Super Mario and the Elements of Harmony

Mario, Twilight, and Spike were now ready to depart on their journey together in search of the first of Twilight's five missing friends.  At this time they had no clue where to start their search for the elements.  Mario, however, knew exactly who to go to at a time like this.  The three jumped into the pipe to go back to the entrance of Toad Town.  The pipe spun them around in circles, making Twilight and Spike dizzy all over again.  Upon being spit out on the other side of the pipe Spike had to try his best not to vomit.  Mario was already accustomed to the spinning inside the pipe.

"Follow me, it's-a this way," said Mario as he started to walk down the main road in Toad Town.  He led them to a blue house with stars on it and a spinning roof.  It was right beside the gate to the royal castle.  Twilight could see the castle, and all seemed normal around it.  There was no damage to it at all, just like the castle back in Canterlot.  Mario knocked on the door to the house with the spinning roof.

"Merlon is out!" yelled a voice from inside the house.

"Don't-a worry, Twilight and Spike, Merlon-a does this all the time," said Mario as he knocked again.

"How many times do I have to tell you?  Merlon is out," said Merlon as he opened the door very quickly, hitting Mario to the ground.  "Oh!  Mario... I'm so sorry," Merlon said as he picked up Mario from the ground.  Merlon was a Shaman with a blue coat and a long beard.

"It's ok.  Merlon, we need-a your help.  Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and l are a-looking for the Elements of Harmony along with the ponies who possess them," said Mario.

Merlon responded while stroking his rather long and grey beard, "Elements of Harmony... Yes, I have heard of them in my many studies.  I assume that you mean the elements that are from Equestria... Yes, it is all coming back to me.  Come inside, we can't let too many people hear of this."

The three joined Merlon in his house.  The first floor of the house was empty aside from a table with a ball that held a Power Star inside it.  Merlon told the heroes, "Unfortunately, any power I have can only help with tracking down magical items related to the stars of the Mushroom Kingdom, and not a power source from another country or island.  However, the seven Star Spirits will be able to help you in your quest.  They have no jurisdiction with their power.  You can find them at the top of Shooting Star Summit  It is just passed the castle.  Mario, I know you have worked with them before in a previous quest."

Twilight looked at Merlon and said, "Thank you so much Merlon, we really appreciate the help."

Merlon responded, "You're very welcome, Twilight Sparkle.  Is there anything you need for your journey?"

Twilight, looking in her bag and all the things she packed in it, said, "Well, I have no more bits or any other kind of currency, so I don't know how we will be able to travel."

Mario then spoke up, "Don't-a worry, Twilight.  Here our-a currency is coins.  We can get coins by defeating enemies on our-a journeys!  And-a besides, everybody knows who I am!  I always get-a free rides."

"Have a safe journey, young heroes.  I hope for the best," Merlon said as the three heroes exchanged goodbyes with him and left the house.

They headed into the castle courtyard, crossed the bridge, and were now on their way to Shooting Star Summit, which was only a short walk away.

When the three heroes got to Shooting Star Summit they noticed the sky around them get darker.

“Don’t a-worry,” said Mario, “that is-a normal for this area.  The summit is very a-dark, but quite lovely.”

Spike then pointed to the sky and said, “Wow, look at that!  The sky is beautiful.  Look at all the shooting stars!”

The three approached the base of the mountain.  There was a path that led all around the mountain as it led to the summit.  The heroes began their walk up to the top of the summit.  The higher they got, the darker it became, until they reached the summit and it seemed as dark as night.  Things just worked differently in the Mushroom Kingdom than in Equestria.  The summit was a small, circular mesa on top of the mountain.  As soon as Mario set his first foot on Shooting Star Summit, the seven Star Spirits appeared.  They were floating, glowing creatures, each with a five point star shaped body.  Their colours were different, but yellow was most prominent among the seven.

The leader of the Star Spirits, Eldstar, said to the three who were now standing in the middle of the summit, “Welcome, Mario.  We were expecting you, son.  We came down from our home, the Star Haven, to see you.  Bowser and Discord have teamed up to cause chaos to both Equestria and the Mushroom Kingdom.  We admire your bravery in taking them on.”

