A/N:
Hello everyone and welcome to a filler chapter! That's right ladies and gents, todays chapter is filler but it is necessary plot building filler, I guess if you want to see it like that. Well it does cover two episodes of Ever After High so I wouldn't necessarily call it filler. In fact, I won't have another story arc for awhile, which will be the Winter Formal arc which will take place on the first day of Winter, and I might introduce Crystal Winter then but only to visit the school before heading back home. It will also be the time where Blake shows us his superior Hockey skills cuz Canada eh eh! Hehe.
Today's chapter consists of two episodes, The Legacy Orchard and Duchess Swans lake. I know I said I would label each chapter whenever I did the xxx breaks, but it just became a hastle and it looked clunky and shitty and being the cock I am, I decided to just name each chapter and explain which episodes are derived from it.
Um...I will be covering several things including the introduction of a new oc which you will see when she is introduced. I have also introduced Ramona Badwolf a bit early into this story because she's one of my favorite characters in this series. I think she's really cool and I'm disappointed that she didn't get more screen time during the final days of Ever After before Mattel ultimately pulled the plug and fucked our asses with a story that has no ending...now I can't stop seeing those goddamn Enchantimals commercials every time I want to rewatch an episode of Ever After High for research purposes, it just pisses me off without a fucking end...like holy shit.
Anyway, I hope you guys are having an awesome Wednesday evening, I'm hungry as fuck, most likely will take advantage of that Dominoes 50% on all online orders deal and get myself some food cuz I'm hungry...and before you ask, indeed it shall be meat lovers because of reasons that will be explained in three years...yup.
I shall leave you with this chapter, uh...no songs in this one, but I believe the next one does have a snippet of one sung by Cupid so I'll let you know what that is tomorrow, hehehe! Uh...be sure to review, follow the story, and favorite my profile so you get updates whenever I upload. Remember to stay gold, only you can prevent forest fires, and snap into a slim jim if you get hungry. I'm gonna go back to watching My 600 Pound Fat ass life...and no I'm not saying that to sound like a douche bag or anything, while I do show concern for these people, I don't have pity for any of them because they got themselves that way...eat healthier, stop drinking soda all the time, have yourselves a salad and at the end of the day, Have yourself a good night!
Ever After High
Through the Looking-Glass
Chapter 21
The Legacy Orchard
Days had passed since Thronecoming Week, and slowly everyone in Ever After High were returning to their normal daily routines. Since Blake was going to be a permanent student now, he had gotten a few of his classes switched around. He now had Crownculus instead of Mathematics, since he clearly needed a harder mathematics subject. He had at least been happy to be placed in a class that was filled with people he knew, in fact almost half of his friends were all in this class, making it much better than his Mathematics class where he knew almost no one. Though he only had a few free periods now, he didn't mind the more challenging classes, especially if he had to live in Ever After now. He had also started taking a more advanced course in Sword Training, having moved on from the wooden swords to actual steel swords, though they lacked an edge.
Mr. Knight was impressed with his growing skill, and had been giving him more harder challenges, including even more complicated Damsel rescues, though he always found a way to pull through in the end, even if it wasn't the cleanest rescue. Even Maid Marian had been impressed with the boy, and gave him praise anytime her Damsel-in-Distressing class was invited to participate with the Sword Training class. People had also started asking him if he knew anything about Henry's whereabouts, since he hadn't shown up to any of his classes since Thronecoming. He of course denied everything, as he still didn't know when Headmaster Grimm would announce what had happened.
He was also happy to see Giles had been set free from his prison below the school. According to the happy man, Raven and her friends had broken the curse his brother Milton had placed on him. They had rekindled their friendship during Thronecoming, and he had taken his spot back as the second Headmaster of the school. It was more apparent now that Giles Grimm was an advocate for the Rebels, while Milton Grimm remained the stiff Royal that he was. And while they still had brotherly spats, he could tell they're relationship was better than ever.
Getting used to his new life was a bit challenging, but Blake had decided to embrace it wholeheartedly. That included decorating his dorm to match his personality. It was a bit challenging at first, but thanks to his photo storage on his Iphone X and a color printer, he had been able to print quite a lot of anime pictures, memes and various other things to decorate his room. His walls had blown up posters of his favorite animes and movies, and he had used the money he had saved up from helping Ashlynn to buy himself a new computer, setting it up so it looked almost like a gaming studio. He had even gotten himself a flat screen television, along with one of the local video game systems, as recommended by Dexter. His room wasn't exactly perfect, since it lacked all of his manga and his glass ponies, but he at least lived comfortably and surrounded by what he liked.
