A Sweetie Dream Land

by Lucar

Chapter 82: Indigo Ocean

As they run toward the next world, Indigo Ocean, Sweetie Belle looks at Elline creating the rainbow rope that they use to go from world to world. Since she has encountered Elline, there's something that Sweetie Belle is wondering, but hasn't taken time to ask.

"Elline? Do you know the Magical Paintbrush?"

"The what?"

"The Magical Paintbrush. It's the paintbrush that Claycia's father used to give her life, at her and her sisters, and it's from this paintbrush that comes the Life Giving Artist Magic."

Elline shakes her head. "Claycia never told me anything about this paintbrush, or her father. She avoided talking about her past because it always hurt her."

"It's no wonder," says Bandana. "Because of Dark Crafter, she lost her family. Drawcia and Paintra were corrupted when they were barely paint, Yin and Yarn too. The only one that she was still seeing, maybe, was her father. Nothing says if she was forced to separate from him or not."

"Maybe she was forced to hide to avoid being corrupted too," says Sweetie Belle. "And because of this, she couldn't see him. Or at least, not too much. Only Claycia knows, but if it hurts her to tell, then we will not ask."

"We would have to save her first..."

"Anyway, back to the paintbrush. I asked this to you Elline because your powers really look like the ones of the Magical Paintbrush. You can give life to anything you paint, you can create a rainbow rope for others to run or glide on, you can use the paint to transform someone... However, I don't know if you can turn a land into a painting like it. And you don't seem to know how to invoke an easel like it could."

"Uh, for that last one, it's because I was born before the discovery of a means to invoke easels, and because I was with Claycia who could sculpt anything for me to paint, I didn't bother learning how to," replies Elline. She then sees her three friends looking at her in surprise, making her giggle. "Yes, I'm older than I look. However, I can't tell why my powers are so similar to that paintbrush. And no, I can't turn lands into paintings. I'm not that powerful....... Or... Maybe I can and I just never tried?"

"Well, I will certainly not ask you to try. I don't think Claycia, if we save her, would be happy to see her worlds of clay turned into paintings. But since I can invoke easels anytime, maybe you could use your powers to do more than turning us into tanks or give colors to Claycia's clay?" Sweetie Belle then grins. "We can make this adventure more interesting." She then looks sheepishly at Elline. "I just hope that you will not mind if I use you like a real paintbrush to paint what I have in mind."

"Oh boy..." says Bandana Dee with dread.

Remembering how Sweetie Belle turned him into the equivalent of a nuclear bomb with the Magical Paintbrush, Kirby also can't help himself but gulp at the thought of what the filly would be able to do with the power of Elline added to the power of Yin and Yarn.

---

They land on the beach of an island, and immediately, they jump in a tube that leads them underground, in a succession of submerged caves with a few tubes. Since it's an aquatic world, there are high chances that the guardian is deep in the ocean. Seeing the strong currents that are very present in those caves, Sweetie Belle quickly invokes an easel and with Elline's help, paints a fish on the canvas. Elline then uses her power like earlier, turning the three heroes into half fish half pony/Waddle Dee/puff ball, making their lives much easier. Now able to fight the currents, they have no problems avoiding the many obstacles in the way, mainly Gordos.

They encounter another Hand after passing a black door. Rather than attacking it, Sweetie Belle smirks, invokes an easel, and uses Elline to paint Acro. When the painted Acro comes out of the canvas, he eyes the Hand hungrily, licking his lips, showing by the same occasion his very sharp teeth. The Hand doesn't wait to turn back, flying as fast as it can in the water while being chased by the hungry painted orca.

When the Hand disappears with the orca out of sight, the heroes continue their way, laughing at what happened, and Sweetie and Elline high-fiving each other. With caution, they swim through a room full of Gordos, then pass a long tunnel with many more Gordos before they reach the surface, that exploration through those underwater caves revealing to be a bust.

Returning to their normal appearance, they look around to decide where they would search next, until they spot in a small distance nothing else than a pirate ship! However, they can also spot some weird skull-head ghost-things flying around it.

A haunted pirate ship. Neat.

