Chapter 1: Meeting the King of the Koopas
Outside of the castle, a wizard creature wearing glasses, a blue robe and hat carrying a magic wand walks around for a couple of minutes standing behind a warp pipe. *sigh* "Time to do some grocery shopping while Lord Bowser is away kidnapping the princess for the thousandth time." He takes a moment to rest when suddenly he hears a screaming noise. The green pipe shoots up a screaming Apple Bloom flying upward and then falling down towards the wizard. "What the !?!" The weird creature shouted until the filly landed on top of him knocking him to the ground. "oooh, measly mushrooms." He groaned in pain.
Apple Bloom shakes her head to stop feeling dizzy and takes a look at her surroundings. "Where am ah?"
"Hey! Why don't you watch where you are going you egghead!" The blue robe creature spoke.
"Who're you calling egghead? Eggface!" She said back to the creature.
"You are, now get off me!" The filly jumps off the weird wizard and he points his wand at her. "Why I ought a turn you into a frog for jumping on me you...." He takes a glance at Apple Bloom with interest he lowers his wand. "Hmm, you look like a strange species, what are you anyway?" He questions the filly.
"A'hm a pony. Name's Apple Bloom, and Ah have no idea where I am." She looks around the area.
"A pony? I haven't seen one of those, interesting... Ah! Where are my manners. I am Kamek, I am a magikoopa, and you are in the Mushroom Kingdom. Specifically, outside of Bowser's castle." He introduces himself.
"Nice to meet ya Kamek." Apple Bloom giggles.
"If you don't mind me asking, where did you come from?"
She points her hoof to the pipe. "Ah came out from this thing and fer some reason ah wound up here of all places." She shrugs. Kamek takes a close look at the pipe fixing up his glasses.
"Hmm, thats peculiar, this wasn't supposed to be here before." The blue wizard said as he examines the mysterious pipe. "Its as if it just magically showed up out of nowhere." He ponders at the green object, then he turns towards Apple Bloom. "I don't suppose you have anywhere else to go now do you?"
Apple Bloom shakes her head. "This place is new to me so ah don't know where to look."
"Then come with me, I'll take you to Bowser's castle, it should be the perfect place for you to rest up." Kamek claps his hands excitedly. "And I can give you the grand tour of the place! Hehehee! Let's go!" With that said he grabs his wand and motions for Apple Bloom to follow him and they both walked towards the castle in question.
Apple Bloom and Kamek were walking by the area until they came a cross a very large castle overhead. Surrounded by a sea of lava, the filly would assume that they are near volcanic lands. A bridge leads to the castle on a plateau which would allow passage to the structure. The castle itself is very large building made from stone blocks and decorated with spikes, tall towers shaped like arms, and features a face of a monster at the top roof. This castle is a sight to behold, but not to the extent of the other castles Apple Bloom has seen.
The apple filly gulped as she gazes at the structure looming ahead. "Um, Kamek? Is that Bowser's castle" Apple Bloom asked nervously.
Kamek nods. "Yes! That is where the king of the Koopas, Bowser lives." He answered. Both he and Apple Bloom began to walk across the bridge. "I would suggest you don't look down."
Apple Bloom nodded and trotted carefully on the bridge to avoid going off the edge and fall into the lava.
"Don't worry about it, this bridge is very stable." Kamek assures the earth pony. "Look, we are almost there."
With that said, they arrived at the gate with large wooden doors in front of them. Kamek waves his wand and creates a broomstick which he climbs on and flies up to one of the towers.
"Hello! This is Kamek! I want you to open up the doors!"
Appearing at the top of a tower is a turtle-like creature wearing a helmet and carrying hammers in his hands.
"Oh hello Kamek! Back so soon? I thought you were out buying groceries for Bowser." The turtle responded.
Kamek grumbles under his breath while fixing his glasses. "I was about to do it right away. For now open up the gates we have a visitor and we are welcoming her to the castle. Now open up!"
The turtle nodded and began to unlock the gates while Kamek flies down to join Apple Bloom. The doors slowly open to reveal the entrance leading inside. The two of them enter as they take in the scenery of the interior. Apple Bloom was astonished, she feels overwhelming presence that someone really powerful lives here. Kamek looks at her and smirks.
"Pretty impressive right? This is Bowser's Castle, where the king of the Koopas live."
Apple Bloom nodded. "Eeyup. Who is this Bowser ya'll keep mentioning?" She raises an eyebrow.
