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2021-01-09
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2021-02-12
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Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)

Summary:

A look into the future of our favorite Ever After High characters.

Notes:

To my regular followers,

I'm sorry. It's taken me a bit to get back into writing and writing this has helped. I can't promise that everything will be updated right away but I'm trying. I love you guys for staying and supporting me through everything.

Hope To See You On The Otherside,

Wrong Fandom

Now admittedly this isn't something I've ever really written before but I did enjoy writing it.

To Paladin_Willa,

Hey! I finished writing one of the fics! Thanks to you I had the motivation to finish this chapter!

Thank you,

WrongFandom

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Apple's Allegiance

Chapter Text

Legacy Year was everyone’s sophomore year at Ever After High. When you become a sophomore you start the real preparations of becoming the perfect fairytale character. Before that, you’re just learning your fairytale and everything you need to do for it. Then you have a destiny set. One that guaranteed a Happily Ever After.

That’s why Apple worked so hard for her Happily Ever After. After all the White line needed to always have the Happily Ever After. NO MATTER WHAT.

Then Raven. Sweet sweet Raven who was so kind and good and the perfect fairytale princess. Raven who had all the looks a classic Snow White should have. Raven who only ever did good even when it backfired on her. Raven who had a beautiful singing voice and could play guitar. Raven who refused to be the villain. Raven who SHE needed to be evil.

Then halfway through sophomore year Raven finally accepted her destiny. Finally accepted that she had to be the evil queen. Raven had become the perfect villain.

So Raven finally signed the Storybook of Legends. As everything was being prepared. Raven called for her to come talk about the details of the story.

“Hello, Princess White. As required I must tell you what I plan to do and get your permission to do so.” Raven said, staring at her cooly.

“Alright. What are you going to do?” Apple asked ignoring the glare Raven sent her way.

“First I shall marry your cousin Aaron White. Then I will convince your parents to send you to move in with me.” Raven started explaining while digging into the bag next to her.

“Why Aaron?” Apple just had to ask. Why her cousin Aaron? He wasn’t much. Sort of average-looking in fact. Plus he was born out of wedlock.

Raven sighed before staring at her seemingly trying to think over her words. Eventually Raven spoke up saying “Every Queen has married into the White family. Typically going for an unmarried male. Like a cousin since the main White line has a curse on it so that they can only have female children. Occasionally a Queen will marry their Snow White’s father which hasn’t happened in the last 10 generations. I preferably do not want to marry your father. So as the only other male with an almost direct relation to you Aaron is the best choice. Eventually, I will divorce him and marry someone else to have the next Evil Queen with.”

“Ah,” Apple said in a small voice. “So I will move in with you?”

“Yes. Now as I was saying, you shall become a maid until the day that the mirror declares you as The Fairest In The Land. Once that day comes The Huntsman will take you to the woods to kill you but fail in doing so. Next, you shall run to the seven dwarves’ cabin. There you will once again do cooking and cleaning.” Raven had finally found what she had been looking for in her bag. It was a notebook that had recipes for different poisons in it from what Apple could see.

“Ok…” Apple said a little unsure at this point. After all, she never had to clean herself. She had servants to do all that.

“I shall think you are dead because of the magic binding each story. Once I find out that you are alive I shall disguise myself as an old woman thrice. Now at this point, you are in the story and as such it must play out properly so you while in the story will not remember that the old peddler woman is me. I shall attempt to poison you thrice. Once with a corset, once with a hair comb, and finally with an apple. Upon taking a bite of the apple you will fall into a deep sleep as if you were dead.” Raven paused, scribbled something down, and looked up at her.

“Wait why three times?” Apple wondered.

“You asked for one of the more traditional tellings. Now, this could go one of two ways. You could meet your future Prince Charming once while acting as a servant for me or you could first meet him when he awakens you. I for one cannot be sure which. Once your Prince Charming awakens you the story is complete. Do you find this agreeable?”

Apple paused to think over what she had just been told. She would be forced to be a servant in the palace. Alright, that wouldn’t be too hard. Then she’d run away into the woods. That makes sense. Then she would be poisoned three times. Yes, Apple could do this.

