Flipped

AN and disclaimer: I did not come up with this idea on my own, I've seen it done before. However, this particular story is inspired by my reflections on how Apple and Raven really do suit each other's destinies. On the most basic level, one could argue that Raven would be a better Snow White because of her dark hair, but I think Apple really suits the role of Evil Queen. Think about it-she's vain (prides herself on being "Fairest of Them All"), and one of her most prized possessions is a magic mirrorthat gives her fashion advice. Isn't that a little weird, considering the trouble magic mirrors indirectly got her mother into? Raven, on the other hand, avoids all mirrors and is a lot more humble. Also, consider Apple's name and the pride with which she bears it. It's a little weird that Snow White would name her daughter Apple. As Emily at the Toybox Philosopher put it, "That would be like Frodo Baggins naming his son Sauron." But it actually would make a lot of sense for the Evil Queen to name herdaughter Apple, as that was what she's known for. I really like imagining EQ!Apple.

Now for the story!

Chapter One: Introducing the Hero

Morning dawned on the first day of the school year, and students slowly began to trickle into Ever After High. Classes started later at EAH than at spellementary school so that students could settle into their dorms. Students did not have to be in school until sunset, so people were came trickling in little by little over the course of the day.

Nervous freemen and legacy students tended to come first, and this year was no exception. Every year the children of illustrious characters and scads of princes and princesses would sign the Storybook of Legends, but this year was special in that it contained almost the entirety of several prominent stories, including Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Snow White was the most important because the Whites had won the Imperial Wars and ruled the UFK. Most other kings and queens were puppetheads, but the Whites held real power.

Raven White, heiress to the empire, walked up to the gates with her BFFAs Madeline Hatter and Cerise Hood. She was a little apprehensive about Legacy Day and what it implied. She wasn't one hundred percent thrilled with her destiny-she was thankful that she had a happily-ever-after, but she wasn't looking forward to what came before that. Enchanted sleep frightened her.

That's a normal response, Raven thought. What kind of girl wouldn't be worried by a poisoned apple and sleep like death? But my destiny is one of the better ones, and I have to be grateful for that. This was true-in fact, Raven didn't even have the worst destiny among those promised a happily-ever-after! Briar Beauty had the same promise, but the middle part of her story would last a hundred years. A short repose in a coffin was nothing compared to that.

And that's the only apple I'll ever have to eat, Raven thought. When she was small her fear had generalized so that even normal apples creeped her out. Her mother was the same way.

Her mother understood her misgivings, but she said that destiny was a duty they all had to do, and Raven shouldn't complain because there were people who would kill to be in her shoes-like Rhodanthe "Duchess" Swan, who would die at the end of her story. Thinking of Duchess always put things in perspective. Besides, Raven's "in-between" time (in-story, pre-happy ending) wouldn't last forever. It wouldn't last very long at all, and then Raven had a whole life in front of her-which, again, was something some others didn't.

Her mother certainly hadn't limited herself to her story. Lily White had always had a fascination with Wonderland, and she used it to foster trade and create a dependable alliance. Wonderlandians had always tended to be misunderstood and looked down upon by foreigners. Raven's mother hadn't and couldn't completely fix that, but thanks to her Wonderland's relations with Ever After were better than they had been for a long time, maybe ever, and more Wonderlandians than ever before were attending EAH. Raven hoped to follow in her example and be more than just another Snow White. We can still make our dreams come true, birdie, she'd said, just...after our stories. That's what makes the happy ending happy.

Speaking of happily-ever-afters, there was her boyfriend! Dexter Charming rushed toward Raven, tripping a little bit on the uneven stones. He caught himself and embraced Raven. They had seen each other only days before, but a bystander would have thought they had been separated all summer.

"Technically, narrator, he isn't just her boyfriend," Maddie said to no one in particular, twirling her travel hat on one finger like a spinning top. Okay, that is true. Raven and Dexter were betrothed, as many princes and princesses were. If a betrothal contract was not made the Book would choose unassigned princes for stories with openings-and while some claimed the Book made true love matches, some said it was random, and most didn't want to take the chance. Certainly Lily White hadn't tolerated the possibility that her daughter would get assigned to a random prince, considering-Maddie, are you still listening?

"Yes, but I think I know what you're talking about anyway," Maddie said. Right-certainly Lily White would not have taken a passive role in the choosing of her daughter's husband, considering the way her marriage had turned out.

Lily's parents had arranged a betrothal contract at their daughter's birth with the oldest son of a prominent Charming family. He had seemed nice enough, but after the end of the story Lily had discovered that he was the kind of prince that expected to be the hero in the relationship, and Lily was certainly no damsel. Her new husband was not expecting her strength of will and independence, had not known how to handle her. Raven's father had quickly become resentful of his wife's power, and as royals and supposed true loves they could not admit the depth of their issues publicly, let alone get a divorce. Trapped in a loveless marriage with no way out, animosities grew quickly, and they could only barely contain their contempt for each other around their daughter.

Lily had made sure her daughter wouldn't have to deal with those kinds of issues and could have at least a civil marriage, and whenever Raven considered that she could have been betrothed to Dexter's vapid brother Daring she was infinitely grateful.

Little did Raven, or Dexter, know the extent to which Lily had gone to make sure their match was a good one…

Flashback

As expected, Lily White had begun to receive petitions for her daughter's hand the day after she was born. Her husband urged her to make an agreement, but she ignored him and sent them all back (after reading them and making notes of what various persons' conditions were, of course). Shortly thereafter the castle released a statement that said that betrothals for the princess would not be considered until the child's sixth birthday.

