The Hooffields and McColts
Pony's Log Number 523: The old family feud scenario...a pony would think there would be a textbook solution to it...
One day at Fluttershy and Shenran's cottage, the Pegasi couple had invited some of their animal friends over for one of their weekly gatherings.
"Does everyanimal have their copy of Wuthering Hooves?" Fluttershy asked the group. Several animals held their books with their hooves, wings, claws, etc. Angel smugly reclined beside Fluttershy as he held his book with his paw. Then a mouse held a book that was bigger than him. Harry raised a book no bigger than his paw, which he and the mouse quickly switched for convenience.
"How about you dear?" Fluttershy asked her husband as he held his book, which was covered in sticky tabs.
"I also jotted down some notes in my book for the discussion part of our session," Shenran added.
"Hooray! I love Furry Friends Book Club!" Fluttershy said excitedly as she held her book in her fore-hooves, "Now, let's discuss the theme of nature as it applies to Hoofcliff's love."
"Well, if nopony minds if I go first...huh?!" Shenran was then interrupted when he noticed something with his wife.
"Did somepony leave a light on?" Fluttershy asked cluelessly as Angel firmly tapped her shoulder and pointed a paw at her flank. Fluttershy noticed her cutie mark was glowing.
"Oh, it's me," said Fluttershy plainly, "Now honey...what was it you wanted to..." Fluttershy then realized what she had just said, "Oh! It's me!" It was then a projection of her cutie mark appeared from her flank and went flying off and out of her house. Fluttershy wasted no time flying after it from a nearby window. She then quickly reappeared from the top half of her front door.
"We'll continue this discussion when I get back!" said Fluttershy, "Shenran, take over for me and look after every-creature okay? Bye!" Fluttershy then zoomed off, then returned once more time to close the top half of the door, and then went after the cutie mark projection.
"Well then," said Shenran as he reopened his book, "How about I share my theory on..." Shenran then noticed that none of the animals were listening as Angel seemed to have taken over the discussion and every other animal was chattering about in their own dialect. Shenran just sighed and closed his book.
He was already missing his wife.
(Main theme)
The butterfly projection headed straight for Mario and Twilight's castle with Fluttershy hovering not too far away. As the projection passed through the castle's front door, Fluttershy landed and was about to walk inside when the front doors burst open to reveal a very excited purple alicorn.
"You're here!" Twilight said excitedly as she grabbed Fluttershy and teleported them inside of the castle hallways. Mario was there waiting for them as he stood on his hind legs and was leaning against a nearby wall with his fore-legs behind his head. Fluttershy took notice that his cutie mark was also glowing.
"Took you long enough," Mario teased. Twilight replied by sticking her tongue out at him.
"Isn't this exciting?" Twilight asked Fluttershy as she showed the yellow Pegasus her glowing cutie mark.
"Oh! You were called, too!" said Fluttershy, "Thank goodness. I feel so much better going with a friend."
"Hey, you saw my cutie mark was glowing before you saw Twilight's," said Mario indignantly as he got back on all fours.
"Like I said," said Fluttershy, "I feel so much better going with a friend, not a dork!"
"Well, thanks alot!" said Mario annoyingly and Fluttershy giggled to herself.
"I'm teasing Big brother," said Fluttershy as Mario just pouted.
"I was about to come and get you," said Twilight as the led the group to the cutie map, "but then I got distracted." Twilight then opened the door to the room and Fluttershy was surprised to see the room was filled with multiple stacks of books.
"Oh," Fluttershy exclaimed as Twilight and Mario walked into the room.
"Ever since the map called us," Twilight explained, "I've been doing a ton of research." Twilight then teleported over to a nearby blackboard that had various equations and advanced math on it.
"Testing out potential friendship problems," said Twilight and then teleported back to Fluttershy with a book in her magic grip.
"Diversifying my solution portfolio," Twilight added. Fluttershy was surprised.
"Ever since the map call us?" said Fluttershy, "But that happened five minutes ago."
"Actually it was six minutes, twenty four seconds," said Mario as a matter of fact and earned himself a glare from Fluttershy.
"I know!" Twilight replied excitedly as she sat on her throne with a book on the table, "But I wanna be one hundred percent prepared! I mean, I'm the Princess of Friendship. How would it look if I couldn't solve a friendship problem?" Twilight just smiled nervously.
"Um, Twilight," said Fluttershy, "Mario's been on a few missions. You could have just asked him what you needed to be prepared."
"She did," said Mario.
"And what did you tell her," said Fluttershy.
"The honest truth," Mario replied, "There is no way to be prepare for a friendship mission. All you have is the location and sometimes discovering the problem just comes from going where the wind blows."
"And from what I see, Twilight didn't take that answer too well," said Fluttershy.
"I took his reply just fine," said Twilight and then hovered up to her husband, "Listen, you may be comfortable "winging it" as you say, but for me, I like to be prepared for anything!"
"I know dear," said Mario, "if it helps, these friendship mission do follow a procedure in some degree."
"Now you're talking my language," said Twilight as she grabbed a pad and pencil, "fire away!"
"Step one: head to the location were being called to visit," said Mario as he paced back and forth in the foreground, "step two: observe and study the surrounding areas. Sometimes current or upcoming events, gossip, and even the surrounding environment can give you a clue as to what the friendship problem could be. The trick is keeping your eyes and ears open and working together."
"Good, good, good!" said Twilight as she wrote the information down, "What's next?"
"Step three: Once we find the friendship problem, we try to find solution," Mario continued, "Important note: in all my experiences, the solution has never been discovered in the first try. Try, try again tactic is the most effective in these situations."
"Do you even know who I am?" said Twilight, "I'll make sure we get it right the first time."
"Oh, don't get cocky," Mario retorted, "Rainbow learned that lesson the hard way."
"Well, I'm not Rainbow Dash, sweetie," said Twilight smugly, "Anything else?"
"Step four: when the right solution is found, our cutie marks glow again and mission complete," said Mario.
"That's...pretty straightforward," said Twilight as she looked at her notes, "This will be easy!"
"Oh, I'm so lucky I'm being sent with the two of you," said Fluttershy as she walked over to the cutie map, "Speaking of which, where are we going?"
(Cue favorite "world map" theme)
Current Flower Sprites: 23
"The Smokey Mountains!" said Twilight as she, Fluttershy, and Mario looked at a pair of mountain peaks where the girl's cutie marks were circling around Mario's cutie mark.
"Oh, I've never been there before," said Fluttershy.
"Neither have I," said Twilight, "have you dear?"
"Eenope," said Mario.
"And there isn't alot of information on them," said Twilight as she grabbed a book from another stack. Spike was reading one of his comic books nearby when Twilight grabbed her book and dumped the rest on top of the little dragon.
"All I could find was this," said Twilight as she showed Fluttershy the book and Mario helped Spike out of the book pile in the background, "The Smokey Mountains harbor that most beautiful valley in all of Equestria between its two majestic mountain peaks." Twilight showed Fluttershy a picture of said mountains surround in lush flora.
