Super Mario's Lost Adventure: Equestrian Chroniclesby Kabbie22ChaptersFirst ImpressionsGoombella's StoryThere's Adventure Afoot!The Side-ShowdownWatch the skies, TravelerThe Journey AheadUncovering the TruthA Legend in the FleshLET'S A GO!A Ball-Busting GreetingEvil Stirs in the Everfree ForestFirst Impressions*Equestria* It was another bright and sunny day in Ponyville, and it was also, yet again, Gummy’s birthday. As for anypony, Pinkie Pie always had plans to throw an amazing birthday party, and she would invite all her closest friends. (Did she ever think of inviting Gummy’s closest friends?! How rude! But the parties are always fun, no matter who is there.) However, she did not do her normal singing invitations, where she dressed up in some ridiculous outfit and she sing to everypony she invited. As she said she would do previously, she decided to handout written invitations to save herself the exhaustion. Something rather unexpected of Pinkie Pie. As usual, everypony that she invited showed up, and they were all having a great time. This didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary. Pinkie Pie saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack bobbing for apples. “Is everypony having a great time?” Asked Pinkie Pie to the two mares. “Heck yeah! You always throw the best parties Pinkie.” Replied Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash dove her head into the bucket and she managed to pull an apple out. “Ta-da!” She exclaimed, quite proud of herself. Pinkie Pie laughed. “That’s just a boring old apple! There are plenty of other surprises in there!” Both ponies were curious now. “Like what?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It’s a surprise! It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you silly!” Replied the Pink mare. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked into the bucket and dove inside. Applejack pulled out an odd object, a foam finger with a pinkie and index finger outstretched; she had no idea what it was. She put it on her hoof, seeing that it could not have gone anywhere else, and it made sounds like “BANG” and “PEW PEW PEW” when she pointed with it. (What a crazy mare…) Applejack thought to herself. Rainbow Dash came out and Gummy was trying to consume her face, it would have been quite hysterical to have witnessed. “I should have learned from last year…” Rainbow said to herself. Pinkie Pie walked over to Rarity who was standing near the punch bowl. “Hey Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Did you try some of the punch? It’s Gummy’s favorite!” Pinkie handed her a cup with some of the punch in it, where Rarity drank very slowly, but did not swallow, remembering what was in the punch. “It’s…delicious darling!” Rarity lied, not wanting to hurt her friend’s feelings. “I’m glad you like it!” she said. The music suddenly changed to a song that Pinkie enjoyed. “OOOOOHHH this is my jam!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she ran to the dance floor, while Rarity spat the punch into a plant nearby. She started dancing with Twilight and Fluttershy who commented on how fun her parties always are. “Thanks you guys! I think they are fun because all of my bestest friends in Equestria are always there!” Pinkie said excitedly. Pinkie Pie then proceeded to body check the two mares she was dancing with into the wall with enough force to leave prints where they hit, but this did not make the party any less fun to be at, and they seemed to just shake it off like it was nothing anyway. The little alligator whom the party was for did not seem to really care that he was suddenly the center of attention, but it’s possible to infer that he was having a great time nonetheless. Pinkie Pie began singing for Gummy. “Go Gummy, it’s your birthday! Go Gummy it’s your birthday!” Everything was going great when suddenly a loud noise was heard outside in the distance as well as the sound of crashing outside of Sugar Cube Corner, followed by the ground shaking violently like an earthquake was taking place. The needle on the record player was shaken off and the music stopped as did the dancing of the 6 ponies inside of Sugar Cube Corner. “What in tarnation was all of that?!” Applejack exclaimed. “I’m not sure…” began Twilight, “it sounded like it came from the direction of the Everfree Forest. “We should go check it out,” Rainbow Dash said. “After all, we usually are the ones who protect Ponyville, even though we do cause some of the crazy things that happen to it…” Fluttershy started to look worried. “I’m not sure, girls. I’m sure it will be alright, nothing seems to be happening to Ponyville right now, so I wouldn’t be too concerned with looking for what might have caused it. “Nothing happened to Ponyville? Look at that thing that crashed into City Hall!” Rainbow Dash pointed at the star shaped object sticking out of the roof. She flew up and pulled it out of the roof when she realized it was a star. “What the…a star? How does something like this make it so far down from the sky? Not only that, if feels like metal.” “Looks like we found out what caused the closer of the two noises,” Twilight began, “but we should still investigate what might have happened in Everfree Forest, I’ll do some research on that star after we make sure Ponyville is going to be safe.” With some encouragement, the group finally managed to calm Fluttershy enough to join them on the trek to the Everfree Forest, and before long they set off to discover what mystery was left waiting for them. As they ran deeper and deeper into the forest they started to hear sounds of clashing and explosions, as if a battle was taking place. The woodland creatures were all running away from the cause while the six mares were running towards it. As they moved in closer, they could see three new creatures that they had never seen before. Two of them looked very similar, but one looked more metallic while one looked more plump and non-metallic. The other was a pink creature with no arms and a ponytail sticking out of an archaeologist’s helmet. The two similar creatures both wore red hats with an “M” on them and blue overalls overtop of red shirts and brown shoes with white gloves on their hands. They also had tremendously sized noses where keen mustaches were resting under. They seemed to be in a heated battle that the ponies did not want to get involved in, but watched to see what would happen. “Give up, Super Mario,” the metallic bipedal began to say, “I am superior to you in every way without the Crystal Stars and I will conquer the world as I see fit when I obtain all seven of them. Mario held his position heroically and charismatically as he always does in dangerous battles. It was obvious to the six ponies who the hero was and who the villain was. They also noticed that the non-robotic creature seemed to talk very little, but something about him told the ponies that he could be trusted. “Crystal Stars?” Twilight whispered from the hiding place. “Is that what that thing is? I feel like I’ve heard of them from a book I read…” Goombella became angry. “You can take this metal creep, Mario!” Without hesitation, the creature known as “Mario” jumped into the air and directed a kick towards the metal creature, but to no avail was he able to really hurt him. The robotic creature then grabbed Mario’s foot and threw him into a tree, out of sight. Mario burst from the tree and punched the robot in the gut, where he then continued with a barrage of punches, followed by a rapid spinning of punches ending with an uppercut, sending the robotic demon upward. Mario then jumped up, took his hammer out, and smashed the robot down into the ground, but he landed soundly on his feet. “Please,” the robot began, “save your energy, you’ll need it after I’m through with you.” The robot raised his hand up, firing a missile from it. “Eat-a- this!” it exclaimed. Mario realized the environment that he was in, and he knew that an explosion would set the place ablaze in seconds, so he took the hit to avoid setting the forest on fire. He was thrown back a good distance, but he managed to stand back up, where he then jumped very high into the air, enough where the robotic creature lost sight of him. “Where did he go?” The robot questioned, soon being slammed into the ground because of the great height that Mario could jump and great power behind it, realizing that Mario was stronger than he thought. Rainbow Dash began to get excited. “Look at that guy go! He just pummeled that thing!” She mentioned. “He can definitely hold his own, but that robotic abomination is pretty strong.” Rarity said. “We should help that Mario feller out if things get out of…” Applejack started to say, when the mechanical creature blasted a machine gun towards the position of the six ponies, which uncovered their hiding place. “I thought I heard a racket over there,” began the robotic creature, “talking horses? Give me a moment while I end their existence.” The mechanical creature then placed his hands together, charging up some sort of fire attack. Mario quickly jumped in front of the six ponies and began to charge up a fire attack of his own, realizing that there was no way fire would not come out of this fight. Both sides collided in a mass of flames, immediately setting the forest ablaze, also leaving both bipedals injured greatly. “Damn,” the robotic creature began while noticing his weapons and body took quite a beating, “right now, you live, next time, I will have the crystal stars, and you and your world will parish.” He then flew away to repair himself from the battle that ravaged the Everfree Forest. Mario, barely standing, turned to the six mares, and collapsed immediately. The local pegasi began to place rain clouds over the Forest to prevent its destruction. Goombella walked over to the six ponies. “You guys okay?” She asked, concerned for their safety. “We’re fine darling, thanks to your red friend here.” Rarity stated. “My name is Goombella, wow, I’m sorry; I’ve never seen talking mares in all of my research with Professor Frankly.” Twilight began to get excited, realizing that somebody who worked with a professor is most likely another intellectual that she can talk to about everything in the world. “Yay!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing in the air, “it’s always fun to see a new face to make friends with!” “It’s nice to meet you, Goombella,” Twilight began, “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. I hate to be rude, but I can’t say I’ve have even seen a creature such as yourself either. “I’m a Goomba, we have a bad reputation back home, but not all of us are so bad.” Explained Goombella. “I’ve wanted to gain a proper education and go into archaeology, and I’ve been studying as an intern with Professor Frankly, he’s a crazy old man, but he is one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had the privilege to learn from.” “That sounds a lot like you and Celestia, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. Twilight pondered this truth for a moment; she was still very excited that she would have another individual to talk to about intellectual things. “It does, but we should get back to Ponyville and figure out what exactly happened before we learn more about each other.” Twilight mentioned, realizing the rain was now beginning to downpour. “My mane is getting ruined! After all the work I put into keeping it flowing beautifully!” Rarity whined. Applejack rolled her eyes at the purple haired mare. “Rainbow, take Mario to the library, we can tend to him when we’re all settled there.” Twilight said without hesitation. The group made their way to Twilight’s library, and Rainbow Dash placed Mario onto Twilight’s bed where he could rest. To her surprise, she realized he wasn’t burned in any way, in fact, it almost seemed like he was sleeping rather than unconscious. She rejoined the group in the center of the library. “So Goombella,” Twilight started, “where are you from?” “I come from a raggedy place known as Rogueport, which is a province of the Mushroom Kingdom, it’s not the greatest place in the world, but it is my home.” Goombella said, thinking maybe they knew of this place. “Mushroom Kingdom?” Twilight looked confused. “I’ve never heard of that place.” Goombella was surprised at first, then, remembering how they got to this new land in the first place, she wasn’t so surprised anymore. “I didn’t think it would sound familiar, we didn’t get here through any kind of regular methods, we were sent here through a portal.” She said. Twilight was puzzled now more than ever. “A portal? So you guys can do magic?” Twilight asked. “Not EXACTLY…not that kind of magic, I can’t exactly do any myself, and what Mario did with the fire, that is more like conjuring flames rather than pure magic, but we didn’t even create the portal, the crystal stars did.” She replied. “OH YEAH!” Rainbow Dash forgot about the object she picked up earlier. “This wouldn’t happen to be one of those ‘Crystal Stars,’ would it?” She pulled out the metal star-shaped object. “You found one?!” Goombella was shocked. She had no idea where they could have gone after they scattered, apparently this one had not gotten too far. “Sure did, landed right in the roof of City Hall.” She replied. “What would you do with something like that?” Asked Pinkie Pie, who was now, to the other ponies’ surprise, very interested in the situation. Goombella began her rant about the Crystal Stars, being created by a powerful being known as the Shadow Queen, who would use them to increase her own power. She was sealed away by the heroes before Mario and his party, who sealed a door with a magical barrier that was closed for a thousand years. Twilight was very intrigued. Many questions ran through her head. “Why was that robot trying to obtain them and where did he come from?” She asked. “They are capable of more than just sealing doors, I mean, they DID send us here through a portal, when Mario used them, he was able to do many different things with each star that would help us immensely.” Goombella said. “As for that hunk of junk that was fighting us, we don’t really know much about him except that he looks like Mario and that he is pretty dang tough. He wants to use them to increase his own power, much like the Shadow Queen did.” “Did you guys fight the Shadow Queen?” Twilight asked. Goombella began to reminisce about the battle. “That was an incredible battle…” she replied finally, “it’s a long story though…” Applejack jumped in. “We’ve got nothing but time, pardner, and your friend, Mario was it? He needs some time to rest; feller is tuckered out worse than I was after apple buck season. Tell us everythin’ that happened from there down to how you got here.” Goombella began her story. “WELL…” Goombella's Story*Palace of Shadow* Mario finally stood before the Shadow Queen. He had gathered each and every one of the seven Crystal Stars. He defeated Hooktail and recovered the Diamond Crystal Star. He helped the Punies take back the Great Tree and recovered the Emerald Crystal Star. He became the champion of the Glitz Pit and received the Gold Crystal Star. He put an end to the mystery of Twilight Town by defeating Doopliss, and earned the Ruby Crystal Star. He defeated the ghost pirate known as Cortez and recovered the Sapphire Crystal Star. He took the 3 day train ride to Poshley Heights and earned the Garnet Crystal Star. He recovered the Final Crystal Star from the X-Nauts by reaching their moon base and defeating Lord Crump and his Magnus Von Grapple 2.0. Using the Crystal Stars, he opened the Door said to have been closed for 1,000 years and overcame every trial that the Palace of Shadow could throw at him. “Destroy these impudent fools!” Commanded Grodus, who had previously escaped the encounter with Mario because of Bowser’s interruption. “Who are you that would command me?” Questioned the Shadow Queen, who only looked at Grodus with a face of cockiness. “What?! I thought you had to obey the one who set you free?! Just do what I say and destroy them!” Grodus was furious while confused, believing that if the Queen was set free, she was bound to obey the one who set her free. The Shadow Queen merely raised her hand at him as lighting struck him with a great intensity, reducing him only to the helmet he was wearing. “Silly mortal, you would have done well to have held your tongue than to have attempted to give me orders and do YOUR bidding.” The Shadow Queen laughed as she looked onto the trio that stood before her. The Shadow Sirens had appeared from what seemed to be the ground, as they tend to travel, along with Doopliss, now considered a Shadow Siren. “My Queen…” stated Beldam. “Ahh Beldam, what ages have passed? Was it you that brought this body before me?” “Yes my Queen,” Beldam started, “it was all part of our glorious plan to release you, we searched for a woman that best suited your power and had a fool go and retrieve each of the Crystal Stars to break the seal and finally reawaken your power.” “Yes, very good, you have served me well…” The Shadow Queen said. “But who are these mortals that stand before me? They don’t appear to possess very much power, except for that red fool in the overalls. Something resonates from him which I’ve not seen, while I can sense the firey aura he has about him, I sense something stronger… ” Each of Mario’s allies stood behind him. “I have a proposition for you mortals,” continued the Shadow Queen, “serve me as my slaves and I shall allow you to live as I conquer the world you once knew.” Mario’s allies looked at him. “We’re with you Mario, I know you will do what is right and stop this witch.” Stated Goombella, Mario’s most reliable ally and first friend he made upon his arrival to Rogueport. Mario held his fighting stance refusing the Shadow Queen’s offer. “So you defy me, very well, I will deal with you petty mortals and continue my reign of this little world of yours.” The Shadow Queen stated as she prepared to fight the heroes. Mario jumped forward and the battle commenced. The Shadow Queen stared at her red clad opponent and all of his friends. “This new body is not yet accustomed to my power, but it will be enough to stomp you out of existence,” the Shadow Queen said, confident that she was unstoppable. Mario ran forward and bounced off of her head several times, one of his signature moves known as Power Bounce, dealing a few decent blows to start the battle right. Koops huddled down into his shell and Mario kicked him with all his might at the Shadow Queen, who merely laughed at the attempt. “You’re going to wish you had chosen to be my slaves, mortals,” The Shadow Queen stated as she lifted her hand and struck lightning down on the heroes. Mario was the target for this attack but he did not falter. He dashed forward and slammed his hammer down on the queen, the force was so great it bounced him into the air for a secondary jump attack where he bounced off of her head back to his position. The Queen unleashed all hell of the lightning magic that she possessed and continued to pound the heroes with bolts, however, Vivian, being a Shadow Siren herself, dove into the ground and out to the Shadow Queen for a punch that set the Queen ablaze. The Shadow Queen looked unimpressed. “You think you’ll be able to beat me? Your petty attacks are nothing to a being such as myself.” She lifted both hands into the air and suddenly a hoard of undead hands rose from the floors and attacked the heroes, much like a stampede. The heroes were starting to take a beating but Mario had an idea. He lifted his hands into the air and suddenly the Sapphire Crystal Star appeared, and he used its magic to cure the heroes. Again, the Shadow Queen looked unimpressed. They continued to exchange blows when Mario pulled out the Gold Crystal Star, which boosted their might and durability temporarily. With this boost, they were able to weaken the Shadow Queen slightly more than they thought they would be able to. “Cute party tricks, but now you will parish as I take on my true form.” She said as she collected all of her energy and transformed into the Witch that she truly was. “Still feel like you can defeat me? In this form, all of your attacks are mere child’s play, and I can sit here and laugh as you try and try again.” Bobbery ran up to the queen, fuse lit, as he detonated himself close to her position and flew back to his original, realizing that she came out unscathed. The heroes were in awe as they started to throw everything they could at her while she only sat and laughed at their countless attempts to injure her. “What did I tell you? You are only wasting your time and mine, now you will parish!” The Shadow Queen charged up every ounce of energy she had and unleashed it upon them, leaving the heroes nearly collapsing. Almost all hope was gone at this point when Mario, still standing, noticed that the Crystal Stars were hovering around him. “What are they doing?” Inquired Goombella, still injured from the previous attack. Nothing else could be said as the Stars all flew out to the lands that Mario had been before he collected them in the first place, Poshley Heights, Twilight Town, Keelhaul Key, each place he had been to when he obtained each Star. The townsfolk observed as the stars would land in the center of their village, and listen as the Stars were telling them that Mario was in a fight against The Shadow Queen to save the world. Each village began to chant for Mario to win the fight and stop the evil. Many voices could be heard in the room that Mario and The Shadow Queen were battling in. “You can do it Mario!” “You’re the best and you’ll defeat her!” “Go get ‘em Gonzales!” All of the positive energy began to show Princess Peach as she was slightly able to break free of the hold that the Shadow Queen had on her. “Mario…” Princess Peach’s strength was draining fast. “Take the energy I have left in me…only you can defeat her…I know you can do it…” No sooner had the group listened to Peach, they were all cured of the wounds they had received from the Shadow Queen and their strength had been restored. Things were starting to turn for the better. The Shadow Queen was still very unimpressed. “You will not be able to defeat me, a few annoying voices blaring in my chamber is not going to be what saves you, puny mortals.” Suddenly Goombella was now full of excitement. “We can do this, Mario! Now let’s put an end to her “reign” once and for all!” The true battle was about to begin. Somewhere far out into the breaches of space, or the moon, rather, mechanical sounds could be heard, gears whirring and servos powering up. Another sound could be heard, but it sounded like the voice of a computer: “DEFENSE PROTOCOL INITIATED” There's Adventure Afoot!*Equestria* “…that’s where the tables turned and we finally stood a chance.” Goombella said. “But, weren’t you scared at all? The entire world’s fate was resting on all of your shoulders!” Fluttershy stated. She thought about what it would have been like to be in Goombella’s position. Facing an entity such as the Shadow Queen, who very easily could have killed all of them if they made even the slightest mistake. “We were all terrified,” replied Goombella, “even Mario was, but he would be willing to sacrifice anything if it meant that the world would be free another day. I guess that’s why I…” Goombella stopped suddenly. “Why you what?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. Twilight knew what she was about to say, but decided instead to bring the story back up. “So what happened after the Princess cured all of you?” Twilight interrupted. “We took our chance, and threw everything we could at that witch!” Goombella replied excitedly. “Peach’s last bit of energy was enough to bring us up to par with the Shadow Queen. You know what the coolest part was? I delivered the final blow! Bonked her right in the noggin with the boost in power, at that point she couldn’t take it anymore, and she faded away, leaving the princess free of the hold that was on her.” Pinkie Pie jumped in. “So then everypony lived happily ever after?!” “I guess you could say that, Pinkie,” replied Goombella, “a few days had passed and she and Mario went back to the Mushroom Kingdom. I had time to catch up on my studies with Professor Frankly and everyone else went their separate ways, however, I DID get to visit everyone else that traveled with us, they were all doing great. Still though, I’m glad I’ve gotten to have another adventure with Mario. I didn’t think he would visit us again. A short time after I mailed him, he came back, knowing there were still challenges we could face together. We decided to test our skills in the Pit of 100 Trials. This is where fate had other plans for us.” “Goodness, a hundred trials? What did these trials require you to do?” Rarity inquired. “Well, we would enter a room with a baddie for us to fight, once we defeated him, we advanced further and further, room after room, fighting guys that got stronger as we progressed.” “What was the final trial?” “The final Trial,” Goombella attempted to sound intimidating, “was fighting a dragon by the name of Bonetail. He was the meanest of dragons that we had ever encountered.” Fluttershy shuddered a bit after Goombella finished. “Oh dear, dragons…” she said under her breath. “But we had it under control,” Goombella continued, “We put quite a beating on him, at least at first. That was when HE showed up…” “Mecha Mario?” Twilight added. Goombella was puzzled. “That’s a good name for him, yes, Mecha Mario. We had never encountered him before, but it was easy to tell from his soulless eyes that he was after more than a friendly handshake and a ‘nice to meet you.’ He crashed through each room to get to us; HE actually defeated Bonetail in the end because he crashed into him so hard.” “He wanted the Crystal Stars.” Twilight added in again. “You guessed it,” Goombella replied, “he knew Mario had them, I can’t really figure out why he held onto them, best bet would be for him to hold them though, rather than to let them fall into the wrong hands. “The battle that took place in Everfree Forest was pretty intense,” Rainbow Dash started, “did Mario try to use the Crystal Stars?” “Well, you see,” Goombella began, “he attempted to use them, as it was our last option. We were still weak from the fight with Bonetail. He summoned all seven of them, and right when he was about to use their energy, Mecha Mario took the opportunity to strike. He dashed at Mario and directed a punch right into his face, sending him into the wall, losing control of the Crystal Stars as well. Mario is a great guy and all, but I never understood why he always held out the item he was going to use before using it, it always left him wide open…” Goombella laughed. Applejack still didn’t understand. “So then how’d they create the portal that sent ya here?” “I was getting to that,” Goombella replied, “Mecha Mario attempted to take hold of the Crystal Stars, which had been set in a circular motion; they were spinning in the air where Mario had been standing. The second Mecha Mario reached for them, he was sent back by a powerful force. The unfocused energy had ripped open a vortex that began to absorb everything in the room, including the Crystal Stars themselves. Mario recovered from the previous attack, and noticed that Mecha Mario had been slammed into the wall himself. I don’t really know what happened after that, as I had been pulled into the portal right as he got up. I was the first one to land in the forest, followed by Mario and our attacker. And that’s everything that I can remember up to this point.” Five of the six ponies in the room were in shock, all but Twilight, who was instead more aroused at her story than shocked. She always liked learning from other ponies’ experiences, even if they seemed impossible. “You guys have had it pretty rough,” Applejack said, “but at least you can rest fer now. Mario is way ahead of ya.” Almost as if he had planned to prove her wrong, Mario jumped out of the bed that he had been resting in. “YA-HOO!” he exclaimed, landing in the center of the library, taking everyone by surprise. “Well look who decided to join the party!” Rainbow Dash said. “PARTY?! WHERE IS IT?!?!” Pinkie Pie screamed. Twilight stepped forward. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Mario, I noticed we never actually got to meet you before, my name is Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends. This is Pinkie Pie. Everypony in Equestria knows her for her very optimistic attitude. She enjoys throwing parties for everypony new that she meets and she also enjoys eating sweets, she is the Element of Laughter. Pinkie, say hi.” Pinkie Pie was still distracted by the mention of a party. “Alright then, this is Fluttershy. She is one of the friendliest ponies you could ever meet and she is the Element of Kindness.” She continued. “Thanks for, umm, protecting us earlier…” Fluttershy seemed nervous. Mario gave a full hearted smile to her, trying to make her feel more comfortable. “Over here is Applejack, she is one of the most dependable friends a pony could ask for and she makes an honest living in Sweet Apple Acres. She is the Element of Honesty.” Applejack held her hoof out. “Pleasure’s all mine, Mr. Mario. Thanks for the save earlier.” Mario took her hoof and they shook in a friendly manner. Twilight continued, “Rarity, the fashionista of Equestria and the holder of the Element of Generosity.” “Come by my parlor any time and I can make you look fabulous, darling.” Mario gave a gentlemanly bow to the white mare. “And finally, over here is Rainbow Dash, the greatest flyer in Equestria, most loyal of friends, and holder of the Element of Loyalty.” “Way to put a hurting of that heap of junk earlier, and thanks for the save too.” Rainbow dash put her hoof out and they performed the first hoof to hand bro fist in history. Goombella jumped in. “You make mention of these ‘elements’, what do you mean exactly?” She asked. “Well,” Twilight started, “each of us is representative of a quality of friendship, and I never mentioned that I am the Element of Magic, we all carry the Elements of Harmony, which are special items that bring harmony to Equestria. We have used them to save Equestria from many things that try to cause chaos and harm to others. We are, in a way, its guardians. Princess Celestia has always had faith in our actions and abilities. She knows we’d never let her down.” “Who is Princess Celestia?” Goombella asked. “She is the ruler of Equestria, she controls the sun that rises in the day and her sister, Princess Luna, controls the moon in the night. I’ve always seen Princess Celestia as a mother, as well as my teacher…” Twilight said. Goombella walked over to Twilight. “She is the family to you that Professor Frankly is to me…” Goombella said, sharing a nostalgic moment with her. “Looks like we couldn’t have run into a better group of friends to make, then.” Mario spoke to Twilight with an Italian-like accent that she was somehow able to understand. “Yes, Goombella told us the story of how you got here, and how you are hunting for these ‘Crystal Stars.’ Rainbow Dash actually found one of them. It landed on the roof of City Hall.” Twilight walked over to her bookshelf and Rainbow Dash pulled out the Star she found and handed it to Mario. He held his hands into the air as it hovered over where he stood, glimmering brightly. “Ahh here it is!” Twilight said, returning with a book. “I thought they sounded familiar, this book, ‘Legends of the Dark Arisen,’ makes mention of these four heroes who collected these objects, called the Crystal Stars, and sealed away a shadow demon behind a door that was closed for a thousand years. Your story checks out! And I thought this was all just a fictional story, but it seems to be realistically accurate.” Twilight looked into the book again, “Ahh! And that’s why the ‘Mushroom Kingdom’ didn’t sound familiar, while it never mentioned the city that these heroes lived in, it seems that the Mushroom Kingdom had also not been established by this time yet, either.” “That sounds exactly like that shifty guy on the roof that we paid 10 coins to tell us about the history of Rogueport and the legends of these heroes. What was the author of that book?” Goombella asked curiously. “That’s the odd thing,” Twilight replied, “it looks like the author’s name is scratched out.” “Curious…” Goombella replied, “but anyway, we have to find the other six of these stars, we used a map to help us locate them, but I don’t know if that map will work in a new land exactly…” Mario was thinking when he took out the map of Rogueport. “OH!” Mario said, surprised. Upon taking out the map, it shimmered and the land of Rogueport and all the other places Mario had visited previously had been altered. Unfamiliar lands were now scattered all over his magical map. Applejack walked over. “Why, that looks like Equestria! Twilight, take a gander at this.” She said astounded. “Well look at that!” Twilight said. “That IS Equestria, there’s Canterlot, there’s the Everfree Forest, here’s Ponyville, and Coudsdale, and the Crystal Empire…!” Twilight continued, however, Mario and Goombella lost track of all the places she was naming. As twilight continued, to name places off of the map, Mario spoke to Goombella. “That’s true too, how will we be able to track them down without the pedestal?” Goombella replied, confused. Twilight stopped and looked Goombella. “A pedestal, what did it do?” She asked. “Whenever we found another star,” Goombella began, “we stood on this pedestal in Rogueport sewers. The Crystal Star would take its place on a spot in the room, and the map would shimmer in the air, revealing where the next Crystal Star was located. But I don’t know how we’ll be able to do that now…” Twilight looked at the Crystal Star. “Mind if I hold your map for a second, Mario?” She asked. Mario handed Twilight the map. “What are you thinking, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked her. Twilight levitated the map out in front of her and the Crystal Star began to hover above her head now. She began to cast a spell, and the Crystal Star started spinning faster. She was using a sample of its power to assist her own. The map started emitting light, and a flash of light was blaster through the room. Everyone aside from Twilight jumped at this. “I think that does it…” she said finally. She levitated the map back into Mario’s hands. Mario carefully studied the map. He noticed that the Emerald Star was now marked overtop of the Everfree Forest. He took the map and showed everyone that was in the room. “Well, it appears we have some unfinished business to tend to back in the Everfree Forest.” Twilight stated. Fluttershy became more nervous than she was previously. “Oh no, we have to go back…” Applejack walked over to Fluttershy and placed her hoof on her back. “It’ll be okay sugarcube,” she began, “we’ll all be right beside ya, and Mario here is gonna watch our backs the same way that we’ll be watching his. I promise ya, nothin’ bad will happen.” Mario nodded in approval. “OH-YEAH!” He shouted out. Suddenly, Spike walked through the door. He decided to take a day for himself since Twilight went to Pinkie’s party. “Hey guys, Mayor Mare is looking for you, she’s concerned about the huge hole in the roof of City Hall.” He said upon entering. “Oh yeah…” Rainbow Dash said, having forgotten entirely about it. “Maybe we SHOULD explain to her what’s been going on…” Everyone aside from Spike started walking out the door, when he began to smell the air. “That smells…like a huge diamond!” He said, suddenly excited. “Where is it at? And who are your friends?” “We’ll explain later, Spike.” Replied Twilight. “Just stay here, we’ll be back soon.” The group proceeded to the confused, beige, mare that was standing outside of City Hall. “There you are!” She said. “Would you girls happen to know what happened to my roof?” And who are the red and pink things following behind you?” “My name is Goombella,” said Goombella, “and this is Mario, sorry to meet on terms like this, it’s our fault that there is a large hole in your roof.” Mayor Mare looked surprised. “What did you do exactly?” She asked. Rainbow Dash jumped in. “Man, you shoulda seen it! This huge star fell out of the sky and crashed into the roof, and we heard a noise come out of the Everfree Forest, so we went to investigate, and we discovered that these two were fighting an evil robot!” Mayor Mare was confused at this point; it took some time to get her to understand the situation. The group tried to explain about Crystal Star this, and Mecha Mario that, but eventually, she caught on. “So you’re hunting these ‘Crystal Stars’ in an effort to save the world from an evil robotic creature that looks like this red fellow?” She asked, puzzled by their story. “Yes,” Twilight said, “and we’re going to help them.” Mayor Mare did not like the sound of an evil creature roaming in their peaceful lands, but she knew that if anypony could stop it, it would be Twilight and her friends, old and new alike. “Well, I believe you all can do it, I’m going to call the roofing agency about getting this roof patched, I recommend you prepare today for your journey, and set out tomorrow to the Everfree Forest to get that Crystal such-and-such.” “Thank you Ms. Mare, again, sorry about your roof…” Goombella replied. “Ahh don’t worry about it, dear, this roof has seen worse days.” Mayor Mare replied to the small goomba, remembering how the roof had caved in and Applejack went out to participate in a rodeo to earn money to repair it entirely. The six ponies showed Mario and Goombella as much of Ponyville as the day would allow, stopping at shops to buy helpful resources for their journey through the Everfree Forest the following day. Mario did have a few supplies leftover from the fight with Bonetail; one of these items was a Couple’s Cake that Mario planned to share with Goombella, before they had been interrupted by Mecha Mario. They stopped at a little café and enjoyed some dinner. It went well even though the food was meant for ponies. To everyone’s surprise, however, Mario somehow enjoyed the food and even got seconds. After the sun had set and Luna began to raise the moon into the sky, Twilight, accompanied by Mario and Goombella, went back to the library, while the other five ponies went back to their own homes, thinking about what the next day was going to bring them. As Twilight, Mario, and Goombella readied for bed, a small, well-known purple dragon, who should have been in bed himself, was snooping around, looking for the source of the delectable treat he had smelled earlier, and his senses led him to the familiar red clad hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, who was now sound asleep. “Time for a midnight snack…” he muttered under his breath. Author's Note Sorry it took a little while, had to focus on school and work and such. Enjoy. The Side-ShowdownSpike searched Mario’s person for quite some time before he finally found what he was looking for. “How does he hold so much stuff in one pocket?” Spike questioned, nonetheless victorious that he found the Crystal Star. “What the heck is this thing? I’ve never seen a diamond shaped like this. Oh well, down the hatch!” Spike attempted to take a bite of the Diamond Crystal Star, but to his surprise, he found that his teeth could not penetrate through the Star, but instead hurt his own teeth. “OWW!” He shouted under his breath. Mario turned upon hearing the noise, but he was still fast asleep. Spike walked away from him slowly and contemplated what to do next. He kept staring at his diamond, noticing its beauty. It also glittered some kind of magic, he felt powerful just holding it. He decided he would step out into the night for a bit to play with it. He held it out like a sacred object, used to banish evil back to the hell it spawned from. His imagination took him into a world where demons were trying to take the one thing that meant most to him: Rarity. She was standing behind him, as he held out the star and intense waves of magic lashed out and the monsters that stood there faded away. He never felt such a sense of accomplishment than right at that moment. He turned to his imaginary Rarity, waiting for the kiss every hero yearns for after they have saved the world. Something moved in the bushes, however, Spike did not notice. A blue unicorn had been watching Spike the moment he had stepped outside. She was now suddenly very interested in what the purple dragon was holding rather than her arch rival, Twilight Sparkle, whom she intended to catch off guard by attacking her home on that night. “What’s this?” Trixie asked herself, “it’s Twilight’s dragon assistant! And that thing he’s holding…hehehehehe…” Trixie now had new intentions. She wrote a note, stating that she now has Spike and the object he was carrying and that if she wants to get them back, she would have to duel her. She nabbed Spike, who had still been lost in his fantasy, as well as the Crystal Star, and placed the note on her ground for her to find the next day. She then returned to her cart near the Everfree Forest, with the intent of learning how to use the power within the Crystal Star. She locked Spike in a cage and continued to study the power emanating from it as the night pressed on. Goombella, to Twilight’s surprise, was the first one awake that morning. “I never thought somepony could wake up before I do.” Twilight said with a smile on her face, “Good morning.” Goombella turned to her. “Well good morning!” She replied, “ya sleep alright?” “I slept very well, I usually get up early to do some studying before everypony else wakes up, it’s easier to concentrate that way.” Twilight said. “I use to do the same thing back home; I find that it is a lot easier to focus when no one else is awake to bother me.” Goombella replied. Twilight noticed that Goombella was staring at the still sleeping Mario. She could tell something was bothering her, and her intellectual conversation would have to wait. “Something bothering you, Goombella?” She asked her. The question seemed to catch her off guard. “What? OH! No, I’m fine!” She replied suddenly, “just, didn’t want to wake Mario up, I feel it’s better to let him sleep so he’ll be ready for the day…” her sentence trailed off as she continued to stare at him. She turned towards Twilight. “Thanks, for…umm, the save yesterday…” “You don’t have to thank me,” Twilight said, she knew what Goombella was talking about, “but I do have a question for you.” “Shoot.” Goombella replied. “Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” “I will…one day…” she replied nervously, “I’m not ready to tell him just yet.” “Fair enough, I suppose,” Twilight said, “but nothing will change if you keep it a secret.” They continued to talk when Twilight began to notice that something was amiss. Spike was not still sleeping in his bed. “Spike? Hey, Spike!” She called out, but she did not get a response. “That’s odd, where could he be?” “Maybe he went out for an early morning walk?” Goombella said, “I don’t know.” “That would be very unusual of him…” The moment Twilight said this, a sudden earthquake shook the library, and Mario fell out of bed onto the floor. “QUICK!” Twilight shouted, “Take cover under the table!” She and Goombella took cover when the earthquake stopped. Books were strewn all over the floor, and hours of time spent on organizing them had now been wasted. Mario quickly picked himself up, and went to see what the problem was. However, upon standing up, he noticed he was missing something. He dug through his pockets to realize that his Crystal Star was gone! “OH NO!” He exclaimed, with a shocked look on his face, frozen completely still. Twilight and Goombella crawled out from under their earthquake shelter. “Mario! What’s the matter?” Goombella asked, but his look said it all. “Oh no…” “I bet Spike had something to do with it, he wanted that Star from the beginning,” Twilight intervened, “as is natural dragon nature. To take things which do not belong to them, especially gemstones. We have to find him and get it back. Looks like the Everfree Forest will have to wait.” Mario nodded in agreement, and the three set out to retrieve Spike and the Crystal Star. They opened the door, when Mario noticed a note on the ground. He picked it up without hesitation and read aloud as Twilight and Goombella listened in. “Dear pesky ponies, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have taken over Equestria! The baby dragon is now a permanent guest in my roadside stage horse! I dare ya to find him if ya can!” Both Twilight and Goombella were more shocked over the fact that he seemed to talk normal for once, what a rare occasion! However, Mario continued to read. “If you need instructions on how to get to my stage horse, check out the enclosed instruction book!” Mario began to look through it when a sudden earthquake shook the whole town. “WAH!” “Not again!” Goombella shouted. Twilight took notice as the earthquakes seemed to emanate from a source. “This may sound odd,” she started, “but it looks like the quakes are starting in the direction of the entrance to the Everfree Forest.” Mario showed the booklet to Twilight, whose suspicions were now confirmed, Trixie was there. “Let’s go teach that wench who not to mess with!” Goombella exclaimed. With that, the three set off to the entrance of the Everfree Forest. Earthquakes continued to shake Ponyville, continually making it difficult to keep balance, even knocking small debris off of some of the buildings. All the citizens were taking cover as chunks of roof and walls fell all around them. Pinkie’s tail must have been shaking so much that it could become a mode of travel to her! The trio finally arrived at a small carousel stage. They proceeded to enter when a blast of magic knocked Mario on his rear end a short distance away. “Mario!” shouted Twilight and Goombella. The small carousel had opened into a small stage with fireworks exploding into the air. They turned over to witness their adversary, along with Spike, sitting in a cage close by. “Well look who finally decided to show up! Twilight Sparkle! And you brought some freaks along with you!” Trixie said very cockily. “You won’t believe what fortune I’ve come across.” She levitated the Crystal Star in front of them. “Give it back you sorry excuse for a sideshow!” Goombella said angrily. “That belongs to us! And you have no idea what it’s capable of!” “Oh, I’ve got an idea of what it’s capable of, putting me back on the top!” Trixie said. “Glad your little assistant is so careless with such things, why do you trust him so much?” Twilight was now furious, not just with Trixie, but Spike too. “You have no business to be kidnapping baby dragons in the middle of the night, Trixie,” Twilight began, “now hand them both back over and we can forget about this whole mess, you remember what happened last time we ‘dueled’. You set an Ursa Minor free and put the whole town in danger.” Mario stood back up after the blast, shaking his head vigorously. Trixie was starting to get irritated, but she kept her cool, she assumed everything was going to work in her favor anyway. “That was the past; I can easily defeat anypony who tries to steal the show from me now. If you want to taste the true power that the Great and Powerful Trixie possesses, attempt to strike me!” Goombella rushed forward and attempted to bonk Trixie with her head, but she was suddenly bounced back. A magical shield appeared that enveloped all of Trixie’s body. Spike called out to the trio. “Guys! She cast a shield around her body! You won’t be able to touch her as long as it’s active!” Trixie glared at Spike. “SILENCE YOU BUFFOON!” She yelled. Twilight turned to Mario. “Mario, I can take care of the shield, but it will take some time for me to concentrate and cast the spell on her, when I bring it down, throw everything you’ve got at her! I hate to have to encourage violence, but we’ve got no other choice. Just be careful, Trixie is very full of herself, but from what those stars are capable of, we won’t have an easy fight on our hooves.” Said Twilight. Mario nodded in agreement and took a fighting stance. “HERE WE GO!” Twilight began to focus her magic and charge her spell, while Goombella protected her. Trixie charged her magic into her horn and fired it at Mario, where he nimbly jumped out of the way as the shot bounced off of a rock and faded away. Trixie rapidly kept firing her magic at him but he was able to dodge it every time. This started to frustrate her greatly. While Mario continued his maneuvers, Goombella carefully studied Trixie. She noticed that as she got angry, her shield would dissipate for a moment because she wouldn’t be focusing her magic to keep it flowing, leaving Mario the perfect moment to strike. “Mario!” she called out, “strike her when she starts to rage! Her shield vanishes temporarily!” Mario heeded Goombella’s advice, and when Trixie got irritated, he rushed forward and took his chance. He jumped into the air and bounced off of her head once, and back flipped higher into the air for a second bounce off of her head, landing whimsically back where he first jumped. Trixie’s face turned as red as Mario’s hat. “YOU AREN’T GOING TO GET AWAY WITH HARMING THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!” She shouted, “TASTE MY POWER!” She pulled out the Crystal Star and used her magic to make it larger. She then jumped onto it, where it levitated high into the air and slammed the ground, causing a massive earthquake that knocked Mario around more than he would have expected. It actually bounced him into the air and slammed his head into the ground, where he was stuck momentarily. He managed to pull himself out before another attack had been thrown. Fortunately, Twilight had previously cast a shield over herself, and the tremors, while they shook her around a bit, did not break her concentration. “I bet everyone in town felt that one…” Goombella stated. Trixie fired more of her magic at Mario, and this time she fired it at quite a rapid pace. Mario managed to dodge all of them except the last one, where he pulled his hammer out and wacked it back at Trixie’s shield. This shattered it temporarily and Mario threw a fireball at her before she could bring it back up, this managed to knock her back a few feet from where she had been standing. Trixie again, pulled out the Crystal Star and attempted to use its power, except this time Mario jumped onto the star with her. They battled it out fist to hoof for a few moments, but Trixie had cheap shot Mario with a blast from her horn before he could knock her off. Mario fell from the sky and landed with a solid thud on his back. He watched as the star began to fall down for another ground breaking strike. “Finished!” Twilight yelled suddenly. Just before the star could impact the ground, she managed to nail Trixie directly through her precious shield, knocking her to the ground before the Crystal Star. She could no longer focus the energy to create it. However, this did not stop the Crystal Star from getting imbedded into the ground, sending a shock wave out that knocked everyone a fair distance away from it. Mario and Trixie were the first to recover. Upon realizing this, they both sprinted towards each other nearly at the speed that Rainbow Dash herself could fly when she was merely cruising. She would have been shocked to witness that. They both thought carefully about their next move as the distance between them and the Crystal Star was closing, when Mario leaped high into the air, completely out of sight, much like he did with Mecha Mario. He seemed to be very good at doing that. “Where did that red idiot-WAAAHH!” Trixie shouted, upon being pummeled suddenly to the ground by Mario’s fist. Mario decided it was time to finish the fight. “Let’s-a-go!” He grabbed Trixie by the tail, and started to spin her around very rapidly. Twilight noted Mario’s strength despite his small, portly stature. “UNHAND THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE THIS INSTANT!” Trixie shouted. She should have chosen her words more carefully. After he had wound her up enough, he released her and let gravity do the rest. “YA-HOO!” Mario shouted excitedly. Trixie flew far from the Everfree Forest AND Ponyville, it was impossible to tell where she would land. After she had pierced through several clouds in the sky, the trio decided it best to stop counting how many she had flown through. Again, Twilight was baffled by the strength of the plumber, who sometimes managed to surprise himself. “THIS ISN’T OVER, SPARKLE! I WILL RETURN…!” Trixie’s voice trailed off as she got farther away. They did not seem to care anyway. Twilight opened the cage that Spike was locked in, grateful that he was okay. However, she was still very upset with him for stealing the Crystal Star and leaving at night. He was truly ashamed of himself now. “Why would you do something so stupid, Spike?” she said, “Haven’t you learned not to take things that aren’t yours? That “diamond” is no ordinary diamond, it is an ancient artifact of immense power beyond our understanding. Not to mention that you had to STEAL it off of somepony you don’t even know yet just to obtain it. I’m very disappointed in you.” Tears were starting to well up in Spike’s eye. “I’m sorry Twilight,” he sobbed, “I didn’t know… I couldn’t help myself…” “I’m not the one to be apologizing to. That would be Mario over there.” She pointed at Mario, who was now pulling the Crystal Star out of the ground. It was lodged quite nicely, but he managed to recover it and keep it safe in his pocket of infinite space. Spike walked over to Mario and Goombella. “I’m sorry I took your diamond, Mario…” Spike said depressingly. Mario pat him on the head, accepting his apology. Despite all the hardships he faces, he never finds it easy to stay mad at anyone, human or not. “It’s alright, kiddo.” Goombella said. “It’s just a good thing we were able to find you both before anymore damage could have been done. The town looks a little banged up at this point…” “THERE YOU GUYS ARE!” A familiar voice called out. It was Rainbow Dash, as well as the rest of the mane six. “Glad to see you are all okay! Those earthquakes have been shaking up the town pretty badly.” “We’re alright Rainbow,” Twilight said, “Trixie got a hold of the Crystal Star, but we took it back from her.” “How in tarnation was she able to nab it from ya?” Applejack questioned. Spike stared at the ground, regretful of his mistake. “Let’s not worry about that, at least we got it back,” said Goombella. “Is everyone in town alright?” “Yeah, for the most part,” reported Rainbow Dash. “Lucky we have Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense to know when things are falling close by, otherwise things could have been a lot worse. Heck, she can sense earthquakes too!” “I had a combo that I had never felt before!” Pinkie Pie said. “Ear flop five times exactly, followed by a sudden hop into the air ending with a face plant! Glad it’s finally over!” “We should check on everypony before we go off to get the second star.” Twilight said. “And maybe grab a few things before we set off…” Twilight had an idea of the things she wanted to get. “Well this has been quite a morning!” Goombella stated. Mario nodded in agreement and the group set out back to Ponyville to make sure all of the citizens were okay, afterall, it kind of was their responsibility to protect the town, even Mario and Goombella now felt the responsibility on their shoulders. They arrived back in town to discover what the Crystal Star had truly done. A few buildings had collapsed and several ponies were unable to stay completely clear of the carnage. Carriages drawn by colts were pulling all of the injured ponies out of rubble to get them to the hospital. Luckily no severe casualties had been reported. Nonetheless, it was going to take some time for the town to recover. In order to spare him embarrassment, Twilight did not say anything to Spike about what his carelessness had led to. He felt bad enough already seeing for himself what his mistakes had done. They talked to a few of the EMT’s to assess the situation. They had it quite under control and assured them not to worry. As long as the earthquakes cease, things will calm down and be easier to handle. The group assured them that they did not have to worry about the quakes any longer. They arrived back at the library to gather the things Twilight mentioned. She opened a small box containing several necklaces and a Tiara, as well as the supplies they had gathered the day before. Mario and Goombella assumed these were the “Elements of Harmony” that Twilight had told them about. They trusted Twilight’s instincts to come back and get them, afterall, they did not know what the Elements were capable of, but they did not underestimate their power. Twilight told Spike to write a letter to Princess Celestia about the recent events over the past few days. About how they have made new friends and that they are going on a journey to retrieve these “Crystal Stars”. She assured the Princess that she would keep her updated on their progress. She then instructed Spike to stay and help the town in cleaning up the mess. Spike did not argue with her, and he rushed out the door to help clean up the town. After taking a moment to enjoy a quick breakfast, the eight heroes set out for the Everfree Forest to recover the next Crystal Star. The true adventure was about to begin. Watch the skies, TravelerThe heroes continued to run towards the sound they had heard, dodging trees and large plants very narrowly. Whatever made the sound did not sound very satisfied at all. They finally approached a large cave, hidden from sight to any onlookers of the Everfree Forest watching from a distance away. “This cave seems very familiar…”Twilight stated as she observed the area, “like I’ve been here before…” “Well, what’s the plan Mario?” Applejack asked. “Let’s a go!” He replied. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rarity interjected, “what if there is another pack of Timberwolves in there? Or something else worse?” Fluttershy began to shudder in fear. “But what if the Crystal Star is inside? What’s stopping us from at least taking a look?” Rainbow Dash said. She had a point, if it was there and they didn’t look, they would only be wasting more time. “Or what if there is a party going on inside?! And we’re just missing out because we’re standing out here!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed suddenly. “I say we check it out!” “I highly doubt that there is a party going on in there, Pinkie…” Applejack said. “At any rate,” Twilight started, “Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are right, we should at least take a look.” “But that roar!” Fluttershy said suddenly, “we don’t know if it came from inside of there!” Goombella started looking at the entrance of the cave. “Whatever it was,” she started, “it doesn’t seem to be in here, at least now…” “But what if it comes BACK?!” Fluttershy said, she sounded more fearful than ever at this point. “We won’t be in there but a minute, Fluttershy.” Applejack said. “All we’re gonna do is take a look, we’ll be in and out in no time.” As much as Fluttershy objected to entering the cave, she knew that nothing was going to stop her friends from going in, and she didn’t want to be left outside alone. “Okay…I’ll go in with you guys then…” Fluttershy said. Anything was better than being left outside alone. Mario led the way through the dark cave, ready to take on any ambush that might be waiting for them inside. They continued to walk down the small corridor inside of the cave, noticing the beauty of the stalactites on the ceiling that had formed over many years. “This place looks beautiful!” Rarity exclaimed. “It is beautiful isn’t it?! If only the readers of this fiction out there could see it! They would be so amazed!” Pinkie Pie said. The group all rolled their eyes and shook their heads at whatever it was that Pinkie was going on about, readers and a fiction, that’s pretty ridiculous, even for Pinkie. The only two that did not react to Pinkie were Mario and Applejack, whose lack of attention was due to their focus on protecting the group. They still did not know what, if anything, was in the cave, but they were not willing to let their guard down for a moment. Applejack stayed close behind him, she was just as protective of the group as Mario was, and she would throw herself out into danger for the safety of her friends any day. She also felt a lot safer near Mario. There was something about him that she could really trust, she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but being the element of honesty, it did not really concern her. Twilight was still very skeptical. She knew she had seen this cave before. Even if it did look like any other kind of cave. Still, she seemed to remember it specifically, as if something had happened there recently… The group finally reached the main room of the cave, to discover that it was filled to the brim with gemstones of various colors, shapes, and sizes. “LOOK AT THAT!” exclaimed Goombella. “Oh my…” Rarity said weakly. It seemed to overtake her; the massive pile of gemstones that were all merely just lying there was quite impressive. They overtook a large portion of the room. Speaking of which, the room itself was quite large. Almost as if it was meant to house something bigger… “YAY! The party hasn’t started yet!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed suddenly. “What in tarnation are yah goin’ on about, Pinkie? What party?” questioned Applejack. “I can’t tell you! Clearly it’s a surprise party!” she replied. Applejack could not think of any kind of reply. She instead decided to stop questioning the pink mare in order to preserve her sanity from being damaged. She and Mario began to survey the massive mound of gems, in hopes of finding the Emerald Crystal Star that they had been in search of for several hours. They seemed to be quite convinced that it wasn’t inside of the cave. I mean, they DID kind of scatter randomly in the AIR. Not on the ground, or inside of specific hiding places. But, they continued to search a few minutes longer. Maybe it was inside, underneath all of those gemstones. Or maybe they were wasting their time with this cave. Maybe it was outside in the Everfree Forest, lodged in a tree somewh- “THERE IT IS!” exclaimed Goombella. Or maybe it was inside of the cave after all. Goombella pointed (don’t ask me how) towards a small mound of gemstones, hidden behind a few larger mounds, with a green, star-shaped rock jutting out of it. “It’s about time we found that darn thing!” Rainbow Dash said, “it feels like we’ve been out here for days!” “Oh come on now, Dash,” Applejack began, “it hasn’t been THAT long.” “Whatever, just grab it and let’s get out of here, my wings need a good stretch.” Dash replied. Mario took a few steps towards the Crystal Star, only to notice Pinkie Pie, whose tail was twitching emphatically. “Something is falling out of the sky!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Before anyone had time to react, a sudden and familiar roar echoed through the corridors of the cave from the outside world followed by the loud thud of something very heavy, landing on the ground without a care in the world. Twilight held a shocked expression. “I knew this cave was familiar! This is the cave Spike ran away from home to, not knowing it was inhabited by a full, grown-“ “DRAGON!” Fluttershy screamed suddenly, cutting Twilight short. Everyone turned around immediately only to witness that Fluttershy was right. A large, green dragon had entered the chamber that the heroes were in, and it did not seem very pleased to see them. “And just what do you think you are doing in my home, puny ponies? I leave for a few minutes from that little earthquake and you suddenly think it’s okay to invade my cave?” It rumbled. The heroes were rather speechless at the fact that this dragon had not decided to just eat them right then and there. “WELL?!” It roared violently, shaking the ceiling. Goombella was the first to speak. “We’re sorry to bother you Mr. Dragon,” she seemed rather nervous, “…but it seems you have something that we’ve been looking for…that big star-shaped rock over there? We kinda need that…so if you could be so kind as to let us have it, we’ll be outta your hair, Err scales…” The dragon laughed at Goombella’s request. “You don’t get it do you? That “rock” over there is mine. I found out in this forest, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” The dragon took notice at the fact that Mario was standing rather close to the Crystal Star, and he kicked Mario straight into the wall. “WAH-HEHEHAHOO!” He shouted as he collided into the wall. “Mario!” The others shouted. Mario shook his head rigorously and managed to stand back up. He had been in many more severe fights with his arch enemy, Bowser, and one hit would not hinder him so easily. All the while, Fluttershy was still quite scared, however, she was now upset that the dragon had hurt one of her friends. “Look here, Dragon breath!” Rainbow Dash was now furious, “all we want is that star, and if you won’t cooperate, then we’ll have to take it from you by force!” The dragon seemed equally as furious at this point. “YOU DARE THREATEN ME?! IF YOU WANT THAT PRECIOUS STONE, YOU’LL HAVE TO PRY IT FROM MY CLAWS AS I’M TEARING YOU APART!” It roared in fury. The heroes took on battle ready stances. “Is that a challenge?” Rainbow Dash said. She seemed to be confusing stupidity for cockiness. Surely this would not be an easy fight. “IT’S NOT A CHALLENGE FOOLISH PONY, IT’S A PROMISE! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR END!” The dragon roared as he reared into his battle stance, breathing small amounts of fire at the ceiling. Mario took his position in front of the group. “LET’S-A-“ “WAIT!” Pinkie Pie shouted suddenly, interrupting Mario. “What could it possibly be, Pinkie?” Twilight said to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie zoomed out of the cave and back into it, taking only a few seconds. She pushed Vinyl Scratch, along with her equipment she uses for her music. “We need epic music for an epic fight!” She replied to Twilight. She had a good point. “Ready! Hit it Vinyl!” “LET’S-A-GO!” Mario shouted. The dragon let out one final roar to strike fear into his opponents, creating an echo inside of the cave that shook it so violently, stalactites began falling from the ceiling. The dragon breathed a large ball of fire at the heroes, who narrowly escaped being burnt to a crisp by jumping out of its way in random directions. The fireball smashed into the cave wall, erupting in a large explosion. Twilight and Goombella took note of this while Mario took note at how similar the fireball would erupt on contact to a surface, much like Bowser’s fireballs would. None of them knew exactly how they were going to approach this beast, as his size was quite massive, making it difficult to hit anything aside from his feet, and even then, what damage could be done? Still, Twilight attempted to fire a bolt of her magic at his chest. The bolt made contact with his chest but appeared to do absolutely nothing. The dragon launched another attack at the heroes using his tail. He attempted to stomp them into the dirt by pounding his tail down like a hammer. However, they managed to dodge this attack by again, narrowly jumping out of the way. Now was the time to strike. “Mario!” Twilight shouted, “Now’s your chance! Climb up his back from his tail!” Mario attempted an attack by running up the dragon’s tail before he could pull it back. He ran up his back and managed to jump over his head and onto his snout with a lethal stomp. This stomp shook his snout up and down a few times, and the dragon grabbed his own face with his claw to ease the pain. As Mario attempted to land back onto the ground, the dragon swatted him away from his entire body with a great amount of force. Mario was sent sailing towards his team, bracing for impact, when Rainbow Dash caught him out of the air and placed him safely back onto the ground. “AHHH!” The dragon shouted suddenly. “I HATE BEING HIT IN THE FACE! WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!” The heroes now knew his weak point. The battle was now in more favorable odds. The dragon began roaring again to try and intimidate the heroes. Instead of being terrified, however, Pinkie Pie got an idea. She pulled out her party cannon (from nowhere) and loaded a cartridge inside of it. Rainbow Dash took notice that she was pulling it out, but did not know what she was planning. “Pinkie! Now’s not the time to be throwing par-WOAH!” She could not finish her sentence due to the fact that Pinkie Pie grabbed her by the back hoof and shoved her inside of the cannon. “I’m not throwing a party, silly!” Pinkie Pie began, “when I fire, extend your back hoof out like you’re kicking! You’ll be satisfied with what happens next!” She then fired Rainbow Dash towards the dragon. Rainbow Dash was confused as all hell, not because she was being fired from a cannon or anything, this was to be expected by Pinkie Pie. What she was confused about was why she wasn’t being fired at his face. However, as soon as she extended her hoof, she knew what Pinkie was planning. She aimed to kick him right in the Dragonba- CRASH! “DIRECT HIT!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Rainbow Dash swiftly recovered from her attack and was now hovering in the air with her wings. His eyes widened as he clutched his genitalia. The dragon was now in more pain than he had ever been in his entire life. There was no way to describe the agony of what he just felt in his lower body. He had been in many fights with other dragons, mainly fighting over gemstones, but fighting nonetheless. He had received his fair share of wounds as well as dealt his own, but never had he experienced pain such as this. The dragon roared even louder in pain than he did in intimidation. The heroes damn near felt bad for it. “Wow, Pinkie,” began Goombella, “that was a low blow. Literally. Even for you!” “We’ll talk about it later,” Twilight began, “she gave us another opening, now’s our chance to take it!” The dragon actually dropped down low enough for the heroes to reach his head a little more easily, slowly recovering from the previous attack. Applejack jumped up close enough to where she could buck him square in the snout. She wound up and bashed it upward, and Newton’s third law soon followed, pushing his head up from the upward force, being followed by a sudden super stomp from Super Mario himself, immediately thrusting his head back down onto the ground with a powerful force. The dragon was starting to get a splitting headache as he managed to pick himself back up onto all fours. He had underestimated the power of his opponents who seemed to be beating the snot out of him. “No more playing around…” said the dragon. The dragon reached out with his massive claw and grabbed Goombella and everypony else except Fluttershy, who was still terrified out of her wits and managed to duck beneath the claw. They all struggled to escape from his grip as he pulled them away from Mario and Fluttershy, shouting in fear, not sure of what would happen next. Mario was about to jump up and hit his hand, when the dragon began to raise his hind leg. He stomped on Mario so hard that when the dragon lifted his foot, Mario was seen stuck in the ground, with his head still sticking out and body stuck underneath dirt, with a dizzy look on his face. There were no words that could express the anger that was beginning to well up in Fluttershy’s face. At this point, her fear had completely subsided, and all that could be seen was pure rage. “HOW DARE YOU!” She shouted at the dragon. He was caught off guard by this sudden outburst. “YOU LET THEM GO RIGHT NOW! YOU CAN PICK ON ME, BUT HURT MY FRIENDS, AND YOU WON’T LIKE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!” She continued to shout. Mario actually broke free of his daze, quite surprised by Fluttershy’s rage. Never would he have thought that a shy pony like herself could unleash such a fury. The dragon laughed at her rage, however. “Hehehe…what could you possibly do that would ever make me regret my actions?” The dragon snarled with a hint of arrogance in his voice. Fluttershy did not reply. She instead flew close to his face. The dragon was not quite sure what she was planning, but he remained cocky nonetheless. His cockiness would soon fade away to the gates of oblivion, never to be seen or heard from again. “Oh nothing…except give you THE STARE!” Fluttershy widened her eyes, in a quite intimidating fashion. It was as if her eyes were looking deep into his soul, punishing him for all the sins in his life. Her face matched the irritation that could be seen in her eyes. The dragon actually started to cower down to her. He was not sure why. I mean, he could easily pound her to a pulp without any regret. And yet, it was as if she was manipulating his mind to her will. His grip loosened on the ponies, who dropped down close to his feet, landing with a thud. Fluttershy took one look down to make sure that they were alright, and this was her slip up. The dragon broke free of her stare; however he was still quite stunned. In his haste to collect on what just happened, he shook his head, as well as his wings around. One of his wings slapped Fluttershy across the room, sending her sailing towards the wall. Just before she was about to collide with the wall, Rarity and Twilight used their magic to catch her safely, and levitate her back to the ground. Mario finally built his strength back up enough to the point that he could pull himself out of the ground. He grunted with a strained look on his face, but managed to flip himself out of the dirt and back onto his feet, shaking his head quickly in recovery. Everyone quickly regrouped before the dragon could regain his surroundings. “Good job, Fluttershy!” Twilight said. “Way to go, Fluttershy! I knew you had it in you!” Rainbow Dash said. “See there? There’s bravery behind that shy exterior, I always knew there was!” Goombella said. Fluttershy began to blush, hiding behind her mane. “Oh, it was nothing, I just…I just couldn’t stand to see him hurting you all like that, I couldn’t hold it back.” She replied. Morale was high in the eight heroes. They were ready for anything. Which was good too because the dragon had now recovered from Fluttershy’s stare of mental destruction, and he was pretty pissed off. “You think you’ve beaten me? You think that you all can turn things around? We’ll see how you feel after dealing with my razor sharp claws!” He snorted. The dragon put both his claws together and ripped forward, claws scratching against each other like two samurai parrying one another in a clash of steel. He lunged towards Mario, who was ready to take the hit, when a large shield, surrounded in a blue aura and made entirely of gemstones flew in front of him, completely blocking the strike. Mario looked up, trying to gather what just happened. “IS THAT ANYWAY TO TREAT A LADY?! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST THROW US AROUND HOWEVER YOU WANT TO?! YOU HAVE NOT SEEN FURY YOU VIAL CREATURE!” Rarity shouted. Mario was very thankful that she was on his side. The dragon was still not convinced of her rage, and was ready to continue striking his foes, he had had all he could put up with today and he would not stand for it anymore. He raised his other claw up, ready to strike her, when he was hit in the face with several more gemstones, flow at a high velocity. “SERIOUSLY! WHY MUST YOU AIM FOR THE – AHHH!” He roared, unable to finish his sentence because Rarity was pelting him several times in the snout and in the eyes. It isn’t so much that it hurt him, it was more like a good distraction, because his scales could take pain delivered from a sharp object, but not so much blunt force. Mario began to think while he had a free moment. He was contemplating his next attack. He noticed how Rarity would surround a gemstone in her aura and hurl it at the dragon as hard as she could. An idea struck him. He ran over to Twilight and told her of his plan. “That’s…brilliant! Do you think it will work?” Twilight asked him. He nodded in approval, and prepared for the attack. “Girls, help Rarity by distracting him as long as you can, this will only take a second!” Twilight said. Twilight began to focus her magic as Mario placed his hands at his side to charge his fire. When he reached a sufficient charge, he fired it out, and Twilight caught it with her magic and surrounded it in a bubble of her aura, shining brightly in the air. Mario continued to fill the bubble with a consistent stream of fire, switching hands constantly. “ENOUGH!!!” The dragon roared in rage. He stomped his foot down and shook the entire cave, stopping Rarity’s flurry of diamonds and emeralds and rubies from hitting him in the face. But before he could speak again, Pinkie Pie started launching confetti and streamers at him with her party cannon. He was not sure of this pink mare, but he would not stand for it, he almost stomped on her, when Rainbow Dash kicked him in the snout. However, at this point he cared very little for this pain. They did not know how much longer they could hold him off. He started being better able to resist everything being thrown at him. However, it mattered no longer. Twilight and Mario were ready. Mario launched one last charged fireball into the bubble, and it glowed even brighter. “That’s it!” Twilight cried. “It’s ready! Let’s finish this!” Mario signaled for Applejack to buck him into this massive fireball, assuring her that everything will be alright. She took her stance and her hind legs went into the air. Mario flipped into the air, with his feet making contact with her back hooves, jumping with all his might as she bucked him off of her hooves, launching him like a missile towards the fireball. “WAHOOOOOOOO!” Shouted Mario, flying through the air. Time seemed to slow down as he approached the fireball. Right when he was about to collide into it, he cupped both his hands and launched them over his head. Then, he struck the fireball with both hands, as if he was swinging his hammer, sending his might, as well as the momentum from the buck-jump, into the massive fireball of aura. The fireball was sent at an incredible speed towards the dragon, who had no idea what was about to hit him. The dragon turned his attention away from the ponies that were attacking him, and directed it towards the massive fireball that was headed straight for his face. He only had time to say one thing. “Why always for the face…?” Was all he could say before the fireball violently erupted. That would be an understatement. The blast was so violent and bright that some of the flames and bolts of magic almost hit the heroes as well. They actually had to make an effort to avoid being hit. “Magic. Magic is what my Cutie Mark means.” Twilight said, looking at Goombella. “Say no more, I can see why.” She replied. When the magic and fire had dissipated down a bit, and there was a lot less bright light inside of the cave, the dragon could be seen. However, he did not look angry. Actually, he looked quite impressed. “Well,” he began, “never in my life have I seen a fire blast so powerful. I’ve dealt with some powerful dragons myself, but not a single one of them has breathed a blast like that. Even I can’t match it.” Rainbow dash refused to accept that he could still be standing from it. “How are you still even standing, did it even do anything to you?” She asked him. “Oh yes, but not as much as you probably believe. I bathe in lava, I don’t think fire and magic is going to bother me as severely as you believe it would. Nonetheless, you are all quite powerful fighters. You want that stone over there? Take it; as tasty as it looks, I don’t think I’ll have a use for it, anyway. I could not break through it, even with my powerful jaws; I could not bite through it.” “Just a quick question, why the sudden change of heart? You were ready to eat us.” Goombella asked him. “I said nothing of eating you, though you look quite tasty as well.” He replied Fluttershy shuddered a bit as he mentioned this. He laughed at her reaction and continued. “I do not see a point for this senseless violence to continue any longer. The way I see it, this would be the only outcome. No matter how long we fight, I cannot see either of us being triumphant over the other. Besides, as I said before, that stone is worthless to me, but you all seem to have a use for it, so you may as well take it.” Twilight noticed that the dragon seemed very well read. His brutish behavior aside, he was actually quite scholarly. “Thank you, again, sorry for invading your home,” Twilight said. “Think nothing of it, by the way, sorry for attacking you a while back. I did not realize that baby dragon was your friend.” He replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some training to do myself. If I ever want to breathe fire like that, I’ll have to stop lazing around in my cave all day.” With that, he exited the cave and took off into the sky, off to distant lands, with the goal of being as strong, if not stronger than his adversaries. “Well he was really nice!” Pinkie Pie said. For once, everyone could partially agree with Pinkie. He may have tried to kill them, but in the end, he wasn’t so bad after all. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get the star and call it a day, I’m beat.” Rainbow Dash said. Mario nodded in agreement and walked over to the star. He pulled it up from the mound of gemstones and held it into the air. It shimmered brightly inside of the cave. “YAHOO!” Mario shouted in excitement. The Emerald Crystal Star was now in their possession. The heroes were ready to exit the cave, when Mario’s hand started to catch fire. “WOAH!” He shouted. Twilight studied his hand carefully, when she noticed a piece of paper was forming out of his palm Shortly after, his hand stopped burning, and he was now holding a scroll. “That must be from the Princess!” Twilight said. Mario was confused as to how that had even worked, but he handed her the scroll, and she started reading, eager to hear of her reply to the recent events in Ponyville that she had mentioned before. A look of horror took her face when she finished reading. Author's Note This one took some time mainly because college had a break, and I needed some time to rest, but it's finished, enjoy. Oh, and props if you understand the Skyrim reference. The Journey Ahead“What’s the matter Twilight? What does it say?” Goombella asked, curious as to why she reacted the way she did. Twilight levitated the letter to her friends, holding the expression on her face like she had just seen a ghost. Mario grabbed the letter and everyone else gathered around. “My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle, I apologize for not writing sooner, but something has happened in Canterlot regarding Princess Luna. Nightmare Moon has returned, and the cause of this appears to be that mechanical being you mentioned previously. It seems to have used some sort of dark power which had the capability of releasing Nightmare Moon. I have little knowledge of its motives with the exception that it is after those ‘Crystal Stars’ that you also mentioned. It is vital that you and the other elements come to Canterlot immediately. I will debrief you upon your arrival. I would also advise you to bring your new friends. Something tells me that you will need their help if you plan to stop Nightmare Moon and this new creature. Your mentor, Princess Celestia” The other mares in the room were setback upon finishing the letter. “That can’t be possible!” Rarity said suddenly, “we stopped her! How could she have been freed again?” Goombella was puzzled. “Who is Nightmare Moon?” She asked. “The mare in the moon,” Twilight began, “at least that’s what she was known as in the legend, is a powerful alicorn of the night. She was sealed in the moon for a thousand years before she was finally able to free herself. We used the Elements of Harmony to put an end to her reign, and Princess Luna was free of the corruption. But it seems like Mecha Mario was able to bring her back, and if that’s the case, this mission just got a lot more difficult.” “OH NO!” Mario shouted. “It’s all our fault…” Goombella said guiltily. “If we hadn’t come here in the first place, we would not have put you all in danger like this.” “Don’t say that!” “Rarity said to Goombella. “You never could have known that it was going to happen! We’ll stop them, darling, we will, we just have to keep going and find those stars, we can do this!” “It’s not that I don’t think that we can do it,” she replied, “it’s just that we have caused you all nothing but trouble upon arriving. Unleashed a monster into your world with artifacts of destruction that he is after, caused seemingly irreparable damage to your town with said artifacts, and now, because of our arrival, a previously defeated demon of the night has returned. We never should have come here…” “NO!” Mario said. He began to speak, reminding Goombella that it was him who opened the rift to get them there, and that if anyone was supposed to take the blame, it would be him, however, he wouldn’t let that stop him from undoing the damage that was caused because of it. Applejack approached Goombella. “Don’t beat yourself up, hun. We’ll fix this mess. We can rebuild the town and stop Nightmare Moon again. Shoot, we can take on that Mecha Mario problem too. Don’t worry about us, we’ve had our share of baddies that have tried to take over Equestria, believe me, we have, we’ll all pull through this together, pardner.” “Besides, it’s not all bad,” Rainbow Dash said, trying to bolster her confidence. “We did make friends with a dragon out here, that’ll definitely be good in the future, and we needed a good adventure anyway! Things get pretty boring in Ponyville, it’s good to have some excitement every once in a while.” Goombella looked up at her friends. “You’re right, moping around about it won’t solve anything, we’ll stop them, and make everything right again!” “That’s the spirit, Goombella!” Twilight said, “Now,” she got more serious, “the next thing we need to do is catch a train to Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia will know what to do from there.” “Then let’s get to it,” Applejack said, “better sooner than later.” No one could agree more, and with that, they left the Everfree Forest and set out for the train station. Two stars down, five to go, and a new threat at hand. SLEEP MODE ENGAGED, RECHARGING MAIN BATTERY REDIRECTING SELF-AWARENESS PLAYBACK PRERECORDING “Sir Grodus, we have just gotten word that Super Mario has retrieved the Ruby Crystal Star, putting him at four versus our one,” stated a young X-Naut officer. “He is working fast; I have to give him that much,” said Grodus, “that’s alright though, in time, he will get what is coming to him, I have been conducting research on this man, he is definitely a worthy adversary.” “Not to be rude, sir, but how does that help us stop him?” Asked the officer. “You’ll all find out in due time, I have done extensive research around his past, what he has accomplished, how he has gone about achieving his goals. It sickens me, just another wannabe hero trying to put so much time planning for world domination to waste. Even now, he is able to thwart every foe that opposes him…” Grodus paused for a moment. “But…” he continued, “he is not unbeatable. I’ve noted many of his strengths. This will be very important for what I’ve planned for him. Not only this, but I’ve also discovered a vital weakness in him.” The officer was quite puzzled at Grodus’s ability to obtain Intel on his enemy so easily. It was almost unnerving, what is he really planning? “And what would this vital weakness be, Sir Grodus? I’m sure this knowledge will be very useful in defeating Super Mario.” The officer said. “Oh it will be very useful, officer. Not only this, it will be his undoing.” Grodus replied. “However, it will not be useful for our forces to use against him; it is not a physical weakness, officer. No, he has a weakness only a truly heartless criminal could use.” “I’m not quite sure I understand, Sir Grodus. What would this weakness be?” The officer was very unsure of what Grodus was talking about. “Tell me officer, do you have family back home? Don’t be shy.” Grodus asked. This question caught the young officer off guard. “Y-yes, sir Grodus, I have a wife, we haven’t decided if we want to have any kids yet, though. Why do you ask?” He replied. “Imagine a horde of Bandits had taken her hostage, and left a note stating that they wanted a vast sum of money for her return. What would you do? And be honest with me.” Grodus said. Without hesitation, the officer replied. “I would pay that sum of money to let her go, if anything ever happened to her, I don’t know how I would be able to live with myself.” “My sentiments exactly, you care about the ones you love, and would do anything for their safe return. This is a morally correct choice; however, it is also a weakness. The Bandits could have asked you for anything, and you would willingly give them what they asked in order to get her back. They would be exploiting your love for her to get what they want from you. Do you see where I am going with this?” “I do, Sir Grodus.” The officer replied. “As with most people,” he continued, “this particular weakness exists, even I was cursed with it in my younger years, but I have learned that sacrifices have to be made in order to get anywhere in this world, and thus, I have purged it from my mind. I will give nothing to my enemy in order to achieve my goals, and if it means losing the things I hold closer to heart, so be it. You must stop at nothing to get what you want out of life.” Grodus stopped for a moment. “Ahh, I am straying off topic. Yes officer, his weakness is that he holds his family and friends closer to heart than anyone I have ever seen, doing anything it will take to ensure that they won’t be hurt. How will this help you might ask? Well, as I stated before, you will all find out in due time. And in the end, it will be his ultimate downfall. Now, keep searching for the other crystal stars. If we can get the upper hand on him, this will only be to our benefit. I must return to my lab. Dismissed.” With that, Grodus went back to his lab, and the officer was left, pondering Grodus’s wisdom. Whatever he was planning sounded very ominous. ‘You’ll all find out in due time.’ Nothing struck more fear in his heart than thinking about what he could be planning for Mario. As he thought, he also pondered why learning Mario’s strengths would be so important. That would not necessarily be useful information unless someone was planning to defend themselves from them, or if they were planning on using them against him. “I hope he knows what he’s doing…” the officer said to himself, and retreated back to his comrades. END PRERECORDING The train station was busier than usual; ponies everywhere were boarding and exiting trains, colliding into passersby due to the lack of room to walk around. After refueling up on perishable things like food and water, the eight heroes boarded their train scheduled for Canterlot. The train’s engine ignited, the wheels started turning, and the train began to move, beginning its day long journey. Mario flopped down on the nearest couch to try and relax a bit. Applejack and Rainbow Dash started hoof wrestling to see who was stronger, Pinkie Pie seemed to be pretty calm for once, just enjoying the view of the passing scenery out the window, and Fluttershy and Rarity decided to go to the small restaurant a few cars down and have some lunch After the group had gotten settled in, Twilight figured this was the perfect opportunity to finally talk with Goombella. “Well, with a day of travel ahead of us, I figure we have time to chat a bit, Goombella.” she said. “That would be great, I don’t think we’ve even had a fair chance to talk since Mario and I arrived.” Goombella replied. “Anything in mind?” “What is your world like? I imagine it’s quite different with very little use of magic.” Twilight said. She had actually been quite curious about this for some time. “Actually, it hasn’t really been all that different being here than being back home, aside from all the citizens being ponies rather than the various races of people that live in the Mushroom Kingdom. Living without magic? It would be nice to have it, but we get by, just kinda learn to adapt, y’know?” “I don’t think I could go by without it, or at least, not at this point after having it for so long.” Goombella again noticed Twilight’s cutiemark. “I remember you said that your…cutiemark was it? That they are significant to a pony’s talent in life. And that yours is significant to your abilities in magic. I can say that I’ve seen it firsthand myself. Are there any other ponies as good with their magic as you are?” Goombella asked. “I can’t really say yes or no to that, I’m afraid. There are plenty of other unicorns in Equestria that are quite talented with using magic, I try to practice whenever I can, from basic spells like levitation to more complex ones like rapid aging of a pony from old to young and young to old.” “That’s incredible!” Goombella said ecstatically. “Maybe you can knock ol’ Professor Frankly down a few years.” She laughed. Twilight blushed at Goombella’s compliment. “So can all ponies in general use magic? Or is it more specific?” “Only unicorns can use magic, Pegasus ponies have wings to allow them flight, and earth ponies can do neither, but that doesn’t count them out. They are very strong, and can do many other things to make up for the inability to fly or use magic. And if you’re lucky, you can be born with a horn and wings, otherwise known as an alicorn. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are both alicorns.” “So you have royalty here in Equestria as well then?” Goombella asked puzzled. “Yes, they are the rulers of Equestria, and they control day and night with their powerful magic.” “I don’t believe that Princess Peach can do that…” Goombella said. “You have royalty in the Mushroom Kingdom too?” Twilight asked, equally puzzled. “Yeah, but she can’t control day and night,” Goombella replied with a laugh, “but she knows what she’s doing, at least I think she does. From what Mario tells me, she gets kidnapped a lot and he usually has to be the one to go save her. Its odd how often it seems to occur, he also told me that SHE had to go save him and his brother at one point. You would think she could defend herself easily enough if the tables had turned like that for once. But I suppose anyone can be caught off guard. And no disrespect to the Toad Royal Guard, but I think they need a few more hours of training if their princess is always getting nabbed by the same guy over and over again.” Twilight pondered for a second. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn’t appear to have many enemies, let alone ones that wanted to kidnap them. “There must be something special about her if people are trying to kidnap her all the time.” Twilight said. “Usually it’s Bowser who tries to take her all the time, for him, his intentions are unknown. But as for Grodus, his intention was to use her as an offering to the Shadow Queen as a body to take hold of, a host, if you will, so that she could use her dark magic more freely. Luckily, we put an end to that. But Bowser always seems to have some crazy trick up his sleeve to take her. It’s a never-ending cycle, but Mario always comes out on top…” Goombella looked over at the sofa to see a sleeping Mario. Twilight could tell what she was thinking; Goombella was not exactly a subtle Goomba. “Goombella?” Twilight called. “What?! Oh!” Goombella snapped back to reality, “Sorry, I just got distracted for a second.” “I can tell, have you said anything to him yet?” Twilight asked. “There’s a time and place for everything, when things have calmed down a bit, I’ll talk to him then. So what about you? Does Equestria have any particular bad-guy regulars?” Goombella asked. “None in particular that there isn’t a solution to. Discord had caused problems for a while, but we reformed him, and now he uses his chaotic powers for good…mostly. Aside from him, things are generally pretty peaceful here. Any true enemies that we have show themselves very rarely.” “Discord…what exactly does he look like? I figure a person with that name probably looks pretty crazy.” Goombella said. “You’re right about that, he’s basically a mix of many different animals in Equestria. Hoof of a colt, head of a goat, wing of a bat, claw of a lion, talon of a griffon, he’s a mess, but he’s definitely a trouble maker. We usually have to keep an eye on him, he’s very tricky and can manipulate chaos with his magic.” Twilight replied, fairly confident of her description. “What about Bowser? Is he a larger goomba? Or more human-like? “Neither,” Goombella replied, “He’s a larger version of a koopa, the self-proclaimed ‘King of the Koopas.’ Not the most intelligent thing in the world, though.” “What does a koopa look like?” Twilight asked. “Well, definitely not a mesh of so many creatures into one. Koopas are basically turtles in the Mushroom Kingdom. They stand upright and have shells on their backs and shoes on their feet. Bowser is a larger and more violent Koopa. His shell has spikes covering the surface, he doesn’t wear shoes, and he has horns on his head. He has an orange mane, large body in general, and an angry disposition. He also controls an army that is loyal to him. As I said before, we don’t all have magic in the Mushroom kingdom, only some races are so lucky, but Bowser can breathe fire much like a dragon, if it wasn’t enough that he could easily squash someone with his gargantuan size.” “I guess that’s where Discord and Bowser are different, one is a devious trickster and the other is a brute, imagine if they joined forces…” Twilight began to ponder. “A cunning mind with chaotic magic and an army with a powerhouse leader commanding them? If they could tolerate each other, and not fight for supremacy, they might be a formidable team.” She said finally. Twilight and Goombella laughed. “I’m sure we won’t have to worry about anything like that happening.” Goombella said. The two continued conversing about their respective histories until Twilight noticed that they were the only ones in that particular room, noting how dark it was outside when she looked out the window. “Is it that late already? I didn’t realize we had been talking that long! Everypony just sort of left and it didn’t even catch our attention!” Twilight said surprised. “Guess it would be a good time to get some sleep then, huh Twilight?” Goombella asked. “Yeah, we should be there by tomorrow morning. Good night Goombella.” “Good night Twilight.” With that, Goombella and Twilight went to their cabins to get some sleep and prepare for their arrival to Canterlot the next day. Uncovering the TruthThe sun rose that morning behind clouds of gray. It had started raining the previous night but had stopped when morning came. Rain aside, the train had finally arrived at its destination, Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Everyone began to wake up one by one, as the sun, at least what could be seen through the dense clouds, began to rise. Applejack gave a quick stretch before peeking out the window. “Well, I didn’t know rain was on the agenda this mornin’…” she said. Rainbow Dash rose up, following suit of Applejack as per morning routine to give a nice long stretch and yawn, and walked up to the window next to Applejack. “Yeah, it’s supposed to be on and off like this all day, ending with a storm later, it won’t be pretty.” Said Rainbow Dash. “Well then I suggest we get moving to the Castle before it starts up again, a pony of such elegance should not be drenched by the morning showers.” Rarity said suddenly. Applejack rolled her eyes at Rarity, but also agreed that it would be best to get going. “I suppose yer right, don’t wanna keep the princess waiting. Everyone up already?” Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had gotten up after hearing this, and Twilight and Goombella stretched a bit and joined in. “That’s everyone. Everyone except for…” the one person who was sleeping before anyone else after the train ride had begun. “…Mario.” Goombella said. “Is he really still sleeping? I’ve got a fix for this.” Rainbow Dash said. She headed for the exit and spread her wings. “What are you doing, Rainbow?” Asked Twilight. “You’ll see.” She said, and then she flew out into the air. She grabbed one of the rain clouds out of the sky. It was a decent sized cloud, and it was quite a dark shade of gray. She pulled in close to the car that her friends were in, and placed the cloud next to the window, which just happened to be the window next to where Mario’s head was resting. She reared her hind legs back, and bucked the cloud with a mighty force. The result was a loud BOOM of thunder and lightning that flashed immediately and intensely. Mario’s eyes shot open at the sound, as fear entered his body so fast that he actually jumped through the ceiling of the train! Everyone on board that particular car had been freaked out by Rainbow’s “wake up call,” but not nearly in the way that Mario had. His feet could be seen by the passengers of the car that he was now halfway inside of. He also had a dazed look on his face from the outside of the train. Rainbow Dash could be seen laughing outside of the car. “Well good morning! So glad you could join us!” She said, failing to hold back another laugh. As serious as the matter is, everyone needed a little comic relief, as Mario pulled himself out from the ceiling and back into the car, leaving a hole where his head had smashed through. Applejack chuckled a bit. “You alright there, Mario?” Mario nodded, and actually joined in on laughing, after all, it was pretty hilarious. Rainbow Dash flew back into the car. “Alright, well, now that everypony is awake, let’s make our way to Princess Celestia so she can tell us what is going on.” Twilight said. Pinkie Pie was the one pony to point out what no one else did. “What about breakfast? I’m starving!” No one had realized just how famished they were until it was pointed out. “Some food would be nice…” Applejack said, listening to her growling belly. “We’ll have time to eat after we see the princess, we need to know exactly what happened here while we have a free moment,” Twilight said, “we don’t even know if Mecha Mario and Nightmare Moon will return here. They could very well be expecting us.” “Let’s a go!” Mario said eagerly. As the group stepped off of the train, they had been greeted by some of the Canterlot Royal Guard. “Don’t worry about them, they are just going to escort us to the palace. Canterlot has a reputation of getting attacked when things are calm. That’s just the downfall of being the capital of Equestria.” Twilight said to Mario and Goombella. “See?” Goombella said, “If the Royal Guard in Mushroom Kingdom would have a little more high alert like these guys, Peach wouldn’t get kidnapped so often!” They passed by a few shops that looked similar to what Ponyville has. There were a few restaurants and stores as well as a local bakery. The only difference was that a lot of the ponies dressed very formally, as if they were going to a wedding. Even the waiters and waitresses in the restaurants behaved in a high manner. There was also a new clothing shop that had recently opened up. “Well that’s new!” Exclaimed Rarity. “Boutique le Magnifique! I will have to check that place out at some point while we’re here!” “Not before I stop by the bakery to stock up on as many pastries and sweets as possible!” Said Pinkie Pie. “A trip to the spa would be nice before we leave…” Fluttershy said. “Let’s just not forget why we’re here,” Twilight began, “we aren’t on vacation, there’s still business at hoof that we need to be prepared for. Of course…maybe a stop at the library wouldn’t be such a bad idea either…” she said under her breath. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the castle’s front doors. They were a large set of double doors, spanning out wider and taller than any of the denizens of Equestria. They entered to find none other than her majesty, Princess Celestia, waiting for them on her throne. “Princess Celestia…” Twilight said with a bowing gesture while the other elements followed suit. The two foreigners of Equestria gained enough knowledge of who this “Princess Celestia” was and also bowed. “Twilight,” Celestia said, “I’m glad you and your friends have finally made it.” She walked over to Mario and Goombella. “It is a pleasure to meet you,” Celestia said, “Twilight has spoken highly of you both. I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and Alicorn of the sun.” “The pleasure is ours, your Highness. My name is Goombella, ascending archaeologist and student of Professor Frankly of Rogueport. This is Mario, the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. I imagine Twilight has told you of our search for the Crystal Stars?” “Indeed, she has.” Celestia replied. “She said you had been sent here through a portal that was created by these Crystal Stars and that they had scattered throughout Equestria once you had arrived. These objects must be quite powerful.” “Unpredictable would probably be a better term, she also told you of our predator that was sent with us?” Goombella asked. “Yes, I am aware of this Mecha Mario. I would imagine he is looking for those stars just as you all are. It is imperative that you find them all before he does. I sensed a great, dark power arrive here just before Nightmare Moon was released, and before I knew it, it was too late to save Luna from changing.” “Princess,” Twilight said, “do you know what happened before she had been turned into Nightmare Moon? It may help us get a better grasp on the situation.” “I know very little but I will offer you what knowledge I can.” Celestia said. She began to trace back in her memory what she could find. “I recall that Luna mentioned she heard something crash in the castle courtyard, so she told me that she would go investigate it. I sent two guards to escort her in case it was dangerous, while I began to raise the sun for the next morning. As I began the typical morning routine, I sensed a power, though it appeared slightly weakened as if it had been in a recent fight. It started small, and then it grew stronger, and a lot darker, as if the beholder of this power was fueled by pure evil. After the sun was finally up, I went to investigate what that power was and check to see that Luna was alright. When I arrived at the courtyard, I immediately saw that there had been a release of magic from what seemed to be a transformation. I found the two guards lying, defeated on the ground. One had been unconscious and the other was breathing heavily. I summoned paramedics to the scene immediately to tend to their wounds in the infirmary. Before they were carted away, I asked the still conscious guard what had happened. He was only able to inform me that Nightmare Moon had returned, and the cause was a mechanical creature who was able to summon a dark energy from its chest.” Mario pondered for a moment. He was quite familiar with the abilities of normal power stars. They could be used to grant a user temporary invincibility, and with machinery of any kind, they could be used as fuels to power them. He was sure that Mecha Mario was running off of a power star’s energy to sustain his life and operability. Then it hit him. A sudden look of realization was on his face. He spoke with his usual accent to everyone in the room. “A dark star?” Rainbow Dash said. “What the heck is that?” Mario continued, explaining what a normal power star was so that everyone could become familiar with it. He then explained that a dark star is essentially an anti-power star. It possesses a dark aura about it and can grant an evil power to its user. “What else is a dark star capable of, Mario?” Twilight asked. Mario gave what knowledge he had on them, which was very little. He had only encountered one dark star in his life, and his archenemy, Bowser, had swallowed it whole. The result was quite gruesome. The dark star began absorbing knowledge and DNA from inside of Bowser, and in enough time, it had incarnated into a darker version of the King Koopa himself. “That’s terrible!” Rarity stated, “How were you able to defeat it?” He explained that it took the combined efforts of his brother Luigi, himself, and Bowser to defeat Dark Bowser and destroy the dark star. The task was not a simple one, and the dark star’s abilities in all are still unknown. “What we do know now is that a dark star can be used to influence dark power in an individual.” Celestia said. “Is there any other intel about dark stars that you can provide us with, Mario?” Mario shook his head. “What can you tell me about these Crystal Stars?” Celestia asked. “Well,” Goombella began, “They are artifacts of ancient power that were created by the Shadow Queen to amplify her powers.” Celestia seemed to recognize that name. “Did you mention the Shadow Queen?” She asked. “Yeah, have you heard of her?” Goombella replied. “I have heard a bit about her many moons ago. She was a dark demon bent on taking over the world. At least that is what the legend said. It was also said that she would not stop there. She would travel to other worlds entirely and conquer them all one by one. It was taken to many as a myth but if you all encountered her, then it was right for us to have taken the extra precautions on preparing all these years.” “I hadn’t realized she was feared by people in more than just our world. I thought she was only trying to take over the world that we live in. The good thing is that you won’t have to worry about her, we managed to stop her before she could enslave our world and rule it herself.” “It is good to have you both fighting for the right reasons.” Complimented Celestia. “What else can you tell me about the Crystal Stars?” “Besides how the Shadow Queen created them,” she continued, “Their magical capabilities offer the user quite a unique power in anything from combat to healing properties. Even then the list goes on. Each star is capable of something different, but when they are all together, they can be used in more than just combat. They were actually used to seal away the Shadow Queen for a thousand years. Not to mention they brought us to Equestria in the first place, there is no telling what else their powers are capable of.” “Then as I said before, it is crucial that you gather them all before Mecha Mario does, he is much stronger than he appears. That much I am aware of, but if he can gather them all, even I won’t be able to stop him. The powers of those Stars are different than the magic we use here in Equestria. I had sensed an unfamiliar power when you all walked in. I assume that they are the Crystal Stars that you have already recovered?” Mario reached into his overalls pockets and pulled out the two that they found previously. Celestia walked over, her horn glowing, as if she was studying them in some way. “Be very careful with those. Even I would be skeptical about attempting to use such a power unless it was necessary.” Mario heeded her warning as he placed them back into his pocket. “By the way,” she continued, “might I incur how you have been tracking these stars?” “Twilight has been helping us with that, your Highness.” Goombella chimed. “She is very skilled in her craft with magic. She has been able to help us track them down.” Twilight interjected. “The only problem with my tracking is that I can locate only one at a time, and then we have to use the one that we recover to locate the next one, which reminds me, we still haven’t done that for the star that we found in the Everfree Forest.” Mario pulled out the Emerald Crystal Star and the Map. “Princess, do you think you might be able to help us pin point the other stars so that we can retrieve them faster?” Twilight asked. “Let me see that star and map you have there.” She said. Mario handed them over to Celestia. She looked them over a bit and tried to decipher the star’s power. “I can locate one of them right now, or I could attempt to locate a few more of them with it, but it will take some time, again, this magic is a bit unfamiliar to me. Why don’t you all explore Canterlot a bit and come back in a few hours. I should have made some progress by then.” “I could assist you if you’d like, Princess.” Twilight said. “You may stay, Twilight. You are a little more familiar with this magic and some help from my faithful student would benefit greatly.” Twilight blushed. “Thank you, Princess.” “Twilight, you still haven’t eaten anything yet, aren’t you a little hungry?” Applejack asked her. “Just a little, but I’ll be alright.” She replied. “Tell you what,” Celestia said, “we’ll all stop by the mess hall to fuel up and then we can get started with this hunt. I’m quite famished myself.” “Finally! Food! I’ve been starving all morning!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “That would be delightful.” Rarity said. Everyone in the throne room went off to get some well deserved nourishment in the mess hall, giving themselves most of the day to prepare for the hunt afterward. “Free…free again…at last…” a voice said. “And to whom do I owe this deed too?” “That will not be of any concern to you,” said Mecha Mario, “but I do have a proposition for you.” “Then speak now, demon, time is in short supply, and must be used wisely.” The voice said. “I feel that we can help each other out. You assist me in defeating my mortal enemy, and I can make you the strongest creature alive. You can take back the land and rule it as you please. You can defeat all who oppose you and be the only ruler of this land. No more second in command, you will take control.” The creature thought about these words. Her thirst for power was growing, and she would probably need help in taking control anyway. A decision was made. “Alright then, I will help you. However, don’t you dare think of turning against me, lest you feel the wrath of Nightmare Moon.” “Do not worry, Princess of the night, I wouldn’t think to do something so foolish, otherwise I would not have brought you here. Together, we can take over this world, and soon, nothing will stand in our way. Now, here’s what we do…” A Legend in the FleshThe day had blown over pretty smoothly, rain continued on and off as the forecast had been stated. Night had fallen and the air temperature had dropped quite dramatically. Before leaving that morning, Mario had given Princess Celestia and Twilight the two crystal stars and the map to see what kind of progress they could make in tracking the other stars given the rest of the day. “So what have we got?” Asked Rainbow Dash. “Well,” Twilight began, “because we have two stars to work with now, it was actually possible to trace where two more of them are located. Granted it did take a lot of time, but it would have taken longer had Princess Celestia not been helping.” Princess Celestia looked at her student. “I appreciate the compliments Twilight, but it was mostly you who was able to trace them, I only helped you in focusing your magic on their trail, it was you who located them.” She said with a smile. Twilight blushed at her statement. “Thank you, Princess…” “Well then,” Rarity said, “where are these two stars located then?” “The first one that we managed to trace is located in Cloudsdale.” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash beamed at her answer. Cloudsdale is where the Wonderbolts performed all of their death defying stunts and air shows. “I say we go there next!” She shouted, “Who knows, maybe Soarin or one of the other Wonderbolts got hold of it. If they did, it would be an easy take and we could get going to the next one. What about that second one?” Twilight’s smile immediately turned into a frown as she remembered where the next one most likely ended up. Not most likely, she knew where it ended up, and it would not be an easy grab and go that Rainbow Dash predicts the first one would be. “What’s the matter, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, “It didn’t land somewhere that we can’t really get to, did it?” She held up the map and showed it to her friends. It appeared to have landed in a desert farther off into Western Equestria. “A desert?” Goombella said. “Nothing we haven’t seen before in our travels back home. What’s so bad about that?” Celestia had just the answer to her question. “According to updated maps of Equestria, this is where the Changeling hive resides. If it ended up there, it is vital that you all travel there first and foremost.” The other ponies knew very well of the dangers of Changelings, and had to agree with Celestia on this. “Well for us uneducated folk, what exactly is a Changeling?” Goombella asked. “A changeling is a very interesting creature to say the least…” Rarity stated, “They have the ability to shape shift into just about any creature and mimic their personalities and skills to the finest detail. This makes them very skilled in the art of deceit.” “What reasons would they have to be disguising themselves as other creatures?” Goombella asked, “Surely they don’t just do this for their own amusement.” “I imagine some of them probably do it for amusement,” Twilight said, “But you are right, they have one motive in doing this, changelings feed off of the love that creatures show to friends and family. This is how they have thrived for so many years.” “By disguising themselves as loved ones and gaining their trust, only to betray them in the end, sounds an awful lot like that freak-in-a-sheet from earlier, huh Mario?” Goombella replied. Mario pondered her response for a moment. He remembered the being that she was referring to. Doopliss was his name. He remembered all too well how Doopliss had stolen his body and gained the trust of his allies, as well as the trials he had to undergo to retake his body and get his friends back. “Yeah,” Goombella said, “We’ve had our share of shape-shifters ourselves. Our worlds are WAAYY to similar.” She laughed “At least you have experience dealing with them.” Twilight said. “Just be on the lookout when we are at the nest, they will probably try to shift themselves to look like us, and I’m sure they will give some sort of sign to separate us from the false ones.” “I’m sure we’ll be able to point it out, but I imagine the best strategy would be to stick together and do our best not to get separated.” Rarity pointed out. “What if we had a call sign that they wouldn’t be aware of?” Rainbow Dash inquired. “That’s a good idea,” replied Twilight, “What will our call sign be?” “STICK TOGETHER TEAM!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Everyone in the room stared with a blank expression. The first one to speak was Applejack. “That’s the most ridiculous call sign these ears have ever heard…Let’s do it.” As ridiculous as it was, no one could challenge it, it was plain and simple: stick together team. “Well, if that’s settled, what’s left? Anything else that we need to be aware of?” Goombella asked. “Just be on the lookout for Queen Chrysalis.” Celestia said. “I suppose I wouldn’t be mistaken to assume that she is their leader?” Goombella asked. Celestia nodded. “Be wary, being the leader she will be more powerful than the rest of her subjects, I can vouch for this myself. We had gotten into a scuffle the previous year, when Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, was getting married to Princess Cadence. Chrysalis had transformed herself into Cadence and sealed her away so that no one could locate her, and everyone would believe that Chrysalis was Cadence. When she finally revealed herself, she had absorbed enough power from Shining Armor to defeat me. If it wasn’t for the Elements here, we may not be standing where we are right now.” Fluttershy and Goombella exchanged nervous looks. “We’ll definitely keep that in mind your majesty.” Goombella replied nervously. “I guess the only thing left to do is prepare for the journey ahead.” Twilight stated. “How are we looking on supplies?” “Pinkie and I took care of gathering enough food for everypony.” Applejack said. “The weather for the next few days looks like it will be stable. I suppose it should be for a desert and all.” Rainbow Dash said. “I can arrange transportation to get you as close to the hive as possible, the nearest establishment is Appleloosa. From there, you all can travel westward on foot, and reach the hive in a few hours.” Celestia said. “Well it’s settled then,” said Twilight, “We’ll set out first thing in the morning, right now would probably be the best time to get some rest. I wish we could have stayed longer…” Celestia saw the sadness in Twilight’s eyes. She wanted to be with her mentor a bit longer, after all, this is a dangerous quest that they have on their hooves. Who’s to say that everyone would make it back? But it had to be done, the world rested on their shoulders now, and Twilight knew that very well. The longer they waited, the more time that Mecha Mario and Nightmare Moon had to reach their goal, and they were not about to let that happen. “I wish that it did not have to be this way, I would gladly come with you all, but with Luna out of commission, there would be nopony to oversee things here, and chaos could easily befall in Canterlot.” Celestia said. Rainbow Dash listened as the rain outside became more intense, as if it was going to smash through the walls, followed by loud cracks of thunder. “That storm is really getting bad, but it should be clear by tomorrow morning.” She said. “I’ll show you all to your rooms, the rain should actually be quite calming. I don’t think I’ve ever found it easier to sleep than listening to the sound of rain tapping the window.” Replied Celestia. She guided the group through a small series of corridors on the bottom floor of the castle. Ponies, humans, and goombas heading through respective doors to get some sleep for the night, all saying their goodnights, knowing they would see each other the following morning. Celestia returned to her thrown room. She reflected on the events that have taken place over the past few days. To think, her kingdom was not in danger a few days ago. Things had been calming down since the events with Discord, completely turning Equestria upside down, causing unrealistic weather patterns, transforming animals into freaks of nature. Her star pupil, along with her five friends, were able to put a stop to his reign of chaos and seal him back in his stone prison. Even before, when Nightmare Moon had been freed, the Elements of Harmony were able to put an end to her, and free her sister from the corruption, and now, when things are beginning to slow down and return to normal, a new threat reveals itself, and again, the Elements of Harmony must stop it before the whole world is plunged into darkness. The only problem is that this is an enemy that nopony in Equestria knows a thing about, at least, none of the citizens or elders. Even with this new threat arising, new allies are gained in the process, and it will all fall on their alliance with the Elements to stop that threat, to save Equestria from an imminent destruction. None of this was the case only a few days ago. Celestia is confident their abilities to stop Mecha Mario, but even so, she cannot help but worry for them. After all, she knows little to nothing about their enemy, and that he is capable of corruption. What if they are not strong enough to defeat him? What if he finds the rest of the Crystal Stars before they do? What if he corrupts them and it isn’t possible to bring them back? “No, NO!” Celestia shouted, “They can do it, I know Twilight and the rest of the Elements. They are capable of anything, and they will defeat that creature, and their new friends will only ensure it. I know they can do it.” Celestia kept to her thoughts, while Goombella had been doing some thinking of her own. She was equally as concerned as Celestia was. Really, what would happen if they couldn’t stop Mecha Mario? They are responsible for his release onto this world, and it’s their responsibility to put an end to him before it’s too late. Such a task to do, and not a lot of time to do it. She only wished that they had more time. They were in a whole new world. She has so many questions and so much to learn from it, and they only have time to save it from annihilation. All in a day’s work for the archaeologist, she thought. Never did she think her future held this in store for her. Saving her own world with a famous individual, and now saving a completely foreign world from the same fate. And now her feelings begin to get the better of her. She couldn’t live with herself if anything would happen to a single soul in this world. And even Mario, she’s always worried about the way he puts himself in danger’s path, to protect those who don’t have the ability to protect themselves. How long would it be before the next strike dealt to him is the one that he won’t recover from? She did not want to think about it, right now, it was time to sleep. At least attempt to, that much pressure on your mind can make it pretty difficult. The pitter patter of the rain hitting the window made it more soothing, however, and the light sounds of thunder crackling in the sky made it all the more calming. Sleep soon took over for the eight heroes, no more restless thoughts, just deep relaxation. At least for a while. That was when the sound of a large window breaking could be heard echoing through the halls. It was loud enough to somehow simultaneously wake everyone up. They all rushed to the source of the sound, the throne room. “What’s going on?!” Yelled Rarity. She was answered with the sight of a Royal Guard, lying on the floor unconscious. He had apparently been tossed through the window into the throne room. They approached the shattered window to witness an intense battle between two powerful foes. “That’s Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon!” Cried Twilight. Lightning flashed in the sky as the two clashed in a battle of magic. They were locked in a battle of light versus dark, summoning magic from both their horns, unable to show weakness, lest they get hit with the strength of both blasts. The heroes wanted to interfere, but there was no way they could do so without risking Celestia breaking concentration and being hit by the beam. It would not matter anyway. As the duel continued, Twilight happened to notice a difference in Nightmare Moon’s physical appearance. “Does anyone else see this?” She asked, “Nightmare Moon is glowing with a gold tinge, she was never like this before, what does it mean?” Almost immediately, Mario and Goombella recognized it, their faces looking frightened at the realization. “She has the Gold Crystal Star!” Goombella shouted. “What is that particular Star capable of?” Rainbow Dash asked. “When used properly, it grants the user a great boost in strength and defense. Whatever power she possessed before just increased dramatically.” Goombella explained. “This isn’t going to end well…” Fluttershy said weakly. Almost as if fate had been waiting for her to say this, they immediately noticed the dwindling strength in Celestia, as Nightmare Moon began to overpower her side of the colliding beams, and the center moved closer and closer to Celestia. She braced for impact as the beam enveloped her and blew her into the wall of the castle, leaving her injured and barely conscious. Anger and fear welled up inside of the group as they began to comprehend what just happened. They jumped through the shattered window down onto the castle courtyard, noticing the ruin all around them. Fluttershy and Twilight galloped as quickly as possible to Celestia to check on her condition, the rest standing on guard in case Nightmare Moon decided to shoot first and ask later. “Pathetic…can’t even beat your little sister.” Nightmare Moon taunted. “You…MONSTER!” Rarity shouted to Nightmare Moon. “You’re cheating!” Said Rainbow Dash, “you just boosted your power with that Crystal Star, you couldn’t do anything without it!” Nightmare Moon could only laugh. “You haven’t even seen all of my power, I could destroy all of you easily without even trying.” Celestia coughed, showing that she was still alive, but her strength was entirely diminished. “Twilight…” She said to her pupil, “don’t hold back…” she coughed again, “you can beat her. You are strong enough, I know you are.” “Princess…” Twilight said. “Shh…” Celestia continued, “I’ll be fine, do not worry for my safety, I knew what I was getting into, and I know that you can finish what I started here. Fight back Twilight, show her what you are capable of.” She said, finally losing consciousness. Twilight could feel the anger building inside of her, she was ready to kill Nightmare Moon if it came down to it. She and Fluttershy rejoined the rest of the heroes. “Well let’s settle this then, weaklings.” She taunted at the heroes a second time. “You’re about to be eating your own words you dirty witch.” Goombella said. With that, the battle commenced. Nightmare Moon began by completely covering the surrounding area with dark clouds. It was nearly impossible to see anything through it all. Nightmare Moon observed her clueless opponents, trying to determine who to attack first. She finally made her decision. In an instant, she appeared in front of Mario, and levitated him up into the air. “You appear to be the greatest threat, and so you will not be in this fight.” She said. Her horn began to charge and turn completely white. Yellow electricity began to flow around it, and she sent the electrical bolt of magic at Mario, sending him towards the castle wall. He attempted to move, but soon realized that he was completely immobilized as electricity flowed around his body. Shear anger was now overtaking Goombella, and she jumped toward Nightmare Moon in a quite aggressive fashion, attempting to head bonk her with all the power she had in her body. She made contact, but the result was less than satisfying. Goombella fell back down to the ground. Nightmare Moon only laughed. “Come now,” she said, “Are you even trying? Tell you what, I’ll give you another free hit, just so it is fair.” “You won’t be so cocky when we’re through with you.” Rainbow Dash said. In that moment she leapt into the air, wings outstretched, following up with a few aerial somersaults, and brought down every ounce of power in her body in the form of a kick with her hind leg. To any other opponent, this would have easily broken there back and they would be incapacitated for good. Not this time. Everyone stared as she too only bounced off of Nightmare Moon’s body, unscathed. “That was your free hit, now it’s my turn.” She stated. Again, she charged up magic in her horn and it began to glow, this time with a purple hue, after a few seconds, she released a large magical pulse that knocked everyone off of their feet onto the ground. Mario could only watch as his companions were tossed around like rag dolls. He could feel a burning inside of him as anger welled up. Everyone got back up to their feet, unsure of what to do next. “What are we going to do?” Rarity asked, “She’s too powerful, is there anything we can do to fight back?” “The Elements of Harmony!” Shouted Twilight, “There’s no other way, get in position!” “You all clearly know what you’re doing,” Goombella said, “I’ll just stand back a minute and watch the show.” Twilight levitated her crown onto her head. Everypony else put their necklaces on in response. Nightmare Moon knew what their next move was, but she knew she wouldn’t fall victim this time around, she prepared for the attack. Everypony closed their eyes as magical energy began to surge around them in a white light, each one of the elements glowing in a blinding light that all evil in the shadows would retreat from. Suddenly they opened their eyes, only a white glow emanating from them as a rainbow spiral of energy shot forth at their foe. It was something to behold, no evil could possibly resist the power of-the fuck? What’s going on? Did she? No way, she just locked them into a Dragonball Z beam battle! Nightmare Moon focused all her magic, as well as the star’s power, into a beam that is now colliding with the rainbow spiral! Sparks of energy and bursts of color were bouncing off of the sphere that had formed in the middle of both beams, kicking up dust and dirt around the castle courtyard. At this moment, the tension was on. Both sides showed no indication of faltering, and the sphere in the middle was growing immensely. Goombella could only attempt to take cover from the destruction that was taking place. The sphere continued to grow until it finally burst in an epic explosion of rainbows and electricity. When the dust settled, it was apparent that no one had come out unscathed. However there were no fatal results. Everypony managed to regain their footing from the powerful blast between the six of them and the mare of the night. Even Nightmare Moon was a little shaken up, but she managed to stop the beam that previously defeated her in the past. It was almost as if nothing could stop her. Twilight was the first to grasp the situation. “…What…How…that’s not even possible! How could you have completely just blocked the power of the Elements of Harmony?!” “I’ll admit,” Nightmare Moon started, “I didn’t think it would be possible myself, but I wasn’t going to fall victim this time around. No, today I will be the one to rise and claim victory.” “Not if we have anything to say about it.” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ll stop you, even if it kills us.” “By the end of this battle that’s what will happen to all of you if you don’t give up now.” She replied. While in the midst of the battle and the conversation amongst the ponies, Goombella began looking over Nightmare Moon, noting that she was very fond of attacking with magic, also noting how the Crystal Star’s gold energy surrounded her much like a barrier, only it surrounded her body rather than create a bubble around her. When she attacked with magic, the horn began to glow, so too would the barrier. “I’ve got it.” She said finally, “she’s amplifying the Star’s energy with her own magic, and her horn is the weakness, if we can hit her where it hurts, we may have a chance.” “If it’s all we’ve got to work with then let’s go for it.” Said Rainbow Dash. “What’s the plan then?” Asked Applejack. “I can distract her,” Twilight said, “fight magic with magic, giving you all a chance to jump in while she’s occupied.” The group agreed on their plan of attack and began to ready up. “What is your decision then?” Nightmare Moon said. “We will never surrender to you Nightmare Moon. If we’re going down, we’re going down fighting.” Twilight answered in response. Nightmare Moon only smiled. “So be it, this will be the end of the Elements of Harmony forever.” Four of the six ponies began to charge. Twilight and Rarity began to charge their horns with all the magic they could muster, Nightmare Moon did the same in response. “What are you doing Rarity? I said I would distract her.” Twilight said. “Oh nonsense darling,” she replied, “I know you’re strong, but this is a battle where any help is necessary, and I’ll back you up on it no matter what.” Twilight smiled and answered back. “Thanks Rarity, let’s do this together.” Another barrage of lasers collided, (wow the author sure does love lasers), and another battle of beams took place, only this time, it was obvious that Nightmare Moon was winning this time around, her power was too great for Twilight and Rarity, and the massive beam was starting to move towards them. Rainbow Dash began to fly high into the air to prepare for a Sonic Rainboom, however she would have to wait for the perfect moment to strike. She got into position and waited for the signal. On the surface, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie began to wear away at Nightmare Moon’s barrier. Any damage to it would definitely weaken it, as well as break her concentration on the beam and give Rainbow Dash the perfect moment. Applejack began to buck at her as hard as she could, enough that even Nightmare Moon could feel it slightly, but she would not focus on it. Pinkie Pie immediately devised the plan of using Fluttershy as a means of continued distraction by holding her up to Nightmare Moons face. This would seem pretty ineffective if she wasn’t giving the most adorable puppy dog stare ever. Even Nightmare Moon could not resist how adorable she was. This distraction slightly weakened her end of the beam and it slowly crept up closer to her. Applejack finally gave Dash the signal. Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she physically could. A cone shape began to form around her body. She could feel the energy in her body as she began to release it all. ‘BOOM’ was all that was heard when she finally let go. The sound was deafening, rainbow streaks followed behind her as she flew towards her target: Nightmare Moon’s horn. She reared her hoof back, ready to punch her lights out. It never happened. In one swift movement, Nightmare Moon caught Dash’s hoof with her own, and completely stopped any and all of her momentum. The force from this was so great that it’s possible Dash’s hoof could actually have gotten broken, considering the snapping sound that was heard upon catching her hoof. Nightmare Moon swung her body around and smacked the three opposing ponies away from her and onto their faces. She was pretty angry at this point. Where ever the energy was coming from, she managed to reinforce her beam with so much power that Twilight and Rarity could not handle in anymore. The beam collided into both of them and they flew towards the castle walls with a loud SMACK! Leaving them dazed on the ground. As Mario continued to watch the pain his friends were going through, the anger in him began to well up more and more, but there was nothing he could do about it. “A nice try on all of your parts.” Nightmare Moon said, victory and arrogance in her voice. “But it wasn’t enough.” The ponies were breathing heavily; completely awestruck at how their attempt to defeat Nightmare Moon had failed. “This is the fate of those who try to defy the Mare of the Night.” There was truly nothing left for the heroes to do, they’ve exhausted all their power and tricks. What was left for them to do? Nightmare Moon began to levitate the six ponies and Goombella close to her, choking them all as she did so. This was it, Nightmare Moon was going to win, at least they had done their best, and nopony could say that they didn’t try. They waited for their inevitable deaths… Which also never came. Out of nowhere, Nightmare Moon was struck with a fireball. And right on her horn as well. This caused her to drop her hold on the heroes and allow them to breathe once again. Goombella looked up, fully aware of whose fireball it was. “Mario!” She shouted, excited to know that not only had they been saved, but that he was alright as well. However, the second she turned over to look at him, a mix of confusion and fear hit her at the same time. Something had changed about him. Even Nightmare Moon had to stop and grasp what exactly had happened to him. His typical happy-go-lucky nature was clearly not there. Rage was what replaced it, and this was just from looking at his face. The rest of his body? Forget it. His eyes had gone from the bright blue that they’ve always been to being completely enveloped by flames. His eyes were a pure, bright fire. If that wasn’t enough, there was a small, light, flame aura surrounding his entire body. It was as if someone had doused him in gasoline and lit a match, but no pain could be felt by him, oh no, however the same could not be said for his enemies. The others quivered at his appearance. It was as if this apparition was not Mario any longer. The only thing that Goombella could think of was that Mario had gone through some sort of transformation, but how? She attempted to talk to him. “Mario?” She said, “Is…is that you?” He said nothing, however he eyed Nightmare Moon with a stare that could make any mortal bend to his will. Nightmare Moon finally pulled together. “You fool, you really think that because you’ve transformed that it will help you? This world is already mine, and I will plunge it into an eternal night.” Mario held his hand out in response and fired not a ball, but a blast of fire at her. Nightmare Moon staggered back slightly upon impact. Where did all this power come from? She was not beaten yet. She prepared for her next move. “Savor that one hit, mortal, it will be your last.” She said. She charged the magic in her horn again, and her barrier glowed once more. Mario only stood and watched. When she had finished charging, she fired a massive lightning bolt at Mario, who merely put a barrier of fire in front of him to shield his body from the attack. The impact left clouds of smoke covering where he had been standing. “Mario!” Shouted the other heroes. “Easy enough,” Nightmare Moon said, “now to deal with the rest of you.” Her victory, as per usual, was short-lived. Mario flew, not jumped, not ran, FLEW, through the smoke, fists held out and ablaze. When he was within a few feet of Nightmare Moon, he reared his arm back and punched with all the force he could muster. Nightmare Moon, being caught completely off guard by this attack, was launched by the explosion created by the punch straight into the opposite wall of the castle courtyard. The heroes held awestruck faces upon this action. “She was right…” Goombella said finally, “this is the power the Shadow Queen was talking about all along…” “What do you mean?” Twilight said. “The Shadow Queen foresaw this power inside of Mario back when we had been fighting her,” Goombella replied, “She knew about this all along, and here it is, in front of our faces.” The words of the Shadow Queen echoed in her mind. 'Something resonates from him which I’ve not seen, I sense something stronger…' Nightmare Moon pulled herself up off the ground. Mario continued to eye her from the distance, daring her to make the next move. She knew she’d been beaten, she just would not admit it, if she had not been weakened so heavily from her fight with the others, she might have been able to take him on, however she did choose to make the wise decision. Get the hell out of there. “You will all be my servants of the night, but it will not be tonight. Farewell mortals.” With that, she turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished into the night sky. The others continued to stare at Mario, who was watching to make sure she would not attempt a final attack. When it was clear to him that she had fled, he suddenly, and involuntarily, clutched his chest and knelt to the ground. Slowly, his flame aura subsided and his eyes began to revert back to the way they had been before. He could barely stand up after exerting so much power, and he still could not put his finger on what exactly had happened to him. All that he was concerned about now was that his friends were safe. He took one final glance at them to make sure they were alive and breathing, and collapsed onto the ground. Author's Note It's been a long time comin'. I'm sorry I've made you all wait several months for this one. I rarely have time to write nowadays due to college and work, which I can say are both going very well, and when I do have time I try to hangout with friends whenever possible because I don't know the next time I'll be able see them. But here it is finally, I'll try to keep writing whenever I can, I haven't forgotten about you. Also, leave me any feedback you want to in the comments, I like to hear what people have to say and gladly welcome any advice to improve that you all have to offer. On a side note, I thought about using some music in this one, if you're interested, it's from Dark Souls, and it's the theme of Artorias the Abysswalker. It seemed pretty appropriate coming towards the end of it but I'll let you all decide. Until next time, Kabbie22 LET'S A GO!“This is the end for you, Super Mario.” Mecha Mario said triumphantly. “I’d like to personally thank you for delivering the rest of the Crystal Stars to me, saved me a lot of trouble tracking them down and retrieving them myself.” Mario slowly picked himself up off the ground. He felt so weak it was an amazement that he could stand at all. He saw all his friends lying close to Mecha Mario’s feet, still breathing thankfully. “Only one thing left to do now…” Said Mecha Mario. He used the power of the Crystal Stars to levitate Mario’s allies and hold them in place. Mario, with a terrified look on his face, could see them all fight helplessly to break free of the grip, but alas, it could not be done. With the little strength he had, he desperately tried to reach them, but he was immediately blasted away by an oncoming missile from Mecha Mario. Mario fell back to the ground, no strength left in his body whatsoever. Mecha Mario then began gathering energy from the stars and started channeling it to his robotic chest. “…Destroy you all.” When he was sufficiently charged, he unleashed a large and dark energy from his chest. Mario saw the blast heading straight towards them, and he could not do anything to save them. He struggled to stand up but his wounds were too great. He watched as the blast collided into them… “OH NO!” Exclaimed the familiar plumber. He rose from the spot he had been resting in, a small bed in what appeared to be an infirmary. He was breathing heavily, relief flooded into his mind when he realized it was only a nightmare. He took a careful look around the surprisingly large room he was in. If this was an infirmary, it was definitely one fit for royalty. Guess that explains why Celestia was also resting in the same room, in a much larger and elegant looking bed. He also saw several other beds, each of which, his friends were resting on. Everyone looked exhausted. At least they were safe for now. But how was this possible? Mario could not remember a thing that had happened the night before. Yet somehow they were all in this infirmary and the immediate threat before them had just vanished? Something was amiss. “Goodness, you’re awake!” Nurse Red Heart said upon entering the room. Mario jumped out of the bed, landing easily on his feet. “Well then, you’ve recovered pretty quickly, haven’t you?” She said to Mario. Mario nodded. Although he doesn’t know how it is possible, he explained to her that resting always seemed to completely recharge him, no matter how badly he had been injured previously. “I didn’t see any of the fighting myself, however I know that the others managed to bring you and the Princess here safely. When they arrived, they explained that Nightmare Moon had retreated to safety after something you had done, they weren’t able to go into too much detail, sleep began to overtake them, and I recommended they stay here for the night so we could treat them. For the most part they will make a full recovery; the one exception is that Rainbow Dash will probably have some trouble with her right fore hoof. We did everything we could to make it so she could at least walk with it. If we hadn’t, the whole thing would have been a broken mess. Mario clenched his fist. In the back of his mind, he knew it was his entire fault. If he could have protected them sooner, they would have all been okay. Nurse Red Heart could see his frustration and she knew what was wrong. “It isn’t your fault Mario, shoot, from what I was able to gather from the others, Nightmare Moon had casted a spell on you that left you completely immobilized for the entire battle. You couldn’t have done anything to stop what was going to transpire next. It was just fortunate you could jump in at the end when you did.” Mario sighed and relaxed his hand. She was right; he had to ask her though, what happened when he saved them? He could not remember it if his life depended on it, and it might depend on it at some point. “I don’t know, they said something about your physical appearance changing and that you were able to finally force Nightmare Moon to retreat. They had done a number on her, but you were the final push.” Even with her reassurance, he only wished he could have stopped any of it from happening. Witnessing his friends fight merely to stay alive can really leave an impact on a person; especially knowing what could have happened if he hadn’t been able to intervene. “You should get some food in you,” said Nurse Red Heart, “don’t want to go through the day on an empty stomach. If you need anything, I’ll be close by.” Nurse Red Heart walked out of the room to handle her own business, leaving Mario to his thoughts. He wanted to get the others up, but he figured it would be good to let them rest a while longer, as per normal, any adventure is always long and fatiguing, and he knew they would need the rest. He prepared himself to go get some grub when an old and familiar sound went off in the pocket of his overalls. Mario reached for the transceiver in his pocket and opened it up. The Mailbox SP. A relatively primitive device meant to send and receive messages. While they continued to upgrade throughout the years, Mario was perfectly happy with the one he’s had and will probably keep it until it cannot do its job any longer. He looked through his messages and found the new one, the sender being none other than his younger brother Luigi! He clicked on the message and began to read. “Dear Mario, How’ve you been big bro? Haven’t heard back from you in a while, I know you’ve been out adventuring with your old buddies in Rogueport, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I remember when you and I went to the Beanbean Kingdom and we had to save the land from that witch. Man, those were the days; we travelled to so many lands in that Kingdom. I remember when we went to Little Fungitown and you ate that Invincishroom, I had to go to the Guffawa Ruins to get the grass that would cure you of the Bean fever you had received from it. Or when we went to Joke’s End and we had to fight our way through that Crystal Castle. Oh and the very beginning of it all, when we flew to the Beanbean Kingdom in Bowser’s ship and we landed in the Stardust fields. I wish we had more time to spend together, bro. Even if we go on life threatening adventures, I still always enjoy them to the very end. Anyway, the Mushroom Kingdom is doing just fine. Bowser seems to have accepted defeat for a while; hopefully he’ll keep it that way. The princess has been overseeing the kingdom as usual, and things at home have been normal. One last thing, bro, please stay safe out there, I know you can take care of yourself and you don’t need me to tell you that, but your little bro worries about you. When you get back, definitely tell me about the adventures you went on. I’d love to hear it. I love you bro, write back soon. Your brother, Luigi” “Aww…that’s so sweet…” a voice said behind him. “Oh!” Mario said, turning his head to the side slightly. “My apologies dear, I didn’t mean to startle you, or intrude.” Rarity said, “I heard the sound of that gadget you have and I got curious. Sounds like your brother is really worried about you.” Mario nodded. “I worry for my little sister myself, she always does these crazy things to try and earn her Cutiemark, luckily she never gets hurt from any of them. I suppose that’s the fate of younger and older siblings, to constantly worry about each other’s safety.” She said. Mario chuckled and agreed with her. “Well I must say, I’m rather famished myself, how about we get the others up and get something to eat before we set out for Appleloosa?” “Right behind you…” said an awakening Rainbow Dash, “Ahh! That really hurts…” she said upon placing her bandaged forehoof down. “Try not to bare too much weight on that hoof, dear,” Rarity said, “it’s going to take some time to heal after an injury like that.” Rainbow Dash looked up at Mario. “Nice work out there last night Mario, that stuff you did with the fire all around you? Never seen anything like it in my life!” Well, as far as what happened the night before, he now knows he was literally on fire. He shrugged and gave the world’s second hand to hoof brofist, only to her good hoof. “Hmm…” Mario began to ponder. Suddenly he was struck with inspiration. “I’ve got it!” He said. He approached Rainbow Dash and explained the brilliant idea he just had to her. “That’s…even MORE awesome than the last one! We have to try that when we get the chance!” Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly. Pinkie Pie began to raise her head from the bed she was sleeping on. “What’s all the yelling abou-“ She caught a glimpse of Mario. Her eyes widened in such a way that only two words could describe what she was feeling: Pure Fear. “DEMON ON THE ROOF!” She shouted. Their faces were left with nothing but total confusion. “Demon on the wha-? Pinkie, we’re not on the roof, and what’s this about demons?” Asked Rarity. “You don’t see it?! It’s right there! Beside you!” She pointed her hoof towards Mario. “He’s here to destroy us all!” The others began to wake up one by one because of Pinkie’s constant shouting. “Pinkie, he saved us last night, do you know what would have happened if he hadn’t?” Said Rarity. “That’s just so he could get out trust! Soon he’ll pick us all off one by one!” Pinkie said in retort. “You’re losing your mind, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said, “I think we’d know if he was trying to hurt us. Even from the very beginning, when none of us knew him, he was still protecting us.” Applejack finally chimed in on the conversation. “Ah agree with them Pinkie, he hasn’t ever given us a reason not to trust him.” She looked at Mario. “You’ve been with us from the beginning as Dash said, and ah can’t see you ever turning on us, but as of last night, whatever overtook ya was definitely something ya didn’t have any control over.” Mario tried to explain himself the best he could, mentioning that all he could remember the night before was the rage that began to overtake him when he saw them getting strangled by Nightmare Moon, after that, he had lost all control, and he could not remember how exactly he had forced her to retreat, he just knew he had done it. “Wait, you mean ya don’t remember a thing? You blew Nightmare Moon away and ya don’t remember doin’ it at all?” Applejack asked in confusion. Mario shook his head. “A likely story!” Pinkie Pie said accusingly. Twilight got out of her bed. “Well, as weird as it seems, I believe it myself.” She said, “I still remember the day I had gotten my Cutiemark, at first my magic wasn’t doing what I wanted it to, I merely had to make the dragon egg hatch, but I couldn’t do it. But after Dash’s first sonic rainboom, the magic in me grew stronger, and suddenly I didn’t have any control of it myself. Mario’s situation sounds very similar to what I had experienced except for the fact that he can’t remember any of it. If he had wanted to hurt us at all, he would have done it right then and there.” Fluttershy still shuddered a bit, remembering the destruction he caused the night before. “I just think that, it’s going to take some time to get used to it is all…” she said. Mario could not blame her; whatever he did last night obviously sparked some fear among his friends. He would do whatever it takes to make them feel better around him. “Thanks for understanding, Mario.” Fluttershy said. “Well,” Goombella said, “no matter what happens, we’re still a team. And the team has to stick together.” “Stick together, team…” Pinkie said. “That’s the spirit!” Goombella said, “We can talk about this later on, I’m quite famished myself. But I think we need to get a move on to find that next Crystal Star before metal head finds it first.” “I agree with Goombella.” Celestia said weakly. “Princess!” Everyone shouted. “Don’t worry, my little ponies, I’m alright.” She said, “I’m proud of you all. I heard everything.” Everyone continued to listen. “You all fought bravely last night, and I know you will all defeat Nightmare Moon and Mecha Mario. Even if things start to look bleak, do not lose hope, I know you all will prevail. Fate has brought you all together, and you will all succeed together, I know it my heart. I wish you luck in your journey to gather the other stars. I scheduled your train to set off at noon, you should all get going. I will be here in Canterlot if you should need my help again.” “Thank you, Princess.” Twilight said, giving her a warm smile, which Celestia also returned. Just as they were leaving the infirmary, Celestia called for the plumber himself. “Mario, just one more thing,” She said. Mario turned and approached her once more. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Please, keep them safe. They are very strong, but I’ve seen Nightmare Moon’s and Mecha Mario’s powers first hand. I know you have as well. They are immensely powerful. Just please, do what you must to stop them. I know you all can do it.” Mario nodded his head in approval. “Thank you…” Princess Celestia said, slowly beginning to doze off into a well needed sleep. “Hey Mario! You comin’ or what?” Goombella called out. Mario ran out of the infirmary to catch up with his allies. Next stop, Appleloosa. They went to their respective rooms, gathered any supplies and personal belongings that might be necessary, and headed for the station. As usual, the station was relatively crowded, but the train they would be riding on was a private one, meant for the heroes only. As they boarded, they said good bye to Canterlot for now and looked forward to getting to Appleloosa. “Ya’ll are gonna like it there.” Applejack said, “Pony folk from all over the west go to Appleloosa when they need a breather, it’s a great rest stop, plus I’ve got some family living over there. Then again, ah got family living from all around.” They found their way to their cabins and began getting comfortable. The brakes on the train were disengaged and the train began to move, scenery outside moved slowly, then quickly as the train began picking up speed. “We have a few hours to kill, and I’m pretty starved, why don’t we get brunch? You know, since we still haven’t eaten a thing at all anyway?” Said Rainbow Dash. Not a soul could argue with her, they were all quite starved. There was a quaint restaurant on board the train that they headed to. Luckily, the restaurant staff had been preparing for their arrival and they made sure to make a fresh breakfast that a king himself would enjoy. After the glorious meal, most of the ride had been pretty uneventful, though it would only take a few hours to reach their destination, most of the time they just caught up on resting until they would have to start their trek to the hive. Mario found the time to reply to Luigi for the message he had sent him earlier, and then proceeded to catch an afternoon nap. Several hours had passed when the train finally applied its brakes and arrived at the train station in Appleloosa. They carefully stepped off of the train. “Well, here we are.” Applejack said. “Sweet Appleloosa, make yourselves at home, at least for a little while.” “NOT SO FAST!” A female voice said. The heroes looked around for the mare in question. Suddenly a shadow jumped from over head and the figure landed in front of them. “It is I, the GREAT and POWEFUL Trixie!” Trixie shouted to the group. The group sighed in unison; however, they allowed her to begin her rant about herself. “You were hiding in the luggage car this whole time?” Twilight asked. “I have finally returned after my humiliating defeat that you made me endure! Now, I will have my revenge and take back that which you have stolen from me!” Trixie replied, ignoring Twilight’s question entirely. “Trixie, you were the one who stole the Crystal Star in the first place, and what makes you believe that you can really steal it from us again?” Said Twilight. “SILENCE SPARKLE!” Trixie shouted it response to Twilight, “I challenge the red one to a duel, skill versus brutish strength, magic versus cheap tricks, me versus a fool.” Mario stepped forward. “Alright then Trixie, have at it, if he wins, you leave us alone, if you win, you can take the crystal star from us.” Twilight said, to which Trixie agreed upon. At first, Twilight believed these terms would be fairly risky, but after Mario had given her a confident “I’ll deal with this idiot” wink as he stepped forward, she was certain that they had nothing to lose. “Excellent,” said Trixie, “you won’t be so lucky this time you insolent buffoon. Behold the power I possess!” She sparked her horn, and with little effort, began levitating off of the ground, generating a barrier (they never seem to get old) around herself, her eyes began to glow white, and lightning appeared to flash in the sky around only her body. “This barrier is completely impervious to any other magic from a unicorn as well as elemental based magic, you’re irritating fireballs and pesky spells will not bother me now!” She said in triumph, “what do you have to say now fool?” Mario took a hard look at her. This was not just any hard look; it was a look much like a person would have made if they were in a noisy room where no one could hear themselves think. A room filled with chatter and laughter and people just having a joyous time, when suddenly, out of nowhere, that one guy makes the longest and loudest fart in the history of loud farts, a fart so loud that it is able to silence the entire room, while continuing to emit noise for ten more seconds after the other people had stopped talking and laughing. That very look a person would make towards the source of the loud fart. This was the expression on Mario’s face. After another five seconds of this expression he was making towards her, all he could he was laugh hysterically, clutching his stomach and pointing at her. After about fifteen seconds of uncontrollable laughter from the plumber, he held a smile on his face and wiped a tear from his eye. “WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY FIND SO FUNNY AT THIS GIVEN MOMENT? I AM IN NO LAUGHING MOOD RIGHT NOW, AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU COULD POSSIBLY FIND FUNNY ABOUT ME AS OF THIS VERY SECOND…” Trixie continually shouted at Mario, however, he was too distracted to pay attention to anything else the raging mare was saying to him. As she continued her tantrum, Mario reached into his pockets and pulled out the Emerald Crystal Star he had been neglecting to use since he first obtained it. “…I’M COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY INCOMPETENT-you have another one of those things?” She finally said in what went from rage to confusion. He nodded, and then showed her what this one was capable of. After focusing the Crystal Star’s power for a few moments, he unleashed it all into Trixie. She recoiled in response, believing she was going to feel some sort of pain, but she soon discovered that she was now stuck in place! She then fell onto the ground, rolling around like a ball from the barrier she had generated over herself. Unfortunately her loud mouth could not be stopped, so she was still able to shout uncontrollably at him for freezing her the way he had. “UNFREEZE ME RIGHT THIS INSTANT YOU IDIOT! YOU’LL PAY DEARLY FOR HUMILIATING THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE AGAIN!” Mario knew this little trick would not last very long, so he decided to finish the job. He approached Trixie and lifted her and her magical bubble barrier into the air. “What are you doing now?!” She shouted, to which Mario ignored. “LET’S A GO!” He said to Pinkie Pie, who somehow managed to know what he wanted her to do. “Here we go!” She shouted in response to Mario, while simultaneously pulling out her party cannon. “DON’T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT TOSSING ME INTO THAT THING!” Trixie demanded hopelessly. Too late, the excited plumber then tossed her into the party cannon with an excited “WAHOO!” to follow up with the action. Pinkie Pie then ignited the fuse and counted down: “5…4…3…2…1…FIRE THE TORPEDOES!” She shouted in excitement. Trixie was then blasted far away into the afternoon sky, far, far away from Appleloosa. Maybe now she would learn that it doesn’t take much to put her in her place. “I’LL BE BACK AGAIN, AND I’LL FINALLY GET MY REVENGE ON YOU IMBECILES!” Trixie said, her voice trailing off in the distance. “YEAAAHHH!” Pinkie Pie shouted in shear excitement. Mario followed in her excitement by spinning around like a ballerina, following this particular action with a small jump, fist held into the air. For some reason, however, he stayed afloat, and a victorious tune began to fill the air. After a few seconds of this physics breaking action, Twilight finally chimed in. “Well, if you’ve both reveled in your victories long enough, I say we get a move on to the hive.” Mario finally fell back down to the earth on his feet, giving Pinkie Pie a final High Five before agreeing with Twilight. “Let’s a go!” Author's Note Alright, so I had planned to release a few more chapters in the time that I've been on break from college but here's the run down of what happened: A WILD PS4 APPEARED! KABBIE IS PARALYZED! WILD PS4 USED WATCH_DOGS! IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE! KABBIE IS STILL PARALYZED! WILD PS4 USED THE LAST OF US REMASTERED! KABBIE FAINTED! And that's the long and short of it, I'll try to get more up, but with college looming around the corner again, I can't promise anything. Leave any feedback for me that you want to. As always, constructive criticism is invited and appreciated. A Ball-Busting Greeting“I don’t understand how such a small human could have possessed so much power…” Nightmare Moon said, “Even the six elements have gotten much stronger since our last encounter, this may not be as simple a task as we believe it to be as long as they stand in our path…” “Relax Princess of the Night,” Mecha Mario replied, a somehow calming tone in his robotic voice, “we will succeed in due time, and we cannot just jump into the fight and expect to come out on top, we have to approach this entire situation with strategy…” “What do you suggest we do then?” Moon asked inquisitively. “We continue our own search for the remaining stars, they possess two to our one, there are still four more to recover, each with their own unique and versatile abilities, you have already seen what the gold one can do, and each other one only gets better, and obtaining all seven? This world will be ours yet.” “How do we expect to locate these last four then?” Moon asked inquisitively. “My creator installed a tracker that was integrated into my systems when I was built. It uses the energy of any of the seven stars to get a fix on the rest, too bad he couldn’t have finished building that device before Mario was at his front door. Regardless, I can sense each one from miles away, I could even tell you where those ‘heroes’ currently reside right this very second, and having a fix on their location at any given moment is going to work to our advantage, I can assure you of that.” “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s take them out while they still posses the few that they have now, as long as you are with me this time, defeating them will be nothing.” Nightmare Moon stated. “We already saw how that went down; they didn’t even have use of the stars during your battle with them while you were supercharged by the one we have, and look what happened. Even if I was to accompany you this time, that still would not guarantee our success in defeating them. Our foes are quite powerful; do not let their looks deceive you. The best thing will be to track down the remaining Crystal Stars, you and I are both quite powerful, and considering we currently possess the star that allows us the ability to power up even higher at a moment’s notice, obtaining the final few will not be a chore at all, your highness…” Nightmare Moon pondered the words of her mechanical ally for a few moments and finally had to agree with him in the end. “The more Stars we have, the more power we will ultimately have…then we will search for the remainder, and when we finally encounter them again, they will not be so lucky.” “Excellent, this world will be yours soon enough your highness…” Mecha Mario stated, activating his thrusters to take flight. Nightmare Moon took her thoughts in for a moment before following suit with Mecha Mario. For your sake, you’d better be right about all of this; my patience is wearing thin… “It sure would be nice to stay and catch up with everypony down here,” said Applejack, “been quite some time since we’d been here last…” “We will, Applejack,” said Twilight in a reassuring manner, “when everything has settled down again, we will come back here and just take it easy a little while, it really has been a long time since we’ve been to Appleloosa.” “It really is a cozy little town; I can see why you would want to come back.” Said Goombella. “What did you all do when you were here last?” “The last time we were here was meant to be a simple delivery to my cousin, Braeburn,” said Applejack, “but it ended up turning into a full scale war between the settlers of Appleloosa and the Buffalo Tribe.” Goombella’s jaw dropped suddenly. “Well how did that happen?! Surely something must have sparked such an action!” “I can tell you all about it on the way to the hive, let’s get a move on.” Replied Applejack. Goombella and Applejack took lead as everyone else followed close behind them, walking through to the end of the town’s small boundaries and making their way out into the dry, arid desert ahead. “As I said before,” she began, “it started out as a delivery but turned into a conflict with the Buffalo Tribe that lives not too far from here. You see that orchard out in the distance?” Goombella squinted her eyes a little, noticing the relatively large amount of trees with a path cutting through them. “Oh yeah, I see it alright.” “Well, the Buffalo Tribe wanted the settlers to remove the apple orchard to make room for their traditional stampede. The problem was, that orchard serves as a source of food to all the pony folk in town.” “Taking it down would deprive them of their food and force them to either leave or plant a new one. But that would definitely take some time…” said Goombella. “Exactly, so you see where the issue comes in.” She continued, “They attempted to solve things peacefully at first, but things would quickly get heated and uncivil, and before anypony knew it, the conflict had escalated into a battle between the settlers and the Buffalo Tribe.” “Yikes!” Goombella said surprised, “Hopefully there were few casualties? I can’t imagine what that war must have been like…” “Luckily there were no casualties, save for the amount of apples that were destroyed in the process. This was the only way the pony settlers really knew how to defend themselves from a raging stampede of Buffalo.” Applejack said coolly. Goombella held a puzzled expression as they continued trudging through the desert. “They used…apples to defend themselves? I don’t really see how that would stop them from trampling over everything.” She replied finally. “I have to agree with ya on that,” Applejack replied, “but believe it or not, that’s what ended up solving the entire problem.” “Oh really? Care to explain that one?” Asked Goombella. “An apple pie stopped the destruction of the orchard as well as Appleloosa. A single one that had been launched into the air managed to hit the leader of the Buffalo Tribe, Chief Thunderhooves. Smacked him square in the snout.” “How did that not just tick him off even more? If I got hit in the face with an apple pie, I don’t really think I’d be too happy about that.” Goombella replied. “Feller finally got a taste of the sweetness of apple pies. Never had one a day in his life until that moment. He enjoyed the taste of it so much that he called off the stampede and a compromise could finally be made.” Said Applejack. “Well that’s a relief, what were the conditions of this compromise then?” Goombella asked, very interested in her response. “You saw that path that cut through the orchard earlier? In exchange for a portion of the food supply that the pony settlers would grow every year, the Buffalo tribe would do their stampede along that path through the orchard instead of overtop of it, and the settlers would get to keep the orchard and continue to live in Appleloosa. Both sides finally agreed to the conditions, and this is how things have been ever since.” “Wow…” Goombella said with deep interest, “Equestria really does have a rich history, huh?” “Oh, definitely, and this was recent, that’s not even getting into how Equestria was founded in the first place, but that might be a better story for our ride back home.” Twilight said. “Fair enough, I could probably share a bit about Rogueport’s history later on; our worlds seem to be very relatable.” Goombella replied. “Almost as if these events were supposed to happen…” “Whatever do you mean, Goombella?” Asked Rarity. “I don’t know,” she replied, “it just seems like this all worked out too perfectly. Two similar worlds with similar stories to tell. Each with their own unique heroes, villains, and lifestyles, such a coincidence that we would all come together like this…” “Well,” Rarity answered after a moment of thought, “fate has its way regardless of what we think we control, we’re merely actors on the stage called life, doing what the script says, saying what we think we’re supposed to, causing us to carry out actions already set aside for us. In every decision we make, there’s always that sense of ‘did I do this? Did this happen because of the decision I made?’, but we all have to understand that everything happens for a reason. We are only ever asked to do the best we can, and fate will continue to change as it sees fit.” Everyone had to stop and stare at Rarity after her response. The now blushing fashionista stopped to stare at everyone else. “…what?” “That was really deep, Rarity.” Fluttershy said, smiling at her friend, “You should become a writer! You’d be really good at it!” “Goodness, not me! I’m simply much too busy to take on another creative medium…but thank you.” She replied, smiling shyly. “I still think you both should definitely drop by my boutique at some point while you are away from home. Haven’t you ever had a day where you aren’t always dressed in the same casual outfits?” “Not for a little while, to be honest with you, “replied Goombella, “ever since I started researching with Professor Frankly, a small tie and my helmet has typically been what I wear, haven’t really given it much thought.” “At least it seems like you wore something different at one point or another, what about you, Mario?” Rarity asked. Mario shook his head. “You mean to tell me all your life you’ve just worn a hat and overalls?!” She said, surprise in her voice. In a little more detail, Mario explained that it always depended on the occasion, for instance, if he was throwing a party with his friends, they all might dress up the way the party was themed, or in some regard, whenever they played a certain sport, but that his plumber’s attire was all that he needed, even mentioning that his hat has been with him ever since he and his brother were babies. “Well, you should let me make you something while you are here, indulge in a little of what Equestria has to offer.” She said, smiling. “You bet! When we have a moment to relax, I wouldn’t mind that at all, Rarity.” Goombella replied. As they continued their trudge through the desert, they noticed the sun was starting to head towards the horizon, signifying nighttime was fast approaching. “Dang, how much further is this hive?!” Rainbow said impatiently. “Feels like we’ve been walking for daaaaays!” Applejack rolled her eyes at the impatient, cyan mare. “We’ll get there, Rainbow, you just have to keep your head occupied, why don’t you take part in these little chats we’ve been having? I hadn’t even noticed how quickly we’ve been pushing through this desert.” “No offense, but they are just soooo boooring!” She exclaimed, “I mean, can’t we talk about anything a little more interesting?” “What did you have in mind, Rainbow Dash?” Asked Twilight. “Anything besides history lessons of Equestria would be fine with me…” She replied. Twilight sighed. “To be fair, this is all that any of us have to go on. Mario and Goombella have only been here a short time, and all we really have to go on is learning about each other’s experiences and history.” “Would it make you feel better if you gave us a lesson about the Wonderbolts?” Twilight asked Rainbow Dash. Suddenly her eyes lit up. She began to revel on everything she knew about the Wonderbolts, explaining their history to the largest details of the achievements of each of them to the smaller details of favorite colors and foods to eat. She knew everything possible about the Wonderbolts. She also explained how she is striving to one day become a Wonderbolt herself. She knows that with enough hard work and determination, she’ll be able to reach that goal. “Keep at it Rainbow,” Goombella said, “After the way I’ve seen you fly, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll become a Wonderbolt!” After a little more walking, they finally came across a river, to which the question finally arose from Fluttershy. “Are you all sure we are going the right way? Any further this direction and we’ll end up in the San Palomino Desert…” “Well, if I remember viewing an old map in a book I read earlier, the hive is supposedly located south of the San Palomino Desert, so if we just follow this river south, then we should be there in no time!” Twilight stated. Without missing a beat, Mario pulled the magic map out and confirmed Twilight’s theory. Following the river south will lead them directly to the location of the Sapphire Crystal Star, thus leading them to the Hive and Queen Chrysalis herself. “Well, let’s get a move on then, looks like there’s just enough light out here to see for another couple hours, after that, it’s going to be difficult to see anymore.” Goombella said. They continued their journey along the river, using the calming sound of the river as their guide through the desert, which was now beginning to get very cold as the sun continued to fade. “Hopefully their hive is warmer than it is out here…” Fluttershy said finally, beginning to slow her walking pace down to almost a stop. “I’m so freezing, I don’t know how much longer I can keep moving.” Mario created a small fireball in his hand and held it close to her as they kept walking, attempting to keep her warm so that it was easier for her to walk. She walked close to him and thanked him very lovingly for his gesture to her. At least with the fading light of the sun, the night time sky created enough light to be able to see a little better in the dark, despite the fact that the air was still freezing. Within a few minutes more of walking through the chilly air, luck finally turned in their favor. The small cave entrance in the distance finally reassured them that they had arrived. They scoped the entrance to make sure that the immediate area was approachable and no Changelings were guarding it. When they confirmed that it was clear, they walked inside of the dark tunnel, keeping all wits about them and trying to stay together as close as possible. “It’s really dark in here, anyone wanna remedy this problem?” Goombella asked no one in particular. Twilight and Rarity sparked their horns in a glow that illuminated the section of the cave that they were all walking in. As the small amount of light began to flood the room, several shadows could be seen moving away from the light. “What was that?!” Shouted Pinkie Pie. “What else would it be?” Replied Rainbow Dash, “They’re getting away! After them!” With that, they took off after the shadows into the dark corridors of the Changeling hive, quickly losing sight of them within the maze. “They’re in here somewhe-OOF!” Twilight said as Pinkie Pie landed on top of her. “Gotcha! Wait, darn…” She said. “Pinkie! Quit fooling around! And if you could please get off of me…” Said Twilight with an annoyed tone. “But I’m right here next to Dashie,” replied Pinkie, “I’m not on top of you.” “What? Then who is this? There’s not enough light to be able to tell.” She said confused. “Well duh! It’s me, Pinkie Pie silly!” Said the Pinkie Pie that was pinning Twilight to the ground. Upon realization, the Pinkie Pie that was standing next to Rainbow Dash immediately yelled: “STICK TOGETHER TEAM!” The Pinkie Pie that was pinning Twilight then held a slightly confused look before being blasted off by Twilight’s horn. The false Pinkie Pie hit the ground with a solid THUD and flashed in a small green light before returning to its original changeling form. It quickly scurried off in a random direction, in which the group proceeded to follow it. “Darn, where did he get to now? Goombella said. “I don’t know,” replied Applejack, “but I can see light up ahead. Hopefully the feller got away in there.” They quickly made their way to the part of the tunnel where light was coming from. Slowly, they entered the well lit chamber, which was scattered with torches all across the room. “Finally out of that dark cave, now we can start searching for that star.” Fluttershy said, while exhaling all of her fears away. They spread out across the room to look around for a moment to see what they could find. Suddenly Applejack came galloping as quickly as possible straight towards Mario. “Did you find anything, Applejack?” Inquired Rarity, to which she got no response, however, Mario would have disagreed on this statement. Applejack ran right towards Mario, and when she was within an arm’s reach of him, she spun around and bucked him as hard as she could. “MAMA MIAAAAAAA!” He cried out. He could only stand with a very painful look upon his face as he began holding his hands around his male reproductive organs, which now must be swollen to the size that he could ball his fists. He fell to the ground rolling in agony, attempting to stand up, but the extraordinary pain in his stomach prevented him from being able to do so. “Mario!” Cried his companions. Fluttershy attempted to hold him still and let him catch his breath. Meanwhile, the real Applejack bucked the false one into the wall on the opposite side of the room, reverting it back to its original changeling form as it scurried off to gather its comrades. For the moment, everyone huddled close to make sure Mario was alright. After a few minutes of uncontrollable pain he had experienced, he was finally able to stand up, assuring everyone that he would be alright. “These changelings play so dirty!” Exclaimed Rarity. “That’s true, but they are very clever about it,” Goombella replied, “If he hadn’t disguised himself, someone would have stopped him before he could attack, but we all thought he was Applejack, and we took it for what we saw it as. Clever girls…” “Uhh, guys? Get ready, we got company.” Replied Rainbow Dash. Everyone turned to see the other side of the room flooding in with Changelings. Big, small, it didn’t matter; the point is their numbers were terrifying. As they entered the room, they transformed into the eight heroes, who had now started standing back to back to back in response of the shear amount of doppelgangers that were now surrounding them. “Wow these guys are good,” Goombella commented, “I don’t know how they can pull off looking like Mario and I, let’s just see what they can do!” Remembering the little incident with the false Applejack from earlier, Mario drew from his anger. Steam appeared to be releasing from his head in short bursts as he eyed the Changelings around him and his allies. He reached into his overalls and found his hammer. He flipped it into the air and caught it with one hand. Then, drawing it to his side; he bore his teeth out at his enemies, followed by the sound of an angry grunt. Everyone else followed suit taking battle ready stances of their own. Rainbow Dash flared her nostrils, Twilight and Rarity began to charge their horns, Applejack was ready to pounce, Goombella readied herself for her famous head-bonk, and Fluttershy looked confused as an excited Pinkie Pie hoisted her up into the air with one hoof, ready to toss her like a projectile into the crowd. A false Applejack leaped toward Mario to begin, and he responded by swinging his hammer when she got close, knocking her away, where he leapt forth into the fight. Fluttershy huddled into a ball as Pinkie Pie threw her at an approaching clone. When she hit the fake Pinkie Pie, the real one jumped up and caught the Flutterball, flipping and landing as she did so. She then pulled out the party cannon and launched Fluttershy at a group of the doppelgangers. Pinkie appeared to be having the time of her life. Meanwhile, a false Mario jumped in front of Applejack, as he was about to punch at her, she quickly turned around and bucked him with the intent of launching him far away, however, she accidentally bucked this particular Mario in the family jewels as well. The false Mario clutched the afflicted area and transformed back into a changeling. Applejack bit her lip and smiled in the most innocent way she possibly could. “Sorry about that, pardner…” she whispered to him as she ran passed him to fight off more of the changelings. “Goombella! Hop on!” Dash yelled to Goombella. Goombella hopped on to Rainbow Dash’s back, and she started flying as fast as the confined space would allow, holding Goombella with her head out. Goombella closed her eyes as a countless number of doppelgangers were slammed out of the path that she and Dash were flying in. “All right! That’s the way to do it!” Rainbow Dash called out excitedly. In her excitement, she failed to notice the false Goombella that was prepared to head bonk her from behind. It almost got her, but Twilight blasted it away before it could. She and Rarity were holding their own from their original spots. Things seemed to be working out just fine. The only problem was that for every one that was taken down, a few more would take the place of the fallen ones, and soon, it was more than they could handle. Mario kept mashing all that he could, but he was caught by a blast from a false Rarity, dropping his hammer in the process and getting pushed through the mob. Pinkie fired the Flutterball but soon realized that the Changelings were catching on. They finally caught the Flutterball and threw her back into Pinkie’s cannon, where the cannon then exploded on itself, leaving a mildly charred Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They were then caught in the crowd with Mario. Several of the false Rainbow Dashs and Fluttershys made their way to the real Dash and Goombella, overwhelming them and slamming them onto Twilight and Rarity. Soon there was just a massive pile up of Changelings that had overtaken their original position in the center of the room. For once, they could not fight back, every time the real heroes tried to attack, they would get beaten back to the ground. That was when Mario sprung an idea. As fast as lightning, he quickly pulled out the Diamond Crystal Star. “YEAH!” He shouted in pure exhilaration. The opposing creatures were blasted back from the starting energy, and Mario and his team jumped onto the star, holding on tightly. He began to focus its energy, allowing the star to grow in size. When it reached an appreciable status, it bounced on the ground several times, creating shock waves each time which shook all of the Changelings out of their false forms, and left them on the ground, alarmed as to what just happened to them. The heroes hopped off of the Crystal Star, and the now stunned Changelings attempted to retreat. “Where do you think you’re going?” Taunted Rainbow Dash. “We aren’t finished with you just yet!” As the remaining Changelings scurried out of the room, a voice called out to the heroes. “We’re feeling pretty cocky today, aren’t we Rainbow Dash?” The voice said. “Chrysalis!” Shouted Twilight, “Show yourself!” “That’s no way to address a queen!” Chrysalis replied. In a flash of green light, Chrysalis appeared in front of the heroes. “To what do I owe this intrusion of the Changeling Hive? And who might these two freaks be that are standing alongside you?” “Hey!” Shouted Goombella, “That’s pretty big talk coming from a creature who looks like they work at the factory that creates Swiss cheese!” Mario observed Chrysalis, and finally agreed with Goombella, laughing at her comment. Afterall, she kinda does look like Swiss cheese, at least her legs do. “We’ve come for that Crystal Star that you found, and don’t try to lie about it, we know it’s here!” Twilight said affirmatively. “Crystal Star? You mean that blue stone that landed outside of our hive a while back? If you think I’m going to relinquish that then you are sadly mistaken, Sparkle.” Replied Chrysalis. “This ‘Crystal Star’ has served as our new source of food ever since you thwarted my plan to marry Shining Armor over a year ago. Just another reason I will not be handing it over to you, my mortal enemy.” “How has that thing been supplying you and your subjects with the love you need to thrive?” Applejack asked, to which Goombella replied. “That particular star has restorative properties. That would make sense as to how they have been using it as a replacement for a food source. Regardless of the fact, we need that Crystal Star.” “If you want it so bad, you’re going to have to take it from us.” “Lady, we’ve had a looooooong day, and you don’t even want to know what’s to come if you don’t just give it back to us.” Said Goombella, “and I’m not talking about ‘us’ taking it from you. There’s another being that is in this world tracking them as we speak, and he’s even more dangerous than we are.” “Oh please, you don’t look much like a threat at all, and anything else that comes this way with the intent of taking this stone from us will have to deal with not only me, but the entire Hive.” Replied Chrysalis. “Look where that got you last time,” Rainbow Dash said, “you didn’t succeed a year ago and you won’t succeed now, why don’t you just save us the trouble?” “Idiots, how else are we going to obtain the nourishment we need just to survive?” “Have you tried, you know, not being senseless jerks and being friendly with other ponies?” Rarity said, “I’m sure you would be able to survive if you didn’t go around behaving in the manner that you all currently do.” “ENOUGH!” An enraged Chrysalis shouted, “I WILL NOT SIT HERE AND BE LECTURED BY A LESSER BEING THAN MYSELF! IF YOU WANT THIS STONE SO BAD, YOU’LL HAVE TO TAKE IT FROM US!” The group recoiled at her words and prepared themselves for a fight with the Queen of the Changelings herself. Author's Note So yeah, I know it took some time to release this one. Hopefully you all will understand, same reasons as always, friends, school, life, the works. As always, tell me what you think and I will update as often as I can. Enjoy. It's been some time, I know. I guess I should be outright. I haven't been updating this anymore because I've lost interest and life has only gotten more stressful for me as time has passed. I view it now as a chapter of my life that's ended and it's time to move on. I won't tell myself I'm going to finish something that I know I won't anymore. I asked a friend about seeing if he would take up the mantle to finish it but he's just as busy with his own life and I'm not going to have either of us force the ending to this. I'm really sorry to everyone that was really into it, I know it sucks to be left on a cliffhanger that inevitably ends with nothing, but 1. I wouldn't want to force myself to do something I'm not enjoying anymore and 2. Even if I did, the chapters would only be dull and show my lack of enthusiasm to continue. Again, I'm sorry to end it all on a note like this. I wish you all the best in your own futures. Evil Stirs in the Everfree ForestOPTICS: ONLINE REAR THRUSTERS: ONLINE FORWARD THRUSTERS: ONLINE TRACKING SYSTEMS: ONLINE WEAPON SYSTEMS: ONLINE TARGETING SYSTEMS: ONLINE HULL INTEGRITY: 100% SYSTEM REPAIRS: COMPLETE “Damn that Super Mario…” the mechanical creature stated, “I was careless and cocky. Through my survival, I have been reborn and improved, but…” it stopped suddenly. “Why take him down alone when I can share my victory with a minion…? Yes…I will find a suitable companion, and together we will eradicate this world.” He jumped into the air and activated his rear thrusters. He seemed to be scanning the area very carefully. “Perfect…” “Do…do we have to go in there?” Fluttershy asked nervously. “We’ll be okay without one of them, won’t we?” “We have to, Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “without it, we can’t figure out where the next one is. I know it’s odd that we can’t just use the map to locate the rest, but the first one only allowed me to see this one. They appear to be connected in a particular order.” “It’ll be alright, sugarcube,” said Applejack, “we’re all right here with ya, and we’ll be there every step of the way.” Fluttershy was still very hesitant about entering the Everfree Forest. Mario attempted to comfort her as well. He started to talk in his Italian accent. He told her of the time he had eaten a rare type of food, called an invicishroom, and how it had made him very ill. He could not continue on his adventure with his younger brother, Luigi, unless he went on a journey to a place known as the Guffawha Ruins, to find the cure for his illness. Luigi was mortified after hearing about all the monsters that thrived there, and it took some convincing before he finally had the courage to go. But the one thing that kept him going was his desire to save his older brother. Mario told Fluttershy to think of the thing she holds most dear. And to think of the things she would do to protect it. “I hold all of my friends as the most important things in my life.” She replied. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to them. But I would do anything to protect them.” “That’s why we’ve gotta do this, Fluttershy,” Applejack intervened. “The world is in danger, including us. We have ‘ta help Mario here get all those stars. Celestia only knows what’ll happen if we don’t. And he won’t let anything happen to you, or any of us sugarcube, honest.” Fluttershy thought about what her friends were telling her. She was finally convinced. “You’re right, thanks AJ.” Fluttershy said, hugging Applejack. “And thanks Mario…” Mario walked over and hugged her; they all knew it was taking a lot of courage for her to face her fear of the Everfree Forest. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you or Goombella, either…” She said under her breath. “Alright!” Rainbow Dash shouted suddenly. “Let’s do this! We’ll show that tin can whose boss!” With that, the heroes entered the shadows of the Everfree Forest. Not a single one of them had the slightest idea of where to begin looking, the star could be anywhere in the dark, dense forest. They began walking and looking for any sort of glittering or odd shaped object that could have lodged itself into the ground or into one of the many trees. They continued to look when Goombella decided to strike up a conversation. “So I’ve been curious, what are those tattoos you all seem to have near your rear ends?” She asked. “Those are our Cutie Marks, silly!” Pinkie Pie stated, somehow expecting Goombella to be aware of this. “We get them when we discover what our true talents are! Don’t you have yours yet?” Mario and Goombella seemed confused. Pinkie Pie gasped, took Mario and Goombella in her hooves and started talking at an inaudible speed while hopping into the air. “YOU DON’T HAVE THEM YET? THAT’S OKAY! IT JUST MEANS YOU STILL HAVE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU ARE GOOD AT! MAYBE BOWLING! OR SKYDIVING! OR TEACHING! OR DRAWING! OR-“ “PINKIE!” The group shouted, Mario and Goombella now fairly dizzy. “Sorry! I just get so excited thinking about what you could earn as your Cutie Mark like I would for anypony!” She replied, still half excitedly. “We don’t earn Cutie Marks, Pinkie Pie.” Goombella said. Pinkie Pie looked a little disappointed upon hearing this. “But isn’t there something that symbolizes your special talent?” Fluttershy interjected. “Not really.” Goombella replied. “We just go about our lives like anyone would, we discover the things that we are good at but we don’t earn anything on our bodies that symbolizes it. I thought you all just had tattoos or something symbolizing your friendship. I didn’t realize that they just sort of appear there.” “All the same, they don’t exactly just APPEAR there,” Rarity stated, “we do have to earn them. I earned mine when I realized I had a knack for fashion. I like to design clothing for ponies all over Equestria.” Goombella took notice of the three diamonds on Rarity’s flank. She then looked at everyone else’s cutie marks and tried to guess what their special talents were. “So what do the three butterflies mean, Fluttershy?” She asked her. “I love animals…” She replied, “I understand them and nurture them. I feel like each and every one of them is a child, in need of a mother. I earned mine when I realized that.” Goombella had no idea as to what Rainbow Dash’s signified. “Cloud with a multicolored lightning bolt…you got me, what does it mean?” She asked. “Only that I’m the greatest flyer in Equestria!” She replied, quite proud of herself. “I got it the day I performed my first Sonic Rainboom when I was a filly.” Goombella looked confused. “RainBOOM? Now you’re just making up words…” She laughed. Rainbow Dash began explaining a Sonic Rainboom as they continued to walk through the forest. “It’s something that only a Pegasus pony is capable of, and only the fastest of the fast are even able to do it. Once at peak velocity, a rainbow wave explodes behind us followed by a loud BOOM and soon after, we are flying at an immeasureable speed!” “Ahh, so it’s like a Sonic Boom, then…” Goombella replied. “What exactly is that?” Rainbow Dash asked with a puzzled look. “Basically the equivalent of what you told me, without the Rainbows and such. And only aircraft are capable of doing it back home in our world.” “Well that sounds boring yet awesome at the same time!” Goombella noticed the three apples that were on Applejack’s flank. “So you got yours because you like to eat apples, Applejack? Why would you get one for that?” Goombella asked her. Applejack laughed at this. “Oh Sugarcube, mine doesn’t mean I like eating apples, I actually got mine when I realized that my true calling was working on the apple farm at home with my family. I had visited some family that lived in the city, and I noticed that their style of life isn’t what I wanted to live. I returned home and at that moment, I knew the apple farm was where I belonged.” “That’s a sweet story, Applejack.” Goombella said. “Aww shoot,” Applejack replied, “family always comes first, no matter what, and everyone here, you are all part of the apple family in my eyes.” She then turned to Pinkie Pie, noticing the three balloons on her flank. “So this one is definitely something with parties I assume, Pinkie?” Goombella said. “Shoosh yeah!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “I got mine the day I through a big party for everypony back home on the rock farm! I love to make people smile and laugh, which is how I got my Cutiemark!” “What exactly is a rock farm?” Goombella asked. “The most boring thing in the world!” Pinkie replied. “Ponies never smile when they have to push rocks around all day. I had to bring some joy to my family, and the moment I saw them smile was the moment I realized that!” Goombella finally turned to Twilight. She studied her Cutiemark very carefully. She had no idea what to make of it, nor could she tell what the shape of it even was. “I can’t even get an idea of what yours means Twilight, care to explain?” Goombella asked. Just as Twilight was about to speak, Fluttershy gasped at what she witnessed. A pack of Timberwolves made their appearance known to the heroes, and they looked like they were ready for a feast. “What are those things?!” Goombella shouted. “Timberwolves…” said Twilight, “they are carnivorous creatures, made of wood bound by magic in the Everfree Forest, they are something to be afraid of.” Mario motioned for everyone to stay behind him, as he took a fighting stance. “We’ve got ‘yer back, Mario!” Applejack shouted. “These things are a menace to deal with especially alone, you won’t be able to take them by yerself!” Mario yelled out an excited “Let’s-a-go!” and the battle commenced. Mario leaped forward and attempted to punch a Timberwolf into the ground, but it leaped out of his sight and he hit the ground, leaving an imprint of his fist where he hit. Twlight’s horn began to glow as an aura surrounded it, she fired a few shots of magic at the wolves, knocking a few of them to the ground. However, they stood back up immediately. Applejack jumped forward and bucked the first one she saw with all her might, knocking it straight into another one that was going for Goombella. “Yikes!” Goombella said, “thanks for the save!” “Don’t hesitate, here comes another one headed straight for ‘ya!” Applejack shouted. Goombella turned around in just enough time to bonk into its head with her own, defending herself from the attack. Rarity tried to pick up a few small boulders to launch at them, but she was interrupted by a larger Timberwolf that batted her aside and tried to take her in its mouth. Mario jumped out of nowhere and landed on its head, dropping her immediately. He backflipped to a spot close to her and helped her up. Pinkie Pie seemed to be having the time of her life as she pulled out her party cannon (out of nowhere) and fired a large blast at a small group of the wolves, blowing them into pieces. Rainbow Dash flew directly into one with her back hoof, kicking in the face and sending it flying towards a tree. “GOAL!” She yelled excitedly. However, upon letting her guard down for that quick second, another wolf tackled her to the ground and tried to claw for her face! Twilight fired a bolt of her magic into its face to knock it off of Rainbow Dash. The group noticed that each wolf that they hit would shatter into a few pieces, appearing to be defeated. “Glad that’s over…” Goombella said, quite relieved. “Not quite…” said Twilight, “they don’t just stop from a few attacks, they can rebuild themselves after falling apart. This battle has merely just begun.” Mario was also very skeptical about having beaten them, he had dealt with enemies such as Dry Bones, which could rebuild themselves after falling apart. Sure enough, the creatures began to reconstruct their original bodies, and the pack of Timberwolves was now racing towards the heroes for another assault. Mario managed to bat one of them away by kicking it a solid distance, but he was caught off guard by another that swooped by and picked him up with its mouth, shaking him violently in its jaws. “MAMA-MIA!” He shouted as he was being shaken like a ragdoll. Rainbow Dash tackled it down, and Mario flew out of its jaws and hit the ground with a loud THUD! After recuperating, he noticed that Fluttershy was about to be attacked by the larger one, which he was now acknowledging as the pack leader. He threw his hammer at it before it could attack her and the hammer smashed it square in the face, followed by Mario, who caught the hammer and slammed the wolf to the ground with it. “These things won’t stop getting back up!” shouted Rarity, “how much more of a beating do we have to give them before they stop?” Twilight was also pondering this fact. They usually don’t fight Timberwolves solely because they could just get back up. What would eventually cause them to stop? She assumed maybe after fighting them a little while longer, they would get bored and leave them alone. Rainbow Dash grabbed another one and smashed several of its buddies away, as if she was swinging a hammer of her own. She then through it towards another wolf and they both shattered into pieces. Mario witnessed her attack, and he had an idea. He ran to Rainbow Dash to tell her his plan. “That sounds awesome!” She said, and they took their stances. Mario held his arms out and began to spin, doing his signature move, the Mario Tornado. However, Rainbow Dash also began to fly around Mario, spinning in the same direction that he was turning in, creating a small tornado around his body. He suddenly rose off of the ground and gained enough air to hover for a short time, but this was all he needed. He stopped spinning and Rainbow Dash stopped flying in circles around him, and they grabbed hands and fore hooves, with their back legs outstretched, continuing to spin from the leftover momentum, kicking many Timberwolves in the face, knocking them all into pieces. They made a slow descent as they continued to knock all of the approaching wolves into pieces, when they finally let go, and performed their own flying kicks towards individual wolves, back flipping and landing back to back. Mario knew this as the Spin Bros. attack. “That was amazing you guys!” Goombella shouted to Mario and Rainbow Dash. As impressive as the attack was, it did not stop the constant assault of the Timberwolves. Mario also refused to try and burn them with his fire as he did not want to burn the forest down. He was left with one other option. They all leaped up onto the growing Crystal Star, and suddenly it was bouncing off of the ground, creating small shockwaves that shattered all of the Timberwolves at once. The star shrank down to normal size, and the Timberwolves actually stopped attacking them! They reformed and took off in all different directions. The group finally had a moment to rest. “Glad it’s finally over...” said Twilight, still trying to catch her breath. As they began to regain their strength, they heard a loud roar in the distance. “What was that?!” Fluttershy screamed. “I don’t know, but we’re gonna find out!” Goombella shouted with enthusiasm. They took off into the direction of the sound, keeping their guards up and their wits sharp, knowing that another battle was about to begin. Author's Note Again, the wait is because of work and school, trying to balance those and a social life haha, anyways, enjoy
