Work Text:
Once upon a time, there was a young woman named Cinderella. She lived in a kingdom with her selfish stepmother and her awful stepsisters, both treating her as a worthless maid rather than as an equal. She was forced to get up before dawn and work all day, all while her stepmother and stepsisters did whatever they wished. She was the one who cooked all of their meals and cleaned up after them. One morning, exciting news spread across the kingdom like wildfire. The prince was going to be having a ball to find himself a wife, and all of the maidens of the kingdom were invited. Of course, this would hypothetically mean that Cinderella would be allowed to go, but alas, her stepfamily had other plans.
"Cinderella, would you be a dear and make us dresses for the ball?" Cinderella's stepmother questioned.
"I suppose..." Came Cinderella's reply, "But when will I have time to make my own dress?"
It's not even as if Cinderella wanted to have a chance at marrying the prince. She didn't want to marry anyone, ever. She just wanted a chance to get away from her life of constant work, even if only temporarily. Besides, if she went, it's not like the prince would fall in love with her or anything.
Cinderella's stepsisters laughed as her stepmother spoke, "Since when did we say YOU were going?"
One of the stepsisters commented, "And even if you did go, you wouldn't have a chance with the prince!"
"You probably wouldn't even have a chance with any of the Prince's servants!" The other stepsister commented.
"Yes, because that's the only reason I could ever want to go. I couldn't ever want to go in order to escape the horribleness that is you three." Cinderella mumbled before speaking up, "I'm sure I wouldn't, and I most definitely care about that more than anything else."
Luckily for Cinderella, her stepfamily failed to pick up on her tone.
"Stop fantasizing about that and get back to work." Cinderella's stepmother spoke.
Cinderella did as told and went back to sweeping the floor. As the days went on, Cinderella found herself more miserable than ever, having to stay up way past midnight just to get the gowns done. The day of the ball finally came, and Cinderella's stepfamily were trying to be as rude to Cinderella as ever. However, these insults and claims all had to do with the possibility of her marrying the prince or anyone for that matter, something Cinderella didn't want to do. As the stepfamily headed out, they gave Cinderella extra things to do, seemingly to make sure she couldn't go to the ball if she tried. So Cinderella spent the first part of the night cleaning. As she finished sweeping outside, she found herself staring at the castle.
"I wish I could have gone to the ball..." Cinderella sighed.
As she spoke, magic swirled around and a fairy appeared.
Cinderella picked up her broom and got ready to swing.
"Who are you?!" She demanded, "And why are you here?"
"Darling, do not worry, for I am your fairy godmother." The fairy explained, "I am here to grant you your wish."
"But how...?" Cinderella questioned, setting the broom down, "I don't have anything to wear, and I still have to do so many chores. Besides, how would I get there?"
"Magic, of course." The Fairy Godmother smiled, "It only lasts until midnight though."
The Fairy Godmother tapped her wand on Cinderella's head, immediately changing her appearance. Cinderella's dress changed from a patched up dress to a beautiful blue gown, her shoes changing to heels made of glass. Her hair was taken down and was completely cleaned and detangled. The fairy godmother then tapped her wand onto the ground, creating a carriage.
"This is great and all, but it still doesn't help with the chores." Cinderella pointed out.
"Do not worry about that dear, I'll take care of them." the Fairy Godmother spoke, taking the broom from Cinderella, "Now get going, you don't want the magic to wear off or to be late. You don't want to miss your chance to fall in love."
Cinderella ignored the final comment as she hopped into the carriage. Once she arrived at the ball, she was quickly noticed by the prince. After dancing with some of the others for a bit, he came up to Cinderella.
"May I have this dance?" He questioned her.
Not seeing the harm in dancing with him for a bit, Cinderella replied, "Of course."
The duo danced on and off for the greater part of the ball. Cinderella was having enough fun that she had been forgetting to check the time.
After another round of the duo dancing, the prince admitted, "I think I'm in love with you."
Cinderella glanced at the clock, feeling deeply uncomfortable, and saw that the time was three minutes until midnight. So, as the prince started to lean in to kiss her, unaware of the other's discomfort, Cinderella pushed him away.