And if the guardian, and so the seal, is in it...

"Kirby, let's do our old trick," says Sweetie Belle with a smirk.

"Poyo?"

Giggling, Sweetie Belle looks at Elline, who raises an eyebrow in curiosity before taking her paintbrush form. The filly then swings her once at Kirby, and the puffball sees himself covered in pink paint, which makes him grow in size.

Oh... That trick.

Invoking an easel, Sweetie Belle then paints a bomber that she gives to Kirby, giving him the Crash ability. The filly immediately follows it by painting a cannon, creating a cannon big enough for Kirby to enter. She then paints a pirate outfit for her, and puts it above her normal clothes.

"Oh boy..." says Bandana in fear as he jumps behind a rock.

Kirby jumps in the cannon, and Sweetie Belle goes behind it, grabbing the string. "Yarr! Let's sink those scallywags, matey! Fire!" She then pulls the string, and the cannon fires Kirby right at the haunted pirate ship while the filly jumps behind a rock too.

The next instant, before the shocked eyes of everyone (excepted Sweetie Belle), the ship disappears in a huge explosion.

What? Aren't cannons used to sink pirate ships?

---

"And she did it again!" shouts Discord with a laugh. "Your sister must have something with explosions! Maybe at her next birthday, you should give her some dynamite, I'm sure it will make her day!"

Rarity huffs. "She doesn't have a thing for explosions! She just used the most rapid and effective way to deal with this ship without having to face a whole crew of pirate ghosts!"

"You can say that, but I'm sure she did it because she loves when things go boom."

"If she loved that, then she would do the same thing to every enemy she encounters. She could do it, she has the power, but she doesn't!"

"Of course she doesn't. Blowing everything would get old really quick. Like if you decide to eat your favorite food everyday."

"But I eat my favorite food everyday, and it doesn't get old!" says Pinkie.

"Because, my dear, you are an exception," replies Discord.

"My sister doesn't love explosions!"

"She loves them."

"She doesn't!"

"She does."

"She doesn't!"

"She doesn't."

"She does!... Wait..."

As Discord falls from his chair in laughter, quickly followed by Rainbow and Pinkie, Rarity glares at him. She can't believe she has fallen for that trick!

---

Discovering that blowing the ship hasn't destroyed the forcefield around the next world, and not seeing any other special place that could be worth exploring in priority, the heroes decide to go in the ocean itself and to explore it. For this, Elline transforms everyone into submarines, giving them the possibility to fire torpedoes from their mouths which makes it weird for Bandana Dee because since he doesn't have any visible mouth, it looks like the torpedoes appear out of nowhere in front of his face-. Thanks to this, they have no problems facing the many fish-like enemies attacking them in the ocean, as well as clearing the obstacles like metal blocks.

Passing a black door lets them appear in the deeper part of the ocean where light barely reaches them. They explore a succession of tunnels where they encounters large blue fishes possessing saws for noses, making them hard to hit from the front, which doesn't cause any problem to them. However, the crabs with a small volcano on their back from which they fire mines are a little more annoying, because they fill their path with those mines, slowing them.

When they enter a room only half filled with water where a big weird green and yellow sea anemone on the back of some blue crustacean attacks them by firing its own torpedoes while the crustacean moves on the ceiling, Elline doesn't lose time to turn them back to normal so they can better counterattack. When Sweetie returns to her filly form, she quickly fires a charged energy beam at the sea anemone, disintegrating it and the crustacean. With their enemy gone, the heroes pass the next door and enter another partially submerged tunnel, where they have to leave the water to continue.

It doesn't take long for them to pass another door, entering another tunnel where they return in the water, going more deeply. They pass a group of those sawfishes before they enter yet another door and appear in a huge cave with a hole in the floor at the center.

From the hole comes a huge blue squid whose head looks like a captain hat, with yellow rims and even a yellow skull looking like a squid. Taking a pipe out from his mouth with one of his tentacles, the squid chuckles before he covers one of his tentacles in spikes.

"You know," starts Sweetie as she looks at Bandana. "It's too bad this squid is made of clay. He would have been perfect for dinner tonight for you and the others."

