Featured songs:
1. "It's The Hard-Knock Life" from Annie (2014)
2. "True Love's Kiss" from Enchanted
Hair as golden as the sun over a sandy beach, eyes of fine hazel, and a smile of pearly whites bright enough to light the darkest of days. The last born in her family, she was named Omega White. The entire kingdom of Kamino, as well as her six big brothers agreed she was the prettiest girl in all the land. But as close as Omega White and her brothers were, their once happy family life was not to last, for now their kingdom was ruled by their stepmother, Queen Miraj.
Queen Miraj was a Zygerrian, a feline-like species, which seemed fitting because this queen had literal and figurative claws. She was very cruel to the princes and especially the young princess.
Jealous of Omega White's beauty, fearing she would supersede her own beauty, Queen Miraj forced the princess to wear rags and work as a serving girl. But it wasn't just her. In order to ensure they would not get in her way, all of Omega's brothers were placed in rags as well and confined to working as servants in their own palace.
Queen Miraj had a magic mirror in her quarters. Every day, she asked it, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" and as long as the mirror said she was fairest in the land, Omega was safe.
Then came one fateful day when the queen came to her magic mirror on what seemed like an ordinary day.
"Slave in the Magic Mirror," said Queen Miraj. "Come from the farthest space. Through wind and darkness I summon thee."
A mysterious wind howled and thunder clapped in the mirror.
"Let me see thy face!"
And an image appeared in the mirror. An image of a man named Dooku.
"What is thy bidding, my queen?" said the mirror.
"Magic Mirror on the wall," said Miraj. "Who is the fairest one of all?"
"Your beauty is famous across the many kingdoms, Your Majesty." Dooku said. "But hold, a lovely maiden I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace nor the strength that lies within. Alas, she is fairer than you."
Queen Miraj did not like the sound of that.
"Reveal her name." she growled.
"Careful, my queen. You will give yourself worry lines."
"Just tell me who dares threaten my fairness!"
"Lips pink and soft as a rose, hair silky like fine chocolate, and crowned with flower drops of snow."
"Omega White!" Miraj growled, knowing the mirror was talking about her stepdaughter.
Queen Miraj began running this horrible business of enslaving as many people as she could, and she wanted to spread her ways to the world. None of the late king's children knew what was happening outside the palace though because their stepmother forbade them from ever leaving. But she had a plan to sell them to the most powerful kingdoms. She would force each of the boys into marriage to the daughters of any monarchs or high-class scum in exchange for slaves who would work day and night on her palace and serve her.
Omega and her brothers hated the way their stepmother treated them, but they tried to make the best of it. Everyday, they worked tirelessly and then felt sore by the time they got back to bed, not that they had their own rooms anymore. After their father died, Miraj forced them all to share one bedroom, where there was barely enough room for all of them.
It was morning, and the seven royal children met in another room, where there was a Trandoshan woman by the name of Cid. She used to be a counselor for the kingdom's taxes, until King Jango fired her when he learned she'd been embezzling some of the taxes for herself. But when Miraj came to power, Cid got a full pardon and now she assigned the royal children's duties.
"Alright, boys. These are your jobs for the day," said Cid. "Clean all the dirty dishes in the kitchen, mop the ballroom, clean the corridors and stairs, dust the rugs, polish the queen's jewelry, finish and fold the laundry, and pick fruit from the garden."
Everyone was given their equipment for their chores, and dismissed to their prospective duties. The princes were all miserable like pretty much every day, but for some reason Omega had a smile on her face.
"Oh, and one more thing," said Cid before they left. "You boys left a mess in my study yesterday. So to add to your list, you'll be cleaning my space too."
"Can't you clean it yourself?" Boba whined.
"Watch it, Prince Tiny." Cid said. "Make it shine. But nobody touch my medicine cabinet. Vamoose!"
Cid shooed everyone out of her workspace, and this time they really were dismissed to their duties.
"I swear to God, our stepmother is a menace!" Hunter sighed.
"Technically, she is something much worse, but I do not have enough words to describe her." Tech said. "None of them good."
