//------------------------------//
// Where Our Heroes Are Now 
// Story: My Little Paper Mario 
// by Codex92 
//------------------------------//

	Mario's body lowered down into a small glade, the magical bubble popping as it touched the ground. He was still breathing, but he was badly beaten, scorch marks from Bowser's fire breath still residing on his clothing and face. He could barely move, but at least he was still alive as his ears heard the faint sound of birds chirping and flittering about on the branches.

Suddenly appearing above him, the Star Spirits materialized as apparitions and circled him. One by one they arrived until all seven were present, sending themselves as astral projections with the stored power they still had while trapped in the cards Bowser trapped them in. The saw the damage he had done to the unconscious plumber, Kalmar and Mamar hovered down to get see how hurt Mario was.

"Oh no. Bowser really did a number on him," Kalmar said.

"But he survived the fall," Mamar added. "There's a...a strange magical presence around him. It's nothing we've ever felt before."

"Yes...Maybe that might explain the strange magical fluctuations the moment we were trapped in those infernal cards," Skolar noted as Kalmar and Mamar flew back in the circle.

"We cannot worry about that until we are rescued," Eldstar said. "We don't have much time, and our powers are limited. We need to heal Mario as best as we can. Everyone, together." By the elder Star Spirit's command, the seven Star Spirits put as much of their energy as they can use into Mario to revitalize him. Sparkles began shimmering around Mario in the shapes of stars, his wounds slowly mending as his burns faded away. The seven powerful stars stopped healing, saving the rest of their power for later. "There. That's all we can do for now.

"Mario, you have to get up soon. We need your help. All of the Mushroom Kingdom needs you." Unable to hold their magical projection, the Star Spirits disappeared, praying Mario will wake up soon and save them.

Time had passed in the empty glade, Mario still lying unconscious on the grassy field in the small forest he fell in. The sound of birds then had an extra singer as a little girl's voice hummed a random song with no rhythm to it whatsoever. Entering the glade was a little pink Goomba with an orange bow on her head, skipping along the path as she carried a little basket with some wildflowers.

"La la la la la, la-la la la laaaaaa!" The little Goomba's singing scared off the birds at her last off-key note. "Picking flowers! Picking flowers! Gonna pick lots and lots of-!" She yelped and tripped over Mario's leg, not even paying attention to where she was skipping. Even though she fell flat on her face, scattering the flowers she had picked from her fallen basket, she got back up on her tiny feet without needing the use of arms. "Owie! I dropped all my flowers. What did I trip on?"

She finally looked down, spotting Mario lying there. She got a closer look, noting the iconic red cap, red shirt, blue overalls, and black mustache. She saw him breathing, wondering if he was taking a nap.

"Mr. Mario? What are you doing napping by our house?" She didn't get a response. The Goomba tapped his side with her foot, not getting anything from him. She leapt up onto his back and jumped up and down to wake him up. "Mr. Mario! Wake up!" Still nothing. She began to worry, fearing he might have gotten sick or hurt himself. "Oh no! He's not waking up! What do I do!?"

She ran around Mario in a panic as she tried to think of what to do. She finally decided to run back and get help outside of the glade. Thankfully, her home wasn't too far as she ran toward a large brown hut with a single, round window on the front, and a Toad House next door. There were two gated fences, one close to the glade that was locked, the other the only way back in the direction of Toad Town. This gate was being fixed by two male Goombas, both a different shade of brown. The one using tools to fix the white gate was a slightly dark brown with a black mustache, the other holding the gate up younger, his body a light brown and wore a blue cap.

"Ok, son, keep it steady," the older Goomba said.

"I can't believe that earthquake wrecked the gate," the younger one grumbled, keeping the right half of the gate steady for his father.

"Goombario! Daddy!" the girl Goomba called out, her shrieking voice making the young male Goomba flail about hearing her scream out like she was being attacked. He fell over, along with the part of the gate, making the older male sigh at his daughter pestering them while they were busy. "I need help!"

"Goombaria, sweetheart, your brother and I are trying to fix the gate," he explained.

Goombario rolled back on his feet. "What's the deal, Goombaria!? We're too busy to play with you! Go back to picking flowers for mom and Gooma!"

"But it's an emergency!" The older brother sighed in annoyance and ignored Goombaria as he picked up the gate half again. "Mr. Mario's asleep in the forest and he isn't waking up!"

At the mention of the plumber's name, Goombario dropped the gate half while their father dropped his tools. "Mario!?...You're kidding, right? He can't be here."

"But it's really him! I think he's sick! Hurry!" Goombaria ran back to the glade, her older brother and father chasing after her before she got herself hurt.

As soon as they entered the glade, both male Goombas skid across the ground and stared in shocked awe, actually seeing Mario laying close to their home. "Prickly Piranha Plants...That's...That's really Mario!"

"Told you, dummy!" Goombario ignored his sister calling him names as he and his father looked the plumber over.

"Just what in the world is he doing here?" the father asked. "And HOW did he get here?"

"Well, however he got here, it looked like he got roughed up by something," Goombario figured, poking Mario's nose with his foot. "He's really conked out."

"Come on, son, let's get him in the Toad House." Goombario and his father lowered their heads underneath the plumber, surprisingly able to lift him up with how short Goombas were. They slowly carried Mario out of the glade, thankful to be closer to the Toad House built there in case any travelers visited their home. "Hopefully, he'll wake up soon and tell us what's going on in Toad Town."

"Yeah. And if Bowser kidnaps the princess again, who else is going to save her?" Goombario questioned.

"Doesn't Mr. Mario have a brother?" Goombaria asked.

"...Well, maybe Luigi could fill in, but Mario always did the rescuing," the siblings' father said. "He joins in at times, but going up against Bowser? Not sure if Luigi can handle facing that Koopa on his own."

They reached the Toad House, Goombaria opening the door for them as she alerted the Toad working inside to Mario's presence. They laid him down on the bed as the Toad looked him over, not seeing any injuries, but with how unconscious he seemed, it would be a while before he wakes up. All they could do now is wait, Goombario and his dad getting back to work fixing on the gate leading out of the safety of their home.





Out to the east of Toad Town from Peach's castle's front gates, a humble village of Koopa Troopas resided there. Though many Koopas join up with Bowser to fight against the Mushroom Kingdom, these Koopas would rather live in peace in the kingdom and not have to deal with the selfish king's plans to take control and kidnap the princess. The foliage was different compared to other places in the town and the road to the village, known as Pleasant Path, the leaves on the bushes and trees different sizes of quadrilateral shape. The houses are shaped like a Koopa's shell, each home on the pathway having a different colored roof.

Exiting one of the buildings, the first two upon entering are a Toad House and a store, a blue-shelled Koopa Troopa, wearing blue shoes and a red bandanna around his neck walked outside with some bags of groceries in his hands. He made his way further into town, heading back home to put away the food he bought. He said hello to his neighboring Koopa brethren as he passed by them. Entering the other end of the village, he spotted an older pink-shelled Koopa with a pink bonnet over head, watering the flowers in front of her home, her roof a brownish-yellow.

"Hey, Mrs. Kolorado!" he called out.

"Oh, hello, Kooper," the female Koopa greeted back. "If you're going to ask if my husband is back from his latest expedition again, I'm afraid the answer is no...for the fifth time this week."

"Heheh...Well, I kind of was going to ask that," Kooper admitted sheepishly. "Actually, I was going to ask if you might have had any idea of what that earthquake was about earlier."

"Ah. That was quite a fright. There haven't been any quakes in the kingdom at all." The younger Koopa nodded his head, finding the phenomenon odd. "Luckily, no one got hurt."

"True. But it's quite a mystery," Kooper said with an excited glint in his eye. "Like the mystery of the Dry Dry Ruins Mr. Kolorado is still on in the Dry Dry Desert."

"Why are you just as crazy about archaeology as Kolorado?" Mrs. Kolorado asked curiously.

"Well, just being on an adventure, traveling to new and unexplored lands, discovering ruins of a lost civilization, finding treasures or artifacts created by said civilization, learning about what cultures they had and how they survived in places that may or may not have been habitable now or back then!" The excited Koopa zoned out as he gushed over his dreams of being an explorer. Mrs. Kolorado's amused laughter snapped Kooper out of his daze, blushing in embarrassment at his ecstatic rambling. "I think it's pretty fun learning about the history of the Mushroom Kingdom, or any other countries, kingdoms, and continents around the world. I really, really, REALLY want to go on one with Kolorado Koopa, the greatest Koopa archaeologist of all time."

"Unfortunately, that 'greatest Koopa archaeologist' is in big trouble for not telling me about this expedition until the last minute." The female Koopa sighed in annoyance. "Exploring ruins can be dangerous, Kooper. And I know you can fend for yourself, but my husband...he can't even walk two steps in our home without tripping over the several piles of history books he keeps to find out where lost treasures in ancient temples and cities were that no other explorer has ever found."

"But it's the thrill of the adventure that's exciting, like with Mario and his trek to save Princess Peach whenever Bowser kidnaps her." The grin on Kooper's face suddenly turned into a frown at the mention of the Koopa King. He lowered his head and let out a grunt, both in anger and sadness. "...Bowser...If he keeps doing this, he's going to give a lot of other Koopas a bad name...Why can't he just give up and learn that he can never win?...Why did they have to-?"

"Kooper?" He looked up, seeing the concerned gaze Mrs. Kolorado gave him. "Are you ok, dear?"

"U-Uhh, yeah! I just hate how Bowser's ruining us peaceful Koopas lives by invading the Mushroom Kingdom over and over!" he said quickly with a nervous chuckle. "I better get inside and put the food away before it spoils! Nice talking with you, ma'am! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Before Kooper hurried over next door to his home, a green-shelled roof with a palm tree growing on the left side of it, he heard Mrs. Kolorado gasp as she looked up at the sky. "What is that!?"

"Huh?" He looked up, his eyes widening as he saw what looked like a sphere of lavender light float over the village. "What's that light?" They both watched as the light began to fall down, heading straight down to the back of his house. "Mrs. Kolorado, stay here. I'm going to find out what that light is."

"Be careful," she warned as he ran into his home.

Kooper dropped his bags as soon as he went inside and headed to the back door. His house had only one room, but he had all the necessities he needed: a bed, a shelf with some of his favorite books, a radio to listen to some tunes while he read, and a small fridge to store his food and drinks that needed to be chilled. He opened the door just in time as he saw the purple sphere slowly lower down to the ground right by his house. It flashed brightly, blinding the Koopa as he shielded his eyes with his hand, prepared to pop into his shell and fling himself at whatever it was if it was dangerous.

The sphere expanded, slowly fading away as Twilight appeared, back to her normal self as the harmony magic faded away. As soon as the light disappeared, Kooper squinted his eyes open to see what happened. Down in front of him was a creature he had never seen before, lying unconscious. He did see her breathing, at least believing it was female because of the long eyelashes, but the two parts of her body, her wings and horn, made him gasp. He quickly ran inside his house and went to his bookshelf, skimming through the titles of the books until he found what he was looking for: "Mythical Mysteries of the Mushroom Kingdom".

He could memorize all the history books he had owned by heart, and he knew he saw something similar to the four-legged creature outside his house. He grabbed it and ran back outside, standing a fair distance away in case she woke up and gets spooked. Kooper flipped through the pages until he managed to find the illustrations he was looking for. He found them within seconds, the book of myths opened up to show two different pictures of the same creature from old carvings found in other continent by a long forgotten race several thousand years ago. It looked almost like her, but the two equines in the book were different: one only had a horn, while the other only had a pair of wings.

"A unicorn and a pegasus in one?" Kooper asked himself, his eyes shifting between the book and unconscious mare. Aside from the shock of seeing one of these creatures of myth, finding one that was both with a horn and wings excited the Koopa Troopa. "I think I just discovered something never seen before, not even on an excavation in the ruins of a temple or tomb, and it's right here in my backyard...And it's both these equines in one form! I should come up with a name for it. Let's see...uhhh, a 'pegacorn'?...No, that sounds weird..."

While Kooper muttered different names to call this new species of what should be a creature made out of fantasy, Twilight groaned, squinting her eyes open. Her whole body ached as she tried to sit up, feeling like she got zapped by several lightning bolts from a thunderstorm. Ignoring the pain her limbs were screaming out to her, she looked up, only to find herself somewhere sunny and bright, no longer in Peach's castle fighting Bowser.

"Where...Where am I?" she asked herself, looking at the odd leaves of the trees far beyond Kooper's home.

The blue-shelled Koopa quickly looked up from his book when he heard her speak, gasping in surprise to see her awake and able to communicate. "She can talk...Even cooler!" Kooper stilled his excitement, not wanting to excite the docile alicorn, at least he hoped she was. "Uhh, hi there."

"Ahh!" Twilight quickly turned around, instinctively shooting a small beam of magic in surprise at him.

