> Paper Mario: Brotherhood is Harmony
>  by wingdingaling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: A Perfectly Good Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Prologue

A Perfectly Good Day



Ahem! Today, I am going to tell you the story of the land of friendship.



Long ago, when our neighboring land of Equestria was still young, and the Mushroom Kingdom was not yet born, a great wizard named Starswirl the Bearded laid the tenets that would unify his chaotic land.



	Using his knowledge of magic, he shared his wisdom with the ponies of the land and united them under the common beliefs of kindness, loyalty, generosity, honesty, laughter and the magic that came as the result of embracing them.



	Throughout the land, the ponies flourished and were very happy. Many thought that there was no happier place in the world to be. But, such beliefs were not shared by all.



	The dragons of the land did not believe such things would benefit themselves. They believed that theirs was a greater magic. A magic that could overtake all other forms, and push them from existence.



	Before the dragons could push all other magic from the world, Starswirl the Bearded stepped forth to stop them.



	By harnessing the powers of friendship and harmony, the magic of the dragons was pushed back, and the dragons themselves were banished from Equestria.



	In the eons since, peace and harmony have been all the creatures of Equestria knew.



	Many of us living today do not remember such things, and the ponies of Equestria have all but erased that terrible, turbulent time from their history.



	However, there are still those who do recall those dreadful days. This story begins with one such person...






"Oh yeah. This will do nicely."
Far away in a forgotten countryside, in a hidden glen, in a cave of unimaginable depths, the one of the few inhabitants of the land had completed his life's work.
For thousands of years he had plotted and ruminated, unable to accept what history had already dictated. Sent into a self-imposed exile and humiliated by countless defeats, he at last had the means to fulfill his ambitions.
The dark figure walked through the shadows, cradling the object he held. What was once lost to time was now in his grasp. Carrying it like a long lost treasure, he transported it to its final resting place.
Past the doorway the figure passed, a room of unimaginable treasures laid. Ancient coins foiled with precious metals lay in mounds upon the floor. Gemstones of all shapes and colors dotted the piles of coins. Silver cups, gold scepters, fine linens, and everything else precious and valuable lay strewn about the floor of that forgotten cavern. And in the center of them all, there on a pedestal, were the greatest achievements of the shadowy figure’s collection.
Five items, they numbered. Five innocent trinkets that had been scattered throughout the land and forgotten to the shrouds of time. Now, when the sixth was placed among them, they were united for the first time in countless millennia.
After so long, now would be the time for his glorious return to power. No longer a fragment of a forgotten past, he would reclaim his rightful place as ruler of the land.
The figure raised his head and thrust his arms to the ceiling, bathing his form in the moonlight that shone through the opening atop the cave. The rays of the celestial body reached deep into the unfathomable depths of the earth, illuminating the cavern by the reflection of the countless treasures.
By the glow of the moon, and the glimmer of the treasure, the creature spoke the ancient words of tongue long consigned to oblivion.
The six trinkets on the pedestal started to glow. As if by a will of their own, the trinkets levitated above the rest of the treasure, spinning about like dancers at a grand ball. No longer were they illuminated by the glow of the moon off of the treasures. They shone with a light so bright that they overtook all that was within the cavern.
Within the aureate glow, the creature had to cover his eyes. Though his eyes were spared the sting of the light, the rest of his body hummed with a peculiar feeling.
Through no magic of his own conjuring, the creature within the light was levitated into the air, and was folded up one, two, three, four, five times. After, his folded edges were snipped and cut.
Though he was in no pain, it felt to him as if his entire being had been turned to pulp, and his papery edges were morphing and molding to a new shape. He was becoming more than he was before. Different. Powerful.
The light in the cavern shone brighter. For many miles, the few creatures who lived far, far away from that accursed cave watched in curious awe at what was happening in that forgotten countryside.
Moments passed, and the light of the trinkets faded into nothingness.
The creature in the cavern felt nothing as his form unfolded, and there he stood with his arm covering his eyes, as if nothing had happened.
Lowering his arm, the creature looked to the trinkets on the pedestal, and saw now that they were gone. Disappeared into the aether. Become one with their conduit. But, that was not all that had changed.
The creature gasped when he looked at his own arm. It too had turned golden, and his claws were rearranged with three on the front of his extremity and one on the heel of it like a bird’s foot.
Looking behind, he found that his tail had grown long and snake-like. But, that wasn't all. No longer was his back merely a scaly carapace with a spiky ridge. It was now adorned with two golden wings. More so, he saw now that his entire body looked as if it had changed to be solid gold.
Not that it had truly changed. Rather, it was now a different color from its norm. Instead of its dull scales from before, they now had a sheen and a shimmer like polished foil.
With his new form, he could feel power flowing through him. Power enough to take back what rightfully belonged to him. It was time to gather his underlings, and spread his malice.
"Everyone, get ready," the creature called to the void between all things, "It's time to go to work, and we have a lot to do!"
Though they were all distant from one another, each of the beings he called to knew the time was nigh. With their combined power, the world would soon be theirs.





In the Mushroom Kingdom, off the edge of a peaceful burg called Toad Town, in a simple cardboard house lived the resident handymen and national heroes: the Mario Brothers, Mario and Luigi.
Though plumbers by trade, the two were hailed as heroes across the kingdom by the good folk, having saved the world and their beloved princess time after time after time from the evils that often befell them.
Today was a day that one wished could last for all time. The sun hung high in the sky with nary a cloud in sight, and the birds sang their melodious song that carried on the gentle breeze to mingle with the whistling of the fresh, green grass.
From the sky came the resident mailkoopa, Parakarry, flapping on the breeze with his mailbag firmly in hand.
Delivering here was not only a nice way to see the countryside beyond the town, but also a way to visit with his former adventuring partner from those many years ago during the Star Rod incident.
Unfortunately, Mario was nowhere to be seen in the yard. Not wanting to eat into his own schedule by looking for the plumber, he simply went about his business.
The mailkoopa reached into his satchel, placed the delivery for the address into the mailbox and gave his familiar shout.
"Mail call," Parakarry shouted loud enough for the residents to hear before he went onward with his route.
The simple cardboard door opened, and out walked Luigi to gather the post.
At the moment, he and his older twin had been fixing their faulty shower. Taking the momentary reprieve as an impromptu break, Luigi stepped off the front porch whistling a simple tune to himself. When he reached the mailbox, he opened it up and began rifling through the contents within.
For the first time in a while, Luigi was relieved to find that the mailbox was not stuffed with mushroom cupcakes that had been slathered in fireflower sauce. Not that he and Mario didn’t appreciate the love their many adoring fans sent them, but they were often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of gifts.
"Let's see," he said as he filed through the envelopes. "Electric bill. Water bill. Coupons. Menu for the new pasta restaurant, (very nice). More fan mail from that Rainbow Dash lady, (why is it only ever addressed to Mario)? Hey, Frugalla T. finally paid us for that plumbing job."
The final envelope he found was made of pink paper, and adorned with the royal seal. This one, he knew could only be good news.
"Hey, bro," Luigi called through the open door, "You got mail."
"Just a second, Luigi! I’m almost done with the shower," Mario's voice called from inside the house.
Inside, Luigi could hear Mario grunting and groaning over the last detail they had been working on.
"I'm going to fix this stupid thing if it kills me! Hey, bro! Where's that wrench?” Mario called.
Luigi opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Mario.
“Aw, forget it! Nevermind! I got this!” Mario shouted.
*WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK* *WHACK*
Luigi winced as he heard the noise. Whatever Mario was doing, he knew it was sure to ruin his reputation as the best plumber in the kingdom if anyone caught wind of it.
"Alright. I think we got it," Mario said with finality. "Let's see if this puppy works. Turn on the water main while you're out there."
After so many setbacks, Luigi was somewhat relieve to hear Mario say that. Even if what he did sounded rather unorthodox.
Reaching beneath the front porch, Luigi turned on the main water valve, ready to see the fruits of their labors.
There came a low rumbling noise in the house, which culminated in a blast of water that blew Mario right out the front door. After Mario came his hammer, which bopped him squarely on the head.
“Mama mia!” Luigi shouted, before turning off the water, so as not to flood the house.
Mario jumped up from the ground and twisted the excess water out of his body.
“I think you got the pressure up too high,” Mario said, as he smoothed out his soggy, wrinkled edges.
“Is the shower working, though?” Luigi asked.
“Nah. It’s still dripping,” Mario said. He picked up his hammer and twirled it in his hands. Clearly, it was not the tool for the job. “If only I remembered where I left that stupid wrench.”
“I got it right here,” Luigi answered, taking the wrench in question off of his belt.
Mario looked incredulously at the tool his brother held.
"What the heck are you doing with that!?" Mario fumed.
"I was going to use it on the shower, before you told me to go get the mail!" Luigi rebutted.
"For pasta's sake, bro! We're doing a job!"
"So why'd you send me to get the mail!?"
"Because Parakarry dropped it off! Are we supposed to ignore the mail when it comes!?"
"When we're working: yeah!!"
Both brother's shouted back and forth in Italian, using words that would be considered vulgar in any existing language. Some without an equivalent in another language. Finally, the argument came to an end when Luigi started waving the royal envelope in Mario's face.
"Perché ti importa se vedo solo Daisy durante gli eventi sportive!? Tu vedi Peach ogni giorno! E anche quando non lo fai, ricevi una posta da lei!” Luigi shouted.
Once Mario saw the letter, all irritation and frustration left him. A letter from Princess Peach was always a good thing. Be it an invitation to a royal ball, or simply telling Mario she had baked a cake she wanted to share with him, it was always something that couldn't be missed.
"Letter from Peach? This can only be good," Mario said as he opened the envelope and took out the letter.
"What's it say?" Luigi asked as he tried to look over his brother's shoulder.
"Quit nosing, Luigi! She's not your girlfriend," Mario said. "You'd have to see her less often for that."
Luigi reached to throttle Mario's neck, but was held back by his brother's palm on his face. This left Mario time to read the letter he was given.


	Dear Mario Bros,



	Please come to the castle immediately.



	--Peach


“Hm. That’s weird,” Mario said.
He unconsciously paced forward, making Luigi fall over flat on his face.
“What’s weird? Luigi asked, as he picked himself up from the grassy ground.
“Nothing. It’s just that Peach isn’t normally so...what’s the word?” Mario said.
Luigi peeked over Mario’s shoulder and caught a glimpse of the incredibly short correspondence.
“Concise?” Luigi suggested.
“That’s the word.”
Both took one last look over the letter.
“I guess we better go to the castle now. Best not keep my girl waiting,” Mario said.
“You think it’s something serious?” Luigi asked, as he and Mario walked to the green pipe at the edge of their property.
“I guess we’ll find out when we get there,” Mario said, before jumping into the pipe, swirling around the perimeter, and disappearing into the depths.
Luigi followed shortly after his brother.





Toad Town was a friendly place, populated by equally friendly toads. Each toad peacefully lived their lives on this day, never having to worry about the fearful, calamitous events the Mario Bros. took care of only the week before.
From the green pipe in the town square, Mario and Luigi sprang forth, and began walking along the construction paper path that led to the castle.
Being the big shots that they were around the small town, they were greeted by nearly everyone who they passed.
Vanna T. showed off her new outfit she had just designed in her own shop. Froo T. offered free samples of his produce. Tayce T. let the brothers have the leftover koopa leaf pesto she made.
After the waves of compliments that crashed over the two, they found themselves at the gates of Princess Peach’s castle.
“Sorry guys, no time to chat. Official business,” Mario said to the guards at the front gate.
Neither guard was actually paying any attention to the plumbers that walked by. Between the sleeping at his post, and the one playing on his switch, anyone at all could have walked past them.
The inside of the castle was as peaceful as ever, with its laminated checker cardboard floors, and its whitewashed columns.
“Ah. The Mario Brothers,” the castle chamberlain, Regalla T., greeted them. “Princess Peach said she would be expecting you two any moment now.”
“The letter she sent did say to come immediately,” Mario answered, showing the pink envelope to the chamberlain.
“Yes, yes. She knew that would get you two here quickly as possible,” Regalla T. said, “Now, her highness is waiting for you in the rear courtyard. I suggest you not keep her waiting.”
The chamberlain walked off to continue her domestic duties, while the brothers proceeded to the back of the castle.
“Sheesh, what a dry shroom,” Luigi said.
“I know. But, she’s good at her job, so Peach keeps her around,” Mario answered.
When they exited the rear doors, and climbed down the flight of stairs the ground floor, they brothers were somewhat puzzled by what they found.
There, Princess Peach’s staff was packing luggages into the Mushroom Princess’s personal blimp. The sight was something of an oddity, since Peach hadn’t said anything about going on a trip anytime soon.
Up at the top of the stairs that were used to board the blimp, Princess Peach appeared in the doorway of her airship. She turned slightly to allow another steward past her.
“Hey! Peach! I’m here!” Mario called.
Hearing the voice of her beloved Mario brought a smile to the princess’s face.
“Mario!” she called back.
Peach tried to walk down the steps, only to be blocked by another steward boarding. When she tried again, another steward boarded.
“One moment, please,” Peach called to Mario.
The Mushroom Princess produced her pink parasol from her item pocket, and jumped over the next approaching steward. Riding on the gentle breeze that made her body ripple slightly, Peach floated down to the ground, landing with a dainty tap of her shoes.
“Here I am,” Peach greeted Mario, embracing her boyfriend.
“Ciao bella,” Mario greeted back, before kissing her hello.
Seeing the two so happy together made Luigi think of his own girlfriend over in Sarasaland. The two of them had lately been corresponding over emails on their mailbox switches, but they hadn’t been in the same room since a recent tennis tournament.
“So, what’s this business you wanted us here for? Is there something going on?” Luigi wondered.
“Oh, yes. Something wonderful,” Peach answered.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Mario said.
“Of course. You both know how I’ve been trying to maintain friendly relations with our neighboring kingdoms, don’t you?” Peach began.
“Yeah. I remember you told me about that slumber party with your friends in Equestria last week,” Mario 
“Mm-hm,” Peach nodded. “And it just so happens that during that particular stayover, you and Luigi came up.”
Mario smiled proudly, knowing Peach would only tout him to her friends. Beside him, Luigi’s face painted itself a brighter shade of red from his name being brought up at a royal slumber party.
“Both of the ruling princesses of the land were quite impressed with what I told them about you two. And just the other day, I received a letter  from them,” Peach said, presenting an envelope that was adorned with a stamp that showed an ornate sun and moon. “You see, every year, they have a ball at their palace to celebrate the birth of their kingdom. And I’ve received an invitation from them, so that the subjects of their kingdom can get to know their royal neighbors.”
“And I bet they want us to go with you,” Mario said.
“As a matter of fact, they specifically request your attendance by name in the postscript,” Peach said, showing the invitation, where at the bottom Mario and Luigi were both requested as guests.
"Hm. A swanky banquet," Mario pondered.
"A royal reception," Luigi added.
"Loads of new folks to meet."
"Probably a mile long buffet table."
"We're in," Mario and Luigi both said at once.
"When do we leave," Mario asked.
"Now," Peach said.
"Now!?” Mario said, as he and Luigi both jumped into the air. “How do you think we're going to be ready on such short notice?"
"We aren't even packed yet," Luigi said.
"Taken care of," Peach answered as she indicated two of her servants, who each displayed a suitcase full of blue overalls, white gloves and respective red and green shirts.
"We still have to pay our bills," Mario said.
"Paid in full," Peach answered as one of the servants ran off with a bag of coins to pay for the brothers' utilities.
"You planned this ahead of time, didn't you," Mario asked.
"A lady is always prepared," Peach giggled, before she offered her arm to Mario, "Shall we away?"
"With pleasure, my lady," Mario said as he readily took Peach's arm, and placed a kiss on her cheek.
For Luigi, the chance to visit a royal gathering in another kingdom was not only a chance to improve international relations. It was a chance to rendezvous with his special lady.
Luigi ran ahead of the couple and walked backwards toward the airship's open door. "Hey, do we have time to swing by Sarasaland? I want to see if Daisy can go to this too."
"I'm sorry, Luigi. I already asked her if she wanted to come. But, she said she was going to be competing in an international tournament," Peach apologized.
"What!?" Luigi exclaimed, just before his heel bumped the first step onto the airship and made him fall over backwards.
"If it makes you feel better, she was sad about leaving you without a date," Peach consoled.
Luigi answered with a despaired moan.
"Cheer up, bro," Mario said as he jumped over Luigi and helped Peach step around him, "Maybe there'll be someone at the ball you can dance with. Then you can only ever dance with her again at the next ball."
If Luigi wasn't in such a deep blue funk, he would have shot a verbal jab back at his brother. Instead, he sulked on the steps while Mario and Peach happily discussed what they would wear to the ball. Until he yelped loudly when the steps folded up with him still on them.





In the furthest part of the land, anchored above a pit of molten red and orange pulp rested Bowser's Keep. An imposing structure where only the brave entered. Them, or any member of the Koopa Troop, that is.
Each one of Bowser's soldiers went about their business as usual, but something was off about today. Their Lord Bowser had not been seen in days. The last time any of them (even Kammy Koopa) saw him, he said he had something important to do and locked himself in his throne room.
Since then there was no sign of him, although noises could be heard inside occasionally. Strange noises, like sounds of struggle, and a voice that didn't belong to their cranky leader.
There had been nothing but unrest since he had gone. But, their unease was about to increase tenfold by what they were about to face.
The doors to the throne room burst open, slamming two of the guards against the walls. The sudden noise startled everyone else present, and were more startled by the sight before them.
It was a creature like a dragon, but not like the dragons they knew. Instead of the towering behemoth that sent fear even through their ranks, what they saw was a creature slightly larger than themselves, with four legs ending in bird-like claws, a long tail that wrapped nearly twice around itself. Given the size and proportions of it, it almost seemed like any member of the Koopa Troop could have jumped on its back and rode off into the sunset.
"Hey! Who's this guy," one of the koopas asked.
"You remember letting this guy in," another guard asked.
"Where's Lord Bowser!? What were you doing in there with him," said a third.
"Bowser?” the golden stranger scoffed. “You don’t have to worry about him anymore. I crumpled him up, and put him in the trash where he belongs. So, from here on out, you're working for me," the creature answered.
"MY WRINKLED FANNY WE ARE," croaked an old voice.
From somewhere above, Kammy Koopa flew into the grand hall on her broom to confront the newcomer.
"Who do you think you are, you gilded pretty boy!? Huh!? You got no right to comin' in here and ordering us around like you own the place! Get Bowser back here, NOW!" the hag said, threateningly brandishing her magic wand in the stranger’s face.
The golden stranger didn’t even flinch at the sight of the magic wand. Instead, he simply raised a claw and pushed it aside.
"The Bowser ship's sailed, you dusty tumor,” the stranger said. “I'm here to shake things up, and make you guys look good again.”
“Oh yeah. Sure,” said the first guard.
“Pft. Fat chance of that,” said the second.
Kammy Koopa glared at the less than inspiring morale of her own troops.
“You don’t believe me? How about this: I just ended the game of the guy Mario’s been fighting for years. What does that say to you?” the stranger said.
A wave of hushed agreements ran through the ranks of the guards present.
“Aw, horsefeathers. I don’t buy it,” Kammy said.
“You don’t have to buy it. You just have to look at the facts. I’m way beyond anything you’ve ever had in your ranks before. And I can make you all more powerful than you’ve ever been before,” the stranger said. “With me leading you, we can plow through the other kingdoms like daffodils! It doesn't matter how weak or how strong any one of them are, because with my leadership you guys will be able to handle anyone and anything that even tries to sneeze in your direction.”
That certainly did sound promising to the present troops, who had been defeated countless times by a blue collar worker.
“What do you say, guys? Why don't we go out there, and paint the town red? And why stop there? How about we drench the whole world a new coat of cherry. All you have to do is follow me," the stranger said.
The guards all started smiling under their helmets, intrigued by the prospect of success at long last. After so many defeats, they had lost all hope of ever winning. But, the idea of a new leader made it tempting to accept.
"You know what: heck with it. I'm in," said one of the guards.
"Yeah. I like the way this guy talks. He's got a kind of...confidence," said another.
"Not like that stupid Bowser. That guy was all theatrics, and no planning. This guy sounds like he knows what he's doing."
"I like this guy. I'm on board."
"Me too," said the two guards who were smashed behind the doors when the stranger first arrived.
"What are you ninnies thinking!?" Kammy Koopa yelled at the guards. "Some gold-plated thug walks in, overthrows our beloved ruler, starts making a bunch of empty promises, and you low-grade grunts all side with him!? Lord Bowser would be ashamed of you!"
"Doesn't matter how he's feeling where he is. It's all about me now, little lady," the stranger answered. "So, how about you putter off on that old duster of yours and spread the word about the new guy in charge?"
"Forget it, pal," Kammy Koopa asserted. "I don't take orders from no 24 karat jerk! And I'll have you know, this is a vintage double star model broom!"
"You can tell its vintage from all the mold in its straws. Get some crackers and wine, and you could serve it to guests," the stranger said.
"Why you--!" Kammy Koopa said, as she flared up her magic wand.
It was only a snort from the stranger that released a golden fireball from his nostrils. That was all it took to reduce the broom to ash, sending Kammy Koopa landing hard on her wrinkled fanny.
"Ohhhhh! After fifty years, I just paid that thing off," the hag moaned.
"Don't worry about it. I'll buy you a new broom," the stranger said.
"Oh yeah? How new?" Kammy Koopa asked.
"The newest there is. Even if its not on the market yet," the golden dragon said, with a promising smile.
"Could I get premium gold straws?" Kammy asked.
"With platinum tips,” the stranger answered.
"What about a redwood handle?"
"I can get it carved from the Great Boggley Tree."
"Six cylinders?"
"Why not eight?"
"Hot dog! All hail his shiny highness!" Kammy declared.
"I knew you'd come around. Now, let's get busy. Some of my friends are eager to start winning," the stranger said as he walked away.
"Yes, Your Sparkliness," Kammy Koopa answered. After she left, she stepped back into the room to give one last admonishment. "Don't you guys have work to do!? Spread the word! We're under new management!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Right away, ma'am!"
And the guards went to their work.





In the skies high above the land of friendship and harmony, not one member of the Mushroom Kingdom had any way of knowing that a new adventure was about to begin for them all.





