//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Sweet Pea // by CartoonNerd12 //------------------------------// The next day, the princesses who passed the first test went into the throne room to meet the queen, only to see a light yellow mare with a dark blue and pink mane with wrapped sweets for a cutie mark talking with her. "Oh, ladies," Queen Love Tap turned to them, "I'm sorry. I had to meet with this young mare. She had just told me that her roof fell and that she needs help replacing it. So I'm sorry, but there will be no test today. I hope you understand how urgent this is." Most of the princesses nodded and gave sympathy to the pony, including the trio and their friends. The others looked annoyed or bothered. "I shall see you tonight at dinner. You may go." The latter went out and once they were, Scootaloo said, "How lucky is that? No test!" They heard giggling and turned to see the terrible two as Dinky had called them. "Oh please, don't tell me you were that dense." Diamond Tiara smirked. "What are you getting at?" Apple Bloom scowled. "That was the test!" Silver Spoon motioned. "Huh?!" all six of them said. "It was so obvious!" pointed Diamond, "She set us up to see who would be sympathetic enough to the pony who had her roof fall in. Of course, that was all a lie." "You don't know that! It could have been real!" Sweetie declared. "Whatever," Diamond scoffed, "we don't expect adopted princesses to have the same level of education to us real princesses…" then she and her cousin did their signature bumps. "Bump-bump-sugar lump-rump!" They left, giggling mean-spiritedly as they went away. As they scowled back at them, Twist said, "I really do not like them…" They stared at her in surprise. Never had they heard the princess use such a negative comment. "But do you think they were right? That was the test?" Sweetie looked back to the throne room. "You can't trust anything they say." Babs pointed out. "She's right." agreed Scoots. "So what do we do now?" Apple Bloom asked. "Oh! We could go to the kitchens!" Twist offered. "The kitchens?" questioned Dinky. "Trust me." Twist led them. Moments later, they were in the gleaming and busy kitchen. Twist went up to a grey colt. "Girls, this is Truffle." "Hi!" all five of them greeted him. "Hello…" Truffle shyly backed away. "He doesn't say much, but he's fun to be around." Twist explained. "Aw…" Truffle blushed. "So a couple of nights ago, I made a special treat for him that I want to make for all of you, too." "It's really good," said Truffle, "She makes the best peppermint shakes there are!" "Peppermint shakes?" AB questioned. "It's my special talent. I discovered it one day when I went down in the kitchens of my own castle. I started stirring two peppermint sticks and made peppermint shakes. Everybody tried it and really liked it." "If they're that good, I guess we could try them, too." said Sweetie. "Great! I just need to find the proper ingredients again." In no time, she found what she was looking for and made seven shakes. They all sat around a table in the kitchen and started slurping the shakes. "Mmmm!" the five princesses smacked their lips. "Wow! That is good!" complimented Apple Bloom. "It sure is!" Scootaloo notioned. "Gotta admit, it's one of the best things I ever got to taste!" said Babs. "It's delicious!" Dinky said. "It's very minty!" Sweetie pointed. "I'm so glad you like it." Twist smiled. "That was my reaction when I first tasted it." Truffle said and then looked over to Twist, "It was the sweetest, most delectable thing…" He ended up staring at her, but she was too busy drinking to notice. The others saw and were smirking. "…I ever saw…" That got her attention, "Saw?" "Tasted! I mean tasted!" he quickly corrected himself while the girls were trying to hold back their laughter. "Well, I have to get back on duty soon and make Prince Button's lunch." "You're serving Button?!" Sweetie's eyes widened. "Um, yeah?" Sweetie went into thought and asked, "Can I request a favor…?" Button was trying to read, but found it hard to do so. He was worried for Sweetie Belle and how she was doing on the test. He was in his room with his back turned to the door. Then he heard a knock, knowing it was Truffle with his lunch tray. "Just leave it by the door, Truffle. I'll get to it eventually." "The food could get cold by then." a strange deep voice said. "Truffle, do you have a cold?" Button slowly turned his head around. Once he completely turned around, his eyes widened in surprise, "Sweetie Belle?" Sweetie was standing by with the cart and wore a chef's hat, which she took off when Button came closer to her. She was smiling at him. "But the