Marshall's back was rubbed against the hard, graphite grey bricks of the exterior of the castle. His cheeks were flushed crimson red, swollen from crying. He sniffed, grimacing about what happened at dinner that night. It was a mess, considering that his former best friend fought in front of everyone about a piece of bread. The Dally's cheeks heated, flushed from embarrassment. 

Why did I have to make such a fool out of myself, especially in front of everyone, he pondered to himself. There were numerous ways to avoid the fight happening in the first place, such as letting Chase have the bread, or even better, ignoring him. Fighting wouldn't help their situation, and it never will. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the creak of a door. Marshall rose up from the grass he was plopped on and stuck his head around the corner. The entrance of the palace was open, as the bright lights revealed. The sound of strutting paws stung his ears, along with the slam of the castle doors. The Dalmatian started to wonder to himself what was going on and who was there. A porcelain pup in a charcoal black, leather outfit with inches of violet purple at the edges sauntered out, along with an emerald green minion toy. 

It was Sweetie. Marshall sauntered through the juniper green grass, the bristles brushing against his paws in curiosity. 

"Sweetie, what are you doing?" He questioned, only to make the Terrier jump with shock.

"I-I'm obviously going somewhere. You don't need to know a-anything else," she replied, her nose wrinkled before she hopped onto her four-wheeler. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry," Marshall apologized. "But why are you out this late?"

The Terrier paused. She didn't want to reveal her plan to the Dalmatian, considering that he was part of the PAW Patrol and would probably snitch everything to the group. That would mess up her plan instantly, so she cut out a few things for her explanation in hopes the Dally would leave her alone. "Look, I'm going somewhere. It's none of your business where," she sneered, her nose wrinkled. "I despise this kingdom and I . . . want to stay away from it so I can . . . get what I want, like jewels and money and burgers."

"You're not going to steal anything, are you?" Marshall blurted out with suspicion, his eyes squinted. 

"No, not at all. I'm just going to earn everything I want. Then, I'll finally be happy," Sweetie mustered a confident smile. 

The Dally pondered. "Do you think money and riches actually makes you happy?"

"Of course," the Terrier scoffed. "I mean, whoever said that money can't solve your problems must not have had enough money to solve them." 

As their conversation progressed, Marshall became more and more suspicious about where Sweetie was going so late at night. She wouldn't even say where she was going, which caused the spotted pup to become intrigued. However, he didn't want to spend the rest of his time at the castle speaking with her. The Terrier seemed like she wanted to be alone, so he said goodbye and went back in front of the castle, held back from entering. 

He felt the urge of not wanting to face them inside, but he knew he would have to sooner or later. The temperature outside was dropping down, and the howling wind blew against his fur, making him shiver. He had no choice but to go inside and face the music. 

Meanwhile, Sweetie was quite excited and appeared happy. The thing is, she actually felt happy. She hopped into her four-wheeler with glee, ready to take off, but she was missing one thing: her toy minion. Busby was still on the brick pathway that led up to the castle. 

"Get in, loser," she snorted as she shook her collar, "we're going to Adventure Bay."

Busby hopped in the raven black four-wheeler as Sweetie prepared to settle out of the kingdom. Most of belongings were still in her pup palace, mainly items that she could have access to in Adventure Bay, like pup toys. She did, however, bring valuable jewelry with her, along with other necessities that sparked her interest. At the moment, she was wearing an expensive golden necklace with a red ruby at the center. It belonged to her owner, but she swiped the necklace from the Princess' room on the way out, assuming that she wouldn't find out. The Princess owned loads of other jewelry, so Sweetie thought that the Princess wouldn't notice. 

Not right away, at least. 

The Terrier took one last look at the castle with a smirk before she took off into the dark, starry sky. The crisp wind blew against her fluffed fur as she soared through the sky. It would take a while to at least get to Adventure Bay, so she made plans to stop about halfway through to rest for the night and continue traveling at dawn. 

It sounded reasonable, but regret started to rush through her veins. She wasn't guilty about leaving Barkingburg—not one bit. However, she did think that it would be best to travel after everyone fell asleep. The Princess usually told her good night before she rested herself. What if she would come out tonight? Maybe she would assume that the pup was already asleep if she didn't get an answer. Sweetie tried to shake off the horrifying thought by thinking about her new life in Adventure Bay.

She would get everything she desired—riches, attention, and burgers. The Terrier figured that she needed new energy. The people of Barkingburg weren't right for her, so she thought that starting new would at least give her attention. Sweetie already had plans of what to do the minute she placed a paw in the city. It was obvious, really. 