Paper Mario
Brotherhood is Harmony

Featuring Luigi

> Chapter 1: Gallantly Gallivanting to the Grand Galloping Gala
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


	Chapter 1

Gallantly Gallivanting to the Grand Galloping Gala


On a mountain overlooking Equestria, the city of Canterlot was perched. At the Canterlot airport, balloons and blimps drifted about in the late afternoon sky, carrying passengers to and away from the shimmering city.
On the ground below, six mares, three fillies and a baby dragon eagerly awaited the arrival of one airship in particular.
Each one swayed in the wind as the gusts atop the mountain shook their papery forms. Some were excited for the arrival of the airship from a foreign land. Others wished they had spent the time waiting indoors to avoid the tempest. But, the excitement of meeting the famous Mario Bros. was enough to keep them outdoors. At least, for most of them.
A sudden gust blew, which made the fillies flap in the wind, and nearly took Apple Bloom off her hooves.
"How come we gotta be here fer the Mushroom royalty," Apple Bloom asked as she took shelter near her older sister.
"Ya said ya wanted to come to Canterlot with me. So here ya are," Applejack answered, as her edges quivered in the breeze.
"Yeah, but me an' my friends wanted to come here to get in some crusadin' fer our cutie marks."
"We never have any luck at home, so Canterlot might be where we finally get them," Sweetie Belle added.
"Instead, we're out here about to get blown off the mountain," Scootaloo finished.
"We shouldn't be miserable because of the weather. It's just the way things are on high mountaintops like this," Fluttershy said, as she hid, partially folded, beneath her sturdier friends. A sudden gust blew past them all. “EEP!!”.
Barely audible through the gusts of wind were the sounds of Rainbow Dash mashing the buttons on her 3DS. Through a mixture of concentration and frustration, she flapped and darted through the air over her friends.
"It's not so bad up here, Scoots," Dash said. "Just think: in a few minutes, the Mushroom blimp's gonna land. And you and me can meet the Mario Brothers!"
"The Mario Brothers are coming!? Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Scootaloo said, as her face suddenly lit up.
"I was gonna. But, all you did was shoot off about crusading in Canterlot," Dash said.
Flying proved unwise for her. A sudden gust made her spin and turn through the air, keeping her from calculating her in-game jump just precisely right. When Dash stopped spinning, she found herself faced with the dreaded ‘game over’ screen.
“Aw! I would have got past that chain chomp, if it weren’t so windy up here!” Dash said, as she folded up her system and placed it in her item pocket.
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes at Dash’s antics, and magically conjured a scroll before herself. Held within her magical pink aura, the scroll was unaffected by the wind around her.
The librarian’s eyes passed across the surface of the scroll she held. Having been requested by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to receive the guests, Twilight had to make sure her welcoming speech was exactly the way she wanted it. Each word was carefully chosen to convey her warmth and welcoming of the foreign royalty. Every paragraph was written to convey the full depth of the hospitality they would receive. And it was not thanks to Spike.
“Are you still reading that stupid thing?” Spike asked.
“It’s not stupid. It’s my welcoming speech for Princess Peach,” Twilight tersely said.
“I don’t why you bothered with that thing. It’s just going to put the princess to sleep. All you need is a quick hoofshake, a ‘hello,’ and a pleasant offer of your hospitality,” Spike dismissively said.
“You haven’t been around royalty for as long as me. You don’t know how strict these royal meetings can be,” Twilight answered, not taking her eyes away from her scroll.
“I’ve been around royals just as long as you have. And I know for a fact that Princess Luna and Princess Celestia won’t care about how much you prepared for this. As long as you’re nice to their friend, they’ll be happy. I swear, it’s like you haven’t learned scrap about friends or friendship.”
“Spike--” Twilight said, through her clenched teeth, “--I don’t need you talking down to me anymore. Ever.”
“Yeah, yeah. I remember our arrangement after the gala,” Spike answered.
Both Twilight and Spike turned away from one another, unwilling to carry on their conversation.
When Rarity was finished touching up her makeup with a compact kit, she glanced over and saw Twilight with her scroll.
“Ah, Twilight. Can’t go anywhere without your reading material, can you,” Rarity gently teased.
“This is more than just reading material. It’s a speech I’ve prepared for the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom,” Twilight explained.
“But, what about the Mario Brothers? Did you include them in your speech?” Pinkie asked.
“Um…” Twilight said, as she went over her scroll. “No. But, that’s just because I just now learned the princess was going to have company with her.”
“You gotta have the Mario Bros. in your welcome speech. You can’t think about the Mushroom Kingdom without thinking of them first,” Dash said.
“Alright. Fine,” Twilight said, summoning a quill for herself to use. “Can anypony tell me about them? Or who they even are?”
A wave of shock was felt by Twilight from all of her friends.
"What!?" Said Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Scootaloo all at once.
"Did you seriously ask that!?" Pinkie said.
"Twilight, you just reached a new level of nerd! Don't you play any video games!?" Dash added.
"Of course she doesn't," Spike answered, "I keep asking her if we can buy a system, but she always tells me there's no academic value in video games."
"No academic value!?" Pinkie shouted, "Video games are one of the highest points of academics! It's like reading a book, but you can control the characters!"
"It's nothing like reading a book. A book has written passages that describe the feelings and inner workings of each character and situation, delivering a proper sense of empathy to the reader. That doesn't happen in video games," Twilight rebutted.
"See what I have to deal with all day?" Spike said. "Just once, I'd like a break from reading textbooks in my spare time. Even a few bits to visit the arcade would be nice. But, no. I have to spend my allowance on educational garbage."
"Education isn't garbage!" Twilight scolded the dragon.
"Well, if you played any video games, you might know who the Mario Brothers are," Spike answered.
"Land sakes, Twi. I don't play games neither, an' even I heard of 'em," Applejack chimed in.
"As have I, though I've never played their games," Rarity said. "Supposedly, they're experts when it comes to adventuring. From travelling to outer space, stopping an alien invasion, and even rescuing the world of dreams, they've done it all. And all through their quests, they drop everything to rescue their fair maiden no matter how many times she falls into peril."
"You sure you never played their games," Dash asked.
"I am," Rarity said astutely, "However, I am a great admirer of Princess Peach. For even when she is abducted by who or whatever, she retains her ladylike poise and grace, like a true noble."
"It sounds like Princess Peach could use a few self-defense lessons," Sweetie Belle deadpanned.
"Seriously. Anypony who gets kidnapped that much could stand to learn some karate," Scootaloo said.
"Maybe when she arrives, you can show her where she can learn," Fluttershy said as she pointed to the sky from beneath Twilight.
Everypony looked to see an airship approaching. The dainty pink color of the cardboard, along with the delicate gold paper that decorate it clued them all in as to who was arriving.
The Mushroom airship drifted through the skies, and landed on the ground with a gentle thud. The landing resulted in a burst of air which made the Equestrians flap in the breeze.
This was it. The visitors from the Mushroom Kingdom had arrived. Everypony waited in anticipation as the staircase unfolded. First the two sides appeared, then the steps sprang forward to fill the empty space between the two.
As soon as the steps appeared, their inertia sent a screaming, green figure forth from their creases. The figure landed on the ground, bouncing up and down like a squeezed accordion.
"Mama mia...That's some kind of rough trip," Luigi said as he swayed in the wind, adding to the motion of his bounce.
"He's here!!" Scootaloo shouted
She, Dash and Pinkie rushed forward to greet their guest. Excitedly, the three ponies pushed Luigi down and started smoothing out his wrinkles, all in spite of the plumber’s protests. When they were done, they were somewhat surprised by their find.
"Hey! What the hay is this? This isn't Mario! It's some guy in a green Mario outfit,”Pinkie asked when she and the others finished smoothing out the arriving guest.
"Pinkie, that's Luigi. You know, the other Mario brother," Dash explained.
Luigi grumbled indignantly from the glib introduction. It seemed like no matter what, he was always the ‘other’ brother.
"Oh yeah. This is the one whose adventures we never hear about," Scootaloo said.
"Hello! Luigi's Mansion?" Luigi called from the ground below.
"I don't think I played that one,” Dash said
"Me neither,” Scootaloo added.
"And a nopey-dopey for me,” Pinkie finished.
"Well, this trip's off to a good start," Luigi grumbled as he flipped himself upright and dusted off his overalls.
From inside the blimp came the eagerly awaited passengers. Princess Peach stepped into the open doorway, and was shortly followed by Mario, who offered his arm once more to his lady. 
"There he is," Pinkie shouted loudly, before she, Dash and Scootaloo ran and knocked Luigi down again.
Down the steps of the blimp came Princess Peach and Mario. When they reached the ground, they found themselves surrounded by three excitable ponies.
"Hi! I'm Scootaloo! Can I go with you on your next adventure to get my cutie mark?"
"I sent you guys a letter a few days ago! Did you read it yet?"
"Mario! Mario! It's me! Pinkie Pie! I send you all those mushroom cupcakes and fireflower sauce!"
"You send all those?" Mario asked. The plumber was surprised, to say the least. He and Luigi had thought for months that they were sent by a whole cavalcade of fans.
"You gotta read my fan mail, Mario! It's better than everypony else's," Dash insisted, wanting to know whether or not her voice was being heard.
"I still have your letter here," Luigi said as he pulled it out of his pocket.
Dash wasn't listening. She was too busy fawning over Mario.
As her friends greeted and praised the new arrivals, Twilight stepped forth to greet the visiting royalty, just as the Royal Sisters requested of her.
“Ahem,” Twilight gently began.
Once the attention was on her, Twilight magically retrieved her scroll to read her welcoming speech.
“On behalf of the Equestrian royalty: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna--” Twilight began, before she paused suddenly.
Had she been paying attention earlier, she would have noticed Spike switching out the scroll with the speech she wrote for the scroll with the speech the baby dragon had written for her.
The librarian glanced to Spike for an eighth of a second. Just long enough to see him smirking.
Of all the things that could have gone wrong, her speech being sabotaged was the worst. Still, in order to keep up her appearances for the visitors, Twilight decided to continue reading. In the half-second since she paused, she coughed to cover up her near faux pas.
“--*cough* Excuse me. On behalf of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, I, Twilight Sparkle, hereby welcome you to our fair country,” Twilight finished.
The scroll magically disappeared. Twilight had to refrain from magically crumpling Spike up and throwing him away.
“Why thank you, Twilight Sparkle, for that lovely speech,” Peach giggled, greeting her hostess with a pleasant curtsy.
“Hmf,” Spike smugly chortled, loud enough for only Twilight to hear.
Twilight wanted nothing more than to fold Spike up and mail him to another kingdom. But, that would never do in front of the guests.
“It’s lovely to meet you all, but where are Celestia and Luna? I thought they were going to greet me at the airport,” Peach said.
"They're busy at the castle putting together the party plans I left them," Pinkie said. "Normally, I'd do everything myself, but I didn't want to miss meeting the globe-trotting, space-travelling, time-hopping, demon-slaying, goomba-stomping, super-awesome-in-every-way Mario brothers!"
"Thanks, Pinkie. It’s always nice to meet a fan," Mario said.
"Yeah, but I'm the bigger fan," Dash interjected. "I played all your games, read all your books, and watched all your movies. Even the ones unreleased in Equestria!"
"Can you tell us about when you purified the Chaos Heart and saved the universe," Scootaloo asked.
"Well, no. A lot of the stuff you see in the games is pretty overblown compared to what actually happened. But, yeah. I can tell you about when that happened,” Mario said.
"Tell them about the haunted mansion first," Luigi said.
"The what? I don't remember a haunted mansion," Mario answered.
"I know. You only remember the victories. But, not when you got trapped in the spirit world, and little Luigi had save his older bro."
"Quit telling lies, Luigi. You're setting a bad example for the kids."
"You just don't want Peach to hear how scared you were. 'Get me outta here,'" Luigi said as he mimicked Mario trying to break through the barrier between worlds.
“Avrei potuto gestire quei fantasmi se volessi!” Mario said.
“Non avevi l'attrezzatura per combattere fantasmi!” Luigi rebutted.
“Tutto ciò di cui ho bisogno è un martello! Poi tu vieni con un aspirapolvere sulla schiena, come se fossi un bidello! Hai disonorato tutto ciò che significa essere un idraulico con quella cosa!” Mario fumed.
“Why I oughta--!”
Both brothers raised their fists to clobber each other.
"Boys!" Peach admonished.
Mario and Luigi both froze mid-swing.
"We're guests in this kingdom. And I expect you to create a good impression on my friends at the palace. So, put your squabbling aside and follow us to the palace. I'm sure everyone is anticipating our arrival," Peach said.
"Yes ma'am," Mario said as he lowered his fist.
"Whipped," Luigi whispered, loud enough for only Mario to hear.
"Wallflower," Mario whispered back.
"I'm sure that we're all eager to go to the palace," Rarity chimed in, "Shall we away?"
"That would be delightful," Peach answered.
"Great. Everypony this way," Twilight said, "For those of you who don't know, we're going--"
"Up the hill, take a right turn, head past the haberdashery, keep walking until the intersection past Donut Joe's, through the town square, then a straight walk to the palace," Peach finished.
"Uh, yeah. That's exactly it. How'd you know," Twilight asked.
"I've been here before, but only to celebrate my friends' birthdays," Peach answered. "In fact, one day, Celestia and I took Luna to Belle of the Ball's Dress Shop, and she ended up buying me this dress."
"I knew that looked familiar," Rarity said, "I saw that very dress in the display window once, and I created a whole new line of clothes in a week!"
"You must have a wonderful creative spirit to do something like that. Maybe, you can do it again when you see me dancing in this,” Peach said.
"WAHAHAHA!!!"
Once again, Luigi sulked when he heard mention of dancing at the gala.
Unknown to the slumping plumber, someone else had timidly sidled up beside him.
"Um, excuse me," came a meek voice to Luigi's side.
Luigi jumped when he saw a yellow pegasus pony he hadn't noticed before.
"I'm sorry! Did I scare you!?" Fluttershy apologized, after flinching violently.
"N-No! I, uh..." Luigi took a second to compose himself, "I just didn't see you there. My name's Luigi, in case you didn't know."
"I did...And I'm Fluttershy. It's very nice to meet you. And, for what it's worth, I really enjoyed Luigi's Mansion. Even if it was a little scary," she said as she partially hid behind her mane.
"You played that?" Luigi said.
"Mm-hm. I also read the Super Luigi books," Fluttershy said, now averting her gaze as her cheeks reddened slightly.
"Yer the Luigi from Super Luigi," said another voice that made Luigi jump.
Luigi felt a little silly when he found the voice belonged to a young filly with a big, pink bow. She had been walking with her friends, but the mention of Super Luigi immediately drew her attention.
"Me an' my sister read those books all the time. Did ya really knock out a two-headed snake on yer own, or is it like what yer brother said about his adventures?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Well... less so," Luigi answered.
No matter how better known his brother was, it was always nice for Luigi to hear that he had his share of fans.
Walking through Canterlot, all manner of ponies stopped what they were doing to gaze in awe at the Mushroom Kingdom celebrities. However, they noticed there were not only ponies in the streets. All manner of Mushroom Kingdom immigrants were there as well. Koopas, goombas, doogans, craws, bob-ombs, and toads of all colors were seen.
Soon,they were upon the castle, ready to greet the Equestrian royalty.



In the royal ballroom, Princess Luna darted busily about the marbled floor.
"We must be ready! Everything must be perfect," the luna princess said as she excitedly ran about the room, adjusting whole sections of it with her magic.
The napkins that were laid out had all been folded into ornate shapes. But, when the lunar princess saw that one was crimped, they all had to be folded in a different shape.
First like pyramids, then like cranes, then like the royal seal. Not one of them was simple or welcoming enough to their guests, so she tried the next idea: flowers. That would do.
Princess Luna looked to the table, and thought it looked as if it took up too much space. With a quick blast of magic from her horn, the whole thing was rearranged like a great set of tangrams. Now that the table was arranged arranged in the shape of a stunning alicorn. 
As she looked over the table, Luna realized that such a shape would not be accommodating to their guests. She frantically changed it to a shape that would better suit the visitors. Now, they were arranged in a shape like a mushroom.
But, that would alienate any of the Equestrians present.
Luna’s mind raced for a compromise, and she found one. Using her magic once more, the tangram table was arranged into the shape of a gleaming star.
Satisfied with her work, Luna was about to move on. Until she saw that the blue color of the flowers in the vases on the table did not complement the shape of the star.
She magically pulled a tab at the bottom of each vase, and made a new kind of flower pop up. This new flower had a golden yellow color that gave a feeling of the star's actual color. It was then that Luna knew that was the color to pick.
However, the shape of the star conflicted with the round shape of the chandelier above.
Luna rectified the problem by magically folding its edges and clipping a few parts here and there.
When it was unfolded, it became a many pointed decoration that matched nicely with the table arrangement. Finally, Luna was finished.
Then again, now that she looked at it, the color of the flowers was nearly the same as the chandelier above.
So much of the same color would seem overwhelming to the atmosphere of the party, and Luna pulled the tabs on the vases to revert them to the original blue color. While the color was just as nice, it took away from the visual appeal of the table.
Princess Luna ended up rapidly switching back and forth between the two colors, unable to decide on which to use. Her eyes narrowed and her forehead became slightly soggy with perspiration. One color, and only one could be chosen. But, which?
Princess Celestia walked in from the next room, and caught her sister frantically switching between colors. She giggled shortly at the sight of Luna’s intense concentration. She walked to her sister’s side to help alleviate her trouble.
“Having a bit of a dilemma, are we, Lulu?" Celestia asked, as she stepped next to her sister.
"The arrangement must be perfect! The atmosphere must accommodate! The flowers, Tia! The flowers!" Luna practically wailed.
"Fret not, sister," Celestia said, as she made the flowers pop up to blue, "Princess Peach has always been the understanding sort. You know full well that she will appreciate anything we prepare."
"I suppose so,” Luna sighed. “But, this is the first time she is coming to a formal occasion. And tonight she is bringing the heroes of her kingdom. Heroes who are almost as well known as our own Bearers of Harmony. And I want them to be received as such.”
Luna changed to flowers to yellow.
"They aren't so different from Twilight and her friends," Celestia chuckled as she changed the flowers to blue, "Just as Twilight is a librarian, and Applejack is a farmer, Mario and Luigi are humble plumbers. I'm sure that they will appreciate anything no matter how grand or simple."
"Oh my! Plumbers! And they are renowned as world saviors?"
Luna changed the flowers to yellow.
"Indeed they are."
Celestia changed the flowers to blue.
"I suppose it only goes to show that you never know where the greatest of heroes may come from," Luna said as she turned the flowers back to yellow.
Before the conversation could go on, one of the castle staff approached the royal sisters.
"Excuse me, Princesses," the pony interjected, "I'm here to announce the arrival of the Mushroom royalty."
"They're here!" both sisters said excitedly at once.
They both ran from the room, but not until Luna used one last bit of magic to change the flowers to blue. Then back to yellow.
Rather than teleporting to greet their guests, the Royal Sisters chose the more personable option of simply running. However quickly they tried to run, Luna was constantly distracted by minor details she felt needed to be changed. When she lingered on straightening a doily, her sister had to forcefully pull her away from it.
They reached the castle foyer just as the front doors opened to reveal the Bearers of Harmony leading the visitors from the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Oh, you're here," Twilight said, not expecting such a prompt arrival from the royal sisters. However, since they were there, she decided to take the initiative to present the guests. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna; from the Mushroom Kingdom--"
"Peachy!!" both sisters squealed as they ran forward to hug their friend.
"Lulu! Tia," Peach greeted as she hugged the alicorns back.
Not one of the onlookers had ever seen such behavior from their respective royalty. In fact, none of them previously knew of the relationship between them at all. That is, except for Mario.
"It's so good to see you again!" Peach gushed.
"How long has it been? We haven't seen you in ages!" Luna said as she nuzzled Peach's face.
"Only a month. Remember, we had the slumber party with Peach and her friend from Sarasaland," Celestia explained.
"But that was so long ago! We must do it more often! And you must show me the hoof polish you used on me! I'd love nothing more than to have worn if for tonight," Luna said.
It was a side of the royalty that none of the others had seen before. Some were surprised.
Mario was not, having seen Peach with her other friends before.
Luigi was most surprised to hear that Daisy had visited the Equestrian royalty before. Something that she had never told him about.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all giggled at the sight, having heard all their lives that the Royal Sisters were the apex of dignity and refinement. And here they were acting like teenagers.
Spike, however, wretched at the idea of such a girlish gathering as a slumber party with hoof polishing. He tried not to imagine what other girly things went on there.
"Don't worry, paisan. You get used to it when you’re older," Mario said to the tiny dragon.
"It'd be nice to get away from it once in a while. But, the only way I get to do that is when Twilight and her friends leave on some adventure. Mostly, it's just to solve some friendship issue around town. And that just leaves me rearranging books!" Spike said.
"You just need to spend some time with your guy friends is all," Mario answered.
"About that,"Spike said hesitantly, "I don't really have any."
"Not one? Not even a brother?"
"No."
"Sheesh. That's some kind of tough luck," Mario said.
During their walk to the castle, Mario and Spike had talked at length about his adventures, along with his other admirers in the group. However, no matter how big a fan that Rainbow Dash said she was, she seemed like she was trying to compare who had the more interesting adventure.
Spike, on the other hand, had asked more questions about what adventuring was like, how each situation felt, and how Mario and his friends came up with a solution to every challenge. It was this kind of insight that made him see a kind of spark in the dragon that made Mario believe that he would very well one day be able make his mark as a hero like himself. Until then, the kid would be doomed to dusting off shelves and stamping books.
Mario was about to offer his consolation to Spike, until he was suddenly pulled away by Peach, and presented before the Equestrian royalty.
"And this must be the famous Mario," Celestia said. "Peach has told us so much about you."
"Is it true that you defeated The Shadow Queen all by yourself?" Luna said next.
"Come on, a demon that comes out every thousand years? Of course I had help from a bunch of my friends," Mario answered.
"And your brother, I presume?"
"Nope. He wasn't with me for that one. I think he was at home the whole time."
A dark cloud hung over Luigi's head. Had Mario forgotten how the two met in Rogueport to swap progress on their respective journeys? Did he even read Super Luigi at all? Whatever Luigi was feeling, he could only describe it as a bzzzap in his overalls. And the way that he saw Peach hanging on Mario's arm and kiss his cheek made him remember that he was without anyone to dance.
"Um...Luigi," came a quiet voice again.
Once again, Luigi jumped when he was snapped out of his thoughts, but calmed quickly when he saw it to only be Fluttershy once more.
"Princess Peach came here with Mario, didn't she," the pegasus asked.
Luigi only answered with grumble and a slow nod.
"Oh! Well...I saw that you didn't come with anypony." Fluttershy hid behind her mane when she saw Luigi's face change to a frown. "I just thought that if you were here alone...If it's alright...maybe you'd dance with me...?"
Luigi was surprised enough to hear that he had a fan in Equestria, let alone two fans. Fluttershy and Apple Bloom both talked at length about how they would have handled it if it was their brother who was trapped in the spirit world.
Apple Bloom had said that she would have had no hesitation to run into a ghost-filled mansion to rescue her brother, no matter how great the danger.
Fluttershy thought she might have done so too, but would have avoided any of the ghosts at all costs rather than face them head on. Still, if worse did come to worse, she admitted that she would rush through the mansion to find her brother.
Before Luigi could answer Fluttershy’s request, he felt himself pulled down lower by several tiny hooves.
"I think ya should go for it," Apple Bloom said to Luigi.
"Yeah. It's not every day that she asks somepony to dance. And there are a lot of stallions back home who'd love the chance," Sweetie Belle advised.
"You'd have to be really stupid to pass it up," Scootaloo said.
"Well, uh..." Luigi didn't know quite how to answer. What would happen if Daisy found out he danced with another woman? Then again, she was a fan, and all he would be doing was obliging her wishes. "I guess it would be alright..."
"Really?" Fluttershy said suddenly as her eyes lit up with a glittering sparkle. "Thank you! Thank you! I spent all day picking out what I would wear when you came!" Realizing how she had just reacted, she suddenly hid behind her mane again. "I mean, it's very nice of you to do this for your fans."
Luigi only chuckled nervously at the compliment.
"Got this one in the bag," Apple Bloom said to her friends.
"Yup. With a bit more encouragement, we can get our matchmaker cutie marks by tomorrow," Sweetie Belle said.
"Oh my! Look at the time! The gala will begin in less than an hour!" Celestia said suddenly, "Come along quickly! We must all prepare!"
"But what about the tour? I'm sure Mario and Luigi would--" Peach never got to finish her sentence as she was pulled away by two pairs of royal hooves.
"There is no time! There is still so much to do! Manes must be combed! Gowns must be put on! Adjustments must be made! Why are we all still standing here!? We must hurry!" Princess Luna said as she neatly stacked every one of the visitors and teleported them all and herself to the dressing room.