The Star Spirits were freed by Mario on a previous adventure when they themselves were captured by Bowser.  When they were freed and able to return to Star Haven, a time of peace reigned over the Mushroom Kingdom.  The Star Spirits were powerful stars who fulfilled the wishes of the creatures of the Mushroom Kingdom who wished upon a shooting star.  From Star Haven they could see everything.  There they waited for Twilight, Spike, and Mario to come to see them in Shooting Star Summit, which was the only place where they could come into contact with other creatures.

“It is an honour to meet you, I am Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike,” said Twilight, who had no prior knowledge about the existence of the Star Spirits.

Mamar, the motherly one of the Star Spirits, said to Twilight, “We know of you, Twilight Sparkle.  You are a very talented unicorn from Equestria who studies in magic.   We can see the whole world from Star Haven, but we only choose to assist those of Mushroom Kingdom, because the creatures here are the only ones willing to believe in us.  We can be very helpful to you three on your quest.”

Spike then pleaded with the Star Spirits, “We really need help in finding our friends and the Elements of Harmony.  Please help us.”

Eldstar spoke up, “Yes, the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful items in Equestria.  They are now controlled by you, Twilight, and your five friends.  We can use our power to track down where the elements are.”

“But sir star thingy, why can’t you just get them for us?” asked Spike bluntly.

“Because, young dragon,” Skolar, the smart Star Spirit, spoke up and said, “Discord and Bowser know of us.  They know of our power and they also know how to capture us in order for our powers to be drained.  If that happens, then all of the wishes of the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom will go unfulfilled.  What they don’t know, however, is that we are going to help you locate where the Elements of Harmony are hidden.”

Twilight spoke up, “There is so much about this kingdom that I need to learn.  Why are Discord and Bowser doing this to us?”  Kalmar, the calm Star Spirit, had the answer to that question.

“Well, Twilight, Bowser has always had plans to take over the Mushroom Kingdom.  Bowser’s main goal has always been to capture Princess Peach in order to take control of the kingdom.  Mario has stopped him every time so far so he had to change is tactics.  This time he doesn’t care about winning or taking control of the kingdom; all he wants is to have some fun.  He and Discord are very similar in this way now.  Some villains do what they do for riches, some for power, some for fame, and some just want to watch the world burn while they sit there and laugh at it.”

“Wow… You’re right.  This all makes sense to me now.  That is why Discord called this whole thing a game,” Twilight said with a much quieter voice because of her sudden realization of what was truly going on.

Mario then asked, “Now that we have all the information that we a-need, where are we to go?”

Eldstar had the answer, “Well, young heroes, there are five elements that we know the location to.  Twilight’s element, Magic, is somewhere that we do not know.  Discord has probably used his magic to shield that element from being found by another source other than himself.  Unfortunately, there is no quick way to finding the elements in a consecutive manner.  They are all equally distant from Toad Town as they are from each other.  Laughter, along with your friend Pinkie Pie, appears to be hidden in Crystal Palace in the far corner of the Mushroom Kingdom, on top of Shiver Mountain.  I only assume it is guarded by the Crystal King, whom you, Mario, defeated many years ago.  Discord and Bowser may have another trick up their sleeves.  To get there, you must go through the Toad Town tunnels, and take the pipe to Shiver City, and you may go towards the Crystal Palace from there.”

Klevar, the smart Star Spirit, then said, “Twilight, this Crystal Palace is very different from the Crystal Empire of Equestria, and it is totally unrelated.  This Crystal Palace is located in the coldest region of the Mushroom Kingdom, so you must be prepared.”

“However,” Eldstar interrupted, “we can sense a special type of magic coming from the Crystal Palace.  It appears that the Crystal King has become more powerful, probably with the help of Discord and Bowser.  Kalmar was captured by Bowser and given to the Crystal King to be guarded in one of Bowser’s most successful plots to date.  As you will probably remember, Mario, the Crystal King was a very formidable foe.”

