Chapter Four: Dream Duo
"Argrahhhh! Those pesky plumbers have made it to Subcon!" Wart roared, slamming his fist on the arm of the throne. "I can't believe he discovered the secret of the portal!"
"Don't vorry, mein king!" Mouser tried to calm him, raising his arms in a placating gesture. "Ze plumbers und ze Princess und ze fungus haff been split up. Ve can zend our forces avter both of zee und conquer, und vevill destroy zhem!"
"That pernicious princess could still be a problem, though it is the Mario Brothers I still worry more about." The frog with a crown pondered. "They are still here in Subcon, and could make their way to the palace."
"Zhen perhaps ve should zend out ze General Triclyde against Princess Toadstool und ze fungus? Perhaps take his army of colbrats und Pokeys?" Mouser twirled one of his bombs on his gloved finger. "Zhey vill never make it out of ze desert alive!"
"Very well, and send Fryguys and a battalion of Ninjis after those faucet sure the Marios are completely destroyed." Wart replied with a ribbit. "I didn't go through all the trouble of orchestrating Bowser infatuation with Peach through his dreams, and then the princess's kidnapping by the Koopa forces and the fake Bowser through their dreams, just two heroes ruin my plans!"
...
Princess Toadstool's eyes fluttered open, the heat of the scorching sun overhead bearing down on her. As she returned to consciousness, Peach could feel that heat all around her, sucking the life and moisture out of her body. Her mushroom kingdom gown, worn so often at home that it was like a second skin she rarely felt as ease without, felt like layers of uncomfortable, sweat soaked fabric imprisoning her in this burning humidity. As she looked over to her left, she saw her loyal mushroom retainer coming to, and was immediately concerned for his safety over her own.
"Toad, are you all right?" She asked, as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Nothing broken?"
"Nah, I'm all right, your highness." The mushroom person grinned, walking over to help the princess up. "Wow, that fight with the birdo was intense! I hope the Mario brothers made it out okay!"
"Birdo... the brothers... OH NO!" It all came rushing back to Peach, who leaped to her feet. "MARIO! Where is he?! Did he get away? He could be hurt!"
"Keep your crown on, your highness! Your boyfriend's probably fine!" Toad replied soothingly. "The last I saw, the Bros were escaping from all the bad guys, when we were sucked into the portal!"
"Then there still trapped in Subcon... I hope they will be okay..." The Princess shook her head, ignoring Toad's 'boyfriend' crack about Mario with an eyeroll. "I wonder where we ended up, though?"
The two of them looked around, and saw avast desert stretch out before them. They could see tall pyramids off in the distance, and rocky mesas scattered across the landscape amidst the shifting and blowing sands.
"Huh... endless desert, ancient stone monuments, burning heat..." Toad shielded his eyes from the sun. "From the looks of things, I'd say we were in the Kingdom of Desert Land."
"No... Desert Land only has one great pyramid, while this place has many." The Princess looked around. "I've heard stories of a distant land, on the other side of the world." She brushed a stray strand of red hair from in front of her eyes. "... The Briabuto kingdom..."
It was then, that they heard a loud buzzing sound nearby. Looking overheard, they saw what looked like a cloud approaching them. But as the cloud approached, The princess and Toad saw it was a familiar foe with insect wings.
"Am I seeing things? Are those... shyguys?" Toad asked, as the swarm approached. "Shyguys with wings, and carrying spears?"
"No, I've heard of these monsters." Princess Toadstool muttered, looking skyward with trepidation. "Those are Beezos, minions of Wart... Toad, RUN!"
The two made a run for it, as countless of the masked fliers descended upon them. Thousands of spears reigned down upon the two who ducked and dodged to avoid being hit by the deadly projectiles. Staying safely out of reach, the beezos could attack the princess and the walking fungus without taking a hit. Picking up Toad, Peach tried to glide this way and that across the desert floor, but she was barely able to avoid the deadly shafts that were reigning down upon them.
"This is it!" Toad wailed, as the swarm surrounded them. "We're done for!"
"Hey you two!" A female voice similar to peach's called out. "Look out!"
