A tense fifteen minutes passed as everyone in the stadium cast their votes via magical ballots (they popped out of thin air in front of every student just as the dress competition finished). The girls on stage looked nervous, while Headmaster Grimm merely appeared tired.
"Time is up," he announced. Every ballot started glowing; they floated in the air, united into a single radiating sheet of paper, and zoomed to Grimm. He caught the parchment and cleared his throat. "The first to be eliminated from Miss Ever After is…"
All the contestants held their breath (except Maddie, who was shaking her fists excitedly).
"...Apple White?"
Everyone in the Charmitorium gasped.
"This… this can't be right," Headmaster Grimm muttered, flipping the page back and forth. Behind him, Apple's face grew even paler than usual. "No, this isn't right at all. Did all of you follow the instructions? You were supposed to vote who you wanted to remove from the contest."
The students looked hesitantly from one another, but no one seemed to be admitting to any mistakes. Apple looked ready to faint.
"Very well. There must have been an error in the magic," Grimm reasoned, but he was still glaring at the students. "This should only take a few minutes. Professor Yaga, would you come up here for a moment and check the spellwork on this ballot?"
As Baba Yaga made her way up to the stage, frantic whispers broke out amongst the crowd and between the contestants.
"Don't worry, Apple," Briar assured her trembling friend. "It was just a mistake. Hell, there's no way you could be voted out first."
Apple gave her a forced smile. "Thanks, Briar."
Ashlynn and Blondie passed down their support as well; Raven looked like she wanted to comfort her, too, but didn't seem able to come up with any words. Cupid watched her sympathetically, while Maddie didn't seem to notice that anything unusual was going on. Duchess, Cerise, and Cedar merely looked stunned.
Down in the audience, Hunter and Dexter were exchanging surprised looks while Daring was just opening and closing his mouth in shock.
"How? Apple White?" Dexter whispered. "There's no way she could've gotten out first!"
Hunter was silent; he looked thoughtful. "I don't know… maybe."
"This is simply a mistake!" Daring said suddenly, slapping his fists down on the sides of the seat. Both of them looked at him; he was now crossed-armed, appearing quite confident on his assertion. "Of course Apple wouldn't have been voted out! How could anyone believe that for a second?"
Dexter shrugged, and Hunter returned the gesture. The three of them stopped speaking and just waited.
All the way in the back, Lizzie and Kitty were arguing.
"I can't believe they're recounting just because Apple lost first," Kitty purred, looking contemptuous. She was sitting with her legs curled up against her. "Like that's not biased at all!"
"We'll find out eventually," Lizzie reasoned. "If she's really been voted out, they won't be able to do anything about it except to make her leave. Off with all their heads!"
Meanwhile Sparrow, who was sitting two seats away from them, was cracking up at the results and thoroughly discomforting the frog prince sitting next to him. The heavy atmosphere continued like that for another ten minutes and Baba Yaga double-checked and triple-checked the spellwork on the ballots.
"What do you mean, it's not a mistake?" Headmaster Grimm whispered from behind his podium. "This is not feasible! Snow White wins every year!"
Baba Yaga just shook her head, looking annoyed. "I have checked three times over now, Headmaster. There is nothing wrong with the spellwork. The students must have sincerely voted against Apple White."
Grimm sighed. This was a bad situation. Kicking out the daughter of Snow White within the first round was certainly an anomaly, but there was technically nothing breaking anyone's destinies if Apple didn't win Miss Ever After… although it might convince troubled students like Raven Queen that they could actually rewrite themselves. Still, if he tried to change things now, there would most certainly be a riot and students might become even more resentful. Grimm's hands were tied.
He threw a regretful backwards glance at Apple, who was now wringing her hands and looking close to tears. He had warned her against it, and now this was happening.
"Ahem. Thank you for your patience," Grimm said finally, sounding not the least bit thankful. "We have unfortunately confirmed the validity of the ballot - the first contestant to leave Miss Ever After is indeed Miss Apple White."
Everyone looked horrified.
"But… but why?" Apple cried. She wasn't crying yet, but her voice warbled pitifully. "How could I have been voted out first? I mean, I'm… I'm - !"
She cut herself off abruptly and, after a moment's pause, ran off the stage sobbing. An awkward silence hung throughout the entire Charmitorium as Apple's cries slowly disappeared into the distance. Even Headmaster Grimm looked uncomfortable. There had to be something he could say to break the tension…
"Next up is the Swim Contest!" he announced. "There will be… bikinis!"
Everybody cheered.
"Yes, yes, the Swim Contest," Grimm repeated, "a glorious test of health, grace, and athletic ability! For this event, the school pool will be temporarily open from one to three o'clock PM, where contestants will be asked to demonstrate their water skills. Three judges from the school faculty will evaluate the contestants' performances, but all spectators are free to join us at the bleachers."
He turned to the contestants. "You will be expected to arrive at the pool by one o'clock dressed in appropriate swim wear. All floatation devices, magical or non-magical, as well as any other swimming-aid that does not include your basic swimwear, are strictly prohibited for this event. You will be judged on different techniques as well as your speed and endurance. I will explain the rules in more detail on the day of the contest, but is this all clear to you for now? Good."
Without waiting to hear the girls' responses, Headmaster Grimm whirled around again to address the audience. "Thank you for attending the first event of Miss Ever After! We… er, hope to see you at the next event. But without further ado, you are all dismissed!"
And that was how the first event of Miss Ever After ended - Apple White, daughter of Snow White and the most anticipated winner of the contest, was voted out. With the future of Miss Ever After made unclear, the rest of the contestants returned to their dormitories feeling a mixture of wonder and worry.
None of them would anticipate the stranger things soon to come.
Briar was looking forward to the next competition. She was still shocked about Apple's immediate loss and had even considered withdrawing, but Apple wouldn't hear any of it and insisted that she continue to compete. Even Briar had to admit that getting to wear her new hot pink bikini and take a dip in the school's great crystal pool was well worth all that entrance paperwork she had to go through to get in - the pool wasn't normally open until summer, but Grimm allowed an exception for the pageant.
