Cinderella

Cinderella is the nickname often attributed to a well known French Princess. The popularity of Cinderella's tale led her to ascend from a human to become a Fable, inhabiting the World of Everealm. However like with most Fables there are early variations of her story which predate the best known incarnation.

## **Doricha "Rhodopis" of Greece**

Doricha, also known as Rhodopis( "Rosy Cheeks" in Greek) was a Greek slave girl. Rhodopis came from Thrace, and was the slave of Iadmon (Ἰάδμων) of Samos, and a fellow-slave of the story-teller Aesop(620-554 B.C.E)(It is alleged their have a secret love affair). She afterwards became the property of Xanthes, another Samian, who took her to Naucratis in Egypt, during the reign of Amasis II(570-526 B.C.E.), where she met Charaxus, brother of the poet Sappho, who had gone to Naucratis as a merchant. Charaxus fell in love with her, and ransomed her from slavery with a large sum of money, so that henceforth all the money she made from her profession would be her own. Sappho accused Rhodopis of robbing Charaxus, something which Sappho would mock her brother for. She most likely became a slave once again after this, regardless of if the theft was true. When she was bathing, an eagle snatched one of her sandals from her maid and carried it to Memphis; and while the Pharoah Psammetichus III(there were three Pharoahs named Psammetichus, but the third and final of the title fits the most as he was the successor to Amasis II, reigning from 526-525 B.C.E. before committing suicide after being captured by the Persians) was administering justice in the open air, the eagle, when it arrived above his head, flung the sandal into his lap; and the king, stirred both by the beautiful shape of the sandal and by the strangeness of the occurrence, sent men in all directions into the country in quest of the woman who wore the sandal; and when she was found in the city of Naucratis, she was brought up to Memphis, became the wife of the Pharoah.

Rhodopis is said to have been responsible for the construction of the third pyramid, which was built by lovers of Rhodopis to be her tomb. However, it is also believed the Queen Nitocris built the Third Pyramid(Nitocris has been widely confirmed to predate Rhodopis despite some belied they were the same person, Nitocris reigning from 2148-2144 B.C.E.). It is most likely that Rhodopis was buried in the Third Pyramid by workers who admired her. Given custom at the time, she was quite possibly executed due to the death of her husband in 525 B.C.E.

## **Aspasia of Phocaea**

A Woman who lived in Late Antiquity, Aspasia of Phocaea lost her mother in early childhood and raised by her father. Aspasia, despite living in poverty, dreamt of meeting a noble man. As she dozed off, the girl had a vision of a dove transforming into a woman, who instructed her on how to remove a physical imperfection and restore her own beauty. She and other courtesans were made to attend a feast hosted by Persian regent Cyrus the Younger. During the banquet, the Persian King set his sights on Aspasia herself and ignored the other women. Aspasia likely became his wife, since as King he could have any woman he wanted and Aspasia had dreams of meeting a noble man and marrying into wealth. Cyrus the Younger ruled from 408-401 B.C.E. and died in battle. The fact that Aspasia is possibly a reincarnation of Rhodopis suggests a type of curse may be in effect that she is destined to be born poor, marry into royalty by catching the eye of a Noble and then for her love to die.

## **Ye Xian of China**

Ye Xian was the daughter of the local tribal leader who died when she was young. Because her mother died before her father, she was now under the care of her father's second wife, who abused her. She befriended a fish, which was the reincarnation of her deceased mother. Her stepmother and half-sister killed the fish, but Ye Xian found the bones, which were magical, and they helped her dress appropriately for a local Festival, including a very light golden shoe. Her stepfamily recognized her at the festival, causing her to flee and accidentally lose the shoe. Afterwards, the king of another sea island obtained the shoe and was curious about it as no one had feet that could fit the shoe. The King searched everywhere and finally reached Ye's house, where she tried on the shoe. The king realised, she was the one and took her back to his kingdom. Her cruel stepmother and half-sister were killed by flying rocks. Their family was forced to serve in the Castle by the King as Servants.

The stepmother and the stepsister were buried in a shrine called "The Tomb of the Regretful Women". These two women became goddesses in later tradition, and had the power to grant anyone's wish. After Ye-Xian's marriage with the king, her husband became greedy and abused the fish-bone's powers, until it stopped yielding any magic soon after. The queen Ye-Xian, thus, buried the fish-bones in a nearby beach, with a great quantity of gold. A year later the king's people led a revolt, and in order to appease them, the king tried to dig the fish-bones and distribute the gold to the rebelling soldiers. But the gold was washed away by the tide, along with the magical bones, and the fate of the king and Ye-Xian after the siege remains unknown.

