Chapter 44: Sunny Side Up
The news that they had lost Spike hung heavily over the heads of everyone on board the Egg-Desperado. Even Eggman felt a bit of guilt over his disappearance. The heroes began to speculate over where he might have been sent, their attitudes varied.
"So you're telling me he could be ANYWHERE?" Hailstorm prompted angrily.
"And possibly anywhen as well," Astra added. "Depending on the nature of Beats and Blah's technique. The fourth dimension, as its title suggested that it utilized, is an entire other physical plane, like height, depth, and width. I have no doubt that it could possibly involve passing through time as well, or at least running parallel to it."
"Trying to predict Hajike through science and physics is like trying to bet on a single number in roulette..." Blah lamented. "Not even the guy throwing the little ball... does that even have a name?... has any idea what number it'll land on..."
"Even roulette is governed by the laws of physics," Astra asserted. "With a good grasp on the variables - the velocity and weight of the ball, the speed of the table, and so on - it's possible to predict where the ball will land fairly reliably if you're quick enough. I am positive that there is some formula to Hajike, it just won't be easy to figure out."
"Don't you remember what Discord said?" Hail shot back. "Hajike is weaponized chaos. Chaos is the definition of randomness. And the whole point of randomness is that it can't be predicted."
"But it can be controlled." Beats was stroking his chin in thought. "If a thing can be controlled, it's not totally random, is it?"
Astra nodded. "This is what I mean. Maybe I don't understand it because I can't control it myself, but in order for it to be workable, it has to have a hard set of rules. The user has to know what it's capable of, and how to use it to fit their situation. Hajike rarely seems to backfire, from what I've seen of your use of it, Blah. At least, not horribly..."
"So accidentally sending someone to a random point in time and space isn't your definition of 'horribly backfiring'?" Hail asked. "And are you really sure that Hajikelists control Hajike? Maybe it's the other way around, and chaos simply takes a liking to them because of how 'random' they are, so it follows their suggestions... until it gets bored. Kinda reminds you of someone, don't you think?"
There was silence. Not even Astra could come up with something to solidly debunk Hail's take on the matter.
"Well, it seems as though this conversation will get us nowhere," Sera suddenly spoke. "I am sorry to change the subject, but we can afford to put Spike on the backburner for a little while, especially if time travel could be involved in his absence."
"There's really only one other thing that's urgent," Blah continued. "And I think you should know what I'm talking about..."
Everyone subconsciously glanced at the female corpse of Blah. The true ridiculousness of the idea of sitting in a transformed giant robot piloted by a mad scientist with an opposite-sexed dead body that once belonged to their friend on one side and the same friend's spirit sharing a mind with a psychic Pokemon on the other was starting to dawn on them.
"Did we really have to bring... the body... along?" Hail approached the subject as delicately as he could manage. "Shouldn't we, like, bury it... or something...?"
"That won't be necessary," Blah stated. "Who knows, we might need it for... some reason. Better to have and not need than to need and not have. Maybe we can revive it somehow, or clone it or whatever." Blah wasn't quite sure himself, as none of those options seemed likely at this point, but he couldn't shake the feeling that simply leaving it would be a waste.
"I still think I could've easily revived you if you'd let me kill Bob..." Hail muttered.
"Bob is not our enemy," Sera argued. "Blah's death was an accident, and Bob is not actively trying to hinder us otherwise."
"Yeah, at this point, I might as well get a new body somehow," Blah decided. "And there's only one easy way of doing that. Eggman."
Dr. Eggman's voice rang out from the PA. "What?"
"You can build robots, right? So you can build me something to use for the time being."
"Building robots takes time and resources," Eggman expressed. "Especially if you want something... useful. Not just a cheap hunk of metal like most of my metal minions. Something that emulates a real human body as much as possible. That is what you want, am I right?"
"That'd be nice..." Blah affirmed. "How long do you think that might take?"
"Such an ambitious project would consume a lot of time, perhaps weeks just to draw up the blueprints and run the tests. Science is hard work, you know. Everything has to be perfect, or it could fall apart in an instant."
