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Chapter Text

Twyla sinks into her plush seat, curled into a teal-and-purple ball, shielded from the cold by a fuzzy blanket and a large history book. Not that there's really any cold to be shielded from. That's the loveliest thing about dreams; there's no cold, no hunger, no need. She can just get cozy and read until her alarm goes off, and then she just has to hope she remembers the page number she was on for when she can return to her proper copy.

She's re-reading the page she's on-- having been distracted by her thought about how lovely it is without needs-- when her fuzziest friend Dustin hops up onto her legs.

He was a night terror, once upon a time. But through the power of growing up and realizing her future will be what she makes of it, no matter how many scream mails come with it, she reformed him into a softer dust bunny companion.

He's named Dustin, because what else would she name him? He smells of old books and the deepest paths through the Monster High dreamscape. His eyes are buttons, just like a particular girl Twyla knew in middle school. And despite being asleep currently, he's very excited. He bounces across Twyla's lap, ignoring her giggling and gently trying to wave him off. He then bounces across the back of her chair, and down to the ground.

Finally, he bounces over to the corner of the room, where he snares a rip in the fabric of reality. An old trick, originally performed for mischief during his night terror days. This time he giggles with the same level of implied mischief, jumping into the rip.

"... Oh fluff!" Twyla pushes her tome out of her lap, refusing to hesitate before launching herself through the rip. She feels herself wake up as she launches through the pastel void, feeling a gust of warm spring air and the scent of pollen.

Once the void ends her bare feet meet dew-damp grass, inspiring a grimace on her face. Shoes are a must when it comes to the complete sensory nightmare that is grass, but she left her shoes behind in her real world. She could go back for them, sure, but she hasn't found out how to open the universe rips herself just yet. Besides, it would just be plain rude to leave Dustin in this reality all by himself.

She'll just have to find some shoes herself. But the noise on top of a hill indicates people, and perhaps they'll be of some help. She just has to grit her teeth and follow the cotton-candy-colored hair.

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"Twyyyyyyyylaaaaaaaa!" Lagoona sings, bounding into Twyla's dorm room. Her bed is empty, but it's always empty. She sleeps under it, just like her dust bunny and spider friends. "Where are youuuu!? We have a clawculus test tomorrow, remember? You said you'd study with me?"

Lagoona drifts around the empty dorm room for a bit, ripping back the curtains and pulling open closet doors with the same tactics she'd use to stalk a ship. But nothing happens, and she huffs, circling back around to the bed. She addresses it as if it were Twyla herself. "Oh, come on! I put on a whole hunting show for you, and not even a giggle? What gives?"

Still, nothing. With one last huff, Lagoona drops to her fins, peering under the bed and finding no one there. Her eyes widen with the most fear a ferocious monster such as herself is capable of. "... Twyla?"

Nothing.

Fear rolls in Lagoona's belly as she stands back up, hurrying out of Twyla's dorm and heading to the library. But she started her search for Twyla in the library, cycling through her various haunts before ending at her dorm. She cycles through again, stumbling into Draculaura on the way.

"Lagoona!" Draculaura grabs Lagoona's wrist as she tries to hurry off to her next destination. "Where are you going? What's wrong?"

Lagoona sniffs hard, grimacing at herself. "Twyla's missing."

"What do you mean she's missing?"

"I mean," Lagoona wipes under her nose with the back of her scaled hand, "she's missing. Wasn't in her dorm room or any of the classrooms. Not even the library."

Draculaura gasps, swallowing and linking arms with Lagoona. "Okay. What we're gonna do is go to Headmistress Bloodgood and tell her about this. She'll probably tell us that her dad needed her home for something or she's in the nurses's office. Worst case scenario, she pulls up some security footage and we find her newest hiding spot. It'll be okay."

Lagoona glups and nods, letting Draculaura pull her to the Headmistress' office.

Headmistress Bloodgood is just as shocked as they are, though. She has no notes from the Boogeyman. No notes from Twyla herself. No alerts from the nurse.

She pulls up the security footage just as she was asked, watching the door into Twyla's dorm. She enters at 10 pm. She never leaves. Lagoona enters at 4 the following evening, looking to study.

Next, the footage of the outside of the school. Students walk about on the ground, but no one climbs in or out of any windows.

Twyla just... ceased.

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The girl with cotton candy hair is right there at the top of the hill, holding onto a black-and-white set of streamers. She's swinging from it, around a tree, wrapping it around the trunk as she does so. How she pulled it off, Twyla can't quite fathom.

She's being watched by a black girl with an odd set of markings on her skin. Twyla almost decides it's wood, before remembering a passage from a witchcraft textbook she once read. Life can only come to something non-sentient through ghost possession or scientific study. If this girl were wood, then she'd have no veins for electricity to flow through. If this girl were wood, then she should be a chair inhabited or some other wooden fixture. This girl is biological, surely. There's no other way.

"You're doing such a good job, Maddie!" She calls out to the other swinging girl, her voice airy as a whistle.

The tree girl screams in delight, her spins gaining speed as she chases the ground.

Twyla giggles, and the girl on the ground turns to look at her. She blinks, a kind expression carved into her face. The wood patterning continues, adding gorgeous depth to her expression. "Hi! We haven't met. Who are you?"

Twyla blinks, the leftover smile from laughter turning nervous. "Oh, um, I'm Twyla."

"It's nice to meet you, Twyla!" She offers her hand. "I'm Cedar Wood, daughter of Pinnochio."

Twyla blinks, taking the girl's hand. Feeling the utter wood-y-ness of her 'skin'. "Daughter of Pinnochio? How... How does that work?"

"Oh, y'know. Dad carved me out of wood, the Blue Fairy enchanted me with life, I have a truth-based curse that I have to overcome in order to earn my skin-- but, like, my dad had a curse where his nose grew whenever he lied, but I don't have that. My curse is that I'm incapable of lying. I compulsively tell the truth, even when I really shouldn't, which usually leads to me oversharing and getting into a lot of trouble... Like I'm oversharing right now." She laughs nervously, looking down at the grass. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Twyla blinks again, trying to sort through all of that in her head. "Do you have any shoes I can borrow?"

"You can borrow mine, if you need to. What do you need them for?"

"I have sensory issues, and this grass is setting it off."

Cedar nods, stepping out of her heels and offering them to Twyla. She steps into them, finding them a mile too big for her. But it helps, for now.

