//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Shrine Tours // Story: Paper Mario: Equestrian Folds // by FandomPlays1234 //------------------------------// As Mario, Starlight, Spike, and Olivia entered the shrine, they found themselves in a dark cavern lined with several donation boxes and a path leading deep into the heart of the shrine. "Huh not really expected," said Olivia. Mario walked over to the first donation box and read the sign attached to it. Earth Vellumental Shrine Path 1: Shrine Origins (10 coins) "What is this?" asked Spike. "It looks like some kind of tourist trap," said Starlight. "It says Shrine Origins, do you think it's some kind of history lesson?" asked Olivia. "We're about to find out," Mario said as he threw 10 coins into the box. Upon doing so, the lamp above them lit up as a catchy tune began to play accompanied by a voice over "Legend says the spirit of the dirt known as the Earth Vellumental, lives in this very cave. It is a mighty spirit, imbued with the power to lift the very ground! It is no wonder that the meek and modest Koopa Troopa venerate it so,via pilgrimage and gifts. "Sheesh if it's a powerful as they say it is I wouldn't want to make it mad," said Spike. "Looks like it keeps going," said Starlight. They move to the next donation box and throw in 10 more coins as the voice over begins to play. "To one with a creative mind, these fortuitously formed formations may resemble the Earth Vellumental.Indeed, one may pay respects to it's hallowed shell in this very spot, as many Koopa Troopas do.Notably, the Earth Vellumental's shell is even stouter than this rock, which is itself impervious to damage. "So it has a sturdy shell that protects it against all attacks, if Twilight were here she would definitely would want to study the Earth Vellumental," joked Starlight. The move to the third donation box and throw in 10 more coins as a spotlight shines down on a massive gouge on the wall. "It's said this claw shaped gouge was created by the Earth Vellumental in an epic battle, wait Mario?" They all stop and look at each other before turning back towards the donation box. "Did that thing just talk to you?" asked Spike. "Hey if it's really you,Mario you've gotta help me! I'm stuck in here!" they all step back as the box begins to shake. "What the!?" Spike yelped. Suddenly a pair of feet pops out and fails around. "Mario help!" the Toad screams. Mario sighs as he grabs the Toad by the feet and yanks him out. "Whew thanks, I thought I'd never get out of there," "Hey Toad what were you doing in there?" asked Olivia. "I was in here doing some maintenance when all these folded Goombas showed up and stuffed me inside, honestly it was terrifying!" the Toad explained. "So not even the shrine is safe from the folded soldiers, man they really do just go wherever they please," Starlight let's out a sigh of disbelief. Suddenly the box begins to make some weird sounds before it breaks down. "I didn't do it!" the Toad yelped. "Are you sure?" asked Spike. "Alright it, it was probably me. I ripped out a bunch of gears and wires and stuff while I was in there,"the Toad admitted. "Just put some coins in there and I'll give you the spiel," "But we just did," said Spike. "I know but, you'll have to do it again if you want the history lesson, sorry we're trying to stay in business," apologized the Toad. Mario sighs as he throws in another 10 coins. "Let's see where was I? Oh yeah. They think that this giant gouge in the wall was made by the Earth Vellumental. But! This part is important, they also said that it's claws were like it's weakest attack. The attack that will really get you is when it launches rocks out of it's mouth, so uh watch out for that I guess," "So you're telling me that the claws were it's weakest attack but it's strong enough to gouge out a piece of this wall?" asked Spike. "Hey I'm not an expert on this kinda stuff, if you wanna know the truth I guess you'll have to watch the documentary," chuckled the Toad. Mario and Starlight looks at each other before shrugging it off and making their way down to the fourth box. Once again, they toss another 10 coins inside as the voice over begins and the line of lamps hanging from the wall turns on. "The following section of the path has been left in it's historically authentic uneven state. Please watch your step," This time, the music continued to play even though the voice over ended. Mario and co made their way down the path until the reach the last donation box. "So this is it huh, the last box?" asked Starlight. "Psst hey Mario is that you?" a voice asked. They all stopped and began scanning the surroundings. "Olivia did you say something?" asked Mario. "No," Olivia answered shaking her head. "Psst Mario over here!" the voice whispered. Mario turned around towards the giant rock as a Toad popped out from behind. "Oh thank goodness it IS you,I thought it was more of those origami freaks," "Wha where'd you come from!?" Spike yelped. "Oh sorry I was hiding behind the rock to avoid getting crumpled up, but anyway since you're here this is perfect, I run the shop outside the shrine, it's the local Fun, Funky, and Functional Accessories Outlet, if you decide you need some accessories come see me Ok? I got some things that might prove useful on your adventures," the Toad quickly ran past them and made his way out out the shrine. "Accessories, well I'm not sure what he's selling, but he said it might prove useful so maybe we should pay a visit after we've finished up in here," suggested Starlight. The others nodded in agreement as the approached the final box. "What the heck, this