//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Pony Folk // Story: Ask Stickmin // by Dragonfire2lm //------------------------------// Henry struggled to lift the basket of apples. A cool breeze drifted lazily around him and through the apple orchard he was working in. With a grunt, he hauled the basket onto a nearby wagon. The recent work Henry had managed to acquire since the party had earned him a steady amount of bits, the local currency, and the locals had started to get used to seeing him him around town. It took some getting used to, Henry Stickmin was used to being a nobody (a thief, a Toppat, a government agent, and so many other things), so having a steady job, decent living accommodations, and people that made an effort to care about him was strange for the man. Henry tried to not think about the navy blue top hat that was in his room as he continued picking up baskets laden with apples and placing them onto the wagon. "Hey Henry!" Applejack called out and he looked up to see her heading his way. "I'll take care of the rest, you can head on home for the day." Henry nodded and waved to the mare as he left her to her work. "So, do you like it?" Rarity asked as Henry eyed himself in the full length mirror the mare had placed before him. He was standing on a raised dais in the seamstresses shop, his turtleneck replaced with a plain black t-shirt. He flexed and felt the material of the shirt respond. It fit him perfectly. He looked over to the side as the Rarity entered the room and gave her a thumbs up and a grin. "Oh good, I wanted to be sure I got the measurements right. I don't have much experience working with bipedal designs," the unicorn said, trotting over. "Now you let me know if you need anything else, I could do with the practice." Henry nodded and stepped off the raised platform, pulling out a coin purse from his pant pocket. Rarity immediately waved him off. "No no, save your bits darling. It's a gift." Rarity insisted and the human shrugged and put the money away. Henry smiled and waved goodbye as the bell above the door jingled, announcing a new customer, and Rarity moving to the front of the store to meet them. Henry left the shop a few minutes later with his new shirt on and his turtleneck slung over one arm. His days were spent either helping with odd jobs on the farm, modelling for Rarity, or continuing to teach Twilight sign language and English, as well as improving his grasp on Ponish and learning what he could about Equestria and ponies as a whole. Henry was reading a book on weather management, purely out of curiosity, in his now usual spot on a cushion in the corner of the library. At the sound of a pony entering the building, Henry looked up to see Twilight walk in from her morning errands. She was levitating several packages behind her in her magic. "Hey Henry, I stopped by the post office for you," Twilight said, placing the parcels next to the human and withdrawing several letters from her saddlebags. "Who's sending you all this anyway?" Henry set the book aside and shrugged. It's complicated he signed. You need me to do anything? "No, I just went to pick up a few things we were getting short on," Twilight replied. "Shall we continue where we left off after I put everything away?" Henry nodded and the studious mare moved to the kitchen to put away the things she had purchased. He turned his attention to one of the letters. Hey again Henry, I want you to stick to the mane 6 and help them out. Its better to have them as an ally then an enemy, trust me on that. Also, if you where to be a pony, what race would you like to be? Earth, unicorn, pegasus, maybe even an alicorn? Oh, and before I forget, I'm sending you a box, In it is your trusty scooter along with a few records for your new music box. I hope you like classical. From Glass Henry blinked and dropped the letter in favor of tearing through the packagers in search of his scooter. He grinned as he pulled it out of the box it was sent in. To have his trusty scooter back was a joy he didn't think he'd know ever again. He unfolded it and propped it up against the wall. He looked at it for a moment, still in disbelief that a little piece of home was here in his possession once more. He sat back down and read the letter again, in a bit of a daze as he signed his response. Thanks for the scooter. I think being a pegasus would be fun, if only for a little while. His grin remained, Henry in high spirits as he opened up another letter. Henry, I hear you are bad at magic, so I as a skilled red mage have a recommendation, if you ever encounter an extremely magical material, reforge the sword I sent you, it’s sharpness will increase magically the more magic sent through it once reforged, (you will need a really powerful material to get this effect, like wood from the tree of harmony, One of Tirek’s horns, part of Crysalles’s throne, horn of alicorn, ETC. it will also gain extra effect based on what is used but, you have to find something first and you also would need to figure out how to reforge it with what you use) Red mage Alain P.s. Narator? Does Henry resist magic? Yeah about the sword, due to it's potential to be too OP, I've confiscated it. He'll get it back if he manages to reach a certain place. One a civilian can't reach... Those of you following the Toppats know what I'm talking about. Since Henry knows magic, his magical resistance isn't as high as a normal human, but he's still fairly resistant to magic as a whole. Henry just looked at the letter. "Okay..." he said and moved on. Dear Henry, Hey Henry it's me again and how going? Anyway I give you ten dolls of your friends and two hats, hope you like them. from rainbow light ps: i make the dolls and hats Henry opened up a box and pulled out a woolen beanie and tried it on. "Thanks." I might have to change the rules regarding gifts, you're running out of space to put things... Henry hummed in agreement, choosing to leave the hat on as he read another letter. Go for Equestria, they might be able to help you with your magic problems and issues. Also, The Mane 6 are powerful allies to have on your side Powerful allies? Issues? Henry signed in visible confusion. I've always had trouble woth casting spells correctly. I don't need to use magic all that often anyway... Is something going to happen? Narrator? Let's just say you arriving in Equestria is 'point A' and where the Toppats are 'point B'. You need to get from point A to B, but how you get there and what happens after is not up to me anymore. It's up to the people sending you these letters. "Oh" Henry replied quietly, signing the rest of his response. So, they want me to stay in Ponyville for a while then. I guess I can give it a chance. This place is kind of... plain though. It's been difficult