With the Summer Sun Celebration behind them Kirby enjoyed a strange but venerable experience while in Ponyville. Though even then nopony could have foreseen just how much things changed when Kirby was on the scene.
The first moment Twilight had alone with Kirby had been a bit hectic but she was certain with a little understanding and some common ground they would discuss the secrets of the universe and the heavens above. They didn't.
“Stop hitting my horn!” Twilight shouted as Kirby bopped her on the horn once again after she had tried to grab the star shaped vehicle once again.
Twilight was exasperated as she was trying to learn everything she could about the vehicle but Kirby would give her a disappointed look and wave his stubby nub in her face as of to signify that he was saying no. It took twelve swings and twelve shorts to her magic to get the idea that maybe she was doing something wrong at this point.
It was made worse when she tried to grab Kirby in her magic and he managed to not only struggle in it but break the telekinetic field within seconds. She wasn't able to teleport something else aside from herself without hurting the other object so she refrained from doing so to Kirby.
“What do I got to do to get you to let me see it? Ask nicely?” Twilight groused almost glaring at the pink puffball but his cuteness cut it down to a apathetic stare.
“Poyo…” Kirby answered as if almost in the affirmative. Twilight's eyes went wide and shocked.
It was at this point she realized how bad a friend she was being and the multiple times she tried to grab the star without asking. So with a quick cough and clearing her throats she realized what she needed to do at this point.
“I'm sorry Kirby for not asking. I should have known better than to try and grab your things. Can you forgive me?” Twilight breathed out clearing her mind and remembering Celestia’s proclamation to learn the magic of friendship.
“Poyo!” Kirby shouted as he ran up and hugged Twilight. Twilight had learned an important lesson that day about making sure to not take thing that weren't hers.
“Now Kirby, may I examine your star now?” Twilight brought up with a soft smile and jovial tone figuring out that she needed permission first.
“Poyo!” Kirby shook his head and with a quick tap on the console within the ship, it shrunk into an energy star of some sort. Twilight could only surmise that it was similar in nature to the magic Luna most likely wielded.
Then he ate the star.
Twilight gaped at the sudden destruction and consumption of the star shaped ship which Kirby merely rubbed his belly. Firefighters were immediately called to the town square as Twilight blew a gasket.
Unbeknownst to her, Kirby had actually changed the ship to the more compact warp star model. It was much more flimsy as it was in that state but it would be able to travel between galaxies within hours due to the speed boost. Thanks to his infinite black hole of a stomach he could summon the warp star at any time and recreate it from his own internal energy whenever he needed it.
Twilight, on the other hand, needed three days bed rest after conflagrating within town. Kirby merely giggled and enjoyed his trek amongst these strange ponies.
Applejack had seen a lot of crazy things in her life. She had seen the goddess of the moon come back and plunge the world into eternal night. She had seen a giant rainbow death laser come out of her eyes and necklace defeating the same goddess. She had even seen a pony that hated eating apples which she couldn't believe for the life of her.
This was a good number four on the list of weird things.
Kirby had jauntily wandered his way into the orchard and started running around like a foal who had discovered their cutie mark for the first time. That was the simple part which warmed her heart and made her work day much lighter. It was what happened afterwards that made her pause for thought.
After hearing Kirby’s stomach rumble she gave him a few apples. That was when it began. Kirby began to inhale, breathing in the apples. It didn't stop until two bushels of apples were gone within the blink of an eye.
“Now hold it right there Kirby, you can't eat all those apples by yourself… I mean you can but you shouldn't! We need to sell those to Ponyville so we can keep the farm.” Applejack berated Kirby who apologetically held his head low.
“Poyo… “ Kirby held his head low.
“Shoot… its fine Kirby. Just don't eat anymore bushels cause we need to sell’em later.” Applejack sighed as she patted him on his head… at least the top part.
Kirby nodded and before she could get ready to take the new bushels she filled Kirby picked one up and ran it to the barn to help out.
“Huh… “ Applejack responded before taking a small bottle of cider out from under her hat and took a big swig of it. “I ain't lived long enough to make sense of that.”
Applejack quietly ignored the fact that the small child like creature was stronger than Big Mac by a large margin… or that he managed to pull in over thirty bushels of apples by himself. They were one at a time but even then the baskets and apples combined weighed enough that it would cause strain even for Big Mac. She continued her work and paid Kirby in more apples which he happily swallowed whole. Today was a weird day overall and she merely went with the flow.
Rainbow Dash flew around town at a brisk pace when she noted that the small pink puffball that wasn't Pinkie Pie was racing around the town at breakneck speeds.
Curious she quietly glided down and watched as he raced around like a little speed demon while Twilight desperately tried to catch him. Her magic had been broken several times whenever she found a chance to focus on Kirby. He merely struggled for a bit flailing around and broke the telekinetic field every time. It was kinda awesome in her opinion seeing as not even she could break Twilight’s grip whenever she was being held by magic.
