A/N: This is written for Louise Foxhall's Disney/Fairy Tale Competition. I was given Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Romione. I don't quite know how this is going to end, so I'll just see where I get.
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess whose evil stepmother was jealous of her beauty. The stepmother gave her an apple that was cursed to make the princess fall asleep until true love's kiss awakened her. Her Prince Charming found her, kissed her, and they lived happily ever after in his castle.
Except it wasn't really like that at all. At least, not this time.
Of course it was once upon a time, but that's not very specific. It could have been any time. In this story, there are lots of times that it could have been 'once upon'. When you think about it, any time can be once upon a time, but not every story is a fairy tale. And some times aren't really fit for beginnings at all, but they can still be once upon a times.
The girl wasn't exactly a princess. In fact, she was far from it. She didn't have a kingdom, though I guess you could say that she lived in a castle most of the time (it wasn't hers, though, don't make me get into technicalities). She wasn't beautiful by most people's standards, either. With her frizzy brown hair and brown eyes, she wasn't one to stand out in a crowd.
There wasn't a stepmother. Maybe there was a stepmother involved somewhere, but it wasn't hers. In fact, even if there is a stepmother, she won't be a particularly big character in this story, so you can forget that I even mentioned her.
As for the poisoned apple…they're so cliché. They won't be making an appearance here. All of the people in this story use their magic for much better – or worse – things than enchanted fruit. There's no sleeping spell used either, so don't get your hopes up.
As for the prince who wasn't really a prince, and not exactly charming either…well, remember what I said earlier about the girl not being exquisitely beautiful? Well, he'd probably punch you in the face if you said that to him.
Now there's the true love's kiss part…well, no matter how many other things aren't in this story, this part kind of has to be there. After all, you can't have a love story without a kiss happening at some point, at least not any love story that would be worth writing. You'll have to wait a bit for that part, though…it's worth it, trust me on this one.
So maybe it would be more accurate to say: once upon a time – maybe no time in particular, just a time – there was a rather ordinary-looking yet spectacular girl who slowly fell in love with a not-always-charming redheaded prince in disguise…and as for the rest, just wait and see. I'll tell you everything that I know…eventually.