Cool, Cool Mountain
Previously on Game Quest:
Spike, Mario, Yoshi, and friends collected all the missing Power Stars in Big Boo’s Haunt. And soon they managed to find and save Fluttershy & Luigi.
With the Mario Bros. Back together again, our heroes set their sights on finding more Power Stars to rescue Princess Peach, defeat Bowser, and find the rest of their missing friends. Can they prevail? Find out now in the latest chapter of Game Quest!
Super Mario Bros. Super Show
Princess Peach’s Castle
Shortly after freeing Luigi, our heroes raced out of Princess Peach’s room. Soon enough, the team are back in the main lobby and ready to resume their quest to recover the Power Stars.
“So-a, help-a me get-a caught up,” Luigi began. “What’ve you been-a doin’ while me and-a Wario were locked up?”
“Long story short,” Spike began. “I came to the Mushroom Kingdom. And ever since, I’ve helped free Yoshi, who helped me free Mario, and next thing I know we freed Pinkie Pie.”
“And don’t forget that we saved you and Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash added.
“Yoshi! Yoshi! Yoshi!” Yoshi chirped, explaining his take.
“MAMMA MIA!” Luigi exclaimed, surprised. “You’ve been-a busy! But how many Power-a Stars have you collected?”
“So far, counting the last two we’ve collected from Boos’ obstacle course on the way to save you… forty-one!” Pinkie Pie answered. “Give or take.”
“Forty-a one?!” Luigi exclaimed. “That’s enough to open-a big-a door!”
“What big door?” Spike asked.
“In the castle!” Luigi explained. “In the main-a lobby, there’s a big door with a big star on the front! Earlier, when we-a tried to open it up, it says we need-a twelve-a stars to open it up!”
“What?! Only twelve stars?” Spike asked. But… Toad… or at least a Toad told me and Yoshi there was a total of 150 Power Stars! And that we needed to collect them all.”
“Yoshi!” Yoshi confirmed.
“No! Actually, you only needed a twelve of-a 150-a Power Stars to open the big-a door,” Luigi reassured. “You could-a rescued-a Princess-a Peach by then!”
“Doh!” Mario exclaimed, slapping his forehead. “That’s-a right! I completely forgot about that!”
The rescued ponies exchanged realization, as if they are suddenly remembering that.
“Then by all means, let’s open that there door and save the princess!” Applejack exclaimed.
“Yeah! Let’s save our friends and go home!” Rainbow Dash added. “C’mon, every pony! The door’s this way!”
The heroes raced toward said door, just on the left side of the main lobby along the upper floor. The heroes all stepped up to reach the door, expecting all the stars they’ve collected to materialize and unlock the door. However, it never came.
“Uh… where’s the part where the stars rain golden sparkles and open sesame?” Spike asked.
“Why isn’t it opening?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Suddenly, without warning, a fiery aura of darkness erupted and completely engulfed the door. Just then, a voice spoke:
”W̷̡̭͇͉̭̜͇͑̄̔͗̾͜͝ȩ̶̺͚̹̗̖̺̄̍͜ ̵̢̛̄́̌̾͝͝a̸͓̘̘͈͔̪̅͆͗̾͒̄̊͑̄̀r̵͇͎͍͈̭̹̙͎͛̓͌͛͊͗͜ę̸̖͙͇̮̰͛̀͒͒͗͊́͊̕ ̷̲̟͇̱̠̖͈͛͛t̷͕̼͒̇́̈͌̀̕ḩ̴̪̝̇͂̈̄̔͜͝ē̶̝̩̖̹̦̹͗̒̒̈́́̍̉̕ ̶̛̹̗̝̪̭̜̊̉̓̆͝D̵̢͙̪̜̺̲̘̣̳̐̿͒̂̆a̵̪͒͝r̶͙͈̫̰̗̐̓̃́̽́͂k̷̗̜̙̂n̵̢̡̲̲̋͒̒̊̃̔͌̓̌͠e̶̳̖̘̮̓̂͂̓̽̎̔͝s̵̱̽̚ŝ̴͇͠.̸̩͎̙̠̬̤̩̥́̍̇͛̕͝ ̴̧̡͕͈̩̔̓̈̏W̶̧̺̬̟̞̝̜̋̈̃͗̏̂́̑̕̕e̶̪̫̥͍̖̝̣̓̓̚͜ ̵̢̇̆͛̒͌̾̈́̚ă̸̧̡̹̗̗̺̦͖͕̦͌͌͗̑́̃̚r̵̜̕͝è̵̝̣̪̱̓ ̸̹̏̾̾́̀ẗ̸̳̲͍́ḧ̵̢̼̙́́͑̔͘̕͠ĕ̶̺̦͊̌̋ ̷̛̲͌̂͆̇͛ų̵̧̯̦̰̻͙̭͋̀̄̎͊̌l̵͈͍̳̳̜̃̔ṫ̵̤̝͇̲͑͗̎i̴̘̳̫͎͛̃̈́͌͆͗ḿ̷̨̳͚̮̰̳̈́̐̌̃͜a̷̧̨͕͙̝͉͎͉̠̝̋̓t̸̩͇̹̜̟͇̲̭̺͋̈́̊͛̉̋͂͜͝͝ȩ̴̨̱͈͍̪͉̈́̐͋̓̓̕ ̴̡̝̳͔̩̭̜̰́̓e̴̳̭͖̯͌̈́̈̈͒͐̎̑͘x̷̡̉͑͌̈́̍i̶̳̹̙̖͇͕͉̙͈̐͆̋s̶̻̯̉̃̄̂̂t̴̢̐̐e̷̻̝̫͐̒̚n̵̤̥̱̦̓̽́̔́̑̏̃͝c̵̻̀̄̿̏̒̚̚̚͘ë̶͚̅̆͠.̶͎̩͚̫͇̘̪͒̏̀̐̀͐̐ ̴̪̩̠̟̯͚̣͋̓̍̉̈́͠W̴̱͓̝͖̰̗̺̤̜̖͆̔ě̸͕͂̂ ̵͔̠̱̹̘̳̪̪͎̯͌͋̿̃̈́̕͘c̶̡̠͋͛́͊̾̍̍o̶̡̰̦͕̱̝̤͎͆̄ǹ̴͎̬̘̭̩̼͔̼̆̆̄̈́̅̐̌̚͘t̴̢͚̼̹̥̜̣͑̈́͗͛̉̌͘͝ȓ̴̠̣͊o̴̺̮̦̞̘̪͒͋̇̎͋̈́́l̶̨͉͋̈́̽̈́̚͜͜ ̴̧̳̥̞̤̰̲̔̾͐̈̓̿͗͒͘t̶̡̝͉͇̎̓̑͌͌̅̕͝ͅh̴͔͋̈́͝ē̶̢̬̻̼ ̶̥̖̮̰͈͖̟͍͈̲̚͠r̴͇͈̩̲̘̅͝ͅù̵̞̖̟̬̎͒͊͂̽̄l̴̖̘̳̣̫̦̲̪̍̓̎̅͗̑̋̿͘͠ȩ̵̲̪̤̳̊̀͐s̴̛̼̠͓̙͚͔̜̜̺̊̏̓͛̓͂̚̕ ̵̭̳̖̣͚͈̯̀̑̏̈́͋̉̓̐͐̈o̵͚̯̓̊͌̃̀̋̾̇̃f̶̨̛̙̈́͛̆̐̆͆̉̎̆ ̶̭͐̈́̈̅̍̑̐͒̓͝t̶̛̻̠̥͓̰͖̼̮̻̳̊̓́́͌͝ḩ̵̨̩͓̒̒̊̍̋̈͝͝i̸̛̠̱̜̓͆̎͝͠ŝ̷̳̞͊͊̀̋ ̵͎͙͙͇͔͎͔̈́̏̔̈̍̏͜w̶̞̽͆̈́̉̕ơ̶̡̯͙̤̞̙̝͔̪̝̈͗̑̏̾̀̍̈́͠r̷͔̪̩͔̤͊̈́̎́͛̏̂͘̚l̷̹̇͊͋͗̚̕ḍ̵̺̀͆̒̀̅̕̚͝ ̸̢̛̳͖̻̞̠͍̲͉̤̒͋̌̎̊̔͝a̶͙̱̾̄͐̎͐̿̏͒̎̔ṋ̴̈́̋d̶͈̬̝͙̰̺̬̜̥͐͒͋͝ ̶̞̦͍̱͓̰̺͕̈́̏̒̈͋͘͝t̷͇̑͑͐̑͐h̸͉̰̪͘ͅe̵̙̟̠̯͍̭̠̺͖̭̎͌͘ ̶̲̲͙͕͈͈̱̭͉̘͒̄̀̿̓̈̀̈́̍n̷̨̈́̆ę̷͈̳͖̺̬̮̂̃̽̎̕͜͠ͅẍ̵̘̮̣̜̆̒͊̒̂̃̏͘ţ̴̛̺̤͍̦͉̺̥̬̪́̃̆͂́͠͝.̸̯̓̓̃̌̒͘”
Though somewhat unclear, the heroes could still clearly hear that once again it’s the work of the villainous, mysterious force called ‘The Darkness’.
“Oh… my…!” Fluttershy squeaked in horror.
“Not again!” Spike moaned.
