Power of the Stars

"That is one-a big crystal house."

Mario turned his gaze upward to stare at the castle. Despite his many adventures that led him around the world countless times, even he had to admit that this crystal house was a bizzare sight. "This is-a where your friend lives? It doesn't look-a like a normal house, er, well-a one that I've-a seen." he told the two ponies standing by his side.

"It's not just a house! It's a castle!" Pinkie responded in her usual cheerful tone.

Scratching his head, Mario replied, "That-a explains a lot."

Pinkie opened the door slowly, the three of them hearing it creak as she did so. They walked in, and Mario observed just how big the castle truly was on the inside. "Mama mia! How does-a she find out where to-a go? It's-a huge in here!" he wondered aloud, his voice echoing across the halls.

"Well, she does live here." Fluttershy answered. "She probably figured out where to put her stuff..."

The plumber nodded, "That-a makes sense, I suppose."

"Even I get lost in here sometimes!" admitted Pinkie, "But after walking in here so many times, I thought I figured it out, but every time I get lost and have to wander for so long just to find the exit! It's a good thing Twilight knows her way around here, otherwise." she gasped, "I may not get out of here!"

"But you-a do. And you would eventually." Mario assured, "It can't-a be that big in here to the point where-a you forget where you're even-a at." he added, looking at the many tall doors at every corner, 'What are-a all these doors for? They cannot-a each be their own room... Can-a they?'

Fluttershy quietly nodded in agreement, but before she could say something, Pinkie pulled out a megaphone began to shout at the top of her lungs, "TWILIGHT! WE'RE HERE! AND I THINK WE GOT LOST!" Mario and Fluttershy held their ears to block out the noise, but they felt the very foundation of the castle shake with Pinkie's every word, giving the two of them a brief scare. Once the noise stopped, the two looked at the pink pony, "I think she heard me."

Fluttershy and Mario raised a brow, "Um, I don't think she did Pinkie." said the yellow pegasus.

The plumber held his ears, "I do not-a know about that. She was-a pretty loud..." he reminded Fluttershy. He released his grip on his ears, noticing that the ringing sound was gone. He aighed in relief, "Just-a warn us whenever you-a do that again." he told the loud pink party pony.

"Okie dokie!" smiled Pinkie.

The three heard the sound of a door creak and turned around, "Can you keep it down, Pinkie? I'm trying to study." questioned the purple unicorn with wings. "And you're not lost you're-" she paused upon seeing Mario standing with her friends. The redclad plumber looked at her worridly, waving his hand in her frozen face.

He turned to the other ponies, "Is she-a okay?"

"Twilight will be fine! She just hasn't seen anything like you in Equestria!" Pinkie explained, with Mario nodding in understanding of what she just said.

"I get it." Mario faced Twilight once more, and waved his hand, then snapped his fingers. He cleared his throat. "Hello!" he waved nicely to the princess.

"W-What are you?" Twilight asked nervously.

"It's-a me, Mario! And I'm-a from another world! Pinkie Pie and-a Fluttershy said that you-a would be able to help me get-a back." the hero explained.

Twilight put a hoof on her chin, observing the plumber, who rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. The alicorn smiled, "I believe you. But... Why are you here?"

Mario shrugged, "I do not-a know. All I-a remember is chasing my enemy and then I fell-a into a portal then-a landed here, where these-a two ponies found me."

Pinkie's mouth formed an 'o' as she remembered something, "Oh that's right! Fluttershy and I were on our way to see you about this before we found Mario!" she held out the Power Star, which Twilight took a moment to deduce its strange appearance. The alicorn paused as she continued to think.

"It's a Power Star. But I'm-a not too sure how-a they got here from my world." explained Mario as best as he could.

"Strange..." Twilight said quietly. "It's from your world?" she addressed Mario.

The plumber nodded, "Yes. Power Stars hold a lot of power. Of course, that would-a mean that a certain fire-breathing turtle-a would come after them as well. I'm-a still wondering how we even-a got here to begin with." he crossed his arms, pondering the events that led to him waking up in Equestria.

Holding the Power Star with her magic, Twilight asked, "Fire-breathing turtle? That's... Odd."

"He's-a not to be trusted, I can-a tell you that much." he chuckled, "Just stay-a clear of him. He has a strange obsession with-a kidnapping princesses." he teased.

"Um... Who are you talking about?" Fluttershy questioned.

Twilight cut off Mario before he can say anything, "We can focus on that later. I think it'd be best if we get the other girls before Mario can explain. Is that alright?"

"Sure. I-a take it you can-a defend yourselves?" asked the plumber.

Pinkie nodded, "Yeperoo!" she confirmed.

"Okie dokie then! We'll-a see your friends about finding-a Bowser!" Mario agreed.

"That's his name?" Twilight responded with a question.

"Mh hmm." Mario nodded.

Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier, a certain purple dragon with green scales was rudely awakened thanks to Pinkie's shenanigans. He groaned as he stood up from his bed, "Ugh... Pinkie. It's too early for this." he moaned to himself, scratching his head as he got up from his bed. He looked himself in the mirror, noticing the bags under his eyes.

"This better be worth waking up for..." he sighed, yawning after speaking.

The young drake stepped out of his room into the endless hallways. He yawned once more, still reeling from just waking up. There was a small wobble in his step as he walked, which he didn't care. "I swear... I might as well collapse on this floor right now." he mumbled once again,

The dragon saw Pinkie, knowing what happened, and ignoring the other ponies with her, "Pinkie... You're not lost." he said simply, but then he paused upon seeing the strange person standing among them.

"Hello!" greeted Mario.

Twilight chuckled, "Good morning, Spike! Did you sleep well?" she asked him.

Spike started to walk away, "I'll get the travel bag."

Mario looked at Twilight with a raised brow, "What-a was that about?"

"That's Spike. Don't mind him right now. He's usually a grumpy dragon when he wakes up."

Pinkie said, "I wonder what got him in a bad mood."

Twilight continued to speak, "Once he's ready, I guess we'll head out. It'd be best if you get aquainted with our friends so we won't have to worry about anypony being surprised to see you in Ponyville and treat you as a threat."

"Thank you-a, Princess Twilight." thanked the plumber.

The lavender alicorn raised a hoof, "Please. Just call me Twilight." she said bashfully.

"Alrighty then, Twilight."