Queen Love Tap sat in a private tea room, laughing and chatting the afternoon away with her new daughter-in-law, Princess Sweetie Belle. Since Sweetie Belle married her son, Prince Button Mash, Queen Love Tap had suggested that the two of them have tea on a weekly basis. The two mares were family now, and it was only fitting that they get to know one another better.
“I must say, Sweetie Belle, you certainly are charming,” complimented Love Tap. “My son chose well indeed.”
“Why, thank you, your majesty,” replied Sweetie Belle, “but I don’t think I would have passed the tests if you and Button weren’t looking for the same qualities in a wife for him even if the two of you didn’t know it at the time.”
Love Tap laughed. She and her son had been at odds with each other ever since he became of age, and the conflict came to a head when the time came for him to choose a wife. Now, thanks to Sweetie Belle, the two of them were closer than ever.
“By the way, Queen Love Tap,” continued Sweetie Belle. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. I know the tests were to see who would be a good queen for Button, but what gave you the idea for them in the first place?”
“Well, I actually based some of the tests from my experiences from before I became queen,” answered Love Tap. “I still remember the day my father told me that he was going to be passing on the crown to me and my husband.”
A younger Love Tap and Cinnamon Swirl stood in the Marendelle throne room before an earth pony king. The king was King Lincoln Log, Queen Love Tap’s father. Of course, she was only Princess Love Tap back in those days.
“You want us to what?” Love Tap gasped in surprise.
“Take the throne, dear,” said King Lincoln Log. “I understand if you and Cinnamon Swirl have your reservations, but I believe that you are ready, that both of you are ready.”
“I, I don’t know what to say,” replied Love Tap, hesitantly.
“Well, the three of us will have plenty of time to discuss this in the future, but for now, you are dismissed.”
At that, Love Tap and Cinnamon Swirl gave a quick bow and exited the throne room. The two of them continued to walk down the castle hallways in an uncomfortable silence, before Cinnamon Swirl decided to break it.
“Wow, we’re going to be the next king and queen of Marendelle, huh?” Cinnamon chuckled nervously. “And to think, we just became parents three months ago.”
Love Tap said nothing, but continued to walk on with a rather worried look on her face.
“Love, are you alright?”
“Oh, yes, I’m…fine,” Love Tap said with a sigh. “Cinnamon, why don’t you go check on Button Mash? He must be up from his nap by now and will probably want to play.”
“Oh, okay then. Umm, are you coming?”
“Maybe later. Right now, I just need a little time for myself.”
Love Tap gave her husband with an uneasy smile. Cinnamon Swirl returned it with a concerned glance before leaving to check on their son.
Once Love Tap was sure she was alone, she opened her mouth and began to sing, “Everything seems crazy big/And I'm feeling unsteady/Dad says I'll be just fine/But I don't think I'm ready/New crown, new life, new baby boy/And a ball where they want me to dance/I'm just a young, young mare with a small tiara/In this world I don't stand a chance
“I'm not ready to be a queen yet,” she continued to sing as ran through the halls towards hers and Cinnamon Swirl’s bedroom. “I don't have what it takes/I’ll trip on my gown/I won’t fit the crown/And I'm gonna make a bajillion mistakes
“I'm too foolish to be a queen yet,” she sang as she burst through the doors of her bedroom. “I respectfully refuse/Barely know the rules/Never cared for jewels/And these hooves were made for comfortable shoes
“Homes bursting with ponies/That I'm afraid to fail,” Love Tap continued as she made her way to the balcony overlooking the town. “Stallions, mares, and young colts and fillies/I’m about to wail”
At that, Love Tap gritted her teeth, rushed back to the bedroom, and began rummaging through her closet. Soon, she found what she was looking for, a small travel bag.
“I’m not ready to be a queen yet/One look and that seems clear,” she sang, setting her bag on the bed. “Cancel my debut/Keep the royal crew/And if I ever pack this bag/I'm outta here”
Then, she stopped, giving the bag a good hard look. Once she realized what she was doing, Love Tap grunted in frustration, set empty bag on the floor, and gave it a good hard kick, sending it flying underneath the bed. Just what kind of a princess was she, thinking about running from her duties like this? She could only imagine the look of utter disappointment etched on her father’s face should he ever find out about this episode.
Love Tap sat in front of her vanity mirror, imagining herself waving at her subjects from the grand balcony after her coronation.
“Queen Love Tap, not a queenly name/Queen Love Tap, even my wave is lame.”
Love Tap lowered her head onto the vanity, burying it underneath her arms.
“I’m not ready to be a queen yet.”
Later that night, as she and her husband slept, Love Tap began to toss and turn, lost in the turbulence of a terrible nightmare. In her nightmare, her father had just set the crown on her head when suddenly, a page came rushing in through a set of double doors. Behind him, she could see a pack of wild dogs, ransacking the town.
