//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: First Day part 2 // Story: A Sweetie Dream Land // by Lucar //------------------------------// The door opened and out flew Sweetie Belle who fell face first on the floor. She quickly got up and turned around, before shouting angrily at the Cook Waddle Dee that expelled her, "Hey! You didn't have to do that!" The Cook Waddle Dee answered her by slamming the door. Two seconds later, the door opened again only for the Cook Waddle Dee to put on it a crude drawing of her with a big red cross above her head and he slammed the door a second time. It made Sweetie cross her hooves and pout in anger, not believing how she had just been thrown out of the kitchen. After a moment, she sighed and asked herself, "What now?" "Seems like you have nothing more to do," someone said at her left. When Sweetie Belle looked to see who talked to her, she discovered that it was a Blade Knight. Like his name indicated, he was a creature using a sword and wearing a green armor with a part of his pink face visible, again without anything on it. Or maybe he had eyes hidden behind his golden visor. At least, rather than tubby arms like all the creatures she encountered until now, he possessed actual hands, with white gloves covering them. And he had also a real head above his body. His equipment also included a belt around his body, and brown armored boots. On his shoulder pads was a yellow symbol that seemed to be a fusion between a trident and a crescent moon. Sweetie remarked that he was pulling a wagon full of weapons behind him, mainly swords and a few spears. "No. I should have been cooking until lunch, but they expelled me from the kitchen." The Blade Knight chuckled. "I saw that," he said before taking a bag that he filled with a dozen swords. Sweetie could distinguish two varieties of swords. The first was the same kind as the one that the Blade Knight possessed, white blade and blue guard of the same form as his symbol on his shoulders with a yellow sphere at the center. The second were swords with a blue blade with two prongs jutting out of it, and a yellow crescent shaped guard. She could already guess what will be her new task. "You want me to give these swords." "Exactly." He then gave the bag to Sweetie Belle who awkwardly put it alongside her barrel. These bags were really not made for her. Once the bag given, the Blade Knight pointed at the end of the hallway behind her, where it separated into two other hallways. "Take the right hallway while I take the left, and give these swords to all the Blade Knights and Sword Knights that you encounter. Normally, there should be enough swords." "Yes sir." "Remember. The white swords are for the Blade Knights, and the blue ones are for the Sword Knights." "I understand. But... why are there two kinds of swords? Why doesn't everyone have the same kind?" she asked while tilting her head in curiosity. "Because we don't use the same style to fight. See?" he asked while showing his own sword. "This one is sharp mostly at the edges, it's made to hurt by doing big swing to give great cuts." He demonstrated it by swinging his sword. He then pointed at a blue sword in the bag. "This one is more sharp at the tip of the blade and the prongs. It's made essentially to attack by thrusting it to impale your enemies. The Blade Knights use the first style, the Sword Knights prefer the second." "Oooh! I see! Well, if I have to take a sword someday, I will know what to do. Thank you mister Knight." The Blade Knight chuckled before replying, "You are welcome. Now go." Sweetie Belle left the Blade Knight and took the right hallway. Thankfully, it wasn't a hard job. She gave the right swords to the right knights and that was all, and it wasn't hard to differentiate the two kinds of Knights. Instead of wearing green armor, the Sword Knights wore purple armor with a helmet that elongated behind the head. Their mouth, if they have one, was also hidden, but not their eyes, which were two and yellow. The only part of their armor that was not purple was the one covering their body, being blue. They also wore white gloves and a brown belt. So yeah, easy job. After her task, she yet again ended up with nothing to do. Rather than starting searching for a new task, she decided to use this break to search something else. "Excuse me," she intercepted a Waddle Dee. "Do you know if there is a place to sew?" "Of course! Continue this way and take left. Go down the stairs, then right, right again, the second left, down another staircase, third left, second right, another right, and it should be the first door." Sweetie stared at the Waddle Dee. After a few seconds, she blinked and asked, "Can you repeat, please?" which prompted the Waddle Dee to facepalm. It took some time, but the Waddle Dee gave her a paper with the directions, and after ten minutes, she reached the room she wanted: the sewing room. She wanted to try sewing this Rarity plushie that she had been thinking when she awakened. Better start