Equestria's Corruption

Chapters

A Rude Awakening
Introductions
Gaining Info
Planning Ahead
Close Combat
Slowing Down
Magic 101
The All Seeing Eye
"There is evil everywhere,"
Breakthrough
Questions and Answers
The Master Plan
The Hard Truth
Detour
Plan B
Corruption Has Begun

A Rude Awakening

Voices swimming in his head. One his own and one belonging to.... a female? He slowly opened his eyes and saw he was in a library, but that wasn't possible because he hadn't built a library in his old house and he was still in his old house, wasn't he? ]I'm in my old house, I'm in my old house, he said to himself repeatedly, not wanting to realize what had happened last night.

It all came flooding back to him, his battle with Ocram. He knew he was going to lose but all he had to do was keep him occupied until day time when he would flee under the sun's bright light.

He hardly made it past midnight.

Beaten, battered and on death's doorstep, he knew he had to take desperate measures as Ocram charged the beam that would bear him to death's icy grasp. He did some quick thinking and came to this hypothesis: Magical items in his home-world Terraria couldn't be broken easily, his magic mirror that transported him home when he looked at it, being no exception. He deduced that if the mirror couldn't be broken by normal means, then how could Ocram's attack be any different?

That was his first of two mistakes

He held up the mirror as Ocram unleashed his beam and it met the mirror and sent its temperature to extreme levels of heat. Despite the powerful armor he was wearing at the time, holding the mirror was like holding a smaller version of the sun. The beam stopped and the mirror shed an unreal light that shone on Ocram. Ocram looked at it with extreme pleasure and then just...vanished. He was confused. What was in the mirror's reflection that made Ocram so happy? Curiosity got the better of him and he looked into the mirror.

That was his second mistake

Now he realized that whatever Ocram had done to the mirror had increased its power to an untold amount, an amount that could possibly have sent him to another planet, another dimension, hell, another GALAXY! But he couldn't worry about that now, he had more pressing matters.

As soon as he opened his eyes he knew he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His vision cleared and he thought he might have hit his head on the way into the mirror, but he wasn't hallucinating there, in front of him was a lavender pony with a horn sticking out of her forehead. The horn glowed a brilliant purple and a short length from his face was a large book that looked like it would hurt like hell coming down on his skull if he tried to move.

He tried to focus on the pony threatening to cave his face in and saw she was a soft shade of lavender with a darker shade for her mane. she had wings and, of course a horn and had an odd expression of anger, fear, and confusion mixed into one.

He wanted to move, but he knew that would guarantee an edge of a book to his brain so he simply said "Who are you?"

She followed up with a question of her own "Who are YOU?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me" he said.

"You are in my house you should tell me first" she replied.

He thought for a second "Oh this is your house?" he said "Nice place," hopefully she was a sucker for compliments.

"You're stalling," she said with a flat look.

Damn, just my luck...

He knew arguing with someone obviously smarter than him was a waste of time, no more beating around the bush.

"Oh alright, my name is Dennis." he said.

"Dennis?" she said, drawing out the 's' obviously waiting for a last name.

"That's it, just Dennis," he said. he wanted to get this over with, he wasn't completely refreshed and needed a rest more than anything.

She waited a few seconds, considering if he was lying or not. "Very well Dennis, my name is Twilight, Twilight

Sparkle," she said.

Dennis thought this was pretty odd name but didn't say anything as he wanted to get out of here ASAP.

Twilight floated the book back to its spot on the shelf but it was obvious that she was still ready to bash his skull in at a moments notice, should he make any threatening movements. He tried to get up and face-planted into the floorboards of the library. maybe he was less coordinated than he thought. He looked down and expected to find a hand.

He found a hoof.

Dennis' stomach almost flew out his mouth as he turned to find a tail and two back hoofs. He started to hyperventilate,No, no, no, no, no, no, The last thing he said before he passed out was, "I must be tripping on something,"

Introductions

(Twilight's POV)

She could only stare as the colt had a nervous meltdown and collapsed on her floor. She almost felt bad. The pony was hardly coordinated and could have had mental problems. She thought about it for a moment and realized that if he did have a mental condition it only made him more dangerous to her health.

The colt had an extremely bright blue coat with a jet-black mane and tail with a slightly subdued version of his coat color streaking through each. The style of his mane and tail were similar to Rainbow Dash's only a bit more roughed up.

How he had gotten into her library was beyond her, but it was obvious there was something different about him because, for one he had no cutie mark despite being almost a stallion.

At that moment Twilight's door opened and her 5 friends stepped in. They all stopped, looked at the unconscious pony then back at her. None of them moved or spoke. "Its a long story" she simply said.

After explaining what happened she looked for a spell to wake him up. She had a lot of questions to ask him. She found the spell and cast it, light flowing from her horn and into Dennis' head. Soon his eyes opened and before they could do anything he jumped to his hoofs and sped across the room.

Twilight had to think fast, though he might not be extremely coordinated or powerful, but there was a chance he knew spells and she couldn't take that chance.

"Whoa nelly!" Applejack cried out and immediately jumped to her hooves quicker than anyone else in the room.

"Listen buddy we don't want to hurt you, okay?" Rainbow Dash said giving a nervous glance to Twilight. Not because they couldn't take him, they could, quite easily in fact, but they didn't want to hurt him.

Dennis looked around a bit weighed his options and came to the same conclusion. He walked over to the others and almost fell over with exhaustion but managed to pick himself up and sat down. He weakly motioned too a saddlebag he had apparently brought with him. Fluttershy was about to give it to him when Twilight stopped her. she narrowed her eyes. "Check it first, take out any weapons," she said.

No more taking chances. they emptied out the saddlebag and found some glass bottles with strange liquid in them, a mirror, a boomerang, and a sword made out of gold. "Oh my, how did you get enough gold to make this?" Rarity said admiring the glittering blade. "I think the real question is why do you have one in the first place?" Said Rainbow Dash eyeing Dennis suspiciously. "Okay first things first, I am not from here," he said matching Rainbow's expression, well, eye to eye. "In my world there are monsters that without proper protection will make your insides become your outsides, which is why I have the boomerang and the sword, second-" he said pausing only to glance at each of them "- I have no idea who you ponies are, I have no malicious intentions against you, in short I don't care"

Before any of them could ask more questions Spike ran down the stairs clutching a letter.

"Twilight, Twilight, I have a important message from the princess!" he handed Twilight the letter. Twilight's eyes became as wide as dinner plates

"Oh no," she said fear in her voice. Then the last person she had expected to care spoke up

"What's wrong?" Dennis asked.

Twilight looked around to her friends. "Let him see it, cant do any harm, now can it?" Applejack asked. She handed it to him. His reaction was exactly like hers if not more worried. "I hope im wrong, I really, really, hope im wrong." Dennis said, more to himself to anypony else. "Im going with you." he said, matter-of-factly.

Rainbow Dash spoke up,

"No way!" she shouted, "We hardly even know you, how do we know your not an assassin or something?" she asked, eyes narrowed. Then, surprisingly, Fluttershy spoke up

"W-well I don't think it w-would hurt if he tagged along I-if he tried something we could always knock him o-out," she said glancing from pony to pony nervously. Twilight had to admit that Dennis was extremely out-numbered and out-matched, and weak. She also thought that he might have come to the same conclusion, any reasonable pony would have.

"Oh all right, fine you can come, but don't try anything funny pal I've got my eye on you," she warned. He simply nodded.

Gaining Info

Dennis' POV-----------------------------------------------------------

After the incident in Twilight's house Dennis knew he was on thin ice with her and her friends, and that trust could be thrown out the window with any wrong movement. Dennis had only one thing on his mind and that was that if the Corruption leaked into this world, these guys were screwed in about 12 ways.

He had been introduced, more or less to Twilight's friends and had gotten a pretty accurate read on all of them. Okay so we have the athlete, the one who is probably on a sugar high, the southern, the dress maker, the shy one, and the book smart one, he thought to himself.

The train ride to the capitol of Equestria was, surprisingly, far from weird as the 6 ponies talked about how things were and wondering what the princess' big emergency was, and Dennis kept himself occupied by finding out how to work his new pony body. After a while he knew he had a horn and, by watching the one he knew as Rarity, could levitate things with it.

When they got to the castle the guards frisked all of them and allowed them in and Dennis' jaw proceeded to drop as he saw the royal hall, A large room with huge stained glass windows on each side. In the back of the room, a huge throne with a large white pony sitting on it a grim expression on her face. Dennis assumed this was the Princess and, although never having royalty in his world, bowed like everypony else.

"Twilight I am glad you arrived," she said a slight smile on her face. "I trust you had an enjoyable journey?" she asked.

"Yes your highness," she said.