test…?" "Your mom canceled it." "My mother canceled something? Something's up." "Well, we were in the throne room when she was busy meeting somepony who had her roof fall in. She told us that it was urgent and canceled the test." Button pondered on this, "Sure we help our ponies whenever we can, but something like that could have been easily taken care of… She could have still given all of you the test and then make sure to help our subjects." "That's odd…" "I don't know what my mother's planning, but hopefully, it doesn't ruin your chances for winning the contest." "In the meantime, do you want your lunch right now?" "Depends, are you going to stick around?" "Only if you want me to…" she blushed and then pulled up the tray cover, revealing two meals on plates. "I asked Truffle if I could have a second one." "How is it you know Truffle, anyway?" "Twist. She and Truffle met when we all came on this island and they've been talking and hanging out." "Oh…" he blinked. "I guess what I'm asking is…would you like to eat together?" He beamed, "Of course!" They sat across from each other eating for a bit while Sweetie looked around the room. Button noticed this and explained. "Yeah, this is the room I grew up in. I still got my old toy box, books I don't read anymore, and suits that don't fit me since I grew out of them." "What's that?" she pointed to a beanie at the edge of his bedpost. He gave a small smile and grabbed for it, showing her, "My beanie. I wore this all the time as a kid. I would still wear it except my head's too big now to keep it on." "I would like to see." He put it on and it stood for a second before it popped right off. "Aw…" she consulted. "You know, I wonder if it'll stick to you." he offered the beanie. "Me?" she took it and put it on. He did a small chuckle when he saw how it looked on her. "Is it that funny?" she questioned. "A little, but you're also, well…" "What?" "Cute…" Her cheeks went pink. You should be used to this by now… For Pete's sake, you just kissed the guy two nights ago! Come to think of it, does he ever think of that night…? How we had that small but sweet kiss… We said nothing after that, obviously not sure what to say to each other without feeling awkward and ruining the moment. I could tell he liked it, but something held him back afterwards…" Button was smiling at her, blushing and ended up staring at her lips. I don't regret kissing her, but I must make sure she's the one I've been dreaming… To know for sure we are meant to be with each other. Luckily, we had a mutual understanding that we wouldn't think twice of it and go back to being friends, though it is hard going back once you crossed the line of kissing… "Button?" "Hm?" "Do you want this back?" she started, handing his beanie back. He thought about it and said, "You know what? You keep it." "Huh? But why?" "It's better on you." "But it's yours." "Now, it's yours…" She blushed again and scolded herself, Stop that! They kept on eating and enjoyed each other's company. Scootaloo was walking around on the second floor till suddenly, she got pulled into a room by something and found her lips touching another pair of lips. She was shocked and was about to push them back until she recognized the taste of the lips and whose they belong to. She slowly closed her eyes, relaxing and relished in the moment. When they broke away, Rumble said, "How's that to jump-start your day?" "It was very good, but what if some pony saw us?" "So what? It's not like we have anything to hide." "I guess you're right…" "You know I am…" they went into another kiss. Babs was thrilled she was allowed access into the castle gym, thanks to Prince Button's permission. She started fencing with a sword until she saw someone holding another sword join her. She looked up to see Featherweight with sword in mouth. Upon seeing the surprised look on her face, he dropped it saying, "Yeah, I know, it's too dangerous to try…" This time, she dropped the sword and said, "What? No, I was just surprised to see any pony was here. I thought I was alone. But as long as you are here, do you want to try fencing?" "Oh…" he was amazed that somebody was actually allowing him to finally sword-fight, "Yeah! Thanks…" "Tell me something: why do you so badly want to sword-fight?" "To prove I'm more than just a joke around here. That I can do important things, too! Button is a prince, Snips and Snails are knights, and Truffle is a chef. Hay, even Pip and Rumble are personal escorts to princesses! As for me, I'm the court jester, the funny guy. I can't be taken seriously." Babs lowered her head, "I, on the other hoof, am taken too seriously where I'm from. I had to learn all my