Game Quest: Super Mario 64

Hazy Maze Cave

Upon entering the new course, the heroes find themselves in an underground cavern. No sooner had they entered, when already a yellow and black striped spider-like creature attacked them on sight. Reacting fast, Applejack bucked the creature, causing it to disappear in a puff of smoke, leaving behind three gold coins for the heroes to collect.

Gold Coins:3

Total Coins: 3

"Nice to see that we still gotta collect some coins for Power Stars," Spike said.

"Good thing it doesn't cause ya to grow into a greedy dragon, like before, huh?" Rainbow nudged teasingly.

"Oh shut up," Spike scowled at the cyan pegasus.

"Hey everypony, and others!" Applejack called. "Check this out! A map!" She pointed at the large map painted on the wall.

Spike looked to the left to see a signpost, which he reads:

"Both ways fraught with danger! Watch your feet! Those who can't do the long jump, tsk, tsk.
Make your way to the right.
Right: Work Elevator

Hazy Maze
Left: Black Hole

Underground Lake
Red Circle: Elevator 2

Underground Lake
Arrow: You are here

"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie vibrated, shuddering and shaking the ground. "My Pinkie senses are going crazy! There's Power Stars to the left and right!"

"Then let's split up," Applejack suggested. "We'll cover more of this cavern and find the Power Stars quicker! Search every crook and nanny you can find."

"What?" Rainbow asked.

"Just keep your eyes out for clues that can get us a Power Star," Spike clarified. "Remember. The rest of our friends are counting on us!"

"Yoshi!" Yoshi nodded.

"Oh yeah!" Mario nodded.

"But which way do we go?" Luigi asked nervously.

Applejack looked up at the map, then back at the two dividing halls, before she made up her mind.

"Luigi, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy! Yer with me!" Applejack said, before turning her head at Mario's group. "The rest of y'all go right!" Applejack said, while leading Luigi, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

With that, Mario proceeds to lead Yoshi, with Spike, and Rainbow Dash in the given direction. On the way, another spider-creature jumped out of a hole, in an attempt to ambush the group. The spider pounced on Spike, who struggled to pry the creature off.

"Get off of me!" Spike shouted.

Thankfully, Mario helped, when he picked up a nearby wooden box and hurled it at the spider creature. In a crash of woods, splinters, and a puff of smoke, the spider was gone, and it left behind six gold coins, where it once stood.

Gold Coins:9

Total Coins:9

At that moment, two Goombas suddenly appeared and charged at the heroes. But like the spiders, Mario and Yoshi made quick work of them, by jumping atop their heads, squashing them flat. With that, the Goombas disappeared in puffs of smokes, leaving behind a single coin for each.

Gold Coins:11

Total Coins:11

"Let's-a go," Mario said as he leads his group down the hall.

"YOSHI!" Yoshi screeched, reaching out for Mario, who was seconds away from being roasted by a sudden geyser of fire.

"MAMA MIA!" Mario exclaimed. "That was-a close! Thank you, Yoshi!" The red plumber said, giving his green dinosaur friend the thumbs up.

"Yoshi!" Yoshi replied.

It was at this moment that the heroes finally noticed the fire geysers spewing from large holes across the floor.

"Now be-a careful and watch-a your steps!" Mario cautioned, as he and Yoshi lead the way, shimmying along the wall, avoiding the fires.

Spike and Rainbow Dash soon followed. Along the way, they collected five more coins – narrowly on a thin ledge of a hole – for a total of 16 gold coins.

Gold Coins:16

Total Coins:16

Once they've reached the other side, Spike and the others followed Mario's gaze to see another door, on the other side of a gap, with two flaming geysers spewing from the dark abyss.

Rainbow Dash was just about to flap her wings into actions, when Mario stopped her. The red plumber counted 1, 2, 3, and on cue, the geysers erupted. Once the fires have ceased roaring, Mario was the first to jump across, with Rainbow Dash zipping beside him. Spike flapped his wings across with Yoshi following, with the fiery geyser nearly scorching his tail by an inch.

After braving the danger and the risk of getting cooked, the heroes turned their attention to the door, opened it to the side and walked into a large cavern room, with platforms, tall rocky blocks, and coins.

