Mario jumped over another one of Bowser's fireballs and stomped on his skull. He used the momentum to dash towards Princess Peach, who was trapped in a suspended cage. He was just within reach when the cage suddenly jerked and ascended and disappeared. The floor shook and crackled until he fell through, and the scenery changed into a wasteland covered in a blazing inferno.
Mario was frantically searching for his princess, when a sudden quake shook the ground and made him jump. He turned around and found a 50 ft. tall Bowser smirking down upon him. Upon closer inspection, Mario spotted something in one of Bowser's claws.
"Mario!!" It was Peach.
Bowser guffawed and began stomping, trying to crush the red plumber. It took everything Mario had to keep out from underneath the giant Koopa's feet. One final stomp sent Mario hurdling as he stumbled and get a face full of dirt. He was too exhausted to really move, except to roll onto his back and watch as Bowser continued his maniacal laughter and raise his foot once again ready to crush Mario for good.
Time seemed to slow down as the giant foot came down. Mario braced himself, but then a beam of light suddenly crashed into Bowser's chest. The impact sent him tumbling back and landing on his shell. Mario observed stunned by what transpired, but then became confused and the giant Koopa's body began to form cracks. Bowser then exploded in a flash of bright light which forced Mario to shield his eyes.
Mario hesitantly uncovered his eyes, and found himself in a open field surrounded by trees. He looked up and noticed a clear night sky and a full moon.
"What's going on? Where am I?"
"Worry not human, you are within the dream realm." a heavenly voice echoed.
Mario's eyes widened as the moon gave a faint glow, and a figure that looked equine in nature descended. After lightly landing on her hooves, she gave a light smile and giggle at Mario's stunned expression.
"Greetings human from another world. I am Princess Luna, the Princess of the Night, and co-ruler of Equestria."
At the mention of "Princess", Mario blinked out of his stupor and grinned.
"Pleasure to meet you, Princess," he said with a slight bow. "My name is Mario."
"You are quite different from the other human I visited. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he first took notice of me," she said a slight head tilt. "Luigi, I believe he called himself?"
"Ah, yes he's my little brother. He's quite easy to scare." He blinked. "Wait, did you call me a 'human from another world' a few minutes ago?"
Her smile softened. "I did. You and you're brother, somehow, arrived through a portal from another dimension."
Mario let out a frustrated sigh. "So, that's what Bowser did. Do you know of a way to send us back, Princess?" he asked hopefully.
Luna placed a hoof on her chin to think. "There might be a way to do so, but it might take some time to locate a spell to accomplish such a feat." She sighed and gave him a small look of sympathy. "I'm afraid that means you are going to be here in Equestria for some time until we can locate such a spell."
"Oh, mamma mia..."
"Do not fret, we will do everything we can to sent you back home, rest assured." She placed a hoof on one of him shoulders to reassure the red plumber.
Mario gave a soft smile that said 'thank you'. She returned his smile before saying, "Now it is time you woke. We ask that you explain everything to us then."
Her horn suddenly lit up and flashed a bright light, and Mario's vision began to smudge.
Mario's eyes shot open, but he immediately flinched from the bright sunlight from the window to his left. His vision was blurry at first, but after a few minutes it returned and he could see everything clearly. He found himself surrounded by white walls and ceiling with the sent of alcohol.
Yep, a hospital.
He looked to his right and found Luigi snoring loudly in a second bed on the other side of the room. Mario leaped out of bed, and was surprised at how well rested he felt. He walked over the his sleeping brother and gently shook him.
"Luigi," he said softly. The only response he received was a loud snore.
"Luigi," he said a little louder. More snoring.
Now Mario was getting frustrated. He inhaled deeply. "LUIGI!!!"
His eyes burst open, and with a yelp, tumbled out onto the floor. He groaned as he pushed himself up onto his feet. "What's the big idea, bro?"
"We're not in Bowser's Castle. Whatever that Koopa did, I'm not sure we're even in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore."
Luigi looked around, just realizing they were in a hospital room. "I don't think so either, if that dream was anything to go by," he said as he stood up and stretched.
"Dream?" Mario asked raising an eyebrow. "What kind of dream?"
"I had a dream where someone named...Princess Luna, I think she said...appeared and said something about a place called..." Luigi was having a had time recalling the dream. He looked to his brother to find him staring wide eyed. "What?"
"She didn't happen to say "Equestria" did she?"
"Um...I can't remember, but that sounds about right," Luigi said scrunching up his face in thought.
"If that's the case, that it means we are definitely far from home." Mario said disheartened. He could only hope the Princess was okay.
Before they could debate on what to do next, they heard what sounded like voices and the sound of clopping...hooves?...on the other side of the door.
"Are you sure we can trust those two?" said a tomboyish voice. "How do we know they aren't spies or something?"
"Honestly, Rainbow Dash, do you have to assume every new face is a spy?" said a voice that sounded like it belonged to a sophisticated individual.
"They're not even from our world, Rarity! How do we know they aren't here to check and see if Equestria is the perfect place to invade!?"
"Calm down, Rainbow," the next voice had quite the southern accent to it. "The Princesses said that they didn't sense any bad intentions from them, and if they say they're okay then they're okay. Besides, if they lie I'll be able to call them out on it."
"You shouldn't judge anypony when you don't even know them, Rainbow Dash," The voice was so soft that Mario and Luigi could barely hear it. "They could very well be nice humans."
"Besides, from what Princess Luna told us from their dreams, it looks like they were sent here against their will." From the tone, the new voice sounded like it belonged to a scholar. "We're here to take them to the Princesses to find out how they were sent here in the first place. They might be able to help them get home."
That last statement got the Mario Brothers attention. Their Princesses could help them get home?
"Then, after that, we can throw them a welcome party! But not just any welcome party, a "Welcome to our Dimension" party! I hope they like parties! Oh who am I kidding? Everypony likes parties!"
"Well, the sooner we get things over with, the sooner you can start planning their party."
The door then opened and revealed six technicolor equines. But their size Mario had to guess that they were all ponies, because horses were much bigger than these six. Upon seeing their new visitors, Luigi's eyes became saucers. It wasn't the fact that they were ponies, no, he and his brother have seen much stranger things than that. It was what kind of ponies they were. Two regular ponies weren't shocking at all, but two pegasus ponies and two unicorn ponies on the other hand were another story. However, one of the unicorns had wings just like the pegasi.
"Bro, we are definitely NOT in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore."
"No, Luigi, no we are not."