A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and the follows. They're welcome and appreciated.
EXT: BACK AT EVER AFTER HIGH.
WE SEE THE FIELDS, AND RAVEN APPROACHING
The first thing Raven saw as Nevermore came close to Ever After High was that the Evil Queen's army was advancing.
The second thing she saw was that some of her friends were gathered around a giant sphere of purple magic.
She landed near them and ran to see.
"Raven! Thank Grimm you're back!" Ashleen said, seeing her approach.
"Where's Apple?" Raven asked.
Faybelle pointed at the bubble. Raven looked at it. Then her eyes opened wide.
"No. No, no, no, no, no. No!"
She rushed to it. She tried thinking, and whispered an incantation.
The bubble remained intact.
"We're not sure how to stop it. We've tried everything," Ashleen said.
"Raven, do you have the gem?" Darling said.
Raven nodded and produced the gem from her bag. Darling took it and looked at it.
"Do you feel anything?" Raven asked.
"It's warm" was all Darling said. Raven sighed.
"So what do we do now?" Faybelle said.
"We need to defeat the Evil Queen," Darling said. "It might be the only way to save Apple.
Raven looked at the bubble.
"Okay," she said. "Here's what we can do."
CUT TO THE EVIL QUEEN, SEEING RAVEN APPROACH ON TOP OF NEVERMORE.
The dragon roared, but none of the Evil Queen's air minions seemed interested in attacking them. They just moved and let them pass, until Raven could jump from the dragon onto the walking platform her mother was standing in.
The Evil Queen smiled.
"Oh, my beloved Raven, I was wondering when you'd show up."
Raven crossed her arms.
"Mother"
The Evil Queen laughed.
"Now, now, my dear, you mustn't look so upset! This is our opportunity! Together we can crush these foolish fairytales. Just think about it! They will all bow to us! No one will ever control us! No one will ever tell us what to do! We will rule over them all! Complete control! Freedom!"
Raven flinched. Her mother smirked.
"Ah, you've heard it before, haven't you, my dear. Been to the cave, then?"
Raven looked away.
"So you have! Good, Raven. That's only the first step in your destiny. So why don't you just come with me and I'll show you the ropes!"
"I won't join you," Raven said. "I won't become you. I'll never be like you!"
"Well, dear, if you're not here to join me, what do you plan on doing?"
Raven looked at her.
"I'm here to stop you, mother."
The Evil Queen moved towards her.
"Well, then. Let's see you take out that gem and use it. Take all my power to yourself."
"I'm not doing that either."
Her mother stopped, her nostrils swollen.
"What?"
"I didn't bring the gem. I'm not using it. I'm not going to take your powers, because I'm not going to become you."
The Queen glared at Raven.
"In that case, love, I'm just going to have to knock you down. And after you wake up, all your friends will be my slaves, and I will teach you to obey your mother!"
And with that, she pointed her hands at Raven and released a bolt of dark magic.
Raven didn't try to dodge. Instead, she put up her left hand and let the bolt hit it. The energy disappeared in her palm. She raised her right hand and fired back.
Her mother wasn't ready for a counterattack, nor for Raven to keep standing. The bolt hit her head on. She flinched.
"Huh, so you've learned to absorb a magic attack and to redirect it. Not bad, sweetie, not bad."
There was now fire in the Evil Queen's eyes.
"When this is over, I'm going to make you the most powerful black magic caster. I promise you that."
The Queen raised her hand again and released a continuous blast of dark magic at her daughter. Raven flinched when she received it with her left hand. It wasn't just Evil Queen magic. Her mother was throwing all sorts of black magic at her, and it hurt her. Still, she managed to absorb the energy and release it back with her left hand.
Still, she knew she couldn't take it much longer. But she needed to resist. She needed to face her mother, to look her straight in the eyes, and hold her stare. She needed to keep absorbing and redirecting. She needed to ignore the smile in the air behind her mother. She needed to hold on longer.
Until, finally, the smile was gone once more, having left a passenger.
When the Evil Queen felt the blade of Darling's sword hit her back, she laughed.
"Oh, please, Raven, do you really think I would fall to such a basic distraction? I don't care about your little friend here. Swords can't harm me. My body is impenetrable. Magic armor, sweetie, all around my body. I'll teach you the spell someday."
Raven smiled.
"Exactly, mother. Your magic is all around you."
The Evil Queen frowned.
"What?"
"I wasn't trying to hit your body," Darling said.
"What are you even tal-" the Queen began. And then she felt it.
She stopped her attack and turned to look at Darling.
"How did you…"
And then she saw it. Darling's sword.
The gem was incrusted in the swords handle, and it was shining, as it had just hit its target.
"You…" mumbled the Evil Queen, turning to face Raven. "You put the gem on the sword. You put a spell on it so that it works with the sword… you…"
"I don't like the gem, mother," Raven replied. "I don't like what it does to me."
Her mother fell on her knees. She could feel the magic trying to escape her body. She could feel her shadow army, one by one, dissolving in the air.
"And I don't ever want to use it, or to do anything that happens in the Evil Queen's tale. Ever."
The smile appeared in the air once more, and then the rest of Kitty Cheshire, carrying with her a very-nervous-looking Faybelle Thorn.
"And now," Raven said, "I never will."
The cat was gone once more. The Evil Queen screamed in frustration, as all of her magic erupted from her body towards the sky.
"Faybelle!" Darling said.
"I got it, I got it!" the fairy answered, flying up while and reciting her incantation.
And then, all the dark magic flew at Faybelle, in a single beam. Her body shook midair as it absorbed all the dark energy, until there was no more floating in the air.
The moving creature they had been standing on dissolved as well, and then they fell onto the grass.
The fairy almost fainted, but she managed to stop herself from hitting the ground.
"Wow," she said, smiling. "That's a lot of magic."
Raven stood up. They could hear the screams of the students, running to meet them. The shadow army was all gone now.
But Raven just stared at her mother, who was kneeling on the floor, looking up at her.
"You…" the Queen said, "you could be one of the greatest dark witches of all time! You could rule over the entire cosmos! If you just let me teach you, I could turn you into the greatest Evil Queen that ever was!"
"There's only one spell I'm interested in, mother."
Kitty appeared next to Raven, holding a mirror.
"And I already know it."
She muttered the incantation. There was one last scream of anger from her mother. And then, she was gone, trapped in the mirror.
Raven sighed.
"It's over."
Most of the students had made their way to them now. They were all tired, but they still managed to cheer for their victory. Lizzie stood next to Faybelle.
"Well?" the princess said.
"Well what?" the fairy replied.
"Off with the spell," she said, offering her scepter of hearts to Faybelle.
"And if I don't want to?" the fairy replied. "I'm the most powerful magic user in the world now. You wouldn't stand a chance against me."
Lizzie looked at her sternly.
"You'll do it anyway. Because you're our friend."
Faybelle blinked. Twice. And then rolled her eyes.
"Ugh, fine, whatever!" she said, and with a little flash of light she put all of Wonderland's stolen magic in Lizzie's staff. "But I'm keeping my mother's magic! And all of the Evil Queen's if Raven doesn't want it!"
She began flying away.
"Where are you going?" Lizzie asked.
"To wake Briar up before I change my mind!"
Meanwhile, Raven had put the mirror away in a bag. She looked around her.
"Where's Apple?"
The others gave her a sad look.
"Raven," Ashleen said. "The bubble."
Raven's eyes opened wide in understanding. She looked back at the castle, at the balcony.
The bubble remained intact.