The Antithesis of Harmony

Chapters

2. A Village of Ponies
3. "Fabulousness"
5. Bridle Gossip - Part 1
6. Bridle Gossip - Part 2
The Charth
1. Arrival
4. Problem at the pink puffball's party

2. A Village of Ponies

2. A Village of Ponies

Fluttershy flew high in the sky above her homeland, Kirby on her back and holding her neck tightly. He laughed loudly and joyfully as ever; it had been the first time in a long while that he had enjoyed a good flight in the air such as this, as the situation with Magolor kept the entirety of his time on Landia's back as serious business. The wind was blowing against his face as Fluttershy's hair waved around him, and he could smell the sweet scent steaming out of the flowing locks.

The land below them didn't pass by in much of a blur; Fluttershy wasn't going particularly fast. Very fortunate, since this allowed Kirby to once again take in the sheer beauty of the land. Even from this height the colors where reaching out to touch him, but the trees began dropping in abundance, leaving behind gigantic patches of pure green. Just only a few moments later, beige colored structures came into Kirby's bird's-eye view, growing substantially in numbers. Varying in size and shape, the structures looked like houses of some sorts. In addition to the houses, hundreds of colored shapes moved across the spaces between the buildings. Kirby could barely make out the similar physical shape to Fluttershy that the shapes bore, and Fluttershy herself was scanning said colors for her friends – to no avail unfortunately.

This problem would be solved though, as Fluttershy's flight descended towards a particularly large tree with some extra details. Whispy Woods? was Kirby's first thought upon seeing the tree, but when Fluttershy landed it became obvious to him that he was completely wrong. The tree had a front door and windows on the front and a balcony in the trees – it was a house, one that Fluttershy had just knocked the door to.

The creature that answered was similar to Fluttershy – a pony. Her coat was a light purple and instead of wings she had a horn in the middle of her head. Said horn poked out of a deep purple mane with a notable pink stripe running down it, and her tail followed suit with the color and the stripe. Similarly, her eyes bore the same indigo color as her mane.

"Hello Fluttershy!" The purple pony greeted, "Do you need anything?" Fluttershy smiled timidly and extended her wing to the ground, allowing Kirby to use it as a slide, "Oh my goodness!" the pony squealed.

"Isn't he adorable?" Fluttershy asked, "I found him just outside of my cottage. Kirby, this is my friend Twilight Sparkle."

Kirby extended a pointed stub of an arm at Twilight Sparkle, "Haiii!" Twilight couldn't keep herself from releasing an "awww!" at Kirby's squeak; it had to have been the most adorable sound she's heard. She held up a hoof and Kirby's stump hand and allowed him to shake it in some rough form of a handshake.

Kirby released Twilight's hoof, "I Kirby, I from Dreamland." Kirby knew he was getting something wrong with that sentence.

"Dreamland?" Twilight repeated, "That's..." she paused for thought, "I haven't seen anything in my books regarding a place called 'Dreamland'. Nor anything that even looks like him."

"That's why I brought him here first." Said Fluttershy, "I thought you might know something about him."

"Not a thing."

Kirby looked downwards with a strong frown as he heard this exchange. He had traveled across Dreamland many times in his life, but he had never seen any creatures like these ponies, and had never seen a place like this. Even worse, the ponies had no idea what Dreamland was. His black hole holding stomach sunk lower and lower as the question came into his head: was this even his planet?

"What's wrong Kirby?" Asked Fluttershy.

Kirby glanced at Twilight, "You... know not... of Dreamland?"

Twilight shook her head, "I'm sorry Kirby, I've never heard or read anything of it. Have you at least heard of Ponyville?"

Kirby shook his head.

"Canterlot?"

Kirby shook his head again.

"Equestria?"

Kirby shaking his head a third time made Twilight step back a little. She was utterly stunned, unable to think of another thing to ask Kirby. He had never heard of Equestria, yet his home land was never mentioned in any history book. Where did he come from?

Kirby continued to hold eye contact with Twilight for several seconds as his eyes began glisten, but a tear rolling down his face sealed the deal for both Fluttershy and Twilight.

"I'm sorry Kirby, I wish I..." Twilight held her head down. She hardly knew this creature, but the more she thought about Kirby's situation the worse it got for her. Judging from his adorable voice and appearance, Kirby came off as no more than a child to her. The mere thought of a child misplaced from his world with no idea where he is, separated from his friends and family, possibly never seeing them again...

Fluttershy must have been thinking the same thing; her head was low and her mane was falling over her face more than normal. Knowing Fluttershy, Kirby's problem probably hurt her more than it did Twilight; her love for animals was unmatched by any other pony in all of Equestria, not to mention that she was the pony who found Kirby.

"Wait," Twilight's head rose as the thought struck, "Kirby, how did you get in Equestria?"

Kirby and Fluttershy perked up too, and Kirby slowly answered, "Ship... from Halcandra... bring... me and other... here."

"That must be it then," Twilight smiled, "there must have been a mistake in the ship's path. Maybe it'll come back to get you and take you back to Dreamland."

Kirby's face lit up with his adorable smile again, "Yu-eh wert, it might!"

"That's the spirit, Kirby!" Twilight encouraged, instilling hope in both Kirby and Fluttershy. It raised her own spirit to see Kirby's wide open smile again, as well as Fluttershy's timid one.

"Besides," Fluttershy added, "you get to be in Ponyville in the meantime. You'll have plenty of company before you go back home. Oh, and that reminds me, do you want to see the rest of me and Twilight's friends?"

Kirby nodded and climbed back onto Fluttershy's back, acting out his readiness.

"Twilight, do you want to come?"

"I can't right now, sorry." Twilight groaned, "Spike kept bugging me about some mustache growing spell and now he needs me to fix some... embarrassing results."

"That's okay." Fluttershy managed to say in between a chuckle.

"I'll be sure to join you when I'm done."

Fluttershy began walking towards the door, "Okay then. Bye Twilight."

"Bye Fluttershy, bye Kirby."

"Baiii!" Kirby cooed, waving Twilight goodbye.

Fluttershy didn't fly around Ponyville now, instead walking on the ground at a moderately slow pace, to allow Kirby to take in the abundance and liveliness of the community. Walking around them through a marketplace, what were just colored shapes before were know living, breathing ponies, each one interacting in some way with another. Some of them conversed with each other, some of them traded food for currency, and some stopped to gawk at Kirby with justified curiosity. Kirby would give them his adorable smile and wave, and most reacted just as Twilight and Fluttershy did before them: "awww!"

Kirby then noticed something about the ponies that caught his interest: each pony, bar some of the younger ones, had some kind of marking on their back hips, and no two ponies had the same mark, although some were similar. He turned his head and noticed that Fluttershy herself had a mark as well: three pink butterflies. Kirby tried to discern what it could mean – maybe it meant she was as sweet as a butterfly?

Fluttershy's path took her and Kirby to a vendor chock full of apples. Seriously, full of apples; every basket and box was nearly overflowing with them! Kirby's eyes were locked on the luscious, delicious looking fruit, staring at them with a watering mouth as though he was under hypnosis. An orange pony with a yellow mane stood behind the vendor, waving at them and calling Fluttershy's name.

"Why hello Fluttershy!" The orange pony said with a heavy southern accent, "What can I do ya fer?"

"Good afternoon Applejack," Fluttershy finished the greeting, "How are the apples selling?"

"I just started, got a sale just a few minutes ago."

"Well, I wish you luck."

"Thanks," Applejack leaned her head towards her left, "What're you carryin'?

Fluttershy turned to the side to reveal Kirby, who was still drooling at the apples, and Applejack's reaction was of no surprise at all.

"Fluttershy," Applejack's face looked like it would split in half with how big her smile was getting, "that is the most adorable little critter I've seen in my life! What is it? Where did you find it?"

"It came to me actually, I was just outside my cottage caring for the woodland critters, when this little guy came out of the bushes. It was just so adorable," Fluttershy rubbed her head against Kirby, "that I had to just show it to everypony."

"Kaen hyt upplen..." Kirby murmured.

"Oh, and it can talk," Fluttershy added, "Kirby? Could you please speak in Equestrian again?"

"Kaen hyt upplen..."

"It almost sounds like he's saying 'apples'." Applejack concurred. She picked up an apple and held it in front of Kirby, "You hungry little guy?"

Kirby's face light up with a wide open smile and he leaped off of Fluttershy at the instance of the offering, holding his arms up and bouncing like an overly exited child. Applejack tossed the apple at Kirby, who ate it so fast that the ponies didn't even see him catch it. Did he?

"Well, someone's hungry!" Applejack exclaimed, tossing Kirby another apple, "Can't let a cutie like you go hungry." This time Kirby visibly caught it before eating it, taking the time to thank Applejack – in his language of course. Fortunately he caught his mistake and corrected himself.

"Thanks Applejack!" Kirby squeaked before swallowing the apple whole, again. Granted he did eat it at an incredible speed, but it was absolutely delicious!

"No problem little guy. What's your name again?"

"Kirby."

"A pleasure to meet you Kirby. Welcome to Ponyville!"

Kirby nodded, his smile stunting the growth of Applejack's smile. This little guy was just too cute.

"Well, I'm going to show him to Pinkie Pie now, or Rarity." Said Fluttershy, allowing Kirby to climb onto her back.

"Ooh, you'll like Pinkie Pie, Kirby, I guarantee it." Said Applejack. Kirby nodded, and waved Applejack goodbye as Fluttershy began walking away.

"See you later Applejack."

"See ya."

"That thing looks so cute! What is it?! What is it?!" Squealed a high pitched and very loud voice from behind Fluttershy. The sudden outburst scared Fluttershy to the point of knocking Kirby off her back, yet Applejack was laughing almost as loudly as the voice was. As Fluttershy froze and Kirby wailed his arms in humorous panic, a pink pony with a slightly darker pink mane bounced around them by using her four legs as springs, talking so fast that neither of the ponies, especially Kirby, had an easy time understanding her.

"He is so cute I have never seen something so cute before where did you find it I want to hug him and love him and call him Puffy!!!" The pink pony squealed. She stopped bouncing and leaned towards Kirby's face, "You are the most adorable thing I've seen! I've never seen anything as adorable as you before – well, actually that would have to be the case for you to be the most adorable thing I've seen, but then there's Gummy; he's adorable—!"

"That's enough Pinkie Pie." Applejack finally said in between chuckles, "Yer scaring the poor thing."

"I am?" The pink pony asked, still sounding extremely cheerful. One look at Kirby proved Applejack's point: Kirby was on his back, looking up at Pinkie Pie with a wide-eyed face of absolute shock and heavy breathing, "Oh, I'm sorry, let me start over." She leaped into a collection of bushes near Applejack's vendor, and after several seconds of silence, seemingly vanished. Kirby even ran to the bushes and checked them – the pony was gone.

Or not.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie, and welcome to Ponyville, what's your name?!" The pink pony squeaked from behind Kirby, freaking him out and making him jump. He turned around to find the pony, once again, in his face.

"Puy ku-eg yu genn zic?!" Kirby screamed.

"Pinkie, I reckon you stop doing that." Said Applejack with no more humor in her voice, "All yer doing is scaring it."

"Yes Pinkie, please, I don't want his first impression of us to be fear." Fluttershy added.

"But I always make a good first impression on everypony." Pinkie Pie denied, losing her cheer.

"Yeah? Well Kirby here ain't from around here," Applejack corrected, "he ain't seen any of us before and surely wasn't expecting this."

Pinkie Pie sighed, "Fine, I'll start over again."

"Oh no, that won't be necessary," Fluttershy interjected, "please introduce yourself to Kirby before he, um, runs away."

"Okay!" Pinkie Pie chirped, regaining her briefly lost cheer. She turned back to just inches away from Kirby's face and did just as Fluttershy asked, "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and welcome to Ponyville! What's your name?"

Kirby sighed of relief. Finally the pony wasn't acting completely nuts. He opened his mouth to speak, but Pinkie Pie had cut–

"Wait, why did I ask for your name? Fluttershy and Applejack already said your name: Kirby! Oh I'm so sill–"

"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack shouted.

"Woops, sorry."

Kirby sighed again, "I Kirby, I from Dreamland."

"Dreamland? I never heard of that place before, but it sounds dreamy! Do dreams come true in Dreamland? Oh it would be great if my dreams would come true; we would have parties forever! Hey, that reminds me, I should throw a party for you Kirby – a welcoming party!..."

As Pinkie Pie continued to ramble on and on almost senselessly about the details of the party and how great it was going to be, Kirby's smile grew wide and open. Just the thought: not even an hour on this strange new world and he was already making friends! Fluttershy was right, even if he might be gone from Dreamland for a while, he was going to have good new friends to keep him company in the meantime—Wait, what did Pinkie Pie say about cake?!

"Tell me Waddle Dee, you are one of my most trusted and loyal waddle dees and you do know where my castle is, right?"

"Yes sire!"

"Then why do you think my castle is in a forest?!"

Great old trees surrounded the King and his servant, looming over them and blocking a large portion of the sun from the ground. More than enough sunlight was around for safe and easy travel, but anything under the leaves were undoubtedly shaded. A trail beneath their feet was carved in a straight path from as far as they could see in one direction to as far as they could see in the other. As it was fairly crowded, King Dedede was not exactly wrong; this forest wouldn't be an ideal place for a castle, so why should Waddle Dee think of stopping here? There wasn't anything important about the forest; there were no wildlife worth stopping to see, and there were no convenient places to stop and rest. The whole situation did not make sense, and Waddle Dee had some explaining to do.

"I don't sire," said Waddle Dee in between deep breaths as he stuck his spear into the ground and sat down, "I stopped here...because I was tired...sire."

"Tired." Dedede flatly repeated. He had expected an actual excuse, so much so that he had to repeat himself for clarity, "You're tired."

"My apologies...sire."

"Do you expect them to excuse this?"

Waddle Dee sighed and anticipated the King's wrath. He knew he screwed up, and years of working under His rule taught him that all he could do is take it. He cringed at the thought of several different punishments: a heavy slap on the face, thrown at one of the tress, a heavy punch to the face, among many others. The absolute pinnacle punishment for angering the King would be a pernicious strike from his giant hammer. Waddle Dee still held onto the one sliver of hope that the King just might one day understand and hold back his anger. That day apparently was not today.

"Get up," Dedede growled as he grabbed Waddle Dee's arm and dragged the poor creature back to his feet, "I shouldn't have to tell you that these passed few days have been very tiring, but I am not about to take a nap in some ridiculous forest in the middle of nowhere!"

"But, um, sire...?" Waddle Dee stammered from panic as the King raised his fist.

"What?!"

"What you just said, it has been, uh, bugging me e-ever since we got here."

"What? The forest?"

"No. I-I know where your castle is, but I don't know where we are, and I have not seen any other waddle dees or waddle doos since we landed."

Dedede paused and brought his raised hand to his chin for thought. Waddle Dee spoke no lie; they have yet to come across any sort of familiar wildlife since they arrived in Dreamland, much less waddle dees or doos. Those creatures are one of the primary inhabitants of Dreamland, they should have seen hundreds of them by now!

"You got a point." Dedede muttered.

"And I have not seen any of the landmarks we had passed before. Maybe we are in the middle of nowhere."

"That puffball runs across nowhere every time he makes a pain of himself." The King muttered.

"So what do we do?"

"Keep walking until we find something that tells us where we are!" Dedede shouted as he shoved Waddle Dee aside and began walking, "Even if we have to ask for directions – I don't care what we do – we are getting to my castle; I! Want! To! Rest! Now let's go!"

Waddle Dee yanked his spear out of the ground and gave his usual "Yes, sire!" as he followed his abusive king, only to be scolded at again in a mere moment.

"Oh, and we didn't have to go far to get out of this forest!" Dedede yelled from the other side of three close trees, "What's wrong with you Waddle Dee?!"

"I'm sorry sire!" Waddle Dee called back as he was catching up.

"Just shut up and follow me." Dedede pointed out to clear land with significantly less trees. What he was specifically pointing at appeared to be a collection of structures, in fact they looked like buildings, "I see some kind of civilization over there. We'll rest there, ask for directions, then get to my castle. Got it?"

"Yes sire!"

"Shall we stop and see if someone is here sire?" Asked Waddle Dee. He and the King had traveled far away from the forest, and what stood before them now instead of trees was a large, lone, pink and white building – more accurately, an oversized house. Waddle Dee's eyes were locked at the complete beauty the house wore: it was tall, it was elegant, the colors complemented each other, and it had a near countless number of luxurious ornaments strung along its arches and pillars. Not much taller than King Dedede, the front door bore a flat purple color, made more attractive to the eye by the two very well detailed diamond shapes plastered on the top and bottom half.

"It's promising enough." The King answered. Although is grumpy frustrated tone and scowled face showed little interest towards the house, Dedede was just as marveled as his servant; the house itself truly was impressive. Although it obviously didn't hold a candle to the glorious and luxurious castle that King Dedede called home, it still prodded his curiosity, and he had discerned that the owner must have been able to give them some sort of guide. As his curiosity demanded, he proceeded to knock his fist against the diamond encrusted door.

What appeared on the other side of the door as it opened had startled Waddle Dee and left Dedede dumbfounded, for their expectations were not prepared for what they had seen. Greeting them with a feminine, elegant, and "upper-crust" sounding "Yes?" was a white four legged creature with a beautifully curled purple mane hanging over her head and neck on either side. Underneath the top curl on her head was a thin horn just above her utterly striking and sparkling blue eyes. The creature's fabulous appearance was topped off with her attractive and welcoming smile, which managed to relieve Waddle Dee of his shock somewhat. King Dedede, however, was still completely flabbergasted by what he saw. Offensively so.

"Waddle Dee, what is that thing?!" The only thing the question got him was a violently slammed door, at least until a short pause later.

"I don't know sire, but I believe you angered it."

King Dedede dropped his hammer and lazily glared at Waddle Dee, beaming a nonverbal message of "you think?" towards his servant. He mumbled something about incompetence and knocked on the door again, not at all expecting an answer. The top half of the door moving into the house proved him wrong.

"What do you want?" The creature asked with an aggravated groan. She locked her eyes onto Dedede with a piercing glare, far from willing to forgive him for that insult just yet. Dedede got the message that she didn't want him here, so he straightened his stature and tried to make himself seem more formal. It had to get on her good side.

Dedede cleared his throat, "I am very sorry ma'am, for saying that, I—" he stopped; the creature was rolling her eyes, unintentionally interrupting him.

"I understand that we offended you. Ma'am." Dedede continued the facade, his frustration starting to show in a very slight scowl, "But, please, here us out. We haven't seen anything like you before, and we were just surprised."

"Disgusted too."

"N-no!" Dedede stammered for a pleasurable message, "Just surprised! In fact, now that I'm getting a good look at you, you're very beautiful."

The creature scoffed, brushing off the false compliment, "What is it that you wanderers need? I have work to do."

"Directions." Waddle Dee spoke up, "Can you tell us where Mt. Dedede is?"

"Never heard of it." The creature shook her head. Both King Dedede and Waddle Dee were shoved back by that shocking statement of hers; it was as bizarre and unbelievable as the creature itself. Dedede initially felt insulted – how could someone not know about him or his glorious kingdom?!

"Never heard of it?!" Dedede yelled as he stomped towards the door with a threatening stature, "Don't you lie to me you-"

"Back off, brute!" The creature yelled back, "You can't be expecting to help you if you wish to get aggressive.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" Dedede shouted in her face, "I am K-"

"I don't care who you are! Take your anger and your terrible manners somewhere else!"

Dedede glared at the creature with the fires of a burning rage in his eyes. No one talks back to the king this way, ever! How dare she put him on the same level as her?! It doesn't matter that he said something to her out of line; he was nice enough to apologize!

