//------------------------------// // The Gang Sleeps for the Night while Bowser Takes Over Canterlot and Plots to Kidnap Cadence // Story: Of Plumbers and Ponies: Kingdom Quest // by pokerninja2 //------------------------------// "Just a few more minutes in this herbal bath and you should be cured," Fluttershy cooed as she gently rubbed Mario's back. Mario wasn't comfortable at all bathing in the presence of others, but considering Poison Joke needed to be taken care of with very specific massages, he had Fluttershy in the bathroom with him. The Piranha Plant was there too of course, but the pegasus commanded that he look away while she was tending Mario. It was a nice coincidence that the herbs needed for the cure grew right by Peach's castle. The washing continued until Mario was able to speak again. Fluttershy and Piranha Plant quickly saw themselves out of the room while Mario dried up and got back in his favorite overalls, and the three headed back downstairs to meet with the rest of the group sitting at the dinner table. "Hey Mario!" Spike waved. "Did you get cured?" Mario answered by elbowing him in the stomach, not so much that it'd hurt but enough to get his message across. "That's for 'Silent Protagonist'," he said. Spike rubbed his belly and inched his seat at the table a bit further away. "Well, it's nice to have you back," Twilight said. "Sorry you had to be with somepony in there, but there was no other way." "No, it's fine," Mario replied. "And if anything I now know hooves are much better for a massage than hands." Piranha Plant gagged. Fluttershy could translate it as "I hope I don't have to be near him when he's in the bathtub ever again," but said nothing. "And I'm glad you're safe and sound, Luigi," Peach said. "Well, it's good to be back with my bro," Luigi. "Everyone told me about how all of our friends went missing, and I'd be happy to lend a hand. It's the least I could do after being saved from that King Boo." "I can't believe he's here, too," Peach said. "Hopefully we can sort this whole mess out before any other evil takes advantage of this." "Speaking of that, didn't E. Gadd say he knew what happened?" Twilight asked. "Indeed I did, my equine friend," the professor said as he moseyed into the room, carrying with him a tablet-like device. He took a seat next to Peach and laid his pad on the table, causing holograms of the Mushroom Kingdom and Equestria to appear. "Sit tight kids, because this is a bunch of exposition!" E. Gadd said with a laugh. "So what we know for sure is that both of our lands were merged together. The Mushroom Kingdom was hit with a giant blue twister that sent us into this world... but according to my findings, Equestria didn't suffer the same fate. Tell me Twilight Sparkle, did you and your other equine friends get transported to this place with some sort of blue flash?" "That's exactly what happened," the alicorn answered. "Then if my theory is correct," the professor continued. "Something must have happened in the Mushroom Kingdom that caused this whole mess. If we can find the object - or person - that caused it, we should be able to set things straight again. Our worlds will be separated once more, and everything goes back to the way it was." "How much you wanna bet this is all Bowser's fault?" Mario asked sarcastically. "You joke bro, but watch as it's revealed he really is the one behind all of this," Luigi laughed. "Well, we can worry about him later," Peach said. "Thanks to E. Gadd's help, we now know what we have to do." "So first we'll find all of our friends to make sure they're safe, then we find the root problem and take it out," Twilight said. "Works for me," Spike nodded. "We set out in the morning," Mario said. Just then, some doors opened and he saw chefs delivering dinner. "For now though, let's eat!" Spaghetti and meatballs were served to everyone in the room, much to the Mario Bros.' enjoyment. Since ponies were herbivores, Twilight requested she and Fluttershy be served just tomato sauce with no meatballs. Everyone dug in and chatted among themselves like old friends. Mario and Luigi told their new pony friends the story of how they ventured through outer space to stop Bowser, Spike was showing Piranha Plant more of his favorite comics, and E. Gadd was telling Peach about his latest research on the Cockatrice. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. With dinner being finished, the team of six were led by Peach upstairs to the top of the tower, where she showed them a pretty small bedroom with several mattresses for them to sleep in. "We're sorry we couldn't provide more," Peach said. "Especially for royalty like yourself." "Oh come on, it's fine," Twilight replied. "I'm not above anypony else just because I have a crown." The Piranha Plant snapped three times, smiling as if he made a clever joke. "Mr. Piranha Plant!" Fluttershy scolded. "You should NOT talk about Twilight Sparkle that way! How rude!" "She's... not going to keep that thing outside...?" Peach said. "I tried convincing her to leave him with E. Gadd and Polterpup, but she insists letting him stay inside," Luigi sighed. "But... he did help us battle King Boo, so I guess he's one of us?" "Well... as long as it's not hurting anyone I don't see a problem," Peach said. "Do get some sleep, everyone. You have a big day tomorrow." "Don't worry," Mario said. "We'll get some rest." Peach closed the