“Kirby! I just want to study you!” Twilight called out before break my into a wheezing cough.
Kirby, most likely thinking they were playing tag, kept running and laughing as he did so. The sudden speed boost caused Twilight to fall flat on her face from exhaustion which Dash tried to not laugh at. She did anyways because even her awesome skills couldn't stop her from laughing when something funny happened.
“You okay there, Twilight, snrkt.” Rainbow Dash nearly snickered out once again.
“I was trying to learn more about Kirby but he decided to run away. Ugh… how am I supposed to learn more about him if he runs away. Not only that but we are meeting the Dream Land representatives in less than a week and I don't have time to catch him.” Twilight groaned as she shook her legs out trying to get her legs working again.
“Don't worry bout it egghead. I'll catch him lickety split and bring him back to the library before you know it.” Dash smirked as she started to flap her wings.
“He doesn't stay with me. He keeps alternating houses staying with random ponies which is really weird… though I guess he's making friends… which reminds me that I should make more too.” Twilight sighed as her breathing stopped its harsh decline and soon returned to normal.
“Right, well I'll bring him to you today then.” Dash confidently stated.
“I won't hold my breath. Just try to keep him in one spot for a while and that would be fine.” Twilight mentioned clearly tired as she walked for the nearest Hayburger she could find. The Triple Combo Supreme was calling her name.
Wasting no time Rainbow Dash flared her wings and zoomed off catching sight of Kirby still racing around running circles around several of the townsponies who merely stared bemusedly at the tiny guy. Dive bombing down she held her hooves low ready to catch him in ten seconds flat… only for him to duck so low that she caught nothing but air.
Kirby saw he had a new opponent to play tag against and immediately took off while Dash was forced to change directions at a sharper than normal angle.
“Get back here!” Dash called out as she flew back down at Kirby.
“Poyo! Poyo, poyo!” Kirby answered and began laughing again as he raced away from the ever present rainbow contrail that was following him.
Thus began, as the townsponies call it, The Great Rainbow Escape. For several hours Kirby managed to swiftly dodge, roll, jump, slide and even parkour circles around Dash. He wasn't faster than her that was certain whenever she though she had cornered him. No, he was much more intuitive with his senses managing to evade her grasp at the last minute.
Dash took this challenge much more personally after she accidentally crashed into Sugarcube Corner from one of her ill fated divebomb maneuvers. At that moment… It. Was. On.
Dash immediately stirred up a small tornado if only to stop Kirby. He retaliated by sucking in the air stopping the vortex before running off once again. Now with twitchy eyes she zoomed off completely giving herself over to her need for challenge and chased Kirby throughout town.
Finally after several more missed attempts and minor crashes Rainbow Dash was exhausted. Groaning, she flapped up to her specially reserved cloud and got ready for a nap. She would catch Kirby in an hour or two after some rest. She didn't get any as Kirby, seeming overly bloated, was flying through the air.
“What!?” Dash lost all composure as even her voice cracked.
“Poyo!” Kirby announced as he landed on the cloud… and didn't fall through and ran around her.
She could have caught him then and there. It would have been easy and she would have taken the win… but she was also really tired. Fatigue won out over competition.
“Gotta hand it to ya. You're much faster than you look. Not as fast as me… but a lotta things aren't.” Dash admitted.
“Poyo?” Kirby titles his head noticing that Dash was laying down and looked ready to sleep. Taking the hint, he sat right next to her barrel and made himself comfortable. Rolling her eyes, Dash rested her head.
Before she knew it Kirby had passed out next to her… and a small nightcap had appeared on his head. Ignoring the new questions she felt the puffball hug her.
With great reluctance… she grabbed Kirby and hugged him back.
“Gotta hand it to ya. You've got my friendship after all this. Don't tell nopony about this or I'll pound you though.” Dash warned the still sleeping Kirby who merely snored in response.
She hoped to Celestia that nopony was gonna bother her in this precarious situation. She had an image to keep up with.
Pinkie was absolutely ecstatic about finally throwing a party for the alien. It was a jubilous day of epic proportions. She needed to be on her A game as she assembled several long tables with every sweet she could make and placed them on a long table where every pony could see. She also made sure to have the secondary spread if they didn't have enough for everypony to eat.
Kirby was rushing around chasing after Spike who was chasing after Kirby in an endless loop acting like a kid for once. She had been worried by how grown up Spike had acted when they first met… even if he was a party animal by trade.
“Welcome everypony! To the special ‘Welcome to Ponyville Kirby!’ party that we've prepared for our new guest! Kirby!” Pinkie announced to everypony who stomped their hooves in approval.
“Poyo!” Kirby shouted as he waved his arms with all his might.
“And since he’s the guest of honor, let's see what his favorite food is from the choices before him!” Pinkie announced as she pulled the long tablecloth that had covered the food she made for the party in question. At least one of them would be something Kirby liked.