## **La Fresne**

Sometime in what is presumed to be 12th Century France, a wealthy noblewoman abandoned her infant daughter at the base of an ash tree outside a nunnery with a ring and brocade as tokens of her identity because she is one of twin sisters—the mother fears that she will be accused of infidelity (according to popular belief at the time, twins were evidence of two different fathers). The infant is discovered by the porter, who names her *Fresne*, meaning "Ash Tree", and she is raised by the nuns. After she has attained maturity, a young nobleman sees her and becomes her lover. The nobleman, however, is forced to marry a woman of noble birth. Fresne accepts that she will never marry her beloved but waits in the wedding chamber as a handmaiden. She covers the bed with her own brocade but, unbeknownst to her, her beloved's bride is actually her twin sister, and her mother recognizes the brocade as the same one she had given to the daughter she had abandoned so many years before. Fresne's true parentage is revealed and, as a result of her noble birth, she is allowed to marry her beloved, while her twin sister is married to a different nobleman.

The birth of twins seems to have broken the curse, as it likely did not apply to both daughters if it did at all, though details of what happened after the marriages are unknown. For this reason, the most well known Cinderella is a descendant of Fresne, which includes their names relating to "Ash Tree" and "Cinder".

## **Ċiklemfusa from Malta**

An orphaned child in her early childhood. Before his death, her father gave her three magical objects: a chestnut, a nut and an almond. She used to work as a servant in the King's palace. Nobody ever took notice of the poor girl. One day she heard of a big ball and with the help of a magical spell turned herself into a beautiful princess. The prince fell in love with her and gave her a ring. On the following night the Prince gave her a diamond and on the third night he gave her a ring with a large gem on it. By the end of the ball Ċiklemfusa would run away hiding herself in the cellars of the Palace. She knew that the Prince was very sad about her disappearance so one day she made some krustini (typical Maltese biscuits) for him and hid the three gifts in each of them. When the Prince ate the biscuits he found the gifts he had given to the mysterious Princess and soon realized the huge mistake he had made of ignoring Ċiklemfusa because of her poor looks. They soon made marriage arrangements and she became his wife.

## **Tam of Sarkhan**

Tam(Broken Rice) and Cam(Rice Bran) were half-sisters. Tam's mother died early while her father died after remarrying. Tam lives with her stepmother and Cam's mother, who forces her to work while Cam does not have to do anything. While they are out catching fish, Cam sabotages Cam's catch, but a But(The Sarkhanese equivalent to a Fairy Godmother in the form of an old man). She finds only a Goby remains but the But tells her a magic spell to allow the Goby to grow. Cam and the Stepmother discover and kill the Goby while Tam is gone. Cam and the stepmother sabotage her work by mixing the rice and bran and telling her to separate them. The But helps her by teaching her a spell to call birds that separate the rice and bran. While crossing a stone bridge, she drops her slipper, which is found by an Elephant of the King's procession. The King demands to find the woman who owns the shoe. Tam tries it on and is recognized.

On the Anniversary of her father's death, Tam returns to help her Stepmother and Cam celebrate. She is tricked into climbing a tree to get its fruit, where upon her Stepmother chops it down, causing her to fall and die. Cam is then dressed in her clothes and lies to the King by saying Tam drowned. The King reluctantly accepts Cam as his new bride out of obligation but ignores her out of mourning for Tam. Tam reincarnates as an Oriole and approaches the King while he is singing, joining in, making the King realize the Oriole is Tam when she responds to him and he builds a cage. Cam butchers the Oriole and lies that she tried to feed it and it flew away. The remains grow into two Peach Trees which bend to provide shade for the King. Cam cuts down the trees and burns their remains. From the ashes grows a Golden Apple Tree. A Crone is enticed by the Tree and builds her home around it, where Tam's spirit emerges from it. The Crone, a Witch, restores her to life and adopts her. The King passes by and discovers Tam, bringing her back. Tam then gets revenge on Cam by tricking her to go down a hole where she is killed by boiling water. Fermented Sauce is made by her remains and fed to her mother. When she learns this from a crow, she dies of a shock.