"That's gorgeous," said Fluttershy as Twilight closed the book, "And where there's nature, there's a ton of animal friends!" Fluttershy clapped cutely to herself.
"Those animals might even help us with our friendship mission too," said Mario as he walked up to the yellow Pegasus, "Remind us to speak to them for help when we get there." Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
"I can't wait to get started!" said Twilight as she hugged her book to her chest, "I'm a little nervous since that's all I could find..."
"Oh, honey," said Mario as Twilight dropped the book, "There's no need to be nervous. Remember the friendship mission with Griffonstone. Alot of your information was obsolete but by working together, Rainbow, Pinkie, and I were able to pull through and complete our mission. Plus you'll have me along to help you." Fluttershy just looked rather unamused.
"Now I feel nervous," Fluttershy remarked. Mario glared at her.
"Well, maybe I'll just stay home," Mario remarked indignantly.
"Oh, stop it, Mario," said Twilight, "We need you on this mission. And, yes, you do help me feel less nervous, but the point is that I usually like to be a bit more prepared."
"You seem pretty prepared to me," said Fluttershy as she walked over to see three pairs of saddle bags, two which looked very full, "Are those for us?"
"Yep!" said Twilight as she put her book into her already full saddle bag, "I've prepared our things. Snacks, books, blankets, books..."
"You said "books" twice," said Fluttershy and Mario together.
"There are alot of books," said Twilight as she put on her saddle bags, then put Mario's on his back, and Fluttershy's on her back.
"Ooh!" said Fluttershy from the weight of her saddle bags. Mario looked worried.
"Honey, didn't I tell you to pack light and not to stuff the entire library into our saddle bags?" Mario asked.
"You've got an entire airship in your saddle bags!" Twilight retorted.
"But my saddle bag is a magic saddle bag," said Mario, "it doesn't weight anything. Poor Flutters looks like she's ready to pull a muscle."
"I can manage thank you!" Fluttershy grunted, but was struggling to stand up. Twilight just exited the castle without much difficulty. Mario was right behind her, but kept looking back when he saw that Fluttershy was literally crawling out of the castle on her stomach. Mario walked over to take the saddle bags when Fluttershy glared at him.
"Touch the bags and I'll give you the stare!" Fluttershy warned in a strained tone.
"EEK!" Mario yelped and rushed to his wife.
"What do ya think our friendship problem's gonna be?" Twilight asked the group as they headed toward a docked balloon. Mario then slammed into it since he had been running for his life just a few seconds prior. Twilight just gave her husband a funny look.
"I don't know," Fluttershy grunted as she struggled to catch up to the alicorn couple, "But I'm sure we'll figure it out."
"There no real way to deduct what kind of friendship problem we might face," said Mario, "It could be just about anything."
"We can still make an educated guess," said Twilight as she climbed into the balloon with Mario following right behind her, "Do you think it'll be a problem about lying?" Fluttershy slowly climbed in, her back giving a painful creak as she struggled to put her saddle bags inside the balloon basket. Twilight adjusted a nearby rope.
"I'm sure we'll find out when we get there," said Fluttershy tiredly.
"You're right," said Twilight as she released the rope and the balloon and they were on their way. Mario then held onto one of the ropes and leaned forward from the edge.
"Let'sa go!" he called out as the balloon took off into the air. Twilight and Fluttershy just snickered to each other behind him. While they found his shout-out silly, they were just glad he was excited for the adventure.
"Ooh! Could it be about when two friends just randomly decide to do something together," Twilight suggested as they flew across the sky, "but they forget to invite the third friend, and the third friend feels left out?"
"Twilight, please," said Mario, "I'm getting flashbacks about that long weekend when Discord purposely excluded us from."
"Sorry," said Twilight, "Just thinking of possible ideas of what that friendship problem could be. Maybe it's when a group of friends all get a crazy idea but only one friend has a common sense to try and stop them, but they never listen."
"Wow, I can't imagine how that feels like," Mario remarked sarcastically. Twilight and Fluttershy glared at him, but then the former softened a few seconds afterward.
"Actually, um, we kind of do disregard Mario from time to time," said Fluttershy. Twilight sighed.
"Yeah...I know," said Twilight, "Honey, I hope you know it not cause we don't care or respect your feelings. We're just..."
"Strong, stubborn, independent mares," Mario finished, "Maybe I'm just too sensitive for my own good." Fluttershy and Twilight exchanged looks.
"Well, I have been noticing that you seem to keep to yourself lately," said Twilight.
"Wanna talk about it?" Fluttershy asked gently. Mario sighed.
"Not right now," said Mario and then quickly changed the subject, "Hey! Check this out!" The two mares headed over to his side of the balloon. He showed them a drawing of what appeared to be some sort of tree with a platform attached to it, along with what looked like some propellers along the side of it.
"It looks like a tree of some sort," said Twilight, "with airship parts on it."
"It's supposed to look like the Tree of Harmony," said Mario, "but in a motorized balloon form. Since these friendship missions take us all over Equestria, I figured I could look into designing us our own personal airship that can take us where ever we wanted to go and beyond."
"It's not a bad idea," said Twilight, "but why the Tree of Harmony."
"Well, a regular airship won't fit if we ever created a balloon dock by the castle," said Mario, "A more compact model would make it easier to park."
"Never thought of that," said Fluttershy, "Just one question, big brother."
"Yes?" Mario asked skeptically.
"Are you sure your big head is gonna fit inside that tiny door?" Fluttershy asked with a smirk.
"Why you...!" Mario retorted and the two ponies began small chase of cat and mouse about the balloon basket with Twilight in the middle. Twilight just rolled her eyes at the two and giggled at their child's play.
It wasn't long before the two ponies got tired of their little game and came to a truce. In addition, their balloon had finally landed. Fluttershy and Mario worked together to tie the balloon down on a jagged rock as Twilight walked up ahead, carrying a map with her magic. The purple pony hadn't also stopped making friendship problem ideas.
"Or where on friend tells another friend's secret after they asked them not to?" Twilight suggested.
"We'll know very, very soon," said Fluttershy, already feeling exhausted from putting the heavy saddle bag on her back, "Since we're almost there."
"You sure you can get there alright," Mario asked with concerned, "You look tired."
"No thanks to you chasing me up on that balloon!" Fluttershy retorted in a strained tone.
"You said my head was big!" Mario protested.
"I was only being honest," Fluttershy said in a sweet but sassy tone. Mario snorted. Twilight just ignored their childish squabble and took off into the sky. Mario and Fluttershy soon followed. Twilight smiled excitedly as she put the map into her saddle bags. She noticed that Fluttershy was having a hard time staying in the air.
"Honey! Help her!" Twilight said sternly to her husband.
"I tried," said Mario, "But Flutters threatened me with the stare if I take her bags." Twilight just rolled her eyes.
"Here," said Twilight, "Lemme get that." Twilight then used her magic to carry Fluttershy's saddle bags as well as her own.
"Thanks you," said Fluttershy gratefully with a sigh. Mario was stunned and then muttered gibberish about unappreciative sisters.
