//------------------------------//
// Chapter 20 
// Story: Mario & Luigi: Of Ponies and Plumbers 
// by EverSoNitro 
//------------------------------//

The battle in the library was soon underway, as Bowser Jr. quickly tucked into his shell and bolted at Mario. He was easily batted away with the plumber’s hammer, though he pulled an abrupt u-turn as he was sent spinning away and targeted the other brother instead. Luigi was caught off-guard, and the kiddy Koopa prince bowled him over, before he returned to his position across the room. Moving quickly, Mario called over Twilight, and the purple pony magically made him grow, whereupon he leapt up and unleashed a massive tremor which knocked Junior off his feet. By the same token, Luigi called over Rarity, who tore a collection of gems out from the ground, providing a staircase for him to ascend and leap off the top, sending a bolt of lightning crashing down upon the brat below.

As Luigi returned to his position at Mario’s side (after bouncing off of Junior’s skull), the little prince was sent into a tantrum. “No fair!” he whined as he stomped around on the ground. “How come you jerks get horses and I don’t?!” He growled, and shouted at the brothers. “Give ‘em, they’re mine!” Before they could stop him, Junior charged right past them, and roughly seized Rarity, wrestling and dragging her over as she struggled against him.

“Unhand be you ruffian!” She shouted out, kicking out and biting at him. Unfortunately, his scaly hide proved difficult to bite through and inflict pain.

“Do that thing with the gems, now!” Junior commanded, tugging on her tail. With a yelp, Rarity’s horn involuntarily lit up, five or six red and green gems being ripped up from the ground.  With another tug, the gems were sent hurtling at Mario and Luigi one by one, though they managed to smack them away with their hammers. The gems smacked Junior instead, causing him to lose his grip on Rarity, letting her run back to the group.

Mario and Luigi both made their counterattacks, and Junior was livid again, a deep red glow building in his mouth. He spat a pair of fireballs at Mario and Luigi, and they nimbly avoided them with a jump each. Not through with his assault, he ran past and seized Twilight this time, dragging her back as she kicked and protested. He tugged roughly on her tail, and her horn sparked red, sending a bolt of magic at Mario, which he was struck by. Another tug and she sparked green this time, a bolt hurtling at Luigi a split second later, though he managed to leap over it just in time. Twilight managed to teleport out of his grip a moment later, going back to the brothers and her friends.

Eventually, after many traded blows, Junior was beaten into submission, the group panting a bit as they collected themselves.

“What do we do now?” Rainbow Dash said. “That jerk stole the elements, there’s no way we can fight him now!”

“We’ll just have to come up with another plan,” Twilight said, pacing about, looking rather frazzled. “Come on, think, Twilight, think! The princesses are counting on you!” She whined and paced a bit more as she worried herself, as everyone watched, before Mario went over and stopped her, pulling her into a comforting hug. He said a few comforting words, and Twilight sighed. “I guess you’re right,” Twilight said. “I’m not doing myself any favors getting wound up like this.” She took a deep breath and sighed again. “We just need to calmly step back and-“

Twilight was cut off as the ground began to violently shake, sending everyone tumbling about everywhere. “Earthquake!” Twilight shouted. “Everyone brace yourselves, quick!”

Everyone quickly braced themselves as instructed, but just as suddenly as it started, the earthquake stopped with a violent crashing thud. Everyone exchanged uneasy looks, before Applejack chimed in.

“How much y’all wanna bet Discord had somethin’ to do with this?” After a moment, they decided to exit the library and inspect the damage themselves. Upon exiting the library, however, a terrible and confusing sight beheld the eight heroes.
Ponyville was no longer decorated with the thick forest backdrop that the Everfree Forest provided. Instead, surrounding the town were five entirely different locales of clashing climate. A few were familiar to the ponies; the swampy terrain of Froggy Bottom Bogg, the flat desert plane that led to Appleoosa, and the wooded trail leading through White Tail Woods. However, two others, a lush tropical jungle and a tall, snow-covered mountain, were completely foreign to the ponies. Mario and Luigi, however, were quick to recognize them, and quickly informed the others.

“Cool, Cool Mountain? Yoshi’s Island?” Twilight said. She promptly took out an atlas of the Mushroom Kingdom, acting on a hunch. Sure enough, the two locales showed up on the kingdom map, and Twilight gulped a bit.

“Everyone, I think I know what’s happened…” Twilight said. “Discord’s completely mashed Equestria and the Mushroom Kingdom together!”

As everyone looked about, still in shock at the sight that beheld them, a note floated down in their midst. Twilight was quick to scoop it up, and everyone gathered together as she read aloud.

“Dear pesky ponies,” Twilight read. “Do you like what I’ve done with the place? I figured it would be so much more convenient to rule if the kingdoms were a lot closer together. It’s a bit slap-shod right now, sure, but I’ll be sure to smooth it out once I deal with you all.

“Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what’s happened to your little toys, the Elements of Harmony. While I could just keep them here with me, I can’t have you all pounding on my door to get them. So, I figured it’d be a lot more fun to watch you scurry around my new kingdom looking for them. As for what’s where, I thought it’d be fun to put it in the form of a little riddle. So, here it is:

“Past the deep jungle where the dinosaurs roam,
The cross-kingdom junction’s where Kindness calls home.
The wild west to your east holds a familiar face,
And Honestly, the place after is a scary fun place.
Climb, climb, climb the slippery hill,
But if you don’t have wings at the peak, you’re in for a Generous spill.
The thick, dreary marsh may spook you to your core,
But Loyalty lies after, amid an explosive war.
The autumn leaves fall so beautiful and slow,
But if you want a good Laugh, the busy city after is where you want to go.
These twists and turns aren’t quite my master plan,
But if you want your Magic, head back where you began.”

Twilight lowered the note, and looked among everyone, who in turn looked amongst each other.

Pinkie grimaced a bit. “That wasn’t a very good riddle, was it?” She said. “I mean, he pretty much just said where we need to go.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m a bit thankful for that, Pinkie. The question is, where do we go first?”

Everyone looked around at the five paths before them, trying to decide where they should head off to first.


Atuhor's Nose: Story progression will now be turned over to you, the reader! Simply vote in the comments below for which area you think the group should head to first!