239 General Power 20

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a Princess who lived in a wonderful, magical kingdom ruled by her father the kind and just King Stefan the Good. This kingdom was quite unlike the brutalist cities you may know, it had rivers of brightest aquamarine, sand as smooth as silk and forests with trees taller than the tallest towers. It was a kingdom comprised of all manner of unique beings living together in harmony be they men, faerie or even ogre. None ever quarreled and each home was as unique and beautiful as the hearts of those that dwelt within. The streets were made of rainbow and the lamps shone like the stars themselves, and nobody was ever afright, even in the darkest of nights.

From the littlest pixie to the most ferocious of giants, all knew they were watched, protected, and loved by the greatest of heroes, the Order of Pandora. Heroes like Sister Sophia of the Holy Light, Sir King champion of the Apple-folk, Sir Kondraki the Dragonrider, Sir Gears legendary tinkerer and their faithful hunting dog Kain. Even once-enemies such as the arch-wizard Clef the Terrible had joined their number, swayed by their friendship and inherent goodness to turn his machinations to the side of Good. A kingdom in which it was playtime all the time and no citizen ever felt sad or lonely.

[...]

Growing up, the young royal had always been a little different from the other children. She was able to do things, impossible things, just by wishing them so, though few seemed to realize things had ever changed at all. Not so, for the Order of Pandora, well versed in these sorts of things. One day, while at the royal court, she was Seen, and told that not only was she a Princess, but a Witch as well! Oh how proud she was! Oh how proud her parents and her kingdom were of her! But being a witch wasn't all it was cracked up to be after all. The training was fun and she got along well with many of her teachers, but the tests were dull and the rules… My goodness the Rules! She could feel this immense amount of power, pressure behind her eyes like the expansion of galaxies, and she was only allowed to use the smallest bit of it, to make the most boring of changes, out of spells in a book. And only during specified times too! No playing with her magic allowed. Of course, much like any little girl, she had a Serpent whispering in her ear, telling her “Break the rules! Cast some spells! Nobody will ever know!” And sometimes she would fall prey to the Serpent (as many of us do when chafing against seemingly unjust rules) and cast a little spell, have a little fun, harmless really, and sometimes, often even, her teachers never seemed to find out. But not Clef, never Clef. He was the one teacher that always knew, no matter what she did, no matter where she did it — somehow, he always knew.

[...]

Clef raged at the world, gnashing his teeth, incensed by his righteous justice being stolen from him. Well, he thought it righteous, if you asked just about anybody else they’d say killing a little girl for breaking the rules was a bit harsh, but for Clef breaking the rules was breaking his universe. He put up a wall, miles tall, covered in thorny vines, completely surrounding the kingdom. He freed the Dragon, ancient enemy of the Order, who patrolled the land, destroying any waking being who came near, healing from any injury that would kill another of its sort. He enchanted one hundred and seventy-three gargoyles, who would move in the blink of the eye, assassinating those unfortunate enough not to know better. The kingdom was Good no longer, it was Clef’s, and belonged to the darkness in his heart as surely as Clef himself did.

***
Siggy and the Slumbering Woods
[Note: Various words in this article link to other SCP pages, implying that those are their true identities. "faerie" links to SCP-4000, "ogre" links to SCP-082, "Dragon" links to SCP-682, and "gargoyles" links to SCP-173]