“Yes, he was.  I could not fight against him with all my might.  He also has many assistants who are willing to lay their lives on the line for him,” said Kalmar.

“That’s-a ok,” said Mario very cheerfully.  “We are a-ready for anything that a-comes our way!  Aren’t we, Twilight and a-Spike?”  Mario looked over to see Spike sleeping on Twilight’s back.  “Well, we are a-ready as we will ever be.”  Twilight, Spike, and Mario then thanked the seven Star Spirits for their help so far, and were now on their way to the Crystal Palace.

The Toad Town tunnels acted as the sewer system on Toad Town, as well as a way to get around for those willing to use the green pipes.  Mario had used the tunnels to get to many places before.  He also knew of the dangers that came from using the tunnels.  Many criminals and creatures just looking out for their own interests used the tunnels as well.  Along the way from the Shooting Star Summit to the tunnels, Mario informed Twilight and Spike of all the dangers they could face.  Mario knew of the goombas, short creatures found in the Mushroom Kingdom with two feet and no arms.  Goombas were not necessarily evil, but they only had their own interests in mind and could strike one of the three heroes with no prior warning.  Along with them were their flying counterparts,pParagoombas.  There were also koopa troopas and paratroopas: koopas who had sided with the Koopa Troop, a part of Bowser’s army, and declared him as their leader.  The koopa that Twilight and Spike saw in Toad Town sided with good, and associated itself under the Mushroom Kingdom rule, and not under Bowser’s army.

“Oh no, not another pipe,” Spike said when the three arrived to the pipe leading into the tunnels.  Twilight responded quite motherly to her dragon friend,

“Spike, you have to get used to going through pipes.  We are going to have to go through many on our mission.  I thought you said you were tough?”

"I am tough, Twilight, I am,” Spike said while swallowing rather nervously.

The three went into the pipe.  The pipe led them into the tunnels, which were quite dark even with the lights on the walls.  "Follow me,” said Mario while leading the three towards the pipe that would get them to Shiver City.

Thee three went into different hallways and doors.  Suddenly, a Goomba popped out from the shadows.  “Ahhhh,” sounded a girlish scream from Spike.  Mario then jumped in the air and squished the Goomba.  The Goomba disappeared, turning into a coin which Mario collected.

“And that’s-a how you deal with Goombas!” said Mario quite proudly while looking at the shock on the faces of Twilight and Spike.  They shook it off and continued walking.

They were led into a room with a blue door on the other side of the room on an elevated ledge.  To get there, there were platforms they had to jump on, and those platforms were floating on nothing.  Twilight and Spike were surprised by this, but they accepted the facts that things worked differently here and made the jumps to the other side.  Things seemed to be getting stranger and stranger as they went along, but they thought that it must be normal for here because of Mario not reacting any differently.  Inside the blue door was, to Spike's chagrin, another green pipe.  This one led all the way to Shiver City, which was quite the distance away.

“Don’t worry, Spike.  Just close your eyes and I’ll hold on to you,” Twilight said while putting a hoof on Spike's shoulder.  The three jumped into the pipe and were spun around and around, all the way to Shiver City.  It only took about ten minutes to get there, but to Spike it felt like hours of torture.  Painful, nauseating torture.  Eventually it spit them out into a room that was underneath the center of Shiver City.  Spike let out a large belch of fire in an attempt to get rid of his nausea.  The walls and floor were covered in ice.  The room was absolutely freezing.

"Twilight, please tell me that you packed us some winter clothing," Spike pleaded.  Thankfully, Twilight had packed some warm clothing for her and Spike in her bag.  The clothing included a white and blue saddle, a pink striped scarf, and yellow boots for Twilight and blue gloves and a blue scarf for Spike.  Mario was used to the many different climates of the Mushroom Kingdom, so he had nothing on him except for his regular clothing.  The three went through one more pipe that led them to the above ground.

