Chapter 1 Interlude
-PEACH-
Canterlot- Mushroom Kingdom/Sarasaland Embassy
Peach, Luigi, Daisy, and Toadette all entered the conference hall, looks of confusion evident on their faces. There, they saw Yoshi, Toad, and Toadsworth talking to Celestia and Luna.
“Ah, Princess,” Toadsworth greeted Peach upon seeing her. “There you are! I was growing worried that you would be late.”
“Toadsworth,” Daisy questioned, “Toadette asked us to come up here?”
“It was upon my request,” Celestia confessed, floating a scroll over to Peach. “I had just received another letter from Spike, and this shows that he and Mario have already recovered the first Element of Harmony.”
“Really?” Peach asked with a look of delight on her face. “Well, that was certainly quick of them!”
“That’s my Bro!” Luigi smirked. “He’s a superstar when it comes to adventures like this!”
Dear Princesses… and everypony else,
“Hey!” Yoshi scowled as Peach read that part aloud. Peach chose to ignore the dinosaur’s complaining and continue reading.
It turns out that Mario’s old friend Goombella appeared to be onto something. With her guidance, we managed to discover one of the landing sites of the Elements of Harmony. It was in the San Palomino Desert, and it was recovered by a group of outlaws. Don’t worry though… with the help of our new friend Boomregard, we managed to recover the Element of Honesty.
However, something… weird happened when we recovered it. For some odd reason, the Element projected an image of Applejack, who claimed to be the Spirit of Honesty. She told us about how the attack on Canterlot and the scattering of the Elements of Harmony upset the balance of Equestria and began a second prophecy that could bring about Nighttime Eternal. Also, in order to prevent it, Mario and I have been chosen to find six Temporary Bearers.
I’m a little scared of what’s going on, especially because the Spirit of Honesty could not truly remember everything. However, I don’t bring that up in front of Mario and Boomregard… especially since our Boomerang Bro friend is now the Bearer of Honesty as of now. We have five more Elements and five more Temporary Bearers to find.
Princess Celestia… I beg you. If you can find ANY information on Twilight, I’d appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Spike
P.S.,
There was also a strange glowing off of the Element when Mario and I touched it. I don’t know why, but I can’t help but feel stronger.
“Aw,” Peach sighed in a motherly tone. “Spike really misses the Bearers! Especially Twilight….”
“That’s so sweet of him!” Toadette remarked. “At the same time, so sad.”
“I cannot blame him,” Celestia nodded with a few tears in her eyes. “He’s only a baby Dragon… and one raised by ponies, no less. Twilight Sparkle is the closest thing to a mother he has.”
“Poor little guy,” Daisy remarked. “Missing his friends and family, and the only one who can help him physically is Mario. He probably would be lost without Mario.”
“Uh, Princesses,” Toad interjected, “I hate to break the mood, but what was that about an ancient prophecy that he brought up? Something about how the balance of Harmony in the kingdom has been thrown out of whack and it is going to bring about Nighttime Eternal?”
Luna scowled, “The Mushroom Retainer without a unique name is right, sister. This is interesting news that needs immediate investigation.”
“Uh, I’m still here,” Toad muttered, feeling somewhat insulted.
“Oh, right,” Peach recalled. “We probably should look into it.”
“Right, then,” Luna nodded. “The easiest place to start would be the Canterlot National Library. Sister, where did you have the library built, again?”
“I would have to say a bit south of the castle,” Celestia remembered. “It should be next to the statue of our mentor, Starswirl the Bearded.”
“How I loved playing with the bells on his hat and cape as a filly,” Luna smiled. “It was indeed good times. Anyways, I will head down there, and begin looking. Princess Peach, care to join me in a bit of light reading?”
“If it helps Mario and Spike,” Peach nodded.
“Well, perhaps I’ll join you all,” Toadsworth suggested. “A little reading with a spot of tea will certainly help me relax in such a dreary atmosphere. Princess Daisy? Princess Celestia? Master Luigi? Young Toad?”
“Thanks for the offer,” Daisy declined, “but I’m going to be going back to what I was doing before… trying to figure out a flaw in the barricade spell so we can get out of here.”
“And I just remembered that there is somepony who the Colts of Nocturne failed to account for and is right now left unchecked… in the Beanbean Kingdom.”
“You’re not talking about HIM, are you?” Luna asked. “I still think it was a bad idea to send him as our ambassador.”
“Well, the Queen certainly liked him,” Celestia whispered. “Anyways, I’ll be trying to get in contact with him.”
“I’ll go,” Luigi offered, only to have the back of his overalls pulled by Daisy.
“Actually,” Daisy declared, “Luigi, I’d rather you be next to me. You have a higher jump than I do, and we can actually investigate together with Toad and Yoshi.”
“Wait, what?” Toad asked. “You want my help with that?”
“Well,” Luigi blushed, “okay, Princess…”
“Aw, you’re such a sweetheart,” Daisy smiled at the green plumber. “Well, we better get going, boys!”
“If you guys find any books on exotic Equestrian fruits, tell me,” Yoshi voiced before he left with the other three members of Daisy’s escape plan. Peach, Luna, and Toadsworth all had a bit of a laugh at Yoshi’s craving of fruit and Luigi’s blushing at Daisy’s insistence before walking out.
---
Canterlot Library
After a bit of walking, Peach, Luna, and Toadsworth all saw a giant statue of a bearded Unicorn stallion wearing a lavish cape and wizard’s hat, both articles of clothing decorated in bells.
Luna explained, “Back when I was a foal, my sister and I were among many of Starswirl the Bearded’s apprentices. He created hundreds of spells that most Unicorns even to this day use, and wrote several theses on the art of spell casting. He was also a skilled adventurer. Some ponies say that he’s the Father of modern magic.”
“That’s amazing,” Toadsworth said in awe. “But… I must ask why he has an entire wing dedicated to him.”
“Over the years of my sister’s thousand-year rule,” Luna answered, “many scholars and historians discovered some of Starswirl’s ancient writings and spells, some of which can only be used by high-level Unicorns. Perhaps even predictions Starswirl had found out. I mean, there are time spells in there…”
“Wow,” Peach commented. “And we’re allowed inside?”
“I’ll be honest, Princess Peach,” the Princess of the Night answered. “Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t be allowed this close to this hall, as my sister has guards patrolling here. It is a restricted section due to how potentially dangerous several of the tomes and spells are in there if they got into the wrong hooves. Only teachers at my sister's School for Gifted Unicorns, members of the royal family, or upper level students have access. However, due to a crisis like this, I’m pretty sure they won’t mind you in here. Besides, they couldn’t say no to me or my sister… or Twilight Sparkle, due to her high connections. Anyways, shall we go in?”
The three entered the library, which greeted them with rows of books, scrolls, and ancient tomes all throughout the wall. “Let’s see, here,” Luna voiced, looking around. “Let’s try under the letter ‘P’. There should be a book called ‘Predictions and Prophecies’. That will no doubt have some clue as to what is going on.”
“Um, Princess Luna,” the old Toad asked. “I remember you talking about you being Nightmare Moon not too long ago, and ‘Nighttime Eternal’ was your plan. So, why wouldn’t you or Princess Celestia know about this prophecy?”
“This prophecy sounds like it’s from the time of the Ancients,” Luna responded. “The Elements of Harmony are much older than me and my sister and I. So, the Spirits representing the virtues of the Elements would only be as old as the Elements themselves. The Spirits coming out now to warn us of this now means that this has been coming for a long time. Let’s at least try.”
Peach, meanwhile, had wandered through the tomes, eventually spotting a dark blue book placed in a bookcase sticking slightly out of the bookcase with a purple and green bookmark sticking out of it. Peach, curious, grabbed the book and read the title.
“The Assemblers of Harmony by Starswirl the Bearded?” Peach asked aloud, looking at it. The bookmark signaled that the book’s previous reader had gotten rather far in it. Peach knew that she should ignore the book, but her infamously curious nature screamed, “Read at least a bit of it”. She turned to the first chapter in the book, labeled, “The Beginning of the Dark Prognosticus’ Prediction”.
I still do not understand why the Tribe of Ancients had chosen to entrust me with this cursed Dark Prognosticus for this time being. What makes it worse is that they and I both know that the readers of the book will not be able to find a happy future for themselves from its pages, yet I’m inclined to keep reading it. I have deliberately chosen to ignore my future, though. Instead, I’m going to focus on any prophecies that can affect our newfound land of Equestria as a whole.
I have found a candidate after some time searching the pages. What I have found is far disturbing for our country. The Dark Prognosticus speaks of the discovery of a ‘Green Path of Mushrooms’ in the darkness of the Everfree. It then mentions a man in red with a bushy mustache that can rival my beard in luxury and a purple creature’s fall from a mountain… and the most powerful magical objects in our new land, the ‘Elements of Harmony’ being scattered by a Mare of Magic in response to the actions of a Stallion of the Night, who uses the magic of the Crystal Usurper.
It has been said that the Elements of Harmony— even dormant— must stay in close proximity to each other; otherwise, the balance of our kingdom’s harmonious nature will fall apart. I do not understand the rest of this right now, but I know for certain that for the good of Equestria that the Elements must never get farther apart from each other than the radius of a small town. I will pass piece of information to my students, Celestia and Luna while I attempt to figure out the rest of the prophecy.
If it takes the rest of my days, I must take the steps necessary to stop the Elements from ever being separated, as well as trying to find a way to circumvent the other signs that the prophecy has begun.
“I guess even the most powerful ponies have their limits,” Peach sadly remarked. “Wait a minute… this book…” Gasping in surprise, Peach realized, “This foretells the events that led up to our arrival in Canterlot, as well what happened that night!” Peach then turned to the next chapter, which was labeled, “Temporary Bearers”
I have spent the past months continuing to translate the Dark Prognosticus. I know it’s supposed to be nothing more than a book, but I can’t help but feel that the book and its words are actually alive. Almost as if it is readings my thoughts as I write and attempts to stop me from saving Equestria.
Anyways, what I managed to get out of it, however, is rather shocking. Should the prophecy come to pass and the Elements are scattered, the true Bearers at the time would not be in a position to control the physical Elements, since they will fall prey to the Stallion of the Night I mentioned before and be held captive. Unable to take up the Elements, the land of Equestria— perhaps even the entire world we live in— will have its harmony upset, and will lie in ruins unless the Elements are reunited by the full moon after the attack.
