Symphony

Twilight Sparkle lay down with a book she had read a thousand times before in front of a fire she had lit a thousand times before. It had been fifteen years since the author of this book had died, leaving a seven year old filly for his wife to raise. Luckily, the mare had friends to give her support. Twilight opened the cover and read "Discovering New Lands: the Autobiography of Bright Star". At the end of each chapter was a picture, an idea Twilight had just moments before the book was published.

Flipping through to her bookmark, a photograph showed Bright Star losing to Rainbow Dash by "point zero three seconds" in the finals of a tournament Flight Camp had put together. The next picture showed Bright giving a bouquet of flowers to a teenage Fluttershy. In a side note, it was mentioned that, despite Bright Star's future wife's friendship with the cream colored mare, she still felt a savage pride when she learnt the romance had been short lived. Guilt had caused her to give Fluttershy several apologies.

After graduation, Bright Star worked in the rainbow factory for half a year. After getting caught up in a hurricane, he was pronounced dead. During this time, Bright had traveled from village to village in a far off country, teaching his culture and learning the village's. It was one such visit that inspired Zecora to travel to Equestria. Twilight and her friends, at this time, had been invited to the Grand Galloping Gala after many bribes and fighting. Bright Star had discovered his love of exploration, though a personal vow had brought him back home to Cloudsdale some twenty years later.

Ten years before Bright Star had returned, the ponies you have come to know as "the mane six" had arrived in Canterlot for tea with Princess Celestia. There, the monarch explained rather tentatively that the six elements of harmony could only be bound to mares who had retained their virginity. The moment the mare lost her virginity or magic made her a "he", the magics were no longer bound to that pony. Rainbow immediately gave her position as bearer of loyalty due to her coltfriend's proposal. Rarity said she had no plans, and so she would keep her element until she met "mister right". Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, had internally sworn that she would be celibate for the rest of her life, so she could serve her princess as long as possible.

To keep herself from ever falling in love, Twilight created the perfect stallion. If she decided what she wanted, she could only fall in love with that stallion; or so her logic decided. "Let's see, he's gotta be smart, if I do fall in love, I want someone I can talk science to. I wouldn't mind somepony who could show me the world, maybe a pegasus? Coat color... pure white! He can't be too scrawny, but he can't be too buff, like Bulk Biceps. And I guess, maybe blue eyes? No wait, purple... Oh, I know! Left one blue, right one purple! And he has to be really nice, and be able to cook." Twilight had given many more specifications, both physical, mental, and even financial, and before long, her "perfect stallion" could have passed for a novel.

During a Best Young Flyer Competition which Rainbow's son, Chromo Blitz-Dash, had entered ten years later, Twilight accidentally bumped into a white flank as she was getting refreshments. Looking up, and apology forming on her lips, she saw the strong, muscular face of a stallion looking back at her. A face who's left eye was blue and right eye was purple. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," the stallion's voice apologized. The voice was exactly as Twilight imagined. "My name is Bright Star."

Twilight Sparkle's dream romance had come true. After three years dating, they married. Their "honeymoon" was a ten year trip around the world, in which the mare encountered many cultures with odd appearances, behaviors, and foods that Bright Star quickly learnt how to make. After much discussing, the two decided that a foal would not slow their travels, and thus this story's main protagonist was born.

Since birth, Millennium Star ("Mills" for short) had traveled with her parents. Sometime after her seventh birthday, she found an interesting artifact: a pure white harp with the inscription "GRAVE". Days later, her father became ill and died. Mills and her mother made their way back to Ponyville, where Twilight retook residence in the library and Mills entered the public school system. Bright Star himself only wrote up to Mills's fifth birthday, but Twilight made preparations to finish "Discovering New Lands" as soon as she returned from the journey.

Ten years later, Millennium Star had decided to follow in her parent's hoofsteps and explore the world. Her first journey was to find out where her harp came from.