Chapter 4: An Unexpected Expansion

Nails got back to his land at about 2:00. He had gotten into a conversation with Big Macintosh about the different weather patterns for the seasons and had been asking questions about how they decided what they would make the weather each day. Nails sighed realizing that if he wanted to meet his own deadline he would have to double-time it. He picked up his hammer and immediately went to work giving the building, which already had supports, walls.

He had finished the first wall and was beginning to work on the second when he looked towards the sky. He saw the sun getting close to the horizon. He extended his claw out and measured the distance from the sun to the horizon. One hands width. That meant he had about one hour until sun-down. He quickly abandoned the wall he was working on and quickly set up to work on the wall facing the cliff. The wind was supposed to come from that direction tonight so he needed to finish that wall to provide some protection against the elements. He had finally erected a barrier large enough to deflect the wind when the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. Sighing, Nails walked over to where had hid his gun and began working on one of the bullets. He pulled the bullet out of the casing and poured it into a fire pit which he then covered in wood. Then, taking another bullet he once again removed the bullet from the casing. This time, however, he placed some tape over the hole that had once been occupied by the bullet and keeping the gun pointed up he pulled back the hammer and placed the cylinder directly next to the fire pit.

"Time to wake up the neighbors." with that he pulled the trigger causing the gunpowder to explode. The explosion lit some of the gunpowder he had poured into the fire pit which in turn ignited the wood. Now that he had a light source he could get back to work. He looked back at the town and noticed a shape making its way towards him. When the shape came into the light of his fire, he realized that it was Twilight.

"What was that explosion all about Nails?"

"I used my gun to light a fire."

"Well, that wasn't very smart, you could have just gotten me to come and make you a light."

"Ya well, I wanted to use up as little time as possible in making a fire and this was something that I've done before."

"Well, next time try not to do it so loud." Twilight looked at the shape that was slowly, by the careful work of Nails, becoming a house. "How much work do you have left?"

"I just have to finish my room then I can get started on my workshop. If I need anything else in the future I can just expand my house."

"Have you thought about plumbing?"

"Yes, and I'm just going to get my water from the lake down there. I know a few purification techniques that I can use to clean out any bacteria."

"Well, you seemed to know everything except how to make a fire quietly!"

"Ok, well you can stay for a while if you want but I have to get back to work." said Nails as he went over to his hammer and picked up a board.

"So, how was your second day in Ponyville?"

"It was fine. I talked with Rainbow and Big Macintosh, ate some apple pie, which I can't believe I have managed to live my life before apples. I also met the, what were they called again? Something like the cutie ark crusaders?"

"The cutie mark crusaders? They always seem to find the strangest ways to get into trouble. I once caught them trying to rearrange the library when really all they managed to do was scatter all the books on the floor."

"They seemed alright. They would still be scared of me though if Rainbow Dash hadn't saved my a-", Twilight looked at Nails with a look that could kill, "My hindquarters." said Nails, "So if I'm going to live here I have to change everything about myself?"

"Basically yes, you do. You can start by not trying to get on everypony's bad side!"

"Was it really that loud?"

"It woke up Spike! He never wakes up!"

"That loud huh? Guess I need to get a few matches for next time."

"You need to take a little break from building for the night. You must have been working almost all day. I suggest you stop for the night and get an early start the next morning. If you get tired while doing this kind of work, you could really hurt yourself."

"I'm afraid that I can't do that Twilight. I'm already behind schedule and if I'm going to finish by tomorrow morning I need to work for a few more hours tonight."

"Ugh!" Twilight said as she departed towards the library. Nails didn't pay much attention to this; however, as he was already back to work. He worked for a few more hours that night finishing the wall facing the cliff and another wall before finally deciding that he had done enough for that night.

The next morning Nails woke up just as the sun peeked over the horizon. It didn't take long for him to find a few edible grasses to eat on. After he was through eating he got to work on his house. He finished putting up the last wall in record time and then realized the challenge that still lay before him. He still had to put the roof on. He carefully climbed up the wall to get into a position to nail the first board onto the roof. As soon as he swung his hammer a voice distracted him causing him to miss the nail and hit himself in the hoof.

