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          Super Mario and the Elements of Harmony          
                    -by TorontoFCBrony-                    
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                   The Adventure Begins                    
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The Adventure Begins
Dear Mario:
Please come to the castle. I have baked a cake for you.
Yours truly,
Princess Toadstool
Peach
It was just an ordinary day in the Mushroom Kingdom.  Mario had just gotten up out of bed to get the mail, and he received a letter from Princess Peach to come to the castle for a delicious cake.  He left for the castle at once.  Mario could never turn down an offer for cake.  While walking along the roads, he was greeted by all of the neighbourhood toads.  Everything pointed to this day being just a normal da.
When Mario arrived at the castle he quickly noticed that this was not just a normal day as he first thought.  There were no toads guarding the doors to the castle.  The doors were unlocked, so he just walked right in.  There was no sign of anybody in the castle at all.  It was as quiet as a library.
'Maybe the princess is waiting for me in the dining room,' Mario thought to himself.  Upon arriving in the dining room Mario saw a sight that was most horrifying.  “Mamma mia!  There is no cake!”
But that was the least of his worries.  All of a sudden there was a huge crash, and it came from right behind him.  “Wahahaha!  You fell for the fake letter I see!”  It was Bowser, who had broken down the door behind him.  Mario’s suspicions were right; this was not an ordinary day.
“Bowser, where is the princess?” Mario demanded.
“Princess Peach is locked away in a place where you will never find her," Bowser replied with an evil and confident grin.
“In your castle?" Mario asked sarcastically.
“Grrr.  Very well.  But I assure you that you will never be able to free her from her prison!”
Kammy Koopa, one of Bowser's assistants, then came in while flying on her broomstick.  She was an older koopa, wearing clothing of different shades of purple and was holding a wand that gave her magical powers.  With a wave of her wand she showed a moving image of Princess Peach.  She was encased in what appeared to be a glass chest with six holes of different shapes on the front.  There was also something else in that cage, but all Mario could see was flowing hair of green, blue, and purple, among other colours.
Bowser explained, “In order to free your princess, you must first find the Elements of Harmony!”
‘The Elements of Harmony?’  Mario thought to himself.
Dearest Twilight,
Please come to Canterlot.  I have a special lesson teach you on the magic of friendship.
Yours truly, Princess Celestia
‘What could this mean?’ thought Twilight.  Things had been going so well in Ponyville that Twilight was starting to think nothing exciting would ever happen again, so a letter from Princess Celestia asking her to come to Canterlot was very interesting news.  “Spike, stay here and watch the library, I’m going to Canterlot to see the Princess,” she told her dragon assistant.
This day seemed like a normal day in Ponyville.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Twilight could smell fresh muffins coming from Sugarcube Corner.  But quickly she realised that something was different about today: she could not find her five friends anywhere.  Rainbow Dash wasn’t the one clearing the skies today, Pinkie Pie wasn’t the one baking the muffins, and there were signs of Fluttershy, Applejack, or Rarity anywhere.  ‘Maybe they’re all with Princess Celestia,’ thought Twilight as she made her way to the train.
When Twilight arrived at the castle in Canterlot, she knew that something must be wrong.  There were no guards at the castle, and everypony walking around seemed to be dazed, confused, or frightened.  When Twilight entered into Princess Celestia’s room, she saw something shocking to her!  There was no Princess Celestia.  In fact, there was nopony at all inside the room.
“Twilight Sparkle, we meet again!”  Twilight looked around the room.  There was no sign of anypony, but she knew that voice.  That evil, deep, amazing voice.
“Discord!  Where are you?  What have you done with my friends and the princess?!”
“Oh Twilight, you are just as boring as Celestia,” said Discord as he appeared in the room.  “I made them disappear.  I was bored.  Do you know how boring it is being encased in stone?”
“How did you get free?” asked Twilight.
Discord responded, “All I could see was a bright light, and after my eyes adjusted, in front of me stood a dragon by the name of Bowser.  He came to Equestria to free me from my stone prison.  You see, Twilight, Bowser was bored and wanted a little bit of fun in his life, and as the God of chaos I knew just how we could have that fun.  We are going to play a game Twilight, and the first rule of the game is: I win.”  Discord put on a pair of sunglasses and crossed his arms.
Twilight yelled out, “This isn’t fair Discord!  At least give me a chance!”
Discord rolled his eyes and said, “I knew you’d say that.  Okay, I’ll tell you how the game will go: your friends, along with their elements, have been locked away in different locations, and they are guarded by creatures of our choosing.  In order to free your Princess, you must find your friends and their elements, and meet us at Bowser’s castle.  Do you think you want to play this game?"
Twilight boldly replied, “I would do anything for my friends, Discord.  Where are they hidden?”
“Oh Twilight, even you know I couldn’t make the game that easy,” said Discord as he disappeared into thin air with lightning strikes.
Twilight knew that she would need to do some reading before she embarked on her journey to save her friends.  She did not know where they were, or even who this Bowser was.  Twilight headed home to do some reading.
“Spike!  Find any book that might have something to do with a dragon named Bowser!” Twilight yelled as she entered the library.
“Yawn... A dragon named Bowser?  Never heard of him,” Spike replied after just waking up.
“I know, I have never heard of him before either, but finding out about him is the only way to find where my friends and Princess Celestia are,” said Twilight.
The two began looking high and low in the library to find anything about Bowser.  “Hmm.  I have never seen this book before,” said Spike.  Twilight, while pushing Spike to the floor, grabbed the book and began to read it.  "Owwww... Twilight, why did you do that?  You could have just asked me to give it to you," said Spike as he laid against the wall from the push.
“‘The Adventures of Super Mario’… hmm… it seems like there is place called the Mushroom Kingdom, where there are creatures called Koopas.  Bowser is their king, and he always wants to take over the Kingdom by capturing Princess Peach, the leader of the toads.  There is a man by the name of Super Mario who always stops him.  Spike, if we can find this place and get in contact with this Mario person, we may be able to find our friends!”
Spike asked with a voice filled with excitement, "Wait, you mean I can go with you?"
"Of course Spike!  Usually I have my friends to go along with me.  With this task, I need help from my very special assistant," Twilight said while giving Spike a hug.  The two shared a smile while embracing.
Twilight Sparkle and Spike set off to go find the Mushroom Kingdom.  No matter how far this place was, or how hard they expected their journey to be, nothing was going to stop them from finding their friends.
In order to get to the Mushroom Kingdom, which was an island many kilometres away, the two would have to go by boat.  Ponyville was a town in the middle of Equestria, therefore there was no place to catch a boat anywhere close.  The closest city to catch a boat was Baltimare, located on the east coast of Equestria.  Baltimare was a six hour train ride from Ponyville.  Twilight and Spike had packed enough things to fit in one bag, which included: five hundred bits, water, a map of the world, and a pillow, in case Spike would get tired later on and would have to sleep on Twilight's back.
At the train station, Twilight asked the clerk for two tickets to Baltimare.  "That will be fifty bits ma'am," said the clerk.  Twilight paid the fifty bits, and the two were off to Baltimare.  They recieved a small room with a couch on either side.  It wasn't much, but thankfull the trip was not even a day long, so it would do.
"Oh Rarity... Yes... Yes I do want that ruby ice cream."
"Spike!" yelled Twilight to try to wake him up.
"Huh?  What's going on?" Spike asked while just waking up.
"We're here," Twilight said as the doors opened, revealing the beautiful city of Baltimare.  The sun was just setting, and the sky was filled with many different colours.  The rays of the sun shined against the glass of the tall buildings.  "Wow Spike, would you look at that?  Isn't it beautiful?" Twilight asked Spike.
Spike said in reply, "it sure is Twilight.  I wish we could stay here, but we have to go find a boat that will take us to the Mushroom Kingdom."
The two went looking for anybody willing to take the two, any small boats for rental, or any big boats carrying large amounts of ponies.  But the two of them found nothing.  No boats in all of Baltimare seemed to go to the Mushroom Kingdom.
Just as soon as the two were about to give up and find a hotel for the night, they saw a small sign.  The sign was on top of a stand, where an old sailor pony was stanging.  The sign read: 'Baltimare to Mushroom Kingdom- 225 bits per pony.'  Twilight, looking in her bag, discovered that she only had 450 bits left, which was just enough to make the trip.
"Y'arr, are ya lookin' to go to the Mushroom Kingdom?" asked the sailor pony who spoke up to get the attention of the two travellers.
"Yes!  But I only have four hundred and 450 bits left, and that is just enough for the two of us to go.  Is there any way you can help me out and give a discount?" pleaded Twilight.
"No!  I am the only sailor in Equestria who will go the Mushroom Kingdom.  That is a land filled with horrible creatures.  I can not lower my prices!" he replied.
"Twilight, we have no other choice!" Spike reminded her.
"Ok... 450 bits," said Twilight with a little bit of sadness, handing over the last 450 bits in her bag.
"Aye, matey.  Thanks a lot!  The trip will take us all night!  You can rest in me captain's quarters while I steer the ship!" said the sailor.
The boat was really old and run down.  It had a few sails and the sailor pony was the only crew member.  Twilight and Spike got on the ship and went into the captain's quarters, not knowing what the trip would be like across the sea.  They were nervous going on a boat with only one other pony, a pony that they didn't even know.  But it was the only choice they had  in order to continue their journey.  They would rest for the night, trying to put all their worries behind them.  A good night's sleep is what they needed at this point.  So the two went to sleep, without having any idea with what they were going to face when the morning comes.  This was where their adventure truly began.