Shiver City was actually just a small town inhabited by bumpties, little creatures that were the penguins of the land.  The sky was dark grey and there was light snow falling.  The whole ground was covered with a few centimetres of snow, aside from the main path, which was shovelled.  However, Mario soon noticed that things were different from the last time her was here.  The bumpties did not appear happy.  They were all walking around slowly with their heads looking down to the ground.  The three had to ignore them and keep going.  They walked towards the end of the town on the main path which would lead them out of the town and all the way to the Crystal Palace on top of Shiver Mountain.

At the edge of the city there was a bumpy standing in the middle of the path.  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said the bumpty to the three heroes.  “You can’t go passed here without the permission of Mayor Penguin.

"Mario spoke up, “Don’t you a-know who I am?  I am a-Super Mario!  You must let us through.”

“Nope, not without permission of the mayor,” replied the bumpty in a rude tone.  “And I have never heard of a ‘Super Mario’.  In fact, I don’t think anybody has ever gone through this path!  At least, I can’t seem to remember anybody going through.”

This was odd because Mario had permission form Mayor Penguin to always go through the town without limits, and this was given to him the last time he was there.  But, in order to not cause a commotion, the three went to see the mayor, who lived on the opposite side of the small town.

On the way to the mayor's house Spike tripped and fell flat on his face.  “Oh, Spike, are you okay?” asked Twilight while picking up the fallen young dragon.

“Ohhh… I think so.  What did I trip on?” replied Spike, while looking directly at what tripped him.  It was a black crystal that was sticking out of the ground.  Twilight knew that she had seen similar crystals before.  It was a crystal made only from the darkest of magic.  It was not the only crystal too; there were many all around the whole town as Twilight scanned the area.

“That’s a new looking crystal,” said Mario. “But no harm done.  Let’s-a continue!”

The three continued towards the mayor’s house.  When the heroes reached the mayor’s house, Mario gave a hard knock on the door.  The door was opened by the wife of the mayor, whom Mario had met a few years ago on his first journey though Shiver City.  “Yes, may I help you?” she asked.

“Hello, Mrs. Penguin, it’s-a me, Mario,” Mario exclaimed while tipping his hat to her.  "We are here to see your a-husband."

She responded with a confused look on her face and a quiet voice, “Mario?  Never heard of any Mario.  My husband is sleeping right now.”

“How could-a you not remember me?” Mario asked.  “You thought I murdered your husband when he was just-a knocked out a few years ago.”

“Honestly, I can’t remember you, or anything ever bad happening to us to be exact.  In fact, I can’t even remember anything before a few days ago,” she responded, seeming to have a form of amnesia.

“Well...  Thank you very much!  We’ll be on our way now,” Twilight said quickly while leading the three of them away.

She continued after the door was closed, “This seems exactly like what the ponies were like in the Crystal Empire back in Equestria, doesn’t it Spike?”  Spike nodded his head.

“It does, Twilight.  Maybe Discord is using some of King Sombra’s magic to confuse everyone!”

“I don’t know, Spike,” Twilight responded.  “It does seem like that is the case, but I know that you helped to defeat him.  His body exploded all over.  I don’t think there is a way for him to come back.  We’ll just have to continue our journey and get our way through that Bumpty blocking the path.”

So the three of them moved towards the bumpty blocking the path.  “Did you get permission from the mayor to go through here?” asked the bumpty.

“Uhh… uhh… yes!” Spike exclaimed.  He wasn’t the best at lying.

“No you didn’t,” responded the Bumpty while glaring at him.  Spike and Twilight looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

A loud noise then suddenly startled Twilight and Spike.  They saw Mario with his right foot in the air, and the bumpty face first in a snow bank.  “Mario… did you?...” asked Twilight, who could hardly get the words out.

“I-a had to.  He’ll be okay.  We need to a-keep moving,” responded Mario.

“Well, it’s true,” Spike said.  “It’s not like the little guy will remember us, since it appears everyone has amnesia.”

The three continued down the path towards Shiver Mountain.  It was an easy trip to the mountain, as Mario had already unlocked the whole path to throughout the Shiver Snowfield en route.  They came to a completely flat ice wall with an open door, and it had three snowmen on either side, each with a bucket for a hat and a scarf.  The sight of this brought a feeling of nostalgia to Mario.  This place was the entrance to Shiver Mountain.  Mario warned Twilight and Spike, “We have to a-keep our eyes open for a-monsters that will-a try to stop us.”

