Video Game Journeys: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Chapters

The Rabbid, SupaMerge, & a New Adventure
Fighters: Start Your Weapons!
Rarity at Peach's Castle
Techniques and the Younger Mario Brother
R.K.! Rabbid Kong!
Banana Slamma!
The Search for the Machine Parts
The Return of Rabbid Kong

The Rabbid, SupaMerge, & a New Adventure

Author's Note

First of all, thank you so much to all of you guys, the fellow readers reading this story right now. I am really grateful that so many of you guys like this series so much.

Also, quick shoutout to roxas2017, who helped me kickstart this series with the N. Sane Trilogy story, as well as Dragonknife5, who helped come up with great ideas for the overall story.

The Rabbid, SupaMerge, & a New Adventure

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" a mischievous rabbit-like creature shouted as it stuck its plunger on Apple Bloom's head.

"Sis, help!" Apple Bloom pleaded, as she couldn't see.

Applejack came into the barn with a broom.

"Hold still, you little varmit!" Applejack growled.

Upon hearing Applejack, the rabbit turned its head and screamed.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Thinking fast, it leapt off of Apple Bloom's head just as Applejack swung the broom. Instead of hitting the rabbit, she ended up hitting her sister on the head.

"Ow! Watch it!" Apple Bloom chastised.

"Sorry, sugarcube," Applejack apologized.

The rabbit just laughed at the amount of mischief it had just caused.

"Why you little--!"

The rabbit screamed again.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Applejack swung at the rabbit again, but she missed once more. After a few swings, the rabbit threw up its arms, as if it were surrendering. Just before Applejack could hit it, Apple Bloom grabbed her wrist.

"Wait a minute, sis!" Apple Bloom said.

"What in tarnation are ya doing, Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked.

"Just wait! I think the little critter is trying to tell us something."

The rabbit nodded its head, then gave Applejack the signal to follow it.

"Bwahbwahbwahbwah!" the rabbit said as it ran off.

Applejack handed the broom over to Apple Bloom and ran out of the barn.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was tending to the animals at the animal shelter when her phone started ringing. She picked it up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Fluttershy, it's me. Applejack," Applejack said on the other end. "Do you mind coming over to Sunset's place? I think we got ourselves a situation."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

She hung up and started to get worried.

"I don't like where this is going."

Upon reaching Sunset's house, Fluttershy was surprised to see that all of her friends were standing outside their friend's doorstep.

"What's going on?" Fluttershy asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say this weird rabbit feller's trying to get us to Sunset's weird GameStation thing," Applejack said.

Just then, everyone saw Sunset walking towards them.

"Hey, guys. Why are you all standing outside my house?" she asked.

"It's this weird rabbit critter."

"Huh. What an odd-looking rabbit."

"Bwahbwahbwahbwah!" the rabbit said, pointing to Sunset's door.

"You be nice! Where are your manners?!" Fluttershy scolded.

The rabbit tilted its head to Sunset's door, urging her to open it. As soon as she did, the rabbit raced towards Sunset's room and headed to the GameStation.

"What the heck is that thing, anyways?" Rainbow asked.

"Beats me. All I know is that that thing was causing trouble for ma sister earlier," Applejack said.

They ran after the rabbit-like creature into Sunset's room. As soon as they did, a Quantum Rift opened and the rabbit leapt into it.

"Another Quantum Rift!" Pinkie gasped.

"Looks like we're needed to fix another game's ending," Twilight hypothesized.

"Looks like it," Sunset sighed.

Knowing that they didn't have any other choice, the girls leapt into the Quantum Rift, which then closed once everyone was inside.

While traveling through the Quantum Rift, though, something very odd happened. As they were being transported towards their new adventure, most of the girls got separated from the rest of the group thanks to split paths in the rift and ended up traveling to different areas. As for Twilight and Sunset, well, they ended up en route to their destination. Where was that, exactly? The Mushroom Kingdom!

Sunset and Twilight eventually exited their Quantum Rift and realized that they were falling from the sky somehow.

"Sunset, where are we?" Twilight shouted.

"I don't know, Twilight! But I think we'll find out eventually!" Sunset shouted.

Just then, a Roomba-like robot with digital eyes and two rabbit ears bumped into them.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Ex-CUSE me? Watch we're I'm going! You two were in MY way!" the robot retorted.

Suddenly, a bunch of creatures like the one that led them into the gaming world were seen falling as well.

"Just what are those things?!" Twilight shouted.

"They're Rabbids with a D not a T. They exist for the sole purpose of causing chaos and mayhem!"

"That explains why there was one messing with Applejack!" Sunset shouted.

"Who are you two, anyways?"

"I'm Sunset Shimmer!"

"And I'm Twilight Sparkle! Where are we?" Twilight responded.

"We're in the Mushroom Kingdom, it is the home of Mario and his many friends," the robot said.

"Mario?! As in, THE Mario? The Italian plumber hero?!" Sunset squealed as they continued to fall.

"That's the one."

Suddenly, a Rabbid with an electronic VR-like headset on started to glitch out and the headset merged with the Rabbid.

"What the heck just happened?" Twilight asked.

"That Rabbid apparently merged with my creator's invention, the SupaMerge. It takes item A and item B and creates item C, if you want to go how the magazine article that we were featured in, puts it as."

The SupaMerge Rabbid suddenly began merging things left and right out of fear and nervousness.

"Brace for impact, ladies! We're going to hit the ground!"

Sure enough, everyone did indeed hit the ground. Mario, and Italian-American plumber with a red shirt, white gloves, blue overalls, brown shirt and red hat with a big letter M on it, naturally gracefully. The girls, however, were not so lucky, as they landed with a huge thud. Thankfully, they were only dazed and not hurt. Twilight lifted her head up and adjusted her glasses back on her face.

"Some landing," she groaned.

The robot landed, as well. Since it could float, though, it didn't need to worry about breaking or anything. Sunset lifted her head and shook off a bunch of dirt. She then slowly got back onto her feet and saw that Mario was standing right in front of her.

"Are you THE Mario?!" Sunset squealed.

Mario give her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

"Oh, my gosh! It is such an honor to meet! I'm Sunset Shimmer. I'm like, your biggest fan!"

Twilight gently pulled her friend away from the mustachioed Italian plumber.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Sunset, before you run out of steam. Sorry about that, sir. My name is Twilight Sparkle. You've already met my friend, here. And this is... I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, where are my manners? I am BEEP-0," the robot said. "I was originally designed to work alongside the SupaMerge with my creator, Jenny. She is a huge fan of Mario and she's also an inspiring inventor."

Just then, two Rabbids fell from the sky. One of them was dressed up like a princess, complete with a pink dress, blonde hair and a crown. Her name was Rabbid Peach. The other was decked out in the clothes of Mario's younger brother, Luigi, who wore green. Everyone then noticed some nearby Rabbids, called Ziggys, messing with some brown walking mushroom-like creatures called Goombas. The Ziggys noticed everyone and started retreating.

"What was that all about?" Sunset said, finally catching her breath.

"Those Rabbids are more bent on causing chaos and mayhem than they normally would. It must be that the Rabbid with the SupaMerge headset had corrupted them," BEEP-0 said. "Although, I fear that the SupaMerge may have been corrupted when we landed in this world. If we find that Rabbid, we just might be able to save this world."

"And find the rest of our friends," Twilight added.

"There's more than just you two?"

"Actually, there's seven of us. We all got separated on our way into this world. If we find them, maybe we can work together and get that headset off that Rabbid!"

"A splendid idea, Miss Twilight! Mario, you heard the lady, let's get going!"

Mario nodded his head and urged his two new Rabbid friends to follow him. Looks like Sunset and the others were off on yet another video game adventure. Little did they know that it would also be one that would prepare them for a fight against a few enemies that they've faced before.

