trans_9 | ARMOR PONY: Armor for Answer! [Closed]

Ah, Rainbow Dash. When she was smirking, Applejack knew trouble would follow.

"What's all this for?" Applejack asked the second she saw the pile, eying it suspiciously. "Are you still looking for a house? 'Cause I can help you there."

"Ah, there you are," came a voice from inside the door. He'd been moving things around the forge to get it reorganized and put the scrap for the armor outside. As soon as he heard the voices out there, he figured one of that had to be the one Kyladriss had been talking about.

The door opened.

"You're the other person that wanted the armor, ri--you're talking ponies."

He'd gotten used to just about everything the ship could throw at him in terms of other species, but sometimes things still surprised him for half a second.

Oh sure, he gets all this delivered to him by a wolfperson, but the ponies thing surprises him.

Rainbow Dash ignored his surprise, assuming he'd get over it very quickly, as she hopped off the pile to land next to AJ.

"Yep, my friend Applejack would like some armor," she said, cheerfully gesturing at the other pony. "So I'll trade you a favor or however the whole economy works around here if you'll make some for her!"

And she kept a close watch on Applejack out of the corner of her eyes just to see her reaction!

"Now hold on there," Applejack cut in, lifting a hoof at Rainbow Dash. "Nopony's paying for my armor on my watch. Listen, sugar, I'll pay for it," she offered to Hiccup.

"Yeah, we talk. Y'all keep saying that's weird." She shrugged. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. We sure did. Anyhoo, I'll be the one payin' for my armor. I can get'cha apples or apple treats. And if you need some lifting or pulling, I've got that too."

Hey hey, to be fair, the wolf-person surprised him, too. It was just he had a moment to compose himself. Also, a wolf-person was the kind of thing people told stories about in his world, about people wearing the skins of animals and getting their abilities and so on.

Talking pastel ponies were an entirely different thing. They were pastel. And ponies.

But hey, life on Stacy. Hiccup adjusted quickly, as he always did.

"If it helps at all, I don't take payment. If one of you could do me some unspecified favor later, like helping me move something or something like that, it'd be nice, but I do this for free so long as the ingot or scrap is already provided."

Daja had said he'd devalued his work by handling it that way, but he saw it as just contributing to the war effort. No one else charged for fighting in battle or giving medical care or fixing things on the ship, after all.

Edited 2012-03-14 22:59 (UTC)

"It's a present!" she said, pushing in front of Applejack. "Ignore the pony who can't accept gifts gratefully, I'll be --"

She paused as his words actually caught up with her mind, then had the decency to look a little sheepish. "I'll be happy to help with anything you want, really. We both will. Just so long as you get this girl protected," she said, patting Applejack's shoulder. "Can't send her back to Sweet Apple Acres all roughed up!"

Applejack would not stand for this insult. "I can too take---" she started to hiss before Hiccup explained.

"I mean, uh...sure! I'll give you plenty, don't you worry. You'll have the best apple our tree can grow and your things that need pulling pulled."

"Sounds like a fair trade to me! C'mon in. Lemme just get the scrap inside and then we'll get started with taking measurements and figuring out what you need and want in terms of armor."

The forge was a bit cluttered, half-finished projects here and there, though most of them looked like a personal projects rather than things he was making for other people. (He tended to crank out other peoples' requests pretty expediently.) On a desk there were papers scattered all over with pencil drawings of various things: dragons, machines, and so on.

"What are your names, by the way? I'm Hiccup."

With pony brawling fortunately deserted, Rainbow trotted in after him cheerfully. "I'm Rainbow Dash!" she said, looking around at all the mess. The pictures drew her eye, and without hesitation (or the courtesy of asking), she leaned over to get a closer look.

"And I'm Applejack, pleased to meet you," she added, tipping her hat with a hoof. She followed behind the others, watching Rainbow's fussing with some suspicion.

She preferred to look at the projects from further away. "Looks like some mighty fine work to me."

