Tungsten stood, his head bowed in submission. He was in a large, darkened room, silence save for the two flickering torches set on either side of the door behind him. His head lowered, he looked upwards to the pale figure appearing from the dark in front of him. Although much smaller, he held an air of authority over Tungsten.
"I take it everything went according to plan?"
"Yes master." He said reverently.
"Steelhoof has been taken care of?"
"Yes master."
"The village was also taken care of?"
"I don't follow, master."
At once, the smooth tone of the elderly cyborg changed.
"You allowed witnesses to survive?"
"I did not realise that was part of my mission, master."
"DAMMIT TUNGSTEN!" He roared, and struck him across the face with his metallic foreleg. "If you allow witnesses to survive, they might flee and tell Celestia! Our plans are too close to fruition without you ruining everything!"
"Master, I will return to Ponyville, and I will leave none alive."
"Yes, and this time you will not fail me."
"Yes master."
"Now leave my sight!" At once, Tungsten nodded and marched out of the door, barely keeping his composure. As soon as he was out of the room however, he let out his rage. With a feral snarl, he smashed his forehoof into the thick stone walls of the castle. The stone immediately gave way beneath his hoof, and he left a huge crater in the wall. Although much more stable than his 'brother', he still felt the primal rage come to power in his mind. He strode quickly through the dimly lit corridors, ignoring his fellow androids as they hurried past on their own orders. There were so many more than there used to be. He could remember, just a few years ago, when it had just been him, the master and a few others. Now, as their moment drew ever closer, the castle had grown busier and busier.
Tungsten pushed open the main doors to the outside world, and with a curt nod to the guards, took to the air. He glared angrily at the nearby city. Maybe, if he accomplished his task soon, the master would allow him to personally oversee the destruction of that place. He flared his engines and headed south. The slaughter of a few hundred ponies would be an easy change from a genuine threat to his life, something he had not been used to until he fought with Steelhoof. Thank the gods that was in the past.
"I'm going to try what?" Steelhoof asked, his eyes wide and his mouth open.
"Hey, you heard me." Rainbow hovered next to him, her forelegs folded against her chest.
"But that's impossible! You can manage it because you're the greatest pony in Equestria! I'm a shit flier!"
"Nah, you're pretty fast, and you're good in a straight line." Rainbow explained, oozing confidence. "And besides, I reckon you could do it."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why not? You've certainly got some serious speed, and it's not like gravity won't be helping you most of the way."
"Oh, you're gonna pull some fat jokes on me? Well how about I tell Fluttershy all about how much you like it when I-"
"Okay! Okay! I give!"
"I wouldn't really. You know that."
"Yeah, I might never talk to you again."
"Okay, so, what do I do?"
"Well, just fly down as fast as you can. You've got to focus completely on the flying, or you won't make it. It's easy for me, 'cos speed is like, thirty, forty per cent of my life? For you, it's a little harder, but there's no harm in trying."
"Do you believe I can do it?"
"What do you…"
"Do you?"
"Yeah, I think you could pull it off."
"Then I'll give it a shot." And with that, he flew even higher into the air, and with engines flaring, flew straight downwards. He weighed a good five hundred kilos, so Rainbow wasn't wrong in saying gravity would be helping him. Even then, it took much longer for the mach cone to slowly form around him, and he willed himself slowly faster. There was a blur of rainbow to his left, and sure enough, his fillyfriend flew alongside him, apparently showing none of the intense concentration that he required to make it this far. She opened his mouth and shouted at him, but it only came quietly and in short bursts.
"… Can't stay with you the whole way! … Shockwave might kill us! You've gotta … focused! … Believe in you!" Steelhoof turned his head and nodded to her, before returning his attention to the slowly narrowing mach cone in front of him. Come on imagination, don't fail me now. You've always messed with my reality, and now I need a bit of that. For Rainbow. Slowly but surely, an image of Rainbow dash began to form in front of him. Unconscious, and just out of reach. Desperation turned to determination, and his speed increased, the friction causing his front feet to glow red hot. Still, he strived downward, the love of his life just out of reach. His eyes narrowed, and the heat on his forehooves intensified. Then something happened.
