My Little Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

by Codex92

A Boggling Adventure Through Boggly Woods

After a lengthy climb back down from the top of Hooktail's Castle, the group finally made it out of the castle's walls with Koops's father in tow. Thankfully, they had taken care of any Dull Bones wandering around the rooms during their climb up, taking their time to relax after a very creepy start to their adventure searching for the Crystal Stars. With one down and six more to go, they dove into the pipe, making it back to Petal Meadows, and made their way down the road to Petalburg. As soon as they entered the peaceful town, the villagers were surprised to see Koopley again, everyone who knew him rushing up to him as they praised the Stars he was alive. Even Koopie came over to see what the commotion was, surprised and relieved to see Koops was back and alive with his supposedly dead father by his side.

Koopley told everyone what had happened to him, miraculously surviving in Hooktail's stomach all this time, and regaled how Koops and his friends defeated the menacing dragon and got him out. Koops grinned bashfully, his father over-exaggerating who exactly did most of the work when it was mostly Mario who stood up and did most of the work while he made the finishing blow. When Koopie approached him after the story, Koops couldn't tell how his girlfriend felt now. He was about to turn away in sadness, thinking she was going to dump him, but his worries about their relationship faded when she grabbed him, yanked him toward her, then gave him the biggest, deepest, and very much longing kiss ever, shocking him before he melted, his pupils turning into hearts as he kissed the love of his life back. Koopley put the pieces together after seeing such a romantic scene, even as the rest of the crowd whooped and let out whistles, encouraging the couple. No words were said between each other once they broke away for air, holding each other tightly as Koopie's timid boyfriend had come back with more confidence than before.

Once things had settled down, Koopley invited Mario, Goombella, and the six ponies to Koops's home for a victory feast, though the feast was mostly for him since his stomach demanded some good food. The group sat at the table where a variety of Koopa-style dishes were laid out in front of them, everyone digging in as they relaxed after surviving fighting a massive dragon.

"Mmm! Koopie, my dear, you are an excellent cook!" Koopley commented, stuffing his face with several plates of food to sate his stomach. "You'd be a great wife for my son, and I approve wholeheartedly!"

"Heheheh, I don't think we're ready for marriage just yet, Mr. Koopley," Koopie said, blushing a little at the thought of Koops proposing to her.

"Then start calling me 'dad', because I have a gut feeling that's around the corner," Koopley teased, waggling his eyebrows.

"D-Dad!" Koops whined in embarrassment, blushing heavily while his father and new friends laughed.

After dinner was over, Starlight offered to clean the dishes, using her magic to get the job done quicker so they could head back to the inn sooner for some rest. "Thanks for treating us, but we should get some sleep," Starlight said. "No idea where the Magical Map will send us when we offer the first Crystal Star to the Thousand-Year-Door."

"I wonder what kind of cool magic this one has if the map helped heal us," Rainbow wondered aloud.

"Well, this Crystal Star is known as a 'Diamond Star', even though the grayish color makes it look like a stone," Goombella said as she looked through her book. "Doesn't really say what their unique magic powers are, so I guess we'll have to discover them when Mario uses them."

Mario pulled out the Diamond Star, curious about its power, too, but he would have to wait until they were in trouble. Putting it back in his pockets, the group got up, thanked their hosts, and began making their way back to inn.

"W-Wait!" Koops said suddenly. "I-I...I want to keep traveling with you guys." His request baffled everyone, including Koopie after he already proved himself with Hooktail. "Maybe...you could still use my help, like when we got through Hooktail's Castle?"

"Are you sure you want to stay with us?" Applejack asked.

"Y-Yes," Koops said. "I want to come back stronger...Just like dad."

"Atta boy, son!" Koopley encouraged. "You're old enough to make your own decisions now, and I think this experience would be great for you."

"B-B-But you just got back after fighting Hooktail. And won," Koopie stammered. "W-Why would you-?"

"I know I said I would come back a stronger Koopa, Koopie, but...I don't feel strong enough just yet," Koops said. He looked down at his feet, twiddling his fingers nervously. "Next time, though, I promise I'll come back even stronger than before...Ok?"

Koopie was once again conflicted, but just like earlier today, Koops can make his own decisions without being held back by her guilt-tripping him. She didn't want him to leave after such a terrifying departure, but seeing how much more confident Koops was, she couldn't keep him away from what he wanted to show others after many years of being quiet, reserved, and timid. As much as she hated seeing her beloved go off on a longer, more perilous journey, she wanted to see him grow as a stronger Koopa, like he wished.

"...Ok," she said after several long minutes of silence. "I'll be waiting here for you when you come back."

Koops smiled, hugging Koopie and gave her a loving kiss. "Hey, before you do leave tomorrow, you wanna give your old dad some grandkids if something happens?" Koopley asked, startling the Koopa Troopa couple as they broke their kiss and leered at the old Koopa for ruining the touching moment. "What? I'm not getting any younger, you know?"

"J-Just shut up, dad," Koops muttered, puffing his cheeks angrily while blushing madly. "I-I will come back, but...please, PLEASE stop embarrassing me."

"Embarrassing us," Koopie corrected.

"I'm teasing ya!" Koopley exclaimed with a chuckle. "That's my job; embarrass my son in front of his girlfriend for a laugh!...Is that not allowed anymore?"

Koopie and Koops let out a sigh while their female guests giggled at the comical display. Before the group headed out to the inn, Mario made sure to let Koops know to meet with them near the entrance of town in the morning, giving him a bit more time to be with his father and girlfriend before shoving off back to the Rogueport Sewers.

---

The next morning, everyone was fully rested and ready to go, Koops running down the road from his home, thinking he overslept as he skid to a halt before his friends. He said his farewells to his dad and Koopie, promising once again to come back in one piece for the latter's sake, and now that they were ready, they were on their way back down the road to the stone warp pipe. They barely moved a few yards from Petalburg's entrance before a ringtone on Mario's person stopped them.

"Whoa, what's that noise?" Rainbow asked.

"I think it's coming from Mario," Goombella said.

Mario reached into his pockets, pulling out his Mailbox SP, where the source of the electronic music was coming from as it vibrated every so often. "Wow! A Mailbox SP?" Koops said in awe. "Those haven't come out yet. At least, not around here."

"Who could be sending you mail?" Starlight asked, but Mario shrugged his shoulders as he opened it up to see who the sender was.

He didn't know who it came from, but he read the message out loud for everyone.

My Dearest Mario,
I send this letter in the hope that it reaches you safely. I am being held against my will in some strange place, along with Twilight who is as much a prisoner as I am. I don't know where we are, but we're unharmed and in relative comfort...Sort of. Twilight can't get us out since the ones who captured us sealed her magic with some kind of magical inhibitor around her horn. They are also after the map I sent you. They're hoping to use it to find objects called the "Crystal Stars". I don't know what they're planning, but I know it's clearly up to no good. Mario, please collect the Crystal Stars before they do. They are already aware that you have the map, so please be careful. And please...don't worry about us.
-Princess Peach-

"Oh no!" Rarity exclaimed after Mario finished reading Peach's letter. "Peach AND Twilight are captured by somepony!?"