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                        The Meeting                        
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The Meeting
Even though they had many worries on their mind, Twilight and Spike slept soundly throughout the overnight boat ride.  The crashing of the waves was a very soothing sound.  Twilight dreamt about the time when she stopped Discord a few years before.  Spike dreamt again of Rarity giving him ice cream.  All seemed peaceful.
“Get up ya lazy landlubbers, we’re here!”  The sailor pony woke them up while whipping open the door.  It was not the nicest way to wake up.  Twilight and Spike thanked the sailor who got them to their destination safely and on time.
The time was about six in the morning, and the sun was rising from the east.  The two decided that they would start right away in their search for Mario.  The town where they arrived was called Toad Town, which was actually the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom.  They could see a castle in the distance that had a glass window with the picture of a creature they had never seen before.  The creature had white skin and blond hair.
“Remember Spike,” Twilight reminded, “this is a land we have never been to before, and Discord is probably changing reality.  You might see things that will scare you, but you must be brave.”
“It’s okay, Twilight!  I am brave,” responded Spike while puffing out his chest.  Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile.
“Whoa, look at that Twilight!  Discord must have been here.  That turtle has wings… and those mushrooms are talking to each other,” Spike shouted out.
“I know, Spike.  Discord is trying to distract us.  We must ask these creatures where we can find Mario,” Twilight said while looking around.
Twilight found a mushroom-looking creature and asked, “Do you know where I could find a person named Super Mario?”
The creature responded with a really high pitched voice, “Of course!  To get to Mario’s house you have to go into that pipe over there.”  The creature then pointed to a green vertical tube that seemed to just lead into nothing but black.  Spike and Twilight looked at each other with a look of both confusion and surprise, but they had prepared their minds and hearts, knowing that they would experience new things.
“Thank you, sir?” Twilight told the creature as the two went towards the pipe.  She could not tell if the creature was male or female.
As the two looked down into the pipe, they both took a breath and jumped in.  The pipe made a sound that the two had never heard before and it spun them around in circles as it led them towards their destination.  In a few seconds it spit them out onto the land.
“Ohhh...  Twilight, let’s never do that again,” said Spike with his eyes still spinning.  The two had arrived at a house.  “Do you think this is Mario’s house?” asked Spike, without noticing the clear and big letters on top of the door that spelled out the word ‘Mario’.
“I don’t know Spike, do you think it is?” Twilight asked sarcastically after seeing the name above the door.  The two knocked on the door, not knowing who to expect if it opened.
After a few seconds, the door opened, and standing there was a creature that appeared to be of the same species as the picture of the princess.  The differences between this one and the picture of princess were obvious.  This creature had a huge nose and mustache, a red shirt and hat with the letter ‘M’ on it,  blue suspenders with two yellow buttons on it, and brown shoes.  He was standing upright on his two feet, and had hands with white gloves on.
“Hello there, I suppose you are the famous Mario?” asked Twilight.
“It’s-a me, Mario!  I’m about to go on a journey to save-a the princess,” responded the creature, who had a very thick accent that sounded very similar to the ponies from the Equestrian town of Foalence.
“What are you?” asked Spike.
Mario responded while petting Spike on the head, “Silly little dragon.  I’m a human.”
Twilight then said to Mario, “Well hello, Mario.  My name is Twilight Sparkle, and he is my friend Spike.  We are actually on a mission too.  Our princess was captured by a creature named Discord.”
“Discord?  Never heard of him,” responded Mario.  “My-a princess’ name is Peach, and she was captured by a dragon named-a Bowser.  I was told to look for things called the Helements of Armory, or something like that.”
“Oh, you mean the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight responded, “Yes, those are what we are looking for too.  Discord is a god of chaos, and he is playing what he calls a ‘game’.  He told us that he teamed up with Bowser to capture Princess Celestia, and she was being held at Bowser’s castle.  After doing some research, I figured that I would need your help in order to get to her.”
Mario responded, “Let’s-a team up and fight for both of our princesses.”
“It’s a deal,” Twilight said happily while giving Mario a brohoof by lightly punching Mario’s fist.
Just then, Discord appeared out of thin air and said to the three new acquaintances, “Congratulations, Twilight Sparkle, you have passed your first challenge in the game.  You found Super Mario and teamed up with him.  But I must warn you, it will only get harder from here.”  He then disappeared back into the thin air.
“Was that Discord?” asked Mario.
“Yes, that was him.  He will be making our journey very hard.  He already has for us.  We had to come through a green pipe to get here.  We saw talking mushrooms and flying turtles,” Twilight told Mario.
Mario said in response, “Oh no, those are koopas and toads, they are just a few of the many creatures you will come up against.  Some are good, and some are bad.”
Twilight and Spike looked at each other.  “Are you kidding me?” asked Spike sarcastically.  Twilight and Spike shared an embarrassed laugh.
The group of heroes now got a new member.  The three were just about ready to start their quest in searching for Twilight’s friends along with their elements.  But a few questions were still in need of answer:  Where were Twilight’s friends hidden?  Who were guarding them?  Where was Twilight’s element, Magic, hidden?  Will Mario finally get his cake?  These questions would have to be answered throughout the journey.  The next task for the three heroes would be to find where the first pony and element were located.

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                      Harmony on Ice                       
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Harmony on Ice
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.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                A Two-Dimensional Adventure                
//-------------------------------------------------------//
A Two-Dimensional Adventure
“Ohhhhh… Ohhhh Princess Peach… Yes… Oh yes… I like it with whipped cream on top.”
“Mario’s dreaming of cake again,” Spike said to Twilight and Pinkie.  The four heroes stayed the night at the Toad Town hotel as soon as they returned from their adventure in the cold north of the Mushroom Kingdom.  They deserved the good night’s rest that they got.
The time was about six in the morning, the sun had just come up, and the four had a big day ahead of them.  Pinkie, who was wearing her Element of Laughter on her neck, went up to Mario, who was still fast asleep and drooling, and shouted, “Get up you lazy fatty-fatty-fat-fat!”
“Mamma mia,” Mario shouted out loud as he jumped from the bed.  His pants were clearly wet.
“Oh, sorry Mario!  I spilled my water on you because you shouted so loud,” Spike said while holding a now empty glass.  Mario looked down at his pants that were drenched in water.
“That’s okay, a-Spike.  We have a big day ahead of us,” Mario responded.
“He’s right,” Twilight pointed out.  “We have to go back to Shooting Star Summit to see where our other friends are being held captive.”
The heroes walked back to the Shooting Star Summit to meet again with the seven Star Spirits, with the exception of Pinkie Pie, who hopped all the way with a smile on her face.  Everything was as it was before on the way to the summit.  The day was absolutely beautiful, with just the right amount of clouds in the sky.
The four stood in the middle of the summit while the Star Spirits appeared again to them.  “Ooooooh!  They’re so shiny,” Pinkie shouted out in her cute and cheerful tone.
“Hello again, brave heroes,” Eldstar said.  “We see that you have found one of your friends!”
“Hi!  I’m Pinkie Pie,” Pinkie exclaimed while jumping in the air.
“Hello sir,” Twilight said in respect to the leader of the Star Spirits.  “We thank you for all of your help so far in helping us free our friend Pinkie from her captors.  We were able to defeat the Crystal King along with King Sombra, who was resurrected by Discord.  Can you please help to us where we need to go next?”
Mamar spoke in her motherly tone, “Miss Sparkle, we are impressed with your respect and bravery.  Your friend Fluttershy and her Element of Kindness is the next closest to us.  We are sorry to tell you that we still do not know where your element, Magic, is hidden.  We can only assume that Discord is the one who has it.”
Twilight replied, “Thank you very much.  Where can we find Fluttershy?  Is she also inside the boundaries of this kingdom?”
Eldstar held the answer, “Yes, she is actually very close to us!  We can sense her Element of Kindness inside Koopa Brothers’ Fortress.  We can only assume that she is being guarded by the Koopa Brothers, the four koopa ninjas whom Mario had defeated many years ago.  I myself was held captive by them.  They are very sneaky and smart creatures, and they have an army to protect them.  Be careful, young heroes.”
“Thank you so much again,” Twilight said.
Muskular, the strong and feisty Star Spirit, said while the four were turning around to leave, “Remember, if you guys are getting your butts kicked good, just call upon me and I will crush them for you!”
“NO!” interrupted Eldstar.  “Remember what we told you last time!  Bowser knows of our weaknesses. However, he and Discord do not know that we are helping you four out in your mission because this summit is shielded from them.  We must not leave here and go out where we will be unprotected!”
“We understand,” Twilight replied.  “We know how important you seven are to the members of this kingdom.  We really appreciate the help that you do give us.”  The heroes said goodbye to the Star Spirits once again and left to go find Fluttershy.
“It’s-a just over here,” said Mario, who was taking the lead as the four were walking through Toad Town to go to the path leading to the fortress.
The minute they stepped foot out of the town, Discord appeared to them.  “So, young ‘heroes’, you think that you are prepared for what lies ahead?” he asked sarcastically in his majestic voice.
“Of course we are!” Spike shouted proudly.
“Well you aren’t,” Discord replied.  Discord then, with a flash of light, transformed the entire landscape in front of them into a side-scrolling two dimensional obstacle course.  The heroes now had to walk just a straight line to get to the fortress that appeared at the end of it.  Discord continued, “If you think that isn’t enough, the game has now changed!  You each will now have lives, which are chances that I am giving you to fail without actually ending your existence.  The four of you will each start with five lives.  Every time you reach one hundred coins or collect a 1-up mushroom you will be rewarded with a free life.  Try not to get game over!  There will also be other power-ups and items you can use.  Have fun everybody!”  He then disappeared once again while laughing.
