Dededetour: Royal Road to Equestria
At long last, it was over. King Dedede, king of Dreamland, had finally defeated the final obstacle in his path. The self-proclaimed king watched as the form of his doppelganger, Shadow Dedede, grew dark. Then without warning, the evil clone shattered into pieces, as if he were made of glass. The royal penguin looked towards the spot where the fake had once lay, before starting to chuckle, which turned into full blown laughter.
"Heheheheheey!" he bellowed. "At long last, the land of Floralia is mine!"
He threw an arm up in triumph. It had taken a long time, but he had stormed through the floating lands of Floralia, and defeated the tyrannical ruler who resided there. Sure, he wasn't expecting to have to fight an axe-wielding clone of himself from the Dimension mirror, but in the end he had still won the fight. However, before he could celebrate his victory any further, a waddle dee wearing a blue bandanna came running into the room, carrying multiple sheets of paper in it's stubby arms.
"Great king!" it called out, "The reports from squads D-24, D-32, and D-64 are here!"
This caught the king's attention immediately.
"Good." the king said, with a grin stretched across his beak. "Come on Bandanna spit it out!. Let me hear about the success the troops have had due to my amazing leadership!"
Bandanna looked at the king quizzically before looking into the list in his arms.
"Well..." Bandanna started, "It says here that squad D-24, located on the floating island dubbed "Wild World," has had much success in exploring the area."
Dedede gained a smirk on his face. "Heh! I'm liking this report already!" He chuckled.
Bandanna simply rolled his eyes before continuing.
"It says here," he went on, "that squad D-24 found many treasures, a multitude of different ores; some of them quite rare, and strange plant life. You could probably use the plants for medicinal purposes or cultivate them for a good food source. And as for the ore, it say here that theres probably enough for-
"Ahem"
Bandanna was swiftly taken from his thoughts. He looked up towards Dedede to find that he looked quite disinterested.
"G-great King?" the waddle dee stuttered, "is there something wrong?"
Dedede sighed with mild frustration.
"Bandanna Dee, I really don't care about ores or whatever kind of plant they happened to find out there." he spoke. "Ya could've stopped at the mention of treasure." The blue penguin then turned away, looking outside through the massive balcony window.
Bandanna was puzzled.
"But king!" he began, " We could!- This could be a good thing for us!
Dedede simply looked back before stretching out his arms.
"And?" he asked, "What do we need em for? Dreamland's got plenty of food. And as King I've got the best medicine on standby in the event that I get sick. As for the ore, unless its gold or silver, we don't need it in the slightest."
"B-But..."
"No buts!" the king said firmly. "This matter is over! Continue with the rest of the report."
Bandanna sighed before flipping over to another article in the list. He took a look at the page before he began to fervently flip through the pages, as if looking for an important item.
Dedede took notice of Bandanna's worried expression and raised an eyebrow.
"Is there a problem?" he asked calmly.
Bandanna froze immediately before looking back towards the king. With a gulp he began to speak.
W-well. It says here that squad D-32, located on the island dubbed "Endless Explosions" found almost nothing but ores." He said weakly "They DID happen to find vast amounts of gems as well but with all the volcanic activity they said it would be highly dangerous to make any attempt to mine them without the proper equipment.
Dedede frowned at this.
"That's it?" he asked, "Surely there's gotta be something else to that giant lava rock than unreachable jewels and minerals!"
"Well..." Bandanna began, " they also wrote that there was a few instances of plant life here as-"
Dedede brought a hand up, silencing the waddle dee immediately.
"Like I said," Dedede started, " I. Don't. Care. Unless there's something valuable, go on to the next report."
This time Bandanna didn't make a retort. He simply nodded and looked further into the list.
"Alright lets see" he muttered. "Ah!"
He walked closer to Dedede, pointing towards the paper and poking it furiously.
"It says here" he began, "That squad D-64 has successfully brought down the rest of Sectonia's forces on Royal Road, the island that we are currently on."
Dedede threw his arm into the air once more.
"Great! That's just what I needed to hear." He said with vigor. After a moment he turned towards Bandana. "Is there anything else of value from squad D-64?" he asked.