"We're princes. We should be instructing people to do work, not being slaves in our own house." Echo said.
"I didn't mind when Mom used to have us do our own chores to learn about hard work," said Boba. "But why does Stepmother expect us to do a thirty person job with just the seven of us?"
"I think the real question is what Dad saw in her when he married her." Wrecker said. "Don't need Tech's brain to see that."
"It's the hard-knock life for these royals." Crosshair huffed.
"No use complaining," said Hunter. "Let's get to work."
The five older royals started with some sweeping in the corridors while Omega and Boba fetched water buckets.
Everyone:
It's the hard-knock life for us
It's the hard-knock life for us
Hunter:
'Stead of treated
Everyone:
We get tricked
Boba:
'Stead of kisses
Everyone:
We get kicked
It's the hard-knock life
Though hard the chores were, they at least went by a little faster when the family of seven worked together.
Echo:
Don't it feel like the wind is always howl'n?
Everyone:
Don't it seem like there's never any light?
Wrecker:
Once a day, don't you wanna throw the towel in?
Crosshair & Tech:
It's easier than puttin' up a fight
Omega:
No one's there when your dreams at night get creepy
Boba & Echo:
No one cares if you grow or if you shrink
Everyone:
Empty belly life
Rotten smelly life
Full of sorrow life
No tomorrow life
It was Omega's turn to sweep the fireplace this time.
Omega:
Santa Claus we never see
Wrecker:
Santa Claus, what's that?
Boba & Crosshair:
Who's he?
Everyone:
No one cares for you a bit
When you're a foster kid
It's the hard-knock life
They were all pretty much foster kids at this point because Queen Miraj was anything but a mother. Cid wasn't much better. Sometimes, the boys could swear Cid gave them extra work just to torment them.
Occasionally, the royal children found a way to help each other remember how to laugh.
The Batch finally got to Cid's study. Boba decided to lighten the mood by putting on one of Cid's coats and mocking her.
Boba:
Make my quarters shine
But don't touch my medicine cabinet
That definitely had his brothers and sister laughing. But then they had to get back to work, and they came across yet another one of Miraj's self portraits.
Everyone:
It's the hard-knock life for us (Boba: yank the whiskers from her chin)
It's the hard-knock life for us (Echo: jab her with a safety pin)
'Stead of treated
We get tricked (Wrecker: send her to the looney bin)
'Stead of kisses
We get kicked
Work, work, work it was all throughout the morning, the royals forced to forage for any decent scraps they could find and drink water from the sink just to avoid collapsing from hunger or dehydration.
It's the hard-knock life for us (Boba: yank the whiskers from her chin)
It's the hard-knock life for us (Echo: jab her with a safety pin)
No one cares for you a bit (Wrecker: send her to the looney bin)
When you're a foster kid
It's the hard-knock life
"Stop singing in there!" Cid bellowed.
Everyone (quietly):
It's the hard-knock life
The final chore on the list: pick fruit from the garden. It was the one thing that stayed the same since Miraj moved in. The royal children's mother loved their garden and so did their father. So, whenever the batch got to work in the garden, they prolonged it as much as they could. It was the only time they got to be outside and get fresh air, and to stay connected to their once happy life.
Omega was singing to herself as she picked berries from her family's garden. But Boba couldn't help feeling a little confused as he heard his sister singing to herself and saw her smiling. Same went for the other princes.
There were a few little animals that lived in the garden, and Omega was always happy to see them and interact with them. Omega had this strange ability to understand them better than anyone else, and she told them pretty much everything.
But today, the princes decided to jump in on this. Omega had sung to herself a few other times that same year, and they were curious.
"Omega, what's with you lately?" Hunter asked.
"What do you mean?" Omega replied.
"You've been acting gaga lately." Crosshair said. "Singing to yourself, smiling, not complaining about chores?"
"And you've been making a lot of flower crowns lately." Echo said.
Omega sighed. She figured she might as well spill.
"I've been having these dreams lately," said Omega. "Really special dreams. In my dream, I was dancing, and there were lots of flowers and music… and when we finished our dance…"
"What?" Omega's brothers all said.