"Well, crap." Blah was disheartened. He didn't expect to have something as good as what Eggman described in a few days, of course, but it was still a disappointment. "Well, what's the most advanced robot you ever made? Surely you'd still have the blueprints for it at least."
Dr. Eggman thought back to his creations. "The most advanced robot I ever made... that would have to be Metal Sonic. I haven't seen him in a while, but I do still have his blueprints..."
"Metal Sonic?" Blah repeated. The image of himself as a robotic, murderous Sonic didn't exactly appeal to him. "...I know beggars can't be choosers, but would you happen to have a Metal Tails...?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," Eggman answered. "It's just a prototype, though. To make a long, long story short, Metal Sonic turned out a bit different than I expected, so I stopped working on Metal Tails. I nearly scrapped it entirely, but I'm a bit of a hoarder when it comes to robots, heheh."
Blah was both surprised and not surprised that he had guessed correctly about Metal Tails. "That's great!" he exclaimed, excited. "How much more work would you need to finish it?"
"Well... I had planned on doing some research on Tails himself first, but most of that was going to be for his AI. I don't think you'd find much use out of that though." Eggman laughed. Blah wasn't sure if he was just laughing about the current situation or making a joke at Tails's expense. "...Other than that, just a bit of work on the flying mechanics. It shouldn't take more than a day or two."
Those were the figures that Blah wanted to hear. Hailstorm, on the other hand, wasn't quite convinced. "Are you sure you want to use one of Eggman's creations?" he asked. "What if he made it so that you ended up blindly following his every command?"
"Souls are not so easily misled," Sera countered. "Pre-programmed artificial intelligence in a robot with a soul is equivalent to instinct in an organic being. You may get the urge to fulfill programming, but only the weak-willed will follow it without question. Blah is most certainly not that type of soul. Even if Eggman tried to backstab us in that way, it would probably fail."
"'Probably'?" Hail rebounded skeptically.
"While I wouldn't put that behind him," Blah began, "he still kinda owes us a favor. We did save his bacon in Metropolis. And his lab. He's proven to be a very valuable asset to the team, and so I trust him."
"What he said," Eggman agreed. "I can't believe you would still suspect me after all that. I thought we were friends!" His tone carried a mild amount of spiteful sarcasm.
"Hey Sera," Beats addressed, ignoring Eggman. "You seem to know a lot about souls. Up until now, Beats didn't think it was so easy to move them around. Without music, that is. Awww yeah!" He pumped his fist enthusiastically at his own joke.
"They usually are not," Sera answered. "The energy of the soul is nigh impenetrable. Even my psychic abilities have difficulty influencing them, but as they are a source of consciousness, I can give them a nudge or two when they are out in the open. That is, when a person is near death and the soul is getting ready to escape on its own. But do not worry, Blah; as your soul is already within my mind, I can remove it whenever you need me to."
"What constitutes a soul, exactly?" asked Astra. "I always thought that everything about a person, such as their identity, personality, and memories, resides in the brain..."
"Hmm..." Sera had to pause as she worked out how to explain it. "I suppose you could equate the soul to a computer program, and the body to a computer. The program itself always runs in a certain way, to accomplish certain tasks... but such a program cannot run by itself. The brain is the processor, as well as the RAM and hard drive. A soul needs a brain to 'run'. The senses and the muscles can be thought of as input and output devices respectively."
"So wait, if organic bodies and machines have kinda the same systems," wondered Hail, "does that mean all machines have souls? Or can have, at least?"
"Souls have very high system requirements," Sera explained. "Not every machine can hold one, but if it has all the proper equipment and capacity, anything can achieve sentience."
"Ok, so let me get this straight," Blah cut in. "If a soul is a computer program, but the brain is its workspace, how do I still have all of my save data? Memories and knowledge and such?"
"I downloaded a backup," Sera simplified.
"And you can run two souls at the same time?" Blah followed up.