Turning to the left, the group watched as Mario finds a red metal pole, resembling the kind of poles that firefighters would use to slide down from their office into action. Mario grasps onto the pole and slides down, spinning on the way, with Yoshi following.

"Hmmm," Spike scratched his chin, wanting to give it a try.

The young dragon grasped onto the pole and immediately slides all the way down.

"WHOA!" Spike yelped, as he was about to hit the bottom.

Luckily for him, Yoshi quickly caught the young dragon, before he had a rough landing.

"Oh, nice catch. Thanks Yoshi!" Spike thanked the dinosaur.

"Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped in response, to say, "You're welcome."

"Y'know, you have wings, Spike," Rainbow Dash grinned, with an arch eyebrow. "Ya could have just spread them out to slow your fall."

"I'll have to remember that, next time," Spike replied, as he and Rainbow gathered around Mario and Yoshi.

"Okay everyone-a," Mario began. "You all-a know what-a to do. Let's-a look around!"

"Oh yeah," Spike and Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped in agreement.

Rainbow Dash proceeded to zip around the room, close to the ceilings, while Mario proceeded to the middle, while Spike followed Yoshi, to the right, to find some nearby steps.

Both dinosaur and dragon climbed up the steps, and found another Bob-omb Buddy.

"Hey there!" Spike greeted the friendly red Bob-omb. "Remember us?"

"Of course!" The Bob-omb Buddy replied happily. "It's always a pleasure to see a friend of ours! What can I do for you, Spike and Yoshi?"

"We were wondering if you can work your magic to help us find some red coins," Spike said, holding out the map to the Bob-Omb.

"Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped in agreement.

"No problem-o!" The Bob-omb Buddy replied happily, as it worked its magic to mark the red coins' locations on the map. "There you go! You shouldn't have any trouble finding the coins."

"Thanks!" Spike thanked the Bob-omb as he and Yoshi got a look on the map. "According to the map, the red coins are all here in this room!"

Turning to their left, Spike and Yoshi looked at a large floating metal platform, with arrows pointing in four different directions. The two quickly got onto the platform, and pressed one of the arrows, activating the platform to start moving.

"Whoa!" Spike exclaimed, nearly losing his balance, with Yoshi, at the sudden movement.

They looked up and their eyes widen in alarm to see that they were about to crash into a large stone structure.

"Go left, Yoshi! Left, LEFT!"

"YOSHI!"

They quickly pressed an arrow, which caused the platform to float to the left, steering away from the stone. Both Spike and Yoshi breathed a collective sigh of relief, until they hit another stone structure, causing the platform to shudder and shake violently upon impact, nearly knocking them off.

"Sorry, my bad," Spike apologized, before he takes another look at the map. "According to the map, there should be some red coins ahead of us."

Spike pointed the direction of the coins, with Yoshi steering the platform with the arrows. Before long, they found themselves floating towards a floating block. There was only enough room for the platform to slide underneath it, but thankfully, the block was small enough for Spike and Yoshi to walk around it.

"Hold on!" Spike exclaimed, looking at the map. "According to this map, there's a red coin inside that block! We need to break it out! Go back!"

With that, Spike and Yoshi quickly turned the platform back to the floating block's direction. They both took their positions, and threw their hardest punches at the block as it floats towards them. Unfortunately, there was hardly a dent in the block, and for their efforts, they've gotten bruised and smarten knuckles.

"OW!"

Spike and Yoshi were both hooting and hollering in pain, which was soon interrupted by the sudden appearance of Rainbow Dash.

"Hey guys! What's the hootin' and hollerin' about?" She asked, while noticing their smarten fists. “What happened to your hands?”

“We’re trying to get a red coin out of that thing,” Spike pointed to the brick. “But it’s harder than it look.”

“Yoshi!” Yoshi chirped in agreement.

“Here, let me take a wack at it,” Rainbow said, as she rears back, readying herself.

With a sudden burst of speed, Rainbow Dash swoops down and breaks the block to pieces, revealing a red coin.

Gold Coins:16

Red Coins: 1x2=2

Blue Coins: 0

Total Coins:18

“Thanks Dash!” Spike thanked the Pegasus. “Hey, why don’t you stick with us? I think we could still use some more of your help in case we run into these blocks again.”

