"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Luigi asked Mario as he was pouring water over Piranha Plant. During this whole conversation, the green plumber had acted nervous since his heroic brother shared him this piece of news about Ponny.
"She's a Primid, for Master Hand's sake, Mario! The other fighters will see her as a threat!"
"Everything will be fine, Luigi," Mario answered, "they don't know about Ponny's condition yet, so it will be a good start for her." As the red plumber was busy sorting out items in order of franchise, his green brother pondered the reply.
Concern and worry washed over Luigi like a wave as he took a long, deep breath and proceeded to open his mouth to speak. "Okay. I trust you on this one."
The two brothers began to discuss the plan with the other fighters as they tended to the greenhouse and the Smash inventory.
Meanwhile with Ponny, she held on tightly to her Eevee plushie as she waited in her small, unfinished room. There were only two drawers that occupied certain spaces in each corner while a window was present on the far side of the walls.
Gently rocking herself back and forth, she started to sob quietly at the thought of today.
Today must be the day Mario introduces me to everyone else she thought, chills crawling into her spine. These thoughts were none other than terrifying ones, ranging from being shunned again to getting killed.
From what I have learned years ago, we Primids served for the great Tabuu, the leader of the Subspace Emissary. We were enemies, and we fought each other.
With crocodile tears being shed, the small Primid buried her face into Mrs. Snugglefuss's light brown fur, finding any sort of comfort from its soft confines.
Meanwhile with Mario and the other three main fighters, they stood in the main lobby of the Smash House, where everyone minded their own business. Today was like any normal day without tournaments being held and bad things happening.
A small majority of them were duking it out with each other while most of them were chatting and laughing. Mario was sitting at a small bench that was located near the water fountain, where he stared at his hat with uncertainty.
During his usual crisis of anxiety and paranoia, Sonic zoomed past him through the lobby, only to moonwalk back to where the red plumber is.
Paying attention to his friend's nervous pondering, the blue hedgehog asked, "everything okay, Mario? You seem scared."
"...It's about Ponny," he replied, putting his hat back on, "ever since I first took her in, i've been having doubts about if I should show her to the rest of the house or not."
Sonic proceeded to take a seat next to Mario, listening in on the hero's venting. "Especially since that whole debacle with the Subspace Emissary. I mean, she's a Primid, a remnant of that event!
And don't get me started on her... condition..."
Sonic was surprised to hear his friend stop at that word, already getting the feeling that this was not a good thing. "...Condition?" The blue blur asked. "What're you talking about!?"
"She's autistic," Mario answered at last, almost too rapidly. "She can't comprehend things in a way any normal person would, meaning these people here, in this house-"
The red plumber started gasping for air, almost close to a panic attack. Sonic quickly placed a reassuring hand over his back, patting it gently and escorting him out of the lobby.
"Don't strain yourself, dude! Remember what the Doc said - don't get stressed too much!"
Suddenly, Pac-man appeared from the hallways of the Smash House, wearing nothing but glasses... for some reason. "Mario," he said, his voice calm.
"I think it's time." He motioned his hand towards the room that Ponny occupied and followed along with the duo.
The halls being uncomfortably long, Mario and the rest of the main four were able to reach Ponny's bedroom, where they caught the sounds of the Primid quietly sobbing.
Entering the room, Mario comforted her for a short period of time, but would've worked if she didn't pull away so often.
"Are you ready to meet your new family, Ponny?" The red plumber asked, his voice shaking. The Primid unbounded herself from Mrs. Snugglefuss's fluffy plush body and nodded her head slowly.
Rising from her bed, she held onto Mario's hand and was escorted out of her room to the lobby.
The entirety of this place stayed the same from earlier as everyone did their own thing. Mario and Ponny were perching themselves onto the pedastool where a giant Galeem statue was, ready to start the announcement.
"It's going to take awhile, so in the meantime, stand behind me for the reveal," the red plumber told Ponny.
She agreed and stood behind him, looking frightened. The enormous chatter and loud muttering from the crowd of fighters cooped up in one room was too much for the Primid to handle as she started breathing heavily and clutching onto her eevee plushie so tightly.
As best as he could, Mario cleared his throat to make the announcement to no avail. Everyone still continued their usual frolly until Mega Man toddled up to the same pedastool Mario and Ponny were on and fired a few shots into the air with his Mega Buster.
Surprisingly enough, this caught their attention fast.
Turning heads to see what's going on, they had their eyes on the red plumber and the blue bomber. More silence filled the lobby until Mario cleared his throat once again.
"Thank you, Mega," he said.
The blue bomber just struck a thumbs-up and trotted off the pedastool. Mario, bringing himself together and taking a deep breath, opened his mouth to speak.
"Hello, Smash veterans. I would like to introduce to you all a new member of the family! She is a little different from all of us, so be gentle towards her."
The red plumber was met with curious gazes, especially from the fighters in the back row.
Good. They're all listening now.
The entire crowd slowly erupted into a silent chatter of murmurs, ranging from afraid to suspicious. Mario turned behind him and looked at Ponny, who still held onto his hand. "Well. You're ready," he said gently.
Ponny began to walk fearfully out into the open, for everyone to see her. Slowly revealing herself from behind Mario, she was fully seen by the naked eye.
The small Primid still clutched Mrs. snugglefuss in her arms as every fighter let out astonished gasps.
"Do my eyes deceive me!?" Ganondorf barked.
"It can't be!" Ike stepped in, "they died out years ago when the emissary was destroyed!!" The entire lobby rapidly transformed into worried and angered chatter, most of which Ponny realized was directed at her.
Tears started welling up in her eyes as they all hissed obscenities at the fact that they saw a Primid in their house. Legs shaking, she struggled to run to Mario for comfort, but then it would make it worse.
"What kind of shrooms did Mario take today!?" Ponny heard Roy say.
"Why would he just bring a Primid into our household? He knows what they did to us, why bring trauma to us now!?"
Bursting into tears, the Primid squeezed her Eevee plushie tightly as she scattered to Sonic, who stood beside Mario.
The red plumber looked up to see all of the fighters snapping furiously and hurtfully as the blue hedgehog comforted Ponny. Pac-man and Mega Man both scratched their heads in confusion, unaware of the current spectacle.
I knew it the red plumber thought bitterly. They still remember that damned event. The subspace emissary... it was like emotional trauma to them...
"Mario," Sonic said, his voice sounding a little too worried. The two fighters looked into each other's eyes, their gazes becoming ever so frightening.
The red plumber read the blue blur's face carefully, picking up on uncomfortable glances.
Ponny still cried silently as she held onto Sonic, hugging him for comfort. "Maybe we should do this some other time," Mega Man spoke up, his voice quivering.
Searching upon the crowd, Mario saw Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and Daisy exchanging scared looks. They then shifted their eyes towards the red plumber's direction, alerting him and causing him to look away.
I messed up, guys...
Mario shooed the rest of the main four away, but not without escorting Ponny back to her bedroom, avoiding the angry crowd as soon as possible, hoping they don't hurt her.