Once Twilight had shown Henry to the bathroom, she left him alone while he handled the issue of washing a day's worth of mud, blood, and other such gunk off of himself.
Deciding to get his clothes out of the way, as well, Henry went ahead and held his clothes under the shower stream before washing himself, including cleaning Akan's blood off his eye stalk.
Once that was done and he was dressed again, he couldn't help but shiver due to the fact that his clothes were still damp from their impromptu cleaning. Still, most of the filth had washed off, so that was a plus.
Once he emerged from the bathroom, Twilight was waiting for him, who arched an eyebrow upon seeing Henry's clothes sopping wet. "You... didn't shower in those, did you?"
Not being able to explain otherwise, Henry just shrugged.
Twilight tilted her head in confusion, before shaking it. "Nevermind..." Lighting up her horn, she aimed it at Henry, who tensed up reflexively.
"Relax, I'm just going to dry you off." As she said this, Henry could feel some sort of force buzzing around him, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.
Twilight let out a small grunt. "Why is it... not working...?"
The force intensified, before suddenly Twilight's horn glow flared, and after what felt like a strong wind passed by him, his clothes were completely dry.
Twilight stopped using her horn and panted slightly. "Strange... it seems you really are naturally resistant to magic. Odd..."
Having nothing to add or react with, Henry just stood there.
"Anyway, I've already sent a letter to the princesses about this, so in the meantime I hope you don't mind answering some questions?"
Henry followed as Twilight started walking down the hall, and he nodded in answer to the question.
Twilight smiled. "Oh, this is so exciting! We- Ponies have never seen a creature like you before! This is unprecedented! Think of all the things I could learn!"
Henry just stared at Twilight as she rambled on. Eventually, she noticed him staring, and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, got a bit carried away there."
He was led back into the room where he crashed, which was no longer sporting a hole in the wall. The wrecked chopper was still there, but it seemed to have been moved, and even tidied up a bit, as much as a twisted hunk of metal could be tidied up. Starlight was still there, along with five other ponies that Henry had not seen before, and some kind of small lizard-looking creature.
They all turned as Twilight entered the room, Henry close behind her, and the human was now bombarded with six differing gazes from the others. The blue and orange one looked suspicious of him for some reason, while the others just look surprised. Starlight simply held her neutral expression.
The blue pony, who also had a very bright multi-colored mane, walked up to the pair. "So, this the thing that crashed into your castle, Twilight?" she asked, gesturing to Henry. There was a mild undercurrent of an accusatory tone in her speech, but not enough to be considered outright hostile. Not yet, at least.
"Yes, this... creature," Twilight started, looking back to Henry for a moment, "arrived not too long ago through unknown means. He was badly hurt at the time, so I used a healing spell to deal with the worst of his wounds."
"He?" the orange one asked. "How'da know it's a he, Twi?"
Twilight looked around sheepishly, before glancing to Henry for confirmation. "Lucky guess?"
Henry rolled his eyes and nodded. He noticed the pink one was seemingly dying to say something, judging by the massive smile on her face, but the yellow one seemed to be holding her back.
"So, unorthodox method of arrival aside, what brings you here?" the white one asked, looking directly at the human. Henry noticed that she also had a horn, and that the lizard person was hovering closest to her, with an odd look on its face.
Unable to answer, Henry just shrugged.
"He... can't speak, Rarity," Twilight said in his place.
"Oh! Dreadfully sorry, then, didn't mean to offend."
Henry just gave a dismissive hand wave, as if to say 'S'fine'.
"So, you said something about him being resistant to magic?" the lizard spoke up, sounding younger than anyone else here.
"Oh, yes, when I attempted to use the healing spell on him, it took more effort than should've been necessary to actually cast it on him."
This got the group muttering to themselves, which Henry started to tune out. While he was still confused at his situation, the novelty had worn out its welcome, so he was ready to simply be done for the day and get the first night of genuine sleep since he woke up. To tell her as much, he tapped Twilight's shoulder then pantomimed writing something down on his hand. Thankfully, she seemed to catch on immediately, and brought over a quill and parchment with her magic, also bringing a halt to the ongoing conversation from the others.
They started talking again once he started drawing something. "What's he doing?"
"Ain't it obvious, Dash? The feller can't speak, so he's writin'."
Once he was done, Henry presented the picture to Twilight, showing it to be an image of a bed. "Oh, okay." She turned to a door next to the one they entered from. "Through there, first door on the left."
Henry gave a thumbs up, before making his leave, the quill and parchment now hovering in Twilight's magic. By now, the others had come over to see what was written.
"Wait, he just drew a picture?" Dash asked. "Can he not write?"
"He can, but not in any language we recognized," Starlight said, levitating the previous piece of parchment that Henry had wrote on, the words unreadable to the ponies and dragon.
Pinkie suddenly let out a gasp, as if she had been holding her breath. "Oh my gosh! I get to throw a party for a new pony- No, a new... thing!"
"Might wanna reel that in a bit, Pinkie," Applejack admonished. "The guy's probably confused and scared right now, we could at least wait until he gets settled before ya start partyin' around him."
"...yeah, I guess you're right, but still!" Pinkie continued, bouncing in place with excitement, before suddenly stopping. "Oh, I should go home and get started on that!"
And with that, she was gone, before any of them could voice any objection to the plan.
