Luna and Sonata left Celestia's house and got into Luna's car. Luna turned to Sonata and asked, "So now where to? We got the rest of this beautiful day to fill so let's do something."

Sonata thought for a second. It was a strange question. She had never been asked what she wanted to do before. She and Aria always just did what Adagio told them to do. And that was go out, stir up trouble, collect the energy, and then use that energy to get people to do whatever they wanted them to do. So Luna's question was one she was not prepared for. "I dunno," was all she could say.

"Well my bank account can't take anymore shopping; so how about the museum? They're having a special display on the settling of the town today."

"Museum? Why? I lived through most of it the first time; why would I want to see relics of it now?"

"Maybe you could fill me in then on some of the details. Come on, it'll be fun." And with that; Luna put on her sunglasses and drove off with Sonata just grumbling to herself in the passenger seat.

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The Museum was like any other Sonata had seen. Big, sterile, pompous, and dull. There was the art section, the dinosaur section, the technology section, and the planetarium. She tried to shuffle along but Luna moved so quickly; she was in constant danger of falling behind. Eventually they got to the section Luna wanted to see - The Founding Of The Town Of Equestria (as the sign that hung from two large posts proudly said).

They went from diorama to diorama; each depicting a different event in the founding of the town. Some for the first nations people showing how they came to the area, how they fished, hunted, some ceremonial masks, a life example of one of their lodges, and so on. Luna would point stuff out, prattle on about what she knew and then asked Sonata what she remembered. Which, to be honest, wasn't much. She and the others were trying to survive like everyone else. They had been too focused on their own lives to pick up everything around them. Besides her memory wasn't unlimited and all this was hundreds of years ago. Plus, as a settler, she tried to avoid the native population as much as possible.

They then came to the settler area. Replicas of wagons and wax figures in those awful clothes she had to endure back in the day were displayed in idiotic poses. Having survived the past, she could not understand how these modern humans could idolize it so much. With all it's problems, she was grateful to be here, in this time period. It was all rather silly and annoying.

Then she saw it. The little stuffed doll; sitting on top of a battered chest from the 1840's. "Star Shine," she whispered.

Luna had been talking about how she admired the courage of the earlier settlers and was wondering what it had been like to come out here with them when she heard Sonata say something. "What was that?" she asked.

Sonata still just stared at the doll but answered. "Star Shine. When we came out here, we were part of a group. You had to be. Thirty-two in total. We passed ourselves off as orphans looking to move out here with our Uncle. Not implausible at the time. We road with a family out here. Hard Shine, Winter Shine, and their daughter, Star Shine. She was adorable. Six years old, very bright for her age, just as loving as you could want. The others, Adagio and Aria just kept to themselves, which is actually impressive in a covered wagon, but I bonded with the little girl. She thought I was funny. We played, laughed, and joked together.

"Her father was moving out west to escape the crime and poverty of the city. New York or Philly, I can't remember which. He thought he had planned for everything. They all did. But the journey took longer than anyone realized. We were already low on provisions when the winter hit. No one expected to be out there when winter came. They all expected to be in one of the new settlements.

"It was harsh, bitter cold. Snow fell deep and often. Pretty soon they were all starving. Even we began to starve when the natural negative energy was no longer enough to sustain us. But still, we were in much better shape than the others. That's why I gave Star Shine most of my rations. It helped, but the human body can only stand so much. Between the cold and hunger," Sonata wiped a tear from her eye," I was there, with her mother and father. I held her hand, she called me her big sister and gave me that doll; her doll. I told her no, that she would get better and need it. But like I said, she was very bright for her age.

"When we got here, there was only ten of us left. Ten out of thirty-two. As we were leaving, I gave the doll back to the Shines. I told them it belonged to them and I couldn't take it. They accepted and took it. That was the last I ever saw of them."

Luna put an arm around Sonata. "When I was younger I was rebellious. Jealous actually; of Celestia. She was the golden child, I was the after thought. I got into drinking and drugs and petty crime, I was a mess. But it got me attention. Then I got pregnant. I was seventeen at the time. I was in no place, emotionally, mentally, financially to have a baby. But I wanted it. This would be my child, my redemption so to speak. I fought and fought with my parents over my baby. Eventually I was 'persuaded' to give it up for adoption. I never even new if it was a boy or a girl.

"After that I became even more self destructive. More drugs, more men, more crime. I didn't care if I lived or died. No, I did care, I wanted to die. My parents had given up on me but my sister never did. She fought tirelessly to bring me back. And she did. Slowly but surly. Everyone deserves a second chance. Everyone deserves to have someone in their corner backing them up. That's why I'm so driven now to help those who have fallen down and want to get back up."

Luna looked at Sonata who looked back at Luna. Pain hurts; but pain shared can also bring people together to heal.

Sonata looked back at the display. "Bye, bye Star Shine. I still miss you." Then she and Luna left.

Author's Notes:

I wasn't planning this chapter at all but the idea just popped inside my head and I felt it was too important to let go. I think it bridges the last chapter and the next where Sonata meets the other girls on Sunday well. Also it flushes out Luna's motivations more. I didn't like the last chapter much, but love this one and for it being so heavy thematically, was a joy to write. Peace and love.