//------------------------------// // The Ticket Master Part 1 // Story: The Bystander // by Kerberos //------------------------------// The Ticket Master The Events After The NNM Incident.         Iron was in pain. Not the kind of stub your hoof pain. Not the kind of get a paper cut pain. It was the pain you feel after being thrown a good thirty feet into a stone wall kind of pain. His first reaction to the pain was to grit his teeth and hug his pillow even tighter. Except, his pillow squeaked. His eyelids felt heavy, but he was able to open one eye.         He didn’t see anything but a normal hospital room. He saw the plastic railing of the bed. There was a counter and some cupboards across the room. It was also dark. The curtains have been drawn shut. He could see the faint light of day. ‘Thank Celestia. We won… and somepony actually closed the curtains.’         Iron was roused from his thoughts by a slight movement against his chest. He looked down to see rainbow hair trying to bury itself into his chest. He knew exactly who it was trying to merge with him. It was the same mare that wanted to be with him. It was the same mare who would lose a very good friend if he let it happen.         ‘Damn it Rainbow. Are you trying to make me feel worse.’ Of course he couldn’t tell her now. He didn’t want to ruin the moment. That, and his voice was as dry as Saddle Arabia.         He scanned the room, looking for a glass of water. On the table right next to his bed sat a clear glass of water, with a straw. A bendy straw. ‘Awwww, they thought of everything.’ He tried to chuckle, but that only threw him into a coughing fit. While he was coughing, he didn’t notice Rainbow scramble up and grab the glass.         “Here. Drink this.” She was now sitting up on the bed. Iron calmed down with only a few lingering coughs. He was leaning against the headboard, reaching for the glass. Rainbow didn’t give him the glass. Instead, she lifted it to his mouth.         “The doctor said to drink slow.” Iron nodded and sipped on the straw. He made sure he went slow, knowing Rainbow would throw a fit if he hurt himself further.. After a few moments, he let the straw go and leaned his head back.         “That’s better.” His voice was still scratchy. He closed his eyes and leaned back. Rainbow set the glass back down and sat up on the bed. “So what happened after I was thrown against the wall?” Rainbow leaped up and did some flips in the air before landing back on the bed, nose to nose.         “It.Was.Awesome! We ran up there to face down Nightmare Moon when Twilight went off on this thing about how we are the new Elements of Harmony. You are looking at the new Element of Loyalty!” She puffed out her chest. Iron chuckled at the pony’s bravo.         “Yes, yes. You are an important mare.” Iron waved his hoof around. Rainbow respond in kind by sticking her tongue out. “So what happened after that?”         “Oh yeah. So we all start hovering in the air, which felt weird because I wasn’t flying. Anyways, we shot this giant rainbow right at Nightmare. I don’t remember the details, but we all woke up on the floor with these necklaces. They each had a gem shaped like our cutie marks. Well, Twilight got this tiara. Me, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy got the necklaces.” Iron could tell Rainbow was happy to be even more famous.         “And I am guessing that since I was knocked out, I didn’t get a pwetty necklace?” Iron pretended to pout. Rainbow just smirked and patted his head.         “No, the foal got a bwoken wing instead.” Rainbow pointed over Iron’s shoulder. He looked back to see one of his wings was wrapped up. He was shocked because he didn’t feel a thing.         “So, heh. Why can’t I feel it?” He was in between confused and panic. Rainbow brought up a hoof to her mouth and started to giggle.         “Well, haha, the doctor said, haha, and I quote,” she giggled more before continuing in a deep female voice. “I don’t want him waking up and wailing like a newborn foal. Pump him with enough drugs to stop a manticore.” Rainbow fell off the bed laughing her plot off. Iron guessed it was one of those “You had to of been there” things.         “So, anything else I should know?” Rainbow picked herself off the floor. Rainbow brought her hoof to her forehead, trying to think of anything else.         “Hmmmm...Well, the princess came in yesterday but you still weren’t awake. The doctor wanted to know when you wake up. That’s about it.” She ended in a smile. Iron looked at the mare expectantly.         “So, does the doctor know I am up?” Iron gave Rainbow some credit. It only took her a few seconds to realize that the doctor wouldn’t magically know he was awake. She hopped off the bed and trotted out the door to get the doctor. ‘Today’s going to be a long day’ Present time. Iron was let out of the hospital a day later with some strong painkillers. He was advised to not do any work in his shop till he was off the medication. Without any work to do Iron became really bored. He sat in his house, watching his work pile up, not being able to even take a chunk out of it.         Not being able to work also had an unexpected side effect. His mind wasn’t busy with work. So, now his mind was busy with the thoughts of Rainbow and Fluttershy. He decided to ask Rainbow about that the next time he saw her. She mentioned something about helping out Applejack with some apples.         He decided to fix his cabin fever and walked out his door, heading to town. When he hit the crossroad for the Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville, he saw Rainbow and Applejack racing to town. He tried to follow as fast as he could, but the medicine he was on made his legs feel numb. He was able to arrive just in time to hear Fluttershy giving a speech about some garden.         “and that night alone, would they all be in bloom... and that's just the flora! Don't get me started on the fauna. There's loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my! Hummingbirds that can really hum, and buzzards that can really buzz. White-blue jays, and red jays, and green jays, pink jays and pink flamingos!” Fluttershy was ecstatic about the garden at the gala. What they didn’t know was the real reason she wanted the ticket.         “Gee, Fluttershy, it sounds... beautiful?” Twilight responded. Fluttershy nodded in agreement. ‘It would be the perfect time to tell Rainbow my feelings.’ She felt her heart flutter at the thought of her and Rainbow in the garden at night, under the stars. Each one confessing their love to the other.         “Wait just a minute!” Rainbow made her presence known.         “Rainbow Dash, were you following me?” Twilight glared at the pegasus.         “No. I mean, yes. I mean, maybe. Look, it doesn't matter. I couldn't risk a goody-four-shoes like you giving that ticket away to just anypony.” All the mares seemed to get a little heated at the comment.         “Wait just another minute!” Applejack announced herself.         “Applejack, were you following me too?” Twilight was starting to get irritated. Applejack looked appalled at what Twilight was getting at.         “No. I was following' this one to make sure she didn't try any funny business. Still trying to take mah ticket.” Applejack pointed at Rainbow. Dash huffed in return. “Your ticket?” Rainbow and Applejack were butting heads. “But Twilight's taking me.” Pinkie threw in her case. The ponies started to argue soon after. Twilight tried to make herself as small as possible. She hated to see her new friends start to fight. Iron wasn’t too fond of it either.         “Hey! Hey! Hey! What is this all about?” Iron shouted at the ponies. All but Pinkie went silent.         “And then I said, "Oatmeal, are you craz--" oh.” Pinkie gave a sheepish smile. Twilight looked relieved to see and escape to her problem.         “Iron! Thank Celestia you’re here.” She trotted up beside him. Twilight then turned around and addressed the mares. “Girls, there's no use in arguing.”         “But Twilight-” Rarity started, but she was silenced by Twilight’s hoof.         “Eh! This is my decision, and I'm gonna make it on my own, and I certainly can't think straight with all this noise…” She was interrupted by the grumble of her stomach. “Not to mention hunger. Now go on, shoo.” All the ponies started to walk away, grumbling to themselves. Twilight felt a little bad that she just pushed them off. “And don't worry, I'll figure this out... somehow.” She ended with a sigh.         “So what was that all about? And what is this thing about a ticket?” Iron was confused how a ticket could get so many ponies worked up. Twilight immediately stiffened and looked left and right. She was starting to sweat bullets. “What was what? There is no ticket. I don’t know what you are talking about.” Iron wasn’t convinced. It didn’t help that Twilight was a bad liar. “C’mon. You don’t have to hide it from me.” Iron goaded Twilight just a bit more. She then gave out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. I have an extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala.” She flinched away expecting Iron to explode in excitement. When she didn’t hear anything, she peaked through her forelegs. “Did you say the Grand Galloping Gala?” Twilight weakly nodded her head. “You mean where the ponies gather for the biggest and most exclusive party of the whole year?” Twilight gave another nod. Iron grabbed her shoulders and gave a big smile. He couldn’t help but mess with her just a bit. “You are going to take me, right?” Twilight started to back away in fear.         “I… uh… well.. You want to go too?” She thought that she knew the answer, but she couldn’t help but ask. Iron breathed into what seemed to be a screaming yes.         “Nah.” Iron just stood there trying his hardest not to laugh. Twilight on the other hoof looked both relieved, shocked, and curious. But mostly shocked.         “Wait, what? Why not?” Iron gave her a smile.         “Because one, I don’t have a date. Unless, you want to be my date.” Her ears flattened as she gave a sheepish chuckle. “I thought so. Two, it isn’t really my kind of scene. I am not really the fancy pompous pony that normally goes to these things. And three, I would have to turn in my stallion card if I was all excited to go like our friends.” Twilight thought about this for a moment. She was relieved that he wasn’t acting all crazy, but he kind of reminded her about how Spike reacted. Before she could go on, her stomach grumbled again.         “Heh, I still haven’t had any lunch yet.” She rubbed her stomach and gave an embarrassed smile. Iron just chuckled at the mare.         “Well, there is a nice restaurant not to far from here. You can grab you dragon friend… Spike?” She nodded her head. “Yeah, you can grab him and meet me over there in say… a few minutes. Twilight looked a bit more relaxed at the prospect of food.         “That… would be nice. Thank you.” She then trotted back towards, what Iron guessed was, the library. He hoped that Twilight would be able to find her way to the restaurant. It was a nice place with some outdoor seating.         It didn’t take long for the purple pony and dragon to show up. Iron waved them over to the table. Twilight sat down at the table while Spike eyed Iron.         “So Twilight… who’s this?” He pointed his thumb towards Iron. Twilight looked up from the menu and facehoofed.         “I’m sorry. You guys haven’t been properly introduced yet. Spike, this is Iron. He helped us with finding the Elements. Iron, this is Spike, my number one assistant.” Iron reached his foreleg out.         “Nice to meet you Spike.” Spike wrapped his claws around Iron’s hoof. To Iron, it felt a little weird having the claws wrap around his leg. He pushed his discomfort down smiled. Spike had on a pleasant face. Spike let go and an awkward silence fell on the group. A waiter came around and took their orders. Other than that, there was hardly any talking.         “So… what element are you?” Spike tried to fill the void. Twilight looked up from her menu with a worried expression. He was the only one to go find the elements and not come back with one. To Twilight’s relief, Iron just chuckled.         “I was the element of surprise… but Nightmare thought I would be better wall decoration.” Spike looked confused and Twilight giggled a bit herself.         “Ok. I’m confused. What?” Spike looked back and forth, trying to figure out what Iron ment. Twilight was able to stop her giggling and reiterated for Spike.         “Well, when Nightmare transported me and the elements to a different part of the castle, Iron went right through a window and charged right at Nightmare. But, before he could get close, she flung him over to a wall. It wasn’t funny at the time, but the way he said it… I couldn’t help it.” She continued to giggle on. Spike seemed to catch on, but he didn’t find it funny enough to laugh at. He was happy that he had another guy to hang around with.         “So who are you going to take to the Gala?” Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Well I was going to take who had the best reason to go. But all five of my best friends have really good reasons to go to the gala. Oh, who should go with me?” Twilight slammed her head on the table. Iron could tell she was frustrated, as could the surrounding ponies. “I’m sure you will figure this out.” Iron reached over and patted her head. Twilight looked up with a smile that said “Thank you”. The waiter came back with their orders: Iron had a hay sandwich, Spike had hay fries, and Twilight had a daffodil and daisy sandwich.         “Mmmmm, this looks delicious. I will finally be able to decide on who to take once I have something in my stomach.” Twilight was about to take a bite when a crowd of ponies ran into the building. The trio sat there wondering what was happening.         “Em, are you going to eat your food in ze rain?” the waiter asked from indoors. Iron looked up to see a cloudy sky. He was just about to try and get Twilight and Spike to go inside when the rain started. Except, it didn’t rain around their table. Twilight also looked up and saw a hole in the clouds with Rainbow in the middle.         “Hi there, best friend forever I've ever ever had. Enjoying the sunny weather?” Iron groaned and rubbed his temples. Twilight went on to interrogate the pony.         “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?” Rainbow put on an innocent face, trying to act cute. Well, Iron didn’t mind the cute part but it got nowhere with Twilight.         “Whaddya you mean? I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on, so I thought I'd kick a hole in the clouds to keep her dry so she could dine in peace, that's all. Plus there is that stallion there too.” She threw a wink in Iron’s direction. Iron wanted to ignore the wink but something in him snapped. ‘You know what? Screw it! I’m going to ask her out. Why can’t I be happy too?’ Iron felt warmer inside. Like he laying in the sun all day. He didn’t get the chance to ask her when Twilight spoke up.         “Rainbow, you're not trying to get extra consideration for the extra ticket by doing me extra special favors, are you?” Rainbow looked nervous, but put on her fake confidence that Iron has grown accustomed to.         “Me? No no no, of course not.” She then did the whole innocent routine again. It didn’t work the first time and it didn’t work this time. Iron on the other hoof, wanted to fly up there and cuddle the tartarus out of her. Twilight crossed her forelegs and gave an “Uh-huh.” Rainbow gave off another nervous chuckle.         “Seriously, I'd do it for any pony.” Iron looked around at all the ponies running in the rain. He gave a chuckle at the mare’s poor ability to lie. Twilight still wasn’t amused with Rainbow’s display.         “Rainbow, I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favors, so I'd appreciate it if you close up that rain cloud right now.” Rainbow looked like she was going to argue her point again, poorly, but the look on Twilight’s face told her to just cut her losses.         “Ugh, fine,” Rainbow groaned. The then zipped up the cloud. Twilight looked pleased with herself, until the rain ruined her sandwich. She heard a couple of laughs. Looking over to where Iron was sitting, there was still no rain. She looked up to see Rainbow snickering from above. As soon as they made eye contact, Rainbow shrugged her shoulders. “What? I said I did it for him too.” Twilight groaned and slammed her head on the table. Iron gave a sympathetic laugh.         “You probably should close up that cloud Rainbow. I don’t want to get you fired. I’m not scared of a little water.” He then leaned over towards Twilight. “Plus, I finished my food.” Iron just heard incoherent mumbles coming from the hungry mare.         “Alright, I’ll see you later.” Rainbow zipped up the rest of the cloud and completed the storm. Iron was now as soaked as Twilight. Both of their coats were plastered against their skin and their manes were droopy. Spike was hiding under Iron till Rainbow zipped up the rest of the cloud. He was now hiding under the table.         A few seconds passed before Rarity trotted up with her umbrella saddle. It was as frilly as you could expect from Rarity.         “Twilight, it's raining.” Twilight and Iron both looked at her with a “Really now? I couldn’t tell” face. They never got to press the issue before she grabbed Twilight. “Come with me before you catch a cold.” Rarity took off with Twilight in tow, heading towards the boutique. Iron grabbed Spike and ran after the mares. He was thankful that he payed before the rain.         When the guys entered the boutique, they saw Twilight all died off. Rarity, however, was dripping wet. Twilight apologized for getting Rarity all wet.         “Oh no, it's quite all right. After all, we are... the best of friends, are we not? And you know what the best of friends do?” Iron sat down on a couch next to Spike. He had one good guess about what she was going to say next. “Makeovers!” Iron chalked another point up for himself. He felt a little bit lonely seeing as he was playing by himself.         What happened next amazed even Iron. Rarity slid a divider out of nowhere and proceeded to give Twilight a makeover. It looked a bit cartoony for Iron but he still found amusement in it. When the divider was whisked away, Twilight stood there in an appealing saddle and matching necklace. Iron couldn’t give up the chance to embarrass her. He proceeded to whistle at her like a construction worker. Twilight gave a blush and looked away.         “There. Oh, you're simply darling.” Iron could agree with Rarity on this one. There weren't many times he and Rarity agreed on styles. Twilight looked herself over in the mirror.         “Uh, yeah, it is kinda pretty, isn't it?” Twilight was moving around, trying to eye her new accessory from every angle she could. Rarity leaned over to Spike. The look in her eyes told him what she was going to do next.         “And you. Oh Spike, I have a dandy little outfit for the dashing gent.” Spike tried to make a break for it, but he was already in her grasp. The divider slid back and they repeated the cartoon dressing. When the divider slid away, Iron couldn’t help but to fall over laughing. The way Spike was dress, a pony might mistake him for a girl dragon. Twilight didn’t even try to stop the giggle fit while Rarity finished him off with a hat. Spike crossed his arms and continued to pout.         “Ugh, I told you, I don't want any part of this girly gala gunk, see you back at the library.” Spike shot off in a flash, leaving all the clothing behind. Rarity started to walk towards Iron before he held up his hoof. He had just recovered from the entertainment Rarity was so happy to provide.         “Touch me, and I will color your mane green.” Rarity didn’t get any closer. Iron knew how to avoid being her personal model over years of business. Rarity opted not to test the stallion’s resolve and trotted over to Twilight, who was still eyeing herself in the mirror.         “Oh, who needs them anyway. This is all about you, and how fabulous you'll look at The Grand Galloping Gala.” At the mention of Gala, Twilight furrowed her brow and looked over to Rarity.         “Wait, The Grand--” Twilight didn’t get any farther than that. Rarity gasped and ran over to a ponnequin.         “And oh, my goodness, what a coincidence. I happen to have an ensemble of my own that matches yours. We would be the belles of the ball, you and I. Everyone would be clamoring for our attention. All eyes would be on us, and then everyone would finally know, the most beautiful, most talented, most sophisticated pony in all of Equestria is Rarity the unicorn.” Iron facehoofed so hard, it echoed in the room. ‘And here I thought Dash had an ego.’ Rarity looked down to see the pony she was suffocating. She let out a sheepish laugh. “and Twilight Sparkle, of course.” Twilight was not amused by Rarity’s antics. “I see what's going on. You're just buttering me up so I give you the extra ticket. Well it's not gonna work. You're going to have to wait for my decision just like everyone else.” Twilight started to walk to the door. “Now if you'll excuse me, I've been trying all day just to get some lunch.” After the word lunch Applejack stuck her head through the door. “Did somepony say lunch?” Iron heard Twilight express her disbelief. He got off the couch and trotted over to the door. Outside the door stood an Apple family cart overflowing with all kinds of apple related foods. “Ah got apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts, apple dumplings, apple crisps, apple crumblers, and apple Brown Betty. Uh, the dessert, not mah auntie. What do ya say there, best friend?” Twilight answered with a stomach growl. Iron just couldn’t hold in his laughs today. Applejack took that as a good sign. “Is that a yes?” Twilight started to scowl at the farm pony. Iron admitted that he would probably be annoyed too if ponies kept doing these things for a silly ticket. “No. No. I don't know who I'm giving the ticket to, and all these favors aren't making it any easier to decide. In fact, I'm less sure now than I was this morning. Ugh!” She started to run away from Applejack. Iron took no time to run right after her. He was able to get close enough to grab her tail. With a yelp, she landed on her flank. She turned around to face her attacker, but was relieved to see only Iron. “I know you are stressed out, but you need to calm down.” Twilight’s stomach grumbled again. “And we need to get some food in you. Take a deep breath” Twilight took a deep breath before nodding. “Better?” She gave another nod. “C’mon then. Let’s get you home.” Twilight took another deep breath and followed Iron to the library. When they opened the doors, they saw animals all around, cleaning the entry room. Some were scrubbing the floors while others dusted the shelves. Fluttershy was humming as she flew across the room with a sponge. “Fluttershy, not you too?” Twilight thought she could count on the cowardly mare to not press the issue. Fluttershy stopped what she was doing and looked towards the exhausted mare in the doorway. “Oh, well, hello Twilight. I hope you don't mind, but we're all doing a little spring cleaning for you.” Iron sighed and leaned against the door. ‘I bet one hundred bits that she doesn’t even recognize that I am here.’  