“Oh boy…” Applejack mumbled as she gripped her hat tightly in her hoof. Rarity, confused by her new friends antics, immediately did the same for the dress she had made and worn that day.
Kirby, enamoured with the spread before him, jumped on the table and planted his feet firmly on the wood. At that moment, Pinkie felt her whole body spasm. Eyes widening, she realized what she had to do.
“It's a doozy!” Pinkie yelled to the crowd who all braced themselves.
Kirby began to inhale. His breath sucked in every dish on the table that was almost four buildings long. Cookies of every style, pastries of every make, punch of multiple flavors, nothing escaped Kirby’s might. Then the dishes… utensils… even the tablecloth disappeared into Kirby’s mouth. With a small burp Kirby spit up the dishes, utensils and tablecloth which while slimy… were still in working order.
Everypony gaped at the suddenly devoured banquet. What was to feed everypony was suddenly gone and Pinkie actually needed to use the extra food she had made to feed the townsponies. They were still all stunned at the sudden loss of food within seconds.
“Now I know what hungry is.” Pinkie smiled as she pronked around grabbing Kirby who rested on her back and fell asleep. He had had his fill and was mostly content.
“What was that!?” Twilight shouted losing more semblance of her understanding about Kirby.
Kirby flitted about Rarity’s shop taking in the sights of the entire ensemble that she had on display. He had taken an interest in hats at the moment looking them over with an extreme amount of focus.
“I see you've got the eye for what you want, darling.” Rarity traipsed into the room looking over the hats. None of them fit Kirby though… which she needed to fix.
The problem came that there was no inspiration for a hat for the small pink puffball to any extent. It was mortifying seeing as she prided herself as a fashion mogul of sorts but she couldn't see anything that she could make to compliment his look at the moment.
It was as if there was a certain magic around the little guy which explained Twilight’s many breakdowns when he refused to go along with her studies and ran off. Though, to be fair, she was a bit overbearing whenever research came to mind.
“I'm terribly sorry darling but I can't think of anything that would fit you so well at the moment. It's as if you have something in mind already and far be it for me to get in the way of your creative flair.” Rarity lowered her head slightly as Kirby, in his infinite wisdom, merely patted her leg and smiled at her.
He looked at the hats one more time and merely nodded as if he already had everything under control.
Ditzy flew around town looking high and low for her mysterious letter recipient. Apparently Princess Celestia was sending a letter to a one, Kirby, for some reason if the to section of the letter was anything to go by.
She flew high and she flew low through Ponyville looking for the mysterious space alien that crashed not too long ago. The problem was that he was always on the move hanging out with random ponies. It made her always save his letter as the last on her route for the three days he was in town.
“I just don't know where he is… maybe he knows.” She muttered as she decided that maybe the doc, Time Turner, would know where he was.
Flapping to a stop, she landed smack dab in the middle of his yard… leaving a small crater from where her flank connected and immediately patted the ground for forgiveness.
Turner had joked her flank was a dangerous weapon… though the steel flag pole near town hall was proof that it just might have been. She didn't mind though… that always meant that stallions were looking which boosted her confidence whenever anypony stared at her lazy eye.
Ignoring her growing thoughts she entered the humble abode of creations and experiments… only to find Kirby and Turner messing with the orb with electricity in it.
“Found you!” Ditzy cheered as she galloped over to the two.. before tripping over her hooves and rolling into the two. “I just don't know what went wrong…”
Kirby took it in stride laughing the entire time while Turner tucked and rolled with it groaning as she landed on top of him with Kirby resting against their sides.
“Thanks Doc. I've been looking all over for this little guy.” Ditzy pecked him on the check which caused him to blush up an oncoming storm. She hopped off him and handed Kirby the letter.
He stared at it in confusion before grabbing it and opening it up. There were several words that he couldn't make hide nor hair of and merely perplexed himself over the contents. Then he looked towards Turner who was still reeling from the affection that came his way.
Waving the letter in his face Turner shook himself awake and looked at it and then Kirby.
“You want me to read it to you, old boy? Well if you give me permission to I don't think our mailmare extraordinaire would take offense, would you dear?” Turner looked to Ditzy who was put on the spot.
“Nope. The letter reached his… nub, I think it's called, and it's his decision.” Ditzy nodded as if she was reigning expert on the subject and proud of her ruling decision.
“Hm… it seems that she would like you to talk with Twilight a bit more about yourself.” Turner read off the letter.
“Poyo?” Kirby tilted his head.
“I know right? She just can’t understand how you speak already. Heck, you’ve been telling me all about the stars and the Star Warrior lineage you come from.” Turner answered clearly understanding all those details from just one word.
“Poyo.” Kirby answered resolutely clearly agreeing with Time Turner.
“Of course old chap, you’re very welcome.” Turner answered.
