The Paper Pop-Up Book

by ThegoCarter110

Rating: teen
Tags: Crossover, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Comedy, Other, Adventure
Length: 14793

(Canceled) Enchanted Comic Books aren't the only type of reading material that can transport you to different worlds. When Spike looks through the new kids story known as "Paper Mario," he figures this out the hard way.

(Canceled due to no longer caring about writing and being burned out on colorful horses.)
(Pre season 4 finale just cause.)

The new shipment of books has arrived at the library! And it was Spikes given duty to sort all of them out while Twilight did some chores.
But within the group is a new foals book known as "Paper Mario." Sure some books could arguably have weirder titles, but this one made Spike curious.

With Twilight and her friends as an audience, it's up to Spike to complete the story and save the supposed princess from the floating castle!

Published 2014-06-11 07:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2014-08-07 04:29:25 UTC

A New Book to Read!

"Spiiiiiike! I need you to do something for me!"

That's how most of my days start, Twilight waking me up to do something or me getting up early to make breakfast. Although it is something that could be a bit irritating to some ponys, I always try my hardest to make Twilight happy. After all! That's what friends are for!

After a quick yawn, I make my way down into the main room of the Library to see Twilight greet me with a smile that showed that she was happy to see me.

"Wow Spike, you got up faster then you usually do! You must be getting better sleep." Twilight said in a positive manner.

"Yeah yeah Twilight, now what is it that we need to do for the morning?" I said still a bit groggy.

"Well, first off we got a shipment of NEW BOOKS that we need to make available for everypony! Then-"
"Wait new books? You mean like the new installment for that Games For The Throne book series that came out a few months ago?"
"No... But I do hope that gets another installment soon... It's mostly some new adventure story's, as well as a new discovery that benefits earth pony magic!" Twilight said trotting in place clearly filled with excitement.

If there is one thing I did enjoy seeing, it's Twilight getting excited about something to read... I just wish that most of the stuff she would talk about with me wasn't so boring...

"But even though it's something I'd love to read right now, I still need to get some errands done, not to mention the fact I need help Fluttershy with a certain sick pet of hers."

Well, at least I can have some peace while I do my chores.

"Anyways, you'll also need to dust the basement as well as help me clean the windows later."
"...That's it?" Normally Twilight would run down a list of things for me to do, not that I'm complaining of course.

"Yep! You've been doing such a good job lately that there really isn't much for you to do today. But anyway, I better get going, don't wanna keep Fluttershy waiting!" Twilight said ending the conversation with a smile.

She then walked out the door before saying a simple "see ya later!"

'The faster I start my chores the faster I can finish!' was the mindset I was in as I walked over to the new books.

Using my claws, I cut off the tape that sealed the cardboard box shut and opened the flaps to start taking the books out.

"The Pilot Wings: How to control flying machines!
Banjo and Kazooies
Silver Eye

The Perfect Darkness"
I said reading the titles out loud. These all sounded somewhat interesting at least when compared to what Twilight normally reads...

I then grabbed a extra large book thinking it was the same book Twilight was going on about earlier, but when I saw the cover I quickly thought otherwise.

Paper Mario

Just from the cover alone, I could tell that this was some sort of foals book but.. It looked so... Cool! It's like one of those worlds that you would imagine while growing up.

Now don't get the wrong idea! I'm a really mature dragon... But uhh... I-I can still dream... And do pretend adventures with Owlicious...

I still had more books to take out and organize... Buuuut, one quick peek wouldn't hurt.

Today... I'm going to tell you a story of "Star Spirits and Good Wishes"

Flipping over to the next page, I saw the page pop and display an alter of some kind. I never realized that this was a paper pop-up book... But I guess I should have expected this when I read the title.

far, far away, above the sky, way above the clouds, it's been said that there's a haven where the Stars live.
In the sanctuary of Star Haven there rests a fable treasure called the Star Rod, which has the power to grant all wishes.
Using the wondrous Star Rod, the seven revered Star Spirits watched over our world carefully... Very carefully.

I turned the page again I saw something that was so peculiar that I couldn't help but say.
"What the?" Out loud.
There is like, some sort of witch on a broom stick taped onto this page over a mostly empty room. The only other thing I noticed was what I would assume was the Star Rod and Star Spirits surrounding it.
"Who stuck that weird thing onto the page?"

Ha ha ha!

I nearly jumped out of my scales when I heard a voice boom from the library.
It's also at this point I notice that the book started to move on its own. Well erm, not walking around moving but, stuff in the pages started to move, like some sort of theater play.

I did!
Gwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!
So I can at long last, beat my archenemy, Mario!
So I'll take this Star Rod!

I was so confused by what was happening, was this some sort of magic book that Twilight ordered?

Do it Kammy Koopa!

It's then the witch that was taped into the story raised her wand and cast a spell!

The loud and gruff voice, now in the picture came into view.
He was some sort of... Turtle would be my guess, but he had a lot more spikes then any turtle I would know. He was also riding some sort of... Reverse Clown Helicopter?

I never understood the helicopter that Pinkie had... But this thing was practically making my head spin trying to figure out how it worked.

It was then he breathed some fire into the Star Rod causing the Star Spirits to recoil in fear, then he flew up to the Star Rod and grabbed it.

Yeah! Now let's try using it!

Suddenly a bright flash appeared from the book causing the Star Spirits to fly to the witch that I think was called Kammy, and began to shrink and be turned into cards!

It was then that I felt a gust start to suck me towards the book! I quickly began to try to grab something, but it didn't matter. I flew into the book and began to hear some sort of mysterious voice say.

Stop it! Cut it out, Bowser!!
You're changing the story!!

Bwa ha ha... We did it!
That was a piece o' cake!
Gwa ha ha!

At this point everything turned white.

Now Star Kids will rise to Star Haven to deliver peoples wishes...
...but those wishes will not come true.
Whatever can they do?

I felt that this was gonna be a long day...

Author's Note

This was originally was gonna be a Thousand Year Door story... But a Fimfiction user known as Sakunyan beat me to it... (go check out that story)

But anyway, I plan to make the chapters much longer in the future, but for now... I better get working in that prologue.

All Books Start With an Intro

My eyes were wide awake. Yet all I saw from the instant the book sucked me in was a blinding white, to a wooden ceiling of a different house.
I'll be honest, when I first entered the comic for Power Ponies, I was kinda excited. But now, it felt like my heart was beating out of my chest.

When I sat up to look around the room, I was able to calm down seeing how the room didn't seem to be scary looking, if anything... It seemed kinda cozy...

Getting out of the bed, I then was able to see a small dresser with a red and green drawer. I was also able to see some sort of box in the middle of the room.
Opening the box, I was able to see that it had letters stored in it. But I chose not to look at them so I wouldn't get in trouble.

It then occurred to me that I might be playing a characters role in this story book, so I started to look at myself to see if anything changed...

It's this next point that I noticed something shocking...
Something... Life changing...
I had...
A mustache... And it felt awesome!!!

I no longer cared about what character I was playing as, I was already the best one because I had a sweet mustache!

"Mail call!"

I heard a voice at the other side of the house. I chose to walk out of the room at this point to see who that was... (I also may of been twiddling with my mustache but that's not important.)

Taking a quick look around, this was clearly the living and dining room. There was a basic oak table with matching chairs, a furnace by the doorway I was in, and a nice tall plant that tied the room together.

It's then at the other side of the room, the front door opened. Entering the room I saw a... Bipedal? Is that the word for it?
... I saw a thing with white skin walking on two legs come into the house. It wore a green shirt, a green hat with an L on it, some white gloves as well as some brown shoes and some blue overalls that had two yellow buttons on them.
Oh it also had a 'not as cool but still kinda cool' mustache on him.

It was walking into the room while reading a letter before it looked up and saw me, I must of looked weird to him because he had a disgusted sorta look on his face.

He then gave a quick throat clearing cough before saying. "Hey Mario... We uh, got a letter from Princess Peach!"

Princess Peach? There's a Princess here! Oh that's a relief, maybe this world isn't as weird as I thought it would be.

"I'll uhh, just read it to you... OK?

I wonder if I did anything weird because he looks really uncomfortable right now...

He then quietly said to himself. "Alright, let's see..." Before continuing on saying.

"I'm throwing a party at my castle today! Mario and Luigi, I would be honored if you both could attend.
Many guests from distant towns are hoping to meet you.
There will be tasty sweets and all kinda of entertainment! Hope to see you soon!
Sincerely, Peach

After he finished reading the letter there was an uncomfortable silence in the room.

