Princess Nidra trotted down the marble hallway of Canterlot Palace with Oasis and Apollo closely on her heels. They had just returned Princess Clarity to her chambers and her uncharacteristically distraught husband. They had since been heretofore silent aside from the odd encouraging word to the pregnant dragon hybrid.
“So, Aunt Nidra,” Apollo finally said, skepticism thick in his voice. “You’re Jet Stream?”
Nidra’s ear flicked back, but she kept her head facing stoically forward, determined to not allow these two ponies she’d known since they were in diapers see her face burning red. “Yes. It’s a… disguise. My cousin came up with it when we were young.”
“How fascinating,” Oasis said. “I suppose you were doing some kind of… undercover reconnaissance operation?”
Nidra cocked an eyebrow and glanced over her shoulder. “Whatever would give you that idea? I was on a date with your father.”
“Oh, don’t try to deny it!” Apollo shouted, pointing his hoof accusingly at Princess Nidra. “You were out on a date with our… oh, wait, you said that.” He grimaced, clearly disgruntled over having been robbed of his potential leeway into an interrogation.
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Nidra said, stopping at the massive doors of her chambers and turning to face the two quarter dragons. “We’re… only friends.”
Nodding slowly, Oasis gave Nidra a small smile. “I see… so the incident with the ice cream must have been some kind of accident and you were just being nice. Apollo had it in his head that—”
“I was manipulating T into falling for me by setting up a situation in which I could put on a show of generosity, knowing that he’s a sucker for such things,” Nidra said.
Both the draconic siblings blinked silently in response.
Nidra hesitated. “… That wasn’t me finishing your sentence. I was actually explaining what I was doing.”
“Ah!” Oasis exclaimed. “Of… of course.”
“Also, dairy products gives me terrible digestive upset, so I try to avoid it,” Nidra explained.
“So I was right all along?” Apollo said in wonder. “So… you were trying to isolate Dad in order to drain him of all his blood and turn him into one of your undead soldiers?”
Nidra leaned in, squinting her eyes as she regarded Apollo. Then she shook her head as if trying to fling some objectionable thought right out of her brain through her ears. “No. That’s… no.”
“Aww,” Apollo said gloomily.
“I was trying to have an intimate moment with T,” Nidra said. “So I could go in for the kill.”
Apollo’s face brightened like the morning sun.
“Metaphorically,” Nidra stressed. “We managed to have a little intimate conversation before you blew up my boat, of course.”
“Er, sorry,” Apollo said, ears flopping.
“In spite of all of that,” Nidra continued, turning her head away and using her telekinesis to swing her chamber door open. “We’re still… friends.”
“Oh, well, that’s good,” Apollo said, sighing. “For a second I kinda thought we might have done something wrong. I mean, besides blowing up a princess of Equestria’s boat.”
Nidra stared stonily at Apollo. “Of course,” she said backing into her room. “You’re not the one who’s done anything wrong. Your father has already left for Ponyville. If you’d like I can arrange transportation for you.”
“Oh, please,” Oasis said. “Don’t worry about it, Auntie Nidra. We were planning on leaving in the morning, anyway.”
Nidra nodded her understanding and shut the door to retire.
Oasis smacked Apollo right on the cheek.
“Ow, what did you do that for?” he demanded. "We agreed the face was off-limits..."
She rolled her eyes as she trotted back down the hall. “There are plenty of other places I’d like to hit you, but I’m afraid it would lack decorum in such a place as this.”
“Huh?” he said as he followed closely behind.
“Are you really that dense? Aunt Nidra is in love with Father!”
Apollo came to a halt as the idea struck him. Quickly noticing that his sister wasn’t in the mood to wait for him, he then scrambled after her. “O-oh, the whole thing about trying to get Dad to fall for her… I guess she really meant…”
“Obviously,” Oasis said, shooting a lethal glance at her brother. “Honestly. You just had to get all paranoid. Princess Nidra, the best of all princesses and my personal idol… could have been… my stepmother. Can you imagine?”
