The Toymaker

by AtomicMuffin

Grand Opening!

Three days passed and it was finally time for Finn to open his shop. The floors were clean, the shelves and bins were stocked, and the chandelier gleamed with all of its former glory. There were stuffed animals, puppets, building blocks, jump ropes, art supplies, funny hats, and many more in every color imaginable (and even a few that elude the imagination). Music was playing from a gramophone sitting in the outstretched arms of a giant teddy bear. Everything sparkled and dazzled with a wondrous glow... so where in Tartarus WAS EVERYPONY!!!

Sadly, things had gone much worse than Finn had expected. He didn't expect to have too many patrons immediately, but he didn't expect to have none. The shop was a block off of the main road, which means it didn't get too much hoof traffic. On top of that he forgot to advertise the grand opening very effectively. Finn sighed for about the eightieth time in the last hour when the bell atop the door rang merrily and three pony's entered.

Dinky and Derpy walked right up to the long counter, but the stallion that accompanied them stopped and stared at the wall that Derpy had broken through during their previous encounter. When Finn saw his new friends coming he leaped over the counter and scooped Dinky up in his hooves, giving her a warm hug. She giggled and returned his affectionate greeting.

"By Luna's stars and moon, Dinky you are a sight for sore eyes! And you as well Miss Hooves! And how do you find my wonderful shop now?"

He gazed expectantly at the pair as they each turned in a circle to take in the many wonders set before them. The toy train was still zipping around the room on its own reassembling track. A miniature clockwork dragon nestled upon a small mound of fake gold coins. And the fixed chandelier refracted the colorful light from the ceiling into a kaleidoscope of light that changed before their very eyes. The whole placed was a testament to a child's sense of wonder and excitement.

"It's beautiful, Mr. Touch."

"Now you cut out that 'Mister' stuff, Miss Hooves! Please just call me Finn. That goes for you too Dinky. I'll have no formality in my shop!"

The stallion at the entrance decided now was the time to speak. "I do hope you'll make an exception sir. I feel like a formal introduction would be more appropriate than an informal one."

"Well sir, I must say I prefer a casual introduction myself but if you insist I can get the powdered wigs and shiny shoes out of the attic. Or perhaps Miss Hooves here would like to serve as our herald? I have a bugle here somewhere."

The Doctor chuckled. "Oh, I like you! Casual it is then. I am the Doctor and my dear friend Dit- er- Derpy has identified you as one Finishing Touch, am I right?"

"Guilty as charged. I am Finishing Touch and this is my humble shop." He looked quizzically at the Doctor. "And you said you are the Doctor." The Doctor's amber ears perked up and a hungry gleam entered his eye. After a brief pause Finn continued, "Well its wonderful to meet you Doctor."

The Doctor almost visibly deflated and that gleam was snuffed out of his eyes. He turned to Derpy and groaned, "Is it really going to be this difficult every time." Derpy let out a mirthful snort while Finn and Dinky shared a confused look.

The Doctor, as usual, regained his composure quickly and returned to the wall while putting on a pair of glasses which he pulled from Celestia knows where. "Tell me Finn; Derpy broke through this wall, correct? And you fixed it with your magic? Because this area absolutely reeks of a singularity field. Smells a bit like pineapple to me. Better than pears. Anyway, that's fascinating. I believe you contained the wreckage in a singularity field and reversed time within an isolated area. Everything is completely intact and not a speck of paradox to be seen. I am very impressed. Not many unicorns can pull off that kind of magic."

Finn looked flabbergasted, but he too regained his composure quickly. "I've never heard of an earth pony so well versed in arcane knowledge. You are right, Doctor. That was a singularity field, but it isn't quite as uncommon as you would think."

The Doctor removed his spectacles and walked over to join Dinky and Derpy, who had lost interest in their exchange and were looking at an aquarium filled with swimming toy fish. I had better keep an eye on that one, Finn thought to himself. He slapped on his usual charming smile and joined his two favorite customers.

"So why has nopony else come to look at your store today, Mr. Finn?"

"I think it is because I was so busy setting up that I forgot to tell anypony except you two about the opening. We aren't directly on the main road, so I don't imagine many ponies would have heard about this place yet. I'm sure in time we will build up a reputation as soon as more ponies find their way here."

"Sounds like a poor business decision on your part," chimed the Doctor.

"Heh, yes I do believe you are right."

Derpy's eyes widened as she was struck with an idea. "Dinky, you stay here and look around. I need to go into the market and grab a few things for dinner tonight. Are you going to stay here too, Doctor?" The Doctor didn't respond, so she trotted out the door leaving him muttering to himself about "localized chronological re-fabrication."