"Eep!" Kooper quickly ducked inside his shell, avoiding the sudden attack. Peeking through the hole for his head inside his shell, he noticed her horn was glowing as she had her wings flared out, a pose some birds stand in when confronting someone they don't like. "Wait, wait! Don't attack! I'm not going to hurt you!"

"You're not?" Twilight asked, not taking any chances. Kooper poked his head out and grinned nervously, looking somewhat like Bowser, except he was smaller, his shell was blue with no spikes, and didn't seem as threatening. Though she only knew very little about the Mushroom Kingdom from what Peach told her, she did mention there was a village of friendly Koopa Troopas, even though most of them worked with the fire-breathing beast. "Who are you? And where am I?"

"My name's Kooper," he introduced himself, poking his limbs back out and stood on his feet. "You're in my backyard in Koopa Village. You came down in a ball of light, and I went to see what it was when it floated down. Then you showed up in place of that light."

"A light...?" Twilight tried to remember what happened. She gasped, recalling Mario's battle with Bowser, the plumber losing, she and her friends trying to stop Bowser with their magic, which had ended up failing as well, then he zapped Mario out of the castle to his death, and the last thing she remembered was them all getting shocked until they fell unconscious. She looked around, finding no sign of her friends around her, expecting them to have appeared with her when she was this light Kooper mentioned. "Wait...Where are my friends?"

"Friends? You mean there's more of your kind?" Kooper asked with a little excitement.

"Yes, but not like me," she said. Twilight tried to flap her wings and check her surroundings, only to wince as the lightning Bowser used to shock them had seized up her wing muscles. She kept her wings folded to her sides until they were better, wanting desperately to search for her friends. "Are they here? Did they appear anywhere in your village?"

"No...I only saw one light, and that was you." Twilight's ears drooped as she sat on her haunches, fearing the others' safety in a world they barely know nothing about. What if they were in a dangerous part of the kingdom? What if they were captured by scientists as they forced them in a cage and experimented on them? So many scenarios ran through her head, tears welling up in her eyes as she blamed herself, casting that spell and sending all of them away from home. Kooper winced, not wanting to see the alicorn cry, walking up to her and petting her head gently. "Hey, it's ok. I'm sure your friends are somewhere safe even as we speak."

"How do you know that?" she asked, slowly calming down from the oddly wonderful feeling from the Koopa's hand gently scratching her head.

"Well, you appeared here in a peaceful village, right?" he responded. Twilight nodded her head, murmuring as Kooper scratched a sweet spot behind one of her ears. "Then they could have wound up in the other towns, villages, and cities around the kingdom." He moved his hand away, to the alicorn's disappointment, as he had to wonder what happened. "But, how exactly did you get here? Creatures like you are not exactly common, or rare, to see anywhere in the world."

Twilight was about to explain, only to hear her stomach growl loudly. She blushed in embarrassment, giggling sheepishly.

"Uhh...Sorry," she apologized. "I didn't really eat anything all day today after all the excitement my friends and I got into."

"You can explain everything while we eat," Kooper said as he gestured her in his home. "I just came back from the store and got some food."

"Thanks, Kooper. Oh, my name's Twilight Sparkle, by the way," Twilight said as she introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Twilight." They entered the small home, Twilight making herself comfortable in the one room building as Kooper grabbed the groceries he dropped and moved them to his small fridge, stocking the cold stuff away before it spoiled as he pulled out two red Mushrooms, two slits at the base that looked like it was a face. "Here. Try one of these. Your kind are herbivores, right?"

"Yes, but I-AHH!" Twilight tossed the Mushroom back at Kooper the moment she noticed the eyes. "What kind of mushroom is that!? That's disgusting!"

"What? What's wrong with it?" Kooper sniffed them, finding nothing wrong with them.

"It has a face!" she screeched.

Kooper couldn't hold his laughter back at Twilight's response for freaking out over the food's "features". "Twilight, it's just a normal Mushroom. They always look like this, and they also come in different colors and flavors too." He bit into his Mushroom, making Twilight gag, but she didn't hear the "living" fungus scream out in agony. "See? It's safe...Although, make sure not to eat any dark green ones. Those ones are Poison Mushrooms."

He handed her food back to her, Twilight staring at the odd looking fungus. She feels like it was looking at her, but when she turned it around, it was thankfully on one side of it and its eyes weren't following her. Her stomach growled, telling her to suck it up and eat it since it did smell good. Slowly, she brought it up to her muzzle in her hooves and took a tentative nibble of it, chewing on the soft morsel as the flavor hit her taste buds. She was quite surprised, actually tasting sweeter than any other edible mushrooms she had tried back in Equestria.

She took another bite, no longer upset at eating a living creature. "This is really good."

"Told you. That's the first time I've ever heard someone freak out at the sight of the Mushrooms eyes." Kooper snickered as he teased Twilight, yelping as he felt a pinch on his arm from the alicorn's magic. She leered at him from the comment, munching on her food all the while. "Heh. Sorry...Anyway, what happened to you? And where exactly do you and your friends come from?" While they ate, Twilight told Kooper everything that had happened; from her spell to transport between worlds backfiring and sending them to this world, talking about herself and her friends and what kind of ponies they were, all the way up to Bowser kidnapping Peach, again, and beating them and Mario. Kooper was utterly shocked that Mario had actually been beaten by Bowser, growing angry as he balled his fists. "...Bowser...He's a horrible Koopa and a terrible king."

"Yeah, and it wasn't fair that he used something called the Star Rod to make himself invincible to anything that could hurt him," Twilight grumbled. "Whatever happened after I lost consciousness, our magic must have helped us escape, but it split us apart...I don't even know if Mario even made it after falling from that height."

Kooper sighed in irritation. At least he had an understanding of how that earthquake suddenly appeared when the Mushroom Kingdom had no history of seismic activity. But to cheat in order to win the fight and kidnap the princess is despicable. Bowser wouldn't stop for nothing just to take Peach as his bride and take over the kingdom.

"He's a disgrace to Koopa Troopas who want to live peacefully," he said. "Not a lot of people in the kingdom blame us for his actions, but some do when they think we're up to no good just because of who we are. Time and time again, Bowser's been kidnapping the princess, and Mario beats him up and brings her back safely. What I wouldn't give to shell toss myself right into his face."

"I'm guessing peaceful negotiations will work with him, huh?" Twilight asked, Kooper shaking his head in response. She sighed, stuffing the last bit of her Mushroom in her mouth, her stomach finally sated from hunger as she swallowed it after chewing it a bit. "After only meeting him for about ten minutes, I can tell he's a self-absorbed, selfish tyrant who only cares about himself."

"That's exactly what he is," Kooper agreed. He sighed again, wanting to steer away from talking about Bowser anymore. "Anyway, since you're new to this world, I'm sure there's a lot of different things to learn about."

"I only got as much as I could from Princess Peach before Bowser kidnapped her and the entire castle...I still wonder how he got a fortress underneath the castle without nopony noticing. Then again, that Star Rod might have made that possible if he can do anything with it..." Twilight noticed Kooper's bookshelf, levitating all the books over to her. The Koopa nearly went back in his shell when she used magic, still finding it strange to know that, just like in the mythological book that had unicorns in them, used their horns to use magic and form different spells. "All of the books you have are history books on the Mushroom Kingdom...and several other places, too."

"Yeah," Kooper said. "I love history and learning about the world and its past. I plan on being an archaeologist, an explorer who seeks lost cities from a millennia ago that holds secrets no one has ever known, and seek adventure as I traverse through the ruins finding artifacts of great historical value while avoiding dangerous traps." He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning pink in embarrassment. "Although, with you being a princess from your own world, I'm pretty sure exploring stuff isn't your thing."

"Are you kidding? I've been on dozens of random adventures even crazier than entering trap infested temples guarding treasures," Twilight said. "And I love learning new stuff! Especially history! I want to know everything I can about this world!" She began opening the pages of all the books, floating them around her in an orbit as she skimmed through each one, reading faster than Kooper could keep track of what her eyes were looking at. "Oooh. Interesting looking dinosaurs."

Kooper was amazed to have met someone who had such an interest on learning the history of anything, many thinking it's a boring subject to learn about the past. He'll have to eventually show Twilight around the village and assure the other Koopas that she was friendly. He watched Twilight going through his books, pointing out something interesting to her with him chiming in to explain more about whatever questions she had. All Kooper could hope for the alicorn was that his theory was right about her friends being safe, and worried about the future of the Mushroom Kingdom with Mario defeated.





Far out to the southeast of Toad Town was the arid sands of the Dry Dry Desert, a large land filled with sand as far as the eye could see. Those who wander off the path laid out before them would end up dying of thirst, or get sucked up by a Tweester that will only get one more lost as it sends them flying to another part of the endless desert. If they do follow the road, avoiding Bandits trying to steal their coins and the numerous Pokeys that will try to poke those with their sharp, pointy, spherical bodies, they will find themselves at the only town for miles along with an oasis a couple segments south from its entrance: Dry Dry Outpost.

In this town, there were many stone buildings, some palm trees to offer some shade, one of them being red for some strange reason. The Toads that live here wear turbans over their mushroom heads and scarves to cover their mouths and noses in case a sandstorm rolls by. There were also mouse creatures known as Nomadimice, mice that look like they have a mask over their eyes, and are swift and agile as they can easily trek the desert outside without getting caught by Bandits, making trips to Toad Town to get supplies the desert can't supply them with.

Standing on the roofs of the buildings on the far end of Dry Dry Outpost was a Nomadimouse, concealing his green body with a brown cloak and wore a brown keffiyeh to cover his head and ears. Only his eyes and nose could be seen under his disguise, looking out at the desert as his thin tail slowly swayed behind him. He stared out at a specific area of the desert, too far to see from the distance, but he knew it was there. The Nomadimouse pulled out a pink gem from underneath his cloak, making very weak pulses every so often.

"Bowser's men have invaded the temple," he muttered to himself. "The ruins my family for many generations had vowed to keep safe...What purpose do they have trespassing on such sacred ground?" His sensitive ears twitched along with his tail, looking over toward where the oasis laid, spotting a pink light in his peripheral vision. None of the other townspeople noticed it due to the bright, intense heat of the sun's rays and the walls surrounding the Outpost to protect them from sandstorms. The light began to drop down around the area of the oasis, the secretive mouse humming with curiosity. "What is this?...I sense...strange magic..."

Deciding to check out the strange phenomenon, he leapt across the rooftops, avoiding being seen by everyone down below as he made his way to the entrance of the Outpost. After reaching the last building closest to the archway through the wall, he slid down a ladder hidden in the back, slinking through the shadows to avoid detection. When the coast was clear, he snuck out and entered the Dry Dry Desert.

The desert air was harsh with heat, the only amount of shade anyone can get are the randomly grown trees that can provide some cooler temperature. With the Nomadimouse's clothing, he was well protected from the heat and sand as he headed south from Dry Dry Outpost, knowing the desert like the back of his paw. He swiftly ran to the oasis, making it just in time to see the pink light, which was a small sphere, began to hit the slightly fertile landscape around the small pool of water in the middle, where two trees bore lemons and limes, the only kind of fruit they can gather in the Dry Dry Desert.

The pink sphere began to grow and shine brighter than the sun, the Nomadimouse shielding his eyes with his cloak until it stopped. As it disappeared, he looked back to see Pinkie Pie laying on the sandy grass. His eyes widened in awe, never seeing a creature like her before.

"What is this? An alien creature not of this world?" He looked up at the sky, avoiding staring at the sun as if he was looking out beyond the atmosphere. "The stars did not warn me of such an event. The only signs they tell me are of the defeat of the ones who had invaded the ruins."

Pinkie groaned as she began to wake up, sitting up as she suddenly began feeling the heat of the desert she realized she was in. "Owie...So that's what Dashie feels when she gets zapped by lightning." She didn't notice the smaller mouse looking up at her. She was too busy panting, sweating profusely as her fur coat made it unbearable to stay in the sun any longer. Pinkie looked around, noting the plant life around her and the oasis. "Well, good thing I woke up near water. I'm so thirsty." She walked past the Nomadimouse and stood by the edge of the water, dunking her whole head in and began taking big gulps of the cool water. After drinking her fill, she lifted her head up and let out a sigh of relief, her mane soaking wet as it drooped over her face. "...Hey, wait a minute! How am I in a desert!?"

"You came down from a sphere of light similar in color to your fur coat," the Nomadimouse said.

"AHHHH!" Pinkie shrieked as she leapt in the air in fright. He watched her leap higher than even he could, then finally fall back down, splashing into the oasis. She poked her head up, now noticing the cloaked mouse. "...Hi!"

"...Odd greeting, but hello," he said. Pinkie climbed up out of the water, keeping herself from shaking as she let the water cool her before the hot desert sun got to her. "Is that how you greet strangers?"

