Once upon a time in the kingdom of Oredon lived a beautiful and young princess. 

   Her name was Emma. 

   Her father, the renowned king Orren, loved her dearly and he  wished to marry her with a knight.

 Knights and princes from faraway lands used to come often in the king’s court to meet the princess hoping that she would choose one of them as her husband. 

But none of them managed to conquer her heart so far.

King Orren worried because time was passing by and the princess was still alone, without anyone by her side to protect her.  

He worried since her mother had died mysteriously when her daughter was a little girl. He hoped to see her married before he was gone too.

   One sunny warm afternoon, Emma went for a ride in the woods with her favorite golden horse, a gift from the prince of Turkmenistan. 

   It was early spring. The bluebells were like a carpet under the tall trees. 

    Emma stopped to pick up some flowers for her father and saw some squirrels dancing and playing around her. 

Suddenly, the Wicked Witch of the Forest appeared on her broomstick and with a swift gesture grabbed the princess and flew away. 

Emma was shocked and she passed out. 

When she came around she found herself in a dark dungeon under the root of a huge tree full of cobwebs and mice.

    The next morning the golden horse returned to the palace without its mistress. When king Orren found out that his beloved daughter was missing, without a second thought, he called all the knights of his kingdom to the palace. He talked to them and begged them with tears in his eyes to do whatever they could, to search in the most improbable places and find the princess.

    He knew that his daughter was in the hands of the Wicked Witch of the Forest since his faithful robin had followed the princess to her ride and had revealed to the king what had happened. The hopes of the king to save Emma were on the brave knights, so he declared that the one who would find her would also take her as his wife.

    While the knights were making preparations for their mission, a humble citizen of the king appeared in court. He was Hans, the stable boy.

    He was working at the royal stables, taking care of the horses. He had met the princess there, they knew each other since they were little kids and he had been in love with her forever but he had never had the courage to tell her because he was poor and insignificant. But now the love of his life was in danger and he begged the king to allow him to look for the princess too.

  The knights went on their quest with their armours and horses. Hans, though, had no horse and no armour. He was left way behind. As he was walking in the woods he met a little squirrel. The squirrel greeted him and asked him where he was going. It was dark already. Hans was surprised and told the little squirrel what had happened with the princess and –what a good fortune! – the little squirrel decided to help him. It revealed to him the secret way  to defeat the Wicked Witch of the Forest.

    When Hans arrived on the Mountain of the Elves he was welcomed with great enthusiasm. The elves showed him the castle on the top made from ash and lava. There lived the dragon-keeper of the magic stardust. The elves were eager to help Hans because they would also like to get rid of the dragon. You see, the dragon used to burn their village every time he woke up.  Skillfully and in no time at all, they made an armour and they gave him a magnificent Friesian horse. Hans with his bravery and a little help from his friends, defeated the dragon –keeper and took in his possession the magic stardust.