steel?" Twilight said. "Could I ask you a question?" Steel looked at her and nodded.

"Fire away." He said, leaning his head back.

"What's it like?" She said. "Being a vampire, I mean."

"Twilight." Rainbow said. "Now's not the time, come on." Steel put a hoof in front of Dash.

"It's fine, Rainbow." He said. "I don't mind. To tell you the truth, Twilight, it's horrible. Ponies don't call it a curse for nothing. No food will satisfy my hunger. No drink will quench my thirst. The only kind of sustenance I can get from anything is from blood. But vampires can last quite a long time without feeding. If I go too long without blood, my body will begin to deteriorate and after a few years, I would wither and die. I have discovered that blood from wild animals in forests and plains work well, and I try to get them while they sleep. It is next to painless when I want it to be, and they rarely wake up." Twilght nodded.

"What kind of weaknesses do you have? Are you terrified of an amulet of Celestia?" She asked, feeling slightly stupid. An amulet of Celestia obviously had no kind of effect on him due to the fact that he was in Celestia's royal palace.

"The only weaknesses I have are sunlight and fire." He said to her. "If I'm in sunlight, every single ounce of my energy is sapped and my skin begins to burn and fall off if I stay in sunlight for more than an hour. It's funny because at night it's the exact opposite. Night empowers me. I become extremely strong and fast at night. If I catch fire, it would spread quickly and have me dead in about thirty seconds."

"Then why do you work at a forge?" Rainbow asked him. He shrugged.

"Well, I mean, I wear all the protective gear." He said. "I suppose that it's happened a few times before. I guess I just don't really fear it when it's involved in my calling. Plus, I have a trough of water right there if I need it." Rainbow chuckled.

"True, true." She said. They sat there at that point, waiting for their friends to arrive at the palace.

_____

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie all arrived within two minutes of each other. They all greeted each other warmly and happily, exchanging words and smiles.

"So, what're you guys doin' here?" Applejack said. "What is alla this?"

"So far, we're about as clueless as you guys." Rainbow said. "Whatever it is, Princess Celestia is waking Princess Luna, during the day, so we know that it's pretty big."

"Oooh!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "I love mysteries! Let's all try to figure this out together! I'll be the detective, and Fluttershy, you can be my loyal, clueless assistant!" Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Oh, brother..." The unicorn said. Fluttershy scuffed a hoof on the floor nervously.

"I don't know, Pinkie Pie. I don't really like getting into the middle of things." She said. Before Pinkie could respond, a guard came into the room.

"The Princesses will see you now." He said in a deep, gruff voice. They all left and entered the throne room, met by Princess Celestia and the newly awakened Princess Luna. In front of the two royal alicorns stood the case for the elements of harmony. Each necklace surrounded the tiara that lay in the center. They all gasped.

"The elements of harmony?" Rarity said, suprised. "Something must be terribly wrong."

"Nothing is truly wrong, Rarity." Luna said. "It is just something my sister and I would like to do for one of you."

"Before we start," Celestia continued. "You have something to tell your friends, Steel." Steel looked at his friends, then Celestia and Luna, who nodded his way. He stood before them and breathed heavily.

"Girls..." He said. "Over the time I've known you, I haven't been completely honest. The truth is...I'm a vampire." They all reacted differently. Applejack chuckled lightly while Rarity fell over. Pinkie's eyes widened as she said- "Cool!" Fluttershy recoiled from him slightly, keeping her eyes on him.

"Uh, this is a joke, right?" Applejack said. "Your jokin'." Steel shook his head.

"It is quite true, Applejack." Princess Celestia said. "Vampires have existed for a long time in Equestria. They've been in a recession lately. Their population has been decreasing drastically. Steel is one of the only ones left." Applejack's eyes widened.

"Why didn't ya tell us?" Applejack demanded, slightly outraged.

"Yeah! It's so cool! Why didn't you tell us?" Pinkie added.

"I do not think it's...cool like Pinkie does, but I agree as well." Rarity said. Fluttershy just mumbled something unintelligible.

"Look guys, I didn't tell you because by the time I was ready to, I was already your friend. I was afraid that you'd all be scared of me, and I didn't want anything to screw up our friendship. I can't change the fact that I didn't tell you, and I'm sorry for that. If I wanted to hurt any of you, I would have done it by now." He said.

"That sounds reasonable." Applejack said, still slightly annoyed. "But Ah'm still a little disappointed in ya."

"I expected you to be." Steel said. "Thanks, AJ. What about you guys?"

"Are you kidding me?" Pinkie said. "I don't care at all! You're one of the nicest, most super-duper cool ponies I know!" Steel smiled.

"I agree with Applejack." Rarity said. "We would have accepted you no matter what you are. Just trust us and we'll trust you." She said with a small smile. Steel nodded. Fluttershy slowly walked forward and smiled up at him.

"I'm not mad...I know exactly what it's like to be scared." She said before she hugged him. He smiled warmly and hugged her back.

"Thank you all." He said. "You really are the best friends I've ever had." They all smiled, nodded, waved or something to that effect. They all looked toward the princesses, who were smiling themselves.

"So, why do we have the Elements of Harmony here?" Asked Twilight.

"You are all going to use them." Celestia said.

"For what?" Rainbow said.

"To restrain Discord while we free him." Luna added. The whole room fell completely silent.

"Excuse me, your highnesses, but are ya crazy?" Applejack said. "Discord is the spirit of chaos! Who knows what he'll do when he's out!"

"That is why you will have the elements. You will restrain him with their power while Luna and I free him." Celestia said.

"Why are you doing it?" Asked Rarity.

"Because the first ever Vampire originated from Discord himself. Your friend Steel is looking for a cure." Celestia continued. They all, save for Twilight, Rainbow, Celestia and Luna looked at him like he was insane.

"Don't worry, he didn't suggest it. It was my idea. Only Discord could even know of a cure. So you'll all restrain him and we'll free him and get the information from him." Celestia said.

"But Princess!" Steel said. "That's so much to do for some common pony like me!" Celestia chuckled to herself.

"Nopony is common in our eyes, Steel." She said. "Now bearers, don the elements so we can help your friend." The girls, after a second of thought, readily walked to the case. They all put their respective elements on and headed for the courtyard.

_____

"Alright, Twilight." Princess Celestia said as they entered the courtyard and approached the large statue of Discord. "You and your friends get ready. Odds are that as soon and Luna and I free him, Discord will immediately try to escape." Twilight nodded as all of the elements lit up on their respective bearers. "Are you ready sister?" Luna nodded and got into a prepared stance, ready for anything.

"As I'll ever be." The princess of the night responded. A moment later, the princesses' horns lit up with light purple and dark blue auras. These auras surrounded the statue of Discord as they sunk into it. Slowly, the stone surface began to degrade, giving way to different types of skins and coats.

"Now, Twilight Sparkle!" Luna said, struggling a bit. "Use the elements now! He's already trying to escape! My sister and I can't hold him much longer!" Twilight and her friends closed their eyes, their elements shining brilliantly. Steel was simply spellbound, amazed this spectacle before him. A rainbow force left the bearers of the elements and surrounded Discord

"Alright, Luna!" Celestia said to her sister. "It's fine now, we can let go." The Princesses relaxed as the magical auras around their horns faded slowly. Discord was laying on the ground next to the pedestal that previously held up his statuesque figure. He sat up quickly and stretched largely, rubbing his face.

"Aaahhh!!! Do any of you ponies have any idea how much it hurts to have your face frozen in an expression of terror for such a long period of time?" He said, still moving his bottom jaw with one of his hands. "Princess Celestia...and Princess Luna! It really has been too long, my dear." Luna merely frowned at him.

"You may have found it easy to fool me all those years ago, Discord, but I believe that now you'll find that I'm not quite as naive." Luna responded. Discord chuckled and smiled slyly at her.

"Ahhh...this brings back memories, the three of us together again. Remember those...amorous nights, Celestia?" The Draconequus said. Applejack nudged Rainbow and Rarity in their sides.

"Amorous nights? What the hay?" She whispered. Rainbow nodded at her, confused as well.

"I try to forget, Discord." Celestia responded. "There is something we must discuss."

"Hmmm? So that's why you two randomly decided to free me. And if you're freeing me, it must be pretty important, right? And it involves little 'ol me? Oh, I'm touched." He said. He looked over at Steel, who stood, staring in amazement at the strange creature before him. "A vampire? One of my least favorite creations." Steel was incredibly surprised that Discord was able to tell that he was a vampire immediately. "Like a regular nimrod, I gave your kind free will. You don't spread much chaos if you don't want to, do you, Steel Anvil?"

"How do you know my name?" Steel said to the spirit of disharmony. Discord chuckled.

"I keep track of all my creations. I remember the night you were turned. Do you still see your little sister's dead eyes whenever you blink?" The question was completely evil and malicious, but sounded jovial and fun-loving. Steel inhaled heavily and closed his eyes.

"Stop it." The stallion said. Discord chuckled.

"What about your father's miserably failed attempt to defend the house, your mother's blood staining the walls?" Discord continued, obviously overjoyed at the pain he was causing Steel. Rainbow walked to him and put a hoof around his shoulder.

"Don't listen to him, Steel." Rainbow said. "He's just trying to get to you.

"Oh, I assure you, Rainbow Dash," Discord said. "This did happen to him. What about when he tore into your throat? When you were barely clinging to life?" Steel growled and shuddered. Rainbow took his head in her hooves and brought him up to face her.

"Don't listen to him, Steel." She said. "Listen to me, listen to my voice." He opened his eyes and looked into hers. She kissed him. He sighed and calmed down, sitting where he was.

"Awwww..." Discord said. "Young love. Do you really know what you're getting yourself into, Rainbow Dash? Do you-"

"Enough!" Celestia exclaimed, stomping a hoof to the ground. Not quite yelling, but the power in her voice evident. "Discord, I have known you for a long time, and while you will spread chaos, sometimes at the expense of others, I have never known you to be directly cruel to anyone."

"Well, maybe I'm just a little bit cranky after being encased in stone for so long." He retorted. "But, I'll tell you what. Now that I've stretched and adjusted to this nice...elements of harmony barrier air, I'll listen to you."

"A cure." Steel said, walking toward the barrier. "We need a cure."

"Wow. You recover quickly." Discord said to the stallion. "I'll have to psychologically torture you worse next time."

"Is there even a cure?" Rainbow asked the Draconequus. He nodded, stroking his chin.

"Oh, yes, there is." He responded. "I'm just debating whether or not to tell you."

"Do it for me, Discord." Celestia said.

"Again, what the hay?" Applejack whispered to Rarity.

"I don't know..." Discord said, eyeing her. "What's in it for me?" Celestia had grown tired of Discord's games at this point. She gained an angry expression on her face.

"How about my sister and I let you continue to rest peacefully in stone, and we don't send you to Tartarus for an eternity of torture?!" She nearly yelled, a slight edge of rage sharpening her words like a sword. Luna came and put a hoof on Celestia's shoulder.

"Sister, calm down." She said, calmly, eloquently and full of grace. She approached Discord. "What do you have to gain from being cruel, Discord? You're not spreading chaos by denying Steel a cure. You're just continuing his misery." Discord considered what she said for a moment.

"Fine..." He said. "I did say that vampires were some of my least favorite creations, and no matter how much I hate beig frozen in stone, it's better than eternal torture. So, if the two of you will agree to freeze me back in a restful position, I'll tell you."

"You will?" Rainbow and Steel said, nearly in unison.

"Don't act so happy." Discord said. "It's going to be far from easy. You need to find the vampire that turned you and challenge him to a fight to the death. You can't just take him by surprise, you have to challenge him. And nopony can help you. it has to only be you, or the cure is lost forever to you. You need to kill him and drink his blood. Every last drop. The vampire that turned you is named Brick Smasher and he lives in the westernmost city of Griffon Territory called Lost Child Canyon. And don't worry, you won't turn to dust or anything. When you're turned, your body is essentially frozen from the time the venom was injected. Your body will just..." He thought for a moment. "Pick up where it left off." He sighed, crossing his arms.

"Thank you, Discord." Celestia said to him. He smiled slyly at her. He disappeared instantly and appeared between Luna and Celestia. He put his arms around the two of them. The princesses' eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Oh, you know I'd do anything for you two!" He planted a long, drawn out kiss on Celestia's cheek. He then disappeared again and reappeared within the barrier. He got up on his pedestal and got in a meditative position, adjusting his single fang and smoothing his hair back. "Ready when you are, girls!" The princesses cast their spell on the Draconequus. He was slowly encased in stone, in his restful position. The barrier made by the elements dissipated and Celestia looked at the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

"Did any of you..." They all shook their heads. Discord stayed there of his own free will. He could have left at any time. Celestia sighed, laughing quietly to herself. "Oh, Discord, of only I could trust you..." She said to herself. Luna sighed and shook her head at her sister.

"Sister, you're hopeless."

_____

"But Twilight! I don't want to be babysat! I can take care of myself at the library!" Spike yelled indignantly, riding on Twilight's back.

"Sorry, Spike." She said. But while I'm in Griffon Territory, you need somepony to babysit you. No ifs ands or buts. That's the way it has to be." Spike sulked, crossing his arms and not saying another word. "Besides, you'll have a great time with Mr. and Mrs. Cake. You'll be able to help them bake and eat sweets all day." She arrived at the Cakes' house and knocked on the door. After a short wait, Mrs. Cake arrived at the door and smiled widely. "Thank you for taking him under such short notice, Mrs. Cake. I have some urgent business to take care of in Griffon territory."

"It's no problem at all, Twilight! We were happy to." Twilight let Spike off of her back and ushered him in.

"Bye, Spike!" She said. "See you in a few days."

"Yeah, bye." The baby dragon said, still irritated slightly. Mrs. Cake shut the door after a friendly wave to Twilight. She then turned and headed back to the library where all of he friends were. She went inside and sat in the living room with every pony else.

"Look, guys..." Steel said. "I should be going alone."

"Please tell me that you're joking." Rainbow said.

"No, I'm not. Griffon Territory is a dangerous place." He said.

"I'm coming, Steel. You aren't going to stop me no matter how hard you try." She responded.

"Same here, sugarcube." Applejack added. "Ah'm goin' with ya."

"Yeah, uh...me too..." Fluttershy said meekly.

"Celestia knows I'm going." Twilight said.

"Me too! Uh...three...no wait four..." Pinkie exclaimed energetically, trailing off into deep thought. They all had said that they were coming, even Fluttershy, the most fearful one of the bunch. The only one who hadn't was Rarity. She smiled happily at Steel and nodded.

"Now, why in Celestia's name would I abandon you now?" Everyone cheered, ready to do what it took to help their friend. "Applejack, would it be alright if Sweetie Belle stayed with Applebloom while we're gone?" Applejack nodded.

"No doubt! Ah'll have a lot of slack to pick up when we get back, but it'll be well worth it." Rainbow stood up and started hovering in the air in front of all her friends.

"Alright, then! Everypony go pack your saddlebags! Let's all meet here at four tomorrow morning. Then, we'll leave for Griffon territory! Does that sound like a good plan to everypony?" They all agreed happily and left the library and went to their homes to pack their bags. On the way back to the forge, Rainbow pushed her body against Steel's affectionately.

"See? What'd I tell ya?" She said. "You never lose hope, even it seems like there's no hope to be had."

"Why?" He asked her. "Why are all of you just dropping your daily lives just to help me?"

"Because we all love you, Steel!" She said. "I never lost hope in you. I know we'll pull through." He immediately shot a hoof down and pulled her face up to his and kissed her deeply. Rainbow's heart began to beat harder in her chest as she pushed herself against him, wrapping her front hooves around his shoulders. Luna's moon bathed them both in a pale, beautiful luminescence. Their kiss deepened even further, their breaths getting harder. Rainbow moaned into the kiss as their tongues explored each other's mouths slowly, lovingly. They stood there, passionately kissing for what seemed like three minutes. Finally, they disconnected and looked into each other's eyes.

"I'm not going to give up. You've inspired me to keep pushing, even when things seem completely hopeless. Just know that I'm going to carry on until the end for you." He said lovingly.

"No matter what," She said to him, a heavy blush present on her face. "Everything is going to be alright."

"Promise?" He said. She nodded slowly.

"I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: Well, there's that. I am now on vacation in Florida for the next week, so I might not update for another couple weeks. As always, I really would appreciate a comment on what you think of my story. Peace.

Chapter 9

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Chapter 9

Rainbow awakened from her slumber early the next morning in Steel's bed at the forge. She yawned lightly and batted her eyes tiredly. She stretched and got out of the bed, hearing the sound of pattering water come from Steel's bathroom. She walked to the door and listened, confirming her suspicions that Steel was getting a shower before they left. She briefly considered getting into the shower with him, for one reason or another, but decided against it. It seemed like something she shouldn't do at that time. She turned to go back to the bedroom, but turned her head and mulled over it some more.

'Maybe...' She thought. '...Nahh.' She turned again. She took a few steps and turned again. She bit her lip. The temptation was nearly impossible to resist. 'Buck it. Might as well...' She moved toward the door, a heavy blush forming on her face at the thought of what her and her flame were going to do in the sexy environment. She began to pant lightly with arousal at the mere thought. Her eyes half lidded, she approached the door, putting her hoof on the knob.

"Okay..." She whispered to herself. "Here we-" She was interrupted by the door hitting her square in the nose as Steel came out of the bathroom. Rainbow fell back onto her rear, both from suprise and pain, clutching her nose. "...Ow..." Steel's eyes grew wide as he rushed to her side.

"Oh, Celestia! Are you okay?" He said to her, kneeling down and putting a hoof on her shoulder. She nodded slowly and looked up at him.

"Who the hay leaves the water running when they get out of the shower?"

"It would have gotten cold again pretty quick if I had turned it off. I was going to come wake you up so that you could get a shower. Are you sure you're alright?" She nodded and got up. Her embarrasment obviously noticeable as she looked away from him.

"I'm fine, babe...thank you for being so concerned. I... I guess I'll have that shower now..." She was still blushing heavily from her earlier thoughts as she ran into the bathroom, shutting the door quickly. She wiped the steam out of the mirror and looked at herself. Her nose was bleeding slightly. She wiped her nose with a tissue as she silently chastised herself. "Idiot...idiot..." She said as she got into the shower. Steel looked at the door in bewilderment. He shrugged to himself as he looked down at the floor where Rainbow had fallen. A few drops of her blood sprinkled the floor from her nosebleed. He gulped and shuddered at the sight of it. The smell of it. He quickly ran to his kitchen and grabbed a paper towel. He wiped up the blood before he began to frantically search for the matches he knew he had. The seconds passed as he looked, the temptation and hunger slowly eating away at his resolve. Finally, after opening one of the drawers he found the matches. He quickly struck one and burned the paper towel over the sink. He sighed in releif as he put the match out with the water and rinsed the sink out. Rainbow came out of the bathroom at that point, refreshed and clean.

"Ready to go?" She asked. Steel nodded and smiled.

"Yeah. Let's hit it."

"Hey, listen...I'm sorry I sounded so irritated back there. It was sweet of you to leave the water running for me." She said as they walked out of the house.

"Its fine, Rainbow." He said. "I'm sorry I nearly killed you with a door." She laughed. After he locked the door she pressed her body against his as they walked side by side down the street to Twilight's library to meet the others.

"I'm so lucky to have a coltfriend like you..." She said contentedly as she nuzzled him. Steel merely smiled and nuzzled her back.

_____

"Boy howdy, this is gonna be a long trip." Applejack said, adjusting her stetson as she appraised the map that her Granny Smith had supplied her with. "It's gonna take us a full day and a half just to get through the Everfree forest, and that's usin' the quickest route, then we gotta take a train from Ramblin' Rock Ridge to Fillydelphia, then a day by boat across the Equestrian sea, then another day on the train to Lost Child Canyon. Sheesh."

"What's wrong, Applejack?" Rarity said, playfully slapping Applejack's shoulder. "Intimidated by a little walk through the woods?" Applejack looked at her, slightly annoyed.

"You're kiddin' right? You're saying this to me. You, Miss "Mah-mane-is-more-important-than life itself"?" Rarity chuckled.

"Oh, Applejack, you take things so seriously!" She said as she turned to go talk to Twilight. Applejack bucked her in the flank lightly, sending her forward a couple of steps. "OH! So uncivilized..." Applejack chuckled quietly to herself. Pinkie snickered, earning a glare from the white unicorn.

"Nice one, AJ!" Rainbow said, coming into the library with Steel. "I wouldn't have done it any other way!" Rarity harumphed from across the room at that comment. "I'm just teasing you, Rarity." Rainbow added before she gave Applejack a quick hoofbump. "So, what's this?"

"This here's the map that's gonna lead us through the Everfree Forest. It's gonna be tough. Half of it's gonna be uphill, and there's timber wolves and diamond dogs, and-"

"Don't worry, Applejack." Steel interjected. "I'm scarier than anything we're going to find in that forest." He smiled and winked at Rainbow.

"Right." Applejack said, rubbing the back of her head. "Still, ya can never be too careful." Steel nodded.

"Oh, I hope Opalescence will be okay without me..." Rarity said, worried. Applejack smiled.