Bandanna looked towards the paper again, scanning it. However he tensed up at something written on the paper. This reaction didn't go unnoticed by the King.
"Don't tell me that they found ore and plants."Dedede growled.
Bandanna jumped. He looked towards the king's frowning form and shook his head furiously.
"N-no!" Bandanna stuttered. "It's just that... they said that the whole operation was chaotic." According to the report, many of the Floralians, if not all of them, evacuated the town when the battle started. Aside from that there's nothing of interest."
Dedede's expression calmed. He was glad that the Floralians managed to get away from the fights. They didn't seem to be too tough or experienced with combat. But he had figured that when he got the chance, he could make them into castle servants. They seemed nice enough, and even though he personally only met a few of them while storming the giant castle, he felt that they would do well ion that line of work.
"Well alright." The king said at last. "Find someone who can fly, preferably a Capsule J2 or a Birdon, and send them out to find them and bring them back to the town. I've got a proposition for them, and I'd very much like it if they didn't flee from us entirely."
Bandanna Dee nodded and ran off to find someone to do the King's request.
Alone once more, the King decided to look around the decimated viewing room. His eyes soon fell upon the shiny gold plating of the Dimension Mirror. After it had summoned his dark clone from the mirror world it had ascended higher into the room. Nearly touching the ceiling, it was quite a sight to behold. Dedede stared at it for a moment before looking away.
"Don't look too deeply into it." He thought to himself. "Meta Knight and Kirby told me about what went on in there and what the dangers of it are. If my mirror clone is anything to go by, I'd say they were right."
But the mirror was quite lovely. Indeed, despite the fact that he knew of its dangers, Dedede found his gaze wandering back to the crystal clear surface of the mirror. It felt like it was calling out to him. Telling him to gaze into the mysterious world that lay behind the glass.
Dedede shook his head.
"No!" He said out loud. "I won't be pulled into whatever kind of madness you hold!"
Dedede stared at the mirror a bit more before sighing.
"Perhaps I should take this to Meta Knight." He thought. "But there's no way I'm getting near that thing."
He thought about how he would get the mirror down to Dreamland, before his expression lit up light a Christmas light. He wouldn't have to do anything, he'd just go go back the way he came and gather some of his minions to do the task for him! With a hearty laugh, Dedede left the room to look for someone to retrieve the mirror.
It was a busy day all around Equestria. It seemed that anywhere you'd go, it was incredibly busy with ponies bustling about. Canterlot Castle was especially busy. Noble Ponies were lined up, waiting for their turn to speak with the princess. Each of them seemed to have scowls on their faces or have their muzzles pointed in the air, as if they were looking for birds, usually both. Princess Celestia was waiting inside the Solar courtroom, listening to the problems and requests of every noble who managed to stay in line long enough to actually make an audience with her. Unfortunately almost every noble pony who DID make it this far, had an incredibly petty and sometimes downright idiotic or cruel request to ask. Celestia sighed as she watched yet another pony trot away in a huff, having been denied their greedy request. She motioned towards a guard. The guard nodded and turned towards the door.
"Next!" He boomed.
A well dressed stallion walked into the room. He was a unicorn with beige fur. He wore a yellow tuxedo with a red tie. He seemed to hold his muzzle in the air especially high compared to the other nobles. Celestia sighed as she recognized this particular individual.
"Hello Mr. Stingy Bit." She said, her voice nearly devoid of emotion. "What troubles you today?"
Stingy Bit, exhaled sharply.
"Well princess." He began, "As of late there have been more and more common ponies arriving in Canterlot. I was simply minding my own business when a mare bumped into me and spilled her soda upon my favorite suit. I asked where she had come from and the ruffian said that she was from that dreaded town of Ponyville!"
Celestia resisted the urge to facehoof, and looked at the snooty stallion.
"What is your request Stingy?" She asked at last.
Stingy opened his mouth, ready to make his proposal, when another guard came rushing into the room.
"Princess!" he called out. "Twilight Sparkle and her friends have arrived!"
The solar princess mentally celebrated, thanking the powers above that she wouldn't have to sit through Stingy's irrational requests.
