Lost
"You did what?!"
Starlight's heart pounded as she listened in on her family's conversation. Her brother Shaun had come back home from the skate park escorted by a policepony. The policepony had said that Shaun had been caught drawing graffiti and he had driven him home.
Starlight's parents had thanked the policepony (much to Shaun's embarrassment) sent Andrew and Starlight downstairs, and marched poor Shauny-pants to their room for an brutal interrogation.
Now Starlight was eavesdropping, trying to figure out what Shaun had done. This wasn't the first time he had gotten in trouble, and she wanted to make sure it wasn't something serious. She pressed her ear closer to the door.
"I wasn't even doing anything wrong....They just-"
"Drawing a picture of Princess Celestia being be-headed isn't wrong?" Mom asked, hysterical.
"No, it's not wrong because she's a bitch!" Starlight winced at the bad word.
"Don't say-" Dad started to say.
"Yes, yes, I forgot you were LOYALISTS.
"Watch your tone, colt!" Mom snapped.
Dad sighed. "Getting back to the point, Shaun, you need to stop being so reckless. We all know you have your own choice thoughts about Princess Celestia, but can't you express them more discreetly?"
"Please! If you ask me, he shouldn't have these thoughts at all! Celestia is a just and fair leader." Mom huffed.
"Just and fair leader?" Shaun's voice turned angry. "Listen to yourself, Mom. Celestia banished her own sister to the moon, conquered The Griffon Kingdom, and basically wiped out all the manticores! What is so just and fair about all of that?"
"You're being ridiculous! Celestia isn't some evil tyrant, she's a gracious goddess. Bolt, talk to him!"
"Listen, son-"
"No! I'm done listening to you!" Shaun shouted, and she heard hoofsteps coming towards the door. Starlight let out a little gasp, and dashed into the the darkened bathroom next to her. She heard the door swing open, and saw Shaun trot angrily out, and into his room. The sound of the door being forcefully locked rung out in the now empty hallway.
Starlight dashed as silently as she could down the stairs, and into the den. "Shaun! Shaun! Get back in here!" she heard her parents calling.
The little alicorn jumped down the stairs to find her brother intently watching Phineas and Ferb on the television. He turned his head to gaze at her with big, curious eyes.
"What happened?" he asked in his cute 7-year-old voice of his.
She just shook her head silently, and laid on the couch. Andrew must of saw that is was serious, because he went back to watching his show without any further comment.
A few moments later, Dad appeared at the top of the steps. "Time for bed," he said in a unusually hollow voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She couldn't sleep.
Well, that happened every time something bad happened involving Shaun, unless she cried herself to sleep, but she sensed something relatively bad about this incident. I mean, Shaun had been drove home in a POLICE CAR by a POLICEPONY. That was pretty serious stuff.
Starlight sighed and turned over, facing the window. Shaun couldn't afford to keep on getting in trouble. If he did something really bad again like today, her parents could get very angry with him. She gasped. What if Shaun did something so bad, that her parents kicked him out?
Deciding there was only one way to settle her thoughts, Starlight quietly slipped out of bed, and tip-hoofed past the bunk-bed which held her snoozing younger brother. Starlight carefully opened her bedroom door a crack, wincing at the suspicious CREAK it made.
After a few minutes, she decided that she was safe, and forcefully squeezed herself in the narrow crack between the door and the door frame. Starlight walked quietly to her older brother's bedroom door, (which was roughly six hoof-steps from where she was already standing) and followed the same procedure that she did with her door.
Hesitating for only a second, she trotted over to the mattress that was Shaun's bed. She gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Shaun?"
His eyes blinked open, and Starlight jumped. He frowned. "Starlight, what do you want?"
"Well.....Why did you draw that bad picture of Celestia? You knew you were going to get in trouble if you did it."
He sighed. "Sometimes when you have very strong feelings about something, like I do about that potato- Starlight giggled at this- we call our queen, you have to express them in some way. I do that through drawing."
"Even if it means getting in trouble?" she asked.
"Yes, even if it means that."
After a few moments of silence, Starlight spoke: "Can you maybe not try to get in trouble? Mom and Dad really love you, you just don't see eye-to-eye on everything. You do know that right?"
"Yes," Shaun whispered after a while, and Starlight could've sworn she saw tears in his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One week later, Shaun left.
Starlight couldn't stop the heavy torrent of tears, as she watched Shaun pack the last bag into his friends' carriage. He must've saw her, because he looked up and waved a hoof at her window giving his best it'll-be-alright-smile.
She choked back a sob, and feebly waved back. He gazed up at her for a few more moments, and then climbed into the carriage. It moved out in front of the house, and rolled down the street, until it was just a little unimportant speck on the horizon.
Starlight slowly slid back into bed, and curled into a little ball. Loud, violent, sobs wracked her body, and she was sure her parents could hear her. But, she didn't care. She didn't care if the whole world heard her. She didn't care if she cried a river, and flooded the whole house.
Her brother was gone, and he was never coming back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3 YEARS LATER.....
Hearth's Warming
Starlight sipped her hot cocoa, listening to the hum of her family's chatter. She loved the feeling of warmth she got when she was around them. She never felt awkward or scared around her family, but indeed quite the opposite; she felt loved, safe, and happy.
I wonder what Shaun's doing just about now.....
The thought popped into her head before she could stop it from forming. Yes, I do wonder what he's doing right now.... she looked around at the cheerful atmosphere of her grandmother's living room. I wonder if he's cold and alone or warm and safe. I wonder if he's thinking about us, or if he's wondering what we're doing.
I wish he was here.
Tears suddenly popped up in Starlight's eyes, and she ducked her head, trying to make it look as if she was drinking her cocoa, when really she was trying to blink out that pesky, wet, eye-rain. Her sister, Sorea, looked over at her with an concerned expression. "You okay?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, I just have something in my eye." she lied, and awkwardly half-flew half-walked to the bathroom. She locked it, and sat on the floor, feeling terrible. Not only because she lied to her very own sister, but because of her brother.
Starlight missed him oh-so-much, and she knew all the rest of her family members did too. They were just acting cheerful to hide all the pain that Shaun's departure had caused.
So, Starlight decided that she wasn't being selfish or bad if she laid here for a moment, and cried for her lost brother. No it wasn't selfish. No it wasn't bad.
She would cry, and hope, and pray, that maybe-just maybe.
Her brother would come back one day.