life to be the proper perfect princess. I didn't even know the meaning of fun until I found it in a dictionary!" "Whoa…" "And I don't think I have ever laughed! Not when everything is so serious." Featherweight was appalled, "Never… laugh…?" As serious he wanted to be, he still liked to make ponies laugh. "Nope." she shook her head. He looked over his feathers and pointed out, "We'll just have to fix that…" he plucked off one of his long white feathers and used the tip to begin tickling her sides. A goofy face spread across her face, her lips trembled, and she let out a huge guffaw. The tickle from the feather made her fall down and she kept on laughing. "Okay! Okay! Stop!" she was still giggling when he ceased with the feather tickling. "How's that for laughter?" She smiled, "Thanks… it's just what I needed…" Then, she picked up the sword and tilted her head for him to pick up his own sword. He grinned and had the sword in mouth. She readied herself and they began to fence. After a while, she mumbled through her teeth, "For someone who's never done this before, you're very good…" He mumbled back, "Thanks! I've watched Button do it, so I know all the moves!" They kept on fencing. Apple Bloom was worried. She hadn't seen Pip since the day before. How long does it take to do a status report? She went to his room and knocked while calling out, "Pip? You've been in there since yesterday! Is everything okay in there?" She heard him shout through the door, "Yeah! Everything's great!" "You sure about that? Because you've been in there for an awful long time…" "I promise you, Apple Bloom, that nothing's wrong and that things are looking up." "If everything is going as great as you say it is, then maybe now can we hang out?" "Um…" Inside, Pip looked over to the desk had the clues on. He was almost there; he just had a few more to solve and then he would be done and could go look for the treasure, but he hated blowing Apple Bloom off again. Flim and Flam can wait one more day for this treasure... He slowly unlocked the door and his eyes met with the same golden sun eyes since the first day they met. "So, uh, what do you want to do?" he asked. She beamed. That night, as the princesses were finishing dinner, the queen made her appearance. "Ladies, I apologized again for this morning, but I have a confession to make. There was a test today." There was instant prattle among the royals, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were smirking, feeling proud of figuring out the true test. The trio and the other three princesses were looking at them with surprise. "Yes, I know," the queen continued, "I am sorry for the deception, but I had to be sure that your feelings were true and that you showed compassion towards subjects even if they weren't your own. I'm pleased to report that almost all of you had passed. The ones that didn't pass were…" She listed off the princesses that didn't make the cut. Sweetie Belle made a sigh of relief, knowing she wasn't one of ones that failed, "And now I have an announcement to make. As a break from the next test, we shall have a talent show!" There was excitement around the table. "It will be a way to show what talent and skills you have to offer." Silver Spoon raised her hoof, "Will there be a prize?" "There wasn't going to be, but would you all like there to be one?" A majority shouted, "Yes!" "All right, I shall look into that. In the meantime, you have a day and a half to rehearse your piece for the show and not only will you perform, but also ponies in the kingdom, too. Already, ladies, it's all up to you now and I will see you at the show. Break a leg!" Once she was gone, there was chatter and the six princesses were just as excited. "Can you believe it? A talent show!" AB said. "You know what you guys are going to do?" Scootaloo asked their friends. "I might do some poetry." said Dinky. "I don't know yet." said Twist. "Me neither." Babs blew on her mane, "What about you?" "I might do some skating tricks or dancing. I can't decide." said Scoots. "What about you, Sweetie Belle?" Twist asked. "I think I'll sing, since that's the only talent I got…" "That's not true," Apple Bloom objected, "You write music, too." "Only if I'm inspired enough to compose a piece." "Would be inspired enough if we had a sleepover to decide what acts we're all going to have?" Scootaloo suggested. "A sleepover! Great idea!" Dinky cheered. "But whose room should we have it in?" Babs questioned. "I vote Sweetie's room, cause it's bigger than the rest of the guest rooms." Scootaloo pointed out. Sweetie blushed, "It's true…" "Sweet! We'll meet you there, then." Twist said. The girls nodded in agreement.