"Most brains would have difficulty keeping the two souls separate. Their consciousnesses would collide, they would both have complete access to all parts of the brain, and they may even have trouble telling their thoughts and actions apart from those of their partner. However, as a psychic Pokemon, my brain is highly advanced. I can keep each process running separately and smoothly, and even control which peripherals each has access to."
"Well!" Blah remarked. "I'm really glad we have you around, then! Thanks for looking after me, even if you originally did it to expose me to some kind of guilt trip hell."
Eggman's voice resounded again. "We've arrived at Astra's residence. Prepare for landing!"
Everyone got comfortable and buckled their seatbelts, but Astra was suddenly stricken with a mix of confusion and terror as she was reminded of who was taking her home. "Wait. How exactly do you know where I live?!" She hadn't thought about it before because of the circumstances, but now that they had arrived, she couldn't help it.
"Cat's out of the bag," chuckled Hailstorm.
"What?!" Astra's face had the strongest expression anyone had ever seen from her, but this was understandable - after all, she had just realized that the man she had been trying to elude for years had apparently known where she was hiding for quite some time.
"Oh. About that, heheh..." Eggman laughed nervously. "Your psychic friend is guiding the plane herself using her... psychic... stuff. And I'm just sitting back in the pilot's seat, not even paying attention to where we're going... so don't worry! I still don't know how to get here!"
"That is an obvious lie," Sera said calmly. "It has already been established that you are an abysmal liar. You might as well confess."
"Why don't you tell her, then? We've talked about this before..." It was clear that Eggman was avoiding direct contact with the subject as best as he could.
"I'd rather hear it from you, Eggman," Astra demanded, standing up in the plane rebelliously. "How long have you known?"
"Sit down, please!" Eggman protested. "We're still landing... if we touch down while you're still standing..."
"Answer me." She crossed her arms, with no intention of moving.
"He can see her...?" Hail whispered to Beats, who shrugged.
'This is a really strange way to threaten Eggman...' Blah thought, knowing Sera could hear. 'She's not even putting herself that much in danger...'
"Ok, fine! There's been a tracking chip in your suit ever since you got it, I could follow you anywhere you went! Now sit!"
"So why haven't you, then?" Astra remained standing, asking the question that was on everyone else's mind at that point.
Eggman remained silent as he brought the plane down. It landed on the ground, and Astra stumbled a bit, but was otherwise fine. As the plane came to a stop, nobody said a word.
A few seconds after the engines were cut, Eggman spoke. "You think such a hollow threat is going to work on me?" His voice was dark, much more serious than his usual shrewd style. "Get out of the vehicle. I've seen enough of you."
"I'm not leaving until you tell me." Astra did not falter. By this point, she could tell that even her hollow threats had some weight to them from Eggman's point of view, and she had to find out why. "It doesn't make sense. You've had many opportunities to chase me down and recover the parts I've stolen. So, why wouldn't you?"
The air was dead silent for what seemed like minutes. Finally, the door to the cockpit opened. Eggman was standing there, his face riddled with melancholy.
"Because I want to see her too."
There was a pause as the scene began to sink in for everyone present.
"It all started 17 years ago..." the doctor began, everyone listening on the edges of their seats. "It was a simpler time, before I even had the idea of taking over the world, believe it or not. My dream was to become the greatest scientist the world had ever known. I wanted to change the world. I had been studying all kinds of science, from robotics to chemistry to astronomy. I had taken an interest in the latter that week. While stargazing one particular night, I spotted what looked like a comet heading straight for Earth at an alarming speed. I panicked, unable to do much but watch as the object fell ever closer...
"But as it neared, I realized that it was not a comet at all. It was a spaceship! Oh, how excited I was at the thought of being the first to communicate with an alien species! I hustled over to the landing site with notebook and camera in tow, and my heart quickened as the doors opened to reveal a silhouette against the bright light from inside. I cleared my throat and gave the best impression I could as the figure stepped down from the craft. 'My name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and on behalf of the whole of planet Earth, I...'
