A word of warning- If you haven't read Steelhoof: the life I lead, this may not make much sense to you, so I advise you to go do so before you read. If you have read Steelhoof: the life I lead, then welcome back! This would never have happened without you!

The time was eight thirty in the evening. It was early autumn, and it was already dark as a large train pulled up at Ponyville's tiny train station, the last stop of the night. The runner ponies let their reins go slack as they stretched their aching muscles from running all day. Only a small number of ponies had remained on the train to the last stop, and one of the carriages lurched to one side as two ponies in particular disembarked. Steelhoof, the pony who had caused the movement on the train carriage, stepped out first, and held out his forehoof in a centlecoltly manner. The second to disembark was Rainbow dash, flexing her wings from an entire day of sitting in one place, a difficult task for a pony of her obsession with speed. She took a deep sigh, and turned to her coltfriend.

"Feels like we've never been away, doesn't it?"

"It's only been three weeks, Rainbow."

"That's a long time for me!"

"Try six years." The big pony said flatly, but still smiling. The pale glow from the streetlights cast a strange effect on Steelhoof's skin as they walked, his skin softly reflecting it as they walked.

This was because Steelhoof was made of metal. Except from his brain, which was removed from his crippled body after an accident that should have cost him his life, every single part of his body was made of metal, a very unusual sight in the relatively old-fashioned Ponyville. His usually yellow eyes glowed green in the darkness, as they always did when he was happy.

The pair walked quietly through the deserted streets, passing the various cracks in the pavement and the partly rebuilt schoolhouse bell tower, created by Steelhoof's run-in with a Cerberus nearly four weeks ago. Even though it had not been a good time in their relationship, it still made Steelhoof slightly happier that, through thick and thin, their love had continued. Just as they lifted off towards the cloud castle, Steelhoof suddenly remembered something that would completely top off the romantic outing. Something he just had to get.

"Wait, Rainbow, I need to get something!"

"What is it?"

"I… can't tell you yet, it's a secret."

"Well, ok, but hurry back. It looks like there was a storm while we were out and my house has moved."

"Sure thing!" and with that, he shot off into the sky, heading west into the everfree forest. Rainbow dash shrugged to herself, and continued searching for her house.

Steelhoof darted through the everfree forest, searching for the elusive roses that had been his valentine's gift all those years ago. Although he knew it was totally unnecessary, he still felt that it was important to show how much she meant to him. As the challenge of entering the monster infested forest was lost on his mechanical body, he was not paying much attention, and so almost missed an absolute jackpot of rare everfree roses. They were small, delicate roses, blood red in the centre and fading slightly into orange at the edges of the petals. Although he had difficulty seeing the beauty of anything that was not Rainbow dash, he could still see that the roses were supposed to be very pretty. He picked a large number of them up into a vague bouquet in his mouth. He whirled around and began speeding back. In about five minutes, he made it back to the darkened Ponyville. Glad to have his hooves back on firm ground, he wandered slowly around Ponyville, searching for the unmistakable shape of Rainbow's cloud castle. However, as he cantered down a particularly dark alleyway, several shapes detached themselves from the shadows. A familiar voice came from the pony before him.

"Steelhoof old friend, that you?"

"Ambrose?"

"Hey, it is you! How life been treating you? Nopony's seen you in like, three years, man! What happened?"

"You remember what happened in Trottingham."

"Oh yeah, I heard the incident with Heavy Thought tore you up pretty bad. You still in the wanderin' business, right?"

"I-"

"Hey, what's with the flowers? You into the delivering business now?"

"No, actually, they're for my fillyfriend." Ambrose and the others looked at him for a few seconds, and then burst out laughing.

"You? You have a fillyfriend?" He asked, wiping a tear from his eye. "Wait, that means… you're settling down? For a mare?"

"Yes." Steelhoof said, starting to get irritated by the conversation.

"Nooo. How come?"

"Well, for a start, I'm in love. Also, I want to put the cold, heartless world behind me and make some real friends."

"What? Bronies before hoenies, man!"

"We were hardly friends. You stuck with me because I was a shared profit magnet, and didn't kill me just because you couldn't. And, I'm not entirely sure I want you here. You may have forgotten that I know full well that you're a murderer and a thief. And, I'm listed as Ponyville's protector now, so I'm hardly going to let you waltz in and potentially hurt my friends."

"So… what you're saying is, you're not going to let us in." The group drew themselves up to their full height, and puffed their chests out in an attempt to intimidate. None of them were tall enough to reach his chin, let alone meet eye contact with him.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Now, if you don't want to go the same way as so many Cerberi, scorpios and dragons, I suggest that you do as I say." His eyes began to shift to orange, and he leaned forward to drive his point home. The wanderers stepped back.

"Y-you don't scare us!" Ambrose said quietly. Steelhoof raised his left foreleg, and with a flick, engaged his wristblade. The ponies turned and fled. As they did so, Steelhoof sliced downwards, cutting somepony's tail clean in half. With a triumphant growl, he continued his ground search for the castle, thinking back on the shield emblazoned on his flank. He hoped that bit of protection would help him to live up to his new role. In a few minutes, he saw it, nestled in a small cloud bank.

He sped up to the castle, eager to see the light of his life again. He cantered up the path and pushed open the door, and strode into the bedroom, to find Rainbow dash lying on the soft bed, staring at him with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Hey Steel, my Flight muscles are kinda cramped again from sitting in a train all day, you don't think you could…"

"With pleasure." He said, unclipping his blades and hopping up onto the bed with her. He'd secretly taken out a special massage therapy book from the library before they left, and had decided to keep his new knowledge a secret until now. As he delicately worked the discomfort from Rainbow's shoulders, he leaned down and nuzzled her neck. She moaned with pleasure, and squirmed slightly.

"Hey, hold still." He whispered softly in her ear. She pouted slightly, but obliged. Before long, he worked downwards to her lower back, and then onto her cutie marks, tracing around them in small circles. She bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying out and her eyes snapped shut in bliss. Eventually, he stopped and laid down next to her, pulling the duvet up over them and pulling her into a warm embrace.

"It's nice to be back." Rainbow murmured, before falling asleep in the big pony's hooves. Steelhoof smiled and kissed her on the cheek, before lying down and joining her in slumber.

Meanwhile, in a castle far to the north of Equestria, A pale figure stared out of a widow, near the top of a tower. It held a newspaper in its hoof. As it stared, a large, oak door swung slowly open behind him, and a huge figure walked in. The moonlight glinted softly from his plates. The pale figure turned to face him.

"Tungsten." It said.

"You called, master?"

"Indeed I did. Look at this." He threw the newspaper down in front of the metal pony. It showed a grainy, black and white image of Steelhoof, just as the party held in his honour began.

"Titanium." Tungsten breathed.

"Quite. Or as he is now known, Steelhoof. It would appear that he will be at this location for a long period of time. You will go there, and you will find him. And once there, you shall convince him to join our cause. If you cannot, you must destroy him."

"At once, master." Tungsten turned to go.

"One more thing, Tungsten."

"Yes master?"

"Do not fail me."

"Yes master." Tungsten strode from the room. The door swung shut behind him. The pale figure sighed and returned to the window. The city of Stalliongrad lay below him, a few miles away.

"Soon, you will be mine. And with it, the whole world." He chuckled softly to himself, and crossed his biological hoof over his mechanical one. He laid his head on the hooves, and closed his eyes.

There might be a longer gap between uploads than before, but I'm going to try and get them out as quickly as possible. As always, please pm or review me with any criticisms or ideas you may have.