Finn turned to Dinky and asked in a conspiratorial whisper, "So are you taking care of my dear old friend?"

Dinky's face lit up. "Yes sir!"

"I knew you would. Now let me show you some of my other creations. Ah! Here comes Klaus with one of them now."

He pointed a hoof as Klaus sailed through the air in a miniature airship. He was wearing a mini scarf and aviator goggles to complete the look of a pilot soaring through the sky in search of adventure. He cruised around both of them and then started ascending rapidly. HONK!!! HONK!!! Klaus' voyage was cut short as the train plowed straight though the airship's balloon. The rest of the dirigible plummeted into a bin full of teddy bears, with Klaus hanging on for dear life.

Finn and Dinky ran to the bin wearing worried expressions. As they peeked over the lid a bright pink earth pony with a poofy mane sprung out from among the toys, with Klaus helplessly tangled in her unruly hair. She gasped and bounced into the air. "WOW! Derpy was right! I've never seen you in Ponyville before. That means you must be new here. Which means that you're a new friend for me to make. Which can only mean one thing."

Finn could barely comprehend what the energetic mare was saying. While her appearance, and apparent ability to speak in full paragraphs on a singe breath, was slightly unnerving; he saw in her a child's soul filled with innocence and laughter. He like her immediately.

Removing his hat with his hoof, he performed one of his trademark theatrical bows and said, "Well, miss, I would be honored to call you my friend. I am Finishing Touch, or 'Finn' for short."

He barely managed to get the words out before the pink mare flashed over to him and shook his free hoof with both of her own front hooves. "It is so so so nice to meet you, Finny! My name's Pinkie Pie, but everypony around here calls me Pinkie Pie. Hooray! This means we're friends now!" She slid over to Dinky and placed her face next to the filly's. "And you know what that means!" Both girls leaped in the air and shouted excitedly, "A PARTYYYY!!!"

Pinkie pulled a conch shell from out of nowhere and blew a mighty blast out of the front door. As if by magic, dozens of ponies came trotting through the door in droves. Pinkie dashed to the gramophone bear and put on a fresh record using her tail. A few ponies had already started dancing to the new beat and many more walked around admiring the wonders that the new shop offered. Several of them even purchased a few of Finn's creations.

That night, after all the guests had left, Finn, Derpy, Dinky, Pinkie, and the Doctor were all seated in Finn's kitchen enjoying a fresh slice of Pinkie's latest culinary masterpiece. Everyone was laughing merrily and enjoying the pleasant company. After everypony had finished eating, Finn cleared his throat to get their attention. He turned to Pinkie and said, "I want to thank you so much Pinkie. Without you this would have been a total flop of an opening."

The pink party pony beamed and then shook her head. "Nope nope. You should thank Derpy. She was the one who told me where to find you."

Finn grinned brightly at Derpy. "Is this true?"

Derpy blushed and fiddled with her hooves. "Uh huh. When you said that nopony was going to show up, I knew I had to do something. Everypony should see the wonderful toys that you make. Nopony draws a crowd like Pinkie so I told her that a new stallion was in town and I told her where to find you."

Finn reached over and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Thank you, Derpy! Thank you so much!"

After a record length of time in silence (for him anyway) the Doctor spoke up. "There is one thing I don't quite understand. Miss Pie, how is it that you popped in through the floor like that? Or managed to get here mere minutes after Derpy left? And where do you keep pulling these random items from?"

Pinkie shrugged as she guiltily nudged a rubber chicken under the table with her back hoof. She held her front hooves out in front of her. "Aliens."

"Well I have a hard time believing that."

"Alright then. It really has to do with a lot of wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey stuff."

"Now your just being ridiculous."

Pinkie laughed so hard that she fell out of her chair. She continued to laugh on the floor until she realized that everyone else was regarding her with blank stares. She just continued to smile and bade everyone goodnight. The others left soon after and Finn was once again left alone with his thoughts.

This really was a grand opening. I didn't expect to become such a hit around this town. He cringed. But I didn't come here to make friends. Be patient, Finn. There are still preparations that must be made. You've tracked it this far, don't fall down in the home stretch. He let out a jaw-cracking yawn. But tomorrow is another day, and you never know what it may bring.

Comments

[Templar22]

Error: was unable to find source of dislikes.
Finn reminds me of the classic Willy Wonka.

[AtomicMuffin]

2889130 Thanks! to be honest I was getting a bit discouraged about the poor reception, but I will keep writing anyway. Besides, I've barely made it through the exposition yet. It's just about to get good!

[keflyn]

What? No-one else got that Pinkie was using the Doctors typical answers?