The Dark Prognosticus right now fails to tell me what locations would be the Elements’ precise landing points. However, I did learn something about the aforementioned man in red and being of purple. Although the last time I consulted the Dark Prognosticus made me assume both of them died, they survive the fall from the mountain. After recovering from their injuries, the two would go seeking the Elements. But not only would they seek the Elements, but they would seek six other brave souls whose actions and personalities resemble the six virtues of the Elements. They will be placed with the temporary burden of reigniting the harmony of Equestria. And they will find the temporary Bearers near the locations of the Elements when they fall.
I still do not know much about the man in red or the purple creature, but if they are able to help save the world as we know it, I will not question their interactions. Still, to be on the safe side, I must investigate these two characters.
“He’s… talking about Mario and Spike?” Peach asked, curious. Peach then looked at the next chapter title, “A Shocking Discovery”. It was where the bookmark was placed. “Starswirl… what did you find out?”
I had spent too much time lost in the pages of the Dark Prognosticus, and I think it’s starting to affect me. I’ve barely eaten or slept in days, desperately trying to maneuver my way through the pages to avert this disaster I had discovered, yet at the same time avoiding looking at my own fate. Why can’t these Ancients hurry up and return for the book?
My bitter writing aside, I feel as though as I’ve found another clue. For starters, starting the next Full Moon after the attack, there will be a time limit. If the Elements of Harmony are not reunited by the time the full becomes full again, it will be too late to fix the Harmony in Equestria. Furthermore, while the man in red and the purple creature can find the Temporary Bearers and the Elements, that alone will not return Equestria to its normal, harmonic state. There is still the matter of reigniting the Elements’ true power. And returning the Elements to their Bearers won’t be enough. Only when the Elements are used by both the True Bearers and the Temporary ones will save Equestria and the world from the destruction of Harmony.
But that is not the only issue. In my desperation to avoid that primary problem, I had forgotten about the issue of Nighttime Eternal, the goal of the Stallion of the Night. He and his fellow zealots worship a being of darkness that is powerful enough to blot out the sun for all eternity with the moon. Our planet would eventually freeze. But in order to truly enact this plan, strong magic must be used. Magic that is beyond the power of his own, as well as the Crystal Usurper… he must use the Elements of Harmony.
The Elements must never fall into his hooves. For if their power is used by him… he can bring this powerful creature into our plain of existence.
Peach gasped, horrified. She dropped the book, too scared of what she had just discovered to read any further. Sirius, had he gotten his hooves on the Elements, could have used them to bring Nightmare Moon back, free from Luna? Also, the true Bearers had to get their Elements back sometime soon. And with them trapped in Canterlot... she couldn't see what phase of the moon it was.
“Princess?” Toadsworth’s voice called out, ending her fear. Peach turned to Toadsworth and Luan, who were walking up to her.
“What is the matter, Princess Peach?” Luna asked. “It looks as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I think I found something horrible about that prophecy,” Peach voiced. “I’ll tell when we’re back with Princess Celestia and the others. We need to let Mario know right away!” With that, the three walked out.
-??????-
Princess Peach’s Castle, Mushroom Kingdom
Many Toads were abuzz throughout Peach’s Castle, cleaning every corner, dusting every chandelier, and organizing every room.
“Alright, everybody,” an older Toad, the Minister of Mushroom Castle, spoke up. He had a white mustache that dropped off of his old face. The spots on his cap were a bluish green, and he wore a red robe over most of his body. “We must hurry up. We have no idea when Princess Peach will return, but I want this place absolutely spotless when she does! Let’s go! Chop-chop!”
The Toads, all eager to please their Princess, continued to work without any worries. Except, of course, for one minor complaint. And by “minor”, I mean that the wall to the right of the front door just suddenly let in a massive breeze. And by that—
BOOOOM!!!
…Okay, the wall exploded. This act sent the Toads in the hall instantly running in fear and for cover, especially once they saw who it was.
“Aah! We’re under attack!” one of them screamed. “IT’S KING BOWSER!” Sure enough, it was the massive Koopa King of Evil stomping his way through the hole.
“GWAA HA HA HA!” Bowser laughed at the fear that the Mushroom Retainers had. “Ya know what, buddy? I should have done something like that YEARS ago! Forget all of the complicated invasion stuff! I’m just going for the direct approach!” Turning towards the hole, he smirked, “Ya see, kids? I didn’t need a huge plan! At this point, these Shroom-heads can’t even properly TRY to stop me!”
“You mean you’re not alone this time!?” one of the Toads asked. “As in… you brought THEM!?”
“Yep!” Bowser grinned. “I figured it was time for a traditional family reunion. Isn’t that right, my beloved Koopalings?” As if on cue, eight Koopas smashed a second hole through the wall on the other side of the door.
“Man, I love it when King Dad just smashes through walls like they’re nothin’!” the pink shelled, sunglass-wearing Koopaling Roy Koopa chuckled, cracking his knuckles.
“That we can agree on, Roy!” the brown skinned Morton Koopa, Jr., voiced. “It’s always fun watching King Dad work!”
“Must you two brutes ruin our dramatic entrance by talking about smashing stuff?” the sole female Koopaling, Wendy O. Koopa, asked them. “Honestly, all you boys like doing outside of Roy picking us younger than him and Morton running his mouth is talking about smashing things. At least Lemmy likes blowing things up and improving his circus act to make a change of pace in conversations with you boys.”
“Yep!” the short, rainbow Mohawk haired Lemmy Koopa smiled, blissfully unaware that it was more of an insult made by his sister more than a compliment. “Anyways, King Dad, when can we see the Mario Bros.? Iggy said they’d hear the attack and come running as usual.”
“…Wow,” the green haired, glasses-wearing Iggy Koopa voiced. “That was surprisingly the smartest thing that ever came out of Lemmy’s mouth. We weren’t exactly subtle with this attack, so they should have come running by now. I mean, we did bring the airships and packed them with all of the Koopa Troopas, Goombas, Magikoopas, Hammer Bros, Boomerang Bros, Fire Bros, Ice Bros, the all-new Thunder Bros, Chain Chomps, Bullet Bill Blasters, Koopatrols, Boos, the new Waddlewings from that Acorn Plains place, and Duplighosts we could fit. Heck, we even asked the Koopa Bros. to join in on this party.”
"Is that our cue to join this bash, dudes?" a voice yelled from the outside.
"Not yet!" Wendy answered. "Wait until Mario shows up!"
“Do you guys think it was a bad idea to load up the airships that much?” the light blue haired Larry Koopa asked, spinning a tennis racket in one hand and a magic wand in the other.
“Blame Jr. for wanting to be thorough,” Iggy argued.
“Hey,” the youngest of the bunch, a small Koopa with a white bandana with a crayon drawn sinister grin, spoke up. Bowser Jr. Koopa pointed out, “Mario’s beaten us too many times! I want to have everything we can to take him down this time!”
“Vell, regardless,” the dark blue wild haired Koopaling named Ludwig von Koopa interjected in his accent, “Mario is not here… nor seems to be Princess Peach, for zat matter. She no doubt should have heard ze explosions.”
“Don’t you just love it when these troublesome tykes get together?” Bowser smiled with the sense of joy only a father could have. Turning back to the Toads, he scowled, “Okay, time for me to get back on task! Where’s Princess Peach? I'm kind of a tight schedule, here, so I don't have time for a full hostile takeover. Though, if anyone wants to offer themselves as hostages, feel free to surrender yourselves now.”
“Uh… um… she’s not here…” one of the Toads stammered, fear on his eyes. Mario’s arch nemesis opened his eyes, shocked by this news.
“…What did you say?” the Koopa King asked the Toad.
“Your Brashness!” an older voice shouted out. Bowser and his children all turned to the door, where an old female Magikoopa wearing purple floated in next to a somewhat younger male Magikoopa who wore blue on broomsticks. “You and the Koopalings left without relaying your orders,” the older Magikoopa, Kammy Koopa, scolded Bowser.
“Not to mention both you and your kids just casually smashed through the wall,” the younger one, Kamek, added. “If your entire plan was to just burst in here and intimidate them into handing over Princess Peach, then knocking through walls is rather pointless.”
“But cool-looking, Your Destructiveness,” Kammy remarked, trying to save face and avoid Bowser's wrath. “Anyways, where’s Princess Peach? Do we already have her? That must have been the quickest kidnapping we've gone through."
“Uh, no,” Bowser scowled. “And where WERE you guys!? One of you was supposed to come up with the plan BEFORE I decided to just wing it, today!”
“What do you mean we don’t have her?” Kamek asked.
“Yeah,” Jr. voiced. “Apparently, these Toads say that Princess Peach isn’t here.”
“And it absolutely IRRITATES ME!” Bowser whined. Stomping his foot on the ground, he commented, “I went all out on this! I have the eight castles ready to go! I asked the Koopa Bros. to make a return into the spotlight, and they're on the airship! I even got all of my kids eager to join us on this one! And Princess Peach ISN’T here!?” Bowser then turned back towards the hall, and yelled, “Alright, you Shroom Snacks! Somebody better tell me where Princess Peach is right now!” When they all turned, though… the room was empty.
“Zey must have used zis time ve vere distracted to escape,” Ludwig suggested. “Perhaps ve should start looking.”
“Ugh, I hate having to go around trying to find the right Toad who will squeal like a Lil’ Oink,” Bowser groaned. “Let’s get this over with so I can find Princess Peach and trounce Mario. You guys stay here in case he shows up before I find that Minister guy. He always knows what’s up with Princess Peach. This should only take a few minutes."
With that, Bowser began stomping through the halls of the castle. Bowser, over the years of attacking it, knew everything he needed to know about the interior of Peach’s Castle, including realistic hiding places that the Minister would hide. And that would most likely be on the upper level which was a simple walk up the steps and through the brown double doors with a star emblem on it. Bowser simply tore the left door off of its hinges, and walked through the open hole.
“…Well,” Larry voiced, “to be technical, King Dad DID use the door that time. But he seems really angry, so… who wants wants to go up there to make sure he's calm? One, two three, NOT IT!"
