Chapter 3
They were all in the throne room as the girls negotiated a treaty between them and their mothers. Screwy, wearing lawyer attire, popped up a contract, which Twilight took to read.
"According to paragraph C, subsection E, we will agree to meet with suitors, but only on the following conditions. We choose the dates and where we would date, and if no pony is right for us, we get to take a vacation on our own. That means no guards, no escorts. Just us princesses."
Discord also wore the attire of an attorney. "And just where would this vacation be, young lady?"
"Relax, we knew you wouldn't like it if we went off somewhere that we've never been to. That's why we thought Marendelle was the best place for a vacation. That way, we have our relatives nearby and it's private."
Pinkie said, "Can't argue with that."
Applejack pointed, "But I don't like the idea of all of you being alone most of the time…"
Rarity suggested, "How about if your brothers accompany you?"
Dignity complained, "Mom! They're grown mares they don't need to be foal-sat like back when they were little!"
"Hey!" the girls except Screwball called out.
She turned to her cousins, "Hey, if it means no guards and we can use the boys as lackeys to carry our luggage, then I say 'Why not?'"
Whirl went to her face, "Excuse me?! But we are not carrying your luggage around!"
Dignity came up and held his head high, "We, are respected princes of Equestria, and we will not submit to your commands."
Screwball shrugged, "I guess if that's the way you want it, then the girls and I will return to our nice room filled with heat, food, comic books…"
Fire held his hoof up, "All right! We get the point." He turned to the boys, "Guys, I'm afraid they have us where they want us…"
Whirl gritted his teeth while Dignity grimaced and eyed his sister, who was giving a smirk.
Whirl told Screwball, "You win this round, but we'll find some way to get back at you."
She just gave a smug look.
Fire mumbled, "How low we have sunk…"
Dignity muttered, "From now, just refer me as 'Indignity'."
Whirl whispered, "This is what we get for not asking sooner…"
They nodded.
Twilight magically held out a royal stamp, "Then it is agreed. As long as your cousins come along and you stay at the palace while in Marendelle, we will agree to the following terms."
The girls nodded.
"So be it." Twilight stamped the treaty. "Now all I have to do is send a message to Button and Sweetie and see what they think." She quickly wrote on a piece of parchment. Once she was done, she handed it to Spike, who blew fire on it and the letter became a plume of magic.
On Marendelle's shores, two princesses were playing volleyball with their cousins. Snow Pea, the heir to her father's throne, laughed as her sister Little Button - or LB as she was better known as to avoid confusion with their father's name - was able to catch every single serve her twin cousins, Skater and Roller Blade - who were a year older than Snowy - had thrown at them. Their cousin Apple Butter was refereeing the game due to the even number of players. She was also a bit short, so it would have been hard for her to serve the ball over the net.
She called out, "So far, the scores are two to three for the Twins vs. the Sisters!"
"Who has the two?!" Skater questioned.
"And who has the three?!" Roller asked.
"The Sisters have the two while you have the three!"
"Alright!" the twins hoof-bumped.
LB turned to her sister, "You hear that, Snowy? We're losing!"
"Not for long!" Snow got ready with the next serve and she braced herself for Roller's rebound. Unfortunately, by concentrating too much on Roller, her magic acted on its own and an ice patch formed beneath his hooves. He started slipping, making him miss the ball and letting it fall on the sand.
The twins noticed the ice and shouted, "SNOWY!"
Skater accused, "You did that on purpose!"
Snow Pea stammered, "I… I didn't! I swear! I didn't mean for ice to appear!"
"It's not her fault!" LB insisted. "Her powers keep getting stronger!"
Apple Butter mentioned, "It's the prophecy."
Snowy groaned, "Please… don't mention that fearsome prophecy…"
Roller inquired, "How does it go again?"
Snow sighed, "Well, I already got rid of the Umbrum, so no worries there. But Olaf did tell me that the Windigos would kidnap me and force me to become their queen so I would destroy Equestria. And if I were to destroy the Windigos, I'd have to destroy time, too. Believe me, that's not something I want. Either way, I'm going to doom all of Equestria."
