The tale of the Snow Queen is rather well-known in Ever After for its slow transition away from the original tale. Though the titular antagonist was once a rather neutrally regarded figure, her successors have managed to warp the characterization into something much more devious. Every generation, the hatred and fear spiraling within the Snow Queen grows, and every generation, more control over her powers and the snow-bees she so prizes is lost.

Some fear that these gradual changes will someday become so great that the tale of the Snow Queen disappears completely. Others say, "good riddance".

Two generations ago, there came yet another twist to the character of the Snow Queen. Instead of the one child needed to carry on her legacy, she bore a pair of twins.

The second-born looked to be the epitome of what a good winter princess should be. She bore white hair that clung to her head like icicles and eyes as versatile as the aurora borealis. The snow-bees were fond of her, and ice obeyed her every whim. The first-born, however, was not at all acceptable. Her hair was as brown as dry earth, her blue eyes the only saving grace on her totally mundane features. The snow-bees avoided her, and while she displayed talent in dealing with the cold, she had little luck in manipulating the plentiful snow around her.

The Snow Queen found herself in a panic. The intended heir to her throne, lacking in magic? The tale was ruined! Swiftly, she devised a plan, and the first-born child's memory was quickly erased before she was sent off on a trail of snow-bees, finally landing at some lucky peasant's doorstep in a long-standing kingdom by the name of Arendelle.

She grew up happily, poor in lifestyle but joyous at heart. Her adoptive mother always treated her right, though she was an older woman who had few of the resources she thought were needed to raise a child. That didn't stop the girl from growing up with a kind and loving spirit, having learned to help around the house soon after she was able to walk and getting a job the day she was eligible. She became an apprentice to a skilled sheepherder who was born into his business and proved to be a fast learner. Though he conditions weren't ideal and the pay wasn't outstanding, the girl was glad that she was able to do something.

One day, winter came brewing stronger than ever. Everyone was locked up inside of their houses, the sheep were tucked into the barn, and no one dared to travel outward. That is, with one exception. The brave young daughter of the Snow Queen, long ago abandoned and wiped of her ancestry, had gone into the post office and since then was on the move, taking letters and light cargo to whatever houses required them. The postmen and postwomen were extremely impressed with the girl's endurance and eventually gave the girl a very important letter. It was a message to be given to the Prince of Arendelle- a love letter sent by his betrothed.

The girl exited the post office, and immediately snowflakes frosted over her hair and shoulders. The castle was far, but the girl didn't rush to the location. She walked calmly through the thick and biting snow, feeling nothing more than the warmth of her own heart. By the time she reached the entrance, even her face was dappled with cold flakes, which particularly perched on her eyelashes and the tip of her nose. She knocked on the door, but to no avail. Perhaps the doorkeeper had gotten locked in his house due to the weather? Whatever the case, the girl found that she would need to take another route if she were to complete her mission.

She knew which window was the of the prince's room. She'd seen his head poking out when he was daydreaming, and more than once had his chamberlain come over to chastise him for leaving the window open. After a moment of thought, the girl took off her mittens, leaving her cold hands exposed. She tied them into a knot and threw them up at the window, watching as it hit the solid glass with a small thud and fell down into icy oblivion. No answer. She did the same with her winter hat. No answer. Finally, she threw her wadded-up scarf at the window. A pale hand came over to unhook the latch, and the flaps of the window drew stiffly inward.

"Is someone there?" A voice called out, muffled by the wind and concealed by the snow.

"I am a shepherdess of Arendelle, Your Royal Highness," the girl called. "I come with a letter from your betrothed."

There was a pause, and the girl was about to repeat her phrase before she heard, "I will be at the door at once."

And so the girl went back to the door, and mere moments later the door was opened. There was not a servant standing before her, as the girl noted with surprise, but instead the prince himself, his blonde hair ruffled by the wind and his skin seeming even paler in the chill. The prince, too, seemed surprised, and was not nearly as good at hiding it. For the girl was almost entirely covered in snow, all but her eyes blocked by the clean crystals. He took the letter, thanked the girl, and invited her inside.

