Reinventing the Iron Will

Chapters

Invitations
The Party (Part 1)
The Party (Part 2)
The Party (Part 3)
Apologies
Cleaning and Scheming
Invasion of Sweet Apple Acres

Invitations

Fluttershy happily watched her animal friends frolicking in her backyard. It was a beautiful day and her spirits were high. She did, however, feel a slight twinge of loneliness as she nestled on the grass, watching Angel play with some butterflies. Her mind lazily drifted into a daydream about a certain stallion whom she had been thinking of more and more these days. The animals suddenly scampered away. The sky darkened as if the sun had been completely eclipsed. A terrifying, hulking figure stood over the startled little pegasus.

“Today is your lucky day, because you are now in the presence of the one and only Iron Will!” the monster shouted in her face. His voice was thoroughly macho and enthusiastic. Fluttershy immediately realized it was the a famous minotaur motivational coach who had visited Ponyville a short time ago.

Even though she now knew who it was and that he was harmless, her first instinct was still to curl up into a ball and tremble until he went away. She knew, however, that he would just give her a hard time if she did that. He was supposed to have taught her to be confident and stand up for herself.

“Um, hello,” she whispered timidly, not finding the strength to make eye contact with the minotaur. She wondered why he was here. They had parted on somewhat disagreeable terms the last time she had seen him. She feared this might be an unpleasant encounter.

Iron Will’s voice boomed. “I’m here to invite you, yes I said ‘you,’ to Iron Will’s Rock Ponyville Party!” He handed her a flyer with the event’s information. “You think you’ve been to a party before? Well think again! This is going to be like no party you’ve ever seen. If you ever wore socks, this party would knock them off your hooves! First it will be on the hook then it will be off the hook. It’s going to be awesome, epic, and legendarily amazing,” for some reason he shook his fist as he said this, as if he was threatening the whole world.

“Are you sure you want me at your rocking party? I don’t really rock, or at least I don’t think I do.”

“Of course you rock, Fluttershy! You’re the only pony who’s ever said no to me.” He jabbed a finger at the pony menacingly, though his intention was simply to point for emphasis. “Iron Will has great respect for you!”

Fluttershy got up and managed to made eye contact with the imposing minotaur. “Alright, since it means so much to you, I’ll be there.”

Iron Will looked pleased. “It’s a bit harder to say no to Iron Will when he’s inviting you to a party as opposed to when he’s demanding money, now isn’t it?” With that, he began walking away toward Ponyville, swaggering alone as he was apt to do, but after a few paces he remembered something and turned back to face Fluttershy. “Invite all your friends!” he bellowed.

“Will do,” she squeaked as the force of his voice rattled her around. “Um, do you mind if I bring my bunny, Angel?”

Iron Will considered the proposal. “Well, that’s not exactly what I had in mind, but hey, it’s not truly a wild party if it doesn’t have wildlife.”

“It just ain’t right at all,” Applejack complained as she watched construction equipment tearing down the trees on the property adjacent to Sweet Apple Acres. A mansion had been under construction on the land for the past several months. It was spoiling the serene view the Apple family had always enjoyed on their farm. It also generated a significant amount of noise and dust from dawn until dusk every day.

“Ee-yup,” Big Macintosh agreed.

“I guess we’d best get back ta work,” Applejack sighed, still glaring at the disruptive construction project. “We’re runnin’ so gosh darn far behind these days. I sure wish we had more help around the farm. Maybe one day I’ll find the right stallion ta marry and we’ll have another good hoof ta help out. Do ya think that’ll ever happen?”

“Nn-ope,” her brother said rather more nonchalantly than he intended.

“Huh? Why not? What stallion wouldn’t want me?”

Big Mac felt a bit awkward having this conversation, since these types of things did not come up very often in his family. He thought about how to say it without hurting his sister’s feelings. “Well, it’s more that you’re not really doin’ anythin’ ta find a special someone. I mean, ya mostly just work out here and spend time with your friends.”

Applejack looked thoughtful for a moment. “I reckon you’re right, brother. I was just sorta assumin’ that somepony would ask me out by now, but I’m just so busy all the time and what spare time I got goes ta rodeo practice. How ‘bout you? You think you’ll find a special someone anytime soon? What about that whole deal with Cheerilee?”

Big Mac shifted his ever-present stalk of hay from one side of his mouth to the other. He had managed to avoid talking about this so far; why did it have to come up now? “Oh, uh, that didn’t really come ta nothin’. It was just some shenanigans Apple Bloom and her conquistador friends pulled on the two of us.”

“They’re crusaders.”

“Ee-yup, I’m pretty sure that’s what I said.”

Just then, Fluttershy came into view and flew slowly across the field to where the Apple siblings were standing. “Hi Applejack,” the pegasus said cheerfully. She then turned shyly to Big Mac and attempted to greet him, but ended up barely mumbling a “hello” in her nervousness.

“What brings ya ‘round here, Fluttershy?” asked Applejack.

“Oh, I wanted to invite you… well, I guess both of you, to Iron Will’s Rock Ponyville Party this weekend.”

“That might be interestin’ for a change of pace, but we’re fallin’ terribly behind around here these days. It’s gonna be a big harvest year.”

“Um, okay. Thanks for considering it. I’m sorry I wasted your time,” Fluttershy was about to fly away, but she really wanted Applejack and Big Mac to come. “Please, Applejack. I doubt Pinkie and Rarity will want to come, since the only time they ever met Iron Will, he threw them in a mud puddle. Twilight and Rainbow Dash are usually pretty busy too. I don’t want to end up going by myself.”

Applejack took Fluttershy a few paces away from her brother, so they could speak more privately. “Well, I’m not sure why ya’d want ta spend time with somepony who would throw our friends in the mud, but I’ll go with ya. Big Mac should probably stay here. He’s a bit shy for parties anyhow.”

Big Mac was not particularly paying attention at this point. He was thoughtfully watching the clouds.

“Are you sure? Even if he’s shy at parties, Iron Will is all about helping ponies become more confident, I’m sure he’ll make Big Mac feel right at home. I really think he should come.”

Applejack was surprised by her friend’s insistence. Fluttershy almost never pushed for anything like this. Applejack looked between her friend and her brother then smiled knowingly. “I think I see what this is about.”

Fluttershy began blushing deeply, cringing with embarrassment. She was surprised at herself. Perhaps she was remembering to be more confident, since Iron Will was back.

Applejack reached out and playfully ruffled Fluttershy’s mane, leaving it rather badly disheveled. “I’ll see if I can’t talk him around ta comin’ ta the party with us.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy squeaked before rushing off towards Ponyville.

Big Mac walked over to Applejack. “Where do ya think she’s off ta in such a hurry?” he asked, as he saw Fluttershy fleeing into the distance.

“Don’t rightly know.” Applejack tried to put on a poker face, but instead ended up smiling broadly. She felt giddy withholding information from her brother. “So did ya want ta go ta the party?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that; you’re comin’ ta the party.”

Big Mac felt uneasy. His sister did not usually include him in activities with her friends. He barely knew any of them, but they all seemed a bit crazy to him, especially the pink one.

“Behold the future of partying!” Pinkie announced as she unrolled a massive lecture slide in the library. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike studied the chart in confusion.

“How is this supposed to be sustainable?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“You’re really setting the bar pretty high, even for you, Pinkie. That’s an exponential function,” Twilight commented.

“Exactly,” Pinkie replied happily. “This is Pinkie’s Law. Roughly every two years, I should be able to double how hard I can party. Everypony wants every party to be more fun than the last one, right? I mean duh!”

“Oh, um, you are in luck then, because I’m here to invite you all to a really, uh, extreme party,” Fluttershy said in a small voice. Nopony had noticed her come in.

Rainbow Dash looked skeptical. “I hate to break it to you, Fluttershy, but hanging out with your bunnies and birdies doesn’t count as ‘extreme.’ I’m not saying it wasn’t fun, but don’t oversell it.”

“Oh, no, I’m not hosting the party. It’s Iron Will’s party. He just moved to Ponyville and he’s celebrating the completion of his new summer home.”

“Iron Will? That guy is famous. I’ll bet all sorts of other famous ponies will be there, maybe even the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dash speculated gleefully.

Pinkie looked worried. “We can’t go to the party. Iron Will is a monster and he turned Fluttershy into a monster too. If we go, I might be next.”

“I don’t remember Fluttershy being a monster,” said Twilight with a troubled look on her face.

“Well, she turned herself back, silly,” Pinkie replied.

