A/N: I do not own any of these characters. Disney owns all of them. A friend of mine owns the idea, I'm just playing with it. I also don't own the last line of my story, that belongs to someone else that I know. More in authors note at the end.

"Once upon a time, there sat a mouse in her cell," Minnie muttered to herself. "Unfortunately," she thought unhappily "this wasn't a story. She was in a cell with plenty of time to wonder when her time would come. From the whispers of the guards and the few times she had been taken out of her cell, there were many other prisoners than the ones on her floor. She could sometimes hear a haunting voice singing about dreams, princes, and fairytales. Beautiful songs that creators would love. Maid Marian the Fox was right across from her while Nala from the few roars that she still made was further down. Their hallway was full of cells but Minnie couldn't remember a time when it had been full. She did know that at one point they had been though but some of those who were gone so much didn't talk when they returned…

Maid Marian was led back into her cell where a guard shoved her in.

"What did they want?" Minnie squeaked anxiously.

Marian sighed, "It was another creator who wanted to talk to all the Maid Marians and see which story would defeat the Sheriff of Nottingham this time. Foxy me was evidently not what the creator had in mind."

Duchess tried to squeeze the bars but the bars got smaller to not allow her through.

Nala groaned, "Give it up Duchess. You can't get through the bars. They are magic bars! Your kittens are fine I'm sure."

Duchess stopped herself from running at the bars knowing it did no good, "That may very well be true. But I want to see them and I'm hardly ever let out unlike you."

Nala sighed "The last creator I saw was ages ago and took one look at me and sent me out of the room. I hardly got to see the other lion. At least Marian gets to see Robin at least somewhat regularly."

"Yes, in a big crowded room with tons of other people that I haven't seen in a long time," Marian snapped back.

Perdy growled, "You're still moving around though and it can't be as crowded as when a creator comes for a princess story."

Minnie flinched for depending on the wording of the request she was often times sent when a creator wanted a princess story. She had yet to make it all the way through the door before she was sent back.

"At least they are all with their own kind," cried Duchess, "Minnie said that the princesses are grouped in collections of themselves. Marian said that all of the other Marians are all together. And instead of that, we're stuck in a small roundabout of talking animals!"

Silence reigned

Minnie thought about what little they had been told. They were here to defeat evil. Many of them were simply here in stasis waiting for a creator to come along who wished to tell their story. Others were starting their journey here while waiting for a creator who would take their story and use it to fight evil. Though Minnie wondered how the screams from the so-called Red Room or sobbing from the other parts of the prison that appeared like old dirt cells or what she was told was a space themed area, how these could be used to fight evil.

For each story told had characters behind it, anyway the character could be imagined was here in this prison as Minnie thought of it. Some who were lucky would get to meet with creators and help shape stories that helped fight the evil terrors of the world. The creators had yet to find a permanent way to defeat them other than telling their stories with each of the different forms.

Nala had insisted that plays would allow the beings to be captured forever but Scar, Nottingham, and others still roamed. Whenever this was pointed out to Nala, however, she just sat in her cell pouting till Minnie or one of the others was able to talk her around again.

Before Duchess had calmed down enough to apologize for her outburst the door to their section of cells creaked open. A man that was not a guard was led in escorted by two guards. The man was scanning the nameplates by the cells. After all didn't want to get the wrong character for a creator. The man's eyes alighted on Minnie and focused on her. Minnie belatedly realized that he was a creator. He gestured to her cell and the guards unlocked it. "Minnie, you're time has come. Mickey needs you in the fight."

"But how am I to fight? Who are you?"

"Animation has been developed for movies and we have found that the watching has defeated evil for longer periods of time." Minnie had no idea what any of that meant. Other than the fact that she was finally free and that the creators thought they had come up with a new defense…again. "Your time to save the world has come Minnie. As for me? Call me Walt."

A/N: So this idea partially came about from my story A Whole New World Without You. A reviewer commented that they wondered how the princesses got there. A friend and I were talking about this and this was their suggestion. Its sort of a twist on there is nothing new under the sun for stories. Whether this is an actual prison or more an imaginary place where authors travel in their dreams is for you to decide. The title was inspired partially by the story of Cinderella and also from it being a common phrase. The idea fits the world I'd created in A Whole New World Without You, thus if If the Shoe Fits.