Chapter 2

Written by Toonsgirl27

Edited by BeecroftA & Cimar

It was Coronation day! Mickey was pacing around his room, trying to calm his nerves. 'Come on, Mickey you'll do fine!' the mouse thought to himself. 'There's nothing to worry about.…'

"Mickey Mouse of Happy Valley!"

Judy's voice startled Mickey so much that he jumped in the air. Whenever someone called the rodent by his full name, that meant he was in trouble!

"W-What is it, coz?"

"Don't 'coz' me!" Judy snapped. "How could you invite the royal predators from Zootopia to your coronation? Do you realize what could happen?"

"Yes, but I thought it would be gracious of me to invite all kingdoms to my coronation," Mickey spoke calmly.

"Mickey, they will hurt us!" the rabbit protested.

"No they won't," Mickey assured her. "I told them that this would a be a party of peace and togetherness. There won't be any bloodshed."

"I'm still not convinced that they won't hurt us," Judy said, skeptically. Usually, she always tries to see the good in everybody, but she's uncertain about the predators from Zootopia made her wary, especially the foxes.

Mickey climbed up on a small table and motioned Judy to come to him. She did and he gently hugged her muzzle with his tiny arms.

'It'll be okay," he said softly. "If any of those predators try to make a pass at you, you can count on me, Frank and Fred to tell them off!"

Judy smiled, and her fears lessened.

"Thank you," she smiled. Then her smile turned into a smirk. "But after you tell them off, let me kick them!"

"Not ladylike," Mickey teased in a sing-song voice.

The bunny princess laughed.

Suddenly, the two cousins heard a crash in the hallway. They turned to see a sheep sprawled on the floor, murmuring to herself as she picked up a vase that she crashed into after tripping on a small table bearing a vase and knocked it over (thankfully, it wasn't broken).

"Lady Bellwether, are you all right?" Judy asked, as she and Mickey went over to help her up.

"Oh yes, yes, yes," the ewe said sheepishly. She was grateful to be helped up by the princess and the prince.

The rabbit's eye caught some kind of dark red splotches on the sheep's dress.

"Bellwether, what are those dark red spots on your dress from?"

The sheep's eyes widened before she quickly smiled.

"Oh, just red paint! I was painting a lovely portrait of Dottie!"

"Doesn't Princess Dottie have enough portraits of her?" Mickey innocently asked.

"Dear girl can't seem to get enough. Excuse me!" Bellwether said, rushing off to her bedroom.

"I wonder what that was all about," the Judy pondered.

Mickey rolled his eyes.

"Oh that Lady Bellwether, she's always sheepish-must be a sheep thing."

Later, while the mouse prince was practicing his ceremony with Sir Bogo, the Priest, and Lady Bellwether, Judy went out for a walk. She wanted to get some fresh air and have time to herself before the coronation. Even though she had shed all her tears since her heartbreak, the royal bunny was still not looking forward to going back home. She knew that once she did, her parents would try to set her up with another Prince, in hopes of helping her get over Harry. But Judy didn't want another Prince (at least for now). She just wanted more time to recover. She didn't want her heart to be broken again. Sitting down by a fountain, the bunny princess, ran her small paw through the water. She took a silver coin from her pocket and made a wish.

'I wish I can could find somebody who will love me for me!'

After wishing hard on the coin, she tossed it into the fountain.

Unbeknownst to her, a red fox was watching her with interested eyes. Said fox was Duke Nicholas. He was in his peasant clothes, (trying to get some food for his friends, unnoticed,) when his eyes spotted a figure, a gray bunny, by the fountain. Try as he might, he couldn't help but notice how lovely the bunny looked. He had seen many beautiful vixens in his time, but this bunny's beauty surpassed them all! Many questions ran through his mind. What was she like? Is she kind? Is she smart? Did she like foxes?

No! The duke shook his head. Why was he thinking about that? He couldn't think silly stuff like that! He has a kingdom to declare war on and he was not going to let some rabbit distract him! Even if she was beautiful-stop it!