"I stopped, frozen at the sight of the visitor illuminated by the light of the spacecraft. There, standing before me, was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Her smooth, ice-blonde hair shimmered with the light of the galaxy, and her grand, aquamarine dress flowed in the night breeze. She was no alien, but she was clearly out of this world. As I kneeled in front of her, gaping at her majesty, she looked down at me and giggled. 'Go on,' she said playfully, in a voice that could melt the stars. 'On behalf of the whole of planet Earth, you...?'
"I regained my concentration as best as I could and continued with a slight stutter. 'I-I w-welcome you to our humble p-p-planet.' She giggled again. She was certainly toying with me, but not in a condescending way. She was merely having fun, as though she had had this conversation before.
"'Rise, Sir Noble Robotnik,' she suggested, and I lifted myself in tandem with her gesturing arm. 'Your charming welcome is much appreciated. Now... take me to your leader!'
"Startled, I took her seriously and began to give her directions to the White House, but she shook her head. 'I was only kidding,' she informed me with a laugh. 'I knew that,' I said back as I nervously joined in.
"I calmed down as she introduced herself and told me her story. Her name was Rosalina. Long ago, as a little girl, she had a strange alien encounter herself, with whom she left Earth on a mystical journey through the stars. Long story short, she became a sort of mother figure to them, and decided to stay with them forever. But, every 100 years, she would return to visit her home planet once again.
"It was a strange story, and I had so many questions, but she wanted to know about me first. I couldn't believe that she, a woman who had traveled through the depths of space, had taken such an interest in me! So I happily told her a little about myself as well. We opened up to each other in the span of a few hours. That night was the start of a wonderful relationship. We danced together in the moonlight, had picnics on the hill by daylight, and discussed our mutual love of the universe in between. We even went for a ride in her spaceship, and she introduced me to her alien friends, the Lumas. Those were... the greatest days of my life.
"Time passed, and before we knew it, I was holding a child in my arms. A gorgeous baby girl. She reminded me so much of her mother... I couldn't put it off any longer. I asked Rosalina to marry me, right then and there. Her eyes lit up as they gazed upon the ring I had picked out... I asked her to stay with me, here on Earth, and we could live out the rest of our days raising a family and enlightening the world with our vast collective knowledge of the cosmos.
"But... she turned away. She said that she already stayed here on Earth longer than she had planned, and that she already had the Lumas to take care of. She asked me to come with her on her travels, where she would show me the secrets of the universe. I thought about it for a long time. My dream was to use my scientific talents to change the world, and abandoning it for a life of space travel would be abandoning my dream... even if it was with the woman I loved. I was torn. In the moment, I made what I then considered the most logical decision - up until then, I had spent most of my life studying science and working to apply it for the good of humanity. I had only spent a year with Rosalina. So I went with the 'longer-term investment' and declined. It is a decision I regret to this day...
"However, she understood. She told me that our destinies were not meant to cross. Her place was among the stars, and mine was at the helm of science. Whether or not she truly meant that is still a mystery... but either way, I could tell that it pained her as much as it did me.
"Before she left on her 100-year journey, she entrusted our daughter to my care. I wasn't completely sure why she had given her to me... but she made me promise that I would raise her with the love and patience that she deserved. I accepted the task earnestly. We said our goodbyes, knowing that we would never see each other again, and she boarded her spaceship to return to the family that needed her.
"I returned to my studies, though I would soon come to realize that raising a daughter alone is no easy task, even without being preoccupied with so many ambitious scientific studies, as well as the memories and regret of my lost love. It was getting harder and harder to focus on my work, and money was tight and scarce. 'Can I really raise her in these conditions?' I asked myself. 'Can I fulfill my promise?' I had no choice but... to send young Astra into foster care.
"As I focused on furthering my research and skills, I could only watch you grow from a distance. I would occasionally receive odd jobs to develop this or that, and I would use the money to pay for your education anonymously. But I could never show my face to you after abandoning you like that. I had broken my promise to your mother... to you... all because of a stupid dream I had. A dream that never even came to fruition. My discoveries and my advancements were all overshadowed by other, bigger names in the scientific community. In a fit of desperation I came to the conclusion that perhaps if I were to conquer the world by force with my self-proclaimed superior intellect, I would find the courage to finally meet you again, so that we could rule the world together, and that you wouldn't see me as an utter failure of a father..."