“NOT IT!” all of the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. all agreed. This caused Kammy and Kamek to look at each other, worry on their faces
A red-masked, red shelled Koopa Troopa (really a Ninjakoopa) stuck his head through the hole in the wall and asked, "Um, dudes... should we come in now?"
"Go back onto the airship!" Kammy ordered. "King Bowser is absolutely livid, and we're trying to find out who has the unfortunate job of checking up on him due to his blood pressure!"
"Okay," the Red Ninjakoopa nodded, turning around and walking out of the hole.
"You do realize we could have just sent one of the Koopa Bros. to check on King Bowser, right?" Kamek suggested. Kammy realized what she just did, and groaned.
"Um... straws?" she asked, summoning a handful of straws and a pair of safety scissors to hold up to the group.
Upstairs, Bowser was stomping through the castle, passing the shaking Toads who desperately hid behind the various furniture. Bowser grabbed a random table, spotting a maid Toad holding a baby, who predictably began crying at the sight of a giant, fire-breathing, spiked shelled Koopa.
“Please, King Bowser,” the maid begged, “do what you will with me! Don’t hurt my baby! Oh, why did we schedule today to be 'Take-your-child-to-work day'?”
“I'm not in the mood, lady,” Bowser scowled. “But right now, tell me either where your Minister is or where Princess Peach is… NOW!”
“Princess Peach… she’s not in the Mushroom Kingdom right now!” the maid responded.
“Okay, what!?” Bowser roared. “First she doesn’t bother showing herself, and now she’s decided to get kidnapped by someone else!? Where!?” The maid, however, chose a third option… faint out of fear, the baby staring up at the Koopa King with tears in his eyes. Bowser groaned. “…Or you can do that. Have a baby cry at me. Get me a bit more steamed. Great... I’m gonna go find that Minister and give him a piece of my mind.” The Koopa King then asked the next Toad, “You! Where’s the Minister of this Castle?”
“Uh, he’s probably hiding near the balcony,” the Toad confessed. “Please don’t eat me!”
“You wouldn’t even be an appetizer, short stuff!” Bowser scoffed. “But thanks for telling me where to look.” With that, Bowser trounced through another set of doors.
“Why does he keep doing that!?” one of the Toads demanded as the doors just clattered to the floor, having been ripped off the hinges.
Bowser ignored them, walking down the long hall. Eventually, though, he found a huge set of furniture barricading the doorway. This would have been a problem for anybody who wanted to get to their target… but not for an angry Koopa King.
“Now, what was that thing Kammy said to do in situations like this?” Bowser asked aloud. “I think she said something like, ‘Your Controlfulness, just repeatedly tap an object you want to burn down on the GamePad’s Touch Screen while in Field Mode’? I don’t know where she got that, but, it’s burning time!” Bowser then inhaled, and set the furniture pile, as well as the door behind it, aflame. Soon, everything in front of Bowser was reduced to ash, leaving only a massive hole Bowser could just walk through to confront the Minister.
“Please, Bowser,” the old Toad begged, “have mercy! Haven’t you wrecked the castle enough?”
“Maybe,” Bowser replied, “but I haven’t wrecked YOUR FACE enough!” Picking up the Minister, he ordered, “Now… tell me who kidnapped Princess Peach THIS time and where did they take her!”
“Nobody kidnapped the Princess!” the Minister answered. “She’s on vacation!” Bowser’s absolute rage seemed to suddenly vanish at those words.
“…Vacation?” he asked, disturbingly quieter, dropping the Minister. “As in… she’s on holiday?”
“Yes, actually,” the old Toad explained. “You see, Princess Peach had been offered by royals from a faraway land to come visit to negotiate trade regulations and partake in its beauty. And she didn’t go alone, either. She invited loyal Toadsworth, Princess Daisy, Toad, Toadette, a Yoshi, and, of course, the Mario Bros. to go with her!”
Bowser scowled. “Well, that changes a lot… however, she seemed to have missed ME on the guest list! Where was my invitation? It certainly wasn’t in the mail this morning!”
“Your Angriness!” Kammy spoke up. The old Magikoopa floated in, concern on her face. “I… couldn’t help but notice the path of destruction you cut on your way up here. And not because I got the shortest straw when we finally decided to draw straws, but I came to check up on you….”
“I’m not mad that Peach isn’t here, anymore, Kammy,” Bowser told her. “I AM, however, absolutely livid that the Princess chose to bail out of being kidnapped to instead go on vacation with just about everybody but ME! I mean, she didn't even bother inviting me! Well, I’m not gonna stand for that! We’re going after her and on a vacation of our own!”
“Really?” Kammy asked with the biggest smile on her elderly face. “Oh, how I LOVE vacations! Where are we going?”
“Oh, right, almost forgot,” Bowser replied. Turning to the Minister, he asked, “So, where did Peach choose to go?”
“…Princess, forgive me for being such a coward,” the old Toad sighed. “She went to the land of ponies, Equestria! It’s supposedly a Land of Harmony.”
Bowser thought about this. “A land of talking ponies?" After a bit of thinking, though, Bowser just shrugged. "Ya know, I’ve seen freakier when I reluctantly teamed up with Mario, Princess Peach, and his Green ’Stache of a brother to save the multiverse. Anyways, Kammy, go tell Iggy to set us a course to this Equestria place.”
“Of course, Your Pushiness,” Kammy nodded. Bowser and Kammy then walked down, ready to head out, leaving the Minister to realize what he had unleashed.
“Those poor ponies are about to get visited by Bowser,” he breathed. “What have I done?”
-????????-
Unknown Location
“…Twilight! Wake up, sugar cube! Ya gotta git up!”
Twilight Sparkle only saw darkness as she finally awoke. She could barely remember what had happened to her. All she remembered was welcoming Princess Peach and her entourage to Canterlot… then the meeting between the Princesses… then Rainbow literally crashing the meeting, partly frozen… followed by an attack on Canterlot. She and her friends had managed to repel the attackers, and get to the Elements of Harmony… only for the leader of the invaders, some Sirius Nebula, walked in, and offered them a chance to surrender. Sirius, when they refused, had them frozen by some weird Pegasus that could use Ice Magic. Then, that red-wearing man… Mario, right? He tried to stop Sirius from kidnapping them, along with Spike.
Spike… Twilight remembered everything, now. Spike and Mario were balled up and thrown away. Twilight, in an act of anger, just lost control… and ignited her magic. She then blacked out afterwards.
“Spike…” she breathed as she finally opened her eyes… to see her friends looking at her. Twilight sat up, and looked around to see that she and her friends were in some kind of large, lavish suite-style living room. The walls were painted a nice shade of indigo, with white and gray clouds painted to give the room some vigor. There was also a bookcase on the wall filled with books, some of the Daring Do books, a novel called Paper Mario: Star Spirits and Good Wishes by famous Mushroom Kingdom mystery novelist Herringway, some books written by a mare named Twilight Velvet, and the original trilogy of Lord of the Wings by one of Twilight’s favorite fantasy authors, J. R. R. Trotkien. Twilight, of course, found this all weird. However, the purple couch she had found herself waking up on proved comfortable, especially with the warm fire they had going in the fireplace.
“Oh, thank Celestia you’re okay!” Fluttershy spoke for them all. "When you just went berserk back in Canterlot, I was so scared.”
“As were we all, Fluttershy,” Rarity added. “Twilight, darling, are you feeling well?”
“…I’m fine,” Twilight answered. “Physically, at least. Emotionally… no.”
“…It’s Spikey-wikey, isn’t it?” Rarity concluded with tears in her eyes. “To think, he’s gone…” She then broke down, crying.
“And I had such a good birthday party planned for his next birthday,” Pinkie Pie cried, waterworks spraying from her eyes. “Oh… poor Spike…”
“Keep it together, ya’ll,” Applejack announced. “Ah know it’s hard to not have Spike ’round, but right now, Ah think we ought to worry ’bout OUR situation a bit more.”
Twilight looked around at her friends, and gasped. “Rarity… what’s that on your horn?” Rarity, confused, looked up from her crying.
“Does anypony have a mirror?” the white Unicorn asked. Fluttershy pointed a hoof towards something on the wall: a large, full body mirror. “Honestly, Twilight, I'm in mourning for Spike. He was so young. Yet, you're concerned with something on my horn- AAAAAH!”
Rainbow gasped. “What’s wrong, Rarity!?”
Not turning around, Rarity announced, “My horn… my lovely horn… it has been violated… by this!” With tears rolling down her face, Rarity turned, revealing that her horn had on a black, crystallized ring on it. “It’s such an awful color for something like this!”
“…Uh, a ring?” Applejack scowled. “Yer cryin’ o’er a ring on yer horn?”
“It’s not just any ring,” Twilight Sparkle realized, looking at it. “Rarity, try casting a levitation spell on that table. Tap the table on the Touch Screen.”
"Touch Screen?" Rarity asked. "Tapping? Twilight, that sounds like some weird instructions for controls in one of those video games Sweetie Belle plays at the Ponyville arcade. Where on earth did you hear such nonsense."
"Pinkie Pie," Twilight answered. "She mentioned it, once... but I don't get why."
"It's on the Wii U's GamePad," Pinkie Pie added. "This IS a Wii U video game, after all. I'm sure the player holding the GamePad gets this." Turning to the screen, she waved. "You heard us, out there! Tap the Table with either your finger, your hoof, your dog or cat's paw, or just use the stylus! Touch the table and Rarity will do the rest!" Rarity’s horn started to glow… only for the ring to glow black, and shock Rarity on the horn, making her yelp in pain. "Ooh, shoot! And I was hoping to see what we could have done with that table..."
Twilight nodded in grim confirmation of her theory. “Just as I thought… this is an Inhibitor Ring, a magical device that is used on Unicorns in police custody so they can’t escape using magic. The only way to remove it is to get the one who placed it on you to remove it or have a stronger Unicorn cast a removal spell.” Looking into the mirror herself, Twilight wasn’t surprised to find a similar ring on her horn. “What in the world happened to us?”
“I don’t know,” Rainbow scowled. She tried to take to the air… only to find that both of her wings were restrained firmly to her sides. The binds were made of the same crystalline material as the Inhibitor Rings. Fluttershy, not that she used them as often as Rainbow, had hers restrained as well. “What the heck!?”
"A Pegasus Wing Bracer?" Twilight asked aloud, studying it. "Those are to prevent Pegasi from escaping police custody. But... what did we do to have this happen to us?"
