Ever After High: 5-Minute Fairytale Stories Read online

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  Cover design by Carolyn Bull.

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  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

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  Visit us at LBYR.com

  everafterhigh.com

  First Edition: October 2017

  Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are

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  Library of Congress Control Number 2017935528

  ISBNs: 978-0-316-54816-8 (paper over board), 978-0-316-44483-5 (ebook),

  978-0-316-44481-1 (ebook), 978-0-316-44484-2 (ebook)

  E3

  Table of Contents

  Raven Queen............................... 1

  Ashlynn Ella............................ 15

  Holly O’Hair............................. 31

  Cedar Wood............................ 43

  Madeline Hatter................... 63

  Melody Piper......................... 79

  Apple White............................ 95

  Lizzie Hearts...................... 109

  Ginger Breadhouse...... 125

  Farrah Goodfairy.......... 139

  Duchess Swan................... 155

  Darling Charming.......... 169

  Raven Queen

  The Ever After High “Book-to-School”

  orientation was the week before classes started,

  and the Charmitorium was packed

  with everyone telling tales about

  their summers.

  But there was also another

  story being told....

  There was hexcitement in the air, because

  this year everyone was going to pledge his or

  her destiny to the Storybook of Legends during

  Legacy Day. Raven Queen, the daughter of

  the Evil Queen, sat next to Madeline Hatter,

  daughter of the Mad Hatter and Raven’s best

  friend forever after. Maddie, like so many,

  couldn’t wait for her first chapter to begin.

  Raven, however, was less hexcited.

  Raven had been dreading this

  year. She didn’t want to be the

  Evil Queen. But what choice

  did she have? As Headmaster

  Grimm always said, the

  students had to follow their

  fairytale destinies. Everyone

  always signed the Storybook of

  Legends on Legacy Day. And

  that meant Raven would have

  to as well.

  During orientation, everyone

  split into story groups for their yearly tour.

  While Maddie skipped

  happily to Professor

  Rumpelstiltskin’s

  group of quirky

  characters, Raven

  was grouped with

  the other “villains.”

  The scary, hairy Professor

  Badwolf snarled, “You will

  follow me.” He took

  them down to the dark

  cauldron room, where

  they would learn the toil

  and trouble of potion

  making. Raven didn’t

  like the idea of causing

  trouble one bit.

  After the tour, Raven

  returned to the dorms,

  feeling flustered. She wasn’t a

  villain—not at heart, anyway.

  She wondered what her life might be like if she

  weren’t the future Evil Queen, but just Raven.

  She knew she was supposed to follow in her

  mother’s evil footsteps, but she truthfully never

  wanted to be a bad guy. She always wanted to

  make the world happier.

  When Raven was a little girl, she would cast

  spells that made flowers burst into butterflies!

  Then one day, her magic just didn’t work right,

  and instead the flowers burst into flames. Ever

  since then, her magic backfired whenever she

  used it for good. When she tried to help others,

  it ended up making things worse. Raven thought

  she would get in trouble for accidentally casting

  evil spells, but it only made her mother prouder.

  Raven finally fell asleep, wishing that there

  were some way to change her destiny.

  The next day, Raven went to visit her

  advisor, Madam Baba

  Yaga, to go over her

  class schedule. Raven was

  supposed to take General

  Villainy, Home Evilnomics,

  Magicology, History of

  Evil Spells, and Witchness

  Management. They were all

  villain classes!

  “Don’t I have any choice

  in what classes I want to take?” Raven asked

  without thinking. The words just slipped out.

  Madam Baba Yaga looked hard at Raven for a

  long while. “You know perfectly well it is school

  policy to take the classes best suited for your

  destiny,” she said, finally breaking her

  stare. “However, you may choose one class of

  your own, Ms. Queen.”

  Raven didn’t need to think twice. She wanted

  to take Muse-ic Class. It was traditionally a class

  for princesses only, but singing always set her free.

  Madam Baba Yaga thought for another long

  moment.

