//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Incoming Message // Story: Ask Stickmin // by Dragonfire2lm //------------------------------// -Ok, I'm back, what'd I... miss? Henry was sitting on the library floor, surrounded by books, and a pen and notebook in hand. Beside him, Twilight was muzzle deep in a book, a quill and piece of parchment idly held in her magic. The human blinked and excitedly waved the notebook around, grinning. He held the notebook towards the ceiling and Twilight was too absorbed in her own research to notice. His notes were written in English, followed by a somewhat messy Ponish translation at the bottom of the page. The notes themselves were relatively simple, a brief history of the town, a few scattered passages from history books, and doodles of the local currency and the different values ascribed to the different coins. You're a fast learner. Henry looked rather proud of himself as he set his notes aside. He looked over at the studious unicorn beside him and cleared his throat. The unicorn blinked as she was pulled from her reading. "Huh? Something the matter?" Henry pointed towards the clock hanging on the nearby wall, it was almost midday. Twilight put her book down and teleported her notes to her desk in a flash of light. The mare nodded as she got up and stretch her stiff legs. "Oof, we have been at this for a while haven't we? Why we don't take a break and have lunch?" Henry nodded in agreement and the two of them looked around at the books strewn around them. They both chuckled sheepishly as they moved to organize the mess into something more manageable. Twilight did the bulk of the work via magic while Henry struggled to heave a few of the larger tomes. In a few short minutes, the books had been neatly arranged into stacks by the wall to be put away or read later. Twilight walked over to a window and looked outside. "It's a nice day today, what do you say about eating out for lunch?" The human frowned slightly, he'd been so used to the idea of keeping a low profile that he'd barely explored the town beyond the market and the library, though he'd been seen often enough for ponies to take notice, and for a vibrantly pink pony to chase after him whenever she caught sight of him. Henry had taken great measures to avoid the pink terror after his first encounter, he'd had to pull out every trick in the book to do so, but the mare's persistence unsettled him to the point his flight response went haywire. Twilight took his hesitation and reluctance as disliking the idea. "I know you're still getting used to the place, we can eat here if you want." She said reassuringly with a smile. Henry nodded as he gave the unicorn a grateful smile. "Great! We have some leftover eggs, how about an omelette?" Lunch was a quiet affair, Henry slowly teaching Twilight a few letters in sign language as they ate. On the table was a pile of letters. Henry cleared his plate with a satisfied sign and glanced over at the letters, his curiosity was piqued. Twilight noticed. "There was a mix-up with the mail this morning, a bunch of your mail got delivered to the library by mistake." He hummed in acknowledgment, grabbed the pile and opened them one by one, skimming the contents of each as he did. Henry's plate was levitated out from under him as Twilight headed to the kitchen with her own. "I'll leave you to it." She called out over her shoulder as the sound of her moving about the kitchen filled the quiet atmosphere of the library. Henry grunted in response, more focused on the letters. Do you have any weapons that could do anything against the Timberwolves of the Everfree? Henry quickly glanced over at the entryway to the kitchen before signing his response. Timberwolves? I don't think so? I haven't encountered one yet. Hey Henry, you might want to read up on this new world. Seems as if magic is real and replaces modern day technology. Though I bet you could make a fortune selling earth inventions. Henry blinked as he set the letter down, thoughtful. he answered after a few quiet moments. I've been trying to research what I can, it's slow but fun. It reminds me of the days I'd spend reading through the archives on the Toppats Airship. I don't think I can sell human inventions, the things I have in my pockets are always situational, and... The memory of certain gadgets came to mind. He grimaced. I think there are some things that are better off left on Earth and I don't think ponies can make most of that stuff anyway. Henry read the next letter, and after a few seconds he smirked. To: Henry Henry, have you ever fought a Keyblade wielder, or gone to the Keyblade graveyard and tried to pull one of the weapons out. Even though you would at most get a neutral/anti-hero type Keyblade, you could sell some if that doesn't work out, or keep them as souvenirs. To: Narrator In the future, will we be able to send stuff to Henry, because there are certain items that I may want to gift him, nothing too broken, since in similar situations the askers can send stuff. Also, will henry be able to access any files or items from other routes, or maybe we can gift him certain items from said routes, otherwise I'll ask this, will there be occasional cross-overs with other series and/or stories. That would be cool in theory, but it would be difficult for you to maintain, so I'm not really expecting it to happen, but that does mean that you'll surprise us one way or the other. Have a great day/afternoon/night you two. You want to send him stuff? I dunno... It could open the floodgates for people to request stuff like M!A (Magic Anon) and potentially derail things. Tell you what, I think on it and add to the rules once I figure out a good system for it. A keyblade wieldier? I've seen the weapon, but I haven't met anyone who can use them... Henry signed, confused. You can pretty much assume that any question along the lines of "Has Henry gone here, or met X character, or used X item?" will be answered as "No". With the exception of any item he used in canon or in Exploring the Castle. Henry made a noise in thought as he read the next letter. To Herr Stickmin: A word of warning, there are a great many semi dangerous entities that will sooner or later cause chaos for brief time so self defense skills that (probably) won’t fail might be a good thing to learn if you can find one you can use. The human looked concerned at the warning, ideas, plans, options all bounced around in his head. He was pulled out of his musing by Twilight walking back in and noticing his worry. "Is everything alright?" she asked and Henry showed him the letter. She looked at it for a moment. "... I can't read this." The thief blinked and flipped the piece of paper over. he wrote a janky, if sufficient Ponish summary of the latter, and gave to her to read. "Self-defense? I'm not sure there's anywhere in Equestria that could help you. We don't usually see many bipedal races in our borders." Twilight replied as she read his translation. He shrugged and picked up the next letter. I apologize if the news is a bit dated on my last message, was hanging around a black hole at the time and only learned you were in Equestria, but this information is something I think you don't know of yet, the Toppat Clan and the airship have crashed in Equestria! -from the same Lowly Space Marine floating in space A spike of fear mixed with elation within Henry's mind. The feeling of belonging and contentment he'd gained from joining the Toppats marred by a single moment that shattered the hope he had. The bitter cold of the night air, the icy grip of the ocean, the pain of betrayal. "Hey?" Twilight asked, moving closer to him in concern. "What's wrong?" Henry swallowed, it felt like his throat was constricted, his hands felt like dead weight, He wrestled with his emotions as Twilight reached out to rub his back with a hoof comfortingly. He took a shaky breath and set the letter aside. Later, as the afternoon sun shone into the library, Henry returned to the pile of mail sat unanswered as Twilight was upstairs busy with her own research. He found two letters that had a similar question. Henry have you met Pinkie Pie yet? Dear Henry The pink one probably knows about this letter already and the time shenanigans that occurred to get it here anyway be prepared to shortly be ambushed by confetti and an entity slightly less chaotic then you who won’t judge you on your past. Also you will get my first letter at the appropriate time Signed ¿Unknown P.S don’t break a pinkie promise "Um..." Henry trailed off and signed Do they mean the pink menace? Yup. Oh, I don't think meeting her is a good idea... Wait, first letter? Henry looked quizzical. You'll get it in about two months. Some people need to be in the right place at the right time first. Henry nodded and blanched as he read the question on the final letter. Dear Henry, What do you think of the Toppat Clan and of Reginald Copperbottom and Right Hand Man? And how would you react if you ever crossed paths with them again? Y'know just in case. Henry answered in a single sentence, somewhat nervous. I don't know, it's complicated.