"I...I need to tell you something..." Twilight murdered, barely able to choke out words.
"It's okay Twilight, we're here!" Mario cried, walking over to her and looking at her wounds.
"What did those bastards do to you?" Discord asked, enraged.
"Well, you see, it all started when we came back to equestria..." Twilight explained "Fawful and his goons kidnapped us, they held us in a cage and tried to force out the answer to where the Infastar was, we said we didn't even know what that was, but they didn't believe us..." She continued "After a while, they gave up and used the Infastar to create elaborate castles in pocket dimensions to lock us in, to use as bait against you guys."
"Wait a minute..." Starlow exclaimed "So you're saying that the rest of them are trapped in giant castles right now?" She asked.
Twilight then gave a nod. "Well, we have the Infastar so does that mean we're home free?" Luigi asked, holding the Infastar.
"In terms of Fawful's plan, yes, "Twilight stated "But we still need to rescue my freinds..."
"Well, of coarse!" Mario exclaimed "But first we need to get you back to ponyville to rest."
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Starlow asked.
"Wait a minute..." Toadlee interrupted "How did you get here in the first place?"
" 'twas I, fair Toadlee, 'twas I..." Dimentio said as he warped in. "Well, aren't you guys looking relieved, getting the Infastar before Fawful..." Dimentio exclaimed.
"Dimentio..." Mario murmured "What do you want?"
"Well, I was just here to give you some new information about Fawfuls plan..." He replied.
"Wait...you're helping us?" Twilight asked in shock.
"Well, you see, Fawful knows you have the Infastar, so there's no way he can revive Darkned, or so he wants you to think!" Dimentio said, sounding as calm as ever.
"What are you talking about?" Discord asked, crossing his arms.
"You see, if he can get all of the mane six, Spike and Dreambert, if he can squeeze the magic out of them, then he might have just enough power to revive Darkned!"
"Wait...kill my friends?" Twilight cried, in shock.
"Even...Fluttershy..." Discord mumbled.
"Yes, witch is why I intend to help you get to them first!" Dimentio replied, pulling out a shiny stone. "Take this!" He exclaimed, throwing the stone to Mario, and having him catch it.
He unfolded his hand to expose a small pink stone in the shape of Pinkie's cutie mark. "What the hell is this?" He asked, looking up at Dimentio.
"They contain portals, bring them to where they start lighting up the brightest, then you can warp to the castle and save your friends! But you must go there before Fawful does!" Dimentio exclaimed.
"Wait, aren't you coming?" Starlow asked.
"Unfortunately I can't, I have to stall Fawful, well, good luck and ciao!" Dimentio exclaimed, warping away.
"Mario, I don't know if we can trust this guy." Twilight said.
"Well, we might not have a choice!" Mario replied, stuffing the amulet in his pocket. "He's helped us before, I'm confident he's actually being sincere."
"I hope you're right..." Twilight nervously replied.
"Alright let's go, time's-a-waistin' Toadlee exclaimed. They then nodded and walked out the door of the temple, and made their way through the woods until they reached the beach.
"Wait a minute, how do we get off this island?" Luigi asked, with an eyebrow raised. Suddenly, through the woods they saw a light. "What is that?"
"Lets go see." Mario said, as they fallowed the light into the woods and saw a portal leading to Equestria. "Here's another portal!" Mario then pulled out the stone and held it up to the portal, having it start to blink lightly. "It's in here, lets go!" Mario exclaimed jumping through the portal.
They then found themselves back in the gusty gorge, but this time they where on top of it. Mario pulled the stone out and pointed it towards Froggy Bottom Bogg, and it started blinking more violently. "C'mon guys, this way!" Mario exclaimed, running towards the bogg. They then arrived to the bogg.
"Eww, it stinks!" Luigi cried, pinching his nose.
"Yeah, that's normal." Twilight replied.
They then followed the stone through the bog. "Uhh...I'm scared!" Luigi cried.
"C'mon Luigi, you need to man up." Twilight said.
"Sorry, I'm just scared that Fawful will get our friends..."
"He won't on my watch!" Twilight replied, sounding confident.
"Yeah, plus we have this stone!" Mario exclaimed, looking back at Luigi and Twilight. "There's nothing that can stop us!"
"Uhh, besides for that..." Toadlee mumbled. Mario then looked forward, and saw an old, giant temple. Mario held the stone up to it and it started blinking extremely violently.
"Uhh...I think it's back here!" Mario said, nervously.
"But how are we supposed to get back there?!" Toadlee cried.
Discord then warped in. "Let me see that" He then started to drag his hands along the surface of the temple. He then found a small dent on the left side of the door. He then proceeded to brush the moss off, and it revealed a small diamond-shaped hole. He then moved to the other side and found another one. "I think I've figured it out: we need to go find two special stones to open the temple door."
"Well that's just great..." Starlow groaned, coming out of Mario's pocket. "Where do we even begin?!" She asked.
"I say we split up!" Twilight exclaimed. "Mario and Luigi will be a team, Starlow and Discord, me and Toadlee...sound good?"
"It's our only option." Mario said. "Let's go!" They hen split up and each went a different direction. Mario and Luigi found themselves in a very dark part of the forest.
"I-It's creepy in here..." Luigi mumbled.
"Yeah, but those gems aren't gonna find themselves..." Mario replied.
"Ohh...are you looking for gems?" The heard the voice behind them. "Because I think I might have them..."