“Yes.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two Months Later

Apple was confused. Her mother stared down at her dispassionately. Meanwhile, her father smiled sadly at her.

The reason as to why she was confused was because her parents had decided to send her off to live with her cousin and his new wife. They were going to send her away to Shard. A kingdom that was considered one of the worst kingdoms out there. Why???

“What do you mean Mom?” Apple asked desperate to find out why she was being sent away.

“I mean you are to pack your bags now and be prepared to leave tomorrow for your cousin’s kingdom.” Her mother said sharply.

Apple could do nothing but flee to her room as quickly as decorum would allow. Once she reached her room she collapsed upon her bed but did not allow herself to cry. Instead, she gathered herself up and started to methodically pack her bags.

Barely a day later Apple was in a carriage taking her to Shard. Apple was still confused.

Once she had set foot into the carriage everything was a blur.

She didn’t remember being made a servant but there she was cleaning around the palace.

She almost remembered meeting a handsome man while tending to the gardens.

She barely remembered hearing “Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall, Who Is The Fairest Of Them All?”

She somewhat remembered “You, my queen, are fair; it is true. But Apple White is a thousand times fairer than you.”

She did remember the shot of pride that she was the fairest. Then she paused because she didn’t know why she would be proud of that.

She definitely remembered the Huntsman taking her to the woods to kill her and then not doing it.

The dwarves. Cleaning. Cooking. Singing. Old Peddler Woman.

Colorful Corset tied so tightly she couldn’t breathe.

The dwarves staring down at her in concern. Her using cleaning to get away from it all. Her using cooking to pretend it never happened. Her singing her worries away. The Old Peddler Woman offering her a hair comb.

The sick feeling in her stomach as the Poisoned Comb sat in her hair.

The dwarves warning her. Her trying to clean and figure out what was going on at the same time. Her being slightly absent-minded while cooking. Her songs no longer coming to her. The Old Peddler Woman offering her the Perfect Fairytale Ending only if she takes a bite of the apple the Woman has.

The funny bitter taste of the apple in her mouth and then the darkness that came.

In the darkness, she heard “I can’t do it. I refuse to do it. Will, you do it ----------?” “Why of course! I would be delighted to do it -----!” and then nothing.

Finally, she felt warm. Light started to stream through her vision. When her eyes opened she saw the handsome man from the garden smiling down at her. His black was perfectly styled and his eyes were a beautifully warm brown. He was Prince Debonair Charming and he had awoken her from eternal sleep.

Barely a week later Apple was getting married to Debonair. She was so happy at the age of 19 the Princess was getting married to her true love.

“I do.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apple was no longer confused. She finally remembered why all that happened in the past four months. As the magic finally lifted from her mind to let her know why she had been sent away.

When she returned to The White Kingdom she was hailed as the new Snow White. Apple’s mother passed the throne to her in a huge ceremony the day after she came back.

Said ceremony acted as a second wedding and a coronation ceremony. To officially change her name and title from Princess Apple White to Queen Snow White. While the ceremony also officially changed her parents’ names from Queen Snow White and King Valor Charming to Queen Mother Lynette White and Prince Valor Charming. Debonair officially became her King as well.

Everything was perfect.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

‘Finally.’ Snow thought. As she stared at the pregnancy test in her hands. It had been two years since she and Debonair had gotten married. Two years of trying to have an heir and failing. Two years of arguments and tears.

“Debonair∽” Snow called for her husband knowing that the man would take his time to get up to their apartments in the castle. He always had.

Once Debonair got to their rooms she sent a servant to get them tea. As she adjusted her skirts to sit at the table Debonair turned and smiled tensely at her.

“I bear news My Dear Husband.” Snow started with no prompting.

“Oh?” Debonair’s lackluster question made Snow frown but there wasn’t much she could do otherwise. At that moment the tea was set down and they both went to prepare their own favored way of having the drink.

Snow sighed in exasperation before getting up from her chair to get the test. “Here,” she said short and quick, “We shall finally have an heir to the title of Snow White.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Snow was in pain. Giving birth was a pain that she was never going to do again. Once was enough.