Today however was the yearly field trip to the Legacy Orchard, a place filled with the stories of classes of the past. Blake had done a bit of research into the place, gathering all of the necessary information for himself. Apparently, the orchard was where the yearbooks were kept, and worked almost like a record storage facility. The cool thing about it was that there was a tree containing one book per year, per class, and the orchard was filled with the trees belonging to every class of students Ever After High had taught throughout the years. It would be an honor to even gaze upon the past journeys of these students. So as soon as the bell rung, he grabbed his MirrorPad and backpack and met with his friends outside.
It had been a rather long walk, but they had been getting closer to the orchard, which could be seen from the high tower back at the school. He had decided to snap a few pictures of himself and his friends, as he was planning on joining the Yearbook committee anyway. He didn't exactly feel like writing anything, but he could at least help the committee with taking pictures, as he was always surrounded by rather interesting people. He turned his camera over to Ashlynn and Hunter, who were pointing a few birds flying over head. The soft click of his camera alerted them of what he had done, both flushing in embarrassment.
"Come on guys! No need to be embarrassed! You two look cute together, I'm sure everyone in the future would love to see pictures of the two of you." he said, giving them a smile.
"I suppose...it's still so embarrassing though." Ashlynn said, earning a kiss on the cheek from her boyfriend. A crimson blur shot past the three, followed by Sparrow and Daring who were both racing each other.
"Come on, I bet I'll get there first!" Daring said.
"Na-uh! I will!" Sparrow cried, holding onto the neck of his guitar as he raced.
"Hang on, I'm gonna school these fools in a footrace. Take care of Ashlynn for me Blake." Hunter said, running off after his friends. Blake shook his head, earning a sigh from Ashlynn.
"He's such a boy sometimes."
"Hey, growing young men need to stretch their legs. I however am perfectly content with snapping pictures of everyone." he said.
He turned his MirrorPad over to Kitty who was holding a rather large rock in her hands. She looked up at him, giving him a grin as she dropped it, disappearing right after. He heard a loud thump, followed by what sounded like a giant boulder falling down the cliffside into the river below. He cringed a bit, not wanting to know what the bottom of that ravine looked like.
"Excuse me, Headmaster Grimm...I have a question about the orchard." Blake said, grabbing Milton's attention.
"Of course, what would you like to know?"
"How exactly do you plant the yearbook tree? I mean this is a book we're talking about, you can't exactly plant a book and expect a tree to grow from it, right?" he asked.
"Actually Blake, we don't plant a book in the orchard. We plant one of these, an E-corn. They're given to the editor of the yearbook to fill with every single picture and story they want in their book. Once done, they are planted at the end of the year, and the tree will sprout from it." Giles replied, showing him the acorn shaped flash drive.
"Wow...if my world learned about this...hell I think this would below their minds." he said, glancing at the E-corn.
"Which is why Ever After's magic is well guarded. While we don't have many incidents like yours, there have been students in the past from different worlds. You might even recognize some of them, if you look through these yearbooks." Milton said, earning a curious look from the boy.
After a few minutes, the Sophomore class had finally made it to the front gates of the Legacy Orchard, which were firmly locked. Daring of course was raving about how he beat Hunter and Sparrow, only for Cerise to dash his hopes of ever beating her in a race. Blake honestly found that funny, and Daring's look of shock had definitely been the perfect picture for the album. Milton and Giles of course decided it was time to get serious, standing in front of their students.
"Now students settle down, it isn't the time for horseplay. You are all about to step into a wonderful world filled with the tales of your fairytale ancestors. We truly do hope you enjoy this experience, and do be careful, these books are precious." Milton said, pulling out a key from his pocket. Giles did the same, both placing them in the appropriate keyholes, pushing the gates open.
"Remember, this is also a learning experience. We hope you all learn a little something about your fairytale ancestors today. If you have any questions, we'll be delighted to help you." Giles added, watching with a smile as the students all wondered into the orchard.
Blake was honestly amazed with how Ever After did everything. While back in his old high school, there would be several kids in a stuffy room, all putting together a yearbook that would be printed for everyone to buy, the yearbooks here meant a lot more. They weren't just printed books that everyone could buy. These books were all put together with care and love. He stood in front of a nearby tree, reaching his hands out to catch the red book that came from it.
