Unconditional: A Broppy Story

Part VIII

Poppy woke up that morning with her snuggle toy Lord Prickles in her arms. After giving the blue stuffed hedgehog a kiss, she placed him on the empty side of the bed and sat up to stretch her arms. Before she could get up, the realization sank in.

The other side of the bed was empty.

"Branch?" she called out. Feeling nervous, she headed outside of her pod to look for him. "Branch!"

"What's the matter, Poppy?" Guy Diamond asked with Holly, Val and Synth alongside him.

"I'm looking for Branch," she answered. "Have you guys seen him?"

"No, sorry," Val replied. Holly and the guys shook their heads. "You should ask your dad. He just cancelled the Electric Foam Parade for safety reasons."

"And I was really looking forward to my first one!" said Tiny Diamond, a newborn Troll who was tucked away in Guy Diamond's hair.

"What?!" Poppy exclaimed in disbelief. "But we've always had a Foam Parade! Where's my dad now?"

"He went over to Mags' house," Synth answered. Poppy ran towards the mushroom to find her father playing cards with Mags Gumdrops, Rufus, Miss Guffin, and Dr Moonbloom.

"Good morning, Poppy!" King Peppy greeted. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept fine," Poppy replied as the others came in. "Dad, where's Branch?"

"I haven't seen him," he answered.

"Then who told you to cancel the Electric Foam Parade?"

"That was, uh... I forget," he admitted. "But whoever it was, they made some good points. Probably."

"Sorry, Princess Poppy," Dr. Moonbloom said. "I told you things like this would happen."

Poppy sighed. "It's okay. I'm just gonna go find Branch."

"I think I saw him at the bus stop with his sister earlier," Miss Guffin replied. "They went to say goodbye to the queen before she went home."

"That reminds me," said Rufus, "I gotta get ready to ship my crops to Ornery Grove! My daddy always said the best way through a friend's heart is through their stomach and when there's an entire kingdom of starving friends..."

"We should go," Poppy whispered to Holly, Val, Synth, and Guy Diamond.

💍💗💐🍾🥂🌹💍💗💐🍾🥂🌹

"So even though saddle spiders are difficult to train, they'll be your best friend for life once you do," Lavender explained to and a group of kids. "Now who wants to pet Mister Bubbles?"

"Hey, Prince Branch," said a girl named Priscilla, "where's your saddle spider?"

"I don't have one," Branch answered. "Despite what Princess Lavender says, riding spiders is just a waste of time. Not productive at all."

"He got bit by one when we were kids," Lavender blurted out. "He cried and cried like a big gray baby."

Branch growled at his sister as the children laughed at him. Suddenly, he heard an "Ahem!" and noticed Poppy and her friends standing right behind him. Just what he needed, more overly cheerful Trolls.