This installment is to talk about the conflict between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands (my version of it for this story, since this is a separate universe from what is officially cannon); the set up of the Mushroom Kingdom Monarchy; and of a character referenced in the original form of this story, Innocenza Toadstool-Mario (since I am making Mario's last name Mario in this universe), whom is a central pillar to this story in all of the forms it has been in through all of the revisions it has faced.
So firstly, the conflict. It may be a surprise to you all, but back when they were all toddlers, in daycare together, Bowser and Peach were best friends. Mario was an annoying kid whom they didn't get along with very well, until they learned of the corruption of Peach's mother, Queen Cherry, whom had been conquering nearby kingdoms and sending the Mushroom Kingdom off to war. The three of them were highly intelligent for toddlers, hence why their baby forms for Mario and Peach can drive carts, and rounded up all of Queen Cherry's prisoners of war and slaves and got help from the Dark Lands, whom at that point were led by Bowser's Uncle. Bowser's father was the younger sibling, and was not given the main throne. He had the Volcanic Province throne. He, along with King Morton Koopa, used their own armies to help support the rebellion that Peach, Mario, and Bowser led. This event came to be known as the Revolution of Rebellion.
However, by the time they became teenagers, Mario and Bowser both gained obsessions with Peach as she grew into the beautiful woman she is now. Bowser was much more possessive and obsessive than Mario was, and continuously became heartbroken as Peach calmly turned him down and asked to stay friends. When the three of them turned 18, King Morton Koopa appointed Bowser as his heir to the main throne, since King Morton had no children of his own, and arranged a marriage between Bowser and Clawdia. The clutch of eggs that are known as the koopalings came to be around 3 months after Bowser and Clawdia married, and hatched 5 months after that. However, there were 8 other eggs from that clutch that died. Koopa eggs are quite small compared to full size Koopas. They're about 2x the size of a chicken egg, and they hatch very small. About 13 years after this, the clutch of eggs that Bowser Jr. is from came to be, with Jr. being the only survivor of the clutch of 12 eggs. Ludwig and the other koopalings are all around 18 years old, and Bowser Jr. is about 5. Ludwig hatched about a month and a half earlier than the other koopalings, making him the oldest. Shortly after Clawdia laid the eggs for Jr's clutch, she died from pneumonia. At this point, crazed, obsessed, possessive Bowser began to chase after Peach and began to kidnap her. Mario, her husband, came to rescue her every time. Peach had married Mario about 11 years and nine months previously. Bowser knew this. He was there, and was Mario's best man. But he was driven insane by the death of his wife and the fact he has 8 kids, and began to hunt down the "love of his life" as he sees her. This has led to wars and distrust between the two kingdoms, yet Peach still invites Bowser to play sports with them, race against them, and play board games with them in hopes of her dearest, closest friend returning to normal.
The Mushroom Kingdom is led by Peach, and it is a traditional monarchy. It holds a truce with many surrounding lands, and so they are labelled as "mushroom kingdom territory", but still hold their individuals lines of monarchy. These are the "worlds" Mario travels through to get to the princess in his adventures. The current heir to the Mushroom Kingdom is the one and only child of Peach and Mario, Innocenza Lemon Toadstool-Mario, whom is about a year younger than Ludwig. However, 6 months before the story begins, she mysteriously vanished, and no one knows what happened to her (besides me). Tatiana, despite having green hair, is almost identical to Innocenza, and this leads to one of the major conflicts later on.
So, that's all the background that needs to be known to understand the story. I hope you all enjoy it! Please read and review!
~aeschtunesfan 10:10 pm PST on January 18th, 2016