"Wewl, haow do I wook, Dashie?" Pinkie Pie asked, a sea of hungry party guests downstairs crying out for their hostess.

"Pinkie, are you sure you want to do this?" Dash asked, through her own nose brace. "You only got clocked, what.... three days ago?"

"Aohh... A'll be fine so wong as I dun't tok too much!" Pinkie replied. "You went to werk today, too!"

"Yeah, but that's different... I don't have to shout about parties." Dash sighed. "Pinkie, you look totally fine. Just try not to tear any stitches, okay?"

Pinkie Pie smiled as big as she could without doing just that.

"It'wll be a siwent party for Penkie!"

"It's gunna have to be," Rainbow Dash said.

"Tanks for your hewlp setting up!"

Before Rainbow could even say anything, Pinkie got up and ran down stairs, leaving Dash to follow slowly behind. Rainbow got up, shook her head, then pushed open the door to reveal a sizable number of young guests sitting at the indoor picnic-style table. The cake in the center said "Happy Birthday Sweetie Belle!" with a mountain of presents not too far off.

At the center was the guest of honor, her wide-eyed sister by her side. Rarity had made the decorations, but Rainbow and Pinkie laid out everything in the space -- it was a mixture of all three ponies aesthetic tastes, and that struck just the right chord with Sweetie Belle.

"Thank you one and all!" Rainbow Dash said for Pinkie, as the mare lit the candles. "This is all just for you Sweetie Belle. Hope you have an awesome ninth birthday!"

"Hewre! Hewre!"

Sweetie Belle blew out the candles and her party started.

It was a typical party, with typical flare of all three. Pinkie was happy to see Sweetie Belle smiling, and to know that all her friends had made it. It went on for a couple of hours, and everypony had a blast. When it finally dispersed, it was getting late. Applejack walked Applebloom home, following her were Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle and Rarity stayed behind a while, but they'd be on their way soon, too.

The streets of Ponyville were fairly empty. One, two ponies other than the two pairs of mares and fillies, and that was it.

"Where are you staying tonight, Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash asked, yawning. "Will you be with your fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders at the sleepover?"

"Heck yeah! Me and Sweetie Belle have been looking forward to this all week."

"Awesome, awesome." Rainbow Dash yawned again. "Hey AJ?"

The farm pony turned to her, a mere twenty feet ahead.

"Yeah, sugarcube?"

"You okay walking Scootaloo to the Acres tonight? I'm kind of tired. All that setting up did a number on my... well, everything. Chairs and tables are not like clouds one bit."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all." Applejack smiled. "Anything for you, Rainbow."

The pegasus grinned at he special somepony, already getting ready to take off.

"Night Scoots."

"Night Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo replied, watching Rainbow take off into the air.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Rainbow said as she disappeared into the air.

The three continued on their merry way.

Twenty feet ahead, resting at the Ponyville fountain, was what appeared to be a tan unicorn jogger with a blond mane. Judging by his wheezing, he was a beginner... little did the ponies know he'd barely run seventy feet. His horn wasn't real, nor was his color... in fact if anypony had taken a closer look they might've noticed the horn was a bit bouncy and in fact becoming crooked. Underneath all that was a gray earth pony, still able to blend into his surroundings. The things ponies do not notice when they're too wrapped up in their own conversations.

He'd been following Rainbow Dash for a few days, each day a different pony, learning different things about her from her friends, and even the fillies. Rarity thought there was a sudden influx of oddities coming into town, as once a day ponies would come into her shop asking questions about either one of her friends or... one even asked about her relationship with Rainbow Dash. She had to ask that one to leave... his questions were getting a little too uncomfortable.

Do you think she finds you attractive?

In retrospect, even Ironhoof thought that question was in poor taste, but since no pony was recognizing him, he could always ask whatever questions he wanted and come back the next day as some pony else if he didn't get the answer he liked. He found out Pinkie, the mare he clocked was a good friend of Dash's, but... he could hardly understand a word she was saying after he'd first gotten done with her.

He followed them all the way to the acres, watching Scootaloo on her scooter. He even passed them once they got to the outskirts of Ponyville towards the Acres.

"Nice Scooter," he said, jogging past her (this time down hill, thankfully).

