//------------------------------// // 03: Bros. Pony Attacks // Story: Paper Mario: Elements & Stars // by ThePegaKris //------------------------------// 12:00PM Twilight’s Castle Wednesday ”Before we begin to train, Mario, may I ask how exactly you ended up in Equestria?” Twilight asked. ”You see, the professor’s time machine also acts as a portal, and we were lucky enough to end up here at the right time!” ”I’ve actually been researching this place for a while now!” E. Gadd exclaimed. “Whoever wrote that book I have must’ve done a lot of dimension hopping!” ”Well, if you trust me enough as a friend, then I hope you won’t mind your time machine being guarded by another friend you’re about to me.” Twilight said. “Honestly speaking, she takes great care of everything.” ”Y’all must be speaking about me, folks!” A cowgirl’s voice was heard from the dining room as she entered the throne room. She was an orange pony, wearing a brown stetson hat that cowgirls definitely wear, and her mane and tail looked like the same type of blonde hair as Princess Peach’s hair. ”Woah, who’s this fella with the mustache?” She whispered to Fluttershy. ”Applejack, we like you to meet our new friends, Mario, Cappy, and Professor E. Gadd!” Twilight introduced. The group waved back at the cowgirl pony. ”Howdy, partners. I’m Applejack, and I’ll be at your service whenever y’all need it! Now, what was your name again, sugarcube? Mario?” ”That’s-a-me! Nice to meet you too, Applejack. ”I really like your hat there!” Cappy added. ”Aww thanks, little buddy.” A.J. blushed. “I rarely say this to other stallions, but you’re...a bit cute, too.” ”D-Did s-she...also just call me...?” as Cappy fainted. ”Okay, with everything cute aside, let’s get to the important things, Applejack.” Twilight said. “King Sombra’s back.” ”What are ya talking about, Twilight? I thought the Crystal Heart completely blasted him out of existence! Spike knew this too, right?” ”Maybe his horn still had a piece of his shadow remaining?” Fluttershy wondered. ”That’s probably possible yet depressing.” Twilight replied. “I can’t believe we didn’t go searching for any of Sombra’s remains outside the Crystal Empire after he was supposedly killed, and it’s mostly because of how cold the Frozen North is.” ”That reminds me of something.” A.J. said. “Where’s Spike?” ”He’s probably telling more epic stories about himself to the sick foals at the hospital.” Twilight giggled. “That must be why he snuck out of bed and refused to go to Sugarcube Corner with me.” ”Who’s Spike, Twilight?” Mario attended to. ”He’s my best friend and number one assistant. We’ve been through so much together that even just the thought of leaving him will hurt me. I’ve always liked him and that’ll never change, even despite his goofy personality sometimes.” ”He’s also a baby dragon!” Fluttershy pointed out. ”Aren’t dragons supposed to be furious at people, regardless of age?” Cappy asked. ”Hehe, now where have we learned that from?” Mario thought. ”He may breathe fire like them other dragons, but he won’t do us any harm.” A.J. said. ”Now before we begin, would you like to join us in training Mario, Applejack?” Twilight asked. ”Woohoo! Well alright, count me in!” ”Great, and how about you, Fluttershy?” ”Umm, sure, but...as long as it’s not too rough.” ”I promise that nothing’s going to happen to you.” Twilight declared. ”Ditto, Fluttershy.” Mario added. ”Alright, follow me outside in the backyard, Mario.” Twilight instructed. “Before we show you our powers, you must first demonstrate to us what you know how to do in the Mushroom Kingdom.” Out in the backyard was nothing but an open field and way above the castle, there seemed to be a fancy city up in the mountains. A beautiful, sparkling waterfall is also next to the castle, acting as one of Ponyville’s main water supplies. Professor E. Gadd and Cappy stood back as they were watching Mario getting ready for his training, while Fluttershy and Applejack let Twilight go up first. ”Who built this castle, Twilight?” ”Technically, I earned it. Long story short, it was inside a chest that my friends and I opened using special keys. It’s not just my home, it’s ours, Mario. I decided that after we fought Tirek, whom you might’ve heard about from Fluttershy.” ”Alright. Everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom knows how high I can jump! Can one of you throw something up high so I can show you?” ”I’ve got it!” Twilight exclaimed. “Applejack, I want you to buck an apple straight up in the air as you can and see if Mario can catch it before I do. He’ll be jumping, I’ll be flying.” ”I hope you both brought your A-game today, because this’ll certainly be my highest apple buck in all of Equestria! But honestly, Rainbow Dash would smoke y’all if she was here.” ”You got this, Mario!” His team cheered. ”This’ll be my first time doing a race like this, though I’ve raced more than I can count. We’ll both count down from three, okay Twilight?” ”Oh, it’s on!” Twilight smirked. ”Remember to buck the apple on ‘Go,’ A.J.” Fluttershy mentioned. ”I got this!” ”Three... Two... One... GO!” Both Mario and Twilight counted. Applejack immediately used her hind legs to buck an apple straight up, even surpassing the height of the castle, and the two trainees were off. Mario held his left arm up open to catch it while Twilight flapped her wings and used two hooves to catch the apple. The two were pretty neck and neck, but however, none of them caught it. ”It’s coming back down, somebody better dive for that apple!” E. Gadd yelled. ”I’m way ahead of you!” as Mario took a nosedive. ”Not so fast, plumber!” as Twilight swooped down. ”This is too scary to watch!” as Fluttershy shielded her eyes. The two trainees were neck and neck yet again as they were practically skydiving for the apple. The ground was getting closer, so Twilight started to pick up flight speed and Mario