“Yoshi!”

“Can do,” Rainbow nodded, before she screamed in alarm. “HEY LOOK OUT!”

But it was too late. With a hard thud, Spike and Yoshi had driven and crashed their floating platform into a large stone pillar.

“AAAAAHHHH!!! YOSHI!!!” They screamed, barely holding on as the platform violently shook from the collision.

Once they regain their standings, both dragon and dinosaur found themselves looking eye-to-eye with a giant eyeball – another Mr. I.

Upon locking eye contact with the heroes, the eyeball shot out a ball of light at Spike and Yoshi. Yoshi quickly whipped his tongue out, swallowing the ball of light before it could hit either him and Spike. Before the eyeball could ready for another fire, Rainbow Dash flew right in front of it.

"Hey! Eyes – er, eye on me!" Rainbow Dash barked, before she proceeded to flap her wings, zipping around the eyeball at a fast speed.

The giant eyeball followed Rainbow Dash, trying to keep up with the speedy pegasus, but ended up dizzying itself out. The giant eyeball lets out a fatale squeak as it shrinks and disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a blue coin.

Gold Coins:16

Red Coins: 1x2=2

Blue Coins: 1x5=5

Total Coins:23

"So, where to next?" Rainbow asked.

Spike looked back at the map, with Yoshi steering the platform in the direction of the red coins, and Rainbow Dash following close behind for support. They found another red coin in another floating block, close to where they found the first red coin. Afterwards, they found a third red coin, sitting on a ledge in the corner of the room. On the way, Rainbow Dash happened to break a floating block, earning herself and the boys three gold coins.

Gold Coins:19

Red Coins: 3x2=6

Blue Coins: 1x5=5

Total Coins:30

"Three red coins, five more to go for a Power Star," Spike counted. "And 70 more coins for another Power Star."

"Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped.

"So, where to next?" Rainbow asked.

"According to this map, the last five red coins are above us," Spike pointed, looking up, "Hey, looks like Mario's already on it!"

Riding atop of a floating platform, close to the cavern ceiling above, the red plumber hero was punching a floating block, breaking it apart to reveal a red coin.

Gold Coins:19

Red Coins: 4x2=8

Blue Coins: 1x5=5

Total Coins:32

Then the platform took Mario through a ceiling of stalactites, where a red coin was found, floating in the middle.

Gold Coins:19

Red Coins: 5x2=10

Blue Coins: 1x5=5

Total Coins:34

Once he floated pass the stalactites, Mario continues riding across the air, until he came across some floating stone platforms, where the final 3 red coins are found. The first one was small and shaped almost like a fence for Mario to hop over, collecting a red coin, and landed safely back onto the platform. Then, Mario jumped onto the next floating platform to collect the final 2 red coins.

Gold Coins:19

Red Coins: 8x2=16

Blue Coins: 1x5=5

Total Coins:40

Upon collecting all of the red coins, a Power Star appeared in the middle of the room, right where a Star Marker was located.

"We've struck Power Star!" Spike pointed.

"Wahoo!" Mario hollered, jumping in celebration.

The Jump Man hops off his platform, was on his way down, curling his body into a ground pound to soften his landing. He was just on his way to pick up the star, when he was suddenly ambushed by two more spider-like creatures, like the ones from before, and a couple of Goombas.

Not willing to let a few of Bowser's minions stand between him and a star, Mario fought off the Goombas with a punch and a kick to their faces, followed by a sweep kick to knock the spider away. With that, the creatures exploded into puffs of smokes, leaving behind a total of 5 gold coins.

Gold Coins:24

Red Coins: 8x2=16

Blue Coins: 1x5=5

Total Coins:45

With the creatures out of the way, Mario was able to regroup with his friends and they all collected their first Power Star, which danced around them.

"Here we go!" Mario cheered as he and his friends do the same victory dance they've been doing for every Power Stars they've collected.

"Yeah! We got a Power Star!" Spike and Rainbow Dash sang together.

"Yoshi!" Yoshi chirped.

Once Mario's group had collected their first Power Star, they looked around the room to search for more clues on their next move.

