Vanellope gently shut the door to her room and slowly sunk to the floor, feeling more exhausted than she had in days. Which was really saying something.

If it wasn't enough that Taffyta decided to have a full-blown meltdown in her own arms, everyone else would want to know what the hay was going on. "Programmers, what do I even tell them? Uh, sorry, but Taffyta went insane and you can all go home now!"

She tried to have a giggle at that, but she knew that it wasn't funny.

She's not insane. She's sad over how she treated ya for so long. she reasoned with herself. It sort of made sense and it certainly proved that the strawberry racer had a good heart to be so distraught over it, but something about it still bothered her.

"Not that they're not upset too… but no one else is that upset," Vanellope muttered as she slowly walked back toward the throne room. "Are they?!"

The thought had crossed her mind a few times. The way they stared at her with guilty expressions plastered on their faces. Now that she really thought about it, the idea maybe wasn't so crazy.

Shaking her head of those thoughts, she slowly stood up and started to make her slow trek back to the throne room. As she neared it, the unmistakable voices of the other racers echoed into the halls while they continued to argue.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered and put on a bright fake smile before revealing herself.

"Yo!"

Everyone stopped talking and looked at her expectantly. It was a rare moment in silence from the other racers which sent shivers up Vanellope's spine.

"So she's fine now and sleeping."

Several racers stuck their hands on their hips and gave the president a rather curious look. Candlehead, an unusually shy racer, took the lead. "How did she end up like that?"

Vanellope started toying with her fingers, finding them very curious. "Um, well you see-"

Before she could even formulate a response, one of the boys stepped forward. It was Rancis Fluggerbutter, a cocky little racer that often had a bad attitude with others. He wore a peanut butter cup themed hat and chocolate colored suit. He cleared his throat and spoke over her. "Can we see her?!"

Vanellope was going to point out how rude it was to interrupt, but the boy was wringing his hat in his arms rather nervously. Looking at her with a wide, hopeful stare. Her face softened and she shrugged.

"If you want, my uh, my room is just down the hall," she said and several racers blew right past her. She quickly spun around and gave one last shout, "Be quiet, she's asleep, okay!"

Several gave her a thumbs up and she sighed. Glancing behind her, she noted that some of the racers decided to stick behind, Candlehead was still waiting for a reply.

"Well? What happened?"

Don't be rude, don't be rude. You're their leader, she's not Ralph, she reminded herself. "Look, Candlehead, I'm not sure how much I should say."

"Oh? And why not? She's our friend, we have a right to know if someone's hurting her!" she argued.

It was a fair point and Vanellope slowly nodded. "It's just… well, she…" Vanellope trailed off, trying to think of the right words. Glancing back to the distraught racer, she noted tears brimming in her eyes.

"Is this about how sh- no, we used to bully you? I- I'm rea- really sorry," she stuttered, on the verge of our right crying.

"What?! No! I- I mean sort of," she said and Candlehead gasped.

"W- we're re- really s- sorry! Please don't hurt Taffy!" the girl practically screamed, shaking in fear as she broke down crying.

Vanellope slowly lowered her hand down her face in an exaggerated manner. "You think I did that to her?!"

The often ditzy girl simply nodded as she continued to sniffle.

Vanellope felt hurt inside. Is that how they saw her? Some kind of monster ruler who was out to exact revenge. I'm not Turbo and that's not who I am! She took a deep breath and surprised Candlehead by leaning in for a hug.

"Listen to me very carefully. I'm not mad or upset at any of you, not even ol' Taffy Butt. I'd never do anything like that to any of you. I didn't do that to her… s- she did," Vanellope finally admitted as she let go of the hug.

Candlehead wiped away her tears and slowly nodded. "P- pinkies?" she offered, holding out her pinkie for the most sacred of swears, as far a bunch of candy themed children knew, anyway.

Vanellope giggled a bit and quickly cupped her hand and pinkie into Candlehead's in a very tight bond. "Pinkie Swear. I'm not… yuck, King Candy. I… I just don't know what to do about old Taffy Head," she said sadly. Candlehead gave her a slow nod and a rather long stare.

The girl sniffed one last time before speaking, "Wh- what did you mean that she did that to herself?"

Vanellope looked down, seemingly deep in thought before speaking. "Candlehead!"

"Yes?"

"You're one of Taffyta's best friends, right?"

The girl beamed and gave a very confident nod. "Of course. We always hang out. She can be friendly, once you get to know her you know…" she pointed out rather shyly.

