Friendship is Magic: The Seventh Element

by Master Mr B

"When the sixth element is revealed, a special element can appear that is a combination of the other six. It serves as the controller that bounds the power if the six elements together. But nobody, not even the royal sisters, have ever uncovered this...Seventh Element..." Follow my OC as he takes part in the adventures of FiM. And possibly win the heart of Twilight Sparkle...

160. A Royal Problem

A Royal Problem

Pony's Log Number 710: Starlight is about get a hooves on experience of what I deal with having Celestia and Luna as my family...

One morning at the castle of friendship...

"uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhh..."

Twilight went into shock as she pointed a fore-hoof at the cutie map with her jaw hanging open.

(Cue "World Map" music)

Flower Sprites: 85

There on the cutie map was Starlight and Mario's cutie marks floating over Canterlot. They were going to be doing a friendship mission together. Spike had just closed Twilight's mouth as Starlight walked up to the two of them with Mario standing beside her.

"I know! I can't believe it either!" said Starlight with a wide smile on her face, "The map has never called me before!

"Hope you're ready for some brother-sister bonding, Starlight!" Mario added excitedly, "We do make an awesome team!"

"Totally!" said Starlight as she and Mario shared a high hoof together. Then they both looked at Twilight, who was still frozen in shock, but now with a long face.

"I'm sure that's not why she looks...like that," said Spike. Mario looked worried and then got a devious smirk.

"I can fix that," said Mario as he walked up and planted a soft kiss on her lips and backed away. Twilight babbled as she shook herself back to reality.

"Welcome back my love," said Mario with a teasing tone, "Care to tell us if the friendship mission is the reason your giving us that face?"

"Actually, it is," Twilight answered, "Well, it's that and the fact you're both being summoned to the royal palace!"

"Wait, what?!" said Mario as he looked at the map and then laughed excitedly, "Twilight's right! I'm going home! Starlight, I can't wait to show you my old bedroom, the castles secret passages, my special room where I did my sewing in secret, and let's not forget the castle secret slide!" Starlight smiled as Mario spoke.

"Focus, Mario!" said Twilight, "I mean, what in Equestria could be going on there?! You want me to come along with you?!"

"Honey..." Mario warned.

"No, you're right, dear, I shouldn't," said Twilight, "The map called you and Starlight for a reason right? Heh. Though maybe it's a mistake." Starlight and Mario were both taken aback, "Not because of either of you! Because it's never called just one of us before!" Twilight chuckled nervously as Mario raised a skeptical eyebrow at her.

"Honey, you're contradicting yourself," said Mario, "and didn't you forget that Diamond Tiara was actually called to do a friendship mission alone? And Starlight isn't being called alone. She'll have me there to help her out."

"And I also wasn't nervous before, but now..." Starlight Glimmer said uneasily.

"Don't worry," said Twilight, "For all we know, it's something small. Like maybe the cooks are fighting over who has the best butternut squash soup. Or the royal hairdressers are fighting over a comb."

"Seriously?" Mario remarked in a deadpan tone.

"Or, you, know, maybe the royal sisters aren't seeing eye-to-eye on something," Spike suggested.

"Now that sounds more like an actual friendship mission," Mario remarked.

"No! That's just crazy!" Twilight replied getting into Spike and then Mario's face, "Luna and Celestia would never fight...again." Twilight and Starlight just shared nervous looks with each other and then at the cutie map. Mario just snorted.

"Twilight, my love, you really are clueless to the dynamic between two siblings," said Mario as he shook his head, "Well, I better go pack and prepare the SS Harmony. Is half an hour enough time for you to get ready to go, Starlight?"

"Oh! Um, y-y-yeah, sure thing," said Starlight as Mario went off the go prepare. Starlight just kept nervously looking at the map before going to pack her things.

The trip to Canterlot was fairly a quiet one. Fortunately, Celestia had created a landing pad so Mario could dock the SS Harmony right outside the Castle courtyards. The two ponies made their exit from the ship when a royal guard rushed up to them.

"Greeting Prince Mario," said a guard with a bow, "We can assume you're here to see the Princesses."

"Yes," Mario replied formally, "Me and my friend here have come to see both Mom and Aunt Luna."

"We shall take you to them at once," said the second guard as they were quickly escorted to the throne room. Mario wasted no time giving Celestia and Luna some warm hugs while Starlight remained at the front of the stairs leading to the throne and explained the situation to the two royal sisters.

"So the map send you and my son to solve a friendship problem?" Celestia replied.

"Yes, princess," said Starlight as she bowed before the sun princess.

"That is correct, Mom," said Mario in a proper but casual tone.

"Well, there's nothing wrong here," said Celestia and then looked at Luna, "Right, sister?"

"No. Everything's perfect as usual, sister," said Luna in a sour tone and bitter look. Mario looked at the two sisters suspiciously.

"You don't say," Mario remarked, not believing either of them. Starlight didn't believe them either, but was too nervous to say anything about her suspicions.

(Main theme)

Later that evening, a guard led Starlight to her guest bedroom. Mario had just finished giving her the tour of the castle, along with those points of interest he mentioned earlier.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the tour," said Mario to Starlight.

"I still can't believe you got to grow up here," said Starlight, "I'm jealous." Mario sighed.

"So was everypony else," Mario remarked.

"Sorry..." Starlight remarked, feeling a little guilty she might have hit a nerve.

"Don't be," said Mario, "At least you cared enough to get to know the real me. Anyways, we need to figure out a plan regarding our friendship problem."

"Yeah...we do," said Starlight as she gave a loud groan and plopped into her bed back first.

"Well, no rush," said Mario, "You just get comfortable. We can wait until the morning to..."

"Psst! Pssst!" Mario was interrupted when he and Starlight heard the sound of somepony trying to get their attention. Starlight quickly sat up and looked around. Mario froze and then glared.

"I sense something," said Mario in a low voice, "A presence I'm all too familiar with..." Mario then looked toward the desk that had a music box on the table. On top was a music box with a pony ballerina...that looked like Twilight. Starlight was surprised.

"Twilight?" said Starlight as she and Mario walked up to the music box, "Is that you? How are you here?"

"Yes, please enlighten us my dear wife," Mario remarked, not hiding the irritation in his tone.

"I'm not. I'm still at home," Twilight replied quickly, "It's an easy spell. I'll show you later."

"Okay, honey, I thought you learned your lesson about eavesdropping when you stuck a comlink in our daughter's mane during her friendship mission," Mario remarked.

"I did learn my lesson!" Twilight retorted, "Last time I eavesdropped without her consent. This time I'm eavesdropping and letting you know I'm here!" Twilight smiled and then blinked before she had a sheepish look on her face as Mario and Starlight glared at her, "Okay, that sounded way better in my head. But enough about me. I had to check on the two of you. Not in a meddling kind of way! In a friendly "how's it going"? kind of way. So, how's it going?" Mario turned to Starlight.

"She's talking to us like we're stupid or something!" Mario whispered angrily.

"Just let it go, Mario," Starlight whispered back, "it's not like we can tell her or make her go away."

"Good point," Mario huffed bitterly. Starlight then stepped toward the music box and let out a sigh.

"Not great," said Starlight, "I think the problem might be between Celestia and Luna!"

"Oh, no that's terrible!" Twilight exclaimed and then recomposed herself, "I mean, what makes you say that?" Twilight smiled innocently.

"You know how some ponies say nothing's wrong but you can tell something's definitely wrong?" Starlight pointed out.

"Like when you get super anxious and you try to deny it to everypony around you even though they all can tell that you're slowly coming apart," Mario added as a matter of fact.

"Noooooo...heh," Twilight replied nervously with an innocent tone and a cute smile as she tried to avoid any eye contact with Mario or Starlight.

"That's basically what the princesses did when I said there was a friendship problem," Starlight continued, "Only they did it more, you know, regally."

"And did a very poor job at it too," Mario added as a matter of fact.

"Oh, I wish I could help you, but I can't," said Twilight, "both for the map reasons and because I have no idea! This is big! Like, really big!" Twilight looked panicked, making Mario and Starlight winced. The latter did so fearfully.

"But I'm here if you ever need to talk," Twilight continued, trying to do damage control, "Or listen to music!" Twilight began to rotate about as the music box began to play, "Heh. Comforting, right?" Starlight's reply was diving stomach first onto her bed and put the pillow over her head as she groaned. Twilight then noticed that Mario was just shaking his head disapprovingly at her.

"Not. A. Word," Twilight warned.

"Did I say anything?" Mario remarked.

"You were gonna!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Your face says otherwise!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Yes you did!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Will you two give it rest!" Starlight yelled irritably. Mario and Twilight exchanged glares with each other.

"Fine!" Mario and Twilight said firmly before looking away from each other and doing pouty lips.

Next morning, Starlight and Mario were sitting at the dining table in the castle dining room when Celestia placed some stacks of pancakes that had smiley faces on them made out of various barries.

"Thanks Mom!" said Mario excitedly as he began to eat his stack hungrily.

"Thank you so much for breakfast, princess," said Starlight, "I can't believe you cook it yourself!"

"Of course, Starlight," said Celestia, "Same for you, my son." Mario then hummed and swallowed.

"Where else do you think I got my cooking skills from?" said Mario, "Mom's been teaching me how to cook and bake since I was a little foal. In fact, less than a week after she took me in, she gave me my first baking lesson." Celestia chuckled.

"It's true," said Celestia, "Mario had trouble sleeping at night when he first arrived. So I would take him into the kitchen and we would bake together. By the time we had finished, he had fallen fast asleep."

"Aww, how sweet," said Starlight as she started eating her pancakes.

"Yeah, Mom was the one who taught me as a foal that good baking, and cooking, comes from the heart," said Mario, "That's why Mom's pancakes are so delicious. You can taste the love in every bite."

"It's a small way to say I care," said Celestia as she took a seat to eat her share. It was then the doors to dining room burst open and revealed Luna, who was looking very tired and cranky.

"Good morning, sister!" said Celestia cheerfully, "Join us?" She offered the moon princess some pancakes that had a smiley face on them.

"Too tired," said Luna sourly, grabbing a pineapple and munched it without removing the spiky peel, "Please excuse me." Celestia looked hurt as she used her magic to firmly stamp her fork into her own stack.

"Wow," said Starlight, "Last might must've been really hard on her."

"I can understand why," said Mario, "Alot of foals are having their mid terms exams and major projects due this week. The number of nightmares must be off the scales."

"Can't you help her?" Starlight asked, "You said you could enter the dream world."

