*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.