//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 // Story: Sweet Pea // by CartoonNerd12 //------------------------------// Twilight and her sisters were sitting on their thrones, looking over progress reports as Spike was writing them out. Suddenly, he felt a burp coming on and a scroll came out. Twilight took it to read and once she was done, she had a serious expression on her face. "What did it say?" Applejack asked. "Mother needs all of us in Canterlot at once!" They gasped as they got off their thrones and ran to get their husbands. Once they were all gathered, Twilight went to Discord. "Discord, teleport us inside the throne room!" "As you wish!" he snapped and in a flash, they were in the hallway outside of the throne room. "I said inside!" "So my aim's a little off, so sue me." She just rolled her eyes as two guards opened the doors for them. They gradually walked in facing King Sombra and Queen Celestia, who had no expressions on. Twilight spoke for all of them, "We came as quickly as we could… What's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong…" said Sombra, but he had an unsure look. Celestia smiled, "In fact, something wonderful has happened…" She had a scroll appear in front of her, "This came to us by airmail this morning. It said it was urgent, so we were worried at first, but once we read it, it was the most wonderful news we could receive." "Well, what does it say and why did you have to drag us here to see it?!" Discord pointed. "If you would just wait, she will read it!" Rainbow gestured. Celestia nodded as she unfurled the scroll and read out loud, "Dear King Sombra and Queen Celestia of Canterlot, I am pleased to report about your daughters, the princesses who were sent to Marendelle to compete in tests for two weeks to see who was deemed worthy for Prince Button Mash in marriage. It was your daughter, Princess Sweetie Belle, who had passed all the tests. I await your response so that arrangements can be made and when the wedding should be. We hope to meet you soon. Sincerely, the King and Queen of Marendelle." She looked to see the entire room had gone silent. It wasn't until her daughter Pinkie had broken it. "Oh… My… GOSH!" she leapt into the air, "That is the most awesome, spectacular news I have ever heard!" Rarity swooned, "Oh, Sweetie Belle! I am so proud!" "Hee-haw!" Applejack cheered, "I knew she could do it!" "Yay…" Fluttershy did her small cheering. "Way to go, Sweetie!" Rainbow flew up. Twilight wiped her brow, "Thank goodness…" The king and queen exchanged glances, confused that their daughters were more cheerful than just surprised or pleased. "Do you know something we don't?" Sombra questioned. The cheering stopped instantly and the girls gave embarrassing looks. "Twilight?" Celestia looked at her. She nervously chuckled, "Well, you see…" The girls and their husbands told the whole story about catching a glimpse of Sweetie and the prince through the magic mirror. "Hmm…" Celestia pondered, "But that doesn't quite explain why you were cheering more than usual. If you only saw them through the looking glass…" Twilight nodded and gave her sisters a glare, "Yeah… why was that?" Four of the princesses gave cheesy grins and stared back at Discord. "Oh, come on! You can't be seriously pinning this on me, are you?! I kept it secret for as long as I did of ever contacting Sweetie and the girls!" he covered his mouth in an instant. Celestia and Sombra sighed. "What did you do this time?" Celestia asked. "Well, I was only trying to help her pass the tests! But when she refused, there was nothing I could do, now could I?!" Sombra smiled, "That's our Sweetie…" Celestia nodded, "It appears that not only was she tested with the tests given to her, but she had to pass a test of her own to prove herself." Twilight turned to the four sisters that knew, "But one thing still puzzles me: why didn't you say anything about this?" "Duh!" RD flew in her face, "You would have lectured us about helping her cheat when clearly that wasn't the case!" "I'll have you know that I would have helped her just as much! I may not approve of cheating, but where love and happiness are concerned, I would have cheated!" "Right!" agreed Pinkie, "Because did you want her to end up unhappy and lonely like we almost did?!" she cringed and looked back to her mother, "Oopsie… I mean…" "No, my darling, you are right… While nothing is gained through fraud, your intentions were good, my dears… But Sweetie Belle ultimately made the right choice and has been rewarded because of that. She and the prince deserve each other." "However, I would like to meet him personally to make sure he is good enough since Sweetie had to prove she was good enough for him." pointed Sombra. "And this is why we needed you here, my darlings: to see what works best for every pony." Rarity immediately said, "I, of course, shall design the bridal dress and plan the whole affair!" Pinkie shouted, "Hey, you won't plan it, I will!" Rarity retorted, "But I know what Sweetie Belle likes! I will do it!" "No, I will!" "I will!" "I will!" Discord came between them. "No way!" both sisters yelled at him. A fight broke out until a