//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga // by Alkem //------------------------------// Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga Chapter 3 In the depths of what once was the Everfree Forest, the odd team up of a pony and Koopa continued on with their odd quest. "So what's the deal with this place?" Pinkie Pie asks, playing with a toy airplane as she traveled alongside Bowser. Traversing deep into Everfree Forest, after a run in with some old friends, the two of them stumbled upon a portion of the woods the likes of which Pinkie Pie had never seen. Bowser, on the other hand, had a sneaking suspicion to where they may be. He scanned the area, observing building block structures all over the place as they continued walking. "Well it isn't exactly the same. I mean those blocks and toys are familiar, but I don't remember seeing trees in the Toy box," he said, pointing to some trees in the distance. "Everfree Toy box?" Hearing her say that, Bowser turned to see Pinkie Pie looking up at a sign post. His jaw dropped. "You've gotta be kidding me… " Pinkie scratched her head, looking at the post. "That's funny; I always thought this was the Everfree forest." As they both examined the sign, a familiar voice echoed to them. "Oh it was Pinkie Pie. But thanks to some improvements, I figured a name change was appropriate." "Show yourself freak!" Bowser growled. "Settle down turtle. I've got other things on my plate right now then keeping you two company. At the very least I wanted to welcome you two." "What did you do to the forest?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I've done? Oh no-no-no, well not exactly. This was actually at the request of my new minion. Though I have to say I'm loving the new look. Honestly Bowser, you must come from a very fun world if this sort of thing is normal," Discord's voice said as Bowser stood there, grinding his teeth. "Judging from that sour look on your face, you know exactly who I'm talking about. Well I won't hold you up any longer. In the mean time I've got a little nuisance of my own to deal with. Ciao." Deeper into the Everfree Toy box, the two travelers noticed more and more trees. Pinkie Pie ran over to a few of them that caught her attention. "Hey Bowsie take a look at this," she said, waving him over. Walking up, he saw that tree in question had a deep cut on its side that went about halfway through. Bowser turned his head to the trees nearby. "All these trees have the same cut." Pinkie ran over, checking out the other trees. "You're right. It looks like somepony was cutting them down. But why would they stop half way?" As the two pondered what could possibly be responsible, something walked out from behind one of the trees. The small figure walked to one of the trees and picked up a tree saw laying on the ground. Pinkie happened to turn and see the red hooded creature, which stood up to her thigh, as it lifted up the cutting tool. She smiled, waving at the little guys. "Hello." "Huh?" Bowser said, turning around to see who she was talking to. Their eyes met. "Aaaaaahh!" The little creature took off screaming. Pinkie and Bowser gave chase behind the high pitched screaming. "After that Shy Guy!" Bowser yelled. Right on his tail, Pinkie followed Shy Guy through the trees, his screams echoed through the trees. Bowser fell behind, getting jumbled up by the combination of trees, blocks and toys scattered throughout the ground. "Didn't anyone teach you Shy Guys to put away your toys when you're done playing with them?" he grumbled. Further ahead, Pinkie was still right on his tail as they ran into a clearing. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Shy Guy cried. In his panic, the little guy didn't notice he what was approaching. *Skreeeeeeee* "Aaaaaaaa—" The vehicle couldn't stop in time, whacking the poor little thing. Pinkie gasped, stopping dead in her tracks. Her jaw dropped as she watched Shy Guy lying on the ground with his little brown foot twitching. The vehicle, a combination of toy blocks put together with four wheels on the side, stopped right before the fallen creature. A latch at the top of the contraption opened up. "Private, what is the meaning of this? Why are there still trees all over the place? I ordered that every tree needed to be taken down. How else I'm I going to drive around?" said the grey robed Shy Guy wearing patches on each shoulder and a gold medal with a red ribbon on it that popped out. The Shy Guy below, jumping to his feet, turned to the one on the tank and saluted. "Yes sir. Sorry General Guy sir. We were given an order to halt, sir. The General