"Cool...this is literally a yearbook tree...wonder how these came about?" he muttered to himself, opening the cover, seeing the smiling faces of the ones who put the book together.
"You know Blake, since you're part of our class now, your face is gonna be in these books forever. Wouldn't you want to do something awesome so that history would remember you until the end of time?" Kitty asked, causing the boy to glance up at the branch she had settled on.
"Actually, time isn't gonna end. The universe is supposed to just get so hot that it just implodes in on itself." he replied. She blinked a few times, shaking her head.
"I just thought, maybe we could do something to get us in the yearbook for life? Maybe pull the prank of all pranks?" she said, giving him a sneer.
"Nice try Kitty, but I'm not gonna do that." he said, allowing the book to return to the high branches.
He continued walking deeper into the orchard, taking a few pictures before settling at the base of a tree, having grabbed the book that belonged to the class before theirs. He flipped through the pages, seeing Ashlynn and Briar's mom happily hanging out with Apple's mother, Snow White, who seemed to be laughing at some joke the two had shared with her. He saw a few pictures of the Mad Hatter as well, being his normal kooky self, something that made the boy laugh. Having turned the page, he saw a picture of Little Red standing next to the Evil Queen, who was wearing a matching hood, her long violet hair obscuring her face.
He honestly didn't know what he felt from looking at that picture. He didn't know how to describe what he was currently feeling. While he still disliked the Evil Queen and downright hated her for what she did, he knew that hanging onto those feelings wasn't good. He just continued flipping through the pages, reading some of the stories contained within the book. He had to admit, the previous alumni of the school did have some interesting moments, but all of them didn't compare to the ones they had already had. Judging by the time of year, late October, he could tell the school year had just stared, and already a lot had happened.
"This is all really cool, but I doubt any of them would have thought their future children would be rambunctious enough to split the student body in half." he thought, flipping to the next page. He saw a picture of Hans, along with who he assumed was Kristoff. He still didn't get why the story of the Snow Queen matched the one from the Disney version in his world, but he was honestly just gonna accept it as fact now.
"Judging by the look on your face, I can tell you found someone you don't like." He looked up, giving Melody a smile as she leaned against the tree next to his, grabbing the low hanging book.
"You're right, I found Henry's father...I'm still not over what he did you know. I just...can't believe he went crazy like that." he said.
"I can't believe it either...I'm happy you told all of us at least, even with the Headmaster telling you to keep it on the down low."
"Hey, you deserved to know. After all, people have been asking about Jack too, and none of us know how he's doing. He got really badly injured by him, and we don't even know if he'll walk again." Blake replied, a frown on his face.
"No one deserves that, I'm just glad that stuff is all over. Now all of us can just focus on life and stuff...and of course our killer concerts." she said, bumping fists with the black haired boy.
"Definitely, we gotta practice hard...when are we recording again?"
"Friday afternoon...we gotta record the instruments first and then we'll get you and Cupid in the booth to work on Somebody, I'll take care of the mixing and all of that good shit to make it sound killer." she said.
"Awesome, it's gonna be a hit I can already tell!"
"Gather around students! It's time for us to discuss the true purpose of this field trip!" Milton said, clapping his hand. All of the yearbooks retracted into their trees, earning disappointed cries from the ones reading them. Kitty let out a surprised yelp, almost falling from the tree she had been snoozing in.
"We hope you've all learned a lot about the previous students that came to Ever After High, but we've brought you here for a special occasion. Like the alumni before you, it is now time for you all to plant your very own E-corn, which will grow into a Yearbook tree containing the yearbooks of your class." Giles said, holding the E-corn out for everyone to see.
"That's right, you've all got until the end of the year to fill this E-corn seed with all of the special events and stories befitting your class. On the last day of school, we will all come here to plant it, and watch as it sprouts into the new yearbook tree. So, who will volunteer to be the editors of this years E-corn?" Milton asked, glancing around the gathered students.
"Oh, we will over here!" Apple cried excitedly, pulling Raven along with her.
"We will?"
"Yes Raven, it will be an amazing experience. We get to write about what everyone in Ever After High does...it'll be wonderful." the blonde said happily, taking the E-corn from Giles.
