July 14th. Many would pass it off as any other day, but today was a special day in the Mushroom Kingdom. It was the day Mario's brother was born, and since he always seems to get the short side of the stick, Mario decided to make this day the best birthday Luigi's ever had.
Mario knew he had to wake up early in order to get everything ready, so when his alarm went off at the crack of dawn, he almost shot out of bed. He still felt a bit tired, but he knew it'd pass in the next few minutes.
Luckily for him, Luigi is a deep sleeper and will practically sleep through anything, so the alarm didn't faze the younger brother. Silently, Mario changed out of his pajamas and into his regular red-shirt-and-overalls outfit before leaving the room. Just as he was about to leave, however, he almost forgot that he should write a note for Luigi whenever he wakes up. The older brother grabbed a nearby pen and paper and scribbled something down, then dropping it and sprinting out the door.
It didn't take Mario long to reach Princess Peach's castle, where Toads were already working to get everything set up inside the castle. Toads were stacking on top of each other in order to hang up a banner with the words "Happy Birthday Luigi!" sprawled across it, while the rest of the Toads were setting up tables. All the tables had a white sheet with green lace covering them, and were also holding countless presents wrapped in green paper. Some were neatly wrapped, while others seemed as though a child had wrapped them, but it didn't matter.
"Very green-themed, don't you think?" Mario remarked as he noticed Toadsworth approach him. "Well, as long as it makes my bro happy… Do you know where Princess Peach is?"
"She's in the kitchen, taking care of the cake." Toadsworth informed him. Mario nodded in response and headed towards the kitchen.
As soon as he stepped in, he quickly became appalled by the rather large cake standing before him. It was almost his height, and he's only around 5 feet tall! Aside from the monstrous cake, he noticed the various decorations on each layer. The bottom layer looked as though it was representing Luigi's first appearance in a game, Mario Bros., the next layer represented Luigi's Mansion, the first game where he was the protagonist (and didn't have to travel the world for geography lessons), the next layer represented Luigi's appearance in Super Mario Galaxy, and the top layering represented his latest games where he played a major role, such as Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon and Mario and Luigi Dream Team.
"Wow, princess, you must've had to wake up really early to make this!" Mario exclaimed as Peach took a step back to admire her work.
"Do you see why I bake cakes for you so often now?" she asked him. "It's so I can practice and make things like this!"
Mario returned his attention to the cake, and couldn't help but smile. "He's really going to like it, princess!"
~Happy~Birthday~Luigi~
The younger brother yawned as he slowly sat up in bed. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to wake up until the sudden realization hit him. It was his birthday.
Luigi fumbled out of bed and changed to his regular clothes, hoping he hadn't slept in too late. Once he was done buttoning his overalls, he glanced over his shoulder to notice that Mario was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh?" he questioned. "Mario?"
Even after checking Mario's bed, Luigi's older brother was gone. This wasn't too surprising, since Luigi was almost always the one to wake up last, but it still felt a bit disheartening to see that his own brother wasn't around to at least tell him Happy Birthday.
Sighing, Luigi headed to the kitchen to make the regular pot of coffee like he always did. Just as he passed the dining table, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed a small note. Luigi picked it up and read the scribbled writing.
'Come to the castle, Luigi! Your bro has a surprise for you! From, Mario'
"A surprise?" Luigi pondered on what this could mean. "If this ends up as another prank, he's really in for it this time."
Setting the note back on the table, Luigi hesitantly rushed out of the house, completely forgetting the task of making coffee.
It was still early in the morning–9 AM, to be precise–so Luigi wasn't surprised when he noticed that the sun was still low in the sky, almost blinding him in the process. He slowed down to a fast walk and tipped his hat down in order to block the rays attempting to blind the younger brother.
It wasn't long before Luigi found himself in the small town just outside of Princess Peach's castle. For some reason, the atmosphere almost felt abandoned, giving Luigi a sense of dread. Where was everyone, exactly? Was this all some elaborate plan by Bowser to kidnap everyone?
Luigi shook his head to recollect himself. No, don't overthink the situation, he told himself.
As Luigi walked up to the bridge leading to the front doors of the castle, he looked up to see the familiar stained glass of the princess. It was difficult to see, since the sunlight was gleaming from behind the castle, making Luigi squint his eyes until he looked back down at the front door. Hesitantly, he walked up to the doors and opened them.
There was a split moment before Luigi found himself on the ground from flying back out of shock. Shaking his head again, he realized that the cause of his shock was because he was shot with…green confetti?
"Surprise!"
Luigi's gaze shot back to the people in the room, as they were all gathered around a large cake. The younger brother could feel his heart pounding out of his chest, but he scrambled to get back on his feet.
"Happy Birthday, Luigi!" everyone cheered in unison. Luigi glanced at all the decorations, including the large banner, before his vision began to grow blurry. Sniffing, Luigi couldn't help but smile widely as a few tears escaped him.
"Happy Birthday, bro!" Mario exclaimed, patting his brother on the back. "Come on, that cake isn't going to eat itself!"
Grabbing his wrist, Mario guided his brother to the cake, where Luigi was able to observe it closely. As Luigi looked at all the various references in which he played a major role in, he continued to feel small tears stream down his cheeks. He wasn't upset or scared; he was happy beyond belief. He couldn't believe everyone would do this for him, let alone his brother. All he expected were a few presents and a "Happy Birthday" from his brother, but this was far beyond than what Luigi was expecting.
This was possibly the best birthday of Luigi's life. He got to spend it all with his brother, Princess Peach, and the entire Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi couldn't ask for anything better.