“Wow… he’s actually a warrior. But he’s so tiny.” Ditzy poked at Kirby who giggled at the tap of her hoof.
“Their power doesn’t come from size but skill. I think I’ve figured out his ability but I think he wants to keep it a secret until it’s time.” Turner postulated.
“That’s so neat. Take us on an adventure one day!” Ditzy cried out prancing around like a little filly again while Turner and Kirby chuckled.
“Poyo!” Kirby affirmed with a nod a serious smile.
“Thanks old boy. We’ll be waiting for our chance to shine.” Turner answered as the two ponies hugged the small pink puffball.
Roseluck, Lily Valley and Daisy slowly gathered their flower arrangements together. After all the work they had done getting things together the bouquet was looking ready to send out to the potential buyer. It was at that point the newest guest of Ponyville had come up to them with a small wave and a bright smile.
“Poyo!” Kirby waved at the three who nervously waved back. They all remembered what he did during Pinkie Pie’s party. And it made them extremely on edge.
“What’s up K-kirby?” Roseluck, the bravest of the three, managed to say after some time.
Kirby immediately rolled to the right, moonwalked to the right, spun back to the center, did two hops while raising his arms followed by a backflip and finally finished by raising one arm up in a victorious pose. Kirby had done a little victory dance for the three of them.
“Too cute! Too cute!” Daisy shouted as she fell over backwards.
“It’s too much for my heart!” Lily yelled as she fell over as well.
“Too… much… “ Roseluck, with sparkling eyes and the warmth in her heart, passed out like the other two from the cuteness overload.
Everypony else who saw the dance managed to shield themselves from just how much energy was placed into it. It was almost too much for most of the ponies around him but it was all in fun. Luckily the flower ponies were resilient enough to keep getting back up even after their worldview would be shattered.
Lyra sat down and stared at Kirby. Kirby stood defiantly and stared back at her. It was an epic showdown of epic proportions. Bon Bon, meanwhile, groaned and shook her head in exasperation.
“You know you don't understand him Lyra.” Bon Bon muttered as she watched the staredown continue.
“Don't worry. When I win he'll teach me how he speaks.” Lyra growled out as she widened her eyes again staring into Kirby’s soul. She was pretty sure she could see food of all types but that might have been the fatigue from three hours of staring.
“Poyo. Poyo!” Kirby roared… which sounded more like a kid attempting to be scary and comi out adorable. He had managed to keep his eyes open if only for the promise of Bon Bon giving him a bag of candy. That was an agreement that Lyra was forced to negotiate just to get this chance.
Sweat dripped down her face while Kirby somehow managed to remain sweat free. It was torture as the young lyre player fought tooth and horn for her ticket to learning about aliens and eventually fingers. It was her only chance and she had managed to convince Kirby to it unlike Twilight who was still undergoing maintenance after that incident where Kirby inhaled an entire towns meal in less than five minutes.
“You will lose…” Lyra strained as she felt her eyes water even worse.
“Poyo…!” Kirby answered back as he got up almost muzzle to muzzle with her. She wouldn't back down.
“Unbelievable. It's like I'm a mom now.” Bon Bon groused.
Secretly, she was hoping that Lyra would win since Celestia had sent orders from down the grapevine that she wanted to know more about Kirby. The few instances of his powers activating gave Agent Sweetie Drops a bit more leeway in keeping up the agent’s lifestyle and she was happy for the chance. Even in her new identity of Bon Bon she couldn't fully give up the life and she knew it.
Then the unthinkable happened. Lyra had blinked. The sweat had managed to get in her eyes. She had tried desperately to fight the stinging sensation but it was too late. When she opened her eyes Kirby finally blinked as well. He looked around and she noticed that he was sweating. It was on the back of his head.
To her dismay and hindsight she had faced the way the sun set for an advantage early into the competition but because of Kirby’s willpower he managed to wait until the sun had set and was instead hitting his back instead of his front.
“Curse you timing!” Lyra shouted to the heavens.
Octavia had been extremely busy that week after the debacle that was the Summer Sun Celebration. The return of Nightmare Moon, her defeat and the return of Princess Luna had made her rush from gig to gig for the last week. She was looking forward to some relaxing at home with her roommate Vinyl Scratch, the infamous DJ-PON3.
She facehoofed when relax and Vinyl came up in the same sentence and slowly breathed in and out as she stepped up to their shared home. Strangely, the house wasn't vibrated my like it usually did whenever she was left home alone which made Octavia curious. Vinyl never shut off the wubs, as she called it, even if a guest came over.
Octavia braced herself and entered the house to find Vinyl sitting at the couch with a small pink puffball who was lazily kicking his large feet back and forth.
“Sup Tavi. You know the alien Kirby, right? S’a cool dude and he showed off some cool things already.” Vinyl drawled out… clearly it was five in the afternoon somewhere in the world.