Cedar looks Twyla up and down, her face betraying her every thought. "Why are you wearing pajamas? Sorry, that's rude of me to ask."

"No it isn't, don't worry. I... Well, I'm not really from here."

"Oh, neither is Maddie!" Cedar nods towards the tree. The cotton candy girl-- Maddie-- has finally caught the ground, tying a lovely black-and-white bow around the trunk base. "She's my girlfriend. We're dating. That means the same thing, but I'm just very happy about it."

Twyla giggles. "If you're the daughter of Pinocchio, then who's she?"

"Daughter of the Maaaaad Hatter!" Maddie sings, getting a new armful of black-and-white streamers and hurrying off to attack another tree.

Cedar giggles, nodding. "She's the Mad Hatter's daughter, yes. Alice and Wonderland."

Twyla's mouth hangs open for a moment, before she gets her thoughts together enough to properly respond. "I've-- I've read that. It's one of my favorite stories."

"I'm sure she'll be flattered to hear that! Once she's done with the trees."

"What are the streamers for?"

Cedar smiles, proceeding to go on a long tirade about springtime traditions in the land of Ever After. Twyla, on the other hand, considers the title of this realm and the fact of Cedar's truth. She thought the books about this place were misplaced fiction, and yet, here they are.

And here she is, talking to Pinocchio's daughter. How Wonderful.

Chapter Text

Lagoona takes a nap. What else is she supposed to do, when looking for a girl made of sand and sleep dust? Not search her dreams, shifting through various romantic plots in search of a power she doesn't have? It's a pointless endeavor, and still she tries.

Draculaura, on the other hand, takes a more sensible approach. She zooms through notes and papers about Boogey powers, trying to come to some possible conclusion about Twyla's whereabouts. But Boogeypeople don't gain the power to physically move in dreams until adulthood! Twyla should only be able to hang out in dreams and wake up right where she went to bed. Sure, she could be a fast bloomer, but she's never shown signs of accelerated power developments before.

... Has she? Twyla and Draculaura have never been close, but surely she'd notice another prodigy. Right?

She frowns to herself as she reads, becoming less and less sure of herself and her cause as she goes.

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"... So that's all of the classes offered here, and a synopsis of the entire history of Ever After! I hope I didn't talk your ears off. Metaphorically-- that's a metaphor, I can't really talk your ears off. Well, maybe I can, I don't exactly know what you are. That was rude, wasn't it? It was definitely rude, I'm sorry."

"It's okay!" Twyla smiles, her teeth sporting an odd tinge of green. It matches the sclera of her eyes, a side effect of them glowing in the dark. She's already told Cedar all about it, which led to a rant about a person named Kitty Cheshire who would love to have that power. Which then led to a deep dive on the immigration of Wonderlandians to Ever After, informed by her ties to Maddie. Which, itself, led to a recap on the history of Ever After, with an aside to go over the classes offered for different destinies.

It was the most riveting conversation Twyla has ever had.

"Okay, here's my dorm! I might have to step away for a bit, though. Lizzie Hearts made me a cool outfit for the festival and Holly O'Hair-- one of Rapunzel's kids-- wants to do my hair."

"Why did Lizzie make you an outfit?"

"No clue. I guess she just had a streak of inspiration!" Cedar smiles, the wood grain of her face utterly mesmerizing. "You can wear anything in my closet, as long as it fits you, but please don't go into my roommate's closet! They're a very private person."

Twyla nods, drifting towards Cedar's equally wooden closet. "Don't worry about it, I'll stay out of trouble."

"Good, good." Cedar nods, until her phone chimes. She checks it and squeaks, rattling off apologies before sprinting back down the hall.

Twyla smiles sweetly to herself, pulling open the doors to Cedar's closet and starts to sort through it all. She doesn't have a lot of outfits-- which oddly makes sense. She doesn't have skin, so she probably doesn't need to change her clothes unless it's either a special occasion or her outfit gets exceptionally dirty.

Most of her outfits are very pink, which isn't really Twyla's thing. She settles for a dress that only has a pink skirt, mostly hidden under an apron. It has nice poofy sleeves that Twyla can already tell she'll spend all day fidgeting with, and a nice purple ribbon that ties into a bow around her collar. She leaves the headband behind, but pulls on the matching heels. It has ribbons on it. The entire outfit obviously has a sweets theme, but Twyla chooses to pretend that the drippy white ribbons represent ghost plasma instead of vanilla frosting.

Twyla looks in the mirror, taking a deep breath and settling her bracelet on her wrist before leaving the dorm, looking for Cedar. The dorms at Ever After High have their residents posted outside the doors, engraved into golden plates. She just reads the names, looking for an O'Hair, counting not her steps but the amount of times her back bops against her waist as she walks.

It's a bag Maddie had pulled out of her hat when Cedar told her she was going to take Twyla to change into something more fitting. It carries Twyla's pajamas, and some treats for whenever she finds Dustin.

She can't find Holly O'Hair's dorm anywhere, so she settles for asking the first person she sees. After the blond guy flirts with her for a bafflingly long time, he points her towards a tower. And by the time she's scaled the tower, they've all left. She pokes her head out of the window to find Cedar at the school entrance with a bunch of other people, doing what appears to be a news interview.

Twyla sighs, starting the journey back down the tower.

Chapter Text

Seeing as Cedar is rather busy with the news-type thing, Twyla settles for finding Maddie to cling to for the time being. Sitting at a table with a blonde and a girl with black-and-purple hair, all drinking from similar black-and-white cups to match the overall theme.

"Hey, Maddie."

Maddie looks up and positively beams. "Oh, Apple! Raven! Behold: she from another universe! Twyla!"

Her name gets a healthy dose of jazz hands from Maddie, bringing a smile to Twyla's face. Apple and Raven both wave, though Twyla doesn't really know who's-who. She could guess based on looks, sure, but that's rude. Neither of them seem to be taking the ‘from another universe’ part seriously, and Twyla has a feeling that’s a good thing.

One of them, the blonde, stands up and offers her hand. "It's wonderful to meet you, Twyla. I'm Apple White, daughter of Snow White, and I'd be happy to help you with anything you need! Though, I find it rather odd that Headmaster Grimm didn't say anything about a new student joining us..."

Twyla takes Apple's hand, giving it a curt shake before pulling her hands behind herself. She looks at the ground, settling her gaze on Maddie's stacked cup shoes. "'m not a new student, I'm just, um... visiting."

