Enjoy this (kinda long) Oneshot!
Something was up. Mario didn't know what, Luigi didn't know what, Peach didn't know what. But something was up. Every day for the past few days, at about 5pm, Toadsworth, Barry, Toad, Ivan, and Toadette would leave the castle together. No one knew where they went. Peach finally decided to ask Toadsworth about it.
"Hey Toadsworth?"
"Yes, Princess?"
"Where do you and the others go at 5pm?"
"What do you mean?"
"At 5, where do you, Barry, Ivan, Toad and Toadette go?"
"I do apologize but I believe that is nothing of your concern."
Peach was shocked. Toadsworth told her everything! It wasn't like him to keep secrets from her. She knew she could always order him to tell, but she and Toadsworth had a level of respect for each other that she worried would be jeopardized. I just have to know! She thought to herself. That evening, at 5pm, she slowly stalked the group, trying to listen to what they were saying.
"Gentlemen, and Lady, I do believe we need to be more cautious when we do this. The Princess asked about our gathering today, we mustn't let her or Masters Mario and Luigi know about it!"
They all gave slow nods as they walked into Toadette's house, door locking behind them.
What are they up to? That's it, I must know! But how do I get in? She pondered her options. Bingo!
Early the next morning, Peach showed up on Mario's doorstep, shopping bag in hand.
*Knock Knock*
"Ah, Princess Peach!" Mario had answered the door. "Come in! Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yes, there is. You are the only one I can trust with this. Do you know how some of the toads in the castle have been meeting in the evening?"
"Yeah, kinda weird isn't it?"
"Well, I asked Toadsworth about it and he said it didn't concern me."
"That's strange."
"I know! Toadsworth never keeps secrets from me! So I followed them to Toadette's house and overheard them saying we can't know about it. You know me, that just makes me want to know about it more!"
"Where are you going with this?"
"Mario, hit me."
"WHAT?"
"Hit me!"
"Now why would I do that?"
"I need to be small, Please Mario, hit me! I'll explain afterward." She knew that wouldn't cut it, so Peach put on her best puppy dog eyes to top it off.
"Oh alright." He grabbed his spare hammer off of the shelf, and with a big whack, smacked the girl with the puppy dog eyes.
"Ow! Thank you!" The princess said, now about 3 foot tall, with a higher voice to match. "Now, let me go change in your bathroom, I'll be right back."
She scurried off to the bathroom with her shopping bag. Mario knew this would take a while so he passed the time with his 3DS, intent on hatching a shiny Helioptile. After thirty minutes (and still no shiny) the bathroom door opened.
Out stepped what looked like a toad. On her head a yellow mushroom cap with white spots, matching hair ties on the end of her two blonde braids. "What do you think?"
Mario was speechless
"I figured if they wouldn't tell me as the Princess, they might tell me as a toad! Brilliant, huh?"
Mario still said nothing.
"Oop, got to go! See you later Mario!" She hurried out the door, headed for the castle.
Luigi had just woken up and came into the living room for morning coffee. "Good morning Mario. What's going on?"
He finally managed to form a sentence. "I have no idea."
Step one of her infiltration plan was in motion. "Excuse me? Are you Toadsworth?" She asked the brown spotted toad in front of her.
"Yes, how may I help you miss?"
He really doesn't recognize me! "Hi, my name is Persephone T. (Author note: I know a lot of people have trouble with this name. It is pronounced 'Per-sef-fuh-nee') I'm a friend of the Princess's. She's asked me here to deliver a message." She handed an envelope to Toadsworth. He read the letter inside.
'Dear Toadsworth,
I was contacted by Prince Peasley late last night on an urgent manner. I will be gone for the next few days. I have asked Persephone to deliver this message to you and help around the castle in my absence. Please go easy on her.
Signed,
Princess Peach Toadstool.'
"I see. Well Persephone, welcome to the castle staff! If you'll come with me."
The two walked down the hall to the wash room. "I will have you assist Miss Toadette. Miss Toadette!"
"Yes sir! What can I do for you?"
"This is Persephone, she has been asked to help out at the castle while the Princess is away. I will leave you in charge of her, please do take care!" Toadsworth turned and walked away.