tilted his white peaked hat up as he looked down at him. "On who's order?" "Colonel Shy, sir." "Carry on, private," he sighed. "If she gave the order, I have no choice then." "There's just one problem, sir." General guys stared down at him. "And what's that private?" He turned to his left and pointed over to Pinkie Pie, who had been listening the entire time. General Guy leaned back, unaware that she had been there the entire time. Before he could say anything, he heard the rumbling sounds of an exhausted Bowser stumbling into the open field. The General shifted his view between the pony and the heavy breathing Koopa. "A pink pony with a giant ugly turtle." "Hey!" Bowser snapped. "Yup. Exactly as Discord described," said General Guy. "What should we do sir?" asked the private. Hey sat there, placing his hand to his bottom of his mask. "Hmmm… " They all stared at him, quietly waiting for his reply. "Tactical retreat!" he hollered as he took off in reverse at high speeds, leaving the private behind who started running after him "Wait for me!" Surprised, Pinkie started galloping after them. "Come on Bowsie, we gotta catch him," said Pinkie, looking over to the exhausted Koopa. Rolling along the beaten path, the little Shy Guy was clinging onto the front edge of the tank as it made its escape. "General! Their gaining on us!" Popping out of his hatch General Guy turned back to see. "How is that even possible? There's no way that turtle can keep up." He was shocked to see the pink pony, running atop a giant green spiked ball that was barreling towards them. He reached inside, his hand trembling, as he pushed a button. "Whoa!" Shy Guy cried, as the sudden bust in speed almost caused him to lose his grip. As Pinkie and Bowser continued to close in, General Guy ducked back into his hatch and reappeared hold a round black ball. Catching a glimpse of the burning wick, Pinkie realized what they were. Skipping atop Bowser's shell as it rolled along, Pinkie dodged the incoming bombs as they exploded upon the Koopa's impervious armor. As they continued giving chase, Pinkie could see what looked to be a fortress made completely of building blocks in the distance. Shy Guy, still hanging on for dear life at the front of the tank, noticed they were approaching the building. "General, we're almost there!" General Guy turned and looked up to the archway above the entrance. "Now!" At the top of archway, a duo of Shy Guys started pushing a block over the edge. Meanwhile, the Shy Guy hanging onto the tank lost his grip and started to skid against the ground. With just a few feet separating them, Pinkie and Bowser were just about to make it inside. *Whomp!* The massive wooden block from above landed with a thunderous slam. Caught by surprise by the falling obstruction, Bowser and Pinkie crashed. On the other side, one little Shy Guy, with his head just inches away from the fallen block, was thanking his lucky stars he hadn't become a pancake. Recovering from the crash outside, the duo heard a voice call out to them. Inside the base, General Guy was yelling into an oversized bullhorn that was barely being hoisted up by a group of his soldiers. "Don't get ahead of yourselves maggots. Discord has placed me in charge of protecting this here Element of Harmony. Here— Hold this thing steady down there," he said to his troops who were struggling to keep the giant device up. "Here's something to keep you two busy while we prepare for you." He turned away from the horn and looked over to one of his privates. "Go and tell Colonel Shy to prepare her squadron! We'll need them." Two dark figures suddenly hopped onto the top of the obstructing block. "Aw look at the little guys. You're so cute with your little black robes" Pinkie said excitedly. Elsewhere, at the other edge of the distorted forest, a trio of Diamond Dogs was trudging along. The smallest of the three plopped to the ground, breathing heavily as his tongue drooped off the side of his mouth. "Rover… Rover, are we there yet?" The larger of the three plopped himself besides him. "There where? I didn't know we were going somewhere." Rover, still heading forward turned around to see his cronies on the ground. "Fido, Spot, get up already you lazy mutts." "Why should we go find a new place to live?" Spot griped. "Because that scary mean thing came into our cave and threw us out, remember?" Fido said, looking to the ground with a frown. "Oh… right." he said as his head sank. Rover stomped his paw in front of the two of them, snapping them out of their slump. "Enough about that! We are diamond dogs. We don't just give up! We'll find a new