“What does Discord mean by ‘lives’?” Spike asked.
“I’ve a-been through this before,” Mario responded.  He had been through many different adventures and situations that the ponies and Spike were never aware of.  “When we get a-hit by an enemy or a-fall down a hole, we will re-appear every time until we reach zero lives.  Then our entire a-life is over.”
“Eeee!  Sounds like fun!” Pinkie shouted out while jumping up and down in place.
The four heroes stepped into the two dimensional landscape in front of them.  After walking a few steps there was a floating flashing yellow box with a question mark on it.  Mario jumped and hit it with his fist and out came what appeared to be a leaf.  As soon as the leaf hit Mario’s body he was then covered by what appeared to be a raccoon costume.  He flapped his tail back and forth and flew in the air.  Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike sat down with their mouths wide open in shock.
“Don’t-a be surprised, we will a-come across a-many weird things today,” Mario assured the three shocked Equestrians, who had to close their mouths and accept what just happened.  The four moved forward and came across a Goomba, whom Mario squished and collected the coin that appeared.  He did the same with a koopa that was walking towards him.  The koopa was reduced to a shell which Mario used to take out the next four Goombas on the road.  The heroes collected four more coins as they watched the shell fall into a hole that was up ahead.  They kept moving, with Mario just ahead of the other three.
“Mario, watch out!” Pinkie shouted out.
“Huh?” Mario asked as he turned around to see what Pinkie was shouting at.  Just then he fell down into the same hole that the turtle shell had fallen into.
“Mario!” Twilight yelled out as she looked down into the hole that he had fell in.
“What?” Mario asked while tapping Twilight from behind her.  Twilight let out a scream and little jump.  Mario explained to the three Equestrians, “This is a-what Discord meant by lives.  I still have a-four more to go.  We must a-keep moving onward!”
“Now I get it,” Spike said while snapping his fingers.
The four moved forward, knocking out many other enemies and collecting the coins that seemed to just keep coming out of thin air.  They ended up earning one hundred coins, now giving Mario five lives and Pinkie, Twilight, and Spike six.
“Take a look, we are here,” Mario said while pointing to the fortress which was now just a few steps ahead of them.  Mario, Pinkie, and Twilight each jumped over the final hole in front of the fortress.
Spike, who was not paying attention, fell right into it.  He then appeared right beside them.  “Whoa… Dying is pretty cool,” he said.
“If it is by accident it is okay, Spike,” Twilight reminded him.  “However, please do not do that on purpose because I do not want to lose you forever!  You are back down to five lives.”
“Okay, mother,” Spike said sarcastically, alluding as if Twilight was an overprotective parent.
There was a staircase just ahead of them that was made of blocks.  Mario went ahead and hopped up to the top and jumped over to the top of the flagpole that was there.  After sliding down he received another life, bringing his tally up to six.  The four heroes then opened the doors to the fortress, knowing well that they will be facing a battle in a matter of minutes.
They walked into the main room of the fortress, which was now just a large and empty room.  Inside waiting was Discord, who was standing over the four Koopa Brothers.  They were each dressed in different colours: red, black, yellow, and green.
“Welcome to your second battle,” Discord announced.  “In one corner, we have Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Mario.  In the other, we have the fearsome Koopa Brothers!  You are playing for Fluttershy and her Element of Kindness.”  Discord pointed over behind the four Koopa Brothers to where Fluttershy was sitting, hiding her face with her hair and shaking.
Red was the apparent leader of the Koopa Brothers because he was standing behind his three siblings.  He shouted at the heroes, “You can’t win this battle!  You are outnumbered four to four!”
Pinkie Pie looked at her friends and said, “I thought the star guy said they were smart!”
Mario responded, “Smart for a-koopas, a-stupid compared to us.”
“We heard that,” Red announced.  “We aren’t going to let you go easy for that comment!”
The four brothers jumped into a poorly designed large machine that was meant to look like Bowser.  The four heroes could hear arguing and other comments coming from inside the machine.  “Get off my shell!”  “Ow!  Not so hard!”  “Oh for the love of Bowser… Focus!”
The machine slowly moved forward towards the heroes and Discord rang the large gong again to signal that the battle had begun.  Twilight stepped up to the machine, and with one blast of magic the machine exploded, launching the four koopas onto the ground in front of it.
“Weeee!  That was easy!  You four are a bunch of dummy-dumbs,” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.  It was not over yet, however.  Now it became a battle on foot.  Red pointed to the four heroes.  His three brothers went inside their shells and launched themselves forward at the heroes.  Mario picked up a large wooden hammer that was on the side of the room and spun fin a circle, hitting the three koopas back towards Red.  The hit was hard enough to knock the four into the wall.  As the three lesser koopas stood up, Twilight sent a beam of magic in a line.  On contact with the three koopas, the magic made them disappear with a shine of light.
“Yikes…  It’s down to just me,” said Red, quite nervously.  He grabbed out a fire flower, one of the items that Discord had placed throughout the two dimensional land, and ate it.  He sent three fireballs towards Spike, Pinkie, and Twilight, burning the three and turning Pinkie and Twilight to ash.  The result was them being down to five lives once again.  Spike sucked the fireball hurled towards him into his mouth and shot it back at Red.  The fireball burned him completely to ash, ending the battle.  Once again Spike was the hero of the battle.
“That was just too easy,” Discord spoke out.  “That was not even fun to watch.  Here, take your Fluttershy and prepare yourselves for the next battle.  It will have to be a lot harder than this.”  He then disappeared once again, this time without a laugh.
Fluttershy, wearing the Element of Kindness on her neck, ran over to Pinkie, Twilight, and Spike and they engaged in a group hug.  Giggles could be heard between the three ponies who were happy to be reunited with each other.  “Oh my goodness, thank you all so much for coming to save me,” Fluttershy said.  “Who… Um… Who is the chubby creature with the mustache?”
All of them shared a chuckle together.  Thankfully Mario had a good sense of humour.  He needed one at this point, because this was not the first time he was insulted by a pony, even if it was meant harmlessly.  The four heroes now became five, and they returned happily to Toad Town, where the landscape returned to being the normal, three dimensional landscape that they were used to.  The time was about two in the afternoon, so the five had time to go back to the Shooting Star Summit to find out where their next friend was being held captive.  On the way they explained to Fluttershy all of the insanity that happened since she was captured.  The group was becoming happier as the journey went on.  So far nothing was a threat too big for them to face.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                  A Hot and Steamy Quest                   
//-------------------------------------------------------//
A Hot and Steamy Quest
The afternoon was now upon the five heroes.  They all had very high morale while walking back to the Shooting Star Summit for the second time that day.  Fluttershy had eyes of amazement as she made the beautiful climb up to the summit with the four others, who were already used to this route.  “This kingdom is amazing,” Fluttershy said with her quiet voice.
“Fluttershy, you won’t even believe the things we have seen so far,” Twilight told her yellow pegasus friend.
Upon arriving at the summit the seven Star Spirits appeared to them once again.  All of them had wide smiles.  “My, my, back so soon?” Mamar said to the five who were standing in the middle of the summit.
Eldstar floated over to Fluttershy and greeted her, “Welcome, Fluttershy. We are the Star Spirits, and we are helping you on your journey.”
“Yes… Twilight told me everything.  It is… It is an honour to meet you,” Fluttershy said with a nervous voice.
Eldstar touched her mane to comfort her and said, “There is no need to be afraid.  You must be brave in your journey.”  He then turned and looked at the rest of the heroes and continued, “We are, however, a little concerned that Discord does know about us helping you out.  I have a bad feeling about it.”
Twilight, who also had a little concern on her mind about this, spoke up, “We are also concerned too.  Discord had been waiting for us both times.  He must know about you seven, but is just letting you help us for now. That is what I am a little worried about.”
Misstar, the pink and bubbly Star Spirit who was quiet in the previous meetings, tried to comfort the young heroes by saying, “You need not have any worries on your minds right now.  We must take every challenge when it comes to us, and not worry ahead of time.  You have been equal to every challenge so far.”
“But still be aware of more dangers to lie ahead,” Eldstar interrupted.  “You must be ready but not afraid.  We can sense the next element is inside Mount Lavalava, the volcano on Lavalava Island, yet another place that Mario has been.  That is where he saved Misstar from the clutches of the Lava Piranha; the three headed mutant plant that lives in the lava deep inside the volcano.  The element appears to be the Element of Loyalty, so we can only assume that your friend Rainbow Dash is there too.”
“Good luck, heroes,” the seven Star Spirits said in unison.  The five heroes said their goodbyes for the second time that day and left for the Toad Town Harbour in order to take a boat to Lavalava Island.
Upon arriving at the harbour, the five now needed to find a boat that could take them to the island.  “Hmm… there are not a-many boats here at all today,” Mario said while looking at the nearly empty harbour.  There were only two boats left.  One was a small fishing boat, and the other was a large cargo boat.  The five decided to go first to the small fishing boat to ask the creature on it for a ride to the island.  Mario recognized the creature to be Fishmael, who was always fishing by the docks.
“That creature’s a-name is Fishmael.  He’s a nice guy.  He’ll a-definitely say yes to helping us,” Mario told his hero friends as he walked up to the well-known fisherman.  “Hey, Fishmael!  It’s a-nice to see you again! Can we a-please have a ride to Lavalava Island?  It’s-a very urgent!”