“Vinyl, you're drunk.” Octavia flatly stated getting ready for the touchy feely moments she had when drunk.
“No I'm not! Kirby is!” Vinyl argued.
On cue Kirby burped slightly and the smell of cider filled the air. Octavia blinked noting that he was much calmer at this moment. He wasn't running around or laughing. He was just sitting still and lost in thought.
“Po - hiccup - yo.” Kirby answered nonchalantly.
Octavia quickly sniffed at Vinyl… only to not find any scent of cider on her. She was clean and positively surly and sober. A winning combination.
“I was minding my own business ready to play some wubs when he came knocking at the door. I think to myself that I've never hung out with an alien before and let him in. As I went for my cider he accidentally tripped making me trip and the entire bottle fell in his mouth, open mind you, and he drained it dry. It was the last one too. Now I'm just making sure he takes it easy so nothing bad happens.” Vinyl explained clearly not enjoying her new sobriety.
“That's very responsible of you Vi. I'm proud of you.” Octavia complimented her though there was a bit of mirth in her tone.
“Oh don't patronize me.” Vinyl shot back making Octavia giggle.
Kirby then began to hum a strange tune. It was short but sweet and seemed to carry a tune of adventure behind it.
And the two gathered their instruments and played along.
Flitter and Cloudchaser slowly drifted around while an airborne Kirby followed behind them. It was a surreal sight to be certain but the two were used to it after seeing a certain rainbow maned pony cuddling the little guy… and if she could do it so could they.
Resting on a cloud Flitter hugged Kirby who merely allowed himself to be used like a stuffed animal. He didn't mind since it meant he had more friends. Cloudchaser, while not as enthused as Flitter, also hugged Kirby and managed to feel her stress alleviate itself as time went on.
“They should call you Dr. Kirby cause your hugs are just what my prescription needed.” Flitter joked making Kirby giggle as the description.
“You need to work on your material.” Cloudchaser deadpanned as she set Kirby beside them sitting on the cloud. The three watched the stars come out by the coming of the night.
“Poyo…” Kirby marveled at the starry skies and vastness of it all being able to see for miles and miles around him.
“I know. It's why we live in Ponyville. Anywhere else and you'd never get a sight like this.” Cloudchaser sighed as she felt the majesty of the night sky.
“Except Appleloosa and Dodge Junction but then you deal with dust bowls of it's a really bad night.” Flitter chuckled as the three stretched their wings and arms respectively before taking off into the night sky.
“You can stay with us tonight Kirby!” Flitter announced and merely nodded his now air filled body and flew alongside the sisters towards their home to rest for the evening.
Fluttershy was thrilled as the diminutive Kirby rested on her back. So giddy was she that she didn't even notice the other ponies of town noticing her. She practically didn't care as she trotted around taking care of her grocery list while Kirby hummed a little ditty to go along with her trek.
“What would you like to eat today Kirby?” Fluttershy quirked her head only to find Kirby softly snoring on her back. She nearly died from the cuteness right then and there only managing to keep going because her other animals still needed her. “So cute~”
As she flew back home taking care to keep her groceries together she noted that something was wrong. The chickens were out of their coop and something was making a ruckus out back.
Shaking to her core, she steeled herself up to go check it out when she noted that Kirby had woken up and rushed ahead. Forgetting her fear she raced after him trying to keep him safe.
When the two reached the back she noted that the entire backyard was wrecked beyond belief. She knew living by at the edge of the Everfree would be dangerous but this was far beyond what she thought.
Kirby tensed up as he saw a large beetle digging through the backyard. It looked like a large rhinoceros beetle that dwarfed over the average pony adorned with three horns, two on its crown and one acting like a nose. When the beetle noticed the two Fluttershy froze up while Kirby kept his right foot back in a readied stance.
The beetle roared and charged for its new targets. Fluttershy yelped and almost froze until Kirby knocked her out of the way sending the two stumbling to the side. It didn't have the chance to stop as it slammed into Fluttershy’s cottage and got stuck in the wall.
The impact created small star icons which floated in mid air and in that moment Kirby knew what to do. Jumping forward before Fluttershy could grab him and race away he absorbed the stars and fired a piercing star bullet that managed to hit the beetle twice knocking it off the wall and off to the side.
It growled in response while Fluttershy was shocked in response. Kirby not only sucked in weird projectiles but he also had shot them back out like a cannonball. Before she could fully act on that knowledge the beetle took several lumbering steps over to them. With each step it struck in front of it with its horn. The act kept Kirby from rushing in and Fluttershy backing up.
Kirby waved his small stubby arms in the air which managed to attract the attention of a large bear. “Poyo!”
Harry realizing he was being called looked at the destruction. Devastated by the destruction of his friend’s home he was about to charge in when something flew towards him.
“Oouph… “ Fluttershy groaned as she was unceremoniously tossed over to Harry by Kirby. How he managed to toss Fluttershy was a mystery but it had to wait until the beetle was dealt with.
