A/N: From about this point on, there will be characters from other Nintendo games making cameos! Try to see if you can identify who is who, and there will be a list at the very end of the story to say for fact which character is which.

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Diddy continued down the path, meeting another of the little orbs and using it to restore himself. He sighed to himself and stretched, curiosity peaked at the fork in the road. He noticed a small box sitting at the path straight ahead. He walked towards it, opening it to find a small glove sitting inside. He pulled it out, and stuffed it into the bag.

While doing so, he saw the pie and the events in the Ruins came back to him. He decided to place the pie in the box, if only to prevent himself from the guilt-tripping once more. And who knows? Maybe it'd become useful at some point.

Diddy continued down the road until he came across Dixie and her sister Tiny. The sister was much taller, but held the air of the younger sibling with her long blonde twin tails similar to Dixie's own single one. The two seemed to be having a conversation, the younger sister seeming very enthusiastic compared to how they were a few minutes prior. Dixie seemed to be pretty invested, smiling and nodding along.

"So, anyway," Tiny said, barely restraining her giggles, "as I was saying about Kalypso-"

The crunching of the ice and snow beneath his feet seemed to alert them to his presence. Tiny seemed to be staring right at him, stuttering and flailing her arms. Dixie looked to him too, grinning all the while.

"DIXIE!" Tiny shouted, grabbing her sister by her hoodie and shaking her. "DIXIEDIXIEDIXIEDIXIE! Oh-oh my god! That... Is that...!" She leaned in close to Dixie, as if saying her thoughts would offend Diddy. "...A... a Tail?!"

"Nah, I think that's a tree trunk," Dixie said, pointing past Diddy to a tree that looked as if it had been ripped mercilessly.

"Oh..." Tiny looked sad, until Dixie pointed straight at Diddy.

"But what's that there? Standing next to it."

"Hi," Diddy said with a small wave and smile when Tiny looked at him.

"OH. MY. GOD!" Tiny shrieked. "Is... Dixie, is that a Tail?"

"Yes," Dixie responded.

"I DID IT!" Tiny raised her arms in the air and spun around in a gleeful dance. "Dixie! I caught a Tail! Kalypso is gonna... I'll..." She stopped twirling, and pressed her hands to her cheeks. "I'll be so popular! Ahhhh!" She cleared her throat, calming herself momentarily. "Tail! I am afraid this is the end of the line for you! You shall not venture past here! I, the wonderful Tiny, will make sure of it! I will make sure you are delivered straight to the king himself! And then you'll... well, I'm not entirely sure.

"Probably death," Diddy murmured, but neither of the girls seemed to hear it.

"I'm sure the king will make sure he's dealt with," Dixie added.

"Of course he will, dear sister!" Tiny said. "In any case, be warned that if you decide to continue on, you will be faced with no mercy!"

She turned on her heels and dashed off to alert her superiors, or probably to set up some traps. Probably both. Both Diddy and Dixie stared after her for a few minutes, before the latter turned to the former.

"That went well, I think."

"Do you think she's satisfied just seeing me?" Diddy asked. "She seemed pretty intent on catching me." Dixie waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, she's mostly harmless. I'll keep and eye out for you, though, just to make sure."

Dixie began to walk off after her sister. Diddy continued onward too, only stopping to investigate an oddly-shaped shack that said it was a sentry stand. The sign also stated it was Tiny's. Shaking his head, he continued on. It was a quaint little walk, but he stopped once he saw the movement behind another stand. The head of a blue, swordfish-like Kong poked out from below the counter, its eyes shifting around.

"Is... is something there?" they asked, pausing once. It repeated louder, yet they didn't seem satisfied with the results. "...Did I imagine it?"

Diddy waited until they sat back down and carefully took a few more steps forward. Something-ice, snow, stick, whatever-crunched underneath him, and the swordfish's head popped back up instantly.

The little soul resonated out of Diddy as the guard initiated a battle. He managed to stand still enough to get them questioning his location, but stood and breathed evenly to ensure proper balance. He decided to try to check their stats:

ENGUARDE. ATK 10. DEF 9. ENTHRALLED BY MOVEMENT

Diddy realized he wasted precious time by doing this, as Enguarde lifted both hands, their eyes glowing. They mouthed the words 'Don't. Move.', and Diddy felt a chill run up his spine. Still, he refrained from movement, not wanting to know what would happen if he did, until Enguarde lowered their hands.

"If you're a Kong, then you'd be safe," they said. "You wouldn't need to fear moving. But if you're a Tail..."

Diddy moved as fast as his legs could carry him up to Enguarde, and reached a hand up to the fin adorning his head. Gently he stroked and scratch it, earning a delighted yet confused response from his adversary. The same feeling overcame Diddy once more, and he backed away slowly. Enguarde sat on the counter of the stand, hugging themself.

"What... what did that?" they murmured. "Wh-whatever it was didn't move... I'm gonna... I'm..."

They dove behind the counter, allowing Diddy ample time to escape.

The young Tail continued down the road still, eventually coming across a snowman wearing a tophat and a light purple scarf. The snowman seemed angry, and when prompted, Diddy had taken a piece of them to carry around. This seemed to cheer them up, but in truth, Diddy just shoved the piece into the box with the pie. Soon enough, he once more came across a pair of familiar sisters.

"Dixie, really?! MUST you make shitty puns about the Tail?" Tiny groaned.

"Aww, come on, sis, stop grabbin' them at the TAIL," Dixie snickered. Diddy facepalmed, gaining their attention. "Hey, speak of the devil!"

