Fairy Tales of Equestria

CinderSparkle

Once upon a time in a far away kingdom, there lived a gentle and modest widowed merchant and his daughter who was an intelligent filly with a kind heart and sweet disposition; this made her beloved by her father and everypony else she knew. As time went by, the filly grew lovelier as her father grew lonelier. Since his first wife passed away many years ago, he had been looking for another mare to wed so that he could give his daughter a new mother figure.

One day, he met Lady Adagio Dazzle, a mare with two daughters of her own, Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze. The merchant married Lady Dazzle and he introduced her to his daughter as her new stepmother. On the outside, Lady Dazzle was a poised, well-known mare of keen feeling and refined taste; however she spent most of her time doting on her two daughters, spoiling them until they were just as vile, selfish, vain, and rotten as she was. Despite her many attempts, the young mare was never able to grow close to her new stepmother.

One stormy night, the merchant grew horribly ill. His faithful daughter stayed by his side every moment, caring for him to the best of her abilities while his new wife kept her distance. He declared his undying love for his daughter before sadly passing away.

This made Lady Dazzle grow jealous of her Alicorn stepdaughter and a new hatred for the young mare formed in her ice-cold, black heart. She seized the family fortune and spent it all on her daughters, relieving the house staff of their responsibilities and forcing the Alicorn to become a servant in her own home. Despite her stepfamily being so cruel to her, the young mare kept her kind heart, generous nature, and loving spirit. She did the cooking and cleaning around the house without speaking one word of complaint or contempt.

Sometimes when it was too cold in the drafty attic where she slept, the mare would sleep by the amber glow of the dying fire of the hearth to keep warm and the ashes would blow over her body, covering her coat and face in a fresh blanket of dust and ashes and making her look gray and dirty whenever she woke up the next morning. The three mares would make fun of the poor pony so much that they started calling her CinderSparkle. Despite the insults, chores, and occasional beatings, CinderSparkle always looked on the bright side of things and secretly wished that someday this nightmare would come to an end and she would finally be happy.

One morning, CinderSparkle was scrubbing the floor of the foyer when she heard a knock at the door. She curiously opened it to see one of the king's royal messengers standing before her. The messenger loudly blasted a trumpet in her face before announcing:

"HEAR YE! HEAR YE! THEIR MAJESTIES, THE KING AND QUEEN—"

Before she could finish, CinderSparkle interrupted the messenger by clearing her throat and saying,

"You don't have to shout, I'm right here. I can hear every word you're saying just fine."

"Whoops." The messenger apologized before giving a scroll with the royal seal to CinderSparkle and saying, "Their Majesties, the King and Queen have requested all eligible mares to attend a Grand Gala tomorrow evening in honor of their only son, the Prince where he might select a bride."

"A Gala?! Tomorrow night?!" CinderSparkle exclaimed as she held the invitation in her magical embrace; her eyes wide with excitement. "This is fantastic! I have to tell stepmother right away! Thank you very much!"

The messenger smiled, nodded, picked up her trumpet, and happily skipped off to the next house where CinderSparkle could hear her blowing her trumpet loudly in somepony else's ears. She rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smirk before closing the door behind her. CinderSparkle was so excited about the Gala that she didn't even notice the dark glares her stepfamily was giving her when she barged in on their breakfast to tell them the news.

"CinderSparkle, what in the name of Equestria are you doing?! You know not to interrupt our meals like this!" Lady Dazzle scolded.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry, Stepmother. I didn't mean to barge in, I was just—" CinderSparkle stuttered.