Ever After High: 5-Minute Fairytale Stories
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trickle upside frown!” he said upon seeing
Maddie enter the room. Maddie understood that
he meant “I’m so happy! Someone finally heard
my knocking call!”
She grinned and responded in Riddlish, too.
“White knight, sunshine; a place, a face, I have
mine?” That meant “Hello, what’s your name?”
The old man realized that Maddie must be
the daughter of the Mad Hatter. He introduced
himself as Giles Grimm, the Master Librarian.
Librarian Grimm was cursed by a babbling
spell and locked in the Vault of Lost Tales.
Now he spent his days searching for the spell
to break the curse. Then it dawned on Maddie:
Raven knew about spells! Maddie told him, but
he looked worried. Even though Raven was the
daughter of the Evil Queen, sometimes her
spells didn’t always go as planned. Whenever
she used her magic for good, the spells would
backfire. Maddie could tell he was also worried
that Raven might be mean, just because of who
her mom was.
“She’s really nice,” Maddie reassured him,
“She doesn’t even want to be the Evil Queen.”
Suddenly, Librarian Grimm shot out of his
chair and said that Maddie must bring Raven to
him. He had something to tell her.
Maddie searched all over for Raven. Finally,
when there was nowhere else to look, she went
back to the library, and there Raven was! What
luck! Maddie tried to tell her what happened, but
Raven couldn’t understand. Maybe Maddie was
still speaking Riddlish. So she just took her to
the Vault of Lost Tales.
When Maddie brought Raven to Librarian
Grimm, he slammed the book he was reading.
“Flipping flapjacks, ripping rust! Cutting
corners dawn to dust!” he said
loudly. Maddie hexplained
that he was saying he was
frustrated by how long it
was taking to find the spell
he needed.
Maddie approached him. “Horseshoes,
clovers, rabbits feet! Feathers, friends, we share a
seat!” That meant “Luckily for you, Raven and I
are here to help.”
The next bit of Riddlish was a jumble.
But when he pointed at Raven, Maddie was
pretty sure he meant “Listen, daughter of the
Evil Queen. Destiny is a myth. If you pledge
on Legacy Day to rewrite your own destiny,
everyone will be free to choose their own
Happily Ever After!”
The Master Librarian thought it was more
important that Raven follow her heart. Maybe
then they could lift his babbling curse. But for
now, Raven could go and write her own story.
Tea-rrific! thought Maddie. It was everything
Raven always wanted! She didn’t have to be the
Evil Queen! Nobody had to follow their parents’
stories! Not even Maddie!
Wait a spell…thought Maddie. She didn’t have
to follow her destiny? She loved that she would
get to be the next Mad Hatter. The tea parties,
the riddle games, the fun with talking bunnies—
those were all her favorite things! But Maddie
could worry about that later. Raven finally had
hope. And right now, she needed a Happily
Ever After.
Melody Piper
Melody Piper and her dad, the Pied Piper,
were just the same—they both loved muse-ic
and their legacies. And after she
finished at Ever After High,
Melody would follow in her
dad’s footsteps. Just like her
dad, she believed that muse-ic
should enchant people to come
together and dance. Melody
thought that must be why they
had such a great father-daughter
relationship. He accepted
her for who she was. With his
encouragement, Melody listened to
her heart to become Ever After High’s
most inspiring DJ!
One night, Melody was creating a new remix
when Briar Beauty hext messaged her. Briar
wasn’t just the daughter of Sleeping Beauty; she
was also the social throne of the Royal Student
Council. She was responsible for making sure
every party at school was legendary.
Briar wanted Melody to DJ Holly and Poppy
O’Hair’s birthday bash. Melody couldn’t wait to
create an awesome set for Rapunzel twins’ party.
There was only one catch….
Holly and Poppy might
have looked identical, but their
muse-ical tastes were royally
different. Holly liked slow,
romantic ballads, while Poppy liked
loud, banging rock. Mixing the two styles
of muse-ic was going to be wicked hard, but
Melody was determined to get it right.
