//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Interviewing Cinderella // Story: Friends and Fairy Tales // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// Twilight tried to mentally prepare herself before opening the door to the ballroom. Using the breathing technique she learned from Cadence, she breathed in deeply, lifting her hoof to her withers before exhaling while extending that hoof. With a calm mind, she was ready to face her teacher. Pushing the door open, she found there where Solar guards and maids alike that all stood at a distance from the pony at the center of the room – the white alicorn sat down next to a soapy bucket and using a rag to clean the marble floor until it shown her reflection. As far as Twilight could see, Celestia did not have her crown, or any of the usual golden jewelry, her alabaster coat was patched, even caked in dust, soot and dirt. And while it was almost noon, her former teacher looked very tired. Twilight went up to her, giving a gentle smile, “Hello.” The alicorn looked up from her work, “Oh, do excuse me, I’m nearly finished with the floor and I shalt be out of thy way.” “Don’t you recognize me?” Twilight asked, “Even a little bit?” “Somehow… I do, but I do not understandeth how it is possible. For I hath never seen thee in my life, yet, somehow… it is as if I have known thee well.” “Do you know my name?” The alicorn on the floor paused to think, “Thou… art Twilight Sparkle?” She nodded, “Yes, remember? I was a student of yours?” “But that I do not understand,” the sun alicorn returned to her work, “This morning, I hath woken up in land that I never seen, in a body that is not of my own, and have memories that I do not recall possessing. Surely, knowing thee and this place is not of mine own. Even with knowledge of me being a Princess of the Day called Celestia of Everfree. Yet, I know that it is not true, for my name is Cinderella.” Twilight looked around the Ballroom, “Why are you cleaning this room all by yourself? You have maids that would gladly do the job for you.” “These ponies hath asked the same question as thee,” said Cinderella. “But I cannot allow it because I am a maid. Although my stepmother is not here, she would still expected me to continue on with the choirs that still need to be done. Perhaps they hath gone to the festival again, and oh so much is there to be done!” The lilac alicorn sat down on her hunches, “Can I ask you something, I don’t know if it’ll help but I think it might be worth a try. Cinderella, would you tell me about yourself?” Cinderella looked up at her in surprise, “What?” Taking a dripping wet rag from the bucket, Twilight told her, “Look, if I would help you clean, would you tell me about who you are – not as Celestia, but as Cinderella. If I’m going to help you in any way, I might as well try to get to know you first.” She looked down at her reflection before the maid said, “Perhaps that seems fair.” “Okay,” Twilight said, as she rubbed the rag around in circles, “so where are you from?” “In the Holy Roman Empire of the region of Baden-Württemberg, by the Black Forest.” “How long have you been a maid for?” Cinderella dipped her rag into the bucket, “Since the day my father hath married my stepmother who brought me my two stepsisters. This happened when I was but a little girl after my mother died.” “Oh… I’m so sorry.” Sighing, Cinderella added, “She made me a promise that as long as I remain good and pious, the good God will always protect me and mother will always be near me, so ever since that day, I hath wept over her grave to remind myself of the promise that I hath long kept. Before that dark day, I was happy that father was a rich merchant, and mother had a kind heart. But when father remarried, he brought home three women who art pretty of face but vile and black of heart. ‘Is the stupid goose to sit in the parlor with us?’ said they. ‘He who wants to eat bread must earn it; out with the kitchen-wench.’ From that day, they took away my pretty clothes, put an old gray bed-gown upon me and given unto me wooden shoes to wear. ‘Just look at the proud princess,’ they mocked, ‘how decked out she is!’” “That sounds awful,” Twilight commented. “Does your father know about this?” Cinderella sniffed, “Father, being a merchant, is away for months at a time to make his fortune, and has little time to be at home. For when he is not there, my stepmother has me work from dusk ‘til dawn with a list of tasks for me to do. Each day, I have to get up at daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook and wash. Beside this, my stepsisters did every imaginable injury unto me – they mock me and emptied my peas and lentils into the ashes, so that I was forced to sit there and pick them out again. Also, Twilight Sparkle, I am called Cinderella because each night, I am always so weary from my work, and since I do not hath a bed to sleep in, I lay in the ashes by the fireplace where I always wake up dusty and dirty, in which my sisters gave me the name.” It left the Princess of Friendship speechless. For it was one thing to read about this sort of abuse in fiction, but it was entirely different when hearing it described from somepony that has gone through it, “I… I don’t know what to say.” “However, as of recent, I hath found a reason to be happy.” “Oh?” Cinderella dipped her rag back in the water, smiling, she said, “For the past two nights, I was blessed to dance with the Prince!” “But how-” “Twilight,” the Princess turned around to the door, finding Luna stuck her head into the Ball Room, “My guards have told me that your brother and Cadence have just arrived.” “Coming,” she stood up, putting her rag into the bucket, “Cinderella, I’m going to talk with a few ponies and then I’ll come right back to help you. I’m interested in how you’ve met this Prince of yours.” “Well, I believeth that I shall finish this task quite soon. But if thou still wish to speak with me, I shalt be