“So, um, do you guys want to come?” Fluttershy asked hopefully.

“Count me in,” Dash said willingly.

“I’ll come too,” said Twilight. “I’ve never had the chance to meet a minotaur before. I wonder if they make good intellectual conversationalists.”

“Hmm, if this party really is extreme, going there might help me comply with Pinkie’s Law for this month,” Pinkie relented.

“Uh, am I invited?” Spike asked, wondering if it was a stupid question.

“He said to invite all of my friends and you’re my friend, so yes,” Fluttershy said happily. “I even invited Big Macintosh and I don’t know him that well, though I’d like to know him better.” She found herself becoming embarrassed again. Thankfully Spike changed the subject before any of her friends could ask why she’d like to know Big Mac.

“So is this going to be a formal party?”

“No, I think it’s going to be informal and probably really loud,” Fluttershy grimaced as she said this. She began wondering if she was getting in over her head. Iron Will was so big and loud who knew how crazy the party might get. She knew, however, that she could not back out of everything now that she had invited most of her friends. “It’s lucky I found you all here, now all we need to do is invite Rarity.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want Spike to go dateless,” Pinkie joked.

Rainbow Dash smiled slyly. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s tell Rarity it’s a formal party and have her and Spike be the only ones who show up all dressed up. That way we’ll sort of force them into being each other’s dates.”

Pinkie giggled at this. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Perhaps just fun enough to comply with Pinkie’s Law.”

“Well, how about I go and invite her to the party myself,” suggested Spike, putting on a top hat and tuxedo.

“Oh, the party’s not until this Saturday,” Fluttershy said hastily, feeling like she should have told her friends more of the details.

“That’s fine. I still want to look good when I ask Rarity out,” Spike said in what he hoped was a suave voice. His friends giggled at his enthusiasm. Fluttershy didn’t laugh though; she could empathize with Spike, because she knew how awkward it could feel to want to ask somepony on a date.

Rarity, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Twilight, and Fluttershy met Applejack and Big Mac at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. It was Saturday evening and the party would begin shortly. Rarity looked stunning in a new ensemble she had designed specifically for the occasion. She had even made some adjustments to Spike’s tuxedo so that it matched better with her outfit.

“How on earth could you forget to dress up?” Rarity asked incredulously. “You’re all going to look so silly. It seems that Spike-ee-wai-kee and I are the only ones prepared.”

“Big Mac’s all dressed up,” laughed Applejack. Indeed he looked more presentable than usual, though this was simply because his sister had persuaded him not to wear the work harness he often wore regardless of whether he was working or not.

Pinkie could barely contain her excitement. She tapped her front hooves gleefully. “I’ve got a feeling tonight’s gonna be a good night, I mean, like, crazy good!”

“So where’s this guy’s party, anyhow?” asked Applejack. She felt like she just wanted to get this over with. She and the rest of her family had worked a long, hard day. Furthermore, she had been losing sleep again to keep up with her chores. The one thought that kept her going was the extra money that the Apple family might make this year with a larger harvest.

Fluttershy pointed to the new mansion adjacent to Sweet Apple Acres. “Oh, you didn’t know? The party’s right over there.”

“That’s the new summer house?” Applejack was surprised. She had half a mind to give its owner her honest opinion about the mansion, but she thought better of it. That wouldn’t be very neighborly of her after all.

The Party (Part 1)

Rarity surveyed the crowded house party with her friends. “I thought you told me this was to be a formal affair?” she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie giggled at this. Rarity decided she would not let her friends’ pranks get the better of her. “Oh, well, I suppose it’s not so bad being the most fashionable pony here,” she said haughtily.

Twilight looked around the room uneasily. “Are you sure about this, Fluttershy? It looks like Iron Will has some pretty sketchy friends.” Many of the ponies from Ponyville were there, but there were also some teenage dragons, Canterlot hipster unicorns, goats, griffons, and Twilight could swear she had seen some changelings lounging around near the back of the room. No music was playing yet, but the place was filled with the noise of many conversations and occasional outbursts of laughter.

Spike slipped off into the crowd and over to the refreshment table. He waited until nopony was looking and slyly poured a bag of sugar into the punch bowl. “No one will suspect it was I who spiked the punch,” he chuckled to himself, before going back to be with Rarity.

Pinkie zipped up to the punch bowl, accidently knocking a goat out of her way. She filled and downed a large cup of punch. A shocked look came over her face. “Wow! That was really, really, really sweet!” She downed a couple more cups for good measure and then helped the goat to his feet.

Iron Will entered the room and gave Vinyl Scratch the double thumbs up. She promptly set her turntables spinning, pulling off some sick scratches before blasting the room with dance techno.

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were among the first guests to start dancing. Many of the ponies and creatures in the room soon joined them. Twilight and the others hung back and watched. Big Mac was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, what the hay,” said Twilight, though none of her friends heard her over the music. She ran into the middle of the room to dance, keeping closer to Rainbow Dash than Pinkie, since the pink pony was already flailing so wildly nopony dared get too close.

Fluttershy trembled visibly, though it was unclear if it was her nervousness or merely the bass shaking her body. Rarity noticed her friend’s trepidation and beckoned her to follow.

“Where are you going, Rarity? Don’t you want to dance?” Spike yelled, barely audible above the music.

“Don’t be silly, we’ll get all sweaty and mess up our outfits if we do that,” Rarity yelled back. “Let’s find a room where it’s not so infernally loud. You always said the best kind of party was one where you just spend time with your friends. We don’t have to get involved in this insanity.” She escorted Fluttershy, Spike, and Applejack through several posh rooms. The decorations and furnishings were tasteful in Rarity’s opinion, but it was very much a man’s house. The mansion was so large; she hoped they would not get lost. Eventually, they found another crowded living room where the music was at a tolerable decibel. Nopony was dancing, but the room was abuzz with conversation.

Big Mac sat quietly on a couch near the edge of the room. He seemed to be at a loss as to what he was supposed to be doing. Applejack broke off from her friends and trotted over to plop down on the couch next to him. “Gosh, Macintosh, I’m plum tuckered out. I didn’t expect ta be spendin’ the evein’ like this. Ya think anypony would notice if I moseyed on out of here and hit the hay?”

“We should prob’ly hang around for a bit longer,” said Big Mac. “If we leave so soon, we might offend your friend Fluttershy. She invited us here and she seems pretty sensitive.”

Applejack smiled. “Huh, that’s very thoughtful of you.”

Three familiar looking teenage dragons approached Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike. “Hey spike,” a menacing looking red one greeted him. “Still hanging out with namby-pamby ponies?” He looked between Spike and Rarity. “Hey, I see what’s going on here… Well played bro,” he said, giving Spike a fist bump that almost knocked the little dragon over. “Well, see you around, dude. Check us out later. We’re in a band and we’ll be playing tonight. We’re gonna rock so hard. We’re gonna tear the roof off this place!”

“Uh, cool, yeah I’m sure you guys really rock,” Spike said nervously.

“Nah, we actually kind of suck. We’re going to tear the roof off after the show.”

Spike breathed a sigh of relief after the other dragons left. He turned to Rarity. “That was a close one. I thought they were going to beat us up and demand that we give the phoenix egg back.”

Rarity looked bemused. “We could have taken them. I can cast spells and we’ve got the Apple siblings relatively close at hoof. I’ll bet they can carry their weight in a fight.”

Just then, Iron Will stumbled into the room. His usual air of confident was not present. The minotaur slumped down in a pile of beanbag chairs at the far end of the room. Fluttershy hastily weaved her way through the party guests and trotted over to him. “Oh my goodness, are you okay?”

“Yeah, uh, I’m fine. What do you think, Fluttershy, great party right?” He winced slightly as he spoke.

“Oh yes, it’s very, um, ‘off the hook,’” Fluttershy said, doing her best to sound encouraging despite the fact that she was clearly very uncomfortable being in a room with so many strangers. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Me? I’m fine. It’s just that some pink pony accidently kicked me in the stomach while she was dancing. The moral of the story is that you’ve always got to be flexing your six-pack, otherwise something like that can really knock the wind out of you. That pink pony has also broken a couple of lamps too, but hey, sometimes you’ve got to go hard or go home.”

“Oh no! I’m so sorry I invited Pinkie. I should have known she’d get out of hoof. She’s trying to party harder at every party she attends," Fluttershy said with note of desperation in her voice.

“Take a seat and relax, Fluttershy,” Iron Will said as he picked her up and smashed her into a beanbag next to his. “So that pink pony is your friend? Tell me about your other friends, so I know who to watch out for.”

