Author Notes - This is roughly the point where it dawned on me that, despite him being my favourite, Bashful has gotten the least amount of 'screen-time' out of all of the 7D in this story so far. I suppose that makes sense, but it's still kinda weird.

Of course, as per the story I have planned, he will be getting a lot more focus across the upcoming chapters.

Oh, and the Glooms for the most part will be out of the story, but I have plans for their return. But, uh, not in the way you think.

I didn't get Doc's 'hickory dickory me' at first. The thought process was: 'I don't get it. I mean, I know it's a play on Hickory Dickory D... oh, I get it now.'

Heads up, there won't be shipping in this one - late, I know - except for maybe some 'Queen of Hearts' (I think) hints. Especially since I see the 7D as adoptive brothers.

CHAPTER THREE - SPRING INTO CHAOS

The next day was just as Spring-y as before, if not more so. The flowers were brighter than ever, and the a-DORE-able baby animals were being welcomed into the world. And this time, no attacks from the Glooms.

'Uppity up, up up up!'

Like most days, Sneezy was awoken by an energetic song urging him to get up. The singing voice sounded completely different, but he wasn't alert enough yet to pick that up.

'Ugh... what are you doing, Grumpy?' Bashful slurred.

Grumpy?!

Grumpy was already up and dressed, before the clock they lived in even struck 7 o'clock. His eyes were bright, and so was his big, big smile. As he sang, he danced.

What was Sneezy looking at? If he weren't so weirded out, he'd laugh.

'I dunno! I guess that good mood carried over. Come on, now! Up up up up uppity up!'

Hoo boy, he did not sing as well as Happy.

Doc rubbed his glasses an extra time, just to make sure he was seeing it correctly.

'Hickory dickory me! I don't think I've ever seen Grumpy ring- sing like this before.'

The singer approached Happy's bed, continuing the song. Happy groaned as he awoke, and he glared at Grumpy.

'Why are you singing? That's my job.'

'I don't see you getting up and singing! Besides, I just turned on Doc's doo-hicky downstairs so we're having flap-jacks today!'

Grumpy left him to get up by himself, while he sang all the way down to the bottom floor.

'Uppity uuuuuuuup!'

Happy grumbled. 'You're not singing it right.'

Sneezy had expected things to make a little more sense after they had all gotten dressed, and ready for breakfast time. He was... wrong, to say the least.

'YEAH, flap-jacks!' Grumpy yelled, sitting at the table.

Most of the others were at the table already, and Sneezy had planned on devouring his breakfast quick. His sitting down to eat, however, was delayed by another sight.

Sleepy sat on the couch, staring off into space. His eyes were dried and bloodshot, and his hands twitched. Despite how tired his face looked, he was wide awake.

'Sleepy? What's-?'

'I don't know what happened! I couldn't sleep a wink last night.'

He stood up, and walked over to the breakfast table in a way that was akin to a zombie. Sneezy couldn't help staring; something was definitely wrong.

He pushed it to the back of his mind. Everyone did have a pretty big day yesterday.

Doc's machine in the corner cooked and flipped delicious flap-jacks, and tossed them onto everyone's plates.

*SMACK*

Except for Grumpy's, which as typical for him smacked him right in the face, which was followed by the juice pouring all over him. He peeled his breakfast off his face, but instead of it revealing a disgruntled expression, it revealed one happier than the last.

'Mm-mm-MM! Breakfast delivered straight to my face!'

Happy had cut himself one little piece, and didn't even eat it before glancing at Grumpy.

'I like breakfast too, but you're going a bit too far.'

Sleepy didn't touch his flap-jacks, and instead chugged down an entire cup of coffee.

Sneezy blinked. He ate his breakfast far slower than planned, pretty much on auto-pilot as most of his thought process was being spent on observing the three. He leaned over to Bashful, and whispered to him. 'Is it just me, or is something really weird happening to Grumpy and Happy this morning?'

'And Sleepy too? Something's going on, but Grumpy's not complaining for once, so I won't either.'

Bashful was right. And anyway, he had a whole day of Spring to catch-up with. He wolfed down his flap-jacks in seconds; a poor idea as it turned out, as he choked on the last couple bites.

'Someone... ACK! Help!'

While he struggled to breathe, Bashful delivered a strong SLAP to his back. He coughed out the offending food chunk, and got his breath back.

'Thanks Bash...'

'For Delightful's sake, Sneezy.' Happy said, giving him the look of death. 'If you eat your food that fast, what are you expecting?'

