Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga

Chapters

The start of something bizarre.
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
The brute, the baker, and the troublemaker

The start of something bizarre.

Bowser and Pinkie’s Super Bizarre Saga

Chapter 2:

Along a long grassy plain, trailing across the rolling hills, an odd looking pair of travelers embarked on their journey. Behind them, Canterlot Castle was but a spec in the distance, as they approached the outgrowth of trees known as the Everfree Forest. Their walk through the rich green fields was accompanied by the sounds of the winds brushing against the tall grass and birds flying overhead. There was just one thing ruining the tranquil scene.

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

Pinkie Pie’s incessant chatter had been drilling into his head the whole way there, but Bowser endured. It’s almost over. He closed his eyes, trying to zone her out as they reached the trees of the Everfree Forest. Soon they'd reach Bowser’s castle, ending his ties with the energetic pony.

Pinkie Pie paused her prattling, the first time she’d done so since they’d left Canterlot, gazing upon the fortress before her.

Tilting her head up, she noticed the fires that were lit on every window spaced between the four corner towers. Their intense flames bathed the slabs lining the castle walled in an orange hue. The wooden door in the center, standing far taller than the two of them, matched the red of the twin set of torches that dangled just above it.

Now standing on her back legs, she saw the central pillar that peered out from the second level. It casted its shadow over the forest while a pair of towers jutted out from it, curving up to the sky. She took notice of the spikes lined the brims of the castle and its towers.

Leaning back to the point of falling over, she saw a giant sculpture sitting at the top of the middle spire. The stone sculpture, resembling the fortress owner’s head, loomed over the world below, with a massive flame centered in its mouth.

With her back now on the floor, Pinkie placed her hoof to her chin as she gazed upon the massive bust up top. “Hmm...” She pointed up to it. “Who’s that supposed to be?”

Bowser’s neck snapped as he jerked his head to her. He continued staring as her. Slack jawed. His face now copied the statue up top.

“Pinkie looked at the stunned Koopa, then back to the stone figure. “Who could it be?” she said, scratching her head.

“Just relax, it’s almost over,” Bowser sighed to himself

Pinkie stayed behind, fighting the urge to pull him back as he pushed against the wooden doors. "You sure you just want to leave your friends behind like this?" she softly spoke.

He looked back at her. "Friends? I don't need friends. They were just soldiers. If they're siding with that freak, then let em."

Pinkie looked to the ground, drawing a circle in the dirt. "But, everypony needs friends.”

He turned back to the door. "I ain't no pony remember," he said as the doors creaked open.

Just as he was about to set one foot inside, the doors slammed shut on his snout. He stepped back, holding his nose as a familiar vein popping voice called out to him.

"Oh, Bowser. Must you force me to do such things in order to have you play?"

The floor beneath their feet started to quake. The serene forest around them became a launch zone as the thrusters underneath the fortress shot out its massive flame, pushing everything before it away. Pinkie and Bowser rolled to a stop a few meters way, looking up to see the Bowser’s Castle vanish in the vast blue sky.

"Discord! Where are you taking my castle?!" he snarled, his fists shaking violently.

"That doesn't concern you right now. For all you know, I've sent it to the moon! What you do need to know is that unless you play my game, you'll never find your way back home.”

A neon yellow arrow suddenly appeared in the sky, pointing further into the woods.

"Now, hurry along. I've got plenty of fun things in store and you two are taking forever to get there."

"Fine, I'll play your stupid game," Bowser sighed, sagging his head.

"That's the spirit! Now, just follow the sign. My first surprise is just a stroll away. Oh I do hope you like it. Mwahahahaha!"

As Discord's voice faded away, Pinkie Pie crept up beside him, wearing a big grin. "So, looks like we're still traveling buddies.”

He practically drooped to the ground. "Let's get this over with. The faster I finish this, the sooner I'll get my claws on the freak and the less time I gotta spend with you."

Pinkie simply smiled back "Okie dokie Bowsie, let's get going and save our friends," she said, hopping forward.

He cringed hearing that name roll off her tongue. "I told you to stop calling me that... uh, what was your name again?" He stood there, scanning the little pony. "Ah forget it; I'll just call you Pinky."

She beamed hearing him say her name. Bowser didn’t understand why she was so happy with the nickname he gave her, but something about those gleaming bright blue eyes of hers helped calm him. He forgot all about his nickname.

Traversing deeper into the forest, they came across an odd looking tree. Decorative wooden masks adorned its bark, and clay bottles dangled off vines coiling around its barren branches. There was a door at the base of the tree and two window-like holes that gave off light coming from inside.

Pinkie trotted closer to the tree building. "I know this place.” As she approached, something broke through the silence of the woods.

"Halt!"

Pinkie Pie jumped back, noticing a burly creature walking out from behind the tree.

Bowser glared at the strange. Particularly at his orange hair, blue skin. "I know that guy."

"You do?" Pinkie said

"Yeah. He's one of my generals. Or at least he was until he screwed up and I demoted him."
Bowser turned and approached the being. "What are you doing here Tubba?"

The creature frowned, extending one of its long arms forward as he pointed at Bowser. "That's Tubba Blubba to you weird guy, and Master Discord ordered me to guard this place."

"What's so special about this place?" Pinkie asked as she looked around the wooded area.

"I don't know. I'm just following orders. Master said to stay here and stop some guy named Bowser when he showed up."

Bowser placed his hands to his waist and puffed out his chest. "Hahahaha. Boy, are you in trouble now. Bowser's right here, and you're joking if you think you can stop me."

Tubba reached into the small spiked purple shell on his back and pulled out a piece of paper. He glanced between the Koopa in front of him and what was on the paper. "Yup, you're Bowser alright,” he nodded. “You look just as ugly as the picture."

Bowser gritted his teeth, glaring at his former general. "Rrrrrr. We'll see who's ugly after I give those fat lips of yours a Koopa smack down!"

He lunged at Tubba, fist aimed straight for the foe's blubbery face. The blow collided making Tubba’s already bloated orange lips swelled before Bowser even pulled away.

"Eeeeoow!" Tubba cried, falling over from the punch.

Pinkie Pie, seizing the opportunity, joined the fight. She jumped, landing on the fallen opponent’s belly. His rubber like stomach sank down and quickly recoiled, vaulting her back to Bowser's side.

Getting back onto his feet, Tubba closed in on Bowser, lifting his narrow arms up and dropping two large fists aimed for the Koopa’s head.

Bowser raised his right arm up, easily blocking the attack. He countered with a quick left, knocking over the brute a second time. Bowser stared down at Tubba, shaking his head. "I can't believe I made you a general once."

Pinkie followed the counter with a repeat performance, jumping onto his stomach a second time.

Tubba Blubba quickly rose to his feet. Tears welled up in his eyes as he turned to the tree behind him. "Miss Zecora! Miss Zecora! I need help!"

The door on the tree flung open. Pinkie Pie gasped as she saw who stepped out. She ran over, almost pouncing the zebra as she jumped beside her. She grinned from ear to ear seeing her, but something seemed off about her.
"Zecora, it's so good to see another friend right now. You look different. Did you get a haircut or something? I mean, I know you're usually grey, but you seem a bit darker than usual,” said Pinkie Pie as she looked over the zebra. “Anyways, me and Bowsie over there—oh, that's right, you haven't met Bowsie yet. Let me introduce you." She turned over to her partner. “Hey Bowsie com—"

Zecora shoved Pinkie away, knocking her to the ground. "Back away stranger! I don't know you, and I'm certainly not friends with one of Lord Discord's enemies.” She turned to the crying beast, and sighed. "So you need help already? I am starting to see why I was charged with watching you."

She gave a swift kick to the tree, forcing a suspended bottle to fall. It shattered on Tubba. Spilling its lime colored contents atop the blubbering oaf’s dome.

His entire body shook. Looking down at himself, he noticed his physique started expanding. "Aw yeah, I'm feeling a lot stronger now." He turned and pointed his overgrown finger at his opponent. "Let see how you like this tough guy” Tubba Blubba, who stood a few inches shorter than him moments ago, now dwarfed the Koopa. And he was fast approaching.

As Tubba got close, Bowser braced himself for another set of hammer fists. But instead, the bloated giant jumped up. Caught by surprise, Bowser took the full brunt of Tubba’s rump attack. The force of the slam knocked Pinkie Pie back.

"Hah! Not so tough now, are yah?" he said as he backed away from the flattened Koopa.

Pinkie Pie rushed back over, extending a helping hoof to her fallen friend. Bowser, staggering back onto his feet, eyed red daggers at his traitorous minion.

Pinkie Pie leaned up to him. "Let's show this guy our special move," she whispered.

Following her lead, he rolled into a spiked ball. Pinkie hopped on top of the Bowser ball, and started trotting it forward. As they're rolling attack moved in, Tubba placed his hands out and braced himself.

Dirt flew as the two forces collided. The green ball pushed Tubba back. Grinding his heels against the dirt, he slid back until he hit the tree behind him.

Zecora watched her home shake from the collision. "Careful you fool! You'll destroy my home!"

He pushed back against the spiked bowling ball as it grated against the soil, kicking up mounds of dirt as Pinkie kept galloping. But he stayed firm, holding them in place until Pinkie Pie ran out of breath. Bringing the duo's combo attack to a halt, he looked down at the little mare. She nervously smiled back, standing atop the Koopa ball.

"Whoa!" Pinkie and Bowser hollered as Tubba’s kick sent them deep into the forest.

As they vanished within the depth of the shrubbery, another bottle fell to the ground. The clay container shattered, spilling tiny emerald colored shards on the ground. The specs started giving off an eerie smoke that rose up.

Zecora felt a cold chill run down her spine. "No! Not that one!"

The puffs of smoke rising from the broken bottle, gathered above the two of them. Growing in size, it projected images on its surface, following it up with bone-chilling wails. The ghastly illusions appearing before them frightened Tubba who then shielded his eyes from the horrors.

Meanwhile, in the distance, Pinkie and Bowser were laying in a small clearing his body had made when he landed.

"Uuwaah. Who'd have thought he'd get so strong all of a sudden," Bowser groaned, rubbing his head with his shell spikes embedded into the soil. With his head no longer spinning, he opened his eyes. His sight, still blurry, started to recover and make out the image in front to of him. Pinkie Pie, up and ready to go, looked over to him friend and noticed his face had gone pale.

"Aaaaaaah!"

A cry echoed through the forest. A strange looking turtle was running for dear life as ghoulish apparitions followed him. Further back was a pink little pony, who was trying her best to quell her friend's fear.

"Bowsie, don't be scared!" Pinkie shouted, as she skipped along the newly created trail Bowser's body created.

Bowser was plowing through the forest. His fright had transformed him into a living wrecking ball, smashing anything in his path. Bushes, trees, even boulders, nothing could slow him down.

"Come on Bowsie, they're not scary! You just need to have a good laugh at them!"

Back over by Zecora’s home. Zecora, with Tubba Blubba still covering his eyes from the smog figures overhead, heard something approach. She peered into the forest, noticing something coming fast.

"What in Equestria is that?"

"Ahhhh!" Bowser continued yelling, railroading through the trees and heading straight for the two of them.

Zecora jumped out of his path, and looked over to her partner. "Tubba, look out!"

"Ooof!" he grunted as his body was flung skyward and came crashing down.

"Guuuf!"

Pinkie Pie, bouncing out from the pathway, continued trying to help Bowser overcome his fear. "Just take a deep breath and have a giggle Bowsie. I promise you the ghosties will go away."

Even with her reassurance, he just kept running, heading back around the front of the tree.

"Tubba, he's coming back! Get up and move before you—"

"Doof!" he cried again.

Zecora watched her partner hit the ground again, this time being knocked out on impact. She stomped her hooves, watching the fleeing Koopa. "Bowser, you walking disaster! If that fool Tubba can't deal with you, I'll do it myself!"

Pinkie was still tailing Bowser as he ran back towards the Zecora’s tree hut. "Bowsie, just laugh!" Up ahead she noticed Zecora with something in her mouth, Pinkie started sensing a pinchy feeling on her right knee. “Oh no.”

Zecora stood alone with a bottle in her mouth, waiting as Bowser made his approach.

"Oh no you don't!" Pinkie yelled, tackling her.

The two of them scuffled, shoving each other as they rolled across the ground. The knocked away bottle shattered on a tree. The liquids inside shrank the tree down to the size of a bug, saving it from the unstoppable fleeing Bowser walked over it.

Leaping away from each other, Pinkie pointed down to Zecora's hoof. "What's wrong with your leg rings? They’ve changed color."

Zecora turned her head down and gasped. "What is this magic?"

To her shock, the rings wrapping her right leg had changed from grey to gold. Not only had her ring's changed color, but the body color on her leg became brighter. Across from her, a light started flashing from Pinkie Pie's mane.

"Huh?" Pinking reached into her cotton candy shaped hair and pulled out the luminescent object. "My Element of Harmony? Why is it glowing?" Pinkie looked over to Zecora's leg again, thinking back to when they tussled. "Oh, so that's what it means.” Pinkie faced her friend, taking an assertive stance against her. “I’m Sorry Zecora, but if I'm going to save you I don't think I have another choice.”

Tubba Blubba, finally waking from his Bowser inflicted coma, saw his partner facing off against Pinkie. He got up, dashing towards them.

Pinkie coiled down, preparing to pounce. "Alright Zecora, here we go!" She leaped over, back hooves aimed on the zebra. "Whoa!"

Stopping just inches away from hitting Zecora, Pinkie’s world suddenly went upside down.

"Nuh-uh, I won't let you hurt Miss Zecora." Tubba proclaimed as he held the mare by her back legs. He looked over to his companion and noticed her leg. "Are you ok, Zecora?"

Zecora shifted her brightened leg behind the other. "I'm fine, don’t worry.” She focused on the captive Pinkie. “Now that we have her, we just need to deal with—"

"Ahhhhh!"

Bowser popped out from the forest depths once more, still chased around by smoke figures. The three by the tree house watched as the big Koopa kept running for his life.

Pinkie Pie, still hanging upside down called out to him. "Bowsie, you just need to stop and laugh those things away. They're only scary because you only think they're scary."

"No, I think they're scary because they are scary!" he talked back as he ran by.

Zecora and Tubba laughed as they watched him run around.

"So much for the ‘Koopa king’, even I'm not scared of those things anymore. I can't believe I used to work for you once,"

Something the former minion said really irked Bowser. He came to a halt and approached Tubba, his footsteps booming as walked up. "So, you actually do remember me."

A nervous sweat started running down his fat face as Tubba Blubba realized what slipped out. He shook his head as he looked down at the angered Koopa. "Umm, n-nope. N-n-never seen you before in my life."

Bowser stood in front of him, watching his beady yellow eyes dart left and right. "So all of you decided to betray me, huh?" Behind them the illusions continued to making wails. Bowser was starting to lose his train of thought. He quickly turned around.

"Haaaaaaaaah!"

The figures instantly vanished from the force of Bowser’s laugh, even the trees in the distance swayed in response. Everyone remained silent as he turned back to Tubba, who trembled with fear as he dropped his captive. He started getting a strange sensation, like something was pinching his knee.

Pinkie plopped on the ground and looked up to her friend. "Nice one!"

Bowser gave her an acknowledging nod, before he refocused on Tubba.

"No Bowser sir, It's not what you think. Not everyone decided to join up with Discord by choice. A most of them were brain washed."

"And you joined on your own? Why?!"

Tubba fell to his knees, tears trailing down his cheeks. "It's because you demoted me and were mean to me," he sobbed.

Bowser turned red. He pointed a claw to a square patch on Tubba's chest, jabbing at it repeatedly. "I made you invincible once and you still ended up failing me! Now you go and betray me for that freak show attraction!"

"I'm sorry Bowser, I'm weak. I thought Discord would make me stronger. Please forgive me!" Tubba said, lowering his head onto the dirt.

Bowser looked down at the whimpering traitor, thinking of a suitable punishment. He turned to his partner and grew a sinister smile. "Pinky, I'll need your help."

"You aren't going to hurt him are you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not exactly."

Zecora and Tubba were standing side by side with their backs against her hut. In front of them Pinkie Pie stood with Bowser right behind her, covering his ears as he gave the order to fire.

"Okay Pinky. Introduce yourself."

She went on giving her long winded introduction. At first the duo by the tree had no clue what was going on. But after the first three minutes, they started to get the picture. Seconds became minutes. Tubba attempted a getaway from the never-ending slew of words coming out of Pinkie’s mouth. A big fireball flew right by his head, compelling him to stay. As time dragged on, the torture worsened. Tubba convulsed, desperately trying to block out the noise. Zecora on the other hand, was reacting very differently.

The discoloration, or rather re-coloration, on her right leg began to spread. With each passing minute more of the zebra's body became colorful and vibrant. Her earring changed from grey to gold, and her eyes became bright turquoise once again.

"What is this? Where am I?" she asked, looking over to the pony standing in front of her. "Why hello there, Ms. Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie stopped chattering and whizzed over to her. "Oh Zecora, I'm so glad your back to your old self again." She leaned over and squinted. "You are you, right?"

"Why of course I am me, who else would I be?"

Hearing her reply in rhyme, Pinkie gave the zebra a hug.

While the two of them were having a joyous reunion, Bowser was having a not so happy one of his own. Tubba was on the floor, exhaustion from enduring Pinkie's vocal assault. His body began to shrink as Zecora’s potion wore off.

Bowser grabbed him by the neck, pressing his doughy body against the tree. "Did all the other generals betray me like you?"

Tubba’s eyes narrowed as he stared into the fiery eyes of the Koopa King. "N-no! They are all brainwashed by Discord."

Bowser pulled his arm back, muscles budging, and gave Tubba Blubba his best punch, landing right on the stitched patch on his chest. The blow literally forced Tubba’s heart out of his mouth for a second as he jerked his head up. The intense strike knocked him out.

A light emanated from the defeated enemy, and he vanished in a flash. Bowser stood there, staring at the hand that had been just holding him.

"Gwahahah! Oh that certainly was fun, wasn't it?” A voice called out from the sky.

All three of them looked up and saw a figure flying above.

"Discord!" Pinkie and Bowser said.

"Now tell me honestly you two, did you enjoy that? I have to say I found it quite, amusing. I especially liked your little romp through the woods, Bowser. Who knew someone like you would be such a scaredy cat."

Bowser shook his fist at him. "Why don't come down here and I'll show you how scared I am," he said, following it up by launching a fireball from his mouth.

With a bat of his wings, Discord casually avoided the flaming projectile. "Now, now no need to get so riled up. This was just a warm up for my surprise just up ahead. Oh, and you'll be happy to know I took the liberty of placing Tubba Blubba in one of your castle's prison cells. I have no use for him anymore, plus I don't think you'd want him tagging along with you."

He then turned his attention to the two mares beside Bowser. "Ah Pinkie Pie, I see you figured out how to save your friend. Good thing too. I really didn't want to give you a hint for it. That would spoil all the fun."

A polka dotted pocket watch appeared in Discords hands hand. He opened it up, watching the little figure of himself move its minute hand. "Well then. Now that you two are done here, you should start getting a move on. You don’t want to keep me waiting forever," he said, before vanishing once more.

Shortly afterwards, inside of Zecora's hut, the adventuring pair was taking a well needed break before they moved on. Zecora was sitting in her chair, taking a sip of tea, hearing Pinkie’s tale of events.

"Ah, so that is what has happened I see. You two now travel to stop this catastrophe.” She then looked over to her two guests. “I must give my thanks to you two again. It's so nice that you've become good friends."

"We ain't friends, I'm just stuck with her till this nightmare's over," Bowser huffed.

"Oh, then it is my mistake, Since you two made that fight look like a piece of cake." She leaned over to Pinkie Pie. "He can't hide the truth from me. A friendship I can plainly see." she whispered.

Pinkie joyfully smiled hearing her say that. "Ok Bowsie let's get going, we still got a lot of friends to save."

"I know that. I don't need you reminding me."

The two of them headed out the door, but before Pinkie stepped outside, she felt the tapping of a hoof on her flank.

"Before we part ways my welcomed guest, a gift to help you on your quest,” said Zecora, placing a pouch in Pinkie Pie’s hoof.

Pinkie received Zecora's gift and raised it up above her head.

*You got the Spooky Powder*

Zecora stared at her. "Pinkie Pie, why do make such a pose? Does it hold some significant meaning I suppose?"

"I dunno. It just seemed like the right thing to do," Pinkie shrugged.

"Hurry up Pinky!" Bowser shouted from outside.

Giving her one last farewell, Pinkie scurried along. Zecora following her to the door. "I wish you good luck my friends! Have yourselves a safe journey’s end!"

Having saved one of her friends, and punishing one of his, the duo of Pinkie and Bowser continued moving further into the Everfree forest. While Bowser kept his eyes forward, Pinkie was busy fiddling with Zecora's gift.

She emptied a bit of green powder from the leather pouch onto her hoof. "Oooh what does this do?" she wondered.

Just then a gust of wind traveled by, kicking up the powder. Now airborne, the specs of green dust expanded into a familiar puff of smoke. A face appeared in the cloud and jutted out towards Bowser.

"Aaaaaah!"

Trees were falling over once more as Bowser ran for dear life, frightened by the Spooky Powder Pinkie had accidentally unleashed. Pinkie galloped close behind.

"Ah Bowsie, it's not that scary. You just have to laugh at it like you did last time."

Moving rapidly through the woods, they both failed to notice the change in scenery around them. The ghoulish figure dissipated, allowing Bowser to finally come to a stop.

"Haaa. Huff, chuhaaah!" Catching his breath, he noticed the difference in environment.

There were no trees to be seen, just thousands of large colorful wooden building blocks and toys scattered all over as far as he could see. Peering up to the sky he couldn’t see the sun, just a bunch of cardboard drawing dangling on strings sprawled across the endless dark blue.

"Wheeee!"

He turned to find Pinkie Pie riding on a rocking horse. "Oh, this is just great," he said sarcastically.

"I know right. I mean just look at all these neat looking toys!" Pinkie said as she ran over to play with a jack-in-the-box.

"No, I mean I know where we are."

She turned her head. "You do?" she said, while playing with a set of toy cars.

He closed his eyes, tapping his foot on the wooden floor. "Well, If I'm right, things are about to get a lot tougher."

Chapter 3

Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga

Chapter 3

In the depths of what once was the Everfree Forest, the odd team up of a pony and Koopa continued on with their odd quest.

"So what's the deal with this place?" Pinkie Pie asks, playing with a toy airplane as she traveled alongside Bowser.

Traversing deep into Everfree Forest, after a run in with some old friends, the two of them stumbled upon a portion of the woods the likes of which Pinkie Pie had never seen. Bowser, on the other hand, had a sneaking suspicion to where they may be.

He scanned the area, observing building block structures all over the place as they continued walking. "Well it isn't exactly the same. I mean those blocks and toys are familiar, but I don't remember seeing trees in the Toy box," he said, pointing to some trees in the distance.

"Everfree Toy box?"

Hearing her say that, Bowser turned to see Pinkie Pie looking up at a sign post. His jaw dropped. "You've gotta be kidding me… "

Pinkie scratched her head, looking at the post. "That's funny; I always thought this was the Everfree forest." As they both examined the sign, a familiar voice echoed to them.

"Oh it was Pinkie Pie. But thanks to some improvements, I figured a name change was appropriate."

"Show yourself freak!" Bowser growled.

"Settle down turtle. I've got other things on my plate right now then keeping you two company. At the very least I wanted to welcome you two."

"What did you do to the forest?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I've done? Oh no-no-no, well not exactly. This was actually at the request of my new minion. Though I have to say I'm loving the new look. Honestly Bowser, you must come from a very fun world if this sort of thing is normal," Discord's voice said as Bowser stood there, grinding his teeth. "Judging from that sour look on your face, you know exactly who I'm talking about. Well I won't hold you up any longer. In the mean time I've got a little nuisance of my own to deal with. Ciao."

Deeper into the Everfree Toy box, the two travelers noticed more and more trees. Pinkie Pie ran over to a few of them that caught her attention. "Hey Bowsie take a look at this," she said, waving him over.

Walking up, he saw that tree in question had a deep cut on its side that went about halfway through. Bowser turned his head to the trees nearby. "All these trees have the same cut."

Pinkie ran over, checking out the other trees. "You're right. It looks like somepony was cutting them down. But why would they stop half way?"

As the two pondered what could possibly be responsible, something walked out from behind one of the trees. The small figure walked to one of the trees and picked up a tree saw laying on the ground. Pinkie happened to turn and see the red hooded creature, which stood up to her thigh, as it lifted up the cutting tool. She smiled, waving at the little guys. "Hello."

"Huh?" Bowser said, turning around to see who she was talking to. Their eyes met.

"Aaaaaahh!" The little creature took off screaming. Pinkie and Bowser gave chase behind the high pitched screaming.

"After that Shy Guy!" Bowser yelled.

Right on his tail, Pinkie followed Shy Guy through the trees, his screams echoed through the trees. Bowser fell behind, getting jumbled up by the combination of trees, blocks and toys scattered throughout the ground.

"Didn't anyone teach you Shy Guys to put away your toys when you're done playing with them?" he grumbled. Further ahead, Pinkie was still right on his tail as they ran into a clearing.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Shy Guy cried. In his panic, the little guy didn't notice he what was approaching.

*Skreeeeeeee*

"Aaaaaaaa—"

The vehicle couldn't stop in time, whacking the poor little thing. Pinkie gasped, stopping dead in her tracks. Her jaw dropped as she watched Shy Guy lying on the ground with his little brown foot twitching. The vehicle, a combination of toy blocks put together with four wheels on the side, stopped right before the fallen creature. A latch at the top of the contraption opened up.

"Private, what is the meaning of this? Why are there still trees all over the place? I ordered that every tree needed to be taken down. How else I'm I going to drive around?" said the grey robed Shy Guy wearing patches on each shoulder and a gold medal with a red ribbon on it that popped out.

The Shy Guy below, jumping to his feet, turned to the one on the tank and saluted. "Yes sir. Sorry General Guy sir. We were given an order to halt, sir.

The General tilted his white peaked hat up as he looked down at him. "On who's order?"

"Colonel Shy, sir."

"Carry on, private," he sighed. "If she gave the order, I have no choice then."

"There's just one problem, sir."

General guys stared down at him. "And what's that private?"

He turned to his left and pointed over to Pinkie Pie, who had been listening the entire time. General Guy leaned back, unaware that she had been there the entire time. Before he could say anything, he heard the rumbling sounds of an exhausted Bowser stumbling into the open field. The General shifted his view between the pony and the heavy breathing Koopa.

"A pink pony with a giant ugly turtle."

"Hey!" Bowser snapped.

"Yup. Exactly as Discord described," said General Guy.

"What should we do sir?" asked the private.

Hey sat there, placing his hand to his bottom of his mask. "Hmmm… "

They all stared at him, quietly waiting for his reply.

"Tactical retreat!" he hollered as he took off in reverse at high speeds, leaving the private behind who started running after him

"Wait for me!"

Surprised, Pinkie started galloping after them. "Come on Bowsie, we gotta catch him," said Pinkie, looking over to the exhausted Koopa.

Rolling along the beaten path, the little Shy Guy was clinging onto the front edge of the tank as it made its escape. "General! Their gaining on us!"

Popping out of his hatch General Guy turned back to see. "How is that even possible? There's no way that turtle can keep up." He was shocked to see the pink pony, running atop a giant green spiked ball that was barreling towards them. He reached inside, his hand trembling, as he pushed a button.

"Whoa!" Shy Guy cried, as the sudden bust in speed almost caused him to lose his grip.

As Pinkie and Bowser continued to close in, General Guy ducked back into his hatch and reappeared hold a round black ball. Catching a glimpse of the burning wick, Pinkie realized what they were. Skipping atop Bowser's shell as it rolled along, Pinkie dodged the incoming bombs as they exploded upon the Koopa's impervious armor. As they continued giving chase, Pinkie could see what looked to be a fortress made completely of building blocks in the distance.

Shy Guy, still hanging on for dear life at the front of the tank, noticed they were approaching the building. "General, we're almost there!"

General Guy turned and looked up to the archway above the entrance. "Now!" At the top of archway, a duo of Shy Guys started pushing a block over the edge. Meanwhile, the Shy Guy hanging onto the tank lost his grip and started to skid against the ground. With just a few feet separating them, Pinkie and Bowser were just about to make it inside.

*Whomp!* The massive wooden block from above landed with a thunderous slam.

Caught by surprise by the falling obstruction, Bowser and Pinkie crashed. On the other side, one little Shy Guy, with his head just inches away from the fallen block, was thanking his lucky stars he hadn't become a pancake. Recovering from the crash outside, the duo heard a voice call out to them.

Inside the base, General Guy was yelling into an oversized bullhorn that was barely being hoisted up by a group of his soldiers. "Don't get ahead of yourselves maggots. Discord has placed me in charge of protecting this here Element of Harmony. Here— Hold this thing steady down there," he said to his troops who were struggling to keep the giant device up. "Here's something to keep you two busy while we prepare for you." He turned away from the horn and looked over to one of his privates. "Go and tell Colonel Shy to prepare her squadron! We'll need them."

Two dark figures suddenly hopped onto the top of the obstructing block.

"Aw look at the little guys. You're so cute with your little black robes" Pinkie said excitedly.

Elsewhere, at the other edge of the distorted forest, a trio of Diamond Dogs was trudging along. The smallest of the three plopped to the ground, breathing heavily as his tongue drooped off the side of his mouth. "Rover… Rover, are we there yet?"

The larger of the three plopped himself besides him. "There where? I didn't know we were going somewhere."

Rover, still heading forward turned around to see his cronies on the ground. "Fido, Spot, get up already you lazy mutts."

"Why should we go find a new place to live?" Spot griped.

"Because that scary mean thing came into our cave and threw us out, remember?" Fido said, looking to the ground with a frown.

"Oh… right." he said as his head sank.

Rover stomped his paw in front of the two of them, snapping them out of their slump. "Enough about that! We are diamond dogs. We don't just give up! We'll find a new place to live, one with more shiny things for us to collect. Now come dogs!"

Fido and Spot rose back to their feet, grumbling quietly as they marched on. Traversing through more trees, they came upon the multicolored block fortress.

"What is it Rover?" said Fido as he looked up to the top of the wooden fortress.

"It's ours Fido," he said, rubbing his front paws together. "It's ours."

As the other two joined in, rubbing their paws, they heard some commotion going on the other side of the wall. They leaned towards the source of the sound, putting a paw by their perked up ears.

"It sound like there's a fight going on," said Rover.

"Maybe we should go check it out," Fido suggested.

"No, we should run!" said Spot.

"Go!" said Fido, forcing himself against Spot.

"Run!" Spot yelled, pushing him back.

While the two behind him were having a heated argument, Rover looked to the building. "I got it! Whoever is fighting right now must be very busy."

Fido and Spot paused, just inches away from punching each other. "Yeah."

"Too busy to notice us."

"Oh!" they said, in revelation.

"Come on dogs, let's hunt down some trinkets."

Back by the entrance of the fortress, Pinkie had just received a rather painful lesson on not judging a book by its cover, or rather by its cute appearance.

"Oww, who would have thought something so cute and small would pack such a wallop," she said rubbing her aching back.

Sitting beside her, Bower was tending to injuries of his own. "I know what you mean," he said, running the top of his head.

"I think we could both use a well deserved snack," Pinkie Pie said as she reached into her mane and pulled out two cupcakes from her fluffy locks of pink hair. "Here Bowsie, eat up. I made it myself," she said with a smile as she tossed one over to him.

Holding the flung pastry in his palm Bowser pulled it up close to examine the pink frosted treat.

"What's the matter Bowsie? Is there something wrong with my cupcake?" she said with a concerned look on her face.

He held it up to his eyes. "Shouldn't this thing be covered in hairs?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, thrown off by the question. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's been in your hair all this time."

She paused for a moment, scratching her chin. "Huh, I never really thought about it before, but I've never gotten a hair on any cupcake I've stored in my mane, or got one stuck to my hair for that matter. Weird." She gazed at her cupcake, squinting at it. "Oh well," she shrugged, tossing the cupcake into the air and wolfing it down in one bite.

Seeing his carefree partner chow down, Bowser proceeded to take a little nibble. "Blah!" he said, quickly moving the treat away from his mouth. "This tastes too sweet. Pinky, you got anything better, preferably something spicy?"

She started reaching into her mane again. "I've got just the thing," she said, pulling out a red bottle. "And I thought I was the only pony who liked putting hot sauce on their cupcake. Looks like you and I've got something in common," she grinned as she walked over to him and began coating the snack in his hand in a layer of red sauce.

Now a red glob in his hand, he looked over to Pinkie who was motioning her hoofs at him, pretending to eat. "I know how to eat! I don't need you showing me like a baby or something." He said tossing the blob into his mouth and gulping it down in one bite. His face scaly suddenly turned bright red as his eyes started watering up. "Haaaaaaa!" he howled as fire burst forth from his mouth. "Wow!" he said, patting his belly. "That really hit the spot. I feel like I could take on ten more of those things."

General Guy's voice suddenly rang out. "Ahem! I hate to interrupt your little picnic, but you two still aren't allowed inside, so scram!"

"Scram?" Bowser shouted, bumping his fist together. "We'll see about that." The burly Koopa made his way to the block standing in their way.

Pinkie Pie stood back, watching in wonder. "Did you figure out a way in?"

Bowser placed his palms against the giant wooden block and started pushing. "I'll show that pipsqueak general that nothing can stop Bowser. Hrrrrngh!" As he pushed, the block began to move forward.

"General! He's pushing it!" a Shy Guy soldier by the entrance cried out.

The General jumped back in shock. "What? Get some men over there now, and start pushing back! We can't let those two in here no matter what!"

"Yes sir!" the soldier saluted before running off to the collection of troops. "Squadron A, get over there and push that block back in place! Don't let the intruders get through." The group of Shy Guys ran to the block, bracing themselves against it. "Alright everyone, let's give it the old heave ho!"

"Yeah!" they cheered, as they started pushing with all their might.

On the other side of the block, Bowser, feeling the extra force now against him, started pushing even harder.

"Come on you Shys! Heave ho!" yelled a lone Shy Guy standing away from the group.

"Heave Ho! Heave Ho!" they chanted in response, as they started moving the block.

Pinkie Pie, seeing bow struggling, began doing her own chant. "Come on Bowsie, you can beat these guys! Push! Push!"

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing!" he growled, silencing her. With his annoying companion muted, he focused on pushing.

"Heave ho! Heave ho!" the other side continued, pushing the block more and more. Bowser couldn't believe it; somehow, he was losing to a bunch of Shy Guys. "Heave Ho!" they hollered, giving one final big push that rolled the block over. Bower, overwhelmed by their combined strength, stood there as the wood block rolled over and flattened him.

"Ugh!" he groaned as the block fell on him. Pinkie Pie rushed over, helping pull him out as they heard the sounds of high pitched cheering coming from the other side.

"Maybe we should try finding another way in?" she suggested, helping him back onto his feet.

"No! I can do this," he snorted, turning back to the wood obstacle. "There's no way the Koopa King is going to lose to a bunch of Shy Guys," he said, preparing for a second attempt.

"He's at it again fellas. Let's give him another taste of Shy Guy power!" said a Shy Guy perched atop the block as he just down.

"Shooraah!" the squad yelled, rallying themselves on the block again. "Heave Ho! Heave Ho!"

Already pushing as hard as he could, Bowser managed to move it slightly before he started struggling again. Pinkie Pie, unable to bear watching her friend fight a losing battle, couldn't help herself. "Come on Bowsie! You can beat these guys! Push! Push!" Too focused on pushing, he didn't bother stopping her this time.

"Heave Ho!"

"Go Bowsie! Go!"

Their cheers continued as both sides pushed with all their might. Bowser started moving the block forward, while behind him Pinkie kept cheering away.

"Go Bowsie! Go!" Pinkie exuberantly cheered on, as she hopped about. He couldn't explain it, but somehow Bowser could feel himself brimming with extra energy. The block was feeling lighter and lighter as he kept up.

On the other side, the Shy Guys were losing their cool. "What going on? How is he pushing us all back like this?"

"Just keep pushing!" the Shy Guy beside the group shouted. "Heave Ho! Heav—"

"Oh shut up and help us push!" one of the soldier in the ground yelled.

With his newfound strength, Bowser pushed the block enough that he could get a glimpse inside. He readied himself for one final push as behind him, Pinkie Pie took a deep breath.

"Yay Bowser!" she yelled with all her might, leaping into the air as Bowser shoved all the way to the other side of the complex.

"Ahhhh!" the squad squealed, crashing into the wall on the other side. "Everybody run, they're inside!" One of the soldiers cried as they all scurried away.

"That was incredible!" said Pinkie Pie as they both walked inside.

Turning his head down to see that big smile of hers, he continued walking on. "Of course it was. I am the Koopa King after all. Now let's go already, I wanna get this over with."

"That's right," she replied, nodding her head as she walked beside him. "We need to find my friend. Now where could she be?"

Making their way to the center of the oddly empty space of the toy compound, the General's voice rang out to the two of them. "I can let you two go any further!" Pinkie and Bowser readied themselves upon hearing his voice.