"Sorry I've been a little skiddy-bopty-boo," said Twilight, her last words making Mario chuckle and feel better, "I just can't believe this is finally happening!"
"I'm glad you're here too," said Mario, "I was starting to feel bad going on these missions without you."
"Aw, I couldn't help but get jealous," said Twilight as she nuzzled his cheek, "I just miss you when you're gone."
"Same here," said Mario as they shared a nose nuzzle. Fluttershy couldn't help but feel a little jealous, especially since she was really missing her own husband at the moment. The tender moment was cut off when a pumpkin smacked Twilight and Fluttershy's saddle bags out of the former's magic grip.
"Whoa!" said Fluttershy in surprise as they found themselves in the crossfire of some flying pumpkins.
"Whoa!" said Twilight as she barely missed getting hit, "What in Equestria is happening?"
"It's nothing like you're book said it would be!" said Fluttershy.
"Not that surprised," said Mario. It was then another pumpkin flew over their heads and smacked Mario right in the stomach.
"UGH!" Mario groaned as he was knocked backwards and then hovered back to the group.
"Are you alright?" Twilight asked worriedly as she and Fluttershy moved to avoid another flying pumpkin.
"Yeah," said Mario, "Just got the wind knocked out of me a bit, but I'm okay." He then saw two more pumpkins coming at them.
"Heads up!" said Mario as he got in front of the two mares and then did a quick barrel roll to deflect the two pumpkins away from them.
"I forgot you knew how to do that," said Twilight, clearly impressed.
"Well, I don't to brag about my...GAH!" Mario yelped painfully as a pumpkin smacked one of his wings.
"Honey, what happened?" said Twilight as she grabbed one fore-leg and Fluttershy grabbed the other since Mario was struggling to stay airborne.
"Ow-ho-ho...that last pumpkin clipped my wing!" Mario groaned as he looked at his left wing, which looked rather wrinkled as more pumpkins continued to fly past them.
"Oh, boy," said Twilight worriedly as she just barely dodged another pumpkin coming at the two of them, "I'm feeling very unprepared. Where do we even start?"
"Maybe by figuring out where the flying pumpkins are coming from?" Fluttershy suggested.
"Good idea," said Mario as he managed to hover on his own again despite the pain in his left wing, "And we can find out why there throwing pumpkins in the first place." The three ponies made their way toward the source of the flying pumpkins. It was then an elderly pony with a large buck tooth, clayish red fur and sand colored mane and tail appeared next to another stallion with the same color fur and coat as he stood beside a canon. The mare's name was Ma Hooffield.
"Ready...Aim...Fire!" Ma Hooffield shouted as another stallion loaded the cannon, and the first stallion fired. Ma Hooffield watched the pumpkin fly into the air and landed beside what appeared to be a fortress in the distance.
"Um, hi. Hello," said Twilight as she, Mario, and Fluttershy stood behind the elderly mare, "Excuse us, but what are you doing?"
"We're pumpkinin' our neighbors!" said Ma Hooffield.
""Pumpkinin'"?" said Mario puzzled before adding with some sarcasm, "That's a new word for the ol' dictionary."
"Eeh!" said Twilight as she lightly nudged her husband to be quiet.
"Yes, but, um, why are you..."pumpkining" your neighbors?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well, because the McColts are just plain rotten," Ma Hooffield retorted, "Hey, wait a tick. Who are you three?! You're not spies of the McColts, are ya?" The mare defensively got in their faces. Mario was about to retort back when Twilight raised a fore-hoof in front of him to stand down.
"I am Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship," said the purple alicorn formally, "and this is my husband, Mario Star, the Prince of Friendship." Mario smirked and gave a nod to say hello.
"I'm Fluttershy," said the yellow Pegasus in a cute but timid manner, "And...um...I'm here too."
"She's my sister," said Mario, "which makes her a member of the royal family."
"Mario, you know that's not true," said Fluttershy in hushed tone.
"Well, that's what you are to me," said Mario as Fluttershy just rolled her eyes and conceded with smile.
"Ma Hooffield, pleased to meet ya," said the mare as she shook the hooves of both Twilight and Mario, "but you're both wastin' your time. We don't have a friendship problem. We have...a McColt problem." Ma Hooffield narrowed her eyes to emphasize her point.
"And there's absolutely no friendship there," said a stallion named Buzzard Hooffield and quickly zipped away.
"I see," said Mario plainly as Twilight just smiled and grabbed her book that had several marked pages in it.
"Well, maybe there could be if we figure out what the McColts did to make you so mad," said Twilight as she searched through her book and exchanged a nod with both Fluttershy and Mario.
"It's a good start," said Mario, "sometimes these missions require some on location research."
"And that, my dear husband, is my specialty," Twilight replied confidently as Mario chuckled in agreement.
"Oh, they done so many things," said Ma Hooffield, "Why, just today, they shot pebbles at our farmhouse an' wrecked it."
"A...pebble...destroyed your barn," said Mario flatly is disbelief. He then noticed a building that was completely destroyed and was rather shocked that a small pebble had caused some much damage.
"See, we're not very good at buildin'," said Ma Hooffield, "so all it took was a little pebble. But still!"
"I believe it," said Mario wearily as Twilight ducked into her book and looked through it again. Fluttershy was just surveying the area when she saw some mice had made a jack o' lantern their home. A Hooffield stallion then picked up the pumpkin with the mice inside of it and went to stuff into the cannon for ammunition!
"Oh, no!" Fluttershy gasped as she quickly removed the pumpkin before the other stallion could stuff it into the cannon. In fact, he didn't even notice that the pumpkin was even missing and was just stuffing air into the cannon. Meanwhile, Ma Hooffield tried to look into Twilight's book when the purple alicorn closed it.
"I know what to do," said Twilight, "We're gonna talk with these McColts and hear their side of the story. Once we have all the facts, we can put an end to this using reason and rationale." Ma Hooffield just glared and rolled her eyes discreetly at the purple pony.
"Well, the diplomatic approach is usually the best initial strategy," said Mario.
"Good plan," added Fluttershy and then said to the mice, "That's why she's the princess."
"And what about me?" Mario asked, annoyed that Fluttershy had said nothing about him.
"What about you?" Fluttershy asked bluntly as Mario rolled his eyes.
"Never mind," Mario said bitterly.
"In the meantime, could you please call off the pumpkining?" Twilight asked with a pleading smile.
"We won't be able to help you if you keep shooting pumpkins at them," Mario added.
"Oh, alright," said Ma Hooffield hastily, "but on one condition."
"What might that be?" Twilight asked.
"We gotta see if your stallion's got what is takes to handle himself against those darned McColts," said Ma Hooffield as three large stallions stood behind her, "Show these guys a thing or two and we'll let you...reason with them." Twilight and Fluttershy looked worried.
"Fine," said Mario, "I could let off some steam." Mario got into position for a turn battle and started to glow his horn when the elderly mare got into his face.