"And without her magic, she's completely helpless," Fluttershy added.

"So that means they never came through Petal Meadows at all," Goombella said. "They could be anywhere in the region if these kidnappers are from around here."

"Well, the good news is that they're at least unharmed, right?" Koops asked.

Mario nodded, but pointed out that whoever took Peach and Twilight were after the Crystal Stars. They needed to find those magical gems before they did, though their intentions for them were uncertain whereas theirs was to open up the millennium-locked door underground. As long as they were ok, he can keep searching for the Crystal Stars and use them to help break them out. Mario could only hope that vision with Twilight doesn't come true.

Saving the recipient's address on his device under "Peach (Alt.)" since her own Mailbox SP must not be in her possession because of her captors, he put his device back in his pockets and continued leading the way. It didn't take long for them make it back to the stone warp pipe, warping back down into the sewers where they entered the now peaceful meadow and trudged their way back down to the Thousand-Year-Door.

Remembering the path they took to reach the massive entrance, they arrived without much hassle from the Goombas or Spinias in their way. Koops gasped in awe at the sight of the grand doorway, growing curious about what lies beyond it.

"This is...amazing," Koops uttered. "And...this has been down here for a thousand years?"

"Yepper pepper!" Pinkie said.

"We're kinda used to learnin' about things that have happened or been made for over a thousand years," Applejack said. "Though it is quite a sight to behold."

"And in order to open it, we need all seven Crystal Stars to discover its secrets," Goombella stated. "To find the next ones, we need to show the Crystal Star we just found to the door, and it'll show us the next location for the second one. Go ahead, Mario! Show us the way!"

Mario nodded and leapt up onto the dais, standing on the slightly raised platform in the middle of the room. Pulling out the Diamond Star, he held it over his head, the blue lights circling the dais with its unique markings and spaces for the Crystal Stars. The Crystal Star flew out of Mario's hand and over one of the seven empty spaces in the outer circle of the magical dais, which left behind a blue star underneath it to fill in the space.

Mario pulled out the Magical Map after the Diamond Star left his hands, holding it up to let the magical power carry it up into the air above him. Koops stared in awe as light began to radiate from the mystical map, but he wasn't told to shut his eyes as the others had, suddenly blinded by a bright flash that revealed the next Crystal Star's location. On the map, the woods north of the port town shimmered, the trees in the white and black forest popping up first, then the white leaves and bushes, the center tree bigger than the others. And directly over the finished pop-up of the monochrome forest was the illusion of the next Crystal Star, this one a green emerald color.

The lights dimmed down as the map floated back down in Mario's hands, Koops rubbing the spots out of his eyes while blinking rapidly. "Wow. What a light show," he mumbled. "Is that...supposed to happen?"

"Sorry," Fluttershy apologized. "We should have warned you."

"Now I know," Koops said.

While the Koopa slowly regained his sight, Goombella leapt up to see the Magical Map. "Looks like the next Crystal Star is in a forest north of Rogueport. But I don't really know where that is."

"Let's show this to Prof. Frankly and see if he knows," Starlight suggested, the others nodding in agreement as they made their way back up to the surface.

---

Frankly hummed in thought, looking over the map and a book on the region as a reference. After several minutes of researching, he closed his book.

"Aha. Pretty clear where the next Crystal Star is," Prof. Frankly said. "It's in the Boggly Woods, inside of a great tree in the center of the forest."

"The Boggly Woods? Sounds mind boggling," Pinkie commented.

"At least it sounds safer than the Everfree Forest or the Forever Forest," Rarity said.

"Also, about these woods," Frankly added, grabbing another book and flipped through the pages. "There's some odd creatures who live there."

Finding the page, he showed the group a picture of the creature in question. The illustration showed a small gray creature with tiny legs, big eyes, and an antenna on its head with a glowing yellow orb at the end. Fluttershy gasped, taking the book and getting a closer look as she recalled seeing something similar to what was in the picture.

"I saw one of these cute little things in the sewers when we first went down," Fluttershy said. "That must be one of them, only it had two dark-gray strips on its back, and the orb on its antenna was green."

"There should be a pipe down in the sewers that should lead to Boggly Woods," Frankly said. "It could be possible a creature such as that could have been able to make it through."

While Fluttershy looked through the pages, trying to find out what the adorable gray creatures are called, Starlight approached the Goomba professor to discuss another serious issue. "Professor, we've found out where Peach and Twilight went. Mario got an email from Peach just a moment ago, and they were both kidnapped by a group who's also trying to find the Crystal Stars. She has no idea where they are or what they plan to do with them and the Crystal Stars."

"Oh dear," Frankly muttered. "What could those kidnappers hope to achieve? Could they be hunting for the treasure too?" He began pacing back and forth, unable to find a possible reason with the lack of information and the varying unknowns speculating around this group. "Hmph. Unfortunately, the only clues we have are to rely on the Crystal Stars and the map."

"I guess we'll have to discover more about the Thousand-Year-Door when we find more Crystal Stars," Goombella theorized.

"Yes, Goombella, that is most highly recommended," Frankly said. "And find it before the princess' captors do! B-But don't be too hasty! Be sure to stock up on supplies if things get hairy. I'll keep on researching some more about the Crystal Stars and the treasure."

"Maybe if we find those jerks who snatched Peach and Twilight, we can get some info out of them if we kick their plots into next week," Rainbow growled, slamming her hooves together, ready to beat the living daylights out of their friends' kidnappers. The group made their way out and back to the sewers to find the creature, but Rainbow noticed they were missing someone. Flying back inside Frankly's study, Fluttershy had her nose in the book, still looking for the name of the little creature. "Fluttershy, come on! We're leaving!"

"J-Just another minute," Fluttershy said, but Rainbow, being the impatient pegasus she was, grabbed her best friend, making her yelp as she dragged the yellow pegasus outside and dropped the book. "I was about to find out what they're called!"

"Find out when we meet the thing in the sewers! We need to find Twilight and Peach fast!" Rainbow said, tossing Fluttershy into the warp pipe after the others, then dove in after them.

---

Heading back down near where the Thousand-Year-Door was located and where they first saw the mysterious gray creature, the party exited the warp pipe that lead to the deepest part of the sewers. Near the barred passage and the tiny hole near it, that same creature they saw before was there, gasping in surprise and fled back in the hole.

"No, wait!" Fluttershy called out, fluttering over to the hole and peeked inside. "We won't hurt you! I promise!"

"Ah guess it's a good thing we found a way to get through them bars back in Hooktail's Castle," Applejack said.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" Pinkie cheered.

Everyone stood before the steel bars blocking the path, Mario grabbing his Lucky Star and activated his blessing that made them intangible. A light shone around his pendant, his body, and spread to his friends. Now that they were intangible, they phased through the bars, going further through the seemingly endless sewers. Inside the barred off section, they found the creature nearby, who panicked and skittered away from them, only to get itself caught in a dead end.