place to live, one with more shiny things for us to collect. Now come dogs!" Fido and Spot rose back to their feet, grumbling quietly as they marched on. Traversing through more trees, they came upon the multicolored block fortress. "What is it Rover?" said Fido as he looked up to the top of the wooden fortress. "It's ours Fido," he said, rubbing his front paws together. "It's ours." As the other two joined in, rubbing their paws, they heard some commotion going on the other side of the wall. They leaned towards the source of the sound, putting a paw by their perked up ears. "It sound like there's a fight going on," said Rover. "Maybe we should go check it out," Fido suggested. "No, we should run!" said Spot. "Go!" said Fido, forcing himself against Spot. "Run!" Spot yelled, pushing him back. While the two behind him were having a heated argument, Rover looked to the building. "I got it! Whoever is fighting right now must be very busy." Fido and Spot paused, just inches away from punching each other. "Yeah." "Too busy to notice us." "Oh!" they said, in revelation. "Come on dogs, let's hunt down some trinkets." Back by the entrance of the fortress, Pinkie had just received a rather painful lesson on not judging a book by its cover, or rather by its cute appearance. "Oww, who would have thought something so cute and small would pack such a wallop," she said rubbing her aching back. Sitting beside her, Bower was tending to injuries of his own. "I know what you mean," he said, running the top of his head. "I think we could both use a well deserved snack," Pinkie Pie said as she reached into her mane and pulled out two cupcakes from her fluffy locks of pink hair. "Here Bowsie, eat up. I made it myself," she said with a smile as she tossed one over to him. Holding the flung pastry in his palm Bowser pulled it up close to examine the pink frosted treat. "What's the matter Bowsie? Is there something wrong with my cupcake?" she said with a concerned look on her face. He held it up to his eyes. "Shouldn't this thing be covered in hairs?" She narrowed her eyes at him, thrown off by the question. "What do you mean?" "I mean it's been in your hair all this time." She paused for a moment, scratching her chin. "Huh, I never really thought about it before, but I've never gotten a hair on any cupcake I've stored in my mane, or got one stuck to my hair for that matter. Weird." She gazed at her cupcake, squinting at it. "Oh well," she shrugged, tossing the cupcake into the air and wolfing it down in one bite. Seeing his carefree partner chow down, Bowser proceeded to take a little nibble. "Blah!" he said, quickly moving the treat away from his mouth. "This tastes too sweet. Pinky, you got anything better, preferably something spicy?" She started reaching into her mane again. "I've got just the thing," she said, pulling out a red bottle. "And I thought I was the only pony who liked putting hot sauce on their cupcake. Looks like you and I've got something in common," she grinned as she walked over to him and began coating the snack in his hand in a layer of red sauce. Now a red glob in his hand, he looked over to Pinkie who was motioning her hoofs at him, pretending to eat. "I know how to eat! I don't need you showing me like a baby or something." He said tossing the blob into his mouth and gulping it down in one bite. His face scaly suddenly turned bright red as his eyes started watering up. "Haaaaaaa!" he howled as fire burst forth from his mouth. "Wow!" he said, patting his belly. "That really hit the spot. I feel like I could take on ten more of those things." General Guy's voice suddenly rang out. "Ahem! I hate to interrupt your little picnic, but you two still aren't allowed inside, so scram!" "Scram?" Bowser shouted, bumping his fist together. "We'll see about that." The burly Koopa made his way to the block standing in their way. Pinkie Pie stood back, watching in wonder. "Did you figure out a way in?" Bowser placed his palms against the giant wooden block and started pushing. "I'll show that pipsqueak general that nothing can stop Bowser. Hrrrrngh!" As he pushed, the block began to move forward. "General! He's pushing it!" a Shy Guy soldier by the entrance cried out. The General jumped back in shock. "What? Get some men over there now, and start pushing back! We can't let those two in here no matter what!" "Yes sir!" the soldier saluted before running off to the collection of troops. "Squadron A, get over there and push that block back in place! Don't let the intruders get through." The group of Shy Guys ran to the block, bracing themselves against it. "Alright everyone, let's