"Don'tcha worry none, Rarity. Opalescence and Winona are gonna have a great time!" She assured the white unicorn.

"Cloud Kicker's gonna take great care of Tank, I know that for sure." Rainbow Dash interjected. "So...Are we all ready to go?"

"We're still waiting for Fluttershy. She's a little late." Rarity said. "Maybe just tending to her animals before she leaves." Rainbow groaned.

"She knew that she needed to be here at four." The cyan pegasus said in slight irritation.

"Woah, cool your jets, filly." Applejack said, putting a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, brows furrowed. "We're all doin' this so that you and Steel can be happy. You know Fluttershy. She'd never letcha down."

"Well yeah, not intentionally..." Rainbow mumbled.

"Rainbow, it's fine." Steel said. "It's completely fine. You need to learn how to be patient. Just because everypony isn't here at four sharp doesn't mean the trip is in jeopardy."

"Yeah, but-" She started.

"No buts. It's going to be fine. Now sit down, and relax. You're gonna need all of your energy." He said as he ushered her to the couch in the lounge they were currently in. Rainbow grumbled quietly as she sat down. "Guys, we don't have to do this. Seriously. This trip could be very danger-"

"I don't want to hear another word about that, Steel." Twilight quickly interrupted him. "We're going with you, and that's that. We're doing this because we want to. You're our friend, Steel, and we're always there for our friends. Right, guys?"

"Right!" Pinkie exclaimed. She took a deep breath. "Becaaaauusseee weeee aaaaaarrrrrreeee-" She started to sing, but was cut short by Rarity. Pinkie huffed, furrowing her brows.

"It would be ridiculous to abandon you now, of all times, dear. We're here for you no matter what." The unicorn said. "Sorry, Pinkie Pie. I have a small headache." Pinkie smiled warmly and nodded.

"But that's the thing, Rarity." Steel said. "You wouldn't be abandoning me, you-"

"Stop it. Now." Rainbow interrupted him.

"It's happenin', sugarcube. Get used to it." Applejack said sternly. Steel sighed and sat down next to Rainbow.

"Sorry I'm late, everypony." Fluttershy said through her teeth clenched around a basket as she came into the library. She put the basket on the center table.

"Finally! Where were you, Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked, putting emphasis on her question. Fluttershy shrunk back and hid behind her long pink mane.

"W-well...um...I was..making croissants for everypony for breakfast....You know...for...energy..." Fluttershy said, frowning and looking down, fidgeting with her front hooves. Rainbow's eyes widened slightly as she lifted the cloth on the basket. Sure enough, there were multiple delicious looking steaming croissants in the basket. Rainbow felt a sharp sting of guilt shoot through her gut.

"Oh...well...that's uh....very nice, Fluttershy...Thanks." Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her head. She looked at her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy said, smiling. "I understand that you're feeling on edge." Rainbow smiled back at her.

"A croissant actually sounds lovely! In all the excitement, I had forgotten how famished I was." Rarity said, walking up to the basket and removing one of the pastries. Everypony walked up and took one. Acclaim was heard from everyone, making Fluttershy blush. Steel took one and ate it. He tasted absolutely nothing, but acted as if it was the masterpiece he knew it was.

"This is amazing!" He said enthusiastically. Rainbow's ears perked up as she looked at him and smiled. He winked at her.

"Oh...it's just some old recipe I made up...I'm glad you all like it." Fluttershy said.

"Are you kidding? This is the most scrump-dilly-umptious amazetastic croissant I've ever had!" Pinkie squealed, snatching another from the basket. Applejack walked up to Rainbow, who was still feeling quite guilty over how she had acted.

"Told ya." The farm pony said. Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah, you did." She responded, looking down slightly in shame. They all continued to eat until the treats were completely gone. They all sat for a few minutes before Twilight stood up.

"Okay! Let's go!" She said. Everypony agreed as they all prepared to leave. Rainbow walked to Steel and kissed him on the cheek.

"Well..." He said. "Here goes nothing." Rainbow smiled as they walked to the front door of the library.

"No." She responded. "Here goes something."

"Oh, barf." Steel responded with a smirk. Rainbow shoved him playfully.

"I'm trying, okay?"

_____

All of the ponies stood in front of a path into the dark, terrifying abyss they all knew as the Everfree Forest. Applejack held up her map. She looked it over and over, surveying all of the coordinates and landmarks. She raised an eyebrow.

"Alright...it looks like this is it...y'all ready?" Applejack said. All the ponies nodded, save for Fluttershy, who merely trembled and muttered to herself.

"I suppose so." Twilight said as she stepped forward. She turned to Applejack. "Are you sure this is the fastest route?" Applejack nodded.

"Sure as sugar is. It'd take two days to make it completely around the Everfree Forest by train, but half the time if we go through it." She responded.

"That makes sense. So, let's get moving now. We're losing daylight." Rarity said as she began to walk along the path. They all began to follow her. Steel put a hoof around Rainbow Dash's shoulder, pulling her closer as they entered the dark woods. For hours, they walked, getting further and further into the forest, strange and unfamiliar noises surrounding them. Pinkie ambled along happily, humming a small tune to herself. Fluttershy, though hopelessly terrified, moved forward, flinching heavily at every small sound that came from the darkness around her. She had shrunken down so low that her saddlebags nearly dragged the ground. Applejack, though slightly scared, moved forward confidently, bravely looking ahead, focused on her task. Twilight and Rarity walked side by side, making idle conversation to try to ease the stress.

"Couldn't we have gotten Zecora to guide us through here?" Rainbow asked. "This would have been a lot easier with her."

"Zecora's out of town getting some special herbs. She won't be back for a few days." Twilight answered. "Trust me, I checked." Rainbow smiled, sighed and nodded.

"Of course." She said. She looked over at Steel, who seemed to be in intense personal thought. She tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey." He snapped out of his apparent self-trance and looked at Rainbow. "You okay?" She asked, her eyes conveying her worry. He nodded and kissed the top of her head. Rainbow nuzzled him, her ears splayed back in affection.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Just thinking about things." He said. She nodded. Pinkie Pie slowed down until she was right next to Rainbow. She leaned close to her cyan friend and raised an eyebrow. Rainbow, in turn, raised an eyebrow at Pinkie.

"What're you looking at?" Rainbow asked. Pinkie giggled.

"Noooothing..." She said. "Just a filly in..." Pinkie assumed a very dramatic position and batted her eyelashes heavily. "Looooovvvee..." Rainbow's expression changed to one of suprise as she blushed heavily.

"W-what?" Rainbow said, looking to the side. "Pinkie you-" She looked at Steel, who looked back at her and shrugged lightly. Rainbow heard an incessant mad giggling coming from Pinkie. She was undoubtedly getting heavy amusement from embarrasing Rainbow like this. Rainbow looked at her pink friend slowly. Pinkie, still cracking up, looked at Rainbow, then at Steel, then at Rainbow again. Rainbow Dash got into a pouncing position.

"Oh, your dead, Pinkie." She said. Pinkie smiled at her widely.

"You'll have to catch me first!" Pinkie responded as she tapped Rainbow on the shoulder "You're it!" Pinkie immediately sprinted away from Rainbow, who immediately gave chase. They bobbed and weaved between tree branches and through bushes. After a few minutes of this speed driven madness, Applejack laughed to herself. Rainbow noticed this and ran up to her apple farming friend. After tapping her she uttered,

"You're it, Applejack!" Before she ran away. Applejack immediately ran at Twilight who had been watching the game. She ran away by instinct. After a few seconds of chase, Applejack managed to catch up to Twilight and tapped her.

"You're it." She said before immediately running the other way. Steel, who had been watching the game smiled at these events. He did not expect Twilight to use a teleportation spell to appear behind him in an instant. She tapped him and giggled.

"You're it!" She said, laughing. Steel immediately dashed toward all the other ponies in the game. By this time, Fluttershy had reluctantly joined in, at the urging of Rainbow Dash.

"Ugh..." Rarity said, tossing her mane. "How immature." Steel stopped next to her and looked at her.

"Why is it immature?" He said.

"Well, It is a game that foals play..." Rarity reasoned with the stallion. Steel smirked at her.

"Funny, because..." He said before leaning up to her and tapping her shoulder. "You're it." He ran away laughing heartily to himself. Rarity sighed an smiled to herself. She shook her head as she began to chase Fluttershy. The game went on for a good half an hour before everypony, save for Steel was completely tired out. They all sat down for a rest, winded and breathing heavily.

"Hoo dawgies!" Applejack said. "That sure was fun!"

"I concur." Rarity agreed. "It really helped to take the edge off."

"Games make everything better!" Pinkie said happily. Rainbow nodded as Steel sat down next to her, laughing. He stopped after a few seconds, however. He remembered that no matter how much fun they were having at that moment, they were still on a journey to find the pony for Steel to kill, not to mention drink his blood. At that moment, the sound of rustling and twigs breaking sounded from across the clearing. They all looked in the direction of the noise.

"Did you guys hear that?" Rainbow asked her friends. They all nodded. Fluttershy shrunk back, whimpering and hid under her hooves. Steel stood and walked toward the source of the noise.

"Steel!" Rainbow said. "Get back here! You don't know what that is!" Steel ignored her as he stood firm to protect his friends. The shade provided by the massive canopy of trees shielded him from the sun, so he was at his full power, ready for any threat that would present itself. The rustling continued for a half a minute, everypony's breath caught in their throats. Finally, after a few minutes with no noise, Steel looked at the girls.

"Okay...let's get moving."

_____

The group continued to walk through the Everfree Forest for many hours, along the designated, poorly maintained path. They made small talk with each other in an attempt to stay entertained. They even played different games like "I Spy" to pass the time. The group stopped in a small clearing to take a much needed break. As it started to get dark, Twilight sat next to Applejack, who was examining the map. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up.

"Are we making good time, Applejack?" Twilight asked.

"Well, considerin' we played that game of tag back there, Ah'd say yes. We're makin' great time. There's horseshoe rock right over there." She pointed toward an oddly shaped rock that did, in fact, resemble a horseshoe. She put a hoof where horseshoe rock was on the map. "Assumin' this map's correct, and my Granny's maps always are, we could stop to camp for the night now and still get to the boat crossin' the Equestrian Sea on time easily." Twilight smiled at this. Even though she was willing to push herself to the limits for her friends, she was, in fact, dead tired and relished the oppurtuninty to get some rest. She stood up and announced-

"Okay, everypony! We can make camp for the night here and get moving in the morning in plenty of time for the boat. We're going to need this rest." Everypony agreed, save for Rainbow Dash.

"But we need to get there as soon as possible!" Rainbow said, walking up to Twilight. Twilight, who didn't feel like arguing with the headstrong pegasus was in the process of aquiescing when Applejack stood up.

"We've been walkin' all day." Applejack said, slightly annoyed. "They're not about to quit on ya. Give 'em some slack." Rainbow sighed and nodded, walking over to Steel and sitting down.

"Chill out, Rainbow." Steel said. Rainbow glared at him. "Oh, you're just tired." Rainbow inhaled and exhaled lightly before nodding.

"I guess so." She said. "But, I'm not quite satisfied with just stopping here. You and me. Let's go for a walk."

"A walk through the Everfree Forest?" Steel asked rhetorically. "I don't think so."

"Oh, come on, Steel. It's like you said, you're scarier than anything in this forest."

"I was overstating it a little."

"You know what I mean. Think of it as our third date." The other ponies "Oooohhh'd". Steel rolled his eyes.

"Alright, fine." He said as he stood and began to walk with his marefriend. "Don't wait up, guys."

"Have fun, y'all!" Applejack said. "Don't go too far, y'hear?" They continued to move through the woods.

"So, is your nose alright?" He asked her.

"What do you mean?" She responded, blushing a little, trying to play it off.

"From this morning. I kind of nearly killed you." He said. She laughed.

"No you didn't. It was just a little nose bleed. I'm fine."

"Well, you looked like you were going to cry." He responded before he pulled Rainbow into his front legs for a hug. "Are you sure everything is okay?" Rainbow giggled lightly and blushed at her coltfriend's worry.

"I'm fine, okay? Seriously, I don't even feel it now." Steel nodded.

"Okay. I was wanting an excuse to hug you anyway." He said, smirking at her as they continued to walk.

"You don't need an excuse to hug me." Rainbow said, stopping again and looking up at him. "Just like you don't need an excuse to kiss me." He smiled and kissed her softly and lovingly for a few seconds before breaking it and continuing to walk. They continued their short walk in a comfortable silence until they heard the sound of running water. Rainbow's ears perked up as she looked up at him. He nodded toward the source as they quickened their pace toward this sound. After a few more seconds of walking, they came upon an astonishing sight. A beautiful waterfall that fell into a medium sized pond. Crickets chirped as the sun set in the horizon. Steel Anvil looked down at Rainbow Dash. He smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"What are the bucking chances?" He said, half laughing. She laughed as well and started to sprint toward the water. "What in Celestia's name are you doing?" He asked her.

"What do you think?" She responded. "Going for a swim! Care to come along?"

"I think you're forgetting it's Autumn!"He said half laughing.

"Oh, come on!" She said, turning to him and walking backwards toward the water. "Haven't you eve-" She was cut short when she fell backwards into the ice cold liquid. She came out, wide-eyed and gasping. "HOLY HAY, THAT'S COLD!" Steel nearly exploded with laughter. Rainbow thrashed about for a few more seconds before suddenly slowing down. "Y'know..." She said, raising an eyebrow. "It's not half bad when you get used to it." Steel shook his head before he ran for the water. Rainbow smiled as he jumped high over her head and landed in the middle of the small pool. He came up and sighed with releif.

"Feels great!" He said. Rainbow shook her head.

"How can it feel so good to you, and nearly torturous to me?" Rainbow asked him.

"I'm a vampire, remember?" He responded, treading water. "I have no body heat."

"Oh yeah..." Rainbow said, nodding her head slightly. She blushed with embarrassment. "Sorry."

"Don't be. It's no bother at all." He said quickly before shooting under the water. Rainbow gasped lightly and looked around for him, checking to see if he was planning some kind of trick. Sure enough, she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her midsection as a massive force threw her in the air. She screamed as she flapped her wet wings, failing to take flight. In a moment, the pressure of falling left her body as she opened her eyes to see Steel holding her in his hooves as they fell back down to the water. He kissed her as they fell into the small lake. Rainbow broke the kiss as she floated back upwards, followed by Steel. He smiled at her as he came up, only to get a punch in the shoulder from the pegasus. He looked at her, expecting to get yelled at for his dangerous show of affection. She was smiling, however, as she burst out laughing. He laughed with her as she put her hooves on his shoulders. She locked lips with him as he tread water, holding both of them up. They disconnected and touched their foreheads, both of their ears splayed down. Rainbow giggled.

"Come on." Steel said. "You really will catch cold if we don't get you dried off. They both exited the water and layed down, watching the waterfall. Celestia's sun had given way to Luna's moon at this point, the land bathed in a bath of darkness. Rainbow looked over at Steel. Despite the fact that he was smiling contently, he looked weak. Very weak.

"Steel," Rainbow said. "how long has it been since you last...fed?"

"A week, why?" He asked.

"You look really sick."

"I'm fine." He assured her. "I'll be okay. Let's just worry about the journey ahead, alright?" Rainbow took what he had said with a grain of salt, as she looked at the ground in front of her. She shook her head as she stretched her neck out in front of him. He raised an eyebrow. He gulped in nervousness.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

"You need to feed, Steel." She said, closing her eyes. "You said you can do it painlessly...so drink my blood." Steel's eyes widened as he gasped lightly.

"No." He said.

"Just do it." Rainbow reaffirmed.

"Absolutely not!" He said, raising his voice slightly.

"Why not?" Rainbow asked, also raising the tone of her voice.

"Do you have any idea how horrible and violating that would be?!" He responded, now yelling. "I'd rather die!" Rainbow was slightly hurt at this. She narrowed her eyes indignantly.

"I'm not going to let you starve, Steel!" She yelled back. She stood up and stomped her hoof. "Now just...do it, already!" Steel stood as well. Rainbow noticed that his legs were trembling slightly.

"I said NO!" He screamed. Rainbow recoiled slightly at this, an extreme look of hurt overtaking her face. She teared up.

"Why not?!" She screamed back. After this, however, the tone of her voice dropped back down to normal speech as she looked at the ground. "Y-you...you wouldn't be hurting me." She said, choking back a sob. She shed a tear as she looked up at him. "I want you to..." Steel, now realizing that he had taken this too far, immediately took her into a hug, which she returned in full. He stroked her rainbow mane and kissed the top of her head. He felt her tears wet his chest, yet, she did not sob once.

"Rainbow..." He nearly whispered. "I'm so sorry. I overreacted. You only wanted to help me. I won't feed on you..." He struggled to find his words. "Because I love you too damned much. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I accidentally hurt you." Rainbow looked up at him, wide-eyed from hearing these words.

"You...you love me?" She asked. He nodded as he looked down at her.

"Very much." He responded. Rainbow smiled with joy as a new wave of tears made their appearance.

"I love you too!" She said before planting her lips on his passionately. She kissed him fervently, lightly pushing him until he went on his back. They continued locking lips until Rainbow, in her passion and ecstacy, slipped her tongue into Steel's mouth with a moan. Steel, in turn, did the same as they continued to kiss. Steel moved down and kissed Rainbow's neck. She moaned with pleasure as she dropped her body down on his completely. The area between her legs coming into contact with his knee. Rainbow, at this sudden and unexpected sensation, gasped, her eyes widening. She closed her eyes and moaned, blushing heavily. Steel noticed this.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. She nodded. She smiled and opened an eye.

"Yeah..." She said, breathing heavily. "I...I like it..." She continued to grind on Steel, increasing her pleasure. Steel began to feel a hardening between his legs when a high voice called out-

"Steel! Rainbow! Where are you guys?" Both Steel's and Rainbow's eyes widened as they immediately got off of each other and took up casual positions and pretended that they had been talking the entire time. Rainbow was still blushing heavily however.

"We're over here, Pinkie!" Rainbow called. "And so then, me and Applejack raced through the running of the leaves!" She sounded convincing, as if they had been talking the whole time.

"That's awesome." Steel responded. Rainbow nodded as Pinkie Pie came ambling up into the little area.

"Woooowwww!" She marveled. "This is so pretty!" She looked at Steel and Rainbow and raised an eyebrow suavely. "And romaaaantic..." Rainbow blushed even more and giggled.

"Yeah. We just found it on the walk and decided to take a swim." Rainbow explained.

"Okay! That's cool." Pinkie said. "But you two should come on back! We're making super-amazing s'mores!" A roaring campfire sounded great to Rainbow at that moment as she nodded.

"Sure. Let's go." They all stood up and began to walk back to the camp. After they walked for a few seconds, Pinkie turned her head to look at the couple, her eyes half lidded and an eyebrow raised yet again.

"Oh, and next time, you guys should look for a nice, quiet secluded place." She turned back ahead and kept walking as Rainbow and Steel's eyes widened.

"W-w-what do you mean?" Steel stuttered.

"Oh, nothing." Pinkie said happily as she started bouncing. "I can't wait for those s'mores!"

_____

"Mmmm! Those are some great s'mores!" Rainbow exclaimed as she took a chewy bite of graham cracker, molten marshmallow and melted chocolate. Everypony else in the group was enjoying it thoroughly as well. Pinkie has already consumed half the supply, eating s'more after s'more after s'more. Rarity was trying as hard as she could to eat the messy treat daintily, but she was failing miserably. Applejack was savoring the taste, taking a bite and chewing it as long as possible before swallowing it and taking another one. Fluttershy and Twilight were happily eating theirs as well. Everypony was enjoying their treats for sure, save for Steel Anvil, who looked at the snacks in a sort of trance-like state with a mournful expression where a happy one should be. Everypony noticed this before too long.

"You okay, babe?" Rainbow asked him. This seemed to snap him out of his strange state of mind.

"Me?" He said. "Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Twilight said, becoming worried as well.

"Yes." He said. "Thank you."

"You wanna talk about it?" Applejack said. "Might make ya feel better."

"It's something that happened a long, long time ago. It doesn't even matter anymore." He responded. "Let's just forget about it."

"If it doesn't matter, then why are you looking all sad?" Rainbow asked him.

"You don't want to know about it." Steel said. "It's not a pretty memory."

"We're willing to help you in any way we can." Fluttershy said, joining in the conversation. Pinkie poked her head in and nodded extremely quickly.

"We're here for you, darling." Rarity said, reassuringly.

"It's about the night I was turned...the night I lost everything I held dear to me." He said. "So if you really want to know, girls...sit down, and I'll tell you."

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: Alright. That's the end of this chapter. The next chapter will reveal everything about Steel Anvil and the vampire that turned him, Brick Smasher. This next chapter is where the Dark tag REALLY comes into play, so be ready. I decided to add the sex tag to avoid pissing anyone off, due to the risque content of this chapter. Cheers, everyone!

Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

172 Years Ago, Fillydelphia

Steel Anvil sighed as he exited his house on a freezing Hearth's Warming Eve night. He watched the foggy breath flow in front of his face. He chuckled to himself as he briefly thought of himself as some sort of fire-breathing monster. He looked up at Celestia's moon, bright and wonderful, lighting the way to his destination. He locked the front door of his small, quaint little cabin behind him and began to amble down the path to town, humming a small tune to himself. He looked up at the towering trees, listened to the crickets sing their ritual song of the night and felt the cold, gentle breeze. These relaxed him and reminded him why he loved winter the most out of all the seasons. He tightened his scarf and smiled to himself as he continued on. It was a short walk from his home to the now-industrialized town where he grew up. So many changes had been made to everything he had ever known. Factories and machines making many goods that he used to buy hoofmade. The streets that were usually incredibly dark at night were now lit with tall lamps that illuminated the way for those who preferred night to day. The streets leading through the town, instead of being dirt were now paved and well organized. Small amounts of anarchy and apathy of the law enforcement had given way to established order and a surplus in police officers. The entire place just seemed more inviting and much less hostile. Steel nodded to Alabaster Scuff, the shopkeep he always bought candy from as a foal. He stopped at a small eatery and greeted the keeper.

"Good evening."

"Good evening to you too. Happy Hearth's Warming Eve!" The pretty, cheerful-sounding, blue-coated, purple-maned unicorn mare spouted. "What can I get for you?"

"I'll have a family-sized dish of your potato cheese casserole, please." He responded. She nodded with a smile.

"Lucky for you, it's always in high demand, so we usually have some fresh made!" She said as she put it on the counter for Steel. "That'll be fifteen bits, please." Steel's eyes widened slightly.

"It was ten last time." He said with a small frown. "And I only brought ten."

"Times are changing, friend." She responded. "My mama has to charge more, or we'll go out of business. But I'll tell you what. Since you're such a loyal customer and I usually see you in here at least once a week, I'll give it to you for ten." She said with a large smile. "It is Hearth's Warming Eve, after all." Steel smiled widely.

"Oh, thank you!" He said. "I'll be here tomorrow to pay the rest."

"Don't worry about it." She responded. "Use it to buy a gift for your filly."

"I don't have a marefriend right now." Steel responded. The keeper frowned.

"Well, you should." She responded before putting the bits in the register and handing Steel the casserole. Steel smirked at her.

"All this newfangled technology, huh? It's crazy." Steel said.

"I know!" She responded. "I was never used to the streets being so bright at night and the roads actually being paved! This town is changing, that's for sure." He nodded quietly before he looked at her.

"This is a nice place." Steel said, looking around. "Your coltfriend must be very proud."

"Don't have one..." She said, pretending to fiddle with the register before she looked up at Steel for a moment.

"Oh?" He said, tilting his head slightly. "Listen...uh...why don't you and I grab a bite to eat tomorrow?" At these words, the mare seemed to brighten up significantly. She smiled.

"I just might take you up on that." She responded. "How about five o'clock p.m. tomorrow?" Steel smiled.

"It's a date, uh..." He said, inadvertently asking her name.

"Sugar Song." She said, still smiling widely. "I'm suprised you don't remember me, Steel Anvil."

"Sugar Song..." He said to himself, trying to place the name. "Sugar Song...Oh, Celestia! Song! Is that really you? Wow, I haven't seen you since we went to foal school together...well, I haven't recognized you since we went to foal school together. You just kind of disappeared after school ended and I never really saw you again. What happened? You got...really pretty." She giggled, blushed and smiled.

"Well, I got an oppurtunity to learn to cook and bake from a master in Canterlot. I was there for a year and when it didn't end up working, I came back here. You've come in a lot since then and I've been waiting for you to recognize me." She said to him. He smiled widely at her.

"I'm really glad I finally did. We have so much to catch up on." He said. She looked at the dish he was balancing on his back.

"Get that dish to wherever you're eating it. It's no good cold."

"Oh, yeah. Definitely! I'll see you tomorrow!" He said to her.

"See you tomorrow." She said with a wide smile and a small sigh as he exited the eatery.

_____

Finally, after a twenty-minute walk, he arrived at his destination. He knocked on the door of the large cottage to be greeted by his mother, Summer Forest. She was a yellow, brown maned earth pony. She smiled widely and gave him a hug.

"Hello, Steel! It's great to see you." She disconnected from the hug. "You never come around here anymore."

"I was here last week, mom." Steel said, half laughing.

"My point exactly!" She said, still smiling.

"Summer, will you leave the guy alone?" His father, Copper Shine said in his gruff voice from behind her. He had a Red Coat, similar to Steel's, yet his mane was light copper, hence his name.

"Well, that's easy for you to say! You see him at the forge nearly every day. I barely ever get to see my little Steel." She said, hugging him again. Steel chuckled and hugged his mother again before entering the house. Sitting on the couch was his uncle, Coal Brawn and his younger sister, Ember Star. Her brilliant yellow coat and red mane were the first things Steel noticed as he walked into the house. She jumped up happily, brilliant orange eyes brightening at the sight of her sibling. He smiled back at her as she ran at him.

"Steel!" She exclaimed as she jumped at him and brought him into an enormous hug. He laughed as he returned the hug in full.

"Hey, Em. How are you?" He asked as she let go of him. She smiled as she raved.

"Oh, I've been great! I just got back from Honey Sprinkles' house. We made all kinds of yummy deserts! OH!" She ran into the kitchen and brought him back a small cake. "I made this for you!" Steel took it and nodded appreciateively.

"Thanks, Ember. I know this is going to be delicious. We'll split it after dinner, you and me." He smiled. He walked through their living room, nodded to his uncle and placed the cake on the dining room table.

"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, everypony." Steel said to his family before sitting down in the living room. "I'm not going to lie, I've been looking forward to tonight. Mom does have a point when she says that I don't really see you guys save for Dad anymore since I moved out."

"Well you're here now, that's all that matters. Besides, you've been keeping the forge running with your father." His lumberjack uncle said. He looked as if he had an epiphany for a moment. "Oh, that reminds me! Copper, I'm bringing you some more of that wood that burns really well for the forge the day after tomorrow. Don't let me forget." Copper seemed to brighten up significantly at this.

"That's great Coal. We really could use that. Thanks."

"'Tis the season." His uncle happily replied before taking a sip of his drink.

"Hey, you guys," Steel said, earning the attention of his family. "Do you all remember Sugar Song? You know, my old friend from foal school?" Ember Star's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh! Honey Sprinkles' sister? Yeah, she's always talking to herself about you when she thinks she's alone." Ember giggled. "It's really cute." Steel smiled. He couldn't deny that he was deeply flattered.

"You two used to be so adorable playing together all those years ago!" His mother exclaimed.

"Well, I'm going on a date with her tomorrow." His father smiled and slugged him in the shoulder.

"That's my boy!" He said. "Finally settlin' down with a lucky mare."

"Dad, it's just a date. We're not preparing our vows or anything." He said.

"Even so, that Sugar Song is a looker." His uncle chuckled from the couch. "Best looking mare I've seen since Rose..." His uncle said, the smile never leaving his face. Coal Brawn and his wife Rose Bloom had one of the most beautiful partnerships Steel had ever seen. Sadly, she had died of Pneumonia three years before. They loved each other so unconditionally, it often made Steel wish that they were his parents. He loved his mother and father dearly, but their relationship had met more than a few speed bumps.

"I'll bet that she's here with us now, Uncle Coal." Steel said, putting a hoof on his shoulder. Coal Brawn nodded and winked at him.

"She'd be proud." He said before he took another swig of his drink. Steel nodded. Summer Forest walked through the living room and went into the kitchen.

"How about I go ahead and set the table? Then we can finally all sit down and enjoy our meal." She responded. "Ember Star, would you like to help me out?" Steel's sister jumped up and ambled to the kitchen.

_____

Steel took a massive bite of Stuffing from the plate before him and chewed it happily, savoring the hearty, warm flavor. As he swallowed the delicious food, he grabbed the large cup of cider next to his plate and took a gulp. The sweet, smooth taste of the cider melded perfectly with the satisfying, salty taste of the stuffing he had just ate. Copper Shine looked at him and chuckled.

"Boy eats like an Ursa Major, that's for sure." Steel looked over at him.

"You know, an Ursa Major almost broke into Canterlot a few weeks ago. The royal guard barely managed to scare it away. Took every single one of them." He said with half-lidded eyes. The warm environment and belly full of food slowly lulled him to sleep.

"Getting sleepy, Steel?" Summer Forest asked. "You can sleep here, if you like. Your room is still up there-"

"Sorry, mom. I'm gonna head home and get some rest." Steel said.

"Can't blame a girl for trying." She responded and smiled.

"Do I really have to eat these stupid green beans? Why can't I just have more stuffing?" Ember Star said, apathetically eyeing her green beans as she slowly assaulted them with her fork.

"Yes, young lady. You're not going to bed until you eat it all." Summer Forest responded.

"Aren't I a little old for you to be talking to me like I'm still a filly? I got out of foal school three years ago." Steel creeped up behind her and gave her a noogie, earning him a "HEY!" From his outraged little sister.

"Eat it all, Em." He said. "Or you'll-" He was interrupted by a loud banging at the front door. This instantly gained the attention of Steel and his family. "Who could that be?" Steel wondered out loud.

"Knowing our luck, it'll be that beggar again." Copper Shine said, sighing and getting up to go to the door.

"Beggar?" Steel said, looking at his mother for some sort of explaination. She sighed and began.

"He has been coming around our house asking for different things. One day, he would ask for a bite to eat, another, he would ask for a blanket. We gave him those things the first few times, but he just kept coming back for more and more, and eventually, it got to a point to where we just couldn't take it anymore. We asked him to not come back, that we couldn't give him anymore. Soon after that, he would stand outside on the street for days and just...watch us. We expelled him from our property and told him to never come back." His mother elaborated. Steel nodded and looked over at his father, answering the door. When he did, an expression of annoyance and slight irritation came over his face.

"Look, buddy, we said to stay away. We have nothing else for you. There's a homeless shelter in town, you know that." Copper said.

"Please let me in for just a few minutes. It's cold and-"

"No. I'm sorry, but you have to leave." Steel's father said sternly. "Now, if you don't leave, I'll have to get the police." Steel walked over to the doorway and appraised the beggar. He was a light brown pegasus with a dark brown mane.

"What's happening here?" Steel asked.

"Oh, please, good sir!" The pegasus said. "Please let me in, if only for a few minutes! It's very cold out here and it's so...warm in your house! Please..." He sounded desperate...too desperate. As if he was longing for something other than warmth. Even so, the freezing pony looked to be in agony.

"Dad..." Steel said. "Let's just let him in to warm up. It's freezing outside and it is Hearth's Warming Eve..."

"But son, he-"

"What is this day for if not generosity? Let him in for ten minutes, and then he'll leave." Steel looked at the pegasus and raised his eyebrows. "Right?" The freezing stallion nodded his head furiously. Copper sighed.

"Fine." The stallion came in happily and sighed as he sat next to the fire and breathed in heavily. He trembled and shook, nearly violently. His eyes looked slightly crazed as he spouted-

"I'm sorry that I've been living off you kind ponies so much. They barely feed us at the shelter, and there's hardly ever a fire to warm us." He beggar said.

"Well, we're happy to give. It's just that we don't really have much for ourselves." Summer Forest said.

"That's what makes you all so great...so charitable..." He looked over at Ember Star and winked. Ember Star's eyes widened. "So delicious..." Steel noticed this and was filled with protective anger.

"What was that?" He walked toward the homeless pegasus, prepared to beat him to the ground. He brought a hoof toward his face to punch him when the beggar immediately jumped up with seemingly super speed and grabbed Steel's front leg.

"Too slow." The beggar said before he slammed a powerful hoof into the elbow and broke Steel's front leg. The sheer sudden suprise and shock of the injury numbed the pain for a second as Steel's eyes widened. He screamed as the beggar quickly leaped behind him and broke his back left leg. The attacker then grabbed his back right leg and threw him against a wall, knocking a family portrait down. His mother screamed, his father and uncle rushed to defend against this newly and unexpectedly revealed assailant. Copper Shine was the first to attack the Pegasus, only to receive three heavy punches to his face. The attacker then uppercutted Copper onto his back before kicking Coal Brawn in the stomach heavily, disabling him. The assailant's back hunched as his wings flared and grew. His muscles bulged beneath his skin, pressing veins against the surface as his eyes turned pure, blood red. Where his blunt, normal teeth were grew long, razor sharp fangs. It roared in fury.

"Ember, get out of here! RUN!!!" Summer Forest screamed, shoving her daughter toward the back door. The monster saw this and dashed toward Ember, knocking Summer Forest to the side like a ragdoll into the wall and grabbed Ember by the mane, throwing her away from the door, tearing out some of her mane doing it. Steel's younger sister screamed in pain as she flew into the wall. The impact of the blow racked her body, making her cough up blood. She fell to the floor and moaned loudly in agony, clutching her body. Steel screamed out.

"Ember!!!" As he struggled in vain to crawl over to his badly injured sister. He heard a scream as he looked over at the dining room where the creature had knocked his mother. It was tearing into her throat. Blood flew out of her neck as she struggled to escape the monster's grasp. Her wails eventually became gurgles of blood as her eyes glazed over and she died between the thing's teeth. Blood pooled around her and the creature. The thing seemed to be drinking her blood. Steel's eyes watered with emotional agony and intense rage. He screamed. He screamed as loud as he could as he tried to get up and defend his mother. It was impossible due to the severity of the injuries on one of his front and back legs. He was helpless. Copper leaped on the creature's back and struck it repeatedly as hard as he could, trying to save his now deceased wife. The monster knocked Copper off with ease as Steel's father flew across the room into the stone hearth of the fireplace. His spine cracked as he screamed in pain. The monster grabbed him by the head as he fell from the hearth, and took Copper's head in both of it's hooves. Copper screamed again before it twisted his neck, resulting in a sickening series of cracks and snaps, and ended his life. Coal Brawn came to his brother's defense too late and suffered a mighty punch to the chin, sending him flying across the room, hitting his head on the counter. But the beast was not finished yet. It ran and quickly grabbed Steel's uncle by the head and slammed Coal down into the ground, face first. Steel heard a loud crack as his uncle went limp. The creature walked over to his father's corpse and bit into the throat, sending more blood onto the floor. Steel watched as this thing fed on his father's corpse so unceremoniously. The brown eyes he had seen bright and alive just minutes before were now dead and rolling back into their sockets grotesquely. After the moster was finished with the body of his father, it dropped the body. A sickening 'thunk' echoed through the house and Steel's psyche. His eyes flooded over with tears as he sobbed.

"Why are you doing this?!" He screamed. "WHAT DID WE EVER DO TO YOU?!" The monster looked from the corpse to Steel, who was struggling to even keep his head up. It walked over to him and took his head in it's hoof. It smiled as it opened it's mouth to take it's bite.

"put him...down." Steel heard his little sister barely say, lifting her head up. She sobbed, tears streaming down her face. "Let him..." She coughed up a copious amount of blood onto the floor. "...go." Steel's eyes widened with horror as the creature did in fact let go of him and turned to his sister.

"NO!!!" Steel said, more tears falling from his eyes. "NO!!! LEAVE HER ALONE!!! PLEASE!!!!!!" The thing payed him no heed. As it picked his little sister up by her neck. It slowly pulled her toward it as it licked her cheek. She shivered and sobbed, looking away from the thing. It bent her neck back and bit into it. It slowly tore out her throat, spewing blood everywhere. And just like that...before his very eyes, Steel Anvil's entire family was dead. The beast threw Ember Star's corpse down in front of her brother. The lifeless body slumped in an ugly, crimson heap. Her glazed, dead, once brilliant orange eyes staring into his for a moment. But only for a moment. Steel turned his head and shut his eyes. He screamed. He screamed in terror, in misery, in pain, in agony, but most of all in sorrow. He screamed himself hoarse. The beast just stared at him. It finally turned him over and exposed his neck. Steel just cried. He sobbed and breathed heavily, chest heaving. He was now not only broken physically, but spiritually, mentally. He was purely and simply done.

"Just do it..." He said. "End me. I just want to be with them again..." The creature bit into his throat and began to drink his blood. Steel became faint before he felt something. A sharp sting in the wound the monster had caused. This fiery stinging pain grew from the injury to spread over his entire body excessively quickly. Steel Anvil seized up and clenched his teeth in the heat of it. His eyes bulged. The mere pain from this experience was enough to send his mind spiraling. His muscles began to contract involuntarily as he convulsed violently on the floor. It went on for a straight minute before it finally began to stop. When his body stopped heaving, his consiousness began to dwindle heavily. His eyes began to shut as he felt death take him.

_____

Present Day

"I woke up after that in complete darkness. I was in the local hospital's morgue. They had pronounced me dead after they had found my family and I. I kicked the locked door once and it broke off it's hinges. I got out of the cold cabinet just in time for a nurse to see it. She screamed and went to get help. The doctors came and helped me calm down and told me the situation. It had happened three weeks before I had woken up. I had completely forgotten. I remember constantly breaking down in front everypony. No one could blame me. They told me that my uncle had survived for a few days, but died in his hospital bed. That he wouldn't stop talking about my aunt Rose." Steel Anvil finished his sad, somber, disturbing tale. All the girls were shocked. He hadn't described every, grisly detail of that night to them, but they knew that his family was murdered by Brick Smasher in front of him. Pinkie Pie was crying. Legitimately crying. None of them had ever seen her like that. Fluttershy was crying as well, but she had plugged her ears halfway through the gruesome story. Twilight and Rarity were choked up, shedding constant tears. Even tough Applejack was close to breaking down, tears sliding down her cheeks. Rainbow Dash cried, but she stayed strong for her love. She shed tears, but did not once give in to the sorrow she felt for Steel. "I told you guys that you wouldn't enjoy it."

"So...what didja do after that?" Applejack asked, her voice catching.

"I left for Manehattan. I wanted to get away from that town...away from the memories. I figured my skills in smithing could take me pretty far in a city like that. That's when I discovered my vampirism. I could never strain myself in sunshine, I could never sleep and the one thing that could nourish me was blood. I thought I would age, though. I figured that I'd get old and die in Manehattan, but no. I never aged a day. But the city was so large and full of ponies, I was never really recognized after all that time. I never forgot that pegasus. He was always in the back of my mind, taunting me. The police searched and searched for him, but they never even found a trace. That's when I think he fled to Griffon Territory. After a while, I guess I just resigned myself to the fact that I would never find him. I suppose that after one hundred and seventy-two years something like that still hurts just as much as it did." He said. "And after all of that, I moved to Ponyville. I made the best decision of my life. I met the best friends I'll ever have," The girls smiled at him and nodded. "and the mare of my dreams." He looked at Rainbow Dash as he said this. She smiled widely as more tears fell from her eyes. She nuzzled him lovingly and he kissed the top of her head. "But you know, I never did go on that date with Sugar Song. I wonder how that would have went." He smirked at Rainbow. Rainbow punched him in the shoulder and sniffled as she wiped her tears away.

"Oh, shut up." She said. The girls laughed. Steel's stomach lightened at the sound of his friends' laughter. It seemed to lift the burden off of all of their shoulders. Pinkie Pie wiped her tears away.

"Sooooo..." She said. "Anypony want some s'mores?"

"I could go for some s'mores." Twilight said, slightly sniffling.

"Well, heck, Ah guess Ah'll have some too!" Applejack added. Soon, the mood was lightened again by happy conversation of things that had nothing to do with murder or blood or mistaken death. Steel sat in front of the fire, occasionally tuning into the conversation and laughing with his friends when he heard something funny. But, he remained somewhat distant. Rainbow noticed this and scooted closer to him.

"What's on your mind?" She asked him. She immediately felt stupid for asking this question. Of course she knew what was on his mind.

"My sister." He said. "Fires always remind me of her. Her eyes, I mean. They were so bright and beautiful that I'll never forget them. I try to remember her for when she was alive and vibrant, and I succeed in that most of the time, but sometimes, I'll remember her from moments after she died, how her eyes looked into mine and were still bright orange, but they were darker..." He paused for a moment. "Deader." Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah." She said. "You're the saddest out of all of us, I can tell. But you were the only one who wasn't crying."

"I figure that I've cried about it enough over the one hundred and seventy-two years after it happened." He looked into her Rose eyes. "Plus, I have something in my life now that makes it all better." Rainbow Dash's heart fluttered in her chest. She blushed heavily.

"If you say something about Sugar Song right now, I'm going to punch you." She said. Steel laughed and kissed her on the lips.

"Not a chance." He responded. Twilight stood up.

"I guess we should all be going to bed. We have a big day tomorrow!" She said to everypony. They all agreed and got out their sleeping bags. As Rainbow got out her sleeping bag, she looked at Steel and smiled.

"I elect that we share a sleeping bag, Steel." She said and raised an eyebrow at him. The girls "ooohh"ed. Steel smiled. "It's awfully cold tonight." Steel was about to remind his marefriend that he didn't get cold, but he held his tongue. The others didn't know that.

"Yes ma'am."

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: Alrighty then.There's that chapter. The dark tag on this story is there for a reason and the reason is this chapter. I know that it was really gory and brutal, but I wanted to illustrate that Brick Smasher is an evil prick that needs to be killed instead of the cliche "Brick Smasher's actually a good guy and it's gonna be hard for Steel to kill him." approach. Yeah. So, I would appreciate a comment on what you think so far! Cheers!