"Ahh, wrong turn!" the creature said, surprising them, not expecting it to be able to speak as it was definitely a boy. He turned around and shuddered in fright, looking up at the taller creatures slowly approaching them, trying not to scare him, though failing. "D-Don't eat me! I'm all gamy!"

"It's ok, little guy," Fluttershy gently cooed. "We're not going to hurt you."

"Y-You're not?" The creature cautiously approached Fluttershy's outstretched hoof, tapping it with his nose. "You're not...bullies either?"

"Of course not. We're very friendly," Fluttershy assured. Moving her hoof out closer, she began petting the creature's head, who let out a content murmur. "See? You're not in any danger with us around."

"Phew. I sure do feel safer," he said. "I thought I was about to have an accident."

Now that the little creature wasn't scared of them, the others approached them, Fluttershy picking him up and holding him in her forehooves. "Are you one of the creatures from Boggly Woods?"

The creature flinched in shock at the mention of his home. "W-What!? You know about me!? I've been had!" He began squirming, but he was too weak to escape from Fluttershy's cuddling hold, his little feet flailing against her forelegs. "You must be working with the X-Nauts! NOOOO! It's the end for me!"

Mario, Goombella, Koops, and the ponies looked at each other in confusion at the strange-sounding name. "'X-Nauts'? What the heck is an X-Naut?" Koops asked aloud.

"Whoever they are, we're not with them, sugarcube," Applejack reassured the re-frightened creature. "What's goin' on in your home?"

"Are you sure you're not with them?" he asked nervously.

"Would these smiles lie to you?" Pinkie asked, giving him a wide, toothy grin.

"...Well...Ok." He took in a deep breath, able to trust them, his gut telling him the six colorful equines weren't as bad as he thought with how nice Fluttershy was. "This gang of bad guys call themselves the X-Nauts, and they invaded my home. They came inside out Great Tree and started tearing it apart and causing trouble. So...I came all the way here looking for help."

"Bad guys in the Great Tree?" Starlight asked. "That's where we're headed right now. We're hoping to find the Crystal Star there, but if those are the same ones who kidnapped Peach and Twilight, then we're in for trouble."

"Now that you mention it, they did say something about a Crystal Star thingy," the creature said, feeling unsure of himself as he had never once heard of a Crystal Star before the X-Nauts came. "But we Punies don't know anything about crystals or stars."

"You're called a 'Puni'?" Fluttershy asked, squealing and cuddling the little Puni in her hooves. "That's adorable!"

"So, what do you guys say? Can you help me out?" the Puni pleaded. "If you do, we can give you this Crystal Star thing, whatever it is. The Puni elder might know about it, and I'm sure the elder will agree."

"Do you even need to ask?" Rainbow asked. "Of course we'll help you and the other Punies! We need that Crystal Star before these X-Naut guys get it first!"

"And we'll interrogate them on where our friends are!" Pinkie added, pulling out her hammer and tapped it against her hoof. "We're gonna get it out of them one way or another, and we won't give them the 'another' option."

"Oh, thank you all so much!" he cheered. "Oh, yeah. I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Punio!"

"I'm Fluttershy," Fluttershy greeted. "And that's Mario, Goombella, Koops, Starlight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack."

"Nice meeting you," Punio said. "I'll show you where I live."

Fluttershy let Punio go, letting him lead them to where the warp pipe to Boggly Woods was located. On the other side of the room, there was another sizable crack Punio could fit through. He skittered through, but Pinkie tried to follow after him, only able to get her muzzle in while the rest of her got stuck.

"Hey, we can't fit through this tiny crack!" Pinkie called out to Punio.

"Oh, right. I forgot," the Puni said sheepishly. "Hang on. The elder said there was a button around here that opened a secret entrance..." Pinkie pulled her face out of the small hole, her muzzle temporarily shaped like the hole before popping back to normal. "Aha! Found it!"

Punio pressed the button, which made the wall up the nearby flight of steps slide open, along with several windows, revealing the pathway to the other side of the wall. The group climbed up and walk through the secret passage, meeting up with Punio as he stood by what appeared to look like a hollowed stump flipped on its side sticking out through the wall.

"Is this...a warp pipe?" Rarity questioned.

"It sure is," Punio said. "This'll take us to Boggly Woods, and it's only a bit of a walk until we reach the Great Tree."

"Feels odd to go through a tree stump, but it's certainly environmentally friendly," Goombella commented.

With no time to waste, Mario dove through the wooden warp pipe, that same warping sound coming from his entrance proving it was indeed a warp pipe. The others followed after him to Boggly Woods, Punio hoping they make it to the Great Tree in time to stop the X-Nauts.

---

Reaching the end of the wooden tree trunk warp pipe, Mario jumped out and looked around at his surroundings. The others climbed out and followed his example, staring in awe at the Boggly Woods. Like the map showed, the forest was beautiful despite its monochrome setting, the black trees bearing white leaves while the flowers and bushes on the ground were as white as the canopy of whiteness above.

"Wow. It's really pretty," Fluttershy uttered.

"Well...I suppose for a forest that doesn't seem to be splashed in color," Rarity said. "Couldn't hurt to maybe have a little green...At least it's not as bad as the dull grayness of the sewers, and actually quite cleaner than it and all of Rogueport."

Punio skittered through the circle of flowers around the warp pipe, making his way to a path to the east. "The Great Tree is over this way. The elder and my friends are there, and my little sister, too...I hope she's ok..."

Leading the way, the little Puni guided his new, taller friends down the road to his home. Sadly, they didn't get far when they stopped suddenly, spotting a trio of strange-looking specters standing off to the side. Their skins were purple, though the only differences they could tell where their height and the different colored stripes on their hats: the smaller, elderly one with the blue-striped hat, the medium one with the red-striped hat, and the bigger, heftier one with the yellow-striped hat. The elder giggled maliciously as she addressed the other two beings.

"Time to go to work, lovelies!" she exclaimed. "Vivian, you understand what we've got to do, yessss?"

"Mhmm!" the one with the red-striped hat said with a nod. "First, we find this Mario guy and those 'pone-hies' like the purple one, then steal the map of the Crystal Stars, right?" While Vivian mulled over if those were the right instructions given to them, the group winced as they overheard them. They were going to have to steer clear of this trio of witches if they were looking for Mario and were working with the same group who kidnapped Peach and Twilight. "We can just do away with them, can't we?...Or is that bad?"

"Oh, bad things happen all the time, Vivian," the elder assured wickedly. "But you're right about our goals. If my information is correct, Mario and his little band of 'ponies', which is the right word for those magical creatures, they should be coming down the road any second now."

The group was actually glad they were too busy with their own discussion to notice them. Pinkie slowly pulled out a small basket of mustaches, placing one over her upper lip and holding the basket of fake facial hair to the others.

"Psst! Quick! Go incognito!" Pinkie whispered. "They won't know who we are if we're wearing mustaches!"

