//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Big Forest // Story: A Sweetie Dream Land // by Lucar //------------------------------// It took them only a few seconds to reach Big Forest. That was definitely not enough for Sweetie's stomach to stop aching after her earlier meal. When the Warp Star disappeared once on the ground, Sweetie had a hard time following Rick and Kirby. Seeing that, Kirby hopped off of Rick and let the hamster take the poor filly. Riding on his head, Sweetie only had to worry about shooting her recently acquired magical beams at the enemies, making their journey far easier. But she will have to avoid shooting too many beams, in fear of taxing her magic and making her horn ache too. Her first target didn't wait to appear: a bouncing mushroom. But she knew better. Cappies-that was what they were called-were actually creatures living a little everywhere on Popstar, some of them being in Dedede's army, but they rarely came to the castle. The truth was that the mushroom was just a disguise, the mushroom cap being just a hat hiding their real face. Disguised, they hoped to come close enough of their unexpected victims before attacking them, but once their disguise was revealed, they got scared and either attacked in despair or fled. Their true form looked like the stem of an actual mushroom, but with a round head, two holes for eyes, another for mouth, and two arms, one of them flexing up, the other flexing down. They were also extremely weak, explaining why they preferred using a disguise. To prove it, Sweetie was able to knock it down with just a beam. She also knocked down the Bronto Burt that followed. Another Cappy came after that, Kirby deciding to face him. When he tried to eat him, he actually inhaled the mushroom cap, revealing the Cappy's true body. Kirby spat back the cap at him, knocking him out. While he had been busy attacking the Cappy, Sweetie Belle attacked another Bronto Burt that had been approaching. They passed above a log forming a bridge above a river and continued their way, Kirby eating one of these green parasols to gain the Parasol Ability. They eventually reached a door that led to a small room with another moving bag hanging from the ceiling, and... "Hiiiii! A Scarfy!" Sweetie Belle screamed at seeing the creature that guarded the bag. The Scarfy was a smiling orange floating ball with cat ears and white cheeks, and Sweetie just wanted to hug it. They were like pets that were very common in Dream Land, some of them even living in the castle. The Scarfy just floated here, watching them. It seemed that they will have to attack it to continue, to Sweetie's sorrow. That was when Kirby signed to Rick to remain where he was with Sweetie Belle, taking a serious face. Why? Scarfys aren't dangerous. But then, Kirby attacked the Scarfy with the parasol, and the creature suddenly transformed. The orange became beige, its mouth got bigger with fangs inside it, and its two eyes became just one big slitted eye. To resume it, it wasn't cute anymore! "Eep! What happened to it?" The now scary Scarfy was now approaching Kirby, trying to bite him. Kirby jumped back and hit it a second time with the parasol from as far as possible, making its body actually liberate an explosion. It didn't kill the Scarfy, but it will not get up anytime soon. Wait a minute! Scary... Scarfy... Scarify? "Oh come on! You mean these things are meant to jumpscare us?!" she screamed at understanding the purpose of the 'pet'. She will not see those creatures in the same way, and never pet them anymore. Kirby ignored her, instead opening the bag, freeing a purple owl as big as Rick with a white belly with three stripes, black tipped wings with white underside, and more black around his eyes that looked like eyelashes. On his head were spikes formed by his feathers. The owl got out of the bag, flying happily around the room while saying, "Coo! Coo!" before settling down on Kirby. Sweetie Belle laughed at seeing a parasol appear on the owl's head. After Rick, she didn't question it. "It seems like we have a new friend, right? Wait, let me guess, your name is Coo?" "Coo coo!" The owl agreed as he flapped his wing with joy. Kirby also smiled and raised his arm toward Coo to welcome him. They passed through the door that somehow appeared after the Scarfy's defeat, and found themselves on a block a little far above the ground. Coo started to fly with Kirby in his claws while Rick jumped to the ground, not bothered by the fall. The hamster immediately punched a Waddle Dee, and Coo spun, forming a small tornado that sent a Bronto Burt flying far away. Sweetie shot another Bronto Burt closer to the ground while Rick continued his way, punching the enemies that crossed him on the floor, and the owl continued to spin, sending away all the enemies that were in the air. What a good team they formed now! Rick was forced to jump above two holes, forcing Sweetie to protect him from three Bronto Burts, shooting two and punching one that got too close. It was clearly them that got the most work because of all the enemies that were on the ground and the few Bronto Burts that flew too close. Coo didn't have as much problem with the few Bronto Burts that tried to reach him and Kirby in the air. After