Grumpy had already finished off his orange-juice-soaked meal. 'Aw, be nice on the kid, would ya? He's just excited.'

Right on cue, the young dwarf got out of his seat, and ran to the door - remembering that it was closed this time. He didn't have anything planned passed this point; he was gonna run around outside and see where it got him.

'Hellooo Spring!'

Immediately he inhaled the lovely scent of the hundreds of the flowers scattered around. It seemed like a miracle to him, being able to smell and inhale so much pollen without launching into a horrific sneezing fit.

The aroma was gorgeous!

He just had to go into the enchanted forest. Even without his pets, the blooming wild would no doubt provide him with something absolutely amazing.

'Enchanted Forest, here I come!'

That moment, he knew he had made the right decision. The thought of his powerful sneezes coming in handy once again was still strong in his mind, but there was a cure for the cure, so it didn't matter to him.

You couldn't blame him for being so excited as he charged for the forest. Considering he had had problems since childhood, this was something completely new.

The 6D back at home had all finished their breakfast, and as per their schedule, whenever the Queen didn't need them what followed was a day's work in the mine.

Doc studied his map, to see which part of the mine to work in next. 'So fellas, are you ready to rock some mines? I mean, mine some rocks?'

Something strange was definitely going on with him today. Every time he opened his mouth, it seemed he couldn't say one sentence without some verbal mess-up. His ancestors did typically fall into it in their later years, but it seemed too early for him. Surely that was thirty years down the line.

Compared to what was going on with half of his team, though...

Sleepy held a cup of coffee in his shaky hand. He chugged it all down, his hand getting shakier with each sip. If his eyes were opened any wider, they'd fall out.

'You know Sleepy, too much tof- coffee can be bad for you.'

'I don't care! I need a little pick-me-up after last night, and this stuff really does the trick!'

Now his hand shook so much most of the drink spilled out. He continued to drink his coffee, despite the cup being totally empty.

'Heigh ho, heigh ho! It's off to work we go!'

Grumpy was on full annoy mode, and seemingly would not stop singing as he picked up his mining supplies. His singing, at least, was getting better.

'Heigh ho! Heigh ho, heigh ho!'

Happy had had enough, and whacked him upside the head with a shovel, knocking the daylights right out of him. He landed with his face on the floor.

'Happy!' Doc yelled. 'What on Earth did you do that for?!'

The usually-jolly dwarf rolled his eyes. 'Words weren't going to get him to stop, were they?'

Grumpy sprung off the floor, still smiling for no good reason and not caring in the slightest that he just got whacked.

'Someone's in an unhappy mood today!'

'And it's because of you!'

The fighting managed to attract Bashful's attention, away from his beautiful framed photo of Queen D. The ginger was used to the two of them engaging in an argument, consisting of one side getting frustrated and the other totally oblivious, but not like this.

He put his picture down. 'What is wrong with you guys today?'

'Hold on.' Grumpy said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. 'I keep a list. Inability to understand sah-chasm, habit of breaking into songs randomly...'

'Hey, that's my list!' Happy retorted, snatching the paper back. 'How did you get it?'

Dopey backed away from the two of them, really wishing to not get involved, and whistled a sentence to Doc.

'You're right M- Dopey. Something's s- wrong with Grumpy and Happy today.'

Sleepy slammed his mug onto the table, ran to his pickaxe, and jogged in place. His whole body jittered.

'Come on come on come on! I've got all this pent up energy!'

Doc stared for a few moments, before getting his voice back.

'And Sheepy- uh, Sleepy too. What's happened to these tree- three to cause them to act so... strange?'

It was quite the sight.

Grumpy smiled, but not like that scary fake smile he had when he thought he'd become cheese. It was a genuine cheery grin. He walked with a bounce in his step, and his tone was noticeably perkier.

Happy, on the other hand, had never had such a glare before, if at all. He looked poised to use that shovel again. Singing? Out of the question.

Then Sleepy, who was...

'I'm not waiting for you guys. I'm going into that mine right now. See ya!'

He opened up the entrance under the stairs, and dived in. The caffeine-high dwarf disappeared into the mine.

'We can't go to work yet.' Happy said. 'One of our members decided to abandon work to have fun for himself.'

'Relax, Hap.' Grumpy said. 'We've got six our of seven workers. Besides, the kid's out enjoying what he couldn't enjoy at all befpre! Let him have his fun.'

Running through a patch of flowers, Sneezy laughed in absolute giddiness. Their aroma was even better than he was expecting! Just a little longer, and he'd go back to work. Just. A little. Longer.