"Hold it, sonny! I know yer type," Ma Hooffield warned, "None of this hoppin' n skippin' nonsense. You fight hoof to hoof and nothing else." Mario blinked but then smirked.
"Fine," said Mario confidently as he looked at Twilight and Fluttershy, "I even have a new battle cry for the occasion." Mario made his horn glow to start a different type of turn battle.
"Showtime!" Mario called out in a very deep and threatening voice.
(Cue "Bowser style turn battle" theme)
Twilight and Fluttershy just shared worried but curious looks with each other as they stood toward the left side of the background while Ma Hooffield was near the right side. The three Hooffield stallions glared menacingly as Mario walked up to one. He then stood on his hind legs and reeled his right fore-hoof back. His fore-hoof then glowed, making Mario grit his teeth, and then...
POW!
Twilight and Fluttershy winced as Mario delivered a fully charged right hook to the stallion, which instantly knocked him out of the battle. Mario returned to position and stood in his hind legs for defense. The first stallion then charged at Mario, hopping to ram the alicorn. Mario simply punched him in the face, knocking him back a bit while doing counter-damage. The second stallion walked up to Mario and tried to copy his attack by reeling back his right fore-hoof. Mario then gave a quick punch and the stallion was knocked onto his back and back into his side of the battlefield. Mario then repeated his attack, reeling back for another fully charged right hook. The other stallion tried to copy Mario's counter, but Mario used his left fore-hoof to block. Before the stallion tried twice to counter-attack, but was blocked. Before the stallion could try a third time...
POW!
Mario knocked him out and returned to position. Now the third stallion was quivering nervously and Ma Hooffield was most annoyed.
"Don't be chicken and attack!" she scolded. The stallion then clucked like a chicken.
"Get yer flank in there and fight!" she yelled angrily. The stallion gulped and tried to charge Mario, but a simple quick punch was enough to knock him out.
(Battle Victory!)
Twilight and Fluttershy cheered as Mario took a bow. Ma Hooffield snorted.
"Eh...I've seen better, but fine, you proved yerself, now go on!" she conceded irritably.
"Thanks," said Twilight, "C'mon, Fluttershy. C'mon honey." Together, the three ponies took to the sky. It didn't take them long before they arrived just outside the wooden fortress. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Mario looked up and saw a grape colored stallion with a pale blue mane.
"State your business!" the stallion named Steel Bolts said sternly.
"Don't even bother," said a mare with the same coat with a lighter mane and a purple polka dot handkerchief on her head. Her name was Rosy Riveter, "They're probably spies for the Hooffields." Steel Bolts then looked at the three ponies and gasped.
"Hey, wait!" said Steel Bolts, "Two of them ponies are Alicorns! I thought just three princesses are Alicorns. I never heard of a stallion being one!"
"There are four Alicorn princess in Equestria and now one Alicorn prince," Twilight replied, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and this is my husband, Mario Star, the Prince of Friendship."
"And I'm Fluttershy," said the yellow Pegasus with a cute smile.
"We have a new princess and prince?" said Steel Bolts, "When did that happen? A-A-And how did the Hooffields come by a princess and prince spies?"
"We're are not spies!" Twilight shouted and turned to speak to Mario and Fluttershy, "Why does everypony assume we're spies?"
"I know right," Mario replied, "We look nothing like any Hooffield relatives." The three ponies were then interrupted when they heard some rustling from the gate. The gate then opened and there before the group was a very small pale blue stallion with a dark blue beard and a tall hillbilly style hat on his head.
"Because we don't get alot of visitors," said the stallion, "I'm Big Daddy McColt. You caught us at a weird time. We're in the middle of a giant feud with our...Terrible neighbors!" Big Daddy McColt shouted at the end of his sentence toward the opposite mountain peak. This made the trees rustle, some bird flew away, and a nearby house collapsed.
"Wow..." Mario remarked at the fact the house fell apart by just shouting alone.
"Well, actually, that's why we're here," said Twilight as she and Fluttershy gave the pale blue stallion some warm smiles, "to solve your problem with the Hooffields."
"So you're here to help us get rid of 'em," Big Daddy McColt replied and the rest of the McColts cheered and tossed confetti into the air.
"No! That's not what I meant at all!" Twilight remarked. Big Daddy McColt glared.
"Well, if you ain't fer us, you're agin' us," said Big Daddy McColt, giving the three ponies a death glare. Twilight and Fluttershy looked uneasy until Mario stood in front of them.
"Hey, don't you threaten my wife and sister!" Mario warned and the two stallions stared each other down.
"Easy honey," said Twilight as she pushed her husband back to speak to the pale blue stallion, "We're not on anypony's side. We're here to help you become friends again!" The other McColts gave the group unamused glares.
"Well, that's gon' be hard," said Big Daddy McColt, "I don't believe we've ever been best friends with the Hooffields!"
"But you could be!" Twilight protested, "They're just really upset you ruined their farmhouse."
"Wait a hog-wogglin' minute!" Big Daddy McColt snapped angrily, "We only did that because the Hooffields pulled the pin out of our wagon wheel!" He then pointed toward a wagon that was filled with various goods and the wheel came off of it and the wagon was on the verge of falling apart." Mario looked most annoyed.
"That's all?" Mario remarked, not seeing the big deal.
"A whole week's worth of food rollin' down the mountain," Big Daddy McColt snapped, "Us McColts are mighty find builders, but we don't know the first thing about farmin'."
"At least you're not making any sad attempts at it," Mario muttered to himself as he remembered how easily the Hooffield building had collapsed. The other McColts just nodded in agreement to their head of the family.
"We have to travel a ways away to buy our food," Big Daddy McColt continued, "Now, we'll be stuck eatin' the pumpkins the Hooffields launched at us. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin quesadillas, pumpkin paella, pumpkin cheese, pumpkin pie, pumpkin frittatas...Actually, that all sounds pretty good. But it'll get old!" Twilight, Mario, and Fluttershy listened and exchanged looks with each other. Big Daddy McColt then yelled in their faces as he finished speaking. Twilight then opened her book and searched through it. Fluttershy looked around the area when she saw something and tapped Mario to get his attention.
"What's up?" he asked in a hushed tone. Fluttershy pointed to a pony who had put a mashed up pumpkin into a barrel. Then another pony put it into a sack and dumped the sack onto a table where another pony was making what looked like pumpkin soup. A squirrel was walking by when a crumb of pumpkin landed on the floor. The squirrel licked its lips and went to collect it when another pony swept the crumb away. Fluttershy then brought it back to squirrel and gave it a warm smile. Mario smiled as well as he presented several more crumbs for it to have.
"Have you tried meeting at a neutral location, talking about your problems, and really listening to each other?" Twilight asked.
"What? No!" Big Daddy McColt retorted and pointed to the edge of the fortress wall, "They'd sooner launch their dinners at us than listen to us."
"Well, they'll listen to me," said Twilight, "I'm an impartial third party. Right honey?"
"Sorry, I wasn't listening, did you say something?" Mario teased, earning him a raspberry from his wife before she flew off to and hovered about halfway between the mountain peaks. She then used a spell to amplify her voice.