"Sure wished Pinkie Pie was still here with us," Spike muttered. "We could definitely use some more of her Pinkie Senses to track down some more Power Stars in here.

During the search, the heroes came across a large dark block, much like the ones they found in Big Boo's Haunt. At the same time, Spike and Rainbow Dash were flying around the room, when they found a crystal ball, on top of a stone pillar.

"A-ha! A star sphere!" Spike pointed.

"What about it?" Rainbow asked the young dragon.

"A star sphere is usually where a Power Star appears when it's been activated," Spike explained to Rainbow Dash. "And from what I've seen with Yoshi, when there's a star sphere, then there's either 5 Silver Stars to collect, or a..."

"Star switch!" Both dragon and pegasus exclaimed together.

"Then let's find that switch and turn this Power Star on!" Rainbow said as she and Spike flew back down towards Mario and Yoshi. "Guys, guys!"

"What is it-a, Rainbow-a Dash?" Mario asked.

"We found a Star Sphere!" Rainbow Dash explained.

"Now we're looking for 5 Silver Stars, or a Star Switch, and we'll have a Power Star!" Spike replied. "How are you and Yoshi doing?"

"Well-a," Mario directed everyone's attention to the dark block that he and Yoshi had found. "We found this-a block! But it's-a too hard-a to break!"

"Yoshi," Yoshi chirped in disappointment.

"Hmmm," Spike gave the block some light taps to inspect its density. "Yup. That's hard alright. Too bad Applejack's not here...we could really use her help on this!"

"Stand back!" Rainbow Dash cracked her hooves. "Let me take a crack at it! Clear the way!"

Everyone all cleared the way as Rainbow Dash puts a great big distant between herself and the block. Then, with a flap of her wings and kick of her legs, Rainbow Dash thrusted herself at high-speed, faster than a speeding bullet, throwing a kick at the block, with a loud audible crack.

*CRACK

"Oooh!" Spike, Yoshi, and Mario cringed.

"OOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!" Rainbow Dash screamed loudly, falling to the floor and clutching her sore hoof.

Meanwhile, the dark block remained unscratched.

Applejack's Group

Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Luigi

Rainbow Dash's scream was so loud, that she can be heard from the other side of the cavern, by Applejack's group.

"That sounded like Rainbow Dash!" Applejack recognized the screamed.

"Oh dear goodness!" Fluttershy whimpered, worrying for her friend. "She sounds hurt!"

"Really-a hurt!" Luigi mumbled.

"Maybe because she stubbed her hoof, trying to do a flying crane kick on a near-indestructible dark block," Pinkie Pie said specifically, much to her group's bewilderment.

"...You say it like it actually happened," Applejack commented on the pink pony's eccentricity.

"Because it did happen actually!" Pinkie Pie smiled.

Deciding not to question it, Applejack and the others simply let it slide as they resume their focus on the current situation they found themselves in.

Earlier, shortly after they split off from Mario's group, Applejack and the others had crossed over a large pit in the ground, reaching a door on the other side.

Applejack had leapt across, reaching the other side. Pinkie Pie simply spun her tail and mane, like propellers to hove across. Fluttershy and Luigi were the last ones to jump across the pit.

"Jump!" Applejack called out.

"I...I..." Luigi stood, paralyzed with fear, sweating a storm, and his knees shaking as he look down the dark pit before him. "I can't!"

"Yes you can, Luigi!" Pinkie Pie had called out. "You're a better jumper than Mario! You even had a whole year named after you!"

Not bothering to acknowledge Pinkie's random words, Luigi frantically ran away, pulling his hat over his face, still cowering in fear.

"It's okay, Luigi," Fluttershy comforted the man. "If it makes you feel better, I can carry you across."

"Uh...no, no, no, no, Fluttershy!" Luigi stammered. "I don't want to bother you!"

"It's no bother at all," Fluttershy insisted.

The bashful pegasus proceeded to flap her wings as she grabs ahold of Luigi's hand and carries him across the pit to regroup with their friends.

"I still think you can jump across," Pinkie Pie said to the green plumber.

"Either way, we're all together now, Pinkie," Applejack said, before she lead the group to the next room.

On the way in, Luigi turned to Fluttershy, "Thank you," Luigi thanked the pegasus.

