The stars had shone especially brightly on Mushroom Castle that evening. Some say it was the Power Stars, their eternal light shining towards the great walls as a sort of warning. Others say it was a cruel omen of the moon-god Twila; his polite way of telling the citizen's of the Mushroom Kingdom to check the throne room of their beloved princess. The fact of the matter is, however, that no such forewarning was necessary. That very night, one man was rushing his way to the castle – entirely unsure of what lie before him in the days to come.
Toad was a stout, jovial toadstool – the mushroom cap on his head wobbling as he shuffled down the pathway to the castle. At this hour, no one was awake in the village below to see him in such a hurry. If they had been, poor Toad would have been the subject of much ridicule! Not the most athletic toadstool in the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad found himself waddling (and often falling) down the path that lead to the castle. Hurrying down the trail, the castle slowly came into view.
As the largest structure in the kingdom, Mushroom Castle served as the shining spire that represented the pinnacle of all that the kingdom stood for. Justice, kindness, strength – all these things were well represented by the silver castle and it's four red towers jutting out from its walls and reaching towards the sky. In the Days Before the War, it was said that a king ruled the Mushroom Kingdom. But, alas, if any monarch had once ruled from within the castle walls he had long since been forgotten.
For as long as Toad and the other toadstools could remember, it was Princess Peach who ruled over the kingdom. She was nothing like the toadstools – why she didn't even have a mushroom cap – but she was kind and showed nothing but love and support for her subjects. It was the image of the Princess that adorned the single stained glass window at the forefront of the castle, and it was this image that Toad looked up towards, panting, as he reached the castle gate.
The guard at the gate looked at Toad, no doubt a bit confused. "Ye always go for strolls this late, laddy? Or ye got some bones to pick with Madame Peach at three after moon fall?"
"Oh, n-n-no! No, it's not that at all!" Toad tried to find the right words to describe why exactly he had come to the castle at such a late hour. "I – I've had a horrible vision!"
"A what? Vision? Ye were dreaming, boy. Premonitions take a Power Star's magic, and ye ain't one to be fiddlin' with those now, are ya?"
Toad gasped, his gaze turning to the castle. For all he knew, his vision had already come true! "P-p-please, sire, I beg you! Allow me to speak with Toadsworth! The grand warrior must be summoned at once!"
The guard gave a good hearty laugh at this. "The great warrior?" he stopped a bit to wipe a tear from his eye. "Nah, it ain't dreams ye've been havvin' – it's Quidvin Pipe-ale!"
"Not at all! I don't drink – I'm a teetotal toadstool!"
"Sure, sure laddy. And I guess I'm just s'possed to let you waltz in 'ere and speak to the Princess' chief advisor?"
"My visions – you must u-u—understand! The return of the Empire King is imminent – I'm…stop laughing!"
"Alright, laddy, alright. You get yourself a nice rest in the village inn and I'll get a general guardsman to- "
-SLAM-
The castle doors slammed shut as a lone toadstool came running towards the gate. An older man, his mushroom cap was withered and brown and his black beady eyes were magnified ten-fold by his large spectacles. His mouth was, comically, covered by a large white mustache.
"Mr. Toadsworth, sir," the guard managed to stamper, "yer awake at this hour? Did this here laddy wake ye?"
"Oh, goodness me!" Toadsworth, in all of his fretfulness, had grabbed his mushroom cap and started shaking it. "You simply must come to the throne room! It's impossible! It's astronomical! It's never been done before! It's – "
"Enough of that, Toadsworth! You best show me what it is yer hollerin' about right quick."
"Of course! Of course! Follow me – and oooh please, you must do something!"
"Easy, sir, just lead onwards." The guard turned to face Toad, still standing, mouth agape, in the gateway. "You best follow on, given yer so-called 'vision'. But if I found out it was you who went and scared Mr. Toadsworth, I'll – "
Before he could finish his sentence, Toad was following Toadsworth into the castle.
The inside of Mushroom Castle was just as grand at the outer walls. Lining the great halls were tapestries describing the great battles fought in the War of Legends and the exploits of the Great Warrior. Toad, as a child, had spent countless hours in his nursery listening to the great adventures of the noblest soldier in the Mushroom Regiment. Seeing the tapestries for the first time would've left him spellbound, had he not had such urgent matters to attend to in the throne room.
The throne of the princess was arguably the most ornate item in the kingdom – carved, supposedly, from the casing of a golden Bullet Bill and rising higher than any toadstool could ever reach, it, like the castle itself, acted like a symbol for the Kingdom whose ruler sat upon it. Only…there was no ruler. No one sat in the grand mushroom throne.
"Bah!" The guard looked to the other two toadstools; annoyed he had been dragged from his post to this. "Ye keep me from my livin's work to show me an empty throne? 'Course the blasted things barren – the Princess is in her bed chamber at this hour!"
Toadsworth made a noise like a bird being stepped on. "No, no! I've already checked! She is gone! Nowhere to be found! And look –" He pointed a stubby arm towards the cushion of the throne's seat. On it rested a small, lime green envelope. "Read that! I'm afraid to touch it- could be cursed."
"Hrmph." The guard looked at Toadsworth, then at Toad, then at the envelope. "Well, alright then." He picked up the envelope and pulled a letter from inside of it. The two other toadstools, their curiosity piqued, pulled themselves along either side of him and the three read the following from the paper in Toadsworth's hands:
To what filthy toad scum this may concern,
The Mushroom Reign has ran its course
I'd sing a tune – but 'fraid I'm hoarse!
My voice has been praising spells of fire
To raise my heart's one true desire!
The return of the king and his spike-shell throne
From your kind's accursed Rainbow Zone!
With breath aflame and heart of ice,
Before you toil his plans again, you will think twice!
To deter your no-doubt ill-intent
We've hired a thief, from hellfire sent!
His prize this night – your precious Peach
A lesson of vengeance we plan to teach!
So bring your warriors and armies forth
I cannot wait to show our worth!
Our name is hidden, not for long,
When all mush-kind sing KOOPA's song!
Sincerely, not really,
Kamek, Lord Sorcerer Koopa of the Umpteenth Order and Magnitude!
Toad gasped aloud, particularly when he got to the third from last line. "What does this mean?" he asked.
Toadsworth shook his head. "It means, dear boy, we must do what we have not done in four-hundred years. The Great Warrior must put an end to this uprising! Mario must be summoned at once!"