"Po... Poyo..." I stood still for a few seconds, trying to piece things together. What was a pony doing here in this new place? And why did she look... different than the ponies I was familiar with? Her head and eyes seemed smaller than those of most ponies I knew, and her hooves were a different color than her coat. It was almost like she appeared more... realistic. Which is saying something, considering I'm from a universe where dreams can come true, no matter how unusual they are, so therefore things are usually pretty caricatured.
I may not have known the answer to why she was different, but I made a guess as to what she was doing here.
I turned to Gim-E with a knowing look. "Poyo poyo, poyo?" Rough translation: You brought her here, didn't you?
He nodded. "I may not be able to decipher your poyo language, but if you're thinking what I hypothesize you are thinking, then you are indeed correct. I'm the one who brought this fine young pony here." He motioned towards the unicorn. "This is Izzy Moonbow, of the new generation!"
Izzy offered her hoof. "I sure am! Nice to meet you, Kirby!"
I wasn't sure what to think of this pony from the new generation, since I pretty much just left behind my life as a big fan of ponies the moment I learned that the Mane Six were officially no more (I know that's a ridiculously drastic response, but taking extreme measures is what I do), but I shook her hoof anyway. "Poyo, Izzy." Then I gave Gim-E a confused look. "Poyo?" But why?
He answered, "I figured you were getting lonely after the Mane Six... left Equestria, so to speak. And so, I brought along Izzy in the hopes that you would have a new pony friend to chill with! I know you're super attached to your old pony friends, but we can fill that void with new pony friends!"
I smiled at his attempt to bring ponies back into my life, but there was a single problem. I don't like to admit this, but... I was afraid. That the new generation would be different.
And something else crossed my mind: If Gim-E came to Pop Star just to bring over Izzy, then how did he know about the storm...?
I deadpanned at him.
He sighed. "Okay, fine, none of this was my idea. Your old man was the one who decided for me to send over Izzy today. He knew about the storm, as well as the fact that you needed ponies back in your life, so he told me and Izzy this was the day to come and see you. Izzy was super excited to meet you, because she had heard stories of your exploits from back when the Mane Six were around."
Izzy finished, "So we all decided that Gim and I should ride on over to Pop Star and join you on your next adventure so you and I could have some bonding time!"
I tilted my head. How did I not see her, though?
Reading my facial expression, she added, "Oh yeah, and Gim had me hide on the underside of the Warp Star so you couldn't see me."
"Ah, poyo." Oh. That explains why I couldn't see her, and why I heard her voice warning me about the tree.
With all that cleared up, I looked around at the group with a smile.
"I know that look on your face," Bandana Dee noted. "You're all ready to start this awesome adventure!"
I gave him a determined nod. "Poyo!"
"Then it's go time!" Gim pointed at me. "Lead the way, Kirby of the Stars!"
And lead the way I did.
I strolled along the grassy path ahead of me as the others followed behind, rocks and trees on each side of the path. Just meters after we set foot on the grass did I notice a white flower with its petals closed. I carefully touched it with my hand, and it bloomed, releasing some kind of golden ring with a star in the middle of it.
"Wow!" Izzy beamed. "How did you do that, Kirby?"
Bandana Dee explained, "That's a Pop Flower. They usually hold nice goodies, so you want to open every one you find."
"Ooh, that's so cool! And what's the thing that came from it?"
Gim shrugged. "I dunno, but it looks important. As for the name, let's call it a Star Coin. Kirby, can you tuck that away in your stomach dimension?"
"Poyo!" I grabbed the Star Coin and ate it like that was a completely normal thing for me to do, which it was.
Continuing ahead into a misty area, we found a Star Coin on a raised platform. Izzy grabbed it and tossed it to me to eat, and we clambered onto the plateau east of us so we could keep moving onward and fetch another Star Coin on another raised platform.
Bandana grabbed another Star Coin from a nearby Pop Flower, and we found a log extending over a small gap further east. I inhaled the nearby Star Block and spat it at the big Star Block on the other side, breaking both and revealing a few Star Coins to collect.
But before crossing the log, Izzy caught our attention. "Hey, what's that?" She pointed up at a sparkling spot on a boulder.
"Poyo?" I volunteered to see what it was.
I climbed onto the boulder and touched the sparkling spot, and a chiming sound was heard. I turned around and saw that three Star Coins had appeared back on the ground.
