(Takes place right after “Necklaces”)
 
It’d been quite some time since Nidra talked to T. The last time she saw the hybrid she’d told him how she felt. She regretted it. She didn’t realize it at the moment but she had probably made a complete fool of herself. She was embarassed. What if she told him too soon? Was it too much of a sensitive subject? Could the timing have been any worse? What if he hated her now? These questions bombarded her mind as she laid down in her bed, hiding behind the locked doors of her room. T was here. He was visiting his sister along with his father. She didn’t want to come out and accidentally run into him. It would be far too awkward. However, it was nighttime and almost time to carry out her duty of helping everypony get some rest. She had to come out.
 
T woke up from his nap. He didn’t mean to fall asleep but Claire’s bed was so comfortable. He looked around to see Claire and Spike on the floor sleeping. He stood up and left the room quietly. There was nothing to do since everyone was asleep. He didn’t like sitting around for that long. He would get restless and antsy. He took to the halls in hopes of finding the garden.
 
The castle was A LOT larger than he thought. He swore it was a maze. He picked up the pace a little getting worried that he wouldn’t find a way out. He even started running. Then he came to an abrupt stop. Lost. He was lost in the castle. He looked around trying to decide which direction to go. His ears twitched when he heard the sound of hooves on the floor he looked over to see “her”. The one of a kind, dark grey, alicorn bat pony. She looked at him as well. They locked eyes for a moment and T jumped behind the wall to hide from her. He didn’t want to be rude but he also didn’t want to have an awkward conversation with Nidra. He was sure she was going to come talk to him but her heard her hoofsteps getting fainter. She was walking away. He peeked around the corner to see her walking down the long hall. Something seemed off. He decided to go after her and see what was wrong.
 
“N-Nidra,” he called out. She walked a little faster. “Hey!” He ran and stopped right in front of her. “Are you alright Nidra?”
 
“I’m fine. Do you need help with something?”
 
“Well I um…”
 
“You’re lost aren’t you?”
 
“Yes,” he said sheepishly. She giggled.
 
“Where are you trying to go?”
 
“The garden would be nice.”
 
“Well first you have to walk down this hallway, take a left and…”
 
“Do you think you could walk with me out there? I just know I’m going to get lost again.” T really wanted to avoid a conversation with Nidra but something was up and she seemed a little sad. She cheered him up when they spoke last. It was time for him to return the favor.
 
“Um…sure,” she replied hesitantly. She walked with him towards the garden. Not a word was said as they moved along. T would rather have an awkward conversation than an awkward silence.
 
“Sooooo… How are you? It’s been a while.”
 
“Fine,“she replied. T knew if he tried small talking to her, they wouldn’t get anywhere. He usually wasn’t one to speak up but he hated to see her like this.
 
“Look, what’s bothering you? I want to know.”
 
“What? Nothing. I’m fine, really,” she said giving him a fake smile. Turquoise cocked his eyebrow and he had an unamused expression on his face. “Really!”
 
“Sorry, but I don’t believe you for a second.”
 
“Well that’s too bad. I don’t have anything to say.” T stopped. He then stepped on her tail. “Ouch! Hey, what are you doing?”
 
“It’s almost nighttime and you have some duties to take care of, correct? I’m sure your mother wouldn’t be happy if you didn’t do your job.”
 
“Y’know I could make you fall asleep right now, right?”
 
“You wouldn’t do that. You have a soft spot for me, remember? And I could stand here all night.” He got her there. She tried get away but he was much too strong. She let out a frustrated sigh.
 
“I… I’m sorry.”
 
“Hm?”
 
“I’m sorry for that other night. When we had that talk.”
 
“Why? You didn’t do anything wrong.” He lifted his hoof from her tail.
 
“Yes I did! I told you how I felt and made a fool of myself,” she shouted. T stared at her blankly. He still didn’t think she did anything wrong. “I know you still love Annie. I can tell from that necklace you’re wearing. She was such a great, kind mare. She was even kind to me even though she knew I was jealous of her. I can see why you liked her a lot more than me. And I feel awful for making that move on you. It was too soon and you probably hate me now don’t you?”
 
“No! I could never hate you Nidra. Sure that move might have been a little… strangely timed…” Nidra groaned in embarrassment. “But you really made me feel better!”
 
“I’ve been being a hypocrite. I told you to move on while I can’t move on myself. What if I told you to move on just because I wanted you to like me back? Isn’t that selfish?I didn’t even know what my own intentions were. I have no self control and it’s making me say and do stupid things.”
 
“Um…well…” T didn’t know how to respond to this. Nidra was way more complicated than Annie was.
 
“Ugh, I’m doing it again! I’m just going to stop talking.”
 
“It’s okay. I don’t think you did anything wrong. There’s no need to be embarrassed.”
 
“Oh Turquoise. You’re too good for me. Please don’t ever stop loving Annie just because of what I said. I’ll try move on. It’s been too long.”
 
“Now you’re telling me not to move on?” T laughed. “You’re a confusing one Nidra.”
 
“Sorry. I think you’re the only one that gets me all flustered like this,” she stated letting out a nervous laugh. They arrived at the garden. “Well here we are! I’ve got to go now. See you later!”
 
“Hey!” Turquoise grabbed her tail in midair again before she could fly away.
 
“Can you let me go please? Before I do something else I regret?”
 
“I just wanted to ask if we can meet up again sometime?” He let go of her tail as she floated back down to the ground.
 
“Really?”
 
“Yeah, I mean I hardly know anything about you. Even after all these years. And maybe talking to each other will help both of use move along in our lives.”
 
“B-but what about Anthea?”
 
“I’m sure she’d just want me to be happy. And you were right when you said that she wouldn’t like it if I were getting sad over her all the time. I know I’d want the same for her.”
 
“Okay. Sure.”
 
“Great!” T said with a smile. “I might have to talk with my kids first. I’m sure they’ll find it a bit strange if I just start talking to another mare.”
 
“Yeah, probably,” Nidra said awkwardly. “Speaking of kids, did Claire tell you yet?”
 
“Tell me what?”
 
“Ha! I knew she’d chicken out. She’ll tell you eventually. And if she doesn’t, you’ll find out sooner or later,” she said as she took off. T had no clue what she meant by that, neither did he really care. He’d find out sooner or later after all. In the moment he was just happy that everything was right between the two. But then something occured to him. How in Equestria was he going to get back inside the castle?
 

 
 
‘Nother short, rushed, little thing. This is just about as far into the future I’m gonna go. So it’s up to you to decide if the two of them get together