"Get out of my face, and off of my doorstep. Now."

"Sire, I think we should go." Waddle Dee pleaded. He and the creature watched the king for several seconds, and the king himself watched the creature during those same seconds. Waddle Dee could feel the increasing aura of of tension as the two sides came to the brink of war. Dedede only added more tension to this brink by heaving his hammer back over his shoulders.

"Sire, please..." Waddle Dee begged, fearing the worst of King Dedede's wrath upon the creature, "We'll just find someone else to get directions from." King Dedede remained silent with his eyes still locked onto the creature. By this point, the three of them lost track of how long they held this position; it had seemed like several minutes almost. Fortunately, through his servant's wish or just not wanting to exert punishment, Dedede finally backed off. He said nothing – didn't even give any attention to Waddle Dee – as he turned from the creature and walked away from the house. Waddle Dee could only release a relieved sigh as Dedede averted the conflict. As much as he respected the king, he had to side with this other creature on this situation. King Dedede made the first offense, and chose only to make the situation worse.

"I am very sorry for the king's attitude." Waddle Dee apologized, "He's not normally this rude."

"Thank you." The creature said flatly, "At least you aren't a ruffian."

"Is it true though? Do you not know where Mt. Dedede is?"

"I can assure you that I know nothing of it. I am sorry."

"Oh..." Waddle Dee dipped his head downwards, "Well, thanks anyway ma'am."

"You're welcome, and good like finding your place." The creature closed the conversation, her tone still tainted by the previous conflict. She closed her door and left Waddle Dee to soak up the thought's in his head about the situation. It didn't make any sense: none of the landscape is familiar, they've yet to see the common wildlife, and the only life he and the king found so far had no idea who they were or where they were from! None of it added up; the Starcutter had to have returned them to Dreamland!... Didn't it?

"Sire!" Waddle Dee gave a worried call as he caught up with his king, "Sire, I think we have a serious problem!"

King Dedede kept walking without even so much as turning his head.

"Sire, please...!"

King Dedede said nothing. He just kept walking.

3. "Fabulousness"

3. "Fabulousness"

"I sure hope my friend, Rarity, is home," cooed Fluttershy, "I'd like to have you meet my friends one by one like this rather than in Pinkie's party. Not that there's anything wrong with her parties, but there would be so much going on..."

Kirby was trotting alongside Fluttershy throughout the Ponyville market. Even though he was personally meeting some of these ponies, Kirby still couldn't get used to all the alien creatures eyeballing him the way they were. He could tell that none of them held any malice towards him, but the sheer number of surprised looks he was getting just made his misplacement bite down on his heart even harder. Even Fluttershy noticed.

"What's wrong Kirby? I'm not overwhelming you with my friends am I?"

Kirby slowed down in his walk, still watching all the ponies around him as they watched him back. He tried to use his mind's eye to replace them with creatures from his homeland: waddle dees, bronto burts, scarfies, and many other creatures that he could at least recognize, but his only led to him staring at the strangers for longer than he wished. Besides, reminders of home only make homesick children even more miserable.

"Kirby?"

Kirby turned himself to acknowledge Fluttershy and show his heavy frown. It was far from the pegasus's expectations for a single facial expression to speak so much to her, but Kirby's little mouth right under those twinkling oval eyes had reached into her chest and tug at her heartstrings. Fluttershy wanted to smile at this adorable creature and cuddle him like with other critters, but the face she was seeing belonged not to any solace or happiness, but to a lonely and heartbroken child missing his family, or at least his homeland. Without words, the puffball got his tear jerking message across, "Take me back home, please".

"I'm sorry Kirby, truly," Fluttershy fought back tears, "I wish I could send you back to Dreamland right and be done with it, really."

Kirby nodded.

"Look, let's just get our minds of this and go find my friend Rarity," Fluttershy proposed, "you seem happy whenever you're around my friends, and I don't want to see you sad the whole time you're here. Okay?"

Kirby's mouth perked up into a smile as he nodded yet again. Just as Fluttershy began smiling back to him, Kirby tilted his footing so he could curiously look passed her. The pegasus turned towards Kirby's shifted attention behind her and could only gasp in surprise.

Only a couple of clusters of ponies away was a large, blue, beaked figure in some sort of red clothing. In his hand was a colossal wooden hammer, and at his side was a small round and brown creature donning a spear in hand and a blue bandanna on its head. Both of the creatures, or at least the larger one, seemed to be arguing with a couple of other ponies, violently too.

Kirby's smile popped open nice and wide, and he ended up gleefully running towards the two creatures before Fluttershy even knew it.

"Wait, Kirby? What are you doing?" Fluttershy's attempt to stop him was undoubtedly fruitless, but her worry for Kirby's sake led her to the second option of following him, much to her reluctance.

"What do you mean you don't know where Mt. Dedede is?!" King Dedede yelled. The two ponies before him stepped back from shock, offended by his sudden change in tone.

"Well, I'm sorry dude," one of the ponies, a cyan unicorn with a cyan and white mane and tail, grudgingly apologized, "I've never heard of it."

"You should have!" Dedede protested.

"Look buddy," snarked the other pony, beige in color with a dark blue and pink mane and tail, "we've never heard of that mountain or your castle. Nopony has."

Dedede growled and threw his free hand up, "I don't want to hear it, go away!"

The beige pony recoiled her head back, "Excuse me? Who died and made you king?"

"I am a king!"

The two ponies broke into hysterics, which only served anger King Dedede even further. He began grind his teeth harder and harder – it was all he could do. If this was Dreamland, if this was his home, he wouldn't have hesitated to harshly punish them for this outrageous insult. It struck him earlier with the white pony that this was not Dreamland, but he was not ready to accept the fact that the Lor Starcutter took them to a completely different road. The now held back resentment and rage would ignite into a fire greater than the lava tracks of Halcandra – so they must remain held back.

"Um, sire?" said Waddle Dee as he tugged on the king's robe and pointed his spear passed the ponies, "We have a problem."

"What?!" Dedede yelled as he turned to Waddle Dee's pointed direction – he was not happy with what he saw. As if this day deliberately wanted to get worse, as if luck turned a blind eye to him, as if some dark god longing for happiness was trying to find humor in King Dedede's misfortune, KIRBY was running towards them! Dedede was lost for words – what should he do?! He was in no position to fight Kirby, and running away would only encourage him.

"Wha- what is that thing?!" Dedede pretended to panic. The performance was poor, having little to no convincing emotion, but whatever he was planning apparently worked. The two ponies shrieked at the sight of the oncoming puffball and galloped away from the fray they anticipated, completely against Dedede's intention.

"Great," Dedede scoffed as he raised his hammer.

"Sire, ar-are you sure you-?" Waddle Dee reluctantly readied his spear.

Dedede turned his head to Waddle Dee, "Yes, I'm sure!" With the greatest thorn in his side bearing down on them, what choice was there to be made?

"Haiii!" Squealed the accursed high pitched voice that the king was far too familiar with. Dedede nearly dropped his hammer in that short, stinging pause after Kirby approached them. He slowly turned and squinted at Kirby. He was still heavily expecting a fight from him, but tension in him seemed to decline as the pause got longer and longer, even if he didn't feel it. Kirby tilted his head in confusion before snapping back to standing straight and squealing again, this time waving his hand, "Haiii!"

"Okay, good." Dedede muttered as he slowly lowered his guard, which led Waddle Dee to do the same. He's known Kirby long enough to know that if Kirby wanted to assault someone, he would waste no time doing it, "Kirby, what are you doing here?" Kirby widened his smile and pointed back the way he came, gesturing to the yellow pegasus approaching them.

"Kirby, what are you doing?!" Fluttershy exclaimed, her voice still sounding soft and innocent. She stopped herself and skid across the ground, stopping just behind Kirby.

"Dedede!" Kirby squeaked at Fluttershy, now pointing at Dedede, "Me-eh zic Popstar!" Dedede groaned and pinched his nose – did Kirby really just befriend one of these creatures?

"Is he from your world, Kirby?" Already Fluttershy felt much happier for Kirby; he wasn't alone! Her smile widened even further when Kirby confirmed it with his nod.

"...Except he has it backwards," Dedede jumped in, "he's from my world."

"Oh, you're the ruler?"

"Yes he is!" Said Waddle Dee, "The great King Dedede is the ruler of Dreamland!"

Dedede smacked the back of Waddle Dee's head, "I can speak for myself!"

Fluttershy stepped back, "That- that wasn't very nice."

"So? He's my servant, I don't have to be nice to him."

"But-"

"Do not question the king." Waddle Dee softly snapped.

Fluttershy dipped her head down, "Okay..." The quietness behind her voice was almost chilling, enough so that even Kirby was left unsettled.

"Good. Now get away from me, animal." Dedede waved his free hand as though to shoo away a fly. Fluttershy didn't even respond, she just tilted her head towards her rear and began backing away from him. Kirby's unsettled feeling was fully realized then – Dedede might as well have been walking over her.

"Fe-ev-vek a biest! Yu-lez soon-Fe!" Kirby growled.

"Go tell someone who cares!" Dedede exploded, scaring Fluttershy into covering her head, "I don't have to put up with this! Come on Waddle Dee!"

"Yes sire!"

Dedede stormed off with his shadow, shoving their way through the shifting crowd of ponies scattered around. Dedede's cruelty to these, as it seemed, kind creatures left a fowl taste in Kirby's mouth. He felt extremely tempted to attack him, the urge was more powerful than usual, but he held back for some reason. Probably due to the fact that it's not his home he would be fighting in, or perhaps because Dedede was not directly hurting him. It may have also even been due to the cowering Pegasus behind him, but the alien child wouldn't know for sure.

"Kirby?" Asked an almost silent voice, "Is... is he really your king?"

Kirby turned with a tilted head to Fluttershy, as he had no real response to it. Not once had he ever obeyed any laws Dedede set in place, nor any sort of orders. In fact, aside from the army of waddle dees and the castle, Kirby didn't really notice that Dedede was a king. Kirby was just as curious as Fluttershy was, but shook his head – Dedede wasn't a king to him.

Fluttershy barely raised her voice, "Good, he's... well, I don't want to sound mean but, he's just so... mean."

Kirby nodded. He held a dislike for Dedede ever since he stole a heavy amount of Dreamland's food. No justification – he just stole food. Kirby, albeit several years younger then, stood up to Dedede and foiled his scheme, and the two had been heated rivals from then on.

"I mean, I guess he has a good reason," Fluttershy added, "I wouldn't like being so far away from home." Kirby nodded, again, something which bugged Fluttershy, "Oh, I know you're not used to our language, Kirby, but, um, could you please speak it?" It almost sounded as if she was begging someone "If that's, you know, not too much to ask."

Kirby smiled and nodded yet again, "Not worry, I speak."

Fluttershy's timid smile decided to return, "Thanks." She finally stood tall again and extended her wing to Kirby's feet, "Come on, let's go see Rarity."

It still made Kirby sick to his black hole stomach to know that he was in a completely different world. Riding on Fluttershy's back had yet to catch on, and the constant stares from the ponyfolk constantly reminded him that he was a complete alien to these people, an immensely strange feeling. The concept itself was just as alien to him as he was to the ponies; everyone knew who "Kirby, the Hero of Dreamland" was, even other planets. Seeing King Dedede was nice at first, but it still didn't change the fact that he was permanently stuck here.

The pressure of loneliness seemed to lessen as Fluttershy's path took them farther away from the crowds. The houses were less common where they were, and any further and there would be no population of houses at all, just trees and open plains. Kirby was tempted to to leap off Fluttershy and run across the grass as though he had nothing to worry about. Running across the lands of Dreamland, passing by bronto burts and and waddle dees, always gave him an underlying sense of freedom. A sense that nothing was wrong, nothing needed fixing. A sense he was missing already.

"Excuse me, um, Rarity? Are you home?"

Kirby flinched at the sudden yet soft voice. As quiet as Fluttershy was, her voice was still strong enough to break his train of thought and alter the direction of his attention. He hadn't even noticed that they were even near a house until now, and it was quite a sight to behold with its extremely well decorated design consisting of several regal arches and colors. What caught Kirby's eye was the purple two piece door, which had two sky blue diamonds encrusted into each half.

The door opened all the way and a white unicorn stood before them. Her deep purple and elegantly curled mane and tail complimented the very house she was in, so much so that Kirby was almost sure she lived there.

"I'm sorry Fluttershy, I'm very busy right now," said the unicorn, Rarity, "what do you need?"

"Oh, if I'm interrupting, then—" Fluttershy started.

"No, it's fine, come on inside."

"Thanks." Fluttershy proceeded to do just that, but not even two steps into Rarity's house and...

"Wha? What is that?!" Came Rarity's shriek. Kirby, completely unsuspecting it, fell off of Fluttershy's back and bounced off the floor, which only served to make Fluttershy shriek as well. The last thing she wanted to see now was Kirby hurt!

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?!" Fluttershy hunched to Kirby. A surge of relief ran from her stomach as Kirby nodded, and the image of Kirby sitting down the way he was was just... adorable! For a short moment, Fluttershy had to ask herself – could this little guy possibly not be cute?

"I am very sorry Fluttershy!" Rarity exclaimed, "I didn't hurt the poor thing did I?!"

Fluttershy turned to Rarity and began to speak, but Kirby wanted to speak for himself.

"I good!"

"It talks?!" Rarity blurted out.

Fluttershy nodded "Yes, he does."

"I talk!" Kirby repeated.

"Where did you find this thing Fluttershy?" Rarity just needed to know.

"Well, I found him just outside the Everfree Forest, but he is not from the Forest."

"Really." Rarity was intrigued to hear that. She and her and Fluttershy's friends had been to the Everfree Forest before, and they've come across several different oddities there. Among winged lions, poisonous flowers with strange effects, and many many other things, anything that was weird had to come from the Everfree Forest. Why didn't this creature?

"Then," Rarity paused, "where is he from?"

"Dreamland!" Kirby chirped.

"Dreamland? What's that?" Rarity hunched over to Kirby. The name sounded very promising. Do your dreams come true? Does living there feel like a dream? Is it... dreamy?

"Mine home." The simplicity of Kirby's answer hit Rarity like a rock. She could help but laugh at how blunt it was.

Rarity snarked at Fluttershy, "Did he ever give you a better answer than that?"

"Not really," Said Fluttershy, "and that's actually been worrying me. Twilight doesn't recall reading anything about 'Dreamland'."

Rarity was taken back, "Seriously? No offense to Twilight, but a bookworm like her hasn't read anything about this little thing?"

"She said she'll dig through her books for it, but she said that she hasn't even read the name in her life."

"That's," Rarity paused, "very strange."

Kirby stared blankly at the two mares with a difficult time discerning the meaning of their sentences. He understood that Fluttershy was worried and that Rarity thought something was strange, but the bulk of their sentences flew right over the poor puffball's head. The sentences were to long and Kirby couldn't process them fast enough. Childish minds and unusual languages don't mix very well in the field of understanding. As a result, he lost interest in their conversation. On the other hand, this allowed his attention – and himself – to wander off to other things, such as the many pieces of artwork scattered around the room.

The "artwork" within his attention weren't paintings – they were clothing, hung onto or wrapped around large plastic models of ponies. One bore a blue color scheme with a green strip symmetrically wrapped around it. The squiggly green strip had a leafy design on top of it, making the whole set up seem like vines hanging over water. Kirby drew closer to the "dress" and found that even the water had little details as well. Very miniscule, but one close enough to see it would be amazed at the level of detail put into the blue. A slightly lighter shade of blue ran in a few thin lines across the darker blue in a consistent and wavy pattern. Ripples in water, perhaps?

"Hey, be careful near that!" Rarity jumped. Kirby snapped back to the ponies with a startled flinch, hoping he didn't displease any of them.

Rarity chuckled with soft steps towards Kirby, "Could you please just step away from that dress? I'm not finished with it and it's very important."

Kirby nodded and stepped towards Rarity, "You make?"

Rarity recoiled back slightly, "Huh? I what?" Kirby pointed back at the dress and asked her the same question. It finally dawned on Rarity.

"Oh, yes I did make that. Or rather, I'm making it..."

"It good!" Kirby squeaked.

Rarity smiled, almost squealing a little, "Oh please, it's not even done yet."

Kirby tilted his head, "Trele?" He glanced back at the dress, "It good." It didn't occur to him why Rarity didn't accept his compliment.

Rarity's smiled widened, "Well, it is good, but I'm a mare of fabulousness," she straightened her stance as though she was presenting a speech, "and there are some kinks in this dress I'm trying to work out."

The dress didn't appear to have any "kinks" or problems; to Kirby it seemed like a perfect little piece. Maybe she wants to add to it? Kirby couldn't exactly think about what could possibly make it look better. Then again, he's not the one making it.

"Look, uh... what's your name?"

"Kirby!"

"Kirby, I'm flattered you think it looks good, but just wait until I finish it; it'll look fabulous then."

"Ir fle du neuk!" Kirby's native language came out and surprised Rarity.

"Excuse me?" Dumbfounded Rarity asked.

"Oh, um," Fluttershy stepped in, "that's his language. I've been trying to get him to keep speaking ours, but I suppose he's just so used to his own that—"

"Well, of course, Fluttershy; it's his language."

"Well, I—"

"I sorry," Kirby muttered, "I forget." His voice under the cover of a mutter sounded like little high-pitched beeps with an almost cartoonish tone. Rarity and Fluttershy assured him that this wasn't a bad thing, and his desire to conform to the ponies was out-prioritized by his instinct accept that.

"Thanks for bringing him by, Fluttershy," said Rarity as she trotted to the dress, "it was a pleasure meeting him. I have to get back to my work, but I would appreciate seeing him again."

"Actually, Pinkie Pie's throwing a welcoming party for him." Fluttershy assured her.

Rarity shook her head, "That girl. When do you think it'll start?"

"Well, she probably started after we came to see you. She—" Fluttershy would have gladly continued her sentence without any interruptions, but the quirky nature of the pink pony bouncing behind her would certainly not allow it.

"Hey Rarity, hey Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she hopped into the boutique, stopping immediately as soon as she saw Kirby, "Kirby! There you are! Your party is going to start in an hour! It's going to be so fun!" Kirby grinned and began to speak, but Pinkie Pie just kept on rambling, "I am so excited! Are you excited?! I hope your excited because it's going to be the—"

"Pinkie!" Rarity snapped. The sharpness in her voice canceled Pinkie Pie's blabber mouth, if only for just a moment. In fact, all it really did was alter her target.

"Rarity, you're coming to Kirby's party today right?" Pinkie Pie asked, "It's starting in an hour."

"Yes, Pinkie, I know." Said Rarity. Pinkie Pie was already smiling at her friend's answer, "Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to attend. I have—"

"That's okay, Rarity; you don't have to stay for the whole party if you can't!"

"But I don't want to—"

"Really, even if it's for a little bit. It's that you showed up that matters!"

Pinkie Pie's words were intended to give Rarity a soothing reassurance, but they were slow to take effect. Being a "mare of fabulousness", the unicorn was loath to take more time off her hooves to finish this dress of hers, but on the other side of the bit, she didn't have to stay at the party for long. Probably just long enough to say 'hi' and mingle for a few minutes. It honestly was a difficult decision for Rarity to make; she needed to finish this dress, but she also knew how sensitive Pinkie Pie was to her friends not joining her parties. Decisions, decisions...

"Um, Rarity?" Fluttershy spoke up, "If you honestly don't have the time, I'm sure it's fine."

Rarity shook her head, "It's fine; I'll stop by."