She was so excited that the first thing she did after waking up - right after wishing good-lucks and bidding good-byes to the other contestants - was find her swimsuit and head to the east bay of lake in the Enchanted Forest. (The forest lake was a true monstrosity, large enough that it had four separate bays where students could swim in privacy). Briar was a decent swimmer, but she didn't have much practice outside of summer vacation - she figured she would do better to shed the rust now before realizing she had somehow totally forgot how to swim while in the crystal pool. Also, she was hyped and didn't want to wait a whole hour now that swimming was on her mind.
Briar ignored the few gaping stares she received as she made her way to the lake in just her bikini, flip-flops, and pink shades. Yup, she was definitely going to go swimming in the lake. Nothing - not the chill wind blowing against her skin, not the weak protests she received from her acquaintances warning her against it - was going to stop her. Her flip-flops were already off as she broke into a run toward the glistening (if not slightly green) water of the lake.
Then Briar Beauty promptly fell asleep.
"Hey, Cedar?" a soft voice came from outside. Someone tried to turn the knob.
"Wait! Don't come in!" Cedar jumped and hastily threw on an old t-shirt over her bathing suit - it was one she used for art class, blotched with various splashes of paint - and sprinted to the door. She looked down to verify that everything was covered and, taking a deep, calming breath, peeked outside her dorm room. "Hello?"
"Hey, Cedar!" A familiar girl with curly pink hair stood with her hands folded behind her back, smiling nervously. She was also wearing a casual shirt and shorts.
"Oh, hey Cupid! Come on in." Cedar threw open the door, glad to see that it was familiar female friend and not some random stranger guy. She still wasn't entirely decent; her oversized shirt reached down to her mid-thigh, obscuring her tiny swim shorts and making it look like she was… well, walking around in a lot less clothing than she should be walking around in. The room behind her was a total mess - all of her clothes were thrown haphazardly around her bed and on the floor, and the curtains were still shut. "Um, sorry about this… I was looking for something new to wear for the contest, because my old swimsuit is kinda…" She gestured helplessly at the kiddish orange daisy-patterned one-piece that was laying on top of the drawer. "...But I'm definitely wearing something underneath this!" she added.
"It's okay," Cupid giggled, stepping carefully inside the room. "These… paintings are nice."
"Thanks…" Although Cedar wondered if she was just saying that because everything else in the room was a complete disaster. "Um, so did you want anything? Cerise isn't here right now, if you were wondering. She left to get something early in the morning, I think."
"No, I actually wanted to ask you a favor," Cupid said, looking a little worried. She rubbed her back, and Cedar could see that her wings were stuffed behind her baggy shirt. "I know this might seem a little weird, since we're competing and all… but Raven told me that you were a good swimmer, so I was wondering if maybe you could give me some tips?"
"Oh, sure! Of course, don't worry about that being competition and all," Cedar replied. She smiled, glad to know that someone recognized her swimming talent. Although Cedar had been fretting over her swimsuit, she wasn't at all worried about the actual swimming part of the contest - she was the fastest in her summer camp, and she might have even joined the swim team if she wasn't so involved with Arts & Crafts. "What do you need to know?"
"Well… anything, really," Cupid sighed. "I'm not a fairy good swimmer at all. I try to avoid bodies of water when I can."
"Hmm… how about I teach you some tricks at the lake?" Cedar suggested. She hadn't really been thinking about practice, but now that Cupid needed her help, it seemed like the best thing to do. Cedar really wanted to put off cleaning this mess up in their dorm as long as she could anyway.
"Would you really?" asked Cupid; Cedar nodded earnestly. "You don't have to do it just for me, but if it's no trouble… I could really use all the help I can get. Thanks so much!"
"No problem! Let's go to the north bay. It's kind of far, but I like its layout the best and not a lot of people go there."
"Okay," Cupid agreed, looking like she didn't know a lake - must less a north bay - even existed at Ever After High. They were about to leave when Cedar stopped and remembered herself.
"Um… could you just wait a splinter outside? I'm going to change into something longer on the bottom, so…" she stammered.
Cupid waved her away. "Yeah, no problem!"
Apple White was voted out.
Apple White was voted out of Miss Ever After.
Duchess kept repeating those extraordinary words in her head, her initial disbelief steadily transforming into pure ecstasy. Apple was out! Oh, thank you merciful world, thank you school's (probably) contaminated drinking water, thank you, thank you, thank you! Everything she had ever dreamed was falling into place, everything she had scarcely dared to hope for was all coming true - Apple was out, she was in, and that meant she beat Apple White. Nothing could stop her from claiming Miss Ever After now! Nothing!
Nothing.
Nothing…
Did Grimm say they were swimming next?
As soon as Duchess found out what their second competition would be, her happy thoughts quickly spiralled into something more along the lines of "shit fuck shit shit fuck damn it godmother you are dead to me, fuck you to the sky" and all the joy she had felt about Apple losing flew right straight out the window. In the morning she mechanically found and changed into a bathing suit that she had purchased purely for show, wondering what she was going to do.
Duchess Swan couldn't swim. Or at least not in her human form - she could swim as a swan, she could even walk on water as a human… but she couldn't swim. Headmaster Grimm had mentioned that all forms of magical and non-magical swimming enhancements were banned. Duchess wasn't sure if turning into a swan fell under the category of magical enhancement - if anything, it made her slow and completely unable to perform any stroke properly - but she didn't want to risk it; that, and humiliating herself by swimming as a bird while all the other contestants swam like normal people wasn't exactly on the top of her list of Great Things To Do anyway. Simply walking across the surface of the pool didn't seem like a viable option, either: her ballet-slash-physics-slash-ninja classes stressed that it was a technique that couldn't be performed in even the most slightly turbulent waters, and the school pool was bound to be rippling after sending in eight other swimming contestants. Unless she could somehow learn how to swim in the few hours before the contest started, there weren't many options.
"Swimming can't be that hard," Duchess decided angrily. She had a chance of ruling the school now and she wasn't about to throw it away for anything. She was going to learn or die trying.
Finding an instructor was not as easy. Duchess wasn't friends with any of the other girls - it was beneath her to ask her competition for help anyway - but that left scarcely few people to recruit in such short notice. Just as she decided she would go to the lake and learn herself, a familiar flash of green and red appeared from behind a tree.
"Sparrow?" she asked. Before he had time to finish saying 'hey, Duchess,' she had another idea and grabbed his arm and yanked him down the path. "Listen, I need you to teach me how to swim right now. You can have any ring in my collection if you can do it. Deal?"