"Umm Mario..."

It was safe to assume at this point that my characters name was Mario so I replied saying. "Is something wrong?"
"Well-a, Mario, I know that we're bros and all, but... Well... I'm not exactly comfortable with you wearing no clothes and... Seeing your Mini-Warp Pipe..."

I looked down to see what he was talking about, but nothing looked different. My purple scaly body was still the same it's ever been.

At this point, I just played it off saying. "Oh uh sorry, I'll uh just go uh, get dressed!" I said, pretending to understand the problem.

I then preceded to walk into the other room and started to head towards the drawers. Since my supposed 'brother' wore green, I assumed that my stuff was in the red drawer.
Opening it up I saw a red hat with a M on it, a red shirt, white gloves and blue overalls with two yellow buttons. Basically the same thing that my brother was wearing but with red instead of green.

"I guess I'll just wear these."

"Hey Spiiiike!"
"Where are you?" Weird... He usually either calls back or runs up to me by now.

Looking around I couldn't help but notice the box I gave to him earlier today was only partially emptied out. That and a book was lying on the floor.
"Spike's never usually this sloppy unless he's tired." I then levitated the book that was on the ground up to my face to read the title.
"Paper Mario? I don't remember ordering a book that's called this..."
Opening it, I was quickly surprised to see it was a pop-up book. I haven't read from one of these in quite some time. This almost brings back memory's of when I was first learning how to read.

I started to silently skim through it while turning the pages and saw a weird thing taped onto the page.
I was almost annoyed at the fact that someone would vandalize a book like this, but was quickly relived when I saw that it was just part of the story.

A few more page turns later though is what really caught me off guard.
Not only did I find Spike but EVERYTHING WAS MOVING!
It's like a little puppet show was being played on the page! But all the puppets were as thin as paper and Spike was part of the show!

"I-I need to get the girls!" Was what I said before running out the door.

"Alright, I should be ready now." I said to myself, over all, I looked like some sort of mascot plumber you would see standing infront of shops. But that doesn't matter, maybe it's just how everyone dresses in this story.

Walking out of the bedroom again, I see my brother standing by the front doorway, probably waiting for me.
"Hey bro, is something wrong? You took an awfully long time to get dressed."
"It's ok uh Luigi. I'm ok."
Giving a shrug, He replied. "If you say so bro. Anyway let's head to the party! We shouldn't keep the Princess waiting any longer!"

I could hear the excitement in his voice. This must be some sort of extra special party!

"Well let's get going then!"
Giving a quick nod, Luigi exits the door with me following behind him.

We then walked out into the yard only to be greeted by some sort of green pipe that's sticking out of the ground.
Luigi then shouts "Let's-a go!" Before jumping into the pipe!
I quickly jumped on the side of the pipe and looked down it to see if I could see Luigi, but The only thing I saw was a seemingly endless darkness.

Taking a quick gulp I closed my eyes and jumped into the pipe!
It felt like I was in some sort of dark tunnel sliding on my back.
It's then I get slowly risen out of the pipe into some sort of town. Looking down I was standing on the pipe I just took...

"How did I come out head first? I thought I went in feet first." I quietly wondered to myself.

"Hey bro! Let's get moving!" Luigi called out from a small distance.

I guess I'll just save that question for later. For now, I have a party to attend!

I quickly opened the door as me and the girls all ran into the library. Quickly looking to where I left Spike I pick up the book with my magic and say.
"Ok, here's the book that Spike's in!"

The book showed a pop-up empty house with only a few small sentences to read. Upon seeing this, I turned the pages until Spike was visible. He seemed to be following something through a town... In a weird outfit.

Rarity then spoke up saying. "Twilight, not that I'm doubting you or anything but are you sure that's the same Spike that we know and love?"

Spike in the book though, while he was following the green mustached animal thing, stopped and looked into the pond. The girls could clearly hear Spike say. "Haha my mustache sure does look good."

Looking over to Rarity, I see her mindlessly say. "Yep that most defiantly is our Spiky-Wikey"

"Is there anything we could do!" I heard AppleJack ask.

"I don't know! That why I went to get all of you! Oh I hope nothing happens to him." I said starting to get nervous.

Spike's a strong dragon, but he's still a baby dragon! Unless it's a desperate situation like in the Crystal Empire. I could never ask of him be in some sort of new world alone.

"Well, can't you just pull him back out with your magic or somethin?" Rainbow Dash asked trying to throw out ideas.

"I could, but not only could I easily mess up the process, but if I damage the book while I do that, Spike could get seriously hurt, or worse! Sorry girls, but that's a risk that I just don't think I would want to take." I said while trying to think of something else I could try.

"Maybe we should just wait."

My ears twitched trying to hear Fluttershy's soft voice. "What was that Fluttershy?

"I uh, said that maybe we should just wait... After all! Didn't that comic book bring us back after we completed it?"

Fluttershy had a point there, If this was anything like that Power Ponies comic, he should be able to come out of the book after he finishes it.

"That is true, but what if he finishes it and he doesn't come out?" AppleJack tried to gently ask Fluttershy.

"I don't know... I guess we try to get him out some other way?"

I made a slightly saddened sigh at this. "It's not the best idea, but I guess it's the safest idea we have so far..."

I then looked back over to the book only to see it placed onto a table with Pinkie Pie sitting on a couch watching it while eating popcorn. "Come on! I think this is starting to get good!" Pinkie said before eating a hoof full of popcorn.

"Where did this couch come from?" I asked
"Not important! Just watch!"

This castle is really neat to look at! Granted it doesn't quite match the beauty of Canterlot Castle or the Crystal Empire Castle, but it was still something to behold.

"Come on bro! You've been acting weird lately." Luigi said walking behind me to push me ahead.

As I was being pushed ahead by Luigi, I couldn't help but notice a house with a spinning roof on it. I was about to ask about it, but Luigi cut me off saying. "Ok bro let's head inside now" he said with more excitement.

The gate to the castle court yard was blue with a picture of a yellow star with eyes on the front. Luigi walked up to the gate and pushed it open with ease. "Let's head inside!"

Walking to the front doors, I couldn't help but notice that there was some sort of bridge with some sort of pathway leading to it.
But I didn't dwell on it as I entered the castle. Luigi and me stopped at the entrance to take in the scenery of the huge room.

Luigi then speaks up saying. "Wow, what a magnificent castle! I can never get used to this place."

Looking at the guests here, I could see penguins, turtles and the little guys with huge spotted hats that I saw in town. However most of the little guys had a variety of outfits, like some wrapped in scarfs and others in a toga of some sort while holding a spear.

"It looks like there are a lot of guests here already. You should go see the princess! I'll stay here and mingle for a little bit, ok?"
I give a quick nod before I start walking up some stairs to an upper floor with bigger doors that would lead to another room with more guests.

The room looked a lot like the room I was just in so I went up another set of stairs to see two guards guarding the next door.
"Oh, hey Mario, the Princess is just up ahead." One said stepping out of my way.

I wonder what I am to the Princess to this world? Am I a close friend? Did this character do something that deserves her respect?
I'm gonna have a lists worth a questions by the time I'm done with this story...

I went through the door to find yet another set of stairs with a door at the end.
"Yeesh, just because you have a big castle doesn't mean you should have stairs everywhere..."

Entering the last door I see a creature that's similar to my brother with the exception that she is clearly a girl.

She has a brown mane while waring a pink dress, blue pearl earrings, long white gloves and her royal crown.

Approaching her I get on one knee and respectfully bow before her.
She giggled as a response to this but said afterword. "You can stand Mario."

After getting permission to stand in front of her she continues.
"I'm glad you came to the party to see me! You can be so sweet! Thank you!" She said with a sincere smile on her face,

"I don't mean to be rude now Princess, but shouldn't you be out there greeting the guests?" I asked with curiosity.

If this really was anything like Equestria, the Princess would be out there welcoming the guests, especially if they had to travel a long distance to get here!

"Oh but I was! I've just been resting for a bit, you of all people should know that it can get tiring greeting all those guests out there."

Wow, she's more like Celestia then I thought!

"But anyway, nobody should bother us up here. Shall we relax and chat, just the two of us?"
She then started to lead me to a balcony window.
"It's a lovely day today, so I'm sure that it's comfortable on the balcony right now, would you like to accompany me, Mario?"

It's then that the ground started to violently shake! Vases were falling off tables, paintings were coming off the wall! I even lost my balance and started to sit on the ground.
However the princess started to panic and ran back and forth until the quake began to die down.

