//------------------------------// // Acquaintance // Story: Kirby's Nightmare in Equestria // by munomana //------------------------------// Kirby's Nightmare in Dreamland Acquaintance "...Who is Kirby!?" The group was silent as they shared glances towards each other. Twilight in particular was skeptical on how to respond. She had been thinking about Kirby since they'd met. Not once did she think there could possibly be extraterrestrial life. The anomalies numbed her mind. Pinkie was known for her spontaneity, but Kirby seems even more confusing. No magic, origins, or explanations. Twilight sighed, defeated. She returned her gaze to his brother's before settling on the best answer she could come up with. "I... I really don't know." The group stood silent for a few moments. Twilight stood in place, mulling over the possibilities of Kirby. Shining Armour looked towards Kirby, who did the opposite of everypony else. He seemed to be hopping around, enjoying the sun, and over-reacting over everything. Shining viewed Kirby as if he were a foal rather than an alien. He seemed so innocent and child-like in behavior, yet stood his ground as Sombra came towards them. It wasn't long before the rest of the group dispersed. They all headed to be generally going in the same direction, towards the towering... tower in the distance. Pinkie and Kirby were bouncing around, taking in their environment in a more... physical manner. Rainbow Dash flew around the town at lightning speeds, scouting for anything to entertain her as she waited for the rest of the group to do something. Twilight walked silently, ignoring the magnificent empire as she contemplated what to do. She had to deal with so much simultaneously. Shining's horn, Kirby, Sombra... She just hoped that nothing else could happen. Fluttershy and Rarity walked side-by-side, silently admiring the architecture, although Rarity seemed to be enjoying it much more. Shining walked behind the group, deep in thought, mind rushing, even though it was nowhere near Twilight. He had no idea how long he could keep Sombra back now. He had no magic. He had no back-up. He had no idea who or what Kirby was. All he knew, was that he wasn't normal. He thought back to outside of the Crystal Empire. Kirby managed to manipulate the air around him into his mouth at unbelievable power and speed. He managed to pick up scarves from far away and swallowing it. He then turned into a completely different thing. His head began to hurt slightly as he looked back up. The group was nearly by the tower as they reached a crystal road. they ponies all gathered together as they nonchalantly trotted through the town, admiring the scenery and items around them. Rarity was bounding with joy at the spectacular myriad of crystals and colours around. The group crowded under the tower as they moved towards the room where Princess Cadance rested. The architecture was practically all crystal in all directions. Kirby wondered where they would even get all these crystals. He looked forward as they moved into a room. "Cadance!" Twilight quickly ran towards the pink princess as Cadance took notice of Twilight and hurried over there. "Sunshine. Sunshine. Ladybugs awake! Clap your little hooves and do a little shake!" they said as Kirby watched them simultaneously danced a small dance. Before Twilight could say anything, Cadance cringed as the protective barrier around the empire slightly faltered. Twilight took notice of this before seeing the bags under Cadance's eyes. Shining trotted up beside Cadance before giving comforting her. Twilight took notice of this. "Are you alright?" "Cadance hasn't slept for days, she's been using her magic to keep Sombra back. I'd help, but my magic has been countered by king Sombra." As the group talked, Kirby began examining the empire through a window. The city was large, filled with crystals everywhere. The grass was green, flowers and plants flourishing. The sky was clear and blue, even though the outside of the barrier was a harsh coldness. He took notice of the city streets. The streets were bare of any life. Kirby wondered where they may have gone. As he continued to scout the area, he saw one thing he couldn't keep his eyes off of. In the middle of a huge street, a large stalagmite of dark crystal jutted from the ground. Around the crystal, the grounds and roads were cracked. He tried to take his eyes off of it, but an invisible force compelled him towards it. It seemed like it donned some importance. Ignoring the others, Kirby hopped out of the window. He gently floated down to the ground before running. He weaved in and out of streets, passing by stalls, shops, and houses, hurrying his was to it. Kirby slowed to a halt as he reached the crystal. The crystal was not entirely opaque. The surface was an onyx black, darker than any other crystals in the vicinity. He looked closer, trying to figure out what drew him here. As he examined, he noticed