(A/N: So we left off where Daisy was about to go back into the castle to tell Peach what happened when she spotted one of the potted plants shaking! Let's see what happens when we continue the story!)
"Hmm? What's this?" Daisy asked herself as she knelt down and gently moved the pot aside to see what was causing the plant to shake. She discovered what appeared to be a small, cute female ghost that resembled a bridal tiara floating there. She also had big, pinkish-purple eyes with long eyelashes. She also looked really frightened and upset, for she was shaking like a Super Leaf.
"Well, hello there!" Daisy greeted the ghost, surprised to see her.
The ghost was too scared to reply to the flower princess.
"Hi, I'm Daisy." Daisy said, smiling to take away the creature's fear.
"H-h-hello..." the ghost replied, still shaking.
"Do you have a name?" Daisy asked.
"I-it's... T-T-Tiara..." the ghost replied, feeling nervous.
"Tiara, huh? Well, that makes sense. You kind of look like a tiara." Daisy pointed out.
Tiara quickly turned into her bridal tiara form.
"Hey, where did you go?" Daisy asked, having seen Tiara disappear but not knowing what happened to her. That's when she looked down and spotted the tiara lying on the floor of the balcony.
"Oh, this is nice." Daisy said to herself as she picked up the tiara and inspected it.
Tiara's eyes appeared on the tiara.
"Wait a second! You're this tiara? You just turned into it?" Daisy asked.
"Y-yes, ma'am." Tiara said.
"It's okay, Tiara. You don't need to be afraid. You're safe as long as you're here, with me." Daisy assured Tiara, still holding her.
Tiara assumed her normal form, which meant Daisy wasn't holding her anymore.
"I've never seen a ghost that can turn into an inanimate object. Just what kind of ghost are you?" Daisy asked curiously.
"I-I'm not a gh-ghost... I'm a B-Bonneter..." Tiara replied.
"I've never heard of a Bonneter before." Daisy mumbled. She asked Tiara, "You're not from around here, are you?"
"N-no, ma'am. I... I-I come from... the C-C-Cap K-Kingdom..." Tiara said.
Daisy never heard of the Cap Kingdom before, either. She said, "You know what? I suggest we go inside. My cousin, Peach, might know about this place you're from."
"Is Peach... n-n-nice?" Tiara asked.
"If you're nice to her, she'll be nice to you." Daisy replied with a smile.
"O-okay." said Tiara.
Daisy carried Tiara into Peach's room through the French doors, and after closing the doors, the flower princess sat down on Peach's bed and set Tiara on her lap.
"This, Tiara, is Peach's bedroom. What do you think of it?" Daisy asked.
Tiara looked around the room, admiring the rich décor.
"It's... very nice. It looks... like the kind of room... fit for a... a princess. Like maybe... one of the... Disney Princesses." said Tiara as she got off of Daisy's lap and flew around.
"Well, it's funny you should say that, Tiara, because it just so happens that Peach is a princess. It's not surprising that this room looks suitable for one." Daisy told her.
"She really is a princess?! Wow..." Tiara said in awe, before turning back to look at Daisy and asking her, "Are you... a princess, too?"
"As a matter of fact, I am! See my crown?" Daisy said, pointing to her crown.
Tiara was surprised. Her fear must have caused her to miss it.
"Oh, cool! So, your title is...?" Tiara began.
Daisy leaped to her feet and said in her most regal voice, "Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, at your service!" Then her voice went back to normal as she said, "My cousin is Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, and we're in her bedroom, in her castle."
"Hold it! If you're... the princess of Sa... Sara..." Tiara forgot the name of Daisy's kingdom.
"Sarasaland." Daisy told her as she sat back down on Peach's bed.
"Right. If you're... the princess of that kingdom... then what are you doing... in this kingdom, Your Highness?" Tiara asked.