Fighters: Start Your Weapons!

As the group finally caught up with the Rabbid Ziggys, they were just about to ambush them, when they were nearly hit by an incoming laser blast. Thinking fast, Mario and the others ducked behind some cover. BEEP-0, however, wasn't so lucky, as the Ziggys kept firing at him. Once he got to safety, though, he immediately received an e-mail from an anonymous sender.

The e-mail was from someone known as S.S. and with the e-mail came some attachments. These attachments turned out to be cool looking weapons for the group to fend themselves off against the corrupt Rabbids. Mario and Rabbid Peach's weapons were items called blasters. They were sci-fi looking weapons that attached onto the hand. Mario's was blue, while Rabbid Peach's was pink.

Mario's weapon was known as the Lightning Shark, while Rabbid Peach's was the Fuchsia Fury. Rabbid Luigi had something that looked like a yo-yo. Unlike a yo-yo, however, it actually had an energy core built in the middle. This was a red-and-yellow weapon called a Bworb. Its name was the Dwarf Star.

Twilight and Sunset, though, had very unique weapons. Twilight's weapon was a sci-fi rifle-like weapon that had a purple wing-like design at the handle, along with what appeared to be a ponytail. The weapon was called the Spell Blast.

Finally, there was Sunset's sci-fi weapon. It was a handheld minigun with her Cutie Mark at the back, along with what appeared to be the tail. There were also hints of her outfit colors on the gun, as well as her hair.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Sunset squealed.

"I agree, Miss Sunset. I must confess, though, when the email said attachments I thought it was talking about cat videos or something!" BEEP-0 said. "SO! Are you guys ready to fight back?"

"You bet we are!" Twilight said in determination.

Everyone ran into the field and hid behind five bricks that served as partial cover. On the field, there were three Ziggys that the group had to defeat. One was standing out in the open. The other two were hiding behind partial cover. Mario decided to go for the one that was standing out in the open, easily defeating it in one shot. Once it was defeated, bits of blue energy engulfed it, making it disappear. Rabbid Luigi and Rabbid Peach defeated one of the Ziggys that was hiding behind partial cover with their weapons.

Sunset decided to finally use her weapon. She aimed at the remaining Ziggy and fired. As soon as she did, beams of hot energy came out of the weapon and destroyed the brick that the Ziggy was hiding behind. Not only that, but it also managed to damage the Ziggy as well. Then it was Twilight's turn. She tried firing her rifle but nothing came out. That is, until her hand started glowing and loading the rifle with magic-like ammunition into the symbol next to the trigger.

"Oh! This rifle apparently uses my own magic as its ammunition," Twilight said.

Now that she knew what she needed to fire the weapon, Twilight aimed her rifle at the Ziggy and fired a purple shot at it. As the shot collided, it ended up causing the Ziggy to bounce like a rubber ball. After bouncing for a bit, the Ziggy disappeared and the battle was won. Everyone struck a victory pose as they celebrated their victory. Twilight pumped her fist in the air, while Sunset did the finger gun with a wink. Mario jumped up and posed heroically, Rabbid Peach blew some bubblegum while checking her phone and Rabbid Luigi decided to breakdance on his head.

"Wow, what a rush!" Sunset exclaimed.

"An excellent first start, Miss Sunset, but we're far from finished," BEEP-0 said. "Unless we get that one Rabbid with the SupaMerge, all of this will continue to happen."

Knowing that he was right, the group continued up the hill, where they now had to face off against a group of Ziggys hiding behind full cover.

"Those cowards! Now that they're hiding behind full cover, we a 0% chance of hitting them from here," BEEP-0 said. "We'll have to flank them."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, they could easily hit us just as much as we could hit them if we do that," Twilight said nervously.

"We don't really have a choice, Miss Twilight. If we don't do something, who knows what other kinds of chaos these Rabbids will cause."

Both Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Luigi went to the sides of partial cover. Mario ducked behind a steel block, then shot at one of the Ziggys, damaging it. Sunset went to the other side of the same cover and used her weapon to defeat the Ziggy. Twilight then ducked on the other side of Rabbid Peach's cover and waited for the remaining Ziggy to fire. Sure enough, the Ziggy did indeed fire on them and ended up hitting Sunset with its weapon.

"Ow! That hurt, you little pest!" Sunset growled.

The Ziggy ignored her and moved towards another steel block. After it moved, it was Twilight's turn again. Twilight decided to move towards the other partial cover in front of her to get a better shot. Luckily for her, she was on the correct side of the cover in order to hit the Ziggy. She aimed her rifle at the Ziggy in front of her and fired. The resulting blast ended up covering the Ziggy in honey, which prevented it from moving on its next turn. Sunset decided to hide behind the steel block in front of the one the Ziggy was behind so it wouldn't hit her. Mario decided to move to another side of the same block and take the hit so that someone could get closer. Rabbid Luigi and Rabbid Peach decided to stay put, as they would only be out in the open if they moved.

Eventually, the Ziggy did indeed fire again. This time, however, it hit Twilight, almost breaking her glasses. In retaliation, Twilight fired on the Ziggy again, which ultimately defeated it. The group celebrated their victory by posing again. After doing so, however, Sunset and Twilight felt as if their wounds were automatically being healed. The weird feeling eventually got them so excited that they jumped for joy. Sunset folded her arms and smiled a smug smile while Twilight readjusted her glasses. Rabbid Luigi showed off his non-existent muscles, Mario jumped and posed heroically, and Rabbid Peach adjusted the blond wig on her head.

After they finished posing, Twilight felt her phone go off. She got out her phone and quickly smiled at her new wallpaper. It was a photo that she took back on N. Sanity Island with Coco. The two of them were making funny faces. Not wanting to delay the notification any further, she checked it and it showed that everyone got a perfect in both battles. As a reward, there was a gold trophy with a crown on the pedestal that showed Rabbid Peach and Rabbid Luigi on top of it in a victory pose.

"Well now, color me impressed. You all got a perfect in both battles," BEEP-0 said.

Just then, she received another notification that showed her getting 400 Mushroom Kingdom Coins as a bonus reward.

Twilight then put her phone away and continued onward with the others up the hill. They eventually saw a blue swirling vortex up in the sky. Its very presence worried everyone. Well, everyone that is, except Rabbid Peach, who was busy taking selfies of herself with it in the background.

"Seriously?! You're taking selfies at a time like this?!" Sunset shouted.

"Why not? It's the perfect opportunity to gain a ton of followers," Rabbid Peach chuckled.

"You are SO immature!"

"Enough arguing! Look, that swirling vortex in the sky that you just saw, that thing first appeared here as soon as the Rabbids and I first arrived here," BEEP-0 said.

Twilight gazed at the vortex in deep thought. She then remembered that whenever they defeated a corrupt Rabbid, bits of blue energy surrounded it, as if it was being teleported somewhere.

"You know, it might sound crazy, but I believe that that energy that we've seen whenever we defeat an enemy could very well be coming from that weird pixelated vortex," Twilight hypothesized.

"You know, I do believe that may be right, Miss Twilight," BEEP-0 said. "And that's all the more reason to catch that Rabbid with the SupaMerge headset. He's the key to stopping this, I'm sure of it."

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go fix this mess and find our friends!"

Mario gave the thumbs-up, agreeing with Twilight's suggestion.

Everyone then ran towards a bridge to get to the swirling vortex in the sky. As they did, they also ran through a red ring, which spawned eight red coins on the main path. Everyone collected the coins, which made a gold chest appear.

"Oooohh! Pretty! Wonder what's inside?" Rabbid Luigi pondered.

"Well, let's open it and find out," Sunset replied.

She lifted the lid off of the chest and pulled out a new blaster that was skinned like the stripes of a bumblebee. It was called the Rumble Bee.

