Fionna fell face-first into the comfort of her bed. She groaned loudly as she remembered the days events: cleaning out her wardrobe, practicing table manners, standing by as each and every guard was re-knighted by the new code—
"UGH!" The princess flipped over onto her back, spitting out a mouthful of blonde hair. She had been beyond bored the entire time, and itching for some sort of excitement, or at least a bit more movement. Without looking down, Fionna popped her heels out of her shoes and flung them onto the floor without a second thought.
"Oof!" A small voice and a hollow thud alerted Fionna, and she glanced over the side of her bed. By one of her shoes, a teal video-game console lay on its back, its arms and legs flailing.
"Oh glob!" Fionna immediately reached down and picked the console up and set it upright in front of her in a sitting position. "I'm so sorry BMO, I didn't know you were down there!"
BMO shook his entire body as a way of shaking his head. His screen blinked as a face appeared, smiling up at Fionna. "It's okay, Fionna," he mused in his broken up accent. "I was just wondering if you wanted to play a new game with me."
"Oh, yeah, totally," Fionna crossed her legs and watched as BMO opened one of his doors and pulled out a controller. He tossed it to Fionna and she caught it with ease. "So what kind of game is it?"
"A fighting game," BMO explained. "You must go on a quest to save your comrades and battle the evil Frost King and his minions."
"Heh, alright cool." Fionna smiled and listened as a familiar beeping noise melted into music. BMO's face soon blinked to give way to more color, and Fionna made out the image of an old man in blue with a large white beard. She laughed and began playing, beating snowmen into the ground and forgetting all about the stress that had built up during the day.
A good hour into the game, Fionna stifled a yawn. Her game then unexpectedly paused, and the screen returned to BMO's face. "Do you need to sleep, princess?"
At the sound of her title, Fionna's shoulders slouched. "N-nah, I'm good, let's keep playing."
"You look tired." BMO then stood on his feet. As he did this, the cord of the game controller recoiled and snapped the device back into its case. The console then shut the door.
Fionna blinked in disbelief. "What? It's not even really dark yet, I can stay up!" What may have convinced BMO was buried in another uncontrollable yawn.
The game console smiled. "I understand wanting to have fun for as long, as possible," he advised, "but you are the princess, and sleeping now means you can be wide awake tomorrow."
The uneasy feeling in Fionna's stomach immediately returned. She had been so at peace playing the game, she had almost forgotten the high place of power she was in. Just as BMO began moving toward the edge of the bed to climb down to the floor, Fionna stopped him.
"BMO, could I talk to you about something, before I sleep?" she pleaded. "It's starting to really bug me."
BMO took his seat once more. "Of course, Fionna."
"Well, it's just…" Fionna took a steady breath. "Lately, I've been wondering whether I'm really fit to be a princess." BMO face seemed to brighten in surprise, but the girl continued. "I just don't get all this fancy royal junk! I guess it's pretty rad having everyone look up to me, but it's a lot of pressure, and I don't feel like the right person for it." Fionna groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "And I don't even do that much, compared to Bonnie. I think I just need to get out of the castle more or something."
BMO remained silent. Her head still in her hands, Fionna murmured, "BMO, do you ever get lonely up here in the castle all day?"
A pause. "But you are here."
Fionna looked up from her hands. "Nah, I mean, when I'm not here playing games with you, doing princessy biz." She straightened her back. "Do you ever feel like you need a friend?"
A moment went by without a reply from BMO. Suddenly, he averted his gaze, and then shut off his screen. Fionna sighed, thinking that it was explanation enough. "Goodnight BMO, I'll see you in the morning." Face dark, he scrambled to the side of the bed and climbed down.
Fionna followed suit on the other side and made her way over to her closet. She quickly discarded her dress and put on pajamas, then placed her crown on the drawer and wrapped her hair up, tying her scarf-hat around it. Forgetting to brush her teeth, the princess made a trip around her room and turned off the lights, save for the weak twilight of the setting sun outside her window. She then crawled into bed and under the covers, yawning once more for good measure before quickly drifting off to sleep.
