In the days to follow Stefan's death and Aurora's subsequent rise to power, the young Prince Phillip found himself enamored with Princess Aurora and her legendary tale. Even though they had only met once before, Phillip was interested in getting to see Aurora again and that was why, as soon as he was able, he returned to Aurora's kingdom in hopes of finding her once more. When he failed to find her in Stefan's castle, though, he set his sights to the Moors, where they had first met a couple months back. Admittedly, he felt silly riding through the trees in the off-chance that he might run into Aurora once again, but he still hoped that Lady Luck might favor him and allow him to find Aurora the same way she had found him those couple months ago… Besides, this seemed like the most logical place to find the girl. If she was not at Stefan's castle, then where else-?

SNAP! Phillip whipped his head around when he heard what sounded like a very large branch being broken behind him. Nothing.

"I must be letting my nerves get to me," he muttered to himself, ashamed at how easily he was scaring. He tried to boost his confidence and he urged his horse further along down the muddy path, but barely five seconds later, another loud noise startled him to life.

CRUNCH! It sounded like a large stone off in the distance had just been smashed to bits.

"Who goes there?" he demanded, drawing his sword. Even though he had only come to visit Aurora, he still decided to bring some form of protection just in case something befell him during his journey. Now, it looked like his precautious were about to pay off. "Answer me now and I will not harm you!" he continued to shout through the woods. But only a second after he'd finished this sentence, his sword suddenly began to curl. Like a scroll being wrapped back up, his sword's blade began to roll itself into a tight little wad. The prince's eyes went wide with horror and terror and he dropped his sword with a yelp as though it had burned him. But the terror was not over yet…

Instead, as soon as the sword hit the ground, it suddenly went shooting away from Phillip and his horse, disappearing quickly from sight. This sudden motion from the blade frightened Phillip's horse and it finally reared back. Although the sounds had scared it too, because they made more sense to the horse (stones and branches breaking in the forest were not an uncommon sound), it hadn't reacted too terribly. But that sudden flash of silver shooting off in front of it gave it a fright.

"Woah! Easy there! Steady now!" Phillip gripped the reigns tighter as he tried to calm his steed back down. Right before he managed to get it to stop bucking, though, a massive shadow flew overhead and the horse finally began to run in a blind terror.

"Woah! Woah! WOAH!" Phillip gripped the reigns frantically as he tried to slow the horse down. He was terrified too, but what he saw that the horse failed to grasp was a fallen log that they were approaching rapidly. If the horse wasn't careful, both it and its rider would go flying. Phillip tried to get the beast to at least slow down, but it was beyond reasoning now and it only continued to run.

"Oh no…" Phillip despaired softly, silently praying that he would survive… Then that was when the strangest thing of all happened. In the split second before Phillip's horse would've taken a fatal trip over the log, both it and its rider seemed to freeze completely, but they did not come to a jarring halt. Instead, even though the stop happened in under a second, it felt as if he had been eased into it, rather than abruptly halted. In the back of his mind, Phillip realized that he had felt this sensation once before…

"I'm looking for a girl!" he had been speaking to a large, horned woman who had given him the most curious of expressions in return.

"Yes," she had almost sounded amused before waving a hand in front of his face. Then he'd collapsed. His eyes went wide with the realization that it was, most likely, she who was tormenting him now. He wanted to say something, but it was as if his body and mind had turned to mush. They were no longer under his control. But then only a second later, the spell released its hold and Phillip was able to move and think clearly once more.

He still did not have time to speak, however, when a new threat reared its ugly head at him. Literally. One of the trees in the distance began to move, rising up and turning its wooden face towards Phillip.

"A tree warrior!" he gasped in terror, trembling like a leaf. The tree warrior made no move towards him, but it did not need to in order to scare the life out of him. That terrifying face, alone, was enough to render the poor prince powerless. He was infinitely grateful that the creature had chosen to stand still and merely glare at him rather than attempt to attack, but Phillip was still worried that even one small movement from him might set the creature off. What was he supposed to do now? Risk turning his back and fleeing? Or just wait in a silent standoff until something happened?

The answer was given to him not a minute later. A very fierce gust of wind suddenly struck him hard in the face, almost toppling him from his saddle. It was only by luck (or so he thought) that he remained atop his mount. But it was at this point that he finally got the hint. Instead of trying to run deeper into the forest, he immediately turned his horse around and they both fled the Moors in silent terror. There was no screaming or panicking, but both prince and horse left the forest with hearts pounding louder and faster than the horse's hooves as it fled.

"Hmm!" the one responsible for all the chaos watched Phillip flee with a sadistic smile spreading across her face. She flew silently after him, just to make sure he left the Moors completely, but as soon as he had crossed back over into the human territory, she turned back towards the Moors. Well! That had been fun! There was no better way to spend the afternoon than terrorizing that nosy little would-be suitor! She chuckled to herself as the image of his terrified face remained imprinted in her mind. Even long after he had fled the kingdom, she remained in good spirits.

"Who was that, Godmother?" Aurora asked once she caught sight of Maleficent returning to their little courtyard.

"No one important. Just a lost peasant," Maleficent replied with a shrug.

"You didn't hurt them, did you?" Aurora's curiosity turned to concern, not for Maleficent, but for her human victim.

"Define "hurt"," Maleficent shrugged again and pretended to ponder Aurora's question.

"Godmother!" the human girl sighed in exasperation. Maleficent's face melted into an amused smirk.

"Alright, Beastie, alright. No need to worry," she said. "I did not harm the human, only spooked them a little." Aurora heaved another sigh in response to this, she having never liked Maleficent's more sadistic pleasures, but because she knew Maleficent's word was good, she was able to rest assured that the human was ok. Mostly.

But she couldn't help but wonder who that peasant was. Even though Aurora remained mostly in the Moors, she occasionally served her human kingdom as well, and she wanted to know if the peasant might've been someone she knew.

"No. You would not have known them," Maleficent replied calmly. "It was no one important. No one at all." And even though Aurora had the sneaking suspicion that Maleficent was lying, she decided not to press the issue further.

AN: Here you go, Qiralyn Cassette, Maleficent scaring Phillip. I can definitely see her doing this canonically.