a moment, they reached another door hidden behind a few blocks under a log. Before taking it, Kirby spotted another enemy on a block: a Sir Kibble. Sweetie Belle found them scary. They were what seemed to be an empty suit of armor, round, yellow, with red hands and silver feet, and a blade on their helmet. And yet, they were moving, showing that they were alive! They were alright to be around, but they weren't much for conversation. They just did their job in silence, or maybe they couldn't talk? Anyway, Kirby ate it, and Coo's purple feathers suddenly turned green while a yellow cap with eyes, little white wings, and a blade similar to the one of the Sir Kibble appeared on Kirby's head. With the new Ability in his possession, they passed the door. It led them further in the forest, where the trees were far more numerous. If they didn't watch out where they went, they could get lost. They appeared on a branch with enough leaves to somehow form a platform solid enough for their weight. From there, they could either choose to jump from branch to branch, or continue on the ground, or fly in Coo's case. Of course, there were less enemies on the branches, but they would take the risk to fall with a miss jump. But that was when Coo flew down toward the ground. When Sweetie and Rick looked to see why, they saw that there was a door below. Coo led Kirby through it, to Sweetie's panic. What if it was a one way door? Should they follow them? She decided to wait a little on the branch just in case, but if Kirby didn't come back after some minutes, then she will follow them with Rick! Thankfully, after about a minute, Kirby and Coo came back out of the door, and Sweetie sighed in relief. But she saw that Kirby seemed annoyed. When Coo brought back Kirby on the branches, she asked, "Is there a problem?" Kirby then spat the Rainbow Drop, and pointed at it. "Poyo!" "You got another Rainbow Drop?!" she yelled in happiness, only for Kirby to shake his head. She thought a moment before saying, "You found one, but you couldn't get it?" "Poyo!" Kirby confirmed. "Those blocks again?" "Poyo!" "You don't have the right Ability?" "Poyo!" "And... do you know which one you need?" "Poyo!" "Let me guess. The Parasol like last time?" Kirby shook his head. "Mmh... Bomb?" Nope. "Hammer?" Nope. "Broom?" Nope. "Fire?" Nope. Sweetie started to think back at the list of Abilities that the Waddle Dees and other minions had described after the Nightmare incident. "Ice?" Nope again. "Sword?" Miss. "The rock one?" Fail. "The... Hum... The needle one?" Bingo! "Yay!" exclaimed Sweetie in victory. "But it means we will have to come back." At that, Coo saluted at her. "Coo!" "Oh yeah! We found you here! You probably know this forest and how to come back here without using those doors!" "Coo!" "Then let's go! We must find the Needle Ability!" she shouted while raising a hoof, followed by the others in answer. Objectif in mind, the team continued its way jumping from branch to branch. Coo used Kirby's Cutter Ability to send feathers that cut the enemies that tried to stop them. The only real obstacle they encountered were a few Gordos blocking their way. The problem with Gordos was that they were pretty much invincible, so all they could do was avoid them, which meant that Rick had to wait for them to move away before jumping. After some jumps, there were no branches anymore, and Rick was forced to continue on the ground. But judging by all the Gordos in Coo's way, it was probably for the better. Annoying pests! Rapidly, they reached some other branches that led them to a door on a bigger branch. It teleported them on a... floating log? Well, after the floating blocks and whatever... Anyway! They were in a less dense area. Farther before them, they encountered a duo of Scarfys. One cut from Coo's feathers was enough to make them explode, they didn't even have time to transform, to Sweetie's relief! After that, they found a bottle trapped on a block between two Gordos that were immobiles. Rick punched the block, destroying it and making the bottle fall. Sweetie took it in her hooves, deciding to keep it for when they were hurt. Well, it didn't take long because Rick was rammed from behind by a Waddle Dee, making Sweetie fall. One throwing of Waddle Dee later, and Sweetie gave the bottle to Rick who drank it. That was when they encountered... some sort of bipedal hedgehog? It had a small head on a body with two eyes but nothing else. It had two tubby arms and two red feet. And of course, it possessed black spikes on his head all the way to the bottom of his back. "Do you think it can give you the Needle Ability, Kirby?" Sweetie asked the puffball. Kirby simply answered her by giving up the Cutter Ability before eating the hedgehog. And indeed, it gave him a pink cap with many sharp needles on it. "Yay! We found it!" the filly shouted, Kirby slapping her hoof in a... hoofbump ? Fistbump ? Let's go for hoofbump. Surprisingly, when Coo took again Kirby in his claws, nothing changed. Just in case, they tested the Ability on the Sir Kibble that was just beside them, and it turned out that Coo taking Kirby in his claw led to Kirby growing needles below him. It didn't have much in attack, but it could be good to protect Kirby if an enemy