## **Zezolla**

A prince has a daughter, Zezolla (tonnie), who is tended by a beloved governess. The governess, with Zezolla's help, persuades the prince to marry her. The governess then brings forward six daughters of her own, who abuse Zezolla (tonnie), and send her into the kitchen to work as a servant. The prince goes to the island of Sinia, meets a fairy who gives presents to his daughter, and brings back for her: a golden spade, a golden bucket, a silken napkin, and a date seedling. The girl cultivates the tree, and when the king hosts a ball, Zezolla appears dressed richly by a fairy living in the date tree. The king falls in love with her, but Zezolla runs away before he can find out who she is. Twice Zezolla escapes the king and his servants. The third time, the king's servant captures one of her slippers. The king invites all of the maidens in the land to a ball with a shoe-test, identifies Zezolla (tonnie) after the shoe jumps from his hand to her foot, and eventually marries her.

## **Cendrillon(Cinderella)**

When Cedrillon, or just "Ella" was just a baby, the fairy Lucinda bestowed the gift of obedience on her. The "gift" is in fact a terrible curse, forcing Ella to obey anyone who gives her an order. When Ella was around fourteen, her mother died. Her cook Mandy revealed herself to be her Fairy godmother. She was given two gifts by Mandy: a necklace from her mother and a magic book. At her mother's funeral, Ella met prince Charming or "Char" as he called himself, who told her how fond he was of her mother. Char liked the fact that unlike nearly everybody else, Ella was not at all awe-stricken by his being a Prince, and they started joking with each other and having fun together - which helped the grief-stricken Ella through an otherwise terrible day. At the wake, she was introduced to Dame Olga and her terrible daughters, Anastasia and Drizella - but at the time, felt no special significance to this encounter.

Her father, Peter Tremaine, decided to send her to finishing school with the two mean sisters. Before leaving she visited her favorite places, where she met Char again and they bonded. At school, Drizella eventually discovered that Ella did whatever she was told and used this for her own gain. She took Ella's mother's necklace, then deprived Ella of food and ordered her to end her friendship with her best friend Areida. Ella could not stand this and set out to find Lucinda so that she could reverse the spell. In her magic book, she saw that her father was about to attend a giant's wedding and she assumed that Lucinda - who liked to come uninvited to weddings - might be there. While leaving she discoverd Drizella's wig and took it with her. She used the wig to buy food and get directions to the wedding.

Ella came upon the kingdom of Elves, who offered a warm welcome. The next morning, she awakened surrounded by ogres who planned on devouring her. She was given the command not to run away, so she was trapped, and stayed up all night practicing Ogrese in hopes of using on the ogres their own weapon of hypnotic speech. It worked and she talked them back to sleep, just in time for Char and his soldiers to apprehend them. One of his men was sent to escort Ella.

Ella learned that ungrateful recipients of Lucinda's gifts often ended up as squirrels and decided to use an alias when talking to her. Ella told her she desired more mettle for she is too obedient, but Lucinda told Ella to be happy and Ella was forced to feel happy because of her 'gift.'

Ella learned from her father that he'd lost everything so he must marry Dame Olga, making her Lady Olga Tremaine. At the wedding, Lucinda gifted the bride and groom eternal love. On the ride to Olga's house, Peter revealed that he's broke. Olga was livid, but due to Lucinda's gift, she was unable to stay angry at him. Instead she began to transfer all of her hatred to Ella. Cinderella bore the abuse patiently and did not tell her father, who would have scolded her. Char came to visit Ella but Drizella ordered her to stay in her room. This continued until Char left for his trip. They started communicating via letters, which Ella had him address to Mandy so as not to arouse suspicion from her new step-family. Ella's father eventually passed away, leaving her to face the abuse. Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella therefore began abusing Ella, granting her the mocking name of "Cinderella' due to being covered in Ash.

One day, the prince invited all the people in the land to a royal ball. The two stepsisters gleefully plan their wardrobes for the ball, and taunt Cinderella by telling her that maids aren't invited to the ball.

As the two stepsisters and the stepmother depart to the ball, Cinderella cried in despair. Her fairy godmother magically appeared and immediately began to transform Cinderella from house servant to the young lady she was by birth, all in the effort to get Cinderella to the ball. She turns a pumpkin into a golden carriage, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She then turns Cinderella's rags into a beautiful jeweled gown, complete with a delicate pair of glass slippers. The Fairy Godmother tells her to enjoy the ball, but warns her that she must return before midnight, when the spells will be broken.

