Raven862 asked about this song from Newsies, so enjoy your request! I thought it would be fun if, as an extended scene from chapter 3 of my story A Puzzling Mystery Weekend, we get to learn how Sandra got to be a female squire in Orillia, when she helped defeat the ogre who was invading the kingdom. And just like the princes doubted that Sofia could join the Flying Derby, the knights and squires had their doubts about Sandra defeating the ogre. But just like Sofia proved everyone wrong about a princess being in the flying derby, Sandra proves everyone wrong about being able to beat an enemy! Newsies is not mine.

Sir Peter helped Sandra up when he saw her trip as she practiced sword fighting alongside the knights and squires. "Princess, please, you'll get hurt," he said as Sandra tried to help them.

"I can handle this," Sandra protested. "You told me that ogres use riddles to confuse their opponents, and I love riddles, puzzles, and word games! Let me help you!"

"Get out of the way, Sandra Underfoot!" Ezekiel shouted. "Let us handle this!"

"Oh, this coming from someone who couldn't solve a simple riddle of his own?" Sandra countered. "Zeke, I've worked out each and every one of the riddles this ogre's posed to everyone, but I couldn't give anyone the answers, since he wasn't asking me any of them." She looked toward the squires, who were puzzling over the ogre's latest puzzle. "And for your information, Ezekiel, in your puzzle O-T-T-F-F-S-S, E is the letter that comes next!"

"How do you figure that?" another squire, Matthew, demanded. He prided himself on being knowledgeable at word games, but he was frustrated that he couldn't solve his own.

"One-Two-Three-Four-Five-Six-Seven-Eight!" Sandra snapped. "And Matt, for your own riddle 'You're a camel driver, all these people get on at different stops at different times, all this other stuff happens, people get on and off at their destinations, and so, who's the camel driver?', you're the one driving the camel, so it would be you!"

"She's right," Sir Peter agreed. "Lads, perhaps we've misjudged Princess Sandra. True, she could use a little work on her fencing form, but she can stay on her feet, and her balance is very good…"

"Thank you, dance lessons with Popov!" Sandra smirked.

"And she's really good at solving puzzles," Sir Nathaniel agreed. "She sometimes follows us as we have our own word challenges, and she's learned a lot about riddles. I say we let her solve one too."

"If she solves a riddle or puzzle by herself, I'll eat my practice shield," Ezekiel grumbled.

"I'll hold you to that, Zeke," Sandra smirked.

"And she will," Sir Avery chuckled. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Princess Sandra made it into something we can all eat!"

"Now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry," another squire, Jacob, joked.

"Enough talk!" the ogre roared. "Is there no one else who can beat me?"

"Yes there is, and I'm right here!" Sandra challenged, holding up the sword she'd been practicing with, and aimed it at him.

The ogre roared with laughter. "You again? Well then, young miss, come up and face my challenge, and we'll see if your mind is as sharp as your tongue!"

"As the knights have been known to say, bring it on!" Sandra adopted what the knights considered an acceptable fighting position.

"Very well, little lady, this scrambled word game is just for you," the ogre said, laying out several tiles. "Find the word that fits all the letters. You can make as many small words as you like, but I'm looking for a seven letter word."

"All right, ogre, let's do this!" Sandra said just as he finished talking. "If I win, you leave Orillia and never come back. If you win, we all fight you."

"It's a deal," the ogre agreed.

"Don't be stupid!" Ezekiel shouted.

"Zeke, I don't know if you're trying to protect me, or be your usual obnoxious self, but I can handle this," Sandra assured him, "and besides, we all know writing and word play aren't your strong points…" she smirked as she remembered how he had failed to succeed at the word challenge the ogre set him, "and who was it again who wrote that scenario for your Strategic Planning class a few weeks ago, and got you an A? Oh, that's right, me!"

"Enough of this! Face me!" the ogre roared.

