//------------------------------// // 1. A New Job // Story: One of Us // by bkc56 //------------------------------// Hunger. That’s all Tinker Cob could think about. An incessant, ever present, empty hunger. It had been several days since his last decent meal, and the scraps he'd obtained recently weren't enough to satisfy him. If the situation didn’t change soon, Tinker would have to do something rash. He needed a job, badly. Work in Canterlot had become sparse for a handypony, even a skilled one, and Tinker lately found himself spending most of his waking hours trudging through cobblestone streets rather than fixing the odd clogged pipe or mending a broken fence. He shivered as another wave of hunger washed over him. “Maybe it’s time to move on to the next town,” he muttered. As he walked through a neighborhood on the outskirts of Canterlot, his eyes were drawn to a house coming up on his right. It was an older two-story house with a greenhouse attached to the back. The house clearly needed some clean-up and repairs. Seemed like potential work. Tinker walked up onto the porch. He paused for a minute or two to just listen and look around. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, then stepped up to the door and knocked a couple of times. After a few moments, the door opened. Tinker was greeted by a dark red unicorn stallion noticeably taller than he was. The unicorn regarded the small earth pony with a brown and white skewbald coat. "Hi. May I help you?" He glanced down and noticed the pony’s cutie mark, a crossed hammer and paintbrush. "Hello. My name is Tinker Cob. I'm a handypony with a wide set of skills for both interior and exterior repairs and maintenance. I mean no offense, but I noticed your house and lot could use a little routine work and general clean-up." The unicorn ran his hoof through his teal mane. "I see. I'm not sure..." Tinker took a half step forward. “You’ll be pleased with the work!” He glanced down, and pawed at the porch with a hoof. “And I really need a job.” Tinker winced internally as he saw that look in the unicorn's eyes. It was the look of pity. Why did ponies have to pity him? Though he knew it was his fault for sounding so desperate. "Did I hear someone at the door?" The question came from a light blue pegasus mare who partially emerged from a back room inside the house. The stallion turned his head to speak to her. "It's a handypony who is offering to do some work for us. Though I’m not sure...." She smiled. "Oh, great. We've talked about cleaning up the lot, so I can try a vegetable garden. With a degree in botany, I should be able to grow something we can eat." She laughed as she took a few steps forward. The stallion turned back to face Tinker again. "You said your name is Tinker?" "Yes sir." "Okay. My wife is correct. We've talked about getting someone to do some clean-up and perhaps get a few other things done around here. We’ve only been married for a few months, and our work doesn't give us a lot of time to attend to that sort of activity." "I'm sure I can help with whatever you need," Tinker quickly chimed in as he nodded his head. "Yes. Well, let's try this. There's a toolshed towards the back of the house. Get what you need, start at the front of the property by the road, and work your way back cleaning things up. Put in a few hours, and let's see how it goes." Tinker’s eyes lit up as he smiled. He brought a hoof to his chest and with a slight bow said, "Thank you, thank you. You won't be disappointed." "By the way, my name is Quicksilver.” He gestured with a hoof. “And my wife, Misty." Misty gave Tinker a slight nod and a smile before heading back into the room she had come from. Tinker and Quicksilver agreed on a bits per hour rate. He then went around the side of the house to the toolshed. Once Tinker had the tools he needed, he got to work. He stabbed at the dirt around the base of a dead bush with a shovel and pushed with all his might. The root ball slid from the ground with ease, sending pebbles and mud flying. He smiled and tossed the bush on a growing pile of dead plants. Grabbing the shovel again, he moved to another bush. The sun was low on the horizon when Tinker put away his tools. He shook himself, sending a fine spray of sweat in all directions. He looked over the work he’d completed, gave himself a satisfied nod, and headed to the front of the house. A knock brought Quicksilver to the door. "Done for the day?" He looked past Tinker to see the front yard. "Yes. I made it to the back of the greenhouse. Do you want to come and see?" With a nod, Quicksilver followed him out and around the side of the house. "I left any bushes that looked like they were supposed to be here.” He pointed at them as they walked. “Everything else I removed. If you want, I could pull the bushes