Blinking, Apollo replied. “Dad and Aunt Nidra? Seems kinda incestuous, doesn’t it?”
“You do realize she’s not our actual aunt, right?” she said with an exasperated look.
“Well, yeah!” he said defensively, laughing at the very idea. “But our actual aunt is sorta married to her actual cousin, so… she’s, like, Dad’s cousin-in-law, right?”
“Please, Apollo,” Oasis said with a scoff. “If marriage between cousins—by marriage or otherwise—weren’t allowed, we wouldn’t have royal families.”
Apollo hummed. “Well… what should we do about it, then?”
“I don’t know,” Oasis said. “You’ve done a fine job accomplishing your goal of keeping our father forever alone!”
“Well,” Apollo said, his voice choking. “Somepony’s gotta protect Dad. A-and just because it’s Aunt Nidra doesn’t mean it’s right.” He frowned at Oasis as she turned her head, silently brooding, and with a frustrated snort he continued, “I’ll see you at home, Sissy. We’ll talk more later, okay?” With a flash of magic, he disappeared.
Oasis stepped out into the garden, still ruminating on the events of the evening. Just as she prepared to take off into the night sky, a shadow moved over her. She looked up to see a silhouette of a large, dragon-winged stallion standing atop a pedestal, his head pointed toward the castle. She took cover at once.
Her father’s voice drifted softly through the night as he muttered to himself. “What should I do?”
She followed the path of his gaze to see that he was fixated upon a lit window. She recognized it immediately as Nidra’s.
“Every night I’ve dreamt of her,” Turquoise said, as if the princess he were addressing were a mere hair’s breadth away rather than across the courtyard and several stories up. “My sweet Annie. Bittersweet dreams that Luna brings, but since that night you came to me, she’s left me lonely, abandoning me.”
He lowered his head, and his voice became thick with sorrow. “Left behind in the land of the dead, all I see is your platinum crown and a note that says ‘Forever.’ ‘Forever’ what? Is it a message from you? Your mother? The ghost of my wife?” His head rose again and a deep sigh escaped his lips. “Or maybe it’s just my own traitorous heart, revealing my worst desires.”
“Father…” Oasis murmured from her hiding spot behind a large topiary, tears welling up as she listened to his soliloquy.
He spread his wings. “Is it better to act on it and risk hurting each other even more? I don’t know…” He turned and with a powerful beat he lifted off the pedestal. “But we won’t find out, tonight.”
Oasis watched her father fly into the sky, her heart dropping as he rose. She looked back at Nidra’s window, where she saw the princess standing there, watching him disappear into the darkness. The light of her bedroom then extinguished, leaving Oasis to her thoughts.
“Polly doesn’t understand,” she said to herself. “Our mom is gone… and never coming back. But Aunt Nidra and Father… I can help them live again.”
“A family flight?” Apollo asked incredulously.
Oasis smiled sweetly back at him as she stood between their dad and grandpa. “Well, yes. Since you had that very important meeting today, we figured since the rest of us have wings…”
“We’d take a leisurely flight, together,” Turquoise finished.
“It’s been awhile since we’ve done this together,” Spike said with a smile, stretching his leathery wings. “It should be nice.”
Turquoise grinned wryly. “Maybe it wouldn’t have been so long, but you’re getting as barn sour as Nanna Fluttershy.”
Spike huffed a cloud of smoke. “Yeah, well…”
“Well, we should get going,” Turquoise said. “Go ahead and get to that meeting of yours, Son. I know those publishers can be an impatient bunch.”
Apollo’s mouth twisted. “Uh… yeah…”
“Hold on just a moment, Father,” Oasis said, her eyes scanning the sky. It was still mid-morning as she looked eastward toward Canterlot, squinting against the bright light of the rising sun. Out of that light, a small, dark shape materialized. It grew larger and larger, becoming the silhouette of what looked like a pegasus-drawn carriage from the front.
