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She wasn't bad
Even now in the refuge of her castle, in her room, Princess Bubblegum still felt the sting of Flame Princess' words.
You're cold PB and it's not because you're a scientist or a leader. It's because you are a bad person
How could she be bad? She wasn't bad. She was selfless. She had spent hundreds of years looking after her kingdom, defending her subjects from the evils that threatened them. She never asked to be thanked or acknowledged. She was no saint, of course no one was, but she did what she had to do. How dare Flame Princess accuse her of being a bad person. What did she know of ruling a kingdom?
Princess Bubblegum sat on her bed. Her elbows were on her knees, her hand resting on her cheek. She gazed out towards the wall. There was tea set out for her on the nightstand but she ignored it.
"I'm not a bad person," she said out loud. "I'm not."
She said it for herself. She didn't want anyone to tell her she was good or bad, or anything in between. She didn't need their approval.
Her words hit the wall. Silence. She didn't care. Or so she made herself believe.
"You can't be doing this!" The diplomat yelled. "We've been farming on that land for hundreds of years!"
"My kingdom has a claim to that land!" Princess Bubblegum shouted back. "And it goes back before your country existed!
"You're making that up!"
"I have the documents to back it up!" She held up a scroll that trailed to the ground, filled with elaborate description of an event that she had fabricated. "And if you don't give up those lands, I will declare war within the next twenty four hours. Tell that to your king!"
She wasn't bad.
Her hands touched the keyboard and typed in a few commands. The screens flickered and they were filled with scenes from all over The Candy Kingdom.
"It worked!" She exclaimed. It had taken years to create the perfect security system but it had paid off. The cameras were up and running and they connected to the control system. She fell back into her chair, marveling her work.
"It's perfect! Absolutely perfect!"
"What's it for?" One of her servants asked.
"To keep an eye on everything," she answered.
"Like spying? Isn't that bad?"
She glared at the servant.
"I am not spying," she tried to make her voice sound cheerful but it came out more threatening than she expected. "I am only keeping on eye on things."
All she did was for the good of her people.
The noise grew louder and louder from below. Princess Bubblegum walked out onto the balcony to find that a group of citizens had gathered in front of the castle. They held up signs and shook their fists in her direction.
"What's going on here?" She demanded.
"We won't build your weapons!" Someone in the middle of the crowd shouted at her..
"You can't raise the working hours in the factories and expect us to go along with it. It's not fair !"
"The Candy Kingdom has been threatened! Several nations have already started mobilizing and if we don't get ready soon enough we will be wiped out." Her voice started to angrily shake. Her fingernails dug into her palms.
"Then why weren't we told?"
"I wanted to protect you!" Princess Bubblegum retorted. The anger was too much. She had reached a point where she couldn't calm down.
"Stop treating us like we're children! If you won't respect us we won't follow you! We will not work overtime!"
"Is that how you want it? You want them to kill you? You want your home to be blazed to the ground? Go ahead! And don't come back crying to me when you realize that you need me!"
She gave the command to the banana guards. They rushed in.
It was for them. It was for her too. But mostly for them.
Something stirred inside her. A negative feeling. Was it guilt?
Princess Bubblegum tried to brush it aside but it just wouldn't leave.
"Am I a bad person?" She asked herself.
**********************************************
She stood in front of the computers, looking at the screens for the last time. Her citizens, allies, and enemies going about their daily lives. A system that had been in place for hundreds of years and had served her well.
A system that no longer worked.
She didn't want to let go. Not completely. But steps were the easiest way. And the first were that the cameras had to go.
She hesitated for a second, but her hand moved towards the computer. They grabbed onto one of the cords and yanked them out. The screens started to flicker, like they did so many years ago when they first were turned on. But this time they faded to black. Forever.
Princess Bubblegum dropped the cord. Relief washed over her. It wasn't hard. It wasn't hard at all. And she felt good. She no longer felt guilty.
She headed out and locked the door. She wouldn't go back. She would never go back into that room.
She had done it for herself. Them too. But it was mostly for her.