"Princess, are you ready yet?"

"J-just one more minute!" The young girl searched through her drawers frantically, tossing clothes about. She bit her lip in confusion once she had reached the bottom. "Come on, where is it?" she murmured.

"Okay," the voice replied from the other side of her bedroom door, "but the Royal Address begins very soon, and this is very important—"

"I got it PB, I'll be down there in time, don't worry about it!" The girl slammed the drawer and resorted to looking under her bed.

There was a pause. "As you wish, princess." The sound of footsteps soon faded away.

A moment later, the young girl rose to her feet proudly. "Found it!" she breathed. In her hands she held a small, pointed tiara with a single blue stone placed at its center. The girl placed the crown gently on top of her head over her blonde hair. She then quickly brushed herself off and trotted out of the room.

As the girl jogged down the stairs and through the hallway, she was greeted by familiar faces and the sweet scent of sugar. She waved and smiled as her hair flounced around her hips. The candy people returned her greetings with the usual "Good day, Princess."

The girl soon turned a corner to enter the foyer of the castle. She immediately spotted a familiar pink figure on the other side of the room. Sighing, the girl straightened her back and took small steps toward it.

As she drew close, the figure became clearer, revealing a stoic, regal stance dressed in equally regal, knightly clothing. The long, pink hair of the woman was tightly wrapped in a half-bun ponytail of sorts. The tendrils reached down to her waist.

The young girl stopped walking and stood beside the knight. "I told you I'd make it, Peebles."

The woman turned to the girl, revealing a face with a soft expression. She smiled slightly. "I still don't understand why you've given me all these nicknames when they don't even make sense," she chuckled.

"PB for Princess Bonnibel!" The girl beamed. "Or Princess Bubblegum. Peebles, Poibles, and P-Bubs are all just spin-offs." She nudged the knight with her shoulder. "It's unfair if I'm the only princess."

"But the only true princess here," Bubblegum murmured, reaching up and adjusting the blonde girl's crown, "is you, Fionna."

Fionna playfully smacked her hand away and smirked. "Whatever, I'm still gonna call you PB, I've been doing it for way too long."

Bubblegum stood straight once more and faced forward, eyeing the large doors in front of them. Fionna followed her gaze and watched as two guards began to swing them open. Sunlight beamed in through the doorway, causing Fionna to close her eyes. When she blinked them open, a crowd of candy people greeted her, cheering for their princess.

Fionna stood close by Bubblegum as she led her outside and onto the platform. As they walked, Bubblegum whispered to the princess, "Have you decided to not wear your headdress this morning?"

A sudden panic ran through Fionna. Quickly, she brought her hands up to her head and patted around, feeling only her hair. She then touched the area around her neck, sighing in relief when she felt the familiar sheer fabric. Carefully, Fionna reached up and pulled the scarf-hat up and over her head to rest behind her crown. Two rabbit ears bounced comfortably on either side of her head and two sheer tails of fabric laced over her arms. When she was comfortable, she realized she and Bubblegum had both stopped walking, and the crowd had gone silent. She smiled sheepishly.

"Good day, citizens of the Candy Kingdom!" Bubblegum's voice rang out. "Today we gather to celebrate the kingdom's achievement of our highest level of security and prosperity of all time!"

The crowd began an uproarious cheer as Bubblegum paused. When they quieted down, she continued. "We are happy to announce the appointment of new guards who are more than willing to protect the kingdom, as well as our beloved princess." Bubblegum gestured to the side opposite Fionna as four armored candy folk stepped forward. The crowd clapped in congratulations before they stepped back once more. "We are also accommodating more citizens than has ever been allowed in all of written history. We hope that on this day, all of the kingdom can come together in absolute peace to honor our achievements thus far. Let us rejoice!"

And with that, the crowd erupted into a fit of cheering. A chant began to build within: "Princess, princess, princess!" Fionna felt herself blush as she smiled.

Another moment passed as Bubblegum sent the guards to their stations and dismissed the candy people. Fionna then followed her back into the castle, the large doors closing behind them and the sunlight slipping away once more. The princess sighed and slouched her shoulders.

"See, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" Bubblegum teased as they turned into the hallway.

"That's because you did all the talking and junk!" Fionna groaned. "If I had said anything it would have been dumb. I don't even know why I was there anyway…"

Bubblegum chuckled. "You are the icon of the people. Everyone looks up to you." When she saw the princess shake her head in disbelief, she stopped walking. "Fionna."

The blonde girl stopped and turned to face her knight, who looked at her with a solemn smile. "You are the princess," she said softly. "You give the kingdom hope, as well as hold the very foundation on which it is built." Bubblegum then gently rested a gloved hand on her shoulder. "I, we, all care very much about you."

The blush that would have settled in Fionna's cheeks stayed in her stomach, making her feel uneasy. She slowly pulled away from Bubblegum's grasp. "Thanks PB," she muttered, turning around. "I can get back to my room by myself." Fionna then began walking down the hallway and back up the stairs, holding on tightly to her headdress the whole way.

The chill of wintry air sat stagnant in the room of a high, ice-covered tower. Inside the room, a woman rested quietly in her chair, examining the contents of a suitcase that sat on her lap. She sighed as she picked up one of the items: an old VHS tape, much older than the rest that filled the case. There was an agonizing silence as she found herself growing angry. After a moment, she threw the tape back into the case and slammed it shut. "Evil," she murmured, feeling a tear rest on the corner of her eye. "EVIL!"

At that moment a wide-eyed feline rushed into the room on all fours. "Ice Queen is everything alright?"

"No, NOTHING is alright!" The queen screeched, jumping to her feet with the suitcase at her side. Her long white hair seemed to bristle with fury. "These tapes are evil, they need to be buried, gone forever, never seen again—!"

Ice Queen's words were cut short by a soft buzzing sound. She looked down to see the spotted cat looking up at her with pleading eyes, her tail swishing back and forth. Reluctantly, Ice Queen let the air out of her lungs mid-breath and slouched. She relaxed back into her chair half-heartedly and waited as the feline leapt onto her lap and settled. "Calm."

A grumble began in the mage's throat, but the cat's tail whipped up to cover her mouth before she could even speak. "Ah ah ah," she scolded. "I said calm."

The Ice Queen sighed, pulling the suitcase up and holding it out in front of her and the cat. "I want you to get rid of this," she hissed. "Make sure no one can ever find them, destroy them if you must. I never want them in my sight ever again!"

Unexpectedly, the cat reached an arm up and extended it, stretching and wrapping it around the case tightly and pulling it out of the queen's grasp. "What's in it?" she mused, shaking it slightly.

"Nothing! Nothing of yours or anyone's concern."

The cat frowned and leapt off the mage's lap and onto the floor, suitcase still in tow. "How soon?" she asked, moving the case back to carry it with her tail.

"As soon as possible. And as far away as possible, even as far as the grasslands." The queen's long eyebrows sharpened at the last word.

The feline looked stunned. "The grasslands? I've never even really explored that region—"

"Cake." The Ice Queen eyed the cat menacingly. "I want them as good as gone as soon as possible. Can you, or can't you?!"

Cake frowned and turned to the tower window, stretching a hand out to grab it. "I should be back by sundown." And with that the feline was gone.