“NO,” was Fishmael’s response while taking off the ropes and rowing his boat away from the five heroes.
“Testa di cazzo!” Mario shouted back at him from the shore.  “I a-saved your life without you even a-knowing!”
Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy had their eyes open in shock to see the sudden burst in anger from the usually calm Mario.  Pinkie was on the floor laughing hysterically.  When Pinkie was finally able to pick herself back up, she asked, “Wait a minute, what does that even mean?”
“I’m a-sorry, my friends. Please excuse my a-bad language,” Mario responded.
The five of them now had to go ask the workers on the cargo ship for a ride to Lavalava Island.  The ship was labeled ‘Toad Town Sea Shipping.’  It was the premier boat for transporting goods in all of the Mushroom Kingdom.  But the heroes had no choice but to ask.  A Toad who was working for the company was just about to life the ramp so that the boat could set sail.  He was standing on the boat, just about to press the button.
“Wait!” shouted Mario as the five of them rushed towards the boat.  The Toad looked at them, and upon noticing it was Mario, who was shouting at them, yelled at his shipmates to hold on.  He went down the ramp to greet the five running towards him.
“Hello, Mario,” he said.  “It is great to see you.  Is there something you need?”
Mario responded while out of breath, “We… pant… need… pant… We a-need a ride to Lavalava Island.  It is a-very urgent!”
“Of course!” responded the Toad, who was very happy to be helping out the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom.  “Do all five of you need a ride?”
“Yes,” said Twilight, who spoke up.  “My three friends and I have teamed up with Mario to stop an evil plot that could potentially threaten the whole world!”
“Well then, we better get going,” the Toad responded.  The five heroes boarded on the cargo ship, and the ship set sail.
On the ship, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Mario, and Spike were brought to the captain of the boat, who was in the man control room.  He was a Toad wearing a captain’s hat.  “It’s an honour to be helping such brave heroes,” said the captain.  “We are delivering a shipment of goods to Rogueport, but we will be passing Lavalava Island on the way.  We can drop you off at the dock close to Yoshi Village, if that’s okay with you.”
“That would be wonderful,” Twilight responded with a voice full of gratitude.
“Excellent,” the captain responded.  “I actually have a room with five beds in it for my workers that is free for tonight because we do not need as many workers for this run.  I’ll show you to the room.”
The room was in the lowest level on the boat.  It was small, only had one light on the ceiling and one small, round window, but it was enough. After all, it was only for one night.  At this point it was about nine at night, and the heroes had gone through a lot on this day.  They went inside and thanked the captain of the ship for his great generosity.  They each sat down on their own bed.  The moon was shining bright and reflecting against the water.  The stars were out, and there was just the right amount of clouds to make the sky beautiful.  Pinkie and Fluttershy were talking quietly about the things they had experienced thus far in the journey, Mario was eating a complimentary pizza given by the captain, and Spike let out a huge yawn after gazing out the window for a few minutes.
   “Spike, you have had a long day.  You have saved us twice on our journey so far.  You need a good night’s rest,” Twilight told Spike in a very caring way.
“Twilight, can you please sing me that lullaby that your parents used to sing to you?” he asked his good friend and caretaker.
“Of course, Spike,” Twilight replied.  She looked over to see Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Mario all staring at her.  They wanted to hear the lullaby that Twilight was about to sing to her little dragon assistant.  She cleared her throat and began to sing in a gentle, soothing voice.
“Fate has been cruel and order unkind
How can I have sent you away?
The blame was my own; the punishment, yours
The harmony's silent today
But into the stillness I'll bring you a song
And I will your company keep
Till your tired eyes and my lullabies
Have carried you softly to sleep
Once did a pony who shone like the sun
Look out on her kingdom and sigh
She smiled and said, ‘Surely, there is no pony
So lovely and so well beloved as I’
So great was her reign and so brilliant her glory
That long was the shadow she cast
Which fell dark upon the young sister she loved
And grew only darker as days and nights passed
Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
And rest now in moonlight's embrace
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space
Carry the peace and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
Forgive me for being so blind
Soon did that pony take notice that others
Did not give her sister her due
And neither had she loved her as she deserved
She watched as her sister's unhappiness grew
But such is the way of the limelight, it sweetly
Takes hold of the mind of its host
And that foolish pony did nothing to stop
The destruction of one who had needed her most
Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
And rest now in moonlight's embrace
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space
Carry the peace and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Luna, you're loved so much more than you know
May troubles be far from your mind
And forgive me for being so blind
The years now before us
Fearful and unknown
I never imagined
I'd face them on my own
May these thousand winters
Swiftly pass, I pray
I love you; I miss you
All these miles away
May all your dreams be sweet tonight
Safe upon your bed of moonlight
And know not of sadness, pain, or care
And when I dream, I'll fly away and meet you there
Sleep...”
Twilight looked down to see her little dragon sleeping soundly.  She used her magic to lift the blanket over him, and she gave him a little pet on the head and a goodnight kiss to his forehead.  She looked over to her three other friends.  Mario had his mouth wide open, Fluttershy was staring at Twilight with watery eyes, and Pinkie was just smiling at her.
“Twilight… That was beautiful,” Fluttershy told her.
Twilight responded, “Thank you, Fluttershy.  My parents would sing me that song when I was a filly.  It would always help me get to sleep.  I never quite understood it until I came to Ponyville and we had to fight Nightmare Moon.”
“What was that a-song about?” Mario asked her.
Twilight explained, “Well, Mario, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are the Alicorn leaders of Equestria.  Celestia raises the sun every day, and Luna raises the moon every night.  They controlled the Elements of Harmony together.  But one day, feelings of jealousy overcame Luna, and she rebelled against her older sister.  This turned her into the villain Nightmare Moon.  The bond between them was broken; therefore the power of the elements was no longer controlled by them.  Celestia banished her younger sister to the moon for a thousand years.  When Luna came back, there needed to be new ponies who would take control of the Elements of Harmony.  My five friends and I were the ones who now controlled the elements, and we stopped Nightmare Moon, turning her back into Princess Luna.  Only after we did that did I understand what that lullaby was about.  It was about Princess Celestia missing her younger sister.  Even though Luna was evil, Celestia still loved her and was willing to accept her back, which she did.  I can only imagine this is how Princess Luna must feel now.  Luna is in Canterlot and is the sole one raising the sun and the moon while her sister is in captivity.”
Twilight looked over to see Mario fast asleep.  Pinkie and Fluttershy looked back at her and the three shared a chuckle.  They spent the next few hours talking and catching up with each other, and also wondering about what was to come in the morning.  The most important thing they did on this night, however, was get a good night’s rest.  The gentle waves of the Mushroom Sea were very calming, and it rocked them gently to sleep.
“Get up, heroes!  It’s time for you to go,” came the voice from the captain.  Mario, Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Spike opened their eyes to see the captain at the open doorway of their room.  They had arrived safely at their destination.  The large ship they were on stopped at the dock on the edge of the island.  It was a tropical island with plenty of vegetation, especially palm trees.  The heroes thanked the wonderful staff of the ship, who brought them safely to the island without even wanting any kind of payment in return.  They did it out of the kindness of their hearts.  “We will be able to pick you up tonight on the way back.  Best of luck to you,” said the captain as the heroes walked off the boat and onto Lavalava Island.
After walking for a few minutes across the beach, the five found themselves in Yoshi Village.  The village was a small one, with a small number of yoshis living in huts made of bamboo, straw, and other natural materials.  Yoshis were human-sized dinosaur-like creatures that lived on this island.  They came in many different colours, had very long tongues, could lay eggs, and appeared to have a saddle on their back that was a permanent part of their body.
Mario was not paying attention to what was in front of him while he was walking, and he suddenly found himself tackled to the ground by a green yoshi.  “Oh… Yoshi,” he said while giving the green yoshi a big hug.  “I have not a-seen you in a-such a long time.”
“Yoshi,” is what the yoshi said in response.  Yoshis did not talk very much, but they could still get their points across.
"Would you like to a-come along on our adventure?” Mario asked the yoshi.
“Yoshi,” responded the yoshi while nodding his head up and down in excitement.
“Oooo… He’s so cute,” Pinkie Pie said while checking out the yoshi.
“Yoshi is one of my-a oldest friends.  He a-comes along with me on a-many adventures,” said Mario while hopping on the saddle on the yoshis' back.  The yoshi only seemed to be recognized by the name Yoshi.  The five heroes now became six as they went on their way across Lavalava Island towards Mount Lavalava.
The six heroes walked into the Jade Jungle, which was the way between Yoshi’s Village and Mount Lavalava.  Mario, riding on Yoshi, led the way.  They arrived at a tall tree with a little basket in it that led to a high branch on the tree.  There were jade ravens, big birds from the island who have been helpful to Mario the last time he was here, on the top of the tree.  They helped lift Mario by using a pulley system to lead him up to the high branch.  One by one, the ravens pulled up the heroes to the branch.  “Uh… Thank you?” said Twilight questionably while looking up at the jade ravens, who just made bird sounds in reply.  She figured that she would ask Mario about these on the way back to Toad Town.
The next thing to do was zipline over a river of lava and in front of the cave that was the entrance to the inside of the volcano.  Mario went right by with ease, even while no Yoshi's back. Spike and Twilight went together, nervously.  Pinkie Pie smiled and laughed all the way across. Fluttershy, however, just stood there, shaking.  "Ahhh... I can't do it," she whimpered.
