//------------------------------//
// Chapter 47: Here Come the Squeaks! 
// Story: A Sweetie Dream Land 
// by Lucar 
//------------------------------//

"To Sweetie Belle!" shouts Dedede, raising a glass.

"To Sweetie Belle!" shout his soldiers and servants, raising their own glasses.

"Enjoy!"

And the party slash banquet in honor of Sweetie Belle, heroine of the day starts. Everyone starts drinking and eating without restraints, knowing that their second in command has yet again saved the world in the name of the Great King Dedede, and laughter and discussions quickly fill the banquet hall. Some even start singing songs praising the filly and the king.

Sweetie Belle herself is seated at Dedede's left, taking a piece of cake with her face on it. Her meal is interrupted by Dedede suddenly crushing her in a bear hug, the penguin even rubbing his face against hers.

"H-hey!"

"I can't tell you how proud I am of you! You not only saved the world, you did almost all the job! For once, you beat Kirby at being the more heroic!"

She puts a hoof on Dedede's cheek to make him stop and giggles. "That wasn't a competition, you know? And I had the help of the Paintbrush. It is the one that did almost all the job. Without it, I would have been like Kirby."

"But it is through your use of it that you led the both of you to victory! You are the real hero of this adventure!" He releases her and taps her on the back, knocking her forward almost making her crash on her cake. "Stop being humble and enjoy being number one for once!" He then puts an arm around her neck and points the other in front of him, toward the future. "Soon, I know it, WE will be number one. We will be at the very top, and nobody will resist us."

Sweetie Belle raises an eyebrow at him in suspicion. "I hope that you aren't planning to steal everyone's food again."

Dedede doesn't move, but she can see sweat appear on his head. "O-of course not!"

"No need to steal food anymore!" says Bandana Dee at Sweetie's left. "With Sweetie Belle saving Popstar more than once alongside Kirby, and King Dedede helping, I'm sure that the inhabitants now respect us. No need to force them anymore."

Dedede points at Bandana Dee. "Exactly!"

Sweetie Belle deadpans. "Wasn't there something about you deserving all the food of the kingdom because you are the king?"

Dedede and Bandana Dee become still, before the king starts laughing and taps Sweetie Belle on the back again. "That's in the pass! I know better now!"

Sweetie Belle looks at him before smiling. "I hope."

She doesn't say it, but Dedede perfectly understand the remaining of the sentence. Or else... But he doesn't say anything, returning to eating his food.

At this moment, an unexpected guest enter the hall. Adeleine looks around before she spots Sweetie Belle.

"Adeleine?" asks the filly.

As Adeleine runs toward Sweetie Belle, Dedede raises an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

But Adeleine ignores him, and once in front of Sweetie Belle at the other side of the table, she asks "What happened?! Why was everything turning into paint?! I'm sure you know! Was there a magical paintbrush involved?"

"What? How do you know about the paintbrush?"

"I knew it! Only the Magical Paintbrush has the power to do this! I can't believe that it was there!"

"So, you know what is the paintbrush?"

"Of course I know! This paintbrush is the origin of the power that me and other artists use to give life to our arts!"

"Really?!"

"Yes! Now, tell me! What happened?! How was the Magical Paintbrush used to turn Dreamland into Paintland?!"

And so, Sweetie Belle tells her about Drawcia, how the witch used the paintbrush to turn everything into a land of paint, how she and Kirby were able to take it from her and how it chose her to use its power, and their fight against Drawcia. She doesn't forget to tell about the paintbrush disappearing after opening a portal back to Dreamland. All the while, Adeleine listens Sweetie Belle without saying anything, gasping at the apparition of Drawcia, and getting disappointed once she learns about the paintbrush's disappearance.

"That's too bad... The legendary Magical Paintbrush finally reappears... only to disappear again. Probably to avoid being used by someone else with bad intentions."

"Don't worry. I'm sure we will see it again after this adventure. And I told it about you, so maybe it will think about it and come back to let you use it."

"Me? Using the Magical Paintbrush? This... This would be a dream come true!"

"Maybe one day. But I'm curious. You know about the paintbrush's history, right? Where does it come from?"

"I don't really know where it comes from exactly, but I do know some things about its history, and also Drawcia's."

"Really? The two are linked?"

Adeleine nods. "Yes. Drawcia was one of the creations of the Magical Paintbrush."

