When Prince Charming spends his night drinking in the courtyard and growing more aggressive by the minute, he doesn't appear as great as his name would lead one to believe. With the chimes of the clock, signifying to the world that a new day has begun, midnight is here, her heart began beating even faster. She ran out of the courtyard, out of the palace, out of his world. Down the steps, losing a slipper but not going back for it. Never going back for any of it. Her gown turned to rags, her hair fell apart, her horses scurrying into the brush as mice, and her carriage rolling away, small and orange as it began. She returned to her old life, where she belonged, where she couldn't get hurt by the outside anymore. She had learned to know better now. And as for her slipper? Shattered by the crowds of guests leaving at the end of the night, no one noticing the transparent accessory. Broken glass and a broken heart are all that remained on those palace steps.