spark a dream

buttercups

"Sofia the First" Universe fanfic

Amber thought that the shy plants were poison ivy.

Honestly, all of us thought that the plant was poison ivy, and that was saying something. We'd all only just turned fifteen, after all. We should've known how to identify harmful flor from our Buttercup days.

The princesses' antics made me wonder how in the world all of us passed our Buttercup Plant Scout Test back when we were younger, but we couldn't give up now. Sofia was counting on all of us to save her, so it meant Ruby and I had to work together to put up with all the stuck-up princesses that attended the prestigious Walt Disney Academy several star-trips away from Enchancia. Fairytale Academy wasn't the worst, but it wasn't the best, either. It just meant the WDA people looked down on us all the time.

The princesses had to stop for a drink, but I kept my eyes on the path. We couldn't lose track of where we were going—the trees changed direction every few seconds, and Sofia was trapped in Sorcerer Cedric's castle somewhere outside of the woods. He'd finally resorted to kidnapping her to get the Amulet of Avalor—I wondered why it had taken him more than fifteen years to think of this ploy. Long story short, Sofia had gotten herself into a royally gigantic mess, and it was up to us to get her back home safe and sound. But first, we had to assemble a team, then call upon our instincts (and whatever Buttercup knowledge we had left) to locate our best friend.

Ruby and I did what we had to—we called all the old Buttercups and tried to blindly navigate our way through the Enchanted Forest. So far, it wasn't working that well. However, as much as the princesses wanted to give up, Ruby and I wouldn't let them. Sofia had stuck with us through thick and thin, so we vowed to save her even if it meant risking our lives.

The stream babbled along the rocks, but there was no sign of life in the water. Our ragtag group followed it upstream, hoping to find a way out of the woods and a sense of direction. Amber kept her eyes on the "poison ivy", but by now everyone had given up, and generally avoided any plants they didn't know the name of. I knew a few, but none that I could identify were edible.

"Try this way—the moss is growing on the trees on this side, so we must be heading north," Ruby commented, pointing at the distance. "As much as the branches want to trick us in the forest, the trunks and roots will never move. I think I read that in a book somewhere."

"Good for you, Ruby." I nodded in thanks.

I looked behind me, and Hildegard was panicking. "The trees have no moss! The trees have no moss—I repeat! The trees do not have any moss!!!!!!"

I rolled my eyes. These WDA princesses sure lacked a couple brain cells.

"Well, this tree does, so we're heading in this direction."

Ruby and I took off into a run. It was fun to glance behind us and see three teenage princesses huffing and puffing to keep with us. Nobody told them they had to wear their 'excursion dresses' out to find Sofia—now they were stuck with stuffy underskirts and tight corsages while Ruby and I ran free in simple countryside shirts and pants.

"What in the kingdom?" Clio exclaimed as she pointed ahead of us. "Please tell me that's a clearing! Oh, my feet are about to fall off! Please, please let us out of the forest!"

The trees seemed to bend according to her will, but we all ran towards the supposed clearing.

And I believe we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the clearing presented itself. It was a majestic cornfield, covering land with a sea of yellow, green, and gold as far as the eyes could see. It reminded me of our farms back at home, where we'd pick corn until our hands hurt on Harvest Days. We sat down contentedly between the stalks, and the three princesses gingerly laid down their baskets, smoothed out their dresses, and crossed their legs daintily—and in sync!—once their backsides hit the soil.

Ruby stood up, and grabbed a stalk of corn. She peeled off the leaves, and started munching with a sigh of relief. The others followed suit—we were very hungry. Dignity and the importance of being elegant were disregarded—all of us squatted in the field, chewing loudly on delicious corn. It seemed like days since we'd last eaten anything—in truth, we'd probably only eaten lunch a few hours ago.

"Alright, let's get a move on!" I shouted to everyone else. We adjusted our hats, re-strapped our bags, and continued along our way. We began walking up the hills, shouting Sofia's name. We'd find her in no time—I was sure of that.

"Let's go back to the woods."