"Good, and who is this?" she asked nodding at Dennis. Twilight explained what had happened and why he had wanted to come with them. "Well he is welcome to see what we have acquired from this place," she simply said, nodding at a guard who left and came back with two items. Dennis looked at the items, a purple mushroom that smelled vile and a small block of stone, tinted purple with the small seams and cracks a horrible shade of lavender.

Dennis' stomach lurched into his throat.

"Well I have some good news and some bad news," he said, hoping he wasn't going to set a bad impression by vomiting on one of the 6 ponies.

"Well tell us good news first," the princess said, uncertainty on her face.

Dennis took a deep breath and said,

"Well this is definitely my Corruption so that's the bad news, only good news is that I know a way to-" He was interrupted

"Revert it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"No, how to at least make a small quarantine zone," he finished. "What you have to do is make a wooden floor a few feet underground and then make a wall outside the perimeter of the area you want to quarantine," he said. The princess simply nodded at him then turned to the guard who had brought in the vile mushroom and the Ebonstone.

"Go relay this information to all towns and cities close to the corrupt areas," she commanded and the guard galloped off. "Thank you for the information Dennis, you may leave," she said. Dennis nodded and walked out of the castle.

He sat on the steps outside, and thought hard about what to do next. I could grab my things and go check out how the corruption effects this world, Maybe there is something different. he thought, and decided that was the best course of action. he got up, and started walking down towards the capitol city's main streets, hoping he could get back to Twilight's house before she did.

Planning Ahead

Twilight's POV---------------------------------------------------

After Dennis left the hall Twilight turned to Princess Celestia.

"Twilight I would like to make this very clear," she said. Twilight gulped, she couldn't tell whether the princess was angry or not. Celestia continued, "You have every right to disagree or deny what I am about to propose, as do all of you," she said nodding to the rest of Twilight's friends.

"What is it you're saying" Twilight said, hesitantly.

"If it is all right with all of you I would like you to help Dennis in his attempt to stop the corruption and defeat Ocram," Twilight was surprised and said,

"Wait, Dennis never said anything about anypony named Ocram, or about stopping the Corruption..." she said trailing off. Celestia had an expression of guilt on her face.

"I hate having to 'read minds' but I had to make sure he was telling the truth and wasn't a threat to any of you," she said, but didn't stop there. "He has a good heart and good intentions, he is just guarded and, for some reason, makes himself off-putting in order to deny friends,"

"Why, though, it just don't make any sense," Applejack said frowning.

"That is something he needs to tell you, not me," the princess said. Twilight weighed her options. If she helped Dennis there was a better chance he could achieve his goal, and cleanse Equestria of the Corruption. But on the other hoof, she could be putting her friends in serious danger by agreeing to help him. Her discomfort must have shown on her face because the princess said "Why don't you sleep on it, Twilight, and send a message with Spike tomorrow," she said. Twilight agreed and left the castle, and was surprised to see Dennis was not there.

"Well that's funny," Pinkie Pie said, "Where did he go?"

"I don't know but I think I have a good idea," Twilight said darkly. "Listen you girls take the train back to Ponyville,"

"But, Twilight-" Rarity started but was interrupted by a flash of light, and Twilight was gone.

Twilight appeared in her house and saw Dennis taking inventory of his items, she could hear him muttering,

"Healing potions, check, Mana potions, check, golden sword, check," He hadn't heard her teleport into the main room, so she decided to have a little fun.

"And where do you think your going?" she asked, loudly.

"AHHH!" Dennis shouted and whirled around eyes wide. Twilight giggled

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," she said, and to her surprise Dennis broke his normally serious expression and smiled. "Hey Twilight, how did you get here so fast?" he asked.

"Magic," she said.

"Oh," He said "Well I am going to the Corruption to study it, see if there's some way to revert it in this world that I haven't figured out yet," he said.

"Don't you think that's a little risky, considering you have no idea where to start?" she asked.

Dennis' face fell, and his cheeks became tinted red.

"Oh yeah I guess there's that..." he said. Twilight laughed a bit.

"Well, listen why don't we wait for my friends to get back and we'll work from there, okay?" Dennis' face darkened with a bit of suspicion then lit up with a smile.

"Okay," he said.

Close Combat

Dennis' POV----------------------------------------------------

Dennis was walking down the streets of Ponyville. With a odd mixture of nervousness and excitement bubbling in his stomach. Today was the day he was going into the Corruption and, hopefully, get some information on how to revert it. He felt better than he had the last few days he was in Equestria. he looked at himself, smiling. Twilight had helped him by teaching him how to levitate items, and although it took him a while he was now able to maneuver his sword ease. He also had a special belt that wrapped around his flanks that could hold two health and mana potions, his sword and his boomerang for quick and easy access.

He arrived at the train station and met up with Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who were coming with him to help him research the Corruption. Twilight had wanted to go because she wanted to study the Corruption. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand... "Ha!" she laughed "You think I would miss a chance to go into a place more dangerous than the Everfree Forest?!" she said. "Okay, what part of dangerous, deadly, pants-wetting, horrifying evil, are you not getting?" Dennis asked. "What you think I cant handle it?" she asked, eyes narrowing. "Whatever," he said.

The train ride there was uneventful other than Dennis' short outbursts of information on the monsters of the Corruption. "Oh my goodness, Dennis will you give it a rest?" Twilight finally asked. "Hey, you have no idea how dangerous these things are!" he shouted."We can handle it, SHUT UP!" Rainbow Dash said. "Fine, but don't come crying to me when your vital organs get ruptured by a Corruptor," he said. Finally they arrived and when they stepped out all hell broke loose.

It was pure chaos, Eaters of souls flying everywhere, World Feeders burrowing and surfacing. The monsters were horrific. The Eater of Souls had a wide head, the body narrowing down until the tail. It had odd little antenna like things with a glowing green top on each of them all over it's body. it had one eye and a horrible mouth with two large rotten fangs. its skin was an ugly shade of brown, rotten in small patches. The World feeders were large worms with eyes running along its body and on its head. It also had two large fangs and two smaller ones inside of them. Dennis ran to join the fight, Unicorns sending shards of glass at the monsters, Pegasi diving and grabbing Eater of Souls and Earth Ponies bucking everything in sight.

"Dennis wait!" Twilight shouted, but it was too late. Dennis took his boomerang and sent it at a Eater of Souls, it hit caving the monster's skull in and killing it. Dennis turned and looked up in time to see a World Feeder making a arc in midair and falling towards him. He trotted backwards out of it's range and sent the sword in a thrust, and impaled the huge worm in one of it's eyes. He swung his sword again, making contact with an Eater of Souls and making a nice, clean cut through it, spraying him with its vile blood. He turned again, but this time too late as an Eater rammed into him and sent him flying backwards through a window. He stumbled to his hooves and grabbed his sword with his magic and used it as a throwing knife

"CHEW ON THIS!" He screamed and sent it flying at the Eater. The result was not pretty. He walked over to the remains of the Eater who had been hit right in the mouth with the sword, which was halfway through the monster vertically

"Boom... Headshot," he said with a dark edge to his voice he looked around and saw a sickening sight.

Ponies mangled, with holes through their bodies. That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was the ponies who were still alive. Some with only half of their bodies, some trying to hold their innards in. He looked for someone to help and his eyes rested on a white coated unicorn, with a spikey blue mane and tail with purple sunglasses. "Help..." the pony said. Dennis took out a bottle with pink liquid inside. "Here drink this," he said and levitated it to the mare's lips she took a small sip, and almost immediately her huge gashes on her body shrank to little cuts and scrapes, almost fatal wounds changed to something a foal could receive in a normal day of play. She slowly got to her hooves.

"How-" she began,

"Don't mention it, now get going RUN!" He yelled, and she quickly galloped off. The rest of the battle was a blur, Dennis alternating between boomerang and sword to kill the monsters. He was receiving almost as much damage as he put out, gashes, cuts and broken bones. Dennis was no weakling though, and knew how to deal with and almost ignore small pains. He was able to make the one bottle of healing potion last by taking extremely small sips decreasing large slashes and scrapes to small cuts and bruises, and broken bones to only cracked or bruised ones.

After what Dennis judged to be 4 hours the battle was over and he reunited with Twilight and Rainbow Dash who were both pretty messy. They had been supporting immensely during the fight, Rainbow Dash swooping in to rescue the wounded and Twilight sniping monsters from rooftops.

"Rarity would so crap right now," Rainbow Dash said with a grin, and Dennis had to agree. He was covered head to hoof in dirt, sweat, piss, and blood (his, pony, and monster's) and his mane and tail were in disarray. Dennis looked at both of them.

"I cant wait to go show her," Dennis said with a tired smile.

