Chills went up everyone's spine as the entered the mansion. The unlit rooms, the flowing curtains, and the admittedly humid and musky atmosphere did all to keep the team of five on edge. Fluttershy in particular was especially scared, and for a second debated on bolting while she still had the chance and stay with E. Gadd where it be safe.
The front door had a different plan though, as they closed right behind the heroes before she could make a run for it. That startled her quite a bit, causing her to cling to Twilight in fear.
"We're not gonna be here long," Mario assured. "We'll just get Luigi, get out, and defeat any ghosts if they get in the way. Hopefully shouldn't take more than a couple minutes."
"You sound... on edge," Twilight said. "Something the matter?"
"Uh, no, nothing's wrong," Mario lied. Unfortunately for him, he was a terrible liar, and Twilight could see right through him.
"Something about this mansion has you shaken," Twilight said. "I can see it."
Mario sighed. "Yeah, this mansion does bother me, but it's... kinda personal."
"Mario, you're my friend," Twilight began, standing on her hind legs and putting her front legs over Mario's shoulders. "Our friend. And if there's one thing I've learned during my time studying the magic of friendship, it's that friends should help each other. So as the Princess of Friendship, I want to help you. Please tell me what's wrong."
"Alright, alright, you win," Mario said, pushing the alicorn off of him. "I'll tell you everything, but it's sad so be warned. And I don't wanna hear any snarky comments from the potted plant over there."
Offended, the Piranha Plant huffed and turned around. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike sat around Mario as he explained the mansion's history.
"So, my brother Luigi is afraid of ghosts," Mario said. "Like, REALLY afraid. He acts almost exactly like 'Shy to give you an idea. One day, he won a mansion, but it was for a contest he didn't even enter. I dunno why I didn't immediately see that as a red flag, but he gave me directions to the new mansion and he told me to check the place out to see if there was anything shady, and that he'd meet me there. That's when I met E. Gadd, who said that the mansion just... appeared in the heart of the forest. I was curious, so I opened the door to investigate and... hundreds of ghosts just flew at me. I was caught off guard, and they took me to their leader, King Boo. He vowed revenge against me and my brother, so he stuck me in a painting. All that wasn't so bad... but what really got me was how he used me as bait so he could get Luigi too. The fact my little brother had to find me all alone... with his fear of ghosts... without anything but a flashlight and a ghost-catching vacuum cleaner... I can't imagine how terrified he felt. It makes me angry those ghosts kidnapped me and tried to hurt him as well. That's why I hate this place! It not only hurt me, but my brother too! And those blasted ghosts are scaring Luigi again!"
As Mario finished his tale, he darted his eyes around the room to see everyone's reactions. Spike's mouth was agape, and he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Twilight had a similar reaction, only her eyes were also the size of dinner plates. As expected, the Piranha Plant didn't care at all and simply looked around, minding his own business. Fluttershy teared up and threw herself around Mario, drawing him into a hug. He was caught off-guard, but he embraced it anyway.
"I-I-I'm so sorry!" the yellow mare sobbed. "Th-That's so terrible, what happened to y-you and L-L-Luigi!"
"That's FREAKY, man!" Spike followed. "How did those ghosts even stick you in a painting!?"
"I... I..." Twilight stammered, still trying to digest everything Mario had said. She completely understood why Mario got bad feelings about this place, and had DEFINITELY underestimated his grasp on the concept of friendship
"That... has to be one of the greatest shows of friendship I've ever heard," she finally said. "You care for your bother a lot... I'm sure he's happy to have you."
"Yeah," was all Mario could say. Fluttershy's sobs dwindled to the occasional whimper, and she let go of Mario. The Piranha Plant hopped back on her back and nuzzled her head, trying to calm his friend down.
"Alright team," Mario said. "We have ourselves a plumber to catch. The way this mansion works is if the room is pitch black, there's ghosts around, and we need to beat those ghosts if we wanna move on."
"Gotcha," Spike said. He quickly hopped on Twilight's back, getting more and more uneasy about the whole situation. He certainly didn't want to end up stuck in a painting.