Spike blinked as he looked at the descending shape. “Expecting company, are we?”
“Is it Claire?” Turquoise wondered aloud. “Princess Celestia?”
“No,” Spike said, peering through his clear inner eyelids. “Think a little more nocturnal.”
“Nidra!” Turquoise blurted, a smile spreading across his face as the carriage touched down, the batponies pulling the vehicle making a soft landing directly in front of them.
Nidra stepped out of her carriage, completely unadorned. “Oasis, I’ve arrived just as you asked! Shall we get… T?” Her brows knit together as she took in the family before her. “O-oh. I was led to believe that I would be flying with Oasis this morning?”
“You will be,” she confirmed with a pleased grin.
Apollo side-eyed his sister. “This was supposed to be a family flight, right?”
“Well, Auntie Nidra is practically family,” Oasis said.
Nidra flushed and looked to her hooves.
Turquoise cleared his throat and approached her. “Oasis is right. Please, we’d all love it if you joined us.”
Spike nodded. “You are basically my niece, after all.”
Nidra scrunched her muzzle uncomfortably. “Er… yes. Through marriage…” She shot a suspicious glance at Oasis, who beamed angelically, before exhaling sharply through her nostrils. “Alright. I suppose it can’t hurt.”
With that settled, the four winged kin took to the air, leaving the batpony guards and a sputtering Apollo on the ground.
“Bye, Polly,” Oasis called back smugly. “Have fun at your meeting!”
As they climbed to altitude, Oasis moved from between her father and Nidra, angling her ascent so that she forced them closer together.
Nidra smiled tightly at Turquoise. “This is… a nice day, isn’t it?”
“Uh, yeah!” he answered. “... it’s good to see you again. It’s been so long.”
She ducked her head. “It’s only been a few weeks. We’ve gone much longer without seeing each other before.”
Turquoise laughed. “That’s true, but somehow it seems like it’s been much longer." He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "I… uh… missed you.”
“It’s just because you’re an old, lonely stallion, isn’t it?” Nidra said, looking away, but her cheeks were fighting back a smile.
Turquoise dipped and rose in a midair shrug. “Well, old age does have a way of making it clear what the most important things… and ponies… in your life are.”
“Ah,” Nidra said, subconsciously moving closer to Turquoise as her face reddened beneath her dark fur.
A colorful blur passed below Nidra, buffeting her around for a short moment before she quickly lost altitude.
“Sorry!” Apollo shouted back as he slowed in front of the group. Colorful butterfly-like wings held him aloft as he looked back. “Not really used to using these things.”
“Nidra!” Turquoise shouted as he saw her tumble out of the sky. He turned sharply into a nosedive, knifing through the air like a falcon. In an instant he had her safely wrapped in his arms before they sailed back to his family. “Are you okay?”
Nidra panted as she clung to his neck, her cheek pressed against him. “I’m… I’m fine. It was just a little turbulence. I wasn’t in any danger.”
“Even so,” he said, turning a stormy look on his son. “You should have been more careful. You could have hurt somepony!”
Oasis snorted. “And furthermore, where did you get those… those… things on your back?”
“Hahahahahaha!” Apollo laughed. “I guess I never mentioned before that I learned this flight spell awhile back. They’re made of gossamer and morning dew.”
“Oh!” Spike said. “Well, you should have said something earlier. Now we can all go on a family flight.”
“B-but what about your meeting?” Oasis protested.
For a moment, Apollo seemed flustered. “W-well, I realized time with family is more important than a meeting I can simply reschedule.” He materialized a parchment and pen in a puff of magic and began to scribble quickly onto it. “I’ll send a letter to the publisher right away.” He inhaled as his horn glowed and he breathed out a verdant flame which engulfed his letter and sent its ashes spiraling away.
Oasis raised an eyebrow as she noticed a unique glint before it was burned. “Was that a diamond studded seal? Must be a particularly important publisher.”
“Hey, presentation is important,” Apollo said in deadpan.
