It took almost half an hour in order to finish up in the kitchen, but fortunately, we didn’t have any further hiccups that would’ve delayed our dinner even further. Gizmo herself was quick to try and clean up the mess she made, though I'm not so sure if she knew that making a salad was not just tossing random shit into a bowl and seeing what happens. Something that Brick actually agreed with me on, but he didn’t seem too worried compared to me. Not that I’m complaining, but there were some points where I thought that she picked up some of the cheese that was on the floor and just randomly threw it in because she felt like it.
Luckily, that didn’t turn out to be the case. If anything, once we finally got all the food out onto the table and sat down to eat, no one actually said anything about the food tasting out of the ordinary. In fact, my parents actually liked it. A sign that had Gizmo sigh in relief, since she still seemed to doubt her skills when it came to cooking. Personally, I was glad that Brisk and I were able to help her out.
As we were close to finishing our meal though, and I was preparing my second soft taco for the evening, that was when mom decided to ask something, “So… Sorry if I sound like I’m interrupting, but there was something I wanted to ask, if you don’t mind.”
Both Gizmo and Brisk paused, looking back at each other briefly before the latter looked back towards her, “What did you want to ask?”
“Well, Robert told me a bit about you two, but I’m a bit curious,” she replied, “What did you two do for a living? Before you came to earth I mean. All I remember was that Gizmo was a bit of a… tinkerer?”
A bit? Considering what I’ve seen on her first night here, that’s a major understatement. That and I don’t think Gizmo was really taking it well either-
“I’m really sorry about this.”
Now both dad and I looked back at Brisk, puzzled by his particular choice of words. “Sorry for what? Gizmo hasn’t done anything-”
“No,” he shook his head, “I’m sorry for what’s about to happen-”
“Oh, I was more than just a ‘tinkerer’. Back home, I was an inventor! A magi-neer even!! I built things with my own two hooves to help improve the lives of ponies who needed it the most!” Gizmo proclaimed with a commanding voice so loud that I thought she was going to do her best Napoleon impression on the dining room table.
“U-uh, magi-neer?” my now startled mom asked, trying her best to follow along, even though it was clear that she had already lost control of the conversation.
“It’s a specific job back in Equestria,” Brisk took a moment in order to interject before Gizmo could continue, “Magi-neer is short for Magical Engineer. Those who specialized with constructs or machines that are powered by magic back home. While there are a wide variety of those back home, Gizmo saw that there weren’t a lot that could be used to improve the quality of everyday life for many Equestrians. So, instead of waiting for somepony to make that change, she decided to do that herself.”
“Oh, so like contestants on Shark Tank? You know, the TV show?”
That had Brisk and Gizmo blink for a moment, before the unicorn asked a question, “You humans have a game show about a tank filled with sharks?”
“What? No, no,” Mom shook her head as it looked like she was actively trying to purge those thoughts from her mind, “It’s nothing even close to that.”
“Then if it’s not about sharks, then why is it called a shark tank? Should it just be called Empty Tank then?”
Both Brisk and I collectively facepalmed at that. I get what mom was trying to suggest, but it was clear that it started off on the wrong foot. “Perhaps it would be better to show her an episode after dinner? We’re kind of getting a bit off track here.”
My mom just hastily nodded, before looking back to Gizmo and tried to salvage the conversation somehow, “Oh, you said you were an inventor right? Well, can we see some of your inventions?”
Oh dear god, Gizmo’s eyes are widening like a kid who just heard that she could have whatever they wanted in a candy store. What did you do, mom?
“Well, wait right there and let me show you!” She proclaimed, before a flash of light went off from around her horn and she teleported herself away.
“I should’ve warned you about this but,” Brisk now spoke up, “When you get Gizmo to start talking about her inventions and creations, it’s… difficult to get her to stop. Some of our friends back home know this from experience.”
“Aw, come on. There’s no need to be so dramatic.” Mom, please stop. You’re just digging your own hole at this rate.
Yet, before she could say anything else, Gizmo teleported back in with what looked to be several different inventions. She had the same contraptions around her hooves like the last couple of times. Though, there were also a handful of different ones that were inside the same compression spell I saw when she first moved in with her belongings as well as what looked like a saddlebag on her back. “Okay, here we are!! All of my finest works!! What would you like for me to crack open first?”
“Crack… open?” Dad now asked.
“It’s a compression spell,” I now tried to help explain, “When Gizmo first moved in, she told me that she applied it to her belongings to downsize everything so it's easier to transport everything.”