Sandra took a deep breath. She had come this far, and there was no backing down now. To help raise her courage, she sang under her breath, "Orillia, Orillia, together standing tall…Shoulder to shoulder, we'll answer Orillia's call..."

"Isn't that sweet?" the ogre mocked her, "You're singing a last song before I defeat you." He set a paper and pencil, along with seven tiles, on a rock. "Take all the time you want."

"Seven letter word with no time limit?" Sandra repeated as she took out a tape and tape player. "No problem! And actually, this is what I'm going to sing!"

As she started working on the puzzle, she started singing, 'Write what you know'
So they say, all I know is I don't know what to write
Or the right way to write it
This is big, Sandra, don't screw it up
This is not some little problem that I'm facing

One little princess versus big riddle-posing ogre
Ha! It's a cinch!
It could practically solve itself
And let's pray it does, cause as I may have mentioned
I have no clue what I'm doing

"See, she admits it," Ezekiel grumbled.

"Let her work," Sir Peter whispered.

Sandra frowned at Ezekiel as she wrote and kept singing, Am I insane? This is what I've been waiting for
Well that, plus the screaming of ten angry knights and squires
A girl? It's a girl! How the hell? Is that even legal?
Look, just go and get her!

"You can do it, Princess!" Sir Steven called.

Sandra nodded as she wrote something down and sang, Not only that, there's a story behind the story
Lots of people in the kingdom, threatened, invisible
Speak up, take a stand, and there's someone to write about it
That's how things get better

Give life's little guys some ink, and when it dries just watch what happens
Those kids will live and breathe right on the page
And once they're center stage, you watch what happens
And who's there with her notebook and her pen
As boys turn into men
They'll storm the gates and then just watch what happens when they do

The knights and squires were all cheering by this point. However, Ezekiel was still frowning.

"Ezekiel, don't be jealous," Sir Peter whispered. "We never should have doubted Sandra's talent for puzzle-solving."

Sandra wrote another word down as she sang, Picture a handsome, heroically charismatic
Plain spoken, know nothing, skirt-chasing, cocky little son of a
Lie down with dogs and you wake up with a raise and a promotion

So, he's a flirt
A complete egomaniac
The fact is he's also the face of the strike
What a face
Face the facts, that's a face that could save us all from sinking in the ocean

"She's doing splendidly," Sir Avery smiled.

"Indeed," Sir Nathaniel smiled, "Princess Sandra can handle herself."

Sandra tried to ignore them, but she smiled as she sang, Like someone said, "Power tends to corrupt"
And absolute power, wait! Wait, corrupts!?
Absolutely, that is genius!
But give me some time, I'll be twice as good as that six months from never

Just look around at the world we're inheriting
And think of the one we'll create
Their mistake is they got old, that is not a mistake we'll be making
No sir, we'll stay young forever!

Give those kids and me the brand new century and watch what happens
It's David and Goliath, do or die
The fight is on and I can't watch what happens

But all I know is nothing happens if you just give in
It can't be any worse than how it's been
And it just so happens that we just might win
So whatever happens! Let's begin!

She calmly put the pen down as she asked, "Is 'Ballads' the word you want?"

"Yes…" the ogre gasped, already humming the song under his breath.

"Well, that was one of the first words I found!" Sandra smirked. "I would have said something sooner, but I like to build up suspense."

The ogre left in stunned disbelief, but also because he had Sandra's song in his head.

"Not bad, Sandra Underfoot," Ezekiel admitted.

"Don't listen to him, Sandra, you were great!" Jacob cheered.

"Well done, Princess!" Sir Peter cheered, clapping her on the shoulder. "And for your skill and bravery, we, that is, the knights and I, will give you private fencing lessons, and even make you an honorary squire!"

"I think the term you're looking for is 'squiress', since that's a term for a female squire, and I accept," Sandra smiled. She picked up Ezekiel's practice shield and handed it to him. "So Zeke, you want this cooked, or raw?"