Twilight and I hung on for our lives as the hot air balloon endured the strong winds. "You all right, Bandana Waddle Dee?"
I kept holding on to my spear, which I'd stuck into the basket of the balloon as a personal anchor. "I've dealt with strong winds before, Twilight. This isn't too different. Also, you can just call me Bandana Dee. It'll save you two syllables."
"Okay. We're almost there."
The balloon landed just outside of a large wooden gate. I could hear plenty of destruction and smashing going on behind the gate, so I walked up to the gate with caution. "Uh, Twilight, are you sure that the yaks will be okay with us visiting them? Sounds like a lot of roughhousing going on."
"They made a peace treaty with us ponies, and they will surely be fine with a friend of Kirby. And according to my research, they smash things for fun, not necessarily out of anger. I'll go first if you're scared."
I followed Twilight into a small village where several yaks were stomping on branches and logs. I began to hide behind Twilight, but to no avail; a large yak noticed her. "Ah, a pony!" He ran over and... hugged Twilight? Well, at least he didn't stampede over me. "What bring purple pony to Yakyakistan?"
Twilight struggled out of the yak's grip before saying, "First of all, I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine. This is Bandana Waddle Dee. Bandana Dee, meet Prince Rutherford."
The yak eyed me, lifting up his shaggy fur over his eyes to do so before letting go of Twilight. "Orange thing look familiar... Orange thing know pink ball that smash bug pony and weird thing?"
I gathered up my courage and replied, "Yeah, I know Kirby. He's my best friend! We've gone on all sorts of adventures, beating up bad guys and saving the world."
"Yak want know one thing about orange thing: Orange thing like smashing?"
Like every other Waddle Dee, I didn't always like battling. But when the Great King trained me to become head of the army and when I befriended Kirby... "Yeah. It's pretty fun!"
Rutherford paused for a long time. "...Yak welcome orange thing to Yakyakistan! And great timing! Yickslurbertfest now underway!"
Twilight explained, "Yickslurbertfest is a Yakyakistani holiday celebrated by smashing, eating, sleeping, and listening to music, but mainly smashing things. I hope it isn't too rough for you."
I replied, "Don't worry about it, Twilight. I live with King Dedede. That should be enough proof that I'm fit to do this."
"Okay, have fun, Bandana Dee!"
First up, smashing things. I'll admit, my spear isn't all that good at smashing things as it is at stabbing and cutting. But I still tried my best. As I was poking things, I noticed a large log that hadn't been smashed yet. "Here I come! Spear Copter!" I twirled my spear above my head faster and faster until I began to lift off the ground. I then charged at the log until my spear made contact with it, actually cutting it to shreds! "Whoa, I didn't know my spear could do that!"
Next, eating. I went into a mud hut with some yaks, where they laid out several multi-layered cakes, each one apparently for one being to eat. The yaks all ate by shoving their mouths over it and eating it in one bite, but I chose to take my time.
Prince Rutherford was intrigued. "Cake disappear! Or orange thing eat without mouth?"
"This isn't the first time I've been asked that. I never really thought about it."
Next, sleeping. Well, that was easy. It wasn't quite like the King's bed for me, but it still felt nice.
After that came listening to music. We gathered around and swayed to the beat of the classical tunes. I would've commented on how nice it was, but I knew from experience not to do that; King Dedede never liked being interrupted while doing stuff, especially listening to his theme tune and eating.
Last, we went outside to sit around a fire pit to tell stories. Rutherford said, "Orange thing know pink ball, and pink ball is hero, so orange thing tell story!" The other yaks chattered in agreement.
"A story? Okay, I'll tell you about the time Kirby and I defeated the evil Dark Crafter!"
The yaks all laughed in response. "Dark Crafter sound weak and dumb! Tell better story!"
I had to agree. All Kirby really had to do was bash Dark Crafter three times as the Kirby Rocket. "If you insist. Very well, I will tell the story of how I worked with Kirby and two of his friends to conquer the mighty four-headed dragon Landia, guardian of the Master Crown!"
The yaks were in awe as they listened to my every word. "And then, with one last thrust of my spear, I struck Landia right in the chest, bringing the dragons down for the count! But... we were betrayed. The one who sent us to defeat Landia, known as Magolor, came and took the Master Crown. As he put it on his head, he transformed into a ghastly warlock and announced his plans to take over the universe, starting with our homeland. That was when Landia woke up and tossed each of us onto his back, and we took off to defeat Magolor once and for all!"
The yaks stomped their hooves in applause. Rutherford said, "Orange thing really is mighty warrior! Tell yaks about battle with evil warlock!"
I checked the sky to see where the sun was. "It's getting late. Sorry, but I'll have to tell you about that another day. Right now, I need to get back to my hunt for Energy Spheres!"
"Look like blue balls with flat circle inside?"
"Yeah, have you seen one?"
"Yak not see one... Yak see FIVE!" Prince Rutherford showed me five Energy Spheres. "Yaks don't need blue balls. Hard to smash, and not good decoration. Take blue balls!"
I put the Energy Spheres in my bandana. "Thanks, Prince Rutherford! I'll be back to tell you about Magolor!"
25/45 Energy Spheres obtained
"Wait!" I turned back to the prince. "Orange thing sound strong! Yak want fight orange thing!"
"Uh... Okay." I guess I had no choice.