"Wow. This is cool! If only we had a place to look at it better..."

"That's not foreshadowing anything," Twilight scoffed.

The weapon disappeared and the group continued onward across the bridge.

Unbeknownst to them, however, they were being watched from the bushes by three sinister and oddly familiar faces. It was none other than Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk, better known as the Dazzlings.

"Did you hear that?" Adagio asked her sisters. "Do you know what this means for us?"

"Uh... Free tacos?" Sonata asked ignorantly.

Adagio slapped her hand over face in disbelief.

"No, you imbecile! That swirling vortex might be just what we're looking for to regain any sort power that we lost."

"And just how is a swirling vortex that just so happens to be floating up in the sky going to help us with that?" Aria scoffed.

"You'll soon see, Aria. As long as we stay on good terms with our employer, it'll only be a matter of time until we acquire that power. And if everything goes the way it should, then we will be the most powerful beings in this entire world!"

Oh, dear. Looks like the Dazzlings are up to no good again. Our heroes had better watch their backs, because when anyone's facing off against the Dazzlings, they had better be prepared for anything.

Author's Note

Need to do a third shoutout to Darth Wrex, the one who actually suggested this story in the first place. They deserve credit along with everyone else who contributed to this story.

Also, I'd like to give a big thanks to Dragonknife5 again, this time for creating the designs of the Rainbooms' weapons.

And for those wondering who Jenny is in the previous chapter, that's just the name I gave to the genius girl character from Kingdom Battle's opening cutscene. She's only known as Genius Girl in the game's official credits.

Rarity at Peach's Castle

Sunset and the others eventually made it across the bridge and came face to face with a giant sunflower wearing sunglasses.

"Greetings, sweet golden perennial of the prairie!" BEEP-0 said.

Just before he could introduce everyone, however, they sunflower immediately spat on Rabbid Luigi.

"What was that for?! We literally just met you!" Sunset roared.

"Hmpf! After that strange creature with the headset got here, those Rabbid guys have been nothing but bad news!" the sunflower scoffed.

"I assure you, THESE Rabbids are not like their colleagues," BEEP-0 said.

"Oh! Well, if you can stop him in this area, I'll happily reward you. He's zapping his brethren left and right - turns them real nasty."

"I don't suppose you would come with us to help?"

"Sorry folks, but it's time THIS flower took things... underground."

And with that, the sunflower disappeared into the ground below.

"Oh, for the love of Celestia! Are you kidding me?!" Sunset roared.

"Well, it looks like we're on our own. Not that we really have that much of a choice, in the matter," BEEP-0 said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, he could've at least given us a hint or two!"

The group continued onward over a bride and came up to a cannon that appeared to be broken. They ignored it and continued onward. As they did, however, a Ziggy managed to sneak up on them and dash right into BEEP-0.

"Hey, pal! Why don't you watch what you're doing?!" Sunset roared.

Just then, BEEP-0 got another e-mail from the mysterious S.S. sender. It was about sharpening their skills and learning how to dash into an enemy, as well as team jump. The group did this against this group of Rabbids and ended up victorious. They even managed to defeat another group and were eventually greeted by the sunflower again. He was very pleased by their efforts.

"My friends, the creature with the headset got away, but I suppose you DID clean up his mess around here," the sunflower said happily.

"Aw, it was nothing," Twilight said sheepishly. "We just do what we can."

"And me being a plant of my word, it looks like I owe you a reward."

He spat out a coin, which was caught by Rabbid Peach.

"Seriously?! One lousy coin is all we get?" Rabbid Peach growled.

She tossed the coin at the sunflower. She then tossed several rocks at it, as well as Rabbid Luigi for good measure.

"Ooohh! That's got to hurt!" Sunset cringed.

"No kidding," Twilight said in agreement.

The sunflower shook it off and instead presented them with their REAL reward. A bronze chest. He then went back underground as Sunset opened it up. In it was a model of the sunflower on a pedestal. It then disappeared from Sunset's hands and the group continued onward.

The group crossed a few bridges and found themselves greeted by Toad, a talking bipedal mushroom with a white cap that had red spots on it. He was the loyal servant of Princess Peach, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Twilight, look! It's Toad!" Sunset said excitedly.

"He sure doesn't look like a Toad," Twilight said.

Sunset elbowed her in frustration.

"What was that for?!"

"Toad... as in Toadstool! Like a kind of mushroom!"

"Oooooohhhh... D'uh! My bad."

"Thank goodness you're here with Mario!" Toad exclaimed. "Your timing couldn't be more perfect -- I can't find Toadette!"

"Who's Toadette?"

"She looks almost like him, but she wears pink and has braids coming down from her cap, which is actually part of her head," Sunset explained.

"Exactly! Could you guys help me find her? Pleaaaaaaaaaaase?" Toad pleaded.

"Alright, but you're just going to see how annoying it is for us to traverse through these weird pipes!" Twilight grumbled.

"Maybe. But they look so cool!"

"Oh, shut up!"

After their conversation was over, everyone traversed through two sets of pipes. They then saw that a third pipe was broken, so Sunset hit a switch, which fixed it. They traversed though it and eventually met up with Toadette.

"Toadette! I'm so glad you're OK!" Toad exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm fine!" she said. "Who I'm really worried about is Princess Peach,"

"Princess Peach? The Princess of the entire Mushroom Kingdom?! THAT Princess Peach? Her royal highness?" Sunset squealed.

"That's the one. And you are...?"

"My apologies. I'm Sunset Shimmer and this is my friend, Twilight Sparkle."

"Nice to meet you. If it's not too much trouble, could you please go back to Peach's Castle and make sure that everything's alright, over there?"

"Absolutely not!" BEEP-0 barked. "We need to find that Rabbid with the headset before..."

Suddenly, BEEP-0 received another e-mail from the mysterious S.S. recipient. The message told him that everyone should return to Peach's Castle immediately. The e-mail also mentioned a fast-travel system called Sploing, which allowed the party to instantly warp back to Peach's Castle in an instant.

The group instantly warped to the castle, which was just as beautiful as Sunset had imagined it would be. Minus the Rabbids' craziness, that is.

There, standing outside the front gate, was a beautiful young woman about Mario's age with blond hair, a pink dress, white gloves, and a tiara.

This was Princess Peach. Next to her, much to Sunset and Twilight's surprise, was their friend, Rarity.

"Sunset! Twilight! Thank goodness you're alright, darlings!" Rarity called as she ran up to them with Peach.

"Oh! Are these two friends of yours?" Peach asked.

"Most certainly, your highness. These are my friends, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle."

"It's so nice to meet the two of you."

"A pleasure to meet you, too, Princess," Twilight said as she performed a curtsy.

"Likewise," Sunset said as she performed a curtsy, as well.

For Sunset, these actions came naturally, as she was used to standing before royalty when she used to live in Equestria.

"You've probably already noticed this, but... the Mushroom Kingdom's been torn apart! You have to help Mario to fix it!" Peach said.

She then turned and noticed BEEP-0 and the two Rabbids that were with them.

"Who are the others traveling with you?"

BEEP-0 spoke up immediately.

"Allow me, your highness! I am BEEP-0 -- an autonomously intelligent scientific research and operational assistant," he said.

He then introduced both Rabbid Luigi and Rabbid Peach. Rabbid Peach, however, was less than pleased at Peach's choice of clothing. She was taking her cosplay of the princess extremely seriously, much to Rarity's annoyance.

"Well! I never! I'll have you know that out of all of the people I've met, no one comes to close to having a more reasonable sense of fashion than Princess Peach herself!" Rarity ranted.

"Is your friend always like this?"

"Pretty much," Sunset said.