something very strange. Kirby noticed a figure inside. The figure was a similar shape as the ponies from before. He found this rather strange. He looked in harder, taking in the details of the figure to the best of his ability. The pony was a female unicorn. It had pink fur and a white mane. The unicorn lay in a stasis similar to sleep, eyes closed. She seemed to be slightly taller than Twilight and the others. Kirby looked at her cutie mark. It was a mask, similar to Meta knight's, but in the shape of a heart. The mask was surrounded by two symbols: a silver boomerang shaped item, similar to Kirby's cutter, and what looked like a ball of energy, with energy leaping out in the colour of orange, red, and yellow. Kirby continued to stare at the figure. He had no clue why, but something seemed oddly familiar about this unicorn. "KIRBY!" Kirby turned around towards the sound. Behind him was an angry Twilight Sparkle, followed by the other five ponies from before and Spike, who rode on Twilight's back. They all rushed to Kirby, ignoring the crystal behind him. "Kirby! You can't just run off like that! We don't have much time. We were about to go research for info from the crystal ponies, and we can't have you get lost." Kirby just stared blankly at Twilight before turning around and pointing at the dark crystal. As Twilight lifted her gaze, her eyes opened in surprise. "Wow, I can't believe I didn't see that." Twilight then proceeded to walk up to it. She began admiring it, taking in the details and how it was not similar to any other crystal around. Twilight looked closely before she gasped in surprise. "Wait there's a pony inside! Everypony, stand back!" The grouped then moved away from Twilight before she stepped back. She charged horn horn for a second before blasting off a shot. The shot hit the side of the crystal, attempting to shatter the crystal. The energy bolt just bounced off the crystal before flying into a crystal formation close by. The formation shattered. Twilight looked in surprise. The crystal wasn't even damaged. "W-what!?" Rainbow Dash just jumped up in front of Twilight. "Lemme handle this!" Rainbow then flew up to the front of the crystal at high speeds. She quickly turned before reaching the crystal and gave it the biggest buck she could muster. The crystal didn't budge. "What the!? Rainbow was confused. In NO way could a crystal be that strong. Before any of the other ponies could do something about it, a light grew from the crystal. A glyph appeared before them on the front of the crystal in a bright light. Below, words began to form. Twilight slowly walked up to it curiously. As she reached the crystal, she read the words. "Only the purest of hearts can truly defeat him." Twilight grew surprised as she began to think. 'Who could possibly be the most pure here? There has to be something about this that I don't understand.' "Fluttershy, come here for a second." Fluttershy peeked out from the back before slowly trotting up to the front with Twilight. "U-um, yes?" Twilight then turned and pointed her hoof towards the glyph above the words. "Try putting your hoof there." Fluttershy then grew visually worried. "A-are you sure that's safe." "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine!" "I-if you say so..." Fluttershy then shakily placed her hoof in the center of the glyph. As the hoof touched the glyph... Nothing happened. Twilight stared for a moment in confusion. 'Fluttershy is the most kind, innocent pony I know!' "Oh, well I guess we'll figure it out later." Twilight sighed, deeply upset. She really wanted to get this pony out. Maybe it had the answers she looked for. "I guess we'll just have to hurry and figure this out ourselves. Maybe we'll find out-" Before she could finish, Kirby ran right up past her. He jumped up to the words before floating in front of the crystal. Kirby examined the glyph before reaching his arm out to it. As he touched it, the glyph grew brighter and brighter. The crystal began cracking outwards, light emanating from each crack, lighting the world around as bright as the sun. The cracks continued around the crystal before a large crack was heard. *CRACK* The world stopped. Suddenly, the crystal burst, pieces flying everywhere before disintegrating into black smoke. The figure inside fell to the ground, unconscious. Kirby looked down at the unicorn before reaching out his arm and tapping her on the head. Slowly but surely, the unicorn awoke from her slumber. She slowly opened her eyes, finally seeing the light after a thousand years. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light before she looked up. She stared straight into the face of Kirby. She tried to remember, but nothing came up. Exhaustion and confusion slowly grew onto her. As she stared at Kirby, one thing came into her mind before she passed out. One thing that she didn't know where it came from, yet she couldn't get it out of her mind. "Kirby..."