“Yup, and cracking one open brings it back to full size. Like THIS!!”
“Gizmo, wait-!”
CRACK!
In the blink of an eye, what was once a group of small marbles was now several different mechanical contraptions of various shapes and sizes. However, the sudden emergence of her inventions caused the table to shake and nearly knocked off the remaining plates of food on the table. From there, Gizmo started to go full salesmare on my parents at the table. Going through each particular contraption, explaining how it works and even giving a demonstration. Heck, even the saddlebag she had somehow contained retractable claws for self defense and cup holders… for some weird reason.
Though, there was one thing that I picked up on right away as I looked at the table. A majority of these contraptions… looked to resemble prosthetics. There were mechanical limbs, wings and even tails on the table. Not only that, but they were much different than the ones that you would see nowadays on combat veterans or people who ended up losing their limbs because of injuries or illness.
“Hey, Gizmo?” I tried to get her attention, only for the unicorn to not respond.
“Something on your mind, Sam?” I heard Dad speak as he and Brisk looked back at me.
“Well, there was something I wanted to ask her about,” I replied, before motioning my head to the prosthetics on the table, “When she said inventions, I… honestly didn’t expect these.”
Brisk then grit his teeth for a moment, before letting out a sigh. “Right, that’s… more of something she had been working on before we moved here,” the earth pony replied, motioning his head to the kitchen so that we could leave Gizmo and my mom alone for the moment. Dad even came with us with the dishes as Brisk let out a sigh, “For context, when we first met, I was working as a miner in the Crystal Empire. We were tasked with going into caves, mining ores and crystals, and then getting out. However, with that job comes risks and the two of us have witnessed friends and colleagues get hurt to the point that the doctors would say that they couldn’t walk or fly again.”
Oh… oh shit, that just got dark rather quickly.
“At one point though, when a dragon friend of ours named Azure lost his tail because he chose to risk his life to save us, Gizmo said that enough was enough. She wanted to do something to change that and not have losing something that’s an important part of you be the only option,” the earth pony replied back, “She even took much of the time out of her schedule to study medical science in order to start working on them. When she finished with Azure’s tail and was able to get it on him, he was overjoyed.”
“I would imagine so if I was in his position,” Dad added as he started to wash off the places.
“That’s also kind of the reason why Gizmo is different. She’s not like other ponies, who make things solely so they can fill their pockets with bits and what not,” Brisk explained, “She does it because she cares about who she’s making it for and doesn’t want anyone to feel hopeless. Of course, Gizmo has a weird way of demonstrating such things, but her heart is in the right place. Hay, it’s why Mistral understands Gizmo’s antics.”
“Mistral? Who’s that?”
“A friend of Gizmo and Brisk who’s on the police force,” I answered dad’s question. Though, it was at that moment that a new question popped into my head, “That reminds me… How exactly did you two meet her in the first place?”
“Oh… that,” the earth pony nervously scratched the back of his head, “She was kind of… how do humans say it…? Ah right. For a time, she was kind of our parole officer.”
Hehe… real funny.
…… Oh god, he’s serious.
“How the hell exactly did this happen?” Dad now asked, stopping what he was doing to focus fully on Brisk, “For your world being one of friendship and magic, according to what your leaders say, I wouldn’t expect for there to be any lawbreakers.”
“It’s a bit of a complicated story,” Brisk told us, “It involves our friend Swift Ace. He’s a pegasus who… well, was born into a family of thieves, but went against it and ran away. Something his dad didn’t take kindly to. Of course, we only learn about this much later when he gets framed for stealing something that belonged to Equestrian Royalty and was imprisoned because of it. Unlike most of the royal guard, Mistral was the only one that actually believed our story and worked with us in order to capture the real culprit. Nowadays, Swift actually works in security and uses his knowledge from what his family taught him to catch potential thieves before they can even take anything.”
Wow, that was a lot to unpack. Though, even though this story sounded so crazy and unbelievable, there didn’t seem to be anything with his tone or words that made me think he was lying.
Though, I think I might’ve made my father question my choice of friends after tonight.
“H-hey, Brisk!! Can we have S-Sam’s parents stay around longer!? I want to hear more about this ‘Shark Tank’ she was talking about e-earlier!! It w-would sound so much fun to swim in!!”
“Oh no,” I heard Brisk mutter before he stepped out of the kitchen. When I looked back at dad and shrugged, we then heard Brisk say something that might be stuck in my mind for a while. “Gizmo!! We're supposed to be saving the cider for special occasions!!”