"I have to go!" She announced, running off.
The prince chased her. Cinderella ran through the doors and down the stairs, not stopping, even as one of her glass slippers slid off her foot. Knowing the time and how the prince was following her, she knew that if she were to go back for it, the prince would catch her and the magic would wear off. Neither of those were things she wanted, so she continued off, hopping into the carriage that she came in. The prince found the glass slipper and held onto it, a single tear rolling down his eyes as the clock struck midnight.
Cinderella had almost made it home when the dongs of the clock started, so once her carriage disappeared, it was a short walk. However, she was quick to notice that her glass slipper did not disappear like everything else.
"You have to be kidding me!" She exclaimed, knowing that she may be able to be tracked down using the other slipper.
Although she was upset, Cinderella continued back to her home. When she arrived, the Fairy Godmother was nowhere to be found, but Cinderella's chores were all done.
"At least something can go my way..." Cinderella sighed, emotionally exhausted.
In the following days, more news spread across the kingdom. News that the prince was attempting to track down the mysterious maiden he had fallen in love with. He had been going house to house, trying to find the person who fit into the glass slipper. After a few days, the prince had made it to the home of Cinderella and her stepfamily.
"One of you better get your foot to fit into the slipper!" Cinderella's stepmother yelled as the prince walked up to the door.
Her two daughters nodded, agreeing.
The stepmother was quick to let the prince in. Both of Cinderella's stepsisters tried as hard as they could to fit their feet into the slipper, but to no avail.
"Are they the only maidens who live in this home?" The prince asked.
Before the stepmother could reply, Cinderella walked into the room, continuing to sweep.
The prince stared at her for a moment before speaking, "You seem familiar."
Cinderella was startled and dropped the broom. A look of terror appeared on her face.
"Why would she seem familiar?" One of the stepsisters asked.
"I do not know." The prince replied before turning back to Cinderella, "It is your turn to try on the glass slipper."
"No thanks." Cinderella spoke.
"Even though we know it won't fit you, you may as well try." One of the stepsisters spoke, "Besides, if it fits, we can get rid of you and you can have your relationship or whatever."
Cinderella's stepmother and other stepsister agreed.
Cinderella's jaw dropped. She had expected her stepfamily to agree with her for once, not try and force her into this.
"Please?" The prince asked.
"Like I said before, no." Cinderella stood her ground, "Why would I try when I am not even interested in pursuing a relationship ever?"
"You're funny, Cinderella." One of the stepsisters laughed.
"We all know you want to, so do it!" The other spoke.
"If you wanted me gone so long ago, I would have left on my own accord. However, I was left with the impression that you wanted me around to be your personal maids." Cinderella harshly spoke.
"We couldn't have you just leave on your own. We need to set you up with someone in a higher rank of society so we can be in a higher position." The stepmother spoke, "I wasn't originally planning on your husband being the prince, but it definitely doesn't hurt for it to be him. So please, try on the slipper!!!"
"What part of I don't want a relationship do you people not get?" Cinderella exclaimed, flopping onto the couch in the room, "I just want to live all on my own with no one else, and maybe have a couple of pet rats!!"
"Cinderella, you're being ridiculous!" The stepmother yelled back, "We all know you want to marry someone!"
Seeing as she was barefoot, the prince slid the slipper on Cinderella's foot why she was distracted arguing. Seeing that the slipper fit, he smiled at her. The others in the room noticed as the prince stood up. The previous look of terror returned to Cinderella's face.
"Cinderella, would you please take my hand in marriage?" The prince questioned, "Everyone in the room knows that everyone wants a relationship, so would you please?"
Cinderella took off the slipper, stood up, threw the slipper at the prince, it shattering on contact, and ran while everyone else was too in shock to move. Cinderella ran and ran, eventually making it to another kingdom that didn't have great relations with her home kingdom. The prince had made attempts to ask other kingdoms to search for her, but Cinderella's new kingdom refused to. In this kingdom, Cinderella was able to adopt some pet rats and live happily ever after, all by herself.