"I've been offering, but Luna's been turning me down...alot lately," Mario remarked, "something must be troubling her." Celestia just sighed.

"Perhaps, my son," Celestia replied, "But she is like this everything morning." Celestia put the pancake stake into a bucket and stomped off. Starlight just looked worried as she eyeballed the discarded pancakes, especially when Mario used her magic to collect them and licked his lips.

"Drop 'em, young man!" Celestia ordered from off screen, "You have your own stack!"

"Mom! Waste not, want not!" Mario protested.

"Mario Star...!" Celestia warned.

"Ugh! Fine..." Mario conceded bitterly as He let the pancakes drop back into the bucket and grumbled as he went back to his seat. Starlight giggled at Mario's expanse, but she was still worried.

Once breakfast was finished, Mario and Starlight returned to the latter's guest bedroom. Starlight then told Twilight was had happened.

"I think Luna may be hurting her sister's feelings without even realizing it," Starlight told the purple pony turned ballerina.

"Poor Celestia," said Twilight, "That's so sweet that she makes her sister pancakes every morning."

"She's your mentor," said Starlight bluntly, "I think you might be biased."

"Might be?" Mario remarked.

"Quiet you!" said Twilight to Mario and then looked at Starlight, "Fair enough. So what you gonna do?"

"Nothing, yet," Starlight replied, "We have to get all the facts. We asked Luna if we could spend some time with her this evening."

"She always perks up again once she's had some time to get some sleep," Mario added, "Maybe I can find out why she hasn't asked me for help with the dream world. I can practically enter by myself now." Before anypony could say more, a guard knocked on the door and opened it.

"Princess Luna's waiting for you, your majesty and miss," the guard said formally.

"Excellent," said Mario, "Let's a-go!" Mario then headed out of the room. Starlight quickly looked at Twilight, then smiled sheepishly as she left the room behind the alicorn prince. The guard just watched the two ponies head out.

"Good luck, Starlight!" Twilight called out in a whisper. The guard gave a surprised whiny as he turned around and check the room, but he didn't see anything. Ironically, he never bothered to even look at the music box.

That evening, Starlight and Mario were with Luna as she used her magic to put up some purple flowers into some pots between the windows of the castle hallways.

"Wow, Princess Luna," said Starlight, "You do this every night?"

"I'm kind of surprised I didn't know about this," said Mario, rather impressed himself.

"You're usually busy with your wife or my sister," said Luna, "but it's been long overdue for me to show this to you. You see, lavender's calming scent is known to aid dreamers in achieving a restorative sleep." Starlight and Mario both took a sniff.

"I never knew that," said Mario.

"That's so thoughtful!" said Starlight.

"Would you mind if I set up some lavender back at our castle?" Mario asked.

"It would certainly do you and Twilight some good," said Luna, "I try my best to make sure the ponies in this castle sleep peacefully."

"You're a sweetheart, Aunt Luna," said Mario, making the moon princess chuckle. It was then some double doors opened and Celestia was walking with a couple of elite ponies.

"And so, then I said, "Touring? More like "boring"?" said Fleur De Verre snootily and then gave an airy laugh. Celestia politely laughed as well.

"Oh, you really are a card!" Celestia remarked. Mario rolled his eyes and snorted.

"More like a card you wanna get rid of for a better hand," Mario remarked. Luna just sighed.

"But as always, my sister is too busy having fun with dignitary ponies to acknowledge anything I do," Luna snorted bitterly, "Hmph!" Luna then walked off with a huff, taking the flowers with her. Starlight and Mario followed a short distance away, but were both in deep thought over what they had both seen.

Once their time with Luna was finished, they headed back to Starlight's guest bedroom to discuss their discoveries with Twilight.

"So, both princesses are hurting each other without realizing it," said Starlight to Twilight, "And instead of talking about it, they're just getting colder and more distant."

"And they both made Pinkie promises to me that they would be more open and communicative with each other," said Mario, feeling rather upset about the matter.

"And they're Celestia and Luna," said Twilight, "So it's not like you can just confront them."

"Actually, Mario said that would be the best thing," Starlight replied, "and that's exactly what we're gonna do."

"What?! Are you both crazy?!" Twilight exclaimed, but then covered her mouth, "I mean, heh, you do whatever you think is best. This is your mission." Twilight gave them both an over the top smile. Mario and Starlight glared at her.

"Gee, thanks for believing in me, Twilight," said Starlight sarcastically.

"Yeah, it's nice to know that you trust us to handle the situation," Mario added in the same tone.

"I do," said Twilight, "But the last time the princesses fought, Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia had to banish her for a thousand years! That can't happen again!"

"Well, we can't do nothing," said Starlight.

"She's right, doing nothing is what's gonna cause a catastrophe like Nightmare Moon to happen again," said Mario, "that's probably why the map sent us. So we could deal with their issues with each other now before they start building up all that anger and resentment against each other and something far worse happens! Confrontation is the best solution in this case. Mom and Aunt Luna clearly need a nudge in the right direction to open up."

"The princess aren't the best at communicating with each other," said Starlight as Mario nodded in agreement. Twilight gasped dramatically, which made Starlight and Mario glare at her.

"Sorry," said Twilight, "It's just, you said "princesses" and "aren't the best" in the same sentence and it's making me nervous!" Mario groaned loudly.

"Twilight Sparkle, you seriously need to get it out of your head that Celestia and Luna are these perfect princesses that can't or shouldn't do wrong," Mario said sternly, "They're not perfect. They have flaws! They make mistakes! They're just ponies!"

"GASP!" Twilight gasped in deep shock and horror.

"I just set her off again didn't I?" Mario said wearily as he and Starlight saw Twilight's face was still in pure shock .

"Celestia and Luna...not perfect?! Just...ponies?!" Twilight seethed in rage, "B-las-phemy! BLASPHEMY! BLASPHEMY! BLASPHEMY! STONE THE BLASPHEMER!" Mario did a comedic plop to the floor as Starlight just banged her head against the table. Twilight took notice of their frustrated looks.

"I'm not much help, am I?" Twilight asked innocently.

"No!" said Starlight sternly.

"What gave you that idea?!" Mario remarked sarcastically as he lay on his stomach and looked up at her.

"BLASPHEMY!" Twilight shouted as Mario rolled his eyes and buried his face into the floor.

Next morning, Celestia had invited Starlight and Mario to the dining room again and gave them both another stack of pancakes with a smiley face on it made of pineapple slices.

"Wow, I almost feel bad eating this," said Starlight, "It's adorable."

"But still good enough to eat," said Mario, "Thanks again, Mom."

"Like I said, I enjoy this part," said Celestia as she took her seat at the table. She watched Starlight and Mario dig into their pancake stack while drinking her tea. It was then Princess Luna walked in, looking tired and grumpy once again.

"Hi" said Luna grumpily as she took a banana, removed the peel and ate the peel instead of the fruit inside.

Have we been eating the wrong part of the banana?!

Ehh...that's a debate for another day...

Celestia just drank her tea and shot a glare at Luna from the corner of her eye. Mario saw the entire exchange.

"Alright, enough is enough," said Mario as he looked at Starlight, "Ready to do this, Sis?" Starlight just whimpered lightly.

"Yeah," Starlight said bravely as she and Mario rushed up to Luna.

"Uh, Princess Luna! Wait!" Starlight called out. Luna shoot the two ponies a cranky glare. Celestia put down her tea cup and gave the two ponies a look as well. Starlight winced as Mario held his composure.

"Don't let them intimidate you," said Mario, "I can tell them if you want me to."

"It's okay," said Starlight, "I'll do it. Just stay next to me okay." Mario smiled and gave her a quick side hug as Starlight found her voice as she took a deep breath.

"As you both know," said Starlight, "The map sent us here for a reason, and we...think we've found out what it is." Mario nodded firmly in agreement.

"Really?" said Celestia in an eager tone, "Oh, this is wonderful, Starlight and Mario! What is it?"

"You two," said Starlight and Mario together and in a tone that was straight to the point.

"Excuse me?" said Celestia.

"I beg your pardon?" said Luna at the same time as her older sibling and then the two alicorns shot looks at each other.

"You two aren't very good at hiding the fact that you are upset with each other," said Mario, "and I'm very disappointed to see that neither of you have kept your promise to me about communicating and being honest and open with each other." Celestia and Luna just shared nervous look with each other and then looked away. Mario could tell they were avoiding any eye contact with him. Starlight was surprised at how boldly Mario was speaking to both princesses.

"Proceed, Starlight," said Mario. Starlight blinked before she found her words again.

"I think you're accidentally hurting each other's feelings without realizing it," Starlight continued and then walked up to Celestia, "Princess Celestia, does it bother you that Luna never notices the wonderful breakfasts that you prepare for her?"

"Uh...Y-Yes," said Celestia as she shot Luna a look, "It does." Luna just kept looking rather cranky.

"Princess Luna, tell Celestia how you feel about the fact that she never acknowledges the work you put into lining the hallway with lavender every night," Starlight said as she approached the moon princess.

"I...Well, I..." Luna stuttered, "It's not the best feeling."

"Luna..." Mario warned.

"Fine, nephew," said Luna hastily as she pushed both Starlight and Mario aside with her magic and turned to Celestia, "I'm sorry I never noticed that you made fruit faces on pancakes, but nights are long for me. You might be a morning pony, but I'm half asleep."

"You think I don't get tired?" Celestia retorted, "I'm exhausted! Oh, I apologize for not noticing flowers in a wall sconce. But by the time I get to retire for the night, I can barely see straight! Even so, I still make the effort to smile!" Princess Celestia got into Luna nose and smiled arrogantly at her.

"Was the smile comment really necessary, Mom?" Mario asked in a disapproving tone.

"Like smiling is so hard," Luna remarked.

"I-I'm sure that's not what Princess Luna meant to say," Starlight said nervously.

"Starlight," said Mario firmly as he raised a fore-leg in front of her, "just let them talk this out."

"Is that what exhausts you?" Luna said angrily, "Smiling and being adored by everypony?"

"So that's still bothering you," said Mario thoughtfully.

"And you have it so much worse, do you?!" Celestia replied angrily, "You've spent your evening flitting around giving ponies lovely dreams! Oh, it sounds just awful!"

"Okay, that was just insensitive!" Mario snapped.

"Who's side are you on?!" Celestia shot back.