At the ball, the entire court is entranced by Cinderella, especially the Prince. At this first ball, Cinderella remembered to leave before midnight. Back home, Cinderella graciously thanks her Fairy Godmother. She then innocently greeted the two stepsisters, who had not recognized her earlier, and talk of nothing but the beautiful girl at the ball.

Another ball was held the next evening, and Cinderella again attended with her Fairy Godmother's help. The prince has become even more infatuated with the mysterious woman at the ball, and Cinderella in turn became so enchanted by him she lost track of time and leaves only at the final stroke of midnight, losing one of her glass slippers on the steps of the palace in her haste. The Prince chases her, but outside the palace, the guards see only a simple country girl leave. The prince pockets the slipper and vows to find and marry the girl to whom it belongs. Meanwhile, Cinderella keeps the other slipper, which does not disappear when the spell is broken.

The prince's herald tries the slipper on all the women in the kingdom. When the herald arrives at Cinderella's home, the two stepsisters try in vain to win him over. Cinderella asks if she may try, but the two stepsisters taunt her. Naturally, the slipper fits perfectly, and Cinderella produces the other slipper for good measure. Cinderella's stepfamily pleads for forgiveness, and Cinderella agrees. Cinderella had hoped her step-family would love her always. Cinderella married the prince, breaking the curse she was under(*Ella Enchanted*), and forgave her two stepsisters, then marrying them off. Anastasia fell for a local baker and eventually married him(*Cinderella II*). While Cinderella and Prince Charming were celebrating their first anniversary, Lady Tremaine and Drizella, stole the Fairy Godmother's wand and used magic to alter time, which Cinderella worked to undo, succeeding with Anastasia's help(*Cinderella III: A Twist in Time*).

Cinderella along with most of her family and friends was transported to Everrealm where their story was intended to continue forever. Cinderella eventually divorced her Prince after finding out that due to a curse placed on him he would continue to be unfaithful(*Into the Woods*). However, the two came back together as part of a plan to capture Rumplestilskin, which appeared to succeed This did not prevent a curse he made from being enacted and Cinderella was among those caught in it, transporting her to Earth One and causing her to lose her memories, becoming a resident of Storybrooke, Maine. She was stuck as the eternally-19 year old Ashley Boyd(*Once Upon a Time*). Her identity as Cinderella was essentially split from her and became a separate entity similar to a Nobody, but lived on first as a captive of Maleficent and the Heartless due to being one of the Seven Princesses of Hearts once the Homelands were briefly shattered and before the defeat of the Heartless restored most of the world(*Kingdom Hearts*) and then inside a magical amulet belonging to Princess Sofia of Enchancia(*Sofia the First*). Cinderella as Boyd was pregnant when the curse went into effect and due to being stuck in a timeloop did not give birth until Emma Swan arrived in the town in 2011 and the curse began to weaken. She would give birth to Prince Charming's son Chad Charming.

Post awakening in the Modern Day, Cinderella would become a spy for Fabletown, the Metropolis established community for Fables, the term for inhabitants from Everrealm from classic stories. She had taken quite well to training and carried out many mission to retake the Homelands from the Adversary, who had taken over in the absence of many of the Fables following the curse(*Fables*). One of her most harrowing missions was confronting her own Fairy Godmother in her own realm of Ultima Thule and defeating her(*Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love*). Cinderella, after another one night stand with Prince Charming, had a second daughter named Chloe. She initially attended the school of Auradon Prep(*Descendants*) at a young age but later on transformed to Ever After High, reinventing herself under the name Ashlynn Ella(*Ever After High*).

## **Danielle de Barbarac(1494-1566)**

Danielle was born in 1494 as the daughter of Auguste de Barbarac and Countess Nicole de Lancret. Her mother died when she was young. In 1502 Renaissance-era France, when she was 8 years old, Auguste brought home his new wife, the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, and her daughters Marguerite and Jacqueline, and gave Danielle a copy of Sir Thomas More's *Utopia*. As he departs for business two weeks later (a fortnight) Auguste suffered a fatal heart attack just as he was approaching the gate, and delivered his dying declaration of love to Danielle, sparking Rodmilla's jealousy.

In 1512, Danielle de Barbarac had been forced to become a servant to her stepmother Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, and stepsisters Marguerite and Jacqueline. One morning, Danielle had a confrontation with Prince Henry as he was attempting to flee in order to avoid an arranged marriage, initially mistaking him for a thief. Henry gives Danielle some gold coins to keep their interlude secret and rides away. He is eventually caught by the Royal Guard after stopping Romani bandits from robbing Leonardo da Vinci, whom King Francis has invited to the French court.