Apple hesitates for a moment, and in that time Raven gasps behind her. "Ooh! You must be one of those middle schoolers who's going to be coming here next year! Grimm said some of the students would be getting solo trips through the year, remember, Apple?"

"Oh! Right, yes, that must be it. Then definitely let me know anything you need, Twyla! Ever After High will welcome you and your destin--"

Raven clears her throat. Apple just falls silent, taking her drink and huffing off. Raven takes hers and follows Apple.

Twyla frowns, looking up to Maddie's hair. "What was that about?"

"Yes, yes, I do know this is going against the story! Still, you shouldn't spoil it for the characters."

"... What?"

"Oh! Don't worry about it, Twyly-whily. Just talking to a friend." Maddie smiles, with some amount of space in her eyes.

Twyla raises an eyebrow, which goes ignored.

"Apple and Raven haven't been getting along for quite a bit. Destiny and all that."

"Destiny?"

Maddie takes a big, deep breath, and explains destiny. Including many bounces and jazz hands and dance moves. Impressive!

"... Wow. That's... A lot."

"If your world doesn't go by destiny, then what does it go by?"

"Erm, well, nothing, really. I'm the daughter of the Boogeyman, so I have his powers and stuff, but I don't have to be like him at all."

"Wow! So you're a rebel!"

"Sure?"

"Hat-tastic! You're on me and Raven and Cede's side!" Maddie claps, about to be asked another question when a girl with hot pink hair strides over.

"Maddie! Can you help me with something, please?"

Maddie looks over. "Ab-so-toot-ly, Ginger! What do you need?"

"Well, you know the Chef Showdown this afternoon? I want to do something new for it. Something never before seen. Something--"

"Wonderous?" Maddie's eyes practically glow. Twyla wonders about connections between universes; if everyone here is someone's child, like in her world, then are the people here versions of herself and her friends? Or is the way Maddie reminds her of Frankie a pure coincidence? Surely, if there are worlds like this, then there must be at least one that's a mirror to her own in some way...

Ginger smiles. "My thoughts exactly! But I'm missing an ingredient: Wonderland water. Any idea how I could find some? Preferably without any magic poisoning."

Maddie positively beams, folding her arm with Ginger's. "Well, all you need is a trip to the Well of Wonder, and Lizzie Hearts happens to have a map! Come on!"

Maddie starts sprinting back towards the school building with Ginger stumbling to keep pace. Twyla sighs as she watches them run off, set on staying outside after the troubles she had navigating the dorm mazes.

But there's no need to start after the pair, as a hand on Twyla's shoulder feels more her than anything she's ever encountered before.

"Hey. Wanna see something sick?"

Twyla hesitates before turning around, blinking to find another purple-skinned person. They have long pigtails and a mischievous expression bordering on mean. "Who are--"

"Look!" They smile, disappearing with a distorted meow and a rain of dust.

Twyla blinks at their absence, moments before hearing an awful metallic tearing sound. She whips her head around to see the Ferris Wheel-- er, Cedar called it the Fairest Wheel on the way up to her room-- being manually cranked by an ogre. Except the ogre is spinning it much too quickly, the hinges grinding and groaning. Such terrible sounds, mixed with the terrified screams of the riders.

Twyla watches in terrified awe, unable to look away until the ogre finally calms down. Twyla finds herself sprinting towards the wheel, as fast as Cedar's sugary boots can take her. She skids to a stop as passengers start to tumble out of their cars, finding Cedar and the other dressed-up fair-goers in the next car.

Once their car is lowered Twyla rushes over, her arms open as Cedar spills out of the car, her wooden pegs rattling. "Ugh..."

"Hey," Twyla whispers, pushing some hair out of Cedar's face and nearly giving herself a splinter in the process. "What happened?"

"Kitty happened!" The person stumbling out behind Cedar growls, eyes narrowed.

"That's Cerise, my roommate. And they're right, Kitty did this."

Twyla frowns, remembering the cat-like ears poking through the purple person's hair. No wonder. The first person like her she finds in this pretty place, and they're a villain of some sort.

Cedar gently taps Twyla's elbow, trying to stand up and doing a poor job of it. Twyla keeps an arm around Cedar, dutifully at her friend's side. "We have to get to the Chef Showdown."

Twyla nods, leading the way and acting as a lean for Cedar and her friends. She's introduced to them along the way; Cerise is the next Little Red Riding Hood, Holly is the next Rapunzel, and Briar is the next Sleeping Beauty. Twyla refrains from gushing about being young and reading these stories. Fantasizing about meeting Sleeping Beauty and dancing through dreams with her during her slumber. Daydreaming about being locked in a tower she can call her own, endlessly reading.

But Twyla can feel the uneasiness of their dreams from their waking bodies. The nervousness around sleep in Briar's vined mind. The long drip poison of Holly's dreams, prophesying her future.

Twyla says nothing.

Twyla helps Cedar take uneasy steps up to the stage, followed by her friends. Apple and Raven are there already, concern painted on their faces. "There you guys are!" Raven hurries over, gently helping Cerise and Briar. "I was worried you guys would miss the Chef Showdown!"

"We almost did," Cedar groans.

"Because of them!" Cerise sneers, snapping their head towards Kitty. Kitty is just walking up to the stage, now accompanied by Maddie. As soon as she sees what's going on, Maddie furrows her brow and hurries over to her girlfriend.

"Whaaaaat?" Kitty tilts their head, a foux cute look on their face. "All I did was pull a little prank. It's no big..."

Kitty drops their ice cream.

Maddie raises her eyebrow to a comical, impossible, degree before following the path of Kitty's gaze. She finds something at the end that makes her jaw drop, so Twyla turns to see it, too.

There's a blond boy, holding a little yellow-white bunny with another purple bunny at his feet. Twyla gasps in time with Maddie and Kitty, all three of them sprinting towards the man and bunny trio.

Dustin turns his head away from the boy and towards Twyla, bunny bouncing all the way to her. Maddie and Kitty, meanwhile, tackle the boy with a forceful hug, going down giggling.

Twyla snuggles Dustin for a few moments before looking up, and then over and back at Cedar. "Who's the boy?"

"Alistair Wonderland," Cedar responds immediately. "Son of Alice."