one costs 50 coins to listen to?" Spike groaned. "Well it'll probably give us more info on the Earth Vellumental so we might as well do it," said Olivia. Mario throws in 50 coins as a spotlight shines down on the altar in front of them revealing a crudely drawn image of the Earth Vellumental. "You are looking at a holy image representing the full, glorious form of the Earth Vellumental itself. Although the spirit is fully invincible, kindly direct your attention now to the beast's great tail. In certain tales, the spirit's still formidable hind portion is described as less than 100 percent invincible. It is this combination of great power and weakness that has endeared the Earth Vellumental to so many! This marks the last spot on the shrine tour. Consider donating generously and frequently," "Huh is this the end? it's kind of a letdown isn't it?" asked Olivia. "And we still haven't figured out how to lower that tower," said Spike. "Hmm, this might be silly but maybe it's worth a try," Olivia floats up to the Earth Vellumental's image and begins praying. "Dear Earth Vellumental, if you're there please find it in your heart to lower the rocky pile keeping us from the streamer, lastly thank you for all of your generous gifts and umm turtley goodness," Mario, Spike, and Starlight all stare at her completely dumbfounded as she turns around looking extremely flustered. "Well that did nothing, now I'm all embarrassed for trying! Mario do something, please!" "What do you want me to do?" asked Mario. "Anything, just to kill the tension!" pleaded Olivia. Mario sighs as he walks up and forcefully kicks the wall. "Happy?" he asked. But before she could answer the wall suddenly gives way and falls back revealing a path behind. "Whoa you knocked the Earth Vellumental completely over! Um do you think we'll be cursed now? What's the usual punishment for messing up a divine site?" asked Olivia. "Um Olivia, you might wanna turn around," said Starlight. Confused, Olivia turns around to see that path keeps going. "Ah the cave keeps going!" she exclaimed. "Ooh I can't wait to see what's ahead. it's like a behind-the-scenes tour, so exciting," Mario, Spike, and Starlight look at each other and shrug as they continue deeper into the caverns. However not too long after they knocked down the wall, they finally come across a large gap in the path. "Oh wow that looks pretty far, I'm not sure you'll be able to make it even with your jump," said Spike. "I don't think he'll have to worry about that," said Starlight looking down. They look in her direction to see four large stone pillars rising and falling. "Hope you're all good at jumping," Mario jokes as he begins jumping from one pillar to the next. Although slightly nervous, the others summon up the courage to follow after Mario, jumping from pillar to the next. Eventually they reach the other side and walk through the doorway, to another section of the shrine. "Ooh look at that!" Everyone looked up to see what Olivia was talking about, they could see a large stone gate in shape of a beast opening it's mouth. "That's WAY more impressive than anything we've seen so far," "Do you think it leads straight to the Earth Vellumental?" asked Spike. "Well based on the shape and size I don't doubt it," said Starlight. "By the way, I hope I don't jinx us, but I feel like we haven't seen any folded soldiers for a while," said Olivia. Suddenly as if on cue, three origami Koopas rise up and turn in their direction. "Eek! It's like summoned them!" Mario quickly jumped up as they rolled towards them in their shells initiating a battle. "Sheesh they really came after us like that, I thought we were as good as dead," said Starlight. "No time to complain, let's clean this up quickly," said Mario. Now armed with experience, Mario had mastered the art of sliding and rotating the rings allowing him to solve the puzzles more quickly. With three rows of Koopas lined up, all he had to do now was take them. He quickly ran up to the first row, which already had one cowering in it's shell, and jumped. Much to his surprise the shell he jumped on, sent it flying into the other origami Koopas, taking them out almost immediately. "Oh right I forgot they did that," "I wasn't expecting that," said Starlight. "Yeah that often happens when you jump on a Koopa hiding in it's shell," said Mario. "Anyways your go," Starlight smirked as she rushed up to another hiding in it's shell and hopped on it sending it flying into the other Koopas. "Now THAT'S actually really fun," she giggled. Mario rolled his eyes as he ran up to the last row and took them out normally by jumping on their heads. Mario vacuumed up the confetti with the confetti bag and they resumed their journey into the cavern, working together they jumped over moving platforms, rescued any Toads or ponies, defeated any folded soldiers wandering about, and patched up holes until they reached the next section of the cavern which consisted of a narrow passage with large blocks moving in and out of the walls designed to push anyone off the edge. "First jumping on platforms and now this? They really must not want anypony getting through," said Spike. "Come on it can't be THAT bad," said Olivia. "I hope not," said Starlight. And so they began making their way down the passage, thankfully they all managed to get across to the other end only to realize the gate was several levels above them and they ended up running into a dead end. "Ok and how do we get up there?" asked Spike. "Maybe we should turn back, there's probably a secret path we missed," suggested Starlight. But not even 2 minutes after they walked passed