comes from below. But Coo having lost the Cutter Ability, he was now vulnerable. Anyway, Coo flew with Kirby above the trees, certainly to get the Rainbow Drop from earlier, leaving Sweetie and Rick behind to wait. Sweetie then hopped down from Rick. "Thank you Rick, I can walk from now. I need the exercise." she said, her stomach not aching anymore. She then punched a Waddle Dee coming from behind Rick. The Waddle Dee said something before losing consciousness. "Arg! I say it again, you have one heck of a punch, Sweetie Belle..." And he closed his eyes. "O-oh! Hum... Sorry again." More enemies tried to attack them while waiting for Kirby and Coo to come back, but the combination of the two of them was more than enough. After many minutes, the pink ball and the purple owl came back, Kirby showing the two Rainbow Drops. "Yeah! Good job you two!" Sweetie shouted, jumping in joy. Kirby ate the two drops, and they continued, defeating more enemies, destroying blocks, and avoiding Gordos, until reaching a door between two trees, on a block that couldn't be destroyed. At the other side, after even more enemies and jumping above vertical logs, they reached a river with blocks forming a bridge. They passed above it, when something unexpected happened. Three Kabus appeared out of nowhere in the air, and one of them was able to fall on Sweetie while Coo was hit by another, making him fall with Kirby. Kabus being living statues of just a head with a round top and a flat base, it hurt quite a lot to take one on the head. "Arg! Since when do Kabus appear like that?!" Sweetie had always found the Kabus weird and a little scary with their empty eyes and gaping mouth, but they generally minded their business without doing anything! Rick punched the Kabu that fell on her head, while Kirby used his Needle on the ground to knock down the two others. Coo quickly got up after shaking his head and went on Rick, thinking that it was preferable if he let Kirby continue alone for now. Kirby was able to use the Needle Ability on the ground to protect him and Sweetie from the enemies that approached them. Soon after, they found a door on a cut trunk, but they first had to jump on two other cut trunks, the first one being smaller and the one with the door being taller. They appeared in an denser area where Coo took Sweetie and immediately started to lift her toward the top of the trees. Kirby followed them by inflating to float while Rick jumped from branch to branch. "Uh? Is there something up there?" Sweetie asked Coo. "Coo!" the owl confirmed. Indeed, after a few enemies that Sweetie shot down with her magic, they reached another door. It led in a room where there was another moving bag hanging from the ceiling and... a giant brown eyed parasol with a foot and sticking out its tongue? What the heck? It also possessed some sort of wooden shoe. Sweetie stared at the parasol before saying, "I think this one takes the palm of weird and creepy." She then shouted, "Nobody told you it's bad to stick your tongue out?!" That seemed to hit a nerve, because the parasol started to spin around toward them. "Eep!" Thankfully, Kirby used the needles, repelling the parasol. But then it kicked off its shoe toward Kirby, who was surprised by such an attack. It knocked out his Ability, but instead of taking it back, Kirby inhaled it alongside the shoe only to spit them back at the parasol. Another shoe then appeared under its foot. Sweetie hit the parasol with a beam and used the time where it was disturbed by the hit to run toward it and punch it in its eye. With the parasol blinded, Sweetie then grabbed its foot and slammed it on the ground before jumping on its 'head' three time and then punching it another time, making it bite its tongue. For good measure, she kicked it in the knee. Now the parasol was rolling on the floor, groaning in pain. Kirby, Rick and Coo stared at her with round eyes, not moving. Sweetie saw the parasol on the floor, looked at her hooves, then turned toward her friends. "Have I really done what I have just done?" she asked in disbelief. They nodded. "Let's... just save the poor guy in the bag, okay?" They nodded again. First, Kirby ate the parasol, gaining the Parasol Ability, then he flew to the bag and released whoever was inside it. In the bag was a blue... blob thing with googly eyes and a very long tongue. Without saying anything, he licked Sweetie, the animals and Kirby in thanks before jumping away, now with a parasol in his tongue. ... "What the heck was that?" Putting the blob out of their mind, the group took the door and ended up on ground floating in the sky above the forest. Sweetie just shook her head at that. They saw that they had to get down. Coo took Sweetie in his claws and started to fly down beside the levels of grounds while Kirby got on Rick and took the path through the holes in them, fighting all the enemies in the way. It was until Rick fell on a hedgehog, getting his butt stung. They had to take the following minutes to remove the needles that were stuck, Sweetie pitying the poor hamster. Once at the bottom, they passed through another door. They continued their way, only for Sweetie to see a raindrop-shaped grey thing with a propeller, angry eyes and sharp teeth approaching Kirby