door to let everyone get some rest. There were four beds crammed in the small room, plus a small laundry basket for Spike. Fluttershy took the one closest to the window so she could let Piranha Plant rest on the windowsill. Luigi took the bed next to her, while Mario and Twilight took the beds parallel to them. "I'm proud of everypony in here," Twilight said. "It was pretty rough in that mansion, but we pulled together and got out as a team." "Yeah, if we can survive that, we can survive anything!" Spike followed. "I... I hope our friends are safe..." Fluttershy said as she looked out the window. "I'm... I'm scared for them. What if th-they don't have a place to sleep tonight?" "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried too," Luigi said. "They're probably lost and alone... like me and 'Shy were." "We'll find them," Mario said, placing his hat on the bedside table. "That I promise." "We just need to stick together from here on out," Twilight said. "Surely the others can't be too far away. It won't be easy, but me and Mario found you all, so they're all still around here somewhere." Silence fell upon the friends until the sound of snoring was heard. Everyone turned to see Piranha Plant, snoozing soundly in his pot by the window. "For once, he's right," Mario said with a yawn. "Let's get some shut-eye." With that, Mario turned off the lights as everyone drifted off, letting the night embrace them in their sleep. "Kamek! Kammy! How's that research going?" Bowser called. "We're working on it!" Kamek answered. "There's so many books," Kammy said. "There's BOUND to be a princess to capture somewhere in this kingdom!" When Bowser first landed in the odd, merged world, he appeared in none other than Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. The majority of his army fell around this place too. After discovering many of its residents were ponies, he had them captured and imprisoned. They were too preoccupied with the sudden merge between the Mushroom Kingdom and Equestria to put up a fight, and with their leader nowhere to be found (why else would there be a giant castle?), it was easy pickings. Since then, the Koopa king took up residence in the royal castle. While it was roomy, he was disgusted by the interior design and wanted to remodel it in his image later on. He also thought he could replace the lake outside the city with lava, and maybe use some of that magic these ponies apparently had to turn the mountains into volcanoes. But all of that was in the long term, he figured. For now, his top priority was finding a princess. None of the scouts he sent could find hide or hair of Peach, so he was banking on Equestria having a princess of their own he could have. The search wasn't going so well. He put Kamek, Kammy Koopa, and the rest of the Magikoopa mob to work, digging through the castle's library to find any information on the matter. He didn't know if they were looking in the wrong place or they were just being stupid, but he was slowly losing his patience. "That's what you said a hour ago," Bowser replied. "And an hour before that. C'mon, I'm dying over here!" "Must you be so impatient, your Angriness?" Kammy asked. "I mean, you literally just took over this new land, found a new castle to sit in, AND keeping all these horses as prisoners. You've come far since this whole mish-mash mayhem happened." "Need I remind you we wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't passed off that cardboard box as a teleporter!" Bowser shot back. "I could have kidnapped Peach 10 times over by now if it wasn't for you two!' "Hey, it worked as a teleporter, didn't it?" Kamek responded. In a fit of rage, Bowser shot a fireball through the library. Kamek and Kammy ducked for cover as it hit a wall, exploding and destroying it. The giant whole revealed a brand new section of books. Kammy flew inside and looked around. "Ah-HA!" she exclaimed. "History books! There's bound to be useful information in here!" "Wait, you're just now finding the history section?" Bowser asked. "What have you been reading all this time?" He picked up one of the books left on the floor, and let out another roar of anger. "YOU IDIOTS HAVE BEEN READING COOKBOOKS THE PAST EIGHT HOURS!?" he exclaimed. "Uh... I'm gonna say... maybe?" Kamek answered. "GRAWR!" Bowser roared. "This is why my evil plains always derail! You lunatics can't get your act together! You always mess everything up!" He began stomping on the floor in frustration. "Your Bitterness, please!" Kammy protested. "Remember your blood pressure!" "Papa, Papa!" came a childlike voice. "I have news! Big news!" Bowser instantly cooled off and turned around to see his son running to him. He knealed down and held a nice, fatherly face, trying to push his anger as far back as possible. "Jr.!" he greeted. "I see you came back from your scout training. Did you make me proud?" "You bet!" Bowser Jr. answered. "Get this! I found Mario! He's here too!" "That's nothing new," Kamek commented. "SHUT UP YOU RAT IN ROBES!" Bowser yelled. "HE'S TRYING HIS BEST!" Kamek instantly went back to looking through the books. He turned back around to his son and shook his hand. "Well, that's certainly a find. You have any other information?" "Yup!" his son said. "Mario's teamed up with a bunch of girly horses!" "BWAHAHAHA!" Bowser laughed. "You mean Mario's teaming up with those weaklings? I just bested 100 of