Kirby's Nightmare in Equestria
Aperture of Fear
The sky grew blacker and blacker, darkness filling the once exuberantly colored sky. A dark mist was visibly seen attacking the barrier protecting the Crystal Empire. A maniacal laugh was heard resonating from the evil force that threatened the land. A force called Sombra. It was only a matter of time before the Empire would be submit to a lifetime of slavery and suffering as the continuous pounding weakened the shield emitted by Princess Cadance, who also lost stamina as the ruthless attacks continued. Shining Armour was there at her side, to comfort and protect her while Twilight and Spike scoured the endless halls in search of the Crystal Heart. The rest of the Mane six were left to keep the fair running, keeping the crystal ponies lively and oblivious to the situation while simultaneously watching over Galacta.
That just left us at out curious pink puff, who wasn't just a citizen in the crowd. He knew something was off. In the distance, he had just witnessed the destruction and repair of the barrier surrounding him. He knew that this place was in more danger than he thought.
Kirby shot a quick look around him. The ponies were ignorant to the attack, acting as if nothing had happened. The fair was as lively as ever. The only ones out of place were his friends, who seemed obviously nervous. He only managed to see a select few of the group, watching the rest slip away from their post, announcing to themselves that the citizens had been successfully satisfied and stalled.
The rest of the ponies just trotted around the fair, enjoying the unmanned stations and games, most of which not requiring a watchful eye.
Kirby wasn't ready to just go back to the fair, though. He was sure enough that something was aloof, and he wasn't ready to give that up so easily.
In haste, Kirby ran down the streets towards the center castle. Surely enough, other ponies seemed to be attracted to this area as well, murmuring to themselves about a, "Crystal Heart".
As he passed by ponies, they didn't seem to pay him any mind. He wasn't sure if they had already grown used to him, or if they were to pre-occupied with their destinations to care. Nonetheless, it made it slower to traverse. He immediately jumped into the air before hovering above the ponies below.
Kirby squinted his eyes as he came into viewing range of the castle. He was able to distinguish 5 different colored ponies who he recognized immediately. The colors were unmistakable.
His feet landed firmly on the ground behind the pentagon of ponies. Their attentions were all focused on other ponies who seemed to try to barge pass them. Each and every one had his or her eyes fixated on the statue before him. He knew what was underneath, but he wasn't exactly sure why each and every pony in the crowds wanted to see it so badly.
He needed some explanation.
Kirby's head tilted around him, trying to spot all the ponies he knew.
There was Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Galacta, who seemed to be watching the insanity ensue before her.
Kirby thought for a second, using his hand stub to rub the area under his mouth in a thought-provoking manner. He counted six, but before, he had been with eight friends.
He mulled for a moment, before thinking in the sense of colors.
Cyan, Pink, Orange, Yellow, White, and...
Purple.
Kirby then perfectly remembered who he was missing. In a flash, he jumped to his feet, ignoring the other ponies around him. His body turned 180 degrees as he turned his body towards the main building's entrance, the same one the first entered through. Without skipping a beat, he sprinted towards the door, knowing that he needed to know what was going on and how to fix it. It was only a matter of time.
As Kirby burst through the door, he was met with the crystalline structure he had come to recognize at first view. He didn't know what lied behind each door, but he knew what took him where and what each room did, due a little... tour of the castle he took by himself.
He knew if there was one place to check first, it was the throne room.
Twilight and Spike stood in front of the large, ornate throne that rested before them. The two gasped for air fervently. They had just ran an entire lap around the castle, completely unsure of where to check. The had scoured the entire castle, starting with the throne room before checking each and every little room, using a spell to help search each room, only to come up empty.
"It's gotta be here somewhere! There HAS to be a clue!"
Spike reached over to a part of the crystal throne. He kicked his feet nonchalantly.
"I don't know, I'm sure you'll think of something!"
Twilight turned away, pondering in thought. Spike took this moment to try to get a taste out of those huge crystals.
"Not a claw, Spike!"
Spike looked to Twilight who still had her head turned away. He kicked his foot, annoyed before sitting down and waiting.
Twilight continue to think. She thought of everything Celestia had told her and what every book she read told her. From the beginning, she knew that Sombra tried to hide the heart from her in the first place. It was probably so that he had enchanted it to hide it.
'If the Heart is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of Equestria. If hatred and fear take hold...
"That's it!"
Twilight relaxed from her thinking state as Spike fell over in shock. In a flash, Twilight jumped towards the front of the throne. Her horn began to glow in a dark, purple, and green pattern. The magic emitted was unlike any other she had performed before, juicing her out quickly. Sweat began to form as the darkness grew brighter and brighter. Twilight rose her horn a tiny bit as her eyes shot up. Staring at a large crystal in the middle of the large throne, she shot. The dark beam shot off in the form of electricity, striking the crystal at lightning speeds. The force slightly shook the room in the process.