Mario lead his band of heroes up the stairs, and opened one of the doors on the second floor. This led to a pitch-black room, with a ghost's laugh being heard.
"Heads up everyone," Mario signaled. "We're not alone."
It was hard to move around without a flashlight, and they could hardly see where they were going. Fluttershy gulped and tried to find the source of the ghost's cackle. Little did she know that the ghost was right behind her. Piranha Plant quickly snapped, telling the mare to turn around. She caught a glance of the ghost before it hid its face and disappeared into the darkness.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" Fluttershy yelled, backing up and accidentally bumping into Twilight and Mario. "G-G-G-G-GHOST!"
Mario looked around in search of the ghoul, and while he didn't see it, he could feel its presence. He secretly took out one of his power-ups, the Super Leaf, and transformed into Tanooki Mario. As the ghost approached him slowly but surely, he gave his tail a spin, whacking it in the face and causing it bounce around the room. Fluttershy and Spike hid behind Twilight, trying to avoid getting caught in its flight. Eventually, it disappeared into blue smoke.
"Ghosts... don't... die... Can you make it out of here... ALIVE!?"
The once-black room then lit up, revealing a dressing room of sorts. A golden key fell from above, which Mario grabbed.
"Wh-Wh-What was that!?" Fluttershy asked, still shaken from the ghost.
"That was a Boo," Mario explained. "Round ghost that tries to sneak up on you from behind. If you try to look at it, it vanishes, so you need to kinda 'feel' its presence and attack it before it attacks you."
"I'm guessing that key leads to somewhere?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, most of this mansion is on lockdown and the ghosts have the keys, so we need to beat them to move on," Mario answered.
"What I wanna know is why is Mario suddenly wearing a raccoon fursuit," Spike piped up.
"Oh, another power-up," Mario answered. "Called the Super Leaf. Gives you a tail that lets you hover and allows you to turn to a stone statue and blend in with the scenery."
"Remarkable," Twilight said as she studied the suit. "These strange items just get more and more interesting!"
The Piranha Plant snapped and pointed at the door. "He says we should stop talking and move on," Fluttershy translated.
The gang continued venturing through the mansion's rooms, hallways, and corridors, finding keys to unlock new rooms and beating any Boos along the way. Mario's advice on how to deal with this proved quite useful, the Piranha Plant even snuck a hit on one, which Fluttershy was very happy about. As they progressed, more and more ghosts made themselves known, each with their own techniques. Gold Ghosts didn't care about if they were being looked at or not and just attacked head-on, Blue Twirlers created big shockwaves with their hands, and Dry Bones needed to take a lot of hits before they could be dismantled into nothing but a pile of bones. Using another key, Mario unlocked a door that lead to a new hallway.
"I don't think we've been down this one yet," Twilight said.
"Me neither," Mario said. He suddenly froze in his tracks, and saw a peculiar green hat floating in the air. He recognized that hat anywhere, and the Gold Ghost wearing it made its presence known. It cackled and started floating away.
"Hey, get back here!" Mario called. "What have you ghouls done to my brother!?"
Mario was too distracted by the ghost with Luigi's hat to see the giant patch of blue flowers he was running towards. Twilight instantly recognized the plants, and went into panic mode.
"MARIO!" she called out. "STOP! DON'T TOUCH THE-"
"Too late," Spike said as Mario tripped and fell into the flowers. The ghost made one last laugh before disappearing into the floor above. Twilight and Fluttershy quickly ran up to him, being careful not to touch the bed of flowers.
"Don't touch what!?" Mario asked. "And it better be good, because you made me let that ghost get away!"
"Um, those kind of flowers grow in the Everfree Forest in Equestria," Fluttershy explained. "They're called Poison Joke."
"P-Poison?" Mario asked, looking down at the flowers. He immediately leaped out of them and landed on the other side of the bed. "Is... is it dangerous? Lethal!?"
"Not... exactly," Twilight said. "See, Poison Joke plays practical jokes on you, and it turns whatever it has planned for you into an actual illness. For example, if I step in Poison Joke, my horn becomes wobbly and useless, and if Fluttershy steps in it, her voice becomes really deep and masculine."