"Uh… sure?" It wasn't like she was not already dragging him along, so… he shrugged. A swimming lesson was probably the most benign request she ever made so far, considering the jealous schemes she was usually up to.
It didn't take them very long to reach the east bay of the Enchanted Forest's largest lake. Duchess stepped over an unconscious Briar Beauty - god knows why she was there in the first place - and waded into the water. Sparrow left his guitar at the tree and followed closely behind her.
She stopped when the lake reached her chest and turned around. "So. How do you swim?"
"Okay, so… you want to move your arms like this and kick your legs, right?" Sparrow started demonstrating windmill motions with his arms. Duchess didn't look impressed. "And… you do that to keep yourself afloat. Well, there are other strokes you can do, but that one is the easiest. Look, it would be easier just to show you."
Twenty minutes later, Sparrow realized he wasn't getting that ring any time soon.
The two of them were still standing at the shallow end of the lake, only now they were both completely soaked from head to toe - Duchess from nearly drowning at least thirty times in a row, and Sparrow from having to dive and rescue her each time. The girl couldn't swim at all (she couldn't even dog paddle!), and every attempt to stay afloat ended in her sinking like a rock. He eventually had to hold her up by the waist while she practiced the motions of swimming. The funniest thing was that Duchess's movements looked entirely correctly - they looked far more graceful than his, actually - but she was still failing to stay up for more than a second, and it was clearly frustrating her. Sadly enough, the swan princess really did seem like she was born to drown.
"What were the other strokes you mentioned?" Duchess gasped, reemerging from the lake for the thirty-first time.
"The backstroke?" he suggested. "Maybe you'll swim better on your back. It takes less energy to float on your back than on your front."
Except when Duchess tried, she ended up sinking and inhaling a mouthful of water. He grabbed her arm and she came out sputtering and coughing; Sparrow had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing.
"You liar," she hissed between coughs. He kept his mouth shut, still stifling a laugh. "What else is there?"
"There's… there's the breaststroke," he said finally.
"The what?" Duchess crossed her arms and glared at him. "You're lying. There's no such thing."
"There is!" said Sparrow.
"Well, I don't want to learn it. It sounds perverted." Oh, so that's why she was crossing her arms over her chest? He snickered.
"Let's just try freestyle again," he suggested, ignoring her death stares. "The only one left I know is the butterfly… and trust me, you won't be able to do the butterfly at this rate."
"What's the butterfly?" Duchess wanted to know.
"It's… I don't know? Basically the unholy love child of the front-crawl and the breaststroke? ...And you still can't do either of them," Sparrow sighed. "Look, forget about it. Not a lot of casual swimmers know how to do it…"
He regretted those words almost as soon as they were said; there was a glint in her eye that told him he had (in her mind) introduced an opportunity to shine above most "casual swimmers."
"So? Teach me anyway."
Cerise kept to herself as she skimmed the brightly lit aisles of Book End Boutique, searching desperately for a certain piece of swim gear among clothing displays. She had waved away the store helpers when they asked if she needed any help and was now regretting it - there was no swim wear in sight, seeing that they were still in the middle of autumn and all. After reaching the last aisle with no luck, Cerise turned around and headed for the door. If she couldn't find it at Fair & Fit either, she might have to forfeit the next round…
"Hello, Cerise!" came a familiar chipper voice. Cerise looked up and saw that Blondie was skipping down the street and waving at her. "Are you looking for swimsuits, too?"
"Um… sort of. They weren't selling them here, though," she answered. She was just about leave when Blondie hooked her arm around hers.
"Wait, hold on a sec! I know the storekeeper here - I did a report on their hexcellent skirt designs over the MirrorNet last year - and I know she'll have something for us in the storage room," she said, leading Cerise back into the store. Noticing the wary expression on Cerise's face, she added: "Oh, no worries - I love helping people get things just right! And I'm getting a new swimsuit for myself, too."
"It's… not exactly a swimsuit I'm looking for," Cerise admitted, slipping out of Blondie's grasp. "I'm looking for a swim cap. For… my hair." And, you know, her ears.
"Ooh, good idea! I wouldn't want that chlorine damaging my hair either." Blondie tapped her chin, looking thoughtful. "I'm sure she'll have those in stock. You have to be careful when buying one, though. A lot of them don't fit tight enough… one time I got one that was all wrong, and it slipped right off while I was swimming in the lake!"
"R-really?" That sounded really, really bad. If her swim cap slipped off during the contest… Cerise shuddered to think what would happen. Maybe she really should forfeit Miss Ever After?
"Don't look so worried! We'll find one just right for you," said Blondie encouragingly, re-hooking Cerise's arm and pulling her to the front desk. "Excuse me! Hilda, are you there?"
Five minutes and many exchanged pleasantries later, the two girls were inside the storage room. The store owner had the boxes filled with swim gear set down for the girls; Blondie was now going through each and every article, rejecting them all for one reason or another. Cerise literally had no idea how she ended up in this situation.
"Not good material. That one will definitely leak," the blonde said, wrinkling her nose. Cerise set down the blue latex cap in the growing pile of rejects and held up a new one.
"Too small! Could you really fit your all hair in that?" A pale yellow cap was added to the pile. Cerise grabbed another for Blondie's judgement, although she was really beginning to wonder if they would ever find a suitable swim cap.
"Oh, the color is just dreadful on that one! A total fairy-fail!" Blondie shook her head and pointed at the reject pile.
"I don't care about the color. Is it alright otherwise?" Cerise sighed.
Blondie just pouted. "When it comes to shopping, you can't settle for anything less than perfection! Let me look through that, I'm sure I'll find something…"
She grabbed the box out of Cerise's arms and began tossing swim caps over her shoulder at incredible speeds. Was it even possible to judge something that fast? Either way, Cerise scooted away and narrowly dodged a bright pink cap that went bouncing off the wall. She pulled her hood down and opened a new box, dumping the contents on the dusty floor.
It was filled with various one-pieces. More out of boredom than anything, she began looking through the collection. Most of them were a plain solid color, although a few were striped and patterned. Cerise found an orange floral one that looked sort of familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. Ten more minutes passed as she amused herself by sorting the collection into three piles: ones she would wear, ones she would not wear, and ones that deserved to be thrown in a bonfire.