give it the old heave ho!" "Yeah!" they cheered, as they started pushing with all their might. On the other side of the block, Bowser, feeling the extra force now against him, started pushing even harder. "Come on you Shys! Heave ho!" yelled a lone Shy Guy standing away from the group. "Heave Ho! Heave Ho!" they chanted in response, as they started moving the block. Pinkie Pie, seeing bow struggling, began doing her own chant. "Come on Bowsie, you can beat these guys! Push! Push!" "Shut up! I know what I'm doing!" he growled, silencing her. With his annoying companion muted, he focused on pushing. "Heave ho! Heave ho!" the other side continued, pushing the block more and more. Bowser couldn't believe it; somehow, he was losing to a bunch of Shy Guys. "Heave Ho!" they hollered, giving one final big push that rolled the block over. Bower, overwhelmed by their combined strength, stood there as the wood block rolled over and flattened him. "Ugh!" he groaned as the block fell on him. Pinkie Pie rushed over, helping pull him out as they heard the sounds of high pitched cheering coming from the other side. "Maybe we should try finding another way in?" she suggested, helping him back onto his feet. "No! I can do this," he snorted, turning back to the wood obstacle. "There's no way the Koopa King is going to lose to a bunch of Shy Guys," he said, preparing for a second attempt. "He's at it again fellas. Let's give him another taste of Shy Guy power!" said a Shy Guy perched atop the block as he just down. "Shooraah!" the squad yelled, rallying themselves on the block again. "Heave Ho! Heave Ho!" Already pushing as hard as he could, Bowser managed to move it slightly before he started struggling again. Pinkie Pie, unable to bear watching her friend fight a losing battle, couldn't help herself. "Come on Bowsie! You can beat these guys! Push! Push!" Too focused on pushing, he didn't bother stopping her this time. "Heave Ho!" "Go Bowsie! Go!" Their cheers continued as both sides pushed with all their might. Bowser started moving the block forward, while behind him Pinkie kept cheering away. "Go Bowsie! Go!" Pinkie exuberantly cheered on, as she hopped about. He couldn't explain it, but somehow Bowser could feel himself brimming with extra energy. The block was feeling lighter and lighter as he kept up. On the other side, the Shy Guys were losing their cool. "What going on? How is he pushing us all back like this?" "Just keep pushing!" the Shy Guy beside the group shouted. "Heave Ho! Heav—" "Oh shut up and help us push!" one of the soldier in the ground yelled. With his newfound strength, Bowser pushed the block enough that he could get a glimpse inside. He readied himself for one final push as behind him, Pinkie Pie took a deep breath. "Yay Bowser!" she yelled with all her might, leaping into the air as Bowser shoved all the way to the other side of the complex. "Ahhhh!" the squad squealed, crashing into the wall on the other side. "Everybody run, they're inside!" One of the soldiers cried as they all scurried away. "That was incredible!" said Pinkie Pie as they both walked inside. Turning his head down to see that big smile of hers, he continued walking on. "Of course it was. I am the Koopa King after all. Now let's go already, I wanna get this over with." "That's right," she replied, nodding her head as she walked beside him. "We need to find my friend. Now where could she be?" Making their way to the center of the oddly empty space of the toy compound, the General's voice rang out to the two of them. "I can let you two go any further!" Pinkie and Bowser readied themselves upon hearing his voice. "My name is General Guy. Discord gave us orders to protect the Element of Harmony as well as guard our special guest. As long as we keep them both secure, Discord lets us keep this forest to have all the fun we want. And then you two just barge right in here, trying to wreck our fun. I don't care for that sort of action, nor do I care for you two. This forest belongs to the Shy Guys, and that goes for what's inside of it too. You two have no business in our forest! Prepare to fight me! Taste defeat! Charge!" Standing back to back, Pinkie and Bowser could hear something heading their way. It was faint but soon started to get louder. "Aaaaahhhhhhh!" Heading towards them, from every corner, was a red sea of the masked soldiers. Their high pitched roar continued as they rushed closer. "Whoa!" Pinkie yelled, as Bowser grabbed her and placed her on his back. He then retracted into his shell just as the horde reached them and started wailing hundreds of tiny fists onto him. "Pinky!" his