"Pinkie, Mario already has a mustache," Starlight pointed out. "I think that's going to make them figure us out even easier."

As the older witch started watching the road, completely oblivious of their targets standing in her line of sight, she noticed Vivian begin to fumble with something in her gloved hands. "Hmm? Vivian!? What are you fawning over!?"

"Huh?" Vivian held out her hands, showing the elder and the bigger witch a pearl necklace. "You mean this? I found this gorgeous necklace over by that tree a while back. It was so lovely, I-I just had to pick it up!"

"Hmph! For shame, Vivian!" the elder scolded. "Picking up someone else's scraps!? Disgusting! Greedy!" Vivian wilted and frowned sadly, putting away her new necklace. "Bah. Enough about that. Now, Vivian, my dear pack rat...Bring out the sketch of that Mario guy we got from Grodus if you please."

"H-Huh? B-But I don't have that, Beldam," Vivian said. "You said it was too important, so you took it. You're the one who has it."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Beldam shouted, making the red-capped witch whimper. "I don't have the darn thing! You were in charge of it! You wretched little worm; blaming me for something you probably screwed up!"

"B-But I..." Vivian's lower lip quivered as tears could be seen welling in her eyes from under her hat.

While Beldam constantly scolded Vivian, the yellow-capped witch looked over at the group watching them. Despite Starlight's earlier gripe for Pinkie's crazy idea of putting mustaches on everyone, Pinkie put them on all her friends, even putting one on Mario despite having real upper lip hair. Punio even had one on, his eyes closed in glee as he wiggled it around on his snout.

"Guh! Guh!" the bigger specter exclaimed, pointing at the group.

"Oh, what is it, Marilyn?" Beldam looked at where the more silent witch was constantly pointing at. "Hmm?...A large group of mustachioed travelers?" she questioned, most of the group leering at Pinkie with a deadpanned gaze, the pink earth pony grinning wide as she waved to the trio. "...This is no time for such nonsense, you great oaf! Save your games for later!"

Marilyn grunted again, trying to explain it wasn't a game, only to huff and pout, waiting for Beldam to stop being senile. Surprised to see Pinkie's odd plan had worked, the group slowly walked past them, avoiding their gaze while making sure their fake 'staches stuck to their upper lips.

"Don't mind us," Pinkie said. "Just a group of mustache travelers looking for mustaches to mustache...Mustache!"

"Pinkie, shush!" Applejack hissed.

They successfully walked past Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian, the former continuing scolding the latter as the others continued hearing their arguing. "Now, where was I?...Oh yeah! Vivian, you lost our sketch!"

"B-B-But I...I didn't..." Vivian stammered, telling the truth, but the unfortunate witch wasn't able to get through to her leader. "I-I never had the-"

"SILENCE, YOU DITZ!" Beldam screeched, stopping the heroic party as they stumbled from Beldam's outburst. Curious, they turned around and continued watching, starting to feel bad for Vivian taking all this abuse. "How dare you talk back to me like a rebellious child!? It's clear to me that the only rationale your type understands is force." Beldam glided over to the distressed witch, snatching the necklace Vivian found and intended to keep, which greatly upset Vivian. "For your punishment, I'll be taking that necklace you just found."

"W-What!? B-But, Beldam...!" Vivian sobbed, bringing her hands to her face as she struggled not to break down in tears.

Having heard enough, Mario and the gang continued onward, getting out of earshot from the three witches as they took off their fake mustaches, except for Punio, who kept his on. "Whoa...That didn't sound good at all," Rainbow said. "I mean, they're technically our enemies if they're looking for us...but I kinda feel bad for that one in the red hat."

The others voiced their concerns for Vivian as well. "She sounded pretty honest when she said she didn't have that sketch of Mario they were arguin' about earlier," Applejack said. "And Ah don't need to be the Element of Honesty to see that."

"Must be a pretty toxic relationship if that Beldam was that clueless to figure out who were were," Starlight added. "Thank goodness we passed them without getting into a confrontation. That's the last thing we need right now."

"Well, the Boggly Woods aren't really all that safe," Punio said as he continued leading the way. "There's some baddies that love to roam around, some that like to munch on us Punies as a snack."

"Thanks for the warning," Koops said. "But we can take them...right?"

Further down the road, Punio was right as they did encounter a few foes on the way. There were Clefts disguising themselves as rocks, their spiked heads making it hard for anyone to physically leap on them, Pale Piranha Plants that sprouted from the ground to chomp at them, and Dark Puffs that either tackled them or charged themselves up with electricity to shoot a lightning bolt down on them. Just like the Boggly Woods, the creatures in this area were also monochrome, blending in with the black, white, and gray landscape to catch them off guard. Luckily, they had the numbers and strength to take them down, and in no time at all, they found the Great Tree out in the distance.

"There it is!" Punio cheered. He skittered over to a nearby warp pipe stump, though there was a small hole near the ground that was small enough for a Puni like Punio to crawl through. "Through this warp pipe! It's the only way to get to the Great Tree! Hang on, everyone! I'm coming!"

They followed Punio down the pipe, reappearing in the one off in the distance and reached the Great Tree in no time. The home of the Punies was far taller than the rest of the forest, definitely suitable as a living space for small little critters like Punio and his family and friends. Unfortunately, something was completely out of place as they got closer; there was a red metallic door installed at the trunk of the giant tree, a red light glowing above it signalling it was electronically locked.

"Uhh, you Punies have doors like these? In a natural environment like the Boggly Woods?" Goombella asked curiously.

"No," Punio said, taking off his fake mustache as he moved closer to the door. "This wasn't here before...Someone installed it!" He rammed into it, grunting heavily as he struggled to push or slide the electronic door open. "I...can't...open it!" After another moment of pushing, Punio gave up, flopping on his belly with an exhausted sigh. "I thought I could finally save everyone..."

"Hey, let's not give up now," Rainbow said, flying over to the depressed Puni and helped him back up on his stubby legs. "There's gotta be some other way in, right? If not, we'll bust our way through!"

"Yeah, not through tough metal doors like that," Goombella said. "Those look like state of the art electronic doors, and the only way to open those up is to unlock it by a keycard or a switch on the other side. Not sure if Mario can bust it down, but I'm sure the locks are pretty heavily reinforced, and we have no idea how many of those X-Naut guys might be waiting for us."

"...Ok, there goes that plan," Rainbow uttered.

"Wait...I think there might be another way!" Punio said. He quickly scampered off to one of the large roots of the Great Tree, climbing up it to a higher point of the trunk, where a few thin branches connected the root to the height he was at over the locked door. "Long ago, the Puni elder told me about a secret entrance somewhere right around here...The problem is, it's kinda hard to find it. It's not like it's labeled 'Secret Entrance'."

