//------------------------------//
// Chapter 48: Nature Notch 
// Story: A Sweetie Dream Land 
// by Lucar 
//------------------------------//

As soon as he has heard about the castle being attacked by the Squeak Squad, Mini-Discord has sent the warning to his real-self who has immediately teleported to Twilight. Now the alicorn has sent the word to all her friends, and as they wait, Discord has already opened the portal to see what is the situation, seeing Sweetie flying down the mountain, entering a tunnel in the side.

"So this time, she is facing a band of thieves that are actually giant mice?" asks Twilight.

"Yup. Here, they are in the list of threats." Discords then shows her the list, pointing "The Squeak Squad" on it. "And they have stolen this chest." He points at "Whatever is in the chest". "She may end up fighting two threats in one go."

Twilight looks at the list. "It depends of what is in this chest."

"Nothing good, apparently."

They see Sweetie Belle passing beside platforms before spotting a door and entering it. Now in a cavern, she follows the path, unconscious creatures littering it. Yep, Kirby has been there. At the end of the path, she enters another door, going deeper into the cavern. She then has to use a few cannons to continue.

It's at this moment that Rarity comes at the same time than Rainbow Dash with Scootaloo on her back.

"What did we miss?" asks the blue mare.

"Nothing much," answers Twilight as Sweetie Belle reaches the end of the cannon path, going down two ladders before entering another door, entering a part of the cavern that is full of crystals.

"What is it this time?" asks Rarity.

"Mouse thieves stealing a cursed chest," answers Spike.

"Really?" asks Scootaloo. "After her previous adventures, it sounds a little lame."

"Not every adventures involve things like fighting a powerful overlord wanting to conquer everything or saving the world from some incarnation of darkness," says Discord.

At this moment, Sweetie Belle passes another door, entering a room where she finally catch up to Kirby fighting a bunch of mouse-like creatures, including one wearing sunglasses and a red cape that is throwing shurikens, while the others are mostly little yellow mice that are somehow able to jump in mid-air. Without saying anything, Sweetie fires a lightning bolt at the bigger mouse, shocking him in the middle of one of his jumps.

When he falls back on the platform, the yellow mouse quickly gets up before turning toward Sweetie Belle, sweat appearing on his head once he sees her.

"Ooh-ooh... You followed us?"

"Of course! Did you think that I would let you escape with the chest?"

"Darn!" He then quickly looks around before jumping to avoid Kirby's sword. "I was told that there was a treasure in this room, but so far, there is nothing! All I got is trouble!" He then looks at Kirby, then Sweetie Belle, gulping. "I'm outta there!"

He jumps in an attempt to escape, only to slam against a shield that Sweetie Belle has materialized in the way.

"Oh?" says Sweetie Belle before giggling as the mouse slips down on her shield before falling. "Were you looking for a big blue chest?" She sticks her tongue at him. "I got it first. I explored all the areas around the castle, and brought back to Dedede all the treasures that I found. They were all in that treasure room, but you prefered to leave them to take that chest. By the way, you are not escaping."

"Curse youuu..." says the mouse on the flour. "Squeakers! I need some h..." He sees all his Squeakers unconscious and assembled into a pile beside Kirby who is tapping his arms together to get rid of the dust.

"Poyo."

"Whaaat?!"

Kirby then looks at him, looking as if his eyes are glowing with bad intentions as he starts to walk toward him. "Poyo. Cake."

"I don't have your stupid cake! Go bother Storo!"

He finds himself with the end of Kirby's sword just in front of his face. "Poyo."

Kirby is joined by Sweetie Belle, her whip cracking beside her. "You will lead us to the others, Spinni. 'No' is not an answer."

The mouse laughs nervously, sweat pearling from him. "W-well... How about... THIS!"

Quick like lightning, he throws a smoke bomb, covering everyone in smoke. Despite coughing, Sweetie Belle is able to form wind to disperse it, only to see that Spinni is not here anymore.

"Woah..." says Scootaloo, stars in her eyes. "A real ninja retreat..."

Rainbow Dash giggles. "Seems like those thieves wi-" She is interrupted by Kirby suddenly yelling, arms raised, fire almost coming out of him.

"RAAAAHHHHHH!!! CAAAAKE!!!"

And he immediately runs, giving chase to the running away mouse, quickly followed by Sweetie Belle shouting "Wait for me!"