Slowing Down

Twilight's POV---------------------------------------------------------------------------

After their small war, (at least, that's how Rainbow Dash told it) Twilight had finally convinced Dennis to slow down a bit and meet her friends for real. He seemed to get along well enough with all of them, although it was a bit obvious that he and Rainbow Dash disliked each other a bit, though she didn't know why. Dennis and Rarity seemed okay, but she was pretty sure they were still sore over the incident of when Dennis walked into her boutique covered in blood, sweat, and, dirt, so they tried to keep away from each other when possible. As for herself? Twilight thought he was okay, though she didn't like his impulsiveness and his refusal to learn anything except combat spells.

Twilight had thought it over and allowed Dennis to stay at her place to sleep, as she had an extra bed. Surprisingly, it was Dennis who was the most objective ("Hey I will sleep on the floor if I have too, I've slept on worse...") But Twilight said it was okay, on one condition. If she let him stay there he would use all of his spare time to study Equestria so he wouldn't be completely lost if he needed to travel. Dennis was a bit rejecting of the idea at first but he soon came to his senses and agreed. Twilight also had her own reasons for letting him stay there. At one point he had slipped up and mentioned a friend back on his home world. When Applejack questioned who it was Dennis quickly changed the subject, commenting on how cool it was that pegusi controlled the weather.

It was hard to get a straight answer out of Dennis, Twilight had tried once and it didn't end well.

"So who is the friend you were talking about?" she asked, hoping she sounded off-hand

"A friend," Dennis said. "What was his name?" she asked. Dennis didn't answer this time. "You could talk about it," she said, looking at him.

"Nothing to talk about," he grunted, annoyance in his voice.

"Please?" she asked.

"No!" he yelled suddenly, making her jump. "I said I don't want to talk about it!" he yelled and stormed up the stairs and went to bed. The next morning he apologized and acted like nothing had happened afterwards.

That same day Dennis was out doing whatever it was he did, and Twilight was with her friends at Sugar Cube Corner.

"So the Princess Celestia is really thinking about evacuating all of Canterlot?" Rarity said, amazed at Twilight's newest piece of news from Celestia.

"Yes the Corruption is spreading that fast, and she's already considering action for Ponyville!" she exclaimed. Twilight was extremely nervous, despite Dennis' quarantine plan.

"Those ugly monsters will be flying around even more if the Corruption does take over, we would need some sort of guard or army," Rarity said darkly.

"Speaking of monsters, here comes Dennis!" Rainbow Dash said with a grin. Dennis was galloping up, a look of panic on his face.

"I heard that Rainbow, you bi-" Dennis was interrupted,

"What in tarnation is that darn thing?!" Applejack yelled pointing at something Dennis was levitating. It was a chunk of rotten flesh, with some vile powder caked on top.

"Worm food, somepony made it at a demon altar, this is bad," he said grimly.

"Why do you have it?" Rarity asked, repulsed.

"I took it from them, this summons the Eater of Worlds, a strong monster from my world," Dennis said.

"So..." Rainbow Dash said, giving Dennis a flat look.

"So if ponies are making these, and accidently summon this thing, an entire city could be leveled in a matter of seconds!" he yelled.

"Well do you know how to kill this Eater mac thingy?" Pinkie Pie asked. Dennis' face lit up with embarrassment. "I'll take that as a no then?" The pink pony said, frowning. Dennis' answer surprised them.

"Actually I do, I've done it...twice," he added, looking as if he would rather eat the worm food than admit it. "Luckily you have to be in a corrupt area when you use it so I think we're safe for now," he said. Twilight relaxed a bit but was still wary of the way Dennis' face was uncertain when he said it.

"So there is a possibility that many ponies have these, are stupid enough to use them, and we may have to fight one of these things..." Twilight said, trailing off, not feeling hungry.

"All in a day for me," Dennis said a nervous grin on his face.

The scary part was, Twilight knew Dennis wasn't joking.

Magic 101

Dennis' POV-----------------------------------------------------------

After the incident with the Worm Food, Dennis was on edge. He wanted to do something helpful, even though Twilight said that the Corruption samples would be enough for now. Dennis was constantly wandering around Ponyville looking for something to do. He had been looking for a job, although he knew that usually your Cutie Mark determined your job, but since he was a blank-flank he was generally browsing around. He couldn't help Fluttershy because her animals, for some reason didn't like him, He couldn't bake, so helping Pinkie was out, He couldn't fly so helping Rainbow Dash with weather was out of the question, Back on Terraria he could make Silk out of Cobwebs on a Loom, but that was about it when it came to clothing or fashion, (Armor being the only thing he wore outside if his regular outfit.) Twilight already had an assistant, so that left Applejack.

Applejack was skeptical when he asked if he could help out on the farm, but he assured her that a year of combat in Terraria was enough to qualify. It was hard work but it did leave him time to think on some of the things that had bothered him. For one thing, how was he going to stop the corruption without Purification Powder? He was sure that this world might have a solution, but after hours of studying he was having doubts. The Magic Mirror was another thing he was wondering about. He wasn't as smart as the Mechanic or the Goblin Outcast from his world, but since the mirror on its own sent him back home on his world, he guessed it would make sense that giving it an insane amount of power could, in theory, send him way farther... as in dimensions, further.

"Hey, Dennis you alright?" Applejack asked tapping him on the shoulder.

"Yea I'm fine," he said, snapping out of his small trance. He would go into these trances a lot when he had something in his mind, and it annoyed the crap out of Garrett back home. He cringed at the thought of Garrett and pushed it out of his mind.

"Yeah..." Applejack said eyeing him nervously. "Well anyways if y'all want to go back to Twilight's place you can, I can handle things 'round here," she said, bucking a tree. Dennis was staying at Twilight's house on an extra bed in the main library room. While he didn't want to be a burden, he also didn't have anywhere safe to stay and couldn't make a cloud hut because he wasn't a Pegasus.

He had water and food in the saddle bag that was, he assumed, his inventory from Terraria. Twilight was very interested in the things he had in there. He showed her the oddly edible and dangerously flammable Gel that was attained from Slimes. Fluttershy was interested in the plant seeds like Blinkroot and Daybloom. Rainbow Dash was quite amazed by the Cloud in a Bottle, though she wouldn't show it, "Big deal, I could put a cloud in a bottle!" she said rolling her eyes. "Yes but would it do, this?" he asked then jumped and then a magic cloud formed under him, giving him an extra boost! One thing Twilight was almost obsessed over were the Demon Scythe and Water Bolt spell tomes he had brought with him, which, with the addition of his magic horn, could be cast without needing the books. (Something Dennis had learned the hard way by accidently shearing off 3 inches of his tail with Demon Scythe.)

Despite his combat spells and large supply of healing items, he was still worried of the prospect of facing of with the Eater of Worlds, or even the Eye of Cthulhu.

"Well as long as we don't have to face off against one of the boss monsters, i'm happy," he said. Rainbow Dash flew in, almost taking Dennis' head off in the process.

"You guys we have a big problem!" she yelled at both of them,

"Woah, hold up there sugarcube what's goin' on?" she asked, a look of worry on her face.

"Big eye thing, flying around, KILLING PONIES!" She gasped, looking as if she flew here top-speed. Applejack looked at Dennis.

"Eye of Cthulhu, somepony must have summoned it overnight and it went on a rampage through corrupt areas," Dennis said, looking as if he was about to vomit. "That would explain why noponys noticed it until now," he said, a look of fear on his face. They were unprepared.

He quickly wiped the fearful expression off his face, "Come on lets go meet the others, I know how to beat this guy!" he yelled, already galloping full speed towards Twilight's house.

The All Seeing Eye

Twilight's POV------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was pacing in her library with Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy, waiting for Applejack and the others to arrive.

"Has this thing really killed over fifty ponies so far?" Rarity asked, amazed and repulsed.

"Fifty and counting, excluding guards sent to stop it," Twilight said, her voice shaking with fear. Suddenly the door burst open, Dennis rushing in, Applejack and Rainbow Dash close behind, and everything exploded into confusion. As the door opened a flash of bright light engulfed the room and Princess Celestia was hovering in the air, a look of anger, fear, and determination on her face.

"Who Summoned It?" Celestia asked.

" I don't know who would be stupid enough to try," Dennis said. Twilight had to admit, while Dennis was impulsive, and could be downright stupid at times, he was extremely brave. Alot of other ponies would have quailed under the look that Celestia had on, but he acted as if it wasn't there at all.

"Girls grab your elements and head to the Everfree Forest, thats where the monster is rampaging," she commanded. Each element was given to their respective bearer and they headed off.

"Im going too," Dennis said and grabbed his utility belt with his magic and put it on. He ran after them.

Twilight was extremely nervous. She didn't know what to expect or what it could do. Dennis must have noticed because he said "Don't worry, the Eye of Cthulhu isn't really that tough," But Twilight could see the fear in his eyes, even if it was faint. They reached the Everfree forest and arrived at a small clearing.

Twilight felt an evil presence watching her...

A twig snapped.

"Everypony scatter!" Dennis yelled. Twilight moved just in time as a large object barreled through the trees and roared.