"Great, I'll see you all then!" Pinkie gleefully bounced her way out of the boutique, a humorous sight that made Kirby giggle. Fluttershy giggled as well, though specifically at Kirby's adorably childish giggle.

Rarity tried her hardest to avoid joining the giggling and said, "Frankly, it would be hard to say 'no' to this thing anyway."

Fluttershy smiled, "You're not the only one who thinks that."

5. Bridle Gossip - Part 1

5. Bridle Gossip - Part 1

"Gotcha!" Waddle Dee exclaimed with a downward thrust of his spear, standing just at the edge of a river. His spear breached the water in a clean strike with a surprisingly small splash, but it failed to satisfy him; he had missed another fish.

"Dedede is going to be furious if I don't bring him something..." Waddle Dee paused, waiting for another target. He sighed again, "Oh, who am I kidding? He's furious already." He gave the water another jab, missing yet again. King Dedede sent him out to search for food a couple of hours ago, and he spent the most recent thirty minutes trying to catch these frustrating fish. Skilled as he was with the spear, he had little experience with this trick. He drove his weapon into the water again, with more force than before. Suddenly, he felt a tug. Waddle Dee's eyes popped open and he tightened his grip on his spear. With one quick pull he pried the spear out of the water, feasting his eyes upon...! Nothing. Again. Struck the river floor apparently.

"A whole day of searching..." Waddle Dee muttered to himself, jamming his spear into the ground and resting on it, "I hope the King didn't go off on his own; he shouldn't have to do that. Actually, he shouldn't have to put up with any of this. Why didn't the Lor Starcutter take us back to Dreamland? Magolor said the ship had a mind of its own, so..." he trailed off, pausing for thought, "Did it get the coordinates wrong? Did it not know where Dreamland was? Or maybe–"

"It was thrown off course."

The voice was deep and powerful, a chilling sound that nearly froze Waddle Dee solid out of the thought of how disturbingly impossible it sounded. Nothing should have a voice that deep! But it was not necessarily the voice that frightened Waddle Dee – no, it was the voice's owner that frightened him. A quick turn around set Waddle Dee face to face with a dark blue, round figure, wrapped in a black cape and clad in matching black pads on his shoulders. The most striking feature – the feature that always unsettled Waddle Dee – was the large metal mask covering the majority of its spherical body. The yellow eyes behind the mask stared everything down, instilling a gut feeling of unforgettable unpleasantness to anyone, especially the now shaking Waddle Dee.

"Meta Knight." Waddle Dee could only mutter, his voice shaking just as much as his nerves.

"I ran into you much sooner than I anticipated." Said Meta Knight, "Where's Dedede?"

"He...He's..." Waddle Dee was so afraid that stammering would make his situation worse, but his urgency to spit out his answer led to him stuttering even more. Meta Knight didn't change his position or expression – there was no way to tell his expression – but Waddle Dee was becoming certain that he was frustrating the knight, "He's in our camp! Not t-t-t-too far from here. I... I was searching this forest for food."

"You and Dedede are lost?"

"It's a- it's a long story."

"Where's Kirby?"

Waddle Dee stepped back, "I don't know. With the ponies, I guess."

"Ponies. So he ran into them too."

"You've seen them?!"

Meta Knight's yellow eyes shifted to his left and Waddle Dee jumped and squealed – he didn't even notice it! Behind Meta Knight was some kind of pony, or maybe a different four legged creature, completely covered in a brown cloak. The only visible part of its body was a dark gray muzzle under its hood. Meta Knight always did leave Waddle Dee unsettled, but damn it all at least he knew Meta Knight! What was this thing?

The figure pulled its hood down, revealing its gray, rounded head. It was a pony! Or at least it looked a lot like one. Her head was taller than a pony's and her mane was nothing at all like one – it looked like a large disk or something – and her coat was striped with sharp gray, triangular shapes, darker than the rest of her coat. Dangling from her ears were a pair of golden earrings, and circling around her neck were several matching gold rings.

"A new acquaintance, to my delight." Said the smiling gray pony in some sort of rhythm, "Are you a friend of Meta Knight's?" Her voice was very deep, as far as a feminine voice went, and the rhythm she spoke in tandem with it... it was just weird!

Waddle Dee prepared to speak, but stopped at a choke. Meta Knight was staring back at him! He came so close to saying "yes" out of reflex, but what was Meta Knight going to do if he did?! They weren't really friends, but he did help him and the King out when Magolor came to Dreamland, plus he has supported the King in the past. Does that make him count as a friend? If only he could tell what Meta Knight thought! If only there was a facial expression to hint to a yes or a—

"Not necessarily." Meta Knight answered, "He's a servant of someone I know."

Waddle Dee didn't actually do it, but in his mind he released one of the deepest, most relaxed sighs he's ever had. That was too close.

"Yeah, right." Waddle Dee agreed, taking Meta Knight's answer and running with it. He looked back up at the pony and introduced himself, then asking for her name.

"A fine greetings to you, Waddle Dee." Said the pony, "Zecora is the name that you may call me."

Waddle Dee nodded. If he had a visible mouth, he would have smiled, "Nice to meet you. I don't mean to be rude," he shook his head, "but you don't look much likeapony." He blurted out the last three words of that sentence, cringing in regret. That was so disrespectful! Why did he do that?!

"That's because she's not." Said Meta Knight. His voice didn't sound tense to anyone but Waddle Dee, who heard it as the frustrated tone a parent would use when their child was about to do something bad, "She's a zebra."

"A ze-what?"

"A zebra, Waddle Dee." Zecora started a rhyme, "Similar to, but not a pony." Well, at least she didn't sound offended at Waddle Dee's tongue slip.

"Ok, sorry." Waddle Dee nodded, "So, uh, Meta Knight, what are you doing out here?"

"Helping Zecora in her search." Meta Knight flatly said.

"Some ponies have, a major problem." Said Zecora, "I seek to make, a cure for them."

"And if you must know why," Meta Knight added, "Zecora was kind enough to offer me shelter yesterday. I'm returning the favor."

"Ooohh, ok." Waddle Dee cooed, "Well, would you please help me out? I'm having a hard time finding food for me and King Dedede in this forest."

Zecora leaned forward, smiling at the water, "It seems that fish, is what you wish..."

"You can't catch fish?" Meta Knight asked, dumbfounded. As incompetent as Waddle Dee may appear, even Meta Knight had to concede to the skill he displayed during their previous adventure. Slaying fish in Dreamland wasn't an issue, even dangerous ones, so what's making him have a hard time now?

"I don't know." Said Waddle Dee, prying his spear out of the ground, "I just can't do it." His speech slowed down; he really didn't want to ask this, "You... wouldn't mind lending me a hand, would–?"

"I was never trained to use a spear."

"Oh." Waddle Dee sighed, "Nevermind, then."

"Actually, I spotted a mass of apple trees the other day."

"Where?!"

Meta Knight pointed towards his right, "It's in the south-western end of the village. However, it appeared to be an orchard, so if there is an owner, ask him about the apples and do business from there. Don't steal."

"Yes sir!" Waddle Dee nodded.

"My warning applies to Dedede too. As you know, this is a different world and we cannot take risks angering the locals."

"Yeah...right..." Waddle Dee sadly agreed.

"Good luck to you and your king." Said Meta Knight, turning away. Waddle Dee silently nodded, but this silence didn't last long. Just as Meta Knight and Zecora began to walk away, Waddle Dee spoke up.

"Meta Knight!" He called. Meta Knight stopped, and although Zecora turned her head, he did not, "How do you think we'll get back to Dreamland?" Meta Knight didn't answer. He stood there in several seconds of silence, as though he hadn't heard a thing. Waddle Dee anticipated an answer, but then Meta Knight started to walk away, an action that stabbed Waddle Dee in the heart. He didn't notice Zecora giving him a sad look; Meta Knight's silence was all it took for him to realize it.

He has no idea...

It was one of those days where the sun beamed in all its glory down on the world, unhampered by the clouds. In fact, clouds where very few and far between in the sky – no chance for a drop of rain whatsoever. Kirby knew what this kind of weather recommended, and it was exactly what he was doing, going outside and having a blast! His blast, however, wasn't playing games with friends, unfortunately. No, instead it was chasing chickens around their coop, scaring the living daylights out of them and sending a certain soft-voiced pegasus into mild worry.

"Um, Kirby? Please stop." Fluttershy begged. Kirby couldn't hear her; his loud giggling blended discordantly with the even louder sound of squawking chickens. The birds finally smartened up and spread out, dispersing in different directions and making Kirby's "game" more challenging. But challenge was fun, and the puffball didn't stop at their new strategy, if it could even be called one, and the "game" continued. "Kirby, please." Fluttershy begged again. She was beginning to step up her efforts, though slowly trotting in Kirby's general direction just wasn't going to catch him, "Kirby...!"

Kirby managed to snag the chicken he followed, holding the panicking bird high above his head. He brought the squawker to Fluttershy, as though it were a prize.

Fluttershy came very close to expressing her ever so mild frustration, but then Kirby started squeaking, "Here! Here!" and holding the chicken up to her, expecting her to take it. Fluttershy could only smile and take the animal, picking it up with her mouth and setting it down gently on the ground. The poor thing started running amok and Kirby started after it. Not again!

"Kirby!" Fluttershy called. Despite her whisper quiet command, Kirby stopped right there and faced her, his previous smile forming a confused O shape, "Please stop scaring the chickens." Fluttershy added, "I need to feed them." Kirby's smile returned as he gave his nod, following Fluttershy into her cottage.

The cottage itself looked more like a treehouse more than anything else. Although there wasn't a tree on or in it, the entire top half of the two floor house was covered in leaves, giving an illusion that there was a tree going through it. The mainly wooden interior had a balanced number and placement of matching green furniture and rugs. What always caught Kirby's attention were the animals, however. Several species of bird, many mice, and a bunny who Kirby unfortunately never got along with. Fluttershy flew up to the top shelves in what would serve as her kitchen, humming to herself. She thumbed through a row of different boxes of food for her animals, eventually pulling out the chicken feed.

"Actually, Kirby..." Fluttershy asked, landing near Kirby, who was perking up at her, "Would you like to feed the chickens? Since you seem to–" The pegasus was interrupted by the box being snatched right out of her hooves. Oh that eager Kirby.

"I do it!" Kirby chirped, holding the feed above his head much like he did with the chicken earlier.

Fluttershy's smile widened, "Just don't give them too much. I want that box to last another day or so." Kirby then nodded and took off, being out the door and gone before Fluttershy could thank him. She watched him from the window. He sure wanted to make it known he had their food; that puffball was walking out there as though he was about to do some kind of grand performance, what with those big steps and forced emphasis on the box in his hands. It all made Fluttershy chuckle. Oh, the fun a child can have.

Fluttershy made her way back to the cabinet and fetched another box, one apparently for mice. Holding the box, the pegasus frowned at its light weight and nigh empty feel. Almost out already? Couldn't be. Fluttershy peaked in its opening, just to see how much was in there. She at least still couldn't see the bottom of the box for at least an inch, so she still had plenty for today. But that's just for today. Fluttershy dumped the remaining mice feed near a hole on her wall, flat on the floor. The pile itself was almost as big as the hole, and before long a couple of mice emerged and began eating the feed, predictably.

Fluttershy knelt down to their level and said, "Be careful, don't eat too fast. And be sure to share; it's all I'll have for you until later. Ok?" Surprisingly, though unsurprising to Fluttershy, the mice perked up and nodded their heads, and Fluttershy nodded back and added, "Enjoy."

"Now, how is Kirby doing with those chickens?" Fluttershy spoke to herself after dropping the box in a nearby trash bin, "I sure hope he's not antagonizing them again; it's not good to run around just after eating." She opened the door, expecting a crowd of chickens around a pile of feed and Kirby to greet her, but what she saw was a scenario so ridiculous, so absurd, so outrageous, that the poor pegasus couldn't help but laugh her lungs out. Kirby was feeding the chickens all right! But his method...

The puffball was chasing the birds again, with one arm reaching for a chicken and the other with a handful of feed. It would take only a short time of running before he managed to nab the chicken and pour the feed into its beak. Then he would go back to the box of feed and rinse and repeat with another chicken. What was he thinking?! Fluttershy tried her best to call Kirby's name and make him stop, but her sides were about to burst from laughter. It wasn't the method, or the hindsight, but the shear fact that he honestly believed that this was the way to do it! Fluttershy's lungs finally loosened up and she was able to breath again, now watching Kirby's absurd strategy with only occasional chuckles. She shook her head; it was time for this to stop. Fluttershy flew over into Kirby's way, coming in between him and his target. He gave her one heck of a wide smile and pointed to the collective crowd of chickens

"See? I feed they!" Said Kirby in powerful spunk and confidence.

Fluttershy shook her head again, "That's," she giggled, "that's not how you feed animals, Kirby." She continued giggling, but Kirby didn't get it. He tilted his head, losing his smile, "Here, I'll show you." As they approached the box, Fluttershy still had a hard time holding herself together. She instructed Kirby with the exact steps, and he followed them exactly: pick up the box, pour the feed until the pile is big enough, stop, let the chickens eat the food themselves. They stood back from the newly made pile and watched the chickens swarm it. Kirby smiled at Fluttershy, who in turn smiled back. It warmed her heart to have the privilege of playing a part in helping him adjust to Equestria, but what really tugged her heartstrings was how content he was. He may have been homesick a couple of days ago, but if he still was, he wasn't showing it. Just his eagerness to interact with her animals, even if it was a tad rowdy, at least was enough to convince her that her efforts were working.

"Hey, um, Kirby." Said Fluttershy, "I need to go to the market and pick up some food for my mice. Do you want to come? I'm sure my friends would like to see you." Kirby didn't even nod; he just climbed onto Fluttershy's back and that was the end of it.

Fluttershy's cottage was a decent distance away. Not at all inconvenient, but not at all short, taking at least fifteen minutes just to reach the first houses at Fluttershy's pace. There was still time left in the day; however, Fluttershy was gaining a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had to have been in the heart of Ponyville by this point, but her equine brethren were very few and far between. Where were they?

"Where everyone?" Kirby asked, leaning to Fluttershy's ear.

"I don't know..." Fluttershy whispered, her large green eyes scanning the houses, "The last time this happened—" Her words were ended by her own choking. A shadow was coming, right around the corner! Fluttershy ducked down flat on the ground with a sharp squeal, trying to camouflage Kirby in her mane. The hoofsteps! Please turn around!

"Fluttershy!" A familiar voice called. Fluttershy and Kirby's heads shot up to see the source; it was Pinkie Pie! "Oh thank goodness I found you!" The pink mare continued approaching them, "Follow me, she's coming!"

Fluttershy jumped right up and followed Pinkie, the two of them galloping at top speed. They approached a large two story building, which looked more like a giant candy house more than anything. The building's back door slammed open and the ponies leaped inside, slamming the door behind them.

Pinkie took a relieved sigh, "Thanks Dashie." Fluttershy had to turn back to the door; she didn't even notice that it was Rainbow Dash operating it. It wasn't just Rainbow Dash in the room either, Rarity and Applejack were with her, as well as a small foal who bore a strikingly similar appearance to Applejack, just with a yellow coat and red hair.

"No prob." Rainbow Dash answered off-hand, focusing on scouting from the windows.

"Are you ok Fluttershy? And you Kirby?" Rarity asked worriedly, "You didn't run into her did you?"

"No, we didn't." Said Fluttershy, shaking her head. Kirby dropped down from Fluttershy's back, scanning the familiar surroundings. Wasn't this the building his party was held in?

"Now we just gotta find Twilight." Said Applejack, moving to a window.

"I actually hope she doesn't leave her home." Said Rarity, "She would be much safer."

"I'll check the front door!" Said Pinkie, heading off to that very area.

"But what's going on? Why is everypony hiding?" Fluttershy asked.

"She's here, Fluttershy!" Applejack answered with a spooked tone over her voice.

Fluttershy pulled her head down squeamishly, "Who...?"

"Zecora!" The little filly squeaked.

"Apple Bloom, don't ever say that name." Applejack snapped at her.

Fluttershy's eyes widened and her mouth dropped, "Zecora?!"

"Yes, her."

"Twilight! Spike! Come here!" Pinkie's voice called from the other room.

"Oh, thank Celestia!" Exclaimed Rarity in a heavy sigh of relief. The six of them left their posts and joined Pinkie, to greet Twilight and her little dragon.

"Who?!" Spike's voice panicked from the non-lit room, "The zombie-pony?!"

Pinkie's voice came in a shaky gasp, "Zombie-pony?!"

"Spike, there are no zombie ponies." Said Twilight Sparkle's voice, "Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?"

"I'm not alone in the dark." Said Pinkie as she turned on a lamp, lighting up the room and revealing the rest of the group to them. Applejack made her way straight to the window and looked outside, shuddering at what she was witnessing.

"...Ok, what are you all doing here in the dark?" Twilight asked.

Applejack turned to Twilight, pointing her hoof at the distance, "We're hidin' from her!" Right as she pointed "her" out, the entire ensemble crowded the window to get a look.

Off in the distance, in a section less populated with buildings, was a cloaked figure. It was very difficult to make out what it was, given the distance and the dark colored cover it had on, but it was definitely some kind of four-legged creature. They could just barely see it moving one foot into the ground repeatedly, as if it were digging. Beside "her" was another figure, round in appearance and also dark in color. They couldn't make out any features aside from its round shape, but if it was with "her" than it definitely couldn't be good! Suddenly, the larger figure turned it's head towards the ponies – it was looking right at them!

Everyone at the window dropped down from outside eyesight, with the exception of Twilight and Kirby, the latter still looking outside and the former scowling at her friends' retreat.

"Did you see her, Twilight?" Apple Bloom asked, coming up to the purple mare's side, "Did you see..." she glanced outside, "Zecora?"

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack yelled, stomping a hoof on the floor, "I told ya never to say that name!

"Well, I saw her glance this way..." Said Twilight.

"Glance, evilly this way!" Pinkie "corrected".

"...and then the bunch of you started flipping out for no good reason."

"No good reason?!" Applejack repeated, sounding horribly offended. She pulled Apple Bloom to her side, "Ya call pertectin' your kin no good reason?! Why, as soon as my sister saw Zecora ridin' into town, she started shaking in her little horseshoes!"

"Did not!" Apple Bloom tried to deny.

"So I swept her up and brought her here."

"I walked here myself."

"Fer safe keeping."

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom whined, "I'm not a baby, I can take care of myself!"

Applejack leaned down and stared her sister in the face, cementing her authority, "Not from that creepy Zecora."

Fluttershy shuddered, "She's mysterious..."

"Sinister..." Rainbow Dash added.

"And spooky!" Pinkie finished, trying to make the word "spooky" sound, well, spooky. Twilight rolled her eyes and looked back outside, only to get crowded by her friends doing just the same.

The figure reached up to its head and pulled a hood down, revealing a gray, pony-like head covered in darker gray stripes, as well as a similarly colored mane that was in the shape of a disk of some sorts. The smaller figure didn't move.

Rarity scoffed, "Just look at those stripes, so garish."

Twilight glanced to the other unicorn, "She's a zebra."

"A WHAT?!" Everyone else blurted out, aside from Kirby.

"And the stripes aren't a fashion choice Rarity; they're what she was born with."

Rarity covered her mouth with her hoof, almost gagging at the thought of permanently having such jarring stripes in her mane.

"Born where?" Asked Applejack, "I've never seen a pony like that in these parts..." she began shivering, "'cept... her!"

"Well, she's not from around here," said Twilight as Spike walked into the kitchen, taking Kirby with him, "and she's not a pony. My books say zebras come from a far away land, but," she paused and looked back at Zecora, "I've never seen any in Ponyville. I wonder where she lives."