Having burgers served to her was a must. Another must was to steal any riches she desired, like money and jewelry, hopefully awarding her the attention she desired for the longest time. A lot may not like it, but Sweetie didn't care. As long as she had what she wanted, she insisted that she'd be alright. 

"Adventure Bay, here I come," she cackled as she looked down to the ground, seeing that she just left the kingdom, "ready or not."

+++

When Ryder and the pups got back to the hotel, it was time to sleep, but Ryder and Marshall were still up. The Dalmatian felt bad about ruining dinner, but his owner kept suggesting that it wasn't his fault. Ryder didn't insist that it was Chase's fault either, but he believed that they shouldn't have made such a scene in the first place. 

It was common sense. Fighting over a piece of bread is stupid, and made Marshall feel exactly that way. At the time of the fight, he was frustrated and stressed. He needed some rest, but he didn't want to. The feeling of guilt invaded his mind. 

"Marshall, do you still feel bad about what happened at dinner? It's okay," Ryder said as patted the pup's head. They were both on the hotel's living room, slouched down on the sofa as the flat-screen television fastened to the wall played a random game show on low volume. "I mean, it wasn't okay, to tell you the truth, but that's the past."

"I guess you're right," Marshall nagged, his voice slurred. "That's not the only thing I feel bad about that, though."

"Then what else are you feeling bad about?" Ryder questioned, glancing at the television for a quick second to see cheering. One of the game contestants apparently got a trivia question right. 

Marshall gulped and began to explain to his owner about his encounter with Everest. He felt even worse about that than the dinner disaster. He snapped at her—not once but twice. He didn't quite mean to, it just slipped out. At that moment, he was too upset to even want to talk about it with anyone—not even with the pup he loved. He felt like a shitty friend. 

He didn't know how to apologize to her or what to do. Maybe it would've been best to sort things out in the morning, assuming that she was asleep. Ryder agreed, but also suggested that Marshall should go to sleep himself. He wanted to, but at the same time, he didn't. His thoughts about his day took over his mind still. He wasn't in a suitable mindset and he needed to fix it. 

But at the moment, he couldn't. Everest was already sleep and it wouldn't make sense to wake her just for that. He wanted to, but she needed her rest and Marshall needed his, as well. So, Marshall told his owner good night and headed to his and Everest's room to sleep. There were two separate, twin-sized beds, inches apart from each other. The Husky was slouched down on the one near the window. 

The curtains weren't closed completely, so the high view of the kingdom was revealed. Marshall inched closer to the window to get a better view. From there, he could see the Big Ben clock tower and buildings that weren't too tall. Barkingburg's castle was in the view, as well. It was quite a sight, but Marshall turned away from the window to face Everest, who was sleeping. He stared at her for a moment, his expression blank. 

"I'm sorry for everything, Everest," he whimpered as he sauntered too his bed as if he was doing the walk of shame. It was the same walk of shame a student would do if they lost a game in such an embarrassing way. 

He leapt onto his bed and snuggled up against the warm sheets, one of his paws grasping onto his pillow. Everything was blank. His expression was blank, he didn't feel anything, and the wall he was practically having a staring contest with was blank as well. He wanted to cry himself to sleep, but he was held back. I've already cried enough today. It would be so . . . baby-ish to just cry again, he pondered to himself. 

Before he could think anything else, the rustling of sheets prickled his ears, causing them to point upwards. The Dalmatian wasn't making the noise, so it only meant one thing: it was Everest. Was she moving around in her sleep? Or was she waking up? There wasn't any need to guess at this point. "Marshall . . . are you there?"

His mouth dropped open. "I'm here, Everest. Before you go back to sleep or anything, I'm sorry for everything."

"What are you sorry for?" She questioned as she found the courage to get up. It wasn't completely dark in the room, so both pups could see each other. 

"I'm sorry for snapping at you," he sulked. "I wasn't in the right mindset and wanted to be left alone, but that's not much of an excuse for what I did."

"Marshall, don't worry. It's fine," Everest accepted. "I should've just respected your wishes, so I'm the one that should be sorry."

"You shouldn't, Everest. You were worried and wanted to check up on me. I get that, but I still shouldn't have talked to you like that," the Dalmatian admitted, his eyes glimmering. "Seriously, you don't need to apologize." 

Everest tried to confirm it. "So you're not mad at me or anything?"

