HC of the Week: Meta Knight was Shadow Kirby’s first friend. They first met after one of Meta’s harder fights in the Mirror World colosseum, where his sword arm was badly injured. Shadow appeared on top of a ladder and gave Meta some food even though he’d get in a lot of trouble if he was caught.
Shadow grew up with the teaching that the Mirror World was a cruel place, and with a bit of research (and journeys to forbidden temples), he found out that people from Dreamland were very nice. This, in turn, led him to help Meta Knight; the two talk for a while and Shadow notices that Meta’s injured. He disappears to find a first aid kit and appears back in the cage with his mirror magic, much to Meta’s surprise. Shadow tends to the knight’s injuries and when Dark passes by, Meta offers to hide Shadow in his cape as repayment for what he’s done.
Shadow Kirby is delighted that Meta would do such a thing for him and asks the knight to be his friend, later saying that he’s never had any friends before this. Meta agrees and Shadow leaves with a smile, but regular Kirby defeats Dark Mind and saves Meta Knight before they can meet again.
Shadow eventually finds out where the Dimensional Mirror is located, and he frequently visits Dreamland (secretly!) to explore. He’s awed by how colorful and nice everything and everyone are, and regular Kirby shows him around- the two Kirbies became very fast friends. By the second or third visit, Dedede and Meta are officially Shadow’s dads, just like Kirby and Bandanna Dee.
Through all this, Dark Meta Knight still doesn’t know about Shadow’s friendship with his counterpart and has yet to catch him in the act of going to Dreamland.