"What... was that?" asks Rainbow Dash.

"Apparently..." says Discord. "he got his cake stolen."

Pinkie pops out from behind him. "Then it's no wonder he is so angry! I would be really angry too if somepony stole my cake!"

"So you got your cake stolen?" asks Sweetie Belle to Kirby.

"Poyo!"

She deadpans at him. "Let me guess. You thought that Dedede was the one who stole it? This is why you assaulted the castle?"

"Poyo!"

She facehoofs. "I know that Dedede stole food in the past, but you shouldn't jump to conclusions like that."

They open the way by destroying a bomb block.

"Poyo! Poyo! Poyo!"

"I know that he was the more likely culprit. I wouldn't be surprised if he really did it to annoy you. But again, without a real proof, you should have simply come to the castle to investigate, ask to me and Dedede, and find out the truth."

They stop in front of the door, Kirby looking down in regret. "Poyo..."

Sweetie Belle rubs his back. "Hey. It's alright. It's not too bad." She smiles widely. "If you want to apologize, then I know exactly what you could do. You see, the Squeaks stole some treasures from Dedede in various fortress, and they stole another chest in the castle. I'm sure that he will be happy if we bring them back. You will get back your cake at the same time, and everyone will be happy. Unless..." She smiles sheepishly. "Unless they ate your cake before." Before Kirby goes back in a rampage over his cake, she quickly adds. "If it happens, we will gladly give you one! I will ask the cooks, and even help them!"

She is hugged by Kirby, the puffball almost getting the air out of her lungs. "Poyo!"

"You-you are welcome Kirby. Now we should go before the Squeaks are able to go too far."

Kirby releases her and nods before they both pass the door, appearing in another part of the cavern of crystal, in front of some underground fortress.

"Eh. He is lucky that Sweetie has gotten better at cooking," says Scootaloo. "He would have died of poisoning."

Rarity huffs. "I wouldn't be surprised to see that Kirby could eat Sweetie's cooking even before she learned to cook."

At this instant, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Apple Bloom finally come.

"Howdy everypony. I hope we haven't missed too much."

"Well, a little," says Rainbow Dash. "They fought some kind of ninja mouse thief. He escaped with a smoke bomb."

"Oh my..." says Fluttershy. "I hope the mouse hasn't been hurt too much."

"Eheh. I know that you love animals, but this mouse wasn't a simple animal. He could talk, throw shurikens, and is a thief. If it can reassure you, he was able to escape just before getting the beatdown of his life. I can't promise that this will be the same next time they encounter him. Kirby is really pissed off at them."

"You don't steal cake without consequences!" shouts Pinkie Pie. Then, her expression becomes crazy. "You steal my cake, you are gonna have a bad time."

They all gulp.



Turns out the fortress is another one of Dedede's fortresses, housing many of his troops. When they recognize Sweetie Belle, they let them pass, not causing any problems. They are even guided through the fortress, making easier their exploration of it. Sweetie Belle asks them to get them through the treasure room, getting a hunch. A few door, switches, and hallways later, they enter the room, effectively finding Storo holding a chest.

Seeing them, Storo only has one word to say. "F***..."



"Thank you for the censure Discord," says Rarity.

"You are welcome."



Leaving a badly beaten Storo behind for the troops in the fortress to take care of, sadly not finding Kirby's cake on him, Sweetie Belle and Kirby exit the fortress, finding themselves at the start of a beautiful field of flowers with some ruined structures. They quickly find a Wheelie that Kirby eats to gain Wheel, before jumping on Sweetie's back. Now rolling at full speed in the field, they quickly enter another tunnel that leads them... to a desert. Environments change very rapidly in Dreamland.

They quickly have to fight a Gao Gao, a big blue round animal with a light blue belly and long forepaws ending each with three claws. As the Gao Gao jumps toward them, claws ready to slash, they jump away before charging at it with the speed of Wheel, sending it on its back. Sweetie Belle then quickly jumps a dozen times in the air to gain height, to Kirby's surprise (and also to the ponies'), before she falls back to the Gao Gao, landing on it with a kick, immediately knocking it out. Kirby ends this by eating it, gaining a new ability coming with a brown animal suit really similar to the Gao Gao, long front paws included, but not as long.

He is hugged by Sweetie Belle, the filly rubbing her head against the fur of his suit.