somewhere to make her new room feel more like home. The room was empty. Looked like nothing needed to be sewn right now. That was good! No one was here to bother her! She will be able to work like she wanted! Time to make a plushie before lunchtime! Sweetie Belle looked at her plate with depression. Her tentative to sew hadn't ended very well... The less was said about it, the better. And now it was lunchtime, and there was no plushie. She heard someone coming and looked up, only to see a Waddle Dee sit down before her, with some fruits and meat on his plate. She was not as shocked at seeing meat as she had been the previous day when she had seen the Waddle Dees eat for the first time at dinner, but it will take time for her to get used to it. Apparently, almost everyone here ate meat. But right now, she had something else in her mind, so she didn't care too much about it. She looked back at her plate. "Hey, are you alright?" the Waddle Dee asked. Maybe it was the Waddle Dee that had helped her yesterday and had awakened her this morning? She will assume that yes, seeing how much he was friendly toward her. "Yes, don't worry. I'm just a little sad that I wasn't able to sew a plushie," she answered. "You tried to sew a plush? You know how to sew?" "A little, but not enough it seems. I can sew something like a cape, but definitely not a plushie." "You simply need more experience. If you try and try again, I'm sure you will be able to sew one. But why do you want to sew a plush?" "I wanted to sew a plushie looking like my sister, Rarity. It... It would help me feel better." Waddle Dee could only look sadly at Sweetie after her answer. He didn't know what it was like to find himself in a different world, far away from all his loved ones, but for a child like Sweetie Belle, it must be hard. She must feel so lonely without them. No wonder she wanted something to make her feel like they were here with her. At least, he could help her. "If you want, I can ask others to sew for you. Can you describe your sister to me?" "You would really do that for me?" Sweetie asked with hope in her eyes. "Yes! So?" "Rarity is an unicorn, like me. See my horn?" Waddle Dee confirmed by nodding. "She possesses white fur and a purple mane and tail. She always watch out for her look, so her fur, mane and tail are perfectly groomed, with some curls on the two later. She is also as thin as a model, which she could be, if she wanted. Her eyes are blue, and she has three blue gems as her Cutie Mark." Waddle Dee tilted his head at the last part. "Cutie Mark?" "Erm... How to explain... I can see that none of you have Cutie Marks so... Well, a Cutie Mark is a symbol that appears on our flanks when we find our special talent. I don't have one yet, because I haven't found my special talent." Waddle Dee nodded to show he understands before asking, "Do you have any other... family members that you want a plush of?" She smileed at how much Waddle Dee was ready to help her. "There is my Mom, my Dad, and my two best friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo." "Then describe them to me." "Are you sure you will remember?" "Yes, don't worry." "Alright." And so, she did that. When lunchtime ended, Waddle Dee promised her that the plushies will be given to her as soon as they were finished. Sweetie Belle waved at him as they went their separate ways, before coming to a realisation: she didn't have anything to do... again, and she had five hours until her training. After waiting a little to see if anyone would give her something to do, she decided to ask a Broom Hatter at her left. Thankfully, he did have something for her: cleaning more rooms! Better than nothing. Armed with a broom and a feather duster and protected by a kerchief, the same one that she forgot to give back this morning, she spent the following hours going from room to room fighting a whole army of dust helped by her loyal companions the Broom Hatters and Waddle Dees, all the while singing her songs to keep the moral up. This was a dirty war, but she will not give up! Until she looked at a clock and saw that it was time for her to quit the front line to go training. And so, she gave her weapons to her companions, bid them farewell, put back the kerchief around her neck, and started heading toward the boxing room... after asking directions from a passing Waddle Doo. Thankfully, she wasn't too far, so she didn't have too much problem remembering them. Everything was well, until she was stopped by a running Spear Waddle Dee wearing sunglasses and a red cape coming from before her. "Hey! Rookie!" "Yes?" "Sorry I don't have much time! I must go patrol! Here, take these!" He gave Sweetie Belle the spear, put the sunglasses on her eyes, and attached the cape around her neck before putting it on her back. "The spear belongs to Waddle Dee, the sunglasses to Broom Hatter, and the cape to Blade Knight. Please, give them back. Imustgobye!" And then he was gone. "Wha- Hey! Come back! Which Waddle Dee? Hey!" But he didn't come