Ashlynn's Misfortune

Chapter One, Part Two

After classes ended for the day and the students of Ever After High headed to their after-school activities or back to their dorms, Ashlynn gathered up her things after Good Kingdom Management and headed to her room.

She planned to make some jewelry she hoped to sell at the annual Faire Day in a week. She had plenty of time because it was her day off of work at the Glass Slipper Shoe store in the village of Bookend, where she normally worked after school.

Her dorm roomie, Briar Beauty, was at the Oversleepers-Anonymous after school club. Ashlynn wasn't sure what a club like that does, but she knows that Briar has a sleeping problem, a curse from her Mom's story; the whole school knows, in fact.

Ashlynn sits down on her mint colored bed and pulls out her jewelery making kit from under it. She completes three bracelets, all a variety of blues, whites, and oranges, before noticing something glinting in her bookbag, sunlight from the window shining on it.

Carefully sliding off her bed and taking the shiny item out, she examines it. The lable on it says "Speed. Get you anywhere on time for a full twenty-four hours."

Unsure what to do with it, Ashlynn shrugs and sets it on her nightstand, next to a picture of her boyfriend, Hunter Huntsman, son of the Huntsman in Snow White. She then proceeds to make more bracelets before putting the makings away and starting on her Wooing 101 homework.

"Hey, Ash," Cedar Wood, daughter of Pinocchio, says in her raspy voice, entering Ashlynn's dorm room with Briar right behind. "What're you working on?"

"Hey, Cedar," Ashlynn replies, "just some Wooing 101 homwork. I made more jewlery for the faire."

"Cool, can I see?" Cedar asks.

A snoring sound fills the room and the two girls giggle when they see Briar, passed out on her hot pink bed, her pink glasses askew.

"What's this?" Cedar inquires, picking up the potion off of the nightstand.

"I found it in my bookbag," Ashlynn tells her. "I don't know where it came from or how it got there."

"I think you should drink it," Cedar says, no longer interested in the bracelets.

"Hey, what's up, what're you guys doing?" Briar says, suddenly awake.

"Ash found this in her bookbag," Cedar informs her, handing her the potion. "I said she should drink it and see what happens."

"Maybe not. This could get you into trouble, Ash. Maybe we should talk to Headmaster Grimm or maybe Madame Baba Yaga and see what they think?" Briar says.

Ashlynn had already considered this after Cedar's suggestion. But to be able to be on time for something, that would be fantastic. She's notoriously late for everthing, her curse from her Mom's story. She would be able to spend more time getting ready in the morning or using it to sleep, or use it to make more jewlery, 'cause she wouldn't need as much time to get to her classes. Even thinking about it made Ashlynn excited.

"I'm gonna do it, guys," Ashlynn decides.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't try to warn you," Briar says.

Ashlynn hesitates at that comment. "Um, let me try it out in my wardrobe," she suggests.

"The wardrobe? Why would you drink the potion in the wardrobe? Just do it right here," Cedar says.

But Ashlynn had already shut herself inside her wardrobe. Not wasting a moment, she chugs the bottle, the flavor sweet like honey on her tongue.

Suddenly, her body turns hot and her skin starts growing hair. Ashlynn drops the bottle with a shriek, it shatters on the floor.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Briar says.

Her head begins to morph, her hands change to hooves, her skin becomes hair, and she's forced onto all fours, no longer a human but an animal.

A horrorrific noise escapes her lips. "Hee Haww."

Ashlynn gasps and begans thrashing in the tight closet.

"What the hex is going on?" Cedar says, worried for her friend.

"The door won't open," Briar says, "it's jammed shut."

Ashlynn thrashes more in the confined space.

"Hold tight, Ash, we'll go and get help," Cedar tells her.

Once they're gone, Ashlynn sits down on her haunches and bursts into tears, mixed with braying sounds. It was dark and cramped and stuffy. Why oh why had she decided to drink that potion? She'd been tricked. She'd fined who'd done it, and they would feel her wrath. But then she remembers that she's a princess and must forgive others. A fresh wave of tears overcomes her.

A few minutes later, footsteps approach.

"Ashlynn Ella is a donkey, that's absurd," she hears Heamaster Grimm say.

"Headmaster Grimm, we heard her 'hee haw.' It can only mean that she is a donkey," Cedar argues.

"I know that you are cursed to speak only the truth, Cedar," Headmaster Grimm says, "but this is beyond anything."

The footsteps grow close and the closet doors are pried open. Ashlynn blinks at the startled faces of Hedamaster Grimm, Briar Beauty, and Cedar Wood, peering at her form.

"A donkey? A donkey being kept in Ashlynn Ella's closet. This is most certainly not allowed. All animals must remain in the school stables. I assumed you two were well aware of that rule," Headmaster Grimm chides.

"We haven't been keeping a donkey in a closet, Headmaster, it's Ashlynn Ella. You can't put her in the stables just because she's been turned into a donkey," Cedar implores him.

"As the Royal Pet Keepers, Holly and Poppy O'Haire will be here momentarily to escort this donkey back to where it belongs. In the mean time, I want both of you to report to my office. It appears we have things to discuss." The Headmaster then leaves in a huff.

Cedar races after him. She could be heard trying to change his mind as their voices fade.

"Sorry, Ash," Briar says, "I know you really wanted to be able to be fast and not late like you always are, for once in your life. I did try to warn you, though. Never trust a potion that randomely shows up in your book bag."

Donkey Ashlynn hee haws pitifully.

"But don't worry. We'll figure out some way to get you back. I'll talk to Raven, she'll probably have something. But in the meantime, for you, you're gonna have to spend time in the stables. Doesn't look like Headmaster Grimm's gonna change his mind anytime soon. Hang in there, Ash."

When Holly and Poppy O'Haire, twin daughters of Rapunzel, showed up with their equipment to transport Ashlynn to the stables, Briar tried to convince them that the donkey was in fact their friend Ashlynn Ella. But they didn't believe her, either.

And so, Ashlynn was led out of the room, her head hung in shame. She did nothing to resist, though, hanging onto the hope that she'd be back to a human in no time.