A Lieutenant Duckling Story

The Swan Princess

Princess Emma Swan was the only daughter of King Charming and Queen Snow White. They were benevolent rulers whom everyone loved – villager and servant alike. Their kingdom was surrounded by forests with an enchanted lake situated in the midst of the trees.

Emma, with her long blonde hair and eyes the color of emeralds, took after her mother Snow White, being the fairest of them all. Emma also had her mother's strength, while she had the courage and bravery of her father. One would think that Emma's life as a princess in a palace would be glamorous, but things aren't always as they seem. Despite the goodness of her parents and their people, there was still evil lurking around the kingdom in the form of the evil sorcerer, Rumplestiltskin. It was her parents', as well as Emma's, own dealings with him that led her to the library of their castle looking for a way to break curses without true love. As Emma combed the various, worn books, she thought of that fateful night seven years ago.

At 18, Emma had met Neal – a prince from the kingdom of Seabrooke. It didn't take very long for Emma to fall for him. Within a couple years, Emma knew she had found her true love, just like her parents. She knew she had found the one she wanted to spend her life with. It was clear that Neal felt the same because a few months before Emma's 21st birthday, he proposed. Emma couldn't imagine being any happier than she was in that moment as tears of joy streamed down her face. When Snow and Charming found out the news, they wanted to throw a ball to celebrate the happy couple, and on the night of Emma's birthday, everyone had gathered at the palace. Everything was going perfectly well – Snow and Charming were watching their daughter dance in the arms of her fiancé amongst the other elated pairs. Everyone was having a wonderful time – that is, until Rumplestiltskin and his long lost daughter, the Wicked Witch Zelena, made an appearance.

Long ago, shortly after Snow found out she was pregnant with Emma, it was discovered that Zelena had been planning to enact the not yet successful time-travel curse in order to get back at her half-sister, the former Evil Queen, Regina. Before Cora was married to Regina's father, she had a relationship with Rumplestiltskin and had gotten pregnant. Cora knew this pregnancy and a connection of this kind with the Dark One would ruin any chance at her being royalty, so she gave up her baby girl. Years later, when Zelena discovered her true parentage, she made her mission to find her family and get back at the sister who got everything. A time travel curse required ingredients of courage, wisdom, love, and innocence. Nothing was more innocent than a baby, and a baby that was the product of true love – like Emma – was icing on the cake. With their child in danger, Snow and Charming made a deal with the Dark One, knowing he was the only one powerful enough to stop Zelena. However, unbeknownst to Snow and Charming, Rumple had gone behind their backs to make a more enticing deal with Zelena – which would mean that Rumple would take Emma from Snow and Charming and give her to Zelena when born. Thankfully, the feud between Regina and Snow White had long since ended, and Regina was able to find a way to protect Emma from both Rumplestiltskin and Zelena. Neither one of them liked being thwarted and vowed to get back at the king and queen. They decided the perfect night to enact their revenge was the night of Emma and Neal's engagement ball.

Rumple and Zelena combined their powers to shoot a wave of magic at Emma; when Neal pushed Emma behind him to protect her, they soon discovered the magic was deadly – Neal couldn't be saved. With Emma being the product of her parents' true love, she had powerful light magic – powerful enough to defeat Zelena. Once Zelena dissolved into nothingness, everyone thought that would be the end of it. As Emma's protective instincts had faded, she soon realized the reality of the situation and began crying over the body of her deceased fiancé. Rumple, however, would prove that no one breaks a deal with him, and no one defeats his daughter and gets away with it. So, he cursed Emma with an unbreakable curse – the princess would take the form of a swan each day from sunset to sunrise. The only way it could be broken is if Emma found her true love. But for Emma, that was the man laying lifeless on the floor.