Twilight yelled from the other side, "Just fly over!"
"Oh... right," Fluttershy said while remembering that she had wings.
Fluttershy lifted her wings and slowly flew over.  She went up and down as she made the short flight over to the ledge where the cave entrance was.  Her friends waited for her on the other side.  Flying across was easy for most pegasi, but it was very hard for a calm and tame one like Fluttershy.
The six entered into Mount Lavalava.  Inside was a truly hot and steamy sight.  The walls were made of dark rocks, and there were rivers of lava flowing throughout.  The heroes made through a few rooms and it was getting hotter and hotter.  They had to make it to the lower parts of the volcano towards the location of the Lava Piranha.  "Wow... It's so very hot in here... I better leave," Fluttershy said while turning around towards the door.  Behind her, looking her right in the face, was a lava bubble, a fireball that was floating with yellow, angry eyes.  "Ahh!" Fluttershy screamed while running to hide behind Mario and Yoshi.  Yoshi took decisive action and stuck out his long tongue, dealing the lava bubble.  He laid an egg right after that was white with red polka dots.  It was flaming and followed Yoshi around like it had a mind of its own.
The heroes moved on into another room.  They came across a few spike tops, small yellow turtles with red shells that had an upward facing spike on top.  Mario kicked the first one that came up the them, and he slid across the ground into the others, defeating them.  They turned into a few more coins.  A little further in the room was an ice flower, like a fire flower, but eating this one would allow the person to throw ice balls out of his or her hands.  "This will a-come in handy later," Mario said while storing it in his pocket.
The heroes kept moving further and further down the volcano until they came to a small hallway that had a fairly steep but consistent drop to the end of it.  "We're getting close, I can feel it," Spike said confidently.  Suddenly there was a loud bang behind them.  A spiny tromp, a spiky giant sphere, had fallen from above and was now blocking the door behind them.
"Run!" yelled Twilight.  The heroes ran down the slope of the hallway as the spiny tromp gained speed as it rolled towards them.  It was getting closer and closer.  Just as the heroes reached the end of the hallway, they all leaped forward.  A loud noise and a cloud of dust came from behind them.
The spiny tromp had gotten stuck in the doorway as the heroes made it to the bottom of the volcano.  "Is everypony okay?" asked Twilight while picking herself from off the ground.  All of her friends grunted and groaned but seemed all right.  But something was missing.
"Fluttershy?  Where are you?" Spike shouted out.  It was apparent that Fluttershy was too slow and had gotten trapped behind the spiky orb of death.  She then reappeared in the room.  This was the first time she had died, so she was down to four lives.
She spoke up while in a state of relative shock, "You... You guys told me about losing lives, but that was really scary! I... I thought I was done forever."
"You're okay, Fluttershy!" yelled Pinkie while giving her a massive hug.
Twilight, with a voice of concern, said, "We're very glad you're okay, but we need to keep going.  We must be very close."
Twilight's hunch was right, and what happened next confirmed it.  A green and yellow putrid piranha with red polka dots popped out of the ground and yelled out, "Warning, warning!  Heroes approaching."
He then disappeared back into the ground.  "Be ready," said Mario.  "The Lava Piranha is a-just around the corner."  The heroes went down one final small ramp.  They were now in the lowest part of Mount Lavalava.  The heat was almost unbearable.  They went into a large room with a pool of lava in the middle.
"Welcome again, heroes.  I am truly impressed that you have made it this far!"  Discord was waiting in the room, sitting on a throne made of dried chocolate, just waiting for the heroes to show up.  "Let's see who you will be facing in the battle today!"  Suddenly the Lava Piranha shot out of the pool of lava.  It had three heads, one larger one and two smaller ones, which were red with white circles on them.  They had a long, green, and spiky vine extending back down into the lava.  The large head on the piranha shouted out to the heroes, who were tiny in comparison.  "This is where your journey ends," the large head of the Lava Piranha said.
Discord pointed over to Rainbow Dash, who was tied up in the corner with an apple in her mouth.  She could only get a few sounds out, but they were muffled.  Her eyes showed that she was severely scared, as she had tears of fear coming from them.  She was also wearing the Element of Loyalty on her neck.
Discord rang the gong to signal the battle had begun.  Mario instructed Yoshi to throw his fire egg at the largest head.  "Wah!" yelled Yoshi as he through it.  The egg smashed off of the big head, but he just laughed it off.  Fluttershy was hiding her face in her mane while lying down in the corner of the room.  Twilight shot out a beam of magic that hit one of the smaller heads and injured it severely.  She did the same to the other smaller head, with the same result.
"Give me a boost," Mario said.  Pinkie braced herself, and Mario jumped on her back to get a lift high enough to reach the large head.  He jumped on the largest head, giving it a powerful blow with a double-footed stomp.  When Mario landed, the Lava Piranha shook violently back and forth and dropped back into his lava pool.
"That's it?  It's over?" asked Twilight.  She looked over to Discord to see him eating a bag of water and drinking a cup of chips, a good sign that it was not over.
The Lava Piranha shot back up, all three heads now flaming with fire!  "Uh... Mario... Use the ice flower," Spike suggested.  Mario pulled the flower from his pocket and ate it.  While he did that the large head of the Lava Piranha sent a large amount of fire, burning Pinkie and Twilight and reducing them down to four lives each.  Mario, having transformed into bluer coloured clothing after eating the flower, sent the perfect ice balls right into the open mouths of the three heads.  They completely froze over from the inside out and were now stuck in place.  The battle was won, once again by the heroes.
"Ugh... I should have expected that," Discord said while throwing his weird snacks on the ground.  "No matter, you won't be getting out of here anyway."  With the snap of his fingers the ground began to shake.  He then disappeared once again.  Discord had started the volcano, and the heroes had only a few precious minutes to get out before the lava would burn them and trap them in the volcano forever.
Mario, Twilight, Spike, Pinkie, Yoshi, and Fluttershy ran over to free their blue Pegasus friend.  Mario untied Rainbow from the ropes holding her four hooves together.  She spit the apple out of her mouth when the ropes were off.  "Thank you so much, guys.  I thought I was a goner," she said in appreciation of being saved.
"Yay!  You're safe, Dashie," Pinkie shouted while giving Rainbow Dash a huge hug.
"We can all hug later, we must get going," Twilight reminded.
"There is another way out, let's-a go," Mario said while leading the way to another door, because the way they came in was blocked by the spiny tromp from earlier.
Mario led them to a few rooms further.  The seven went up a few ramps to get higher.  The lava was rising behind them.  They kept moving up higher and higher, and so did the lava.  They came to the spout of the volcano.  Looking up, they could see the sky; looking back, they could see imminent death.  The only way out was straight up.
Twilight shouted out to Rainbow and Fluttershy, “You two need to help us escape!  You are the only ones who can fly.”  Spike hopped on Fluttershy’s back.  She also grabbed Twilight and tried her best to fly.
“I… I can’t do it,” she cried out.  Rainbow Dash let out a growl and kicked her in the flank.  Fluttershy let out a loud ‘neigh’ and flew the three of them upwards to the top as fast as she could.  Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie, who grabbed Yoshi.  Mario went on Rainbow’s back and she dashed up the spout, just in time.
“Wow, you’re heavy,” Rainbow grunted to Mario while spreading her wings and taking off.  As soon as the heroes left the top, the lava poured out and shot rocks into the air.  The seven had to take a rest after flying back to Yoshi’s Village, clear of the trees and the erupting volcano.  They needed to sit down and breathe a sigh of relief.  This was the hardest task of their journey so far.
Spike ran up to Rainbow Dash.  “We’re so glad that you’re safe,” he said.
“Ah, don’t get too sappy,” Rainbow said back while waving her hoof in the air.  Just then Pinkie, Twilight, and Fluttershy gave her a massive group hug.  Rainbow Dash accepted the hug, as it was her only friendly contact with other creatures in many days.
Yoshi and the others said goodbye to the village residents.  Chief Yoshi gave the heroes a few items for their journey: a fire flower, a pow block, to hit all ground enemies with an earthquake, and a life shroom, to resurrect a fallen hero who lost his or her final life.  That item would have to be saved until the very end of the journey.  The seven heroes thanked the chief and went on their way to the boat, which had returned.
“Congratulations, brave heroes,” said the captain of the ship while welcoming back the group.  On the way home, Twilight and Spike shared a bed while the others had their own.  The sunset was upon them, reflecting off the water.  The sky was a beautiful mix of orange and red.  The heroes were more than half way done their journey.  Tomorrow would come a different day, and a different challenge.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                         Cast Away                         
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Cast Away
“Everybody to the lifeboats!”  “Has anypony seen Spike?”  “SPIKE!”  “Stay calm, I will find you!”
Spike could hear these voices in his head while he slept.  He did not want to open his eyes.  He could feel gentle waves splashing his face every few seconds.
“Amigo?  Are you all right?”
Spike mustered up enough energy to open his eyes.  He found himself lying down in the sand on an unknown island, face to face with a giant, floating skull with a pirate hat.  “Muchacho, you were a victim of a shipwreck.  Are you okay?” the giant skull asked him with a Spanish accent.  Spike nudged back due to fear.  He thought the voices in his head were only a dream, but they weren't.  He looked at his surroundings and noticed that he was on the beach of a different tropical island.
“Wha-what happened?  Wh-where are the others?  Where am I?  And who the heck are you?” he asked the skull.
