One Stressful Night

Sadly Peach didn't rest well that night. In fact she wouldn't sleep well for the next few nights. On the nights following her return home she had a strange dream.

Dream

Princess Peach was walking through the plains right outside her palace. She spent a lot of time in this place, usually resting under the lone tree that looked out at the path between the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarassa Kingdom. She walked toward the tree like always, but then something strange happened. The sky grew dark and she felt a darkness surrounding her.

"What the? What's happening here?" She asked. She was getting really scared now. When she got to the tree she saw a woman standing there. She was wearing a long black and gray gown that had a raised collar and a cape that gave her the look and feel of an empress. She had long wavy blond hair like Peach and was about her hight, only Peach saw that her high heels were taller. Peach's heels were only three inch tall, this woman had on six inch black stiletto high heels. From behind, she actually did look a little like Peach. Her voice sent chills down Peach's spine. It had more power in it, but it sounded a lot like Peach.

"Gods of the black star, hear my cry! Create a world ideal for me! A world that matches my dark twisted heart!" She sounded enraged, like she had been through a horrific ordeal, and she just had enough. Suddenly the sky turned dark red and all of the trees and grass turned black, like they were poisoned.

"What's going on! Who are you!" Peach shouted. She was scared, but she wanted to know. When the woman turned around Peach just about had a heart attack. It was HER! There were a few significant differences though. She wore dark red lip stick, contrary to Peach's rose red shade. Her dress looked more like hers in the front, only it was black and gray instead of pink and light pink, and had a red ruby embedded in the front instead of a blue sapphire. Her eyes were different too. She had crimson red eyes instead of deep blue, and she had a sinister feel to her. Except for these general changes, it was clear that it was Peach.

"What's going on...!" Peach said in horror as the evil Peach stared at her with a sinister smile, "That's me... but... I..."

The evil Peach was now walking up to her, a very sensual walk that was quite unlike Peach confusing her more. "You're right, I am you. The real you," she said in a dark tone.

Peach shook her head in fear of what she said, "No! I'm me!"

"Of course you're you, I'm just a preview of what you're destined to become."

"What?"Peach asked in confusion.

The evil Peach stopped in front of her, "I was tired of the kidnappings. I just wanted to live a normal life where I didn't have to look over my shoulder just in case I was taken again," she began stating her past in the first person, as if trying to sympathize with Peach, "I was afraid of Bowser, of what he could do to me. I tried to be a pacifist, but the truth was that I really wanted him to die, I wanted to kill him."

"Stop..." she said silently, hoping that the evil Peach heard her through her fear. Truth was, this twisted version of herself was stating everything that bothered Peach. She was tired of the kidnappings, she was terrified of Bowser, and despite her morals, she did want to kill him.

"In truth I have to thank the Nightmare Queen. By her darkness entering my body, I got a taste of true darkness, which slowly reminded me of my true calling," the evil Peach stated.

"Stop...!" Peach said, louder this time, and starting to cry in horror. Was what she saying true? It couldn't. Peach wasn't a violent person at all. She never fought anyone, in fact, she hated war and all forms of violence. But as the evil Peach continued to talk her heart began to race faster and faster, which was scaring Peach.

"I resisted at first, just like you, but it felt too good. I couldn't stay away from it, I needed that feeling, that strength," she continued in an almost lustful tone "I didn't even realize that while I was afraid of him, he should have been afraid of me. I am the true darkness in this world."

"Stop!" she finally shouted, making the dark version of smile and laugh a bit, "I'm not you! I'm not dark! I'm a good person! I would never think or say such dark things!" she was partially trying to convince her dark self, but was also trying to convince herself and remind herself of her morals. "I'm nothing like you!"

"Funny, you look a lot like me to me," the evil Peach said and turned Peach around to face a mirror strangely placed behind her. When Peach saw her reflection she was horrified to see she looked like the dark version of her, dress and everything. She screamed so loud that she woke herself up.

End Dream

When Peach got up she ran to the mirror to see her reflection, and was glad to see herself the way she was supposed to look. She then had a thought to look for the dress she was wearing in the dream. She looked everywhere, until she saw it. In the back of her closet, which explained why she didn't remember it, was the black and gray dress she was wearing in the dream.

Peach got really scared at the sight of it. How could she bream about a dress that she never wore in her life, that she never even saw until today? This wasn't even possible. Maybe she was just stressed about what happened at Rogueport. But the dream felt too weird, like it was speaking to her.

"What's going on?" was all that she could get out. She then decided to go out to her favorite spot and clear her head, since she didn't think that she was getting back to sleep anytime soon.

When she got out to her tree she was surprised to see Mario there. They sort of shared the spot as a place to clear their thoughts, and before Toadsworth was okay with her and Mario being friends, they would meet here around this time to talk, for this reason Peach felt this place was special and dreamed that one day Mario would propose to her in this spot.

"Mario?" she called to him. He turned to face her and she could see that he was in deep thought. He had that frown he got only when he was thinking about something important. "I'm surprised to see you here.

"Hey Peach," he replied. He was shocked to see Peach too, but he in too much thought to let it show. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep, bad dream. You?" she asked Mario, hoping he wouldn't ask her about her dream.

"I had a little trouble sleeping too actually."

"Is this concerning what you wanted to tell me?" That shocked Mario a little. "You know, you are a terrible lier."

"Heh, I guess so," he said sort of embarrassed. She seem to always be able to tell what was really on his mind. Mario thought about it, and decided to tell her now before anything happened. "You know what, now is as good of a time as any."

"Now?" she asked sort of surprised. Was it really that important?

"Before Luigi or Daisy show up and ruin this for me." He then went over to Peach and took her hand. "Peach, I've known you for about three years now, and in those three years you have grown up to become such a beautiful and smart woman."

"Oh Mario..." she said with a smile, "that's the sweetest thing anyone has said to me," she then hugged Mario. This was why she loved him so much, he knew just what to say to make her feel more like a princess than she did normally. "You're the best thing in my life Mario, I love you so much."

"Enough to want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

"What?" she asked sort of scared now.

"Peach, what happened yesterday made me realize that I don't want to loose you. I want to make sure that I'm always there to protect you, that's why I have a proposal to you," he said as he got on one knee and pulled out the black box he had earlier. Peach's heart was jumping out of her chest right now, her dream was coming true right here, right now. But why now? Why after she woke up from that nightmare. "Princess Peach Mary-Ann Toadstool, will you marry me?" he asked as he opened the box revealing a gold ring with a blue gemstone on top.

Peach didn't know what to say to this. This was both the best night and the worst night she ever had. Her eyes began to tear up, and the next thing she knew she was both laughing and crying at the same time.

Mario was confused as to why she was laughing. "Are you okay?" he asked almost afraid of the answer. She must have thought it was silly, and he almost wished he hadn't had said anything.

Peach finally spoke through her tears. "What took you so long?" she asked with a smile.

"So, is that a..." Mario asked carefully.

"Yes! I'll marry you!"

"Oh, Peach!"

"Mario!"

Peach pulled Mario into her, and kissed him. Not on the nose or cheek like normal, this kiss was on the mouth, and it was passionate. Peach was crying while they kissed, not so much because she was happy, but more so because she was afraid. What if she did become evil, would she turn on Mario? No, she couldn't. She wouldn't let that dream ruin this night for her, Mario was hers now, and she felt more safe than ever.

Unfortunately her happiness didn't last, for that night when she went back to sleep, she was greeted by another nightmare. This was only the start of her trouble.