"Attention, Hooffields and McColts!" said Twilight a she got the Hooffield's attention and Fluttershy and Mario stood beside Big Daddy McColt, "I'm not on anypony's side, but I can see you're wasting time and resources on being mean to each other. Ponies are supposed to help each other be kind. So let's stop this senseless fighting!" Twilight then hovered back to the McColt fortress and landed.
"There, that should do it," said Twilight confidently, "Ready to go home, Fluttershy and Mario?"
"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself, dear?" Mario asked skeptically.
"I'd love to," Fluttershy answered, "But if we solved the problem already, shouldn't our cutie marks be glowing again?"
"Oh, yeah," said Twilight before adding cockily, "They should be glowing any minute now..."
"Don't bet on it," said Mario bluntly as Twilight glared at him. Suddenly, Twilight's flank got splattered with a tomato.
"Huh?" said Mario as he looked up and gasped dramatically when he gasped. He and Twilight gasped when they saw a huge barrage of tomatoes coming at them.
"Or not," Twilight said worried.
"INCOMING!" Mario screamed as he, Twilight, Fluttershy ran for cover as the tomatoes came raining down, splattering everywhere. The rest of the McColts also tried to take cover. Twilight and Fluttershy quickly found shelter and were covered in splattered tomatoes. Twilight wasted no time shaking the tomato off her coat.
"So much for potential friendship solution number twenty-eight," said Twilight as she tore out the page from her book and looked rather glum.
"I guess we should find out why the Hooffields are launching tomatoes now," said Fluttershy. It was then she noticed somepony was missing.
"Um...Twilight," said Fluttershy as she looked around, "where's Mario?" Twilight perked up and noticed that her husband was missing.
"Hey! Where is he?" Twilight asked as she looked around. It was then Steel Bolts appeared dragging Mario by the tail as the alicorn was on his back looking rather dazed. Mario was covered in splattered tomato from head to hoof.
"Excuse me, Princess," said Steel Hoof, "but I'm 'fraid the Prince has taken heavy damage from the Hooffield's tomato attack."
"Mario? Sweetheart?" Twilight called as she helped her husband sit up and could tell he was still looking dazed.
"Hi Mommy," said Mario in a woozy tone, "Can I have some french fries with my ketchup? Onion rings maybe?! Brrbrrbrrbrrbrrbrr" Mario then shook his head free of splattered tomato and recovered.
"Ugh...and to think I call myself a fan of ketchup," Mario groaned as he shook the rest of the tomato off his body, "are you two alright?" Twilight and Fluttershy nodded.
"We need to see why the Hooffields are throwing tomatoes now," said Fluttershy as Mario narrowed his eyes.
"I kinda like to know myself," he remarked, feeling most annoyed.
Back on the Hooffields' side of the mountain, ponies were using giant slingshots to launch tomatoes. One pony then tried to load up a slingshot with multiple tomatoes at once.
"One at a time, Greenhoof," Ma Hooffield instructed, "If you smoosh them tomaters in the slingshot, they won't break on the McColts."
"What are you doing? I asked you to stop fighting!" Twilight said as she, Mario, and Fluttershy behind the elderly mare.
"Oh, is that what you were hollerin' about?" Ma Hooffield replied in a not so innocent tone as she held a tomato with her fore-hoof, "We thought the McColts rubbed you ya the wrong way. So we tomatered for ya. My mistake." The devious smirk on her face clearly said their action was no mistake. Mario glared.
"Do you serious think we're that dumb?" Mario remarked. Ma Hooffield glared back for a moment.
"Stop the tomater slingshots!" she called out to the other Hooffields.
"Now that's better," said Mario but then winced, "uh-oh..."
"What's up honey?" Twilight asked as she and Fluttershy gave him worried.
"We've ceased fire with the Hooffields," said Mario, "But...did anypony tell the McColts to do the same?" Before either pony could reply, they looked up and a huge cluster of hay bales came flying at them.
"IN-" Mario didn't even finish as a hay bale smashed onto him, then another Hooffield, and one crashed onto both Twilight and Fluttershy.
"Reload the tomater slingshots!" Ma Hooffield called out, "We're gonna paint their mountain top red!" Meanwhile, Mario, Twilight and Mario popped out of the piles of hay.
"Bleh!" said Fluttershy as she spat some dry hay out of her mouth.
"Well, that didn't work," said Twilight as she grabbed her book, "I was so sure it would." She then noticed that Mario was bopping the side of his head.
"What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked.
"I think some hay got inside my ear and I can't get it out!" Mario complained. Twilight smiled as she leaned into his ear and gently blew into it, making the hay float out of his ear. Mario sighed contently.
"That's much better, thanks," said Mario as Twilight smiled in reply. Fluttershy then noticed a lonely turtle was slowly moving about the area and was at risk of getting clobbered with a flying hay bale. One hay bale just missed it and then some Hooffields ran past the turtle making it hide inside its shell and also flipped the turtle over so it couldn't move. Fluttershy gasped as she quickly picked up the turtle.
"It was a good plan," said Fluttershy as she put the turtle by some nearby bushes, "We need to think of another one. And soon. This fight is really affecting the animals around here." Fluttershy then tucked the turtle under the bush.
"I've noticed," said Mario, "that's the third time an animal has nearly been hurt or neglected because these two families are too busy fighting each other."
"Not to worry," said Twilight and continued flipping through the pages of the book, "I'll just, uh...find the root of the problem and work from there." Just as Twilight closed her book, a hay bale smashed another house into smithereens.
"Oh boy," Mario groaned, "Well let's get to it!" The three ponies approached Ma Hooffield as she launched another tomato at the McColt fortress.
"Pardon, us, Ma," said Twilight as elderly pony glared discreetly at them, "but do you remember what started this whole feud in the first place?"
"They know what they did!" Ma Hooffield snapped.
"They know what they did!" said Big Daddy McColt said as well when the three ponies returned to the fortress. Twilight and Mario were most annoyed.
"I'm starting the think neither of you know what either of you have done," said Twilight.
"Sure, we do," Bid Daddy McColt retorted angrily, "Them Hooffields did us a grave injustice some time ago for some reason!"
"Hear, hear!" the other McColts retorted.
"Oh brother," said Mario discreetly with an eye roll.
"Okay, backup plan to the backup plan," said Twilight, "Maybe we can find some common ground that you can bond over. What do you do when you're not fighting?"
"That's easy," Big Daddy McColt replied, "Gettin' ready to fight." Mario just face-hoofed himself.
Back at the Hooffields, Fluttershy was speaking to Ma Hooffield.
"What do you hope to get out of fighting?" Fluttershy asked as Mario stood next to her.
"The satisfaction of winnin'!" Ma Hooffield replied as she loaded more tomatoes into some large slingshots. Mario just gave the elderly mare a funny look and the group returned to the McColt fortress.
"Of winning what?" Twilight asked the light blue stallion as he was busy hammering the walls of the fortress.
"The fight, of course!" said Big Daddy McColt, "To prove our family is the best!" Mario rolled his eyes and they headed back to Hooffield farm.