A purple tint seemed to settle across Ooo in low light. Cake squinted in the direction of the already-set sun as she traipsed through the forest, lashing her tail with the suitcase on her back. "Rats," she muttered. "It's sunset and I still have no clue where to hide this dang thing!"
In a moment, she had reached the end of the forest. Cake surveyed the land before her. Nothing but grassy hills and open plains met her eye. "The grasslands," she breathed. "Globbit all, how'm I supposed to hide anything here?"
As her gaze swept the landscape, her eyes seemed to land on a single tree. A thought came to her mind to bury it beside it or the like. Without a better option, she flattened her tail against her back to tighten her grip on the suitcase, and began sprinting toward it.
As Cake drew closer to the tree, she realized just how enormous it really was. The leaves and foliage hung down like drapes over its large branches, and its trunk and roots were as wide as a house. "Wow," she marveled, slowing down to take in the great sight. The twilight left it glowing pink for a moment before plunging into a starry darkness.
Cake examined the roots and crevices at the base of the tree. At one place, she spotted an opening just large enough for even the Ice Queen to walk comfortably through. The cat trotted over and slipped under the roots and into the trunk.
She was immediately greeted by blackness, but as her eyes adjusted, she could make out what was around her. She saw a boarded floor and walls, neatly applied and nailed to perfection. On one wall, she could make out a ladder, leading up and beyond the ceiling. "What the…" as Cake squinted at the fixture, she suddenly felt a looming presence over her. Slowing turning around, she saw a large, sharp-toothed smile and bright red eyes glaring through her own.
A loud shriek echoed through the room and Cake jumped up and back into the wall. The suitcase slid to the floor as her tail began to quiver and frizz in terror.
The creature's mouth opened and released a hearty laugh. With a snap, the room was lit by candlelight and the creature took the appearance of a teenage girl, her long black hair sweeping the floor where her feet did not touch. Her fangs gleamed as she smiled. "Hey pretty kitty."
Cake's heart was beating a mile a minute. Her eyes widened as she began to recognize the girl's features, her eyes landing on two red scars on her neck. "V-v-v," she stuttered, scrambling backward in fear.
The girl swooped down and around the feline. "Do you mean, vampire?" She punctuated her correction with a hiss, making Cake curl inward further. "Oh but not only that. The Vampire Queen."
Without a second thought, Cake jumped to all fours and made a dash for the exit, but the Vampire Queen snaked into her path, stopping her in her tracks. "You're trespassing," she stated simply, kneeling to stare directly at Cake with sharp, curious eyes. "I'll give you three seconds to say why."
"Suitcase," Cake breathed, her fear reaching its peak. She looked to where she had been moments ago, and stretched out an arm to slide the case in front of her. "I didn't mean to trespass, I swear I didn't know."
The vampire snatched the case out of Cake's grasp. She eyed it up and down, a smile creeping onto her lips. "How human," she murmured. "What, did you steal it from the princess?"
Cake's fear subsided to confusion. "Princess? What princess?"
The Vampire Queen rolled her eyes noticeably. She lounged in mid-air, resting the case on her torso. "You know, the princess of the Candy Kingdom, supposedly the last human, yadda yadda?" She chuckled. "Don't tell me you stole from her and didn't even realize who you were stealing from—"
"Hey, I ain't a thief," Cake asserted, but immediately recoiled. "I-I don't even know, who you're talking about."
Sighing, the Vampire Queen floated to the side, no longer blocking the exit. "Why don't you just get out of here, cat."
Cake made a start for the opening, but froze once she realized the case was no longer in her possession. She eyed the queen. "But—"
"I said LEAVE!" In an instant, the girl's face morphed into that of a hideous, bat-like beast, growling and angry. Shrieking, Cake burst through the opening and dashed straight for the Ice Kingdom.