The eye had small trails of flesh behind it, flying around like some of Pinkie's party streamers. The eye was bloodshot with a large blue iris and a black pupil. In short, it was really ugly. Dennis unsheathed his sword and rushed the monster; The eye's pupil enlarged as a smaller version of it flew out. Dennis sliced it in half and it sprayed him with blood. "Well what are you guys waiting for, an invitation?" Dennis asked as he dodged the eye's charges. Twilight used her wings to fly up in the air, and released a beam of energy that hit the monster and diverted its attention to Twilight. It charged and Twilight dodged and led it to a rocketing Rainbow Dash who kicked it right it's pupil.

"Did you see that, ugly?" She gloated, "That was somepony awesome kicking you right in your face!" She continued.

"Rainbow move before it-" but Dennis never got to finish his sentence as the eye charged at her and hit her, sending Rainbow Dash flying at the ground. She hit with a sickening crack and moaned in pain. Twilight fired three consecutive blasts at the monster, and all three hit. Twilight could see Dennis concentrating hard and saw him fire five spinning purple curved blades at the monster they all hit and the eye charged at Dennis and smashed into him like a freight train, sending him crashing through a tree. Twilight looked to see Rarity with four large and sharp gems hovering around her.

"Take this you uncouth beast!" she shouted and sent them rocketing towards the Eye of Cthulhu. This time only 2 hit their mark, lodged deep into the large eye's body. Applejack was circling it and taking out the small minions it spawned, bucking each and turning her hind legs a brilliant shade of red.

"Pinkie, distract it!" Dennis said, and Pinkie Pie pulled, from what seemed out of nowhere, her party cannon and fired it, sending a colorful assortment of streamers into the air.

The Eye of Cthulhu looked at her for a moment

It was all they needed.

Twilight unleashed another beam of energy and Dennis jumped and hooked onto the beast with his sword and slid down, making a horrible squelching noise as he slid. Dennis fell to the ground covered in blood, but grinning all the same. His face lit up with a happy smile that said they won but then turned to an expression of absolute horror. "Second stage..." he said. Twilight grasped it faster than anypony else.

A huge roar sounded and the monster charged Dennis and Twilight. The sound of hind legs snapping sounded as Twilight and Dennis were sent flying. Pain instantly wracked Twilight as she saw that both hers and Dennis' hind legs were bent at odd angles, jagged bone poking through their flesh. Dennis was still trying to fight as he sent glowing spheres of water towards the monster. The Eye of Cthulhu had changed, it had shed it's iris and in its place was a huge mouth with large uneven teeth that were stained with blood. It charged faster and was more powerful than before. "Its stronger but cant summon anymore of the small eyes and has a lower defense!" he yelled desperately trying to give her friends an advantage. "Twilight, they cant defeat them on their own," He said through gritted teeth. "I don't know what the Elements of Harmony are, but you have to try to use them," he said, levitating a bottle full of pink liquid towards her. "Drink this," he said, almost seconds away from passing out from pain. Twilight took a sip from the bottle. It was sweet and tasty, like a liquid sugar, and filled her with a warm feeling. She felt her wounds closing and her hind legs were starting to heal, the pain ebbing away, and the bone slowly reforming, the flesh scabbing and healing in a matter of seconds. Twilight got up. "Girls we have to use the Elements!" she yelled. Twilight and her friends assembled and Twilight immediately felt the power of the Elements seep through her. The necklaces on her friends were glowing and each emitting an image of their Cutie Marks from the gems. A rainbow slowly snaked its way around Twilight and her friends and finally united with the gem In Twilight's tiara. The tiara radiated with energy and Twilight's eyes became a bright white color. A rainbow erupted out of Twilight's element and hit the eye spot on, engulfing it in a rainbow of pure energy.

It wasn't working.

"Not weak enough!" Twilight had just barely heard what Dennis had said over the blood pounding in her ears. Dennis had drank some potion too and had gotten up and was entranced by the Element's display of power. He levitated his sword and did something any rational pony never would have dreamed of.

He charged.

"There is evil everywhere,"

Dennis' POV------------------------------------------------------------

Dennis had done a lot of stupid things in his lifetime. He had once tried to drink a Mana Potion when his mana pool was full, (An incident that had left him bouncing of the walls with energy, and afterwards left him crashed out on his bed for a full week.) he had also tried to see what would happen if you mixed Purification Powder with Vile Powder, effectively blowing a good half of his room up and left the Nurse sewing his left leg back on after, (though the Demolitionist and Arms Dealer were quite proud of him at making Terraria's first explosion powder.)

But he admitted this was downright the most stupid thing he had ever done, after attaching a Star Cannon to his arm. He had charged the eye, hoping that he could weaken it enough for the Elements of Harmony to take effect. Thinking over it now there were so many unknown variables, he was actually wondering if he was a bit insane. He let loose a huge roar and charged, and buried his sword in it's side, then twisted. He was covered head to hoof in blood, his, the eyes, and Twilights.

The bright colors of the rainbow blinded him and hurt his eyes, but to be honest he could bear it because of the great sensations running wild throughout his mind and body. He was, for once in a long time, happy. The absolute depressing and evil nature of the Corruption had lasting effects over someone if they stayed too long in the Corruption. Dennis was unfortunate enough to feel firsthand the Corruptions evil power. the Corruption could drive you too insanity with enough time and un-interrupted work. He had heard of certain heroes who had wandered into the Corruption and came out crazy, rambling, horrible grins plastered on their face. Dennis hadn't been exposed for that long, but afterwards... It was like he could never feel happiness. Sure he could feel pride, and victory, but it felt like there was always something keeping him from feeling joy. He had thought that maybe spending time in the Hallow, Corruption's opposite could fix it but he quickly found out that, despite its childish nature with its brilliant rainbow always in the background, the Hallow was only a more visually appealing Corruption, an unnatural infection.

Now with the Element's blast showering him in pure good magic, that feeling was broken. The eye roared again and slowly dissolved into thin air. One last roar and it was gone. He looked at the six levitating mares and saw the gems slowly dim and the rainbow fade. The mares landed softly on the ground and opened their eyes to see only a bloodstained colt with an equally bloodstained sword levitated in front of him. Dennis gave them a smile, not the small grin that usually expressed amusement, but a large teeth showing smile that was probably Pinkie Pie approved. They all smiled back, though tired but showing equal happiness that they had beaten the monster. Dennis looked at the drops that had appeared when the monster was killed. Silver and normal grass seeds. Dennis gaped at them. That made no sense!

Dennis had killed enough of these huge abominations to know they dropped only Demonite ore, and Corrupt seeds. His thoughts were interrupted by a huge booming laughter and a huge voice shouting

"OCRAM HAS AWOKEN!" Dennis suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

"Dennis who is Ocram!?" Twilight shouted.

"Get out of here, NOW!" He yelled at them. They all ran back in the direction of Ponyville. "Where are you, you ugly, no good-" A huge explosion sent him backwards and smashing him into the ground.

"I'm right here," Ocram said, and Dennis had to fight the urge to give up, to beg for mercy and plead for life. Ocram's voice was horrible, a mixture of hundreds of different voices, both male and female, creating a symphony of words, each dripping malice. Dennis got to his hooves and ran at Ocram, or rather his voice, screaming a stream of swears and insults. Ocram quickly materialized and sent a wave of telekinetic power at Dennis, blowing him off course and hitting a tree with a horrible crunch. Ocram was a huge, dark purple head-like thing with three huge claws on each side of it's ugly head. It's eyes were wide and purple, the pupils extremely tiny, giving it an insane type expression. It's mouth was large and filled with uneven teeth, two large ones poking out from the bottom. It had no scalp only a large, pulsating, green brain with a 'forehead' coming from the middle of the face and wrapping around, a small strip on the top holding the brain in like a belt.

Dennis had to keep him distracted, if not to save his hide, then to at least give Twilight time to reach the princess.

"Why are you doing this to this world Ocram?" he asked through gritted teeth. "Its not enough you had to make MY life miserable?" he said trying to at least get up.

"Oh wow, actually trying civil conversation, I'm impressed," he said in his horrible way.

"Shut it Ocram, we both know there is nothing civil about you!" he yelled in rage.

"All right then," he said. "The reason is simply because I don't want to deal with you stupid heroes trying to stop me, you being the most annoying of them all!" he said, slight amusement in his voice.

"Well being annoying is something I take pride in," Dennis said, his slight grin once again adorning his face.

"I can tell, and let me show you what I take pride in!" Ocram yelled and let loose a red beam of energy, that sliced through one of his hind leg. Dennis screamed in horrible pain as he tried desperately to clench the bloody stump that was once his leg. "Now that you cant run away..." He said chuckling. Dennis had felt worse pains in his lifetime, and for better or worse the beam was heated, cauterizing the wound instantly. "There is evil everywhere, even in little Equestria," he said, "Now simply trying to charge in and just take over as some ponies have tried would be suicide, so I decided to let Corruption take it's course and weaken Equestria, THEN charge in," he said, glancing at Dennis with contempt. "Do you not see the brilliance of my plan?" He asked, not expecting to get an answer.