"Best part is the nicknames I come up with!" Spike interjected. "I called Twilight 'Twilight Flopple' and I called 'Shy 'Flutterguy'!" The Piranha Plant sure got a kick out of that one.
"Spike, now's not the time," Twilight scolded.
"So... what's gonna hap-" Mario's mouth continued to move, but no words came out. Surprised, he tried to speak again, but not a sound was heard.
"Looks like your Poison Joke effect is silence," Twilight sighed. "Sorry Mario, but looks like you're not gonna be able to talk for awhile." The plumber looked down in shame and sighed, or at least tried to.
"Don't worry, Mario," Fluttershy said. "There is a cure, and we can treat you when we get back to the castle. For now, let's just find your brother.
The Piranha Plant was giggling like a child at Mario's misfortune, earning a scowl from the plumber. He didn't seem to care though: what could he possibly do without suffering Fluttershy's wrath?
"OK OK OK, lemme think," Spike said, trying to come up with nicknames. "You're... Quiet-io! No no, that's not right. Uh... how about... Silent But Deadly! Y'know, 'cause he's a plumber... and the buttcrack... and..."
Spike trailed off when he saw Twilight's evil glare. It put Fluttershy's signature stare to shame!
"WAIT I GOT IT!" Spike called, ignoring Twilight. "SILENT PROTAGONIST!"
The Piranha Plant was in hysterics now. He fell off of Fluttershy's back and rolled around the group, snapping happily. Fluttershy grabbed him and tried to calm him down, doing her best to stifle her own laughter. Even Twilight was trying not to smile. She had to admit, that was a stroke of genius on Spike's part.
"OK, that was clever, but let's not make fun of Mario," Twilight said.
Mario did his best to ignore the mocking. Thankfully, he heard a playful bark that took his mind off of it. Following the sound, he saw Polterpup on the other side of the hallway, wagging his tail playfully. He leaped and phased through one of the doors. Taking this as a sign of where to go, he turned back to the group and signaled to them where to go with his arm motions.
Opening the door led to a massive staircase. They saw Polterpup running up the stairs, and followed suit. Of course, they had to deal with a few Boos and Gold Ghosts along the way, but they were determined to make it to the top... well most of them anyway. Fluttershy always tried to hide when she heard one of their cackles. The top of the stairs led to the roof of the mansion, having a view of the entire haunted forest. The gang looked around before Spike saw something peculiar floating in the air. It looked like a stone statue.
"Hey, Mario, is that guy up there Luigi?" Spike asked, pointing to the statue above them. Mario looked up and quickly nodded his head yes.
Twilight flew up to the floating statue to investigate. She placed her hoof over Luigi's stone nose and rubbed it a bit, then gasped. She knew what this meant. She looked at Fluttershy, and if her cowering in fear was anything to go by, she knew what that statue meant too. Mario had a look of concern.
"There's a Cockatrice around here," Twilight said. "It's a dangerous dragon creature with the head of a chicken that comes from Equestria, and if you look into its eyes head on, you'll turn into a statue like Luigi did!"
Mario looked up at the statue, he could see that Luigi had the most scared face he had ever seen. Being turned to stone was probably even worse than being stuck in a painting.
"TH-TH-THERE IT IS!" Fluttershy called out, pointing at the other end of the roof.
"Quick, everypony, cover your eyes!" Twilight commanded.
Unfortunately for Mario, he turned around and saw the beast. Seeing him as a target, the Cockatrice used its hellish gaze, which turned the plumber into a statue just like his brother. The Piranha Plant snapped in approval.
"Mr. Piranha Plant!" Fluttershy scolded. "You should know better than that!"
The Cockatrice got closer to the group, and everyone backed away from it, shielding their eyes so they couldn't look at it. Eventually, the Cockatrice pushed them behind Mario, who used his Tanooki powers to jump out of his statue form. Seeing this as an opportunity, he flew into the air, turned into a statue, and crushed the Cockatrice below him, emitting a screech from it. Everyone uncovered their eyes and saw Mario holding the beast down.
