Author Notes - Here's something I've been wanting to do for a little while now: a Bubble Guppies version of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', specifically the Disney version with the Guppies playing the Dwarfs. But I couldn't quite figure out how to do it, so the project remained nothing more than an idea. That was until the live action remake (as much as I didn't like it) reminded me of how much I liked the original, and I had a brilliant idea. I'll just do what I did with 'A Christmas Carol': have Mr Grouper read it out!

Like with the Christmas Carol one, my author notes (which I typically put in every chapter) will be all but totally missing through the story. That way, it really feels like Mr Grouper is the actual narrator. It will take a couple chapters before the Guppies themselves show up, but don't worry. They'll be there!

CHAPTER ONE - NOT-SO-FAIREST

Well, good morning - or should I say, goodnight - everyone! I'm Mr Grouper, but I'm sure you knew that already. Some of you seemed to enjoy my students' recreation of 'A Christmas Carol', and so I present to you another tale much like that. Tonight, it's going to be a retelling of a story you've certainly heard of: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It's hard to imagine a fairytale more famous than this one. A story of a fair princess who meets a group of seven little men and who must flee for her life from her wicked stepmother. But this retelling may not be quite as you expect. We're putting a little Guppy twist on it, if you will!

The princess may be a little less fair than most would imagine her to be. And I'm sure you would expect one of my students to play her. Well, there are seven students. One for each Dwarf. They insisted they play the Dwarfs! So it may take a little while before my wonderful students appear. Don't worry. They'll be there, and they'll certainly be memorable!

This story begins as all good fairy tales do. Say it with me now: once upon a time… There lived a princess. She was as pretty as you'd expect a princess to be, but hardly anyone thought of that when they thought of her. This princess had some of the worst manners you have ever seen! And certainly not the kind of manners you'd expect from a princess. Her real name was 'Amanda', but everyone just called her 'Demanda'. Princess Demanda.

'Out of my way!' She'd bark at people on the street.

'This tea is five degrees too cold. Make it again!' She'd shout at her servants.

'Oh, whatever. My phone is, like, way more interesting,' She'd remark to her own parents.

Yes, to say the least, she was not a very pleasant princess. Now, she was not greedy or cruel. She didn't kick animals or raise the taxes too high. She gave food away to the hungry and provided shelter to those who needed it. But was she a nice person to be around? Absolutely not. The King and Queen were rather embarrassed to have raised such a rude princess. But, they still treated her daughter as well as any parent should treat their children.

But, sadly, the day came that the Queen fell ill. Because mothers always seem to fall deathly ill in these kinds of stories. The King, so desperate to save her, went out on a journey to find a cure. Alas, he never returned, and the Queen died soon after. Thus, the throne went to the King's younger sister, Lucille, who would rule the kingdom until Princess Demanda grew old enough to take the throne. Yes, perhaps this isn't quite how it works in the real world, but this is a fairy tale. As my most imaginative student would say, this is a story we made up.

Queen Lucille's rule was nothing like that of her brother or his wife. As soon as she was put in power, she declared total control. Taxes were raised to an unbelievable degree. To my younger readers who might not know what taxes are, this was very bad indeed. She hoarded much of the kingdom's money and food, leaving the commoners starving and poor.

Every day, Lucille would march down to a magical mirror she had kept on the wall. And every single day, she would ask the mirror the same question. And it might not be the question you're expecting in this retelling.

'Magic mirror, on the wall. Who is the rightful ruler of them all?'

Yes, we had to change the story around a little bit. It's hard to call a princess like Demanda fair while she has simply terrible manners. But- Oh, sorry! Lost track of my train of thought there. Now, where were we? Oh, right. And every day, the Magic Mirror would respond in much the same way.

'With beauty so rare and power so grand, you are the one most fit to rule this land.'

And as long as the Magic Mirror said just that, Lucille was happy and Demanda was allowed to keep living the (rather rude) way she always did. That was, until Demanda approached her 18th birthday - the day she would grow old enough to inherit the throne from her parents. Lucille asked her Magic Mirror the question once again, and did not receive the answer she wanted.

'Though her manners poor and though obsessed with her phone, Princess Demanda is soon the one who deserves to have the throne.'

You can imagine how angry that made Lucille! She was so furious, in fact, that she threw her crown to the floor in a rage! Which was a bad idea, of course, because then her crown had a big dent in it.

'That Princess Demanda…' She muttered. 'I must get rid of her at once. I cannot let her take the throne!'

And so she stomped out of the room, ready to enact a plan that she hoped would ensure that she still had claim to the throne. Perhaps you may understand why someone wouldn't want Demanda to be the one ruling, but between Demanda and Lucille, well, only one of them is raising the taxes.

