//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Treasure Hunting for Shell Stones // Story: Paper Mario: Equestrian Folds // by FandomPlays1234 //------------------------------// it's been several minutes since Mario and co. had left Canterlot to follow the red streamer and now they found themselves walking down the path of Picnic Fields. Along the way the took out any folded soldiers that were patrolling the area as well as saving Toads and ponies threatened by the origami threat. "Ah it's such a nice peaceful place to take a stroll if only my brother wasn't causing trouble," sighed Olivia. "I know what you mean, this place is usually bustling with ponies, pegasi, and unicorns who come here for a picnic but now it's overrun by these folded soldiers," Spike explained as they walked. "I suppose that's enough of a reason to stop your brother Olivia," said Starlight. "Don't worry, as long as I have you guys, I'm confident we can do this!" she cheered as she twirled. "Oh wow so many beautiful flowers," "Come on Olivia, let's not get too distracted," said Mario. "Hm?" They group stopped to see a paper Koopa standing in front of a small sign. "Huh it's nice to see someone other than the folded soldiers," The Koopa turned around and walked over to them. "Ah Mario, I didn't know you were one of the faithful, have you and your companions come here seeking shellvation like us?" he asked. "Faithful? Shellvation?" asked Mario. "That's right, if you just go down those stairs you'll be standing in front of the alter leading into the Earth Vellumental's shrine," he explained. "Earth Vellumental? Is that like some kind of god?" asked Starlight. The Koopa was about to explain when a panicked voice interrupted him. "SITUATION!!!" the group turned towards the stairs leading to the shrine to see another Koopa running up looking desperate. "Situation! Situation! We got a situation here!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa calm down! What kind of situation? Is it a good situation or a bad one?" asked the first Koopa. "Bad of course, never mind I'll explain just come down to the shrine entrance!" the second Koopa exclaimed. Mario and co watched as the two Koopas ran down the stairs leading to the shrine entrance. "Wonder what that was about?" asked Olivia. "They said it was bad situation, should we go take a look?" asked Spike. "Guess it wouldn't hurt to go check it out," said Starlight. With that, Mario and co. began heading down the stairs to find both Koopas in a panicked state. "It's a real bad situation Mario!" exclaimed the second Koopa. "Whoa there calm down, what happened?" Mario asked. "The door to the Earth Vellumental is sealed! No one can get inside to pay tribute," the Koopa explained. "The door will open only when all five holy Shell Stones are placed in the Shell Stone receptacles, but four of them are gone and that heathen is trying to steal the fifth right now!" he points to a folded soldier trying to pry the stone out."We'd try to stop him, but y'know we're Koopa Troopas, what are we going to do, walk into him slowly?" "Seriously? All that fuss for nothing?" groaned Spike. "Hey, don't be like that Spike, we've been helping out Toads and ponies all this time, I think it's only fair we do the same for these Koopas," said Mario. "Don't worry I got this," "We're counting on you Mario!" Mario nods as he runs up and hits the folded soldier on the head with his battle initiating a battle. "Oh Starlight are you going to help us?" Olivia asked. Mario looks to his left and noticed that Starlight was with him this time around. "I can't let you do ALL the work now can I? Plus I want to get in on the action too," she explained. "Fair enough, let's do this," Mario quickly lines up the origami Shy Guys into two rows before hitting the OK button on the control panel. He then takes initiative by jumping down a row and taking out a line in one attack. Starlight then follows up by firing a blast of magic at the remaining origami Shy Guys and finishing them off. As they explode into confetti the two Koopas run up to them clearly impressed by their battle prowess. "Whoa! I haven't seen power like that since I watched a documentary about the Earth Vellumental itself!" "Are you going to watch it? I don't want to spoil anything for you," the first Koopa sighed. "I'll uh consider it," said Mario. "By the way you said the other four stones are missing right? Do you have any idea where they are?" "Actually yes, I saw a group of dogs snatch up three of the stones and ran off with them!" said the second Koopa. "A group of dogs huh, and what about the fourth one?" asked Starlight. "Unfortunately I don't have a clue, I tried chasing after those