After his long-winded speech, Dr. Robotnik finally broke down into tears. What stood near the pilot's seat was no longer a cold, insane villain, but a heartbroken man who only wanted what was best for his daughter in the end... They had hardly realized it, but everyone else in the plane was also starting to tear up.
Astra, on the other hand, had the blankest of expressions. Her eyes were closed. Blah couldn't tell if she was holding back tears, or deciding whether or not to believe Eggman's story.
And then Blah saw it. A tear escaped from beneath her eyelid.
It was as though a brick wall had shattered. The answers to the questions she had been asking, ever since she had the capacity to wonder, had been given. It didn't matter what the man in front of her had done over the past dozen or so years. He was her father, and as long as he still cared about her, that was all she needed to know. "Dad..." she uttered, and then paused, as if double-checking if it was ok to say that word. "Dad...!"
She was absolutely sure the second time, and she lunged at him, her arms barely circumnavigating his egg-shaped frame. Astonished, but grateful, he embraced her back, and the two shared a silent moment of acceptance.
"I don't think you're a failure, Dad..." she cried. "You did your best... and in the end, I was always the first thing on your mind. If that isn't the sign of a good father, I don't know what is..."
"Astra..." the bewildered Eggman sniffled, "You... you don't care that I became evil...?"
"Well, I didn't say that." Astra managed a chuckle. "You may have done some things that you can't take back, but as long as you realize your mistakes, and ask for forgiveness, you're no worse of a person."
"I... I can change!" Eggman declared. "I have no reason to be a villain anymore, now that I have you back... so..." He looked his daughter in the eyes. "Can you forgive me?"
She laughed, hugging him again. "I believe I can."
Hailstorm, Beats, Seraphina, and Blahsadfeguie could hardly believe their eyes and ears. In a matter of minutes, they had witnessed a monumental change in an infamously evil scientist.
But something still bugged Blah. Something from way back when he first saw Astra.
"Sorry to interrupt," he started, "but is Astra an only child, then?"
The two Robotniks stared at Sera, for lack of a face belonging to the speaker. "I would... assume so?" replied Eggman finally.
"So is it a coincidence that she and I look... or looked, I should say, so much alike?"
Their eyes drifted to the peaceful face of the deceased Blah. The fact that it was now feminine only strengthened the connection that Blah was pointing out. The similarities to Astra were remarkable, now that they thought about it.
"Strange..." Eggman scratched his head. "I only have one child. Of that, I'm positive."
"How old did you say you were, again?" Astra asked. "When you first came to this world, at least..."
"21 years," Blah responded.
"I'm 16." Astra bowed her head, trying to fit together a timeline. "If you're 5 years older than me, and a year before my birth was the first time my dad met my mom..."
"Your mom was my first love, I swear!" Eggman promised.
"But you remember your own parents, right Blah?" Hail queried. "You should already know if Eggman is your father..."
"Of course I..." He stopped. When Hail said 'parents', the first two people that came to mind were Swift and Silver Star, but that was from his life as Light Star. And although they had had him convinced of it, he knew now that they weren't his biological parents. He tried to think back to his life before entering this universe, but all he got was white noise. It was incredibly frustrating. "I... don't remember..." The thought hadn't even occurred to him until now. What was his life like before entering this world? And furthermore, how long had it been since he forgot? Were they among the memories Charge stole...?
"Well, since we ain't solving that anytime soon," Beats interrupted, "Can we get back on track before we see the moon?"
"Right." Astra made for the door. "I guess I should get going now..." She was reluctant to leave her father so soon after discovering who he really was, but they had a reality-bending game to play.
"Good luck, Astra," Dr. Eggman saw her off. "If you need me, I'll always be a phone call away."
Astra nodded and waved as she exited the vehicle. "Bye, Dad. Everyone."