"My name is General Guy. Discord gave us orders to protect the Element of Harmony as well as guard our special guest. As long as we keep them both secure, Discord lets us keep this forest to have all the fun we want. And then you two just barge right in here, trying to wreck our fun. I don't care for that sort of action, nor do I care for you two. This forest belongs to the Shy Guys, and that goes for what's inside of it too. You two have no business in our forest! Prepare to fight me! Taste defeat! Charge!"

Standing back to back, Pinkie and Bowser could hear something heading their way. It was faint but soon started to get louder. "Aaaaahhhhhhh!" Heading towards them, from every corner, was a red sea of the masked soldiers. Their high pitched roar continued as they rushed closer.

"Whoa!" Pinkie yelled, as Bowser grabbed her and placed her on his back. He then retracted into his shell just as the horde reached them and started wailing hundreds of tiny fists onto him.

"Pinky!" his voice rang from inside his shell. "I have an idea. Start spinning me around."

Following his instructions, she started carefully maneuvering her hooves around the top of his spiky shell. Getting used to spinning the Koopa, her legs became a blur of pink as Bowser spun like a top. The army of Shy Guys, lunging towards the two of them, was being knocked away one by one. Popping his head out, Bowser started to unleash his fiery breath upon them as he still spun. Pinkie and Bowser became the center of an expanding vertex of flames.

The battle cries of the attacking mob turned to cries of terror as their robes caught fire. Scattering about, some still trying to put out their inflamed clothes, while other had passed out from the heat, the massive force started falling apart. Popping his arms and legs out, Bowser got back on his feet, slowly spinning to a stop.

Pinkie leapt off his back and landed beside him. "That was so much fun!" she said, excitedly waving her hooves into the air.

Bowser placed both hands on his head, trying to stop everything from spinning. "Yeah… fun."

What remained of the massive army started to regroup, forming up in front of the two of them. Pinkie, seeing how many remained, reached into her mane and pulled out a familiar looking pouch that caught Bowser's eye.

"Is that what I think It is?" he nervously asked.

"Yup," she said pouring a small amount of Spooky Power into her hoof. "Just remember, You gotta giggle at the ghosties Bowsie." With that advise she blew the powder into the air. Quickly forming into a dark green cloud, it loomed over the middle of the two groups. The Shy Guys started to tremble as the thundering cloud started to show frightful faces.

"Ahhhhhh!" the voice of the Koopa King cried out as the cloud began heading straight for him. He made a run for it, heading straight into the crowd of soldiers.

"Waaaaaah!" they screamed as dozens of them were flung away. He started running back towards them again, but the ground moved away from his path.

"Bowsie remember, laugh!"

Heading back towards her, he came to a stop and quickly turned around. "Hahahahaha!" His overwhelming chortle blew away the green formation as well as a number of Shy Guys. Those that managed to stand their ground got a full view of something truly horrifying, Bowser's laughing face. The remaining Shy Guys, white with fear, started falling over, fainting out of fear while others fled for their lives.

As Bowser caught his breath, recuperating from his ordeal, he and Pinking hear the fortress speakers crackle.

"Grrr! I can't believe you two! I guess I'll have to face you head on!"

The tiny roar of General Guy's tank approached. Charging straight at them, he showed no signs of stopping. Bracing for impact, Bowser placed himself to take the toy block's charge head on. Pinkie rushed right behind, reading herself to help push.

*Pow* The sound of the two forces colliding echoed. Bowser and Pinkie slid back, never losing their footing. Finally bringing the toy tank to a halt, Bowser held on to it as Pinkie Pie climbed up his back, leaping onto the toy block vehicle and started stomping her hooves on the hatch.

"Cut that out! Do you know how long it took me to build this thing?" General Guy's voice echoed from inside. The wheels squealed against the wooden ground trying to break free. Holding on as long as he could, Bowser lost his grip. The tank spun in rapid circles, forcing Bowser and Pinkie away. Now free from his grip, the tank stopped spinning and faced the two of them. "You two sure are one feisty pair, defeating my infantry like that! But that was only a taste, here comes the second wave!" he shouted, before blowing into a whistle.

Another group of Shy Guys came running over and began stacking up one by one on top of each other. Forming two red pillars of four, they reached into their pockets and pulled out a sling shot and a rock.

"Uh oh." Pinkie said as the little guys quickly took aim and unleashed a flurry of rocks. The two of them could only shield their faces from the bombardment.

"Ooow! Ow! Ooof!"

"Ouch! Owie! Ouch!" they cried as rock after rock struck them. Not about to let them get another chance to strike, Pinkie and Bowser launched their counterattacked. Plowing his massive fist into the two middle Shy Guys, Bowser sent them flying into the next stack, taking out two more. With four of their members taken out, only a pair of two remained.

Leaping up onto Bowser's fist, Pinkie used it as a springboard, bouncing over to the set of foes. She hopped from one stack to another, stomping her hooves over their heads until the last of them fell before she ran back to Bowser's side.

The General rolled his tank back a little, seeing his second squad quickly wiped out. He wiped the sweat off his mask, now standing alone against the pony and Koopa. Right before any of them made a move, a lone Shy Guy ran to the side of the tank and saluted.

"General Guy, sir! I've just received news that Colonel Shy and her troops have finished preparing!"

Looking down at the soldier from atop his tank, General Guy breathed a sigh of relief. "It's about time! Good job private, now get her and her squad over here, on the double soldier!"

"Yes sir!" the soldier said, running off.

"You two are in for it now." General Guy said, with a little gleam in his eye as he adjusted his hat. "She may be new to our ranks, but Colonel Shy is one vicious soldier." He started shaking his head as he looked over in the distance. "Why I remember when she first arrived. I've never seen anyone make so many of my troops cry like that. She even stole my hat earlier. Just wait, she and her squad will show you."

The ground beneath their feat started to shake from the stomping of tiny feet that approached. "Ah that must be her squad now." A shadow suddenly started looming over him.

"What's the matter General? Too much of a wimp to handle these loser by yourself?" the pony leading the charge shouted as she flew down beside his tank. Behind her was an odd looking unit of Shy Guys. All of them wore yellow robes and had a scowling mask in the Colonel's likeness.

"Aww Colonel Shy, that hurt," the General said hanging his head low and he held his hat in his hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry… Not!" she replied with a sour tone.

"Fluttershy!" a surprised Pinkie Pie shouted. A wide smile appeared on her face as she stared at the discolored pony.

The pegasus looked over and scowled at Pinkie. "What do you want?"

She started walking towards her. "I'm so happy to see you Fluttershy. I was so worried; I thought something terrible had happened to you. Now come on lets go."

"Go? Go where?"

"To save our other friends, duh."

"Friends? Why would I be friends with a loser like you?"

Pinkie took a step back, shocked at what she said. "What? But, but we're friends, best friends."

"I don't need any friends. Not when I've got a whole army for me to pick on all I want."

Pinkie slumped to the ground hearing her say that. "You don't remember me. Just like with Zecora. Fluttershy you've got to fight it!" she yelled, stamping her hoof.

"The only things I have to fight are you and ugly over there."

"Ugly?" Bowser said, glaring at her.

"Hey, don't make fun of Bowsie. He's one of my friends and so are you! Now I'm going to save you, even if I have to beat you to do it."

Fluttershy spat to the ground in front of her. "Whatever! You losers are going down!" She then pointed her hoof at them. "Flutter squad, attack!" The yellow wave surged at them; striking with a barrage of tiny fists. The group stepped back, leaving the two of them lying on the ground.

"Okay, those guys are definitely tougher than my normal squad." Bowser groaned as he and Pinkie picked themselves off the ground.

"It's not over yet!" General Guy said as he lobbed a bomb at them. Pinkie Pie quickly bucked it right back at him, spinning his wagon back from the blast into the group of Flutter Squad troops.

"Useless!" Fluttershy snarled. "I'll have to do things myself." She flew behind her squad and began singing an enticing melody into the woods. "~La la laaaa!~" After she finished singing a few Flutter Guys ran off into the woods.

"Aaaaahhhh!" The familiar high pitched battle cries pierced through the trees as the troop came back wielding boxing glove lances and mounted atop various woodland creatures. Charging forward, with boxing glove lances aiming straight for the two of them, their attack was devastating.

"Ow"

"Oof"

"We've gotta do something Bowsie," Pinkie said, struggling to stay on her feet.

"Got anymore of that hot sauce?" he said barely making back up.

She reached into her mane, pulling out the familiar bottle. "Sure do. You got something in mind?" she said, tossing the bottle over.

Catching it, Bowser took a swig of the entire bottle. "Just get behind me," he replied as his entire body turned red. With tears pouring from his eyes and steam coming out of his ears, he took a deep breath.

"Haaaaaaaaaa!"

A massive cone of flames burst forth from his mouth, aimed towards the group in front of him. As the fires moved towards them, the woodland critters ditched their riders. Managing to fly behind General Guy's tank in time, Fluttershy avoided most of the intense heat as Bowser's breath set everything it touched ablaze. The Flutter Guys quickly worked together, putting out their burning robes. Meanwhile General Guy was having problems of his own.

"My tank's on fire! My tank's on fire!" he hollered, driving wildly. Flying up, Fluttershy managed to avoid the out of control tank, but could only watch as it knocked out her entire squadron.

"You idiot! Look at what you've done," she shouted, flying back down.

Still driving like mad, the flaming tank headed straight for Pinkie. She gasped, unable to find the strength to dodge, she covered her eyes. Running in front of her, Bowser punched with all his might, sending the tank towards Fluttershy.

"OooF!" she grunted as the tank hit her, sending her and the tank crashing against the wall. Every single Shy Guy rose to their feet, seeing the crash.

"General Guy! Colonel Shy!" they screamed. Everyone, including Pinkie and Bowser rushed over.

"Hurry we've got to get them out!"

"I hope they're ok!"

"Give me a hand with this piece."

"Somebody get a Medi Guy over here now!"

Working together, they removed block after block until General Guy was found. A trio of Shy Guys picked him up and lifted him away.

"Bowsie! Over here, lift this one up," Pinkie said, frantically waving him over to a larger block the little soldiers were struggling with. Lifting the block out of the way, Bowser uncovered Fluttershy. The group of soldiers moved in to see her.

"What's wrong with her? She has more color than before?" said one of the soldiers, examining her.

"That doesn't matter right now. We need to make sure she isn't hurt." The soldier turned to the Koopa "Master Bowser, please carry her over here."

"Yeah, sure." As he picked her up, he and Pinkie noticed something shiny under her.

"Please Lord Bowser hurry. We need to get her to safety,"

Moving Fluttershy to safety, Bowser quickly jerked his head to the Shy Guy who spoke earlier. "What did you call me?"

"I didn't call you anything Master Bowser."

"There! Right there, you called me 'Master Bowser'"

He and the other Shy Guys standing nearby looked up at the Koopa, tilting their heads in confusion.

"Do you remember what we were doing just a few moments ago?" Bowser asked.

"Uh… no." The Shy Guy replied.

General Guy and Fluttershy were lying side by side with everyone standing around them. The General lifted his head up, noticing the Koopa. "Lord Bowser. It's good to see you again."

"General, do you remember anything?"

The grey robed Shy Guy sat up, rubbing his forehead. "The last thing I remember after fighting in the castle was arguing with some ugly monster, and now waking to find everyone around me," he said, reaching over to his hat.

"Everyone, the Colonel's getting up," a soldier yelled.

Lying on the ground, Fluttershy's teal eyes slowly opened to a familiar smiling face. "Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie wrapped her hooves around her, squeezing tightly. "Oh Fluttershy I'm so glad you're back!"

"Pinkie Pie, I can't breathe."

"Yay!" all the Shy Guys cheered, happy to see that they both were ok.

Back on his feet General Guy approached Fluttershy. "It's good to see you're alright Colonel Shy," he said, tilting his hat to her.

"Good to see you're ok too General," she said as she smiled back at him.

Bowser watched their little exchange. "Wait a second. If you two don't remember what happened earlier, how do you two still remember each other?"

The General looked over to him. "Bowser, you should know the answer to that one. A good soldier never forgets his comrades, right Colonel?" he said as he turned to Fluttershy and saluted her.

She turned right back at him, giggling a little before returning his salute. "Right, General."

The entire Shy Guy army now stood in formation in front of the four of them and gave their best salute. With the matter of saving Pinkie's friend as well as recovering a portion of Bowser's army resolved, the two of them focused their attention on recovering the Element of Harmony. Looking over to the remains of the wreaked toy tank, Pinkie and Bowser saw a trio of strange looking fellows.

"Oooh! Shiny jewel," Rover said, picking up the Element of Kindness with Fido and Spot standing beside him, admiring the necklace.

"Hey! That doesn't belong to you! Put it down." Pinkie yelled out as she and Bowser started running over to them.

The three Diamond Dogs, jumped, hearing her yell at them. "Uh oh, we've been spotted," said Rover, looking over to the two of them.

"Run!" Spot yelled. The trio of thieves took off, with Pinkie and Bowser tailing them.

"Pinkie Pie, wait!" Fluttershy said, running after them.

"Let's go Colonel, I'm sure lord Bowser and his friend may need our help." General Guy said, joining her pursuit.

Chapter 4

Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga.

Chapter 4

Three Diamond Dogs were making their getaway through the Everfree Forest. Sprinting past the many trees, and blowing past the tall grass, they panted heavily as they ran.

"Split up!" Rover shouted as he and his two companions to his left and right fled with the Element of Kindness in possession. Not to far behind the pink hoof steps of their pony pursuer were slowly gaining on them.

"Stop thieves!" Pinkie Pie hollered, as she inched closer and closer to them. she came to a halt as the trio branched off, going to the left, the right, and straight ahead. She stood at the fork, her head splitting three ways for a second trying to follow each of them. "Now what do I do?"

A set of stomps accompanied by a small hum soon came up from behind her. "Pick one and go after them!" Bowser commanded as he, along with General Guy on his tank with Fluttershy, caught up to her.

"Lord Bowser, the Colonel and will go after the target on the right." General Guy said, saluting the Koopa as he rode alongside him. He nodded and looked to the the pink pony ahead of him.

"Hey Pinky, you and me are headed left." Running to sitting mare, he plucked her off the ground and onto his shell.

General Guy's wooden tires squealed on the dirt making a hard right while Fluttershy clung on to the cylinder block sticking up at the back of the tank. Bowser turned left and leaped into the air, quickly rolling into a ball as he hit the soil. With Pinkie Pie at the wheel of the Koopa wreaking ball, the two made their way after the thief.

Bulldozing through the forest, the two of them quickly caught up to the smallest of the Diamond Dog trio, moving past him and cutting him off. Seeing no way he could outrun them, especially witnessing how they just plowed through trees like toothpicks, Spot stopped running and cowered as the mare and Koopa approached him.

He shook as the two of them stood in front of him. "Stay back. Get away! I'll bite! I have flees, and they bite!"

Before the duo could get any closer, something struck the ground next to him. Both of them jumped back as a cloud of smoke surrounded Spot. Bowser and Pinkie Looking up to notice something floating up above them. Riding atop a broomstick was a Koopa that Bowser was very familiar with.

"Kamek! How dare you attack your king?!" he yelled, raising his fist up.

The Magikoopa twitched sporadically as he pointed his staff into the air. "hrrrgggh! Forgive me Bowser! I can't control myself!" he cried out as the jeweled tip of his wand began to glow. Aiming his wand down, he fired another strange blast heading towards Spot. The little Diamond Dog raised he arms to shield himself as the magical spinning bolt landed beside him, bursting into another large cloud of smoke. Suddenly they all felt the presence of something inside the cloud

"Rwaaaaaaaaah!" something roared as a large mouth burst forth from the smoke.

Reacting quickly Bowser grabbed hold of its two big green lips, stopping the massive red with white polka dotted head from chomping down on him and Pinkie. With Bowser holding the large piranha plant in place, Pinkie ran around and climbed up its back, leaping over its out of surprisingly small body and onto its head. Passing though its yellow petal mane, she stood at the top of its head and turned.

She started brushing her tail against where she thought his nose would be. "Coochie coochie coo,"

Reacting to her bushy tail, the piranha plant reeled back its giant head. "Ah, ahhhh, ahchoo!" Sneezing with tremendous force it covered Bowser in goop as it knocked him back.

He started wiping and shaking off the gunk. "Yuck! Petey Piranha slime,"

Pinkie leaped off the piranha plant's head and landed beside him. "Uh Bowsie, you got some—"

"Shut up!" he barked, wiping off more gunk off.

Spot, realizing Petey Piranha was on his side, puffed out his chest and faced the two across from him. "Ha! You two think you're tough huh?. Well me and big guy over here are gonna teach you a lesson!" Petey roared in agreement.

The little Diamond Dog stuck first, quickly running up to the two and heading for Pinkie. His nimble lightning fast paws rooted through her mane. He then ran back Petey's side, holding something in his paws. "I'll be taking that see," he said, triumphantly holding up a cupcake.

"Thief!" Pinkie shouted, charging over and landing a strong left hoof to his jaw.

Falling back, Spot rubbed his sore hoof indented cheek. Pinkie was about pounce to continue her attack, but the flap of Petey's big fan like leaf-arms pushed her back to her side. Spot greedily devoured his ill gotten treat and blew a raspberry her way. "Hah! Take that pony!"

Petey made his move. Rapidly flapping his arms up and down, he took to the air. Flying right over The Koopa's head, Petey did a quick flip and fell down, bottom first. Retracting into his shell, Bowser avoided the attack and forced Petey to ground pound onto his shell spikes.

The plant howled as it bounced off the shell and fell head first before Bowser, his tiny body now dangled helplessly in the as the weight of its huge head made it hard to get back to his feet. Bowser popped out of his and with Pinkie hopping on his shoulder, together they stuck Petey's body. Pinkie, dealing two back kicks while Bowser giving a powerful roundhouse punch sent the plant rolled back next to Spot and back on his feet. As he got up Petey noticed the Koopa start taking in a deep breath.

Seeing Bowser, Petey also inhaled. Pinkie Pie, knowing what her partner was about to do, rushed behind him just in time as the two big brutes exhaled. Waves of flames shot forth from Bowser's mouth while a torrent of vile brown sludge came out of Petey's. The two forces collided into a stalemate between them, neither side overpowering the other as they continued their streams.

Pinkie and Spot watched as the two continued their struggle. Suddenly Pinkie gasped. "Hold on Bowsie, I have an Idea!" She grabbed hold of his tail and started spinning it like a crank.

It doesn't work that way! He yelled in his head, but to his surprise he started feeling something in the pit of his stomache. Wait, what? He could feel his flames became stronger as the pony at he back continued to wind his tail. Not about to stop and question, he kept up his attack..

Overwhelmed by Bowser's intensifying fire breath, Petey and Spot were engulfed in the flames. Once it cleared, they both hacked and coughed, charred but still stood firm.

"Grrrr. We must take out the big fat one first!" Spot ordered. He started running on all fours towards Bowser and leapt into the air. Petey flapped his arms, creating a small wind funnel that caught up with Spot and propelled him even faster as he shot into Bowser's yellow gut.

"Ooooof!" Bowser dropped to his knee as the little Diamond Dog bounced off his stomach and ran back to his side. Pinkie help him back to his feet.

"Let's show them our own moves Bowsie."

Seeing her position herself behind him, Bowser rolled into his ball for. Pinkie bucked, sending him bashing hard against Petey's head, toppling him over as Bowser bounced back towards Pinkie who prepared to kick again. Distracted by his partner's fall, Spot almost didn't notice the green ball headed for him. Ducking at the last second, he turned around and saw that set of trees that were behind him and Petey just a few seconds ago had toppled over and bent. He gulped and knees began to shake, watching what could have been him.

Noticing the Diamond Dog was rattled by the last attack, Petey rose back to his feat and spat up two blobs of gunk that stuck the two across from them. While they were busy wiping off the nasty gunk off, Petey tilted his head towards the sky and spat out goop like a fountain, until the surrounding area was cover in it. Spot, shaking his body clean of slime, looked at his teammate.

"Hey wait! What are you—"

Spot was cut short as Petey grabbed him by his paws and started to spin.
Together they glided across the muck ridden ground, spinning rapidly as they circled around Pinkie and Bowser. Dangling at the mercy of his partner's grip Spot felt himself being repeatedly smacked into something.

"Ouch!"

"Owie!"

Caught in the middle of the routine, Bowser and Pinkie were being repeatedly pounded as Petey spun with the grace of an figure skater around them, using Spot as his weapon. Finally coming to a stop in front of the pony and Koopa, Petey hurled Spot into the air and took a small bow. Falling back down, the little Diamond Dog fell on Petey's head, turning his little nod of the head into a powerful head butt that smashed the two in front of him.

"Ooooh…" Bowser groaned, he and Pinkie Pie picking themselves up as Spot and Petey backed away. "We can't let them do that one again. I don't think my shell can take it again."

"Me neither." Pinkie started thinking about how to counter. "Hmmm... I've got it! Bowsie, I need you to roll up again." As her curled himself down, she smiled and gave him a little wink. "This time it's a little different, trust me."

She jumped onto the Bowser ball and started galloping as fast as she could. The ball tore into the ground ground as it spun at high speeds. With one final stomp, she and Bowser went flying towards Petey. The impact knocked the walking plant of his feat. As the two of them bounced off his head, Pinkie aimed and bucked her partner again, sending him crashing into a still airborne Petey for a second time and knocking the piranha plant further back. The force of the blow sent him smashing through a boulder and two trees before tumbling to a stop. Struggling to get back up, Petey roared one last time before bursting into a cloud of smoke.

Watching his partner beyond the trees vanish into thin air, Spot started tugging at his ears in frustration. "Ah… no!" He slowly turned to see Pinkie Pie now standing right in front of him. The ground shook as Bowser, still rolled up, landed behind her, making the pony in front of him even more intimidating; even if she had a big friendly grin on her face. Spot just back from her. "Grrrrr… Boo you two. I won't forget this!" he yelled as he ran off.

"Hey wait come back! Give us the element you took!" Pinkie shouted, starting to give chase again.

"He doesn't have it!" Kamek yelled, still hovering above them. "The one you're after ran straight ahead. Now hurry before you lose him."

"Wait, why are you helping? I thought you were working for that meanie Discord?" asked Pinkie.

"My body maybe under his control, but my mind is still my own and still loyal to King Bowser." Saying that he flew off into the shadows of the woods. "Now hurry before I end up getting their first!"

"Okay Bowsie let's go and find that Element. Maybe our friends got to him first."

Elsewhere in the forest, Fido had gotten himself into a little jam.

"Well it looks like you've got nowhere to go." General guy stated as he and Fluttershy had Fido pinned. The large Diamond Dog, with his back against a group of trees that blocked him, snarled and flashed his teeth. The little Pegasus, standing next to the wooden block tank, stepped towards him with a gentle smile.

"Excuse me Mr. Diamond Dog, the General and I just want the Element of Kindness you and your friends took. It doesn't belong to you and we would like it back. So if you would be so kind as to return it, we would really appreciate it."

The General, turned to the mare. "Colonel Shy, we should not be showing compassion to the enemy, at least not until he hands us what we want. Right now he's our captive and unless he does not comply to our demands we'll have to take it by force."

While the Shy Guy commander was lecturing his second about proper war etiquette, Kamek appeared. Before they could turn their heads up, he pointed his wand towards Fido and fired.

General Guy rolled back, tugging Fluttershy with him as a plume of smoke rose from the impact area. "You alright Colonel?" he asked, setting her gently on the ground.

"Yes General, thank you sir," The two of them peered into the cloud, hearing pounding noises coming from within.

"Yaaaaaaah!"

A pair of burly yellow arms popped out and started swinging like windmills, blowing away the smoke. With the shroud cleared away, General Guy tilted his hat up slightly as he recognized the round headed, red shelled Koopa standing next to Fido.

"Boom Boom," he said as Fluttershy flew to his side.

"What's a 'Boom Boom', General Sir?"

"Trouble. It seems getting this missing Element of yours is going to be tougher than I thought. Steel yourself Colonel, this is going to be tough."

The Diamond Dog and Koopa shared and accepting look between each other and nodded before they began to charge. Hitting the gas, General Guy met their tackle head on with the front of his tank. The impact between the three canceled out.. Reaching inside the tank General Guy pulled out a bomb and chucked it at Boom Boom. .

Fido watched as his partner dipped into his shell as the blast hit, not even get a scratch from it, and laughed. "With weird turtle thing helping me, you two are toast." He jumped behind his partner, who was still in his shells, and gave it a good kick.

Fluttershy gasped as the red shell moves towards her. Try as she might she could dodge it, every sidestep she made the shell did at well. She shut her eyes and shielded her face for impact. But to her surprise the impact never came.

"Huh?" Looking down to her feet, she realized that she had been flying the whole time. Boom Boom quickly ran back next to Fido's side, hand on his face as he shook his head at his partner's terrible shot..

The General couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Okay, never mind what I said Colonel. Judging from that last attack this may actually be easier than I thought. Let''s get the boys to finish this, they could use some practice." Whistling loudly he summoned the squadron of Flutter Guys, who were now wearing modified masks that resembled their Colonel's smiling face. They took formation in front of Fluttershy and General Guy and awaited their orders.

General Giuy at the edge of his tank and pointed to the two across from him. "Attack!" Rushing over, the group of knee high yellow troops swarmed, pummeling the Koopa and Diamond Dog

"Get off!" Fido shouted as he and Boom Boom started spinning like tops with their arms sticking out.

"Aaaaaah!"

The high pitched cries of the troops filled the forest air as their bodies went flying from their attack. Fluttershy took to the sky, catching one of them. The Flutter Guy in her hooves turned to face her.

"Thank you Colonel. Now please, send me back into the fray, I wish to fight and uphold your honor." She gently squeezed the cute little yellow hooded creature for a moment and then did as he requested. "For Colonel Shy!" he chanted as he landed on the Diamond Dogs head and began punching and kicking it. Ceasing his attack, Fido focused on getting the little vermin off his face. While he and Boom Boom now struggled to get the little warrior off, Fluttershy went after more of her troops, each of them requesting the same thing..

"Get off! Get off little pest!" Fido ordered, flailing his arms in a panic while Boom Boom pulled hard on the Flutter Guy; too busy to notice more soldiers were coming at them from all angles.

With their squeaky voiced battle cries, the pipsqueak soldiers unloaded another pummeling that overwhelmed the two of them. The savage beating continued until both the Diamond Dog and Koopa were left lying on the forest grass, twitching and moaning in pain. Boom Boom, lacking the strength to get up collapsed and vanished in a cloud of smoke. Fido, now solo again, turned his head up to see a pair of teal colored eyes belonging to the pink haired yellow pegasus and her group of soldiers whose masks all resembled her likeness.

"May we please have the Element back Mr. Diamond Dog?" she politely asks as she stuck her hoof out.

"Please?" the group of Flutter Guys around her repeated, stretching their little hands out.

Finding it difficult to look directly at the sweet mare, that difficulty only magnified by the group of masks. With all eyes on him, lip quivering and ears sagging more then usual, he looked up at the pony with guilt in his eyes. "Sorry," was all he could utter in front of her before he took off. "I'm sorry! I don't have it!"

General Guy pointed at the escapee "After him troops!" The soldiers below were hopping up and down, yelling among themselves as they started riling up.

"That coward!"

"Wait," said Fluttershy, trying to quell their anger.

"We'll show him!"

"Please wait."

"For the General!"

"Yeah!"

"Wait."

"For Colonel Shy!"

"Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!"

"Let's get em everyguy!"

Fluttershy flew in front of the troops. "Waaaaaaaaaiiiiiiit!" The rows of soldiers to toppled over one another and looked up to her. "He told us he didn't have it and that he is sorry. I think he's learned his lesson. Don't you agree General?" she asked, staring up to the white coated Shy Guy.

As he looked at smiling face of hers, a pinch of red appeared on his mask and her quickly turned away. "Ahem, I suppose you're right Colonel. Theirs no point in chasing him if he doesn't have what we're after. We should move out, our next target is the one who ran straight ahead." General Guy turned his vehicle and reached his hand out to Fluttershy. "Let's move Colonel, Lord Bowser and his companion may have already reached the target and need our support."

With Fluttershy sitting by his side as he drove down the forest path, General Guy saw someone standing in their path. Slamming on the brakes, they stop just before an unwelcome figure.

"Sorry to break it to you General, but I'm afraid you and your, heh heh, Colonel there won't be going anywhere. Well actually you will be, just not where you want to go."

"Discord!" Fluttershy shouted, stamping her hoof on the tank.

The Draconequus leaned back, surprised by her strong tone. "My you've developed quite a spine haven't you? I guess military life did you well. Very well done General."

"Save you're compliments, I'd rather do latrine duty. Why have you shown yourself?"

"Relax peewee; I haven't come to harm you. I'm just here to enforce the rules of the game I'm playing with those two." A large book appeared and hovered in front of him. "And according to the rules, only those two are allowed to play. Even though they did freed you two fair and square, I can't have you tagging along with them. So instead you'll be spending your time locked away in that turtle's castle."

"Just try it!" General Guy shouted, powering up his tank's light bulb cannon. A bolt of lightning shot out of the large bulb on the pipe block at the back of the cannon.

Catching the bolt with his paw, Discord used it as a back scratcher. "Yeah, that hits the spot, and it tingles too." Casually tossing the bolt away, it hit a tree, splitting it in two and filling the area with the smell of burnt wood. "Sorry but you two don't have a choice. You're coming with me." With a wave of his talon, an aura of green light surround the General and Fluttershy.

"What!"

"No!"

"Enjoy your stay you two, oh and say hi to Tubba for me, he's been pretty lonely up there." The two struggled to free themselves but could not escape as Discord's magic engulfed them both.

After dealing with those two, the Draconequus turned his attention to Kamek who was still floating nearby. "As for you. Seeing how you gave me so much trouble back in the caste, I figured you'd do a better job at stopping them. I mean don't get me wrong, I like the whole summoning minions thing you do, but it just isn't cutting it. I'll give you one last chance before I let you go. And remember, it has to be fun."

Pinkie Pie, galloping quickly through the forest atop Bowser, finally caught up with the last of the Diamond Dogs. "All right thief, give us back the Element you stole!"

Seeing the pony chasing after him on a large spiked green ball that was crushing and knocking away everything in its path, Rover knew he had no chance of escaping.

Pinkie stomped her hooves on the shell, grinding it just a few feet away from Rover. While Bowser uncoiled himself, she jumped down and approached. Beginning to sweat as the pony walked up to him. He flinched, shutting his eyes as her mouth moved. "Okie dokie, please hand over the Element."

His eyes creaked open slightly and his ears bent down as he stared at her smiling face and outstretched hoof. "Just like that? You mean you're not going to hurt me?"

"Well if you're giving us back the Element you stole why do we need to hurt you?"

"For fun," Bowser cut in.

She smiled at, nudging her shoulder on his gut. "Oh Bowsie, you're such a kidder." Rover nervously laughed and looked up to Bowser. Judging from the Koopa's sinister smile, he could tell he wasn't joking.

As Rover reached into his red vest pocket a mysterious colorful powder began falling from the sky. They all looked up and saw Kamek flying above them, dropping the rainbow colored sand on them. Feeling strange, Rover took his paw out of his pocket and checked out his paws, realizing who whole body was shining various colors..

"Sorry Lord Bowser, I can't control myself." Kamek whimpered as the Diamond Dog below started to grow in size. Now standing taller than Bowser, Rover couldn't help but give the duo facing him a content smirk. With another wave of his wand, Kamek blasted another of his summoning spells. Now standing beside the over sized Diamond Dog was a big black cannon ball with a set of arms and legs, a crown and a fairly impressive white mustache. His yellow boots stomped on the ground as he stepped forward, raising his white gloved fist at Pinkie and Bowser.

Rover swiped his massive paw at them. "Hahaha! With my new size and round guy here, I don't need to give you the trinket back! In fact I can take all the trinkets, gems, and jewels and never have to get them back ever!"

"Aww, and things were just going smoothly," said Pinkie Pie, jumping back to dodge. Bowser on the other hand caught Rovers hand and held him in place. While Rover tried pulled his hand away, his assistant was making his way towards Bowser; very, very slowly.

"Hurry up!" Rover yelled at the walking ball, still trying to pull his hand free from Bowser.

"Hah! That's what you get, That Big Bob-omb's always been a slow poke!"

"Be quiet turtle!" Rover growled, raising his other paw to stick him.

Taking one claw off Rover paw, Bowser reached up and caught the Diamond Dog's second paw. "You might be bigger than me, but your still a weakling compared to the Koopa king!"

Rover now struggled to break both his arms free. "Boo I say, boo to you green and pink. My fellow dogs and I are the greatest thieves in Equestria, we won't let goodie two shoes like you stop us!"

"I ain't no good guy, but there's no way I'm gonna let some thieves steal something from me!" He turned his head to Pinkie. "Any time now Pinky!" he shouted, tilting his head to point over to Rover.

Pinkie Pie ran past the slow moving Bob-omb and right up to Rover. With his arms being held by the Koopa across from him, he couldn't defend himself.

"Oooof!" Rover grunted at Pinkie Pie planted her back hooves into his gut.

Seeing his partner take damage, the Bob-omb standing in between the grappling brutes turned to face Pinkie and pulled something out of his back. Seeing what his companion was holding, Rover began struggling even harder to free himself.

"Wait! Stop, don't throw that!" he pleaded as King Bob-omb lobbed bob-ombs towards Pinkie.

With the greatest of ease she sidestepped the incoming Bob-omb headed towards her. Playfully hopping about, Pinkie dodged more of the incoming explosives. With each of the missed throws going past her and hitting Rover, Bowser could feel the big Diamond Dog resisting less and less. As he let go of the hairy grayish brown arms, they fell to the ground.

Feeling a small tap on his shoulder, King Bob-omb turned to see Bowser's fist head right for him. With one last dodge, Pinkie avoided Big Bomb-ombs as it flew past, slamming into the worn out Diamond Dog's stomache.

"Ugh…. Hack…" Rover toppled over, body slamming his partner and shaking to forest so much the leaves in the trees around them fell. Tumbling out of his pocket, the Element of Kindness landed by Pinkie's Hoof as Rover regressed back to his regular size. As Pinkie was about to pick up the object that had been after, a voice interrupted her.

"Rover, Rover!" Spot yelled as he and Fido ran out from the bushes. The two of them lifted there knocked out friend, glared at the Pinkie and Bowser and started make their escape..

"You two'll pay for this."

"Next time Pink and Green one won't stop us from taking all the jewels we want."

Now that the Diamond Dogs were out of the picture, Pinkie Pie picked up the fallen necklace and held it high into the air. As she did a triumphant set of horns started to play and some words appeared above her.

*You got the Element of Kindness!*

Bowser just stared at the little show, not sure what to make of what he was seeing. "Hey Pinky, how are you doing that?"

She looked up and saw the words. "I dunno, but it's pretty neat huh?" She lowered her hooves and then raised it again, The horns played again and the words reappeared above her. "This is fun!" She started repeatedly raising and lowering the Element, each time the music and words started playing.

"Cut that out! Those horns are starting to give me a headache!" Bowser hollered.

"Aww but its fun, plus with this I'm sure Fluttershy and General Guy can find us."

The two of them waited for the other two but sudden thud of a bystander falling from his broom caught their attention. Bowser rushed over and held the little Magikoop by his blue robe and started shaking him, knocking off his glasses and hat.

"So have you betrayed me too Kamek!"

"N-n-no, y-yo-ur sur-sur-ly-ness," Kamek struggled to say as he was being manhandled.

Ceasing his throttling, Bowser placed him down where he wobbled over to Pinkie Pie who was wearing his fallen headgear. "Thank you," he said as he grabbed his hat and glasses from her. "Master Bowser I'm terribly sorry I did the best I could to save your castle but that villain captured me and turned my body against me. But It seems that thanks to you I have been freed."

"That's fantastic news!" Pinkie shouted, joining Kamek's side. "Now we have three friends joining us."

Hearing her mention the other two, Kamek sighed as he looked at the excited pony. I'm afraid I have some bad news. Discord has recaptured General Guy and your friend and locked them away in the castle."

Bowser and Kamek started backing away from her. The look on her face had even the Koopa King a little frightened. "That cheater!"

Kamek raised his little yellow hand at her. "Hold on, they may be trapped but they can still help you two out in your journey,"

"How?"

A confident smile grew on his face as he adjusted his glasses. "Before I was captured I managed to place a spell in the castle, with it you two can summon people to aid you just like I was doing previously. It isn't the same as my magic, but with it you can briefly summon someone from the castle."

Pinkie Pie began hopping excitedly. "Show me how, show me how!"

As Kamek was about to explain, King Bob-omb, still nearby, rolled over next to the three of them. He flashed them a big smile as his large mustache quickly started to burn. Before they could react he exploded, sending them skyward and headed out of the forest.

Chapter 5

Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga

Chapter 5:

The peace and quiet of Ponyville was suddenly shattered by a trail of of shrieks and gasps from ponies as they got a sight of the menacing looking Koopa King following behind a gleeful looking pink pony that was happily hopping through the town while humming a tune with her eyes closed. Despite the small headache he was getting from all the bright colors surrounding him, Bowser was enjoying the frightened cries of the ponyfolk as he swaggered behind Pinkie Pie.

"Not that I'm complaining, but where are we headed again?" Bowser asked as more ponies gasped in fright.

"It talked! Aaaaaah!"

"What does it want?!"

"It going to eat us! Eeeeek!"