Gim said, "Good to know, twinkles spawn items. We should keep that in mind while on our journey."
After collecting the Star Coins, we went across the bridge and got the ones hidden under the big Star Block. A little farther ahead, and...
"Oh my gosh, you're so cute!"
Izzy ran up and hugged an orange fox creature guarding the path north, and it tried to squirm out of her grip.
She gave us puppy–dog eyes. "Can we keep him?"
Gim shook his head. "Here's a rule you should follow when on an adventure..."
Slash! Izzy narrowly avoided a claw swipe from the fox, who quickly got ready to fight.
"Never try to pet or adopt something that acts aggressive towards you. Even if it's sleeping or doesn't notice you."
"Oh, okay. Sorry, little guy."
Izzy jumped over the fox as it charged, and it kept running, failing to notice Bandana Dee's spear which promptly made it trip and fall over the edge of the path.
Now that the threat was taken care of, Gim activated Sizzle Mode, and he used his yo-yo to burn away the nearby tall grass and reveal a huge blue Star Coin, which I ate along with two gold Star Coins Izzy found in Pop Flowers behind a tree.
We took the path north, and surprisingly, there was a lamp post by the path. An empty soda can was beneath it.
"An artificial structure? Processed food?" Gim-E took a moment to think, then he gasped. "Could that mean... a long-lost civilization once lived here?!"
Further ahead, his question was answered. The path widened, and we took full advantage of the opportunity to gaze at our new surroundings.
We were out of the forest, and our new location... was a modern city overtaken by nature. A guardrail lined the left side of the path, a metal fence and telephone poles lined the right side, and a massive building loomed ahead of us. All around were other large buildings.
"Guys..." Gim stared in awe, with ecstasy in his voice. "Our adventure has now truly begun. Cueing appropriate music!"
With a smile on our face and a bounce in our step, we gleefully ran forward to experience this new place in all its glory.
Turning at the lit up arrow sign pointing right, we encountered a Blade Knight, a swordsman clad in green armor with a red visor.
"Sir Kirby!" He saluted. "Greetings to you and your friends."
We saluted back. "Hello, Blade Knight!" Bandana Dee said. "What are you doing here?"
"I suppose you've had an encounter with the white dimensional rifts in a large storm cloud looming over Pop Star? One of them pulled me into this strange, forgotten land. And now..."
He pointed his sword at us.
"I know my efforts will be futile, but I must do my job as a relatively new slave of the beings of this world. My apologies, but by the orders of the Beast Pack, I must stop you!"
Gulp!
Into my mouth he went, and upon swallowing him, I gained a green hat with a yellow cotton ball on the end and a yellow rim. A silver sword appeared in my hand.
"Isn't that your Copy Ability?" Izzy asked. "I heard about you back in Equestria, and that was one of the things I learned about you."
I nodded. "Yeah!"
I demonstrated my swordplay by slashing some of the grass and enemies along the path: a mushroom enemy called Cappy; pink winged creatures called Bronto Burts; and a beige stone head called Kabu.
Gim dealt with the remaining Blade Knight, and Bandana Dee took down the remaining Cappy.
To continue, we had to make our way up to a high platform. I was easily able to do it by inhaling air and flapping my arms to float up there, and Bandana could spin his spear like a helicopter blade and fly there, but Izzy didn't have a chance. So Gim used Bluster Mode to give her a boost with his yo-yo before spinning his way up there. Once that hurdle was taken care of, we made a few more jumps and climbed a ladder to the next part of the area.
In this area, we were met with a Cappy and two blue–clothed enemies who tried to blast us with bombs, Poppy Bros Jr. I threw away my hat and inhaled one, gaining a party hat with explosion designs on it. With the Bomb Ability, I tossed bombs to blow up the remaining enemies in the vicinity before moving onward. We came across a metal bridge that was being targeted by a Poppy Bro Jr, so Izzy used her magic to send one of his bombs back at him so we could cross safely.
After defeating a Kabu, we came across a broken metal bridge patrolled by a Bronto Burt. I bombed him and jumped across with Bandana Dee while Gim and Izzy took the long way around. Then we came to a makeshift ramp made by a fallen billboard, with a Kabu on the other side. I sniped it with a rolled bomb before we crossed the sign and made it to the building on the other side.
