They sped across the land at low altitude. Peach had been a passenger on some of the finest zeppelins in her kingdom or any other, but this craft was newly built and featured the latest in modern technology. There was only one small issue – or rather, a very large issue – that gave her cause for concern.

"I say," she asked the pilot, "does this ship have to have so many cannons?"

The pilot, a gray-skinned man with slicked-back black hair so gelled that it looked like a helmet, laughed.

"Of course it does! All the better to shoot things with, my dear. That's why they call me Bullet Bill."

"And what," Peach continued, flashing a sharp glance at Bowser, "would you need to shoot?"

Bowser returned her glare, his arms crossed over his chest. "The munitions are for show," he said. "It's good to let my kingdom know I have big guns."

"And who, precisely, is going to see these guns as they fly through the air?"

Bowser bared his teeth at her in a sneer. "Aren't you just full of questions, Princess?"

"If I'm to be taken on a tour of your kingdom, I think I have a right to comment on what I see," she retorted.

"The boss is just putting on a show for you, Your Highness," the pilot interjected. "There was no need to travel in this particular craft. He could have gone with something much smaller."

"I'll have no more of your impertinence," Bowser snapped.

Bullet Bill laughed. "Not that I blame him, of course. It's hard to resist playing with toys like this. There's nothing better in this world than to sail a streamlined state-of-the-art airship through the open skies, and canons only add to the pleasure. Just the other day we launched a few hot-air balloons for target practice – "

"It was a preliminary systems check," Bowser grumbled.

"There's no need to be modest!" Bullet Bill turned to Peach. "The boss is a great shot, why he – "

"SHUT YOUR INFERNAL MOUTH OR I WILL SHOOT YOU FROM A CANNON MYSELF."

Peach coughed lightly. "Perhaps you could decrease the speed," she said. "I'd like to go out on deck."

Without any of the grinding of gears that characterized the airships Peach was familiar with, the rush of the wind outside the cockpit fell to a brisk breeze. Peach pressed the button that released the latch on the door, which was fashioned out of a single plate of glass run through with fine brass wires shaped into marvelous patterns. It was a folly she would not have expected to see on a warship.

The glass slid open in a puff of steam, and Peach stepped out onto the polished wooden floorboards of the deck. She walked over to the railing, which was just as ornamented as the rest of the ship. The koopa were well known for their craftsmanship. She supposed that she shouldn't be so surprised by these small touches.

She crossed her arms and waited as Bowser clomped over to stand beside her. He did not seem to be capable of moving quietly.

"Do you at least like the ship?" he asked.

Peach hadn't expected this question. "What?"

"DO YOU, AT LEAST, LIKE – "

"No, no, I heard you." Peach waved him away. "The ship is a marvel, but you must forgive me for failing to appreciate it. Its existence comes as something of a shock."

Bowser exhaled impatiently and leaned on the railing, gesturing out over the ground below.

"Look down and tell me what you see," he said. "There's nothing there. Nothing."

"I wouldn't say that," Peach responded, but the landscape was fairly bleak. Instead of the green fields and sloping hills of her own territory, the lands of the Koopa Kingdom were harsh and covered in rocks and sand and volcanic heat vents.

"That's just because you were trained to be polite," Bowser retorted. "We've got mineral and oil deposits, but most are underground, and what's on top of them isn't pretty. We do what we can, but we still have to trade for most of our food."

"I know that," Peach snapped. "Tell me what this has to do with you having an armada."

"Well," Bowser rubbed the back of his neck, "it's a convenient way to travel, and..."

"And?"

"And each province in the kingdom has its own ruler. They're all related to me, which makes all of them candidates for succession to my throne. Wendy says she has no interest in that sort of thing, and I trust her, but some of the people in our family would be more than happy to see me dead."

Peach didn't respond. She had her own troubles. That's not something the king of the koopas needed to know, but the fact that he would confess his difficulties made her feel slightly more sympathetic toward him.

Bowser tapped his claws on the railing. "So I sometimes take the Royal Koopa Air Force out on parades, so people can see the airships."

"And you shoot things."

"And I shoot things."

"Is it fun?"

"Is it fun...?" Bowser looked incredulous. "Of course it's fun!"

Peach grinned. "Then I'd like to see a demonstration."