Sweetie Belle looks at Adeleine, mouth open, before she says "That... makes sense actually. Drawcia disappeared in a portrait, so she was probably a painting given life. So it's most probable that the paintbrush created her."

Adeleine nods again. "The Magical Paintbrush was created by a very powerful mage who loved art. As any artist, the mage had a deep desire to give life to his creation. With the paintbrush, this desire could come true. It is said that his first creation with the paintbrush was not a painting, but a sculpture of clay. It's only later that he would create two paintings using the power of the paintbrush. However, barely he finished the two paintings that something, we are not sure what, corrupted them, the second painting being more hit by corruption than the other. The artiste couldn't resolve himself to destroy his creations, and so, he separated and hid the two paintings in unknown locations. Nobody know what happened to his first creation, the sculpture of clay. Following this, the artist transferred his knowledge to apprentices, spreading the magic of giving life to arts. Stories say that before dying of old age, he did something to the Magical Paintbrush to give it its sentience, but nobody is sure of what. He could have transferred his soul, or a part of it, or simply used his magic to animate it. The paintbrush disappeared soon after."

Sweetie Belle looks at Adeleine in awe. "Wow..." She then frowns. "I guess that one of the two corrupted paintings was Drawcia. Now I'm worried knowing that there is another painting like her somewhere. And the worst is that we don't know if Drawcia was the first painting, or the second."

"Probably the second," says Dedede as he eats some meat. "She turned into a giant scary ball of paint, right? And she clearly wasn't all there in the head. That smells heavy corruption alright. And if despite all that, she is just the first, then I don't want to imagine how will be the second."

Sweetie Belle gets chills at this. "Yeah... Let's hope that she was the second painting. And then, there is this sculpture of clay. We don't know if it got corrupted or not, and if yes, how much."

"And we don't know what corrupted them too!" says Bandana Dee. "It could be another powerful monster!"

Sweetie Belle rolls her eyes. "Come on Bandana Dee. This corruption screams 'Dark God', one way, or another. It would explain why Drawcia could create Dark Matter-like minions in her second form, without forgetting her cutter blades attack that really looked like Marx' own cutter attack, which he gained from Nova whose powers come from the Dark God."

"Beside," continues Dedede. "All our adventures so far had something to do with the Dark God, so it is only right to think that he is the culprit in this case too."

"The Dark God may be the origin, but remember that he created many abominations like Zero. One of those abominations could be the cause of Drawcia being corrupted," replies Bandana Dee.

"True..." say both Sweetie Belle and Dedede.

The filly turns toward Adeleine. "Thank you for telling us this Adeleine. Now we know that there may be more enemies like Drawcia coming."

She smiles. "You are welcome." She then smiles sheepishly. "Hum... I forgot to mention that the artist had a sister who loved knitting and... Well, let's just say that there may be a pair of corrupted knitting needles somewhere too."

Sweetie Belle groans while putting her hooves on her eyes. "Any other corrupted objects?"

"Not that I know of."

"Evil knitting needles. I don't believe that I'm hearing that." Sweetie Belle then takes a big breath. "Anyway... I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"You see, thanks to the paintbrush, I now have some knowledge of how to use my magic to give life to art."

Adeleine squeals. "You want me to train you?!"

she nods.

"I accept! Oh my gosh! My own apprentice!"

Dedede then talks. "She knows only how to paint. From her story, you could also give life to sculptures. You should ask a sculptor in our army to help you learn how to sculpt."

Adeleine nods. "Dedede is right. I specialise in painting and drawing, but not in sculpting."

"Painting first, sculpting later. In a battle, painting will be more convenient."



This night, in Sweetie Belle's chamber.

"You are becoming a real swiss knife, you know?" says Mini-Discord. "Soon, you will be able to do anything."

Sweetie Belle shrugs. "You are more a swiss knife than me. You can do anything just by snapping your fingers."

Many tools suddenly pop out of Mini-Discord's body. "True." He then materialises a paper. "By the way, I told myself that you could need this."

"What is this?"

"A list of known or potential foreshadowed threats. With Adeleine's revelations, they are starting to accumulate. It should help you keep them in mind." He then gives the list to her.