Chapter Text

Dustin did it. Of course he did-- how did Draculaura not see that sooner? He's a reformed terror. He went through her nightmares, and she still couldn't see it? How naive.

The next great issue is just trying to figure out where he could've possibly taken Twyla. The universe is so vast, so expansive, so--

"Ever After, probably." Clawdeen shrugs, flipping a page of her mother's diary.

Draculaura blinks, looking up from her work. "What?"

"Twyla and Dustin are probably in Ever After. My mom's written a lot about it. It's the realm closest to ours in the grand scheme of things, so it's the easiest to travel to. Apparently, there have even been transfer students between here and there. The second closest realm is Beheme."

"Huh. Then I'll just have to research Ever After, then!"

Chapter Text

"Son of Alice...?" Twyla looks back over at Alistair, holding Dustin as close as she possibly can.

"He and Bunny have been missing," Cedar continues, while Kitty and Maddie pull him to his feet.

"Bunny?"

The yellow-white bunny in his arms leaps into the air, poofing mid-air into a full-sized girl, sporting bunny ears and a cotton tail.

Of course, Twyla has met quite a few wererabbits in her time. When she toured Monster High as a middle schooler, she even met a wererabbit who was the leader of the school's werepack before he graduated that June. This girl is, if anything, greatly familiar. An unpopular sentiment, judging by the dropped jaws of the people crowding around her and Alistair.

She takes a bow to her audience, smiling. "Behold: Bunny Blanc, daughter of the white rabbit!" She stands with a flourish, "Charmed."

And a handful of boys openly gawk, getting a light eye roll from her. She flounces back over to Alistair, and they join arm-in-arm.

Maddie throws her arms around the both of them, her mouth opening and refusing to close. "How did you guys get here? Where have you been? How's Wonderland? Is Lizzie's mom okay? What about the White Queen's family? My dad's old tea shop!?"

Cedar scurries over, gently pulling Maddie away from them. "Hey, they need time to respond."

"Oh, right."

Alistair takes a deep breath. "Through the Well of Wonder. In Wonderland. Bad. Worse. They're all right. Decrepit."

Maddie opens her mouth to respond again, only to be denied by a booming voice striding up to them.

"What is the meaning of this!?"

Twyla blinks at the man, looking over to Cedar. She whispers, "Our Headmaster Grimm."

Twyla nods as the man-- Headmaster Grimm-- strides up to the duo.

Alistair manages a smirk, crossing his arms as Bunny reaches into his backpack. "Grimm, I think you're going to be much nicer to us when you see what the Bunny's brought in."

Bunny smiles, pulling an old tome out of his backpack and presenting it with a twirl. "Behold: the Storybook of Legends! And not a moment too late."

Headmaster Grimm's jaw drops, his hands shaking as he reaches to take the book from Bunny. Alistair stands behind her with a proud expression.

Apple screams with delight, pushing past Grimm's influence keeping non-Wonderlandians away from the new duo. She runs to hug Alistair. Bunny glares and steps to the side. Alistair mimes her, and Apple misses him.

She blinks at them, about to ask what the hex that was when Grimm lets out a frustrated grunt.

"This is not the Storybook of Legends!" He turns it out for everyone to see the page he's opened it to. "It's an impressive fake! A book of riddles disguised!"

Apple gasps, stomping back away from Alistair.

Alistair raises an eyebrow, "Maybe you just opened it to my page?"

"Your page would be at the back of the book, Mr. Wonderland."

"It's Liddel," he rolls his eyes.

Grimm just huffs, throwing the book down on the technicolor pavement and watching the faux green crystal on the cover shatter. "I will not tolerate further foolishness of this manner, Mr. Wonderland--"

"Liddel!"

"And Miss Blanc."

Bunny glares at him. Alistair follows suit.

"I will kindly enroll you two in classes and find roommates for you. That is all." Grimm turns his attention to the crowd, "Disperse!"

The students crowding around scatter like rats, chased off by Bunny and Alistair's glares. Cedar picks up the fake Storybook, hugging it while the Wonderlandians hug Bunny and Alistair.

Chapter Text

Twyla sits on a balcony overlooking a garden Lizzie Hearts maintains, with Dustin curled in her lap and the Wonderlandians speaking behind her, joined by Cedar. They're arguing about the faux Storybook, while Twyla is wondering what power a Storybook could possibly have to hold such power over these people.

The argument is laid to rest when Cedar confirms that Alistair and Bunny did find the Storybook in Wonderland, and that they intended to bring it here. She disagrees about the real book leaving Wonderland, and confirms a meeting with Kitty's mother.

Twyla looks over her shoulder to watch a plan of action. Kitty has left, chased away by the promise of their mother's cruelty. Lizzie and Maddie bounce off to get the map to the Well of Wonder so they may venture back to Wonderland themselves. Bunny and Alistair stay behind, as does Cedar.

Bunny comes over and sits next to Twyla, her feet dangling down over the garden just like Twyla's. Alistair follows suit, sitting next to Bunny. "I don't believe we've met?" Bunny offers her hand to shake. "How typical of me, forgetting until the last moment to make an introduction. I'm Bunny Blanc, daughter of the White Rabbit."

"I'm Twyla," she shakes her hand, only as long as she must. "Daughter of the Boogeyman. And this is my friend, Dustin."

Dustin nods to Bunny.

Twyla looks beyond Bunny, tilting her head at Alistair. "And you're Alice's son?"

"Mhm." He smiles, almost bashful. Bunny lays a hand on his knee.

"That seems so fun. You were raised in Wonderland?"

"Yeah. I guess it's fun, I don't really know anything else." He shrugs, leaning towards Bunny. "Not that I'd ever want it to be different."

"Are you two a couple?"

"That's putting it lightly!" Alistair smiles. "Lovers, best friends, partners in crime and riddle solving... Where she goes, I go."

"Where he asks, I answer." Bunny completes. "It's this thing-- when his mother came to Wonderland, she kept running after my dad. Inadvertently, but still. And then we came along and... I dunno. It's like we're magnets to each other."

Alistair smiles, looking at Bunny with all sorts of admiration. "She leads the way, and she always makes me late. It's Wondrous."

Twyla smiles at them. "That's very sweet." They both nod. "Though I am confused about something. Alistair, what was Headmaster Grimm saying about your name?"