back... "I don't have time for that! I must go training! I will give them at dinner, or after!" she said to herself. Thus Sweetie Belle, now wearing a white kerchief with green stars around her neck, a red cape, sunglasses, and a spear in her magic, continued her way to the boxing room. Sweetie wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Waddle Dee was playing superheroes or something like that, because as Scootaloo would say, she must look awesome. Oh! The games they could play together with her wearing that! Of course, the spear would be a fake. She couldn't help chuckling at the thought, before sighing at remembering that she was alone. She finally reached the boxing room a little in advance. King Dedede wasn't yet here, but there were already a few weights, smaller than the one she used this morning. Well, rather than wait, why not start now? And she jumped on the ring, putting the spear beside her before starting to lift one of the weights. When Dedede showed up, she was in the process of lifting two of the smaller weights at the same time so she could try to get better at manipulating more than one object at once. He smiled at that. "So you have already started. Impatient, uh?" He jumped on the ring. "Why are you wearing this attire?" he asked, seeing the cape and sunglasses. He didn't ask anything about the kerchief earlier, but now that was curious. Sweetie put the sunglasses above her horn to better look at the king. "A Waddle Dee gave them to me a little before coming here. He wanted me to give them at their right owners, but I didn't have time. He was gone before I could protest, so I had to bring them here. Beside, he told me that they belong to a Waddle Dee, a Broom Hatter, and a Blade Knight, but he didn't precise which ones, and I didn't want to lose time asking all the Waddle Dees, Broom Hatters and Blade Knights living in the castle. So I will just wait for dinner." "The spear too?" "Yes." He nodded. "You know? It gives you a look. Cute, yet badass. You should keep this look for when you will eventually fight Kirby. This way, he will know that you are not just another simple soldier." She looked at him while raising an eyebrow. "Wouldn't it be more effective if I just look cute and innocent? Like that, he will lower his guard and I could take him by surprise." Sweetie Belle's idea surprised Dedede who remained silent for a few seconds before he suddenly started laughing loudly. He then slapped Sweetie on the back, making her fall on the floor with an "Eep!" and said, "You definitely have potential! Your idea may actually work! Well then, let's start!" For the first half of the hour, Sweetie simply trained by lifting the weights with her magic until her horn ached so much that she couldn't use it anymore. She had to thank Dedede for pushing her beyond her limit. Once he saw that she couldn't use her magic anymore, Dedede decided to change the training. "Alright! Let's do something else, this time without your magic." "What will we do?" Sweetie asked from the floor. Dedede took his hammer, and smiled menacingly. It made Sweetie gulp. "I will attack you. You just have to dodge. Don't go beyond the edge of the ring." "Say WHAT?!!" "Dodge!" It was all the warning he gave before he started swinging the hammer down at her, Sweetie Belle barely having time to jump out of the way. She quickly ran to the ropes of the ring before turning around to look at Dedede. "You are crazy! It's not training, it's torture!" "No!" he answered. He took his hammer in his two hands and started running after her. "It's tough love!" I'm gonna die... Sweetie Belle was roughly dropped on a chair. The poor filly could barely keep her eyes open and she ached absolutely everywhere. Well, actually, not too much in her horn anymore, so she could use a little magic again. She couldn't believe it. By some miracle, she was able to avoid being hit by Dedede's hammer. She guessed that the threat of being stuck in an hospital bed at best, crushed to death at worst, had given a spring in her legs that she didn't know she could have. For thirty whole minutes, she had run, jumped and rolled without stopping, until Dedede told that it was time to stop. By then, once the adrenaline disappeared, she couldn't even crawl. So Dedede had taken her under his arm and brought her... Where had he brought her, actually? She fully opened her eyes, and saw that she was beside a really big table in a room that was not where she had taken her breakfast and her lunch. In this room, there was just her, Dedede on a throne-like chair at her left, and a few guards. Oh... There was also all the food on the table. Meat-some kind of bird-, omelette, fries, a big watermelon, a bunch of grapes, fruit juice, cookies, and a cake. Sweetie Belle started to drool. "After effort comes comfort!" Dedede said as he started eating the meat. "You have done well at your training, so you deserve it." She watched Dedede eating the bird. It would have disgusted her, but her own stomach screamed at her, so