"Oh, no! I usually have my wagon that plays music while I sing them a welcome song!...Oh wait, that's when ponies come to Ponyville." Pinkie giggled, tapping her noggin as she forgot she wasn't in Equestria right now. "But I always throw a party when I meet new friends!"

"Pony?" he questioned. "So, that is the kind of creature you are."

"And you're a little mousy!" she said, quickly grabbing the Nomadimouse into a hug, surprising him. "Why are you hiding your cuteness under that cloak!? Too afraid to show everypony you're adorable!?"

"Please release me," he begged, the mare quickly obeying, his cloak thankfully hiding his flustered expression. "To answer your questions, I wear this to protect myself from the sun's rays and the sand when a storm approaches. I am not, as you say, cute or adorable. And, I wear this to hide my identity from others who are not part of my secret group of honorable thieves. You may call me Sheek, for I will not give my real name to outsiders of my organization."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said. "I'm Pinkie Pie! I plan and throw parties, make everypony smile, and love having fun!" She leaned down and whispered to Sheek. "I also have a secret hiding place where I have information on everypony I meet to throw them the perfect parties. Tell no one."

"...Right. Now, before you suffer from heat exhaustion, let us sit underneath one of those trees." Sheek lead Pinkie to one of the trees, the earth pony bouncing behind him as his ears twitched from hearing a springing sound with each bound she took. They stood under the shade of a tree that bore plenty of fresh lemons. Pinkie sat down as she watched the Nomadimouse skitter up the trunk, grabbing several ripe lemons before dropping back down, giving Pinkie a couple of them. "Do you eat lemons?"

"Yeah! I love lemons!" She grabbed one and stuffed the entire fruit in her mouth. The moment she bit into it, her face puckered up from the sour flavor. "Wow! Thash shour!"

"Very odd, this one," Sheek mumbled to himself, taking a bite of the juicy fruit. "So, seeing as you look like you come from a different world, where exactly are you from?"

Pinkie finished her lemon, waiting for her lips to stop puckering to talk. "I'm from a place called Equestria, where me and my friends live!" She gasped loudly, realizing her friends weren't with her. "Oh my good golly goodness! My friends! Did you see them in this burning hot desert, Sheeky!?"

"You are the only one I had seen," Sheek said. "If your friends are like you, then no. I have not seen them out here."

"Oh no...This is bad!" Pinkie's mane began deflating, Sheek hearing the sound of a balloon being released of its air as he watched her slightly wet and poofy mane droop. "We got separated after Bowser beat us! Where did they go!?"

"Bowser attacked you?" the mouse asked. Pinkie began explaining to Sheek what had happened earlier in Peach's castle, even talking about the party she couldn't be a part of. He nodded his head as he got the full story, including the reason for Bowser's soldiers invading the ruins. "I knew the King of the Koopas was up to no good again. But this time, he had succeeded in defeating Mario."

"I don't know if he's ok," Pinkie whimpered. "We couldn't save him."

"Do not weep, Pinkie," Sheek assured the upset pony. "Mario has fought many a fight against Bowser, taking injuries that no one would possibly survive. He is not known as a hero of the Mushroom Kingdom for nothing."

"...Well, he lived after getting burnt by Bowser's fire breath," she said. "But he fell unconscious...And I don't know where my friends are." Sheek couldn't help but notice Pinkie's behavior as it started to take effect on his stoic behavior. When she was happier earlier, he was confused by her antics, but now that she was sad, he felt sad for her. "Where am I, Sheeky?"

He ignored the nickname she gave him and answered her question. "We are in the Dry Dry Desert, southeast of the central capital of the Mushroom Kingdom. This place can only be reached by train, stopping at the base of Mt. Rugged far to the west from where we are. This desert can easily confuse and disorient dehydrated travelers, where straying off the path leading in a straight line will only make you lose your sense of direction during daylight. The only haven from the heat and sand is Dry Dry Outpost, luckily not too far away from this oasis, just a bit yonder to the north."

"Are my friends ok, too?" she asked.

"Quite possibly," Sheek said. "Surviving and escaping from Bowser as you transformed into a sphere of magical light is quite a feat for a creature like you."

"But I passed out. I didn't do anything..." Pinkie looked at her hooves, knowing she doesn't have any magic aside from her illogical randomness. "...Maybe our rainbow harmony powers did it instead..."

"Ah. The powers you and your friends had used to stop Bowser, but failed because of the Star Rod's tremendous power it gave him." Sheek stood up, finishing up the last of his lemons as he faced Pinkie. "If you wish to find your friends, I do not think it is wise at the moment if Bowser's minions are out on the roads. Especially in the desert where you can very easily pass out from dehydration. I think it is best for you to remain in Dry Dry Outpost until it is a lot safer, or when you can handle the heat of the desert sun."

"...I guess you're right." Pinkie fanned her face with her hoof, her soaked body already dry as the heat got to her again. "Maybe my friends are safe in other places around the Mushroom Kingdom. I know Dashie would try and find us, since she's fast and can fly anywhere."

"Yes, that is true. Flight across the desert is simple for a winged pony, as you described her." The Nomadimouse leapt up onto Pinkie's head and looked down at her. "If you are going to stay in the Outpost in my abode, you will be a part of my secret organization. That means you must not tell anyone secrets about us. Only I will seek out potential members who can solve the code in the store, where my associate who works as the shopkeeper will alert me if they discover the right objects to buy in the correct order. You will not give away any attention to me, but you are free to go about the streets and interact with the people there if you wish to throw your parties. And when you are weary, you will use the hidden ways up to the roofs and leap across to my apartment, but make sure no one sees you. Understand?"

"Mhmm. I can keep them all a secret. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Pinkie said as she performed her Pinkie Promise: crossing her hoof over her chest, flapping her forelegs like wings, then poked her eye with her hoof.

Ignoring watching the mare actually poke herself in the eye, where she didn't even yelp in pain, he leapt off her head and onto the sand. "Good. Now, wait here while I get you a cloak to help protect you from the sun's rays and veil yourself when you wish to rest...Although, with how different you look, you do stand out quite easily, so you must be quick and be wary of wandering eyes."

"Okie dokie." Sheek sped off through the desert, heading north back to Dry Dry Outpost to get Pinkie a big cloak to shield her from the sun.

As Pinkie waited patiently for the helpful mouse, she wanted to do something for him for the help he was giving her, even though they had just met a moment ago. But, since he didn't want a party and have himself revealed to the others in the town, she had to think of something else to show her appreciation. Looking up in the trees, she saw the lemons hanging off the branches, never knowing they could survive in a desert climate like this. The other tree across where she sat had limes, these two being the only kinds of fruit Dry Dry Outpost is able to eat without traveling across the desert and over a mountain to get any other form of produce.

The lemons were really sour, even though they were tasty. She looked back at the lemons again, noticing Sheek actually enjoyed the sour fruit when she saw his eyes, catching that hint of enjoyment under the veil of cloth around him. She gasped, her mane inflating back to it's normal frizzy and poofy self as she had an amazing idea to repay his kindness. Pinkie stood up and bucked the lemon tree, catching the ones that fell and hid them through her usual random way of storing anything on her. A while later, Sheek came back with a big enough cloak to fit over Pinkie's body to help relieve the heat of the sun a little bit. As soon as her new garment was on, she followed the Nomadimouse up north, making sure to stay close and not stray off as they reached the Outpost.





Out in the middle of a dark and dangerous forest, really close to Toad Town from the east, was an old, abandoned mansion. The building looks to have been around for almost a century, the wooden boards were worn out as the paint it used to be coated in had faded due to time, the roof a pale purple as the building stretched to three stories tall. The forest around it was eerily creepy as the branches from the trees blocked out any sunlight, looking like it was always night no matter what hour of the day it is. But traveling through the forest itself isn't easy as it was like a maze: find the right difference among the circle of branching pathways, the mansion will be one step closer to being reached, but choose the wrong path, confusion will only be given as they will wind up back at the beginning. This forest is called the Forever Forest for a reason, pick the wrong way and adventurers will wind up lost in these woods, maybe even forever.

Suddenly, a light finally did shine through the canopy of leaves around the mansion, but it wasn't sunlight. A bright white sphere of light floated down in front of the abandoned mansion, landing on the dark, unkempt grass. The sphere expanded and shone brighter, the light shining in through the dusty windows into the mansion, though it wasn't as abandoned as it seemed, a figure's silhouette on the third floor spotting the odd light as it began to fade. Rarity laid unconscious, saved by the power of her and her friends' harmony powers from Bowser's lightning through the Star Rod he held, though the location she landed in was not exactly safe by looks.

The front doors to the mansion creaked open as several spiritual beings floated out to inspect the odd light. These spirits were Boos, spherical ghosts with sharp teeth and stubby arms. Their bark was worse than their bite as they scare their victims, getting a laugh at their fright and scared expressions instead of harming them. One of them, an elder looking Boo with a monocle over his right eye, a dish towel over one arm, sporting a white mustache and some hair, lowered down to look at the unicorn closely. Unlike the other white Boos that began to surround her, he was a bit more refined in stature than a haunting ghost should.

"Hmm...What have we here?" he asked rhetorically. "Such a strange animal, though it isn't like the ones in Forever Forest." The Boo looked up at the window where the figure stood, seeing it nod its head as it looked down at him. "Bring the creature inside and up to the third floor. The lady wishes to see it up close."

"You got it, Bootler," one of the Boos said. "But, when it wakes up, can I scare it first?"

"Do you want to get slapped by her ladyship for giving anything she desires to scare first before her?" Scared out of their minds, all the Boos shook their heads no. "Then there's your answer."

Obeying Bootler, the Boos lifted Rarity up as one unit, carrying her inside the mansion, the Boos servant following behind them. The foyer of the mansion wasn't any better on the inside than the outside: dust and cobwebs littered the place, furniture old and worn, candles lit with blue flames as they were held on sconces on the walls. More Boos floated around aimlessly in the mansion, noticing the new arrival being carried by their fellow Boos, but a stern glare from Bootler made them back away, knowing the owner of the mansion had first dibs on scaring the daylights out of the new creature. They floated up to the third floor, a stairway leading up to the second floor, but none up to the third.

Bootler opened the doors leading to the only room on the third floor, two sets that are colored a pale white unlike the other doors on the lower floors, being a faded brown. The Boos lowered the unicorn down onto the floor, then made their leave for fear of the lady they serve under.

"M'lady, the creature is here," Bootler said, floating backwards to give his lady free reign over her new victim.

Rarity started to slowly wake up, never experiencing such pain in all her life. Bootler turned invisible, watching the owner of the manor as she was also invisible, unseen by normal eyes. The unicorn sat up, rubbing her head, surprised to be alive after getting shocked to unconsciousness.

"That brute of a turtle...If he wasn't that tough, I'd buck him hard where Celestia's sun doesn't-" The moment she opened her eyes, she paused her revenge on Bowser as she took note of where she was. Instead of waking up in a cell in the Koopa King's dungeons, she was in a large room with barely anything inside. "...Where am I?" She looked around, finding no sign of her friends. "Twilight? Rainbow Dash? Girls?" She looked down at the ground, her skin crawling in fright as she saw dust and some grass on her white coat. "Ewwwwww. This place is absolutely filthy! Why am I here!?"

Appearing behind Rarity, a different colored Boo with red ribbons on its head slowly approached the unsuspecting mare, hiding its face behind its arms. The unicorn suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, feeling something paranormally unsettling about where she ended up. She slowly turned her head to look behind her, her pupils shrinking as she saw a green spherical spirit, spotting the short tail-like protrusion behind it, wearing two red ribbons on its head.

The Boo finally uncovered their face, apparently female with her long eyelashes, and pulled off a terrifying face. "BLAAAAAAAARGH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rarity screamed, running away from the horrifying ghost as her white coat was even paler. Her voice echoed throughout the whole manor, which made the female Boo cackle with delight. Rarity ran through the one of the sets of doors, only to quickly skid to a halt as she nearly ran off the edge, seeing she was on the third floor of the old and filthy mansion. "W-Wha-Where-What's happening!? Where am I!?" Boos suddenly appeared in front of her, all of them making creepy faces to frighten her. "AHHHHHH! No! Get away, evil spirits!"

She backed up inside the room again, tripping over her own tail and falling on her back. She saw Bootler hover over her face.

"So sorry for the 'welcome greeting', madame," he said, but Rarity only shrieked in horror and scramble back on her hooves, pressing herself against the wall, unable to escape this haunted building.

The female Boo cackled uproariously, rolling around as she hovered in place. "Oh, that was hilarious! One of the easiest scare victims ever!"

The unicorn hyperventilated, keeping far away from the two Boos. "Where am I!? What is this place!? Why is it haunted!?"

