[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rider got a little shade of red as Peach said the dress fit her. Wearing such a regal dress still felt...out there for her, but Peach's display of warmth made her feel...a bit better with that. It was more of a matter of adaption of the wear. Rider was off on her little world of thought when Peach suddenly asked her how did she feel with the dress.

"W-well, the dress is pretty comfy..." Rider began. "I...I still feel rather awkward wearing something that's meant for royalty, b-but I can get used to it...I imagine..." She said. "I...wonder if I could pull of my magic without the aid of my sleeves, though..."

[Mari]

Peach appeared slightly surprised by Rider's remark. Sleeves..? Magic? Oh! She hadn't realized that the sleeves had served a purpose. This needed rectifying, and quickly. A dress was an all purpose garment, not something that should stifle the wearer. "You never know. You might grow into it~! ...Oh! I have a pair of lovely evening if those would help," Peach would offer somewhat softly with concern in her tone. She held out her arms in demonstration, showing off the gold embroidered evening gloves running up her arms. She wasn't sure how exactly the sleeves helped Rider cast magic, but a part of her suspected that they might be for protecting her hands from the feedback. In that sense, a nice pair of gloves might do the job just fine! ...It could be something else, though. She'd have to wait and see how Rider responded.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rider took a while to ponder about Peach's offer before she came to a conclusion."U-um...do you mind if I do a little test first...?" she asked before extending her arms. Closing her eyes, she began to draw deep breaths as a little ball of wind magic began to form next to her hands. After a while, she retracted one of her arms and began to move the other arm, the ball of wind following her movements. In spite of this, Peach would feel but a soft breeze coming back and forth, seeing as the smol was doing this at a comfortable distance.

Rider's movements were swift, yet soft as her own self. They had a certain degree of...elegance to them, perhaps? Granted, it couldn't possibly get to Raffine's or Peach's level of elegance, but there might be something...alluring about those movements. After a moment, the ball of wind would become a thin trail, and she began using both her hands to guide it. The little 'show' soon ended, Rider finally opened her eyes and look at her hands,the trail of wind dispersing as if it was already part of the air.

"Hm...I don't feel the same fluidity as I had with my sleeves, but it's close enough..." Rider said. "I think...I should be fine. Thank you for the offer, though..." She finally replied. Silence hangs around for a moment or two before Rider...remembered something. Oh no...how could she forget the reason they came here? "Ah! W-what about the cake...?!" the smol asked, clearly embarrassed about forgetting the main reason to the visit.

[Mari]

Peach waited patiently while Rider performed her little magic show, watching curiously and following along with the air magic. She wasn't even thinking about the cake right about then, mostly about how precious this girl was and how much she wanted to gobble this cute up--or whatever the saying was. "Oh! Of course... Let's hurry on over to the kitchen~" Peach would reply, bending over to scoop Rider up into her arms, supportively holding her to her bosom where she'd be nice and secure so that Peach could step into a rush without worrying about losing the other.

Taking Rider to the kitchen, Peach promptly guided her into an apron to protect her new dress and began showing Rider the ropes of baking a cake using a cookbook that looked like it had been passed down through several generations, judging by the wear anyway. Peach rehearsed every step aloud, but made a point to let Rider actually do the work so that she could learn, though she was quick to guide Rider's hand if the smol seemed hesitant or like she was having difficulty. It took longer, but she wanted Rider to feel like it was her cake. Sure enough, they eventually finished preparing it. Now just to let the cake bake for 4.5 years and...

It was done! The sweet scent of strawberry cake filled the air, leaving only the icing and decorations left. For icing, Peach chose to use chocolate flavoring and was not stingy about laying it on, decorating the beautiful double layer cake they'd created with strawberries laid out on the various corners of the cake and finally sprinkling some chocolate chips across the top. It was a very beautiful cake all things considered, quite extravagant by the life sphere's standards. It was probably worth a lot of oney, actually. But she was giving it away for free. How nice! "It looks amazing, Rider! You did an excellent job." Peach complimented.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rider was scooped up by the Mushroom Kingdom princess, an action that most definitely left the smol flustered. However, as flustered as she was, she felt...something different rise from her heart. A different feeling that she had never encountered before. It was...so warm...before she could even process what it was, they were already at the kitchen, ready to bake a cake! Rider's worry was apparently proven to be unfounded, thankfully!

Rider was doing the work on the cake while Peach was her guide. Luckily for the princess, the smol was a pretty quick learner. She struggled in some areas (to which thankfully the princess herself went to help), but she managed to get a good feel whilst baking for a long period of time. Once they were done, Rider was...surprised at how the cake turned out. Maybe Peach was too good a guide!