booming voice said. "BE STILL!" The bickering stopped to see Luna by the door and she began saying in her normal tone after using the royal Canterlot voice, "This is a happy occasion and I don't think it would please Sweetie Belle that her family was fighting over what is supposed to be her day…" Discord's ears drooped, Pinkie's mane slightly deflated, and Rarity lowered her head in shame. All of them felt guilty for starting something that they had no right to. "Luna, have you been seeing how she is?" her sister asked. "I have. She is resting from last night's events. She had to encounter nightmares to test her spirit. I was force to stay back since the nightmares were the works of enchantments to reveal one's inner self… When you see her again, you should probably reassure her you will never abandon her…" "Oh, my sweet girl…" Celestia softly said. "We'll definitely do that when we see her again." Sombra nodded. "We all will." said Twilight. The others nodded in agreement. "Luckily, there are no more troubles to cloud her mind anymore. But it is your other daughters I worry about now…" "Are they alright?" Celestia asked in concern. "For now, but I fear they won't be for much longer…" "Well, why?" Rainbow asked. "I'm not sure. They're both blocking something that will only cause them pain. They were happy before and it was only Sweetie who had worries, but now, they have worries that can't seem to be fixed…" "They must be worried over the fact that Sweetie is getting married and that they might never see each other again…" Twilight motioned. "That makes sense," said Applejack. "Those three have been together even before they became princesses. I can see why they would be reluctant to break up the old gang." "Well, couldn't they just stay there?" Rarity questioned. "We could give them the option, but it depends if they want to come home to Canterlot or stay in Marendelle." said Sombra. "Whatever choice they make…" Celestia went to a stain glass window that showed the reunion of her and her husband and her eldest daughters getting married to their true loves. "…it'll be one that makes them happy…" "One can certainly hope so…" Luna said as everyone else nodded. Sweetie slept through most of the day. When she was starting to wake up, she felt something tickling her nose. She made a giggle and opened her eyes to see her fiancé with a rose in his mouth and grinning at her. "Button… how sweet…" she magically took the rose to sniff it and then set it in a vase near her. "Well, I had to get something for you after all the things my mother put you through." "It's okay. It doesn't matter anymore now that I have her blessing." "But do we have your parents'?" "I'm sure we do. My parents want me to marry for love… I wouldn't have accepted your proposal if I didn't love you." "By the way, where is it?" She magically took the shell out of the truck to open it, revealing the light green jewel ring. She placed the ring on her horn. "It suits you…" he said. She smiled, "The best part is I can wear it out in the open now…" He kissed her forehead, "If you're up to it, we can go to my room and figure out ways to redecorate or rearrange stuff." "You mean…?" "Once we're married, it'll be our castle suite. I want you to feel comfortable sleeping in a room that makes you happy." "But I'll be happy as long as you're there…" she batted her eyes. He groaned, "You're not making this any easier… Do you know how long it's going to take for our families to settle on a wedding date?" "I suppose…" she twirled her mane, "…that we occupy ourselves by distracting the others…" "How?" She said nothing as she leaned forward and planted one on his lips. He closed his eyes to the sweet bliss. After dinner that night, Pip and Apple Bloom were walking back to her room and they nuzzled heads before they departed. "Good night…" he said. "Good night…" she whispered as she went in and when she closed the door behind, she released a single tear. Back outside, Pip was trying hard to fight back tears, but one managed to escape him. The moon shone brightly as a gentle breeze blew in from Scootaloo's open balcony window. She lied next to her husband as he wrapped his arms and wings around her. His gentle grasp was something she was going to miss deeply when they'll be forced to separate. They didn't say anything and they didn't need to. All they wanted was to live in the moment. Button looked around his room. He wondered what changes were going to be made, but as long as Sweetie was happy, he was happy. He felt so much had happened since he heard her in his dreams and met her on the shore. Then along came her sisters and their escorts. He made some new friends that shared his love of adventure and knew what he was dealing with. With them leaving soon, he was going to miss their company and he knew how much her sisters meant to his beloved. He would need to help her through the pain of seeing them go. He crawled in the bed and thought of his future wife once more before falling asleep. Sweetie Belle, too, thought of her prince before falling asleep. None of them were aware of the impending danger that was upon them… Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon opened the gates to the outside. "Hurry up!" Tiara harshly said, "The guards will be back soon and I'm not used to this manual labor!" Caballeron and his henchponies went through the gates, "You've done well, Princess. Trust me when I say you shall have what you deserve. That faker will do anything to keep the throne, right?" "You bet she will!" "Then we shall leave a trail for her to follow and she'll come after the prince." "And she'll be gone?" "Very…" "Do what you must, but keep quiet and don't you dare give me away!" "Believe me, I know the perfect pony that will keep you off the scent." he grinned wickedly. Once Princess Diamond Tiara gave them the directions of the palace, they were careful about the guards doing their nightly rounds. They made their way upstairs and found the prince's room. Button was sleeping soundly until a pony put a hoof over his mouth and the next thing he knew, a sack went over him. Button was pushing to get out and his muffled cries for help were heard through the sack, though it wasn't enough to alert anyone. "Quickly now." Caballeron commanded. They dragged the sack as they made their way out. "Now to see where that troublemaker Rumble is…" they peeked into doors to check every single room. Caballeron got lucky and said, "He's there… but he's with someone…" He realized it was the girl he met and said, "Well, they're certainly a naughty pair, aren't they…?" "What now, chief?" one of henchies asked. "I'll need to get his attention… without the girl awakening…" "Try this." a henchie gave him a small ball. "Excellent." he took it and aimed at Rumble's head. The ball touched Rumble's temple and with a start, Rumble woke up and checked on Scootaloo, seeing she was sound asleep. He was about to go back to sleep when something else hit his head. He saw the door partly open and shadows making a run for it. "What the…?" Rumble knew something was up and went after the shadows. He got a glimpse of the figures and saw a large sack behind them. "Thieves!" he said under his breath, but he could have sworn he saw the sack moving. He started to call out, "Help! Thiev-" But the next thing he knew, he was hit over the head and everything went black… The sun was shining and light fell on Scootaloo's closed eyes. She tossed in the bed and reached out to the pony next to her, but instead, she felt nothing. Her eyes went wide open and saw Rumble wasn't on his side of the bed. "Rumble?" she said and looked around the room, "Where are you?" Apple Bloom and Pip were out of their rooms. AB yawned as she saw her sister coming out of her room and looking confused. "You guys haven't seen Rumble, haven't you?" "Rumble?" said Pip, "Nope, sorry…" AB shrugged and nodded her head apologetically. "Hmm…" Scootaloo bit her lip in thought. Just then, Sweetie came around the corner, looking worried, "Have any of you seen Button this morning?" "No, and Rumble's gone, too." said Scoots. "Maybe they went somewhere together." suggested Pip. "If that's true, why didn't they bring you along?" questioned AB, "I thought you were all friends." "So did I, but I guess they just wanted to do something on their own." "I'm afraid it's nothing like that…" They turned to see Featherweight with an upset expression on his face. "What do you mean, Featherweight?" Sweetie asked. "The king and queen need to see you…" He turned to go, looking like he was about to cry. They exchanged glances before following him. They made it to the throne room, where the remaining princesses, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Babs, Twist, and Dinky, were there, giving unsure looks. Then, they saw the queen looking devastated and the king was frowning. He spoke since the queen seemed like she wouldn't be able to be in control of her emotions. "Princess Sweetie Belle, as my son's betrothed, it is fair that you know that Button was taken last night…" The princesses gasped and Sweetie screamed, "NO!" "The kidnappers had inside help. They got away, but we had caught the pony helping them in… I must ask: did you have any idea that one of your escorts was a spy?" Scootaloo's eyes widened, "You can't mean…?" "Not Rumble!" Apple Bloom gasped. "He was seen by eyewitnesses helping the kidnappers getting out of the palace…" Scootaloo was on the verge of tears, "No… it can't be…" she thought, No… something's not right here… Rumble was a thief, but an honorable thief… He only took what he needed… and… he was protecting a magic amulet from cutthroats who left us for dead! I trust him… I need to talk to him! "Who were the eyewitnesses?" Sweetie questioned. Diamond spoke up and started doing fake sniffs and her cousin joined her, "Oh! It was awful, so awful! He let them take the heir of Marendelle and your future husband! I am so sorry!" "You were the eyewitnesses?" AB pointed. "Yes…" Silver Spoon used a lace handkerchief, "I just wish there was more we could do!" That's it! If those two were the eyewitnesses, then something is definitely going on here! Scootaloo asked, "Where is Rumble now?" "In the dungeons. We're figuring out what to do with him…" Scootaloo wanted to shout that Rumble was innocent, but the stakes were high