voice rang from inside his shell. "I have an idea. Start spinning me around." Following his instructions, she started carefully maneuvering her hooves around the top of his spiky shell. Getting used to spinning the Koopa, her legs became a blur of pink as Bowser spun like a top. The army of Shy Guys, lunging towards the two of them, was being knocked away one by one. Popping his head out, Bowser started to unleash his fiery breath upon them as he still spun. Pinkie and Bowser became the center of an expanding vertex of flames. The battle cries of the attacking mob turned to cries of terror as their robes caught fire. Scattering about, some still trying to put out their inflamed clothes, while other had passed out from the heat, the massive force started falling apart. Popping his arms and legs out, Bowser got back on his feet, slowly spinning to a stop. Pinkie leapt off his back and landed beside him. "That was so much fun!" she said, excitedly waving her hooves into the air. Bowser placed both hands on his head, trying to stop everything from spinning. "Yeah… fun." What remained of the massive army started to regroup, forming up in front of the two of them. Pinkie, seeing how many remained, reached into her mane and pulled out a familiar looking pouch that caught Bowser's eye. "Is that what I think It is?" he nervously asked. "Yup," she said pouring a small amount of Spooky Power into her hoof. "Just remember, You gotta giggle at the ghosties Bowsie." With that advise she blew the powder into the air. Quickly forming into a dark green cloud, it loomed over the middle of the two groups. The Shy Guys started to tremble as the thundering cloud started to show frightful faces. "Ahhhhhh!" the voice of the Koopa King cried out as the cloud began heading straight for him. He made a run for it, heading straight into the crowd of soldiers. "Waaaaaah!" they screamed as dozens of them were flung away. He started running back towards them again, but the ground moved away from his path. "Bowsie remember, laugh!" Heading back towards her, he came to a stop and quickly turned around. "Hahahahaha!" His overwhelming chortle blew away the green formation as well as a number of Shy Guys. Those that managed to stand their ground got a full view of something truly horrifying, Bowser's laughing face. The remaining Shy Guys, white with fear, started falling over, fainting out of fear while others fled for their lives. As Bowser caught his breath, recuperating from his ordeal, he and Pinking hear the fortress speakers crackle. "Grrr! I can't believe you two! I guess I'll have to face you head on!" The tiny roar of General Guy's tank approached. Charging straight at them, he showed no signs of stopping. Bracing for impact, Bowser placed himself to take the toy block's charge head on. Pinkie rushed right behind, reading herself to help push. *Pow* The sound of the two forces colliding echoed. Bowser and Pinkie slid back, never losing their footing. Finally bringing the toy tank to a halt, Bowser held on to it as Pinkie Pie climbed up his back, leaping onto the toy block vehicle and started stomping her hooves on the hatch. "Cut that out! Do you know how long it took me to build this thing?" General Guy's voice echoed from inside. The wheels squealed against the wooden ground trying to break free. Holding on as long as he could, Bowser lost his grip. The tank spun in rapid circles, forcing Bowser and Pinkie away. Now free from his grip, the tank stopped spinning and faced the two of them. "You two sure are one feisty pair, defeating my infantry like that! But that was only a taste, here comes the second wave!" he shouted, before blowing into a whistle. Another group of Shy Guys came running over and began stacking up one by one on top of each other. Forming two red pillars of four, they reached into their pockets and pulled out a sling shot and a rock. "Uh oh." Pinkie said as the little guys quickly took aim and unleashed a flurry of rocks. The two of them could only shield their faces from the bombardment. "Ooow! Ow! Ooof!" "Ouch! Owie! Ouch!" they cried as rock after rock struck them. Not about to let them get another chance to strike, Pinkie and Bowser launched their counterattacked. Plowing his massive fist into the two middle Shy Guys, Bowser sent them flying into the next stack, taking out two more. With four of their members taken out, only a pair of two remained. Leaping up onto Bowser's fist, Pinkie used it as a springboard, bouncing over to the set of foes. She hopped from one stack to another, stomping her hooves over their heads until the last of them fell before