Looking back to the trio of mares; one pink with blonde hair, the other, another shade of pink with green hair, and the last one colored pale yellow with reddish hair, Bowser couldn't help but chuckle as they held on to each other and shook in terror. Meanwhile Pinkie turned around to face him, still hopping down the path.

"We're headed to Sugarcube Corner. I wanted to get some supplies before we head out. Plus I can get to show you my home and introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Cake."

Now at the aforementioned destination, Pinkie, on the upper floor of the bakery, had finished gathering her supplies and was heading back down stairs. As she made it to the last step, three fillies ran up to her.

"Pinkie Pie!" They cried out.

"Oh hi Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, you girls come by for a visit?"

They frantically waved their forelegs at her with panic stricken faces.

"What happened over in Canterlot?" Scootaloo asked.

"Where's our sisters?" Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom asked together.

Scootaloo then pointed a hoof over her shoulder to the window. "And whose that big guy standing outside?"

While Pinkie answered their questions, Bowser was outside, leaning against the wall and thinking back to what happened earlier.

Sent hurdling through the clouds, thanks to Big Bob-omb's explosion, Pinkie, Kamek and Bowser were headed straight for Ponyville. It would have been a rough landing had it not been for Bowser who uncharacteristically used himself to protect the others from the fall, gravity not really giving him an option to decline. When he finally awoke, Kamek began to explain what he was about to earlier.

"Now then, as I was saying, I managed to cast a spell that will allow you to summon those captured in the castle to your aid. Master Bowser, Please take this."

Bowser stretched out his hand, and in it Kamek place his wand. As he held it in his scaly yellow palm, he looked over to Pinkie who was staring back at him with anticipation. "What?"

"Do it." she said while gesturing her hooves into the air.

"No!"

"Come on Bowsie, it's fun."

"Nooo!" he yelled, standing up straight with his arms crossed, looking away from her.

"Awww."

Looking back down to his right, Bowser noticed her looking at the ground with her right hoof circling against the soil. On his left, his faithful assistant was staring at her with one arm stretched out as if to pat her. He then looked back up to his king.

"You know your Grumpiness, seeing how you two will be together for a while, I think it's best if you try to get along. After all, she has helped you out so far."

The Koopa king stared down at his lackey, eyes glaring and a frown on his face. After a few seconds of staring into those thick glasses of his, he looked over to the pony and sighed. "Fine..." he said as he raised the wand up.

*Bowser got Kamek's wand.*

"There, happy," he said staring down at the mare who was now beaming at him and nodding vigorously.

Her smile was contagious, as it spread to Kamek. "There, now we can go on to the next step. Master Bowser, you still remember how to use magic right?" He, along with Pinkie, turned their head over to the large Koopa, who remained silent. "You still remember how to use magic, don't you sire?"

"The Koopa King doesn't need to use magic! I'm so strong, magic is useless to me."

Kamek, stared blankly at his leader, who stood there, bumping the trips of his index claws together. "Master, you haven't been practicing like I told you, did you? Well all we can do now is try and hope for the best. Just raise the wand up and picture in your mind who you want to summon.

Doing as instructed he pointed the wand into the air and and closed his eyes. Suddenly a beam of light shot down from the sky and something appeared before the three of them.

"You?!" Bowser shouted looking over to the bloated buffoon he called down.

"Oh Master Bowser, I knew you'd forgive me!" Tubba Blubba shouted, running towards him. Instead of the warm embrace he was expecting, Tubba was welcomed by a strong bash from Bowser's fist.

"Kamek, what's the deal? I didn't want him! I wanted someone stronger!" Bowser griped, turning to face the Magikoopa while Tubba continued to roll away.

His glasses fogging up while a nervous sweat dripped out of him, Kamek tried to explain. "You see your Short temperedness, you probably focused on something that wasn't the castle."

"So!" he answered back in a angry tone.

"I'm afraid you can't summon something that isn't already in the castle. Otherwise the spell will do its best to summon something similar to what you were thinking of."

Bowser extended his arms and pointed over to the bulbous oaf lying in the distance. "That isn't anything close to what I had in mind!"

"Sorry sire, it does the best it can with what its got." As he said that, Tubba Blubba, still on the ground, started to glow and then became shrouded by the same beam of light that brought him down before, only this time it took him back up.

After seeing him go, Bowser went back to focusing on what he was doing. "Fine! Let see if I can get General Guy down her then." He pointed the wand into the air again, but nothing happened. "What gives?" he asked, waving it in the air.

Kamek approached, taking a nervous gulp. "You see sire, you can only summon one minion at a time for a short duration. And it will take a bit of time before you can use it again. The amount of time would be better if someone had just practiced his magic like he was supposed to." Bowser turned his head, glaring at him with fire in his eyes. "Sorry your Angryness." Kamek whimpered as he bowed to the Koopa.

Pinkie, watching everything with full attention, tugged on Kamek's robe. "So does this mean I can have my friends come help me too?"

Kamek turned, meeting that smiling face of her with a frown. "I'm sorry, but my wand is only good for bringing members of Bowser's army." Pinkie's smile was just about to flip when Kamek continued his statement. "But that doesn't mean you don't have something that can do it. I believe you got something recently that belongs to one of your friends."

She rummaged through her mane and pulled out a necklace with a pink butterfly gem in the middle. She held it in her mouth and showed it to him.

"That's it. With that you can call your friend Fluttershy to help you. Though I suggest not doing it now. It best to call her when you need it, the wait before you can do it again is a bit long and you don't want to be in a situation where you could use her help but can't."

With her hoof almost halfway up to the air, Pinkie stopped herself. "Okay, only in emergencies."

After the explanation, Kamek, called forth his broom and prepared to take off. "Master Bowser, miss Pinkie, together you two must recover our lost allies, it's the only way to end this game of Discord's. Use the magic I gave you wisely and fight to free everyone. I must go and see what else I can do to help out, now you two should go and find out where to go next." He took off into the sky, leaving Pinkie and Bowser standing in the outskirts of Ponyville.

Slowly coming back from his flashback, Bowser could hear the distinct sound of children laughing. He opened his eyes to find two very young ponies latched onto his hands, using them like swings. With his memory regained, he stood their struggling to keep his composure. "Pinky, are we done here?"

Pinkie Pie, having finished her story, called out to the playground turned Koopa waiting outside. "Allllmoooost. You keep having fun with little Pound and Pumpkin alright?"

He sighed as little Pound Cake was still swinging on his arm while Pumpkin Cake was gleefully riding atop his head and grabbing on his horns. "Uuuugh, I'm starting to miss hearing the screams."

To the Koopa's relief, Pinkie Pie finished gathering supplies and the two of them now headed out. Their next destination was over by Appleloosa, where the girls told Pinkie about a recent earthquake that had caused strange ruins to rise of from the ground and the strange ball shaped creatures with sharp teeth that attacked anypony that tried to explore them. Hearing her mention the iron ball shaped creatures, Bowser knew that's where they should head to next.

"Ok, so Appleloosa is where we're heading. Now where is it?"

"Oh I know, I know," Pinkie answered while jovially hopping around him in circles. "It's pretty far away, but thankfully you and I can take the train to get there," she said, pointing her hoof to a train that made the Koopa cringe. On the tracks sat the sissiest thing he'd ever lay eyes on. The engine car had heart decorations all over it, even in places like the pilot plow. The design of each passenger car made it look as though it were made of cakes; with its rooftops made to look like frosting that falling over the edges.

Bowser stood there, by the corner of the train station, dumbstruck by the odd machine. "Don't tell me… We're going to ride in that thing?"

"Yup," she said with a casual nod of her head. Standing on her back legs with her head held high, she extended her forelegs to the pastry-looking locomotive. "Bowsie, let me introduce you to the Friendship Express."

Pinkie continued hopping towards the station, meanwhile behind her a rather depressed Koopa was sighing deeply. I don't believe this. Me, King of all Koopas, leader of a vast and powerful army, feared by all who see me, reduced to riding a sugar coated, frosted, gumdrop. That freak Discord must be laughing his head off right now. Well, I should just think about the positive. The sooner we get there the sooner I'll be to getting some payback, and the sooner I'll be to get rid of that never ending chatterbox.

As the pair stepped into the station, they overheard two ponies talking. Judging from their clothes, they were the train conductor and the station manager.

"What do you mean you can't get going?"

"No can do, not until we can clear that giant rock off the track."

"How did it even get there?"

"I don't know. It's like it just fell out of the sky or something."

"How long do you think it'll take to clear it? Though not that it matter. With those weird things around Appleloosa, not many ponies are eager to get there."

"Probably three to four hours, maybe more."

A pair of heavy stamps quickly approached the two colts. "What!"

The two ponies turned their heads. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!" they cried, falling over their hooves as they tried crawling back from the large turtle shelled monster standing in front of them.

"Please don't eat us!" the conductor pleaded.

"We'll do anything you want!" the station managed added as the two of them were trembling in fear. Hearing their terrified wails, brought Bowser back from his previous slump. He stepped back, standing up right, and looked down at the pair of colts.

"I want you to get me and Pinky over here," he said pointing a claw to the grinning mare sitting on a bench behind him. "to Appleloosa, pronto!"

The colts looked nervously at each other. Then the managed turned his head up towards the Koopa. "You see, we have a slight problem." Bowser didn't say a word, waiting for him to explain. "We need to get that big boulder off the tracks. Until then, the train isn't going anywhere. Sorry but you two'll have to wait."

Bowser felt a tug on his arm from the mare behind him. "Alright Bowsie you heard them, we'll just wait till they finish clearing the tracks." Pinkie suddenly gasped with excitement. "I know, we can tell each other stories while we wait. I can tell you about my friends, what my favorite kinds of foods are, where I live, oh wait you already saw that. But I can tell you about little Pound and Pumpkin. Also there's Mr. and Mrs. Cake…"

While she kept on rambling, Bowser grabbed the two colts, holding them up to eye level. His eyes widened and lips quivered slightly as his strong fearsome voice from earlier now sounded like a pleading whimper. "There's gotta be something you two can do, anything, to get that train going now."

"We're sorry mister, but we're already doing the best we can. All you can do is wait, our equipment can only break that thing down so quickly."

Still hearing Pinkie talking away behind him, Bowser placed the two ponies on the ground. "If you think I'll just sit around here for hours and listen to that!" he said pointing back to her.

"Oh and there's also my pet, gummy. I haven't introduced you to him. And then—"

"You're two are wrong. Now where is this stupid boulder? I'll get rid of it myself." He stepped out of the station with the two colts following behind him.

Out by the front of the train, Bowser now stood by the massive boulder. Judging by the size, there was no way he could just lift it out of the way. But there was no way he was just going to sit and wait beside Pinkie Pie for that long. Giving it a solid punch, he and the colts behind him saw that it cracked under his fist. They all shared a smile as Bowser continued hammering away until the rock was pounded into dust.

"And there was this one time when the town was overrun with Parasprites…" Pinkie's rambling carried on, her eyes closed as she was lost in her own stories. Meanwhile Bowser, wiping some sweat off his forehead, walked over and sat next to her.

The station manager stepped in shortly after. "All aboard!"

Now aboard the train, in the rear car, Pinkie and Bowser were the only ones aboard. Bowser waited impatiently in his seat while his bushy haired partner was distracted with sticking her head out the window and enjoying the breeze, to his great relief. After what seemed like an eternity he joined her out the window. The scenery had changed to from that of lush fields of green grass to that of an arid desert.

"Rrrrr! How much longer!"

"Patience turtle, you two are already ahead of schedule," said a voice coming from inside.

Bowser looked to his right, where Pinkie was still sticking her head out. She stared back at him with the same puzzled expression. Together they pulled their heads back in and look at the seat behind them. Sitting comfortably on a cushioned seat with a newspaper in his talon and paw and a little red fez on his head was...

"Disc—" Before Pinkie could finish, Bowser lunged towards him. Discord vanished from the chair, causing Bowser to fall over it, with the newspaper and red cup shaped hat to fall on his back. Discord reappeared, standing in front of the fallen Koopa.

"Still going straight for the punch, eh turtle? Do you ever just say hi?"

"Hi Discy," Pinkie answered, casually waving her hoof at him.

"See that Bowser, you should take some tips from Pinkie Pie over there. You may actually get along better with others, maybe even make some friends."

The chair, newspaper and fez went flying as Bowser sprang back to his feet. "The Koopa king doesn't need friends!"

Discord flew back, dodging the claw swipe headed for him, and conjured a book in his hands. "That's a shame you know. You really could do with some according to this."

Bowser stared down at what the Draconiqquess had in had possession. "Where did you get that?!" he roared.

"What, this thing?" he said, spinning the text on his talon. "I just found it lying around in a room while I was making some changes to your castle. I'm surprised no one found it sooner. It's really a fun little read." He slithered over to Pinkie and showed her a page.

"Hee, hee, hee."

"Hey! Don't read that!" his bellowing voice ordered. Pinkie quickly jumped back to his side with a hoof covering mouth, unable to stop giggling.

"See Turtle, even Pinkie Pie agrees. I'm surprised though. You certainly have made quite a few enemies in the past." He started flipping through pages and stopped at one specific part. "Ah here we are. This one in particular looked like a lot of fun. So much so I thought 'why not let him have another shot at you?'"

Bowser narrowed his eyes towards him. "Who are you talking about?" His mind raced at all the possibilities. It couldn't possibly be him could it?

"You should know me by now. I don't like spoiling secrets, especially when they're just about to happen," he said as a train whistle could be heard coming from the distance. The duo in front of him turned their heads to the window and noticed something approaching. "And there they are. Alright you two, remember to have fun and make it entertaining. It'd be so boring if they just wipe you two out without any effort."

Bowser lunged again, with Pinkie Pie jumping behind him. He reached for the book but end up passing right through the lower portion of Discord's body as it became become intangible. He flipped on his back and managed to get a glimpse of that irritating smile of his as he vanished, laughing along the way. Pinkie leaped through the transparent image and landed on Bowser's stomach.

"Too bad, we just missed him."

He plucked her by her mane and dropped her by his side. "That long necked, googly eyed, sewn together freak!" he shouted as he got back on his feet. "First he takes my army, then my castle, forces me to play his dumb game, and now he takes my diar—I mean my favorite book!" he ranted, pacing up and down the aisle while Pinkie Pie was looking out the window to the object heading toward them.

"Uh Bowsie."

"How dare that thin little creep do that!"

"Bowsie!"

"I'll rip him to pieces for this!"

"Bowsie!"

"What?!" he yelled back, turning to face her.

She directed him out the window. "Look over there."

Shoving his snout against the tiny window, he saw what she was talking about. Running up to the side of them was a large dark metal train with a giant ax sticking out of the front, with a large eye drawn on the side of the blade. That's the sort of train I should be in, except replace that ax with my face. As the two of them looked on, they noticed five multicolored figures hop on top with what appeared to be large cannon.

Both Pinkie and Bowser's eyes widened as they saw the cannon aiming right for them. "Uh oh…" they both said.

"Open fire!"

A beam of light shot forth and blasted the cart to smithereens. The five figures standing on their train, all dress in matching armor, with differing colors, started celebrating.

Axem Green: Direct hit on the target, Red. The cart has been annihilated.

Axem Red: Good. Any sign of them?

Axem Green: None that I can see.

"Yo, Red!"

Axem Red: What?!

Axem Black: Look over there!

The five of them gazed over to the cart in front of the now destroyed one and noticed a pink and green figure standing on top of it.

Axem Pink: Looks like you missed em Red.

Axem Red: Darn it! We can't fire again, the cannon needs to charge. At least they can't get to us from here.

Axem Yellow: So we just wait? Works for me.

Peering back to the two on the Freindship Express, Axem Red saw something that really worried him. Back over on their side, Bowser himself couldn't believe what he just witnessed his little pony partner pull out of seemingly nowhere.

"Where did that come from?" he asked, pointing to the wheeled cannon Pinkie was standing behind.

"Oh, it's just my party cannon. I bring it with me almost everywhere. Pretty neat huh?"

A smile suddenly graced Bowser's face "You're starting to change my opinion about you Pinky. Now open fire and give them a taste of their own medicine."

"Okie dokie Bowsie!" Her cannon fired, spraying a blast of confetti and streamers that were effortlessly blow away by the wind. Bowser was left pointing his claw over to the other train where the five were on the floor incapacitated with laughter.

"That was it?" Bowser looked back at his companion who was content seeing the group on the other train laughing. "I thought you were going to shoot a cannonball or something?"

"Well I don't carry a cannonball with me. Why would you need a cannonball at a party for anyway?"

"Pinky! How are we gonna stop them from shooting at us when we can't reach them!"

"Oh Bowsie, you leave that to ole Pinkie Pie." She turned her cannon, pointing the front end at him. "Now hop in."

He looked down the small hole of the tiny barrel and then to the pony standing behind it. "How do you expect me to even fit in there? My hand alone is too big to fit."

"Like this," she answered, pushing the cannon forward. For reasons Bowser, or probably anyone else, couldn't understand, he found himself falling completely inside the cannon. He looked out of the top and saw that she was taking aim for the train across from them.

"Hey, Pinky, how are you doing thiiiiiiiiiiis?" With the accompanying sound of party trumpets, the Koopa was sent flying across the gap.

"Yo Red!"

Axem Red: What?!

Axem Black: We've got incoming.

Bowser landed in front of them with a loud metal clang against the roof. The Axem Rangers took their positions in front of him as he got to his feet. The five of them struck a pose and began spinning the axes they held in their hands.

Axem Green: So you've come to try and stop us. Fat chance!

Axem Pink: This time it's just one against five!

Axem Yellow: We're gonna mop the floor with you this time!

Axem Black: Pay back, punk!

Axem Red: We've been given an opportunity to repair our image to Lord Smithy and we aren't gonna fail this time!

They all stopped spinning their axes and pointed them at Bowser

Axem Rangers: We are the Axem Rangers! And you don't stand a chance.

While they all stood posing against Bowser, the familiar sound of Pinkie Pie's party cannon shout out again. Suddenly something started pelting the Axem Rangers.

Axem Black: Ouch! What is this stuff? It's smearing my shades.

Axem Pink: Eww! This stuff will ruin my diet.

Axem Red: Hey! Quit firing cupcakes at us!

Bowser looked across to see Pinkie, at the end of her cannon, waving at him.

"Don't worry Bowsie I've got your back!"

Nodding back at her, he then faced the five ax wielding armor clad foes and made the first move. He rushed over to the pink one and slashed his claws at her. She took the hit but stood her ground as Bowser stepped away. The five of them stuck back, each taking a turn to swipe their weapons at him. Black struck first, moving in a flash he appeared in front of Bowser and slashed at him twice. Pink ran in afterwards, giving two quick slashes as well. Red stepped forward and slammed down his ax against his shell. Yellow sprang into the air, landing in front of the Koopa and delivering a well placed chop. Green finished it up by running up to him and jabbed the top of his weapon into Bowser's gut. The all jumped back after they finished their combined assault.

Their group attack left Bowser wobbling, already about to fall over. Just then the party cannon could be heard going off and a batch of cupcakes, slathered in red goop, landed before him. Quickly picked them up, he wolfed em all down. The spicy cakes regained his energy.

Axem Green: Hey no fair!

Axem Yellow: At least share some with me!

Axen Black: At this rate, the one over on that train will just keep healing him. Got any ideas Red?

Axem Ranger Red, standing in the front of his team, jumped back on to the large dome behind them. It opened up to reveal what looked like a large metallic face with a pair of axes for it ears. It turned towards the passenger car on the Friendship Express and opened its mouth.

Axem Red: No worries, the Blade 2's cannon is charged up. I'll take care of that pest.

"Hey Pinky, heads up!" Bowser yelled as the Blade 2's cannon opened fire. The beam of light hit the car, shrouding it behind fire and smoke from the explosion. Seeing that, Bowser inhaled deeply and breathed out furious flames towards the five enemies.

Axem Black: You thought that'd hurt us?

Together, they quickly spun their axes like fans, fending off Bowser's fire breath. Axem Ranger Red, standing at the cannon's control, laughed.

Axem Red: There! No more help for-

The sound of the party cannon went off again. "Whee!"

The Axem Ranger leader was knocked off his cannon as a flying ball of pink slammed into him. Falling back down with his fellow Rangers, They all looked up in horror to see Pinkie Pie was now in control of the cannon.

Axem Red: The cannon still needs to charge, we can get her out of there before then!

As they started to charged, the loud crash of Bowser landing in their way forced them to jump back. He lifted Kamek's wand into the air and a beam of white light shined down beside him. Landing to his left, with his little tank engine revving, was General Guy.

"Reporting for duty!" he shouted, saluting the Koopa to his right.

Bowser unloaded another blast of his molten breath with General Guy following up his attack by rolling five unlit bombs towards the Rangers. The five started spinning their axes again, pushing back the flames once more.

Axem Red: This again! Face it, together we make your fierce flames look like a puny candle light. There's no way you'll—Aack!

The set of round explosives struck the five of them, stopping their ax wind blades. With nothing pushing it back, the fires surged forward and swallowed the rangers. The intense heat was enough to set off the explosives at their feet, blasting each of them in the face. The five wobbled but still stood their ground after the attack.

Axem Yellow: Is that all you… got? Haa… gaa.

Axem Black: That was nothing! We can take five more of those! Hrrng!

Axem Red: Not saying we can't, but let's not give them the chance to try it. We've still gotta get to the cannon!

They rushed the two of them. Bowser and General Guy pushed as hard as they could, but could feel themselves slowly being moved back. Pinkie, atop the Blade 2's cannon control module, watched her friends struggling.

"Hang on guys, help is on the way!" she yelled, pulling out the Element of Kindness from within her mane. She held it up and closed her eyes as she focused. Another ray of light shot down, only this one shined yellow. As the light touched the top of the train, Fluttershy appeared alongside Bowser.

Shaking off the feeling of dizziness that came with traveling at the speed of light, she looked at her surroundings. "Eeep!"

"Fluttershy, pefect timing! We could really use you and your troops about now!"

The frightened pegasus, hearing the familiar friendly voice, turned to face her. "Oh Pinkie Pie, you're here. What a relief, I was starting to worry."

"Less chatting, more helping," Bowser grunted, struggling with the General to keep the Rangers at bay.

"Right, sorry." With a whistle in her hoof she blew as hard as she could. Shortly after, a group of five Flutter Guys, all wearing strange propeller contraptions in their backs, flew to her side. They quickly lined up in front of her and saluted.

"Reporting for duty Colonel Shy!"

She faced them and gently, almost inaudibly, cleared her throat. "Alright troops! Get in there and hold the line!" she ordered, her voice sounding like thunder. Both Bowser and Pinkie couldn't help but stare at her, astonished to hear a roar like that come out of the pegasus.

"That girl sure can make a General proud," General Guy said, wiping the eye hole of his mask.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" her troops replied as they rushed to aide in the fight.

Now aboard the Blade 2's roof top, which was still speeding alongside the Friendship Express as they roamed through the desert, Bowser and General Guy, along with Fluttershy's squad of Flutter Guys, were holding back the Axem Rangers from reaching Pinkie Pie at the controls of the Blade 2's cannon, before it could fully charge.

Bowser sent his fist crashing down, bashing Axem Black while Fluttershy flung one of her troops towards Axem Yellow, kicking him in the gut.

Axem Green: Okay creeps, have a taste of this.

He stepped forward and held out his ax in front of him.

Static E!

Suddenly a bolt of lightning came crashing from the sky, striking the group in front of him.

Axem Red: Hey careful with that! You'll break the cannon!

While the two teams were exchanging blow, Pinkie watched the cannon finish charging up.

"Okay guys, ready to fire! Get outta the way!"

Fluttershy, along with two of her troops, grabbed hold of General Guy's tank and lifted it above the cannon's line of fire. The other three Flutter Guys grabbed hold of Bowser and did the same, struggling a little to carry the heavy Koopa. With her friends safely out of the way, Pinkie Pie slammed her hoof on the large button in front of her, firing the light beam straight into the Axem Rangers.

Axem Rangers: Aaaaaaaah!

The force of the blast rocked the entire train as the flash of light engulfed the five foes standing in front of her. After the light faded, the five of them were left lying on the train roof, battered and beaten. As Fluttershy and her troops lowered the General down, the Axem Rangers sprang back to their fight.

Axem Red: This... isn't... This isn't the end for us! Everyone form up!

The five of them huddled together, and stood with their backs against each other. They each held out their axes out and started spinning quickly. Their high speed spin caused them to blur out of sight. Now what seemed like a giant spinning buzz saw stood in front of the ponies and Shy Guys.

The Flutter Guy squad, along with General Guy, took a stand in front of Pinkie and Fluttershy and braced themselves. But suddenly, the troops started to gasp.

"Colonel! General! We're disappearing!" one of them cried out.

Fluttershy and General Guy looked at each other and gasped as well, seeing bits of light rising off of each other.

"Not now! This is the worst possible time!" the General shouted, pounding his little fist on his tank.

Fluttershy flew over to Pinkie, still on the cannon, and held her hooves "Pinkie, what do we do? If we leave now there'll be nothing to stop them from hurting you!" They looked at each other, eyes widening as they tilted their heads down to see they could no longer feel each other's hooves. Before either of them could say anything, the bright beam of light that had brought them down before now sent her, along with General Guy and her troops, back up towards the sky.

Axem Black: What happened? They got scared and ditched you?

Axem Pink: Looks like rent was overdue. Sorry girly, looks like your help got repossessed.

Axem Yellow: I almost feel bad about what were about to do, almost.

Axem Green: Tough luck! You're about to get a taste of the awesome power of the Axem Rangers!

Axem Red: Everyone ready!

Axem Rangers: Charge!

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Pinkie shielded herself. Not from the Axem Rangers' attack, but rather from the impact Bowser made when he crash landed on them. The force of the Koopa falling was so great, it left a giant dent on the train. Inside of the metal crater were the five Axem Rangers, all groaning in pain from the Bowser meteor that landed on them. Judging by the way they were hardly moving, Pinkie could tell that the fight was finally over. She hopped off the cannon and trotted over to her companion.

"You alright Bowsie?"

His back cracked as his got up and stretched it. "Oh, just perfect. I always feel like a million gold coins after falling about a hundred feet," he snarked.

She looked up to the sky. "I dunno, it seemed a little higher then that to me."

He simply sighed at her. "Anyways, what happened to those colorful wierdos.?"

"Welllllll," she said, tilting her head to the crater behind him.

Seeing what became of them, Bowser couldn't help but smile. "Gwuhuhuhuh. That explains why my fall didn't hurt so much." He then turned around in search of something. "Where are the others?"

"Oh they had to leave. I guess time ran out."

He crossed his arms and looked over to the Friendship Express. "Well nothing we can do about that now, they helped us outta that one though. We should just hurry and finish this stupid game of Discord's. Now how are we gonna get back over there?"

"We could always just take this train."

"No way." Bowser looked over to her, noticing that irritatingly familiar smile emerging on her face. "What?"

"You liked being on the Friendship Express, didn't you?" she ask in that appealing voice of hers as she nudged her shoulder at him.

"No!" he answered sharply. "I just don't want to stay here any longer. The more I look at it, the more I think about those chump and that just makes my blood boil. So it's just that I don't want to see this dumb thing anymore, that's it," he said, repeatedly stomping his foot on the roof.

Suddenly, a voice boomed from inside the train. "Who's making all that racket up there! Can't I get some sleep?"

The two up top turned over to the silo shaped cannon, hearing the sounds of an elevator coming. It pinged as it reached to top. Shutter doors opened up from the silo and a metallic figure stepped out. He had a large steel rectangular body and his face was hidden under his long hair, beard, eyebrows and mustache. He held a big sledge hammer in the right of his two massive red hands with spiked bracelets, similar to the pair Bowser had on his wrists, and his burly mitts were attached to his body by a chain link. He shined brilliantly in the sunlight, moving closer to the duo. He looked over to the Axem Rangers, passed out in the crater, then turned over to the duo at the other end of the train and stroked his large white facial hair.

Smithy: So we meet once more! I hear you got your castle taken from you, again.

Bowser's clenched fist was rattling strongly as he stared at the unwanted acquaintance. Meanwhile the pony on his left was intrigued by the new arrival, especially with what he just said, or rather the way he said it..

"Hey you over there, Mr. Smithy, How do you do that?"

The royal looking anvil looked over to the pony and couldn't help but laugh.

Smithy: This is your partner? She is rather small, and very pink. Have you--

Pinkie cut him off "There, right there! How do you talk like that? Here, wait, let me try." Both Bowser and Smithy watched, a little perplexed, as Pinkie Pie fidgeted with her lips, until…

Pinkie Pie: How's this? Heee Heee Heee! This is fun!

"Knock it off Pinky! That's just how we use to talk where I came from." Bowser pointed over to Smithy. "That loser over there is just lost in the times."

Steam started blowing out of the crown on Smithy's head. He slammed his hammer against the Blade 2, causing it to quake.

Smithy: Make fun of me? ME! I'll teach both of you! First I'll take you down, then I'll take your castle again just for fun! After that, I think I'll take this world. It'll be easy to do with my glorious weapons! Now, HURRY UP! I've got a score to settle, then a world to conquer! Gufaw haw, haw, haw, haw!

Smithy stepped up and made the first move. His red eyes flashed for a second, then he held his mallet in the air and pointed it at the duo. Twinkles of light started to shine off of it.

Sledge

A giant mallet came crashing down. Coming without warning and seemingly out of nowhere, it slammed down on Pinkie and Bowser, leaving them lying on the roof. They quickly got back up and Pinkie stepped up.

Pinkie Pie: You're not the only one who can call out the names of their moves as they do em. Come one Bowsie.

Bowser Bowl

With Bowser rolled up into a ball, Pinkie jumped on top and took aim. She galloped as fast as her hooves could go against his shell, moving the Koopa ball towards Smithy. He swung his mallet at it, knocking them to the other edge of the train. Bowser's shell was grinding against the metal roof as Pinkie ran with all her might to keep them from rolling over the edge. The Bowser ball rolled back towards Smithy for a second attempt, this time making contact. They knocked him back, close to his edge of the train.

Reverting back to normal, Bowser rushed over to the metallic foe and sent his knuckles flying for his face. Instead his fist clashed against Smithy's mallet. He tried again but once more the hammer blocked his blow. Bowser started throwing a barrage of punch after punch, but Smithy kept blocking all of it. Pinkie, watching the two giants go at it from atop Bowser's shell hopped down to his side and joined him in the slugfest.

Brilliant flashes of light sparked from the hits Bowser's fist and Pinkie's hooves were making against Smithy's hammer. Now trying to block a set of fists and hooves at the same time, Smithy couldn't handle it all. Quick jabs were making their way through his defenses. Even though he soldiered on, the punches slipping in were starting to really wear him down. He held his hammer out and started quickly spinning it, forcing the brawling duo to back off.

Meteor Swarm

With his hammer shining as he pointed it towards them, a slew of star shaped rainbow colored lights came hurtling at the pair. They tried shielding themselves as best they could but the lights hammered away at them.

Pinkie and Bowser charged in to give Smithy another wailing. When they broke his guard this time, Bowser ducked into his shell and Pinkie quickly jumped on top. The spiked shell began spinning rapidly with the mare on top sticking her back hooves out. Smithy's waist was being grinded against by the rock hard Koopa shell, while his face was repeatedly assaulted by Pinkie's back hooves. As the shell slowed down, Bowser popped back out and delivered a finishing spinning back fist to his bearded visage. Smithy fell over, catching himself before he fell off the train. He grabbed at his chest, breathing deeply.

Smithy: No, NOOOOOO!! NOT AGAIN!! Not after getting a second chance! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

The crown wearing, metal man was steaming. His cold steel body began to match his eyes. He swung his hammer wildly, hitting his fallen minion and sending flying into the horizon. Each rage driven pound made a metallic crunch against the train as he smashed it.

Below their feet, Bowser and Pinkie Pie sensed the train beginning to come apart as they felt explosions going off underneath. One large explosion went off right under them, sending the two skyward.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

"Wheeeeee!"

With a thud, they fell back onto the top of one of the Friendship Express's passenger cars. The two of them stared over to the Blade 2, which was now falling to pieces. Standing at the top, now completely engulfed in the fires of his rage, Smithy was still hammering away at the ship. They caught one last look of him pounding his hammer on the train before it exploded. They both stood their, watching the large fire that still rolled along beside them.

Pinkie Pie: Check it out Bowsie, fireworks.

He looked over to the mare standing behind him and sighed. "Pinky. I've been letting it slide that you're still calling me that nickname, but can you please stop talking like that. I don't want to be reminded of that guy anymore then I already have."

She looked back at him and giggled. "Okay Bowsie that's fair. It was kinda hard to keep talking like that anyways."

As they started making their way to the ladder to climb down to the passenger car, something on the rolling fireball got their attention.

"Gaaaaaaooooooooo!"

They turned their head and peered into the burning wreck. In the gaps of red and black, Pinkie and Bowser saw something stranding at the front of the demolished train. It then shot out of the smoke and into the sky. Their eyes followed the flying object as it fell and landed on the front of the train, causing every car to shake from its impact.

"What do you think that was?" Pinkie asked.

Narrowing his eyes down the line of passenger cars, Bowser spotted something headed their way. "I dunno, but by the look of that weird light headed our way, we'd better get up there and find out," he said, pointing a claw over to a trailing crack that was quickly making its way towards them.

Running to the next car just as the crack made it to the end of the train, the pair looked back to see the car behind them blow up. The two spent a moment, gawking at what just happened, before looking back in front to notice more cracks headed their way. Both pony and Koopa shared a determined looked at each other before racing forward.

They ran together, dodging cracks headed for them as they leaped from one car to another. Passenger cars going up in flames behind them while they continued their dash for the front.

"Up there Bowsie, it's Smity! I think?" Pinkie announced, with her hoof pointing up to the engine car where a familiar metal laced creep sat on the roof, but there was something different with his head. Gone was his long luscious white hairs. All that remained on his ball shaped head was his bulging red eyes, golden crown, and mouth with four sharp teeth.

Smithy: YOU!! YOU TWO!! How dare you make me lose my cool like that! I was given a second chance to mop the floor with you Bowser. I wanted to keep myself from showing my true form, but you and the horse there just had to push me. This is my shot at vengeance... and I'm not about to lose it. NOOOO!

While he continued pounding his hammer against the engine roof, both Pinkie and Bowser stood atop the last passenger car, ready to face off against him once more time. The pair charged in, lashing out at Smithy with all they had, but he just stood their and took all of their strikes.

Smithy: is that it?!

Mega drain

A beam of pink light shot out from his chest that struck the duo. Smithy then started pounding his hammer on his head, molding its shape into that of a tank. He moved up to Bowser and fired a round, knocking him off his feet and onto his shell.

"Ah! I forgot how tough this guy actually was," the koopa groaned, getting back onto his feet with the help of Pinkie who push him up.

"Come on Bowsie, we can't let this guy stop us from saving our friends. No matter how tough or creepy looking he is. Show him that you're no push over!"

With her little pep talk raising his spirits, he rolled back to his feet and unleashed a wave of flames onto Smithy. Pinkie, leaned over the side of the engine car and poked her head in through the window.

"Hi," she said to the terrified conductor, who was cowering in the corner of the engine room due to all the commotion. She then pointed a hoof to the pile of coal in the back of the room. "Could I borrow a few of these? It's kinda an emergency." The train shook from the fight taking place above as she asked. Not moving from his fetal position, the engineer pony nodded.

Rejoining the fight, Pinkie Pie assisted Bowser's fire attack by chucking her newly acquired pieces of coal. The onyx clumps ignited mid flight from the heat, causing them to burst upon impact against Smithy. The mechanical foe answered back by pounding his hammer on his head again. This time shaping it into the form of a wizard. With his wizard head's arms aim up, Smithy began to cast a spell on them.

Arrow Rain

Arrows started falling from the sky, pelted the pair. Trapped on the narrow train, they did their best to shield themselves as the falling arrows damaged everything around them. The wizard head of Smithy's wasn't done yet as its tiny arms waved again.

Sword Rain

This time a flurry of swords came falling down. Slashing and cutting up the train and the party facing him. Pinkie and Bowser, breathing heavily as they grasped their wounds, looked to each other.

"Hey Bowsie."

"Yeah?"

"This is really hard."

"I know Pinky. You wouldn't happen to have anything to help us turn this around would you?"

"Well we still can use this," Pinkie said, pulling out her cannon from seemingly nowhere again.

Catching on that he shouldn't question how she does that, Bowser dove right into the small cannon that stretched perfectly to fit him. "Alright! Fire away!"

With a quick tug of the string, Bowser was sent flying towards Smithy's face. The metal monstrosity reeled back as the Koopa ball bounce off his head. Pinkie moved her cannon, catching her partner back inside.

"Again!" he shouted. With another tug Bowser flew, striking Smithy again and bouncing back to Pinkie's side. "We almost got him, got anything else we could use?"

She tilted her head back, pointing to a wagon behind her. "Well I do have my welcome wagon."

Bowser wasted no time grabbing hold of the cart and headed back towards Smithy. He stopped for a second and looked back at her. "Pinky, where did you get—Never mind. It's better I don't ask."

Now standing in front of a Smithy, still dazed from the dual strike from earlier, Bowser hoisted the large wagon over his head. "Hey, ugly! Here comes the welcome wagon!" As he smashed the metal foe's head, the wagon opened up. An assortment of horn, flags, a pair of train whistles and two candy cane colored pipes surrounding a miniature oven with cooling tables at its side, popped out. The sound of a record scratching could be heard coming from inside and a jaunty tune started to play.

