Mario,Spike,and Olivia made their way into ponyville to find a quiet and dead town. As they walked through the streets they noticed that not a single pony was in sight, and most of the decorations that were used to celebrate the origami festival littered the ground around them.
"Hm it doesn't look like there's anyone here," said Olivia.
"Probably because those scary Origami freaks trashed the place," Scootaloo chimed in. The group continued walking until they found another massive hole.
"Hey look at that big hollow spot over there, that means my brother might have been here already, and I'm sure he was up to no good," Olivia sighed as she shook her head in disbelief.
"Y'all's brother did THAT?" asked Applebloom.
"It's a long story," said Spike.
"Hold on there IS someone here," said Olivia looking in a certain direction. The group turned towards the same direction as Olivia and noticed a giant paper mache Goomba standing near a building.
"Hey, that's the thing! That's the thing I saw before I got knocked out!" said Spike.
"What IS that thing?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Well it's way WAY too big to be real that's for sure," said Olivia. "It's not like any origami I've seen before, but what exactly is it doing to that building?" Then, just as if it was one cue, the giant paper mache Goomba slowly turns around revealing a giant hole in the building and a mouthful of confetti. "It's eating it!? Eww, it's eating that building, I can't imagine how yucky it must taste,"
"I don't think I wanna know," Spike says trying not to vomit.
"These macho papery things must be the source of all the holes we've been seeing everywhere, UGH!" The Paper Macho Goomba turns back around and continues eating away at the building revealing a small seal on it's back. "Wait look at that thing's back, that's a seal of my brother's face!"
"You mean your brother made this monster!?" Sweetie Belle whimpered.
"I mean it's a possibility which means that he must be powering it somehow, if that's the case the seal could be some kind of weak point!"
"I suppose I could hit it and see what happens," said Mario.
"Be careful that thing looks dangerous," Spike swallowed hard as Mario sneaks up behind the Paper Macho Goomba and smacks the seal off it's back with his hammer. He steps back as the Paper Macho Goomba immediately turns around and charges at him only to miss him by a few inches. Mario takes this opportunity to hit it again causing it's gigantic body to start breaking down into confetti.
"Hey it's working!" cheered Applebloom. As the Paper Macho Goomba charges at him again, Mario sidesteps and smacks it with his hammer two more times before the monster explodes into a pile of confetti.
"Yes that did the trick,so the weak point on that Paper Macho soldier was my brother's seal, you should remember that!" said Olivia. "Now what were we doing here? i got turned around after all that excitement,"
"Well we WERE originally going to check up on the state of the village but seeing as how there's nopony here, I was thinking we head over to where the castle was to see if anypony's still needs saving," suggested Spike.
"Oh good idea, but how do we get to the castle?" asked Olivia.
"The castle is in Canterlot but it's a pretty far walk from ponyville," explained Spike.
"Well we got nothing better to do so we might as well check it out," said Mario.
"I agree, oh and Mario maybe keep that hammer ready in case we run into anymore of those huge monsters," suggested Olivia.
"You guys are going to Canterlot? Good luck," said Scootaloo.
"You're not coming with us?" asked Spike.
"We'd rather stay here instead of having to go out where more of those origami freaks are wandering around, don't worry we know the perfect hiding spot if somepony comes after us," said Applebloom.
"Well in that case, be careful," said Olivia. "Alright Spike, lead the way," With that, Mario, Spike, and Olivia make their way towards Canterlot while the cutie mark crusaders stay behind in ponyville, along the way, the three run into more Paper Macho Soldiers, thankfully Mario's experience in combat was more than enough to dispose of the monstrosities. Several minutes later, the three finally make it to the gates of Canterlot only to find themselves with another problem.
"What the gates are broken!" Olivia gasped as they study the pile of rubble blocking the entrance leading into Canterlot. "Great now how are we supposed to reach the castle?"
"Spike is there any other entrances?" asked Mario.