The girl agreed and chatted with the prince for a while, and the prince could tell from their brief conversation that the girl was very kind-hearted. The girl, too, saw goodness in the prince, and wished that she could stay all night. However, she realized with a start that she hadn't checked on her mother for a good while. Though the prince insisted she at least stay until the snowflakes were melted enough for him to truly see her, she had to politely decline, and her form soon dissolved into the falling snow.

The next morning, the sun truly became the town's saving grace. The world was at least somewhat warmer, and as the villagers moved about their business, so did a new rumor. Everyone in the town was convinced that the prince of Arendelle had called off the betrothal his parents had set up for him, and when probed, the gossipers would add that the prince claimed he had been visited by a beautiful young lass dressed in snowflakes. The girl was rather surprised to hear this but pretended to think nothing of it, not wanting to become a source of rumor herself. Her mother asked about her gloves, hat, and scarf, and the girl admitted that she'd left them outside of the prince's window but told her mother not to worry about them. She would have the sheepdog retrieve them for her as she went about her work.

The mother, however, was impatient. She sent her nephew to retrieve the girl's clothing beneath the prince's window. In the defrosting snow, however, he saw only the scarf, which he easily retrieved. The prince, who was daydreaming, opened the window and asked the boy what he was doing.

"I'm retrieving my cousin's scarf, Your Royal Highness."

"Who is your cousin?"

But the boy would not say, and he moved too swiftly for the prince to trail after him. The woman, seeing only the scarf, next asked the shepherd if he could retrieve the rest of the clothing. In the defrosting snow, he picked up the hat, which was all he saw. Again, the prince opened the window and asked the shepherd what he was doing.

"I'm retrieving my apprentice's hat, Your Royal Highness."

"Who is your apprentice?"

But the shepherd would not say, and he too was quick. The woman still longed for the gloves to return but had no one else to send, as her nephew and the shepherd had to return to their work, so she decided to wait for the sheepdog.

Of course, the prince was daydreaming once again. This time, he kept the window open and ready. When he saw a white-and-black-coated canine approaching, he looked down and watched as it gathered gloves in the bottom-most layer of the defrosting snow. Curious, he exited his room and went downstairs, set on following the dog. He was stopped by a couple of girls who claimed to be or know the snowflake-maiden, but the prince ignored them. He continued his pursuit and stopped at the door of a barn, watching as the dog entered through the slightly agape doorway. The prince stood outside for a long moment, seeming almost confused, before peeking in.

The girl, sitting on a bale of hay and clothed in a plain dress, was tending to one of the younger sheep before she saw the dog trot in. Giving it a pat on the head, she received the gloves and folded them into the pockets of her dress before looking up. Seeing familiar green eyes and blonde hair, she was startled, though not nearly so much as he. Her blue eyes were unmistakably those belonging to the girl who'd given him the letter.

"I've found you, Snowflake Maiden," the prince said as he entered.

"So you have, Your Royal Highness," the girl agreed, standing.

The two continued meeting from that point on, falling deeper in love. When the prince turned eighteen, he convinced his parents to let him marry the girl, aided by how they approved of her heart and beauty. The wedding was spectacular, and the girl was a loving queen, glad that she was better able to help her mother and those around her. And they all lived Happily Ever After.

"This happened only a few years before you were born, Princess Elsa."

The sixteen-year-old girl had to remind herself to stop fidgeting with her gloves, lest they slip too loose. Her posture was straight and steady, trained from years spent with a courageous private tutor, but the slight squint of her blue eyes and the barely existent biting of her pale lip revealed the platinum-haired girl's nerves. She was making her best effort to maintain eye contact with the chambermaid she'd spent the past several years thinking of as a second mother. "Gerda...why are you telling me this now?"

The woman sighed, seeming about as happy giving the news as the princess was receiving it. Unlike the princess, Gerda was standing, her hand coming to rest on the teen's shoulder. "Princess Elsa, you're part of a fairytale legacy. You need to know."

"But..." Elsa stopped herself from finishing the question. She'd grown rather certain that questions would get her nowhere. After all, they never did when she asked her parents about things, back when they were still alive.