The bab's vision soon snapped back to Peach as she congratulated her for the cake. A giggle in response. "I couldn't have done it without your help though...thank you again, Ms. Peach..." Rider said, smiling at the other. "B-before we can go take it to Amitie, though...mind if I ask you something...?" she asked before taking a deep breath.

"W-well...you see...I just now got this...weird feeling I don't...understand just yet. It kind of feels just like love,but not like...friend love or....r-romance love. I-I'm sorry if it sounds too confusing..." she ended up blurting it out, stuttering all around. This feeling was so nice, but it was confusing...

[Mari]

Peach would giggle with Rider, declining to take credit for the work they'd done but acknowledging her point with a nod. It felt... right to pass on what her mother had taught her to the smol, just like her mother had taught to her. She quietly mused that she'd make a good mother one day--...Yeah, one day. That wasn't to downplay the role she'd played in giving some of the more dependent girls on Li a home and the caring, motherly love they'd been deprived of when they'd been seperated fro their parents, but there was a certain ...formality missing from it all. It seemed that Rider had questions, though, so Peach drew herself out of her thoughts to give the other her full attention. "Oh? Of course." Peach replied. Listening to Rider though, she couldn't help but disagree. There was something very romantic about the feelings she was describing, but probably not the same type of romance Rider was referring to. She understood that much. There was the love you gave your friends, the love you gave your better halves and then there was the love you gave... "...No--It's alright. I think I understand. If it doesn't feel like friendship, or relationship ...maybe it's kinship that you feel?" Peach would thoughtfully reply. While she wasn't sure what to expect, it did occur to her that she'd been treating Rider like her mother had treated her in a way. That could very well be the feeling Rider was picking up on.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"Kinship...?" Rider repeated the word as if she was pondering if it was the term she was looking for. She thought long about that word...wasn't kinship something akin to family love? ...Could that warmth be the same love of a family member? Of...a mother? Once that possibility veered into her head, the moment she felt that warmth around her just felt...amazing. Something she never actually got to fully experience and comprehend finally reached her life. She...felt like she wanted more, but she immediately restrained herself because to the smol, that's simply asking too much.

"I...I think that's the one. ...Kinship, huh..." Rider said, quietly glancing at Peach with a soft smile. She would soon look down, possibly to her heart before placing a hand on around it's location. Her ears became a bit droopy by that moment. "It's...very warm..." she muttered to herself. Her emotions ran very wild at that point, but she didn't want for Peach to be in the receiving end of whatever reaction she could output, so she kept it all for herself. "W-well, shall we transport the cake to Amitie, then...?" Rider would soon ask, returning her eyes to the princess in pink.

[Mari]

Peach beamed at Rider, impressed by her words. And at such a young age even! "That's very wise of you, Ms. Rider. Kinship is a type of love that often goes unrecognized." Peach complimented in an encouraging tone. Kinship... It was a sort of love beyond blood and beyond marriage, the kind of love one held for their fellow soldier or their best friend. The most romantic kind of love there was, born from nothing and illegitimate in the eyes of many. However, she didn't think so. It was the type of love the entire magical girl's society was based upon, and it was the type of love Peach held in the highest regard. "Let's go see Ms. Amitie~" Peach would go on to offer leading the way back to a picture that looked like it was a painting of the interior of the busy bee lobby. At her touch, the painting came to life. "...I'll wait here to make sure you get through okay, alright? I'll follow you as quicky as I can." Peach would go on to offer. She couldn't hold Rider's hand like she had before because of the cake, but they'd only be seperated very briefly.

((This seems like an appropriate time to skip to Amitie's appartment))

[TheSpatialWeeg]

It was a bit of a walk to get there, but the two would eventually reached Amitie (and Rider's) apartment. The smol would go ahead and open the door to the princess, allowing her to step in first. "A-ami, we got a visitor...!" Rider tried to call over as she helped Peach settle the cake over at a table.




"Comiiing~~" came the voice of the girl in question from a room. Peach would then get a good view of Rider's friend as she appeared onto view. The Puyo-capped one gasped at the sight of her friend. "Whoaaa, Rider, what's with the new dress? You look stunning~!" Amitie said, obviously gawking at the princess dress she was wearing, making the other get a nice shade of red on her face. It'd take a moment or two before Amitie could remember that they had a visitor. "A-aha, sorry about that~ Hiya, my name's Amitie! My dream is to be a wonderful magician~! Pleased to meet you!" the bloned cheerfully said, extending a hand to Peach.