Pinkie, unable to resist the call of the music, began to sing and dance around while Bowser continued bashing the wagon on Smithy's head.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome. A fine welcome to you!"

"Welcome, welcome, welcome. I say how do you do?!" She tooted on a horn she had, while Bowser started matching his slams of the wagon to the rhythm of of the song.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome. I say hip, hip hooray!" Pinkie hopped around the two of them, beating on a drum strapped onto her. Bowser started spinning while holding onto the wagon, pounding it against Smithy, over and over.

She danced for a bit before leaping high into the air. "Welcome, welcome, welcome to Ponyville todaaaaaaaaay!"

Spinning to a halt, Bower held the wagon over a battered Smithy. As the final beat of the song played, he smashed the wagon down with all his might. Pinkie landed atop the music playing cart and confetti shot out of the twin candy cane cannons. The oven then pinged and a cake sprang out of it, landing at Bowser's feet.

Hopping down from her wagon, Pinkie looked down at the pastry with a delighted smile. "I didn't mix em up this time." she said, reaching down to grab the dessert and taking a bite. "I know it's a little late and we're no longer there, but consider that your welcome to Ponyville. When we get all our friends back, I'll be sure to make an official one. Anyways want some cake?" she asked her partner beside him.

"Blegh, too sweet. Besides, right now I just wanna make sure that's the last we have to deal with that chump." Looking over to the fallen fiend, he noticed the station they were heading for coming up in the distance. He then started cautiously stepping over towards Smithy.

Smithy: Oooooaaaaaah! Guuuuuaaa! NOOOOOOO!

Smithy rose back up, pounding his hammer away against the Friendship Express's engine. Inside the engine car, the conductor was starting to panic. The knobs and dials of the pressure gauges were going nuts; the engine was on the verge of blowing. The constant pounding had disabled the break systems, and with the station coming up, he stood by the door and prepared to jump.

Pinkie peered over the side of the train to see the conductor jumping off as the train rolled past the station.

"Uh oh…"

Meanwhile at the top of the engine car, Smithy had lost it as he flailed his sledge hammer wildly. He hollered incoherently as he lashed out at everything. He fell through the roof and began smashing the engine controls. The duo climbed down after him, keeping a safe distance away.

Smithy: RAAAAAAAH! Gaaaaaaaaah!

With one final slam of his hammer on the controls, rays of blinding light began shining off of him. It was so intense that Pinkie and Bowser had to shield their eyes from it. After the light died down they looked inside to find only Smithy's weapon, still embedded in the engine's controls, remaining.

The train was still speeding down the tracks and its controls were obliterated. Pinkie trotted over and grabbed hold of the hammer's handle. She struggled slightly, but then yanked the hammer out and hoisted it above her head.

*Pinkie got Smithy's hammer.*

Pinkie looked up to the cold silver colored sledge hammer with a lower brow and a hoof on her chin. "Hmm, it's missing something." She pulled it back down and started tinkering with it. Her hooves moved in a pink flurry around the hammer. Bowser could swear he heard the sound of various power tools coming from the pink blur. Finally finished, she lifted her work into the air.

*Pinkie got Pinkie's hammer.*

"There, that's better."

While she held her new, redesigned hammer up in her hooves, the Friendship Express started slowing down. With the train finally coming to a halt, Bowser poked his head out the door. The scenery didn't give him much to be happy about.

"Just great, we missed our stop. It'll take us hours to get there, and I haven't seen any sign of these ruins."

Pinkie tugged on his tail. "Umm Bowsie, look over here." she said directing him to the window on the other side.

He turned around, jaw dropping at what he saw. "I guess we won't need to head to Appleloosa to ask about the ruins after all."

Getting off the destroyed train, the two now headed for the set of pyramids over in the distance.

Inside of the largest pyramid, News of the duo's triumph had reached the general inside.

"Oh man, I can't believe they beat that guy. Now they're headed here. This is bad." As he walked back in forth in his chamber, the sound of hoof steps approached.

"Something troubling you."

He jumped in shock. "Aack!" Turning around, he recognized the star decorations on the hat and cape the mare was wearing. "What, me? No. I'm fine. They're just headed this way and I'm fine."

"You don't need to worry, you have the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria at your side."

"Yeeeeaaah, some magical horse. She doesn't know how to do any of her magic anymore," he said while looking over to a doorway.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie was refering to herself."

"Oh! Right, yes, how could I forget. You keep telling me."

"That's right! And with her out of the way, everypony will know that the greatest and most powerful unicorn in Equestria is Trixie! Now let's make our preparations, they''ll be here soon."

Chapter 6

Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga

Chapter 6:

Underneath the blazing hot sun, miles away from Appleloosa, the odd duo of Pinkie Pie and King Bowser were walking away from the remains of the Friendship Express and headed towards the mysterious ruins ahead of them. The white desert plains were mute. The only sounds that accompanied the two of them as they trekked on were the constant moans and groans of the bulky Koopa.

"Why does it have to be so hot?" Bowser whined, shielding his head from the harsh sunlight with one hand while the other was vigorously fanning his face. Always full of energy, Pinkie hopped along beside him, almost oblivious to the intense heat.

"Try taking your mind off the heat Bowsie. Just imagine you're on a cold snowy mountain or maybe swimming in a lake." Trying her suggestion, Bowser stopped and closed his eyes, trying hard to focus. "Instead of being in this scorching desert with the sun beating down on your head and the sand feeling like it's a million degrees with no sign of water for miles." A nerve bulged by Bowser's left eye in response to his colleague's constant remind of their present location.

"Pinky!"

She stopped her bouncing and tilted her head as she stared at him. "Yes Bowsie?"

"Stop talking about the heat."

"Oh, okie dokie."

They resumed their march, Bowser slowly trudging along, while his happy go lucky partner happily hopped along beside him. Although being incredibly patient, Pinkie's incessant jovial attitude was slowly wearing him down, or maybe it was just the heat. Whatever it was, he soldiered on, dragging his carcass across the arid stretch of scorching hot sand with the intense sun beari—

Pinkie looked up to the sky with her eyes furrowed. "Hey come on, Bowsie just asked us not to mention the heat."

Oh! But I was just, um sorry…

"It's alright!" she replied with a smile and a wink.

The two of them walking along the… plain?

"That's better. Thanks," she said, nodding towards the sky.

Right, well then, let's continue. They finally arrived at the front of the ruins and surveyed the area. There, large yellow blocked pillars, strange orb shaped statues, and tilted pyramids were all over the place but there was no one in sight, not even the round creatures they heard were roaming about back in Ponyville; there was only sand and the stone structures around them.

Pinkie spotted the largest pyramid on the other side of the ruins. "Over there Bowsie," she said, pointing. "It looks like we can get inside over there."

Standing in the shade of the largest pyramid, three Diamond Dogs were panting heavily while they tried cooling themselves down.

"Rover, why'd we come here!" Spot growled. "This heat is driving me crazy." He fell over on Fido's lap who was sitting against the side of the angled building.

Breathing through his mouth with his tongue sticking out while he pulled at his grey vest, Fido pushed the little dog off his lap and looked over to the Diamond Dog standing a few feet in front of him with his back to them. "Yeah Rover, why'd you say we should come to this place?"

Rover stood, looking out over the ruins. He then turned to the extinguished dogs behind him. "These are undiscovered ruins. Everyone is coming here to explore. Don't you know what that means?"

Spot, still on his back, turned his head up to look as Fido who stared back at him and shrugged his shoulder. "No," they said together.

Rover smacked his palm against his forehead at them. "It means there's bound to be lots of treasures hidden around here. If we want to rebuild, we have to start by getting more treasure." Rover walked over to the corner of the pyramid and saw the entrance on the other side. "I bet we'll find lots of treasures in here." He waved over to his cohorts. "Now let's go!"

"Uhhhh."

"Uuuugh," the pair of lying dogs groaned, forcing themselves back up.

As they walked over to join him a cloud of smoke appeared in between the three of them. They stood and watched as the plume cleared to reveal a hooded unicorn.

"You three want to get your home back right?" she asked, shielding her face underneath her star ornamented light purple cloak.

Spot, Fido and Rover's eyes widened, flickering with hope upon hearing her question. "Yes!" they shouted, wagging their tails and nodding their heads furiously.

The whites of her teeth could be seen from her shaded visage. "Then just do what I say and I promise you'll get your home back." The cloaked mare's horn shined brightly as a cloud appeared and surrounded them. They vanished, leaving only the sand swirling around where they had vanished from.

Now inside, Pinkie and Bowser were taking a moment to enjoy the comfort of the shade before they continued. While Bowser was slouched against the wall, Pinkie was picking items from her mane, going over her supplies. "Cupcakes? Check. Hot sauce? Check. Elements of kindness and laughter?" She pulled out both jeweled necklaces, suddenly feeling a sense of sadness as she dangled the butterfly shaped crystal adorned one in front of her.

Come on Pinkie Pie, you're doing this to save your friends. You've got to be tough. Just think, how would a brave pony like Applejack, Rainbow Dash or Twilight act in a time like this?

She turned her head, looking to her partner who was leaving dents in the wall with his spiky shell.

Also how would Bowsie get along without you?

Pinkie refocused on the Element in hoof and continued her review. "Check." She placed the necklaces away and then pulled out an odd colored cupcake. Rai—"

"Woof woof!"

The bellowing bark cut her off. It echoed through the entire structure and out to the ruins around it. Bowser quickly pushed himself off the wall and stood at the ready to face whatever caused it. Pinkie, unsure what to make of it looked back at him. "What was that Bowsie? Sounded like some sort of dog."

"That's no dog. I'd recognize that kind of bark any day. Now I'm positive about the creatures the ponies in town were talking about."

"What is it then?"

"They're called Chain Chomps; they're big, tough, short tempered, and have a nasty bite. Judging by the sound of the one we just heard, it's pretty big."

Worried over what he just said, Pinkie looked down at the last of her supplies she held in her hoof. Thank goodness I got Ms. Cake to help me bake this before we left. "Check," she said to herself before placing it back in her mane.

Now moving further inside, they found it strangely empty. Down the long narrow corridor, coming across spacious rooms, there were no traps, no puzzles, nothing. While they continued walking, they were unaware that two figures were watching them from afar. Deep in the center chamber of the pyramid, the second of Bowser's former generals nervously watched the magical cloud projection that displayed the intruder's progress. Beside him, The Great and Power Trixie looked on with a scowl.

"How could you not have set up any traps? Or even have one Chain Chomps around the inside Tutankoopa? I thought controlling Chain Chomps was your thing?"

Removing the pharaoh hat with a small Chain Chomp figure on the front, Tutankoopa wiped the sweat off of his shiny barren yellow head. "It is! It's just that with so many of you ponies coming around to explore my ruins, my pets have all run out chasing after them. Ponies run a lot faster than anything they're used to in my world and they wound up chasing trespassers so far they got lost. I didn't think by the time those two finally got here all of my pets would be gone. Worst of all I've lost my whistle to call them all back."

"Useless!" Trixie shouted stomping her hoof. The chamber then rumbled, not from the unicorn's hoof but from the room next door. Trixie looked over to the doorway and clicked her teeth. "You have no Chain Chomps at your disposal, except for that one you have almost no control over!"

The white robed Koopa looked to the ceiling, seeing bits of sand drop. He slowly stretched out his trembling arms towards the belligerent unicorn. "Now calm down Trixie, we don't want to upset him." His arms were slapped away by Trixie's hoof.

"It doesn't matter, she's with him. He's usually calm with her," They then heard a voice coming from the next room.

"Calm down Chompy, it's alright." The rumbling immediately stopped in response to the girl's voice.

Trixie looked back to Tutankoopa. "See," she said, rolling her eyes. "So do you have anything you can do to stop them?"

Scratching his head while he watched the image above, Tutankoopa suddenly snapped his fingers. "Okay, watch this." He cupped his palms together and placed them over his mouth. His voice suddenly echoed throughout the pyramid.

"Blaaaargh! Booooaaaaaar! Those who dare enter the ruler of the sand, Tutankoopa's palace, leave now before you suffer a horrible fate."

He looked back at Trixie who didn't seem as impressed as he thought she'd be.

"That's it? A warning? That's what you came up with?"

"What? I said it in a really spooky voice."

"Do you honestly think telling them in a spooky voice to go away will actually work?" Trixie looked up at the screen and saw Pinkie trembling behind Bowser, who appeared as though he was covering his face.

"Hah!" Tutankoopa shouted. "You see that Trixie, it does work."

Back in the passageway, Pinkie Pie was shaking vigorously behind her Koopa companion. "Wha-wha-what was that? A ghost?"

Standing in front of her, Bowser was sliding his palms down across his face, finishing a long drawn out sigh. "I can't believe it's him. I can't believe he'd think that'd work. I really need to think about who I appoint as a general."

Pinkie Pie walked around to face her partner. "You know who that is Bowsie?"

"Yes," he answered, lowering his head. "Tutankoopa is another of my generals, ruler of the sand and controller of Chain Chomps. He's not very tough, but his Chain Chomp pets are. He also has some magic powers." Bowser then looked down the hallway and punched his palm. "But none of that's gonna stop me from pounding him into the sand when I'm done with him."

Pinkie began rubbing her chin. "So if he's one of your friends—"

"Generals," Bowser blurted.

"Okay, general friends. Then that means one of my friends is with him." He simply shrugged his shoulders at her. Noticing his reaction Pinkie tried a different approach. "That also means we'll be one step closer to beating Discord."

Bowser immediately headed further down the corridor. "Come on Pinky, let's get this over with."

Back in the main chamber, Tutankoopa looked on at the projection with his mouth hanging open. Beside him, Trixie couldn't help but chuckle. "Great job there Tut. Now that he knows who you are, he seems more eager to find you."

The pharaoh looking Koopa turned to her, gnashing his teeth. "What about you? I don't see you coming up with anything to stop them? I thought you said Discord sent you to help me."

Trixie hid her smile under her hoof, trying to stop enjoying his panicking. "The Great and Powerful Trixie already has something planned. Those two should be running into it soon. They probably won't make it past what I've got in store, but just in case, you may want to prepare yourself for a fight."

The little Chain Chomp figure on his hat bobbed up and down as Tutankoopa nodded. "You're right. You keep an eye on those two while I go and make preparations. Just be ready to help me when its time." Seeing him make his way out of the room, Trixie heard the sound of barking in the room behind her. "Down boy down! I'm not a chew toy you rotten ball of teeth!"

The voice belonging to the girl in the room spoke out as well. "Down Chompy, Tut's a friend."

Now alone, Trixie watched as Pinkie and Bowser make their way towards what she had set up for them.

Stepping into the largest chamber yet, Pinkie and Bowser noticed something moving on the other side of the room. Soon they heard the voices of the three familiar figures in the distance.

"Now where do we go Rover?" Fido asked, grabbing around at the walls.

Rover was standing to his left with Spot at his right; they were all moving their paws all over the brick wall. "Just keep looking. We've got to find a way further inside. There has to be a secret switch around here somewhere." The sound of Bowser's approaching footsteps caused their ears to sticking up as they turned to notice the pony and Koopa.

Spot yanked on an ear while pointing to the pair facing them. "Aaaah! It's those two from the forest again. They're here to take the treasure before us!"

Both Bowser and Pinkie stared at the three of them with a confused gaze. "Treasure? we're not here for any—" Bowser quickly placed his claw over Pinkie's mouth.

"There's treasure here? Then it's all mine then."

Rover took a step forward with Spot and Fido taking an aggressive stance. "So you are after the treasure! Well we got here first. And we're not about to let you get past us."

Standing on Rover's right, Spot poked him on the side. "How are we gonna to do that, they beat us the last time remember? And we don't have some big guy to come help us."

Remembering, Rover took a step back with the others doing likewise. Just then they felt the floor at their paws begin to sink. Looking down they saw the slab they were on descend and was followed by a loud click above them. Everyone tilted their heads up to see a portion of the ceiling slide open.

Dropping from the darkness with a big metal thud against the stone floor, a large shiny black ball crashed in front of the dog trio. It growled, opening its white eyes with tiny black pupils that focused on the pony and Koopa across from it. It then started opening its mouth to reveal a set of razor sharp teeth that made a jarring chomping sound as it opened and closed its mouth.

"Bowsie, is that one of those Chain Chompy thingies you mentioned?" Pinkie asked.

Bowser stared down the living ball and chain. "Yup. If we're up against Tutankoopa then we were bound to run into them eventually." He cracked his knuckles and raised a fist at it. "Let deal with it first. Then we can deal with those three weaklings back there." As he pointed to the Diamond Dog trio, a cloud of smoke appeared by them.

"That's enough. You three have done exactly what I needed you to do. I'll get you out of here." Another plume of smoke burst forth, engulfing the dogs and leaving Bowser and Pinkie alone with the Chain Chomp.

"Who was that?" Bowser asked fanning away the smoke that filled the room.

Beside him, Pinkie was coughing and fanning as well. "I have no Idea, but whoever she was, she sure knew how to make a good entrance and exit. That aside, I think we should worry more about Mr. Chain Chomp over there."

The barking ball lunged, slamming against Bowser and knocking him against the wall. Pinkie struck back with the Pinkie's hammer she pulled from her mane. The sledge hammer left a pink streak behind it as it sliced through the air, clanging against the chomping sphere and sending it careering to the opposite side of the room. It smashed through the stone walls, revealing another chamber behind. Pinkie trotted over and peered through the new hole she made, spotting her opponent lying upside down under a pile of rubble with spirals in its eye. Meanwhile Bowser was busy trying to pull himself off the wall.

Peeking into the new room, she spotted the upside down Chain Chomp lying with a pile of rubble covering while it lay motionless. Continuing to observe the room, she spotting a stairway leading down below and smiled. She then looked back behind her. "Bowsie, over here. I think I found where we're supposed to go."

"That's great Pinky, swell. I just need you to do something before we head down."

"What is it?"

Bowser wriggled and jerked, but his shell spikes kept him in place. "Get me off of this wall!"

Finally done with his preparations, Tutankoopa stepped back inside a now empty main chamber. He looked around, but his showy assistant was nowhere to be found. He looked up to the magical projection and gasped at what he saw. "Oh no! They're almost here and Trixie's gone!" He frantically ran in circles before coming to a brief halt. "Oh wait I know, I'll just get her to help. She may not be able to do any magic, but some help is better than no help at all." he looked to the door and called out. "Oh Twilight."

"Yes Tut?" replied the voice in the next room.

"Could you come here? I could really use your help."

"Aww, and I was having fun with Chompy."

Just then a cloud of grayish blue smoke appeared in between the doorway. "Don't worry, you can keep on playing," said Trixie, walking out from the vanishing plum and over to Tut who was sweating a river.

"Yay! We can still play Chompy!" A loud bark followed Twilight's cheery statement, causing everything to rumble.

Both Tut and Trixie wiped off the dust that fell from the ceiling on their hats. With his arms crossed and his sandal repeatedly tapping against the granite floor a Tut covered in nervous sweat glared at Trixie. "Where have you been?"

Stopping at his side before the magical display, Trixie rolled her eyes at him. "I was just cleaning up after my trap failed. Unlike yours, The Great and Powerful Trixie's trap actually stay in place." She stamped her hoof against the floor. "Unfortunately it didn't work."

With his suspicion laid to rest, he nodded and focused back on the projection and pointed up to it. "Alright then. It's a good thing you showed up. Those two are almost here."

Trixie simply stared at the image of the Koopa and pony walking down a long corridor. "Is everything ready?"

"As ready as it can be."

She nodded. "Then we just have to wait for them to show up." The magical cloud projection vanished as Tutankoopa and Trixie turned and walked away. As they entered the room the entire building shook wildly again as Chompy barked.

"Calm down Chompy. It's just our friends."

Together in a hallway that seemed as if it went on forever, Pinkie and Bowser struggled to maintain their footing from the last bit of quaking. The rumbling subsided and Bowser resumed marching down the corridor, but Pinkie stay in place. She gazed to the other end of the pathway but could only see darkness at the other end. She then looked at the spiked green shell of her companion who kept on walking.

"Hey Pinky, shake a leg already. I wanna get outta this dumpy pyramid and outta this crummy desert already," Bowser called back, waving his arm forward while he moved ahead. Pinkie's eyes widened as she watched him walk further and further away.

Catching up to him she reached out and grabbed his hand. "Bowsie, wait. I want you to have something before we run into our friends." She reached into her mane and placed something on his palm. "I made this before we left Sugarcube Corner. Well, with a lot of help from Mrs. Cake."

He then looked down at the object with one of his bushy red eyebrows raised. "What the heck is this thing?" He asked, looking at the pony that had a slowly expanding smile on her face.

"It's a cupcake silly. A special one made just for you."

He refocused on his gift, eying it with grimace. "This thing looks too sweet for me. And all the colors just ain't my style."

Pinkie stood up holding herself up with her front hooves on Bowser's hand while she shook her head at him. "Oh no, no, no, no, no. This cupcake is different. The frosting isn't sweet at all. I made it specifically to match your taste after all."

The Koopa gazed down as the multicolored snack. "Hmm. Well if it was made just for me, I guess I should give it a try." He tried raising his palm towards his face but the pony holding his hand pulled against him.

"Wait!" Pinkie shouted struggling to keep his arm down. "I made for you to eat only in an emergency. You shouldn't use it now."

Relaxing his arm, Bowser looked back at her. "So I can only eat it when there's big trouble?" She nodded to him and he suddenly burst into laughter. "Guehahaha! What kind of trouble do you think would be too hard for me to handle?" While he continued laughing, a familiar bark rocked everything around them. Bowser stopped laughing when he noticed his pony partner was slightly cringing at his side from the noise. "Come on. I'm the Koopa king after all. The toughest and most baddest thing around. There's nothing that can stop me!" While Pinkie Pie sprang up with restored confidence from his pep talk, Bowser quickly stored the cupcake in his shell. Still It wouldn't hurt to have this with me just in case.

Reaching the end of the hallway, a stone door was the only thing that blocked their way. It split down the middle and parted to make way into a pitch black room. Pinkie Pie kept one hoof pressed on Bowser in order not to lose sight of him as they stepped in. They had taken a few steps inside when a pair of large torches ignited with a purple hue and dimly lit the room. It was still incredibly dark, but at least they could partially make out the layout of the room. It was a simple chamber like the ones before it, but it had a platform hanging overhead on other side with a collection of shells on it and the door on the other side was closed off.

"Look!" Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped, raising a shaky hoof up to something emerging from the darkness.

Bowser quickly turned to where she was pointing and saw a white pharaoh's hat floating towards them. It stopped a few feet away, rose into the air and a figure began to appear underneath it. Bowser stared on, eyes half open, resisting the urge to yawn. His attention was more towards Pinkie's hoof that repeatedly tap on his shell as she trembled at the sight which brought a smirk to his face.

Tutankoopa, fully formed and floating in the air in front of them, raised his arms up."So! You two have chosen not to heed my warnings and have come down to my chamber! You two must be after the treasure Master Discord has entrusted to me!"

Trixie walked out from the shadows and stood under Tutankoopa. "Of course they're here for that. It not like there's anything else of value around here." Tutankoopa stared blankly for a second; his train of thought shattered by the unicorn's outburst.

"Ahem! As I was saying, I am one of Discord's mighty generals. He's gifted me with this mighty empire in the sands and has given me and my pet's free reign to do as I please as long as I keep his guest and her treasure safe. You two have dared to barged into my royal chambers."

"Unimpeded," Trixie whispered.

"And wish to take what I protect! I shall bury you in the sand and use you as playthings for my pets." The torches on the walls flared bright orange and the room became clear as day. Tutankoopa then levitated back to the platform behind him with Trixie leaping up join him.

The heroes below were ready to fight. "Okay Bowsie, hop in!" Pinkie shouted as she pulled out her party cannon and took aim. Bowser hopped inside the ever expanding barrel, rolling up into a ball as he was fired towards their foes.

Tutankoopa flapped his arm wildly. "Ahhh!" He shut his eyes at the Bowser ball headed his way, but after a few seconds he never felt an impact. He opened his eyes to see the big green ball had bounce off a transparent magenta wall in front of him. He looked to his left and saw that his partner's horn was shining brilliantly.

Landing back to the ground, Bowser uncoiled and moved back to Pinkie's side. "What happened? What did I hit?" Looking up at the platform, he noticed a small gleam of light reflecting in front of them.

"Looks like they have some sort of magic shield around them," said Pinkie. "We've got to get through that if we wanna beat them." Suddenly she felt the scaly hands of Bowser wrap around her and lift her up.

"Then get up there and put that new hammer of yours to work!" he yelled, tossing the little pony. As she made her approach, she pulled out her mallet and swung butTrixie's shield held firm as the pink hammer battered against it. Pinkie swung one more time, pushing herself back in the process but this time she saw cracks in the barrier as she dropped back to the ground.

Focusing her magic to repair the damage done to her shield, Trixie leered at her partner. "Do something! My shield can't just take hits all day!"

"Right! I'm on it!" Tutankoopa reached to his right, grabbing one of the stacked blue shells. He held it over his head and threw it down, striking Bowser over the head with a clonk.

"Ouch!" Bowser yelped, rubbing his head. "We've gotta break through that dumb shield! Quick, send me up there again." With Pinkie's cannon prepped, Bowser hopped in and was launched. This time unrolling in mid air to throw his best punch. The shield wavered slightly as Trixie staggered back from the impact. Her shield was fractured but she still held it together. Bowser dropped down to the ground and reached for Pinkie. "One more hammer swing!"

Lobbed in the air once again, Pinkie swung her mallet on the worn down barrier, expanding the already large cracks on it. Trixie was being worn down but still maintained. Seeing her partner in peril, Tutankoopa tossed another shell, this one headed for Pinkie.

Instead of taking the hit or dodging, Pinkie swung her hammer, striking the shell back. The blue projectile bounced off the damaged shield and fell back towards Pinkie who swung again. The shell ricocheting back and forth between Trixie's shield and Pinkie's hammer made the cracks bigger and bigger. With one final swing, Pinkie sent the shell rocketing towards the fragile looking wall.

The wall shattered as the blue bullet smashed through and slammed against Tutankoopa's beak, knocking him off the platform and crashing to the floor. Back on the platform, his partner dropped to her knee. The tremendous strain from Pinkie's attack had worn Trixie out. She was struggling to get back up and breathing heavily.

On the ground, Tutankoopa dusted off his robe. "Blehehehe! You think those shells were all I got. Watch and be amazed by my magical genius!" He chanted an incantation and a large Chain Chomp appeared in the air before him.

Still fighting her fatigue, Trixie leaned her head over the edge of the platform to look down at him. "Watch it buddy, I'm the magical expert here."

The summoned creature flashed its teeth and dropped to the ground, making the room shake. Both Pinkie and Bowser readied themselves for an attack, but just as they raised their arms and hooves in defense, the big ball disappeared. Confused by the orb's vanishing act, the two of them stared at Tutankoopa in confusion. Suddenly two large rocks dropped from the ceiling.

"Ow!"

"Owie!"

Rubbing his head, with Pinkie doing the same beside him, Bowser gritted his teeth through the pain and marched towards the lone Koopa. Tutankoopa went flying as a fist almost as big as him plastered him against the wall by the sealed door, leaving him to slowly slide down to the floor with purple spirals in dark colored eyes.

Fighting off her exhaustion, Trixie jumped down and joined the pummeled Koopa. "Get up! We can't let them win!" she ordered, grabbing and shaking him by the shoulders.

Coming too, Tutankoopa swiped her hooves away and glared at the pair ahead of him. "I know that!" He reached a hand into his robe and pulled out a strange looking whistle with a Chain Chomp figure on it. "I didn't want to use this, but I'm not about to fail Master Discord!"

Trixie's eyes widened, her pupils shrank and her hat flopped as she caught a glimpse of the trinket he placed on his lips. "Where'd you get that? I thought you lost your Chain Chomp whistle!"

"I did, but this one doesn't call them."

"If that thing doesn't call them then—Wait, you don't mean—"

Tutankoopa inhaled, pursing the whistle between his lips and blew as hard as he could. The little Chain Chomp figure started chomping its teeth up and down as an ear piercing screech rang out from it.

"Bark! Bark!" The entire room began to shake violently.

While everything was rumbling, Trixie grabbed hold of the worn out Koopa beside her by the neck of his robe and throttle him. "Why would you call him? You can hardly control him!"

Tutankoopa stared at her silently. His eyes were faded, opening and closing slowly. Then, he finally spoke. "Because it's really fun having my kingdom here with you and her…" The yellow curtains of his eyes descended and he lost consciousness.

The room trembled more than ever. Bowser wobbled, losing balance and almost fell over but Pinkie quickly went behind and pushed him forward to help regain his footing. After giving her a little appreciative nod, they stared over to Trixie who was now running towards them with her unconscious partner on her back. They readied themselves for whatever the unicorn was up to.

Her dazzling cape flowed as she ran like the wind. "Run!" she shouted, galloping past the two of them and down the corridor at their back. Left standing with their mouth hung open slightly and eyebrows raised, they looked back at the fleeing mare. But a jarring slam made them jerk back towards the other room.

The monstrous crash was followed another. Both of them took a step back, considering Trixie's advice as the wall began to give way from the third blow. The thick slabs of stone crumbled and fell as a massive black wrecking ball with teeth appeared from the other side.

"Bark, bark! Bark, bark!"

Pinkie Pie and Bowser now stood face to face with a colossal Chain Chomp. They slowly inched further and further back but when they noticed the creature backing up to slam again, "Run!" they both shouted as they turned and made for the exit.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

Behind them, the living ball and chain was chomping its way through the pyramid as it chased after them. Barreling down the long passageway as fast as they could, they caught up to Trixie and her still out of it partner.

"I told him before not to call that thing, but he didn't listen!" said Trixie, looking back at her passenger.

"What about my friend? Wasn't she with you?" asked Pinkie.

"You mean Twilight? I'm sure she's fine. Chompy always loved playing with her. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her." She looked back and saw the set of razor sharp pearly whites headed for them. "You should be more worried about us. Chompy won't stop until he gets one of us."

The long corridor echoed with the sound of Chompy smashing apart the pyramid as he barked. Pinkie looked back. "Oh no, it's gaining on us! What are we gonna do Bowsie!" About-facing, Bowser stopped in his tracks and prepared himself. "Bowsie! What are you doing?" Pinkie cried out, looking back at him. She was just about to stop and go after him, but a hard tug on her mane forced her to keep running.

"Are you crazy? We have to keep running!"

"But what about Bowsie?"

Still running, Trixie turned her head to spot the Koopa King standing far back in the passageway with his arms jutting forward. Chompy slammed against him, but Bowser kept his position. Muscles bulging and sweat gushing down his scales, he actually held the gargantuan sphere in place. Both mares watched in awe of the Koopa powerhouse. While the two forces pushed against one another a voice called out from above Chompy.

"Come on Chompy, you can do it. I'll play your favorite game later if you can get the bad guys."

The pep talk sent the barking orb into a frenzy, hopping excitedly and causing what remained of the pyramid behind it to crumble as it pushed forward again.

"Hrrrrrnnnnngh, Gaaaaaaah! Ooooooof!" Bowser began inching back little by little. The invigorated Chompy was slightly overpowering him. Not about to let some overgrown dog like ball and chain beat him, he dug his feet into the floor and pushed with all his might. With his veins were bulging out of his biceps, Bowser started pushing Chompy forward. And just then, when it looked like he was winning this intense shoving match, he slipped on a puddle of his sweat.

"Noooooooooooooo!"

Trixie and Pinkie resumed galloping as fast as they could as Chompy came barreling at them with Bowser still in front of him, still desperately trying to stop the railroading Chain Chomp that was decimating the pyramid around them. Finally up ahead, the fleeing mares spotted sunlight.

The girl kicked up the sand as they galloped out of the pyramid. Behind them, Bowser was still trying to hold Chompy back. His heels scrapping against the stone floor; its smooth texture helped him keep his footing as Chompy pushed him backwards. That changed the instant the back of his foot hit the sand.

"Waaaaaaaaaaah!" he yelled, falling back on his shell with Chompy crashing on top of him.

Pinkie Pie, who was looking back the entire time gasped as she witnessed her Koopa companion get crushed by Chompy from afar. "Bowsie! Bowsie!" She Galloped as fast as she could, running back towards the front of the now demolished pyramid where her friend was buried under the metal ball.

"Good boy Chompy," said Twilight, petting Chompy from her spot on the top of his head.

Okay. So what just happened? I was in a pyramid, kicking that pintsized Tutankoopa's butt and teaching him not to betray me. Then he blew a whistle and everything started to shake. There was a giant Chain Chomp and everyone was running while I went mano-a-mano with it. But then I tripped and now I feel like I'm flatter than a pancake. Hmmm... Uh oh. It feels like my whole body is screaming at me. I can hardly move. There's gotta be something I can do. Wait a second, what about that weird cupcake Pinky gave me? It's worth a shot, plus I never got a chance to see what it tastes like. Haaarrmmph, mmm. This isn't that bad. And it's pretty spicy… a little too spicy. Spicy, spicy, spicy! Spicy! Spicy!

Standing beside Chompy, who sat proudly of his victory, Pinkie Pie looked up towards the gray unicorn riding atop it. "Twilight, how could you do that? Bowsie is my friend, and so are you. My friends should get along together not fight against each other. Especially with a big barking ball."

Twilight leaned forward, staring down at the pink pony looking up at her with teary blue eyes. "Who are you? Are you a friend of Tut? Or maybe of Discord? Or are you friends with this bad guy?"

Pinkie sighed looking down towards to where her partner would be. "That's right, I forgot. You've been put under Discord's spell. I need to somehow free you from it… Even if I have to do it alone now!" Pinkie kicked up some sand behind her, gritted her teeth and glared up at the unicorn above. "Twilight. Big metal dog ball thingy or not, I'm going to save you from Discord!"

The purple unicorn looked down with a thousand yard stare. "Save me, from master Discord?" She scratched her head. "Oh! I get it. You aren't a friend of Discord or Tut. That must mean you're a bad guy like that mean, ugly looking turtle." She started patting her hoof on Chompy's head. "Chompy we got another bad guy to get."

"Bark, bark!"

The metal creature started moving its mouth full of razor teeth again. Chompy's pair of black pupils focused down on the mare standing in front of him. Every fiber in Pinkie's body was saying she should run, but her legs just didn't listen. She stood there frozen with fright as Chompy began to rise up from the crater it made in the sand. Higher and higher and higher… and higher still. Confused by the Chain Chomp's ascension, Pinkie looked down at the crater it was leaving and saw something that brought back a smile onto her face.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrngh!" grunted the mighty Koopa king, holding Chompy over his head. Lifting him got easier as Bowser's body was quickly growing in size. Standing at the edge of the crater, Pinkie delightfully hopped onto her buddies shoulder while he continued to expand. Finally coming to a stop, Bowser now towered over the ruins surrounding him, standing as tall as the Chain Chomp he sent bouncing on what remained of the pyramid behind him.

Chompy made an catastrophic metal thud as he bounced off the stone rubble, with Twilight struggling to keep her place on his head. Chompy flapped its jaws as it stared down Bowser while Twilight stood on his head, staring down Pinkie Pie who stood on Bowser's shoulder.

Far off, on the desert dunes, Trixie watched the two titans face off. "Hmmph. I guess this is all I can do for now. I'll leave the rest to those two." She hunched her back, tossing her still knocked out passenger onto the sand. She then pulled out something from under her hat and placed it in front of Tutankoopa's beak. "Well, I've no need to hold onto that anymore. Hopefully everything turns out the way I planned. And I'll see you two again." She turned away from the chaotic battle unfolding and made her escape while back over in the battlefield, Pinkie and Bowser prepared for one more fight.

"Okie dokie Bowsie, we can do this!" said Pinkie Pie, climbing her way to the top of Bowser head.

"What do you mean 'we'? I'm the one doing most of the work here," he replied, directing his red eyes up towards the mare on his skull. "Whatever, let just get this over with. Once I'm done with this chump, I'll use my new size to go after that freak."

Bowser marched forward and prepared to punch. He lifted his left leg up as he leaned back and readied his right fist. Using all his weight behind him, his fist slammed against the metal ball, sending Chompy sliding on the sand.

"Oooooff!" Twilight grunted, falling back, almost off her pet. Crawling back onto her spot, she pointed her hoof towards the colossal Koopa before her with a frown. "Sick em Chompy! Get that bad guy!" Hopping to her order, Chompy lunged forwards towards Bowser.

"Not so fast!" shouted Pinkie Pie, holding onto two strands of Bowser orange hair tied around her hooves. She tugged the one on her right which caused Bowser's body to immediately react by thrusting his right fist forward, knocking away the incoming Chain Chomp. Still holding onto Bowser's hair strands, Pinkie leaned forwards and looked into the Koopa's eyes. "See Bowsie, now I can help you fight!"

"Uh I don't think I like this idea," Bowser replied as his arms rose and fell according to how the mare on his head yanked his hair.

"What's not to like? You handle the rough stuff and I'll make sure you don't get hurt. Now come on we gotta break our friends out of Discord's control."