Fluttershy looked around the room to see if she could point out her friends to him. “That’s Rarity and Spike over there,” she said happily. They appeared to be talking with some well-to-do unicorns.

“Huh, I guess they call her ‘Spike’ because of the horn.”

“Oh, that’s Rarity. Spike is the baby Dragon. Rarity is a fashion designer and Spike is, well, actually, I’m not really sure what he does. I think he’s paid out of Twilight’s scholarship money for helping her with stuff.” She looked about the room to see where Applejack had gotten to. “Oh, and there’s Applejack,” she said, indicating where the orange mare was sitting on a coach across the room.

Iron Will froze with shock when he saw Applejack. “Wow, she’s really pretty. I’ll bet she works out at lot,” he murmured.

The little pegasus was surprised at this. Nopony seemed to notice Applejack for being as beautiful as she was. Perhaps it was because she was rarely trying to be pretty. “I think she’s very pretty too. I wish I could be as strong as her.”

The minotaur tore his eyes away from Applejack and peered down at Fluttershy. “You can be as strong as you want to be. I’ve got a world-class gym in this house. You can come by and use it any time you want. Tell me more about this blond pony friend of yours.”

“Oh, um, let’s see, she’s a really honest apple farmer. She works really hard and has a lot of responsibility, because she helps take care of her little sister Apple Bloom and her grandmother. She’s also really good at sports.”

“She’s inspirational,” Iron Will said, as he gazed upon Applejack dreamily. “Huh. Iron Will has never fallen for a pony before.”

“You should go and talk to her,” Fluttershy encouraged the minotaur. “She’s really nice and she’s the only one of my friends who doesn't tend to go totally crazy.”

“Wait a second, that’s not her special somepony sitting next to her is it?” Iron Will asked indicating Big Mac.

“Don’t worry, that’s her brother. He’s really nice… and handsome,” Fluttershy immediately wished she had not let that one slip out. Iron Will probably wouldn’t allow her lack of confidence to prevent her from facing her crush. She was surprised, however, at what he asked next.

“So, did you bring your rabbit? Maybe I could use him as a manipulative prop when I go and introduce myself to Applejack. Tactics like that are very important when wooing somepony over. At least that’s what I’ve written in my books on assertive dating.”

“Angel actually shredded the invitation card and stuck his tongue out at me when I asked him if he want to come. I can’t even remember why he was mad at me.”

“Really? Come on, Fluttershy. A wise man once said, ‘when somepony pushes you around, throw them to the ground!’ If you let a little bunny push you around how do you expect to ever muster up the courage to talk to that red fellow over there?” he said, pointing to Big Mac.

The Party (Part 2)

Iron Will continued talking with Fluttershy for the next few hours. He gave her tips about confidence and body building. Guests would occasionally stop by to congratulate the minotaur on throwing such an amazing party. Fluttershy told him about her love of animals and of the dangerous adventures her friends had pushed her into. Iron Will had initially expected to be moshing and partying all night, but he found that talking with this tiny pegasus was actually more enjoyable. He occasionally glanced over at Applejack, hoping to a catch her eye.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash ran out of energy for dancing far sooner than Pinkie. They left the dance floor and eventually joined up Spike and Rarity in their socializing with interesting party guests.

“Do you think Fluttershy and that monster like each other?” Rarity asked Twilight discreetly, nodding towards the beanbags where they were lounging.

Twilight looked over at the two of them talking happily together. The minotaur and pegasus began to whisper together conspiratorially. “I don’t know, maybe,” Twilight answered. “Fluttershy has always liked scary monsters.”

Meanwhile, Applejack had fallen asleep on her brother’s shoulder. Big Mac had stopped feeling nervous and had instead become bored. He was not sure what he would say to any of these guests. He looked around the room for something to entertain him and settled upon picking up a magazine from a nearby coffee table. When, he returned to the couch, he resumed his position as Applejack’s pillow without waking her. His eyes bulged when he realized what type of magazine he had picked up. He quickly slid it under the couch, hoping nopony had noticed. To his horror, he looked up to see the host of the party standing in front of him.

“Pleased to meet you, Macintosh,” Iron Will said, giving him a firm hand-to-hoof shake and looking him squarely in the eye. “Fluttershy, over there, would like to talk to you. You’ll be a gentlecolt and go spend some time with her won’t you?”

“Ee-yup.” Mac wished he had thought of something more articulate to say, but his head was already spinning from the busy party and from the embarrassment of being seen with the magazine. He made his way across the room wondering if he would have anything intelligent to say when he got to Fluttershy.

Applejack awoke with a start, as her brother was no longer acting as her pillow. She was startled to see a menacing looking minotaur towering over her. She had not met him before and had barely noticed him at the party.

He gave a bow. “Hi, I’m William,” he said politely. “Would you like to see something really amazing?”

“Heck, why not?” Applejack shrugged sleepily, wondering how long she had been asleep and where Macintosh and her friends had gotten to. Looking around the crowded room, she caught a brief glimpse of Rainbow Dash talking enthusiastically with a bright red pegasus before following William into a different part of the house. He led her out up a flight of stairs and out onto a magnificent balcony built into the apex of the roof. Apparently it had turned from evening into a starry night. It would have been downright peaceful if not for the music thumping from another part of the house.

“Pretty amazing, if I do say so myself,” the minotaur gave a panoramic sweep of his arm drawing attention to the view. “I hope you like my summer vacation house. I’ll spend half of the year here and half of the year in the other hemisphere. When it’s winter here, it’s summer in Auquestria, the land down under. With this new arrangement, it will always be summer for me. That way my life will rock even harder,” he flexed his muscular arms and kissed each of his biceps to emphasize the awesomeness of his life.

Applejack rolled her eyes. She was too tired for this nonsense. “It’s nice, I guess,” she mumbled.

“I know, right. The view from here is almost perfect except for that ugly barn and rundown old house out there,” he said, gesturing to Applejack’s beloved home. “I’m thinking of buying it from whatever hick owns it and having all the buildings and trees bulldozed. It would look a world better with a lot of hedge mazes to round out the estate. Just picture it.”

Applejack was wide awake and fuming mad at this point. “I’ll tell you what would make this place look loads better, if this blasted house of yours had never been built!” With this she stormed off down the stairs and out of sight. She was almost in tears.

Iron Will slumped his shoulders in defeat, making no attempt to follow the pony. He could not remember a time when he had felt so humiliated. He almost always got his way. Nopony was there to see the tear that trickled down his normally stern face.

Meanwhile, Big Mac approached Fluttershy. He could have sworn he heard her whisper to herself “Okay, stay calm Fluttershy, you can do this.” He stopped and stood in front of her awkwardly for a moment before deciding that flopping down on a beanbag next to her would be less awkward. It would have been too, except for the fact that the force of his bulky body burst the beanbag, spewing its contents in every direction. He immediately wanted to apologize to Iron Will for breaking his property, but, when he looked over to the other side of the room, he saw neither the minotaur nor his sister. He was not afforded to opportunity to consider where they had gone.

“Hey, that looks like fun!” Pinkie jumped in front of the two ponies and began rapidly and forcefully popping the beanbags around them. The catastrophe all happened so quickly. Beanbag beans burst forth in every direction to the great dismay of all nearby party guests. Pinkie abruptly stopped destroying the furniture to pose a question to Fluttershy and Big Mac. “Do you guys want to go to the mosh pit with me? They’ve got a punk concert going on in the basement.”

“Um, no thank you,” Fluttershy said politely, shaking beanbag beans out of her mane.

“Oki-doki-loki!” Pinkie said as she cartwheeled out of the room.

At that moment, Mac noticed his sister sulking through the back of the room in and into a hallway. A mixture of anger and sadness played on her face. Big Mac turned to Fluttershy, “Uh, nice ta meet ya Ms.,” he said hastily. “Sorry, but I gotta go. I’ll talk ta ya later, promise.” Ponies scattered out of his way as he galloped after his sister.

Twilight, Rarity, Spike, Rainbow Dash, and a red Pegasus stallion sat around Iron Will’s kitchen table, where they could talk more privately. The stallion had a bright yellow mane and a cutie mark consisting of a yellow hammer, sickle, and star. Rainbow Dash introduced him to the others. “I’d like you to meet my new friend Molotov Delivery. He’s a communist.”

Rarity plainly felt uncomfortable in his presence. Being a businessmare and a connoisseur of elite fashion, she feared Molotov’s radical views would be diametrically opposed to her own.