Just then, Twilight noticed that Rarity had a weapon inside of a holster down by her dress. It was a sci-fi-looking revolver with a beautiful pattern on it. On the top, there was a unicorn-like horn with ears coming out of the part where the spur would normally be. From the back of the ears, there was what looked to be the mane, which resembled Rarity's hair.

"Um, Rarity... What's that you've got down by your leg?" Twilight asked, pointing to the weapon.

"Oh, this thing?" Rarity asked, showing off the weapon. "I'm not really sure, darlings. I had it when I arrived here. It actually managed to freeze something after I fired it. So, I'm calling it the Cold Diamond, due to the diamond-shaped crystals it fires."

"Of course you would," Sunset said, shaking her head.

Suddenly, Rabbid Luigi noticed several other Rabbids hard at work building various facilities around the grounds of Peach's Castle.

"You know, those guys kind of look familiar," Twilight said as she adjusted her glasses.

"It appears as if the Rabbids we freed from the control of that swirling vortex we saw earlier, which I will now refer to as the Megabug, have ended up here -- and no worse for wear, either!" BEEP-0 said.

"It would make sense to call that thing the Megabug, given that it has been corrupting the various Rabbids we've been fighting. Much like what a computer virus does."

"Well, it looks as if they've been really busy with all of this construction," Sunset said.

"Oh, yes. I suggest that you take a look at what they've built, if you have a chance," Peach said.

She pointed over to what looked like a Rabbid-shaped figurehead on a giant metallic hammer.

"I believe that building is called the... Battle HQ? Apparently, you can use it to get more powerful weapons, if you like," Peach said.

She then motioned over to a giant robot-like head building, which was the museum where all of the souvenirs that they collected from bronze and silver chests would be held.

"Come, let us see for ourselves what those Rabbids have been up to," BEEP-0 said. "I suggest we go to the Battle HQ. It never hurts to get some more powerful equipment, should we run into a horde of enemies and not take them out quickly enough."

"I agree with that, BEEP-0," Twilight agreed. "Let's go!"

The group entered the Battle HQ and saw a plethora of weapons, most of which actually had coin prices on them in order to be purchased. Three of them, however, looked very unique. They may have all cost 550 Coins a piece, but it was worth it. They were all pixelated versions of their weapons, complete with their own colorization. There was the Fragmenter, a weapon for Mario, the Retro Deflator, a weapon for Rabbid Peach, and the ASCII Eradicator, a weapon for Rabbid Luigi.

The three of them got rid of their old weapons and equipped these new ones. With these new weapons came more damage to enemies, especially the Ziggys. They also came with things called Super Effects. These were what Twilight were inflicting on the Ziggys after firing her weapon at them. Mario and Rabbid Peach's weapons inflicted a Super Effect called Honey, which stops an enemy from moving on the map. Rabbid Luigi's weapon on the other hand, inflicted a Push Super Effect, which would push the enemy back a few cells on a battle map.

After exiting the Battle HQ, everyone noticed a giant cannon that led back to the Ancient Gardens, the place where they were at earlier.

"Now that the Rabbids have outfitted us with that cannon, I believe it is only right for us to return to the front to catch that Rabbid with the SupaMerge headset!" BEEP-0 said.

"Now, just a moment!" Rarity interjected.

"What is it, Rarity?" Twilight asked.

"I wouldn't want you darlings to go on this journey by yourselves. You're going to need back-up!"

"But, Rarity..."

"Ah, ah, ah! You darlings only got lucky in that last fight you were in. You could've lost all of your HP if you hadn't gotten so lucky. So, like it or not, I'm going with you!"

"Looks like we don't have much of a choice."

"Looks like it," Sunset nodded.

"Alright, then. But if we're in the battlefield, I must warn you. There can only be five combatants out at a time," BEEP-0 said.
"Mario, of course, must always be out, along with at least one Rabbid. Then there's the matter of having at least two of you girls out, as well. Doing this will allow us to strategize against the corrupt Rabbids a lot easier and make sure they don't focus on attacking everyone at once."

"Alright then. Come on, you guys! Let's get going!" Twilight said in determination.

Everyone entered the giant cannon and immediately blasted all the way towards the Ancient Gardens to continue their quest. Little did they know that another ally would be joining them soon. One who was actually related to Mario by blood.

Author's Note

Once again, credit goes to Dragonknife5 for the design of Rarity's weapon, the Cold Diamond.

For those asking, yes, every time one of the Rainbooms' weapons get introduced, I WILL give credit. It just feels right to give the people who actually came up with the idea the credit they deserve, since they helped contribute a lot to the story. More so than one could even imagine in my eyes.

Techniques and the Younger Mario Brother

After getting back to the Ancient Gardens, the team of six crossed several bridges until they finally met up with enemies known as Hoppers. These Rabbids had springs on their hands and feet and a red helmet on their heads. Needless to say, the initial group had no trouble taking them out, even with BEEP-0's newly-installed Tacticam. Once they got to another area, however, BEEP-0 immediately sensed that there were a bunch of hidden enemies waiting for them.

"Listen carefully. It'll be almost impossible to defeat every single enemy. If we try to do that, we'll get creamed for sure!" he said. "I suggest we focus on reaching the safe zone at the end of the battlefield. If just one of us can get there, then it counts as having cleared the battle!"

"Sounds good to me," Twilight replied.

Thanks to a bunch of strategic thinking, the group managed to get to the safe zone and clear the battle. As they continued onward, BEEP-0 suddenly got another e-mail from their mysterious helper. Included in the e-mail was a new skill for Mario, the Rabbids, as well as Sunset and her friends. The skill was known as Technique and everyone received one.

Mario received the Hero Sight, a reaction attack that allowed him to shoot at enemies when they moved within his movement range. Rabbid Peach received Shield and as the name suggests, it was a pink shield that absorbed weapon damage. Rabbid Luigi received the Super Barrier, a shield that made him immune to Super Effects. Sunset Shimmer received a technique called Gamer Rage, which allowed her to increase her weapon's attack for two turns. Twilight received Blinded Me With Science, which confuses enemies into attacking each other for three turns. Finally, Rarity received a technique that worked with her geode. It allowed her to create shields for herself and nearby allies to absorb weapon and super effect damage for three turns.

"Ooohh! I must admit, these little additions to our arsenal are absolutely lovely!" Rarity beamed.

"I agree, Miss Rarity," BEEP-0 said.

The group continued onward and came to a new battlefield with new types of cover. These were Super Effect boxes that when fired on, triggered a certain super effect. These yellow ones triggered the push super effect. The enemies in the battlefield were no match for Mario and the others, though, as they managed to sweep through the enemies and continue onwards through a dense jungle.

After making it through a maze and out of the jungle, Mario told everyone to stop as he thought he heard a familiar voice. Sure enough, he did indeed hear a voice that was somewhat nearby.

"MAAAAAAAAARRRRRIIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" the voice screamed out.

Whoever was calling for Mario was really terrified and unsure of where they were.

"That voice! It's him! That was Mario's brother!" Sunset exclaimed.

Mario nodded as he ran off in the direction of the voice with the others following close behind. They soon came to another battlefield. This time, however, everyone was on higher ground compared to most of the enemies. This allowed our heroes to damage the enemies more, since it gave them a tactical advantage. After defeating every enemy in the battlefield, they continued onward to search for Mario's brother.

The brother in question, was none other than a taller version of Mario, but instead of wearing red, he was wearing a green shirt and a green cap. This man was known as Luigi. Mario's taller younger brother who's known for being quite the scaredy-cat. Especially around ghosts. Unbeknownst to him, the Rabbid wearing the SupaMerge headset was slowly backing up behind him as he was backing up himself. Upon touching the leaves of a nearby sleeping Piranha Plant, both of them looked at it in fear. Luigi, not wanting to be its next meal, ran away as fast as he could. The Rabbid with the headset, however, unintentionally merged it with the Rabbid that was on top of the carnivorous pipe-dwelling plant. This created a Rabbid-like Petey Piranha hybrid, known as Pirabbid Plant.