"Neither side," said Mario sternly, "But you're being the immature one right now by making snide remarks to Luna! There's a fine line between being honest and just being insensitive! My sister learned that lesson the hard way and I'd hate to see you do the same!" Celestia growled. While she knew Mario was right, what parent likes being scolded by their child?

"Okay!" Starlight chuckled nervously as she tried to make peace, and feared Mario was setting up his own fate, "I feel like we should step back, take a deep breath..."

"UGH!" Mario grunted as Luna used her magic to push Starlight away and made her slide right into him, knocking them both down.

"Don't presume to know what it is like to govern the dream realm!" Luna yelled, "At least Mario takes the time to learn about it!"

"And yet you know exactly what it's like to me be me?!" Celestia yelled back, "Oh, please!" As the two sisters fought, Mario was sitting up glaring at both of them while Starlight was squatting down with her fore-hooves on top of her head, fearing for her life. Then she made an impulsive decision.

"Enough!" Starlight yelled as she fired a wide-range magic blast at the two sisters. Both sisters rose into the air...

...as their cutie marks were swapped. Celestia now had Luna's moon cutie mark and Luna has Celestia's cutie mark. And they now had each other's magic too. The sisters' hooves had barely touched the ground when they saw their altered flanks.

"There!" said Starlight as she and Mario quickly stood up, "Now you'll know exactly what it's like to...be each other." Starlight gulped and gave them both a very nervous smile. Mario blinked and said nothing. Celestia and Luna were still recovering from their shock.

"What have you done?!" Celestia gasped.

"I...went with my gut?" Starlight replied timidly.

"Switch our cutie marks back this instant!" Luna demanded as she got into Starlight's face.

"My apologies, your majesties!" Starlight said quickly as she bowed before them, "But I can't, even if I wanted to. The spell lasts twenty-four hours. I-It may have been extreme, but, uh, I think it's still a good idea?" Starlight smiled fearfully at the two alicorns.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," said Mario sternly, finally finding her voice, "If you two are going to act like magic kindergarten foals, then maybe having each other's magic and jobs will help you learn to empathize and be consider with each other again." The two alicorns glared at both Mario and Starlight.

"What?" Celestia asked in a very serious and low tone. Mario held his ground while Starlight quivered slightly.

"Y-You said it yourselves!" Starlight told them, "Neither of you believes your sister knows how hard it is to be you. So this is your chance to prove it."

"And I know you are both far too competitive with each to turn down a challenge," Mario added as smirking as he spoke as Starlight just smiled bravely. Celestia and Luna kept glaring at the two ponies, but for the latter, what Mario had said did make sense to both of them.

"Well, I could use an easy day followed by a good night's sleep," Luna remarked in a rather reluctant tone.

"You can try," said Celestia indignantly, "I haven't had an easy day in, well, ever! But now, I get to sleep, and tonight will be a breeze."

"Guess they're feeling pretty confident about the idea," Mario muttered to Starlight.

"All right, Starlight Glimmer, Mario," said Celestia, "We will do this."

"Excellent," said Mario in a satisfied tone and a nod.

"Good choice!" said Starlight, "Not that you had one." Starlight then chuckled as Celestia and Luna gave her a death glare and a snort.

"I'm gonna stop talking now," Starlight said meekly.

"Nevermind," said Mario, "They can't do anything you." He then gave them a stink eye, "I suggest you two get ready for your new duties and we'll meet up with Luna in about thirty minutes. Dismissed." Celestia and Luna kept their irritated looks before doing exactly what Mario said, grumbling as they parted ways. Mario waited until they left before letting out a long groan and rubbed the temple of his nose with a fore-hoof.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't!" Mario said sternly, startling the unicorn, "Don't. Apologize. I like this idea. I wish I thought of it myself!"

"Really?" Starlight asked in surprise and gratitude.

"Uh-huh," said Mario, "My groan is just from the fact that I have to be the adult with those two. Despite the sarcasm, I don't like having to do that, but...somepony needs to keep them in line when they act immature."

"I still find you telling them what to do very weird," said Starlight honestly, "And afraid you're going to be blasted to kingdom come."

"Despite what other ponies will tell you, they won't do that," said Mario, "And Mom always told me to stand up for what I feel is right, even if she doesn't agree with it. Come on, let's get to your room so we can create a checklist of what Mom and Luna will need to do for the day." Starlight just hummed as they exited the dining room.

"How do you think Twilight is gonna take what I did?" Starlight asked worriedly.

"Ehh...if I know my wife," said Mario bluntly, "she'll probably have trouble breathing for a few seconds." Starlight just groaned. She wasn't looking forward to that.

True to Mario's words, once Starlight told Twilight what had happened, the purple pony spent a good thirty seconds hyperventilating. Starlight just reclined on her bed with a long face. Mario just sat against the front of the bed with the same expression on his face.

"You switched their cutie marks?!" Twilight exclaimed, "The actual princesses' cutie marks?!" She then looked at her husband, "And you are okay with it, you blasphemer?!" Starlight did a face-hoof with both her fore-hooves and Mario just groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I thought we moved past this," said Starlight indignantly, "It was the right call! I hope. I mean...Mario said it was pure genius!"

"No, he's insane!" Twilight protested as she started hyperventilating again, "He's crazy! He's committed blasphemy!"

"All I said was the truth!" Mario snapped, "You're the one who doesn't wanna control their own anxiety!"

"BLASPHEMY!" Twilight shouted.

"Oh for pony's sake!" Mario remarked with an eye roll. The conversation was interrupted when they heard some pounding on the door.

"Are you okay in there?" the guard asked.

"I'm good!" said Starlight, "Just, uh...reading an exciting book with Mario! And he's reading it aloud!" They waited for the guard to walk off before they glared at Twilight.

"You need to keep it down!" Mario scolded in a whisper.

"He's gonna think we're nuts!" Starlight added in a whisper.

"He's not the only one," Twilight retorted, some weariness in her tone.

"That's it!" Mario snapped as he opened a drawer and Starlight picked up the Twilight turned music box and stuffed it inside before Mario slammed it shut.

"Now that she's out of the way," said Mario, as he used his magic to grab some scrolls and each alicorn's planners, "we can get those checklists ready. Now let me see..." It only took Mario about fifteen minutes to get the checklists ready and then the two ponies headed off to find Luna.

Once they found the moon princess, they headed into the throne room. Luna stood stop the steps where the thrones were with Starlight standing at her right and Mario at her left. At her request and as a sense of authority, Luna told Mario to open his wings while she addressed the castle staff. She also told him to wear his crown for the day, something Celestia never forced him to do unless the event called for it.

"As you can see, Celestia and I are switching places today," Luna told the staff ponies. The staff ponies shared confused murmurs with each other. Luna raised a fore-hoof in the air to make them stop chattering.

"I assure you," Luna continued, "I am more than capable of handling all of Celestia's, heh, duties. And Prince Mario will be here to provide me with any additional assistance if necessary. Dismissed." Luna didn't resist giving a light chuckle. Mario was rather surprised that Luna said he was gonna help her, but he didn't mind that a bit. It just meant that if he had to bail Luna out of trouble, he could do so with little to no repercussions. The staff then exited the throne room, still murmuring in confusion with each other.

"So, what is the first on my dear sister's to-do list?" Luna asked Starlight, who was holding the checklist Mario had put together. Starlight unraveled it with her magic.

"It says you have a few public appearances," said Starlight, "Store openings, judging the royal rose contest...You know, that sort of thing." Luna grinned and chuckled.

"Oh, I knew today would be easy," said Luna, "but I didn't think it would be that easy."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Luna," Mario warned gently.

"You don't think I can do this?" Luna remarked offensively.

"Luna, you're the one who told me there's a fine line between being confident and being arrogant," Mario answered honestly. Luna snorted.

"I can assure you, nephew, that this is confidence," said Luna importantly.

"Very well," said Mario with a nod, "let's get going. And don't forget to smile." Lune chuckled.

"That will be all too easy," Luna replied.

As some happy montage music began to play, Luna learned within a few minutes that smiling wasn't as easy as she thought. Luna, along with Mario and Starlight, were riding the royal chariot together as they went down the streets of Canterlot. Luna continued to wave at the ponies with a very over the top smile on her face. Once they reached a store opening, Luna tried to cut open the ribbon, but apparently somepony had given her a dull set of scissors. After a few failed cuts, Luna just stomped the ribbon to tear it in two with her fore-hoof and the other ponies stomped about to applaud.

The next task was judging the rose contest. Mario had offered to help since Celestia had let him help in past contests and he had taken a few crash courses on roses from Roseluck. But Luna said she could handle it herself and did the judging all alone. Luna walked up and sniffed each rose collection. She then went to give a pony the blue ribbon when another pony raised their fore-leg to signal they hadn't gotten judged yet. Luna just smiled but also looked rather overwhelmed as she went to sniff some more roses, leaving the pony she was gonna give the ribbon disappointed.

After that, the three ponies headed to a local school so Luna could take a picture with the class. The photographer, with Starlight and Mario behind them, gestured for Luna to scoot over, but Luna moved right in front of some of the students. The photographer than told Luna to move back so the moon princess was standing perfectly between some students. Starlight then gestured for Luna to smile. But Mario was looking rather concerned. Luna had been forcing herself to smile all morning and he could tell that Luna's face was tiring out.

"Relax," Mario mouth, "Don't push it and just smile normally." But Luna wouldn't listen and continued to try keeping her over the top smile on her face. Sadly, it was losing battle as Luna face was creaking as she struggled to keep her smile. It was only a matter of seconds before her smile gave out.

And the photographer snapped the photo at that exact moment!

And it should be mentioned that it made the front page of the afternoon paper.

Mario was furious...over the newspaper.

"That stupid news paper never changes!" Mario said angrily. The three ponies were now in the dining room as Luna looked at the newspaper, "Ever since I was a foal, they've always exploited bad photos in order to make the royal family look like a bunch of fools! I knew I should've checked with that photographer about the photo he took at the school!" Luna was too upset about the article to reply.

""Princess Luna Unhappy with Student Fundraiser"?" Luna read aloud, "But I wasn't unhappy." Starlight then took the paper and looked at the picture.

"Um, you are scowling," said Starlight.

"Well, I-I didn't mean to!" said Luna, "I've been smiling all day! My cheeks hurt! I stopped for one second! And that's when he took the picture!"

"Like I said," said Mario, "They took advantage of that slip up and made a fool out of you! I can't tell you how many times they did that to me growing up. Ugh!"

"Guess smiling all day isn't as easy as you thought," Starlight pointed out.