"I'm not. I'll even prove it," he mustered a smile. He managed to leap off of his bed to his teammate's bed, snuggling next to her to give her a hug. "I probably wouldn't hug you if I were mad at you."

"You have a point," she said as she closed her eyes. "You can even . . . stay here, if you want. You know, in case you feel lonely. I know that today was a lot."

Marshall acknowledged that with a nod as he closed his eyes as well, letting out a relieved sigh. The Dalmatian feel asleep first, which didn't surprise Everest because he seemed tired. 

"Good night, Marshall," she whispered minutes before she fell asleep herself. 

+++

When dawn hit Barkingburg, the Princess awakened from her sleep and got ready for her day. Before she headed off to eat breakfast, she wore her signature sky blue dress, pearl necklace, silver tiara, and light blue heels to top it off. The mixed-race girl headed to the dining hall to eat her breakfast with the Earl and a few other people who resided in the castle. 

Today, traditional bacon and eggs were served, alongside buttered toast with freshly cut vegetables along the side of each plate. It was a basic meal for people who were quite important to the kingdom, but that didn't matter. They were people just like anyone else. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their meal. 

The Princess ordered the castle's butler to prepare breakfast for Sweetie. It was her least favorite food on the planet: pup food. It's shocking because dogs tend to love pup food, but then again, Sweetie is a different pup. It wasn't neccicarily a bad thing. Everyone treated it like it was, but it isn't. 

The Princess was nearly finished with her meal before she made her journey outside to her West Highland Terrier's pup palace. It wasn't a basic doghouse. It was bigger than most and the outside was decorated as if it were kind of a miniature version of the castle. It had a bronze gate surrounding it, as well. 

"Sweetie, your breakfast is almost ready," the Princess hummed as she bent down, expecting a smiling Sweetie to come out any moment now. 

Except she didn't. Normally, the Terrier wouldn't come out of her pup palace right away, but she wouldn't take forever either. Sometimes she would even say she was coming. However, this time she didn't. She was silent. "C'mon, Sweetie. It's time to wake up," the Princess persisted. 

There still wasn't an answer. It's been at least two or three since the Princess has been outside, and absolutely nothing was happening. The Princess just stared at the pup palace, beginning to become inpatient, so she shifted the curtain that covered the door. Her mouth dropped open, her eyes widened. She couldn't believe what was before her eyes. 

Her pup was missing. 

She speed-walked back into the castle with fright. "Sweetie? Where are you? Sweetie?!"

There wasn't an answer. Nothing could be heard, except footsteps trotting towards the castle's large foyer. It was the Earl, his eyebrows raised. 

"Princess, is everything okay? We can hear you all the way from the dining hall," he widened his eyes with concern, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"Not at all. Sweetie wasn't in her pup palace when I checked. Now, I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her all morning," the Princess said anxiously. 

"Do not fret, Princess. I'll have the guards search the castle for her. She will be found in no time," the Earl assured the Princess. "Why don't you have a seat at the throne while you wait?"

The Princess nodded as she sauntered across the broad foyer to her throne, passing the closed silver platter where Sweetie's food was. At this point, she wasn't interested in getting back to her breakfast. She just wanted to find her pup. Sweetie didn't normally wander around the castle so early in the morning, but in the Princess' thoughts, today could've been a change to that. 

Except it wasn't. 

The Princess had no idea of what was actually happening. Would she find out soon? Perhaps she would, but at the moment, she was unaware. 

When the guards were finished searching the castle around ten minutes later, they reported to the throne. The Princess was clutching her fingers to distract her from thinking about her current situation, while the Earl stood near the throne, tapping his feet impatiently. 

"Earl, sir, we could not find the pup. We searched all of the corridors and went through a majority of the rooms," one of the guards stated. 

"Are you completely sure that you could not find Sweetie anywhere?" the Earl confirmed. "Perhaps you glossed over a few rooms."

"We are sure, sir. We apologize for the inconvenience," the guard said as he motioned the other guards back to the castle entrance. 

The Princess' eyes widened as if she seen a ghost. "Sweetie is . . . missing?"

//

Hi! Thank you for reading and sticking by with me. I know I haven't been consistent with updating this story, but it's only because I lack time and am working on another story. 

Adding on to this, I have been thinking about posting spoilers (and other cute things that contain interesting quotes) on Instagram. The Instagram listed on my bio will NOT be the one I will be using to post these. I will create another account dedicated to that. 

BONUS: In this chapter, I made TWO references. Can you guess what they are?
(HINT: One reference is from a movie, another is from a song).