Snow was a maiden queen. No, she THE MAIDEN QUEEN. As it were it would probably be better if she didn’t have another child after this one. Better for the image of the White family. After all, anything that made the White family look better

So she had finally decided on that. Snow then briefly heard a shout of “It’s a girl!” before sleep overcame her.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

She glanced at the two babies in the cot next to her. Disappointingly the eldest didn’t look like a classic Snow White. She, unfortunately, had blood-red hair instead of hair as black as ebony, an apple-shaped birthmark under her right eye, and ebony black eyes not blood-red lips. Fortunately, she did have skin as white as snow. Comparatively, her youngest had hair as black as ebony, lips as red as blood, skin as white as snow, and beautiful pale blue eyes. Her youngest would make the PERFECT Snow White.

Snow made another decision. One that would keep the White Family in everyone’s good graces. She switched the birth certificates while she was alone.

Her husband didn’t suspect a thing. Neither did any of the doctors and nurses. Now all that had to happen was a press release on the birth to the Snow White title.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Queen Snow White and Her Prince Charming Have an Heir!

The White Family Legacy goes on strong with the announcement of the birth of Heir Princess Calista Gwendoline White and her younger sister Princess Kalonice Lethia Charming.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Sit up straight. It’s unbefitting of a princess to slouch.” Snow snapped sharply at Kalonice. The five-year-old quickly adjusted her posture to be in the correct position. Snow turned back to the chalkboard and started to write down different names.

Calista sat prim and properly next to her sister. Snow preferred Calista. Had even been teaching Calista everything she would need to know. Walking, dancing, talking, history, posture, clothing, etc. Kalonice on the other hand was left to learn from her father. Which left her wanting in certain departments.

!!!Time Skip Of Five Years!!!

Snow wore an elegant dress of red, gold, and white with some gold jewelry and the crown every Snow White wore. Debonair wore a handsome suit of dark blue, white, and gold with a simple crown on his head. Calista wore a beautiful dress of pale blue, cream, and burgundy with deep blue hints. Kalonice wore a beautiful dress that was wine red, light gray, and charcoal black with beige hints.

The reason why they were all dressed up nicely was because Snow’s Evil Queen was coming over with her heir.

Evil Queen Raven came in wearing a lovely dress of green(she started to wear green instead of purple after she signed the storybook), silver, and black with bone jewelry and a heavy-looking black crown. Her son Heir Prince Oleander Doyle Queen wore a sleek black suit with silver detailing and a crown made of bones.

“Greetings Queen Snow. Please meet my Heir Oleander.” Raven gestured to the platinum blond boy next to her. Said boy’s venomous green eyes flickered over their family seemingly unimpressed.

“Greetings Queen Raven. Please meet my Heir Calista and my other daughter Kalonice.” Snow said as her daughters curtseyed.

Once pleasantries were out of the way Snow and Raven sat down for tea while their children talked.

“So who might his father be?” Snow was curious. After all, this boy was supposed to give her daughter the PERFECT fairytale. Plus he had his grandmother’s coloring.

“Ah. Well Snow his father is a Doctor Frankenstein.” Raven said smiling as the boy showed Kalonice something. “He was the sperm donor I picked.”

“Hmmn… well that would be a good mix to create the next Evil Queen or King.”

“Quite.”

!!! Time Skip Of Five Years Again!!!

Snow softly brushed Calista’s hair for the last time till school ended. Her daughter was going into her first year at Ever After High. Her Legacy Year. Snow was so happy. Calista was the perfect princess to take over as Queen after her.

“Mom?” Calista’s voice sounded small and uncertain in a way that made Snow concerned.

“Yes, my darling daughter?” Snow wondered briefly if Calista would rebel as Raven had then she quickly dismissed that thought. She had taught her daughters better than that.

“What if I’m not the next Snow White?” at that question Snow froze. What if Kalonice ended up being named the next Snow White? She didn’t truly understand the prestige and duties the title held. Plus she didn’t look like a Snow White. Sure Snow herself didn’t either but that was different! Kalonice couldn’t be Snow White! She had made sure everyone thought Calista was her eldest! Kalonice shouldn’t even be considered!