Big bad guy:
-The Dark God

Known threats:
-Abominations created by the Dark God
>>>May include something that corrupted Drawcia
-Cylinder-shaped machine that can grant wishes
-The Child of the God that exterminated the others before being sealed
-Whatever is in the chest
-The Squeak Squad
-The other corrupted painting (sister/brother of Drawcia)
-Corrupted knitting needles


Potential threats:
-A crown
-A spaceship
-Other Clockwork Stars
-Whoever has taken the mirror (it may not be the Squeak Squad)
-A sculpture of clay that may or may not have been corrupted



Sweetie Belle looks at the list and says "You are right. This is starting to be a lot. I didn't even think of this rogue Child of the God as a threat that I may encounter, but knowing my luck, whatever is keeping him sealed will break, and I will have to fight him. Knowing that this guy can destroy worlds, I'm not in a hurry to encounter him. You should do a copy of this list and send it to Twilight, so they know what may come. You should put in some descriptions just in case they don't know what those threats are or why they are a threat or potential threat."

Mini-Discord salutes. "Aye aye!"



Later, Twilight is reading the list.

"Seriously? Evil knitting needles?"



A few days later...

Sweetie looks at the dummies hanging from the ceiling at various heights above the boxing ring. There are ten of them, and half of them have been partially hidden behind wooden walls that are hanging from the ceiling too.

Then she jumps. As she jumps, her horn lightens, and the next instant, she jumps again, while still in the air! Three jumps later, and she reaches the first dummy that she kicks, destroying it in one hit. Immediately, she turns to her left and runs in the air. To anyone watching, they could see that each time that she steps in the air, the air under her hooves turn green before it seems to explode in a small cloud that quickly disappears. She runs around a wall, and destroys the dummy behind it. After much more running and jumping in the air, all the dummies are eventually destroyed, without Sweetie Belle touching the floor once. As she lands in the ring, she hears someone applauding behind her. Looking, she sees Knuckle Joe on one of the stands.

"That was awesome!" he shouts. "I can't believe that you can now really walk in the air!" He then tilts his head. "But I still don't understand how you do this."

She sighs. "I solidify the air by compacting it with my magic. It's like when we use air to inflate balloons. The air pushes whatever material the balloon is made of as if it is solid, because there is something in the air that is pushing the material to gain place. And so, I'm compacting what is in the air until it is compacted enough so there is no place for my hoof anymore. Because there is no place, my hoof steps on the compacted air as if there was a real solid platform. It's all I can say. For more details in how it works, you will have to wait to talk to Twilight."

"But how can air become solid?"

"I told you! There is..." She stops herself and sighs. "Just accept the fact that air can be solidified. I had to accept the fact that we can breathe in the water."

"Ok."

"Sweetie Belle!" they suddenly hear. When they look at the entrance, they see a panicked Bandana Dee running toward the filly. "Sweetie Belle! The castle is attacked!"

"What?!" both Sweetie Belle and Knuckle Joe shout.

The fighter then jumps from the stand, landing in front of Bandana Dee. "I'm gonna stop this! Tayoooo!!!" And he runs out of the room.

Sweat appears on Bandana Dee's head. "I haven't even told who attacked us and where they are..."

Sweetie Belle jumps above the ropes of the ring and lands beside him. "Well tell me."

"The Squeak Squad, and Kirby."

"Eh?!"

"The Squeaks were spotted first. Right now, the big one is battling our soldiers in the hallways, and the old one is on the ramparts. Some of the small ones are spreed everywhere. No idea where are the last two members, the fast one and Daroach. As for Kirby, he came just after, fighting without distinction our soldiers and the Squeaks."

Sweetie Belle raises an eyebrow. "That's weird. I mean, for Kirby. Why is he attacking us?"

"No idea. The king is waiting for him in the throne room."

She nods. "Then I will deal with the Squeak Squad." She smiles. "I have been waiting for this day for some time now. And I think I know where is Daroach. Let's go to the treasure room."

Bandana Dee facepalms. "Of course! It's obvious!"

They then hear a big explosion, which quickly makes Sweetie laugh. "Ahahahah! They activated my trap! Quick Bandana Dee!"

He nods, and both of them run out of the boxing room, direction the treasure room. With the treasure room not being far of the boxing room, it doesn't take long for them to reach it, where they can see smoke coming out of it. The guards at the entrance have been knocked out.

Entering the room, Sweetie Belle use wind to blow away the smoke, revealing the various treasures that have been thrown around the room by the explosion, and the members of the Squeak Squad lying and groaning on the floor around a certain chest.

There are three of the small mice, who possess round bodies without legs and possessing only a small tail similar to a tadpole. But they still have the face and the ears of a mouse. One of them is yellow, another is blue, and the last one is red, and the three of them are clearly knocked out by the explosion.