I couldn't read the letters on the sign above the door, because they were in a different language than the ones I was used to. However, Gim translated it for me: “Holine Custom Autos”. Honestly, I didn't really get what that meant. But the building had a black and white checkered stripe that went all around it, so I did have an idea of what it was for. And it had its doors open, so we invited ourselves in.
The moment we entered, we had a look around. The inside of the building was pretty big, especially on the right side where there was a winding path around some shelves that contained tools and machine parts. But right in front of us was a blue, rusty car with a sign hanging above it.
I couldn't read that sign either, but Gim translated it as well: “Brand New”.
Suddenly, the car shook. And a couple of fox ears poked up from behind it. Then a trio of foxes jumped out and glared at me.
"Poyo poyo." I took off my hat and gave it to Bandana Dee with a grin.
Then I stood firm, closing my eyes... and inhaled.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Each of the foxes fell victim to the vortex from my mouth. But I kept inhaling. That car looked pretty old, so maybe my inhale could yank off one of its wheels and nab me the Wheel Ability...
"Outta the way, everyone!" Gim exclaimed out of the blue.
Confused by his sudden warning, I chose to open my eyes so I could see what he was worried about...
And the car was flying right towards me.
POP!
Somehow, the car fit into my mouth. But only partially.
"Kirby!" Bandana Dee ran in front of me with worry in his eyes. "Are you okay? Do you need help?"
For a while, I thought about what to do. I only wanted one wheel, not the entire car! But, at the same time, I wanted to see what would happen if I took advantage of this... predi–car–ment.
So I tried to fit the rest of the car into my mouth.
Gim ran in front of me as well and watched as I tried to stuff the front end of the car into my stretched–out mouth. "Dude, are you... trying to inhale the rest of that radical ride?" He stood still for a while before nodding. "Okay, I'll help you! Izzy, give me a hoof!"
Izzy got beside Gim and turned around, her back hooves in the air ready to strike. "Ready when you are!"
"Then let's do it! Buck and roll on my mark! One, two... Three!"
Gim punched the car and Izzy bucked it.
BOING!
The force of their strike shoved the rest of the car into my maw, and the car hit the back of my throat before ricocheting back and coming to a stop snugly inside my mouth. Good thing Gim and Izzy rolled out of the way.
It felt really weird, but... I liked the result. A bit uncomfortable, but practical.
To add the finishing touch, I opened my mouth so the wheels would be firmly on the ground.
Izzy stared in shock. "That... Was..." She jumped with excitement. "Amazing!" Before anyone could react, she jumped on the hood of the car, which was now my forehead. "Dibs on the front seat!"
"So that's how it's gonna be, eh?" Gim hopped onto the top of the car, my back. "Then I take the roof!"
Bandana Dee sighed. "Well, that leaves the back for me." He walked around and hung onto the back of the car, my butt. At least for him, he had my feet to stand on in case his arms got tired.
Now that everyone was ready, there was only one thing left to do: start the car. In my Squeak Squad adventure, I learned how to control the things inside of my stomach dimension. Maybe it was the same with things simply in my mouth? To test this theory, I focused on getting the car started...
VROOM!
This was awesome! I'd grown so much that I learned to control things that were just in my mouth! When I get back from this adventure, I'm gonna have to thank my dad for training me.
Gim happily shouted, "Time to blow this car shop, full speed ahead!"
"Mm–mm!" I made the car go as fast as possible, zooming around the shelves to the right and racing right into the cracked wall at the end.
Breaking through, we landed in the back lot of the building. And that's when I decided that this was actually better than the Wheel Ability. I could never smash through a crack in a building as a simple wheel!
Using this awesome new Ability—well, more like form, because I didn't actually swallow the car—I raced along the paved road, flattening or ramming any enemies in my way. I broke through any and all things that had cracks in them, be they small boulders or walls completely blocking the road. I drove along the road all the way to a row of logs standing on their ends and knocked them over, forming a bridge that led to a big pile of Star Coins.
After jumping down and running over some more Cappies and cracked boulders, I came to a raised drawbridge blocked by one last boulder.
"Well..." Bandana said. "A raised drawbridge. This is a problem."
"No it isn't!" Izzy answered confidently. "Kirby, step on it!"
"Mhm!" Following her advice, I charged right into the boulder, breaking it and ramming into the drawbridge.
After bouncing back, I looked up at Izzy to give her a nod in thanks...