"You're very welcome, Luigi," Fluttershy smiled in response.

Now, at the present moment, the four heroes found themselves in a rather dangerous predicament. Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Senses were tingling violently at the presence of a few Power Stars in the room they were in, at the current moment. Only trouble was, both she and her friends were hiding behind a wall, avoiding being crushed by large boulders that were rolling in their direction.

"How do we get pass these rocks without getting crushed by them?" Applejack pondered aloud.

"Uh...maybe we sh-sh-sh-should turn around, catch up with M-M-M-Mario and...tell' em we tried," Luigi stammered.

"I'm all for that," Fluttershy agreed.

Both Luigi and Fluttershy were just about to take their leave when Applejack grabbed them by their overall and tail respectively.

"Not so fast you two," Applejack shook her head. "We didn't come this far jus' to turn tail now. There's gotta be something we can use to get pass those boulders. Sure wished Twilight was here. She's always got a plan for everything, even when she overthinks and makes them convoluted as they are complicating than Big Mac's big words..."

While Applejack was thinking up a plan, Pinkie Pie turned her head and notices a dark brick block behind them.

"Hey Applejack!" Pinkie Pie bounced, with a hoof pointing at the brick.

"Not now, Pinkie," Applejack replied, without turning her head.

"But AJ!" Pinkie persisted.

"I said not now, Pinkie!" Applejack repeated herself.

Luigi and Fluttershy both looked to what Pinkie was pointing at and realized what the pink pony was getting at.

"Uh...Applejack?" Luigi spoke.

"Now what?" Applejack groaned in frustration, turning to her friends with an annoyed look.

In response, the three friends pointed to the side, finally directing Applejack's attention to the Dark Block.

"Oh! How did I miss this?" Applejack asked, walking over to inspect the Dark Block.

Taking her position, Applejack balanced herself on her front hooves, rearing her hindlegs back to strike the block with a strong kick, destroying the brick. Three gold coins appeared from the rubbles, along with a large yellow mushroom with red spots.

Gold Coins:27

Red Coins: 8x2=16

Blue Coins: 1x5=5

Total Coins:48

"Now what kind of mushroom is this?" Applejack asked, looking at the strange mushroom with curiosity.

"Mama mia!" Luigi exclaimed. "It's a Mega Mushroom!"

"A Mega Mushroom?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's a very powerful-a Power Up!" Luigi explained. "It lets-a whoever eats it to be turned into-a giant! But only for a short-a while."

"Really?!" The ponies exclaimed, before they looked to see several rolling rocks were heading their way.

"Welp! Down the hatch!" Pinkie Pie chirped, swiping the Mega Mushroom from Applejack and swallowing it whole in one gulp.

"PINKIE!" Applejack shouted at the pink party pony.

Everyone all watched with wides, stepping back as Pinkie Pie grows into a giant pony – estimating to be as tall as a 3 story building.

"WahoooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Pinkie Pie chirped in a deep booming voice. "Check me out! I'm not a little pony anymore! I'm a BIG pony! How do you like this April Fools?"

"Pinkie!" Fluttershy screamed, nearly getting squashed by one of Pinkie's hooves.

"Mamma mia!" Luigi yelled as he backed up against a wall.

"Watch where ya stepping, Pinkie!" Applejack shouted.

"Sorry!" Pinkie replied, before she sees the boulders rolling in her way. "Pinkie SMASH!"

With a thrust of her hoof, Pinkie punched a rock into tiny little pebbles.

"WAHOOOO!!!" Pinkie Pie whooped and cheered. "I'm gonna wreck it!"

With that, Pinkie proceeded to break more rolling boulders coming her way to save herself and her friends.

"Boy howdy!" Applejack exclaimed. "Now them's some breaking rocks!"

"Go Pinkie, go!" Fluttershy cheered quietly.

"Mamma mia!" Luigi added.

A rock was rolling towards Pinkie Pie, which Pinkie destroyed with a karate chop, and another with a buck of her legs.

"Watch me do Flying Crane Kick!" Pinkie Pie boasted, standing on one hoof, and holding her front hooves out, like a crane's wings. "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-YAAAH!!!"