"No but then again I'm not fluent in 'evil asshole' so..." Dennis said.

"I'm letting nature do all the hard work for me!" Ocram said, ignoring Dennis' comment. "But since you cant help poking you nose in where it doesn't belong, I'm afraid ill have to kill you," Ocram said, getting ready to fire a beam that would likely turn Dennis into a pile of charred flesh. "Oh and by the way, I would like to tell you how horrible you are in keeping friends, I mean first you doom one to death by fire in an attempt to summon a monster," Ocram said, laughing. "And now you have doomed the friends you have here to death from either me or the Corruption, whichever comes first," He said. Dennis braced himself for a pain that never came. He opened his eyes, which were shut tight, to see Twilight and her friends and Princess Celestia, who was staring at Dennis. Dennis was staring back and tried to come up with a witty one-liner.

He instead passed out from pain.

Breakthrough

Twilight's POV---------------------------------------------

Twilight had about 3 different questions running through her head as she looked at the now conscious Dennis who, despite having one les leg than he should have, had a bored almost lax look on his face. She didn't know which one to ask first so she just opened and closed her mouth over and over again. Dennis looked at Applejack and asked,

"Does she usually do this?"

Twilight found her voice and asked,

"What was that, are you okay, and do you know how much I will hurt you if your answer to the first question is 'I don't know',"

"Well to answer your questions, that was Ocram, what do you think, and I don't know and don't want to find out," he said.

Twilight was with her friends and Princess Celestia at the hospital in Ponyville, despite Dennis' claim that he was fine. He was being treated for certain gashes and bone fractures and his cauterized hind leg. The rest of them had gotten away with lesser wounds, Rainbow Dash's being the most serious, which was a fractured wing bone. Twilight noticed Applejack couldn't help stare at the ugly red stump that used to be his leg.

"Jeez that Ocram really did a number an ya,"

Dennis looked down at the wound and laughed,

"That, oh that's just a scratch, I've had worse," he levitated his saddle bag over to him and sifted through it a look of confusion on his face. "Hey when did I get all this silver?" he asked, as casually as 'hey when did I get this mail?'

"It came from when we defeated that giant eye guy, why did he drop all that silver anyways, and why did he have a giant mouth, that's crazy eyes don't have mouths 'cause they don't eat, or maybe they do in your world, in that case what do they eat, do the-" Pinkie Pie was cut short by Dennis putting his hoof up, looking like he was deep in thought.

"That makes no sense, the Eye of Cthulhu doesn't drop silver it drops demonite ore," he said

"Ohhh demonite ore sounds cool, does it come from demons?" Pinkie asked bouncing up and down.

Dennis ignored the question and talked, mostly to himself.

"All the times before it dropped demonite, why only now would it drop silver..." he took the remaining amount of potion from the bottle he had been using before and chugged it all down.

"Thirsty are you?" Rarity said one eyebrow raised. Princess Celestia, who had been silent the entire made a slightly audible gasp and everyone else did too when they saw what was happening. Dennis looked with a grin as his leg slowly reformed. The scab peeled off revealing shiny flesh. A bone poked out and grew slowly making the shape of a hind leg bone. the flesh grew as well encasing the bone in a tomb of muscle and flesh and skin slowly followed, wrapping snugly around his leg.

"Ahhh you would not believe, how much that hurt!" he said a small smile on his face.

"Gross," Rainbow Dash replied.

"How did you do that?" Celestia asked, a look of complete awe on her face.

"To be honest, I have no idea..." he said trailing off.

After he healed himself Twilight and the others went down to the lobby with him to check out, all the nurses and doctors staring at the colt who only minutes before had only three legs and now had four. they checked him out and when they asked for pay, he reached into his saddle bag and handed the mare behind the counter a large chunk of silver, all while keeping a straight face and left.

As soon as they walked out the door Dennis, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie burst out laughing and continued the entire way home. Back at the library Celestia questioned Dennis and while he was answering to the best of his ability his constant zoning out was wearing Celestia's nerves thin. When Dennis started asking what the question was again she decided that it was enough for one night, as the white alicorn looked just about ready to fry Dennis, and Rainbow Dash's and Pinkie's horribly muffled laughter was not helping at all.

One by one they and Twilight put the Elements of Harmony back into their display case. Dennis was still thinking hard and when he kept looking at the elements and his bag, Twilight asked him exactly what he was thinking. He didn't reply only taking a purple piece of stone that Twilight knew as ebonstone out of his pack and walked over to the Elements of Harmony. "Dennis what are you doing?" Twilight asked nervously. Dennis put the ebonstone as close to the elements as he could without moving the glass. the jewels encrusted into the necklaces and the tiara glowed brighter and brighter every second. "Dennis what do you think your doing!?" she yelled. and the elements unleashed a flash of light that made Twilight close her eyes.

When she opened them, to her surprise, Dennis was not a black mark on the floor and he was not holding a piece of ebonstone, but rather a piece of normal stone, no trace of Corruption in it.

"Oh, my, Celestia..." Twilight said, her jaw hanging.

"The elements are able to purify Corruption, I totally called it!" Dennis yelled a huge smile on his face

"How did-" she asked not able to finish the sentence.

"When you hit the Eye of Cthulhu with the Elements of Harmony, it purified the demonite normally dropped and turned it into silver!" he exclaimed, now jumping up and down. "This is it, the secret to cleansing your world!" he yelled.

"Oh my gosh, we need to send a letter to the princess, this is a breakthrough!" Twilight exclaimed a huge smile on her face as well. Dennis raised his hoof, and Twilight hesitated only a second before giving him a high five and franticly grabbing ink, a quill, and parchment. Twilight thought for a moment and began writing, "Dear Princess Celestia, Dennis and I have discovered a breakthrough..."

Questions and Answers

Dennis' POV------------------------------------

Dennis was still riding high on his breakthrough and defeat of the Eye of Cthulhu. and it seemed the rest of the main 6 were too. Dennis had wanted to personally tell them the same night, but Twilight had pointed out that most likely all of them were asleep and that it could wait until the next day. The next day Dennis woke up and rummaged through his saddle bag until he found his usual breakfast; a Bottled Water and some Mushroom Stew.

He was staying at Twilight's house as he did not have a job and by extension, no house of his own. There was always something weird about his pack, or in this case his saddlebag. Anything put inside would shrink down to no larger than your average bar of soap, something Twilight found out when he pulled out his bed. At first they thought he was making some kind of joke and laughed but stopped when he set the miniature model of his wood bed down on the floor and it grew to a full size bed, just his size, and when he pulled his saddlebag over a corner, it shrank down again and fit easily inside his bag, along with his sword.

He did not want to be a burden in any way and only ate what was inside his bag, which was his water and mushroom stew. Twilight came down a few minutes after and looked at what he was eating.

"Don't you ever get tired of that?" she asked, fixing herself a sandwich.

"Not really, its good stew," he simply replied, finishing the last of his stew and putting the bowl back into the bag. Twilight looked at him again and gasped. "What, did the potion backfire, do I have an extra horn or something?" he asked, half joking but half genuinely worried as he had not looked at himself prior and was so tired, probably couldn't tell the difference if he DID have an extra horn.

"No, you got your cutie mark though!" she exclaimed, a small smile on her face.

"My what?" he asked, looking at his flanks. Indeed he did have a cutie mark, It was a picture of a Colbat Shield with a golden sword going vertically through the middle. "Cool but what the heck is a cutie mark?" he asked.

"Its supposed to tell you what your special talent is," Twilight explained. "Hey listen Dennis I want to ask you some questions, but I want the rest of my friends here so you don't have to answer the same questions again okay?" she asked. Dennis contemplated this for a few seconds. He really didn't want to bring up bad memories, but on the other hand these mares saved his life, the least he could do is be honest with them.

"Alright, but you need to answer my question first, how and why did you save me so fast?" He asked.

"Well when we got out of the Everfree forest I sent a letter to the princess. She immediately came to where we were and got us to where you were, good thing you kept Ocram occupied or else we might have been too late," she said. "As for why, well you were the only one who knew enough about the Corruption to help us, and plus we couldn't just let you die out there!" she exclaimed.

"Oh," Dennis said lamely. After all of Twilight's friends showed up and had a seat, Dennis cleared his throat.

"Okay then fire away," he said. Twilight spoke up first.

"How did you get here?" she asked. Good. an easy question.

"Well this is only my theory, but what I think happened is my Magic Mirror got supercharged. My mirror is supposed to send me back to where my home is whenever I look into it, so by theory increasing it's power could increase it's range from my house to even another dimension or planet," he said. Applejack asked next,

"We all heard him say somethin' about 'heroes' what was that all about?" Okay. Harder but still okay to answer.

