It was hot, of course, but it was always hot in the desert. The dove had grown used to it by now, so much so that she barely broke a sweat as she soared overhead, tracing the line along the border with keen, bi-colored orbs. She had given birth several weeks ago now, and had become comfortable enough to leave the twins with their Physician as she carried out the necessary duties of a Sultana. No doubt Andromeda resented the time as babysitter, but the little princes' health problems left her uneasy with anyone else watching over them. How would anyone else know what to do if little Rhoa had a coughing fit? What if Ivezho walked into something on his blind side?

If their birth had not been easy, it had at least been joyful. She had been assured that their health would improve with age, and as members of the warmest herd in Helovia, she worried less than she might have otherwise about the coming winter. She would shield them with her own body heat at night, but under the Sun's warming rays, the boys would grow and blossom. She was proud of them, more so by the day, and ecstatic with the seemingly perfect path her life had taken of late.

Of course, life is anything but static, so she should have expected change on the horizon; but despite knowing this deep down, the splash of darkness lined with blue on her sands dragged her heart from her chest into her stomach and her mood from the clouds into the mud. Ampere.

Astraeus shrieked from his position above her, and she called him silently, instructing him to be polite, despite her personal dislike of the blue-tinged mare. She swallowed hard as she banked, lowering herself to the sands below in wide circles. The impending meeting was nerve-wracking, and though she was sure that the Mother of Companions had seen her by now, she could not help but put off actually landing and talking to that mare.

She took a deep breath.

Finally, she landed in a spray of golden sand and trotted the last few steps to the once-Sultana. The golden circlet atop her poll glinted in the sunlight, and she offered a wary smile as she came to a halt a fair distance from the mare. "Ampere," she said by way of greeting, and was proud of herself for the cordiality of her tone.

"talk talk talk"

Live... I want to live on fire
Die... I want to burn out brighter
Brighter than the northern lights
Want to live to feel the daylight