Ever After High: The Boy from the Peach

The Oni Queen

In lands far beyond your land, the land of the readers, there exist unique places where stories come to life. In these lands exist stories of adventures, stories of science-fiction, myths, tales for the holidays, romance, mysteries, and stories of monsters. Beyond the trenches of margins, what lies in between the spaces of the lands, exists near endless stories.

This story takes place in the land of Ever After, where knights fight great dragons and young girls dream of becoming beautiful princesses. This is the land where the stories of Fairytales reside.  For the type of story that is about to unfold, there are only four words that you can start with.

Once Upon a time...In the land of Ever After...

It was nearly nighttime in a village called Book End, and many shops were closing for the night as many residents were gearing up for bedtime. Well, for most of the villagers, they were.

In a small Black Smith shop, a young woman continued to work. This woman was one of the forgers living in Book End to create only the most pristine shining armor and weaponry for young knights looking for their glorious destiny. Though the woman's work for the day may have been finished, she continued at her wheel.

This woman was named Betty Bunyan, and she was the daughter of Paul Bunyan. Sweat glistened off the woman's brow as she continued at her very own passion project. Yet, she smiled as the sound of her work came off as music to her ears.

In the Land of Ever After, in the Land of Fairytales, Children of these stories would grow up and take on the legacy of their parents. Though there were always variations to the tales, their children followed these stories, and then their children would follow their destinies. It was a world where generations would follow the same path as their ancestors. Unfortunately, Betty Bunyan...was not one of those children...

While born into the Paul Bunyan Legacy, Fairytale Magic didn't choose Betty to follow her father's story. Instead, her brother, Junior, was selected to carry the family's legacy. While as a child, Betty wanted to be like her father; it was different now. She couldn't take her father's axe but made herself her own.

Betty stopped her wheel momentarily as she wiped away the sweat dripping off her brow with her forearm. She looked down at her work with a massive grin. In her hands, she was working on her axe, the one she made back when she graduated from school.

She lifted the massive blade single-handedly, admiring her work. Then, she watched as the shadows from the flames flickered next to her and licked the blade's steel. It's perfect, she thought; after all this time, it's perfect. She was proud of her work. She had spent so much sweat and blood after all these years and now felt like she had perfected it.

But what if it isn't?

..., Betty's mind started to wander.

What if it isn't good enough?

Betty's smile slowly started to disappear.

That's it. It will never be good enough.

She lowered her massive hand to look at the blade of her axe at eye level.

YOU will never be good enough.

Betty glanced at the stone grind wheel before looking at the blade in her hand. She let out a sigh of exasperation. "...Right." A voice of defeat escaped her lips, "It's not nearly ready." She turned the massive blade back around and started back at work. As she worked back in silence, Betty didn't notice as some manifestation took form in her shadow.

...Not good enough.

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