"Heroes are people in my world who fight and kill monsters for coins, the currency in our world. They also cleanse Corruption and accompany less capable fighters in caves while exploring," he said, almost sounding like a dictionary.

"Y-you kill m-monsters?" Fluttershy squeaked a look of worry and fear in her eyes. Dennis sighed, another even harder still question.

"I do it to keep other people safe, I would never hurt an innocent living being," he said, and Fluttershy seemed to relax some.

"Who is 'the Guide' you mentioned him once or twice," Twilight asked. Wary of Dennis' last outburst when she asked. Dennis wanted to run out of the tree library and hide, but he steeled himself as he prepared and answer.

"The Guide, or as he was known Garrett was my friend and mentor back in Terraria," he started, taking a sip of his water then continuing. "He knew a lot about the world of Terraria and it's creatures, and you could always count on him to help you when you were stuck. He was my best friend, and the only one I had," he said looking down at the floor.

"Y'all are talkin' like he's, well..." Applejack said, not daring to finish the sentence. Dennis sighed once more and went on.

"When most ponies say they've been through hell and back, they mean it as an expression, I don't," he said, completely serious. "Did deep enough and you'll find a land called the Underworld, or, as heroes refer to it, Hell," Dennis paused to make sure everypony was following this and continued. "Long story short, there are Demons who carry voodoo dolls of the guide and if one should fall in lava, the Wall of Flesh is awakened, a powerful monster. I don't know how this happens I don't know why this happens, all I know is when I shot that Demon, I killed my best friend," he said, feeling tears well up in his eyes. After he got back from killing the Wall of Flesh, all he found was Garrett's charred body. He never spoke of it again and was, really never the same after. Nopony responded for a few seconds until Fluttershy finally spoke up,

"Im so sorry," was all she said. Dennis was always emotional during any thought of Garrett and anger flared through his body

"Don't pity me," he spat venom in his voice, "I killed my friend," Fluttershy took a confused expression on her face before replacing it with hurt.

"hey, she was just trying to help!" Rainbow Dash yelled, anger in her eyes.

"Rainbow," Applejack started, but Dennis interrupted her,

"No, Applejack let her finish," he said standing up, fire in his eyes, body language just begging her to say something. Rainbow Dash stood up as well. "Maybe you should just leave, now that we know the secret to reverting the Corruption we don't need you, and I'm not going to let some bully be on our team!"

"Well I helped you fight something that would have shat you out dead, helped you gather information on ANOTHER thing that would have shat you out dead, and got my leg cut off by something that, once again WOULD HAVE SHAT YOU OUT DEAD!" he yelled stepping forward.

"You yelled at somepony who was just trying to help you for NO REASON and you think i'm not going to defend her!?" Rainbow asked stepping forward too.

"Well excuse me for getting a LITTLE emotional when I told you in excruciating detail my darkest hour!" he retorted one again taking a step forward. Dennis knew he was baiting and taking bait, but the anger that fueled him insisted he keep this going.

"That still gives you no excuse!" she yelled. Rainbow got into an offensive stance and everypony gasped but wasn't able to move. Nopony noticed Fluttershy shaking slightly, not from fear but from rage. Rainbow Dash was about to rush at him when a loud voice cut through the air,

"STOP IT!" Everypony turned to stare at Fluttershy, shaking violently from rage at watching two friends fight. "Shame on you both!" she yelled. she asked. Dennis couldn't explain how, but the stare Fluttershy was giving him made him want to run and hide, yet he couldn't break away. It was odd, the sensation was like fear, only not a fear of getting killed, he felt a very milder version when Katie, the nurse would tell him off whenever he came in half digested and warned him to be more careful. "Things have gotten way out of hoof!" she continued, the volume of her voice lessening somewhat. "I know you both don't hate each other and you shouldn't be fighting each other!" she reasoned. Dennis took a deep breath and gathered his emotions. He looked at Rainbow Dash, Mumbled

"Sorry," and quickly left before he could do anything else.

The Master Plan

Twilight's POV------------------------------

After the spectacle inside her house, Twilight needed some time to think. Things had spiraled out of control extremely fast and if Fluttershy hadn't interfered Dennis and Rainbow Dash could have really hurt each other. Twilight could only thank Celestia Dennis had a miniscule amount of restraint, other wise things could have gotten real messy, real fast.

Twilight pondered on whether to go after Dennis or not. Calming Rainbow Dash down was probably a bigger priority than tracking down an emotional colt, as Rainbow Dash was a bearer of the Element of Loyalty. Even so Dennis was a big help as well as he knew how to combat the Corruption and it's monsters.

Twilight eventually decided to find him and at least get to him before something set him off. She looked over her options to accompany her. Rainbow was out for obvious reasons, Applejack might help, although if Dennis turned snarky she might go off. Fluttershy was out again, Dennis seeing her might not exactly help. Rarity was out because she was helping calm down Rainbow Dash, so that left Pinkie Pie.

"Pinkie, come on I need your help with something," Twilight said, and Pinkie Pie bounced over to her and they went on their way.

"So Twilight watta' we gonna' do, are we gonna' fight Ocram, ooohhh or maybe get more silver from the giant eye with the mouth, or maybe-" Twilight cut her off with a wave of her hoof.

"We're going to find Dennis," Pinkie Pie gave her a confused look,

"Okie dokie lokie but wasn't he kinda mean to Dashie, I mean ponies can get grumpy sometimes, OH like remember the time I turned GREY!?" Pinkie asked giggling.

"Well the way they handled the argument was definitely the WRONG way, but I don't care if Dennis says he hands out ice cream to foals, ponies do some crazy things under circumstance..." she said trailing off.

"Ohh ohh ohh, like that time my mane turned all funny and I started talking to inanimate objects and went all cookoo lookoo on you?!" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah, we'll go with that," Twilight said, eyeing Pinkie the rest of the way. When they arrived at the outskirts of the Everfree Forest they suddenly heard shouting and yelling near them and followed the sound of the voices to find Dennis locked in combat with what seemed to be ponies dressed in armor. "OH MY CELESTIA!" Twilight yelled, "IS- IS HE FIGHTING THE ROYAL GUARD!?" She asked.

It was hard to see because they were partly hidden from the trees but she could see Dennis' golden blade making a large ark in the air and was lodged into a helmet of a pony with a sickening THUNK! Twilight was about to rush in and help the guards until she saw the pony that Dennis had killed wasn't actually a pony, but rather a sentient suit of armor!

The suit disappeared in a large puff of black smoke, and Dennis turned to another one, sinking the shimmering sword into the suit's chest plate. Two more suits of armor tried to attack him from behind, and since the first suit hadn't disappeared yet, Dennis couldn't dislodge his blade. Before the suits could attack, a large BOOM surrounded the area. Everypony, (Including Dennis.) looked in Twilight's direction and Twilight herself turned to the left to see Pinkie Pie with her party cannon pointed strait in the air.

Dennis was quick enough to realize it was a distraction and pulled his blade from the armor. Sending it flying at one suit, while spamming Demon Scythes at the other. The golden sword got lodged into the suit of armor's helmet, right between the eyes, and the Demon Scythes ripped through the other. Dennis was unscathed save for only a few minor bruises and scrapes. He looked down at where the suits used to be.

"Ten against one, that wasn't fair, I wasn't even blindfolded," he boasted quietly and smirked, picking up his blade if gold and stashing

it in his saddle bag, before taking a small sip of the healing drink, and the small wounds healed instantly. Dennis quickly acknowledged that they were there. "Oh, hello," he said awkwardly.

"Hello?" Twilight said glaring at him. "After that bit of insanity back at the library and all you can say is 'hello'?" she asked. Dennis made a thoughtful face before looking her straight in the eye and saying,

"Yep," he said.

"Do you have any idea what happened since you picked that fight?" Twilight asked.

"No," Dennis said, and Twilight was glad to see at least a sliver of guilt on his face.

"We had to talk Rainbow Dash out of trying to follow you, then we had to calm her down so she could at least be in the same room with you without ripping your face off MUCH LESS AGREEING TO COOPERATE WITH YOU!" she yelled.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but if I didn't let off some steam, the EXACT SAME THING would have happened!" he pleaded with her. Twilight, despite how angry she was, had to agree. Letting the both of them work off their anger rather than them at each others neck.

"What were those things anyways?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Possessed Armor," he replied.

"Okay but why are they here?" Twilight added.

"Ocram," Dennis replied, as if that answered everything. Twilight sighed.

"Dennis we need to get back to the library," she said tiredly.

"All right, just make sure when I go in, Rainbow Dash doesn't try to murder me, alright?" he asked.

"Its all okay Dennis, a nice talk and a cupcake was all Dashie needed!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Um, whats a cupcake?" Dennis asked, an eyebrow raised at the mention of baked goods.