"What in the name of Heaven is that horrid thing?!" Rarity cringed.

"Piranha Plant," Sunset gulped.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" the plant roared.

Sunset and her friends screamed at the top of their lungs as the plant-like creature roared at them.

"Anyone getting Spring Break flashbacks?!" Twilight screamed.

"YES!" Sunset screamed.

"I hate to break up this somewhat horrifying moment, BUT IF WE DON'T DEFEAT THAT THING, IT COULD SPELL DOOM FOR THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM!" BEEP-0 shouted in a panic.

The girls let go of each other and summoned up all of their courage to defeat the monstrous creature.

They eventually came out victorious and upon defeat, the Pirabbid Plant demerged back into a regular Rabbid and a Piranha Plant, which went back to minding its own business.

"Phew!" Sunset sighed, wiping her forehead in relief.

Just before Rabbid Peach could take another selfie, Luigi came up to everyone to congratulate them on defeating the mid-boss.

"Aha! So YOU'RE the other half of the fabled duo," BEEP-0 said. "It's MARIO and... and... Louis? Lyle? Llewellyn?"

"Oh, for the love of Celestia, BEEP-0! It's LUIGI! LUIGI!" Sunset roared. "For crying out loud, I get that he's often the butt of many jokes, but forgetting his name? That joke is SO 2009!"

"Well, at the very least, we got rid of that horrid monstrosity and it's now back to normal," Rarity said.

The group headed onward and made their way across a bridge towards an area with luscious giant green plants. Unbeknownst to them, however, they were being watched by four suspicious characters. The Dazzlings and someone that just so happens to be related to Mario's #1 nemesis.

"Do you see them, Bowser Jr.?" Adagio whispered.

"Yes, I do, Miss Dazzle," Bowser Jr. said as he looked through his binoculars while in his Junior Clown Car, a flying vehicle that was created for the prince of the Koopa Troop.

"Do you know where they're headed?"

"Towards all of those blocks where that creature with the headset is. But we'll surprise them and get there first!"

Yikes! That's not good. It looks like Bowser's son is involved now. But is Bowser behind this? Or is this just his son up to his usual mischief to get his dad in on the action to stop Mario? And why are the Dazzlings working with him? In any case, our heroes had better watch their backs. With Bowser Jr. lurking about, there's no telling what might happen!

R.K.! Rabbid Kong!

Even though they had no idea that they were being watched, the group continued on their way towards the huge block tower. Eventually, though, they ran into some big, burly-looking Rabbids carrying large slabs behind their backs. They were known as Smashers and they were mean.

"Oh, dear. My sensors are revealing two interesting facts about those Smashers," BEEP-0 said. "One - they have a really bad temper. If struck by a weapon, they will charge their attacker like a raging bull!"

"And the second fact?" Twilight asked.

"They have incredibly high stamina. It's comparable to a walrus after an all-you-can-eat fish fry. Thankfully, if you're far enough away from them, they'll eventually stop charging. My sensors are also detecting a bunch of hidden enemies in the battlefield. I would suggest that we make our way towards the safe zone at all costs!"'

It wasn't easy getting to the safe zone, but the group eventually made it. Even if they did end up getting flattened like a pancake on some occasions by the Smashers. Thankfully, though, their HP was restored back to full health after clearing the battle. They did struggle in the battle before, however, even ending up getting Luigi knocked out. Because of this, they ended up with their first silver trophy instead of the usual gold.

Well, aside from that, the group finally managed to reach the huge block tower. All that was left for them to do now was to climb it. It wasn't going to be easy, since they had to solve a new kind of puzzle this time. It was a pipe puzzle that reminded Twilight of the Rubik's Cube. One of her favorite puzzles to try to solve, even if it was extremely difficult.

"Hmm... It looks like we have align each of the pieces of that pipe with those colored blocks," Twilight observed. "If we get them all lined up, then maybe, just maybe, this light will turn on and we will be able to move forward."

Everyone agreed to help out in getting the pipe pieces aligned by going to one of the button. Twilight was handling the green button, Rarity did the blue button, Sunset had the red button, and the Rabbids took turns with the yellow button. They eventually got the pipe fixed and sure enough, the light lit up, allowing them to move forward.

The group traveled through the pipe to the other side and ended up going into another battle. After a long, grueling battle against several enemies, the group ventured through another pipe and saw the last pipe puzzle of the area. This time, however, it was a rotating puzzle. Everyone pushed the buttons to rearrange the pipes until the light on the far right lit up. Twilight then got a notification on her phone that explained to her that they could now move forward.

"Okay. That was weird," Twilight said, furrowing her brows.

She put her phone away and the group moved onward to the last regular battle of the Ancient Gardens. They came out victorious and even got another gold trophy for their efforts. After that, everyone moved onward until they came to the very top of the block tower.

At the very top of the tower was the Rabbid with the SupaMerge headset that was causing this whole mess.

"Look, there he is!" Sunset said as she pointed to the Rabbid.

Mario walked over to the Rabbid, who was utterly terrified by everyone coming close to him. Just as Mario was about to gently bring him back to Peach's Castle, though, a small sinister laugh was heard in the distance. Both of them looked up and saw none other than the Prince of the Koopa Troop himself, Bowser Jr., in his Junior Clown Car. It was who was with him, though, that managed to shock the girls.

"Uh, Sunset? I think we've got company," Twilight shivered.

Sunset looked up and to her horror, the Dazzlings were right there with Bowser Jr. as he hovered over to them. As soon as he was in front of everyone, the Dazzlings jumped down and faced them with confident, sinister smiles.

"What are you three doing here?" Sunset hissed.

"Isn't it obvious, Sunset Shimmer?" Adagio mocked. "We're here for that rabbit creature, same as you."

Sunset's nostrils flared.

"Well, of course we're here for him! We need him to fix this mess and restore the entire Mushroom Kingdom back to the way it was!"

"Yeah? Well, too bad! We saw him first!" Bowser Jr. said. "He and his special talents belong to us!"

Once he finished talking, the Dazzlings encircled the poor Rabbid, preventing him from escaping on all sides. Bowser Jr. hovered above them as started to think of what to call the Rabbid.

"Seriously? You're thinking of naming this... whatever it is at a time like this?" Aria groaned.

Adagio jabbed Aria in the stomach with her elbow.

"Don't interrupt him!" she snarled as she glared at her sister.

"I think I'll call you... SPAWNY!" Bowser Jr. exclaimed with glee.

"Aw, I think that's a cute name," Sonata cooed.

"Ugh! Seriously, Sonata? You're the worst!" Aria groaned.

"I am not! YOU ARE!"

"Enough! Both of you!" Adagio roared. "Instead of going after each other's throats, I think we should let Spawny here teach our new friends a very important lesson."

The Dazzlings each let out a sinister smirk in agreement at Adagio's plan.

"That sounds like a great idea! My papa's gonna be so impressed when he gets back from vacation and hears about that!" Bowser Jr. beamed.

Sonata offered her hand to Spawny, who reluctantly took it as she and her sisters climbed into Bowser Jr.'s Junior Clown Car. Despite its small size, it was able to accommodate them with ease. As he laughed, Bowser Jr. took out a giant banana to mock Mario and his companions.

"And you, Mario, YOU must be exhausted after all those battles. Take this -- it'll give you some much needed energy."

"You're helping the enemy?!"

"Just wait. You'll see what happens after I drop this banana. They're about to meet someone that the top banana around here."