sweeping the kitchens.” “Thank you, I’ll be right back,” Twilight headed out the door, and Luna escorted her to the private study. “I wonder if there’s any way to reverse it?” she asked the Princess of the Night. “Hopefully there is. I refuse to believe that both she and Blueblood would have gone mad overnight. There must have been something that would cause this suddenly insane.” “Actually, I think I might have been responsible for it,” the violet Princess said sheepishly. This got Luna’s attention, “You? How?” “My friends have been affected the same way. I went to see Pinkie this morning when the Cakes came over to tell me that she’s been acting unusual.” “But wouldn’t that… (how do you say) Pinkie being Pinke?” “Did I mention she was making candy?” Luna blinked, “Come again?” “Like Celestia, she thoroughly believes that she’s somepony else and claims that while she still has Pinkie’s memories, she said that she knows it isn’t hers. Saying that she’s… give me a moment… Willy Wonka. I saw that she was selling things that I didn’t know was possible, like displaying a tub of ice cream that doesn’t melt, or muffins that change flavor every time you eat it. I saw a jar that had the label: ‘Cinnamon Firecrackers,’ which I’m a little afraid what those do.” “But I fail to understand how you’re responsible for any of this,” the blue alicorn pointed out. Sighing, Twilight replied, “To put a long story short, Sunset asked me to take a look into some enchanted books she found in the human word. Apparently, all seven books are from fairy tales that are well known in the human world. I guess what happened is that there must have been a mix up when Spike sent the books to you and to our friends. What’s really frustrating is that I don’t have any idea how they activated the books or how to reverse it.” “I do think you’ve given us a place to start,” said Luna, “our top priority is to locate these enchanted books, find the ponies that have been affected and work our way from there.” They reached the study, in which they found Shining Armor and Princess Cadence waiting. Twilight went up to her older brother, giving him a hug and a nuzzle, while to the pink alicorn they exchanged their “secret hoofshake.” “Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!” “Thanks for coming on such short notice,” Twilight said hugging her. “Anything for family,” the Princess of Love replied, “is there anything we can do to help?” “Actually there is,” Luna said. She and Twilight told the couple of the enchanted books and how they affected Celestia and their friends. When this was done, the Princess of the Night added, “I think the first thing that needs to be done is to locate these foals books while we go check on Cel to see how she’s doing.” “What about Blueblood?” Shining asked, “Has anypony found him?” “Not to my knowledge, the Equestrian Guard is on the lookout for him now. But at present, Cadence, you go look in the Prince’s room while Shining can go into my sisters to see if you can locate the books.” “But how do we know what they look like?” Cadance asked. Twilight thought about it, “Well, try looking for a book or books that look like they don’t belong. Remember, they’re fairytales, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find I should think.” “And where will we find you?” Shining asked. “We’ll go into the kitchens to see if Celestia has started sweeping.” With that, Twilight and Luna went down a hallway, while Cadance went downstairs and Shining upstairs. _*_ “Okay, then what happened?” asked Twilight. Cinderella was on the floor, using the broom to get underneath the massive ovens. “On the second night, after I asked the hazel-tree again and said, ‘Shiver and quiver, little tree, silver and gold thrown down over me.’ Then the bird threw down a much more beautiful dress then from the previous night and I swiftly went to the festival. Once there, I’ve heard many who were astonished how beautiful I was. When I found the Prince, he told me that he waited for me to come, and as soon as he saw me, he took my hand and dance no other woman but me. Even when others came up to invite to dance with me, he would say, ‘This is my partner.’” “And then what happen?” Luna asked. “When the hour came for me to return home, I noticed that the Prince hath tried to follow me, I presume to know where I live. But I went into a garden behind the house where grew a tall pear tree in which I climbed and jumped over the stone wall. I quickly changed out of my dress before my mother and stepsisters returned. By the next morning, I returned the dress at the hazel-tree in which the bird taken it away.” “Anything else?” Cadence questioned. It was here that Cinderella stood up with a blank expression, “I… I don’t know. Before I could go to the festival a third time, suddenly I awoke here. Pray tell, can thou tell me how I came here?” Before either of them could answer, the kitchen door flung open to a Solar Guard, “Your Highnesses, come quick!” “What’s wrong?” the Princess of Love asked. “It’s your husband, he’s knocked out cold and none of us knows what happened.” The alicorn turned a paler shade of pink. “Where is he?” “Celestia’s chambers,” was all Cadence heard before her horn flared brightly, teleporting them directly into the Sun Princess’s bedroom. Lying on the floor with a green and golden leafed book laying open face on the floor was the blue maned unicorn. “Shining!” Cadence went up to him, scooping him up in her hooves. “Shining, can you hear me?” Twilight meanwhile went up to the book that was flung on the floor, closing the book; she looked at its silver-leaf title: “Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales.” “Shining,” the pink alicorn slapped her husband’s face, “Shining, are you there!” The white unicorn’s face scrunched up at the sudden pain, “Ow,” he said. “Why did thou hit me, Gretel?” opening his eyes, he saw the pink pony’s face and screamed: “THOU ART NOT GRETEL!”