"That's just it." Applejack slowly managed to say, "She lives in the... the Everfree Forest."

Right as Applejack finished that statement, a loud, thunderous noise sounded, causing all but Twilight to jump and cower from the window. Twilight, however, knew what that sound was – Spike being a klutz in the kitchen.

"Spike!" Twilight called, receiving an apologetic response from the dragon.

"And the Everfree Forest just ain't natural." Applejack added, "The plants grow on their own."

"Animals care for themselves." Fluttershy added.

"And the clouds move all on their own!" Rainbow Dash added, sounding more distressed than Applejack or Fluttershy.

"And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil, uh, stuff!" Said Pinkie with slightly irritating speed, "Why she's so evil, I even wrote a song about her!"

"Here we go." Rainbow Dash muttered, already expressing her annoyance. Pinkie Pie took a big breath, annnnnnnnd....

"She's an evil enchantress and she does evil dances, and when you look deep in her eyes she will put you in trances! And what will she do? She'll mix up an evil brew, and she'll gobble you up in a big tasty stew! Sooooooo, watch out!" Pinkie held a menacing pose for that last line, breathing heavily from the abuse in her breath.

"Wow." Twilight flatly said, unsure of what to think of this... not so perfect performance, "Catchy."

"It's a work in progress." Said Pinkie proudly, dropping the pose. At that very moment, soft patting noises came from the kitchen. It was Kirby, clapping his stumpy hands together, "Aww, thanks Kirby."

"Really though, these are all just a bunch of gossip and rumors." Said Twilight, pacing around in the room, "Now, what exactly have any of you seen Zecora do?"

"Well..." Said Rainbow Dash, probably a little sooner than she was ready, "Once a month, she comes into Ponyville."

"Ooooh!" Twilight snarked.

"Then, she lurks by the stores." Said Rarity, prompting yet another snarky remark from Twilight.

"And then, she digs at the ground." Said Fluttershy, mimicking Zecora's movement.

"Good gracious!" Twilight cried in a false and sarcastic sense of terror, "I'm sorry, but how is any of that bad? Maybe she comes to town to visit?"

"Yeah, maybe she's trying to be neighborly?" Apple Bloom added, taking Twilight's side.

"And maybe she's not lurking by the stores, maybe she's going to them, lurk free! You know, to do some shopping?"

"Yeah, everypony likes to shop! You know what I think–?" Apple Bloom tried, being interrupted by her sister.

"Apple Bloom, hush and let the big ponies talk." Was Applejack's method of stopping her. Apple Bloom pouted and walked away, muttering something under her breath.

"Well, what about digging at the ground?" Asked Rainbow Dash, "You gotta admit, that's weird!"

Fluttershy turned to her winged friend with a hurt look on her face, "What if... what if she's digging for innocent creatures?"

"I'm sure there's a perfect explanation for everything Zecora does," Twilight snapped, "and if anypony were actually brave enough to approach her, she'd find out the truth!"

"Yeah, and get cursed while she's at it!" Said Rainbow Dash.

"And gobbled up in a big tasty stew!" Pinkie added to Rainbow Dash's defense.

Twilight groaned, "You ponies are being ridiculous!"

"Well, I heard Zecora eats hay!" Pinkie retorted. Twilight's head recoiled back from the shock of how stupid that sentence was.

"Pinkie, I eat hay! You eat hay!"

"Yeah, but I heard it's the evil way she eats hay!"

"Hey!" Applejack nearly jumped in distress, "Where's Apple Bloom?!"

Fluttershy gasped, "The door's open!"

"She went outside!" Rarity cried.

"Zecora's still out there!" Rainbow Dash cried with her.

Applejack took off outside, "That silly little filly, I told her to stay put!" The rest of the ponies began following suit, racing outside on the hopes of finding Apple Bloom.

Twilight stopped at the door, "Spike! You and Kirby stay here in case Apple Bloom comes back!"

"Will do!" Spike called.

Running at her absolute fastest, Applejack couldn't keep herself from muttering, praying actually, for the safety of her little sister, "Please don't get taken by Zecora, please don't get taken by Zecora, please don't get taken by Zecora..."

Apple Bloom knelt down beside a bush, poking her head out from the side. She just saw Zecora and the other figure enter the mouth of the forest – the Everfree Forest. Not much longer now. She leaped from the bush and softly walked down the path, but once she walked passed the first tree she had to stop. She looked at her surroundings, the tall, twisted trees, the lack of light further down the path. She knew of the dangers of the Everfree Forest, all fillies were told freaky tales either from their teachers or their parents. Even her big sister, Applejack, was scared of the Forest. But she was also scared of Zecora, and Zecora couldn't be a bad person. Applejack's fears were nothing but bad hunches. Apple Bloom straightened her stance, making herself seem prouder and braver. She wasn't scared of Zecora, nor was she scared of this forest! The mysteries around Zecora, she's going to find them out herself!

She continued following the zebra and her partner deeper into the Everfree Forest, dodging strange blue flowers on the way. They had to be getting close to Zecora's home now, wherever it may be. Just a little bit longer and she'll be able to tell her sister just how much of a scaredy-cat she's been!

"Apple Bloom!" a voice called. That was Applejack's voice! Already?! Apple Bloom snapped around, facing her sister and her sisters friends on the other side of the patch of flowers.

"You get back here this instant!" Applejack yelled, stomping her hoof. Apple Bloom didn't comply. She turned back to Zecora, a few questions on her mind, but then she saw an image that nearly made her jump out of her coat. Her lungs had nearly burst from her heavy, frightened gasp. She saw the other figure's face, its cold metal face. Glaring right at her, right into her heart, were its glowing yellow eyes. Enraged, evil eyes! The figure didn't move. It just stood there, freezing her in frightened apprehension and fearful anticipation.

"Beware, beware you pony-folk!" Zecora called, talking in a rhyme, "Those leaves of blue are not a joke!"

Apple Bloom felt something come up from under her, but she was too stricken with fear to squeal at Applejack scooping her up with her head, resting her on her back.

"You keep your crazy mumbo-jumbo to yerself, ya hear?!" Applejack yelled, trying to sound intimidating behind her own healthy does of shaky fear.

"Yeah! Was that supposed to scare us?! Rainbow Dash yelled with higher confidence.

Zecora began stepping back, as well as her partner, repeating herself to the ponies as they disappeared in the trees, "Beware! Beware!"

"Yeah! Right back at you Zecora!" Rainbow Dash yelled back, "You and your lame cohort are the ones who better beware!"

"And you," Applejack glared at Apple Bloom, "why couldn't you listen to yer big sister?"

Apple Bloom found it hard to conjure words to apologize with. She just kept staring at the distance, expecting that... thing... to jump out at her.

"Who knows what kind of nasty curse Zecora coulda just put on you?"

"Just like in my song!" Pinkie pointed out, "Evil enchantress! With the dances! And the trances!"

Twilight groaned and shook her head, "You guys, there's no such thing as curses!"

"Pffff, that's interesting to hear," Rainbow Dash snarked, "coming from Miss Magicpants herself."

"My magic, real magic, comes from within," Twilight retorted; "it's a skill you're born with. Curses are artificial; fake magic. It's conjured with potions and incantations, all smoke and mirrors meant to scare. Curses have no real power, they're just an old pony-tale."

Applejack stepped over to her bookworm friend, staring her sharply in the eyes, "Just you wait Twilight. Yer gonna learn that some pony-tales really are true."

The kitchen was in an utter disaster, a messy catastrophe to say the least. Dining and cooking utensils scattered around, remains of devoured delights, and two extreme omnivores at the center of it all. Well, at least one was in the center.

Kirby was utilizing the suction power in his mouth to clean the floor of the uneaten food, food that was either sprayed around during the making or dropped during the eating. There was hardly any space on the tile floor that wasn't blemished, at least until Kirby got to it.

Spike on the other hand was hardly able to help. He was lying against a cabinet, lightly moaning out of pain and clutching his bloated, aching belly. Between he and the puffball, he indubitably had the shorter endurance of the two, and he had been regretting his eagerness to dig into Kirby's creations. It wasn't that it was bad, it's just that it was too good, and now the poor dragon sat painfully on what felt like the verge of exploding.

Kirby stopped his cleaning, noticing Spike's dilemma, "Yu rinne?"

"Huh?" Spike's head perked up, "I'll be fine. Owwww." He burped loudly, shooting a burst of green flame from his mouth that fortunately didn't catch anything, but this spiked his pain and he almost started crying.

Kirby frowned, "I sorry."

"Aaaohhh, it's ok; it was my dumb mistake." Spike groaned, "But I just couldn't help it. But how can you still be hungry? You ate way more than I did even before I got this... ooohhh, tummy ache."

Kirby shrugged. He wish he had an answer. Suddenly, the front door opened and Spike's name was called, then another voice called Spike and Kirby's name. Kirby left the kitchen and, much to his joy, ran into Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy.

"Heya Kirby!" Pinkie chirped, "Where's Spike?"

"Oh, Spike, what did you do?" Twilight asked as she entered the kitchen, sounding as though she was a mother and her child did something wrong.

"Overdid it... that's what I did." Spike answered, trying to lighten up his situation.

Twilight looked over the mess, "Is this all you two did while we were gone? Pig out?"

Spike used Twilight's legs as support as he stood up, "I wasn't planning on it, but then Kirby started making food and...aaoohh, I couldn't stop."

"Kirby can bake?!" Pinkie squealed. She ran right into the puffball's face, "Kirby, could you please stay with me for the day?! I have so many tricks and delights that I want to show you and I wanna see how good you are!"

"But Pinkie, Kirby lives–" Twilight tried to say.

"Oh, there's no reason he can't stay with you, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, or Rarity." Fluttershy reassured, smiling, "If any of you wanted to have him over, you could have asked me."

Pinkie gasped, "SO THAT'S A "YES"?!"

"If, if he wants." Said Fluttershy.

Pinkie's smile, inches away from Kirby's face, nearly jumped right off of her own face. Kirby smiled and nodded, but he didn't even get to finish nodding before Pinkie leaped in the air and started rambling.

"AWESOME! This is going to be so fun! We're going to bake cupcakes and cakes and pound cakes and funnel cakes and muffins and cookies, and it's going to be awesome and delicious!" She made a chaotic turn to Twilight and Fluttershy, "And we'll share it with you guys and Rarity and Rainbow and Applejack!" She gasped, "We could have a picnic with the sweets! And–!" Twilight ran up and stuffed her hoof into Pinkie's mouth, silencing her.

"Ok, Pinkie, we get it, you two are going to bake delicious treats." Said Twilight, releasing Pinkie.

"Uhh, Pinkie? I don't think that's a great idea." Spike warned, barely managing to climb onto Twilight, who briefly winced at Spike's extra weight, "I mean, look what happened to me. Kirby makes his food irresistible."

"And that's why we'll share!" Pinkie chirped, immune to the warning.

"Well, whatever you two end up making, I'm sure it'll be delicious." Said Twilight, heading for the door with Fluttershy, "Have fun you two." Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Kirby said their goodbyes to each other as Twilight and Fluttershy left, just barely late enough to hear Pinkie ask Kirby what he wanted to make next.

6. Bridle Gossip - Part 2

6. Bridle Gossip - Part 2

King Dedede's loyal servant had long since abandoned the river, having finally, finally, captured some of those frustrating fish. It took him until just before dusk, but now he had three decent sized fish, each one of them dangling from the pole of his spear as he ran through the forest. As small as Waddle Dee was, the ecstatic hunter was making a major ruckus in the otherwise quiet forest, kicking up leaves and making loud thumps with every step. He knew that he should be quieter – he had no idea what could lurk in this forest – but he had so much good news for King Dedede! He needed to know!

Waddle Dee could now just barely make out the camp around the many trees, but as he drew closer to the round fort of twigs and small branches, he began hearing voices from that direction, and the voices themselves grew louder and clearer. He slowed down to a near stop; one of those voices was definitely Dedede, and with his booming signature he sounded furious. Waddle Dee still couldn't make out what Dedede was saying, but the king's voice had grown so loud and so angry that he could have heard him a good twenty yards or so ago! It made his heart sink a little to barely hear any amount of silence, or the other voice for that matter, in between the king's outbursts. Waddle Dee hurried over to the fort with only the smallest trace of the thought – what was he yelling at?!

"Do you always have to escalate things?" Meta Knight asked it what almost sounded like a groan, unwrapping his cape from around his body. He stood still on the inner edge of a relatively large circle of piled up pieces of tree branches that stood up to at least twice his height, with an open space behind him serving as an opening. The towering King Dedede stood on the other end, the space divided by a fairly small fireplace in the center – the walls were far enough away from the flames to be out of danger. Dedede had been venting his frustration at Meta Knight for easily a few minutes now, and Meta Knight was getting sick of it, despite his otherwise good patience. He didn't come here to get yelled at, even though it was expected.

King Dedede just scoffed, "Well, nothing here is cooperating with me!"

"Aggression is no way to get help, Dedede." Meta Knight retorted, "These, 'ponies', whatever they may be, are not going to react to you as your waddle dees would. You do realize that this is not Popstar, right?"

"I don't need to hear that from you!" Dedede snapped, shooting Meta Knight a harsh glare. A tense silence hung over them for a few seconds, but Dedede did not need words to know what Meta Knight was thinking right now, "Waddle Dee already ran his mouth about it."

"And you refuse to accept to truth of the matter, I see."

"Even you thought this place was Dreamland!"

"And it turns out it's not."

"Sire! What's going on?!" Cried a voice from outside the camp. Both Meta Knight and Dedede knew who it was – Waddle Dee – and the new arrival's running stopped cold at Meta Knight's piercing stare.

"Oh..." Waddle Dee muttered stiffly, almost petrified by the pair of yellow eyes that he never got used to seeing.

"So, did'ya get anything?" Dedede demanded, tapping his foot. Waddle Dee's body straightened up immediately and all of his attention moved to his king. Before he knew it, Dedede had snatched his spear and tore the largest fish off, mumbling something about it being "good enough".

"Patience proved to be useful to you today, didn't it." Meta Knight pointed out to Waddle Dee. It took a second for Waddle Dee to react, being caught unready for the compliment.

"Yeah," Waddle Dee agreed uncomfortably, "I guess it did."

"Your king here could learn from you." Meta Knight added. Dedede scoffed at the comment, but didn't say anything, popping a stick from the wall and began pushing it through the fish. Waddle Dee thanked him for it, but still felt a nagging sensation of awkwardness that he couldn't pinpoint.

"What are you planning anyway, Meta Knight?" Dedede asked with a sour voice.

"I'm looking for Kirby." Replied Meta Knight, "Waddle Dee told me he was with the ponies."

The king scoffed, shooting a suspicious glare at Waddle Dee, "You were told right. That puffball is with those fiends."

"Are there any that he's usually with?"

Dedede shook his head and groaned, "I first saw him with a yellow one with wings, and some pink one held a party for him a few days ago, or something like that. Then before I know it he's got, like, five or six of them fighting me."

"You fought these creatures?" Asked Meta Knight.

The king waved his hand and scoffed, "Mostly just Kirby, but those ponies can fight."

"They... they beat us badly." Waddle Dee added, almost whispering, as though he was embarrassed to say it. Meta Knight tapped the lower middle section of his mask in brief contemplation.

"I encountered a group of ponies earlier today." He said, "There was a pink one and a winged yellow one among them."

Dedede leaned back and threw his free arm into the air as though he was congratulating Meta Knight, "Well, would ya believe that? You ran into the same darn ponies I did."

"But Kirby was not with them."

"Does it matter? I can assure you any of those six ponies has him."

"Probably, and it's no coincidence that both of us encountered them."

"So, what do you think we should do?" Waddle Dee asked, directing the question to Meta Knight.

"The two of you, for now, should focus on surviving." Said Meta Knight, beginning to walk away.

Dedede's position drooped to a hunch, and he raised an eyebrow at the brevity, "And you?"

Meta Knight gave no answer. He left through the space between the walls of twigs and his cape somehow vanished and was replaced by a pair of bat-like wings in the blink of an eye. Before either Dedede or Waddle Dee could say a word, Meta Knight had already made himself long gone, flying off into the distance.

"That guy..." Dedede muttered.

"Did he tell you about an orchard of apples he found?" Waddle Dee asked.

"What did you say?" Dedede asked with venom in his voice, slowly turning his head. Waddle Dee shifted himself away from his king in fear, which only made Dedede lean towards him to intimidate him in a cold stare, "What is he telling you and not me?"

"Well! Well, he-he's been with a zebra named 'Zecora' since the four of us got here!" Waddle Dee stammered.

"Meta Knight never mentioned that..." Said Dedede, squinting his eyes and moving even closer.

"She- she was with him. When he ran into me."

"Right, and what about this 'orchard of apples'? Hmm?" Dedede's nose was inches from Waddle Dee's face, and Waddle Dee himself felt his stomach dropping, praying that the king would be satisfied with the answers.

"He told me that he found a lot of apple trees, near the village."

"Where?"

"I don't know!" Waddle Dee squealed, "I think he said south-west or something!"

Dedede continued to stare his servant down, but he soon grinned and turned away from Waddle Dee, who sighed in relief. Dedede pulled his fish away from the fire, judging that it was roasted enough. Waddle Dee did just the same, but he couldn't stop glancing at the king in worry. That smile – he's worked with the king long enough to know what he was doing. Thinking. Thinking, even if only a little, about a new objective. Waddle Dee knew, beyond a reasonable doubt, that this new objective involved that orchard, and that the result couldn't be anything good. H almost voiced Meta Knight's warning earlier, but the king wouldn't listen and he knew it. All he could do now was wait.

"Ugh, what a dream..."

Twilight Sparkle groggily lifted her head off her pillow, only just now waking from a thoughtful night that kept her mind awake. She rubbed her eyes and glanced over to her window, but immediately looked in the opposite direction, for her eyes weren't adjusted and ready for the morning sun. She silently watched Spike sleep soundly in his little bed, which was really a basket fitted with a pillow. It usually made her grin to see the baby dragon look this peaceful, but not now; her irritated mood wasn't reflecting it, instead keeping her face in a slight scowl.

"Curses, shmurses..." The unicorn muttered to herself, getting out of bed. That was the exact cause of her troubled sleep: Zecora and her "curses". The entire situation with Zecora, straight from her first sight of the zebra to the last, plagued her thoughts relentlessly. She still couldn't believe that her friends, all of them, had that much prejudice in them. Twilight saw nothing particularly wrong with Zecora. She wouldn't deny that the zebra was strange, but that was just it: she's not from ponyville, so of course she'll act different than what's expected. Heck, Zecora's not even a pony! But what really got to Twilight was the fact that all of her friends believed, without even taking a second thought, that Zecora was an evil enchantress that did evil dances, as Pinkie so ridiculously put it.

Twilight shook her head and looked at herself in the mirror. Despite her sour awakening, she couldn't help but giggle at her reflection. Forget about Pinkie, her mane was the ridiculous thing here. She knew tossing and turning would do that, but her mane never looked this messy before.

"Maybe Zecora cursed my hair." Twilight said to herself with a chuckle. She glanced down at a brush that was laid on her desk and used her horn's magic to lift and brush her hair. But the brush didn't budge – it wasn't even coated in the pink aura of her magic! Twilight raised an eyebrow and tried again, but each attempt lead to the same result: nothing.

"Why—?" Twilight's question was cut short as she took a sharp gasp. Out of the corner of her eye, in the mirror, she saw it. Her horn, bent flaccid and hanging over her forehead, decorated with blue dots all over. The unicorn nearly gagged at the sight, but she couldn't stop looking at it.