Danielle, disguised as a noblewoman, took the gold coins to the palace to buy back a family servant sold by Rodmilla. Henry witnessed Danielle arguing with the jailer and, impressed by her passion and intelligence, ordered the servant released. When Henry asked for her name. Danielle hastily lied and gave her mother's name: Countess Nicole de Lancret. Later that night, King Francis struck a deal with Henry: he will hold a masquerade ball at which Henry will announce his engagement to the woman of his choosing, or else marry the Princess of Spain. Hearing this news, Rodmilla accelerated her efforts at getting Henry to notice Marguerite, while being increasingly neglectful to Jacqueline. Meanwhile, Danielle begins secretly spending time with Henry.

Marguerite plans to wear an exquisite gown and jeweled slippers, which had been left to Danielle by her mother, for the ball; leading to Danielle attacking Marguerite for insulting her mother's memory. Marguerite retaliated by destroying the copy of *Utopia* that Auguste had given Danielle. After Rodmilla had Danielle whipped, Jacqueline treated her wounds, expressing sympathy for Danielle and criticizing Marguerite for her cruelty.

Queen Marie held a luncheon with Marguerite and Rodmilla and expressed curiosity about the mysterious woman who had taken Henry's fancies. Rodmilla, recognizing the name of Danielle's mother, deduced that the girl is Danielle and lied that Henry's sweetheart is already engaged.

Danielle tried to tell Henry the truth, but could not bring herself to do so when he told her she had changed him as a man, inspiring him to build a university. Rodmilla confronted Danielle about her deception and the whereabouts of her mother's dress and slippers, which vanished, then locked her in the pantry. Da Vinci helped Danielle escape; and the other servants, who were loyal to Danielle, revealed they had hidden the dress and slippers. Danielle arrived at the ball determined to tell Henry the truth; but Rodmilla exposed her before she could. Furious at her dishonesty, Henry rejected her. Danielle tearfully ran away, leaving a jeweled slipper behind. Da Vinci reproached Henry for his callousness towards Danielle and left him the slipper.

Henry agreed to marry the Spanish Princess, but called it off when he realized she too loved someone else. Jacqueline told Henry that Rodmilla sold Danielle to the lecherous Pierre Le Pieu. Henry rid off to rescue her, only to find that she had freed herself. Henry apologized, professed his love for her, and proposed marriage by fitting the slipper onto her foot; Danielle happily accepted.

Rodmilla was summoned before the royal court and confronted for lying to the Queen about Danielle; she was stripped of her title and threatened with exile unless someone spoke for her. Danielle, now a princess, appeared and instead asked that Rodmilla be shown the same "kindness" her stepmother had shown her. Rodmilla and Marguerite were reduced to servants in the palace laundry; Jacqueline, for her kindness to Danielle, was spared from punishment. Leonardo gifted the royal newlyweds with a portrait of Danielle.

## **In-Universe Fictional Versions**

*Aschenputtel* by The Brothers Grimm. With the Brothers Grimm being monster hunters as seen in *The Brothers Grimm,* and writing their own version as seen in *Ever After.* Their version is fictional.

Betty Boop, a toon actor, portrayed Cinderella in one of her films(*Poor Cinderella*).

## **Alternate Universes**

### **Toon**

Dingo Pictures released an Animated Film version, resulting in a Toon Version of the character manifesting. She was a frequent guest as Mickey's House of Mouse. As well as a Digital version existing online(*Ralph Breaks the Internet*).

### **Earth 3**

On Earth Three, Prince Charming, rather than pursue Cinderella, chose to move on and marry another woman. When Cinderella's Fairy Godmother told her this, she stole her wand, turned her into a horse and Anastasia and Drizella into Pumpkins, traveling to the Palace to seize revenge on Prince Charming and his new wife. It is quite possible that Cinderella either killed Charming or was killed by him due to him threatening to strike her down at the stroke of midnight, when the Fairy Godmother's magic wore off (Cinderella Villain Song by Lydia The Brand)..

### **Earth 11,**

In which Genders are reversed from those on Earth One, had an incident involving a man named Fella and Princess Charming that largely followed the same events(*Cinderfella*), another similar event took place in 1928 involving a male menial named Jim Lancaster, and a wealthy heiress named Jill Kemp(*Mr.Cinders*),

### **Earth 26(Earth C)**

Cinderella was a feline(*Cinderella Blues*).