  “I will inform Professor Pied Piper

  immediately. I expect no more talk of choice.

  Are we clear?” she said sternly. Raven nodded.

  “Now go to the library to receive your

  hextbooks.”

  Raven arrived at the library and found Maddie,

  bouncing around hexstatically. She was going on

  and on about something that Raven needed to

  see, but nobody could find. Sometimes Maddie

  spoke in a silly Wonderlandian language called

  Riddlish. It always sounded like nonsense to

  Raven. When Maddie couldn’t explain what she

  wanted to say, she grabbed Raven’s hand and

  guided her through the library to a secret door

  she’d found.

  Maddie knocked a playful rhythm, and in a

  flash, they were suddenly surrounded by a ring

  of ancient, dusty books.

  “Maddie, where are we?” Raven asked.

  Maddie explained they were in the Vault of

  Lost Tales, where the Master Librarian, Giles

  Grimm, lived. She told Raven that
he had

  something important to tell her.

  When they found Giles Grimm, he was

  buried under piles of books. His eyes darted

  back and forth across the pages of a large

  tome. He started speaking, and Raven realized

  he was speaking in Riddlish. He’d been cursed

  by a babbling spell, and only Maddie could

  understand him.

  After they spoke, Maddie

  told Raven something that

  would change her friend

  forever: According to the

  Master Librarian, if Raven

  pledged to create her own

  Happily Ever After, she would

  be free to write her own story.

  Could it be true? Raven had

  spent her entire life thinking

  she had to be the Evil Queen.

  She and her classmates had been

  told to follow their destinies, no matter what.

  Did Raven dare to be just Raven instead? If she

  flipped the script, what would happen? And

  what would people think?

  But then, Raven thought, maybe there were

  others who wanted a chance to write their own

  Happily Ever After, too. And it was up to Raven

  to give them the chance. So that Legacy Day,

  Raven would rewrite her script.

  Ashlynn Ella

  Ever since Ashlynn Ella

  was little, she had been told

  that everyone at Ever After High

  wished they had her Happily

  Ever After. She was Cinderella’s

  daughter, and one day, when the

  shoe fit, she’d be swept away

  by her Prince Charming. Still,

  Ashlynn never wanted to be

  swept away by some prince.

  Instead, she thought true

  love should happen naturally,

  not by the storybook. But

  could Ashlynn have a fairytale

  romance that was never meant

  to be? She was so royally torn.

  So on the fairy first day of Damsel-In-

  Distressing class, Ashlynn wasn’t hexcited

  when their teacher announced that she

  would be paired with Daring Charming.

  Daring wasn’t fairy princely, and

  he wasn’t even supposed to be

  Ashlynn’s prince! She let out

  a big groan. It was going to

  be a long school year.

  After class was finished,

  Ashlynn needed to clear her head.

  So she went to the most calming

  place she knew: the Enchanted

  Forest. The Enchanted Forest

  was where magic blossomed

  and oh-so-cute-and-cuddly

  woodland creatures lived

  and played.

  Every fairytale

  princess had a special

  connection to the woodland

  creatures, but only Ashlynn could

  actually understand what they were

  saying. Sometimes the animals made

  more sense to her than people.

  Ashlynn breathed in the

  spellbinding scent of the

  charm blossom petals. She

  closed her eyes and enjoyed

  the sounds of birds chirping

  and leaves rustling. Then

  suddenly, an animal

  shouted, “Help!”

  Ashlynn jumped

  into action.

  Branches lifted themselves out of Ashlynn’s

  way as she hurried through the clearing. When

  she found the animal, she could hardly believe

  her eyes! There was a helpless squirrel stuck to a

  tree, and Hunter Huntsman was lifting his axe.

  “No!” she shouted as she ran toward Hunter.

  With all her strength, Ashlynn pushed him face-

  first into the mud. She couldn’t let him hurt that

  poor squirrel.

  “Hey, what’s the big idea?” the squirrel

  chittered. An arrow pinned him to the tree by

  the satchel around his little squirrel waist.

