My Little Pony: Worker Birds
Chapter 5: Lending a Wing
Our work on the new apartment buildings was done, and we celebrated last night over pizza and ginger ale. With our reputation for quality, we were getting more calls for our services. The rig and trailer were not arriving yet, so we had to rely on the kindness of the fore-ponies to borrow a truck and trailer to get our shovel to the work site.
Today we were going to Fillydelphia to work on a public housing project for homeless ponies and griffons and other species that are finding it hard to get by in an ever growing Equestria. Believe it or not, being a construction worker in Equestria pays very well at twenty bits an hour and health insurance. A police-pony gets twenty-five bits an hour.
Money is money. The ponies that work here need it to feed their families, and pay the utilities. It feels good to see that wherever we go to work that our friends follow. There are bigger shovels and dump trucks that work in the open pit mines, but our Northwest 100DH and Rivet's Bucyrus-Erie 500-H are the largest construction shovels in Equestria.
"Good to see you, mon amie," I said to Jackhammer, I consider him a friend,
"You too, Heloise, you and your buddies," he replied, resting on a sledgehammer,
"Ready to go to work?" I asked, turning to face the two griffon workers,
"Let's do this!" cheered Gabby, and she and Gilda put their hardhats and safety vests on and got to work. I did the same, and climbed into the cab of our mighty Northwest shovel. The engines grumbled and roared to life puffing exhaust from her stacks. The area we worked in was fenced off with a chain link fence. Construction can be dangerous.
The day was filled with the sound of clambering metal as rocks and dirt were loaded into lines of dump trucks. The project called for a row of four houses. each house was to be two stories tall, and each level is to make room for one family of ponies with two little ones or two senior ponies. We had a cellar done by the time lunch had come around.
I heard a sound coming from the fence, and saw a young colt watching the construction. From his blue eyes to his adorable looks, I could not help but walk up to him and say hello. My size did not seem to scare him, "Well hello there," I said from the other side of the fence, "what brings a little one to the work site?" I asked the young colt curiously,
"Well...I heard new homes are being built," he said shyly,
"Yes, we are building new homes," I replied to the colt,
"I don't have a home," said the colt as he looked away,
He turned his eyes up at me, and looked away again, "My mother and I live in the shelter on the other side of town, and it is very crowded in there," he explained to me. Rivet has told me of the rising rent prices in the big cities, and how many ponies are kicked out of their homes because they cannot pay on time. It makes my heart very heavy.
I reached my talons through a link in the fence to ruffle the colt's brown mane, "Now don't you worry, we are building these homes just for you, and others just like you," I said kindly to the colt as a mother would to her hatchling. I soon heard Gabby and Gretchen walk up to my sides to see the colt, "my name is Heloise, this is Gabby and Gilda,"
"Nice to meet you, what's your name little stallion?" asked Gabby, if I could picture Gabby as anything else other than a mail delivery griffon, she would make a great teacher. With those cute, puffy cheeks and those friendly eyes, she would be a welcome sight in any classroom. But Gabby took my offer for work in my company, and is very happy.
"My name is Mint Chip," said the little colt, still rather shy around the three of us,
"Aww...what a nice name for a nice little colt," said Gilda
"Thank you, I think you three are very pretty," he complimented with a bashful smile,
My heart melted to his kind words. The little colt was a light pastel green in color with a light brown mane and tail. He had little splotches of dirt and dust, but his bright green eyes seemed to stand out. His mother soon found him at the fence, "Come now, Mint Chip, it's time for supper," said his mother, I see where he gets his handsome looks from.
Mint Chip waved a hoof to us as went on his way back to the shelter. There is working for the fore-pony on the site, and then there is working for those that said help. In these projects, it is the ponies and other homeless species that are the most important. The horn sounded, and it was back to work and to the machines to work on the project.
We put back on our hardhats. It was the first time anyone had ever called me 'pretty', and it came from a youngling. I believe he is going to be a good gentle-colt when he grows up. Lines of dump trucks came to haul away the dirt. It is really cool to see the dump trucks from different brands. I even saw a Mack Superliner with a dump trailer.
After work, I talked with Gabby and Gilda, "That is the first time anyone called me pretty,"
"Same here, it feels so warm and fuzzy, no other way to say it," replied Gabby,
Gilda took off her hardhat and looked off in the distance, "Here's hoping we see Mint Chip again,"