Back by the sand hills, away from the calamity taking place, Tutankoopa finally came too. "Where am I?" he asked, slowly opening his eyes to notice something in front of him. "Wait a second, is that? It is!" He reached out and grabbed the tiny whistle and sprang up to his feet. "Trixie, you won't believe it. I found my whistle! Now I can call back all of my pets." Parting his eyes with his treasured item, Tutankoopa made a shocking discovery. "Trixie? Where'd you go?" As here looked around for his lost partner, his mouth fell open when he spotted the giant battle taking place. "Is that—How in the—When did—Oh man I better get over there quick. It looks like Twilight and Chompy are in trouble."

The battle between the two colossi raged on, Chompy managed to get in some tough tackles that sent Bowser sliding back while Bowser returned the blows each time with his forceful fist. Running as fast as he could, Tutankoopa reached the giants with his lips firmly pursed on his whistle and blowing on it like mad. They all turned towards the ear splitting wail and Twilight joyfully gasped when she saw him. "Tut! You're okay! I was getting worried."

"Of course I'm okay. And even better, I've brought reinforcements," he said, pointing over to the distant hills that were washed over by a tidal wave of black that was headed their way. Accompanied by the constant clanging of their bodies smacking against each other, the army of Chain Chomps surged around him. "Now let's take those two down in the name of Lord Discord! Charge my pets." On his command, the group of barking spheres rushed for Bowser's feet and began gnawing on the Koopa's lower limbs.

"Ow, Oww! Ouch! My toe, my toe!"

Although they were smaller then his toenail, the hundreds of serrated fangs digging into his scales made Bowser clench one foot as he hopped up and down on the other. While he was moving back to get away, Chompy tackled him, dropping him onto the sand around. With Pinkie holding tightly onto his hair, Bowser pushed himself back up to see the group of Chain Chomps headed for him again.

"We've gotta do something about those things. My poor toes can't take another munching."

"Don't worry Bowsie, I think I've got just the thing," Pinkie replied, grabbing hold of multiple strands of Bowser's hair and yanking them as hard as she could.

A strange sensation suddenly arose in Bowser's gut. He placed a hand over his belly sensing an intense heat inside of him. "Pinky, what are you—" Fire unexpectedly jutted out of his mouth, washing Chompy and the rest of the smaller Chain Chomps inside a tidal wave of reddish orange. Twilight moved back, hiding behind a safe spot on Chompy, while Tutankoopa hid behind a group of his pets.

Chompy held his position, the flames didn't seem do much to him; but down below, the hundreds of little Chain Chomp had turned red. They ran and hopped frantically around the now glassed ground. Tutankoopa ran behind Chompy with the group of overheated metal monsters following behind him.

With the toe biters taken out, Bowser reached for Chompy and grabbed hold of the chain link connected to his backside and started spinning him in circles. Twilight held on for dear life as her buddy was helplessly twirled in the air. With Chompy's chains firmly in his grasp as he spun around like a green and yellow tornado, Bowser lifted his hands up and with the force of his intense cycle behind him, he slammed the massive ball on the glassy floor where Tutankoopa and the rest of his army were running around in a panic.

The sound of shattered glass echoed throughout the arid plains around the ancient ruins and was shortly followed by a savage quake that brought the statues and stone pillar around them to crumble to the ground.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaah!" Twilight cried out, hurtling skyward from the force of the impact slam. Down in the impact zone, Tutankoopa and his pets joined her.

"Twilight!" Tutankoopa shouted spotting her partner in midair as they plummeted to the sand. With the air around them surrounded by hundreds of black orbs raining down, he moved himself towards her.

"Twilight!" Pinkie shouted, leaning forwards on Bowser's head, pulling his hair with her. Controlled like a marionette doll, the Koopa King leaned forward with his arms stretched out. He suddenly felt funny, his whole body seemed like it was getting tighter and his body was getting smaller. He also noticed an increasing weight on his head. Together, Pinkie, Bowser, Twilight, and Tutankoopa all fell onto the sand, with hundreds of Chain Chomps dropping all over them.

The metal pounding finally died down, replaced by the sound of the wind caressing the sands. The only thing that cut the silence were the cries of Pinkie and Tutankoopa as they desperately searched for their friends.

"Come on Pinkie Pie, we've got to find Lord Bowser and Twilight!"

The mare he was shouting towards, stood over by a pile of Chain Chomped and waved her hoof to him. "Over here Tut, I found them!"

Running over to her, weaving left and right around his fallen pets, Tutankoopa stood in front of the mound and waved his hand to the right. "Out of the way! All of you make way!"

The mound of spheres obliged to his command, dispersing to reveal the pony they were looking for, which appeared to have regained her color, underneath the Koopa King huddled over her.

["Twilight, Bowsie!"

"Twilight, Lord Bowser!"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-wNoaqvuAc)

Pinkie and Tut laid the two on the ground beside each other with all the Chain Chomps surrounded them and even Chompy looked on with worry. They all waited for the two to wake when finally Bowser rose up and started hacking violently.

"Haack! Aaaaah! Gaaaaaah! Water! Water!"

"Here you go Bowsie," said Pinkie, with a small canteen on her hoof.

Reaching out, Bowser grabbed the canister and gulped down every last drop. "Haaaaah, haaaaaah, haaaah. Spicy…" he struggled to say while he breathed heavily. Next to him, Twilight also showed signed of recovery in response to his loud show.

"Mmmmnngh. Where am I?" she asked sitting up. She became stiff with fright seeing all the Chain Chomps surrounding her suddenly barking at her with delight. Slowly looking to her left she recognized the burly brute sitting next to her. "Bowser, it's you." A purple vale of magic instantly enveloped the big Koopa and hoisted him off the ground. "You must be behind this. Whatever this is."

"No Twilight you're wrong," said Pinkie Pie stepping in between the two of them.

"She's right Twilight Sparkle, Lord Bowser actually saved us," said Tutankoopa, joining beside the pink mare.

Relinquishing Bowser from her hold, Twilight faced the two on her right. "But Pinkie, don't you remember what happened at Canterlot Castle? And Tut, don't you…" She stood silent for a moment, staring at the pharaoh like Koopa with an eyebrow raised and a very puzzled look in her eyes. "Wait, how come I know who you are?"

Pinkie Pie reached out and placed her hoof on her puzzled friend's shoulder. "It's a long story."

With everyone sitting around her Pinkie began to explain what had happened to far. Her energetic poses she did to reenacting their harrowing adventure thus far, not only entertained everyone around her aside from one stubborn Koopa King, but filled Twilight in on all the details. "And then we all sat down together and I—"

"That's enough already Pinky, they were here for that part," a grouchy Bowser butted in.

Twilight looked over to the agitated Koopa, glaring at him for a bit but then looked back at Pinkie. "So Discord is behind all of this and put me with Tut under his control." She looked over to the white garbed Koopa beside her friend. "Thanks for taking care of me while I was like that. I had a lot of fun."

"It was no problem. I actually enjoyed those moments, especially since you managed to get Chompy to behave." The large Chain Chomp behind him barked in response to which Twilight smiled at them both. Tut then put a palm to his head and slowly rub it. "I don't know why, but it feels like I've forgotten someone."

Hearing him, Twilight did likewise. "Yeah, me too. I just can't remember." She looked over to Pinkie and Bowser. "There's still something important I wanted to ask. If Discord took away Fluttershy and General Guy like you said Pinkie, then why hasn't he done that with us?"

Suddenly a slithery silk voice called out from the sky. "Perceptive as always Twilight Sparkle, although I preferred you better when you were carefree unicorn with no magical abilities."

Not thinking twice, Bowser reached out, grabbed one of the Chain Chomp surrounding him, turned and hurled it where the voice was coming from. The yelping ball and chain went soaring through the air, hitting nothing but sand as it fell back down.

"Sorry there turtle, I'm a little busy to actually show up in person for you to try and hit me, but look on the bright side. You two have managed to save two more of your friends. And you two put on quite an entertaining show. Twilight, Tut, it's time to say good bye to your friends for now. Who know maybe they'll make far enough in our little game to see you again." A plume of smoke arose from the sand, covering up Twilight, Tutankoopa and the Chain Chomps around them. "We sure have quite a few guests joining us this time. Good thing Bowser's castle is big enough to accommodate."

Before vanishing underneath the shadowy billow, Twilight used her magic to toss her Element of Magic towards Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, if you could use Fluttershy's element to call her for help then you should be able to do the same with mine!"

Pinkie Pie reached out, but the big crown thingy stopped in midair just out of her reach.

"Nah ah ah. I can't let you have this just yet," Discord's voice spoke out.

"What? No fair, we saved Twilight fair and square you big cheater!" she said, looking out towards the sky while reaching out to grab the headgear that moved further and further away from her. Bowser jumped in to aid her, but the crown dodged him, slipping away off in the distance while he landed face first onto the sand.

"Now Pinkie, I wouldn't cheat. I never made any rules about the elements to begin with, so I'm not breaking any of them. I just thought I'd extend the fun by making this one harder to get."

Wiping off the sand from his arms and face while he picked himself up, Bowser looked up to the sky. "So, where do we have to go now to get this stupid thing? Hurry up and tell me!"

"My, my, aren't you quite irritable. Is the desert heat getting to you? Well you'll be happy to know I placed it back in good ol'e Ponyville. Oh and I just know you're gonna love what I did with it when you get there. See you two when you get there."

With the collections of clouds that were once their friends being whisked skyward, they vanished with the sound of honking thunder. Bowser and Pinkie were now left alone in what remained of the toppled ruins.

Seeing her friend taken away, Pinkie pressed her hoof against the sand with a determined gleam in her eye. "Well Bowsie, we better go catch the train if we want to hurry back to Ponyville. I wanna get that element back and see Twilight as soon as possible."

"The train? You mean the one we destroyed getting here? Do you really think it'll be up and running? And even if it is, do you think they'd let us back on after what happened last time?"

Pinkie simply looked back at him with her usual bright smile as she walked on. "Only one way to find out."

Chapter 7

Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga

Chapter 7:

A gentle breeze gradually made its way through an open window and pelted against the scales of an exhausted Bowser. Opposed to the harsh conditioned he'd endured not too long ago; the breeze was a welcomed sensation. While he lay back against his seat with his eyes closed, Pinkie Pie sat to his left with her head poking out the window. She looked out over the rolling scenery, happy to see field of green once again. The then looked over the dozens of boards and planks covering the majority of their train car's exterior.

After letting the wind blow in her mane a bit longer, she stuck her head back inside and turned to her riding buddy. "See Bowsie; I told you we'd be able to catch a ride back to Town."

Flinging an eye open while he still laid back with his arms crossed, Bowser examined the car's interior and quietly nodded taking note of the patchwork done on the once decimated train. Masked under the constant chugging of the train, he whispered, "If only my troops could fix up our ships as fast as this; I'd have no problem taking over the Mushroom kingdom. Maybe when I get back my army and take over this place, I'll make these ponies work as my repair crew."

Pinkie noticed Bowser chuckled quietly. She sat up and leaned in closer to him. "What's so funny, Bowsie?"

He jerked away from her in shock. "N-nothing," he coughed. "I was just, thinking about what I'm gonna do to that skinny freak when I finally get my claws on him."

"Hmm…" Pinkie sat back in her seat and placed hoof against her chin. "Didn't Discord say that he had a surprise waiting for us when we got back to Ponyville? Now I wonder what sort of surprise it'll be." She gasped. "Maybe it's a welcome party for the two of us. With lots of balloons, cake, and a parade with floats of you and me? Oooh what kind of cake do you think there'll be Bowsie? I hope it's chocolate with strawberries. Oh what about you, Bowsie. What kinda cake do you—"

"I really doubt a party's the surprise that jerk has in mind. After all, the last time he surprised us this train was blown up. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's gonna to be a pain in my shell." Positioning himself back down with his arms crossed again, he closed his eyes and sighed. "I just want to focus get my minions back."

Bowser's words made Pinkie quietly sit beside him. "Yeah…" she sighed. "I miss my friends too." The constant sound of the train's chugging filled the silence as Bowser watched Pinkie stare towards the window. She then turned her head, looked up at him, and smiled. "But together, I know we'll get them all back."

Perhaps it was because he'd endured her so long, or possibly a lingering side effect from the desert heat, but hearing her say that made Bowser feel at ease. Both, still weary from their previous exploits, started dozing off, lulled to sleep by the train's rhythmic chugging.

Hours had passed, and while the duo was still resting in the rolling train car, a conductor pony step in from the next car over. "Next stop, Ponyville!"

Roused from his slumber, Bowser rubbed the crust from his eyes and looked out the window to see bumpy fields of green.

Is that the Mushroom Kingdom?

He tried leaning closer to get a better view but sensed something rub against side. He looked down to notice Pinkie still sleeping beside him.

Nope, still here.

Huffing at the sight of her, he nudged her slightly. "Hey, Pinky," There was no response from the snoozing mare. He nudged her again, this time pushing her towards the edge of her seat. "Hey, wake up." Nothing but a snore came out of the pink mare that time. Scowling at her, he pushed her right off her seat and onto the ground. "Pinky, get up! We're here."

Awakened by her drop, Pinkie Pie stretched out her limbs and stood up, realizing she was on the car floor. "Hmm, I must've roll outta my seat while I was sleeping."

"Yeah, that must have been it," Bowser replied with a grin.

Hopping back on her seat, she peered out the window in time to see them pulling into the station. "Wow that was quick."

"Come on, Pinky, let's not waste any time."

"Hey, Bowsie, wait for me!" she shouted, catching up to Bowser already stepping out of the train.

With sensation of solid dirt underneath his feet as he and Pinkie stepped out of the station, they were greeted by the sight of Ponyville the same as it had always been.

"Okay, Pinkie." Bowser examined the area, seeing ponies keeping their distance from him. "We gotta keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"Suspicious?" She asked, seeing a mare walking towards them suddenly turn and running as she caught sight of Bowser.

"Yeah, any clue that can show us where that dumb crown thing Discord took might be." Bowser aimlessly walked around, unintentionally—yet jovially—scaring ponies everywhere he went.

While he was busy searching, though his chuckles at the townsfolk's screams suggested otherwise, Pinkie walked towards a bulletin board and noticed a large poster slapped in the center. "Bowsie, you mean something like this?"

Bowser turned his attention away from a trembling group of ponies to his cheery partner standing before a massive bulletin board. "Like what?" He approached her, giving the terrified group of stallions and mares their chance to escape, and read the poster. "Ponyville Wrestling competition?"

"Yeah," Pinkie read on. "According to this it looks like it's about to start just outside of town hall in the middle of Ponyville. It also says that anyone is welcome to join the competition and that the winner will receive a fabulous prize." At the very bottom of the poster they noticed picture of Twilight's crown. "Look, look, that's Twilight's crown thingy. Huh, so I guess this was the surprise Discord had in store for us."

Stomping against the ground with each step, Bowser glared forward with Pinkie, still gleeful as ever, hopping along at his side. The shrieks and gasps from mare and colt alike as he marched by bright a miniscule smile on his face. Bringing back memories when he'd terrorize the Mushroom Kingdom and heard its denizens cry out just like them. He closed his eyes for a moment, picturing the scene vividly; he could swear he was actually hearing Toads crying out in terror.

"Hey, Bowsie, what are those things?" Pinkie questioned, spotting strange creatures fleeing along with other ponies. "I've never seen anything like them before in Ponyville."

Snapping out of his little daydream, Bowser opened his eyes to find the Toads running and screaming in terror in his head were now in Ponyville. He watched as diminutive bipedal creatures with white and red spotted mushroom-like heads fled and hid along with the ponies. "Toads."

Pinkie Pie shifted her gaze around the path. "Toads? Where? I don't see any toads. All I see are just some funny looking mushroom headed people wearing blue vests. Maybe they're called Mushroom heads, or Shroomies? Or maybe Shroomen."

"No, Pinkie, they're called Toads." He looked back over to one of them. "Even if they look nothing like an actual toad, they're called Toads and they come from my world. The thing is how'd they end up here?"

"Beats me," Pinkie shrugged. "Maybe they heard about the wrestling competition and didn't want to miss it. Speaking of which we'd better hurry and get to, It's about to start." While they now moved along at a hurried pace, they overheard ponies and Toad shout as they passed.

"Aaaaah! Run, it's Bowser!"

"Aww… Look, Bowsie, they remember you. Isn't that great? Thanks to them yelling out your name like that pretty soon everypony in Ponyville will know who you are. Maybe, after everypony gets used to you, they'll stop being scared of you."

Bowser stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why would I want them to do that?"

Walking past the last set of homes lining the pathway, watching window shuttered close as they passed, they stepped out onto the open field of the town's center where the sounds of cheering and music came crashing against them. Approaching the tall-standing Town hall building, they spotted a gathering of ponies and Toads all huddled tightly around a wrestling ring.

One stallion in the crowd felt Bowser's approaching stomps and looked back. "Ahh, it's that monster again!"

A Toad standing next to him, looked back as well and hollered. "That's worse than a monster! It's Bowser!"

The outburst gathered more of the crowd's attention. One after another, Toads and ponies became aware and frightened. Soon the crowd's focus was on the approaching duo and they frantically scrambled to the other side of the ring, leaving one side clear for Pinkie and Bowser to get to.

"Neat, this way we'll get a great view of the action." Pinkie stood on her hind legs, poking her head over the corner of the mat when she heard a familiar voice from behind.

"Yes it is, Pinkie. But won't you two get to see from even better spots in the ring?"

Both Pinkie and Bowser turned back, recognizing the blue robed Koopa wearing a matching wizard's cap.

"Kamek!" Pinkie excitedly proclaimed as she reached out and hugged him. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise Ms. Pie," said Kamek, struggling to speak under Pinkie's immense show of affection. "I see you two have managed to make some progress together."

"What about you?" Bowser questioned. "Have you figured out any way to get us out of this mess faster?"

Still in Pinkie's hold, Kamek shook his head. "I regrettably report that despite my best efforts I haven't been able to relinquish Discord's hold upon the castle. His magic is far stronger than I had anticipated. Even after soliciting the help of Ms. Twilight Sparkle, we still could not disrupt his magic."

Pinkie released Kamek from her vices. Her eyes then locked onto his as she steadily pushed her face closer and closer "How's Twilight? Is she and Fluttershy okay? Are they having fun without me?"

Kamek leaned back as far as he could while a pair of sky blue orbs practically pierced into him. "P-p-please calm yourself Ms. Pie. Ms. Sparkle and Fluttershy are fine. They even requested that I find you to tell so. While they may be trapped inside the castle by Discord's magic, they have each other along with both General Guy and Tutankoopa accompanying them."

Bowser looked down at his lackey, now free of Pinkie's clutches. "So you've been searching for us, Kamek?"

"Yes lord Bowser. I figured that you two would be arriving back to this town soon after Tut and Ms. Sparkle appeared in the castle. So I came back and awaited your arrival. When I arrived though, I was shocked to find Toads walking about.

"They recognized me immediately and threatened to lock me away. Thankfully the denizens of the town stepped in and stopped them, saying that I had done nothing wrong to deserve such treatment. It's because of them that I'm able to freely walk around without harassment from the Toads." He paused, adjusting his glasses and smirking as a glare shined from his lenses. "Not that I couldn't use my wand to beat them up, but it's far easier to work when no one is screaming in terror away from you or trying to bonk you on the head."

"Speak for yourself, I prefer handing people beatings" Bowser replied. "In fact I'm gonna do that to whoever steps into that ring."

Kamek turned and faced the ring. "Oh that's right, the competition. It seems that you and Pinkie have been signed up already. Thankfully for you two only one other pair actually registered to compete."

"Hmph, only one?" A series of cracks echoed over the roars of the crowd as Bowser readied his fists. "That's a shame. I really felt like letting loose for awhile. Ah well. At least this means we'll get through this quickly."

Pinkie leaned over the edge of the ring again, hopping as she watched a stallion step inside. "Ooo, ooo, looks like it's about to start"

The audience around the other half of the ring, hollered as the grey coated, black maned pony in a referee's shirt stood in the ring's center. Everyone hushed as he stood on his hind legs and raised his forelegs over the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlecolts, lllllet's get ready to Rrrrrrruuuuuuuuuummmmmmbaaaaaaaaalllllll!"

An explosion of cheers, swept to the other side of the ring, almost causing Bowser to fall as he climbed his way onto the mat. The ref continued, unfazed by the booming crowd, turning to one corner of the ring and pointing his hoof at Bowser.

"In this corner, a Koopa known throughout the Mushroom Kingdom as a brutish tyrant, a glutton for power and just a really, really bad guy; it's the King of all Koopas, Bowser!"

The literal one sided audience instantly switched from cheers to hisses and boos; all of them silencing instantly when the agitated Koopa shot them a deadly stare. With everyone quieted the ref pointed his hoof at the mare that gracefully hopped onto the ring and stood at Bowser's side.

"Teaming up with him is Ponyville's own cheerful pink smile, that party pony extraordinaire and friend to everypony, Pinkie Pie!"

Everyone burst into cheer once more, rooting their fellow pony. Bowser crossed his arms, tapping his foot against the mat while he watched Pinkie run from one side of the ring to another and wave at all her fans.

Seeing no sign of the crowd calming down soon, the ref turned away from the pair and pointed his hoof towards the other corner. "And in this corner, we have Glitzville's wrestling champ, the body slamming, dropkicking, dive bombing, high flying bird of prey, Rawk the Hawk!"

Dropping like a bomb out of the sky, a light yellow feathered figure in matching boots and orange wrestling trunks stood at his corner of the ring and wave at the crowd who waved and cheered back.

"With him is someone that's helped dozens of ponies deal with their insecurities. When he's not holding his workshops, he's holding someone against the mat. He's no monster, he's a minotaur. Give it up for Iron Will!"

Joining Rawk, a bluish-grey bull-like creature hopped into the ring and began flexing his muscles along with his partner. Together they each raised a fist into the air and then pointed them towards the pair standing at the other comer.

"Well, well, well. It looks like you've finally showed up chump," Rawk announced, pointing his index finger at Bowser. "It's payback time for what you did to me in Glitzville,-" He clenched his shaking fist, staring dagger at his opponent. "-and it's gonna happen here in the ring for everyone to see!"

Staring back in forth between Rawk and Bowser, Pinkie bumped her two hooves together. "Aha! So this must be another one of your friends, huh, Bowsie?"

Staring back at Rawk with his mouth slacked open and a puzzled look in his eyes, Bowser shook his head at Pinkie. "Nope. I've never seen this creep before in my life."

Rawk took a step back as if taking a blow. "What?! What do you mean you don't know me? Everyone's heard of Rawk the Hawk; and I know you and I've definitely exchanged blows before. Though I ended up flat as a pancake that time, things are different now. I've been training myself Rawk hard, and, thanks to some weird snake-bat-goat guy, I'm getting my shot for some payback."

"Hmm, flatten you huh?" said Bowser, rubbing a claw against his chin. "Sorry bud, I flatten tons tougher looking losers then you every day. You can't expect me to remember each one. In fact, I'm in the process of pounding that snake-bat-goat freak as we speak, so for your sake you two should just give up and hand me the prize." He smiled; pounding a fist against his palm. "That is unless you two are cruising for a Bowser sized bruising."

Iron Will stepped up and faced Bowser down. "That's some tough talk coming from someone wearing a hard shell on their back."

Bowser raised his fists, glaring at Will. "I'll show you tough?"

"Yeah you tell em, Bowsie!" Pinkie put on her game face as she stood at his side and narrowed her eyes at both Will and Hawk. "Me and Bowsie'll show you just how tough we can be."

Suddenly, both Will and Rawk burst into laughter pointing at Pinkie. "Ha-ha-ha-ha! You've sure got some guts, little pony, if you think you can take on Iron Will."

Fed up with the laughing pair, Bowser stomped his foot against the mat, causing it to rumble. "Enough talk!" He started marching forward. "Pinkie, it's showtime!"

"Okie dokie Bowsie!" she answered, catching up to him.

Scaffolding suddenly sprouted from the ring's four corners and a red curtain that rose with it opened wide where spotlight hanging up high shined upon the combatants. With the crowd hopping up and cheering it signaled the start of the battle.

Bowser struck first, slamming his brick-like fist against Rawk. Pinkie struck next, pulling out her mallet to strike both goons with a wide horizontal swing.

The crowd of Toads and ponies hopped and hollered— "Rawk Hawk! Iron Will!" -as they watched them take the blows in stride.

Fending off the first strike, Rawk pumped his fist and looked to his partner. "Come on, Will, let's show these weaklings how the two of us Rawk!." Synchronized, they charged and slugged back against the duo.

Bowser and Pinkie shrugged off their attack and, with the crowd's rhythmic cheering pumping them up, launched their counter attack. Pinkie leaped across the mat, dishing out a double back kick against Will and Rawk's chest. She then leapt away, getting out of the way as Bowser followed up her blow with a blast of his flames.

Rawk and Will, having endured Bowser's breath and after patting down their singed fur and feathers, glared at the Koopa grinning at them. "So…" Will snorted as his scratched his hoof against the mat. "Looks like the two of you do have some fight in you. Well then—" he cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. "—when you're in for a fight, hit 'em with all your might!"

He and Rawk then sprung into action. Rawk leaped high into the air, back-flipping onto one of the metal towards of the surrounding scaffolding while Will walked back and pushed himself against the ropes. Together they launched themselves forward. Rawk kicking himself off the metal tower diving forward with his fists held ahead as Will sprung off the ropes and charged with all his might. They smashed into Bower who raised his arms up to fend them off. Pinkie stood behind him, pushing her hooves against his shell as hard as she could, trying her best to reinforce Bowser's efforts.

"When somepony tries to block—" Iron Will relentlessly pushed against the two while Rawk was doing likewise.

"—show 'em that you Rawk!" Rawk Hawk finished as he and Will broke through Bowser's defense, sending both Koopa and pony flying high before slamming back hard on the ring.

Lying flat on his stomach, Bowser opened his eyes to see nothing by pink fur. After yanking Pinkie off his face and plopping her at his side, he erupted onto his feet with a deafening roar. "I ain't about to lose to a pair of weaklings like you!" He quickly ducked limbs and head into his shell which then laid flat on the matt. "Pinky, hop on!"

She eagerly hopped atop his shell and braced herself as Bower began spinning at an increasing rate of speed. Poised at the tip of the whirling shell, Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out her robust oversized concealed inside as they moved towards Will and Rawk.

Sliding across the ring like a bowling ball, Bowser bashed against them. Pinkie, gripping her mallets handle in her teeth while she wrapped her hooves onto one of Bowser's shell spikes, clocked the muscle-bound before they bounced. Still whirling like a top, Bowser and Pinkie spun into ring ropes and bounced back for another attack. They struck again and ricocheted into the ropes once more, repeating the process and clashing their shell and hammer twice more before returning back to their side of the ring.

Toads and ponies alike hit the ring with a tidal wave of enthusiasm as the once one-sided crowd now flooded each side of the ring.

"Bowser! Bowser!"

"Pinkie! Pinkie!"

The pair everyone was cheering for turned and faced their sea of new fans. Pinkie smiled and waved at everyone while Bowser struck a pose, extending his pointer finger high into the air as the two of them basked in the radiance of everyone's support.

Standing in shadows of the pair's rapidly growing fame, Rawk's eyes ignited with a ferocity that stayed his date with obscurity and looked to his. "Will, we can't let those two steal our fans."

"You're right Hawk!" Will shouted, his eyes as emblazoned as Rawk's. He snorted loudly, clenched his fist and glaring at Bowser and Pinkie with a scowl. "When somepony takes our spotlight away, it's time we make that somepony pay!"

"Yeah!" Rawk hollered back with a pump of his fist. They then locked arms and charged, clothes lining Pinkie and Bowser from behind and running past them. They rebounded off the ropes and deliver a second helping, knocking both mare and Koopa down.

Voices around the ring gasped as they watched both Pinkie and Bowser drop with a booming thud. They watched silently at first as the pair simply lay there as Rawk and Will high fived each other. But then they resumed chanting, building in volume until the names "Pinkie" and "Bowser" could be hear throughout Ponyville.

Hearing their thunderous call, Pinkie Pie stood up and grasp onto the back of her head. "Owowowo." She rubbed the swelling she found. "Here I thought wrestling was supposed to be fake, but those two sure are hitting us hard. What do we do, Bowsie?"

Pushing himself up from the mat, Bowser rose up at her side rubbing his head as well. "If they wanna have a tag team showdown, we'll give 'em one! Alright, Pinky, you know what to do."

Bowser curled into his call position and Pinkie struck him with a mighty swing with her mallet, shooting the spiked green wrecking ball forward. Bowser bowled across the ring, slamming against Iron Will with enough force to knock the minotaur into the ropes.

Bowser bounced back towards Pinkie whose follow up swing sent Bowser crashing against Rawk and ricocheting back towards her. Pinkie struck again, sending Bowser rolling for another attack, but Will and Rawk were ready and together they hit Bowser back toward Pinkie who swatted him back at them.

Converting into a tennis match, with Bowser as the ball, the two on one match between Pinkie versus Rawk and Will heated up. The once roaring crowd now watched in silence, with only their eyes moving left and right as they keeping up with Bowser's seemingly ceaseless rolling.

Both sides were evenly match until Pinkie Pie made her move, putting everything she could muster into one power shot. Will and Rawk, seeing the mallet stuck Koopa barreling towards them, let Bowser pass them and roll right into the ring ropes.

With his massive frame pushing against them, the rope stretched, almost letting Bower roll right out of the ring and into the gasping crowd he now teetered over. Fortunately for panic stricken audience who were scrambling to get out of the way, the ropes held together and retracted, bouncing Bowser up high above the ring to crash back do to the middle of the ring with a ground quaking thud that caused some of the spotlight to fall from the ring's scaffolding.

With the crowd now chanting his name, Bowser uncurled himself and stumbled back over to Pinkie's side, still wobbling by the time he got there. "Ok,—" He placed his palms against his cheeks and held his head in place. "—let's try a different. I don't think I'll last much longer if we keep going like that."

Huffing as much as he, Pinkie looked to the duo standing across from them and then back to Bowser. "Hmm… Hey, Bowsie, can you make some fire balls with that breath of yours?"

Catching his breath and finally stopping his world from spinning, Bowser stared down at her and patted his puffed out chest. "Just watch me."

Pinkie nodded. "Okay Bowsie." She quickly ran behind him and grabbed a hold of his tail. "Just follow my lead."

With Pinkie cranking his tail like a crank, Bowser felt a familiar warm sensation building in his gut. "Hey, Pinky, you know I can breathe fire on my—" A fireball suddenly shot forth from his mouth, cutting him off. Soon after, another one quickly fired out, and then another. Soon Bowser found himself standing straight with his wide open mouth aimed straight into the air as countless red hot embers spewed out and littered everything in front of him.

Still spinning away at Bowser's tail, Pinkie looked up and enjoyed the fireworks. "I know that, Bowsie. It's just more fun this way. Okay, their falling back down, now start hitting!"

With his mouth still letting out more flames, Bowser looked to the sky and noticed some of the fireballs were dropping back down at his feet. Catching on to Pinkie's plan, he threw his fist forward as one of the flames dropped down and sense something warm hit against his knuckles.

Pinkie Pie watched as the fireball he struck flew across the ring and collide against Rawk the Hawk "Keep punching like that, Bowsie!"

Without a second thought Bowser started punching away, sensing his knuckled heat up more and more with each ball of flames he hit. Fiery red streaks now flew across the ring, pelting both Will and Rawk, who did their best to shield themselves, as well as the majority of the ring and the crowd behind them it.

"Waaaah, my mane's on fire!"

"Aaaaaaa, someone put out the fires!"

Ponies and Toad alike cried out and fled to a safe side of the ring as the flurry of fireballs started to rain down upon them. Falling like meteoroids, Bowser's fireballs exploded against the ground, sending those caught in the blast flying. But even with all the chaos, everyone found themselves a safer spot and continued to cheer with their eyes glued to the action.

Back in the ring and behind the fire fountain that was formerly Bowser, Pinkie Pie sped up her tail winding and Bowser felt the already intense sensation in his stomach build up even further. She finally let go of his tail and grabbed her hammer, raising it above her head.

"You ready, Bowsie? Here comes the big one!" With all her pony might, Pinkie send her hammer slamming onto Bowser's tail.

Along with a bolt of pain that ran up Bowser's body, the energy sitting his gut shot up and out of his mouth to form a massive fireball. The round inferno's heat radiated well beyond the ring and captivated everyone watching with its vibrant red hue. All eyes watched the miniature sun as it ascended into the air, but their awestruck silence quickly reverted to terrified gasps and screams when they watched the orb slowly make its way back down to the ring.

Bowser kept his eyes on the falling star like everyone else and readied himself to strike. "I can't believe you want me to hit that, Pinkie!"

"Don't you worry, Bowsie, I've got this one."

Pinkie's hooves patted against Bowser's show as she nimbly climbed her way up onto his shoulders. She then leapt up with hammer in hoof and clashed against the descending fireball, sending it careening down onto Will and Rawk.

Far from the center of all the commotion, stepping out from the boarders of the Everfree Forest, Zecora looked over Ponyville.

"Now that my hut is quiet and still, it's time I see how's Ponyville. If that mischievous Discord is up to no good, then find those two and help them I should."

Before she took her next step forward, she felt a rumbling at her hooves and saw a flash of light emanate from the center of town. The shimmer quickly vanished before her eyes and was engulfed by a blast that caused a giant plume of smoke to rise high into the sky.

"With chaos as his calling card, finding them will not be hard," she said to herself, galloping towards town and the source of that blast.

In the remains of the ring and its surroundings, two roasted bodies were laying face first on the floor. From the drifting cloud of smoke, the crowd emerged from whatever shelter they found from the last attack and started to chant.

"Pinkie, Bowser!"

"Bowser, Pinkie!"

Galloping past the crowd and climbing into the battered ring, the referee pony joined Pinkie and Bowser at center ring and raised their hand and hoof up. "Fillies and gentlecolts, we have our winners! Let's hear it for our winners, Pinkie Pie and Bowser!"

More cheers flooded the town, and with a gust of wind, along with some help from the town's pegasi, the cloud surrounding the ring was cleared out for sunlight to shine in.

"Now for our winners, here's your prize!" Turning his head back to reach over his shoulder, the ref pulled out something and handed it over to Pinkie who then held it high in the air to shine under the sun's rays.

*Pinkie won Twilight's Tiara.*

"Hey, I won it too," Bowser grumbled.

With the excitement of Ponyville's first, and probably last, wrestling competition over, things returned to a quiet peaceful state. Mares and stallions had all dispersed back to their daily lives, leaving Bowser and Pinkie standing ringside with their prize in hand.

Holding their prize between her hooves, Pinkie gazed into the tiara's gem which shimmering brilliantly. "Isn't this great, Bowsie? Now Twilight can come help us out when we need her."

"Yeah, great…" Bowser tapped his foot with his arms crossed, looking at the gem as well. Just three more of those things then I can finally get outta here. "Now we've gotta find out where we gotta to go next."

"I see my guess was right on the mark. I'm happy to see you two have not fallen apart." Pinkie and Bowser turned to the familiar voice to see Zecora walking towards them with Kamek standing beside her. "I ran into this one while searching for you. Thank goodness his claim of know you were true. We spoke for a while and he explained your recent run in a moment ago, but that you both put on a dazzling show."

Pinkie galloped over and stopped before them. "That's right Zecora. Bowsie and I had to wrestle these two really strong guys and we were all like bang, and they were like 'grrr, we're gonna win', and everypony started cheering for us. But in the end we won and now we got this." She held out Twilight's tiara. "Now we can call Twilight with this."

While Pinkie was exuberantly chatting with Zecora, Kamek noticed Bowser seemed to be distracted with something and approached him. "Is something the matter your gnarlyness?"

Bowser stood still and kept his eyes on the ring. "I'm wondering what that feathered wimp was doing here and how he managed to get himself such a tough wrestling partner."

"That is a question both Kamek and I have asked as well," Zecora walked over and join the two of them, with Pinkie following right behind her. "And what we came up with I shall now tell." Pinkie returned to Bowser side and sat down as Kamek and Zecora pair up across from them and began their tale.

["Long ago there was a champ who lost his crown…" Zecora paused and looked over to Kamek.

"He trained hard for a rematch until a certain Koopa flattened him to the ground."

"Humiliated, the champ sought out the Koopa for payback…"

"something sneaky Discord could use in his next attack."

"Since the champ was so willing, Discord did not use his power…"

"unlike poor Iron Will, who his will he devoured."](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBOWC2ud_ew)

Finished their little story, they both took a bow as Pinkie applauded them.

"Okay, so that would explain those two." Bowser looked down one of the roads entering the town hall circle and stared at one of the Toads walking around. "But that doesn't explain why there are Toads now appearing."

"I told you Bowsie," Pinkie interjected. "They showed up because they wanted to watch the competition."

"I don't want to say that that's wrong, Pinkie, but I think there's a bigger reason behind it," said Kamek, busy adjusting his glasses. "I think I'll stay here for a while to figure it why."

Zecora placed a reassuring hoof on his shoulder. "If that is you goal, then allow me to lend a hoof and play a part role."

"I appreciate it Miss Zecora," said Kamek, looking at her with a smile. "Okay then, Lord Bowser, while Zecora and I work to figure this out, you two should work on finding out where to go next."

"That's easier said than done." Bowser griped. "I have no clue where to go next. It could be anywhere."