[Mari]

Peach would set the cake down, breathing a very gentle sigh of relief now that she no longer had to carry its weight. She then folded her hands in front of her, turning to greet Amitie with a bright smile. Oooh--Were those heart prints? Stylishly quaint! She approved, nodding in acknowledgment of Amitie's praise for Rider's new outfit. "Well--You certainly seem wonderful to me, Ms. Amitie~! My name is Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom and the pleasure is mine. Now all that's left is to see what kind of magic you can perform!" Peach would reply, deciding to flatter Amitie with her greeting. She, of course, understood what Amitie had actually meant, but this was her way of showing support for the other. "Perhaps you both could tell me about your studies over this cake Ms. Rider prepared for us?" Peach would go on to offer, stepping aside to show off the luxurious cake. Once again she'd given Rider all the credit. She was curious to see if Rider would let her do that, or if she'd insist on crediting Peach with teaching her how. Either way, she had hoped to surprise Amitie with the likely unexpected claim.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"....Mushroom Kingdom? How does that work?" The blonde asked, genuinely curious, but as one could see if they squint hard enough, she didn't look...very fond of the idea. "Do you guys...live in mushrooms or something?" She asked, clearly feeling a little awkward about the idea of mushrooms serving as one's home. However, her face went back onto a smile once Peach already complimented. "Aha, many thanks, Your Majesty~! I can show you what I know any day!" Amitie said, blushing.



Of course, her attention soon turned to the cake Rider baked with Peach's help, but the princess decided to give all the credit to Rider. Before the smol could interject, Amitie decided to say something. "Whoa, really? Rider made this? It looks so tasty~!" the blonde exclaimed as she eyed the delicacy with a lot of hunger. Must be that sweet tooth acting up. The Puyo-capped one scrambled into the kitchen for a brief moment before coming back with 3 plates, a knife and 3 spoons. Amitie would then do the honors to slice the cake into equal pieces, giving one to each of them.



"W-well...in terms of what Ms. Accord taught us...i-it'll probably be a lot to take in...but we'll try to make it so that you can understand." Rider began. "See, in our world, we kinda learned your basic elemental spells: Fire, Lightning and Ice. But there was açso how these jelly-like thingies called 'Puyo' help you make them stronger. I think Ms. Accord compared them to 'living mana' or something..."

[Mari]

Peach beamed invitingly as the girls explained themselves, accepting some cake and setting it upon her lap. Listening to them, she heard talk of wizardry. This was rather vague and she couldn't presume to know where specifically it came from. However, the idea of puyo, in particular, was familiar to her. She knew exactly which world they came from! ...Probably. Maybe. "Oh..! As a matter of fact, I believe I've heard of these puyos before. Would you both happen to know a Ms. Raffina..?" Peach would reply, observing the similar descriptions she'd gotten from the trio. She was pretty sure they did know eachother, as this seemed like a bit much to be a coincidence, but you never knew! She had already attempted to help Raffina with her studies in leiu of a proper magic school, giving her an edge when it came to understanding what she was being told. "Most of my kingdom used to live in w00den homes back before the starvia became a problem but back in the old days, long before my time, my ancestors did used to depend upon mushrooms for shelter." Peach explained somewhat thoughtfully. "I myself live in my very own castle~" Peach went on to reassure rather cheerily, glossing over the threat of the starvia. That wasn't a particularly pleasant topic, even if it was difficult to bring up her kingdom without acknowledging its fall.

She stopped to taste the cake she and Rider had made, offering Rider a bright smile in response. "...Perfect~ You did an excellent job, Ms. Lidelle. Have you both been able to continue going to school here on Li, or have you had trouble finding one like Ms. Arle and Ms. Raffina..?" Peach would softly remark before asking. At this point, she felt like she might have to start up a school just so that her children precious friends could continue to learn! It was a noble goal, and she'd had trouble finding one for Arle and Raffina...

[TheSpatialWeeg]

“Oh, you know Raffina?” Amitie inquired as sudden as the name mention. “She’s our classmate at Primp Magic School!” The blonde stated. Of course, she listened in to Peach’s brief explanation of the Mushroom Kingdom. There was a little sigh from the blonde kid as the princess finished. “Sorry if I’m sounding rude, but I...uh...dislike mushrooms. E-ehehe…”

As Lidelle went to taste her own cake, it seemed that she herself was surprised at how good it actually was. Amitie was already chowing down on the cake, and the expression said it all. She absolutely loved it. “Whoa, Liddie~! You got a hidden talent for sweet stuff or what?! This cake is am~aaaazing!” she inquired, pulling the smol in for a big hug. Lidelle, finally deciding to go with Peach’s idea, just answered with a little giggle and an “M-maybe so…!”

After a little while, Amitie settled Lidelle down before answering Peach's other question. "Well, not really. Our teacher, Professor Accord, got warped here alongside the school, but it's...super wrecked for now, and she doesn't want us to study in those conditions. So classes are suspended until she fixes it." The Puyo-capped one said, which Lidelle nodding alongside the answer in confirmation.