Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, Episode 18, Chapter 5
STORYBROOKE, MAINE
The owner of Modern Fashions, a middle aged man named Brisbain who had a touch of grey in his hair and was a bit stout in the middle, greeted Vidia when she arrived at the store. He introduced her to Manuel, a younger man with bleached tips crowning his dark hair and who wore disturbingly tight pants paired with a loose fitting vest over a white shirt. Manual carried himself with an effete manner and tone of voice which was accompanied by an energetic giddiness that was reminiscent of Gliss.
"Oh my, she is something, isn't she," Manuel commented as he circled her as if sizing her up. Vidia thought she was being reduced to a piece of meat. Though the man never laid a hand on her, and in fact kept his hands in front of his face making a box shape with his fingers, Vidia nonetheless felt as though she were being figuratively groped and fondled.
"Hey, stop that!" she yelled at the foppish man. She then turned and angrily addressed Brisbain. "If you think you can sell me off to some jerk you have another think coming."
"You misunderstand," the shop owner replied, his hands up in defense, "Manuel here works for an advertising agency as a talent scout, makeup artist and photographer."
"I already have a talent," Vidia retorted, "and it's not Scout. I'm a fast flyer. The best fast flyer in the history of…" Vidia was cut off by Brisbain's room filling laughter.
"Oh my no." Brisbain showed Vidia a copy of last year's summer catalog which he mailed out to every home in Storybrooke. Inside the pages were images of men, women and children all dressed in different kinds of attire and standing in unusual poses. "I want you to be the clothing model for this year's catalog."
~O~
THE ENCHANTED FOREST
Regina feared the worst. She didn't want to marry King Leopold as she had no love for him. Though she had said otherwise, she decided that her only option was to run and informed Daniel of her intent to leave with him and get married. Cora's magic was powerful and it could easily offer her insight into Regina's whereabouts, but the young woman was desperate and she was making a desperate decision.
~O~
STORYBROOKE, MAINE
Sheriff Emma Swan sat on a roadside bench studying Henry's book of fairy tales. He maintained, quite adamantly, that Regina was setting up Mary Margaret because of their shared past in The Enchanted Forest. August Booth, the stranger who had motored into town several weeks earlier, approached her and inquired as to why she seemed so stressed. The case was giving her trouble and she was looking for anything that might prove the young schoolteacher's innocence.
Booth offered her some advice as a writer that he thought might be useful. Sometimes a story changes and when it does he takes a step back and reexamines the story and characters to make the story flow better. "When this case started it was a kidnapping. Then it turned into a murder but you are still investigating it as a kidnapping." He suggested that Emma start over again, this time examining the evidence as she would for a murder case.
Intrigued she began by going back to the stream where Ruby had found the box with the heart. She and Booth explored the edges of the stream until something caught their eye. It was a flat, triangular metal shard which Emma recognized as being from the corner of a shovel.
August's advice was quickly paying dividends and Emma was certain she knew to whom the shovel belonged.
~O~
THE ENCHANTED FOREST
Snow White was in the great hall admiring some roses when Cora came upon her. The older woman advised the young girl to be careful of the flower's delicate nature. This startled the young girl who appeared nervous to her hostess. "Don't be frightened," Cora stated with a sweet smile and easy tone to her voice. Cora engaged the girl in conversation to put Snow at ease, complimenting her on how quickly she and Regina had become close friends.
"Can you tell me why Regina seems so distant from her mother lately?" Cora asked Snow with a lilt in her voice that spoke of sadness and loss. It struck cherubic Snow White and she immediately responded by informing Cora that Regina should not be forced to marry the king because she did not love him. When asked why the girl revealed that Regina loved someone else.
~O~
That evening Regina met Daniel at the stables, fully prepared to run away with him and become his wife. Just as the two were about to make good on their escape the large doors to the stable opened and there stood Cora, filled with anger towards her child. Cora locked the stable doors behind her to ensure none could escape her wrath.
Regina, fearful of her mother's magic, tried to reason with her, but the elder woman refused to listen telling the younger woman that the only thing that endured was power. Regina rebuked Cora and her arguments, choosing instead Daniel over her mother's cold hearted decisions. Cora, however, was absolutely obstinate claiming to know what was best for her daughter.
Daniel, seeing the mother / daughter relationship coming apart at the seams, decided to step in and be a peacemaker. He took Cora aside to speak with her. "You love your daughter and want only what's best for her. I know you are only trying to protect Regina."
