Chapter Nineteen:

Preparing for Bob's Balling Ball

Princess SMG3 was minding her own business in the woods with Deer Mario and the other animals without much of a care when a red bird flew in, carrying an envelope in its beak. SMG3 plucked the newly-delivered piece of mail from the bird's mouth, and tore it open to discover something special;

An invitation to King Bob's Balling Ball.

'Dearest subjects, princes, and princesses from all the lands.

You are all formally invited to my balling ball at my castle today.

There will be plenty of music, and I will be presiding over the ball.

Oh, and there will also be enough dancing to go around.

The ball-time entertainment will be provided by Bowser and his amazing band.

Hope to see you all there.

Sincerely,

King Bob.

P.S. Please don't be making Minions jokes, I know a Minion named Bob declared himself King Bob.'

Princess SMG3's interests were perked in a second, even the animals were fascinated as they glimpsed the whole letter. Deer Mario also read it all while looking over SMG3's shoulder. The princess made her choice, she would go to the ball.

"But first, I need a fancy outfit..." SMG3 said, then she paused, "Hmm. Whatever shall I wear?"

"You can count on us, princess." Mario told the near-stumped SMG3.

He and the animals scattered, and they got to work, picking materials from the leaves and a couple of campsites across the woodland, even as the other wildlife suffered. A Korok from the land of Hyrule was relaxing in a tree when several birds peeled its leaf face right off. In a nearby town, Deer Mario and his crew looted several clothes from a store while threatening its manager.

After minutes of gathering materials for an outfit, the animals returned to SMG3 and dressed her in... a necklace, a funny skirt, red shoes, and a pretty poorly-constructed crown. This left a lot to be desired.

"CAN'T YOU DUMB ANIMALS DO ANYTHING RIGHT!?" The princess yelled angrily.

"Mama mia..." Deer Mario whimpered, and SMG3 slapped him, the birds and squirrels lowered their heads with sorrow. Never had they been more hurt by an angry princess' criticisms, especially as they'd worked as hard as they could.

At that moment, Mr. Puzzles was observing from his monitoring station, and he rubbed his hands together. This was the moment where the fairy godmother stepped in. The tricky TV-headed "entertainer" adjusted the fake wings on his back, and he tapped the warp button on his remote, allowing himself to be teleported into the show itself.

"Fear not, princess. I'm the fairy godmother..." Mr. Puzzles introduced to SMG3, "...and, dear god, what are you wearing?" He pretended to be shocked by what the "princess" was wearing.

"My dumb animal friends made this for me!" SMG3 wailed, "It's a disaster, and I have to go to the ball soon..."

She launched into a tirade about how her animals couldn't make her a proper costume, and Mr. Puzzles looked at SMG3 with annoyance, then he tapped the mute button on his magic remote, prompting a beam of light to temporarily render SMG3 voiceless in mid-sentence.

"Yes, yes, I understand, princess. Allow me to help you with your problem." Mr. Puzzles told her, it was time to work some magic.

The sinister showman tapped the 'costume change' button, and the remote fired off a laser at SMG3. In the blink of an eye, the princess' outfit had changed. No longer was she wearing overalls, or something crappy that was animal-made, she was wearing a pink royal gown with high-heels, and a crown rested atop SMG3's head where her hat had been.

"Oh my gosh!" The princess cried, her voice restored, "I look stunning."

"The princess needs her carriage." Mr. Puzzles then said, and he tapped the button on the remote that allowed him to summon vehicle props.

A cart made its appearance, and Mr. Puzzles quickly tapped another button that transformed the cart... into a proper carriage. And, knowing that an animal was needed to move the princess' ride, Mr. Puzzles hooked Deer Mario up to the front of the carriage with a rein. He pressed another button, and SMG3 was seated in his ride in the blink of an eye.

On Mr. Puzzles' instruction, and Princess SMG3's demand to get to the ball, Deer Mario took off through the woods, carrying the carriage despite his lesser stature and how much the ride weighed. And, from a distance, the evil witch SMG4 was watching through her crystal ball with Meggy and Melony by his side.

"Ooh, master. How are you going to get rid of the princess while she's at the balling ball?" Meggy asked with keen interest.

SMG4 held up an apple with a smile. "Behold, the poison apple, made poisoned by my potions." The witch said, "All that needs to be done for this dangerous fruit to work is that it will be given to a prince who will dance with the pretty princess, the prince will feed her the apple, and the results will speak for themselves."

"We're going to kill her?" Melony inquired excitedly, "I love it when we kill our enemies."

"No, the apple is going to make her ugly." SMG4 glared at the green-haired lackey, she smirked and held up another apple, "Perhaps a little demonstration is in order. Are we hungry, Melony?"

Meggy stepped back. "Mistress SMG4, you're not about to poison us, are you?" She stammered frightfully.

"Fear not, Ms. Meggy." SMG4 smirked, "I'll fix Melony if something happens."

Despite her origins as a fruit that turned into a human, Melony took the apple, and began to eat it. Seconds later, her face grew pale, and she dropped to her knees while gasping and hacking. When Melony stood up, her green hair had become a whiter shade of green, and her cheeks had become wrinkly with eerie circles under her eyes.

"Oh no, Melony! My fellow lackey!" Meggy wailed, and she ran to hug her friend.

"Impressive, isn't it?" SMG4 asked, "Behold the power of a poisoned apple! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Please, Madame SMG4, restore her beauty!" Meggy pleaded.

"I will..." SMG4 pulled out a wand, "But first, we have a ball to attend to. Come with me, my minions..." She grabbed another poison-laced apple, then the evil witch swished her wand and teleported out of her lair with the uglified Melony and Meggy accompanying their mistress.