too." Slowly they moved towards the back as Quicksilver took in the scene. He smiled and nodded. "Looks like you did a fine job with this. Thank you.” He turned to face Tinker. “How long to finish the whole lot?" "I figure two days, perhaps a bit more. That’s assuming I don't need to remove any of the trees." He pointed to the back of the lot where a row of fruit trees stood along the property line. Quicksilver glanced at them. "Right, we'll keep those. Okay. Let's have you come around after lunch again tomorrow. You can work for a few hours each afternoon until you finish. I'll pay you each day for that day's work so we keep current. Does that sound okay? "That would be great,” Tinker said with a smile. “The work’s hard, but well, you know, earth pony…” Quicksilver laughed. “I’m glad you enjoy it. I’m better in the lab than on the land.” They turned and headed towards the front of the house. "Let's get you your bits for today." Quicksilver stepped into the house and levitated a small bag off a table just beside the door. Tinker took it in his teeth and dropped it into his saddlebag. He bowed his head slightly. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow then." "You're welcome. Have a good evening." Quicksilver went back inside where Misty was sitting on a couch, reading. "So how'd he do?" Misty asked. "Better than I expected. I think we can count on him to finish the clean-up." He sat down next to her. “Well, there’s a lot more to be done, if you think he can do it.” She scooted over next to him and leaned her head against his neck. "Yea, my great aunt kind of let things go, I didn't make any progress when I got the place from her, and there just hasn't been any time since the wedding. I feel really bad about it all." He shook his head. "It'll be okay. We have the bits to hire somepony to get the work done. If Tinker can make some progress, great. If not, we can find somepony else." "You're right, of course. So, shall we go find something for dinner, or would you prefer to see what sort of disaster we can make here tonight?" With a grin, she replied, "Let's go for the non-disaster. What about that little café a couple of blocks over?" Tinker trotted away from the house of his new employers with an unusual spring in his step. The job might only last a few days, but perhaps he could convince them the house needed more repairs. It certainly did, anyway. It was a promising start at least. He returned to the stable fly-infested dump of a hotel where he had a room. If he could move somewhere nicer, he would. The only reason he could afford this was because the owner was giving him a break on the price for doing some maintenance work around the place. At least now he had a few bits with a couple more days of work ahead. Food wouldn’t be a problem as long as he could keep this job. The two days passed quickly, and the land was all cleared.  Tinker returned the tools to the shed and then turned to go to the front door. He was a little surprised to see both ponies standing by the greenhouse, inspecting the lot. He took a step back in surprise. “Oh, hello. I hope I did a good enough job. If something isn’t the way you want, I can work on that right now.” Quicksilver replied, “No, everything looks great.” He gazed around the lot. “We’re pleased with the job you did and the speed with which you got it done.” “Thank you. I said you wouldn’t be disappointed.” Tinker smiled at them. Quicksilver turned to face Tinker. “Indeed. When you first arrived, you said you could also do maintenance work. I assume that includes carpentry, painting, roof repair, and the like?” “Absolutely. I should be able to take care of anything you need worked on. I can do plumbing and electrical too.” He gestured at the house with a hoof. “Anything a dwelling would need.” Quicksilver nodded. “Good. And are you available now?” “Yes, yes, I’m free,” he responded eagerly. Misty snickered. “Sounds like you’re anxious to keep working.” He ran a hoof through his mane. “Sorry, but yes, I am.” He looked Misty in the eyes. “You don’t know how much working here means to me.” Quicksilver cleared his throat. “Here are your bits for today.” He levitated a bag out for Tinker to take. “It’s a bit heavy because I’m paying you for another hour of work.” After Tinker put the bag in his saddlebag by the greenhouse, Quicksilver levitated a second bag out to Tinker. “I want you to take some time to check the outside of the house for what needs to be done. There’s a Barn Depot store a couple of blocks away. Take this bag of bits and purchase whatever you need to get the repairs done. Have it delivered tomorrow, and then you can get started. Tomorrow you can give me a list of repairs and estimates. Is that okay?” “Yes,” Tinker replied, nodding. “I’ve already looked at the house and know the first dozen or