LB protested, "Don't say that, Snowy! You could never hurt anyone!"
Her sister replied, "True, but I might as well live with the Windigos on my tail forever."
Skater said, "They would have to get past us first!'"
Suddenly, the ball that had rolled away came back to them, hitting LB on the head.
"Sis! Are you okay?!" Snowy fretted.
LB groaned and rubbed her head, "I think so. Where did that ball come from?"
By then, a young mild grey Earth pony stallion with sandy blonde hair rushed to them, "Your Highness! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you! I was just trying to return the ball!"
"It's okay, Rock Salt." Roller patted his shoulder.
"It was an accident." Skater insisted.
"Just be more careful next time." said Snow Pea.
Rock Salt bowed, "Yes, Your Highness."
"Yeah, everything's fine, Rocky." LB smiled.
He sighed, "Must we go over this every time? It's Rock Salt."
"But I like calling you 'Rocky'." she grinned.
"With all due respect, Princess, I'd rather you refer to me with the name I have."
"But 'Rocky' makes you sound tough."
He gave an exasperated sigh. Rock Salt grew up on the island kingdom like the royals. He first met the twins when they were with their parents at the skate park being taught to use wheels. They were fast friends and he eventually met their cousins, including the kingdom's future queen and her sister. It was surprising when he learned the heir had snow powers, but that just made her more fun and interesting.
Her sister, however… he wasn't sure what to make of Princess Little Button. She was named after her father due to the fact that on the day she was born, she was as cute as a little button. The name stuck and she had been adorable since then. She was the sweetheart princess, as ponies of the island kingdom called her. But to Rock Salt, she was too cute for his taste. He also didn't like it when stallions about his age would admire the royal princesses and wonder if they would soon choose husbands.
Between the two sisters, Snowy had the most to offer: heir to the throne, magical snow powers, grace, beauty…
Little Button was pretty, sweet, joyful, and had a good sense of humor…
He didn't like it when she went a bit far in instances like with his name, but she certainly deserved a good stallion that respected her and not liked her for her status. He started going, "I have to get home now. I'll see you around."
They gave him random farewells and once he was out of sight, LB grunted, "He can be such a bore!"
"Lil!" Snow scolded.
"Well, it's true! He doesn't liven up!"
Skater said, "Rock Salt just likes being down-to-earth."
Apple Butter joked, "Hence his name…"
The twins and LB giggled.
Snowy slightly scowled, "Now cut that out. I won't tolerate ridicule."
Roller pointed, "Sheesh, Snowy. You're acting like the queen already."
"It's part of my training."
Apple Butter asked, "Do you even want to be queen? If you wanted to, you could forfeit the throne to LB."
"No way!" Little Button protested. "I've seen the kind of work my parents have to do. I'm glad I'm the youngest."
"Lucky…" Snowy muttered.
Someone cleared their throat and they turned to see the court magician, Trixie.
"Trixie has been sent to retrieve Your Highnesses. Your parents are requesting your presence."
"Is something wrong, Trixie?" LB asked.
"Your father received a letter from your Aunt Twilight and he and the others want your opinion."
The cousins shared a look of confusion.
In the throne room, all of their parents were there. Button Mash and Sweetie Belle were seated on their thrones while Apple Butter's parents were standing on Button's right and the twins' parents on Sweetie's left. Trixie also stood by a wall to give her opinion on what the king and queen had to say.
Button Mash asked, "Do you guys know the story of the contest that took place when I met my darling wife?"
Sweetie Belle blushed at such a compliment.
Skater said, "Yeah. So what's your point?"
Button said, "Apparently, someone's taken my mom's idea for a perfectly arranged marriage." He held the paper up where the kids could see and joked, "I demand royalties."
Little Button asked, "Dad, just what are you getting at?"
Sweetie explained, "What he means to say is that Aunt Twilight decided to have suitors come in for your cousins from Canterlot and the Everfree Kingdom."
The kids shouted out, "WHAT?!"
Trixie whispered to the parents, "Isn't that the fourth one we've heard today?"
Scootaloo whispered, "I know, right?"