"SON OF A B-!" he stopped short noticing Twilight tapping her hoof expectantly, "You love to torture me don't you?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. I got a letter from Celestia today about the yearly Grand Galloping Gala."

"The Grand what?" asked Nails.

"The Grand Galloping Gala. It's a yearly ball during which all the most important figures in Equestria come together and socialize. She re-invited me and my friends but there was another ticket in the letter and a message that said it belonged to you."

"Oh no, I can see where this is going and the answer is no."

"I thought you might say that and so did the princess. She told me to tell you that you should think of it as a royal summons."

"Twilight, will you please allow me to finish my earlier statement now?"

"Nope."

"Ugh!" Nails said, "Well I can't refuse a summons from her majesty so I guess that means I have to go don't it?"

"I actually think that you might enjoy being in Canterlot."

"Last time I was there I got on the bad side of a few of the guards. But, there is something I could do there."

"What's that?"

"See about putting the names of my team members in the book of Stallions." Twilight looked at him confused, "The book of Stallions is a record of all the deaths of the members of the Black Stallions. Being that my team split up and we were the last six no one could have recorded our deaths. Over time I got word of all of their deaths and whenever I did I wrote them into a little journal that I kept with me at all times. As the last of the Black Stallion, it is my duty to write their names in that book."

"That's so responsible of you."

"I know, now if you would excuse me, the feeling is returning to my hoof and I have a house to finish."

"No problem." with that Twilight left Nails to finish his home.

Nails worked through the entire day to get the roof finished. When he did finish it he got to work on his furniture. First he built a desk and a cabinet. He would use these to hold his important documents. Then he built a table out of hickory wood. A personal choice since he had found that the wood could be smoothed out really easily. Then he realized he would need a bed. So he started walking towards town with the cart he had purchased attached to him. He found a place that sold beds and paid the price when he found one that he really liked. He was on his way back home when he saw Fluttershy walking backwards with a group of ducks following her. Curious he unhitched and walked over towards her. When she saw him she said hi and continued to walk.

"Uhh, Fluttershy, what are you doing?"

"I'm taking my duck friends across town into another pond. The one they used to be in has gotten too warm for them so I'm taking them to a larger one where it would be cooler."

"Uh huh, and you do this because?"

"It's my job here in Ponyville to look after all of the animals and make sure that they all get a nice home. If you ever wanted a pet you could come see me."

"Ok well, I finished my house and now I'm taking the bed I just bought to it."

"Really? That's nice I hope you like Ponyville."

"Ok, um bye."

"Bye Nails." said Fluttershy as she continued to march backwards.

"That was... Interesting." said Nails as he hitched himself back up to his cart and headed to his home.

It was afternoon when he had finally finished getting his home organized. So far it had three rooms: a bedroom, a study, and a storage room. Not connected to the house was a tool shed where he would store any tools he got until he had places for them in his workshop. His kitchen was also outside built around his fire pit. He was fixing a dinner soup containing several grasses and mushrooms when Applejack walked up to the land.

"Well, you got yourself one humdinger of a home!" she exclaimed seeing the house for the first time.

"Thank you." said Nails filling a bowl with the soup. Earlier he had carved out a spoon from a log he found. "What brings you here?"

"I'll let the mayor say that." she said as the mayor walked up to the land.

"Well, I must say that this is a very nice house Mr. Nails."

"Thanks. Could you explain to me why you're here though." said Nails beginning to eat the soup.

"By decree of the royal Princess Celestia, the land described as Ponyville is to be extended so to contain the lake of Whitetail Woods!"

Nails did a spit take with the soup.

"Not quite the reaction I was hopin fer." said Applejack.

"That's, uhh, great. What a nice surprise." said Nails obviously disturbed by the news. "How did you get her to grant an extension so quickly?"

"She said that she would have done anything for you. Although she didn't explain why." At least there is some good news thought Nails, "I would like to be the first to greet Nails as the official Ponyville Blacksmith!" said the mayor but before Nails could say anything in response she had left.

"What's wrong Nails? Aren't you happy?" Applejack asked.

"Uh, ya. It's just that I didn't expect something like this to happen. I guess I'm just surprised by it is all."

"Well it's good to see that you like It." said Applejack as she turned to leave.

Nails looked down at the ground.

"Strike one."