she ran back to Bowser's side. The General rolled his tank back a little, seeing his second squad quickly wiped out. He wiped the sweat off his mask, now standing alone against the pony and Koopa. Right before any of them made a move, a lone Shy Guy ran to the side of the tank and saluted. "General Guy, sir! I've just received news that Colonel Shy and her troops have finished preparing!" Looking down at the soldier from atop his tank, General Guy breathed a sigh of relief. "It's about time! Good job private, now get her and her squad over here, on the double soldier!" "Yes sir!" the soldier said, running off. "You two are in for it now." General Guy said, with a little gleam in his eye as he adjusted his hat. "She may be new to our ranks, but Colonel Shy is one vicious soldier." He started shaking his head as he looked over in the distance. "Why I remember when she first arrived. I've never seen anyone make so many of my troops cry like that. She even stole my hat earlier. Just wait, she and her squad will show you." The ground beneath their feat started to shake from the stomping of tiny feet that approached. "Ah that must be her squad now." A shadow suddenly started looming over him. "What's the matter General? Too much of a wimp to handle these loser by yourself?" the pony leading the charge shouted as she flew down beside his tank. Behind her was an odd looking unit of Shy Guys. All of them wore yellow robes and had a scowling mask in the Colonel's likeness. "Aww Colonel Shy, that hurt," the General said hanging his head low and he held his hat in his hands. "Oh, I'm sorry… Not!" she replied with a sour tone. "Fluttershy!" a surprised Pinkie Pie shouted. A wide smile appeared on her face as she stared at the discolored pony. The pegasus looked over and scowled at Pinkie. "What do you want?" She started walking towards her. "I'm so happy to see you Fluttershy. I was so worried; I thought something terrible had happened to you. Now come on lets go." "Go? Go where?" "To save our other friends, duh." "Friends? Why would I be friends with a loser like you?" Pinkie took a step back, shocked at what she said. "What? But, but we're friends, best friends." "I don't need any friends. Not when I've got a whole army for me to pick on all I want." Pinkie slumped to the ground hearing her say that. "You don't remember me. Just like with Zecora. Fluttershy you've got to fight it!" she yelled, stamping her hoof. "The only things I have to fight are you and ugly over there." "Ugly?" Bowser said, glaring at her. "Hey, don't make fun of Bowsie. He's one of my friends and so are you! Now I'm going to save you, even if I have to beat you to do it." Fluttershy spat to the ground in front of her. "Whatever! You losers are going down!" She then pointed her hoof at them. "Flutter squad, attack!" The yellow wave surged at them; striking with a barrage of tiny fists. The group stepped back, leaving the two of them lying on the ground. "Okay, those guys are definitely tougher than my normal squad." Bowser groaned as he and Pinkie picked themselves off the ground. "It's not over yet!" General Guy said as he lobbed a bomb at them. Pinkie Pie quickly bucked it right back at him, spinning his wagon back from the blast into the group of Flutter Squad troops. "Useless!" Fluttershy snarled. "I'll have to do things myself." She flew behind her squad and began singing an enticing melody into the woods. "~La la laaaa!~" After she finished singing a few Flutter Guys ran off into the woods. "Aaaaahhhh!" The familiar high pitched battle cries pierced through the trees as the troop came back wielding boxing glove lances and mounted atop various woodland creatures. Charging forward, with boxing glove lances aiming straight for the two of them, their attack was devastating. "Ow" "Oof" "We've gotta do something Bowsie," Pinkie said, struggling to stay on her feet. "Got anymore of that hot sauce?" he said barely making back up. She reached into her mane, pulling out the familiar bottle. "Sure do. You got something in mind?" she said, tossing the bottle over. Catching it, Bowser took a swig of the entire bottle. "Just get behind me," he replied as his entire body turned red. With tears pouring from his eyes and steam coming out of his ears, he took a deep breath. "Haaaaaaaaaa!" A massive cone of flames burst forth from his mouth, aimed towards the group in front of him. As the fires moved towards them, the woodland critters ditched their riders. Managing to fly behind General Guy's tank in time, Fluttershy avoided most of the intense heat as Bowser's breath set everything it touched ablaze. The Flutter