In the countryside of Equestria, near the small town of Ponyville, laid a small house separated from the rest of the town by a good mile. There wasn't much special about this house, apart from a large sign above the door. 'Mario', read the board in large red letters, identifying the owner of the house.
A grey pegasus flew down to the house, flying face first into the earth nearby with an almighty crash. She stumbled out of the crater she had left, and to the mailbox. She reached into her satchel, and pulled out a letter and put it in more delicately than she usually did. "Mail call!" she yelled, quickly taking off so she could finish early today. It was her daughters birthday, after all. Down below, a grumpy green earth pony with a slick black mane and moustache exited the house. "Damn featherbrained mare, that's the third time this week," he mused to himself as he trotted past the crater and to the mailbox. Looking at the letter, he saw that it was addressed to 'the Mario brothers'. Waiting no longer, he opened it up as he returned to the house. "Hey Mario, we have mail from the Princess," he called out to his elder brother. Another pony, this one was red, a bit shorter and chubbier than his brother and had a messy brown mane. His moustache was just as magnificent, if not more, which brought upon the envy of stallions everywhere in Equestria. He walked over to his sibling and said "What does it say?". Clearing his throat, the green pony read out:
"Dear Mario and Luigi
I would like to invite you to a party at my castle today. Many dignitaries from across the realm are attending, and you have been picked to represent Ponyville. There will be food and entertainment, the best from across the land.
Hope to see you there.
From, Princess Celestia"
"Sounds good," said Mario "Lets-a go!". On that note, they began their trek to Ponyville, in order to catch their train to Canterlot.
At the end of the trail, they arrived at the town's main street. "It seems a bit… odd here" muttered Luigi, seeing the scared looks on the locals faces, and the several royal guards standing around the area. "Looks like something big went down last night here" noted Mario, noting the large amounts of cordons blocking certain parts of town off. "Don't worry brother, we can find out later what happened, the Princess is going to be waiting for us at Canterlot" said Luigi. Mario nodded in agreement, and they walked to the train station on the other side of town, past all of the crime scenes.
A short train ride later, and the train pulled up in the city of Canterlot, deep in the commercial district. Mario had rarely visited here since he moved away as a child with his parents. They were advisors to the Princess, and were sent out to act as ambassadors in the countryside. It was such a long time ago, and yet the streets still had a sense of familiarity about them. In the distance, he spied a large building, standing tall even from the tower blocks around the city. "That’s the place," called out Luigi, with a hint of excitement in his voice. They began a walk to the castle, through the streets paved with rocks from the nearby mountains, and past many high class shops, clusters of upper class ponies and groups of young colts and fillies on a vacation to the big city. Finally, they reached the gates of the castle, standing tall and foreboding with a few guards standing at the entrances, checking tickets. The brothers walked towards the gates, in a queue that seemingly stretched out forever. Next to them stood a large zebra, covered in golden jewellery and robes. He seemed to be twice the size of Mario, and his jewellery shimmered in the light of the sun. On the other side stood a white unicorn, with a blue mane and moustache, and wearing a fine dinner suit. Next to him stood another unicorn, very tall and with a long pink mane. She had three fleur-de-lis's on her flank, and stood with her head rested on the males shoulder.
In no time whatsoever though, the line began moving as people were admitted into the castle. After a short wait, the brothers themselves were allowed in, after a stern looking guard stared at them for what felt like forever. The grounds of the castle were just as beautiful as the architecture of the building, with many statues decorating the gardens, and a large hedge maze spreading far into the distance. There was one oddity, and that was the absence of a certain statue from its pedestal. Luigi had read about the prized possession of Celestia, which was a statue of the ancient tyrant of Equestria. There were no signs of a struggle near the statues pedestal, and it looked as if the statue had simply vanished into thin air. There was a legend that it was actually the tyrant himself sealed in stone, performed by the princess and her sister thousands of years ago. Of course, Luigi didn’t believe a word of it, it was written in a children's book, so it had to be a fairy tale. Shrugging off the mystery of the missing statue, Luigi caught up with his brother as they entered the castle itself.
As they stepped into the main chamber of the castle, they were greeted by the sight of hundreds of ponies, zebras and griffons socialising. There were nearly an equal number of servants, carrying drinks and food around for the guests. At one side of the chamber, there was a lavish selection of food, ranging from pasta dishes from the deserts to borscht from the frozen north. Upon seeing the large buffet, Luigi's eyes gleamed and he cheerfully yelled "FREE FOOD!", charging off to the end of the room, along with a chubby grey griffon who seemed equally pleased to see such a variety of treats. Mario facehooved and began to wander around the castle, looking for anyone he might recognise. "I wonder if those six mares from Ponyville are here?" he thought to himself, referring to the bearers of the elements of harmony. They had become celebrities in their own right after defeating the threat of Nightmare Moon and some other monster that attacked Equestria. Mario was abroad on holiday with his brother at the time, and all there was left of the incident after he returned was a couple of lakes of chocolate. At the time, he figured it was just a rather wild party that had gotten out of hand, but the rumours said that it was the very same being as the statue that Celestia had kept in her garden."Could the tales have been true," thought Mario with a hint of fear rumbling through him. As he thought, he went deeper into the castle, passing several guards who had begun to fall asleep at their positions guarding the castle.