Snow had to pause to breathe in and breathe out. “That won’t happen. I will make sure of it. Ok?”

“Ok.” Calista sounded relieved as she went to get dressed.

<><><><>An Hour Later<><><><>

Snow had been looking over Kalonice’s outfit (a beige turtleneck shirt under a wine red sweater with charcoal black skin-tight pants held up by a silver belt that had a wallet chain hanging from it; her flats were the same wine red as her sweater with an apple decal on the side and she had a small rose charm on a silver chain around her neck. Her blood-red hair was cut short just before her shoulders) when Calista came down from her room.

“Your outfit is acceptable,” Snow said, turning away from Kalonice to Calista when she heard the grumbles. “Do not grumble Kalonice.”

Snow decided to ignore Kalonice in favor of judging whether or not Calista’s outfit was acceptable. Calista was wearing a lovely burgundy top with cream-colored poofy sleeves and a light blue high-low skirt; that whole part of the outfit was covered with dark and light blue glitter. As for accessories she had a golden belt with an apple ornament attached to it, two gold necklaces, a pair of golden hoop earrings, two red bows wrapped around her calves with a small ruby in the middle of each, and a golden crown with a ruby gem in the middle. Finally, her shoes were a pair of dark blue high heels that had an apple decal on the side. Her ebony black hair was partially pulled back while the rest fell straight down her back.

“Calista, your outfit is wonderful my darling daughter.” Snow said with a smile as Kalonice fixed her glasses(why would she even wear those? Snow didn’t). “Are you girls ready for school?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Chapter 2: Blondie's Book

Notes:

Yo, I'm back! Already! This time we have Blondie giving some exposition and a new nickname for Kalonice! Her nickname is Lethe! Plus a brief explanation of familial magics.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Blondie stayed quiet as the people below her talked. Blondie knew that they would kill her if she got caught but seriously the police had asked if she could get some info and if she did she would be the first reporter to write about this fairy dust selling ring. Part of the reason why they asked her was because of the fact that she was one of the best investigators around even if she broke a few laws to do so.

Blondie didn’t have time to space as she wrote everything she heard down but really she wanted to know how her kids were, how her husband was, how her goddaughter was. It had been a few months since she saw them. As soon as she finishes this job, she promises that to herself despite her breaking that promise multiple times over the past few months.

Now admittedly Humphrey hadn’t been her idea of a Prince Charming when they had been in high school but that had been eighteen years ago. Things change. She became an investigative reporter who was hired for a few odd jobs here and there, mostly being basically hired as a private investigator. Humphrey became a coder for a private company. Everything changed.

It started when Daring and Cerise disappeared. Then something happened to Raven. No that couldn’t be Raven no matter what Apple said. Blondie wasn’t the only one to think that either. Briar thought so as well. But to Apple Raven had just finally accepted her fate.

Actually, Apple had gotten worse with the disappearance of Daring(she didn’t care about Cerise). Blondie had been close to dropping Apple as a friend like Briar had when Lethe was born. Lethe was Blondie’s goddaughter and Apple’s youngest. Of course, Apple called her by her full first name at all times instead of a nickname. Apple also gave her the Charming last name. She didn’t understand the magic that each child was born with that determined what name they would carry. After all, Ashlynn Ella wasn’t Ashlynn Tanner for a reason. Lethe was a White from the way her magic wrapped around her to the blood that flowed through her veins.

That’s not to say that Ashlynn’s goddaughter wasn’t also a White. Calista White just wasn’t right for the White magic to fully take hold. Blondie didn’t mean to be insulting by saying that but White magic was the magic of allure and Calista isn’t alluring in the way Lethe is. Lethe was alluring. Plain and simple. She drew people in without having to think about it and then got them on her side with no trouble. Calista had a harder time doing what Lethe could without a second's thought. Calista spent days roping people into her atmosphere, winning them with promises and sweet words.

It actually had Blondie worried about what would happen on Legacy Day.

Oh, wait! Legacy Day! Eggsy and Sunny would be signing this year! Along with Lethe! She would take some time off after all.