Twilight, however, appeared to be delighted. “Oh, this is great! I’ve always wanted to meet a real communist. I’ve heard that they are great intellectual party guests. Tell me, Molotov, what do you think about the distribution of wealth in Equestria?”

“First off, the earth ponies here in Ponyville are being massively exploited by the Canterlot elite. They do all of the work and produce all of the food that ponies need to survive, yet what do they get for it? Almost nothing. Meanwhile, the unicorns and alicorns in Canterlot get to enjoy all the benefits of their labor without working. They’re spending most of their time going to frivolous parties while the rest of us suffer. And don’t even get me started on the working conditions in the factories in Cloudsdell. We’re going to put a stop to it though. Rainbow Dash says she’ll help me unionize the pegasi.”

“Yeah, we’re gonna take on the system,” Rainbow Dash added confidently.

“It’s nice to find some ponies interested in my political views,” the pegaus said. “For most of this party, I’ve only been meeting sell-out Canterlot unicorns whose bourgeois liberal views can barely be called socialist, let alone communist.”

Just then, Applejack burst into the kitchen. She looked particularly angry. “That William has got ta be ‘bout the biggest jerk I’ve ever had the misfortune ta meet. I’ll see ya’ll later,” she left the room before any of them could respond.

Rarity found this to be a good excuse to remove herself from Molotov’s presence. “Sorry, you’ll have to excuse me. I should go and see what’s bothering Applejack,” she said hurriedly, before leaving the room.

“Who is William?” Spike asked, looking around at the others.

The Party (Part 3)

Rarity caught up with Applejack in the empty entrance hall. “Are you alright, dear? What could have Iron Will done to upset you so much?”

Applejack turned to respond, but, at that moment, Pinkie burst through a door. Her hair was as messy as it had ever been in her life and she was covered in bruises. She looked absolutely out of her mind.

“There you guys are! I was wondering why I didn’t see you in the mosh pit.” She got right up in Rarity’s face and kissed her on the lips. “Ha! I kissed a girl!” Pinkie threw herself on the floor and began rolling around laughing.

Applejack and Rarity looked on in astonishment.

Pinkie peered up at Rarity. “MMMmmm, that cherry ChapStick you’re wearing tastes good.” She got up and licked the rest of it off of her friend’s lips.

The unicorn wished she had stayed in the kitchen with the radical communist pony. She felt like she was going to die of embarrassment. At least no other pony except Applejack was there to see it. Hopefully Pinkie would not remember what happened in the morning.

“Whoa there, Pinkie,” Applejack scolded as she pried the earth pony away from the unicorn.

Rarity simply stood where she was, paralyzed with embarrassment.

Applejack continued lecturing Pinkie. “I think you’ve had quite enough fun for one night. Ya prob’ly shouldn’t have had so much sugar.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Pinkie said happily. “This party is was definitely in compliance with Pinkie’s Law. Hey, where is everypony else anyway?”

“They’re in the kitchen, plotting how to overthrow the system,” Rarity said dismissively, snapping out of her paralysis.

“Hey, that might be fun too!” Pinkie jumped in the air and bolted off to the kitchen.

Applejack patted Rarity on the back. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony about that, but I don’t really want to talk about William, so I’m just gonna turn in. You’d best get back to your date.”

“Uh, I’m not really on a date with Spike. I’m not really sure what it is.”

Just then, the ponies heard and felt a rumbling. Big Mac ran around a corner, but stopped before he would have slammed into the two mares.

He spoke faster than they had ever heard him speak before. “Oh hey, Sis, I’ve been looking all over for you. I got lost and accidently knocked over an urn of some sort. I hope there weren’t any ashes in it. There wasn’t much light in the hallway, so I couldn’t rightly tell. I saw you were upset ‘bout somethin’ and I wanted ta see if you were alright. I shouldn’t go ta parties. First I do nothin’ all night and then I have ta go and wreck up the house.”

“Well, you can’t possibly be doing more damage than Pinkie,” Rarity commented.

“Come on Macintosh, let’s get out of this darn place. We shouldn’t rightly be here so late. We’ve got a lot of work in the mornin’,” Applejack said, nodding her head towards the front door.

***

As the Apple siblings trotted through the moonlight toward their home, Applejack decided to head off questions from her brother by asking her own. “So how did it go with Fluttershy?”

“Um, it didn’t really go anywhere. All I did was destroy a beanbag. Then Pinkie showed up and destroyed a bunch more of them. It made a terrible mess. I hope our new neighbor isn’t goin’ ta hate us for all this.”

“I don’t care if he hates us,” spat Applejack. “I already hate him.”

Big Mac cringed at hearing his sister say this. She almost never used such strong language. “Uh, so what happened between you two?”

“Well, nothin’ ya should worry ‘bout. Let’s just say he’s an arrogant and insensitive jerk. Tell you what, let’s just agree ta not talk about nothin’ that happened tonight ever again. You good with that?”

“Ee-yup.”

They trotted along in silence for a minute while the crickets chirped pleasantly.

“So did Fluttershy tell you she’s got a crush on you?”

Big Mac froze. “Hey, I thought we weren’t gonna talk ‘bout tonight again.”

Applejack smiled mischievously. “Heck, I’m just curious is all.”

“Uh, no she didn’t say anythin’ of that sort.”

“Well, what do ya think? Do ya think she’s pretty?”

“Well, yeah,” he admitted, his stomach doing a lurch like it had when Apple Bloom and her crusaders had tried to set him up with Cheerilee.

“Ah-Ha!” Applejack said, bouncing around him in happy circles, her mood much improved since they left the party.

***

True to their word, the dragon punks had torn a section of the roof off the house, causing a general panic. The DJ had started another dance and jacked up the volume to levels that were probably considered a war crime in some countries. Pinkie had failed to tone down the partying and, as a result, Twilight had used a curtain drawstring to magically tie her up. She levitated the pink pony several feet above the scattering crowd to prevent others from crashing into her.

“Weeeee! We should do this every night!” Pinkie yelled.

Rarity stood at Twilight’s side. She searched frantically for their friends. Spike stood on her head, helping in the search. “Hey I see Rainbow Dash!” Spike hollered at the top of his lungs, his voice barely audible above the music and ponies shouting.

Dash flew up in the air and did a double take when she saw a tied up Pinkie Pie magically floating above the crowd. The pegasus landed next to her friends. “We’ve got to get the hay out of here! I haven’t seen Fluttershy for a couple of hours. She must have gone home, so this is all of us!”

“What about Molotov Delivery?” Twilight shouted, almost dropping Pinkie on the floor as her concentration slipped for a moment.

“He was cool, but I ditched him when I realized his plan was to overthrow Princess Celestia and send her to the gulag to spend the rest of her life doing forced labor!” Dash shouted as she scooped up her friends and flew them all through the hole in the roof and into the night sky.

They landed on a nearby hill and tumbled apart.

“Time well spent,” Pinkie said happily as she rolled around in the grass, before abruptly falling asleep.

“Do you think we should take her to the hospital?” asked Dash.

Rarity shook her head. “No, I don’t think she’s technically crazy. She just ingested far too much sugar. I had some of that punch too. I don’t know what Iron Will was thinking. It was far too sweet.”

Spike gulped nervously, hoping nopony would figure out he was the culprit.

“No, I know she’s not crazy,” Dash replied impatiently. “She’s badly bruised from moshing. I wonder if Iron Will or Big Mac got in the pit. Those two could have done some serious damage.”

Just then, the friends heard a resounding crash. They looked back down the hill to see part of Iron Will’s mansion collapsing.

They watched in horror wondering if the rest of the building would also implode. The sounds of destruction echoed around the valley. Fortunately, no other part of the house caved in. The music had stopped. Now all that remained was a persistent and painful ringing in their ears.

Rainbow Dash snapped to her senses. “I’ve got to go and save anypony who’s trapped in the rubble! You guys get Pinkie home safe and get some sleep.” With this, she launched herself in the air and shot towards the damaged mansion.

***

Iron Will sprinted into the room from which the noise of the collapse emanated. The last few terrorized party guests ran out of the front door and out of sight. At last the house was completely silent. Half of the main living room had caved in, the dust still settling.

“Is it safe to come out now?” came a muffled voice.

Iron Will glanced around, not finding its source. “Yeah, the party’s over, apparently,” he said to whoever it was.

Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief as she emerged from a small cabinet. She had hidden there when the party started getting out of control and had been two scared to even take a peep out of the cabinet for hours. She looked around in disbelief at how horribly trashed the whole place had become.

