(A/N: It's amazing how much has happened since this story began. But we have no time for discussing that, because it's time to start Chapter 4!)
A half-hour later, the Broodals parked their airship outside of Peach's Castle in the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Wow, look at this! We've landed right outside my castle!" Peach exclaimed, recognizing where they were.
"This is where you live, Peach?" Hariet asked in amazement.
"Well, I am a princess, so the fact that I live in a castle is not all that surprising when you think about it." Peach reminded her.
"I was referring to the appearance of the castle. I like it." Hariet corrected.
"It looks nice." Rango commented.
"Thank you. I've always thought so." Peach smiled.
The group disembarked the airship and made their way to the front gates and into the castle.
Peach's guards were pleased to see that their princess had returned, but when they saw the Broodals, they tensed and were ready to attack, but Peach stopped them in the nick of time.
"Let them off. They saved me from Bowser." Peach informed them.
The guards were surprised that these rabbits saved Peach, because saving her was usually Mario's (and sometimes Luigi's) job. Still, they decided to let the Broodals go, sensing that the princess was telling the truth. They knew that their princess was an honest woman, and not one to lie to them.
When Peach got to the kitchen, she removed her gloves, washed her hands thoroughly, and tied on her apron. Toad and Toadette were there, and they told Peach that they had the book open to the correct recipe, and they had already gotten out the ingredients and the supplies she was going to need.
"Did you really? Thank you so much!" Peach smiled. She read the recipe and went right to work. The Broodals decided to help out by preheating the oven and getting the cake pan prepared. That allowed Peach to work on mixing the ingredients. When they were all mixed, the princess put the mix in the cake pan, put it in the oven, set the timer, and allowed the Broodals to lick the bowl, the beaters, and the scraper. They really liked that!
As the cake baked, Peach washed the supplies while the Broodals sat at the table in the castle's dining hall, daydreaming about eating that cake when it was ready.
"I bet it's going to be really good..." said Hariet.
"It ought to be. I hope that mustached man Peach likes was telling the truth." Rango said.
"I'm almost sure he was. He was looking into our eyes when he told us, the way the Princess did when she told us about the boss and how awful he was." Spewart reminded them.
Then they heard Topper's smartphone ringing. Topper pulled out his smartphone and looked at the screen. Oh no! Bowser's cell number was on the Caller ID! Topper gulped nervously, but he answered Bowser's call.
"Hello, boss?" Topper asked in a quiet voice.
"Yes, it's me, and I'm curious. You see, I'm at the Seaside Kingdom right now, but I don't see you and your friends, and it looks to me like Glass Tower is still full of Sparkling Water! Where the heck are you, and why didn't you get the Sparkle Water yet?!" Bowser asked, sounding angry.
"First of all, we're siblings, and secondly, we're on our way to da Luncheon Kingdom to get lots of Stupendous Stew for da wedding." Topper lied.
"You're not supposed to go there until after you get me the Sparkle Water for the wedding toast." Bowser reminded him.
"Don't worry, boss; we got plenty of Sparkle Water from dat giant glass, but it must have filled right back up again. We're going to take da stuff to da wedding venue after we get da stew." Topper lied right through his teeth.
"Oh, all right, then. I'll see you around." said Bowser, sounding a little less unhappy. He ended the call after that.
"Good lie." Spewart said as Topper ended the call and put his phone away.
"I had to tell him something, and it couldn't be da truth." Topper replied.
"Imagine if he knew that the Princess told us that he doesn't really love her and was planning to kill her, and that we believe she was telling us the truth. He'd probably get so angry that he'd kill us instead of her, and when he did, he'd turn us into some warm fur cap to wear next winter." Hariet said with a shudder.
That very thought made the Broodals go pale under their fur.
"I sure don't want that to happen..." Rango said, and his brothers nodded in agreement.
A while later, the timer went off, so Peach took the cake out of the oven, and she pricked with a toothpick and it came out clean.
"It's done." Peach said to the Broodals, who sprinted into the kitchen upon hearing that. There was the cake, sitting on the cooling rack.
"Oh, that carrot cake looks as good as it smells." said Hariet, her mouth watering as she looked at the cake.
"It does indeed. Though I think it'll look a lot better once I frost it." Peach replied.
"I bet it'll taste just as good, too." Spewart said.
"Maybe it will. But you can't eat it just yet. It has to cool first, and when it's cool, I have to frost it. Then you can eat it." Peach said.
"We're prepared to wait as long as we have to." Topper said.
"We've waited this long. We'll do our best to hold out a little longer." said Rango.