"Hello Persephone, my name is Toadette! Nice to meet you!"
"Hello, What can I do to help?" Peach asked, somewhat eager to see what her staff did all day.
So the two went around the castle, cleaning dishes, dusting, replacing burnt out light bulbs, all the while chatting like old friends.
"Ok, the last thing we need to do is collect and wash the laundry. We'll get done faster if we split up, go to the west wing and collect all of the dirty laundry. Bring it back down to the wash room when you are done."
"Ok!" she hurried off, collecting various bits of laundry from the west side of the castle. I can't wait until 5pm, I must know what is such a big secret! Could it be that- "Eep!" As she walked around the corner, she saw a monstrous koopa searching the castle frantically. Bowser! What is he doing here?
The evil King saw the toad round the corner and confronted her. "WHERE IS THE PRINCESS!"
She ran. Whatdoidowhatdoidowhatdoido! Toadette will know! She ran down the stairs and made it to the washroom. Drat, she's not back yet!
Peach heard Bowser's humongous footsteps getting closer. She buried herself in her laundry basket just as he entered the room.
"Where'd you go to. I know you're in here!"
"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!" Toadette saw the Koopa King and was furious, his enormous feet had dragged mud all over the carpet.
"I-I was just going to kidnap the Princess."
"Well she's not here, she's out on official business, NOW SCRAM!"
"Y-y-yes ma'am!" Toadette was sure scary when she was mad. "Stupid koopa" She muttered, picking up a laundry basket and dumping it into the washer. She shut the door and set the timer.
An hour later Toadette looked up from her magazine and noticed the washer was done. "Where is Persephone?" She wondered, flipping the switch on the front of the machine to 'dry'. "She must've gotten lost. Better go look for her." She waltzed out of the room, in search of her new friend.
She looked everywhere, the West wing, the East wing, the grounds. Persephone was nowhere to be found. Toadette finally gave up her search and came back to fold laundry, she placed the hot pile of clothing on the counter and got to work. Suddenly it started to move. "OHMIGOSH!" She screamed. Out of the clothes popped her toad recruit. "PERSEPHONE! What the! Were you in the dryer?!"
"The washer too-HIC!" Bubbles flew from her mouth "... It dumped all of the soap in my mouth." She said, passing out.
Peach woke up on a couch. "Ooh, where am I?"
"You're at my house." Toadette said, getting up from her meeting.
"We heard you got washed." Ivan smirked. "Rough first day, huh? At least you got some clean clothes out of the deal."
"I guess." She suddenly remembered her mission. "Hey, what are you guys doing?"
Silence filled the room. Glances were exchanged. The five rushed back to the table.
"Should we tell her?" Toad whispered.
"I don't know if we can trust her. Peach sent her." Barry pointed out.
"Don't worry guys, she's ok." Toadette vouched.
"I still don't quite trust her."
Toadsworth turned to Persephone. "If you wish to know, you have to help us achieve our goal."
What goal? She didn't like where this was headed, but she had already come this far. "Ok."
"First off." Barry started. "When do you think the Princess will be back?"
Great, when will 'I' be back? How long do I want to keep this up? "Uhhh, Friday."
"Magnificent! That give us about a week." Toadsworth said.
"Now, It's a secret to everyone, so don't go blabbing!" Toadette had confidence in her new friend.
Yes! "Ok, I won't tell."
"Not even the readers?" Ivan asked.
She motioned a zipper over her lips.
Toad made a small smile. "Good, now here's the plan..."
The next day Peach was out at the grocery store, picking up large amounts of flour and eggs. As she reached for her 3rd 40lb bag of flour, a familiar face came around the corner.
"Hey, how goes your mission?" Mario asked.
"Excellent! They even asked me to help out!"
"Help out with what?"
Peach remained silent.
"Are you kidding me? You go on this super secret mission, and JOIN THEM?!"
"They made me promise not to tell. I promise it's nothing bad!"
"Unbelievable!" Mario groaned.
Another familiar face rounded the corner. "Hey bro, who is your friend here?"
"Believe it or not, this is-" Before Mario could finish, he received a swift kick to the shin.
She stuck out her hand. "Hello, My name is Persephone. You must be Luigi."