"Forget me!" Luna protested, "What about the students? It says here that, because of me, the school didn't raise enough funds to go on their field trip! I-I didn't mean for that to happen!" Lune then faceplanted the table. Mario just patted his aunt on the back with a fore-hoof sympathetically.

"I know," said Starlight gently, "But you can't dwell on that now. According to the list, some of the delegates are about to arrive for a luncheon. You need to dispel rumors of timberwolves in the White Tail Woods. The nearby towns have been in a state of panic for weeks."

"B-B-But I have to fix this!" Luna protested desperately and went to leave.

"You can't," said Starlight firmly and stopped Luna from leaving, "You need to put on a brave face and help these ponies. It's what Celestia would do."

"I hate to admit it, but she's right," said Mario in a gentle but firm tone, "I missed field trip is something that can be fixed in due time, but at the moment, providing these ponies with peace of mind is more important." Luna glared, but then just had a worried look on her face.

"Look, Luna," said Mario, "I'll mark it down as a priority issue for tomorrow. So don't worry, I'll make sure the foals get their field trip. Just focus on helping these delegates okay and remember that showing them empathy is the key to putting their worries to rest." Luna gave a small smile but she still didn't feel much better. It was then the delegates entered the room. Luna opened her wings and cleared her throat.

"Hello! Great News! There are no timberwolves!" Luna shouted in her Canterlot voice. The doors burst open a second later.

"No, there are definitely timberwolves!" the delegate ponies shouted as they ran out of the castle. Mario just face-hooved himself.

"What was that?!" Mario exclaimed irritably, "Did everything I just say go through one ear and out of the other?!"

"I'm sorry, nephew," said Luna, "I did hear what you said, but I just couldn't stop thinking about those poor students." Mario's expression softened as he looked at her sympathetically.

"Make sense," said Mario, "Despite your strict demeanor, you've always had a soft spot for young ponies."

"Indeed I do," said Luna, "Normally, I have all the time in solitude I need to work through my problems at my own pace."

"Well, your sister doesn't get that luxury," said Starlight.

"Tell me about it," said Mario, "Why else do you think I have issues feeling ignored? Celestia didn't ignore me on purpose, but her duties certainly took away alot of bonding opportunities."

"I think I understand that now," said Luna quietly. Just before another pair of double doors. They could hear two ponies arguing.

"The princess will side with me!" said a pony named Mayor Cream Cheese.

"Please see reason, Mayor Cream Cheese," said the second pony named Mayor Baltimare, "I'm telling you Baltimare..." The arguing continued inaudibly as Mario let out a long sigh.

"I hate political debates," Mario remarked.

"Ready for the town hall?" Starlight asked Luna. Luna just sighed.

"Mario, despite your distaste in these matters, I really could use your help with this," Luna requested.

"That's why I'm here," Mario replied as they headed into the room as the two mayor continued to argue. It was already nightfall when the double doors opened again and out came the two mayor.

"Glad that's settled," said Mayor Baltimare.

"And it only took three hours," Mayor Cream Cheese chuckled.

"That got heated, didn't it?" Mayor Baltimare remarked.

"Still on for golf?" Mayor Cream Cheese offered.

"Oh, absolutely," said Mayor Baltimare as Mayor Cream Cheese chuckled. Behind the two mayor ponies were Starlight, Mario and Luna. The latter two were looking physically and emotionally drained.

"Did I mention that I hate politics?" Mario asked drearily.

"I do as well, nephew," said Luna crankily.

"You made it to the end of the day," said Starlight, trying to cheer Luna up, "Yay?"

"Hmm?" Luna asked in a tired tone and yawned, "Oh. Yes, uh...I'm just going to turn in. Then. Thank you for helping me, Mario. Good night, Starlight." Luna than yawned again as she gave Starlight a scroll. Starlight watched Luna walk off and then saw Mario grab a red and white spotted mushroom and gobble it up in one bite.

"Mmmm..." Mario hummed as his body glowed pink for a second. He could feel the magic mushroom restore a moderate amount of his stamina. It was then Celestia arrived.

"Oh, hello, Starlight and Mario," said Celestia, "I don't know about you, but I feel very well rested. Where's Luna?"

"Um, uh, she already turned in for the night," said Starlight.

"Did she now?" Celestia replied, "It seems my duties were harder than my sister expected."

"Don't get cocky, Mom," said Mario, "You haven't even started any of Aunt Luna's duties yet."

"Mario, I raised you with the ideal that you can do anything you set your mind too," said Celestia in a very confident tone, "Now you'll see your mother do just that!" She then walked away. Mario waited for Celestia to walk off a short distance before rolling his eyes and following her.

Once they had arrived at a balcony that was part of Celestia's bedroom, Celestia wasted no time raising the moon.

"Moon raised!" said Celestia, "It's even easier than raising the sun." She chuckled to herself.

"Gee, I wonder wh-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh..."

THUD

Celestia used Rest on Mario before he could finish his sarcastic remark.

It was super effective!

Mario was now fast asleep. Celestia smirked until she saw that Starlight had fallen asleep on her own.

"Of course," said Celestia as she tucked Starlight into her bed and tucked Mario into the nearby chasse sofa, "Everypony's asleep at night. Heh. Luna works alone..." Celestia sighed, "...maybe putting Mario to sleep wasn't such a good idea..." Celestia then huffed to herself.

"Oh, it's nothing I can't handle," said Celestia as she checked the scroll, "I don't need Mario's help. All I have to do is watch over Equestria, visit the dream realm, and protect ponies in their nightmares. My list was three times as long!" Celestia chuckled as she leaned over her balcony watching as ponies were turning off the lights to their homes.

"All right. Everypony's asleep," said Celestia and then realized something, "You're talking to yourself, Celestia. Heh. But there's nopony else to talk to! Maybe there would've been if you hadn't put Mario to sleep, Celestia. Oh, like I want to listen to his sarcasm all night. But...he still would've kept you company." Celestia sighed and then chuckled to herself again. "Yet. I can talk to ponies in their dreams! Mario helps Luna out there every so often! He might be there!" Celestia then closed her eyes and made the world around her turn black.

Now entering the dream realm!

Celestia soon arrived and found herself surrounded by various bubbles with ponies dreaming. One was Fluttershy riding a giant Angel bunny, Daring Do having an adventure, Shenran battling some ninjas with his swords wearing a Mandarin style uniform, Cadance dancing to the music of DJ Flurry Heart, Discord having a pillow fight with the Smoooze, Pinkie back surfing on Gummy, and Applejack imagining herself as a baby in her mother's fore-legs. (Cuteness overload on that dream!)

"Now, to save ponies from their nightmares," said Celestia as more bubbles showed Rainbow and Twilight flying together, Dr. Hooves looking nervous, Flim and Flam surrounded by bits, and Muffins dressed up as a queen and waving to her subjects, "Which aren't real, so it shouldn't be too hard, right? Right. Good call, Celestia!" The sun princess then blinked for a moment, "and I'm talking to myself again."

"Seems to be a habit of yours, Mom," said a familiar voice. Celestia turned to see Mario sitting at a very nicely set up table for two. He was just pouring the tea when Celestia walked up to him.

"I was wondering if you'd show up," Celestia replied.

"You should be lucky I did despite casting that spell to put me to sleep," said Mario, "I had to trigger my dream magic from my sub-conscious in order to get here." Celestia blinked.

"You can sub-consciously trigger magic?" Celestia said in surprise.

"It's a trick Luna taught me," said Mario, "only those gifted with dream magic can do it though. Want some cake?" Mario then offered Celestia a seven layer slice of cake loaded with thick layers of chocolate buttercream and ganache. Even in the dream realm, Celestia didn't resist drooling as she went to take a bite.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed a pony. Celestia and Mario both saw the bubble showing Starlight. She was the pony screaming and was now in the middle of a freefall. The lilac unicorn was then surrounded by stacks of talking pancakes.

"I care. I care. I care," the pancakes taunted before glaring at her deviously and said in a distorted voice, "I care." Starlight screamed again, covered her eyes as she fell into some lavender flower.

"Ugh! No!" Starlight cried out as she found herself as the ballerina on the music box and twirled about against her will. She then saw a giant head of Twilight.

"This is big! Like, really big!" Twilight called out as each eye showed a sun and moon. Starlight yelped as she, now back to normal, landed on some carpet. Celestia and Mario arrived.

"Starlight!" said Celestia, "We're here now. Tell us what's wrong."

"Going with my gut was the wrong call!" Starlight panted, "I was supposed to bring you two closer to together! But I've only driven you apart!"

"That's not true, Starlight!" said Mario, "This is gonna work!"

"Get real Mario!" Starlight screamed, "The worst has already happened!" She then turned to Celestia, "If you two can't see why you need each other, then-!"

"Then I am back," said a familiar dark voice. It was then a portal appeared and Nightmare Moon stepped out of it. The evil night pony laughed evilly. Starlight looked terrified, Celestia held up a wing to protect the unicorn, and Mario gritted his teeth defensively. Celestia then used her magic to create a shield to protect them.

"Don't worry, Starlight," said Celestia, "I know how to handle Nightmare Moon."

"Ready when you are, Mom!" Mario said confidently as he stood on his hind legs, ready for battle.

"Yes! But can you handle...me?!" said a voice that sounded like Celestia, but more...devious. Celestia, Mario, and Starlight turned around to see a pony the same stature as Celestia, but her mane and tail were flowing flames and her body and eyes were bright orange. She laughed evilly at them.

"Mom-ma mia!" Mario gasped slowly. Celestia and Starlight were too shocked to say anything. The fire pony laughed some more as Celestia and Mario shifted looks between her and the Nightmare Moon.

"This can't be!" said Celestia in disbelief.

"If Luna can turn into Nightmare Moon, you can absolutely turn into me-Daybreaker!" the fire pony replied, "The better, prettier, and more powerful version of you!"

"Uh better and more powerful are debatable," Mario replied, "But you're crazy if you think you're prettier than Mom's...uhh...true form." Daybreaker laughed again.

"Mario, you really need to face the facts," said Daybreaker in a sickingly sweet tone, "You're never amount to anything but this!" Daybreaker fired a massive fire blast at Mario.

"MARIO!" Celestia cried out as Starlight put a fore-hoof to her mouth in horror as the flames engulfed Mario alive. But then the flames dissipated, Mario was still alive, but was now...

FIRE MARIO (Kirby Copy version)

Celestia and Starlight were relieved. Daybreak was shocked and annoyed.