The skull said in reply, “Amigo, you were shipwrecked here.  I saw everything happen.  I am Cortez, the spirit of the legendary pirate who founded the Pirate's Grotto on this island.  You say that you were with others?  Who are they?”
Spike picked himself up from the sand, brushed himself off, and replied, “I am on a journey with my friends to save Princess Celestia and Princess Peach from Bowser and Discord.  My friends’ names are Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Yoshi, and Mario.”
“Did you say Mario?” Cortez asked in excitement.
Cortez, after a few seconds of floating around, looked into his memory and continued, “He defeated me once a number of years ago.  I then decided to help him in his quest.  He went all over this side of the Mushroom Kingdom to find the seven Crystal Stars.  I’m sorry, but I have not found any of your friends yet.”
“I expected that,” Spike said sadly.  With a tear in his eyes, he looked up at Cortez and asked, “Do you think I will ever find them again?”
Cortez looked down on the young and sad dragon, saying, “Of course you will, amigo.  I will help you.  I know this island well, and we will look until we find your friends.”  So the pirate skull and the young dragon set off to find the other lost members of the group of heroes.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Pinkie were lost in the forest of Keelhaul Key, wandering aimlessly.  Pinkie was still her happy, jumping self, while Twilight showed a sense of urgency.  “Pinkie, how could you be so happy at a time like this?  We may never be able to get off this island!”
The pink bundle of joy, who was still hopping up and down, stopped to look at Twilight and replied, “It's because I learned from a young age to always stay happy, no matter how crummy things may be!”
Twilight responded, “But I just can't do that, Pinkie.  I’m not like you.  I am so worried that we will never be able to find our friends or finish our mission.  We can’t let Discord win!”
Pinkie popped up behind Twilight and put her hooves around Twilight's mouth, forcing her to smile.  She then said, “Remember to smile, Twilight.  It will go a long way!”
Twilight tried her best to smile. Her mouth trembled. “Ugh, I just can't do it!” she yelled out while sitting down and throwing her hooves in the air.
"Maybe I should sing you a song that I heard a long time ago.  It really cheered me up,” said Pinkie while pushing up Twilight's chin.
“I guess it wouldn't hurt,” Twilight replied.  Pinkie let out a little, happy squeak and began to sing.
“When you're rife with devastation
There's a simple explanation:
You're a toymaker's creation
Trapped inside a crystal ball
And whichever way he tilts it
Know that we must be resilient
We won't let them break our spirits
As we sing our silly song
When I was a little filly a galloping blaze overtook my city
So they shipped me off to the orphanage
Said, ‘ditch those roots if you wanna fit in’
So I dug one thousand holes and cut a rug with orphan foals now
Memories are blurred and their faces are obscured
But I still know the words to this song
When you’ve bungled all your bangles
And your loved ones have been mangled
Listen to the jingle jangle
Of my gypsy tambourine
‘Cause these chords are hypnotizing
And the whole world's harmonizing
So please children stop your crying
And just sing along with me.”
“Pinkie, that was beautiful!  Where in Equestria did you hear that song?” Twilight asked her cheerful friend.
Pinkie responded with a grin, “I don't know, I feel like it's from a different dimension for some reason.”  Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile.  That was a typical, crazy Pinkie Pie answer.
Twilight and Pinkie could hear a sound coming from the distance in the trees.  “I heard a noise over here,” Twilight said.
“I heard a noise over here,” came the noise from the trees.  Twilight could recognize that voice.  It could only be one person: her little dragon companion.
“Spike?” she screamed out.  “Twilight?” yelled Spike from a distance.  The two could still not see each other.  “I'm over here,” Twilight yelled out.  Pinkie and Twilight heard rustling in the shrubbery, so they went over to investigate.  Suddenly, Cortez popped out from the trees.  Pinkie and Twilight let out a scream in unison.
“Señoritas!  Have no fear!  I am here with Spike,” Cortez said to the two scared mares.  Spike popped out from behind the pirate spirit.
“Oh, Spike, I knew I would find you,” said Twilight while picking up Spike and giving him a massive hug.
Cortez explained to the two ponies, “The ship you were on was struck by a calamity.  I, Cortez, saw the whole thing from the island.  I did not see the boat hit anything, but I did see a strange figure leaving the scene.”
Spike just then received a flashback that he thought was a dream.  He told the others, “I-I think I know what happened.  I heard a noise and went to the deck to investigate.  The next thing I remember is being in the water.  The waves were high; over my head even.  When I peeked my head above water I saw Discord sitting on a floating throne.  By the time the next wave covered my head, he was gone.”
“That would explain what happened to the ship,” Twilight said in agreement.
“We must go find Dashie and Flutters,” Pinkie reminded.  The four of them continued to go find their two pegasi friends.
“Fluttershy, get up!  Stop being a baby,” Rainbow Dash screamed to Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her mane and lying down.  The two of them were ever deeper in the forest than the others.  They went to go find help, but got hopelessly sidetracked instead.
“I-I guess you're right.  We need to find the others,” Fluttershy stuttered while picking herself up.
“That’s my Fluttershy,” Rainbow said while giving her a tap on the back.
“Ow,” squeaked the yellow pegasus at the soft tapshe received.  They continued walking for a little bit.
After a few minutes they found themselves reaching a near dead end.  They came up to a cliff wall with about a foot of water around the edge.  They stared at the three rocks coming out of the water.  One was a large head with a blue painted moustache, one was a smaller blue head with a red painted moustache, and the other was a carving of a skull.  “This place is so weird,” Rainbow said.  She turned around and discovered that they were not alone.  Coming from the trees was a bouncing, green fuzzy, a creature of the jungles of Keelhaul Key.
“Aww, he's so cute,” Fluttershy said while approaching the fuzzy.  She gave it a pet on the head.  “AHH, GET IT OFF!  GET IT OFF!” screamed the shy pegasus when the fuzzy jumped on her head.  Rainbow Dash ran over and bucked it back into the forest with her him legs.  Fluttershy thanked Rainbow, but then jumped into her arms as she heard another noise coming from the trees.
“Wow, scared much?” Rainbow said to the pony in her arms.  The noise got louder and louder.  Fluttershy shook more and more aggressively.  “I'm not scared of you!” Rainbow shouted while still holding the frightened mare.
Out came Spike from the trees with his arms held up high.  “We found you,” he shouted while jumping on Rainbow's leg.  Rainbow Dash proved strong enough to keep standing while carrying the weight of two creatures.
“Eeeee, Dashie and Flutters,” Pinkie said enthusiastically while jumping on Rainbow.  The three of them proved too heavy and the blue pegasus fell to the ground.  Cortez and Twilight were just a few seconds behind when they came from the trees.
“Thank Celestia we found you,” Twilight said upon finding the two.  Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Spike looked up at Twilight from the ground.
“Whoa, who’s the skull?” Rainbow asked while getting up from off the ground.
Cortez looked at her and answered, “I am Cortez, the spirit of the pirate from this island.  I am helping you all get reunited, because there is nobody that knows this island better than me.”
Fluttershy squeaked out a question, “Wh-where are we?”
“Señorita, you were shipwrecked and floated over to this island, Keelhaul Key.  This island is part of a further section of the Mushroom Kingdom.”
“We are still missing Mario and Yoshi,” Spike reminded everyone.
Cortez added, “Mario knows this island well, he could find his way around.  The problem is us finding him.”
“He’s probably eating somewhere.  Let’s go find him,” Rainbow said as the group continued on their search mission.
Meanwhile, Mario was taking a bite into a sandwich that he had purchased at the Keelhaul Key settlement, which was made on his previous journey to the island.  The settlement was originally made of the pieces of the ship that was sunk by Cortez’s army of flaming embers on Mario’s last adventure to this part of the kingdom.  The settlement was started by the surviving members of the shipwreck, but had expanded ever since as creatures from far and wide wanted to come and visit the beautiful island.
“Well, amiga, since you think that he is eating, I think I know where he is.  Follow me,” said Cortez to the others while they were still in the same place in the jungle.  Cortez began to lead to Equestrians into the jungle and towards the settlement, where he was sure that Mario was.
While they were walking, Spike looked over to Twilight and asked, “How do you think we will continue our journey?  We have to go back to the Star Spirits to find out where Rarity or Applejack are being held captive!”  “Did you say Star Spirits?” asked Cortez.
Twilight responded, “Yes, the Star Spirits have been helping us locate our friends on our whole journey so far.”
Cortez informed the others, “Some weird creature gave me a large card with a star on it.  The star had a beard.  I have a feeling that creature was Discord.”
“What did the creature look like,” Rainbow Dash asked.
Cortez responded, “I will try to remember.  It was late last night, and he came to me and told me to guard this card.  He was quite ugly.  He had a horse head, a long tooth, two different horns, two different wings, different arms and legs, and a large, dragon-like tail.”
“Yep, that’s him,” Spike exclaimed.
Cortez continued, “We must, then, go back to my ship so you can get your Star Spirit, after we find Mario and Yoshi.  There is a settlement just around the corner.  I have a feeling that they are there.”
That feeling was right.  As the group turned the corner and entered the settlement, right in the middle was Mario and Yoshi.  Mario had on the table in front of him: five pieces of pizza, a half-eaten sandwich, four doughnuts, and an apple pie.  He was still eating.  As the group approached him, he said to them nonchalantly, “The only a-tragedy on this island is that there is no a-cake.”
Twilight slapped Mario in the face, causing a chunk of chewed pizza to fly from his mouth and into the face of a toad standing a few metres away.  She then scolded him.  “How could you sit here eating while we were trying so hard to find you?  You know that our ship sank, don’t you?”