"So you've finally decided to come try some of my puzzles, hm?" Tiny laughed mercilessly, but it came out to the others more of giggles. "Well then, let me explain, dear Tail. This is an invisible maze. The catch is that you must go through the entire thing without hitting the spiked path. If you do, not only will you hurt yourself, you'll also gain an electric shock from this little contraption!" She pulled out a small necklace. "Quite a... shocking... piece of fashion, if I do say so myself! Ehehehe!"

"I'm so proud." Tiny shoved her hand over Dixie's mouth.

"Well? Start traversing if you dare!"

Diddy inched closer slowly, but his foot hit one of the invisible panels that would cause harm. Tiny suddenly seemed frayed as the shock went through her body and not his.

"What did you do, Dixie?!" Tiny shouted. "Did you sabotage this?!"

"Ti, I think he needs to wear the necklace," Dixie responded.

"Ah! Good point, dear sister!" Tiny walked through the snow, creating a path that was very obviously the right one to take. Before he realized it, she was standing right in front of him, draping the necklace over his head before making her way back. "Now try passing! If you dare!"

Diddy stared at the path before him incredulously. Did... did that really just happen? Did she even realize?! He looked to Dixie, who just shrugged with a sheepish look on her face. He took one step cautiously, then another, and before he knew it, he was standing next to the girls.

"What! How'd you get through it so eaily?!" Tiny shouted, genuinely shcoked. "Ah, so be it! There's a few more puzzles that lay in wait, and none of them shall be as easy! Dixie herself designed it!"

Tiny ran off then, laughing. Diddy looked to Dixie questioningly.

"Thanks for making her happy, man," she said, pucnhing him in the arm playfully. "She seems to be enjoying herself."

"Ehr, yeah, sure, no problem," Diddy murmured back.

"Oh, hey, did you happen to notice her outfit?" The ponytail'd Kong grinned. "Got invited to a costume party a while back, so we made it together. She won't stay out of it no matter what. But what can you do? She seems to be enjoying it. Isn't she awesome?"

Diddy just nodded and continued on. It felt like eternity before there was finally another break in the trees. He could see what looked to be some weird bear sitting next to what looked like the mini shops you'd find in the malls above ground. The bear looked upset, but then again, you would be too if you worked in a snowy place and wore only yellow shorts.

"Oh dear," they said, not even noticing as he approached. "Why won't these sell?

"Yeah!" A red bird suddenly popped out from the backpack slung across the bear's shoulders, apparently the source of the new voice. "You'd think people would enjoy a nice baked honey bread in such weather." The bear only sighed and looked down, but the crunching of snow beneath Diddy's feet made them look back up.

"Hello!" Diddy said. "You said you were selling honey bread?"

"Oh!" The bear jumped up and stepped behind the counter of the stand. "Yes, yes! Would you like to buy some? They're only fifteen coins per loaf!"

"Yes please!" Diddy reached into one of his pockets and pulled out some coins, counting out a few groups. "Would you mind if I go ahead and get four, please?"

"Not a problem at all!" the bird responded as their bear companion wrapped up the bread.

"Here you are!" the bear said, handing it out to him. "Please have a nice day!"

"Thanks!" Diddy said as he took the items and put three in his bag. "You too!"

The young Tail continued on their walk, munching on one of the breads as they went. It was actually pretty good, if he was being completely honest, and it made him realize just how hungry he had gotten. Absentmindedly, he wondered how long he'd been gone, both from the surface and from the Ruins. The thoughts got the better of him, and he didn't realize where he was stepping until he managed to kick a snowball that had been just sitting there. It tripped him up, and he fell flat on his face. He pushed himself up, only to find it under his calf slowly diminishing in size.

Curious, he pushed the snowball again. it slid across the grass, bumping against some of the rockier areas, and disppeared around the corner, from what he could see where he lay, a purple flag appeared. Quickly, he got up and examined it. It had a note and two coins attached to it. The note read:

PURPLE - DESPITE EVERYTHING, YOU TOOK NOTE OF THE GAME AND ACHEIVED "BALL"'S FINISH. YOU HAVE BEEN AWARDED TWO COINS.

"Cool." Diddy pocketed both the note and the money and continued walking on, coming upon the girls once more.

"Ah! Tail!" Tiny proclaimed as Diddy shoved the last of the first loaf of bread into his mouth. "Let's hope you're ready for the puzzle Dixie has laid down for you!"

It seemed to be only then that Tiny noticed Dixie's puzzle. All that lay on the ground was a single sheet of paper. Dixie snickered.

"DIXIE!" Tiny screamed. "Where's your puzzle?!"

"It's right there," Dixie said, gesturing to the paper. Tiny gave her a look. "Hey, there's no way he's gonna be able to do it."

Diddy walked up to the paper and picked it up. He recognized it as a wordsearch, but it seemed to have simple words and a few gibberish-or Kong-language-words as well. He stuffed the paper into his pocket and continued forward.

"Dixie! Are you kidding me!" Tiny shouted, grabbing her pigtails in frustration. "That did nothing!"

"Oh, whoops," Dixie shrugged. "Sorry. I knew I should have used today's crossword puzzle."

"What? Don't be naive! Word searches are harder!"

"Nah, fam. It's jsut a word scramble. Besides, you're not five anymore!"

"WHAT?!" They seemed to remember Diddy then, and Tiny turned to him. "Tail! Which do you think is harder? Wordsearches, or crossowords?"

"Crosswords, obviously. In wordsearches, the words are given, you just have to find them," Diddy explained. "Crosswords make you think of the word itself. Now a word puzzle where you would have to put the words in a crossword and then find them in the wordsearch would be interesting!"

"Oh, god, that WOULD be terrifying," Dixie said.

"Oh, good point," Tiny said. "Do they have something like that on the surface?"

"Not really, but shouldn't you getting your next puzzle ready for me?" Diddy asked. Tiny jumped.

"Oh snap! You're right! I'm off, Tail!" She scurried away.