//------------------------------// // Amusement // Story: Kirby's Nightmare in Equestria // by munomana //------------------------------// Kirby's Nightmare in Equestria Amusement Twilight stared over the balcony. She watched as the crowds below dispersed into many groups, spreading out throughout the streets. They all hustled to various destinations as if it were nopony's business, admiring the fun activities and amusement that awaited them. She was delighted to see the citizens take interest and participate, but one part of her couldn't shake off the feeling of melancholy. She had something in the back of her mind that she couldn't shake. 'This is strange... Why did Celestia talk about Kirby stopping Sombra? This plan is working out just fine! There's something missing here...' Twilight looked behind her. Cadance and Shining Armour had already left back downstairs to the Fair. They probably thought that Twilight could take care of it all. The only pony, -er... 'thing' behind her was Kirby, who just gazed over the city with his eyes, taking in as much detail. Kirby couldn't take his eyes off of the sight below him. He couldn't stand being up here any longer. The smell of pie and other foods flew through the air like a graceful dove in the morning breeze, piercing through the dew. It lingered in the air around him, teasing him. Without warning, he jumped off the balcony. Twilight stared at him as he slowly fell through the sky towards the ground. Nearby ponies just stared at the pink blob, flying down at terminal velocity, yet to them, he fell at a speed that was easily survivable, yet nopony knew exactly why. As Kirby neared the ground, he inhaled a mouthful of air. He inflated like a balloon, but that wasn't the only thing. He lost all momentum, having him floating in mid-air. The crystal ponies all just stared at him as he touched the ground with his foot before staring around in all directions and making a run for it at the slightest scent. Twilight just face-hoofed. She really couldn't watch over the little guy. He was as much of an enigma at the moment as ever, and just seemed to impress her every single time. Twilight sighed as she looked behind her, staring at the large crystalline door before her. She looked back to the sky, taking it in and saying a self-prayer before trotting on through to the stairs leading down. "Come on in, y'all. Got food and drinks thataway, games and crafts are thataway, crystal heart to the back near the Princess." Applejack stood in the middle of a busy street, shouting out to the ponies. She had been mighty busy since they finally opened. Ponies back and forth seemed to change back to normal with a small *poof* at the sight of the objects of the fair, imaginary gears turning in their heads. Applejack was delightfully happy to see the ponies enjoying the festivities. She had her doubts, but it seemed Twilight was right in the end. A crystal pony nearby took notice of Applejack's announcement. Something struck her in the brain, as if a light bulb had gone off in her head. She had heard that phrase before, and she was lots more giddy. "Did she say... Crystal Heart?" Rainbow Dash flew through the street slowly, examining their hard work. She was actually quite proud of herself, seeing as the whole fair was going off without a hitch. Rainbow Dash spotted a confused pony standing in the road before speeding up to her and stopping right in front of her, gently floating in mid-air. "We totally nailed it, right? Must be feeling a lot of love and unity about now! Gonna have some grub, huh? What are you thinking? Crystal Empire berry pie? Maybe some crystal corn-on-the-cob!" The pony just stared back nervously, before gently moving backwards. "What is with these ponies?!" A few feet away, a couple of mares walked side-by-side. They each examined the area around them. They seemed to be recognizing certain aspects of the area around them. Suddenly, one mare stops and seems to peruse through her memory. "I-I think I'm starting to remember things before Sombra!" The second mare stared at her before an invisible light-bulb went off over her head. "Hey! Me too!" Suddenly, they simultaneously gasped. They stared deep into each others' eyes, sudden realization flashing before them. They remembered on simple aspect of their memory of which they, along with the rest of the empire held. "THE CRYSTAL HEART!" Rainbow Dash turned to the sound of the sudden outburst. It surprised her momentarily, but she shook it off as she realized that it was just two mares. She quickly flew over to one of the mares before putting her foreleg around her neck. "Of course we have the Crystal Heart! Can't have a Crystal Fair without it, can we?" Suddenly another voice burst out from behind her again, slightly startling her. She removed her leg from the mare, who promptly walked away, before turning to be met with the face of the librarian from before. "Of course you can't! The whole purpose of the Crystal Fair is to lift the spirits of the crystal ponies, so the light within them can power the Crystal Heart! *GASP* I do work at the library!" Rainbow Dash stared at the mare in confusion, who in turn, just trotted away as if nothing happened. Rainbow looked around frantically as she came into realization of just what the mare said. 'Powering the Crystal Heart!?' With a flash, Dash was gone. "TWIIIIILIIIIIIIIIIGHT!" Twilight turned around from the pedestal in the center of the opening underneath the tower, only to be met with a face-full of pegasus. The impact caused the unicorn to tumble head-over-heels for a few meters before coming to a stop. She looked up, rubbing her head to help ease the pain. She slowly climbed to her hooves once again, before looking up to Rainbow Dash who wore an expression of worry and embarrassment. She was floating in front of the 'Crystal Heart', which now had a blanket draped over it. "WHAT, Rainbow Dash!? And why'd you cover the heart?" Rainbow Dash stared at Twilight for a second before setting herself down. "Twilight, I think we have a problem." "I didn't know it was an actual relic! The book didn't say anything about powering the heart! Look..." Twilight looked at the book she had in her saddlebag. She flipped the book open to the previous page she was