By the time night fell in Canterlot, the whole of the city's nobility had entered the castle. A who's who of upper crust society was present, but what drew the most attention of any guest was the visiting princess from the Mushroom Kingdom.
The best impressions were made by all of the guests on the foreign royalty, who felt as if she were surrounded by her own subjects for the way they made her feel so welcomed. In turn, she regaled them all with her sincere and friendly nature, which the Equestrians found was not unlike their own royalty.
Far from that humdrum, droll gathering, a much more boisterous get together was taking place by the buffet table.
Mario and Luigi enraptured their company from before with stories of their own adventures. Luigi only had the one story about the haunted mansion, but Mario went on and on about his own perils and plights.
These were in turn met with stories shared by the Bearers of Harmony and the Cutie Mark Crusaders about their own adventures and mishaps. More exciting than that, the Equestrians shared that their adventures were soon to be made into an animated series, hopefully akin to the popularity of Mario and Luigi's games.
In addition to the louder, more jolly atmosphere of their gathering, another difference was that Mario and Luigi remained dressed in their typical blue overalls and shirts, having been told this was how the public would expect them to look. They had been given the choice to wear something more formal, but they decided to wear what they were more comfortable with. Also, in the back of their minds, they anticipated something to go wrong. Then again, they were far from the Mushroom Kingdom.
"So, then what happened after the shy guys took all that stuff?" Spike asked.
"Ugh! Get this guy a console Twilight!" Dash said, before she filled in the details. "So, get this: they had to catch all they shy guys and find where they're coming from. Like, the shy guys were coming from somewhere in Toad Town, but nopony knew where! It was like they just came out of thin air!"
"Then they found a dusty old house where they saw a shy guy open a secret door that led to a toy box full of reeeaally cool toys," Scootaloo said.
"Wait: the shy guys all lived in a toy box? Aren't they my size? Even if they folded up, how’d they all fit?" Spike asked.
"Because, it was a magic toy box, where they shrank down really itsy-bitsy to fit inside! And it was full of giant-sized building blocks and jack-in-the-boxes that popped up and made them fly up in the air like a trampoline!" Pinkie answered.
"Was your brother with you for this part?" Spike asked.
He had been asking that during previous parts of the story, and wondered why these guys were always grouped as the Mario Bros, even though it sounded like Luigi sat out on a lot of the fun.
"Nope. He was at home for the whole thing. In fact, before I went to the Shy Guy Toy Box, I went to our house and found Luigi chasing a shy guy around the yard! He was all sweating and huffing and puffing, and then he passed out cold. So I had to catch it myself," Mario said.
"It seems like you spend a lot of time at the house during these things," Twilight said to Luigi, "Did you have something else you had to do?"
"Well...no," Luigi said.
"Nothin'? Ya didn't even run after yer brother while he was hammer-buckin' guys left an' right?" Applejack asked.
"Applejack, please. I'm sure there was something that had to be done when his brother was away," Rarity suggested, certain there was some reason Luigi sat the adventure out.
"Well...no," Luigi repeated.
"There was seriously nothing you could do while you were home either? Not even look for ways you could help your brother on his next adventure?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Well..."
"No?"
"Uh-huh..."
"Jeez. And Spike feels bad for always being left behind," Scootaloo said under her breath.
"Who cares that Luigi didn't want to go? Let's hear more about the toy box," Dash said.
"Rainbow Dash, you already played the game enough to know how it happened better than Mario," Twilight said.
"Yeah. But, I want to hear it straight from the horse's mouth."
The conversation about the trials in the toy box continued, while Luigi stayed back. Having heard the story countless times, he knew exactly what happened. Only this time, he did not want to contribute to it.
"Um...Luigi?" said a voice to his side.
Luigi didn't jump this time, having gotten used to it by now. He looked to his side to find Fluttershy again.
"If it's alright, I'd like to hear about what happened in the Waffle Kingdom...If it’s alright, I mean," she said quietly.
Luigi sighed briefly. Sure, he didn't have as many fans as his brother, but that didn't mean he had to let down this one because of his foul mood.
"Sure," he answered.
Fluttershy giggled quietly, and led him away from the others where they could dance in private. There, they could talk about the incidents with the Marvelous Compass and the Chestnut King.
"Hey, you guys: look," Apple Bloom said, as she pointed to the dancing couple at an isolated edge of the room, "Let's go over there, an' see if we can't spark somethin' up."
"But, I want to hear what happens next," Sweetie Belle said.
"He's just getting to the best part! Where he beat up General Guy and the Shy Guy Army," Scootaloo added.
"Y'all already know what happened next! If ya wanna hear it, he can tell it again. But, who knows how long those two’re gonna be over there dancin'!"
"They'll still be there by the time Mario's finished. Just let us stay here and listen,” Sweetie Belle said.
Apple Bloom couldn't believe her friends. Were they not as serious about getting their cutie marks as she was? In any case, she was going to have to let them listen to their story while she got busy getting her matchmaker cutie mark.



In the skies above the land, a flotilla of airships flew through under the purple construction paper sky.
On the deck of Bower’s personal airship, the golden stranger glimmered in the light of the stars pasted in the sky above. His eyes were affixed solidly on the horizon beyond.
Next to him, Kammy Koopa stood, partly looking out for what was ahead, and partly wondering what her new leader was looking at.
"This is the place, right? The Equestrian border?" asked the golden stranger.
"It is indeed, your polished-ness," Kammy Koopa confirmed.
Both sat in relative silence, with only the whoosh of the wind, the hum of the engines, and the quiet clattering of the members of the Koopa Troop examining and testing their new equipment audible. Until Kammy Koopa let out a quiet grumble.
"Something on your mind, old timer?" the stranger asked.
"Nothing really. I'm just thinking that if you're our leader, shouldn't you know where the place you're invading is?" the hag wondered.
"That? Don't worry about it. It's just been a long time since I've been here. But, I'm sure it'll come rushing back to me when I find a landmark or something," the dragon answered.
"Exactly how long has it been since you've been here?" Kammy asked.
"I'm not going to lie to you: I'm no spring chicken myself. The last time I was here, guys like me were almost running the show. And I don't mind telling you: it was a heck of good time we had,” the stranger said, smiling slightly at the memory.
"Almost? Let me guess: some lowly nobody rose up and took you out of power?" Kammy asked, knowing that story all too well.
The stranger answered with only a brief snort, which sent golden embers bursting from his nose before they dissipated.
"I don't really feel like talking about that,” the dragon said.
The answer only created more questions for Kammy Koopa, but she decided not to pry as she and her new leader saw a grand sight in the distance.
"We're almost there," the stranger said as a smile crawled onto his face when he recognized the silhouette of Canterlot against the distant mountain.
Just as he said, the memories came rushing back to him. His days in Canterlot Palace and the friends he had there once all stood out clearly in his mind. And it was all within his grasp once more.
It would be only a matter of minutes when they reached the palace. And with the preparations he had laid out, he would not be stopped. Not by the Bearers of Harmony, and certainly not by the Mario Bros.
> Chapter 2: Party Crashers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2

Party Crashers


The hour had grown late, and all was well at the Grand Galloping Gala. Mario had spent the night telling his new friends about his adventures, and was in the middle of the story where he battled a fuzzipede in the belly of a whale when Peach pulled him away to dance.
The two citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom twirled about the room among the ponies who trotted around one another in rhythm with the music. A few Mushroom nobles were present as well. A few toads were dotted here and there, waltzing across the dance floor. Two koopas displayed impressive ballroom prowess. A pair of very dapper bob-omb nobles skittered and bumped against one another. Those two, everyone else avoided.
Through it all, Mario and Peach didn't bother to notice any of them. Even when a few of the other guests watched to see how their visiting royalty fared on the dance floor, they only had eyes for one another. Peach, however, noticed something at the far end of the room.
There, far from any of the other dancers, the Mushroom princess saw Luigi and Fluttershy dancing with one another.
"It seems like your brother has fared well after all," Peach said as Mario twirled her.
When Mario looked in the direction Peach indicated, he saw his younger twin dancing with Fluttershy as if he hadn't a care in the world.
"Funny thing: that guy's always had a way of getting girls without trying. And when he does try, he messes up, and they always run away screaming," Mario said as he dipped Peach.
"Did he even try when he met Daisy?" Peach giggled.
"Does this sound like he's trying to attract a woman: Daisy says 'hi,' and my brother answers 'Umma! Hi-uh! HI!?'"
"Oh, goodness. Daisy was right. He really is a the cutest little thing there is."
"Hey, don't you go giving him googly eyes. Remember who it is who always remembers your birthday and pulls you away from all that boring royal stuff."
"And I'm very grateful for it," Peach said before she kissed Mario. "I know that Daisy is too for having Luigi to take her away from her responsibilities as a ruler."
"I think all those competitions she goes to help too," Mario said as he whisked Peach in a different direction.
They both jumped slightly when they saw the two skittering bob-ombs getting uncomfortably close to a candle stand. Knowing there would only be trouble if either one of them had a lit flame drop on them, Mario and Peach both grabbed the stand and danced in a different direction far from the two.
"It's so unfortunate that she does that. This isn’t the first time Luigi’s been left without a date," Peach said as they both twirled around the other dancers, careful not to bump anyone with the candles.
"He'll do fine on his own. Look at him over there. That mare can't keep her hooves off him," Mario answered as he and Peach placed the candle stand in a much more sensible spot near the door.
"Well, they certainly do look happy. I only wish that Lulu and Tia had somebody like you or your brother for themselves," Peach said.
"I'm sure they do something to have fun. Who knows? Maybe this party's their way of unwinding. And whatever happens here, if everything goes well, or the it gets crashed by some guy they didn’t invite, I bet they're just glad there's a change in their schedule,” Mario answered, as he started twirling himself and Peach across the floor.



Over in the distant corner, Luigi and Fluttershy danced away as the pegasus asked question after question about the adventures in the Waffle Kingdom. Some of the details, she found slightly scarier than how they were described in the book. Especially when she heard how Luigi dressed in a bridal gown to lure out and defeat Hizza.
During their conversation, a tiny pair of hooves was at work create a more enchanting setting.
First, without either of them noticing, nearby candles were strategically snuffed out to create better lighting. Once the candles were out, the busy filly had to hid under a nearby table when the two dancers started waltzing closer to her.
When she peeked out from her hiding spot, Apple Bloom saw Fluttershy and Luigi dancing away from her direction. Now that she was safe from being seen, the filly started looking around to see what else she could do to create a more romantic mood.
The colors of the tapestries didn't quite give off a romantic feel. The blue and gold was more regal, if anything else. Unless Apple Bloom wanted them to feel noble and heroic, she was going to have to do something about those tapestries.
Stealthily crawling out from under the table, the filly pressed herself against the wall. The gold-colored moldings around the base helped her to blend in almost seamlessly. Her entire being was nearly invisible, save for her red mane and tail, and her big, pink bow.
Neither Luigi nor Fluttershy noticed, as they simply continued their conversation.
“--So next, Torque says he needs a stabilizer for the fifty-thousand megaton rocket launcher he’s going to put on the kart. Otherwise, I’m going to fly backwards every time I shoot the darn thing!” Luigi said.
Apple Bloom stopped briefly to hear some of the details. However, she knew she couldn't linger. The filly crept along, and flipped the first tapestry around to find it to be a warmer red and purple color. That would do nicely for a romantic atmosphere.
The filly continued to flip the tapestries around until she filled the area with the more romantic color, but it still wasn't enough.
Looking around, she saw flowers, but they were practically hidden on the high shelf they were on. That would have to be rectified.
Apple Bloom slowly scuttled along the wall to the area just beneath the shelf. Try as she did to jump up, the flowers remained far out of her reach.
She knew she couldn't give up. The flowers would be the finishing touch that would surely complete the setting. The filly looked around for a way to get up there, but found nothing in the ballroom. Fortunately, she found the answer outside.
The trees beyond a window were swaying in the breeze. A breeze that surely looked strong enough to suit the needs of a filly on a mission.
Quickly, Apple Bloom scurried against the wall, and opened the window when she reached it. Indeed, the breeze was strong. So much so that it blew her across the room, sending her drifting on the wind until she slapped flat against the wall. Fortunately for her, she ended up above the shelf she needed to be on.
Once Apple Bloom landed, the wind that blew slowed to a waft that created a gentle movement in all the props she had set up so far. Everything was going better than she had expected.
Slowly, she nudged the flowers to the edge where they could be seen. In fact, she nudged them too far, and sent the whole vase tumbling over the edge of the shelf.
Both Fluttershy and Luigi were soaked through by the sudden deluge upon them, spritzed lightly by the flowers that came with it.
"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked.
The yellow pegasus tried to dry Luigi off with her dress, only to find it just as soaked as the rest of herself.
"Don't worry. I've worn these overalls to go swimming before. But your dress! It's ruined!" Luigi said.
Fluttershy looked to her dress, and saw that it was now becoming warped, faded and blotched.
"Oh no! I spent so long picking this out!" Fluttershy said as tears filled her eyes.
"Whoah! Whoah! Whoah! Take it easy! I'll reimburse you!" Luigi offered.
"It's not that. I picked it for you! I wanted to look my best when I met you today!" Fluttershy turned bright red when she realized how what she said sounded.
"That's uh...That's kind of nice to hear actually," Luigi said, not sure how to let Fluttershy down. "But, you know--"
"No! No! I didn't mean it like that! I mean--I already know about you and Princess Daisy,” Fluttershy explained.
From her perch on the shelf, Apple Bloom's ears pricked up when she heard the mention of another woman.
"Oh," was all Luigi said. He was relieved to hear that her intentions were pure, but he still had a question to ask, "So, what did you want the dress for?"
"I, uh...um..." Now Fluttershy was at a loss for words.
Try as she did, she couldn't think of a comfortable way to tell Luigi that when she heard the news about him arriving, she felt ecstatic about being able to meet him. How ever since she played Luigi's Mansion, she had seen much of herself in the plumber, and felt as if despite their common timid (some might say cowardly) disposition, they were both capable of so much. How even if it meant doing something like saving the ponies loved from the spirit world, she felt like she could do it in spite of herself. And all because of the courage Luigi displayed in his adventures.
"Um..." Still, no words came to the pegasus. "What happened...after you got that rocket launcher for Torque?"
Luigi was a tad confused that Fluttershy would get off track like that, but he obliged her anyway.
While the two continued their talk, Apple Bloom groaned when she realized that the effort for a matchmaker cutie mark was in vain. And she groaned again when she saw she was now trapped up on the high shelf.



On the central landing of the t-shaped stairway, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna joyfully watched over the partygoers. This year was especially joyous for them, for how well their friend from the Mushroom Kingdom was received by the Equestrians.
No doubt about it, they were going to have bring Peach and the Mario Brothers to the next Grand Galloping Gala. With all the happy guests, and the merriment that always filled their hearts, and was subsequently passed on to others they met, it was difficult to imagine any future day that could seem dark.
But, that day would come sooner than they thought, when Luna happened to glance upward.
"Tia, what is that?" the lunar princess asked.
"Don't tell me you're unhappy with the shape you clipped the chandelier," Celestia said when she saw her sister was pointing toward the ceiling.
"Not that. Through the skylight,” Luna clarified.
Now looking in the correct spot, Celestia could see something in the distance. When she squinted, she could see that it was another airship. One with a shape that was clearly from the Mushroom Kingdom. But, why was it coming to the castle? And why was it moving so fast?
From the airship, both sisters saw something like a tiny, golden speck fly off of it, as if one of the passengers aboard had suddenly taken flight. And it was speeding toward them faster than the airship could move. It flew so fast, there was no time to make out the exact form of the intruder when he suddenly crashed through the skylight and into the ballroom.
Screams, gasps and yelps ensued from the sudden crash.
Guests all cleared away from where the intruder landed.
Mario stood protectively before Peach, ready to protect her from what was sure to be an attempted kidnapping.
"Aw, jeez! I knew something like this would happen," Mario said.
The panicking gradually quieted, and the intruder stood still. All but his eyes, which slowly panned across the room, as though he were observing all that was around him.
For all appearances, the one who had crashed through the ceiling was some kind of dragon. Though he was unlike any dragon any of the guests had ever seen. He was no taller than an alicorn, and his body was shaped even shaped like one's, save for his clawed feet and reptilian tail. To any observer, it was as if he was some kind of draconian parody of an alicorn, or a fearsome mix of the two.
"Get a good look, ponies, toads and assorted Mushroomers! The new king of Equestria has arrived," the intruder said as he spread his wings imposingly, catching and reflecting any light there was to add a shine to his golden body.
The ire and the will of the Royal Sisters to protect their little ponies spiked. Upon hearing the golden dragon’s announcement, the lunar and solar princesses both flew from the landing on the stairs to face the intruder.
"Who are you to be so presumptuous that you would disturb the peace and announce yourself king!?" Celestia angrily spat.
The intruder turned to face the diarchs.
Both sisters noticed how the stranger looked at them. First, he looked surprised, as if he knew he had made a mistake by trespassing in the castle. In the next moment, he smirked warmly at them both.
"Celestia! Luna! How long has it been? You two have really grown up since the last time I saw you," the stranger said..
"Do not speak as if you know us!" Luna said, growing angrier at his conceit.
The moment she finished speaking, Luna noticed the dragon’s face change again. As if he were somehow let down by her response, rather than frightened, taken aback, or anything she would have expected.
"Ah, well. I didn't expect you to remember me, since you were only about this big the last time we saw each other," the stranger answered as he placed his claw just below his chest.
"How or why you know us is of no importance! You are intruding on royal property! Leave now, or face banishment from the kingdom!" Celestia growled.
She and her sister became even more irritated when they heard the stranger chuckling at them.
"Heh heh heh. If only it was ever that easy. Just think what a breeze life'd be if all your problems could be solved by asking anyone that gets in your face to leave. Sad truth is that life's a real pain, and nothing ever goes the way we want it to. So, instead of doing my first idea, and asking you little fillies to let me in that throne room, I'm going to have to do this."
When the stranger finished speaking, he spread his wings wider and sent a towering column of golden light through the ceiling.
As if by some signal, all Tartarus broke loose when the skylights and windows all shattered at once when a platoon of intruders broke into the ballroom.
One look, and Mario, Luigi and Peach all recognized them as members of the Koopa Troop. And if the Koopa Troop was there, they knew Bowser was sure to be involved.
The Royal Sisters both flared their own horns, summoning the royal guards into the room.
Wasting no time, Mario drew his hammer and rushed into the fray while the room flooded with armed ponies.
Across the room, Luigi had to psyche himself up as the battle unfolded. Once adequately prepared, he drew his weapon from his belt, and started forward.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Fluttershy said.
“I-I got some work to do! Get somewhere safe!” Luigi answered, before he ran into battle.
Fluttershy didn’t know what to do. With Luigi gone and with her friends at the other side of the room, there was no way for her to be protected. All she could do now was cower in the corner, and hope none of the intruders came for her.
"Fluttershy! Up here," a voice called.
Looking up, Fluttershy saw Apple Bloom sitting on a high shelf. How the filly got there, she didn't bother to wonder. Quickly flapping her wings, the timid pegasus flew up to the shelf, safe out of harm’s way.



In the thick of the battle, Applejack bucked away a paratroopa that had Peach cornered. Once it was taken care of, the princess and the farmpony rushed to rejoin Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Rarity nearby.
There would be no way the Bearers would sit this out. Their kingdom was under attack, and they had a responsibility to do something about it.
Twilight magically flared her horn, and turned to face the battle.
"Alright, girls! Spread out and try to push them back! Princess Peach, keep Spike safe for me!" Twilight said.
"What!? But, I--" Spike protested.
"And try to help more guests on your way!" Twilight interrupted.
"Yes! I'll try to bring whoever I can!" Peach answered, as she took Spike’s claw in her hand.
Twilight, Applejack, Dash, Pinkie and Rarity all rushed into battle, ready to take on the forces of the Koopa Troop.
After the five mares left, Peach was ready to guide Spike and any others she encountered to safety.
"Stay close to me, Spike!" Peach said, firmly holding the dragon's hand as they rushed to the exit.
Evacuating was easier said than done. For anypony who couldn't fly or teleport, the exit was blocked by stampeding guests and charging members of the Koopa Troop.
Over and under the princess and the dragon dodged the battle, as they made their way to the exit.
When they reached the front door, they found it was blocked by a pair of golden thwomps, which Applejack was trying to furiously buck through.
Despite the challenges that awaited him, Spike knew that no good would come from simply waiting at the door.
Peach felt the dragon’s claw wrench free of her hand. When she turned to stop him, she quickly lost sight of him, like a single card shuffled into a deck. Keeping to the responsibility Twilight had trusted her with, the Mushroom Princess ran back into the thick of battle to retrieve Spike.