After the trembling finally stopped. I couldn't help but notice that the room got much darker.

"Are you alright Mario? What in the world was that?"

I then spoke up saying. "Wasn't it daytime not even a minute ago?"

Princess Peach then looked out the window saying "You're right! You can even see the stars out and everything!"

It was then from the same window we were looking out, that the Giant Turtle in what I called the Reverse Clown Helicopter and the Witch that I think I remember being named Kammy, broke in the room! Right after the window broke I quickly dove behind the Princess for protection... I'm not gonna lie when I say that it wasn't a very heroic moment.

"Gwa ha ha ha! Long time no see, Princess Peach!

From inside the story book this thing didn't look all that big. But now that I'm in the same story as it, it's completely double my size!
It's at this point that I started to lose my cool and starts to get scared.

"...Bowser! But this can't be!" Looking over to her, I noticed that she seemed to come to a realization to something.
"It was you who made the ground shake now wasn't it! What is it that you did!?"

"Gwa ha ha! Yeah that was me! I've lifted your castle into the sky! It's sitting on my castle right now! Weren't expecting that, huh?
Well now, this castle is under my control, my dear! Now you will obey ME!"

It's at this point I was able to gain enough courage to jump from behind the Princess to in front of her.
"Not if I-I h-have something to say about It!" I say ready to try to protect her.

"Huh!? What? It's... MARIO!! What a shock!!
...Heh, not really. I expected you to turn up, right on cue."

I couldn't help but gulp at this. I honestly had no idea how I would fight this guy.

"You're just as annoying as ever. Unfortunately for you, there is nothing you can do this time.

The Princess then spoke up saying. "Haven't you learned your lesson my now, Bowser? You can never defeat Mario! Why don't you just give up already?" She said not really impressed with Bowsers boasting.

"True, true, I have had my problems in the past... But this time is different!
This time I'm gonna win!
Ok tough guy! Let's go!" Bowser finished while marching straight to me.

I started to consider my options here, I doubt any kinda of punch would work on something bigger then me... I doubt my fire breath would do much to him...

"Mario! Just jump on his head like you always do." The Princess whispered into my ear.

I still didn't know much about this Mario character I was playing as, but I trust the Princess about what I should do.

So jumped for all it's worth and landed straight on his head! From the looks of it, it seemed to hurt him a little bit.

He then walked up to me and did a quick swipe at my face. I couldn't help but grab my head at the hit, but I was able to shake it off and jump on his head again! But it's at this point though he starts to laugh to himself.

"Good ol' Mario... Always fighting. You're a thorn in my side.
But today! Your pathetic little attacks won't beat me!"

He then pulls something out from behind his back.
"Take a look at this!"
My eyes widen at what he's holding.

"Look at what I stole from Star Haven! It's the Star Rod!
This fine piece of work had the power to grant any wish in the whole world!
And when I use it to increase my strength, even you won't beat me. Mario!

He then holds up the Star Rod, it starts to gain energy before breaking out into a shining light, causing Bowser to start glowing from the mystical power.

Taking a deep breath, I go in for another jump, but he doesn't even seemed fazed! He then walks up to me and slashes my face!
He most defiantly hit harder this time! Looking over to him again, he starts laughing.

"Gwa ha ha ha ha! How do you like that Mario?" He said taunting me.

I then go in for another jump, only for the same thing to happen again with him hitting me.

"Gwa ha ha ha ha! Is that it? You'd best take some vitamins, CAUSE THAT DIDNT HURT AT ALL!"
He was getting cocky at this point... And it was obvious why...

This was it... I was fighting for my life at this point... I went into jump again only for it to still not effect him.

"Yep, just as I expected. Mario's no match for the new me.
It's not even worth my time to toy around with you anymore, Mario. It's time to end this.
Here we go, Mario! Good night!"

It's then he hunched back and breathed a huge wave from his flame breath. The attack was so strong that I couldn't help but fall face first into total exhaustion.

The Princess rushed by my side when this happened and said. "Oh no! Mario! Please get up! Mario!"

"YES! Oh yeah! I DID IT!
I finally beat my old rival Mario! Yesssss.
The Witch known as Kammy even started complementing Bowser by saying. "Congratulations on your victory your viciousness! That's why you're the King!"

To no one in particular Bowser even said. "With the power of the Star Rod, everything I wish will come true! No one can stop me now!"

I then started to look back up at Bowser with fear clearly labeled on my face. He then approached me and said.
"Well, well, well... I guess I might as well get rid of you. You're no good to anyone now, that's for sure!

He then raised the Star Rod and shot a lightning bolt at me causing me to fly through the already broken window... I started falling... In the distance I feel like I was able to hear the Princess call my name, but it could have just been my mind playing tricks on me.

During the free fall, I eventually blacked out...

"SPIKE!"
"NO, MY LITTLE SPIKEY!!

It's safe to say that Rarity and Me had the biggest reactions to Spike flying out of the window.
Although we did scream, I was still able to hear Fluttershy's reaction, which was a large gasp.

While the book was showing Spike fall down to the world, I couldn't help but look over to the other girls.
All of them had some sort or depressed look on their faces, even Pinkie didn't look too happy about what just happened.

"Man, the little dude has guts..." Rainbow said sounding kinda impressed.

I could even see AppleJack started to get a bit frustrated at this point.
"Why, if I was there, I would knock that Bowser guy upside the head so hard, he won't know which way was is up!"

"YEAH! that Bowser guy is a Meany-mc Jerk Pants!" Pinkie then shouted agreeing with AppleJack.

"Yeah! His rump is mine!" Rainbow exclaimed while starting to hover in the air.

Rarity then sighed before saying. "Girls, as much as I would love to give this beast a thrashing for hurting my Spikey, we really should calm down, for Twilights sake.

Looking back over to her, I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't find the words to say.
It's not often that can get lost for words but... I guess this is just one of those times.

"Thanks Rarity."

I then turned my attention back to the book.

"Oh Spike, please be OK."

I never felt the impact from falling out of the castle.
Instead, I found myself on the ground knocked out... With the sound of voices bickering over me.

"Oh thank heavens! He's gravely injured, but I think he'll recover." I could hear a girl voice say.

"But Bowser has the Star Rod! And he is mightier then Mario!
It's hopeless! All is lost!" I could hear a more middle aged voice say.

It's then a more older, more insightful voice spoke up and said.
"Everybody just calm down. As long as we keep it together, there's always hope. Now...
Our fates are in Mario's hands. We must try to revive him. Gather around everyone."

I felt surrounded by a group of about six or seven ponies at this point.

"Send Mario your power!" The same elder voice commanded.

It's then I felt tingles run down my body, not like I was getting stronger mind you but... Like I was holding a great power, of some kind.

After the tingly feeling leaves my body, the same older voice from earlier then spoke up yet again saying.
"...That's it... That's all we can do right now.
Mario... Please get up... Please."

I then started to feel alone, like all of them disappeared... I wanted to open my eyes and get up but... I just couldn't do it.

"You know, it really sounded like something fell somewhere around here...

The same voice then got louder saying.
"Oh, who could that be?
This red shirt, this hat and this mustache... Yah know, this really looks like the one and only Mario!

I then felt something start poking at me. "Hey, hey! Wake up!!" She even went as far to slap me across the face once. Trying to wake me up.

"Oh no! He won't wake up!!! Oh, oh, what am I gonna do!?"

I then heard the same pony start running away from me while yelling.
DAD! GOOM-PA! GOOM-BA-RIO!

I then just completely lost consciousness.

Author's Note

Don't worry, the whole change of perspective thing won't be that often.
I'll mostly be showing just Spike with the reaction of the mane six every now and then.
So for those worrying about that, just don't worry.

A Prologue Ends as Fast as it Begins.

I felt like I was floating in space... All I could see was blackness and emptiness...

I couldn't even tell you how long it felt like I sat there... Time just sort of mushed together, so to say...

It was then that I saw a star with a huge mustache and beard appear out of thin air!

"Mario... Can you hear me, Mario?" That voice... I remember it from somewhere... It was an older voice that seemed to be full of wisdom...

"I'm Eldstar, a Star Spirit... I have something very important to tell you...
It concerns the princess... And all of the Mushroom Kingdom..."

I was about to speak up, but was interrupted by him saying. "But sadly, I haven't the strength to talk to you here...
Mario... I need you to come to Shooting Star Summit.
Please Mario... We Star Spirits will be waiting for you at the summit..."

It was then that he vanished into nothingness, and light started to pour into my vision.