"Or- or she cursed my horn!" Twilight shrieked. The sudden shake of her head caused the horn to droop further down, putting itself clear in her frontal vision as an obstructive, wavy point. She looked around her room in panic, anxiously tapping her hooves on the floor. She stormed out the door of the room, rushing down the stairs into the main library.

She scrambled around the circular room, which aside from the stairs and two door ways was completely covered in bookshelves, shoving random books around and out of their places while only giving the title on their spines' a glance, if even that. Her rushed panic to find a book relating to her horn problem left at least a few poor ones on the floor.

Spike slowly descended the stairs as the unicorn made her mess, groggily rubbing his eyes and yawning deeply, which brought Twilight to call him down.

"What's going on, Twilight?" The baby dragon asked, almost sounding annoyed. He paused to look around the sty that Twilight was turning the room to, "Why in the world are you trashing the place?"

"Spike, come down here!" Twilight called as she knocked another book off the shelf. Spike only shook his head and sighed, not even speeding up.

"I only just woke up." He complained, reaching the bottom of the stairs and approaching Twilight, "What in Equestria...?" He suddenly trailed off to a pause and a frozen stance, his jaw nearly dropping at the sight of Twilight's dangling horn.

"I need you to help me look through these books and find anything about this!" Twilight flicked her horn with the hoof she was moving books with. Spike's surprised position quickly faded the more he saw Twilight's horn flopping about. Watching it was almost like having a feather tickling his side, and there was only so much he could do about the urge to laugh out loud. A quivering grin was as far as he let it go, but he wasn't far from breaking, and Twilight got the message. "Spike!" She called in a much louder tone than before. Her voice snapped Spike out of it and he straightened up, losing his grin and doing exactly what she asked.

Spike picked up a book that was left in the wake of Twilight's path yet untouched by it, called "Common Conditions & Cures". The title left Spike wondering how Twilight could miss it, but he shrugged and started flipping through the pages. He came to frown at the books contents, none of them having anything to do with Twilight's ailment. Then again, a normally hard structure on the body suddenly becoming soft isn't exactly a "common condition". He set the book back in the shelf and kept looking through the books that Twilight was tossing around.

"No, no, no..." Twilight muttered as she worked her way left, saying "no" as she tapped each book with her hoof as though she was naming it. Every book touched by her was knocked over, left to be filtered and actually checked by Spike, "There has to be a real reason for this." She flipped through more books, finally reaching the end of the shelf. While there were still plenty more books on the upper shelves, it made Twilight groan to go from one end to the other without finding a single book that looked like it had the answer. She raised her voice, "There has to be a real reason for this!" and felt her horn with her hoof, which was too similar to pressing against the underside of a frog, "A sickness? An allergy?!"

"A curse." Spike bluntly said, his eyes running across the words of a green book. In that moment of Spike's answer, Twilight's apprehension seemed to have faded, to make room for her to return to her cynical form.

"I said a real reason." Twilight said just as bluntly, "You know, something that points to something real? Let me see that." Twilight leaned over to Spike and read the title on the spine. She shook her head and shifted her tone to that of a teacher giving a lecture, "'Supernaturals'...? Spike, the word "supernatural" refers to ghosts and spirits and zombies. And they are just as make-believe as curses. This book's just a bunch of hooey!"

Spike frowned and closed the book, "But what if you're wrong, Twilight? What if this really is a curse?"

"It can't be a curse, Spike." Twilight reassured, her voice becoming tense, "It's probably some weird disease that just happens to look really weird. Maybe I picked it up from the Everfree Forest, maybe I'm having a reaction to something, but I can assure you that this is not—!"

"Ippfff fa pfurffss!" A muffled voice shrieked from behind. Both Spike and Twilight quickly turned to the door, which stood wide open for Pinkie Pie and Kirby to storm right in. Twilight's jaw dropped at the sight – Pinkie's tongue was stuck completely out, pressed in place by both lips and covered in the same blue dots that Twilight had on her horn.

"Pinkie..." Twilight only managed to say in a shocked murmur, "what, what happened to you?!"

"Pffsee pfut pa pfurffss pff pfee!" Pinkie spoke, or rather, attempted to speak. The only speech she could make sounded more like short raspberries than actual words.

"She maut phi-vek hoz!" Kirby blurted out in a loud panic, waving his arms around, "She speak not!"

"Woah, slow down, Kirby." Said Spike.

"She mouth move not! Not speak!" Kirby tried again, picking his words more wisely.

"Pinkie, you can't move your mouth?" Twilight asked. Pinkie just shook her head. Twilight softly gasped as her stomach sank with the realization that Pinkie was basically in the same situation she was in. Those blue dots were just like the ones on her horn – it must have been the exact same affliction.

Suddenly, a loud thud noise came from the front of the library, loud enough to make all four of them flinch. They all watched the front entrance as another thud came, and then another...

"It's Zecora!" a voice yelled from outside. Immediately after the voice came another thud, and before they knew to duck a blue pegasus soared through the doorway and right over their heads, crashing into the bookshelf and knocking all of the untouched books on top of her.

"Rainbow?" Twilight asked. Almost as soon as she asked, Rainbow Dash leaped out of the pile of books into a very unstable hover. The pegasus constantly leaned from side to side and could barely hold a consistent elevation. Twilight gasped with one quick examination of Rainbow Dash's wings – they were upside down! The sight made her feel like her chest was caving in, not because her friend's wings were upside down, but because they were just upside down. In no way were they twisted or stretched into that position; it looked as if it were natural.

"Zecora did it!" Rainbow Dash shouted, trying her hardest to maintain balance in the air, "She slapped us all with a curse! Just look at Applejack and Rarity!" Twilight turned towards the door again and saw Apple Bloom, Fluttershy, and Rarity – or what looked like Rarity – storming in. Whatever it was that was identified as Rarity was a large mass of white hair, with purple locks where her mane and tail would have been; it was like she was a walking bush.

"Rainbow Dash is right, what else could explain this?" Said Rarity. She blew the thick locks of hair out of her face, just enough that everyone else could see it for a split second.

"And I'd hate to say 'I told ya so', Twilight, but I told ya so!" An extremely high pitched voice shouted. Both Twilight and Spike cocked an eye at Apple Bloom, for the voice came from here, but the two of them knew that the voice was not hers. Despite the pitch difference, they would recognize that southern drawl anywhere.

Apple Bloom turned to the side, revealing on her back an extremely small pony, almost as small as her ears and completely coated in blue spots. Both Twilight and Spike couldn't keep their jaws from dropping.

"Applejack?!" They both shrieked, taking a couple steps back.

"It is a curse I tells ya!" The tiny pony, Applejack, yelled, "A curse!"

Twilight nearly lost the ability to speak; this was all too much to let sink it at once. A fantasy story is what this sounded like – six friends cursed by an evil witch, and now they must fight to remove the curse. The dissonance of realism made Twilight's forehead sting a little, but that might have just been her horn. She glanced over to Fluttershy, only to be further baffled by the fact that she looked just fine. No inverted wings, no overblown hair, not even any blue dots.

"But Fluttershy seems just fine." Twilight pointed out.

"Of course, there doesn't seem to be a thing wrong with her." Rarity sarcastically agreed.

Twilight slowly approached Fluttershy, as though she were approaching a scared wild animal, "Fluttershy?" Fluttershy barely looked at Twilight, dipping her head down and trying to hide in her mane, "Are you okay?" Fluttershy softly shook her head squeamishly, "Is there something wrong with you?" Fluttershy glanced back at Twilight and nodded, tucking her lips into her mouth. With the idea that Fluttershy was refusing to speak, Twilight raised her tone to a mildly aggressive snark, "Would you care to tell us?"

"Good gravy girl!" Applejack yelled, leaping off of Apple Bloom and onto the book table in the center of the room, "Show her what's wrong with you!"

Fluttershy almost seemed to stop breathing for a moment as her eyes darted off to everyone in the room, all of which had their eyes on her. She took a very deep breath and turned her head away from her friends, fearing embarrassment that would last for months. Without anymore second thoughts she spoke, but all of the softness in her voice was nonexistent. The airy tone, the lack of assertion, all of it gone, completely replaced by a crude joke on what could be considered a voice. Her new voice was extremely deep and extremely gruff, more than enough to make any stallion sound like her regular voice in comparison. Her tone was shifted into what could best be described as a passive attack, having a sharp and obvious form but lacking enough aggression that it could at least be compared to the way she would normally talk.

"I don't want to talk about it."

Twilight was completely floored out of having any response at all; she just continued to watch Fluttershy as though she was still waiting to see her problem. Spike, on the other hand, completely lost it, doubling over into hysterical laughter.

"This is hilarious!" Spike managed to exclaim out of giggles, "I say you all should be thanking Zecora!"

"This is no joke, Spike!" Twilight snapped, seemingly forgetting Fluttershy's problem, "Now look through these books and help me find a cure!" Spike groaned and rolled his eyes and walked back to the bookshelf to continue the search.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash shrieked as she nearly hit the ground, "I think we'll find a cure at that witch's place!"

"I agree with Dash!" Said Applejack, "We'll go to Zecora's and force her to remove this hex!"

"How many times must I say it?" Twilight asked in a groan, "It is not a curse, it is not a hex!"

"I'll have to disagree—" Rarity started to say before Rainbow Dash cut in.

"And what is it then, Twilight?!" Rainbow Dash yelled, trying to hover closer to her, "Tell me, magic-pants, what explains this?!"

"I don't know, Rainbow!" Twilight snapped back, "That's what me and Spike were trying to find out!"

"How about you just face the facts and admit that you're wrong and that Zecora is the evil enchantress that she is?"

"Because it's a ridiculous thought; it's the things of fairy tales."

"Right, like what you're seeing in front of you is not out of a story. I don't care what you say, Twilight, it's time we pony-up and confront Zecora! And that freaky little monster of hers! Come on girls, are you with me?!"

Pinkie Pie blew another raspberry and nodded her head in agreement.

"And I as well." Said Rarity. Fluttershy retreated back into her mane.

"I don't know. It seems awfully dangerous." She said.

"And Kirby should come too!" Rainbow Dash added.

Fluttershy gasped, "No, no no no! We can't drag him into this!"

"I'm with Fluttershy," Said Twilight stepping in front of Kirby as though to protect him, "Kirby has nothing to do with this."

"You saw how he handled that big guy from before." Rainbow Dash replied.

"We already have one child too many involved." Twilight growled.

Rainbow Dash looked over Twilight, "What do you think, Applejack?" Rainbow Dash's eyes visibly opened up at the lack of a response, "Applejack?"

Rarity gasped and lifted her hooves, "Did somepony step on her?!"

"Wait a minute, Apple Bloom's gone too." Said Twilight.

"I bet they went after Zecora." Said Rainbow Dash.

"Then we better go find them." Replied Twilight, who already started heading for the door, "Spike, stay here and look for a cure. Let's go, girls." She, Pinkie, and Rarity all stormed out at once, but Fluttershy stayed with Rainbow Dash, trying to fight against Kirby going with them. Rainbow Dash didn't pay any attention to her though, instead only nodding at Kirby before making a difficult flight out of the library.

"But—" Fluttershy started to say, but any word that would have come out of her mouth were lost when she felt the puffball climb onto her back.

"Len'Wi go!" Kirby squeaked, pointing out to the door. Fluttershy glanced back at him with a frown, but she sighed and followed her friends outside. The will to protest was just gone. Rainbow Dash did have a point, but it was still a point that hurt Fluttershy's comfort.

'This forest again...'

Apple Bloom cringed at the thought of going back inside it. She intended to just run right through the forest with no problem, but anxiety was much stronger than she ever knew. Try as she might to stay focused, she couldn't stop her eyes from darting off at different directions. She could almost swear that something was out there with her; she could have sworn that bush moved, that that tree over there looked different from when she last saw it. The foal closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking back to the reason she came here. Watching all of her sisters argue over their afflictions and Zecora, she couldn't shake the newfound feeling that none of that would have happened had she not gone after Zecora. Whether she was the evil enchantress they said she was or not, she had to know something about their conditions, maybe even the cure, and even if she didn't, something just had to be done.

Just as she began to make her next step, Apple Bloom felt something rustling in her mane...

"Hold it right there!" Yelled a high pitched voice from just above her head. Apple Bloom glanced up in her mane and saw Applejack staring right down at her face, "You had best be turnin' yourself around right now, li'l missy!"

"Hm, hm." Apple Bloom grunted, shaking her head.

"'Hm, hm'?! Don't you 'hm, hm' me! You can't dis–!"

"Applejack, I gotta fix this." Apple Bloom ducked her head down and shook her sister right out of her mane. Applejack barely managed to land on her hooves and shot Apple Bloom a furious glare.

"Apple Bloom!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, "You can't disobey a dee-rect order from your big sister! Pick me back up!"

Apple Bloom chuckled, "Sorry, Applejack. I'm the big sister now." Applejack jerked back as though the statement had kicked her square in the chest and knocked the breath right out of her. It only took a moment's notice for her to regain herself, and Apple Bloom couldn't take but only a few steps around her to hear the growing fury.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack growled with gritted teeth, now changing to an open scream, "You come back here! Right this instant!" Apple Bloom not even acknowledge her, and she stomped her hoof and screamed even louder, "Big Macintosh is gonna hear about this!" Watching Apple Bloom just continue on her merry way only made Applejack want to scream harder, but the pony tried to calm herself down with a deep breath. She began to head back the way Apple Bloom came, taking a second to glance back at Apple Bloom's direction. She wasn't even in sight anymore, either having turned to a different path or been swallowed by the darkness and mist, "Well, there ain't nothing I can do here." She said in an 'oh-well' tone, "Apple Bloom has no idea what trouble she'll be in when she gets home."

Just at that moment, rapid thumping noises started sounding off in the distance – back where she was about to head to – and her ears twitched at them. She turned to the noise so hard that it almost hurt her neck, but the sight alone lifted a great deal of weight off her chest.

"Hey! Down here!" Applejack cried, repeating herself over and over again while jumping in place in order to get the attention of the oncoming cavalry: Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and even Kirby.

"Applejack!" Twilight shrieked as she forced herself and the others to a complete stop, "What happened? Is Apple Bloom here?"

"Thank Celestia y'all came!" Applejack said as she ran over to Twilight's hoof. The unicorn knelt down and allowed Applejack to climb onto her head, "We got to get to Zecora's, pronto!"

Rarity flicked the hair off her face and asked worriedly, "Apple Bloom's there?"

"Who Celestia?" Kirby asked.

"Not now, Kirby." Twilight softly snapped.

"Of course Apple Bloom will be there!" Shouted Applejack, "Now let's get a move on before something horrible happens to her!"

"Woah, heads up!" Cried Rainbow Dash just as she swooped over her friends' heads, close enough for all of them to feel the wind. They all managed to duck under the pegasus, but Applejack finally decided that she had had enough.

"Rainbow, why can't you just walk?!"

The Charth

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Screw it. I'm just going to post some of Chapter 7. It's still not complete, but there's a reasonable enough break, and you guys need something. Besides, I think part of my problem is the fact that I'm not seeing as many people review Antithesis. I think seeing less people interested has left me less interested. Only one way to find out.

7. The Charth

"Ain't nothin' gonna stop me." Apple Bloom muttered to herself with up most confidence, quickly walking through the Everfree Forest's main path like it was an accomplishment. Every step made the forest less and less "scary" and her sister's fear of the forest seem more ridiculous. There was not a single thing wrong with it! Sure the abundance of trees made it dark and somewhat tricky to see, but Applejack and her friends made the forest seem like it was some sort of chaos world. What was their problem? As far as Apple Bloom could tell, the Everfree Forest was just a forest.

"Jus' a li'l bit more now." Apple Bloom continued to tell herself, "I'll show Applejack that there's nutt'n wrong with Zecora or the Everfree Forest."

And she was getting so close to doing so too! Much to her excitement, the foal could see through the trees what appeared to be lights shining through carved out windows. That had to be Zecora's place, who else could it belong to? Ecstatic, Apple Bloom smiled and picked up her pace.

"You, child!"

The voice was loud, deep, and demanding. The sudden and sharp attack in the sound had to have been the scariest part. Apple Bloom flinched at the voice and stopped dead in her tracks, both startled by the voice and looking around to find it.

Up there, in the trees! A pair glowing yellow eyes, staring down at her – the same metal-faced monster that was with Zecora! Apple Bloom didn't think to wait and see what it wanted. She panicked and sharply turned a corner, without any care or thought of where she was heading. All that mattered to her was getting away from that... thing.

The poor foal had no track of how long she had been running. Seconds? Minutes? It could have even been an hour! She soon brought herself to a halt and uncomfortably checked her new surroundings in creepy yet assuring silence. She had to have lost that monster by now, and thus she took a deep and relieved sigh. But this relief was cut short by one detail that had slipped under her radar – she's off the path she should be on. All of her joints tensed at the thought of her options: going through the bushes, for who knows what else could be lurking, turning back, which would run her right into that monster, or keep going ahead, which would throw her even further into the middle of nowhere. She didn't have a chance to think about this choices though, for she heard a noise; the sound of rustling leaves, coming from behind her. The monster was still after her!

"Oh no..." Apple Bloom muttered in a choked whine. Out of sheer instinct, she shifted into full gear and stormed off as fast as her little legs could carry her, screaming at the top of her lungs, "APPLEJACK!" All doubts were gone now; she couldn't stop running. Even if she passed a good hiding spot, she couldn't stop. Even if she escaped the forest, she couldn't stop. Even if her legs gave out right then and there, she couldn't stop. All she could do was run, run, and run.

All of a sudden, the consistency of the ground began to change under her hooves. Before long Apple Bloom found herself having to pull her legs harder to keep moving through the dirt as it became muddier and muddier. Not much longer after that and she was knee deep in what seemed like black water, and it was only getting deeper. She continued through the muck, but hesitated to go any further when she felt the water reach the base of her neck. She looked out at the rest of the lake – she couldn't even see where it ended through the darkness caused by the abundance of trees. Any further and she'll have to swim. Apple Bloom glanced back the way she came and shook her head. No way was she going to face that monster. Nothing in the Everfree Forest could be scarier than that unnatural thing. She looked back ahead and took a deep breath and dove under the water, kicking her hooves against the bottom of the lake as fast as she could with explosive splashes. Any animal inside the Forest, including that monster, would be able to detect her with no effort, but she didn't care. She didn't care how far she swam or for how long she swam. Just so long as she was away from that monster, she was fine.

Her head burst out of the water and her lungs nearly popped with the massive breath she took. Kicking her legs to stay afloat, she looked around the edges of the lake for any sign of that monst—

"Are you through with fleeing?"

Apple Bloom nearly squealed at the sound of that voice. The same voice from before – deep, powerful, and seemingly naturally intimidating, but its tone sounded like that of an adult who's had enough with their child's shenanigans. She instinctively turned to the voice, and in more surprise than terror, the voice came from the monster, standing on top of a branch of a tree in the water, watching down on her in a perfectly still stance. At least, she thought it was standing; it was too dark for her to see anything other than its eyes, though the shine of its metallic face was occasionally visible.

"Hurry up and get out of that water." The monster continued without moving. For whatever the reason, Apple Bloom felt a lot less tense than she probably should have been. She couldn't explain it, but hearing the monster talk made her feel a lot more comfortable, probably because of its calm tone.

"Apple Bloom!" Yelled many distinct voices. Apple Bloom's head snapped straight ahead, at the end of the water. Never before had the foal been so happy to see her sister or her sister's friends. Right at the sight of Applejack, even if she was very small and standing on Twilight Sparkle's head, Apple Bloom enthusiastically swam towards the edge of the lake, though she had a good distance to cross. She wasn't even paying attention to Applejack yelling at her to get out of the water; she just wanted to get out of the forest!