“M-M-M-Mario?” Luigi trembled, cowering behind his brother. “W-W-What is-a that?”
“I… I don’t-a know!” Mario replied. “But if called itself-a Darkness.”
“And has given us trouble back in Boo’s Mansion!” Rainbow Dash frowned. “What are you up to now, Darkness?”
Once again, a demonic voice (More distorted than ever) answered.
”W̵̙̰͝e̴̛̱̾̀͘ ̵̡̢̛̯͔̞̙̤͓̪͖̀͑͛͆̓͗̆a̷̬̲̼͉̲̟͗̔̅̀̀̈́͝ŕ̷̥̃̏ē̵͇̺̽̔̈́̈́̓̆ͅ ̸̡̮̟̞͇̳̱̲̦̭̍͑̈́͌̔̚t̸̺̬̑̓̇̂̔̄̚͝ḩ̵̛̛̺̟̫͓̬̆͋̒͑̏̽̀͌ę̴̨̧͕̠͉͔͇̪̗̿̋̕ ̴̧̛͍̍̓̈́̏́́͌͠͝ͅD̸̢͕̱͕̤̀̾́̀̄͋̽̂̔͆ͅa̸̢͈̝͕̦̗̠͔͌ŗ̴͖̠̤̘̩̣̲̺͓̈́̓̓̏̍̐́͋k̸̘̞͙͈̟͖̹͂̌́̄̋́̏̈́̚ñ̵̦͋̈́͐̈́̆̈́̕̚ë̸̟̗̠̖̱́͂̆͒́̓̂̉͘s̶̨̨͙͙̖̪̈́̍͋̀̉͊̋̀́͠s̷̯͎͚͈̖͈̻͓̐͂.̷̛̹̥̰̾ ̴̹̾̕̚͝W̵̩͖̏̈́̆͋̑̀e̵͎̟͈͌ͅ ̶͉̼̈́̓̅̇͝͠ǎ̶̗̫̙̼̙͍̜̲̲̓̃̽͜r̷̪̳̭̂e̵̡̝̥̘̪͖̰̥̣͒͗̌͒ ̶͍̺͖̖̉̈̿̔̓͝t̵͚̠̅̔̐̅͋̆̐̔͘ḧ̷̡̨͖̤̻͉̭́̈̊̈́̍͒̀̓̏͜͝ĕ̶̬́̅͝ ̷̨͕̱͙̖̰͎͂̅̆̈́͒̃̈́̚͘ư̵̢͚̻̝͇̓͑̒̈́́̉̊̕l̷̡̡̦̹̹̖͈̯͚̫̔̂̾t̴̢̘̝̩̱̬͔̀̅i̴̢̺̫̲͌̽̽̽m̷̢̨̨͈̺̮̙̭̀͑̃̊͗ͅͅa̷̢̖̲̗̹̮̻̙̪̹͆͋̎̃ţ̵͈̝̼͕̈́͜ȇ̸̼̣̪͉̱̾ ̸̛̭̹̤̹̞̉͊̌e̴̻̱̣̪̮͉̪̱̽̃̋̇̈́͑̌̔̉ͅx̴̦̖̞͎͈̿̒̎ͅi̴̭̎͋̿̐͂̓̈ͅs̶͎̮̝̳̳̳̆̀͝ͅṱ̶̨̜͉̫̤̐̽̊́̈̈͆͘̚ę̸̙̪͙̖̙̲̰͉̇̊̕͠ͅn̶̤͖͖͉͚͠c̸̘͌̿͑͋̌̔̎̚ḙ̷̘̠̺̜͔̬̣̉̽̌͊̕͘͠.̴̡̛̮̬̙͕̠̼͔̇̑͗͗̐̊͘ ̸̻͉̺̫̆̐̉͋͑͠W̸̧̨͕͔̟̮̗͊̏̈̌͒̀͝ẹ̴̢͖̬̪̣͇̉̑̎̽͗ ̸̦͙̫̙̣̠̰̟̓a̵̖̥͈̺͖͂̀r̴̡̧̡̯̙̠͋̈́̿̂̿́͘͝ĕ̸̼͋̾̎̎̄̒̾͝͝ ̸̤̠̙̻͕͎̻̝̓̂̂̿̓̊͝͝M̸̝̙̋̑͗̀a̵̗̰̦͎͉̰͉̻̞̱͑̇̅́̋̂͛͊͝͝s̶̛̠͔͉̎̋͑̄̊̈́͒̋̈́ţ̶̩̰̞̟̙͐̓̊͂̀e̶̛͚̞̻̝͊̈́̈́͜͝ŗ̵̰̠̯͎͖̫̇s̸̨͕̗̖̩͚̯̠͛̕͜͠ ̶̰͍̲̬̠͙͗̿͐̽̉̄̈́̚ơ̷̗̺̓̆̈́̂̃͊͊͐f̸̯͉͖̮̼̞͉̱̜͇̋̀͗͛ ̷̧̡͈͕̾̿́̈́̅́͒t̷͔̖̓̆̒͛͗̓͌͂̕h̸͖̟͚̰̺̍í̵̭̺͙̽́ş̶̠̰̲̺̣̫́̇͊͌̕ ̵̡̛͍̺̮̪̖͙̺̟̎̆̌̆͒͝w̴̳̺̺̫̦̯̟̼̖̃̈́͂̀͑̋͘ǒ̷̧̪̠̎̂͑͠r̵̝̱͕͑͐͛͛̆̎͌̿̊̕ḷ̸͋͆͌͌̆͜d̸̖̪̠̹̟̳̱̱̩͊͋̍̈́͝ ̵̫̹̭͍̼͐̊̋̅͆͌̽͐̽a̶̯̺̻̣͂͜n̶̛̛͖̦̝͓̈̽̿̑̚͠d̵̗̥̟̱̼͋̔̐ͅ ̷̮͙̪̲͈͚̻̫͎̀͜t̷̩̺͗̋̽̒̈̿͒̈́̆h̷̲̜͔̪͗͊̾̎̓̕e̷̛͈̗̐̒ ̸̨̩̙̝̻̳̣͖͖͕͋̎̑͐̾ǹ̷͔̟̼̰̃́͐e̸̟̤̥̙͎̰͌̑͗̎̾͜͝x̸̢̞̹̥̰̅̂͂̀̀͆ͅṯ̷̅.̶͇̣̗̹̘̩͐̓̊̌͂̀̿́ ̵̭̀̅̐̌W̸̱̫͊̒͆ě̸̼̥͉̃̐͑̓͐́͂̚̚ ̵̥̙̬̹͙̙͖͉̔̅̐̀ä̷̢͕̝̖͖͉͓́͐̽r̴̰͔̼̮̮̯̉̌̈́͜e̸̡̺̤̲̫̩͚̱̰͋̌̃͊̚ ̸̻̪̼̼̊̋t̵̮͇̟̟͈̘͛̈́̒̐̑͘h̸̳̏͆̾̊̿͋̕̕e̷̼̭̻͙̯̬̘͇̮̓́͗̀̆͑̅̂̈́͂ ̸̟̙̳̝̭̖͍̏̈́̍̓̓̚̚͜g̴̨̦̼̰̘̾̊̔͗̇̄̚͘̚ͅa̴̛̗̻̽̒̒̄̕m̴̟̊̇͌̃̋̓̽͋͘è̶̬͖̱̗̥̯̠̾́͋͜m̷̳̳̊̔̓͒̏́̈́̆̍ȁ̵͈̥̳͚̃̒̇̑̄͛̏̓̑s̵̬̹̰̟̬͖͎̳̲̘̐̆t̴̺̥̻͔̍̌̅̀̂̄̚͝ę̷̤̤͓͚̼͕̯̦͒̈́͂͘͝ŕ̴̙͍͇͇͈̭̝̤̋́͒͆̓̈́s̶̛̜͔͇̅̾̒͐̀̕̕.̷̫̆̔̌͋̈́͊̈́̽ ̶̢̲̯̼͚͑̌̓́W̸̢͍͔̲̟̳̩̝͒̔̈́̈́͜͝ȩ̶̡̪̼̀̿̐̽̂ ̸̙̰̩̝̞̮͉̯̯͆ả̶̡͙̬̬̠̮̱̯͖̣̎̈́̑̔͝r̵̖̠̮̣̗̩͓̾̊̐͌̒͆̂̓̚͜͜͝ę̷̦̜̼̝͈͉͙͕̎͜ ̶͕̬͉̪̟̹̣̬̙͍͋̈́ţ̸̛̰̯̜̳͍̣̪̎́̔̃h̴̨͙̱̦͔͚̭̏̊̊̀͜e̶̱͓̥̭̺͐̋̇́̎̄͝ͅ ̸̡̢͙͍͓̻̺̺̍͑̃̆͌̓̈́͜r̵͙̤̣͈̩̚ȗ̶̻͇̈́́͌̈́̓͝l̶̢̛͔̙͕͋̓̀̃̅̉̚ę̵̧̬͔̲̯͍̫̙͋̃̓͘̚ś̵̢͔̉͛͛̎͂̄͝.̴̗͔̖̖̮̹̭̣̲́͑͗̿̊̓͜ ̷̡̢̡͉̺͔̖͒͗͛W̶̧̘͕̤̺̝̣͕͆̍́̐̋͐̎͒͌̚ẽ̷̪͛̿̍̈́̕̕ ̶̨̜̫̥͉̰͈̫̖̀̄̎ͅǎ̵̼͎̝͉̯̔͑̇̕ṙ̷̟̭̒͐̏̃̕͜͝e̵̼͈͚͍͉͕̫̮̞̅̂̈́̀͐͗͊̈́̽͝ ̸̛̯͍̺͕̪̫͈̽̊͆͌̏̀̋̔͠ͅṯ̴̨͇̥̌̈́̑̾͆̈̌͂ḫ̵̢͍̗̺̠̝̪̼̄̔̐͂͘͜e̵̟̼̹͊̋̽̇̓̕͜͝ ̸̭̦͚͋̏̀̑̌̏̀͝r̸̛̖̻̰̖̣̖͙͐͂̊̄͛͋͘͜͝ͅü̶̡̡̜̥͓̟̰͍̈̋̌̿͛̌͠ļ̴̹̫͖͙̗̼̳̤͂ē̴̯͊̌̈́ŗ̵̰̤̻͉͚̲̩̀̓́s̴̻̯̳̫͖̰͓̽̊̅̓͜.”