Then, there is a yellow mouse possessing a big head on a smaller body, with a white face and white belly. Contrary to the small ones, he also possesses two legs, which are orange, and two arms. He wears shining red sunglasses that are sharp at the edges, and a red cape.

And then, there is the last mouse. Like the yellow one, he possesses a head on a body, but the head is smaller. All visible parts of his body are the same grey, and they can see that he has floating paws disembodied, and the forepaws have each three long claws. He has a red hat, which his big ears are digging in, and wears a jagged red cloak with a bell under his chin.

This last mouse is the very one that Sweetie Belle has wanted to fight since she has first heard of him, the leader of the Squeak Squad, Daroach.

The yellow mouse starts to speak. "Uuugh... What was that about not worrying about traps in this castle?"

Daroach answers. "That... was an error of judgement... I didn't think that that idiot of a king would be smart enough to trap the chest."

"Hey!" shouts Bandana Dee in anger. "The king is not an idiot!"

Hearing him, Daroach and the yellow mouse looks from the ground toward them, Daroach revealing that he possesses yellow slitted eyes.

"Darn, we have company," says Yellow.

"And not just any company," says Daroach. "Sweetie Belle. King Dedede's second in command, and second greatest hero of Popstar."

Sweetie Belle smiles. "And the one that got the idea of the trap. Who would expect something as simple as a Bomber dropping from the ceiling?"

The two mice get up, and Daroach speaks again. "I should have guessed that things would be different with you. You will not let this chest be taken away."

"Of course. I have been told that this chest contains something dangerous, so I will let nobody open it."

"Eh. I suppose that infinite power can be considered dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Infinite power? This is what is in the chest?"

"That is what I found out."

"And I can guess that you will use this infinite power to steal all the treasures of the world."

He chuckles. "You really are a smart one, uh? Why don't you leave that stupid king and join us? Your skills would be better used among us. You would become rich. And you would be in pleasant company." At the last part, he wraps himself in his cloak, taking a pose, before grinning and winking toward her.

She huffs. "I will not leave Dedede, I don't care about becoming rich, and I certainly don't want to become a thief. Rarity would be ashamed of me. And I'm already in pleasant company."

"Uuh... Sweetie Belle," says Bandana Dee. "I think that he was flirting with you." He looks at Daroach. "And that's disgusting! She is just a child!"

"Wha-?!" The shock causes Daroach to fall on his back, and the yellow mouse is bending in laughter.

"Maybe you should ask the lady's age before flirting boss!"

Sweetie Belle blushes, before taking her whip. "Anyway! I will stop you!"

Bandana Dee takes his spear. "Yeah!"

Daroach quickly gets back up. "Spinni, wake up the Squeakers, take the chest, and get out of the room. I will fight them."

The yellow mouse, Spinni, salutes. "Yes boss!"

"Do you really think that we will let you escape with the chest?" says Sweetie Belle.

Daroach then gets out from under his cloak a wand that he points up, blue energy gathering. "Yes!" He then points the wand at Bandana Dee, and it shoots a beam of ice at him. Bandana Dee is not able to dodge it in time, and he finds himself trapped in ice.

Before Sweetie can do anything to help her friend, Daroach teleports and appears in the air in front of her. He then takes a bomb from under his cloak and throws it at her. Sweetie Belle protects herself with a shield, and at this instant, she sees Spinni jumping above her holding the chest with the squeakers on it, the mouse landing behind her before running away at a terrifying speed.

She grits her teeth. "Darn it."

Daroach then teleports behind her, following his underling. Sweetie Belle looks toward Bandana Dee, still frozen, before she exits the room, chasing the Squeaks. She quickly creates a shield to jump on it, its speed enough to catch up to the mice.

The red Squeaker sees her coming and quickly warns the others. Spinni looks above his shoulder just in time to jump above a lightning bolt.

"WAAH!"

Daroach turns around and shoots another beam of ice at Sweetie Belle, but she is able to dodge it before counterattacking with an explosive ball that Daroach avoids by going down, holding his hat.

"I will not let you escape!" She fires a fireball at Spinni, and the mouse barely dodge it, his cape catching on fire.

"Hey! My cool cape!" He shouts.

At this moment, they can see that they are approaching more mice. Four more Squeakers; a giant fat blue bipedal mouse wearing a red bandana covering his eyes, a red shirt, and an eyepatch on his left eye, with a tooth extending out of his mouth, and his navel protruding below his shirt; and a white Squeaker-like mouse on the blue one's shoulder, with a green mustache and swirling red glasses.