Just as Cerise pulled out what looked like a spacesuit (definitely going into the bonfire pile), a girly shriek pierced the room and just about scared the living daylights out of her.
"What?" she growled, dropping the suit and glaring at Blondie.
Luckily, the daughter of Goldilocks was too busy admiring the swim cap in her hands to notice her shopping partner's wolfish reaction. "This! This has just the right color, material, and size for you. What do you think?"
She dropped a red cap into Cerise's lap. To be completely honest, Cerise didn't think looked much different from the dozens she had rejected, but if it was good enough to pass Blondie's scrutiny, it was certainly good enough for her. "Thanks. I'll try it."
"What have you been looking through?" Blondie inquired, peering over at the piles of swimsuits that she had left over. She grabbed the spacesuit on the floor and held it up against the light. "Ooh! Is this what I've been looking for?"
"You've been looking for… that?" Cerise raised both eyebrows in surprise.
"Yes, just that! Look how soft it is and how well is stretches! It'll be perfect for my new swimsuit… oh, how did you find this?" Blondie gushed, turning the… Cerise hoped it wasn't really a spacesuit? thing back and forth. "Look at how water-dynamic it is! Is it the right size, though? I do like the color… I'm going to try it out right now!"
Just then, Hilda poked her head into the door. "Have you found what you needed? - oh my Grimm, why is there swimming caps all over the place!?"
"Yes!" Blondie jumped up with cap and the full-body suit, while Cerise looked thoroughly uncomfortable. "We'll take these two for changing, please!"
"The… the changing rooms are over there. Wait - hey! You're going to clean this up, aren't you? Wait, don't go now! Blondie!"
Ashlynn missed her friends at breakfast; she had been caught up tending to a young injured fox in the woods. The young Cinderella was extremely glad that she had been wearing simple clothes on top of her swimsuit and not her usual attire, which would have promptly transformed into rags for coming late to the breakfast hall. The lunch ladies were already cleaning up the tables when she finally made it.
Ashlynn smiled apologetically at them, grabbed a modest meal - just a tray with orange juice and a small fruit tart - and sat down eating as quickly as she could.
"This day isn't going at all how I expected," she thought ruefully as she chewed her pastry. Ashlynn had planned on getting a more substantial breakfast and heading off to practice swimming at the forest's lake, but she had lost track of time with the poor fox. She really needed that practice to work on her strokes; although Ashlynn was a decent swimmer from her time spent with her aquatic friends, she had never bothered to learn to the more fanciful techniques that the judges might be looking for.
Maybe she could ask the local fish to help teach her? She hadn't planned on it, but at this rate asking them for advice was better than nothing. Ashlynn was personally acquainted with the school of fish that lived at the lake's western bay - she had enjoyed digging up worms for them during last year's spring break, back when they were still tiny little hatchlings. It was a shame she hadn't the time to check up on them again this year… Ashlynn always worried about how her freshwater friends would survive the winter, which was coming up soon.
"Then it's settled," she decided, finishing the last crumbs of her breakfast. She stood up with her now-finished tray, carefully separated the recyclables from trash, and whisked out of the building.
The trip to the west bay was shorter than she had anticipated, considering that it was the furthest away from the school. Ashlynn noticed some of other contestants practicing at the eastern and northern sections while she was making her trek and was doubly glad that her own destination was far away - how embarrassing it would be if they found out that these little fish were giving her swimming lessons! (Not that she was embarrassed because they were fish, but rather because the they were a good five years younger than her - in fish years.)
When she finally arrived to the familiar-looking clearing at the west bay, Ashlynn stooped down and, after checking that no one else was around, gave a series of clicking noises over the water. Within seconds, a mass of swirling silver emerged from underneath the rocks and pooled before her.
"Hello, you guys!" Ashlynn grinned, noticing that they had all grown at least an inch since she'd last seen them.
Cries of "Miss Ashlynn! Miss Ashlynn!" bubbled to the surface. One of the fish piped, "where have you been all this time?"
"I've been really busy with Legacy year," she sighed, dipping her hand into the water and allowing them to swarm between her fingers. "I'm so sorry I haven't been here to see you. Have you all been alright? Do you need me to keep you guys in an aquarium for the winter?"
"Don't worry, we'll be fine!" the largest fish replied. "Only the top of the lake freezes during winter! It's all nice and cozy down here."
"Are you and Mr. Hunter still canon?" another asked, staring up at her with his large eyes.
Ashlynn laughed nervously. "Yes, we're still together, if that's what you're asking."
The school fish cheered and broke into excited glubs. "See! I told you this ship wouldn't sink!" "OTP." "Will you guys just stop being shippers on deck for a moment?" (She had never quite picked up their cute fish slang with all their ship-this and ship-that's, but it was certainly amusing to watch them chatter about it.)
"Enough about us, though," Ashlynn interjected, remembering the reason she came in the first place. "Do you guys think you can do me a huge favor? I'm entering a swimming contest soon, and I don't know how to do the breaststroke or the backstroke… do any of you have tips?"
The fish stopped. They looked hesitant, then quickly lapsed into whispers with one another - it was a habit of theirs, Ashlynn knew, to consult with everyone in the school before making important decisions. One of them spoke up: "None of us know how to swim on our backs, Miss Ashlynn, but we could teach you how to swim like us! Want us to?"
"Oh! Well…" She considered it; the way they swam was similar to the breaststroke, although she would need to make a few modifications here and there. Looking back, it was actually a pretty silly idea to expect to learn how to technique-swim from fish - but Ashlynn looked at their hopeful faces and decided that she wanted to spend time with them anyway. "Of course I do! Thank you all!"
"Ergh… maybe, try keeping your body more… horizontal?"
Cedar cringed as Cupid went plunging head-first into the water. They were at the north bay like they had planned, but practice wasn't going as smoothly as Cedar hoped. The rose-haired girl resurfaced, gasping.
"This is no use," Cupid moaned, clinging onto a rock for support. She flapped her damp wings in weak attempt to dry them.
Cedar waded over to her friend and tried to think what she was going wrong. The thing was that Cupid could swim, but only for brief periods of time - she just didn't go very fast and tired out easily. It was hard to see her strokes because her wings crashed against the water while she was swam. In fact, if anything, those wings looked like they must be really heavy and cumbersome while swimming.