"Not that I know of, this is the only one," answered Spike.
"Guess there's no point in staying here, we should probably head back to ponyville to see what we're going to do from there," suggested Mario. Spike and Olivia nod in agreement as the they make their way back down to the village. Upon reaching ponyville, they noticed that the cutie mark crusaders had run off somewhere.
"Huh where did Applebloom and the others run off to?" Olivia asked scanning the area.
"Maybe they're hiding?" suggested Spike. At that moment, a panicked Applebloom came rushing towards them.
"Oh thank Celestia, y'all are back!"
"Applebloom? What's the rush?" asked Olivia.
"Big trouble, we need y'all's help, follow me!" Mario looked at Spike and Olivia and hurried after Applebloom, she eventually leads the three into the plaza where a single unicorn with a pinkish purple coat and mane with two tones of purple. She was in a defensive stance with her horn glowing in a light blue aura and was being harassed by a group of folded soldiers. "There! That unicorn there, her name is Starlight Glimmer please help her!" Mario nods as he rushes in.
"Applebloom!? Why did you come back!?" Starlight gasped upon seeing her.
"Don't worry Miss Starlight, ah brought help!" Applebloom announced.
"Hey stop bullying that poor pony!" Olivia shouted gaining their attention.
"Fresh paper alert!" one of the folded soldiers hissed.
"Let's fold them up!" Mario braced himself as the group of folded soldiers charged at him.
"Look more puny little Goombas, this'll be a piece of cake, line 'em up, and take 'em out with a quick jump attack!" exclaimed Olivia.
"Uh Olivia I think we have a problem," said Spike.
"Huh?" Olivia takes another look at the field and realizes that he's right. "Wait, no matter which ring you turn, that one Goomba won't fall in line!"
"How are we supposed to line them up then?" asked Spike.
"Just hang on, I'm getting dizzy,let's stop rotating those rings and think about this," said Olivia. "I think there's some other way to move enemies around,"
"Like what?" asked Spike. "This whole time Mario's beaten enemies by rotating rings,"
Wait I think I know, it's slipping? No wait sloughing? Striding? Line dancing?" Olivia mumbles to herself as she's trying to figure out the word. "Oh I remember, it's sliding! You can rotate each of the rings, but you can also Slide the panels in a row!"
"How though?" asked Spike.
"Mario take a look at the control panel, see anything that might tell us how to slide the rings?" asked Olivia. Mario looks down at the panel and noticed the large green S button and quickly pushes it. As he does, the lights on rings turn off and the lights on a row turns on. "There you go! The area of control has changed from a ring to a row! Now we're ready to slide!" Mario wastes no time in lining up the Goombas and goes in to attack like normal, leaving a trail of confetti in his wake.
"Hey it worked!" cheered Spike. But the fight wasn't over as four more folded soldiers hops into the fray.
"Looks like rotating the rings won't do the trick in this last wave, in that case let's try sliding the panels into place again!" Mario hits the S button to switch from rotating to sliding and lines up the Goombas again before pressing the OK button, once the line was created he rushes in and jumps on their heads taking them out one by one and leaving a trail of confetti as always and successfully claiming another victory. "Great job Mario, you're becoming a pro at sliding and rotating rings!"
"He's such a fast learner almost like this isn't his first time adventuring," added Spike.
"Well I DID have a run in with loads of baddies in the past but nothing of this caliber," Mario explained.
"That was close, you really saved my flank right there thank you," Starlight walked over to them.
"Glad to help!" cheered Olivia.
"Allow me to properly introduce myself, I'm Starlight Glimmer, Twilight Sparkle's student,"
"Twilight is one of my friends or rather I'm her assistant," added Spike.
"Spike!?" Starlight gasped upon seeing the baby dragon.
"Yep it's been a while since we split off, glad to see you're doing well Starlight,"
"That's MY line, I was so worried!" Starlight argued.