“Queen Love Tap,” the page called. “The Diamond Dogs! They’re looting the town and taking everything.”
Before Love Tap could answer, another page burst through another set of double doors, and behind him were hordes of skeleton ponies carrying torches and weapons destroying a fleet of ships.
“Queen Love Tap,” the new page called. “Skeleton ponies! They, they’re burning down the harbor.”
Yet another page burst through yet another set of doors. Except this time, the page looked rather disheveled, and the doors swung shut before she could see what was behind him.
“Queen Love Tap,” panted the page, “You, you must act quickly. It’s the zombies. They’re—”
Then, wave upon wave of zombies exploded through the closed doors, tearing them from the hinges.
“They’re here!” screamed the page, as the zombies made a grab for him, dragging him away as he frantically begged for his life.
All the while, Love Tap sat paralyzed in fear. She wanted to run and scream, but no matter how much she willed, she could not get herself to move. Then, Cinnamon Swirl ran in with a look of sheer panic all over his face.
“Love, it’s our son!” cried Cinnamon. “He, he’s gone! He’s been kidnapped by pirates.”
Suddenly, her ears were filled with the sound of her son wailing. She looked all over but could not pinpoint where the sound was coming from. The horrible, terrifying sound seemed to come from everywhere. The sound of the pages and her husband calling her name intensified and distorted, blending into a nerve-shattering cacophony of pure unbridled terror.
“Love! Love! Love Tap!” called the actual Cinnamon Swirl as he shook his wife awake.
Love Tap woke with a start. “Cinnamon! What happened?! Is it our son? Has he been kidnapped by pirates?!”
“Kidnapped by—?” Cinnamon Swirl repeated incredulously. “What? No! No. It’s just that you were kicking me in your sleep, and you also snatched all of the covers that were on my side.”
Love Tap groaned as she flopped back onto her pillow. “Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry. I just had the worst nightmare ever, and—. Ugh! I must be more worried about taking my father’s place than I realized.”
“Is that why we’re sleeping with one of your travel bags under the bed tonight?”
Love Tap’s eyes widened as she gasped, “You know about that?”
“I actually saw you kick it under.”
Love Tap merely groaned as she smacked herself on the forehead with her hoof.
“Love, if you’re so worried, why don’t you just talk to your father about this?”
Love Tap quickly sat up in shock. “Are you mad? I can never let my father know about this. I don’t want to disappoint him.”
“I understand that, dear, but if anypony knows what you’re going through right now, it’s probably him. Every king was just a prince once you know.”
Love Tap gave out another groan as she buried her face in her pillow. “Oh, fine. I’ll talk to him. It can’t possibly be worse than having to sleep through another one of those nightmares.”
The next day, as soon as she had a chance, Love Tap went about the castle, looking for her father. He wasn’t anywhere she usually found him though. She had already checked the throne room, his bedroom, and the gym. She asked the servants if any of them had seen him and was directed to a part of the castle that was used as a storage area of sorts. Now, what could her father be possibly doing here of all places?
“Dad?” Love Tap called. “Are you here?”
“Over here, Love,” Lincoln Log answered.
Love Tap made her way towards the direction of her father’s call and found him among some old boxes. He took a look at some of the smaller boxes and placed two of them on a trolley of sorts.
“Dad? What are you doing here?” asked Love Tap.
“Oh, just looking for some old treasures from my youth,” replied King Lincoln Log, still searching through the boxes. “I just have one more box to look for, and—ah, here it is.”
The box in question was much bigger than the others, and King Lincoln Log struggled to lift it onto the trolley. Love Tap helped her father push it onto the trolley, wondering what could possibly be inside of it.
“Thank you, my dear. That was much appreciated,” said Lincoln Log.
“Umm, Dad, if you don’t mind me asking, what is all this for?” asked Love Tap.
“Well, now that I’m about to retire, I thought I’d revisit an old hobby of mine. I haven’t really had the time to do it since I took the throne. Why don’t you give your old father a hoof and help me take these to my chambers?”
In her curiosity, Love Tap helped her father wheel the boxes to his chambers, momentarily forgetting what she had wanted to talk to him about in the first place. She remembered, however, after the two of them unloaded the boxes from the trolley.
“Um, Dad, remember when you said yesterday about Cinnamon and me taking over the throne soon?” Love Tap asked.
However, King Lincoln Log didn’t seem to hear Love Tap’s question as he was busy trying to jam a crowbar into the lid of the largest box.
“Good gracious, just how tightly did I nail this thing shut?” Lincoln Log grunted, as he struggled to get the lid off the box.