"Oh, you really don't need to refer to me as 'Your Highness'. Just 'Daisy' will be fine. I'm here to pay Peach a visit. She's my cousin, and also one of my very best friends. Plus, my parents said it was okay for me to do this, since they're still the ones sitting on the throne." Daisy replied.
"Oh. All right..." said Tiara. Then she asked, "Where is Peach?"
"Last I saw her, she was going to her bathroom to take a shower, but I think she should be coming out of there shortly." Daisy replied, motioning to the bathroom door.
Before Tiara could ask another question, the bathroom door opened, and out came a lovely young woman with long, golden hair and sparkling blue eyes. She was wearing a fluffy, light pink bathrobe with matching slippers on her feet. She looked surprised to see Daisy in the room.
"Daisy, I thought you were going out to the balcony to keep an eye out for Mario. Unless he's on his way here and you just came in to let me know." the woman said to Daisy in a soft, sweet-sounding voice.
"I was out there, but I haven't really seen any sign of Mario, or Luigi, for that matter. But you are not going to believe what happened while I was watching for them." Daisy told her.
"Daisy, who is that woman you're talking to?" Tiara asked Daisy, referring to the blonde woman in pink.
"That's Peach, my cousin." Daisy said.
"Okay." Tiara replied.
"What?! Daisy, who or what is that with you?" Peach asked, never having seen anything like Tiara before.
"Peach, I'd like you to meet Tiara. She is a Bonneter from the Cap Kingdom. Tiara, this is Princess Peach, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom." said Daisy.
"Tiara is a what from where?" Peach asked.
"I'm... I'm a Bonneter... And I come from... the Cap Kingdom... Your Highness..." Tiara said, a little nervous.
"Call me 'Peach', please." Peach told Tiara, before mumbling under her breath, "I never heard of the Cap Kingdom before. But there is a way to find out what it's like." She went to her laptop, turned it on, and quickly looked up the Cap Kingdom online. Sure enough, she found lots of results for it, and clicked on one. That brought up a picture of the place.
"That's it! That's my homeland: the Cap Kingdom!" said Tiara in excitement, seeing the picture of her homeland on the screen of Peach's pink laptop computer. Then she sighed in distress and said, "At least, that's what it looked like before that monster came and ruined everything..."
"Monster?" Peach and Daisy asked in unison.
"The one Daisy was fighting this morning, that I had escaped from..." Tiara replied.
"You mean Bowser? You were with him?" Daisy asked.
"Bowser... Is that his name?" Tiara asked.
"Yeah..." Peach replied, before saying, "Wait, Bowser was here?!"
"Oh yeah." Daisy replied.
"I don't like him one bit!" Tiara exclaimed.
"Join the club, Tiara. The I Hate Bowser Club may have a lot of members as is, but we're always ready to welcome anyone else who hates that lousy Koopa King!" Daisy said.
"Can you blame me? That horrible monster wrecked my homeland and took me away from my big brother! And the worst part was when that monster told me he was planning to give me to some girl he wanted to marry!" Tiara wailed.
"He was planning to do what with you?!" Peach asked in shock.
"You're not going to believe this, Peach, but ol' Bowser had marriage on his mind. And if that's not bad enough, he wanted you to be his bride." Daisy said.
Peach's face turned as green as the Grinch at the thought of being Bowser's bride.
"Are you okay, Peach?" Tiara asked, noticing how green Peach had become.
"I think I'm going to be sick..." Peach moaned, racing back into her bathroom and leaning over the toilet.
"I'd better go in there and give her a hand." Daisy said, and she quickly followed Peach into the bathroom to hold her hair. Peach had just washed her hair in the shower; she would hate the idea of having to do it again, due to Bowser's sick mind.
Tiara shut the bathroom door and anxiously flew around the room, wondering if Peach would be okay, because she sounded so sweet and nice. The princesses here seemed friendly to her, but would they be able to get her home safely? She hoped so, because she really wanted to go home, even though her home currently looked like a tornado hit it. A tornado named Bowser, that is.
