Ben was awoken the following morning by several noises that seemed to come in all directions. All the clocks in the Mad Hatter's shop went berserk, dinging, donging, chiming, and deafening. Ben covered his ears, he could feel his teeth vibrating.

Groaning, Ben got out of bed and rubbed his tired eyes. At that moment, he received a text message.

He checked his phone. It was from Faybelle.

'Go to the Glass Slipper and distract Ashlyn Ella. I'll let you know when to leave.'

"Who the heck is Ashlynn?" Ben said out loud.

But he didn't care. Ben got out of bed and was ready to leave the tea shop until the hatter dropped in front of him.

"Maddie! Oh, where is my Maddie?!" The Hatter was literally running up the walls and down them too. "My Maddie, Maddie, Maddie is missing, missing missing!"

"Mr. Hatter, calm down!" Ben assured the worried hatter. "I'll go look for her, okay?"

The hatter dropped in front of Ben. "YOU BETTER!" he angrily told the boy.

Ben stepped back with alarm. But nodded.

The teen left the tea shop quite stunned. "Whoa, I didn't think the Mad Hatter could get...mad like that!" Ben kicked a rock as he kept walking. "Well, I guess your daughter missing is a good reason to be upset. And...I miss Maddie too. Where could she be? I haven't seen her since I got here!"

Ben walked around. A bit lost in thought.

BAM!

Ben yelped when he bumped into someone. Several boxes fell on top of him. He rubbed his head and saw shoes all around him.

"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry!"

Ben looked up and felt his heart freeze.

"Gwen?!"

At first, Ben thought it was his cousin Gwen. But upon closer inspection, the girl he bumped into just resembled Gwen. She had long amber brown hair pulled into a pumpkin shape and tied with a braid. She wore an aquamarine dress with pink flowers on it. But she had the same green eyes as Gwen.

Nonetheless, she was incredibly beautiful.

"Excuse me?" the girl said sweetly. She held her hand out.

Ben blinked twice. "Uh, I'm sorry. I thought you were...someone else." He took the girl's hand and she pulled him up. "Sorry about your, uh, shoes."

The girl waved her hand. "It's okay. No harm done. But I better get all these beauties back in their boxes before the store opens."

Ben looked at the mess. "No problem. I can handle this." He reached for his Omnitrix and pressed it down. In a flash of green light, he went from Ben to-

"Snare-oh?!" He growled in annoyance. "Oh, man!"

The girl's eyes grew in amazement. "Whoa..."

The mummy alien just shrugged. "I was going for Fasttrack, but I guess this'll work."

With his stretchable limbs, Snare-oh used his powers to quickly grab all the shoes and place them in their correct boxes. Then he carried all the boxes in his arms with ease.

"So, where do you want these?"

"Uh...over here." the girl said, still amazed. "Follow me."

Snare-oh followed the girl into what looked like a shoe store. He gently set the boxes down on the floor. "You work at a shoe store?" he asked.

"Yeah, working at the Glass Slipper is the perfect place for me." the girl said as she began putting the shoes on display. "Nothing wrong with a little hard work." She looked back at Snare-oh. "I take it your Ben Tennyson?"

"Gee, what gave that away?" Snare-oh said. "And you are?"

"Ashlynn, Ashlynn Ella." the girl introduced.

"So, what's your fairy tale, Ashlynn?" asked Snare-oh.

Ashlynn smiled and looked down to her shoes. She gently tapped them on the floor, they were made of glass.

"Oh, duh!" Snare-oh slapped his forehead. "You're Cinderella's daughter!"

"It's that obvious, huh?" Ashlynn joked. They both shared a laugh.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, your highness." Snare-oh said with a bow.

Ashlynn shook her head. "Oh, please. No need to be formal. I'm a down to Earth kind of princess." She observed Snare-oh closely just as a spectacled girl in a golden yellow dress walked into the store.

"Good morning, Ashlynn." the girl greeted. Her eyes doubled in size when she saw Snare-oh. Her mouth opened like she was about to scream.

"Oh! Sorry!" Snare-oh hit the Omnitrix symbol on his belt and turned into Ben. "Don't be afraid! It's me, Ben Tennyson."

"Amazing!" the girl gasped, hardly afraid. "That was an alien?! What kind of alien was it?! Are there more of them out there?!" she asked in feverish excitement.

"Easy, Rosabella!" Ashlynn said. "One question at a time!"

"Sorry!" Rosabella said. "I just got hextremely excited when I thought I saw a new species living among us at Ever After! We've got ogres, trolls, goblins, fairies, all kinds of beasts, but not alien mummies!" She tapped her chin. "Perhaps I should start a petition for them to be welcome in our village!"

"Trust me, no you shouldn't." Ben said seriously. "The alien mummies I've met have been nothing but trouble. Especially the planet where they came from. Aliens are nothing but trouble."

Rosabella gave Ben a cold look. "Oh, really? Is every alien you ever met in your life bad? Have you even bothered to get to know at least one?"

Ben was silent.

"I'll have you know, not every creature is, as you say, nothing but trouble." Rosabella said. "In fact, my father was a big, nasty beast. But my mother saw past that and against all odds, they fell in love and had a happily ever after together. So don't go around judging people so quickly. Because when you judge others, you're only judging yourself."

Before the tension continued, another girl came in. It was Briar Beauty. "Hey, Ben Tennyson!" she waved. "I see you've met my cousin, Rosabella Beauty."

"Cousin?!" Ben said. Now that she mentioned it, they do look alike. All except that Briar dressed in pink with roses and while Rosabella wore yellow with fake brown fur.