"He is the KING! Bowser is the almighty leader of the Koopa army and soon to be ruler of the Mushroom kingdom!" Kamek declares raising his hands in the air. Then he brings out a large portrait in a puff of magic smoke. "Here's a picture of him." Kamek shows the filly the picture.
Apple Bloom looks at the picture and suddenly felt frightened. It depicts a large dragon-like monster with a big mouth sharp teeth, and an angry look. He also appears to look like a turtle having an orange body, a yellow underbelly, with a green shell with spikes on the back. It also wears spiky collars on it's neck and arms, while also having a red mane and eyebrows. This is what Bowser looks like to the little filly.
The apple filly shudders at the sight of such a creature knowing that this might be someone who might be, evil. Apple Bloom looks at Kamek in disbelief. "Oh, Th-Thats Bowser. G-Good to know!" She smiled nervously.
"Of course!" Kamek puts away the portrait and walks over to the Hallway. "Now, shall we get on the tour?" The magikoopa asks her. She nods her head and the two of them walked through the hallway wandering on the red carpet underneath them.
Apple Bloom had gotten a grasp on how things run in Bowser's castle. There were a lot of creatures working with Bowser in his army which included; mushroom-like creatures called Goombas, other turtles like Koopa Troopas, Paratroopas, and Hammer Bros. Round white ghosts called Boos, red creatures wearing masks who are known as Shy Guys, and plants with sharp teeth called Piranha plants. There were even some of the more threatening minions like the Chain Chomps, Bob ombs, Bullet Bills, Thwomps, and so much more. It was astounding knowing that they have all been serving Bowser in sheer numbers which made it a strong army.
Kamek even mentions that there are Magikoopas that look like him, the only way he could tell was that his clothes are more darker shade of blue compared with the rest. Apple Bloom wonders why so many creatures would serve him despite being used in his army.
"And here we have the throne room where Lord Bowser would reside, if only he was here." Kamek assures the earth pony continuing the tour. He opens the doors and they both enter with precaution.
The throne room is a big room with large purple columns, black tapestries with Bowser's face in a red color, there is a ramp that leads to a big throne at the back of the room. Apple Bloom and Kamek walk over to the throne where they stop to take a break.
"Gee Kamek, this is an amazin place. Ah can understand why Bowser has so many minions, but why do ya need so many?" Apple Bloom raises an eyebrow.
"The reason why is because we live to serve Bowser, we go to great lengths to become his most loyal followers and joining his army makes us strong, powerful, and formidable." Kamek says with pride. "You know what? Maybe you should take part in joining the Koopa army. There might be a few of us who might be happy to train you, especially with your strange magic i've been meaning to study."
Apple Bloom ponders for a moment thinking about joining the army. She might get the feeling that this feels like the Canterlot royal guard serving Princess Celestia back home. "Ah don't know, will we get into wars? I'd sure wouldn't like to hurt myself or other creatures." Apple Bloom replies.
"At least give it a chance. By joining Bowser's army, you could become stronger than anyone who would get in your way. All it takes is a little encouragement and the will to fight."
Then suddenly the entire castle shook at the sounds of stomping that made the minions panic. Some of them scrambled to get in their places while other simply hide or get out of the way. Everyone in the castle has started to prepare for their boss to arrive at this moment.
"He's here!"
"Lord Bowser has arrived!"
"Hail to the king!"
Apple Bloom began to sweat knowing that Bowser is coming. She glances at Kamek of what to do in this situation.
"Quick! Hide behind the throne until I signal for you to come out!" He whispers. Apple Bloom runs to the back of the large chair and waits there shaking like a leaf. Here arrives the king of the Koopas.
Bowser arrives at his castle carrying a princess in his left arm chuckling as he brings himself inside. "GWA-HA-HA-HA! It feels so good coming back after a successful kidnapping!" Bowser said in content. "Wouldn't you agree Princess Peach?"
With her arms crossed and deadpanned expression, the princess herself was not amused. "Bowser, just how many times must you kidnap me even during my gaming session with Daisy? I was about to beat her at her own game!" She complains to the turtle dragon.
"Heh, if I had known that I would have brought my own games to play"
Peach huffs in annoyance and closes her eyes not wanting to look at Bowser directly. "It doesn't matter, Mario will just come rescue me like always and then I can always have something to do on the weekends."
Bowser had to resist growling at the mention of Mario's name as they made their way into the throne room, where they are greeted by his own minions.
"Ah greetings Lord Bowser, I see the kidnapping was a success." Kamek praises the Koopa king.
He sets the princess down on her feet and she brushes off her dress fixing herself. "Alright minions! You know what to do! Take the princess to her room and keep someone guarding her until Mario shows up!" Bowser commanded his minions. A few Koopas and Goombas went up to her and escorts Peach into the direction of a room to keep her there. With that done, he looks at his minions with a fierce expression.
