Mario just stood in the middle of the dining room without his hat, almost defeated, and he kept staring at a painting of Princess Peach. Seconds later, one of Bowser’s Koopalings, Roy Koopa, came in and found the plumber.
”Hey yo, what’s the holdup here? Where’s my dad gone to?”
”He’s been taken to another world, along with my brother and the princess.” Mario replied.
”He’s already going back home without us?” Roy stumbled. “I guess we gotta catch up to him. Smell ya later, sucker!”
”That’s not what I meant! Some mysterious shadow unicorn named King Sombra took Bowser away with the others somewhere called Equestria and now they’re gone.”
”What? Was that why there was another earthquake after he came in?”
”I hate to admit it, but yeah.” Mario said.
”How do I know you guys weren’t the ones who haven’t ruffled my dad up?” Roy hummed.
”We witnessed the entire thing. Your dad got teleported before he could even attack the unicorn.”
”Uh-huh. If you’re so sure about this, can you save him for us, Red Stache?”
”I might, but once he comes back to the Mushroom Kingdom, you guys better not go kidnapping Princess Peach again!”
”I don’t have a say in that, but I’ll try and talk to my dad.” Roy responded.
”Thanks bud. Now, I’ve got some business to take care of, so try not to do anything stupid while I’m gone, Roy.”
”Got it.”
”I think I can use the warp pipe in the basement to get to the lab from here.” Mario thought to himself.
Mario left the dining room and took the east wing stairs to the basement. Only he, the Toads, and Princess Peach knew this castle’s layout more than anyone else. However, as Mario went down the stairs, the lights started to fade due to both earthquakes from Bowser and King Sombra.
”I think this is the right one. All these other pipes lead to different areas of the Mushroom Kingdom. I better hurry up while there’s still time. Let’s-a-go!”
Mario jumped into the green pipe conveniently labeled, “Professor E. Gadd’s Lab,” and ended up on the other side. It was moved back to Thwomp Volcano after the professor finally helped Luigi capture King Boo a while back.
”At least that unicorn hasn’t destroyed the lab.”
Knock knock.
”Hello?” as the voice passed while the door crept open. “Oh goodness, Mario! Wonderful seeing you again!”
”It’s nice to see you again, Professor E. Gadd! Listen, I’m in a bit of hurry and thought you might help me out. Please?”
”Well, I always come prepared to the fight, although I’m getting older by the second. Bowser’s got Princess Peach again as usual, I see?”
”Actually, no.” Mario said. “He, the princess, and Luigi have been taken away to some place called Equestria after some shadow unicorn got ahold of them. His name is King Sombra, by the way.”
”Equestria?” E. Gadd gasped. “I’ve been doing research about that place ever since the Shroobs invaded the Mushroom Kingdom. Quickly, I’ll explain inside!”
”Okay.” as Mario came inside and closed the door behind him.
”Now, the reason why I knew about Equestria was because that was where the Shroobs were originally planning to take over. I caught a handful of them trying to steal my time machine and go there, but I stopped them using my inventions. However, that led to the invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom instead. I’m really sorry if that was a problem.”
”No, not at all.” Mario reminisced. “You did what you had to do. Have you tried going to Equestria yourself, Professor E. Gadd?”
”Only for a test run. I actually succeeded in getting there, but I wanted to come back quickly because I didn’t know what I was going to get myself into.”
”What kind of people live there?” Mario asked.
”There are no people. Only ponies exist.”
”What?” Mario got frozen for a bit. “Then that means that King Sombra is a unicorn pony?”
”Yes, indeed.” The professor replied. “While doing research, I read a book about different worlds and dimensions called ‘A Mushroom’s Guide to Portals.’ Equestria is actually known to be a nice place for friendship, love, and tolerance.”
”I’m not so sure about that statement, after the fact that the princess’ castle just got wrecked by King Sombra.” as Mario fixed his hat.
”Not to worry!” E. Gadd exclaimed. “You won’t be going alone this time, Mario, because I will be coming along with someone else you just met!”
”Who?”
”Hi Mario, it’s me, Cappy!”
A top-hatted floating ghost appeared, who appeared to be Cappy, Mario’s capturing buddy.
”Cappy? What are you doing inside the Storybook? I thought you were on top of the other Mario’s head?”
”I can visit the Paper Mushroom Kingdom any time I want, as long as Mario’s fine with it! I also thought it’d be cool to see some of the professor’s work here!”
”It’s crazy to know that the exact same things happen both inside and outside of the Storybook, huh?” E. Gadd reminded.
”Well, our Cappy’s not exactly here at the moment, but you can definitely sit on top of my head as well.” Mario said.
”Alright, but I don’t know how much longer it’ll take until the people of my Cap Kingdom need me again.” Cappy added.
”Then, we better get going. Professor, can I see that book of yours, real quick?”
”Sure thing, Mario! There’s another section about Equestria’s rulers on here. You can read it out loud, just for a heads up.”
”Okay.”
The trio gathered up together as Mario flipped through the pages to find Equestria, hoping to see if there’s any hints of what to do in the land. It went on for a little while.
Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.
”Sounds wicked and awesome!” Cappy encouraged.
She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both...
”...sun and moon...” as Mario closed the book.
”Hmm...” The professor wondered. “Elements of Harmony. I know I've heard of those before... but where?”
”No idea, but they sound like our key to stopping King Sombra and saving the others.” Mario thought.
”Why don’t we just leave Bowser behind in Equestria?” Cappy interrogated. “You’ve seen what he’s done to my home, right Mario?”
”He’s helped us in the past several times. I think he’ll be useful to us after we break out, even if it means yet another lousy attempt to kidnap the princess. I’m sure of that.”
”What are we waiting for, boys?” E. Gadd asked. “Let’s hop inside the time machine!”
”Wait, what if you accidentally send us there during the wrong time period?” Cappy mentioned.
”Don’t sweat it, lad, the time machine is set to ‘Present Day.’”
”Okay, I packed some Fire and Ice Flowers for the road, too.” Mario said. “I still don’t know what to expect over there.”
”I’ll be on top of your flat head now!” as Cappy transformed into Mario’s hat.
”Thanks!”
”You boys might want to put on some seatbelts, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride!” E. Gadd warned.
”Any catchy tunes in here?” Cappy asked.
”Just press this button here!”