Chapter 14: A Glimpse of Madness

Blahsadfeguie emerged from his mines carrying a backpack full to bursting with stone, dirt, and all kinds of ore. A few hours ago he had decided to begin a strip mine, as it was probably safer and harder to get lost in than exploring existing caves, and it turned out to be an excellent idea. Knowing what he was up against, he refused to stop mining until he had gotten just enough gold to upgrade his armor.

When he entered his shack, he found Sera and Cody in the midst of an alarmingly civil conversation.

"...from the mind, just like every other kind of magic. Similar to how there are so many kinds of martial arts, each using the body in a different way," Cody finished.

"I see," replied Sera. "So a strong mind could master many different magical arts."

As interesting as the conversation appeared to be, Blah was eager to get to the action now that he had everything he needed. He began to smelt the ore he mined out. "So, Sera," Blah began, "Where exactly near Ponyville is this 'source of chaos'?"

"A ways to the southeast," Sera replied. "It is in a forest."

Blah paused. "Wait, you couldn't possibly mean... the Everfree Forest?"

"If that is what they call it, then yes."

"Oh boy. Figures I'd have to go there at some point." Blah carried his gold bars over to the anvil. "I picked a good time to upgrade, then..."

"Are you making armor out of that?" Sera inquired. "I was under the impression that iron is far more practical than gold."

"Not in upside-down backwards Terraria land!" joked Blah. When his statement didn't get a rise out of either of the onlookers, Blah sighed and went back to hammering out a set of armor. "Just trust me when I say that gold is better here."

"It's true," confirmed Cody.

"Oh good, I'm glad I can count on you to agree with me on facts, at least." Blah held up his newly-forged helmet. It bore a crest of two thin wings, giving it a rather elegant look. As he set it aside to work on the platemail, he delightfully pictured himself wearing the full golden armor, carrying his crystal lance and riding a similarly-equipped pegasus.

He stopped. In all the confusion, he had completely forgotten about Hailstorm. He remembered giving him the potion, but he had no idea how his first companion was doing other than that.

"Hailstorm is fine," reassured Sera, making Blah jump. He had also forgotten that the Abra could read his mind. "We checked on him after the battle was over. The potion saved his life, but he will still need a day or two to recover completely."

Blah exhaled. "Ah. Good." He resumed work on the armor, idly wondering if Hail would even still be interested in joining him after all of that. It was well-established by now that Blah's line of work was not exactly the safest.

"We shall see," Sera answered, once again catching Blah by surprise. "Perhaps there are others better suited to it than he, but it is his decision in the end."

Blah turned to Sera. "Okay, can we please establish something before we go any further," he implored. "When I'm not talking, it would be really great if you didn't respond to me." He looked down at his nearly-finished platebody. "I'm still not used to the fact that you can hear my thoughts..."

"As you wish," Sera agreed. It might have been Blah's imagination, but she almost sounded slightly disappointed.

All distractions aside, Blah finally finished his full set of gold armor. A large red jewel adorned the chestplate, making the full set that much more dazzling. As he brought the leggings closer to slip into them, he realized they were a bit heavier than he expected. Thankfully, he learned that he was still able to move by the time he had the full set on, but there was no doubt that this would slow him down a bit.

He looked between Sera and Cody expectantly. "Well?" he asked. "None of you have anything to say about my new duds?"

"It is very... pretty," the Abra stated, fishing for a compliment. Cody just shrugged.

"I'm just looking for a bit of validation for my awesomeness," Blah teased. "Jeez. Maybe this'll help." He retrieved his Quartz Lance from his bag and held it out. "Yeah! Talk about a knight in shining armor!"

Cody contemplated Blah's new look for a moment. "Could use a shield," he commented, killing Blah's mood.

"Hey," he snapped, "I can't even get a shield until I find the dungeon, you know!"

Cody flipped open his recipe book. "Says here you can make any material of shield out of 10 bars."