Adagio let out a sinister grin. She knew exactly what he meant. Bowser Jr. tossed the banana to Rabbid Peach, who started eating it without a care in the world. That is, until they heard heavy footsteps from behind the blocks in front of them. The source eventually revealed itself as a giant Rabbid-like creature with the physicality of a gorilla. Plus, it was also wearing a red necktie. The creature's name was Rabbid Kong. Rabid Peach dropped the banana, which Rabbid Kong took for himself and promptly ate in fell swoop. He then went to a safe spot that had a bunch of bananas with it. In front of him was a switch with a picture of a banana on it.

Rarity decided to fill in for Sunset, since she was pretty intimidated by Rabbid Kong's appearance. Plus, Rabbid Kong had some techniques to use, unlike the Rabbids they had faced before. Luckily for everyone, though, Twilight managed to purchase herself a secondary weapon, along with Luigi, who was helping them out. Rabbid Kong let out a shockwave that knocked the group of five back a few spaces in the arena. Rarity decided to use her Geode Shield technique to shield everyone from any potential damage. Luigi deployed his sentry towards the switch. Upon activation, it started homing in towards the switch. As soon as it reached it, all of the bananas that would've healed Rabbid Kong fell through a metallic trap door, causing him to try to get the bananas back out of desperation.

"Wow. He's acting just like DK did when the Kremling Krew stole his banana hoard for the first time," Sunset muttered as just observed the battle.

Rarity fired at Rabbid Kong, freezing his head. The ice block prevented him from using any techniques for a while. Once everyone got his health low enough, the effect of Rarity's weapon wore off and he jumped to another part of the arena. After getting low health three more times, Rabbid Kong got up on top of a block tower behind him and roared like King Kong.

The group ran over to his location and Rabbid Peach saw that the tower was unstable due to a small block keeping everything up.

"I wonder what would happen if I pushed THIS block," she said mockingly.

"No, don't!" Twilight begged.

Rabbid Luigi laughed, which was just begging for her to do it.

"Don't encourage her!"

"Too late," Rarity said as Rabbid Peach intentionally pushed the block.

As Rabbid Kong fell like King Kong did in the movies, Rabbid Peach decided to rub salt in the wound by taking a few selfies. Unbeknownst to her, though, Rabbid Kong managed to sneak into one of her selfies and gave a thumbs-up before continuing to fall.

After that was over, BEEP-0 decided that the best course of action for everyone was to return to Peach's Castle in order to rescue Spawny from Bowser Jr. and the Dazzlings.

"With the Dazzlings working alongside Bowser Jr., there's no telling what kind of damage they'll cause together!" Sunset said.

"I agree, Miss Shimmer, I suggest we head back to Peach's Castle and go after them in order to prevent any more damage being done to the Mushroom Kingdom!" BEEP-0 said.

Well, things have certainly gotten interesting for our unlikely heroes. The only question is, will they be able to stop Bowser Jr. and the Dazzlings before it's too late? Or does fate have other plans for Sunset and the others?

Banana Slamma!

Back at Peach's Castle, Bowser Jr. and the Dazzlings were observing the area from afar.

"What's that up ahead?" Sonata asked.

"That's Princess Peach's Castle," Bowser Jr. replied as he gazed through his binoculars.

He then noticed some blue liquid on the Castle grounds. He followed its trail with his binoculars and soon came across Rabbid Kong. Apparently, he survived the fall that Rabbid Peach forced him to take earlier.

"Well, what do you know? The big brute managed to survive," Aria said smugly.

"What's he doing?" Sonata asked.

"Looks like those Rabbids are trying to convince him to do something with that giant washing machine," Adagio replied.

Sure enough, that's exactly what two Rabbids, who were wearing tartan hats were doing. Rabbid Kong was a little bit hesitant to go near the Time Washing Machine, since he really didn't know how it worked. And yet, the two Rabbids behind him pressured him into going near it. Of course, as one would expect from someone so simple-minded like Rabbid Kong, as soon as he touched the controls, he immediately got shocked as if he were in an old cartoon short. Sonata cringed at the sight of him getting shocked, as it looked like it would really sting.

Frustrated, Rabbid Kong leapt on top of the Time Washing Machine and hit it with his fists, generating a burst of energy. The impact from his fists opened the machine and created a portal that led to another world. The portal then began to suck things inside of it that were in close range like a tornado. This included various random objects and some of the nearby Rabbids, even Rabbid Kong himself.

What Bowser Jr. and the Dazzlings didn't expect, however, was that Sonata had started to lean out of the Clown Car to get a better look at what was going on. As she did, she found herself being sucked towards the portal, as well. She hung on to the Junior Clown Car for her dear life with one hand, as the other one had slipped off.

"Grab my hand, sis!" Adagio said, offering her hand to Sonata.

Just before Sonata could grab it, however, her one hand slipped from the Junior Clown Car and she found herself being sucked into the Time Washing Machine's portal. Frightened at what he saw, Spawny began to glitch out. Thankfully, Bowser Jr. held on to him tightly as he released a blast of energy from the SupaMerge headset into the portal. After that was over, the door closed, but the portal was still active, somehow.

Just then, the group of villains heard some familiar voices nearby. It was Mario and the others. They had recently sploinged back to Peach's Castle after facing off against Rabbid Kong in the Ancient Gardens. Not wanting to be seen by the heroes, the trio quickly flew away in order to avoid any suspicion. As they did, Aria was feeling a sense of remorse for the way she treated Sonata so harshly. After seeing what had happened to her sister, she couldn't help but be deeply worried for her safety.

Mario and the others stopped just only a few feet in front of the Time Washing Machine as they observed what was going on with it. All except Rabbid Peach, that is. She was more concerned with charging her phone at the moment and walked up to the device.

"I can't believe this. I have to charge this stupid phone already after using it for only a couple of hours," she groaned as she struggled to plug the charger into the outlet.

She was so focused on that one task that she failed to notice the energy emitting from the machine.

"Rabbid Peach, stop! You'll cause a short-circuit!" Twilight shouted.

The group ran towards her to stop her, but they were too late. As soon as she plugged in her charger, the Time Washing Machine transported herself, BEEP-0 and Sunset Shimmer to a different dimension.

Speaking of the dimension they got transported to, the trio soon found themselves hanging on to the washing machine as they fell from the sky rapidly. Suddenly, they heard a clang from the washing machine. The wire that Rabbid Peach was hanging on to suddenly broke away from the machine, sending them flying away with it.

Sometime later, BEEP-0 emerged from the sand and noticed that the rest of the Time Washing Machine was gone, as the rest of the pieces had been scattered. Since without it, there was no way for the group to return to the Mushroom Kingdom in order to save Spawny and re-unite Sunset Shimmer with the rest of her friends to fix an anomaly that was causing the game to not end correctly. Just then, Sunset popped her head from the sand and spat out a bunch of it from her mouth.

"Gross! I can't believe I got sand in my mouth from the impact!" she grimaced.

After brushing some sand off of her clothes, Sunset heard a familiar voice nearby. Glancing behind her shoulder, she saw none other than Sonata, whose head was stuck in the sand. Sunset let out a heavy sigh and decided to help her, even though the former Siren tried to stop her earlier.

"I hope I don't regret this."

Sunset walked over the where Sonata was and pulled with all of her might. She eventually got Sonata free from the sand. Surprised and confused, Sonata didn't understand why Sunset had just freed her, considering that they were working against each other back in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Why did you just free me all of a sudden?" Sonata asked.

"I couldn't just leave you there like that. Knowing how clumsy you are, you'd probably be stuck like that for a week."

The words Sunset gave her left Sonata speechless. After about a minute or two, she decided to speak up.

"Thanks, I guess."