"It's certainly gonna be interesting, that's for sure." Blake said, crossing his arms over his chest. He glanced to his right, noticing Kitty was placing something in Dexter's pocket. She looked up at him, giving him a grin. He could already tell this year was going to be rather interesting indeed.
xxx
Once back at the school, Blake decided to go straight to the Royal Student Council room, so he could talk with Apple and Raven. Since the two of them would be the editors for the yearbook, they were the ones he had to go to in order to join the committee. He was honestly rather excited at the prospect of doing something for his school. If he was back in his old one, he doubted he would bother getting so active within the school. He would have never thought of forming a band with his friends, or joining a yearbook committee, or even going to some big event like Thronecoming had been. Ever After was changing him for the better, and he was honestly glad he had the experience of coming to another world.
Once he reached the council room, he pulled the door open, stepping inside. He was surprised to see quite a few people gathered there, all of them discussing various school related topics and events. There was a more open deliberation room, where students would be able to put forth their requests with the Royal Student President, or Presidents in this case, since the roll was shared between Apple and Maddie this year, something that he also didn't see in normal schools. He glanced around, seeing Cerise sitting near the back, a dejected look on her face. He stopped next to her, grabbing her attention.
"What are you doing here? Still trying to get meat days passed in the castleteria?" he asked curiously.
"Yes, Maddie is convinced but Apple wants healthy choices. There's nothing wrong with having some honey smoked brisket every once and awhile. Why are you here?"
"I'm joining the yearbook committee...I wanted to capture all of the awesome moments we all have for anyone who wants to read the book in the future. So I'm gonna see if I can get a spot as a photographer." he said, glancing at some pictures on his MirrorPad, discarding a few he didn't like.
"Well, I'm sure you'll capture a lot of cool moments. Knowing you, you're bound to be the center of half of those. If you ever need any help, just let me know."
"Thanks Cerise, I appreciate that. Don't worry, I'll try to talk Apple into passing that vote, honey smoked brisket sounds amazing right now." Blake replied, earning a smile from the girl. He walked toward the front of the room, watching some of the other committee members scrambling around for stuff.
"Blake, what a surprise seeing you around here. Do you perhaps have a request for us to consider?" Apple asked, giving the boy a smile. Maddie looked bored, munching on her tea scones while Earl Grey was sitting in her empty cup of tea.
"Actually, I was hoping to join the yearbook committee. A certain Mad Hatter convinced me to join. Do you have any spots for photographers open?" he asked curiously.
"Why of course do. We have two spots available, well one now...you'll be working with Cedar who has also volunteered to take pictures. Would you mind writing a short paragraph to go with each event? And list those in the picture?"
"Not at all Apple, I'll definitely do that. I've actually already started, I got some nice pictures of our class at the Legacy Orchard." he said, holding up his MirrorPad.
"Wowie! I wasn't expecting you to jump to it like that! I'm so happy you decided to join, I should use my puppy look more often."
"No Maddie, no you really shouldn't. Before I go though...Meat Days, think about it. Wouldn't you all like to walk into the castleteria one Friday afternoon and be like, yes! Honey smoked Brisket! Or you take that last bite of a juicy steak and your like, I wish I could get another steak, and you can, because on meat days there's no shortage of meat!" he said, slamming his fist on the podium.
"Nice try Blake, but Cerise already broached this topic to us before...see you later." Apple said, dismissing the thought, an amused smile on her face.
"Damn, well I tried Cerise, sorry." Blake said, earning a sigh from the girl as he passed. It would be just awhile longer before Apple even started to consider the idea.
xxx
Finding a subject for his first picture was a bit more challenging than he thought, but Blake wasn't going to stop until he found the right one. Wondering around Bookend always seemed to cheer him up when he was down, so he decided to do that today. He hadn't found anything, other than a few pictures of Sparrow and the Merry Men, serenading girls who didn't really want to be serenading, and while it was funny seeing said girls yell at them, it wasn't exactly picture worthy. He caught a lucky break however when he wondered toward the Enchanted Lake, and saw his friend Duchess dancing on the water's surface.
He knelt down, trying to take the best picture he could. Duchess still hadn't noticed his presence, to busy with her dancing to actually notice anything around her. He didn't exactly like ballet before meeting the Swan Princess, but the art of dance had actually started warming up to him, especially with the tragic story of Swan Lake. He held his breath a bit, having finally gotten the perfect shot of the girl in the middle of a pirouette, a smile on her face. However, she ended up slipping on the water, letting out a small surprised scream as she fell back into the water, sinking below it's surface.