"Not that much of a problem," Starlight gloated. "I can find this secret entrance with a simple scanning spell." Lighting up her horn, Starlight's aura flew out and began searching around the Great Tree for the secret entrance Punio mentioned. As the mist of light blue magic honed in on the area Punio pointed out, her horn flashed, signalling her successful search, though as she felt around for the entrance, she discovered something odd. "Whoa...This is...new."

"Did you find it?" Koops asked.

"Yes...but...what kind of magic IS this?" Starlight questioned. "I understand this is a different world and so is its magic, but...this invisible enchantment is so...strange..."

"You mean you can't reveal the entrance?" Rarity asked.

"I can try..." With her horn glowing again, she tried to cast a spell to dispel the mysterious invisibility enchantment on the secret entrance to the Great Tree. She grunted, barely able to break through it as the spell had wavered slightly, but it wasn't enough to get rid of it. She stopped after exerting herself, grumbling with frustration while rubbing her horn. "As powerful as I am, I don't think I can get rid of it. I doubt Twilight could as well if she was with us and we teamed up."

"Just how strong is it, Starlight?" Fluttershy asked.

"It looks flimsy like a piece of paper, but it's like trying to peel away said paper that's been super glued to the tree while it was also welded and bolted into the bark," Starlight explained.

"Well, great. Now what?" Goombella asked.

They sat around the tree, trying to figure out what to do next while Starlight studied this strange magical enchantment to find a way to break it.

---

Meanwhile, in another part of the Boggly Woods, there was a small yellow and purple house that stood out in the monochrome forest. Inside, the decor seemed to fit for someone who enjoyed the finer things in life with all the expensive furniture, vases, ceramic dishes in window display cabinets, even a luxurious bedroom where the owner of the out of place building floated about, letting out a relaxed sigh.

"These woods are absolutely wonderful," a female voice said aloud, as if proclaiming to an audience admiring her oncoming monologue. "Building a house here was just the FINEST idea I've ever had! So much different from the bright flashbulbs of the world I'm used to...Such peace...This negative image of the real world soothes my body and soul. But what's even better is that I, Madame Flurrie, grow ever more lovely here!

"Plus, those squishy, adorable little Punies that live in that tree are SO nice to me!" Flurrie let out a laugh as she floated around her room, running a hand over a few picture frames of herself. She seemed to reminisce on the old life she had before taking a temporary leave of absence from her busy occupation. "But...I suppose if I stay here too long, I'll begin to crave hustle and bustle before long! Oh, it's happening as I speak! Already I feel the need for drama! That moment of exhilaration when the spotlight shines down on the stage...On me! Surely I was born to be...an actress for the ages...

"It's settled, then. I shall rise again!...But, before I make my comeback, I simply must whip my body and mind into shape." She floated over to her vanity mirror, looking over her figure as she blew a kiss at her reflection. "Just a bit of makeup to make me even more beautiful, and-" While rummaging around for her beauty supplies, Flurrie paused as she got a better look at herself. "Wait a minute...Where's...?" Placing her hands around her neck, she gasped as she appeared to have lost something she was never without. She began to panic and rummage through her belongings, but finding no sight of her lost item. "NOOOOOOOO! It's gone! I can't believe it's gone! Where is my...!?"

---

After several moments of silent thinking, Punio finally got an idea, racing down the root he sat on to join the others on the ground. "I got it! I know who can help remove the invisible spell! Madame Flurrie!"

"Madame who?" Pinkie asked.

"She lives in the woods not too far from the Great Tree!" Punio said. "The elder says she's a wind spirit who can wield the power of wind with ease. Maybe she can use her wind powers to blow the spell away!"

Starlight hummed in thought, curious about meeting this wind spirit, Madame Flurrie. "Are you sure she can do it?" the unicorn asked.

"And is she willing to help us?" Rarity asked as well. "Somepony with the title 'madame' sounds like somepony who is refined and dignified."

"She is, actually. Kind of like you, Miss Rarity," Punio commented. "I'm sure she'll help us."

The others looked to Mario, the plumber shrugging his shoulders as they were left with that only option. With everyone agreeing to enlist Flurrie's help to get rid of the mysterious invisible spell around the secret entrance to the Great Tree, they made their way back out in the forest. After exiting the warp pipe, Punio lead the way to where the wind spirit lived, taking them further deeper in the Boggly Woods. This next section had some taller trees, another tree warp pipe with a flight panel attached to the top. Its height, however, wouldn't be able to help glide everyone up to the ledge of the upper level of the forest.

There was a blue switch in the background on white and black ringed stumps. Rainbow volunteered to press it, slamming her hooves down on it. It caused the warp pipe to grow taller, reaching a suitable height to help get everyone over to the other end without much difficulty. The flightless members of the party climbed through the warp pipe, Rainbow and Fluttershy flying on ahead while the latter carried Punio in her hooves. Since there wasn't much room at the top, Mario stood on the flight panel, activating his winged blessing as the rest of his friends glided across first, flying one by one until he was the last one left. Once they were all across, they found the house of Madame Flurrie in the distance, easily standing out in the monochromatic colors of Boggly Woods.

"Hey, something other than us with color!" Pinkie pointed out.

"Looks pretty fancy," Applejack noted. "Punio, are ya sure she ain't the kinda 'refined and dignified' spirit who might also be stuck up?"

"No, she's really friendly," Punio assured. "She knows a lot about us and visits from time to time."

"We'll take your word for it, Ah guess," Applejack uttered.

Making their way around the black fence of wooden, spiked posts, they found a warp pipe leading to Flurrie's house. They entered the regal home after exiting the other end of the warp pipe, marveling the interior design with the two-toned purple, checker patterned floors, some bouquets of pink flowers near the stairs, soft-looking couches, and a few ceramic dishes on display in a cabinet.

"Um, excuse me!" Punio called out. They were met with silence as they waited for a response. "Hmm...Maybe she's not home. She could be taking a walk in the woods."

"If she was a Dark Puff, then I think we may have already met," Goombella said jokingly.

Punio clambered up the steps and over to the door that must serve as Flurrie's bedroom. "Madame Flurrie!" he called out again as the others looked around the wind spirit's home. "If you're here, say something!"

The Puni tried to push the bedroom door open, only to hear a shriek as the door quickly slammed shut. "No, no! Don't come in! I'm indecent!"

"Madame Flurrie, it's me, Punio!" Punio said, everyone rushing over to the bedroom door after hearing the resident was indeed home and hiding from them.

"Punio...? Oh! Punio!" Flurrie exclaimed. "It has been an AGE since I last saw you!...Or rather, hear from you. Is there something wrong, dearie?"

"Depends on how bad that 'something' is," Koops mumbled, but Flurrie heard the Koopa, letting out a shocked gasp.

"Oh my! I have other guests as well!?" Flurrie exclaimed. "Oh no...I certainly cannot be out and about now...But, my issues shouldn't be important if you're here, Punio. What's happened?"

"Well...we have a problem that only you can help us with, ma'am," Punio began. "The Great Tree's entry hole is blocked by this metal door, and we can't get through. My friends are in a pickle, and I brought my new friends in hopes that they can help us, and they need the Crystal Star that's somewhere in our home. So, we need you to help reveal the secret entrance for us, otherwise we're doomed."

