Surprise! I'm uploading all written chapters tonight, so you'll be completely up to speed with what I've sent to the people who are sort of BETA-reading this thing (and are also responsible for the OCs). So happy reading!

"How can we all be back here again?" Clarissa asked.

"We didn't do anything", Chris explained. "I swear, we're just as surprised as you are to see you all here."

The group, all fifteen of them, were once again gathered in the TCHQ, trying to figure out why they were back when Hook and Emma were not close to finishing their mission. Filipi shuffled through the invitations on the table.

"I know I saw something here", she muttered, then gave a triumphant shout as she found whatever she was looking for. In her now raised hand was a larger parchment.

"What's that, then?" Maryse asked.

"A message from the old man", Filipi asked. "Ollivander, that is."

She cleared her throat before she started to read it.

"This is my gift to you all. One night as the fairytale princes and princesses you have become in the eyes of your friends. Your courage, wit, kindness and cunning minds will always be remembered by them and by me. Enjoy your evening."

"Wait, he sent us invitations to the ball as a thank you?" Jade asked with a frown.

"Apparently", Rowan replied. "Question is how we conceal ourselves; if people see us as ourselves we'll upset the timeline even more."

Filipi waved the parchment.

"Ollivander's answering right now", she said. "I think he can hear us, but he can only communicate through this."

"Well, read it, then", Wolfgang said.

"Take your invitations with you as you pass through the large, unmarked door behind the screens", Filipi read. "You will then receive ballroom clothes and a concealment spell, allowing you to go unnoticed by the rest of the guests. Make sure you stay out of sight as the clock is about to strike twelve, since you will then be pulled back here again."

"Sounds like we're all Cinderella", Tessa said, "but alright. I'm guessing invitations work for more than one person since there aren't fifteen of them."

"Ollivander says yes", Filipi replied.

"So the guys will pick out some dates", Indira said.

"Wait, we're going to pick dates?" Toby asked.

"We're all friends here and we're all going anyway", Rachel replied. "No one's going to be mad if you don't pick that person. Besides, it's just for getting inside. Once there we can interact like normal."

"I'll go with Clarissa, then", Rowan said.

"Tessa", Chris decided.

"Yay, Chrissa is canon!" Jade shouted, causing Chris and Tessa to jump away from one another.

"Jade, take it easy", Catriona said.

"We're not a couple", Chris protested.

"Just enter the castle together and you'll be fine", Indira said.

"I'll go with Jade", Wolfgang said with a grin. Toby pondered his decision for a while before he nodded at Ella.

"We'll go."

"Good, it's settled", Filipi said. "Shall we go?"

The golden castle belonging to King Midas was lit up by a hundred torches and fireworks were shooting up from the battlements. Even from a distance Hook and Emma could hear the music playing from inside the ballroom.

"A predictable access of pomp and grandeur", Hook said and lowered his telescope. "Snow should have no trouble sneaking inside."

"What about us?" Emma said and gestured towards the log they were sitting on. "We're supposed to just sit here and hope that she pulls it off? I don't like leaving things to chance."

"You know, I feel exactly the same way", a familiar, high-pitched voice said, causing the two of them to quickly get on their feet. Rumplestiltskin had appeared out of nowhere, grinning at their shock. Emma reflected that the smoke the witches and wizards usually surrounded themselves with really was just for show and could just as easily be removed to keep their arrival a secret.

"Which is why I never do", Rumplestiltskin continued and jumped down from the stone he had been sitting on. He waved his hand and produced a small piece of parchment, adorned with King Midas' red and yellow shield.

"See?" he said. "An invitation to the ball."

Emma leaned slightly forward and read the stylised text on the card-sized parchment.

His Majesty King Midas

humbly requests the pleasure of your company

as he celebrates the engagement of his daughter

Princess Abigail

to

Prince James

with dinner and dancing at

The Palace

"So, you'll be inside to watch out for her?" she asked and looked up at the strange man.

"No, no", Rumplestiltskin said. "I'll be far too busy sorting out how to get you home."

"Well, who's the invitation for?" Hook asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rumplestiltskin asked. "The two of you."

Emma glanced at Hook, who returned the glance with a small sigh.

"So, when we're done inside", Hook said, "you can open our portal."

"There's a powerful wand which I, er, came to possess", Rumplestiltskin explained. "Anyway, legend says, it can recreate any magic that's ever been wielded. Now, with a little work, I can use it to recreate whatever portal brought you here."

"Please do it quickly", Emma said while Hook grabbed the invitation. "We'll be in and out before you know it; I want to get the hell out of here."

"Oh, confidence", Rumplestiltskin said with a grin. "I like it."

Emma smiled at him, before turning to hurry towards the castle.

"Wait!" Rumplestiltskin called. "Not like that."

"Not like what?" Emma asked. Rumplestiltskin giggled and waved his hand. The next moment Emma found herself surrounded in red smoke. She felt something constricting over her chest and that her boots were changed to something that was far more difficult to walk in, but she did not see the full extent of the change until the smoke cleared. Gone were the peasant's clothes she had walked around in before; instead she was wearing a deep red dress with long sleeves and a built-in corset that pushed up whatever breasts she had. Her hair was up in a stylised bun and she could feel that she also carried what seemed to be a tiara. She turned towards Hook and felt her jaw fall open in surprise; his appearance had also changed. He wore dark trousers and knee-high riding boots, and a dark vest on top of a white shirt. His sword hung from a broad belt on his waist and the outfit was completed with a long, light-brown coat with black lining. His hair was neatly combed to the side and his hook was gone, replaced by the fake, wooden hand that he had also worn in Storybrooke while Henry was still without his memory.

"But", Emma protested, "I'm not supposed to stick out. What if someone remembers me in the future?"

"Because what you had before was such an intricate disguise?" Rumplestiltskin sarcastically remarked. "Speaking of which; I've returned those stolen rags, luckily before they were missed. I mean, it's a miracle the timeline hasn't imploded already!"

He smiled in amusement and shook his head.

"Amateurs", he said, pointing at them. "Now, allow me."

He produced a mirror out of thin air and held it out for them. Emma stared at her reflection, which was not her reflection at all. It displayed someone entirely different.

"A glamour spell", Rumplestiltskin explained with a grin. "This is how you shall appear to one and all."

He made the mirror disappear again.

"Now, run along and do everything you can to make sure Snow White gets that ring. Once they're back on track, everything else will be, too."