"I'm sure she is, but has she been acting funny lately? Anything you noticed?"

"Well, I-"

"Doesn't take a genius to notice that, prez."

Both girls whipped around and spotted Crumbelina, apparently finished with her visit to see Taffyta.

Vanellope scratched her head and quirked a brow rather curiously "What do you mean by that?"

"Ever since the reset, Taffyta's been really, well? Let's just say not very Taffyta like," she exclaimed rather eloquently.

Vanellope glanced over to Candlehead for confirmation and she simply nodded.

"I don't think I understand."

Candlehead nervously fidgeted with her fingers before continuing. "When the game reset… we all felt so bad about how we treated you, Vanellope."

The president blanched. "But I forgave you all! I really did!"

The two racers glanced at one another before staring back at Vanellope. "We know that. But I don't think Taffyta knows."

Shock. That was all she could feel as she closed her eyes and tried to think up a quick solution. She had forgiven them. Even if Vanellope had to admit to herself that she barely knew any of them, that didn't mean she was angry. Maybe a bit sad, but never angry.

I bet Ralph would know what to do…

She always went to him for advice or even Felix and the others. Making up her mind, she turned back to Candlehead and grabbed her hands. "Candlehead, can you watch over Taffyta in case she wakes up. I need to go talk to someone."

The shy girl nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Anything for Taffy. But, who are you gonna see?"

The president smirked. "Just a friend."

It took Vanellope a little while longer than she would have liked just to leave her own game. The other racers had come back for a full explanation, but she wasn't willing to give it. It wasn't that she didn't want them to know, but she very much doubted Taffyta would want the information spread without her knowledge. It was a simple explanation and she was about to leave when the racers all yelled back at her.

"We want answers, president! Who's that stupid new racer ruining our game!" Rancis yelled.

"You still didn't tell us how Taffyta got like that! Hiding something, president?!"

Vanellope groaned. "No, I-"

"Did ya punish Taffyta for being a bully to you?!"

Vanellope scowled and started to back up, but she was surprised to find Candlehead stepping between them all and Vanellope. "Vanellope would never do such a thing. I… I thought she might have, but if she said she didn't then I believe her. She's going out to get Taffyta some help, right?" she asked, glancing behind her.

Vanellope gave a hesitant nod.

"I want to know what happened as much as all of you, but not if it means betraying Taffyta's trust. That's not what friends do, Rancis," she exclaimed and wagged her finger at him like a mother would scolding a child.

The normally bratty boy looked down and started nervously shuffling his feet.

"Thank you," Vanellope whispered to Candlehead. The silly girl smiled and gave a quick thumbs up.

Right before leaving, the president addressed everyone. "Look, like she said I just want to help her. I didn't hurt her and I would never punish any of you like that," she exclaimed. The others looked rather uncertain so she continued. "I mean, where's the originality. I could stuff ya in hardening fudge or maybe toss ya into the Fungeon for a while," she said, counting off the potential punishments as everyone's eyes widened in surprise. "Maybe make ya clean everyone's karts for a month, oh that one sounds fun!"

Candlehead was waving her arms and shaking her head as if to tell her please stop.

"Oh c'mon. I'm just joking!" she argued. There were a few chuckles, but they were half-hearted at best. "Arg. Sorry, bad time for jokes. But like I've said before: I'm not King candy. I…" I just wish you would all stop thinking of me like him. Was what she wanted to say. "I… nevermind. I already said it. I'm not him. You're all welcome to stay in the castle for as long as it takes for her to get better. But I need to go speak to a friend."

Rancis surprised her by stepping forward. "Thanks, Vanellope. Uh, sorry about earlier…" he mumbled while rubbing the side of his arm.

"No worries, Flubber Boy. I'll be back!" she exclaimed and quickly darted outside.

It didn't take her long to reach the exit and soon she was riding the trolley back into Game Central Station. A few moments later and she had boarded the trolly back into Fix-It Felix, Jr. Her exhaustion from earlier was long gone, which really surprised her. Guess I'm wired, she thought with a little giggle.

She hopped off the tram and stumbled forward a few steps, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "Maybe I need sleep after this after all…" she mumbled, suddenly feeling pretty tired. Apparently, the adrenalin of looking after Taffyta was wearing off.

Glancing around, she noted that Ralph was nowhere to be seen. She checked his relatively tiny home, a place which his new friends help construct but found no one was home. Groaning, she figured her best bet would be asking the Nicelanders.