The heroes were at a loss for words.
“Say what now?” Spike asked.
Pinkie Pie reached into her mane and pulled out a large, black-hooded robe.
“It says,” Pinkie began, deepening her voice. “We are the Darkness. We are the ultimate existence. We are Masters of this world and the next. We are the gamemasters. We are the rules. We are the rulers.”
“You’re the gamemasters?” Spike asked skeptically.
“You’re the rules and the rulers?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“So… you can measure us or something?” Pinkie asked, in her usual perkiness.
“What in tarnation you want from us?” Applejack asked. “We just wanna rescue a Princess and be on our way to find and rescue our other friends. Let us in ya varmint!”
”N̴̡̹̩͍̦̫̺͐̐̿͒̒̌̿́͜͜ǫ̸͙̗̠̓̊̈́̈́̑͂̆͑̕̚n̶̮̔̈́e̸̛̛͙͖̗̣͕̯̎̎̃͘͘ ̵̟͊̅̍͆͝s̴̛̜̬̼̮͋̀̽̀ḥ̷̼͍̦̩͕͖̥̳̐̎a̵̳̥̣̖͑͋͆͋́̀l̸͕̻̗̊͗̚͜͝l̶̻̳̫̫̭̑͌͝ ̸͔̩͙̮͉͓̞̭̥͒͂̈́͑̎̅̚͘p̶̨̘̪͉̱̳̞̌͋̈̀͊̔͝ą̴̢̘͇̞̜̽͌̄̄͂̄̈͘s̶͍͑̂̋͗̋̏̊̂̏͜s̶̯͕̰͓͈̖̤͍̭͇̈̃̈́͌̏ ̷̧̫̭̞̭̓͒͜u̵̼̞̙̓n̵̡͚̖͌ṱ̴̨̧̺͉̬̣̻͙̫̀̒͒̊̇́̾̆̀i̶̩͍͇̩̔͗̑͐͊̒̌͑̈͜ļ̸͍̺͙̼̒̈́̓̇́̐̚ ̶̧͕̟͇̝̫̪̦͓̈́͂̉͑͝͝t̸̘̤͈̭̲͛h̸͙͉̞̪̝̓̾̎̈̉̋̚͝͝ȅ̶̢̳̞͈͉͇͎͍͈̔̏̄̓͊̐͆ ̵͙͚̆̇͛̚͝n̷̮͇̼͕͔͚̮̦̭̓͜ṳ̷͔̊͊͋́̾͘͠͠͠m̷̬̀̓͂̀̐͑̈̐̊̂b̴̡̠͔̝̬̥̒e̴̬̖̅͠ṙ̷̢̹͕̯̣̻̆̽́̈́̅̒̔̿͜ͅ ̵̪͙̳̞̟͊̽͌̓̄̄̍̏̇̂ṏ̴̧͚̯͙͍̜̖̲́ͅͅf̵̢̝̣͍̿͛̔̈ ̴͔͚̩̝̻͍̄̒͒̑̒̊͊ṣ̸̢̧͍͙̥͔͇̮̭̃̇̀̀͆͌̿̂̾ţ̷̮͕͊ä̵̼͔̲͇̟̻͝r̵̙͕̭̖̝̘̫̙͕̊̏̈́̔͊̀͌͋͘͝s̶̱̫̖̘̫̀̎̓̂̂̀́̚͝ ̷̠͇͕̞̺͗͑̿̚h̵͈̬͈̥̍̆̆͑̃̈́à̴̛͙̘͕̙̈̊́v̴̧̨͓̺̺͇̫͛̒͐̓̏̿̽̈́̐̓ͅȩ̴͙͖̮̲̱̌̽͘ ̷͎̪͖͈̭̣͖̺̘̌̎͊̅̀͝ͅm̵̨̧̱͚̪̳̻̔͋̓̀a̸͙̽̀̽̓͐͆̑̅t̴̲͍̯͍̣̬̬̏͜ͅc̵̞̺͕͚̼̐̉h̸̼̀̅̒̕ḛ̴̛͚̜͓͖̭̿͝d̴̫̆̏̆̑̈́͑͆͘.̵̧̮̜̪͓͚͔͌́͊͜ͅ ̵̣̟́̕͝Ṭ̶̨̠̙̫͉̗͉̭̈́͊̍͌͊̈͋̉ͅh̶͖͚͈͎̏̊̒͑̓̓͛̕e̸̢̩̤͚̟̝͓͉̍͊̑̄͠ ̶̢̯͍̝̝͍̺͌̏̔̋̑͗̚̕̕n̷̗͑̊̊̋ù̵͓͍̙̩̩͛́̀̔̎̌̾̑̋͜m̶͙͖̟̊̎͊͒́̌b̶̥̼͎̝͕̩̠͕̬̈́̓̈̈́̉͐͗̀̌e̶̼̱̰̒͐̔̈́̇̔͘̕͝ř̸̩͖̩̠̱̻̘̼̮́͆s̶̖̝̰͎͓̤͇̅̾͐̽̈ ̵̫͇͖̬̖̓͌̏̋̍ǫ̴͈̫͔̖̣̭̂͛̇̚̚̕͠f̷̼̹̱̯͈͒̆̂̿̉ ̴͋͑́̓̈̐͋͜͝f̸͎̄̎̆̂̓̈́́̚̕i̴͕̯͓̼̚ͅͅf̸̧̧̡͇̞̣̫͇͈̓̐̏͛͜ẗ̷̠̟̗͚̭̳̲͙͓́͌͘͜ỳ̵̡̪̖̰̫̲͖̝̐͘ ̵̡̧̮͙̯͓͜͠m̵͉͔͖̬̘͑̌͂͐̚͠͝ù̴̡̮͚̺̥̹̺̬̈̀͆̀̄͂̔̌ͅŝ̴͓͉͊̏̈́͘͠t̸̳̺̠͚͓́̎͒̓̐̎͆̕ ̷̢̙͚͑̋͋͑̈́̇̎̀b̸̙͚͕̋͒͂̋͑͂̒͌́̏e̸̡͓̝͚̩͕͗̿̋́͆̿̾̂͐͝ ̶̛͚͍̬͓͌̊́̿͐͑̏̕ṃ̴̨͎̦̬͖͂̈̊̐̌̍͜͜͜ằ̷̡̭̬͇̥̞̜̪̋̇͑͗́ď̷̯͔̖͓̲̉͌̕͘e̵͚̲͓̺͕̊̅̌͗̂̇̕̚ ̶̯̊̃̓̓̐̕͠t̸̠͙̱̮͔̠̙̓͐ǫ̴̬̍͌͋̓ ̸̧͈̥̺͚̩̹͛̑͊̃͝p̸̲̗͋̊̈͜a̵̧̰̥̮͓͘ý̴̛͖̝͉̟̦̭͘ͅ.̷̿͆̏̈́̀́̌͗ͅ”
Though they had trouble understanding, the heroes managed to catch the hefty price of stars needed to pay.
“FIFTY?!?!” The heroes exclaimed.
”F̵̩̩̻̖̤͉̳̰̫̈́̿͌͌͆̽͒i̷̖̫͊̉̓͗̒̿̋̑̕f̶̲̱̰̻̞͓̙͈̿̈́̓t̴̲̺̲̎̾̿͐̃̉́̑̚̚y̷̪̭̌͗̐͌̕ ̴͔̊͆́s̷͈̘̜͓̃̀t̶͖̯͋̍̉a̵̖̖̬̓̍̂ͅŗ̶̩͖̼̼̹̺͎̈́̈́̽̈́͘ͅş̸̙̲̪̺̠̙̈́̇̀̽̆̎́̀̈́͝ ̸̣̜͎͈̾̈́͂̎͜a̷̢̙̞͕̝͙̯͇͙͑̒̌ņ̸̧̛̼̩͍̺͕͙͚̭͗̊d̵̝̳̞̞͔̤͉͇̲̀̒́̓͆̅̈́̏̏̚ ̶̢̧͖̲͎̦̚t̷̡̥͔̩̲͆͌̇͝ḧ̶͍͈̯̯́̐̉̌̓̀e̵̟̖̼̥̯̗͕͎̻̍̇͜͝ ̷͈͓͇̼͒̀ͅd̵̡̳̱̮̮̮͕̍̊̊̌̾̂̕ȯ̴̧̝̺̞͉̭̣̘̇̿̑̂̀̿̐́̚o̵̧̧͖͈͖͎̖̲͑̏̀̐̊r̴̨̢̧̥̯̲͎̲͑̔̒̉͋̿̄͋̊̂ș̶͎̾̃̌̀̐̔̈̚ ̴̞̼̰̖̟̹̝̓͐̒̀͗͋̏w̴͚̝̦̝̠̚i̴̡͙͔̻̹͕̖̒ḽ̴̑͑͆͜l̴̨͓̃̆̔̌͐͘͘ ̶̦͌̓́̓͒͂̈́̆̚͠b̸̫̯̏́̋̃̈́̏̇̌e̷̢̘͔̪̺͖̥̱͌͒́ͅ ̸̡̭͇̺͈̠͓͊a̸̝͓̦̰̖̮̩̱͓͒͆̒́̆̑̀̕̚̕ͅj̸̩̪̺̝͔͑͒̽̅͜͝a̸̘͑́̈́́̅̿ṛ̸̹̩̩̺̠̻̂̓.”