Mario entered battle, ready to take on whatever forces the Koopa Troop sent his way.
He whacked away two goombas that were in his way, when he was suddenly attacked from behind.
When the plumber turned to face his attacker, he found a koopa with a golden shell had struck him from behind.
The koopa whirled in his shell, before taking his place across from Mario.
This was it. The first one-on-one battle at the beginning of the adventure. Mario knew the drill by now. He had been struck with a first strike, and had to suffer extra damage for it. Now, it was his turn to attack.
The plumber mentally went over the options for his next action.
The metallic look of the shell made Mario think his foe had a defensive advantage. Such a thing would usually call for a blow from his hammer. Then again, jumping was usually the most effective tactic against a koopa. However, he felt like the impact of the koopa's attack had done quite some damage to him, and he may need an item to heal himself. But, he debated whether or not he should heal himself just then, since he only had a few mushrooms, or after he toppled the koopa with a jump. That usually worked, but then again, if he--
"Aw, to heck with all this waitin' around!" the koopa shouted. He receded into his own shell and spun around for an attack. "Here I come, fat boy!"
Mario yelped when he saw the golden shell come whirling toward him.
"Wait a second! This isn't right," he thought, after he stopped spinning from the attack's impact. He didn't have time to think anymore, when the koopa came spinning back to knock him off his feet from behind.
"WAAAAAAAAH," Mario yelled as he went spinning through the air, before landing on his face.
In no time at all, the koopa came spinning back.
Mario barely managed to jump over his assailant.
As the koopa passed beneath him, Mario could see that this gold-shelled koopa was moving much faster and turning much sharper than any other koopa he fought. If he had to guess, it had something to do with its new shell.
Gripping his hammer, Mario waited for his opponent to come back to him.
When the koopa was close enough, he let loose a swing that sent sent his opponent sailing across the room.
After crashing through a number of guests and allies alike, the koopa came to a halt when he was stopped by one of his sturdier cohorts. A chargin' chuck in gold pads and a helmet.
"You alright, little fella?" the chuck asked he flipped the koopa to his feet.
"Yeah. This new equipment works great. Except for being a bit dizzy, I hardly felt that last hit," the koopa answered.
"Sounds like yer rarin' to go, bud! Come on! Let's flatten this pudgy plumber," the chuck said as he readied a position for a devastating tackle.
In response, the koopa started spinning wildly in his shell toward Mario.
Mario first jumped over the koopa shell, then laid flat to avoid the charging of the chuck.
Both opponents passed harmlessly, and Mario twisted himself upright, swinging his hammer at the chargin’ chuck.
The chuck shrugged off each blow under its padding. Even for a chargin’ chuck, Mario could see this opponent was resilient.
The koopa came spinning back, and Mario jumped over his attack.
He landed, and had to deflect the chargin’ chuck’s punches with his hammer.
The power of each punch nearly made Mario crumple under them. But, he had to fight back. Not only for Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom, but for Equestria.
Mario ducked under the chuck’s right hook.
The koopa came spinning back.
Mario twisted his body and swung his hammer, knocking the koopa away once more.
The chargin’ chuck sucker-punched Mario from behind, and punted Mario with a kick that would shatter a goal post.
Mario flew through the air, and crashed into a column. After a moment of hanging plastered on the wall, he drifted to the ground.
The chuck came charging back.
Mario jumped out of his way.
The pillar the chuck hit was torn out of the ground.
The koopa came back.
Mario jumped to avoid it.
The koopa jumped, and crashed into Mario in midair.
Mario dropped from the air. From the ground, he saw the chargin’ chuck swinging the column it broke down on him.
The plumber rolled his body out of the way, and got to his feet.
The chuck slowly wound up for another swing.
Taking advantage of the slow wind up, Mario rushed in and swung his hammer over and over.
The chuck swung, and Mario ducked out of the way.
In the moments after the chuck attacked, Mario saw his opponent’s golden padding was minimally damaged.
He attacked the chuck with his hammer again, and dodged another slow swing.
There was still barely any damage done. The sinking feeling that he would lose gripped the plumber.
"You gotta work on your swing, porky! Like this!" the chuck said as he wound up the pillar he held for a home run hit.
Mario braced for the devastating blow, hoping to minimize the damage to himself if he couldn’t dodge.
Help came when the pillar was enveloped in a pink aura and quickly folded into a five-pointed star.
When the koopa came spinning back, he was knocked away by a rainbow-colored streak.
With the chuck disarmed, Mario swept his hammer at his opponent’s legs.
The chuck landed on his back, and Mario swung his hammer again, sending the chargin’ chuck spinning away.
Now that he was not accosted, Mario turned to face his savior: Twilight Sparkle.
"Are you alright, Mario?" Twilight asked.
"I think so. But, these guys--" Mario said, wondering how they had changed so.
Dash came back and hovered next to Mario.
"Are they usually this tough?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"No. Usually a troopa takes a few hits, and that's that! These guys are something else entirely!" Mario answered.
"How are they different?" Twilight asked.
"Except for their new gold gear, nothing's changed,” the plumber said.
Clarity struck when Mario finally said that out loud. Something had to be done about their new golden armor.
Thinking of how would have to wait. The chargin’ chuck Mario knocked away had come back. He picked up the column Twilight had folded into a star, and threw it with all his might at the librarian and plumber.
Mario and Twilight ducked, and the folded column tore deep into the cardboard wall.
First move, Twilight tried to magically remove the chuck’s golden armor.
For a moment, the chargin’ chuck’s armor glowed pink, but the aura was quickly dispersed.
Twilight was shocked. Whatever their armor was, it was more than simply gold foil.
The chargin’ chuck rushed toward her.
The gentle approach hadn’t worked, so Twilight decided a more forceful one was needed.
Concentrating her magic, she fired three bolts of magic at the chuck’s chest.
Without stopping, the chuck swatted away two bolts. The third hit home, but didn’t slow the chuck’s charge one bit.
Mario jumped on the chuck’s head. When he rebounded, he turned midair and swung his hammer at the chuck.
The koopa came spinning back. He hopped and flipped through the air as Dash swooped and looped for her attacks.
Dash stomped, kicked and dove at her opponent. As fast as she was, the koopa was able to keep up with her.
She kicked the koopa way to give herself some space from her opponent.
In less than a second, the koopa came spinning back.
Dash looped upward to avoid being hit. Midair, she saw Mario and Twilight double-teaming the larger chargin’ chuck.
The koopa came back for another attack.
Dash caught her opponent’s shell in her hooves, tossed him into the air, and bucked him toward the chargin’ chuck.
Like standing timber, the chuck fell over backwards, squashing his ally beneath him.
The chuck reached under his back, and pulled the koopa out from beneath himself..
Mario and Dash jumped into the air, ready to stomp their opponents. Their feet landed on the ground, when their targets rolled to either side.
On one side, the chargin’ chuck readied to tackle. On the other side, the koopa spun in his shell.
Both opponents charged, ready to crush Mario and Dash between them.
Twilight cast a teleportation spell, and surrounded her friends in her aura.
Mario and Dash were smashed together by their opponents, just as Twilight teleported them to safety.
The chuck and the koopa impacted one another at full speed, and fell over dazed.
When Dash and Mario reappeared, they too were knocked dizzy from the attack they sustained.
“Oh no! Sorry! I was trying to help!” Twilight quickly apologized.
“Help quicker next time!” Dash groaned, as she and Mario stood up.
"I'm just not familiar with species like this! Just give me some time to calculate their movement speeds, and I can do better next time!" Twilight said.
There would be no time for that. The chuck and koopa were lucid again, and resumed their charge.
The chuck and koopa were almost upon their opponents, when a purple projectile flew in like a rocket and headbonked the koopa. It bounced off and bonked the chuck next.
Under the force of the hit, the chargin’ chuck compressed slightly, and was knocked away.
The projectile landed on the ground, and Mario, Dash, and especially Twilight were surprised to see what it was.
“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed. “What are you still doing here? I told you to go!”
“Not when I can still help, Twilight!” Spike said.
“I don’t need your help! Now, leave!”
“Like Tartarus you don’t! I know what you think of me! That little Spike can’t do anything without big sister Twilight around! You of all ponies need help to fight these guys!”
“I of all ponies!?” Twilight fumed.
“Yeah! I saw what happened just now! All that time you spent thinking about when to cast your teleportation spell! Somepony’s game is going to end, because of you!” Spike shouted.
“Spike, get out! Now!” Twilight growled, as she flared her horn to teleport Spike away.
Spike reached up and tightly gripped Twilight’s horn, stopping the spell.
“Even if I was going to listen to you, I couldn’t! Not with the doors blocked by those giant gold bricks!” the dragon said, pointing to the door.
To her regret, Twilight saw Spike was right. Even if she could teleport ponies and objects with her magic, there was no way that she would be able to get them all at once. And teleporting them one by one would take too long.
Twilight could see Applejack was still bucking the golden thwomps, but it didn’t do any good. No more effective were the unicorn guards firing their magic at them.
As much as she hated to admit it, Spike’s thick, jagged scales seemed to be the most effective thing against this golden armor so far. Between herself, Mario and Dash, only Spike seemed to make them stagger.
Once again, the chuck and the koopa came back for another attack.
“Launch me at that chargin’ chuck!” Spike said, as he lowered his head.
Mario’s mind clicked, and he swung his hammer at Spike’s back, sending the baby dragon flying headfirst into the chuck.
“Mario!” Twilight said.
“He’s got the only idea!” Mario rebutted.
“I was working on one!”
While Twilight was working on her idea, Dash went into action. She swooped around and caught Spike.
"Mario! Catch," Dash yelled, as she tossed Spike back.
Mario swung his hammer at the flying dragon, and Spike sent toward the koopa.
The koopa was hit hard, and went spinning away once again.
Dash swooped and caught Spike again. Same as before, she threw him toward Mario.
Mario batted Spike at the chargin’ chuck, whose helmet was spun backwards by the impact.
Spike bounced back to Mario, who batted the dragon into the koopa once more.
The koopa retreated into his shell to avoid the attack.
Spike crumpled himself up, so that he fit right inside the front opening of the shell.
"Hey! Get out, you little punk," the koopa yelled.
The golden shell jumped and flipped wildly about, as the sounds of a struggle could be heard within.
As Spike and the koopa struggled within the shell, the chargin’ chuck came back blindly swinging his fists.
Mario ducked under a swing, and struck the back of the chuck’s knees.
Dash swooped in and clipped the chuck’s shoulder, making the large opponent spin so hard that he was now facing the right way inside his helmet.
Inside the golden koopa shell, green flames burst from every opening. The koopa was sent flying out the back end, and Spike out the front. Right toward the chargin’ chuck’s face.
The dragon impacted so hard, he sent the chuck flying backwards into a wall. The cardboard wall tore under the force, and knocked the chuck unconscious.
Spike bounced back to the empty koopa shell, but was caught by Dash before he knocked it away.
“That was awesome! This is exactly how I pictured fighting with Mario" Dash yelled as she tossed Spike in the air and flew a victory loop.
Mario caught Spike before he landed, and held the dragon.
“Glad he could help,” Spike deadpanned.
For Twilight, Spike had done his part, and now it was time for him to go.
Before she could do anything, a boomerang bro tossed his new golden boomerangs at them all.
Dash and Twilight both escaped harm, and continued fighting the new attacker.
With Spike in his hands,Mario jumped aside and unintentionally landed on top of the empty koopa shell.
Spike shouted as Mario weaved his way between all of the guests on his shell. As they plowed through the crowd, Mario swung his hammer at any member of the Koopa Troop he could.



After entering battle, Luigi thought he may have been in over his head. Within the first few seconds of combat, the formerly familiar opponents were quickly overwhelming the plumber.
Typically, two goombas and a shy guy would be nothing to a fighter of his caliber. But, two goombas and a shy guy with golden gear were proving more than he could handle.
One after another, the goombas tried to headbonk him in rapid succession, while the shy guy loosed a series of acrobatic kicks.
Luigi was only just able to block them all. When he countered, his blows bounced off their respective golden mask and helmets.
Now, it was his opponent’s turn.
The goomba headbonked him.
The spiked goomba headbonked him.
Finally, the shy guy jumped high and kicked Luigi in the chin.
The shy guy landed in front of Luigi, while his goomba allies dashed to the plumber’s sides.
Luigi blocked the goomba to his right.
The spiked Goomba attacked Luigi in the back.
The shy guy attacked with a flying kick.
Luigi dodged by falling on his back.
The spiked goomba took the opportunity to piledrive Luigi’s stomach
The plumber was left only a moment to groan over is beating, before his three opponents lifted him up.
“Ready? All together guys!” the goomba said.
“Why’s he so heavy!?’ the shy guy strained.
“Seriously! How’s a guy this fat jump so high?” the goomba replied.
“Quit whining, and throw him before I crumple!” the spike goomba said.
The three diminutive attackers all picked Luigi up and threw him across the floor.
The plumber barely had time to shout as he landed on the buffet table. The first thing he did was land face first on a platter of fruit.
"Get a load of this! Get a spit and a bonfire, and we can roast this pig," the goomba said, indicating the apple stuck in Luigi's mouth.
As his opponent laughed, Luigi took the apple from his mouth and hurled it at the guffawing goomba. The apple hit the goomba directly in the eye, making him recoil and giving him a black eye.
“Oh, you are gonna get it now!” the goomba growled.
The goomba with the shiner hopped on top of the shy guy’s head, and the spiked goomba jumped on the goomba’s head.
The stack of enemies attacked with a series of coordinated strikes. Too quick for Luigi to block.
With every blow, Luigi was pushed back. He lost his balance and slipped when he stepped on a plate of shroom steak.
As he laid on his back, the plumber saw a slice of strawberry shortcake fly over him and strike the shy guy in the face.
"And have some key lime on the side!" a voice shouted.
Luigi rolled off the table, and watched as Pinkie Pie rushed in, throwing whatever she could pick up from the buffet at the three opponents.
Behind her, Rarity was magically tossing plates of hors d’oeuvres at the goombas and shy guy.
In the end, all the mares did was momentarily distract them all.
The goomba charged at Pinkie, blocking the projectile pastries with his golden helmet.
The way Pinkie screamed told Luigi she was no fighter. The plumber jumped on the table to assist her.
When he dashed to intercept the goomba, he tripped on a plate of bruschetta.
The goomba jumped to headbonk Pinkie, but instead of hitting her, he hit the falling plumber.
Luigi was flipped backwards, while the goomba bounced back to his feet. Upon landing the goomba was bombarded with magically thrown tiny souffles.
“Thanks, Green Mario!” Pinkie said, as she flipped Luigi to his feet.
There was no time for the plumber to correct her, when the three attackers stacked up for another attack.
Thinking quickly, Luigi stomped his foot on a silver-foiled platter with the shroom steak on it. He caught the platter, and used it to deflect the goomba’s next attack.
The spiked goomba attacked next.
Luigi caught the falling shroom steak, and threw the platter itself into the spiked goomba’s face, knocking him back.
The shy guy attacked Luigi next, while his goomba allies attacked Pinkie and Rarity.
Luigi attacked with both his weapon and the shroom steak he caught.
The nimble shy guy around Luigi’s blows, kicking the plumber between every dodged attack.
Luigi dodged backwards, and kicked whatever entree was at his feet at the shy guy.
The shy guy caught each plate and stacked them on his head. When Luigi started slowing down, the shy guy threw the bottom most plate back at the plumber.
Luigi batted plate after plate away, until he was struck by a plate of exquisite hay in his face.
He countered by throwing more plates at the shy guy.
The shy guy continued stacking the projectile plates on his head.
Luigi started throwing so fast that the shy guy was having trouble keeping up. And it became more trouble when the stack kept growing higher.
Their battle moved to the end of the table, over by the dessert cart where Pinkie and Rarity were fighting the goombas.
Rarity glanced over and saw the teetering shy guy. She magically stuffed a plate of cupcakes into the spiked goomba’s mouth to deter his attack, and threw more plates at the shy guy.
The shy guy caught the plates Rarity threw and stacked them on his head to throw at Luigi.
Luigi threw his shroom steak at the shy guy’s face.
The shy guy threw his stack of plates into the air, and caught the shroom steak.
“Ha ha!!” the shy guy victoriously shouted.
The victorious feeling ended when every plate he held came crashing down on him.
“Aw...And I just polished this mask,” he moaned as he wiped off his golden mask.
And it became worse when Luigi kicked a bowl of raspberry sauce in the shy guy’s face.
That was it. The shy guy angrily wiped the sauce from his eyes and glared at Luigi.
“Give me the raspberry, will you?” the shy guy said. “That does it!! You’re salami, fat boy!!”
A shadow overtook the shy guy. When he looked up, he saw a large cake held in a shimmering, blue aura hovering over him. Before he could yelp, the cake came crashing down on him, putting him out of commision.
Pinkie yelped as the spiked goomba came flying toward her. She quickly ate a platter of cupcakes and used the platter to deflect the goomba.
Luigi shouted when he saw the spike goomba go flying toward a plate of cannoli. He dove forward and pulled the cannoli from harm’s way.
The spiked goomba landed on the table as Luigi slid past, landing so his spiked helmet stuck into the table.
The goomba came headbonking toward the plumber.
Luigi ducked under the attack, keeping his cannoli safe. He had to jump over a platter thrown by Pinkie at the goomba.
“Sorry!” Pinkie said.
“Yah-ha!!” Luigi answered, as he ducked beneath several plates thrown by Rarity.
“Oh dear! Terribly sorry!” Rarity said.
Luigi held his cannoli in one hand as he tried to fight the goomba with his weapon in the other.
The spiked goomba dislodged his helmet from the table and attacked Luigi from behind.
Just as the two goombas were about to double team the plumber, Mario and Spike came in on their golden shell.
For his first move, he jumped and knocked the goomba into a wall.
The goomba drifted to the floor, and saw Mario jumping down on him. After the plumber landed and bounced away, Spike followed by jumping from Mario’s grip and headbonking the goomba. Both goomba and dragon crumpled slightly from the blow. Only Spike smoothed out afterward.
The dragon bounced up and was caught by Mario.
"Nice hit, paisan," the plumber said.
"...Aaaall this bonking's making me kinda woozy..." Spike said in a daze.
Through his slightly spinning vision, the dragon saw Rarity battling the spiked goomba. Not about to knock himself dizzier, he grabbed the dessert cart and slammed it into Rarity’s attacker.
The spiked goomba pushed the cart away and dove for Spike.
Mario intercepted with a blow from his hammer, and sent the spiked goomba spinning away. Finally, the spiked assailant was out when Luigi finished him off with a blow to the face.
"Thanks, bro," Mario said, before he noticed Luigi's weapon. "You brought the wrench? What happened to your hammer?"
"I never had a hammer. You own the only one," Luigi answered.
"Oh, yeah," Mario said. He noticed what else Luigi had, "Is that cannoli?"
"You bet it is. Split the plate?" Luigi offered.
"Is Peach gonna get kidnapped in a minute or two," Mario said grimly as he reached for the cannoli, knowing full well the drill he was about to follow.
Before Mario could take the offered pastries, the two goombas dove for them.
The brothers stepped back from each other, allowing the goombas to pass between them.
This was becoming a problem. Never before were goombas so strong or resilient.
Luigi tossed the plate of cannoli to Mario as he jumped over the goomba’s headbonk.
Mario passed the plate to Luigi to swing his hammer at the spiked goomba.
Luigi nearly dropped the plate when he ducked under an attack.
He was caught by Pinkie, who steadied the plate and countered with a pie to the goomba’s face.
Luigi had to toss the plate in the air when the goomba came flying back.
Mario jumped and caught the plate, before striking back at the spiked goomba.
Rarity magically grabbed two silver-foiled platters, and harried the spiked goomba with them.
Both brothers reached the top of their game while keeping their cannoli safe. And with the help of their Equestrian friends, the scuffle was going more smoothly than expected.
Spike started bouncing between the two goombas. Every three or so hits, he bounced back to the Mario Bros., who knocked him back with their weapons to keep his momentum going.
Finally, Spike bounced upward off of the goomba. Mario and Luigi followed suit, and jumped high over the dessert carts Pinkie and Rarity were pushing.
The mares smashed the two goombas between the carts, surely taking them out of the fight at last.
"Did you see that?! I just helped Mario win a fight! MARIO!!!," Pinkie shouted.
Luigi and Spike grumbled when they were not credited for the help.
"You guys are great! Where were any of you when I was looking for the Royal Stickers," Mario asked.
Luigi looked double glum, as he recalled not being involved in that either. But, his sulking ended abruptly when the shy guy from before came bursting out of the cake, armed with a pair of large serving forks.
He charged recklessly, but this time his opponents were ready for him.
Luigi slammed his wrench atop the shy guy’s head. Mario slammed his hammer atop his brother’s wrench. Finally, Spike rocketed down atop Mario’s hammer.
Were his face visible, the shy guy’s eyes would have been seen rolling in his head. Finally, he passed out cold.
Spike hopped to the ground. Mario and Luigi held their weapons to their sides and huffed after their victory. But, there was more work to do.
"Leave the guy. Take the cannoli," Mario said as he, Luigi and Spike left behind their fallen opponent. But, not before the brothers split the plate of cannoli and put them in their item pockets.



After Spike had disappeared, Princess Peach had rushed back into the crowd to rescue the young dragon. She had been given a responsibility to look after him, and dreaded the thought of letting down Twilight. Worst still, she dreaded what would happen to Spike if she didn't find him in time.
"Spike! Spike, where are you!?" Peach shouted.
Things were looking grim. Peach knew that Mario and Luigi would have no trouble handling any member of the Koopa Troop, but the royal guards were getting shredded. In the back of her mind, she felt as if there may be a chance they would fail.
Through the crowd, she thought that she could see the purple form of the dragon, and rushed toward him.
The closer she came, she saw it was something small and purple hiding beneath an overturned serving tray, hiding from the assault of a diving paratroopa. The very same paratroopa that had harassed Peach earlier.
Peach rushed to the aid of the hiding dragon, and started by paying back the paratroopa for the trouble it caused her.
When she was close enough, she drew her parasol from her item pocket and swung hard at the paratroopa’s face.
The flying koopa was knocked away, and Peach was able to lift the fallen tray.
“It’s alright. He’s gone,” the Mushroom Princess said, as she lifted the tray. She was surprised to find not Spike beneath it, but two frightened fillies.
“Is the door open yet?” the quivering Sweetie Belle asked.
While Peach was disappointed to not find Spike, she was at once relieved to have found the younger siblings of her new friends.
“No. Those thwomps are still blocking it. Come with me. There might still be a safe place somewhere,” Peach said as she helped the fillies to their hooves.
She had spoken too soon.
The paratoopa came back for a dive bomb attack that narrowly missed Peach, but clipped her shoulder. He swerved back to resume his attack on the three.
From the shelf where she was perched, Apple Bloom could see the paratroopa attacking her friends. For as scared as she was by the invaders, she couldn't sit idly by while her friends were in danger.
The filly started crawling over the side of the shelf.
“Apple Bloom! No! It’s too dangerous down there!” Fluttershy protested.
Apple Bloom didn’t listen. She dropped from the shelf, and landed hard on the floor with an impact that made her edges quiver. After shaking the pain from her papery body, she charged toward her friends.
Peach protected Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo by huddling them beneath her parasol.
When Apple Bloom was near enough, she jumped on top of Peach’s parasol and leapt to intercept the paratroopa.
Both crashed to the ground, and the paratroopa only saw a pink bow, before he was bucked in the face by a pair of tiny, yellow hooves.
The paratroopa was only pushed backwards slightly, and saw his new attacker was nothing but a small filly. Not about to be defeated by a filly, he took to the air, retracted into his shell and took aim at his young opponent.
Peach tried to step in to protect Apple Bloom, but she was too late.
Apple Bloom was struck by the flying golden shell, and was carried across the room.
Both the filly and her attack slammed into a wall by the musician’s platform. Apple Bloom fell to the floor, and landed on the instruments the fleeing musicians left behind.
With a satisfied huff, the paratroopa turned to fly away.
“Where ya goin’, pigeon?” Apple Bloom called.
The paratroopa turned around and saw the filly get back to her hooves.
“Lookin’ fer more foals to pick on? Ya think yer some kinda hawk, don’t ya? But, yer just a big chicken!” Apple Bloom said.
The paratroopa wouldn’t stand for the insult, and readied to attack once more.
Apple Bloom shielded herself with a timpani drum, which was knocked out of her hooves. She tried to defend herself with a violin.
The paratroopa broke through the instrument and knocked the filly over.
Apple Bloom knew she needed to find a new way to fight. She had seen her brother and sister apple bucking, and had been practicing her bucking technique in case she ever did get her cutie mark for anything apple related. But, her buck was still weak and would do no good against the stronger, more skilled paratroopa.
The filly dodged her opponent’s next attack and used a harp to create a barrier between herself and the paratroopa.
The paratroopa tried to swerve around to attack.
Apple Bloom spun the harp and kept to the opposite side. And she did the same every time the paratroopa made a move.
The paratroopa attempted a diving kick.
Apple Bloom spun the harp and smacked the paratroopa aside.
The paratroopa came flying for another attack.
Apple Bloom spun the harp so that her opponent’s feet caught in the instrument’s strings. With the paratroopa incapacitate, she picked up the broken violin and struck him with it.
The paratroopa shook himself free, and topped the harp on top of Apple Bloom. With the filly pinned he was able to crash down on top of her.
When the paratroopa flew up for another attack, Apple Bloom wriggled out from beneath the harp. A new tactic was needed.
Nearby, there was an upright bass and a piano. Those would have to do.
The filly ran to the bass. It was too heavy for her to use for much else than a shield against the paratroopa’s dive bomb attack.
She shifted her body beneath the instrument, tilting it to block attacks from all directions. Until she hear the bass crack under the last blow.
One look to the grand piano, and Apple Bloom got an idea for a last ditch effort.
The paratroopa dove for another attack.
Apple Bloom bent her knees and tilted the bass to the direction of the piano.
There was a loud crack as the bass broke, but her tactic had worked.
The paratroopa bounced off of the large instrument, and flew into the open top of the piano.
Apple Bloom threw a tambourine at the support that held the lid open. The support was knocked over, and the heavy lid went crashing down on the paratroopa’s head, closing him up inside the piano.
It was an impressive victory to the filly. Never before had Apple Bloom taken on and defeated an opponent like the kind her sister fought. Even though she was little, and her bucking wasn’t up to par, she felt like she could take on anything that came her way then.
“RUFF-RUFF!!” came a loud bark from the direction of the piano.
Apple Bloom looked to the direction of the noise, and saw the piano torn apart by a huge mouth full of giant, sharp, golden fangs.
The filly watched as the paratroopa flew out of the torn piano, and fled the scene. When she looked back to the instrument, she saw what the fangs were attached to.
There, staring her down was a creature with a round, black body, and a long chain that reached far behind it. Apple Bloom looked into its bulging, black eyes and saw how it was staring hungrily at her.
Paint drained from Apple Bloom’s face, making her color pale as she took a trembling step backwards.
“RUFF-RUFF!!” the creature said again, before it lunged for the filly.
Any courage she had left her, and Apple Bloom hastily ran away. The filly ran through the crowds of the guests, royal guards and the Koopa Troop trying to lose her pursuer.
It was no use. She could hear the sound of it bounding behind her. Its paper chain rattled loudly with every move it made. Worst of all was the way it kept barking at her over the sounds of the battle all around. Scarier still was how each bark was louder than the last.
Bob-ombs joined the battle, and combusted with glittering golden explosions all around.
Apple Bloom picked one up and threw it into the open mouth of the chomping monster behind her.
The fanged creature chomped hard on the bob-omb, closing its mouth around it. There was an explosion contained within its mouth, and the creature started coughing loudly. It was stunned just long enough for Applejack to rush in and buck the monster away.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack said, as she rushed to her sister.
“Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shouted, as they arrived with Peach.
“Oh, thank goodness! I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you! Are you hurt?” Peach hyperventilated.
“I ain’t hurt. Just a bit…” Apple Bloom said, before trailing off. Even though the filly was only bruised and scraped, she had been terrified of the chomping creature she had just encountered. All the more reason to leave. “Can we get out yet?” 
“No. Them blockheads’re still blockin’ the doors. Magic’s no good, an’ I can’t break ‘em with my strongest buckin’!” Applejack said.
“There has to be a way out! We can’t stay in here!” Scootaloo said.
Before anything else was said, something zoomed over their heads. Something that zoomed over the crowd, right toward the Royal Sisters.



