"You are the one who's been selfish."
Eight words seems to be enough to silence the whole population of Ever After High attending the preparations for the carnival parade of Thronecoming day... they silence them and sure as hex they put Raven Queen's mind to a screeching stop so, as she looks at Apple White's retreating form, something snaps inside her.
"Do not dare to take another step, Princess Apple White!"
If the plaza was silent before, now it's quiet is utterly deafening.
"Ooooh, hex... if Raven's using honorifics dragon's manure's about to hit the fan..." mumbles Kitty Cheshire, to the side as she hext for Cerise to run to them as fast as she can.
"I am the selfish one, Princess?" asks Raven not wanting to believe to her own ears "I AM THE SELFISH ONE?"
Apple slowly turns, never having ever heard such a tone in Raven's voice before.
"Do tell me, oh future fairest of them all..." purple magical tendrils reach for Apple, dragging her at lightning speed to Raven "What makes me the selfish one and you the innocent one?"
"Raven, please calm down I already explained to you why it is that way in this particular case." Apple defends herself.
"Oh, no, my dear... you told me why you were in a childish tantrum 'till the school has started, and if you are not going to further explain your reasons then I guess it's MY turn now!"
Raven's eye are glowing with magic as she forces Apple to stand in front of her as a good soldier.
As Cerise stops in a cloud of dust Kitty direct her gaze to what is happening just a few metres from them.
"I tried not to go down too hard on you Apple b-but this is ENOUGH! I put up with you when you used your family's prestige to separate me from my best friend 'till kindergarten, I put up with you when you redecorated my half of the room as a horrifying crypt, I put up with you as I found out that you dumped my WHOLE WARDROBE to fill my closet with thrice damned ribs-cracking CORSETS, I put up with every 'Raven, can't you please be a little more villain-y?' 'Raven, would you please poison me?' 'Raven, you have to be more mean-y' and all that dumb chorus of idiotic statements, I put up when you stalked me to get me to sign that disgusting book and every single time you were forgiven because of who you are and because of who I am supposed to be and all of this because this moronic heart of mine had to fall in love with YOU out of all the girls in this hexed realm!"
...
...
Apple's eyes widens to the size of frisbees "Y-you love m-"
"NA-AH! No time for that! First the rage, then the embarassment!" clarifies the young witch as a light dusting of red appears on her pale cheeks.
"Do you or any of your royal lackeys understand what you are asking us to do? Let me do it for you..."
Raven takes a long breath before starting her rant.
"For all of you royals is simple: you bite a freaking apple and then you get true love and a life in a castle, Briar sting one of her fingers, Daring kiss an unconscious lady-" she shivers at the though "-and he gets to be king!"
The royals starts to exchange worried looks between themselves.
"But let's go with the rebels, shall we? You eat an apple? CERISE HAS TO BE EATEN ALIVE! Briar stings a finger? ASHLINN SERVES AS A SLAVE FOR YEARS! Daring kisses? HUNTER HAS TO SLAIN AND MAIM! For heaven's sakes, Apple, Hunter is vegan and hemophobic and you are asking him to mill his axe around like a possessed men!"
Said Hunter blushes at the mention of his phobia.
"Have you ever thought about poor Cedar? She has to get robbed, eaten by a whale/shark, turned into a donkey, burn her own feet and saw her nose off just so she can be a normal girl! Not a princess, not a queen... a normal girl with bones, meat and all the squishy stuff every one of us has since the day he or she was born!"
Cupid lays a comforting hand on the poor puppet's shoulder.
"Oh, and let's not forget about me... the oh so selfish Raven Queen..." her voice is dripping with venom at this point "I have to poison the girl I already revealed I love because she's more popular than me... what am I? A bimbo? You know me! I don't give a damn about popularity! I'll just be happy if people were to stop to run away from me screaming their heads off even before getting to know me!"
Many faces, among the audience, start to turn red in emarassment.
"Then I have to live as a hobo on the run until I get caught, I'll be forced in a loveless marriage with a man I never met even though I'm as gay as a unicorn barfing rainbows and then I get thrown into the mirror prison forever after because I did what YOU told me to do as soon as I give birth to a daughter fully knowing that she'll be forced down my same-" Raven nears Apple "-exact-" their noses are touching "-HELL OF A LIFE!" she finally roars to the flabbergasted princess face in a way that would make her pet dragon, Nevermore, proud.
As Raven chest heaves with difficult breaths the other boys and girls start to murmur among themselves.
"-it is for the grater good-"
"-isn't it basically rape?"
"-if the fairy tales are meant to be like this-"
"-poor thing-"
"-it's her duty, after all-"
"-I'm gonna join the rebels ASAP-"
"-I'm gonna have my happily ever after, any way-"
"-EATEN ALIVE?"
Having caught her second wind Raven starts to talk again.
"Just so you know, Princess, I have done my homeworks after that day I refused to sign for the first time and I found out that exist many examples of fairytale characters that got fed with this whole 'SIGN OR POOF' thing generations ago and are now living happily ever after... or at least their descendants do..."
Raven gaze is burning holes throgh Apple's head.
"I tried to slip that info to you so many times just to hear you reply 'I understand you are afraid Raven but lying won't help you understand the fact that you are wrong!'"
Many voices gasps at this.
"The only reason why I'm not giving out names is because I know for a fact that if the headmaster was to know who they are or where are they living he'll try to drag them back to this blasted circle of childs forced into running the same path their parents run like headless chickens... but now... I'm done... I love you Apple more than I can say with words but if this is how you see me then... all of the pain and the anger... it's not worth it... have fun finding a new Evil Queen... I'm done..." she says as she pulls her spiked hedband from her hair and she let it fall to the floor.
Raven slowly walks to Cerise "I'm sorry, Cerise... I am not strong enough to lead the rebels... I just can't-"
Before she could even finish her line Cerise drags her in the most warm hug she ever received.
"Run away and try to be happy, my Alpha."
Raven melts in the hug as she reciprocates the gesture "Please be the strong leader I couldn't be and find a way to shred that hood to ribbons, my sister."
As the two departs from one another Raven gaze meets the one of Madelyne Hatter, a gaze full of comprehension and encouragement... they smile to one another and no other word is needed.
What surprises Raven the most though is finding Lizzie Heart lightly bowing her head to her as she whispers "I had hoped to find a way to restore the friendship between the Queen and the Heart's clan but if this is what it take for you to be happy then go and reach for your freedom... and if someone tries to stop you or hurt you then I want you to call me... and heads will roll! OFF WITH 'EM HEADS!"
The two princess shares a quick chuckle before Raven turns one last time to the still magically bonded form of Apple White.
"Farewell, Ever After High, may your future be free of destiny bonding books and full of happiness... bye..."
In a flash of purple, Raven Queen disappears from the Ever After High.