Iron Will did not stop to talk. He realized ponies might be trapped in the wreckage and began quickly and efficiently dismantling the pile.

Fluttershy hovered near the minotaur. She was terrified of what they might at any moment unearth, but knew that the search was necessary and might even save lives. She wished she was stronger so she could help, but she knew she would simply be in Iron Will’s way if she tried to aid him.

Vinyl Scratch coughed out some dust as Iron Will lifted her from the debris. “Totally sweet party, huh?” She said, adjusting her bent shades. She was badly scraped and bruised. One of her front legs also appeared to be broken.

“Oh my goodness,” squealed Fluttershy when she noticed the broken leg.

At that moment, Rainbow Dash dived through the hole in the roof and dropped daftly to the floor.

Iron Will set the DJ on a partially destroyed sofa. “Vinyl, can you remember if there were any other ponies in the room when it collapsed on you?”

“I was the only one physically capable of tolerating the noise level. Every other pony ran off well before the roof caved in.”

“Are you okay?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I’m just fine guys. After all, some party had to be the craziest ever. It turns out it was this one! This is going to make a great story. I might even add an entry about this on my résumé.”

Iron Will was surprised at the DJ’s blasé attitude about the whole thing. “You ponies certainly can take a lot of more physical abuse than one would expect.”

Vinyl smiled. “It’s a good thing I’ve got insurance for my sound equipment, because-,” she keeled over unconscious before finishing her sentence. The others exchanged dismayed looks, fearing the DJ had just died. Fluttershy, however, quickly realized that she was still breathing.

“I’ll fly ahead and tell the hospital that you’re coming!” Rainbow Dash yelled before rushing out the door and flying away over Ponyville.

Iron Will scooped up the DJ in his arms and ran after Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy flew by his side. Hopefully it was not too late.

Apologies

Iron Will sat uncomfortably in a chair that was far too small for him. To make matters worse, the ceilings in the hospital where too low. He had accidently put his horns through the lobby’s ceiling earlier when he had gotten up to get some water. The repair bills just kept stacking up in his mind. Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep in another chair and was snoring softly. Fluttershy was still awake and nervously tapping her hooves together. She wondered what had become of Vinyl. The doctors seemed very concerned and they had not heard anything about the DJ’s condition for what seemed like hours.

Fluttershy’s mind returned to something that had been troubling her earlier. She turned to Iron Will, who had just broken the arm off his chair by leaning on it the wrong way. “Um, Iron Will, why was Applejack so angry after you talked to her?” She quickly regretted asking this, when she considered how badly things were already going for the minotaur. She did not want to bring up any more unpleasantness.

Iron Will’s face darkened. He had taken the destruction of his home in stride. He was concerned about the fate of the DJ, but he suspected she would recover. However, his abysmal failure to impress Applejack was the one thing that had really stung. He immediately decided not to tell Fluttershy about it and settled for instead sitting perfectly still with a very sour look on his face.

“I’m really, really sorry I asked,” Fluttershy squeaked. Her heart sank upon seeing how angry she had made her friend.

The minotaur sat in seething silence for a few minutes, but he found it exceedingly difficult to give such a loving and gentle little creature the cold shoulder like this. He began wondering if she might be able to help him figure out where he had gone wrong with Applejack. After another minute or so, he mustered up the courage to speak about his brief but devastating talk with Applejack. “I don’t know exactly, it seemed to be going well. I was showing her the view from the roof. I was telling her my plans to buy the rundown farm next-door and turn it into a set of hedge mazes.”

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh no, that’s Sweet Apple Acres. It’s Applejack’s home. You can’t turn it into a maze.”

The realization of his mistake hit Iron Will like a bolt of lightning. Now he knew why the beautiful pony had suddenly become so incensed with him. “How could I have been so carelessly stupid? You had told me beforehoof that Applejack was an apple farmer. I should have connected the dots and realized that Sweet Apple Acres might have been her home. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” he bellowed, punching himself in the face with each “stupid.”

“Oh, you don’t have to beat yourself up about it,” Fluttershy said, panicking as she wondered how much he was hurting himself with each punch.

Much to her relief, he stopped punching himself and looked down at her. He looked desperately miserable. “No, you don’t understand. I called the barn and the house ‘ugly’ and referred to the owner of Sweet Apple Acres as a ‘hick.’ I’ve ruined my chances at love forever.”

Rainbow Dash woke up with a painful crick in her neck. She glared at Iron Will. “Geesh! Stop being so melodramatic. Why don’t you just go and apologize to Applejack? She’s reasonable; she’ll understand.”

Iron Will hesitated and thought for a moment. “Apologizing would violate my ‘Never apologize, when you can criticize’ rule.”

“Well, you already criticized her, now you can apologize to her for it,” said Rainbow Dash.

“It would be the right thing to do. I think you’d both feel a lot better if you tell her you’re sorry,” Fluttershy encouraged him.

“They say it takes a big man to apologize,” Rainbow Dash added. “You’re not scared of apologizing are you?”

“Alright, alright, you’ve made your case. I’ll do it,” Iron Will said, getting up but again bashing his head on the ceiling. His horns tore out more of the drywall, covering his head in dust.

Doctor Whooves trotted into the room with a clipboard. “Your friend is going to be fine. She’s now in stable condition, but she will probably been here for a week or more. If you hadn’t gotten here when you did, she probably would not have made it.”

Everypony breathed a sigh of relief at this. Iron Will wiped the drywall off his face. “Alright, it’s great to know that my party didn’t end in a fatality.”

***

Applejack sawed off another wind damaged branch in the orchard and placed it in a bucket overflowing with similar sticks. Apple Bloom picked up the bucket to carry it to the chopping block. However, it was slightly too heavy for her and she buckled over, sending branches in every direction.

“Gosh darn it,” Apple Bloom said in a defeated tone. “How do you balance these things, Sis?”

“Just takes practice is all. Don’t beat yourself up ‘bout it. Everypony’s bad at things when they first try.”

Apple Bloom picked up the sticks and put them back in bucket. “I wish I could be more help with everpony workin’ so hard ‘round here.”

“Just keep tryin’, Apple Bloom. Even if it doesn’t go right the first time, don’t give up.”

Apple Bloom smiled to herself as she carried the bucket of sticks over to the chopping block and began splitting the branches into kindling. She was glad her sister believed in her, even if the other ponies at school mocked her for being a later bloomer. It was getting ever more embarrassing having not earned her cutie mark yet.

Big Mac dumped a large bundle of sticks next to the chopping block. As he looked up, his an expression of panic flitted across his face. There in the distance strode Iron Will. Big Mac wondered if the creature had come to demand repayment for the damage done to his house.

“Oh for Pete’s sake, it’s William. What does that brute want now?” Applejack asked, as she too spotted the minotaur approaching.

Iron Will walked up to the three siblings and stopped. “Hello Applejack, hello Mac,” he said, making sure to make eye contact and nod to each of them. “And who is this here? I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”

“I’m Apple Bloom,” the filly said as she set down her hatchet. This creature was nothing like she had ever seen before. He looked scary, but at the same time seemed friendly.

“An honor to meet you, Apple Bloom, I’m the one and only Iron Will,” he said, bending down and shaking her hoof.

“Ahem, what exactly do ya want?” Applejack asked curtly.

Iron Will got to his feet and focused his attention on the stunningly beautiful mare. He remembered some of the advice Fluttershy had given him to help prepare for this. Don’t shout. Smile instead of looking angry. Don’t brag. Don’t insult others. This was going to be difficult. He would have to practically reinvent himself if he was to pull this off.

“I came here today, because I wanted to apologize about what I said last night. I don’t think your home is ugly and I don’t have any plans to destroy it. I’d also like to apologize for calling you a hick.”

Applejack was surprised by this turnabout. He didn’t strike her as the type to apologize. “Aw, shucks, William. I’ve been called worse things than a hick. I’ve been called a rube, a hill-filly, and a bumpkin too.”

“So, um, I hope you don’t hate me or anything… Because nopony hates Iron Will and lives to tell the tale!” He checked himself, realizing he was slipping back into his natural bombastic persona. “Uh, yeah, I just don’t want any hard feelings between us.”

Since his sister and Iron Will were making amends, Big Mac also took the opportunity to attempt to clear things up between himself and the minotaur. “I think I might have accidently broken some of your things last night, but I can help fix your house if you’d like, sir.”

Iron Will smiled at the stallion’s generosity, but declined the offer. “No thank you, Iron Will takes care of himself.”