Later that evening, it was time for the the coronation to begin. Mickey stood on a platform in front of a priest, waiting to be crowned. He still wished that it was his brother who was up here ascending the throne, not him. Alas, something happened to Oswald that cost him his crown. Stirred by emotion. The mouse began to recall what had happened to Oswald.

One day, a rabbit princess came to visit Happy Valley. Her name was Princess Francine Cottontail. She had come here with an adviser to marry Prince Oswald. The King and Queen were pleased because that meant the two kingdoms would unite! The town mammals were thrilled because that meant there would be a wedding-a chance for them to take a break and party! Mickey was happy for his brother because Francine was as polite and gorgeous-even if she was boring. When Mickey wrote the news to Judy, she asked him if her brother was happy. She told him that arranged marriages were based on political affairs so children did not get a voice in them. Mickey assured her that Oswald seemed okay with it, judging by how well-behaved he acted with Francine.

However, it was all an act. Oswald did not share the same joy about this arranged marriage. You see, he had secretly fallen in love with Ortensia, a delivery girl who always delivered mail to him and his family. Oswald found Ortensia to be kind, friendly, and funny. Whenever the cat delivered mail to him, she would stay behind to talk with the Prince. They had spent so much time talking with each other, that they had formed a friendship, which later developed into love. So when Oswald heard that he was betrothed to Francine, he was horrified. The Prince told his parents privately that he did not want a princess, but a delivery girl, and one outside his species at that. After breaking the news to the rulers, King Oscar was so angry that he exploded! He demanded Oswald to either marry Francince and become King, or lose the throne! Oswald was distraught that he had to choose between his family and his true love. When he chose the latter, the father disowned him and denied him the crown. The Queen was devastated, but she did not say anything because she was too scared to stand up to her husband. Whatever her husband said, happened.

Later that night, Oswald united with Ortensia at the town square and they hopped on a carriage that would take them to a place far away, never to return...

The next day, when Sir Bogo reported to the King and Queen that Oswald was gone, they were very upset! Realizing their mistake, Oscar and Joanne left to find their missing son, leaving Mickey behind in the care of Sir Bogo.

The pair hoped that they would return soon.

A few weeks passed, and the mouse Prince still waited for them. When he wrote to Princess Judy about his worries, she assured him that they will would be back soon.

Unfortunately, the ship that was carrying Oscar and Joanne sank at sea during a violent storm. The King and Queen of Happy valley Valley were dead.

After the mourning service, news spread that Mickey would become the new King of Happy Valley.

Mickey stood up there on that platform, the tiny little crown only inches from his head, feeling more uncertain than he had ever felt in his life. Who would train him? Who would support him? How could a small mouse be the ruler of such large subjects? But a few seconds later, the mouse was crowned King of Happy Valley! Everybody in the crowd cheered, there were trumpet calls and fireworks, and King Mickey simply stood there, blushing and waving with one raised paw.

After the coronation came the party. Mickey stood still on a high platform so he could interact with his guests at their eye level. Not wanting to dance, Mickey watched the royals mingle. Watching animals interacting with each other was always entertaining. He laughed when he saw Princess Dottie failing to get Prince FooFoo to dance with her.

"Hello new King!" Judy chirped, coming up to Mickey. "How does it feel to be wearing that crown?"

"Intimidating," Mickey mumbled.

"Oh come on!" the bunny smiled. "You'll do great! I bet you'll be the best king Happy Valley has ever had!"

"Yeah, but there are some things that scare me," the mouse shivered. "What do I do if someone declares war on me?"

Judy's smile was replaced with a frown. Before she could answer, Chief Bogo came up.

"Your highness," Sir Bogo came up to him. "May I present you Duke Nicholas Piberius Wilde of Zootopia!"

