On a day with beautiful weather, ponies always enjoyed being out and about, ready to get going with whatever they needed to. And today was no exception, as there was a small site just on the outskirts of the town where a great deal of activity seemed to be going on. A construction of some sort was being worked on, not only by professionals, but also many in the local community. All were working hard here, and all while wearing looks of satisfaction. Everypony was getting on well with everypony else, helping each other out and just generally having a good time of it. But, among these ponies, there was one who stood out somewhat, and that was the young Yak, Yona. Upon her back was a massive pile of wooden planks, but, with her great Yak strength, it was no issue to cart it around. And cart it she did, bringing it to one of the foremen at one corner of the site, who promptly smiled as he saw the youth bring the new materials.

"That's great, Yona! Just leave it there!"

Smiling, the friendship student did as requested, getting down to her knees before gently sliding the aforementioned planks off herself into a neat little pile. The older stallion, smiling to this, tipped his hard-hat to her, before turning to one of his colleagues. Yona, who was clearly happy at having rendered this assistance, looked behind herself, still smiling widely as she did so.

"How your work, Smolder?"

Sure enough, her dragon companion was indeed close behind her, carrying a similar-sized pile of planks. However, given her relative lack of strength when compared to Yona, this, understandably, proved to be a more difficult undertaking. So much so that, when she finally placed her pile right next to where Yona had put hers, she let out a grunt of irritation, looking more than a little uncomfortable.

"Why are we out here doing this again, Yona?"

Yona, who had been smiling all the way, started to explain.

"Assignment from Princess Twilight, remember? Learn teamwork by helping out with volunteer work in Ponyville."

Smolder, folding her arms, rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, I already know that, Yona, but why are we here? Why can't it be Gallus or Ocellus doing this stuff?"

Yona tilted her head, displaying a degree of confusion.

"They already do their part. Sandbar and Ocellus start on Monday, then Silverstream and Gallus on Wednesday, and now our turn."

Smolder blinked slowly, then grimaced a little.

"Right...forgot that."

But Yona was unconcerned with her friend's obvious displeasure with their situation, instead just maintaining that smile of hers, turning around and starting to head off to collect more planks. Smolder, reluctantly, followed, and as she did this, she looked over to her young Yak colleague.

"Do these ponies really need our help to build this community centre? They're doing okay on their own."

But here, Yona frowned.

"It always good to help! It no matter if they don't need it!"

Again, Smolder rolled her eyes.

"We dragons don't really do the whole community thing, Yona. We just keep to ourselves most of the time."

A hearty chuckle escaped Yona after she'd heard that.

"Yaks different! We all help each other out! Hut need fixing? All help! There no Yak that other Yaks don't know, so we one big family!"

To that, Smolder couldn't help but put on a slight smirk.

"Well, glad to know one of us is enjoying themselves."

Yona gave a firm nod to those words.

"Yona is happy! Nothing better than knowing she helped! Smolder will be happy too!"

"Pfft! I doubt it!" the dragon female responded.

But Yona was undeterred by the lack of enthusiasm her friend was showing, and instead, she simply carried on, with Smolder not far behind her. Soon, the two of them once more reached the massive pile of planks that had yet to be carried over to where they were needed, alongside the ponies who were handing them out to the local volunteers. They both smiled and nodded to Yona and Smolder as they approached, directing them to the small piles that had already been prepared for them. As before, Yona took hers upon her back, looking more than pleased at the chance to get to carry on helping. She made her way back where she'd come from, leaving Smolder to pick up her part of the materials.

"Okay...let's get this over with."

With a grunt and a groan, she hoisted the planks onto her shoulder, looking on at the nearby stallions as they gave a respectful nod to her as she did so. Smolder nodded back, and so began the long walk back to where the planks were needed. But, as Yona forged ahead, Smolder lagged behind a bit, showing clear distaste for this activity of theirs. And it was while this was happening that another of the workers, a mare, stopped and looked to the young dragon with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey there. You need some help?"

Smolder, taken aback by this sudden offer, looked to the mare with confusion.

"Er...what?"

Smiling, the mare gestured to the planks she was carrying.

"You look like you might be overdoing it a bit, kid. Want me to take one off your hands?"

Smolder blinked to this, her eyes darting from the wood on her shoulder, to the mare, then back and forth for a bit. After a while, and with some uncertainty, she gave a slow nod.

"Um...sure?"

With her smile widening somewhat, the mare walked over, taking hold of one of the planks and starting to carry it herself. Smolder, though surprised by the help that had been given to her, nevertheless gave a look of thanks to the mare as she made her way off. Now alone again to carry the rest of the wood, Smolder saw a number of other ponies around, some of whom were simply chatting to one another. As she walked, a look came to her that suggested that an idea was forming in her mind, and after checking around to make sure that Yona wasn't close by, she smirked. Clearing her throat, the dragon female started to grunt in the way one would when completely overburdened with something, though it was clearly in an obviously forced manner.

"Ugh! What a really heavy load of planks to carry!" she declared, sounding like she'd never acted in her life.

But, bad acting or no, it got the attention of several nearby ponies, many of whom walked over to her.

"Need some help, Miss?" one of them asked.

Putting on a look of softness, Smolder raised a claw, halting them.

"Oh, don't worry yourselves! I'm doing fine!"

This was punctuated by her letting out another fake groan, and that, rather predictably, led to a greater degree of determination for the assembled ponies around her.

"No! We insist! Let us help!"

And help they did, each taking hold of one of the planks she'd been carrying until, finally, she was relieved of all of them. She had to do her uttermost best to make sure she didn't cackle with glee over this, and instead put on her "innocent" voice once more.