The trip to Veggie Vegas was mostly silent. The group had run out of things to talk about for the time being, so Blah asked Eggman for a computer or something they could use to check up on Discord and the Elements of Harmony. He supplied a black and red netbook bearing his logo, and Sera logged onto Pesterchum. Immediately, she noticed that Twilight had made an account bearing her own name and attempted to contact it.
- myriadOracle [MO] began pestering twilightSparkle [TS] -
MO: Hello, Twilight. This is Seraphina. Blah and the others found me a while ago. It is a long story.
MO: I see you went through the trouble of creating an account.
MO: Twilight? Are you there?
TS: Yes! Sorry, I'm here.
TS: That's great news! You'll have to tell me what happened in a bit.
TS: Discord's proving to be a real handful...
MO: I can imagine. Is he causing too much trouble?
TS: Depends on what you mean by "too much."
TS: He hasn't tried to escape or anything, just biding his time and doing what he does.
TS: Some of us are better at alleviating his boredom than others, as you can probably guess.
MO: Hang in there. We have just dropped off Astra, so we will be a while longer.
TS: We'll try to manage. I think Pinkie Pie can keep him entertained, at least.
TS: How's Spike doing?
Sera hesitated. This was the moment that she, and everyone else, dreaded. But it was something that had to be said. Blah braced himself, merely glad that he wasn't doing the typing.
MO: I think now is an appropriate time to tell you the story.
TS: Huh? Why?
MO: On the way to Astra's residence, Blah and his friends encountered Bob again.
TS: Wasn't he the one that got banished to the moon?
MO: Correct. He returned, and sought revenge on Blah.
MO: I was with him. I had returned to a month before the present as an egg, and hatched in Charge's possession.
MO: Long story short, I was tricked into thinking that Blah abandoned me, and I became part of Bob's team.
MO: He challenged Blah and the others to a rematch. They lead Spike to safety, quite a distance from the battlefield.
TS: I'm not sure I like where this is going...
MO: During the battle, Blah was killed.
TS: WHAT?!
MO: I managed to rescue his soul and store it in my own brain. We had a long internal conversation where he convinced me that he did not abandon me on purpose.
TS: So... he's not dead?
MO: His body is dead, but his soul is alive, sharing space with mine in my mind.
TS: Good. You nearly made everypony panic...
TS: But what about Spike?
MO: When we looked for him after the battle, we could not find him.
TS: Oh no... did he run off somewhere?
MO: Probably not. We suspect that one of Blah's Hajike techniques sent him into the fourth dimension.
By then, Hail and Beats huddled next to Sera and were anxiously watching the conversation unfold. Twilight's lack of a response was unsettling.
"You could've worded that better..." complained Blah.
"I am merely telling it like it is," Sera defended.
"That's it, next time we have to chat with someone, you'll let me do the talking..."
"Do you want to take the floor right now?" Sera offered nonchalantly. "I can give you control."
"Shush! She's replying," Hail pointed out. "And replying... and replying..." His voice shrank away as more and more text piled up on the screen.
TS: HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN?
TS: I knew Hajike was a fickle practice, I should never have left Spike with you!
TS: I even briefly considered having him stay, but I let him go with you in the end.
TS: Because I trusted you!
TS: That was such a stupid decision on my part...
TS: I should've known this would happen...
TS: Now Spike's gone off to who knows where...
TS: And it's all my fault for thinking he'd be fine with you... a wielder of chaos...
Sera stared blankly at the screen, unsure how to keep from doing more damage.
"Just... let me have it," said Blah.
"Fine with me," Sera surrendered.
No sooner had she said that than the numbness vanished. Sera went limp for a split second, but snapped back to upright attention as Blah's instinct kicked in. He was now in control of Sera's body.
Blah immediately felt the effects of a mild headache, but all he cared about was talking to Twilight. He flexed his newly-granted hands and sat them in their familiar position over the keyboard, ready to try his best to console the unicorn.