  Ashlynn scratched her head. “I just

  saved you from the scary huntsman!”

  she said.

  “Hunter? Scary?” the squirrel

  replied, bursting with laughter.

  “He’s my friend!”

  “Pesky!” Hunter called out

  to his pet squirrel as he lifted

  himself up from the mud.

  Before Ashlynn could blink,

  Hunter plucked the arrow from

  the tree and caught Pesky in his

  hand. He bandaged Pesky from

  head to tail.

  Hunter had been trying to save the squirrel,

  not hurt him. Ashlynn was so embarrassed.

  “Sorry I pushed you,” she said.

  He turned, and their eyes met for the first

  time. Time stood still. His hazel eyes were gentle

  and warm. Her heart thumped in her throat.

  Was she sick? Her feet felt really weird in

  her heels.

  Hunter offered to walk Ashlynn back to

  school. On their walk, Ashlynn was surprised

  by how much they had in common. They both

  loved nature and caring for animals. She was

  totally throne for a loop!

  Hunter wasn’t some

  big ogre. He was

  totally charming!

  Ashlynn could’ve talked to Hunter forever

  after, but soon enough they were inside the

  school’s castle. She was twirling her hair, not

  wanting to say good-bye, when she realized her

  ring was missing. “Oh no!” she cried. “My family

  ring! It must have fallen off in the forest!”

  Hunter’s face lit up.

  “Maybe we could go

  back to the forest and

  search for it,” Hunter

  said nervously before

  adding, “And maybe

  we could have a

  picnic, too.”

  Ashlynn’s heart

  raced. “Hunter, I’d

  love to go on a picnic

  with you.”

  His eyes widened. “Really?

  I mean. . .cool,” he said, trying not to show how

  hexcited he was. He paused for a moment, then

  finally said, “Hext you later.” Then Hunter raced

  off in the other direction.

  Ashlynn couldn’t believe

  it! The day totally flipped

  the script! She’d gone

  into the forest worried

  about one fairytale

  prince, but she

  exited having her

  fairytale dream

  come true. Ashlynn

  spun around and

  skipped all the way to

  her dorm.

  But when Ashlynn

  was back in her room,

  she realized that she and

  Hunter couldn’t have a Happily Ever After. He

  wasn’t her fairytale prince. Ashlynn had never

  been so upset.

  The next day, Ashlynn went to the Enchanted

  Forest at sunset to clear her head. The sun hung

  low in the sky. The air was still and crisp. The

  trees looked lonely, save for branches reaching

  toward one another. The seconds passed like

  hours. Finally, Ashlynn heard a rustling coming

  from the trees, and Hunter walked into sight,

  looking adorably silly. He wore a

  prince’s jacket that was way too

  small for him, and he carried a giant

  bouquet of charm blossoms.

  Hunter bent to kiss he
r hand

  and his jacket ripped!

  She lifted his face and let out a laugh. “Oh,

  Hunter, what are you wearing?” she asked.

  “I borrowed one of Dexter’s old jackets

  and ties,” he wheezed. “Every princess needs a

  prince.”

  Ashlynn laughed again. “You don’t need to be

  a prince for me!” she said.

  Hunter took her hand, and it felt like a bolt

  of lightning ran up her arm. “I found your ring,”

  he said as he pulled Ashlynn’s family ring from his

  pocket. Ashlynn’s heart raced again. The world

  brightened. Her true hero saved the day! As

  she threw her arms around him, something still

  bothered her. “Hunter, if anyone finds out—”

  she began.

  He gave her a smile that Ashlynn would

  cherish forever after. “It will just have to stay our

  little secret.” He gave her a big, warm hug—and

  the stars started sparkling again.

  Holly O’Hair

  After years spent memorizing

  every fairytale, writing about

  her favorite legends, and, of

  course, studying her own

  fairytale, Holly O’Hair was

  finally going to let her hair

  down at Ever After High!

  This was her first time

  living outside the tower.

  She was hair over heels

  with hexcitement! She