Blah blinked. "Really?" He glanced over Cody's shoulder at the book, which, sure enough, detailed recipes for shields of many different metals. "Huh. Fair enough." He sorted through his pile of remaining bars, noting that he only had one gold ingot left. "Guess I'll have to settle with silver, then," he mused aloud, gathering up the materials. "Oh well, that'll match the lance better, I think."

Sera and Cody watched with diluted curiosity as Blah forged a silver shield in front of them. He held it in his left hand as he carried the lance in his right. "There!" he exclaimed. "Am I knightly enough for you now?"

Cody shrugged again. "Meh."

Blah grimaced. "Okay, I'm done," he surrendered, grabbing his backpack and slinging it around his shoulder. "Sera, let's just go to Ponyville already."

Without further prompt, Blah suddenly found Sera sitting around his shoulders. The Abra's blatant disregard for personal space gave Blah the shivers, but before he could say anything about it, their surroundings had changed.

When Blah got re-acquainted with his environment, he realized he had been teleported straight into the Ponyville library. It was in such pristine condition, Blah would never have guessed that it had been completely wrecked a couple of days ago if he hadn't witnessed the event himself. Twilight had not noticed him yet, as she was vigorously flipping through a book in search of something.

"Hey, Twilight," Blah greeted, causing the unicorn to nearly jump through the ceiling.

"Ack!" Twilight gasped, turning around slowly. "Please don't do that... I'm barely used to Pinkie Pie doing that..."

"Tell that to Sera over here," Blah responded, gesturing at the Pokemon on his shoulders, who waved jovially. "Anyway, I was on my way to the Everfree Forest and I... well, Sera, really, decided to stop by."

"The Everfree Forest?!" Twilight repeated. "What business could you possibly have there? You do know how dangerous it is... right?"

"Of course, that's why I'm wearing full gold armor." Blah tapped his gold helmet.

Twilight tilted her head. "Wait, weren't you wearing-"

"Iron, yeah, don't ask," Blah interrupted impatiently. "Anyway, Sera found a thing there and I wanted to go poke it."

"It doesn't sound like you have this very well thought out," she commented skeptically.

"We'll play it by ear," the man lightheartedly dismissed. "But yeah, while I'm here, have you figured anything new out about my situation?"

"Well, I've been reading up a lot on alternate universes," Twilight said, turning back to her book, "but it's mostly just extremely vague theory."

"Anything relevant? Anything hinting at a possible cause for them to suddenly... you know, combine?"

"Well..." She flipped several pages into the book. "Here's one of the more widely-accepted theories that says that universes are comparable to atoms, free-floating in infinitely empty space, but there is an extremely tiny chance that they may collide and cause... adverse effects."

Blah looked down, thoughtfully resting his chin on his hand, though that was perhaps in part due to wearing such a heavy helmet. "But I've seen entities from four different universes in this one," Blah attested. "Five if you count myself. If that theory is correct, this universe must be the product of unfathomable odds..."

"Who are you talking to down here...?" Spike climbed sleepily down the stairs, rubbing his eyes. "I'm trying to get my beauty rest..."

"I'm sorry, Spike," Twilight apologized. "I'm just trying to help Blahsadfeguie figure out why he's here." Blah was mostly impressed that Twilight remembered his full name.

"Fate," Spike guessed crankily. "Fate is why he's here. Now can I please have some peace and quiet?"

Despite being a hasty and cliched answer, Blah couldn't help but seriously consider it. His presence contributed greatly to Ponyville's liberation from the corruption, at the very least, and now it seemed as though his role in this world was only just starting to unfold. "You know, I honestly wouldn't dismiss that..." Blah agreed.

"Great, problem solved. Bye." The young dragon stormed back upstairs.

Twilight sighed. "It's probably best we let him sleep," she whispered. "He drove himself to exhaustion helping me get the library back in order the other night, bless his heart... anyway, I'll continue my research. If you're going into the forest, just be careful."

Blah gave her a thumbs up. "You bet," he whispered back. "Later!" He and Twilight waved at each other as he carried Sera out of the library, quietly closing the door behind him.

