After a long hike out of the caves and through the thick orchard-turned-forest, the heroes eventually found themselves back at the farm. Granny Smith rushed over to welcome them back as quickly as she could, and followed as Mario and Luigi helped Applejack bring the still comatose Big Macintosh into the farmhouse. They brought him upstairs and helped him into his bed, while the group explained just what had happened to him.
“Durn bugs,” Granny Smith said. “I’d love t’go in there an’ give ‘em what fer, I tell you what, but these ol’ bones jus’ ain’t what they used t’be.” She grinned. “’Sides, from what you kids’ve told me, you already taught ‘em a lesson they won’t be fergettin’ anytime soon!”
“Those varmints shouldn’t be givin’ us any more trouble,” Applejack said. “But until we give that Discord ‘n’ Bowser a whoopin’, I don’t think Sweet Apple Acres is gonna return to normal anytime soon…”
“Shoot, I ain’t too worried ‘bout that, deary,” Granny Smith said. She went over to the bed and looked at Big Mac. “I’m just worried ‘bout yer brother right now…”
“He’s been like this for a while…” Twilight said. “Ever since we left the hive. He still hasn’t properly recovered from the love poisoning; we’ve still got another fifteen minutes or so to go.
“It’s a good thing he’s unconscious,” Applejack said, joining them “Or he’d be tearing this place apart to try and get back to Chrysalis.”
“I’ll be sure t’keep an eye on ‘im,” Granny Smith said. “In the meantime, though, I might as well tell you kids what I’ve been up to while y’all were gone.” Granny Smith turned and headed downstairs. “Meet me down in the cellar, an’ I’ll explain everythin’”
A few minutes later, the group was crowded in the cool, dark cellar, with Granny Smith before them. “Now when y’all went trompin’ in after Big Mac, I couldn’t help but think that there had t’be somethin’ I could do to help y’all. That’s when I noticed somethin’ funny growin’ on one o’ the trees by th’edge o’ the forest. So, I give th’tree a good swift kick, an’ wouldn’cha know it, a Zap Apple came tumblin’ down!”
“A Zap Apple?” Applejack said. “But that’s impossible, it ain’t Zap Apple Season yet!”
“That’s what I thought too,” Granny Smith replied. “But, with all the kooky business been goin’ on recently, I decided not t’question it. I took it inside, not sure what t’do with it, seein’ as I hadn’t made any preparations fer th’Jam, and then I remembered a little recipe one o’ yer great uncles came up with one year. Called it Zap Apple Syrup!”
At that, Granny Smith produced a small bottle filled with a translucent, rainbow colored liquid. Everyone examined it closely. “Now, it ain’t much fer taste, seein’ as how there ain’t much o’ the hard work that goes inta th’jam, but it’ll cure what ails ya in a jiffy, and leave you feelin’ strong as anythin’!”
Granny passed the bottle onto Mario, who stored it away with their other supplies.
“Thanks, Granny Smith!” Twilight said. “I’m sure it’ll be a big help!”
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful,” Rainbow Dash piped up. “But couldn’t you have made more than one bottle?”
“Well, t’be honest witcha, no…” Granny Smith replied. “Ain’t much y’can do with jus’ one apple. O’ course, I got a feelin’ that ain’t the only out-o’-season Zap Apple out there. If’n y’all happen t’spot one, y’all should bring it back t’me, an’ I can make y’all s’more syrup!”
“Sounds like a plan, Granny!” Applejack replied.
The group walked up out of the cellar, and said their goodbyes to Granny Smith. “Make sure y’tell Big Mac we said hi, okay?” Applejack said. With that, they all moved to their group huddle to discuss their course of action.
“So what now?” Rainbow said.
“Well, I think we’ve done about as much as we can around here,” Twilight said. “Our best bet now is to head to Mareshroom Beach. Once we’re there, we can see about getting to the Mushroom Kingdom, and to Bowser’s Castle.” Mario gave a nod of agreement, and they all turned to press onward.
