As the battle kicked off, the three Diamond Dogs grouped together in a huddle, muttering quickly. As they planned their attacks, Pinkie Pie inexplicably popped up in the middle of the group, first right side up, then tail end in the air, and finally right side up again. The dogs didn’t seem to notice her, however, and when they clapped their hands and separated, she was nowhere to be found.
The three dogs dove into the ground, and tunnelled towards the brothers, who had their hammers at the ready. The first of the three, the shortest, popped up in front of Mario and tried to swipe at him, though he received a mallet to the head for his efforts, forcing him to retreat. The second, the burly one, leapt out in front of Luigi, but he too was knocked back by the plumber’s mallet. Finally, the third popped up in front of Mario to attack, though his efforts were thwarted by a well-timed mallet swing.
It was the brothers’ turn to attack, though as Mario readied himself to jump at the Diamond Dogs, Twilight rushed over and stopped him. “Wait!” She said. “I’ve got an idea!” She then hurriedly whispered into her ear, and Mario flashed her a thumbs up. Twilight took position behind Mario, and her horn began to glow. Mario was coated in the purple aura, and, rather than shrinking down, he began to grow to a massive size. When Twilight stopped, he leapt up into the air, prompting Luigi and Twilight to back off. When he landed back down, the whole cavern shook, and a visible shockwave ripped through the ground, which tripped up the three Diamond Dogs.
Luigi watched this with interest, and when his brother finished, a light bulb went off in his head. Turning around, he placed his gloved fingers at the corners of his mouth and whistled. Pinkie Pie came rushing over, and Luigi jabbered away in what seemed to be Italian, though Pinkie got the message. “Roger that!” she said, and she retrieved her party cannon from nowhere. Luigi hopped into it, and Pinkie swivelled it over to point at the leader of the three dogs. She slammed down on the ignition, and Luigi burst forward on a blast of confetti and streamers, tucked into a small, spinning ball. He planted his foot on the dog’s head, redirecting himself straight upward. He then came down to land directly on top of the unfortunate canine, before bouncing back to his original starting position.
The Diamond Dogs regrouped after the assault, and the leader of the three stepped back while the larger one grabbed the shortest. He shaped the small dog into a ball, and lined himself up with Luigi, who held his hammer at the ready. The burly mutt hurled the small dog at Luigi, who swung his hammer, knocking the flea-bitten projectile up and away. The smaller dog arced toward Mario, who raised his own hammer, and, just as he was about to get hit by the dog, he swung his hammer, launching the small dog at his point of origin, being the larger canine. The dog was knocked back into the leader, the three crumpling in a heap.
The battle raged on, kicking up all sorts of dirt and dust, until finally, it stopped. When the dust cleared, Mario and Luigi stood triumphantly over the three bruised and battered Diamond Dogs.
“Please! Mercy! Mercy!” The leader of the three cried. “We let you go! Just please stop!”
The small dog burrowed down into the ground, and suddenly the gate blocking the exit sunk back into the ground.
“Go rescue princesses if you want!” The leader continued. “We not stop you! All gems in the world not worth this!”
“Thank you for understanding,” Rarity said with a coy smile. “And, a word of advice, dears, try to find a shower of some sort. Soon.”
The three dogs quickly dug into the ground and fled, and the eight heroes waltzed out of the cave.
The sun shone bright overhead as they exited the cave’s mouth, and they had to squint to shield their eyes while they adjusted. Looking around, they saw that the rough terrain of the mountain path only continued for a few feet, before suddenly giving way to the lush grass that lead up to the Everfree Forest. The dense wood stood only a few feet farther, and looking into it from where they stood, it seemed just as dark as the caves they were just in.
“Well, everyone,” Twilight said. “Just through these woods is Ponyville. A word of caution, though, particularly to Mario and Luigi, the Everfree Forest is filled with all sorts of nasty creatures, and even the plants themselves can be hazardous. Do you think you guys are ready to move on?”
Mario looked through their supplies just to make sure. Unfortunately, they seemed to be running pretty low. Applejack peeked over his shoulder and saw this for herself.
“Shoot,” she said. “Don’t really seem smart t’just waltz in there without many supplies.”
“And the nearest shop is all the way back in Canterlot!” Rainbow Dash added. “Are you telling me we have to back-track all the way back there?”
At Dash’s comment, however, there was a low hum sounding through the air. Everyone noticed it, and frantically looked around for its source. Everyone looked up, and they saw the familiar looking stand floating through the air, a propeller on top letting it glide through the air. They watched as it touched down just in front of them, and the familiar crazy-eyed mare popped up from behind the counter.
“Hi there!” Screwball said. “Fancy seeing you all here!”
“Uh, hi there Screwball,” Twilight said. “So… I see you decided on a change of venue.”