Chapter 11

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Chapter 11

Steel Anvil layed in Rainbow Dash's sleeping bag with Rainbow Dash sleeping faithfully and peacefully on his chest. He felt her warm body against his, moving slightly with each small breath. He looked down at her with adoration, seeing through the blackness of that night, the moon being shielded by the massive trees of the Everfree Forest. He kissed the top of her head on an impulse, making his love stir slightly, snuggling into his chest more. He could not sleep, but Rainbow Dash's peaceful slumber was all he needed to be content with his current situation. He looked over at the fire, that was still producing heat, despite the fact that it was dying out, no longer a blazing inferno, but a series of brief flashes and crackles. His ears perked up as he heard a twig snap in the distance. He sat up quickly, waking Rainbow Dash from her sleep.

"Hey! Geez, what's wrong?" She said, rubbing her forehead. He shushed her. She raised and eyebrow and looked at him. She whispered- "Okay, fine. What's wrong?"

"I think there might be something out there." He said to her. "Listen." Rainbow and Steel sat there for a long while, listening for any kind of noise or racket. Besides the crickets singing their ritual song into the night, not a sound was made.

"Yeeeaaahhh, I don't hear anything." Rainbow said quietly.

"Must've been hearing things. Alright, it's fine. I'll keep an eye out. Come on, go back to sleep." He said, laying back down. Rainbow layed down on him again. She kissed him on the lips before nuzzling under his chin.

"To get to the docks to go to Griffon Territory, we're going to have to go through Fillydelphia." Rainbow said. Steel sighed.

"Yeah, I know." He said. She looked up at him.

"You sure that you'll be okay?" She said, worry evident in her eyes. He smiled and stroked her mane.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just gonna be a little crazy to see how much it's changed, is all." He looked down into her eyes. Even now, after seeing them so often, the way his irises glowed red at night fascinated her. She smiled at him.

"I guess I get a couple more hours until we have to go, huh?" She said, settling in to go to sleep.

"Yeah. Sleep well." He said. She chuckled.

"Soon, we'll be sleeping well together." She said. "You'll finally be free of your curse and we can go about this relationship normally." He chuckled.

"I just hope that Big Macintosh doesn't want a hoof-wrestle rematch once I'm cured. He'll probably destroy me." He said to her. She giggled.

"Good night." She said to him. He held her close to him and sighed.

"Good night."

_____

Rainbow Dash awoke to the sounds of birds singing and a slight breeze blowing on her and her sleeping bag companinon. She yawned briefly and looked up at Steel, who was still staring wistfully into the bright blue abyss that was the morning sky, or what he could see of it through the thick canopy. She looked around their camp to see that Twilight Sparkle and Applejack had already risen for the remainder of the trip themselves. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were all still slumbering peacefully, however. Rainbow got out of her sleeping bag, giving Steel the opportunity to stand as well. The cool autumn air pleasantly chilled the pegasus as she stretched.

"Morning, everyone." She said as she looked at her still-sleeping friends. "At least the ones in the land of the living." The comment made Applejack chuckle. She looked over at her farm pony friend as she put on her signature Stetson.

"Just give 'em a few more minutes. It won't hurt none." She said.

"I was going to. They've all been really good about not complaining. Even Rarity." Rainbow said.

"What about, me?" Rarity said through a yawn as she rose as well. As she stood up, her horn lit up with blue magic as it went to work properly folding her sleeping bag.

"Dash was just talkin' 'bout how much of a good friend you've been, how ya haven't been complainin' and how ya been soldierin' on." Applejack said. Rarity looked at Rainbow and Steel who nodded. She smiled.

"I would do anything for my friends, and don't you forget that!" Rarity said.

"Again, I can't thank you and everypony else here for all of your help. It means a lot." Steel said.

"It's the least we can do." Twilight interjected. "I say that a lot, don't I?" The other ponies laughed. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy rose at nearly the same exact time. Both were up quicker than the others as well.

"Alright, guys!" Rainbow said. "Let's get all this stuff packed up and hit the road! We're almost to Rambling Rock Ridge. It's smooth sailing from there." Rainbow said. The others all continued to pack everything up into their saddlebags as they prepared to leave. Twilight made extra sure that the fire they had made was completely out by the time they left and continued down the poorly-kept path.

"Why do you guys suppose this path is so...um...so..." Fluttershy said.

"Horrible?" Rainbow finished for her yellow friend.

"Uh...yes, that." Fluttershy said. "You would think that if somepony took the trouble to make a path like this through the Everfree, that they would want to keep it nice."

"Yeah, come through the Everfree Forest every day just to keep a path that is -ow!" Applejack said before she was interrupted by stepping on a sharp twig. "Semi-effective maintained. Ah wouldn't want that job!"

"What Applejack is trying to say is that a path through the Everfree Forest is a path through the Everfree Forest. The environment itself is dangerous enough on it's own, and the path will not change very much over time. Entering every day is just maximizing any risk you take by entering in the first place." Rarity elaborated. Applejack huffed and adjusted her hat.

"Not complaining here, AJ, but, how much longer do we have until we get to Rambling Rock Ridge?" Pinkie asked her orange friend.

"Well, when Ah checked the map back at camp, it looked like we have about an hour to go. Won't be long now." Applejack responded.The ponies continued walking down the wide, unkempt path, listening to birds singing above them and different odd noises around them. Rainbow Dash sighed. She definitely didn't mind walking, but she much preferred flying. An idea popped into her head as she smiled widely. She jumped into the air and hovered above her friends.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna fly above the forest and see how far we have until we get to Rambling Rock Ridge." She said.

"Good idea, Rainbow." Twilight said.

"Yeah, I just so happen to be full of 'em." Rainbow boasted.

"Then why didn't you think of this before? It really could have been useful." Rarity added. Rainbow frowned at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, if you're so smart, why didn't you suggest it?" The pegasus said.

"I was merely saying that it would have been prudent of you to have done this earlier." Rarity said. Rainbow touched down in front of her as she was walking. Rarity took a slightly threatened stance at the pegasus intentionally blocking her way. "Honestly, Rainbow, I think you're overreacting a little. We all have little periods of brain...blockage now and again." Rarity nearly shuddered at the lack of elegance in her wording.

"Applejack's been giving us really good readings from her map. I didn't really think about it until now." Rainbow said. Applejack looked at them.

"Now girls, don't bring me into-" Applejack started.

"Well, that's no suprise." Rarity responded to Rainbow Dash's comment, paying no heed to Applejack.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Rainbow asked, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head.

"Well, I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but..." Rarity said, trailing off and looking at Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow, aware of her friend's anger toward her.

"Oh, you are asking for it, Rarity." Rainbow snarled, taking a step toward the unicorn.

"You think you're frightening?" Rarity said and gained a mock scared face. "Aaah! Rainbows! I'm shaking!"

"Alright, you little-" Rainbow said as she lunged at Rarity, whose eyes widened in suprise. She had not expected Rainbow to actually try to fight her. She thanked Celestia and Luna that Steel stopped the pegasus just before she reached her. As much as she loathed to admit it, even with her magic, Rainbow Dash could probably kick her flank into next week.

"Calm down, Rainbow!" Steel said, holding his marefriend back.

"But, did you even hear her?" Rainbow said to him.

"Yes, I heard her. But you need to calm down."

"But-"

"Rainbow. Calm down. Please." Steel stood firm. "I'm not going to let go until you do." Rainbow Dash sighed and nodded. Steel let her down and nodded.

"And Rarity, I'm suprised at you!" Twilight said. "I saw the way you were looking at Rainbow. Why would you egg her on like that?" Rarity gasped indignantly at this comment.

"Why, I never!" She scoffed.

"Don't lie to me, Rarity. You were enjoying antagonizing Rainbow, I know it." Rarity quieted and looked at Twilight, who nodded at her.

"It's alright, Twi." Rainbow said. "I'm over it. I really did overreact to the situation. Sorry for almost attacking you, Rarity. Let's just forget about it." As the rainbow-maned pegasus turned to walk, Rarity's guilt over her lie overtook her. She ran and grabbed Rainbow in a hug.

"I'm sorry too, Rainbow." She said. "I really was trying to antagonize you." She let go of the pegasus. "You aren't stupid. You're one of the most quick-witted mares I know. I don't know what came over me." Rainbow smiled and nodded at her friend.

"It's in the past, Rares." Rainbow responded, bringing her into a quick hug. This earned a smile from everypony else and a whimper of adoration from Fluttershy, who was shedding tears of joy. Applejack stepped forward.

"Ah hate to break up this precious mement, but we gotta get movin'." She said.

"Applejack's right guys, let's hit it." Steel concurred as they continued walking.

"Yay!" Pinkie spouted. "You guys aren't fighting anymore!" Rarity and Rainbow Dash nodded at her. A sudden rustling in the brush around them grabbed all of their attention. The sounds escalated in volume and quantitiy until they sounded like they were coming from all around them.

"Everypony stay calm." Steel said apprehensively as the sounds got closer and closer. Finally as a sort of a crescendo to the moment, a timber wolf jumped out of the forest onto the path. The group gasped. Out came another timber wolf, followed by another two and another. Finally, they were all surrounded by a pack of sixteen timber wolves, all snarling and barking at them. The ponies back into the center of the barrier the timber wolves made around them and all faced out in a different direction, save for Fluttershy, who was cowering in the middle.

"What do we do?" Fluttershy whimpered.

"We could fight." Applejack said, stomping a hoof.

"That could end badly." Steel responded.

"What's the alternative?" Rainbow asked, wings flaring.

"We run." Steel said plainly.

"That could also end badly." Twilight said. "We probably wouldn't get very far. Plus, we have you." She said, gesturing to Steel.

"We'll have to be light on our hooves." Rarity said.

"Agreed." Steel responded.

"Let's beat these guys so bad, their grandchildren feel it!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Yeah! We beat the changelings, we can beat these puppies for sure!" Rainbow said.

"Okay. All in favor?" Twilight said. Everypony save for Fluttershy raised their hooves.

"Alright. Applejack, you guard Fluttershy. We need a heavy hitter keeping her safe." Twilight said. Applejack nodded and moved next to the cowering pegasus.

"I'll use my speed to disorient them." Rainbow said, flapping her wings once.

"Pinkie, you-" Twilight began.

"On it!" Pinkie said, pulling a small cannon from her saddle bag. A sign on it said 'Contents Under Pressure'. Twilight looked at it warily.

"Ooookay." The purple mare said, deciding to let Pinkie do what she wanted, trusting that it would cause nothing but complete and utter mayhem. "Rarity and I will provide cover for you guys with our magic and Steel," She said, earning a glance from the vampire. "do what you do best." Steel nodded as they all began to prepare.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Pinkie suddenly screamed, pulling the string on her cannon. With a tremendous boom that nopony had expected, a massive volume of party materials such as streamers, confetti, kazoos, cakes, drinks and other things of that nature shot out of the small cannon and took out five wolves. Steel dashed forward almost that instant at breakneck speed and went to work on the wolves, powerfully grabbing and throwing a timber wolf into it's comrade, producing the sound of breaking bones, or wood, or whatever it was timber wolves really did have inside them. They yelped as a wolf leaped onto Steel's back, sinking it's teeth into his shoulder. He groaned in pain and attempted to knock it off. He was not successful. There was an instant flash of cyan and rainbow and the wolf was gone. Suddenly, it dropped down in front of him, badly beaten and bruised. He kicked it away powerfully, smiling as he kept seeing a streak of Rainbow assault the predators. The wolves looked around and jumped at Rainbow, missing by miles and sometimes even landing on each other clumsily. Applejack grunted as she bucked a timber wolf in the head as it tried to get at Fluttershy. It's wooden head splintered as it flew through the air. Rainbow flew down and did a flip, bringing her back right hoof into the airborne timber wolf, sending it crashing to the ground. It did not move. Rainbow and Applejack nodded to each other.

"Nice one!" Applejack said as she bucked another wolf away, the creature screaming in pain.

"You too!" Rainbow said as a flash of magic nearly missed Rainbow and struck a timber wolf about to pounce on her. Rainbow looked over to see Twilight and Rarity fighting as well.

"Watch your back!" Twilight said before bucking a timber wolf and sending it flying back with a blast. Rainbow nodded.

"Right!" She flew around again, attacking the timber wolves. Steel punched a timber wolf in the side and slammed it into the ground before throwing it into a tree, breaking off part of the trunk. He jumped over to Pinkie Pie and knocked a timber wolf away from her.

"Launch me." She said to him.

"What?" He responded.

"Launch me."

"Where?"

"Into that big one." Pinkie said, determination dominating her features. She gestured to one of the timber wolves, that was, indeed much bigger than the others and was currently approaching Twilight and Rarity, the two unicorns unaware of it's presence. "Throw me as hard as you can."

"Are you sure about this?" He asked her, bucking another timber wolf, disabling it.

"Just do it!" She quickly said. He sighed and picked the pink party pony up, spun and threw her. She let out a battle cry as she flew at breakneck speed toward the huge wolf. She put her back hooves in front of her as she hit the wolf and knocked it down. She stood over it triumphantly, the wolf not moving in the slightest. Most of the timber wolves had either been killed or were fleeing. Rarity blasted a wolf into a tree with her magic and looked on at it as it fled. She panted heavily due to her exhausting so much magic.

"I think we won!" She said in between breaths.

"It certainly appears so." Twilight said with a smile. Rainbow flew up to them quickly.

"Hay, yeah!" She said. "We kicked the crap outta them!" She was joined by Steel, who nodded happily. Pinkie Pie sighed and happily trotted over to Fluttershy, who was still hiding under her hooves. Applejack and Pinkie did a quck hoofbump as Applejack walked over to Twilight, Rarity and the others.

"Hey, it's okay, Fluttershy." She said soothingly. "We won! It's all over now." Fluttershy looked up warily and slowly stood up. Pinkie giggled in adoration for her friend.

"Oh, thank goodness." Fluttershy said, standing up and smiling. "I thought we were goners." Suddenly Pinkie's eyes widened as she saw something behind Fluttershy.

"What is it, Pinkie?" The pegasus asked.

"FLUTTERSHY, MOVE!" Pinkie suddenly yelled as she shover her to the side, out of the way of a timber wolf that had jumped at the pegasus from the brush while her back was turned. It landed on Pinkie instead, knocking her on her back. Pinkie held the wolf away from her with her front hooves, thanking the Goddesses that this one was smaller than the others. It snapped the air between it's jaws, nowhere close to the pink pony's neck. Pinkie did scream, however, as one of the timber wolf's razorlike claws slashed her side.

"Pinkie!" Fluttershy screamed as she bucked it as hard as she could off of her friend. It yelped as it began to limp away. Her friends noticed this and rushed to her side. Fluttersy was sobbing.

"What happened!?" Rainbow shouted.

"That timber wolf was going to kill me, but Pinkie...saved my life!" Fluttershy said in between sobs. Steel ran at the limping wolf. It saw him coming and attempted to flee, but failed miserably as Steel stomped on it's back, breaking the animal's spine, killing it. Steel ran back to his friend's side.

"We really showed them, huh?" Pinkie said through a smile, one eye closed, tears falling. The smile turned to a frown as she winced from her injury, a long gash up her side, which was bleeding quite a bit. "Ow."

"Oh, Goddesses! Pinkie, Ah'm so sorry! Ah thought all the wolves were gone!" Applejack said, crying.

"It's okay, AJ," Pinkie giggled and winced again. "I made a rhyme! Anyways, you didn't know it was there any more than...anypony else."

"Rainbow, fly above the trees to see how far we are from Rambling Rock Ridge!" Twilight said. Rainbow only looked at Pinkie, worry wracking her heart. Twilight grabbed her cyan friend and shook her lightly. "Do it now!" Rainbow flew up quickly and almost immediately returned.

"It's about a quarter of a mile. I can get her there in sixty seconds if I hurry!" Rainbow said. Twilight nodded and looked at Steel.

"Steel, you follow her on foot. We'll move as quickly as we can!" Steel nodded and picked Pinkie up. She winced again.

"Sorry, Pinkie." Steel said as he put her on Rainbow's back.

"Pinkie, hold on as tightly as you can!" Rainbow said, feeling Pinkie Pie's blood on her back. "We're gonna get you some help."

"'Kay...do you still get free ice cream?" Pinkie asked, gripping around Rainbow Dash's neck. Rainbow teared up at this.

"Let's go!" Rainbow said as she lauched herself into the sky. Steel nodded and took off into the forest, looking up to follow Rainbow, his powers still preserved by the shade. Rainbow looked back at Pinkie, who whimpered nearly silently as she approached the small town at Rambling Rock Ridge.

_____

"It's a miracle, really. The slash barely missed a major artery and the cut is deep, but it is the cleanest cut from a timber wolf attack we have ever seen here. It bled clean, as well. We went ahead and washed her and stitched the wound up, and as long as the bandages are replaced regularly, it should knit up just fine with next to no scarring. Your friend should count herself lucky." The doctor said outside the emergency wing of the hospital at Rambling Rock Ridge. He was a gangly but fit earth pony, with a tan coat and a brown mane. The ponies sighed in intense relief. Applejack wiped the tears she was shedding away, and Fluttershy sobbed.

"Well, can we see her?" Twilight Sparkle asked the tall doctor.

"Sure, she's in room 213." He said. "But please make it brief. We want her to get her rest. We'll have her moved to Ponyville General the day after tomorrow.

"Thank you, Doctor." Rainbow said to him. He nodded.

"She wouldn't stop talking about all of you." He added. "She must really love you all." This caused everypony to smile. They walked through the emergency wing, observing several injured ponies, one in particular they heard, but his scream was as profound as anything they were seeing. It made Applejack shudder. They eventually reached Pinkie's room and walked in. Pinkie Pie was indeed fine, laying in her bed, eating gobs of ice cream and laughing at a show on the television in front of her. When she saw her friends, she smiled.

"Hey, guys!" She said happily. They all greeted her in return. "I got the ice cream! I knew they would have some!" Everypony laughed.

"How're ya doin' sugarcube?" Applejack asked her pink friend. She smiled.

"I'm okay, really. It still hurts, especially when I laugh,but I'll be fine." She responded.

"Then why exactly are you watching a comedy show on the television?" Asked Rarity, who gestured to the large box hanging from the ceiling in front of Pinkie's bed.

"Well, I'm going to laugh at a lot of things anyway, so I'd rather laugh at something everypony finds funny. Not just something I find funny." Pinkie retorted.

"As good a reason as any." Rarity said with a smile.

"You were awesome back there, Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said leaning toward the pink pony. "You really hung in there, and you didn't cry-"

"Yes, I did, silly filly!" Pinkie said with a sweet giggle.

"I didn't see a tear." Rainbow said. "Did any of you see her cry?"

"I would think I would have, due to my super-sight." Steel added. He only had enhanced vision in complete darkness, but Pinkie Pie didn't know that. Pinkie blushed, noticeable even through her pink coat.

"Oh, stop it, you guys!" PInkie said, moving a hoof at them. She then winced in pain and giggled lightly. "Yeah, I keep forgetting I got attacked by a timber wolf." The other ponies laughed.

"Yeah, you really need to take it easy." Fluttershy said. She walked toward Pinkie and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Listen, I really can not thank you enough for what you did back in the forest. You put yourself in harm's way just to save me...I-If our r-roles were reversed..." She began to cry. "I would've just run away..." Pinkie Pie, in return, put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.

"You wouldn't have." Pinkie said in a smooth, soothing voice. "I know it. You would have done the same thing. You've faced a dragon before to save us. I know you wouldn't hesitate to save me." Fluttershy sobbed as she gently hugged Pinkie, minding her bandages. Rarity sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. Eventually, Fluttershy seperated from Pinkie and stepped back.

"So, how long did the doc say he was gonna keep me here?" PInkie Pie asked.

"He said that he was going to move you back to Ponyville the day after tomorrow." Rainbow said to her.

"I guess you guys'll just have to go on without me, huh?" Pinkie said.

"No." Steel responded almost immediately. "We're going back to Ponyville as soon as you do." The girls gasped, including Pinkie.

"What're you talkin' 'bout?" Applejack said. "We can't just give up now!"

"Indeed! We're not going back!" Rarity added.

"We're going back and that's final." Steel said. "This is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen, and it did. You heard the doctor. What if we lost Pinkie today?"

"But we've come so far!" Rainbow said. "We're not going to stop."

"Yes, we are." Steel responded, stubborn as a mule.

"But Steel," Twilight began.

"We're going back." He interruped her.

"No you're not." Pinkie said, a legitimate frown and look of disapproval lacing her features. "You're going to finish this."

"Pinkie, look, I-" Steel started.

"I don't want to hear it." Pinkie said in a tone that was sweet and understanding, yet undeniably stern. "It's my turn to talk." She cleared her throat and looked at Steel in the eyes. "Are you crazy? How could you have come all this way, gone through so much, learned so many things about all of us and yourself and just give up now? The whole reason we all dropped our daily lives for half a week was because we trusted in you and cared for you. Now you need to listen to me. You're going to finish this, you're going to lift this curse off your shoulders and the first thing you do when you get back to Ponyville is lay in the sun. Then, you're going to come see me in the hospital. Is that clear?" She finished. Everypony was stunned. None of them had ever heard or seen Pinkie Pie act in such an authoritative manner before. "Is that clear?" Pinkie said again. Steel nodded. Pinkie returned to her cheery, sweet self again. "Thank you." She said with a small giggle.