she started eating. Beside, free cake and cookies! She may have gone a little too far with the food. Now her stuffed belly hurt, and no matter how many times she told herself that it had been worth it changed that. At least now she could relax in this warm bath with the other servants, the kerchief, spear, sunglasses and cape on the floor just outside the giant bathtub. She could fall asleep right there... "Hey Sweetie Belle! Where were you?" "Uh?" She opened her eyes to see a Waddle Dee approaching her. She had no problems guessing who was this Waddle Dee and smiled. "Hey. Sorry for not being there at dinner. King Dedede took me with him to eat after the end of our training session." "Wow," said another voice at her right. When she looked, she saw a Broom Hatter, without his broom and his hat, on a floating chair. "You are saying that in just one day, you got close enough to the king to the point that he let you eat with him at his private table? What have you done after we left the boxing room?" "Wh-? Oh! You are one of the Broom Hatter that were with me at the boxing room!" "You didn't recognize me?" Sweetie Belle smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry. I just can't manage to differentiate you from the other Broom Hatters. Same thing with Waddle Dee here." "I see. If it helps you, I'm the one who had the feather duster." Oh yeah. The one who got too hot even if it was not hot. "Nice seeing you again!" "Me too. And don't worry about the kerchief, you can keep it." "Really? Thanks!" she screamed excitedly. "I like it!" "N-no problem," he said while waving dismissively at her. Was it Sweetie or were his cheeks a little pink? "So it's true?" Waddle Dee exclaimed with stars in his eyes. "You ate at the king's table?" That made Sweetie blush. "Yes." Using a hoof on the edge of the bathtub, she got herself half out of the water to show her slightly rounded belly. "Here is the proof," she said with a laugh, patting it before getting back in the water. "Too much cake..." "How did you do it?" "Apparently, with my magic, I have become his trump card against Kirby. So now he is training me." "So lucky!" Waddle Dee cried. "Indeed. Lucky you," Broom Hatter said. At their words, Sweetie laughed in embarrassment, hiding the bottom of her head under the water. Strangely, Broom Hatter's cheeks became even more pink. Waddle Dee then looked above the edge of the bathtub. "What about this cape, these sunglasses, and this spear?" Sweetie got her mouth out of the water to answer. "It's a Waddle Dee who gave them to me, so I could give them to who they belong, but I didn't have time because I had to go train with the king. I wanted to do it at dinner but... Well, clearly I couldn't." "You said that one of the objects are sunglasses?" Broom Hatter asked. "Can you show them to me?" "They may be yours? Then of course! He told me that the sunglasses belong to a Broom Hatter." Sweetie used her magic to give the sunglasses to Broom Hatter. "Yep, they are mine." he said. He put them on him before relaxing. "Better... Thank you." "But there are still the spear and the cape. Wait..." Waddle Dee said. He then put his arms before his... mouth... before screaming, "Is there someone here who doesn't have his spear or his red cape?!" One of the Waddle Dees started jumping. "Oh! Me! Me! Me!" He then came beside Sweetie Belle to look at the spear. "Yes, it's this one, and I know to who this cape belongs to. I will bring them with me once I get out. Thanks!" "You're welcome!" "And that ends a good day of job well done," Broom Hatter said. "I like days like this. No problems, everyone is happy, all is good in the world. Of course, it means that tomorrow will probably suck..." "Don't say that...!" Sweetie Belle screamed before suddenly stopping. "Hum... You don't mind if I call you Broom Sunglasses?" "Broom Sunglasses? Eh, it's cool, I like it. Ok, I don't mind. As for tomorrow, we will see. And I reserve the right to say 'I told you so.'" That made Sweetie sigh. Sweetie Belle walked toward her chamber, drained of her energy. She was ready to fall asleep at any moment, her still full stomach not helping. If she ever got to eat with Dedede again, she will have to watch out what she eats, or she may end up as fat as the penguin despite the training. She opened the door to her room. Despite the dark, she could still see a little thanks to the moonlight from the window. Thanks again Waddle Dee. After a brief detour in the bathroom to brush her teeth, she finally moved to her bed, only to be greeted by a great surprise that she had totally forgotten: on her bed were five plushies, all exactly like she had described to Waddle Dee. It wasn't perfect, Rarity's Cutie Mark was a little off for example, but it still was very good. Without being able to stop the tears, she got on the bed, covered herself, and took the five plushies in her arms, nuzzling all of them while repeating "Thank you" again and again until she finally fell asleep. And so ended her first day in Dream Land.