Even as a young filly, Star Shine was fascinated by books. There wasn't a lot to read, but she made do with what she had. She loved adventure and always pictured herself as the mare who would swoop into the ancient ruins of a past civilization, avoiding the traps with her clever mind and take the treasure hidden within! It was so appealing to her to have riches beyond her wildest dreams; to be able to feed her family and live in one of those upper class kingdoms. It would only be a part of her imagination though, since she cared so much for her family. Star Shine hated seeing them starve and waste away, letting her have the last bit of food. How nice would it be to have a little food too. Living in these conditions was hard for such a little filly. Surviving on bread and beans and entertaining herself with nothing but her imagination. She grabbed her stick, pretending it was a sword, and her adventure hat, she was fortunate enough to be given from her parents. She began to narrate what was going on inside her crazy little head.
"Star Shine visualizes her surroundings," She pulls out her stick and mumbles the rest of her narration. "With her sword in her mouth, she's ready for any danger that lurks in the brush. She's a long way from home, but won't go back until she finds what she's looking for. Star Shine may not a clue of what it is but she is determined to find it!" She remained low, crawling over furniture and jumping over obstacles that got in her way. A basket obstructed her path.
"A foe!" She grabbed her stick and swung, knocking the basket over.
"It may be vanquished, but Star Shine must stay vigilant! Who knows what creature could be around the corner," She started up the stairs. "A great temple, surely there must be some treasure to be found at the top! Star Shine climbs each giant step, draining her energy, but it will not be enough to turn her back. This glorious sculpture will not take me!"
She cheers as she gets to the last step. "Huzzah!" She exclaimed. She visualized her hooves, making sure each step wouldn't be her last. "Every temple I've ever crossed has had traps, a puzzle of some sort or something to fool robbers, but where is the object of hunt?"
She spoke out loud as if to talk to some one. "This door is closed? What could be so important that they want it protected back here?" She opened the storage closet. Her eyes glistened at the vast amount of items that could be explored back there.
"Many treasures behind here! But I can only take the one that is meant to be taken; the rest could possibly be a trap, but which one?" A beautiful treasure stood before her, one that she longed for in reality, a book.
"An amazing treasure," Star Shine gasped, "I hope this one is it." She winced as she grabbed the book from its shelf, afraid that a trap would be sprung. Nothing happened. She did a little dance in place, but was then stopped by a mysterious, slow clapping behind her.
"Oh yes, well done Star Shine. Thank you for leading me to the treasure. Now, if you could ever so kindly hand it over to me then I'll be on my way."
"You'll have to pry it from my dead hooves!"
"Very well." Her opponent took an attack stance. Star Shine readied her sword and awaited for him to make his first move. They stared each other down, anticipating on who would make the first move. As it was he to take the first few steps, he charged at Star Shine, attacked her with a mighty hug. He was to fast to avoid Star Shine's sword as she attacked him. She swung around and hit him with a sickening blow. He fell to the ground with a loud thud. Dead. Of course, only in make-believe would he really have died. Star Shine loved it when her father would play with her and as did he love spending time with her. He opened his eye to look at Star Shine, who had now stuck out a hoof to help up her foe. He took her hoof and got back up, both of them laughing. Star Shine looked down at the book. She had never seen this book before.
"Hey Dad, what is this?" He examined the book with as much glaze as she did.
"I was planning on reading this book to you when you were old enough, thinking it might be too sad for you, but considering you've just killed me and didn't even shed a tear, I think I should."
Excitement filled Star Shine's young, sparkling eyes. A new book to read!
"Get ready for bed, and I'll meet you there!" Star Shine didn't delay to bed as she normally did. The thought of sleep bore her for there was so much to do during the day, but the mystery of a new book would be enough for her to slumber. She grabbed her raggedy, torn-up stuffed pony that she slept with and hopped in her bed, eagerly waiting for her dad.
"You ready?" Her father asked. She nodded her head.
"This book was passed down by generations of unicorns and was eventually passed down to me by my dad. Do you know what the Elements of Harmony are?" He asked and was answered with by a playful shove.
"Dad, you've already told me that story!"
"So you have been paying attention during story time? Well this story is a little different this time." He opened up the book and began to read. "A terribly troubling time was taken over our beloved kingdom. The different races was never fond of one another, for their jealousy for each other overwhelmed them all. Each race had their own talent, but was envied by one another! The earth ponies despised the pegasus, who could touch the sky! The pegasus hated how smart the unicorns were and their power of magic! The unicorns envied the earth ponies for their strength, creativity and farm work! This separated the three and caused chaos between each race. It has been like this for as long as we all could remember. One day, the pegasus wanted to take control of the other races rather than ignore them like the others had. The pegasus believed they could use their talents. In a way, they only wanted to work together as allies, but took their talents away by force. They were manipulated by a dark stone with power that no unicorn could ever hope to hold! They used this magical jewel to summon a new leader. This new leader consist of all three races, which was called an alicorn. The alicorn controlled the other races with an iron hoof. With her dark magic, she could do anything she wished, but with a price. The dark stone corrupted her mind. When the unicorns seemed unable to stop them, we were forced to obey the dark leader. It seemed like there was no hope, until one faithful day, we found a stone with such power as the dark one that took over the alicorn. Not just one, but six stones were found in the element tree. This could be the down fall of the alicorn, and the rise of a new hope! Unfortunately, the unicorns couldn't seem to understand the power of the stones..." Star Shine cut off her father.
"Why?"
"Well, there is a secret to these stones. They only will work with those who are chosen. No unicorn had what the stones where looking for, and it would only be a matter of time before the pegasus found these stones . In this fear, the unicorns agreed to hide them. So six of the unicorns took the six stones and ventured out to the most dangerous of terrain, one that the pegasus would be to afraid to find themselves."
"Why in Equestria would they do that?" asked little Star Shine.
"Why? Ponies will do anything to keep their hope alive. Hope is the only thing we have to go on. The pegasus have been said to destroy all the stones, but many still have hope; that the stones still live, waiting for the chosen to find them." Star Shine's dad closed the book.
"What do you believe?" Star Shine looked at her father.
"I think there is hope, even if the stones don't exist." Her father gave her a toothless smile.
"I believe so, too."
He gave her forehead a kiss good night and left the room. He didn't anticipate that his little girl would actually bring forth the Harmony; that his sweet, innocent girl would restore their hope and save their world. She would go through a lot of hard times and pain to do so. In the far future, she would restore harmony to all of Equestria.