"Because this is my manor," the owner said after she calmed down, holding a teasing smirk as she hovered up to the frightened mare. "We don't really get many guests to come visit my mansion, so we usually go out into Toad Town to scare the pants off of some Toads. Especially that easy to spook guard at the station outside the Forever Forest. But, he gets boring to scare sometimes."

"Y-You-You ungrateful spirits nearly gave me a heart attack!" Rarity shouted.

"Well, that's what we do, miss," Bootler said. "We are Boos. We terrify others for enjoyment."

"...At least somepony actually has manors, unlike an uncouth brat who thought it was funny to frighten guests to their home." The female Boo's eye twitched, floating up to the mare's face.

"Who are you calling a brat!?" she questioned. "I am the lady of this manor! I have more class than you have in every single bone in your body, you quadrupedal cone head!"

Rarity scoffed, taking offense to the rude comment. "Excuse me!? I'm the one who has more class compared to a spoiled ghost spirit who's nothing but a delinquent!"

The Boo growled as both "refined" girls butted heads. Bootler quickly got between them before they wound up in a cat fight, knowing his lady would surely win being a spirit while Rarity was a living being.

"Ladies, let us not get too hostile," he ushered, trying to calm them. "M'lady, we are in the presence of someone of another species the likes of which the Mushroom Kingdom has ever heard of. She is already lost and confused of her whereabouts, and you had your fun frightening her."

They both glared at each other for a while until they both turned away with a scoff. Bootler sighed, managing to stop the physical confrontation before it began.

"Well, if you're going to keep me held prisoner as your scare dummy, you'd better not have frightened on of my friends," Rarity warned. "Fluttershy is very timid and scares easier than the rest of us."

"Friends?" The female Boo turned around to look at the unicorn in confusion. "What friends?"

"The ones your little minions out there that you brought in too," she retorted.

Both Boos looked at each other, then back to Rarity. "...Miss, are you saying there are others like you?"

"Yes..." Rarity turned her head at Bootler's question, as if he didn't even know there were five other ponies that were supposed to be with her. "...Wait...You didn't see them?"

"We saw a bright light that nearly blinded us through the windows outside the mansion," the lady said. "That light ended up turning out to be you, though I didn't expect you to talk. We thought you were a mindless animal who had fallen unconscious."

Rarity growled at being called an animal, clearly a sentient being, but ignored her and focused on talking to Bootler. "So...I'm by myself in this horribly filthy mansion?"

"Afraid so, miss," Bootler said. Rarity's ears drooped, lowering herself to the ground, no longer caring if her mane or coat got filthy. She had no idea where she was, if her other friends are safe, and concerned about Peach's well being if she was alone with Bowser high in the sky. "I think we should introduce ourselves. My name is Bootler, and this is our fair lady and owner of Boo Mansion, Lady Bow." Bow grunted, not exactly a proper greeting, but Rarity didn't care with the attitude she had. "What is your name, and what are you, if I may ask?"

"My name is Rarity, and I'm a unicorn," she said.

"Psh. You sure are a rarity," Bow commented. "Unicorns are just a myth, but somehow, you're here, and right at my doorstep after blinding all of us."

"Well, excuse me, 'Lady', but I didn't make a grand entrance like that on purpose, and even if I could, I can't turn into a light," Rarity grumbled. "If you really want to know, I was attacked by the worst excuse of a tyrannical ruler I have ever met, and now my friends are nowhere nearby."

"'Tyrannical ruler'?" Bow asked, somewhat interested on the topic. Rarity told the two Boos what she recalled happened back in Peach's castle. After retelling the events that had occurred a few hours ago, the lady groaned in irritation. "Oh great. Here we go again. Bowser ruining the day by kidnapping the princess, along with her castle. Ugh, that Koopa is a pain."

"That...explains the odd earthquake that occurred earlier," Bootler said. "And...Mario had been beaten by him?"

"Yes, unfortunately...I don't know if he survived the fall, or even the thrashing he endured against that horrid monster." Rarity sighed, worried about her friends and if they were still up there with Peach as prisoners or if they fell out and wound up turning into a sphere of light as well. "Not even our own magic was strong enough to stop him."

"Seems like we both have major problems we're unable to deal with," Bow said.

"What problems!?" Rarity exclaimed. "You're a ghost! You don't have to worry about dying or losing your friends after being shocked to unconsciousness!"

"I know you just woke up and all, cone head, but we've got a problem that worries us greatly!" Bow argued, disappearing and reappearing in front of the mare. "Before you even arrived here by strange magic even you can't explain, even before Bowser lifted Peach's castle in the sky, I'm losing my brethren out here and over at Gusty Gulch, where more Boos live in the dusty wasteland by an invincible monster that eats us!"

"Wait, Bowser eats ghosts???" Rarity asked in confusion.

"NO, you idiot!" Bow shouted, her mouth opening wider as she spoke in frustration. "It's one of his stupid minions that he made invulnerable to anything we tried to do to attack him! Already, he's eaten the ones who I sent to go after him to kick him out of our homes, and a few more just hours ago! If you think I'm a selfish brat, why do you think I care about the Boos' safety that much in the middle of this crisis!?"

"Lady Bow, please calm yourself," Bootler pleaded, pulling the angered Boo away from the unicorn. "Miss Rarity, I know Lady Bow may be a bit harsh, but despite our spiritual bodies, she does have a heart. She's greatly concerned about the rest of our brethren, and the monster, known as Tubba Blubba."

"Ugh," Rarity grimaced. "Just its name reeks of foul etiquette and monstrosity...And now there's two invincible monsters running about this world."

"Nothing is invincible, not even us Boos," Bow said. "Bowser has that Star Rod, a wand known to grant wishes to whoever wields it from the old books on different legends in the sealed off library in the first basement floor, but there's no way that overgrown Clubba is too."

"...Oh..." Rarity didn't know what to say, feeling bad for assuming Bow wasn't a responsible leader because she was a young Boo compared to the others in the mansion.

"He has to be hiding some kind of secret that made Tubba Blubba invincible, but so far, we've come up with nothing," Bootler said. "Some scouts we tried to send to his own manor up on the hill of Gusty Gulch never came back or managed to flee without any information. Is there any way you might assist us, Miss Rarity?"

"...Well, not exactly alone, even though I can fend for myself despite my lady-like complexion," she said. "I'll try to help, but...is there any way of being somewhere safer and...cleaner?"

"Let's just hope Tubba Blubba doesn't have a hankering for pony," Bow snarked. She turned back to Rarity, sighing as she approached her, though this time more calmly. "I'm just under a lot of stress, and I really want to take it out on that fatso. If Mario were here, he might help us, but with him badly beaten somewhere out in the Mushroom Kingdom, I'm not sure what to do now. And I don't want to sacrifice anymore of my Boos." She held out one of her hands to the unicorn. "Forgive and forget all the dumb things we said to each other?"

"...I can after you're going through a horrible experience as much as I am." Rarity held out her hoof and took Bow's arm, the two ladies shaking in forgiveness. "Maybe once we beat this vulgar beast and find this secret, you think you can help me find my friends?"

"I guess, if they managed to survive like you did," she said, Bootler grinning softly as the two girls began getting along, even after all their insults and the scares Rarity was given.

"I hope so." Now that the tension between the two were gone, Rarity looked at her hoof, wincing slightly as she remembered her body was covered in dust. "...Uhh, is there any chance your mansion has a bathroom? With running water?"

"Rarity, this mansion is like a century old," Bow said. "Nothing in this place, including plumbing, worked like it used to."

"Egh!" Rarity whined. "Then can't you and your Boos at least dust this place!?"

"What's the deal with you and my mansion's dust!?" Bow complained. "It's perfect the way it is! Scary mansion, creepy atmosphere, little lighting to easily scare guests? The kind of thing we Boos like are places like these!"

Bootler sighed as the girls began bickering, shaking his head, unable to figure out women, no matter what kind, after his many years of afterlife. Suddenly, the door to the room opened as a Boo flew in, ceasing Bow and Rarity's arguments.

"Lady Bow, we found something lost in the Forever Forest," he said.

"Don't tell me it's another lost ball," Bow groaned.

"No, it's not a ball, but it's something else. And it's really important." The Boo pulled out a strange looking card, showing the back of it that had what appeared to be Bowser's face.

"...A card?" Bow asked, her brow twitching in annoyance. "A stupid card is important?"

"Wait a minute." Rarity levitated the card out of the Boo's hands, surprising him as she held it up closer. "Is this Bowser's face as his insignia?"

"So the fire-breathing tortoise lost a playing card with his mug on it?" Bow questioned, not finding it interesting in the slightest.

"Actually, I am important to him, but I thought I could escape far enough away from here." Rarity, Bow, and Bootler yelped in surprise as they heard a voice out of nowhere. It wasn't one of their Boos, that was certain to Bow. "If you would kindly turn it around, you'll see me." Mentally facehooving, Rarity flipped the card over, both girls gasping as they saw a purple star wearing bifocals with a thin brown mustache and bushy eyebrows. "Well, away from the mindless goon and in the clutches of another captor...My luck is not kind to me."

Rarity just stared at the animated card in confusion, never knowing that stars were able talk, or have conscious thought, in this world. Bow took the card from the amazed unicorn mare, recognizing one of the seven fabled Star Spirits from the dusty tomes' illustrations of the legendary stars who watch over the world below to grant wishes to those with good intent.

"Hmmm...What's a Star Spirit like you doing trapped in a card?" Bow asked.

"Please, free me, ma'am," Skolar begged. "I need to find Mario and use my power to help recuperate faster from his injuries so he can meet with the rest of us on Shooting Star Summit."

"Mario's alive!?" Rarity exclaimed, grabbing the card desperately. "How did he survive!? What happened!? Do you know where my friends are!?"

"I don't exactly know how he had safely landed in a glade not far from Toad Town...but...I sense magic within you..." Skolar could sense the magical power that was around Mario inside Rarity, though hers was only a fraction of what was there with the five other unique magical energy that saved the plumber. "My fellow Star Spirits and I used what power we had left in us to heal his injuries, but he is still unconscious. But, the whereabouts of your companions, if they are the same species as you, I know not."

"T-Then can't you at least use your magic, energy, or whatever it is you have to at least find anypony closeby?" Rarity pleaded.

"I barely have much left in me after I had managed to make my escape from the beast up on that manor in Gusty Gulch." Bow's eyes widened at the mention of the Star Spirit being held captive by Tubba Blubba. She then smirked widely, flashing her teeth as an idea came to her head with the added information of Mario having survived. "I need to save the rest of my energy to explain to Mario that we need his help. But he needs to wake and reach Shooting Star Summit, the only close location where my power can communicate with him, unless you free me from this confined piece of paper, then I can appear before him and tell him our plight sooner."

"So, Mario's still alive, huh?" Bow cackled, making Rarity's spine chill at the haunting laughter. She snatched the card back and hovered up to the ceiling, where a cage hung from a chained winch cable. "Well, looks like I have myself a bargaining chip to get rid of that fat ghost eater when Mario visits the manor. If he's going to be helping you guys, then I don't think he'll mind working for a reward."

"W-What!?" Without even giving Skolar or Rarity any complaint to her cruel idea, Bow tossed the card inside and locked it tightly. "This is unjustly! You are dealing with a Star Spirit, you whelp!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Bow said, brushing off Skolar's insults. "You guys grant wishes to the living. What exactly do I want aside from wanting to get rid of Tubba Blubba? Nothing. So, until Mario comes, you're staying in there."

"Bow, what are you thinking!?" Rarity exclaimed. "It would be easier to free him so Mario can save the kingdom and Princess Peach!"

"And if he just has this one, Tubba Blubba's going to run wild and eat us Boos, Rarity," Bow said, surprisingly calm. "Besides that, the Mushroom Kingdom has a lot of dangerous minions of Bowser or wild creatures running around that could easily kill you. If you tried to leave and go through Forever Forest, you're going to be attacked by Forest Fuzzies and Piranha Plants."

"...By what?" Right on cue, Bootler reappeared beside Rarity and held a book of creatures opened to a specific page, giving her an apologetic look for his lady's plan. The unicorn squeaked in horror at what a Piranha Plant looked like, which was a living plant that can pop up out of the ground, its stems and leaves green, the head red with white polka dots, and a maw with razor sharp teeth. "...I will never look at flowers ever again after seeing something like that..."

"Then it's decided," Bow said as Bootler closer the book. "Until Mario comes, being more able to keep you safe from harm, you'll have to stay here where it's safer...Well, relatively safe, aside from the rest of the Boos in the mansion." Rarity growled at the sly smirk the female Boo gave her, but she did have a point. She might be able to fend for herself in situations like this, but against creatures unknown to her, and dangerous wild life like that in the forest outside, she had no choice but to comply. "I'll take that silence as a confirmation. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak to my fellow Boos to prepare Mario a few trials to reach this floor when he arrives. Bootler, make sure our pony guest has fresh food and water. We don't want her to get sick from the old stuff left in the basement that barely passes as a good meal to even a Gulpit."