For Celestia and Luna, their battle with the golden stranger was hard fought. Whoever he was, he was more skilled than either one of them in physical combat. And any magic they tried simply deflected or absorbed by his golden body.
Though their focus was on fighting the dragon, each Royal Sister tried saving their little ponies by teleporting them from the palace. But, each time they tried, they were interrupted by the swing of the golden dragon’s tail, or a slash of his claws.
The dragon glowed golden, and his mouth seeped with golden embers.
Both sisters fired their magic at him, only for it to deflect off.
The stranger opened his mouth and spewed forth a golden fireball.
Celestia conjured a barrier of sunlit cellophane around herself and her sister. Before now, nothing could ever pass through an alicorn’s barrier. When the stranger’s fireball struck, the barrier melted open and singed into nothingness.
The Royal Sisters both took to the air when another fireball was sent their way.
The golden dragon flew into the air after them.
Celestia tried another magical attack.
The stranger absorbed the attack and struck Celestia’s face with his palm.
Luna tried to swoop in and strike with her hooves.
The stranger spun around and struck Luna with his wings.
The golden dragon was proving more than a challenge for the alicorns. And it became all the worse when the dragon was joined in his battle.
Luna tried to attack again, and was struck from behind by a powerful blast.
The lunar princess fell to the ground, and saw an ancient koopa flying on a broomstick as fast as Rainbow Dash.
Luna had no time to react as the hag swooped low and clubbed her in the face with her magic wand.
"I got this one, your gloriousness!" Kammy Koopa yelled to her new lord.
"That's great, old timer! Keep it up, and these two are out for the count!" the stranger answered.
The alicorns would not stand for such impetuousness. There was too much riding on their battle for them to fail.
Celestia flapped her wings and rocketed toward the golden stranger. She was no fighter, and her magic was useless. Still, she had to fight for the sake of her little ponies.
Luna too fought valiantly against the hag on the broom. She fired magical blasts from her horn at her opponent. Each of her attacks was knocked aside by the hag’s golden wand.
Kammy Koopa zoomed in and blasted Luna backwards with her magic.
Above, Celestia was knocked out of the air and landed hard on the ground.
Luna tripped over her fallen sister.
The hag and the stranger landed on either side of the alicorns.
The Royal Sisters hopped to their hooves and stood at one another’s side, facing their respective opponents.
Luna charged to buck Kammy Koopa.
The hag fired twice at the lunar princess.
Luna dodged both attacks and took to the air to swipe with her wing.
Kammy jumped over Luna’s wing attack and landed on her broom.
Celestia fired her magic at the stranger.
The golden dragon batted her attacks away with his wings. His mouth began to kindle with golden embers again.
Celestia tried another barrier, only for it to be singed away again.
The hag and the stranger both attacked at once. Their attacks knocked the sisters back side to side.
The alicorns glanced over their shoulders at one another. They knew their magic was all but useless against the two. But, perhaps with one surprise attack they could end the fight once and for all.
The hag and the stranger charged.
The Royal Sisters pivoted on their front hooves around their opponents. Their bodies curled around, and they spun to face their respective attackers.
Flaring their magic, they casted the most powerful banishment spell they knew.
Kammy Koopa held her golden wand before herself.
The golden dragon shielded himself with his wings.
The two alicorns focused their magic into a more powerful blast. Their opponents began to falter under the power.
In a burst of light, Celestia and Luna knew that they had succeeded. Their hearts sank when they saw otherwise.
Kammy Koopa floated on her broom, and adjusted her hat. Across from her, the golden dragon glared contemptuously at the Equestrian princesses.
“Try to banish me, will you?” he growled. “Well, this oughta fix your wagon!”
The stranger’s body glowed with a golden light, and embers seeped out of his mouth.
Both sisters had seen him use magic. They knew that while powerful, he was not skilled. For the look of things, he was now vulnerable to attack as he conjured up his spell.
Before either alicorn could take action, they were suddenly immobilized.
Kammy Koopa had cast her magic to conjure a set of golden paper clips, which clasped over the sisters’ hooves. Next, she summoned golden tape to hold their wings to their bodies.
Celestia tried one last desperate attempt to fire her magic at the golden dragon. It was the same as before when the dragon batted it away with his wing.
"You cannot banish us! We have seen your magic, and you do not possess that power!"  Luna shouted as she struggled against her restraints.
"Ha ha ha! You got me," the stranger laughed heartily, "I'm not much of a mage, but you don't live for a few thousand years without learning a few tricks. Let me show you what I'm talking about!"
He opened his mouth, and inside, a glimmering, golden fireball formed. In one terrifying second, it spewed from his mouth and engulfed the princesses in a golden bubble of flames.
Light filled the room. Twilight looked to the source, and saw the silhouettes of the alicorn princesses within a ball of fire.
"Princess Celestia!" the librarian shouted as she rushed to her mentor's aid.
Though the fire didn't burn them, or cause them any pain at all, the Royal Sisters could feel something far worse than any pain they ever felt: the very magic in their bodies was being drained from them.
All seemed lost. The villainous intruder was seconds from victory. For the citizens of Equestria, It was always in those catastrophic moments that the best they could hope for happened. And it happened then.
Over the bubble of golden fire, another light shone. One that was glorious and regal as the rising sun. Within the light, six magical trinkets appeared.
Twilight ran to the foot of the stairs where the princesses had battled their opponents. Shortly after arriving, she was joined by her five friends: Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Looking up, they all recognized what had come to their aid.
The light faded, and six glorious stickers levitated in the air. The Elements of Harmony had arrived.
The six elements magically floated from where they were, and stuck themselves around their respective Bearer’s neck. All but Twilight, whose tiara rested atop her head.
Now, the battle was surely won. With these Elements of Harmony, the six mares knew that the intruders were history.
The golden dragon turned around, and saw the six mares wielding the magical items. A devious smile crawled across his face at the sight.
Even though they were now more powerful than ever, Twilight and her friends felt a twinge of unease ripple through their bodies. Something about the stranger’s smile made them feel as if this was what he was waiting for. As if by calling for their salvation, they had instead beckoned their doom.
Six golden lights shone from the stranger. One one each of his claws, one on his forehead, and one on the tip of his impossibly long tail. From within each light, an object was seen.
What they were could not be seen through the blinding golden light. Afterward, they were swallowed by six shadows that flew from the source of each light. Six shadows of the darkest tissue paper that manifested themselves upright, as if they had switched places with whatever had cast them.
The Bearers of Harmony faltered at the sight. Now, the golden stranger was joined in his battle by more reinforcements. But, they would not back down. Not even Fluttershy shivered, even as the six shadows lunged toward her and the others.
Some tried to defend themselves. Others tried to fight back. But, the moment each of the shadows connected with the bearer they attacked, they enveloped each one.
The screams of the six mares joined with the screams of the frightened guests. It was over in a second, and the six shadows swept off of the mares.
Before them all, they saw the shadows had turned golden in color.
They braided themselves into one being. The one singular shadow rose up and flew through the broken skylight. High in the sky, they untangled from one another and dispersed into six different direction.
"What the hay just happened!?" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Do I look different!? Did something happen to us!? Am I still Pinkie!?" Pinkie shouted.
"We're all fine! But, what was that he did!?" Applejack asked.
"Fluttershy! Your element!" Rarity gasped as she pointed to the necklace Fluttershy wore.
"Yours too!" Fluttershy said, making Rarity realized that her's had changed as well.
They all looked at each other's element, and where horrified to see that each one had turned to a useless stone, the very same way they were when they first found them in the Castle of the Two Sisters.
High on the landing of the T-shaped staircase, the golden dragon laughed heartily.
"What have you done?" Twilight shouted to the intruder.
"Just a little insurance is all. Never leave the house without it. At least, now I do," the stranger said. "Speaking of, I think it's about time I put you little ladies out to pasture."
Celestia and Luna gasped. They knew the stranger had no power to banish two alicorns, but he was surely masterful enough to banish six little ponies.
They could not escape their restraints. Their magic was draining rapidly. Once again, they would be powerless to stop a threat to their kingdom, and knew to trust the task to their most trusted friends.
Luna watched as her sister tried to channel magic to her horn as best she could.
“Help me with this!” Celestia said.
Luna added her own power to her sister’s spell.
Deep in the castle, on a bookshelf in another room, a simple, spiral-bound notebook began to fade. The weakened magic only made it fade in and out of being.
The Royal Sisters increased their effort, expending what they felt was the last of their magic.
In an instant, the bubble of golden fire disappeared, and a tiny black notebook appeared before the alicorns. With the last drop of magic in them, they had succeeded.
The object would do no good to them as they were. With luck, their friends would unlock its secrets.
Celestia took the book in her teeth, and wound up to throw it.
“Twilight!!” Celestia called, as she threw the book to her student.
Twilight magically caught the notebook. It was small enough to fit into one’s pocket, and the cover was made of simple black construction paper. She barely had time to wonder about its purpose, before she noticed the golden dragon swooping toward her.
The librarian quickly jumped back, and the stranger landed before her.
“Give me that book! Now!” the stranger demanded.
Twilight didn’t know its importance, but it had been entrusted to her by Princess Celestia. She answered by running away from the golden dragon, hoping to lose him in the crowd.
The golden dragon flapped his wings and took to the air. His eyes were locked firmly on Twilight, ready to swoop and attack the young unicorn. Golden embers seeped from his mouth, and he took aim.
Behind her, Twilight could hear the sounds of flames bursting forth and crackling on a solid surface. She could feel not the heat of fire, but the cold of it growing closer behind her.
It would all be over for her in seconds. As long as she held the book, she was in danger. As long as she were incinerated, or whatever would happen when the golden fire touched her, she knew the book would go with her. In a desperate move, she tossed the notebook to her nearest friend.
“Pinkie!!” Twilight called.
Pinkie bounced high, and caught the book in her teeth.
The party pony bounced left and right, as golden fireballs rained around her.
No matter where she went, the golden dragon was relentless.
The stranger swooped low to grab her in his claws.
Her Pinkie sense alerted her to the danger. There was no escape this time. She knew her game was coming to an end. But, she had to keep the notebook safe.
“Rarity!!” Pinkie shouted as she tossed the notebook.
No sooner had she relinquished the item, was she crumpled to the ground by the claws of the golden dragon.
Rarity magically caught the notebook, and watched in horror as the stranger opened his mouth, and engulfed Pinkie in golden flames. When the flames died, there was no trace of Pinkamena Diane Pie. No ashes. No cinders. No curling piece of her singed mane or tail.
The golden dragon shot his gaze to Rarity. She was the next to go.
“Applejack!!” Rarity shouted, as she magically tossed the notebook to the farmpony.
The golden dragon still flew to the fashionista, his mouth smoldering with golden embers.
Rarity magically plucked every jewel from her ensemble, and threw them at the approaching attacker.
Each jewel was overpowered by the golden fireball that spewed forth, and the fashionista was gone in the next instant.
Applejack caught the book, but had no time to grieve for her lost friend. The golden dragon had targeted her next.
The farmpony ran through the crowd. She leapt over tables. She slid between fighters. Nothing was going to stop her from avenging her friends.
As she ran, golden fireballs rained around her. Quite by accident, she bumped the two bob-omb nobles into the path of one projectile, setting their fuses sizzling.
Ahead of her, Applejack saw her sister. She knew now that if she ran any further, Apple Bloom would be in danger from the mad-dragon behind her. In that moment, she saved her sister the only way that she could.
“Fluttershy!!” Applejack yelled, as she threw the book to her timid friend.
“Applejack!” Apple Bloom shouted.
The filly tried to run to her sister, only to freeze when she saw her sister burst into golden fire.
“APPLEJACK!!!!”
Apple Bloom tried rushing to to her sister’s aid, but was held back by Peach, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. She watched, heartbroken as the flames subsided, and not a trace of Applejack was seen.
Fluttershy had taken to the air, hoping she could escape the pursuit of the golden dragon.
Luigi had just finished a battle with a buzzy beetle, when he saw Fluttershy being pursued. Not about to let his new friend suffer harm, he gave chase.
Fluttershy knew her game would not progress after that encounter. All the others had been defeated, and she knew she was next. For all she was worth, she felt ready to accept her game over.
“Fluttershy!!” called a voice.
Glancing downward, Fluttershy saw Luigi bravely chasing after her and the stranger. She remembered then the brave deeds timid Luigi had accomplished in the Waffle Kingdom and in the haunted mansion. And she saw now what he was braving for her. She knew then that she could never give up.
The timid pegasus flapped her wings faster. She weaved in and out of the columns that bordered the ballroom as they were burned behind her.
Ahead, there was a window that had been broken by the invaders. If she could make it, then she would have a chance to save everypony else. Just like Luigi.
Fluttershy gasped when she felt a sudden searing coldness just barely skim her back. The shock was so great that it sent her plummeting to the ground.
This was it for her game. Now, she was helpless at the claws of the swooping dragon.
"Twilight!!" Fluttershy yelled, as she threw the book to the unicorn
There was a burst of golden flames, and the timid pegasus was gone.
Luigi froze, shocked by the grief that he couldn't save his friend. But, he couldn't mourn as he had to stave off an attack from another opponent.
The stranger looked to Twilight, ready to dispose of her as he had the others.
"You son of a--" came Rainbow Dash's shout as she dive bombed the stranger.
The stranger recovered, and saw Dash swerving around for another attack.
Dash shouted valiantly as she rocketed toward the golden dragon, even as one of his fireballs rocketed toward her.
In a burst of gold, she was gone.
Now, Twilight was alone. There would be no more help from her friends as the golden dragon flew toward her. But, she knew there was somepony else she could rely on.
"MARIO!!!!" Twilight shouted, as she tossed the notebook.
From where they were, Mario and Spike heard the plumber’s name called.
Mario caught the book, and he and Spike watched as the golden dragon swooped upon Twilight.
The whole world tore apart for Spike, as he watched Twilight disappear in a shower of golden flames. His heart stopped in his chest, and his nerves all snapped at once. And his adrenaline spiked when the golden dragon flew toward him and Mario.
Spike fell aside as the plumber spun out of the way.
The stranger flew back, and spewed a golden fireball at Mario.
Mario jumped over the attack and swung his hammer when he landed.
The golden dragon dodged to a landing, and swung his claws at Mario.
The plumber ducked and swung his hammer. 
His opponent dodged, and swung his tail.
Mario jumped and kicked at the dragon’s face.
The dragon’s mouth had been seeping with embers, which dispersed when he was kicked.
The stranger swung his claws at the hand Mario held the book in.
Mario recoiled his hand, and held the book next to his head.
The stranger stared Mario down, and glanced to the book.
The plumber realized what he held was important, and defiantly placed it in his item pocket.
Luigi rushed to his brother’s aid, holding his wrench and standing firmly on his shaking knees.
Spike ran to the stranger’s side, ready to pay him back for what he did to Twilight.
Apple Bloom rushed to his other side, planning to avenge Applejack.
The stranger glanced at them all. He bared his claws, spread his wings, and kindled his flames.
The four fighters readied to attack him all at once.
They moved together, when they all at once paused.
The bob-omb nobles from before skittered about between them all, as their fuses sizzled with golden sparks.
"Oh, mulch on a shingle!!" the stranger shouted.
He knew full well the power his magic had. When affecting a bob-omb’s explosion, it was devastating. When directly affecting a bob-omb’s entire being, it would have been a catastrophe. And there were two bob-ombs, whose sizzling fuses disappeared into their little, round bodies.
Peach saw the danger and opened her parasol, covering herself, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
"Mama--" Mario began.
*BA-BOOOOOOOOM*
"--MIIIAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Luigi finished.
Almost everyone who had not managed to escape was blown out of the castle. After the first explosion, a chain reaction was set off which made every other bob-omb blow up at once.
In time, the smoke and the dust settled. Those who were left in the castle were battered beyond function, with only a few exceptions.
The stranger was plastered on the wall, superimposed over a painting of Princess Celestia that was hanging above the staircase. He fell off, and landed flat on his face.
His entire body ached. And after using using his banishment spell so in so many successions, he was feeling terribly lightheaded. Even after the first time, he felt his whole body shake.
"Never again...Not ever again..." the stranger groaned.
The stranger looked over the ballroom, and saw what had become of his new palace. Everything was torn, charred and broken. And all around, his soldiers had been plastered, crumpled, torn, shredded, and generally beaten into pulp.
“This reign of terror’s off to a good start…” he muttered. He raised his head and called out. "Hey!...Old timer...Still kickin'?"
"I'm here, my lord...I'm not about to snuff out after you got me this spiffy new broom..." Kammy Koopa said as she flew in, hanging upside-down and swinging from her new broom by only one foot. 
"Glad to hear it...But, we can't dilly-dally now...Mario's out there, and he's got that book..." the golden dragon said, as he shakily rose to his feet.
"With all respect, what's so important about that? We already won...Didn't we?" Kammy asked, as she tried to get back on her broom.
The golden dragon shook some debris from his wings.
"Yeah, we won...But we still need that book..." he said.
"Why?" Kammy wondered.
The stranger walked forward.
"Don't know... But--HWUP!!" His answer was cut off when his next step missed the first of the stairs, sending him tumbling down like a piece of litter. "--But, those ponies went to a lot of trouble to keep it away from me...And now, Mario has it...And if Mario has it, that's got to mean trouble for us,” the golden dragon finished.
"Well, that's how it always was for Lord Bowser," Kammy grumbled as she drifted down to the dragon’s side. "So, what do we do about him?"
The golden dragon stood up, and smoothed out his crumpled sides.
"We find him. We get rid of him. And we take that stupid book back. Maybe get rid of it too. I'll play it by ear,” he said.
"You will not succeed..." a weak voice said.
Nearby, barely clinging to consciousness, Celestia and Luna lay in a crumpled heap. Though the solar princess had just enough strength to raise her head.
"I have seen your kind come and pass these many millennia...and you have all been thwarted...Mario will find a way to defeat you...and the history books will look back upon you...and laugh when everypony learns you were defeated by a humble plumber," Celestia said before she rested her head.
The stranger sighed, as he looked over the injured princesses.
"Not this time, kiddo," the stranger said, before he turned to Kammy Koopa,"Get these two back to their room. They’re not going to be a problem in their condition. And bring me an ice pack for my head. I got a lump like a whacka bump."
"You got it, Your Achiness," was all Kammy Koopa said. The hag used her magic to lift the princesses up and carried them away to their room. "So, just because we're going there, where is your room," Kammy asked the sisters.
The stranger flopped on this haunches as he rubbed his aching head. After so many years, he had achieved victory. All he had to do now was make sure it stayed that way. And knowing that his friends were already out in the world, that would be plenty easy.
A cracking noise sounded above.
The stranger looked up, and saw a piece of the cardboard ceiling come crashing down on him.
Whether it was because he was caught unaware, or if he was too weak to move in time, the piece of ceiling landed on his head, and broke in two. The golden dragon’s eyes rolled in his head, and he passed out.
> Chapter 3: After the Fact
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3

