Once upon a time, a single drop of sun fell from the heavens. And from this small drop of sun grew a magic golden flower. It had the ability to heal the sick and injured, as well as keep the old young forever. All you had to do was sing a special song, and it would heal you of all your aches and woes. However, this flower remained hidden on a cliff overlooking a vast lake, surrounded by rocks and other shrubbery that grew thicker each passing year.
Centuries passed, and a glorious kingdom called Corona grew on the island in the middle of the giant lake, not to far from the flower's location. It was an epicenter of prosperity and culture; a visiting dignitary once noted that it "shone like a sun in the middle of a blue sky lake." So the crest was accordingly made with a yellow sun placed in the center of royal purple.
In its three hundredth year, Corona remained a small but peaceful kingdom, ruled by the most beloved king and queen: Frederick the Merciful and Arianna, a princess of Arendelle and sister to its king. They took care of their people like a child feeding the birds: gladly, freely, and without any thought of reward. As a result, the Coronans loved them dearly.
Their admiration of the royal couple doubled when it was announced the queen was expecting a child! A baby, an heir to the throne! For eight months Corona happily awaited the birth, unaware of the long, perilous road that awaits an expecting mother and baby.
Several months since the announcement, the queen complained of a slight headache at a ball. This grew into a migraine that lasted two weeks. Just as the migraine let up, her chest began to rattle with heavy coughs. Her strength drained away, leaving a sickly, bedridden woman carrying a great weight within her stomach. Hordes of doctors, physicians, and midwives flooded the castle gates, claiming to have a cure- the king spent piles of money trying to save his wife and unborn child, but none prevailed. So instead of awaiting a birth, the kingdom anticipated a most grievous death of a popular royal.
Still, the king refused to give up. Remembering an ancient legend about a flower that could heal the sick, even resurrect the dead, he offered a generous reward for the person who found and deliver it to him. The entire population of Corona leaped from their beds to pick this blossom, save the queen, and collect their reward along with a lifetime of fame. It was like a giant scavenger hunt, save for the fact that no one had fun; Queen Arianna's life was at stake, after all.
Now, there was an old woman called Mother Gothel who lived in the forest. She had neither family nor friends that she knew of. All she possessed was a Golden Flower that kept her young and beautiful for hundreds of year whenever she sang. Seeing how this precious treasure had come into high demand, she kept it hidden beneath a makeshift bush. Unfortunately, with the entire nation of Corona searching, she realized how difficult it would be to keep this glorious secret.
So she did the last thing imaginable; she actually gave them the flower! No, she didn't yank it out of the ground and hand it over. Gothel plucked a single petal off the bloom, covered the rest up, and went straight to the castle, claiming she found part of the Golden Flower for the Queen.
The single petal went into a tonic, which went to the Queen, who then made an overnight recovery. Corona rejoiced in having their happy rulers back; only five days after recovery, Arianna went into intense labor.
A healthy baby girl, a princess, was born, with beautiful golden hair and her mother's green eyes. Delighted beyond their wildest dreams, the new parents named their child Rapunzel, after the rampion her mother craved throughout the pregnancy. She would rule her family's kingdom with all the grace and wisdom that befitted a royal; she'd do better than them, both mother and father vowed.
To celebrate her birth, the king and queen launched a flying lantern into the sky- a Corona tradition. For that one moment, everything was perfect.
But for Gothel, everything seemed to be going wrong. Plucking the petal caused the flower to wilt. Only a hint of the magic remained. Her skin lost its smoothness, her ebony hair betrayed streaks of gray. She got her monetary reward, true, but what good was it if she died from old age?
So the bitter woman returned to the palace, demanding to see the king. Upon being granted an audience, she asked only to see the young princess, whose life she saved with her flower. Confused but naive, Frederick let her see their sleeping baby. Gothel saw the gold locks, a rather uncommon trait in Corona, and left the castle in a pensive state.
Later that night, as the royals slept, Gothel broke into the house. She saw the child, blissfully asleep in her crib, alone and unguarded, Clutching a tress of hair, the old woman began to sing the familiar tune. The baby's hair glowed- yes, glowed- a radiant, soothing yellow that seeped into Gothel's old bones, making her young and beautiful just as the dying flower did.
Smiling widely, Gothel produced a pair of scissors and cut off a tuft, but the hair turned a rich brown, much like Arianna's, as soon as it was severed. The magic instantaneously faded; the aged Gothel returned. Now she saw that the hair only worked if kept intact.
Gothel considered kidnapping the child. But so much trouble- evading the guards, fleeing the country, keeping the child in the dark. Too much for a five hundred year old woman! But maybe an alternative existed.
Gothel sang to the child a final time, buying her a day's worth of youth, then slipped back out, totally unnoticed. The next morning she returned, giving the reward money back to the monarchy. Instead of the reward money, she reasoned, she requested a purpose: let her be the child's nursemaid. She had no home or family, but if she had the chance to help raise a future queen, perhaps she could feel some contentment in her life. Frederic and Arianna couldn't resist.
So Gothel became Mother Gothel- she alone truly knew the princess. Although Arianna longed to be more active in her child's life, the duties of being a monarch simply did not allow it. Gothel came to dictate almost everything in Rapunzel's life: her clothes, her day-to-day routine, her exposure to the outside world. And her hair.
She'd figured out a way to stretch the magic out. During haircuts, she cut only most of the hair, not all. She'd then feed Rapunzel some of the Golden Flower- now the Golden Dust, as it worked better in a powder- to restore the hair's power, leaving a single tuft a natural brown. Yes, she was too clever.
So eighteen years passed like this. Rapunzel grew into a beautiful, talented, but sheltered young woman, blissfully unaware of the dark clouds gathering on her kingdom's horizon, ready to block out the sun.