Once Upon A December

by ThePrinceOfTheNorth

Chapter 11: Kingdom of Shadow

Chapter 11: Kingdom of Shadow

Snowdrop's dream of flying through the starry skies with Luna slowly faded away as she left the realm of dreams and returned to the waking world. She sometimes wished her dreams were reality, because in them she could see. The dark purples and whites of the night sky and the stars, the shape of the clouds, all she could only see in her dreams. Sadly, they were but dreams, and now they were gone as Snowdrop finally opened her eyes.

She was in a very large bed in a very large room. The door itself was nearly ten times taller than Celestia. The walls were made from some dark, almost black stone, and were decorated with silks and velvets of many rich shades of purple, blue, silver and gold, though of the two accents, there was more silver. The bed she was in was a four poster with Royal Purple silk curtains that matched the silk sheets which hid the eggshell white ones below. It was all fairly surreal.

Wait, how am I actually seeing all this?

Snowdrop threw off the covers and ran to a nearby dresser. It was, despite the enormity of everything else, just the right height for here to peer into the mirror. What she saw amazed her.

Her eyes were not pale any longer, but were now a ligth shade of blue, the pupil clearly defined. Snowdrop gasped at her newfound ability. She had been born blind, and had never seen the world other than what Luna had shown her in her dreams. Now she could see! She heard something behind her and turned to the door.

The door opened and a large dragon of a species she'd never seen before stepped in. He looked evil, with his dark grey scales and pale red eyes, and talons that were sharp as knives. He was also quite tall, a bit over half as tall as the doorframe he stood in, and he was only on fours.

Snowdrop leapt across the room and under the covers of the bed at blinding speed, so fast that the dragon saw no more than a streak of pale blue go from the dresser to the bed.

"DON'T EAT ME," stammered Snowdrop, "I-I DON'T TASTE VERY GOOD!"

The dragon gave out a hearty laugh. "Now, why on Equus would I eat you? You're a guest of Lady Blackheart!"

"Lady Blackheart," Snowdrop asked, confused.

"Ah, well," said the dragon as he put a claw to his chin, "Blackheart is really the Princess, but she's always preferred being called Lady Blackheart over Princess Blackheart. You have to admit, Lady Blackheart has more of a ring to it, no?"

Snowdrop nodded as she peeked from under the covers. "It does."

The dragon nodded. "Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Urnol, Captian of Her Majesty's Royal Guard. A pleasure to meet you, young Alicorn," he said with a bow.

Snowdrop nodded. "I'm Snowdrop."

"Just Snowdrop," asked Urnol as he rose.

"Yep, just Snowdrop." Feeling more confident, Snowdrop came out from under the covers and leapt off the bed. "What are you doing here, then?"

"Lady Blackheart has requested your presence," Urnol said. "I am to take you to her."

"Alright," said Snowdrop as she proceeded to follow the dragon. She wasn't sure what lay ahead, but she had a feeling it wasn't anything bad.

~~~~~~~~

Urnol led Snowdrop through many, many hallways and great room. There were only dragons, and they stared at her whenever she passed, as if they didn't know what she was. Urnol would always give them a look, and they'd return to whatever it was they'd been doing. Finally, they came to what could be considered the enterance area, as it had a grand staircase, which them came out onto the left side of. At the landing below was a tall door, taller than any other in the castle. Across the hall from it was an even taller door that was open, and Snowdrop could see the snow-covered gardens just beyond.

"In here," Urnol said. He'd decended to the landing, and was beckoning Snowdrop to the closed door. Snowdrop nodded, and came down to stand beside him.

"Now then," said Urnol, "As a guest of her Ladyship, you are not required to refer to her as milady."

"Is that all," asked Snowdrop.

"Well, yes," Urnol said simply, "Oh, and do try to be polite. She is the Regent of Darkness and Shadow, after all."

Snowdrop swallowed hard. Regent of Darkness and Shadow? What has she gotten herself into?

Urnol pushed open the great doors to reveal a room somewhat different from the others. The stone walls within were white washed, and there were colorful flower beds and trees that reached to the ceiling of clear crystal, so you could see the clear, blue sky above, and allowing natural light into the room, otherwise all the plants within would die.

At the far end of what Snowdrop assumed to be the throne room sat an enormous dragon that looked incredibly old. Her scales still gleamed like gemstones, but were cracked in some places and missing in others. Overall, this dragon was in rough shape, but her black scales, red eyes and pure white horns and claws made up for that, making her look very, very scary.

"Milady," Urnol said as he bowed before her, "I have brought your guest, as you requested."

"Thank you, Urnol," said the dragoness with a voice she recognized. Lady Blackheart herself had rescued her! "You may leave us."

Urnol nodded at his Lady's command. "As you wish." He stepped out, leaving Snowdrop alone with this strange dragon.

The Princess looked at her. "So, I suppose you're wondering why I, as Regent of Darkness and Shadow, haven't killed you?" Snowdrop nodded slowly in response. "It is because that though we may represent something, we do not have to live by what we represent. Look at my garden, full of life and free of evil, and it's beautiful, is it not?"

"It is very nice," said Snowdrop.

"Indeed it is," said the Princess, "Oh, and if you're a bit confused on what to call me, Blackheart will do just fine."

Snowdrop nodded.

"Good," said Blackheart, "Now, where was I...oh, yes. I DO represent Darkness and Shadow, but I don't live by Darkness and Shadow, there are plenty of others who already do that. Then again, having these gifts of Shadow and Darkness does have it's benefits..."

Blackheart was unable to finish. In that moment, she suddenly was enveloped in flame. When it disappeared, nothing but ash remained.

"HOLY CELESTIA," Snowdrop shouted, taking a step back. "Oh no, this isn't good. What if they think I killed her!?"

"Nobody's going to be thinking anything," said a voice from the pile of ash. Snowdrop turned just in time to see a dragon rise from the ashes, identical to the one that had been there seconds before, but smaller, only slightly smaller that Luna, and with no damage to her scales. "Wondering when that would finally happen."

Snowdrop was officially speechless. "Did you just..."

"Come back from the grave," Blackheart finished for her. "In a manner of speaking. Do you know what happens to an old Phoenix?"

Snowdrop nodded, seeing the point Blackheart was getting at.

"Well, I was born with that ability," said Blackheart. "Thing is, even if I'm killed, I'll just turn to ash and be reborn from them. It means that I, like you, am immortal, but to a lesser degree than you. I will age and die, but you won't."

"Really," asked Snowdrop. She was still getting accustomed to being an Alicorn, and her age was one thing she had yet to learn about.

"Indeed," said Blackheart, "Like Princess Celestia or Luna, you will age to a certain point, then you will stop aging completely."

Snowdrop nodded, but there was still one thing on her mind that only Blackheart could answer. "Why did you save me?"

"Well, that is the question, isn't it," said Blackheart, "Why would I, Princess of Darkness and Shadow, save you, a representative of goodness and light? I, too, am a representative of all that is good and light, despite my true purpose. I've found that you and your life are what you make of them, not what some greater power than yourself decides."

Snowdrop nodded. She was beginning to like this dragon.

"Well then, would you care to follow me? There's something I'd like to show you."

"I don't see why not," said Snowdrop with a nod.

Blackheart nodded and rose to her claws. She beagan walking to a side passage just behind the throne that Snowdrop hadn't noticed before. She decided that going with Blackheart would probably be the best course of action, and followed her down the passage.