"Shit, did she see me?" he muttered, a look of concern on his face. The girl surfaced a second later, spitting out some of the water.
"What the hell?! That was perfect!"
"Duchess are you alright? Are you hurt at all?" Blake called out, grabbing her attention. She gave him an annoyed look.
"When did you show up? We're you spying on me?"
"I was trying to get a picture for the yearbook, so yeah, I sort of was. But that doesn't matter...what matters is if you are hurt or not." he said, getting close to the water's edge.
"I'm fine, I normally don't slip like that but...ew, what is this green gunk?" she cried, taking a handful of the slime floating on the lake's surface. Blake held his hand out, helping the girl out of the lake.
"This looks like slime, it's all over you too." he said. He reached into his backpack, handing her the towel he always carried around. She started drying herself off, brushing all of the gunk off her dress and legs.
"It's all over my shoes! Grr...I'm gonna find the bastard responsible and when I do, it's off with their head!" she cried, stomping away in anger.
Meanwhile in the Student Lounge...
"Eh...did you feel that Kitty?" Lizzie asked, glancing at her best friend.
"Feel what? Does your tummy hurt?" she replied. Lizzie shook her head, glancing out the window.
"It's weird...it feels as if someone...stole my catch phrase."
"Huh? Lizzie I think the madness is finally getting to you. Who would steal your catch phrase?" Kitty said, earning a shrug from the future Queen of Hearts.
"Yeah...you're right, no one would steal my catch phrase...right...right?" the girl asked, giving her friend a desperate look. Kitty chuckled, glancing at the wall, trying to ignore her friend's madness.
Back at the Lake...
"To me this looks like waste, like someone decided it was a good idea to just dump it in the lake." Blake muttered, his nose scrounging up a bit at the smell of the gunk.
He took a picture of it, snapping a few of the rapidly filling lake. He noticed the rusted pipe sticking out over the water, and followed it with his eyes, back to what looked like a building. Rapidly standing up, he started walking over in the general direction. He was greeted with the most disgusting looking establishment he had ever seen. The building was a single story, the walls were covered in a sickly green gunk that seemed to be pouring out of the front door. The entire area around the restaurant looked dead, the grass looking mattered and disgusting. In front of the store was a large green man wearing a green sweater vest and matching brown shorts, handing fliers out to whoever would take them.
"Come one, come all to the Marsh Pit! Marsh like mother used to make! Help celebrate our grand opening!" the man cried, earning disgusted looks from passersby.
"Excuse me sir...what is this?" Blake said, holding a handful of gunk out to the man.
"Hehe, that's the best marsh in all of Bookend kiddo. If you want to take that with you, it'll be five gold."
"Five gold...for something that was dumped into the lake? Don't you know this is poison to the environment? Not only that, you're dumping it into the Enchanted lake, and my friend could have gotten really hurt slipping on this!" he said, throwing the gunk onto the floor.
"That's the price of business kiddo. The environment isn't my concern, not as long as I line my pockets with cash. Now if you want some marsh then go inside, if not then scram!" the man said.
"Man fuck you! If we don't take care of our environment then animals could die and go extinct, the fish in that lake can't breathe with all of that shit in the water. So you better stop dumping that stuff into the water, or else." Blake said, standing firm glaring into the man's eyes. He chuckled, giving him an equally frightening glare.
"Or else what kiddo? What's a little shit like you going to do to a business owner like me? If you don't want to end up like that sludge in the lake, you'll take your leave." he said gruffly. Blake growled under his breath, walking away from the man.
"Hehe, thought so. Come one, come all to the Marsh Pit! Help spellelebrate our Grand Opening!" the man said, handing off more fliers to passersby.
As Blake walked away however, he ended up getting an idea. He held his MirrorPad up, pressing the record function on it, holding it up so the camera recorded him. He took a deep breath, giving a smile to the camera.
"I'm not exactly sure how I feel about Vlogs but...well I guess I've always wanted to do one. I'm here to inform everyone about a restaurant that just opened up in Bookend. It's currently dumping gunk into the Enchanted Lake, poisoning the environment. Not only that, but the owner threatened my life not long ago...I can't close this place down on my own, so please help me show the authorities what disgusting people are doing to our environment! I'll be posting the pictures I snapped on my MirrorBook page right along with this video. Let's all join forces Ever After High, only we can do this!" he said, ending the video. Just as soon as he did, he created a file on his MirrorBook profile and posted it onto his page, along with the image. He tagged Blondie in the post, and knowing her, she would definitely get the word out. He smirked, giving the restaurant owner one final wave before he went back to the school.
xxx
"Blake, you've got to help me. Nobody takes me seriously when I tell them I want to get back at that bastard poisoning my lake. You're the only one who was there with me...please you've got to help me." Duchess said, giving the black haired boy a pleading look.