"Ugh! You could never just stand down!" said Daybreaker, "I really regret teaching you to stand up for yourself!"

"Why? So you could push me around?!" said Mario as he made his fire form disappear, "Besides, Fire against fire is pointless. I'll fight you something better!" Mario then made a bubble of water appear. He then inhaled the water with his horn and squatted down...

He was now...WATER MARIO!

The transformation turned his entire body into a light blue form that flowed and rippled like water. Daybreaker laughed.

"You think a little spritz of water can defeat me?" Daybreaker boasted.

"Sure," Mario replied with a smirk, "Here's that spritz you wanted!" Mario then expanded his water body to create a giant tsunami that crashed onto Daybreaker. Sadly, all the attack did was create a huge cloud of steam that later disappeared with the fire pony smirking.

"Why thank you very much for the lovely steam bath," Daybreaker remarked sweetly and then laughed. Mario growled when a black orb hit him from behind, causing Mario to drop his copy ability.

"Where's my steam bath?!" Nightmare Moon demanded.

"I'll give you a steam bath!" Daybreaker remarked, "Nice and hot!" Daybreaker then launched a flamethrower attack at Nightmare Moon, which Mario got caught in the cross fire.

"MAMA! WOO-HA-HOO! WOW! WHOA!" Mario yelped as he was sent high into the air with his rear end smoking until he landed on his flank and bounced about to get the fire out. Daybreaker laughed at Mario.

"Deep inside, you know how powerful you are," Daybreaker told Celestia, "You don't need Mario! You don't even need Luna!"

"That's not true," said Celestia, "Mario is the best thing that has ever happened to me and my best friend! And even when we were apart, I knew I needed Luna! I need both of them!"

"Really?" said Mario, deeply touched.

"Yes, I do," said Celestia, making Mario and Starlight smile. Daybreaker than interrupted the tender moment with another laugh.

"Oh, please!" Daybreaker retorted, "You don't need anypony! You can do whatever you want! And all you have to do is get rid of anypony who stands in your way!" Daybreaker then fired a massive fireball.

"Whoa! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Mario cried out as he, Celestia, and Starlight ducked as the fireball headed toward Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon was knocked back by the blast and snarled at Daybreaker.

"I never should've banished you to the moon!" Daybreaker yelled, "I should've destroyed you!"

"No, you can't do that!" Starlight Glimmer, "Day, night, sun, moon - Equestria needs both of you!" Mario just looked concerned and on high alert and Celestia just had a sad expression on her face.

"Without balance, there's no harmony!" Starlight cried out. Daybreaker then light up her horn and went for a fire-enhanced charge attack while Nightmare Moon used her night magic to blast Daybreaker back.

"Who needs balance when you can have it all?" Daybreaker replied and laughed as she clapped her fore-hooves together.

"Ugh!" Daybreaker grunted as Nightmare Moon landed a magic blast at her.

"You can't get rid of me so easily, sister!" Nightmare Moon shouted, "Unless you plan on smiling me to smithereens." Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker then charged at each other.

"Enough!" Celestia shouted as she opened her wings and pushed the both of the dark alicorns back.

"I told you I was more powerful than you!" Daybreaker gloated and laughed at the same time. Celestia just looked worried when Nightmare Moon started encasing herself in a black bubble.

"Ugh! So much black," Daybreaker remarked in a mocking tone, "We get it. You're sad. You could really use some...sun!" Daybreaker then launched a flamethrower attack.

"Look out!" Mario yelped as he flew over to Celestia and pulled her out of the way just in time.

"HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT-HOT!" Mario yelped as his tail caught fire and Celestia fanned the flames out with a fore-leg. Mario gave her a grateful smile but then saw trouble. Starlight gasped as the piece of rug she was standing on caught fire and was burning and shrinking her already small platform.

"Gotcha!" Mario called out as he and Celestia grabbed Starlight and encased her and themselves into another magic bubble. Then Daybreaker showed off her raw power by launching a fire-enhanced version of chaos blast. (That meant the flames expanded in all directions away from Daybreaker, dealing heavy fire damage to anything in its path.) Celestia and Mario worked together to keep the bubble shield up in order to keep Starlight safe.

"This is all my fault!" Starlight lamented, "I never should've gone on this mission! Now Equestria is doomed!"

"Don't give up so easily!" said Mario, "I may be burnt, but I'm certainly not out! And that goes double for Mom!" Mario looked to see Celestia agree, but then noticed that she looked really nervous.

"Mom?" Mario asked worriedly. Celestia said nothing but then looked at her cutie mark. She then got an idea and summon a bubble containing Luna's dream.

Apparently, Luna was having her own nightmare. For the moment she was in a dark room looking at herself in the mirror as she tried to smile.

"That smile's too wide," some little foals sang as they appeared around Luna, "It's obviously not real..." Luna then walked around the mirror and saw that nopony was there. She then turned around and there were all the students she had taken the picture with in tears.

"Why don't you want us to go on our field trip?" one filly asked tearfully.

"I don't...!" Luna said, but then was shocked to see a bunch of her teeth were falling out. Luna put a fore-hoof over her mouth.

"I mean, I do!" Luna continued with a lisp as more teeth fell out. Luna covered her mouth again.

"That smile's too wide...It's obviously not real..." the students sing-sang as they surrounded Luna. It was then Celestia appeared from the mirror.

"Celestia!" Luna said with a lisp as she gave her older sister a hug," I'm so glad you're...!" Before Luna could finish, Celestia pull her out of the dream and into Starlight's dream. They broke apart from their hug just in time to see Nightmare Moon shooting a magic blast at Mario. Mario teleported out of the way toward Luna and Celestia.

"Whoa that was too close!" said Mario.

"I've seen a lot, but I haven't seen this before," said Luna. Her voice was now normal since she had all her teeth again.

"It's Starlight Glimmer's," Celestia replied, "She's afraid this is what will happen if we continue to fight!"

"And I blame Twilight for it!" Mario snapped.

"What?!" Celestia and Luna said in shock.

"It's true!" Mario remarked, "Ever since we got here. Twilight's been stressing Starlight out with her anxiety! She kept making Starlight second guess her choices to speak to you about your problem and that the cutie mark swap is going to cause all this to happen! I've tried so hard to help Starlight's relax and keep her hopes up, but it's no good anymore. Look at her! She's falling apart!" Celestia and Luna turned to see Starlight with her face buried into the surface of the bubble as she cried heavily.

"What was I thinking?!" Starlight sobbed, "I'm never going with my gut again!" Mario felt his heart break hearing Starlight say that.

"If you don't fix this soon, it could have a grave consequence on Starlight's psyche," Luna told Celestia.

"She's right, Mom," said Mario, "You told me just how much it hurt you to see me reach such a low point in my confidence and self-esteem. Starlight is my sister and I love her too much to let her sink down that path! We've got to do something...and fast!"

"But my magic isn't powerful enough!" Celestia protested, "I thought if we all worked together...!"

"I have your magic, remember?" Luna protested as she showed Celestia her cutie mark, "It doesn't work in the dream realm."

"And I hate to admit it, Mom," said Mario sadly, "but I'm not strong enough to beat them on my own!"

"It has to be you!" Luna added. Celestia looked more and more flustered by the minute until finally...

...Celestia began to cry.

"Mom?" Mario asked worried.

"I...can't..." Celestia croaked.

"Can't what, Mom?" Mario asked gently.

"Oh, Luna, I can't do this!" Celestia sobbed, "Your job is so incredibly hard! You have to battle nightmares and work in the darkness and do it all alone! It takes such a brave, strong pony to do what you do!" Luna listened attentively and then smiled when Celestia said she was brave and strong.

"And that pony is you," said Luna as she walked up to her still crying sister, "I walked a day in your shoes. I thought all you had to do was smile and be adored all the time, but I was wrong. There is so much more to it than that." Luna then gently wiped Celestia's tears away, making the sun princess smile for a moment, but then the moment was ruined when they saw Daybreaker laughing like a lunatic while flying to look like she was standing bi-pedal. She then created a twister of fire around her and then fired several fire rings at Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon screamed at what was a direct hit and she crashed landed before Starlight's dream bubble. Then the scenery changed to look like the castle throne room. Daybreaker continued laughing as she made several pillar light up with tall flames.

"Don't do this to each other!" Starlight Glimmer pleaded.

"Mom, we really could use a plan right about now," Mario said worriedly, but then saw that Celestia was still crying.

"I... I don't know what to do," Celestia said feebly, "I'm scared..." Mario looked at her sympathetically.

"In order to defeat Daybreaker, you need only to trust in your strength as I do," said Luna.

"Luna, that's isn't entirely true," said Mario firmly.

"Excuse me?" Luna said stunned.

"Yes, you do need to trust in your own strength," said Mario, "but there's more to that. Luna, ever since we've gotten closer, we've learned that our true strength comes from remembering those we love and everypony that loves you. Remember when you faught the Tantabus, Luna? You found your inner strength when you realized that you had friends who love and care about you, and don't judge you for your past mistakes. The magic of friendship, along with the magic of pure love, made you far stronger and more powerful than Nightmare Moon could ever hope to be. And that same strength is within you, Mom." Luna smiled.

"Mario's right, sister," said Luna, "Remember everypony you love and those who love you and you will defeat Daybreaker." Celestia whimpered.

"Remember Mom," said Mario, "Even if you don't think you can defeat Daybreaker. We believe you can. You can do it. I know you can. We know you can." Luna and Mario gave her assuring smiles. Celestia smiled back despite the still flowing tears. It was then Daybreaker went for the critical strike when Nightmare Moon recovered and fired her own blast at the fire pony. Celestia sternly got between both magic blasts and held them back with her wings.

"You can't destroy me!" Daybreaker shouted, "I'm everything you want to be!"

"No, you're not!" Celestia said boldly, "You are not real, and you will never exist again!" Celestia then expanded her wings, forcing the magic blasts to return to their senders. Nightmare Moon quickly ceased to exist. The same happened with Daybreaker, who groaned as she poofed away. Celestia then landed wobbly on her fore-hooves, panting and sweating when the entire area began to rumble. Then the wall behind her exploded, knocking her back. Daybreaker hadn't been defeated yet! She had turned herself into a giant pony so only her head was visible from the hole she had created.

"Oh no!" Starlight groaned in horror. Luna and Mario's jaws were hanging out in surprise as well.

"I told you that you couldn't defeat me!" Daybreaker gloated, "If I can't convince you to turn into me! Then I'll destroy you all and take your place as Queen of Equestria! WHA-HAHAHAHAHAH!" Daybreaker then used a fore-hoof to slam the side of the castle, making the area rumble as blocks of stone started falling everywhere. Celestia was just standing in place, looking downright terrified.