Blondie hummed quietly from where she was in the rafters. She got the information that she needed. She had to get out of there quickly before someone found her. Plus she was getting uncomfortable where she sat. She, as quickly and as quietly as she could, started towards the way she came in. Unfortunately for her, the building was old and she wasn’t a fighter.

The creaking sound that emitted through the building didn’t really give away her position but it did tell the people that she had been watching that she was there. That wasn’t good. Blondie didn’t have time to panic! She had to go! And she had to go now!

She pulled her white fedora down her head to cover her face and pulled back on the light blue trench coat she wore when she was doing work. Yes, it was a very stereotypical outfit for 1920’s private investigators but it helped hide her identity. Suddenly Blondie was off trying not to fall from the rafters and avoid getting killed by these people.

“There!”

“It’s the Blue Phantom!!”

“Kill her!”

As the shouts went up Blondie didn’t stop. At this point, all she could do was keep on running and pray that they shot like stormtroopers when they’re trying to kill a main character. They did not she realized as she stumbled down after a shot hit her shoulder. She had lost her balance after it happened and fear seized her tight.

She didn’t have time to grab on to one of the rafters instead of falling to what seemed to be her doom. That was, fortunately her, when the police officer that was shadowing her burst in. It was such a deus ex machina that the man was an angel from one of the many heavens that ran around the world of Ever After.

The man grabbed her from the air. She let out a slow breath and relaxed in Theo’s(the angel) arms. Theo looked down amused and quickly flew out.

Theo had been assigned to help her when she was on her fifth outing as the police journalist. She had been pissed about the police assigning someone to watch over her whenever she was working originally but eventually she saw the use of having him around. For one it made for a good disguise(usually pretending to be brother and sister because of how similar they look) and that he could catch her before she hit the ground.

“C’mon Bitsy, yer gonna be alright, Ya?” Theo asked/said.

Blondie made a wheezing laugh sound that she hadn’t fully been sure that she could make. Then she said “you weren’t worried about me, were you? I got the info they needed.”

“Bitsy..” Theo’s voice was a warning. He was upset that she was injured and she immediately told him that she had the info instead of worrying about herself.

“Theo.” her own voice was sharp and she sort of regretted saying it so sharply but she kept talking “I’m injured. Yes but currently I’m not dying and I’ll heal just fine. Now get me to a hospital.”

Blondie stared down as the city got smaller and they got higher. Her family would be worried. Her family… She didn’t really talk to her parents anymore. Despite that, they would probably turn up at the hospital anyway. Humphrey would come with their kids and oh Grimm no! That would be the first time her kids would meet her parents! Not good!

“Stop overthinkin’ things Bitsy.” Theo’s voice cut through her thoughts. “I might not know what yer thinkin' but it’s distractin’ me.”

“Just…” Blondie trailed off unsure if she could actually tell him the truth but knew that she couldn’t lie to him. Thankfully for her, Theo finally landed in front of the hospital and stole her hat. “Hey give me that back!”

“Nah” Theo walked into the reception area and started to explain that he had found her getting mugged in an alley. Which seriously Theo? She should be listening to what the receptionist was saying.

Blondie instead spent the time contemplating what her life had become. Back in high school, she was best friends with Apple White and Briar Beauty. The reason why was because her mother wanted her to push the family name up in the world. Even if her mother just wanted to have an actual title instead of being Goldilocks; Blondie on the other hand truly loved being friends with those two. Apple and Briar were the best friends she could ever have. They both supported her dream of becoming a reporter.

Eventually, she began to suspect that Apple only supported her dreams because she wanted a personal reporter. But it didn’t matter. Then Daring and Cerise disappeared. She knew why Daring left. “Into the Woods” had just come out and they all went to watch it. As the movie went on Blondie had seen out of the corner of her eye the way Daring became more and more horrified by the Prince Charming of the movie. Cerise was quick to comfort him.

Barely a week later Cerise and Daring were missing. King Charming couldn’t find him and as it turned out Little Red Riding Hood had custody over Daring somehow. Blondie didn’t care about trying to investigate that though. Instead, she wanted to look into Raven who, after they had watched that Grimm damned movie, started to sneak off into the woods to meet with someone. Blondie did never find out who.