resorted to throwing his hat to get the apple. But ultimately, the Princess of Friendship caught it in the end. ”Yes, yes, yes, I got it!!!” as Twilight descened. ”Well, I guess that’s a failure for me, huh?” Mario frowned for a bit. ”Are you crazy?” Twilight minded. “I’ve never seen somepony, or someone else rather, jump that high without the need to fly! Not even Pinkie Pie could hop that high! So, I would consider your first test to be a success in my book.” ”Wahoo!” as Mario jumped up and fist pumped. “I’ll admit too that you’re a pretty fast & amazing flyer, Twilight.” ”Thanks Mario. Alright, what else can you do?” ”I can throw fireballs & iceballs using those Flowers I just gave you. Do you have something I can burn or freeze, Twilight?” ”Actually, I would let you burn my least favorite Daring Do books, but Rainbow Dash wouldn’t talk to me for a week if you did that. What if we get to your new attacks already?” ”Sure, just give me a Fire Flower.” Mario said. As Twilight handed Mario the Fire Flower, he crushed it in his hands to transform. His overalls and cap turned from red and blue to red and white, much to the amazement of Mario and Twilight’s friends. ”I hope you’re ready for your first combo attack with me, Mario!” Twilight exclaimed. “This one is called ‘Fire Beam,’ and what it simply means is that I use my horn to shoot damage beams the same time you throw your fireballs. They will both fuse and create a deadly, incendiary beam that we can use against enemies.” ”That sounds like a really good idea, Twilight!” Mario commented. ”Thanks, but I literally just thought of the name right now.” She whispered. “Anyway, let’s try it! I’ll make some apples appear using magic so that we can test this attack.” ”You better not be stealing from Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight!” A.J raised an eyebrow. “Those apples were harvested out of hard labor!” ”I won’t. I know a spell that can spawn new apples in an instant.” ”Alright.” Mario said. “I’m ready when you are, Twilight.” ”Ready. Fluttershy, would you mind placing these apples on that tree stump over there?” ”Yes, of course!” She happily obliged. ”Professor, Cappy, stand back, because this might get a little heated.” Mario instructed. ”Will do!” They both replied. ”Applejack, on ‘Go,’ got it?” Twilight prompted. ”You bet I got this!” ”Three... Two... One... GO!” Mario and Twilight counted. Mario charged up a fireball while Twilight’s horn was getting ready to charge, too. With enough energy, they both launched their attacks on the apples, creating one blaze red beam, and they just completely burned the apples and tree stump, for additional damage. A trail of smoke was left with a scent of a few wood chunks still burning. ”Woah, that was intense!” Fluttershy gasped. ”Woah, I can’t believe that actually worked, Mario!” Twilight relieved herself. ”You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve combined my attacks with someone else! My brother Luigi and I do this all the time when fighting tough enemies. I just wish he was here right now...” ”Don’t worry, Mario.” Cappy reassured. “You’re becoming stronger as we speak and we’ll soon find Luigi and Bowser, thanks to you and these wonderful ponies!” ”Which reminds me...” Twilight wondered. “Cappy, what exactly kind of ghost are you?” ”A top-hatted one? Whenever I sit on top of Mario’s head, he can throw me onto anything and he’s able to possess that person, object, or even pony! He can even become his own hammer, but someone else has to catch him after he hits someone. ” ”Ooh, ooh, I know what to do!” Mario exclaimed. “Twilight, for this attack, I shall call it ‘Flying Hammer Chain.’ Basically, I am going to throw my hammer at an enemy one time, then I throw Cappy to my hammer so that I can possess it and hit the enemy in midair the second time, and finally, you fly in to catch my hammer so that you can swing at the enemy yourself. The faster you fly in and catch me, the harder your swing will hit!” ”Interesting.” Twilight agreed. “I just have to practice coming in and swinging the hammer at the right time, but I think I can do it.” ”Thanks Twilight. Cappy, get on my head. Professor, after the second time my hammer hits, that’s when Twilight has to fly in and grab me. Can you give her the signal?” ”Yes, my boy!” E. Gadd replied. “There’s another tree stump here that you can knock underground.” ”Okay, here goes nothing.” Mario said as he pulled out his hammer. ”Three... Two... One... GO!” The three trainees counted. In a quick sequence, Mario tossed his hammer at the tree stump, causing it to bounce up high into the air. He then threw Cappy, whose eyes were sticking through Mario’s white hat, onto the hammer and all that could be seen was his mustache and cap. Mario aimed himself at the tree stump and swung at it again, causing the hammer to bounce up again. ”Now, Twilight!” E. Gadd instructed. The princess flew in to grab Mario and while gritting her teeth, she furiously smacked the tree stump with the hammer one final time until it was stuck in the ground. Knowing it was a success, Cappy returned to Mario’s head out of his hammer and back into his real body. ”Whew, I actually thought that one might’ve been tough, but we somehow pulled it off, Twilight!” Mario exhilarated. ”That’s one of the things about friendship: it’s how you work together to accomplish something. These new attacks will definitely help us in stopping King Sombra!” ”I sure hope they do.” Mario assumed. “Thanks for training me so far today, Twilight! I also want to thank your friends for helping out, too!” ”Aww, don’t mention it, sugarcube!” A.J welcomed. ”Yes, it was nothing really...” Fluttershy paused. “Hold on, I think I heard something.” ”MMMARRIIOO!!!” A voice in the distance cried. ”Impossible...” E. Gadd’s jaws dropped. “It can’t be...” ”Is that who I think it is, Mario?” Cappy asked. ”L-Luigi?”