Mario responded, “I have been a part of a few a-shipwrecks in my time.  When I a-woke on the beach, I was a-hungry so I came here to eat and to a-catch up with some old friends.”
Cortez came out in front to see Mario, “Amigo, you have a mission to accomplish.  You can’t just seat here and stuff yourself.”
Mario looked at Cortez with a smile, “It’s a-good to see you again, Cortez.  You’re a-right.  We should continue.”
Twilight spoke up, “Cortez, you need to take us to your ship to see the Star Spirit.”
“You have a Star Spirit?” Mario quickly asked.
“Yes, muchacho, follow me,” Cortez said while leading the reunited seven heroes towards the entrance to his ship, which was inside the Pirate’s Grotto.  The entrance to the Pirate’s Grotto was where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy found themselves against the wall.  The entrance Cortez led them to was much closer to them and his ship.
Cortez led them to the shore, and then into the cave entrance.  The Pirate’s Grotto was a dark place, but very large.  Because Cortez led them through the back way, he saved the heroes much time, and they did not need to face any of his guards.  “Here we are, at my wonderful ship,” Cortez said.  His ship was wooden, old, and very creepy.  It was where Mario had defeated Cortez a few years ago in another adventure.  That was a time when Mario needed to find seven Crystal Stars to unlock the Thousand Year Door, a quest originally meant to save Princess Peach and find a legendary treasure that ended up turning into a save-the-world situation.
Cortez led the heroes onto his ship and into his special room.  Upon opening the door, the heroes were nearly blinded by the shine of all the gold and treasures.  “Oh… Rubies,” Spike said while licking his lips.
“Rarity would have a panic attack here,” Rainbow Dash said while looking at all of the glorious treasure that Cortez had ‘found’ over the years.
“Here is the card that Discord gave to me,” Cortez said while pulling out the card.  The card was large, and had a picture of Eldstar on it.  Mario went up to it.  Upon touching it, there was a blinding ash of light.  When the light subsided, Eldstar was in the room with them.
“Thank you, son,” Eldstar said to Mario, who had broken the spell against the star.  He continued, “Discord and Bowser came to Shooting Star Summit.  We thought it was you brave heroes coming to visit us.  But when we appeared to them, they locked us away with their magic and trapped us in the cards.  It was exactly what we worried about.”
“Oh goodness,” Fluttershy said.  “Are you alright?”
Eldstar looked at the sweet yellow pony and answered, “I am alright, but I am worried about what Discord has done to the other Star Spirits.  He said something about The Thousand Year Door.  You must go to Rogueport to investigate!”
“Will you come with us?” Twilight asked.
Eldstar responded, “I am afraid that I can’t.  I must go back to where I am needed, back at Star Haven.  I fear for the other Star Spirits, but I must go back to accomplish my duties.  But I believe in you.  Go to the Thousand Year Door.  If you need me, just pray.”  He then disappeared.
“Discord is such a stupid meanie,” Pinkie Pie shouted out.
Mario turned to Cortez, “Can you a-please take us back to Rogueport?”
Cortez responded, “Of course, amigo.  Just like old times.”  Cortez took them back across the small part of the ocean that was separating Keelhaul Key from the large island where Rogueport was on.  After a few hours of sailing, even though the ship’s sails were torn and ripped, they made it to Rogueport.  It appeared the power of imagination had gotten them to Rogueport.  That, or Cortez had a magical way of moving his ship, because the heroes made it to Rogueport very quickly with no sign of an engine, paddles, or having any working sails.  When the heroes’ ship pulled up to the docks, Discord was waiting for them, sitting upon his floating throne.
“I actually am shocked that you are here today, even after I sank your ship and took away the Star Spirits,” Discord said to the heroes, who were all waiting on the boat still.
“Discord, you sank a ship full of innocent workers, how can you live with yourself?” Twilight yelled out to him.
“You’re pure evil,” Spike added.
Discord said in retaliation, “I’m necessary evil.  I am also truly surprised you have made it this far without giving up, which is why I have made things harder.  Your Star Spirits have been captured and dispersed throughout this part of the Mushroom Kingdom.  You need to find all seven to unlock the Thousand Year Door.  I have changed the door to respond only to the Star Spirits.  This should take you quite a while!  I will be waiting inside the Palace of Shadow for you with your prize.  I see that Cortez has sided with you.  Some boss you are!  Anyways, eood luck, everybody!”  Discord then disappeared, leaving to go to the Palace of Shadow, which was deep underground and behind the newly locked Thousand Year Door.
The heroes’ adventure had now changed drastically.  They now have to relive the adventure that Mario had gone through to save the world from the dangers inside the Palace of Shadow.
Discord reappeared and added, “Oh, forgot to mention: you only have two days to do this,” and then vanished once again.  The clock was ticking.  What would happen if the heroes didn’t make the target time deadline was unknown, but they needed to continue, despite how tired they were.  The first step would be going to Professor Frankly, who had helped Mario on his previous mission to this island.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                      The Magical Map                      
//-------------------------------------------------------//
The Magical Map
The seven heroes had just gone through one of the most stressful days that any of them had ever lived through.  They had been shipwrecked and wandered around an island looking for each other.  Now, after just arriving to Rogueport, they had to ready themselves to go free the remaining six Star Spirits, who were spread across this part of the kingdom.  They thanked Cortez for all of his help.  “Tis the least I can do,” was his friendly response.  For an evil, giant, floating skull, he proved to be a nice guy.
Mario led the group to Professor Frankly’s house, which was just a few minutes away from the docks.  Everyone, except for Mario, who was riding on Yoshi at this time, was just looking around at the town they were in.  It was run-down, full of graffiti and thieves, and had skulls on the picket fences.  The people there were a little better than the town itself, but it was still not a pleasant place to be.  “Rarity would not like this place one bit,” Spike said to the others on the way.
Rainbow Dash added, “Yeah, she would be all like ‘this place is ever so dirty, it’s going to make my hooves and mane a mess.  I forgot my tiara!  Oh darling, dresses, darling.  A lady like me should not even be seen in a place like this!’”  Rainbow, Spike, and Pinkie shared a laugh over this, while Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other with a face of guilt.  They knew better than to make fun of their missing, fabulous friend.
Mario led the group to the house of Professor Frankly, an old brick house with a wooden door and one window with old wooden shutters.  As the heroes walked into the house, Twilight’s mouth dropped to the floor.  They went into the main room, and it was full of books.  There were books on the walls, on the floor, in the trash can; there were probably even books in the ceiling and in the toilet.  There were also old scrolls and maps mixed in.  The room was truly a paradise for Twilight, who hadn’t even read a book since the beginning of their journey.
Professor Frankly was focused deeply in his work.  It appeared that the older goomba with large, circular glasses and grey hair was writing something down.  His young, blond goomba assistant, who was wearing a hardhat with a flashlight on it and had an underbite, smiled as soon as she saw the sight of Mario.  “Oh, Mario, I am so shocked and happy to see you,” she yelled while hopping over towards Mario.  Professor Frankly was still deeply focused on his work, and he did not even notice that somebody walked in, let alone seven creatures.
Mario responded to the young female goomba, “Goombella, I a-missed you.  How have things been?”
Upon hearing the voice of Mario, Frankly threw his pencil in the air and shouted, “Oh goodness me!”
Goombella looked up at Mario, whom she hadn’t seen in a number of years, and told him, “Things have been going great!  Professor Frankly hired me as his assistant right after we saved the world from the evil Shadow Queen.  I have done and seen many different things.  We have gone on explorations to find hidden treasure and other things, and we have even written a few books together about our findings!”
“That-a sounds great,” Mario responded, and continued, “We are a-here for a reason very important.”
Frankly looked towards Mario and the others, “I presume that you seven are here for a matter of great urgency!”
Twilight Sparkle then opened up to explain the situation, “Yes, professor.  We are here because Discord, the master of chaos from our native Equestria, has teamed up with Bowser and kidnapped the princesses of both of our kingdoms, as well as my five friends.  Three of them are here and reunited with us.  Bowser and Discord are waiting for us inside the Palace of Shadow.”
“Well, that is a rather dangerous predicament,” Professor Frankly said while walking over to a stack of rolled up papers.  He picked up one, walked back to his desk, and opened it up.  It was the map that Mario had used to find the locations of the Crystal Stars to unlock the Thousand Year Door and the legendary treasure inside the Palace of Shadow.  He continued, “I’m sure, Mario, that you know all about the Thousand Year Door, but I will remind you for your friends’ sakes.  This is the map you used to find the seven Crystal Stars.  The whole reason why you came here was because of Princess Peach getting captured.  You thought it started as a rescue mission.  However, her kidnapping was crucial to the plot of Grodus, the leader of the Secret Society of the X-Nauts, who was told that by freeing the Shadow Queen he would be the one that could control her for his own wants.  They needed somebody who was pure of heart to open the box containing this map, and that is what Peach was.  The Shadow Queen was an evil spirit who wanted to control the world, but she was defeated by the legendary four heroes, who had used the power of the Crystal Stars to lock her away inside the Palace of Shadow, which is still behind the Thousand Year Door, deep below where we are right now.  The Crystal Stars were created by the Shadow Queen herself, along with an army of minions.  The four ancient heroes used their power against her to lock her away.  The heroes spread the Crystal Stars apart, hoping that they would never be found by people attempting to raise the Shadow Queen back to life.  However, the seal was only strong enough for a thousand years.  The queen’s minions spread the word that the Palace of Shadow held a great treasure in an attempt to make people try to break the seal that the heroes had locked her in.  On the thousandth year Mario gathered the stars together and used their powers to defeat the queen and save the world from her return.  Along the way he defeated many bosses, including Bowser and Grodus.”