from above. "Watch out Kirby!" Sweetie warned him, but too late. The enemy hit Kirby before exploding, hurting both Kirby and Rick. Sweetie quickly beat the enemies around before running toward them. Seeing them getting up, she asked, "Are you alright?" "Poyo..." Kirby groaned, shaking his head, followed by Rick. Sweetie sighed in relief at seeing they weren't badly hurt. "Let's hope we find some food quickly." They nodded, and with that, the four friends resumed their journey, Kirby now without Ability. Before long, they found a Poppy on an apple before a door. Kirby ate the Poppy, getting the Bomb Ability, then took the apple and divides it into four parts, giving three to his friends. Sweetie stared at her quarter of apple, obviously, with how big the fruit was, one of Whispy's. She was still full of the previous apple but felt the bump on her head from the Kabu that fell on her. At least it was just a quarter, it should be alright. Yeah, it was alright. She hurt a little, but she could manage. She still took a mental note of trying not to get hurt anymore so she didn't have to get more stuffed. And to double her training after the end of this journey. Between it and dinners with Dedede, watching her weight will be hard. Whoever created the physical law 'food can heal' was a genius and an idiot. Yeah! Someone was behind that! You can't say it's natural! Whatever. Sweetie Belle passed the door with Kirby, Rick, and Coo. At the other side, they ended on a wooden bridge with, above them, another bridge, and the ground below them. They could reach the bridge above and the ground below thanks to holes in the bridges at different places. All of that linked two trees, each tree having three holes at the end of each levels. And in the holes... There were boars charging right at them, one of them two times bigger than Sweetie while the others were the same size than her. The big boar had dark brown fur, a white belly, black hooves, and sharp tusks. The small ones looked like the big one, but possessed a lighter brown fur with the addition of white stripes on their back, but no white belly. They also had smaller tusks. Coo immediately flew out of the way with Kirby in his claws while Rick jumped on the bridge above and knocked off the small boar there. Sweetie ran to the hole before the big boar, going on the ground below and punching the small boar here. "So this is the leader of this island?" Sweetie asked loudly. "Coo! Coo!" Coo confirmed, flying above the upper bridge, keeping an eye on the holes in the trees. "A big boar? I didn't know that Dedede had a boar under his command! Actually, he never told me who or what he had under his command!" She saw the big boar-she will name it Grouiky-getting out of the hole before her. Wait, hadn't he entered the other tree? How was he able to get there? No time to think, Grouiky was already charging. She quickly jumped back up on the bridge by its hole, then got back down once it passed under her. She started shooting it in the back with her magical beams, hitting it four times before it entered the tree hole. She could see another small boar falling from the upper bridge, likely knocked off by Rick. Grouiky got out of the same tree but this time at the upper bridge alongside one of the small boar, threatening to knock Rick off the bridge with its tusks, but the hamster jumped above the boar just before. That was when Kirby, still in Coo's claws above the bridge, released a bomb that fell right on Grouiky, hurting it and knocking off the small boar. He released another bomb, but Grouiky was able to jump off the bridge right to the ground just before getting hit again. Instead, the bomb hit the bridge and destroyed a part of it, blowing a second hole. The boards between the two holes fell on the bridge below with Rick jumping right on time to avoid the same fate, which knocked a few boards of that bridge, getting its hole bigger and almost hitting Sweetie Belle on the head. It made Kirby sweat at the destruction he caused. Grouiky got out of the middle hole of the first tree, and at everyone's surprise, threw a bomb right at Kirby while charging! Coo barely flew away before it exploded, only to be hit by a second bomb thrown by the boar, making him drop Kirby and fall in a bush outside of the battlefield with smock on his tail. "Coo!" Sweetie screamed at seeing her friend falling. Because of that, she was almost hit by a small boar jumping from the bridge, punching it in time. Rick came at Kirby's side and nudged him to see if he had nothing. Kirby got up, thanked Rick with a wave, then took a bomb and threw it right inside the second tree. It didn't destroy the tree, but they could hear many pained Groiiiink!!! coming from it. It also destroyed the end of the second bridge close to it, collapsing the whole bridge excepted a few boards close to the first tree. Kirby and Rick jumped off the bridge before its collapse. Grouiky got out of the middle hole of the first tree again, slightly blackened, stopped at the edge of the hole, and started to throw bombs after bombs everywhere at the ground, making Sweetie, Kirby and Rick run in hope to avoid the explosions. Kirby not being able to target Grouiky because of how busy he was at avoiding all the bombs, Sweetie