But Blondie suspected that whoever it was took over Raven’s life for her. At that point, everything seemed to fall apart. Blondie got into more and more fights with her parents. She knew that her parents loved her but she had her own wants and needs she wanted to fulfill.

Briar became the leader of the Rebels. That led to one of the largest arguments Apple and Briar ever had and the first crack in their friendship. Apple became more insistent on the happily ever after while Briar went and came out that she and Faybelle were together. Another crack and Blondie felt as though she was falling apart as well.

The years went by and one night when she was twenty-one ruined the last threads of her relationship with her parents. She had wanted to get some stress out and apparently Humphrey was having a crisis. They ended up in bed together. Her first reaction to finding out she was pregnant was to collapse on the ground and question her existence.

Her second reaction was to go find Humphrey which accidentally led to her completing her story. Really it was an accident. Not that the bears cared. Once she found Humphrey she was slightly out of breath and a little bit beat. Humphrey was in a random park just taking a walk. When Blondie told him what happened he panicked.

Overall it was just a bunch of panic. Blondie was panicking, Humphrey was panicking, and some poor kid a few feet away from them was panicking. They eventually calmed down enough to help the kid.

As it would later turn out Humphrey was having a crisis over finding no one sexually attractive. He and Blondie had a long talk about where to go from there and eventually they decided to move into Humphrey’s house and raise their kid together.

Her parents were so angry that she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock that they almost disowned her. The reason why they didn’t was because she was their only child and thus the only way for the family line to carry on.

Blondie and Humphrey eventually had a little boy named Copper Egerton Lockes. They called him Eggsy. He had copper curls atop his head, warm chocolatey brown eyes, and light skin. The Lockes family magic swirled and moved under his skin delicately.

Two years later Blondie sat Humphrey down and talked about the future. Blondie wanted another kid and to be married. Perhaps not for love but for the comfort that he could always be there for her and that she could always be there for him. Humphrey agreed and a week later they were married and going to a clinic to get Blondie artificially inseminated.

Blondie could admit that she was in love with Humphrey at that point and really she didn’t want to be with anyone else. Slowly Humphrey started to propose going out to dinner when they could, sleeping in the same bed, and occasionally cuddling. Humphrey still didn’t find anyone romantically attractive but as he had another crisis Blondie researched. They tried many different words until “Demiromantic and Asexual?” Humphrey had felt a connection to the definition of being asexual the first time they talked about his sexuality now he was glad to be able to give himself the label and know he wasn’t alone.

Hennessy Sunglow Dumpty was born almost three weeks late. Sunny had blonde waves, dark blue eyes, and light skin. Within her the Dumpty family magic had taken hold. That same family magic is what let her skip two grades.

Blondie came out of spacing only to fall asleep.

Notes:

If you have any questions you can ask below in the comments or if you're more comfortable with Tumblr find me @lostinthewrongfandom. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3: Briar's Breakthrough

Notes:

Woop! Here's another chap to this!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Briar sighed. A giggle went past her ears. There. Briar turned to where the sound had come from only to find when she turned no one was there. Briar glanced to her right and noticed her wife, Faybelle, almost falling down in hysterics.

Briar huffed a little before yelling “Gossamer Roesia Beauty! Izora Whisper Thorn-Beauty! Zephyr Tristan Thorn!”

In a split, second two fifteen-year-olds and a ten-year-old stood before her. The first fifteen-year-old was a blonde whose hair faded pink at the ends. Her pale gray eyes flickered over to the other fifteen-year-old. The other one was a brunette who had a cyan streak. Her eyes comparatively to the first one were a soft brown color. But the biggest difference was the light brown skin tone the former had while the latter had a pale gray skin tone. The former was a one Princess Gossamer heiress to the Dawn Kingdom and the latter was Princess Izora the changeling childe that had been Gossamer’s replacement by a different fairy clan before Briar got Gossamer back and brought Izora back with her.