"Alright." She said, "Tell them to meet me at the throne room." SHe then turned to face the line of ponies. "Until further notice the Solar court is adjourned for today."
As she made to leave she could hear the cries of outrage from the nobles, especially Stingy. She simply continued on her way and ignored their protests as best she could.
After a few minutes of walking, Celestia finally made it to the throne room. As she walked through the doors she found six mares already there. Five of them were wearing golden necklaces, while the sixth wore a tiara. One of them pointed out her arrival to the rest of the group and they all turned around to see her. The 6 mares soon ran up to the royal pony.
"Princess!" The all said in unison.
Princess Celestia chuckled softly.
"Hello my little ponies. She said. "How are you all today?"
Each of the had a similar response to the question. The princess chuckled once more at their answers. But she had called the Elements to Canterlot for a reason and she'd have to set the sun after a while.
"Now." She began, " I'm sure you all are wondering why I've summoned you here today.
The six mare looked at one another before looking back at the princess. Each one of them voicing their opinion on the matter.
"Yeah!"
"Mmhm."
"Uh-huh!"
"If its alright..."
"You bet!"
"Hmm!"
"The alicorn smiled at each of the them before her expression became serious.
"Very well." she said. She turned away from the group and faced the throne. She concentrated her magic and her horn began to glow brightly. She turned back towards the group of friends. They looked at her with a bit of curiosity and worry. Celestia was straining for some reason though said reason was a mystery.
"Princess?" The pony with the tiara stepped forwards.
The alabaster alicorn simply smiled.
"Don't worry Twilight." she said, struggling still evident across her face. She then turned her gaze to her front.
After a few more moment the magic stopped flowing through Celestia's horn and with it the evidence of her straining. The six mare looked around in confusion while Celestia kept her gaze locked in front of her.
Then, with a flash of golden light, a large black mirror appeared in front of her.
The 6 recoiled from the sight, but soon stared at the mirror with awe and uncertainty. It was oval shaped and appeared to be made of onyx and silver. It had four horns jutting outwards from the sides with the ones closer to the top curving sharply upwards. The mirror's edge had four silver stars that went around it. Overall, it looked intimidating and evil.
Princess Celestia glanced at it and sighed. Turning towards the group she had a small smile on her muzzle. She walked towards the six mares.
"Everypony. This is what Luna and I came to call, The Black Mirror."
Each of the mares gasped. One began to shiver at the mere mention of the name. Twilight took a step forwards and asked the question that was on everypony's mind.
"Princess. What is this.... Black Mirror?"
The princess only sighed. She looked at the group and her expression became serious once more.
"Before I tell you the story I must ask that the detail of this conversation remain secret." She said sternly. "Nopony can learn of the existence of this mirror. At least, not yet."
"Not yet? What do ya mean not yet?" A rainbow maned pegasus asked her.
"Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed a white unicorn with a curly purple mane. Said unicorn promptly turned back towards the solar princess. "My apologies your highness."
"It's quite alright Rarity." Celestia said calmly. "But I still must have your word that this won't be told to anypony until my say so."
The friends all looked towards each other before turning their heads back to the princess and nodding in agreement. The princess smiled warmly.
Alright. This is the tale of how we came across the Black Mirror.
King Dedede had returned to the viewing room with a quite a few Waddle Dees in tow. They followed him all the way until they were under the Dimension Mirror.
"Alright, listen up!" The king bellowed. "I need you all to grab that Mirror up there and take it down the Dreamstalk to my castle." He turned to face the mob of Waddle Dees.
"Are there any objections here?"
The mob stayed silent and still. The king looked around to see if there was anyone fidgeting around or trying to escape. When he saw that the ranks were in order he smiled smugly.
"Good. Now get to it!"
The Waddle Dees immediately began bustling about. They soon became a large pile of orange fuzz, as it grew larger, they grew closer to reaching the mirror. Soon they made it to their goal. A singular Waddle Dee reached out of the orange mass to grab the mirror. It waved back at the group to signify that the mirror was theirs. With the signal given the pile of Waddle Dees began to pull the mirror. But something was wrong. No matter how hard they move and wiggled, the mirror didn't seem to move at all. The pulled and tugged for a solid minute, with Dedede yelling at them to boost their morale.