"Straight to the forest, then?" Sera asked, riding comfortably on Blah's shoulders as he walked towards the looming trees on the horizon.

"I guess so..." Blah answered. "It shouldn't be THAT hard, eh? Most people... ponies, whatever, enter the forest without armor or weapons. I'm fully equipped with the best armor I can dig out of the ground, and a hammer made out of giant worm scales! We can handle anything that forest has to offer."

"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself of that more than me," Sera observed. Blah simply smiled awkwardly and said nothing.

The duo passed by Fluttershy's cottage. The yellow pegasus saw Blah heading for the forest and pardoned herself from feeding the rabbits.

"Um, excuse me, Blah..." Fluttershy called out to him, causing him to stop. "You're not heading into the Everfree Forest, are you...?"

'Ugh, I don't have time for this...' thought Blah, involuntarily executing a facepalm, but when he remembered Fluttershy was staring at him, he pretended he was adjusting his glasses. "As a matter of fact, I am," he replied, not bothering to hide the impatience in his voice.

Fluttershy paused, slightly taken aback. "Oh, well, it's very dangerous in there," she continued. "There are all kinds of beasts, and monsters..."

"Yeah, I know," Blah acknowledged. "Why do you think I'm packing my best equipment?" He tapped his helmet with the thick of his lance, causing Sera to lean back ever so slightly. Fluttershy flinched as he waved the weapon around. "Seriously, can't an adventurer adventure anymore without an entire town worrying about him? I know what I'm doing."

Seeing that Blah was unwilling to yield, the soft-spoken pegasus started to back away. "Oh... ok. I'm so sorry for doubting you. Please, go right ahead..." She trailed off, nearly ready to turn around, but stopped and stood straight again as if suddenly remembering how to be assertive. "But are you sure you don't want an..." Blah's flattening expression snapped her back into submission. "...escort?"

At this suggestion, Blah made a noise that was somewhere in between a cough and a chuckle. "You? Escort me?" He held up his lance, letting the sun gleam off of it. "This is the only escort I need. Go back to singing to your flowers or whatever and stop worrying about me already. I will be just fine." He spoke his last sentence with a bit of spacing between each word for emphasis.

Fluttershy shrunk away even further, clearly dejected. "Okay... I can take a hint..." She retreated hastily into her cottage without saying another word.

There was a brief moment of silence. "Blah..." Sera addressed. "I do not think she intended to protect you from the wildlife."

Blah continued his trek toward the forest. "Then why'd she even bring that up?" he replied, completely missing the point. "I swear, that Fluttershy is... something else."

Sera quieted, knowing that this was a pot not worth stirring.

No sooner had Blahsadfeguie entered the Everfree Forest than he started to feel dwarfed by its overgrown foliage. He couldn't tell whether his paranoia was acting up, or an unfathomable amount of malicious eyes were glaring in his direction. Probably a little bit of both, he guessed to himself, only setting him further on edge. He held his shield and lance close to him as he counted each step, ready to strike at the slightest sign of movement approaching him lest he be stricken by it himself.

Seraphina, knowing that close combat would be an issue for anyone seated on the man's shoulders, resorted to walking just behind him. It did not comfort Blah very much to know that his only companion seemed to be using him as a meat shield.

"Do not worry, Blah," Sera reassured him. "If any danger approaches, I will alert you to it beforehand. You will have plenty of time to react."

Despite this going against the rules of communication he had established earlier, Blah found plenty of comfort in knowing the psychic with the escalated danger sense was looking out for him.

"Incoming bogey at 2 o' clock."

Blah felt it just as Sera did - a gelatinous foe shot out of some nearby bushes, and Blah struck it clean through with his lance before he even realized what was happening. A forest-green slime flopped to the ground, now bearing a round hole through its center. The hole closed up quickly, however, and the slime charged a second time, knowing no pain. Blah didn't even need to react as an orb of ghostly energy from behind him blasted the slime apart.

Blah stared at the puddle, the past half-second having zoomed by. He had no idea he was capable of such abnormal reflexes.