Snow Pea asked in bewilderment, "Isn't that the same thing Grandma Tia tried to do for our aunts? And Grandma tried to do for you, Dad?"
Button nodded, "Yep. All the same thing. But Twilight says she's going to do it differently this time."
Apple Butter asked, "How is it any different than the last few times it happened?"
Rumble whispered, "The kids in Canterlot must've thought the same thing."
Button read from the paper, "She says that your cousins will choose from any number of suitors, poor or rich, out of love. Of course, she and your aunts will be keeping an eagle eye on them." As he mentioned "eagle eye", he did an "I'm watching you" gesture.
Roller Blade shrugged, "Well, that doesn't sound so bad."
Skater scoffed, "'Doesn't sound so bad'? You can't even have an intimate relationship if Mothership is constantly watching you!"
Button asked, "So I take it you don't want any suit-"
Before he could finish the sentence, the kids shouted, "NO!"
Little Button gagged, "Never in a million years! Blech!"
Snow Pea agreed, "Besides, ponies would just want to woo me because of my status as an heir!"
The parents nodded with smirks on their faces. Button then said, "Yep. Just what I thought. Don't worry. We're not doing it to you guys. Believe me, there was enough trouble when I went through it. We just wanted to know if you were against it. And since you are, I formally decree as King of Marendelle, you all shall marry whoever you love."
Snow Pea and Little Button hugged their dad as the younger sister said, "Thank you, Daddy!"
Button smiled, "But wait! That's not all!"
Trixie said, "It turns out that if your female cousins do not choose any suitors, they will get an all-expenses-paid trip to Marendelle!"
The kids chattered and squealed in excitement.
"All right!" Skater exclaimed.
"When do you think they'll be arriving?" LB inquired.
The parents exchanged confused looks.
Sweetie gestured, "You seem positive that they won't choose any pony…"
"They won't." Apple Butter pronounced.
Roller nodded his head, "When you've been around our cousins as long as we have, you know exactly what they're going to do."
The kids made a single nod of agreement.
Their parents were taken aback by this and Apple Bloom whispered in conference.
"Should we send a message back to Twilight telling her about this?"
Button pondered on this until he spoke, "No."
"No?" his wife and in-laws said.
"No." he repeated, "I know what it was like to go through an almost-arranged marriage. I know it won't be the same thing for them, but it may as well be with their family closely watching them. It wasn't easy courting my wife during the contest and I often wished we had more alone time then. I want to give my nieces that same chance…"
Sweetie kissed his cheek. "You'll always be a hopeless romantic…"
"And proud of it, babe…"
Pip mentioned, "Before you go all lovey-dovey on us, why don't you write back and tell them it's alright for them to come here?"
"You're right. I'll do that at once." He summoned a scribe to write it down and a messenger to deliver it.
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And now, you know 100% that at least some of the Canterlot girls will fall in love, if not all.
Um, hello?! I also wrote the part from "'Well, I already got rid of the Umbrum...'" to "'...past us first!'".
7311186 I know, right? Every child says that they will never fall in love, but then they grow up.
Also, why is everyone being so hard on Twilight and her sisters?
Getting too intimate too soon can be bad. Look at what almost happened to Anna in Frozen. 
If having some degree of familial involvement prevents stuff like that, then why not? Besides, most parents, including mine, tend to have better judgments than their kids most of the time.
My last comment just gave me a chilling realization. Is there going to be a Prince Hans pony OC in this story?!
Oh, I think I'm going to need to borrow Rarity's fainting couch. And a barf bag.
7311308 Oh f*** no!
7311555 To ponified Hans or to my sudden desire to faint and vomit?
Quite honestly, neither of those things sounds pleasant.
7311591 A Hans-based OC.
*shudders* No. Just no.
Thank you for crediting me, sis!
7316566 It's the least I can do.
7312154 i think it would make a great life lesson for ond of the princesses...
I know this was written before you introduced the Strapgart triplets, but it feels weird for Button to be so against Twilight's idea when he's been making his daughters, nieces, and nephew hang out with his best friend's offspring, hoping that at least one happy couple ends up coming out of that arrangement.