“Seems like we’ve been kidnapped by somepony who don’t want us escapin’,” Applejack replied. “More importantly, they're using police equipment. They neutralized yer Unicorn magic an’ Pegasus flight… Ah wonder how they’re stoppin’ me an’ Pinkie Pie?”
“It was by making the walls and doors too thick and tough for you all to kick through,” a nasally male voice answered. The six mares looked to see at an open door, a small, black cloaked stallion stood, wearing the same symbol as the Colts of Nocturne, confirming the identity of their captors. “I see you all are FINALLY awake… after ruining my perfectly calculated plan.”
“Who are you?” Pinkie Pie asked him. "Ooh, let me guess! You're some sort of mean nerd guy whose genius was neglected by your peers, and after feeling forsaken by Princess Celestia despite your intelliect one time too many, joined up with this evil cult to get back at the world that shunned you?"
“That is of none of your concern,” the stallion answered as he walked in and to the side. “And that's not even the reason why I'm in the Colts of Nocturne. However, my liege wishes to speak with you all… so, you will be coming with me. Stallions! Two of you on each of the Bearers, now!” Soon enough, twelve cloaked figures walked in, and two of them each surrounded one of the six Bearers. “Come, ladies. Lord Sirius Nebula awaits our arrival in the dining hall of the Midnight Cathedral.” The six looked at each other, confused as the stallion left. However, they were forced out of the room by their guards, and had to follow the stallion.
---
Midnight Cathedral- Dining Hall
The six mares had quickly found out that their suite was located in the lowest level of the cathedral. While Rarity was initially distraught that such a grand room was in the basement, she did not mind much when she looked around the cathedral. It was surprisingly well taken care of for an ancient-looking building. Candles also adorned the halls to provide the essential lighting to show several paintings, some of which depicted various ponies throughout history: Starswirl the Bearded, Commander Hurricane, Smart Cookie, Nightmare Moon, just to name a few.
“I must say, Twilight Sparkle,” the nasally stallion announced as they walked down the long, lavish hallways on the way to the dining hall, “you and your friends certainly live up to your reputation of throwing a wrench in the works of well thought-out plans. Scattering the Elements of Harmony so that my liege cannot obtain them was far from expected. Alongside Mario and your Dragon, of course.”
Twilight gasped at this news. “You guys don’t have the Elements of Harmony!?”
“Unfortunately, not,” the stallion replied. “Otherwise, we could move onto phase two of our master plan. However, thanks to your actions, we're forced to look around the country in an attempt to find them, wasting valuable time.”
“Serves ya right!” Rainbow scoffed. “After what you did to Spike, be lucky that liege of yours is still in one piece and the fact that I can’t fly!”
“Ah, yes,” the stallion responded. “We all took extra precautions when it came to ensuring your capture. No magic for the Unicorns, no flight for our Pegasi, and two guards at a time for you all. And to be on the ABSOLUTE safe side that Princess Celestia herself cannot interfere… a barrier around Canterlot. I’m sure you all are familiar with King Sombra’s magic?”
Twilight gasped. “King Sombra? But, the Crystal Ponies destroyed him. I watched him die.”
“And die he did,” the stallion added. “Sombra's game ended in the Crystal Empire thanks to the efforts of your family and those Crystal Ponies in the north. But while the Crystal Usurper may be gone, his legacy and dark magic are not. At the time of his removal of power, he had been working on a sealing spell that not even an Alicorn could disperse. He planned on using it against Celestia and Luna… too bad he never expected them both attacking him at the same time, otherwise he might have taken over the entire kingdom single hoofed. Luckily for us, I knew Celestia and Luna would move to stop the attack on the city, so I had them so distracted fighting several of our brothers and sisters that they would not know they were trapped until it was too late. Outwitting the co-rulers of Equestria will forever go in history as one of my greatest masterpieces. Alongside this plan once it comes to fruition.”
“So what’s yer master plan?” Applejack asked. “End our games as some kind of demonic sacrifice ritual to summon some ol’ mean creature?”
“We're not going to be doing that,” the stallion replied. “And if we were going to do that, I wouldn’t have bothered with all of the restraints and ways of preventing you from escaping, now, would I? In fact, I personally would have already done away with you all while you were unconscious if you did not have a use in our plans… and if Lord Sirius allowed it. However, I somehow doubt he would allow me to get rid of you once your use to us is at an end.”
“…I know I shouldn’t like the meanie for what he did to Spike,” Pinkie Pie voiced, “but Sirius Nebula is sounding a lot less mean than THIS guy.”
“You and me both, sister,” one of Pinkie’s guards whispered. “He’s always been so calculating and obsessed with his plans. To be honest... Sirius at least cares for us like a father or even an older brother to his stallions. It's NIGHT FORTUNE you want to look out for. He has no qualms about sacrificing hundreds if it benefits HIM in some way.”
Soon enough, the group found a large double door, which was guarded by two cloaked Nocturne Cultists. Upon seeing the stallion in front of Twilight and friends, they instantly opened the door, revealing a massive dining table, decorated with food and drink that was familiar with them all. Apples, flowers, hay fries, pies, and a strange blue vase with an Ice Flower in it. Of course, there were dishes from all over the world. Fried Shroom, Yoshi Cookies, Chuckola Cola, Neighpon Rice Balls, just to name a few.
“My liege,” the stallion spoke up with a sudden change in tone, “as requested, I brought you the Bearers.”
“Excellent… old friend,” a weak voice remarked. Twilight and her friends were shocked to see instead of the strong looking Unicorn who led the attack before, Sirius Nebula was wrapped in bandages from the neck down, looking rather beaten. Even his horn was wrapped in a brace. “Welcome, ladies…” he greeted with a slight bow.
“…This is the monster that kidnapped us?” Rarity whispered to voice the surprise they all had that Sirius was grievously injured sometime between Canterlot and now, but not sound rude in case Sirius was sensitive to his wounds.
“Oh my goodness,” Fluttershy gasped. “What happened to you?”
“Fluttershy,” Rainbow scolded her fellow Pegasus, “don’t sympathize with him! He’s the bad guy!”
“It’s nothing major, really,” Sirius insisted, ignoring Rainbow's remark. “I just… underestimated Miss Sparkle’s unbridled rage. Also, upon hindsight… I should have had a stronger shield spell at the ready to protect not just you all, but myself upon having a tower fall from a great height off of the side of a mountain.”
“In short,” Sirius’ “old friend” remarked, “Lord Sirius suffered great injuries assuring your survival and successful capture, leaving me in charge of commanding all of our recon teams who are on the lookout throughout Equestria. Speaking of which, my liege, I will be going back to doing just that now that the Bearers are here.”
“Commander Night Fortune,” Sirius asked, “won’t you stay for dinner?”
“I’m afraid I must decline,” the shorter stallion, Night Fortune, refused. “I’m expecting that mangy hound to finally show up from his hunt. He disappeared days ago…”
“Must you insult the captain?” Sirius asked. He was answered by Fortune walking out of the room. “Well, that was certainly rude of him, but I can't change his mind.” Looking at the Bearers, he weakly smiled, “Anyways, ladies… come, have a seat. You all must be hungry after being asleep for so long…”
“Are you serious?” Twilight asked while raising an eyebrow at the sudden invitation.
“Why yes, I am Sirius,” the stallion chuckled, only to suddenly wince. “Oh, by my beloved Queen, it hurts to laugh.” Looking at Twilight, he smiled, “But yes, I’m inviting you all to have dinner with me. Surely, after being asleep for days, you would want to eat something, right? I looked into each of your favorite dishes. Don’t worry, nothing here is poisoned.” As if to emphasize his point, he grabbed a random blue rose, tossed it into the air, and ate it upon it falling down. Twilight was about to refuse, only for her stomach to rumble.
“Well,” she blushed, “perhaps a bit to eat won’t hurt.”
“Excellent!” Sirius commented before clapping his front hooves together. “Come, my fellow brothers. Would you all kindly serve me and our guests? I would do so myself, but the nurses are insisting that I do not use magic until I’ve recovered.”
After being seated, the guards began serving the Bearers, who took a few bites of their meal. They were all surprised that Sirius had been true to his word. “First he kidnaps us and then treats us to dinner as if we were the Princesses?” Rarity whispered to Fluttershy. With a giggle, she responded, “If we didn’t know he was evil, I would say Sirius Nebula is a gentlecolt who knows how to treat a lady.”
Twilight, after eating a bit, warned, “Know that while I'm thankful for the meal that I don't trust you, Sirius! One wrong move and you’re going to be in a bigger world of pain than you already are, mister!”
“Miss Sparkle,” Sirius replied, “I’m not in the mood or condition to fight. And even if I was, I could simply ask your guards to restrain you. Right, Brother Panic Attack?”
“Wait,” one of the random guards, apparently named Panic Attack, voiced. “You want us in the case that the Bearers got up and attacked you to restrain them? Oh no! Those mares are WAY too dangerous! I’m not getting in the way of them!”
“Don’t worry, Panic Attack,” Sirius assured his fellow cultist. “The worst you would suffer is probably a kick to the face... or someplace else. That’s only if you approach them from the back. You have to try the side!” Shaking his head in amusement, he weakly chuckled, before wincing in pain again. “I’ve got to stop laughing.” Looking at the mares, Sirius remarked, “Anyways, we got off on the wrong hoof in Canterlot. May we start over? As you all know, I am Lord Sirius Nebula. Leader of the Colts of Nocturne originally founded by my ancestors a millennium ago and restarted by my hoof with the help of my old friend, Night Fortune. We met when I was traveling the world with my family as a colt, only for my parents to just disappear during a sudden sandstorm in Saddle Arabia, never to be seen again. A fellow traveler, Night Fortune, saved my game from the desert and helped me identify the Mushroom Kingdom’s darker Stars. This earned me my Cutie Mark, and helped me rediscover my family’s destiny: to bring back the world's rightful Queen, Nightmare Moon.”
“No,” Twilight scowled, interrupting his story. “You ruined a trade negotiation with the Mushroom Kingdom’s Princess Peach, attacked my hometown of Canterlot, had me and my friends frozen and kidnapped, and forced me to watch as you ended Spike’s game! I will NEVER forgive you for what you’ve done to me and my friends, especially what you did to Spike!”
