Work Text:
For most people, night was to be feared. They believed monsters lurked and roamed, using the never-ending darkness as their cover to devour those who stayed up past their bedtimes. Day brought the warmth of light, banishing the creatures of the night away, providing comfortable sanctuary to the lazing residents of the land.
This was far from the truth, at least in Meta Knight’s opinion, the night was merely misunderstood, just as he was as well. At night, Dreamland was at its pinnacle of peace; under the cloak of darkness all was still and silent- a blissful calm that those who slumbered in it were willingly ignorant to. The creatures of night were only that of fairy-tales, birthed into minds to torment little children into doing as they’re told. The land was safe, yet the villagers still chose to live in fearful compliance instead of challenging their old fairy-tale books.
He stood with his faded purple cloak firmly wrapped around him, behind his lavender-grey mask his golden eyes gazed upwards. Within the cosmic dark, the endless abyss of space shimmered in the sky. Stars that were easily thousands of light-years away blazed brightly, many were currently flying across the dark canvas; a beautifully displayed meteor shower. However, the pearlescent-white moon took centre stage within the sea of stars; its blanket of moonlight coated the entire land in serene, soft blues. It was a beautiful sight, one Meta Knight found himself basking in alone.
Alone.
The knight was a fairly new resident within the land of dreams, at least compared to the others that lived there – he had been living on the planet for decades already. Despite that, the residents didn’t seem too fond of him.
Will they ever be? I’m sure they’re weary of my strange looking appearance.
Meta Knight had found refuge on their star - Popstar - after fleeing from tragedy. His home planet had been at war for as long as he could remember, ever since he was a child himself. Monsters, real monsters, of matter most dark had been attempting to control their planet for many millenniums, and they had finally succeeded. As a knight, he played his part in fighting against the invaders. He became famously known for his advanced skills in swordsmanship, even inheriting his family’s sacred blade of light, Galaxia, from the family head earlier than expected. He had slayed many a beast, in order to protect his family…but the onslaught had become too much even for him. Whilst he was away from his home, dealing with threats elsewhere, the monsters launched a largescale attack on his family’s territory. No one had survived. Not without the aid of the sacred blade. He was the lone survivor.
His home was beyond saving; the beings of darkness had claimed too much territory. And so, he ran. He ran to preserve his life and his sacred blade, in hopes that one day he could return strong enough, with enough manpower, to take back what was once his.
With no other plan, he roamed the galaxy for years, scouting for somewhere far away, somewhere safe where he could lick his wounds and eventually prepare an army of his own to combat the spreading darkness. Popstar was perfect; it was on the opposite corner of the galaxy, the furthest point away from his home planet. The constant peace would allow him to lay low and construct his plan in secret.
Meta Knight swore to avenge his planet, his family, but it didn’t stop a deep hole from forming in his heart. No matter what he did, no matter how far he went, no matter how strong he got, things would never be the same. His family would never be returned to him. He was stuck being so utterly alone and every day hurt even more, realising how alone he truly was.
His parents, his siblings, his friends, his partner, he missed them all so dearly. On his lowest days, he wished he had perished alongside them. However, that same pain also fuelled him, it gave him resilience to continue forward, to ensure their deaths would not be in vain. By living for them, the memories of his family could be passed on to others - maybe even to his own young eventually. In a sense, passing on their memories allowed them to live on, at least that’s what Meta Knight chose to believe.
The longer he lived, the more that sentiment cultivated in his mind. His plan to take back his planet hit the backburner, and his determination to create an army slowed. Instead, those thoughts were replaced with his desire to live peacefully, after fighting for so long he finally had peace on planet Popstar. The thought of settling down to start his own family became all the more enticing. He was still so alone, realising he craved companionship so dearly.
His kind’s young weren’t born the same way as other creatures; their children were birthed from the death of stars.
When a star expended all of its energy it would explode, forming a supernova. The excess materials from within the star would be pushed out by the supernova process, forming the body of the child, and the dying spirit of the star forms their soul. An extension of their body is also created at the same time, known as the Air Ride. The Air Ride connects to the hearts of the parents wishing for a child of their own, and it steers the new-born child to them.
On starry nights, those hoping to be parents would often wish upon shooting stars, asking the stars for a child of their very own. No one knew exactly how it worked; many believed wishing on the brightest stars granted wishes more frequently, others believed the desire for ones wish needed to be honest and true, but nothing was confirmed, the stars worked in their own mysterious ways.
At that moment, Meta Knight remembered the meteor shower happening overhead.
Is this a good idea? What if I’m not suited for this, how could I even know? It’s not the right time…but will it ever be the right time for me? I guess I’ll never know unless I try.
