“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.