"Are your wings dragging you down?" Cedar considered.
"I don't know. I've always had them, so I can't tell," sighed Cupid. She reached around and squeezed out the water that had gotten themselves lodged between her feathers. "Do you think they are?"
Cedar shrugged helplessly. In hindsight, she probably wasn't the best teacher for the job - while she was able to float effortlessly because her body was made of magical wood, it seemed like Cupid was struggling because she had extra appendages pulling her down. Was there any way to make her wings more water-dynamic?
"I thought your feathers might repel water at first," Cedar rambled, trying to remember what she knew about Chemythstry. "But I guess that's not how it works…"
"Only the ones out here do," said Cupid, gesturing to the longer and shinier feathers that covered the back of her wings. Looking closer, she noticed that the fluffy down feathers that cushioned the inner-front half of her wings were the only ones that were soaked. Hmm…
"Wait a splinter! I have an idea!" Cedar pulled Cupid - who was beginning to panic - away from the rock she was holding onto and tried balancing her on her back. "Keep your wings still, and maybe you'll be able to stay up better! Ouch - please stop kicking me - "
"Cedar, stop, no I'll sink - !" But when Cedar let go, she did not sink; Cupid peeked open her eyes when she realized she was feeling quite… light. She blinked; everything appeared upside-down, but there was now an odd force pushing up against her wings. "Wha… what?"
"You're floating!" Cedar cheered.
"I'm… I'm floating!" Cupid repeated, flapping her wings in excitement (which sent her plummeting back into the water).
"Maybe you should keep your wings flat," suggested Cedar, helping her rebalance herself on the lake's surface. Cupid was eventually able to stay up without any help, but she kept her arms and legs stretched out rigidly in fear of sinking. "That's a lot better than before, but you'll have to move your limbs if you want to go anywhere. How about I teach you the backstroke?"
"The backstroke?" Cupid breathed from the corner of her mouth, as if talking too loudly would cause her to suddenly drown.
"Don't worry, it'll be easy!" The wooden girl flipped on her back so that she was on the same level as Cupid. "Let's start by moving those arms…"
"Hey, Maddie! There you are - I was looking all over for you."
Raven walked into the school's back garden, wearing nothing but a striped towel over her bikini and sandals on her feet. Maddie was sitting by a small table where she was having tea with Earl Gray; she waved when she noticed Raven heading her way.
"Hello, Raven! Would you like to join us for some tea?" Maddie asked cheerily, pushing forward a cup and saucer. (Strangely, the cup was underneath the saucer and not the other way around.)
"Thanks." Her friend took the drink with a smile after carefully reversing the placement of the tea and the plate. She took a sip; it was slightly mint-flavored. "I was wondering if you wanted to get some practice in with me before the contest later? We can still get a ten-minute swim if we leave for the lake soon."
"Practice sounds like a tea-riffic idea!" Maddie agreed, taking another sip. "But Raven, why ever would we need to go to the lake? We can practice swimming right here!"
"Oh, uh…" Raven looked around the garden, but there were no bodies of water in sight - unless Maddie was talking about the shallow fountain by the rose bushes, which only went two feet deep at most. Or maybe she was talking about the mint tea they were drinking…? It was hard to tell with her sometimes.
Seeing the look of apprehension on Raven's face, the curly-haired girl downed the last of her drink and daintily tapped the corners of her mouth with a cloth produced out of nowhere. "In our minds, I mean! We can practice by imagining that we're swimming instead of actually doing it. It would conserve our energy much better, am I right?"
"Oh!" Raven was actually just relieved that she wasn't suggesting they create a tea-pool or something. "I… never thought about that. It would save our energy, I guess, but would just thinking about it really help us swim better in the contest?"
Maddie nodded earnestly. "It really does. Why, it's common Wonderlandian knowledge that you don't actually need to practice to get in some practice!"
"Advice coming from a place that's currently considered hazard area isn't exactly reassuring, Maddie," Raven said.
"Trust me on this one! I read an article on The Star Legender proving it true just last week, too. Or… was that last year?" Maddie frowned, then shrugged. "I know I know it works, Raven."
She sighed and relented. "Fine, let's do that." Walking all the way to the lake and back for a measly ten-minute swimming session wasn't really the best trade off anyway, Raven decided. She finished the last of her tea as well and set the empty cup on the table. "So, do you just close your eyes and imagine swimming, or…?"
Maddie nodded, and the both of them closed their eyes. "You have to imagine swimming with intent. Imagine you're doing everything from the beginning: you're standing at the edge of the pool, then you dive right in and feel the shock of freezing water! Pretend you're moving your arms against the tide and kicking your legs as fast as you can…"
Raven imagined it: moving her arms, kicking her legs, feeling the cold water against her skin. Her thoughts stayed like that for another five minutes - moving arms, kicking legs, moving arms, kicking legs. It was actually a lot more difficult than she anticipated. Her mind kept straying off focus every minute or so; as it turned out, the task of imagining swimming wasn't an incredibly interesting one.
"Maddie, my head hurts," she said after a while.
Maddie peeked one eye open. "Don't give up yet, it hasn't even been ten minutes! We'll have to swim for much longer than that in the contest, you know."
Raven rubbed her forehead. She could already tell that this was going to be a painfully long practice…
[15 minutes before the start of the contest…]
The bleachers were completely filled on the day of the swimming event. It was, with little doubt, the most popular competition in Miss Ever After; in fact, upon closer inspection, one might notice that the demographics of the crowd had… shifted. While the evening dress contest had drawn in those interested in seeing the opening of the school's renewed pageant, the swimming contest drew in those merely interested in seeing the contestant in their swimsuits. That being said, the audience was decidedly and predominantly male.
"Have you seen Hopper?" Hunter asked Dexter. They were both sitting on the fourth row bleachers, which seemed entirely filled except for one seat. "He asked me to save a seat for him, so I've had to turn down at least five other people who asked for it… and let me tell you, those guys look pissed."
Dexter noticed - there were a few stragglers at the sides of the bleachers who kept throwing angry glares at the two of them. "No, I haven't. Maybe he got… stepped on?"
Hunter cringed. "I sure hope not. If he's not here by the start of the contest, I'll have to give up his seat before somebody ends our stories prematurely."