But she was now pressed face–first against the drawbridge, which only teetered upon being rammed. "Worth it..."
"Why?" Bandana asked. "The drawbridge is still..."
The bridge promptly leaned forward, gaining speed as gravity took hold until it landed with a loud thud.
"...up."
"You're such a pessimist, Bandana Dee," Gim teased. "Maybe some music would help put a smile on your face."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gim's hand reach out and grab a boom box on the side of the road.
"Yoink! Now let's hear what's trending... Or, well, what was trending." I heard some static and tuning sounds, soon followed by catchy music. I couldn't help but bop to the beat. "The people of this world had some great taste! This is perfect for a road trip!"
Izzy clambered back on me. "Ooh, can we sing to it? I'm pretty good at that sort of thing."
"You bet! One, two, three, four!"
And so, Gim began singing as I drove across the drawbridge into a big city, everyone grooving to the music.
"Seatbelts fastened... All set to roam!"
The road branched out to the left and right, and I took the third right.
Izzy sang the next line.
"Let's all explore this new world!"
I drove along at a leisurely pace, taking in all the buildings that were beautifully overtaken by nature.
Gim took over again.
"Far from Pop Star, in a place where we're living our dream.
A mouthful of fun awaits us, the fifth gen team!"
I stopped at a crosswalk to allow a white duck and her cute yellow chicks to pass before continuing along, taking note of a couple of fox enemies on one of the buildings on our right.
Izzy sang again.
"With the wings of friendship, not a thing can hold us back."
I drove by a fox sleeping on a bench. It woke up, but it didn't seem to care about chasing after us.
"Soaring here and there, we'll stop foes on the attack!"
I screeched to a halt so I could turn right onto a long road across the ocean, and Gim and Izzy broke into a duet.
"Here we go!
The steering wheel of fate keeps our lives from being bland."
We all took a whiff of the nice, fresh air, and feeling rejuvenated by the wind caressing my body, I sped along to reach the other side of the ocean.
"This spring breeze
Surrounds Bandana, you, me, Kirby and the forgotten land!"
"Woo! Alright!" Gim cheered. "You up for another verse, Izzy?"
Izzy shook her head. "Thanks, but now I just wanna enjoy the view. Sometimes I get too caught up singing to notice what's going on around me."
"Ah, I get it. Well then, let's go ahead and enjoy the rest of this drive."
So Gim turned off the radio, and we turned our full attention to the amazing environment we were rolling through.
A few minutes had passed, and the road seemed to have no end. My friends were busy playing I Spy to kill some time.
Bandana Dee said, "I spy something... dark green."
"A road sign?" Gim asked.
"Yep!"
"Sweet! I spy something... small."
"...Bandana Dee's spear's scarf?" Izzy answered.
"Sure is!"
"Alright! Let's see..." Izzy hummed. "Ooh! I spy something big, silver, and eating something that looks like Bandana Dee!"
"Wait, what?!" the others gasped.
We looked up, and sure enough, Izzy really did spy something that fit that description. A bunch of somethings, actually. Silver cages shaped like lions, with the bars looking like their sharp teeth, were being carried away by black birds with red beaks. Within each cage was a Waddle Dee, crying out for help.
Luckily, one of the Waddle Dees saw us. He was wearing a scholar's hat and glasses. "Kirby! Take the upcoming road to your right! That'll bring you to...!"
He was cut off as the black bird took him away.
"I think he knows what he's talking about," Izzy told me. "You better take his advice!"
I nodded and did as the Waddle Dee instructed, taking the next right. It took me around a bend, but the road ended in front of a raised platform I couldn't reach with the car in my mouth. So after everyone got off of me...
PTOOEY!
I spat out the car and continued on foot, Bandana Dee giving me back my Bomb hat. We climbed up a ladder and passed some rubble before reaching a natural ramp. It had thin logs lining it like stairs, so I guessed it led to some sort of town. When we went up the ramp, it was revealed that the ramp really did lead to a town...
...that was left in ruins.
Something else that caught our attention were a couple of Waddle Dees being chased by those fox enemies before birds dropped cages on them. The bottoms of the cages closed and the bars rose when they trapped the Waddle Dees so the poor guys couldn't escape after being caught. Looking up to the sky, we saw that several other Waddle Dees very recently met the same fate.