"Mom!" Mario cried out as he rushed over to her, "Remember your strength! Remember your friendships! Remember your-"

BONK!

Mario was cut off when a large block of stone landed hard on his head, knocking him out and leaving him laying on the ground covered in broken piece of stone. Celestia gasped as she saw Mario laying unconscious on the floor. Within her heart, she felt her fear quickly being replaced with anger and determination.

(Cue "Stand Up and Fight" music)

"I've...had...enough...of ponies constantly hurting my son!" Celestia yelled, "You wanna fight me, Daybreaker?! Then you've got a fight!"

"Like little tiny you could face me!" Daybreaker boasted. Celestia gritted her teeth, her eyes livid and ready for battle. She took a deep breath to calm her still raging emotions and closed her eyes as she recited.

"From one to another, together we are friends!
Though the power of love and friendship,
There is MAGIC WITHOUT END!"

As Celestia spoke, the seven power hearts magically appeared out of thin air and surrounded her. The moment the final words left her mouth, the seven hearts glowed and entered her body.

"HA!" Celestia called out, her voice echoing as a massive vortex of hearts appeared around her. Luna, Starlight, and Mario, who was recovering from the sudden knock out, all watched as the seven Power Hearts made Celestia grow in size.

The scenery soon changed so that Celestia and Daybreaker were both standing on a very narrow platform surrounded by a vast ocean of molten lava. Daybreaker snarled when she saw that Celestia had grown to be the same size as her. Celestia was rather stunned by the growth spurt herself.

"Mom!" Mario cried out as he used his magic to lift Starlight and himself onto the top of Celestia's crown. Luna joined the now tiny ponies on the crown as well.

"Let'sa go!" Mario called out as Celestia smiled. Daybreaker snarled and gave a loud roar at the group. Mario, Luna, and Starlight covered their ears while Celestia quivered and whimpered.

"You can do it, Mom!" said Mario, "Embrace friendship and love into your heart and let it give you strength!" Celestia nodded, bravely standing on her hind legs and posed, ready for battle.

(Cue Mario and Luigi Giant Battle music)

"Sister!" Luna called out as she hovered before her literally giant sized sibling, "Do you know how to battle in this form?"

"Yes," said Celestia, "Mario showed me all the moves I can use and even provided me with my own hammer." Luna blinked at the last part.

"I hope when we were upset with each other you never planned on using that hammer on me," Luna asked. Celestia blushed.

"Only on stone replicas of your head," Celestia admitted feebly.

"Enough stalling!" Daybreaker shouted, "Come and fight me weaker me!" She then made her horn glow, which caused a chunk of the platform behind Celestia to sink into the lava.

"Like that's gonna scare me!" said Celestia confidently, "Didn't you forget I have wings too?"

"Did you forget in giant battles you can't fly?" Daybreaker remarked. Celestia flinched.

"Oh...that could be a problem," Celestia remarked wearily. Daybreaker laughed.

"Yes, embrace your fear," Daybreaker taunted, "it give me so much power!" Celestia scoffed.

"So that's how you wanna play?!" Celestia called out as she grabbed her giant hammer, reeled back...

WHAM!

With a fully powered uppercut, Celestia knocked Daybreaker off her feet and made her tumble into her back. Celestia sternly walked up to Daybreaker on her hind legs alone. Daybreaker snarled as she recovered and then used her magic to make more of the platform crumble behind Celestia.

"I take it that's gonna be habit of hers during this battle," said Starlight wearily.

"Nothing to worry about," said Mario, "Mom, brace yourself!" Celestia nodded as she stood on guard. Daybreaker jumped back, knelt down, and then charged straight for Celestia. As she got close, Daybreaker stood on her hind legs, crashed into Celestia and began to wrestle with her using her fore-hooves.

"How would you like a blazin' hot bath weaker me?" Daybreaker asked evilly.

"No thank you!" Celestia replied back sternly as she firmly shoved Daybreaker back, making the fire pony yelp. Daybreaker growled.

"No more being polite!" Daybreaker shouted, "You're due for a bath!" Daybreaker then charged for Celestia. But the sun princess noticed that Daybreaker was heading to the side.

"Excuse me!" Celestia said as she easily side-stepped out of the way, making Daybreaker fall into the lava.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Daybreaker screamed as she jumped out of the lava.

"If you can't stand the heat, don't go for a swim," said Mario.

"I thought it was get out of the kitchen?" Starlight remarked.

"Same thing," Mario replied dismissively. Celestia smiled, but then Daybreaker used her magic to break more of the platform behind Celestia again. Celestia started to feel a little worried again.

"Stay hopeful, Sister," said Luna, "Victory shall be yours." Celestia smiled and gave a firm nod.

"Go for another hammer attack, Mom!" Mario called out. Celestia pulled out her hammer, reeled back...

WHAM!

Celestia nailed another powerful uppercut at Daybreaker, knocking her back a bit once more. Celestia stepped forward again just another chunk of the platform sank into the lava.

"This time you're going to be the one bathing in lava!" Daybreaker shouted as she jumped back and charged at Celestia. This time however, she grabbed Celestia with her magic to prevent the sun princess from fighting back. Celestia struggled but she couldn't break free from Daybreaker's magic grip.

"We're toast!" Starlight cried out.

"No, we're not," said Mario firmly, "Mom, remember your inner strength!" Celestia then narrowed her brow and shattered Daybreaker's magic grip.

"Hey!" Daybreaker cried out as Celestia angrily shoved her back, "Ugh!" Daybreaker gnashed her teeth at Celestia.

"GET IN THE LAVA!" Daybreaker snarled. Celestia then made a red cape appear and held it beside her.

"Toro! Toro!" Celestia taunted. Daybreaker fell for it and charged, Celestia pulled the cape away and Daybreaker charged right into the lava again.

"Ole!" Mario, Starlight, and Luna shouted. Daybreaker screamed as she jumped out of the lava once more. Mario then noticed something.

"Mom," Mario said in a quiet voice, "Look at the flooring Daybreaker is standing on!" Celestia gave a curious hum and then noticed the floor Daybreaker was standing on was made of wire mesh. She then realizing something.

"A good jump attack would smash that," said Celestia to herself, "In fact..." She then announced boldly to Daybreaker, "You think Mario is worthless?! We'll show you the power of Mother and Son! Drill Stomp!"

"You got it!" Mario announced as Celestia jumped high into the air on her hind legs and twirled about. Mario then did the same as Luna held Starlight and hovered out of the way. Mario then began to rotate clockwise with Celestia until he was direction above the sun princess. Then together, they drill stomped on Daybreaker's head, which made the fire pony yelp painfully. They did the move a second time. On the third stomp, they rotated counter clockwise to meet up. Then they spun in the air at a high velocity and then gave Daybreaker an extra hard stomp for maximum damage. Celestia then did a back flip to return to her fighting position. Mario then sighed loudly as he plopped onto Celestia's crown, clearly exhausted.

"Mario?" Starlight said worried.

"It's alright, Starlight," said Celestia, "Dual attacks in these kinds of battles always tire Mario out for a bit. But he'll recover in due time." Just then, the wire mesh caved in, causing Daybreaker to fall into the lava once again. Daybreaker then jumped out of the lava and away from Celestia. Celestia jumped over the destroyed wire mesh and landed before the fire princess.

"Let see how you handle this!" Daybreaker called out as she cried a miniature fortress in front of herself. She then created a gigantic fireball and launched it at Celestia. Everypony gasped.

"Use your hammer!" Luna shouted. Celestia did and the hammer knocked the fireball away into the background. Daybreaker snarled.

"You're hammer is no good against these!" said Daybreaker. The doors to the mini fortress opened up and several little fireballs wearing shoes walked out and started clinging onto Celestia's hind legs.

"Ouch!" Celestia yelped since the flames were burning her hind legs.

"Shake 'em off!" Mario called out. With a firm shake of each leg, the mini-fireballs went flying away. Daybreaker released another wave, but Celestia shook them off as well. Daybreaker then made five fireballs appear in a row that began to rotate about.

"Mom! Ready your hammer!" said Mario, "The way the fireballs come at you determines how you swing!"

"Got it!" Celestia answered as she got her hammer ready for the attack. The fireballs only rotated about for a couple seconds more before they came at her vertically. Celestia used an uppercut to knock 'em away. Then another set of fireballs appeared. These fireballs came at her horizontally, which Celestia used a hammer chop to knock 'em away. Daybreaker was most annoyed.

"Give up already will ya?!" the fire princess cried out irritably.

"Make me!" Celestia challenged.

"Fine," said Daybreaker as she stood on top of her mini fortress, "FIRE BOMB!" Daybreaker then jumped high into the air, ready to bellyflop right on top of Celestia. But Celestia jumped out of the way just in time so Daybreaker landed hard on her stomach on the platform.

"Oww..." Daybreaker groaned when she felt somepony rotating her body around. Despite her blazing tail, Celestia was able to grab hold of it with her fore-legs and then began to spin her around and around. When she had built up enough power, Celestia let go, sending Daybreaker flying into the mini-fortress, then went flying into the air and splashed into the lava once again. Daybreaker gave another scream as she jumped out of the lava once more.

"Huh?" Daybreaker remarked when she turned around and saw that she was at the edge of the platform.

"Oh great," Daybreaker groaned irritably.

"Nowhere to run now, Daybreaker!" Celestia called, "Give up!" It was then Daybreaker saw another platform in the distance.

"Gotta catch me first!" Daybreaker taunted in a evilly sweet tone. She then jumped over to the other platform. Celestia super jumped over the other platform as well. Along her way over, she took note that just above the platform was a giant chandelier. She didn't bother to wonder why it was there, but figured it might come in handy.

"Get a load of this!" Daybreaker shouted as she launched a flamethrower attack. Celestia remembered the chandelier. She jumped up and grabbed the chandelier to avoid getting roasted. The chandelier began to swing about.

"Time your swing, sister!" said Luna, "And give it to her!" Celestia focused and timed it so she jumped off when it swung from right to left, sending her stomping hard on Daybreaker's head with her hind legs. Now, Daybreaker was furious.

"That's it!" Daybreaker shouted, "No more miss nice pony. You hear that?! I was being nice until now!"

"Oh no..." Starlight groaned.