"I apologize if I made you worry, but don't worry now that Mario is here I'm sure that everything will be alright!" Starlight looked up at the human with the overalls and mustache and his origami companion.
"Nice to meet you Miss Starlight I'm Olivia and this is Mario,we're on a quest to stop my brother so just like Spike said, everything will be alright!" Olivia chirped.
"Well that's a relief, if there's anything I can do, please let me know, I owe you one after all," said Starlight.
"Well in that case do you think you can help us find a way into Canterlot?" asked Mario. "We want to get into the city but the front gates have been done in,"
"I don't have a problem with that, I was on my way there myself before I was attacked by those creeps," explained Starlight. "Lead the way," And so with Starlight in their group, Mario, Spike, and Olivia head back towards Canterlot.
"I'm surprised you managed to escape Starlight, what exactly happened?" asked Spike.
"Well after the origami king attacked, Twilight and the girls stayed back to hold him off with the princesses, while Discord,Trixie, Thorax and I escaped, but we got separated in the process," explained Starlight. "After I heard that Twilight and her friends got captured along with the princesses, I started making my way back and that's when I saw Canterlot castle being lifted in the sky by all these streamers, I managed to make it back to ponyville a little while ago and that's when those Origami freaks attacked me,"
"I'm sorry to hear that you got separated from your friends, but don't worry I'm sure we can find them now that Mario's here!" Olivia chimed in.
"I really can't thank you enough Mario," Starlight said as they continued walking.
"Don't mention it," he said,
"Hey we're here," said Spike. Starlight walks over to survey the damage.
"It seems like a bunch of rubble is blocking the path, thankfully it's nothing I can't handle, although I do hope Celestia can forgive me for destroying her gate," Starlight said as she backed up. "Everypony stand back this is going to get a little crazy," Mario and co. stepped back as Starlight began charging up her horn before firing off a massive laser the blasted away the rubble blocking the entrance.
"Wow that's some really powerful magic you got there Starlight!" Olivia happily giggled.
"Right? She's pretty strong when she wants to be," added Spike.
"Aw stop it, you're making me blush," Starlight giggled. Mario made his way inside the ruined city with Starlight, Spike, and Olivia to see the quiet streets with not a single soul in sight.
"Canterlot too," Spike said in a nervous tone. The group begins to walk around and sure enough it's eerily quiet.
"This is really creepy, Canterlot is supposed to be bustling with ponies, but to see it this quiet," Starlight swallowed hard.
"Just comes to show that the origami's king is not to be underestimated, this much destruction to a single city cannot be possible unless he was that powerful," said Mario. "Hm?" he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Mario?" Starlight turned towards him in confusion. They watched as Mario walked over to a pile of rubble and picked something off the ground. As the group got closer, they realized it was a green hat with a letter L imprinted on the front similar to Mario's hat.
"Who's hat is that Mario?" Olivia asked curiously. For a moment he remained silent. "Mario?"
"It's....my brother's," Mario responded after a while and for a second it sounded like his voice quivered.
"Oh sweet Celestia," Starlight gasped.
"Oh Mario I'm so sorry, if only we could stop my brother in time then maybe..." Olivia tried to comfort him as the grim reality revealed the possibility of Luigi's fate.
"Help me!" Spike walked over to Mario and gently placed his claws on his shoulders.
"I don't know if I'm going insane but I can almost hear his spirit reaching out to me," Mario gripped his hat as Luigi's voice cried out.
"You're not going crazy bro, I'm all folded up somewhere! Help!!!" Mario immediately perked up upon hearing those words.
"Huh Luigi are you alive?"
"Yes, maybe I think so, I can't really move can you try to find me?" Luigi asked.
"Where are you bro?" asked Mario.
"I heard him too so he has to be close by," said Starlight.
"Try walking around for a bit, i let you know if you're close," said Luigi. The group begins to walk around for a bit until Luigi calls out to them. "Wait I can hear your footsteps! It sounds like it's coming from below me though!"
