Option A: Queen's First Ball
'Xena' and 'Gabrielle' stood at the rise overlooking King Midas's golden castle. A swirl of magic later and it was Emma and Regina standing there in the same clothes.
"Hm, over the wall, typical Snow," Regina commented as they watched the thief climb up and over the golden stones.
"What about us? We're supposed to just sit here and hope that she pulls it off? I don't like leaving things to chance," said Emma.
"You know, I feel exactly the same way, which is why I never do," said Rumplestiltskin as he quite literally appears out of nowhere. With a flare of his hand, he produced a scroll. "See? An invitation to the ball."
"So, you'll be inside to watch out for her?" Emma inquired, half-nervous, half-relieved.
"No. No. I'll be far too busy sorting out how to get you home," he answered, holding out the invitation.
"Why Rumple, you shouldn't have," Regina said rather sarcastically as she snatched the invitation out of his hands. "I have it from here, my dear. Sooner you solve the puzzle of reopening the time portal, the sooner we'll be out of your… hair."
"My, my, my," the imp teased. "You always were my best student, dearie, always so insightful. However shall I occupy my free time now that your education is complete?"
"Just to make sure we're on the same page, as it were," the Evil Queen replied, fingering the scroll while refusing to take her eyes off of the Dark One for even an instant, "You can actually open the portal to get us home, right dearie?"
"There's a powerful wand which, uh, I came to possess," Rumpelstiltskin explained. "Anyway, legend says, it can recreate any magic that's ever been wielded. Now, with a little work, I can use it to recreate whatever portal brought you here."
"Please do it quickly. We'll be in and out before you know it. I want to get the hell out of here," said Emma.
"Unh," he grunted. "Confidence! I like it."
"So, what's the plan?" the blue-eyed blond turned to the dark-haired woman expectantly. "You told Snow that we'll be there to keep the guards off her back, so I know you've got a plan."
Finally taking a (just one) eye off of the Dark One, Regina glanced at her soulmate and replied, "I do have a plan. But you're not going to like it."
"Try me," Emma shrugged.
"This invitation," she said without even having looked at it, "is for a member of royalty and one guest of noble station. Which means 'princess' or higher, and nothing less than a duke or duchess for the other. I cannot go as the Evil Queen, she'll actually be there for something like this."
"You weren't the last time," she pointed out.
"The 'last time' this party never even happened," she counterpointed.
"A princess or… oh shit," Emma's face fell, causing Rumpelstiltskin to giggle ferociously at the look on said face. "You want me to play Queen Gabrielle?!"
"And her Lady-In-Waiting and bodyguard; Lady Knight Xena," Regina put in.
"Better than 'Princess Diana', I suppose," she smirked, while Regina frowned in disapproval.
"Let's just be grateful that that particular curse hasn't followed into this lifetime," the dark-haired beauty remarked as she began crafting the glamour spells and transfiguring their clothing one more time.
"Well, I see you have things well in hand," Rumpelstiltskin said just before he vanished into the night. "I'll leave you ladies to it. I'd say 'get a room', but wait until after the ball and everything is back on track, shall we dearies?"
Before they could reply, he was gone.
"Holy crap, are you kidding me?!" Emma shouted once her peasant dress had been refitted with a close-fitting, 'royal red' silk dress with a scoop neckline and billowing skirt. "My ribs are going to be killing me before I finish talking here!"
"You get used to it," Regina, once again in her 'Xena' glamour replied. Although unlike before, 'Xena's hair and makeup were done so that she was hardly recognizable as the Warrior Princess. She was also wearing a variation off of what the Evil Queen was known for wearing, which is to say a black silk finery, but with a handful of weapons showing here and there.
"I don't want to get used to it, I want to be able to breathe!" Emma gasped.
"Well, despite the role you'll be playing, I'm not about to let you show up in what Amazons considered their 'royal finery'. Not here in the Enchanted Forest. Besides, the color brings out the color of your cheeks."
"Love the color and the dress, but for the love of all that is holy, get rid of the corset!" she begged.
'Xena' sighed and snapped her fingers, and suddenly 'Gabrielle' was "filling out" the dress a great deal more. Only… it really worked for her, the dark-haired sorceress thought as she suddenly found herself struggling to keep from drooling, or going over and feeling up all those sudden skinny-yet-filling curves.
"Thank you," the blond gasped in relief. "Any chance of changing part of this to spandex so I can at least move my arms in more than two directions?"
"So picky," Xena mocked her. "One might think that you were a spoiled little princess demanding her dress be perfect for her first ball."
"I am a princess, and it is my first ball," Gabrielle reminded her. "Quick question; are there Amazons in the Enchanted Forest? Or even outside of it, in one of those other realms we keep coming across?"
"There are," Xena answered as she made the last few changes to both their clothes and then proceeded to lead the way toward the queue waiting to be let into the golden castle, "Otherwise this wouldn't work in the first place. They're isolationists, but they're real and out there and nobody messes with them."
"OK, first question; why? Second, not even the Evil Queen? And most importantly, how do we keep this from getting back to them that I'm impersonating their queen for a night?" she asked.
"What part of 'isolationists' failed to enter that idiot head of yours?" the (currently) blue-eyed brunette grumbled. "Amazons are warrior women, yes, but they also consort with and are allied with, among other things, wild giants, the ogres, and breeds of troll that you cannot yet imagine. And yes, despite my own success at power and the reputation I held, I never once considered going anywhere near the Amazons or anything having to do with them."
"Were you afraid of them?" she asked, entirely innocent.