My head pops off my pillow and I wake up in a cold sweat.
Looking around, I could see a blue carpet with a doorway on the other end of the room. I was also able to see a giant picture of those guys with the spotted hats...

Suddenly the door burst open, I couldn't help but notice that it was another one of the guys with the hats!
"Oh... Mario!
I'm so happy to see your awake!" He then started to walk up to me from the door way he was just in.

"You haven't opened your eyes for days and days! Everyones been worried sick!"

I then started to climb out of my bed while saying. "Is it ok to ask where I am? I still have a bit of a headache."

"We're in Goomba Village. It's a tiny Village that's west of Toad Town. The only residents here are me and a single family of Goombas."

"What exactly is a Goomba?"

The little guy seemed to tilt his head at this question.

"Did you land on your head or something Mario? You should know what a Goomba is!"

To be fair... I probably did land on my head, but that doesn't answer my question.

"Well, is this Goomba family nice?"

"Oh, only the nicest people... Goombas you would ever meet! You don't have to worry about them! Besides, there're the ones who found you unconscious in the forest and carried you here to get better!"

!!!
They saved my life!? I-I owe them now! After all, my Spike The Dragon Code says that I owe them a life dept until I repay them!

... Or not... Although AppleJack did teach me that I wouldn't have to repay her for saving her life... I'm also not supposed to be a dragon in this story...
I think...
I honestly don't know what I look like to them, but it's obvious that I'm not a dragon.

While trying to think of another question to ask, a image of a star with a mustache flashed back in my mind...
"Hey, uh, do you know anything about a star with a mustache?"

"Huh... A star with a mustache?" I could see that he thought I was crazy.

"Yes, I know how this sounds, but he said something about a place called Shooting Star Summit. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Uhmm, are you sure you didn't just have a dream?"

"I could have but... I just wanted to make sure."
Ugh, I'm getting no where with this...

"It could have been a dream... But it also could have been something else... Well it could have been a message from a Star Spirt.
They live in a place called Star Haven. Shooting Star Summit is the nearest place to Star Haven, so it WOULD make sense."

...And to think... He thought I sounded crazy.

He then shrugged while saying. "But who knows? In any case, I'm glad you recovered; I'm sure the Goombas would be happy if you went to visit them."

Oh right, the ponys that I owe a life-

Er... The ponys that I have to thank... For saving my life...
"Right I better get going, thanks for taking care of me!" I then preceded to run out the door while hearing him call out. "Anything for you Mario!"

Running out into the yard, I couldn't help but notice a huge house with two big windows, and a beautiful front lawn!

Of course immediately after I looked at the house, I couldn't help but notice... Some pets?
They all looked kinda like short little... Chestnut things... That walked on two stubby legs...
They also had big eyes and a wide mouth with a single fang poking out the side of said mouth.

One with a pink bow on her head started to walk up to me. I then approached her and started to pat her head.
"Now what's your name?" I said as if I was talking to a puppy.

She in turn gave a confused look.
"My name is Goombaria..."

I would like to point out that the thing that I just deemed as a pet started talking to me...

"Umm, why did you start talking to me like that?"

I gave a quick cough before answering. "No reason.. I uh, think something got caught in my throat. BUT ANYWAY!"
I felt like hiding away for a little while...

Their was an awkward silence in air...only to be interrupted by the sound of hammering in the distance.

"I'll just go over here." I couldn't help but walk away from the weird moment.

Looking around I saw a few more Goombas... I think it's safe to assume that these are the Goombas that the... Guy told me... Why didn't I ask for his name?

Walking over to a fellow with a nice mustache, he looks over to me and starts to say.
"Ah Mario! Feeling better?
Feel free to rest in our house!"

"Um, no thanks, I really need to get going to a place called Shooting Star Summit."

"Shooting Star Summit?" He repeated. "What for?"

"Well... It's for something I can't ignore, do you know the way?"

"Well, I believe the summit is near Toad Town. But you'll have to wait for a little bit.
I have to fix this gate before you can head out east."

He then turned away to do more work on it while saying.
"That earthquake the other day really did a job on it. Seriously! I thought that the sky was falling... Or something like that."
He started to laugh to himself at what he was saying.

Overall, he seemed fairly enjoyable to be around.

"Anyways Mario, just relax, I'll have this fixed in a jiffy.
And feel free too check out the house while you wait. We don't get guests often so the company is welcome!"

That was a clear sign that I could go ahead and meet the rest of the family.

I could see a Goomba kid in a blue hat that seemed kinda shy. But I gave a polite nod as I passed by him to look at their house.

Looking inside, I couldn't help but feel like I was living back in the tree house...
If...you know, it was more like a house and not like a library.

The house has a table in the middle of the room and shelfs with all sorts of pots and jars lined up in them.

In one of the chairs, I could see an old lady Goomba taking a nap in one of the chairs. I know better then to wake her up so I chose to look around a little bit more and eventually stepped out into a... Balcony of some kind? I know theirs a name for it but I can't place my claw on it.

Taking a few steps out, I approach yet another Goomba that seemed to be tinkering with balcony.

"Whatcha doin?"

The Goomba quickly whipped his body around with a surprised look on his face.

"Ooh, you startled me! Hm, yes, Mario, isn't it?"
I nodded in reply.

"So you awakened at last! Good! I knew you would pull through!"

"Um, thanks Mr..."

"Call me Goompa. I'm the Goomba grandfather so... I'm Goompa."
It was soon after he said this that the balcony made a not so safe sounding creak.

"I'm sorry, would you mind giving me the details later? I'm pretty busy fixing the veranda."

Oh, it's called a veranda. That's the word I was looking for earlier!
"Ok, I guess I'll leave you too that."

I made my way back into the house and into the front yard again to pass some more time with the rest of the family.
After all! It's not like I was in a hurry to do something.

"So Twilight, what do you think of this 'Goomba family'?" I heard Rarity ask right next to me. "They do seem like a lovely bunch so far!"

"I can honestly agree. They seem like genuinely nice ponys... G-Goombas." I said tripping over my words to correct myself.
It's obvious that they could be considered trust worthy at least.

Looking over at the group, I immediately notice that Applejack got up and was about to say something.

"I hate to say it Twilight, but I'ma have to go back to the Orchard get some apples harvested."
Oh, right! I almost forgot that Applejack had work too do today!

"It's alright Applejack, if anything happens we'll fill you in!"

"Thanks Twi, I should be free for tomorrow though!" I watched her make her way out of the door before she tipped her hat towards us saying.
"Well, see ya girls later!"

After Applejack left though, I couldn't help but remember something. "Fluttershy don't you have a sick animal to attend too?"

A large gasp was then made soon after I said that. "Oh no! I completely forgot! Oh, I hope Angel isn't too upset with me!"

Feeling a bit worried, I ask Fluttershy. "Do you still have the medical book I gave you earlier?"

"Yes, of course! Don't worry Twilight, I'll go take care of Angle, you can stay here and watch over Spike."
A slightly guilty feeling came over me... I was supposed to help Fluttershy today...
"Are you sure you REEEEEAAAALLLY don't need my help?"

"Oh don't worry Twilight, I'm sure I can manage on my own! You can stay and watch Spike."

I looked over at the Paper Pop-up Book before looking back at Fluttershy, I couldn't help but appreciatively smile in return. "Thanks Fluttershy."
A smile of her own appears on her face as she leaves the library. "Don't worry, I should be able to come by later, if it ok that is."
I gave a nod in approval before waving Fluttershy goodbye, leaving Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Me to spectate Spikes adventure.

The bowl of popcorn was already starting to run out at this point.

"I'll go cook up some more popcorn, let me know if something happens!"

"Uh huh."
"Of course darling!"
"Okey Dokey."

Getting up from the couch, I start walking to the kitchen... Only to look back and see their faces.
They looked mesmerized, like watching some sort of spell was cast upon them... Erm, not a magic spell but... Well, it's like they were immersed in the greatest theater play of all time!

It's then a metaphorical lightbulb went off In my head! Although this idea is doesn't really help Spikes situation, I might never get another time to properly test this.

With a new devious plan I mind, I go and get the new 'toy' that I'll be using later.

Oh and popcorn!

Time has passed, and I can officially say that I met the whole Goomba family!

With nothing left to do, I went to the father who was fixing the gate and just watched him do his thing.
On another note though, watching him fix a gate without claws, hooves or magic really was an interesting watch.
I mean seriously! It at least makes sense that ponies can pick things up with their hooves. These Goombas, (as far as I'm aware) don't have magic and yet, can still make things float! It's crazy and awesome at the same time!