Some of the pencil drawing were fairly innocent, diagrams of dragons that showed he tended to look at the ones on the ship with a scholarly eye, intricate designs for things he was forging, designs for armor and weapons for clients. There were many iterations of mechanical contraptions that seemed to be designed to work in tandem with some sort of rig that looked like it was some creature's tail. Some of them looked like they were prosthetic limbs. (He'd taken in interest in automail in the process of studying and making improvements to his own.)

Other drawings were a bit more sinister in nature, with cutting implements and more advanced weaponry combined with more primitive mechanics to cut down things that were in their way. There was one particularly alarming schematic of one of them in action, some sort of device that seemed meant to cut out the legs of the Ohm from under them.

Lately, he'd taken some interest in weapons design, though the only targets he could stomach thinking about actually being targets were the Ohm.

"I appreciate it, but trust me, barring the occasional flash of inspiration I'm closer to middling than skilled at this. Buuut Daja got repodded and there aren't many blacksmiths on the ship, and people still need metalwork. And I did learn from some of the best."

Gobber'd been a master as making weapons sturdy enough to take a beating. Daja had taught him some of the finer aspects of craftsmanship and metallurgy. And there was quite a bit he'd taught himself.

Hiccup dug around for his measuring tape.

Rainbow's expression gradually went from curious to alarmed as she moved on through the drawings. Looking over that knee-capper one was too much -- she quickly put a foot or two between her and that drawing, looking downright disgusted. That had also been a vertical few feet as well, meaning that in a total failure to look where she was going, she bonked her head off of the roof, then dropped rather bonelessly to the floor.

"That's okay!" she said a bit wobbily, voice wavering as she lifted a hoof. "You'll do just fine by Applejack!"

"Rainbow?"

Applejack moved to her friend's side, offering some support for the way back up.

"Yup, you'll be just fine." She did worry about the drawings a little, but she'd be brave. War was a frightening thing, but that's what she was doing. Once Rainbow Dash was steady, she nodded and moved to a more open spot.

A reaction like that was a little hard to miss, and it had him looking over at his work table to see what inspired it, though he did have something of an idea before he even saw which drawings were on top.

Far from looking annoyed or upset over them being upset by what he'd drawn, when he looked back at them, his expression was very gentle.

"You want armor made, right? I'm guessing that means you plan to fight?"

He gestured for Applejack to come closer so he could take her measurements for the armor.

Don't get her wrong, she wasn't opposed to bucking the Ohm clear through a mountain and out the other side, but... well, there was a big difference between beating them in a good clean fight, and feeding them through an overgrown, bladed cider press. A big, gruesome difference.

Still, as Dash's spills go, the one she had just taken was one of the lightest, so with AJ's help she got back up and shook it off like it'd never happened. "We'd be pretty crazy NOT to. With everything that's happening, and the fate of the wor--I mean, the fate of, I guess, the universe on the line."

"Right," Applejack agreed with a quick nod, nodding so hard her hat fell off. Oh well. That was probably for the best, anyway. She moved to the place Hiccup pointed to, straightening herself out.

"Can't stop this if we don't get a little messy. Them robots were just the beginning, right?"

Hiccup's expression was supremely gentle as he got to work, measuring away. He nodded towards his plans.

"I know it's a scary thought, but you're going to have to get used to seeing things like that. In person."

There was something supremely sad about seeing people (pony-people?) this innocent caught up in all this. Squeamish about a picture. He missed having that sort of innocence himself. Life had never been entirely easy back home and awful things happened because of the fighting with the dragons (see: Gobber's limbs for reference) before they'd made peace, but for the most part, he hadn't been exposed to things he found that horrifying.

On the ship, though...

Edited 2012-04-08 04:51 (UTC)

Hey, give the ponies a chestburster or two and they'll probably dress up like Future Twilight, take up smoking, and execute Ohm in cold blood while casually spouting one-liners...

Or maybe not.