so things that should be repaired, mostly to prepare for winter. I’ll go get the supplies ordered right now. And thank you for this, I appreciate it a lot. And I know you’ll be satisfied with my work.” With that, he put the second bag of bits in his saddlebag, put it on his back, gave them a little wave, and trotted off. They watched him until he reached the road. Gently leaning against each other, they slowly walked towards the front of the house. “That’s a lot of bits. Will he actually come back?” Misty asked. “If he can’t be trusted, it’s better to find out now, rather than later. I’d hate to need to contact the Canterlot Police. Though my gut tells me he’ll be back tomorrow.” They gave each other a quick nuzzle and headed into the house. The next day, mid-morning, a pony pulling a cart from Barn Depot arrived. Quicksilver stepped out front to observe. “Good morning,” the earth pony said with a wide smile. He consulted a slip of paper. “I have the order for Tinker Cob to be delivered to this address.” “That’s correct. He’s doing some repair work for us.” Quicksilver pointed towards the side of the house, “If you could just stack it over there?” “My pleasure, sir. And thanks for your business with Barn Depot.” The pony started to unload the cart, and Quicksilver returned to the house. Later, just as they were finishing lunch, there was a knock on the door. Quicksilver went to answer as Misty stood at the back of the room. Quicksilver smiled warmly. “Good afternoon, Tinker. I see you’re right on time.” “I’m sorry if you were expecting me earlier.” He rubbed his neck. “We didn’t talk about that, so I assumed the same afternoon schedule as before.” “That’s perfect. Please, come in for a moment.” Quicksilver stepped back from the door. “I’d like to see your plans for repairs.” Tinker entered the room and walked over to a small table. He then started to remove items from his saddlebag. “Here are the leftover bits and the receipt for the Barn Depot purchase.” He set the bag and paper on the table. “Yesterday you asked for the list of projects and time estimates, so I wrote all that up last night.” He added a few more sheets to the pile. “I figure it will take me the rest of the week. Unless I discover any additional issues while I work.” Quicksilver glanced down at the table. “Thank you, Tinker. This all looks great. I’ll review it a bit later.” He looked back to Tinker. “Is our previous agreement on your rate still okay?” “Yes, your rate is very generous. So, unless you have some other questions, I’ll get started?” He backed up a step towards the door. “That would be great. Just knock if you need anything.” “Thanks, I will,” Tinker replied. He turned and left the house. Misty stepped forward. “Well, you were right, he did come back. And I must say, I’m a bit impressed with his responsibility and organization.” Quicksilver hummed in response as he skimmed the list of repairs. Then he looked at Misty. “He’s got a good list of stuff here, although the repairs are a bit out of my field, so I can’t tell you about the estimates. I guess we’ll see how accurate they are when he’s done.” And thus started a long relationship with their new handypony. He was always interested, almost desperate to learn new things and take on additional responsibilities. He expanded from repairs to helping in the lab and greenhouse, and even domestic duties. In short, Tinker was becoming an indispensable part of the household.  Tinker’s next increase in responsibility came as Quicksilver and Misty prepared for one of their regular research trips. Misty walked into the kitchen where Tinker was cleaning up after lunch. “Tinker, we want to stop imposing on our parents to watch the house when we’re away. Would you be able to take over that task? It’s pretty easy, typically just watering the plants in the greenhouse and perhaps outside.” She set a sheet of paper on the counter. He put down the dish he was washing and turned to face her. “I can do that, no problem.” “That’s what we were hoping.” Misty tapped the paper on the counter. “This is a detailed list of instructions. You’re always great about following directions, so I don’t imagine there will be any problems.” He glanced at the list. “No, ma’am. I’ll follow it very carefully.” “I know you will. We’ll be leaving in the morning and should be gone for about a week.” Tinker’s ears dropped as his head lowered some. “Is something wrong, Tinker?” Misty asked. “No, not really.” He paused for a moment. “I’m just going to miss not having you both around all the time.” “I understand.” She smiled at him. “We won’t be gone for long. And when we get back, you can take one of your trips to Ponyville. You seem to enjoy those.” Tinker lifted his head and gave a weak smile. “Yes, that’ll be nice. It’s good to visit my kin when I can get away.”