the last block, they found the secret path that Starlight had mentioned in the form of the second to last block which had an opening that allowed anyone to walk in. "I feel kinda stupid for not being more aware of my environment," said Spike rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't blame you," sighed Mario as Starlight facehoofed herself in shame. They squeezed into the opening as the block pulled them into the wall. Behind it was a secret path that led up to the gate leading into the next room. Not wanting to say anything out of shame, they made their way up and into the next room. The first thing the came across was a giant rock which Mario removed efficiently with his hammer but also caused the entire cavern to shake upon doing so. "I did NOT like that," said Spike. "I really hope we don't get trapped in here," Starlight whimpered. They continued onto another narrow path when they saw what was in front of them, small trap with small bars of flame by their feet. "Whoa Mario, these traps are actually on fire!" Olivia exclaimed. "Please be careful ok? I don't want you to get hurt or anyone for that matter," Spike and Starlight swallowed hard as the followed closely behind Mario trying to stick to the narrow path while avoiding the bars of flame. "Uh is it just me or are these fire bars getting bigger?" asked Spike. "No they definitely are," said Mario. Eventually they came out to a wider path with two large traps on either side with large bars of fire protruding from the indents. "Oh sweet Celestia help us," Starlight prayed as they slowly made their way to the other side while avoid getting burned. The final trap they came across had taken up the entire space with no path to walk on. "Ok so now what?" asked Spike. Thankfully Mario was extremely observant and noticed that one of the indents was unoccupied by a fire bar. "Why don't we try squeezing in there?" he suggested. "Worth a shot," said Starlight. They walked up to the large cog and wait until they saw the opening and quickly squeezed in. They waited as the trap turned all the way around, allowing them to walk out unscathed onto the other side. "Thank Celestia we got Mario on our side,his quick thinking saved us," Starlight wiped a bead of sweat as she sighed in relief. "I think it's a little too early to celebrate Starlight, look," Spike pointed up at another large trap, this time hanging on the wall as it spun around. Starlight swallowed hard as she walked up next to Mario. "I'll let you decide the timing," Mario nodded as he waited until there was a gap in between the fire bars. Once he saw his chance, he bolted with Starlight, Spike, and Olivia close behind, however their path was blocked off by another rock which he disposed of using his hammer. Unfortunately, this caused the giant trap to come loose and fall onto the path they were walking on before it started rolling in their direction. "Are you kidding me?" Starlight whimpered. "But the fire bars are gone, we can hide in those indents and let it roll past us!" said Mario. He quickly picked a spot as the rolling shell rolled over him, but as he predicted, he lined himself up so he perfectly fit inside the opening. Seeing this, both Spike and Starlight quickly picked a spot and ducked as the rolling shell rolled over and past them before falling of the edge and landed hard causing the entire cavern to shake. They watched as the large gap from them and the next doorway was filled up by falling debris, creating a path for them. "That was close! You guys are already pretty flat, but that thing would have REALLY flattened you," said Olivia."Aww but I should have known you'd figure out a way to get past it safely, nice one!" "And that's the second time Mario saved us with his quick thinking," added Spike who was still a bit shaken up from the experience. "Hey i think something fell from the ceiling," said Starlight. They all turned around to find a large red heart on the ground. "Whoa, it's a Max up heart hooray! Incredible!" cheered Olivia. "A what?" asked Spike. "A Max up heart," Olivia repeated. "Well what does it do?" asked Starlight. "I'm not sure!" she said cheerfully. "Well that's helpful," said Spike. "Hey it's gotta be something good right?" asked Olivia. "Hey Mario pick it up and see what happens!" Mario nodded as he walked over and picked up the heart. As he did he seemingly absorbed the heart as he felt a new wave of energy coursing through him. "Did he just absorb the heart?" asked Spike. "How do you feel Mario?" asked Olivia. "Much stronger that's for sure," he answered. "You got stronger? Wow those Max up heart things are great!" she cheered. "If we find more along the way, we should pick them up. Mario nodded in agreement. "Alright let's hope that was the last trap we had to deal with, I don't know how much more of this I can take," said Starlight. Now that Mario had gotten an extra power boost, they walked through the final door, which led them back into the first room, the dropped down on the pillar as Mario yanked the piece of tape holding the pillar in place. As the pillar lifted them up, they finally found themselves standing in front of the entryway that led into the Earth Vellumental's lair. "We finally made it!" said Olivia. "So it's finally time," said Starlight. "Yeah," said Spike. "Ok Vellumental Statue, we're heading into your mouth, I hope you brushed your holy teeth!" Olivia giggled. Mario, Spike, and Starlight looked at one another, took a deep breath, and made their way in. After all the traps they faced, they were finally going to have an audience with the god of the earth. the Earth Vellumental!