About another minute passes though before the father started to mutter to himself saying.
"Aaaand, done!"

Looking over to me he continued. "Hoo, what a job! Sorry for the wait Mario. But the gate is finally fixed!
If you take this road up ahead, you'll eventually reach Toad Town, the home of Princess Peach's Castle."

Looking at the road ahead, I can't help but feel a burst of confidence. This path is gonna be like a stroll through a park!

"Now I believe that Shooting Star Summit should be just beyond there." He then starts to look at me while saying.
It's too bad that you can't stay... I feel like I just met you. But duty calls, I know! Come back and visit again sometime!"

I took a deep breath because it's now official... My adventure was about to start.

However, before I opened the gate to take my first step outside the village. I can't help but notice a weird sound approaching.

The family members that were out in the yard heard it too. So I can at least say that I wasn't crazy.

It's not until I looked up that I saw the source of the strange sound flying around on a broomstick.

"Bleh heh heh... Ah! My instincts were right...
Mario... I can't believe you're in your feet after taking such a beating from King Bowser.
Your a hardy one, all right. I was smart to come check on you.

It was the witch from before, Kimmy Koopa... Um, wait that wasn't it...

The little girl Goomba approached us though and asked. "Whuh... What? What's that, Daddy!? What's that weird flying thing?"

The witch though was not happy about the girls question.
"Weird? You rude little... I'm a beautiful Koopa with a beautiful name: Kammy Koopa!"

Meh, close enough.

"Hmmph!! I wish I had time to teach you a lesson, brat! But no." Kammy then possessed to look over to me saying.
"Mario! Hear this! It is useless for you to try to save Princess Peach. Ridicules! Laughable!
As you have seen, King Bowser is more powerful then even YOU can deal with this time."

Ugh, yes, I get it. You can say I'll never win, but this story most likely has a happy ending...

...Right?

I could then see that she started laughing about something.

"Here's a gift from the King himself!" She said as she started to cast a spell.
Using her wand, a purple energy started to appear in the air.

It's then that a giant yellow block starts to materialize in the air! Then while using her wand, she flew the block right into the gate and smashed it into pieces, leaving a giant blockade in its place.

Looking over to the Goomba father, I could see he was just staring at the yellow block that was sitting In front of us with an unamused look on his face.

"Nyeah heh heh heh! Mario! You will kneel and weep when you see the wonderful changes that King Bowser has made!
Your world is now OURS!

Bleah heh heh he-*Cough-hack* eh... He he he..."
She then flew off on her broom stick while laughing and coughing until we couldn't see her.

Looking over to the Goomba father I could see his expression still hasn't changed from earlier.
"I just... Fixed that... Gate...
No one say the word "Gate" to me...
But anyway, did you hear what she said about the Princess? It didn't sound good. I hope nothings happened to her..."

I was half tempted to lie and say she's probably fine, but I knew that I would gain nothing if I said that. So I chose to tell the truth instead.
"Sorry but that Bowser guy well, captured her."

"Again!?"

"Again? Is this a reoccurring thing?"

"Oh unbelievable! And now you have to go to Shooting Star Summit to save her, right?"

I nod to his question, but I can't help but wonder why ponies keep ignoring me... Why goombas keep ignoring me... I need to get used to that...

I could see it in his eyes that he was trying to figure out how to remove the block from the house.

It's that this point that I realize that I COULD just jump the fence and leave from there...
But that would be rude too the family who just saved my life, so I might as well try to help them with this problem.

"Oh, here's an idea!
Maybe we can break this block with Goompa's big Hammer! I think he's using it to fix the veranda.
Go ask him for it, will you?"

I don't really know how a hammer will help, but I might as well give it a shot.

I proceed to take my leave to go inside the house and to the back door where the veranda is.

I open the door and step outside only to realize something...

I just walked into thin air...

Any sign of what used to be Goompa or the veranda was completely gone!

After standing in the air for a second, I plummet down the side of the mountain.

Now, falling from the hill wasn't that bad to be honest. I was able to slide down the side of the hill and land completely fine!
But I couldn't say the same for the veranda that I found the remains of.

"Goompa! Where are you!" I call out. I need to make sure he isn't in the wreckage or I might never forgive myself!

"Oh, my back..."

Upon hearing this, I turn away from the wreckage and look over to where the path is. I run over to where I think I heard the voice.
As I'm running down the path though, it didn't take long for me to find the somegoomba I was looking for...
Sadly though another thing I notice is another yellow block in our way.

"Hey! Are you ok?"

He looks at me for a second before saying. "That you, Mario?"

"Don't worry it's me, but what happened to the veranda?"

"All I remember is a great crashing noise and then the veranda collapsed and fell. Did you fall too?"

"Yeah... I just sorta well, stepped out from the door and fell from there."

"Well, we're both ok, but the problem is that we can't get home because that block is in the way."

The block looked the same as the one from earlier... It's safe to assume that the Witch has been busy for however long I was knocked out.

"Oh yeah! Speaking of blocks, do you have a big hammer on you?"

"A hammer? Oh of course! Um... Where did that thing go now?"

He then started to twirl around looking for the hammer that he was talking about.
Unless it was in the wreckage, I doubt it would be here.

"Uhh, Goompa, maybe it fell over there!" I say while walking towards some sort of small clearing area.

Over all, there's not much too say about this area, other then the fact that there are A LOT of bushes.

"The hammer has got to be somewhere close by. Just remember, it looks like this!"

... Where did he get a picture of his hammer?

"Hey Twilight! Did something happen? That popcorn is taking a while now." I could hear Rainbow call out.

"Don't worry, I'm coming!"
I then proceed to walk in with the bowl of popcorn and a box of supplies to use for my "soon to be test."

"What's that?" Rainbow Dash asked taking notice.

"Just some stuff I wanna use while we watch over Spike."

Rainbow didn't really question it and just shrugged it off while taking the bowl of popcorn from my levitation spell.
"Whatever floats your boat Twilight."

... The girls eyes were still glued to the pages like earlier, is this what it's like when I get really invested into a book?

"Aren't you going to join us, darling?"

"Uh, yeah!" I said a little too quickly.

I wonder if it'll work?

I've been searching this clearing for some time now with no trace of any hammer.

"If you need a reminder, the hammer looks like this!"

I'm not gonna lie, I have no idea where he got that picture or why he has a picture of his hammer I'm the first place. But I guess it helps me get a good idea of what it looks like.

...I guess...

!
As I approach another bush, I can't help but notice that there's a wooden thing inside!
I push some branches away from each other to finally find what I'm looking for!

After searching what feels like almost every bush in the area, I finally found it!

Upon picking up the hammer, I immediately noticed that this thing was a lot lighter then I thought.
I could wave this thing around like a stick easily!

But enough of that! Me and Goompa should be able to get rid of these yellow blocks now.

Goompa then walks up to me while saying.
"Oh!! There we go! That's it! That's the hammer!
I'd wager that if you use that hammer, you can break that block that's in our way."

"I don't know, this hammers a bit light. Are you sure this would work?"

I could see a faint smile appear on his face at this point.
"Why don't you take a practice swing on a tree then?"

My face had the word confused written all over it, I'm sure.

But I did as he said, and started to walk over to a flimsier looking tree.

I take the hammer, raise it over my head, and use all of my strength to attack the tree.

*WHACK*
The tree started to wiggle back and forth, like it was rubber.

It's then something soft landed on my face...

"AAAAAAAAAAHH!!!
Spike then started to run around with some sort of pink doll on his head...

I couldn't help but feel kinda embarrassed about the sight before me.

Rainbow I could hear was, at first, trying to stifle her laughter. Only to fail and just completely bust out laughing.

The same was with Pinkie, only she didn't try to resist laughing like Rainbow did.

Heck! Even Rarity couldn't contain herself and started giggling.
"Oh poor Spikie-Wikey." Rarity was able to say in between giggles.

It's at this point I couldn't even contain myself, and decided to join in on the laughter.

"Sorry Spike."

After the thing landed on my head... I uhh... Well... Calmly took it off my head and... Looked it over.

When I saw what it was, I couldn't help but wonder how it got here in a tree...

Goompa however, who was watching me this whole time, looked surprised.

"this is the hero that saved us all?"

"What'd you say?" I ask while trying to listen more carefully.

"I said, this is where the doll went?"

"This is your doll?" I'm kinda surprised, I wouldn't expect a full grown man to be playing with little girl toys.