But as one of the beezos lunged forward for an attack, a large... turnip... seemed to hit the flying fiend in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. A whole volley of vegetables - pumpkins, beets, and even onions, went flying at the winged shyguys. As the surprised beezos were being knocked out of the skies by the dozens. The stunned Peach quickly looked over at her rescuer... but was totally shocked at what she saw.
It wasn't the large, Sphinx-like creatures that their rescuer and her troops rode on- no, those were gaos, and the princess and seen one at a traveling circus that came to the mushroom kingdom once. Nor was it her troops themselves- who were blue-skinned Pionpi knights dressed in Chinese armor. What shocked her was the tall human girl who looked nearly identical to Peach, except for her brunette hair and yellow, flower-themed dress. It was like looking into a mirror; a warped mirror, with differences between the two of them reminded Peach of the differences Mario had with Luigi.
"Whoa, Princess Toadstool." Toad muttered in shock. "I didn't know you had a sister."
The Gaos and joined the knights riding on their backs in attacking the beezos, spitting fireballs at the flying monsters to accompany the knights' thrown vegetables. As she walked up to this strange woman- clearly a princess like herself, judging from her red crown-the two just stared at each other for several minutes.
"H-hello?" Peach asked, waving at her rescuer cautiously. "W-who are you?"
"Greetings, I am Princess Daisy, the ruler of Sarasaland." The strange princess on the Gao's back finally spoke up. "And you, no doubt, are Princess Peach, leader of the mushroom kingdom."
"Yeah, that's me." Peach replied, before looking up in surprise. "Wait, how do you know who I am?"
"Why, I saw the recent hit stage play, Super Mario Bros. 3." Princess Daisy replied matter-of-factly, sliding down from off the back of her Gao mount. "The royal Sarasaland dance troupe performed it at my court."
"Oh, that play." Peach grumbled, rolling her eyes. It was that stupid play an acting troupe had put together to cash in on the Mario brother's newfound celebrity after defeating Bowser (the '3' in the name indicating the bros and Peach-the three protagonists of the play.) It was a cheesy play about the Marios saving the seven kingdoms of the mushroom world from Bowser's Koopalings (his children, though the Koopa King officially denied it.) The play, which had shoddy looking bolted together stages and poor acting, had spread the plumber's fame as heroes to the entire mushroom world. "I can assure you, that play isn't entirely accurate."
"Most adaptations like that never are." Daisy laughed, looking over the smelly, sweat-soaked Peach's wilted gown "Hmmm, not to criticize your wardrobe, but you look uncomfortable in those clothes in this heat."
"If you have anything better, I'd be truly grateful." Peach replied, looked down at her saturated gown. "Perhaps some of your native Sarasaland clothing?"
It wasn't long before the Pinopi knights and Gao mounts had driven the beezos back, and a small royal tent was set up for Peach and Daisy's comfort so they could rest. Toad amused himself talking to the Pinonpi royal guards, while Daisy and Peach changed clothes. The two princesses soon emerged from the tent, dressed in the scanty belly dancing outfits humanoid female Sarasalanders normally wore. Princess Toadstool looked between the two outfits- Peach wearing a pink one and Daisy her usual yellow- and laughed.
"Wow, this is so much more comfortable in this burning heat." Peach shook her head. "I can't understand for the life of me why you showed up wearing that heavy gown like mine- it's horrible in this climate."
"I copied the dress's design off of the one the Princess in the play wore, I suppose it's much more comfortable in the climate where your from." Daisy laughed. "I wore it because I thought you would be offended by our clothing.
"Eh, it's actually pretty comfortable." Peach laughed, adjusting her translucent veil. "Though the thong is a little tight."
"You'll get used to it. Anyway, we should get back to the palace." Princess Daisy replied, climbing back onto her Gao mount. "Here, you can ride with me on my mount, King Totomesu. I am fully aware of your conflict with King Wart, and we have a lot to talk about back at the castle."
Peach only nodded, as she climbed up onto the mount with Daisy. One of the Pionpi knights pulled Toad up onto his gao with him, and the party was soon racing it's way across the hot desert sands. Entirely unaware several vile snakes were watching them from the shadows, waiting to strike like a concealed hydra...