Author's note:

Wow, a lot of people are curious about that purple shy-guy!

Don't worry; all will be revealed... eventually...


Later, on the same day as Yoshi's party…

"You know, Peach, I've always wondered how your curtains stay so nice and rip-free." Daisy added another stitch to the large piece of cloth with her tiny needle, "Do you really sit down like this after every Mario Party and stitch them back up?"

"Yes. Donkey Kong can never remember that curtains are for decoration, and not climbing." Peach replied, stitching the curtain up faster than a sewing machine, "Anyway, it's not like I have anything better to do; and all the toads can't sew. Or at least they can't without somebody pricking themselves and getting blood and tears all over the curtains."

"It's really amazing how much free time we have." Daisy observed, "Why, our kingdom's practically run themselves!"

"I find it a little strange," Peach started to patch up the hem, "but I suppose it's a good thing; with me being kidnapped so often. I think my father's forgotten how to run the kingdom…"

"Well at least you know your father! I haven't seen mine since…" Daisy paused, "I don't even remember when. I don't even remember him! In fact, I hardly even remember where I live! I guess it's a good thing I'm staying with you."

"Yes, I suppose it is a good thing." Peach rolled her eyes in a very un-princess-like manner. In mid roll, she happened to glance out the window that usually displayed the curtains they were mending, "Oh, look!" she dropped her needle into the folds of the curtain and stood at the window, "It's that purple shy-guy again!"

Daisy was instantly beside her, "And he still has that incredibly-fashionable yellow, polka-dot party hat with the plate of spaghetti on top! Let's go and ask where he got it!"

"Wait!" Peach caught the sleeve of Daisy's dress, "Remember what happened last time?"

"Um…"

"He ran screaming into the hills!" Peach reminded her.

"Oh, right…"

"This time, so as not to scare him with our royal presence," Peach went on airily, "we shall send Toadsmill after him instead. We can watch from the window and see how it goes." She rang her small, silver bell and Toadsmill came running.

"Yes, Your Highness?" he asked.

"Toadsmill," Peach motioned out the window at the purple shy-guy, "I would like for you to go out there and ask that purple shy-guy where he got his hat, the one with the spaghetti on top. Quickly, before he's gone!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Toadsmill saluted, and proceeded to throw himself out the window.

"Stop!" Peach caught him by his vest just before he collided with the glass, "Use the door!"

"Oh, uh, yes, Your Highness." The over-enthusiastic toad ran out of the room.

Moments later, the two princesses saw him racing down the road after the purple shy-guy.

"My, Toadsmill is fast!" Daisy exclaimed, "He ought to enter in the next Mushroom Kingdom Games!"

Peach watched as Toadsmill rapidly caught up with the purple shy-guy, "He's almost there. Oh, drat. They've gone behind that oddly-placed hedge."

"Whose idea was it to put a hedge right next to the road like that?" Daisy squinted, as if to see through the bush obstructing her view.

"This is Mushroom Kingdom; we have living, breathing clouds, maniacal turtles trying to take over the throne, and strange lines of bricks hanging in the air. How should I know why the hedge is there?" Peach snapped.

"Oh, look! He's coming back!" Daisy pointed, "Let's go out and meet him halfway!"

Curtains forgotten, the two of them ran out to meet the exhausted Toadsmill.

"Well?" Peach asked, "What did he say?"

Toadsmill looked hot, sweaty, and, over-all, miserable, "He didn't say."

"Why not?" Daisy asked.

"I don't know!" the toad wiped a hand across his forehead, "He took one look at me, screeched in fright, and sped off, plate of spaghetti and all, over a distant hill, leaving a cloud of dust behind him."

"Oh, mega koopas!" Daisy cried, "He ran away again!"

"Hm… it seems it wasn't our royal presence that scared him after all." Peach mused, "We'll have to try something else next time we see him."

"Like what?" Daisy asked.

"Hm…" Peach considered. She turned to Toadsmill, "Do we still have that go-kart left over from Mario Kart: Double Dash?"

"Um, yes, Your Majesty," Toadsmill, who had pretty much recovered from his run, cocked his head to the side, "Why?"

"Don't you worry about that," Peach patted his mushroom cap, "just have it ready to drive by tomorrow evening. Come, Daisy, we've got to finish mending those curtains; we can use them too."