"The best at what?" Fluttershy asked Ma Hooffield.
"Winnin'!" Ma Hooffield replied irritably, "Haven't you been listenin'?"
"I was about to ask the same question," Mario muttered to himself.
"So the only thing they have in common is that they both want to win the fight," said Twilight to Fluttershy and Mario, "and neither of them know when it's over. How can I end this feud if I don't know what it's about?" Twilight dropped all her notes and lowers her head in frustration.
"It's not that hard to understand, honey" said Mario, "from what I've heard from both sides. This is no different than a petty fight between two groups of foals at the playground. They both complain that one side hurt the other but can't say what it was the other side did. Instead of making peace, they continue to hurt each other and the fight never ends because neither side wants to admit they were wrong."
"You can't seriously compare this feud to a bunch of kindergarten foals," said Twilight.
"Look at the evidence we've gathered," said Mario, "Neither side will make peace because the one side keeps trying to hurt the other. This is the fight that never ends..."
"Don't you dare start singing that song!" Twilight threatened. Mario blinked.
"I wasn't trying to," said Mario and cringed, "But thanks for bring it up! Ugh, now that song is stuck in my head!" Mario groaned as Twilight just rolled her eyes.
"Ooh! Maybe somepony just needs to say they're sorry," Fluttershy suggested. Twilight and Mario's eyes both popped out for a second.
"That...would work..." said Mario with a hopeful smile on his face. '
"That's a good idea," said Twilight as she held her book again, "And friendship solution number forty-eight. But we can move it up." Mario just rolled his eyes.
It wasn't long before Ma Hooffield was pulling a rather large carrot cake behind her. Twilight, Mario, and Fluttershy were walking along side of it.
"I'm so glad you agreed to do this," said Twilight as she held her notes and book, "This apology cake will go a long way to making amends between you two. Which part of my argument changed your mind? The part where I said the benefits of friendship outweigh the cost of war, or the part where I said forgiveness is an investment in happiness?" Ma Hooffield was most annoyed.
"Yeah, yeah. All of it," said Ma Hooffield hastily. Twilight blinked.
"Wait," Twilight interjected, "Are you even listening to me?"
"Wow, she tuned you out," Mario remarked, "can't imagine how that feels."
SMACK!
Twilight hit Mario on the head with her book, leaving him seeing flying birdies and wobbling forward. Fluttershy covered her mouth to avoid laughing. Even Ma Hooffield chuckled. Mario had barely recovered when the group reached the front of McColt fortress.
"Who goes there?!" Steel Bolts called out.
"It's Ma Hooffield," said the elderly mare.
"Hooffield alert!" Steel Bolts shouted, "Arm the cannons!" Two McColts appeared and aim their cannons at the group. Ma Hooffield just smirked.
"With an apology cake!" Ma Hooffield added smugly. The three McColts looked cake, which sparkled before them.
"Did you say "cake"?" said Steel Bolts as he and his two relatives felt their mouths water, "as in..." He then licked his lips since he had started drooling, "...cake?"
"Consider it a gesture of goodwill from us to you," said Ma Hooffield. The three guards just had their mouth watering.
"I haven't had cake in ages," said Rosy Riveter.
"Open the gates!" Steel Bolts shouted. Once the gate had opened, Twilight then used her magic to put the cake inside the fortress as the other McColts hungrily gathered around it.
"It's actually working," said Mario, clearly impressed.
"Think of this as more than just a cake," said Twilight, "it's the first step in the long road to forgiveness."
"Nothing says "let's be friends" like a cake that say, "let's be friends"," said Fluttershy before saying to Twilight and Mario in a hushed tone, "I wrote that in icing on the top."
"Nice," said Mario.
Suddenly, the moment was ruined when three Hooffield's popped out of the cake and started chuckling blobs of cake at them.
"What the?!" Mario exclaimed in shock as the McColts ran away.
"For glory!" the three Hooffield's shouted as they jumped off the cake, "Whoa!" But as soon as their hooves touched the ground, they were captured inside of a net. In the background, Big Daddy McColt glared at them, showing that he had been the one who set the trap.
"McColts! Assume Delta Force formation!" Big Daddy McColt shouted as they family created the outline of a triangle.
"Yah!" they shouted as they charged at Ma Hooffield, who ran for her life as the McColts chased her out of the fortress. However, Ma Hooffield was ready for them. Once she passed a particular point at the bottom of the mountain. The rest of the Hooffields were armed with watermelons, cupcakes, and other food items.
"Ready...aim...fire!" Ma Hooffield shouted as the rest of her family opened fire. The McColts stopped charging and used some wooden doors to shield themselves, except for one stallion who stupidly looked around and got hit. Ma Hooffield then gestured for the rest of the family to charge at them. Twilight and Mario both landed before the elderly mare. They were both furious.
"Ha Hooffield, you planted ponies in that cake?!" Twilight snapped.
"Yeah!" Ma Hooffield laughed and then blinked, "Wait. We're you serious about apologizing'?"
"Of course, but then you used my wife's gesture of peace and friendship for...infiltration!?" Mario added before saying sadly, "I thought you wanted to stop the fighting!"
"Oh git over yerself!" Ma Hooffield yelled and tossed Mario aside.
"Wah!" Mario yelped as he was tossed away.
"Why in Equestria would we do that?" Ma Hooffield snapped as she got into Twilight's face and then tossed her aside.
"Oomph!" Mario groaned as Twilight landed on his back.
"We didn't do anythin' wrong!" Ma Hooffield shouted as she shook her fist at the McColts.
"What're talkin' about?!" Big Daddy McColt retorted angrily as he blocked some carrots from hitting him, "You done so many things wrong!"
"Not as many as you!" Ma Hooffield shouted as she rush up to his face. The two ponies growled at each other before as dust cloud kicked up and they began to tussle with each other. The rest of the Hooffield's and McColts joined the fray and started getting physical with each other. Mario, Twilight, and Fluttershy watched the ruckus unfold before them.
"I think this family feud has now been upgraded to a civil war," Mario said sadly. Both families wasted no time going all out with each other. Two stallions went hoof to hoof with each other. Two mares were wrestling with each other as the Hooffield mare pinned the McColt mare to the ground. One small Hooffield stallion was trying to punch a far longer and bigger McColt stallion, which the bigger pony easily shoved the smaller one away with a bored look on his face. Then a squirrel was trying to move across what had become a battlefield of running ponies and falling fruit. Fluttershy wasted no time swooping in and saving the squirrel. The yellow Pegasus then walked up to two mares who were yelling incoherently at each other.
"Um, if you could just not yell so much or maybe stop staying words altogether..." Fluttershy asked, but the two mares then kicked up a dust cloud as they started physically fighting each other. Mario landed beside Fluttershy, his temper reaching it's limit.
"Will you knock it off!" Mario shouted angrily, "We're trying to tell you something!" The two mares stopped fighting each other and then charged Mario and Fluttershy! Mario growled and made his horn glow.
