Another swing in a nostalgia attack. I loved the Swan Princess movies as a child and have been doing some playing around with the plot. The movie stayed very closely to the original ballet's plot, except for one thing: Odile. She was replaced by Bridget in the movie. Well, I decided to mix things up a bit by adding Odette's supposed evil twin. I recognize that in the ballet they weren't actually twins, but I wanted to see what would happen if they were. Some parts of the movie seemed to have some consistency issues, but adding Odile fixed that! So I hope you enjoy this story, as I'm very proud of it so far. Reviews are very much appreciated! :)

Once upon a time, there was a King named William, who ruled a large and mighty kingdom. And yet he was sad, for he was growing old, and had no child to inherit the throne. Then, happily, two daughters were born, princesses, and they were given the names Odile and Odette. Kings and queens came from all around to offer their gifts to the children. Among them were the widowed Uberta and her young son, Prince Derek. It was then that William and Uberta happened upon the same idea. Derek and Odette would be brought together each summer in the hopes that they would fall in love and join their kingdoms forever.

But unknown to all was another plan, that of the evil enchanter Rothbart. The princesses' births were of little concern to him, for he was preparing to take William's kingdom by means of the Forbidden Arts. On the eve of his assault, William attacked, and Rothbart's powers were plunged into darkness. Despite calls for his death, the enchanter was only banished. Many feared King William too kind. But in time, the threat was forgotten, and all thoughts soon turned to that not too distant summer when Derek and Odette would meet.

"NO! I WON'T GO! I WON'T, I WON'T!" The young princess shrieked as her governesses tried to slip a pink dress over her head.

"I will not, Odette," her mother corrected. "If you are going to protest, would you at least care to do it with proper grammar?" The fair-haired lady clucked her tongue as she attempted to run a brush through her other daughter's hair. Odile was being quite as difficult as her sister, albeit quieter. She squirmed about the bed, taking her slippers off and picking at the bracelet around her wrist. "Besides, if you behave well, this may not be so bad for you as you believe." The queen nodded had her ladies' maids and sent them away. They left Odette reluctantly, for the girl was still clinging to the bedpost with her head through the sleeve of her dress. Yet they dare not refuse the queen.

"My dears," Queen Annika murmured to calm her daughters once the room was empty of all but them. "Listen closely. Odette, you really would not like to go to Queen Uberta's kingdom, would you?"

"No, Mama," the girl moaned, pressing her cheek against the bedpost to which she still held tightly. Her blue eyes were just beginning to tear up.

"Well, we will just have to do something about that, will we not?" the queen said. She smiled as she began to reveal the simple aspects of her plan to her young children. "Odile, how would you feel about going on Odette's adventure for her?" she asked. She looked at the other girl, who was now playing with the shoe she had successfully removed. She looked virtually identical to her older twin. The small differences between them were virtually indeterminable by someone who did not know them very well. For example, the tighter point of Odette's chin to Odile's rounder one, or the silver flecks unique to Odile's eyes. These blue eyes instantly lit up.

"Oh, Mama! I think I'd very much like to!" the little girl squeaked. She leapt to her feet and began to dance on the huge bed. In addition to the tiny differences in their appearances, their personalities were quite unique. Odile was more adventurous and daring than her sister, and she ran about much more. Odette was typically the calmer one, though she had a vicious temper if provoked. However she was more patient with events. That was why it was only now, when they were preparing to leave soon, that Odette was trying earnestly to get her point across.

Odette now unstuck her cheek from the bedpost and looking up at her mother. There was a red mark on her face that matched the rose carving on the bedpost exactly. "Mama, really? I don't have to go?"

"No, my dear. That is, if Odile will promise, very sincerely, that she will not tell anyone her name. If anyone asks, she is to present herself as Odette. You must not even let your father know!" She grasped the dancing child's hand and pulled her down gently onto the bed. "This is important, child!" she said softly but firmly. "No one must know that you are not your sister. If we keep that little secret just between ourselves, Odile will get to go on an adventure and Odette will get to stay her with her Mama. Are we clear, young ones?" Queen Annika asked her daughter.

Odette squealed and fell into her mother's arms. "Oh, thank you, Mama!" then she turned and tackled her sister into the pillows. "Thank you, Odile! I hope you have fun with that awful Prince Derek!" she and her sister giggled as Odile tried to free herself from the sandwich of the down pillow and Odette.

Queen Annika laughed and shook her head. "Now, Odette, why would you call Prince Derek awful? You have never met him. It is not comely for a princess to judge someone before they are formerly introduced."

Odette got off of her sister and sat on the bed cross-legged, folding her arms across her chest and crinkling her face in an adorable pout. "I do not care, for Prince Derek or the fact that we have not met. I believe he will be just terrible, but Odile can handle him! I am quite sure I cannot, nor would I bear it."

Odile laughed and planted a kiss on Odette's cheek. "Whether he is quite so awful or not, I will take care of him for Odette. He need never know that it is not she!"

Queen Annika smiled and embraced her two daughters. She was pleased that this had gone so well. Her motivations were selfish, she was aware of this. The queen was quite young, much younger than her husband. Theirs had been an arranged marriage as well, and though Queen Annika loved her husband – not exactly romantically, but she did love him - she had always wished that she had been given an option in the topic. Now, the same thing was happening to her eldest daughter, and Odette was proving to be just as reluctant as her mother had been.

She knew that she could be hanged for such deception against Queen Uberta as well as King William, but she could not bear to see her eldest daughter and, admittedly, her favorite of the twins, passed off the in same manner she had been. William did not spend a lot of time with his daughters, and if Odile kept quiet about their pact, he would never know the difference. There was also the issue of Queen Uberta. Whether or not Prince Derek was as awful as her daughters seemed to assume he was, Queen Annika knew for a fact that Queen Uberta would be quite the trying mother-in-law. Annika had never cared for her, finding her to be ostentatious, over-flamboyant in nature, and rather selfish when it came to dealing with foreign policy.

Therefore, the queen, whose mind was still youthful and clever, had come up with this plot. Fortunately Odile was not difficult to convince into a new adventure, or new mischief for that matter. And Odette was more than willing to spend the summer at home with her mother.

She set about immediately disentangling Odette from her dress and putting the same dress on Odile. She took extra care to make her look perfect, styling her hair in the same way as Odette's and even adding the lightest touch of rouge to mimic Odette's natural flush. Odette was similarly garbed in her sister's old clothing. The last thing the queen did was remove the gold locket from around her eldest's neck and fasten it around Odile. Forgetting the locket could ruin everything, as it was a gift from Queen Uberta and Prince Derek. Sending Odile without it would not only offend the royals but risk discovery of the switch.

When the ladies' maids were summoned back in to lead Odile – now Odette – to her father, they were not aware that they were taking the wrong princess. It was a blessing that the two girls often spent a lot of time playing and mimicking one another's mannerisms. Odile, who usually walked with a bit of a slouch and with a wider gait, walked hand in hand with her maid, straight-backed and formal like her sister.

The girls had gotten so into the act that Odile had even fabricated a couple tears to make it seem as though she'd been the one throwing a fit just a few minutes before. Odette threw in a "Goodbye, Odette, I will miss you!" for good measure. Queen Annika just looked on in pleasure, praying that their ruse would never be discovered by the wrong people.