As the three went thought the door, Twilight looked up to the top of the mountain.  It was a far way up, and they could see a large cloud of black smoke.  “That’s-a different from last time,” said Mario.

As the three kept moving up the mountain they could see the thick cloud of black smoke getting closer and closer.  It was very clearly surrounding the Crystal Palace.  The landscape also had changed since Mario was last there, as there were many black crystals on the ground.  It seemed like there were more and more black crystals as they kept climbing higher and higher.

“Twilight,” Spike spoke up with a worried voice, “I’m sure King Sombra is here.  I don’t think he died after all.”

“Shhh,” Twilight sounded to Spike while pointing at a creature sleeping on the side of the path.  The creature was white with yellow lips, a blue shell, and white hair.  He also had a fierce weapon that appeared like a mace beside him.

Mario whispered to the other two, “That-a creature is a clubba.  They are very powerful, but also very lazy.  We must sneak around him.”

The three snuck around him without being noticed, and now they knew what to do the next time they faced one.  After going a little further they found themselves in front of a giant staircase made of ice, and this led to the summit of the mountain where the Crystal Palace was.  Twilight and Spike noticed a glare on Mario’s face as he said, “Ah… My oldest enemy… stairs.”  Twilight and Spike rolled their eyes while giving a chuckle.

After climbing up the many, many stairs, the three finally found themselves at the summit, right in front of the Crystal Palace.  The black smoke was all around the castle.  After taking a few deep breaths on the ground, Spike looked up let out a quiet but frightened scream.  It was more like a little squeak.

“Spike,” Twilight reassured while petting his head, “now is not the time for fear; that comes later.  We must be brave, no matter what is behind those doors!”

The three opened the doors and walked into the Crystal Palace’s first room.  In Mario’s memory, this first room was a giant hallway that was both wide and long, with a mirror that made up the entire left wall.  This palace was built with many rooms and mirrors to cause confusion.  It was also full of many clubbas and duplighosts, creatures that looked like blankets but could change into any shape or being they wanted to.

However, this time the room was completely dark except for the light coming from the open door.  After a few steps, the three heroes heard the doors close behind them, taking away all light from the room.  Spike yelled out, “Twilight, I think now is the time for fear!”

Suddenly, the only thing that could be seen in the whole room was Discord as he appeared from thin air.  “Welcome, Twilight, Mario, and Spike, to your first battle!  There is only one rule to the battle: you must defeat your enemies to win.  Simple enough?  Would you like to know who you are facing in your first battle?”

That, however, proved to be a rhetorical question as just then the rest of the room lit up.  On the other side of the room stood the Crystal King, whom Mario had faced when he first came to the Crystal Palace many years ago, as well as King Sombra in his pony form.  The Crystal King was invisible, aside from his yellow eyes, and wore a purple and while coat, as well as a crown made of ice.  Surrounding him were three little floating ice cubes of different shapes with similar yellow eyes as the ice-cold king.  They were called the Crystal Bits.

“I knew Sombra was here!” yelled Spike.

“Yes, little one, you are right,” Discord said.  “I collected the broken pieces of King Sombra and brought him back together so he could be a part of this fun game.  He is back, and he is angry!  Would you like to know what you are playing for?”

Just then, two trap doors slid open in the ceiling and down came a barred cage.  Inside it was Pinkie Pie, and on her neck was the Element of Laughter.  “Eeeee!  Twilight!  Spike!  Oh I am so happy to see you!  Please, win the battle; do it for me,” yelled Pinkie Pie, who was looking down on them from inside her cage while bouncing up and down.

“Pinkie,” Twilight yelled, “don’t worry!  We will get you out of there.”

“You will have to go through us,” said the Crystal King.

“Ahhhhhhhh,” said King Sombra while licking his lips.  He never did say very much.