Apple Bloom’s face brightened as an idea came to her. “Maybe I could help you fix your house, Mr. Iron William, sir.”

He strongly doubted this little filly could be of any help repairing his home, but perhaps she could tell him more about Applejack and thereby help him discover how he might win her heart. “Well, I guess I could give you a chance.”

“Apple Bloom, I don’t think this is a very good idea,” Applejack chided her.

“Please can I help him, Sis? I promise I’ll try to do more good than harm.”

Applejack looked at how little progress Apple Bloom had made at chopping the branches into kindling and wondered if she and her brother might get more done if the little filly was off their hooves for the afternoon. “Well, alright, but feel free to send her right home if she does any more damage to your home,” she said to William.

“I’m sure she’ll be no trouble at all. I’ll see you around, neighbor,” he winked at Applejack as he left.

“Alright, this is gonna be great!” Apple Bloom jumped up and down as she followed the minotaur over to his mansion. “Maybe I can get my cutie mark in repairing damages caused by parties!”

Iron Will chuckled at this. Ponies were far more upbeat and playful than the goats and other minotaurs he generally hung out with. As they walked into the main room, he surveyed the damages to his home. “Wow, where to start?”

Cleaning and Scheming

Twilight awoke with a violent start. She quickly glanced over at her cuckoo clock and realized how much trouble she was in. “Two o’clock? How am I possibly going to accomplish everything on my daily checklist now?”

Spike woke up and rubbed his eyes. “Go back to sleep Twi, if it’s only two o’clock, we’ve still got plenty of time to sleep.”

“No it’s two in the afternoon, Spike. We’re in a heap of trouble,” she opened the window blinds to reveal a bright afternoon.

Spike groaned. “Come on, Twilight. Let me sleep some more. You know dragons need more sleep than ponies, sometimes hundreds of years more.”

“Alright, I’ll go and figure this out by myself,” she said almost more to herself than to Spike as she closed the window blinds. She then went downstairs and almost tripped over a bed that was sitting in the middle of the room. “What in the world?”

A loud snore came from the bed, startling Twilight. She suddenly remembered what this was about. She had taken Pinkie home with her, since she did not want to disturb the Cakes so early in the morning, especially now that they had babies in the home. She had levitated Pinkie’s bed down into the main room when she realized that the snoring was going to prevent her and Spike from getting any sleep themselves.

Pinkie sat up slowly in bed and rubbed her eyes. She mumbled something incoherent. It sounded like “Pinkies all is dead.”

“What was that?”

“Pinkie’s Law is dead,” Pinkie said getting out of bed gingerly. She felt sore all over. This was a change of pace for her, given that she normally summersaulted out of bed yelling “Good morning world!” She looked around the library wondering how she had ended up there. “So did anything else happen after I fell asleep?”

“Part of Iron Will’s house collapsed.”

“Holy guacamole! That party must have rocked even more than I thought it did. Do you think we should help him clean up? Ninety-seven percent of the mess was probably our fault.”

“There’s no time. Look how far behind I already am on my daily checklist,” Twilight said as she levitated a large scroll in front of Pinkie.

Pinkie looked over the items on the list skeptically. “Double check checklist? Re-read biography of Clover the Clever? Procrastinate? Are you sure it’s that important that you get everything on this list done? Why would you plan to procrastinate anyway?”

“I knew I was going to procrastinate one way or another, so I made room for it in my schedule.”

“Come on, let’s go help Iron Will,” Pinkie began slowly walking toward the door. Most of her body ached from moshing. Her stomach was also unsettled and she badly needed a bath.

Twilight looked over her checklist forlornly. She knew there was no possible way to check every box by the end of the day. She tossed the list in a recycling container, conceding that this day was lost.

***

Fluttershy fussed as she went about the cottage doing chores. Angel pretended he was paying attention to what she was saying as he munched some cereal she had poured for him.

“Oh, everything is going not as I wanted it to. I barely got to talk to Big Mac before everything blew up in my face. I don’t even think he likes me. He ran off so quickly and didn’t even have an excuse. What could have I done to upset him? Was I too quiet? Was I too loud? Was I just the right amount of quiet and laud, but messed something else up?” With this, she dropped the duster she was carrying and flopped on the couch in tears.

Angel spat out his cereal in astonishment. Something was very much amiss. He scampered over to comfort Fluttershy. All he could really think of was giving her a little hug. This seemed to help. Her sobbing abated and she picked the bunny up in her hooves and looked at him lovingly. “Oh Angel, you’re always so nice to me.”

Angel looked unconvinced. Few statements could have been further from the truth, but he was at least there for her when she most needed him.

“You know what, Angel? I can’t give up on love this easily. Iron Will isn’t giving up on Applejack and he’s in much worse standing with her. I should go and talk with Big Mac right now. Oh, but I’ll need to think of something to say first, but then I’ll have to memorize it and come up with backup things to say if the conversation doesn’t go exactly as I imagine it going. Oh dear, this might take a while.”

***

“Wow, it looks like a tornado hit this place,” Apple Bloom commented as she glanced around the thrashed house. “What should I fix first?”

“Let’s start by throwing away as much of trash as we can.”

“Wow, a garbage collection cutie mark! Wouldn’t that be somethin’. I was thinkin’ that I’d end up with an Apple cutie mark like everypony else in the family, but maybe I’ll end up as a garbage pony. That will make me really special!”

“I think you can aim a little higher than that kid,” Iron Will commented. “You don’t want to be doing this kind of stuff all your life. Believe me, I’ve been there. Why are you so obsessed with cutie marks anyway? Aren’t you a bit young to be getting a tattoo?”

“Cutie marks aren’t tattoos. They’re magical.”

“Oh, I guess that’s probably a less painful way to do it,” he said as he retrieved a stack of garbage cans from a storage room. “So, tell me about your sister, is she the kind of pony who holds grudges for a long time?” He began heaping debris into the trashcans and letting Apple Bloom put the lids on them. She had to stand on a table to reach the tops of the cans.

“Well, I don’t know, I reckon Applejack’s a mite stubborn, but she’s really nice and wants what’s best for everypony. She’s the greatest sister a filly could ever have.”

“Do you think she might like someone like me?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t seem very happy ta see ya for some reason.” Apple Bloom plopped down on the floor and scratched her chin thoughtfully. “She wasn’t none too happy ta see this big old house going up. Said it fouled up the nice view we used ta have.”

Iron Will continued loading rubble into the trashcans, taking on Apple Bloom’s responsibility by also putting the lids on them.

“Mr. Iron William, how do you have so much money? I mean, this is the biggest house I ever did lay eyes on and all.”

“I make money writing motivational books and conducting seminars, but the truth is that I’m in a lot of debt too. All of the damage to this house just complicates things for Iron Will.”

“How does debt work?”

“I have negative money. It’s like having less than zero bits.”

“Wow, so you’re really, really poor… and I always thought we were poor. Why do you have such a big and fancy house then?”

Iron Will found this simple question surprisingly perplexing when he really thought about it. He was just one individual and he basically had no friends or family he spent much time with. If he was not on the road so much he suspected he might become fairly lonely hanging around in this mansion. “I guess I had to prove it to everypony.”

“Prove what?”

Yet again, it was a perplexing question. “Hey, tell you what, since you’ve got some time off from working on the farm, we don’t have to do all of this boring work now. You want to play in the pool or use the weight room? Maybe you can get a swimming or weight training cutie mark.”

***

“I guess I wouldn’t be the Element of Generosity if I didn’t help you with this,” Rarity said sleepily as she, Pinkie, and Twilight approached the summer home. She had received very little sleep that morning. Perhaps she should not have made the mistake of drinking a few cups of extra sugary punch during the party. One question had been irking her since the previous night. “I’m dying to ask him about why Applejack was so mad at him. She refused to tell me what it was about. I’m worried that he’ll go ballistic if I ask though. He really is a brute.”

Twilight rang the doorbell and the ponies waited for several minutes. They wondered if he was even awake yet. Pinkie entertained herself by roleplaying with some stone garden gnomes, trolls, and goblins she found in a flower bed. Apple Bloom opened the massive front door.

“Huh?” Twilight was confused. “What’s going on?”

“Hey, Twilight. Hi Pinkie. Hello Rarity. Iron William is teaching me how to lift weights. Pretty soon I’m goin’ to get so buff I’ll be bigger than him!”

“That seems a little optimistic,” Twilight mumbled sardonically.

“Where is Iron Will and why isn’t he greeting us?” asked Rarity.