"Yes, Lady Bow." Bow disappeared, making Rarity yelp in surprise as she tugged on her tail with a silent cackle, teasing her a little. "So, Miss Rarity, what exactly is your diet? We Boos do not need sustenance to survive, and I do not want to gather anything that would be distasteful to you."

"I'm a vegetarian, but I also like to partake in sweets sometimes," she said.

"Ah. Of course. I may have to take a trip to Toad Town and get some fresh fruits and vegetables." Bootler disappeared as well, heading off to get food for Rarity to eat during her stay here.

The unicorn sighed heavily and just sat down, looking up at the large cage hanging above where the Star Spirit was sulking as he was forced to wait patiently. But Bow did have a point with her reasons for keeping him instead of releasing him. She cared greatly about the Boos around her mansion and the ones in Gusty Gulch, and if Mario can find a way to stop Tubba Blubba, it would be one more minion of Bowser's to take down as he would have been beaten anyway to free Skolar. She looked back at the door, surprised to see the Boo who brought the Star Spirit in still in the room, staring at her.

"...Can I help you?" Rarity asked.

"You got pretty hair," he said. "It's so curly. And purple...and curly."

Rarity sighed and shook her head. "At least SOME of these ghosts are friendly and not a bunch of pranksters..."





"Alright, you lowly maggots! Fall in!" Hidden away in some unknown territory of what appeared to look like children's playthings, toys used as building material or just laid about in the strange realm. Standing on a small flight of stairs was the leader of a group of minions under Bowser's command known as Shy Guys. Their outfits vary in different colors with a belt around their waist and blue shoes, but what gives them that name are the white masks they wore over their faces. They don't show much expression, just three simple circles to make the eyes and an open mouth, so they can't be taken lightly, especially their commander, General Guy. Underneath his red clothing were a military commander's white jacket and hat, standing before his army of Shy Guys, many normal ones in different colored clothing, while others wore specific gear to show their mastery in certain skills. "Now, as you all know, Lord Bowser has given us the opportunity to guard one of the seven Star Spirits he has captured!"

"Oi! Get me out of this card!" General Guy turned around, staring at Muskular, the blue sailor cap wearing Star Spirit glaring at the commanding officer. "I'll show you a real fight if your king weren't a no good thief and a cheater! Release me and I'll show you a thing or two about power!"

"Quiet, P.O.W! You have no idea who you just insulted, so shut your trap!" Muskular growled, smacking into the card, but unable to break free. General Guy turned around to look at his army, all standing at attention. "Now, we don't want anyone getting this here star, otherwise we'll be getting the boot by Lord Bowser himself! And we'll need to prepare. When the time is right, we will invade Toad Town, and begin stealing all their precious possessions!"

The army cheered, speaking in a language that's hard to understand as they spoke in a sort of moan-like sound, rising and lowering depending on their actual mood. General Guy held up his arms, silencing his army so he could continue, Muskular rolling his eyes as he was forced to listen to him.

"I wish I had ears so that I could pull them off," the Star Spirit grumbled.

"So that means we all need to train! And train hard!" General Guy continued his motivational speech, stepping down as he walk before the front line. "We may be called Shy Guys, but we're not going to let them think we're timid little kids hiding behind a mask! We are an army, and we have strength in numbers! And with that plumber, Mario, gone and out of our king's fiery hair, there will be nothing that will stand in our-!" The general froze as he passed by one of his soldiers in a pink outfit, noticing him wearing a rainbow colored wig and styling it while making happy sounds. He slowly turned around, glaring through the eye holes of his mask as he stepped in front of the insubordinate Shy Guy. "...Private? What are you doing?"

The fashionable soldier stopped playing with his wig, explaining to his commander about the new fashionable wigs he managed to swipe from a hair salon a few days ago. General Guy leered at the Shy Guy, growling deeply as he snatched the wig off the soldier's head.

"Why, oh why in the name of our tyrannical king's shell are you wearing this stupid thing!?" he questioned angrily, the Shy Guy telling him it matched many of the colors the other Shy Guys wore, even considering changing into a rainbow tailored outfit for himself to stand out more among his peers. "...Private, you are pathetic! I train soldiers, not little girls wanting to play dress up! The outfits you wear are the troop you belong to, not a fashion statement! I am not raising weak soldiers, because one weak link in the ranks will be the downfall of every single squad!" General Guy threw the wig to the ground and stomped on it, making the Shy Guy upset as his favorite of the many wigs he took was being destroyed. It soon turned into nothing but torn and ripped out hair, the commander kicking it away before facing the "weak link". "You are a disgrace to this army, and all Shy Guys in this very toy box! Get out of my sight!"

The scolded Shy Guy wilted, making a sad noise as he did as he was told. As he passed by the other Shy Guys in the front line with him, he heard them snicker and make harsh comments about him and how worthless he was as a Shy Guy. He faintly heard General Guy continue his speech as he left the base, practically fired as he wandered about the secret land of toys and games. The Shy Guy arrived at where he hid his stolen wigs, grabbing one and placed it on his head. He let out a sigh, feeling so outcasted when he was forced to be a part of the Shy Guy army under Bowser's rule.

He looked up as he wondered why he was unappreciated, letting out a startled noise as he saw a blue sphere of light descend from above him. Having no idea what it was, he panicked and quickly hid behind a large letter cube. The light soon hit the ground, the Shy Guy peeking around the side, watching it glow brighter and form a larger sphere. It disappeared, leaving behind an unconscious Rainbow Dash by his box of rainbow wigs. He made a curious noise, carefully creeping up on the odd, winged quadruped he had never seen before.

He got a better look at the mare, looking over the cyan colored fur, cyan feathers on the wings at its sides, the odd looking mark of a cloud shooting out a lightning bolt colored red, yellow, and blue, and the odd limbs it uses to walk on. What really caught the pink Shy Guy's eyes under that mask were her mane and tail: a myriad of colors striped like a rainbow, just like his wigs. He let out a delighted noise, starting with touching the unconscious pegasus's messy mane. It was really soft, making him giddy as he continued rubbing the strands of natural rainbow hair.

Rainbow Dash groaned, feeling someone pestering her as she tried to sleep. "Go 'way," she mumbled, lazily swatting her hoof away from the thing touching her mane. It didn't stop, annoying her as she managed to nudge the Shy Guy away. "Cut it out..." The Shy Guy finally heard her speak, highly surprised as he walked up in front of her face. She managed to open her eyes, staring at a creepy white mask looking right at her. "Ahhh!"

The Shy Guy screamed as well in his language as Rainbow quickly got up to swat the strange minion away. She tried to fly, only to yelp as her wings locked up in pain from the electric shocks from Bowser's Star Rod she was struck by. The pegasus growled, hating not being able to fly as it was her passion as the type of pony she was. The knocked back Shy Guy sat up, rubbing his head from the tumble he had. As he got up, Rainbow pounced him and held him down with her forehooves.

"Alright, buddy! What the hay were you doing to me while I was sleeping!?" It took her brain a moment to realize she was face to face with something completely different from what she knew in Equestria. "...What the hay ARE you?" She then looked up, remembering she was in Peach's castle before Bowser knocked them out. Wherever she was, she looked like she was in some little foal's playroom, if that playroom was meant for a titan with how big the place was. "...And where exactly am I?

"Mrf. If my wings weren't screwed up from Bowser's stupid cheating Star Rod, I'd probably find a way out of this place faster." She looked down at the Shy Guy, unable to tell what he was looking at with the black eyes of his mask staring at her. She let go of him and began walking off, hoping her friends weren't being harassed by the weird mask-wearing things. The Shy Guy let out a panicked scream, watching her head off toward the Shy Guy's army base, knowing she would get in a lot of trouble if the army found her. He ran after her, his feet a blur as he ran past the pegasus and held his arms out, shaking his head no. "Get out of my way, you...whatever you are! I need to find my friends!" He shook his head more while waving his arms, trying to tell her she's going to get caught, but Rainbow couldn't understand a single word that came out of him. "...I have no idea what you're saying, but seriously, quit following me."

She brushed past him, unable to stop her as he worried greatly for the rainbow-haired creature. Rainbow Dash walked by the dozens of toys as she kept going down the path, coming up to a strange building made entirely out of blocks. She found the entrance and headed in, the inside a lot different compared to the outside. After making her way down the hall, she heard someone talking, but when she reached the end, she stifled a yelp as she saw an entire army of masked people like the one that was touching her hair, all in different variants of single colors, some wearing camouflage gear, in strange floating vessels with a heart on the front, hanging by balloons, in jester's outfits, even some that were on fire.

"So, my soldiers, you all have your objectives!" Rainbow looked further ahead to see the one who was talking, who seemed to be the leader of these things judging by the way he was dressed. And she could understand him unlike the other one. "When I give the signal, those set to invade Toad Town and begin causing a distraction, we'll take their precious belongings! Those on patrol of the Toy Box will keep an eye out for anyone who finds out secret hideout in the town!" The Shy Guys all made a single, loud noise, responding to their commander. "Good! Now, troops, let's-" He looked out to the exit of the main area of the base, spotting the pegasus watching them. "Gah! Intruder! Get that creature!"

The Shy Guys turned around and began to run after Rainbow Dash. With too many of them to take out on her own without being able to fly, the mare ran out of the base screaming. She avoided random slingshot fire coming from the ones on balloons and the camo ones, having no idea what they are, but at least she knew they must work for Bowser if they were going to attack Toad Town. She reached what appeared to be a train station, but there wasn't a train waiting for passengers to get her away from the pursuing Shy Guys.

"Oh, great! Which way's the exit out of this stupid-!?" She felt something suddenly jump on her back, pulling something over her face, though it didn't really hinder her vision that much. "Ah, hey! Get off of-!" Leaning over her head was the pink Shy Guy that she met earlier, moving his stubby arm to the mouth of his mask, warning her to keep quiet and go down. "You again!?"

He leapt down off her head and pushed her back against a nearby wall. Hearing the others coming up, she trusted the Shy Guy and lowered down on her stomach, feeling him drape something over the rest of her. Rainbow had no idea if this was supposed to be some kind of trap, or if whatever he's putting on her will actually help her. As soon as the pursuing Shy Guys reached them, they didn't attack her as they made a sound of confusion.

The pink Shy Guy stood next to Rainbow, having placed a Shy Guy mask over some cyan cloth that matched her fur to hide her mane. As she kept perfectly still, it almost looked like she was one of them, despite her red eyes showing through the holes for the mask's eyes and her hooves clearly visible. The pink Shy Guy began talking to them, telling them he saw the odd creature it fled to another one of the stations. Though they seemed to glare at them for a moment, mostly at him than Rainbow, they ran off in the direction he pointed toward, falling for the fake and quickly made disguise.

As soon as they were gone, he got in front of her, ushering her to follow him as he ran forward. Rainbow took a moment to look at the cloth he had put over her, matching the wall that hid the rest of her well with her poor Shy Guy disguise. She ran after him, only able to see forward because of the mask's poor peripheral vision it was giving her, entering what looked like a hidden bunker behind a pile of building blocks. She followed him inside, shutting the bunker door, now safe and out of harm's way.

"You...You saved me?" Rainbow asked, the Shy Guy nodding his head. She pulled off the "disguise" he put on her, surprised that this actually fooled them with how rushed it was made. "For an army that big, you guys are pretty stupid...Uhh, no offense." He shrugged his shoulders, no offense taken. "Guess it looks like not all of you are that bad. Where are we exactly?"

The Shy Guy turned on a light that illuminate the rest of the bunker, Rainbow's jaw dropping at the sight of many different things that were rainbow colored: clothing, paints and crayons ordered exactly how the rainbow does, pictures of rainbows, everything involving the prismatic colors. Either this Shy Guy managed to find her the moment she and her friends accidentally appeared in this world, or he just really likes the colors of the rainbow that much.

"Ok...This is the weirdest room I've ever been in." She flinched when she felt the Shy Guy touching her tail, brushing it with his arms. "...And now it just got even weirder." She flicked her tail away from him, making him whine in disappointment. "I appreciate you helping me and all, but no touching me. I will buck you out of this room through a wall if you keep doing that. Got it?" He nodded his head, making more of those noises as he spoke to her. "And do you have any other way to talk to me? I have no idea what you're even saying."

The Shy Guy thought for a moment until he found a way. He grabbed some paper and a pencil, using writing as a way to communicate with her. He wrote down something and showed it to her.



Will this work?



"Yeah. That's better," Rainbow said. "As much as I hate reading, it's better than just listening you say, "Wha wha wha wha," all the time." She tried not to look at all the rainbow memorabilia the Shy Guy had, but it stood out among the blank metal walls around them. "You sure do like rainbows...So, my questions in order: Who are you, what are you, where am I, how do I get out of here, and have you seen five others who are sort of like me?"