First Impressions*Equestria* It was another bright and sunny day in Ponyville, and it was also, yet again, Gummy’s birthday. As for anypony, Pinkie Pie always had plans to throw an amazing birthday party, and she would invite all her closest friends. (Did she ever think of inviting Gummy’s closest friends?! How rude! But the parties are always fun, no matter who is there.) However, she did not do her normal singing invitations, where she dressed up in some ridiculous outfit and she sing to everypony she invited. As she said she would do previously, she decided to handout written invitations to save herself the exhaustion. Something rather unexpected of Pinkie Pie. As usual, everypony that she invited showed up, and they were all having a great time. This didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary. Pinkie Pie saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack bobbing for apples. “Is everypony having a great time?” Asked Pinkie Pie to the two mares. “Heck yeah! You always throw the best parties Pinkie.” Replied Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash dove her head into the bucket and she managed to pull an apple out. “Ta-da!” She exclaimed, quite proud of herself. Pinkie Pie laughed. “That’s just a boring old apple! There are plenty of other surprises in there!” Both ponies were curious now. “Like what?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It’s a surprise! It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you silly!” Replied the Pink mare. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked into the bucket and dove inside. Applejack pulled out an odd object, a foam finger with a pinkie and index finger outstretched; she had no idea what it was. She put it on her hoof, seeing that it could not have gone anywhere else, and it made sounds like “BANG” and “PEW PEW PEW” when she pointed with it. (What a crazy mare…) Applejack thought to herself. Rainbow Dash came out and Gummy was trying to consume her face, it would have been quite hysterical to have witnessed. “I should have learned from last year…” Rainbow said to herself. Pinkie Pie walked over to Rarity who was standing near the punch bowl. “Hey Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Did you try some of the punch? It’s Gummy’s favorite!” Pinkie handed her a cup with some of the punch in it, where Rarity drank very slowly, but did not swallow, remembering what was in the punch. “It’s…delicious darling!” Rarity lied, not wanting to hurt her friend’s feelings. “I’m glad you like it!” she said. The music suddenly changed to a song that Pinkie enjoyed. “OOOOOHHH this is my jam!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she ran to the dance floor, while Rarity spat the punch into a plant nearby. She started dancing with Twilight and Fluttershy who commented on how fun her parties always are. “Thanks you guys! I think they are fun because all of my bestest friends in Equestria are always there!” Pinkie said excitedly. Pinkie Pie then proceeded to body check the two mares she was dancing with into the wall with enough force to leave prints where they hit, but this did not make the party any less fun to be at, and they seemed to just shake it off like it was nothing anyway. The little alligator whom the party was for did not seem to really care that he was suddenly the center of attention, but it’s possible to infer that he was having a great time nonetheless. Pinkie Pie began singing for Gummy. “Go Gummy, it’s your birthday! Go Gummy it’s your birthday!” Everything was going great when suddenly a loud noise was heard outside in the distance as well as the sound of crashing outside of Sugar Cube Corner, followed by the ground shaking violently like an earthquake was taking place. The needle on the record player was shaken off and the music stopped as did the dancing of the 6 ponies inside of Sugar Cube Corner. “What in tarnation was all of that?!” Applejack exclaimed. “I’m not sure…” began Twilight, “it sounded like it came from the direction of the Everfree Forest. “We should go check it out,” Rainbow Dash said. “After all, we usually are the ones who protect Ponyville, even though we do cause some of the crazy things that happen to it…” Fluttershy started to look worried. “I’m not sure, girls. I’m sure it will be alright, nothing seems to be happening to Ponyville right now, so I wouldn’t be too concerned with looking for what might have caused it. “Nothing happened to Ponyville? Look at that thing that crashed into City Hall!” Rainbow Dash pointed at the star shaped object sticking out of the roof. She flew up and pulled it out of the roof when she realized it was a star. “What the…a star? How does something like this make it so far down from the sky? Not only that, if feels like metal.” “Looks like we found out what caused the closer of the two noises,” Twilight began, “but we should still investigate what might have happened in Everfree Forest, I’ll do some research on that star after we make sure Ponyville is going to be safe.” With some encouragement, the group finally managed to calm Fluttershy enough to join them on the trek to the Everfree Forest, and before long they set off to discover what mystery was left waiting for them. As they ran deeper and deeper into the forest they started to hear sounds of clashing and explosions, as if a battle was taking place. The woodland creatures were all running away from the cause while the six mares were running towards it. As they moved in closer, they could see three new creatures that they had never seen before. Two of them looked very similar, but one looked more metallic while one looked more plump and non-metallic. The other was a pink creature with no arms and a ponytail sticking out of an archaeologist’s helmet. The two similar creatures both wore red hats with an “M” on them and blue overalls overtop of red shirts and brown shoes with white gloves on their hands. They also had tremendously sized noses where keen mustaches were resting under. They seemed to be in a heated battle that the ponies did not want to get involved in, but watched to see what would happen. “Give up, Super Mario,” the metallic bipedal began to say, “I am superior to you in every way without the Crystal Stars and I will conquer the world as I see fit when I obtain all seven of them. Mario held his position heroically and charismatically as he always does in dangerous battles. It was obvious to the six ponies who the hero was and who the villain was. They also noticed that the non-robotic creature seemed to talk very little, but something about him told the ponies that he could be trusted. “Crystal Stars?” Twilight whispered from the hiding place. “Is that what that thing is? I feel like I’ve heard of them from a book I read…” Goombella became angry. “You can take this metal creep, Mario!” Without hesitation, the creature known as “Mario” jumped into the air and directed a kick towards the metal creature, but to no avail was he able to really hurt him. The robotic creature then grabbed Mario’s foot and threw him into a tree, out of sight. Mario burst from the tree and punched the robot in the gut, where he then continued with a barrage of punches, followed by a rapid spinning of punches ending with an uppercut, sending the robotic demon upward. Mario then jumped up, took his hammer out, and smashed the robot down into the ground, but he landed soundly on his feet. “Please,” the robot began, “save your energy, you’ll need it after I’m through with you.” The robot raised his hand up, firing a missile from it. “Eat-a- this!” it exclaimed. Mario realized the environment that he was in, and he knew that an explosion would set the place ablaze in seconds, so he took the hit to avoid setting the forest on fire. He was thrown back a good distance, but he managed to stand back up, where he then jumped very high into the air, enough where the robotic creature lost sight of him. “Where did he go?” The robot questioned, soon being slammed into the ground because of the great height that Mario could jump and great power behind it, realizing that Mario was stronger than he thought. Rainbow Dash began to get excited. “Look at that guy go! He just pummeled that thing!” She mentioned. “He can definitely hold his own, but that robotic abomination is pretty strong.” Rarity said. “We should help that Mario feller out if things get out of…” Applejack started to say, when the mechanical creature blasted a machine gun towards the position of the six ponies, which uncovered their hiding place. “I thought I heard a racket over there,” began the robotic creature, “talking horses? Give me a moment while I end their existence.” The mechanical creature then placed his hands together, charging up some sort of fire attack. Mario quickly jumped in front of the six ponies and began to charge up a fire attack of his own, realizing that there was no way fire would not come out of this fight. Both sides collided in a mass of flames, immediately setting the forest ablaze, also leaving both bipedals injured greatly. “Damn,” the robotic creature began while noticing his weapons and body took quite a beating, “right now, you live, next time, I will have the crystal stars, and you and your world will parish.” He then flew away to repair himself from the battle that ravaged the Everfree Forest. Mario, barely standing, turned to the six mares, and collapsed immediately. The local pegasi began to place rain clouds over the Forest to prevent its destruction. Goombella walked over to the six ponies. “You guys okay?” She asked, concerned for their safety. “We’re fine darling, thanks to your red friend here.” Rarity stated. “My name is Goombella, wow, I’m sorry; I’ve never seen talking mares in all of my research with Professor Frankly.” Twilight began to get excited, realizing that somebody who worked with a professor is most likely another intellectual that she can talk to about everything in the world. “Yay!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing in the air, “it’s always fun to see a new face to make friends with!” “It’s nice to meet you, Goombella,” Twilight began, “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. I hate to be rude, but I can’t say I’ve have even seen a creature such as yourself either. “I’m a Goomba, we have a bad reputation back home, but not all of us are so bad.” Explained Goombella. “I’ve wanted to gain a proper education and go into archaeology, and I’ve been studying as an intern with Professor Frankly, he’s a crazy old man, but he is one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever had the privilege to learn from.” “That sounds a lot like you and Celestia, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. Twilight pondered this truth for a moment; she was still very excited that she would have another individual to talk to about intellectual things. “It does, but we should get back to Ponyville and figure out what exactly happened before we learn more about each other.” Twilight mentioned, realizing the rain was now beginning to downpour. “My mane is getting ruined! After all the work I put into keeping it flowing beautifully!” Rarity whined. Applejack rolled her eyes at the purple haired mare. “Rainbow, take Mario to the library, we can tend to him when we’re all settled there.” Twilight said without hesitation. The group made their way to Twilight’s library, and Rainbow Dash placed Mario onto Twilight’s bed where he could rest. To her surprise, she realized he wasn’t burned in any way, in fact, it almost seemed like he was sleeping rather than unconscious. She rejoined the group in the center of the library. “So Goombella,” Twilight started, “where are you from?” “I come from a raggedy place known as Rogueport, which is a province of the Mushroom Kingdom, it’s not the greatest place in the world, but it is my home.” Goombella said, thinking maybe they knew of this place. “Mushroom Kingdom?” Twilight looked confused. “I’ve never heard of that place.” Goombella was surprised at first, then, remembering how they got to this new land in the first place, she wasn’t so surprised anymore. “I didn’t think it would sound familiar, we didn’t get here through any kind of regular methods, we were sent here through a portal.” She said. Twilight was puzzled now more than ever. “A portal? So you guys can do magic?” Twilight asked. “Not EXACTLY…not that kind of magic, I can’t exactly do any myself, and what Mario did with the fire, that is more like conjuring flames rather than pure magic, but we didn’t even create the portal, the crystal stars did.” She replied. “OH YEAH!” Rainbow Dash forgot about the object she picked up earlier. “This wouldn’t happen to be one of those ‘Crystal Stars,’ would it?” She pulled out the metal star-shaped object. “You found one?!” Goombella was shocked. She had no idea where they could have gone after they scattered, apparently this one had not gotten too far. “Sure did, landed right in the roof of City Hall.” She replied. “What would you do with something like that?” Asked Pinkie Pie, who was now, to the other ponies’ surprise, very interested in the situation. Goombella began her rant about the Crystal Stars, being created by a powerful being known as the Shadow Queen, who would use them to increase her own power. She was sealed away by the heroes before Mario and his party, who sealed a door with a magical barrier that was closed for a thousand years. Twilight was very intrigued. Many questions ran through her head. “Why was that robot trying to obtain them and where did he come from?” She asked. “They are capable of more than just sealing doors, I mean, they DID send us here through a portal, when Mario used them, he was able to do many different things with each star that would help us immensely.” Goombella said. “As for that hunk of junk that was fighting us, we don’t really know much about him except that he looks like Mario and that he is pretty dang tough. He wants to use them to increase his own power, much like the Shadow Queen did.” “Did you guys fight the Shadow Queen?” Twilight asked. Goombella began to reminisce about the battle. “That was an incredible battle…” she replied finally, “it’s a long story though…” Applejack jumped in. “We’ve got nothing but time, pardner, and your friend, Mario was it? He needs some time to rest; feller is tuckered out worse than I was after apple buck season. Tell us everythin’ that happened from there down to how you got here.” Goombella began her story. “WELL…”
Goombella's Story*Palace of Shadow* Mario finally stood before the Shadow Queen. He had gathered each and every one of the seven Crystal Stars. He defeated Hooktail and recovered the Diamond Crystal Star. He helped the Punies take back the Great Tree and recovered the Emerald Crystal Star. He became the champion of the Glitz Pit and received the Gold Crystal Star. He put an end to the mystery of Twilight Town by defeating Doopliss, and earned the Ruby Crystal Star. He defeated the ghost pirate known as Cortez and recovered the Sapphire Crystal Star. He took the 3 day train ride to Poshley Heights and earned the Garnet Crystal Star. He recovered the Final Crystal Star from the X-Nauts by reaching their moon base and defeating Lord Crump and his Magnus Von Grapple 2.0. Using the Crystal Stars, he opened the Door said to have been closed for 1,000 years and overcame every trial that the Palace of Shadow could throw at him. “Destroy these impudent fools!” Commanded Grodus, who had previously escaped the encounter with Mario because of Bowser’s interruption. “Who are you that would command me?” Questioned the Shadow Queen, who only looked at Grodus with a face of cockiness. “What?! I thought you had to obey the one who set you free?! Just do what I say and destroy them!” Grodus was furious while confused, believing that if the Queen was set free, she was bound to obey the one who set her free. The Shadow Queen merely raised her hand at him as lighting struck him with a great intensity, reducing him only to the helmet he was wearing. “Silly mortal, you would have done well to have held your tongue than to have attempted to give me orders and do YOUR bidding.” The Shadow Queen laughed as she looked onto the trio that stood before her. The Shadow Sirens had appeared from what seemed to be the ground, as they tend to travel, along with Doopliss, now considered a Shadow Siren. “My Queen…” stated Beldam. “Ahh Beldam, what ages have passed? Was it you that brought this body before me?” “Yes my Queen,” Beldam started, “it was all part of our glorious plan to release you, we searched for a woman that best suited your power and had a fool go and retrieve each of the Crystal Stars to break the seal and finally reawaken your power.” “Yes, very good, you have served me well…” The Shadow Queen said. “But who are these mortals that stand before me? They don’t appear to possess very much power, except for that red fool in the overalls. Something resonates from him which I’ve not seen, while I can sense the firey aura he has about him, I sense something stronger… ” Each of Mario’s allies stood behind him. “I have a proposition for you mortals,” continued the Shadow Queen, “serve me as my slaves and I shall allow you to live as I conquer the world you once knew.” Mario’s allies looked at him. “We’re with you Mario, I know you will do what is right and stop this witch.” Stated Goombella, Mario’s most reliable ally and first friend he made upon his arrival to Rogueport. Mario held his fighting stance refusing the Shadow Queen’s offer. “So you defy me, very well, I will deal with you petty mortals and continue my reign of this little world of yours.” The Shadow Queen stated as she prepared to fight the heroes. Mario jumped forward and the battle commenced. The Shadow Queen stared at her red clad opponent and all of his friends. “This new body is not yet accustomed to my power, but it will be enough to stomp you out of existence,” the Shadow Queen said, confident that she was unstoppable. Mario ran forward and bounced off of her head several times, one of his signature moves known as Power Bounce, dealing a few decent blows to start the battle right. Koops huddled down into his shell and Mario kicked him with all his might at the Shadow Queen, who merely laughed at the attempt. “You’re going to wish you had chosen to be my slaves, mortals,” The Shadow Queen stated as she lifted her hand and struck lightning down on the heroes. Mario was the target for this attack but he did not falter. He dashed forward and slammed his hammer down on the queen, the force was so great it bounced him into the air for a secondary jump attack where he bounced off of her head back to his position. The Queen unleashed all hell of the lightning magic that she possessed and continued to pound the heroes with bolts, however, Vivian, being a Shadow Siren herself, dove into the ground and out to the Shadow Queen for a punch that set the Queen ablaze. The Shadow Queen looked unimpressed. “You think you’ll be able to beat me? Your petty attacks are nothing to a being such as myself.” She lifted both hands into the air and suddenly a hoard of undead hands rose from the floors and attacked the heroes, much like a stampede. The heroes were starting to take a beating but Mario had an idea. He lifted his hands into the air and suddenly the Sapphire Crystal Star appeared, and he used its magic to cure the heroes. Again, the Shadow Queen looked unimpressed. They continued to exchange blows when Mario pulled out the Gold Crystal Star, which boosted their might and durability temporarily. With this boost, they were able to weaken the Shadow Queen slightly more than they thought they would be able to. “Cute party tricks, but now you will parish as I take on my true form.” She said as she collected all of her energy and transformed into the Witch that she truly was. “Still feel like you can defeat me? In this form, all of your attacks are mere child’s play, and I can sit here and laugh as you try and try again.” Bobbery ran up to the queen, fuse lit, as he detonated himself close to her position and flew back to his original, realizing that she came out unscathed. The heroes were in awe as they started to throw everything they could at her while she only sat and laughed at their countless attempts to injure her. “What did I tell you? You are only wasting your time and mine, now you will parish!” The Shadow Queen charged up every ounce of energy she had and unleashed it upon them, leaving the heroes nearly collapsing. Almost all hope was gone at this point when Mario, still standing, noticed that the Crystal Stars were hovering around him. “What are they doing?” Inquired Goombella, still injured from the previous attack. Nothing else could be said as the Stars all flew out to the lands that Mario had been before he collected them in the first place, Poshley Heights, Twilight Town, Keelhaul Key, each place he had been to when he obtained each Star. The townsfolk observed as the stars would land in the center of their village, and listen as the Stars were telling them that Mario was in a fight against The Shadow Queen to save the world. Each village began to chant for Mario to win the fight and stop the evil. Many voices could be heard in the room that Mario and The Shadow Queen were battling in. “You can do it Mario!” “You’re the best and you’ll defeat her!” “Go get ‘em Gonzales!” All of the positive energy began to show Princess Peach as she was slightly able to break free of the hold that the Shadow Queen had on her. “Mario…” Princess Peach’s strength was draining fast. “Take the energy I have left in me…only you can defeat her…I know you can do it…” No sooner had the group listened to Peach, they were all cured of the wounds they had received from the Shadow Queen and their strength had been restored. Things were starting to turn for the better. The Shadow Queen was still very unimpressed. “You will not be able to defeat me, a few annoying voices blaring in my chamber is not going to be what saves you, puny mortals.” Suddenly Goombella was now full of excitement. “We can do this, Mario! Now let’s put an end to her “reign” once and for all!” The true battle was about to begin. Somewhere far out into the breaches of space, or the moon, rather, mechanical sounds could be heard, gears whirring and servos powering up. Another sound could be heard, but it sounded like the voice of a computer: “DEFENSE PROTOCOL INITIATED”
There's Adventure Afoot!*Equestria* “…that’s where the tables turned and we finally stood a chance.” Goombella said. “But, weren’t you scared at all? The entire world’s fate was resting on all of your shoulders!” Fluttershy stated. She thought about what it would have been like to be in Goombella’s position. Facing an entity such as the Shadow Queen, who very easily could have killed all of them if they made even the slightest mistake. “We were all terrified,” replied Goombella, “even Mario was, but he would be willing to sacrifice anything if it meant that the world would be free another day. I guess that’s why I…” Goombella stopped suddenly. “Why you what?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. Twilight knew what she was about to say, but decided instead to bring the story back up. “So what happened after the Princess cured all of you?” Twilight interrupted. “We took our chance, and threw everything we could at that witch!” Goombella replied excitedly. “Peach’s last bit of energy was enough to bring us up to par with the Shadow Queen. You know what the coolest part was? I delivered the final blow! Bonked her right in the noggin with the boost in power, at that point she couldn’t take it anymore, and she faded away, leaving the princess free of the hold that was on her.” Pinkie Pie jumped in. “So then everypony lived happily ever after?!” “I guess you could say that, Pinkie,” replied Goombella, “a few days had passed and she and Mario went back to the Mushroom Kingdom. I had time to catch up on my studies with Professor Frankly and everyone else went their separate ways, however, I DID get to visit everyone else that traveled with us, they were all doing great. Still though, I’m glad I’ve gotten to have another adventure with Mario. I didn’t think he would visit us again. A short time after I mailed him, he came back, knowing there were still challenges we could face together. We decided to test our skills in the Pit of 100 Trials. This is where fate had other plans for us.” “Goodness, a hundred trials? What did these trials require you to do?” Rarity inquired. “Well, we would enter a room with a baddie for us to fight, once we defeated him, we advanced further and further, room after room, fighting guys that got stronger as we progressed.” “What was the final trial?” “The final Trial,” Goombella attempted to sound intimidating, “was fighting a dragon by the name of Bonetail. He was the meanest of dragons that we had ever encountered.” Fluttershy shuddered a bit after Goombella finished. “Oh dear, dragons…” she said under her breath. “But we had it under control,” Goombella continued, “We put quite a beating on him, at least at first. That was when HE showed up…” “Mecha Mario?” Twilight added. Goombella was puzzled. “That’s a good name for him, yes, Mecha Mario. We had never encountered him before, but it was easy to tell from his soulless eyes that he was after more than a friendly handshake and a ‘nice to meet you.’ He crashed through each room to get to us; HE actually defeated Bonetail in the end because he crashed into him so hard.” “He wanted the Crystal Stars.” Twilight added in again. “You guessed it,” Goombella replied, “he knew Mario had them, I can’t really figure out why he held onto them, best bet would be for him to hold them though, rather than to let them fall into the wrong hands. “The battle that took place in Everfree Forest was pretty intense,” Rainbow Dash started, “did Mario try to use the Crystal Stars?” “Well, you see,” Goombella began, “he attempted to use them, as it was our last option. We were still weak from the fight with Bonetail. He summoned all seven of them, and right when he was about to use their energy, Mecha Mario took the opportunity to strike. He dashed at Mario and directed a punch right into his face, sending him into the wall, losing control of the Crystal Stars as well. Mario is a great guy and all, but I never understood why he always held out the item he was going to use before using it, it always left him wide open…” Goombella laughed. Applejack still didn’t understand. “So then how’d they create the portal that sent ya here?” “I was getting to that,” Goombella replied, “Mecha Mario attempted to take hold of the Crystal Stars, which had been set in a circular motion; they were spinning in the air where Mario had been standing. The second Mecha Mario reached for them, he was sent back by a powerful force. The unfocused energy had ripped open a vortex that began to absorb everything in the room, including the Crystal Stars themselves. Mario recovered from the previous attack, and noticed that Mecha Mario had been slammed into the wall himself. I don’t really know what happened after that, as I had been pulled into the portal right as he got up. I was the first one to land in the forest, followed by Mario and our attacker. And that’s everything that I can remember up to this point.” Five of the six ponies in the room were in shock, all but Twilight, who was instead more aroused at her story than shocked. She always liked learning from other ponies’ experiences, even if they seemed impossible. “You guys have had it pretty rough,” Applejack said, “but at least you can rest fer now. Mario is way ahead of ya.” Almost as if he had planned to prove her wrong, Mario jumped out of the bed that he had been resting in. “YA-HOO!” he exclaimed, landing in the center of the library, taking everyone by surprise. “Well look who decided to join the party!” Rainbow Dash said. “PARTY?! WHERE IS IT?!?!” Pinkie Pie screamed. Twilight stepped forward. “It’s nice to meet you Mr. Mario, I noticed we never actually got to meet you before, my name is Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends. This is Pinkie Pie. Everypony in Equestria knows her for her very optimistic attitude. She enjoys throwing parties for everypony new that she meets and she also enjoys eating sweets, she is the Element of Laughter. Pinkie, say hi.” Pinkie Pie was still distracted by the mention of a party. “Alright then, this is Fluttershy. She is one of the friendliest ponies you could ever meet and she is the Element of Kindness.” She continued. “Thanks for, umm, protecting us earlier…” Fluttershy seemed nervous. Mario gave a full hearted smile to her, trying to make her feel more comfortable. “Over here is Applejack, she is one of the most dependable friends a pony could ask for and she makes an honest living in Sweet Apple Acres. She is the Element of Honesty.” Applejack held her hoof out. “Pleasure’s all mine, Mr. Mario. Thanks for the save earlier.” Mario took her hoof and they shook in a friendly manner. Twilight continued, “Rarity, the fashionista of Equestria and the holder of the Element of Generosity.” “Come by my parlor any time and I can make you look fabulous, darling.” Mario gave a gentlemanly bow to the white mare. “And finally, over here is Rainbow Dash, the greatest flyer in Equestria, most loyal of friends, and holder of the Element of Loyalty.” “Way to put a hurting of that heap of junk earlier, and thanks for the save too.” Rainbow dash put her hoof out and they performed the first hoof to hand bro fist in history. Goombella jumped in. “You make mention of these ‘elements’, what do you mean exactly?” She asked. “Well,” Twilight started, “each of us is representative of a quality of friendship, and I never mentioned that I am the Element of Magic, we all carry the Elements of Harmony, which are special items that bring harmony to Equestria. We have used them to save Equestria from many things that try to cause chaos and harm to others. We are, in a way, its guardians. Princess Celestia has always had faith in our actions and abilities. She knows we’d never let her down.” “Who is Princess Celestia?” Goombella asked. “She is the ruler of Equestria, she controls the sun that rises in the day and her sister, Princess Luna, controls the moon in the night. I’ve always seen Princess Celestia as a mother, as well as my teacher…” Twilight said. Goombella walked over to Twilight. “She is the family to you that Professor Frankly is to me…” Goombella said, sharing a nostalgic moment with her. “Looks like we couldn’t have run into a better group of friends to make, then.” Mario spoke to Twilight with an Italian-like accent that she was somehow able to understand. “Yes, Goombella told us the story of how you got here, and how you are hunting for these ‘Crystal Stars.’ Rainbow Dash actually found one of them. It landed on the roof of City Hall.” Twilight walked over to her bookshelf and Rainbow Dash pulled out the Star she found and handed it to Mario. He held his hands into the air as it hovered over where he stood, glimmering brightly. “Ahh here it is!” Twilight said, returning with a book. “I thought they sounded familiar, this book, ‘Legends of the Dark Arisen,’ makes mention of these four heroes who collected these objects, called the Crystal Stars, and sealed away a shadow demon behind a door that was closed for a thousand years. Your story checks out! And I thought this was all just a fictional story, but it seems to be realistically accurate.” Twilight looked into the book again, “Ahh! And that’s why the ‘Mushroom Kingdom’ didn’t sound familiar, while it never mentioned the city that these heroes lived in, it seems that the Mushroom Kingdom had also not been established by this time yet, either.” “That sounds exactly like that shifty guy on the roof that we paid 10 coins to tell us about the history of Rogueport and the legends of these heroes. What was the author of that book?” Goombella asked curiously. “That’s the odd thing,” Twilight replied, “it looks like the author’s name is scratched out.” “Curious…” Goombella replied, “but anyway, we have to find the other six of these stars, we used a map to help us locate them, but I don’t know if that map will work in a new land exactly…” Mario was thinking when he took out the map of Rogueport. “OH!” Mario said, surprised. Upon taking out the map, it shimmered and the land of Rogueport and all the other places Mario had visited previously had been altered. Unfamiliar lands were now scattered all over his magical map. Applejack walked over. “Why, that looks like Equestria! Twilight, take a gander at this.” She said astounded. “Well look at that!” Twilight said. “That IS Equestria, there’s Canterlot, there’s the Everfree Forest, here’s Ponyville, and Coudsdale, and the Crystal Empire…!” Twilight continued, however, Mario and Goombella lost track of all the places she was naming. As twilight continued, to name places off of the map, Mario spoke to Goombella. “That’s true too, how will we be able to track them down without the pedestal?” Goombella replied, confused. Twilight stopped and looked Goombella. “A pedestal, what did it do?” She asked. “Whenever we found another star,” Goombella began, “we stood on this pedestal in Rogueport sewers. The Crystal Star would take its place on a spot in the room, and the map would shimmer in the air, revealing where the next Crystal Star was located. But I don’t know how we’ll be able to do that now…” Twilight looked at the Crystal Star. “Mind if I hold your map for a second, Mario?” She asked. Mario handed Twilight the map. “What are you thinking, Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked her. Twilight levitated the map out in front of her and the Crystal Star began to hover above her head now. She began to cast a spell, and the Crystal Star started spinning faster. She was using a sample of its power to assist her own. The map started emitting light, and a flash of light was blaster through the room. Everyone aside from Twilight jumped at this. “I think that does it…” she said finally. She levitated the map back into Mario’s hands. Mario carefully studied the map. He noticed that the Emerald Star was now marked overtop of the Everfree Forest. He took the map and showed everyone that was in the room. “Well, it appears we have some unfinished business to tend to back in the Everfree Forest.” Twilight stated. Fluttershy became more nervous than she was previously. “Oh no, we have to go back…” Applejack walked over to Fluttershy and placed her hoof on her back. “It’ll be okay sugarcube,” she began, “we’ll all be right beside ya, and Mario here is gonna watch our backs the same way that we’ll be watching his. I promise ya, nothin’ bad will happen.” Mario nodded in approval. “OH-YEAH!” He shouted out. Suddenly, Spike walked through the door. He decided to take a day for himself since Twilight went to Pinkie’s party. “Hey guys, Mayor Mare is looking for you, she’s concerned about the huge hole in the roof of City Hall.” He said upon entering. “Oh yeah…” Rainbow Dash said, having forgotten entirely about it. “Maybe we SHOULD explain to her what’s been going on…” Everyone aside from Spike started walking out the door, when he began to smell the air. “That smells…like a huge diamond!” He said, suddenly excited. “Where is it at? And who are your friends?” “We’ll explain later, Spike.” Replied Twilight. “Just stay here, we’ll be back soon.” The group proceeded to the confused, beige, mare that was standing outside of City Hall. “There you are!” She said. “Would you girls happen to know what happened to my roof?” And who are the red and pink things following behind you?” “My name is Goombella,” said Goombella, “and this is Mario, sorry to meet on terms like this, it’s our fault that there is a large hole in your roof.” Mayor Mare looked surprised. “What did you do exactly?” She asked. Rainbow Dash jumped in. “Man, you shoulda seen it! This huge star fell out of the sky and crashed into the roof, and we heard a noise come out of the Everfree Forest, so we went to investigate, and we discovered that these two were fighting an evil robot!” Mayor Mare was confused at this point; it took some time to get her to understand the situation. The group tried to explain about Crystal Star this, and Mecha Mario that, but eventually, she caught on. “So you’re hunting these ‘Crystal Stars’ in an effort to save the world from an evil robotic creature that looks like this red fellow?” She asked, puzzled by their story. “Yes,” Twilight said, “and we’re going to help them.” Mayor Mare did not like the sound of an evil creature roaming in their peaceful lands, but she knew that if anypony could stop it, it would be Twilight and her friends, old and new alike. “Well, I believe you all can do it, I’m going to call the roofing agency about getting this roof patched, I recommend you prepare today for your journey, and set out tomorrow to the Everfree Forest to get that Crystal such-and-such.” “Thank you Ms. Mare, again, sorry about your roof…” Goombella replied. “Ahh don’t worry about it, dear, this roof has seen worse days.” Mayor Mare replied to the small goomba, remembering how the roof had caved in and Applejack went out to participate in a rodeo to earn money to repair it entirely. The six ponies showed Mario and Goombella as much of Ponyville as the day would allow, stopping at shops to buy helpful resources for their journey through the Everfree Forest the following day. Mario did have a few supplies leftover from the fight with Bonetail; one of these items was a Couple’s Cake that Mario planned to share with Goombella, before they had been interrupted by Mecha Mario. They stopped at a little café and enjoyed some dinner. It went well even though the food was meant for ponies. To everyone’s surprise, however, Mario somehow enjoyed the food and even got seconds. After the sun had set and Luna began to raise the moon into the sky, Twilight, accompanied by Mario and Goombella, went back to the library, while the other five ponies went back to their own homes, thinking about what the next day was going to bring them. As Twilight, Mario, and Goombella readied for bed, a small, well-known purple dragon, who should have been in bed himself, was snooping around, looking for the source of the delectable treat he had smelled earlier, and his senses led him to the familiar red clad hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, who was now sound asleep. “Time for a midnight snack…” he muttered under his breath. Author's Note Sorry it took a little while, had to focus on school and work and such. Enjoy.
The Side-ShowdownSpike searched Mario’s person for quite some time before he finally found what he was looking for. “How does he hold so much stuff in one pocket?” Spike questioned, nonetheless victorious that he found the Crystal Star. “What the heck is this thing? I’ve never seen a diamond shaped like this. Oh well, down the hatch!” Spike attempted to take a bite of the Diamond Crystal Star, but to his surprise, he found that his teeth could not penetrate through the Star, but instead hurt his own teeth. “OWW!” He shouted under his breath. Mario turned upon hearing the noise, but he was still fast asleep. Spike walked away from him slowly and contemplated what to do next. He kept staring at his diamond, noticing its beauty. It also glittered some kind of magic, he felt powerful just holding it. He decided he would step out into the night for a bit to play with it. He held it out like a sacred object, used to banish evil back to the hell it spawned from. His imagination took him into a world where demons were trying to take the one thing that meant most to him: Rarity. She was standing behind him, as he held out the star and intense waves of magic lashed out and the monsters that stood there faded away. He never felt such a sense of accomplishment than right at that moment. He turned to his imaginary Rarity, waiting for the kiss every hero yearns for after they have saved the world. Something moved in the bushes, however, Spike did not notice. A blue unicorn had been watching Spike the moment he had stepped outside. She was now suddenly very interested in what the purple dragon was holding rather than her arch rival, Twilight Sparkle, whom she intended to catch off guard by attacking her home on that night. “What’s this?” Trixie asked herself, “it’s Twilight’s dragon assistant! And that thing he’s holding…hehehehehe…” Trixie now had new intentions. She wrote a note, stating that she now has Spike and the object he was carrying and that if she wants to get them back, she would have to duel her. She nabbed Spike, who had still been lost in his fantasy, as well as the Crystal Star, and placed the note on her ground for her to find the next day. She then returned to her cart near the Everfree Forest, with the intent of learning how to use the power within the Crystal Star. She locked Spike in a cage and continued to study the power emanating from it as the night pressed on. Goombella, to Twilight’s surprise, was the first one awake that morning. “I never thought somepony could wake up before I do.” Twilight said with a smile on her face, “Good morning.” Goombella turned to her. “Well good morning!” She replied, “ya sleep alright?” “I slept very well, I usually get up early to do some studying before everypony else wakes up, it’s easier to concentrate that way.” Twilight said. “I use to do the same thing back home; I find that it is a lot easier to focus when no one else is awake to bother me.” Goombella replied. Twilight noticed that Goombella was staring at the still sleeping Mario. She could tell something was bothering her, and her intellectual conversation would have to wait. “Something bothering you, Goombella?” She asked her. The question seemed to catch her off guard. “What? OH! No, I’m fine!” She replied suddenly, “just, didn’t want to wake Mario up, I feel it’s better to let him sleep so he’ll be ready for the day…” her sentence trailed off as she continued to stare at him. She turned towards Twilight. “Thanks, for…umm, the save yesterday…” “You don’t have to thank me,” Twilight said, she knew what Goombella was talking about, “but I do have a question for you.” “Shoot.” Goombella replied. “Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” “I will…one day…” she replied nervously, “I’m not ready to tell him just yet.” “Fair enough, I suppose,” Twilight said, “but nothing will change if you keep it a secret.” They continued to talk when Twilight began to notice that something was amiss. Spike was not still sleeping in his bed. “Spike? Hey, Spike!” She called out, but she did not get a response. “That’s odd, where could he be?” “Maybe he went out for an early morning walk?” Goombella said, “I don’t know.” “That would be very unusual of him…” The moment Twilight said this, a sudden earthquake shook the library, and Mario fell out of bed onto the floor. “QUICK!” Twilight shouted, “Take cover under the table!” She and Goombella took cover when the earthquake stopped. Books were strewn all over the floor, and hours of time spent on organizing them had now been wasted. Mario quickly picked himself up, and went to see what the problem was. However, upon standing up, he noticed he was missing something. He dug through his pockets to realize that his Crystal Star was gone! “OH NO!” He exclaimed, with a shocked look on his face, frozen completely still. Twilight and Goombella crawled out from under their earthquake shelter. “Mario! What’s the matter?” Goombella asked, but his look said it all. “Oh no…” “I bet Spike had something to do with it, he wanted that Star from the beginning,” Twilight intervened, “as is natural dragon nature. To take things which do not belong to them, especially gemstones. We have to find him and get it back. Looks like the Everfree Forest will have to wait.” Mario nodded in agreement, and the three set out to retrieve Spike and the Crystal Star. They opened the door, when Mario noticed a note on the ground. He picked it up without hesitation and read aloud as Twilight and Goombella listened in. “Dear pesky ponies, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have taken over Equestria! The baby dragon is now a permanent guest in my roadside stage horse! I dare ya to find him if ya can!” Both Twilight and Goombella were more shocked over the fact that he seemed to talk normal for once, what a rare occasion! However, Mario continued to read. “If you need instructions on how to get to my stage horse, check out the enclosed instruction book!” Mario began to look through it when a sudden earthquake shook the whole town. “WAH!” “Not again!” Goombella shouted. Twilight took notice as the earthquakes seemed to emanate from a source. “This may sound odd,” she started, “but it looks like the quakes are starting in the direction of the entrance to the Everfree Forest.” Mario showed the booklet to Twilight, whose suspicions were now confirmed, Trixie was there. “Let’s go teach that wench who not to mess with!” Goombella exclaimed. With that, the three set off to the entrance of the Everfree Forest. Earthquakes continued to shake Ponyville, continually making it difficult to keep balance, even knocking small debris off of some of the buildings. All the citizens were taking cover as chunks of roof and walls fell all around them. Pinkie’s tail must have been shaking so much that it could become a mode of travel to her! The trio finally arrived at a small carousel stage. They proceeded to enter when a blast of magic knocked Mario on his rear end a short distance away. “Mario!” shouted Twilight and Goombella. The small carousel had opened into a small stage with fireworks exploding into the air. They turned over to witness their adversary, along with Spike, sitting in a cage close by. “Well look who finally decided to show up! Twilight Sparkle! And you brought some freaks along with you!” Trixie said very cockily. “You won’t believe what fortune I’ve come across.” She levitated the Crystal Star in front of them. “Give it back you sorry excuse for a sideshow!” Goombella said angrily. “That belongs to us! And you have no idea what it’s capable of!” “Oh, I’ve got an idea of what it’s capable of, putting me back on the top!” Trixie said. “Glad your little assistant is so careless with such things, why do you trust him so much?” Twilight was now furious, not just with Trixie, but Spike too. “You have no business to be kidnapping baby dragons in the middle of the night, Trixie,” Twilight began, “now hand them both back over and we can forget about this whole mess, you remember what happened last time we ‘dueled’. You set an Ursa Minor free and put the whole town in danger.” Mario stood back up after the blast, shaking his head vigorously. Trixie was starting to get irritated, but she kept her cool, she assumed everything was going to work in her favor anyway. “That was the past; I can easily defeat anypony who tries to steal the show from me now. If you want to taste the true power that the Great and Powerful Trixie possesses, attempt to strike me!” Goombella rushed forward and attempted to bonk Trixie with her head, but she was suddenly bounced back. A magical shield appeared that enveloped all of Trixie’s body. Spike called out to the trio. “Guys! She cast a shield around her body! You won’t be able to touch her as long as it’s active!” Trixie glared at Spike. “SILENCE YOU BUFFOON!” She yelled. Twilight turned to Mario. “Mario, I can take care of the shield, but it will take some time for me to concentrate and cast the spell on her, when I bring it down, throw everything you’ve got at her! I hate to have to encourage violence, but we’ve got no other choice. Just be careful, Trixie is very full of herself, but from what those stars are capable of, we won’t have an easy fight on our hooves.” Said Twilight. Mario nodded in agreement and took a fighting stance. “HERE WE GO!” Twilight began to focus her magic and charge her spell, while Goombella protected her. Trixie charged her magic into her horn and fired it at Mario, where he nimbly jumped out of the way as the shot bounced off of a rock and faded away. Trixie rapidly kept firing her magic at him but he was able to dodge it every time. This started to frustrate her greatly. While Mario continued his maneuvers, Goombella carefully studied Trixie. She noticed that as she got angry, her shield would dissipate for a moment because she wouldn’t be focusing her magic to keep it flowing, leaving Mario the perfect moment to strike. “Mario!” she called out, “strike her when she starts to rage! Her shield vanishes temporarily!” Mario heeded Goombella’s advice, and when Trixie got irritated, he rushed forward and took his chance. He jumped into the air and bounced off of her head once, and back flipped higher into the air for a second bounce off of her head, landing whimsically back where he first jumped. Trixie’s face turned as red as Mario’s hat. “YOU AREN’T GOING TO GET AWAY WITH HARMING THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!” She shouted, “TASTE MY POWER!” She pulled out the Crystal Star and used her magic to make it larger. She then jumped onto it, where it levitated high into the air and slammed the ground, causing a massive earthquake that knocked Mario around more than he would have expected. It actually bounced him into the air and slammed his head into the ground, where he was stuck momentarily. He managed to pull himself out before another attack had been thrown. Fortunately, Twilight had previously cast a shield over herself, and the tremors, while they shook her around a bit, did not break her concentration. “I bet everyone in town felt that one…” Goombella stated. Trixie fired more of her magic at Mario, and this time she fired it at quite a rapid pace. Mario managed to dodge all of them except the last one, where he pulled his hammer out and wacked it back at Trixie’s shield. This shattered it temporarily and Mario threw a fireball at her before she could bring it back up, this managed to knock her back a few feet from where she had been standing. Trixie again, pulled out the Crystal Star and attempted to use its power, except this time Mario jumped onto the star with her. They battled it out fist to hoof for a few moments, but Trixie had cheap shot Mario with a blast from her horn before he could knock her off. Mario fell from the sky and landed with a solid thud on his back. He watched as the star began to fall down for another ground breaking strike. “Finished!” Twilight yelled suddenly. Just before the star could impact the ground, she managed to nail Trixie directly through her precious shield, knocking her to the ground before the Crystal Star. She could no longer focus the energy to create it. However, this did not stop the Crystal Star from getting imbedded into the ground, sending a shock wave out that knocked everyone a fair distance away from it. Mario and Trixie were the first to recover. Upon realizing this, they both sprinted towards each other nearly at the speed that Rainbow Dash herself could fly when she was merely cruising. She would have been shocked to witness that. They both thought carefully about their next move as the distance between them and the Crystal Star was closing, when Mario leaped high into the air, completely out of sight, much like he did with Mecha Mario. He seemed to be very good at doing that. “Where did that red idiot-WAAAHH!” Trixie shouted, upon being pummeled suddenly to the ground by Mario’s fist. Mario decided it was time to finish the fight. “Let’s-a-go!” He grabbed Trixie by the tail, and started to spin her around very rapidly. Twilight noted Mario’s strength despite his small, portly stature. “UNHAND THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE THIS INSTANT!” Trixie shouted. She should have chosen her words more carefully. After he had wound her up enough, he released her and let gravity do the rest. “YA-HOO!” Mario shouted excitedly. Trixie flew far from the Everfree Forest AND Ponyville, it was impossible to tell where she would land. After she had pierced through several clouds in the sky, the trio decided it best to stop counting how many she had flown through. Again, Twilight was baffled by the strength of the plumber, who sometimes managed to surprise himself. “THIS ISN’T OVER, SPARKLE! I WILL RETURN…!” Trixie’s voice trailed off as she got farther away. They did not seem to care anyway. Twilight opened the cage that Spike was locked in, grateful that he was okay. However, she was still very upset with him for stealing the Crystal Star and leaving at night. He was truly ashamed of himself now. “Why would you do something so stupid, Spike?” she said, “Haven’t you learned not to take things that aren’t yours? That “diamond” is no ordinary diamond, it is an ancient artifact of immense power beyond our understanding. Not to mention that you had to STEAL it off of somepony you don’t even know yet just to obtain it. I’m very disappointed in you.” Tears were starting to well up in Spike’s eye. “I’m sorry Twilight,” he sobbed, “I didn’t know… I couldn’t help myself…” “I’m not the one to be apologizing to. That would be Mario over there.” She pointed at Mario, who was now pulling the Crystal Star out of the ground. It was lodged quite nicely, but he managed to recover it and keep it safe in his pocket of infinite space. Spike walked over to Mario and Goombella. “I’m sorry I took your diamond, Mario…” Spike said depressingly. Mario pat him on the head, accepting his apology. Despite all the hardships he faces, he never finds it easy to stay mad at anyone, human or not. “It’s alright, kiddo.” Goombella said. “It’s just a good thing we were able to find you both before anymore damage could have been done. The town looks a little banged up at this point…” “THERE YOU GUYS ARE!” A familiar voice called out. It was Rainbow Dash, as well as the rest of the mane six. “Glad to see you are all okay! Those earthquakes have been shaking up the town pretty badly.” “We’re alright Rainbow,” Twilight said, “Trixie got a hold of the Crystal Star, but we took it back from her.” “How in tarnation was she able to nab it from ya?” Applejack questioned. Spike stared at the ground, regretful of his mistake. “Let’s not worry about that, at least we got it back,” said Goombella. “Is everyone in town alright?” “Yeah, for the most part,” reported Rainbow Dash. “Lucky we have Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense to know when things are falling close by, otherwise things could have been a lot worse. Heck, she can sense earthquakes too!” “I had a combo that I had never felt before!” Pinkie Pie said. “Ear flop five times exactly, followed by a sudden hop into the air ending with a face plant! Glad it’s finally over!” “We should check on everypony before we go off to get the second star.” Twilight said. “And maybe grab a few things before we set off…” Twilight had an idea of the things she wanted to get. “Well this has been quite a morning!” Goombella stated. Mario nodded in agreement and the group set out back to Ponyville to make sure all of the citizens were okay, afterall, it kind of was their responsibility to protect the town, even Mario and Goombella now felt the responsibility on their shoulders. They arrived back in town to discover what the Crystal Star had truly done. A few buildings had collapsed and several ponies were unable to stay completely clear of the carnage. Carriages drawn by colts were pulling all of the injured ponies out of rubble to get them to the hospital. Luckily no severe casualties had been reported. Nonetheless, it was going to take some time for the town to recover. In order to spare him embarrassment, Twilight did not say anything to Spike about what his carelessness had led to. He felt bad enough already seeing for himself what his mistakes had done. They talked to a few of the EMT’s to assess the situation. They had it quite under control and assured them not to worry. As long as the earthquakes cease, things will calm down and be easier to handle. The group assured them that they did not have to worry about the quakes any longer. They arrived back at the library to gather the things Twilight mentioned. She opened a small box containing several necklaces and a Tiara, as well as the supplies they had gathered the day before. Mario and Goombella assumed these were the “Elements of Harmony” that Twilight had told them about. They trusted Twilight’s instincts to come back and get them, afterall, they did not know what the Elements were capable of, but they did not underestimate their power. Twilight told Spike to write a letter to Princess Celestia about the recent events over the past few days. About how they have made new friends and that they are going on a journey to retrieve these “Crystal Stars”. She assured the Princess that she would keep her updated on their progress. She then instructed Spike to stay and help the town in cleaning up the mess. Spike did not argue with her, and he rushed out the door to help clean up the town. After taking a moment to enjoy a quick breakfast, the eight heroes set out for the Everfree Forest to recover the next Crystal Star. The true adventure was about to begin.