It wasn't graceful, like Rainbow dash, it was violent. Instead of splitting the sound barrierpuncturing it like a water drop, he ripped straight through it, ploughing through the barrier as if it were a physical wall. And then, in an instant, the heat from his forehooves ignited the air around him, and he was wreathed in flame. The shockwave from the sonic boom carried a wave of fire out with it, a glowing disc of orange in the morning sky.
The sudden increase in velocity snapped him out of his illusion, and he barely levelled out in time, leaving a strip of scorched grass in his wake. He increased altitiude, and soared over the everfree forest. In the back of his mind he heard a similar explosion as the one he created, and his fillyfriend sped past him effortlessly. Having proved her aerial superiority, she held back slightly and kept level with the comet that was her coltfriend, until the fire slowly burned out and they flew back, landing just inside Ponyville.
"That was awesome Steel!" Rainbow said enthusiastically, and ran towards him.
"Whoa, stop!" Rainbow stopped.
"Why?"
"My skin is still around three hundred degrees Celsius. If you touch me, you'll melt." He lifted a hoof, and the flagstone underneath him glowed slightly. "Just give it a minute."
"Okay. You've gotta admit though that was totally awesome! There was a point, right before the end, where I didn't think you'd make it, and then BAM! Straight through the sound barrier! And that fire stuff? Almost as cool as making rainbows."
"Yeah, it was pretty cool I guess."
"No kidding! How the hay did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"The sonic boom! I mean, I'm the first to do a sonic rainboom, which is the fastest, and others do occasionally break the sound barrier, but you're new to this stuff!"
"Well, I… wait, I thought you said you believed in me!"
"I did, it's just a really rare thing, you know? Besides, you didn't answer my question."
"Well, I… You know how my imagination can mess with my conscious though sometimes?"
"… yeah?"
"Well, I used that to my advantage. I… pictured you, falling, just out of reach. It was horrible."
"Then why'd you do it, you crazy colt?"
"I didn't want to let you down." His eyes shifted slightly towards blue at the thought of a disappointed Rainbow dash, and he looked down.
"Aww, can I give you a hug now?"
Steelhoof reared up and spread his forelegs wide. Rainbow rushed over and hugged him tightly, nuzzling his shoulder.
"You could never let me down Steel."
"I love you, Dash."
"I love you too big guy, even if you do act a little stupid sometimes." He hugged her lovingly back, lifting her off the ground to be the same height as him.
"Hey Steel! Steel!" The thick southern accent cut through the atmosphere like a knife, and Steelhoof set Rainbow down and looked to the source of the voice. Applejack was running towards them, leaving a bewildered-looking Applebloom at the apple stand.
"Oh, hey AJ."
"Look, Ah wanted to apologise. Fer bein' such a mean pony. Ah had no right."
"Hey, it's not your fault. You just want to protect her, and I understand that. I'm sorry I came so close to hurting you. My temper gets the better of me sometimes."
"Nah, Ah'm the one at blame. Ah shouldn't get so protective. Now, if y'all still need the bits, the position on the farm's still open to you, even if Ah can't trust you with the trees."
"Thanks AJ. That means a lot to me."
"Ah'm glad y'all could accept mah apology. Now, could y'all excuse me? Ah have a stall to get back to."
"That's cool, we have to get Rainbow some lunch."
"Wait, what?"
"Alright then, sugarcube. Ah'll see you around." And with that, Applejack trotted off to her stall, scolding Applebloom, who was trying to frame more ponies of stealing apples.
"You're not planning on wasting more bits on me, are you?"
"I don't have the bits to waste, but I'm still buying."
"You're unbearably stubborn sometimes, you know that?"
"You love it." They walked further into town, heading for a small, well-priced café not far away. Before they could make it however, they were interrupted by a shout. They turned, and saw Mayor mare galloping towards them.
"Here comes bad news, Rainbow."
Man, I'm so sorry this one was so late coming out. It's been a mix of sheer procrastination and the fact that I've been writing another, unrelated story at the same time. Again, sorry it's so late, and I hope you like it. I'm very happy to hear your thoughts about it, and give me any and all questions you may have with the story.