"Comon ya slackers! Put some back bone into it!" He shouted.
The Waddle Dee mass kept pulling at the mirror, until one at the bottom sneezed and fell away from the group. This cause a chain reaction that cause them all to fall down away from the mirror. All except for the one who grabbed it who was now holding onto it for dear life. The King looked at the scene and sighed.
"Alright!" He said at last. "Change of plans. I need some of you to go back down the Dreamstalk and bring the strongest members of the kingdom here or anyone who can fly!" He made to leave before turning back and adding.
"And don't bring Kirby or Meta Knight up here! This is meant for the Triple D Army!"
A plethora of Waddle Dees ran up, saluted and ran out the door. King Dedede sighed and went outside to get some air.
Hopefully things would work better next time.
Twilight and her friends were astounded. This black mirror had quite the story if the princess's tale was anything to go by.
An orange mare with a stetson on her head spoke up first.
"So lemmie go through this one more time to make sure ah'm understanding you." she said, her voice bringing the others out of their own thoughts. "You want us, to use the Elements of Harmony to destroy the bad magic running through this here mirror."
Celestia nodded.
"That is correct dear Applejack."
Rarity spoke next.
"And if the spell on the mirror is dispersed, it should allow us to look into other worlds or possibly dimensions? "
"Yes Rarity"
The friends looked at each other with blank expressions, then they turned to Twilight.
Twilight had an unreadble expression on her face. Her mouth was wide open and her eyes seemed to stare out into nothing. Rainbow Dash decided to try and grab her unicorn friend's attention. She waved a hoof in front of her face.
Yo Twilight? You alrig-!
At seemingly incomprehensible speed, Rainbow was silenced by two lavender hooves holding her muzzle closed. Two big purple eyes stared into her own magenta ones with high intensity. It unnerved her greatly, but she would never admit it.
"Did you hear that girls!?" Twilight shouted at last. "Whole new worlds! Possibly even DIMENSIONS!" The amount of knowledge to be discovered is ASTRONOMICAL!" She gasped. She gasped, seemingly coming to a realization.
"I need to get quills and ink!" She shrieked. In a flash she was gone. Everypony stood there with a surprised written across their features. Another flash and Twilight was in front of them once more, absolutely loaded with quills, ink, and books.
"Okay I think that should just about cover it." She said with confirmation. She then took a look around the room to find that the others had looks of amusement on their faces.
"What?"
At this everyone one burst out laughing. Twilight looked around before realizing how she had just acted. She blushed and sheepishly covered her face with her hooves.
It had taken a while but the Waddle Dees had returned and they had brought a considerable amount of back up. As King Dedede walked back into the room that held the Dimension Mirror, he stood in awe at just what his minions had managed to get for help. There where a whole mess of creatures that came to help with the task of moving the mirror. Some of the more notable ones being Buggzy, Bonkers, Mr. Frosty, And Phan Phan. The Waddle Dees had even managed to nab a few Warp Stars to aid in the endeavor. The King looked around the room, a smile creeping onto his face.
"Alright! Here's the deal!" He shouted. "We need to get this here Mirror outta this room!" Do whatever it takes to budge it!" He then let his expression drop to one of seriousness. "Just don't break it." He said, his tone shaking the core of the smaller minions while unnerving the bigger ones.
The laughing had died down by now and everypony had now taken their positions.
"Now remember" Celestia called out. "If this doesn't work you cannot tell anypony about this ever happening."
"Understood." The mares said in unison.
Celestia smiled and stepped farther back.
The Elements began to glow and the six mares began to float upwards.
The viewing room was a mess. The Waddle Dees had mad a much larger tower to support the weight of the bulkier creatures now aiding them. Buggzy had the mirror locked in its pincers, wings buzzing furiously against the golden object, while Mr. Frosty and Phan Phan balanced themselves upon the tower of Waddle Dees, pulling the mirror with all of their strength. When this proved to be ineffective, Birdons, Capsule J2s, and Plasma Wisps began to fly into the back of the mirror, hoping to push it downwards. It slowly began to move, but only just barely.