The youngest child was the ten-year-old heir to the Moors, Zephyr. Zephyr’s own dirty blond hair swirled chaotically; the bright purple streak making it even more chaotic. His light gray-brown eyes seemed to glow slightly against his tannish-gray skin. Four small gossamer wings fluttered behind him nervously.

“Clean up the mess you made in the kitchen!” Briar exclaimed frustrated that the children had somehow exploded ice cream in the kitchen and then tried to escape. Briar then turned to address her oldest. “Cobwebb dear are you sure that you want to go to Ever After High?”

“Yeah, mama! I won’t let Whisp go alone and Whisp wants to meet the heir to the Good Kingdom!” Cobwebb danced towards the kitchen dragging her ‘twin’ with her.

Briar turned to her youngest to ask “Breeze you do remember you have trombone lessons at five right?”

“Yes, mama!” Breeze yelled while running to the kitchen.

“Speaking of the Good Kingdom there’s an announcement today if you remember,” Faybelle stated knowing for a fact that Briar did remember. It was after all a live announcement and the rulers would finally be revealing who they were instead of staying hidden.

“Of course I do…” Briar said turning to the fae with a frown on her face “I can’t believe it’s been so long since The Good King stepped down that his grandchild is fifteen.”

“Well let’s go it will be on TV soon.”

“Right”

Briar was honestly nervous about watching this. The ruler had always been fair but well that could be a facade. Apple’s own fairness was a facade and so was ‘Raven’s’ evilness. ‘Raven’ or at least the person claiming to be Raven Queen wasn’t Raven at all.

Raven was a genuinely good person. Raven had helped heal whoever needed to be healed whenever she was needed. Raven was gone…

“Look it’s on,” Faybelle said gently knowing that Briar had been thinking about her revelation to Apple’s true character.

{The video started off with a song that was presumably the Good Kingdom national anthem. Then the announcer(a mousy woman that walked confidently to the podium) tapped the microphone checking that it was working before saying “May I introduce Good Queen Raven and her consorts Prince Consort Daring and Queen Consort Cerise with their children. The Good Princess Circe, Princess Crimson, Princess Calliope, Prince Beowulf, Prince Blaise, and Prince Ascelin.”

The royal family filed onto the stage but Briar found her eyes stuck on her former classmates. Raven stood tall(taller than either Daring or Cerise) wearing a lovely dress of lilac, silver, and white looking well like a queen. Daring seemed proud in his own suit in the colors of royal blue, gold, and white. Cerise on the other hand had cut her hair short(Daring’s had gotten longer and was now pulled back in a ponytail and Raven’s was up in a high bun) and was quite confident in a suit/dress of red, bronze, and white. They looked well…

Finally, Briar’s eyes turned to the children. The eldest had been introduced as the heiress to the Good Kingdom. The girl’s name was Circe Hestia Queen and she had wavy black hair with white streaks framing the right side of her face, pale blue eyes, and tan skin. She seemed to be a slightly humbled Daring from the way she was confident on stage and basked in the people’s adoration but in her eyes, Briar could see that she understood that she wasn’t the best like Daring had thought at one point. The second eldest was Crimson Hesperia Hood. Crimson had wavy blonde hair with violet, purple, and magenta stripes throughout it, slate blue-gray eyes, and fair skin. The third eldest(and apparently the youngest of the fifteen-year-old triplets) was Calliope Hecate Charming. Calliope had wavy dark brown hair, purple eyes, and pale skin.

The next two were a pair of fourteen-year-old twins Briar seemed to register. The fourth eldest altogether but the eldest of the twins was Beowulf Hades Hood. Beowulf seemed short. He also had straight blond hair with white streaks, pale blue-grey eyes, and tan skin. The second youngest and the youngest of the twins' name was Blaise Hemlock Queen. Blaise was tall. He also had straight black hair with white and purple streaks, slate purple-grey eyes, and fair skin.

The youngest was a twelve-year-old boy named Ascelin Hawk Charming. Ascelin had wavy black hair, pale purple eyes, and pale skin. Ascelin also seemed to be the most insecure of all of the children. Jumpy and wide-eyed as he nervously eyed the reporters.}

Briar could honestly say that she might have registered what happened next in the video but well she certainly wasn’t paying attention.