He wrote down the answers to her questions, showing her the paper after a while.



I am a Shy Guy, but I don't really have a name. You're in our home, Shy Guy's Toy Box, and it's located in Toad Town. So, yes, it actually is a toy box we're in, but there's a spring out by the blue station that takes us out to an abandoned building in Toad Town, growing us to normal size if we leave. There's also a spring outside of the toy box to shrink us back down when we return. Unfortunately, it's probably being guarded right now because you headed straight for General Guy's HQ and are considered an intruder in our secret base. But, as for other creatures that look like you, you're the only one I met, coming down where I was sitting in a ball of light after I got thrown out of the army by the General.



Rainbow groaned, her friends nowhere around this dangerous base of operations, though she was glad they weren't. "Great...Bowser ended up beating us, Peach is captured by him, and Mario and me and my friends failed to stop him. I'm sure you guys know what happened up there, huh?" The Shy Guy nodded sadly, seeing she didn't like what Bowser did. "Now, you...Shy Guys are going to invade Toad Town and steal everypony's stuff at some point, and I have no idea where my friends are." The peagasus's stomach began to growl, growling herself, not even able to sample any of the food from the party before Bowser showed up. "And I'm starving..."

The Shy Guy went over to a cupboard set in the bunker, pulling out a Mushroom. He handed it to Rainbow Dash, feeling a little skeptical of the odd face on it, but she shrugged as her stomach demanded food, no matter what it is at this point. She took a bite out of it, surprised to taste a sweetness to it unlike any other mushroom she had. While she munched on her snack, the pink ex-minion wrote Rainbow a question.



Where did you come from?



"Actually, I'm from a different world called Equestria," she answered, tossing the rest of the Mushroom into her mouth. As she chewed it, she was going to find it annoying constantly calling him "Shy Guy" over and over, especially when there were at least a thousand of them in that base alone. "Ok, if I'm going to talk to you or call out to you for something, I'm going to have to give you some kind of name so I don't confuse you with others wearing the same pink clothes as you. And, since you stand out really badly wearing that wig, I'm going to call you Wiggy." The newly named Shy Guy nodded his head, accepting the nickname around Rainbow. "And my name's Rainbow Dash."

Wiggy let out an excited noise as her name was like her hair as well. He wrote down another question and showed her.



Is your rainbow hair really like that?



She sighed, almost like she was dealing with another Scootaloo, even though she has no idea how old Wiggy is. "Yeah. It's all natural. Thank my dad for that, cause he also had rainbow hair too." After answering the question, Rainbow could swear she saw sparkles coming out of Wiggy's eyes from the mask. She was a little curious about what his face looked like and why they were called Shy Guys. "...So, uhh...why do you guys wear masks? Some sort of thing you guys always wear after a certain thing, reaching some age, or what?"

Wiggy let out an anxious noise, hesitating with his writing before showing what he would say.



I don't think you want to know.



"Aww, come on. What are you hiding under there? I can't not think about what your real face looks like." The Shy Guy groaned a little, but he pulled his mask up to sate the mare's curiosity. She immediately regretted it. "AHH! Sweet Celestia! Put it back on! Put it back!" Wiggy lowered his mask as Rainbow hyperventilated, afraid of falling asleep and having a nightmare of that image. "Ugh! No wonder you wear masks..." The pegasus shuddered, wishing Discord was around to wipe her memory of a Shy Guy's true face, Wiggy sounding like he was saying "I told you so" with the sounds he made. "I don't mean to be a jerk saying that, but...yeeeeesh!"



It doesn't bother us. But between us, I think General Guy's face is the worst. I didn't like him anyway. He hates what I like, and so do the others. Yet all of us dress up like a rainbow, but because we serve Bowser, we have to focus on taking over the Mushroom Kingdom.



"At least you quit...or, got kicked out. But that doesn't make you an enemy after you helped me out back there." Rainbow rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed by her cluelessness walking right into an enemy moral boosting seminar. "And trying to warn me as I went the wrong way." She looked down at her wings, flinching as she tried to move them, but they were still incredibly sore. She sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Well, looks like I'm going to have to wait a while until my wings can finally work again. Bowser did a really bad number on us...Mostly Mario."

With no choice but to lay low until the Shy Guys gave up trying to find her and her wings recovered from the painful jolts of electricity from the Star Rod, Rainbow began to figure out a plan to get out of here and find her friends. If she made it out, then they all should have as well, but after seeing Mario fall, she didn't think he made it after the beating and fire breath from Bowser knocking him out. While figuring out where she should fly in at sonic rainboom speeds to ram into the spiked Koopa, she felt Wiggy brushing her tail with a hairbrush, not surprisingly rainbow colored, sighing in defeat as she let him do what he wanted if it meant staying out of sight until she wasn't the enemy's number one priority.





Down to the southwest, where the docks in Toad Town are located, an island rests a few miles away from the mainland, called Lavalava Island. The jungle was thick with foliage with several different types of plants that grew there, many growing succulent fruits in the tropical island. The inhabitants that reside on the island are a village of dinosaurs called Yoshis, friendly reptiles that have long tongues to pick fruit from the branches, and if they need to defend themselves, snatch enemies with the appendage, swallow them, and turn them into eggs to use as projectile weapons against other dangerous ones. And the jungle is very dangerous, teeming with poisonous plants disguised as normal ones, Jungle Fuzzies, Shy Guy natives known as Jungle Guys, and Putrid Piranhas. What's worse is that the island also has a volcano called Mt. Lavalava, lava flowing out from deep inside that separated itself from the jungle, but thankfully it's dormant and hasn't erupted in many years.

In Yoshi Village, where the Yoshis safely live, the friendly dinosaurs went about their carefree lives, unaware of the problems going on in the mainland. The Yoshis skin are not scaly, their bodies actually quite smooth as they come in a variety of colors while their underbellies were white, the only form of accessory are shoes, and on their backs are a small red shell that's more like a saddle for anyone who would want to ride them. The adults went around the village collecting bundles of fruits, while the five young Yoshis, red, yellow, green, blue and purple the only colors the Yoshis are on the island, played in the village. The chief of the Yoshi village, a chubby green Yoshi wearing a feather on his head to show he is in command, sat on a smooth stone by a stone table around the entrance to their home, relaxing in the warm sun as he watched the waves lap up on the shore.

"Beautiful day out today," the chief said to himself. "Clear skies, calm waters, the dangerous wildlife remain in the jungle." He opened his mouth and shot his tongue out onto the table where some fruit rested for him to eat, grabbing a bunch of bananas with the bulbous end of his appendage, then quickly retracted it, munching on the whole bunch, peel, stem, and all. He swallowed and let out a sigh, patting his round belly. "And the fruit is good this year."

"Village leader!" He turned his head over to the other area of the village where their shop and Toad House is, another green Yoshi running up to the leader. "I think a star is falling from the sky!"

"A what?" the leader questioned. "It is the middle of the day. There are no stars out."

"Look up there!" The Yoshi pointed over to where Mt. Lavalava was, right above the slightly safer section of deep jungle.

The Yoshi leader looked up at the sky, his eyes growing wide as his Yoshi brother was telling the truth. A yellow light, not as bright as the sun, slowly hovered its way down to the ground.

"I will see what it is," the leader said, standing up from his seat. He may be a village leader and a little out of shape, but he was still a talented fighter. "Make sure the children stay in the village. When Sushi returns after visiting her daughter, bring yourself and one other if I don't return."

"Yes, leader!" The Yoshi chief made his way to where the star was going to land.

Knowing the children can get into a lot of trouble out of their curiosity from anything that catches their eye, he needed to make sure they wouldn't go out in the jungle or by the volcano. It's highly dangerous for them to be out there with the poisonous plants alone, along with the Jungle Guys and their spears. He reached the small patch of jungle, looking to his left when leaving the safety of the village, knowing what lies beyond the shrubbery after traversing the path many times, even as a young Yoshi. The leader arrived in time as the light fell through the leaves of the tall trees, which was actually a small sphere of yellow light than a star.

He kept his distance, keeping his eyes on the strange light as it hit the ground. It began shining brighter and grew bigger, blinding the tubby dinosaur as he rubbed his eyes. The light soon faded as Fluttershy appeared in the light's place, lying unconscious on the grass. The Yoshi leader opened his eyes, blinking the spots out of his vision when he spotted the pegasus taking the mysterious light's place. It wasn't like any of the common predators in the jungle, or anything from the inside of volcano where the Putrid Piranhas thrive in the hotter caverns.

"Hmm...What a strange creature..." The Yoshi carefully crept forward, his defensive instincts telling him to be wary if it was faking its slumber. Though, as he got a better look at the mare, she didn't seem to look hostile, noticing the three butterflies marked on her flank. Standing next to her, he leaned down and sniffed her long pink mane, smelling quite a lot of scents of other creatures on her, though they were faint. "Scents I cannot tell where they come from, but none from the jungle."

He moved down and lifted one of her forelegs, tracing his hands along her hooves, feeling no hidden claws. He then checked her wings, finding them odd on the unconscious pony, feeling the soft feathers like that of the one atop his head, though a little bigger in size and length. Fluttershy squirmed at his touch, but didn't wake, nearly startling the Yoshi when she moved. She was indeed not a threat, relaxing himself as he wondered what she was.

Seeing it was dangerous to be anywhere near this part of the jungle by the volcano, the village leader stuck out its tongue slowly, wrapping it around her barrel, and gently lifted her up onto his back. With her safely resting on the shell saddle on his back, forcing himself to bend forward to let her rest easily, he headed back into the village, getting her out of the dangers outside of their home. He found the rest of his village in front of the store with the Yoshi kids, the adults murmuring with worry about the horrible omen of the star falling on the island.

"Leader, what has happened?" a blue adult Yoshi asked.

"Is the island in danger!?" a red adult Yoshi asked in fear.

"Relax yourselves, my fellow Yoshis," the leader assured, turning his head to wrap Fluttershy's barrel with his tongue again, lifting her off his back and gently lowered her in front of his brethren. The Yoshis all gasped in awe, curious at the pegasus before them. "It was an odd magical light. And it transformed into a creature I have never seen. It is not hostile, and I believe it is sleeping."

While the adults stared at Fluttershy curiously, the five Yoshi kids stepped between their parents' legs to get a closer look. "Wow. It has wings!"

"But it's too big to have wings," the purple Yoshi kid said. "It's not a bird."

"Goombas and Koopas can have wings, and they're not birds," the red Yoshi kid said.

"It's got really long hair," the blue Yoshi kid said as he played with the mare's hair. "Oooh. It's soft." Fluttershy began to wake up, startling the young Yoshi. "Ahh! It's awake! It's gonna eat me!"

The Yoshi kids panicked as they screamed, the one playing with the mare's hair winding up tripping over his feet before scrambling back up and hiding behind his parents like his friends. These kids were also pretty bad listeners when their leader said she wasn't hostile, which is why they always give their babysitter, Sushi, a hard time. Fluttershy winced as she sat up, trying to remember what happened to her.

"Ow...Rainbow Dash, is that how it feels to get shocked by lightning?" she asked, surprising the Yoshis as she spoke. Hearing no response from her friend, she looked up, only to find a bunch of colorful dinosaurs surrounding her. She remembered she was stuck in the Mushroom Kingdom, and she was somewhere on a tropical island as she finally smelled the ocean air around her. She gasped as she looked at them, her eyes sparkling as her animal loving side took over. "Oh my gosh...You're so adorable!"

"It can speak," the leader said.

Fluttershy quickly stood up and approached one of the Yoshis and hugged one, making the others feel uncomfortable. "Oooh. No scales and you're all big, cuddly reptiles!"

"...Uhhhhh...Are you sure it isn't hostile, leader?" the hugged Yoshi asked as the pegasus began rubbing his belly. He yelped in surprise, but it began to feel really good as he began panting, his long tongue drooping out of his mouth as his legs gave out, laying on his back. "That feels niiiiiiiiiice..."

"You're such a good boy. Who's a good lizard?" Fluttershy cooed, the Yoshi's leg twitching at the attention his belly was receiving. She looked up and saw the yellow Yoshi kid watching her rubbing his dad's belly, gasping loudly and gushing at the sight of the cuter, younger dinosaur. "Oh! A baby one! Come here, little one!"

"Run away!" While Fluttershy chased the Yoshi kid to try to cuddle with him, the other Yoshis were a bit skeptical of their leader's observation of the pegasus being docile.

The adult Yoshi noticed the belly rubbing stopped, quickly sitting up with an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. "...I-It overpowered me. Caught me off guard..."

"Are you sure it is docile?" the green Yoshi who spotted the light questioned the tubby one as they watched the pegasus finally snatch the Yoshi kid up and snuggled it, squirming in her hooves to try to escape.