"You're lucky you were in here during the time Bowser showed up, Peach, because that big jerk tried some sneak-attack to get you on his ship. But he ended up grabbing me instead, obviously thinking I was you. Could have been my dress that tricked him, since it's the same color as your hair." Daisy said to Peach.
"That was probably it..." Peach moaned, turning to look at her cousin.
Daisy looked sad when she saw how unhappy Peach was. Like Mario, she hated to see Peach sick or upset.
"But you really should have seen the look on Bowser's stupid face when he saw that he had me instead of you, Peach. You would have thought he'd just pooped his pants right in front of Mario." Daisy said, laughing a little as she remembered how Bowser's excited look slowly turned to one of horror when he saw not Peach, but Daisy standing before him.
Peach gave Daisy a weak smile before leaning over the toilet again.
There were times when Tiara heard the toilet flushing, but Peach and Daisy weren't coming out of the bathroom. She also heard the sound of running water at one point.
Peach felt the need to brush her teeth and rinse with Scope when she finally stopped throwing up.
"Yeah, that's a good idea, Peach. What if Mario shows up here and wants to have a make-out session with you?" Daisy asked.
"That's exactly why I'm doing this, Daisy. I want my breath to be fresh if he comes here and wants to kiss with me." Peach said.
It took a few minutes before Peach and Daisy finally emerged from the bathroom. Daisy had an arm around Peach's shoulders while looking at her sympathetically, which was understandable, for Peach's face was a whiter shade of pale.
"It's crazy how one simple thought can make a princess feel so sick..." Daisy said as she slowly walked her cousin back to her bed.
"Are you going to be okay, Peach?" Tiara asked, concerned for the princess.
"I'll be fine, thank you." Peach replied as she sat down at the edge of the bed.
"Do you need to lie down some more?" Daisy asked.
"No. I'll just sit here for a few minutes, and then I think I'll be okay." Peach said.
"Well, if you want some good news, I made it so that Bowser will have no choice but to put his wedding plans on hold. I not only gave him a good beating, I wrecked his tux, damaged his ship, knocked him unconscious, and sent him on his way back to his own nasty kingdom. He's not going to think of marriage for a good while." Daisy said as she sat down next to her cousin.
"Thank you, Daisy. I'm so glad you were here to protect me." Peach said, giving her cousin a hug.
"Hey, that's what cousins are for, Peach." Daisy said, returning the hug and rubbing Peach's back, trying to help her feel better.
A few minutes later, Peach stood up and walked over to her vanity table, having recovered from her bout of sickness.
"Daisy, would you be so kind as to turn off my laptop, please?" Peach asked as she sat down at her vanity table and picked up her pink hairbrush. She hadn't been able to turn it off when she heard what Bowser was planning to do with her.
"Sure thing, Peach." said Daisy. She walked over to where the laptop was and shut it down, then closed the lid.
"Thank you." Peach said as she began brushing out her long, silky golden tresses.
"Wow... you have really pretty hair, Peach." Tiara said, noticing how Peach's hair shone like spun gold in the sunlight coming in from the windows and French doors.
"Thanks." Peach smiled.
"Are you going to be able to take me home?" Tiara asked Peach.
"We'll see. But first, I need to know: how did Bowser get you here?" Peach asked.
"By his airship, of course." Tiara replied.
"So we'll most likely have to take an airship to get you home." Peach murmured.
"Can we possibly go out and rent one?" Daisy asked.
"We could, but the only thing is that Toadsworth will never let me do that unless I have a chaperone. Even though you're able to defend me and would be a very good chaperone for me, I know he still won't allow it because, like me, you're a princess." Peach said.
"Wait a minute! I just remembered the Toad Brigade. They have a ship, don't they?" Daisy asked.
"Yes, they do. It's called the Starshroom." Peach recalled.
"Why don't we ask them if they could take Tiara home?" asked Daisy.