He turned to the Abra. "Hey, Sera-"

"While we are connected, my spatial awareness becomes available to you," Sera explained, answering the question he was about to ask. "In short, you have my reaction time. 8 o' clock."

Blah slung his torso around, whacking another slime with the flat of his shield and sending it rolling backward. The realization of their combined strength brought a triumphant grin to Blah's face as he stabbed his lance into the top of the mindless glob, breaking it apart.

"You know, this might not be so bad," admitted Blah. "How far is it to the... whatever it is?"

"The chaotic entity lies within the very heart of the forest," Sera answered. "We have just over a mile to go."

Blah was sorry he'd asked. Not even the idea of walking a mile without interruptions appealed to him. "Okay then..." he sighed, tightening his grip on his equipment.

The two continued, ever cautious. It didn't take long for an enemy tougher, not to mention smarter, than slimes to emerge - it was a wolf-like creature composed of darkened wood, bearing glowing green eyes.

Blah barely had time to identify it as a Timberwolf before it pounced. He stopped its relentless assault with a well-placed shield, but his lance's counter-strike failed to penetrate the target's tough exterior. As Sera kept it at bay with Psychic, Blah swapped to his hammer and proceeded to pound it into the ground, where it promptly exploded into a pile of twigs and eerie smoke.

A piercing howl interrupted Blah's attempt to catch his breath. Four more Timberwolves emerged from the shrubbery, each one as vicious as the last. Sera quickly teleported behind them, preparing to flank. Blah swung his hammer in a sweeping arc, sending two of them sprawling, but the other two leaped over it with alarming speed. Sera managed to slam one of them down with her telekinesis, and Blah blocked the other one with his shield, but this left his lower half wide open to the other two.

Sera jumped, throwing a Shadow Ball into the back of one of them like a magnum as Blah pummeled the other in an upward hammer strike. Chunks of wood rained all around them. The only remaining Timberwolf lunged in a desperate attempt to catch him off guard, but the creature's head soon met Blah's knee, followed by a crushing overhead blow from the Breaker.

Blah doubled over, leaning on his hammer. He was beginning to realize that moving faster meant losing energy faster, especially in such heavy armor. At this rate, he'd drop dead from exhaustion before sustaining a single injury.

"Let's avoid as many fights as possible," Blah proposed, before drinking one of his potions just for the hydration. He vowed to remember to pack some water or something next time.

"Agreed," Sera replied, somewhat weakly. This was likely just as taxing on her, at least mentally, Blah thought.

They continued walking, this time just off of the path, out of the open. At least this way, they only had to deal with a few slimes and the occasional bat. However, even this did not protect them from the exertion required from such a long journey.

"How much farther?" Blah asked, slumping against a tree after rubbing out the umpteenth slime.

"We are nearly halfway there," Sera informed.

"I don't think I can take another step..." Blah looked around. This part of the forest looked exactly like every other part - full of towering plants and monsters. "Are you sure we're even going the right way?"

"Positive," Sera affirmed.

"If you say so. Ugh..." Blah took his helmet off and sat down in the grass. "Maybe we should build a crude shelter or something. We can afford to take a break, right?"

"HEEEELP!"

The cry of an elderly male voice in distress rang out from nearby.

"Apparently not," answered Sera. Blah groaned, struggling to his feet and replacing his helmet. Mustering up the strength to be a hero once again, Blah rushed in the direction of the voice with his Abra in tow.

He emerged in a small clearing, where immediately the smell of burning foliage invaded his nose. Indeed, the forest had been partially set aflame, and taking up most of the sky was a huge red dragon, smoke blaring from its nostrils.

Blah quickly glanced down and saw the target of its aggression: an old man whose obesity gave his body an elliptical shape, and from his tiny bald head grew a huge bushy mustache. He frantically crawled on his back away from the charred wreckage of some sort of high-tech vehicle barely big enough to fit him.

No matter how many times he spotted a new figure he recognized, it never ceased to astonish him. "Dr. Eggman?!"

