Hello again!

As promised, the next chapter (well, more like the first) a week later. Thanks to the people who favorited and followed this story, it's always nice and I appreciate it :)

This chapter is rather short (700 words or so) and deals with the sisters' childhood.

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony, though I do own Staria.

How can I have sent you away?

"Rise and shine, sleepyheads! The sun is up, and so should we!"

"Tiiiaaaa…..five more minutes…." A dark purple unicorn filly whined, burying her head in her pillow. In the bed next to her, two tired blue orbs glared at the alicorn from underneath the covers.

"I got my cutie mark, Tia," Staria growled, trying to keep her eyes open. "You lost the right to wake me up in the morning when I did."

"I wouldn't have to wake you if you didn't stay up all night," The white mare scoffed. "What's so interesting about the night, anyway? You can't see your own hooves in the dark."

"The night sky is so pretty," Luna yawned, peering up at Celestia. "Won't you stay with us next time? The stars are really beautiful."

"Give up, Luna." The dark-haired alicorn magically threw the covers off her with a huff. "Tia wouldn't miss a minute of her precious sunlight for anything in the world."

"That's not true!"

"Preeeeeciouuuuuusssss….."

"Star!"

"What? You know it's true, sister." A playful gleam shone in her eyes, showing she wasn't mad at Celestia, and Luna giggled in the background. The eldest of the three scowled.

"I'm giving you five minutes to get ready. After said time, I won't be held responsible for my actions!" Staria full out laughed at her elder sister's disgruntled expression as the door closed behind her. Once she had calmed down, she carefully peeled the covers off Luna.

"Come on," Staria nudged her. "Let's greet the day as we greeted the night."

"But the sun is so harsh," Luna whined. "Why can't we live during the night?"

"Because, as Tia said…" She helped her brush her mane, and righted their beds. "We can't see in the dark. And the earth is beautiful, too; without the sun, we'd never see the great falls behind the forest…we wouldn't see the flower fields when springs come…or the purity of the freshly fallen snow. But, I'll tell you a secret…" Luna's ears perked up.

"What is it? What is it?" She asked, eyes sparkling. Staria smiled.

"I prefer the night, too."

The two shared a moment of complicity. Celestia could not understand their love for the night –just as they could not understand her interest for the day. And yet, they managed to stay sisters, friends, confidents; they were close, and they wouldn't have traded it for the world. They were young, still innocent; free of any real burden except raising the celestial bodies in the sky at the appropriate time. They all knew this time of carefree happiness would end soon, so they were trying to make it worth remembering.

The young unicorn's eyes took on a pensive, somewhat sorrowful expression, as though something sobering had suddenly occurred to her.

"Hey, sister…" Luna asked, somewhat uncertain.

"What is it?"

Luna hesitated.

"Will you still watch the night with me, once I get my cutie mark –and we start to rule?"

Staria felt her heart clench tightly. Luna looked so sad, all of a sudden…as though she believed these happy times would come to an end as soon as they took on the role of princesses. Her very soul protested against this idea, firmly voicing her certitudes that nothing would change, but its voice had been steadily diminishing with the passing months –passing days. Though she wanted to believe it, a small voice whispered of lost laughter, of distancing love and painful responsibilities. Doubt filled her mind. Was she right? Would these privileged times disappear once they started ruling? These questions had been steadily rising in her mind for the past few months, deeply troubling her, but never before had she allowed herself to dwell on them. She did not want them to be real.

With all the strength she could muster, Staria turned to Luna with a reassuring smile.

"Of course. We may not be able to do it as often as we wish, but we'll manage."

Luna's resulting smile was brighter than a thousand stars. And as she watched her sister rush outside in excitement, Staria felt her fears dissolve into nothing. There was no reason for them to change; they'd just have more duties to take care of.

Nothing would change.

Right?