"While that would be a great idea, we can't do that. They left on yet another expedition two days ago, and when they go on expeditions, they can be gone for days, or even weeks at a time." Peach replied.
"Crap." Daisy muttered. Then she said, "I think the Sky Pop would work, too, even though it's a plane. But it's back at my castle in Sarasaland. Speaking of, if you were visiting me, Bowser never would have shown up. Then again, despite his fear of me, he had no problems telling me what his diabolical plan was, and that he didn't plan on backing down from it until I pounded his sorry tail."
"Well, we'll think of some way to get Tiara back home." Peach said as she stood up and walked behind her white linen dressing screen.
"I hope so." said Daisy as she followed Peach, knowing she was going to need help pulling her corset strings tight before getting dressed for the day.
Peach was dressed in her usual pink dress, long, white gloves, and red high heels in a matter of minutes. Then she put on her earrings before applying her make-up. She had just finished applying her soft pink eye-shadow and was dabbing on some light pink lipstick when there came a knock at the French doors.
Tiara looked at the French doors and saw through the glass a man standing out on the balcony. He was kind of on the short side, and he was dressed in a red cap with an 'M' on it, a red shirt, and blue overalls. He also had a black mustache on his friendly-looking face. The Bonneter had never seen anyone like him before, and she found him to be quite a handsome fellow.
"Peach, Daisy, I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's a rather handsome man out on the balcony." Tiara said.
The princesses quickly spun around and looked to see Mario peeking in through the French doors, smiling and waving at them.
"It's Mario! Let him in!" Peach said, still applying her lipstick.
Daisy quickly rushed over to the French doors and opened them, allowing Mario to enter the room.
"Hello, Mario!" Peach said, flashing a sweet smile at her beau as he walked in.
"Ciao Principessa. Hello, Princess." Mario replied, looking at Peach with love in his warm blue eyes.
"Hey, Mario. It's good to see you again." Daisy replied after closing the French doors behind him.
"Likewise." Mario smiled as he shook Daisy's hand, happy to see her again.
Tiara laid on Peach's bed, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, but it didn't work.
"What's that, Peach?" Mario asked, spying Tiara.
"What's what?" Peach asked, finishing the chore of applying her lipstick and setting it back on the vanity table.
"On your bed." Mario replied.
Peach noticed Tiara lying there and realized that she was feeling shy around Mario and said, "Oh, right. Tiara, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Mario. Mario, I'd like you to meet Tiara of the Cap Kingdom. She was captured by Bowser."
"What?! Bowser was here?! What was that stupido cretino planning to do this time?!" Mario asked, angry at the mention of his hated enemy.
Tiara couldn't help giggling when she heard Mario refer to Bowser as 'stupido'. Bowser deserved to be called such a thing, even though he wasn't around to hear it.
"I'll tell you." Daisy said, and she leaned really close to Mario and very quietly whispered something into his ear. When she finished, Mario's eyes were as big as dinner plates.
"Mama-mia! Am I glad you were here, Daisy, and that you're not afraid to show Bowser that you can easily kick his butt!" Mario replied.
"Yeah, I'm glad to be here, too, even though I didn't come here just to fight Bowser, you know. I mostly came here to visit Peach, and maybe even see my boyfriend, your brother, while I'm at it." Daisy said.
"And as I said, Bowser's also responsible for kidnapping sweet, little Tiara here. We need to get her home to the Cap Kingdom. That's where she comes from." Peach said as she put her crown on her head.
"I understand that you want to help your new friend, Peach, but I never heard of this Cap Kingdom until now." Mario replied.
"Do you have your smartphone on you?" Daisy asked.
"Sì." Mario said, producing the red smartphone.
"Look it up there." the princesses replied in unison.
So Mario did. Once he knew what the Cap Kingdom was like and that it was east of the Mushroom Kingdom, he asked the girls just how they were planning to get there. So they told him how Bowser was using his airship to travel.