"Ponies!" Shouted the monster. Its voice alone made the six ponies and Kirby nearly jump out of their skin, but Kirby was especially dumbfounded, for he recognized that voice.

"Meta Knight?!" Kirby blurted out as the monster, Meta Knight, flew over the water and landed right on the bank of the lake just in front of the ponies – an action that made them all jump back at sudden shock.

"What is that thing?" Fluttershy asked in a nearly failing voice.

"That's that monster that was with Zecora!" Rainbow Dash pointed out, bending her legs as she was ready to pounce.

"You're those ponies from before." Said Meta Knight in a demanding tone, raising a hand in a halting gesture, "Curiosity beats me; why is this child wandering this dangerous forest alone?"

"An' what makes you think we just let her come here?!" Applejack growled, leaning over Twilight's dangling horn to the point that she was about to fall, "She came here on her own and we're takin' her home!"

"Then do so." Meta Knight said as he stepped aside. The ponies and Kirby all glared at him suspiciously, not talking

Kirby squeezed his way passed the ponies and brought himself face to face with Meta Knight, demanding that he explain himself with a sort of enthusiasm that made the puffball seem like he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Twilight took Applejack and Rarity to the bank of the river, to make sure that the still very distant Apple Bloom was safe, while Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash stuck with Kirby, to make sure that he was safe.

"Poy yu'eh kumen tel hit'frav?" Kirby slowly asked with strong tension in his voice. Meta Knight stayed silent and stared into Kirby's eyes for a moment. If there were any facial features to speak of, even ones as simple as Kirby's, one would be able to make a guess for themselves what he was thinking, but his thoughts and reasons remained forever hidden mysteriously behind that piece of armor.

"Doing a favor for Zecora." Meta Knight finally answered dismissively, as if the question wasn't important to him.

"Wait, how can he understand Kirby?" A confused Rainbow Dash asked.

Kirby turned to the pegasus and answered, "He with me. He from Dreamland."

"So he's one of the aliens that came with you."

Meta Knight nodded, "That I am." He held his hands down behind him, making himself appear formal and authoritative, "I am called Meta Knight. From what I've been told, you ponies have met Dedede and his servant." The three ponies nodded.

"Are there any more of you?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"No; there's just the four of us." Said Meta Knight. He glanced over at the three ponies watching Apple Bloom and added, "You must be the group of ponies Dedede 'warned' me about."

"That big jerk?" Rainbow Dash snarked, "Don't tell me you're friends with him."

"Hardly." Meta Knight replied with a strangely light chuckle. Just as he was about to say something else, a loud splash came from behind him, followed by heavy gasps and Applejack screaming Apple Bloom's name. Much to the ponies' horror, especially Applejack's, Apple Bloom suddenly and silently went under the water, disappearing into the nearly pitch black murk. And then she resurfaced, gasping for air, crying for help, and thrashing all around to get away from whatever it was that was attacking her. Applejack cried and leaped off of Twilight's head, barely managing to land safely in the water, and started paddling towards her sister in mindless panic.

"Applejack, stop!" Screamed Twilight as she dropped down and scooped Applejack out of the water, while Rarity thoughtlessly tried to run into the water herself, only to be thwarted by her overextended hair as it tripped her and made her fall. Rainbow Dash hurriedly ran passed her friends and attempted to fly across the water and snatch Apple Bloom, but her impaired flight quickly forced her to crash into the lake and put herself at the same mercy Apple Bloom.

"Pphffffrain ppfffow!" Pinkie blurted. Rainbow Dash was fortunately very quick to regain herself, but the second the pegasus made a move towards Apple Bloom, she was snagged and struggling for her life.

"Sweet Celestia!" Rarity cried.

"Let me go, Twilight!" The desperate Applejack wailed, frantically bucking and kicking Twilight's hoof, trying to go and save her little sister.

"No, Applejack!" Twilight cried back, "You'll drown before you reach her!"

"They're bein' eaten alive!"Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs while she kicked harder and harder.

"All of you stay here!" Yelled Meta Knight. Before anypony knew it, Meta Knight had already spread his wings and soared over to the splashes. Right as Apple Bloom's head resurfaced for a split second, Meta Knight dove right in and vanished under the water, alongside Rainbow Dash. The ponies lost it. The mere seconds of silence, as short as they were, stabbed into their chests like burning daggers – an agonizing and unforgettable moment. Their minds were corrupted by morbid thoughts and fears that would haunt them for the rest of their lives, pertaining to the fact that, as well as a friend of Kirby's, Rainbow Dash and Apple Bloom may have just died right in front of them. But these thoughts couldn't linger; Apple Bloom and Rainbow Dash had to come back to safety. That thing, Meta Knight, had to save them!

It was quite possibly the greatest relief they've ever felt to see Apple Bloom resurface and start swimming back to shore, but the foal's screams of pain quickly killed it. Without thinking, Applejack commanded Fluttershy to fly over the lake and pick up Apple Bloom, but Fluttershy, as urgent as the situation was, hesitated. She squinted her eyes and tried to flex her wings out, but they wouldn't budge; locked tight against her body. It didn't matter how hard she strained, she couldn't suck up her fear.

Just then, Rainbow Dash came out of the water, but not on her own. She wasn't swimming either, instead she was being held by her hind legs above the water by what seemed like a very large tentacle of some sorts, decorated with tiny thorns that visibly dug into her flesh. She struggled to swat at to tentacle with her free hooves, but each movement only served to make the pain in her legs worse. Yet, the pegasus was released and subsequently free fell into the water below. She couldn't tell what had happened, but her friends at shore saw everything. In once instance, Meta Knight shot out of the water with a golden sword in his hand and drove it with all his strength into the tentacle, slicing off the part that held Rainbow Dash and freeing her. He glanced down at the pegasus, to ensure that she wasn't being attacked again, then shot his vision back Apple Bloom. He quickly swooped down to Apple Bloom and snatched her out of the water with his free hand. Within seconds he had the panicking foal on dry land and in in the care of the worrisome ponies. Just as quickly as he came, he went back into flight and rushed to Rainbow Dash's aid.

"Dear sweet Celestia!" Applejack cried, completely horrified at the wound on her sister's leg. Twilight tried not to look at it, but when she helped Apple Bloom onto her left side, she gagged at the sight. A half ring of bloody and torn flesh wrapped around the outer part of her leg, just under the knee, and around this massive wound were several smaller gashes that were just as bloodied and morbid as the main wound. The other half of this ring was a massive patch of purple and blue, and even more horrifying, a stark bulge. Pinkie Pie and Rarity could hardly bare to see the gash alone, but the angle that Apple Bloom's leg was bent at was far too much, and they turned away, while behind them Fluttershy vomited.

"Twilight, we gotta get her outta here now!" Applejack screamed in panic, pressing against her sister's wound with her legs, barely making herself audible over Apple Bloom's distressed whining.

"Rainbow Dash is still out there!" Twilight cried back.

"Meta Knight get she!" Kirby assured, pointing over the lake at Meta Knight, who was hovering just above Rainbow Dash.

Twilight instinctively turned to the far side of the lake, to see if Meta Knight was in fact going to save Rainbow Dash. Her attention, however, was immediately pulled away from Meta Knight and instead focused on the massive thing behind him. Whatever it was that came rising out of the water was a sight of pure terror. From the bank, it appeared to be a colossal snake, but it was, by no means, an animal. Its head had to be what sealed that truth. It looked a lot like a flower that had yet to bloom, with four leaf like appendages underneath the bulbous, slightly gourd shaped head. Silently, and even more terrifyingly, the head split into five different flaps – giving itself a starfish-like shape – each one decorated with a massive array of teeth that were clearly designed to tear and shred their victims into pulp. At the center of these five lips was a gaping hole, a massive throat that could easily swallow a couple of ponies without needing to chew. Meta Knight distanced himself away from this monster, but his reflexes were barely quick enough for him to avoid a third tentacle shooting out of the water.

"Kirby!" Meta Knight yelled, realizing that he couldn't afford to take his attention off this creature. He narrowly avoided another swing and added, "Get the blue pony!"

Kirby's attention swiftly moved from Meta Knight to Rainbow Dash, and he made no hesitation in rushing to her aid. He promptly leaped into the lake and started paddling and kicking his way to the struggling pegasus, leaving the ponies to watch in agonizing anxiety over the fact that yet another of their friends was in danger.

Meta Knight continued to narrowly avoid the monster's deadly spiked appendages, pulling its attention away from the escaping Kirby and Rainbow Dash. Just as he did, he got a damn good sight at five jaws of death closing in on him. Reacting almost lightning fast, Meta Knight swooped under the jaws and slashed at the lower right one, severing a decent sized portion of the flap off and all the teeth with it. The beast reared back and outstretched the mandibles of its mouth, silently screaming as a nearly transparent green ooze bled from the wound.

"Kirby!" Rainbow Dash yelped in only slight relief. She paddled faster the closer her salvation came to her and latched right on to the sides of Kirby's body right when he came into reach.

Meta Knight quickly seized the opportunity to fly around the agape maw and latch on to where its serpent-like body ended. Dangling just under one of the leafy appendages as the monster continued to twist, the knight aimed his strike at the base of the appendage and drove Galaxia straight into it. The flesh must have been softer there, for nearly the entire blade was embedded in the wound. The strike made the monster bend forward sharply, nearly flinging Meta Knight off, but the knight remained. Meta Knight readied himself to drag the sword around the the body to sever the monster's head, but just out of the corner of his vision came a thorny tentacle heading straight towards him. He pried his sword free and leaped then and there off the monster's body and took to the air again, while the tentacles subsequently swung harmlessly passed where he was.

Kirby supported Rainbow Dash by her stomach as they reached the shore, where the the ponies were quick to relieve him of her and check on her themselves. Rainbow Dash's wounds were by no means as brutal as Apple Bloom's. The back sides of both her hind legs were dotted with similar gashes to the smaller cuts on Apple Bloom's leg, but she was very lucky to not have the massive tear that Apple Bloom wore. She could at least stand, barely.

"Let's go, now!" Shouted Rainbow Dash with considerable strain in her voice and even more strain in her stance. Putting even the slightest amount of weight on either leg put her in an excruciating amount of pain. She tried to make it seem like it wasn't as bad as it was, but her wincing betrayed her.

"Can you even walk?" A stressed Twilight asked – a nearly pointless question given Rainbow Dash's wobbly legs.

"Yes!" Rainbow Dash shouted, struggling to limp her way through her friends.

Meta Knight turned and glanced at the bank, realizing that Kirby got Rainbow Dash back to land with no other problems. Fighting this lake-monster was now pointless. With a new objective, he flew straight to the end of the lake and abandoned the monster, barely hearing the sound of another tentacle trying to grab him.

"Watch that monster!" Shouted Meta Knight as he landed before the ponies, "This child won't survive the trip back to your village if we don't slow down that bleeding." He hurriedly approached the whimpering Apple Bloom, reaching into a brown sack strapped to his back that the ponies didn't notice earlier. Out of the sack he pulled a brown cloth, which he tied tight around Apple Bloom's leg above the knee, slowing but not stopping the bleeding. With the makeshift tourniquet set, Meta Knight glanced at the lake, seeing that the monster was nowhere to be found.

"Okay, someone will have to carry her." Said Meta Knight.

Twilight turned to Rarity, "Does your magic still work?"

Rarity looked directly at Apple Bloom, as directly as she could given the hair over her face, and with a well focused thought the horn on her head glowed in a sparkly light-blue, and as with Rarity's horn Apple Bloom was encased in a similarly blue bubble and smoothly raised off the ground.

"I'm afraid I'll need some help." Rarity pointed out.

"Kirby." Meta Knight commanded with a nod. Kirby promptly nodded back at him and jumped onto Rarity's back, almost making her trip, and reached up to her face and pulled the over exaggerated bangs up behind her horn.

"Thank you, Kirby," Rarity said with a sigh, "just be sure to hold them there."

Meta Knight turned to Fluttershy, "Now, you, winged pony, you and the pink pony are going to carry the blue one." He gestured to Pinkie Pie, "Come together so that your sides are touching." Rainbow Dash scowled but complied. Once her friends had crouched low enough, the wounded pegasus heaved herself onto their backs, an action that her back legs made very clear they didn't like. Getting herself into a comfortable position, if there even was one, also made her legs scream and her face wince. But she managed to find a stable position with her weight distributed evenly to both ponies, and the entire lot of them promptly headed north to Ponyville.

Meta Knight took the lead, warning the ponies of any different consistencies in the ground or if there was something they needed to step over as well as watching out for any other creatures lurking the leaves. At his immediate rear was Rarity and Apple Bloom, with Twilight and Applejack in their right, and behind Rarity was Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. Once they reached the open path that lead straight to Ponyville, Applejack had Twilight move closer to Apple Bloom.

"Hey, Apple Bloom, liss'n to me," Applejack said as comforting as she could. Apple Bloom didn't respond directly, only groaning in pain and moving her head towards Applejack slightly. Applejack tried again, "Apple Bloom, look at me," Apple Bloom was now looking directly into Applejack's eyes – that look of agony on Apple Bloom's face was unbearable – and the big sister added, "liss'n, Apple Bloom, you're gonna be okay, alright?" Apple Bloom blinked, "We're gonna get ya to the hospital as quick as we can, and the doctor's gonna fix you up and you're gonna be okay. Okay?" Apple Bloom blinked again and lightly nodded, a small smile creeping upon her lips that Applejack was quick to point out. "Come on girl, give me a smile!" She said in a cheery tone, cheery enough to make Apple Bloom giggle and smile widely. It was so cute it nearly made Applejack forget her sister was in pain. "That's my sis." Applejack added with a wink, to which Apple Bloom winked back with a bigger smile. The rest of the ponies, overhearing their conversation, shared the feeling with content smiles of their own. Anything to keep her hopes up.

It couldn't have been longer than ten or so minutes after this exchange that the ponies felt a surge of confidence and hope, quickening their pace, as they finally reached the edge of the forest and Ponyville came into their view. But not even returning to home-sweet-home could change the urgency of the situation. They made sure to keep their speed slow enough so as to not jostle and agitate Apple Bloom and Rainbow Dash's wounds, but, with the consistent ground and the fact that they were now close, they no longer had to move at a near snails pace.

One would be a liar if they said the mob was subtle. Apple Bloom's nauseating wound alone would have garnered attention and concern – which it did – but the five ponies with visible and nearly unrealistic ailments, not to mention the two aliens, was what drew the eyes to them in the first place. Nonstop bombardments of ponies offering help or accusing the "wicked enchantress" of cursing them soon followed, but they were ignored or shooed away by Meta Knight (he did not need to threaten them with Galaxia). It was only a minor regret to the ponies to act like their brethren weren't there, but there was no room for any distractions.

At least until two worried foals stopped them.

One was a white unicorn, the other an orange pegasus; they were both girls. For a moment were walking and talking like it was any other day, sharing laughs and plans on what to do. But the minute they saw the group, specifically Apple Bloom, the orange pegasus and white unicorn barreled straight after the group and stopped them dead in their tracks, if only because they were good friends of the group.

"Oh my gosh!" The unicorn, called Sweetie Belle, cried, unable to remove her eyes from Apple Bloom's leg, "What happened to her?!" Both she and the pegasus had the look of utter horror on their faces, but the pegasus in particular seemed nauseous, like she could throw up at any second.

"And what happened to the rest of you guys?" The pegasus, named Scootaloo. She tried her hardest not to vomit at the sight of Apple Bloom's leg and added, "And... what are these things?"

Apple Bloom lifted her head up as though she just woke up, "Hey Sweetie Belle... Hey Scootaloo."

"Are these your friends?" Meta Knight asked Apple Bloom, who responded with only a nod and an assuring grunt. Meta Knight then turned to the foals and said, "Then come with us. We are not stopping." With that, he walked around them and continued forward, with the ponies closely following suit. The foals stuck with Rarity, to speak with Apple Bloom while she was being taken to the hospital.

And then came another swing with an open palm.

Waddle Dee nearly fell forward when King Dedede's hand struck his back, the usual punishment of his "insolence". Said insolence in this case was Waddle Dee both making and keeping with a suggestion that his king didn't like. "Shouldn't you ask?" this, and "Meta Knight said..." that. The Dedede wasn't going to have any of it; he was the king, and his word was law. He knew Waddle Dee knew this.

The punishment took place as they wandered through a maze of trees, each one decorated with bright red apples. As much as the argument was on their mind, with each step their astonishment at the sheer amount of apple trees became only greater. Every tree around them was only a few meters away from any other, sometimes not even that, and with what they could see at that moment there had to be hundreds of trees and possibly thousands of apples. At last, luck was finally working to their favor. No way was Dedede passing this up.

"Please sire, Meta Knight will be–" Waddle Dee began to protest.

"Is Meta Knight your king?" Dedede replied with venomous frustration, "Is Meta Knight the one that you answer to?" He leaned towards his servant, his eyes piercing sharp with his authoritative stare. Waddle Dee couldn't face such a look.

"No." Waddle Dee muttered, shrinking away from Dedede's dominance.

"Then. You. Do. As. I. Say." Dedede said slowly. The demand ended the argument right then and there, for Waddle Dee gave up and agreed with his king anyway, as per the usual. And just like the usual, as soon as Dedede's focus was back on his previous intentions, Waddle Dee would instantly be at his back and ready to help, as though the last half minute or so never happened.

"Does this orchard ever end?" Waddle Dee asked, to make sure the king's attention wasn't on his passed objection.

Dedede looked around, "Doesn't seem to." After a brief moment, he got an idea and moved to the side of a tree, gesturing Waddle Dee to come with him, "Climb this tree and tell me if you can see where we're going. And get some of those apples while you're at it."

"Yes, sire." Waddle Dee said obediently. Without any hesitation or second thought, he raised his spear up high behind him and thrust it as far up the tree as he could, which was a little less than halfway up the trunk. The spear was also imbedded at a slight downwards angle, but it was horizontal enough for Waddle Dee to use it as a makeshift branch. After climbing on to the spear and finding his balance, he leaped at a low hanging branch in front of him, almost kicking the spear out of the tree in the process, and barely managed to latch onto it. He tried to pull himself up, but only the tips of his short arms were on the branch, and the branch was too thin for him to use his feet as leverage. He was essentially just dangling in the air.

"Sire, may I have assistance?" Waddle Dee pleaded in strained grunts.

"Don't tell me you can't climb this tree." Dedede replied, "You're not about to disappoint your king, are you?" He ultimately wasn't as serious about that comment as he seemed, but that was the point – to scare Waddle Dee into putting forth extra effort. It always worked before, and, considering the fact that Waddle Dee was now pulling noticeably harder, it worked here. But even with the greater enthusiasm, Waddle Dee still couldn't pull himself over the branch; if anything, he was about to fall.

"I'm sorry, sire!" Waddle Dee cried, kicking his feet in panic.

"Whatever." Dedede grumbled, rolling his eyes. Just as Waddle Dee began to slip, Dedede nonchalantly raised his hammer up to Waddle Dee's feet and gave him a boost, allowing his servant to successfully mantle the branch and continue. Waddle Dee happily wasted not a second to show his gratitude. Dedede gladly took the thanks, but didn't show it, instead replying dismissively, "Just get up the dang tree."

A few more hops and it became a matter of climbing up the more vertical branches, none of which proved to be any trouble to the light-weight Waddle Dee. By the end of the minute, Waddle Dee could see over most of the hundreds – no, thousands – of apple trees, but most intriguing to him was a sight over on the far side, where the trees seemed to start. From his position, it looked like little more than a red box, probably a house or barn of some type. It was the only sensible guess Waddle Dee could garner.