"Comon!" Dedede roared. He was well away from the action and he didn't plan on helping them, but he wasn't going to sit idly by and do TOTALLY nothing.
The mares rose higher into the air, and light began to form. It grew brighter and brighter. Celestia watched as each of the elements began to glow brighter themselves. At last Twilight, who'd had her eyes closed, opened them. They were glowing pure white. At last, a familiar burst of rainbow burst forth. Celestia watched as the harmony beam rose upwards before it arched downwards, ready to crash upon the black mirror and rid it of its evil magic.
The room was in chaos. Warpstar and Simirror clones had been added to the mix. Bonker's had joined in upon a warp star, aiding the flying minions with his incredible strength. Even Bandanna Dee had joined in! The mirror was now closing in with the ground. Dedede was smiling as he cheered the mob on, standing well back. But as they went on pulling and tugging the mirror, no one noticed one of the Simirrors sidle to the reflective side of the mirror. It peered into it, looking upon its reflection.
There had been rumors about this mirror. That whatever was reflected in the mirror became something different on the other side of it. It was curious to say the least. This curiosity was what fueled it's decision to bring out its wand.
With it's wand in its hand it wondered what would happen if the mirror were to reflect a mirror spell. With a downward thrust of the ward, The Simirror cast Reflect force upon the Dimension mirror.
The harmony beam accelerated towards the Black Mirror. Celestia watched as the beam crashed upon the mirror in awe. She could feel the magic of harmony and friendship doing something to the evil magic within. Soon the onyx and silver workings of the mirror all began to glow a plethora of colors. The princess watched as the glow became brighter and brighter. By now the beam had stopped, leaving the mirror to show its color show.
Within the void of the Mirror World, the swirling purple void was suddenly lit up by a rainbow. It blasted forwards with nothing stopping it. Then without warning it was reflected by a multitude of mirror like projectiles. The beam bounced around the void only to get reflected, each time it reflected off of something the rainbow beam grew brighter. Eventually the entirety of the void was filled with incredibly bright colors. The void shook, and then exploded with white light.
The curious Simirror stared into the mirror after using reflect for against it. At first it seemed like nothing had happened. But then the mirror began to glow. It was dull at first, but then it grew brighter. Everyone soon took notice and soon stopped moving completely. Everyone stared at the now glowing Dimension Mirror. The glow grew brighter, before the mirror began to shudder violently, throwing the tower off balance and sending all the non-flying minions to the floor. The ones who Could fly backed away from the shaking mirror.
Dedede looked on at the mirror, and watched as it shook violently. When it started to produce rainbow colored electricity, that when he decided that it would be best to leave immediately.
"All troops fall back!" Get outta there!" He yelled, running towards the door.
That was all it took. Every single creature in the scrambled towards the door or flew out the window. The Mirror's shaking picked up in intensity, and the rainbow lighting sparked with increasing frequency. Then, without warning rainbow light burst out of the mirror. Everyone watched as the light began to expand, engulfing whatever it came across, and bringing it into the unknown. Everyone soon made a break for it, knocking down walls to escape the danger. But the light began expanding faster than they could run or fly. Screams and yells echoed throughout the halls as Royal Road was engulfed in rainbow.
Dedede had kept running. Hearing the screams behind him certainly help in keeping him motivated.
"Gotta get outta here!" he kept repeating to himself. Soon he heard footsteps behind him. He didn't look back, but he could hear the pants of exhaustion besides him. Then he saw a streak of blue in his peripheral vision.
"King Dedede!" Bandanna called out. "What just happened!? What's going on?!"
"Don't know don't care!" The king yelled. "We gotta get outta here!" The pair kept running for what felt like hours, getting lost in the unfamiliar layout of the palace. As they continued to run, they could feel the energy surge behind them. It was gaining ground on the two and they didn't know how much longer they could go on. The two snuck a glance back to see how close it was to them. At this point it was right on their heels. The two pushed themselves to their limits.
It wasn't enough.
Slowly, the two were engulfed by the wave of rainbow. As they were taken by its current, they screamed out hoping that something would save them from the end.