"No, you whippersnapper! This is Goombaria's doll. She said she lost it some time ago."
He then took a deep breath before continuing.
"There's no doubt in my mind though, that she'll be overjoyed if you give it back to her."

I then take another look at the doll. It seems to be a princess.

While smiling, I put the doll in one of my pockets before saying.
"Alright, we found the hammer, I guess we should go back now."

Goompa gave a nod before running off ahead to where we were before.

Before I go to follow him. I look up into the sky towards the floating castle...

... I wonder if Twilight knows I'm gone?

YOUCH!!!

I quickly look towards where Goompa ran off to...
Only to see him rolling towards me like a ball...

He eventually hits a tree and starts lying down on the floor.

A baby turtle then walked into this area.

Why do I know he's a baby I hear you ask? Well he is wear a piece of a giant egg shell as pants and as a hat.

He looks kinda cool.

He then looked at Goompa and me before saying. "Who are you guys!? This is my playground, Idiots!"

He gets a few steps closer before saying.
"Nobody steps foot in here without my permission! Nobody!
Prepare to start crying at the hands of Master Jr. Troopa!"

He then starts running at me like a mad pony!
So I get a better grip on my hammer before I raise it over my head and bonk Jr. Troopa over the head!

"Oh excellent, good move!" I hear Goompa say off to the side.

While I was distracted from Goompa complementing me though, Jr. takes this opportunity to jump on my head!

It's safe to say that it hurt but I was able to shake it off and go for a jump of my own.

I could hear him start growling under his breath at this point.

"That's it! Say hello to Jr. Troopas special attack!
FULL POWER!!!"
He screeched so loud that I wasn't sure whether or not that him yelling was the attack or not.

... He then walks up to me and jumps on my head, only to feel slightly heavier then before.

I shake off the pain again and use my hammer to whack him in the head. I must of done something right if I was able to knock him out immediately after that attack.

"Uuagh..." He seemed to have a dazed look on his face.
"Shoot! I was winning too!"

Goompa walked up behind me with smile on his face.
"Congratulations on beating Jr. Troopa Mario! He's the boss of a neighborhood gang. A bit of a bully obviously."

He's the boss of a gang? Yeah right! No gang boss goes down that easily! He has to be joking.

Jr. Troopa the gets up from the floor. "I'll be back, Mario!"

He then runs off in the direction where the remains of the veranda are... Only to come back and point at me while saying. "I mean it, I'll be back!!"
Only to run off again.

Man, he's a piece of work...

"Well, Mario. Let's get going... You can go first this time..."

I couldn't help but smile at this. "Alright, just stay behind me."
I could defiantly tell that Goompa liked the idea of having someone protect him so that he wouldn't roll into a tree again.

Walking back to the wreckage, I went to the yellow block that blocked our only way out and prepared to swing my hammer.
*WHACK!!!*
The block exploded upon being smashed by my trusty hammer of...
Explodiness?
...I need to find a better name for this thing...

Now that this new path is available, I ask Goompa. "Would you know where this leads?"

"Nope."

... Not gonna lie, I didn't expect such a blunt answer.

Nonetheless though. We went down the path anyway so that we could hopefully get back to Goomba Village.

After a little bit of walking, I can't help but notice another Goomba off to the side of the trail we were going down.
Immediately after seeing him though, Goompa runs up in front of me while saying. "Heads up, Mario!"

"I see bad Goomba's ahead. They're loyal to Bowser, if they see you, they'll attack without hesitation!
So I would recommend you get the jump on him."

"How do you know that they're bad?"

Goompa stayed silent for a second before continuing.
"Uh, well I honestly don't... But you should still be careful..."

...

"So you want me to sneak attack somepony that we don't even know is bad!?"

I could see Goompa start to think deeply about this comment.

"When you put it like that..."

I face clawed at this. After I was done with that, I made my way over to the Goomba and made my introduction.

He saw me immediately, but he was clearly confused.

"Hello, I'm Spike the dra-OOF" the little guy ran right up to me to jump and bang his head right on to mine!

"Ok, you're defiantly NOT friendly..." He didn't even respond, instead he went in for another jump to... Headbonk me? I'll just call his attack a Headbonk.

Before he was able to get in another Headbonk though, I leap into the air and land straight on his head... And squish him under my weight!

Looking at him under my feet, I can't help but get a really bad feeling in my tummy that something was gonna happen...

I then proceeded to run into a bush to go and barf...

A few more minutes pass as I finally finish my business after squishing the Goom- OH WAIT!

Ok, for real this time, I finished doing my thing after you know what happened.

Goompa seems concerned about me and even asked "if there was anything that he could do to help" but I declined.

Going back to the road though, the Goomba was gone! Did I not make him kick the bucket?

"Goompa, do you know what happened to the Goomba that was here?"

"Hmm? Oh! Yeah, he just disappeared." Goompa said as if there was nothing wrong with what he said.

"Well where did he run off to?"

"Probably the Underwhere... Or Maybe the Overthere... Who knows really."

?
The Underwhere and Overthere? I wonder what kind of places they are...
Whatever, if those names come up again I'll start asking questions.

"So, shall we be off, Mario?" Goompa started to walk down the path ahead of me a little while saying this.

"Yup, I'll lead the way!"

Surprisingly, only about a minute passed of us walking down a path before we made it up to a fence that lead to an entrance to Goomba Village. But before I go to open it, Goompa speaks up saying.

"Never worry, kids, here I am. Thanks to young Mario here, I made it back all right."

I couldn't help but smile at the guy, he would seem like such a fun grandparent.
But looking back over at the fence, I go to open it, only for it to be locked.

"Oh, is that thing locked? Here, let me open that for you."
He then walked up to the fence and unlocked it with a key he was keeping in his... Pocket?

Wait... He isn't wearing anything other then a hat, and yet... He was keeping a key somewhere?
I better not question this... Maybe it will be explained later.

The kids didn't hear Goompa's call at first, but after we walked up to them, they immediately noticed us and ran up to hug there grandfather.

It's then that the shy Goomba in a blue hat spoke.
"Goompa! Where've you been? I looked outside and...wow. Both you and the veranda were just plain gone!"

The pink one with a ribbon then spoke up saying. "Goompa, I was very, very worried about you! Really worried!"

"Sorry, kids, I apologize. I didn't mean to make you fret. Just take it easy now.
After all! I'm back, and now safe and sound."

Goompa, who had a big smile on his face after being reunited with his grandkids, started to look at me before saying.

"Now, before I forget, I've decided go give you something, Mario. Wait here a minute."
He then began to march off into the family house, leaving me with the kids.

... There was an awkward silence.

Oh right! The doll!

I reach in the pocket I left the doll in, and immediately, the girl with the pink ribbon gasps before rushing over to me.
"It's my dolly! Dolly, dolly! You're back! Thank you so much!"

I got such a warm and fuzzy feeling when I saw the joy I brought her when I gave her doll back.
Maybe, I should try to do this more often when I get back to Ponyville.

"I'm so happy... My sweet dolly, don't ever get lost again!"

She then started to look at me before getting an even bigger smile.

"Here's a present from me!"
She then hands me some sort of... Gem?

Not the normal type of gem like a ruby or emerald, but a more... Topaz-ey.
Curiously, I took a small bite out of it...

And immediately spit it out.

It tasted rotten! Nothing like Equestria's tasty, nutrient, delicious and flat out amazing gemstones! It's so bad that it's almost like it's not from the same world!

The kid in the blue hat clearly didn't know what to think about what I just did.
But the girl in the bow didn't even notice because she was to busy looking over her doll making sure it wasn't to damaged.

...
A few more moments pass before the boy speaks up saying.
"So, Mario. You always seem to beat up your enemy's... Do you work out?"

Do I work out? No... But I don't know if the character I play does or not.

"Uh, yeah. What sort of training do you do?"

Just from the looks on his face, I could tell that he was getting excited to talk to me about this.

"I study self-defense by reading books by the masters and by listening to dad and Goompa.
And, I exercise every day so I can be strong like you! It's starting to show, too! I'm getting big muscles!"

The girl though, stopped looking at her doll and added in the conversation.
"Yeah, Goombario's head is as hard as a rock now!" She gave a quick giggle before continuing.
"Especially when he does his Headbonk move, it really, really hurts!"

The kid in the blue hat, who's name's Goombario, replied saying.
"Oh, be quiet, Goombaria! Your embarrassing me!
... Although it IS all true."

I'm getting a Rainbow Dash vibe from this kid all of a sudden.

