Long, long ago, in a faraway land, there lived a King and Queen who ruled their kingdom with kindness and just, and were beloved by their subjects. They have everything their hearts' desire, but the one thing they desired the most was a child of their own.

One winter afternoon, as the Queen was tending to her rose garden, she accidentally pricked her finger on a thorn of one of the roses. As 3 drops of blood trickled onto the snow, the Queen made a silent wish.

"I wish to have a child as white as snow, with hair as black as night, and lips as red as blood. How beautiful that child would be."

No sooner she made that wish, than a year later, the Queen was pregnant and soon gave birth to a bouncing baby girl. Sadly, the Queen died soon after giving birth, and the King was beside himself with grief. His only consolation was that his little princess grew to look just like the Queen wished, and thus she was named 'Snow White'.

As much as the King was content to rule his kingdom with his little princess by his side, a king cannot be without his queen, so when a royal diplomat came to visit with his daughter, the King couldn't help but fall for her bewitching looks. He courted her almost immediately and by the next spring, they were wed.

Unbeknownst to the King and Snow White, the new Queen was actually descended from a secret lineage of witches from her mother's side, and was as devious as her predecessors. With her cunning wits and powerful witchcraft, she assassinated the King and took control of the throne, making her the sole ruler of the kingdom.

The Queen was evil as she was vain, and she had a magic mirror she kept in her secret shrine to make sure that her beauty would never be surpassed. Every morning and evening, she would look into the mirror and say the magic words:

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

And the mirror would always answer: "Only you, my Queen, are the fairest of them all" and the Queen would be satisfied, for it would always speak the truth.

As the years went by, Snow White grew to be a beautiful young lady, ignorant of the Queen's evil deeds. On Snow's 16th birthday, the Queen approached her mirror as usual and asked, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"

"You, my Queen, are fair by far, but Snow White is much fairer than thou are."

The Queen was filled with jealous rage, and decided there and then to kill Snow White. She sent for the best huntsman in the castle to do the deed, instructing him to bring her her heart as proof of her death. She then asked Snow White to go gather flowers for her birthday party. Snow, being innocent as she always was, went without question.

The huntsman waited until Snow White was distracted enough before he made his move. Unlike most of the Queen's subjects, this huntsman was fiercely loyal to her and would want nothing more than to please the evil Queen. Snow never saw it coming. The huntsman was swift and silent, and before she knew it, she was on the grass in her own pool of blood and a gaping hole on her throat and her chest.

The huntsman presented Snow's heart to the Queen, and the Queen served the heart to the guests during the supposed birthday party, and feigned ignorance when they asked of Snow's whereabouts.

As the kingdom searched for Snow White in vain, and mourned her death when they couldn't, they did not know that deep in the woods where Snow gathered her flowers, lived 7 dwarves who mined gems for a living. One of the dwarves witnessed the murder and dragged Snow's body into the mines to show to his brothers.

The eldest and wisest of the dwarves knew this was the work of the Queen, and since dwarves and witches have been mortal enemies since ancient times, they thought Snow would serve as their best medium to eliminate the Queen once and for all.

The dwarves dug deep into the mines for the biggest, reddest ruby they could find, while they kept Snow White's body in a glass coffin within the mines to shield her from the elements. After days of digging, they finally found one that was almost the size of a fresh, ripe apple and inserted it into the gap where her heart was supposed to be.

Within minutes, the ruby attached itself onto the cavity and started beating in its own accord, pumping new, dark blood throughout the fair princess's body. Snow White's eyes fluttered open as she slowly came to life and the dwarves watched with quiet pride as she made her way out of the mines and into the kingdom where the Queen reigned.

Snow White was unstoppable the moment she set foot into the castle. It was like a great power resides within her and nothing stood in her way. Every attack and defense was useless to her, and she stormed through the castle and into the throne room with great ease, her ebony-black hair crackled and flowed like midnight fire. The Queen tried everything, but her magic was no match against the darkness that boiled through Snow's veins...

As Snow White loomed over the shredded body of the once evil Queen, her eyes caught sight of the mirror within the secret shrine. Stepping slowly into the shrine, she stood before the mirror, smiled and whispered:

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

And the mirror answered: "Only you, Snow White, are the fairest of them all."

And Snow White was satisfied, for she knew it spoke the truth.