"Let's a go!" said Mario.
"I'm ready!" said Fluttershy.
(cue "turn battle" theme)
Fluttershy was a bit frazzled at being put into the turn battle.
"Mario! Is this really necessary?" Fluttershy asked. Mario gave her a stern look.
"Do you wanna see them risk hurting another animal?" Mario asked. Fluttershy's narrowed her eyes at the two still snarling Hooffield and McColt mares.
"It is necessary!" said Fluttershy, "Go Mario!" Mario nodded as he went for a classic double stomp attack on the Hooffield mare. Fluttershy then went for her own double stomp attack on the McColt mare. The two mares growled and charged both Mario and Fluttershy at the same time, but the Alicorn and Pegasus were ready as they leaped into the air and landed on both of their backs, knocking them both out simultaneously.
(Battle Victory)
Once the battle was over, the two mares looked drained. Then they noticed each other, suddenly recovered instantly, and went back to attacking each other, getting Mario and Fluttershy caught in the dust could.
"Oh for crying out loud!" said Mario as he and Fluttershy crawled under the cloud unharmed.
"Hold up!" Mario called out as he raised a fore-hoof to make Fluttershy stop moving as three carrots punctured the ground in front of them.
"Wah! Twilight?" Fluttershy called out.
"Where are you going?" Mario added with concern when he noticed his wife as just walking away looking very defeated. Mario and Fluttershy wasted no time chasing after Twilight. The purple alicorn just sat down with her book near some destroyed fruits and vegetables. She began to rip page after page from her book and then put it down as she sighed sadly to herself.
"Um, Twilight," said Fluttershy timidly as she and Mario walked up to the purple alicorn, "We should probably get back there. I mean, if you need a break, that's fine, but Mario and I really can't do this without you."
"She's right," said Mario, "We even got a Hooffield and a McColt to team up...in attacking us! We had no problem tiring them out, but as soon as they saw one another, they started fighting again!"
"I don't know if we can do this at all," said Twilight sadly, "Even if I make things right, they're just gonna fight again."
"We've gotta do something," said Mario, "but the problem is that neither side is willing to make peace! They'll stop at nothing to defeat each other. And I'm afraid that if they keep this up, they'll just destroy one another."
"Oh no!" Fluttershy said sadly. It was then there was some chittering nearby. Fluttershy and Mario headed toward a nearby bush and lifted it to see the critters hiding underneath it.
"Hey, little fellas," said Fluttershy gently, "Oh, that's okay, you can come out."
"We'll keep you safe," said Mario. The critters wasted no time gathering as Fluttershy as she took a seat on the grass. Several more animals also gathered around her. Mario couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Being good with animals was Fluttershy's specialty. Fluttershy then gave a nearby goose a gentle nuzzle when the three ponies heard a loud groan.
"What was that?" Twilight asked.
"I think it was this little critter," said Mario as Fluttershy looked to see that the squirrel's stomach was rumbling. In fact, several of the animals and critters had rumbling stomachs as well.
"Oh, you poor things!" said Fluttershy, "There isn't enough food here for you!" The animals all looked at her sadly and some of them were also shivering.
"Oh, brr, and you're all freezing!" said Fluttershy as they snuggled against her. She opened her wings and hugged them all, "I'm gonna take you all home with me and my husband and I will get you all hot cocoas. How do you feel about book clubs?"
"As sweet as that sounds, Flutters," said Mario, "these animals shouldn't have to leave their home. If they can even call this place home..." He and Twilight both looked around the devastated lands.
"I don't get it," said Twilight, "This was supposed to be the most beautiful valley in all of Equestria. What happened?"
"I'll tell you what happened," said Mario as he sternly pointed a fore-hoof at the nearby fighting, "they happened!" It was then a squirrel walked up to Fluttershy and started speaking to her in its dialect.
"What's that?" said Fluttershy as the squirrel said it's piece, "Oh! Uh-huh...Twilight! They know what happened here!"
"What?" said Twilight in shock.
"And it appears Mario was right on track!" Fluttershy added as Mario narrowed his eyes in determination.
Meanwhile, the Hooffields and McColts were still going at it when Twilight and Mario hovered above them. The former winced at their behavior as the later stared at the ponies below sternly.
"Stop! You have to listen to me!" Twilight shouted but only got a cupcake to her cheek as a reply. Mario helped wiped the frosting off before Twilight made her horn glow.
"Everypony freeze!" Twilight shouted, her voice echoing into the distance as a large magical wave froze every member of the Hofffield's and the McColts. Some were stuck in the middle of wrestling with each other while others were frozen in mid-air, which included some of the food being tossed about. Twilight then landed and looked like she was in pain.
"Twilight, are you alright?" Mario asked with concern.
"Honey! Help me!" Twilight called out. Mario made his own horn glow to try and give his wife some relief.
"Momma mia...no wonder you're straining so much," said Mario painfully.
"Fluttershy! You have to tell them!" Twilight called out in a strained tone, "It's alot harder to freeze an army of ponies than just six of them!"
"I'm sorry my help isn't enough to relieve the strain!" Mario grunted sadly. Fluttershy just nervously came out of a nearby bush with the animals around her and a squirrel riding on her back. She quickly took to the sky.
"Before you keep fighting," said Fluttershy in a tone much loud enough for everypony to hear, "there is something you should know! Long ago, there were two best friends..."
Flashback with country music in the background
A scene showed two friends as they entered the smokey mountains.
"Grub Hooffield and Piles McColt," Fluttershy narrated, "When they found the valley between the Smokey Mountains, they knew it was something special. So they made a promise to each other to protect and preserve the valley for all its adorable furry inhabitants. But they disagreed on how to go about it. Grub wanted to start by planting crops so that everypony would have something to eat. But Piles thought it would be better to start by building a shelter to protect them against the cold and wind." Grub was shown holding various seeds while Piles was looking at a blueprint.
"The two ponies were unable to come to an understanding," Fluttershy continued, "so Piles went ahead and built a shelter anyway, exactly where Grub was gonna start his farm! Grub was so upset, so he tore down Piles' shelter so he could plant his crops!" The flashback showed Piles putting the boards for the shelter in the middle of Grub's farmland. Then Grub smashed the building Piles made when he was checking his blueprint.
"They kept fighting back and forth," said Fluttershy as the two ponies shouted each other and threw their hats in the middle creek, "until it turned into a feud!" As time passed, Grub was trying to farm but his equipment kept falling apart. Piles kept having similar issues with his own equipment. The fact Grub was smirking showed that the equipment issue was no accident, especially when Piles made a tree trunk fall on top of Grub's crops...on purpose. The two continued to sabotage each other. As a result, the surrounding area began to show signs of being damaged and soon the land became the wasteland it was today.
End Flashback
"Even then, the valley and all the animals in it continued to be caught in the crossfire," Fluttershy continued, "You see? By fighting, you're destroying the very thing that brought you here in the first place! So it's time you both put your differences aside and come together! If not for yourselves, then for the sake of these cute and cuddly guys!" Fluttershy hugged the animals that had gathered around her when she landed. Every Hooffield and McColt shared some sad looks with each other. Twilight and Mario were still straining to keep the two families from fighting and moving. Ironically, Ma Hooffield and Big Daddy McColt were frozen holding each other.