"Poyo...?"

"Sorry Kirby. I couldn't resist."

The claws reveal themselves to be very useful to dig in the sand to find hidden objects, and also to continue their way, even finding a small red chest buried in the sand. Kirby eats it so they don't have to hold it all the rest of their adventure.

Entering a buried ruin, they encounter Doc, in a red flying saucer, searching the ruins for treasures alongside a few Squeakers. "You are not serious!" he shouts, still not seeing them. "An old buried ruin, and not a single treasure! In my time, each time that we entered a ruin, there were always tons of treasure! Curse those archaeologists!"

"Hey! What's up, Doc?" says Sweetie Belle to gain his attention.

But he doesn't seem to hear her, the old mouse still flying around while mumbling about him getting through dozens of ruins always finding treasures when he was young. Sweetie looks at Kirby, and they both shrugged, before the filly charges her magic and shoots a giant explosive ball, hitting the flying saucer which starts to lose control.

"Aaaah! Mayday! Mayday! Old genius about to crash! Sneaky attack! I need reinforcement!"

The flying saucer bounces on a wall, then on the ceiling, before falling on the flour, bouncing on it a few times until it rolls on its side, then stops. The glass of the cockpit opens, and Doc jumps out of it, red in anger, smoke coming out of him as he looks around.

"Who dared attacking me from behind?! Show yourself, you ruffian!"

He finally spots Sweetie Belle and Kirby approaching him, the filly smiling and waving. He deadpans.

"Oh... It's you..."

"Eeyup. I did try to get your attention, but you didn't hear me. Maybe you should use your genius to do something about your ears."

"How dare you?! You little hooligan! This is no way to talk to your seniors!"

"Seeing that you are my enemy, I don't care. And now that you are out of your saucer, you should worry about something else."

At this, Kirby readies his claws, shouting "Cake!"

"Forget your cake! Storo has probably eaten it by now!"

Bad thing to say... The next instant, he finds himself having to jump away to avoid Kirby's claws hitting the ground where he has been not even a second earlier.

"Waaah! Hey now! No need to get so violent on me!" Another dodge. "Hiaaaa! Stop it! Put away those pointy things!" Yet another dodge. "Kyaaa! Squeakers! To me! You are about to lose my genius! I don't wanna die before achieving my dream to create a machine to time travel!"

At this, a little over a dozen of Squeakers come from all the ruin, surrounding Doc. He then jumps on a yellow Squeaker.

"You! You get me out of there! As for all of you, attack! Give me time to escape!" The Squeakers look at him in horror. "It's an order! Without me, the gang will be nothing! I have to escape! And for this, you need to remain behind and sacrifice yourself!" He looks down at the Squeaker under him. "Now go!"

While the Squeaker holding Doc runs away, the other yellow Squeakers jump on Sweetie Belle and Kirby while the green ones take bombs, and the few blue ones take giant bombs. Sweetie Belle quickly goes beside Kirby and surrounds the both of them in a shield before expanding it, slamming all the yellow squeakers with it. Seeing that the yellow ones have failed, the green and blue ones throw their bombs. Kirby jumps and spins on himself, forepaws extended, and the bombs are hit by them, getting them thrown around, mainly back at the Squeakers, littering the area with explosions.

And with this, the fight is already finished, but it has been enough for Doc to disappear. They both huff in annoyance.

Not long after, they exit the ruin and pass a door, only to appear in another ruin. Barely they appear, they have to hide under a platform to avoid a giant boulder rolling above them. Avoiding another boulder up a slope, they pass a door that lead them to another part of the ruins, where they have to destroy a wall of stone blocks thanks to a bomb block. However, this causes a boulder to fall behind them, and they have to quickly run down a slope to escape it. Eventually entering a section too small for the boulder to pass, they however have to escape another not long after, finding a chest, and quickly entering another door that get them out of the ruins, only to enter another cavern, this one gloomy and half in water.

Despite having to jump above many pits, the path is rather small, and it doesn't take them long to enter another door leading them to a totally different cavern, this one with jets of fire, and no water. But they don't remain in this part long before they take another door, this time ending up in a part of the cavern with lava.

This surprises Sweetie Belle. "I didn't think that this would be this quick before we enter an area with lava. I'm surprised there is even a lava area this close to the castle, even if it's underground."