Alistair and Bunny both let out long groans. "My mom is Alice Liddel, right? And she went to Wonderland as a child and decided she wanted to move there when she grew up. Which she did! But when she was pregnant with me she took a visit back to Ever After to see her parents and sister, right? But during the visit, I came. Her parents kept whispering about her staying in Ever After since that's where I was born and that's where my dad might be from, but she wasn't having it. On my birth certificate she wrote that Wonderland itself was my father, but wrote my last name as Liddel. So at home, in Wonderland, I'm Alistair Liddel. Here, in Ever After where they don't respect names that aren't connected to a story, I'm Alistair Wonderland."

"That's terrible."

"Isn't it?" He and Bunny sigh.

Cedar gasps, and Twyla looks over her shoulder at her. She's reading from the Storybook under her breath, with an odd look on her face. Twyla opens her mouth to ask her what's wrong, but she runs off with the book.

Bunny gently nudges Twyla's shoulder. "So, the Boogeyman? Where's he from?"

"Oh, um, not here. I'm... visiting."

"What a time to visit," Bunny giggles.

"Mhm. I wonder if there's some sort of reason behind it," Twyla looks down at Dustin, who fluffs up under her gaze.

"Probably!" Alistair adds. "You know how destiny is."

"Sure I do," Twyla offers a smile, eternally wondering. "I'm going to go find Cedar, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Let's follow her." Bunny stands up, and Alistair follows suit. Twyla leads the way with Dustin cuddled in her arms, idly wondering if those two being with her means she'll be late for something.

Chapter Text

Cedar is sitting on a bench eating a cupcake when Dustin bounces up to her, followed by Twyla, Bunny, and Alistair. The humanoid ones bounce as well, since any and all traveling becomes much more bearable when done with a bounce in their step.

"Cedar!" Twyla smiles, stopping in front of her. "There you are. Where did you get a cupcake."

"It's not a teacake one of the O'Hairs made for the Chef Showdown."

"Oh, right, Ginger said something about that." Twyla's mind glazes over the not. "How did it go?"

"Good."

"Great! I hope you ate a lot of lovely things. We're figuring out what to do about the fake Storybook. I figured you would want to come with us to deal with it."

"No, I don't."

Twyla hesitates before blinking, all of the air sucked from her confidence. "Oh, I, uh..."

"Wait." Alistair's eyes narrow at her, and he leans towards Cedar in an almost threatening way. "Are you enjoying that teacake?"

"No way," Cedar takes another bite. "This is disgusting."

"Ah-ha." Alistair gets an almost genius look, Cedar's face etching into slight fear. "Does your lying to me have anything to do with the fake Storybook of Legends?"

Twyla's eyes widen.

"No."

Alistair pulls away, beginning to walk off. And then he stops suddenly, like a leashed dog. He turns to look at Bunny. Her arms are crossed, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Cedar's lying because of that fake Storybook. It's got to be cursed--"

"I know that, Ali. And I know you're going to want to go tell some responsible person about that." Bunny strides up to Alistair, and he doesn't use his extra space to move. Perhaps it's a chosen thing, rather than something written into the decisions of his feet. But Twyla doesn't know how she'd even start to ask questions about that. "No one's going to believe us, not after Cheshire's trick."

"No, but they'll believe Twyla."

"They will!?" Twyla's eyes snap wider open, lights dancing along the corners.

Alistair nods. "Maddie said she introduced you to Apple and Raven, and since neither of them freaked out about you being here, that must mean they trust you to some extent. They'll believe you if you're the one to tell them that Cedar has been cursed into lying, especially since you've been hanging around her girlfriend."

"Ah, right..." Twyla swallows, hugging her arm to her side.

"It'll be fine," Bunny gives her a sort of reassuring smile, and retakes the lead from Alistair. This time, Dustin takes up the end as they march back to the fair.

Raven is there, speaking with Holly and Cerise in a sort of town square, gesturing wildly with fear in their eyes. Alistair and Bunny begin to lag, sticking Twyla with the lead. She takes a deep breath, her brain speeding through possible things for her to say as she approaches them. She's about to force her mouth to open when Raven looks over at her, rushing over.

"Oh, Twyla! Thank goodness you're okay. This is terrible for your school visit, but something's going wrong, and--"

"Cedar was lying," she squeaks out, and Raven cringes.

"Oh, no, it's got Cedar..." Raven allows herself a moment of almost grief before steeling herself. "Apple was cursed, and I just know she's up to something."

Twyla nods, and lets a few moments of silence pass before she shares her piece, feeling utterly awkward the entire time. "Maddie and Lizzie are getting the map to the Well of Wonder because Bunny and Alistair are positive that the Storybook of Legends is in Wonderland and we're planning to--"

"BUNNY! ALISTAIR!" Maddie comes sprinting down the hill from the school. Well, half sprinting, half cartwheeling. Lizzie is hurrying along behind her, as fast as a proper lady may carry herself. "WE HAVE A PROBLEMMMMM--" Maddie continues screaming as her feet eat up the distance between them, until finally leaving her right in front of Bunny and Alistair.

"Maddie," Alistair started pinching his nose about halfway down the hill, "what's wrong?"

"The map to the Well of Wonder is missing!"

Bunny and Alistair's eyes widen, looking at each other. Raven frowns, "I saw Apple heading towards the dorms earlier."

"She must've taken it!" Alistair huffs.

"What could she be doing with it? I know she's evil, but--"

"Well if she had the map, then she must be going to the Well of Wonder." Alistair crosses his arms. "I bet she's going to do something to the well, to drain the Wonder from the world."

Raven looks miserable, "Why would she do it?"

"Simple. Bunny and I brought the fake Storybook into Ever After on accident. Some part of Apple's inner psyche must still be pissed at us over the accidental betrayal. That anger is likely manifesting through the curse into a way to get revenge on us: to both cut us off from Wonderland forever, and to keep us from being able to get the Storybook to clear our reputations."

Raven's face morphs into defiance. Twyla gets a feeling she's displayed it far too often. "Come on, let's stop her."

"Shouldn't we get Headmaster Grimm?"

"No way. No one would believe me, especially not him."

"Know how that feels," Bunny grumbles. "Come on."

"But how do we find the Well? Doesn't it move every once in a while?"

Alistair nods, "But it'll be wherever Apple is going, so we just have to find her. Which princesses are cursed?"

"Poppy and Ashlynn."

"Ashlynn would've been the best option, but we can just get another nature-y princess to try and get some birds to help us follow Apple."