"I can't just bug Felix again. I guess I can just choose a random door…" she said, deep in thought.

She had really only been outside her own game a few times in her whole life. As such, she didn't exactly know everyone on a personal level yet. She stepped into the apartment complex and glanced around. There were so many doors to choose from, and that was just on the first level! He fingers danced around in a makeshift game of Eeny Meeny though eventually she just decided on the first one.

Hesitantly, she reached out and knocked.

"Coming!" A cheerful high-pitched voice exclaimed from the other side. The door quickly opened, revealing a plump and short looking woman donning a pink blouse and dress. She looked around for a second, her head moving in a rather archaic style, given her 8-bit roots before finally looking up at Vanellope.

"Oh, hello there. V… Vanellope, right?"

"Yep, that's me! Um…" she trailed off rather awkwardly, not really sure just who she was even talking to.

"Oh don't be shy dearie. I know you're new around here. My name is Mary," she explained and soon the two had shaken on it.

"Nice to meet you! I'm really sorry to bother you this late," she said, her hand hanging behind her back.

"Oh no bother at all. Was just baking some pies. Ralph was right about you, very polite."

Ralph said that about me? Me?! Polite? Yuck! she thought. On the outside, however, she blushed, giving a rather shy smile. "R- really? I was wondering if you knew where the ol' bar- um, wrecker, was?"

"Hmm, I if I remember right, he'd be over at his Bad Anon group tonight. It should be getting out soon, though."

The girl smacked her face. "Oh doy! Of course, he's there. I better go catch him, thanks a lot!" she exclaimed and started to glitch away.

"No worries, dearie. Give my best to Ralph!" Mary said while waving.

It was quite the trek to get over to Pac Man. Not too daunting, but at that point, the president was running on fumes as far as energy went.

"M- must find Ralph," she repeated over and over, like a zombie. After ten full minutes of walking, she rounded a corner in game central and there it was, Pac Man. She took a few steps forward and collapsed on the file floor, leaning against a wall parallel to the exit.

"J- just rest my eyes," she mumbled as they dropped dangerously low.

"HEY KID!"

Vanellope jumped ten feet in the air, glitching in every which direction before settling on the floor. She panted and breathed while clutching her heart in surprise. "R- Ralph! What the hay was that for?!"

The man himself wiped his nose and shrugged. "Sorry, kid. Though it tends to happen when you take a nap out in the middle of nowhere. What's that about?"

She groaned and rubbed her eyes. "I'm super exhausted, ya big mouth. That's what…" she said, trailing off and as if to make her point, letting loose a huge screeching yawn.

"Yeah, I can see that. Need a ride?" he asked, offering her a hand.

Oh, Ralph… She smiled and glitched up to his shoulder before taking a seat, using the thing as a makeshift sofa. "Lead the way, stink breath!"

"Right," he said and started making his way out of the little alley. "How ya been, ya little munchkin?"

She yawned again and sighed. "Not amazing, kind of a long story. You?"

"Never better, actually. You okay though?"

Vanellope sighed again and started delving into the story of the mystery racer, dragging Felix away from Calhoun to repair all the karts and Taffyta's not so little breakdown. All the while Ralph remained stoic and silent, listening and nodding occasionally.

"And everyone's upset at me and I dunno what to do about Taffy Brain or this stupid mystery girl and I can't just keep dragging Bob the Builder over for every race and I'm sort of starting to freak out," she stated, her left eye twitching occasionally.

"Woah, calm down there, little pixie." Her body glitched around a few times until she finally settled on top of his head, panting in exhaustion.

"What do I do, Ralph?"

He picked her up and looked her in the eye. "You do know my day job is wrecking a giant building, right?"

"And I'm a racer, what part of that qualifies me to lead an entire kingdom made of candy?!" she asked, her voice raising a few notches higher than she would have liked.

"Fair point, kid. I guess let's start with the mystery racer and go from there?"

Vanellope groaned, slumping in his hand and looking rather defeated. "Kind of hard to do anything about that when no one knows where she lives. She's like a super speedy ninja or something!"

Ralph shrugged. "Someone's got to know. Sugar Rush is huge, and you rule over how many candy citizens?"

She shrugged. "Hundreds I guess. You want me to talk to each one, like some sorta criminal investigator?"

"No, just make an announcement after a race or something. Looking for where the mystery racer lives, any information come to the castle! Reward!"