And after they were carried away, a cyan creature caught the attention of the foxes. They chased it into a corner, where it stopped flying away and faced them, fear in its shimmering blue eyes. I saw that it was a mouse creature with big ears like Squeakers and a fluffy tail.
Then three black birds dropped a bigger, golden cage on the creature, trapping it where it floated.
"Hey!" Izzy said. "Stop being mean to that little guy!"
The foxes turned to face her, then several more foxes joined them. They all charged, hoping to overwhelm us with their number. My friends and I got ready to put them in their place, but to the surprise of me and Bandana Dee...
"I didn't say you could be mean to us either!"
Izzy's horn flared to life, and from it came a strong laser that sent the foxes packing.
Bandana Dee, the creature, and I gawked at the unicorn who had just saved us the trouble of beating up those mooks.
And contrary to us, Gim patted Izzy on the back while casually saying, "Way to put your training to work, Izzy! You sure showed them what for!"
Izzy giggled. "Thanks, but we're not done yet." She pointed at the mouse creature in the cage. "Just need to figure out how to free that cute little thing."
We walked up to the cage and inspected it. The cage looked really sturdy, and after we gave it a quick pat down, we couldn't find any hidden buttons that might open it. Brute force seemed like the only way to solve this problem.
But maybe... there's another way...?
I looked down at my hands.
After a brief moment of concentration, the tips of them glowed. I put my hands on the cage. I took it nice and slow, starting out weak and steadily increasing the intensity. The cage began to glow as well, vibrating as I upped the ante.
Then all of a sudden... it shattered, freeing the creature and scaring the birds away.
The creature flew around happily before giving me a hug. As it did so, I noticed that there was a small chunk missing from its right ear. "Phew! You all rescued me! Thank you so much..."
"We're glad to help," Bandana Dee replied. "But we have other business to take care of. My brethren are in trouble, and we came this way to find out a way to save them!"
"Brethren?" The creature looked up towards the sky, in the direction that the Waddle Dees had been taken away. "Do you mean... you're here to help save the others, the Waddle Dees?"
"Uh huh, that's exactly what we're here for," Izzy answered. "We came right this way as soon as we saw them being taken away by black birds! They don't deserve that!"
Bandana Dee added, "And I'm the leader of the Waddle Dees, so it's my duty to make sure they are okay! No matter how dangerous the obstacle, I got to save all of them!"
The creature cheered up. "Really? So you'll help me save everyone? That's great to hear! We tried our best to fight back against those beasts, but they just kept coming back for more. But now that you're here, things should go better from here on out!" It pointed at itself. "My name's Elfilin. What are your names?"
I went first. "Kirby!"
After me came Gim-E. "My full identity is GM-2375 Enhanced Model, but most people refer to me as Gim-E. I'm one of the GM-series of robots, but I also got a major upgrade, hence the Enhanced part."
Then came Izzy. "I'm Izzy Moonbow, and I come from Equestria of the planet Equus! In case you couldn't tell from my horn, I'm a unicorn."
Finally, Bandana Dee began to talk, but Elfilin interrupted him. "Wait! Let me guess... You're Bandana Waddle Dee? I heard that name from the other Waddle Dees."
Bandana nodded. "Yep, that's my name. I know, pretty obvious and ridiculously self-explanatory. But yeah, I'm also second in command to King Dedede and leader of his Waddle Dee army."
Elfilin shook each of our hands, or hoof in Izzy's case. "Nice to meet you all! But I still have a couple of questions. First off..." He looked at me in surprise. "How did you do that thing with your hands and my cage? That was really neat!"
Gim answered for me. "I try my best not to spoil things, so let's just say that Kirby's more than you think..."
"That's an understatement. I don't know anyone who can just break a cage by touching it! As for my second question..." Elfilin put a hand on his chin. "How are we going to catch up with those Waddle Dees? Those birds are pretty fast!"
With a smile, I pressed a button on my Cell Phone, and my Warp Star came right to us.
Elfilin was amazed. "Wow, you can call your Warp Star? I've always wanted to ride one!" He gleefully floated over and grabbed on.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Bandana Dee boarded the Warp Star. "Let's go save those Waddle Dees!"
"Poyo!" I jumped on as well.
Gim and Izzy passed on taking the Warp Star, with Gim opting to use Bluster Mode and Break Spin to his destination while Izzy rode the gusts of wind he left behind.
And together, we flew off to begin our Waddle Dee hunt.