"It stinks that we can't just go kick their flanks," Rainbow grumbled as she took back to the air, the better to watch the measuring process. An entirely different thought struck her, though, as she watched the familiar-yet-different process -- "Hey, are those the same measurements you'd use if you were making just ordinary clothing?"

"I know." Applejack didn't sound entirely sure of herself, but...she was going to try. Really. No other choice. There'd be a chance to clean their hooves later, maybe.

Rainbow Dash's question had her looking confused, though. "Why? Not thinking of turning into another Rarity, are ya?"

"Little bit different," answered Hiccup as he took measurements. "Armor's a bit thicker and less flexible so you have to measure more than you would for clothes, to try to figure out how the pieces will go together without bumping into each other and limiting movement."

Hiccup wasn't going to pick at the subject of war and death and all that unless they wanted to talk about it, because 1) depressing, 2) they might not want to talk about it, and 3) depressing, but the expression on his face made it quite clear he was one of those kindly sorts of people that were willing to talk about things with his customers if they needed an ear.

"Well I have been thinking about how to protect myself. I can't get by JUST on speed and sheer awesomeness. So I figure, either I need to go the classic route and get a breastplate and helmet like the pre-Equestrian route, or get something less protective but more flexible, maybe have Rarity enchant it. But I don't know what armor is like."

She moved over to poke a hoof at Applejack's shoulder. "Can't try on yours, though, if it's that fiddly. You're not built THAT much more powerful than me, but I get the impression even a little bit counts."

Applejack stood tall---partially to allow Hiccup to measure, of course, and partially to display her pride. She was quite proud of the family business.

"Well, that's farm work for you. Gotta knock all the apples from a tree in one buck. But that's not all we're training for anymore."

She thought back on their last battle, how afraid they'd been. And there was no more magic to protect them the next time war broke out. "So I can get 'em with this, right? Hit hard?"

Start slow. Small.

"I could actually make you something pretty lightweight," Hiccup said to Rainbow Dash, "but if you're a flier and need flexibility, you might want to talk to the engineers about something a bit more high-tech. Kevlar or something."

Starting slow, starting small, it was how a lot of people had to handle it.

"You'll be able to hit hard. I'll even see if I can get one of the magic guys to enchant to be even more durable if I can."

"What's a kevlar?" Of course she didn't know the term. "Whatever it is, I'd need something that can stand up to my top speed and power," she said boastfully, hoof to her chest.

"Top speed, maybe," Applejack muttered, fondly rolling her eyes. Hey, there was enough pride around for them to share.

She imagined the finished armor then, picturing how it will be used. "And...er, how easy will it be to give it a scrub after a fight?"

"Kevlar's a sort of...oh boy, you might not know what 'synthetic' means, I know I didn't."

How did he explain it?

"It's a synthetic fiber--a sort of material that doesn't occur naturally anywhere, but can be made by people? It's very light material that still manages to be very hard to puncture and disperses the force of something hitting it. Has some heat resistance, too. You can have something very bad hitting it that would normally go right through your body, hurting you, and it'll block it and disperse some of the force of the blow. But it's not as heavy as metal armor. There's other types of materials like that, too, that they could work with for you."

"As for your armor," Hiccup said to Applejack, "it should be very easy to clean. I put a special protective coating of stuff on it that helps make it more durable and easy to scrub and the alloy I use doesn't rust."

Edited 2012-04-11 18:14 (UTC)

"So it's basically armor that's not quite as good as AJ's is gonna be, but still pretty good." Twilight would love this guy, with all his talk about the physics behind it. "Not as cool-looking, though. I gotta have something cooler than AJ's. No offense," she added, dropping down just enough to nudge AJ with a forehoof, grinning, "but cool is my thing."

"You're still fussing about what's cool? Shouldn't you be worried about getting through everything?"

Come on, Rainbow Dash. Priorities. Survival is of utmost importance!

"'Cause if you brought me here all worried about me, I've gotta keep an eye on you too."