Discord, who was now holding an oversized drumstick with a leather ball on the hand, yelled, “Let the battle begin,” as he hit a large gong held on the wall.

Mario stepped up with his fists held up in the air.  At the same time Twilight got ready to strike with her magic.  “Get the little guy,” the Crystal King said to King Sombra while pointing at Spike.  This made Spike jump in fear.  The Crystal King hurled one of his Crystal Bits towards the face of Spike.  Spike let out a scream of terror.  Just then, Mario intercepted it and hurled it right back at the evil king, hitting him in the chest and causing him much pain.  Twilight sent a beam of magic right into the face of King Sombra, but this had no effect on him at all.  His whole body was too full of evil for a minor spell to work on him.  Sombra retaliated with a dark beam of magic, sending Twilight across the room and into the wall.

“HaaaaHAAAAhahahaha, how entertaining!” Discord exclaimed.  He then made a bag of popcorn appear so that he could eat while watching the battle.

Meanwhile, the Crystal King was just getting hammered by Mario, who was jumping on his head and punching him in his body.  The king in defense sent out a streak of ice from his cold hands, just missing Mario, and freezing a black crystal just behind him.  Sombra, thinking that this was just too easy for them, waited for Twilight to get herself back up with the aid of Spike, who told her quietly, “I’ve got an idea.  We’ll make them attack each other.”

“Go for it Spike, I know you can do it,” Twilight replied reassuringly.

King Sombra was powering up all of his dark magic to try to eliminate Twilight with just one blast.  At the same time, the Crystal King had pushed Mario to the ground and was getting ready for a blast of ice that would surely freeze Mario forever.

“Hey!  Hey Mr. No Face!  Over here,” yelled Spike while running around the room.  “Hey Sombra, try to get me!”  Spike kept running around the room as fast as he could.  Sombra and the Crystal King kept spinning in place, trying to keep their eyes on him, while holding their fire until the perfect moment.  Spike then stood in the middle of them, and then…

A loud noise and a thick cloud of smoke filled the room, followed by silence.  When the smoke cleared it revealed the Crystal King had been turned into a solid black crystal, and Sombra was frozen in a thick block of ice.  Spike was held in the arms of Mario off to the side, who dove in at the right time to save the little dragon from harm.  Discord, who was now drinking a cola, spit it all out and yelled, “What?  No way!”

Twilight, grabbing Spike in her hooves and giving him a hug, said to him, “I’m so glad you’re safe.  Your plan worked!”  Turning to Mario, she thanked him for his great bravery in saving her dragon assistant.

Then came the sound of slow clapping from Discord, who proclaimed to the three heroes sarcastically, “Congratulations!  I didn’t think you could do it!  Truly entertaining!  Here is your prize.”  Discord lowered down and opened the cage that Pinkie Pie was held in.  Pinkie hopped over to Twilight and Spike and gave them both a huge hug.

“Thank you!  Thank you!  I knew that my bestest friends would come to save me,” she said very excitedly.  She then turned to Discord, and yelled at him.  “You are such a big, mean, mean, meanie-pants!”

Discord responded to the group, “The three heroes have now become four.  How terrifying!  It will only get harder from here, though, as I unleash my chaos to the full!  See you at the next battle.”  He then disappeared with lightning flashing through the room.

Pinkie Pie, who was so happy to be free and see two of her best friends again, said, “There is SO much we need to catch up on!  Who's the fat guy with the moustache?”  They all shared a laugh together about the bluntness of Pinkie Pie.

They now had a long journey back to Shooting Star Summit to find out where to go for the next Element of Harmony to be found.  Along the way they explained to Pinkie Pie everything that had gone on since she was captured.  The sky was now dark because night had fallen upon them.  The sky was clear of the black smoke, and the black crystals had been shattered.  There were also beautiful colours in the sky as the northern lights were shining bright upon the heroes.

Upon passing through Shiver City, all of the residents had gotten their memory back.  They saw the now four heroes pass through, and the sound of applause was all around as the heroes went into the pipe to get back to Toad Town, knowing that it was only going to get harder from here.