"Who are you?!" Eggman replied ungratefully, looking away from the dragon for a split second until a fireball brushed past his mustache. "N-nevermind who you are, just get me away from this overgrown lizard!"

Blah had a few questions for the evil genius, but now was not the time. He closed his eyes, hyperventilating in an effort to briefly refuel his energy and motivation, then followed it up by hurling his lance at the airborne dragon. "Hey... stupid!" Blah called, lacking the drive for a more creative insult. "Over here!"

The lance hit the dragon in the snout, although it did little more than bounce off. It did succeed in getting the dragon's attention, however, and the beast reacted by shoot a wide cone of flame at Blah. Instinctively, he hid behind his shield, although he quickly realized that it was too small to stop all of the dragon's breath. Thankfully, Sera grabbed onto his leg and teleported him away before the flames caused any serious burns.

When the flames faded and the dragon didn't see Blah or where he possibly could have escaped to, the dragon landed, staring at the singed grass in confusion. Blah saw his chance to retrieve his lance and stab at it from behind, driving it just between two of its scales. He didn't penetrate very deeply, but it caused the reptilian much pain nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman had an opportunity of his own to exploit. With the dragon's focus diverted, Eggman scrambled to his feet and sprinted toward the nearest opening in the trees that was not on fire.

Blah spotted this out of the corner of his eye. 'He's making a break for it,' Blah thought to Sera. 'Don't let him escape. We have a lot to talk about when this is over.'

Sera silently obliged and blinked in front of Eggman, blocking his path. "Hey! What gives!"

"Nice try, but when this is all said and done- whoa!" Blah jumped over the dragon's tail and rolled toward its left side. "I have a few questions to ask- yipe!" He used his shield to block the dragon's claw, but the force knocked it out of his hands. Blah jabbed at the dragon's neck with his lance to counter, but it snapped its jaw at his arm, causing him to pull back before he could connect.

Eggman crossed his arms in a huff, leaning against the tree. "Fine, I'll stick around," grumbled the scientist, "but when the dragon's feasting on your well-done carcass, don't be offended if I head for the hills."

'That's comforting,' thought Blah as he backed away from the dragon's vicious bite, draining what little remained of his vigor.

It was Sera's turn. She leaped into the air and shot an Energy Ball at the dragon's mouth as it opened. The sphere became lodged in its throat, causing it to suffocate briefly before the ball disappeared. This did little more than make her a target, however, and before she knew it, the beast's claws were wrapped around her.

"Sera!" cried Blah, pulling out his Breaker and closing the distance desperately. "Hold on!"

The dragon glared a deathly glare at the Abra in its clutches, convinced that the human could not harm him and the little fox was helpless. In an attempt to prove the latter wrong, Sera focused on the dragon's head with Psychic, trying despite heavy resistance to snap its neck. Enraged, the dragon roared, slamming Sera's tiny form against the ground and cutting her attack short. The Psychic-type sprawled out, motionless.

Blah stopped in disbelief at the sight. "No!" he shouted. His teeth clenched. The floodgates forced themselves open, once again filling Blah with orange-tinted power. As the dragon turned towards him, standing upright and roaring menacingly, Blah charged forward. "Fist of the Milky Way!" he announced. "Apollo Uppercut!"

The dragon drew its claw back to deliver a massive swipe at the approaching human, but Blah accelerated in a blaze of rocket fire, launching the Breaker upward at its exposed underbelly and knocking the wind out of it before it could finish the attack. The blow had enough power behind it to send the dragon spiraling upwards and crashing among the trees in the distance.

Blah instantly dropped to all fours. He didn't have much time left. He hastily dug through his backpack for a spare potion as he crawled towards Seraphina, determined to ensure that she stayed alive. He gently turned the Abra over, sitting her upright and inserting the flask into her mouth. She coughed, but it woke her up, and she clutched the glass limply to finish it off.

'Are you alright?' Blah thought, unable to expend the energy even to speak at this point.

Sera set down the glass and slumped over to let it set in. "I will be fine," she responded. "Thank you."

Blah let himself collapse, exhaling loudly with relief. This happened way too often, it seemed.