"Confused and scared?" Dash asked Applejack, skeptical. "He didn't look like that to me. I mean, confused, yeah, but not really scared."
"You really want Pinkie to already be throwin' him a party, when he could turn out to be dangerous?"
"...yeah, good point."
"Anyone else notice those bits of metal in one of his hands?" Spike said suddenly, bringing attention to him.
"I actually noticed that, too," Rarity added. "Was that another one of his injuries?"
Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Hmm, I don't think so. Every other major wound of his closed up with the spell, but not that. Perhaps it serves a purpose?"
While the group thought in silence, Dash suddenly turned to the one friend who hadn't said anything so far. "Say, Fluttershy, you got any idea what he is?"
The yellow pegasus's eyes widened from the sudden attention put on her, but she calmed down quickly. "I have no idea. I've never seen a creature like him before."
"Looked kinda like a monkey, to me," Applejack said.
Fluttershy shook her head. "No, he looks different from a monkey."
"I don't see it," Dash said. "Stands on two feet, has hands, looks like a hairless monkey to me."
Fluttershy gave her friend a blank stare. "It's like the difference between a robin and an eagle, Rainbow Dash. They aren't the same."
"Okay, okay, I guess."
"In any case, I have the situation under control," Twilight said. "I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"
You little pussy.
This is war, baby!
You didn't help make history, Henry. You helped end it.
Henry! Listen to your heart!
Henry didn't know what to expect when he slipped into his first genuine dream since being put together by that cunt of a woman, but what he got was a constant loop of the only memories he had up to that point. His fights with Akan's goons, his constant brushes with death, him working together with Jimmy...
Well, poor bastard won in the end, didn't he?
Amidst all the memories, the only one from before whatever killed him the first time was the one with his father. At least, he assumed it was his father. He couldn't think of anyone else who would not only help him up after bullies beat him up, but then strongly urge him to return the favor. Everything else was a blurry haze, incomprehensible to his mind.
Sure, Jimmy had done away with the memory block before his unfortunate death- for real this time- but Henry had no idea how long it would take for the memories to come back.
So instead, he stewed in the ones he knew for sure happened.
The ones he made himself recently.
He never really got a chance to stop and think about his circumstances while Akan was gunning for him, but now that he was finally given a peaceful moment, that's all he could do.
He was really, really good at killing people. A lot more than he felt was normal. He couldn't just pass that off as the machine side of himself, either; sure, that gave him the strength and speed, but the sticking point was that he also had the ability, the knowledge.
The fact that he couldn't remember any of where that came from scared him.
He stopped at one particular memory, of his "wife" screwing his leg on. Seeing it again, he noticed how calm and relaxed he was at the time, and that in turn made him angry is the present.
"Was this someone close to you?"
Henry whirled around, fists at the ready, and came face to face with another pony. This one was a very dark blue, and like Twilight, she also had both wings and a horn.
"Do not be alarmed. Princess Twilight has told me and my sister about you."
Slowly, Henry relaxed, dropping his fighting stance. Twilight did mention something about contacting the "princesses", now that he thought about it. This must be one of them. But how was she-!
"Before you ask, yes, we are in your dream," she continued. "I am Princess Luna, and among other things, I am able to enter the dreams of ponies."
Henry just decided to roll with it. Maybe this was his subconscious mind trying to resolve something within him, given recent events.
Luna nodded towards the memory in front of them. "So, is she someone close to you?"
Henry looked back at the memory of Estelle's smiling face, and he turned back to Luna with a scowl, shaking his head.
"Oh, that is right, Twilight mentioned that you were unable to speak." A small smirk appeared on her face. "However, here in the realm of dreams, you have no need to be held back by such a physical limitation. Simply try to speak, and your mind will enable you to do so, even if your body normally could not."
This gave Henry pause. He could not even remember was his voice sounded like, and yet this pony was telling him that he could manage to speak anyway while dreaming.
Hopefully, his social skills hadn't disappeared completely due to Akan fucking with his head.
Steadying himself, Henry gave one last moment of thought, before looking back to Luna and managing to speak.
"So, it's that easy then?"
Henry cringed heavily the moment the words left his mouth. In retrospect, he should've seen it coming. With no memory of his own voice, his mind seemed to improvise by giving him the voice of someone he heard a lot from in the short timespan his memories now covered.
Still, did it have to be fucking Jimmy's voice coming out of his face?
His reaction was missed by Luna. "Well, now that you have found your voice, so to speak, may I ask what your name is?"
Henry was reluctant to talk with Jimmy's voice again, but he sighed as he realized he didn't really have much of a choice. "Henry."
Luna nodded, before looking at the whirlwind of memories around them. "I see you have had an... eventful life, Henry," she finally said. Her gaze lingered on some of the more action-packed memories, wincing at each life past-Henry ended.
Henry noticed where she was looking. "If you're worried about me hurting ponies, don't be. They haven't given me a reason to harm them."
Luna happened across a memory of Henry trying in vain to douse the fire on a bystander, the context of which was completely lost on her, and she sighed. "For your sake, I hope you are correct."
Suddenly, the memories around them began to fade, leaving the two of them in darkness. "What-?!"
"Ah, you must be waking up," Luna said as Henry started fading away. "You likely won't remember most of this, but farewell for now."
And with that, Henry was once again in the land of the living.