𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

TWENTY-ONE.

"I hardly think so. Frankly this is tedious and very immature. Give me the wand. Give me the wand!" Maleficent was shrieking. Ruby stepped in front of Mal.

"I don't think so, dearie."

Maleficent's eyes narrowed.

"Mal, maybe good really is more powerful than evil," Carlos told her. Maleficent mocked him and got attacked by Dude, who she easily threw off. It provided the perfect opportunity for Jay to make a grab for her scepter, but a curse froze him as soon as he touched it and Maleficent shot him back with her magic.

She looked towards her daughter and the wand, realizing she was not giving it up and declared, "You all will regret this."

The same green smoke that had brought her here surrounded her and she transformed into a huge dragon. She blew fire at Jay, who had to duck out of the way. Maleficent chased him, so Ruby ran forward, retrieving her dagger from her boot because even for the coronation she would not leave without it. She threw it straight at the dragon, lodging it right between Maleficent's shoulder blades, making her roar and dive towards her instead of Jay, who she had boxed in.

"Ruby! Jay!" The other three were yelling, urging them to hurry. Jay ran a few feet ahead of Ruby as they were followed by Maleficent.

"Magic Mirror, shine your bright light!" Evie shone the mirror into Maleficent's eyes, making her crash to the ground just as her jaws were about to close in on Ruby.

Mal pushed Evie behind her. "Leave my friends alone! This is between you and me, Mother." 

Maleficent's eyes began glowing and so did Mal's. "The strength of evil is good as none, when standing before five hearts as one."

Mal repeated this over and over and Ruby took her hand that held the wand and joined in. The other three stood behind them as they chanted the words with them. Before they realized what had happened, Maleficent's dragon form was once more enveloped in green smoke. Mal blinked, her eyes back to normal as she looked at the others.

"What just happened?" Jay asked.

"I have no idea."

"Did you do it?" Evie pressed.

"I don't know."

The five of them were running over to where the smoke receded and found a tiny purple lizard. Ruby frowned as she knelt next to it.

"Is that your mother?" Ruby looked up and Mal knelt next to her to examine the small animal.

"I—" Mal didn't know what to say and was shaking her head.

Fairy Godmother rushed over and explained to the five of them what happened. "She shrank to the size of the love in her heart. That's why it's so itty-bitty."

Mal frowned, "Will she stay like this forever?" Evie put a hand on her shoulder and Fairy Godmother gave a reassuring smile.

"Well, forever is a long time. You learned to love. So can she."

Mal smiled and handed over the wand still in her hands, "I believe this belongs to you."

Fairy Godmother took it gratefully and picked up Ben's ring, looking towards Ruby. "And this belongs to you."

"It's still way too big," Ruby mused as she held it up and put it on her ring finger, showing it to Mal, who chuckled. Fairy Godmother smiled and pointed her wand at it, making the ring shrink to fit perfectly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The Fairy Godmother got up and looked at all of them. "You all have earned yourselves an A in Goodness class." The VKs laughed. Ruby was mostly just relieved that she had passed that useless class, hoping she didn't have to go again. Fairy Godmother Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Bood the spell off the frozen crowd, releasing them from Maleficent's curse.