The realization of Bowser's word sunk in. Each of them stayed silent and pondered what their next move would be. The quiet brainstorming session suddenly cut short as a trio of voices started calling out.

"Hey Pinkie Pie!"

Turning her head to see who called her, Pinkie spotted three familiar faces headed for the four of them. Bowser on the other hand saw three blurs. One yellow, one orange and one last white darting towards accompanied by the distinct sound of giggling. Though he couldn't remember where he'd seen them before, a little headache told him one thing for sure. He wasn't going to like it.

"Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo." Pinkie excitedly hopped towards the girls headed for her. "It's so good to see you girls aga—" Before she could finished the trio slammed against her, toppling her onto the ground with the three young mares and sending them rolling before Bowser feet.

"Pinkie Pie!" –Applebloom shouted, lying over Pinkie, with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo on her back. All three of them stared at Pinkie with a frown. "Pinkie Pie, you've gotta help. It's Applejack. Something's not right with her."

Although under the weight of the fillies, Pinkie gazed up at them with wide open eyes. "Wait, you girls have seen Applejack? Where?"

"She's over at Sweet Apple Acres." Applebloom's eyes watered up as she let out a heavy sigh. "But she ain't actin' like herself. Ever since she got back, she's been busy plantin' some funny lookin' seeds. When I asked her bout it she told me it was none of mah business. She's been real secretive bout those seeds, makin' sure big brother and I can't see what she's doin'. I didn't think much about it afterwards, but then those seeds sprouted. They quickly grew all over our fields and soon turned our famous orchard into a jungle. Now our apple fields are buried in vines, and to make matters worse there's these flowers that keep trying to bite anything that get near em."

"Flowers that bite?" Bowser looked back and down at the trio. "Are these flowers red with white polka-dots?"

Applebloom looked up, rubbing her nose as she sniffed. "Uh huh."

Without a second thought, Bowser turned from them and started walking. "Let's get going, Pinky."

"Where are we going, Bowsie?" Pinkie asked, standing up along with the girls to watch him leave.

"Where else? To save this Apple friend of yours and get back another one of my generals."

"Oh, okie dokie then. But don't you think you should head this way." Pinkie pointed her hoof in a direction at her back. "You know, since Sweet Apple Acres is over there." Watching him turn with a loud grumble, she, along with the girls, started walking with him, leaving Zecora and Kamek to wave them goodbye.

In line with the others, Scootaloo looked over to the tall standing Koopa, then she turned her head towards Pinkie Pie. "You know something, Pinkie, you're right. He really isn't so scary; kinda super grumpy, but not scary." She looked back at Bowser and flashed a smile his way before looking back to Pinkie. "Plus you two were totally awesome fighting together in that ring."

Chapter 8

Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Saga

Chapter 8

Along a trail leading out of Ponyville, Apple Bloom, together with Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Pinkie Pie and Bowser, headed down to Sweet Apple Acres. The trail the fillies have taken often enough was different this time. Not because Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were riding along Bowser shoulders, but rather the numerous Piranha Plants snapping their jaws at them from the trees at the edge of the pathway.

Although the constant snapping of jaws was a less then welcoming scene, Pinkie cheerfully chatted away with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, her hooves hopping along, she happy that soon she'd be reunited with another friend. Bowser on the other hand was fighting the urge to swat away the annoying gnats perched on his shoulders.

"So you two have been traveling around, fighting a bunch of bad guy so you can stop Discord and save our friends?"

"That's right." Pinkie nodded. "Bowsie and I went deep into the Everfree Forest, saved Zecora and Fluttershy, then came back from Appleloosa after discovering some ruins and saving Twilight."

Scootaloo waved her hoof at Pinkie. "Yeah, yeah, that's great and all but have you saved Rainbow Dash yet?"

"What about my big sister?" Sweetie Belle chimed in.

Pinkie turned her head down. "No, not yet." She then quickly perked up and smiled at them. "But don't you worry girls. I Pinkie promise we'll save Rarity and Rainbow Dash soon." She looked to the grumbling carriage the girls were riding on. "Right, Bowsie?"

Feeling the girls pressing against his cheek, Bowser looked straight ahead, trying not to snap as he avoided eye contact. "Uh… yeah, sure, whatever."

"You see girls; with Bowsie's help we'll get everypony back home in time to have ourselves a big party to celebrate." Pinkie looked over to Apple Bloom, noticing the silent filly hadn't taken her eyes off the path the whole time. She trotted over and shot the worried pony a reassuring smile. "But right now we've got an Applejack to save."

Reaching the end of the path, the sight of a barn welcomed them to the Apple family home. Incredibly the barn grounds had remained untouched. The only thing protecting the patch of dirt from the sea of vines and piranha plants surrounding it was a barrier of white picket fences around its perimeter. The only other line of defense was a large red stallion running along the fence. The group watched as Big Macintosh ran from one end of the fence to another, swinging a hoe he held in his mouth and driving away the approaching chomping plants.

Apple Bloom sprinted over to the hard working stallion, excitedly shouting "Big Mac".

"Apple Bloom!" an elderly mare shouted, bursting out from the barn door. "What in sam hill are you doing out there? Get yer caboose inside young'un! It ain't safe out there!"

"Granny Smith, Big Mac needs ma help!"

"You leave it to yer big brother little missy. He can handle those things by himself. Now get inside, it's dangerous!"

Three vines suddenly shot out from the forest and passed over the fence. They bloomed, revealing three piranha plants that now blocked Apple Bloom's path. Apple Bloom stopped and backed away from the slobbering buds.

"Hang on Apple Bloom, we're coming!" Pinkie shouted, running after her.

Pinkie ran in and kicked the voracious flowers. Bowser caught up and joined in. As they battled, Apple Bloom reunited with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and together ran inside with Granny Smith.

Relieved to see them good, Bowser narrowed his eyes at the buds and clenched his fist. "You worthless weeds! After I painstakingly planted you all over the Mushroom Kingdom, you betray me by siding with some pipsqueak farming horse!"

"Hey, I didn't know you liked to do gardening work, Bowsie."

"Focus, Pinkie! My mighty piranha plants have left me for a horse!"

"A pony actually."

"Whatever!"

"Well, Applejack is really good at growing apples. I guess that also makes her good at growing those plants of yours."

Enraged by the drooling trio, Bowser grabbed them by the vines and throttled them. The ponies around them watched as he placed the three of them in a head lock and repeatedly flattened them under his fist. After a few more devastating bashes, the plants dropped to the ground in a misshapen lump. The trio of buds hardly twitched before another mercilessly thrashing came about by way of Bowser's feet. The merciless beating continued until Bowser gave them a kick that sent them back into the forest's depths.

Pinkie Pie approached, placing a hoof against the huffing Koopa's shell. "You feel better?"

"That was so awesome!" Scootaloo shouted as she, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came out of the barn to join them. "I can't believe you took those things on all by yourself. You just grabbed them like they were nothing and showed em who's boss."

"I'll say," said Granny Smith, slowly catching up. "Why it's been ages since I've seen a wallopin' like that. It was a tad over the top mind you but it sure got the job done. Though I'd expect that sort'a thing coming from a…" She paused, getting a good look at Bowser. "Huh, never seen a dragon the likes of you before. You new round these parts?"

"Yeah, and I'm dying to get back." Bowser brushed past everyone and walked over to the fence. "Now outta my way so I can deal with these weeds and get one step closer to going home." Facing the wooden barricade and the wall of vines behind it, he peeked through the cracks. "I just gotta find a way inside."

"You say you're looking for a way inside?" asked Granny Smith. "Why we've been working on that for a while now."

Bowser looked back at the green wrinkled mare to see her pointing towards Big Macintosh. On one end of the fence the red stallion was hacking and chopping away at the vines.

"My grandson's been hard at work breaking through those consarned vines keeping us from tending to the crop." She hollered at him. "Come on you slowpoke, move your caboose!"

Still chopping away, Big Macintosh let out a simple "E'yup".

Observing the stallion slowly hacking away, Bowser crossed his arms and waited. Minutes passed by. While Pinkie spent her time chatting away with Granny Smith and the girls, Bowser's patients had finally burnt out. He approached the diligent workhorse who was still whacking away.

He pushed Big Mac aside. "Move!" Raising his hands, he started tearing into the vines with his claws. "I don't have time to wait around till you finish."

Big Mac narrowed his eyes. He grabbed hold of his tool, positioned himself beside Bowser and began chopping. "Nope."

In the corner of his eye, Bowser saw the stallion hacking. "Heh, suit yourself." The two of them then stopped. Bowser cracked his knuckles while Big Mac snorted and scratched his hoof against the ground "Don't start crying when I embarrass you."

They eyed each other, standing against the green wall. The girls noticed the two and Granny Smith sensed this powder keg was only waiting for a spark. "And they're off!"

Big Mac exploded out of the gate swinging, taking out massive chucks vines as he moved forward.

Stunned by the stallion's unexpected strength, Bowser started clawing away and catching up. "Oh no you don't!"

The boys were now neck and neck, rending their way through the jungle and tearing apart any poor piranha plant that got in their way, leaving a green mushy trail of destruction behind them. They rampaged through the fields, coating themselves in a layer of green as they continued carving a path deeper into the forest.

Now well into their race, they came upon a vine larger than any before it. Both rivals proceeded to cut and rip into the thick vine, but it refused to yield to their might. Aggravated by the stubborn growth, ripping and chopping at it faster and faster, they pulled themselves back and winded up for their best strike. A twin set of thunderous bellow reverberated through the forest; the noise was followed by a ground quaking blast that could be seen from the barn. Standing together in a freshly made crater, Bowser and Big Macintosh were catching their breath as a strange shower of green mush rained down around them.

Though both of them tried hard to hide their fatigue, Big Mac and Bowser broke down and started panting, smiling at the other as they took deep breaths.

With a smirk piercing through each gasp for air, Bower looked over to the pony standing beside him. "He…hey…" he said, fighting against his lungs."How about… huff… how about you give up farming… and come work for me? You'd be a perfect minion."

Catching his breath, Big Mac shook his head. "Nope."

"Ah well, you can't blame a Koopa for trying," Bowser chuckled.

Their exhaustion a thing of the past, they heard Pinkie, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, coming after them along the newly constructed trail.

Apple Bloom broke off from the group and joined her brother. "There ya'll two are. Sheesh, for a second I'd done thought you two'd gone all the way through to the other side of the Sweet Apple Acres."

"Yeah," Scootaloo commented, walking over with Pinkie and Sweetie Belle. "You two were moving so fast there was a geyser of green goop shooting through the top of the field."

Sweetie Belle walked around the open area and examined the infested forest. "So now that there's a way inside, what do we do now?"

"Yeah! I wanna see you two in action again!" said Scootaloo, fluttering her wings.

"Oh no girls," –Pinkie stretched out her forelegs and rounded up the girls. — "From here on it's too dangerous for you to follow. Bowsie and I will handle things from here while Big Mac takes you three back to the barn where it's safe."

Apple Bloom stared at Pinkie, quivering her lower lip as she stared with a glaze in her eye. "Aw, can't we stay with you, please? I just wanna help save my big sister."

Scootaloo joined her. "We promise we'll stay out of trouble."

"We can even help you get rid of those plant things," said Sweetie Belle, making the same face as the others.

"Wouldn't that be getting in the way?" Bowser asked.

Sweetie Belle looked at the question Koopa with a dumbfounded stare. "Uhhh…"

"Well yeah," Scootaloo intervened, covering Sweetie Belle mouth. "But this way we can make things easier for you and have a chance to get our cutie marks for weed exterminating."

Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah!"

"Yeah!" said Sweetie Belle.

"Nope." Putting his hoof down before the excited fillies with his brow furrowed, Big Mac grabbed his sister by the tail and proceeded to carry her back to the farm.

"Wha—hey, Big Mac, put me down! I wanna help save Applejack!"

"Nope," he muffled, clutching her tail in his mouth.

"Come on!" Apple Bloom wriggled and squirmed as she dangled upside down, seeing Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo quietly walking along behind them. As Pinkie and Bowser vanished further and further as they went, she finally gave up struggling. "At least put me down already! This is embarrassing!"

Bowser sighed, seeing them go out of sight. "Finally! No more of that nonsense."

"Aw come on Bowsie, they weren't that bad," said Pinkie still waving them off.

"No, no their not." He turned and started walking further into the woods. "Especially when compared to you." he mumbled.

Pinkie followed right behind him. "You say something Bowsie?"

"Nope."

Deep into Sweet Apple Acres, which looking more like a jungle the farther they went. Bowser and Pinkie would spot group after group of piranha plants all huddled around the top of every apple tree. The carnivorous flowers didn't notice the two of them. Too engrossed with the smorgasbord of apples, they only focused on stuffing themselves till their stems grew fat.

Bored from the lack of piranha plant bashing, Bowser punched every tree they past, sending the gluttonous flora crashing to the ground. Unfortunately their apple bloated belly made them too heavy to move, leaving them incapacitated on the ground and Bowser without a punching bag.

"Aaaaaah! We've been walking for hours, and I haven't gotten to bash anything! I'm so bored!"

"Hey, Bowsie, look on the bright side." Pinkie pointed to a pack of smiling, bloated piranha plants lying on the ground. "They all look so happy."

"But I want to fight something!" Bowser groaned.

"Hmm…" Pinkie suddenly gasped. "Hey, I know what'll cheer you up. A song!"

"What? No!"

Pinkie skipped in front of him and took a deep breath, but before she could begin a set of teeth emerging from the dirt behind her.

"Uh, Pinky!" said Bowser, seeing the pearly whites behind her.

Bursting up from the soil, a massive piranha plant sprouted along with two smaller buds. Their three stems swayed back and forth, looming above the oblivious pink pony.

Feeling the presences behind her, Pinkie looked behind her. "Huh?" Seening nothing but the green of a giant spiked stem, she turned her head up. "Ahhhhh!" She ran to Bowser's side, just in to avoid the massive plant slamming its head down at her. Now next to Bowser, Pinkie narrowed her eyes at the big flower. "Hey, don't you know it's rude to interrupt a pony when she's about to sing a song."

"Aw, shoot. He just missed ya," said a color lacking mare appearing from the shadows of the fields to stand beside the plant.

Pinkie's sour face quickly brightened up at the sight of the new pony. "Applejack!" She took off running.

"Pinky!" Bowser shouted. "Remember, she's under Discord's control."

"Wha?" Looking back at Bowser, Pinkie couldn't see a pair of grey hooves coming at her.

Bowser reached his arm out and caught Pinkie like a baseball. "Told you," he said, putting her down. He then put his focus on Applejack and grinned. "Looks like I'll finally get to have some fun." He pointed a finger towards her. "Listen up, farm girl, you did a good job tending to my plants but it's time to give em back." He began to crack his knuckles. "That is unless you want me to take em back by force."

Applejack clicked her teeth. "Yer plants? Listen here pardner; I've been taking care of these here cuties all on my own." She suddenly looked away from the two of them. "Nopony gave em to me or nothing."

Bowser finished cracking bones. "That's fine by me. I've been looking for someone to smack around for awhile."

Pinkie stood at Bowser's side, scratching her hoof against the ground. "Sorry, Applejack, but Bowsie and I've got to do this. It's for your own good."

The towering Piranha plant to Applejack's right lowered its head to their level. "Bleck, hyuck, hyuck! You guys, try taking master from us! You guys… bad guys! We not let it happen! No! She take good care of us! We protect her! Good deal! Now we beat you!"

"Stuff it, Lava Piranha!" Bowser shouted, standing ready with Pinkie Pie. "You're going back in the dirt when I'm through with you. Let's go, Pinky!"

"Okie dokie, Bowsie!"

Applejack hopped up high, landing onto Lava Piranha's head that leaned back and aimed its two buds towards both heroes.

"Run!" Bowser cried out, running for cover with Pinkie sticking with him.

Embers shot forth from the buds' mouths, pelting the ground and trailing behind the duo that dove behind a tree. The stream of flames tore into the bark, scorching it and igniting the leaves above.

Pinkie watched as the leaves burned and dropped as ashes. "Hey! Quit it! Applejack works real hard to grow her trees!"

"No I don't," Applejack replied, looking away again.

The pelting ceased and Bowser charged in to attack. He slashed one of the buds with his claws, causing it to crumble and wither, but the remaining bud snuck up from behind him and ensnared him.

"Let go of me you crummy weed!" Bowser commanded as the bud lifted him off the ground. "I'll rip you to—Ah!" The vines cut him off, squeezing the air out of him.

"Hang on, Bowsie!" Pinkie galloped in and swung her mallet against the bud's stem, making it jerk away. Although hurt, it refused to let the captured Koopa go.

With Pinkie repeatedly striking below, Bowser managed to get an arm free and attacked as well. Soon Bowser dropped to the ground along with lava bud which fell to a pile of its own stem.

"Now cut that out you two!" Applejack yelled down at them. "Don't you hurt my babies."

Lava Piranha swooped its head down, knocking both Pinkie and Bowser back as Applejack jumped off and kicked against Bowser. She landed in front of him but was quickly tackled away by Pinkie Pie.

Applejack rolled back. Reaching behind her, she pulled out her lasso and twirled it over her head. The tightly woven collection of thread flew, wrapping itself around Bowser's arm as he performed a sliding punch. Applejack jumped, dodging his attack and landing behind him. She bit down on her end of her lasso and pulled, twirling Bowser by the arm and hurtling him towards Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie, now lying flat on her stomach with a Bowser lying in a daze next to her, saw Lava Piranha take a deep breath. She sprang to her hoofs. "Bowsie!" She placed her hooves against his shoulder and shook him violently. "Get up! We gotta move!" Seeing he wasn't waking anytime soon, she quickly undid the rope on his wrist and slowly pulled him with her.

Bowser, feeling his head still spinning, opened his eyes to see the little mare tugging him along. The sound of something inhaling behind him coupled with the worried expression she wore, said it all. He pushed himself up and sprinted away with Pinkie just in time to avoid a ground scorching fireball landing behind them.

"Hey… Pinky," Bowser huffed as they faced Applejack and Lava Piranha. "That friend of yours is pretty tough. Nowhere near as tough as anything I've fought, but still. It's gonna be rough taking them both on at this rate. I say we take care of Lava Piranha first, that way she'll be defenseless against the two of us."

"Good idea Bowsie. After all, all that fire breathing can't be good for the trees."

"Okay, Pinky, you know what to do."

"Yup."

Pulling fourth her cannon as Bowser curled up and hopped inside it, Pinkie took aim and fired, sending the Bowser cannon ball crashing against Lava Piranha and bouncing back down where she positioned her cannon to catch him and fire again.

Lava Piranha countered with a fireball but the flames were snuffed against Bowser's shell which tore straight through and bashed against its face a second time.

Seeing her precious plant take another blow, Applejack tossed her lasso towards Pinkie and caught hold of the cannon by its barrel. "Let's see what you two do without this!" She yanked her rope, pulling the cannon towards her. She grinned and looked around the skyward pointed cannon. "Hah! Now how do you like them…" –to her surprise, Pinkie had suddenly vanished— "apples? Hey, where'd you—"

The cannon suddenly fired, knocking AJ back in shock. Pinkie Pie, launching out from the barrel with her hammer in hoof, swung up and pegged Lava Piranha with an uppercut that sent the big flower arcing back and crashing against the ground.

Applejack, looking back as her partner hit the ground with an earth shaking thud, felt something come at her from behind. She looked back to see Bowser pounding his fist against his palm as he made his way towards her. With each stamp of his closer, Applejack took one step back, until she bumped against the base of her fallen partner's stem.

"Okay horsey, it's payback for that little trick with the rope. Nobody swings me around by the tail and gets away with it."

Pinkie, returning from her high flying trip, questionable stared at him. "Tail? But Applejack swung you by the arm, remember, Bowsie?" Pinkie quickly corrected.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I was remembering this other time."

With Bowser closing in, Applejack darted her eyes away from him and placed a foreleg against her head as she exaggeratedly said "Oh, no. You've done gone and beat my only partner. Whatever will I do now?" She continued her hammy declaration. "If only there was something I could do." She quickly turned and faced the fallen flower. Rising up onto her hind legs, she stomped her front hooves with all her might.

Unsure what to make of her move, Bowser just kept walking towards until he felt a rumble at his feet. He looked down to see a crack that stemmed from the mares stomp. Before he could take another step the ground ripped open even further. Applejack, now smiling, jumped back on to Lava Piranha's stem and ran back as the cracks gave way.

Clutching his fists at the escaping pony, Bowser prepared to hop after her when he noticed something hot and red spewing forth from the crater depths where Lava Piranha's stem was sticking out from.

"Heads up, Bowsie!" Calling out from above, Pinkie finally returned from her cannon trip and landed next to him. "So where's"—her eyes were suddenly drawn away be the glowing red pool forming in front of them "Whoa!"

On the opposite side of the lava pool, Applejack hopped off Lava Piranha's stem and watched as it and its buds slink their way into the hole and vanish beneath the burning waters.

Bowser groaned "oh no" as he watched his former minion fall in. "Pinkie."

"Yeah, Bowsie?"

"We're going to need some back up."

She stared back, raising a brow as she tilted her head slightly. "Why do we need back up? We took care of that big flower of yours; now all that's left is Applejack." A sudden rumble caught her attention and she looked to the pool where she noticed the lava began to bubble splash about. "Right?"

Bursting forth from the pool, lava drenched Lava Piranha emerged along with its set of restored buds. All three of them were now engulfed in flames. The flaming plant looked down at them, its tongue now hanging out of its mouth and resting against its white lips, roared. Distracted by the massive vegetation, neither of them saw the lasso flying towards them.

"Hey! What the—" With Applejack's rope tightly around him, Bow grabbed onto his end and pulled as Applejack did as well, tugging the weighty king closer and closer towards the scorching puddle and her rejuvenated partner.

With a swipe of his claws to free himself, Bowser grabbed hold of the rope and started a match of tug of war against Applejack. To his surprise the mare on the other end was stronger then he'd expected. Neither one gave their other an inch as they pulled with all their might. Their stalemate was abruptly ended as another one of Lava Piranha's fireball shot down like a meteor to blasted Bowser away.

Standing out of the impact zone, Pinkie went to Bowser, pulling out a spicy cupcake from her mane. "Your right, Bowsie," she said handing him the treat. Reaching into her mane once more, she pulled out Twilight's Tiara. "Let's get some help"

Following her lead, Bowser pulled out his wand and held it up. Both tiara and wand let forth a streak of light that vanished high in to the air and was answered by two larger streaks crashing onto the ground like thunder to reveal Twilight Sparkle and Tutankoopa.

Twilight, still surprised by her sudden teleportation was greeted by the sight of large, bulbous, inflamed red with white polka dots head licking its lips at her. "Aaaaah!" she hollered, bumping into Pinkie Pie as she jumped back in fright.

"Hey Twilight."

"Pinkie!"—Twilight jerked her head left and right, surveying the area.-"What's going on?"

"Me and Bowsie here are in the middle of rescuing Applejack over there," she said pointing to the mare far across from them. "But we're having some trouble so we called you and Tut for some help dealing with her that big thing over there." Her hoof now moved to over to the swaying Lava Piranha next to their friend.

Twilight opened her mouth, but it took her a second to get over her shock in order to speak. "These are the kind of things you've been going through to save us? Dangerous things like this?!"

"Well, I'm not doing it all by myself." Pinkie moved to Bowser and patted her hoof against his shell. "Bowsie's been helping and looking out for me the whole time. Plus now that you and Tut are here so that make three. And with working together to save Applejack, it'll be four."

"Pinkie Pie…" Seeing her friend's pink, cheerful smile in the face of danger reminded Twilight of how special her friends are. "Okay,"-She turned and faced the pair standing across from them. "Let's do this, for Applejack."

Nearby, Tutankoopa kneeled before Bowser. "I am prepared to fight for you, Lord Bowser."

"You'd better be."

With the sight of apple trees burning in the background the quartet readied themselves against the improved Lava Piranha and Applejack who made the first move.

"If that's how ya'll wanna play, then I'll call some back up too." Taking a deep breath, Applejack placed a hoof on her lips and whistled. Within seconds, a hoard of smaller piranha plants burst out from the soil around her, all of them making a loud snapping noise as they repeatedly clamped their mouths. "Alrigh' fellas," She pointed to Pinkie and the others. "Charge!"

With the swarm of mouth snapping plants make their approach, Tutankoopa frantically began casting a spell. One by one, Chain Chops dropped around the group with a iron thud and hopped about aimlessly. "Go! Go my pets!" he ordered, but the animated ball and chains just kept jumping around. "Attack! Charge! Go! Please…"

Behind him, Twilight watched as his summoned pets ignored his every word. She couldn't help but sigh as Tut pathetically kept trying to get his minions in line. "Here, let me try." Stepping forward with her horn aglow, Twilight levitated the little Chops close by and hurled them towards the approaching swarm. Crashing into them as though they were bowling pins, the Chain Chomp went on the offensive and began tearing into the herbs. Twilight continued to grabbing and tossing. "Tut, you keep summoning. Everyone else, grab a chomp and throw!"

"I like the way she can handle a Chomp," said Bowser, clearly impressed.

"Hey, who do you think taught her?" said Tut with his arms raised up as more barking iron balls dropped around him. "We're not just sitting around helplessly in a cell. We've been getting to know each other and preparing to help." Tut watched Twilight and noticed a couple of his pets hopping around her had smiles on their faces. "My pet's just happened to take a liking to her, that's all."

Bowser joined Pinkie and Twilight in hurling the razor toothed orbs. Twilight tossed mounds of them while Pinkie fired one after another from her party cannon, each of them decimating the hoard of plants that kept popping out of the ground.

"Come on ya'll!" Applejack shouted, watching her plants getting decimated. "Fight!"

Lava Piranha came to their aid, swiping its vines down and knocking back friend and foe alike. Tumbling to the ground with dozens of Piranha Plants and Chain Chomps dropping around them, Pinkie, Twilight, Tut, and Bowser looked to the looming giant while both plants and balls continued biting each other.

"Twilight, you and Tut wouldn't happen to have a Chain Chop to handle that flower? You know, something big enough," asked Pinkie, bumping her shoulder against her.

"Yeah, do you?" said Bowser, looking to Tut.

Twilight looked to Tut who worriedly stared back. "Well there is… but…"

Tutankoopa let out a long sigh next to her as she dawdled with her words. "I guess we don't have a choice," he said, turning his head to the towering fiery flora. "Okay, Twilight, let's call him."

"Yippee!" Pinkie Pie let out, dancing in placed. "I really missed him!"

Standing beside each other, with Pinkie and Bowser watching behind them, Twilight and Tutankoopa channeled their magic. Their magic swirled about their bodies and fused together in front of them. With Tut casting an incantation, the collection of magic exploded and plume of smoke expanded.

The cloud grew to the size of Lava Piranha and there was a loud, jolting thud that rocked the area from inside. The crash itself caused the cloud to disperse and was followed by a very loud bark.

"Chompy!" Both Pinkie and Twilight exclaimed, happy to see the giant Chain Chomp again.

"Tsk." Applejack lowered the brim of her hat as she saw the gargantuan ball facing her. Hearing the metallic clings of Chompy chomping its teeth; Applejack turned and ran before Chompy let out another bellowing bark and barreling down on Lava Piranha.

Galloping as fast as her legs could take her; Applejack navigated her way through the trees and down the field, trying to avoid what seemed like a bulldozer headed her way. Right behind her the earth, trees, rocks, and whatever else she sprinted past was being decimated as Chompy's offense continued to push Lava Piranha further and further back. Meanwhile, standing way in the back, Pinkie and the gang made their way down the fresh trail of destruction.

Following the giant stretch of disturbed earth that reached the depths of the orchard, the group reached its end to find that the creature responsible for it was gone. All that remained withered and defeated Lava Piranha lying out cold with Applejack standing in front of it waiting for them.

"Where's Chompy?" Twilight ordered, sounding a bit winded.

Applejack flicked the brim of her hat and stared at Twilight with a smile. "Don't worry. I done took care of that dog a yers."

"What?!" Pinkie ran over, joining Twilight's side. "All by yourself?"

"Course I did." Applejack's eyes once again played hide and with everyone's gazes. "Just me, all by my lonesome. With no help from anythin' else."

"Forget how she did it," said Bowser cutting in. "With Lava Piranha out of my way, I'm getting me some pay back from that weak little farm girl."

"But, wait. Lord Bowser," Tutankoopa huffed catching up with everyone. He reached out to his King but stopped, his eyes spotting a speck of light shining from the back of his hand. "No," he said, watching as the spec grew, and began to spread through his body. "Not now."

"Hey, Tut, what's—" Twilight also paused, spotting light slowly engulf him. She then took a look at herself. "No," she gasped, spotting the same light now on her left leg. "It's too soon."

"Summoning Chompy must have expended more energy than we thought," Now practically all light, he turned to face Pinkie. "Ms. Pinkie Pie, please continue helping my Lord Bowser. I you two make a far better pair then he knows. Or admit to."

Twilight, now also shrouded in light, looked to her friend. "Pinkie Pie, there's something important I need to tell you. When Discord used his power on Applejack before, she turned into a liar; and a bad one at that. The point is she's lying about being beat. I'm positive she's still has something hidden up her sleeve."

"Her sleeve? Applejack doesn't have any sleeve, Twilight."

"It's a figure of speech, Pinkie, now focus."

"Sorry."

"Look, I'm positive Applejack's up to something so—" The light now completely incasing her caused her and Tut to shoot high into the sky in a streak of light. "Be careful!" her voice echoed, leaving Pinkie standing on her own with Bowser approaching Applejack.

"So, pipsqueak," Bowser announced, punching his palm as he got closer, "got anything you wanna say before I flatten you."

"Heh, I sure do." Clutching onto her hat, Applejack tilted it up and smiled. "Gotcha!"

As though waiting for her signal, the ground began to quake again and again, causing Pinkie to trip as she joined Bowser.

Bowser, now stopped in his tracks, looked behind the confident pony standing against him and noticed the trees in the background bend break with each new monstrous quake. As the sound of snapping bark and vines grew louder, it finally dawned on him as to what was coming.

Applejack leaped high into the just as the approaching noise stopped before the last line of trees behind her. Pinkie and Bowser watched in anticipation as another Piranha Plant poked its head through the trees, toppling them over in the process. This plant, with flower petals decorated around its neck like a mane, let out a beastly roared. Drool spewing from its mouth as its voice echoed through the orchard it walked out from the trees to reveal it tyrannosaurus shaped body as Applejack landed atop its head and held onto one of its petals.

Bowser snarled. "Oh, just great! She's even got Dino Piranha on her side." He quickly reached into his shell and pulled out his wand. "Pinky, call that buttershine friend of yours"

"You mean Fluttershy."

"Yeah, that one!" he shouted, his eyes still focused on the giant flora slowly stomping its way towards them. "Just call her, now!"

"You got it, one Fluttershy coming up."

Wasting no more time, Pinkie pulled out the element of kindness and along with Bowser raised it up, calling their friends who appeared in the blink of an eye before them.

Riding atop his signature building block tank, General Guy looked to his second in command cringing from their sudden summon. "Straighten up, Colonel, we've been call in for reinforcements."

"Y-y-yes sir, General," Fluttershy answered. She then turned and spotted Bowser and Pinkie behind the General's tank. "Oh there you are I was wor—" She stopped, noticing them staring at something behind her. Turning back to see, she froze and began to quiver.

Pinkie hopped aboard the tank and Bowser latched himself on the back and shouted "Drive!" The squeals of wooden tiers followed as the engine roared and as the tank kicked up the dirt behind it, Bowser reached his arm out and grabbed Fluttershy.

"Bowser, sir, General Guy and Colonel Shy reporting in," the general said, keeping focusing on the road. "Brief us on the current situation."

"Well right now we're trying to save Applejack," Pinkie answered.

"A rescue operation, I see. Where's the target's location?"

Still cowering at the front of the tank next to Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy pointed a trembling hoof behind him. "Uh, General…."

With a quick spin of the wheel, General Guy skillfully spun his tank around, never losing speed as he now drove in reverse. "Sweet mother of—" The engine revved and the tank sped up as the pursuing plant roared at them. General Guy reached down and pulled at a lever by his waist which caused started the light bulb cannon behind him to light up and fire. A ball of static shot forth from the candle shaped bulb's tip, pelting against Dino Piranha with enough force to slow it slightly.

Still clinging one to the now front facing back of the tank, Bowser immediately followed up with a fireball that further pushed it back. "We've got her now!"

"Yeeaaaah, you bunch sure got me. I don't think there a thing I can do now." Flashing the runaway tank a mischievous smirk, Applejack looked away again.

As Bowser looked on at the ginning mare, he almost lost his balance as General Guy made a quick swerve to the right. "Hey watch—" As he glared at the pintsized driver something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. At the edge of the tree line, right were the General had swerved, Bowser noticed a giant leg stomp down. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and watched as another Dino Piranha burst through the trees and roared at them. This one, white lipped with a head darker than its charcoal body, ran alongside its purple and green counterpart roared together as they continued giving chase.

Pinkie, along with Fluttershy who now cowered under her hooves, watched the twin behemoths danced around on another. "Holey motley! How are we supposed to stop them?"

"Like this!" General guys said with another bang of his cannon. "Colonel, remember your drills." He tilted his head to the light bulb cannon. "Time to soldier up."

Moving her hooves away, Fluttershy stared at the bulb resting on the cylindrical block, and took a deep breath. "Yes, sir!" She then placed a hoof against her lips, letting out a sharp whistle. Zipping out from the tree with the buzzing noise of their propellers, a squad of Flutterguys lined up and hovered in front of her.

"Colonel," one said with a salute as the others did likewise. "Flutter Guy squadron falling in!"

Fluttershy flew up and positioned herself behind the light bulb cannon, aiming it at the duo chasing them. "Pinkie Pie," she said, speaking in a stern confident tone. "Get you cannon ready and position it were it won't block Bowser's fireballs!"

Pinkie saluted her. "Sir, yes ma'am!"

Fluttershy's serious gaze suddenly faded. "Oh my, I'm sorry Pinkie Pie. I didn't mean to shout at you. You don't have to salute."

"Don't be sorry Fluttershy. I like how you were a second ago. You seemed more assertive."

"Really?" Fluttershy's cheeks quickly reddened. "You think so?"

"Definitely. Learning from General Guy sure has—"

"Now's not the time for this!" Bowser hollered in between them.

"He's right, ladies. Can the small talk and get into position," said General Guy.

Moving quickly, Pinkie Pie, with her cannon ready looked back to Fluttershy, fluttering behind a cannon of her own. "All set, Colonel."

She nodded, "Good job, Pinkie." then looked up to her squadron. "Alright Shys, load that cannon!"

"Load?" Pinkie wondered, raising an eye at the band of flying minis. "What are we gonna use—" She was promptly answered as one of them flew right into the cannon.

Fluttershy checked her aim one last time. "Okay, everypony, fire!"

Elsewhere, back on the roof of the barn, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were looking out over the fields.

"Ya'll see anythin' girls?" said Apple Bloom, squinting out to the sea of apples, leaves and vines.

"Nope. I haven't seen a thing after we heard those big roars. Wait a second!" Scootaloo fell silent for a second, her eyes widening at what she saw. "Over there, girls, look!"

Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie turned their heads and made the same face as Scootaloo, spotting two bulbous heads tearing through the trees.

"What is that?!" Sweetie Belle shrieked

"I don't know," Apple Bloom worriedly replied. "But what if those are the things that got Applejack."

"Hey!" Squinting at the sight in the distance, Scootaloo noticed something moving in front of the giants. "There's something running from it."

Apple Bloom leaned as far as she could off the edge, getting a better look, unaware that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were holding her by the tail to keep her from falling off. "Is it Applejack?"

"I couldn't tell." Scootaloo muffled through Apple Bloom's hair. "But whoever it is, it looks like they're fighting back."

Stilling leaning over the edge, Apple Bloom made out sparks of lightning and fire flying from the fleeing object. "Pinkie Pie?"

"Keep firing!" General Guy shouted. His voice was practically drowned out by the cacophony of the cannons and flames flying behind him. The barrage of lightning, fire and Flutterguy bullets pelted the Dino twins still hot on their trail.

Synchronized in their movements, they twirled around one another dodging as much of their prey's hailstorm. One broke out of sync and made its approach, and despite all the abuse it took from everyone's attacks it kept getting closer. Now mere inches from the tank, it opened its jaws and prepared to chomp down. Just as it lunged forward, Bowser pulled back on his side of the tank, yanking it just enough to avoid the clamp of its jaws. With Pinkie and Fluttershy still firing away at it, the dino cringed from the battering it slowed down and put some distance between them.

Atop the second Dino Piranha in the back, Applejack, threw her lasso and wrangled herself an airborne Flutter Guy, tossing it back at the runaway tank which rattled from the hit and gave her plants an opening. Together they closed they closed in, on readying to bite down at everyone while the other prepared to swipe its head at them.

Pinkie quickly jumped with her cannon to the side, avoiding the closing jaws coming at her but was knocked into the air by the second attack that slammed against the side of the tank. Airborne, she clutched onto her cannon as they dropped to the ground. Thankfully though a sharp turn by the General at the wheel positioned the tank under her and she plopped right back in her place.

Another of Applejack's lassos flew through the air, this one aimed at the tank's cannon pipe. But General Guy swerved to dodge it, unaware of a group of vines up ahead. They thick green ropes tangled around the wheels, bringing the tank to a sudden halt.