"What do you see?" Dedede demanded.

"Uh, I see a barn... I think!" Waddle Dee called back, "It looks like a barn!"

"A barn, huh?" Dedede repeated. He shook his head, "Come on down then! I now know where not to go!" The emphasis on "not" puzzled Waddle Dee.

"What do you mean, sire?" Waddle Dee asked.

Dedede groaned, "Gee, Waddle Dee, don't you think that there might be a pony over there? And do you think I want to deal with any ponies?"

"Absolutely not, sire!"

"Exactly! So we are going in the opposite direction of that barn. The last thing I need is to run into another pony. Now, come on! We're going this way!" On that note, Waddle Dee gave his usual "yes sire!" and began to work his way down the tree. Just as Dedede took his first few steps, the rustling in the leaves caused by Waddle Dee reminded him of a rather key detail that he had nearly forgotten.

"And don't forget the apples!"

1. Arrival

The Antithesis of Harmony

Arc I — The World of Harmony

Silence is a harmony of its own

Prologue

The splash of a glowing star!
The slash of a golden sword!
The swing of a mighty hammer!
The stab of a strong spear!

Kirby, the hero of Dreamland, Meta Knight, the masked warrior, King Dedede, the greedy king, and Waddle Dee, his loyal servant! The time has come to finish their quest. Across the distorted, writhing blue ground of dimensional stuff was Magolor – the traitor. He had used them – tricked them! – into retrieving the Master Crown and giving him its infinite power. An ovular body drenched in dripping black color and hugged by spiked, curling horns. Two black hands floating with no arms, two black and flaming wings, and a pure white smile underneath his white eyes. Inside that smile was an image Kirby was too familiar with – a red eye. The red eye of the enemy that has haunted Dreamland since the very beginning. Dark Matter!

'This ugly act must be punished!' thought Meta Knight as he leaped up to the abomination, cutting him with his sword Galaxia. Magolor flinched from the strike, and King Dedede used Meta Knight as a bridge to make his attack. Leaping off of Meta Knight, King Dedede swung his jet-powered hammer into the side of Magolor's black, corrupted face. Waddle Dee then threw his spear into Magolor's body. Although the spear vanished almost as soon as it made contact, there was no denying the effect, as Magolor lost his aerial balance and was stumbling.

Kirby called out to his friends and they regrouped in a square formation, waiting for Magolor's next move. He flew away and swung his floating hands upwards, sending spikes out from under the group. Each one missed, but Magolor did it again, and King Dedede jumped away as Meta Knight shoved Kirby and Waddle Dee, all of them narrowly avoiding the second set of spikes. Magolor roared and spawned a white hammer in his hands and slammed it at the dimensional ground near Kirby and Waddle Dee.

The force of the impact blasted Kirby and Waddle Dee back towards Meta Knight and King Dedede. They hit and bounced off the dimensional ground in deep, brief noises, slowly getting back to their feet after their last land. Under the groups' feet, a sheet of white ice crawled out from the point of impact from Magolor's hammer. Immediately the group began to shake and wobble on top of the slippery ice – Meta Knight was the first to abandon the ground and take the air. King Dedede and Kirby took deep breaths and used the air to float, and Waddle Dee spun his spear around like propellers. The last thing any of them needed was to be out of full control of their movement.

Magolor clapped his demented hands together and threw one upward. King Dedede looked below himself and immediately – almost didn't have time to mentally process danger – was engulfed in an aggressive blue flame. The penguin writhed and screamed as the fire unwrapped itself from him, and fell back to the dimensional ground and the ice above it. Waddle Dee stopped spinning his spear and dropped to the King's aid. Shaking from the slippery ice, Waddle Dee barely managed to keep his balance while bringing Dedede – who did not have any more than minor burns, thankfully – back to his feet, and feared the worst from Magolor who swung his other disconnected hand downwards.

Meta Knight glanced upwards and flew towards Waddle Dee and Dedede, barely avoiding a similar column of fire bearing down on him and Kirby. He immediately turned back towards the fire, worried for Kirby. The flame disappeared into the dimensional ground and Kirby was revealed – untouched by the fire. The pink blob regrouped with his friends and held his attention on the abomination ahead of him.

Magolor roared and teleported back near the group, juggling odd creatures in his hands. He must have had at least five of them in a constant circle before pointing at the group and having them all bearing down on them. Meta Knight and King Dedede prepared to deflect the attack, but Kirby gestured them to stand back as the creatures began their descent. Kirby opened his mouth big and wide, inhaling as hard as he could to make sure he got every creature. One by one, they creatures were sucked into the vortex leading to his mouth, and one by one, they vanished inside it. Kirby clamped his mouth shut, chewing the creatures inside into a glowing star that everything Kirby ate would turn into. He was ready to attack!

Magolor took a brief pause from surprise, long enough for King Dedede to capitalize on an idea. He nabbed Waddle Dee and placed him on his back, then Meta Knight on Waddle Dee's back, and then he picked up Kirby and tossed him on Meta Knight's back, essentially creating a tower. The four man piggy back ride stormed and leaped at Magolor, ready to take down this traitor once and for all!

The swing of a mighty hammer!
The stab of a strong spear!
The slash of a golden sword!
The splash of a glowing star!

The roar of a monster's end.

The group stood and watched, reveling in their victory as their enemy shook, writhed, and roared as pieces of it broke off and disintegrated into nothingness. Magolor opened his melting maw for his last time – the red eye showing itself to Kirby and his friends once more – then slammed it shut, collapsing into himself and disappearing in a low echo.

Kirby watched the space left behind from where Magolor was, watched the nothingness left empty of Magolor's presence. For the moment, he thought the monster would return, but after several seconds of waiting, the dimensional ground beneath them began to crack. Then all that they could see in the void – bar the portal – began cracking and splitting apart, shattering like glass shards. The group were then lifted away from the disappearing ground, and Kirby and Waddle Dee waved their arms in panic as a purple mist crawled from the "shards" and reached for their feet.

Then the space around them turned into a stretched out blur, tearing passed them as though they were flying at an extreme speed. Kirby looked down and found himself on top of an orange dragon, and then noticed his friends were on similar dragons as well. Landia had came to their rescue! Just under the four dragons was a large white and blue ship – The Starcutter! As the four dragons, Landia brought the group close to the Starcutter, which fired a white beam from its bow and formed a purple star up ahead. The star expanded to a colossal size and a white swirl formed in its center, finalizing an interdimensional portal between this limbo and a planet. The entire lot of them and the Starcutter blasted right through the portal, returning to Dreamland.

1. Arrival

Bright green and lively flowing grass stretching across and hugging the land, dirt paths tracing along and around trees and a lake, the strong trees standing tall and firm in their places among the ground. The bright and celestial blue sky above wrapped tightly around this colorful land and yet was casting its glorious light from very far away. But then its light darkened, and the sky lost its perfection as a hole materialized inside it. The hole morphed into a five pointed star, colored in shades of purple and blue and laced with lines matching those colors. Inside the center of this star formed a white and curving swirl, and through that swirl burst a white and blue ship – strung with oars, a yellow star on the bow, and a tall mast near the stern. The ship exited the portal and lowered itself just above the ground, hovering above the grass and pinning it to the ground with its gusts of wind. Alongside this giant of a ship were four orange dragons – small ones it should be added – each carrying some type of creature on its back.

One carried Kirby: a round and pink puffball with limbs. Another carried Meta Knight: a similar blue puffball clad in a purple cape and mysterious silver mask. A third carried King Dedede: a large blue penguin in a red parka and wielding a large mallet. The fourth carried Waddle Dee: a round and brown creature similar to, but not the same, as Kirby or Meta Knight. Each dragon – collectively known as Landia – flew the four creatures down to the ground of their home, Dreamland. Dreamland was just that: a land where its inhabitants sleep soundly with peaceful dreams of wonders and happiness, on the beautiful planet Popstar. But not all dreams were good; Dreamland was not at all a place without nightmares. Dark creatures made up negative feelings, suppressed desires, uncontrolled greed, and many more. Dark creatures ranging from cackling mad jesters, and wizards and witches of art, and black orbs of genuine sorrow and hate. Kirby himself was a hero to the people of Dreamland for his ability to drive back these nightmarish forces and protect the pure dreams of their potential victims

In fact, Kirby and the others were just returning from their most recent encounter with a dark menace: a seemingly friendly alien named Magolor. Magolor crash landed onto Dreamland and requested Kirby's help. After repairing his ship the Starcutter – the very ship they returned to Dreamland with – they left to his planet Halcandra and fought with the dragon Landia. But this whole adventure was part of Magolor's plan to get his hands on Landia's Master Crown, an artifact that can supposedly give its wearer infinite power. Magolor wanted to use the Master Crown's power to take over and rule the entirety of the universe. A friendly creature who seemingly wanted to just return home turned out to be a sour and greedy monster. But Kirby knew better; he saw that red eye inside Magolor's corrupted mouth, he knew what was behind Magolor's scheme.

Landia landed on the grass and bucked the group off their backs. The four of them took a moment to take sighs of relief that they were at last back home and turned to Landia to gave their thanks.

“Aiii!” Kirby cooed, his face painted with a large smile. King Dedede and Waddle Dee nodded with Kirby's odd, yet native language.

Meta Knight stepped forward and between his allies and Landia, “We have no ways to thank you enough for your understanding, Landia. I hope you may forgive us for our mistake.” The four dragons grinned and nodded their heads, and Meta Knight added, “Thank you again Landia.” as he bowed for them. Landia all nodded again and leaped into flight, flying around the Starcutter as the ship doubled back into and through the portal, all of them vanishing in its purple and blue light. Kirby waved – even if Landia couldn't see it – as the portal shrunk into a simple circle and vanished, ending the connection from Popstar to Halcandra as well as Kirby's latest adventure.

Kirby took a slow and deep breath, taking in the gorgeous air of his home. Dreamland! It was safe! He had almost lost it to that mean liar Magolor, but it was safe again! He was of course greatly overjoyed at the sight with this hindsight, but he could hardly contain himself and simply took off straight ahead.

“Pfff, look at him, did he already forget what we just did?” King Dedede pointed out in a flat, annoyed tone.

“Do not be envious of his innocence. We all had it at some point.” Said Meta Knight, wrapping his cape around himself and walking away.

“Where are you going?”

Meta Knight just kept walking,“I would like to rest.” King Dedede groaned and turned to Waddle Dee after the gap between them and Meta Knight grew considerably.

“Whatever. Let's just go to the castle...” muttered King Dedede as he raised his hammer onto his shoulder.

“Aye-aye sire!” Waddle Dee squeaked as he straightened his stance and marched down the dirt path, away from Meta Knight or Kirby's directions. Waddle Dee's stance was quickly hunched with an audible “urk” noise as King Dedede climbed onto his back.

“Meta Knight's got a point though; I could use a rest too!” King Dedede announced to his subject, “Now get moving!”

“Yes!... Sire!” Waddle Dee strained as he slowly moved one foot in front of the other, balancing the heavy King Dedede so that he wouldn't misstep and get himself crushed. Waddle Dee couldn't bring himself to complain; the King's convenience and life came before his, and the King was probably more tired than he was anyway. More importantly, he would hate to displease him. Waddle Dee's pace had steadied – changing from a shaky stumble to a slow yet solid hunched trot – and he carried King Dedede towards his Majesty's castle, which could not have been close.

It was going to be quite a walk.

Kirby jogged across a dirt path, curving around a lake and humming one of his favorite tunes. His pace would be much quicker, but he just had to take in the appearance of his surroundings. The amount of color there was to this land was breathtaking: the subtle movements among the leaves of trees as creatures traversed them, the sounds of said animals and other critters as they interacted in their environments, and just the color itself of this whole land practically oozed with a heavenly vibe that seemed to instil actual happiness into Kirby's being. In all of Kirby's life – albeit very short for his species – Dreamland has never looked so beautiful. Actually, for a moment, Kirby didn't even think he was in Dreamland!

Then he noticed something odd – something out of place – in the trees. Although Kirby had been around most of Popstar several times before and has been to multiple planets in his time, this was something he had never seen in his life. It was a brown, furry creature on four legs and with a curved and bushy tail. Nothing particularly remarkable about this creature, but Kirby's mind was just boggled by it. Even more to his surprise, the creature didn't try to run away from him when he got close to get a better look. It just looked at him, calm yet as curious as he was. He got even closer – close enough to see its tiny nose twitching – but at that moment the animal turned its head as though something caught its attention and leaped off the tree. The animal dived through some shrubbery, leaving Kirby dumfounded and alone. Kirby didn't wait for anything; he took off after the animal, on the hopes that maybe he'll find more animals like it or someone who could direct him to Dreamland. He leaped over the bushes and landed on the other side, and was surprised yet again by what he saw.

He saw that very same animal, except it was among other animals of its kind. As well as that animal, there were other creatures of varying appearances all in a circle around a larger creature. Whatever it was, its beauty topped anything Kirby had seen so far. It was a four legged and bright yellow creature, with long and curved pink locks of hair on its head and backside. Granted Kirby wasn't much of a judge of beauty, but the creature's hair was simply gorgeous.

The creature looked up to Kirby – its large, greenish-blue eyes and peeping with innocence – and gasped with a joyful smile. Before Kirby even knew it, he was just inches away from the creature's face.

"Oh my goodness! You're the cutest thing ever!" The creature exclaimed in the common language. Apparently female, the creature's voice was very soft with almost no assertion or deepness behind it to speak of. Even with the increased volume, her voice still sounded like a whisper, if only barely, "I've never seen a creature like you before. Are you from the Everfree Forest? Are you lost?"

Kirby leaped back from the creature, completely caught off guard by her outburst. Almost immediately she stepped back, apologizing for her action.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Said the creature. Seeing her step back made Kirby a bit more comfortable, and he smiled to show his forgiveness.

"I... be... Kirby." Said Kirby slowly, giving his limited knowledge of this language a try. Having heard it all the time in Dreamland, Kirby could understand the bulk of what would be said, but he had very little experience with actually speaking it. The creature was ecstatic either way.

"You talk?! Oh, this is so adorable!" The creature exclaimed. Her eyes seemed like they were widening as much as her smile was, "What was your name again little guy?"

"Kirby!" Kirby chirped.

"Kirby, oh that name is so cute. My name is Fluttershy – Oh, that reminds me! I have to show you to my friends; they'll just love you!" Fluttershy lowered herself to the ground and allowed Kirby onto her back, and it was at this moment that Kirby noticed she had wings on her sides. Fluttershy hopped into flight with said wings, eager as ever to take Kirby to her friends – in a place called Ponyville.

4. Problem at the pink puffball's party

4. Problem at the pink puffball's party

"Alright, just gotta put the finishing touches right... here!"

Pinkie Pie's work was finished! Streamers strung across the ceiling and walls, covering the hundreds of books on the shelves in an assortment of colors, a large table covered in delicious and delightful desserts ranging from cakes to pies, several different games scattered across the party room, and upbeat music ready to blast and send ponies into a dance craze. Given that the pink pony was a major party mare, such a set up was very standard to her, and she smiled proudly at her hard work to make this party particularly special for the puffball of the hour.

A familiar lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, and a little purple dragon joined Pinkie Pie in the amazement. Twilight knew just how good Pinkie Pie was at arranging and setting up parties after years of partying, but the speed and efficiency that the quirky pony could set the stage was still mind boggling to her.

The overjoyed Pinkie Pie bounced for joy, "It's finished! The party is ready to start!"

"You did a great job here, Pinkie, as always." Said Twilight Sparkle, "I'm sure that the little Kirby will love it."

Pinkie Pie landed right next to her friends in a gleeful, one hoofed stance, "You betcha! How could a ball of cute like him not like a party like this?"

"Especially with all of that food over there!" The very young dragon added. Drool starting to slip from his lips, he begged, "May I please get a head start?"

"Nope! You have to wait for our guests, Spike, and they'll get here as soon as they can."

Spike folded his arms, for he always stood on two legs, and groaned at the deny. There was a pretty pink party cake as pink as Pinkie Pie's pelt on the long table, and he was just dying to taste it. The cake even had vanilla cream oozing out from in between the layers, an image that made his forked tongue impatiently tingle in delight and was the primary catalyst of his impatience.

"Can't I just—?" He futilely started to ask. His request would have been finished if he didn't see Twilight's stern, disapproving glance. The short instance of seeing Twilight's slight scowl was enough to tell him he was about to come off as rude and he needed to stop. Years of working as Twilight's assistant trained him to recognize that, and as such he slowed his roll and shut his mouth.

Twilight loosened up and grinned back at Pinkie Pie, "Spike's right though; that cake does look scrumptious. What did the Cakes do with this one?"

"Theeeeeey had a little help." Pinkie grinned back. Pinkie's emphasis made Twilight's smile grow slightly wider – there was no secret where that help came from.

Twilight chuckled, "And what did you do to improve?"

"A secret little combination!" Pinkie chirped.

"Care to tell?" Spike asked.

"I can't tell you, silly; it wouldn't be a secret!" Spike could only roll his eyes at the mild tease, but his eyes and the eyes of the mares quickly snapped to the front door as it was opened. A pegasus stepped inside, and Pinkie Pie lit up like a happy torch. "Rainbow Dash! You came!"

The name "Rainbow Dash" was a very appropriate name for the pegasus. The defining trait in the cyan pegasus' appearance was her rainbow mane and tail. Though slightly rugged and aggressive looking, the the six rainbow colors blended together in an almost artistic transition from one color to the next.

"Uh..." Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, "of course I did Pinkie; you invited me."

"I know, but I'm just so excited for this party!" Pinkie squealed, "Hey, did you meet Kirby yet? Please tell me you've met Kirby yet!"

"That little pink thing that Fluttershy's carrying around? I have, and Fluttershy told me you're throwing some sort of party for him."

"That I am! And it's fantastic, just look at the decor and food me and the Cakes had set up for him! Oh, I can't wait until he gets here, then it really starts!"

"How many ponies did you invite to this party, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. The thought had only just then occurred to her that Kirby would probably be overwhelmed by curiosity rather than welcoming hooves, something which obviously couldn't have been good for the child. Quantity wasn't quality here.

"Everypony I found!"

Twilight groaned, those three words basically translated to "everypony in town", "Pinkie, I don't think that was a good idea..."

"What do you mean?" Pinkie was nothing short of confused. Inviting everypony to her parties was always a good idea, why not now?

"Well, Pinkie, when I was new to Ponyville, I wasn't particularly fond with having an overcrowded party thrown for me right off the bat."

"Don't worry your silly little head Twilight." Pinkie aptly patted the top of Twilight's head, "It's not like Kirby will be completely out of place; I found his two friends and invited them too!"

"What?" Twilight jerked back, completely shocked at the word "friends". Her mind stopped focusing on the problem with the party and started being filled by a rush of questions and thoughts, particularly ones revolving around the fact that Kirby wasn't alone. Was there family too?

"Wait, so there's more than one Kirby?" Spike asked, just as curious as Twilight.

"There's more than one Kirby?!" Pinkie gasped, "That wonderful!"

"No, no! I was asking you if there other aliens like Kirby."

Pinkie Pie recoiled back, almost as though Spike's words had punched her in the chest, "Kirby's not an alien!"

Rainbow Dash chuckled, but it was Twilight who retaliated, "Spike's probably right actually. I dug through all of the books in the library trying to find information on his species or homeland. There's nothing, Pinkie. By this point, I don't think there's any doubting it. Kirby must be from a different planet, possibly the stars above."