animals but I ended up losing them and when I came back the fourth was missing, I'm guessing one of those origami freaks took it while I was away," sighed the Koopa. "So three of them were stolen by a group of dogs and one went missing, I guess we have our work cut out for us," said Mario. "Though it wouldn't do us any good if we just stood here twiddling our fingers, we can start with those dogs, do you know where they ran off to?" "They were headed towards the caves on Overlook hill," answered the Koopa. "I would go in to find them myself but I'm afraid I might end up lost if I tried," "Caves on Overlook hill, got it," said Mario. "Let's go guys," "Be careful you guys!" The Koopas saw them off as Mario and co made their way towards Overlook hill. After a couple minutes of walking the group finally makes it Overlook hill where a large red tower stood at the summit. "So this is where those dogs escaped to after they snatched those stones eh?" asked Mario. "Hey look!" Spike pointed towards the large red tower. "That's where the red streamer leads to!" "Hey Mario, I know we agreed to help out those poor Koopas but do you think we can wait after we take down that streamer?" asked Olivia. "I suppose the streamer IS priority," said Mario. "Ugh fine," "Great let's get up there then," Olivia cheered. So the group began their climb towards the summit, defeating any folded soldiers and Paper a couple Paper Macho soldiers that were wandering around, halfway through the climb, they passed by a Monty Mole holding an auction for a group of Koopas but shrugged it off and continued to climb. Near the top of the summit, they noticed a Toad wrapped up in the red streamer. "Look there's a Toad playing around with the streamer up by that tram," Olivia turned towards the Toad and called out to him. "Hey uh Toad? Can you stop playing with the streamer now? It's dangerous just pop on out ok? "Pop out, just pop out Toad. OH SURE DON'T MIND IF I DO!" he responds sarcastically. "I'm trapped in this thing lady! You think I want to be gumming up the works like this!?" he shakes his head in disbelief. "No one can get to Maple Canyon because of me, and boy do they enjoy reminding me of that!" The group looked out into the distance towards a large rocky mountain, and winding in that direction was a bright blue streamer. "Oh so this could take us to Maple Canyon? If you weren't all tangled up I mean," Olivia asks. "That's good to know, it must be those large rocky cliffs over there right?" sigh takes a deep breath as she admires the view. "Ah the blue streamer fluttering with that red mountain in the background is so cool looking," "Wait blue streamer?" asked Spike. "Yeah the blue streamer," Olivia repeats before catching herself. "Wait, there's that blue streamer Mario! It was so pretty I almost didn't recognize it for what it was!" "I guess that's our next stop, after we take care of the red streamer, we should stop by here and follow it," suggested Spike. "Good idea!" Olivia agreed before turning back towards the Toad. "Just hang tight Toad! Uhh you know what I mean, stay loose? Ooh, that's worse, we'll be back probably!" Toad lets out a sigh of disappointment as Mario and co. continues making their way towards the top. They stopped to catch their breath upon reaching the summit. "Sweet Celestia what a climb," gasped Starlight. "You all did great hopefully you're not tired yet," Olivia chirped. "Easy for you to say," Starlight gasped. "Alright let's get into that tower and take down the streamer!" They walked over but noticed something was off. "Uhh Mario Is this what doors normally look like? It isn't right? How do we get in!?" Starlight walks up to the giant pillar and taps it with her hoof. "Huh this seems to be a pillar of dirt," she said. "A pillar of dirt?" asked Olivia. How's that possible?" "Uh guys you might wanna look up," said Spike. They all took a step back and looked up to see that the tower was standing on the top of the pillar. "Who on earth put the door up THAT high? I can't even float up there, and how are you going to get in Mario?" Olivia asked. "Wait earth! That's it!" "So you figured it out too huh?" asked Starlight. "Yeah, something happened to the earth here to make it like this, it's not supposed to be so high up!" exclaimed Olivia. "So then how do we get in down?" asked Spike. "Maybe the Earth Vellumental can help us," Olivia suggested. "But the shrine is closed, does that mean we HAVE to find those Shell Stones just to get the Earth Vellumental to lower that tower?" asked Spike. "I suppose it's the only way," said Starlight. "Ah phooey," said Spike. "Hey let's not get discouraged so easily, we just have to find those dogs and take back the