Sometimes I think the story is moving too slow.

Then I churn out another couple thousand words and everything is as it should be.

Normally in HIE stories by the time they get to chapter six the protagonist has defeated nightmare moon or danced with discord or obtained phenomenal magical powers. To be fair to them, this is largely because by chapter two or three they have met the mane six and at least one princess which got the snowball rolling.

Nope.

Handy had to go the hard way.

As such moving slow is exactly how its going to go, Handy has no idea what he's doing and hasn't even accepted half of the basic cosmic truths about the world he is in, and I am nothing if not strident about my portrayal of a realistic human's reactions to what Equestria presents to him. I was tempted to give Handy some mental problems as I am told I am quite good at portraying madness effectively, but I have done too many such characters in other projects so I just decided to go with the usual backstory. Average life in terms of material well being, but shitty life otherwise, but nothing too emo.

That said, Handy is not the saviour of Equestria, nor is he strictly speaking, a villain (yet, he could go either way depending on what I deem to be funnier) in either case he is nowhere near powerful enough to be a force on his own. So at the moment, Handy is a catalyst character. His presence causes things to happen, and sooner or later these forces will catch up to him, as hinted at the start of the prologue with the showdown at the Goldencourt promenade in Canterlot. But such a meeting is far off for now. He has alot to do before that happens.

But doesn't that mean he's a villain by then? Aren't his actions set in stone by the prologue?

Well now, that'd be telling. Expect an update tonight, currently churning one out.