As the beam continued to bombard the crystal, the crystal began ti glow darker and darker. Once it was dark like the crystals from Sombra, it shot out a large amount of energy that impacted the floor in front of the throne. Slowly, a hole began to form in a large area around the energy beam. In the newly formed hole, a long spiraling staircase could be identified. it was too dark to tell how deep it was.
"Where did you learn to do that?"
A confused Spike stared at Twilight who bowed her head towards the throne in exhaustion. Twilight slowly turned her head towards the baby dragon.
"Oh, just a trick from Celestia."
Spike nodded before walking up to the side of the large, gaping hole.
"Hey, how long do you think this goes on?"
Twilight turned her attention to the large staircase for a second. She wasn't exactly sure how long down the staircase went, but she didn't care at the moment. She needed to retrieve that Heart before Sombra entered the Empire.
"There's only one way to find out!"
Without a second, Twilight began to run towards the staircase. As Twilight rounded to the right to start running around the stairs, she thought she saw something pink in her peripheral vision. With her attention shifted, her left rear leg managed to miss the stairs. It happened in an instant. Twilight lost her balanced and flew to the left, where there was an absence of stairs, leading all the way down the abyss.
Twilight fell.
Twilight tried to scream, but it felt like her voice had been stolen from her.
Twilight could feel her stomach drop immensely. She felt like her life had been ripped from her in mere milliseconds. It hurt to know that it all could have been easily avoided if she had just been more careful.
Twilight could only help but watch the stairs race past her at lightning speed. The blackness below her never stopped rising, yet it never moved. It kept charging after her for seconds after seconds. It felt like she had spent hours falling. Who knew how far the abyss led? Twilight could only muster a small thought.
'Why?'
Twilight couldn't help but think of how it could just end so simply; just a simple misstep. She thought of her friends, her life, her choices, her mentor, her family.
She wanted to just go back a few seconds and just change it. She knew she couldn't save herself anymore. There was nopony to save her. Nopony to help her. Nopony to comfort her.
She felt alone.
As Twilight finally saw the floor, she closed her eyes and braced for impact
Suddenly, something grabbed Twilight's body.
Before she could see what happened, a sudden force fell upon her as the momentum in her fall was annulled.
Twilight didn't feel any pain, but instead what felt like a soft marshmallow.
'Am I... dead?'
Twilight's body was slowly lifted to the ground. She felt no pain whatsoever, other than the initial shock of stopping so suddenly. The purple unicorn slowly turned her body, only to be met with a dark, circular figure. It was too dark to tell, so using her horn, she illuminated the small room.
Kirby stood before her, staring curiously at the shaking unicorn. He was a grey with an unusual hat instead of his usual pink.
Somehow, Kirby had saved her.
"Poyo!"
Twilight could only stare blankly. She began to clear her mind, trying to calm herself down. It began to help. One thing continued to gnaw at her mind though. One thing that befuddled her.
"H-how did you-?"
Kirby just stared blankly at her for a few moments. On his face was a face of determination. One that said he wouldn't let anything happen to his friends, to the Crystal Ponies, or to all of Equestria itself.
"Twilight! You okay?"
Spike's voice could be heard from the top of the hole, which caused Twilight to look up. The height up was extremely high, only being able to see Spike as a tiny dot in the distance. Without haste, that tiny dot began its journey down the giant staircase.
"Yeah, I'm okay!"
Twilight removed her view from the top of the stairs before looking back at Kirby who no longer was grey, but was now his normal pink hue. He still had that look of determination stained across his face.
"Thanks for catching me, Kirby. You're a good friend."
Kirby then turned towards Twilight before his expression changed to joy, accompanied with a large smile.
"Poyo!"
Twilight couldn't help but smile. She seemed that it was said and done, like she didn't have to think about what just happened. She felt calm.
Twilight turned around, searching for anything that would be of use there. Behind her was a large door with a crystal on top. It looked like an ordinary door, wooden and all. It was the only door down there though, so Twilight needed to check it. Her magic reached the handle to the door before she tried to pull it.
Instead of opening, the door flew away, doing a 180 around the room before coming to a stop as if nothing happened. Twilight tried once again, to which it yielded the same result.
This time, Twilight fired up her horn with the dark magic she used before to find her way into this hole in the first place. She directed it towards the crystal in the door.
The crystal grew a similar color before the door swung right open, revealing a burning white light.
"Yes!"
Without a beat, Twilight ran for the door, running into the light.
Not wanting to be alone, Kirby ran right in after her, not knowing that doing so would lead him right into what he feared most.