Raven nods, "I'll go get Briar."

Briar had a lot of trouble with it, but she successfully contracted a small flock of birds to seek Apple, and so Bunny runs. Alistair runs, Twyla runs, and Dustin hops. Well, just for a few moments, before remembering he can create rips. He proceeds to slip through space, catching glimpse of two cats in the ether, before reappearing in the meadow.

He watches as Hunter Huntsman and his girlfriend Ashlynn cut up a tree, resulting in a plug-sized stump they kick down the hill. Twyla and the others appear just as the plug twists and turns into the Well.

Bunny and Alistair scream "No!" with her higher voice leading the shout, followed shortly by the Gray.

Chapter Text

It's a gorgeous place. Vivid landscapes, brilliant skies, epic castles... It's a fairytale, to the most accurate degree possible.

Draculaura looks through different prints and renders of the realm. Thinking about Twyla, initially with some light apprehension. She's sensitive to light, so surely that world would be too bright for her. But they share the same sun. It can't be any brighter. Besides, that's a poor reason. A poor reason against a great argument.

Because Twyla loves stories. She spends her time in the library for a reason, after all, and she's read through the entirety of V.H. Sachs' backlog numerous times. She's checked out each and every storybook donning the bookshelves of Monster High. Perhaps Dustin opened the rip for her, seeing some need to run into a new story trapped under the weight of her unformed powers. Perhaps she asked him to do it, seeking escape.

Or the truth, growing increasingly unlikely to her, Twyla might have gone by with no conscious need to leave Monster High specifically, only to find a lovely place ready and waiting for her.

Draculaura closes her book and goes to tell Lagoona the news.

Chapter Text

The Gray leeches across the grass, leaving spirals and checkers in its wave as it eats towards Twyla, Bunny, and Alistair.

"What the hex did you do that for!?" Bunny yells, and Apple merely shrugs.

"If I can't have my happily ever after, then you can't either. Charm you later."

Hunter tosses her a rope to hold onto, pulling her out of the clearing as the Gray eats the ground under where her feet were. Alistair throws an arm out in a vague attempt to keep the Gray away from Bunny, unneeded because she commands them both back with a hop. "We need to warm everyone."

"Warn them about what? The world turning gray?" Twyla turns a hopeless eye towards the pair. "What would that do?"

Alistair frowns. "Right. You two stay back."

"Alistair!" He freezes before he can let his phone down on the Gray. She steps forward, "You know how it is."

Alistair nods, taking a breath and swallowing before they both step foot into the Gray. And... Well, Bunny is fine. But Alistair's fingertips taste Gray, and so do his eyes. Bunny pushes him out of the Gray, and he gasps, shaking as his color returns.

"You stay right there!"

Alistair nods with a shivering head, hugging himself and trying to shimmy backward from the Gray. Bunny presses forward, leaping higher than anyone but Alistair would've thought impossible for her. She tries to pull at the plug while Twyla hurries over to Alistair, helping him stand and step back as the Gray continues to spread.

"It's not budging!" Bunny huffs, kicking the plug and yelping at the pain. Alistair makes a move to get to her, and Twyla holds him back.

She limps back to them, looking terribly unhappy. "We need something big to move that."

Alistair sets his mouth sideways, relieved by Bunny returning to his side. "Mm... The fair has a Ferris wheel, right?"

Twyla nods. "It was being hand-cranked by an orc. We could probably ask him to move it, if he doesn't get... Gray?"

"Brilliant idea, Twyla." Alistair smiles, and they once again run.

Bunny leads them to the new Mad Hatter's Tea Shop, of all places, and bounces past the door. Alistair follows her, as he would to the end of the Earth, and Twyla is left with no choice but to follow suit.

Maddie is sitting at a table, utterly miserable, muttering to her dad while Lizzie picks at a pie. The table is utterly littered in pie tins. Bunny skids to a stop in front of the table. "Maddie, what's--?"

"My Cedar is cursed!" She sobs. "Cede is cursed and Ginger is trapped in Wonderland and Kitty--"

"The Well of Wonder has been plugged," Twyla blurts out, and immediately wishes she hadn't.

"And the Well of Wonder has been plugged!" Maddie sobs, burying her face into her father's chest.

The Mad Hatter kisses her head, a similarly grim expression on his face. Twyla had the opportunity to truly get to know either of them before this, she'd feel the same despair running through Lizzie at the sight of them.

Lizzie stands up, gathering whatever shreds of queendom she manages to rip with her through the portal. "How do we unplug it? Ginger is there, my mother is there, and I won't let them go unsaved."

"It's worse," Bunny steps forward, "the Wonder seems to be draining from the world, replaced with a Gray of some sort."

Alistair shivers, "It-- It made me feel like my spirit was being drained from me."

Bunny nods, "It didn't infect me. I suppose it has something to do with how much Wonder someone has in their blood."

Alistair frowns, but can't think of a different explanation. "Twyla didn't touch it, but we shouldn't risk it."

Lizzie nods, grim. "What if all of us Wonderlandians tied a rope around the plug, and heaved?"

Bunny shakes her head, "I don't think we could, especially when it's just... us. We need something bigger--"

"Like the orc manning the Ferris wheel," Twyla mutters.

"Yes, exactly! We should get him to do it."

Lizzie nods, "But he'd want an apology from Kitty."

"So let's find Kitty, tell them to get it together, and we'll ask the orc for help!"

"But!" Alistair huffs, "Then Apple and her friends will just plug it back up, or they'll do something worse. We need to figure out the curse, lift it, and then pull the plug."

"But how do we lift the curse?" Twyla frowns, rubbing her shoulder, not even considering the possibility of leaving the residents of Ever After to deal with this on their own. This place feels almost natural to her, why would she abandon it in hard times?

Lizzie sighs deeply. "We have to speak with Kitty either way, then."

Chapter Text

They split up. Maddie and her dad take Kitty's trail, seeking them across the highest points of the fair. Lizzie has taken to evacuating students, and Bunny and Alistair have found themselves in the middle of an argument between Raven and Apple. Apple holds the fake Storybook, after all, and the map to the Well of Wonder. It disappeared as they ran from the Gray, after all, and they'll have to get back to it when it's safe to unplug.