He gazed upwards, golden eyes desperately darting around for any sort of bright movement. Nothing. He thought it may have been a sign to stop, perhaps fate telling him it was a bad idea, the fact that as soon as he decided to start looking no stars dared to dance across the sky. It was slightly cruel really. At the same time, Meta Knight was feeling selfish for once, after giving for the entirety of his life with nothing to show for it, he decided to be selfish just this one time. It was likely that the stars would not even grant his wish, so it wouldn’t hurt just to try. Just to have that chance at not being lonely anymore. Even if it wasn’t a baby, it could be anyone or anything, a friend for him to confide in, he would take that chance.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a small spark zip across the sky, a star barely bright enough to see with the moonlight cloaking the land. That was it! A miniscule glimmer of hope. If he didn’t make a wish now, he didn’t know if any other shooting stars would appear.
Stars…I’m unsure if you’ll heed my call but, please, I’m so tired of being alone…I only wish for a companion, a friend, to stay with me by my side…that is all I ask of you…
…
Meta Knight watched the sky above him, inspecting everything he could for some sort of change, some sort of sign that the stars had heard his cry. Unsurprisingly to him, there was nothing.
How foolish he felt, thinking the stars would listen- his entire life had been pain and fear and terror, with nothing to show for it. How foolish he was to think the stars would pity him enough to grant his wish. How foolish he was to hope, to believe he would ever be anything but alone. He harshly turned his eyes down to the ground, unable to look up at the stars any longer, and forced his eyelids shut. His entire face scrunched up and his lip wobbled all while he attempted to stop tears from forming.
After managing to compose himself enough, he made his way back to his small home to rest, keeping his eyes glued to the ground for the entire journey.
“Sir! Look- we have visuals on Star number 270492, something is wrong. The energy signals aren’t normal, they’re growing exponentially- it’s about to supernova!”
“Star number 270492- that’s the star Corstella! It’s the largest star in the Equestel star system. I’ve never seen such a large star supernova before. Keep visuals on it for the entirety of the supernova. We must know what forms from its remnants.”
“Yes Sir!”
For the entirety of the next day, Meta Knight rotted in bed; he never bothered to move a muscle, not even to eat. Nothing felt worth it right now. He knew his depression episode would blow over, eventually, he’d bounce back stronger than ever, he’d tell himself that anyways. The day of nothing turned into a night of nothing, he still continued to lay around feeling sorry for himself. He had never felt so pathetic, thinking all of his troubles would miraculously be washed away after wishing on one single star.
I should have known better.
Staying awake only stressed him further, so the knight closed his eyes in attempt to slumber once more, at least then his thoughts wouldn’t be able to affect him when he was asleep. Shifting and turning, he struggled to fall into slumber. After what felt like hours of trying to sleep, he finally felt his mind slowly giving in and shutting down for the night…
BOOM!
The sudden sound jolted him back awake. Internally he cursed at the sound for mitigating his hard work. Light from a giant, white flash flooded through his bedroom window, enveloping the entire room in light that faded as quickly as it made its entrance.
A crash landing? What was that? I should go investigate.
Donning his armour, Meta Knight set out to discover the source of the unknown sound. Nearby, he noticed smoke rising from within the nearby forest. Deducing that whatever was causing the smoke was likely what he was looking for, the knight navigated towards the overgrown forest. Travelling on foot seemed near impossible, in the darkness it would be difficult to see- he could barely see into the forest’s foliage, and he was only at the entrance. It would be smarter to fly above the canopy instead. The purple cloak on his back slowly morphed upwards; large, leathery draconic wings formed in the cloak’s stead. The base of the wings was the same midnight blue as his skin, slowly fading into a dark violet at the tips of each wing. With one mighty flap the knight was launched into the air, with a birds eye view it was a lot easier to deduce how far away the smoke was; it wasn’t too far from the forest’s edge. Depending on what the sound was, that could be a good or bad thing.
The smoke rose from a clearing in the trees, making it easy for Meta Knight to make a clear decent. The trail of smoke was thinner closer to the ground, allowing Meta Knight to see the source of what had lured him there… A star? It shimmered brightly with a pearlescent golden hue, a glow faintly humming from it. Just looking at it filled the knight with a weirdly familiar warmth, the welcoming aura it emitted was unsettling to him. Meta Knight drew his sword, just in case, and approached the fallen star. Surely it couldn’t be an Air Ride.
When he got close, he was immediately drawn to a tiny pink shape on the ground next to the star. Shifting slightly as he got close, it turned to face him. Meta Knight’s eyes widened at the sight before him, dropping Galaxia instantly as he locked eyes with a new-born baby of his kind in front of him.