"Don't worry, I've already posted some pictures online, but we need video proof. Even if he's dumping shit into the lake, all they'll do is tell him to dump it somewhere else. We need to get the Food and Health department involved. But to do that we need proof of the conditions inside the restaurant." Blake said.
"How do you plan on getting that? I tried confronting him too but he just brushed me off." the monochrome ballerina said, a frown on her face.
"Well...we can't work alone that's for sure. Hmm, this will be perfect for the yearbook, a headlining event. Students of Ever After stop local restaurant owner from poisoning the environment, yes I like it! Come on, let's go speak with Ashlynn, she'll definitely help us." he said, walking toward the dorms.
"She already turned me down...I may have put ants in her dress during our trip to the Legacy Orchard yesterday." she said, giving the boy a sheepish grin.
"You see, that's the kind of shit that gets you enemies Duchess. Come on." he said, grabbing a hold of her hand as he walked toward the dorms.
Having arrived at Ashlynn's dorm, the boy gave a few knocks on the door, hoping the girl was still inside. To his relief she was, but as soon as she saw Duchess, her smile turned into a frown. She however didn't close the door, after all she couldn't be rude to Blake, and she didn't have a right to judge who he spent his time with. So she forced a smile onto her face.
"What's up Blake, need anything?"
"Actually I do...I'm not sure if Duchess informed you, but her lake is being poisoned. We need your help to get the bastard responsible shutdown, and I know for a fact you hate when animals get hurt." he said. She sighed, giving him a nod.
"I'll go find Hunter." she said, grabbing her dorm keys, closing the door behind her.
"Thank you Ashlynn, this means a lot to me." Duchess said.
"I'm only doing this because Blake asked me, I'm still mad at you, you know. As if getting Sparkles to poke us wasn't bad enough." she said. Blake jabbed Duchess in the side, gesturing to Ashlynn a couple times. She growled, a pout on her lips.
"Fine, I'm sorry for getting Sparkles to poke your butt in class, and I'm sorry about the ants too...I didn't mean it. It was just a harmless prank." she said.
"My ass has a huge bandage on it because of Sparkles, so that wasn't a prank...but I accept your apology. Just don't do it again." Ashlynn replied, stunning the two a bit with her language. Blake honestly didn't think she had it in her.
Finding Hunter didn't take long, he had been chasing his pet squirrel Pesky, through the castleteria. Apparently his small friend had stolen a few peanuts from the boy who was trying to get himself a snack. When Ashlynn told him what the issue was, he instantly dropped what he was doing, to help his friends out. The two nature lovers were aghast when they saw the lake, which was now almost completely covered in green slime. Duchess let out a small gasp when her pet swan waddled over to her, covered in the disgusting slime. She knelt down before it, brushing some of the green gunk off its feathers.
"Oh Pirouette, look at you! You shouldn't have been swimming in that crap." she said sternly, though her motherly tone betrayed her a bit. Blake took a few pictures of the swan, an angry look on his face.
"It's already affecting the wild life. Don't worry Duchess, Pirouette will be fine. Let's just get the evidence we need." he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Alright, let's do this, time to go black swan on this place." she said, a firm look on her face.
"Okay Pesky, you know what to do." Hunter said, earning a salute from his pet squirrel. He jumped onto the ground as the four teenagers hid behind some bushes. They all watched intently, as the small squirrel through an acorn right at the owner.
"Hey, get back here! That'll be the last acorn you'll ever throw!" the man shouted, running after the squirrel. Once he was gone, Blake dashed out of the bush toward the restaurant, holding the door open for his friends.
They all gasped, blocking their noses a second later. The dining hall of the establishment was utterly disgusting. There was green gunk all over the place, all of the tables were dirty and covered with buzzing flies. Large rats could be seen jumping on the counter top, and eating from piles of rotting food. It took all of their will power not to vomit on the spot. Blake took a few pictures of the dining hall while Ashlynn handled the video recording.
"Oh my Godmother, this is so gross!" Duchess cried, trying not to step into any trash.