"Wait, Mario!?" Twilight asked. "But how? Only a Cockatrice can free somepony it turned to stone!"
Mario answered by tugging the fur of his Tanooki suit.
"Oooooooh," Twilight answered. "So you used the Tanooki suit's statue form to trick the Cockatrice into thinking it actually made you a statue! Clever."
"Um, Mario," Fluttershy said. "I think I can help make Luigi normal again. Just turn the Cockatrice towards me."
Mario complied and took the beast's chicken head, turning it toward the yellow pegasus. The Cockatrice tried to use its statue powers for a last-ditch effort, but Flutterhy's signature Stare overpowered it. The monster cowered in fear, fearing that whatever this mare could do to it, it would be much worse than what Mario was doing.
"Turn him to Luigi now," Fluttershy said, not lifting her glare from the creature.
Mario picked up the Cockatrice and turned it to face his brother. It used its powers to turn Luigi from his statue form back to his normal self, he fell down from the sky flat on his face. The creature instantly broke free from Mario's grasp and flew away. Mario instantly ran toward his brother, who regained consciousness. His vision was blurry, but Luigi saw his brother.
"M-M-Mario?" he said. His voice was clearly shaken from what he had to go through. Mario gave a knowing nod in response.
"MARIOOOO!" Luigi said as he got up and threw his arms around him and sobbed. "I-I was so a-a-afraid and alone! I thought I'd never ever see you again!" Mario patted his back as he allowed his brother to drain his tear ducts, doing his best to comfort him.
"That's brotherhood right there," Spike said.
"It's... It's beautiful..." Fluttershy said, wiping a tear from her eye. The Piranha Plant didn't say anything so as to not upset his pegasus friend, but he wasn't happy about having to go with two plumbers now.
Twilight said nothing, and simply nodded at the sight. As Luigi calmed down, he noticed the strange group of friends behind Mario.
"H-Hey Mario," he said. "Who are they?"
"I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle," the alicorn greeted. "This dragon is Spike, and the other pony is Fluttershy. We come from another world called Equestria, and it was somehow merged with the Mushroom Kingdom. We're trying to find our friends and fix this entire mess."
"Oh, well... nice to meet you all," Luigi said as he waved shyly. "Name's Luigi. Thank you all for saving me from that stone statue... it wasn't fun..."
Just then, the Polterpup jumped through the roof, holding Luigi's hat in his mouth. He handed it to his owner, who gladly picked it up.
"Aww, thanks, boy," Luigi said as he petted his Polterpup. He put his green hat back on his head, now feeling complete. "Say, you're pretty silent today, bro," he said. Mario just rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"It's a long story," Twilight said. "He's infected with an illness from my world but we can cure him when we get back to Peach."
"Oh, good," Luigi nodded.
"Awwwww, what a nice family reunion!"
Everyone jumped at the sudden voice, and looked around. Luigi instantly recognized it, and cowered behind his brother. The figure instantly made himself known, revealing himself as none other than King Boo. He looked a lot bigger than the other Boos they defeated, and the giant crown on his head, the purple tongue, and his eyes shrouded in darkness made him the scariest one they've encountered yet. Mario prepared to fight the ghost, who only laughed in response.
"I have to say, my plan turned out better than expected!" he continued. "First that E. Gadd ijit foolishly sends Luigi into this mansion all by his lonesome. I was going to trap him in a painting, but that chicken-dragon creature beat me to him and made him a statue, which looked more appealing honestly. He was the perfect bait to get his brother to come along too!"
Mario said nothing as he stood in front of his friends, trying to protect them from any attack he could throw.
"What's the matter, Mario? Too scared for words?" King Boo cackled. "I knew you were always more of the silent type, but this is ridiculous! What's with the cold shoulder?"
"I hope you realize who you're messing with," Twilight said, walking up next to Mario. "If what Mario's been telling me is true, he and Luigi beat you. Multiple times!"
"I must be seeing things," King Boo said. "Am I really to believe that the famed Mario Bros. have entrusted some talking horses as allies? Oh ho ho, that's rich!"
"For your information, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle," she said. "And me and my friends have defended Equestria from countless villains not unlike yourself."