This can’t be real, surely I’m dreaming.
He never realised babies could be so small; he had seen others with their new-borns before, and they had been far larger than this one. The child he was looking at would easily fit in the palm of his hand, they were no bigger than an apple. They must be a runt, not that it made a difference to Meta Knight at all. Their skin was a soft blush colour, and they had bright pink, little feet. Their cheeks were an adorable rosy pink too. Pink, they were entirely pink, it was the only word to describe them really. As a stark contrast to the rest of them, the baby’s eyes were a sea of azure blue. Meta Knight swore he saw stars and galaxies sparkling brightly within them.
The infant babbled, drawn towards the towering figure in front of them, they clumsily began crawling to him. Meta Knight bridged the gap, kneeling down and scooping up the baby into his arms once he was close enough. When he made contact with the child, he felt a spark fly through his entire body. A connection.
They’re…They’re mine. I can tell, that spark was enough for me to know. The stars granted my wish after all. Thank you.
Immediately he fell in love, his heart filled with nothing but adoration for the child he held. How he had felt earlier had completely vanished from his thoughts, replaced with newly found love and hope for the bundle of joy in his arms.
“Hello little one, I’m your papa,” his voice was barely a whisper, cautious not to frighten the precious cargo he carried in his arms, “ I’ll take great care of you and protect you no matter what, I promise.” The child groggily cooed in response, leaning against Meta Knight’s mask with drooping eyelids. They nodded off, nuzzling against his mask, unbothered by the cold temperature of the metal.
After they fell asleep, the star they had arrived on shrunk down to a size similar to them. It flew towards the baby and slotted itself between their little nubs. Instinctively, they latched onto it.
Their Air Ride... It’s beautiful, and it’s star shaped just like my own was. I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to it. I don’t want them to experience the grief I had felt when I had lost mine.
All puffballs were born with their Air Rides and used them for convenient travel. However, under intense stress or attack, the Air Ride can crumble away and become lost permanently. Meta Knight had lost his when under attack by the monsters of darkness. It had shattered on the ground; it was like he had lost a part of himself when it crumbled. He had heard rumours of how to preserve crumbled Air Rides, by consuming them the owner could take back the energy into their body to reuse. Most Air Rides turned to dust long before their owners had chance to recover them, but Meta Knight’s remained, and so he took a chance and trusted the rumours, swallowing the broken shards of his Air Ride. Nothing had happened at first, but weeks after swallowing the shards, an intense pain manifested on his back, and his draconic wings sprouted. The process was extremely painful, and he wouldn’t have wished it upon anyone, but to be able to fly again was a miraculous blessing to him.
He would do everything in his power to make sure that his little one wouldn’t have to go through such an experience as he did, even if he gained wings from it, the pain was unbearable.
Speaking of his wings, he stretched them out in preparation to take flight once more, so he could return home and make adjustments for the new family member. The baby would need a bed, and food to eat as well, and those were just the basic necessities. He needed to get home and rest as he knew the coming day would be busy for him. As well as that, he needed to come up with a name for the baby, but he didn’t want to rush into it…it was something to consider after some shuteye.
Lifting off, he made his way back home, slowly and gently as to not wake his new-born.
The coming morning was as hectic as Meta Knight imagined. He struggled to make food that was able to be feed to the baby, who he had now discovered was a little boy. The wailing and screaming pained him to hear; eventually he was able to prepare some milk in a bottle for him, making sure it wasn’t too hot so when the child drank it his mouth wasn’t scolded. With his baby in hand and the bottle in the other, he finally got the child to stop screaming as he happily suckled on the bottle. He emptied its contents in seconds, the knight wondered if he should give him another bottle, but surely he didn’t want to overfeed him?
He realised now truly how much work he had ahead of him, but he was willing to put the work for his son.
Speaking of which, his son needed a name. Luckily though, there was a name that had stuck out to him when he was thinking about it as he was preparing their breakfast.
“I’ve been thinking about what to call you,” he started, “You’ll have to let me know what you think, the name I’ve come up with is ‘Kirby’. I think it would suit you well.” The baby titled his head initially, but after some deliberating babbles, he smiled and giggled at the suggestion. His son - Kirby - seemed to like it.
Kirby. Yes, it suits you well, little one.
He picked up Kirby, pulling him into a hug. He gently squeezed and cuddled his baby, resulting in more giggles from the tot. The sound was music to his ears, it filled him with a joy he had so long been without. No longer would he be alone, he didn’t have to face everything by himself anymore, for he had his son there with him now.
I’m glad I made that wish, it brought you to me, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that, my little star.