Among the stragglers was a completely drenched Sparrow Hood, who was climbing his way up the fifth, sixth, and seventh row. He noticed his bandmates waving at him on the eighth row of bleachers and walked to them.
"Dude, why are you soaking wet?" one of them asked, eying his bandleader with surprise.
Sparrow shrugged and sat down. "Let's… just watch the show."
Down at the crystal pool, the contestants trickled in one by one and gathered at the foot of the water. Most of the girls had turned up in bikinis, with the exception of Cedar (who had opted for a more modest two-piece) and Blondie (who, to everyone's surprise, had turned up in a full body swimsuit).
"Uh… wow, Blondie," Raven commented. "I didn't know you had something like that just for swimming."
"Well, I do need to keep this Royal body just right," Blondie replied cheerily. "I don't want to risk getting a nasty sunburn after all! But really, I just picked it up while I was going shopping with Cerise - doesn't it look fableous?"
The girls (and the disappointed males in the audience) reserved their judgement on that. Ashlynn was off to the side, admiring Cerise's new red swimcap.
"I saw that one in the store during summer - they say it was made without any animal testing," she said. Ashlynn twirled her own strawberry-blonde locks a little ruefully. "Getting a swim cap was a good idea. I completely forgot our hair might drag us down."
"Um, yeah," Cerise replied nervously, tugging down the edges of her cap. "For… my hair."
Maddie was walking around and counting the contestants. "Four… two… eleven… eight," she muttered. "Hmm, eight… is that right? No, no, it isn't. I do believe we are missing someone!"
"Missing someone?" Cupid repeated. She turned looked around and started counting as well. "...Hey, you're right! Where's Briar?"
"Briar! Oh, fairest Briar Beauty, you simply must wake up!"
Hopper Croakington II's warbling cries had no effect on the snoring brunette, who was still sprawled on the dirt ground by the lake's east bay. The green frog hopped around helplessly, trying to drag her arm but completely unable to in his tiny reptilian form. Blast! If only he had not immediately started sputtering when he noticed Briar's unconscious form, he might've been able to lift her all the way there. It was only ten minutes before the start of the swimming contest - Hopper had been heading to the event himself when he noticed her.
"Briar, you shall be too late for the competition if you sleep any longer," he tried saying to her, but Briar continued snoozing. He gave up trying to move her arm and sat on the grass, adjusting his crown. "What can I do to possibly awaken you…?" He tried to think of something that might work. "Let's see… Briar, there shall be a grand party held at the school's swimming pool!"
She muttered something in her sleep - for a second, he thought he had succeeded - but then merely rolled over and continued snoring.
"Perhaps a party song?" Hopper wondered. He didn't know any good party songs, but there was no time to waste - time was a cruel master, ticking away the seconds that Briar was was still clocked out on the ground. "Oh, ribbit. Here it goes:
"You put your right hand in, you put your right hand out, you put your right hand in and you shake it all about…"
To Hopper's great delight, Briar sat up almost immediately after the first verse and languidly stretched her arms. "Woh…" (she yawned) "...Worst party ever after. Who's singing that?"
"Briar, you awaken! You must depart immediately!" he blurted, hopping into her blurry vision. She blinked a few times and yawned again. "The pool! Go to the school's crystalline swimming pool!"
"The pool?" she repeated, wrapping her arms around herself when she realized how cold she was. "Why would I go to the… oh my godmother, the contest!"
Briar scrambled to her feet as if hit by a lightning bolt, checking down and remembering that she had left her flip-flops at the tree. She ran her fingers through her hair once to remove whatever dirt and twigs had lodged themselves there, then dashed off to fetch her footwear.
"Thanks, Hopper!" she added as she frantically tried to put both her flip-flops on the same foot. Before he could reply, Briar was gone.
"Oh… you're welcome," he said to the empty air. It was going to take forever to get to the contest in his frog form, Hopper noted glumly, but at least Briar might not be late now. He started making his slow, slow path back to the school - maybe he would be able to catch the elimination if he went quickly enough?
Just then, the flash of pink and brown came back. She scooped him up and planted a firm kiss on his amphibian head.
"I almost forgot," Briar panted as he fell, suddenly human again, against the dirt floor. She was already turning around when he realized what had happened. "You want to watch, don't you? C'mon, let's get a move on!"
The other contestants didn't have long to wonder about the young Sleeping Beauty's absence; Headmaster Grimm (who was still in his normal outfit, except now there was a silver whistle hanging from his neck) was now walking into the scene with three teachers and, for some reason, Daring Charming following him. Daring was wearing red swimming trunks and carried a rescue buoy underneath an arm. They headed toward the judges' table and began sorting out the papers and microphones for the event. The audience somehow seemed to become louder and quieter at the same time - several people had stopped talking aloud upon Grimm's arrival, but several others more started whispering excitedly to one another in anticipation for the contest.
"Guys!" came a short gasp. The girls turned around and saw Briar racing to the pool (along with Hopper, for some reason). Her friends frantically beckoned her over.
"You made it in the nick of time!" one of them whispered as Briar kneeled over to catch her breath. Grimm hadn't looked over from the judges' table yet - he was currently fitting Daring into an elevated lifeguard seat - so she wiped her brow triumphantly and slowly climbed to her feet.
("Hopper, over here!" Hunter and Dexter waved at him from the bleachers. Hopper noticed them and walked over to where they had his seat saved.
"What took you so long?" Hunter asked.
Hopper exhaled and gently brought a hand to his forehead. "I'm never washing my face again," he breathed dreamily, while his friends scratched their heads in confusion.)
When everything finally settled together at the front table, Grimm turned around and the whole crowd became silent. He adjusted the speaker around his neck, then began to talk:
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the second event of Miss Ever After - the Swim Contest!" His voice reverberated across the school grounds among renewed cheers. "Thank you. Now, before we begin, allow me to explain the rules of this competition. In a few minutes, the contestants will enter the pool and be asked to demonstrate their water skills in a modified individual medley. For those of you who don't know what that is, it means they will be asked to perform different strokes for each lap. There will be four laps total in this contest, and each lap is approximately fifty meters."
