Hey everyone! I'm new to this fandom (writing for it, that is, though I guess I haven't known about it TOO too long either), but I absolutely ADORE the femslashy potential of this series! While I have internal dilemmas over watching (and shipping) a show borne from a line of dolls, my shipper heart aches for Rapple and just gay!Apple in general. I mean, rarely do I have a ship where I go, "That could ACTUALLY happen," but with this one…at least with Apple, I can look at her character and her actions and go, "She is SO totally gay." I honestly think Mattel's intention is for Apple to be gay, even though I know they'll never state it, and I guess I can't really blame them. The Apple/Darling kiss was risky enough for them, I suppose. ANYWAY, I got inspired by this headcanon I read online, about how Apple is so far in the closet that she doesn't even realize there IS a closet. So, yeah, I took that and ran with it.

Please review if you like it so I'll know if I should continue! Reviews really are super motivating for us writers!

Breaking Ever After

Prologue: Curiosity and Kitty Cats

There was a fell presence in the air over Ever After High.

It was faint—so faint that most might have missed it, but to a select few, something seemed just a little bit…off.

Birds were still chirping overhead, the sky was clear and near-cloudless, and a gentle breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees in the forest. It was, for all intents and purposes, a perfectly normal, even pleasant, day in Ever After.

Still, a collective shiver danced down the spines of several students that afternoon, though they could not for the lives of them pick out the reason.

And it was a very good reason, at that.

Because on that beautiful, near-cloudless afternoon, with the birds chirping and the breeze blowing (or perhaps because of it), Kitty Cheshire was bored.

It was odd.

The perfect day for a catnap, the perfect tree branch to stretch luxuriously over and yet…and yet.

And yet Kitty Cheshire could not, for the life of her, get comfortable.

It was all Lizzie's fault, she thought sullenly as she lay there—on her back, most recently—arms hanging from either side of the thick branch. Stupid Lizzie, being busy all the time when she knew full well that she was one of the only people in this school whose companionship Kitty could stand. Maddie was alright, as well, if hard to understand at times, even for a Wonderlandian, but she was always off some place or another—it was hardly a recent development in her case, so Kitty could hardly blame her.

Lizzie, though…Lizzie was usually around to engage in halfway intelligent conversation, and now, with her being so preoccupied with her stupid, doomed romance with Daring Charming, of all people…

Now, Kitty was stuck here, in some tree branch, listening to Apple White whine about Raven Queen and her latest flame, unable to even tune it out.

"I just don't think it's conducive to our destinies," she was saying. "I mean, it's not even about me and my destiny at all. I just don't want her to get hurt when they inevitably—"

"Really?" Kitty asked dryly, cutting off the mini-tirade and rolling onto her stomach to get a better view of the miffed blonde. She'd kept her silence for some time now, thinking that maybe, if she ignored Apple, the girl would just go away. After all, she'd appeared suddenly enough, stomping around the forest (just like a girl destined to be the next Snow White would, thought Kitty sarcastically) like it had personally offended her. The blonde had then plopped herself down at the base of the tree and just started talking, like Kitty actually cared. "Because it seems to me like you're just pissy because your precious Raven doesn't have any time for you anymore."

As soon as the words left her lips, Kitty's ears perked up. Wait a tick…it actually did sound like that!

"What?" Apple spluttered, leaping up from the ground and staring up at Kitty, who was now wearing a dangerous-looking smirk. "That's…that's ridiculous! What on earth would make you think—"

"Well you're not exactly subtle," Kitty drawled, getting into it. "I mean, please. Following her around all the time, looking at her like you're in love with her—and the whole thing with Darling waking you up didn't exactly reaffirm your heterosexuality."

Apple flushed as red as…well, her namesake, her eyes wide as her mouth flapped. "B-but…but I'm not…and Darling isn't…it was the CPR!"

Kitty snorted in a decidedly undignified manner before disappearing and reappearing on the ground next to Apple (okay, now she knew there was something wrong with her—why hadn't she just disappeared when Apple started whining? But now, now it was getting interesting, and she was not about to go anywhere).

She held up three slender fingers in front of the blonde's face, and began ticking off, one at a time, "One, yes, you are. Two, not that that has anything to do with this, but yes, she is, actually. And three…" She paused, holding her index finger up for a long second before tapping Apple on the head with it. "In your experience, does CPR typically result in a blinding flash of light and a heart-shaped exhalation of smoke?"

She put her hand down, examining Apple's face, before continuing, smirk growing, "Imagine what the others will think—their perfect little princess, gay as the Fourth of July. What will everyone say?"

Nothing, probably, she thought to herself as Apple's eyes grew wide in horror—she clearly though Kitty was going to spread the word, even though that wasn't really her style. She's so transparent that even that narcissistic nitwit Daring probably knows.

But Apple was clearly under the impression that she was completely, one hundred percent heterosexual (even if she was the absolute only person who was, with the possible exception of Raven Queen, of course) and Kitty did love to stir herself up a good drama. She hummed knowingly as Apple shook her head.

"I…I can't…I don't feel that way about Raven…?" She seemed to be talking more to herself than to Kitty at this point, and the last bit came out as more of a question than a reassurance. "I…I'm not gay, I'm the daughter of Snow White—I can't be gay." She stated it like the two were mutually contradictory states of being, and suddenly Kitty realized why Apple White was the only one who didn't realize how completely gay she was for Raven Queen. As part of her (occasionally obnoxious) act as the next Snow White, Apple had never even considered that anything about herself might be somehow different from expected. It wasn't about denial or keeping up appearances—she genuinely did not know.

Suddenly, Kitty wasn't quite so bored anymore. Her mischievous grin widened, though Apple couldn't see it through her internal conflict. She'd set the scene, and now it was time to do what she did best—sit back and enjoy the show.

She stood up and looked down at the girl, dusting herself free of invisible dirt. "Well, if you absolutely can't be gay…I suppose there is no other explanation for it. You must be a much better person than I am, Apple White," she said, vaguely. "I mean, I can't imagine myself being so concerned about who a friend is dating," a careful emphasis on the proper word, "purely for their sake. But that's just me. I guess I'm just…selfish."

With that last statement and a lighthearted shrug, Kitty disappeared in a dusting of glitter, her wide, cat-like smile lingering for just a second before it, too, faded to nothing.

Leaving poor, hopelessly confused Apple White to sort through the mess of emotions and (perhaps) realizations that Kitty had stirred up, all by herself.

UGH, I feel like something is missing D: I'm always super nervous about writing for a new fandom, so I'm sorry if it's awful xP

ANYWAY, please leave a review and let me know how I did/if you want it to continue! :D