"Oh...Is that all?" Flurrie asked, her voice sounding sympathetic after Punio's explanation. "My little Punio, you know I would do anything in my power to help you and the other Punies...However, lamentably...I'm in a bind myself...I can't come out."

"Why not?" Starlight asked. "Because you're 'indecent'?"

"...Yes, as embarrassing as it to admit it," Flurrie said. "But I never go out anywhere without my necklace. I simply can't find it anywhere in my home! I must have dropped it during one of my walks around the woods. I absolutely MUST have that necklace to highlight my beauty, and if anyone saw me without it, it would be quite the scandal!"

"Must be a pretty fancy necklace if it's that important," Fluttershy said.

"Wait a minute...Didn't we see a necklace earlier?" Rarity asked. "One of those three ghost...things had a pearl necklace they found."

"A pearl necklace!?" Flurrie asked. "That must be it! Oh no, I hope they don't steal it from me! I'll forever be exposed without it!"

"Wow. She definitely sounds like Rarity with how dramatic she sounds," Rainbow said with a snicker, Rarity scoffing in offense at Rainbow's statement.

"Don't worry, Madame Flurrie," Punio said. "We'll get your necklace back."

"Oh, thank you, little Punio," Flurrie said. "I know introductions are important, but I will gladly greet you personally as soon as I get my necklace back. And I will help you get into the Great Tree."

"Ok. We'll be back in a flash," Goombella said.

They soon left Flurrie's home and began to make their way back to the trio of specters who have Flurrie's necklace.

---

Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian still stood where they were, the youngest and oldest of the trio still arguing. Beldam had finally found the sketch, which had been on her the whole time, frustrating Vivian while still greatly upset from the accusations.

"I TOLD you, Beldam!" Vivian exclaimed. "Blaming me for losing the sketch, and YOU had it!"

"Silence, you twit!" Beldam scolded. "Now is not the time to get hung up on stupid details! We must study this sketch!" Holding out the sketch of their target, the three witches found the odd mugshot of the plumber from the Mushroom Kingdom all too familiar, like they had seen him before. "Hmmm...He looks quite manly. And check out the bushy mustache...Wait a minute, didn't we see this gentleman before? And he had a double mustache?" Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian soon gasped in shock, the group that passed by them who they were looking for all this time. "Ahh! We've been fooled! That man with the mustache IS Mario! How genius; wearing another mustache over the real thing to hide his true identity." Marilyn let out a groan, shaking her head in exasperation. "Vivian, this is all your fault! I'll be dealing out a strict punishment for you later, my dearie! I promise you that!"

"W-What!? But that's not fair!" Vivian whined, once again taking the brunt of the blame when Beldam was the one who forgot she had the sketch of Mario in the first place. "You're the one who had the-"

"Silence, you squirrel-brain!" Beldam exclaimed. "Don't you cop that insolent attitude with me!" Vivian teared up again, glaring spitefully at the elder witch. "And about that necklace...I was thinking of returning it to you, but NO MORE!" Vivian gasped in shock, but kept her thoughts to herself, otherwise risk getting an even worse punishment. "Since you caused this problem, you have to figure out how to find this Mario and the other equines Lord Grodus wants us to find!"

They didn't need to look far as Mario lead his entourage of ponies, Goomba, Koopa Troopa, and Puni back to them to get back Flurrie's necklace. Marilyn spotted them, grunting and pointing at them, though Beldam and Vivian didn't pay attention, too wrapped up in their own bickering.

"Don't worry, guys, I got this," Pinkie said, putting on her fake mustache again as she strolled up casually to the witches. "Excuse me, my good...yous! My name is Moneybags Esquire III, and I am looking to buy some very fancy jewelry in this grayscaled forest! More specifically, the pearl necklace variety! Would you like me to pawn it off you for-" Pinkie pulled out a single coin from behind her and held it out to Beldam. "-one coin!?"

The heroes behind the bartering mare facepalmed, already failing to know the meaning of the term "barter" when jewelry is far more expensive than a single coin. Beldam spotted Mario, this time without his extra mustache, not letting him out of their sight again.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mario!" Beldam cackled. "You're not that bright to come right to us. And why is that? Because we've been waiting for you this whole time!"

"If you were looking for him, then how come you actually fell for Pinkie's dumb fake mustaches she forced us to wear?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know how it worked, but it will not work on the likes of us again!" Beldam proclaimed. The party looked at each other, highly doubting a group like these three lacking that much insight could not be fooled so easily again. "Now, give us that map of yours, or I'll take it by force. But, whether or not you comply, we're going to use force anyway."

"Ok...maybe one coin's not enough," Pinkie said, ignoring the threatening statement while her friends prepared themselves for a fight. "How about...two coins!?"

She pulled out another coin, waving them around in Beldam's face. The elder witch was not amused by Pinkie's antics, reaching her hand out and tore the fake mustache off her upper lip. Beldam then showed off her power, clenching her fist and encased the disguise in a block of ice, snow particles spreading out around her hand as the ice was quickly formed.

"...Well, good thing I packed plenty of extra 'staches!" Pinkie said, only to yelp as Starlight dragged her back with them by the tail using her magic.

"So, you can use magic, huh?" Starlight said. "Just who are you three?"

"Mmmwee hee hee hee!" Beldam cackled. "Those who seek names are often disappointed, but if you insist, we'll tell you. We are..."

"The Three..." Marilyn said next, the others finding it odd to hear the bigger witch say something other than express with grunts.

"Shadow Beauties!" Vivian finished enthusiastically, making Beldam blanch and turn to leer at the red-capped specter.

"Vivian, you nincompoop! What are you babbling about!? It's Shadow SIRENS!" Beldam exclaimed. "I don't see three beauties! I see two, but then there's you, and you're PLUG-UGLY!"

The heroes lowered their guard as the two bickering Shadow Sirens went at it again. Yet again, they feel bad for Vivian, who is actually far more good looking than Beldam or Marilyn, and she's being scolded over messing up their group sound off.

"Oh, right...Sorry, Sis," Vivian apologized meekly. "It's just, you always call us 'lovelies', and..."

"It's a figure of speech, you nitwit!" Beldam said. "You're definitely going to be punished...but later. First, we have to deal with Mario and his friends!"

"Aww. I hate being punished," Vivian mumbled miserably.

"You three realize you're outnumbered three-to-one, right?" Goombella asked. "Even with whatever magic you have, it won't be enough!"

"Well, we'll show you, my pretty," Beldam assured with a wicked grin. "Let's do it, my lovelies...or rather, my lovely and ugly!"

Vivian frowned at that, her self-esteem brought even lower as the ugly comment was meant for her. "Some older sister you are if you three are actually siblings," Rarity said. "Why do you talk down to her like that?"