"But why you, yes?" Gerda asked. At the princess's timid nod, she continued. "The current Snow Queen has no children. She is barren. And since you are the first-born of the first-born, it is your duty to take over your grandmother's destiny."

"All I know about the fairytale realm are things you've told me, Gerda, and all my life I've trusted your judgement..." Elsa said softly, sternly keeping herself from mumbling while still keeping a clearly uncertain and quiet tone. "But I can't just go to Ever After High. What about my sister?" Elsa swallowed, knowing very well that the excuse was invalid even in her own eyes. Her relationship with her sister had gone downhill ever since the accident, when Elsa had first seen herself as dangerous.

In truth, the last thing she wanted to do was to go to a school where she'd have to be surrounded by people and risk exposing herself. And that was without even considering the implications of her apparent destiny as an evil queen. She couldn't let herself think about that aspect, or else the cold crystals already spiraling down the legs of her polished, wooden chair would begin spreading across the floor in slippery fractals for what felt like the eight-hundredth time.

"You must, princess," Gerda asserted, though her voice was low and solemn. "Headmaster Grimm has already sent for you. To ease your concerns, your sister will be attending alongside you. After all, she's destined to become the next Snowflake Maiden."

Elsa sunk lower into her chair, her practiced grace failing her for the moment being. "So she's going to be a beautiful, kind-hearted girl with a Happily Ever After...and I'm going to cast evil destruction on everything I touch," she determined blankly, struggling to keep the ice on the ground around her from spreading just as much as she struggled to hold back the shaking of her body, which matched the quick flits of her anxious heart. She didn't have much success in either struggle.

Gerda sighed, pulling back. Her eyes were worried and sympathetic, but her mouth was pulled straight into a proper line. "I'll help you pack when you next call for me, princess. I must inform your sister of this." After a moment, she added, "I can omit the parts about her Snow Queen lineage and your own destiny, if you'd prefer."

"Yes, please," Elsa replied, sounding more pleading and urgent than she'd anticipated. "She can't know about my powers."

"As you wish, Your Royal Highness," Gerda said finally before exiting the room. Elsa forced herself up onto her feet and ran over to the lock the bedroom door, worried that her legs would betray her if she took too long. In the end, her legs betrayed her anyway, and ended up on her knees with her gloved hand still clinging to the doorknob. Putting her other hand up to her face, she barely took note of how the knob was soon frozen, the entire door not falling far behind. Now that she was alone, perfectly isolated and safe, she could let her feelings manifest- and God, she really couldn't have kept them back for another second. She was certain that she could keep her shocked and fearful emotions within the confines of her room, and they certainly filled every square inch of the allotted space that had so long ago become so forsaken by all but its owner and a select few castle staff.

Earlier in the conversation, Gerda had told Elsa why her parents were so afraid. They didn't know of her mother's lineage in the slightest, and in fact knew nothing of the fairytale world's existence, let alone anything anything related to magic beyond the wisdom of the trolls. But if her mother and father were truly as kind-hearted as described in the story of the Snowflake Maiden...why did they have to keep her away from the world? Was she really so frightening and threatening and terrible that their loving hearts were repelled by the danger she caused?

"M-mom..." she murmured shakily to the air. Long hair draped over most of her face, the visible heat of her inconsistent breath puffing into the air through the space in between. "I-it's bad enough that you left us...but why did you have to leave me with this?"

A/N: This is an AU, of course. It's partially inspired by a Frozen/EAH crossover picture I saw on Tumblr and partially inspired by a very strange dream I had last night. Also, Gerda is the name of the female servant in Frozen, though I've made it to where she's both the female servant in Frozen and the most recent Gerda from The Snow Queen.

In the next chapter, we have some actual EAH characters! ...Well, maybe.

Disclaimers: EAH belongs to Mattel.

Frozen belongs to Disney.

I made the story of the Snowflake Maiden myself because I needed an excuse to incorporate Anna into the fairytale world. Yes, it's far too pleasant of a story to be an actual fairytale, but there's a reason for that.

Thank you for reading! R&R if that is what your True Heart desires.