"Aw, shucks," said Big Daddy McColt, "we never meant to hurt you little critters."
"Yeah, we're sorry!" Ma Hooffield added. A squirrel then spoke to Fluttershy in his own language. Fluttershy smiled.
"They say they accept your apology," said Fluttershy. There was a brief silence since the two families still couldn't move.
"Uh, princess? Prince?" said Big Daddy McColt, "You can unfreeze us now." Twilight and Mario were still straining before they blinked and looked at each other.
"Oh, right!" said Twilight sheepishly.
"My bad," said Mario in the same tone as the two alicorns released their magic grip on everypony, allowing them to move again and making those stuck in mid-air to plop to the ground. Once the two family heads were able to move, they nervously pulled apart from each other.
"Ma Hooffield?" said Big Daddy McColt slowly, "We promise we won't fight you no more."
"Us, too, except we promise not to fight you," Ma Hooffield replied, "I suppose it don't matter who's right. We're both wrong."
"That's one thing we can agree on," said Big Daddy McColt. Then the two family heads spat on a fore-hoof and connected them together. The critters cheered happily and Twilight then teleported between them.
"This is wonderful!" said Twilight happily as Mario teleported beside her, "I'm so proud of you two!"
"Aw, thanks, princess," said Ma Hooffield before adding smugly, "Though I would just like to point out that I was the, uh, first to admit I was wrong."
"That may be," said Big Daddy McColt, "but I promised not to fight first. That counts for more."
"Here we go again," Mario groaned and face-hoofed himself.
"Oh yeah?!" Ma Hooffield retorted as she and Big Daddy McColt stared each other down. The animals then gathered around them and started chittering at them, getting their attention. Twilight and Mario walked over to Fluttershy, who was already glaring at the two ponies. The alicorn couple also gave the two family heads disapproving looks.
"Oh, all right," Ma Hooffield conceded, "We don't have to speak animal to know what y'all are sayin'. Truce?"
"Truce," said Big Daddy McColt in agreement. Twilight, Mario, and Fluttershy smiled at each other.
It wasn't long before the Hooffield and the McColts were working together to clean up their mess and were busy settling up shelters as well as planting some new crops for the animals. They even made a fountain with topiaries of Grub Hooffield and Piles McColt.
"Woo-hoo!" said Big Daddy McColt excitedly as Twilight, Mario, and Fluttershy stood nearby, "Ain't that a pretty sight?"
"Sure is!" said Ma Hooffield, "The McColts are gonna help us rebuild our homes! Good ones this time."
"And the Hooffields are gonna help us grow some crops!" added Bid Daddy McColt.
"Not Pumpkins, " Steel Bolts said discreetly before zipping off. Mario just rolled his eyes at him.
"Thanks for teachin' us that friendship is so much better than winnin' a silly argument," said Ma Hooffield before she wrapped a fore-hoof around Big Daddy McColt's fore-leg and they walked off. It was then a bright light appeared in the sky. And three Flower Sprites floated down above Twilight, Mario, and Fluttershy's heads. The three ponies smiled before jumping up and collecting them.
(Cue "You got a Flower Sprite" fanfare)
A flower Sprite floated down next to each pony as they stood on their hind legs. Each pony grabbed it, twirled once, and then held the Flower Sprite above them.
"Waa-haa!" the three ponies shouted before the Flower Sprites floated into the air and went into Mario for safe keeping. Twilight then breathed a sigh of relief when the three ponies head a familiar ringing. Fluttershy looked behind herself to see that her cutie mark was glowing.
"Another Mission Accomplished!" said Mario as he looked at his glowing cutie mark and Twilight looked at her own cutie mark.
"Yay!" said Fluttershy, "I told you we'd figure it out."
"We did, and we didn't need my friendship portfolio to do it," said Twilight as she made her book disappear, "We just needed each other." Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged a hug, but then noticed that Mario was on the side lines.
"Hey, get in here!" said Twilight with a chuckle as the two girls sandwiched him the middle.
"We love you ya big dork!" they cooed and making smooching noises before giving him a kiss on each cheek. Mario just rolled his eyes at them before smiling.
"Love you too," said Mario with a smile on his face.
"So what do you think will happen next?" Twilight asked excitedly as she put on her still filled saddle bags on her back, then did the same for Mario and Fluttershy, "We've all been called by the map now."
"Oomph! I'm sure we'll find out when we get home," Fluttershy grunted as she slowly tried to follow behind Twilight.
"What if it summons all six of us to another place?" Twilight said excitedly, "Or another pony we weren't expecting?"
"I'm sure Flutters wouldn't mind if Shenran got summoned," said Mario, "Di or Spike deserve a mission too now that I think about it." Twilight then gasped.
"What if it wants to solve other kinds of problems, like quantum physics," Twilight suggested, "or why the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?" Mario just chuckled to himself, but then he noticed that Fluttershy was still struggling with her heavy saddle bags. Mario then went over to get the saddle bags when Fluttershy snarled at him to back off. Mario took offense.
"You know I'm only trying to help you!" Mario shouted as tears streamed down his cheeks, "Despite all the attitude you give me day after day!" Mario turned away, taking some deep breaths to calm himself down. Twilight turned around when she heard her husband's shouting.
"Mario...honey?" Twilight asked gently.
"Sorry, sorry!" said Mario quickly, "Just...tired from the mission is all. I'm sorry I yelled at you, Flutters." Fluttershy just looked concerned but just gave him a gentle smile.
"It's alright," said Fluttershy, "Maybe...I could use your help with my bags...please?" Mario smiled and put the heavy saddle bags on his back.
"Let's head for home," said Twilight as Mario gave her a quick hug and they walked side by side toward the balloon. Fluttershy just followed a short distance away with a concerned look on her face.
You're hiding something from us, big brother, Fluttershy thought to herself.
And I'm gonna find out what it is...
And that concludes the feud between the Hooffields and the McColts! Hope you all enjoyed the additional turn battles. The turn battle style Mario did was the Bowser turn battles from the most recent Mario & Luigi games.
And let me know in the comments below of you want to see a Tree of Harmony inspired version of Mario's personal ship, The Odyssey. If I gets enough support, I'll make it reality in a future season. Just keep in mind. It won't be until season 8 since the Mane six (or Eight in this story) did have any immediately transportation during the movie, which I can re-confirm will be part of this story once I get to the end of season 7.
And I've noticed that Hasbro has been releasing some shorts for both Best Give Ever and the main series. They might be super short chapters, but I can include them once I get past season 8. If nopony minds multiple intermission chapters between seasons 8 and 9...
Looks like Fluttershy has taken notice that Mario is keeping something to himself. Will she be able to help him?
Next time: Mario helps out a pop star and an old friend of his little sister! Not to mention dealing with a "familiar" agent...
Peace Pony Fans!