Watch the skies, TravelerThe heroes continued to run towards the sound they had heard, dodging trees and large plants very narrowly. Whatever made the sound did not sound very satisfied at all. They finally approached a large cave, hidden from sight to any onlookers of the Everfree Forest watching from a distance away. “This cave seems very familiar…”Twilight stated as she observed the area, “like I’ve been here before…” “Well, what’s the plan Mario?” Applejack asked. “Let’s a go!” He replied. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Rarity interjected, “what if there is another pack of Timberwolves in there? Or something else worse?” Fluttershy began to shudder in fear. “But what if the Crystal Star is inside? What’s stopping us from at least taking a look?” Rainbow Dash said. She had a point, if it was there and they didn’t look, they would only be wasting more time. “Or what if there is a party going on inside?! And we’re just missing out because we’re standing out here!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed suddenly. “I say we check it out!” “I highly doubt that there is a party going on in there, Pinkie…” Applejack said. “At any rate,” Twilight started, “Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are right, we should at least take a look.” “But that roar!” Fluttershy said suddenly, “we don’t know if it came from inside of there!” Goombella started looking at the entrance of the cave. “Whatever it was,” she started, “it doesn’t seem to be in here, at least now…” “But what if it comes BACK?!” Fluttershy said, she sounded more fearful than ever at this point. “We won’t be in there but a minute, Fluttershy.” Applejack said. “All we’re gonna do is take a look, we’ll be in and out in no time.” As much as Fluttershy objected to entering the cave, she knew that nothing was going to stop her friends from going in, and she didn’t want to be left outside alone. “Okay…I’ll go in with you guys then…” Fluttershy said. Anything was better than being left outside alone. Mario led the way through the dark cave, ready to take on any ambush that might be waiting for them inside. They continued to walk down the small corridor inside of the cave, noticing the beauty of the stalactites on the ceiling that had formed over many years. “This place looks beautiful!” Rarity exclaimed. “It is beautiful isn’t it?! If only the readers of this fiction out there could see it! They would be so amazed!” Pinkie Pie said. The group all rolled their eyes and shook their heads at whatever it was that Pinkie was going on about, readers and a fiction, that’s pretty ridiculous, even for Pinkie. The only two that did not react to Pinkie were Mario and Applejack, whose lack of attention was due to their focus on protecting the group. They still did not know what, if anything, was in the cave, but they were not willing to let their guard down for a moment. Applejack stayed close behind him, she was just as protective of the group as Mario was, and she would throw herself out into danger for the safety of her friends any day. She also felt a lot safer near Mario. There was something about him that she could really trust, she couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but being the element of honesty, it did not really concern her. Twilight was still very skeptical. She knew she had seen this cave before. Even if it did look like any other kind of cave. Still, she seemed to remember it specifically, as if something had happened there recently… The group finally reached the main room of the cave, to discover that it was filled to the brim with gemstones of various colors, shapes, and sizes. “LOOK AT THAT!” exclaimed Goombella. “Oh my…” Rarity said weakly. It seemed to overtake her; the massive pile of gemstones that were all merely just lying there was quite impressive. They overtook a large portion of the room. Speaking of which, the room itself was quite large. Almost as if it was meant to house something bigger… “YAY! The party hasn’t started yet!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed suddenly. “What in tarnation are yah goin’ on about, Pinkie? What party?” questioned Applejack. “I can’t tell you! Clearly it’s a surprise party!” she replied. Applejack could not think of any kind of reply. She instead decided to stop questioning the pink mare in order to preserve her sanity from being damaged. She and Mario began to survey the massive mound of gems, in hopes of finding the Emerald Crystal Star that they had been in search of for several hours. They seemed to be quite convinced that it wasn’t inside of the cave. I mean, they DID kind of scatter randomly in the AIR. Not on the ground, or inside of specific hiding places. But, they continued to search a few minutes longer. Maybe it was inside, underneath all of those gemstones. Or maybe they were wasting their time with this cave. Maybe it was outside in the Everfree Forest, lodged in a tree somewh- “THERE IT IS!” exclaimed Goombella. Or maybe it was inside of the cave after all. Goombella pointed (don’t ask me how) towards a small mound of gemstones, hidden behind a few larger mounds, with a green, star-shaped rock jutting out of it. “It’s about time we found that darn thing!” Rainbow Dash said, “it feels like we’ve been out here for days!” “Oh come on now, Dash,” Applejack began, “it hasn’t been THAT long.” “Whatever, just grab it and let’s get out of here, my wings need a good stretch.” Dash replied. Mario took a few steps towards the Crystal Star, only to notice Pinkie Pie, whose tail was twitching emphatically. “Something is falling out of the sky!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Before anyone had time to react, a sudden and familiar roar echoed through the corridors of the cave from the outside world followed by the loud thud of something very heavy, landing on the ground without a care in the world. Twilight held a shocked expression. “I knew this cave was familiar! This is the cave Spike ran away from home to, not knowing it was inhabited by a full, grown-“ “DRAGON!” Fluttershy screamed suddenly, cutting Twilight short. Everyone turned around immediately only to witness that Fluttershy was right. A large, green dragon had entered the chamber that the heroes were in, and it did not seem very pleased to see them. “And just what do you think you are doing in my home, puny ponies? I leave for a few minutes from that little earthquake and you suddenly think it’s okay to invade my cave?” It rumbled. The heroes were rather speechless at the fact that this dragon had not decided to just eat them right then and there. “WELL?!” It roared violently, shaking the ceiling. Goombella was the first to speak. “We’re sorry to bother you Mr. Dragon,” she seemed rather nervous, “…but it seems you have something that we’ve been looking for…that big star-shaped rock over there? We kinda need that…so if you could be so kind as to let us have it, we’ll be outta your hair, Err scales…” The dragon laughed at Goombella’s request. “You don’t get it do you? That “rock” over there is mine. I found out in this forest, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.” The dragon took notice at the fact that Mario was standing rather close to the Crystal Star, and he kicked Mario straight into the wall. “WAH-HEHEHAHOO!” He shouted as he collided into the wall. “Mario!” The others shouted. Mario shook his head rigorously and managed to stand back up. He had been in many more severe fights with his arch enemy, Bowser, and one hit would not hinder him so easily. All the while, Fluttershy was still quite scared, however, she was now upset that the dragon had hurt one of her friends. “Look here, Dragon breath!” Rainbow Dash was now furious, “all we want is that star, and if you won’t cooperate, then we’ll have to take it from you by force!” The dragon seemed equally as furious at this point. “YOU DARE THREATEN ME?! IF YOU WANT THAT PRECIOUS STONE, YOU’LL HAVE TO PRY IT FROM MY CLAWS AS I’M TEARING YOU APART!” It roared in fury. The heroes took on battle ready stances. “Is that a challenge?” Rainbow Dash said. She seemed to be confusing stupidity for cockiness. Surely this would not be an easy fight. “IT’S NOT A CHALLENGE FOOLISH PONY, IT’S A PROMISE! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR END!” The dragon roared as he reared into his battle stance, breathing small amounts of fire at the ceiling. Mario took his position in front of the group. “LET’S-A-“ “WAIT!” Pinkie Pie shouted suddenly, interrupting Mario. “What could it possibly be, Pinkie?” Twilight said to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie zoomed out of the cave and back into it, taking only a few seconds. She pushed Vinyl Scratch, along with her equipment she uses for her music. “We need epic music for an epic fight!” She replied to Twilight. She had a good point. “Ready! Hit it Vinyl!” “LET’S-A-GO!” Mario shouted. The dragon let out one final roar to strike fear into his opponents, creating an echo inside of the cave that shook it so violently, stalactites began falling from the ceiling. The dragon breathed a large ball of fire at the heroes, who narrowly escaped being burnt to a crisp by jumping out of its way in random directions. The fireball smashed into the cave wall, erupting in a large explosion. Twilight and Goombella took note of this while Mario took note at how similar the fireball would erupt on contact to a surface, much like Bowser’s fireballs would. None of them knew exactly how they were going to approach this beast, as his size was quite massive, making it difficult to hit anything aside from his feet, and even then, what damage could be done? Still, Twilight attempted to fire a bolt of her magic at his chest. The bolt made contact with his chest but appeared to do absolutely nothing. The dragon launched another attack at the heroes using his tail. He attempted to stomp them into the dirt by pounding his tail down like a hammer. However, they managed to dodge this attack by again, narrowly jumping out of the way. Now was the time to strike. “Mario!” Twilight shouted, “Now’s your chance! Climb up his back from his tail!” Mario attempted an attack by running up the dragon’s tail before he could pull it back. He ran up his back and managed to jump over his head and onto his snout with a lethal stomp. This stomp shook his snout up and down a few times, and the dragon grabbed his own face with his claw to ease the pain. As Mario attempted to land back onto the ground, the dragon swatted him away from his entire body with a great amount of force. Mario was sent sailing towards his team, bracing for impact, when Rainbow Dash caught him out of the air and placed him safely back onto the ground. “AHHH!” The dragon shouted suddenly. “I HATE BEING HIT IN THE FACE! WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!” The heroes now knew his weak point. The battle was now in more favorable odds. The dragon began roaring again to try and intimidate the heroes. Instead of being terrified, however, Pinkie Pie got an idea. She pulled out her party cannon (from nowhere) and loaded a cartridge inside of it. Rainbow Dash took notice that she was pulling it out, but did not know what she was planning. “Pinkie! Now’s not the time to be throwing par-WOAH!” She could not finish her sentence due to the fact that Pinkie Pie grabbed her by the back hoof and shoved her inside of the cannon. “I’m not throwing a party, silly!” Pinkie Pie began, “when I fire, extend your back hoof out like you’re kicking! You’ll be satisfied with what happens next!” She then fired Rainbow Dash towards the dragon. Rainbow Dash was confused as all hell, not because she was being fired from a cannon or anything, this was to be expected by Pinkie Pie. What she was confused about was why she wasn’t being fired at his face. However, as soon as she extended her hoof, she knew what Pinkie was planning. She aimed to kick him right in the Dragonba- CRASH! “DIRECT HIT!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Rainbow Dash swiftly recovered from her attack and was now hovering in the air with her wings. His eyes widened as he clutched his genitalia. The dragon was now in more pain than he had ever been in his entire life. There was no way to describe the agony of what he just felt in his lower body. He had been in many fights with other dragons, mainly fighting over gemstones, but fighting nonetheless. He had received his fair share of wounds as well as dealt his own, but never had he experienced pain such as this. The dragon roared even louder in pain than he did in intimidation. The heroes damn near felt bad for it. “Wow, Pinkie,” began Goombella, “that was a low blow. Literally. Even for you!” “We’ll talk about it later,” Twilight began, “she gave us another opening, now’s our chance to take it!” The dragon actually dropped down low enough for the heroes to reach his head a little more easily, slowly recovering from the previous attack. Applejack jumped up close enough to where she could buck him square in the snout. She wound up and bashed it upward, and Newton’s third law soon followed, pushing his head up from the upward force, being followed by a sudden super stomp from Super Mario himself, immediately thrusting his head back down onto the ground with a powerful force. The dragon was starting to get a splitting headache as he managed to pick himself back up onto all fours. He had underestimated the power of his opponents who seemed to be beating the snot out of him. “No more playing around…” said the dragon. The dragon reached out with his massive claw and grabbed Goombella and everypony else except Fluttershy, who was still terrified out of her wits and managed to duck beneath the claw. They all struggled to escape from his grip as he pulled them away from Mario and Fluttershy, shouting in fear, not sure of what would happen next. Mario was about to jump up and hit his hand, when the dragon began to raise his hind leg. He stomped on Mario so hard that when the dragon lifted his foot, Mario was seen stuck in the ground, with his head still sticking out and body stuck underneath dirt, with a dizzy look on his face. There were no words that could express the anger that was beginning to well up in Fluttershy’s face. At this point, her fear had completely subsided, and all that could be seen was pure rage. “HOW DARE YOU!” She shouted at the dragon. He was caught off guard by this sudden outburst. “YOU LET THEM GO RIGHT NOW! YOU CAN PICK ON ME, BUT HURT MY FRIENDS, AND YOU WON’T LIKE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!” She continued to shout. Mario actually broke free of his daze, quite surprised by Fluttershy’s rage. Never would he have thought that a shy pony like herself could unleash such a fury. The dragon laughed at her rage, however. “Hehehe…what could you possibly do that would ever make me regret my actions?” The dragon snarled with a hint of arrogance in his voice. Fluttershy did not reply. She instead flew close to his face. The dragon was not quite sure what she was planning, but he remained cocky nonetheless. His cockiness would soon fade away to the gates of oblivion, never to be seen or heard from again. “Oh nothing…except give you THE STARE!” Fluttershy widened her eyes, in a quite intimidating fashion. It was as if her eyes were looking deep into his soul, punishing him for all the sins in his life. Her face matched the irritation that could be seen in her eyes. The dragon actually started to cower down to her. He was not sure why. I mean, he could easily pound her to a pulp without any regret. And yet, it was as if she was manipulating his mind to her will. His grip loosened on the ponies, who dropped down close to his feet, landing with a thud. Fluttershy took one look down to make sure that they were alright, and this was her slip up. The dragon broke free of her stare; however he was still quite stunned. In his haste to collect on what just happened, he shook his head, as well as his wings around. One of his wings slapped Fluttershy across the room, sending her sailing towards the wall. Just before she was about to collide with the wall, Rarity and Twilight used their magic to catch her safely, and levitate her back to the ground. Mario finally built his strength back up enough to the point that he could pull himself out of the ground. He grunted with a strained look on his face, but managed to flip himself out of the dirt and back onto his feet, shaking his head quickly in recovery. Everyone quickly regrouped before the dragon could regain his surroundings. “Good job, Fluttershy!” Twilight said. “Way to go, Fluttershy! I knew you had it in you!” Rainbow Dash said. “See there? There’s bravery behind that shy exterior, I always knew there was!” Goombella said. Fluttershy began to blush, hiding behind her mane. “Oh, it was nothing, I just…I just couldn’t stand to see him hurting you all like that, I couldn’t hold it back.” She replied. Morale was high in the eight heroes. They were ready for anything. Which was good too because the dragon had now recovered from Fluttershy’s stare of mental destruction, and he was pretty pissed off. “You think you’ve beaten me? You think that you all can turn things around? We’ll see how you feel after dealing with my razor sharp claws!” He snorted. The dragon put both his claws together and ripped forward, claws scratching against each other like two samurai parrying one another in a clash of steel. He lunged towards Mario, who was ready to take the hit, when a large shield, surrounded in a blue aura and made entirely of gemstones flew in front of him, completely blocking the strike. Mario looked up, trying to gather what just happened. “IS THAT ANYWAY TO TREAT A LADY?! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST THROW US AROUND HOWEVER YOU WANT TO?! YOU HAVE NOT SEEN FURY YOU VIAL CREATURE!” Rarity shouted. Mario was very thankful that she was on his side. The dragon was still not convinced of her rage, and was ready to continue striking his foes, he had had all he could put up with today and he would not stand for it anymore. He raised his other claw up, ready to strike her, when he was hit in the face with several more gemstones, flow at a high velocity. “SERIOUSLY! WHY MUST YOU AIM FOR THE – AHHH!” He roared, unable to finish his sentence because Rarity was pelting him several times in the snout and in the eyes. It isn’t so much that it hurt him, it was more like a good distraction, because his scales could take pain delivered from a sharp object, but not so much blunt force. Mario began to think while he had a free moment. He was contemplating his next attack. He noticed how Rarity would surround a gemstone in her aura and hurl it at the dragon as hard as she could. An idea struck him. He ran over to Twilight and told her of his plan. “That’s…brilliant! Do you think it will work?” Twilight asked him. He nodded in approval, and prepared for the attack. “Girls, help Rarity by distracting him as long as you can, this will only take a second!” Twilight said. Twilight began to focus her magic as Mario placed his hands at his side to charge his fire. When he reached a sufficient charge, he fired it out, and Twilight caught it with her magic and surrounded it in a bubble of her aura, shining brightly in the air. Mario continued to fill the bubble with a consistent stream of fire, switching hands constantly. “ENOUGH!!!” The dragon roared in rage. He stomped his foot down and shook the entire cave, stopping Rarity’s flurry of diamonds and emeralds and rubies from hitting him in the face. But before he could speak again, Pinkie Pie started launching confetti and streamers at him with her party cannon. He was not sure of this pink mare, but he would not stand for it, he almost stomped on her, when Rainbow Dash kicked him in the snout. However, at this point he cared very little for this pain. They did not know how much longer they could hold him off. He started being better able to resist everything being thrown at him. However, it mattered no longer. Twilight and Mario were ready. Mario launched one last charged fireball into the bubble, and it glowed even brighter. “That’s it!” Twilight cried. “It’s ready! Let’s finish this!” Mario signaled for Applejack to buck him into this massive fireball, assuring her that everything will be alright. She took her stance and her hind legs went into the air. Mario flipped into the air, with his feet making contact with her back hooves, jumping with all his might as she bucked him off of her hooves, launching him like a missile towards the fireball. “WAHOOOOOOOO!” Shouted Mario, flying through the air. Time seemed to slow down as he approached the fireball. Right when he was about to collide into it, he cupped both his hands and launched them over his head. Then, he struck the fireball with both hands, as if he was swinging his hammer, sending his might, as well as the momentum from the buck-jump, into the massive fireball of aura. The fireball was sent at an incredible speed towards the dragon, who had no idea what was about to hit him. The dragon turned his attention away from the ponies that were attacking him, and directed it towards the massive fireball that was headed straight for his face. He only had time to say one thing. “Why always for the face…?” Was all he could say before the fireball violently erupted. That would be an understatement. The blast was so violent and bright that some of the flames and bolts of magic almost hit the heroes as well. They actually had to make an effort to avoid being hit. “Magic. Magic is what my Cutie Mark means.” Twilight said, looking at Goombella. “Say no more, I can see why.” She replied. When the magic and fire had dissipated down a bit, and there was a lot less bright light inside of the cave, the dragon could be seen. However, he did not look angry. Actually, he looked quite impressed. “Well,” he began, “never in my life have I seen a fire blast so powerful. I’ve dealt with some powerful dragons myself, but not a single one of them has breathed a blast like that. Even I can’t match it.” Rainbow dash refused to accept that he could still be standing from it. “How are you still even standing, did it even do anything to you?” She asked him. “Oh yes, but not as much as you probably believe. I bathe in lava, I don’t think fire and magic is going to bother me as severely as you believe it would. Nonetheless, you are all quite powerful fighters. You want that stone over there? Take it; as tasty as it looks, I don’t think I’ll have a use for it, anyway. I could not break through it, even with my powerful jaws; I could not bite through it.” “Just a quick question, why the sudden change of heart? You were ready to eat us.” Goombella asked him. “I said nothing of eating you, though you look quite tasty as well.” He replied Fluttershy shuddered a bit as he mentioned this. He laughed at her reaction and continued. “I do not see a point for this senseless violence to continue any longer. The way I see it, this would be the only outcome. No matter how long we fight, I cannot see either of us being triumphant over the other. Besides, as I said before, that stone is worthless to me, but you all seem to have a use for it, so you may as well take it.” Twilight noticed that the dragon seemed very well read. His brutish behavior aside, he was actually quite scholarly. “Thank you, again, sorry for invading your home,” Twilight said. “Think nothing of it, by the way, sorry for attacking you a while back. I did not realize that baby dragon was your friend.” He replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some training to do myself. If I ever want to breathe fire like that, I’ll have to stop lazing around in my cave all day.” With that, he exited the cave and took off into the sky, off to distant lands, with the goal of being as strong, if not stronger than his adversaries. “Well he was really nice!” Pinkie Pie said. For once, everyone could partially agree with Pinkie. He may have tried to kill them, but in the end, he wasn’t so bad after all. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get the star and call it a day, I’m beat.” Rainbow Dash said. Mario nodded in agreement and walked over to the star. He pulled it up from the mound of gemstones and held it into the air. It shimmered brightly inside of the cave. “YAHOO!” Mario shouted in excitement. The Emerald Crystal Star was now in their possession. The heroes were ready to exit the cave, when Mario’s hand started to catch fire. “WOAH!” He shouted. Twilight studied his hand carefully, when she noticed a piece of paper was forming out of his palm Shortly after, his hand stopped burning, and he was now holding a scroll. “That must be from the Princess!” Twilight said. Mario was confused as to how that had even worked, but he handed her the scroll, and she started reading, eager to hear of her reply to the recent events in Ponyville that she had mentioned before. A look of horror took her face when she finished reading. Author's Note This one took some time mainly because college had a break, and I needed some time to rest, but it's finished, enjoy. Oh, and props if you understand the Skyrim reference.
The Journey Ahead“What’s the matter Twilight? What does it say?” Goombella asked, curious as to why she reacted the way she did. Twilight levitated the letter to her friends, holding the expression on her face like she had just seen a ghost. Mario grabbed the letter and everyone else gathered around. “My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle, I apologize for not writing sooner, but something has happened in Canterlot regarding Princess Luna. Nightmare Moon has returned, and the cause of this appears to be that mechanical being you mentioned previously. It seems to have used some sort of dark power which had the capability of releasing Nightmare Moon. I have little knowledge of its motives with the exception that it is after those ‘Crystal Stars’ that you also mentioned. It is vital that you and the other elements come to Canterlot immediately. I will debrief you upon your arrival. I would also advise you to bring your new friends. Something tells me that you will need their help if you plan to stop Nightmare Moon and this new creature. Your mentor, Princess Celestia” The other mares in the room were setback upon finishing the letter. “That can’t be possible!” Rarity said suddenly, “we stopped her! How could she have been freed again?” Goombella was puzzled. “Who is Nightmare Moon?” She asked. “The mare in the moon,” Twilight began, “at least that’s what she was known as in the legend, is a powerful alicorn of the night. She was sealed in the moon for a thousand years before she was finally able to free herself. We used the Elements of Harmony to put an end to her reign, and Princess Luna was free of the corruption. But it seems like Mecha Mario was able to bring her back, and if that’s the case, this mission just got a lot more difficult.” “OH NO!” Mario shouted. “It’s all our fault…” Goombella said guiltily. “If we hadn’t come here in the first place, we would not have put you all in danger like this.” “Don’t say that!” “Rarity said to Goombella. “You never could have known that it was going to happen! We’ll stop them, darling, we will, we just have to keep going and find those stars, we can do this!” “It’s not that I don’t think that we can do it,” she replied, “it’s just that we have caused you all nothing but trouble upon arriving. Unleashed a monster into your world with artifacts of destruction that he is after, caused seemingly irreparable damage to your town with said artifacts, and now, because of our arrival, a previously defeated demon of the night has returned. We never should have come here…” “NO!” Mario said. He began to speak, reminding Goombella that it was him who opened the rift to get them there, and that if anyone was supposed to take the blame, it would be him, however, he wouldn’t let that stop him from undoing the damage that was caused because of it. Applejack approached Goombella. “Don’t beat yourself up, hun. We’ll fix this mess. We can rebuild the town and stop Nightmare Moon again. Shoot, we can take on that Mecha Mario problem too. Don’t worry about us, we’ve had our share of baddies that have tried to take over Equestria, believe me, we have, we’ll all pull through this together, pardner.” “Besides, it’s not all bad,” Rainbow Dash said, trying to bolster her confidence. “We did make friends with a dragon out here, that’ll definitely be good in the future, and we needed a good adventure anyway! Things get pretty boring in Ponyville, it’s good to have some excitement every once in a while.” Goombella looked up at her friends. “You’re right, moping around about it won’t solve anything, we’ll stop them, and make everything right again!” “That’s the spirit, Goombella!” Twilight said, “Now,” she got more serious, “the next thing we need to do is catch a train to Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia will know what to do from there.” “Then let’s get to it,” Applejack said, “better sooner than later.” No one could agree more, and with that, they left the Everfree Forest and set out for the train station. Two stars down, five to go, and a new threat at hand. SLEEP MODE ENGAGED, RECHARGING MAIN BATTERY REDIRECTING SELF-AWARENESS PLAYBACK PRERECORDING “Sir Grodus, we have just gotten word that Super Mario has retrieved the Ruby Crystal Star, putting him at four versus our one,” stated a young X-Naut officer. “He is working fast; I have to give him that much,” said Grodus, “that’s alright though, in time, he will get what is coming to him, I have been conducting research on this man, he is definitely a worthy adversary.” “Not to be rude, sir, but how does that help us stop him?” Asked the officer. “You’ll all find out in due time, I have done extensive research around his past, what he has accomplished, how he has gone about achieving his goals. It sickens me, just another wannabe hero trying to put so much time planning for world domination to waste. Even now, he is able to thwart every foe that opposes him…” Grodus paused for a moment. “But…” he continued, “he is not unbeatable. I’ve noted many of his strengths. This will be very important for what I’ve planned for him. Not only this, but I’ve also discovered a vital weakness in him.” The officer was quite puzzled at Grodus’s ability to obtain Intel on his enemy so easily. It was almost unnerving, what is he really planning? “And what would this vital weakness be, Sir Grodus? I’m sure this knowledge will be very useful in defeating Super Mario.” The officer said. “Oh it will be very useful, officer. Not only this, it will be his undoing.” Grodus replied. “However, it will not be useful for our forces to use against him; it is not a physical weakness, officer. No, he has a weakness only a truly heartless criminal could use.” “I’m not quite sure I understand, Sir Grodus. What would this weakness be?” The officer was very unsure of what Grodus was talking about. “Tell me officer, do you have family back home? Don’t be shy.” Grodus asked. This question caught the young officer off guard. “Y-yes, sir Grodus, I have a wife, we haven’t decided if we want to have any kids yet, though. Why do you ask?” He replied. “Imagine a horde of Bandits had taken her hostage, and left a note stating that they wanted a vast sum of money for her return. What would you do? And be honest with me.” Grodus said. Without hesitation, the officer replied. “I would pay that sum of money to let her go, if anything ever happened to her, I don’t know how I would be able to live with myself.” “My sentiments exactly, you care about the ones you love, and would do anything for their safe return. This is a morally correct choice; however, it is also a weakness. The Bandits could have asked you for anything, and you would willingly give them what they asked in order to get her back. They would be exploiting your love for her to get what they want from you. Do you see where I am going with this?” “I do, Sir Grodus.” The officer replied. “As with most people,” he continued, “this particular weakness exists, even I was cursed with it in my younger years, but I have learned that sacrifices have to be made in order to get anywhere in this world, and thus, I have purged it from my mind. I will give nothing to my enemy in order to achieve my goals, and if it means losing the things I hold closer to heart, so be it. You must stop at nothing to get what you want out of life.” Grodus stopped for a moment. “Ahh, I am straying off topic. Yes officer, his weakness is that he holds his family and friends closer to heart than anyone I have ever seen, doing anything it will take to ensure that they won’t be hurt. How will this help you might ask? Well, as I stated before, you will all find out in due time. And in the end, it will be his ultimate downfall. Now, keep searching for the other crystal stars. If we can get the upper hand on him, this will only be to our benefit. I must return to my lab. Dismissed.” With that, Grodus went back to his lab, and the officer was left, pondering Grodus’s wisdom. Whatever he was planning sounded very ominous. ‘You’ll all find out in due time.’ Nothing struck more fear in his heart than thinking about what he could be planning for Mario. As he thought, he also pondered why learning Mario’s strengths would be so important. That would not necessarily be useful information unless someone was planning to defend themselves from them, or if they were planning on using them against him. “I hope he knows what he’s doing…” the officer said to himself, and retreated back to his comrades. END PRERECORDING The train station was busier than usual; ponies everywhere were boarding and exiting trains, colliding into passersby due to the lack of room to walk around. After refueling up on perishable things like food and water, the eight heroes boarded their train scheduled for Canterlot. The train’s engine ignited, the wheels started turning, and the train began to move, beginning its day long journey. Mario flopped down on the nearest couch to try and relax a bit. Applejack and Rainbow Dash started hoof wrestling to see who was stronger, Pinkie Pie seemed to be pretty calm for once, just enjoying the view of the passing scenery out the window, and Fluttershy and Rarity decided to go to the small restaurant a few cars down and have some lunch After the group had gotten settled in, Twilight figured this was the perfect opportunity to finally talk with Goombella. “Well, with a day of travel ahead of us, I figure we have time to chat a bit, Goombella.” she said. “That would be great, I don’t think we’ve even had a fair chance to talk since Mario and I arrived.” Goombella replied. “Anything in mind?” “What is your world like? I imagine it’s quite different with very little use of magic.” Twilight said. She had actually been quite curious about this for some time. “Actually, it hasn’t really been all that different being here than being back home, aside from all the citizens being ponies rather than the various races of people that live in the Mushroom Kingdom. Living without magic? It would be nice to have it, but we get by, just kinda learn to adapt, y’know?” “I don’t think I could go by without it, or at least, not at this point after having it for so long.” Goombella again noticed Twilight’s cutiemark. “I remember you said that your…cutiemark was it? That they are significant to a pony’s talent in life. And that yours is significant to your abilities in magic. I can say that I’ve seen it firsthand myself. Are there any other ponies as good with their magic as you are?” Goombella asked. “I can’t really say yes or no to that, I’m afraid. There are plenty of other unicorns in Equestria that are quite talented with using magic, I try to practice whenever I can, from basic spells like levitation to more complex ones like rapid aging of a pony from old to young and young to old.” “That’s incredible!” Goombella said ecstatically. “Maybe you can knock ol’ Professor Frankly down a few years.” She laughed. Twilight blushed at Goombella’s compliment. “So can all ponies in general use magic? Or is it more specific?” “Only unicorns can use magic, Pegasus ponies have wings to allow them flight, and earth ponies can do neither, but that doesn’t count them out. They are very strong, and can do many other things to make up for the inability to fly or use magic. And if you’re lucky, you can be born with a horn and wings, otherwise known as an alicorn. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are both alicorns.” “So you have royalty here in Equestria as well then?” Goombella asked puzzled. “Yes, they are the rulers of Equestria, and they control day and night with their powerful magic.” “I don’t believe that Princess Peach can do that…” Goombella said. “You have royalty in the Mushroom Kingdom too?” Twilight asked, equally puzzled. “Yeah, but she can’t control day and night,” Goombella replied with a laugh, “but she knows what she’s doing, at least I think she does. From what Mario tells me, she gets kidnapped a lot and he usually has to be the one to go save her. Its odd how often it seems to occur, he also told me that SHE had to go save him and his brother at one point. You would think she could defend herself easily enough if the tables had turned like that for once. But I suppose anyone can be caught off guard. And no disrespect to the Toad Royal Guard, but I think they need a few more hours of training if their princess is always getting nabbed by the same guy over and over again.” Twilight pondered for a second. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn’t appear to have many enemies, let alone ones that wanted to kidnap them. “There must be something special about her if people are trying to kidnap her all the time.” Twilight said. “Usually it’s Bowser who tries to take her all the time, for him, his intentions are unknown. But as for Grodus, his intention was to use her as an offering to the Shadow Queen as a body to take hold of, a host, if you will, so that she could use her dark magic more freely. Luckily, we put an end to that. But Bowser always seems to have some crazy trick up his sleeve to take her. It’s a never-ending cycle, but Mario always comes out on top…” Goombella looked over at the sofa to see a sleeping Mario. Twilight could tell what she was thinking; Goombella was not exactly a subtle Goomba. “Goombella?” Twilight called. “What?! Oh!” Goombella snapped back to reality, “Sorry, I just got distracted for a second.” “I can tell, have you said anything to him yet?” Twilight asked. “There’s a time and place for everything, when things have calmed down a bit, I’ll talk to him then. So what about you? Does Equestria have any particular bad-guy regulars?” Goombella asked. “None in particular that there isn’t a solution to. Discord had caused problems for a while, but we reformed him, and now he uses his chaotic powers for good…mostly. Aside from him, things are generally pretty peaceful here. Any true enemies that we have show themselves very rarely.” “Discord…what exactly does he look like? I figure a person with that name probably looks pretty crazy.” Goombella said. “You’re right about that, he’s basically a mix of many different animals in Equestria. Hoof of a colt, head of a goat, wing of a bat, claw of a lion, talon of a griffon, he’s a mess, but he’s definitely a trouble maker. We usually have to keep an eye on him, he’s very tricky and can manipulate chaos with his magic.” Twilight replied, fairly confident of her description. “What about Bowser? Is he a larger goomba? Or more human-like? “Neither,” Goombella replied, “He’s a larger version of a koopa, the self-proclaimed ‘King of the Koopas.’ Not the most intelligent thing in the world, though.” “What does a koopa look like?” Twilight asked. “Well, definitely not a mesh of so many creatures into one. Koopas are basically turtles in the Mushroom Kingdom. They stand upright and have shells on their backs and shoes on their feet. Bowser is a larger and more violent Koopa. His shell has spikes covering the surface, he doesn’t wear shoes, and he has horns on his head. He has an orange mane, large body in general, and an angry disposition. He also controls an army that is loyal to him. As I said before, we don’t all have magic in the Mushroom kingdom, only some races are so lucky, but Bowser can breathe fire much like a dragon, if it wasn’t enough that he could easily squash someone with his gargantuan size.” “I guess that’s where Discord and Bowser are different, one is a devious trickster and the other is a brute, imagine if they joined forces…” Twilight began to ponder. “A cunning mind with chaotic magic and an army with a powerhouse leader commanding them? If they could tolerate each other, and not fight for supremacy, they might be a formidable team.” She said finally. Twilight and Goombella laughed. “I’m sure we won’t have to worry about anything like that happening.” Goombella said. The two continued conversing about their respective histories until Twilight noticed that they were the only ones in that particular room, noting how dark it was outside when she looked out the window. “Is it that late already? I didn’t realize we had been talking that long! Everypony just sort of left and it didn’t even catch our attention!” Twilight said surprised. “Guess it would be a good time to get some sleep then, huh Twilight?” Goombella asked. “Yeah, we should be there by tomorrow morning. Good night Goombella.” “Good night Twilight.” With that, Goombella and Twilight went to their cabins to get some sleep and prepare for their arrival to Canterlot the next day.