"Because she's a troublemaker and deserves to be taught her place!" Beldam reasoned, but the others found it as a pitiful excuse to hide her own embarrassing mistakes, like letting their enemies pass by them while arguing over a sketch of their target. "Marilyn! Vivian! Let's show them precisely what we can do!"

"Guh!"

"Yes, Sis!"

Punio quickly fled and ducked behind a tree, getting away from the fight against the Shadow Sirens. Rainbow made the first move, charging into the three witches with a hard flap of her wings. However, her speed was outmatched as all three Sirens suddenly sunk into the ground where their small tail-like tendrils were firmly attached to. Rainbow yelped, skidding to a halt, spreading white flower petals around her as she looked around for them.

"Where'd they go!?" Rainbow asked.

"They sank into the ground like shadows!" Goombella stated, pulling out her book to find out what exactly the Shadow Sirens were.

While looking at her book, everyone was unaware of Marilyn rising up from behind the bookworm Goomba. Pinkie suddenly felt one of her Pinkie Senses going off, quickly turning around to find the bigger Siren rearing her hands back to give Goombella a hard thwack.

"Behind you!" Pinkie shouted, then threw her hammer at the Siren.

"Guh?" Marilyn was distracted by Pinkie's outburst, only to grunt in pain as the mare's mallet struck her face. "GOOW!!!!"

The others quickly backed away from Marilyn, but when Mario tried to punch the yellow-capped witch, she disappeared into the ground again. "Where are they!?" Starlight exclaimed.

"Ah have no idea!" Applejack said. "They're like a bunch of shadows!"

"Wrong crossover! This is a Nintendo one, not a Square one!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Pinkie, darling, can you focus on the-!" Rarity was interrupted when she suddenly felt a chill on her leg, Beldam having popped up from the ground and gave the white unicorn a light, icy punch.

She shrieked from the freezing touch, only to be frozen in ice a second later. "Rarity!" Fluttershy shrieked, watching Beldam fade back down into the ground with a cackle.

Mario quickly ran up to the frozen unicorn, punching through the ice and freeing Rarity, her body shuddering as she began to slowly warm up. "T-T-T-Thank y-you, d-d-d-darling..."

Applejack tried to stomp on the blue-capped witch, but she missed as they disappeared too quickly. "Consarn it, they're too fast!"

"How do we even know where they are if they keep hiding in the ground!?" Rainbow asked, only to let out a yell when Vivian rose up from behind her and punched her flank, her ability being fire as she left a scorch mark on the cyan pegasus's behind. "Hey!" She tried to buck the red-capped witch, only to miss as Vivian sank back into the ground. "URGH! Quit hiding like cowards and fight us!"

It was impossible to tell where the Shadow Sirens would pop up, even without the patches of flowers covering where they hid under the earth. Mario activated his enhanced perception using the Lucky Star, his charm and eyes glowing white as he looked around, spotting the Shadow Sirens hiding and sneaking around underneath them, seen as white pulsating voids in his darkened vision. The biggest void, being Marilyn, headed straight for him, the plumber quickly backflipping out of the way as she rose up to try to punch him, her fists crackling with electricity as she swung.

Starting to get a little frustrated, Mario decided to test out the first Crystal Star's power. Pulling out the Diamond Star, he activated its magic, the star growing bigger as it hovered beside him. Despite its size, it was somehow able to fit everyone who weren't able to fly on its upper arms. He gathered everyone on top of it, not sure what exactly it would do, but they were just as curious to see what the Diamond Star could do. Mario began focusing, gathering energy inside the Crystal Star as it began to grow bigger and bigger, giving the others more room to sit as they waited anxiously for its power to be unleashed.

The Shadow Sirens rose up from the ground, wondering what happened to their opponents. "Where did they-?" Beldam asked, only to gawk in surprise as they looked up. "W-What in the-!?"

"Umm...is that star getting bigger?" Vivian asked nervously.

"No, it's getting smaller, you dense twit!" Beldam scolded sarcastically.

After gathering as much power as possible, the Diamond Star was now gargantuan in size, towering the trees around them. The Crystal Star then began to bounce up and down, the riders on top yelping as they held on, their stomachs flopping with each rise and drop. Upon impact with the ground, the Crystal Star managed to hit the ground hard enough to cause a quake that made the ground shoot up like the wave of a rolling ocean, growing bigger and bigger with each thud getting harder as it landed. The Shadow Sirens couldn't hide in time as they were knocked up in the air by the painful waves, the wisps of their tails still somehow connected to the ground no matter how high they were flung. After one last powerful bounce, the final, tallest wave sent the trio of witches flying high, their screams slowly fading before growing louder as they fell back down, crashing to the ground hard.

The Crystal Star shrunk, its ability complete as it allowed its user and his friends to leap down before shrinking back down to its original size. "Ugh, that felt like the worst roller coaster I never wanted to get on," Starlight groaned as a majority of the group eased their stomachs.

"Whoo hoo! Let's do that again!" Pinkie cheered. "Only this time, bounce higher!"

"How about no?" Rarity uttered, letting out a groan as her legs shook, still recovering from being frozen.

The Shadow Sirens grunted, slowly getting up as they recovered from the Diamond Star's special ability. "They're not done yet," Rainbow said, quickly getting behind Koops. "Hey, Mario, let's play a round of tennis! Koops is the ball!"

"W-Wait, tennis?" Koops questioned until he got the pegasus's plan. "Oh! Right!"

Quickly ducking in his shell, Rainbow kicked the Koopa hard, sending him flying straight into Beldam. The elder Siren yelped as she was hit in the face, making her arms flail as she accidentally tossed Flurrie's necklace in the air, losing Vivian's "garbage" she was hoping to keep away. Starlight quickly caught it with her magic before it hit the ground, or got in Mario and Rainbow's way as they struck Koops back into the Sirens repeatedly. They alternated aiming at Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian for a minute before the elder had enough, unleashing a small blizzard on Koops as he came right toward her again. Koops yelped from the sudden chill, his body turning into ice as he slid back to the others after getting blown back.

"Gah. Maybe we were a touch overconfident," Beldam said. "Marilyn, Vivian, we would have won if you two pulled your weight! Both of you prepare for a world-class punishment session when we get back!"

Marilyn and Vivian followed Beldam as they fled, Vivian somehow tripping despite having no limbs to trip over with her wispy tail embedded in the ground before chasing after her sisters. No longer needing to deal with the Shadow Sirens and their insane power to sink into the ground like a void to avoid their attacks, they got what they needed to get Flurrie's assistance to get in the Great Tree.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Punio said, skittering out of his hiding spot. "That's definitely Madame Flurrie's necklace! We should get it back to her!"

"Right...but right after we get Koops unthawed," Goombella said.

Mario punched and shattered the ice around Koops, the Koopa Troopa popping out of his shell with a shudder. "W-Well, g-good thing I'm w-wearing a sweater..."

"I hope we don't run into those Shadow Sirens again," Fluttershy said as they made their way back to Flurrie's home.