Guys quickly worked together, putting out their burning robes. Meanwhile General Guy was having problems of his own. "My tank's on fire! My tank's on fire!" he hollered, driving wildly. Flying up, Fluttershy managed to avoid the out of control tank, but could only watch as it knocked out her entire squadron. "You idiot! Look at what you've done," she shouted, flying back down. Still driving like mad, the flaming tank headed straight for Pinkie. She gasped, unable to find the strength to dodge, she covered her eyes. Running in front of her, Bowser punched with all his might, sending the tank towards Fluttershy. "OooF!" she grunted as the tank hit her, sending her and the tank crashing against the wall. Every single Shy Guy rose to their feet, seeing the crash. "General Guy! Colonel Shy!" they screamed. Everyone, including Pinkie and Bowser rushed over. "Hurry we've got to get them out!" "I hope they're ok!" "Give me a hand with this piece." "Somebody get a Medi Guy over here now!" Working together, they removed block after block until General Guy was found. A trio of Shy Guys picked him up and lifted him away. "Bowsie! Over here, lift this one up," Pinkie said, frantically waving him over to a larger block the little soldiers were struggling with. Lifting the block out of the way, Bowser uncovered Fluttershy. The group of soldiers moved in to see her. "What's wrong with her? She has more color than before?" said one of the soldiers, examining her. "That doesn't matter right now. We need to make sure she isn't hurt." The soldier turned to the Koopa "Master Bowser, please carry her over here." "Yeah, sure." As he picked her up, he and Pinkie noticed something shiny under her. "Please Lord Bowser hurry. We need to get her to safety," Moving Fluttershy to safety, Bowser quickly jerked his head to the Shy Guy who spoke earlier. "What did you call me?" "I didn't call you anything Master Bowser." "There! Right there, you called me 'Master Bowser'" He and the other Shy Guys standing nearby looked up at the Koopa, tilting their heads in confusion. "Do you remember what we were doing just a few moments ago?" Bowser asked. "Uh… no." The Shy Guy replied. General Guy and Fluttershy were lying side by side with everyone standing around them. The General lifted his head up, noticing the Koopa. "Lord Bowser. It's good to see you again." "General, do you remember anything?" The grey robed Shy Guy sat up, rubbing his forehead. "The last thing I remember after fighting in the castle was arguing with some ugly monster, and now waking to find everyone around me," he said, reaching over to his hat. "Everyone, the Colonel's getting up," a soldier yelled. Lying on the ground, Fluttershy's teal eyes slowly opened to a familiar smiling face. "Pinkie Pie?" Pinkie wrapped her hooves around her, squeezing tightly. "Oh Fluttershy I'm so glad you're back!" "Pinkie Pie, I can't breathe." "Yay!" all the Shy Guys cheered, happy to see that they both were ok. Back on his feet General Guy approached Fluttershy. "It's good to see you're alright Colonel Shy," he said, tilting his hat to her. "Good to see you're ok too General," she said as she smiled back at him. Bowser watched their little exchange. "Wait a second. If you two don't remember what happened earlier, how do you two still remember each other?" The General looked over to him. "Bowser, you should know the answer to that one. A good soldier never forgets his comrades, right Colonel?" he said as he turned to Fluttershy and saluted her. She turned right back at him, giggling a little before returning his salute. "Right, General." The entire Shy Guy army now stood in formation in front of the four of them and gave their best salute. With the matter of saving Pinkie's friend as well as recovering a portion of Bowser's army resolved, the two of them focused their attention on recovering the Element of Harmony. Looking over to the remains of the wreaked toy tank, Pinkie and Bowser saw a trio of strange looking fellows. "Oooh! Shiny jewel," Rover said, picking up the Element of Kindness with Fido and Spot standing beside him, admiring the necklace. "Hey! That doesn't belong to you! Put it down." Pinkie yelled out as she and Bowser started running over to them. The three Diamond Dogs, jumped, hearing her yell at them. "Uh oh, we've been spotted," said Rover, looking over to the two of them. "Run!" Spot yelled. The trio of thieves took off, with Pinkie and Bowser tailing them. "Pinkie Pie, wait!" Fluttershy said, running after them. "Let's go Colonel, I'm sure lord Bowser and his friend may need our help." General Guy said, joining her pursuit.