"WHAT?!" Pinkie almost roared, Dennis stepping back a bit. "YOU DONT KNOW WHAT A CUPCAKE IS!?" She yelled again.

"N-no we don't really have any sweet foods in Terraria!" Dennis exclaimed. Twilight giggled a bit. How did Dennis, who stood his ground against a giant killer eye with teeth, be scared of Pinkie Pie?!

"Well its only the most tasty-rrific, sweet-tastic, bestest, greatest, treat, EVER!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Dennis gave a nervous smile at Pinkie. "Come on Dennis, we're going to Sugarcube Corner to show you what a Pinkie cupcake is like!" she yelled triumphantly.

"Sorry Pinkie Pie but there is something really important I need to show Dennis and the others first," Twilight said. Dennis frowned a bit but followed Pinkie's lead with a smile.

"C'mon Twilight, I'm sure it can wait, at least until I try one of these cupcakes," he said. Twilight wouldn't say it, but she mainly thought the largest reason he was agreeing to this was because he was a bit scared of Pinkie.

"Sorry but this involves the Corruption and that's more important than baked goods, I'm afraid," Twilight said, and immediately Dennis' face turned stone cold.

"Sorry Pinkie, but Twilights right, maybe another time," he offered. Pinkie temporarily looked sad, but perked up after a moment.

"Okie Dokie Lokie, as long as you try one before you leave," she said.

"Leave?" Dennis momentarily looked confused, but caught on quickly. "Oh right..." he said. Twilight gave him a worried look before teleporting them back to her house.

When they arrived all eyes turned towards Dennis who walked over to Rainbow Dash. "Hey, sorry about the way I acted earlier, are we cool?" he asked holding a hoof out. Rainbow looked at him hesitantly before saying.

"We're cool," and bumped her hoof against his.

"All right now that THATS all cleared up, everypony gather around the map," Twilight set out the map. It was borrowed from the princess, and had enchantments on it that showed where Corruption was. The dark purple represented the core of the Corruption, where it had started, and those were dotted around the map. The lighter shade of purple indicated where the Corruption had spread after initial start. Twilight looked at the map carefully and saw that where the larger settlements were, there were more violet spots dotted around them, than the smaller towns where the population was lower. Dennis saw this as well.

"Well isn't he a smart bastard..." he muttered.

"Dennis really, what vulgar language!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Sorry, but did you see what he did?" he asked pointing at the dots.

"Yeah actually, ah' do," Applejack said narrowing her eyes at the map. "He set up the Corruption so he could make it so the monsters are attackin' from all sides," Applejack said.

"Yeah, AJ is right, and if you have it around the place, how are ponies supposed to evacuate without getting ripped to pieces!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Oh my, maybe its just a coincidence?" Fluttershy hoped.

"I'd like to say that but what Ocram is doing, its way to organized to be a coincidence," Dennis said.

Twilight muttered in awe,

"So simple, yet so brilliant..." Dennis' eyes widened.

"Look at how many dots are around this Crystal Empire!" Dennis exclaimed. "He must want some real firepower and defense if he is trying to take a whole EMPIRE!" Dennis yelled.

"Dear, I know you're excited but could you stand to not yell in my ear?" Rarity winced.

"That's not the only reason Ocram would want it..." Twilight said, "Princess Celestia once told me that if happiness and light was at the Crystal Empire, that would reflect all across Equestria, but if darkness and fear took over..." she trailed off not needing to finish the sentence.

"So if the empire is corrupted..." Dennis said, horror plastered on his face.

"Then by theory, ALL of Equestria could become corrupted in a matter of seconds, or at least increase Corruption rate and monster spawn," Twilight said, looking at Dennis with the same expression of fear.

"Y'all are forgettin' one thing," Applejack said. "If we used the Elements of Harmony at the empire, we could revert the Corruption as well!" she exclaimed

"THATS IT!" Dennis screamed once again, "Its like a race, if we win it we can cleanse Equestria!" he exclaimed.

"But if we lose..." Twilight said.

"Dennis if you yell in my ear one more time you will be seeing stars, but you wont be looking at the sky," Rarity warned.

"Sorry Rarity," he said, quietly.

"All right, so we have our work cut out for us!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Ah' can start buckin' apples for food," Applejack said.

"I can start getting some maps and shortcuts memorized," Twilight said.

"I can start making us some heavy-duty saddlebags!" Rarity gushed.

"I-I can start memorizing the animals that live in that type of area, they could help us!" Fluttershy said happily.

"And I can make my party cannon even cannon-ier so we have a distraction!" Pinkie Pie said bouncing up and down.

"I can train to fly against even heavier winds so I can scout out paths for us!" Rainbow Dash said, eager to train.

"And I can use the silver I acquired to make us all armor!" Dennis exclaimed, his eyes glazing over at the thought of armor

"Oh ya, and weapons," he said, his eyes glazing even further.

"We can do this you guys, we have a mission, determination, and friendship!" Twilight cheered, and everypony else cheered in agreement.

The Hard Truth

Dennis' POV-----------------------

Dennis was more excited than he was in a long time. He had recently finished the armor for Twilight and her friends plus himself. However something was still nagging him, two things to be exact, one, how were they supposed to beat Ocram with SILVER armor. Yeah it was strong but not nearly enough to hold up against Ocram, and how the heck was he supposed to kill Ocram with a golden sword?

Dennis sighed and decided to cross that bridge when they came to it... If they came to it.

"Oh come on Dennis, now isn't the time for doubts!" A voice exclaimed from right behind him.

"AGHH!" He yelled and turned around to see Pinkie Pie with her trademark smile on her face.

"Oh are we gonna' have a screaming contest?" she asked. "Okay my turn AGGGGHHHHHHH!" She yelled, laughing afterwards.

"Pinkie, how did you know what I was thinking?!" he asked.

"Dennis you cant start doubting yourself now!" she exclaimed, completely ignoring his question. "I mean you're right when you say that silver armor is a bit more flashy than reliable, but we don't need special super-duper strong armor when we have our wits!" she exclaimed patting him on his head with her hoof.

"Maybe, but without the right weaponry we'll get destroyed," Dennis said. Suddenly Rainbow Dash flew in a look of annoyance on her face.

"There you are, I've been looking for you two everywhere!" She yelled, eyeing both of them.

"Nice to see you too Rainbow," Dennis muttered.

"Double time it over to Twilight's, The PRINCESS is waiting for you," She said before zooming off. Dennis and Pinkie exchanged looks.

"Well cant keep her waiting can we?" Dennis asked before running after Rainbow Dash with Pinkie bouncing behind him.

Soon enough they were at Twilight's house and sure enough Celestia was there, an unusual look of fear on her face.

"The Corruption has reached the borders of Canterlot, its going up the mountain even now," she said. Twilight looked at Dennis. Dennis thought. He drew all the knowledge he knew of his world and this one and tried to make a plan.

"Okay take all the pegasi to a secure cloud location, the Corruption wont reach it," he said, and Celestia nodded. "For unicorns and earth ponies, take them to an underground bunker made of metal," he said.

"Dennis did y'all finish the armor?" Applejack asked.

"I thought you'd never ask, lets go!" he said excitedly. He was about leave but Applejack quickly grabbed him by his tail.

"Now hold on a second, ah' didn't mean lets go, ah' meant show us the armor," she said a deadpan expression on her face.

"Oh right," he said. He reached into his bag telekinetically and brought out the sets of armor, all of them growing to their actual size. The helmet had a wide gold line painted on going down the middle, with a similar shorter line going through the middle horizontally. on each side of the head (right below the ears) was a large flat spike curving upwards. The hooves were painted gold. On the chest there was a gem encrusted on each suit of armor. A red ruby for Dennis, and a gem that looked the same as the Elements of Harmony's for each corresponding pony. The rest of the suit was a shimmering silver and seemed to have no other outstanding features.

"Well do you like 'em?" Dennis asked nervously. Armor was always a pride of his. Armor and weapons. He made his own armor from his own materials, no buying from others. He also never made armor for anypony else so he was interested to see if he made his armor as well as he thought he did.

"Well they certainly look good, but the question is functional not fashionable," Twilight said.

"Well they aren't the strongest tier of armor but they'll manage in a fight," Dennis said, knocking his hoof on the silver.

"If I may put in an opinion," Celestia said. "They certainly look sturdy but with on that silver they look like a beacon, you will certainly attract attention," Dennis thought for a moment.

"Well with Rainbow flying all around with her trail and Pinkie Pies mane and tail, we kind of do that on our own," he said. Celestia simply nodded. Dennis also took out six silver bows and six silver swords. "Anypony who doesn't mind getting their hooves dirty, take a sword," he said. The silver swords had a band attached to the handle so they could be put on hooves and taken off as well. Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack stepped forward. "Anypony who would rather not get their hooves dirty, take a bow," he said. He had a feeling only Rarity and Twilight would want a bow. He noticed that Fluttershy did not take either. "Well take a weapon, don't worry they don't bite," Dennis said.

