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."