"Hmm... I do know where there are airships in the Mushroom Kingdom." Mario said.
"But Toadsworth will never let me go and rent one unless I'm being chaperoned." Peach said.
"And even though I'm tough and able, he'll refuse to budge unless her chaperone is someone else who is tough. Probably someone like you." Daisy said, and Peach nodded.
"I might have guessed. I'll go with you girls so we can rent an airship and take Tiara back to her homeland." Mario said.
"Would you? Could you?" Tiara asked Mario.
"Of course!" Mario replied.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Tiara excitedly exclaimed, giving Mario a big hug.
"Whoa! Okie-dokie; try to calm down." Mario said, surprised at Tiara's excitement.
So Tiara took some deep breaths and said, "All right. I'm calm now."
"But first, we have to let Toadsworth know what's going on." Daisy reminded Peach.
"That's just what I was about to say." Peach said.
"I hope he'll be willing to let us do this." Mario said.
"If it was just me and Daisy, he'd never let us go. He might be more willing to allow this if you're our chaperone." Peach replied, grabbing her purse.
"Then let's-a go!" Mario said as they made their way out of the room and down the stairs (with Tiara behind them), and they found Toadsworth walking around the Great Hall.
"Ah, Princess, I see you're ready for the day. And when did Master Mario get here?" Toadsworth asked, seeing Mario standing beside Peach.
"Pochi minuti fa. A few minutes ago." Mario replied.
"Oh. Well, it's jolly good to see you." Toadsworth said. Then he said, "Wait a minute."
"What's up?" Daisy asked.
"If Master Mario is here, then something is up. You princesses want to do something that you know I'll never let you do, and because of that, you called him here in order to try and get me to change my mind. I just know that's what's going on." Toadsworth said.
"That's actually a pretty good guess, Toadsworth, but I never called Mario and asked him to come over here." Peach said.
"Yeah. I was coming here to spend time with la mia principessa, my princess, whether or not she called me to come and convince you otherwise about something." Mario replied.
"However, we do have to ask you something important." Daisy said.
"I was right." Toadsworth thought, before asking, "What is it?"
Peach and Daisy explained the situation with Tiara (who shyly flew out from behind the group so Toadsworth could see her) and how they needed to rent an airship in order to take her home.
"So can we?" Peach asked, even though she knew what the answer was going to be.
"No. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad that Daisy stopped Bowser, but I still think that allowing two princesses to wander off with a lost Bonneter that looks like a tiara without a good chaperone is a bad idea." Toadsworth said.
Tiara's heart sank, and she let out a sad little sigh, which Peach heard. That's when she knew what would work.
"Here's the big question: Would it be okay if Mario chaperoned us?" Peach asked.
Toadsworth thought about that for a minute. Tiara was hoping that Toadsworth would allow them to go with Mario, because she really missed her home in Bonneton. Plus, she knew that her big brother, Cappy, had to be worried sick about her.
"If Master Mario is your chaperone... then you won't hear me complain. I know that you girls will be in good, capable hands if you're with him." Toadsworth said, relaxing a little.
"So we can go?" Daisy asked.
"Yes. You may go, but you must promise me that you'll be very careful." Toadsworth said.
"Thank you, Toadsworth, and don't worry. We'll be careful." Peach promised.
"Be sure to keep the girls safe, Master Mario. Their lives are in your hands." Toadsworth said to the plumber.
"You know I'll watch after them and keep them out of trouble." Mario replied.
"Don't you worry, Toadsworth. If I can hold my own against Bowser, then I can help Mario take good care of Peach and Tiara." Daisy boasted.
"All right, then. Go ahead." Toadsworth said, and he watched as Mario, Peach, Daisy, and Tiara left the castle.
The next chapter will show them getting their airship and making their way to the Cap Kingdom. What's going to happen? I'll tell you... to stay tuned and find out!