"No! The wheels are jammed! I can't drive!"

Letting go of the back, Bowser quickly moved to the side and slashed his claws at the wheels to unbind them. "There, now drive!" he shouted. Making his way back to the back, one of the Dino's now towered before him. He quickly jumped back as the tank sped away, both just missing the set of jaws coming at them. He snuck in a jab against its snout but the second dino struck, ramming its head against him and sending Bowser back. Keeping his footing despite being sent sliding back from the blow, Bowser looked up at Applejack to see her readying her lasso again.

"Lord Bowser!"

"Mr. Bowser!"

"Bowsie!"

A high pitched hum cut through the trees and with it so did the General's tank making its way in between the Koopa and plants. A pair of Flutterguy bullets, shot out from Pinkies cannon's along with a pair of lightning bolts. They both bashed against the Dino Piranha's chins, jerking their heads back and causing Applejack to lose her aim.

As the cart drove by, Bowser latched himself back onto the rear and hung on again as they sped off. Hanging on for dear life Bowser looked to his lackey. "My arms are getting tired from hanging here all the time. Make some room up there!"

"Yes sir, Bowser, sir! More room in a second. Just hang on tight for a bit." Reaching down into his controls, a loud click was heard from inside the tank. Suddenly a layer on the top of the tank spread open, providing more open space on top of the tank. "I sure am glad I took the time to make this modification. I knew it'd come in handy."

Bowser, with is feet dangling over the extended edge, pulled himself up. "Why didn't you do that sooner?"

"Sorry sir," General guy saluted. "But I had to make sure there was plenty of room. Plus with all the sudden commotion I'd completely forgotten about it."

Now with everyone up top, with General Guy maneuvering his way through the jungle converted orchard, Pinkie, Bowser and Fluttershy continued their ranged attacks. With Flutterguys cannon balls bouncing hard against the two giants, flashes of lightning rapidly flying through the air to strike, and steams of flames flying through, their combined hits started to fatigue the pair of dinos.

Another lasso flew through the siege of attacked, this one managing to wrap around the tank. Applejack yanked, causing it to slow down enough for the Piranha pair to catch up. This time instead of preparing for another head assault, both of them took in a deep breath.

"Oh no." Bowser uttered.

"Are they about too—"

"Pinkie over here!" Bowser shouted, standing near the very edge of the tank facing the inhaling herbs. He too took in a deep breath. "You know what to do."

"Right," she replied, grabbing hold of his tail behind him.

As the dinos exhaled, so did Bowser. Their flames clashed, Bowser's appearing on level with their combined breath but then it began vanishing under the pair. Even with Pinkie winding his tail as fast as she could, Bowser's flame was being engulfed.

"Squadron, line up around Bowser!"

Following Fluttershy's orders, the yellow robes troops positioned themselves besides Bowser and stood at the ready as he still let out a steam of flames.

"Ready!"

The line then went down on all fours, aiming their propellers towards the dinos.

"Go!"

Gripping the tank as much as they could, the Flutterguy's propellers began to spin in reverse. Supported by the fans, Bowser's flames grew large enough to engulf and overwhelming the opposing breath attacks while burning the rope holding them back. Both Dino Piranha's, charred and singed from their combination attack, fell back as Fluttershy kept pelting them with lightning.

Still getting plenty of hits from the runaway tank, the Dino Piranha Applejack rode began to slow to a crawl. She hopped off, jumping onto the remaining dino and looked back to see it let out a final roar as it toppled over in exhaustion.

"Tsk." Fed up with the annoying band in front of her, Applejack hopped across onto the tank platform.

Pinkie Pie Immediately opened fire but Applejack rolled forward and dodged the living bullet. Standing at the barrel of the festive cannon, she kicked the barrel upward and circled around, hitting Pinkie with her hind legs. As Pinkie flew back from the hit, Bowser stepped in and threw a punch at Applejack who hopped back to avoid it.

A trio of Flutter guys rose up from behind the burly turtle and dive bombed at her. With her back against the upright cannon, Applejack jumped up to the top, avoiding the first Flutterguy. She then, kicked off from the top of the barrel, angling it just right to catch the second Flutterguy. Landing at the back of the cannon now aimed at Bowser, Applejack kicked, causing it to fire the Flutterguy trapped inside. She watched as the wailing bullet flew and planted against Bowser's chest, sending him sliding almost to the edge of the tank. Focusing on her target, Applejack forgot about the third Flutterguy, who dove down and slammed her with a spinning head bonk.

While Applejack was still dazed from the last attack, Pinkie ran in with her hammer, swung down and just missed as rolled to the side at the last second. Losing her footing from the impact of Pinkie's mallet against the tank, Applejack looked up to see another group of Flutterguys ready to strike. The masked group readied themselves to dive but then suddenly dispersed as the tree lined path ahead became too dense for them to fly in. Even Dino Piranha, still following right behind, stopped as the tank entered the think collection of trees.

General Guy held tight to the wheel as he navigated his way through, but the constant bumps from roots and rocks made it difficult. Still the little General stayed focused on the road. That was until he looked down at the wheel and noticed his hand begin to glow. For a split second his thoughts veered off driving, to what that glow meant for him and his Colonel. Quickly looking back up to see an incoming tree, he swerved, causing the cart to go into a spin. Everyone grab hold of whatever they could to stay on as the cart spun round and round. As the tires screeched, all everyone could see was a blur of green. The constant screech was suddenly overshadowed by the distinct sound of wood snapping. Continuing to spin, the blur of green in their eyes quickly switched red as they all came to a sudden halt.

"Uuuh…" everyone groaned, shaking off their daze to see that the tank had rear ended against the side of Sweet Apple Acre's barn. And looking down at them from the rooftop, were three stunned fillies staring at them.

"Applejack!" Apple Bloom shouted, beaming at the sight of her sister. "Big sister, I missed you so much! Where've ya been all this time?" Still looking down at the group below, she saw that her sister scowling as stood facing Pinkie, Fluttershy, General Guy, and Bowser. "Applejack? You okay, si—" Apple Bloom stopped, feeling a big thud coming from nearby trees behind the cart.

The trees lined behind a smashed portion of the fence, toppled over as Dino Piranha stepped out. Panting every step it took, with its tongue drooping out over it lips, it staggered towards Applejack who smiled at his approach.

"Ya'll see that," she said to the group in front of her. My little piranha plant's still alright. Now's time we finally send ya'll packin'"

With Dino Piranha slowly wobbling its way towards them, Pinkie Pie charged Applejack and started shoving against her shoving against her. "Applejack, you've gotta snap out of it!"

While they had their little shoving match, Fluttershy was taking aim with her cannon. Despite seeing bits of light rising up from her forelegs, she focused on her friends fighting in front of her and waited for an opening.

Stilling butting heads with the pink haired mare, Applejack noticed Bowser getting up. She pushed Pinkie back just as Bowser ran up to her. Applejack kicked, sending Bowser against the barn wall and falling right behind Pinkie's cannon. She then kicked Pinkie Pie, sending her flying towards her cannon and inside the barrel.

"Welp, that's all she wrote," said Applejack looking at the battered duo as the platform they stood on began to flash brightly. With all the lights rising up around her, Applejack didn't notice the large one headed right for her.

She grunted from the wind being knocked out of her as a sphere of electricity slammed against her chest and carrying her forward against against Dino Piranha. Bowser, stunned by what happened, looked to his right where the shot came from to see Fluttershy almost completely surround in light smiling at him. He then looked to his left to see a shining General Guy salute him. Following his example, Fluttershy also saluted as well just as they vanished.

With the tank suddenly gone, Bowser dropped a few feet to the ground. Ignored the pain from the fall, he looked ahead to see Dino Piranha falling towards him like a tree. Noticing the pink cannon by his feet, he gave it a hard kick. A plum of streamers and confetti along with a pink cannon ball shot up. The furry pink ball slammed against Dino Piranha's chin and bounced off, flying up and over the barn as the falling plant fell back from the blow.

Landing on a pile of hay, Pinkie Pie rushed around the barn and climbed onto the fallen dino's belly. She stopped at what looked like a belly button and reached inside.

"Come on… where are you?"

Her hoof moved about between the folds of fat until she finally felt something grab at her.

"There!"

Pulling as hard as she could, she plucked out Applejack who fell with her off the side of Dino Piranha's belly and landed in front of Bowser, Big Mac, Granny Smith, and the girls who had gathered around after all the commotion.

Applejack, with the orange back in her coat, stood up with a bewildered look upon her as she noticed everyone around her. "What? Apple Bloom, Big Mac, Granny Smith? I'm home? Wasn't I in Equestria a minute ago? Weren't we under attack? How'd I?" –She noticed Bowser standing behind everyone. "You!" She pounced over everyone, tackling the Koopa behind them. "What are you up to?"

"Applejack, wait! Stop!" Apple Bloom said pulling her sister off with Pinkie, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's help. "It's cause of him and Pinkie Pie that you've come back to yer senses, sis."

"Back to my senses? What in Equestria are you talkin' about, Apple Bloom."

"You see, you came back here all grey and stuff and then started working deep in the fields. Big Mac and I were gonna go and searching for ya when from out of nowhere those weird plants things showed up and forced us out."

"Weird plants?" Struggling with her thoughts as Apple Bloom explained, Applejack felt something rustle under her hat. "Wait…" Taking off her hat, she looked inside. "Is that—it is!" She reached in and pulling out a tiny Dino Piranha with half an eggshell covering half its body. "Peewee!" she announced, smiling at the little squeaking plant in her hoof.

Apple Bloom stared at her sister. "Hold up, you know what that thing is?"

"Course I do. I planted em after all. Wait… I did plant them. I remember raising em and the others too. I just—" Applejack looked down at the creature. "can't… remember..." She seemed as though she was struggling with her memories. "What happened to me?"

Pinkie Pie stepped in and cleared her throat as she sat down before everyone. "Okay, Applejack, let me fill you in. It started when…"

Hearing the beginning of the same tale third time, Bowser's eyelid began to feel heavy.

"That's when I ran into Bowsie, and we..."

With each familiar word the weight increased.

"Then we got on a train…..An then we…."

Until he finally fell asleep.

Waking up to what seemed like hours later, Bowser heard Pinkie still talking.

"And that's when I pulled you out from that things belly and we all started talking. And—" Pinkie suddenly hit AJ with a hugging tackle. "I've missed you so much."

Apple Bloom joined in. "Me too, sis! And now with you back and those things gone, we can finally get back to fixing the fields."

Applejack raised a brow at her little sister. "Fix the fields?" She looked back to see what Apple Bloom was talking about. "What happened to… our fields!" As Applejack's jaw dropped from the sight of the wrecked orchard, Peewee Piranha let out a weak little yelp in her hoof.

She looked down and smiled at it. "You're right Peewee, I've just gotta dive right in and get to fixin."

A group of Piranha Plants suddenly sprang out of from the ground around her, all of them yelping like the little on in her hoof.

"Well isn't that sweet." Applejack said to them. "Ya'll wanna help out too. Of course ya'll can help."

"Aw, what a touching sight," Discord's familiar voice rang out, flying up above them. "Family, friends, and Piranha plants all working together save the farm. Too bad dear Applejack will be taking a trip with me instead. But don't worry she won't be alone, she'll be joining her other friends. Now co—a"

A Piranha Plant helplessly flew through the air, just missing the draconequus who vanished in a trumpeting flash of white light and reappeared again in the same spot.

Grabbing hold of another flower, Bowser took aim and threw. "I knew you'd show your ugly mug sooner or later!"

Discord shot Bowser a shrewd gaze. "Predictability on my part is only because you two actually managed to best dear Applejack and her pets. But really," –He vanished again, reappearing with his arms wrapped around Applejack and Pinkie Pie. — "don't you enjoy my little visit."

Applejack brushed him away. "The only visitin' I'd want with you involved is when I'm visitin' you as a statue."

"Now that kind of honesty hurts, Applejack. I think I preferred you better as a liar, even if you were bad at it." A cloud of smoke surrounded him just as Bowser came up from behind and grabbed him.

"Yeowch!" Bowser hollers as the cloud clears to reveal a cactus in his arms.

Appearing above everyone again, Discord waved a paw at Applejack. "Whatever. Now you can be as honest as you want with the others while you're enjoying your stay in our gracious host Bowser's castle."

White light swept down like a wave across the barn and orchard fields, wrapping itself around Applejack as well as the hundreds of vines and Piranha plants in the area. The lights surrounding them flared up, forcing the others to cover their eyes.

Taking a look after the lights finally died down, Pinkie saw that the vines surrounding the orchard had vanished, and with them so did Applejack.

Apple Bloom stared down at the Stetson that lay beside Pinkie's hoof. "Sis."

Still floating up above them, Discord looked down at Bowser and Pinkie. "Now that that's taken care of, I must commend you two on your work so far. Remember when you beat that little daisy earlier, only to find out there were those other two waiting? Oh the looks on your faces were absolutely priceless. I'm so glad I picked the two of you for this game. Every moment so far has been a riot. Now then I'd best be off for now, I still have plenty of things to set up, and you two should already have your invitations."

"Invitation? For a party? We do?" Pinkie asked.

"Why yes. Wait, are you saying you didn't receive it yet?" Discord looked at the sand rising up on his hourglass wrist watch. "You'd think a postal service run delivered by ponies would be faster than this."

All of a sudden a cry coming from Ponyville ripped through the orchard. "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

"Hey, that sounds like Spike," said Sweetie Belle, talking over the boisterous outcry.

"Ah, there it is." said Discord. "I took the liberty of sending it to Twilight Sparkle's house. I figured I'd use her little assistant's scream as an way to get your attention. I suggest you two pay him a visit seeing as you both are his plus two. Just remember, I've got my eye on you two so even though this is technically a formal event, be sure to liven things up." With one final echoing laugh, Discord vanished.

With Discord gone and Applejack with him, all that remained of her was her Stetson that shuffled about on the ground.

"Huh?" Apple Bloom reached down and pulled the hat to reveal the infant Piranha plant under it. "Hey, you're that little plant Applejack was takin' care of, Peewee. Hey, what's that you've got in yer mouth?"

"Hmm?" Tucking Aj's hat away, Pinkie noticed a necklace with an orange apple gem Peewee held in its mouth. "That's Applejack's." Grabbing it from the little piranha plant, she held the drool covered necklace in her hoof.

*Pinkie got Applejack's drool covered necklace. Yuck.*

"With this, Applejack can help us like the Fluttershy and Twilight."

"Great…" Bowser sighed, finally calming down after Discords visit. "Now can we go and get the next one."

"Yup," Pinkie nodded. "Three friends down, two to go, then we can face Discord, put a stop to this, and get all our friends back. Come on, Bowsie let's head to Twilight's."

Chapter 9

Bowser and Pinkie's Super Bizarre Sage

Chapter 9

Past the outskirts of town and headed east through the lush green fields, Pinkie would be regaling Bowser with a toe tapping song if it weren't for someone else making outbursts of their own..

"Why. Why Whyyyyyyyyyyy!"

The ear splitting wails had Bowser walking with his hands against his ears the whole time, but despite his efforts the cries still permeated through. "Pinky!"

"Yes, Bowsie," she said with a smile.

Staring at her direction, Bowser took one hand off his ear and pointed at her back. "Will you get rid of that thing already! He's been crying like that ever since we met in town."

Lying on his stomach against her back, Spike sniffled under Pinkie's mane and quickly wiped away any sign of water against his cheeks. "I wasn't crying! That was just one of my mighty dragon roars."

"Whatever, pipsqueak," Bowser groaned, turning his attention to Pinkie. "Just send the pipsqueak back to Ponytown and lets go."

"But, Bowsie, it's impossible to send Spike to Ponytown."

"Why?"

"Because there's no such place as Ponytown. We can't send Spike somewhere the doesn't exist." Pinkie paused, looking at Bowser for a reaction, but when she spotted a scowl appearing on Bowser's face she continued. "Also Spike's our friend, and we never abandon friends. That and since we're his plus two, he's actually taking us there."

"Well I can't stand all the crying any more! I almost snapped already back in town when his crying got those bakery babies going too. One close call is all I can endure. Either pipsqueak toughens up or I take his invite and go without him."

Pinkie sighed at Bowser's ultimatum, then looked back to her passenger. "Spikie, me and Bowsie promised you we'd save Rarity, and that's what we're gonna do. Now just take a deep breath, relax, and before you know it we'll have Rarity and the others back with us. You just need to be brave while we head to... to..." She looked around the field. "Where are we going again?"

Pinkie's words brought Spike some relief, momentarily before her question had him quietly groaning and pulling out his invitation. "We're headed to the Diamond Dog's hide out by Rambling Rock Ridge remember? According to my invitation, inside their caves is where we'll find Rambling Rock Castle where Rarity is going to... going to..."

Even with his back turned on them, Bowser could make out the tell tale signs of another round of tears. "Oh great, here we go."

"I'm not gonna cry!" Spike shouted, furiously shaking his head. "I'm gonna to be brave, I'm going with you guys, and I'm gonna save Rarity myself!"

"Hmph." Bowser looked back, giving Spike a subtle nod. "That's some tough talk, pipsqueak. Alright, if you're as brave as you say you'll be, you can tag along. Just don't slow me down, and no more crying."

Pinkie nodded. "Yes sir, Bowsie!"

"Not you, Pinky! Wait... No on second thought, yeah, that go for you too."

Far from the vibrant fields and traveling trio, a rickety looking yet newly constructed building stood atop a hill. Inside its creaking walls was Goomba run restaurant where a familiar trio of Diamond Dogs seated at a booth. The three of them were on edge, sensing they were drawing some attention.

"Those little things keep staring at us," said Fido.

Rover looked out from his seat, spotting only sour faces looking back at him. "I don't know, and I don't like the way they're staring at us. But since they outnumber us, I say we don't do anything to get them angry. Especially since we need to stay here to meet that pony."

Sitting across from him with his head facing forwards and avoiding eye contact with any Goombas, Spot remained still. "Rover, are you sure this is the place that weird pony said to go?" He looked through the corner of his eye. "I don't see her anywhere."

Feeling nothing but glares digging at him, Rover slumped down. "Rrrrrrr... That Pony said to come here if we wanted to get our home back. Now where is she!"

While Rover sat nervously, Fido distracted himself by playing around with the salt and pepper shakers. "What do we do now?"

"We wait," Rover replied. "Maybe that pony is running late."

Patches of dirt marked the end of the fields as Pinkie, Bowser and Spike wandered in towards a barren dirt valley. Nothing but rocks, rocks and more rocks decorated the area until they finally arrived at the entrance of a cave.

"We're here, we're here!"

"Well seeing as there's nothing else around, I guess you're right. Let's hurry. After this I'll have only two more annoying thing to deal with." Leading the expedition deeper and deeper into the winding cave. Bowser made a left, a right, a left, another left, and several hundred other turns until he spotted a light and charged forward. "We're here!"

"Good job Bowsie." Jumping out behind him, Pinkie looked at where he led them. "You led us back outside."

"What!" Bowser looked around, recognizing the rocks nearby. "How'd"

"Don't worry Bowsie, at least we can count on you to find our way out."

Spike hopped off Pinkie's back and walked back towards the cave entrance. "That's great and everything, Pinkie, but first we need to actually find our way inside before we'll need to get outside."

"What, you have an idea, pipsqueak?"

Getting down on his hands and knees, Spike started sniffing against the ground the ground. "I think..." He took another whiff. "If I follow the sent of gems I'm picking up, then maybe I can find their castle. Diamond Dogs like hoarding gems, so if I can find where they're storing their gems then we'll probably find their castle."

With Spike's plan in effect, an eternity of dead ends and back-circling was done away with thanks Spike's nose. Pinkie followed behind him alongside Bowser and smiled at him, nudging her head at their guide dragon.

"Okay I'll admit it," Bowser whispered at Pinkie, who kept her beaming gaze on him. "It was a good idea to keep the pipsqueak along with us."

"Wasn't it?" said Pinkie, turning her head forwards. "When it comes to sniffing out diamonds, I know nopony better then little Spikie."

Listening in to their chat, Spike looked back at Bowser with his head held high. "So, you still think I'm getting in the way?"

"Just keep going, pipsqueak," Bowser sneered. "You haven't found anything just yet."

Gemstones started jutting out from the walls and floor the further they went in, giving Spike a snack to munch on periodically as he his nose to the dirt. His appetite was moved the path clear until he stopped before a large crystal blockade. Having trouble getting onto his feet, Spike rested his palms against his stomach and stared at his reflection. "Can't... eat... anymore..."

Bowser moved next to the tummy troubled tyke and started pushing against the wall. "Great," he said, unable to budge it. "Another dead end."

Spike put his ear against the wall and gave it a knock. "Wait." He paused, ear still against the wall. "The tunnel keeps on going past this. If we can somehow get through we can" --Spike looked back to the others.-- "Whoa!" He ducked, dodging a burly set of knuckles flying towards him. "What was that for?" Getting back up and hearing Bowser grunting along to the sounds of tunnel shacking pounds, he looked back to see Bowser pounding against the wall. "Hey, Pinkie, should we help him?"

Pinkie joined beside him as another round of slams shook both of them. "Nah. Bowsie like doing this sort of stuff on his own," she said, talking over the sound of knuckle against crystal. "He says it helps him blow off steam. Isn't that right Bowsie?"

"Hrrrrrraaaaah!" The tunnel suddenly shook harder then ever with bits of crystals glistening in the air. All the while Spike noticed a hair raising smirk under all the debris. He wondered what sort of thoughts could bring a smile while he threw such devastating punches, but then thought it best not to know.

"Just look at that smile," said Pinkie. "See, he likes it."

Bowser let out another bone chilling shout as he went sliding knuckle first past the now decimated wall and headed forwards towards a gem that sticking out of the ground. Unable to stop and stubbing his toe, Bowser lost balance-- "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" --and stumbled to the edge of a descending slope.

"Hang on, Bowsie, we're coming!" Pinkie and Spike shouted, sprinting after the edge teetering Koopa.

Together they leaped for his arm and held tight only to be yanked along as Bowser fell over on his back and down the slope. Landing on Bowser's stomach, Pinkie and Spike looked over the edge of the flipped shell and saw the trail was lined with jagged gems all over. With the shell scraping against the crystal lining, Pinkie and Spike rode the overturned shell as it slid further down the cave.

Shooting down a whirling, spinning pipe of quick twists, loops and sudden drops, Pinkie's gleeful laugh echoed through the tunnels as she sat at the front with her hooves in the air while Spike held tightly onto her for dear life.

"Wheeee!"

With a trail of mesmerizing crystal sparks behind it, the high speed shell sled corkscrewed its way down even further.

"Whoooooooooaaa!" Still clutching Pinkie tight, Spike opened his eyes just in time to see them going off a jump. "Ahaaaaahaaaahaaaa!" He shut his eyes, not wanting to know whether they made it or not and grasped Pinkie even tighter. "How much longer does this tunnel go?!"

"Eh, not much longer, Spike." Spike suddenly felt the ride come to a sudden halt. "See, we're already here."

Feeling Pinkie stand up, Spike slowly opened his eyes. "We've, we've finally stopped."

"Finally," Bowser sighed, sticking his head out from his shell. With his two passengers now off, he rolled over and looked over his shoulder. "Is my shell okay?"

"Yup, still as shining and spiky as ever." Looking around, Pinkie Pie spotted a tunnel she thought would surely lead her to Rarity. "Come on boys, we've got a party to join.

At the front of a tall crystal wall that spanned across a massive cave, two Diamond Dog guards in thick armor stood watch.

"Good think we have guard duty huh?" said the one on the left, nudging his shoulder against his partner.

"Yeah," the other chuckled. "I couldn't take another minute of that pony ordering us around."

"Ordering stuff like, 'arrange those flowers.'"

"'Change those light.'"

"'Fix that crystal table.'"

"'Set up those banners.'"

"'Rearrange those flowers.'"

"I wish those little guys were still around, that way we wouldn't be doing it."

"Yup. Good thing we're out here where is it's nice and qui--hey, what's that?" They, readied themselves for whatever was coming towards them, only to be surprised at what came skipping down the tunnel.

"Woooooooow!" Looking around, Pinkie's eyes were instantly drawn to the shimmering light blue wall. "It's so pretty and shiny."

"Hey, look, there's some guys over there." Bowser pointed to the guards. "We must be headed the right way."

"Then let go," said Spike, sprinting for the gate. "Rarity's waiting."

Pinkie chased after him across the expanse between the tunnel and wall. "Spike wait up."

Seeing the excited little dragon running towards them, one guard held his paw. "Halt! No one's allowed inside the castle."

The second guard kept his eye on Bowser and Pinkie. "By order of Crystal King, none shall disrupt the ceremony."

"Crystal King, order?" Bowser eye began to twitched. "Listen chumps, you're talking to the Koopa King here! I don't take orders. I don't care if they've been brain washed, I don't take orders from my minions."

"Wait!" Seeing Bowser's fists balling up, Pinkie intercepted before he could address them with his usual grace and held up Spike's invitation to the guards. "We've got an invitation."

Both guards bent down and stared quizzically at the sheet she waved in from of them. They snatched it from her, pulling it up close then far, turning it upside down and flipping it over; they even putt their noses on it and gave it whiff. All the while Spike, Pinkie and Bowser just stood there, waiting for an answer.

"Nope," both guards blurted as one of them tore the paper to shreds.

Spike's eyes flew open, watching the pieces fall to the ground. "What!"

"No one's allowed inside," said the other guard, his helmet rattling as he shook his head.

Dropping to his kneels, Spike clutched what shreds he could grab. "But, but, my invitation..."

"There never were any invitations."

Spike looked up. "What?" Confused, Spike looked back down at the strips. "Then who sent this to me?"

"Discord," Bowser grumbled, stepping up next to him. "He must have sent it to you just so Pinky and I'd know where to go next."

"If that's true how are we supposed to get in now?" Spike asked, looking up at him.

"Easy..." Calm placing a palm on both Pinkie and Spike, Bowser gently slid the two out of the way. "We just..." He threw a punch, sending a guard slamming against the gate. "Do that and get in."

Looking back to his sucker punched colleague, the remaining guard pulled a whistle out from under his armor. Bowser swung again, sticking him next to the other but not before his whistle managed to let out a small burst.

"There, let's go."

"Alright, now we can get inside. Good work, Bowsie," said Pinkie.

Approaching the gate, they readied themselves for what awaited them on the other side, but before any of them could a hoof or claw against the reflective door they heard a series of spine tingling howls spewing over the wall. The howls drew closer, coupled with a quickly growing sound of footsteps. The three of them swiftly moved back, just in time to avoid the gates slamming open as a flood of Diamond Dogs spilling out from the other side.

Spike ran behind Pinkie and Bowser and looked to the gate as more and more guards appeared. "What do we do? There's hundreds of them!"

With the guards forming a line that stretched as wide as the wall, Bowser cracked his knuckles. "We're breaking through that's what we're gonna do. You two ready?"

Reaching into her mane, Pinkie pulled out her mallet. "Ready, Bowsie."

Seeing the two of them preparing to throw down, Spike stepped back in shock. "You two are gonna fight?"

"Yup," Pinkie calmly replied.

"Hey," Bowser looked back at him. "Didn't you say you'd save that friend of yours. Now's your chance. Time to show us you meant it."

Spike leaned to the side, looking past the gate and spotting a castle in the distance. Inside those shimmering walls he knew he'd find the pony he wanted to save. "Rarity." With Bowser's words ringing in he ears, Spike gritting his teeth and ran up between Pinkie and Bowser. "I will be brave!" He looked to Pinkie who smiled back at him. "I'm not a pipsqueak!" He looked to Bowser who simply nodded. "I said I'm gonna save Rarity, and I mean it. Hang on Rarity, I'm coming!" The three of them then charged, headed straight for the army of Diamond Dogs charging at them.

Surrounded on all sides, Bowser made the first move and drilled his way through rows of guards by way of his fists. Metal clanged against his fist as he slid forwards before finally stopping. Paw reached out for him in the mob, all of them pelting and pushing him back. Swinging in the direction of each paw coming his way, Bowser decked countless dog but still felt himself being forced back.

Standing out of the amassing swarm, Pinkie spotted the back of Bowser's shell coming into view from inside. With her hammer in her teeth she ran up to the mobs edge and slammed against the shell that was moving closer. Her blow directed Bowser forwards once more, crashing through more guards like an unwilling cannon ball. Fists thrashing through more of the barking brigade, he cleared a patch for Pinkie and Spike follow after him.

Converging their numbers to stop Bowser again, the Diamond Dogs started shoving him back harder than before. Spike and Pinkie prepared to push against Bowser when a dozen sets of paws reached out and yanked them away. With no one supporting him, Bowser ended up getting tossed out of the mob along with Spike and Pinkie.

"No, I won't let you guys stop me." Spike charged in again, making his a approach against a guard when he suddenly heard a boom coming from behind. Behind him he spotted Pinkie Pie taking aim with a cannon she seeming pulled out of nowhere. Large, neatly wrapped presents flew out from the cannon, soaring over spikes head and into the crowd. Spike kept moving as blasts of colorful plumes, confetti and streamers ripped through the crowd. He leaped for the guards at the front, swiping his claws against their armor and hardly leaving a scratch on it. The guard let out a laugh before kicking Spike away

Firing another round of present bombs into the army, Pinkie spotted a scaly purple ball headed in her direction and grabbed her hammer. "Hang on, Spike, I'll help you."

Feeling something hard suddenly smashing against him, Spike got a brief sensation of weightlessness before he felt something smash against him again.

"Ooooof!" A Diamond Dog cried out as a purple ball careened against him and caused him to crash against more guards behind him.

Bouncing off the toppled guard, Spike uncurled himself in time to come sliding face first in the dirt and stopping right in front of Pinkie Pie.

"Not bad, Spike," said Pinkie, giving him a helping hoof. "You're doing great."

"Yeah but no matter what we do they keep on coming." Spike looked to the army, unchanged despite efforts. "Maybe we need to fall back, come up with a plan."

Bowser came sliding backwards in front of them, forced out of the mob again. "No! We've just got to try harder!" Charging back in, he disappearing under a crashing wave of Diamond Dogs falling over him.

Pinkie ran in after him. "Come on Spike let's go.".

With a reluctant sigh, Spike grabbed onto Pinkie's tail as she galloped after their grumpy partner to continue their uphill battle.

Topside, the soil shook and rocks rumbled as chaos continued underneath. Dirt mounds suddenly sprang up with the sounds of barking and punches echoing under ground. One mound began to rise higher with cracks appearing at the top as the pounding got stronger and louder until three objects shout out from the top like rocks out of an erupting volcano

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

"Woaaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaa!"

"Rrraaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Walking out of a shabby establishment, a lone Goomba looked over to a group gathering outside. "Hey." He waddled to the group huddling around an unconscious Pinkie, Bowser and Spike. "Where'd they come from?"

"I dunno," another replied, turning his head to the clouds. "They just suddenly came crashing down from the sky."

"What should we do? Should we leave them out here?"

"It's bad business to have folks laying unconscious out here. Nah bring em inside." Circling around, the Goomba stopped in front of Bowser and took a moment to start at him. "I dunno why, but there's something about this guy."

The others joined in and stared as well.
"..."
"..."
"..."

"He does look sorta familiar... Whatever, just stick them next to those mutts."

The group encircled the three of them and lifted, "Nnnnnnnnn!" struggling to lift up Bowser.

"Sheesh, this guy weighs a ton!"

"Goomba up and get them inside already, I've got customers to deal with."

Inside, still waiting in their booth, Spot, Fido and Rover saw the lone Goomba walking in and quickly growled since it wasn't who they were waiting for.

"Rrrrr! Where is that pony!" Spot slammed his paws against the table, spilling food as the plates rattled. "She said coming here would get our cave back, but we're still just sitting here. I can't take it anymore."

Looking to the exit in hopes of seeing Trixie suddenly appear, Rover sighed and stood up. "Let's go. Looks like we'll have to do it on our own."

"Are you sure, Rover?" Fido asked, licking the last bits of his plate. "Maybe if we wait just a bit--"

"No!" Spot pounded the table again. "No more waiting! I can't stand getting angry stares from those things for another minute!"

"I agree." Rover turned and headed for the door. "Unless the answer to our problems walks in right now, we're on our own."

The door opened again and the trio watched, seeing a group come in carrying something familiar.

Fido pointed, watching them get carried in. "Hey, aren't those the guys that stopped us in the forest?"

"And the pyramid," Rover added.

Spot jump to his feet, standing on his seat and leaning against the back as he watched them get placed in the corner right behind their booth. "It is them! And they--"

"Hey!" A Goomba in a snappy red tie standing at a counter at the front of the diner glared at the yapping mutt. " Sit down and get your paws off the seats!"

Narrowing his eyes back at the Goomba, Spot quietly sat back down, looked to Rover, and tilted his head to the group now lying unconscious behind his seat. "And they look like they're out cold. Now's our chance to take all their goodies as payback for before."

Rover leaned over, eye the knocked out trio and smiled. "Let's go."

Lost in a dream staring little brown mushrooms with feet and faces, Pinkie was rustled from her unwilling slumber by the sudden sensation of being dropped to the ground.

"Nnnngh..." Her eyes still shut tight, she stretched her legs and let out a quick yawn. "Boy that was a weird dream... i think i remember seeing those guys back in Canterlot. i wonder what they were doing in my dream." Still closing her eyes, Pinkie felt someone's paw searching around in her mane. "Hey! Who's paw is that?" She opened her eyes to see a beady pair of yellow eyes looking back at her. Turning her sights off him, she looked to the sides to see his arms reaching into her mane. "Hey!" she cried jumping back and onto her hooves. "Thief!" To her left and right she saw Bowser and Spike still asleep and getting robbed themselves. "Bowsie, Spike, wake up! We're getting robbed!"

"What!" Bowser's eyes instantly flew open with a bone chilling roar and he leaped up to his feet, He roared again, his narrowed eyes going white as he stared down at the Diamond Dogs. "You three!" The building as he bellowed. "Trying to nab my stuff while I sleep huh?! I'm gonna--"

"Hey!" Everyone suddenly looked to the Goomba at the counter. "Keep it down over there, you're disturbing our customers."

"Quiet!" Bowser shouted back, too consumed with rage to recognize his minion really at him. "You're gonna be next after these three!" Putting his attention back on the thieves, he readied himself. "Let's go, Pinkie!"

Pinkie reached over and pulled Spike with her as she joined him. "Okie Dokie Bowsie."

"What?" said Spike, still a bit groggy said as she yanked him along. "What?"

The surrounding patrons watched from their seats while the fight began. Moving fast, Pinkie made the first move and tackled against the trio. She made her way back to the others, not noticing Spot was already making his counter attack.

Pinkie looked back, but before she could react Spot's paws were already in her mane, Just as she was about to buck him off, Spot hopped back holding Pinkie's hammer. "I'll be taking that, see."

"Hey!" Pinkie hollered, running a hoof through her mane.

Spike bolted in, "Give it back!" He reached for the hammer, merely inches from his claws when he felt something pull at his nape.

"Finder's keepers," said Fido, holding Spike up to his face before tossing him to the ceiling where his spines got him stuck.

"Hey," the Goomba at the entrance shouted, going red as he hopped at his counter. "Quit wrecking up my place!"

Oblivious to the little creatures pleas, Rover made his way to Pinkie and Bowser with his arms swinging wildly. Clocking both Koopa and pony with a double roundhouse, he hopped back to Fido and Spot's side.

Recoiling from the last blow, Pinkie looked to Bowser, noticed him taking a deep breath and ran behind him in time as Bowser exhaled cyclone of flames. Still on the ceiling and out of harms way, Spike looked down to see the roaring red and orange vortex tear across the room. Rover, Spot, Fido, braced themselves but were no match as they got washed away along with every Goomba and anything not fastened to the floor. Safely behind Bowser's shell, Pinkie watched everyone helplessly whirling around her and slam against the wall across from them. Seeing everything settling across the room, Spike wriggled himself free and dropped down besides Pinkie as she and Bowser slowly walked towards the mountain of tables and chairs.

A chair suddenly rolled off the mound as Rovers head popped out. "Is that--"

Just under him, Spot jumped out. "All--"

Lifting a charred table off his back, Fido rose up behind the two of them. "You got!" Together, they hopped off the pile. ready for another round when everyone noticed the rubble behind them begin to shack.

"My restaurant!" Exploding out of the mound, the Goomba shop keep observed the remains of his shop. "You've ruined it!" His tie ripped, scratches all over his body, and eyes blazing like the sun, he hopped with steam spouting off the top of his head. "You're gonna pay for what you did!"

The pile continued to rumble and suddenly exploded underneath him.

"Yeah!" The explosion of rubble caused by the other Goombas breaking out blew Rover, Spot and Fido towards Pinkie and Bowser's side. The formed up as the three Diamond Dog stood up now next to Pinkie Bowser and Spike.

Still hopping mad with his army of angry patrons behind him, the diner boss Goomba, stomped his little feet at the six of them. "We're gonna make you pay!"

"Wait, what?" Both Bowser and Rover let out, struggling to understand what was going on as a tidal wave of Goombas came crashing down on them.

"Hold on," Bowser paused, remembering something important he overlooked. "You all used to work for--" a head bonk against his chin cut Bowser off. The knee high army raining down on them bum rushed with a series of tackles and head bonks.