Nidra and Turquoise, meanwhile, had separated and flew beside each other. Turquoise hovered close, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
“Well, little brother,” Oasis said through clenched teeth as she soared over Apollo. “It looks like your attempt to meddle in my plans have backfired.”
He shot back a smirk. “Don’t underestimate me, Sissy. I have a few tricks left up my sleeves.”
“What sleeves?” Oasis said with a sneer.
Apollo looked back at his father and Nidra, who were now unmistakably distracted by each other’s presence. His eyes became steely with determination.
Pulling up into the sky, he looped back behind his father and Nidra. He accelerated rapidly and extended a claw-hoof, tapping the princess on the withers before shouting, "Tag, you're 'it,'" and zipping away.
Nidra's face contorted in confusion as everypony—and dragon—sped away from her. "Wh-what? 'It'?"
Oasis hung back. "Sorry, Aunt Nidra, we take our games of Tag seriously in this family."
"I see," Nidra said with a hard edge. "Well, I've been known to play a mean game of tag, myself..."
Oasis smirked. "I know, but I don't think Polly does."
"I shall be sure to educate him," Nidra responded. She took off, a starry streak trailing behind her.
Apollo was already a festive dot in the distance, but Nidra's leathery bat wings were far stronger and more durable, so she began to close the distance quickly.
"You should know better than to challenge a natural flier to a contest of speed, my little pony," Nidra jeered as she approached touching distance.
Apollo shot her a cocky glance over the shoulder. "Oh, I do know better. But with unicorns and alicorns involved... this game quickly becomes one of skill!" With that, he disappeared just as Nidra took a swipe at him.
"Curses!" she cursed. "Little colt is as wily as his mother..." Her ear flicked as she picked up the slightest pop of displaced air. "Too bad I know all her tricks like the back of my hoof by now." She teleported and appeared right behind Apollo, nearly a mile behind where she'd originally been.
He spotted her immediately and in an instant teleported once again, this time going higher into the air. He only had a moment to catch his breath before Nidra appeared again before him.
The two of them popped in and out of existence all over the sky, with Nidra always just behind him. Finally, they teleported just across from each other, hovering over the treetops.
"I can keep this up all day," Nidra gloated.
Apollo smirked. "You're welcome to try."
"I imagine so," she said. "After all, this is just a waiting game for you, isn't it?" She chuckled. "Well, it's the same for me."
Apollo's attitude faltered. "Oh?"
"Something you may not have been aware of... or perhaps simply ignored in this case, is that those wings are quite delicate. Too much constant use and exposure to the sun and pretty soon they'll just go..."
Poof.
Apollo fell screaming out of the sky. Before he even broke the canopy below, however, Nidra swooped down and scooped him up in her forelegs. He clung to her neck tightly, gasping with abating panic.
"Tag," Nidra said with a smile.
Apollo grimaced and let go of her. He hopped out of her arms and turned to glower at her. "That's...!" He dropped immediately out of her view before teleporting back, only having enough time to deliver a single syllable during each reappearance before gravity swiftly dragged him back down. "Not...! Fair...! Aunt...! Ni...!"
Nidra rolled her eyes and lit her horn, suspending him in midair. "Let's not be sore sports about this, Apollo."
He folded his forelegs across his chest and stuck out his bottom lip in response.
Oasis, Spike, and Turquoise flew into range, laughing as they saw the trapped Apollo.
"Not bad for your first game of Aerial Tag," Spike said. "You lasted all of five minutes."
"Looks like you're 'It' now, Son," Turquoise said. "Might want to make yourself another set of those wings if you want to catch any of us."
Grudgingly, Apollo did just that, weaving his spell to give him his colorful, butterfly-like wings. "Alright, I'm ready!"
Turquoise tapped Nidra on the shoulder. "Follow me, I know the perfect place to hide!"
"Gladly," Nidra said, releasing Apollo from her magical grip and racing off with Turquoise by her side.