"A princess? Well I'm a KING!" King Boo responded. "And you're also telling me that a tiny horse like you could save entire lands from evil? See, now to me, that's funny. Are you a standup comedian? You oughta be!"
"It's... It's true," Fluttershy said. "W-We can... beat you!"
"I'd like to see you try," King Boo said. "I must say though, I'm upset you beat up some of my ghosts. Even my favorite Boos! Such brashness deserves punishment."
King Boo used his crown to shoot a lightning bolt down at Fluttershy, who only narrowly dodged out of the way, taking Piranha Plant with her. Twilight growled in anger.
"Alright, that tears it!" Twilight said, pulling out a Fire Flower and becoming Fire Twilight. Her purple coat became magenta and her dark blue mane became red. "You don't throw surprise attacks at my friends!"
"If you want a fight, it's a fight you'll get!" King Boo said with a chuckle. He then used his power to send the heroes into a weird purple portal, where they appeared in a pink, square arena. King Boo then appeared, looking much larger than he did previously.
"Have at you!"
King Boo was certainly more durable than the ghosts the group had to defeat within the mansion. Coupled with having a bunch of magic abilities from lightning bolts, to telekinesis, to teleportation, he just didn't seem to take that much damage regardless of what anyone was doing to him.
Mario flew behind King Boo and spun at him with his Tanooki tail, catching him off guard a bit. He turned back and rubbed the back of his head.
"I thought I was the one playing dirty," he said.
Mario flew around him for another attack, but King Boo launched another bolt at him. It nearly connected, but Mario dodged just in time. Unfortunately, it altered his flight pattern and he crashed into the ground. King Boo prepared for another bolt, but Twilight used her fireballs to distract him. The ghost king started chasing her, and she gracefully dodged his purple bolts. Luigi and Fluttershy ran toward Mario to help him up.
"You OK, bro?" Luigi asked. He nodded in response.
"Oh, do be careful, Twilight!" Fluttershy called out. From beside her, the Piranha Plant snapped and held up an Ice Flower.
"Oh goodness no!" Fluttershy said. "I... I couldn't possibly use that!"
However, one of Twilight's fireballs was reflected by King Boo, sending it straight into the potted plant and making it catch on fire. It threw the Ice Flower in the air and started running around aimlessly.
"MR. PIRANHA PLANT!" Fluttershy screamed. The Ice Flower landed right in her hooves, and for the first time since they came into this haunted mansion, she got a look of determination. She absorbed its powers, turning her into Ice Fluttershy, her pink mane now blue and shiny like ice, and her coat a much less saturated yellow. Using her newfound ice powers, she put out Piranha Plant's flames, just in time. Angrily, she then charged at King Boo like an ice missile.
"NOPONY HURTS MR. PIRANHA PLANT!" she called out as she flew right into King Boo in a blast of ice. He quickly tried to smack the pegasus with his tongue, but narrowly missed. Twilight flew right next to her.
"Alright, Fluttershy!" the alicorn cheered. "Looks like you have ice powers now!"
"It seems I underestimated you," King Boo said. "But no matter. I've been toying with you all the whole battle, now it's time to show you my TRUE power!"
King Boo's crown then began glowing, causing him to grow even bigger than before. With his newfound strength, he launched a purple fireball at Fluttershy. Twilight pushed her out of the way and took the blow instead, causing her to fall to the ground and lose her fire powers. Spike then flew at the ghost while carrying Luigi, who was doing his best to scorch him with his flames. Luigi hopped out of his grasp to try and attack King Boo head on, only to be wrapped in his tongue and thrown across the arena. Fluttershy threw some ice balls from her hooves, but they seemed to have no effect.
Mario flew down and helped Twilight up. He gave her a Mushroom which healed her instantly.
"Thanks," she said. She observed the battle going on: Fluttershy kept throwing ice attacks at King Boo, Spike and Luigi kept battling him head on, and Piranha Plant was kind of just doing his own thing in the corner.
"It doesn't seem like our attacks have any effect on him," Twilight said. "If only we could just find the source of his power- THAT'S IT!"
