STARdust

Stardust’s dark eyes explore the horizon as the golden sun washed up over the sea. It turned everything into something else. Summer was passing and soon it would be Fall. Fall seemed to be her father’s favorite season, for some reason she couldn’t figure out. Yet, there was a weight when her father looked at her now. She knew she was growing up. She hadn’t quite reached full height yet, but she was filling out. She looked more like a mare than a yearling now. It was strange and scary.

But all those thoughts could wait till later. Right now, she had her sister to share this with. She reached over and nuzzled her. A smile grew on her face as her sister exclaimed.

“It’s something isn’t it?” Stardust breathed. She loved sunrise. She always would. Her sister continued rattling about places to see and things that were out there. The larger filly was glad her sister finally was getting a little excited. It was boring just watching her stay close to their mother all day.

“There’s a lot of amazing things out there,” Stardust agreed. “There’s islands other than just the wooded one and this one. I’ve been to a few of them. I’m sure you’ll get to see them too.” Her eyes glanced towards where green Atlantis sat on the distant horizon. “I saw the place where Dad was born. It’s a weird place. Really hot and the air’s heavy. And the green… it’s everywhere.” Atlantis had left an impact on her, as had Tarrant.

She nuzzled her buckskin sister once more.

“I’m sure you’ll get to see it all one day, Peyton,” Stardust said. “If you ever want to go exploring and need a partner, I’m all for it. I’d love to take ya around. Then if Dad gets mad we can blame me.” She laughed, but there was a hint of sadness in the laugh. She was old enough now to start to realize why Soljor was sizing her up. It was almost time to start making good on his promise of finding her a home.

do the stars gaze back? now there's a question