against him. It wouldn't do him or her any good. "Let us talk to him." said Sweetie, "Perhaps if he saw us, he'd be more willing to reveal where Button is." Scootaloo couldn't believe that Sweetie was thinking that Rumble had anything to do with this, but she was being too quick to judge. Sweetie didn't know Rumble the way she knew him. Button was missing and could be in jeopardy, so it seemed natural to blame some pony for it… Scootaloo just wished it wasn't Rumble who should get the blame. "That would be most helpful. Thank you. You may go and see him. Featherweight can show you the way." Featherweight nodded and escorted the group out. Once they were out of earshot, Scootaloo quickly said. "Rumble didn't do it!" "But how can you be sure, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked. "I just do…" "I didn't want to think that he was a part of this… But, Scootaloo, how can we know we can trust him…?" Sweetie stared at her. "I trust him." "You're willing to trust him that much?" "My trust goes further than you'll ever know… Let me speak to him and we'll find the truth…" AB and Pip nodded to Sweetie and she gave a sigh. "I'm sorry… I'm just… so worried…" she had tears welling. Scootaloo gave her hug, "I know… I would be the same way… But Rumble is also a victim in this, too. I'm certain…" They stopped at a door with bars on the window. A guard opened it and Scootaloo went in as the others waited outside. She looked down the row of cells and found a grey Pegasus at the end, "Rumble!" "Scootaloo?!" he went to the bars of the cell and reached out to her. She touched his hooves as they tried embracing each other, but the bars got in the way. "Scoots, you've got to believe me! I had nothing to do with Button's kidnapping! I saw it, but I had nothing to do with it!" "What did you see?" "I saw figures with a large sack and making run for it. I was about to call for help, but then I got knocked out. The next thing I knew, I woke up by the gates and the guards surrounded me, telling me that I've been arrested for being caught in the act. I tried telling them what I told you, but they thought I was making it up to cover up my tracks! Please, say you believe me at least…" his eyes were glossed and looking straight into her soul. "I was right…" she smiled, "I knew you had nothing to do with this… In fact, you tried to stop it!" "You… you believe me?" "Rumble, I would never doubt for a moment that you would do something so bad! You may have your grey areas, but you've been fixing that ever seen we've been together." "It's just… Whenever I try to be something I'm not, it always backfires on me…" "Rumble, I've seen you who you are! You don't need to pretend!" "You're right… When I'm with you, I don't have to hide anything or be some other pony…" "I trust you enough to know you'd keep me safe or protect me from something that I can't handle…" "Do the others believe me?" "They want to believe you, but Sweetie is hurt knowing someone is threatening Button as we speak. Since you got caught in the crossfire…" He sighed, "At least I have your support…" "Of course you do, and you can't question how far it goes… I trust you, Rumble… I trusted you with a lot of things… The others can't have the kind of pact that we share…" He rubbed his neck, "No kidding." "So they don't understand how I can be defending you so much, but I know why…" she used his hoof to touch her stomach. His eyes widened, "Scootaloo… are you…?" "I don't know… but I would like to think so…" she beamed. He shook his head. "You're mad, aren't you?" she worried. "No! No… I'm just so surprised and amazed…" he looked at her with big eyes. "But it's uncertain?" "Pretty much. I would need to check with a doctor to be sure…" "And if it is? How are you going to hide it from your family?" "I'll just say I've gain a few pounds by eating too much." He crossed his arms in doubt, "And what happens when the kid is born? How in Equestria are you going to explain that?!" "We'll have to worry about that later. Right now, we got a missing prince and we need to get you out of the slammer above all else first." "I doubt they'll be letting me go anytime soon." "So the only way to prove your innocence is that we get Button back pronto!" "You're not going anyway! The others can handle this, but you're not taking any chances." "Rumble… I have to… I have to be there for my sister… She would do the same for me… I promise to be careful as much as I can be… But don't forget, if chances are that it's not happening, you don't have to worry so much…" "And yet I can't help but be… When you get back to the room, find my half of the amulet. It'll protect you. It's helped me out of scrapes numerous times." "Sure didn't work this time…" He shook his head, "Just keep it with you since it's the closest thing to having me there to protect you…" "I don't need protection… but I'm glad to have something just in case. You're right. With the amulet, it'll feel like you're there…" They touched hooves. "Be safe…" "I will. Hang tight! We'll be back before you know it!" she started to go. "I love you!" "I love you, too!" she gave one final glance before going out. Rumble gave off a look of despair.