"Thanks!" Scootaloo replied.

Once he got past the final building in the block, he turned the corner and jogged around to a place he wouldn't be seen, where he caught his breath. He watched the ponies slowly sauntering in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Once he was sure of where they would be, if not tonight, then in the morning... he would make his move. The paper mache horn fell off with perfect timing.

"It's okay," said a passing unicorn, sympathetically. "There are times I wish I were a pegasus!"

Ironhoof let out a sigh. At least he was no longer visible to those that mattered.

It was looking like he would have to take a room this time. Hopefully, his mistress wouldn't get too concerned with this project taking longer than expected.

Having neatened himself up, Ironhoof waited. He was no longer a unicorn; he changed his attire to look like that of his first visit, save the sweater... in it's place, his saddlebag. He waited until dark and he slept until dawn. It was then that he left and stood on a hill, the farm house in plain sight.

Eight AM passed. Nine AM passed. Ten, eleven gone. It was approaching lunch... aside from apples, there was nothing for him to eat. The big red stallion came out early and started bucking trees. Ironhoof was far off, away and hidden by the trees. He saw him this time, Big Mac didn't see Ironhoof. Even so, the aging stallion didn't care. The orange mare joined him later on, shortly after that a rainbow blur zipped by overhead just long enough to say hello... then zipped away... probably off to work. Ironhoof wished he could just shoot her and be done with all this, but he was aiming to truly hurt Rainbow Dash, and that would be over with much too quick.

It was then that the fillies emerged, two headed for a treehouse not far off, and one headed towards town.

"I'll be back in no time with those books on excavation!" said the one headed away from the other two, pulling out a collapsible scooter from behind her back.

"Cutie Mark Crusader Archaeologists -- yay!" All three seemed to exclaim, causing Ironhoof's ears to flatten against his head... even from that distance.

Ironhoof was determined to beat the filly to her destination.

He slid down the hill and galloped -- literally galloped -- towards the road as the filly rapidly gained on him. He wheezed and puffed along the way, but made it with time to spare. The road was, thank goodness, empty. He felt like if he had gone much further would would have vomited up his heart. His strength was superior, but his stamina was certainly lacking...

Not bad for over sixty, he thought as he caught his breath.

It was then that Scootaloo emerged, about fifty feet behind him. She turned in the direction of the stallion, who turned away and proceeded to drag his hooves and wobble. He heard her buzzing slow down as she approached.

"Hey mister, are you okay?" she asked the seemingly injured stallion.

"I-" He turned to look back. "I can't feel my left hind leg. Please! I think I'm having a serious problem. A stroke, a heart-attack! Oh, don't let me fall... there are sharp rocks here."

"C-c-coming," the filly said nervously. "I won't let you fall, don't worry."

Scootaloo set her Scooter down, approaching Ironhoof. She managed to wiggle under his haunches and provide support. He patted her back, going into his saddle bag.

"Good girl," he said weakly. "Thank you so much."

"Please... you're really heavy!" said Scootaloo. "Just let me get you to the grass, and I'll go get Big Mac. He'll know what to do and- hey!"

Ironhoof was now holding her tightly. He'd pulled a small syringe from his saddlebag and had stuck it into her left shoulder.

"Stop it! What're you-"

"Shhh, shhh.... it's okay." He gently rubbed her mane. "Go to sleep, little one... I won't hurt you."

Everything seemed to slow down and become wavy as Scootaloo's limbs all turned to jelly. Colors seemed to spiral out, her vision fading to a pin prick. Ironhoof was there to keep the filly from falling on the non-existent sharp rocks as she finally drifted off, not to sleep... but to a place where she would cease to be for now. Just where he wanted her. He might have to give her another injection as would take a couple hours to get her home, but that would be fine.

Iron made sure to clear the road of everything -- scooter, tracks, and all.

A deep voice spoke, sounding like an engine:

"What.. you want... Buttercup? You want... dogs? ... torture? ... choice ... live ... die ... happy? All ... you?"

A lyrical voice answered, sounding as though it were being put through a lawnmower:

"No, I want ...young ... rainbow... looks... pretty... be done?"

The low voice answered:

"... you wish."