"You can't scare me anymore!" Celestia said bravely. The next battle turn was pretty much a repeat of before. The only difference was after Celestia hammered Daybreaker, the fire pony tried to use her flamethrower again but Celestia used the chandelier to swing and stomp her head again. Plus Daybreaker was also standing on wire mesh so she crashed into the lava after being stomped. Then Daybreaker created another fortress and then made giant black frosted cupcakes appear.

"Gross! What is that!" said Starlight in disgust.

"Something to restore Daybreaker's health," said Mario, "Mom! Slam your hammer down to keep her from eating them!" Celestia nodded and slammed her hammer down to make Daybreaker drop the cupcake and it fell into the lava. Daybreaker tried several times to eat her cupcakes, but Celestia made her drop them all! Daybreaker gave a frustrated cry and then went back to her large fireball, then smaller fire balls, then the walking fireballs attacks again. Then tried another bellyflop, missed, and Celestia spin tossed her into the fortress and the lava once again. Daybreaker then saw that she was at the end of this platform as well.

"Ugh! I can see why my sister wanted to destroy you! You're so annoying!" Daybreaker snapped.

"What can I say?" said Celestia smugly, "I don't give up easily!" Daybreaker growled and then saw another platform. However, this platform was octagonal shaped.

"Then let's end this right now!" said Daybreaker as she jumped over the platform and Celestia followed. Daybreaker then transformed herself into a dragon shell covered with spikes and began to spin about at a high velocity as she came toward Celestia.

"Look out!" Starlight cried out.

"Two can play that game!" said Mario as he sat up to show he had recovered, "Mom, grab your hammer and fight back!" Celestia then smirked as she understood what Mario wanted her to do.

"Huh?" said Starlight as Luna carried her away, "Hey!"

"Trust me, Starlight," said Luna, "Ponies with weak stomachs don't want to be on Celestia right now." Celestia then began to ballerina twirl with her hammer held to the side as she spun about at a high velocity. This not only protected her, but it also caused both her and Daybreaker to bounce back a bit when they collided with each other. It was the battle of the spinning ponies as Celestia fought hard to bump Daybreaker's new form into the lava. After a couple of minutes, she managed to finally bump Daybreaker into the lava. Celestia wobbled about as she finally stopped spinning.

"Ugh...too much...spinning," said Celestia woozily.

"Even with all my spin jumps and dashes, I got dizzy doing that," said Mario wearily. As he recovered he noticed that Daybreaker had jumped out of the lava, now back to her fire pony form and looking rather woozy herself as a gold star appeared on her chest.

"Mom! She's weak enough for the critical strike!" Mario shouted.

"Then let's end this," said Celestia, "Finishing Rainboom!" Celestia squatted down, jumped super high into the air so she was up in space, grabbed a gold star, held it with a fore-hoof so Mario could jump on, reared back, spin about, and tossed the star as hard as she could. Unlike the star that carried the Super Mane Six, this star stayed intact as it passed through the stratosphere. Mario carefully lined it up with the weak point. Just as Daybreaker was recovering from feeling woozy...

CRITICAL STRIKE!

With a definitive triple take, Mario smashed right through Daybreaker with a powerful rainboom. Daybreaker's body glowed for a moment...

...but for some reason...she didn't explode into a shower of color stars and poof away!

Daybreaker simply collapsed into the platform unconscious. Mario super jumped back to Celestia crown as she eyeballed Daybreaker suspiciously. Luna and Starlight joined them.

"I don't like this," said Luna. It was then a huge surge of dark magic appeared and Daybreaker tenfold in size once again.

"You've gotta be kidding me?!" Mario exclaimed. Daybreaker laughed at them, causing a huge gust of wind that nearly blew Celestia away.

"I told you that you couldn't beat me!" said Daybreaker, "Time to say good night everypony!" Daybreaker laughed like a maniac as she lifted a giant fore-hoof and went to smash Celestia like a bug. Celestia fought hard, but was struggling against the ever increasing weight above her.

"We're doomed! Doomed!" Starlight cried out as tears flowed from her face, "I've doomed us all! It's all my fault!"

"No it's not!" said Celestia boldly, straining as she found her strength growing drastically by the second, "YOU. WILL. NOT. STOP ME!" Celestia then grunted loudly as she suddenly pushed Daybreaker fore-hoof away, causing the fire pony to lose her balance and step back a bit. Then Celestia body slammed Daybreaker in the stomach, knocking her into the lava. When Daybreaker surfaced, she was dazed and a gold star appeared on her fore-head.

"There's the weak point again!" said Mario, "Let's try this again!"

"Right!" said Celestia as she super jumped high into the air and found herself another gold star.

"We need something stronger," said Celestia firmly as she used her horn to turn the gold star into a giant sized gold heart.

"Heart Driver!" Celestia announced in her Canterlot voice.

"O-kay!" said Mario, very impressed and excited as he jumped into the giant golden heart. Celestia used her now boosted strength to throw the giant golden heart as hard as she could. Mario was a little frazzled since his descending speed was much faster this time around, but he managed to recover and started guiding the heart to the weak point. Unfortunately, Daybreaker had recovered from her wooziness, but the weak point was still exposed. She saw the fast coming golden heart.

"GET AWAY!" Daybreaker shouted as she launched some giant fireballs to keep Mario from reaching her.

(Cue Stand up and Fight music)

Mario narrowed his eyes and showed his expert flying skills to weave and dodge the oncoming fireballs. Daybreaker then grew nervous as she saw her fireballs weren't stopping the fast coming golden heart.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Daybreaker screamed when...

CRITICAL STRIKE!

The golden heart crashed right through Daybreaker's fore-head, creating a gold heart shaped rainboom as Mario flew by. Daybreaker's body glowed brightly...

...and this time, Daybreaker exploded into shower of stars, disappearing for good.

(Cue favorite Victory theme)

"Oh yeah!" Celestia and Mario called out as the former twirled and did a hoof pump into the air as Mario flew by on the giant golden heart. Celestia watched the golden heart fly off when she felt a bright glow appear on her stomach. She then recoiled when the bright light intensified and turned the entire area white.

When the light faded, Celestia, Luna, Mario, and Starlight were back at the dream castle. Celestia was in the air and landed on the floor with a plop, clearly spent from the battle. Luna and Mario rushed over and knelt beside her.

"You did it!" Luna said excitedly.

"I knew you could, Mom!" said Mario happily, "That battle was awesome!"

"Only because you two were here," said Celestia and then looked at Luna, "I don't know how you do this alone." Luna then smirked.

"So, um, did you talk to yourself?" Luna asked smugly as Mario bit his lower lip to not snicker.

"Um, a little," Celestia confessed sheepishly. The two sisters laughed.

"Is this really happening, or is this still a dream?" Starlight asked worriedly.

"You'll find out soon enough," Mario replied with a smile as Celestia made her horn glow.

While time is relatively boundless in the dream world, it was already morning by the time Celestia had returned the real world. The dark circles in her eyes were clear proof that she was clearly exhausted, but there was a satisfied smile on her face.

"Welcome back, sister!" said Luna, who was standing before the tired sun princess, "I know you had a long night, so I made you some pancakes!" Luna used her magic to present Celestia some pancakes that were badly burnt, cracked and had a sloppy fruit smile face on them.

"Oh! Heh. H-How...eh, nice. Ahem," Celestia stuttered and took a bite. She chewed, made a face, and then force gulped her bite down, "They're...delicious. Heh. Thank you." Luna laughed.

"I know that face!" said Luna, "They're not. I know you have to be perfect for everypony else and you do an amazing job. But you don't have to do it for me."

"In that case," said Celestia as she chuckled the pancakes away, "they are terrible!" The two sisters exchanged a laugh together.

"I know!" Luna added as they continued to laugh.

"Momma mia," said Mario as he walked up and saw the tossed burnt pancakes on the floor, "Who made these?" Celestia and Luna just smiled as the latter raised a fore-hoof. Mario blinked.

"That explains so very, very much," said Mario plainly. Celestia and Luna laughed again. Celestia then sighed as the two sisters finally calmed down.

"But it means alot that you tried," Celestia told Luna, "I love you, sister."

"I love you, too," said Luna as the two sisters shared a hug. Mario was touched as he smiled and placed a fore-hoof over his heart. Starlight, now awake, slowly approached the two hugging sisters.

"So...this was real," said Starlight and yawned, "Or...was it not real, and this just happened now and-and not in my dream? I'm so confused."

"Oh, Sis," said Mario as he and Celestia chuckled.

"It's all real," said Celestia as she lightly stroked Starlight's curled bangs and Mario put a fore-hoof around the unicorn's shoulders, "It was the right call going with your gut." Mario nodded in agreement.

"The map was wise to send you, Starlight Glimmer," added Luna, "Nopony else would have been so bold as to do what you did. Well, Mario might have...since he can get a little reckless with us..."

"I'm right here you know," Mario remarked indignantly as Starlight giggled.

"That's a nice way of saying I came dangerously close to messing everything up," said Starlight sheepishly as Mario gave the unicorn a concerned look.

"It was just what we needed," said Celestia, "The experience has made us closer than ever." Celestia and Luna shared a sisterly fore-head nuzzle with each other. Then the sound of a glow was heard when the two sisters looked at their flanks to see their cutie marks return to normal. Starlight and Mario were surprised.

"Wait," said Starlight, "I'm not doing this."

"I thinks it's their doing!" said Mario as he pointed above them to show that two Flower Sprites had appeared and hovered just above their heads. Mario gave Starlight a smile before they jumped up to collect the Flower Sprites.

(Cue "You got a Flower Sprite" Fanfare)

Mario and Starlight stood on their hind legs as the Flower Sprites floated down to them. They grabbed one Flower Sprite each, twirled, and posed with the Flower Sprites above their heads.

"WA-HA!" Mario cried out as the two Flower Sprites entered his body for safe keeping. It was then he and Starlight heard a chime. They looked to see that both their flanks were glowing.

"I believe that means your mission is complete," said Celestia.

"Alright!" said Mario as he and Starlight shared a double high-hoof and low-hoof together.

"Wow! I can't wait to tell Twilight," said Starlight excitedly.

ZAP!

"WAH! UGH!" Mario yelped as he was knocked back by the sudden appearance of a certain purple alicorn, which startled everypony else.

"I already know!" said Twilight quickly and excitedly, "I mean, I don't know everything. I just got here to bring you your toothbrush!" Twilight then held a purple and green toothbrush to Starlight's face with her magic. Mario sat up and gave his wife a deadpan look.