"Well, well, well," Oasis said in a sing-song tone. "Looks like somepony's plan backfired... and it certainly wasn't mine."
Apollo pursed his lips thoughtfully as his sister zipped away, giggling. "Surely you realize, dear sister... this means war."
"Ugh, Father, I couldn't be happier that you've been coming to Canterlot with me more frequently, but..." Oasis sighed as she looked out the window of the castle to see the bright moon and stars glimmering in the sky. "The late nights are really starting to get to me."
Turquoise, trotting beside her with a bright expression on his face, responded. "Oh, well, I guess I've become something of a night owl, lately."
It had been several weeks since the family flight and Oasis had been pleased to see a marked increase in her father's visits to Canterlot to spend time with his sister, brother-in-law and, most importantly, Princess Nidra. Of course, he had made a habit of using her as an excuse, since she made frequent trips between Ponyville and Canterlot, which meant that she ended up sharing in his new schedule more often than she'd like.
Her eyes softened as she looked at her father's smiling profile. "I am glad to get to spend so much more time with you, Father. I feel we haven't been together this much since I was a foal, myself."
Turquoise grunted. "It can't have been as long as all that, can it?"
"Well, adulthood really took us all by surprise," Oasis said. "I'm just glad that we've lived long enough to get all that frantic rush out of the way and can enjoy our senior years for a long while to come."
Turquoise looked at her with a hint of somberness behind his eyes. "Of course... we'll all enjoy each other's company as long as we can."
"Well," Oasis said with a bark of laughter. "I think it's about time we find the one whose company you were really hoping to enjoy, hm?"
Turquoise blushed. "It's... it's that obvious?"
"Naturally," Oasis replied with a smarmy look.
He chuckled. "Guess I should expect as much out of you." He looked out another window. "Well, if I know Nidra, she's probably moping out in the garden trying to convince herself that it's okay to see me again... or not."
Oasis came up beside him and raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of perceptive..."
"Not really," Turquoise said. "I have the same fight with myself every time I even consider coming here with you again. In that way, at least, she and I are a lot alike."
"And, as you predicted," Oasis announced, pointing down into the darkness. "There she is. And... it looks like she's found Aunt Claire..."
"Digging in the garden, again," Turquoise observed. "At least it's not the bed this time. Poor Lulu."
Oasis shot her father a sassy glance. "One of these days Uncle Illusion is going to catch you calling him that." She peered back into the dimly lit garden. "I wonder what they're talking about down there..."
"Hopefully not me," Turquoise said as he began to crawl out the window, spreading his leathery wings.
"Oh, stallions always think us ladies have nothing better to talk about," Oasis groused. "Don't be so paranoid, Father."
He turned to look back at his daughter. "Well, if she's not now, hopefully I'll give her plenty of good things to say about me by the end of the night." With that final word, he leaped into the darkness.
Oasis' eyebrows nearly leaped off the top of her head. "My, my... has he finally decided... could it be?"
It was truly too exciting to bear, she decided. With nary a thought more she launched herself out of the castle and, like a whisper on the wind, landed behind a hedge.
Nearby, she heard her father already speaking to Nidra in a quiet but invigorated voice.
"I just wanted to hang out with you. If you're not busy or anything. Is that alright?"
"I..." Nidra began, but her voice caught in her throat. Hesitantly, she continued, gaining confidence in her tone as she went on. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great."
As they walked down the garden, Oasis crept silently from hedge to hedge, peeking excitedly out at the two centenarians.
Nidra cleared her throat. "So... how was your evening with Oasis? Did you get some good... 'father-daughter bonding' time in?"
"Oh, yeah!" he responded with a big grin. "She's always a joy to be around. And, y'know, she really loves you. Talks about you all the time."
"And you talk with her quite often as well," she observed. "Does that mean you've been talking about me all the time, too?"
"Uh, I guess..." Turquoise said, his voice shaking. "By the transitive property and such... uh..."
