The ballet premiered at Russia’s Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg in December 1892, choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, and was initially considered rather unimportant, dismissed by contemporary critics. However, this plotline hardly ever gets told in a Nutcracker production, Christian Spuck's Zurich choreography being one of the few exceptions.
You guessed correctly, this would be Marie. Drosselmeyer’s nephew would only regain his old shape by killing her seven-headed son and finding a woman who truly loves him despite his looks. Madam Mouserinks was killed and once more swore revenge. But when the Princess awakened, her saviour took on an ugly form and she rejected him in shock. Years later, Drosselmeyer eventually found the nut and his nephew agreed to crack it. Only by eating the kernel of the Krakatuk nut would she become beautiful again. But Madam Mouserinks swore revenge and transformed Princess Pirlipat into a wooden figure. There is also a complex plot in which Droselmeyer returns several days later, delaying Marie’s entrance to the Kingdom of Sweets and tells The Tale of the Hard Nut to explain the Nutcracker’s invention: in order to keep the greedy Mouse Queen, Madam Mouserinks, and her sons from eating the bacon for a party held at the court, Drosselmeyer invented the mousetrap. In her dream it is a seven-headed Mouse King and she doesn’t awaken the next morning from a lovely dream, but with a physically injured arm. She is unworried by this odd occurrence of a doll showing signs of life, and falls asleep with her Nutcracker. In doing so she sees a flash of a human face on her wooden doll. In Hoffmann’s much more elaborate plot, Marie finds the Nutcracker herself and mends it with a bit of ribbon from her dress. At no point is Marie distressed by the fact that a wooden toy has become alive and her companion! When she wakens from her dream, back home, her Nutcracker is a cherished wooden doll once again. The Mouse King/Queen is quickly vanquished, Marie’s Nutcracker transforms into a Prince, who summarily escorts her into a magical dream world, first full of snow, then through the Kingdom of Sweets, populated by internationally based dancing sweets and ruled by the beautiful Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. Giant mice fight life-sized toy soldiers, led by her Nutcracker, who comes to life to protect her. When it meets a mishap thanks to Marie’s brother, the ballet version shows Drosselmeyer assisting in mending the doll, often imbuing it with innocent magical powers that take Marie into a wonderful dream. In the ballet, her slightly mysterious but entirely good-natured uncle, Drosselmeyer, attends the party and presents her with a special present, a Nutcracker.
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