Of all the girls, only Cedar looked surprised at this comment - in fact, except for the most experienced swimmers, the majority of the audience didn't appear phased either. They were expected to swim two hundred meters straight in four different strokes? Although Cedar knew she could do it, that was far too much to expect from casual swimmers, not to mention people like Cupid who had just learned this morning…
"However, due to some… issues we found in past competitions, there will be some special modifications in the normal medley rules for the event," Grimm continued, as if reading her mind. "First of all, the stroke order will be freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and then butterfly. Any stroke, including the backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, may be used for the freestyle event. Once you reach the end of the pool, you will wait for the other contestants to finish - once everyone has finished the lap, I will give the next set of instructions.
"If you feel you cannot continue for any reason, you may exit the pool after you have finished your lap. However, contestants who leave prematurely will not be allowed back into the pool. Your performance will be evaluated by the three judges here at the judges' table - " (cue the teachers, Professor Jack B. Nimble, Coach Gingerbread Man, and the Big Bad Wolf, waving at the audience) " - and your scores will be revealed at the end of the round."
"I will be keeping track of your swimming speed," said Professor Nimble, tapping the stopwatch in his hand. "You can't swim well and swim slow at the same time, or so I say!"
"I'll be watching for your endurance," Coach Gingerbread Man announced. "If you don't balance your energy you won't be able to make it through all four laps! And if someone's ever trying to eat you, you'd better not lose steam halfway or they'd gobble you right up - "
"And don't forget about your technique," growled the Big Bad Wolf, cutting right in. "I'll be watching you ve-e-ery closely… and if I catch you slipping up on your stroke, you'll be losing major points from me."
"Yes, thank you," Grimm resumed. "As you just heard, the judges will be grading you primarily on your speed, skill, and endurance. A note about that last criteria: even if you cannot perform the stroke for the round, you are encouraged to make the lap anyway with any stroke of your choosing so you can still be graded for your endurance. Your final score will be determined holistically by all three judges at the end of the round. Is this all clear?"
The girls nodded, most of them appearing somewhat nervous. Headmaster Grimm cleared his throat.
"Now, there is no need for worry about your safety in this event. In the case of an emergency, your exemplary classmate Mr. Charming will be there to rescue you." Daring flashed his glittering smile at the crowd from his position at the lifeguard seat, eliciting multiple cries of "ouch!" and "my eyes!" from the audience. Some of the contestants looked relieved while others rolled their eyes. Grimm blew his whistle and glared at Daring, who merely laughed and crossed his arms.
"If you're all ready, please line up at the edge of the pool!" The contestants did as they were told. Grimm pulled a starting pistol out of his pocket and held it in the air. "Again, the first round is the freestyle. Any stroke is acceptable for the freestyle. You must swim until you reach the end of the pool and then wait for the other girls to finish before receiving the next instructions. At the sound of the gun fire, you may begin. Ready… set… go!"
The gun went off. Cerise and Cedar both dove in without any hesitation; Raven and Ashlynn quickly slipped in after them; Briar let out a whoop and jumped in with a great cannonball; Duchess did a pirouette into the pool; Maddie seemed to walk straight into the water without altering her step; Cupid eased in nervously; and Blondie walked down the aisle, testing the water at various places until she finally declared one area "just right" and jumped right in.
It was by far the most diverse freestyle anyone had ever seen. Cedar quickly pulled ahead of everyone else with a flawless front crawl. Cerise was following in second with less precise but more fierce strokes - walls of water came splashing up every time her arm hit the surface. Briar and Raven were tying for third, also using the front crawl; Briar was swimming with wild abandon while Raven swam methodically in practiced motions. Ashlynn was not going very fast, but her steady pace never slowed down through the entire run. The girls who were lagging behind had the more interesting strokes: Blondie, who was only behind because she had been the last to enter the pool, was now torpedoing through the water. Duchess was swimming with the butterfly of all things, and she wasn't half bad at it - her stroke was graceful and precise, but her timing must have been slightly off because she wasn't moving very fast across the water. Cupid was doing a careful backstroke, her wings fanned out just like they had been in practice. Maddie… well, nobody quite knew what Maddie was doing, but she was swimming on her back with her arms crossed and propelling herself entirely with her legs. It was rather impressive how she was going anywhere at all without using her arms, but her progress was decidedly the slowest.
Soon most of the girls reached the end of the pool and held onto the sides, waiting and catching their breaths. When the last girl - in this case, Maddie - finished, Grimm blew his whistle and announced the next task:
"Now swim back using the backstroke. A reminder that even if you don't know the backstroke, it is advisable to swim the length anyway so the judges can grade your endurance. Ready… set… go!"
The girls swam back. Cedar was again the first in line, this time swimming a professional-looking backstroke; this event was clearly playing in her favor. Cerise went a little more slowly this time with a clumsier backstroke. Raven swam as smoothly as she did the first run, but her energy seemed to taper off toward the end. Now that everyone had to swim with the backstroke this round, Cupid slowly pulled forward into fourth place. Maddie also came closer to the front with a decent (and decidedly much more normal) backstroke. Blondie seemed to try to emulate Cedar's perfect swimming but gave up as halfway through she flipped around and continued in her torpedoing front crawl. Briar switched easily into the backstroke and swam lazily this time, looking like she was enjoying herself. Duchess swam again with the butterfly, while Ashlynn, after hesitating, decided to continue using the front crawl instead of attempting a stroke she had never practiced.
The contestants were showing more signs of exhaustion when they reached the end for the second time. Each lap was fifty meters, so everybody who finished both rounds had already done one hundred.
"I'm… done," Cupid gasped, clinging onto the edge. "I can only do the backstroke, and I'm really beat…"
Daring stepped down and helped her out of the pool. The audience clapped politely, seeing that she had tried her best. Cupid accepted the towel gratefully and wrung out what looked like a whole gallon of water out of her wings before sitting on contestant bench.
"Very well," Grimm said. "For the rest of you who are still willing to compete, the next task is the breaststroke. If you don't know the stroke, the rules are the same as before - we will still be testing you on endurance. You will not be allowed to reenter the pool after you leave. Ready… set… go!"