on. There, was a ripped off page of the book. All was left was the paper reaching from the center, the actual page nowhere to be seen. "A page is missing! How did I not notice!?" Twilight, Cadance, Shining Armour, and Rainbow Dash were standing on the balcony Twilight was previously on. Rainbow Dash had explained everything that she had heard from the group of ponies and the librarian herself. She had then gathered brother and Cadance up to the top. Cadance and Shining watched Twilight freak out at the simple thing she missed. They slowly approached Twilight from behind, where Cadance offered her a comforting hoof, which Twilight accepted. "It's alright, Twilight." Shining shot Twilight a worried gaze from behind. Before turning back momentarily. "Twily..." *BZZZT* Shining, surprised, looked over to where the noise came from. As his eyes met with his wife, her horn flickered off its continuous magic usage. As it flicked off, Cadance swooned over, only to be caught by Shining. Without warning, the barrier around the empire slowly disappeared. The energy from the walls wisped into nothing, allowing a dark smoke to slowly penetrate through. As the smoke flew through, It engulfed every crystal in sight. The smoke slowly moved towards the middle. Shining lifted Cadance's head slightly as he looked over the balcony at the quickly-advancing smoke ahead. He could only look in despair as it got closer and closer. "The empire is under attack!" The smoke grew closer. In that smoke, a face loomed. A matter purely composed of darkness itself. "Hehehe..." Shining looked back from the smoke to Cadance. He quickly helped her to her hooves and gain her balance once again. As she gained her ground, she knew just what to do. With a small burst of magic, she places another, smaller barrier around the area Sombra hadn't touched yet. Luckily, she managed to make it right before he could touch any part of the town. Or so she thought... Kirby walked through the busy streets, prying the eyes of passers-by from the sights and attractions and onto him. He didn't pay them any mind, and neither did he. He was too busy admiring everything around him, but most importantly, what was the most important of all. He could see the scent linger in the air. It was visible to him. He could feel its warm embrace. The scent, of pie. Kirby could see the grey smoke-like scent flying through the air in a straight line, leading him just to where the glorious circular pieces of heaven lay. Kirby hadn't had a good piece of pie in much long. He had been too afraid to eat pie since the... incident. He shuddered as he accounted the memories of back in Cappy Town, where DeDeDe had summoned that demon-pie creating monster from NME. They had traumatized him after that, but this pie was unlike the others in smell. It was... exotic. He had tried one of those crystal berries from before, which he found quite delicious. He knew that if they tasted that good by themselves, that the pie must be glorious. Kirby rounded a corner as he passed by a stall Rarity was stationed at. "Kirby!" Kirby stopped in his tracks as he turned around at the sudden voice calling his name. He stared back and forth behind him before he noticed Rarity waving her hoof, telling him to come there. He was slightly upset, but he knew that he would always pick friends over food. Kirby began running up to Rarity's stall. "Poyo?" Kirby stared up to Rarity who stood behind the counter, shuffling her hooves and using her magic to create multiple hats out of straw. She passed out each hat random ponies passing by, who just enjoyed the activities. As she gave a hat to the last pony in line before placing down her materials and looking down to Kirby. "Oh, darling, would you like a hat? You seem to be mindlessly bouncing through the streets and I thought you would like one!" Rarity looked back from Kirby down to the supplies before grabbing them in her magical grip and placed the materials into place, making the form of a sturdy hat. Kirby looked up to the hat, which Rarity slowly lowered onto his head. "Aw, you look absolutely fabulous!" Rarity stared down at her work. It was a hat in the shape of a stetson, and had placed a small feather on the top of it. It did fit his head quite well, as she had made it extra large, making sure the inside would fit snuggly on him. Kirby looked up to admire his new had for a moment, before he looked back to Rarity. She was now making new hats for new ponies who began trotting up to her stall once again. He turned back around to his original route, and looked around. He could still smell the scent. Without warning, he made haste. Twilight looked down, she was sure that she could have done it herself. Now, time was running out. The real Crystal Heart was yet to be discovered, and here she was. She looked around. Cadance was exhausted, Shining was worried, and even Rainbow Dash, was freaked out. Shining Armour removed his foreleg from around Cadance's neck. He took on an expression of courage, hope, and perseverance. "I have to go find the heart!" "No," Shining turned around only to be faced with Twilight, who was wearing a stoic expression. "You stay with Cadance. I'll find the heart." Twilight turned around to Rainbow Dash. Dash immediately snapped to attention, and seemed to be itching to go. "Let's do this!" Rainbow raised her hoof and pumped it. She was excited to finally see some action. "No, I have another thing for you to do." Rainbow shot a confused glance at Twilight, but quickly regained her usual attitude. "Name it!" Twilight smirked at Dash's enthusiasm. She was a great friend of hers, but she needed to do something else for the time being. "I need you to help keep the fair going. If you manage to keep their spirits high and distract them from Sombra, then the heart could stay powered up." Rainbow thought on that for a moment before giving a small nod and speeding off the side of the balcony, meeting with her friends to inform them on what just took place. Twilight then turned to the crystal door. She had no time to waste. As her she passed through the crystalline doors, she was struck with a slight spell of confusion. It couldn't leave her mind. It felt as if it clawed at the back of her mind. 'How do we even use the heart?'