There's still moments I wish to show, loose ends to tie, and bits of closure to give, but I consider this the official ending!

(By which I mean there's more to show, but this is the moment I wanted to technically end on, so I'm cheating, but it's technically NOT cheating, as epilogues are an established narrative device! HA!)

Given that I missed Tuesday, am blatantly (not) cheating what counts as an ending, and the epilogue will be relatively short, the next break from EGSNP will be AFTER the epilogue comics.

- The shoe found

- The shoe held (whether it was whispering secrets at that time is unknown)

"So, um, when Cinderella runs out of the ball and leaves a slipper behind, that slipper stays glass while the rest of her magic outfit returns to normal. What, are we to believe this was some sort of, magic upon magic slipper that stays a glass slipper so long as Cinderella isn't wearing it? Boy, I sure hope someone got fired for THAT blunder."

Don't worry, random hypothetical person complaining about about a Fairy Tail from the late 17th century! I've finally fixed that plot hole, thereby making my version of Cinderella the best there's ever been! What's more, I've created a potential hook for a sequel: Cinderella and the Whispering Glass Slipper!

"Oh. I, ah, I was joking, dude. I even quoted The Simpsons. I don't really care about any of that."

...This... ENTIRE ARC... Was written to address that issue after you sent us a letter about it.

"Did... Did I forget to include a 'just kidding'?"

YES. YES YOU DID.

- Gah! (Startling Cinderella)

It's reasonable to assume that Fairy Godmother Hope is nearby at all times. It helps prevent being startled when she inevitably appears.

- Singing!

Past me: "I want Cinderella to choose to go to the ball on the third night for her own reasons, but I ALSO want Sarah to choose to help her! Which do I go with?"

Archdemon Arghleblargh: "Destroy all that was and all that will be."

Past me: "You're right, Arghleblargh! I should do both!"

Archdemon Arghleblargh: "You never listen."

Past me: "Good point! I will order Chinese!"

Archdemon Arghleblargh: "I WANT PIZZA"

- Yelling at the king

This wasn't the only concern Cinderella had, but it was the biggest and most personal. Somewhere in the back of her mind, I'm sure she's thinking "there's also the diplomatic matter of talking to other women, and I'm unaware that has been resolved to the relative satisfaction of most," but it's waaay back there in some dark forgotten corner for the moment.

Meanwhile, Sarah's like "I'd wander off while they're talking, but I'm not sure I'm allowed to sneak away when the person I was speaking with was the prince, so I guess I'll just keep standing here off-panel."

Don't worry, Sarah! You'll get to be on-panel again soon.

Cinderella Tedd: "I have chosen the path of open communication."

Elliot: "Uh, I've heard there's only so much actual communication allowed in any given story. Are we going to be okay?"

Cinderella Tedd: "Don't worry! I borrowed a little from the next one."

Sarah: "But I already borrowed some from that one!"

Cinderella Tedd: "Oh. Well, I'm sure the next storyline will be fine."

Elliot: "What's it about?"

Cinderella Tedd: "Something about someone taking 'calls'? Whatever that means."

Sarah: "Probably nothing to worry about."

- Last scene with Cinderella

- End of that scene with Cinderella

Ah, the classic scene from Cinderella in which Cinderella surprises the prince—and a stepsister who was speaking on her behalf—by returning on the third night after having left on the second night due to personal fears, uncertainty, and the belief that they ultimately couldn't be together.

...

Wait, that's not in ANY Cinderella I'm aware of. What the heck is this?

AND WHAT ABOUT THE SLIPPER?!

- Sarah the witness

Lately, I find myself increasingly liking to list things in three. If I can get alliteration in there, all the better.

I don't think this is a problem, as it tends to sound good, and I generally can't do it every other sentence. If I ever do figure out how to do that, however, I might need to be stopped.

- Last scene with Grace

Truly wicked stepsister of evil Ashley is befuddled! Fortunately, Grace is there to... Sort of help, I guess?

Anyway, Sarah pointed out Ashley to Grace at some point the previous night. This was not shown, but it's reasonably assumed (unless someone would prefer to go the wild conspiracy theory route, but that's no longer reasonably assuming things).

Were EGSNP a full page format, I might have attempted Prince Elliot leaping from the top of the stairs and doing a super hero landing in front of the ever-so-wicked Sarah.

Fortunately for at least one of Elliot's knees, and unfortunately for me, EGSNP is very much landscape (wider than it is tall). I struggled a bit with deciding what he'd do.

The result was unfortunate for the guy I've started thinking of as "Frank." Frank is probably going to find his way into the main canon, and he's going to have mixed feelings about that given that his whole deal is being a nervous underling dealing with nonsense.