Because there was a fake Raven running around. Raven had married Daring and Cerise. Raven was the queen of Good. Daring had given up his right to Charming(where Dexter was now King) to run off with Cerise. Cerise had wolf ears??? Daring and Cerise were definitely not just married to Raven but also to each other(look Briar wouldn’t blame them if they had only married Raven) as evidenced by the fact that Beowulf looked like a mini Cerise with blond hair and paler eyes.

Briar felt herself breathe a sigh of relief. After all, Raven was, well a good person. There was no denying that. Unless you were delusional(Apple).

Briar, after ‘Raven’ had quit as leader of the rebellion, had taken up the mantle. Briar hadn’t been as nice as Raven had. She had held rallies and occasionally started fights. This would lead to Briar fighting her own parents and Faybelle’s mom.

Briar’s mother, Daisy Beauty, was a traditionalist through and through. Her father, Appealing Charming, was a follower and a traditionalist. Faybelle’s mother, Regina Thorn, wasn’t as much of a traditionalist as Briar’s but she refused to let Faybelle become queen because Faybelle had decided that Briar would be a good partner. Well, that and the fact that Faybelle had a partner. Thorns were famous for finding a fae to basically be a donor(male or female) for them to have a child and never marrying or well dating. Faybelle had decided that that unspoken rule was ridiculous and actually proposed to Briar.

Briar led a rebellion. She rose up after her parents tried to push her down. She rallied the people of Dawn around her. She asked for their opinions. She found out how much her people hated her family. Her family always looked down upon the citizens of Dawn. Raised taxes, abuse of trust, and repealing laws that gave non-humans rights made her family unpopular. Briar swore that she wouldn’t be like that. She understood that the people wouldn’t trust her right away but she made a promise.

First, she helped Faybelle take over the Moors. She did this more as passive support than active support. Then she negotiated for peace between the Moors and Dawn. Her citizens were happy that instead of trying to ignore the Moors she was doing something. Technically after what happened to the first Sleeping Beauty, Princess Rosamund, war should have been declared but the Beauty family decided that ignoring the Moors was better. Even as their eldest daughters were always cursed. Even as the kingdom was forced to sleep for a hundred years. Even as occasionally the first story(so dark and terrifying to think about) played out. Even as their queens were abused by their apparent true loves because they had to marry those that awakened them. The truce meant that the Thorn Herd wouldn’t cause the dominos to fall which would lead to what was listed above most of the time.

Then with the citizens of the Moors and Dawn Briar led a coup.

The fight was bloody and ended with Briar, one foot on her mother’s chest, holding a sword to the neck of the woman who gave birth to her and her brothers. Who had raised her. Who had loved her. Who had tried to disown her. Who had tried to turn the family magics against Briar and make it so that Briar was no longer a Beauty. Who could have killed Briar from magical backlash had she succeeded in disowning Briar. Who had proclaimed that anyone who sided with Briar didn’t deserve to have the right to live. Briar asked her to yield and give up the throne or Briar would kill her.

Briar felt sick as she did this. She knew that Faybelle would support her no matter what but her citizens? She wasn’t sure if they would agree to keep her mother alive.

Briar had to kill her mother.

Faybelle was the one who told her to go to therapy. Briar got better even as she was still haunted by nightmares. Nightmares where she became like her mother and one of her children had to fight her. Nightmares where she was in the original Sleeping Beauty. Nightmares where Faybelle took their children and called her a monster.

All of that had happened because Raven had replaced herself. Otherwise, Briar would’ve never been able to start a coup or fight her parents. Briar would have most likely gone through the Sleeping Beauty story had Raven, Daring, and Cerise not left.

Briar was the queen that she was because she took over the Rebels when Raven left.

‘So thank you Raven for giving me the chance to be a courageous leader.’ Briar thought as she grabbed Faybelle’s hand.

Notes:

Well, now we have answers but just who is the fake Raven?

Notes:

Apple that is not how you're supposed to treat your children. Doesn't Raven seem out of character?

Anyway hey, guys! Wrongfandom back with a longer chapter than normal. Hoped you enjoy this.