Confused, the heroes walked away from the door uncertain of the sudden change of development.
“What jus’ happened?” Applejack asked. “A little while ago, we needed only twelve! How could it be bumped tah fifty?!”
“Hmm…” The Mario Brothers pondered.
There was no mistake they are uncertain about the increasing number of Power Stars needed just to open a door. And somehow, the new force of evil called the Darkness was heavily involved.
“How about we just focus on collecting more of the Power Stars?” Spike suggested. “We have forty-one. Let’s just try and find nine more.”
“Yoshi!” Yoshi chirped in agreement.
“Good idea!” Mario nodded.
“But where do we begin?” Luigi asked.
“Ooh! My Pinkie Senses are tingling!” Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly.
Pinkie felt her mane vibrating, pointing her to a door with a gold star printed with a number ‘3’. Right next to the room of the Bob-ombs that Spike and Yoshi entered earlier to begin their adventure. Once again, the heroes watched as the stars they collected danced in front of the locked door, bathing it in gold sparkles. Reacting to the star’s powers, the door slowly opened, granting the heroes access into the room.
Once inside, the heroes were greeted to the sight of three paintings of two snowmen. One tall, one short.
“Ooh! I think we’re going to a winter wonderland!” Pinkie Pie bounced happily.
“Well, let’s a go!” Mario hollered.
“Okie-dokie!” Luigi nodded.
The reunited Mario Bros. Jumped into the painting, which rippled after they disappeared.
“Here we go again!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
The cyan Pegasus, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and the newly rescued Fluttershy jumped after the plumber heroes. Spike and Yoshi both turned, exchanging looks and nods, before jumping after their friends.
Location: Cool, Cool Mountain
Once again, upon jumping into the painting, the heroes could only see blinding white lights as they fell through a wormhole, toward the entrance of another world. Upon emerging, the heroes found themselves falling towards a snowy mountain range, before landing in a blanket of snow, atop a tall mountain, surrounded in a thick blanket of clouds, making it difficult to see where the mountain ends.
“Wow, it really is a Winter Wonderland!” Spike commented.
The chattering of his teeth and the shivering from the cold additionally confirms it.
“We’re really on top of a mountain now!”
“MAMMA MIA!” Luigi shouted, staring down the edge. “We’re so high up, you can’t even see the way down!”
“Oh my!” Fluttershy whimpered.
“Don’t worry y’all,” Applejack reassured. “We won’t be spelunking fer long. Let’s just find them Power Stars so we can open the door at the castle and rescue Princess Peach!”
“Yoshi!” Yoshi chirped in agreement.
“Okay Pinkie Pie,” Spike turned to the pony. “Do your stuff. Where’s our next Power Star?”
“Hmmm…”
Pinkie Pie points her nose to the ground, sniffing about like a hound dog. She points her nose toward a nearby cabin.
“In there!”
And next to the cabin, a signpost read:
“Santa Claus isn’t the only one who can go down a chimney! Come on in!” – Cabin Proprietor.
“Hmm…” Applejack pondered.
She looked toward the exterior of the cabin, discovering it lacked a door.
“Y’all think they’d at least built a door or somethin’.”
“No time for that, A.J.!” Pinkie Pie squealed, bouncing up the chimney. “Alright every pony! Let’s-a go!”
With a hop, Pinkie jumps into the chimney, followed by Spike, Mario, and Yoshi, as they collected five gold coins on the way in.
Coins Collected
Gold Coins: 5
Red Coins:
Blue Coins:
Total: 5
Just as Fluttershy made to follow her friends, the sound of chirping and crying caught her attention. The buttercup Pegasus followed the sound and discovered a lonely baby penguin, chirping desperately as if searching for its mother.
“Aw, you poor thing!” Fluttershy cooed.
“Hey Fluttershy, what’s the hold up?” Rainbow Dash called out.
She, Applejack, and Luigi arrived to check up on the Pegasus. But they moment they get there, that’s when they discovered a slight complication.
“Oh boy…” Applejack gulped nervously.
Upon entering through the chimney, Mario and his group found themselves inside the cabin. No sooner do they land in when they came face-to-face with a large blue penguin who nearly took up the whole room.
“Hey-ey Mario, buddy, howzit’ goin’?” The big penguin greeted, in a surfer’s accent. “Oh! And I see you’ve brought friends. Howzit’ goin’ my homies?”
“Whoa! You’re a big penguin!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Wait… you know Mario?”
“For sure!” The penguin replied. “He and I go way back. He’s a real surfer dude where I come from. I’m Big Penguin, but any friend of Mario’s can call me ‘Big’.”
“Nice to meet you, Big!” Pinkie Pie smiled. “I’m Pinkie Pie! And this is Spike and Yoshi!”
“Sup!” Spike waved his claws.
“Yoshi!” Yoshi chirped a greeting.
“What y’all doin’ here?” Big Penguin asked.
“We are lookin’ for some Power-a Stars to save-a Princess-a Peach!” Mario explained. “Have you seen a Power-a Star anywhere?”
“For sure! I’ve got one right here!”
The Big Penguin revealed said star before the awestruck group.
“Wow! That was quick!” Pinkie Pie commented.
“Great! Can we have it, please?” Spike politely asked. “We’re in a real hurry!”
“Whoa! Not so fast, little dragon dude!” The Big Penguin shook his head.
He tucked the star beneath his wings much to the group’s confusion.
“Pardon?” Spike raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not givin’ this away jus’ yet,” The Big Penguin continued. “You want it? You have to race me for it.”
“Race?”
“Y’all look like the fast-sleddin’ king of peeps,” Big Penguin began. “I know speed when I see it, yes-siree—I’m the world champion sledder, you know. We start sliding down this icy slide, winding our way to the right, then to the left, where there’s a big loop, then we slide all the way to the finish line from there, without falling off. Whaddya say?”
“Uh…”
Spike looked down toward said slide, noticing it was missing some railings meant to keep sledders from falling off.
“Looks dangerous…” Spike observed.
“Yoshi! Yoshi! Yoshi! (And it looks like anyone can die from that)” Yoshi whimpered.
“Nah, it’s all good,” The Big Penguin reassured. “No one’s ever died in this course before. If anyone ever fell off, they just find themselves landing back at the checkpoint.”
“Huh?” Spike asked.
“Uh… never mind that,” Mario shook his head. “Okay. So if we-a beat-a you fair and-a square, we win the Power-a Star, right?”
“Correct-a-mundo!” The Big Penguin replied. “So, you ready to race?”
Mario turned back to the Big Penguin and nodded.
“Okay! Let’s-a go!”
The race began with the Big Penguin kicking off and sliding along his belly. Soon after that, Mario and his group followed.
Speed of Light – Joe Satriani
Spike, Mario, Pinkie Pie, and Yoshi slid along the icy slide.
“WHOA!!!” Spike screamed.
“WHEEEE!!!” Pinkie Pie cheered, laughing.
“This is like the time we slid back in the princess’s secret slide!” Spike hollered.
“YOSHI!” Yoshi chirped in agreement.
Just then, Yoshi pointed toward a blue coin rolling down the slide.
“HEY! We’ve struck coins!” Spike pointed
Sure enough, while grabbing the blue coin, a whole trail of coins appeared. As our heroes raced against the big penguin, they also worked their hardest on collecting the coins all the way.. On the way, when a short drop on the slide appeared, Pinkie followed a trail of ten gold coins and jumped up to collect the remaining halves. Then, the heroes were on their way.
“Five more coins, comin’ up!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
Suddenly, she slipped and fell into the wall.
“WHOA!!!” She exclaimed, vanishing out of sight.
“PINKIE PIE!” Spike shouted, straining to see. “Wha—Where’d she go? Did she fall off?”
“Yoshi! (I don’t know)” Yoshi replied.
“Oh brother… I hope she’s okay.”
Back in the race, the Equestrian heroes were behind the Big Penguin, with Mario sliding neck and neck with the big bird. They made a sharp turn at the loop, before Mario slid down a long slope, collecting a huge trail of coins along the way, before he and the Big Penguin resumed racing, making more sharp turns along a twisty path. Then, upon sliding into a tunnel, Mario leaned his head forward and gave another push with his hands, thrusting him across an icy bridge, collecting a whole line of fifteen gold coins as he crossed the finish line.