"I don't reallywannafight," Fluttershy mumbled, the last words blending together. Luckily Dennis heard her. He thought a moment. "Okay then," he said and reached once again into his bag. This time he brought out two greater healing potions the last two he had and were more potent than regular potions.

"Well if you want you can be our medic," he said, magically handing her the bottles. "Alright are we ready, are we done, can we go yet?" Dennis asked starting to tap his hoof on the floor.

"Geez talk about impatient," Twilight said.

Detour

Twilight's POV---------------------------------

Twilight knew the saying: Calm before the storm.

Truer words have never been spoken.

Things had started out well enough, Celestia was able to get an express train to the Crystal Empire so the seven could try their daring plan to revert the Corruption. Things were peaceful, they could even be called boring. Twilight didn't mind, as with all the excitement recently, it was nice to slow down. Twilight looked out the window of the passenger car. Outside the window was a forest of... purple trees?

"Hey Dennis, are you seeing this?" Twilight asked. Dennis looked up from what he was doing, sharpening his sword... again. Twilight rolled her eyes before calling her friends over.

"Ladies, you just got your first look at the Corruption," Dennis said, his tone a bitter one.

"Ugh it looks positively filthy," Rarity said.

"And, d-dangerous," Fluttershy added, shrinking away from the window.

"Yeah, you think your Everfree forest is dangerous?" he asked. "It doesn't have jack-shit on this dump," he said. Twilight tried to wrap her head around all of Equestria looking like this, the ponies, assuming there were any left, having to constantly fight of an army of beasts. Suddenly they heard a loud chugging noise. It stopped for about ten seconds before starting again, a little louder.

"What the hay, is that, 'nother train behind us?" AppleJack asked.

"I know that noise..." Dennis said trailing off before mumbling, "I really freaking hate that damn noise..."

"W-what is it?" Fluttershy squeaked, trying to make herself as small as possible.

"Twilight, Rarity, grab your bows, and follow me," Dennis said, levitating a book out of his saddle bag. Twilight walked out to the small platform at the end car.

She wished she hadn't

A huge worm, a bit bigger and a lot longer than the train, with multiple heads, each linked to each other. Each had large eye protruding out of one side, and it seemed like they were linked through their mouths, each containing razor sharp jagged teeth

"WHAT THE BUCK IS THAT THING?!" Twilight yelled over the strong winds.

"What does it look like, its a giant freaking worm, SHOOT IT!" He yelled back casting the spell Twilight knew as "Demon Scythe" and sending the spinning purple energy blades at the beast. Twilight and Rarity aimed and shot at the beast, and most shots hit.

"Twilight, dear, I think it's going for the train!" Rarity yelled at Twilight.

"Shit, I think Rarity is right!" Dennis yelled, switching to Water Bolt, and sending the glowing blue spheres at the worm, but doing little more than annoying it. Twilight had an idea.

"Dennis I have an idea, but its very risky!" Twilight said.

"I'm ready to try anything, lets do it!" Dennis said, grinning at her. They all ran back into the car.

"Dennis, cast Demon Scythe, and everyone gather around me," Twilight said.

"But Twilight the spell wou-" Twilight stopped him,

"JUST DO IT!" She yelled at him. Time was running out!

"Uh, right!" Dennis said, and cast the spell. At the same time, Twilight casted two different spells at once. A lavender sphere engulfed them all, at the same time about ten Demon Scythes encircled the sphere. At that precise moment the worm crashed through the steam train destroying about everything else. Twilight kept her focus and concentrated all of her magic into the two spells. She felt a stabbing pain in her hind leg, then blacked out.

Plan B

Dennis' POV---------------------------------------

Dennis groaned. Just when things might have been simple, easy, something had to come and take it away. He opened his eyes to find himself staring at the setting sun. "Finally!" He heard a voice yell. A flurry of color invaded his vision. "Hey slacker, get up would you, we're all waiting for you!" The same voice yelled, and he felt something tugging on his right leg. Dennis groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, wake up alright," The voice said. His vision cleared and saw he was staring at Rainbow Dash. "I thought I had died and gone to heaven, but then I realized you were here," He groaned and sat up. "Yep, good to see you too!" Rainbow Dash said, and began to walk off. "Hey follow me okay, Twilight is gonna fill you in," Dennis got up and looked around to see he was in the Corruption. Large and small scraps of steel were laying around, along with some axles, wheels, and bits of glass. He got up and trotted towards where Rainbow had walked to. What seemed to be the most intact part of the train, and upside down sleeper car, was apparently their base. He walked in the door, and saw Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, gathered around a battered table, looking at a map of Equestria. "Rise and shine, Dennis!" Applejack said, grinning. "Ohh man, what the hell happened..." He said, trailing off. "I tried a very risky spell, called a link," Twilight said, motioning for him to sit on one of the tattered pillows. "A link?" Dennis asked, rubbing his head. "Yes, a link is when you take two spells and, well, link them, to combine two spells into one," Twilight explained. "So in this situation, you used the shield, and the Demon Scythe to power through any wreckage that could have killed us, right?" he asked, "Yes actually," Twilight said. "So now we have to hoof it, all the way to the Crystal Empire?" Dennis asked. "Yes, we cant salvage the train, and there's no way to signal anypony that we need help," Twilight said sadly. "Ya, you can bet Rarity was pleased by that news," Rainbow Dash said, snickering. "Luckily we aren't that far from the Empire, only a few miles or so," Applejack said, pointing at the map. "Yes, in fact we were waiting for you to wake up." Twilight said, rolling up the map, and stashing it into her bag. "Rainbow, go tell the others, we're about ta get a move on, would ya?" Applejack asked. Rainbow nodded and flew out. "HEY GIRLS, WE GOTTA GET GOING!" They heard her yell from outside. "This is gonna be a doggone close finish," Applejack said. "As long as we avoid detours and keep going straight, we should be okay," Twilight said. Soon they were on their way again, making good time, until... "OH. GREAT. A WALL!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Dennis was at his wits end already. "Man, fuck this day," He grumbled. "Thorn bushes all around the side and on top, to dangerous to land," Twilight said. "Cant you teleport us up there dear?" Rarity asked, very unhappy about their current travel arrangements. "A blind teleport is too dangerous, we could end up in the wall, or worse," Twilight said. "Hey come over here y'all!" Applejack exclaimed. There was a small hole, leading underground. "Cant see a darn thing down there though," Applejack said, squinting. "Hold on a second," Dennis said. He pulled out a glowing tube with his magic. "Ohhh pretty, and BRIGHT!" Pinkie Pie said, looking at it from every angle. "What is it?" Rainbow asked. "A glow stick, taken from Jellyfish, very useful when you're low on torches," He said, and threw the stick into the hole. It clattered on the ground and showed a tunnel. "Well, lets go!" Dennis said and jumped in the hole, landing hard but not hurt. "Ugh I wouldn't dare go in something so vile-" Rarity was stopped by Rainbow grabbing her and flying er down. "No time to argue, lets GO!" She said. After everypony was down in the tunnel.

Corruption Has Begun

"Princess, Princess Celestia!" The guard shouted as he ran through the Princess' royal hall. "We have a crisi-" the princess simply raised an eyebrow at him. The guard's cheeks turned a dark red. "I'm sorry your majesty, I wouldn't have barged in if it wasn't an extreme emergency." The guard said quickly.

"...Continue" said Celestia. The guard sighed a breath of relief.

"We have heard reports of strange areas with hostile monsters around Equestria and spreading to other parts of Equestria," The guard hesitated waiting for a response from the princess. She simply stared.

"Yes there are 'odd' areas around Equestria, the Everfree Forest, for one-" The guard interrupted her in mid-sentence.

"No Princess, a different kind of area, We sent pegasi up to scout out the corrupt areas and-" He faltered.

"And?" the Princess said, a bit annoyed. The guard picked up.

"And despite its origin being a couple thousand miles away from Canterlot, estimations show that the rapid spread should cause it to arrive to Canterlot's city limits in a week, tops.

The guard finished. even as he said the words, the guard wished they weren't true. At his words Princess Celestia almost jumped out of her throne.

"Get me some parchment and a quill, NOW!" she demanded the guards ran to get her the supplies. "By the moon," she whispered to herself more than anypony else. The guards arrived with the utensils and she began writing. "My faithful student, I require you to come to Canterlot with the Elements Of Harmony as well as their bearers as soon as you get this message. I CAN NOT STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS." She have the message to a guard. "Make sure this gets sent to Twilight Sparkle first thing in the morning!" The guard scrambled to meet the princess' demands and quickly galloped away. Princess Celestia looked out a window to see the moon rising, and wondered how far the Corruption would spread until it fell the next day.