“Wow, that is amazing,” Twilight said.  “I really wish that we had known about this earlier.  I would have been much more respectful to Mario.  He truly is a hero; one who will be remembered forever.”
“It’s-a okay, I don’t a-do it for fame,” Mario responded while tipping his cap.
Twilight continued, “But now Discord has changed the seal to the Thousand Year Door.  It can only be unlocked by the seven Star Spirits.  We can only assume that either our friend Rarity or Applejack is being held captive by him inside the Palace of Shadow.”
Professor Frankly added, “This map shows the locations of where the Crystal Stars were.  You can take a chance and hope that Discord has put the Star Spirits in the same locations.”
The ponies, along with Mario and Yoshi, looked at each other and nodded their heads in unison.  “That is what we are going to have to do,” Twilight said.
“Well, then, you should take along as much help as you need,” Professor Frankly said.  He turned to Goombella and continued, “Goombella, you may leave my side to join these heroes on their quest.  However, after they are done with whatever is waiting for them inside the Thousand Year Door, you must come back to me!   Please be safe.”
“I will be, boss,” Goombella told the professor.  For the time being, the group of heroes was now increased to eight as Goombella would assist them to gather the Star Spirits back together.  The Thousand Year Door awaited them.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
                      Imagine Dragons                      
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Imagine Dragons
The heroes went outside of Professor Frankly’s house and into the streets of Rogueport.  Mario, holding the magical map, knew the location of one of the Star Spirits.  Of course, he actually didn’t need to look at the map at all, because he knew where all of the enemies’ locations were.  Mario told the others, “The first Star Spirit should-a be at Hooktail Castle.”
“Oh, are we going to have to fight Hooktail again?” Goombella asked.
“Wait, who’s Hooktail?” Spike asked.
Goombella answered the young dragon, “Hooktail is a large dragon who used to be a pet of the Shadow Queen.  Hooktail was also the guardian of the first Crystal Star that we captured to unlock the Thousand Year Door and defeat the Shadow Queen.”
“Whoa, a dragon?  Awesome!” Spike exclaimed.
Mario led the way to the sewers of Rogueport in order to take the pipe to Petal Meadows, which was just outside where Hooktail Castle was.  Twilight, Spike, Mario, Yoshi, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and finally Goombella went down into the pipe to get into the sewers.  They took a hallway to the right, leading to an area of water with two floating, moving platforms leading to yet another pipe.  One at a time, they went across and into the pipe, leading to Petal Meadows.
The pipe sent them out to a flowery field, where the petals danced around as the wind blew.  They could see the castle just off to the distance.
“Hey, should we a-go to Petalburg to a-get Koops?” Mario asked Goombella, referring to the koopa who tagged along on the last adventure Mario had on this island.  Petalburg was a while passed the castle.
“I don’t think he’d come along,” Goombella replied.  “He ended up marrying his girlfriend Koopie Koo, and they actually have two young kids now.”
That was news to Mario.  “I always a-thought he was a-gay,” Mario replied.  He saw Goombella glaring at him for his rudeness.  “Not that there is anything a-wrong with that.”  Goombella smiled and rolled her eyes.
The heroes walked over to yet another pipe that led to the castle which was in the distance behind them.  Mario went in first, and he appeared in the distance in front of the castle.  The others followed him one at a time.
Upon walking into the castle grounds, Spike looked up at the magnificent building.  “Wow, I guess this is how all dragons live,” he said enviously.
They walked across the fixed wooden bridge to get inside the castle.  The doors were all unlocked due to Mario’s previous time in the castle.  As the heroes walked through the many rooms, and going up the many stairs, they came to a room full of the bones of dead koopas.  Spike had a disgusted look as he looked at the dried out bones of the previous creatures that tried to come and slay the dragon that lived here.  “Hehe!  Look at this guy,” Pinkie Pie shouted while picking up a skull that looked like it was smiling.  Suddenly, however, Pinkie through the skull against the ground, shattering it, due to seeing a red koopa skeleton standing right beside her.
“How dare you disturb Hooktail’s sleep?” the red bones said to the heroes.
Pinkie Pie jumped back with a shocked expression and let out a scream.  “It talks!”
“Prepare to meet your DOOM!” yelled out the red bones.  Dozens of dull bone skeletons fell from the roof.  They were all alive and started to try to push the heroes out the doors.  The heroes fought back, smashing the skeletons and making their way to the door that the red skeleton was now guarding.  Rainbow picked up skeletons and threw them against others.  Pinkie pulled her party canon out of nowhere and starting shooting confetti and the skeletons.  Twilight zapped a few with her magic while Spike and Mario punched others.  Yoshi tried to eat one but spit it out at the disgusting taste.  Meanwhile, Fluttershy kept apologizing to all of the shattered skeletons.
Mario made his way to the red skeleton and touched him.  Instantly, all of the other ones ran out of the room, and the red skeleton prepared himself for battle.  “You’ll go no further, and from this moment on you’ll be nothing but bones,” the red bones said while holding up his fist.  “This is where you die.”
Mario shattered the bones with one kick to the chest.  “Well, a-that was easy,” Mario said.  The heroes moved on, making their way up the castle towards the top, where the big red dragon was most likely sleeping.
The heroes opened a large door, leading to bridge that connected with the tower where Hooktail was.  They dodged a few swoop downs by paratroopas as they made their way across the bridge.  One final paratroopa stood in their way.  As he swooped down to hit them, Rainbow flew and grabbed him and threw him down to the ground nearly fifty metres down.  She watched as he hit the floor hard, losing his shell.  Rainbow’s face showed that she clearly did not mean to throw him that hard, but they had to move on.
They walked up the long, winding staircase that went around and up the tower of the castle.  At the top, Mario still had lots of energy, but that was because of riding Yoshi the whole way up.  Spike, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all fell down at the top due to being tired from the high climb.  Rainbow flew up the side of the tower and also had energy to spare.  After the tired heroes gathered enough energy, they went into the large doors, leading to the upper chamber of Hooktail.
Sleeping on top of a mountain of gold and jewels, the large red dragon slept soundly.  The snoring was nearly loud enough to wake the dead.  Rainbow flew up towards the sleeping dragon.  “Oh, Rainbow, please me careful,” Twilight pleaded.
Rainbow went into the face of the dragon and yelled out, “Hey!  Wake up and give us back our Star Spirit!”  Rainbow then kicked her in the nose, causing the giant dragon to scream into the face of the pegasus, whose mane blew back due to the force of the scream.  “Wow, do you even brush?” Rainbow asked while nearly gagging due to the horrid smell from the dragon’s mouth.
Hooktail whipped her tail around and hit Rainbow, sending the mare to hit the wall and lose another life.  Hooktail then blew fire at the others, burning them all and causing each of them to also lose a life, except for Spike, who was still standing as the fire blew all around him but did not harm him.  “Hey guys, we can just ask her for the-” Spike tried to say before her was interrupted by Twilight sending a beam of magic into the dragon’s chest.  The dragon paused for a second, and then laughed at the tickle that the magic gave her.
Jumped and did a ground pound on the dragon’s toe, causing her to hold it and wince from the pain.  She spit out more fire at Mario, but this time he dodged it.
“Um… We could just ask her for the Star Spirit back,” Fluttershy suggested to Rainbow.
“Yeah, that’ll work,” Rainbow said sarcastically as she took to flight and started to fly around the dragon quickly to make her dizzy.  Hooktail spun around and around as she followed the rainbow-maned pegasus.  Hooktail had to pause as she started to stumble, but she didn’t end up failing.  All that did was cause her to scream once again.
Spike walked over to Fluttershy and whispered his plan in her ear.  Fluttershy agreed and allowed him to jump on her back.  She bravely took to flight with the little purple dragon on her back and went to face the dragon.  The others stared in amazement as they saw the bravery of the shy yellow pegasus.
“Excuse me, Hooktail, but my friend would like to speak to you,” Fluttershy quietly said.
“What do you want?” the dragon replied.
“Whoa, you can talk?” Spike asked.
“Of course I can talk.  Why did you disturb my sleep?” she asked.
“Well, um, we are looking for a card with a star on it.  Have you seen it?” Fluttershy asked.
“What?  This?” Hooktail asked while pulling out the card with Mamar on it and giving it to Spike.  “Some ugly dude gave it to me.  I don’t even care about it.  It isn’t even shiny.  Take it and let me sleep.”
Spike grabbed the card and thanked the dragon, who fell back asleep.  They brought the card down to Mario, who was in shock, along with the others.
“Wait a minute, all we had to do was ask?” Rainbow shouted out.
“Um, yeah,” Fluttershy replied with a smile.
Mario came over and touched the card, freeing Mamar, who thanked the heroes by saying, “Thank you all so very much.  Discord has really created chaos here.  I wish you all the best of luck.”
The heroes said goodbye to the Star Spirit, who flew out the window and into the sky to go back to Star Haven.  The second Star Spirit was found, but five remained in order to unlock the Thousand Year Door, where Discord was waiting with either Applejack or Rarity.   Where their final friend was being held was beyond the heroes’ knowledge, but they had to take one task at a time.  The next star was most likely in The Big Tree in Boggly Woods, and that was where the heroes were going to go next.