"Cool doesn't stop a laser beam," was all Hiccup had to say, as he knelt to measure Applejack's legs.

"Or shrapnel. That's more of a problem than anything, from all the explosions. Some of them are powerful enough it'll shred right through the Thorn Armor. Just about any armor, really."

It wasn't so much that he wanted to scare or upset them as being so used to the war now he sometimes forgot how scary and upsetting things could sound.

"If you go in thinking you're gonna lose, Applejack... you're gonna lose." She had plenty experience with what nerves, frustration, and pessimism could do to a pony's head, and consequently, their performance. "So I'm not gonna think, 'how am I going to get through this.' I'm gonna think, 'I'm going to get through this, so how can I do it Rainbow Dash style?'.

"And that means..." She held up one forehoof. "I want something that can stop lasers and explosions and all that nasty stuff..." She held up the other forehoof. "That also looks cool. Why settle for just one when you can have both?"

"I'm not thinkin' I'm gonna lose, I'm being careful. Something you could learn," Applejack insisted. When she heard Hiccup's descriptions of what could happen, she became even more convinced that she was right, cringing. Ouch.

"Well sometimes you can't have both," she added. "I'd rather have you live to fight again."

...It was a badly kept secret that Applejack cared.

"You know, you're both sort of right," Hiccup said quietly, stopping his measuring to jot down notes and measurements in his omnicom.

"You have to be careful with all this, but you've still gotta be you. You still have to try to live your lives the way that makes you happy, even in spite of all this."

He wasn't the best at doing it anymore, but he had, for instance, never stopped flying with Toothless at least once a day. The things he needed most, that mattered most to him, were things he still tried to do.

"See, he gets it!" Rainbow said, gesturing at Hiccup. "There's a difference between 'living' and 'being alive'. If I turned into some fraidy-cat pony who always worried about getting hurt, then I wouldn't be Rainbow Dash any more! And that's no way to live." No offense to everyone who wasn't Rainbow Dash, right?

She touched down next to Applejack, reaching out to put a comforting hoof on the other pony's shoulder. "But I won't do any reckless stuff. I promise. I don't have time to be injured and I definitely can't leave all of YOU ponies alone without me."

She tried to make it sound like she didn't trust them to be alone, but... well, Rainbow wasn't any better about keeping secrets about caring and all that mushy stuff than AJ was, just more obnoxious in the course of covering it up.

"We'd sure be at a loss without you," Applejack whispered, gently butting her head against her friend's.

"And I won't be a silly old chicken, you hear? Just gotta be...careful!"

Hiccup just smiled lightly to himself as he tapped away on his omnicom.

What? They were adorable.

"Okay, I think I've got enough."

"So what now?" Rainbow turned to face him and at the same time took to the air again. She just naturally moved in three dimensions. "Do you need her to come back for fittings, or how's this work?"

"Great! Take your time, we'll be here in a jiffy when you're all ready." Applejack backed up and dropped to the ground, sweeping her hat in a sort of bow. "Thanks again for all this. I know it's a mite tricky."

"Glad to be of service. This is pretty much my thing," said Hiccup, bustling around, gathering up papers and all that so he could settle down to draw out his plans for the armor. "My one way of being really useful to the crew and the war effort. I don't mind doing it knowing it helps keep other people safe."

"It's really awesome of you to help out like this. Don't hesitate to call on us if you need anything at all, okay?" Rainbow said brightly. She might be lazy, but she wouldn't hesitate to do a favor for a friend who did a favor for a friend!

"That goes double for me," Applejack called over her shoulder. There wasn't much she appreciated more than somepony who really pulled their weight to help out. "Means a lot to us. And you'll get your barrel soon enough!"

She wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Much appreciated."

It was what they should be doing, wasn't it? All working together, helping each other out? Even though it was just another bit of work to do, somehow the ponies stopping by left Hiccup feeling better than he had before they showed up.

ARMOR PONY: Armor for Answer! [Closed]

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Last tag before my trip. I'll pick this up when I'm back!

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