It's after he said this that Goompa comes back from the house.

"Sorry about the wait. Had to explain what happened to the rest of the family.

"It's ok, Goompa! We're just rapping with Mario..."

Rapping?

Rapping?

"Umm, Spikey was rapping?"

"That counted as rapping?"

"Hey Twilight, what kind of rap was that... Or did I miss it?"

... Rapping in that world must mean something else.

"Oh. "Rapping," huh? Sorry. I just wanted to give this to Mario."

He hands me some sort of blue badge of a shoe with spikes on the bottom of it.

"This is a Badge."

... Do they think I'm an idiot? I don't wear clothes that often, but I know what a badge is.

"If you wear this, you'll be able to do a Power Jump, which means that you'll be able to do a lot more damage with your Jump attack."

Oh...

"But listen here, and listen well." Goompa then put on a very serious face before continuing. "You'll only be able to do it if you're wearing the Badge.
You better try it in first. Putting on Badges and taking them off is a vital skill."

I couldn't help but start to burst out laughing at this point.
I sure it was rude of me to do, but SERIOUSLY, 'putting on a badge and taking it off is a vital skill.' That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!

"Is something wrong, Mario? Did something happen behind me?" Goompa seemed genuinely confused by my burst of laughter.

"Don't worry, Goompa. Anyways what do I have to do to properly put on a badge?" One of the hardest things I've had to do so far was say that line with a straight face... And I think I did it.

Goompa gave me a funny look, but continued on anyway.

"Well, first you need FP..."

Huh... FP? From the sounds of it, FP would be the equivalent of magic.

And 'Badges' would these be the catalysts that allow FP to work?

Part of me would love to do some research on this...

I couldn't help but giggle at myself after that thought. After all, I just thought about doing research on something that's in a fictional world.

"What you laughing about Twilight? Did you notice a funny joke somewhere?"

"No Pinkie, I think I'm just getting tired is all."

Looking over at the clock on my wall, I read 9:00. Is it still that early?

Nope... I saw that it's night time...

WHAT!

"Girls... Is it just me, or is it night time?"

Of course after they looked outside and at my clock, they all had reactions of there own.

"Oh no-no-no! I need to get back to the shop! I have a deadline I need to meet in a few days! Sorry Twilight, but I'll most Likely will not be free for tomorrow, I hope you don't mind!"

"Don't worry, Rarity, feel free to come by when ever you want!"

Looking over at Pinkie and Rainbow, I couldn't help but notice that they are still sticking around.

"I take it that you two don't need to worry about anything tomorrow?"

"Nope."

"Don't worry Twilight, I have the day off from Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow."

It's then that Pinkies lets out a loud gasp into the room.
"Twilight! What if us three all have a sleepover for tonight!"

Hmm, that's a good idea!
"Alright, but I'm gonna have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow if I don't start doing a few things now-"

"We could help, right Rainbow?"

Rainbow sighed at this, but went on to say "alright" anyway.

"Thanks, you two... Should I tell you the things I need done tomorrow?" I the proceeded to grab a list of all the chores I'll need to have done.

Rainbow then spoke up saying. "How about you just keep it a surprise until tomorrow. After all, I would rather you don't make me immediately regret my decision."

I shrug at this before turning my attention back to the Paper Pop-up Book.

It sadly took longer then I would have liked to master the art of 'pinning a Badge to my shirt' then I would be willing to admit. But I was still able to do it, so that's all that matters.

"Anyways, Mario." Goompa starts. "Since you're taking it upon yourself to rescue the princess from Bowsers clutches-"

"Oh yeah! Mario can beat Bowser with one hand tied behind his back!" Goombario said interrupting Goompa.

"Hush, now, Goombario." Goompa seemed to be pretty annoyed about that...

I couldn't help but smile at this.

Er, I smiled because it reminds me of how I would sometimes cut off Twilight from speaking back in Equestria... It hasn't even been that long, and yet I miss her and the gang.

... Me being away from everyone is also reminding me of the time I ran away because of Owlicitious.

"Mario" I snap back into reality to see Goompa looking at me with a happy gaze.

"Feel free to keep the hammer. It should serve you well.
Oh if I were just a bit younger, I sure could have done some damage!" Goompa then seems to start day dreaming about (what I would assume) his youth.

Goombario though, now that Goompa is done talking, speaks up saying. "Adventure... You're so lucky! Princess-rescuing is so cool! I wanna be an adventurer too someday!"

Even little Goombaria joined in on what Goombario said with a little "me too!"

"Now hold on! You guys are making it sound like it's an easy job!" I'm honestly starting to get a bit nervous... Despite the fact that I'm playing the role of the main hero, I don't feel like I could do much... Other then the fact I can jump on top of Goombas.

Goombario then walks up closer to me while saying.
"What do you mean! You're the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom! You were the only one that could save the Princess in the past!"

"That, and you did it like a hundred time!" Goombaria said behind her brother.

This honestly didn't reassure me that much. After all, just because I have some sort of awesome mustache and weird clothing doesn't make me someone I'm not.
I need to let them know that I'm not this "Mario" guy...
But how?

It's then suddenly Goompa wakes up from his dreamy state and starts going on to say. "Oh! Here's an idea! Goombario..."

Little Goombario then turns to his grandfather and looks at him with interest.

"...Perhaps the timing is perfect. You are no longer a child, and evil times are upon us. I'm sure Mario will agree... You should accompany him."

The child's eyes light up to the point where I think there might be tears of joy in his eyes.

"What!? Really!? May I go, Goompa!? May I really go!?"

It's then he does a hop before doing a huge victory scream.
"YEEEEEEESS!!!!!

I don't know how I feel about taking him with now... At first I liked the idea, but I don't know if I could take care of him while trying to take care of myself...
Not trying to be mean or anything!

Then the looks at me before saying. "Don't worry Mario, you won't regret this!" I suppose I don't have a choice.

"Mario, I know Goombario will be a useful companion to you...
Well it's time for this Goomba to get some shut-eye now. Besides, good-byes do tend to make me all weepy eyed anyway."

As Goompa made his way back to the house, I couldn't help but feel accomplished, after all I got him back home, and I'm gonna get rid of the block that's on their gate soon.

Speaking of that block...

Goombario and me approach the blockade. I get in position and raise the hammer over my head.
In one quick motion, I swing my hammer and smash the block into tiny pieces.

I take a deep breath and look at the path ahead.

This is it, time to head to Shooting Star Summit.

Looking down I take one step forward away from the small rustic village...

"The adventure has now officially started."

"What?"

For a brief moment, I forgot Goombario was right next to me.

"Uh, just pretend I didn't say anything."

"Umm okay." I could see the look on his face that he didn't know what to think about me saying that.

Looking at the path ahead again, I could tell that this might be a long adventure.

"Ok Twilight, what's in the box?"

Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash spoke up and interrupted what was happening on the pages in front of us.

Looking over to the small box of supplies that kept by my side, I said. "Just something I want to try later."

"What kind of thing?"

"Just a device I've been working on."
Actually, I could use it right now and try it out!

Using my levitation spell, I fish out a little machine that somewhat resembles a mailbox.

"This, is my message sending machine! I call it the Instant Messaging System. It... Well, sends Instant Messages... I call them I.M's for short."

I could see the gears turning in Rainbows head, but she still asked "why?"

"Simple! Watch the magic happen!"
I write out a letter and put it inside the box.

I really hope this works...

I felt a familiar feeling start to rise in my stomach. It's then without warning, I burp up green flames that dissolve into smoke, which finally form into a letter.

"What the hey was that, Mario! Did you eat a Fire Flower at some point!?" Goombario seemed so confused about the scene that just happened before his eyes... Poor kid.

Opening the letter though, I see the hoofwriting that I know all too well.

Dear Spike.

You don't need to worry about me. Me and the girls know that you're on this book, and we will be tracking your progress. Just remember, you're not ever going to be alone in this little adventure of yours.

Your friend, Twilight Sparkle

It's safe to say that I felt extremely happy knowing that Twilight was watching me.

She always seems so formal in the way she writes...

"What's it say Mario?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing you need to worry about Goombario..."
Taking one last quick look at the letter, I crumple it up and throw it off into the woods.

"How much farther until we get to town by the way?" We were only walking for a few minutes, but I noticed that the path was starting to get more narrow as we went. That the path was leading to some sort of trampoline that lead to a small rock wall.

"Hey hey! Hold it right there! You! Yeah you! Suspicious guy! Don't move!" Before Goombario could answer my question, we got stopped by two voices that were talking simultaneously.

