//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Hyness Meets Her Highness (Hyness) 
// Story: Kirby Star Allies: Friend Hearts are Magic (REMASTERED) 
// by The Kelduo 
//------------------------------//

“...GRACE US GLORIOUSLY, DARK… Juh?” This was… an unexpected turn of events. We were in a dark forest of some sort. Before that flash, we were at the Divine Terminus. Was it some sort of… teleportation spell? Perhaps it was time for us to practice teleportation…

“You! Are you the source of that horrific ear-splitting shouting?” Suddenly, to our surprise, we were surrounded by a dark green aura and levitated against our will. We were turned toward a black, hole-filled quadruped with a single horn on its head and dark green wings like those of Beetley. “I demand that you identify yourself and state your business in my presence. If you’re not here for a good reason, then leave this instant!”

Unflinching, we stared down the mysterious creature. “Our name… is Hyness. We have no business here… Release us at once… for we must return to the Divine Terminus… to accomplish the duties of our ancestors.”

The creature scowled. “I see no reason to let you go. For all I know, you’re a hero who could try and defeat me at any moment.”

“You believe that we may be... a hero…?" We paused. "That... could not be further from the truth... A more fitting term... would be servant… We had gone to the Divine Terminus… to rescue our master… to revive… the Dark Lord.”

The creature dropped us from its magical grasp. “Dark Lord? You have my interest.” It smirked. “Please, go on.”

We nodded. “Our generals and us… We were rebuilding the Jamba Heart… that was the prison of the Dark Lord. Everything was going fine… until they showed up. A pink thing... And his colleagues... A Gim, a Rocky, and a NESP. The four defeated our strongest general, Zan Par. She was next to useless. We explained to the heroes… why we were trying… to revive the Dark Lord. But that NESP…” Our blood boiled. “THAT JAMBLASTED NESP! He paid no respect to our monologue and cast a spell of some sort, and now we're in a forest we know nothing about! RUDE! There must be a way to return to the Divine Terminus and rebuild the Jamba Heart! There MUST be! We cannot rest until--”

The creature silenced us with its hoof. “I’ve heard enough. I will assist you.”

Our mind was at ease. “Good. How will you—”

“But!” the creature snapped, slowly retracting its hoof from our face. “I require your assistance as well.” It pointed us towards the exit of the woods, towards a dirt road leading to a peaceful town. Curious, we approached the town, but the creature dragged us back into the woods. “I have been trying to conquer the entirety of Equestria for moons, but my plans keep getting thwarted by a certain group of ponies who live in the town you saw with your own two eyes, Ponyville. And I, Queen Chrysalis, used to rule over the Changeling hive, but they betrayed me!" She stomped her hoof. "They were so easily convinced by a ragtag group of good creatures to share love instead of feeding on it! If you help me to conquer Equestria, I will help you find a way to the Divine Terminus, wherever that is. And do not even think of backstabbing me, or else…” She bared her sharp fangs. “I will not hesitate to drain all of your love energy.” Her eyes narrowed. "Now, will you join me... or not?"

“A tempting offer…” We gave it some thought. Then we shook Queen Chrysalis' front hoof. “We accept. You have a plan, we suppose?”

“We've no need for a plan at the moment. A true ruler knows how to start from scratch." The changeling queen's horn flashed, and a dummy shaped like a quadruped similar to her appeared. "First, show me what you can do…”