This is the kind of moment where one would have to stop to absorb the realization. One's mind would have to slow down to wrap itself around the concept of knowing, and possibly befriending, an alien. However, it would seem that only Twilight truly grasped the concept; Pinkie Pie, just being Pinkie Pie, was only interested in the broadest interpretation.

"Wait, so that means he's from outer space?!" Pinkie barely managed to spit out before bouncing up and down across the attic floor with an ecstatic squeal, "That's so cool!"

"Now, Pinkie," said Twilight as she and Rainbow Dash stepped back, "it's just a theory." Twilight was slightly confused by Pinkie's sudden change in opinion on Kirby being an alien, but she was Pinkie Pie after all...

Pinkie stopped and took an uptight stance, almost as if she was imitating Twilight, "Yes, and your theory theoretically correct!"

"What's theahretically currect?" The new voice snapped all of the attention to itself, revealing itself to have come from the apple-jack of all trades herself – Applejack. She briefly, oh so very briefly, took a stance with her left hooves over her rights, but her stance had to shift back to all fours flat when Pinkie Pie expressed her joy in her face.

"Applejack! You came to Kirby's welcoming party!"

"Course I did Pinkie!" Said Applejack, "That li'l thing deserves a warm welcome."

"You betcha!"

"Applejack," said Twilight as she and Rainbow Dash stepped in, "good to see you."

"Nice to see you too Twilight, and you too Rainbow." Applejack greeted back with a chuckle, "Y'all realize that everypony's downstairs, right? Nopony knows the party is supposed to be up here."

"I'll get them!" Pinkie Pie squeaked. Before any of the other three ponies knew it, Pinkie had already stormed out of the room and shouted, "Hello everypony! The party's upstairs!" Given the fact that she was an entire floor underneath them, none of the three remaining ponies should have heard her voice. Then again, the voice in question came from Pinkie Pie, so they didn't bother wondering why she was only barely muffled.

Pinkie quickly returned with a small ensemble of ponies closely following her tail. Fluttershy and Rarity were the first in line after her, followed by four other ponies of different races, colors, and manes. Two of them briefly clamored over the grand set up Pinkie Pie made for the party. The other two, possibly due to knowing Pinkie Pie enough, weren't as verbal in their reactions.

"Here he is!" Pinkie announced as she pulled a short 90 degree turn to show off the little pink puffball on her back. Kirby waved a hand and greeted Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash with his familiar "haiii!"

"Hey there li'l guy." Said Applejack as she waved a hoof. She gave Kirby a quick wink and added, "Ready fur the greatest party ya ehvur seen?"

Kirby dropped down and enthusiastically nodded. He came extremely close to asking what was going to be done first, but Pinkie Pie beat him to it with a surprising objection.

"Wait! Not everypony is here yet!" Pinkie yelped.

"So? Kirby wants to get this party started." Said Rainbow Dash.

"An' we were only gonna play a game or two." Applejack added, "In fact, Kirby, ya ehvur heard a "pin the tail on the pony"? Kirby's shaking of his head was a clear indicator that he had no idea what it was. Applejack could only chuckle, "Alrighty then, c'mere."

Applejack led Kirby to a poster hung up on a wall, a poster that bore an image of a brown four legged creature. Very similar to the ponies, but more rugged and unattractive. It's countenance appeared surprised, either from the apparent lack of a tail or the method that would be used to put it in place. The combination of the cartoonish appearance and expression gave Kirby a quick little giggle.

"Here, I'll show you how you play!" Pinkie cartwheeled to the poster, "You take a blindfold like this and you cover your eyes like this!" She demonstrated her exact words as quickly as possible with a cloth that she somehow managed to wrap around her head and a pin and tail in her mouth, "And after you do that, you spin and spin and spin and spin and spin and..!" She reared up on her hind legs and spun herself around and around in poorly maintained circle several, several times, "... and then you stop and pin the tail on the pony!" Pinkie dropped back to all floors, wobbly in her posture and flailing all over the place. And with that sharp pin in her mouth...

"Dang-nabbit Pinkie!" Applejack jumped back, barely saving her eye "The target's behind you!"

"Ohhhwoaah! Sorry!" Pinkie swung around, dove forward, and planted her face against the poster. Everypony laughed, even Kirby, as she sloooooooooowly slid down the wall. Even funnier was where she ended up pinning the tail.

"Did... did I get it?" Pinkie pulled off the blindfold and saw where she made her mark, which was far off target. She was nowhere near the pony's flank; she pinned its face!

"Not even close!" Said Rainbow Dash.

"It sure beats pinning the tail on my eye though." Said Applejack.

Pinkie Pie broke into hysterical laughter, "Look at him! He looks so silly!"

Kirby leaped to Pinkie as she stood up and swiped the blindfold right off the top of her mane and wrapped it right around his spherical body. He cooed excitedly as he finished tying it around his eyes, and he swung his arms around playfully as he waddled in a circle. Some "awws" were scattered amongst the viewers to watch the cute little puffball act like the child he was.

Applejack chuckled as she plucked the pin off the eye in her mouth and tossed it to Kirby, "Alright bull's-eye, spin yerself around."

On one foot, Kirby's spin held much more control than Pinkie's, barely faltering or shaking as his features blurred from one side of his body to the other. Kirby couldn't notice it, but this action alone baffled and amazed everypony watching, with their wide opened eyes and sometimes slackjaw mouths. Adding to the incredibility was when Kirby
finished; he didn't wobble at all or even slightly lose his footing. He hopped to the wall and felt it for a moment, still standing perfectly straight, and slapped the tail right on the poster. Confident he hit his mark, Kirby tore the blindfold off and saw that he... completely missed. The pony's kneecap wasn't exactly his target.

"Hey, you did better than me at least!" Said Pinkie.

"Probably because he wasn't wobbling." Twilight added, "How was he not...?"

"He must have practiced spinning!" Pinkie chirped back, "He must be a dancer or something!" She gasped, for an idea had spawned in her head, "We should crank the music up! Get some flanks shaking around!"

Faster than anypony could ask for a go at Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Pinkie hopped over to a strange metal box and slapped it. For whatever reason, the box emitted a rather bouncy, rhythmatic sound. Several rhythmatic sounds actually, and they all blended together into a catchy song. Kirby already forgot about his shot at the pony game and leaped to Pinkie Pie, who was the first to start dancing to the music by bobbing her head and bouncing her legs. Kirby decided to join the fun; dancing was always fun.

Right next to Pinkie Pie's new movement of swinging her front legs from side to side and putting weight on the leg that wasn't in the air, Kirby joined in with a funky breakdancing move by spinning himself around the ground like a ball. After about two seconds of the spinning, he bounced up and landed on his feet, after which he backflipped and began spinning around again, all while keeping it vaguely on beat with the song.

While the two pinks boogied to the music, the rest of the ponies decided to mingle and chat. More ponies joined over time, some partaking in some of the other games available, some forming a circle and cheering Pinkie and Kirby for their skills, and some enjoyed themselves with the sweet and tasty delights set at the table.

Things began to slow down once Pinkie Pie and Kirby stopped dancing and engaged in other activities. Although the jumpy Pinkie wanted Kirby to join her in a couple of rounds at the games, Kirby's first choice was to jump right into the food. The ponies around him were nice enough to step aside and let him get some bites to eat, and he picked up a plate that was half full of circles that were made of bread and coated in a brown color. Kirby's face lit up just by looking at them; he had recognized them. He didn't know what they were called, but he remembered eating food just like this in Dreamland, and they were absolutely delicious.

"Those donuts are very good." Said Spike with a mouth full of food, "Give 'em a try."

Kirby nodded and did just that. Popping one of the "donuts" in his mouth had plunged him into a squealing fit. These things were good, really good! Much better than the Dreamland equivalent. Kirby could barely contain himself. He opened his mouth – it was massive! It was as though a large red hole had been cut into his body! – and before Spike's eyes the donuts flew off the plate and into Kirby's mouth! He sucked them up like a vacuum!

"Woah!" Spike jumped back as Kirby dropped the plate, "How did you—?!"

A few of the ponies around the table shrieked as badly as Spike flinched, some of them immediately moved away from the table in panic. The sudden clamor greatly startled Kirby; the poor thing dropped to the floor and covered his head as though the roof was about to come down. Thankfully the commotion ended very quickly, and now every pony in the room was staring at Kirby very curiously.

"What was that?" Rarity flatly asked, if only slightly tense. Kirby perked up at her, "That... thing you just did with those donuts..."

"That was really cool!" Said Pinkie. Everyone took a moment to briefly express their confusion as she bounced to Kirby, "Do it again!" Kirby was given another set of donuts, and he inhaled them all in one fell swoop just like before. Most of the ponies in front of him felt the wind being sucked towards him, but every single one of them was just as amazed as the next pony at this... interesting ability.

"That's so cool!" Pinkie bounced some more, "I wish I could do that!" then she stopped, "But wait, if I were able to inhale food, I wouldn't be able to taste them." She let out a deep gasp – she almost sounded like she hadn't breathed in minutes, "Kirby! Can you even taste food when you're doing that?!"

Kirby enthusiastically nodded, "Ya! Taste good!"

"He talks?!" One pony blurted out.

"Not very fluently though." Fluttershy said, barely audible.

Everypony jumped as the door suddenly flew open, slamming against the adjacent wall in a powerful and very loud smash. A single arm had shoved it aside, now holding it in place against the wall and making way for King Dedede and his particularly small cohort, Waddle Dee. Several ponies distanced themselves from the duo automatically, either out of shock from the entrance or their completely foreign appearance, but the intruders payed no attention to their lack of approval.

"Dedede, Waddle Dee! You came!" Pinkie Pie felt it was ever-so important to loudly announce.

The king rolled his eyes, "Only 'cause you said there would be food."

"And there's plenty! Help yourself!"

The towering penguin was quick to take advantage of the offering and made his way to the food table, Waddle Dee following him close behind. Everyone at the table, including Kirby, watched them suspiciously and distrustingly, some worried.

Rarity came close to Pinkie and whispered into her ear, "Why did you invite him?"

"Because he's from Kirby's place." Pinkie whispered back.

"Have you seen how that brute acts? I met him a few hours ago, and he is just..." Rarity trailed off into a growl.

"Oh, so you two don't see eye to eye, huh?"

"That's putting it simply." Before Rarity knew it, Pinkie Pie was pushing her over to the food table, much to her annoyance, "What are you doing?"

"Simple. You and Dedede are going to settle what makes you two butt heads." Said Pinkie, her mane almost wrapping around Rarity's side.

"I'm not going to—!" Rarity attempted to protest before she found herself right next to the ruffian. He had payed little attention to her as he rummaged through the desserts, but when Pinkie accidentally shoved Rarity into his side...

"What do you want?" Dedede snapped.

Rarity didn't bother responding; she just rolled her eyes, "See Pinkie? What did I say?"

"Wait, you're that pony from before, the one who dared to yell at me!"

Rarity must have completely forgotten she wanted to avoid any conflicts, because she was now voicing her incredulous opinion as though it could blow off the worst of her steam, "What?! You yelled at me first!"

"I did not!"

"Okay, break it up!" Applejack attempted to separate the two, "What's got you two riled up?"

"This pony is trying to cause trouble!" Dedede pointed a finger at Rarity.

"I am n—!" Rarity stopped herself and took a deep breath, "I told Pinkie Pie that this... man and I had a fight earlier and she wanted to try and make us settle it."

Frustrated, Applejack gave Pinkie Pie a hard glare, "Pinkie, if you knew they would clash, why would you pit them together? Not to mention the time and place."

Pinkie Pie briefly glanced at everyone in the room. Being put on the spot and in everyone's attention told her that she almost screwed up badly. Pinkie never screws up a party. She shied back for several seconds, horribly embarrassed, as she tried to conjure a valid excuse. Even if it wasn't long, seeing the always-happy-always-jumpy Pinkie Pie like this gave the whole room a gloomy vibe.

"Well, you see," Pinkie slowly spoke up, "I thought that if they were both here, then whatever problems they had should be settled so that we wouldn't have any problems while the party was still going."

"Yes, that was a good idea Pinkie, but not during the party." Said Rarity.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright Pinkie," Rarity bit her lip, "look, I probably should be going anyway to get back to work."

"Rarity, you don't have to leave because–" said Twilight Sparkle.

"It's fine Twilight. I told Pinkie I couldn't stay for the whole party anyway. You all enjoy the party now. Bye!"

"Later!" Pinkie chirped as she joined her friends in a short series of goodbyes, each one of them waving a hoof at Rarity as she departed.

"Baiii!" Kirby called from the food table, making himself known. He didn't hear Rarity respond though; she was already out the door.

Dedede scowled at Kirby, "I still can't believe you're friends with these things." Kirby scowled back.

"Well, sire," said Waddle Dee, "if I may, he is Kirby after all."

"Yu-ku-vek yab lez maluh tay!" Kirby yelled, stepping towards Dedede as though to threaten him.

"I do what I want!" Dedede yelled back, "Now go someplace else while I try to enjoy myself!"

"That does it!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew right to the king's face, "Who in Equestria do you think you are?!"

The furious Dedede heaved his hammer into both hands, preparing himself for a move that nopony wanted to see, "Pony, I am King Dedede of Dreamland. Who do you think you are?!"

"A pony who's protecting her friends!" Rainbow Dash hovered even closer to Dedede's face.

"You know what, pony?! I have been trying to find a way home all day, and all I've been getting from you ponies is aggression! Now it's my turn!" As fast as Rainbow Dash was, her anger left her too distracted to dodge Dedede's hammer as it slammed right into her side, blasting her across the room and into the opposite wall.

"Rainbow!" Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike all called at as their blue friend flew over their heads. They quickly rushed to her aid as the rest of the ponies rushed out of the room for their lives, leaving them with the dangerous king.

Kirby screamed and leaped up to Dedede's head, latching on and covering his eyes. His effort to knock the king down was completely fruitless, as Dedede quickly pried him off his head and threw him across the room, away from the ponies.

"Waddle Dee, he's yours!" Dedede ordered.

"But sire–!" Waddle Dee stepped back.

"Do it!" Dedede screamed at Waddle Dee with a deadly stare, sealing the poor thing's fate. The glare froze Waddle Dee in place from fear, but life returned to him when Dedede turned away. A deep breath passed with him and he turned to Kirby, who was just getting back up. It was in his instinct to run and hide – he knew how dangerous Kirby could be – but it would take more than Kirby to break his loyalty to the king, and as such he readied his spear for the battle.

Dedede dragged his hammer against the floor as he slowly approached the ponies. All of them had their eyes on him – Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Fluttershy were utterly terrified and Applejack and Twilight were clearly furious. Rainbow Dash appeared to be the angriest of them all. He brought the hammer over his head, and after a pink flash he swung it down and crushed... nothing! Dedede nearly gagged on his on breath.. Even when he saw the group out of the corner of his eye, he was still utterly dumbfounded.

Twilight Sparkle stood tall and brave in front of her friends, her horn coated in a sparkly pink haze. Whatever it was that teleported them away from Dedede must've been done by her, and she was fully prepared to do it again. She tensed up her stance when Dedede took a charge at them, and with well focused power she successfully teleported her friends and herself out of Dedede's path in another bright flash. Dedede was far too enthusiastic in his run, he couldn't stop himself from slamming into the wall.

"Rainbow, keep him pinned there!" Shouted Twilight. Rainbow Dash immediately shot passed her and rammed into Dedede, slamming him back on the wall. She propped her front legs on Dedede's back and continued flapping her wings, pressuring Dedede into place against the wall.

"Applejack, get that hammer away from him!"

"You got it!" Applejack called as he rushed to Dedede's side. She shifted her weight onto her front legs and kicked both her back legs into the king's side as hard as she could. As expected, Dedede dropped his hammer, but the kick was so powerful it shoved him out of Rainbow Dash's pressure and left her to slam into the wall herself. Applejack quickly apologized and grabbed the hammer with her teeth, but the hammer barely moved even with her hardest pulls; it was extremely heavy! Just as she was about to voice her problem, Dedede had already thrown Rainbow Dash out of his way and got his hands on her shoulders. His face was just inches away from hers – the absolute rage it showed was stifling – and she feared the worst. Applejack was thrown towards her friends, each of them narrowly avoiding her.

"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy panicked.

"Fluttershy, get Spike and Kirby out of here!" Twilight ordered. Fluttershy gave her a shaky nod and did just as she was asked. Moving with her wings as quickly as possible, she scooped up Spike in her hooves and headed towards Kirby, but she stopped herself dead in her surprise. Kirby was running away from a badly wounded Waddle Dee, intending to fight King Dedede.

"What's he doing?!" Spike blurted out.

"Kirby!" Fluttershy wailed. She hoped that Kirby would listen and run away from Dedede, but he just kept running towards him. She watched in utter horror as she imagined what Dedede was going to do to the puffball, and an icy feeling choked her neck when that awful hammer came down.

It missed him! Kirby had jumped back from where the hammer was about to hit and leaped on top of it when it struck the floor. He then leaped from the hammer itself and spun his body around, smacking his foot into the side of Dedede's face. Kirby landed perfectly on his two feet and jumped back out of Dedede's reach. He waited for Dedede to attack and leave himself vulnerable again, but suddenly a big blob of white hit Dedede square in the face, completely covering it.

"Don't hurt him, you!" Pinkie Pie yelled. She was on top of the table, throwing the pastries and desserts at Dedede with her hooves. She scored another direct hit, on Dedede's left arm, with an pie, "How do you like them apples–?!...Pie!"

"Keep it up, Pinkie!" Said Twilight.

A large grin formed on Kirby's face; it was as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head. He rushed to the food table and opened his maw, inhaling a good number of the food and the plates that held them into his mouth. As Dedede wiped the food off his face, Kirby turned his bloated, wobbly body to him and made a target out of the king. With just a simple action as opening his mouth, a bright golden star shot out of his body like a cannon. All of the pony's nearly lost their jaws at the spectacle. The glorious glowing light from the star was fascinating! The star's life would be short, for it landed right on target and splashed onto Dedede, dissipating on impact. The blast slammed Dedede back into the wall, and he groaned and slowly slumped before falling face first on the floor. He didn't move, but he kept groaning. Rainbow Dash and Applejack moved over to him and shook his body, getting no response but more groans.

"Is he done?" Spike asked as Fluttershy set him down.

"I think so." Said Applejack, stepping away from the beaten king.

"Kirby, that was amazing!" Pinkie squealed, getting close to that puffball, "What was that trick with the star?! That was so cool!"

"Pinkie, another time." Applejack snapped, "We need ta do something about tha brute here before he wakes up."

"I agree," said Twilight, examining Dedede, "but what do we do about him?"

"Just send him out of Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash proposed.

Twilight shook her head, "That won't do; he'll be somepony else's problem."

"Um, girls?" Fluttershy quietly brought attention to herself, "He's from Kirby's world – he's the king there. I don't think..."

"Well, then let's just ask Kirby!" Said Pinkie, "Kirby, what do you think we should do about King Dedede?"

Kirby gave a quick glance at Dedede and shrugged, not knowing how to say "I don't know".

Applejack groaned, "Well, I figured one of us would hold on ta Kirby till he found his way home, but I don't reckon any of us wanna deal with this heap a trouble!"

"None of us can risk watching him alone," Said Twilight, biting her lip, "not if he's this violent."

"Again, just send him out of Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash repeated herself, "Whoever he finds next just might put him back in line!"

"Again, Rainbow, we can't risk it." Said Twilight.

"Then what do we do, smarty pants?"

"I'm thinking!" Twilight snapped.

"I have... an idea..." Said a shaky, weak voice. The whole room turned to the source – a bruised and barely standing Waddle Dee.