"I'm glad you understand," Cora stated, acting as if she held any sympathy for the young man. Instead she plunged her hand into his chest, calling upon her magic to extract his heart and crush it, killing the boy where he stood.
"MOTHER!" Regina screamed in agony. "What have you done?!"
"I've given you your happy ending," Cora replied with a calm temperament.
"What? But I loved him."
"Oh, Regina, you poor thing, love is weakness." She then declared that regardless of what Regina wanted she was to marry the king and become queen, completing the plan Cora had laid out for her years ago when the girl was first conceived.
~O~
NORTH OF NEVER LAND
Standing on the deck of the brigantine, the captain had called a meeting of all hands. He explained the situation to them and put his idea to a vote, one that was resoundingly unanimous. It was agreed, the crew would not share their plunder with the man who had employed them, a hideous looking imp by the name of Rumpelstiltskin. The deal had been that the pirates would take everything in the treasury of the fairies in Pixie Hollow, in exchange they got to keep all the loot but Rumpelstiltskin had his own plans for the mirror. Now the pirate crew had elected to keep that for themselves, too.
Contrary to popular fiction pirate ships populated by mostly European crews were not floating tyrannies or despotic rule in miniature. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Most ships were peopled by individuals who had been seeking to escape an oppressive, authoritarian society in which only those with money or a title had any rights. Peasants, tradesmen, farmers and anyone else of "low birth" had no protections against the nonstop abuse from those in the higher echelons of society.
Piracy was a means to escape such crushing rule and practice freedom on the high seas, taking at gunpoint gold, jewelry and fineries from the aristocratic people who had made their lives so miserable. Crews which practiced democratic rule typically had a ship's charter or constitution. Every member vowed to obey it. The captain was elected by majority vote from the crew and could be removed from the office just as easily. Nearly all major decisions were made via majority vote and the captain had little autocratic powers save for three instances: when the ship was engaged in combat, when the ship was giving pursuit or being pursued, or when the crew was busy plundering. Under those very specific circumstances the captain's word was law.
Today, with the ship safely away from any pursuers the crew and captain met to decide what to do next and they chose to keep their spoils. All of it, including the wish granting mirror. First the pirates, following their most venal and base desires, sought to partake of all the food and spirits they could consume and wished for a feast to fill their bellies.
Afterwards, realizing that they would soon be marked men, the crew voted and elected for protection from other raiders or royal navies which would seek to capture them for acts of piracy against the crown. "Mirror of the Never Fairies grant us this our second wish, that no ship or nation shall be able to pursue, capture, imprison or enslave us ever again."
Sadly, what they did not know was that the mirror often granted wishes in unexpected ways. As soon as the fateful words were spoken a gale and swells battered the brigantine. The helpless crew tried desperately to weather the sudden storm but their efforts were fruitless and their vessel soon ran aground on a deserted island somewhere north of Never Land. When the storm lifted, which it did with equal suddenness, the captain found that the hull was badly ruptured and the keel was cracked in several places. Several of the crew had perished during the crash, including the only person capable of restoring the brigantine: the ship's carpenter.
To ensure that the neither the ship nor crew would ever be raided or captured the mirror had marooned them here, far from any shipping lanes where no one would ever find them. The captain, though, did not worry. He still had one wish left.
It was at this moment when their employer arrived. "My, my, my, but you've been naughty, haven't you," he seethed.
The pirate captain was not afraid of him. It would be so easy to wish this imp away forever. But then he remembered that there was only enough magic for one last request. Dispatch Rumpelstiltskin and they would be stranded forever. Save themselves from being marooned and The Dark One would easily find them and be at his mercy. "Why do you need this mirror, anyway," the captain asked of his employer. "With all the magic you have you can do as you please."
"Oh, I don't need the mirror for myself," Rumpel answered. "It's for someone else. And you're going to hold it for them until they arrive."
"I ain't waitin' for no one." The pirate unsheathed his cutlass and charged at the imp, but the cold steel caught only air as Rumpelstiltskin had vanished to another part of the deck.
A cold laugh and a wave of his fingers sealed the fate of the surviving mariners. Rumpelstiltskin placed upon the mirror a curse which prevented any human from using the last wish. Only one who came from the land which forged it would ever be able to tap into the powerful enchantment.
"I do hope you enjoy your gold," Rumpelstiltskin chortled before disappearing into a puff of purple smoke and leaving the stranded pirates to their dismal fate.