“He’s in the weight room, he said he was ‘in the zone’ so he had me answer the door. Come on in. It’s crazy how much he can lift. You have to see it,” Apple Bloom led them inside. Twilight quickly realized they were missing somepony. She stepped back outside to retrieve Pinkie.

“Not so fast, Mr. Trollington, you’ll never be able to defeat the happiness of the garden gnomes,” Pinkie said, doing the voice for one of the figures.

“Come on, Pinkie, coming here was your idea,” Twilight called.

Apple Bloom talked excitedly as she led them through the house. “Iron William is a really great, uh, whatever he his… he’s a bull-man or something. He’s really poor though. I kind of feel sorry for him.”

“Yes, quite poor,” Rarity said to herself as she looked around at the lavish furnishings and fixtures.

Apple Bloom continued. “He keeps asking questions about Applejack. It’s weird. She doesn’t seem that interesting to me. I mean, she’s not as interesting as you guys with all of your crazy magic. I wonder why Iron William thinks she’s so interesting.”

“He might have a crush on Applejack,” Twilight speculated.

“Oh, that’s sooooo sweet,” Pinkie smiled gleefully. “Applejack totally deserves the attention.”

“But it must not have gone very well when he talked with her last night” Rarity concluded.

Apple Bloom looked excited. “Oh, now that makes loads more sense.”

The ponies stepped into the gym. Iron Will had just finished a set of pull ups and his fur was dripping with sweat. “Rock solid,” he said flexing one of his biceps while admiring himself in a mirror.

“Hi! You want some help cleaning up the house?” Pinkie asked more loudly than necessary.

Iron Will dropped his workout bottle and spewed out the water he had just been sipping. These ponies were the last ones he expected to see. In his experience, party guests who trashed his houses were just as hard to find afterwards as ponies who owed him money. “You really want to help me?” he asked incredulously.

“Sure, that’s what friends are for,” Pinkie said happily.

The minotaur’s heart softened. These ponies were changing his general outlook. Their kindness and innocence was refreshing. He was surprised how willingly they accepted him, despite the fact that he was so different from them.

***

By the evening, the ponies had cleaned up most of the house, though damages to the walls and roof remained. Iron Will was surprised they would spend so much of their weekend helping him. He generally had his goat assistants clean up after him, but he was saving money this way and not angering them by forcing them to work on a Sunday.

He walked over to answer the doorbell and was met with a distraught looking Fluttershy. “Oh, it was just terrible! I spent all day trying to work up the courage to ask Big Mac out and then when I did, I said all of my lines wrong and asked if he wanted to hang out sometime soon, but he said he was really pretty busy. It seemed like he wanted to get away from me. I think maybe he probably, certainly doesn’t like me.”

“I’m sure he likes you, Fluttershy,” Apple Bloom trotted up beside Iron Will. “Everypony likes you. My brother’s just really, really shy is all.”

Fluttershy was terrified to see that her minotaur friend was not the only one in the room. She thought she had been speaking with him privately.

Pinkie’s face lit up. “Wow, you have a crush on Big Mac? Everypony is falling in love!”

There were no words to accurately describe how embarrassed Fluttershy felt at that moment. She quickly decided that burying her face in a couch was the best solution.

“You know, we can all still see you, Fluttershy,” Twilight pointed out. “Burying your face in pillows doesn’t actually change anything. Besides you shouldn’t be ashamed of having a crush on Big Mac. I’m proud that you built up the courage to ask him out. The fear of rejection can feel very overwhelming in these types of situations. That’s what I’ve read anyway.”

Apple Bloom sat down on the couch beside Fluttershy and pulled her upright so that her face was no longer buried. “We’re all real busy on the farm right now. In fact, we’re prob’bly gonna be even farther behind now that I’ve been workin’ here all day. Big Mac won’t have an excuse ta avoid ya when we get all caught up though. He prob’bly likes you. You’re really nice and everypony says you’re really purddy.”

“They do?” Fluttershy was surprised. She never really admitted that she was special in any way, instead spending her time finding faults with herself.

“Yes, of course, darling,” said Rarity. “There was a reason Photo Finish made you a model. We all think you’re beautiful, but we don’t just go around saying it all of the time, because we don’t want to embarrass you.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie chimed in. “And since you’re already as embarrassed as you could possibly be, we might as well tell you how beautiful you are!”

Iron Will paced back and forth thinking. “What if I have some of my goat assistants help out around the farm tonight and get all of the work done ahead of time, so Applejack and Big Mac can take some time off?”

The idea seemed a bit half-baked to Twilight. “Do your goats know what exactly needs to be done at Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Well no-”

Apple Bloom interrupted the minotaur. “Oh, oh, oh, I know all of the jobs that need ta be done, I could help ya’ll out.”

“Don’t you need to be in bed soon?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, but this would be a good excuse ta stay up. Ya’ll get to stay up all of the time for worse reasons. I mean, just look at what ya’ll did to this here place,” Apple Bloom waved her hoof indicating the damaged living room.

“I’ll help too,” Fluttershy offered. Her friends nodded and agreed that they were in.

These ponies never ceased to amaze Iron Will. “Are you sure? You’ve already helped me a lot today.”

“Sure, but this is for love!” said Pinkie. “I mean, this is like really important.”

The ponies and the minotaur spent the next few minutes plotting their nighttime invasion of Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom was to play the key role in the operation. She scampered home as the sun began to set, Twilight trotting close behind. This was going to be a very exciting night. The little filly felt thrilled to be involved with all of this grownup plotting. Maybe she’d even succeed in helping her brother and sister find special someponies.

Invasion of Sweet Apple Acres

“Where’ve ya been all darn day?” Granny Smith asked as Apple Bloom hopped up to seat herself for dinner. Her siblings were setting the table. They looked exhausted.

“Oh, hi there, Twi,” Applejack noticed her friend had come in with Apple Bloom. “What brings ya here this evenin’?”

Twilight opened her mouth the reply, but Apple Bloom was already answering for her. “Twilight’s goin’ ta help me with my homework. We’re gonna stay up late tonight and do some astrology!”

“Astronomy,” Twilight corrected her.

Applejack smiled. “Well, isn’t that just so kind of ya, Twilight. Ya want some dinner? We’re eatin’ apples,” she set a small pile of apples on a plate for Twilight.

“Just apples?”

“Well, we’re runnin’ a bit behind, so we ain’t had time to cook ‘em inta pies or muffins or anythin’.”

“That’s fine AJ. I’m starving as it is,” Twilight happily bit into one of the juicy apples.

Applejack finished putting apples on everypony’s plate and took her seat between her brother and sister. “I’m su’prised you’re home so late Apple Bloom. I hope that William character didn’t make ya work none too hard.”

“I would have had to work harder, but Twilight and Rarity and Pinkie and Fluttershy were all there helpin’ too.”

“Yeah, Pinkie wanted to clean up the mess she had made, so we all went over and helped out as best we could. We would have had asked you along, but we all know how busy you are,” said Twilight.

“That’s just fine. I didn’t want to help William anyway. He’s a darn showoff who doesn’t care none ‘bout anypony’s feelings.”

Apple Bloom came to his defense. “Oh, he’s not so bad, Sis. He’s actually really swell. He let me swim in the pool, and jump on the furniture, and use his weights room!” She said with her mouth full, spitting bits of apple as she talked.

“Yes, he’s actually very nice when you get to know him better,” Twilight added. “Maybe you should give him another chance; you are pretty close neighbors after all. You know, when I first came to Ponyville, I had a bad first impression of almost everypony. You shook my hoof so hard it hurt and then corralled me into eating a bunch of food. Rainbow Dash knocked me into a mud puddle, drenched me in rain, and messed up my hair. Rarity practically strangled me to death and I thought Pinkie was totally out of her mind, but I ended up being great friends with all of you. Iron Will is a bit out there I’ll admit, but he means well and he’s nicer than you think.”

Twilight then turned and looked Big Mac squarely in the eye. “You know who else is really nice? Fluttershy is really nice.”

“Ee-yup,” Big Mac said, looking uncomfortable.

***

Apple Bloom sneaked quietly into Big Mac’s bedroom once she started to hear him snoring. She jumped with fright as she noticed a small, strange figure sitting on her brother’s bedside table, but breathed a small sigh of relief when she realized it was simply Smarty Pants, Twilight’s foalhood toy. There was no time to wonder how it had ended up here. Apple Bloom quietly trotted up beside the bed and slipped a pair of earplugs into her brother’s ears. He stirred and shifted his hay stalk from one side of his mouth to the other. It tickled Apple Bloom’s nose as it passed by. She tried desperately not to sneeze in her brother’s face. All could be lost if she woke him up now.