- "I'm pretty good at drawing!" "I'll teach you how to sing."

- "My... Hopefully better-than-average singing skills!"

- The bar set too high by singing Princess Ellen (the very next comic)

- "If I can't get to him naturally, I have options."

Sarah used Sing! It was super effective!

"Um, actually, the move 'Sing' can't be super effective. It doesn't even do—"

SUPER EFFECTIVE!

Final boss: Guy with a mustache.

His mustache is maximum, and he stands between Sarah and this fairy tale's happily ever after.

Eyes have locked, cue dramatic music, and roll for initiative.

"Sincerely, your highness, you were meant to mingle and improve relations with various noble houses."

"Yes, but... If I hadn't told the truth, mingled, and still ended up pursuing Cinderella afterwards, might that not have created another form of resentment? One far worse?"

"It is not my job to favor logic contrary to an objective the king has given me."

Me, several days ago while writing this: "In the first panel, she'll explain that Prince Elliot would subconsciously resent anyone who tried to woo him while he was still pining for someone else."

Me, the day I made this comic: "There is absolutely no room in the layout I want for that explanation."

Me, some time after that: "Um... Um... 'His heart lingers in the arms of another!' Yeah, that fits."

Waxing poetic is actually a consequence of authors trying to fit complex feelings into small windows of time or space. The results sounding romantic is an unintentional side effect that writers have learned to roll with. Prior to the realization that people care about pacing, the concept of romance simply did not exist.

That, "or each other! Hi!" bit was the last thing I wrote for this comic, and was mostly added to fill negative space. Therefore, if you like that part, you have negativity to thank.

Sort of.

Not really.

GRAMMAR!

I'm pretty sure "fairly" can fairly go before or after "assessed" in panel two without making English grammar aficionados cry, but I'm not a hundred percent certain on that.

One might think that an odd thing to comment on, but I was genuinely looking up videos on adverbs trying to sort that out. I seem prone to having trouble with adverb placement, and I often find myself second guessing where words should go. Some arrangements are easy for me, while others leave me guessing.

Of course, this is character dialogue, and not formal writing. It doesn't have to adhere to any style guides, and it's not being graded by a teacher.

Still, I prefer to break rules on purpose, darn it.

Several hundred years in the future, scholars would review Prince Elliot's "greater respect" statement and unanimously conclude that it was the least romantic thing anyone had ever said.

This was, naturally, hyperbole, but as it was easily identified as such, it was allowed to stand on official record so as to emphasize just how unromantic it was.

Less unanimous were opinions of how romantic the concept of the ball itself was. While some insisted it was something out of a fairy tale, others argued it was "messed up" on several levels. A third faction insisted it was both of those things, which everyone else found infuriating.

Historical realism says he wouldn't have to make it "an order," and that talking to him like this would be genuinely dangerous.

Fairy tale comic fun, however, says she can totally get away with this (particularly given that she's talking to Prince Elliot).

Tragically, we will never be able to deduce who from off-panel is asking these impertinent questions. There simply isn't enough information, and it shall remain a mystery forever.

Okay, so it's exactly you think it was from two comics ago. She might have to show up again in the main canon, though possibly with a visual redesign. Fortunately, even if she does look significantly different in the main canon, it will still, somehow, mysteriously, very obviously be her.

- Prince Elliot first entrance

- Prince Elliot second entrance

- What's expected of Prince Elliot

It's Raven's own fault, really. He could have ended his thought with "diplomatically disastrous," but he just had to follow it up with "and." That's a setup for something to go wrong if ever there was one.

- Three of them seen previously

"To be clear, my objection was of the boring outfits and accessories, not the waiters themselves. If, for example, the waiters were dressed as maids..."

I considered the return of the woman who believed earthworms to be "quite confident," but I choose to believe she's already met someone with an interest in gardening and has no remaining interest in the prince.

The next EGSNP after this MIGHT need to get delayed to Thursday. I'm uncertain of how long something I need to do Monday will actually take, and I'm trying to avoid staying up late to work on comics anymore.

Y'know, right after I get done posting this one.

Look, I'm going to try and fix my sleep schedule starting tomorrow! It doesn't apply retroactively!

Unless it does. In which case, like, three hundred new comics are about to appear out of nowhere.

PROPER commentary

Look, we all know that Sarah's going to have to resort to whatever it is she's talking about in panel three. You know it, I know it, that dog over there who can't even read knows it.

However, for the sake of fun and wonderment, I must ask each and every one of you to pretend there's a chance she'll be able to simply walk up to Prince Elliot and talk to him.

Unless her being able to do exactly that somehow turns out to be the twist, but what are the odds of that?