"What is going on?" says this last mouse.

"Shut up and run!" shouts Spinni as he passes beside them. "Fury on our butt!"

As the big blue mouse turns around to watch Spinni as he runs away followed by his boss, he doesn't see Sweetie Belle spewing a stream of fire from her horn toward them. The next instant, the big guy is running with his butt on fire, howling in pain.

"Great Scott!" shouts the white mouse. "Run! Run you big snail! I don't wanna die so young!"

"You are 75!" replies the big blue.

"Exactly! That's too young for me! Aaah!" he lowers himself just in time to avoid a lightning bolt. "Darn that puffball! If he hadn't destroyed my flying saucer, I would already be out of here!" He then headbutts the big blue. "Faster!"

"I'm running as fast as I can! I'm not Spinni!"

He then gets slammed from the back by a shield, propelling him forward. Daroach sees him coming and takes the chest from Spinni's hands before teleporting. Spinni, however, is not able to dodge, and he finds himself against the big blue's belly. Soon, they hit a wall, cracking it, with Spinni finding himself crushed. The old mouse has been able to remain on the big one's shoulder, and immediately headbutts him again.

"Wake up!" Another headbutt. "Wake up! She is coming!"

Daroach appears at this moment and shoots another ice beam at Sweetie Belle. As the filly dodges again, he then throws the chest at her. Not seeing this coming, Sweetie Belle is rammed by it, expelling her of her shield. Daroach quickly catches the chest as Big Blue is able to remove himself from the wall, revealing a flattened Spinni.

Daroach approaches them. "Storo, Doc, Spinni, are you alright?"

"What?" asks the white mouse, Doc.

"Are you alright?!" shouts Daroach.

"I'm alright! I wasn't hurt! No thanks to this idiot!" He headbutts again Storo, the big blue.

"Stop it!"

"As you can see, he is alright despite the hit. However, I can't say the same about Mr Cool Dude over there. At least, he seems to have lost some weight."

Storo then grabs the flattened Spinni, takes a big breath, and blows the yellow mouse's mouth, inflating him. With Spinni back to normal, he then slaps him on the cheek, effectively waking him.

"Oww! You didn't have to hit so hard!"

"She is coming back!" shouts a yellow Squeaker.

Without a word, all the Squeaks run away, yelling in fear (excepted Daroach), just in time to avoid Sweetie Belle charging at them with an energized punch, the filly hitting the wall instead, blowing a hole even bigger than Storo (and the guy is as big as Dedede!) in it, to the Squeaks' horror.

As Sweetie turns toward them with promised doom in her eyes, the mice run away, Daroach throwing a dozen bombs at her. The filly is able to protect herself against the explosions, and chases them again. At this instant, Daroach points toward a room.

"This way! In the throne room! We will be able to escape through a window!"

However, as they enter it, they get another bad surprise. Looking at them, in front of a defeated Dedede, is none other than Kirby, with the Sword ability.

The puffball sees the chest, frowns, and points his sword at it. "Cake!"

Daroach facepalms. "Who is the idiot who stole Kirby's cake?"

Storo sweats and rubs a finger against his cheek. "Uuuuuh... I wanted a snack, so I ordered the Squeakers to find food."

He is headbutted by Doc. "You idiot!" He then headbutts the closest Squeaker. "You idiot too!"

"Owie! it's not me who stole the cake!"

"I don't know who did it among you, so one of you had to pay!"

At this instant, Sweetie Belle enters the room behind them. "I got you!"

Daroach points at one of the windows. "Over there!"

Storo is the first to go, using his big bulk to pass through it and break the glass, opening the way to the others who quickly follow him.

"We must not let them escape! They took the chest!"

At this, Dedede looks at her in shock. "What?!" He then growls, grabs Kirby, and runs toward the broken window. Spotting the Squeaks on the ramparts, he flings Kirby toward them. Scoring a strike, the squeaks are all expelled of the rampart, and they all fall with Kirby in the chasm around the castle.

Sweetie Belle creates a shield and jumps on it. "I'm following them! I will not let them escape!" And she flies toward where they have fallen.

Dedede looks at her for a moment until she disappears, before he huffs, crossing his arms. "Someone steals his cake, and the first culprit that he thinks of is me. After everything we have gone through together." He then smirks. "My new hammer is almost finished. With it, next time, I will be the winner. He will regret attacking me."