---

After a long trip back through the Boggly Woods, along with dealing with more of the monochrome forest's inhabitants, the party finally made it back to Flurrie's house, entering her front door and stood before the wind spirit's bedroom door. "Madame Flurrie, we found your necklace!" Punio announced.

"Oh, by the Stars! Thank you all so much!" Flurrie said gratefully. "...But, I don't want you all to see me just yet. Just leave my necklace by the door. And no peeking!"

Starlight levitated Flurrie's necklace by her door, which cracked open slightly, the spirit's pale grayish-purple hand reaching out to grab it and quickly close the door. "Well, we're finally going to see what she looks like," Goombella said.

"The question is what DOES a wind spirit like Flurrie look like," Starlight said.

After a moment of waiting for the wind spirit to get herself ready, the lights suddenly dimmed in the room and a disco ball lowered from the ceiling as music began playing. "Uhh...what's happening?" Koops asked.

Flurrie's bedroom door finally opened up and the wind spirit floated out, showing herself to her guests, and they were surprised to see what she looked like. Her body was a pale grayish-purple, each part of her rounded figure bouncing with each movement like she was a living cloud, especially her rounded breasts protruding from her chest. She hovered in the air with no legs, fitting for someone known as a wind spirit, gold bracelets on her wrists, green pearl earrings, and her pearl necklace hanging around her neck and shown off thanks to her bosom. Her hair was a shade of light purple, wildly styled similarly to that of a mad scientist's, but for Flurrie, it seemed to suit her as a wind spirit. She also had big red lips, though whether she added lipstick or not was unknown as they were a perfect cherry red.

Mario and Koops's jaws dropped, their cheeks blushing madly at Madame Flurrie's entrance. "...U-Umm...W-Wow," Koops mumbled, quickly bringing his hands to his bashful face before pushing his head down in the neck of his shell. "T-T-That's...NOT indecent???"

Flurrie giggled, spinning around and flaunting her looks, giving Mario a seductive wink while holding out her hand in a sign with all but her middle and ring finger extended. "Hello, everyone," Flurrie greeted. "I do apologize for being a drama queen, but I am glad to finally meet you all in person...Especially the hunk who helped bring back my necklace." Mario flinched, looking around to see if she meant Koops, but Flurrie was definitely looking at him. "I simply must thank my hero for finding my special necklace...Perhaps if I...gave you a little sugar?"

Mario yelped, chuckling nervously as he shook his head rapidly, politely declining the offer. Too bad Flurrie wasn't going to take no as an answer, swiftly flying past the girls, bumping past Koops, then grabbed the shocked plumber and planted a massive smooch on Mario's cheek that lasted for several seconds. Mario flailed his limbs, trapped in the wind spirit's surprisingly powerful grasp until she finally let go, pulling back with a loud smack while leaving behind a giant kiss mark on the flustered plumber's face. The girls laughed at his expression, even as Mario fell over in shock, his foot twitching as he let out a dazed groan.

"That is definitive proof right there; Mario definitely has a way with all the ladies he helps," Rarity commented.

Flurrie turned to her other guests, not surprised like any others to meet the six ponies from another world. "My, my. I know I can be a rare oddity back in the city, but you six really take the cake," Flurrie said. "And I was so rude to give Mr. Handsome his reward that I skipped the introductions."

"Well, I'm Starlight Glimmer," Starlight said. "And this is Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Goombella-" She then pointed a the knocked over males in the group. "-and that's Koops and Mario. And if you're wondering about what me and my friends are, we're ponies, and we come from a world called Equestria."

"Hmm...I read something about a new world that had opened up in the newspaper down in the Mushroom Kingdom," Flurrie said to herself. "And it must be quite a world if you ponies are as cute as buttons like Punio."

"I'm not that cute," Punio grumbled with a pout, but Flurrie giggled, floating over to the Puni and patted his head.

"Yeah, neither am I," Rainbow added. "I don't do cute."

"And yet your hair is like a rainbow," Flurrie pointed out. Mario and Koops got back up, both of them keeping their eyes above the wind spirit's prominent chest as she got back to the point of their visit and request. "Now, earlier, you had mentioned something about the Crystal Stars. Are they the very same ones I've heard from the lowlifes down in Rogueport?"

"Yes, and they are real," Starlight said.

Mario pulled out the Diamond Star, showing Flurrie the genuine Crystal Star in their possession. "Oh my...A danger-filled search for beautiful jewels...How absolutely marvelous! And here I thought I was going to be frightfully bored out here by myself! I believe it's time for a change!"

"So, you actually want to join us for a lot longer than helping us get inside the Great Tree?" Rarity asked.

"Why, of course," Flurrie said. "I don't need much convincing with Mario's plush mustache already swooning me since I first laid eyes on him."

She winked at Mario, who let out a nervous groan while lowering the brim of his hat over his eyes. "Well, glad to have you aboard, Miss Flurrie!" Pinkie said. "The more, the merrier!"

"Let's hurry back to the Great Tree!" Punio exclaimed. "I'm starting to worry about how much damage those X-Nauts did to my home, and if the others are ok!"

"Oh, you're absolutely right!" Flurrie said, bringing her hands together and cracked her knuckles, giving a serious gaze as she looked out one of her windows. "No one hurts these little Punies while I'm around. Look out, your brutes, because you're going to be blown away by Madame Flurrie."

Now with Madame Flurrie in tow, party left the wind spirit's house and quickly made their way back to the Great Tree.

Comments

[GamePlayer64]

Poor Vivian. Also I remember seeing Madam Flurrie the first time and she was giant cloud to me

[Heavens_Angel]

i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/231/944/7bc.png

[JediAlexColbent]

"'X-Nauts'? What the heck is an X-Naut?" Koops asked aloud.

Sounds like a really edgy tissue.

[Xanatos Speed Chess]

Yeah, Mario and Koops, I know the feeling...
mariowiki.com/images/thumb/7/7c/Flurrie_%28alt%29_-_Paper_Mario_The_Thousand-Year_Door.png/250px-Flurrie_%28alt%29_-_Paper_Mario_The_Thousand-Year_Door.png
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/creepypasta/images/2/25/Jaw_drop_nostalgia_critic_by_comptech224-d37dtv9.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150329233045

[JediAlexColbent]

9261624
quickmeme.com/img/09/09f41bbe673abdffeb1a500149cbc2d9b82a19cbdc091589b6668f5ec651045e.jpg

[MLPMekarm]

9262652
good choice if I do say so.

[JediAlexColbent]

9315998
When is it NOT a good choice?

[the koopanater]

I can't wait for the Dooplis battle where only Vivian is with Mario, though I have an idea
have Vivian warp away, leaving Mario defenseless, getting attacked by his fooled allies, and as he is being attacked, Vivian is thinking about Mario. just before Mario is about to be KO'd, Vivian realizes how nice Mario was to her, which she warps in and moves Mario to safety with her powers. after she does that, she fights by his side and... well, you know the rest.
I was always thinking that at that scene, but if you don't put that in, I won't be angry, but it would be pretty cool