Lyra and Bon Bon listened with rapt attention as Iron Will unveiled his plan. With random monster attacks taking place outside of Canterlot, it meant there would be more contracts for the Adventurer's Guild to clear away the pests. Furthermore, the Royal Guards arriving in Ponyville meant that there was an opportunity to provide said guards with any supplies they might require while they were there. Lastly, though nopony would admit it, the guards' presence in town meant that the monster problem had probably grown beyond just Canterlot, so there was further opportunity for the Guild to act as protection for anypony who needed to travel along any dangerous routes.
Lyra was already mentally calculating the potential profits. Assuming that the Royal Guards' presence meant that there were more than just 'a few' monsters to deal with, and also assuming the guards didn't oppose a bit of outside help, the additional earnings she could bring in would be more than enough to cover the week's debt payment. With some hard work and a little luck, it was likely that they could get a head start on the following payment as well — something they would definitely need if it were to once again be quadruple the previous week's payment.
"This sounds really great and all," Bon Bon chimed in, "but there's one problem." She indicated the whole room with a hoof. "How are we going to do all that with only the three of us? Four if you count Scootaloo."
Lyra's ears drooped. Bon Bon was right. There was no way they could run the shop, take on contracts, and act as bodyguards with just the four of them. Not without performing very poorly at one, or even all, of the jobs in question. The shop couldn't exactly run itself, so somepony would need to stay back and keep things moving along. She was also pretty sure that Bon Bon and herself still weren't cut out to go collecting contracts on their own. Not if the Squishies of the world had anything to say about it. They couldn't really rely on Scootaloo to handle monsters alone at her age, so that meant Iron Will would have to deal with them, instead. But if he did that, then there would be nopony to take on protection jobs... unless Lyra herself took those jobs. She could cast a protective shield, but not very well, and leaving Bon Bon alone to run the shop might be okay, but if something went wrong—
"Iron Will has thought about that and has a solution," the minotaur revealed. Before anypony could say anything, he walked to the door and opened it to reveal a yellow pegasus with a fiery orange mane waiting outside. She lifted her dark purple aviator glasses up with a wing and fixed her orange eyes on Lyra.
"So you're the boss, huh?" she said casually. She stepped into the shop, taking it all in as she walked. "I've gotta admit, I wasn't expecting much. Then again, Rainbow Dash did say you've got, and I quote, "freakishly good business skills", so I suppose I should give credit where it's due." She stopped in front of Lyra and extended a hoof. "Spitfire at your service, ma'am. Now who needs protecting?"
As it turned out, Iron Will was a lot more intelligent than many might think. Minotaurs were notoriously single-minded when it came to... well, anything, and would often approach a problem with the most direct solution that could possibly come to mind. The results would often be disastrous, but Iron Will was smart enough to know when, and when not, to use the simplest solution.
In this case, he did take the direct approach. During his time with the Adventurer's Guild, the rainbow pony – Rainbow Dash, he thought her name was – would often talk about the Wonderbolts. Apparently this group of pegasus ponies acted as some kind of air force and would often come to the aid of ponies in need. So when the idea of providing protection for travelling ponies came to mind, it only made sense to ask somepony who already regularly provided such a service for free.
And as luck would have it, Spitfire – the leader of the Wonderbolts – just happened to be enjoying a drink at the Adventurer's Guild when Iron Will went there to retrieve his membership badge. Sure, Spitfire had been wary of him when he approached her, but then it turned out that Rainbow Dash had already told her all about how Lyra had come from out of nowhere and hired the entire guild — who Rainbow continuously reminded everypony she was a member of — to help bring in massive amounts of bits, and she had listened attentively. While she ordinarily would be busy training new recruits at the Wonderbolt Academy or off performing some show, Iron Will had actually caught her during a rare vacation in which she had left her second-in-command, Soarin, in charge. With a few weeks of free time available to her, she had nothing better to do, so why not help out?
With Spitfire agreeing to assist ponies who needed to travel, Lyra and Bon Bon felt that the two of them should focus their efforts on running the shop, as even with assistance they would still have a hard time making the week's payment if anything were to unexpectedly go wrong. They also still had to deal with Filthy Trix's attempts to undermine everything they did, as just that morning they had heard that the Wealthy and Corporate Trixie had slashed prices in an effort to clear her abundance of stock. Meanwhile, Scootaloo was to continue taking on minor contracts for the guild to help gain confidence and experience, as well as to provide a few extra bits. At this stage, every little bit would help.
That left the monsters. Ordinarily, Iron Will would be focused entirely upon them, as they were his problem to deal with. His thoughts, however, were on his decision to assist Lyra directly.
Though it was hard to admit it, he had initially been embarrassed to be associated with her. She was a pony, after all, and though there were ponies who worked at Can't Run, Can't Hide, he didn't have to work directly with them. Lyra was different than most ponies, though. She was small, frail, and weak like most ponies, sure. But she was also uncommonly clever, and absolutely ruthless when it came to earning a bit. She was the kind of pony who could be backed into a corner with nowhere to run and still manage to come out on top somehow... and she'd be smiling the entire time.
That was the kind of pony Iron Will could stand beside.
But no, it wasn't just her business sense that he admired. This was a pony who he had sought out with the sole purpose of... well, ruining her life, admittedly. She could have fled town. Should have, really. But she hadn't. She'd taken the challenge head-on and then had done the strangest thing of all: she had called him a friend. Stranger still, he was certain that she had actually meant it.
As he made his way to the Friendship Express on his way to Canterlot, Iron Will smiled as he realized something else. Something that might not seem that significant to anypony else, but it was a big deal for him:
He no longer had any trouble remembering Lyra's name.