_____

They all continued talking for a while before the nurse entered the room and annexed the group back to the waiting room to let Pinkie Pie get her sleep. They couldn't help but comply. They all said goodbye to their friend and sat in the waiting room. Nopony talked, not even Steel. Rainbow looked at Steel, then Twilight, the Applejack, then at Fluttershy, and finally at Rarity.

"So..." She began. "When are we going to get moving?"

"Soon, I suppose." Steel said. "Pinkie wants us to continue, and she's not having us go home, so we will. For her."

"Ah'll go ahead to the train station and meet you guys there." Applejack said. "Ah can't stand this place. There's just too much death here." She stood and left the hospital.

"I think I'll stay here with Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy said. "She needs somepony here with her, and I'll be useless to you guys anyway. I'm just...extra baggage."

"You are not useless, Fluttershy. Don't ever let me hear you talk like that about yourself again." Rarity said sternly. Fluttershy nodded and looked down at her hooves. "But if you do truly want to stay here with Pinkie Pie, I will not stop you." She hugged the yellow pegasus. "Be safe on the way back to Ponyville." Fluttershy nodded as Rarity followed Applejack out of the exit.

"Bye, Fluttershy." Steel said as he walked out.

"See ya, flutters." Rainbow said as she hugged Fluttershy. "Love you." She followed Steel out.

"You did fine, Fluttershy." Twilight said, putting a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Pinkie could really use you here." She left through the automatic doors as well.

"Well," Steel began. "Shall we? The sun's killing me." Rainbow looked at him and smirked. He looked at her and realized almost immediately the expression was true in a sense. "Oh you're hilarious." Rainbow giggled mischeviously.

"Yeah, we'd better go." She agreed.

"The train station's further down this road." Applejack added. "We gotta move quick. The train leaves in..." She looked at the large clock on a small building. "Tarnation! Ten minutes! Let's go!" She said. Everypony ran down the road, Steel having to stick to the sidewalk right beside the buildings to stay in the shade. He nearly bowled over many an ambling pony enjoying their day. He apoligized to each one quickly with short phrases like "Sorry!" or "'Scuse me!" However long in the shade he stayed, he could not avoid several patches of sunlight and the effect had a nearly immediate effect on his stamina. Finally, with three minutes to spare, they made it to the train station and bought their tickets. Rainbow Dash and Applejack smiled widely and ambled onto the train as if nothing had happened whereas Steel Anvil, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity panted heavily from the physical exhaustion. After they were all boarded, they took their seats in a small cabin across from each other.

"I could use a nap." Rarity said.

"That ain't a bad idea, Rarity." Applejack said before pulling her stetson down to shield her eyes from the late afternoon sunlight, settling in for a nice rest.

"Rainbow, could you be a dear and lower those blinds?" Rarity asked her pegasus friend.

"Yeah, it'd help, that's for sure." Steel added, still slightly out of breath. Rainbow nodded and pulled the blinds down, making the cabin immediately dark. Twilight pulled a book out of her saddlebag and illuminated it lightly with some magic, just enough to read, but not enough to bother the prim, white unicorn next to her. Rainbow put her head on Steel's shoulder.

"Gonna get some rest?" He asked her.

"No, actually." She responded. "You'd think I'd want to, wouldn't you? After everything that has happened today. But, suprisingly, I'm just not tired." She further snuggled into Steel. "I'm pretty content to just lay here like this until we get there."

"I'm not complaining." Steel said before kissing her on top of her head.

The train ride was not a bad one by any means. It was smooth and not nearly as bumpy as the ride to Canterlot was with only thirty more minutes on the travel time. The group reached Fillydelphia as the train screeched to a halt at the station. Applejack yawned widely as she tilted her stetson back up and left the cabin. Rarity continued to sleep until Twilight nudged her to wake her up. The night air chilled them all as they left the station and walked through the town of Fillydelphia. Steel, in particular, marveled at how much the town, which looked a lot more like a city now, he had grown up in had changed. Tall buildings replaced the locations of the small, quaint huts that he used to visit for any goods he purchased. He could no longer discern where his old house was, or where Sugar Song's bakery was. The sheer amount of time that had passed since that terrible night had a bad effect on Steel's memory. Rainbow pressed herself into Steel, as a sign of affection, but also as a sign of reassurance.

"You okay, hun?" She asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just spellbound. It's changed so much. It's so crazy." He replied. "This isn't my home anymore, though Rainbow. My home is in Ponyville, with you." Rainbow Dash smiled and kissed him on the cheek. They all eventually reached the dock and purchased their tickets to find the ship waiting. They still had half and hour to spare.

"Alright." Applejack said. "We're here. Everypony got their passports?" The group nodded before proceeding.

"We have thirty minutes." Rarity said. "Would you all like to go get a drink before we leave?"

"There'll probably be drinks on the boat. Let's go explore it." Rainbow added.

"It is a pretty big ship." Twilight added.

"I guess I'm the minority here." Rarity said. "Let's go, then." They all got onto the boat and entered the main atrium and were immediately stunned. The ship looked fairly average on the outside, but on the inside it was like a ballroom. An orchestra played in the corner, with the cellist everypony in the group, save for Steel, knew as Octavia.

"I am so incredibly underdressed." Rarity whispered to Applejack.

"You ain't wearin' nothin', sugarcube." Applejack replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly!" The unicorn said, throwing a hoof into the air. "Well, at least my mane is still intact. Hard to believe after all we've been through today." They walked around the room appraising all of the decorations and fancy ponies One beautiful mural had caught their attention when Rainbow Dash heard a very familiar voice from behind her.

"No way...Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow's eyes widened at this voice as she, as well as her friends, turned quickly around to face the source.

"Gilda?"

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: And BOOM! I'm sorry did I just blow your mind?...Yes? No? Maybe? Eh, whatever. I figured with the ponies going to Griffon territory, I would include Gilda in here. What will happen? Will Rainbow Dash and Gilda fight a brutal battle in the middle of the ballroom? Will they make up from their past conflict? Will I ever stop asking these stupid f*bleep*king questions? On a side note, GEEZ, did the last chapter get a negative reception. Two or three more downvotes(I think)? The readers on this site really don't like gory stuff, do they? As always, I'd appreciate a comment on what you think so far. Cheers!

Chapter 12

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Chapter 12

"Gilda?" Rainbow Dash said, astonished and slightly perturbed at the sight of her former friend. She was wearing a blue uniform and a sailor's hat. The griffon walked toward Rainbow slowly. Rainbow prepared herself for any kind of altercation that could arise between her and Gilda, due to their previous falling out. Intead of an attempted punch or kick or an insult, Gilda took Rainbow Dash in a quick friendly hug, further suprising and confusing the pegasus. Gilda let go and stepped back. "What are you doing here?" The Pegasus said.

"I work here on the ship." Gilda responded. "I figured that I might as well try to get a job and stop wasting my life goofing off."

"Yeeeaah..." Rainbow said, turning around to walk away with her friends. Gilda put a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, Dash." She said. Rainbow turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Dash said, narrowing her eyes. "The last time a saw you, you treated my friends and I like crap. You think a little hug can make it all better? What could I possibly have to say to you?" Gilda cleared her throat nervously.

"Yeah, I know how I acted..." She said. "I'm...look, I'm..." Gilda cleared her throat again." Rainbow raised an eyebrow and looked at the Griffon. Gilda gulped. "I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have acted that way. I really want to be friends again...honest." Rainbow sighed and nodded. Gilda smiled at this show of acceptance.

"It's alright. I guess we can let it go." Rainbow said. Twilight Sparkle stepped forward and smiled widely.

"I'm glad we can all make amends!" She said, offering a friendly hoof. Gilda shrunk back slightly, not used to such forward friendliness from ponies she didn't really know, but nonetheless, reached forward and shook her hoof. Applejack stepped forward and patted Gilda on the shoulder heartily and smiled happily.

"If ya got the humility to step forward and apoligize, then you're a friend of mine!" The orange mare said. Gilda smiled slightly and looked at Rarity, who also smiled and nodded at her.

"Where are Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy?" Gilda asked.

"Pinkie was attacked by a timber wolf." Rainbow said. "She's in the hospital. Fluttershy elected to stay behind and look after her." Gilda looked legitimately worried at this, even further suprising the cyan pegasus.

"Oh, no. Will she be okay?" Gilda asked. Rainbow nodded. She was, in all candid honesty, astonished at her old friend's drastic personality change.

"Yeah. She's gonna be fine." She replied. 'What's happened to the Gilda I used to know?' Rainbow thought to herself. 'Maybe she really has changed.'

"Well, that's good." Gilda said. "Next time you see them, could you give them my apoligies too?" Rainbow smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I will." She said. Gilda looked to Rainbow's side and noticed the large red stallion with a coal black mane and rich brown eyes. The griffon blushed as she appraised him. Steel noticed this and nervously looked to the side and stepped back slightly.

"Who is this?" Gilda asked. Rainbow noticed Gilda's apparent attraction to her coltfriend and took his front leg in hers.

"This is Steel Anvil. He moved to Ponyville from Manehattan a few months ago." She said before looking at Gilda in the eyes. "He's my coltfriend." When Gilda heard this, her eyes widened as she quckly stepped back slightly and scratched the back of her head.

"Oh, well, that's cool." She said. "Good to meet you." Steel nodded at her.

"Yeah, good to meet you too." He responded.

"So, what are all of you doing going to Griffon Territory?" Gilda asked.

"Holiday." Rainbow said, making up the story as she went along. "We have been planning this for a while, now. When Pinkie was attacked, we were all going to stay there with her, but she didn't want us to. So, at her urging, we went ahead and took the trip. It's a shame, really. Pinkie and Fluttershy really wanted to be here with us."

"Yeah, I get that." Gilda said. "Still, there's not really anything in Griffon Territory that isn't in Equestria."

"It's not really as much for the sights as it is the culture." Rainbow quickly said, in an effort to end the lie before it got too twisted.

"Oh, well, yeah we do do things different here. Where are you guys going?" Gilda said.

"Lost Child Canyon." Twilight responded for Rainbow.

"Yeah. We heard a lotta good stuff about it." Applejack added. Rainbow thanked the goddesses for her quick witted friends.

"And we heard that the food is simply superb!" Rarity said. Steel nodded.

"Actually, Lost Child Canyon is a pretty rough place and the best food you're gonna find there is fried salamander..." Gilda said. "And I'm sure you're all vegetarian." They all nodded.

"Well, shoot!" Applejack said. "Ah gotta few choice words for that travel agent!"

"Agreed. We will get back every single bit from that crook! Why, the very nerve." Rarity added, thrusting her nose into the air. Rainbow nearly laughed at the contrast between Applejack and Rarity's acting skills, but they were seeming to fool Gilda all the same.

"Well, this isn't good." Rainbow said to Gilda, sighing. "I guess we got gypped."

"Ah, well that-" Gilda began.

"Gilda!" Rainbow looked and saw the male griffon that she assumed to be Gilda's manager. "What are you doing standing around? There are other guests on the ship who need to be attended to, you know!" His gruff voice was an assault on her ears. Gilda scowled and looked over at him. He raised his eyebrows. "Get back to work!"

"Yes...sir..." Gilda said, annoyance obvious in her voice.

"You rolling your eyes at me?" He said.

"No." She responded.

"No what?"

"No...sir." Gilda said, between gritted teeth.

"Good. Now get back to work!" He yelled. Gilda looked back at Rainbow.

"Sorry. It looks like I have to get back to work. Mr. Mcdouche over there just wants to keep me busy. He hasn't liked me since day one." Gilda said.

"I understand." Rainbow said and smiled. "Take care of yourself, Gilda."

"Have fun, you guys." Gilda said. "Maybe I could come visit you guys in Ponyville and y'know..." Gilda scuffed her foot on the deck and looked to the side. "Be cool this time?" Rainbow nodded.

"I'd like that." She responded.

"Gilda!" The manager yelled again out of view.

"Oh, shut up!" Gilda responded walking away. She waved to the ponies. "See ya." They all waved back.

"Okay, that's another demerit!"

"Whatever..." Gilda said as she turned the corner. Rainbow chuckled before turning to her friends. Steel had a confused look on his face.

"Rainbow, who exactly was that?" He asked. Rainbow mentally kicked herself for not introducing Gilda to Steel.

"Oh, that's Gilda. She's an old friend of mine from when we went to Junior Speedsters Flight Camp when we were younger." Rainbow evaluated. "She came to visit me in Ponyville a while back, and it was awesome until I found out she was treating all my friends like dirt behind my back. Poor Pinkie Pie just kept trying to be her friend, and she made Fluttershy cry. It was just a shock to me. We just kind of split up and hadn't talked to each other since. But, I guess we're cool now." Steel nodded.

"Ah'm glad Gilda was willin' to apoligize. Seems like the two of you had a whole lotta fun back in the day." Applejack said. Rainbow nodded.

"Yeah, we did. I'm happy it all ended up working out." Rainbow replied.

"It seems this voyage will carry on until tomorrow afternoon." Rarity said, observing the posted schedule on the wall. "Maybe we should find some rooms to stay in for the night."

"Good idea, Rarity." Twilight said. "But where exactly are they?"

"Just ask that tooty-fruity lookin' griffon over there." Applejack suggested. Twilight shrugged and walked over to him.

"Excuse me, sir." She said kindly and politely, immediately making the griffon turn his head and look at her strangely. "My friends and I are very tired. Could you direct us to the rooms so that we could get a good night's sleep?" The griffon scoffed and made a feminine hand gesture.

"You go upstairs, obviously, can't you read?" He said, shooting and pointing claw over to the directory concealed by darkness in the corner of the room. His accent threw Twilight's gaydar into overdrive.

"Okay, geez, sorry I asked." She responded, walking away.

"Just try to get used to being around smarter creatures now that you're in griffon territory, little pony." He said and scoffed again. She stopped dead in her tracks. Twilight Sparkle was usually a level-headed mare. She could take abuse on any subject about her, whether it be her manestyle or her affinity for books, but insults on her intelligence were just too much for her to take lying down. Her neck straightened and her ears perked up and she turned to the griffon, a magical spark on her horn and an angry look in her eyes.

"What did you say?" She said, just above a whisper. He smiled at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What, you're deaf and dumb?" Twilight had had enough of this gay, racist prick. She huffed and walked away, her horn glowing. The griffon chuckled. When she reached her friends they all looked at her.

"Twilight...what are you doing?" Steel asked. Seconds later, they heard a large splash and a high-pitched scream of horror came from the area she had just come from. They all looked over to the source of the noise and observed an adult male griffon that was crying like a baby, his expensive looking blue suit stained blood red by the punch that was splashed down on him by a levitating punch bowl, which proceeded to fall and shatter beside him, making him shriek yet again. Various unicorns in the room were being stared at, due to the bowl obviously being levitated by magic.

"Time to go." Twilight quickly said before ambling out of the ballroom. Her friends immediately followed suit, struggling to keep their laughter under control.

_____

The ponies eventually reached the floor of the ship that had rooms for anyone wanting to sleep. The vacant ones, of course, had green "Vacant" signs on them. The occupied, red. They found two adjacent, free rooms on a walkway in the light of Luna's moon. Rarity sighed.

"Alright, everypony. We're here. I think Twilight, Applejack and I should share one," Rarity said before raising a comical eyebrow at Rainbow Dash and Steel, who just happened to be pressed together at the moment. "And Rainbow Dash and Steel get the other." Rainbow blushed and Steel, had he been capable of doing so, most likely would have as well.

"For what?" Rainbow said nervously.

"Oh, I don't know." Rarity said. "Whatever it is couples do these days!" She smirked at them and winked. "Goodnight!" She said as she quickly went into the room. Applejack and Twilight followed her, eyeing the couple and giggling. The door shut behind them and they locked it. Rainbow gulped at the sound of the deadbolt locking into place and at the sight of the small sign switching to "Occupied." She looked at Steel who was tapping his foot and looking up at the moon. Obviously Rarity meant sex, so how would it get to that point? She and Steel had gotten quite hot and heavy in the Everfree Forest at the waterfall, and it most likely would have escalated from there. After seconds of staring at Steel, Rainbow decided to just let the chips fall where they may and just layed her head on Steel's shoulder. There they sat on that balcony, looking up at the beautiful moon, minds wandering. Steel finally broke the silence.

"It still perplexes me to no end." He said.

"What does?" Rainbow responded.

"Pinkie Pie's been hurt, Fluttershy's stayed behind with her, we've lost two of the ponies on our journey, and yet, you all still want to continue on. You want to go out of your respective ways just to help me. You could have let me come alone, but you all insisted on sticking with me. I just find it amazing that you guys would do this...for me." He said. Rainbow kissed his cheek.

"There's no way we'd let you just do this without our support." She said to him. "Even if none of them came, I still would have. Because I love you. That's all there is to it." He smiled and looked at her. His eyes glowed like fire in the night, contrasting the dark ether of the night sky so vividly, they almost drew her into a trance.

"When you're cured, are your eyes still going to glow like this at night still?" Rainbow asked him. He laughed.

"No. Vampire night vision. Sorry. I hope you don't love me any less because of that."

"Maybe just a little bit." She said and they laughed. They embraced and came away from it slightly to look into each other's eyes. They kissed, slowly and lovingly, feeling the moment for themselves, individually. Slowly, the kiss deepened and became more passionate. Rainbow moaned as she felt Steel slowly move his tongue into her mouth. She did the same. They both breathed heavily through their noses, but there is usually only so much of that one can do. They eventually disconnected from the kiss for air. Rainbow smiled and grabbed Steel's hoof. She opened the door to their room and pulled him in. 'This is it! Oh, Goddesses I'm excited.' Rainbow thought as she closed and locked the door behind them as she immediately turned to face Steel again as they reunited in another loving kiss. Rainbow slowly pushed Steel onto his back on the bed. They continued to kiss more and more fervently until Rainbow felt something stiff poking between her legs. Her wings flared as she disconnected from the heated kiss and gasped as she grinded her sex on Steel's organ, buliding her pleasure greatly. Steel groaned as well, throwing his head back. Her natural moisture had began to leak onto his member which had increased friction and pleasure for the stallion. He rolled Rainbow onto her back and began to grind into her more, much to her delight. He leaned down and kissed her neck. She gasped again and breathed heavily.

"That's good..." She said. He kissed her neck again, this time, employing his tongue to further enhance his partner's pleasure. She threw her head back and moaned again. "More..." She breathed. He was having the time of his life. In bed, with the object of his desire, so close to making her his. If his undead heart could beat, it would be breaking from his chest cavity. He felt something elongating in his jaws. His mouth drew closer and closer to her neck. He figured that biting her neck next sounded like a good idea. Suddenly, he realized what he was doing, his eyes growing wide as he threw himself off of her. He fell off of the bed and fell to the floor. Rainbow Dash was jarred from her sexually-aroused stupor and looked at her partner in worry.

"Steel! Are you okay?" She asked. He looked up at her, pure fear in his eyes.

"I almost did it..." He said. "I couldn't help it...it just...took over." He said, sorrowfully.

"Almost did what?" Rainbow asked him. "Baby, talk to me, please."

"I almost fed on you." He said. "I was so close..."

"Oh, Steel, it's okay..." She said, moving back up on the bed toward the back. "Come here." He got up on the bed and sat next to her. She kissed him. "You didn't. That's all that matters. You were able to stop yourself."

"I could have killed you."

"But you didn't."

"But-"

"But," She said, emphasizing her point. "you didn't. That's all I need to know about your restraint...from now on, until we get you cured, I just won't let you get close to my neck when we...yeah." He sighed and chuckled.

"I guess so..." He responded. "And for what it's worth, for however long that lasted, that was great." Rainbow looked down at his stallionhood, which was still throbbing.

"Looks like you're still ready to go to me." She said with a giggle. He smiled at her.

"Well, yeah..." He responded, rolling his eyes. She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow seductively. She moved to the front of the bed and got into the mating position. She looked back at him.

"Well, here I am." She purred.

_____

Rainbow Dash awoke the next morning feeling fulfilled and happier than usual. She wondered why exactly this was until she recalled the events of the previous night. The sex had been among the greatest that she had ever had. Steel had exceeded her expectations and made her feel like a queen. She sighed as she snuggled into her lover's arms.

"Morning, beautiful." He said to her. She leaned up and kissed him.

"Morning yourself." She responded. "Okay, look, I just wanna get this off the table. Was the sex that good because you're a vampire?" Steel laughed.

"I don't think so." He responded. "Some of the marefriends I've had moaned and screamed a lot like you did back when I was normal." Rainbow felt shivers go up her spine.

"Okay, okay, okay...let's not talk about your old marefriends..." She said.

"Oh, don't worry, Rainbow." He said, taking her face with a hoof. "Out of all of them, I love you the most by far." She smiled and kissed him.