As the two girls were having their conversation, Rabbid Peach joined them. She paid very little attention to them, however, as she was more concerned about the condition of her phone more than anything else. BEEP-0 suddenly noticed some folks that he hoped they could speak with in order to get help.

"AHEM! Pardon me -- we are in need of your quaint assistance," BEEP-0 said.

Unfortunately for them, however, the locals weren't too friendly. They were corrupt Tropical Ziggys and they had literal coconut-style blasters.

"Rabbid Peach! Your blaster!"

"Fine. I'll get it out," Rabbid Peach groaned.

She tried getting it out, but then remembered that she had somehow left it back in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Uh, that's bad, isn't it?" Sonata whimpered.

"Yep," Sunset nodded. "I don't think my own weapon will be enough."

Just before the corrupt Rabbids could ambush them, they all heard a voice that Sunset immediately recognized.

Looking up, it was exactly who Sunset imagined it would be: Donkey Kong himself. A brown-haired gorilla wearing a red necktie with the letters D.K. sewn on to the tie in a bright, yellow color. The very sight of the big guy was enough to scare off most of the Ziggys. The remaining one just looked up in fear before being tossed away by D.K. himself.

"Holy bananas! It's actually him! Donkey Kong!" Sunset squealed.

"Who's Donkey Kong?" Sonata asked.

"He's the reason why we have Mario in the first place! If wasn't for him, Mario wouldn't be as famous as he is today!"

"Alright, alright. I'm just asking."

As they were speaking, an elderly Rabbid that resembled Cranky Kong slowly walked up to the group with his cane. After finally joining the group, he showed off his weapon. A Boombow called the Wood Shop Walloper.

After that, he reached into his beard to find something. First, he pulled out a false set of teeth, which wasn't what he needed. He then pulled out a shoe, which he also tossed aside. On the third try, he pulled out a pair of menacing-looking pistols that had what appeared to be teeth under the barrel. They weapons also looked like they had spiky hair with cool-looking designs on the magazines. One was blue and one was a purplish-pink. It was a weapon for Sonata called the Siren's Bite.

Not only that, but he also pulled out a new blaster weapon for Rabbid Peach. One that looked like a prehistoric shark that even shared its name. The Megalodon.

At the start of the battle, Donkey Kong picked up a fire super effect cover block and threw it to the other side, getting some of the Ziggys burned. After that, he tossed a banana that he was using as a weapon. A Bwananarang called the Potassium Pulverizer.

Next, it was Sonata's turn. She ducked behind some cover and fired two shots from her weapon. One shot per pistol. Each fired at a separate enemy. Next, Rabbid Peach sent out a sentry that had unlocked upon arriving. The Panoramic Pillager.

Sunset's turn came up next and she fired the Sun's Wrath at one of the enemies, defeating it. Finally, it was Rabbid Cranky's turn. He went through the log pipe and used his Boombow to finish off the last enemy. After that was over, the battle was one and everyone struck a pose. Donkey Kong gave his iconic thumbs-up pose while Rabbid Cranky posed dynamically with his Boombow. Rabbid Peach posed as if she were some kind of superhero. Sunset and Sonata hi-fived each other and put their backs against each other. Sonata even had one of pistols out as if she were in the old west.

After that, Sunset's phone went off with a notification that they cleared the battle with a gold rank. It even showed a gold trophy with D.K.'s banana hoard and a barrel cannon on top of a pedestal in front of some jungle-looking leaves. As a reward, instead of Coins, they received bananas instead.

"Bananas? Why bananas?" Sunset mused.

"Uh... Monkeys like bananas?" Sonata said nervously.

"He's an ape, Sonata."

"You know what I meant."

Well, that was strange, wasn't it? Sunset actually helped out Sonata and she fended off a few corrupt Rabbids with her new friends. Will Sunset, Sonata and Rabbid Peach make their way back to the Mushroom Kingdom? Is Sonata really turning over a new leaf? Or is it just a ruse? And will Sunset find more of her missing friends on these chains of islands? I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Only time will tell.

Author's Note

A tartan hat is also called a golf hat. It's often worn by people in Scotland, where Golf originated.

And thanks again to Dragonknife5 for designing the Siren's Bite and figuring it out what it does. It was a long process to figure out Sonata. I really didn't want to do that much work on this chapter until I had her weapon finalized.

Sorry for the long wait. I had planned on getting this chapter released last week, but I ended up with a cold in the middle of the week. So, that hampered my plans for a bit.

The Search for the Machine Parts

Sunset looked over at Donkey Kong as she put her phone away. Smiling, she spoke to him.

"Thanks for helping us," she said. "We're glad you showed up when you did."

"Don't mention it," D.K. chuckled. "But uh, I didn't catch you name."

"Oh, right. My name's Sunset Shimmer. This is BEEP-0, Rabbid Peach and Sonata Dusk."

"Pleased to meet you. I'm--"

"I know who you are. You're Donkey Kong! The big, strong ape with a walnut-sized brain."

Sonata couldn't help but snicker at Sunset's comment on D.K.'s low intelligence.

"Wouldn't be the first time someone's called me dumb. Cranky does it all the time."

"Ouch. Yeah. That's got to be harsh coming from your own family."

"Eh... I'm used to it."

Just then, Rabbid Cranky started rambling about the machine parts that broke off from the Time Washing Machine.

"Dang blasted machine fell apart in the dang blasted sky! It scattered those dang parts everywhere!" Rabbid Cranky said.

"Is that so? Well, WE need to find that Washing Machine and its scattered parts to get the four of us back to the Mushroom Kingdom," BEEP-0 said. "Can you draw us a map?"

Instead of drawing a map, Rabbid Cranky noticed something and pointed with his cane. Everyone looked towards the right, where he was pointing, but didn't see anything.

"Wrong way, Rabbid Cranky," D.K. chuckled, turning him the other way.

"See that Barrel Cannon there? That can get us to the main island where those dang blasted machine parts landed!" Rabbid Cranky said.

"We?" Sonata asked warily. "We, as in, you, as well?"

"We'll be here all day if we take him with us. I'll handle this," BEEP-0 sighed. "Thank you for offering us your advice, but I do believe that we can handle things ourselves from here. Besides, I'm sure you have your hands full er... waving your cane angrily at rowdy teenagers, not counting our friends, of course."

Angry at his comment, Rabbid Cranky retaliated by smacking his cane at BEEP-0.

"You kids today! You don't have any respect for your elders!" he ranted.

"Look, I'm not trying to be rude. I believe you're a great fighter and all, but I suspect you may slow us down a bit and..."

Before BEEP-0 could even so much as make his way towards the cannon, Rabbid Cranky gave him a good smack with his cane. The force of which caused him to tilt on his side and spin like a top. Rabbid Cranky then stopped him and adjusted his ears before getting on him like a self-balancing scooter. Sonata tried her best to contain her laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of seeing Rabbid Cranky on top of BEEP-0.

"What's so funny?" Sunset asked.

"That," Sonata snickered, pointing to Rabbid Cranky on top of BEEP-0 before finally bursting out into a fit of laughter.

After that was over, the five of them and BEEP-0 made their way into the Barrel Cannon and blasted off to the main island. Upon making it there, both Sunset and Sonata were amazed at how beautiful it looked.

"I don't believe it!" Sonata gasped. "All of this... Is beautiful."

"Really makes you think about how everything in any world is special, am I right?" Sunset said.

"Well... Yeah. All of these years, I was under the impression that my sisters and I were the only important beings to ever exist. I mean, we were the most powerful beings in Equestria, after all."

"Until Starswirl banished the three of you to the human world for pretty much all of eternity."

Before Sonata could make a snappy comeback, she stopped herself. So many conflicting thoughts went through her mind.