The fox stood proudly before Mickey and Judy, dressed up in green and gold. He first bowed down to Mickey who bowed politely back. When Nick came to Judy, his heart stopped at meeting her lovely lavender eyes. Not wanting to be rude, he took her paw and kissed it.

Judy felt her heart give a strange flutter when her eyes met Nick's shiny emerald eyes. When the fox kissed her paw, she blushed, feeling Nick's lips on her fur.

"Well Duke Wilde, so glad you could make it!" Mickey said, breaking the moment between the fox and bunny. The mouse looked around and he saw the rest of the royals from Zootopia mingling with the prey (or trying to, judging by how the royal prey distanced themselves away from them). "But um...where is King Lionheart?"

Nick's eyes darkened, remembering the real reason he had come to the coronation.

"King Mickey, may I talk to you alone?"

"Um, why?" Mickey tensed up.

"It's important!" the fox whispered.

The mouse hopped from his platform to Nick's extended paw. The Duke carried the king away from the crowd.

Judy frowned, not liking the way this fox was talking to her cousin. Handsome or not, there was no need to be rude. She followed the two out of the room, into the courtyard.

In the courtyard, Nick placed Mickey on his knee as he sat down on one of the chairs by the table. Both boys were surprised to see a stern Judy joining them taking her seat.

"Whatever you want to say to my cousin, you can say it in front of me!"

"Very well," the vulpine sighed, hating to act like this in front of a lady. "I declare war on Happy Valley."

There was a moment of silence before the rabbit and the mouse gasp.

"WHAT?!"

"Someone from Happy Valley assassinated King Lionheart!" Nick snarled. "Because this murderer is your responsibility King Mickey, I have no choice but to go to war with you!"

"But I don't want to go to war!" the mouse whined.

Thankfully, Judy got out of her seat, kneeled in front of Nick and put her paw on top of his large one. This action confused the boys.

"No, my lord!" she pleaded. "Please don't hurt my family and his kingdom! If you do, the army will crumble and all prey citizens will starve to death! Please have mercy!"

The vulpine felt the bunny's words prick his heart.

"I'm sorry Princess," he sighed sadly. "But it's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Happy Valley must be punished!"

"How do you know the murderer was from here?" Judy challenged. "Do you have proof?"

Nick held up a small sack, and pulled out a bloody knife from it. He was hesitant because he was afraid that ladies and small creatures would faint.

Mickey and Judy gasped horribly at the sight, but they didn't faint as he thought they would.

"I found this the other night in Lionheart's bedroom," the Duke explained. "Someone snuck in through the castle and stabbed him while he was sleeping. I sniffed it and confirmed a prey had used it. We traced their scent and hoof steps to here."

"I don't want to go war with you," Mickey finally spoke. "But whoever killed your ruler, I will make sure that mammal is executed. But first, we must know who did it."

"All right," said Nick. "I won't send my armies after you for now, and I will find out who did this. But I will need a prey to work with me because I don't know anything about prey killers. And I will need someone who is an expert on prey scents."

"I can ask my knight but I am not sure they would want to work with a fox," Mickey said with an apologetic smile.

"I'll help!" Judy volunteered. The boys turned to her, almost forgetting that she was there.

"Are you sure?" the mouse asked nervously. "It's awfully dangerous."

"I can handle it!" Judy smiled.

"What would a princess know about it?" The Duke scoffed, rolling his eyes.

The bunny frowned and poked him in the chest.

"Hey, I know plenty, Buster!"

The fox raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, a princess has brains too, you know!"

Mickey quickly intervened before the two could argue any longer.

"Umm, okay, you two!" He quickly shouted. "Nick, if you and Judy can find out who killed Lionheart, and I execute said killer, then do you promise not declare war on my kingdom?"

"Yes," Nick saluted.

"Actually, you have to make an oath in our way," the King added. The fox looked confused.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Repeat after me," Judy ordered. "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Nick rolled his eyes, thinking this oath was stupid. However, if this was the way to show he was good for his word, he had to do it.

"Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye!"