It broke tradition, and as such was a touch scandalous, but due to the prestige of her family name she got away with it.

Young Raven began having playdates with other children as soon as possible, and when she began nursery rhyme school Lily always made sure to be there at either pickup, dropoff, or playtime, or all three. It was difficult considering her busy schedule, but she made sure to do it so that she could observe the princes and Raven's interactions with them.

Of course, Lily wasn't going to base her decision solely on observations of three-year-old children. They might change as they grew. She studied true love theory extensively, and worked with dwarven sorcerers to build contraptions that would measure temperament and romantic compatibility. One of the dwarves set about discreetly gathering princes' genetic material, and Lily had every prince within three years of Raven's age tested. She might not be able to find Raven's one true love, but she could and would find a boy she could be happy with.

Of course there were multiple princes that scored highly enough to be candidates, but in the end, Dexter Charming had outshone the rest. He was perfect-from a family important enough that no one would look askance if they received Raven's contract, even-tempered, intelligent, endearing, wasn't too dominant without being too submissive, Raven liked him well enough, and, most importantly, he had practically imprinted on Raven like a baby duckling. One of the most significant theories in true love theory was the Charming Love-At-First-Sight Syndrome (CLAFSS). It held that most of the original Princes Charming, and some of their descendants, had a gene that allowed them to instantly recognize an ideal or the ideal mate the moment they first met and caused an immediate "smitten" feeling. This was how the original fairy-tale princes decided to marry a girl immediately after meeting her and had happy marriages. There was argument over whether these princes spotted their soul mates or simply highly compatible partners, but the phenomenon itself was well-documented and almost always ended in healthy and loving relationships.

Additionally, even at five Dexter was clumsy, awkward, and constantly outshone by his older brother Daring, who was already considered record-breakingly charming. It was obvious the boy's parents favored Daring, and Lily worried that without someone to support him Dexter would grow up to be deeply insecure.

So on the morning of Raven's sixth birthday she sent a copy of the contract her lawyers had prepared before Raven's birth to the D Charmings. Their mail geese probably passed each other, actually, because at nine when the mail was checked they had sent a contract written for Raven and Daring again. Several people had ignored Lily's announcement and continued sending petitions for Raven's hand over the years, and the D Charmings were one of them. At first they sent petitions in both of their sons' names once a year, but recently, after the boys' personalities began to emerge, Dexter's name had vanished and Daring's petitions came more and more frequently, with a rapidly-growing resume.

They quickly arranged a meeting, at which King Charming exasperatedly asked her how she had gotten the boys' names mixed up when Daring was so impressive. "His fencing instructor says he'd never seen a toddler so gifted," he boasted.

Frankly, Lily was more upset at the implication that she had gotten the wrong name for the boy she wanted her daughter to marry than King Charming's dismissal of his younger son. He might be a terrible parent, but she wasn't! She tersely replied that there was no mix-up, that she was offering for Dexter. King Charming outright gaped. He stared incredulously, mouth hanging open. Queen Charming was more composed and poked her husband until he closed his mouth. He opened it again immediately thereafter to sputter out a question.

Lily had carefully considered how to answer this question, and had prepared an answer that would meet the Charmings' expectations. She put on her least convincing smile and said rather patronizingly, "I feel that our story simply would not do Daring justice. All the prince has to do is show up and kiss the girl. He doesn't even have to remove the coffin lid himself! Considering how….gifted….Daring is, I think that he deserves a story in which he makes a daring rescue and slays a dragon or something. That being said, your family name is above reproach, and I think a match between our families would be prudent. It's so convenient that you have another son, isn't it?" She could practically see the light turn on in King Charming's head, and a scheme begin. It was true that Dexter wouldn't need to be good at swordplay or dragon-slaying if all he had to do was show up and kiss a girl-and he wouldn't be a disgrace to the Charming name married into the imperial family.

So they began negotiations, which were tense. Both sides thought the other's terms were unreasonable. The Charmings thought that Lily's contract was scandalously progressive, while she thought theirs was nauseatingly conservative. Lily had structured the contract so that it was clear that it was Raven's throne. She would have control over everything-Dexter would just be Prince Consort. Additionally, she included clauses that would allow Raven or Lily to break the contract at any time (with some effort, so it couldn't be done rashly out of anger) and a non-fidelity clause (in case Dexter and Raven didn't get along as well as she thought they would). The Charmings, on the other hand, were old-fashioned and sexist in a way that was still socially acceptable. They expected Dexter to be unofficially given the throne, and the queen to be a submissive damsel.

Compromises were made on both sides, of course, but in the end, Lily won. How could she not? Whenever the Charmings were being too difficult or too demanding she would say, "There are a lot of other Charming families that would be more than willing to meet my conditions," and they would acquiesce. At one point King Charming accused her of choosing Dexter because she could make outrageous demands for a second-tier prince. Lily met his gaze unblinkingly and thought that it was lucky that they didn't know how much she wanted this or else they would make outrageous demands.

In the final contract, Dexter's title was bumped up to King Consort, and he was given some power, though Raven still had final word. Lily lost her exit clause but Raven kept hers (she was adamant that Raven have the right to refuse). The Whites were to help the Charmings make a contract for Daring and exempt their kingdom from tariffs, and to take control over Dexter's and Darling's education. Lily imagined that this was so they could blame his clumsiness on someone else, or to receive free childcare, but it was an unexpected boon. Every day after school when Daring had various lessons Darling and Dexter would go to the White Keep and receive encouragement from Lily, as well as much-needed training. They were, after all, six years behind Raven in learning the dwarvish language and traditions.