True to his word, Dr. Eggman had remained to witness the entire thing. He was quite impressed by the end of it all. With the danger out of the way, however, he started edging toward the gap in the trees again. "Well," he said with a sneer, "since you seem too tuckered out to ask me anything, I think I'll just take my leave now. Ta-ta!"

He nearly tripped over Sera. "What the- get lost!" he shouted. "Your master's out-cold, and I'm not about to wait around for hours in this blasted forest for him to wake up!" When Sera didn't react, he sighed in frustration. "Why am I even bothering, it's not like the thing understands human speech."

"Quite the contrary," Sera's voice echoed nonchalantly in his head, causing him to jump. It took him a moment to realize where the voice was coming from. "Blahsadfeguie is not my master, he is my friend. He is also still conscious, just too exhausted to move, or to speak. And finally, I understand the language of humans more thoroughly than you could possibly comprehend." Eggman was dumbstruck. "Now, Blah would like me to relay his thoughts to you. I expect you to answer his questions as though he were awake. Understood?"

His logic shattered, the doctor looked back and forth between Sera and Blah, the latter of whom held a weak thumbs-up. Eggman facepalmed. "Okay, sure, whatever," he surrendered, sitting dejectedly against a tree. "Let's get this over with."

"Blah wants to know what you are doing in the middle of a beast-infested forest surrounded by pony-inhabited land."

"...'Pony-inhabited'?" Eggman shook his head. "What does it matter to you? I could ask the same question."

"Indeed you could," Sera acknowledged, "but we asked you first."

"Well, if you must know... ahem..." His eyes darted to and fro behind his shades, searching for an excuse. They rested on the empty flask. "I heard there's a special herb that grows in this forest... and I need it for a... a potion, you see, for my sick Aunt Sally," Eggman finished with fake melancholy.

Blah burst into stifled, wheezing laughter. "That is a lie. Even if it were not bluntly obvious, I can read your mind as well as I can Blah's. Why are you really here?"

Eggman crossed his arms. "Well, if you can read my mind, why don't you just find out for yourself?"

"Ever since I became self-aware," Sera explained, "I have vowed not to use my powers to invade the privacy of anyone's mind, any deeper than their surface thoughts." Blah lifted his head, giving Sera a look that said "Seriously?"

Eggman smirked. "Then I guess you won't be hearing it from me." As he finished, Sera's eyes glowed purple. He suddenly felt his sense of balance being violated, and noticed he was lifting steadily into the air. "Whoa! Hey!"

Sera made a noise that sounded remarkably like a chuckle. "I never said I could not use force to get someone to divulge information of their own free will, however."

"Okay, okay! I'll talk!" said the panicked Eggman. "Just put me down already!"

Sera dropped him rather suddenly, giving him a start. When he realized he was fine, Eggman cleared his throat, regaining his composure. "I was in the neighborhood, flying in my hovercraft, when suddenly my sensors detected the presence of a massive surge of chaos energy right here in this forest - and that usually means there's a Chaos Emerald. I flew in for a closer look, but that dragon came out of nowhere and wrecked my only means of transportation. And here I am. Happy?"

"That will do," the Abra answered.

Blah took a moment to think about what Eggman said. Now that he knew the Sonic universe was wrapped up in this mess, it made sense that the Chaos Emeralds were the sources of Chaos that Sera mentioned. He had no idea that they could corrupt entire villages Terraria-style, though. Not to mention the fact that there were only seven Chaos Emeralds. What was the eighth thing that Sera picked up?

He didn't care how exhausted he was - his curiosity was too strong. He wanted to at least find out for sure what was causing all of this fuss. But whatever it was, Blah resolved, there was no way he would allow Eggman to get his hands on it. However, he also didn't want to leave him in the middle of the forest, completely defenseless.

"Blah has decided to escort you to the Chaos Emerald," Sera announced such that both Eggman and Blah could hear it.