"Hello Persephone, nice to meet you." He turned to Mario. "Come on, bro, we need to get to the hardware store before they close.
"Ok. Bye 'Persephone'."
As the two walked away, Mario shot a glare back at the incognito princess, only to receive a stuck out tongue in return.
The days flew by. Toadette let Persephone stay at her house, since she was 'far from home'. In the morning they would get up and head off to work, going through the motions but having fun together all the while. After work, the two girls would meet up with the guys and discuss their plan to-
"HEY!" Peach spoke to the sky. "Don't go telling!" Uh... sorry.
They discussed their plans. Where they needed to be, what supplies they needed. Come Thursday, they were ready to execute the plan. At 5pm, they met in the castle's kitchen.
"Alright!" Toadsworth announced "Let's get started!" The team went to work. Barry, Toad, and Ivan mixed the ingredients while Persephone and Toadette worked on the icing. A few hours later they had a masterpiece. They wheeled it into the foyer and covered it, ready for tomorrow.
Peach was satisfied with their work. Sure it was meant for her, but hey, it was fun being a part of it. Alright, you have one more thing to do. She thought to herself, but she was beat. The two toad girls retired to their beds, ready for the surprise tomorrow.
It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, birds were chirping. Peach was glad to be enjoying such a wonderful day. She walked over to the Mario's house. Though the toads thought she went to the airport to pick up the Princess. She had fun hanging out with them the past week. It was a different dynamic, being a friend without needing to maintain the image of a Princess. There were a lot more things she could get away with, for once she had a sleepover at someone else's house!
She knocked on their door. "Ready to spill the beans?" Mario said, seeing the person on his doorstep.
"I'd rather show you. If you will excuse me." She walked to the bathroom and changed back into her dress. I'd better keep these. She thought, looking at the toad costume she had worn for the past week. She reached into her bag and pulled out a Super Mushroom, absorbing it's power, she returned to her original height.
Coming out of the bathroom, she clumsily tripped and fell. She had been half of her current height for the past week, she had to readjust. Luigi finally woke up and again went for his morning coffee. "Good morning Mario, Good morning Princess Peach."
"Get ready to go Luigi, the toads at the castle have a surprise for us."
The trio walked into the castle, the Princess pretending to be clueless. The foyer was pitch black, Mario fumbled for a lightswitch.
The lights came on to reveal a party, snacks and ice cream on a table in the back. A banner hung from the ceiling, reading 'Happy anniversary!' In the middle of the room was a giant cake.
"SURPRISE!" the five toads screamed.
"Oh my gosh! What is all of this?" Luigi said, stunned.
"Well, on this day ten years ago, you and Master Mario first met and rescued the Princess."
"Mama-mia, it's been ten years?" Mario said, also stunned.
"We all figured we'd throw a surprise party for you!" Toadette exclaimed. She looked around and a confusing look crossed her face. "Where's Persephone?"
"Did you check the washer?" Toad and Barry snickered.
"Well, uh." Peach scrambled for an answer. "On our way up here, she got a call about a family emergency. She told me to say goodbye for her."
"Oh, ok." Toadette sure was saddened by this. She had just made a friend and now she wasn't sure when she would see her again.
So the party continued, Peach and Mario danced while Luigi and Toadsworth conversed over the punch bowl. All in all everyone was having fun.
The next day, Princess Peach sat at her desk, reviewing recent census information. She looked up to notice someone at her door.
"Toadette, please come in! What can I do for you?"
"Well, I have a small favor to ask of you. Could you give this to Persephone for us please." She set a small envelope on the table, a blue bubble design adorned the front.
"Ok, I will make sure she gets it."
"Thank you!" Toadette was glad she was able to get her letter on its way. As she left, Peach opened the letter. Written inside were thank yous and goodbyes from all of her friends. The last one really struck her.
'Dear Persephone,
First off, if I haven't said it enough, I wanted to apologize for the washer incident. More importantly, however, I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for the help around the castle, thank you for helping pull off our little surprise party.'
A single tear crawled its way down Peach's face as she read the last sentence.
'Thank you for being such a wonderful friend.'
Ack! The Feels!
I do hope you enjoyed the story! Perhaps Persephone will return someday?