Obviously we stopped before reaching the trampoline in front of us, only yo have two Goombas jump in front of us from out of nowhere!

One of the Goombas were painted red and the other was painted blue.

"Aha, you're Mario! I knew it." The red one started. "You can't go past here Mr. Big Shot. It's a direct order from the Goomba King!"

Goomba King? I don't look the sound of that... Especially because the only other king I've seen was King Sombra.

"I'm sorry, but the only way by is the Goomba Bros."

"Goomba Bros?" I found myself saying out loud.

"Yep. That's me, Red Goomba." He said as he did some sort of pose on one leg. "And my brother, Blue Goomba." Blue Goomba then did the same pose after his brother said his name. The blue Goomba then let out some sort of war cry by yelling. "Oh yeah! Let's do it, my red brother!"

Before I knew it, they both started charging me and Goombario. I quickly go in for a jump on the head, and land on the blue one.

Looking over to Goombario, I see that he did the Headbonk move that the other Goomba I fought used.
Goombario was also able to land on the blue brother; but I started to get another bed feeling in my stomach...

The red Goomba sees this and says. "What's gotten into you? Did you have a poison mushroom or something?"

The blue brother though, didn't hesitate running at me to try a Headbonk. Looking up at hit, I trip backwards and fall on my back, causing him to land right on my stomach...

I burped out flames again... A lot of flames... And they all went right into both of the brothers.

At this point, I could no longer tell which brother was which because they were both pitch black and covered in soot.
I could see both of their eyes widen and look at each other before bouncing on the trampoline and landing on top of the small hill.

"I... I'll let you go for now!" Him and his brother both then ran down a path, screaming the whole way.

Hmm, this is one of those moments where I'm really happy that I was hatched a dragon.

"Hey, Mario..."
I look over a Goombario.
"Can you teach me how you do that?"

"Hehe, I knew I could help!" Rainbow Dash seemed to look really pleased with herself on how she was able to assist Spike.

"Okay, I'm impressed Rainbow. I didn't think it would work." I never thought that cramming a bunch of letters in my Instant Message Machine would serve as a way to be useful.

Looking over at Pinkie though, I could see her smile get wider, and wider, and wider.
Knowing her, she must have gotten an idea.

"What if we put in something other then a letter?"
She immediately started to put a cupcake on plate in the machine... WHAT!

My eyes go wide at this idea. "NO!"
Both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie jump from my little outburst. Use this to my advantage though, I levitate the pasty away from the machine to a safe distance.

"If we put something other then a letter in the I.M.M, then what ever we put in the machine might get stuck inside Spike!"

"Oh... That doesn't sound good..."

"Well that wouldn't be fun."

I take a deep breath before I start rubbing my forehead. I then return my attention to the Book.

After going up on the spring -NOT TRAMPOLINE. We went down the path and saw a... Small castle on the side of the cliff.

"Huh, weird. I'm pretty sure there used to be a bridge on the other side of that building. But it's not there... I wonder what happened to it."

Looking at the small castle though, I can't help but notice something start rising from the top...

It looks like a giant... Muffin?

Then suddenly the ground started to shake in a rhythmic pattern. It at first was hardly noticeable. But as it went on, it got stronger and stronger until it finally revealed itself!

A giant Goomba with a big white mustache, a giant red and gold crown and some small red a white pants popped out of the top of the tower.

"So, Mario, it's true! You made it this far. I respect you for that. Unfortunately, this is as far as you'll ever get. Because I, the great and powerful Goomba King, will see to it that you advance no farther!"

I started to get butterfly's in my stomach again as I watched him in awe.
How am I gonna beat something this size?

The red Goomba then appeared on the right of the King.
"You hear that, Mario! No farther! Not one step! Are you scared, little man?"
The blue Goomba then appears on the left of the King saying.
"Yeah, you're scared, all right. You wanna say you're sorry?" I could hear his voice drip with sarcasm near the end.

My breathing picked up... I don't know if I can do this.
"Don't worry, Mario! He may be strong, but I know that your stronger! We can beat him!" Goombario then looked over at me smiling.
His little bit of encouragement honestly gave me enough hope to try and fight him... But only a little.

I just need a plan... Think-think-think... What would Twilight do?
Use magic... Need another plan...

"Ready to meet my wrath, Mario? You'd better be!" He and the Goomba Bros than jumped from the tower and landed in front of us ready for a fight.

Ok, I need to think rationally...
"Mario!" Goombario whispered to me. "We just got done beating up the Goomba bros. We should try taking them out first since they might still be weak."

... That makes sense...

"Good plan, Goombario!" He smiled in return.

Thinking of what to do I back up into the tree a little bit to try to gain some ground... Bad move.

The Goomba King stomps on the ground making a bunch of sharp fruit land on me and cutting up my clothes.

Looking up I saw that a huge piece of 'sharp fruit' was hanging just above his head... Ok I got my plan.

I go to the tree that was growing the fruit and give it a hard whack!

The fruit then falls down from the tree and lands right on his head! But it didn't stop there! It also bounced off of him and landed on the Goomba Bros, who were hiding behind the King for defense, completely knocking them out.

Goombario, who was originally going to try to attack the Goomba bros, attacks the King and lands a nice attack from behind...
We can win... I didn't think we could do it, but we can!

Looking at the badge on my shirt, I go in for a stronger jump to try and finish the Goomba King and make him stumble back.

I could see on his face that he knew that he's in trouble.

He then started to back up while saying. "H-how could I lose?" Without even giving me time to respond, he ran back inside his castle.

"That was it? With a a guy that big, I would have thought that he would have been tougher..."

"Oh, Mario, don't sound disappointed."

"I'm not, just a bit surprised is all." How could I not be? He was completely triple my size... At least that's what it seemed like.

I walk up to the door and try to open it... Only for it to be locked.
Man, I didn't think that the Goomba King would be a coward.

"Okay, Goombario, see if you can help me find a way for us to get in-*BURP*"

I get cut off by a letter landing in my hand.

Dear Spike.
Check in the bushes.
Twilight.

The bushes?

Looking over by the side of the cliffs, I notice a few hedges with something weird in them.

After a few seconds of pulling it out, I see that it's a giant blue... Switch of some kind.
Doing the only sensible thing I could think of, I hit the switch to see what would happen.

"Uh... Mario?" I quickly turn towards the castle and see the Goomba King on the top tower. "Good fight and all that! But I must warn you, however. If you find a strange switch somewhere, you should defiantly not press it. It's dangerous. Understand?" His voice seemed to falter a little bit in some areas.

"Sorry, I already pressed it."

I could see his eyes widen in horror. It's then that a strange quake started, and the castle started to fall apart.

Then suddenly. The tower that the Goomba King was standing on, burst open and shot him into the sky.

Me and Goombario watched him fly into the air, until the only thing we could see was the small star like shimmer of him flying into the distance.

"Hey look, Mario! The bridge is back!"

There wasn't much left of this castle, the only thing that remained was the front doorway... Which was now open.

Walking past it, we went on the bridge continued to walk down the path.

"Okay, Mario. Toad Town should be coming up real soon now!"

Goombario was right! It didn't take long for us to get to Toad Town after that whole Goomba King thing.

Walking up to the gate. I immediately get stopped by a local. "MARIO!" I could see he had a shocked expression on his face from seeing me. "I'm so glad you're ok! Listen, the town is in an uproar! The princess is kidnapped! The very castle up-rooted! It's bedlam! Please Mario! Save Her Highness!"

"I-I'll do what I can..."

"We should probably sleep in a Toad House. After all, it's been a long day."

I couldn't help but yawn in agreement.

Time to go find a inn.

I soon started to yawn myself.

"Okay girls, I think it's time for me to hit the hey."

Looking over a Pinkie, I could see that she was already laying her head back and snoring very loudly... Even though she was quiet not even a few seconds ago.

"Yeah, I agree... So...I guess I'll just take the guest room."

"Go ahead."

I grab the pop corn bowl on the table by the book, and take it to the kitchen... Although its better for me to wait for Spike to finish the book... I can't help but want to try to get him out early.
This is a large book, and he's easily going to be stuck in there for maybe a week.

... *sigh* "I better get some sleep... After all, I need to catch up on Spikes chores."

Author's Note

I can't help but feel upset that this might drop in quality.

For those who don't know, the Wii I was using to play through the game Paper Mario, broke on me.
And now I have to resort on watching let's plays and walkthroughs to get my information.
So deep apology's in advance.