"Not with any physical features on it. Or rather, her," the leader responded. He approached Fluttershy, too busy cuddling with the yellow Yoshi kid as she pet his head. "Excuse me." She turned around to look at the leader, but before she could "attack" him with belly rubs or hugs, he took the startled Yoshi kid out of her hooves, letting him down as he ran back to his father. "I understand your fascination for us Yoshis, but we are not pets."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Fluttershy apologized. "I've never seen creatures like you before, and I love all kinds of animals...except dragons. They can be scary."

"...Yes. You are new to us as well," he said. "Who are you, winged one?"

"I'm Fluttershy. I'm a pegasus," she said. "And you said you are...Yoshis?"

"Correct. We are a peaceful species, and though your guess on our species is half right, we are not lizards. We are dinosaurs, but our favorite food are fruits that are grown by the trees in our village," the leader explained. "What do 'pegasus' eat for nutrition?"

"I'm a vegetarian, so I'm not dangerous, if you were worried about that." The Yoshi leader chuckled at her statement, finding it ironic that she was dangerous when excited about cuddling with his fellow Yoshis. Fluttershy looked around the quaint little village, suddenly noticing her friends weren't here too. "Umm, did you...see any other ponies who are like me? O-Only, some without wings, or having horns on their heads?"

"There are more of you?" he asked. "Where are you from?"

"W-Well...I'm not from this world," she explained. "My friend tried using a spell to take us somewhere, but it sent us to this world when it...went out of control." Realizing that her friends weren't here, the pegasus began to tear up as she also recalled what had happened back in Princess Peach's castle. "M-My friends...W-We got hurt...A-And..."

Fluttershy collapsed to the ground and began to cry, fearing she would never see any of her friends again. The Yoshis had no idea what had happened to her, but they felt bad seeing her this upset. The Yoshi leader lowered himself down, pulling the sobbing pegasus into a comforting embrace. She cried against his chest as he gently pat her back. Even though she was a different species, she was still lost in a world she knew nothing of from powerful magic the Yoshis couldn't comprehend.

After Fluttershy had calmed down a while later, she was treated as if she were a member of their tribe, making her feel comfortable after the traumatic experience she had gone through. It did help to have her fit in with the peaceful, fruit eating dinosaurs, wishing she could take care of one back in Equestria if it weren't for the fact they were able to talk. Even the Yoshi kids warmed up to her when they now realized she wasn't dangerous and can't eat them when they saw her flat teeth when she sampled their island's fruit.

When the pegasus and leader finally had some time alone at his stone table, the pudgy Yoshi asked Fluttershy what happened before she woke up in the mysterious light he investigated. Sadly, she told him everything after Bowser struck them and they all lost consciousness. The leader was incredibly shocked to hear the unfortunate news across the mainland, and disheartened by Mario's fate. He didn't believe the plumber was truly gone, knowing he had fought Bowser several times and survived many dangerous traps and roadblocks to save the princess. Thankfully, the other villagers were back to going about their business, not wanting them to worry and go into a panic.

"...So, things are not well across the seas." The Yoshis do hear word about the news over in the Mushroom Kingdom when Paratroopa mail carriers brought them letters from previous visitors or any new events, but nothing as drastic as this. "I am so sorry you had lost your friends, Fluttershy." She didn't say anything, nibbling on a slice of watermelon from the pile of fruit laid out for them. "But, if you had come from a ball of light safely from this...strange magic from your world, they must be out in the kingdom somewhere."

"Do you think so?" she asked.

"It must be true," he said. "Bowser is a dangerous creature, to others and himself. You and your friends escaped and survived. But Mario...I do not believe he is gone. When Princess Peach is ever in danger, he will stop at nothing to rescue her, even until his dying breath." The Yoshi shot his tongue out and snatched a watermelon. Fluttershy's eyes nearly popping out in surprise as she watched the very dextrous tongue wrap around the round fruit, pulled it into his mouth, then swallowed it whole. The fascinating way the friendly dinosaurs eat was really incredible, his cheeks bulging after seeing how wide their mouths can open before swallowing, and without chewing. "Times may be bad now, but Bowser will be beaten."

"Oh, I don't know," Fluttershy said. "He was invincible. Not even our magic could break through..."

"Even the mightiest of foes in the world have a weakness, no matter how invulnerable they may be," the leader said. "It is what I had learned as a hatchling by my father, the former leader, and I followed in his footsteps. Our jungle is teeming with danger, so any foe we face, we must stand and defend ourselves from threats, no matter how powerful." Fluttershy nodded, knowing many different villains back home who were powerful, but in the end, they had failed as she and her friends helped save the day. "But, since our island is quite dangerous, it is best to remain here in the village for now."

"Right...If my friends really are ok, then maybe they'll come and find me. I'm not much of a fighter, but I do what I can to help anypony...but nothing with dragons." Fluttershy finished her slice of watermelon, placing down the hard shell as she spat out the seeds. She watched the Yoshi grab another piece of fruit with his tongue, snatching some grapes and eating the whole thing, including the vine. "Umm, do you Yoshis worry about choking?"

He shook his head as he swallowed his mouthful. "We Yoshis can swallow any yummy fruit without choking. And, if we need to against predators in the jungle for more fruit to gather, we can swallow our enemies and turn them into eggs as a means to defend ourselves from further threats."

Fluttershy's jaw dropped in awe. "Wait...MALE Yoshis can lay eggs!?"

"It's not like eggs when we reproduce with a mate," the leader explained further. "The enemy is actually trapped inside the egg, but they cannot break out until we throw them, knocking out two with one shot." He puffed out his chest and sucked in his gut with pride. "In my younger days, I was quite the brave warrior with perfect accuracy."

That had peeked the animal loving pegasus's curiosity, never in all her life ever seeing a male anything lay an egg. She got her wish when a yellow ball of fuzz bounced into the village from the entrance, its eyes wide and pupils looking around with an open mouth with only a few teeth. The Jungle Fuzzy made a weird sound that got both of their attention as it lunged at the pegasus. Fluttershy gasped as it was about to land on her, but the village leader shot his tongue out, the bulbous end sticking onto the Fuzzy like glue, screaming in fear as it was pulled into the Yoshi's mouth.

Fluttershy panted, grateful for the save as she turned to look at the village leader. She watched his cheeks bulge and ripple, the Fuzzy desperate to escape while he kept his lips shut. He then swallowed the dangerous creature, then bent forward and lifted his tail, where a loud popping sound came out as he grunted, a white egg with green spots landing right behind him. He lifted the egg up and showed the stunned pegasus, her jaw practically hitting the ground in amazement, watching the egg shift around as the Jungle Fuzzy tried to break free.

"...Wow," was all she could say, now feeling like Twilight and wishing she had something to write with to learn everything and anything about Yoshis.

"Yes, it is amazing, though the process can be hard with bigger foes," the leader said, patting his belly. "It takes more force to lay out those eggs, which are quite big. With fruit, it goes right to our tummies. Against predators who wish to harm us, they pass through and get turned to eggs."

He reared his arm back, aimed the egg out of the village, and threw it far until it disappeared from sight. A moment later, Fluttershy heard a popping sound in the distance when the egg hit the ground, sounding like a firework. She turned back around the Yoshi leader dusting off his hands, then sat back down after taking care of  the threat.

"...I want to know more about Yoshis," Fluttershy uttered in fascination, wondering what else they can do.





Out in the northwestern area of the Mushroom Kingdom, far secluded from the rest of the major towns was a land that was filled with flora as far as the eye could see. Flowers, trees, ivy, vines, thorns, everything there were alive, and quite literally too with a few of their inhabitants. Some of the flowers there were able to talk and communicate, though the only mobile flora of this area, called Flower Fields, were strangely faced creatures called Bub-ulbs, different colored flowers on their heads, big noses on their faces, and can walk on a short pair of feet.

Unfortunately, as soon as Bowser had taken the Star Spirits, the land was already being taken over. Clouds covered the land, thick and heavy as they blocked away any sunlight, Flower Fields having their own personal, living sun to bring warmth to the flora below. Because of how thick the clouds were, the sun cannot breach through and bring light to the now dreary land. What's worse is that the Koopa King's subordinates are causing the cloudy sky, while also terrorizing the living flowers down below.

Out in the northeastern section from the main area of Flower Fields, Bowser's minions watched over a machine that was creating these clouds, filled with all assorted levers and buttons with several flashing lights, the exhaust on the end forming the thick clouds. Standing watch over the device, as well as perform any maintenance on it, a Magikoopa wearing a yellow robe watched as cloud-riding turtles, called Lakitu, made sure the device was working. The Lakitu were small, wearing big glasses, the shells of each one vary in color like a Koopa Troopa's natural born shell, and the white, fluffy clouds they rode had two eyes and a mouth. The clouds matched the expressions of their tiny turtle owners, having a symbiotic relationship as they also stored the Lakitu's means of attacking their victims down below: an endless supply of red spiked eggs they toss down, which can also turn into creatures called Spinies.

One of the Lakitu were different compared to the others, having longer green hair than the other three's three strands on their heads, while also wearing a pair of shades in place of glasses. "Ok, man. You can handle working for that giant ball of fluff for a bit longer. Do it for Lakilulu, bro. For your girl."

"Will you quit muttering to yourself, Lakilester?" one of the Lakitu said.

"Hey, I can talk to myself if I want to!" Lakilester shouted.

"Quit your bickering!" the Magikoopa ordered. "Unless the Puff Puff Machine is still in working order, then keep making sure it's working right!"

"It's already done," the annoyed Lakitu grumbled. "The thing was working fine yesterday when we tested it, and it's still working after we moved it."

"Well, you Lakitu are pretty poor mechanics when it comes to this thing breaking down every hour!" Lakilester growled, his cloud holding the same angry glare as he did. "Don't look at me like that, or I'll have your boss take away that little cloud of yours!"

His cloud made a look of surprise and shook in fright. Lakilester muttered under his breath, calming his mount down, hating working for his boss in the area, as well as Bowser since he works for the Koopa King. After finishing the last of the maintenance on the Puff Puff Machine, back to spurting out thick clouds once the right button and lever inputs were made.

"There we go! Back to normal!" another Lakitu said, letting out a sigh of relief. "No idea what the heck's happening to it. It's like someone's trying to bust it up when we leave it alone."

"Then we're going to have twenty-four hour shifts to make sure we don't have any wild creatures in this place break it!" The Lakitu groaned in annoyance at the Magikoopa's orders, being a higher rank above them with his magical prowess. Suddenly, they saw something bright up in the sky, looking up to see something orange sink through the thick clouds. "What the-!? Hey! You cloud riding louts said this was supposed to cover the entire land with dark clouds! Why is there light shining through!? Is it broken again!?"

"I don't think that's sunlight," Lakilester said, pressing his shades up closer to his eyes. "I'm wearing shades, and I can tell if that's from the sun in this place. That's something else entirely."

"Then, what is it?" one of the Lakitu asked.

"...It feels like...magic," the Magikoopa said, though even he sounded a bit unsure of his guess.

The orange sphere gently floated down in front of the five minions, all of them ready to face whatever it was that was inside of it. It hit the ground, grew bigger and shined even brighter. The shadeless Lakitu quickly shut their eyes, along with the clouds and the Magikoopa, but Lakilester continued watching thanks to his green tinted sunglasses. His jaw dropped as he saw the large sphere disappear from top to bottom, leaving behind a four legged creature never before seen in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"What the heck?" he muttered, guiding his blinded cloud forward to get closer to Applejack.

"What was that!?" the Magikoopa asked, taking off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"No idea. I think it's...some kind of animal," Lakilester said. He noticed the trio of red apples on her flank, blonde mane and tail tied into a ponytail, and saw it also had a stetson hat on her head. "It's wearing a hat and has a tattoo of some apples on its rear."

As soon as their sight returned, the others approached and surrounded the mare. One of the Lakitu picked up her hat and put it on, too big for it to stay on his head, or his cloud.

"Cool! Free hat!" he said.

"It doesn't even fit you," one of the other Lakitu said.

The Magikoopa examined Applejack, humming in thought. "Maybe we can tame this animal to watch over the Puff Puff Machine. Doesn't look like it's magical like that light...but it's got some muscle on it."

As he went to feel the earth pony's legs, Applejack was stirred awake from the poking. "Ugh...what happened?" The mage leapt back in surprise as she spoke, pulling out his wand underneath his robes to attack if it attacked them first. She sat up on her haunches, rubbing her head as she groaned from getting electrocuted, opening her eyes in shock as she didn't feel her hat. "Where's mah hat?"

"It talks!?" the five minions asked simultaneously, the Lakitu clouds mouths hung upon in shock.

Looking past the flowery landscape to see the four Lakitu and Magikoopa staring at her. "...Where am Ah?" She spotted one of the Lakitu wearing her hat, leering at the thief as she stood up. "Hey! That's mah hat!"

The Lakitu that took her hat off himself, but kept hold of it. "It's my hat now, animal."