"Tell me about it...I'm kinda glad I didn't eat before I came here." Hunter said.
"Totally should have skipped lunch today." Blake said, looking a bit sick himself.
"Should we...get some from the back?" Ashlynn asked, earning a nod from the two boys.
They wondered to the back, almost scared of what they would be facing beyond that door. Being the brave one of the four, Duchess pushed the door open, letting out a scream just before fainting, thankfully into Blake's arms, who almost dropped his MirrorPad. Just beyond that door lied the most disgusting kitchen anyone had ever seen. The pots were bubbling with slime, several frogs were jumping around from sink to sink, some even relaxing in the bubbling filth. The fridge lied open, the rotting food spilling from within. The smell was absolutely horrible, and was enough to cause Hunter to vomit into the nearest trash can. Even though she felt sick, Ashlynn swallowed her disgust, recording everything they were seeing.
"Hunter, take the pictures, I gotta get Duchess out of here." Blake said, handing Hunter his MirrorPad. He looked up briefly, only to feel another round of vomit hit his throat. Blake picked Duchess up, hurrying out of the restaurant.
xxx
"Duchess, hey are you okay?" Blake asked softly, fanning some air onto the girl's face. She stirred a bit, her eyes fluttering open. A look of realization washed over her face and she instantly sat up, sticking her head in a nearby bush, loud retching sounds filling the quiet area.
"Well, that's not the first time I've made a girl vomit with my presence." the boy said, earning a few quiet toots from Pirouette, who was preening her dirty feathers.
"Oh shut up you, I'm not puking because of you...mostly." Duchess replied, wiping her lips with the inside of her dress. She still had a bit of a green look on her face, watching as Ashlynn and Hunter took a seat on the bench next to them.
"I cannot believe that place was allowed to open. Who inspected it, who approved it?" Ashlynn said, looking deflated as she sat back on the bench. Hunter handed Blake his MirrorPad back, already on the Photo Gallery. He sifted through all of the images, feeling his stomach churn.
"How about...we just take this up with the cops eh?" he asked, closing the gallery.
"Yes, let's go...I don't think I'll feel comfortable until that place is shutdown." Duchess said, picking up her pet swan from the ground. The four teenagers started walking toward the nearest police station, still feeling gravely ill.
"Let's just get out of here, I don't need a gastric exorcism right now." Ashlynn said, leading her friends away from the restaurant. They walked back to Bookend, heading straight to the police station.
It was a rather interesting place in Blake's opinion. For one, there were only a few human police officers, as the others were giant gingerbreadmen much like their coach. All of them were, oddly enough, eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate. A few of them were tossing jokes back and forth, while others discussed current cases. All of them were rather laid back, unlike most police officers back in his world. Bookend was a peaceful village, even with Henry's crime, he hadn't heard of any other criminal wondering around. They walked straight to the counter where the chief of police was sitting, glancing at a news paper.
"Excuse me, we would like to make a report." Ashlynn said, grabbing the man's attention.
"A report? What would you like to report?" the man asked curiously, setting his paper down. Blake handed the man his MirrorPad, having his gallery already open.
"There's a new restaurant that has unsanitary conditions, on top of that, the owner is knowingly dumping toxic waste into the Enchanted Lake." he said.
"Look at what it did to my pet swan!" Duchess added, holding Pirouette up for the man to see. His eyes widened a bit, surprised etched on his face.
"Well...I believe the Health department needs to be called in. Good job, you were on the ball with this problem, we'll take care of it right away. Steven, get the Health department on the line, we've got a report to make!" the man said, earning a nod from his Deputy.
With nothing left to do, the four students left the Police station, having given their full statements and copies of the pictures and videos they had taken. Though they were disgusted they were immensely happy with everything they had done to save the lake.
"I can't thank you enough you guys...it'll take a long time to get the lake back to normal, but if we all work together, we'll get it back to the way it was." Duchess said, a smile on her face.
"You know, I'm happy to have helped you Duchess. It gave me a new sense of perspective about you, you might not be the nicest girl around, but you still care about the important things, and that's what matters." Hunter said, earning a glare from Ashlynn.
"You could have worded it better."
"No, it's fine...I'm glad you think that. I'll...try to be nicer from now on. No promises." Duchess said, a flush on her cheeks.
"How about a celebratory picture for the yearbook guys? It'll make a hexcellent first page." Blake said, holding up his MirrorPad.