“Ah, yes, Spike,” Sirius recalled. “You and he are close, aren’t you? You wouldn’t have reacted like that if it was somepony else I defeated.”
“What do you mean by ‘are’?” Fluttershy interrupted.
“Well,” Sirius replied, “Dragons are an unnaturally tough species, even at infant stages like him. They are also somewhat magic resistant. This is why I had to resort to the Crystal Usurper’s power to defeat him before you all unfroze and could move again. Well, him and Mario. Let’s be honest— one Unicorn vs. a Dragon and the Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom with a time limit on my part? I wouldn’t have stood a chance without Sombra’s magic. However, Night Fortune gave me an awful chewing out when nopony confirmed if they were dead or alive. I can’t help but feel as though as they both are the latter.”
“My liege!” a new, gruff voice interrupted. Soon enough, the ground next to the table erupted as a Diamond Dog, Carbon, dug out, and Night Fortune came trotting back in.
“Must you do that?” the Commander growled. “I just had that spot cleaned.”
“Well, you no respect me,” the Diamond Dog scoffed. Turning to Sirius, he bowed. “My liege, I bring… bad news.”
“Ah, Captain Carbon,” Sirius smiled, surprising the Bearers. “How are you, big guy? Come to meet our lovely guests?” He then looked at Carbon more thoroughly, gasping in surprise. “My word, you’re hurt! What happened to you?”
“Yes, well,” Carbon stammered, “so, I go hunt for hostages to get Bearers to tell where they send Elements of Harmony as per Commander Night Fortune’s orders. I find three fillies perfect for job. All seem close to Bearers, and really cute things, to boot. Best hostages for situation.”
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity gasped, realizing who Carbon was talking about. “Now you’ve all gone too far! What have you done with my sister, you brute!?”
“Or Apple Bloom!” Applejack scowled, standing up from the table. “If ya’ll don’t want me buckin’ yer teeth down yer throat, ya better let her go RIGHT NOW!”
“You better not have hurt a hair on Scootaloo’s head!” Rainbow snapped. “She may not actually be my sister, but she’s a pretty cool kid!”
“Interesting,” Sirius scowled at Night Fortune. “I wouldn’t have stooped to stealing random foals, gentlecolts. Shame on you both for doing so behind my back.” Looking back at Carbon, he asked, “So, were you beaten up by fillies? Children always were under-hoofed fighters when facing adults. Their little hooves are so quick, and their size just asks for them to kick you in unmentionable places. If it's anything like the horse armor incident we had in Neighpon, you probably should get some ice for that. I'll ask somepony to draw you a bath, too.”
“Uh, no,” Carbon replied. “I not even GET foals. Teacher mare got in way. Not like horse armor incident at all.”
“And the teacher beat you up?” Sirius asked. "...Are you absolutely certain this is NOTHING like the horse armor incident?"
“No, again,” Carbon answered. “I probably could have taken teacher... this time. But, from out of blue, Goomba with miner helmet attack my men!”
“Okay, I’m going to stop you right there,” Sirius interrupted. “If you’re about to say a GOOMBA did this to you and it DIDN'T have Multibonk, Captain… I will laugh so hard about how ridiculous this is. And laughing causes me great pain right now, so I probably shouldn’t hear the rest of this.”
“Actually, Goomba only beat up my fellow Dogs,” Carbon reported. “Turns out she actually Daring Do if she was born Goomba. I instead run into red-wearing Mustache Man and purple Dragon you defeated in Canterlot. THEY beat me up.”
The six mares in the room all gasped at this piece of news that was shared with them. They looked at each other, tears of joy in each of their eyes. Their baby Dragon was still alive, and he was with Mario. However, Sirius had a frown on his face.
“So, a Goomba can imitate Daring Do?” he asked the Diamond Dog with curiosity in his voice. “Hmm… that must be quite the cosplay at conventions.”
“My liege,” Night Fortune scowled, “what about the fact that the infamous Mario and the Dragon Spike are STILL alive, and could possibly have found out about the Elements of Harmony?”
“Well, that is troubling, too,” Sirius agreed. “Not to mention it is more important than the Daring Do cosplaying Goomba. We probably should stop them before they get their hands on an Element before it's too late.”
“Uh, kind of too late for that,” Carbon answered. “I would have returned sooner, but spy in Appleloosa report to me. He said that Mustache Man and Dragon have already recovered first Element of Harmony that was stolen by a local outlaw, Black Mask Guylan.”
“Guylan?” Applejack asked aloud. “He was that no-good snake that has been terrorizin’ mah cousin Braeburn’s town fer the past few weeks!”
“Well, he now in the slammer,” the Diamond Dog replied. “Mustache Man and Dragon saw to that. We figured he got Element too late.”
“This is quite the news, Carbon,” Sirius nodded. Thinking aloud, he declared, “Well, it seems that we now have competition in gathering the Elements of Harmony. This is quite a predicament.”
“Who we wouldn’t have if you had been more thorough ending their games, my liege!” Night Fortune voiced. “No doubt that they will soon go after another Element thanks to this shaggy dog’s failure to destroy them!” While Sirius nervously pawed the ground with his hoof, Carbon scowled at the insult, letting out a not-so-subtle snarl. Growling himself, Night Fortune declared, “I will deal with these two, myself. But I know better than to go up against them alone. Where is our Papergami expert? We can turn them into confetti... or freeze them. Or freeze them, then turn them into small, confetti sized ice cubes we can put in our drinks.”
“Arctic?” Sirius asked. “He’s somewhere in the cathedral… but he said he’s busy.”
“Busy?” Night Fortune asked. “What could a Papergami Ninja possibly be busy with?”
“With preparing,” a voice answered from the table. The blue vase with the Ice Flower suddenly folded outwards, and stood up to reveal Arctic, the Ice Flower tucked into his wing. “I have been meditating, Commander. I sensed a disturbance… like a fire burning the sky. One of my old pursuers has escaped from her prison."
"Impossible!" Night Fortune answered. "Those chests I sealed them in were Cursed! Whoever attempted to open them would suffer great injuries! Unless, of couse... somepony found the key." Turning to Carbon, he asked, "Where exactly did you say the Element found by Mario and Spike was?"
"Appleloosa in San Palomino Desert," Carbon answered. "Didn't you abandon one Cursed Chest there and hide key in bush?" Night Fortune, under his cloak, could not show his emotion. However, he growled at this news, slamming a hoof into the table.
"Why didn't I just BURY those chests!?" he asked aloud.
Arctic continued, "I must be ready should the others become free, and perfect my Papergami skills for the upcoming battle with my former clan members. I’m afraid I cannot help you until I am finished with my training and my clan members defeated once and for all, Commander." With that, he bowed to Sirius before throwing the Ice Flower to the ground, sending up a flurry of snow into the air. When it faded away, the dark blue Pegasus stallion had vanished.
"I'm afraid if his clan members become a problem," Sirius shrugged before Night Fortune could ask, "my hooves are tied. They would no doubt want his head, and fighting them all at once while unprepared nearly was the endgame of him the last time."
“Ugh, fine,” Night Fortune spat. Turning to Carbon, he spoke, “I guess you and I have to work together to deal with this, brute. I have a plan to figure out where they will go next and how to ambush them, but you must act as I tell you, Carbon. No questioning my orders at all and we’ll have a stuffed Dragon plushy with an authentic mustache and red M cap in no time.”
Rarity glared with a look that would have turned Night Fortune into ash... if looks could end games. “Don’t hurt a scale on his cute little head,” she yelled at the Commander, “or I will SHRED you both!”
“The Dragon and the plumber sealed their fate the moment they crossed claws with us,” Carbon scowled. “Now, we hunt!”
“Are you sure you two don’t want my help?” Sirius offered. Night Fortune and Carbon looked at each other.
“Uh, no,” Night Fortune answered. “You’re barely able to walk right now, my liege. No offense, but you would be a hinderance at this point, and we cannot risk losing you at this point as you alive raises our forces' morale. You’re better off waiting here.”
“Fine,” Sirius groaned. “Well, good luck finding the next Element and battling Mario and Spike, gentlecolts. Oh, and no going after defenseless foals again. We do NOT want a repeat of the horse armor incident in Neighpon.”
“Promise no foal kidnapping,” Carbon nodded. “Instead, we crush Mustache Man and Dragon. Now, for real, we hunt!” The black Diamond Dog then grabbed Night Fortune before jumping into the hole, much to the stallion’s protests.
“I dislike their more ruthless actions,” Sirius announced to the mares, “but I can’t help but admire Carbon for his tenacity, his eagerness to serve, his brute strength, and his loyalty to me. As for Night Fortune, my old friend... though he needs to loosen up and live at times, I would be nowhere without his brain and the attack on Canterlot would no doubt have ended in absolute failure had it not been for him. They both, however, strongly dislike each other for Night Fortune's rather... bigoted remarks towards non-ponies, and Carbon not getting much respect thanks to Night Fortune. You know, this is why I keep telling the ladies of the Colts of Nocture that although the name seems like this is a masculine order, they should try to jump up the ranks and join the inner circle of this group and getting all of its perks. I feel as though a quirky female would round them out and stop them from fighting each other. Do you all think I should hold auditions next week?"
“How do you have a Diamond Dog working for you?” Twilight asked, ignoring Sirius' strange question. “They hate ponies! The ones my friends and I have encountered were slavers who only want treasure and nothing else.”
“Not all of them hate ponies or are greedy monsters, Miss Sparkle,” Sirius answered. “Carbon, however, loves our cause of bringing the Eternal Night. You see, there are several species throughout the world that need the night to thrive, and would be free if the world was in an eternal night. Diamond Dogs, for example, thrive in dark places. They live and work underground because the light of day makes it so hard for them to find and dig up gems with the notoriety of several members of their species. Or, if you want another example, Monty Moles. They wear sunglasses or goggles all of the time due to their eyes being unable to handle sunlight. Most Boos cannot stand living in bright places, either. It’s only natural that many species would wish to support our actions.”
“Boos?” Fluttershy asked, slightly shivering at that. “As in… ghosts?”
“Yes, Miss Shy,” Sirius nodded. “I could have sworn a few of them were around here in the cathedral. I wonder where they floated off to. They would have loved to meet you all…”
“Um… no thanks,” Fluttershy declined. “May I be excused…?”