stones right?" asked Olivia. "Yeah but what about that fourth stone?" asked Spike. "I think I recall seeing a group of Koopas surrounding a table halfway down the hill, maybe they might know something?" asked Starlight. "Worth a shot, let's go," With that Mario began leading the group back down the hill to where the group of Koopas were. They finally reached the location and were lucky enough to find the group of Koopas still huddled around the Monty Mole. "Um excuse me but we were wondering if you could help us with something," Olivia said approaching the group. "Oh what do we have here? More bidders!" the Monty Mole cheered. "Bidders?" asked Spike. "That's right, step right up! Calling all savings seekers,coupon clippers, and thrifty types alike!" he waved them over with an excited look. "You there the one with the mustache, do you and your companions fancy a deal?" "Uh what?" asked Starlight. "Confused I see, well then I'll get straight to the point, what I'm offering today is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, a real bargain in the rough!" he announced. Starlight's ears perked up when he says this. "Once-in-a-lifetime?" she asks. The greedy mole snickers as he pulls out a large stone with large green indents in the center. "Feast your eyes on the Miracle Orb, it slices, it dices, it purees and it's a one of a kind!" the mole announces. "Hey Mario isn't that?" asked Olivia. "Yeah no doubt about it, that's one of the Shell Stones," Mario whispered back. "So this guy is one who stole the fourth stone?" asked Spike. "Most likely," answered Starlight. "Now then let's start the bidding at 10,000 coins, just 10,000 coins for this unique, absolutely necessary item!" "10,000 COINS!?" Starlight and Spike stare at him in complete disbelief. "That's right, what do you say?" the mole asks. Mario watches as all three Koopas shake their head, complaining about how expensive it was. "Sorry no can do," Mario said shaking his head. "No takers eh? I see, I see, but we can't let this serendipitous situation go to waste, I've got an item, and you've got coins, so let's see if we can't make the magic happen eh?" the mole says rubbing his paws together. "Now then this hurts me deeply, but I'm going to offer you the discount of a lifetime, for an extremely limited time, you can purchase this fine item for the low, low price of 5,000 coins, we got a deal?" Starlight and Spike's eyes widen as they both look at Mario while the Koopas contemplate on whether to take the deal or not. "I'll pass," said Mario. "I see, I see, now this IS a slippery situation we've got developing here, I'm lookin to sell and you're lookin to buy,surely we can meet in the middle, just like your mustache, I'm just gonna put this out there, 3,000 coins, that's it that's the offer, take it or leave it!" Starlight and Spike once again turns towards Mario waiting for his answer. "Negative," At this point both Starlight and Spike look at him in disbelief. "Hoo boy, I didn't wanna do it, but you're forcin' my hand, at this price it's as good as a highway robbery, all we need is a highway and 2,000 coins, how about it?" the mole asks. "Mario come on, it's only 2,000," said Spike. "Not interested," Mario answers. "You're kiddin' me you STILL won't buy it?" the mole grumbles in frustration. "I'm losin it! You want the shirt off my back too? take this thing away from me for 1,000 coins will ya?" "Nope," Mario shakes his head. "I don't even wanna sell it now, at this price maybe I'll keep it, ahh but you got me on the day my rent's due, my loss your gain 500 coins, take it or leave it!" the Monty Mole was clearly getting desperate now. "No can do buddy," said Mario. "Mario how cheap can you be!?" Spike asked. "Oh boy I was hopin' it wouldn't come to this, the bank's gonna send me a letter, I just gotta get 300 coins outta this thing at a minimum, please I'm beggin' ya!" Finally Mario smiles as he pulls out 300 coins. "Deal," he said sliding the 300 coins towards the Monty Mole. "Finally about time you took the stupid orb you cheapskate," he grumbles as Mario takes the Shell Stone. "Nice doing business with you too buddy," Mario chuckles as they walk away leaving three disappointed Koopas and a frustrated mole. "You really had to do it to him didn't you?' asked Spike. "Eh what can I say? I'm just naturally good a dealing with greedy people," Mario chuckled as he slipped the stone into his pocket. "Now then let's go get the remaining three stones," "For someone who just haggled that poor mole to death, he sure does sound confident," Starlight sighed as they followed after him. Now that they got their hands on one of the Shell Stones they begin searching for the cave where the thieving