"Damn straight." She responded. They layed there for what seemed like only a few minutes before they heard a rapping at their door. Steel went and answered it to find Rarity.

"Where have you two-" She stopped herself when she caught a glimpse of the messy bed and the messy maned pegasus laying on it. Rainbow's eyes met Rarity's and both of thier eyes went wide. "Oh." She said. Steel immediately blocked the doorway.

"Is there something I can do for you Rarity?" He asked her through a toothy, faked smile. Rarity chuckled to herself.

"I just thought that I'd tell you we're nearing Griffon Territory. We'll board a train when we get there to Lost Child Canyon. Be ready to dock!" She said before trotting off. Steel shut the door behind her and fell forward onto the bed, his hooves on the back of his head. Rainbow's eyes were wide and she was blushing heavily.

"That wasn't-" She said.

"Yes, it was." He replied, muffled by the sheets.

"Did she-"

"See you and the bed? Yes, yes she did."

"She's never going to let us live this down." Rainbow said, sighing and shaking her head. "Let's go ahead and get ready."

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: Eeeyup. This is my shortest chapter so far. But, seeing as I'm hung over and would like to get some sleep, I think it'll be okay. Yes, yes, I am well aware that I skipped the sex. The reasoning for this must seem extremely obvious. A sex scene with an OC and an existing character is very widely hated on this site. Hell, even shipping an OC with an existing character is hated and seeing as how I already pissed some people off with the premise of this story in general, I'm hard pressed to include some romantic sex. I am always eager to please my readers. But, if you guys want some romantic clop between Rainbow Dash and Steel Anvil sometime in the future, tell me and I'll consider it. But, anyways, in other news- F*CK YEAH!!! FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC SEASON THREE HAS BEGUN!!!! Please feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the story so far. Cheers!

Chapter 13

View Online

Chapter 13

Steel Anvil, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rarity arrived in Griffon Territory and were suprised at just how much it really did look like Equestria. The air had a chilly tinge to it's usual balm on account of the season of Autumn making it's presence. The Griffons that welcomed the groups of ponies visiting and Griffons returning home from vacations at the docks were nice and cordial, something the group did not expect. Steel overheard a pony couple talking about their visit to this foreign land as they got in line to approach the passport gate.

"You see this, dear?" The mare said to her mate, showing him a map and a stylish looking brochure. The couple looked to be middle aged, so Steel assumed them to be married. "We're going to Featherbound Springs. It's supposed to be the prime vacation spot in Griffon Territory for pegasi." The stallion sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

"You know, we live in Manehattan. Cloudsdale is a decent trip away from there. We could have just...y'know...gone to Cloudsdale. I mean, that place is great for Pegasi too. We didn't have to come all the way to Griffon Territory." He moaned in apathy. His wife glared daggers at him as she spoke with a distinct venom to her voice.

"You know, you could just be happy we're going somewhere together!" She hissed. He sighed.

"Yes, I know, honey." He said. "Let's just get moving." She looked away from him, annoyed as they approached the gate and showed their passports. The female Griffon smiled at them as she opened the gate and they passed through.'At least they're on vacation.' Steel thought to himself. 'If only Rainbow and I could have that luxury.'

"Geez, nice couple. You think we'll ever be like them?" Rainbow asked from behind Steel, interrupting his contemplations. He turned to her and smiled.

"If we do, you'll have to stomp my brains in." He said as he turned back around and faced forward. "Though, I doubt we will when I'm with the most awesome pegasus in Equestria." She blushed at the comment, and giggled quietly to herself before puffing out her chest and smoothing her mane.

"Yeah, I do tend to live up to the expectations." He smiled at her as he approached the counter.

"Passport, please." The Griffon said. Steel nodded and reached back into his saddle bag and returned with his passport between his teeth. He put it on the counter. The Griffon regarded it with a small level of disdain. Steel smiled at her and laughed nervously.

"Sorry." He said. She smiled back at him and opened the passport and stamped it.

"Go ahead in, welcome to Griffon Territory." She said to him. Rainbow Dash was the next to pass through, though she already had the passport out and ready to go. The griffon stamped it and let her in. Applejack came after Rainbow, who had to fiddle around in her saddlebag for a good few minutes before finally finding the small book. When she finally laid it on the counter, she smiled warmly at the griffon.

"Sorry about that. Knew the little varmit was in there somewhere." The griffon nodded, stamped the book and let her pass. The feeling of relief the griffon felt as she noticed that Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, two unicorns, were the only ponies left in the long line before a long line of able-clawed griffons was like a tidal wave, cooling her off inside. Twilight and Rarity already had the passports levitating in the air as they reached the counter, the griffon stamped them without ceremony and let the ponies pass. Twilght and Rarity then left the gate and greeted their friends.

"Alright. Who's ready to-" Twilight started.

"Attention to all visiting ponies in the lines. Please have your passports out and ready before you reach the gate. Thank you." The announcement from the same griffon that passed them through interrupted her. Rainbow smiled.

"I guess we didn't make it too high on her 'nice travelers of the day list.'" She said.

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure I charmed her until she was weak in the knees." Steel responded. Rainbow socked him in the shoulder. Applejack laughed.

"Ah'm probably the one that got her ornery the most! Took me dang near five minutes to find that blasted passport." She said. "Ah figured she could just wait." Rarity nodded.

"Well, that is her job, after all. At least she was courteous." Rarity said, raising an eyebrow. "I always thought that Griffons were prejudiced to ponies."

"There's actually no proof of that." Twilight responded to the white unicorn's statement. "Our nations have had friendly relations for a long time. Though, there will always be hate in the world, no matter the source."

"Very wise, Twi." Applejack said. "But let's go ahead and get on the train to Lost Child Canyon. We probably got some time, but do y'all remember how close it was the last time?"

"She's right." Rainbow agreed with her orange friend. "Better safe than sorry." They all agreed and departed for the train station. The green grass and blue skies made them feel like they were still in Equestria. All it took, however, to bring any one of them out of their respective false states of mind was seeing the vending booths being run by griffons instead of ponies. They felt like aliens, receiving strange looks from different individuals, regarding them as exactly that.

"Now Ah know how Zecora felt when she first came to Ponyville." Applejack said to her friends, who all nodded an affirmative. They reached the train station before long, paying a small amount of bits at the booths for their tickets to Lost Child Canyon. Exactly as Applejack had predicted, they had twenty minutes to wait for their train to arrive. Rarity went into the nearest clothes store, attempting to find some sort of classy garment to try on. She was morbidly unsuccessful, finding only boring, monotonous souvenir clothes saying things like "I survived Griffon Territory". Rainbow Dash and Applejack snuck up behind Rarity and pulled one of the ugly hoodies over her body. Rarity literally screamed and pulled it off to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack dying on the floor, Twilight snickering and Steel chuckling.

"Never...fails!" Rainbow said, gasping.

"Darn tootin'!" Applejack got out before they had another fit. They stopped when they heard the proprietor of the souvenir shop clear his throat. They looked up at the forboding-looking Griffon.

"Please..." He said in a gruff voice, rage seeping through the words like a thick syrup. "Hang the jacket back up and leave." Applejack and Rainbow laughed nervously.

"Yessir. Sorry about that. Just got caught up in the moment." Applejack said, standing up quickly.

"Yeah, we'll get it up. Sorry." Rainbow said.

"Please...do it...now." He barely said, surely struggling to keep himself from screaming at the two mares. They nodded and went to work hanging the garment back up. Rarity appraised them and harumphed, sticking her nose in the air and leaving the store. Applejack and Rainbow Dash giggled and hoofbumped quickly before they left. By the time they piddled around in several different areas of the train station, their train had arrived, which they boarded post haste. This train was similar to the one in Equestria, having several different cabins able to seat around six comfortably. Other than pony tourists and the occasional odd young griffon, the train was largely empty. They could sit wherever they liked. They eventually agreed on the center of the train and sat in the same positions as they did when they traveled to Fillydelphia. Rainbow could barely sleep however, as she anticipated what would happen in the coming days. She felt an all to familiar chill run down her spine as she remembered Discord's grim instructions on how Steel could cure himself.

"Yippee!" Steel exclaimed sarcastically. "More train riding." Rainbow laughed.

"Well, at least it won't be as long as the last one." She responded.

"I know, but if I go the rest of my life without riding another train, I will die a happy stallion."

"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but we have to ride trains on the way back to Ponyville." She said. Steel groaned and put his hooves to his eyes.

"Why'd you have to remind me?" He said in between fake sobs. Rainbow giggled.

"Steel, ridin' trains used to be a luxury for me." Applejack said to the stallion. "Ah used to have to walk wherever I went!"

"Well you never really had to walk anywhere outside of Ponyville when you were a filly." Rarity said.

"That bein' said, Ah would always love the times Ah could go on a train to Canterlot, or Manehattan." Applejack said, looking at Steel. He nodded.

"I don't really mind riding on trains." Twilight said, not looking up from her book. "I just prefer chariots."

"I never lose sight of the importance of these babies." Rainbow said, flexing her wings. "They can take me anywhere I want to go in-"

"Ten seconds flat?" Her friends all nearly said in unison. Rainbow laughed nervously.

"I say that too much, don't I?"

_____

After a grueling three hour long ride, the train came to a halt in the city of Lost Child Canyon. The group stepped out of the train into the station and let out a collective groan of distaste nearly in unison. The station seemed to be worn down and poorly kept. The griffons of Lost Child Canyon obviously saw no need to capitalize on tourism, because there were no restaurants, no souvenir shops and worst of all, there weren't even any restrooms. They were the only ones getting off of the train there as well, further adding to the discredibility of the place's safety. Rainbow gulped at the deteriorating building and it's few workers, all seeming like they cared nothing about the environment.

"Yeeeah, why don't we get out of here?" Applejack said.

"Agreed. I feel like I'll catch something if I stay here longer." Rarity added.

"Let's go." Steel said, eyeing a crotchety-looking old griffon, eyeing his female friends with a hint of lust in his eye. They walked through the dank, poorly-lit building, appraising the cracked walls, roaches crawling in and out, the disgusting, dark version of Equestria's parasprites. When they left the building, their view didn't improve very much. Gone were the beautiful green grass and full, lush trees they saw when they first arrived in Griffon Territory, replaced with a harsh-looking desert-like landscape. The small, sparse patches of grass that littered the ground were light brown from intense dehydration, and what remnants of trees they saw were cracking, drooping, decaying frames of what they once were. The many, unused buildings in Lost Child Canyon also had a heavily-dilapidated look to them, poorly kept shells of what were once most likely thriving establishments of businesses and families. Few buildings actually remained active to serve the ever-shrinking population of the old town.

"It's a shame." Steel said. "Back in it's heyday, this town must really have been a nice place." He winced at the large, bright sun. "Dear Celestia, that sun is intense." Rainbow frowned at her coltfriend's obvious discomfort.

"Let's go ahead and find some shade." She said. The group agreed and walked to a small bar that seemed to still be open. They entered the place and looked around at the sparsely seated griffons having a drink. They walked through the place, receiving not-so-subtle stares of hostility from the drinkers. They walked to the counter as the bar tender looked at them rudely.

"Five waters, please." Steel said. Every griffon in the building laughed. The bartender just continued to stare at them rudely. He went and withdrew five cups and began filling them with tap water with a yellowish hue to it. He set them on the counter in front of the ponies.

"Y'know..." They heard a mean-sounding voice from behind them say. "It's not often that we get ponies here in Lost Child Canyon..." He said. "And the ones we do get can usually hold their liquor. Water all ya can take? Poor little ponies." These words burned Steel inside like fire. He turned to the griffon, who was a head taller than he was and looked into his eyes.

"I never said that I couldn't hold my liquor." Steel said. "How about we have a little drinking contest? Just for fun." The griffon raised his eyebrows and smiled crookedly. The girls gasped.

"Just for fun?" The griffon said and guffawed again. "Maybe you don't know how we do things 'round here, stranger. We bet on this kinda stuff. A hundred bits minimum. And if ya can't pay it..." A venomous tone laced his voice as he leaned in toward Steel and dropped a bag of what Steel assumed to be a hundred bits onto the table. "Let's just say some kinda...bad accident usually befalls 'em." Steel nodded.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." He responded.

"You gotta pair on you, boy." The griffon said as he pulled a chair up to the table. Steel sat down across from him. Rainbow pulled Steel out of the chair and whispered to him.

"Are you kidding? This guy can probably drink you under the table and a hundred bits is pretty much all we have!" She said.

"We won't be able to get back to Equestria!" Applejack added.

"Steel, we all know you can probably hold your liquor, but this guy looks like he's had a lot of experience. Just think about this." Twilight said. "You don't have to prove anything." Rarity nodded in agreement.

"Guys, just trust me." Steel said calmly and confidently.

"You might wanna listen to your pretty friends there." The griffon said. "They're speakin' the truth."

"The contest is going on as planned." Steel said, sitting down at the table. The first shot of whiskey was in front of him. The griffon grabbed his and downed it instantly. Steel repeated the griffon's movement, also swallowing the liquor with no hesitation. He grimaced slightly at the fiery taste.

"This 100 proof?" Steel asked the bartender as he brought the second round of shots. He nodded slowly. Steel and his competitor took their shots and continued for the next five shots. The griffon didn't even seem tipsy, but neither did Steel. Rainbow was amazed. She could hold her liquor well, especially for a lightweight pegasus such as herself, but it didn't take more than five shots of whiskey to at least get her swaying. Steel didn't even seem fazed. Six shots later and the griffon was feeling it. He began to look tired and he swayed his his chair slightly.

"Oh, you look like you've had enough. Would you like to lie down?" Steel asked him. The griffon shook his head and slurred-

"Ohoho no, ya 'lil poneh. Wer just gettin' starded." He said as he quickly downed the next shot. Steel downed his and nodded to the bartender. They continued doing shots and the griffon just got more and more drunken as time passed, whereas Steel looked like he had when he started. The griffon's speech was unintelligible as he stood up to walk over to Steel. Halfway around the table, the griffon fell flat onto the ground. Steel stood up slowly.

"Guess that means I win." He said. Rainbow cheered out loud and threw a hoof up into the air. She ran and grabbed Steel in a hug. Applejack's, Twilight's and Rarity's jaws were all dropped in amazement. The other griffons in the bar looked at him astonished as he took the bag on one hundred bits from the table where the griffon had dropped it. He put it on the counter in front of the bartender. "For the drinks." Steel said. The bartender shook his head.

"When it's a contest, the loser gives the winnings away and the drinks go on his tab." The bartender said. Steel nodded.

"Fair enough."

"Mister, I'd assume you'd be dying of alchohol poisoning right about now." He said to Steel.

"Back home they say I'm a medical miracle." Steel responded.

"Can't argue with that." The bartender said. "What brings you to this dump of a town? I would figure that you and your friends here would be at one of the resorts."

"We're not on vacation." Steel said. "We're actually looking for a pegasus. Name of Brick Smasher. He's an old friend of mine." The bartender nodded.

"Figures you'd know him. He owns a hardware store further down the street." The griffon said.

"Thanks a lot." Steel said as he turned to leave. Rainbow, Applejack, Twilight and Rarity all gathered around him outside.

"That was amazin'!" Applejack marveled.

"Indeed, I've never seen anything like it!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Even calculated with your body mass index, you shouldn't have been able to drink that much! You should be dead of alchohol poisoning." Twilight said to him, counting something on her hoof.

"How did you do it?" Rainbow finally asked him. He chuckled and smirked at them.

"Did I ever tell you guys that being a vampire makes it impossible for me to get drunk?" He whispered. They all looked at each other and bursted out laughing. "Looks like we're going home with some money, girls!" He said. They all cheered. But then stopped as they saw Steel looking down the street at what was surely Brick Smasher's store.

"We're coming with you." Rainbow said. The girls nodded.

"I wouldn't expect him to attack you guys with so many possible witnesses and in the middle of the daytime. But still, stay behind me and don't say a word. I'll protect you all with my life." Rainbow kissed Steel on the cheek and they all nodded. They than started down the street with Steel in the lead to confront his family's killer.

_____

Steel Anvil, his marefriend Rainbow Dash and their friends walked down the long, cracked, destitute street. Steel began to ponder what it would be like to see the monster's face again. He wondered if he would fly into an animal rage and attack him on the spot, or go according to plan and challenge him like Discord said. The screams of agony of his family rang about in the confines of his skull, wracking his brain with the grotesque images that he had tried so hard over his 172 years of undeath to forget. His eyes finally landed upon the small hardware store that Brick Smasher owned in the city. It looked relatively well-kept in comparison to the rest of the city, actually having clean windows and a sidewalk free of dying weeds. Outside the store, they stopped to prepare. Steel looked back at Rainbow, Twilight, Applejack and Rarity.

"Remember, no matter what, stay behind me. If he tries anything, run." Steel said. The girls nodded and Rainbow hugged him.

"You can do this." She said to him. Steel was not afraid, but he understood what she meant. He nodded and turned back toward the door. He pushed it open and walked in, followed by his friends.

"Take a look around, I'll be right with you!" A friendly sounding, familiar voice called from the back of the store. Steel remembered the voice, in a pleading fashion, beg to be let inside his house for warmth. Steel just stood there at the counter and did not move. After the sound of clattering and banging from the back of the place, the pegasus that Steel knew all too well came ambling to the counter.

"Afternoon, friend! What can I do for ya?" He spouted with a pleasant grin on his face. Steel merely stared at him. He stared at this pegasus as if he was burning holes in his forehead. Brick Smasher gained a look of puzzlement on his face as he waved a hoof in front of Steel in an attempt to rouse him from his apparent trance. Rainbow looked at him and cleared her throat. Steel shook his head slightly and smiled at Brick Smasher.

"Uh, yeah, I'd like to purchase some screws, please." Steel said to the pegasus. Brick Smasher nodded and smiled at him.

"Yessir. Right this way, I'll show you." He said as he walked from behind the counter. He looked back at Steel for a moment. "It's so good to actually see some fellow ponies around here. Been ages since I last saw any of my own kind." Steel nodded, but his thoughts were different.

'No, you're one of a kind, monster.' He thought.

"So what brings ya around here?" He asked.

"We're looking for some culture." Steel responded flatly.

"Culture in Lost Child Canyon? Well, you'd be luckier finding an Ursa Minor living in Princess Celestia's castle."

"Even so, we want to see everything."

"I guess so." Brick Smasher said as they came to the nails at last. "So, we got one and a half-" He began as he looked at Steel. He stopped himself when he locked eyes with him. "Have we met before somewhere?" Steel smiled at him and nodded.

"One-hundred and seventy two years ago. Fillydelphia." Steel said. Brick Smasher laughed.

"A hundred and seventy two years?" He said. "Son, I'm old, but I'm not that old."

"Hearth's Warming Eve...you were cold, tired..." Steel said as he was filled with anger. "We let you in, out of the kindness of our hearts...and then you killed my family." Brick Smasher's eyes widened as it came back to him. But then his expression changed to one of a condescending nature.

"Oh, yeah..." He said. "You're the one I let live. You're the one I turned."

"No." Steel responded. "You tried to kill me."

"You're still here, aren't you? No, I turned you. You had heart, so I spared your life. But now, in hindsight, I really should have killed you along with your mom, your pop, your...uncle I would guess and your little sister." He said evilly, his personality now taking on the form of what exactly it really was. "It was smart of you to come during the day."

"You're a monster." Steel said. "Why did you do it?"

"Why did I enjoy slaughtering your family? I don't really know. So, yeah, I guess I am a monster." Brick Smasher replied with a disgustingly wry grin. "You made a good choice by coming during the day. Now what is it you want?"

"I want to end this." Steel said. "Once and for all."

"Sounds fun." Replied the pegasus. "So...what, you just wanna do it here and now? You think your little entourage there is gonna help you?" He gestured to the girls.

"They're not taking part." Steel said. "Tonight. You and me outside the city. We'll be at our strongest then."

"So you want an organized fight between the two of us?" Brick Smasher said. "Why?"

"So it'll be all the more satisfying when I end your worthless life and make the world a better place." Steel responded promptly, meaning every single word of what he said. Brick Smasher raised his eyebrows at the earth pony.

"Oh?" He said. "Alright. You got it. I'll show up and we'll tear each other to peices. I'll even be fair about it and not pull any cheap tricks, since you're all good and pure about it. And I'm gonna enjoy killing your little friends, there, too." He said as he looked at the girls and nodded his head at Rainbow Dash. "That blue one, in particular." He began to laugh. Rich, evil peals of laughter spilled from his throat as they walked out of the store. Rainbow walked up beside her love and nuzzled him under the chin.

"That went well." He said sarcastically.

"I thought you were awesome." She said to him. He looked over at her and smiled appreciatively.

"So...worst case scenario, I die tonight and this entire journey will be a tragedy and a waste of all of our respective times." Steel mused. "Best case scenario, I kill him, get cured, and live how I want to live with you." Steel said, before placing a kiss on top of Rainbow's head. She giggled.

"You won't die." She said to him. "There's no way." He chuckled.

"Even so..." He stopped her and turned her head toward his. "I don't want you sticking around for that fight. If I lose and he kills me, he'll come straight after you and kill you all." He said, looking up at the group with the last few words.