After the Fact


The dewy wilderness beyond Canterlot laid still and quiet. In the half-light of the early morning, everything was as motionless as a diorama. Nothing moved, as if the land itself were holding its breath for the calamity the night before. Not even the wind stirred the leaves of the trees, or the patches of bladed grass that popped up on the green ground.
The sun seemed to timidly peer over the horizon, as if to survey the land to see if the danger had passed. For all those in Canterlot last night, and for all of Equestria, the danger was only just beginning.
As the light spread across the land, pieces of litter blown from Canterlot Palace’s ballroom laid strewn about. Decorations and furnishings were blown far from the hallowed hall where they once dwelt.
A tree glinted with dew in the first rays of the light. Beneath its leaves, two crumpled wads of paper laid motionless in the grass. What seemed merely litter blown from the castle the night before began to jump. In a second, the larger of the two unfolded itself, and smoothed out its surface, revealing the red-clad form of Mario.
“Oh...That was one heck of a blast…” the plumber said to no one in particular.
His head was still spinning from the battle the night before, which seemed only moments ago to him. And his body was still feeling the impact of the fight.
As his gaze drifted around, he saw all the pieces that had followed him out after the explosion. One look, and the last moments of the fight returned to him. When Spike, Apple Bloom and Luigi joined the fight.
“Pasta e fagioli! The others!” Mario realized.
Nearby, among the clutter of castle decorations, something moved. After a second glance, Mario saw it was a wadded up piece of paper. He couldn’t tell who it was, but he could see the tip of something green.
“Luigi!” Mario said, as he stumbled toward the wad of paper. Once he reached it, he started smoothing it out. “Hang on, bro! I got you!”
He carefully unfolded each part of the wadded up paper. To his surprise, it was not his brother, but somebody else entirely.
“Oh…” the wad of paper groaned, as it unfolded itself.
“Spike!? How’d you get way out here!?” the plumber asked.
“I think it had something to do with that big explosion…” Spike groaned, too dizzy to stand.
“Eh. Wiseguy,” Mario said, as he smoothed his edges and stretched his arms.
Spike smoothed out his own surface, and glanced up towards the city of Canterlot. And how it had changed since the explosion last night.
There were two major changes since that time. The first was the huge, gaping hole that was blown out of one side of the castle. The other was the bubble of golden magic around the city.
Whatever magic the new leader of the Koopa Troop had, he had used it to bolster his defenses against outsiders. Nobody was getting in, and nobody was getting out.
Spike recalled the last moments before the explosion, when Twilight was erased from existence. He didn’t know what happened to her. For all appearances, it seemed like she was incinerated by the golden dragon’s flames. But, there had been no ash or anything else left of her.
Somewhere deep inside himself, Spike felt like something else had happened to Twilight. As if her game was not ended, but she was sent somewhere far away from where he was.
“Twilight...I need to find out what happened to her,” Spike thought.
Mario too was looking pensively at the palace.
“Knowing my luck, Peach is still in there,” Mario sighed. “I guess we’re going to need to find a way to get back to the palace.”
"Are we really going back there now? After what just happened," Spike asked.
“Somebody’s gotta take care of those guys. And, if anyone's qualified, it's me," the plumber declared.
“What about your brother?” Spike asked.
Surely, the other Mario brother was as qualified as Mario himself. But, Mario seemed to miss the meaning of Spike’s question.
"Ah, don't worry about him. He found his way home after being blown from a castle once, he can do it again," Mario answered, remembering what happened when Bowser used his castle to lift Peach's into the sky.
A plan was needed. Mario took the cannoli from his item pocket, and gave one to Spike as he sat down beside the dragon. When he leaned his back against one of the tables that was blown from the palace, he felt something else in one of his other pockets.
Curious to the nature of the object, Mario pulled out the small, black notebook.
It was something that had been trusted to him, after it was fought so hard to be kept from the golden dragon. Even if it looked so simple, it was surely important. To discover its nature, he thoughtfully flipped through each page. And on each page was something that yielded more questions than answers.
Each page was covered in mathematical calculations and drawings of symbols and objects the plumber didn’t recognize. Next to the drawings were lines that connected to one or two short sentences.
One page he stopped on showed a drawing of a cluster of stars, which formed no particular pattern. On the same page was what looked like a pull tab, like what construction workers used to pop up new buildings. Try as he did, he could not discern their meaning. For as far as he could tell, it was simply notes of some nature.
“What the heck is this thing anyway?” Mario asked Spike.
"Got me I've never seen anything like that before. All these drawings, and the notes next to them: they don't make any sense to me,” Spike said, as he peered over Mario’s shoulder.
Mario flipped through the pages, analyzing each one of them.
Spike too scanned the papers. By and by, the young dragon’s eyes lit up with each passing page.
“Wait. Go back,” he said, as he reached over and flipped a page backwards.
When he did, Mario saw a symbol drawn on a page. One that looked like a swirl of stars, surrounded by six other symbols.
“What’s that supposed to be?” Mario wondered.
“I don’t know. But that symbol's on a book back in the library I work in! I saw it when I was arranging books the other day!” Spike said. He took a closer look at the other six symbols.
Each of the symbols was nothing like what was on the book he knew. The more he tried to place them, the less he felt like he recognized them.
“You think there’s a connection here?” Mario asked.
“Huh?” Spike said, returning his attention to the plumber. “Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know. But, it’s a lead, isn’t it?”
Mario finished the last bite of his cannoli and looked at the page. Spike was right. It was the only lead they had at the moment.
“I guess it’s as good a start as any,” Mario said. After all, something similar happened before, when he followed a map back in Rogueport. "But, how do we get back up the mountain from here?"
"We're not going up the mountain. We’re going back to my home in Ponyville,” Spike said.
“How long is that gonna take us?” Mario asked.
“Not long. It’s just the next town over. We can get there quick, if we really hurry,” Spike said, as he led Mario in the direction of his home.
A shadow passed above them. Looking up, the dragon and plumber saw a gold-shelled paratroopa flew above. Likely, it was patrolling for intruders. In particular, a certain pudgy plumber, who was carrying a valuable item.
“Andiamo, paisan! The longer we stay, the quicker they’ll find us!” Mario said, as he and Spike hurried along.
"What about everypony else? Don't you think there has to be somepony else down here besides us," Spike asked, as the two hurried away.
"I've done this a few times. Usually when this happens, there are only one or two other guys that get blown away with you," Mario said.
The two of them hurried as quickly and quietly as they could from where they were. Neither of them said a word, but they bother wondered how they would quickly get out of their predicament.
The paratroopa’s shadow loomed overhead.
Mario quickly pulled Spike to his side, and pressed them both flat against the trunk.
The tree’s cruciform cardboard roots acted as cover for them as they slipped past the patrolling paratroopa. Their bodies flipped around from one root to the next, always out of their enemy’s sight.
Mario and Spike crouched low as they ran to the adjacent rock.
The paratroopa swooped low, and began patrolling back and forth along the path Mario and Spike intended to take.
Spike tried to think over his bristling nerves. He had very little field experience when it came to adventuring, let alone stealth segments. He needed to think of a way for them to reach the next place.
His keen eyes spotted the next viable hiding spot behind a fallen log. Only, the open space between the two places was too great for them not to be seen.
“What do we do? There isn’t a way to get past that guy without being seen,” Spike said.
“We can’t just wait for him to go away. Every second’s counting here,” Mario answered.
“Unless we can find something that can over us up as we’re running, I don’t see a way through.”
In spite of Spike’s limited experience in the field, he had delivered an almost perfect tattle. As soon as Mario heard the dragon’s words, he looked to the tree they were hiding behind. It looked tall enough for what he needed, but it looked too sturdy to be knocked over with a hammer alone.
“Spike, I’m going to need you to burn away the base of this tree,” Mario said.
One look to the tree, then to the fallen log, and Spike caught on to the plumber’s plan.
The dragon rubbed his claws together, before letting loose a stream of flames once the paratroopa’s back was turned.
The base of the tree was burned away, as if it were sliced with a cutting torch.
The tree teetered back and forth.
Mario took his hammer out, and swung hard at the tree trunk.
The paratroopa’s attention was caught by the sound of tearing cardboard. When he turned, he caught sight of a mighty tree falling toward him.
“SWEET JUMPIN’ SUPER STAR!!” the paratroopa shouted, as the ground shook beneath him as he hovered.
Mario and Spike quickly hurried behind the fallen tree, while the paratroopa investigated the other trees along his patrol to make sure they wouldn’t fall as well.
They were in the homestretch now. Past the undergrowth of foliage, the plumber and dragon could see a road. All they had to do now was get past the guard, who was snoozing by the roadside.
Spike looked over the guard. It looked vaguely like a koopa, but was much too large. And it had a single tuft of hair on its head, as opposed to the typical bald countenance of the other terrapin creatures. Its size was imposing enough, but the weapon it held was even more threatening. A huge, golden club with a spiked ball on the top.
“That’s a clubba, right?” Spike whispered.
"Yeah. How'd you know? I thought you said you didn't get to play video games," Mario said.
"I don't. But, Twilight made me read a bunch of books about the Mushroom Kingdom when she learned Princess Peach was coming."
"Sheesh. That lady's strict," Mario said.
"At least now I can put what I learned to good use. Like how those guys tend to nod off while they're working," Spike said, just as the large, green creature snored loudly.
"These guys are an embarrassment to the Koopa Troop," Mario said as he and Spike slowly crept toward the road.
"Yeah. But, I also read how they're pretty tough fighters, so I think it's a good idea if we let this guy sleep," Spike answered.
No sooner did he finish talking than did the bubble coming out of the clubba's nose pop with a loud snap.
Mario and Spike scrambled to the one place the clubba wouldn't see them: directly behind his back.
The clubba looked around, confused by what could have woken him up. He knew that there was something out there, but he couldn't see any trace of it.
He turned to the side.
Mario and Spike shuffled quickly to stay behind him.
The clubba turned to the other side.
The two behind him shuffled again.
Something was definitely amiss. But, it eluded the vision of the clubba.
Mario and Spike watched, confused as the clubba crouched low to the ground. In a sudden burst, the clubba jumped high into the air and somersaulted so that he quickly turned around.
Mario and Spike quickly dashed beneath the clubba to his backside.
"Ah-ha!! Found ya," the clubba said as it pointed ahead with his golden club.
Mario and Spike held their breath, fearing a fight this tough opponent was imminent.
Instead, the clubba walked toward a cart pulled by a large red stallion, which was being pulled down the road. A stallion who Spike knew quite well.
"You're the guy what woke me up just now! Uh... ain't ya?" the clubba said.
"Eeyup," Big Macintosh answered calmly.
"Uh, okay. But, I'm s'posed to ask some questions to anyone comin' by," the clubba said as he pulled a clipboard from his pocket. "Let's see...Uh..." The clubba squinted slightly as he read the paper before enunciating every word he read. "'Do-you-have-anything-to-declare?'"
"Just tryin' to get home is all," Big Macintosh said.
“Alright. Uh…” the guard said, as he looked at the next question on the clipboard.
While the guard was distracted, Big Macintosh looked past him, and saw Spike and Mario. With a subtle twitch of his head, he motioned to the back of his cart.
It was the perfect stroke of luck. A close friend had appeared to pull them out of danger, and give them a ride back home.
“Uhhh…’What-is-your-reason-for-leaving-...uhhh…Can-ter-lot?” the clubba read, as Mario and Spike quietly crept around the back of the wagon.
"Said that already. I'm tryin' to go home to Ponyville,” the large stallion said.
“Alright. Then I’m required to ask...uh…” the guard looked back to his clipboard, “‘What-is-your-reason-for-being-in-...uh...that place on the mountain?’”
Big Macintosh sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Because, I was sellin’ produce to the folks at the Gala. Now that Canterlot’s blown up, nopony wants to shop,” the large stallion said, weary of the questionnaire.
“I wanna shop. Uh...What’re ya sellin’?” the clubba asked.
Behind the wagon, Mario quickly helped Spike into the back.
Big Macintosh quickly stopped the clubba by gently pushing his clipboard back up to his face.
“You just keep readin’ them questions, fella,” he said.
"Okay. Uh... 'Are-you-transporting-anyone-besides-yourself?'" the clubba asked.
"Nope."
"That's good. You're not the plumber we're looking for. Uh...move along."
The pony continued his trek, and glanced backward at the barrels in the cart, as the clubba stopped another pony on the road.
“Is this guy a friend of yours?” Mario asked.
“Yeah. And he lives in Ponyville,” Spike replied.
“How fast can we get there now?”
“With Big Macintosh pulling: it’ll be a snap.”
Things were quickly looking up. But, Mario knew that he still had to find the others. And who knew where they were. Little did he know that he didn’t have to look very far.



Nearby, less than a mile from the road, a river flowed gently. On its current, it carried small pieces of the debris from the disaster in Canterlot. Hors d'oeuvre plates and silverware drifted calmly on its current, followed by nearly everything else, from pocket watches and monocles, to pieces of clear cellophane and cardboard.
Among the pollution, there were two wadded up pieces of paper. As the river bent in one direction, both papers drifted to the river bank. Slowly, they both unfolded, revealing Luigi an Apple Bloom.
"Oh...I'd ride in the stairs of Peach's blimp over and over if I never had to do that again," Luigi groaned as he crawled out of the river.
Beside him, Apple Bloom tried to stand up, but couldn’t muster the strength.
“You alright?” Luigi asked.
"I think so. I'm just real dizzy...An' achy," Apple Bloom said.
Luigi got to his feet, as best as his soggy edges would support him. He picked up Apple Bloom, and placed her beneath a nearby tree, which they both slumped under.
From where they sat, Apple Bloom had a clear view of Canterlot Palace. Even through the field of golden magic around it, she had a clear view of the gaping hole in the side. The more she looked, the more she recalled those terrible moments when she last saw her sister.
"They got my sister, Luigi. They done somethin' with her, an' I wanna get her back," Apple Bloom said.
"Aw, jeez..." Luigi sighed quietly, since he had to be the one to break the bad news to the filly. "Listen. I saw what happened to your sister. And Fluttershy. And all of them. I don't think they're coming back after that."
"That ain't true! She's still out there, somewhere! I know, 'cause I'm her sister! Just like how you didn't give up at the haunted mansion to find yer brother!" the filly said
There was no arguing with the filly on that point. Luigi had looked for Mario in a nearly hopeless situation, while working with nothing but pure instinct. After much tribulation, he found the altar where his brother was kept captive. If this filly was anything like himself, she would do the same for her sister.
"I guess there's always the chance she's alright," Luigi conceded.
"Ain't no guessin' about it. I know she's alive somewhere. We just need to know where to look," Apple Bloom answered.
"We won't find much anything around here. Where can we start to look?" the plumber asked.
The filly thought a moment. There was one place that she knew always had an answer somewhere within.
"I don't know. But, before we even start, we should get back to Ponyville fer some supplies. An' we might find somethin' at the Golden Oaks Library if we look," Apple Bloom said.
"Sounds good to me," Luigi answered. "Where's Ponyville?"
"Um...I don't really know," Apple Bloom answered, "But, I know this river flows near the road at some point. If we follow it, we should find the road to Ponyville."
"Hey, a lucky break already," Luigi said as he and Apple Bloom started following the river.
As they walked, it seemed like they had started heading deeper into the wilderness. But if Apple Bloom was right, they would eventually find the road. However, that started to seem more unlikely as they encountered a large lake. Worse still, they could hear voices nearby. Voices that didn't sound friendly, and were coming steadily closer.
Not wanting to take any chances after the battle they barely survived, Luigi and Apple Bloom hid in the nearby reeds, half submerged underwater so that they could hear when the voices passed.
"We've been looking since one A.M. and we haven't found a stupid thing," one of the voices said, "We should just accept our losses and call it quits."
"We can't do that," the other voice said, "You heard what the boss said. 'Don't come back until you found Mario and get that book, or you guys are mulch.'"
"Yeah, but don't you think he'll understand if we don't find him? It's been hours already. Mario could be far away from here by now."
The owners of the voices stepped into view, revealing a koopa troopa and a hammer brother, who was sporting a gold helmet, and wielding a golden hammer.
Luigi knew that a hammer brother with powerful equipment was bad enough. But what sent shivers through Apple Bloom was the creature that accompanied the troopa.
At the end of a long chain that the troopa held was the same kind of chomping creature she had seen at the gala. The same golden-toothed, black-eyed creature that nearly devoured her before her sister bucked it away. She felt a quiver of fear when she saw the black eyes swivel around as though they were looking for something, and slowly sank into the water when it looked in her direction.
"I still think it's a good idea for us to keep looking until further notice. Trust me, we really don’t want to make the new boss mad," the troopa said.
"What's got you so riled up about this guy," the hammer brother asked.
"You weren't there when he showed up. He busted out of Bowser's throne room and told us how he defeated him. I remember how that guy talked when he told us he was in charge. He means business,” the troopa said.
The chain chomp continued to vigilantly look around.
"But, we don't even know where he came from. Or even who he is. You remember when we got this crummy job? Apparently Johnson asked him what his name was, and all the boss said was to call him whatever we wanted. You got that? The guy we're working for doesn't want to tell us his name!" the hammer brother said.
Apple Bloom thought she could hear the chain creature sniffing the air.
"What's that got to do with anything," the troopa asked.
The hammer brother thought a moment.
"Nothing, I guess," the hammer brother answered as he idly swung his hammer at his side. "I'm just saying that guy's hiding something. Whoever he is, I think we should keep an eye on him."
Apple Bloom gasped quietly when she saw the creature jump slightly toward her, and quickly receded further into the reeds, creating a loud rustling noise.
"RUFF-RUFF!!!!"
The chain chomp jerked forward on its chain, nearly pulling the troopa along with it.
"Whoah! Looks like Muffin's got a scent," the troopa said.
Both koopas were about to investigate the rustling in the reeds, until they saw a large frog hop into view.
"Aw, jeez! Another bust," the troopa groaned. "Come on, girl. You've been chasing too many frogs today already."
And the company of koopas left. Except for the hammer brother.
The hammer brother knelt down to examine what the frog was sitting on, finding it to be something flat and green, with a large letter 'L' on the front of it. He squinted suspiciously at it, as he knelt closer.
"'L?' 'L' is for 'lilypad,'" the hammer brother said before he stood back up to follow his partner. "Boy, the plants around here sure are organized to initial themselves."
Moments passed when the koopas left, until Luigi and Apple Bloom both rose from the water with hollow reeds in their mouths.
"Sweet Celestia, those guys're dumb. Didn't any of 'em pass the third grade?" the filly said as she strained the water out of her soggy mane and tail.
"I don't think so. I think that's why they joined the koopa troop, instead of getting a real job like all the other koopas," Luigi answered as he checked his cannoli, relieved to find that it was still dry and edible.
The frog on his head croaked, as if to agree.
"WAUGH!!!" Luigi yelped, startled by the sudden noise, making the frog jump off.
"Keep it down, Luigi, or those guys'll come back with that monster," Apple Bloom said.
"What monster?"
"That thing with the chain, an' all the teeth!"
"The chain chomp? Yeah, it's a good idea if we keep moving," Luigi agreed.
It wasn't long before they found where the river continued, and thankfully, their trip remained mostly uneventful, until they saw a shadow pass over them.
Looking up, Luigi couldn't see what it belonged to. Only that it had wings, and was carrying some kind of pouch.



"Princess?"
"Hm..." Peach moaned.
"Princess Peach?"
Slowly, the Mushroom princess opened her eyes and found herself looking at the faces of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
"Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle? What happened?" Peach asked as she slowly sat up.
"We got blown out of the castle a while ago, and woke up somewhere in Canterlot," Sweetie Belle answered.
"Is that where we are now," Peach asked.
"No. You didn't wake up soon enough, and there were all those scary koopas running around. So, we picked you up, and carried you to the train" Sweetie Belle said.
"The train?" Peach wondered.
Princess Peach hadn't been immediately aware of her surroundings, but when she got her bearings, she heard the clacking of the tracks outside, and found herself sitting on a seat in one of the compartments. Outside her window, she could see the countryside quickly passing by as the sun rose in the distance.
Seeing the sun rise gave her a small sense of hope. Whatever had happened, the Equestrian royalty had survived it. Unless somehow, the sun was not rising on this land over their command.
"Where are we going now?" Peach asked, trying to get the dreadful thought out of her mind.
"We're going back to our home in Ponyville. I don't know if it was smart to do, but it was all we could think of," Sweetie Belle said.
"It's alright, Sweetie Belle. You only did what you could, and got out of danger as fast as possible. I'm sure that everyone else on this train did the exact same thing," Peach assured the young unicorn.
"But, what about Apple Bloom? We tried to spot her on our way here, and we've been all up and down this train, but we haven't seen her! I don't want to find out later that she got left behind in that place!" Scootaloo said.
"Apple Bloom will be fine, wherever she is. Remember how she was with Mario and Luigi the last time we saw her? As long as she stays with them, she's going to be safe. After all, who saved me from the Shadow Queen?" Peach said.
"Yeah...And I bet she was a million times worse than that guy who blew up the palace," Scootaloo said, as a hopeful smile slowly spread across her face.
"She was. And I know, because I had to be her vessel for the worst fifteen minutes of my life. Compared to her, this gold dragon is nothing. So, you have nothing to worry about. I know that Mario and Luigi are keeping Apple Bloom and everyone else safe, wherever they may be," Peach said.
"Sounds a bit overly optimistic, if you ask me," Sweetie Belle grumbled, too quietly for anyone else to hear.
The truth was, not one of them was feeling at all optimistic. Not even Peach, despite her comforts to the fillies. Even though Scootaloo knew the story of The Thousand-Year Door by heart, she knew that she had no way of knowing the true magnitude of the adventure, and felt as if Princess Peach may only have been softening the truth.
Sweetie Belle was still lingering on where Apple Bloom may have been. Whatever had happened, she knew they shouldn't have left without her, and who knew how she was faring that very moment.
For Peach, her mind went back to the rising sun. It had been some time past midnight when the castle blew up, and now the sun was coming up as if everything was perfectly normal. What had become of Luna and Celestia? And was it truly their power that was making the sun rise? If so, was that the only reason they were not disposed of yet? To keep the natural order of day and night?
These questions swam through Peach's head, giving her not nearly a moment's peace for the rest of the ride to their destination.
> Chapter 4: Where the Void Leads
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4