Lucille looked down at her niece from her bedroom balcony, high above the ground. It gave her the perfect view of the castle courtyard, where Demanda spent most of her time. The Queen hardly ever let her out, fearing that if the people of the kingdom saw her, they'd do everything in their power to ensure that she ruled over the Kingdom instead. Again, she wasn't a pleasant person, but they'd much rather her than Lucille!

'Something must be done,' She said under her breath. 'I cannot let this girl live.'

Demanda was blissfully unaware of the Queen's evil plans. She just did as all bored princesses do - she wandered around the castle courtyard. Aimlessly. Really, she didn't have any plans at all. She was just unbelievably bored.

'UGH!' She whined. 'It's so boooring around here! Why can't we have any of the cool things the other kingdoms haaave?'

Yes, Demanda was no less impolite and unpleasant when by herself, with no one around but the critters. I'm sorry that you have to deal with her rude attitude, but it wouldn't be enough if I simply told you that she was rude. Show don't tell, after all! As I was saying, Demanda approached the well and stared into it. Even from all the way deep underground, the water reflected her bored expression. Yes, of course there is a well with water in it underwater! I'm not sure why that would sound strange to you.

'I'm wishing…' She muttered.

Her voice echoed back. 'I'm wishing…'

'For a little fun.'

'For a little fun.'

'To find me.'

'To find me.'

'Today…'

'Today…'

Little did Demanda know that she was about to get her wish, but not in the way she was expecting! Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself. While Demanda sang about her boredom into the wishing well, Lucille sat upon her throne.

'Come, my huntsman,' She said. 'I have a new mission for you.'

She spoke to her huntsman, a man all dressed up in a suit of armour. He held a sword in his claw and a haughty smirk on his face.

'Tell me, my queen,' He said. 'I can complete any mission you give me. For I am… awesome.'

Though Lucille always called him simply 'Huntsman', this man did in fact have a name. One that I'm sure you're familiar with. His name was Mulligan, though you know him best as Sir Mulligan the Awesome.

'Yes, yes,' Lucille said, rolling her eyes. 'We all know how 'awesome' you are, Huntsman. You are familiar with the princess, correct?'

Mulligan let out a groan. 'I wish I wasn't. That princess's manners are anything but awesome.'

The smallest grin appeared on Lucille's face. Mulligan didn't like that very much. Whenever his queen got a smile like that, it usually meant something really bad was going to happen.

'Good,' She said. 'I wish for you to take that demanding little brat into the woods. Have her pick wildflowers, perhaps. Then, when you are certain no one is around to hear her scream-' It was by this point that Mulligan stared at her in horror. 'I want you to kill her!'

Oh my! Lucille didn't mince her words, did she! Mulligan flinched so hard that his suit of armour rattled.

'W-What?!' He spluttered. 'I… I know her manners are atrocious, but that doesn't mean that she should-!'

'SILENCE!' Lucille shouted.

Her voice echoed throughout the whole castle. Mulligan gulped and tried not to shiver, though his rattling armour gave him away.

'You know the punishment should you fail,' Lucille said. 'I'll have you roasted and served with butter!'

Oh my. Telling a lobster that they should be served with butter is actually considered a rather horrible thing to say. I shouldn't have to explain why! And I shouldn't have to tell you that Mulligan was terrified for his life. Could he really bring himself to kill a young woman, even if her manners were poor?

He gulped. 'Y-Yes, your majesty.'

Lucille grinned again. 'That is what I like to hear, Huntsman. But, so I know that you have not failed, take this box.'

She tossed him a little wooden box, painted in all sorts of lovely colours into beautiful patterns. Mulligan just barely managed to catch it with one shaky claw.

'And, uh, what do I do with this?' He asked.

'When you have done the deed, take her heart and place it inside this box,' Lucille replied. 'And bring it back to me.'

Mulligan felt sick to his stomach. Not that I blame him! The order given was so horrible that it'd make anyone feel queasy.

'I-I will do it,' He said. 'Your majesty.'

He sheathed his sword back into its place on his belt and left the room with his head hanging low. And all Lucille did was grin as she watched him leave. A very mean person, isn't she?

Demanda was none the wiser when Mulligan offered to take her out to pick wildflowers far from the castle. In fact, she leapt at the opportunity to leave.

'UGH, finally!' She said. 'Something to do around here. Picking wildflowers is still kind of boring but it's more fun than this!'

For a moment, Mulligan was slightly less hesitant about this plan. But only for a moment. He tried to hide his worry and apprehension as he took Demanda far from the castle grounds and into the forest. It was a very lovely forest indeed… on the outside. Those who were brave (or foolish) enough to wander into it realised the hard way that it was far scarier than it initially seemed. But I'm getting ahead of myself again, aren't I?