"You're cute when you're flustered," Nidra stated. Her blunt words quickly turned into embarrassed laughter as she covered her red face with a wing. "I mean... sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"No, that's fine," he said with a wistful look. "I like it better when you say what you mean." He worked his jaw intently. "L-listen, I've been thinking a lot about what you said before..."
"Before?" Nidra asked.
Turquoise nodded. "Yeah. You know. When you told me... how we need to move on... and... how you felt."
"Right," she said. Her head was fixed straight ahead, but her eyes kept furtively glancing in his direction.
"I have been talking about you a lot," he said. "And I can't stop thinking about you."
From behind her latest hiding hedge, Oasis did her utmost best to muffle her own scream. She flinched when she sensed another body slide next to her and felt the breath of another pony behind her ear.
"Wow, it's really getting good, huh?" Crystal Clarity whispered. Her claw-hooves shot out immediately and stifled the actual scream that threatened to escape her niece's mouth. "Shh. Don't want to embarrass the lovebirds now, do we? If they knew we were spying on them, they'd never make a move."
Oasis nodded her agreement and Crystal released her. "I don't know how a pregnant mare can get around so quietly, though..."
Crystal snorted as quietly as possible. "Not that pregnant, yet..."
Meanwhile, Nidra's heart was pounding in her ears as she stared into Turquoise's eyes. They were so much like her own with their slit pupils and yet, at the same time, so much unalike as his were filled with such optimism and happiness while hers had long ago become hardened and impenetrable. However, a spark lit deep within seemed to reflect from her black depths and she melted before his warmth.
The moment she softened, Turquoise was overcome. He didn't know if it was some instinct that he had somehow developed in the last century when he'd been bumblingly inept at reading the mood or if his late wife, herself, had risen from the grave to push him forward. Whatever the case, he found his lips locked with Nidra's in a kiss that left his head swimming.
The response from Nidra was almost immediate. Her defenses shattered and her forelegs and wings wrapped around her larger companion. She moved her head to the best position to allow for the closest seal.
They separated with a quiet "smek" and stared into each other's eyes as they leaned against each other, standing erect on their hind legs.
"So," Nidra said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Now I finally know what it's like to kiss a stallion with a mouthful of fangs."
Turquoise grinned goofily. "Likewise."
Nidra raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, I mean," he said, sputtering. "What you said, except not a stallion. 'Cause you're a mare. And I am still completely ignorant of what it feels like to kiss a stallion, regardless of dental situation. And..."
Nidra cut him off with another kiss, quick but forceful. "Cute, but far too long-winded, sometimes."
"Uh, yeah, so," Turquoise said, releasing Nidra from his embrace and settling down onto all fours, but still staying close. "I... enjoyed that. You?"
"Same," Nidra confirmed, sidling up to his side and hooking the thumb of her wing around his.
Turquoise licked his snout. "So... uh... I don't think I need to say what my feelings are. Do I?"
"Not at all," Nidra said with a laugh. "I trust I made myself clear as well?"
"Oh," he said dreamily. "Oh, yeah."
"So... then," Nidra began.
Turquoise nuzzled her cheek. "Well, we're already hanging out. Why not just call this our first date?"
"Aw, yiss!" came a victorious cry from Oasis, who burst out from behind her hedge.
Crystal Clarity stepped out with a regal flourish before widening her eyes and gasping behind a splayed claw-hoof. "Why, Oasis, whatever were you doing behind this hedge?" She turned toward Turquoise and Nidra, her eyes widening further and her inflections more exaggerated. "Why... spying on Nidra and your dad? I never..."
"Stow it, Claire," Turquoise told his sister.
"You two weren't quite as quiet as you seemed to think," Nidra continued.
Crystal Clarity smiled sheepishly. "Well... ah, we are quite happy for the two of you."
"Can I call you 'Mom'?" Oasis pleaded, joyous tears in her eyes.
Nidra flushed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"Indeed," Crystal said, flashing them a knowing smile. "Perhaps you could help me back to my room, Oasis?"