Kirby, content that his new friend was safe turned to face the beetle. The last swing finally made new star projectiles and with a quick blast of air he sucked them in and shot them out sending the beetle skidding back from the impact.
“Harry! We gotta help Kirby!” Fluttershy pleaded as she tried to get out of his grasp. Harry merely shook his head and pointed at Kirby.
Kirby was still unharmed and clearly in control of the situation. The beetle, by comparison, was reeling and also seemed to be flashing red. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that Kirby was fighting in one of those joy boy games that one colt played all the time. She had seen that often enough wandering around town and wasn't secretly an avid gamer who left all her things at her parents home. Certainly not.
The giant beetle charged once more and Kirby hopped over it jumping higher than his height would insinuate. As soon as it tripped over Kirby sucked in the newly formed stars and fired at its backside. In a stunning explosion of power the beetle exploded into stars…
Fluttershy needed to lie down at that moment. The stress of the situation was becoming a bit too much for her and her need to keep Kirby safe was warring with the fact that he was far stronger than anything she could imagine… maybe even more than Rainbow Dash.
Harry carried her within her home as Kirby followed blissfully unaware at how much of an impression he made on his host for the day.
Twilight was beside herself. After a week of constant attempts at getting to know Kirby she was ready to throw in the towel. The fact that he was sitting with her that day didn't deter the fact that she was almost done trying to figure out what he was all about.
All the eye witness accounts had made her head spin. It got worse when Fluttershy had explained how Kirby took down one of the giant beetles that roamed the Everfree Forest, single hoofedly in fact. Spike had had to deal with her nearly exploding again after that.
“Twilight, you need to relax.” Spike ordered as he placed tea in front of her.
“How can I relax now!? In two days I have to go meet with this King DeDeDe because I opened my fat mouth and I'm still nowhere close to solving the mystery that is him! He doesn't make sense at all!” Twilight complained quite loudly though Kirby paid it no mind.
“Poyo.” Kirby muttered focusing on his fruit plate Spike had made for him… attempting to eat it civilized like with an actual fork. Kirby briefly wondered if he needed a top hat and monocle to go along with his look.
“See! He's mocking me! I know he is. I can tell.” Twilight hissed out.
“I think he was being fancy right now. See. He's using a fork now.” Spike pointed out.
“That's how he gets you. Oh, I know. We all know how he operates.” Twilight paranoidly thought aloud.
“Twilight… do I need to get your mom here to go be you the relaxing talk again.” Spike warned the now more than ever neurotic unicorn.
“What!? No! Never again!” Twilight shouted before she zoned out into a PTSD trance. Never again.
The sudden knock at the library door broke the trance especially with how hectic it sounded. Twilight flung open the door as she was tackled to the floor by a concerned looking Pinkie Pie. Kirby, not knowing what was going on, followed suit and jumped on the two. He was so light they almost didn't notice.
“Twilight! It's terrible. I mean not like burnt cupcake terrible or I locked my keys in my house terrible but terrible nonetheless. I mean those are more minor inconveniences instead of straight up disasters though I guess that all depends on perspective. In a society where we favor the need to herd together we are usually in a place of not confronting the problem. Heck, most of the time we just run from the problem at hoof. I keep telling Cheerilee that we need to train some of the foals to have backbone but we can't get it by the school board which is a pain sometimes but that's neither here nor there. Anyways it's terrible!” Pinkie rambles on for a bit which China nearly lost Twilight, lost Spike and never even found Kirby who was swaying on the spot in a pseudo dance.
“Pinkie? Pinkie! Just tell me what's wrong?” Twilight managed to get a few words in.
“Oh right. There's a monster attacking Ponyville!” Pinkie screamed after the short pause to build up the suspense.
“What!?” Twilight cried out… while Kirby immediately ran out the door with Spike trying to stop him.
“Kirby! Come back here!” Spike yelled as he chased after the pink puffball.
“Kirby!” Both mares cried out as the two chased after him.
Smack dab in the middle of the commerce center of town was a large purple stag beetle with two large pincers wrecking up the town. It had four orange limbs and stood twice as tall as even Big Mac. Even at rest it had its wings exposed though everypony immediately got out of range of its attacks except for Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was doing her best to corral the ponies out of the area with Rarity.
“What the heck is this thing?” Rainbow Dash muttered as the beetle charged forward pincers opened.
It nearly grabbed her and instead grabbed a wagon that was holding hay bales. Thinking herself safe, she didn't notice when the creature lifted the entire wagon up and performed a German Suplex sending the object hurtling towards her. Rainbow Dash didn't see it coming as she was knocked out of the air and crashing into a building.
“I'm okay…! Ow… “ Dash called out letting her pain out only with a reluctant grumble.
“Dang varmint! I'll show ya what for!” Applejack snorted as she managed to turn around and buck the creature off balance and on the ground.