Coins Collected
Gold Coins:
Mario’s group = 5 + 62 = 67
Red Coins:
Blue Coins:
Mario’s group = 1(x5)
Total: 72 coins
“Phew, what a rush!” Spike panted, rubbing his icy cold behind. “So cold…”
“Yoshi? (Who won?)” Yoshi asked.
“I-a won!” Mario pointed to himself. “I’m-a number one!”
“I know, Mario!”
The group turned around and saw Pinkie Pie.
“I saw you comin’ in first place!” Pinkie smiled.
“PINKIE PIE/YOSHI!!!” Spike and Yoshi exclaimed, hugging the pink pony.
“We thought you were a goner!” Spike exclaimed. “What happened to ya? You just disappeared, halfway…”
“I was collecting coins when I fell into a secret passageway and it took me here,” Pinkie Pie explained. “Didn’t know what to do, so I just waited here till you showed up.”
“Well anyway, you’ve broken my record!” The Big Penguin spoke to Mario. “Unbelievable! I knew that you were the coolest! Now you’ve proven you’re also the fastest! Here, take this star. You and your friends earned it.”
The Big Penguin presented the heroes the Power Star, which danced in the air and showered a glitter of golden sparkles.
“Alright!”
The heroes all made a grab for the star, which danced around them as they celebrated.
“YEAH! WE GOT A POWER STAR!!!”
“YOSHI!!!” Yoshi chirped.
Meanwhile, back with the others
While Mario and his group were busy contending themselves with Big Penguin’s race, Luigi and his group were outside the cabin, consoling a little lost baby penguin.
“There, there…” Fluttershy comforted the baby. “It’s okay, we won’t hurt you.”
This made the little penguin less scared of the Pegasus and her friends.
“There, that’s more like it. What are you doing all the way up here, little penguin? Where’s your mother?”
The little penguin chirped sadly and shook her head crying. It didn’t take long for Fluttershy and the others to get the message.
“Oh no!” Applejack frowned sadly. “Poor little one must be lost.”
Luigi and Rainbow Dash exchanged some sympathy.
“Oh no…” Luigi frowned sadly.
“Well, we’ve gotta help the little guy,” Rainbow Dash offered.
“It’s a ‘girl’, but yes of course!” Fluttershy agreed, before the penguin chirped. “Oh, she wants to tell us all that her name’s Tuxie. Nice to meet you, Tuxie.”
The penguin chirped happily, before Fluttershy picked up the little bird.
“Now, let’s go find your mama.”
Fluttershy gently put the baby penguin on her back and turned to walk away toward the slope. Luigi, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack followed close behind.
“Wow, she’s-a… sweet?” Luigi commented.
“That’s Fluttershy,” Applejack smiled. “She’s great with animals, always stoppin’ to lend a helping hoof to even the tiniest mouse.”
“Mamma mia!” Luigi nodded in acknowledgement.
Just as the heroes followed Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash turned her head and noticed a floating red coin, at the top of a tree, right next to the cabin.
“Hang on a moment!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “I see a red coin!”
She zipped over to snatch the red coin, adding it to the heroes’ collection.
Coins Collected
Gold Coins:
Mario’s group = 67
Red Coins:
Luigi’s group = 1(x2)
Blue Coins:
Mario’s group = 1(x5)
Total: 74 coins
“Good work, Dash,” Applejack complimented. “Just seven and we’ll have a star!”
“No sweat!” Rainbow replied. “We’ll find ‘em all before you can say snowball.”
“Snowball,” Applejack snarked.
“Hmph! Very funny…”
Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash made to follow Luigi and Fluttershy down the mountain. Just then, a mischievous idea suddenly popped into Rainbow Dash’s head. Scooping up a hoof-full of snow, Rainbow Dash packed them together into a snowball and threw it toward Applejack… right smack in the flank! Applejack’s eyes widened as she quickly turned toward Rainbow Dash, who feigned innocence. Rubbing the cold from her flank, glaring, Applejack knows better.
“Oh, yer in trouble,” Applejack replied.
She scooped up some snow into a snowball, and fired it toward Rainbow Dash, who narrowly dodged the ball.
“HA-HA!” Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out. “You missed me, you missed em! Now you gotta kiss-OFOF!”
A snowball right in the Pegasus’ face cut her off before she can finish. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack proceeded to engage each other in a snowball fight, throwing barrages of snowballs at each other. One of the snowballs happened to hit a strange flying creature, appearing to have a spinning flower on its head. The creature immediately exploded in a puff of smoke, upon impact from the snowball, releasing three gold coins.
“What was that?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“I don’t know,” Applejack investigated. “But… we’ve struck gold!”
Applejack picked up the three coins the creature left behind.
Coins Collected
Gold Coins:
Mario’s group = 67
Luigi’s group = 3
Red Coins:
Luigi’s group = 1(x2)
Blue Coins:
Mario’s group = 1(x5)
Total: 77 coins
No sooner was Applejack’s back turned when Rainbow Dash threw a snowball and struck her from behind… again.
“Cheap shot, Dash!” Applejack berated.
She retaliated with snowballs of her own against the Pegasus. Soon, their snowball fight resumed when Applejack noticed an even bigger snowball. The snowball itself rested on a platform, not too far from them. The apple pony quickly sprinted forward, intent on kicking the big snowball at Rainbow Dash, only for the latter to beat her to the giant snow.
“Not so fast! Oops…”
The moment Rainbow Dash placed her hoof on the snowball, she unintentionally pushed it off the platform.
“Uh oh…”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack watched as the snowball rolled down the mountain slope, quickly realizing where it was going…
“FLUTTERSHY!!!”
Alarmed, the two mares gave chase after the snowball, hoping to save their friends.
“FLUTTERSHY! LUIGI!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
In the meantime, Fluttershy and Luigi scoured the frozen wilderness with poor little Tuxie by their side. The little penguin was anxious to return to her mother, who’s supposed to be somewhere in this land of ice and snow. The only trouble was that this place was so big, they wouldn’t know where to start.
“Don’t worry, Tuxie,” Fluttershy assured gently. “We’ll make sure you return to your mother. That’s a promise.”
“And with-a one of the Super Mario Brothers by-a your side, nothing can-a go wrong!” Luigi proclaimed, raising his hand in the sky.
But soon the chills started to hit Luigi, the cold air caused Luigi to clutch around himself chattering his teeth. Still, the little penguin looked up toward the chilly pair and chirped happily. Fluttershy smiled, nuzzling the little penguin.
“Aww… you’re welcome sweetie.”
Just then, she heard a sigh which drew her attention. Turning around, Fluttershy suddenly saw Luigi forming a very sad face. She approached the plumber and sat by his side.
“What’s wrong, Luigi?” Fluttershy asked sympathetically. “You seem very sad; something bothering you?”
Luigi looked at her with the saddest eyes he ever made. Not that he wanted to worry his new friend, not when it gets in the way of collecting all the power stars. But still… the struggle to keep a strong face was real.
“N-N-No Fluttershy,” Luigi replied. “I’m-a fine…”
But Fluttershy can clearly see the plumber was trying to his sadness. But the butter-yellow Pegasus was not easy to sway.
“Now Luigi, don’t try to hide it,” Fluttershy spoke. “I know when some pony is sad. Please tell me what’s wrong.”
Eventually, Luigi caved in knowing it’s no use hiding his feelings from Fluttershy. Reluctantly, he took a seat beside Fluttershy despite the cold ground.
“W-W-Well-a Fluttershy, ever since my-a brother and I saved the-a mushroom kingdom, Mario gets-a all the praise and-a fame. I always felt-a like second place to him; I didn’t-a know why. So one-a day, I decided to clear-a out my head.”
A sigh escaped Luigi’s lips before he proceeded.
“But-a then I realized I could-a never be like-a my brother anyway-a possible. I tried-a getting off how I was-a thinking, but I just-a felt stuck. I always just-a wanted to stop-a living in my brother’s shadow. Have-a my own adventures, but—”
“You feel like a coward?” Fluttershy finished.
Luigi turned toward Fluttershy, a surprise look dawned upon his face.
“How do-a you know I was-a going to say that?” He asked.
“Because I’ve been there before,” Fluttershy smiled sadly. “I was always afraid of ‘everything’ around me. I’d be so scared of the smallest things, I felt like I could ‘never’ measure up to my friends. Then I realized, I was ‘wrong’ when all I needed was to be myself. Because that’s what makes me special. There’s nothing wrong with being afraid, Luigi. We all get scared time to time. But those who can overcome that fear can do incredible things! The same thing can happen to you, but only if you ‘really’ want to.”
Just as Fluttershy and Luigi started having a tender moment, the little penguin looked on, the ground beneath their feet started to shake. Slowly they turned behind them… right as a giant snowball rolled after them, growing bigger and bigger by the second.
“MAMMA MIA!!!” Luigi screamed, shaking.
“RUUUUUUUUN!!!” Fluttershy screamed.
Together, the two raced away from the pursuing snowball. The Pegasus carried little Tuxie onto her back as the little penguin watched the snowball and chirped fearfully. Along the way, both plumber and Pegasus collected a row of five gold coins, bringing their collection to a total of eight coins!