"I understand, babe." Rainbow said. "I'll be far away when it happens." He nodded at her.

"Good." He said. "Now let's find a place to rest up. I'm going to need all of my strength tonight." They all agreed and headed for the bar they just came from where Steel defeated that rather large griffon in a drinking game. Rainbow had, in fact, agreed to stay away from the fight, but she had always been a good liar.

_____

The bar was, at least now, the safest place to be in Lost Child Canyon at the moment. The bartender had taken a liking to the group and gave them drinks on the house. Steel spent most of his time in the bar in pensive thought about fighting techniques he had learned over the years. After about an hour of deliberation, Steel stood up and looked at the girls.

"I'm going to get some fresh air." He said to them. They nodded as he left the bar. Rainbow Dash immediately looked at her friends.

"Okay, guys." She said to them, almost immediately gaining their attention. "Steel wants us to stay away from the fight in case that other guy wins and comes after us. But if he wins, he'll definitely kill Steel. I don't want to let that happen. I think we should follow him and watch from afar and if he loses, we can try to help him. Sure, he won't be cured, but he wont be dead. No matter what, I don't want to see him dead." Applejack nodded.

"Ah agree." She said simply. Twilight nodded as well.

"If he does lose, perhaps Rarity and I could keep Brick Smasher at bay with our magic while you and Applejack carry Steel out." Twilight said. "It's risky, but we should be willing to take that risk for our friends." Rarity smiled.

"Hear, hear!" Rarity said. "But why are we putting so little faith in Steel? He's shown himself to be more than a capable fighter."

"It's not that we don't have faith in him." Rainbow said. "We just need a backup plan. I've never been this scared about anything in my life." Rarity looked at Rainbow's hoof on the table. It was shaking. She looked closer at Rainbow's eyes. She was tearing up. Rarity placed a hoof on it hers, as did Applejack, then Twilight.

"Don't worry, sugarcube..." Applejack said. "We'll get through this."

"Just like we've gotten through everything." Twilight said.

"We defeated Nightmare Moon." Rarity said.

"We took on Discord." Applejack added.

"And we've stopped Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra." Twilight finished for them. Rainbow sniffled slightly and smiled at them.

"Thanks, guys." She said as Steel walked back into the building. He looked at them all.

"It's getting dark." He said simply and grimly. "I'd better go soon." The girls nodded. Rainbow Dash stood up and walked to him. The girls recognized that this could be Steel and Rainbow's last heart-to-heart, so they departed for the other side of the bar and started their own conversation.

"Well..." She said to him. "I guess this is it."

"No." He said. "This isn't it, Rainbow." He put a hoof under her chin and brought her face up to his. "I'm going to kill him. And when I cure myself, we're going to finally be able to be with each other normally. I can love you during night..." He kissed her. "And day."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Rainbow responded, smiling up at him, a tear falling down her cheek.

"Yay, you made a rhyme! You get a gold star." Steel said, smiling. She laughed and kissed him.

"Come back. Please." She said, putting her forehead to his. "Come back so that we can be together with nothing holding us back."

"It's a deal." He said as he turned to leave the bar. As he left, Rainbow Dash felt as if something was missing from their potential final interaction.

"Steel, wait!" Rainbow exclaimed as she went after him. Outside the bar he stopped as she caught up to him. He turned and was immediately met with a passionate kiss from his love. After almost a minute, she broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. "I love you."

"And I, you, Rainbow Dash." He said. "I'll be back in ten seconds flat...or maybe a bit longer." He turned and walked down the street away from her, knowing full well that he may never see her again. Rainbow shed more tears, but did not sob once. Because sobbing wasn't her style of course. Applejack, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity exited the diner and brought their friend into a collective, comforting hug. A few minutes passed until Steel Anvil was out of sight.

"When did you want to start following him?" Rarity asked Rainbow.

"Right now."

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: Oh, damn. It's about to get real. I had to add those "D'AWWW" moments in there. Come on, I had to. The final confrontation is coming up and it's going to be chaotic, loud and epic. Things are going to get pretty hectic and frantic. I'm extremely tired, so I'm just going to end this author's note here. Be sure to leave a comment telling me what you think so far! Cheers!

Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

The outside of the city of Lost Child Canyon was just as barren and desolate as the town itself, save for the inclusion of less deserted and decaying buildings. Night had descended upon this region of Griffon Territory and the darkness empowered Steel Anvil. His strength returned to him in full as the time in which most vampires remained active gained precedence over day. Luna's moon illuminated the plane of dirt and dead grass just enough for a normal pony to be able to see moderately well. Steel's eyes, however, changed in darkness, and reflected the light of the moon in brilliant, red iridescence. He could see extraordinarily well, his eyesight posessing predatory power in the dark. He sighed as he waited for his enemy to arrive, and assuming he kept his promise to be fair about it, start the fight with both of them prepared. Steel heavily doubted that the pegasus vampire would keep to his word, so he stood at the ready, senses as finely tuned as they ever were, every movement of anything in the outskirts of the town, whether it be a living thing or a pebble, registered in his sensory understanding. If Brick Smasher attempted to approach from any direction, he would know.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle, struggled to move in the dark without making noise. They all understood that all of Steel's senses were amplified at night, hearing included, to enhance his ability to stalk prey, if he so chose. As soon as Rainbow rounded the corner of a large boulder, she layed eyes upon her coltfriend. She stopped her friends where they were and motioned for them to hide behind this boulder. They seemed to be a decent length away from him. She prayed that he didn't sense them, as she didn't want anything distracting him from his confrontation. She couldn't afford to risk his life. If he lost the battle, his friends stood ready to come to his aid. Rainbow, as well as everypony else, would rather have him alive (as alive as a vampire really was) as a vampire than completely dead. Rarity slowly stepped forward, coming down on a twig with her hoof. The snapping of the tiny limb was incredibly quiet and muted, but the girls all cringed as it most likely registered to Steel's hearing. Meanwhile, down in the clearing, Steel Anvil's ears perked up as he turned around to the large boulder quickly to see what the noise was.

"So you didn't puss out, huh?" Brick Smasher said, sitting in a tree behind Steel. He turned back to see the pegasus, lounging on the branch, looking him up and down, his irises also glowing a brilliant red.

"I'm suprised you didn't try to take me out with a cheap shot." Steel countered. "You seem to be the type to do that."

"Worked on your family didn't it?" Brick Smasher replied with a small laugh. Steel didn't react to the comment, but it burned him up inside as it reverberated inside his brain. His stomach boiled as he was filled with anger. He sighed, however and clicked his tongue.

"Ever thought of getting some new material? That's getting old." Steel said, smirking.

"Being undead sure had hardened your heart, hasn't it?" Brick Smasher said as he flew down and landed in front of Steel, looking him in the eyes.

"You have to be cold hearted to kill those who don't deserve to be killed." Steel responded.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Brick Smasher said, looking up at the moon. "You would think that Princess Luna knew this would be happening tonight, so she gave us this bright, beautiful moon to look at as we die."

"I'm not dying tonight, monster." Steel responded. "Tonight, I'm giving a cold-hearted murderer what he deserves, and taking back what was mine."

"And what exactly are you taking back?"

"I'll tell you before I kill you." Steel said confidently.

"You sure are sure of yourself, aren't you?" Brick Smasher retorted. "I've been a vampire for some odd three hundred years. You've only been one of one hundred and seventy two. I'm a lot more in tune with my powers than you are."

"We'll have to find out then, won't we?" Steel said as they looked into each other's eyes. Neither vampire moved, awaiting the other to make the first move and initiate the battle they both knew would result in one of them dead. Brick Smasher's face contorted minutely into a small smirk before he quickly and suddenly punched Steel, sending him flying back into a tree. Pain wracked his body as he quickly recovered from the impact, ready for a follow up attack from his enemy. Surely enough, Brick Smasher leapt at Steel Anvil, ready to inflict more pain. Steel quickly moved out of the way as Brick Smasher collided with the tree, splintering the bark. Steel then picked up the pegasus around his midsection and slammed him on the ground. He then immediately began delivering blows to Brick Smasher's face, getting three out before Brick Smasher kicked him away, causing him to land on his back. He immediately got up and witnessed Brick Smasher fly into the sky with breakneck speed. The pegasus vanished from Steel, even with his powers of vision in darkness. He breathed heavily as he looked around for Brick Smasher, seeing nothing. He looked up at the dark ether of the night sky, recalling that Brick Smasher did fly up. He was interrupted by a punch to his face, empowered by Brick Smasher's natural speed. Steel stumbled, dazed from the heavy impact. His hazy vision quickly rectified itself before he saw Brick Smasher's two back hooves flying toward his face. They connected with devastating force, rocking his skull with the impact. His mandible struggled not to break from his skull as he hit the ground ten feet from the impact. Steel's brain felt like liquid as he stood shakily to face Brick Smasher. His opponent was extremely powerful, this was sure. He saw Brick Smasher hunch over and begin to contort, his muscles bulging heavily under his skin. His teeth grew to fangs. Steel knew what this was as Brick Smasher roared at him, his wings flaring, expanding in size and power. Brick Smasher had learned to control his transformation. He was more in tune with his powers. Brick Smasher flew at Steel, both hooves raised, prepared to cause irreversable damage to Steel Anvil in any way, shape or form. He spread his two front legs as he reached Steel and brought them together to crush Steel's head. Steel barely managed to get his front legs up in time to block the blow. His strength began to rapidly fade, however, as Brick Smasher, in his transformed state, grossly outperformed Steel's current form in every way. Brick Smasher's forelegs pinned Steel's against either side of his head. Steel struggled to minimize the pressure Brick Smasher was applying to his skull. He was failing miserably. As Brick Smasher put more and more pressure on Steel's skull, the pain increased. He groaned loudly in pain as his eyes opened to reveal pure blood red.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Brick Smasher said in a rumbly demonic voice. "Give me everything you got!" Steel Anvil's muscles contorted and morphed to accomidate his rapidly changing physique. His forelegs quaked and trembled, empowered by the intense strength flowing through them. He let out a bestial roar as he began to push Brick Smasher's forelegs away from his head, revealing his long, razor sharp fangs. Brick Smasher's face took on an expression of suprise as Steel began to get up. It was a standstill, a test of pure strength. Steel finally stood to his full height, able to employ all of his power. He was larger than Brick Smasher, but not by much. Brick Smasher, grunted as his strength began to fail under Steel's sheer power. Steel bared his teeth savagely as he began to push Brick Smasher back. Brick Smasher began to strain heavily as Steel forced him down to his knees, overpowering him. The pegasus would lose this contest soon, he knew it and Steel knew it, so he threw Steel's forelegs to his side, sending Steel falling forward and cheaply socked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Brick Smasher then grabbed Steel and flew into the air, ascending to great heights incredibly quickly. Steel's mind raced a mile a minute, frantically trying to decide on his next move on his opponent as they ascended further into the dark ether. He then realized that his opponent was taking him into the sky and was most likely planning on dropping him from an impossible-to-survive height. Steel decided against becoming a crimson stain on the dirt ground and punched Brick Smasher in the jaw, making him loose control and fall for a while. Steel followed up with a heavy left hook and a right jab, both hits connecting, jarring Brick Smasher to where he couldn't fly any more. They began to truly fall as Steel moved around onto Brick Smasher's back and punched him in the back of the head. Brick Smasher groaned and attempted to swipe back at Steel, who was clinging to his back, and succeeded in scoring a hit to the side of Steel's head, making him let go with one foreleg, sending them both into a spiral. Steel knew that if he died from this height, so would Brick Smasher, so his enemy would probably make the fall non-lethal, but even so, it wouldn't hurt to minimize Brick Smasher's ability to fly in general.

"Time to clip your wings." Steel said to his nemesis and grabbed one of Brick Smasher's wings.

"No, don- AAAHHHHH!!!!" He screamed as he was interrupted by Steel bending one of his wings completely backward at the middle joint, breaking it and crippling it. The pain was blinding, but it heightened Brick Smasher's senses. He turned around in the air and threw a powerful punch across Steel's face, stunning him momentarily. Brick Smasher wasted no time, as they were nearing the ground. He grabbed Steel and threw him beneath him before, slamming his back two hooves down on Steel's back, sending him plummeting down to the ground. The impact tremor was felt by Rainbow and the girls, hiding behind the boulder.

"Was that Steel?" Twilight whispered.

"I don't know." Rainbow responded, her heart feeling as if it would break from her chest.

"Ah think it's Steel!" Applejack whispered to the cyan mare.

"No! It can't be him." Rainbow whispered back, nearly frantically. She was certain she saw wings on the falling figure...or was she? She couldn't remember amidst the chaos and brutality of the situation. She wanted to know that Steel would be alright. She wanted to know that he'd be victorious in his battle and come back to her with that sweet little smirk on his face. She wanted to know that it was finally over.

"It's Steel..." Rainbow heard Rarity say grimly. "He's struggling to get up." Rainbow prepared to go to her love's aid. If she could save him...it'd be worth him staying a vampire.

'Maybe I can be a vampire too.' Rainbow thought. 'Doesn't sound so bad.' Meanwhile, Brick Smasher had clumsily managed to spiral to the ground with his one good wing, his other horribly maimed, swelling and bruised. He landed unceremoniously on his chin as he quickly managed to get to his feet.

"Son of a bitch!" Brick Smasher screamed at Steel, who still tried to get up onto all four hooves. "I'll be lucky if I ever fly again, you little prick!" Steel looked up and smirked as he clutched his side, silently gasping for air. He was certain a few of his ribs were fractured. The corner of his mouth leaked blood.

"Good." Was all he could manage to say. This small comment, however insignificant, infuriated Brick Smasher. He ran at Steel at breakneck speed roaring with anger. He brought a hoof back and threw it at Steel clumsily, expecting him to take the hit, seeing as how he was so badly injured from the fall. What he didn't expect was for Steel to block the punch, pull him in and deliver a heavy three jab combo to his face. Brick Smasher blindly swiped at Steel, who ducked the hoof and punched his stomach. Brick Smasher doubled over and coughed as Steel brought his right hoof back and delivered a massive uppercut to his chin, sending him fifteen feet into the air and onto his back. Brick Smasher screamed from the pain of falling on his destroyed wing. Rainbow Dash breathed in deeply, filled with a new hope that Steel could win. He could definitely do it. Rainbow lost this hope however, as Steel doubled over and clutched his side and shouted in pain. He fell to his knees as Brick Smasher stood, not without more pain however, and began to approach him.

"I will admit," Brick Smasher started after a long sigh, wiping the blood from his mouth. "You can fight. You really can. You took advantage of my anger and used it against me. But, now that I am all calmed down," He looked at his broken wing. "Relatively, we can really get down to business." As Brick Smasher got close, Steel threw a haymaker, a mad attempt to knock Brick Smasher on his back again. Brick Smasher merely reared back and came back down with a quick series of punches to Steel's face. He alternated hooves at different hooves at different intervals of the sequence of strikes. Steel struggled intensely to fight back, trying to return a punch, but the more he moved and stumbled from his enemy's barrage, the worse the pain is his side got. Even so, Steel managed to get a couple hits in on Brick Smasher, among the plethora he was receiving. Brick Smasher was in control here. A straight punch sent Steel stumbling back with a grunt, his face battered and bloody, some of his fangs broken and his nose swelling up. He then received a haymaker from Brick Smasher, delivered from his enemy with all the strength he could muster. Steel was thrown against a boulder before receiving yet another haymaker, knocking him to the side away from the boulder. Steel stood up quickly, suprising even himself as Brick Smasher approached, confident in his assault. Steel threw a heavy punch, which Brick Smasher ducked under. This is what Steel expected however, as he brought an elbow down on the back of Brick Smasher's head, sending him face first into the ground. Then, with strength he didn't know he had left, he picked up Brick Smasher and slammed him on the ground on his back. Brick Smasher shouted in agony as Steel picked him up again. Steel, however, was in his own form of agony. Fiery, debilitating pain shooting through his ribs.

'Come on! Just one more!' Steel thought to himself as he raised Brick Smasher up to slam him on his back again. 'I can do this!' This thought proved to be a fallacy, however, as the pain outmatched his strength, causing him to drop Brick Smasher on himself, sending him down onto the ground. The impact was painful for both parties, but far less so for Brick Smasher. He groaned as he elbowed Steel in the side of the head before getting up off of him.

"Godesses, you are tough." Brick Smasher said in his distorted voice. "Haven't had a fight like this in ages." Steel put a hoof up to try to block the next hit Brick Smasher would undoubtedly attempt to deliver. "Pathetic." Brick Smasher mused gleefully as he grabbed the hoof. "Can't guarantee you'll enjoy this." He then punched Steel's elbow, snapping his foreleg backwards. Steel screamed in pain and shock as his limb became immediately useless. He gritted his teeth and groaned heavily.

"Oh, get up." Brick Smasher said to him, pulling him up onto his hooves by the broken limb. Steel screamed again before Brick Smasher brutally punched him in the side, right in his broken ribs, destroying them further. The pure pain of the strike destroyed what was left of Steel's crumbling resolve. His lungs lost all oxygen as he fell down immediately to the ground. He made no sound whatsoever as he writhed on the ground, coughing up copious amounts of blood, which even further took away from his oxygen supply. "You think I didn't know you were hurting there?" Brick Smasher said, smiling cruelly before laughing to himself. The pain was the worst Steel had ever felt. He silently gasped as he clutched his side. The pain, between his broken front leg and his shattered ribs blurred his vision as he drifted in and out of conciousness. His eyes began to fade back to their normal state as his muscles shrunk back to their normal proportions. His teeth became blunt once again as he lost all his power. Rainbow, behind the boulder, shed tears and sobbed, her breath catching as she cried in agony for her love. She had watched the whole fight, silently hoping for Steel to win, for him to overtake his enemy. He had not. He had fallen. She could not stand idly by and let him suffer further. She could not let him die.

"I can't do this anymore!" Rainbow nearly screamed as she shot from behind the boulder and flied toward Brick Smasher. Her friends ran out after her.

"I won't lie, though. This was very fun." He said as he prepared to deliver the final blow. His ears perked up as he said. "'Scuse me." He stood and ducked in time for a flash of cyan to miss him. He threw a hoof up into the air at the same time, catching Rainbow Dash in the stomach and stopping her immediately in her attempt to hit him. She coughed up blood as she fell limp on his hoof. He held her with one foreleg. Brick Smasher sighed as he looked down at Steel. "Seems like we've both been here before, doesn't it? Save for the fact that back then, I was less...broken." He threw Rainbow away as hard as he could. On instinct, her wings flared in an attempt to catch her. This was a mistake as she landed back on it. She heard a snap followed by intense pain in her wing. She screamed as she rolled over onto her belly, turning to face Brick Smasher. Her mouth leaked blood as her eyes narrowed at him. He chuckled as Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity ran and stood in front of her.

"Your not gettin' any closer to Rainbow!" Applejack yelled at him.

"You'll have to face us!" Twilight added.

"We will kill you, monster." Rarity said, horn glowing with a magical aura, preparing for combat. Brick Smasher laughed, the distorted, terrifying sound echoing in the mare's ears. A chill of fear went down Twilight's spine, but she stood firm to protect Rainbow Dash, nonetheless. After he finished with his guffawing, he turned to Steel. His eyes were still scrunched in pain as he continued gasping.

"Y'know, I'm gonna give you a quick break while I slaughter your friends here." Brick Smasher said, turning to the mares. "I'm going to tear the orange one's head off, because I like her hat. I'll tear the white one's spine out, and I'll split the purple one's belly open. But the most fun I'm gonna be having is with the blue one, Rainbow. Since she seems to care so much about you, I'll let you watch as I eat her alive." Steel's eyes shot open, blood red again. Brick Smasher continued to walk toward the mares. "Yessir. It's gonna be-" He was interrupted by Steel Anvil grabbing him from behind and pulling him onto his belly. Brick Smasher squealed in suprise and fury as Steel began to punch his broken wing. Harder and harder Steel struck it, smashing the bones even further. Brick Smasher let out a bestial squeal as he struggled, unlike his usual scream. He fought back, swinging his forelegs wildly, scoring a few small hits on Steel, but Steel held firm and continued his assault. Once the bones in his wing were gravel, he kicked Steel off and made a mad dash for Rainbow, Applejack, Twilight and Rarity. He was stopped short however, as Steel grabbed him by his back hooves and slung him over his head onto the ground away from the mares. He then began to slam both of his hooves into Brick Smasher's face with a brand new, intense strength, smashing his teeth and fracturing his skull. Steel brought his broken foreleg back and slammed it onto Brick Smasher's eye, compressing it into his socket and spewing blood forth. He continued to brutally smash Brick Smasher's skull for minutes on end before biting down on Brick Smasher's ear with his fangs and tearing it clean off, earning another scream from his enemy. He then picked up Brick Smasher over his head, ignoring the pain in his foreleg and slammed his spine down on his knee, earning a satisfying snapping noise. Brick Smasher merely gurgled his own blood. No longer able to scream. Steel then threw him as hard as he could into a boulder. The mares had all turned away from the scene, not able to take the brutality of it. It was a necessary evil, however, as they remembered that a terrible creature was being removed from the world. Brick Smasher struggled to crawl away from Steel, who limped toward him. The fight was over. Steel had emerged victorious. Brick Smasher turned to look at Steel, his face brutally mauled and beaten. He was no longer empowered by his beastlike form, and laid there, choking on his own blood, in his normal form.