Over the next couple of days, Melody created
a ton of different remixes combining the two
different types of muse-ic. But days turned
into weeks, and she still couldn’t get a full set
together. The two styles were just too different.
Still, she wasn’t about to give up!
But the more time Melody spent on the remix,
the more it sounded like a carriagewreck.
“What’s that noise?” Ginger
Breadhouse shouted as she
walked into the room. Ginger
was the daughter of the Candy
Witch from Hansel and Gretel,
but she wasn’t a villain
at heart. Really, she just
wanted to cook. She was
also Melody’s roommate and
great friend. Her pots and
pans scattered all over the
floor as she raced over and
shut down Melody’s muse-ic
app. “Is that the birthday remix?
It’s, um. . .really. . .” Ginger’s voice
trailed off.
Melody sighed. “I know, I know. It’s a total
fairy-fail,” she said.
Ginger patted her on the back. “Oh, Melody,
why didn’t you ask for help? We’re all friends,”
she asked.
Melody was ashamed. “What am I going to
do? I want to help make Holly and Poppy’s
birthday legendary, but none of my mixes are
working.”
“Hmmm.” Ginger pulled a green carrot and
a handful of purple beans from her bookpack.
“This is Bitter Witches Root. And these are
Troll Slime Beans.”
“Gross!” Melody tightened her
mouth.
“Totally.” Ginger reached
back into her bookpack.
“But when you crumble in
some honeycomb and add
a dash of mint, something
amazing happens.” Ginger
handed Melody a cupcake.
Surprisingly, it was sweet and
refreshing. “Instead of just trying
to mix two things that don’t go
together, maybe look for your
secret ingredient.” Ginger was
right, and Melody knew hexactly
where to go.
Muse-ic Class was one of the most popular
classes at Ever After Hig
h. It was where people
came to sing their true hearts out, or band
together with magical instruments. Plus, it was
taught by Melody’s dad.
As Melody walked down the hallway, she
heard the most spellbinding singing voice. It was
coming from the Muse-ic room. She opened the
door, and there, all alone, was someone she’d
never met before. She had coral-colored hair and
a sea-foam dress. She clammed up as soon as
Melody saw her.
“Sorry,” she said as she quickly scuttled away.
“Wait!” Melody called, and the girl stopped
in her tracks. “I didn’t mean to scare you. My
name’s Melody. I’m the Pied Piper’s
daughter.” She extended her hand.
The girl looked at it for a
moment, and then shook it.
“I am Meeshell Mermaid, the next
Little Mermaid.”
Melody grinned. “Well,
Meeshell, your singing voice
is once upon amazing!”
she said. “I’m into
muse-ic, too.”
They talked about their
favorite types of muse-ic. They shared
songs from their MirrorPhones. Before
long, Melody told her all about her
birthday remix problem and what she
was looking for.
“Hmmm. . .” Meeshell sang as she tapped her
chin rhythmically. “What do you suppose this
missing ingredient could be?”
Then the answer popped into Melody’s head.
All she needed was Meeshell’s help.
Immediately, the set list came together.
Bursting with creativity, Melody crammed weeks
of work into just a few days. At the last minute,
she finally finished the mix. Melody quickly
packed her DJ bag and rushed to the Tower Hair
Salon, where the twins would have their party.
Briar ran toward her.
“Thank fairy godmother!”
she said. “For a minute I
was afraid you weren’t
going to show.”
Melody leaped behind
the DJ table. “You know
I wouldn’t miss it for the
world,” she said. Melody
plugged in her headphones and turned on her
mixing board, and one-by-one, people started
showing up. Less than an hour later, the place
was packed.
When Holly and Poppy arrived, they screamed
with joy. “This is happily ever awesome!” they
said in unison.
Briar led the crowd in singing “Fairest
Birthday” to Holly and Poppy. “And now,” Briar
continued, “your favorite DJ
and mine. . .Melody Piper!”
Melody started the
song. A slow beat rose,
and Meeshell started
singing. She was fableous
enough to let Melody
record her voice, and
it was just the secret
ingredient Melody had
been looking for. It
connected the two
beats perfectly!
Pretty soon, everyone
was dancing. Poppy started
jumping as Holly swayed
smoothly back and forth.