"What are we gonna do?" Spike shouted over the brown surge. "They're all over us!"

Rover snorted. "Why don't you try fighting like a dog." With the next wave dying down, he and his dogs barreled forwards and broke through the barrage, tossing Goombas every which way with their paw swipes Their efforts momentarily cleared the floor before more Goombas charged in again.

"I can't let those flea bag have all the fun." Swiping his claws, Bowser cleared a path and join the trio. Pinkie and Spike followed him as they stood in a circle facing the army all around them. "Time I show these minions why they work for me."

Wave after wave of Goomba hordes flew all over the place as Koopa king, pony, dragon and diamond dogs fought alongside one another. A group of Goomba's stacked atop on another were no match against Pinkie's nimble hops to their heads, but a group wearing spiked helmets stopped her in her tracks.

"Hey, pony, catch!"

Looking to the source of the voice, Pinkie saw Spot chucking her hammer back to her. She caught it, swinging it against the group of spiked Goomba closing it. With them out of the way she waved back a Spot. "Thank you."

One Goomba, knocked away by Bowser's crushing fist, rolled to the corner and looked another of his fellow partners. "Hey, don't you feel something familiar about that big guy?"

"Well now that you mention it, their is something about him that make me feel nostalgic. I just can't seem to remember."

"This may seem weird, but I think it has something to do with the way he pummels."

"... Now that you mention it, I got that feeling too. What do you think it means?"

"No clue, but since we're fighting we'd best just keep going at it. come on."

With his fellow Goomba running back into the carnage, the other Goomba was left to think. "Hmm, maybe your right. Who knows, maybe we'll remember if we keep getting pummeled." With a quick shrug, he ran back in, making his way towards Bowser.

Bowser was making light work of another group coming at him when another group standing inside large green boots dropped down from above and kept jumping against his shell. He wast about to move out of the way when a separate group of raccoon tailed Goombas came at him with their tails swinging.

"Get away from him!" Spike came rushing in, tacking one aside before lunging after another.

Spot and Rover jumped in to help. Spot climbed up Bowser's shell and started kicking away boot riders while Rover helped Spike clear the ones below.

Now matter how many they took out with Bowser's fire, Spike's slashes, Pinkie's hammer, and the Diamond trio's thrashing, replacement Goombas just kept filling in. Football helmeted one, green ones, blue ones, ones in spiked chestnut shells, ones with skulls over them, some standing as large as Bowser, they all just came marching in to the fight. Although doing her best along with the others Pinkie couldn't help but be amazed at the assorted Goomba parade.

"Oh look at that one, and that one! Oh my gosh they;re so cute. Check out that one. Wait, oh my gosh! Those are made out of paper!"

Holding a wriggling Goomba in his hands, Bowser looked to the entrance. "Did you say paper? Oh no."

While all sorts of havoc took place inside the dingy diner, just a distance away, an iconic cape wearing show-mare was making her way onto the scene.

"Uhh, I can't believe this!" Holding down her hat as her cape flowed in the breeze, Trixie made her way through the roaming hills. "I am so late. The great and power Trixie is almost never late." She looked ahead, spotting the lone building in the distance. "I'll just tell them I was busy doing something great and powerful. I'm sure those three'll buy it, Especially after I go over how to get their cave back." Trotting closer and closer, she noticed the house rattling as tiny brown figures came shooting out the windows and breaking through the walls. "Uh-oh, looks like the other two arrived before I did. I better make sure they get too rough with each other or else thing might not go as smoothly as planned." She went into a sprint, now dodging screaming Goombas dropping around her as she got closer. At the door, Trixie ducked as another group got flung out and made her way into the hornets nest. She stood in silence, watching a squadron of paper planes dive down towards the group below. "What in Equestria is going on here!"

Ragged, worn, and breathing heavily, Pinkie and company were swatting away the dive-bombing sheets. The multi-folded paper Goombas swooped back to their side where they unfolded back to their 2-D shape and grouped up by their edges to form a giant towering square. They then all flipped over to their backside to reveal the image of a giant sparkling 2-D Goomba standing as high as the ceiling.

"Everyone, get ready." Bowser yelled, as the sparkling mega-Goomba rolled itself up and fell over.

Its body spanning the width of the room, the rolled up paper flattened dozens of exhausted Goombas in its way as it got closer to the group. Trixie watched the paper steamroller ran down everything. She jumped back out the door just in time to avoid the roller and quickly ran back in as it passed where she saw it come to an abrupt stop.

Bowser, Fido, Spot, Spike and Rover where holding the roller back. Pinkie was standing right behind them and reaching into her mane. "Hang on everypony, I gonna call in some help." Pulling out Twilight's tiara, she held it up high.

"Stooooooooooop!"

Everyone stopped. The rolled up Goomba poster unfurled and looked back to the entrance along with everyone else.

"What are you all doing? Trixie slowly made her way further inside, passing piles of groaning Goomba all over the place. "The great and powerful Trixie did not arrange this meeting so you all could all work together, not fight each other."

"Arrange?" Fixing what was left of his tattered tie, the diner boss Goomba stumbled out from one of the piles. "We don't know about any meeting."

"Yeah, what's this about a meeting?" said Bowser, stepping up as well "Last time I saw you, you were teaming up with my brainwashed minion under Discord. This must be another of his tricks, isn't it?"

Every Goomba suddenly hopped to their feet and glared at Trixie. "Discord!"

"You're working for Discord?"

"We hate that guy!"

"We were happy, working ourselves hard for Princess Rarity when he suddenly fired us."

"Cast us aside like we were nothing. Princess Rarity and Crystal king tried to keep us but Discord said no and had those smelly dogs replace us."

"We miss, Crystal King."

"We miss Princess Rarity."

"We miss getting bossed around."

"Yeah!" the Goombas all shouted.

"Just like the good old days."

"Yeah back when we used to work for... work for."

"I remember our old king's name started B."

"Yeah it was B-something. What was it."

A thunderous stomp drew everyone eyes. "I'll tell you who you worked for." Striking a stoic pose, Bowser looked out to his amnesiac army. "You worked for me, Bowser! You were all part of my fearless army. You're all brave soldiers who always marched forward to victory. Enduring stomping feet, fire balls, Koopa shells, or bottomless pits, your endless numbers guaranteed our conquest. 'Marching straight ahead into the enemy's feet!' That's the creed you all live by!"

Various Goomba's nodded. "Hmph, that does sound familiar."

"Baloney!" The diner boss Goomba marched over to Bowser. "You think we'd ever work for someone like you? You're out of your mi--" A bonk to the head courtesy of Bowser's fist silenced him. Still quiet, he looked into the Koopa's eyes. "Lord Bowser, where are we?"

With that matter settled, Bowser focused back on the group. "Together we'll get Crystal King and that 'Princess Rarity' back!"

Pinkie and Spike joined in as more Goombas shouted out. "Yeah!"

"And together we'll take down Discord and make him pay."

With Spot, Rover and Fido now joining in, everyone but Trixie let out a final shout. "Yeah!"

"Ahem," Trixie cut in as everyone's excitement died down. "I'm glad you're all eager and seeing eye to eye, but before you do anything rash the great and powerful Trixie thinks you should come up with a plan of attack."

"Plan shman!" Bowser growled. "With my Goomba troops back on my side, I don't need a plan. After all, storming castles is my specialty. Everyone just follow my lead and together we'll beat everyone in our way."

Not wanting to argue, seeing that it'd get her nowhere, Trxie stepped aside as Bowser made for the exit.

"Alright everyone, march!"

The newly allied Goombas followed Bowser in tight formation out the door with Pinkie, Spike, Rover, Spot and Fido walking behind their tightly synchronized footsteps. With the last Goomba marching out the door, Trixie stood alone in the remains of the ramshackle diner.

She sighed. "Hopefully they'll be alright without a plan. I'm sure they will. After all they've managed to come this far without one." She walked to one of the countless holes in the wall to see the last file of Goombas wander out sight. "Well they may not have a plan but as for the great and powerful Trixie, I've still got one more plan to get started on."

"Really now," A voice spoke out behind her. "another one?"

Trixie quickly turned to see a Koopa dressed in a purple robe riding atop a broomstick.

"Looks like the little mare for hire has been busy helping out those two in secret. Did you think master Discord didn't know what you were up to."

Trixie jumped for the opening behind her, but a bulky yellow block dropped from above and cut her escape. The old Koopa raised her wand, summoning more blocks over every possible opening.

"Suddenly joining us on your own, choosing to team up with Tutankoopa and Twilight. You must have hoped to save her first, didn't you? But that proved impossible. I bet once you saw those two come along you put your hopes in them to do it for you and started working in secret to help them." She cackled circling around overhead. "You only got so far because that's what master Discord wanted." With her puttering broomstick hovered down closer she aimed her wand at Trixie who glared back at her. "It's time you really join us."

"Nooooo. Noooooo!" Trixie tried to run, but her body started hovering off the ground. Wriggling wildly, she vanished under a plume of smoke that wrapped around her.

"Come along pony, we've got to get ready in case those two actually make it to us. But first let's pay master Discord a visit. I'm sure he be able to change that attitude or yours."

The brute, the baker, and the troublemaker

Bowser and Pinkie’s Super Bizarre Saga.
By Alkem.

Chapter 1.

In a far away land known as the Mushroom Kingdom, a king was preparing his next invasion. Rising from his throne, the king made his way to the balcony. He wasn't your typical looking king; in fact he wasn't even human. His appearance was that of a giant yellow turtle with a green shell covered in spikes. Fiery red hair that matched his bushy eyebrows and set of horns that jutted out of his head, he caused to room to shake slightly with each bipedal step he took. Now on the balcony, looked out over the railing and observed as his army in the field below preparing themselves when something caught his eye. A group of his minions, a trio of bizarre brown creatures composed only of a mushroom shaped head and two feet, were playing cards.

How in the world do they do that with no arms? He thought to himself. Pending his curiosity for the moment, he eloquently gave the three a royal order. “Hey you lousy Goombas! Quit playing around and get back to work! Things had better be ready when I get down there or you be in a world of hurt!” His booming voice startled the trio, causing them quickly drop their cards as they looked up.

They nervously bounce, replying back to their liege. “Y-Y-Yes, Lord Bowser!”

“Right away, your Nastiness!”

“Aww, and I was about to win big—I mean yes sir!” The trio ran off, muttering to themselves as they left.

Bowser, king of the Koopa Kingdom. Leader of the dreaded Koopa Troop and self proclaimed 'most baddest, awesomest' guy around, resumed supervising his collection of highly trained minions sprawled out before him. As he continued looking over his soldiers, someone approached from behind.

“Your Gnarliness, preparations have been completed. The troops are ready and the Mega Pipe is up and running.”

Bower turned to see one of his highest ranking officers. A Koopa like him, only much smaller and missing the spikes on his shell, the soldier wore a wizards robe and hat that was blue all over. The only part of it that wasn't was the white brim on the hat and on edge of his sleeves. Watching his king turn to face him, the wizard turned his head up to make eye contact and took a moment to adjust his set of thick round glasses resting on his beak. “We await your order, sire.”

Bowser smiled. one of his fangs flashing as he did. “Excellent. Soon the Mushroom Kingdom will be all mine. Have the troops report inside the castle; we begin shortly.”

While Bowser made his exit, his attendant went to the edge of the balcony. “Everyone listen up! Report inside to the main chamber! The plan starts soon!”

Within a colossal chamber lined with marble pillars that seemed to go on forever, the various creatures that made up Bowser’s army filled the room. They were jammed tight, bickering among themselves as they waited for the large red curtain at the front to open.

“Give me some space!”

“Hey, move your shell!”

“I can’t breathe!”

“Mrph!”

The lights went off, silencing the crowd and a voice began ringing throughout the chamber.

“And now, give it up for the one, the only, the king of all Koopas, Bowser!”

Bowser burst forth from behind the curtains, waving both claws high in celebration. The crowd went wild, with confetti and streamers falling all around. They cheered as their leader walked forwards and stopped next to a lever.

“Listen up!" The cheering instantly stopped. "Today’s the day we finally take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Thanks to the Mega Warp Pipe, we’ll surprise Peach’s Castle and take over before they know what hit them. No one, not even Mario, will be fast enough to stop us this time!”

His minions began jovially jumping and cheering. “Yeah!”

“He’s so awesome!”

“Bowser’s the greatest!”

“Mrph!”

With his troops riled up, Bowser proceeded to pull the lever next to him. Everyone fell silent once more as the entire room began to quake. Outside, Bowser’s castle started rising from the ground as flames shot out from a set of rockets positioned underneath it. Now airborne, the massive fortress began flying towards a gigantic green colored pipe that stuck out of the ground and landed on top with a thud. It immediately started descending into the pipe, making an odd sound as it swirled its was deeper into the pipe's dark depths. Inside the castle, things were a bit more hectic then it looked on the outside. The room was spinning; sending everyone flying helplessly as the castle was in what felt like an endless free fall.

Without warning, the castle abruptly landed, sending everyone inside to the ground. Groans and moans from the troops reverberated through the chamber as everyone slowly staggered back onto their feet. Shaking the dazed feeling in his head, Bowser looked over his still recovering army.

“We’ve arrived. Battle stations everyone! Our invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom starts now.

The battalion made their approach on the castle city, still a little discombobulated from the jarring journey to get there. As they neared the city walls, Bowser heard the sounds of battle horns being played in the distance. The enemy was preparing to confront them.

“CHARGE!” Bowser yelled out as his army proceeded into the city.

Inside of the castle, a pegasus clad in gold armor hurried to the throne room to warn his princesses. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Canterlot is under attack!”

The two pegasus unicorns jolted up from their thrones upon hearing the news. Standing a few feet away from them were their six guests, all of them gasping at the news.

“Who would do such a thing?” Celestia questioned.

“I do not know your majesty; they appear to be a bunch of strange looking creatures the likes of which I've never seen."

Luna rose from her seat and stomped her hoof. “Quickly then, we must bolster our defenses and drive back these invaders!”

Back outside, the attacking forces were making their way towards the castle. Among the ranks of the two clashing armies, the troops were asking themselves a set of similar questions.

“What are these things?”

“Never seen Toads like these before.”

“Dear sweet Celestia, we’re being invaded by turtles?”

“Why are these guys so colorful?”

“Did I just see a bullet with arms and eyes?”

In the thick of the battle, Bowser was making his way to the castle. As he moved forward, another squadron of pegasi knights flying overhead got in his way. Not wanting to put up with these strange annoyances, he grabbed one of his minions. “Let’s see how you Toads like a taste of a Bob-omb.”

With the soldier in hand, Bowser exhaled a small bit of fire from his mouth and ignited the wick on the black orb shaped troop's head. He then tossed the ignited soldier up towards the soaring knights. The wick trickled down and the bob-omb exploded, knocking the squad out of the sky and ridding Bowser of one more obstacle.

Grinning after dispatching those feeble guards, Bowser continued making his way forward while all around him the two armies continued to clash. Ponies were being hit by turtle shells, Goombas were being stomped flat under hooves, Koopa shells were sliding all across the battlefield, and the sound of Bob-ombs and Bullet Bills could be heard going off in the distance.

At the castle's main gate, the only thing left standing in his way were a group of armored unicorns all holding shield about as big as them.

“Hold the line ponies! We must not let this fiend breach the castle!” one solider cried out.

Bowser scoffed. “Gwahaha! You think that'll stop me from getting the princess? Outta my way you freaky Toads!” He cocked back and threw his mighty fist forward, sending him sliding forwards. The knights were no match against his strength and were tossed aside like bowling pins as he smashed through the door and continued sliding further inside.

Deeper, in the castles throne room, the princesses and their guests were discussing how to handle the urgent matter at hand.

One of the six guest ponies stood by the window, keeping their eyes glued on the action outside. “I say we should be out there helping them fight."

Another one, joined her at the glass. “I agree with Rainbow Dash," the cowboy hat wearing pony added, looking on as the war outside continued. "I just don’t feel right standin' around like this."

One of the other ponies in the group, a white coated mare with a purple mane, turned to faced them. “We don't even know what these creatures are, Applejack, let alone what they are capable of.”

They all continued their discussion to determine what their best course of action could be. That was until they heard a commotion just past the throne room doors.

“Aaaaah!” Guards shouted as a few of them were tossed into the room. Their flung bodies smashed through the door and sprawled about the entrance. Most of them lying unconscious, one reaching his hoof towards them. “Your highnesses, I'm sorry." Barely able to utter those words, he joined he fellow soldier and blacked out as well.

The girls were left wondering who could be responsible for such a scene when their answer came sliding in. Now standing at the doorway, Bowser looked back at his trail of destruction. “Bwahaha!" He made his way in, looking down at the fallen defensive line. "Told you those defenses won’t stop me." He began to look down the long corridor. "Now, where are you princess?” Down at the end of the room he spotted eight strange colorful creatures by a set of thrones, but none of whom he was after. After double checking, he started scratching his head. “Where’s the Princess?”

With the dangerous creature making his way towards them, Rainbow Dash decided to strike first. She charged, aiming her hoof straight at the invaders jaw. “If you want the Princess, you’re gonna have to go through me first.”

The sudden attack surprised Bowser, who took Rainbow’s hoof straight to the snout. He clasped his throbbing nose, watching the light blue oddity make its way with the others and then began to take a deep breath.

“Ghaaaaa!” Rainbow Dash quickly swirled upwards, dodging the flames shooting out from his mouth.

Focusing his fiery breath, Bowser tilted his head back and adjusted his aim. With his flames headed straight for her, Rainbow Dash nimbly managed to dodge fiery stream headed her way. Seeing he wasn't making progress, Bowser ceased his attack and looked to the other ponies. “So, you punks are the last thing in my way? Guess I better deal with you quick before he shows up then.”

Facing off against the six ponies while the princesses watched from behind, Bowser moved in to punch one of them. His scaly fist was about to connect, but Applejack hopped up and dodged it, landing on his head before jumping back with the others. Following up her friend’s attack, the purple unicorn used her magic to levitate a table and toss it at him.

Spotting the hovering furniture coming at him, Bowser countered with his fist, shattering it to pieces.

“Nice try Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. “Now let see if he can do that again with something moving a lot faster.”

Not missing a beat, Bowser looked at Rainbow Dash as she rose up to the ceiling and proceeded to dive-bombed him. Quickly retracting into his shell, Bowser avoided Rainbow’s powerful hoof stomp. Fed up with these nuisances, Bowser popped out of his shell and took another deep breath, this time aiming at the group in front of him.

“Come on Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash called out to the other pegasus with a light yellow coat and pink hair.

Catching on to what her friend had in mind, Fluttershy extended her hooves to her friends.

“Twilight, Rarity, grab on tight please.” With her friends holding on to her, she flew upward.

Rainbow Dash did the same with her other two friends. “Come on Pinkie Pie, AJ. Let’s go.” In a similar fashion, the two friends latched on and she rose up.

Both pegasi managed to ascend just before Bowser released a powerful wave of heat from his mouth. As he continued to breathe out flames, he tilted his head upward to catch the illusive targets.

He noticed that something was off. As he aimed up, his breath couldn't seem to reach them. The massive turtle took a second shot a roasting the mares and again noticed his breath didn't reach them. Even worse it seemed as though it was diminishing with each passing second. Confused, he paused and looked over to the two pegasus unicorns further back and became aware that their horns were aglow with the aura of their magic coursing through them.

“It’s you two. You’re the reason my fire’s so weak,” Bowser stated as he stamped his foot on the ground. He aimed his fist straight at them, sliding across the the floor.

“Princess!” The ponies in the air cried out as Bower closed in.

Just inches away from the sisters, he came to a complete stop. A aura had quickly began to enveloped his body, immobilizing him. Hearing the girls up above, he looked around. “Princess? I don’t see Princess Pea—oof!" He was suddenly cut off by a group of hooves that slammed on his head as the girls dropped back down. Before he could retaliate or even speak. Luna and Celestia used their magic to toss him out of the castle.

His body smashed through the wall, screaming “Nooooooo!” as he soared through the air.

As he flew over the battlefield, Bowser noticed his army continued to fight against the army of pony knights outside until he came to a brief and painful stop.

“Gack!” he grunted as his shell slammed into something hard. Bouncing off whatever he hit, he landed on his stomach with a hard thump.

Picking himself off the ground and shaking off dizziness, he looked up to see what he had hit. To his surprise it was a statue, an odd one at that. “Stupid statue. I almost broke my shell on it,” he muttered as he observed the stone figure, checking it out from head to toe. “That is one ugly statue.” He couldn’t help but laugh at the strange sculpture. “Look at that ugly face it’s making.”

Continuing to lay on the insults, Bowser started walloping it to relieve the anger he’d built up from being forcefully ejected earlier. Still assaulting the statue, cracks began to form, spreading until the stone figure broke apart.

“Yeah, take that for hurting my back you ugly statue,” he said, taking pride in his brute strength.

As the fragment from the fallen ornament settled, Bowser noticed something still standing where the stone figure formerly stood. Before him was a creature with a pony like head, a set of non-matching horns a snakes tail, two different looking wings, and an assortment of other random body parts. Just like the statue had.

“You mean something that ugly actually exists?”

The odd being stretched its arms out and gave a weary yawn. It looked over the Koopa and gave him a smile.

“Why hey there big guy, I guess I have you to thank for my impromptu release. What’s your name?”

“Bowser. King Bow—“

“Bowser? What an odd name, then again you are an odd looking... turtle?”

“Like your one to talk. What are you supposed to be?”

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Discord, the spi—“

“Save it, I don't have time for weirdos. I’ve got a kingdom to take over,” Bowser said as he walked away.

Discord’s eyes grew wide with intrigue. “Did you say you're taking over the kingdom?”

“Yeah me and my army are gonna kidnap the princess and take over,” Bowser replied, striking his palm.

“You have an army?” Discord pitch heightened as he raising a brow to the turtle before him.

“Of course, I’m the Koopa King after all. An awesome king like me’s gotta have an awesome army.”

Discord’s intrigue spiked again. “An army you say. What a fascinating idea.”

“Yup nothing stands up to the unstoppable Koopa troop.” Bowser said, puffing his chest out.

“An army, yes that would be interesting… “ Discord snapped his fingers in revelation. “Then it’s decided. I am going to borrow your army to have a little fun.”

Bowser slowly nodded, “Mmhm, that sounds reasonable… Wait what?”

With another snap of his fingers, Discord materialized a cage around Bowser. Not about to let himself be imprisoned, Bowser unloaded a barrage of fist onto the bars and shattered them. He then threw another fist, sliding towards Discord who vanished in a flash of light and reappearing behind him.

“My you certainly are a strong one. I'll have to be sure to avoid those fists of yours.”

Aggravated, Bowser unleashed his fire breath on him.

“Save your breath,” Discord said as he conjured up a fire extinguisher to douse out the flames. “After being imprisoned, I don't want to spend my free time playing with an overgrown turtle. I have chaos to spread and a new army to have fun with.”

Bowser ceased his attack and snarled at him. “Hah! You think my loyal soldiers are gonna side with you? You’re crazier than you look. And you looked pretty crazy to begin with pal. If anyone is taking over the Mushroom Kingdom it’s me, not some put together mishmash of a zoo.”

Discord looked at Bowser, tilting his neck back. “The ‘Mushroom Kingdom’ you say?” He scratched his chin for a second, pondering what that meant. “Oh I get it now. Silly turtle, it seems you’ve traveled a long way from home.”

Bowser crossed his arms, giving him a doubtful look. “Now what are you talking about?”

“Oh I hate ruining surprises, but since you did just free me and give me an army of my own to play with, I guess I can tell you this. You’re not in the ‘Mushroom Kingdom’. This, my heavyset liberator, is the kingdom of Equestria.”

“Equestrywha?” Bowser put his claw to his chin, tilting his head to the side as he pondered about what he just heard. “Hmm… That would explain the different castle. And why all the Toads look different. And why those six girls were there to stop me instead of Mario.” As the pieces came together his jaw dropped. "This means… my plans have gone to waste.”

“Well maybe for you they have. But thanks to your screw up, I’m free again. Plus I’ve got a brand new army I get to play with as I spread all sorts of chaos.”

Bowser looked at Discord with a grin across his lips. “Like I said chump, my soldiers ain’t siding with you.”

Discord returned the smirk with one of his own. “Oh we’ll see about that. By the way, did you mention something about six girls?”

“Yeah, those pests got in my way earlier, What about it?”

Laughing maniacally, Discord vanished in a flash of light, leaving Bowser alone at the front of a giant hedge maze.

Staring at the wall of plants, Bowser realized the only way back was to go through it. “Great, now I gotta figure my way outta here and back to my troops,” he grumbled as he started to make his way down the life sized puzzle.

While Bowser was busy finding his way around, Discord had appeared before the massive war zone taking place outside Canterlot Castle. He hovered above, enjoying the sheer calamity being caused by the assortment of soldiers that made up the Koopa troop. Some Canterlot soldiers took notice of the villain flying overhead.

“Look, it’s Discord! He’s been set free again! We must warn the princesses immediately!”

With a sinister grin smacked across his face, Discord began to enact his plan.

Back in the hedge maze. What Bowser thought would be a simple puzzle he would solve in a second had become a daunting challenge that was taking him hours.

“Grrrrr! What’s with this stupid maze! I’ve been here forever and no sign of an exit yet. Oh forget this.”

Giving up on finding the exit the traditional way, he went for his reliable method. His fist went flying through the wall of flowers, body following right behind it. Sliding to a stop in another part of the maze, a sudden stinging sensation engulfed his body.

“Ouch!” He cried as his body started to turn red with scratches he received from pushing through the wall of flowers. “Dumb plants! Let’s see how you like some of this.”

Exhaling flames, Bowser set the hedge wall ablaze. “Ha! That what you get for *Chough* scratching up my *garf* handsome scales *Hack*.” The fire started to spread quickly. Surrounded by intense flames, he realized too late that setting a hedge maze on fire while you’re still in it may not have been the best idea. “Uh oh.”

While a certain Koopa discovered a new way to motivate himself through a maze, Discord had already gone well underway with his plans. Canterlot was completely ravaged, the castle guards lay everywhere, overwhelmed by Discord’s surprise attack. Dozens of soldiers belonging to the Koopa kingdom were standing outside, mindlessly chanting.

“Go Discord, he’s our man! If he can’t do it, that's probably because he didn't want to do it to begin with! Yay Discord!”

“Isn’t it great to work for such an awesome draconequus like him? Man I love chaos!”

The crowd’s cheering was rudely interrupted by the cries of a creature being roasted. They all turned towards the green wall, to see what was causing the racket.

“Aaaaaaaah!” Bowser yelled as he ran through the final hedge wall, falling over before the crowd who stood there, silently looking down at his smoldering, twitching body. Getting up, Bowser brushed off the leaves and ash that covered him and looked to his soldiers. “What are you all doing just standing around? Don’t you see your King needs help?”

They all gave him the same look, furrowing their brows as the edge of their lips crook down. Bowser could hear the murmurs among his troops.

“Who’s this weirdo?”

“What’s he talking about being our ‘King’?”

“How dare he try to compare himself to lord Discord!”

The crowd quickly turned sour, they picked up random object littered about the battlefield, and began tossing them..

“You’re no King!” a Koopa cried out, throwing an apple core.

“Lord Discord is our leader!” A Goomba chanted as he tossed a discarded piece of armor.

Bowser lifted his arm up, protecting his face from the crowd's siege of garbage. “This is treason! You’ll all pay for this!”

“Oh now this guy’s trying to bully us, let’s get him!”

The enraged crowd rushed him, ready to defend the honor of their lord. Bowser clenched his fists and prepared to fend them off. “You guys think you can take me? I’ll show you why I’m the king.”

Meanwhile, inside of Canterlot Castle, Pinkie Pie was frantically running down the hallway as she dashed for the exit. She dared not look back, for Discord’s shadow could be seen following her. Making it outside, she witnessed the aftermath of the battle before her. Hundreds of pony knights along with the invading soldiers were strewn all over the place, weary from battle. Over by the ash pile, of what was once the royal hedge maze, more of the strange invaders lay unconscious atop a pile. Seeing nopony that could help her, she ran towards the statue garden where she ran into a group of strange creatures.

“Hey! Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” the lead Koopa said, looking over the pony. “Hey you, Pinky. Have you seen a big ugly guy around? Kind of looked like me only taller, fatter, with red hair and a spiky shell.”

A second strange creature in a red hooded robe wearing a white mask strapped to its face, rushed up to her. “That jerk insulted master Discord and beat a bunch of us up.”

“We got him on the run but he gave us the slip. We gotta find him.” A Goomba in the back of the crowd yelled out.

Pinkie, looking at the group, realized they had no clue who she was. She cleared her throat. “He went that way.” She said, pointing a hoof off to the distance.

“Thanks!” They said, running off.

After her run in, she continued her escape, encountering a large collection of bushes she could hide in. She leaped inside to take a short respite.

Pinkie Pie had suddenly jumped into Bowser’s hiding spot. Normally he’d kicked her out, but considering the circumstances, this wasn’t the time to make a scene. Plus he saw how she misled the group chasing after him. “Thanks,” he whispered.

Pinkie looked behind her and noticed the large Koopa sitting behind her. She was about to scream but caught herself, placing her hooves to her mouth. She examined at her new bush mate and leaned back, quietly gasping. “It’s you," she whispered. "Bowser.”

He stared back at her. “Hmm? Who are you?”

“My name is Pinkie Pie.” she said extending a hoof to him.

He swatted her friendly gesture away. “Well it was nice meeting yah Pinkie, but I gotta get going. Now that I’ve rested up a bit, I gotta go settle a score with that freak.”

A little frown lingered on Pinkie’s face, saddened by the missed opportunity to make a friend, but now wasn’t the time for that. “Oh. Okay.” she sighed.

Poking his head out to check if the coast was clear, Bowser popped out from the brush and started making his way to the castle. Pinkie Pie, now alone, thought about what to do next.

Earlier, when she was still with her friends, they were preparing to face off against Discord. Each of them carried their Element of Harmony and were about to fight. But that was when they came in. Barging through the doors, windows, and any other possible entrance the Koopa Troop surged the throne room. Overwhelmed and caught off guard, the 6 of them didn't stand a chance. Pinkie and her friends fought as best as they could, but the army’s numbers were seemingly endless. They carried her friends and the princesses away. She managed to slip away, hearing the mad laughter of Discord behind her as she ran.

Back in the bush, Pinkie slapped her cheeks to psych herself up. “It’s up to me now, I have to go and save my friends.”

“Do you think you can?” a familiar sinister voice asked.

Pinkie turned around, gasping at who was behind her.

Discord yanked the pony out from her hiding spot, holding her tightly in his paw with only her head sticking out. “Ah Pinkie Pie, I found you. You know, I was always really good at hide and seek. And now the game is over. I’ve already caught your friends. Now it’s your turn to join them.” He pulled her close and gave her a strange hypnotic stare.

She wriggled frantically, looking away from his eyes. But Discord gently clasped his talons on her head, forcing her to peer into his gaze.

“No.” she uttered, trying to free herself.

“Aww Pinkie, where’s that smile? I thought you loved to smile smile smi—ack!”

Pinkie was dropped to the ground as Discord’s body was sent back. She moved her hooves away from her face to see what had happened. just in front of her she saw the familiar spiky green shell of the fellow from before.

“That's for taking my minions!” Bowser hollered to the decked draconequus in the distance.

Discord flapped his wings, raising himself onto his feet. “Well-well-well. What a surprise to see you here. I thought you’d still be stuck in the maze… “ He looked over to the big pile of ash. “Oh. Well I should have expected as much. But anyway, what do you think? Not too shabby work for using an army for the first time, wouldn't you say?”

“I gotta admit it’s not that bad. That is if it was your army to begin with. Now give me back my troops or I’m gonna have to beat each soldier outta you!” he growled, hammering his foot into the dirt as he made a fist over to him.

Discord sighed, swaying his head back and forth. “Resulting to such brutish tactics. Are you sure you know how to use an army?” With a snap of his fingers, Discord summoned a group of Bowser’s former soldiers. “You see Bowser you’ve gotta use your minions more.” He pointed over to the two of them. “Boys, you see those two over. I want you to capture the pink one and bring her to me. As for the fat ugly one, you can beat him to a pulp for all I care.” Cackling like mad, he vanished in a flash of light.

Pinkie and Bowser now stood against the approaching swarm of soldiers. Bowser was ready to rumble, but beside him, Pinkie, unfamiliar with this sort of thing, timidly stood there. Realizing he was on his own, Bowser charged in, landing blow after blow, knocking away his former minions one after another. The attacking swarm managed to land a few good licks of their own against the big turtle. Bowser breathed in, preparing to unleash his signature fire breath on the crowd. As he got ready, a group of Goombas kicked the shells of the Koopas in front of them, launching them forward. As he exhaled, the shell passed through the fires unscathed.

“Gaaah” Bowser groaned. The direct hit stopped his attack and caused him fell to his knees in exhaustion.

Pinkie Pie, who had been watching the entire time, felt helpless watching Bowser fight a losing battle. That was when inspiration struck her. She rushed over to the kneeling Koopa and whispered into his ear. To worn out to question, he simply nodded his head. The advancing soldiers stopped in their tracks. Bowser unexpectedly tucked himself into a ball, with his shell covering the exterior. Unsure of what to make of it, the unit resumed their charge.

“Alright Bowsie, are you ready?” said Pinkie Pie.

“Just hurry up! And no nicknames!” He replied.

She sprang up top of the spiked ball, and began to trot. The ball began moving under her, heading over to the crowd. The charging squad, seeing what was coming their way turned tail and ran as the Bowser ball rolled after them. With Pinkie Pie now galloping at full speed, they flattened the troops caught in their path. She hopped off the rolling ball, stomping her hooves on one of the fleeing Goombas, leaving it a pancake on the ground and bounced off. She then landed on another one, and again bounced onto another one. She squished seven more of them, hearing a strange little jingle before jumping back onto Bowser’s rolling body to dispatch the final foe. With the squad now dispatched, Bowser un-tucked himself back to normal and Pinkie Pie jumped off his back standing beside him.

“We make a pretty good team, huh Bowsie?” she said, looking up to him.

He turned away, hiding his face. “Whatever.”

Discord reappeared, cutting into their little celebratory moment. He looked over what remained of the troops and smiled. “You two actually managed to win. and you did it together. You’re both more capable than I’d thought, plus a lot more fun to watch. I have an Idea.” He ported behind them, leaning his head in between theirs. “Since you two seem to make an amusing team, how about we play a little game.”

Bowser reached for his scrawny neck. “I don't like games, especially with someone who goes and takes my army!”

Discord leaned his neck back, avoiding the swipe. “Oh now Bowser honestly. Nopony likes a spoilsport.”

“I ain’t no pony.”

“Well if you ever wish to get your army, your castle, as well as a way back to your home, you’d best play along.”

“Come on Bowsie, It could be fun.” Pinkie added. "Plus together we can save my friend's too."

Discord joined Pinkie’s side and both of them gave him a gleeful smile. “See, even Pinkie is game. So what do you say?”

“Fine…” he sighed, not seeing much of an option.

“Excellent! Now, let me explain the rules. Pinkie Pie, I’ve scattered your friends about Equestria. In order to save them you’ll need to head to where they’re located. And Bowser, they’re each being accompanied by one of your former generals, so it would be in your interest to tag along with her.”

Bowser raised an eyebrow at his odd instruction. “What are you up to? You’re giving us a chance. I don’t get it.”

“Silly turtle, haven't you heard the saying ‘Letting the good times roll’?” he said while spinning a noise rattler. He points a talon to Pinkie Pie. “So then, you need to go and save your friends.” He then points a claw to Bowser. “And you need to recover your generals and pretty much the rest of your army. So how about you both work together. It’s going to be hysterical seeing you two try to get along.”

The pair stare at each other with Pinkie Pie smiling while Bowser sighed.

“Might I suggest heading into the Everfree Forest first.” Discord said, pointing off to the collection of trees where Bowser's castle stood far in the distance. “Good luck you two. I’m hoping you like the surprises I have in store.” Laughing to himself, Discord vanished in a flash, leaving the two of them standing there.

After the exhausting run in, Bowser looked over to the woods where his castle stood and started heading towards it.

Pinkie started walking beside him. “So let’s start heading over to save our friends.”

He looked over to her. “Go yourself; I’m heading for my castle.” he snorted.

Pinkie stopped in her tracks. “Huh? But we’ve got to save our friends.”

Bowser just kept walking. “No. You have to save your friends; I just have to get back to my world. I don’t need to do anything for those deserters.”

“But. Wait. Bowser, wait up!”

Pinkie Pie followed behind him as they both made the long travel to the forest.

Bowser stopped and faced her. “I don’t need some pink colored pony following me around. So scram!”

“What are you gonna do when Discord shows up again, huh?” She asked.

“Hit him right in his ugly mug.”

“What about over in the castle. If I didn’t help, you’d have been in trouble.”

He kept silent. “Whatever. You can tag along, at least up to my castle, but once we're there we split ways. Got it?”

Pinkie Pie grinned. She felt as though she had started getting him to warm up, if only very slightly. She knew this was going to be a challenge, but if anypony was going to get someone like him to open up and be friendly, it would be her.

“Alright then, let’s head over to your castle, Bowsie.”

“Stop calling me that!”