Mario entered a pair of doors with a gigantic star on them, and found a large room filled only with stained glass windows depicting heroes of times gone by. At the end of the hall laid a large door, with a small hole in it, just large enough to fit a horn. As he approached it, he heard a loud, but kind voice call out "Who dares trespass here?". With a yelp, not unlike a young filly finding a spider in her bed, Mario stammered "M-Mario, it's Mario!" He turned around, only to find a large white winged unicorn looking back at him. She stood a good four foot taller than him, and yet still retained all of her grace and elegance. Her rainbow coloured mane flowed lightly, and it seemingly shimmered in the air. "Oh, it's just you" she said, seemingly relieved. "It is terribly rude to invite yourself into the private rooms of my house," she said, with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
Still stammering, Mario said "A-Ah sorry princess, I-I'm terribly sorry princess"
"Don’t worry my loyal subject, I forgive you"
"Thank you princess," Mario managed to say, regaining his composure. She was a kind ruler, but ponies were still terrified of incurring her wrath.
"Now, we should be returning to the party, shouldn't we Mario?" Celestia chuckled, motioning the way to the door.
And on that note, a blast of sickeningly bright light shot out from in front of the door. Covering their eyes, a foul burst of energy coated the room and the ponies standing inside it. Opening their eyes, Mario and Celestia saw four intruders standing at the door of the room, blocking the exit to the rest of the castle. Standing there was a large male pegasus, with a pale blue coloration and a silver mohican standing tall. He was almost as big as the zebra from earlier, thought Mario as he looked at the intruder, standing next to the princess. With him, was a white pegasus mare with a violent glare in her eyes. Her purple mane was almost shaved to nothingness, and she stood in a fighting stance. Hovering next to her was a pale purple earth pony mare with a dark purple and white mane, and eyes of violet with spirals within them. She had a slashers smile, as if she was about to attack at any second. But the most terrifying of the group was not a pony. A large chimera stood tall above the others, chuckling to himself.
"My, my Celestia, it has been a while hasn't it?" said the beast in a calm, yet cruel voice
.
"Discord," Celestia growled "How are you out of your prison again?"
"Now now dear, I would never reveal my magic to you, but for a little hint, take a look at what I have in my hands".
As soon as he finished talking, a pink sceptre, with a star on its end appeared in his hands. He twirled it between his fingers as he boasted "With this, my followers managed to free me from that oh-so-cold stone grave, and with it now, I think I will have a little fun". There was a hint of maliciousness in his voice, and he turned its edge towards Celestia. With a yell, the princess fired a yellow bolt of energy, primed for Discord's smug grin. It was absorbed by a force field around his body, negating the spell that she had cast at him. He laughed loudly, stopping only to make a swiping motion back at her with the rod. Celestia braced for impact, yet it never came. She looked around in confusion and saw that neither her or Mario had been hit. Instead, an almighty quake shook the castle violently, knocking the duo to the ground and winding them. A burst of energy forced the castle into the sky, with lightning crackling in the air around the flying building. The castle rose further into the sky until it was higher than even the shrine in the sky, and out of the atmosphere.
Down on the ground, confused and scared ponies had just seen their castle torn from their city, and seemingly into space. But perhaps the most confused was Luigi, who had left the castle to catch a breath of fresh air. However, he was only halfway out of the door when the castle left the ground. He fell head over hooves to the ground and face planted on the ground, leaving a large face shaped hole in the ground. "Wha-" groggily mumbled Luigi, looking at the large crater at where the castle used to be, "What the heck was that?" he asked himself, in disbelief of what just happened.
Back in the castle, Discord was laughing again. "This is just my first change around here Celly, and this castle now belongs to me. Are you going to come quietly or do I have to do this the difficult way?" he inquired cruelly. Celestia stayed silent, with her eyes closed in deep thought and a she stood silently for a minute. To Mario, this felt like an eternity, as he nervously tried to creep away from the fight. "I'll go find some guards," he thought as he moved away from the fray, but a black glow encircled his body, dragging him back to the draconequus in the centre of the room.
"My, my, what do we have here?" snarled Discord, holding the red pony by his rear leg, "A little pony. How cute Celestia, your guards aren't even armed," he chuckled, with a large smile across his face. "Let's dispose of this trash humanely shall we?" he asked the male pegasus at his side. The blue stallion nodded and said in a rough voice "Do you want me to arrest him, sir?" Before he could answer, Mario had pounced at Discord, ready to kick him in the face. But as soon as his hoof connected with Discords foul mug, a blast of energy knocked the would-be attacker flying across the room. He was headed straight for a window depicting a group of six ponies attacking the same beast that invaded the room at an alarming rate. With an almighty crash, the window was broken and out tumbled the red pony, down to the earth below. Celestia could only look on in horror, as Discord let out a laugh that echoed in the hall what felt like hours…
"Please Mario…. survive…" prayed Princess Celestia, as she was being arrested by the two pegasi…