Love Tap groaned and helped her father with the box. After they popped the lid off, they removed the sides to reveal a wooden replica of the Marendelle castle. Love Tap couldn’t help but marvel at its craftsponyship. Other than the unfinished details and unpainted areas, it looked almost exactly like the castle. Intrigued, Love Tap carefully opened up the miniature palace to find equally detailed models of the castle’s rooms.
“I was planning on giving it to you for your fifth birthday, but I never had time to finish it. Hopefully, I’ll have it done in time for your coronation,” remarked King Lincoln Log. “Now, was there something you wanted to talk to me about?”
Love Tap froze, suddenly jolted out of her awe of the model castle. She knew that she had to talk to her father about her insecurities about becoming queen, but the words were refusing to come out. So, she said the first thing that came to mind.
“What was it like when you first became king?” blurted out Love Tap.
“Surprising,” replied King Lincoln Log. “Very surprising. And unexpected, especially since I almost ran away from home back when I was younger.”
“You what?” Love Tap’s head and ears snapped up in attention. There was no way she could have heard her father right. He was the last pony she would have expected to run from his duty to Marendelle.
“I know. Hard to believe, isn’t it? But when I was young, foolish, and maybe a bit crazy, I wanted to run away to learn how to be a toymaker,” chuckled Lincoln Log.
“So why didn’t you?” asked Love Tap.
“Oh, it’s quite a tale actually. You see, not every father is lucky to have such a selfless, dutiful, and affectionate daughter such as yourself,” the king continued, causing Love Tap to blush in guilt and embarrassment. “For example, my father ended up with me.”
“And that was a bad thing?”
“Was it a bad thing?” exclaimed King Lincoln Log. “I was the crown prince of Marendelle and the only heir to the throne, and I wanted nothing to do with either of those things. The whole situation infuriated my father to no end. One day, he said to me, ‘Lincoln Log, if you do not start taking your duties seriously, I will deny you the crown and live FOREVER!’”
Love Tap couldn’t help but laugh at her father’s impression of an angry and commanding ruler, especially since King Lincoln Log was nothing of the sort. He may be stern at times, but most days, he was actually rather kind and understanding. The utter ridiculousness of his last statement only added to the humor.
“Oh, don’t laugh, darling. That old stallion meant every word at the time and probably would have done it too if it was possible.”
“So, what did you say to him?”
“I said, ‘Good. I don’t want it.’”
Love Tap just stared at her father with her mouth hanging agape. “You’re pulling my hoof.”
“I assure you, Love. I am not. I actually did say that.”
“But…” Love Tap paused, trying to find her words. After all, it’s not every day that you find out that your father used to be a rebel. “What made you change your mind? I mean, if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t still be here.”
“Well,” chuckled Lincoln Log, “it’s actually because of this old thing here.” He pointed at the doll’s castle. “I was going to finish it and the furniture that went with it, pack it up, and jump on the next ship that left the island, but in my haste to finish it, I had made some of the furniture too big.”
Lincoln Log began unpacking the rest of the boxes, revealing several pieces of intricately carved doll furniture. “Of course, they’re all the right size now, but I digress. Anyway, instead of making new furniture to fit the castle, I tried to force them in and ended up yanking out this wall over here.”
The king pointed to a wall in one of the rooms on the first floor. When Love Tap looked where he was pointing, her eyes widened. “Dad, isn’t that particular wall load-bearing?”
“You bet it is, and I’ll give you three guesses to figure out what happened next.”
“Everything on top of it collapsed?”
“And quite spectacularly, too. I was so shocked that I almost cried.”
“Not that I’m not enjoying this story, but how did a collapsed doll’s castle change your mind about your duties?”
“Well, after that disaster, I did what I always did back in the day whenever I needed to get away from my troubles. I disguised myself, snuck out of the castle, and went for a walk around the town."
King Lincoln Log chuckled as he took out some tools and began finishing the details on castle. “I don’t know why I did, but I looked back and saw the castle from a distance. No matter how hard I tried not to, I kept on imagining the castle collapsing on itself. I looked around and starting imagining the whole kingdom coming to ruin. Suddenly, it hit me like a load of bricks.”
The king stopped working and looked his daughter in the eye. “A king or queen supports a kingdom similar to how a load-bearing wall supports everything on top of it. Without a good ruler on the throne, an entire kingdom could collapse in very much the same way that this miniature once did. You understand, Love?”
Love Tap rested her head on her hooves, deep in thought. Then, she looked up, smiled, and said to her father, “I understand, Father, and thanks. I really needed that.”
At that, Love Tap gave her father a kiss on the cheek and left the room, leaving a pleased yet slightly confused king back to his hobby.
Later that afternoon, Cinnamon Swirl found his wife in the library poring over a gigantic book titled The Complete History of Marendelle.