Before Twilight could even explain, Mario got the idea and flew up above King Boo; he was too distracted by the other heroes to notice. He turned into a statue and fell on King Boo's crown, causing the jewel on it to shatter. He shrunk a bit and his power weakened. The ghost grabbed the statue from his head and threw him at Spike, causing them both to topple to the ground.
"Crafty, you little drain clog!" King Boo snarled. "But this is far from over!"
Though his magic abilities were weakened, he was still a formidable foe. Luigi hopped on Fluttershy and prepared to use a team attack, only for King Boo to telekinetically grab them. He smacked the two together and threw them on the ground before slamming his entire body, burying them into the arena floor. This of course made Fluttershy lose her ice powers.
Unfortunately for King Boo, Piranha Plant saw this, and he wasn't going to let him hurt his best friend. As King Boo cackled once more, with the passion of 1000 Angry Suns, Piranha Plant leaped and clamped his jaws onto his tongue with a mighty CHOMP!
"YEEEEEOWCH!" King Boo yelped. He tried to shake Piranha Plant off him, but his teeth held onto him like a vice. Mario turned back from his statue form and saw what the plant was doing.
"Mario, now's our chance!" Twilight said.
Mario nodded and turned back into his statue form. Using her alicorn magic, Twilight picked him up and flew over the distracted King Boo, and repeatedly slammed the statue into King Boo's crown. She finished it off with a drilling attack with the statue, causing it to completely shatter. King Boo gave one last cackle in defeat until he disappeared into nothing, causing the arena to change back to the mansion's roof.
"Ghosts don't die, you can never kill something that's already dead!" King Boo's voice echoed in the night wind. "I'll be back, Mario Bros., just you wait! I'll not only put you in a painting, but those annoying little horses too!"
Ignoring his messages, the rest of the group ran up to Fluttershy and Luigi, who slowly got up from the blow King Boo dealt to them. Piranha Plant quickly nuzzled Fluttershy, who smiled in return. Mario helped Luigi up and gave both of them a Super Mushroom.
"Well, looks like it's the first time you saved me from a haunted mansion," Luigi said. "Now you know how it feels to capture some of those perilous poltergiests! Ho ho ho!"
Mario just gave a knowing nod, as if to say "I think I'll just stick to Goomba stomping."
"Yes, I did see you attack that big mean ghost!" Fluttershy said as she hugged the Piranha Plant. Their bond seemed to be growing closer by the minute. "You're such a brave plant! And a great friend!"
"Alright you two, I think it's time we head out," Spike said. "We found Luigi, so we'll meet up with E. Gadd and we're outta here."
"Sounds like a plan," Twilight said.
"So you managed to best King Boo in battle once again?" E. Gadd asked when the heroes finished their story. "It's a shame you didn't catch him for my ghost collection, but Luigi is safe and sound, and that's what's important!"
"It was no picnic," Twilight commented.
"Besides, I found a really interesting specimen that requires immediate study!" the professor said. He pushed a button and revealed a glass container, with the Cockatrice from before inside it. "I'm assuming it came from Equestria, but it's fascinating! My research shows that this creature is capable of turning other beings into stone just by looking at it!"
"Yeah... I noticed..." Luigi said as he rubbed the back of his head. His Polterpup rubbed his head along his leg, trying his best to comfort him. The green plumber answered with a pet.
"But I digress," E. Gadd said. "It's been fun, but I suppose now is time for you kids to go. From what I understand the princess has a base made of her castle ruins, and I'd gladly help in researching this merging phenomenon."
"Your help would be greatly appreciated," Twilight said. "Speaking of which, I think it's time we head back and cure Mario."
"Yeah, I bet being stuck as a Silent Protagonist isn't fun," Spike said with a chuckle. Everyone in the room had a good laugh over that... except Mario.
Little did they know that they were being watched. Bowser Jr. floated above the lab as everyone walked out of it, spying on them. The Koopa prince rubbed his hands together and laughed.
"Mario has new horse friends? Papa's gonna be so proud of me when I tell him!" And with that, he flew away, unseen by the heroes below.