Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, Episode 18, Chapter 4

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Emma had come to the jail to speak with her friend and roommate Mary Margaret Blanchard. The two were discussing whether or not the incarcerated schoolteacher should seek out a jury trial. Emma was not in favor of this as the evidence against Ms. Blanchard was too strong and there was not enough to support reasonable doubt, the standard of guilt in a criminal jury trial.

While talking the duo were interrupted by Mr. Gold, the pawn shop owner and the man who had only recently occupied this same jail cell on the charges of kidnapping and assault. Gold offered his services to Ms. Blanchard as her defense attorney. Emma was at once suspicious of his intentions… and his qualifications. He was not trained in law, however Gold did convey that he was more than familiar with both the law and the city charter quite well as he spent a good deal of time writing, reading and interpreting legal documents for his shop.

Barring any conflicting evidence to exonerate Ms. Blanchard, Gold's strategy was take advantage of Mary Margaret's reputation as a quiet and unassuming schoolteacher with a good nature who would be incapable of being a murderess. Emma was confounded by his simplistic and, in her opinion, unrealistic idea. Gold justified his defense on his firm belief that perception is everything, both in a courtroom and in life. Convince the jury the accused could not be a killer and she would walk free, even with a mountain of evidence against her.

A second interruption took Emma's attention away from the conversation between Gold and Ms. Blanchard. Sydney Glass, the disgraced reporter whom Emma entrusted to assist her, had arrived with a decoration: a mug of colorful flowers to brighten up the otherwise dreary sheriff's station. Strange as it was, it was little more than a veiled excuse to report to Emma the results of his investigation into the background of Mayor Regina Mills.

Despite all his digging the reporter found nothing which could be used to call into question the evidence against Ms. Blanchard, such as whether or not Regina had purchased the knife used as a murder weapon or if she planted it into Mary Margaret's home. Sydney did promise to doggedly continue if for no other reason than to satisfy his own need for revenge against the mayor.

When Emma rejoined the previous conversation Ms. Blanchard had come to the decision to hire Mr. Gold as her defense attorney. His first action was to arrange an interview with the prosecutor, District Attorney Albert Spencer, which Mary Margaret found agreeable over Emma's objections as Mary Margaret contends she has nothing to hide.

~O~

PIXIE HOLLOW, NEVER LAND

The arrival of the pirates to Pixie Hollow was as much of a shock as a sudden thunderclap. Frightened with unrivaled terror the little pixies were petrified beyond belief at the sight of these dirty, slobbering men in ratty clothing and bearing in their possession Queen Clarus herself. Those lucky few who were able to think of their own survival instantly flittered out of the way as the towering invaders ravaged their home.

The pirates, with utter disregard for the lives of the tiny humanoids that lived in this place, boldly strode towards the center of Pixie Hollow, cratering homes, trampling abandoned carts and crushing beneath their boots any fairy unlucky enough to be frozen by their own fright.

At the center of Pixie Hollow stood two glorious maple trees, one was The Pixie Dust Tree which was the lifeblood of Pixie Hollow. The other was The Home Tree, which housed a great many of the fairies which lived here. Underneath the Home Tree was the secret vault where the royal treasury was kept. Within the treasury was the gold and jewels which washed up on Never Land as well as the captured pirate booty of wrecked ships. Along with the valuables the treasury housed Pixie Hollow's most sacred relics and powerful magical items, including the fabled mirror which these buccaneers sought.

Hundreds of fairies assembled to repel the invaders, including many scouts armed with large nuts to be used in a barrage. The scouts were joined by fast flyers whose talents were turned against the intruders. The pirates dealt with the resistance using the blunderbusses they carried. Unlike the flint lock rifles and pistols these men often employed which fired a single ball the blunderbusses were loaded with shot, dozens of tiny balls which sprayed out from the weapons' uniquely flared out barrels.

With each pull of the trigger fairies fell from the skies in bunches. The shot shredded wings and fairy alike, traumatizing the queen and frightening off the otherwise stout defense of these interlopers. With the queen a captive and Prince Devon missing and presumed dead the ministers assumed the role of leadership and quickly concluded that the cost of fighting back was too steep. They ordered all fairies to retreat and take cover. They reasoned it was better to let these humans take what they wanted and let them leave than to risk thousands of lives in a futile attempt to repel them.

The strategy was a sound one, but flawed. Many fairies took cover in their apartments within the Home Tree only to find that the pirates surrounded it with the intent of cutting it down. Axes enchanted with dark magic struck the Home Tree and corrupted it, spreading death throughout the towering maple causing every branch, limb and twig to shrivel and twist with a macabre blight. Even the leaves turned dark before curling up and falling from their branches.

Quickly the tree was felled and hundreds of fairies scattered looking for other places to hide from these murderous barbarians. Beasts of burden were lashed to the stump which was all that remained of the once noble tree and through their collective effort it was ripped from the ground revealing at last the glimmering treasures the pirates intended to claim as their own. Including the magic mirror which had been their true prize all along.