“What are you doing, Love?” asked Cinnamon Swirl. “Were you able to talk to your father?”
“I was,” answered Love Tap, “and I think I have an idea on how to deal with my jitters and nightmares.”
“I’m listening.”
“Well, I found out that my father actually thought about abandoning his duties once, at least, until he found out what it meant to be a king.”
“Go on.”
“So, I thought that if I found my own definition of what it meant to be a queen, I’ll know what kind of a queen I want be and how to be a queen that I can actually proud of, and once I know that, I can stop worrying and hopefully stop having nightmares.”
“Does any of that have anything to do with why you’re apparently trying to review the entire history of Marendelle?” Cinnamon Swirl teased, playfully.
“I just thought I’d find some inspiration from history. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Well, find anything inspiring so far?”
“Yes, actually,” Love flipped the book to a page with an illustration of a burning ship. “According to this section of the book, Marendelle was founded by ponies who came from the mainland seeking a new life. As a sign of their commitment to face any hardship that came their way, these early settlers took apart their ships to build shelters with and then burned what was left over. The ashen remains of these ships are still housed in the royal museum today.”
“And you find a story about burning ships inspiring, how?”
“Cinnamon, what words would you use to describe these first settlers?”
Cinnamon Swirl pursed his lips, trying to find a satisfying answer. “Desperate? Resourceful? Thorough? Borderline insane? Not that there’s anything wrong with being borderline insane. I mean, most of the greatest feats in pony history were done by borderline insane ponies.”
Love Tap scowled, resisting the urge to slap her husband on the back of the head.
“Wrong answer?” squeaked out Cinnamon Swirl, sheepishly.
“Actually, I was thinking somewhere along the lines of ‘committed,’ ‘courageous,’ ‘willing to face adversity head on.’”
“Oh, that certainly makes much more sense. Those words wouldn’t happen to also describe the kind of queen you want to be now, would it?” Cinnamon Swirl beamed with pride at his wife, his beautiful, intelligent, courageous, and possibly borderline insane wife.
“I don’t want to be the kind of queen that runs from my problems, Cinnamon. Marendelle and our family deserve so much better than that. I certainly can’t be the kind of queen that lets a nightmare stop her from being the best queen she can possibly be.”
“And you won’t, and I will be right by your side the whole time.” The two of them leaned in for a kiss.
At that moment, one of Button Mash’s nursemaids walked into the library, “Your Highnesses—oh!”
Love Tap and Cinnamon Swirl pulled apart in surprise.
“We weren’t doing anything!” exclaimed Cinnamon Swirl, defensively, forgetting that a married stallion can kiss his wife whenever he wants to.
The nursemaid composed herself and said, “I’m sorry to disturb you, but it’s Prince Button Mash. He’s refusing to take his nap.”
“Why don’t I take care of this? Besides, I know just how to get him to sleep,” said Love Tap, giving Cinnamon Swirl a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.
“Wow, that sounded incredible,” awed Sweetie Belle when her mother-in-law finished her tale.
“It certainly was,” replied Queen Love Tap. “You see, when I made those tests, I wanted to make sure whoever ended up marrying Button Mash could be a good queen to him. I wanted him to have somepony who could help him face his problems no matter how challenging they turned out to be.”
“Does Button know anything about this?” asked Sweetie.
Queen Love Tap paused as if something important had just occurred to her. “Actually, no. Button doesn’t know anything about this, and,” she sighed, putting a hoof to her face, “I could have saved the two of us a lot of trouble if I had just told him.”
“Well, things still turned out for the better,” reassured Sweetie Belle. “Besides, you still have plenty of time to tell him about this before he becomes king.”
Just then, Sweetie Belle let out a giggle. “You know, it’s amazing how much Button ended up being a lot like your father.”
“How so?” Queen Love Tap raised an eyebrow quizzically.
“Oh,” Sweetie gasped, “I don’t know if I am supposed to be telling you about this, but you see, well, Button told me that-that, well—”
Sweetie Belle sighed. “Button told me something in confidence, and I don’t know if I should be telling you, but I’m starting to think that you deserve to know.”
“Would it help if I promise not to become angry?” asked Love Tap.
“It would actually,” nodded Sweetie Belle.
“Alright, on my word as queen, I promise that will not be angry with you or my son because of what you are about to tell me.”
“Alright,” Sweetie took a deep breath and blurted, “Button told me that he started sneaking out of the palace against your wishes a few years ago.”
At first, Queen Love Tap said nothing. Then, to Sweetie’s surprise, she started laughing hard. “Oh goodness! That colt! He really is my father’s grandson.”
Love Tap continued laughing, and soon, Sweetie joined her. Unbeknownst to them, a certain prince had been listening through the door and was silently laughing to himself along with them.