The rainbow continued to expand even more. Eventually it engulfed Royal Road entirely. But it didn't stop there. It kept on growing, eventually growing big enough to where the inhabitants of the planet below could see the giant rainbow orb. The blob of rainbow was slowing down in its growth however, and soon enough it came to a stop. It floated there for a moment, just a massive swirling rainbow orb. Then without warning it began to rapidly shrink. As it shrunk down, it began to suck in the two nearby floating island around it. They too became engulfed in the swirling rainbow, seemingly lost forever.
As the orb of light rapidly got smaller and smaller, a star could be seen in the distance rapidly approaching. Kirby had set out to investigate what this strange occurrence was. He was closing in on the light, but it kept getting smaller and smaller. Kirby kept going, pushing his Warp Star to go faster and faster. But despite his speed, he didn't make it in time. The orb had disappeared into nothing. Kirby slowed down when he saw that the light was gone. but before he left, he saw something strange. There, floating in the sky, was the Dimension Mirror! Kirby watched as it flashed many different colors, before it turned black and plummeted towards the ground. Kirby soon took off after it, managing to catch it and keeping it from shattering on the ground.
Meta Knight was gonna have a field day with this one.
Within the throne room, everypony had been celebrating. The Black Mirror couldn't really match its name any longer as its coloration was now a majestic golden color. Seems like the Elements of Harmony had done the job once again.
"I wish to thank you all for this." Celestia said to the group of friends. "I wasn't sure this would work, as when Luna and I tried so many years ago, we failed. But to see that the elements were able to dispel the dark magic within the mirror with your bond. I say that shows the true power of your friendship.
Everypony present agreed.
Celestia turned towards the now golden mirror, before looking at the six mares.
"Would any of you like to gaze into the mirror?" The royal mare offered.
Twilight was the first to the mirror. The stood by, quill at the ready.
"I do!"
Everypony laughed at the unicorns reaction, before making their way towards the mirror. But as they approached it, it began to shudder violently. This startled everypony present. Surely the mirror wasn't resisting the harmonious power of friendship.... right?
"Uh Princess?" Applejack began. "It it supposed to do that?"
Princess Celestia had a simple answer.
"No, it's not." Celestia edged closer towards the shaking mirror. She lit up her horn and let her magical aura wash across the mirror. Suddenly her expression changed in an instant. Urgency was written upon her face as she spread her wing and flapped away from the mirror.
"Everypony stand back! NOW!"
The mares barely had time to scamper away to what they felt was a comfortable distance, before a rainbow beam shot out of the mirror and blasted through the roof of the castle. Everypony in Canterlot watched as the rainbow beam flew up and away towards the Undiscovered West. It was big, and it was bright. The griffons in the east could see it, the dragons in the southeast could see it, the Crystal Empire in the north could see it, the Changelings in the badlands could see it, everypony could see it.
The beam kept going, and going, before collecting into a glowing orb in the west. It floated there, with all the colors of the rainbow swirling around. Then, without warning, objects began to fall out of it. Ponys in the area watched as three large object fell from the large light in the sky. Then the light vanished into nothing. But the falling objects did not. In fact, it turned out that they weren't large. They were ENORMOUS The first object hit solid ground. Large mounds of dirt and rock were displaced from the resulting earthquake. The second object landed halfway in the water and halfway on land. Many things happened there. But mostly everything was covered in lava and burst into flames in a wide area around it. but once everything "settled down" there, it looked like it had been part of the land since always! The final, and largest object, crashed upon the mountain tops, decimating a huge chunk of them before it settled upon its perch, crooked.
No pony knew what to think of the sight. Though a few did have some sort idea what to do.
Extra! Extra! Giant things fall from the sky, and decimate the land! See Princess Celestia for more details.
Author's Note
And with that, my secondary story has begun. Now some of you may be wondering why I've made a completely different story without finishing the other one. Quite simply, I want to have two different stories to work on so I don't get burnt out from just writing one. I hope that each of you enjoy both stories.
Also I happen to be using the Equestrian Map for my locations, so if you look at that, you'll find where they've landed.