“Done already, Miss Shy?” the stallion questioned. “Are you sure you don’t want to try the Chuckola Soda? It’s one-of-a-kind from the Beanbean Kingdom…”
“Um, I’d rather be in that room we woke up in… where no ghosts can get me…”
“We’ll go with you, Fluttershy,” Twilight assured her as she stood up, grabbing Pinkie Pie.
“But I haven’t gotten to try the Chocolate Pie yet!” Pinkie protested as she was dragged over to Fluttershy. When she saw her friend shivering in fear, Pinkie’s protest quickly ended, and she gave the timid Pegasus a gentle smile. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. If any ghosties try to get you, I’ll giggle at them until they go away! Boos are supposed to run away when you look at them, anyways.”
Sirius offered a laugh, only to wince in pain. “Okay, this is going to be annoying until I heal up,” he muttered in agony. “Anyways, brothers, would you all be gentlecolts and escorts our lovely guests to their suite. Oh, and do be gentle with them. I do not want a single hair out of place.”
With that, the Bearers were returned to their suite.
---
Bearers’ Suite
After being placed back in their large room, Pinkie Pie reported, “So far, no ghosts, Fluttershy. I guess they’re shyer than you are!”
“Ugh, this is terrible!” Rainbow groaned, ignoring the fear Fluttershy had of the Boos. “We’re stuck in here where we have NO idea where we are, the Elements of Harmony are scattered around Equestria, the Princesses are trapped in Canterlot, and our only hope of saving Equestria is somepony we hardly know anything about and Spike. We ought to be out there getting our Elements back, not trapped in a comfy looking hotel room set-up with armed guards a couple floors upstairs!”
“How rude, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity interrupted. “Don’t tell me you don’t care for Spikey-wikey at all!”
“Of course I care for the little guy,” Rainbow defended. “But, I’ll be honest… Spike reminds me a bit of Tank. The little guy has a ‘don’t give up’ attitude I have to admire, but… well, he’s not exactly somepony I’d expect to be the dashing knight in shining armor save me from being locked up in an evil castle like I was some kind of princess.” Rainbow’s friends just stared at the blue Pegasus, who just scowled. “Oh come on, I’m not allowed to have a girly frou-frou fantasy every now and again?”
“Uh, Ah won’t say anythin’,” Applejack replied. “Still, like it or not, Rainbow, Mario an’ Spike are the only ones who can do anythin’ right now. Ya saw how many cultists were up there. Bucky McGillygully an’ Kicks McGee ain’t up fer takin’ them all down. An’ with Twilight an’ Rarity’s horns locked up tighter than mah family’s apple cellar in the winter along with yer wings an’ Fluttershy’s, we ain’t getting’ past them.”
“Couldn’t we use Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to talk them or cute them to death?” Rainbow suggested. Applejack scowled.
“That Night Fortune guy seems to have planned fer all o’ us,” the orange Earth Pony announced. “Ah can’t help but worry what he’s got fer Pinkie Pie. An’ Ah don’t think Night Fortune likes cute things.”
“Well,” Twilight shrugged, “no use trying to escape this place without magic, flight, or strength. And without Spike, we can't get a message to Princess Celestia... not that any of it matters, because we have no idea where in the world we are. We should be looking around, trying to find something we can use to help Spike and Mario.”
With that, Twilight began to inspect the suite, trying to find anything of use. So far, besides the large living room, they had six seperate bedrooms to sleep in, but three bathrooms, so two ponies would each have to share a bathroom. However, nothing of value came up, including searching each of the rooms. Twilight only found a Close Call Badge which she only recognized because of Goombella teaching her about Badges. However, it made no sense to the lavender Unicorn that the Badge was in the room Rainbow had apparently claimed for herself. After going back to the main lobby, she shook her head.
“Oh,” Rarity whined, “I just wish we could help Spikey-wikey somehow! At least let him know we’re okay!” Soon enough, though, as if her wishes came true, the door to leave the suite suddenly opened. However, after a few moments of waiting for someone to come in, the six saw that nobody was there. “Well, that was… strange.”
“…Well, it doesn’t look like anypony is in the hallway,” Twilight declared. “Maybe we can do a little bit more investigating.”
The five brave mares— and Fluttershy— continued down the hallway, keeping an eye out for danger. However, they quickly realized something as they walked… there was not a single pony, Koopa Troopa, Goomba, or any creature waiting for them in the hallway. They then remembered the large green door that led to the stairs that took them to the main levels of the cathedral. When Applejack tried to open it, however, she was disappointed that it was locked by the Nocturne Cultists.
To say they found it strange even by the context of the situation they were in was an understatement. If anything, it made them tenser about the circumstances, especially considering the only other door available to them on this level was an odd white door… which was wide open.
“Girls,” Pinkie Pie remarked, “this is actually getting… kind of scary…”
“It’s almost as if somepony WANTS us to follow them,” Rainbow announced. “Well… should we?”
“Let’s be careful, girls,” Twilight suggested. “Who knows who awaits us through this door?”
Twilight led the six single file through the door… only to enter a rather dark room. Not too much light was in the room, save for the light being let in by the hallway. The six mares looked around, trying to spot anything about the room… until the door suddenly slammed shut, causing them to jump in mild fear.
“H-H-Hello?” Rarity stammered out. “Is there anypony… here?”
“…Boo… get out…” an eerie voice called through the air. “Get out…”
“Okay, this evolved from weird to just plain freaky,” Rainbow declared. “Who are you…?”
“…Oh, nobody, really,” the same voice answered her. “I’m only dead… Boo...”
“Only dead…” Twilight repeated. “Are you… a ghost? That’s not scientifically possible!”
“You live in a land of magic, sweetheart… nothing’s ‘scientifically possible’… okay, I can’t keep this up anymore. Talking like this is annoying. I’m just going to jump into the conclusion.”
“Wait… what conclusion?” Fluttershy whispered. She then felt something tap her shoulders, causing her to gasp before turning around… to see a light blue male Boo with a black domino mask over his eyes, and a sinister grin on his face.
“…Boo,” he whispered right into her ear. As predicted, Fluttershy let out a loud scream, which startled the other five. He then laughed at the six, who backed themselves up into a corner of the room. “Boy, that was FUN!”
“Really, Boogular?” a new male voice spoke up. Soon enough, the room suddenly began to light up. Twilight, while holding a panicked Fluttershy, could not help but notice the room. It was about the size of the living room in their suite. It had several bits of complicated machinery that she had hardly ever seen before in her life. But what marveled her attention the most was the giant screen in front of her, equipped with a keyboard capable of being used by equine hooves.
Soon enough, a dark green male Boo just faded into existence, right next to Fluttershy. The Boo was wearing a pair of glasses over his eyes, and had a brown curled mustache on his face. “You’re going to risk blowing our cover over scaring people?” the new Boo scolded the other one. “We’re not supposed to be in here, and neither are they! Be happy that nobody heard her scream!”
“A second Boo…?” Fluttershy asked, having a bit of a panic attack.
“Oh, lighten up, Reboot,” the blue Boo, Boogular, chuckled. “I got bored a little. Besides, scaring people gets their blood pumping, too! It keeps me on my non-existent toes.” Pinkie Pie then let out a giggle. “See? Someone appreciates my work.”
“You two are so funny,” Pinkie Pie giggled.
“Of course,” the green Boo scowled, “you’d compromise us over getting a laugh. Not cool, Boogular. We’re on a tight schedule, here.”
“Oh right,” Boogular chuckled. “You’re just mad that I scared your little yellow angel, Reboot.” The green Boo blushed for a moment, but scowled, his face red.
“H-Hey!” Reboot yelled. “Shut-up about that! It’s none of your concern, and it’s not like that at all!”
“Well, you’re the one who sleeps with the yellow Pegasus plushy and spend hours brushing her pink mane and tail,” Boogular remarked. “It’s not my fault I notice it.” As the two argued, Fluttershy was less afraid of these Boos… and more afraid of what they were talking about.
Fluttershy was in all aspects a gentle mare. She wanted only a few things in life… to spend time with her friends and animals, nice and quiet afternoons with the occasional tea, perhaps finally getting Angel to listen to her and eat his carrots with no protests. But when she was brought to attention by others, well… it made her nervous. She was forced into a modeling career by Rarity’s insistence and esteemed photographer Photo Finish, and hated every single minute of being in the limelight.
To have somepony, a BOO to be precise, crushing on her, she was absolutely terrified. Not only was she the center of somepony’s attention but that was a ghost’s attention. And ghosts, besides being super scary, had one other fear factor for her… no privacy. They could just faze through everything. But one thing made Fluttershy concerned about Reboot’s attention on her.
“…There are plushies of me?” Fluttershy asked her friends, who all just raised their eyebrows.
“Well, during your modeling career, they could have made various profits out of your image,” Rarity voiced. “Perhaps ponies wanted a stuffed Fluttershy doll.”
“It’s an action figure!” Reboot argued to Boogular.
“A stuffed Fluttershy action figure with real squeaking action,” Boogular chuckled. “What happens when you squeeze her body, again? Oh, right… she does that adorable squeaking noise.”
“Ah hate to interrupt yer increasingly awkward lover’s spat, boys,” Applejack spoke aloud, “but we’ve got some questions fer ya. One, who are ya’ll? Two, were you boys the ones who led us here? An’ three, what do ya want with us?” The two Boos stopped arguing.
“Oh, right, almost forgot,” the blue Boo laughed. With a bow, he began, “Anyways, allow us to introduce ourselves. I am the legendary Phantom Thief, Boogular! This is my right hand Boo, Reboot!”
“We are humble spies hired by the great Lady Bow of Forever Forest’s Boo Mansion,” Reboot continued. “Our task, of course, is to infiltrate the Colts of Nocturne and report their activities our beloved benefactor. Though, originally, we were asked to come to Equestria to find excellent haunting locations.”
“…I thought the Mushroom Kingdom had some kind of spy network,” Twilight realized. “But Boos? Well, that’s shocking.”
“Actually we don’t work for Princess Peach if that’s what you’re asking,” Boogular answered. “We work for Lady Bow, the mistress of all non-Bowser aligned Boos. But enough of that.”
“Anyways, to answer your second question,” Reboot replied, “yes, we deliberately led you here. We have a reason for it.”
