Chapter 1: The Cat Who Cried Wolf / Cedar Wood Would Love to Lie

We get more side characters now. Weirdly, Kitty would get a doll far later than nearly anyone else.

Woosh.

Cerise is running through the forest with a wolf, and stops in a clearing. Her hood falls down, revealing furry wolf ears.

"I would love to race again, Carmine," she said, while hastily pulling up her cover again, "But I have to get back to school. Go find our pack."

So was there a chance that Cerise could have came out like Carmine - full wolf? Probably not right, I mean I don't remember members of the Wolf family being wolf like that, so...who knows, man.

Cerise hopes that no one spotted her, but someone did....

 concerned_tone.mp4

Kitty [Cheshire] is sitting outside what looks to be her dorm room in a tree. Some students do have special dorm, I think Rapunzel's daughter gets a tower to herself simply to get used to the sensation. She teases Cerise that she knows.

"You can't tell anyone, Kitty," Cerise pleads, but the catgirl grins and disappears.

There's being a prankster, then there's being a jackass...but that's a story for another special.

Raven sees Cerise and asks if she wants to talk about what happened. It seems that she already knew Cerise's secret about her ears, but not the actual lead up. Does she think there was a dubious consent situation or something?

You get a quick shot of Cerise's family. The Big Bad Wolf (Badwolf) and Red Riding Hood - this is the only visual you see of her in the entire franchise. Badwolf is a teacher at the school.

wolf_whistle.mp4

 I will give credit where it is due - Red actually looks like an adult. You'd not be surprised how often there are fantasy pairings with a big, beefy, hairy king and his wife looks like a teenage waif. Looking at you, Tangled The Series.

But hey, I'm not here to front and pretend like Mattel doesn't make really good adult male characters. At least visually.

In the book canon, Cerise reveals both sides of her heritage to the Wolf and Hood families in Hood Hollow, which is seen to be part of The Dark Forest where two other characters that will be introduced later live.

Anyway, there are calls to exile Cerise from the forest unless she won a race or something. Either way -

~*It was [almost] never brought up again!*~ 
in any medium. Cerise keeps her hood up and we are introduced to the next Badwolf but 

Ever After at large doesn't care.

Raven promises not to say anything.

You're also introduced to Professor .... well, we can guess that his name is Gingerbreadman, but later there is a character named Ginger Breadhouse (Who lived in the aforementioned forest as a child) who is the daughter of the Candy Witch who kidnaps Hansel and Gretel. Are they related? Did the Candy Witch bake a husband to - you know what, that's enough of that. His flashback to his story is hilarious.

Anyway, Kitty and her pet caterpillar (Carrolloo?) show up and release an elk onto the field, to tempt Cerise into hunting it.

Never seen again. Giant bugs!

Cerise goes Super Saiyan Wolf-mode and starts sprinting after it.

Beast mode Cerise is pretty kickass, honestly. I don't think we see this again in the visual medium, which is a real pity. Just one more instance where Mattel had a great setup and squandered it.

I do wonder what Kitty expected. Her to start mauling an animal? What would she do? Could she turn into a wolf?

Cerise stops just short of attacking the elk, and Kitty appears and asks her what her deal was, as if she had nothing to do with it and her motif wasn't splashed all over this cart.

Oh damn who could it be.

Raven quickly jumps in, saying she cast a speed spell on Cerise's shoes and that it must have worked. Then she casts the spell on Kitty's shoes, and because it was maliciou for good intent, it works without a hitch and sends her running around the track.

 This is another webisode with all the potential in the world that ultimately goes nowhere.

---

Cedar Wood Would Love to Lie 

There's actually a bit in Cedar's initial diary where, although it is a fruitless exercise, Apple works with Cedar to get her to tell a fib. It's sweet, there's also another webisode down the line that's about Apple and Cedar.

It's not without it's problems, oh no, but I think there was good potential for a stronger Apple-Cedar friendship. Maybe she would be willing to listen to someone who wants their destiny but doesn't mind if others stray.

Here is Jack B. Nimble, another storybook character I never expected to see;

As you might imagine, we never see him again. I really should be keeping a timer of all this nonsense, the wasted possibilities. What possibilities he would have had, I have no idea.

He gives the students an assignment - come up with a tall tale. A fib. A mistruth. A Lie.

Something Cedar cannot do.

She explains this and the teacher tells her to instead find something so outlandish that no one will ever believe it. A reasonable accommodation? Now you know this is a fairy tale.

She goes wandering around the forest and finds ...

A cutie.

 Ashlynn and Hunter on a romantic picnic!

Honestly, the forest is a piss-poor place to keep a secret in this school.

 The two try to deny it, but Cedar pulls out several bits of evidence, including romantic cupcakes and a tree with their initials carved into it. I kind of wanted her to say "YOU MUTILATED MY FAMILY MEMBER."

Hunter had a letter he was going to give to Ashlynn; "I'm so glad we're secretly dating!" dude, that is tangible evidence. I know this is about old school romanticism but I'm sure a hext message can be properly encrypted.

Cedar then laments that she will have to tell when they go to class later, as she cannot lie. Hunter's just kind of indifferent and keeps eating some peanuts;

First your lax methods of encryption then your indifference, what's the problem man.

Which gives Cedar an idea.

In class, she takes out a bag of peanuts and starts chowing down when she tells her story. Even the teacher is confused as to what she's saying, which probably impacted her grade some, but Ashlynn and Hunter are deeply appreciative.

This is another Ash and Hunt hidden romance episode with another character as the forefront. I can't believe there's a better lead up to this plot point in the story than one of destinies and family history.