The critters all seemed curious too. The birds chirped how curious they were, and so did some squirrels. Even the horses were curious.
"What happened in your dream, Omega?" asked a pink alicorn named Estrella.
Omega stroked the blue curly mane on Estrella's head with a giggle. The more she thought of her dream, the happier it made her.
Omega:
When you meet the someone
Who was meant for you
'Fore two can become one
There is something you must do
Pinto (pulling Maybelle's tail):
Do you pull each other's tails?
Maybelle bumped her brother aside with her rear.
Wrecker (feeding some seeds to the birds):
Do you feed each other seeds?
Omega (giggling):
No, there is something sweeter
Everybody needs
I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss
And a prince I'm hoping comes with this
That's what brings ever-aftering so happy
And that's the reason we need lips so much
For lips are the only things that touch
Omega kissed Boba's cheek, only for the boy to gag, making his big brothers laugh.
So to spend a life of endless bliss
Just find who you love through true love's kiss
"As sweet as the song is," said Hunter. "We still got chores to do."
It was true, there was a lot left to do, but Omega thought of a way to make it all go quick and make it fun. She climbed up a tree and sang into the air.
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah
Animals:
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah
A bunch of birds and little critters came into the garden and helped Omega and her brothers with picking fruit from the yard, cleaning up the patio, even with watering the plants and pulling weeds.
She's been dreaming of a true love's kiss
And a prince she's hoping comes with this
That's what brings ever-aftering so happy (so happy)
And that's the reason we need lips so much
For lips are the only things that touch
Omega:
So to spend a life of endless bliss
Just find who you love through true love's kiss
Omega didn't know it then, but someone else on the outside heard her singing.
From a kingdom outside Kamino came a traveling prince named Benni Baro. He was riding on the back of a lovely purple unicorn named Firework when he heard the sound of beautiful singing, and decided he had to find the owner of this voice.
"Firework, follow that voice!" Benni snapped the reins, and with a whinny, Firework ran as fast as she could in the direction of the singing.
Eventually, the prince and his horse came across the gates of Kamino palace, and he found the wall that surrounded the palace garden. The gate was open, and inside, Benni spotted a beautiful girl singing a song to herself.
Benni took one look at Omega and was very pleased with what he saw. Not only was she the most gorgeous young maiden he'd ever seen, but the way she interacted with the animals was something to admire. And when he heard her sing, he was immediately smitten. He decided then he had to go and meet her.
"Ahem, excuse me, Miss."
Omega, however, gasped. She was by herself at the moment, and she was about to scream for her brothers, but Benni immediately tried to calm her down.
"Wait! Don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm a friend. Though, for you, I could be more." Benni flirted.
Omega looked at the strange boy. She'd never seen him around before, not that she'd seen a lot of people aside from her brothers, Cid, and her stepmother. But, he was definitely cute, and he sounded friendly.
The stranger took Omega's hand and kissed it and he introduced himself as Prince Benni of Ipsidon.
"And you are…?" Benni asked.
"Omega White, Princess of Kamino."
"Beautiful. What's a lovely maiden like you doing here all alone?"
"My chores. But my brothers are helping. I shouldn't be talking to you though."
Omega tried to go back to her chores, hoping her stepmother wouldn't already have seen her interacting with an outsider. She knew if Queen Miraj found out, it would not end well.
"I gotta go! So do you before my stepmother sees you!" Omega insisted.
"Wait! I know we just met, but I feel a connection." Benni said. "I have to see you again. Can you meet me in the forest?"
Omega thought about it, but she wasn't sure. But Benni was determined.
"Please. Give me a chance. I know we can make it work."
Benni:
You're the fairest maid I've ever met
You were made
Omega:
To finish your duet
Suddenly, Omega started to think maybe the risk was worthwhile. Could it be, she got her wish?
Both:
And in years to come we'll reminisce
Benni:
How we came to love
Omega:
And grew and grew love
Both:
Since first we knew love through true love's kiss
And so, Omega and Benni parted ways, hoping that soon they would see each other again.