Coins Collected
Gold Coins:
Mario’s group = 67
Luigi’s group = 8
Red Coins:
Luigi’s group = 1(x2)
Blue Coins:
Mario’s group = 1(x5)
Total: 82 coins
In the midst of the chaos, Applejack and Rainbow Dash raced behind the snowball.
“Don’t worry, sugarcube!” Applejack called. “We’ll save you!”
“I’ll fly ahead and see if I can help!” Rainbow shouted.
The cyan Pegasus flew off to the side of the slope, intending to get ahead of the snowball to save Fluttershy and Luigi. Meanwhile, Luigi mustered all his strength in his arms to push forward. Just ahead was another row of five gold coins, which he didn’t hesitate to collect, bringing their collection up to thirteen coins.
Coins Collected
Gold Coins:
Mario’s group = 67
Luigi’s group = 13
Red Coins:
Luigi’s group = 1(x2)
Blue Coins:
Mario’s group = 1(x5)
Total: 87 coins
Behind the snowball, Applejack tried to stop it with her lasso, ensnaring the runaway snowball. Instead, she ended up pulled directly into the rolling ball, now finding herself rolling along while trapped within the mass of snow.
“Mother of Celestia! HELP!” Applejack wailed.
“Mamma mia!” Luigi wailed frantically. “It’s-a gettin’ close!”
“Don’t look back, Luigi!” Fluttershy screamed.
She flapped her wings like she never flapped them before, with little Tuxie holding on. In their blind flight of fear, the two frightened heroes didn’t realize they’ve collected a row of gold coins on the way down, bringing their collection up to eighteen coins.
Coins Collected
Gold Coins:
Mario’s group = 67
Luigi’s group = 18
Red Coins:
Luigi’s group = 1(x2)
Blue Coins:
Mario’s group = 1(x5)
Total: 92 coins
“Fluttershy! Luigi! Jump!” Rainbow Dash called out.
Looking up, Fluttershy and Luigi spotted Rainbow Dash standing next to a podium, where another large snowball rested. The cyan multi-colored mane Pegasus waved her wings and hooves to the side, beckoning them to move to the left.
“This way, Luigi!” Fluttershy shouted.
She held out her hoof toward the plumber, who grabbed it. Soon Fluttershy flapped her wings and jumped to the side mere moments from being squashed by the runaway snowball.
“Phew! That was-a close one!” Luigi panted heavily.
Mid-recovery Luigi turned to the side and spotted a red coin.
“Hey! A red coin!”
The green plumber picked up the crimson red coin and added to the heroes’ coin collection.
Coins Collected
Gold Coins:
Mario’s group = 67
Luigi’s group = 18
Red Coins:
Luigi’s group = 2(x2)
Blue Coins:
Mario’s group = 1(x5)
Total: 94 coins
“WHOA!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
She leapt to the side to avoid the runaway snowball, as it collided with he other. Together, they formed into a full body of a snowman.
“Phew, that was close!”
“D-D-D-Dash! Dash!” Applejack shivered.
Rainbow Dash turned and saw her friend poke her head from the front of the snowman’s body.
“C-C-C-Can ya g-g-get m-me out?”
“Gotcha, A.J.!”
Rainbow Dash flew up and pulled her friend out. Fluttershy, Luigi, and the baby penguin, Tuxie, regrouped with the mares shortly after.
“Oh! Oh dear goodness,” Fluttershy exclaimed. “Is everyone alright?”
“J-J-Just a lil’ c-c-c-cold!” Applejack shivered.
*POP!*
Applejack was soon pulled out of the snowman’s body in a matter of seconds.
“Thanks for gettin’ me outta there, Dash.”
“No problem,” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Perfect! What a great new body!”
A voice drew the heroes to turn their heads toward a giant, ‘now’ talking, snowman.
“Oh! Thank you so much. I was having an out-of-body experience after my last body melted away.”
“Goodness!” Fluttershy gasped. “That must’ve been awful.”
“Yeah, I’d hate to be a ‘no body’,” Rainbow Dash snickered.
Annoyed, Applejack nudged her friend over her crude joke.
“Anyway, thank you so much for this new body,” The snowman smiled. “Here’s a present for you. It’s sure to warm you up.”
With a puff of smoke, a Power Star appeared from the snowman and floated in the air for our heroes to grab. The Power Star danced around the heroes as they celebrated.
“YEAH! WE GOT A POWER STAR!!!” They cheered.
“Yay!” Fluttershy cheered quietly.
With the Power Stars count up to forty-three, the heroes were on their way to find the remaining Power Stars needed to open the door in Princess Peach’s Castle and confront Bowser.
“I’ll fly up and see if I can find some red coins,” Rainbow Dash said, ready to fly.
“You do just that, Dash,” Applejack replied. “We’ll keep an eye out for any of ‘em on the ground.”
“We’ll keep looking for Tuxie’s mom,” Fluttershy spoke, on behalf of her little group.
Rainbow Dash nodded before she flew away, leaving her friends to do what they needed to do on the mountain. Applejack’s group turned their attention to a rickety old bridge expanding over a big drop below. Just one problem: Two snowmen holding snowballs hopped around, patrolling the bridge. Unlike the giant snowman, these weren’t friendly. Soon as they saw the heroes, the snowmen hurled snowballs at them.
Seeing the danger, Fluttershy quickly shielded Tuxie with her hooves and wings.
“Goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed.
“Mamma mia!” Luigi exclaimed in fright.
“Y’all picked the wrong ponies to start a snowball fight with,” Applejack snorted.
With a tilt of her hat and a kick of her hooves, Applejack galloped toward the first snowman and punched his head off, before thrusting her legs and kicked the other snowman to pieces. With the snowmen’s defeat, three coins appeared in their place for a total of six gold coins.
Coins Collected
Gold Coins:
Mario’s group = 67
Luigi’s group = 24
Red Coins:
Luigi’s group = 2(x2)
Blue Coins:
Mario’s group = 1(x5)
Total: 100! Coins
With all the gold coins our heroes collected, they glowed in a shimmering sparkle from around the mountain. They floated into the air before merging together into a Power Star.
“Land sakes!” Applejack exclaimed happily. “We’ve struck Power Star!”
Applejack snatched the Power Star, as it danced around her, and she cheered:
“YEE-HAW!!!”
With that, the Power Stars collected totaled to forty-four.
“Way to go, Applejack!” Luigi congratulated. “At this-a rate, we’ll find-a fifty Power Stars in-a no time!”
Luigi’s group resumed their trip down the mountain, one to search for little Tuxie’s mom and all the while seeking more Power Stars.
Meanwhile, back with Mario’s group
After their race with Big Penguin, Mario’s group walked out the door. It just so happened that they were lucky to find a Power Star waiting for them outside.
“Mamma mia!” Mario exclaimed excitedly. “Another-a Power-a Star!”
Mario and his friends quickly rushed up to snatch the star, which danced around them as they celebrated.
“YEAH! WE GOT A POWER STAR!!!” The heroes cheered.
“YOSHI!!!” Yoshi chirped.
Suddenly, a loud squawking was heard, startling the red plumber and his friends to turn around. They soon noticed another big penguin, practically next to them, standing by a frozen pond. Judging from the tone of the adult penguin’s squawking, she seemed utterly distressed.
“What’s her problem?” Spike asked.
“I don’t know,” Pinkie Pie replied. “I’ll ask. Um, excuse me Miss Penguin? What’s—”
“Egad! My baby!!” The penguin squawked. “Have you seen my baby??? She’s the most precious baby in the whole world. They say she has my beak… I just can’t remember where I left her. Let’s see… I stopped for herring and ice cubes, then I… OOHH! I just don’t know!”
“Whelp… that answers my question,” Pinkie nodded.
Before Mario and the others could reply, they heard some familiar voices.
“Howdy Mario!” Applejack greeted. “Hey sugar cubes! Fancy meetin’ y’all down here. What’s all the hub-bub?”
“We were just asking this lovely penguin lady why she’s upset,” Pinkie Pie answered.
Said Penguin resumed squawking loudly, drawing every pony’s and everyone’s immediate attention.
“Oh my, she sounds upset,” Fluttershy whimpered, before turning to Tuxie. “Is that your mom, Tuxie?”
Upon seeing the adult penguin, Tuxie chirped excitedly.
“Mama! Mama!” Tuxie chirped.
She quickly raced toward the big penguin, whose squawk turned to relief and happiness.
“Aww!!!” The heroes cooed.
The group are beyond happy seeing this heartfelt reunion between a mother and daughter. The mother penguin looked up toward the heroes.
“You found my precious, precious baby! Where have you been?” She asked Tuxie.
Before long, she turned her attention back toward the heroes and squawked:
“How can I ever thank you all?”
The heroes made to reply but were immediately interrupted.
“Oh, I do have this… Star,” She said, producing a Power Star with her beak. ‘Here, take it with my eternal gratitude.”
“Alright!” Spike cheered.
The little dragon and his friends raced toward the Power Star, as Spike snatched it out of the air. Once again, as they’ve done during the start of this quest, the Power Star danced around them as they celebrated.
“YEAH! WE GOT A POWER STAR!!!” The heroes cheered.
“YOSHI!!!” Yoshi chirped.
“Yay!” Fluttershy cheered.
