Tales From the Cave-Cindermeg

The Stroke of Twelve

Deep in the heart of the forest, a golden carriage dashed along the gravel path, bumping and bouncing up and down over loose stones, but only gaining speed with each one.  BONG!  BONG!  BONG!  At last, the final stroke of midnight rang out into the night.  As it echoed through the trees, the coach went from a glittering gold to a neon orange.  The wheels went limp like extra-thick noodles.  The ears on the horses grew bigger and rounder.  The coachman grew whiskers and fur.  Long green tails sprouted from the seat of the footmen's pants.

Finally, M'gann found herself sitting on her family's prize pumpkin, wearing her tattered dress, the rat and lizards scurrying away.  She sighed heavily as David, Peter and Olivia scampered to her feet. "Oh, well...it was nice while it lasted.  I guess I forgot about everything, including the time, but..."  She smiled dreamily.  "But it was so wonderful.  And he was so handsome and when we danced...oh, I'm sure not even Lex's son could've been more...more..."  She shook her head sadly.  "Oh, what does it matter now?  Its all over and-"

As she stood up, she noticed she stood leaning towards the left.  She looked down at her feet—and lo and behold—a sparkling glass slipper was on her right foot.  Gasping slightly, she kicked her foot up and removed it, holding it up as it glimmered in the moonlight.  She spotted a star in the sky.  It was higher up than the others stars, and it seemed to shine brighter, too.  Smiling happily, M'gann held her glass slipper to her heart, closed her eyes and whispered, "Thank you.  Thank you so much, for everything."  And she was certain that Felicia could hear her.
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Kaldur and Artemis ran out of the mansion to see their Kryptonian friend sitting on the last few steps, his head in his hands.  They hurried down to sit next to him.  "Conner, what happened?"

He looked up at them, tears running down his face, his eyes red and runny.  "I don't know what went wrong.  We were happy, and then all of the sudden, she takes off with barely a goodbye."  He sobbed harder.  "How could I have lost her again so soon?"

Kaldur sat down next to him, rubbing his hand over his back.  "I am truly sorry, my friend.  But, if you want some cheering up, we have defeated the Light.  They are deep within the mansion right now, being arrested by the Justice League."  Conner shook his head.  "Why doesn't that make me feel as happy as it should?"

Artemis sat on the other side of Conner.  "Maybe there's some way you can track her down.  Did she tell you where she lives?"  Conner bit his lip, shaking his head slightly.  "Okay...did she tell you who she lives with?"  Conner shook his head again.  "Did she tell you anything?"  He looked at his shoes.  "She told me she loves me."  Artemis let out a groan.  "So we have no clue to where Megan is right now?!"

"You have one clue."  They all turned around to see Roy, Robin, Wally, Raquel and Zatanna standing on the stairs behind them with the captive villains.  Robin took his left arm from behind his back.  In his hand was a glittering crystal glass slipper.  "I found this on the steps just now.", he explained.  "If memory serves me—and it always has—M'gann was wearing a pair of matching glass slippers exactly like this one.  Since all the other girls have both their shoes, and she was the first one to actually leave the ball, I'd say this belongs to her."

Conner jumped to his feet, ran up the steps, and grabbed the slipper from Robin, holding it close as he examined it.  "It is hers!", he cried.  "I remember she was wearing both of them when she came in!  She must have left it behind in her rush to leave!"  Zatanna smiled slightly.  "That's not all.  It just so happens that that slipper is made of pure magic.  One of it's special properties is that it'll refuse to fit anyone but it's original owner.  It'll grow or shrink, widen or slim, if tried on on anyone else."

Conner looked up, the wheels in his head turning.  "That's it!", he exclaimed.  "That's how I'll find her!  We'll try this slipper on every girl we can find!  And when we find the foot it fits, then we'll know its M'gann!"  The villains were gaping at Conner, their jaws slack and their eyes wide.  "What are you, stupid?!", Klarion snapped, getting everyone's attention.  "You're gonna find a girl based on her shoe size?!  Wouldn't it be easier to, oh, I don't know, recognize her by the features of her face?!"

Artemis smacked him upside his head. "In case you don't remember, ding-dong, M'gann is a shapeshifter. This shoe thing is our safest bet of finding her." "Furthermore,", Kaldur said, stepping forward. "You will all assist in our search for her. You will be the ones to put the shoes on the feet as we travel the state." "Forget it!", Vandal Savage growled. "This whole shoe-fitting idea of yours is ridiculous! That slipper could fit any number of girls!" He looked at Conner. "You could end up married to a toad!"

Conner looked at the slipper, then back at Savage, shrugging his shoulders. "Okay. Than I guess you guys don't want to get your sentences reduced for helping us. I guess you guys'll just have go to prison for the rest of your lives...or worse." The villains looked at each other. Savage took the slipper from Conner. "So...where do we go first?"
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Regina and the girls stormed into the house at a quarter to two exactly, grumbling and muttering to themselves. The twins plopped down onto the sofa and threw off their shoes and accessories, grumpy and crestfallen. The first thing Regina did thirty seconds after she returned home was scream at the top of her lungs. "CINDERMEG!"

M'gann came running into the living room moments later. She was back in her ragged black dress and dirty apron and kerchief. Her face had some cinders on it, but it wasn't half as bad as usual. She bobbed a little curtsey and smiled shyly. "Welcome home. How was the ball?" "Don't ask.", Regina snapped. "Just make us some tea." M'gann nodded before running back into the kitchen to prepare her stepmother's order.

When she served the tea a few minutes later, she smiled at her stepsisters, pretending to be curious. "I bet the ball was wonderful.", she said in a somewhat sad tone of voice. "I really wish I could've been there." "Don't waste your time crying.", Cynthia snarled. "You didn't miss a thing. There was this girl who arrived at the ball in the middle of the whole thing. She swept into the festivities dressed like a princess." M'gann looked up, pretending to be interested. "Really? Who was she?" "Nobody knows. But she stole the show. We had a rotten time because of her."

Edwina pouted as she snapped her necklace. "I'm going to bed." She stood up and walked towards the stairs, soon followed by Cynthia. M'gann looked around for her stepmother, but it seemed that she had disappeared. Only one thought was on Megan's mind...would she ever see Conner again?