If they weren't underwater, she would see drool coming from Bandana and Kirby. "Ooooh yeah... Okonomiyaki..." He looks at Elline. "Isn't there a way to turn that squid into a real squid?" Kirby also looks at her pleadingly.

The poor fairy finds herself sweating. "Uh... Sorry, but I don't know. I can't turn things made of clay into real things..."

Enraged at not only not being taken seriously, but at them discussing about the idea of cooking him, the squid sends his spiked tentacle at them, only for Sweetie Belle to cut it with a beam sword without even looking as she says "Too bad. Because of what happened, the cooks won't have much time to prepare dinner. It would have helped them."

"We could go hunt once we return to Popstar," proposes Bandana. "Maybe we can find one or two giant squids in the ocean."

"If we go hunt, it will be easier to catch a shoal of Blippers."

"True..."

Enraged and hurt, the squid sends all his tentacles at them, all of them now covered in spikes too, but again, Sweetie Belle cuts all of them with her ten beam swords. "Or I could simply use my painting to paint food like Adeleine did."

"You? Painting food for everyone in the castle? When you are still learning to paint correctly complex stuff?"

"Yeah, right, stupid idea. Oh! I know! I could ask Taranza to send some food from Lollipop Island."

"Good idea!"

Absolutely blinded by rage, the squid propels himself toward the heroes, using his ink to move.

"IIIIIHH!!! It's coming at us!" yells Elline in fear.

Only for the squid to be slapped by Sweetie Belle with such force that he's sent back in the hole, where he stops moving. Elline just blinks in disbelief at this with a small "Uh?"

"But the problem is that there are only desserts in Lollipop Island, so we will still go hunt so the guys don't end up just eating cakes. I will also go ask Whispy if he can give some of his apples."

"Alright. But first..." Bandana looks at the KOed squid before he asks "Where's the seal? This squid hasn't dropped it like the fake Whispy or the robot."

"Probably in the hole."

As the heroes approach the hole to find and destroy the seal, they don't spot the two Hands looking at them near the ceiling.

---

Somewhere...

"Hum... Maybe I should send Bastron..."

Comments

[Edguy0009]

Remembering how Sweetie Belle turned him into the equivalent of a nuclear bomb with the Magical Paintbrush, Kirby also can't help himself but gulp at the thought of what the filly would be able to do with the power of Elline added to the power of Yin and Yarn.

But...... but an OP Sweetie is best Sweetie.

"My sister doesn't love explosions!"

"She loves them."

"She doesn't!"

"She does."

"She doesn't!"

"She doesn't."

"She does!... Wait..."

As Discord falls from his chair in laughter, quickly followed by Rainbow and Pinkie, Rarity glares at him. She can't believe she has fallen for that trick!

Bugs Bunny would be proud of Discord.

[Herald of Opera]

I kind of feel sorry for that squid boss. At least the other guardians had their full attention...

[Lucar]

9846438
The fake Whispy could create spiked balls, drop mines, and blow air. The robot, even if slow, was using lasers while bouncing and rotating around (and growing bigger). All the squid was doing was sending his spiked tentacles at the heroes before trying to ram them like a torpedo. No wonder that he wasn't taken seriously, those are attacks very basic and simple to counter. For someone as prideful as him, it was perfect!

[The Kelduo]

9846320

Bugs Bunny would be proud of Discord.

Darn, you beat me to it.

[Edguy0009]

9847687
*evil laugh*

[The Kelduo]

9847856
*better evil laugh*

[Spellflame]

9847940
*Even Better Evil Laugh*

[Skulljack17]

10208057
*Worse evil laugh, with hacking and sputtering.*

Sorry, am recovering from a cold.

[redsopine]

9847856

9847940

10636447

Shoots all free with a ice beam while they laugh. Only fools evil laugh and leave themselves exposed

[GleamingKyler111]

"Alright. But first..." Bandana looks at the KOed squid before he asks "Where's the seal? This squid hasn't dropped it like the fake Whispy or the robot."

"Probably in the hole."