"Below him?" asked Spike. The group looked around but the only thing they could see was a bunch of houses and more piles of rubble. "
"Could it be he's stuck inside the walls?" suggested Starlight.
"If that's the case then there has to be a way to get him out," added Olivia. "Mario try to find a way to help him!" Mario began walking around in the vicinity but couldn't figure out how to save his brother. As he was pacing, he accidentally knocks over a vase, breaking it.
"Oops," As Mario bent down to clean up the shards something flew out and over to where Starlight, Spike, and Olivia was, and melted into the ground to reveal a magic circle.
"Hey nice going Mario, we haven't see one of these in a while!" said Olivia. "You remember how to use one right?" Mario walked over and stood on top as his arms extended into the 1,000 fold arms. He began feeling against the side of the house until he felt something loose in the top right corner and grabbed the flap before pulling it down. As he did, a folded up Luigi falls out and lands on the ground.
"Am I saved? I feel weird," he jumps up clearly trying to move around.
"Well we saved him but he's all folded up," said Olivia.
"I got this," they watched as Mario lightly smacked his brother allowing him to unfold.
"Whew, that's-a more like it,thanks bro," Luigi said adjusting his overalls. "Oh and you have new friends?" Mario quickly introduces his new companions to his brother. "Well it's-a nice to meet you all, I'm Luigi, Mario's little bro,"
"Nice to meet you too Luigi!" Olivia chirped.
"Say bro how'd you end up in the wall anyway?" Mario asked.
"Let's see a Shy Guy put me there, but not a regular shy guy, it was thick and edgy,before I knew it, it had folded me up and tucked me away in there, said it'd come back for me later," Luigi explained.
"Hm sounds like the work of those folded soldiers," Olivia sighed in disbelief. "At least you didn't get turned into one, thank goodness,"
"By the way where are we? My memories are kinda fuzzy," Luigi looked examined his surroundings and yelped. "Mama mia I remember but what happened to the city!?"
"It's kinda of a long story, but say bro if you could hear us talking through the wall, did you perhaps hear anything else before we came here?" asked Mario.
"Huh? Oh well actually I did, but I couldn't hear them really well,something about a streamer and how they have to protect it, I don't know why though," explained Luigi. "Speaking of castle's and streamers I need to find that castle key, sorry bro I would like to help you out but that key isn't going to find itself, see ya later bro!" They watch as Luigi dashes off in a random direction.
"Huh such a outgoing guy, I really wish my brother was like him," Olivia sighed.
"Anyway he said something about a streamer," said Spike.
"Oh that's right, Mario don't you remember how my brother summoned all these streamers and took the castle somewhere?" asked Olivia. Mario nods as she brings up the terrifying event from several hours earlier. "So maybe if we can get rid of those streamers we can not only find the castle but we'll be able to get inside, save the princesses, and stop my brother, the question is where do we even start?"
"Olivia you might wanna look above you," said Starlight. She looks up to see a large red streamer snaking around in a certain direction.
"Oh how did I not notice that before?" she murmurs to herself. "Well anyway we should probably follow it to see where it leads to right?" Everyone nods in agreement as she chirps. "Then let's go, adventure awaits!"
"I'm coming along too," said Starlight. "I really owe you guys one after you saved me and I'm pretty sure it'll be better if we stick together considering the current situation, plus I'm really worried about Twilight,"
"Sounds good to me what about you guys?" Olivia turns to Spike and Mario.
"I like the sound of that," said Spike.
"No objections here," said Mario.
"Great then onward on a quest to stop my brother!" Olivia exclaims enthusiastically. And so Mario and his new companions set off, on a new adventure to stop Olly on his path towards world domination. In order to do so they'll have to travel the entirety of Equestria in order to rid the streamers hindering their progress, with that they begin their adventure by following the red streamer.