Eggman's face took on an expression of genuine shock. "Really?!" he exclaimed, but upon realizing his outward display he cleared his throat and tried to hide his emotions. "I mean, er, thanks, you won't regret it!"

Blah flashed Sera a bewildered and deeply concerned expression. "This Eggman has proved to be somewhat useless and cowardly while unarmed," Sera explained to Blah alone. "Either one of us could overpower him easily if necessary."

After a bit of hesitation, Blah nodded in agreement. He figured he had plenty of chance to catch his breath, so he tried sitting up. He still felt a little sick to his stomach, so he closed his eyes for a moment. Slowly, he climbed to an upright position, stretching his limbs as best as he could. "Okay," he breathed. "Let's press onward."

Eggman seemed amazed more than worried that Blah was still able to stand after all that, but he didn't care enough to question it. He eagerly jumped to his feet. "Yes," he said, grinning with anticipation. "Let's."

They left the clearing with no further deliberation. Thanks to Sera, the group was able to remain mostly hidden and out of harm's way as they continued deeper into the forest, but mere minutes later, they were stopped by a troubling sight. The plant life ahead took on a distinct, all-too-familiar purple coloration.

"Wh-what is that stuff?!" Dr. Eggman asked, afraid to even go near it.

Blah sighed. "Corruption," he explained. "Guess I missed a spot... we should probably avoid it for now."

"Blah," Sera warned. "The chaotic entity is inside the corruption."

The man was afraid of that. "Guess we're heading in, then," Blah resigned, taking another deep breath.

"Are you kidding?!" Eggman replied. "I'm not setting foot in anything that looks like that and is called 'Corruption'!"

Blah chuckled at the doctor. "Eh, it's not nearly as bad as it sounds," he promised. "I could probably take it on in my sleep by now!"

"Duck," Sera suddenly advised. Blah unquestioningly did so, and a ball of greenish gunk whizzed past Blah's head. It splashed against the ground, where the previously normal green grass instantly turned a nasty purple. Terrified, Blah looked to the sky - there he saw what looked like an Eater of Souls, only this one was larger, had two more pairs of mandibles, and several more eyes.

Blah's mouth gaped as he realized what he was staring at. "Corruptors? Did we enter hard mode already?!" He turned to Sera. "Okay, I take that back! Get us out of here, NOW!"

Eggman would have taunted Blah's sudden change of confidence if he hadn't been too busy running for his life. Another vile shot hit a tree just beside him, rotting the wood and causing Eggman to practically trip over himself as he changed directions.

Sera blinked on top of Blah's shoulders. "Eggman, get back here!" Blah called. "We can't leave without you!"

"Every man for himself!" Eggman shouted back, ducking in between two trees.

Blah looked backward. Two more Corruptors appeared over the horizon, each one staring ravenously back. He jumped out of the way of yet another glob of corrupting sludge, converting another patch of forest. "He's going to lead them to corrupt the whole forest..." predicted Blah in a panic. "We have to catch him."

There was a moment of pause as Blah heard Sera sigh. She teleported herself and Blah several yards away, just in front of Eggman's path. Before Blah could say anything, the stocky man juked around him in a baffling display of agility.

"You idiot, we can just teleport you out of here," Blah yelled, but Eggman said nothing, committed to escaping on his own merits.

Sera blinked in front of him a second time, immediately placing her hand upon his bald head and whisking the three of them away.

The sudden change in lighting nearly blinded Blah. His vision returned just in time to see the unaware Eggman crashing headfirst into an apple cart. Sera had dropped them straight into the middle of Ponyville.

While several concerned ponies helped unearth the strange, round man from the pile of apples, Blah felt the weight on his shoulders shift slightly. Sera had slumped over, unconscious. All of that teleporting in such a short time frame must have been too much for her.

Eggman eventually freed himself, standing harshly upright and brushing himself off, desperately trying to cover his embarrassment. "I can handle myself, thank you very-"

He cut himself off as he saw the shape of the townsfolk that helped him. He glanced around the town in disbelief, taking in the brightly-colored, storybook-esque scene.

"I think I prefer the corruption," he remarked.