Thankfully she managed to repress the sneeze and crept out of the room undetected. The next task would be more challenging, since Applejack was a slightly lighter sleeper than Big Mac. As Apple Bloom walked into her sister’s room, one of the floorboards creaked loudly. She froze in place, but her sister continued snoring.

“Phew, that was a close one,” Apple Bloom murmured to herself. Unfortunately, this woke Applejack up.

As Apple Bloom was placing the earplugs in her sister’s ears, her eyes blinked open lazily and she sat up, looking disoriented. “What? Huh? What are ya doing? Ain’t ya s’posed ta be doin’ astronomy homework with Twilight? And what’s with these here earplugs?” she asked, removing them from her ears.

Apple Bloom’s mind raced. “Uh, well, ya see, Twilight was makin’ so much noise I thought it would be polite ta give ya some earplugs so ya wouldn’t wake up.”

“Why would Twilight be making a lot of noise?”

“Oh, uh… ya know how much she likes astronomy. She keeps yellin’ out all the names of all the stars.”

Applejack pondered for a moment. “Well, that does sound like somethin’ Twi would do. Go ahead and put the earplugs in. I’m gonna need my sleep.”

Apple Bloom vigorously shoved the earplugs in her sister’s ears and dashed out of the room. She considered giving Granny Smith ear plugs too, but with her hearing as bad as it was there was little point. She had fallen asleep at the dinner table earlier and Big Mac had carried her to bed without waking her.

***

“This is totally crazy; I could be sleeping right now,” Rainbow Dash complained.

“I know what you mean,” Spike agreed as he helped the pegasus repair a fence in the moonlight. He was actually well rested though, having only been up for about an hour when Fluttershy invited him along for the nighttime invasion of Sweet Apple Acres.

The operation flowed smoothly. Apple Bloom stood on a barrel giving orders. She wondered what a management cutie mark would look like. Iron Will and his goats planted apple tree seedlings. Rarity cleaned mud off of the side of the barn. Twilight was using her magic to levitate tools to workers as they needed them. Fluttershy coaxed some bunnies out of the garden, where they had been stealing vegetables. Meanwhile, Pinkie read stories to the sheep, who had agreed not to tell the Apples about what was going on, provided that somepony entertained them.

During a break, Iron Will began handing out energy drinks which bore a picture of him giving a thumbs up. “When you’ve got to stay up all night, you’d better do it right!” he shouted, downing three of the drinks in quick succession.

“I’m glad you thought of giving the Apple family earplugs,” Rarity whispered to Twilight. “We would have woken them up several times over by now.”

“Care for a boost?” Iron Will asked Rarity as he handed her an energy drink.

“Aren’t these only for teenage colts?” she asked incredulously.

“Get over your age and gender stereotypes,” replied the minotaur, dropping down between her and Twilight. “Can you believe that I wanted to wipe out this whole place and replace it with hedges?” he asked, looking around at the pleasant, moonlight farm.

“It is very nice,” Twilight agreed. “I guess it takes some getting used to. I’m from a much fancier place myself, but I think I like it here more. The ponies are friendly here.”

Apple Bloom stomped her hoof on the barrel she stood upon. “Back to work everypony!”

Iron Will chuckled at the little filly’s assertiveness. “I guess the break’s over.”

***

Apple Bloom was just getting into bed as the sun was beginning to rise. She had never been more tired in her life. Nor had she ever been allowed to stay up so late.

Applejack walked in, putting on her hat and removing her earplugs as she prepared herself for another hard day’s work.

“Ya’ll ready for school, little sister?”

“Oh shoot!” Apple Bloom’s face fell as she realized she would not be sleeping at all. “This is gonna be the worst day ever!”

“Come now, school can’t be all that bad,” Applejack chuckled.

***

Pinkie yawned as she placed four omelets on the Apple family kitchen table.

Rarity finished sweeping the floor and levitated the broom and dustpan back into their corner. “Let’s get out of here. I think I hear somepony coming.” The two ponies slipped out the back door and out of sight just before the Apple family came into the kitchen.

“What in tarnation?”

“Ee-yup,” Big Mac said, looking at the delicious omelets as he took out his earplugs.

After finishing the breakfast which had mysteriously appeared, Applejack trotted up to the window to take an admiring look at the peaceful farm before getting to work. She could not believe her eyes. Glancing back she noticed Apple Bloom had fallen asleep in her seat at the table, though apparently not before having finished her own omelet. Big Mac and Granny Smith were still eating. Applejack thought for a moment as she surveyed the orderly farm from the window. She turned back to her brother. “I suspect Apple Bloom and Twilight weren’t actually doing astronomy last night. It looks like they got a big amount of work done on the farm.”

Big Mac shoveled the rest of his omelet into his mouth and got up to see what his sister was so surprised about. He stared out the window in disbelief. “That doesn’t make no kind of sense,” he said, still chewing.

“Well, Twilight is real good with that magic of hers. Maybe it is possible, but that still don’t explain why she’d go through so much trouble.”

“What are we supposed to do today then?” Big Mac looked confused.

“I don’t reckon I know, but that sure was a great omelet.”

Just then, a knock came at the front door. Applejack left the kitchen and went to answer it. There on the porch stood Iron Will. He looked tired, but seemed pleasantly pleased with himself. “It appears you’ve finally caught up on all of your work. Do you think you have time for a date sometime today?”

Applejack almost laughed at the minotaur’s audacity. “Don’t ya think it’s pretty early in the mornin’ ta be asking a question like that? Besides, what would we do on a date?”

“I was thinking we’d transplant some big trees and put them between my summer house and Sweet Apple Acres so you can have your pristine nature view back. You don’t mind getting a bit sweaty on a first date do you?”

Applejack did actually laugh at this. Her immediate instinct was to turn him down, but Apple Bloom and her friends seemed to like him and he had been nice to her since the party. “Aw heck, I got nothing else to do today apparently. You’re just lucky you caught me a in a good mood. How about I drop by this afternoon?”

He smiled broadly. “You won’t regret giving Iron Will a chance,” he said, giving a bow. “I’ll see you later.”

Applejack rolled her eyes as the minotaur strutted away towards his home and out of sight. “He’d better stop referring to himself in third person,” she muttered under her breath. Still, she could not help smiling to herself as she sat down in a rocking chair on the porch.

“Hurray!” Pinkie shouted as she jumped out from behind a shrub in the yard where she and her friends had been secretly watching.

Rainbow Dash facehoofed. “Pinkie, you’re ruining everything!” she complained as she followed Pinkie out from their hiding spot.

Seeing her two friends surprised Applejack so much that she lost balance in the rocking chair and tumbled onto the ground in front of them. “Oh, then I guess ya’ll saw Iron Will ask me out?” Applejack asked, a blush coming to her cheeks. Her other friends emerged from hiding. Spike lay across Twilight’s back, snoring softly.

Fluttershy extended a hoof and helped Applejack get up. “Isn’t it just wonderful?” she asked, gesturing to the orderly farm around them. “It was Iron Will’s idea. We all helped.”

“We can understand if you still don’t want to go out with him,” said Rarity. “I mean, he is rather uncouth.”

Applejack looked bemused. “Rarity, didn’t ya always say I was a bit uncouth myself? I’ll give him a second chance. We may have a load of differences, but we don’t gotta let our differences get in the way.”

The orange mare shook her head in disbelief at all that had already happened this morning. “Thank ya’ll for goin’ so far out of your way to help me out, even if it was for meddlesome reasons.”

She then looked playfully at Fluttershy. “Don’t you have somepony you need ta be asking out yourself?”

Fluttershy’s cheerful face fell. She knew this moment had been coming, but for some reason that did not make it any less terrifying. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe I should get some sleep first, so that I’m thinking better and so that I don’t look like such a dreadful mess.”

“Sure thing, Sugarcube. How about I ask him out for you? That’ll save ya both a lot of trouble. Ya got any idea what you’d like ta do for a first date?”

“I was thinking we could go and pick some lovely flowers so we could make a ‘get well’ bouquet for the DJ.”

Applejack was touched by her friend’s thoughtfulness. “Big Mac would be lucky to have ya as a special somepony, Fluttershy. You’re the nicest pony I ever did know.”

Rainbow Dash looked offended. “Hey, what about me? I thought I was the nicest pony?”

“Sorry Rainbow, you can’t be the best at everything,” laughed Applejack.

“I know. I’m just messing with you.”