Only Cedar was able to perfectly execute the breaststroke in the third round. Cerise was again second, making up her lack of technique with her forceful strength. Maddie pulled ahead of Raven, who was beginning to lose steam and reverted to the dog paddle before she reached the end. Ashlynn fared better, swimming a steady - if not slightly slow - breaststroke (it seemed as though the fish were able to teach her something after all). Duchess gritted her teeth and again took off in butterfly, only allowing herself to rest once she reached the end, while Blondie took a few more seconds to catch her breath before continuing. Briar seemed to be doing fine, if not better than most of the other girls, until two thirds down the pool when she started slowing down dramatically.
"So tired," Briar thought to herself as she swam. Geez, who knew swimming could do that much to a girl? She was incredibly tired… it was really strange, she was completely fine until now, so…
...crap. She was falling asleep, wasn't she?
Before she could do anything to prevent it, Briar started losing the feeling in her arms - her vision, too, began swimming. Her head sank below the water and didn't come back up.
It took almost five seconds before somebody realized that Briar had stopped and shouted, "She's sinking!". Grimm hastily ripped away Daring's handheld mirror and pointed at the drowning girl, and he immediately jumped in to retrieve her.
Briar came out coughing but otherwise mostly alright. Headmaster Grimm handed her a towel and lead her to the bench, where Cupid patted her back as she groaned.
"No harm done," Grimm announced to the crowd and the scared-looking girls in the pool. "She will be alright. No worries, there's only one more round in this event - although I advise anyone else who is feeling fatigued to leave now before we have to repeat this incident."
("This is torture," Hunter whispered worriedly. Hopper was now in frog form and breathing into a paper bag. "If Ash - er, any other girl starts to drown, I swear I'll jump in after her myself! I can't watch this!"
"They really should've just stuck with the swimsuit contest," Sparrow noted to his band, watching how many of the remaining girls seemed barely able to hold onto the edge of the pool.
"You got that right," his back-up guitarist agreed. "Hey, do any of you know why Swan is always doing the butterfly?"
Sparrow scratched his cheek. "Yeah, see, about that…")
A number of girls took his advice and climbed out of the pool. Raven and Blondie collapsed as soon as they got out and practically crawled to the bench. Ashlynn, although not incredibly tired, erred on the side of caution and left as well.
The four girls left were Cedar, who was breathing harder but still willing to compete; Cerise, who was athletic enough that she was easily the least exhausted of all the girls; Duchess, who was determined to swim the butterfly round despite being out of breath; and Maddie.
Grimm blew his whistle again. "The fourth and final lap will be the butterfly. Ready… set… go!"
Cedar kicked off the wall and swam a good, although not entirely perfect, butterfly - it was her least favorite stroke and therefore the least practiced. Cerise took one look at her friend's stroke and decided to do the front crawl instead, eventually pulling ahead of Cedar. Duchess again did the butterfly stroke with grace despite her gasping and panting. Maddie flipped around and swam her unusual no-hands style again.
Luckily there were no more drowning incidents, and all four contestants made it soundly to the end of the pool. Daring led (or in Duchess's case, practically carried - as soon as she got out of the water she collapsed exhausted on the ground and refused to move an inch) the girls to the bench, where the other contestants were clapping for them.
"A round of applause for our contestants," Headmaster Grimm said, and the crowd erupted into relieved cheers. The judges finally set down their pens and clapped as well. After the applause died down, he turned his attention back to the girls. "Yes, well done to all of you. The judges will now take a few minutes to compare their scores and decide the elimination. Until then…" (he stepped aside to reveal a table of refreshments, which included a tall jug of lemonade and several sandwiches) "...you may help yourselves."
Grateful, the contestants slowly stood up to grab the food. The audience fell into excited chatters. After they had staved off the worst of their hunger, the girls also took turns congratulating each other between sips of lemonade.
"If they had winners for each round, you would definitely have this one in the bag," Raven told Cedar, smiling.
The daughter of Pinocchio was modest. "Thanks, Raven! I mean, it's really mostly thanks to my wooden body in the end. You did really well yourself."
"This sandwich is wonderlandiful!" Maddie declared, looking down at her food. "I might even say it's the best I've ever had. What do you two think?"
"I think it's just because food always tastes a lot better after a good swim," Cedar laughed, and Raven took a curious bite into her own sandwich.
Meanwhile Blondie was trying to hold a conversation with both Cerise and Duchess at the same time, although she really did most of the talking herself.
"Cerise, you know you can take your cap off now that the contest is over! Doesn't it start to pinch your hair after a while?" Blondie said. "Wow, Duchess, is that your third glass? You really must have worked your crown off there!"
Cerise shook her head and mumbled something like "at my dorm," while Duchess was busy downing her third cup of lemonade in one gulp.
Briar had almost fully recovered and was now laughing away Ashlynn and Cupid's continued concerns.
"Just some bad luck that I fell asleep," she sighed.
"You fell asleep?" Ashlynn exclaimed.
"It happens sometimes. I forgot to watch for that," Briar admitted. She peered admiringly at the sparkling pool. "Hey, now that the contest is over, you think we can go back in just for fun?"
"You want to go back!?" Cupid looked horrified.
Others in the audience kept turning their heads toward the judges' table, but it was difficult to tell what was going on. Coach Gingerbread Man kept lashing his arms across the desk to grab various papers, Professor Nimble seemed to be trying to reassemble his stopwatch with a stick, and the Big Bad Wolf had both his hands clapped over his face in a double-facepalm. Headmaster Grimm stood a few paces away from them, looking like he wanted nothing to do with what was going on. Still, the scores were eventually settled and they judges walked over to Grimm with the results. The Headmaster skimmed over the paper once, then cleared his throat over the microphone.
"AHEM."
All heads swivelled to the judges' table. One of the girls stopped mid-bite into their sandwich.
"Thank you," Grimm's voice boomed through the microphone. "The results are in. The next contestant to be eliminated is…"
RESULT OF THE LAST VOTE (EVENING DRESS)
Apple: 15
Raven: 1
Cerise: 4
Duchess: 6
Cedar: 2
Blondie: 13
Cupid: 2
(Anyone else not listed received no votes against them.)
[VOTING PERIOD IS OVER FOR THIS CHAPTER]
Very close vote match between Apple and Blondie, but it looks like Apple's out of the running for good. Thanks for the support so far, everyone! I love reading everyone's reviews; it really keeps me motivated when I'm running into a writer's block OTL Please do not submit anymore votes to this event, but you are always free to submit normal reviews and feedback :)