Oasis looked torn, but she obediently moved toward her aunt. "A-alright. I suppose we should leave these two lovebirds be..."
Turquoise and Nidra exchanged a glance.
Nidra grinned mischievously and bounced over to him, pecking him on the cheek. "Tag," she declared before taking off. "Catch me if you can!"
Turquoise laughed and flew after her as Oasis and Claire made their way back to the castle, sparing amused glances over their shoulders. Soon the garden was empty. Almost.
Slowly, a green horn poked out of a bush, followed by a twig-filled mane. When Apollo's head completely emerged, he narrowed his eyes at the specks that danced before the moon. With a raspy whisper he declared, "Dun. Dun. Dunnnnnnnn!"
"Oh, T," Nidra said as she lay wrapped in his wings on her chaise longue. She put a hoof on his massive barrel and leaned in for a deep kiss. "I can't believe this is finally happening."
"Me neither," he responded, tracing the muscles of her withers with a claw as his other claw-hoof pulled her closer by the rump. "I always thought you were beautiful, you know..."
Nidra shifted, sliding a rear leg over his lap to straddle him. "I always loved you, T. Always. We've been holding back now for so long..."
"Why hold back any longer?" Turquoise finished as he buried his face in her soft, furry chest.
Nidra sighed, savoring their closeness as she tossed her mane back. "There's nothing in our way..."
"Nothing," Turquoise said, his voice pitching into a falsetto. In the firelight, his green coat seemed tinted pink. "Nothing at all?"
"That's right," Nidra said, looking down at the uncharacteristically messy mane below her chin.
Turquoise turned to look up at her with his pale, unseeing eyes. "So," she said. "I'm nothing, am I?"
Nidra's breath caught in her throat. "A-A-Annie..."
Anthea stared up with unblinking eyes, a soulless smile plastered on her face. "How could you do this? I thought we were friends."
Nidra pushed away, falling onto her back on the floor. "Please, no! I... I am your friend, but... but you're dead!"
Anthea stood up, towering over Nidra. Her horn was unusually long and dangerously sharp, and her body was as massive as Turquoise's, with all the draconic accessories to boot. "Am I?"
"You told me to make sure T was happy..." Nidra whispered, her voice thick.
"Did I tell you to become his broodmare?" Anthea screeched. Her face contorted into one of pain and rage. Dark black tears ran down her cheeks.
Nidra groveled at Anthea's hooves, sobbing heavily. "No, no, no, I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. I thought it was okay. I was only trying to do the right thing!"
"You were trying to get exactly what you wanted!" Anthea howled, gnashing her fang-filled maw. "You were too afraid to take him from me in life, so you waited until my body was good and cold before you dared. You didn't love me. You were just a coward!"
Nidra bawled as she covered her head with her wings. "Y-yes, yes! I was a coward. I still am! But I love you, Annie! I love you. Please don't..."
Anthea grinned toothily and grabbed Nidra by the mane, pulling her tear-and-snot-covered face up to her. "You're so pathetic, I almost believe you." She giggled and raised a claw-hoof. "But you know what's funny? I never loved you."
Nidra screamed as the deadly claws came down on her head.
She opened her eyes with a gasp. The light through the window indicated that it was still around noon; far too early in the day for her tastes. Her coat was soaked in sweat, which she was sure wasn't merely from the heat of the big, firm body that lay on top of her, acting in lieu of her normal covers.
It was just a bad dream, she confirmed. Turquoise was still with her and loved her. At least, she thought that was the case. She moved her body around until her front was facing his and nuzzled at his cheek. "T... T, wake up. I need you..."
Turquoise mumbled incoherently. He cracked open an eye and smiled. "Already?"
Nidra stroked his mane and gave him a kiss on the snout. "I need you to love me, T."
"Nidra..." he said softly. "You know I do."
"Remind me," she responded, a shy smile gracing her muzzle. He did, and she shoved the guilt and dread deep down inside of herself even as the silhouette of a unicorn remained, judging her, just behind her eyes.