"I guess I'm going to die now, huh?" The words were hard to discern, due to his face being so broken and disfigured. "I'm not going to beg you to spare me...because I know you won't." Steel picked him up by his head. He put a rear leg on Brick Smasher's pelvis and began to pull while pushing down with his leg. The vertebrae in Brick Smasher's neck began to slowly seperate, crackling loudly as a sign of this. Brick Smasher gurgled on blood as the flesh on his neck began to seperate. He screamed. Steel, now knowing he was still alive, leaned down next to Brick Smasher's remaining ear and whispered-

"You want to know what I'm taking back? I'm taking back my life. By drinking your blood, I'll be cured of this condition. This is for my family, you son of a bitch. For my father, my mother, my uncle..." He squeezed his head slightly before finishing. "And Ember Star." He then decapitated Brick Smasher with a final pull, ending his nemesis' worthless existence. Brick Smasher was no more. It was finally over. His blood did not shoot out of the newly created opening, rather, it seeped out like molasses. Steel shifted back to his normal form and, upon hearing a groan of agony from his love, he ran over to her. She was struggling to stand up after her ordeal.

"Rainbow!" He said as he limped over to her and embraced her, not without feeling a sharp jolt of pain in his side. "Are you alright?"

"Look at you..." She coughed before she sobbed and looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. "Your body is so destroyed, yet you still only care about others. I messed it all up. I interfered. You can't be cured now..." She looked down as she continued to cry.

"Rainbow," He said, bringing a hoof to her chin and gently moving her face up to his. "if you hadn't interfered, I would be dead. So would everypony else here. You saved us all." He looked back at the corpse lying behind him. "Plus, you didn't really turn the tide of the fight, so I think it's still worth a shot." She smiled. He turned and limped toward the body. He knelt down toward the body and took it in his good hoof, bringing the gaping opening in the neck to his mouth. He engaged his fangs and began to drink. The syrupy, disgusting tasting blood was far from pleasant. He employed his natural ability to drink large amounts of blood as a vampire as he began to swallow mouthful after mouthful of the repulsive liquid. The body began to drain physically as Steel pulled back to take a breath before he continued to swallow the blood. The mares, again, had to avert their eyes to the disturbing sight. The body was completely drained after about ten more minutes, shriveled and completely pale, devoid of color. Steel Anvil felt no different. Perhaps Discord was lying to him when he told him about the cure, one final game before going back into his prison. He then looked over to the side of the corpse. The head of Brick Smasher lay there, an expression of pain lacing it's features.

"No..." He said to himself as he limped over to the head. "Please, godesses, no..." He immediately began drinking from the head, sucking all the blood from it. From the head, the more blood he drank, the sicker and sicker he seemed to get from it. The taste seemed to be declining fast, quickly growing unbearable. After a short period of time, he drained the head. He dropped the head, immediately swaying, dizzy and dazed for some odd reason. Did the blood poison him? The pain he was currently enduring helped nothing as he fell onto his side and began to shiver violently.

"Steel!" He faintly heard Rainbow yell before his eyes fell closed.

'If I die right now...' He thought to himself. 'I'm going to be so pissed.' His head fell limp to the ground as his concisousness quickly faded.

_____

Steel Anvil's eyes fluttered open at the sound of beeping. He felt a large blanket covering his rear legs and midsection. A large brace was strapped around his chest and a cast constrained his front leg to an uncomfortable, angular position. For a moment, he struggled to breathe, the brace on his chest limiting the movements of his diaphragm to an extent. He became acclimated to it's presence, however as he finally settled into his bed. He realized, finally, that he was in a hospital room. He looked around the place, seeing small vases full of flowers and balloons sporting good willed, hearty messages like- "Get Well Soon!" or "Hang in there!". He looked over at the other bed in the room and was relieved to discover that his love, Rainbow Dash was lying in it peacefully, breathing lightly, a cast on her wing and bandages around her midsection. She didn't look bad at all, in stark contrast to Steel. He was covered in different bandages and bindings, obviously to help the healing of his various injuries and afflictions he suffered from that fateful encounter with Brick Smasher back in Griffon Territory. That was it. Was he still in Griffon Territory? He could not tell from the look of the hospital room, seeing as how he hadn't been to a hospital in one hundred and seventy two years. He saw Rainbow Dash stir in her bed as her eyes slowly drifted open.

"Your awake." She said, joy lacing her words, but exhaustion overtaking her tone. "You've been out since that night." She looked at him in the eye that was not covered by a bandaged and smiled warmly. He smiled back.

"Where are we?" Steel asked her, looking around. "We're not still in Griffon Territory, are we?"

"No, we're in Ponyville General. We were brought back here from a hospital in Griffon Territory." She said.

"Well, what'd you tell them happened to us?" Steel asked her. She snickered and smiled at him.

"Twilight told them we were jumped by a whole gang of rough griffons and that you fought them all off. She made you out to look like such a hero." She laughed, as did Steel. He tried to move around a bit, but winced when he discovered that the injury to his ribs was still sensitive.

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that." Rainbow said as she looked at the curtains on the window, drawn to close off the light. "Well, we survived. We made it out and came back to Ponyville." Steel nodded.

"That we did. That we did. So, what do we do while we sit in here all day?" Steel asked her. She shrugged.

"Just sit here and be bored and wait for visitors. I would have the newest Daring Do book here with me, but I've read them all up to this point." She mused, looking up at the spinning ceiling fan. Steel chuckled to himself.

"You really love those books, don't you?"

"Who couldn't?"

"To be honest, I've actually never been much of a reader, so the books, along with all others, don't really interest me." Rainbow looked at him as if he had just suggested crucifying Princess Celestia.

"You don't like Daring Do?" Rainbow asked, shocked.

"Well, that and all other books, really. I just don't really like reading." He said, trailing off, looking toward the ceiling.

"Well, everypony's entitled to their opinion." Rainbow said before looking back at him. "You okay?" She asked, concern lacing her tone.

"Relatively. As okay as a guy with various bruises, gashes, broken ribs and a broken foreleg could be." He said with a chuckle. Rainbow giggled as well. She looked at the clock and smiled to herself as she began to smooth her mane.

"The girls should be in to visit in a few-"

"Rainbow! We're here!" Pinkie Pie interrupted her in the middle of her sentence.

"Right on time." Rainbow said, sighing. In walked Pinkie Pie, bright-eyed and (literally) bushy-tailed, a large bandage round her midsection, immediately followed by Fluttershy, then Applejack, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. They immediately walked past Steel and went to Rainbow. He frowned slightly at the fact that they didn't even notice him as they came in.

"Rainbow, it isn't Daring Do, but I managed to find you more adventure books in the library." Twilight said kindly before putting the books on the bedside table.

"Thanks, Twi." Rainbow said to her.

"And, I brought some super-extra-awesomely-amazing cupcakes for you and Steel when he wakes up!" Pinkie exclaimed happily. Steel smiled.

"I am awake." Steel rasped. They all turned and brightened up significantly at the sight of their friend actually conscious. Pinkie bounded over to him and went to give him a massive embrace. Steel flinched, expecting a dagger of pain in his side from the show of love, but felt Pinkie Pie give him an incredibly gentle hug, ever so slightly squeezing his shoulders. He smiled and hugged her back.

"How are you, dear?" Rarity said to him.

"Better than I was, I guess." He said with a small chuckle.

"We thought you were a goner." Applejack said. "When you went into those convulsions, we didn't know what we'd do." Steel frowned at this comment. He looked up at her.

"Convulsions, huh?" Steel said, putting his head down, dejected and defeated. "So I guess the cure didn't work after all..." Pinkie Pie leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Uh, Steel?" She said. He opened his eyes and looked into hers. She motioned toward a small screen above his bed. It beeped constantly, as if it was in a rhythm. He looked at the cord and followed it down until it was attached to his arm. He felt a pressure where it was attached that coincided with the beeps the machine was making. Suddenly, it all clicked in his head. His mind went a mile a minute as he looked at the screen, then down at his arm. It was all clear to him now. He looked at Pinkie Pie as she smiled at him, tears in her eyes. "Told ya so." A joyful expression fell upon his face as he looked toward the window. Fluttershy opened the curtains, letting in bright morning sunlight. Instead of shrinking away from the light, or feeling pain, the light felt...warm. It was beautiful. He felt no weakness. His curse...the source of misery that plagued him for one-hundred and seventy-two long years was finally gone. He was free. He was alive again. Rainbow got out of bed and walked over to his. She put a hoof on his as she teared up as well. He smiled at her as tears flooded his eyes. Joy, Ecstacy and Love flooded his system as he was overcome with emotion. He pulled Rainbow into a kiss. They broke it before Steel said to all of them-

"My best friends...and my love...you've all been here for me for so long." He said to them, his voice catching. "We'll be here for each other until the end, right?" They all smiled at him warmly and lovingly.

"My life sure as hay wouldn't be as interestin' without you around." Applejack said, tearful and smiling.

"I'll never in my life regret becoming your friend..." Rarity choked out, nearly sobbing. "Oh, Goddesses, I need a tissue!" Fluttershy gave Rarity a tissue as she smiled warmly at Steel.

"We'll always be together." Fluttershy said sweetly. Twilight smiled at him as well.

"It's going to be an adventure from here on out, that much is certain." Twilight mused, wiping tears away. "But it'll be a fantastic one for sure!" Pinkie Pie sniffled as she put a hoof on his shoulder.

"I knew you could do it." She said to him. "I never lost faith in you." Rainbow Dash kissed him lovingly again, tears falling down her face as she stroked his mane and broke the kiss. Her beautiful rose eyes gazed into his free, rich, brown one. She smiled at him as she said-

"Welcome home, Steel Anvil."

Obligatory End-of-Chapter Author's Note: WHOO! My God, that was fun to write. That's the final chapter, guys! I made sure to give those of you (however few you may be) who have read the story all the way through a happy ending! Because I LOVE happy endings! There will, in all likelihood, be a short epilogue that kind of wraps the story up. Please leave a comment telling me what you thought of the story! Cheers!

Epilogue

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Epilogue

Four Months Later

Steel Anvil awoke from a deep, peaceful sleep in his bedroom. He had been sleeping well every night since he was cured of his monstrous affliction, but even since then, waking up every morning always felt like a brand new experience. Over the one hundred and seventy-two years he had spent as a miserable, sleepless vampire, he had forgotten exactly what sleep was like. He stretched extravagantly, yawning widely as he tried, and failed miserably, to smooth out his mane. He looked out the window, which stood open, letting in the beautiful rays of sunshine he used to fear.

"Rainbow?" He called, noticing the absence of his partner from their bed. She had moved in with him some three months prior to this day. He got out of bed and looked around some more. "Rainbow, where are you?" He patted her pet tortoise, Tank on the head as he left the bedroom to go search throughout the small, albeit quaint, house. Since Rainbow had moved in, Rarity had demanded that she have at least some input on the interior design, appalled at Steel's minimalist approach to house decoration. He looked out on the front and back porches and the living room. He glanced at the clock above the fireplace and grimaced at the time. It was 2:45 PM in the afternoon. He would have been lucky if she hadn't left to go to Twilight Sparkle's library yet. Just as he was in these thoughts, he heard the bathroom door open. Walking toward the noise, he saw his marefriend, Rainbow Dash, exit the bathroom, her body still moist from the hot shower she had taken, her mane still wet. She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow saucily when she noticed how he was gawking at her.

"Morning, hun." She said simply. "How'd you sleep?" Steel snapped out of his stupor.

"Oh, it was alright." He said, puffing out his chest and pretending that he wasn't staring at every inch of her body. "What's the plan for today?"

"We're going to go grab a bite to eat with Gilda first. She's passing through Ponyville today, so I figured we could grab a bite to eat with her for a little bit. Then, we'll go get Pinkie Pie from Sugarcube Corner and head to Twilight's house. Sound good?" She said, swishing her mane to the side, still loving the fact that she was looking completely irresistable to the Stallion.

"Yeah. Lemme just get a shower first." Steel said, walking to the bathroom. After he had washed himself, freshened up and dried off, and Rainbow had fed and said goodbye to Tank, they left the house and walked toward Cafe du Mane. Rainbow and Steel quickly found Gilda sitting at a table outside the restaurant with two empty chairs. She smiled at Rainbow.

"Took ya long enough." She said.

"Hey, Gilda." Rainbow said, sitting down. "How has your trip been?"

"Oh, it was cool." Gilda said, slightly sighing. "A little dull, though. The looks I got from the ponies in Fillydelphia were pretty hilarous." Rainbow snickered.

"Yeah, we don't really get that many Griffons here, and when they do, they're like some kind of mystical being to everypony who doesn't know them."

"Yeah, I know." Gilda agreed. "Hey there, Steel." Steel nodded at her.

"Hi." He said. "Rainbow Dash has been telling me you're pretty fast." Gilda looked at Rainbow incredulously.

"Pretty fast?" She said, suprised. "I'm faster than her!" Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, right." Rainbow said, half laughing, as her daffodil sandwich was laid in front of her. Gilda had probably ordered it for her, knowing it was her favorite. "You and me, a race to Sweet Apple Acres and back." Gilda stood up, as did Rainbow. She looked at Steel, who was talking to the waiter about his meal. "Steel? Do you mind?" Steel looked from the waiter at her.

"Huh? Oh, sure, by all means." He said before going back to placing his order of a daffodil sandwich, same as Rainbow's.

"Great! Let's go!" Rainbow said as she sped off into the sky, followed immediately by Gilda. Steel sat and waited patiently, looking around the outside of the place, admiring the quaint little decorations and asthetically pleasing things. The waiter brought his sandwich back to him and placed it in front of him.

"Enjoy, sir." He said before heading back into the bulding, most likely to service some other customer. Rainbow Dash flashed back to the table, followed almost immediately by Gilda. The force of the two of them hitting the ground next to him caused the sandwich to fly out of Steel's hooves and fall on the ground. He frowned at the sandwich and looked at Rainbow Dash and her friend.

"Oh, no. Sorry Steel." Rainbow said. "I'll get you another one."

"No, it's fine." He said. "I really wasn't hungry anyway. Shall we?" He stood up and motioned toward Sugarcube Corner. The pegasus and the griffon nodded as they started for the confection store.

"I totally won that race." Rainbow whispered, smirking.

"Oh, please, you did not." Gilda responded. Steel merely sighed as they approached the candy-coated building. The three of them had picked up Pinkie Pie almost immediately and headed for Twilight's library. Gilda had been to Ponyville once before since Steel had been cured, so when she did, she apoligized to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy for the way she treated them. Pinkie and Fluttershy, of course, readily accepted. They were now actually good friends. The griffon said her goodbyes and left for her destination of Las Pegasus. Steel looked to Rainbow, who was pressed against him as they walked. They approached the library and knocked on the door, which Twilight answered, smiling sweetly.

"Come on in, guys! The princess is almost here!" The purple mare said happily. The reason they had all gathered at the library was to welcome Princess Celestia to Ponyville for a visit. She had planned to talk to Twilight about her studies and learnings over the past weeks. Pinkie Pie ran inside to give all of her friends hugs, and greet them extravagantly, as she always did. Steel and Rainbow entered the library, looking upon all their friends, (who Pinkie Pie had already hugged). Applejack sat on a couch, laid back and calm, enjoying the relaxing air of the library. Rarity was adjusting her mane in a portable mirror. Fluttershy was looking for a book and Pinkie Pie just sat in a chair and happily hummed to herself.

"Hey guys!" Rainbow said.

"Rainbow, Steel! Great to see you two." Rarity said before quickly going back to her mirror. Rainbow rolled her eyes as Applejack came up to her and patted her back.

"Heya, Dash." Applejack said. "Hey, Steel." They both smiled and greeted her. Fluttershy flitted from the other side of the library and wrapped Rainbow in a hug, which she returned. She then hugged Steel who hugged her back with a small squeeze. She then went back to looking for her book.

"So," Rainbow said, walking into the library. "When is the Princess supposed to be here?" Twilight nervously looked at the clock ticking before gulping and looking from side to side.

"Oh, about half an hour ago. It's fine...I'm sure she'll be here any second." Sure enough, almost on cue, a knock was heard at the door of the library. Twilight exclaimed happily and answered the door, revealing the mighty and majestic Princess Celestia. All the ponies in the room knelt before her. Twilight nuzzled her.

"Princess! Welcome to Ponyville." Twilight said. The princess softly laughed.

"Why, thank you, Twilight. I always love coming here. I apoligize for being late. There was an issue in Canterlot that needed fixing." She said happily. "Hello, everypony." She looked down at them, looking up at her. She looked at Steel and smiled happily. "Steel Anvil. I sense a heartbeat coming from you. Congratulations." He smiled warmly and nodded at her.

"Thank you, your majesty." He said. The princess looked at her student.

"Well, now that the formalities are over, how about some tea while we discuss your studies?"

_____

The talk with Princess Celestia lasted quite a long time. It had been 4PM when they had started talking. They were still talking at 6 PM. The other ponies entertained themselves with things like games, (namely Twister where Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Steel all fell to the flexibility of Pinkie Pie) books and different forms of conversation. But, eventually, any ideas for entertainment ran out and the ponies just sat in the room, listening to Twilight and Celestia talk.

"Honestly," Rarity whispered to Fluttershy. "Why did we come if the princess is just going to talk to Twilight?" Fluttershy looked at her and shrugged. After a while, it was starting to get dark, so the princess began to leave, followed by all of the other ponies to see her off. She looked back quickly at Steel.

"Steel Anvil." She said to him. Her soft voice grabbed his attention. "How is business going at the forge?" He smiled at her.

"It's been going alright." He said. "I got a few orders last month." The princess nodded and raised an eyebrow and rubbed her chin, appearing to be in thought.

"You know..." She said. "My entire royal guard has been using the same set of spears for fifty years...I do believe that they need some new ones." She looked down at him. "I heard about your father Copper Shine's metalwork many years ago. They said it was as close to perfection as it could get. I hope you have his skill." At the mention of his father, Steel looked up at her, confused.

"Princess, I don't quite-"

"I would like to place an order for one hundred and fifty spears. The blades must be ten inches." Steel's eyes widened in disbelief. The ruler of Equestria was requesting of him what she should have been requesting of a smith in Manehattan or Canterlot. The royal alicorn's horn lit up with magic as they levitated a wheelbarrow under a large sack she got from her chariot before dropping the sack on the wheelbarrow. "I think I'll pay you in advance. One hundred and fifty thousand bits. I think that should cover it, don't you?" Steel just nodded stupidly at her as she got into her chariot. "I will expect them by the years end." Steel nodded again.

"Yes, your highness, thank you!" He said, extremely happily. "I won't let you down!" Rainbow Dash embraced Steel, overcome with happiness for her coltfriend. They kissed in the pure splendor of the moment. They had been getting by on both of their incomes, but this small fortune bestowed upon them was an incredible blessing. Celestia smiled at them.

"Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have to releive my duties to my sister back in Canterlot. Goodbye! Princess Luna and Discord send their regards." Everypony's eyes widened at the statement as the Princess rode off into the darkening sky.

"Discord?" Rainbow said, looking around at her friends. "What the hay?"

"Let's just trust the princess. She's never made a bad decision for Equestria." Twilight said before she clopped her hooves togther. "Okay, so, does anypony want to spend the night tonight?" Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity accepted the invitation, but Rainbow Dash, Steel Anvil and Applejack all had work to do the next day. As they began to go all of their seperate ways, Pinkie called to them.

"Come on, guys! Come join the party! Work can wait!" Rainbow smiled but respectfully declined the offer. After saying their goodbyes and receiving hearty congratulations from their friends, they headed back to the forge, the wheelbarrow weighing a lot, due to the massive amount of bits inside of it currently, thanks to Princess Celestia.

"Come on, let's go home and start a fire!" Rainbow said happily. "That's always the best thing when you've been walking around in the freezing cold weather all day. Besides," Rainbow said, inching closer and closer to her love as they walked. "It'll be nice and romantic." She kissed him before ambling ahead slightly, putting an enticing pep in her step to get Steel going. It worked. Steel smiled as he followed Rainbow, empowered by the promises of things to come. He looked to the side, across the street from himself as he approached the forge. There was a jewelry store, a great, well-kept place. He looked and saw pony mannequins, wearing different-looking necklaces. He noticed a sign above them that said-

'Marriage necklaces: 50% off.'

He looked at the window, then at his newly aquired small fortune, then at the beautiful necklaces. He briefly considered the different possibilities of what could happen in he did indeed ask Rainbow Dash to marry him.

"What's taking you so long?" He heard Rainbow Dash call from down the street. He looked up at her.

"Coming!" He thought to himself. 'Get married? So soon? Who are you kidding?' He hung his head slightly and continued after Rainbow, walking at a faster pace. When he finally got a ways down the street, he looked back at the store window and smirked to himself.

'Hmmm..." He thought to himself, now smiling. 'Maybe.'