While the cake cooled, Peach made the cream cheese frosting for the cake. This time, she let Toad and Toadette (who brought her crown to her when she finished washing the dishes) lick the beaters. The bowl, however, would have to wait until she could frost the cake.
Because the cake was not yet cool, Peach decided to head on up to her room to get her pink smartphone and have a talk with Mario, who had just finished up fixing what Bowser had wrecked at the Seaside Kingdom.
"I'm thinking of heading back to the Mushroom Kingdom now, since I don't need to save you from Bowser anymore. I'm guessing my adventure is officially over. I'm also bringing Cappy with me, since he needs to see his sister." Mario said.
"Okay. But I'm going to tell you right now that since you got through to the Broodals so I could ask them to help me get away from a fate I didn't deserve, you still deserve a reward from me." Peach said.
"I do? Sei sicuro? Are you sure?" Mario asked, faintly surprised.
"Yes, Mario. I'm sure you do. So when you get back, come to the castle and collect your reward." Peach said.
"What is my reward, Peach?" Mario asked.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out." Peach replied mysteriously.
"Does that mean I'm going to like it?" Mario asked, interested.
"You'll see." Peach told him.
Later, the cake had finally cooled, so Peach frosted it, and then she cut a good-sized slice for each of the Broodals (and Toad and Toadette happily licked the bowl clean).
"You're not going to have some of this carrot cake, Princess?" Rango asked as she set 4 plates of cake on the table.
"No, I decided that this cake is going to be just for you and your siblings to enjoy." Peach promised. She had learned that the Broodals were siblings during the ride back to her castle.
So the Broodals all tried the cake at the same time. Their eyes popped out like ping-pong balls, but they appeared right back in their heads after they swallowed, and they looked really happy.
"Dat guy wasn't kidding! Dis carrot cake is amazing! It has got to beat dat Frost-Frosted Cake da boss made us steal by a long-shot!" Topper exclaimed.
"Best carrot cake we've ever had!" Spewart agreed.
"I don't know what the boss was thinking, not letting you bake a wedding cake. If he tried this, he'd have to admit that he was wrong!" Hariet said to Peach.
"No, he wouldn't want to eat even one slice of the cake because it wouldn't be galaxy-sized, like he wanted a while back." Peach said.
"He's crazy! This cake is so good that I want to eat it all day." said Rango, talking with his mouth full.
"Please don't talk with your mouth full. It's not polite." Peach said.
Rango swallowed and said, "Sorry, Your Highness."
"Did you mean it when you said this cake is for us?" Spewart asked.
"Yes." Peach said.
"We can take it home with us?" Hariet asked.
"Of course you can!" Peach smiled.
"Great! Madame Broode is gonna love dis cake!" Topper exclaimed.
"Madame Broode? Who is she?" Peach asked.
"She's our manager, but she's also like our mom in a way." Spewart explained.
(A/N: She does mention that you were rude to her 'darling Broodals' when you're about to take her on in the Underground Moon Caverns, so maybe she is their mom...)
"I just hope she won't be mad at you for ditching Bowser and helping me for carrot cake." Peach said.
"She won't complain about carrot cake, and she'll probably let us off easily if we tell her why we did what we did, and as long as our reason for making such a decision is good enough." Hariet said.
"If she finds out we saved a princess bride from being killed by her evil groom, she's not going to get mad. She'll be glad dat we did it." Topper decided.
"Okay, then. I'll help you pack up the rest of the cake to take home with you." Peach said.
"YAY!" the Broodals cheered.
A short time later, the Broodals left the castle with their carrot cake, and they also handed Peach their card while telling her, "If you and that mustached man decide to get married someday, we'll be glad to help plan the wedding if you want."
"I'll keep that in mind, but if I do call you for help, bear in mind that you're not going to be stealing anything for the wedding. That may be fine and dandy for Bowser, but certainly not for me." Peach said.
"We promise." the Broodals replied, one hand over their hearts and the other in the air. And they looked Peach in the eyes, a sign that they were telling the truth.
"Also, tell your man that we're sorry for all that we did. We didn't know that we were helping to plan a wedding that wasn't meant to be." Hariet said. She was feeling bad for telling Mario that he was uninvited, when he was only trying to save the princess from a fate she didn't deserve. They'd have to get to know the brides and grooms better before they helped plan weddings from now on.
"Okay. And thanks again for helping me." Peach smiled.
"Thank YOU for the delicious carrot cake!" said Rango.
Then the Broodals left for Rabbit Ridge, eager to share the carrot cake with their manager and figuring out how to carefully word what they had to tell her to avoid her 'going Gladys' on them.
How will Madame Broode react when she finds out what the Broodals did? Don't expect me to tell you anything... except to stay tuned if you want to find out!