Pinkie Pie jumped off the leg she was standing on, thrusting the leg forward into a kick, breaking an incoming rock. But in the processes, she lost her balance and accidentally fell over on her back. The whole cavern shook from Pinkie's fall, knocking her friends to fall to the ground.

"Careful there, Pinkie!" Applejack exclaimed to the pink pony.

"Sorry!" Pinkie apologized sheepishly, until she started to shrink down. "Hey! Why is everything getting bigger?"

"Uh...Pinkie..." Fluttershy moaned.

"You're shrinking!" Luigi shouted.

"Uh oh!" Pinkie squeaked, with her tail shaking violently, alerting her of a falling rock. "OH NO!"

"PINKIE! NOOOOOOO!!" Applejack shouted, impulsively leaping into action, throwing a punch at the rolling rock, breaking it apart to save her friend.

The rock broke apart into rubbles upon impact from Applejack's powerful hoof. However, the amazement didn't end there, when out of the rock, a Power Star appeared.

"Oh my!" Fluttershy gasped.

"Mamma mia!" Luigi exclaimed.

After shaking away the shock that she had destroyed a rock with her own bare hooves, Applejack quickly grabbed both Pinkie Pie and the Power Star and leapt to the side to avoid more falling rocks.

The Power Star danced around Applejack's group as they danced in victory.

"YEAH! We got a Power Star!" The ponies and Luigi cheered.

After putting the Power Star away, Applejack looked at her own hooves, marveling in amazement.

"Did that really jus' happened?" Applejack asked. "Did I broke a boulder with ma bare hooves?"

"Sure did!" Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly. "And you saved my life!"

"Wow! You're stronger than ya look, Apple-a-jack!" Luigi marveled.

"You're amazing!" Fluttershy smiled.

Applejack simply blushed at the compliments, which she shook it off, getting back on task.

"Where to next, Pinkie?" Applejack asked.

"Hmmm. Let's see," Pinkie pulled one of her hair down, which somehow made an antenna dish pop out from the top of her head, emitting a loud pinging radar noise. "OOH! My Pinkie senses are telling me that a Power Star...is RIGHT ABOVE US!"

The friends looked up to see, true to Pinkie Pie's words, a Power Star is floating above a floating platform.

"Now, how do we get it down?" Fluttershy pondered, to which her friends turn to look at her with deadpan expressions on their faces.

"What?" Fluttershy asked, to which Pinkie Pie points at the pegasus's wings. "Oh. Right..."

Flapping her wings, Fluttershy became airborne and was flying up to collect the star, which danced around her.

"Oh my! I got a Power Star! Yay!" Fluttershy cheered quietly.

At that exact moment, a door opened up from a nearby ledge, startling Fluttershy.

"AH! Oh dear goodness!" The pegasus shrieked.

"Fluttershy?" Applejack called out from below. "What's the matter? What's goin' up there, Sugarcube?"

"It's...It's...Mario?!" Fluttershy exclaimed, upon seeing the red plumber stepping out of the door.

"Mario?!" Applejack and the rest of her group shouted.

"Mamma mia!" Mario exclaimed, upon seeing the buttercup pegasus, before he ended up collapsing on the floor.

"MARIO!" Fluttershy shrieked, flapping her wings into action, checking on the man. "Mario? Are you okay?"

"Fluttershy?" Luigi asked, with a hint of worry in his voice. "Is-a Mario okay? What's-a going up there?"

Without waiting another second for Fluttershy to answer, Pinkie Pie grabbed both Applejack and Luigi, before she curled her tail up into a spring, with which she used to compress on the ground.

"Hold on tight!" Pinkie Pie said, until she catapulted herself off her spring tail, onto the next ledge where Fluttershy was helping an exhausted Mario to lean against a wall.

"Mario!" Luigi shouted, frantically running towards his brother. "Mario! Are you okay?"

"I'm-a fine...Luigi," Mario panted heavily.

"Stand back, sugarcube," Applejack ushered Luigi away. "Give him some air..."

"Mario, what happened to you?" Fluttershy asked, while noticing that the others weren't with the jumpman. "And where are the others?"

After a moment to catch his breath, Mario explained, "I don't-a know! We were-a lookin' for-a Power-a Stars, when we..."

To be continued…