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// Hard Work and an Old Friend 
// Story: New to Ponyville; A Young Colt's Adventure 
// by AxtontheMechanist 
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The sun rose over Equestria once more, and the songbirds sung their melody which awoke the other residents of Ponyville to another sunny day in town. Axton had awoke and looked at the small alarm clock he had made, seeing that it read 6:30, he dashed out of his bedroom door to get ready for the day, frantic not to be late. After hurriedly washing himself, he went to get some of his workers overalls which were slightly burnt from working in the forge under the house. Securing his trademark goggles before walking to the door, to find Defensive already sitting there. From the small bubble increasing and decreasing in size that was coming from his nose, Axton could tell that his friend had fallen asleep.

To solve the problem, he decided to levitate Defensive out of the door with him, and ran to Sweet Apple Acres at full pelt.
Half an hour later at Sweet Apple Acres...

Axton ran up to the farm, with Defensive STILL in his magic grip. ‘Honestly, he sleeps like a boulder!’ Axton thought irately. He was greeted by Applejack, who looked a little confused as to why he had a colt in his magical grip.

“Uh, Axton? Why is your friend in a magi-grip-thingy?” She question with a small raised eyebrows, looking at the small twitching Draco-colt. 

Axton gave a lopsided grin before replying “He told me yesterday that he wanted to help out, which is why he’s wearing a set of my forge overalls. Knowing him, he woke up extremely early, started waiting for me by the door and fell asleep.”
Applejack gave a small chuckle as Axton lowered Defensive onto the ground, still asleep. 

“Well then, pardner, I’ll just wake him up then!” Applejack went to go wake Defensive up, unknowing of the inevitable. Defensive, who had spent a large portion of his life time living in a cave, was used to predators attacking him while he slept, and as he woke with a small “Whuh?” He gave a explosive uppercut, acting on his instincts, with a bellow to Applejack’s lower jaw who stumbled back slightly dazed.

Of course, when he had realized what he had done, his eyes widened like saucers, and he started running for the hills, with Applejack on his tail.

“Come back here, ya varmint! No one hits me in th’ face like that an’ gets away with it!” Applejack was running full pelt after Defensive, who was running as fast as his small hooves would carry him.

Watching the scene unfold, Axton had to hold on to a fencepost to stop himself from collapsing in laughter. As he walked to the barn, still chuckling to himself.

Axton walked into the barn houses kitchen, to be greeted by the CMC (minus Defensive, who was still being chased by Applejack), Granny Smith and Big Macintosh. 

“Hey there, youngin’! How yer doin’ this mornin’?” Granny Smith slowly nodded her head to Axton “You ready ter get ter work?”

“That I am. Not sure Applejack is ready yet though” Axton laughed a little to himself as he recounted the tale of what happened at the entrance to the farm. This of course, got a small, throaty chuckle from Granny Smith and a booming but low laugh from Big Mac. The three fillies had burst into a fit of giggles, whereas Dark was just shaking his head and smiling.
Big Mac, who rarely spoke, decided to have a small input “She’ll probably hogtie him soon enough. Ah know that she can get in a foul temper when sucker punched.” 

As if on cue, Applejack burst through the door to the kitchen, with said hogtied Draco-colt on her back, and she had an air of satisfaction in her. Defensive however, was extremely displeased, and let out a frustrated ‘mmmph!’ through the makeshift gag that covered his mouth, sending a fresh wave of laughter.

After the laughter had died down, Axton got Defensive in a small magical grip, and cut through the rope with a few well aimed magic shards. As the rope fell to the floor, and the gag was taken out, Defensive gasped in air, before flushing with embarrassment, his eyes to the floor.

To comfort him, Scootaloo came up to him and gave him a small peck on the cheek before she punched him lightly on the shoulder. They both blushed a deep crimson before Applejack noisily cleared her throat. 

“All right, everypony! Let’s get t’ work!” Applejack stomped her hoof resolutely, and the small group nodded, donning the hard hats that were conveniently placed on the table.

Everypony toiled at their assigned tasks, long into the sweltering heat that was bearing down upon everypony. Apple Bloom and Axton worked on cutting down and reattaching the joints and nailing them down, Sweetie Belle helped organize the main work effort with Granny Smith, Dark recycled the wood with Applejack and Big Macintosh pulled up the beams on a pulley that he attached to a large metal collar that went round his neck. The barn was nearly done, and everypony put in their best efforts to paint the barn, bright and bold. Of course, Defensive excelled at this, due to his powerful wings being able to take him up and paint the higher reaches of the barn.

After many hours of tiring and excessive work, the Apple Family barn was complete, along with a few personal touches. Axton, with a few metals, was able to make small metal supports upon the bottom of the barns foundations, making it stronger, just in case a storm hit. Dark had decorated the interior a little and made a small lift system to get to the top of the barn, where the tools were kept, which consisted of a small platform and, upon pulling a rope, the platform would lift steadily up to the barns attic. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had added a lot of artwork to the inside of the barn. Defensive, with more of the metal supports that had been on site, had hoisted them with his large amount of strength, to the top of the barn’s roof, where they were drilled into place by Axton, who held the large anchor bolts in his magic, and put them into the metal and woodwork to help keep the humongous supports in place.

As the group of ponies looked upon their handiwork with pride, they found that day was coming to a close. They each said their farewells, before venturing off back home for the night, as the day had been a tough one, and everypony needed their rest.

Axton and Defensive reached their home and went inside, to find a scroll on the side. The seal of the scroll was what looked like a small sapphire, surrounded by an intricate design. Axton immediately recognized it as a letter from Iris Sapphire, his pen pal. He decided to read it once Defensive had gone upstairs, turning to the lectern that stood by a large bookshelf within a more secluded part of the house. Fortunately, the house was well lit so there was no need for a secondary light.

As he opened the scroll, he read;

To Axton,
How have you been doing as of late? We’ve been doing great, due to our moving plans being forwarded! We’ll probably be by tomorrow, and our house apparently nearby Sugarcube corner. Can you believe it? Just imagine, being able to walk out your doorstep and being able to buy a cupcake within five minutes of walking. Apparently, according to dad, it was going on the cheap due to ‘loud party noises’. I can’t wait to see you again; it’s been very long, hasn’t it? When was the last time that we hung out? Anyway, I’m sure you will tell me, you’re memory is like that of a turtles, am I right? I still haven’t found my Cutie Mark yet, but a friend of mine, Babs Seed, was part of this little organisation called the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Have you heard of them? You’re probably in them, I mean, last time we met you didn’t have your Cutie Mark anyway. Not that that’s a bad thing, it gives you time to think what your special talent is, right?
Your Good Friend,
Iris Sapphire

As Axton slept quietly that night, and silence reigned as the night time of Equestria began.