Uncovering the TruthThe sun rose that morning behind clouds of gray. It had started raining the previous night but had stopped when morning came. Rain aside, the train had finally arrived at its destination, Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Everyone began to wake up one by one, as the sun, at least what could be seen through the dense clouds, began to rise. Applejack gave a quick stretch before peeking out the window. “Well, I didn’t know rain was on the agenda this mornin’…” she said. Rainbow Dash rose up, following suit of Applejack as per morning routine to give a nice long stretch and yawn, and walked up to the window next to Applejack. “Yeah, it’s supposed to be on and off like this all day, ending with a storm later, it won’t be pretty.” Said Rainbow Dash. “Well then I suggest we get moving to the Castle before it starts up again, a pony of such elegance should not be drenched by the morning showers.” Rarity said suddenly. Applejack rolled her eyes at Rarity, but also agreed that it would be best to get going. “I suppose yer right, don’t wanna keep the princess waiting. Everyone up already?” Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had gotten up after hearing this, and Twilight and Goombella stretched a bit and joined in. “That’s everyone. Everyone except for…” the one person who was sleeping before anyone else after the train ride had begun. “…Mario.” Goombella said. “Is he really still sleeping? I’ve got a fix for this.” Rainbow Dash said. She headed for the exit and spread her wings. “What are you doing, Rainbow?” Asked Twilight. “You’ll see.” She said, and then she flew out into the air. She grabbed one of the rain clouds out of the sky. It was a decent sized cloud, and it was quite a dark shade of gray. She pulled in close to the car that her friends were in, and placed the cloud next to the window, which just happened to be the window next to where Mario’s head was resting. She reared her hind legs back, and bucked the cloud with a mighty force. The result was a loud BOOM of thunder and lightning that flashed immediately and intensely. Mario’s eyes shot open at the sound, as fear entered his body so fast that he actually jumped through the ceiling of the train! Everyone on board that particular car had been freaked out by Rainbow’s “wake up call,” but not nearly in the way that Mario had. His feet could be seen by the passengers of the car that he was now halfway inside of. He also had a dazed look on his face from the outside of the train. Rainbow Dash could be seen laughing outside of the car. “Well good morning! So glad you could join us!” She said, failing to hold back another laugh. As serious as the matter is, everyone needed a little comic relief, as Mario pulled himself out from the ceiling and back into the car, leaving a hole where his head had smashed through. Applejack chuckled a bit. “You alright there, Mario?” Mario nodded, and actually joined in on laughing, after all, it was pretty hilarious. Rainbow Dash flew back into the car. “Alright, well, now that everypony is awake, let’s make our way to Princess Celestia so she can tell us what is going on.” Twilight said. Pinkie Pie was the one pony to point out what no one else did. “What about breakfast? I’m starving!” No one had realized just how famished they were until it was pointed out. “Some food would be nice…” Applejack said, listening to her growling belly. “We’ll have time to eat after we see the princess, we need to know exactly what happened here while we have a free moment,” Twilight said, “we don’t even know if Mecha Mario and Nightmare Moon will return here. They could very well be expecting us.” “Let’s a go!” Mario said eagerly. As the group stepped off of the train, they had been greeted by some of the Canterlot Royal Guard. “Don’t worry about them, they are just going to escort us to the palace. Canterlot has a reputation of getting attacked when things are calm. That’s just the downfall of being the capital of Equestria.” Twilight said to Mario and Goombella. “See?” Goombella said, “If the Royal Guard in Mushroom Kingdom would have a little more high alert like these guys, Peach wouldn’t get kidnapped so often!” They passed by a few shops that looked similar to what Ponyville has. There were a few restaurants and stores as well as a local bakery. The only difference was that a lot of the ponies dressed very formally, as if they were going to a wedding. Even the waiters and waitresses in the restaurants behaved in a high manner. There was also a new clothing shop that had recently opened up. “Well that’s new!” Exclaimed Rarity. “Boutique le Magnifique! I will have to check that place out at some point while we’re here!” “Not before I stop by the bakery to stock up on as many pastries and sweets as possible!” Said Pinkie Pie. “A trip to the spa would be nice before we leave…” Fluttershy said. “Let’s just not forget why we’re here,” Twilight began, “we aren’t on vacation, there’s still business at hoof that we need to be prepared for. Of course…maybe a stop at the library wouldn’t be such a bad idea either…” she said under her breath. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the castle’s front doors. They were a large set of double doors, spanning out wider and taller than any of the denizens of Equestria. They entered to find none other than her majesty, Princess Celestia, waiting for them on her throne. “Princess Celestia…” Twilight said with a bowing gesture while the other elements followed suit. The two foreigners of Equestria gained enough knowledge of who this “Princess Celestia” was and also bowed. “Twilight,” Celestia said, “I’m glad you and your friends have finally made it.” She walked over to Mario and Goombella. “It is a pleasure to meet you,” Celestia said, “Twilight has spoken highly of you both. I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and Alicorn of the sun.” “The pleasure is ours, your Highness. My name is Goombella, ascending archaeologist and student of Professor Frankly of Rogueport. This is Mario, the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. I imagine Twilight has told you of our search for the Crystal Stars?” “Indeed, she has.” Celestia replied. “She said you had been sent here through a portal that was created by these Crystal Stars and that they had scattered throughout Equestria once you had arrived. These objects must be quite powerful.” “Unpredictable would probably be a better term, she also told you of our predator that was sent with us?” Goombella asked. “Yes, I am aware of this Mecha Mario. I would imagine he is looking for those stars just as you all are. It is imperative that you find them all before he does. I sensed a great, dark power arrive here just before Nightmare Moon was released, and before I knew it, it was too late to save Luna from changing.” “Princess,” Twilight said, “do you know what happened before she had been turned into Nightmare Moon? It may help us get a better grasp on the situation.” “I know very little but I will offer you what knowledge I can.” Celestia said. She began to trace back in her memory what she could find. “I recall that Luna mentioned she heard something crash in the castle courtyard, so she told me that she would go investigate it. I sent two guards to escort her in case it was dangerous, while I began to raise the sun for the next morning. As I began the typical morning routine, I sensed a power, though it appeared slightly weakened as if it had been in a recent fight. It started small, and then it grew stronger, and a lot darker, as if the beholder of this power was fueled by pure evil. After the sun was finally up, I went to investigate what that power was and check to see that Luna was alright. When I arrived at the courtyard, I immediately saw that there had been a release of magic from what seemed to be a transformation. I found the two guards lying, defeated on the ground. One had been unconscious and the other was breathing heavily. I summoned paramedics to the scene immediately to tend to their wounds in the infirmary. Before they were carted away, I asked the still conscious guard what had happened. He was only able to inform me that Nightmare Moon had returned, and the cause was a mechanical creature who was able to summon a dark energy from its chest.” Mario pondered for a moment. He was quite familiar with the abilities of normal power stars. They could be used to grant a user temporary invincibility, and with machinery of any kind, they could be used as fuels to power them. He was sure that Mecha Mario was running off of a power star’s energy to sustain his life and operability. Then it hit him. A sudden look of realization was on his face. He spoke with his usual accent to everyone in the room. “A dark star?” Rainbow Dash said. “What the heck is that?” Mario continued, explaining what a normal power star was so that everyone could become familiar with it. He then explained that a dark star is essentially an anti-power star. It possesses a dark aura about it and can grant an evil power to its user. “What else is a dark star capable of, Mario?” Twilight asked. Mario gave what knowledge he had on them, which was very little. He had only encountered one dark star in his life, and his archenemy, Bowser, had swallowed it whole. The result was quite gruesome. The dark star began absorbing knowledge and DNA from inside of Bowser, and in enough time, it had incarnated into a darker version of the King Koopa himself. “That’s terrible!” Rarity stated, “How were you able to defeat it?” He explained that it took the combined efforts of his brother Luigi, himself, and Bowser to defeat Dark Bowser and destroy the dark star. The task was not a simple one, and the dark star’s abilities in all are still unknown. “What we do know now is that a dark star can be used to influence dark power in an individual.” Celestia said. “Is there any other intel about dark stars that you can provide us with, Mario?” Mario shook his head. “What can you tell me about these Crystal Stars?” Celestia asked. “Well,” Goombella began, “They are artifacts of ancient power that were created by the Shadow Queen to amplify her powers.” Celestia seemed to recognize that name. “Did you mention the Shadow Queen?” She asked. “Yeah, have you heard of her?” Goombella replied. “I have heard a bit about her many moons ago. She was a dark demon bent on taking over the world. At least that is what the legend said. It was also said that she would not stop there. She would travel to other worlds entirely and conquer them all one by one. It was taken to many as a myth but if you all encountered her, then it was right for us to have taken the extra precautions on preparing all these years.” “I hadn’t realized she was feared by people in more than just our world. I thought she was only trying to take over the world that we live in. The good thing is that you won’t have to worry about her, we managed to stop her before she could enslave our world and rule it herself.” “It is good to have you both fighting for the right reasons.” Complimented Celestia. “What else can you tell me about the Crystal Stars?” “Besides how the Shadow Queen created them,” she continued, “Their magical capabilities offer the user quite a unique power in anything from combat to healing properties. Even then the list goes on. Each star is capable of something different, but when they are all together, they can be used in more than just combat. They were actually used to seal away the Shadow Queen for a thousand years. Not to mention they brought us to Equestria in the first place, there is no telling what else their powers are capable of.” “Then as I said before, it is crucial that you gather them all before Mecha Mario does, he is much stronger than he appears. That much I am aware of, but if he can gather them all, even I won’t be able to stop him. The powers of those Stars are different than the magic we use here in Equestria. I had sensed an unfamiliar power when you all walked in. I assume that they are the Crystal Stars that you have already recovered?” Mario reached into his overalls pockets and pulled out the two that they found previously. Celestia walked over, her horn glowing, as if she was studying them in some way. “Be very careful with those. Even I would be skeptical about attempting to use such a power unless it was necessary.” Mario heeded her warning as he placed them back into his pocket. “By the way,” she continued, “might I incur how you have been tracking these stars?” “Twilight has been helping us with that, your Highness.” Goombella chimed. “She is very skilled in her craft with magic. She has been able to help us track them down.” Twilight interjected. “The only problem with my tracking is that I can locate only one at a time, and then we have to use the one that we recover to locate the next one, which reminds me, we still haven’t done that for the star that we found in the Everfree Forest.” Mario pulled out the Emerald Crystal Star and the Map. “Princess, do you think you might be able to help us pin point the other stars so that we can retrieve them faster?” Twilight asked. “Let me see that star and map you have there.” She said. Mario handed them over to Celestia. She looked them over a bit and tried to decipher the star’s power. “I can locate one of them right now, or I could attempt to locate a few more of them with it, but it will take some time, again, this magic is a bit unfamiliar to me. Why don’t you all explore Canterlot a bit and come back in a few hours. I should have made some progress by then.” “I could assist you if you’d like, Princess.” Twilight said. “You may stay, Twilight. You are a little more familiar with this magic and some help from my faithful student would benefit greatly.” Twilight blushed. “Thank you, Princess.” “Twilight, you still haven’t eaten anything yet, aren’t you a little hungry?” Applejack asked her. “Just a little, but I’ll be alright.” She replied. “Tell you what,” Celestia said, “we’ll all stop by the mess hall to fuel up and then we can get started with this hunt. I’m quite famished myself.” “Finally! Food! I’ve been starving all morning!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “That would be delightful.” Rarity said. Everyone in the throne room went off to get some well deserved nourishment in the mess hall, giving themselves most of the day to prepare for the hunt afterward. “Free…free again…at last…” a voice said. “And to whom do I owe this deed too?” “That will not be of any concern to you,” said Mecha Mario, “but I do have a proposition for you.” “Then speak now, demon, time is in short supply, and must be used wisely.” The voice said. “I feel that we can help each other out. You assist me in defeating my mortal enemy, and I can make you the strongest creature alive. You can take back the land and rule it as you please. You can defeat all who oppose you and be the only ruler of this land. No more second in command, you will take control.” The creature thought about these words. Her thirst for power was growing, and she would probably need help in taking control anyway. A decision was made. “Alright then, I will help you. However, don’t you dare think of turning against me, lest you feel the wrath of Nightmare Moon.” “Do not worry, Princess of the night, I wouldn’t think to do something so foolish, otherwise I would not have brought you here. Together, we can take over this world, and soon, nothing will stand in our way. Now, here’s what we do…”
A Legend in the FleshThe day had blown over pretty smoothly, rain continued on and off as the forecast had been stated. Night had fallen and the air temperature had dropped quite dramatically. Before leaving that morning, Mario had given Princess Celestia and Twilight the two crystal stars and the map to see what kind of progress they could make in tracking the other stars given the rest of the day. “So what have we got?” Asked Rainbow Dash. “Well,” Twilight began, “because we have two stars to work with now, it was actually possible to trace where two more of them are located. Granted it did take a lot of time, but it would have taken longer had Princess Celestia not been helping.” Princess Celestia looked at her student. “I appreciate the compliments Twilight, but it was mostly you who was able to trace them, I only helped you in focusing your magic on their trail, it was you who located them.” She said with a smile. Twilight blushed at her statement. “Thank you, Princess…” “Well then,” Rarity said, “where are these two stars located then?” “The first one that we managed to trace is located in Cloudsdale.” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash beamed at her answer. Cloudsdale is where the Wonderbolts performed all of their death defying stunts and air shows. “I say we go there next!” She shouted, “Who knows, maybe Soarin or one of the other Wonderbolts got hold of it. If they did, it would be an easy take and we could get going to the next one. What about that second one?” Twilight’s smile immediately turned into a frown as she remembered where the next one most likely ended up. Not most likely, she knew where it ended up, and it would not be an easy grab and go that Rainbow Dash predicts the first one would be. “What’s the matter, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, “It didn’t land somewhere that we can’t really get to, did it?” She held up the map and showed it to her friends. It appeared to have landed in a desert farther off into Western Equestria. “A desert?” Goombella said. “Nothing we haven’t seen before in our travels back home. What’s so bad about that?” Celestia had just the answer to her question. “According to updated maps of Equestria, this is where the Changeling hive resides. If it ended up there, it is vital that you all travel there first and foremost.” The other ponies knew very well of the dangers of Changelings, and had to agree with Celestia on this. “Well for us uneducated folk, what exactly is a Changeling?” Goombella asked. “A changeling is a very interesting creature to say the least…” Rarity stated, “They have the ability to shape shift into just about any creature and mimic their personalities and skills to the finest detail. This makes them very skilled in the art of deceit.” “What reasons would they have to be disguising themselves as other creatures?” Goombella asked, “Surely they don’t just do this for their own amusement.” “I imagine some of them probably do it for amusement,” Twilight said, “But you are right, they have one motive in doing this, changelings feed off of the love that creatures show to friends and family. This is how they have thrived for so many years.” “By disguising themselves as loved ones and gaining their trust, only to betray them in the end, sounds an awful lot like that freak-in-a-sheet from earlier, huh Mario?” Goombella replied. Mario pondered her response for a moment. He remembered the being that she was referring to. Doopliss was his name. He remembered all too well how Doopliss had stolen his body and gained the trust of his allies, as well as the trials he had to undergo to retake his body and get his friends back. “Yeah,” Goombella said, “We’ve had our share of shape-shifters ourselves. Our worlds are WAAYY to similar.” She laughed “At least you have experience dealing with them.” Twilight said. “Just be on the lookout when we are at the nest, they will probably try to shift themselves to look like us, and I’m sure they will give some sort of sign to separate us from the false ones.” “I’m sure we’ll be able to point it out, but I imagine the best strategy would be to stick together and do our best not to get separated.” Rarity pointed out. “What if we had a call sign that they wouldn’t be aware of?” Rainbow Dash inquired. “That’s a good idea,” replied Twilight, “What will our call sign be?” “STICK TOGETHER TEAM!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Everyone in the room stared with a blank expression. The first one to speak was Applejack. “That’s the most ridiculous call sign these ears have ever heard…Let’s do it.” As ridiculous as it was, no one could challenge it, it was plain and simple: stick together team. “Well, if that’s settled, what’s left? Anything else that we need to be aware of?” Goombella asked. “Just be on the lookout for Queen Chrysalis.” Celestia said. “I suppose I wouldn’t be mistaken to assume that she is their leader?” Goombella asked. Celestia nodded. “Be wary, being the leader she will be more powerful than the rest of her subjects, I can vouch for this myself. We had gotten into a scuffle the previous year, when Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, was getting married to Princess Cadence. Chrysalis had transformed herself into Cadence and sealed her away so that no one could locate her, and everyone would believe that Chrysalis was Cadence. When she finally revealed herself, she had absorbed enough power from Shining Armor to defeat me. If it wasn’t for the Elements here, we may not be standing where we are right now.” Fluttershy and Goombella exchanged nervous looks. “We’ll definitely keep that in mind your majesty.” Goombella replied nervously. “I guess the only thing left to do is prepare for the journey ahead.” Twilight stated. “How are we looking on supplies?” “Pinkie and I took care of gathering enough food for everypony.” Applejack said. “The weather for the next few days looks like it will be stable. I suppose it should be for a desert and all.” Rainbow Dash said. “I can arrange transportation to get you as close to the hive as possible, the nearest establishment is Appleloosa. From there, you all can travel westward on foot, and reach the hive in a few hours.” Celestia said. “Well it’s settled then,” said Twilight, “We’ll set out first thing in the morning, right now would probably be the best time to get some rest. I wish we could have stayed longer…” Celestia saw the sadness in Twilight’s eyes. She wanted to be with her mentor a bit longer, after all, this is a dangerous quest that they have on their hooves. Who’s to say that everyone would make it back? But it had to be done, the world rested on their shoulders now, and Twilight knew that very well. The longer they waited, the more time that Mecha Mario and Nightmare Moon had to reach their goal, and they were not about to let that happen. “I wish that it did not have to be this way, I would gladly come with you all, but with Luna out of commission, there would be nopony to oversee things here, and chaos could easily befall in Canterlot.” Celestia said. Rainbow Dash listened as the rain outside became more intense, as if it was going to smash through the walls, followed by loud cracks of thunder. “That storm is really getting bad, but it should be clear by tomorrow morning.” She said. “I’ll show you all to your rooms, the rain should actually be quite calming. I don’t think I’ve ever found it easier to sleep than listening to the sound of rain tapping the window.” Replied Celestia. She guided the group through a small series of corridors on the bottom floor of the castle. Ponies, humans, and goombas heading through respective doors to get some sleep for the night, all saying their goodnights, knowing they would see each other the following morning. Celestia returned to her thrown room. She reflected on the events that have taken place over the past few days. To think, her kingdom was not in danger a few days ago. Things had been calming down since the events with Discord, completely turning Equestria upside down, causing unrealistic weather patterns, transforming animals into freaks of nature. Her star pupil, along with her five friends, were able to put a stop to his reign of chaos and seal him back in his stone prison. Even before, when Nightmare Moon had been freed, the Elements of Harmony were able to put an end to her, and free her sister from the corruption, and now, when things are beginning to slow down and return to normal, a new threat reveals itself, and again, the Elements of Harmony must stop it before the whole world is plunged into darkness. The only problem is that this is an enemy that nopony in Equestria knows a thing about, at least, none of the citizens or elders. Even with this new threat arising, new allies are gained in the process, and it will all fall on their alliance with the Elements to stop that threat, to save Equestria from an imminent destruction. None of this was the case only a few days ago. Celestia is confident their abilities to stop Mecha Mario, but even so, she cannot help but worry for them. After all, she knows little to nothing about their enemy, and that he is capable of corruption. What if they are not strong enough to defeat him? What if he finds the rest of the Crystal Stars before they do? What if he corrupts them and it isn’t possible to bring them back? “No, NO!” Celestia shouted, “They can do it, I know Twilight and the rest of the Elements. They are capable of anything, and they will defeat that creature, and their new friends will only ensure it. I know they can do it.” Celestia kept to her thoughts, while Goombella had been doing some thinking of her own. She was equally as concerned as Celestia was. Really, what would happen if they couldn’t stop Mecha Mario? They are responsible for his release onto this world, and it’s their responsibility to put an end to him before it’s too late. Such a task to do, and not a lot of time to do it. She only wished that they had more time. They were in a whole new world. She has so many questions and so much to learn from it, and they only have time to save it from annihilation. All in a day’s work for the archaeologist, she thought. Never did she think her future held this in store for her. Saving her own world with a famous individual, and now saving a completely foreign world from the same fate. And now her feelings begin to get the better of her. She couldn’t live with herself if anything would happen to a single soul in this world. And even Mario, she’s always worried about the way he puts himself in danger’s path, to protect those who don’t have the ability to protect themselves. How long would it be before the next strike dealt to him is the one that he won’t recover from? She did not want to think about it, right now, it was time to sleep. At least attempt to, that much pressure on your mind can make it pretty difficult. The pitter patter of the rain hitting the window made it more soothing, however, and the light sounds of thunder crackling in the sky made it all the more calming. Sleep soon took over for the eight heroes, no more restless thoughts, just deep relaxation. At least for a while. That was when the sound of a large window breaking could be heard echoing through the halls. It was loud enough to somehow simultaneously wake everyone up. They all rushed to the source of the sound, the throne room. “What’s going on?!” Yelled Rarity. She was answered with the sight of a Royal Guard, lying on the floor unconscious. He had apparently been tossed through the window into the throne room. They approached the shattered window to witness an intense battle between two powerful foes. “That’s Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon!” Cried Twilight. Lightning flashed in the sky as the two clashed in a battle of magic. They were locked in a battle of light versus dark, summoning magic from both their horns, unable to show weakness, lest they get hit with the strength of both blasts. The heroes wanted to interfere, but there was no way they could do so without risking Celestia breaking concentration and being hit by the beam. It would not matter anyway. As the duel continued, Twilight happened to notice a difference in Nightmare Moon’s physical appearance. “Does anyone else see this?” She asked, “Nightmare Moon is glowing with a gold tinge, she was never like this before, what does it mean?” Almost immediately, Mario and Goombella recognized it, their faces looking frightened at the realization. “She has the Gold Crystal Star!” Goombella shouted. “What is that particular Star capable of?” Rainbow Dash asked. “When used properly, it grants the user a great boost in strength and defense. Whatever power she possessed before just increased dramatically.” Goombella explained. “This isn’t going to end well…” Fluttershy said weakly. Almost as if fate had been waiting for her to say this, they immediately noticed the dwindling strength in Celestia, as Nightmare Moon began to overpower her side of the colliding beams, and the center moved closer and closer to Celestia. She braced for impact as the beam enveloped her and blew her into the wall of the castle, leaving her injured and barely conscious. Anger and fear welled up inside of the group as they began to comprehend what just happened. They jumped through the shattered window down onto the castle courtyard, noticing the ruin all around them. Fluttershy and Twilight galloped as quickly as possible to Celestia to check on her condition, the rest standing on guard in case Nightmare Moon decided to shoot first and ask later. “Pathetic…can’t even beat your little sister.” Nightmare Moon taunted. “You…MONSTER!” Rarity shouted to Nightmare Moon. “You’re cheating!” Said Rainbow Dash, “you just boosted your power with that Crystal Star, you couldn’t do anything without it!” Nightmare Moon could only laugh. “You haven’t even seen all of my power, I could destroy all of you easily without even trying.” Celestia coughed, showing that she was still alive, but her strength was entirely diminished. “Twilight…” She said to her pupil, “don’t hold back…” she coughed again, “you can beat her. You are strong enough, I know you are.” “Princess…” Twilight said. “Shh…” Celestia continued, “I’ll be fine, do not worry for my safety, I knew what I was getting into, and I know that you can finish what I started here. Fight back Twilight, show her what you are capable of.” She said, finally losing consciousness. Twilight could feel the anger building inside of her, she was ready to kill Nightmare Moon if it came down to it. She and Fluttershy rejoined the rest of the heroes. “Well let’s settle this then, weaklings.” She taunted at the heroes a second time. “You’re about to be eating your own words you dirty witch.” Goombella said. With that, the battle commenced. Nightmare Moon began by completely covering the surrounding area with dark clouds. It was nearly impossible to see anything through it all. Nightmare Moon observed her clueless opponents, trying to determine who to attack first. She finally made her decision. In an instant, she appeared in front of Mario, and levitated him up into the air. “You appear to be the greatest threat, and so you will not be in this fight.” She said. Her horn began to charge and turn completely white. Yellow electricity began to flow around it, and she sent the electrical bolt of magic at Mario, sending him towards the castle wall. He attempted to move, but soon realized that he was completely immobilized as electricity flowed around his body. Shear anger was now overtaking Goombella, and she jumped toward Nightmare Moon in a quite aggressive fashion, attempting to head bonk her with all the power she had in her body. She made contact, but the result was less than satisfying. Goombella fell back down to the ground. Nightmare Moon only laughed. “Come now,” she said, “Are you even trying? Tell you what, I’ll give you another free hit, just so it is fair.” “You won’t be so cocky when we’re through with you.” Rainbow Dash said. In that moment she leapt into the air, wings outstretched, following up with a few aerial somersaults, and brought down every ounce of power in her body in the form of a kick with her hind leg. To any other opponent, this would have easily broken there back and they would be incapacitated for good. Not this time. Everyone stared as she too only bounced off of Nightmare Moon’s body, unscathed. “That was your free hit, now it’s my turn.” She stated. Again, she charged up magic in her horn and it began to glow, this time with a purple hue, after a few seconds, she released a large magical pulse that knocked everyone off of their feet onto the ground. Mario could only watch as his companions were tossed around like rag dolls. He could feel a burning inside of him as anger welled up. Everyone got back up to their feet, unsure of what to do next. “What are we going to do?” Rarity asked, “She’s too powerful, is there anything we can do to fight back?” “The Elements of Harmony!” Shouted Twilight, “There’s no other way, get in position!” “You all clearly know what you’re doing,” Goombella said, “I’ll just stand back a minute and watch the show.” Twilight levitated her crown onto her head. Everypony else put their necklaces on in response. Nightmare Moon knew what their next move was, but she knew she wouldn’t fall victim this time around, she prepared for the attack. Everypony closed their eyes as magical energy began to surge around them in a white light, each one of the elements glowing in a blinding light that all evil in the shadows would retreat from. Suddenly they opened their eyes, only a white glow emanating from them as a rainbow spiral of energy shot forth at their foe. It was something to behold, no evil could possibly resist the power of-the fuck? What’s going on? Did she? No way, she just locked them into a Dragonball Z beam battle! Nightmare Moon focused all her magic, as well as the star’s power, into a beam that is now colliding with the rainbow spiral! Sparks of energy and bursts of color were bouncing off of the sphere that had formed in the middle of both beams, kicking up dust and dirt around the castle courtyard. At this moment, the tension was on. Both sides showed no indication of faltering, and the sphere in the middle was growing immensely. Goombella could only attempt to take cover from the destruction that was taking place. The sphere continued to grow until it finally burst in an epic explosion of rainbows and electricity. When the dust settled, it was apparent that no one had come out unscathed. However there were no fatal results. Everypony managed to regain their footing from the powerful blast between the six of them and the mare of the night. Even Nightmare Moon was a little shaken up, but she managed to stop the beam that previously defeated her in the past. It was almost as if nothing could stop her. Twilight was the first to grasp the situation. “…What…How…that’s not even possible! How could you have completely just blocked the power of the Elements of Harmony?!” “I’ll admit,” Nightmare Moon started, “I didn’t think it would be possible myself, but I wasn’t going to fall victim this time around. No, today I will be the one to rise and claim victory.” “Not if we have anything to say about it.” Rainbow Dash said. “We’ll stop you, even if it kills us.” “By the end of this battle that’s what will happen to all of you if you don’t give up now.” She replied. While in the midst of the battle and the conversation amongst the ponies, Goombella began looking over Nightmare Moon, noting that she was very fond of attacking with magic, also noting how the Crystal Star’s gold energy surrounded her much like a barrier, only it surrounded her body rather than create a bubble around her. When she attacked with magic, the horn began to glow, so too would the barrier. “I’ve got it.” She said finally, “she’s amplifying the Star’s energy with her own magic, and her horn is the weakness, if we can hit her where it hurts, we may have a chance.” “If it’s all we’ve got to work with then let’s go for it.” Said Rainbow Dash. “What’s the plan then?” Asked Applejack. “I can distract her,” Twilight said, “fight magic with magic, giving you all a chance to jump in while she’s occupied.” The group agreed on their plan of attack and began to ready up. “What is your decision then?” Nightmare Moon said. “We will never surrender to you Nightmare Moon. If we’re going down, we’re going down fighting.” Twilight answered in response. Nightmare Moon only smiled. “So be it, this will be the end of the Elements of Harmony forever.” Four of the six ponies began to charge. Twilight and Rarity began to charge their horns with all the magic they could muster, Nightmare Moon did the same in response. “What are you doing Rarity? I said I would distract her.” Twilight said. “Oh nonsense darling,” she replied, “I know you’re strong, but this is a battle where any help is necessary, and I’ll back you up on it no matter what.” Twilight smiled and answered back. “Thanks Rarity, let’s do this together.” Another barrage of lasers collided, (wow the author sure does love lasers), and another battle of beams took place, only this time, it was obvious that Nightmare Moon was winning this time around, her power was too great for Twilight and Rarity, and the massive beam was starting to move towards them. Rainbow Dash began to fly high into the air to prepare for a Sonic Rainboom, however she would have to wait for the perfect moment to strike. She got into position and waited for the signal. On the surface, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie began to wear away at Nightmare Moon’s barrier. Any damage to it would definitely weaken it, as well as break her concentration on the beam and give Rainbow Dash the perfect moment. Applejack began to buck at her as hard as she could, enough that even Nightmare Moon could feel it slightly, but she would not focus on it. Pinkie Pie immediately devised the plan of using Fluttershy as a means of continued distraction by holding her up to Nightmare Moons face. This would seem pretty ineffective if she wasn’t giving the most adorable puppy dog stare ever. Even Nightmare Moon could not resist how adorable she was. This distraction slightly weakened her end of the beam and it slowly crept up closer to her. Applejack finally gave Dash the signal. Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she physically could. A cone shape began to form around her body. She could feel the energy in her body as she began to release it all. ‘BOOM’ was all that was heard when she finally let go. The sound was deafening, rainbow streaks followed behind her as she flew towards her target: Nightmare Moon’s horn. She reared her hoof back, ready to punch her lights out. It never happened. In one swift movement, Nightmare Moon caught Dash’s hoof with her own, and completely stopped any and all of her momentum. The force from this was so great that it’s possible Dash’s hoof could actually have gotten broken, considering the snapping sound that was heard upon catching her hoof. Nightmare Moon swung her body around and smacked the three opposing ponies away from her and onto their faces. She was pretty angry at this point. Where ever the energy was coming from, she managed to reinforce her beam with so much power that Twilight and Rarity could not handle in anymore. The beam collided into both of them and they flew towards the castle walls with a loud SMACK! Leaving them dazed on the ground. As Mario continued to watch the pain his friends were going through, the anger in him began to well up more and more, but there was nothing he could do about it. “A nice try on all of your parts.” Nightmare Moon said, victory and arrogance in her voice. “But it wasn’t enough.” The ponies were breathing heavily; completely awestruck at how their attempt to defeat Nightmare Moon had failed. “This is the fate of those who try to defy the Mare of the Night.” There was truly nothing left for the heroes to do, they’ve exhausted all their power and tricks. What was left for them to do? Nightmare Moon began to levitate the six ponies and Goombella close to her, choking them all as she did so. This was it, Nightmare Moon was going to win, at least they had done their best, and nopony could say that they didn’t try. They waited for their inevitable deaths… Which also never came. Out of nowhere, Nightmare Moon was struck with a fireball. And right on her horn as well. This caused her to drop her hold on the heroes and allow them to breathe once again. Goombella looked up, fully aware of whose fireball it was. “Mario!” She shouted, excited to know that not only had they been saved, but that he was alright as well. However, the second she turned over to look at him, a mix of confusion and fear hit her at the same time. Something had changed about him. Even Nightmare Moon had to stop and grasp what exactly had happened to him. His typical happy-go-lucky nature was clearly not there. Rage was what replaced it, and this was just from looking at his face. The rest of his body? Forget it. His eyes had gone from the bright blue that they’ve always been to being completely enveloped by flames. His eyes were a pure, bright fire. If that wasn’t enough, there was a small, light, flame aura surrounding his entire body. It was as if someone had doused him in gasoline and lit a match, but no pain could be felt by him, oh no, however the same could not be said for his enemies. The others quivered at his appearance. It was as if this apparition was not Mario any longer. The only thing that Goombella could think of was that Mario had gone through some sort of transformation, but how? She attempted to talk to him. “Mario?” She said, “Is…is that you?” He said nothing, however he eyed Nightmare Moon with a stare that could make any mortal bend to his will. Nightmare Moon finally pulled together. “You fool, you really think that because you’ve transformed that it will help you? This world is already mine, and I will plunge it into an eternal night.” Mario held his hand out in response and fired not a ball, but a blast of fire at her. Nightmare Moon staggered back slightly upon impact. Where did all this power come from? She was not beaten yet. She prepared for her next move. “Savor that one hit, mortal, it will be your last.” She said. She charged the magic in her horn again, and her barrier glowed once more. Mario only stood and watched. When she had finished charging, she fired a massive lightning bolt at Mario, who merely put a barrier of fire in front of him to shield his body from the attack. The impact left clouds of smoke covering where he had been standing. “Mario!” Shouted the other heroes. “Easy enough,” Nightmare Moon said, “now to deal with the rest of you.” Her victory, as per usual, was short-lived. Mario flew, not jumped, not ran, FLEW, through the smoke, fists held out and ablaze. When he was within a few feet of Nightmare Moon, he reared his arm back and punched with all the force he could muster. Nightmare Moon, being caught completely off guard by this attack, was launched by the explosion created by the punch straight into the opposite wall of the castle courtyard. The heroes held awestruck faces upon this action. “She was right…” Goombella said finally, “this is the power the Shadow Queen was talking about all along…” “What do you mean?” Twilight said. “The Shadow Queen foresaw this power inside of Mario back when we had been fighting her,” Goombella replied, “She knew about this all along, and here it is, in front of our faces.” The words of the Shadow Queen echoed in her mind. 'Something resonates from him which I’ve not seen, I sense something stronger…' Nightmare Moon pulled herself up off the ground. Mario continued to eye her from the distance, daring her to make the next move. She knew she’d been beaten, she just would not admit it, if she had not been weakened so heavily from her fight with the others, she might have been able to take him on, however she did choose to make the wise decision. Get the hell out of there. “You will all be my servants of the night, but it will not be tonight. Farewell mortals.” With that, she turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished into the night sky. The others continued to stare at Mario, who was watching to make sure she would not attempt a final attack. When it was clear to him that she had fled, he suddenly, and involuntarily, clutched his chest and knelt to the ground. Slowly, his flame aura subsided and his eyes began to revert back to the way they had been before. He could barely stand up after exerting so much power, and he still could not put his finger on what exactly had happened to him. All that he was concerned about now was that his friends were safe. He took one final glance at them to make sure they were alive and breathing, and collapsed onto the ground. Author's Note It's been a long time comin'. I'm sorry I've made you all wait several months for this one. I rarely have time to write nowadays due to college and work, which I can say are both going very well, and when I do have time I try to hangout with friends whenever possible because I don't know the next time I'll be able see them. But here it is finally, I'll try to keep writing whenever I can, I haven't forgotten about you. Also, leave me any feedback you want to in the comments, I like to hear what people have to say and gladly welcome any advice to improve that you all have to offer. On a side note, I thought about using some music in this one, if you're interested, it's from Dark Souls, and it's the theme of Artorias the Abysswalker. It seemed pretty appropriate coming towards the end of it but I'll let you all decide. Until next time, Kabbie22
LET'S A GO!“This is the end for you, Super Mario.” Mecha Mario said triumphantly. “I’d like to personally thank you for delivering the rest of the Crystal Stars to me, saved me a lot of trouble tracking them down and retrieving them myself.” Mario slowly picked himself up off the ground. He felt so weak it was an amazement that he could stand at all. He saw all his friends lying close to Mecha Mario’s feet, still breathing thankfully. “Only one thing left to do now…” Said Mecha Mario. He used the power of the Crystal Stars to levitate Mario’s allies and hold them in place. Mario, with a terrified look on his face, could see them all fight helplessly to break free of the grip, but alas, it could not be done. With the little strength he had, he desperately tried to reach them, but he was immediately blasted away by an oncoming missile from Mecha Mario. Mario fell back to the ground, no strength left in his body whatsoever. Mecha Mario then began gathering energy from the stars and started channeling it to his robotic chest. “…Destroy you all.” When he was sufficiently charged, he unleashed a large and dark energy from his chest. Mario saw the blast heading straight towards them, and he could not do anything to save them. He struggled to stand up but his wounds were too great. He watched as the blast collided into them… “OH NO!” Exclaimed the familiar plumber. He rose from the spot he had been resting in, a small bed in what appeared to be an infirmary. He was breathing heavily, relief flooded into his mind when he realized it was only a nightmare. He took a careful look around the surprisingly large room he was in. If this was an infirmary, it was definitely one fit for royalty. Guess that explains why Celestia was also resting in the same room, in a much larger and elegant looking bed. He also saw several other beds, each of which, his friends were resting on. Everyone looked exhausted. At least they were safe for now. But how was this possible? Mario could not remember a thing that had happened the night before. Yet somehow they were all in this infirmary and the immediate threat before them had just vanished? Something was amiss. “Goodness, you’re awake!” Nurse Red Heart said upon entering the room. Mario jumped out of the bed, landing easily on his feet. “Well then, you’ve recovered pretty quickly, haven’t you?” She said to Mario. Mario nodded. Although he doesn’t know how it is possible, he explained to her that resting always seemed to completely recharge him, no matter how badly he had been injured previously. “I didn’t see any of the fighting myself, however I know that the others managed to bring you and the Princess here safely. When they arrived, they explained that Nightmare Moon had retreated to safety after something you had done, they weren’t able to go into too much detail, sleep began to overtake them, and I recommended they stay here for the night so we could treat them. For the most part they will make a full recovery; the one exception is that Rainbow Dash will probably have some trouble with her right fore hoof. We did everything we could to make it so she could at least walk with it. If we hadn’t, the whole thing would have been a broken mess. Mario clenched his fist. In the back of his mind, he knew it was his entire fault. If he could have protected them sooner, they would have all been okay. Nurse Red Heart could see his frustration and she knew what was wrong. “It isn’t your fault Mario, shoot, from what I was able to gather from the others, Nightmare Moon had casted a spell on you that left you completely immobilized for the entire battle. You couldn’t have done anything to stop what was going to transpire next. It was just fortunate you could jump in at the end when you did.” Mario sighed and relaxed his hand. She was right; he had to ask her though, what happened when he saved them? He could not remember it if his life depended on it, and it might depend on it at some point. “I don’t know, they said something about your physical appearance changing and that you were able to finally force Nightmare Moon to retreat. They had done a number on her, but you were the final push.” Even with her reassurance, he only wished he could have stopped any of it from happening. Witnessing his friends fight merely to stay alive can really leave an impact on a person; especially knowing what could have happened if he hadn’t been able to intervene. “You should get some food in you,” said Nurse Red Heart, “don’t want to go through the day on an empty stomach. If you need anything, I’ll be close by.” Nurse Red Heart walked out of the room to handle her own business, leaving Mario to his thoughts. He wanted to get the others up, but he figured it would be good to let them rest a while longer, as per normal, any adventure is always long and fatiguing, and he knew they would need the rest. He prepared himself to go get some grub when an old and familiar sound went off in the pocket of his overalls. Mario reached for the transceiver in his pocket and opened it up. The Mailbox SP. A relatively primitive device meant to send and receive messages. While they continued to upgrade throughout the years, Mario was perfectly happy with the one he’s had and will probably keep it until it cannot do its job any longer. He looked through his messages and found the new one, the sender being none other than his younger brother Luigi! He clicked on the message and began to read. “Dear Mario, How’ve you been big bro? Haven’t heard back from you in a while, I know you’ve been out adventuring with your old buddies in Rogueport, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I remember when you and I went to the Beanbean Kingdom and we had to save the land from that witch. Man, those were the days; we travelled to so many lands in that Kingdom. I remember when we went to Little Fungitown and you ate that Invincishroom, I had to go to the Guffawa Ruins to get the grass that would cure you of the Bean fever you had received from it. Or when we went to Joke’s End and we had to fight our way through that Crystal Castle. Oh and the very beginning of it all, when we flew to the Beanbean Kingdom in Bowser’s ship and we landed in the Stardust fields. I wish we had more time to spend together, bro. Even if we go on life threatening adventures, I still always enjoy them to the very end. Anyway, the Mushroom Kingdom is doing just fine. Bowser seems to have accepted defeat for a while; hopefully he’ll keep it that way. The princess has been overseeing the kingdom as usual, and things at home have been normal. One last thing, bro, please stay safe out there, I know you can take care of yourself and you don’t need me to tell you that, but your little bro worries about you. When you get back, definitely tell me about the adventures you went on. I’d love to hear it. I love you bro, write back soon. Your brother, Luigi” “Aww…that’s so sweet…” a voice said behind him. “Oh!” Mario said, turning his head to the side slightly. “My apologies dear, I didn’t mean to startle you, or intrude.” Rarity said, “I heard the sound of that gadget you have and I got curious. Sounds like your brother is really worried about you.” Mario nodded. “I worry for my little sister myself, she always does these crazy things to try and earn her Cutiemark, luckily she never gets hurt from any of them. I suppose that’s the fate of younger and older siblings, to constantly worry about each other’s safety.” She said. Mario chuckled and agreed with her. “Well I must say, I’m rather famished myself, how about we get the others up and get something to eat before we set out for Appleloosa?” “Right behind you…” said an awakening Rainbow Dash, “Ahh! That really hurts…” she said upon placing her bandaged forehoof down. “Try not to bare too much weight on that hoof, dear,” Rarity said, “it’s going to take some time to heal after an injury like that.” Rainbow Dash looked up at Mario. “Nice work out there last night Mario, that stuff you did with the fire all around you? Never seen anything like it in my life!” Well, as far as what happened the night before, he now knows he was literally on fire. He shrugged and gave the world’s second hand to hoof brofist, only to her good hoof. “Hmm…” Mario began to ponder. Suddenly he was struck with inspiration. “I’ve got it!” He said. He approached Rainbow Dash and explained the brilliant idea he just had to her. “That’s…even MORE awesome than the last one! We have to try that when we get the chance!” Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly. Pinkie Pie began to raise her head from the bed she was sleeping on. “What’s all the yelling abou-“ She caught a glimpse of Mario. Her eyes widened in such a way that only two words could describe what she was feeling: Pure Fear. “DEMON ON THE ROOF!” She shouted. Their faces were left with nothing but total confusion. “Demon on the wha-? Pinkie, we’re not on the roof, and what’s this about demons?” Asked Rarity. “You don’t see it?! It’s right there! Beside you!” She pointed her hoof towards Mario. “He’s here to destroy us all!” The others began to wake up one by one because of Pinkie’s constant shouting. “Pinkie, he saved us last night, do you know what would have happened if he hadn’t?” Said Rarity. “That’s just so he could get out trust! Soon he’ll pick us all off one by one!” Pinkie said in retort. “You’re losing your mind, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash said, “I think we’d know if he was trying to hurt us. Even from the very beginning, when none of us knew him, he was still protecting us.” Applejack finally chimed in on the conversation. “Ah agree with them Pinkie, he hasn’t ever given us a reason not to trust him.” She looked at Mario. “You’ve been with us from the beginning as Dash said, and ah can’t see you ever turning on us, but as of last night, whatever overtook ya was definitely something ya didn’t have any control over.” Mario tried to explain himself the best he could, mentioning that all he could remember the night before was the rage that began to overtake him when he saw them getting strangled by Nightmare Moon, after that, he had lost all control, and he could not remember how exactly he had forced her to retreat, he just knew he had done it. “Wait, you mean ya don’t remember a thing? You blew Nightmare Moon away and ya don’t remember doin’ it at all?” Applejack asked in confusion. Mario shook his head. “A likely story!” Pinkie Pie said accusingly. Twilight got out of her bed. “Well, as weird as it seems, I believe it myself.” She said, “I still remember the day I had gotten my Cutiemark, at first my magic wasn’t doing what I wanted it to, I merely had to make the dragon egg hatch, but I couldn’t do it. But after Dash’s first sonic rainboom, the magic in me grew stronger, and suddenly I didn’t have any control of it myself. Mario’s situation sounds very similar to what I had experienced except for the fact that he can’t remember any of it. If he had wanted to hurt us at all, he would have done it right then and there.” Fluttershy still shuddered a bit, remembering the destruction he caused the night before. “I just think that, it’s going to take some time to get used to it is all…” she said. Mario could not blame her; whatever he did last night obviously sparked some fear among his friends. He would do whatever it takes to make them feel better around him. “Thanks for understanding, Mario.” Fluttershy said. “Well,” Goombella said, “no matter what happens, we’re still a team. And the team has to stick together.” “Stick together, team…” Pinkie said. “That’s the spirit!” Goombella said, “We can talk about this later on, I’m quite famished myself. But I think we need to get a move on to find that next Crystal Star before metal head finds it first.” “I agree with Goombella.” Celestia said weakly. “Princess!” Everyone shouted. “Don’t worry, my little ponies, I’m alright.” She said, “I’m proud of you all. I heard everything.” Everyone continued to listen. “You all fought bravely last night, and I know you will all defeat Nightmare Moon and Mecha Mario. Even if things start to look bleak, do not lose hope, I know you all will prevail. Fate has brought you all together, and you will all succeed together, I know it my heart. I wish you luck in your journey to gather the other stars. I scheduled your train to set off at noon, you should all get going. I will be here in Canterlot if you should need my help again.” “Thank you, Princess.” Twilight said, giving her a warm smile, which Celestia also returned. Just as they were leaving the infirmary, Celestia called for the plumber himself. “Mario, just one more thing,” She said. Mario turned and approached her once more. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Please, keep them safe. They are very strong, but I’ve seen Nightmare Moon’s and Mecha Mario’s powers first hand. I know you have as well. They are immensely powerful. Just please, do what you must to stop them. I know you all can do it.” Mario nodded his head in approval. “Thank you…” Princess Celestia said, slowly beginning to doze off into a well needed sleep. “Hey Mario! You comin’ or what?” Goombella called out. Mario ran out of the infirmary to catch up with his allies. Next stop, Appleloosa. They went to their respective rooms, gathered any supplies and personal belongings that might be necessary, and headed for the station. As usual, the station was relatively crowded, but the train they would be riding on was a private one, meant for the heroes only. As they boarded, they said good bye to Canterlot for now and looked forward to getting to Appleloosa. “Ya’ll are gonna like it there.” Applejack said, “Pony folk from all over the west go to Appleloosa when they need a breather, it’s a great rest stop, plus I’ve got some family living over there. Then again, ah got family living from all around.” They found their way to their cabins and began getting comfortable. The brakes on the train were disengaged and the train began to move, scenery outside moved slowly, then quickly as the train began picking up speed. “We have a few hours to kill, and I’m pretty starved, why don’t we get brunch? You know, since we still haven’t eaten a thing at all anyway?” Said Rainbow Dash. Not a soul could argue with her, they were all quite starved. There was a quaint restaurant on board the train that they headed to. Luckily, the restaurant staff had been preparing for their arrival and they made sure to make a fresh breakfast that a king himself would enjoy. After the glorious meal, most of the ride had been pretty uneventful, though it would only take a few hours to reach their destination, most of the time they just caught up on resting until they would have to start their trek to the hive. Mario found the time to reply to Luigi for the message he had sent him earlier, and then proceeded to catch an afternoon nap. Several hours had passed when the train finally applied its brakes and arrived at the train station in Appleloosa. They carefully stepped off of the train. “Well, here we are.” Applejack said. “Sweet Appleloosa, make yourselves at home, at least for a little while.” “NOT SO FAST!” A female voice said. The heroes looked around for the mare in question. Suddenly a shadow jumped from over head and the figure landed in front of them. “It is I, the GREAT and POWEFUL Trixie!” Trixie shouted to the group. The group sighed in unison; however, they allowed her to begin her rant about herself. “You were hiding in the luggage car this whole time?” Twilight asked. “I have finally returned after my humiliating defeat that you made me endure! Now, I will have my revenge and take back that which you have stolen from me!” Trixie replied, ignoring Twilight’s question entirely. “Trixie, you were the one who stole the Crystal Star in the first place, and what makes you believe that you can really steal it from us again?” Said Twilight. “SILENCE SPARKLE!” Trixie shouted it response to Twilight, “I challenge the red one to a duel, skill versus brutish strength, magic versus cheap tricks, me versus a fool.” Mario stepped forward. “Alright then Trixie, have at it, if he wins, you leave us alone, if you win, you can take the crystal star from us.” Twilight said, to which Trixie agreed upon. At first, Twilight believed these terms would be fairly risky, but after Mario had given her a confident “I’ll deal with this idiot” wink as he stepped forward, she was certain that they had nothing to lose. “Excellent,” said Trixie, “you won’t be so lucky this time you insolent buffoon. Behold the power I possess!” She sparked her horn, and with little effort, began levitating off of the ground, generating a barrier (they never seem to get old) around herself, her eyes began to glow white, and lightning appeared to flash in the sky around only her body. “This barrier is completely impervious to any other magic from a unicorn as well as elemental based magic, you’re irritating fireballs and pesky spells will not bother me now!” She said in triumph, “what do you have to say now fool?” Mario took a hard look at her. This was not just any hard look; it was a look much like a person would have made if they were in a noisy room where no one could hear themselves think. A room filled with chatter and laughter and people just having a joyous time, when suddenly, out of nowhere, that one guy makes the longest and loudest fart in the history of loud farts, a fart so loud that it is able to silence the entire room, while continuing to emit noise for ten more seconds after the other people had stopped talking and laughing. That very look a person would make towards the source of the loud fart. This was the expression on Mario’s face. After another five seconds of this expression he was making towards her, all he could he was laugh hysterically, clutching his stomach and pointing at her. After about fifteen seconds of uncontrollable laughter from the plumber, he held a smile on his face and wiped a tear from his eye. “WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY FIND SO FUNNY AT THIS GIVEN MOMENT? I AM IN NO LAUGHING MOOD RIGHT NOW, AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU COULD POSSIBLY FIND FUNNY ABOUT ME AS OF THIS VERY SECOND…” Trixie continually shouted at Mario, however, he was too distracted to pay attention to anything else the raging mare was saying to him. As she continued her tantrum, Mario reached into his pockets and pulled out the Emerald Crystal Star he had been neglecting to use since he first obtained it. “…I’M COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY INCOMPETENT-you have another one of those things?” She finally said in what went from rage to confusion. He nodded, and then showed her what this one was capable of. After focusing the Crystal Star’s power for a few moments, he unleashed it all into Trixie. She recoiled in response, believing she was going to feel some sort of pain, but she soon discovered that she was now stuck in place! She then fell onto the ground, rolling around like a ball from the barrier she had generated over herself. Unfortunately her loud mouth could not be stopped, so she was still able to shout uncontrollably at him for freezing her the way he had. “UNFREEZE ME RIGHT THIS INSTANT YOU IDIOT! YOU’LL PAY DEARLY FOR HUMILIATING THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE AGAIN!” Mario knew this little trick would not last very long, so he decided to finish the job. He approached Trixie and lifted her and her magical bubble barrier into the air. “What are you doing now?!” She shouted, to which Mario ignored. “LET’S A GO!” He said to Pinkie Pie, who somehow managed to know what he wanted her to do. “Here we go!” She shouted in response to Mario, while simultaneously pulling out her party cannon. “DON’T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT TOSSING ME INTO THAT THING!” Trixie demanded hopelessly. Too late, the excited plumber then tossed her into the party cannon with an excited “WAHOO!” to follow up with the action. Pinkie Pie then ignited the fuse and counted down: “5…4…3…2…1…FIRE THE TORPEDOES!” She shouted in excitement. Trixie was then blasted far away into the afternoon sky, far, far away from Appleloosa. Maybe now she would learn that it doesn’t take much to put her in her place. “I’LL BE BACK AGAIN, AND I’LL FINALLY GET MY REVENGE ON YOU IMBECILES!” Trixie said, her voice trailing off in the distance. “YEAAAHHH!” Pinkie Pie shouted in shear excitement. Mario followed in her excitement by spinning around like a ballerina, following this particular action with a small jump, fist held into the air. For some reason, however, he stayed afloat, and a victorious tune began to fill the air. After a few seconds of this physics breaking action, Twilight finally chimed in. “Well, if you’ve both reveled in your victories long enough, I say we get a move on to the hive.” Mario finally fell back down to the earth on his feet, giving Pinkie Pie a final High Five before agreeing with Twilight. “Let’s a go!” Author's Note Alright, so I had planned to release a few more chapters in the time that I've been on break from college but here's the run down of what happened: A WILD PS4 APPEARED! KABBIE IS PARALYZED! WILD PS4 USED WATCH_DOGS! IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE! KABBIE IS STILL PARALYZED! WILD PS4 USED THE LAST OF US REMASTERED! KABBIE FAINTED! And that's the long and short of it, I'll try to get more up, but with college looming around the corner again, I can't promise anything. Leave any feedback for me that you want to. As always, constructive criticism is invited and appreciated.