“Wow, that’s three Power Stars in a row!” Spike smiled. “At this rate, we’ll soon find—”
“Hold on, ‘three’ Power Stars?” Applejack asked. “From our parts, we’ve collected three Power Stars, counting the one that appeared once we’ve collected a hundred coins, and the one from mama penguin.”
“From our point-of-views, we just got three Power Stars,” Spike explained. “One from racing a big penguin in the cabin..”
“Another just for walking out of the cabin,” Pinkie Pie pointed to the exit.
“And-a three for returning a baby a-penguin to-a mama penguin,” Mario added.
“Hmm, by all accounts, that would mean…” Applejack counted the numbers. “We’ve only a few more Power Stars left to collect!”
“Mama mia!” Mario gasped in realization.
“Come on y’all, let’s keep lookin’ around fer clues. Rainbow Dash’s already off lookin’ for all eight red coins from the air. We’ll leave her at that. Which means we got two more stars fer us to find. So… where to next, Spike?”
Reaching in his backpack, Spike whipped out the magical map he and Yoshi received from the Bob-Omb Buddies (Back in the Bob-Omb Battlefield).
“Let’s see,” Spike began. “There’s a Power Star over on this side of the mountain, and if I’m looking at this map right, it’s just across the chasm…”
Spike pointed to a cliff, barely visible beneath a mountain ledge, with a small tree growing at the edge.
“Oh! Oh my…” Fluttershy whimpered. “It’s a long drop… and a long flight…”
“You’re-a telling me,” Luigi whimpered. “B-B-But you can-a make it across, right-a Fluttershy? You can-a fly us all over there, right?”
“Oh! Oh my goodness…” Fluttershy whimpered. “I-I-I-I’m not so sure about that… I mean, I can fly, yes. But… I’m very terrified of… heights… sorry.”
“Don’t be hard on yourself, Flutters,” Applejack comforted. “Ya can’t fly us all there.”
“But then, how-a do we all get-a across?” Luigi asked.
“Hmmm…”
The heroes pondered until Yoshi noticed something on the ground.
“Yoshi! Yoshi!” Yoshi chirped, pointing to the ground.
“What is it, Yoshi?” Spike asked.
Following his dinosaur friend to look down, he spotted a familiar panel of a cannon.
“Hey! We can use this to get across!”
“But first we need a Bob-Omb Buddy to get it open,” Applejack pointed. “Now if I were one of ‘em little fellas, where would I be?”
“How about up there?” Pinkie asked.
Sure enough, she pointed toward said pink Bob-Omb standing on a floating island, in the middle of a gondola’s line.
“Just leave the talking to me!”
Pinkie Pie hopped onto a gondola and rode it all the way up to the Bob-Omb Buddy’s island, where she got off.
“Hi there!” Pinkie Pie greeted the friendly Bob-Omb. “I’m a friend of Mario, and we’d like to use your cannon to find a Power Star, if you’ll please.”
“Certainly!” The Bob-Omb Buddy replied. “I’ll get the cannon up and ready, right away!”
A few seconds later, the cannon’s panel slid open, granting the heroes’ entry.
“Ready for blast off!”
“Thank you!” Pinkie chirped.
The pink party pony turned around, ready to hop onto the gondola on its way down when she unknowingly stepped on a familiar star shaped panel.
“Ooh! A Star Switch!”
A familiar ticking sound was heard, and Pinkie Pie’s senses acted up.
“Ooh! Another Power Star has appeared!”
Following her senses, Pinkie Pie was able to pinpoint the precise location of the next Power Star.
“A-ha!”
Looking back at the gondola, Pinkie Pie jittered in anxiety, doubting the ride down will be quick enough before the new Power Star disappeared. Thinking quick, Pinkie Pie pulled on the tip of her mane, revving it like motorboat engine. Until at last, she cartoonishly turned her tail into a spring, literally springing herself off the Bob-Omb Buddy’s floating island, and back to her friends.
“Way to go, Pinkie!” Spike gave the thumbs up. “Now we can all—”
“No time, Spike!” Pinkie replied. “We gotta get the Power Star on the double!”
“Power Star?” Spike asked.
Just then Spike heard a ticking noise, and it sounded as if it was coming from the frozen pond across the way. Pinkie Pie was already there as she switched her tail into a jackhammer.
“Where’d that ticking come from?”
“Long story short, I stepped on a Star Switch,” Pinkie Pie replied. “And now a Power Star needs to be taken out before time runs out!”
“Wait, what?!”
The heroes all looked down; sure enough, a prism ball was beneath the ice. And inside the ball itself, a Power Star just appeared, and time was running out.
“C’mon y’all!” Applejack shouted. “Let’s step on it!”
Spike proceeded to breathe a burst of flame, melting the ice as Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi ground-stomped against the ice. And Pinkie Pie was doing… whatever the hay she was doing. Eventually, a crack formed along the ice, but our heroes weren’t getting through.
“Stand back y’all!” Applejack called out.
The country pony reared up on her hind legs, mustering every ounce of her strength.
“YEEE-HAAAWWW!!!”
Applejack stomped her fore hooves, breaking the ice.
“AAAAAHHH!!!” The heroes screamed.
They fell through the ice and landed into the water. Looking up, they could see the prism ball. Frantically scrambling to their feet, Mario leapt into the air and thrusted his leg out in a kick, smashing the prism ball, and earned the heroes another Power Star.
“Alright, Mario!” Spike cheered.
The Power Star danced around Mario, who danced in celebration.
“Here we go!” Mario cheered, with the peace sign.
After the festivity was done, the heroes emerged from the hole and climbed back to the cannon. Mario was the first to enter, followed by Spike. With a whir of machinery, the cannon emerged from the ground, turned around, and it aimed the barrel toward the tree.
“Ready Mario?” Spike asked.
“Let’s-a go!” Mario confirmed.
“Okay, Luigi. Aim!”
Under Spike’s instructions, the green plumber adjusted the cannon’s trajectory.
“A little higher… little lower…”
“To the right…” Pinkie Pie instructed.
“Now a little to the left…” Applejack added.
“Yoshi…” Yoshi chirped.
“Okay, I think I got it!” Luigi confirmed. “All set, Mario?”
“Oh yeah!” Mario replied.
“Aim… and POP GOES THE WEASEL!!!” Pinkie Pie shouted.
*BOOM!*
“WAAAAAAHHH!!!” Mario screamed.
He and Spike flew across the chasm, toward the tree. Reaching his hand out, Mario quickly grabbed onto the tree, swinging himself and Spike around to ease their flight before they nearly flew off the mountain.
“We made it!” Spike called out.
“Hooray!” The other heroes cheered.
“Yoshi!”
“Alright you two!” Applejack called. “Now go get that Power Star!”
“Will do!” Spike saluted.
“Oh yeah!” Mario agreed.
Both plumber and dragon turned left and found their path shrinking into a narrow cliffside. Along the cliffs were a couple more of the strange creatures with spinning flower tops. Upon seeing the pair, they proceeded to fly toward them, with a look of malevolent intent in their eyes. Reacting quick, Spike blasted a fireball at the creatures, causing them to explode into puffs of smoke and three gold coins. However, considering the heroes already collected their hundred-coin limit, both Spike and Mario weren’t interested in collecting extra coins.
That settled, both dragon and plumber were on their way until they arrive where the narrow cliffs widened into a flat platform. This gave just enough room for Mario to stretch his legs for a jump. Spike looked around toward their new surroundings when he discovered what they initially came for.
“Look!” Spike pointed.
High in the air, a Power Star floated above a platform that hung near the ceiling.
“I’ll get it.”
“Oh no, allow me,” Mario insisted, after a couple stretches. “It’s-a bout time I did some jumping. They don’t-a call-a mee the Jump Man for-a nothing.”
“By all means then,” Spike beckoned.
Spike sat on the floor, criss-crossing his legs, and watched as Mario got down into a crouch. He kicked off, running towards a pit before kicking himself off the ground. The plumber launched himself into a long jump across the pit, landing upon the other side.
“Nice! Stuck the landing and everything!” Spike cheered.
“I don’t always-a eat-a bowl of lasagna,” Mario replied.
He raced up the slope before wall-jumping off the wall and onto the next slope platform.
“Nice!” Spike cheered.
Setting his sight on the next wall, Mario kicked himself off into a run, performing a triple-jump all the way off the edge of the platform where he kicked off into the apex of the jump, hitting the wall, where he kicked himself off and onto the next platform.
“WHOO-YEAH!!!” Spike cheered.
Once on the last platform, the only obstacle Mario needed to overcome was to cross an icy, narrow bridge, connecting the platform he’s standing on to the Power Star’s. Mario took one careful step after another, with a few slips. Until at last, he reached the Power Star and jumped up to snatch the star out of the air. The Power Star danced around the plumber as he does a quick dance.
“HERE WE GO!” Mario cheered, with the peace sign.
“YEAH!” Spike joined in.
The Power Stars count was brought up to forty-eight.
“Now we only have one more Power Star to find in this course,” Spike noted to Mario. “It’s all up to Rainbow Dash now.”
“Oh yeah!” Mario nodded. “Let’s-a go back with the others. I think there’s another cannon, near the tree we-a landed in.”