Not losing time, they continue their way, walking on stone bridges above the lava, and jumping above it a few times. In the way, they reach a door that leads them to a small room with another chest, before returning there. Not long after the door, they find a wall of stone blocks in the way, and destroying it, they find a door leading them in front of what Sweetie recognizes is a Big Metalun, which is a living piece of metal with four small limbs and a single big eyes.

The Big Metalun starts to very slowly walk toward them. Kirby decides to attack him, using his claws to cut him. This barely damage him, but it's the best that he can do. To help him, Sweetie Belle uses a Vulcan Jabs, doing some more damages. Once Kirby jumps away, Sweetie shoots lightning, and stops once Kirby comes back, spinning. Seeing that the Big Metalun still has a long way to go, Sweetie Belle looks at Kirby and signs at her back, getting an idea. Nodding, Kirby jumps on her, and Sweetie Belle becomes what is pretty much a horsewolf, with paws instead of hooves, sharp fangs, slitted eyes, and badly brushed fur, mane, and tail.

Testing her new paws first to get the feeling, she then cover them with her energy before slashing at the Big Metalun, giving him greater damages. She avoids a metallic punch, then quickly starts to jump around, storming the Big Metalun with dozens of slashes, until he falls on his back, having enough. Kirby then jumps from Sweetie's back, releases the Animal ability, and eat, not without difficulty, the Big Metalun, gaining a metallic heavy body, the ground shaking a little when he jumps.

He then looks at Sweetie Belle, making her sweat.

"No. No. No. No. No."

And yet, Kirby still jumps on her back, making her bend her legs. It doesn't last long, her body quickly turning into metal, giving her more strength to lift Kirby. She then looks at herself, grinning.

"Now, you can call me 'Iron Filly'!" she shouted, making Kirby giggles.

Because of her now really heavy body, she can't jump very high, and she has become slower. Seeing that they have to get up to continue, this quickly reveals to be a problem. Luckily she has learned to jump in the air. It takes her far more jumps than it should, and it tires her more, but she is eventually able to reach the top of the ledge where they are able to use their weight to destroy a few iron blocks in the ground, opening the way to a small room where there is a barrel. Destroying it, they find a new chest.

Thinking that they wouldn't need the Metal ability anymore, Kirby gives it up, and they are both able to climb a ladder to a door leading out of the tunnel, back in the field of flowers. Kirby quickly inhales a Boxin, a bipedal mole-like creature with red boxing gloves, gaining Fighter.

Eventually, they reach a field with a few holes, with a pie cooling down on stone. As they approach, Storo suddenly jumps out of nowhere, takes the pie, eats it, and jumps away, stunning both Sweetie Belle and Kirby.

"He escaped the fortress?"

At this moment, a giant female blue-grey mole pops out of one of the hole, the mole possessing glasses, a bouquet of flowers on her head, and a red kerchief around her neck. She looks at the place where the pie has been, and seeing that it's not here anymore, looks toward Sweetie Belle and Kirby, becoming red in anger.

"Oh oh... uh... Wait, miss. We aren't the ones who..."

Too late, the mole returns in her hole, and comes back, starting to throw various objects at them, starting with an oil drum, a rock, another rock, a bomb (!), and a big screw. A shield from Sweetie Belle is enough to protect the both of them.

"L-listen, miss mole. We don't want to fight you."

But then, the mole jumps from her hole, revealing that she possesses a pouch on her belly, and a pig-like tail. They quickly run away before she falls on them, which causes her to get stunned. Sweetie Belle and Kirby look at each other, before they start to run away. However, the mole eventually regain her senses, jumps back in a hole, and pops out of another holes in the way, throwing more objects at them. Seeing that they avoid everything, the mole then takes a giant broom and starts to swing it at them. Kirby however uses the fighter ability to break it, making the mole even more angry.

"If you would just listen to us, this would not happen!"

The mole throws what remains of the broom at them, easily dodged, before she returns in her hole. Sweetie Belle then looks at Kirby and points up. Understanding, Kirby inflates and starts to fly, followed by Sweetie Belle on a shield. When the mole gets back out of her hole, she looks around to search them before spotting them flying away. She throws more objects at them, but they are easily dodged, until they are too far for her to reach. The mole then starts to wave angrily at them, probably cursing them as they escape.

Irritated, Sweetie Belle thinks Once I see Storo again, he is so dead.