"Alright!" The Koopa king pounds his fist with his palm. "Mario is gonna show up soon. So I'm gonna need some of you mooks to keep that red plumber busy while I prepare the battlefield stage!"
Kamek raises his hand in the air. "If I may Lord Bowser, I do have someone of special interest I'd like you to meet." He interrupted.
"What is it! This had better be something good otherwise you're on shell wax duty for a month!" The king of the Koopas warned irritably.
"Alright then!" He walks over to the back of the throne and whispered. "You can come out now little one."
Slowly walking up to Bowser with Kamek, Apple Bloom reveals herself nervously smiling at the big turtle creature. "Hello. A'hm Apple Bloom." She gulps. A couple of murmurs and whispers can be heard from the many minions in the throne room.
Bowser looks at the tiny horse staring at him then he looks at Kamek as he raises an eyebrow. He crosses his arms. "What am I looking at?" Bowser asks Kamek.
"As I said, this is someone of interest who I've encountered just outside of the castle. A magical talking pony!" He said out loud. He gets awkward stares from the many of Bowser's followers and Bowser himself and he could've sworn he heard a cough.
Bowser just stares at the the little pony in front of him for a few seconds until he blurted out laughing. "BWA-HAH-HAH-HAH! Thats too funny! You like girly horses!" Soon everyone else in the room started laughing making Apple Bloom feel discouraged. Bowser ceased his laughing and speaks up. "You got a pretty good joke there Kamek. I am definitely having a good mood today!"
"But sire I just think tha-"
Kamek was interrupted by a loud roar caused by Bowser prompting Apple Bloom to hide behind the magikoopa feeling scared at the dragon monster.
"I don't care about that! What I wanna know is WHY IS THERE A TINY HORSE IN MY CASTLE!" Bowser angrilly shouted.
"Because she wants to join your army!" Kamek hides behind Apple Bloom feeling frightened himself.
Bowser looks at them crossing his arms as he raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"
Not wanting to get kicked out Apple Bloom decides to go along with the idea. "Uh, y-yeah! A-A'hd like to join! Ah can be a great help with you and yer army of minions I could be like uhh." Apple Bloom stammered feeling nervous. "To help you out a-a-and stuff! Yea..."
Bowser looks at the trembling filly putting a claw to his chin and thinks questioning whether or not to add her into his legion of followers. On the one hand, he would kick her out knowing that even if he could include the filly, she'd be too weak to take on the likes of Mario and his friends. On the other hand, Having a rare yet formidable little pony might be useful for his schemes and another strong follower with so much potential to add to his army.
The Koopa king grinned lightly at her as he comes to a conclusion.
"So you want to join MY army huh?" Bowser said mischievously. He examines the pony then the dragon turtle nods once. "Alright, I don't see why not? You can join my troops, IF you can do a little training for me. Once you do that, you'll definitely work up your way to become a major part of my army!"
Apple Bloom sighs in relief and nods her head in affirmation that she'll be joining Bowser as a minion. "Thank you Bowser! Ah promise a'll do a good job and I know that a'll be a lot stronger than I was before!" The apple filly beamed at the Koopa king's approval.
"Darn right! I like your spirit kid!" He points his finger to the little pony. "Now I want you to train hard! I'll start ordering the Koopalings to begin working on your training right away." Bowser snaps his fingers. "Kamek! I want you to get Apple Bloom to the training facility, and don't be afraid to use the heavy stuff. I want her to push past the limits and if she could pull it off, she can be my secret weapon against Mario!" The Koopa king pounds his fist on his other hand. "Its an idea that just might work!"
Kamek relectantly sighs. "Very well, as you command Lord Bowser." The Koopa wizard wipes his glasses from his sweat then motions Apple Bloom to follow him. "Lets go Apple Bloom, we've got some training to do I guess." Both he and Apple Bloom walk out of the throne room to go to the place and prepare for the training session.
"I should probably get started on the battle arena. Mario won't know what hit him." Bowser said with a wicked smile. "Okay then, meeting is done!" Bowser walks to the back of his throne as he leaves to prepare for his fight with Mario.
The rest of the minions were talking amongst themselves on what happened today. Some of the Koopas and Goombas walk around to their posts with the sounds of murmuring to each other. Unbeknownst to some, one Koopa with large blue hair, arms crossed, and leaning against one of the columns does not take the encounter with the pony too kindly.
"This is not going to end well." He said.