Buggzy, as he was known to some, quickly shook off his confusion and hopped in place. Hopping mad and unwilling to take it, he waited until the orange pony was in range. As she went for another buck he charged forward grabbing around her barrel.
“Let go of me, you dang overgrown bug!” Applejack called out… up until she started to see the ground.
Buggzy immediately dove forward carrying the farm pony into a Pile Driver. As she hit the ground she made several bounces before she was left beaten and bruised. It chittered in jubilation before continuing to wreck up the market.
“Oh dear… Applejack! Rainbow Dash! Are you two okay?” Fluttershy managed to get up to both of them while the monster was busy.
“Yeah I'm good… I think.” Raised know Dash groused as she stretched herself out. The pain was tolerable and lucky she wasn't on the receiving end, Applejack though.
“Granny Smith… how did you get here…?” Applejack stumbled over her words.
“No Applejack, it's me Fluttershy.” Fluttershy tried to console her friend.
“What are you doing at the farm this early?” Applejack drawled on before she slowly regained her senses.
“You good now?” Rainbow Dash quirked her head both amusement and concern painted themselves on her face.
“Huh? Yeah… yeah, I'm good. Reckon I shouldn't get too close to it.” Applejack muttered as she rubbed her head and reclaimed her hat from the ground.
‘Scree!’
The sound caused all three mares to realize that the giant beetle was menacingly stomping over to them. Before it could charge again a small hay bale smacked into it causing it to fall back. Rarity lifted another object in hopes of halting the foe a bit longer.
“Take this you horrid brute!” Rarity cried out as she tossed another object, a discarded wheel, at the monster.
Without missing a beat, Buggzy grabbed the wheel in his pincers and tossed it underneath him before stomping the wheel to splinters. It immediately began stomping back over to the mares. Applejack and Rainbow Dash took heed and stepped up as Rarity and Fluttershy remained behind them. Before Buggzy could attack the four a large triple decker cake immediately flew out tossing Buggzy off to the side as Pinkie Pie and Kirby came racing forward with Twilight trailing behind them. The constant chasing after Kirby had made her a little sturdier than she once was… though she was still wheezing slightly.
“Pinkie… Pinkie… stop running. Kirby should be fine…phew…” Twilight managed to squeeze out as she took in deep breaths.
“No time silly! We got a monster to take care of.” Pinkie confidently stated as Spike finally also joined the others as well.
“What is that thing?” Spike pointed out as the giant stag beetle wiped off the cake and it started to glow.
“Don’t worry I’ve got it!” Pinkie called out as she charged forward.
“Poyo!” Kirby warned the party pony to seemingly stop.
“Pinkie! No!” Everyone else shouted out.
Buggzy immediately turned orange and as Pinkie shot another barrage of cake at the monster it instantly demolished all the used ammo that flew after it grabbing the cannon out of her grasp. Pinkie flew backwards being caught in Twilight’s magic as it pulled the cannon in and shattered it with one blow of its pincers. The shield spell which went up barely managed to hold against the shattered debris.
Twilight dragged everyone in as close as possible… except for Spike, who was too far away, and Kirby who actively avoided Twilight’s magical grasp. Unfortunately, Buggzy looked towards the two small morsels and menacingly stomped over to them. Kirby stood defiantly while Spike tried to pull him back.
Feeling overconfident it summoned several ladybug sentries from behind its wings sending them against the two. Gritting his teeth, Spike stepped up blowing a stream of fire at the swarm setting plenty of them on fire. Kirby waited until many of them were burning as he watched the monster rage and screech at the sudden death of its sentries.
A flash of inspiration came to Kirby as he immediately sucked in all the burning ladybugs. They were still on fire and he knew exactly what he needed to do to stop this monster from hurting his friends anymore.
“Kirby wait those are all burning!” Spike called out coughing as he was still unused to burning things purposely.
“No!” Fluttershy cried out as she watched the burning mass of insects… or at least what looked like insects enter Kirby’s mouth.
“Is he crazy!” Twilight shouted until something amazing started happening.
Kirby swallowed the mass of fire and his entire body started to shine. He jumped into the air as an emerald appeared on his forehead and a gold band wrapped around what would be his forehead. As the band closed a large roar of fire burst out of his head and Kirby’s entire body turned a shade of red.
“What the absolute buck!” Twilight muttered as she looked upon Kirby wearing a hat… covered in blazing flames without being burned.
“That hat is fetching! I knew a hat would fit for him… No wonder I couldn’t think up a good hat for him.” Rarity mused completely ignoring the giant beetle attacking them.
“Not the best time for fashion Rares…” Applejack groused until their attention was drawn back to the large stag beetle chittering as it looked down at the two pint sized creatures.
Kirby stepped forward while Spike stood back near the shield Twilight was projecting. Buggzy charged forward… only to be met with a torrential wave of flames that were spewing from Kirby’s mouth. The flames licked at Buggzy as he was forced back slightly trying desperately to stop the flames from turning him to cinders. Kirby wasted no time and rushed forward.