Knowing, and answering only because she knew the younger woman was not asking to mock or belittle her, she responded, "Not in the sense of fear, but more that they were unknown and never entered my ken of influence. They never entered my kingdom, they never offered asylum to Snow, they never offered anything to help in my revenge, and they never even showed as a threat to me or my power. So I let them be and never sought them out. If I… if she does show up, ignore her as much as possible, but do not threaten her. That will… have very bad consequences. Worse than you never being born because your parents never met."
"What if she threatens me?" Gabrielle legitimately inquired.
"..." Xena pursed her lips and held her breath for ten paces. "Then do your best not to create an 'international incident', Swan," she warned.
By this point they had entered the queue and other people were around. They soon entered the walls and were guided to the ballroom and soon faced the valet and King Midas himself to give their introductions.
"Greetings," the blond man with curly neck-length hair and a trimmed beard welcomed them. "I'm King Midas, father of the bride. Who do I have the honor to welcome into my home?"
Go time, Emma silently said to herself in efforts to bolster her courage. She drew upon every memory of every lifetime dealing with some kind of royalty and employed it at this moment in time. First step; back straight and show excellent posture.
"Allow me to introduce my Lady Liege," Xena briefly bowed as introduction. "Queen of the Amazon Nation, renowned throughout all lands as the Battling Bard before she attained her throne, her Majesty, Queen Gabrielle. I am her Knight and bodyguard, Princess Xena."
There was a hushed gasp in the queue around them and Midas. Fortunately, the King was less fazed by this introduction than most of the guests. Queen Gabrielle curtseyed, just enough to be proper about it. Midas bowed back, even with the depth that Xena had done. He may have infinite wealth, but nobody messed with the Amazons!
"I'm… greatly honored by your attendance, your Majesty," Midas finally replied. Turning to the nearby steward, he ordered, "Announce the arrival of Queen Gabrielle and Princess Xena."
Their announcement drew a lot more attention than the whispers when they'd revealed themselves to Midas. Nevertheless, once the next arriving couple were announced, the festivities resumed as though it were of no consequence. Although there were quite a few glances and inquisitive looks sent their way throughout the rest of the evening.
"Mary Margaret and David are always going on about this ball and that ball," Gabrielle said as they meandered through the crowd toward the dance floor. "What's the big deal about these things?"
She was then struck speechless as the reached the outer fringe of the dance floor and she caught sight of the nearly two dozen pairs of dancers as they moved in time and unison with the music playing nearby. Xena glanced over at her companion and smirked, and remarked, "You were saying, my… queen?"
Gabrielle shot her 'knight' a mild glare, before attaining a more mischievous smirk, whispering back, "You do realize that I am never going to let you live down calling me that, right?"
Xena just smirked back, right before she asked, "Care to dance?"
"Are you daring to suggest that we show these Foresters how Amazons dance?" Gabrielle brazenly retorted.
"Oh by the gods, no!" Xena exclaimed, scandalized. "I can just imagine how that might change things! Let's just try and blend in, for the time being at least. We can best help out our thief-friend by making sure the party continues on without interruption."
"Fine, be that way," Gabrielle huffed. "It'll be a scandal either way, your highness. Amazons don't dance with men." She then turned and pulled the masculine-dressed Xena out onto the dancefloor and they soon fell in with all the other dancers.
-~O~-
Meanwhile, Snow was making her way through the defenses of Midas' Castle to where she knew the wedding ring had to be. Namely, the Prince's guest quarters, as it is tradition for the man to keep the ring until the day of the wedding. Fortunately, Snow had been to Midas' Castle before and knew where those rooms would be, and with the party going on, many of the guards were distracted and not where they normally would be, allowing her to get there without being seen.
Once she'd found the proper room, and only one of them was occupied thankfully, it was a simple matter to secure her exit path and then begin tearing through all the Prince's belongings, hunting for the ring.
She finally hit pay dirt after searching through each of the drawers set atop the desk and found the Prince's pouch, which had been her target in her earlier foiled heist. Holding up the ring, she grinned, and said to herself, "My ticket to freedom!"
She was so focused on being so close to her goal that she never noticed the sound of the door opening behind her until it was too late. The sound of the Prince's voice destroyed the silence of her victory as he asked, "Who are you?"
All 'Prince James' could see was a cloaked figure standing in the middle of his room… holding his mother's wedding ring! After that, all he saw was red.
Snow White panicked, and then quickly made up her mind as she pocketed the ring and dove for her exit window. Literally, in this case, as she ran toward the unlocked window.
"STOP! THIEF!" he screamed and dove for the cloaked figure, easily reaching in time given the relatively small confines of the room, compared to the open spaces of the forest.
Snow was tackled to the floor. Both of them rolled around for a bit, the Prince trying to subdue the Thief, while the Thief struggled to get away from the Prince. This, of course, very quickly transitioned to the man looming over the woman on her back, his fist raised. Until his brain caught up with his eyes and he hesitated.
"You're a girl!" he exclaimed.
"Woman," she corrected, her free hand reaching out and latching onto the first thing she could pick up, which in this case was a hard-edged iron jewelry box. She then struck him with it across the chin, knocking him off of her and allowing the thief to scramble to her feet.
"James!" the voice of another woman, this being that of Princess Abigail as she stormed into the room. "What is taking you so…?" she trailed off upon seeing the situation, and then stared as the fur-wearing thief paused at the window to look back at her. "Your-You're Snow White!"
Snow just gave the princess a roguish grin and proceeded to make her exit through the window. Neither one of them bothering to check on 'Prince James' as he lay on the ground with a bleeding chin.
"Snow White! SNOW WHITE!" Princess Abigail ran out of the room, screaming.
Down in the party, Emma and Regina stopped their dancing as they heard the shouts and came to the same, inevitable conclusion.
"Shit," they both cursed in unison.
Continued...