A Ball-Busting Greeting“I don’t understand how such a small human could have possessed so much power…” Nightmare Moon said, “Even the six elements have gotten much stronger since our last encounter, this may not be as simple a task as we believe it to be as long as they stand in our path…” “Relax Princess of the Night,” Mecha Mario replied, a somehow calming tone in his robotic voice, “we will succeed in due time, and we cannot just jump into the fight and expect to come out on top, we have to approach this entire situation with strategy…” “What do you suggest we do then?” Moon asked inquisitively. “We continue our own search for the remaining stars, they possess two to our one, there are still four more to recover, each with their own unique and versatile abilities, you have already seen what the gold one can do, and each other one only gets better, and obtaining all seven? This world will be ours yet.” “How do we expect to locate these last four then?” Moon asked inquisitively. “My creator installed a tracker that was integrated into my systems when I was built. It uses the energy of any of the seven stars to get a fix on the rest, too bad he couldn’t have finished building that device before Mario was at his front door. Regardless, I can sense each one from miles away, I could even tell you where those ‘heroes’ currently reside right this very second, and having a fix on their location at any given moment is going to work to our advantage, I can assure you of that.” “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s take them out while they still posses the few that they have now, as long as you are with me this time, defeating them will be nothing.” Nightmare Moon stated. “We already saw how that went down; they didn’t even have use of the stars during your battle with them while you were supercharged by the one we have, and look what happened. Even if I was to accompany you this time, that still would not guarantee our success in defeating them. Our foes are quite powerful; do not let their looks deceive you. The best thing will be to track down the remaining Crystal Stars, you and I are both quite powerful, and considering we currently possess the star that allows us the ability to power up even higher at a moment’s notice, obtaining the final few will not be a chore at all, your highness…” Nightmare Moon pondered the words of her mechanical ally for a few moments and finally had to agree with him in the end. “The more Stars we have, the more power we will ultimately have…then we will search for the remainder, and when we finally encounter them again, they will not be so lucky.” “Excellent, this world will be yours soon enough your highness…” Mecha Mario stated, activating his thrusters to take flight. Nightmare Moon took her thoughts in for a moment before following suit with Mecha Mario. For your sake, you’d better be right about all of this; my patience is wearing thin… “It sure would be nice to stay and catch up with everypony down here,” said Applejack, “been quite some time since we’d been here last…” “We will, Applejack,” said Twilight in a reassuring manner, “when everything has settled down again, we will come back here and just take it easy a little while, it really has been a long time since we’ve been to Appleloosa.” “It really is a cozy little town; I can see why you would want to come back.” Said Goombella. “What did you all do when you were here last?” “The last time we were here was meant to be a simple delivery to my cousin, Braeburn,” said Applejack, “but it ended up turning into a full scale war between the settlers of Appleloosa and the Buffalo Tribe.” Goombella’s jaw dropped suddenly. “Well how did that happen?! Surely something must have sparked such an action!” “I can tell you all about it on the way to the hive, let’s get a move on.” Replied Applejack. Goombella and Applejack took lead as everyone else followed close behind them, walking through to the end of the town’s small boundaries and making their way out into the dry, arid desert ahead. “As I said before,” she began, “it started out as a delivery but turned into a conflict with the Buffalo Tribe that lives not too far from here. You see that orchard out in the distance?” Goombella squinted her eyes a little, noticing the relatively large amount of trees with a path cutting through them. “Oh yeah, I see it alright.” “Well, the Buffalo Tribe wanted the settlers to remove the apple orchard to make room for their traditional stampede. The problem was, that orchard serves as a source of food to all the pony folk in town.” “Taking it down would deprive them of their food and force them to either leave or plant a new one. But that would definitely take some time…” said Goombella. “Exactly, so you see where the issue comes in.” She continued, “They attempted to solve things peacefully at first, but things would quickly get heated and uncivil, and before anypony knew it, the conflict had escalated into a battle between the settlers and the Buffalo Tribe.” “Yikes!” Goombella said surprised, “Hopefully there were few casualties? I can’t imagine what that war must have been like…” “Luckily there were no casualties, save for the amount of apples that were destroyed in the process. This was the only way the pony settlers really knew how to defend themselves from a raging stampede of Buffalo.” Applejack said coolly. Goombella held a puzzled expression as they continued trudging through the desert. “They used…apples to defend themselves? I don’t really see how that would stop them from trampling over everything.” She replied finally. “I have to agree with ya on that,” Applejack replied, “but believe it or not, that’s what ended up solving the entire problem.” “Oh really? Care to explain that one?” Asked Goombella. “An apple pie stopped the destruction of the orchard as well as Appleloosa. A single one that had been launched into the air managed to hit the leader of the Buffalo Tribe, Chief Thunderhooves. Smacked him square in the snout.” “How did that not just tick him off even more? If I got hit in the face with an apple pie, I don’t really think I’d be too happy about that.” Goombella replied. “Feller finally got a taste of the sweetness of apple pies. Never had one a day in his life until that moment. He enjoyed the taste of it so much that he called off the stampede and a compromise could finally be made.” Said Applejack. “Well that’s a relief, what were the conditions of this compromise then?” Goombella asked, very interested in her response. “You saw that path that cut through the orchard earlier? In exchange for a portion of the food supply that the pony settlers would grow every year, the Buffalo tribe would do their stampede along that path through the orchard instead of overtop of it, and the settlers would get to keep the orchard and continue to live in Appleloosa. Both sides finally agreed to the conditions, and this is how things have been ever since.” “Wow…” Goombella said with deep interest, “Equestria really does have a rich history, huh?” “Oh, definitely, and this was recent, that’s not even getting into how Equestria was founded in the first place, but that might be a better story for our ride back home.” Twilight said. “Fair enough, I could probably share a bit about Rogueport’s history later on; our worlds seem to be very relatable.” Goombella replied. “Almost as if these events were supposed to happen…” “Whatever do you mean, Goombella?” Asked Rarity. “I don’t know,” she replied, “it just seems like this all worked out too perfectly. Two similar worlds with similar stories to tell. Each with their own unique heroes, villains, and lifestyles, such a coincidence that we would all come together like this…” “Well,” Rarity answered after a moment of thought, “fate has its way regardless of what we think we control, we’re merely actors on the stage called life, doing what the script says, saying what we think we’re supposed to, causing us to carry out actions already set aside for us. In every decision we make, there’s always that sense of ‘did I do this? Did this happen because of the decision I made?’, but we all have to understand that everything happens for a reason. We are only ever asked to do the best we can, and fate will continue to change as it sees fit.” Everyone had to stop and stare at Rarity after her response. The now blushing fashionista stopped to stare at everyone else. “…what?” “That was really deep, Rarity.” Fluttershy said, smiling at her friend, “You should become a writer! You’d be really good at it!” “Goodness, not me! I’m simply much too busy to take on another creative medium…but thank you.” She replied, smiling shyly. “I still think you both should definitely drop by my boutique at some point while you are away from home. Haven’t you ever had a day where you aren’t always dressed in the same casual outfits?” “Not for a little while, to be honest with you, “replied Goombella, “ever since I started researching with Professor Frankly, a small tie and my helmet has typically been what I wear, haven’t really given it much thought.” “At least it seems like you wore something different at one point or another, what about you, Mario?” Rarity asked. Mario shook his head. “You mean to tell me all your life you’ve just worn a hat and overalls?!” She said, surprise in her voice. In a little more detail, Mario explained that it always depended on the occasion, for instance, if he was throwing a party with his friends, they all might dress up the way the party was themed, or in some regard, whenever they played a certain sport, but that his plumber’s attire was all that he needed, even mentioning that his hat has been with him ever since he and his brother were babies. “Well, you should let me make you something while you are here, indulge in a little of what Equestria has to offer.” She said, smiling. “You bet! When we have a moment to relax, I wouldn’t mind that at all, Rarity.” Goombella replied. As they continued their trudge through the desert, they noticed the sun was starting to head towards the horizon, signifying nighttime was fast approaching. “Dang, how much further is this hive?!” Rainbow said impatiently. “Feels like we’ve been walking for daaaaays!” Applejack rolled her eyes at the impatient, cyan mare. “We’ll get there, Rainbow, you just have to keep your head occupied, why don’t you take part in these little chats we’ve been having? I hadn’t even noticed how quickly we’ve been pushing through this desert.” “No offense, but they are just soooo boooring!” She exclaimed, “I mean, can’t we talk about anything a little more interesting?” “What did you have in mind, Rainbow Dash?” Asked Twilight. “Anything besides history lessons of Equestria would be fine with me…” She replied. Twilight sighed. “To be fair, this is all that any of us have to go on. Mario and Goombella have only been here a short time, and all we really have to go on is learning about each other’s experiences and history.” “Would it make you feel better if you gave us a lesson about the Wonderbolts?” Twilight asked Rainbow Dash. Suddenly her eyes lit up. She began to revel on everything she knew about the Wonderbolts, explaining their history to the largest details of the achievements of each of them to the smaller details of favorite colors and foods to eat. She knew everything possible about the Wonderbolts. She also explained how she is striving to one day become a Wonderbolt herself. She knows that with enough hard work and determination, she’ll be able to reach that goal. “Keep at it Rainbow,” Goombella said, “After the way I’ve seen you fly, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll become a Wonderbolt!” After a little more walking, they finally came across a river, to which the question finally arose from Fluttershy. “Are you all sure we are going the right way? Any further this direction and we’ll end up in the San Palomino Desert…” “Well, if I remember viewing an old map in a book I read earlier, the hive is supposedly located south of the San Palomino Desert, so if we just follow this river south, then we should be there in no time!” Twilight stated. Without missing a beat, Mario pulled the magic map out and confirmed Twilight’s theory. Following the river south will lead them directly to the location of the Sapphire Crystal Star, thus leading them to the Hive and Queen Chrysalis herself. “Well, let’s get a move on then, looks like there’s just enough light out here to see for another couple hours, after that, it’s going to be difficult to see anymore.” Goombella said. They continued their journey along the river, using the calming sound of the river as their guide through the desert, which was now beginning to get very cold as the sun continued to fade. “Hopefully their hive is warmer than it is out here…” Fluttershy said finally, beginning to slow her walking pace down to almost a stop. “I’m so freezing, I don’t know how much longer I can keep moving.” Mario created a small fireball in his hand and held it close to her as they kept walking, attempting to keep her warm so that it was easier for her to walk. She walked close to him and thanked him very lovingly for his gesture to her. At least with the fading light of the sun, the night time sky created enough light to be able to see a little better in the dark, despite the fact that the air was still freezing. Within a few minutes more of walking through the chilly air, luck finally turned in their favor. The small cave entrance in the distance finally reassured them that they had arrived. They scoped the entrance to make sure that the immediate area was approachable and no Changelings were guarding it. When they confirmed that it was clear, they walked inside of the dark tunnel, keeping all wits about them and trying to stay together as close as possible. “It’s really dark in here, anyone wanna remedy this problem?” Goombella asked no one in particular. Twilight and Rarity sparked their horns in a glow that illuminated the section of the cave that they were all walking in. As the small amount of light began to flood the room, several shadows could be seen moving away from the light. “What was that?!” Shouted Pinkie Pie. “What else would it be?” Replied Rainbow Dash, “They’re getting away! After them!” With that, they took off after the shadows into the dark corridors of the Changeling hive, quickly losing sight of them within the maze. “They’re in here somewhe-OOF!” Twilight said as Pinkie Pie landed on top of her. “Gotcha! Wait, darn…” She said. “Pinkie! Quit fooling around! And if you could please get off of me…” Said Twilight with an annoyed tone. “But I’m right here next to Dashie,” replied Pinkie, “I’m not on top of you.” “What? Then who is this? There’s not enough light to be able to tell.” She said confused. “Well duh! It’s me, Pinkie Pie silly!” Said the Pinkie Pie that was pinning Twilight to the ground. Upon realization, the Pinkie Pie that was standing next to Rainbow Dash immediately yelled: “STICK TOGETHER TEAM!” The Pinkie Pie that was pinning Twilight then held a slightly confused look before being blasted off by Twilight’s horn. The false Pinkie Pie hit the ground with a solid THUD and flashed in a small green light before returning to its original changeling form. It quickly scurried off in a random direction, in which the group proceeded to follow it. “Darn, where did he get to now? Goombella said. “I don’t know,” replied Applejack, “but I can see light up ahead. Hopefully the feller got away in there.” They quickly made their way to the part of the tunnel where light was coming from. Slowly, they entered the well lit chamber, which was scattered with torches all across the room. “Finally out of that dark cave, now we can start searching for that star.” Fluttershy said, while exhaling all of her fears away. They spread out across the room to look around for a moment to see what they could find. Suddenly Applejack came galloping as quickly as possible straight towards Mario. “Did you find anything, Applejack?” Inquired Rarity, to which she got no response, however, Mario would have disagreed on this statement. Applejack ran right towards Mario, and when she was within an arm’s reach of him, she spun around and bucked him as hard as she could. “MAMA MIAAAAAAA!” He cried out. He could only stand with a very painful look upon his face as he began holding his hands around his male reproductive organs, which now must be swollen to the size that he could ball his fists. He fell to the ground rolling in agony, attempting to stand up, but the extraordinary pain in his stomach prevented him from being able to do so. “Mario!” Cried his companions. Fluttershy attempted to hold him still and let him catch his breath. Meanwhile, the real Applejack bucked the false one into the wall on the opposite side of the room, reverting it back to its original changeling form as it scurried off to gather its comrades. For the moment, everyone huddled close to make sure Mario was alright. After a few minutes of uncontrollable pain he had experienced, he was finally able to stand up, assuring everyone that he would be alright. “These changelings play so dirty!” Exclaimed Rarity. “That’s true, but they are very clever about it,” Goombella replied, “If he hadn’t disguised himself, someone would have stopped him before he could attack, but we all thought he was Applejack, and we took it for what we saw it as. Clever girls…” “Uhh, guys? Get ready, we got company.” Replied Rainbow Dash. Everyone turned to see the other side of the room flooding in with Changelings. Big, small, it didn’t matter; the point is their numbers were terrifying. As they entered the room, they transformed into the eight heroes, who had now started standing back to back to back in response of the shear amount of doppelgangers that were now surrounding them. “Wow these guys are good,” Goombella commented, “I don’t know how they can pull off looking like Mario and I, let’s just see what they can do!” Remembering the little incident with the false Applejack from earlier, Mario drew from his anger. Steam appeared to be releasing from his head in short bursts as he eyed the Changelings around him and his allies. He reached into his overalls and found his hammer. He flipped it into the air and caught it with one hand. Then, drawing it to his side; he bore his teeth out at his enemies, followed by the sound of an angry grunt. Everyone else followed suit taking battle ready stances of their own. Rainbow Dash flared her nostrils, Twilight and Rarity began to charge their horns, Applejack was ready to pounce, Goombella readied herself for her famous head-bonk, and Fluttershy looked confused as an excited Pinkie Pie hoisted her up into the air with one hoof, ready to toss her like a projectile into the crowd. A false Applejack leaped toward Mario to begin, and he responded by swinging his hammer when she got close, knocking her away, where he leapt forth into the fight. Fluttershy huddled into a ball as Pinkie Pie threw her at an approaching clone. When she hit the fake Pinkie Pie, the real one jumped up and caught the Flutterball, flipping and landing as she did so. She then pulled out the party cannon and launched Fluttershy at a group of the doppelgangers. Pinkie appeared to be having the time of her life. Meanwhile, a false Mario jumped in front of Applejack, as he was about to punch at her, she quickly turned around and bucked him with the intent of launching him far away, however, she accidentally bucked this particular Mario in the family jewels as well. The false Mario clutched the afflicted area and transformed back into a changeling. Applejack bit her lip and smiled in the most innocent way she possibly could. “Sorry about that, pardner…” she whispered to him as she ran passed him to fight off more of the changelings. “Goombella! Hop on!” Dash yelled to Goombella. Goombella hopped on to Rainbow Dash’s back, and she started flying as fast as the confined space would allow, holding Goombella with her head out. Goombella closed her eyes as a countless number of doppelgangers were slammed out of the path that she and Dash were flying in. “All right! That’s the way to do it!” Rainbow Dash called out excitedly. In her excitement, she failed to notice the false Goombella that was prepared to head bonk her from behind. It almost got her, but Twilight blasted it away before it could. She and Rarity were holding their own from their original spots. Things seemed to be working out just fine. The only problem was that for every one that was taken down, a few more would take the place of the fallen ones, and soon, it was more than they could handle. Mario kept mashing all that he could, but he was caught by a blast from a false Rarity, dropping his hammer in the process and getting pushed through the mob. Pinkie fired the Flutterball but soon realized that the Changelings were catching on. They finally caught the Flutterball and threw her back into Pinkie’s cannon, where the cannon then exploded on itself, leaving a mildly charred Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They were then caught in the crowd with Mario. Several of the false Rainbow Dashs and Fluttershys made their way to the real Dash and Goombella, overwhelming them and slamming them onto Twilight and Rarity. Soon there was just a massive pile up of Changelings that had overtaken their original position in the center of the room. For once, they could not fight back, every time the real heroes tried to attack, they would get beaten back to the ground. That was when Mario sprung an idea. As fast as lightning, he quickly pulled out the Diamond Crystal Star. “YEAH!” He shouted in pure exhilaration. The opposing creatures were blasted back from the starting energy, and Mario and his team jumped onto the star, holding on tightly. He began to focus its energy, allowing the star to grow in size. When it reached an appreciable status, it bounced on the ground several times, creating shock waves each time which shook all of the Changelings out of their false forms, and left them on the ground, alarmed as to what just happened to them. The heroes hopped off of the Crystal Star, and the now stunned Changelings attempted to retreat. “Where do you think you’re going?” Taunted Rainbow Dash. “We aren’t finished with you just yet!” As the remaining Changelings scurried out of the room, a voice called out to the heroes. “We’re feeling pretty cocky today, aren’t we Rainbow Dash?” The voice said. “Chrysalis!” Shouted Twilight, “Show yourself!” “That’s no way to address a queen!” Chrysalis replied. In a flash of green light, Chrysalis appeared in front of the heroes. “To what do I owe this intrusion of the Changeling Hive? And who might these two freaks be that are standing alongside you?” “Hey!” Shouted Goombella, “That’s pretty big talk coming from a creature who looks like they work at the factory that creates Swiss cheese!” Mario observed Chrysalis, and finally agreed with Goombella, laughing at her comment. Afterall, she kinda does look like Swiss cheese, at least her legs do. “We’ve come for that Crystal Star that you found, and don’t try to lie about it, we know it’s here!” Twilight said affirmatively. “Crystal Star? You mean that blue stone that landed outside of our hive a while back? If you think I’m going to relinquish that then you are sadly mistaken, Sparkle.” Replied Chrysalis. “This ‘Crystal Star’ has served as our new source of food ever since you thwarted my plan to marry Shining Armor over a year ago. Just another reason I will not be handing it over to you, my mortal enemy.” “How has that thing been supplying you and your subjects with the love you need to thrive?” Applejack asked, to which Goombella replied. “That particular star has restorative properties. That would make sense as to how they have been using it as a replacement for a food source. Regardless of the fact, we need that Crystal Star.” “If you want it so bad, you’re going to have to take it from us.” “Lady, we’ve had a looooooong day, and you don’t even want to know what’s to come if you don’t just give it back to us.” Said Goombella, “and I’m not talking about ‘us’ taking it from you. There’s another being that is in this world tracking them as we speak, and he’s even more dangerous than we are.” “Oh please, you don’t look much like a threat at all, and anything else that comes this way with the intent of taking this stone from us will have to deal with not only me, but the entire Hive.” Replied Chrysalis. “Look where that got you last time,” Rainbow Dash said, “you didn’t succeed a year ago and you won’t succeed now, why don’t you just save us the trouble?” “Idiots, how else are we going to obtain the nourishment we need just to survive?” “Have you tried, you know, not being senseless jerks and being friendly with other ponies?” Rarity said, “I’m sure you would be able to survive if you didn’t go around behaving in the manner that you all currently do.” “ENOUGH!” An enraged Chrysalis shouted, “I WILL NOT SIT HERE AND BE LECTURED BY A LESSER BEING THAN MYSELF! IF YOU WANT THIS STONE SO BAD, YOU’LL HAVE TO TAKE IT FROM US!” The group recoiled at her words and prepared themselves for a fight with the Queen of the Changelings herself. Author's Note So yeah, I know it took some time to release this one. Hopefully you all will understand, same reasons as always, friends, school, life, the works. As always, tell me what you think and I will update as often as I can. Enjoy. It's been some time, I know. I guess I should be outright. I haven't been updating this anymore because I've lost interest and life has only gotten more stressful for me as time has passed. I view it now as a chapter of my life that's ended and it's time to move on. I won't tell myself I'm going to finish something that I know I won't anymore. I asked a friend about seeing if he would take up the mantle to finish it but he's just as busy with his own life and I'm not going to have either of us force the ending to this. I'm really sorry to everyone that was really into it, I know it sucks to be left on a cliffhanger that inevitably ends with nothing, but 1. I wouldn't want to force myself to do something I'm not enjoying anymore and 2. Even if I did, the chapters would only be dull and show my lack of enthusiasm to continue. Again, I'm sorry to end it all on a note like this. I wish you all the best in your own futures.
Evil Stirs in the Everfree ForestOPTICS: ONLINE REAR THRUSTERS: ONLINE FORWARD THRUSTERS: ONLINE TRACKING SYSTEMS: ONLINE WEAPON SYSTEMS: ONLINE TARGETING SYSTEMS: ONLINE HULL INTEGRITY: 100% SYSTEM REPAIRS: COMPLETE “Damn that Super Mario…” the mechanical creature stated, “I was careless and cocky. Through my survival, I have been reborn and improved, but…” it stopped suddenly. “Why take him down alone when I can share my victory with a minion…? Yes…I will find a suitable companion, and together we will eradicate this world.” He jumped into the air and activated his rear thrusters. He seemed to be scanning the area very carefully. “Perfect…” “Do…do we have to go in there?” Fluttershy asked nervously. “We’ll be okay without one of them, won’t we?” “We have to, Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “without it, we can’t figure out where the next one is. I know it’s odd that we can’t just use the map to locate the rest, but the first one only allowed me to see this one. They appear to be connected in a particular order.” “It’ll be alright, sugarcube,” said Applejack, “we’re all right here with ya, and we’ll be there every step of the way.” Fluttershy was still very hesitant about entering the Everfree Forest. Mario attempted to comfort her as well. He started to talk in his Italian accent. He told her of the time he had eaten a rare type of food, called an invicishroom, and how it had made him very ill. He could not continue on his adventure with his younger brother, Luigi, unless he went on a journey to a place known as the Guffawha Ruins, to find the cure for his illness. Luigi was mortified after hearing about all the monsters that thrived there, and it took some convincing before he finally had the courage to go. But the one thing that kept him going was his desire to save his older brother. Mario told Fluttershy to think of the thing she holds most dear. And to think of the things she would do to protect it. “I hold all of my friends as the most important things in my life.” She replied. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to them. But I would do anything to protect them.” “That’s why we’ve gotta do this, Fluttershy,” Applejack intervened. “The world is in danger, including us. We have ‘ta help Mario here get all those stars. Celestia only knows what’ll happen if we don’t. And he won’t let anything happen to you, or any of us sugarcube, honest.” Fluttershy thought about what her friends were telling her. She was finally convinced. “You’re right, thanks AJ.” Fluttershy said, hugging Applejack. “And thanks Mario…” Mario walked over and hugged her; they all knew it was taking a lot of courage for her to face her fear of the Everfree Forest. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you or Goombella, either…” She said under her breath. “Alright!” Rainbow Dash shouted suddenly. “Let’s do this! We’ll show that tin can whose boss!” With that, the heroes entered the shadows of the Everfree Forest. Not a single one of them had the slightest idea of where to begin looking, the star could be anywhere in the dark, dense forest. They began walking and looking for any sort of glittering or odd shaped object that could have lodged itself into the ground or into one of the many trees. They continued to look when Goombella decided to strike up a conversation. “So I’ve been curious, what are those tattoos you all seem to have near your rear ends?” She asked. “Those are our Cutie Marks, silly!” Pinkie Pie stated, somehow expecting Goombella to be aware of this. “We get them when we discover what our true talents are! Don’t you have yours yet?” Mario and Goombella seemed confused. Pinkie Pie gasped, took Mario and Goombella in her hooves and started talking at an inaudible speed while hopping into the air. “YOU DON’T HAVE THEM YET? THAT’S OKAY! IT JUST MEANS YOU STILL HAVE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU ARE GOOD AT! MAYBE BOWLING! OR SKYDIVING! OR TEACHING! OR DRAWING! OR-“ “PINKIE!” The group shouted, Mario and Goombella now fairly dizzy. “Sorry! I just get so excited thinking about what you could earn as your Cutie Mark like I would for anypony!” She replied, still half excitedly. “We don’t earn Cutie Marks, Pinkie Pie.” Goombella said. Pinkie Pie looked a little disappointed upon hearing this. “But isn’t there something that symbolizes your special talent?” Fluttershy interjected. “Not really.” Goombella replied. “We just go about our lives like anyone would, we discover the things that we are good at but we don’t earn anything on our bodies that symbolizes it. I thought you all just had tattoos or something symbolizing your friendship. I didn’t realize that they just sort of appear there.” “All the same, they don’t exactly just APPEAR there,” Rarity stated, “we do have to earn them. I earned mine when I realized I had a knack for fashion. I like to design clothing for ponies all over Equestria.” Goombella took notice of the three diamonds on Rarity’s flank. She then looked at everyone else’s cutie marks and tried to guess what their special talents were. “So what do the three butterflies mean, Fluttershy?” She asked her. “I love animals…” She replied, “I understand them and nurture them. I feel like each and every one of them is a child, in need of a mother. I earned mine when I realized that.” Goombella had no idea as to what Rainbow Dash’s signified. “Cloud with a multicolored lightning bolt…you got me, what does it mean?” She asked. “Only that I’m the greatest flyer in Equestria!” She replied, quite proud of herself. “I got it the day I performed my first Sonic Rainboom when I was a filly.” Goombella looked confused. “RainBOOM? Now you’re just making up words…” She laughed. Rainbow Dash began explaining a Sonic Rainboom as they continued to walk through the forest. “It’s something that only a Pegasus pony is capable of, and only the fastest of the fast are even able to do it. Once at peak velocity, a rainbow wave explodes behind us followed by a loud BOOM and soon after, we are flying at an immeasureable speed!” “Ahh, so it’s like a Sonic Boom, then…” Goombella replied. “What exactly is that?” Rainbow Dash asked with a puzzled look. “Basically the equivalent of what you told me, without the Rainbows and such. And only aircraft are capable of doing it back home in our world.” “Well that sounds boring yet awesome at the same time!” Goombella noticed the three apples that were on Applejack’s flank. “So you got yours because you like to eat apples, Applejack? Why would you get one for that?” Goombella asked her. Applejack laughed at this. “Oh Sugarcube, mine doesn’t mean I like eating apples, I actually got mine when I realized that my true calling was working on the apple farm at home with my family. I had visited some family that lived in the city, and I noticed that their style of life isn’t what I wanted to live. I returned home and at that moment, I knew the apple farm was where I belonged.” “That’s a sweet story, Applejack.” Goombella said. “Aww shoot,” Applejack replied, “family always comes first, no matter what, and everyone here, you are all part of the apple family in my eyes.” She then turned to Pinkie Pie, noticing the three balloons on her flank. “So this one is definitely something with parties I assume, Pinkie?” Goombella said. “Shoosh yeah!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “I got mine the day I through a big party for everypony back home on the rock farm! I love to make people smile and laugh, which is how I got my Cutiemark!” “What exactly is a rock farm?” Goombella asked. “The most boring thing in the world!” Pinkie replied. “Ponies never smile when they have to push rocks around all day. I had to bring some joy to my family, and the moment I saw them smile was the moment I realized that!” Goombella finally turned to Twilight. She studied her Cutiemark very carefully. She had no idea what to make of it, nor could she tell what the shape of it even was. “I can’t even get an idea of what yours means Twilight, care to explain?” Goombella asked. Just as Twilight was about to speak, Fluttershy gasped at what she witnessed. A pack of Timberwolves made their appearance known to the heroes, and they looked like they were ready for a feast. “What are those things?!” Goombella shouted. “Timberwolves…” said Twilight, “they are carnivorous creatures, made of wood bound by magic in the Everfree Forest, they are something to be afraid of.” Mario motioned for everyone to stay behind him, as he took a fighting stance. “We’ve got ‘yer back, Mario!” Applejack shouted. “These things are a menace to deal with especially alone, you won’t be able to take them by yerself!” Mario yelled out an excited “Let’s-a-go!” and the battle commenced. Mario leaped forward and attempted to punch a Timberwolf into the ground, but it leaped out of his sight and he hit the ground, leaving an imprint of his fist where he hit. Twlight’s horn began to glow as an aura surrounded it, she fired a few shots of magic at the wolves, knocking a few of them to the ground. However, they stood back up immediately. Applejack jumped forward and bucked the first one she saw with all her might, knocking it straight into another one that was going for Goombella. “Yikes!” Goombella said, “thanks for the save!” “Don’t hesitate, here comes another one headed straight for ‘ya!” Applejack shouted. Goombella turned around in just enough time to bonk into its head with her own, defending herself from the attack. Rarity tried to pick up a few small boulders to launch at them, but she was interrupted by a larger Timberwolf that batted her aside and tried to take her in its mouth. Mario jumped out of nowhere and landed on its head, dropping her immediately. He backflipped to a spot close to her and helped her up. Pinkie Pie seemed to be having the time of her life as she pulled out her party cannon (out of nowhere) and fired a large blast at a small group of the wolves, blowing them into pieces. Rainbow Dash flew directly into one with her back hoof, kicking in the face and sending it flying towards a tree. “GOAL!” She yelled excitedly. However, upon letting her guard down for that quick second, another wolf tackled her to the ground and tried to claw for her face! Twilight fired a bolt of her magic into its face to knock it off of Rainbow Dash. The group noticed that each wolf that they hit would shatter into a few pieces, appearing to be defeated. “Glad that’s over…” Goombella said, quite relieved. “Not quite…” said Twilight, “they don’t just stop from a few attacks, they can rebuild themselves after falling apart. This battle has merely just begun.” Mario was also very skeptical about having beaten them, he had dealt with enemies such as Dry Bones, which could rebuild themselves after falling apart. Sure enough, the creatures began to reconstruct their original bodies, and the pack of Timberwolves was now racing towards the heroes for another assault. Mario managed to bat one of them away by kicking it a solid distance, but he was caught off guard by another that swooped by and picked him up with its mouth, shaking him violently in its jaws. “MAMA-MIA!” He shouted as he was being shaken like a ragdoll. Rainbow Dash tackled it down, and Mario flew out of its jaws and hit the ground with a loud THUD! After recuperating, he noticed that Fluttershy was about to be attacked by the larger one, which he was now acknowledging as the pack leader. He threw his hammer at it before it could attack her and the hammer smashed it square in the face, followed by Mario, who caught the hammer and slammed the wolf to the ground with it. “These things won’t stop getting back up!” shouted Rarity, “how much more of a beating do we have to give them before they stop?” Twilight was also pondering this fact. They usually don’t fight Timberwolves solely because they could just get back up. What would eventually cause them to stop? She assumed maybe after fighting them a little while longer, they would get bored and leave them alone. Rainbow Dash grabbed another one and smashed several of its buddies away, as if she was swinging a hammer of her own. She then through it towards another wolf and they both shattered into pieces. Mario witnessed her attack, and he had an idea. He ran to Rainbow Dash to tell her his plan. “That sounds awesome!” She said, and they took their stances. Mario held his arms out and began to spin, doing his signature move, the Mario Tornado. However, Rainbow Dash also began to fly around Mario, spinning in the same direction that he was turning in, creating a small tornado around his body. He suddenly rose off of the ground and gained enough air to hover for a short time, but this was all he needed. He stopped spinning and Rainbow Dash stopped flying in circles around him, and they grabbed hands and fore hooves, with their back legs outstretched, continuing to spin from the leftover momentum, kicking many Timberwolves in the face, knocking them all into pieces. They made a slow descent as they continued to knock all of the approaching wolves into pieces, when they finally let go, and performed their own flying kicks towards individual wolves, back flipping and landing back to back. Mario knew this as the Spin Bros. attack. “That was amazing you guys!” Goombella shouted to Mario and Rainbow Dash. As impressive as the attack was, it did not stop the constant assault of the Timberwolves. Mario also refused to try and burn them with his fire as he did not want to burn the forest down. He was left with one other option. They all leaped up onto the growing Crystal Star, and suddenly it was bouncing off of the ground, creating small shockwaves that shattered all of the Timberwolves at once. The star shrank down to normal size, and the Timberwolves actually stopped attacking them! They reformed and took off in all different directions. The group finally had a moment to rest. “Glad it’s finally over...” said Twilight, still trying to catch her breath. As they began to regain their strength, they heard a loud roar in the distance. “What was that?!” Fluttershy screamed. “I don’t know, but we’re gonna find out!” Goombella shouted with enthusiasm. They took off into the direction of the sound, keeping their guards up and their wits sharp, knowing that another battle was about to begin. Author's Note Again, the wait is because of work and school, trying to balance those and a social life haha, anyways, enjoy