“Sure did!” The loony shopkeeper replied. “I was sitting there in Canterlot after you all left, thinking, ‘Boy, the streets sure are empty today! Maybe being open with everypony else closed wasn’t so clever after all!’ Then, it hit me!” She held up a snow globe with a noticeable crack in it, and lifted her cap to show a rather prominent bump on the head. “Nopony’s buying anything because they’re too used to the shops around here! So, I decided I’d move where there weren’t any shops! I flew around for a bit before I saw the perfect place to touch down! Right here!” She looked around at the heroes, a wide smile of her face. “Pretty clever, huh?”
“Uh… yeah, sure, clever, let’s go with that,” Rainbow Dash said.
“So, did you all want to buy anything?” Screwball said. Mario stepped forward and restocked their supplies.
With a wave behind them, and a moment to mentally prepare themselves, the octet made their way into the perilous Everfree Forest.
The forest was, predictably, full of creatures waiting to impede their progress. It seemed as though Discord saw fit to change the flora and fauna around a bit, because among the usual Timberwolves, Manticores, and the like, there were also large Wigglers and all varieties of vicious plant life, from Piranha Plants and Venus Fire Traps to even small, white Nippers. Of course, no matter what variety of foe they came across, the brothers were always able to fight their way through.
Eventually, they came to a large stone wall, not unlike the ones they had encountered in the mountains. However, there were no tell-tale cracks or holes to tell them where the switch to open it might be. Also, it seemed there was actually a key hole in the center of the wall. A sign was posted next to the wall as well, evidently posted by one of Bowser’s minions.
“Attention Soldiers in King Bowser’s Army,
“The road has been closed off in order to protect the interests of King Bowser, and to impede the progress of any would-be heroes. If you need to proceed past this point, please seek out a Monty Mole, as the key is currently hidden in an unmarked location, which only I personally know.
“General Brole Mole”
“Well, that’s great,” Rainbow Dash said dejectedly as Twilight finished reading. “How are we supposed to get past? The trees are too thick for Fluttershy and I to carry you guys over.”
“Well… we could just ask one of the moles nicely to help us…” Fluttershy suggested.
Applejack shook her head. “Not after the whoopin’ we gave ‘em back in the mountains. ‘Sides, they put this wall here because we’re tryin’ t’get through.”
“Oh… right…” Fluttershy quieted back down.
“I think I saw a fork in the road back this way,” Twilight said. “Come on, let’s see if it takes us arou-“
Twilight suddenly stopped as Luigi started clutching his chest again. “Oh! It must be a letter from the princesses!” Twilight exclaimed. After a few moments of agony, Luigi finally belched up the green flames, and the scroll rolled out onto the grass. Twilight promptly scooped it up and began to read.
“I hope that you and your friends are proceeding without too much difficulty. I’ve overheard some of Bowser’s soldiers discussing their operation in the Equestrian Mountains being thwarted. Apparently they were planning on enslaving the Diamond Dogs living in there and seizing all the gems for Bowser’s personal treasure horde. It’s nice to hear that you put an end to their scheming there.
“Anyway, we have just discovered a new spell that may help you in your journey. However, we feel that it may be more within Miss Rarity’s area of expertise. We hope this helps you on your journey.
“Your devoted teacher,
Princess Celestia”
Twilight took out the included page from the letter, and handed it over to Rarity, who began to read.
“Ingenious,” Rarity said as she finished. “It’s a spell that utilises my gem-finding spell to create a general dowsing spell!”
“Really? We can use it to find the key!” Twilight exclaimed. “Come on Rarity, give it a try! It may not be too far from here!”
Rarity closed her eyes, and concentrated hard. She focused on the image of a key in her mind, and her horn began to glow. After a moment of walking around the clearing, a glow started to shine out from one of the trees.
“There! It must be in there!” Rarity said. She stopped, and the glow faded. Fluttershy peeked into the tree, and looked around.
“It’s too thick, I can’t see it…” Fluttershy said. “I’m sorry…”
“That’s alright, sugarcube,” Applejack said, walking up to the tree. “Way I see it, a key in a tree’s no different from and apple!” She turned around to face away from the tree, and slammed her back hooves into the trunk of the tree, causing it to shake and lose a good deal of leaves. Among those leaves was a glint of silver, and the key landed on the ground with and earthy thump.
Mario immediately went and picked up the key, and went to put it in the hole in the wall. He inserted it, and turned it, and with a click, the wall sank into the ground.
“Excellent!” Twilight said. “Now we can keep moving!” The group all proceeded through the wall, and headed deeper into the Everfree Forest.
Eventually, the group came upon an interesting sight. Just off the main road was a path cut into the thick foliage, by something that had apparently crashed through it. Looking down into it, they could see a pillar of smoke rising up some ways down, and two figures moving around within it. From a distance, they appeared to be ponies, but it was hard to tell whom they were specifically.
The group looked between each other. Should they head in and investigate, or continue on with their quest and let the two ponies sort it out for themselves?