Twyla is left to watch as the world tinges gray. Dustin is curled up on her lap, and she's stroking him like it's a goodbye, trying to soothe her inner terror. Still, she doesn't contemplate leaving. She only considers how terrible it would be for stories to shrivel.

Bunny snatches the fake Storybook and map while Alistair gives a theatrical scolding, successfully distracting her and claiming to be the better man as he walks away right after. Raven looks just as confused as Twyla does, but by the looks on their faces, this is probably a rather regular play. They return over to Twyla with a matched pair of smirks, each holding one of the "book"s. "Let's see if Maddie has found Kitty yet."

"Right," Twyla stands, hands still cradled around Dustin. "What do we do when we find them?"

"We make her talk to their mom about this curse, and then we get them to apologize to the orc."

"And if they refuse? And... shouldn't their mom be in Wonderland?" Dustin shakes his whorl-fluffed head.

"The Cheshires don't operate on the same planes of reality that we do."

"Huh..." Twyla scratches Dustin's head.

"And if Kitty refuses, then we find a way to summon the Cheshire cat our damn selves, and we'll find some way to unplug the well." Alistair crosses his arms, anger and sadness burning in his eyes.

Bunny reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek. "We'll reverse the Gray."

"I know you will." When her hand comes up to cup his face, he lays his hand on top of it and pulls it down to his chest, letting it float above his heart. "I just know that I won't be able to help you once the Gray catches up to me."

Twyla blushes, averting her eyes from the display as they mutter and kiss. When they finally pull away she looks back, her cheeks dusted dark purple. Alistair is still upset, but he and Bunny share a solemn nod as they all head in the general direction they saw Maddie go in.

They find her standing on top of a building's spire, beg-yelling at Kitty to come down and help them. They have her hands over their feline ears, eyes screwed shut against the truth.

Twyla furrows her brow while Bunny and Alistair mutter about how they should get up there, whispering, "Can you make a rip to get me up to Kitty?"

Dustin gives her forearm a polite thump before jumping down, ripping a hole that brings her right to Kitty's side. Kitty looks up, fear in their eyes.

"Kitty?"

They look up, shocked to be accompanied. But then they realize she's Twyla, and relax. "You float through the void, too. Do you know what this is like?"

Twyla frowns. "What what is like?"

"... Disappointing everyone you love?"

"Oh, gosh, Kitty. Your friends aren't disappointed. It's just... Do you know about the Gray?"

Kitty turns their head, staring out into the monochrome distance. "It's because of me, isn't it?"

"The Storybook your mom planted cursed a bunch of people, and Apple plugged up the Well of Wonder while cursed."

"Oh, fuck." Kitty buries their face in their hands. "It's all my fault. All I wanted to do was be like my mom, and now she's gone and fucked up Ever After. This is my friends' new home, and... And I'm going to be blamed for it, because I thought it was just a silly prank my mom did and I defended this--"

"Do you want a hug?"

"Don't touch me."

Twyla sighs in relief. "I don't like being touched either, but I know people usually want hugs when they're upset."

Kitty almost seems to relax a little. "You're not like them."

"I'm like Bunny, and I'm like you."

Kitty nods. "What will happen when the Gray covers all of Ever After?"

"I don't want to find out."

"I don't, either. What do they all want me to do?"

"Talk to your mom."

Kitty cringes. "Can I, I dunno, walk on hot coals instead?"

"You remind me of a girl I know back home, Toralei. But no, walking on hot coals won't save the world. But you can do it. You have all of your friends waiting for you. We just have to join them."

Kitty smiles, in the way all Cheshires smile, and she hooks a nail under Twyla's most precious bracelet. Her smile somehow widens, and they both slip through the void.

Kitty stands before all of their best friends, with Twyla standing right at their side. They take a deep breath, eyes pressed closed.

"Mom, I need to talk to you. All of you."

The Cheshire cat's smile materializes in between Kitty and their friends, and poofs into a full woman under the shroud of a distorted cat's cry. "Why hello, my little ball of versatile fluff. What's got you all ruffled?"

"First off, that reference. So off-topic. Second of all, this 'joke' is so not cool."

"What do you mean, kitten? It's a hexcellent joke, don't you think? I thought you'd enjoy it, as an aspiring true Cheshire yourself!"

"They're already a Cheshire," Twyla grumps. Kitty gives her a thankful look. Their mother doesn't acknowledge her.

"Mom, this isn't a joke anymore. The Gray--" They swallow hard, seeing it creep behind Alistair. Kitty and Twyla both have the urge to yell for him. It would do nothing, and so he drains. "The-- The Gray is sucking the Wonder out of everything."

Bunny sniffles. Alistair turns and shuffles away, husked.

"So? It serves these Ever After brats right, for leaving Wonderland to rot."

"Is Alistair an Ever After brat?" Kitty narrows their eyes, blood dripping between the crevices of her mind. A blood tie is strong, after all, but nothing is sharper than the steel of loyalty, nothing more desperate to save than a weapon flush to its wielder's back. "You give Alice the yarn for his first onesies. You babysat him and Bunny on their first dates. You-- fuck--"

"Alistair isn't one of the Ever After brats."

"What's separating them?"

Kitty's mother blinks. "Pardon?"

"He was affected by this. He was born in Ever After. His mom was born in Ever After. His dad was probably born in Ever After-- if he wasn't, then we'd probably know who the fuck he was. So what's the difference? What separates Alistair from Apple? Cursed and Wonder-drained?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"It's because you know him, isn't it?" Kitty crosses their arms. "I know Alistair, too, y'know. And I know Apple. I know Raven, Ashlynn, Briar--"

"Cedar..." Maddie shudders, hands reaching up to cup her mouth and nose under cyan gloves, fearful of another set of tears.

"Cedar. And I know Maddie, who's heartbroken over Cedar."

"So?"

"So." Kitty hisses, clearing their throat. "Just because this huge fucking disaster you caused is only impacting you a little doesn't make it some fucking joke you can play off, excuse, and ignore."

The Cheshire cat narrows her eyes in turn, leaning towards her child. "All right, kitten. If you want to play mean, we can play mean."

She snaps her fingers, and her heels click away, leading into and through the Gray. Twyla swallows, watching her go with Kitty following suit, the other Wonderlandians following miserably behind. Except for Alistair, who has gone to sit on a stair and search for anything left in his carved-hollow mind.