Where the Void Leads


It was quiet at the Ponyville train station. No trains arrived for the many hours since news of the disaster in Canterlot circulated. The attendant on duty knew it was only a matter of time until a train filled with refugees from the disaster appeared. And it seemed that not an hour after sunrise passed did the first train arrive.
The train of pink cardboard and cotton balls slowly squeaked to a halt at the Ponyville train station. Once it had stopped, the passengers all filed off, and hoped that their troubles from Canterlot hadn't followed. Among them, two Cutie Mark Crusaders and the Mushroom Princess.
The three walked off the platform, and Peach was able to briefly take in the scenery of the town. All around, the ponies of the town went about their business. Many of them tried not to react to the arrival from Canterlot, while few others quickly trotted over to receive their friends and loved ones who had been at the palace the night before.
To Peach, it seemed like everyone there was trying to act as if nothing had happened. Whether or not they simply didn’t want to face the prospect of such danger so close to their home, or if they didn’t know know any other way to handle it, she didn’t know. But, instead of dwelling on the unpleasantries of the previous night, Peach decided to move ahead, and try to resolve the issue.
“Well. We’re home,” was all Scootaloo said.
“It looks like those guys from Canterlot didn’t get here yet,” Sweetie Belle said. She was suddenly unsettled by her own words. She knew it would only be a matter of time before the villains in Canterlot spread out to other towns. Time was an important factor, and they had to move quickly. “Let’s get to the library.”
Peach followed after the fillies, knowing that their hurried pace was caused by what they had experienced. She hated to see children so young worrying themselves so. During their walk, she decided that she would try to ease their minds with a gentle conversation.
"Oh my goodness. What a nice little town. I almost feel like I'm back in Toad Town here,” Peach said.
"Sure, it's nice to be back home. But, we still have a problem we need to fix," Scootaloo reminded her.
It seemed that it would not be so easy to quell the worry of the fillies.
"That's true. But, I don't know if we can solve it on our own. Do you two know anyone in town who can help us?" Peach asked.
"The only pony I can think of is Twilight. But, I haven't seen her since Canterlot blew up," Scootaloo answered.
"Oh," Peach said grimly. She didn't want to think the worst had happened to the Bearers of Harmony. But if they were anything like the Mario Bros, they would be reappearing in no time. "Did either of you see any of them escape?"
"No. That last thing I remember seeing was that gold dragon guy chasing them around in the crowd before that explosion," Sweetie Belle said. She stopped walking when a terrible thought occurred to her. "Do you think they... their game ended...?"
"Sweetie Belle! Don't talk like that! Rainbow Dash's game won't end that easily! I know she's still out there somewhere! And she's going to come back with everypony else, just like she always does!" Scootaloo said.
To Peach, Scootaloo sounded so certain, even she was working purely off of blind faith. She knew nearly nothing about the Equestrian heroines, but if Celestia and Luna held them in such high regard, then Peach believed they would surely be coming back.
"If that is so, then we'll have to wait here for them to come back. And in the meantime, we must do what we can to aid them in the quest that awaits them," Peach said.
"That's right, Princess! We're gonna help them like there's no tomorrow!" Scootaloo said.
"How?" Sweetie Belle deadpanned, thus crashing Scootaloo's excitement.
"For starters, we need to find out what we can about our new enemy, and whatever magic he's using. Furthermore, we need to find out where we can meet with the Bearers once they reappear. Tell me: is there a place in town where they usually meet?" Peach answered.
"Yeah. Whenever there's trouble, they all go to the Golden Oaks Library. So, I guess waiting there is as good a place as any, right?" Sweetie Belle said.
"And we can see if there's any books about gold dragons there," Scootaloo said.
"Then, it's settled. The library will be our next stop," Peach said.
"Come on. We know the way," Scootaloo said as she and Sweetie Belle trotted ahead with Peach in tow.
Peach was suddenly reminded of the heavy air in Ponyville. When she happened to hear the hushed voices of the ponies, she could hear mentions of the incident in Canterlot. Among the troubled whispers, she noticed that some of the ponies she walked past stared at her.
"I wonder if everything's alright around here," Scootaloo said.
"Everything looks okay. Why? What's wrong," Sweetie Belle asked.
"Nothing, really. It's just that Princess Peach is getting a lot of really weird looks from the ponies here."
"I'm sure it's nothing. I am visiting royalty, you know. Some of them probably just recognize me," Peach answered simply, trying not to pay any mind to the staring ponies.
"I said we're looking for three Mushroomers!!" a gruff voice loudly shouted nearby.
In spite of their raising hopes, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle began to feel a familiar sense of dread and apprehension.
"Maybe we should go another way?" Sweetie suggested.
However, Princess Peach went to investigate the trouble. Not wanting to be left alone, the fillies cautiously trailed after her.
The closer they walked toward the commotion, the more the fillies realized they were headed right toward the Golden Oaks Library. There, right in the path to their destination was the source of the trouble.
There was a goomba and a paratroopa, both wielding golden equipment, and both bruised, scraped and irritated.
Peach watched for a moment, when she recognized the paratroopa as the one who had attacked her at the Grand Galloping Gala.
"We got a problem here! It's not a very big problem, but you're making it harder than it has to be! All we're looking for is three humans from the Mushroom Kingdom! Two fat, mustachioed plumbers, and a blonde in a pink dress! They shouldn't be that hard to spot!!" the paratroopa said, as he grilled an elderly green mare for information
"I keep tellin' ya, youngun: I ain't seein' much today since I lost my contacts 'round here. I couldn't tell a griffin from a lion with a bird on its back unless I did," the mare answered.
"Listen, you walking glue bag: unless you start talking real fast, things are gonna get ugly!" the paratroopa said as he walked forward, nearly stepping on a small lens when he did.
He stopped suddenly, and choked loudly when he felt something hook around his neck. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Princess Peach halting him with the handle of her parasol.
"First fillies, and now defenseless old mares? One might start to think you're afraid to fight someone your own size," Peach said to the paratroopa.
With a quick jerk of her arm, she yanked the paratroopa away, who fell over his goomba companion. Both quickly stood up from the dust, and faced the Mushroom princess.
"Don't try me on this, blondie! First, we get blown out here to this hick town, which gives me a headache like a thwomp's using my head for trampoline! Then this guy gets an email, saying we're looking for you and the Mario brothers! And it’s eating into my break time!!” the paratroopa shouted.
"Come on, lady. Cut us a break. This guy's really hard to work with when he's grumpy, and we could really use a half day after the night we had. So, could you please come quietly, and let us kidnap you right about now?” the goomba said.
"I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but I strongly disapprove of what you're doing. So, I'm afraid I'm going to have to...ask you to leave," Peach said as she daintily held her parasol.
Sweetie Belle shook her head in dismay. Scootaloo dragged her hoof down her face. And the goomba and paratroopa began to laugh.
"You didn't hear a thing our boss said last night, did you?" the paratroopa said, "Oh well. I gotta vent somehow, and I guess you'll make a nice punching bag--"
No sooner did he finish speaking, did he receive a thrust of a parasol between the eyes. Followed by a crack to the head, and a swing to the neck.
"Hey! What gives? She's not supposed to know how to do that! She's just supposed to yell for Mario!" the goomba said, before he received a powerful golf-style swing in his face.
Once the goomba stopped rolling, he saw the paratroopa go swooping back to Peach.
Peach deflected him with her open parasol.
The goomba rushed in for a headbonk.
Peach hooked her parasol’s handle into the goomba’s open mouth, and slammed him to the ground.
In one graceful movement, the Mushroom princess dodged the paratroopa's next attack, swung the hooked goomba right into his face, picked up the fallen contact lenses, and gave them to the mare who lost them.
Both members of the Koopa Troop laid in a crumpled heap, and looked up at the Mushroom princess. Never before did a young, parasol-twirling princess in a pink dress look so intimidating.
Neither member of the Koopa Troop was terribly injured, but they almost felt insulted by how much trouble Peach was giving them. If Bowser kidnapping her was any indicator, it should have been an easy job.
Peach stepped backwards from her opponents, but always kept her eyes on them.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle approached her sides.
"Where they hay did you learn that," Sweetie Belle asked in awe.
"Well, after being kidnapped so many times, I thought I could use a few self-defense lessons," Peach answered as she smoothed out the crimps and wrinkles in her skirt, and fixed her crown.
Had she a fork, Sweetie Belle would have eaten her own words that she spoke before Peach arrived in Equestria.
"Aren't you going to finish them off?" Scootaloo asked.
"There's no need for that. They got the message," Peach said.
Indeed they had. As humiliating as it was to be defeated, the two from the Koopa Troop were in no condition to keep fighting after the explosion they survived. They quickly scrambled to their feet, before the paratroopa gave his parting speech.
"Yeah, so what if you got us this time!? You just wait until we're back in fighting condition! We'll get you then!" he said.
"Hey, fella," said a deep, bass voice to the paratroopa’s side.
Looking to the direction of the new voice that addressed him, the paratroopa and goomba only saw a very large pair of hooves come flying toward them.
With a solid buck, Big Macintosh sent both of them flying over the horizon.
“Thanks fer the help, grandson,” Granny Smith said, as she finished putting on her contacts.
“Nopony bucks with my granny,” the large stallion said.
“I wish I could do that with a hammer,” Peach heard a familiar voice say from the back of Big Macintosh’s wagon.
The Mushroom princess circled around the side of the wagon. Her spirits rose greatly when she saw Mario jump off the back of the cart, along with Spike.
“Mario!” Peach said.
“Peach!?” Mario said, at once surprised, relieved and delighted to see her safe.
There was barely any time for the plumber to move when Peach greeted him with a kiss.
“Eeyuck!” Spike briefly wretched, before he ran inside the nearby library to find the book he needed.
Mario and Peach took the moment to reconnect after the disaster.
“Honey, I’m so glad you’re safe! I thought for sure you’d be in trouble by now!” Mario said.
“Don’t worry. I’m fine, now that you’re here,” Peach answered.
Sweetie and Scootaloo exchanged a confused glance. After how they had seen the Mushroom princess hold her own against two (admittedly incompetent) members of the Koopa Troop, she was acting like a dainty damsel.
“You’re just lucky Big Macintosh here got to those guys first. I’d hate for you to see what I’d do to them,” the plumber boasted.
“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh shrugged.
Now that the danger had passed, the fillies felt they could approach the large stallion.
“Hey. Is Apple Bloom with you?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Nope. I thought she’d be with you two,” Big Macintosh answered.
“Now that ya mention it, why ain’t yer sisters with ya?” Granny Smith asked.
"Well, uh..." Big Macintosh hesitated to tell his grandmother what had happened. How could he tell her that his sisters were in the castle when an explosion happened, and he hadn't seen them since? Though he spent hours looking for them before he left, he knew that Granny Smith would accept no excuse for his actions.
The sound of flapping wings interrupted the situation. Everyone stepped back as a gray, wall-eyed pegasus mare with a mail pouch alighted to the ground.
"Delivery for Mario. He wears a red hat with a big 'M' on the front," she said, as she presented an envelope to the plumber.
"Uh, yeah. That's me," Mario said as he accepted the envelope, wondering who could have sent it to him.
"Okay. One delivery down. Onward to mail," the mare said, before she flew away.
Mario briefly examined the letter, and found no return address.
“Who could it be from?” Peach wondered.
“Hopefully, nobody trying to end our games,” Mario replied.
Before he could even try to open the envelope, it jumped right out of his hands.
Everyone nearby took a step back as the envelope started jumping around on the ground. Finally, it popped open, and out came to folded up pieces of paper. Soon after popping out, they unfolded to reveal Luigi and Apple Bloom.
“Next time, we need a bigger envelope,” Luigi said, as he smoothed out his edges. He looked around for his brother, but couldn’t see him anywhere. “Mario?”
“Luigi!” Mario exclaimed.
Luigi jumped high, and landed facing his brother.
“Apple Bloom!” Granny Smith said, as she rushed to her granddaughter, followed by Big Macintosh, Sweetie and Scootaloo.
"What the heck were you doing in there?" Mario said.
"Just hitching a ride out of danger, bro," Luigi said as he looked around, "Peach!? You're here too?"
"I am. As are two of our friends from Canterlot," Peach answered, indicating the fillies she traveled with.
"Jeez, this is great! I almost thought finding you guys would be a royal pain in the butt," Luigi said.
"Implying that's not what everything else right now is already," Mario said.
“Aw, shoot. You had to remind me about that,” Luigi said.
“Remind you about what?” Peach wondered.
“Okay. While me and Apple Bloom were trying to get away from Canterlot, we heard some of the Koopa Troops talking. You know what they said? They said that gold guy that took over Canterlot put the kibosh on Bowser!” Luigi said.
"He what!?" Mario and Peach said together.
"Yeah! Bowser’s done for! Kaput! Game over! And this new guy took over the Koopa Troop after scrapping him! And the weird thing is, nobody knows who he is. They don't even know his name!" Luigi continued.
"What could he possibly have done to finally get rid of Bowser?" Peach wondered.
"Maybe there's an answer in here," Mario said, as he revealed the book he had.
"What's this? Some kind of notebook?" Peach asked, as she examined the book.
"I don't know. But, Spike said he recognized some of the drawings in here from a book in the library."
The front door of the library opened, and Spike leaned out.
“Mario! I think I found it! I found the book!” Spike excitedly called.
“Alright! Finally, some headway!” Mario said, as he hurried into the library.
“Wait!” Peach said, as she followed after.
“Yeah! Headway for what?” Luigi said, as he ran inside next.
None of the present ponies had any idea what was going on, and wanted answers as well.
“C’mon, y’all. Let’s see what’s goin’ on,” Apple Bloom bade her two friends, and guided them inside.
Big Macintosh too was curious, and followed the others in.
“Wait just a second there. Ya still ain’t told me where yer sister’s gone,” Granny said, as she followed her grandson inside.
Everyone gathered to where Spike led them. The table in the middle of the library was piled with books. Most prominently of all was a very large book, which was sprawled open. On the pages, Mario found pictures that greatly resembled the ones in the notebook he was given.
"What the hay's all that scribblin'?" Apple Bloom asked.
"It looks like somepony's old art book," Sweetie Belle said.
"Or some kind of doodle," Scootaloo suggested.
"Looks like the pictures from my last doctor visit," Granny said, earning a grimace from her grandchildren.
"It's none of that! It's Starswirl the Bearded's notes about some kind of magic," Spike said.
"Who the What's huh?" Luigi asked.
"Come on, Luigi. I spent a week learning about your kingdom before you came. You could've done the same for us," Spike admonished the plumber.
"Not when it was just sprung on us," Luigi said.
"What's up with this magic," Mario asked, getting back to the point.
"Get this! Thousands of years ago, Starswirl created the Elements of Harmony to maintain the balance of everything, right?" Spike continued.
"Yes. Lulu and Tia told me about that the first time we met," Peach said.
“But, here’s the thing that most ponies don’t know: somepony once tried to destroy them with six other…” Spike trailed off. He turned around to read the book on the table.
The others watched briefly as his eyes darted across the page.
“Six other what?” Apple Bloom wondered.
The dragon continued to look across the page for a moment more, before he turned back to face the others.
“I don’t know. The book doesn’t say what was used. Or how they were made, or who made them. All it mentions is some kind of evil magic that some other wizard used,” Spike said.
“What are you getting at? Are you saying that that gold dragon might have been using that same magic?” Mario said.
“Exactly,” Spike affirmed, as he flipped a page.
On the page Spike flipped to, there was a picture of a tall, bearded unicorn facing against six golden shadows, who all had vague, unrecognizable forms as they overlapped one another. Around the unicorn floated six magical items that had been rendered to useless stones by the power of the trinkets the six golden shadows held.
"Holy cannoli," Mario muttered.
"Yeah. It turns out that Starswirl didn't count on the Elements actually getting beaten,” Spike said.
The dragon turned the page. There was revealed an illustration of the evil shadows overpowering the Elements of Harmony. Starswirl the Bearded stood stalwartly before his opponents, as the six Elements were pushed back under their power.
“But, what happened after that? He must have beat that guy somehow?” Luigi asked.
“Hang on a second. I didn’t read that far yet,” Spike said.
The dragon turned to read the rest of the page. It seemed the air of curiosity and the gravity of the situation had gotten to the others as well. One by one, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith all gathered around to read the page over Spike’s shoulder.
“Okay, I got it. It says that Starswirl used the last remaining power of the Elements of Harmony to seal away the power of the other wizard. But, by doing that, he used up all of the power the Elements had left in them. After that, the Elements of Harmony had been in the Castle of the Two Sisters ever since,” the dragon read.
“But, they’re gone now! How can we stop that dragon, if we don’t have the Elements with us?” Scootaloo said.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle continued to read the page, hoping to find something of use. The second they turned the next page, they found it.
“Hold it! Take a gander at this, y’all,” Apple Bloom said.
“What is it?” Peach asked, as she and all the others looked to the passage Apple Bloom was pointing at.
“This. It says that Starswirl left a map to find the Elements, in case something happened to them,” Sweetie explained.
Lights turned on in Mario’s and Spike’s brains. The picture on the page before them was a cluster of stars, which formed no particular pattern. Next to them, there was what looked like a tab of some sort.
It was something they both had seen before. Spike didn’t have to say anything to make the plumber take the notebook from his item pocket. Once Mario held it, he thumbed through the pages, until he found what he was seeking.
The picture in the notebook was identical to the one on the table. The only difference was the note on the facing page of the small book.


	Any door may be opened, so long as you dare to turn the key.


The plumber tried to make sense of the message, as he thoughtfully examined the page. He looked back and forth between the notebook in his hand, and the book on the table, trying to make some connection between them and the passage.
Mario reread the note, and glanced to the facing picture. His eyes lingered on the drawn pull tab.
It was the longest long shot he could conceive, but it was the only thing he could conceive.
Though it was not a key, it was the closest thing he could think of trying.
Mario felt slightly silly when he touched his finger to the drawn tab. He didn’t know what he was expecting to happen. Finally, he dragged his finger, and was shocked to see the drawing move, as if he had pulled a popup tab.
The notebook drifted out of Mario’s hands. Everyone in the room watched in awe as the stars on the page came alive. One by one, they started swirling about in all different directions, but always in a circular pattern.
With a gentle thud, the notebook set itself on the table. Above it, the swirling stars started to color themselves in. Once they were all colored, they leveled themselves to a single plane of orbit, and drifted around the table.
"What're we gettin' ourselves into," Big Macintosh wondered, sensing that something big was about to happen.
Sure enough, an image appeared in the space between the stars, taking the transparent form of a small, familiar town.
"That's Ponyville," Apple Bloom said, as they all examined the image.
Even though the image of Ponyville was clear, there was still a great mass of foggy, indiscernible images around it.
"It's a lovely likeness, but it doesn't actually show us anything," Peach said.
Of course, she didn’t know what was to come.



After Twilight had been struck by the stranger's magic, what happened next was like a nightmare.
All she could see was a world of shifting shadows, unlike any kind of darkness she had seen before. All of them twisted and warped before her, making her feel as if she had somehow changed to be like them as she flew by. Soon, it became too much for the unicorn to bear, and she closed her eyes, hoping the horror would end.



A gentle swishing noise made Twilight dare to uncover her eyes, and what she saw amazed her.
No longer was she surrounded by the nightmarish shadows. She was instead in a peaceful, green meadow, with a blue sky above, and a stream nearby, as a gentle breeze made the grass quietly wave around her.
"What is this place?" Twilight wondered.
All around, there was nothing but peace and quiet. It was as if the world suddenly reset itself to the peace and tranquility it normally knew.
Quickly, she rushed to the riverbank to examine her reflection. In the water, she saw nothing disconcerting about herself. Everything was fine, and there were no worrying injuries. But, the tiara atop her head was another matter.
Twilight reached for the Element of Magic, and examined it as she gingerly held it in her hooves. Whatever had happened, wherever she was, her hopes of fixing the calamity that happened were quickly dwindling.
“The others!” Twilight realized.
The unicorn frantically looked around for her friends. She ran through the fields of green, hoping to see them, or hear their voices somewhere nearby or far off. They were still there with her. She knew it. They had all been struck by the same magic, and were likely sent to the same place.
Twilight’s pace slowed to a stop, just before the river. For all she knew, they were miles away from one another, with no hope of every reuniting.
With a defeated groan, Twilight placed the useless Element of Magic in her mane. She hung her head, and gazed at her reflection. There was a mare who was always at her strongest with her friends beside her. Now, what power did she have?
Then, she noticed something.
In the reflection of the river, she could see a large tree. In the shade under the tree, Twilight thought that she could make out the shape of something else. Looking up from the river, she saw that she was correct. Under the tree, was a shape, colored white, and resting peacefully.
"Rarity!" she said to herself.
Twilight quickly splashed across the river. Her hopes raised with every step she took. She hiked up the nearby hill, and saw the white form taking shape.
"Rarity, I'm here," she called.
The closer she came, the more she realized that it was not Rarity she was calling to. Indeed, it was not.
When she was upon the white shape, she found it to not be a single pony, but rather two creatures, both dressed in white. They were both two-legged creatures, but not from the Mushroom Kingdom. One was dressed in a white suit, with a long white cape, and a tall, white hat resting on the ground next to him. Adorning his face, barely noticeable against his pitch black skin was a monocle.
Next to him, resting peacefully was another creature with pure white hair, and milk-colored skin, wearing an equally white dress. The trims of the dress, however, were tinged with all the colors of the rainbow. Somehow, looking at the dress she wore, Twilight had the feeling she was looking at something gentle and pure, like a butterfly had become human.
Though she didn't sense any danger from these creatures, Twilight decided to let them both rest quietly. Before she even moved, the male creature awoke, and looked at her.
Twilight froze, hoping for a friendly encounter.
"Hello, traveler," the dark creature greeted her.
"Um...Hello," Twilight said. "I'm sorry I woke you up."
"No, no. Don't be. It's not often we have visitors here. Please, won't you stay a while?" the dark creature implored.
"I..." Twilight hesitated at first, but since there was nobody else to talk to in that place, she decided to oblige him. "Alright."
"Tell me, how did you find this place?" the dark creature wondered..
"I came here from Canterlot. And...well, there was a fight. And I got magically sent here," Twilight answered.
"I see. I'm somewhat familiar with such a thing myself. Did you come here alone?"
"No... My friends were attacked with the same magic. So, they have to be here somewhere. Is there somepony else here who can help? Maybe a town?"
The dark creature’s mouth changed to the slightest of frowns.
"I'm afraid not," the creature said, "My beloved and I have tried to find others like ourselves here. But, alas, it would seem we are alone."
"No! We can't be alone here! There needs to be something!” Twilight said, fighting the encroaching feeling of hopelessness.
"It’s true. There does need to be. But, there is not,” the dark creature said, matter of factly. “For as long as we have been here, we have not found anything or anyone we have come to know before. It is as though we had somehow stepped into the very essence of nowhere. But, I am content. So long as I am with my beloved," he said as he stroked the hair of the female creature.
The light creature shifted slightly in her sleep, and held more tightly to her beloved.
"You said that you had come here with your friends. Perhaps if you found them, you too would learn to accept this place,” the dark creature said.
Twilight didn't know what to make of what she heard. The dark creature made it sound like there was no escape from wherever they were. If that were true, then she would have to simply do as the creature said. But, that would be like admitting defeat.
"I can't stay here. There's trouble back home that my friends and I have to fix." When Twilight heard her own words, she realized that defeat may be the only option. "But, I don't know if my friends are even here with me..."
The dark creature smiled at her, giving the mare a strange kind of warmth from it.
"When we first arrived in this place, my beloved and I were separated far from one another. Despite the hopeless odds, and immeasurable distance between us, we knew we would find one another. And surely enough, we did. It wasn't long after that we found this place. And we have been here ever since. So, you see, if you wish to find your friends, then you need only to look. And should you find them, you would be welcome to join us here."
Hearing the creature's words kindled a little more hope into the unicorn, who looked into the distance of the peaceful field before her. Though she had no way of knowing where her friends were, she needed to find them.
With a small breath, Twilight took a small step forward. And then another. Soon she was slowly walking away from the tree to begin her new journey.
"I must warn you: the world beyond here is not as kind as it seems. Only from a distance does something so peaceful look so inviting."
"Thank you. I'll remember that," Twilight said, before she started walking forward, leaving the two creatures to the company of one another.
As she walked away, she began to feel as if the creature she spoke to was wrong about the field beyond. There was nothing but peace all around her, which made her worry for her friends ebb slightly. If they were out there, surely they were safe. Then, it happened.

[End Music]



The hill with the tree was far behind her, and with one single step, she seemed to have passed into another world entirely. No longer was she in the peaceful field from before, but in a garden like none she ever knew before.
The leaves of the plants and the petals of the flowers all sat perfectly still, and gray as stone. The paper that made up their petals had turned stiff and brittle from seemingly ages of neglect. The cardboard cobblestone path beneath her hooves had all but worn away, revealing its corrugation beneath. And to her sides, the tiny fences that cordoned off the path were equally worn. Their foil had peeled away, and rust had worn them down. It was as if the garden had been forgotten by time itself.
Twilight reached to touch one of the flowers, only for it to crumble under her hoof. As she looked around, she wondered how alive and beautiful the place had once been. When the garden was loved and cared for by the creatures attending to it. But, those days were eons behind.
Somewhere in her mind, Twilight felt as if somepony were guiding her onward. She couldn’t tell why it was, but the feeling in her paint compelled her to carry on.
Her hoof stepped through a foliage, and into nothingness.
Twilight stumbled slightly, an recovered herself. Using her magic, she cleared away the overgrowth and found that she was now overlooking a large cliff.
An overgrowth of vines draped down the cliff’s face. To Twilight, it looked like there was once a path that led down the cliff to the ground below. Unfortunately, it seemed that a mix of corrosion and overgrowth had all but destroyed the way down.
The last thing Twilight wanted to do was to climb down the vines to reach where she needed to go. As much as she hated to do so, she knew that she would never find her friends by idling around. So, swallowing her fears and doubts, she began the slow descent down the cliff.
The wind buffeted and battered Twilight, threatening to blow her away like a piece of litter.
As the unicorn descended, the vines shook and wobbled in the wind. To her, it seemed the vines had come alive, and were reaching for her to grab them. To once again feel the loving touch of a pony to care for them.
To feel the longing of the plants in the forgotten garden, Twilight began to feel terrible for them. It was almost like her days before moving to Ponyville, when she was unloved and uncared for. All the world never knew she existed, except for Princess Celestia and Spike.
Twilight stopped climbing for a moment, when her mind traveled back to those she loved. She never knew the fates of the Royal Sisters, or of Spike. Though her relationship with Spike had not been at its best in recent memory, she felt her heart waver at the thought of him being sent to the place she was in. Or worse.
A quiet rustling, snapping noise broke Twilight’s thoughts. Looking up, the unicorn saw the vines were beginning to break.
Purely on instinct, Twilight tried using her magic to regrow and repair the vines.
The plants broke quicker than her magic could act.
The vines broke, and Twilight desperately grabbed for another one. Her descent was slowed, but not stopped by her desperate clamoring.
Under the weight of the unicorn, the vines continued to break.
In a second, Twilight was falling through the air.
In a last ditch effort, Twilight used her magic to make the vines lash out and grab her.
The vines reached down and wrapped around Twilight’s waist.
The unicorn’s whole body jerked, as she stopped mere inches above the ground before she impacted.
Twilight sighed after a moment of dangling. Her relief turned to surprise, when the plants holding her broke, dropping her to the ground.
Unnerved, but unhurt, Twilight carried on.
As she journeyed through the garden, she began to feel that what the dark creature had told her was right: she had stepped into the very essence of nowhere. The longer she traveled on the broken path through the petrified garden, the more she felt as if there really was nothing beyond where she was. Until she found something.
There was a tall, foiled fence before her. One that was just as dilapidated and derelict as the tiny fences on the sides of the path.
Past the fence, there was a section of the garden that held flowers larger than any Twilight had seen before. Looking at them, she thought that a pony could have fit inside of a bud.
The longer she looked, the more she imagined what the flowers looked like before. Surely, this part of the garden was reserved for the most beautiful and rarest flowers of them all. Now, what was once a garden of love and beauty had been reduced to a drab, gray, useless panorama. Frozen in time, as if to try to preserve itself in its last moments.
Something in Twilight’s mind was telling her that there was the place to be. For whatever reason, she thought something had guided her to the garden, to find what was lost.
Twilight looked through the fence, looking for a sign. Something to tell her that she had not searched in vain.
Somewhere in the middle of the garden, she saw the largest flower of all. In its center, she saw a hint of color. One that was not at all like the others around herself.
Somepony was there, she knew. Now, she was able to reunite with her friends.
“Hey! Over here!” Twilight called.
Feeling her hopes rise once more, she used her magic to pry off bars on the fence and hurried through the garden. Around her, the plants crumbled and turned to dust when she touched them. Finally, after making her trail through the dead plants, she started climbing the petrified flower.
"Hold on! I'm coming up!" Twilight said.
Though time had worked its machinations on the great flower, its sheer size and fortitude kept it from breaking underneath her hooves.
The unicorn climbed up the massive petal, and pushed her way past the overgrowth of roots and ivy.
Finally, Twilight reached the center of the flower, and was delighted by who she found.
“Rainbow Dash! Thank goodness you’re here!” Twilight said with a beaming smile.
Dash didn’t say anything to Twilight. She didn’t even look in her direction. Not even her ear twitched. It was as if she hadn’t heard Twilight at all. Or she simply didn’t care. She merely kept her head hung, with her gaze to the ground.
Twilight immediately knew something was off. Nothing about Rainbow Dash seemed like herself.
This was hardly the friend Twilight knew. If the mare before her didn’t look exactly like Rainbow Dash, Twilight would have thought she made a mistake. But, there was no error. Something had happened that had made Dash the way she was. 
“Hey. Are you alright?” she gently asked.
Dash didn’t answer.
“Rainbow Dash, come on. Let’s go save the day, like we always do,” Twilight tried to prod her friend.
Dash remained silent.
“Dash? What happened to you?”
Twilight walked closer to Dash’s side. There, she noticed the Element of Loyalty, still fastened around Dash’s neck. Exactly the same as her own Element, it was as gray, as useless and as dreary as the flower they were in.
She wished Dash would speak to her. If only to let her know she wasn’t alone in that place, Twilight wanted to hear her friend’s voice.
Twilight gently touched her hoof to her friend’s chin, hoping that if Dash were to see her, she would answer.
The second her hoof touched Dash, a tiny light shined from the Element of Loyalty.
The light drifted off, and hovered in the air a moment. Twilight could see it was a kind of magic. Thankfully, not the golden magic the dragon from before used. Instead, it was the familiar harmonious magic that she had grown accustomed to seeing when things seemed the darkest. However, only a tiny glimmer of light came from them, instead of the blindingly brilliant light from every other time.
Twilight watched the light, as it drifted away. In a moment, it disappeared.