decided to shoot back her beams. One of the beams hit Grouiky's right tusk, breaking it. In pain, Grouiky jumped from the hole and started to charge toward her, making her panic. In a desperate move, she jumped right on its back. With the filly on its back, Grouiky tried to get rid of her by thrashing around, bucking his hooves and jumping. Trying not to fall, Sweetie placed her hooves on its ears and clung to them. The boar didn't seem to like it, because his thrashing were getting more violent. "Help!" she screamed. Kirby wanted to help, but he didn't dare to throw a bomb at Grouiky with the filly so close. Rick approached to stop it, but was rewarded by a buck in the face, sending him flying into a tree. Then, a really violent jump almost led Sweetie Belle to fall. Her hooves clinging to Grouiky's ears, it caused her to strongly pull them. It forced the boar to get on his back legs, yelling in pain before getting back on its four hooves with Sweetie Belle still on its back. Seeing that, Sweetie stared at Grouiky before a smile slowly formed. "Waiiit..." This one word caused Grouiky to become as still as a statue, panic apparent in his eyes. Then, Sweetie pulled a little on its left ear, forcing it to turn a little to the left. She pulled harder, and the boar turned more. She tested the right ear, with the same results. Her smile became bigger, almost as wide as the ones of Pinkie Pie. That was when a few dozen of the small boars came out of the second tree, coming to help their leader, only to be stopped by Sweetie suddenly yelling six words of doom. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER, BOAR RIDER! YEAH!!!" The next instant, half of them were sent flying by Grouiky charging at them, Sweetie forcing it by pulling its ears. The rest of them started to run away, wanting to avoid the same fate. The big boar continued its charge into the forest, the filly laughing on its back, and leaving behind Kirby and the animals, sweating. Before long, the whole forest was sent into a panic, minions sent flying right and left, into branches and into tree holes. It was a real path of desolation that followed the boar-riding filly who had the time of her life. Dozens of Waddle Dees and other creatures were running before her, hoping to escape Grouiky, some of them without success while others were able to jump away into bushes, holes, or even the river when it was close enough. Many of them climbed the trees to be safe, and soon enough, there were more creatures on the trees than on the ground, watching in horror the carnage below. Sweetie then shouted, "Too bad Apple Bloom and Scootaloo aren't here! This is so fun!" After a few minutes, they reached the edge of the island, the boar finding itself charging toward the ocean. The two of them panicked and Sweetie pulled on the ear to stop Grouiky, but too late. At the last second, she was able to jump from the boar before he fell from the cliff into the water. Sweetie got to the edge and looked below, seeing Grouiky getting its head out of the water. "Hey!" Grouiky looked back at her. "Are you alright?!" she shouted. From Grouiky's point of view: "Are yOU alRiGht?" the white demon said maliciously, promising doom with a sadistic smile full of sharp fangs, flaming hair, and glowing red eyes. "GROIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK!!!!!" Sweetie Belle watched as Grouiky swam away from the island, already just a speck in the horizon. Wow! It must have beat a speed record! Now alone at the edge, Sweetie looked until the boar finally disappeared far away, before turning to the forest. Before long, a giggle escaped her, and soon, she was rolling on the floor from laughter. One minute later, Coo appeared in the sky and spotted the filly still laughing. Looking back somewhere to the ground, he pointed in her direction. Soon enough, Kirby and Rick came out from behind a tree, and Coo landed on the pink ball. Kirby slowly approached Sweetie Belle and touched her to make her know of his presence. She looked at him and started to calm down, rubbing the tears out of her eyes. "Poyo?" "I'm alright!" she answered. "I'm just... I... I can't believe what I have just done! I rode a giant boar! Oh my Celestia! Apple Bloom will SOOOO not believe me! That was the most fun I had in a long time! You would have told me just yesterday that I would do that, I would have thought you were crazy! And yet, I did it!" She collapsed back on the floor, her laugh starting again. "I can't wait to talk about it with everyone at the castle!" Eventually, Rick decided to pick her up and put her on his back. The filly was still laughing and talking about what she did and how other will react. Rick looked at Kirby, only for him to shrug. Still, he must say that the filly did a pretty good job. And... she had been rather scary, with how she had been smiling, then laughing back on the boar. How she got it to obey to her. He didn't know if she was naturally like that, or if Dedede's training was getting to her. But thinking back about it, it had been funny to watch her chase those poor minions. Kirby started to laugh, followed slowly by Rick, then Coo. They were still laughing as they took off on the Warp Star. Time to go to Ripple Field, and have more fun!