“Is it for Fluttershy’s autograph?” Pinkie Pie guessed. “Just to warn you, she’s not a model, anymore. Plus, she’s kind of scared of you guys.”
“Uh, no,” Reboot blushed.
“Though Reboot will probably take the autograph later,” Boogular replied with a slight chuckle, “we’re not calling you for that. To finally answer your third question, well, we have two reasons for calling you here. First off, gentlemen like us cannot resist wiping away the tears of six beautiful damsels in distress.”
“Don’t go too far with calling US damsels in distress, buddy,” Rainbow scowled. “If I didn’t have my wings chained, these guys would all be sorry!”
“Somehow I don’t doubt that,” Reboot agreed. “The injuries you all left on the other cultists pretty much left a clue that you could probably take on at least several members of this group by yourselves if you weren’t properly bound. Our point is we’re going to try to help you as much as we can… without blowing our cover.”
“So,” Rarity voiced, “I take it asking you to use your ghost powers to whisk us away from here is out of the question?”
“Unfortunately, at this time the answer is yes,” Boogular replied. “Though it would be the greatest caper I’ve ever pulled. Stealing not just any six mares right from under the leader of a cult's snout, but the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony from under the snout of the leader of a cult dedicated to Nightmare Moon? People would be talking about that heist for CENTURIES! Anyways… we could not help but notice you all talking about… Mario.”
“Mario?” Twilight asked. “What about him?”
“We Boos actually owe him a colossal favor,” Reboot answered. “You see, a long time ago, members of my family beyond Forever Forest back in the Mushroom Kingdom were terrorized by a giant, ghost-eating Clubba by the name of Tubba Blubba. Please ignore the rhyme.”
“Tubba Blubba?” Applejack questioned. “Sounds like a mighty wimp.”
“He was ORIGINALLY,” Boogular continued. “Boos of Gusty Gulch enjoyed scaring him because despite his huge body, he was scared of his own shadow! That was until he got a power-up granted to him by King Bowser of the Koopas. Bowser made Tubba Blubba invincible, impervious to all attacks, in exchange for his service and guarding one of the seven Star Spirits Bowser had once captured! Using this, Tubba Blubba went on a Boo-eating rampage, gobbling us down one-by-one. Something that could eat GHOSTS is something that’s absolutely terrifying! Then, Mario showed up…”
“With the help of Lady Bow,” Reboot finished, “Mario and his team at the time found the source of Tubba Blubba’s invincibility and defeated him, making him free all of the Boos he had eaten. Tubba Blubba had eaten my cousin, so… I feel like I owe Mario for saving his afterlife, ever since. And if helping you helps Mario, our debt to him will be repaid.”
“Wow,” Pinkie Pie breathed. “Mario is a bigger hero than I thought. Saving ghosties? Fighting giant monsters? What hasn’t he done?”
“Well, he saved the multiverse, once,” Boogular replied. “Anyways, our point is, we can help you help him and that little Dragon guy you all mentioned before. Spike, right?”
“Hold on,” Rarity interrupted. “How are you helping us help Spikey-wikey?”
“You see, believe it or not, Mario carries a Mailbox XP,” Boogular answered.
“Actually, Mailbox 3DS,” Reboot corrected. “He upgraded recently, if my intel from one of the other teams is correct. Anyways, that can receive wireless messaging from anywhere in the world call ‘e-mail’. You can use this giant computer that we have to send mail to Mario… and perhaps Spike.”
“Really?” Twilight gasped, looking at the large monitor. She then noticed all of the icons on it, including one labeled, “e-mail” looking like an open envelope. “So, we can let Spike know we’re okay from anywhere in the world? Oh, that’s amazing! Perhaps with your help, we can foil Sirius Nebula’s plans for Nighttime Eternal from the inside.”
“Hold on, there,” Boogular interrupted. “It’s not that simple, Miss Sparkle. We may be helping you… but we can only do so much without blowing our cover. We’re not even in Sirius Nebula’s inner circle to be entrusted with secure information. We don’t know his plans… yet. We need more time to figure them out. And perhaps with your help, too.”
“Our help?” Fluttershy asked. “But all of those guards…”
“Don’t worry,” Reboot smiled. “They’re on strict orders not to harm you. Sirius may be evil, but he’s a gentleman about being evil. Anyways, right now, it’s best you stay on this floor. I’ll need time to plan in order to retrieve data. In the meantime, you can use the computer here.”
Reboot then did something the ponies would not have thought possible… he fazed into the computer screen, where he reappeared in some type of eight-bit style on the screen. Reboot then floated to the e-mail icon, clicking it to pop-up a new, blank screen, where the user could begin writing. After filling out the address himself, Reboot then nodded to the screen.
“Okay, ladies,” Boogular announced, “you may write something. Just simply type a message, and Reboot will send it.”
“Okay,” Twilight nodded, walking up to it. “Hmm… this looks quite like my mom’s typewriter back home. I never knew why she always wrote like this. Perhaps I should have listened to her more when she said, ‘Twily, there will be times where you and your brother won’t be able to levitate a quill with your magic and you’ll have to learn to write by mouth or by hoof. That's why I'm teaching you how to use a typewriter like Mommy so you can still write messages when Spikey's not around’. Score one for Mom.” She then stood up on her hind legs, and began typing. Despite being out of practice with using her hooves, Twilight surprised herself by being able to type out a decent message, Reboot making any corrections as she typed.
Eventually, though, Rarity chirped in, “Oh, don’t forget to tell Spikey-wikey we all wish for his safety… and Mario should not dare get him hurt.”
“I was going to tell Spike to be careful,” Twilight responded, not looking away from the computer. When she had finished typing, she asked, “How does it look?”
“Perfect,” Reboot answered from the computer. “Not bad for your first e-mail. I’ll send this to Mario right away! Oh, and Spike.” Reboot then floated up before hitting send, causing a giant envelope to pop up, swallowing the message Twilight typed. The envelope sealed itself while a light blue, eight-bit Warp Pipe popped up at the bottom of the screen. The envelope then floated down to the Warp Pipe before swirling itself down it.
“Message sent,” Boogular announced for them as Reboot emerged from the computer. “Alright, ladies and Reoot, we’ve caused enough trouble in here for tonight. You girls should probably go retire to your suite for the evening while we cover up our tracks.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied. “Night, boys… and thank you for helping us.”
“You’re welcome, ladies,” Boogular smiled. “We’ll call you once we have something for you to do.” The six mares began to walk out, Fluttershy being the last.
“Good night, Fluttershy…” Reboot waved at her, causing her to stop. She silently looked at the green Boo, who nervously adjusted his glasses. Fluttershy, without saying a word, turned around and galloped out of the room. Reboot just stared for a bit before fading out of existence. Boogular silently shook his head at his friend prior to vanishing as well.
Stats
Page generated in 0.034 seconds
Total duration
827 users online
473,937 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
BWA HA HA HA!
What's a Mario story without a Bowser appearance?
A lame story, that's what!
BWA HA HA HA!
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mc5tken9PM1re1u9co1_500.png
2136072
I know! We also added his kids!
Yeah, Equestria is screwed, isn't it? Because there is now seventy percent more Bowser.
smackjeeves.com/images/uploaded/comics/2/d/2d87f362fMRCn.png
2136170
...Oh my god. I couldn't stop laughing for a minute. I know I shouldn't laugh, but the pun was well delivered.
i wish i could like this story a second time, but i can't so a few mustaches will have to do.
2136275
Well, Mustaches are nice... especially considering this story has a lot of them. Mario's, Luigi's, Reboot's, Silverstar's, Toadsworth's, Spike's fake one. And the mustaches are only going to get better!
Ah at last Bowser and his kid's and his followers Kammy and Kamek have entered the story. How will they affect things? How will Bowser react once he finds out what's going on? Will any of them besides Bowser of course play a big part in this story? Is the ambassador for Beanbean Kingdom Discord? If so you might want to edit some of the previous chapters. Since it's been said he's still a statue. I like Boogular and Reboot, and I have to admit they did remind me of Sly and Bentley.
2136333
Yeah, let me answer the Bowser questions first. One: Bowser's Koopa Troop is now official the secondary antagonist group ala The Thousand-Year Door. They will be causing a lot of trouble for Mario's party (and will be throwing down with them a few times, FYI), but the story will remind you that the Colts of Nocturne are the bigger threat to Equestria. Two: Bowser will kind of be ticked that he can't kidnap Peach because there's a giant barricade in the way that's resistent to fire... but he'll remember that Peach can't exactly escape either. Therefore, he'll be determined to get the Elements because as far as he'll know, it's the only source of magic capable of helping him get to Peach. I MAY allow people to play as one of the Koopalings (Ludwig and Iggy FTW!), but I may not have the time. Not Kammy or Kamek, though.
Discord as the Ambassador? Maybe. I'll have to go back and fix things, anyways. I mean, I already have him established as free in Chapter 1, but there were other moments where he was stone.
Boogular and Reboot do have the same colorings of Sly and Bentley. I really do love the Sly Cooper games, but I keep having to remind myself, "Sly is on PS3, not Wii U!" Still, having their expies will be fun. And the reason they're Boo partners is to establish that the Mane Six segments are mostly stealth based.
actually Count Bleck Didn't die at the very final scene of Super Paper Mario (appearing even after the staff credits) depicts two figures standing on a green hill in the midst of a bright meadow.
He is with Tippi.
2138003
Personally, Timpani's transformation back to her human form, especially after Merlon told the team that should Tippi's transformation to her Pixl form wear off she'll die, kind of made me think Tippi and Bleck are dead. Also, the fact that Bleck said right before they made their wedding vows to stop the Chaos Heart that there was a strong chance that the ones who used their love to stop the Chaos Heart would die made me think that, too.
You could be right that the two could be alive. Or they could be together in death. The game's ending left their fates kind of ambigous. But we all know for certain Dimentio is dead. In fact, the only Paper Mario series exclusive villain confirmed alive, but just barely, is Grodus, who is a decapitated robot head.
I'm like reference sly cooper and semi return of dark prognosticus I suposut idea bowserb get one of emement in the somwe one chapter in the final and mario and and friends recover in the next or second
2140680
Blame me for being a Cooper fanboy.