[End Music]






Back in the library, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and all the others watched as the image of the map before them began to glow.
Suddenly, the misty, undefinable portions of the map became clearer to see. The image of a mountain range appeared on the surface of the map.
Nobody said anything, but they all knew it: this was where their adventure would begin.
> Chapter 5: Ill Wind Blowing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5

Ill Wind Blowing


Ponyville was usually a cheery place. But ever since the explosion in Canterlot, everypony had been on edge.
Now, as a light shone from within the Golden Oaks Library, the nearby ponies paused to watch. Their awe varied from wariness to wonder. Whatever was happening in their local library, it surely was not natural.
Inside, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Spike, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith watched the image on the magical map. The projection of the mountain range seemed to beckon them to it. Wherever that was, they all knew it was where their journey would begin.
"I guess that's my cue to leave," Mario said, as he hitched up his overalls and sucked in his gut.
"Now? But, we don't even know where that is," Peach pointed out.
"I do. That's the Saddlesore Mountains," Spike said.
"Then that's where I'm going next," the plumber resolutely said.
Everything was falling into its usual place. Mario had something to find, and a place to find it. Now, it was time for the plumber to answer the call to action.
“Yer goin’ where? Now, hold on there just one second, youngun. I had my fair share o’ long journeys, an’ I’m tellin’ ya that you ain’t goin’ nowhere just yet,” Granny Smith said.
“Don’t worry about me, nonna. I got everything under control here,” Mario said, as he walked toward the door.
No sooner did he finish speaking did Mario trip over one of the stacks of books Spike had gotten out before he entered the library.
Peach sighed quietly, before she knelt down to help her fallen boyfriend to his feet.
“She’s right, Mario. You should probably prepare yourself, before going to those mountains," the Mushroom princess said.
“Yeah. And besides that, you got nobody to go with you,” Luigi added.
“Aw, you guys worry too much. I’ve worked with less, and still came out okay,” Mario assured the others.
“But, you don’t know what you’ll be facing in these places. This country is very different than the Mushroom Kingdom. Who knows what you’ll be up against here,” Peach reasoned.
Mario thought a moment about what Peach had said. He was so used to this routine by this point, that he hadn’t stopped to think just how greatly different Equestria could be from his home. Going it alone without help was sure to be a handicap and a liability to himself. He would need a guide. Someone knowledgeable of the land, who could tell him about the dangers to avoid, and pull him out of a tight spot. Someone capable, who could handle themselves in a fight. Someone who was with him since the beginning of the story, who had already shown these qualities, and had an ability to ‘tattle,’ or something quite similar--
“I’ll go!” Spike abruptly spoke up.
Everyone in the room jumped from the dragon’s sudden outburst. Granny Smith’s old legs folded beneath her, and had to be straightened out by Big Macintosh.
Peach was the most surprised of all. After losing sight of him at the Gala, she was not prepared to let him rush into danger again.
“Spike, no. I promised Twilight that I would keep you safe, and--” Peach began, before she was cut off.
“I know it’s dangerous. But, I have just as much reason to go as anypony else. Twilight--” Spike faltered a moment, when he recalled the last moment he saw her. “Twilight’s been looking after me since I was hatched. She’s always been there for me, and…” Spike trailed off again, recalling the hostile feelings between them before arriving in Canterlot. But, for what they were feeling then, it could not erase what had been there in the many years before. “I just have to do it. I couldn’t say I was her friend if I didn’t.”
“Regardless, I still have my own responsibilities to uphold,” Peach said.
Spike’s mind raced for a reason to go with Mario.
“But, none of you know Equestria like we do. Mario would be lost without somepony to guide him. I’ve already faced the Koopa Troop. I can handle myself,” Spike said.
It was true. Spike had held his own against the empowered Koopa Troop. For the turmoil they had faced the night before, Peach thought that they all seemed a little bit stronger by the morning. However, she still could not in good conscience break the promise she made.
“Why don’t I look after him?” Mario suggested.
“Would you do that?” Peach asked.
“Sure. I’ve looked after youngsters before. One of them that had just hatched even helped me rescue you from the Shadow Queen, remember?”
It was true. Mario did have quite a touch when it came to children. Even in the most dangerous situations, he always managed to keep them safe. Though she wished for Spike’s safety, her sensibilities for aid in Mario’s quest, and the trust in her boyfriend helped her to reluctantly make up her mind.
“Alright,” Peach conceded, “Mario, I’m putting Spike in your care. And I trust you to look after him the same way I would.”
“Hey, you don’t have anything to worry about. I’m great with kids,” the plumber assured.
“This means no deliberately running to danger, no having him do anything you could do yourself--” Peach said.
“No leaving him behind while you do all the work,” Luigi chimed in.
“No actin’ like you gotta do everything, just ‘cause yer older,” Apple Bloom added.
“Yeah,” Luigi said.
“Alright, already! Just let me get going!” Mario said.
Spike knew this was his big chance. He was hardly ever allowed to go on adventures before, and now he was traveling with one of the world’s most renowned heroes.
His excitement overthrew him. The dragon jumped onto the table, and triumphantly raised his fist.
“Yeah! Let’s do this!” he said


	Spike has joined the party



	And he's not actually called Lakilester this time…



	Born and raised in Equestria, Spike's vast knowledge of this new land will prove to be his greatest asset. Whatever Mario can inquire, Spike can illuminate the curious plumber.



	In battle, the baby dragon can unleash a nasty headbonk to a foe, or provide information about the opponent. Who knows what else he may learn as he grows stronger.


"Now wait just a durn minute," Granny Smith interrupted.
The sudden interjection made Spike lose his balance, and fall off the table.
Mario winced. So far, it didn’t seem like a good start to looking after the dragon. The look on Granny’s face made the plumber think that she felt the same way.
“If yer gonna mosey off to some outpost fer Celestia-knows-what, ya ain’t goin’ without supplies,” the old mare finished.
“Sorry, Granny. But, we don’t have time to shop,” Spike said, as Mario picked him up and set him on his feet.
"Which is why old Granny's gonna give ya these. On the house," Granny said as she reached into her mane, and produced a plate of apple fritters, a few slices of apple pie, and a pan of apple crisp. "Never leave home without 'em. An' you'd be smart to do the same."
"Hey, thanks. First the cannoli, then this. It's my lucky day," Mario said, feeling slightly better, despite the turmoil that surely awaited him.
"You just hustle yer bustles out there, porky. And if'n ya ever need anything, y'all just stop by Sweet Apple Acres. Or, my grandkids can sell ya their wares from the apple stand," Granny said
"Eeyup," Big Macintosh said. It was plain to see that Granny had forgotten the issue of Applejack's absence, and was still unsure how to tell her about it.
Everything seemed set, and Spike was ready to embark on the journey.
"Alright! We're finally ready to go," the dragon said as he rushed out the door.
"Hey! Wait up!" Mario called, as he ran after him. Before he even left the door, he stopped briefly to talk to the others. "Okay, I'm heading out now. Peach, stay safe while I'm gone."
"Of course I will," Peach answered.
"Big Macintosh, keep some supplies for me if I need them."
"Eeyup," the large stallion answered.
"And Luigi... You... hold things down while I'm gone."
Luigi only answered with a groan as he slumped into a chair, once again ready to be left out.
"See you guys later," and Mario left the room.
Now that Mario had gone, things were truly underway.
Peach thought that now would be a good time to start aiding Mario in her own way. Even though she was not as experienced in the same field as her beloved plumber, she knew she could just as easily help him from afar, just as she had done before.
"Now then, I think it's time we all started trying to learn more of what's happening," Peach said as she sat down to read more of the book that Spike had gotten.
“How?” Sweetie Belle wondered.
“I suppose we’ll start by trying to find any books about magic, or about dragons,” the Mushroom princess answered.
It didn’t sound like much, but the fillies agreed, not knowing what else they could do at the moment.
“Let’s go look for more books on the shelves,” Scootaloo said, as she Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom trotted toward the many books that were lain about.
With the others busy, Granny and Big Macintosh took it upon themselves to go do what they could, and set up their apple stand.
Everybody was doing their part. Everybody, but Luigi, whose sole task was to ‘hold things down’ while his brother was gone.
He knew he could be a more useful asset than what it seemed everyone else thought of him. But, there was not much else for him to do, other than look through the books with the others. So, with a sigh, Luigi picked up the nearest book and started reading.
Even as he tried to take his mind off of getting shafted for what felt like the hundredth time since he went to Peach’s castle, his eyes lingered on the magical map on the table.
Mario was always taking the initiative for the next adventure, and never bothered to ask little brother Luigi to go along. It was things like that which made Luigi feel as if he only had fans for pity’s sake.
That was, except for fans like Fluttershy, who genuinely admired and related to him.
As he looked at the foggy, blotted out parts of the map, Luigi imagined what more there was to be seen there, and whether Mario could handle it all on his own this time. For the sake of the new friends he made in Equestria, he hoped so.



Once they were outside, Mario and Spike immediately began making their plans to reach their destination.
“When we get to the mountains, I’m going to give whatever’s waiting for us there what-for! They’re going to wish they never messed with Equestria!” Spike said, as he quickened his pace ahead.
He was stopped by Mario’s hand on top of his head.
“First thing’s first, paisano: we got to find a way to get there,” the plumber said.
“Uh, yeah. Right,” Spike said, realizing then just how far ahead of himself he was getting. “So, how do you usually get to where you’re going?”
“I usually just take what gets me there the fastest. Even if it means just walking.”
“Walking!? The Saddlesore Mountains are miles from here! Our feet would crimp by the time we reached them!” the dragon said.
“Okay, too far. You got a green pipe set up somewhere around here?” Mario asked.
“We only just started installing them, after your princess started visiting ours. Even if we found one, I don’t know if it would go anywhere useful.”
“Well, we have to think of something. If we don’t this kingdom’s doomed.”
The plumber’s words struck a chord to Spike. He knew what was on the line, after watching his friends save his home so many times, he knew time was of the essence. Fortunately, there was always the one service that took anypony anywhere.
“I know just the thing! Come on! Let’s go to the train station!” Spike declared, as he ran ahead.
“Hey! Hey! Hold up! I can jump high, but I stink at running!” Mario called after the young dragon.



There was a loud chugging at the Ponyville train station, as the most recently arrived locomotive pulled away.
Now that the train was leaving, the attendant at the booth was able to take some time to play his new favorite game on his 3DS. He used his magic to start up the tiny console, and got ready to get lost in a world of haunted mansions and tricky ghosts.
“Wait! Wait! Hold that train!” a voice called out.
The stallion attending the booth placed his 3DS under his counter, and looked up to address the newcomers.
The first thing he noticed was a human in blue overalls jogging toward him. But, the attendant was taken completely by surprise when all of a sudden, a tiny dragon leapt up, and plastered himself against the glass of his booth.
“Where’s that train going?!” Spike said.
“That train’s going to Manehattan. Sorry, but you’ll have to wait if you want to get there without walking,” the attendant answered.
“That’s okay. We just need to get to the Saddlesore Mountains, anyway,” Mario said.
The attendant glanced curiously at both of the hopeful travelers before him.
“What do you want to go to the mountains for? Word has it there’s a whole lot of weird stuff going on there, since Canterlot blew up,” the attendant answered.
“That’s why we’re going,” Mario huffed, trying to catch his breath. “When does the train for the mountains leave?”
“Not for another month. We only send supplies to the outpost up there when the schedule calls for it. Last shipment for them was a week ago, so you boys are out of luck.”
Things were starting to look pretty bleak. But, Mario knew that where there was a will, there was a way.
“Is there any other way we can get there? Balloons? Taxis? A huge bird?” the plumber asked.
The attendant stared briefly at Mario for a moment, before he answered.
“I don’t know about any birds, but there’s a half-finished green pipe around here that’s supposed to go to the Saddlesore Outpost. But, that thing’s not supposed to be done, until two weeks from now.”
Spike didn’t know why he thought of it before. Twilight had been corresponding with the Royal Sisters for weeks for a way to save fuel on the Friendship Express. After meeting their new friend from the Mushroom Kingdom, it seemed they had found a way to better allocate their resources on the railway.
“This is great! Where’s that pipe?” Spike said.
“The construction crew’s been installing it over there. But, I don’t know where they keep the switch to bring it up,” the attendant answered.
Mario looked to where the attendant had pointed, and saw a familiar sight of a yellow square with a darker yellow circle in the center. There was their ticket to continuing their adventure.
“Okay, let me think: if they were going to keep a switch somewhere, it would have to be somewhere out of the way, where nopony would accidentally set it off. A spot that nopony goes to very often--” Spike said.
Mario had done this drill before. He already knew the exact train of thought the dragon was riding, and looked to the nearest tree by the pipe’s pad.
As Spike carried on, Mario walked over to the tree without the dragon’s notice. He looked up into the branches, and saw something dome-shaped and colored blue. That was what he would need.
Taking his hammer from his pocket, Mario wound up his arms, and swung hard at the trunk.
Spike jumped from the sudden noise, and saw the plumber standing beneath the tree as flecks of green confetti fell from the branches.
“What are you doing?” the dragon asked.
“I’m getting our switch down,” Mario said, as he swung again.
More confetti fell from the tree, and the plumber could see the blue object jump down to the lower branches.
One more hit would do it. Just the same as always, these things were done in threes.
Mario hit the tree’s trunk again, and the object fell. But, it as not what he had expected.
Instead of a blue switch, what fell from the tree was a stark blue egg, almost as big as Spike was.
“Mamma mia! What’s that doing in this tree?” Mario said.
“Some huge bird laid it there, I guess. But, wherever it is now, it’s not going to get us to the Saddlesore Mountains,” Spike said.
Mario grumbled at the dragon’s response.
“But, anyway, I think you should check the roof of the train station. I think I can see something shining up there,” Spike continued.
When the plumber looked, he saw the dragon was indeed correct. There was something blue and shining on top of the train station.
“Always listen to the tattletail,” Mario thought to himself.
Mario walked to the side of the train station, followed by Spike, and jumped onto the crates, luggages and trolleys that were stacked there. With only a few short jumps, they were on the roof, and the blue switch was in their sights.
Wasting no time, Mario drew his hammer again, and whacked the switch firmly on top.
There was a brief rumble down on the ground below. The dark circle on the yellow square peeled away like a sticker, and allowed the green, cardboard pipe to sprout from the ground like a sapling.
“Now, we’re in business,” Mario said, as he pocketed his hammer. “Come on, paisan. Let’s get to those mountains.”
Mario jumped down from the top of the roof, and started walking to the pipe. Behind him, he heard a loud thud, and saw Spike had landed on his face.
“Oh, shoot. You okay?” Mario asked, as he picked Spike up, cracked him like a rug to shake the dust from him, and set him on his feet.
“Yeah. I guess I’m just not as good at jumping as you are,” Spike said, shaking his head.
“Don’t let it get you down, paisano. Even I had a few stumbles when I started. Heck, I couldn’t even fall from my own height without needing a 1-up shroom,” the plumber said.
They walked over to the green pipe. Spike jumped up to the pipe’s lip and looked inside.
“So, how do these pipes work," Spike asked, having never used one himself.
"It's easy. Just jump in and let the pipe do the rest. Like this," Mario said.
The plumber jumped to the top of the pipe, and went spinning down.
It seemed simple enough to Spike. He climbed up to the top, and warily looked into the dark void inside. In a moment, his mind flashed to the peril all of Equestria was in, and dove in without another thought.
The dragon went spinning down, and disappeared after the plumber.
At the attendant’s booth, the stallion had been playing his 3DS, and in a moment noticed the resemblance of the game’s protagonist to the human he was just speaking to.
"Hey, wasn't that..." the attendant wondered aloud. He looked at his 3DS, then mentally compared the two characters he had seen. "Naw. That guy didn't have a vacuum cleaner. Looked like a Luigi fan though. Just needs a green shirt, and he's a dead ringer."



In the distant Saddlesore Mountains, a gusty breeze blew from the peaks, to the mountain faces, to the winding trails where few would ever tread.
One breeze found its way down to the foot of the mountain, where the cardboard ground started to bulge upward.
In a moment, the bulging ground lifted, as if it were cut away in a perfect circle. A green pipe rose from the ground, and the cardboard ground atop it blew away in the wind.
Seconds later, Mario jumped from the opening in the pipe, and landed on the ground.
Now that he had arrived, the plumber was able to take in his surroundings, as his body flapped in the breeze. The first thing that he noticed was that they were not anywhere near the outpost on the mountains, but at the foot of the corrugated mountain itself. Shortly after, he was followed by Spike, who popped out of the pipe, and landed on his rump.
"How'd you like the pipe, paisan," Mario asked the young dragon.
"That was better than flying," Spike said, as he straightened his tail, which had been crimped when he landed.
"You know what's better than that? Traveling by whale."
"You rode on a whale's back," Spike said with a twinkle in his eye, "What was that like?"
Mario was always willing to convey a story to a fan, so he decided to oblige Spike. Sometimes, when a pipe was broken, or still under construction, the people riding them only ended up near where they intended to go. Much like how the plumber once intended to take a faulty underground pipe to Petalburg, but ended up in Petal Meadows. Passing the time by talking to Spike would be enough to keep him occupied during the trek.
Until calamity inevitably struck.
The breeze began blowing harder, shaking Mario and Spike harder.
“Feels like the winds picking up. We better move quick,” Mario said.
And that was all the plumber had time to say, when a furious gale blew from the mountain with a loud whoosh.
“WA-AH-AH-AAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!" Mario shouted, as he was spun around by the wind.
Spike dug his claws into the ground, and braced himself against the sudden squall.
Every second the wind passed, it felt as it it would blow the paint out of their bodies. Mario drew his hammer, and slammed it to the ground, using the weight of it to stop himself from spinning anymore.
“I think the guy at the train station understated how bad it was here!” Mario shouted to Spike over the wind.
But, they couldn’t let the wind stop them. They had come to the Saddlesore Mountains to uncover the secrets that the map had revealed to them, and they would not be stopped by the hazardous wind.
As they trudged onward the trail, there came a sound of flapping wings. Looking to the source, Mario and Spike saw a formidable sight.
High above on the trail, near a sheer face of a mountain, a lone griffin was flapping her wings against the powerful gusts. Such a thing would have seemed suicidal to any spectator, but this griffin seemed to be flying against the wind just as powerfully, as if she had more strength within her wings than what was natural.
Mario thought they were in luck. Someone else was on the mountain, who may have been able to help them. If only the griffin hadn’t been suddenly attacked.
From around one of the cardboard peaks, something large and black came careening toward the lone griffin. Whatever it was, its shape was at once familiar and foreign to Mario, and the way that it crashed into the griffin brought back all too many memories of being blown away by an errant bullet bill.
It’s work done, the flying projectile flew back around the mountain from whence it came, and disappeared.
The lone griffin started blowing away on the breeze like a piece of loose leaf. And she was quickly falling toward the direction of the dragon and the plumber.
“Hurry up, paisan! We got to help her!” Mario said, as he trudged on as best he could.
Spike quickly followed, holding onto Mario’s leg, as they made their way up the mountain trail.
As the wind battered them from the front, Mario took hold of his dragon companion, and barely managed to jump up to the nearest rocky ledge.
With each perilous jump, the dragon and plumber made their way up the face of the sheer wall. Looking down, Spike saw how high up they had gone, and felt his edges shudder against the wind.
Soon, they were at an appropriate height to intercept the unfortunate griffin. Mario held tightly to the wall, and extended his other arm out, hammer in hand.
“Grab on!” the plumber shouted to the oncoming griffin.
Spike quickly caught on to the plumber’s plan, and decided to lend his helping claw. He started by climbing up onto Mario’s shoulder.
“Hey! What are you doing!?” the plumber shouted.
Spike crawled out to the edge of the hammer, and reached out to the griffin, as she blew toward them. Flapping in the breeze, he tried to steady himself as best he could
“Here!” the dragon shouted.
Once the griffin was upon them Spike reached out further, and felt his claw clasped tightly by griffin’s talons.
There was not even a glance of affirmed gratitude. The very second the griffin was stabilized and oriented, she flapped her wings and went flying into the wind. With Spike still holding onto her.
Mario quickly grabbed onto Spike with his free hand, and went flying away with him.
The plumber and dragon shouted loudly as they were flown through the windy passages of the mountain. Were there no wind, it seemed they could have flown at a speed Spike knew would make Rainbow Dash jealous.
Looking up, Mario saw the face of the griffin giving them their ride. Her beak was clenched, and her eyes were narrowed. She was determined to get up the mountain at any cost, no matter what came her way.
Over the howling wind, a loud rumble was heard. Looking to the source, all three fliers saw the cardboard of the mountain breaking off, revealing the corrugation underneath as the heavy chunks fell down.
Mario used his weapon arm to ready his hammer to bat away the oncoming hazard, only to find it was not necessary.
With a sudden swerve, the griffin deftly dodged the oncoming boulders, and whirled her way through the avalanche.
As soon as she had passed by the wall of rock, the next one the griffin passed by started falling apart again.
It was dizzying and disorienting for the two passengers, who began to suspect that there was nothing natural about the avalanche that had just happened. Neither Mario nor Spike knew which was more dangerous: braving the mountain on their own, or holding onto the griffin.
But soon, the griffin flew past the danger again. Spike heard her chuckle victoriously, as if there were nothing on the mountain that could challenge her. Until the winds stopped abruptly.
With the sudden lull in resistance, the griffin was able to speed ahead full throttle, and had no way of perceiving the wall she flew into with a loud thud.
Three deep indentations were made in the wall, each in the shape of a plumber, a dragon and a griffin. And with an audible peel, they all fell off and went drifting to the ground below.
Mario had landed on his head, and his foot twitched weakly. But, it was only seconds that he was able to fold over to his feet.
“Mamma mia...There goes half of my spine right there…” Mario groaned, as he cracked his back. It was not enough to stop it completely from aching, though.
Nearby, Spike too stood up, and shook his head lucid.
“I still have all of my paint, don’t I?” the dragon wondered.
“Don’t worry, paisan. You’re as unhurt as when you just hatched,” the plumber assured.
“I don’t remember hatching being this painful…”
Nearby, deep, ragged breaths were heard. Looking to the source, the two saw the griffin standing up. Now that they had a quick reprieve Mario and Spike were able to look over the newcomer.
From what Spike could discern, she was quite young. Almost the same age as Twilight, if not a year or two older. Her fur and her feathers were colored tan and brown, which made the orange vest and white scarf she wore stand out greatly. But, that was not what worried Spike. They way her beak was clenched, and how her talons were dug into the ground made her seem as if she were about to attack. And with the impressive speed and maneuverability she had demonstrated, she would surely prove to be a formidable opponent.
Mario was about to go check on the griffin, before Spike stopped him.
“I think we should be careful here,” the dragon whispered.
The plumber nodded, and simply addressed her, while Spike cautiously hid behind his legs.
“Hey. Are you okay?” he said.
The griffin shook her body, ruffling her feathers and fluffing her fur.
“Yeah. I’m good,” she said.”Thanks for the help.”
“Actually, he’s the one who had the idea to climb way out and grab you,” Mario said, indicating Spike.
" Well, thanks again."
The dragon peered out from behind Mario, and saw the griffin look directly at him. He didn’t know why, but he felt a shiver down his scales when she did.
“Come on, little dude. I’m not going to hurt you. Come out and say hi,” the griffin said.
Just looking at her, Spike could feel something rattling under his scales. Whatever it was, it made him slowly retreat behind Mario.
The griffin simply smiled, before continuing their pleasantries.
“So, I’m betting you two aren’t just here for the scenery, are you?” she said.
“Yeah. We came here looking for something. We just don’t know what yet,” Mario answered.
“Nopony seems to. Some more guys came by here looking for that thing, before you got here.”
“Is that who knocked you out of the air?” Spike asked, peering out from behind Mario.
“No. Those guys are probably getting blown around somewhere on the mountain. I don’t know what the hay that other thing was.”
“I think it would be a good idea if you stayed with us. Just in case we run into some more danger around here,” Mario suggested.
“That’s alright. Every explorer has to make their mark somehow. And I’m going to make mine by finishing this expedition solo,” the griffin said, before spreading her wings. “Really nice meeting you guys, but I got to motor. Later.”
And with a flap of her wings, the griffin was gone.
The wind started rustling in the distance, and Mario and Spike knew they had to get going.
It was only after their first couple of steps that they heard the griffin screaming.
Readying themselves for the worst, the plumber and dragon rushed to the aid of the griffin.