She snorted as they continued down Game Central. "I may be the president, but I'm not made of gold coins!"

"Well think of something, prez. It can't be that hard."

She nodded and glitched back over to his head before slowly resting over it. "Good as plan as any…" she said rather sleepily.

"She that exhausting?"

"The stupid mystery racer's a menace, Ralphie Boy. Hard to keep up with her on the tracks."

Ralph shook his head. "Wasn't talking about her."

"Oh… oh. You should have seen her, Ralph. She… she was a mess."

"Yeah, well, from what I understand, Taffyta was probably the meanest of the bunch to ya. No wonder she's a nervous wreck now… little brat," he said, a sour look on his face.

"Ralph! Don't call her a brat. She… she's not that bad. Kind of nice, at least she was tonight… sort of," she muttered. "Ralph? S- she tried to hurt herself. She…" Vanellope trailed off as she hiccuped. Her eyes grew misty as the events came spilling out into her mind.

Thinking fast, the wrecker patted her on the back, making sure she was alright.

The big man sighed. "She'll have to convince me of that. You'll excuse me if I'm not buying it from ya, though. She was practically King Candy's little pet!"

Vanellope slapped his face, though in her current state it came out as a laughable and very painless brush of her hand. "She's not his pet…"

"Maybe not now considering how he burned up in a freakin' volcano."

Vanellope shivered from his statement. "Don't wanna think about that…"

"O- oh… sorry, kid."

"S'kay," she mumbled.

Just rest my eyes… Ralph has a comfy head, she thought happily.

They continued to walk for a little bit. The constant rhythm of Ralph's steps lulling her to sleep and suddenly her problems seems a million miles away.

"Uh, kid? Did you fall asleep?" he asked, poking her in the face rather gently.

It all came back like a jolt of electricity. Taffyta, the mystery racer, the mistrust of her fellow racers. All of it washed over her mind like a sudden virus and suddenly things didn't feel so comfortable. She groaned and opened her eyes, looking around in confusion.

"How long was I out?"

The man chuckled and took a seat just outside of his home, his cargo still smacking her lips and yawning.

"Three minutes?"

She smiled. "Sounds like a good nap, pillow head."

"Pillow head? You better watch it or we'll see who's a better pillow, sleepy head."

She chuckled, but slowly realization donned on her. "What am I gonna do, Ralph?" she repeated in a whining tone.

He sighed. "Look kid. Maybe I don't trust Taffyta, but you clearly do. You gotta talk to her about this and maybe even get her friends involved. Those little children of the candy corn might be brats, but I bet they're worried about her too."

"They are worried," she said and repositioned herself to get more comfortable on his freakishly large head. "I don't think they like me very much, though."

"Ah, c'mon. This again? Who doesn't like a brat with dirty hair?"

She snorted. "Them, apparently."

"Hey now. Who's idea was it to change the random roster race to be fairer?"

At that, she smiled slightly. It was one of her first declarations as "president". No more golden entry coins which meant anyone could race.

"Me."

"That's right. That's gotta help and I'm sure you're exaggerating anyway. You're their princess."

"President," she corrected and he simply shrugged. "...Maybe I am overreacting, barf breath. I don't know."

Ralph was about to send her off, but he noted that she didn't even budge from his head. Shaking his head in bewilderment, he stood up and started walking back into Game Central.

They walked like that for a while with Vanellope drifting in and out of sleep, only vaguely aware of where they were heading. It took her all of three minutes to notice that they were walking down onto the rainbow bridge, the entry and exit way into Sugar Rush.

"B.. but, don't you wanna hang out?" she mumbled sleepily.

He smiled. "Any other time I'd love to hang out with ya. You're my buddy and my best friend," Ralph said. Her sleepy smile couldn't be any wider. "But I think a certain president hasn't been getting much sleep, hmm?"

She moaned. "Nah s- sleepy…"

"Uh huh, sure…"

She tried to protest more, but it was getting more and more difficult to remember just what she was complaining about. Sleep felt good and it suddenly felt even better when the warm embrace of a blanket seemed to envelop her entire body. Soon whoever had done that seemed to walk off and all Vanellope could hear was one other person breathing in and out and the soft aroma of root beer.

"Sleep well, kids."

I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support. Everyone in this little fandom is very understanding and helpful. Comments, criticism, ideas or reviews are always welcome. If any writers of WiR wish to join a Discord server of mine for just that (text only), then please send me a PM for details on getting invited. We're small but growing.