Educational Toy
by
De Writer
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The three pushed back from the table, nicely filled by the meals that De Writer had waiting when Thomas and Sunrise had walked in the door of De Writer's shop. De Writer stretched and suggested, “Thomas, I have a little problem in my working shop. You might be interested. Your daughter Dashie brought it in.”
Instantly wary, the brown pegasus squinted at the elderly looking blue unicorn. “What Dashie bring you to fix, De Writer?”
Looking utterly guileless, the elderly blue unicorn replied, “I said nothing about fixing it, Thomas, old friend. I am going to try, though.
“Dashie seems to think that somehow, in her magic workings that you have been teaching her, she damaged the Educational Toy that I gave her.”
Surprised, Sunrise, Thomas' son put in, “You sell or give educational toys too? I mean besides your famous magic workings?”
Thomas instantly retorted, “De Writer Educational Toy ALMOST as safe as De Writer Tea he give us!”
Sunrise fanned his wings and put his face in his hooves, his horn projecting out between them! “THAT DANGEROUS? If De Writer's teas were only poisonous, they would be safer!”
Managing the confusing trick of looking affronted and pleased at the same time, De Writer said, “I do not understand Thomas' objection at all. It is only a remote controlled Russian T82 Main Battle Tank.”
Thomas recoiled from the memory of it! “ONLY? De Writer, she shoot main gun indoors! Blow big hole in southeast wall of house! And one more thing! She drive it right through southeast wall! No southeast wall then at all!”
With a grin that could only be described as diabolical, De Writer nodded vigorously. “Right! She learned TWO valuable lessons from that! ONE: Don't fire a T82 main gun indoors! TWO: Take the tank outside through the proper door!
“Valuable lessons indeed!”
The crocodile hanging over the table, that everypony thought was stuffed, began to squirm and laugh. It slowly got itself under control and resumed its stiff posture.
Sunrise was following the exchange in total confusion, not helped at all by the idea that, in this shop, the decorations might be alive! “Pardon me, De Writer, but I do not understand what you two mighty wizards are talking about! What is a T82 Main Battle Tank? It really does not sound very safe at all!”
De Writer nodded agreeably, “Oh, it is NOT safe at all, you are right about that! It is VERY educational, come see for your self!”
He turned and trotted toward the depths of the shop, commenting casually as he led both Thomas and Sunrise to a door marked PRIVATE WORKSHOP ~ DO NOT ENTER!, “Do not get too close to the big potted plant there. It has been a while since the last burglar sneaked in here, so it is hungry.”
Sunrise eyed the innocent looking big plant with worry until he was safely past it and inside De Writer's workshop! Once inside, he was not so sure that he was safe after all.
There was a looming THING, apparently made of some sort of steel. Sunrise shook his head. “I did not know that there was this much steel all in one place in the whole of Equestria! How can it possibly move?”
The enormous device was at least as long as ten ponies, nose to tail! It looked to be perhaps four pony lengths wide and sat on heavy, interlinked slabs of more steel, that were arranged over huge wheel like devices in two endless loops, one on each side of the monstrous device.
No matter how you looked at it, the hulking machine's sides were slanted, as if to bounce something away from it. Several big dents indicated that the slanting was seriously functional.
The three or four pony high machine was topped by a big slanted slab sided top with a tube of steel projecting from the front end of it. The tube, clearly meant to be straight, had an overhand knot in it!
De Writer pointed to the knot in the long tube and said, “That main gun barrel is supposed to be straight! Dashie is convinced that she put that knot there by accident while working with some new kinds of magic that Thomas was teaching her!”
De Writer turned his white bearded face to Thomas and gave him the Steelie Eye. “I think otherwise, but I would NEVER accuse a guest in my home and shop of sabotaging one of his daughter's favorite toys!”
Trying to look innocent and indignant all at once, Thomas retorted, “You know what else Dashie do with that T82? She drive it across Jade's herb garden, smash it flat! Break right through garden wall into Miss Cherry Pitts' orchard! And one more thing! She break down eighteen of those trees and shoot three big holes in foot of Miss Cherry Pitts' hillside!”
Sunrise was staring tilt headed at the machine's front end. There were only a few scratches in the paint to show for all of the damage that Thomas was describing! He sort of shuddered at De Writer's idea of an educational toy!
De Writer leaned casually against the side of the machine and nodded. “Dashie did do all of that. When she realized just how much damage her play was causing, what did she do? I will tell you. She carefully put away her toy. She came to you and asked YOU how she could fix what she did.
“That was TWO MORE valuable lessons learned. ONE: To honestly take responsibility for the harm she caused. TWO: To try to make amends for it.”
Thomas nodded slowly, “That true, De Writer. I teach her earth magic to fix craters. She make them into pretty ponds at the foot of Miss Cherry Pitts's orchard. Miss Cherry grow cresses in them and make much money.
“I teach Dashie plant magic and she in time to fix trees back up, between magic she already know to fit them back together and plant magic to heal the broken parts of the trees.
“I teach her stone magic and she fix wall of garden so well it not show any damage. She use earth magic and plant magic to fix Jade's Herb Garden. Now it grow better than before.
“She not need any help on house. She study how house made and then use magics of stone, earth and things she know already to fix house right. And one more thing. She is so grounded for do so much damage! She could have seriously hurt or kill somepony!”
De Writer, still leaning against the solid steel of the T82, asked in mild outrage, “Do you really think that I would give Dashie something that could hurt ANYpony? I spell safetied it before I ever gave it to her!”
Thomas paused in deep thought. “You made it safe, not hurt pony but can do much damage. Dashie was young and rambunctious, not learning her magic well. She make big mess. She study her magics hard to fix big mess.”
His eyes opened wide, “She not only learn responsibility, she learn her magics too. And one more thing! T82 is why she learn so much so quick.”
De Writer laid a companionable hoof on Thomas' shoulder and looked him compassionately in the eye. “I raised Celestia and Luna. Trust me, old friend, I know what it is like raising rambunctious fillies!”
Thomas nodded slowly. Then he reached into a saddlebag and took out a simple piece of string with an overhand knot in it. While Sunrise watched in amazement, Thomas simply untied the string. The massive steel tube of the main gun barrel unwound from its knot and became straight again.
Sunrise shook his head in wonder. He'd lived around and with magic all of his life and only just now was realizing how little he really knew.
As De Writer led them from the shop, he remarked, “I will tell Dashie that it was a minor mistake that is not likely to ever happen again.”
A thought crossed his mind. De Writer giggled. “I could tell you some lovely tales about Luna learning to be such a good cook! Unfortunately, I made her a promise. More tea, Thomas?”
~:THE END:~
Author's Note
ask-the-chan-family has kindly given permission to use his characters and setting (AU)
He has also approved the posting this tale on FimFiction.