She hesitates before stepping forward, and indeed feels something drain from the very core of her being. But, somehow, it pauses. She looks down at herself and finds her being translucent, as if the physical parts of her were drained, leaving only her shadows and magic. She smiles, relieved to have not been gutted, and the smile immediately sinks with Alistair sighing in her peripheral vision.

She follows the Wonder-filled Wonderlandians all the way to a lifesize chess board, where Kitty is standing on one side with all of their friends, and their mother is standing on the opposite stage. Bunny's brow is furrowed as she mutters to herself. Twyla's about to ask if she's okay when Bunny whimpers, "I don't even know what these rules are. I-- Alistair always--" She gives into herself, crimping in on her own despair and sobbing into her gloves. Maddie's glass dam shatters, and so half of their force is reduced to shambles.

"Wh-What're we doing?" Twyla's bracelet beads get a workout.

"Kitty's mother has issued them a challenge: to get to the other side of the board. But the tiles are obviously dangerous, and..." Lizzie swallows hard, her voice lowering. "Our typical riddle masters are... occupied."

Twyla's frown grows deeper than she'd ever think it could be in a world such as this, and Kitty turns around to look at her. They stare for a moment before their eyes widen.

They smile, and they're gone.

Chapter Text

Kitty reappears on the opposite stage, hanging in the air over their mother's shoulder. "Boo."

The Cheshire cat looks over her shoulder, an oddly proud look on her face considering the earlier fight. "Well done, kitten." She boops their nose, turning to them and whispering. Their eyes widen as their mother gives a smile of equal measure, disappearing.

Kitty smiles again, reappearing right in front of Twyla. "You smell of void, you know."

Twyla blinks. "What?"

Kitty looks at Lizzie, whose eyebrow seems to be raised. Twyla tilts her head, realizing her actual eyebrow is shaved to make way for her painted red heart. "Where's the book?"

Lizzie reaches into her purse and pulls it out. It's much too big to have fit in there, but Twyla knows the Well map is in there, too.

Kitty takes the fake Storybook and flips to the very last page, turning it upside down and whispering. Their voice takes on the ghost of magic itself, speaking fact into the fabric of the universe, and once they're done it feels like all of the magic left in their dull world has been destroyed.

Kitty walks over to a fountain, which seems to be flowing dully in some awful way, and they drop the book into the marble slush. "The Cheshire curse is broken. Time to deal with that orc."

Lizzie smiles genuinely for the first time since the pies, walking with Twyla as Kitty smiles their way to the orc. By the time they get there, the orc is slowly telling Kitty that it was no big deal as he stomps in a vague direction.

Lizzie reaches into her purse and, of course, the map is gone.

She sighs with a smile, and Twyla can feel the love in her gaze. "You can never keep a Cheshire's paws in check!"

Twyla giggles, and the pair run as far as their respective heeled shoes can take them.

Wonder bleeds, soaks, showers into Ever After.

Cedar sprints into Maddie's arms, rewarded with more kisses than a studious vampire could count. Cedar giggles about loving Maddie with all her non-existent heart, proven without a doubt.

Bunny sobs in Alistair's arms that if he dares to scare her like that again, he'll regret it. He whispers that he already regrets it, kissing her hairline with a relieved smile.

Raven mutters to Apple, recounting what she spent the day doing. Apple sobs, and starts creating elaborate apology plans that Raven rolls her eyes at.

Kitty returns the book to Lizzie's closet, where it belongs. Lizzie thanks them with a hug, and asks about their moms.

Twyla and Dustin sit on a fountain, smiling and taking it all in. Until a portal opens under her feet, and everything she's found is stripped away.

Chapter Text

Lagoona sniffs as she stares around Twyla's dorm room. Draculaura sits on the ground, building boxes for them to stuff Twyla's stuff into. She's not here anymore, after all, and after a whole month missing, Headmistress Bloodgood says it's better to move her things into storage rather than leave them here for possible looting.

Still. It's impossible to say goodbye.

Dracualura strips her bed of its sheets first, and hears a big squeak under it. Lagoona's eyes widen and she roundhouse kicks the mattress off of it, revealing Twyla framed.

She looks at them in horror, with Dustin snuggled into her chest. Traitor. "I-I was--"

Draculaura and Lagoona rush her with a hug.

"I thought you went to Ever After," Draculaura gasps, "and it was so good to you that you'd never--"

"That you'd leave us!" Lagoona practically howls. "That you'd never come back!"

Twyla softens, guilt churning in her belly. "I-I'm sorry." She imagines shriveling as Alistair did under the Gray, only, instead of from her existence as a being, it's from the horrors of physical touch.

They both pull away after a bit, gratitude plain on their faces. "Ooh, Headmistress Bloodgood is going to be so surprised to see you."

"You told Headmistress Bloodgood I was gone?"

Draculaura raises an eyebrow. "Twyla, you disappeared for a month. Everyone knows."

Twyla's eyes grow to the size of small moons, kissing up and catching some hair on a spring. She struggles out from under her bed, wanting to cry over her snagged hair. "What do you mean I was gone for a month!? It was only a day!"

Draculaura cringes, messing with the hem of her shorts. "Oh, well... You know how Clawd is technically Clawdeen's older brother, even though he was born five years after her, because he was raised in Beheme with accelerated time compared to our time? Well, um, maybe every day in Ever After translates to a month in our world?"

The second Draculaura finishes that though, Twyla springs out of her dorm room and hurries off to Headmistress Bloodgood's office, terror in fear in her eyes, getting worse as students in the halls point at her and whisper rumors.

Draculaura and Lagoona are left behind, brilliant smiles glowing on once-shadowy faces. "I guess we have to unpack her stuff!"

"Bummer. All of those nice boxes..."

"Nerd." Lagoona sticks a pointy tongue out at Draculaura, who rolls her eyes and dives into dismantling the boxes. Which, since it's her, ends up being just as enjoyable as building them was.

Twyla finds Headmistress Bloodgood, barely hesitating as she steps in, ignoring all proclamations about her sudden arrival in favor of a massive complaint. She's lost something deeply important, after all, and she can't help but daydream that a certain werecat and wererabbit would feel perfectly at home in the halls of Monster High.

Well, any excuse could do to reopen the portal, and any improbable dream is still worth holding onto. After all, she'll never know what her daydreams will lead to if she doesn't march the way towards them. Maybe she'll be right, and maybe the students of Ever After High and Monster High will find some sort of joyous melding in the middle...