Meanwhile, with Rainbow Dash
After leaving Applejack and the others, Rainbow Dash flew around the mountaintop in search for red coins. They’ve already collected two red coins, so Rainbow Dash made it her mission to find the rest. She found one red coin, close to where the giant snowman stood along the end of a gondola line. Closer still, she found another red coin at the top of a cliffside. But was dismayed to find it frozen in a block of ice.
“I’ll need Spike’s help on this one,” Rainbow Dash observed.
Her quest for the other red coins resumed. The fourth red coin she’s collected was at the end of a broken bridge, hanging above the mother penguin and her reunited daughter, Tuxie. The speedy Pegasus quickly found the fifth red coin hiding in the corner, close to a ledge of the mountain. The sixth was located in a cave just near where the fifth was hidden. Circling the air, Rainbow Dash cut through the air, and snatched her seventh red coin, above a tree, close to where her friends are.
“Hey guys and gals!” Rainbow greeted, startling her friends. “What’s happening?”
*BOOM!*
“INCOMING!!!” Spike shouted.
Blasted from the cannon, Spike and Mario hurdled straight toward Rainbow Dash.
“Uh oh…”
Before Rainbow Dash could react, Mario and Spike crashed right toward her, and they fell into the snow.
“Phew!” Spike sighed, blowing snow off himself. “Good catch, Dash!”
“Yeah… glad to be of some help…” Rainbow Dash grunted.
She picked herself up and dusted some snow off her, as Fluttershy raced toward her friend.
“Oh goodness, Dash!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “Are you alright?”
“How’d it go?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Did you find all the red coins yet?”
“Not yet…” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I would’ve gotten all right, except the last coin is frozen in a block of ice. Spike, I need your help to get it out.”
“Really?! I’d be happy to help!” Spike replied. “Show me where it is.”
In ten seconds flat, Rainbow Dash zipped Spike up to the cliff, where she found said red coin still frozen in a block of ice.
“I got this!” Spike declared.
He inhaled a gust of air then exhaled a burst of green fire, melting the ice, and freeing the red coin. Once Rainbow Dash claimed the coin, a Power Star appeared, not too far from them along a cliffside, where a Star Marker was located. With a flap of their wings, both Spike and Rainbow Dash flew over to claim the final Power Star they’ll receive in the course. The star danced around them as they celebrated.
“YEAH! We got a Power Star!” Rainbow Dash and Spike hollered together.
Princess Peach’s Castle
After completing the course, the heroes returned to Princess Peach’s castle, jumping from the painting of ‘Cool, Cool Mountain’ and together they landed back in the room.
“Phew!” Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. “It was so cold in there. So glad to be back in a warmer place…”
“Me too!” Luigi agreed.
“But on the positive side, we’ve got forty-nine Power Stars!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “It’s not as if our trip up the mountain was all for nothin’.”
“But we’re not exactly done either,” Spike shook his head. “We’re still short of one more Power Star to open the big door and save Princess Peach!”
“Mamma mia!” Mario and Luigi slapped foreheads.
“Yoshi…” Yoshi chirped in exasperation.
“C’mon y’all, we can’t give up now,” Applejack began. “Princess Peach, Twilight, and our other friends are countin’ on us. We just need one more Power Star, and then we can open that there door.”
“But where’re we going to find the fiftieth star?” Spike asked. “We’ve got one Power Star that hasn’t been recovered yet in Jolly Roger Bay. But I doubt any of us have the power needed to get it, let alone a power up…”
“Yoshi…” Yoshi shook his head.
Pinkie pondered for a moment.
“Hmmm… OH! WAIT! I remember a prism ball, back in the Goomboss Battle course. Y’know, where I was held prisoner along with Mario?”
“There’s a Star Switch there?/Yoshi?” Spike and Yoshi exclaimed.
Goomboss Battle
The Mario Bros., Yoshi, and the Equestrian Heroes (or what’s left of them) stood on the long platform east of the starting area. Standing before them was a wire shaft, where the Star Sphere was located along the top. Sitting beside the heroes was the Star Switch itself.
“Wow, there’s been a Star Switch here all this time…” Spike pondered, facing Yoshi. “You think this means there’s another Power Star here?”
“Yoshi,” Yoshi shrugged.
“Figures… since we’ve already found two Power Stars in that crazy course with King Boo…”
“Yoshi.”
“Sorry Spike,” Applejack interrupted. “Hate to break up your conversation with your new best friend, but we need to focus on gettin’ ourselves a fiftieth Power Star. Or we’re never gettin’ our friends back.”
With everyone’s attention back toward Mario, Pinkie Pie took her place at the Star Switch, before she faces the red plumber, who set himself ready.
“Ready?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Oh yeah!” Mario answered.
“Go!”
Pinkie Pie pressed the switch, triggering the Power Star’s appearance (in the Star Sphere at the top) and from somewhere a counter’s ticking was heard.
Mario immediately raced up the wall of the wired shaft, proceeding to wall-jump between the wall and the wired fences all the way to the top. He smashed the Star Sphere, and earned the heroes their fiftieth Power Star, just before the Star Switch’s timer ran out. Dancing with the star, the heroes cheered and celebrated their triumph.
“YEAH! WE GOT A POWER STAR!” They hollered.
Princess Peach’s Castle
Upon exiting the portrait of the course, which once served as the domain of Mario’s captor, the heroes were greeted by the sound of the Guide’s voice.
“You have found fifty Power Stars, well done. Now you can open the big door on the second floor of the castle. But beware, Bowser is just ahead, with a power of Darkness… and is that the sound of the princess calling for help?”
“Princess-a Peach!” Mario exclaimed. “Let’s-a go, everyone!”
“Right!” Applejack agreed. “C’mon, y’all! All together!”
“YEAH!/YOSHI!”
The heroes charged out of the room, making their way toward the big door surrounded by fiery dark aura. They watched as the Power Stars bathed the big door in shimmering sparkles of gold. Reacting to the lights shining from the Power Stars, the fiery dark auras dissipated… then a voice was heard.
“Mario, over here!” A woman’s voice wailed. “Help!”
“Princess-a Peach!” Mario shouted.
The Power Stars broke the lock Bowser put on the Star Doors, opening them aside. Soon as the doors were fully opened, our heroes walked up a set of stairs. Their eyes widened in alarm to see the portrait of Princess Peach at the end of the hall.
“Whoa!” The Equestrian Heroes shouted.
“Is that her?” Pinkie Pie asked. “Is that the princess?”
“Princess-a Peach!” Mario shouted.
He and Luigi took off running toward the portrait. Rainbow Dash and her friends ran after the two plumber heroes.
“Hey! Wait for us guys!” Rainbow Dash called.
However, as the heroes got closer and closer to the princess’s portrait, it suddenly shifted and changed to that of a fearsome dragon-like creature.
“What the—” Rainbow said, bewildered.
Then soon, she and the Mario brothers suddenly crashed headfirst into an invisible wall.
“OOF!”
The three heroes fell to the floor on impact, which then opened up into a trapdoor, swallowing the three heroes.
“WHOA!!!” Applejack screamed.
Upon seeing the trapdoor, Applejack quickly screeched her hooves to a halt and stopped just an inch from the edge.
“Phew!” She breathed a sigh of relief.
But it’s too soon as Yoshi came along and bumped her from behind.
“WHOA!”
Then Spike crashed into Yoshi, pushing Applejack even closer to the edge.
“AH!!!”
Finally, Pinkie Pie knocked the remaining heroes into the pit.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”
The heroes’ screams grew quiet, the deeper they descended, until all was silent and still.
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Good chapter and i wouldn't want you to quit
Keep it coming, oh noble dragon. We have faith in you!!!!
That's alright, PD. Glad to know this story's still up and running! Can't wait for the next chapter.
Welcome back and don't worry, it was well worth the wait!
Welcome back. I can tell there's a good bit of time and effort put into these. At least having a big party in story will help speed up the collection process. Looking forward to the first encounter with Bowser next time.
Good thing this is one of those adventures where they don't need to face too big a threat and have a little fun (While getting to know each other). But that first encounter with Bowser... that's going to be something.
Luigi and Fluttershy moment!
Keep going… I LOVE IT!!!
FANTASTIC!!! Now with 50 Power Stars, it's time to face Bowser!
Oh yeah I remember that one that was pretty easy mission right there and of course Fluttershy will always help out any animals
That is also one of my hated Mission ever especially that Penguin cheats he pushed you off when you're making tight turns it was the worst
FLUTTERSHY
Sigh yeah as a younger sibling of the family I can actually understand how it feels sometimes that's why I actually like Luigi
Lol I get it that's funny 😁
11203378
Fixed. Thank you again.
Well it looks like things are doing okay with the others and explain to Luigi what was happening but apparently they said something that they could have get Princess Peach because they had enough Stars and for any completions they could go for 150 but they want to save Princess Peach but it looks like the dark matter saying that they need 50 stars instead of 12 to open the door so they continue on looking for the power Stars and they went to Cool Mountain and once they got there they split up into two group to cover more ground Mario Pinkie Pie Spike and Yoshi looks like they're going to race the Big Penguin which I hated that level and Fluttershy Luigi Applejack and Rainbow dash helping the little penguin to find her mother but once everybody was done with that they all got a few power Stars for the Snowman to find a new body and finding the red coins and it looks like they found enough stars to go to the big door and it looks like they're going to the Dark World where Bowser is or so we thought unless this is a different path