He stopped, his heart about ready to explode. Two bunnies, a male and female, poked their heads out of a bush and looked around. They were hard to recognise outside of 'bopping' mode, but no doubt they were Froo-Froo and his mate. They scampered out, followed by a whole litter of the cutest baby rabbits you ever did see.

'Awww!'

As they scampered off to the next bush, the one at the back paused in the middle, to thump its foot against the ground. It noticed its family leaving it behind, and dashed off.

It was official. Spring was now his favourite season.

'Help me!' A somewhat familiar voice yelled out from the forest. 'I'm being chased by three little pigs for absolutely no reason at all!'

The person the voice belonged to emerged. Sneezy recognised the trouble-maker almost immediately.

Goldilocks.

She turned to him, and gave him her best big blue eyes.

'Help me, young man. I'm being cha-'

'Oh no, Goldi. We've been through this already, and I'm not falling for it again!'

Either she didn't recognise him, or she didn't care. All she did was make her eyes even bigger and bluer.

'Three piggies are chasing wittle old me for no-'

'What part of 'we have been through this before' do you not understand?'

The three little pigs popped out of a bush, all three thoroughly peeved off.

'There she is!'

Goldi yelped. She did seem frightened for real. Maybe this time she would actually learn her lesson. Highly unlikely, though.

Sneezy grinned. He had just thought of a great idea that, at worst, would give Locks just what she deserved.

'L-listen Goldi, I know where you can stay. There's a, uh, cottage! Over there, by the swamp.'

'Swamp? Ewww!' Her face wrinkled with disgust. 'Oh well. Flee-ers can't be choosers.'

'Uh-huh. Yeah. Two lovely people live there, and I'm sure they'll take you in.'

The moment he finished explaining, the annoying blonde dashed away, towards the cottage by the swamp.

'Hey, she's running away.'

'After her!'

The three pigs gave chase. Pig number three stopped, to give the dwarf a thumbs-up, then ran off after his brothers. Now that that little scene was over, the kid could continue to saviour Spring.

'Grooowwwlll...'

That was a cute sound if he ever heard one. He pushed back some bushes, and found on the other side, a little baby bear.

'Hello little guy!'

He could approach any animal no matter how furry or feathery now, and he was going to take advantage of it. The cub looked rather sad, and lonely.

'What's wrong? Lost your mama?'

The cub backed away from him, growling high-pitched and quietly.

'It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt-'

'RRAAAWWRR!'

'... you?'

A shadow loomed over him. A shiver shot through his spine. He knew, just knew, that something awful stood behind him. Forcing himself to turn around...

'AHH!'

The mama bear stood tall, making him feel even smaller. Her claws were out. And SHARP.

He waved, about ready to scream. 'Heh heh. Hiya. I wasn't going to-'

'RRRRAAAWWWRRR!'

Rule one of forest travel - never, EVER, go near a wild animal's baby. Unless you liked dying.

'AHHHHH!'

'We dig dig dig dig dig in our mine the whole day through!'

'Would you just shut up?!'

'Nope!'

Bashful usually mined almost as efficiently as the rest of his team, but he found himself hardly interested in mining at all, and more focused on Grumpy and Happy.

Grumpy dug into the ground, unearthing gemstones with unmatched enthusiasm. Happy, instead, had the urge to impale him with his pickaxe.

'Stop with the singing and focus on work.'

'You sing while you work all the time. I'm just picking up the slack.'

Maybe Grumpster was intentionally annoying Happy - giving him a taste of his own medicine. That didn't explain why Happy was so bitter today though.

Bashful tried to ignore it, and return to his mining. He found, however, that all the gems he had just been working on getting out were gone.

'What the-?'

Sleepy zoomed by, carrying the gems and many others to the minecart and back. He drilled into one of the walls, swinging his pick so fast it looked like he had five of them. The dashes were short and fast.

'Don'tstopmenow!' He said, so fast he could barely be understood. 'IfIkeepmininglikethis, we'llbedonehereinnotime!'

Bashful blinked. Maybe the moon was changing colour again, but it was still morning. Even if the moon could change during the day, they were underground now.

What added to the strangeness was that Bashful knew that, typically, something like hyperactive Sleepy would terrify him and make him go into hiding. Today though, aside from cheery Grumpy creeping him out, he didn't feel scared at all.

Doc scribbled in his notebook. He had drawn pictures of the three confused dwarfs, labelled with their names. Question marks dotted the page.

