Parts of the ground and roofs of the houses started to move. Those parts were actually people wearing very realistic camouflage. After they were all on the ground, they took off their disguises. This revealed they looked exactly like Toads and Toadettes. Mario and Toado were both confused.
"I told you hiding like that as opposed to in a normal way made no sense. Even that baby sees it." a Toad lookalikes whispered to a Toadette lookalike.
"Where am I? And what are you Toads doing here?" Mario asked.
The lookalikes then laughed. Mario and Toado were confused again.
"We're not frogs, we're Shorties, this is Shortyarea, an extremely tiny area in the much bigger, more important place Ghoraf." a Toad lookalike corrected.
"Uhhm, ok." said Mario finding this very weird. "I'm gonna go now." he said.
"Hold on!" a boy Shorty shouted just as Mario was going to jump back up through the pipe. "You are convicted of squishing." he said.
"Squishing?" Mario said in confusion."
"If you would step forward, turn around, and look down, you will understand." the Shorty explained.
Mario did what the Shorty asked him to do and what he saw was a flat woman with striped socks.
"When you came down from the pipe you landed on and squished her." the Shorty explained
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Mario apologized.
"No. There's no need to apologize until we make sure she absolutely got squished." the Shorty said.
The Shorty walked over to the flat woman and just stared and her for a few seconds.
"Why aren't you doing anything?" asked Mario.
"Well, none of us Shorties can figure out if she positively got squished because none of us are doctors." the Shorty answered.
Mario looked over at the rest of the Shorties and saw that there were hundreds of them.
"Not a single one of you." Mario said surprised.
"We don't need one. Whenever a disease spreads through the air it passes over us because we're so low to the ground." the Shorty explained.
"Then what do you do when you get injured?" asked Mario.
"Oh yeah, like we'd pay someone to wrap up the part that hurts and then unwrap it once it doesn't hurt anymore." the Shorty explained sarcastically.
"What about when you need surgery or having a baby?" Mario asked.
Mario and Toado looked at all the Shorties and all of them including the girl ones obviously had no idea what Mario was talking about.
"Never mind then." said Mario.
No one said anything for a few seconds.
"So, are you a doctor?" asked the Shorty Mario talked to before.
"Part time." Mario answered.
"Could you please examine the woman who weighs just a little bit less than you yet you somehow turned into a crepe for me?" asked the Shorty as he pointed at the flat woman unintentionally making Mario feel bad.
"Uh-huh" answered Mario with a hint of regret in his voice.
Mario then tested the woman to see what condition she was in.
"I'm sorry to tell you this but, she got 100% squished." Mario stated.
The Shorties were quiet for a couple seconds, but then cheered as they rang bells like crazy.
"Why are you all happy? Mario asked.
"Because, the woman you squished was the Mean Princess of the Right Hand Side" a girl Shorty answered.
"She used to come here from her kingdom far far away just because she preferred being mean to us instead of her loyal, because they were now extremely sensitive to pain and didn't want to get touched, subjects." explained a boy Shorty.
"That's why we were wearing those totally obscure disguises that looked obscurely accurate." another boy Shorty explained.
"Three cheers for the nice doctor who squished the princess!" a girl Shorty shouted.
The Shorties lifted up Mario and did two 'hip hip hoorays', throwing him in the air after each cheer.
"You know what, I'm tired of cheering." a boy Shorty said.
The other Shorties then agreed with him. The Shorties then dropped Mario on the ground.
"Sorry, miss." a boy Shorty apologized.
"Miss? Look, I don't know what things are like here, but I'm a guy." Mario said.
"Then why are you wearing a dress?" asked a boy Shorty.
"I'm not wearing a..." Mario started to say before he looked down and saw that he was wearing a blue dress.
Mario then screamed. He also felt his hair and not only was his hat gone, he also had a girl's hair style. Then he screamed again.
"How long have I been wearing this?" Mario asked.
"We're all assuming, since you got here." answered a girl Shorty.
"Well I'm going back to my world and changing as soon as possible." Mario said as he walked back over to the pipe.
"Wait!" Mario heard a familiar voice shouted.
Mario and Toado looked to where the voice came from and saw a giant pink bubble get closer and closer to them, getting darker with every inch it got closer. Once the bubble got the closest it could get, it popped, and someone who looked exactly like Peach, only with a fancier dress, came out of it.
"You can't leave when you're wearing that dress." the lookalike said. "If you do, all your clothes will turn into it." she explained.
"How do you know this, Peach?" Mario asked.
The lookalike the turned her head to see if anyone was behind her and there wasn't.
"Are you talking to me?" asked the lookalike.
"Yes." Mario answered confused.
Two Shorties, each a different gender, then walked over to Mario.
"She's not a fruit." the boy Shorty said.
"She's the Nice Princess of the Uppermost Point." said the girl Shorty. "By calling her a peach, are you saying she's fat?" she asked.
"No, it's not that, it's just that she looks like someone from my world too." Mario answered. "Man, it's a good thing I didn't call you by Peach's old name, otherwise that would've been much worse." he said.
"Why? What was it?" asked the princess.
Mario then whispered the right answer in the princess's ear.
"Oh, I see." the princess responded.
"So, what was this about all my clothes changing?" asked Mario.
"If you go back up through the pipe, all your clothes will turn into what you're wearing." answered the princess.
"Well, do any of you have any men's clothes I could borrow?" Mario asked as he turned around.
"We do, but none in your side." a boy Shorty answered.
"Then what am I gonna do?" Mario asked as he turned back around.
"You're gonna have to see the magician." the princess answered.
"I don't understand." Mario said. "Is there one putting on a show later or is 'The Magician' the name of a rapper?" he asked.
"Neither. The magician I'm speaking of is in the Green-Yellow Municipality." the princess answered.
"How do I get to the Green-Yellow Municipality?" Mario asked.
"You know what, you ask alot of questions." said the princess just before she got in another bubble and flew away.
"Do any of you know how to get there?" asked Mario.
"No." answered a boy Shorty. "But I know how we can find out." he said just before he went into his house.
The Shorty came back out pushing a robot. He then opened the keyboard on the robot's back and typed in "Green-Yellow Municipality". The robot then went right into the river. This made it short circuit.
"Well, that's a shame. But at least now we know what you have to do to get to the Green-Yellow Municipality." said the Shorty.
"I have to jump into the river?" Mario said in confusion.
"No. You have to follow the Clear Aqua Road." the Shorty corrected.
"Follow the Clear Aqua Road." said a girl Shorty.
"Follow the Clear Aqua Road." a boy Shorty said.
All the Shorties began saying 'Follow the Clear Aqua Road.' simultaneously. Mario picked up Toado in his basket and got in the Clear Aqua Road as the Shorties continued to explain to Mario what he had to do. Mario made it all the way out of Shortyarea, and they were still doing it.
"Guys!" Mario shouted as he turned around.
The Shorties then stopped.
"I get it." continued Mario.
The Shorties then waved good bye as they said things like "Good bye" and "So Long". Mario then turned back around, and him and Toado were soon out of sight.
"Did you ever learn his name?" a boy Shorty asked.
"I hardly knew he was here." another boy Shorty answered.