However, just as they exited the gate to Sweet Apple Acres, Spike came running to them, looking frantic. He stopped in front of them, out of breath.
“Spike?” Twilight said, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“You gotta come quick!” Spike said. “There’s an emergency at the library! Come on!”
Not wasting a minute, Twilight scooped Spike onto her back, and they all rushed back to Ponyville.
The heroes all burst into the library, and Twilight nearly fainted at the sight that beheld her.
Torn apart books and pages littered every inch of the library floor. Virtually none of the books survived the damage, empty covers strewn about all over the place among the massacred novels and encyclopedias. Notably, several were covered in saliva, and broken eggshells were littered all over the place.
“About an hour or so after you guys left, that dinosaur thing suddenly wigged out and started tearing the whole library apart!” Spike said, looking around nervously. “I managed to lock the door to the basement so he didn’t mess up the machines downstairs, but he was still in here last when I ran to get you guys.” He continued to glance around, shaking. “I think he’s hiding somewhere.”
Everyone was flabbergasted, sure, but probably the only one who came anywhere close to being as distraught as Twilight was Fluttershy.
“Oh no, oh no oh no oh dear!” She said. “This isn’t right at all! Yoshis aren’t anywhere near this violent!”
“Tell that to the one that did this!” Spike said.
Twilight eventually came to her senses, and took a deep breath to try and calm herself. “Okay, okay, let’s just relax. Now, let’s spread out, we need to find that Yoshi and figure out exactly what happened.” Everyone nodded, and the nine of them spread out among the library, searching high and low to find him.
After a good few minutes of searching, Luigi called out to the others. They all rushed over, and Luigi pointed into the cupboard he had been looking in. Sure enough, the Yoshi sat hunched over in the cupboard, facing away from them. Fluttershy slowly pushed past her friends, speaking softly to the creature.
“Hey there little guy…” Fluttershy said. “It’s okay, nobody’s going to hurt you…”
Suddenly, the Yoshi sharply turned to look at them, causing them all to stumble back in shock. Shock caused by the fact that the typical cheerful, big-nosed face had been replaced by a long, bearded, goat-like grin.
“I’d be more concerned about you being hurt if I were you.”
With a flash, Discord disappeared from the cupboard and into the center of the room, back in his normal lanky form. Mario and Luigi immediately took battle-ready positions, the ponies taking position just behind the brothers.
“Discord!” Twilight shouted. “What are you up to now?!”
“My, my, Sparkle, such a temper on you,” Discord said cheerfully. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you and your friends weren’t happy to see me!”
“Can it!” Rainbow Dash said. “If you’re not here to give yourself up and return the princesses, then get ready to get stomped!”
“Give myself up? Oh, now what would be the fun in that?” Discord said. “I just thought you might like to help me with a bit of babysitting!”
“What on earth are you talking about?” Twilight demanded.
“Well, you see, Bowser’s feeling a little… down and out at the moment,” Discord grinned a bit before continuing, “So, the task of looking after his boy has been delegated to yours truly. Of course, I’ve got a few things I need to take care of,” Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the Elements of Harmony were floating above him. They all gasped, and the draconequus continued. “So, I was wondering if you could watch him for a little while.”
With another snap of his fingers, there was a bright flash of light, and another figure appeared in the library. The little terror looked a lot like Bowser in miniature, sporting a spiked shell, red hair, and steely black bands on his wrists. One difference, however, was a bandana-like bib around his neck, with what seemed to be a set of snarling fangs drawn on with crayon.
Another key difference was the fact that he seemed to be slightly grayed out, and looked livid.
“Alright then, I’ll leave him with you all. Bed by seven, no sweets before dinner, yada yada yada, so long everyone!” With a flash, Discord was gone, leaving the heroes with the little Koopa Prince. Bowser Jr. gave an angry screeching roar, and charged at Mario and Luigi.