'Something odd is going brown- uh, d-down with them today. But what? There's a connection, but what? I can't pink straight! I can't even seek- speak straight!'

Dopey whistled out an answer.

'Of course! They're bu... ttturning into their opposites. But why? And why is it only effecting them?'

Dopey sat down on a stalagmite, and got to thinking. His name may have been 'Dopey', and he certainly was, but he could be clever in his own little way.

Three of them acting weird... acting like their opposites... going against their names... starting when Sneezy got-

'Get out of my way!' Happy yelled.

He pushed Grumpy into the wall, jamming him straight into the rock. He swung his pickaxe back, ready to attack. Hey, that rhymed.

'Whoa! You're in a really sour mood to-'

'If you say anything else, I will pin you to the wall and bury you alive!'

He held the pick into the air...

'HAPPY!' Doc shouted.

In that moment, something came over Happy. His pick fell to the ground. He stared at his hands, and then at Grumpy who removed himself from the wall, still grinning like a moron.

'What has gotten INTO YOU today?!'

Happy breathed deeply, approaching hyperventilation. A sensation of guilt washed over him, then any feeling of empathy vanished from his face. He clenched his fists, and yanked up his axe.

'It's not my fault. He wouldn't shut up.'

'And that's an excuse to threaten to berry him alive?!'

Grumpy smiled, dusted himself off, and returned to work.

'It's alright. It's not like he'd actually kill me. It ain't no trick, to get rich quick!'

'I don't know what came over me, and I don't want it to happen again, but if you don't stop singing it will!'

Bashful slinked away, hating to get involved in an argument firing up so quickly. He tapped Dopey on the shoulder.

'You stay here, and try to keep things calm. I'm gonna go find Sneezy. He has got to see... whatever this is.'

'So you're not that nice Mama Bear, are ya?'

'RAWR!'

'Ahhhhh! Understooood!'

Sneezy fled for his life, the mama bear hot on his trail long after the fact. He hopped over logs, ducked under branches, and took a moment to saviour the scent of Spring some more.

'Waaah- oof!'

As typical for scenes like this, his foot got caught on a tree root, sending him hurtling to the mossy ground.

'Oh, of course that happens!'

The she-bear was catching up to him. He had only moments until...

'Sneezy! Can you hear me?' A cracking voice called out to him.

'Bash? I'm right here Bashful! But I'm having a bit of -'

The bear lashed out, leaving deep claw marks in the tree's bark. He ducked, the claws barely missing him.

'Waaah! Bear trouble! Get the boys and-'

Bashful leapt out of the shrubbery, did a flip in the air, and landed between his room mate and the angry animal. His room mate watched in disbelief.

'Uh, Bash? Don't you wanna get Dopey or...?'

'I don't need him. I got this.'

The powerful tone in the cracking voice was enough to make Sneezy forget about the bear entirely. For a second.

'Are you forgetting that it's a bear? She's not one of the three bears ya know!'

'I know it's a bear. I'm not stupid.'

Mama bear lifted her paw into the air, intent on striking and not missing this time. He closed his eyes, unable to do anything as his friend was no doubt about to be maimed.

She struck Bashful across the cheek, the dwarf making a poor attempt at dodging.

'Is that all you got? Take this!' He yelled, voice cracking.

Sneezy opened his eyes, for just a moment, to witness Bashful delivering an uppercut right into the bear's lower jaw. His own jaw dropped. The bear fell to the ground, whimpering like a defeated puppy dog. She ran away, not looking back.

As Bashful watched the creature fleeing, he gasped. 'D-Did I just...?'

He turned around to his friend, who got to gasp as well. This time, it was in response to the bleeding claw marks on Bashful's cheek.

'Did you... did you just uppercut a vicious angry bear?! Usually you'd shriek and run for a hiding spot!'

Bashful gave him a quick glare. 'I don't know what happened. I-I didn't feel any fear at all. That doesn't matter. I came to get you. You need to see what's going on back in the mine.'

'What's going on in the- wah!'

He had no time to finish the question, as Bashful had already grabbed him by the wrist and began dragging him home.

Author Notes - So that's the 'chaos'; the others going against their name!

After all, after Sneezy is cured, he wouldn't be 'sneezy' anymore. You probably already know the cause, in case I didn't just spell it out for you. It only matters if the 7D know the cause... which they don't.

With Grumpy and Happy, I wanted it to make it more than a simple personality swap.

You'll notice I really like throwing random continuity nods into my fanfictions. And yes, Doc's inability to speak right is a reference to the movie.