"Oh, y'all did not just call me that." She ran forward and leapt up to the Lakitu, ramming him off his cloud and took back her hat.

"Get that thing!" the Magikoopa shouted, aiming his wand at the mare and firing a spell at her, looking like a magical aura with a blue square, a yellow circle, and a red triangle flying in one direction.

Applejack made a run for it, avoiding the attacking spell as the Lakitu chased after her. They pulled out their Spiny eggs from their clouds and threw them at the mare, missing their mark by mere inches as she zigzagged down the path. There were gaps she leapt over, which had sharp thorn bushes below that could really hurt if she didn't make it. She decided to take it safer by going through the hollow logs laid out for those who weren't able to fly, making her way into one, but stopped for a moment. One of the Lakitu thought it was a good idea to chase after her through it, only to get bucked hard, sending him and his cloud flying into the other unnamed Lakitu, knocking the both of them out. She kept on running, Lakilester groaning and rolling his eyes, chasing after the runaway mare on his own.

"Them varmints ain't that smart," Applejack chuckled at her plan. She quickly yelped as she saw a longer gap up ahead filled to the brim with sharp thorns, skidding to a halt as she stopped by the edge. "Whoa...Ah ain't makin' that jump."

She spotted platforms that were safe to walk across, though they were differently colored and were set at different heights, an odd looking bridge if she ever saw one. Just as she was about to run across, Lakilester flew down in front of her path, holding a Spiny egg in his hand.

"Not another step!" he warned. Applejack tried to buck him, but the sunglasses wearing Lakitu was smarter than his comrades, flying back and chucking his egg at her back hooves. She yelped as the sharp egg struck, a couple of the spikes hitting one of her hooves badly, making her hiss in pain as she couldn't put pressure on it. She could run, and she couldn't strike back with her powerful bucking, even though her opponent could avoid her through the air. "Look, I don't want to hurt you! Just don't run off!"

"Can't exactly do that now that ya hit mah hoof with that spiky ball!" Applejack exclaimed, limping backwards as Lakilester got closer. "Who are ya and where am Ah?"

"I can't tell you that," he said, pulling out another Spiny egg. "Just come quietly. You won't get far when I can fly. How you got here is what I want to know. You just came down from a ball of light, passing through the thick clouds from the Puff Puff Machine, and then you just appeared in its place."

"What?" As Applejack tried to figure out why she was some kind of light, she remembered Bowser attacking them when they were in their rainbow forms. Looking up at the thick clouds, finding no sign of the sun, or any sunlight for that matter, she figured the Lakitu and Magikoopa were working with Bowser, especially when she first saw the mage in yellow. "So, y'all work for that no good monster, Bowser, huh?"

"Yeah..." Lakilester looked down at his cloud, the fluffy mass looking up in confusion, unable to supply him answers. "How does something like you know about him when you don't even look like you're even from around here?"

"Because mah friends and Ah fought him after he beat Mario, zapped him out of the castle from the sky, and zapped us next until he almost killed us!" The Lakitu and his cloud's mouths dropped open, surprised to hear something like her survived getting attacked by Bowser now that he has the Star Rod. "So, if any of y'all work for him, ya ain't friendly. Now, get out of mah way. Ah need to find mah friends, then figure out how Ah'm gonna buck that no good dragon hard into the ceiling!"

"There are others like you?" Lakilester began having second thoughts about taking Applejack in. He hated following orders from Bowser, or his boss here in Flower Fields who would threaten to take his cloud from him, but when she said the Koopa King actually did beat Mario, then there was no hope for him and his girlfriend to quit working for him. And if Applejack and her other friends fought Bowser and lived, they could be in serious trouble if he put out a wanted list on them. He spotted his Lakitu allies approaching them, putting away his Spiny egg and pointed at an arch on the sides that would keep her hidden. "Quick, hide under there!"

"What?" Taking no time to waste, Lakilester flew up and shoved the mare, forgetting about her injured hoof. "Ah! What the hay-!?"

"Sorry, but just stay there until I say so!" Having no idea why the Lakitu suddenly had a change in his ways, Applejack just went along with it as she limped under the flowery roof of the arched building.

Lakilester quickly flew up, making sure she was hidden well as the other Lakitu arrived. "Lakilester! Where'd it go!?"

"I don't know," he lied. "It moved too fast. It's somewhere in Flower Fields, but I'm pretty sure it's long gone by now."

"Aww man," one of the Lakitu whined. "And I lost my cool hat to that animal, too."

"You need a better taste in headgear, dude," one of the other unnamed minions said to the upset Lakitu.

"Hey, you guys head back to the Puff Puff Machine," Lakilester suggested. "I'll keep looking for that creature."

"And my hat!" Lakilester stared blankly at his ally, his cloud making the same face to show his Lakitu's eyes hidden under his glasses.

"...Yes. And your hat." They soon left and headed back to the machine, Lakilester groaning in annoyance as he lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. As soon as they were out of sight, he hovered back down to the ground. "Ok, it's clear."

Applejack limped out from her hiding place, surprised to see her pursuer lied to his partners and helped her. "Why did ya help me? Y'all were supposed to take me in, weren't ya?"

"Yeah, I know...but I just can't take working for Bowser anymore," he said. "I was actually hoping Mario would trounce him and force everyone else back to his kingdom...but, when you said you, your other friends, and Mario failed, I don't think there's any hope for me and my girlfriend to quit working for that Koopa anymore."

"Then why don't y'all just quit?" Applejack asked.

Lakilester looked up at the clouds, knowing that his other boss was somewhere up in the thick clouds, hoping he wasn't watching him. His cloud buddy shook violently, terrified of the thought of being taken or destroyed. Applejack saw the cloud, feeling bad for the fluffy little thing as it was alive, the Lakitu patting the surface to ease him.

"Because my other boss up there will take my cloud away," he said. "My girl, Lakilulu, and I went to find work, and we wound up drafted in Bowser's Lakitu army...which is what I am, by the way...Sorry for the Spiny egg to the foot, too."

"...Ah'll forgive ya, but only 'cause you're sparin' me," she said, not fully trusting the Lakitu yet, but just enough to hear him out. "So, what's goin' on around here? Are there any other ponies like me around here?"

"The second question, I have no clue," Lakilester said, getting a little info on what Applejack was. "Didn't know there were others like you here too, but not in Flower Fields. Nothing but a lot of flowers that live here. And to answer the first question, we're...cutting out the sunlight and ruining the land with endless clouds for the boss ordering us around here."

"Y'all are destroyin' this place?" The Lakitu sadly nodded his head. Applejack growled and stomped a front hoof to the ground, just seeing this place being destroyed feels like she was watching her own orchard back home being run down. "Whoever your leader is here, he can't just destroy nature like this. It just ain't right!"

"I know, but right now, I don't have much of a choice for anything. I've even been trying to sabotage the Puff Puff Machine since we moved it here, but that thing's always being checked on, so my plan is clearly screwed." Lakilester floated his cloud, making it sit on the ground as he sighed and leaned his head against his arms. "And the Mushroom Kingdom's gonna be taken over with Bowser having that Star Rod. The kingdom's finally lost to him after so many tries."

"So y'all are just gonna give up like that?" Applejack questioned, limping up to the pessimistic Lakitu. "There's no way that cheatin' turtle will win. If Ah'm safe, then maybe mah friends are as well. Help me find mah friends, and we can find a way to take that Star Rod away from Bowser and save everypony!"

"I can't leave this place, either, otherwise bye-bye cloud," he argued, his cloud nodding his head in agreement with a sad face. "And if your foot heals up, you can't get out of this area on land. Flower Fields is in a secluded part of the kingdom, and there's no way in or out unless you fly from above. Even if I could take you out, I can't exactly fly high with any extra weight; just levitate over dangerous obstacles, like those thorns down there."

Applejack raised a brow at his last statement. More specifically at the fact he could carry someone else on his cloud, even though she did wonder how it held him up. From her world, only pegasi could walk on clouds unless a cloud walking spell was given to her, but this world had so many different things about it that confused her. She wanted to find her friends, but with nowhere to escape from Flower Fields and with how dangerous Bowser's soldiers were here, she had no choice but to stay put where she won't get caught and wait for help. If it will come.

"So, Ah really am stuck here now, huh?" she asked. With a sigh, she poked the cloud, getting both it and Lakilester's attention. "Ya sure this here cloud can actually hold me? Or even keep me on it?"

"Yeah. I mean, you don't look that heavy." Lakilester blanched at his words, his cloud's jaw dropping in shock as it quickly shook its head. "I-I mean, I'm not saying you're fat or anything! It's just that-I mean what I'm trying to say-!"

"Ah get what you're sayin'," Applejack said. "Don't get all panicky over makin' fun of how much Ah weigh. Compared to ya'll, Ah'm probably thirty times yours."

"Uhh...R-Right...It's just, I did end up getting Lakilulu mad one time saying something I shouldn't have, and she hailed me with Spiny eggs like a thunder storm." He shuddered at the scary moment. "I learned to never, ever tick a girl off by saying something about them, otherwise you'll end up getting a Spiny egg up your butt."

"Well, good thing ya got somepony special keepin' ya on your hooves," Applejack chuckled.

"I think you mean 'someone'," Lakilester corrected. "Anyway, just climb on up. I'll get you across the thorns and drop you off by the main area of this place. It's a lot safer there, and with your orange and yellow hair, you might be able to hide in the flower fields in the Flower Fields...Well, unless that butt tattoo of yours is sticking out."

"It's called a cutie mark," Applejack corrected as she climbed on, surprised to actually stand on it.

"'Cutie mark'? Sounds a bit too girly for my taste." He began moving as soon as Applejack was settled behind him, carefully dropping down on the large gap of thorns past the misaligned platform bridge. "I'd rather call it a tattoo, since it's more manly." After getting across, the earth pony carefully climbed off Lakilester's cloud, keeping the weight off her back hoof. "Ok. There we go. Just head down that way and you'll be safe."

"Thanks, Lakilester," Applejack thanked. "Oh. And mah name's Applejack."

"...Huh. Guess that makes sense with those tattoos." The mare rolled her eyes, ignoring what he called her cutie marks. "Well, see ya...And, if I end up running into you again with the other guys, we're enemies...At least, until I can find a way to get myself out of this mess."

"Alright, then." Lakilester waved good-bye and flew back off to "search" for her. Applejack limped off to the safer part of Flower Fields, finding a large tree close by on her right, a doorway of sorts on the front of it, and a few Bub-ulbs wandering about the few big fields of yellow flowers, which she could hide in to camouflage herself if she laid down and took off her hat. There were several other pathways leading to more of the fields, but she didn't want to go too far. Her stomach rumbled, needing to find some food to eat. "Ah wonder if there's somethin' around here that's edible and doesn't have a face."

"There is a red berry tree that lies on the eastern path from here that may sate your hunger." Applejack yelped at the mysterious voice, accidentally stepping down with her bad leg and wincing in pain. She looked around, but couldn't find who it was that spoke. "Over here, mysterious creature."

She turned her head to the tree, a pair of eyes looking at her that she didn't notice before. "...Either Ah've gone crazy, or Ah'm seein' eyes on a tree."

"No, you are quite sane," the tree said, making the mare unsure if she should scream in panic or be fascinated that a tree talked to her. "I sensed a new presence out in these fields, something that wasn't as cruel as Bowser's minions destroying this land. I am the elder tree of Flower Fields, Wise Wisterwood."

"...Uhh, Applejack," she introduced herself. "...Ah'm actually talkin' to a tree...Maybe mah brother was right. Ah need a long vacation away from the orchard for a while...Then again, Ah'm in another world, so does that even count?" Her growling stomach snapped her out of her tangent, taking the elder tree's advice and get herself some food. "Ok. Food first, then talk to the talkin' tree."

"Be wary of the paths," Wisterwood warned. "There are some dangerous creatures that may attack you, and with your injured limb, it can be hard to defend yourself."

"Right. Ah'll be careful, Wise Wisterwood." She began to head down the eastern path, only to stop and look back at the large tree. "Hey, wait. How'd ya even know Ah could fight back?"

"Being connected to Flower Fields for so long, I can sense the ground around me for many miles," he explained. "The feeling of your running from trouble caught my attention along with the light I spotted northeast of me. And no need to tell me of the details of your troubles. I heard you yelling beyond the field of thorns where those dark clouds keep appearing."

"...Ok. Guess that saves me the trouble of some explainin'." Her stomach rumbled again, demanding food immediately. "Ah'm gonna eat, then hopefully get back sooner if mah hoof heals up a little by then."

Applejack hobbled her way down to the east path to get herself some of those berries Wise Wisterwood told her about, desperate for some food. She hoped her friends made it out ok and were safe, and began thinking of what to do to help save this botanical land from being polluted by these dark clouds from the Puff Puff Machine she did see when she woke up earlier.