Anyways, that WOULD be an interesting twist, but I already have the three- count them, THREE- Bowser fights planned, and Bowser getting an Element isn't going to be one of the reasons why there is a Bowser battle.
Awesome chapter like always, man! Even though I'm suppose to hate the guy, I can't help but admire and respect Sirius Nebula. He may be evil, but he does care for the well being for his followers (something that isn't said often with other main antagonists), and hostages are no exception! And the Boos are awesome! I especially find it funny that Reboot has a plush toy of Fluttershy.
So cute! Keep up the good work, bro!
2148011
Thanks!
Sirius may be the main antagonist, but he's a good boss. Sirius is pretty much a mix of Count Bleck (good manners, over-the-top with hamminess, would probably have a kick-butt theme, and has the GUTS to challenge six of the most powerful mares in Equestria) Beldam (his ultimate goal is to pretty much revive a being of darkness he calls his Queen, just like her plan), and Dimentio (he's got a flair for interesting magic and is humorous for most of the story) in a pony's body.
Sirius really does care for his followers very well. To him, they're all a family who are but humble children and followers to Nightmare Moon. Sure, families fight, but Sirius cares for these lost souls on the path to (in his opinion) enlightenment in the absence of Nightmare Moon. Most of the creatures in the Colts of Nocturne, as said by Sirius, are those who feel out of place or unable to survive in the daylight. And Nightmare Moon is the only being stronger than Celestia that they can trust (Changelings are straight out with their current Queen in charge and their tendency to drain creatures dry of all of their positive emotions if left unchecked, the Shadow Queen is pure evil... and dead, and they're not crazy enough to trust DISCORD).
As for his gentleman's nature to hostages... well, he's evil, not a savage. Besides, each of the Mane Six would be, in his eyes, somewhat attractive... can you BLAME the guy for wanting to try to make nice with six pretty mares? Also, indirectly, attempting to woo them would (in his mind) probably make them more willing to help him in his plans. But mainly, Twilight's brain, Fluttershy's innocence, Pinkie Pie's energy, Rarity's beauty, Rainbow's tomboyish Amonzoian attitude, and Applejack's southern charm would attract Sirius. I mean, it's not like the mares of the cult are trying to get into his good graces... which really isn't hard for this guy, but the ladies are so intimidated by the cold former playcolt ninja, the brutish Diamond Dog blood knight, and the racist evil genius who simply cares for very little but his plans he calls his close friends, especially after the horse armor incident in Neighpon. Trust me, nopony walked away from Neighpon mentally unscathed except for probably Arctic (who need I remind you is the ninja), and they've all made a vow to NEVER eat Goomnut Ramen again.
What can I say about Boogular and Reboot? And yes, Reboot has a Fluttershy plushie, which interests us yet scares the mare who the toy is made after. I mean, how would you feel if a ghost who had a crush on you also had an authentic toy in your likeness?
hi again one question do you have une chapter of based in raindow factory entered this in the head due to hear the song and this would be great in itself but would be another villain, I guess another form way to extract the color and paper mario style dark story
would of more chapters this only corius
2149103
Uh... I never read "The Rainbow Factory". Or "Cupcakes" for that matter. I have heard of both of them, though, and I strongly disliked their premises... Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in each of those were serial killers, if my memory of the rumors surrounding those stories is true. Horror stuff like that freaks me the f-*squee*-k out WITHOUT the actual reading. I tend to avoid reading horror stories, and I'm not going to read or intentionally reference either "Rainbow Factory" or "Cupcakes"
The worst amount of nightmare fuel I'm willing to use in this story is the level that Paper Mario is willing to go... in short, either the worst ways sentient paper can die (shredded, burned, reduced to liquid trash, crumpled up, etc.) at best, and the existence of the Shadow Queen (who in this fic had nearly killed Princess LUNA, need I remind everyone), Mimi, the Sticker Comet, and Super Dimentio at worst. If you're asking why the Sticker Comet, think about it: That Comet contains the wishes of everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom, and has six Royal Stickers that cause whoever is equipped with those stickers to go absolutely insane with their sudden shinyness, even if they were originally good people like that poor Mizzter Blizzard. Also, it forced a really weird battle mechanic that just felt wrong for an RPG and made battles almost worthless.
I said when of begin of chapter the cloudsdale (or something similar as) I'm trying to say is someone take the factory of rainbows use from their own evil purposes (possible kamek remember you plan in yoshi island or other villian) use the happines and the colors of the ponies for create using one element weapons of base of the rainbow.
sorry for that bad idea really me too dislike is two stories
thanks.
2151499
...Oh. Well, a few things.
1) How did you know I planned on using Cloudsdale?
2) That's not half bad for a chapter idea with a few twists.
3) You just inspired me to have Kamek there for some reason.
1) I risked it and I managed
2) really really like it and a little honor for me
3) You play super mario world 2 yoshi island If you arrived at the end shows that Kamek despairs, if somewhat technically pien has proved a master mind even when aprovechava of bowser as a baby, well that would be used if someone risks do
2159079
Don't you just love the concept of Noodle Incidents? You can make an obscure reference to some event that took place prior to the story, but get away with NEVER elaborating on what exactly happened. That way, the readers can make up what happened based on some of the minor details.
To be honest, I THOUGHT of making Cadance a fellow hostage, but then I was like, "Just because the Changelings kidnapped her does not mean I can get away with the Colts of Nocturne successfully capturing her". Anyways, Shining Armor and Cadance by this point in the story already know something awful happened in Canterlot (since Shining Armor is the Captain of the Guard, he'd probably keep in contact with his men while Cadance would detect something is up when she can't reach her aunts). Also, I've established that Spike will be the only canon party member from either universe. Though make no mistake that if I were to do alternate party members, Shining Armor and Big Macintosh are automatically in the running. Big Macintosh would be that partner that players would ask themselves, "How was I able to get around without him", while Shining Armor would be pretty much the anti field hazard guy. But however, I'd have a harder time making Shining Armor have a viable Touch Screen field ability (since, you know, partners in this game have TWO uses rather than the one ability with variable use) that players could have gotten through the game without.
2159149
Jr. Troopa's Revenge DLC? Anypony? It's probably going to be much funnier than the Boomregard-centric DLC because it follows Jr. Troopa gathering an army of foes who Mario has repeatedly defeated in the past who just want revenge against him... just as Petey Piranha, Lord Crump, Gooper Blooper, and Goomboss. Mario will probably get annoyed about it, too that these guys are all after him (and endangering Equestria).
2173056
You saw how curious the Cutie Mark Crusaders were at Goombella's lecture at a certain object, and how they're using Carousel Boutique for their plans... well, put two and two together with Rarity and Sweetie's parents providing adult supervision, and... oh, you'll see when I finally update.
Thank you! I felt that this was going to be the story's charm. While I personally don't have a Wii U (I want one, but I lack the $300 bucks to get one), I felt that it would work better on the Wii U and I sat through watching the Wii U's GamePad Tour on Youtube to have a general idea how to make this feel like a real game. I just need to figure out something for motion controls.
To answer both of your questions: ABSOLUTELY. Upon collecting an Element of Harmony (and its Bearer), Mario gains a new Special Move (he already has the first one, "Truth's Relief", which heals the Party similar to "Sweet Treat" and "Sweet Feast" in TTYD). However, in battles, Mario is not limited to just one partner, anymore. Sure in the field, Mario's party will have that whole "Party in My Pocket" thing going, but get in a battle, and you have your entire team fighting at once... where up to eight opponents can fight you. However, Mario and the Element Bearer's turns are BOTH used up when using a Special Move, so be careful.
As for the Boot and Hammer upgrades, well, we're getting to a Boots upgrade next chapter... at which point, you'll probably be able to get what you need to upgrade your Hammer, but for the sake of the story, we won't get into how you'll be able to upgrade Mario's Hammer just yet. Because you'll need your Hammer upgrade to get our next Papergami power.
2173115
Yeah. Timberwolves and Dry Bones aren't exactly very different... except Timberwolves can combine and turn into a giant King Timberwolf. Dry Bones don't have that skill, thank god.
The episode with the Flories is one of the very few episodes I've ever seen of G1 (in fact, I only saw it because a friend of mine was writing a similiar type of story where Twilight's friends save for Spike were defeated and kidnapped by G1's main antagonist Tirek and she and Spike had to go save them alongside Derpy Hooves, and he [the author] was going to have a Crabnasty as a partner, making me curious about Crabnasties). I figured, "Since I want some form of reference to G1 and I'm NOT having Tirek as the main antagonist, I need to throw in a G1 villain somewhere..." and the one thing I could think of that would probably fit was the Flories.
Most of Mario's adventures, by Equestria's very loose standards, are rather weird out of context. I mean, how many ponies in Equestria could personally relate to hearing "Well, this isn't the first time I've had to deal with sentient plant life attempting to brainwash and enslave a city"? To us who have played the Mario games, it's just another day saving the Mushroom Kingdom and/or Princess Peach as Mario. But to those who have NEVER heard of this guy? They'd find it ridiculous that he's normally so calm bringing up these weird things that have happened to him.
Carbon looks like he's going to be the "Goldfish Poop Gang" like those three, doesn't he? Well, honestly... maybe. A bigger example would be Swash and Buckle.
And Boomregard... well, you'll see.
2173556
Okay, one at a time here.
1) I write really long author's notes, so I honestly don't know how long it really is sans author's notes.
Well, I guess it would be a bad idea unless you want to lighten the tone of your story.
2) Yeah, it was a bit of a mild "Take That" to the more... fanatic and/or impossible to reason with parts of the fan community. I'm sorry, but it had to be said at SOME point. Better get it out of the way now.
3) Yeah, no idea why my replies aren't there, then.
Anyways, you're imagining VAs? Intriguing...
2211464
I know, I'm EVIL!
To be honest, I sort of forgot Goombella was a fan favorite for her sassy moments and being the team's genius. Mario of course, questions why she's ducking out of going onto an adventure. Let's be honest: if the last time you team up with the local hero ends up with you fighting an ancient demon who nearly destroyed the world and sank the city before Rogueport underground (and said hero previously fought the nightmares that were Super Dimentio and the Royal Sticker possessed Bowser), you would kind of be reluctant to join up with him again for another adventure.
Don't worry, though... Goombella is still helping out. And she WILL make up for staying in Ponyville to teach, don't worry.
You just did that, didn't you.