dogs took the remaining three. However after searching for some time with no luck they decided to stop and formulate a plan to find them "Any luck?" asked Starlight "Nothing," answered Spike. "This is going to be much harder than we thought it seems," said Starlight. "I thought that maybe it would be easy to spot a cave simply just by wandering around for a bit, but it seems like our thieves are much smarter than we imagined," "Hey do you guys hear something?" asked Olivia. Starlight stopped talking as she listened in, from what she could hear, it sounded like someone was snickering. "Where's that coming from?" asked Spike. They immediately began walking in the direction of the laughter which leads them to a small bush nearby. They all peeked over to see three dogs snickering and talking amongst each other while admiring three large stones with red,yellow,and blue indents on the center. The dogs appeared to be wearing different colored vests and spiked collars with two of the three dogs having grey fur with the third having mud brown fur. "Haha, that was surprisingly easy!" the short one cackled. "Shut your twit idiot, what if somepony hears us?" the average sized dog hisses. "Oh great it's them," groaned Spike. "Them?" asked Olivia. "They're called Diamond Dogs, as their names suggest, they have an insane obsession with gems, I can understand why they would go after those Shell Stones,"explained Starlight. "Well at least we found the remaining three, now the question is how do we get them back?" asked Olivia. "Should we try asking them to give them back?" "Highly doubt they'd listen, once they get their claws on something, they almost always refuse to give it back, they're pretty tough nuts to crack," explained Starlight. "Guess we're just gonna have to do this with force then, you ready Starlight?" asked Mario. "Guess it's the only way," she sighed. Mario and Starlight brace themselves as they slowly approach them. "I still can't believe we managed to nab these, stealing it from those turtles, we must be geniuses!" the short Diamond Dog cackled. "More like dumb thieves who can't shut up for more than 5 minutes," the Diamond Dogs all turn around as Mario and co. walks up to them. "Alright you stupid mutts, playtime is over hand them over," Starlight demanded. "See I told you that somepony would hear us you brainless twit!" the average sized Diamond dog hissed. "Who are YOU calling brainless? You're just as dumb as me Rover!" the short Diamond Dog bites back. "Shut up Spot!" Rover hissed back. "Looks like they started arguing amongst themselves," Spike sighed in disbelief. "Well at least they're distracted, maybe we can sneak the stones back from them," suggested Olivia. Starlight rolls her eyes as she takes the three stones back with her magic while the Diamond Dogs argue with each other. "Uh guys," the big Diamond dog tries to speak up. "What do you want Fido?" both Rover and Spot growls at him. "They're taking our treasure," Fido says pointing at Starlight as she passes the stones to Mario and Spike. "Hey give those back, we stole it fair and square so they belong to us!" Rover growled. "If you want them back why don't you take 'em from us?" Spike said taunting them. The Diamond Dogs growl as they charge at them, but not even two minutes later they end up sprawled out on the ground having been beaten senseless by Mario and Starlight. "Ow," Spot groans as he lays on his back. "Well that was easier than expected," said Mario. "Now that we got all the stones back, let's head back to those Koopas and return the stones to them," said Olivia. With the Shell Stones in possession, Mario and co. make their way back to the Vellumental shrine. Upon returning, they find the two Koopas waiting for them. "Hey welcome back! How'd it go?" the first Koopa asked. "It was easier than we expected, we got them back almost easily!" Olivia chirped. "That's great, now we just need to put them back where they belong!" said the second Koopa. Mario and the others walk back over to the entrance and slowly insert the stones into their respective holes. Once all the stones were back, the wall begins to shift revealing an entrance leading into the shrine. "How cool those shell stones did the trick!" cheered Olivia. "Guess it's time then," said Starlight. "Yep, let's go meet this Vellumental, I'm so excited I've never met one before!" Olivia said excitedly. Mario takes a deep breath as he slowly makes his way inside with Starlight, Spike, and Olivia following closely behind. This was both an exciting and important moment for the group as they were about to meet the god of the very earth itself and ask for it's help. It was time to meet with the Earth Vellumental.