Everyone danced until they couldn’t dance
anymore. It was legendary! Holly and Poppy
thanked Melody for playing the most memorable
birthday soundtrack ever after.
At the end of the night, as she packed up
her DJ gear, Melody felt a tap on her shoulder.
It was Ginger and Meeshell, and she felt like
the luckiest DJ in the world. Not because she’d
played a great mix, but because it seemed no
matter where she turned, she could count on
friends both old and new to help her out of
a jam.
Apple White
Life can be wonderful when you have a
Happily Ever After. Take Apple White
for example. Since her mother was
the royally famous Snow White, it
was her destiny to follow in her
footsteps. It was a fableous
future filled with friendly
dwarves, her fairy own Prince
Charming, and a magical
wedding that ended with a
big musical number, with
everyone in the kingdom
knowing all the words! Still. . .
Apple never took her prewritten
legacy for granted. That was why she
studied hard at Ever After High.
There was a lot of pressure for Apple as the
next in line to be “the Fairest of Them All.” But
it was worth the work.
Once upon a new school year, one week
before classes, the students of Ever After High
had their “Book-to-School” orientation in
the Charmitorium. Apple White was looking
forward to Headmaster Grimm’s welcome-back
speech. He always reminded the students of
how they were all destined for greatness. There
was no such thing as short stories or small tales.
They were all pages in the big book of life, and
they all had roles to play.
And this year was
fairy important
because it was
the year all
the fairytales
would finally
sign the
Storybook
of Legends.
Apple had
dreamed of
this year since
she was in nursery-
rhyme school. On
Legacy Day, she would
unlock the Storybook of Legends and declare
her destiny. She couldn’t wait to start the path
to her first chapter as Snow White!
That was, until Raven Queen started to
question her own fate. As the daughter of the
Evil Queen, Raven was destined to become
the Evil Queen in Snow White’s story. But
Raven wasn’t so sure she wanted to be a villain.
Everyone was worried that if Raven did not
follow her destiny, the whole storybook would
fall apart!
Apple didn’t understand why Raven was
questioning her story. What was wrong with
the way things were once upon a time? Apple
wondered. Whatever your parent’s role was,
that was your role, too. If your mom was the
Evil Queen, it was your job to be the next Evil
Queen. It was written that way for a reason!
Briar Beauty saw Apple worrying about
Legacy Day and invited her to go on a shopping
trip. Just over the bridge from school was the
best shopping in the land—the Village Mall in
the Village of Book End. Apple and Briar knew
they shouldn’t leave school in the middle of
orientation, but they both thought a quick trip
couldn’t hurt anyone.
They shopped around
for a bit, stopping in the
Tower Hair Salon and
the MirrorPad store. But
before long there was a
wicked surprise waiting for
Apple and Briar around the
next corner. Madam Baba Yaga,
the school’s advisor for sorceresses, had heard
they were skipping orientation.
“I trust you have a note hexcusing you from
&n
bsp; orientation?” she said.
Apple had broken a rule, and
she knew she was in trouble.
Madam Baba Yaga clapped
her hands twice, and in a
sudden puff, Apple was in
detention.
The year was starting off on the wrong
slipper. Apple was mad at herself. Her parents
had invested so much in her future. But now
she was in detention, waiting to see Headmaster
Grimm. Apple was disappointed she hadn’t set a
better hexample. If she was supposed to be the
future queen, she needed to act like it. Otherwise
they might close the book on her.
See, if a character rebelled
against the system,
their story would be
forever locked, and
they would vanish
from memory.
So being the next
Snow White was
not just about
being beautiful and
popular. If Apple was
lucky enough to get out of
this mess, she was going to be
the best Fairest One of All the school had ever
after seen. And that was just what Apple was
going to tell Headmaster Grimm.
As if on cue, a door opened, and imagine
Apple’s surprise when Briar poked her head in
and said, “The headmaster wants to see you.”
Usually Apple didn’t consider it charming to
cry in public. But in the case of being sent to the
headmaster’s office, she’d make a hexception.
Apple broke down in tears, but the headmaster