"Can we give Pirouette a bath? I'm sure she wants to look her fairest in this picture, we owe her that much." Hunter said, earning a happy toot from the swan. Blake chuckled, giving him a nod.
"Sure, we could all use a bath after walking around in that shit hole, we can meet up later, before dinner, what do you say?" he asked. The three gave him a nod, bidding him farewell while they all headed to their dorms for a shower.
xxx
The soft clicking of keys was the only sound that filled Blake's dorm, as he was currently preparing the first few pages of the yearbook. Having taken several good pictures, he decided to start piecing everything together. He had to skip a few classes the day before in order for Apple to show him and everyone else how everything needed to be done. It was a meticulous process that needed to be done accordingly, but he had been able to pick up everything rather well. It helped that he also recorded the lesson entirely so that he could watch it if he needed too. He had put the pictures of him, Duchess, Ashlynn and Hunter first as it was the biggest event that had happened during the week. He had also included some pictures from Thronecoming listing the names of the ones who were in it, along with a few other details. He pressed the Enter key a few times, rubbing his eyes as he leaned away from the screen.
"Well, I think I'm finished, and before lunch too. Just in time for my daily shenanigans." he said, saving his work.
He closed his laptop and stood up from his desk, pulling the charger from the wall, wrapping it up and shoving it in his backpack. He grabbed his laptop, wallet and keys heading toward the door. He was met with a surprised Apple who was about to knock on his door. Raven was standing next to her, holding her own MirrorPad in her hands, a curious look on her face.
"Hey you two, something I can help you with?"
"We we're wondering if you were done with the first few pages of the Yearbook, since we're the editors we need to see what you've got so far." Apple said, earning a nod from the boy.
"Well, luckily for you, I just finished five pages. Could I borrow the E-corn for a sec?" he asked, holding his hand out. Raven unplugged the E-corn from her tablet, handing it to the boy, who plugged it into his laptop. He pulled it open, dragging the save file he had prepared into the new storage device. Once done, he handed the E-corn back to Raven, closing his laptop once more.
"I'm impressed Blake, we checked in with Cedar and she's only got two pages done. How did you get five pages done so fast?"
"Well Apple, I just happen to be in the right place at the right time. I added some Thronecoming pictures, since there's gonna be a Thronecoming section, and I decided to highlight some local heroes, who managed to save the Enchanted Lake from illegal dumping." he said.
"You didn't include yourself in any of these pictures...you know there's nothing wrong with that right?" Raven asked.
"Oh...well I didn't want to seem like I was hogging the spotlight. I thought it would be better to talk about my friends instead." Blake replied, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.
"We're gonna have to amend these then...nice job Blake, but next time don't be afraid to include more pictures of yourself. You're part of the yearbook staff and part of our school. It wouldn't be right if you didn't include yourself in any of these." Apple said.
"We can start right now, say cheese!" Raven said, snapping a picture of Blake and Apple, both of them cringing a bit from the flash.
"Give me a warning next time, does my face look stupid?"
"It looks perfectly fine Blake...thanks for your hard work, I'm sure everyone will love reading these rather unique stories behind these pictures." the daughter of the Evil Queen said, earning a smile from the boy.
"Ah before I forget...I was thinking about what you said a few days ago. Honey smoked brisket does sound good so I...passed Meat Days, don't tell anyone." Apple said, just above a whisper, earning a chuckle from the boy.
"See, I knew you would eventually agree. No one can resist honey smoked brisket! I'm sure Cerise is gonna be happy about this, and I'll be there to get her expression. I'll give you five more pages by Sunday afternoon, I've got plenty of stuff to photograph." he said.
"Good luck Blake, make sure to keep taking the best pictures in all of Ever After!"
"I will Apple, see you two later!" the boy said, giving them a wave as he disappeared down the hall.
"Can you believe they were able to shutdown an entire restaurant? That place was totally nasty." Raven said, earning a nod from Apple.
"Tell me about it, that place was disgusting. I still can't believe Duchess took credit for it all, I mean...I believed she would do something like that, but I didn't think she would actually do it."
"Oh come on, it's Duchess...you can't expect any less from her, even if she is a Rebel now. Let's get this to the office so we can start editing it." the violet haired girl said, earning a nod from her friend.
The two girls started back to the Royal Student Council room, getting ready to see the first few pages of the Yearbook. They didn't know it yet, but their yearbook was going to be the best one yet, and would be enjoyed by many students for years to come.