"That was some speech, cuz." said Briar. "Too bad you don't want to be the next Beauty in your story."

"Briar, how many times to I have to tell you? I'm a Rebel because my destiny isn't nearly as important as helping people." Rosabella insisted.

Those words struck Ben like an arrow through his chest.

"In my mom's story, she saved only one beast and people say that's all I should do. But there are so many beasts out there being mistreated by the fairy tale community." Rosabella lifted her chin up. "And I hope to change all that."

Ben couldn't believe his ears. Someone who would give up a happy ending like Beauty and the Beast just to help people? Just like that?

Ashlynn gave Rosabella a box. "Which reminds me, here are the new faux fur shoes you ordered."

"Thanks, Ashlynn." Rosabella took her new shoes and she Briar were about to leave until the beast-loving beauty turned and smiled to Ben. "Nice meeting you, Ben."

Ashlynn looked and saw the stunned look on Ben's face. "Are you okay, Ben?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm, I'm fine." he said. "This day is kind of...rough on me today."

"I'm sure things will look up." said Ashlynn. "Let's see, what else was I suppose to do?" She tapped her chin until it finally hit her. "Oh, yeah..." She went to a table and picked up a book. "I have to return this to the library."

Ben sensed a hint of fear in her voice. What could be the problem?

"Uh, Ben. If it's not too much, will you...escort me to the library?" Ashlynn asked.

"Uh, sure. I guess" asked Ben.

"Thanks."

As they walked to the school, Ben decided to chat with the young princess.

"So...what's it like being the next Cinderella?"

Ashlynn shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. Everybody says I have it made, but it's not as easy as they make it sound."

They arrived at the large wooden doors of the library. Ashlynn held her book to her chest and took a deep breath.

"What's wrong?" Ben asked.

"It's just...I'm a little nervous about the librarians, that's all. Normally, my boyfriend Hunter would help me in this situation, but..."

"Situation? Don't you think you're overreacting?" Ben said. "I'm not a fan of libraries myself, but at least you shouldn't be afraid of some little old librarians."

"Hi, Ashlynn." a snotty sounding voice said.

Ashlynn felt a sense of dread run up her spine. Ben looked over his shoulder and was taken aback by the sight he saw.

Two frightfully dressed, over-accessorized girls were standing in the hallway with Ashlynn and Ben. One was tall and lanky with a pointed chin while the other was short and portly like a little piglet. Their icy looks made Ben's blood run cold.

"What are those things?!" Ben said.

"My stepsisters." Ashlynn meekly answered.

The evil stepsisters snorted as they came closer.

"Well, well, who's this Ashlynn?" asked the tall girl, leaning in close to Ben. "Another secret boyfriend?"

Ben backed away from her. "Secret boyfriend?"

"Yeah, Ashlynn and Hunter Huntsman aren't suppose to be dating!" the little stepsister said in her whiny voice. "But who cares?"

"Yeah, I say Ashlynn and Hunter forever after!" said the lanky stepsister, making a heart shape with her hands.

"Really?" Ashlynn blinked. "You guys are okay with me and Hunter dating?"

"Sure, it means that the real prince in your story will be ours!" squealed the little sister as she danced around. "This is the best thing that's ever happened!"

"What makes you think the prince will even like you?" Ben asked as he folded his arms across his chest. "I'll bet you don't even know what he's like."

The sisters laughed and snorted. "Who cares what he's like? Everyone knows a prince is wealthy beyond reason!"

"If we get to know him, it might change out minds!"

"All men are fools and that's all they ever will be!"

The deluded sisters danced with each other as they imagined waltzing at the ball with the prince while Ben and Ashlynn just stared.

"Oh, I'm sure the prince will pick the best sister." Ben said, his sarcasm laid down thick. "But I wouldn't hold my breath."

The sisters smirked at Ben. "I'll bet no girl would even come near you, changeling!"

"I'll bet you've never even talked to a girl, have you?"

Ben's jaw clenched and he glowered at the girls. "Actually I have. In fact, I've got a girlfriend back home!"

But the sisters just laughed some more.

"Oh, really? Does she like to roll around in the dirt like Ashlynn?"

"Perhaps she's a lowly servant just like Ashlynn! Sounds like your type, Cinder face!"

Ben turned to Ashlynn, hoping she'd stand up for herself, but she looked like she was ready to cry.

Then the unmistakable sound of a door opening came from behind Ben. He turned around and saw two homely looking women. One in a red dress and the other in a purple dress. They both wore tacky jewelry, pointed glasses and big hairdos.

"Who are they?" Ben asked.

"The librarians." Ashlynn whispered. "And my step-aunts."

Ben looked confused. "Step-aunts?" He paused. "Oh..."

"SSHHHHHH!" the Evil Step-Librarians shushed at Ben.

"So, come to return your book, Ashlynn?" the librarian in red asked the meek girl.

"Yes, Auntie Step." She held the book out to her.

But the librarian didn't accept it. "I'm afraid I cannot take this, Ashlynn. We just closed the library."

"What?! But you can't just close the library."

"We can. And we did." the Evil Step-Librarians said. "This library is now closed. You're too late."

Ashlynn gasped, her eyes widening with panic. Immediately, her lovely dress fizzled into filthy old rags.

Ben jumped back in shock. "What the-?!"

The evil stepsisters and the librarians laughed at Ashlynn's ruined outfit.

Aghast and embarrassed, Ashlynn ran away.

"This is gonna look great for our blog!" the skinny stepsister said, taking out her Mirrorphone.

Outraged, Ben knocked the phone out of her hands and chased after Ashlynn.