"Wow, Mister! I don't know what to say!"

The stallion, chuckling, looked to her happily.

"Think nothing of it. Always happy to lend a hoof."

And with that, they headed off, leaving a now-unburdened Smolder behind. And so, now that she was no longer the centre of attention, the dragon quickly darted off to the side, walking around one of the corners of the as-yet unfinished community centre. Thankfully, nobody was around here, so Smolder knew she didn't have to worry about being interrupted. Chuckling to herself, she picked one spot in particular, and then got herself comfortable, sitting down upon the grass and leaning against the wall, settling in for a good rest.

"Well...if the work's getting done, why should it matter if it's not me doing it?"

Another cackle escaped her, though she was sure to keep it quiet, just in case somepony heard her. Her eyes closed, and for a few moments, she enjoyed the peace and quiet that came with no longer having any work to do. But, after only a few moments of this, a voice was heard.

"Yer Smolder, right?"

Immediately, the dragon's eyes snapped open, and she leapt to her feet. She fully expected to come face-to-face with some disapproving foreman, waiting to chastise her over slacking in her responsibilities. Instead, she was greeted with the smiling face of an elderly green earth pony mare. The two stared at one another for a time, until Smolder, getting herself into a somewhat calmer standing position, finally responded.

"Oh! Um...you're Granny Smith...right?"

The mare nodded.

"Eyup! Saw all the hoo-ha down here and though ah'd come over fer a look. Y'all hard at work, Missy?"

Smolder cleared her throat, glancing away so as to not look the elder mare in the eye.

"Er...yep! All working hard, that's us alright!"

Laughing again, Granny Smith reached forward, giving Smolder a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Ah were lucky ta find ya, little dragon. Ah wanted ta properly thank ya and yer friends fer what ya did fer me."

Smolder glanced back to her, scratching her own head with confusion.

"Um...what did we do?"

Barely a moment passed before the green pony began to explain herself.

"That Sandy fella and his Changeling Sweetheart. They helped patch up ma barn the other day, remember?"

Understanding came to Smolder after that.

"Oh! Right! That!"

Calming down considerably, she let out a genuine laugh.

"You're welcome, Miss!"

Nodding to that, Granny Smith turned, and began to rummage around in a pair of saddle-bags she'd arrived with. Smolder watched as she took out a big and bright red apple, giving it a quick once-over before handing it over to her. Smolder, understandably, was confused to this, and after looking back up to the older pony, she was given an explanation.

"You yung-uns are a good lot. Always helpin' us folks around here. Ah figured it'd be good ta give a little somethin' back!"

Smolder, ever so slowly, looked down to the gifted apple in her claws, then, after a moment or two, looked back to Granny Smith, guilt creeping onto her face.

"Oh...you don't have to..."

But, she was halted by a raised hoof from the mare.

"Nope! None of that! Ya done good work, you an' yer friends, and y'all deserve it! All us here in Ponyville think so!"

Smolder blinked to that, unsure of what to say, but after a while, she gulped, muttering the only thing that came to mind.

"You're...you're very welcome."

Giving a quick nod, the old pony turned, starting to head off back where she'd come, making sure to call back to her young friend as she did so.

"Make sure ya don't swallow it whole now, ya hear? Hehe!"

And so it was that Smolder watched the elder mare walk away, and after about a minute, she was once more left alone, save for the apple in her hands. Again, she stared at it, and again, many different and conflicting thoughts poured through her mind. A new notion came to her, and slowly, she turned, looking around the corner to where all the other workers and volunteers were. As expected, they were still hard at work, especially Yona, who continued to bear that happy smile of hers as she carried load after load of materials to where they needed to be. Smolder retreated from this sight, leaning against the wall again, and after a while, a grimace came to her, and she slapped her forehead with frustration.

"Ugh! Geez! For the love of...!"

With a determined look upon her face, Smolder marched out from behind that corner, heading straight back for the work area proper. Many ponies passed her, and several, seeing the narrowed eyes she bore, gave her a wide berth. She headed right for the still-enormous pile of planks, and there, she once more encountered Yona. While her Yak colleague was once again starting to pick up her latest collection, she noticed her approaching, and her smile widened.

"Hey, Smolder! Where you go? Yona not-OMPH!!!"

Before she could finish, she found that a big red apple had been unceremoniously shoved into her open mouth, and moments afterwards, Smolder walked right past her, getting to one knee and starting to pick up some planks of her own.

"Come on, Yona! This centre's not gonna build itself!"

Yona, taking hold of the apple, gave a bite into it, taking a moment to enjoy the sweet flavour that followed. But soon, confusion came to her, and after swallowing her bite, she looked over to Smolder, just in time to see her finally stand up with her arms fully laden with wood.

"Smolder no eager for work before. Why now?"

Smolder, walking a few steps past her, eventually stopped, turning back to her and pointing a single claw straight at her.

"Because I'm gonna make sure I earned that apple, Yona! And..."

She hesitated, and then, after showing more than a little nervousness, she sighed, putting on a small smile for her friend.

"...you were right...it is good to help. It just...took me a while to realise it."

The words had been genuine, and while Yona was understandably confused as to this unexpected change in attitude for her friend, her now-resumed smile made it clear that she was pleased with it all the same. Taking another few hearty bites of the apple, Yona soon joined her, and together, the two females made for their destination at a good pace, with the young Yak casting her scaly friend a glance.

"Yona glad Smolder back. Work better with friends!"

Chuckling, Smolder couldn't help but nod to that.

"Yeah...no argument there."

Next Chapter: Overworked Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 43 Minutes