As Buggzy turned to face the pink puffball turned red, Kirby turned into a shooting comet of flames slamming into Buggzy’s stomach sending him sprawling on the ground and lit on fire.
Kirby was on the other side of the creature as it turned around, screeching in fury as it tried to catch the tiny warrior. As he got in close Kirby jumped into the air right in front of its face and performed his Fireball Spin turning into a blazing star inferno.
Buggzy immediately exploded on the spot releasing a large collection of stars. Twilight dropped the shield and the six carefully stepped up to it. Before Twilight could get it Kirby jumped into it. She was about to raise her voice when Kirby split into three different Kirbies and Spike was standing next to them.
“Spike? What are you doing?” Twilight questioned as the six looked on in complete and utter confusion.
“I don't know! I just… I need… I want… to… to… dance!” Spike yelled out as the three Kirbies and Spike all began to perform a dance to their victory.
The Kirby on the right of the main Kirby and Spike were synced up with one another. They moonwalked then spun into their positions. The main Kirby jumped up and down with the third Kirby on his left. They all did the wave allowing it to travel along the length of their arms. Two rolled around the ground and the others did their own hopping motion before they all came to a rest and raised one arm up in a victory pose.
“Twiiiiilight… what’s going on?” Spike managed to get out when he was certain that he wasn’t going to be dragged around at random once again.
“I don’t know… Kirby… explain. Explain now. Please.” Twilight quickly amended the please otherwise he would immediately ignore her.
Kirby managed to absorb the other two kirbies that had appeared and tilted his head in confusion. He merely shrugged though the hat on his head could give Twilight clues about things… maybe.
“Hi!” Kirby waved at the six who were now staring at him. The hat flew off his head resembling a star with a fire symbol on it bouncing away.
“Wha…” Twilight watched the star bounce around a bit.
Just as she tried to catch it in her magic the star shattered and blinked out of existence. Twilight blinked… and blinked… and blinked some more. Her eye twitched in spasms while her mane was highly disheveled with random strands springing out of it. The sudden scraping noise that filled the air came from how hard she was grinding her teeth at that moment.
Then she stopped. She took a deep breath and sighed out laying on the ground while her friends looked at her. Kirby took the initiative and laid against her barrel staring at the cloud shapes that the pegasi had worked on.
With the near death experience and the almost loss of her friends she couldn’t be mad anymore. She could but it wasn't helping her and her innate inquisitive nature was actually giving her an aneurysm at this point. She just looked up at the sky… watching it. The world was far more vast than anything she ever knew of.
“Poyo…?” Kirby piped up.
“No… I think I get it now. I probably won’t ever learn what you are truly saying, will I?” Twilight perked up as her friends seemed to frown about things.
“Is it really that important sugarcube?” Applejack drawled off as she laid next to her studious friend. Her hat resting on her chest.
“Yeah! These are all just surprises and they were awesome!” Pinkie cried out laying next to Applejack though in a more circular pattern.
“I know right? That was so awesome when he used all that fire somehow. Kirby how’d you do that?” Rainbow Dash gushed out slightly as she laid next to pink but still in the circle.
“Poyo! Poyo. Poyo.” Kirby answered out.
“So… it’s a special ability of your body then?” Twilight asked… before realizing she was understanding what Kirby was saying.”
“You can understand him darling?” Rarity asked as she laid down next to Rainbow Dash almost right across from Twilight though she was on a very stylish blanket.
“I think so… it’s like… something is speaking to me from within.” She placed her left hoof over her heart as it seemed to resonate as Kirby spoke.
“Maybe now that you’ve stopped obsessing over the mystery of Kirby you can understand him better. Though… I don’t think it goes to all of us as well.” Fluttershy muttered out loud enough for everypony to hear.
“Hm… maybe its true about friendship then?” Twilight lightly mused.
“Poyo?” Kirby questioned managing to twist his head enough to look up at him.
“That friendship is magic.” Twilight answered simply… feeling more relaxed than usual. She no longer felt too much pressure about learning about Kirby too deeply. It would come to her eventually given time as now she could finally understand what Kirby meant when he spoke.
“Come along girls! It’s time to go meet over in the Dream Land Kingdom!” Twilight called out to all her friends. Even Kirby was amongst them all. Even with all the shenanigans that had happened over the week like the incident with the tickets and Applejack overwhelming herself with work they were ready to head over to the meeting in Celestia’s stead.
The train pulled into the station and a small orange puffball wearing a bandana and holding a spear stepped out of the train.
“Ah you must be our escort Celestia wrote to me about.” Twilight asked the small creature who did a proud salute and tapped the butt of the spear against the wooden floor.
The six wasted no time following the quiet individual into the train as it headed off for its final stop at Mount DeDeDe.