'Uh, aren't the flowers lovely this time of year?' Mulligan asked, trying to hide how nervous he was.

His attempts at hiding it didn't really work. His joints were too busy shaking! But lucky for him, Demanda didn't pay him any attention. She so rarely did. All she cared about was snipping a few wildflowers for herself. And complaining as she did so.

'These flowers are so dulllllll…' She said. 'Why can't this kingdom grow flowers that are actually pretty?'

The only thing that was making Mulligan's job slightly less difficult was, of course, Demanda's attitude. It was far from uncommon that the commoners would want to give her a piece of their mind. Not that any of them did, of course, but they certainly wanted to! Mulligan looked around to make sure there were witnesses, and unsheathed his sword.

Demanda didn't notice he was approaching her at all. She was too busy being off in her own little world. She was about to snip off another flower, but stopped when she saw something on the ground that shouldn't have been there. It was a bird. A very young looking blue bird. She only noticed it because she was about to step on it.

'Hey, out of my way!' She said. 'I'm a princess, and no one should be the way of a princess!'

The baby bird didn't move, however. It simply trembled. Demanda was about to bark orders at it again, but she stopped herself. Instead, she groaned, put the flowers down, and knelt to the grassy ground.

'You okay?' She asked. 'Hurt? Cos you don't look hurt to me. Oh, you're lost. That's what it is, isn't it? Dumb bird…'

Despite her somewhat harsh words, she couldn't help feeling bad for the little birdie. She picked the bird up into her claws. People with claws have to be pretty careful when they do things like that. Little did she realise that Mulligan was coming up right behind her.

'You lost your parents, didn't you?' Demanda said with a sigh. 'Yeah, I… I know what that's like. I'll help you find them, alright?'

She looked up into the trees, spotting a duo of bigger blue birds fluttering around a nest. They looked to be in a real panic!

'Hey, you two!' Demanda said, holding up the baby bird. 'I think I have your baby right here!'

Her demanding voice got the attention of those birdies right away. They were so happy to see their child again that you could've sworn you heard them sighing with relief! The baby perked up at the sight of their parents right away and flew right out of Demanda's claws and back into the nest. For the first time that day, Demanda smiled.

'There,' She said. 'Now you're out of my way.'

Mulligan raised his sword into the air, his claw shaking. He had been telling himself this whole trip that no one really liked Demanda anyway, that no one would miss such a rude and demanding person. But there it was, proof that there was more to Demanda than her lack of manners. A truly nice person was hidden underneath all that rudeness. And really, even if there wasn't, did a girl so young deserve to die just for the crime of being rude? A lot of people would deserve death if that were true!

But he had an order to follow. He approached Demanda with the sword high above his head. Demanda just so happened to notice the shadow against a big rock, turned around…

'AAAHHHH!'

And unleashed a loud scream when she saw the sword dangling above her, its sharp edges glistening in the sunlight. (Oops, got a little carried away there.) Demanda covered her face with her claws and waited for the sword to slice into her.

But it never happened. She dared to open her eyes, and she saw Mulligan dropping the sword and falling to his knees.

'I-I can't do it!' He said. 'I can't bring myself to kill you!'

Demanda was quite shocked indeed to hear his words. For a moment. She, being who she was, quickly switched emotions to anger.

'What do you think you're doing?!' She shouted. 'Trying to kill me is totally… well, it's totally messed up! Who set you up for this, Mulligan?'

Mulligan shuddered before answering, 'It's your wicked aunt, the Queen!'

Demanda gasped. 'T-The Queen? Queen Lucille wants me dead?'

'I-I don't know why, but she will stop at nothing until you're dead!'

I shouldn't have to tell you that Demanda was shocked to hear this news. Well, 'shocked' isn't quite the right word. 'Petrified' is more like it! How would you feel if someone told you that someone else wanted you dead? Especially if that someone was your own aunt?

'W-What can I do?' Demanda asked. 'I can't let the Queen kill me. That would be totally uncool!' A bit of an understatement, I think.

'There's only one thing you can do,' Mulligan replied. 'Run! Run deep into the forest and never look back!'

'The forest?! But… but that place is-'

'No scarier than what the Queen has in store for you. Run! RUN!'

Stuck in a horrible situation, there was nothing else Demanda could do but run. Run deep into the spooky forest as Mulligan shouted at her. It didn't take long before she couldn't hear his voice anymore.

And it didn't take long for her to end up in the darkness.

With that, we come to the end of this chapter. A very dramatic end, wouldn't you say? A 'cliffhanger', we call them. My students don't like them very much. Last time I read a story with a cliffhanger, Deema was very upset with me! But don't worry. The rest of the story comes later. Just wait for the next chapter, and the story shall continue.