"Honey, that's Spike tooth...mmmph?!" Mario was cut off when Twilight stuffed the toothbrush in Mario's mouth.

"So this is just a friendly visit! Not interfering because I was worried! I wasn't!" Twilight told the two royal sisters as Mario spat out the toothbrush.

"Right," Mario remarked with an eye roll.

"I knew you could do it, and I'm so, so, so, so so proud of you!" Twilight told Starlight as she hugged her tightly, "Tell me everything! Start from after I hyperventilated, and don't leave out any details!" Starlight just made a long face as Twilight smiled big, grabbed a long scroll with a quill, and used her magic to drag the unicorn inside the room.

"Honey," Mario said in a slow but very agitated tone as he followed the two ponies inside the room, "Can't you just give Starlight some room to breathe and just...back off?"

"BLASPHEMY!" Twilight yelled.

"Now don't start that again!" Mario warned.

"BLASPHEMY!" Twilight retorted again. Celestia and Luna just watched the three ponies disappear and part of what was clearly going to be another couple argument.

"Oh, uh, but the way," said Luna to Celestia, "there's a field trip you need to make happen and a-ahem-timberwolf issue you need to address."

"W-what?" Celestia spluttered.

"Oh! Look! There's the sun! Time for me to turn in!" Luna replied before quickly taking off to the sky before Celestia replied. As Luna flew off, she did look back to see of Celestia was going to come after her. To her luck, Celestia didn't. But the sun princess did give her younger sibling a glare before her attention was interrupted by the sound of somepony screaming.

"TWILGIHT SPARKLE WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME!" Mario shouted in his Canterlot voice as Celestia peeked inside the room to find Twilight in a state of shock and Starlight cowered back fearfully from the married couple.

"Did...did...you just...use the Canterlot voice at me?!" Twilight spluttered before glaring fiercely at her husband, "You BLA-!" Twilight was then cut off then Mario used his magic to zip Twilight's mouth closed.

"You are going to be quiet and listen to me," Mario warned in a low tone, "Because I am very, very angry with you right now." Twilight glared, but then her expression turned to confusion when Mario said he was angry with her.

"You've been so focused on your own anxiety that you're ignoring the damage it can cause to a pony's self-confidence," Mario told Twilight sternly, "Starlight was looking forward to this friendship mission and working together with me! But you kept shooting off your big mouth about your own fears and worries that you made Starlight feel like she couldn't even trust her own judgment! You're fears kept making Starlight second guess herself that she doesn't even feel like she earned her success, but that it was just dumb luck things worked out. Why? Because you made her feel like any choice she made was going to destroy all of Equestria!" Twilight blinked and noticed that Starlight just had her head low.

"Starlight...is...is that true?" Twilight asked gently. Her heart broke when she saw Starlight lift her head and she was crying heavily.

"I never want to go on another friendship ever again!" Starlight wailed and began to bawl. Mario wasted no time holding her close so the lilac unicorn could shed her tears onto his shoulder.

"Not only that," Mario continued sternly, "That fear and doubt made Starlight have a nightmare where she had to experience not just Lune becoming Nightmare Moon, but Mom because an evil and insane fire pony named Daybreaker! Even all my efforts to encourage and support her were for nothing because you put so much fear into her mind! What's even worse? The nightmare scared Mom so badly that she broke down crying! Because she didn't think she was strong enough to defeat both of them."

"What?!" said Twilight in shock, "N-n-no! That's not possible! Celestia doesn't cry or get scared! That's crazy talk!"

"It is true, Twilight" said Celestia sadly, "I didn't think I was strong enough to stop Starlight's nightmare. I got frightened and started crying. If Mario and Luna hadn't been there to support me...I would've given up and Starlight would feel even worse than she does now. Mario told me that you are the reason Starlight had that terrible nightmare in the first place!" Twilight just gulped and said nothing.

"And I can hear you shouting blasphemy from outside the room," Celestia continued in a more stern tone, "What did my son say that would be considered blasphemy to the royal crown?"

"He said you're not perfect and you're just a pony!" Twilight replied. Celestia blinked and then glared at the purple pony.

"Twilight, forgive me if this sounds brash, but..." said Celestia as she took a deep breath, "those are the stupidest charges I've ever heard."

"Wuh?!" said Twilight.

"What my son told you isn't blasphemy, it's the truth," said Celestia, "I get that ponies think I'm perfect and it's something I do try to uphold, but deep down I'm not perfect, Twilight! I've never been perfect! I hate being perfect. Trying to keep a brave face day in and day out, even when you're sad, or angry, or just plain frustrated and stressed out to the point that I often wonder why I keep doing this every day of my life! Somedays I hate being a princess and just want to walk away! You're not the only pony who gets anxiety, doubts herself, or just feels so overwhelmed that they go to their rooms at night and fall apart!" Celestia squatted down to the floor and began to weep. Twilight was stunned for a few moments before she looked at the now weeping princess sadly. Mario cried as he continued to hold a still sobbing Starlight in his fore-legs.

"I'm not perfect, Twilight," Celestia sobbed, "and I never will be. Sometimes even I need help. Sometimes I need a friend to carry me through. And that's what Mario and Luna were to me. They're more than just my son and my sister, but my friends. They helped me find my inner strength when I felt like I had none. It's because of them I was able to defeat Daybreaker. It's time you learned to trust in my son instead of your fears. I'm sure he could've put your concerns to rest of you had actually made the effort to listen to him. Instead, you dumped all your fears on Starlight. I didn't show it, but it bothers me that she was so scared to even talk to Luna and I when she learned we were having issues with one another." Twilight felt very ashamed as she turned to see Starlight was now just crying quietly. Twilight slowly approached her.

"I'm so sorry, Starlight," said Twilight as she gave the lilac unicorn a hug, "I didn't mean to put so much pressure on you. I know you've learned not to always rely on your magic to solve your problems and I should've trusted you to make your own decisions. I just let my fears about Nightmare Moon get the best of me and I dumped all that fear on you. I know you can trust yourself to make the right decisions. I never meant to doubt you." Twilight gently used a fore-leg to wipe Starlight's tears away. Starlight sniffled as she gave Twilight a meek smile as she tilted her head to Mario, who was just listening attentively. Twilight rushed into Mario's fore-legs and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry, my love," said Twilight, "I look up to Celestia and hearing you say what you did felt like insults. And, like I told Starlight, I was afraid of Nightmare Moon happening all over again or worse."

"Twilight, do you really think Nightmare Moon would happen again if we fought?" Celestia asked.

"It's how all the history books recorded the event," said Twilight.

"But it's not the whole story," said Celestia, "Nightmare Moon happened because I took my sister for granted and I didn't try to reach out to her when she started getting cold and distant. I made her resent me and that resentment turned into anger, then hate, and then she transformed because of decades of resentment held inside finally boiled over. Why? Because I was a terrible sister! I wasn't there for her when she needed me and by the time I realized my mistake, it was too late. Didn't Mario tell you that?" Twilight smiled and blushed in embarrassment.

"He tried, but I didn't believe him," said Twilight sadly, "I don't know why it's so hard for me to see you as a normal pony."

"You just need to remember that I'm more than just your mentor, Twilight," said Celestia, "But also your friend. I need you just as much as you need me. Promise me that you won't forget that." Twilight just smiled.

"I won't," said Twilight.

"And I know it's hard to trust others when you're worried or scared," said Celestia, "But don't forget that you have Mario that you can rely on when you're mind is full of doubt. Just like I relied on Mario to give me strength when I felt the same way." Twilight and Starlight each gave Mario a smile before they sandwiched him in a hug.

"We love you Mario!" said Twilight and Starlight together as they both kissed his cheeks.

"Love you, too," said Mario and then saw Celestia was by herself, "Mom, get over here!" Celestia chuckled as she joined the group hug. They all chuckled once they pulled away.

"Well, I guess I've taken enough of your time," said Twilight as she stood up, "I'll see you and Starlight at home later, sweetie?"

"Hold up, honey," said Mario as she looked at Starlight, "I believe my Twily wanted to know what happened after the cutie mark swap. It's quite a tale if we include the dream. What do you say, Starlight?" Starlight pondered with a smirk on her face.

"It is a quite a tale," said Starlight, "Would be a shame to keep it to ourselves and I'm okay talking about it now." Twilight smiled hopefully and squeed. Mario smirked at her.

"Alright," said Mario, "After we locked up your ballerina music box form in the drawer, we meet up with Luna..." Twilight listened excitedly as she jotted down the adventure on her scroll. Celestia just sat beside the purple pony and listened quietly. She couldn't resist blushing when Mario told Twilight how amazing she was during her giant battle, but she was grateful that Mario was such a loving, caring, and supportive son and friend.

But, she had to admit one thing to herself...

Why didn't Luna just tell her she had a honest slipup over the field trip and timberwolf situations instead of just flying off?

She made a mental note to talk to Luna about that later. After all, if they wanted to avoid Nightmare Moon or Daybreaker to ever exist in the real world, they needed to be honest with each other and not keep secrets from each other anymore. They hadn't done a good job trying to communicate with each other either and now was the time to fix that for good. Sure, it would take time and mistakes would be made, but she knew that Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker were no longer a threat. She and Luna would always need each other and either alicorn ever wanted to be apart from the other ever again.

But they are sisters after all.

They'll have their differences from time to time, but their friendship...

...would always be worth fighting for.

And this chapter is complete. Sorry for the long wait everypony. I hope you enjoyed the extended battle between Celestia and Daybreaker. I wanted to expand further on the idea of Celestia showing her vulnerable side as well as tapping into her inner strength. I like seeing a more realistic side to Celestia because it makes her more relatable and I hope you feel the same way too.

And I hope nopony thought I was crossing religious lines by having Twilight cry Blasphemy for what Mario said about Celestia. We all know that Twilight thinks far too highly of Celestia. Plus I was trying to parody die-hard fans of celebrities. There are plenty of stories out there of fans who've gotten violent or hostile towards someone for saying, even in respectful context, that they celebrity they admire has flaws.

And I hope you all enjoyed seeing the dynamic between Mario and the two royal sisters. It was fun making Mario have to act like the parent when Celestia and Luna were being immature. But as you saw, he's not being disrespectful. He's just looking out for them because he loves his Mom and Aunt. And I have to wonder how many of you were surprised that he was very supportive of Starlight's cutie mark swapping.

Next time: Special Guest Star Sakura joins Pinkie on her journey to Yakyakistan! And get themselves into a very...brrr...chilly situation!

Peace Pony Fans!