~O~

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

Young Regina, distraught by what her mother had done, sought out Daniel the stable boy that evening. She explained to him what had happened earlier in the day. That the king had asked for her hand in marriage and that her mother had accepted on Regina's behalf. Daniel suggested that they run away together, but Regina knew that Cora's magic would allow her to find them no matter where they hid. Cora had sacrificed a great deal for Regina to be in this position and she insisted that Regina's trajectory continue upward not downward.

While the two were in each other's arms the door to the stables opened. There stood a shocked little girl, the king's daughter Princess Snow White. Believing that Regina loved her father the king, Snow White was confused and frightened by what she saw. The girl ran, tears streaming from her eyes. Regina caught up with her to explain why she was in the arms of another man.

Young Regina had nothing against King Leopold. He was a good, kind and wonderful man, but Regina simply did not love him. She told the young girl that love is the most powerful magic in the world and that it could create happiness in anyone it touches and provided that person with a happily ever after. Veiled in these terms the girl easily understood and endorsed Regina's love for the boy in the stable.

Regina had one small caveat. She made Snow promise not to reveal this secret to Cora because the older woman would not understand. Snow White agreed and the two shared a hug and a created a close bond between them, two people who understood each other's needs and wants.

~O~

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Albert Spencer, the town's district attorney, was waiting in the jail house's interrogation room when Sheriff Emma Swan and Mary Margaret Blanchard arrived. Emma recognized DA Spencer from the trial involving Valerie Kensington. She remembered the tactics he used against Valerie and was certain he would bring them to bear upon Mary Margaret. Mr. Gold had prepared the young schoolteacher for that. What none of them expected was for Mayor Regina Mills to be in attendance. The sheriff hoped that it wouldn't knock Blanchard off balance during the questioning.

Not surprisingly the district attorney didn't immediately lay into Ms. Blanchard. Instead he slowly set the stage asking Blanchard about her "relationship" with David Nolan, confirming that she had had an altercation with Kathryn Nolan and that if Mrs. Nolan was not in the picture she and David could be together.

"You wanted Kathryn out of the way," he asked with his booming, baritone.

"No," Mary Margaret replied with complete conviction.

Unwilling to accept this answer, Spencer became combative forcing Ms. Blanchard to become defensive in her answers, made her angry with his verbal assault until she was forced to give the answer he wanted. When Mary Margaret finally admitted she would have preferred for Kathryn Nolan out of the picture she presented it as merely a desire or fantasy, but she spoke with such resentment towards Spencer and his badgering that it came off more as motive and confession of guilt.

Instantly Gold ended the interview, recognizing that Spencer was sure to twist her words even further. Ms. Blanchard had already done damage to her reputation by undermining the very tactic they were hoping to exploit.

~O~

Vidia was having a better day than Claire, but only by comparison. She was now trusted to drive and on some days work on her own performing such menial exercises as assembling shelves, trimming hedges and other tasks she associated with tinkers. Though she felt that such labor was far beneath her status as a fast flyer she still somehow found this drudgery to be oddly fulfilling. She concluded that her satisfaction stemmed not from the actual exertions but that she was helping to support her queen, providing for the household and maintaining the status quo at least until the curse could be broken.

Today her morning schedule boasted only of such mundane efforts as running errands and paying bills on debts that never seemed to go away. She quickly understood why those debts never shrank, Claire was paying only on the interest. The interest, Vidia discovered, was the price paid to borrow money or make purchases on credit.

Only humans could make you pay money for borrowing money, she thought wryly.

Such musings were a welcome distraction after the sullen breakfast she shared with Claire, Tina and Penny. No one said a word between them. Everyone seemed to be absorbed in some tragic secret which they refused to share. Claire appeared traumatized, Tina seemed ashamed of something while Penny gave the impression that she wanted to extricate herself and be somewhere else, anywhere else, at that very moment. The only words spoken before leaving were Claire's instructions for today which were delivered in a strangely muted tone of voice.

It was during these errands that Vidia received a strange phone call. She did not recognize the originating phone number. "Hello?" she asked. "Who is this?"

The caller it turned out was the owner from the clothing store Modern Fashions. Vidia knew the place well. In the early days of winter Vidia, Tina and Claire had purchased new cold weather clothing to guard against the bitterness of the season in Maine. Furthermore, Dr. Archie Hopper's office was situated on the second floor of that same building. Vidia continued to attend regular sessions with the good doctor as he tried to help cure Vidia of her belief that she was a fairy from Never Land.

In her usual blunt way Vidia asked what the small business owner wanted. It seemed that the man remembered the Kensington family, and Vidia especially, because of what he called her "striking" features. In particular he recalled the sparkle of intelligence and defiant mischief in her eyes violet colored eyes.

She was unimpressed by her description having been accosted by more than her share of unwanted admirers both in Pixie Hollow and in Storybrooke. The owner then offered her a proposal which he described as being very profitable for both of them. That word "profitable" struck her with greater force today specifically because Vidia was paying ever inflating debts, debts which required the human currency upon which they put so much unnecessary value.

"Okay, what did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Come by the store and I will explain everything."