keeping myself in check and not stealing things... He sighed. Dear Henry, Hey its the Lowly Space Marine again, I wish I could send you things that I have readily available but I can't send you a bolter or a lazgun they would help a lot for you but I can't send them however I have found some interesting and non-harmful things in some debris from some derelict spaceships near me that I have floated to, nothing to get me on solid ground unfortunately but I have found this antique flintlock pistol somehow, so since I think I can send it to you it shall come in a concealable holster, no bullets or power for it unfortunately but I'm sure you will think of something, after all it would be kind of nice if you had some form of weapon to help you steal something, even if its just to bluff. From a Lowly Space Marine stuck floating in space PS, to narrator I vote for henry to go and see the tophat clan in the forest Henry examined the pistol. He'd never seen an older model like this before, he returned it to it's box to sign Where would I even find ammo for this? I can't tell you, I know where, as do those keeping tabs on Reginald and crew, but it's up to them to divulge the information. Do you even know how to use it? Henry frowned. No. He shook his head. It'll make a nice bluff, if I ever want to stop being a model citizen. Dear Henry: I wanted to give you these. These are book versions of everything that happened in the universe of Kingdom Hearts. I'm giving you these so that you have something to read. Also, in the future, be prepared for possible hijinks, since no matter where you go, you will cause certain chaos. To Narrator: I wanted to ask if henry knew what his chaos ranking was from the CCC, if he doesn't, can you tell him that out of a scale from 1-10, he was/is a 9.7 or a 10.7, based on the machines that the Chaos Containment Center used. Also, in the future, will it be possible to give him a pet? If not, will he gain a pet later on in the story? These look interesting, thanks. Henry replied. Henry's Chaos Rating is 7.77/10. And just for fun, Reginald's is 3/10 and Right Hand Man's is 5/10. Henry wasn't surprised by the information and smirked. Seven, the lucky number. Dear Henry, My last gift got rejected by the author because it was to op. (Sorry about that by the way.) So here is some homemade fudge and a dagger. Please used this for self defense only. Signed a friend who only wants to help . Ps stay in ponyville like I said before ponyville it a nice little place to settle down despite all that goes on there. Henry grabbed the small box containing the fudge, removed the dagger and left it on the floor as he walked into the kitchen. "Hey." Twilight was still organizing groceries and looked up from rumaging around in the fridge. "Hey, what's up?" Henry held up the box of fudge. "Want some?" Henry had picked up on a few the customs ponies had, namely the sharing of food as a symbol of the bond between two ponies. Twilight beamed. "A gift from your mysterious pen pals?" she asked. "Sure, I'll have a piece. Can we save some for Spike?" Henry nodded and handed her the box. As Twilight put the fudge away for later, he padded back into the main area and returned to his cushion. Hello Henry. I hope this letter finds thee well and in good health. Inclosed is a can of Fantasy-Away monster repellent (patent pending). It is a personal invention of mine. Disclaimer: Fantasy-Away has only been tested on cosplayers. Your use of it will be part of testing. Sincerely Arvax Henry eyed the can warily and gently set it down. Only one letter remained. dear henry, if one of the ponies happened to spot a helicopter looking shadow like rainbow dash mentioned one of her co-workers saw the toppat's airship, would you react the same way you reacted when she mentioned the toppats. from, Rainbow Sparkle, Ponyville's resident celebrity singer. The thought of a certain military pilot being here with him brought a sad smile to his face. As I said before, my history with the clan is complicated. But I wouldn't react the same way if it was Charles that was seen... I'd feel bad for him, he loves his job, he has a life, friends. He doesn't deserve to be ripped away from all of that. Neither do the Toppats, but I'm almost glad the airship is here. I might finally be able to figure out what I want to do now... Maybe this is my last chance to do so... "Henry, Can you come here for a sexond!" Twilight called out and the human paused, got up, and walked into the kitchen to find the unicorn staring at the headline on that morning's newspaper. Toppat Clan Capers! Mysterious New Organisation Leaves Police Baffled. Accompanying the headline was an image of some kind of calling card bearing the Toppat Clan logo. Henry felt his heart skip a beat, Reginald wasn't messing around, the clan was already making a name for themselves despite the setbacks being in this world presented them. His mind once more flashed to the dark blue hat sitting in his room. "Henry, the article mentioned reports of seeing beings that looked like the same species as you," Twilight said. "I was wondering if you could give this a read and confirm it. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could find a way for you to get back home?" The mare looked hopeful, a far cry from the turmoil Henry was feeling. Twilight continued, oblivious. "Maybe if we can track down this Toppat Clan, we could find some answers. Granted, trying to get help from criminals isn't ideal, but, maybe we could offer something to them in exchange?" Henry tapped her on the shoulder. "Huh? Oh sorry, go ahead." He sighed. I know them. And once the admission was out, he couldn't stop. I was caught in a kind of curse, I've been reliving the same year or so over and over and, sometimes, I'd join the Toppat Clan. I was their leader, I was part of their family, and sometimes I'd feel like being with the clan was where I was meant to be. Twilight focused on his hands, patiently taking in everything he was telling her. One time, I called on them for help, to be rescued. It didn't end well, I was betrayed, I sought revenge and killed everyone... Even myself. He stated, face grim. Part of me wants to make up for that... I want to do right by the only home I've ever had, The Toppat Clan. "Henry... They're clearly not good people." Twilight said after a moment. "Equestrian laws are very strict about law-breaking, you'd be leaving behind if you went with them! Are you sure about this?" He shrugged. Twilight frowned. "I'll send a letter to Princess Celestia, maybe she can offer you some advice?" Twilight suggested and sighed. "I'm sorry, but I just can't understand how you can want to go back to them if they betrayed you." We all made mistakes that day. was all Henry supplied, looking weary.