"Is being adored as the most powerful beings through Equestrian magic really all that necessary? Is it really worth holding a grudge against the Rainbooms after our defeat during the Battle of the Bands? I mean, Sunset once tried to gain power and she failed. We almost succeeded, but, was it really worth it? Did we learn nothing? What is it that makes this pony so special? And why is it so hard for me to stand up to Dagi and tell her that it's just not worth it, anymore?! CRAP!"

Sonata fell to her knees on the beach and slammed her fist down as tears trickled down her face.

"Gosh darnit! Why, Adagio?! Why do you have to be so persistent in your hunger for vengeance and power? Is it really that hard for you to realize that it's just not worth doing that anymore?! UNGH!"

Anger... Pain... Frustration... and most surprisingly of all, the admission of defeat. That's what Sonata was feeling right now. And it hurt. It was deep stabbing pain in her chest. All she could do was cry. It was the only way to let out her emotions. Sunset put a hand on her left shoulder and smiled.

"It'll be alright. You know I've walked down that path before and the regret I felt for doing so."

Sonata wiped the tears away from her eyes and gave a Sunset a big hug.

"From now on, Sonata, you're one of us."

"But... what will the others think when they see me with you?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

The two of them fist-bumped each other and chuckled.

"I hate to interrupt a tender moment, but you two girls might want to look straight ahead," BEEP-0 said.

Right in front of everyone was a piece of the Time Washing Machine. It was just sitting there in the sand... waiting for someone, or something, to grab it. Sure enough, before anyone in the group could get to it, a lone Rabbid with a large, brownish-black sack swiped it. This was a Rabbid called a Collector. True to its name, they'd swipe anything important from the heroes. Before a fight could engage, however, Sunet and Sonata heard a familiar voice nearby.

"You give that back, ya sneaky little varmit!" the voice said.

"Applejack!" Sunset exclaimed.

Sure enough, there was the farm girl herself up in one of the nearby trees. She immediately got out her weapon, the Hard Truth, which was an orange pistol with black grip handlings on it. On the the barrel was a picture of a red apple, the symbol of her family. On the top was what looked like orange hair and at the end is what looked like an orange tail.

She fired her weapon, which shot out an iron apple. Upon hitting its target, the Collector was instantly defeated and dropped the machine part it stole. D.K. grabbed it and instantly noticed another Collector on the battlefield.

"Hey! That one's got a piece, as well!" he said.

Sonata got out her pistols and aimed them at the Collector.

"Hey, ugly little Rabbid!" she called. "I guess you could say that THIS BITES!"

She fired at the Collector and instantly poisoned it.

"That ought to slow it down."

Everyone made their move towards the Collector as Sunset observed everything. On the Collector's chance to escape, it found itself unable to move as it took poison damage. It was only moments away from being defeated.

"I'll get the part, you finish it off, Sonata."

"Got it."

Sonata fired at the Collector using her normal attack and defeated the Collector. Donkey Kong then grabbed the machine part and the battle was won. This time, even Applejack got in on the victory pose by tipping her Stetson hat. Once more, the group got another gold ranking and a bunch of bananas to spend on weapons for D.K., Rabbid Cranky and Rabbid Peach, since the girls only had one weapon that they wielded.

After the battle, Sonata came forth to explain herself. Before she could say anything, Applejack put up her hand.

"No need to say anything, sugarcube. I heard everything," she said.

Sonata was dumbstruck.

"How did you--?"

"It'd be hard not to hear someone screaming like a rodeo crowd from clear across this here island."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Ah, don't mention it. Ah'm just glad you admitted yer mistakes. In fact, this could be the start of something of a whole new experience for you."

Sonata cracked a smile at Applejack as everyone continued onward to find more of the machine parts. Little did they know that they would be encountering a familiar face again really soon.

Author's Note

Thanks once again to Dragonknife5 for designing Applejack's weapon, the Hard Truth. It was the third weapon they created, with the first actually being a different weapon, which we'll get to later in the story.

The Return of Rabbid Kong

As the group pressed on, they came across something that none of them were expecting to see. Sunset and Sonata both stopped dead in their tracks and gasped. It was Rabbid Kong. And he was ordering a bunch of Ziggys to gather a bunch of bananas that appeared to be infected with the Megabug. Rabbid Kong instantly recognized Rabbid Peach from their battle at the Ancient Gardens. And how she humiliated him by purposely knocking over the block tower he was on. Furious, he leapt into the air and smashed Rabbid Peach deep down into the sand, leaving only her tiara visible.

"SWEET CELESTIA!" Sunset exclaimed.

Rabbid Kong then signaled for the other Rabbids to surround his opponents.

"Yer gonna regret doing that!" Applejack hissed.

Rabbid Kong just scoffed and walked away. Just then, Rabbid Peach popped out of the sand, and boy, was she mad. She adjusted her wig and prepared for battle.

"You're going to pay for ruining my dress!" she roared.

"Now, now -- don't blow your top, Rabbid Peach! Rabbid Kong will get what he has coming!" BEEP-0 said, trying to calm her down.

"Less talk, BEEP-0!" Sunset snarled as she got her weapon out.

Even though there were quite a few enemies, everyone still managed to emerge victorious and even got quite a few bananas in return.

After the battle, Rabbid Peach looked at herself in disgust. She was covered from head-to-toe with mud from the sand. She spun around and got herself completely clean. As she did, however, some of the mud managed to get on to Sunset's face and in her hair.

"Thanks a lot, Rabbid Peach," she groaned, wiping herself off.

"This may sound a little bit rude, BUT WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON?!" Applejack demanded.

"That was Rabbid Kong. Rabbid Peach and Sunset battled him back in the Mushroom Kingdom back when Sonata here was still on the wrong side," BEEP-0 explained. "The only question I have is how did Rabbid Kong even get here in the first place?! Plus, he looked a lot stronger than he did the last time. He must've been working out."

Rabbid Cranky proceeded to explain everything.

"So you're saying that the main body of the Washing Machine is right in the core of Rabbid Kong's hideout? And that the energy from it caused a banana to become infected with the Megabug, giving him great strength?!"

Sonata gulped. That was really scary, even for her.

"I don't like the sound of that," she whimpered.

Rabbid Cranky then pointed to a nearby gate.

"See that there gate? That's where that blasted Washing Machine is. In order to open it, though, we'll need to find two keys. Sorry, but thems the breaks, kids," Rabbid Cranky said.

"Ugh. Video game logic," Sunset groaned.

Just then, everyone heard the sound of high pitched hoots nearby. They looked up and saw a female chimpanzee swinging on some vines. The chimpanzee had green eyes and blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a pink shirt, a pink hat and turquoise-colored earrings.

It was none other than one of D.K.'s friends, Dixie Kong. She landed right next to the group and she looked very stressed out.

"D.K.! Thank goodness I found you!" she panted.

"What's up, Dixie?" Donkey Kong asked.

"It's my sister, Tiny. She's been kongnapped!"

Sunset, Sonata and Applejack gasped in horror.

"Is King K. Rool behind this, again?"

"No. I don't even know what it was that kidnapped her. It looked like some kind of weird, mutated rabbit-like thing."

"A Rabbid. That has to be what kidnapped her," Sunset said.

"Uh... Who are you?"

"I'm Sunset Shimmer, and these are Applejack, Sonata, Rabbid Peach, and BEEP-0."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, miss," BEEP-0 said politely.

It looked as if everyone had a common goal. To stop Rabbid Kong from wreaking havoc and find their friends. What trials will await them and will Rabbid Peach, Sonata, Sunset, and Applejack find the remaining parts to return to the Mushroom Kingdom with Mario and the others? Only time will tell.

Author's Note

I want to give a big thanks to RainbowRaptorDash1 for suggesting Dixie to be a playable character in this story. This helps keeps things fresh for all of you dedicated readers who like this story.