Twilight wasn’t faring any better. “It's summer,” Twilight deadpanned. Fluttershy nervously smiled. “Oh, well, better late than never, right? It was Angel's idea.” The mares and stallion looked over to see Fluttershy’s pet bunny tossing an appetizing salad. Angle gave off a little squeak that would make anypony’s heart melt. Anypony but a frustrated mare and a peeved stallion. “You're not doing this for the ticket, are you?” Twilight knew it was but she couldn’t help but ask. ‘She is the Element of Kindness,’ Twilight thought. Fluttershy floated down to the ground. “Oh no, I'm doing this because you're my very best friend. Right Angel?” She turned to see Angle. He was not amused at beating around the bush. “Oh, yes, we are just doing this for the ticket.” Angle accepted the answer and brought the salad to Twilight. She swatted the salad out of Angel's hands. “ No, no, no!” Twilight opened the door a little further. “Well, this was all very nice of you and Angel, but I'm not accepting any extra favors until I've made my final decision, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave.” She ended with a stomp of her hoof. There was no time between her stomp and a bunch of ponies saying “Surprise” outside the library door. Some stands of confetti made it to the edge of the door. Iron had around half a second to look behind him as Pinkie pulled Twilight to the party outside. Twilight was pulled into a group of ponies while Pinkie started to sing. Twilight was then thrown up into the air. ‘Twilight is my bestest friend Whoopie, whoopie!’ “Pinkie…” ‘She's the cutest, smartest, all around best pony, pony!’ “Pinkie” ‘I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party, party!’ “Pinkie!” ‘She'll give her extra ticket to the Gala to me!’ “PINKIE!!!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs. The mares that were bouncing her stopped and Twilight fell on the ground. Iron rubbed his ears while Pinkie stuck her face up to Twilight’s. “Yes, Twilight?” Pinkie batted her eyelashes. She was always quick to put on the innocent child act, and she was good at it. “At least the other ponies tried to be subtle about the ticket.” Iron’s eyes went wide. ‘I hope she got use to all those favors, cause a lot more are about to come her way.’ The mares around Twilight raised their eyebrows. “Wait, what ticket? What gala?” Twilight’s eyes mirrored Iron’s as she realized her mistake. “Oh, you didn't know? Twilight has an extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala!” The only thing that came to Twilight’s or Iron’s minds were “Pinkie, why!?” The mood of the mares immediately changed. Their looks of confusion were replaced by overloading joy, all because of a three word phrase. Twilight started to move out of the crowd to only get stopped by a mare willing to do some chores. Spike ran up to Twilight, worrying about what to do next. Iron had to weave his way through the crowd to get to Twilight. Once he got up close, he whispered into her ear. “Grab Spike and meet my at my house. You’ll be safe there.” He discreetly motioned for Spike to hand him the tickets. Iron took them in his mouth and ran off. “Hey, he took the tickets! Get him!” The crowd of mares chased after the blacksmith. As soon as they were out of sight, Twilight grabbed Spike and made for Iron’s house. They reached his door to only find it locked. Twilight looked around, hoping no random mare would pop out of nowhere and ask for the ticket. A few minutes passed before they heard the huffing and puffing of their savior. He was wobbling more than walking. They could see the pained expression pasted on Iron’s face. Iron limped up to the door and unlocked it. “Iron? You alright?” He shook his head and walked into his home. Twilight and Spike shared a worried look before walking in his home. They walked in expecting his house to look rustic and blacksmith themed. They were pleasantly surprised to see a normal looking home. It reminded Twilight of her parents house: simple yet homey. She caught Iron walking into his kitchen. He was favoring his left side. When she turned the corner, she saw him struggling with a pill bottle. She looked over to Spike.         “He must still be in pain from Nightmare.” She looked back at Iron with an expression between solem and pity. Iron gave up trying open the bottle. It then took on a purple hue and the lid popped off. He looked over to see Twilight’s horn glowing. He was stubborn and didn’t like to ask for help a lot, but he was in too much pain to care. He gave her a nod and swallowed two pills. He gave a sad sigh as he capped the bottle. The look Twilight was giving him didn’t make him feel any better.         “Sorry, my medication wore off.” He unfolded his good wing and let two golden tickets fall to the table.         “S-So those mares didn’t hurt you?” She made her way over to the table. He shook his head. There was a faint smile on his face.         “Actually, it was kinda funny.” He gave a snort of amusement. “I hid on a park bench with a giant newspaper, then under a bridge, and finally, I posed as a ponnequin. I finally threw them off my trail by wearing a trenchcoat. My side didn’t start hurting till I was almost here.” Twilight gave a snort, then covered her mouth in embarrassment. Iron swore he could see a blush, but the purple coat hid it well. He looked over her shoulder to see Spike trying to stay awake as he looked at a book.         “Well thank you for helping me out. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t show up.” Twilight’s voice brought back Iron’s attention.         “No problem. As Rainbow would say ‘I’d never leave a friend hangin’.” Iron picked up the bottle and walked over to some cabinets. While his head was under the counter, Twilight spoke up.         “Speaking of Rainbow, are you two... a thing?” Iron’s head made contact with the top of the cabinet. He pulled his head out and rubbed the sore spot. Twilight was still giving him a questioning stare.         “Well, no. But, as you can see, she isn’t really hiding her feelings. Me on the other hoof… well… I like her and wouldn’t mind dating her, but there is somepony that doesn’t like that idea. And I don’t know how Rainbow would take their criticism.” He answered as honest as he could. This only raised more questions for Twilight.         “Who?” Iron cursed himself for that tidbit of information. Now, breaking a friendship for a chance to love was one thing, but to break a friendship just because was another. He didn’t necessarily hate Fluttershy. He just didn’t like how she wouldn’t give him the time of day. He used to be able to push it off as shyness. Now, he was sure that the mare just didn’t like him.         “I’d rather not say.” This only provoked Twilight’s inquisitive nature. She did see how uncomfortable he was. Against every instinct for her quest for knowledge, she dropped the subject. That didn’t stop her stomach from voicing its opinion with a loud gumbel. Twilight sheepishly smiled.         “Not to be rude, but I haven’t eaten all day. Would you mind if I had something to eat?” Twilight tried to sound as polite as possible. She didn’t want to be rude to her savior. She was a guest after all. Iron gave a “sure” and walked to the refrigerator. He pulled out a bowl of salad and an apple. He slid the bowl and apple in front of Twilight. Her stomach must have been pleased because it gave another rumble. Twilight gave a “thank you” before plunging into the salad. To a stranger, it would look like she hadn’t eaten in days.         With Twilight’s face in a bowl of greens, Iron walked over to Spike in the living room. Spike helped himself with a book that was laying on the table. By the rubbing of his eyes, Iron guess Spike was getting a bit sleepy.         “Hey Spike. You look a bit tired there.” Iron expected some explanation on how he wasn’t tired and he was grown up enough to stay awake. Iron was surprised when Spike nodded his head. “Well, you can take the guest room upstairs. It’s the first door on the left.” Spike wasted no time putting the book down and screaming “goodnight” as he made his way up stairs.         ‘That dragon sure likes his sleep.’ Iron returned his attention to the hungry mare in the kitchen. She was just finishing up the salad. He walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around with puffy cheeks. It reminded him of a squirrel with an acorn in its mouth.         “Uh, two things. First, you have something right there.” He pointed towards the edge of her mouth. She swallowed what was in her mouth with a blush, and wiped off her face. “Second, it is pretty late and Spike is already asleep upstairs. You can take my room. I’ll take the couch”         “What? I can’t take your room. You have your bed. Your side is still healing.” Iron was going to have none of that.         “Nope. You have had a long and stressful day. You need it more than me. Plus, the couch will help me stay on my side.” Twilight fidgeted with her hooves before giving in.         “Alright, but you better not be sore in the morning.” She hopped off the chair and made her way to the staircase. She stopped at the first step and looked back at Iron. “Thanks, by the way. For helping me out back there.” Iron waves off the compliment. He told her anypony would have done the same. She walked up the stairs and found the bedroom. She carefully pulled down the covers and sliped under the sheets. She was going to get a good nights sleep.