them and locked them all up in the dungeon! Well, good to know I have nothing to worry about when I eventually need to fight him." "Nothing can stop you, Papa!" Bowser Jr. cheered. "Your Ugliness!" Kammy called from the other room. "I think I found something!" "Alright, I got another job for you," Bowser said to his son. "I want you to run down and check on the prisoners. Think you can do that?" "Sure can!" Jr. saluted as he ran off. Bowser turned to the Magikoopas to see what they were looking at. "You sure this isn't some stupid recipe for 'Super Duper Berrysweet Cake' or whatever they eat in this girly kingdom?" Bowser said. "No, but I found that recipe earlier and it looked simply delightful!" Kammy said. Bowser have her a death glare. "Well, um, yes, anyway, I've found a princess you could capture!" "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," Kamek read. "Or Princess Cadence for short, is a pegasus-turned-alicorn and the current ruler of the Crystal Empire, alongside her prince and husband Shining Armor. A niece of Celestia and Luna - whoever those are - she held her wedding with Shining Armor right here in the royal castle walls of Canterlot. The evil Queen Chrysalis sought to take over, so she used her shapeshifting powers to pose as Cadence while she kept the real one underground. Fortunately for everyone, Twilight Sparkle and her friends stopped Chrysalis and the wedding resumed. Now, she rules the Crystal Empire with Shining Armor, and the two have since had a baby named Flurry Heart, the current heir to the throne." "Finally you two do SOMETHING useful!" Bowser said. "And look, Your Grouchiness, there's even pictures of her!" Kammy said. Bowser immediately snatched the book away from the Magikoopas to look for himself. Right there he saw a picture of the purple horse with multicolored mane he assumed was Cadence, standing next to some white unicorn he figured was Shining Armor. In her hooves was Flurry Heart, who absolutely stole his heart. He couldn't take his eyes off of the baby foal. A smile crept on his face. "Cadence is quite the catch, I agree," Kamek said, seeing the look on his face. Not wanting to admit what his true intentions were, he closed the book and handed it back to Kamek. "Yes. Very good, Kamek. She's no Peach, but I suppose she will do. Look around more and find me some more information on this Cadence and the Crystal Empire. We wanna be ready for anything." "As you wish, your Massiveness," Kammy said as the two continued looking through the library. Bowser walked back to the throne room and sat on his new throne. Thoughts about the little filly plagued his mind. She was just so adorable! He could just see the little bundle of joy in his arms, looking up at him with those big cyan eyes. The thought of raising such an adorable filly made him smile. And as she got older, she could even be one of the strongest generals in the Koopa Troop! As much as he liked to make fun of those weakling horses, he did have to admit, some of the magic they were using to defend themselves was admirable. His decision was made. Once he rounded up the troops and found where the Crystal Empire was, he would launch an invasion against it, kidnap Cadence and Flurry Heart, and get rid of Shining Armor if he had to. He'd keep Cadence around as his bride like he did with Peach that one time he hosted a wedding; he wasn't really attracted to her, but he could definitely see the benefits of marrying an alicorn. But more importantly, marrying her would make him the father of Flurry Heart, allowing him to raise her as his daughter. He had experience in parenting with Jr. and the Koopalings, so he'd make a decent father. And again, she could prove useful when she came of age. For now though, he just had to play the waiting game. The castle's dungeon cells will absolutely filled to the brim with ponies. Bowser Jr. walked passed some of them, and saw there were at least 10 in each cell! He inspected each and every one to make sure no one was acting out of line, and moved on to the next when they were up to his satisfaction. "Hey, babyface!" came a voice from behind. The Koopa prince turned around and saw a cyan pony with rainbow mane grabbing the cell bars. "Yeah, I'm talking to you! You guys think you can just throw us in the dungeon of our own castle!?" "Aw, is the widdle horsey upset we beat her?" Bowser Jr. taunted. "No one can beat Papa! He takes over lands whenever he wants!" "Let me outta here and we'll test that theory!" the rainbow-maned pegasus shot back. "The only reason I was caught is because that turtle guy fell right on top of me!" "Well, you snooze you lose," Jr. replied as he got closer to the cell. "Besides, you could never beat Papa anyway. He's too strong for even 100 of you!" In a fit of rage, Rainbow Dash threw a hoof through the cell bars and punched Bowser Jr. right in the jaw. He immediately burst into tears. "Who's the tough guy now?" Rainbow taunted. "I'M TELLING ON YOU!" Jr. said between sobs as he ran out of the dungeon and back to his father. Though satisfied with her efforts, Rainbow Dash was still beating herself up that she let that dumb turtle guy land on her and take her as prisoner. She began thinking of her other friends, and what they were going through. "Twi, 'Shy, and the others," she said to herself as she looked out the window in the night sky. "I hope you're doing OK, wherever you are..."