MO: twilight, this is blah, please calm down
TS: How can I be calm at a time like this?!
MO: it was a complete accident
MO: brought about by sheer random chance
TS: And if I've learned anything from the past few hours, it's that randomness can't be trusted!
MO: spike was so far away from the fight that we were sure he wouldn't be affected by it
MO: but a stray disc must have flown in his direction and opened a rift underneath him
MO: there was nothing we, or you, could have done.
MO: and who knows, he might actually be somewhere safe and sound
MO: what we should be doing instead of pining over his disappearance is focusing on where (or dare I say when) he could be
TS: ...I guess you're right.
TS: We should try to stay optimistic about the situation.
TS: He could have just traveled forwards in time a few days, right onto my future self's back for all I know.
TS: ...am I correct in assuming that he could have moved anywhere in time and space?
MO: probably
MO: and considering the attack was made with the intention of moving through the rifts to useful locations
MO: (I used it to teleport across the battlefield and lay the smackdown on all of bob's pokemon at once, btw)
MO: I wouldn't doubt that he landed exactly where we would have wanted him
MO: you just have to believe in my abilities
MO: (and I don't mean to brag or anything but it was pretty sweet you should have seen it :L)
TS: That is true. Hajike is not always COMPLETE randomness, especially to those who've proven they can control it.
TS: Okay. I'll just have to trust you and hope that he'll turn up eventually.
MO: good, glad we can come to an agreement on that
MO: I think we're close to beats's place now, so I'll talk to you later
TS: Before you go, I want to ask you something.
MO: shoot
TS: Where did you learn to type? I'm barely familiar with a keyboard and my capitalization and punctuation is much better than yours.
TS: The least you can do when consoling a friend is to try to be serious about it.
TS: Just saying.
MO: what, this is how I always type
MO: I just never really bothered with proper english conventions I guess
MO: I mean the shift key and the comma/period is all the way over there and it's faster to just type in runons sometimes, you know?
MO: man, I had no idea you were such a grammar nazi, twilight :P
TS: A grammar what? What's a "nazi"?
MO: uh...
MO: nothing! just a silly word I made up, it means nothing at all, hahaha.
MO: please don't use it.
TS: Whatever you say...
TS: Oh, by the way, Pinkie says hi.
TS: Or, to be more accurate, "Hiiiiiiiiiiiii :D".
TS: She specifically told me to add the smily face. And all the I's.
MO: oh, hi pinkie!
MO: tell her I said hi back, and that I won't be much longer!
TS: Will do!
MO: anyway, peace out
TS: Bye!
- myriadOracle [MO] ceased pestering twilightSparkle [TS] -
Blah sat back in his seat, letting out a massive sigh of relief. He had convinced Twilight, and himself in the process, that Spike was probably ok.
"All right..." breathed Blah. "You can have your body back now, Sera."
"Actually, Blah," Sera replied, "It has been a while since I had a chance to meditate. Bob's constant training has been quite taxing on me mentally. If you do not mind, I think I will rest for a while. I trust that you will keep us out of trouble."
"But what if we need you?" he asked. "This body isn't physically strong, no offense, and I don't know how to do the mindy thing, so if there's another combat situation..."
"I will awaken and take control," she explained. "Abra are well known for their heightened awareness and sense of danger. Kadabra, doubly so. We will be fine."
"If you say so..." Blah sat forward, looking down at himself. He'd ideally only have it for a few days, but he figured it couldn't hurt to get familiar with his current body.
"We've arrived at Veggie Vegas," Eggman announced. "Coming in for a landing. You know, if you ask me, Beats could have stayed here and saved us the whole trip back..."
"What can I say?" Beats said with a shrug, "I had to make sure Astra would be okay."
The plane descended. Blah smiled softly; everything that he had worried about was beginning to work itself out. The only exception was the memory of his own past, but he wasn't about to put his own needs ahead of those of 8 whole universes. As long as nothing interrupted them again, Blah figured that everything should run smoothly from here on out.
Don't give me that look, I can't be the only one on the internet who ships it :L
...right?