Super Mario's Lost Adventure: Equestrian Chronicles

The 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…”