The next morning, I was still sprawled out on my bed, taking advantage of the fact that it had one less occupant. I had forgotten how much space my bed had, most likely because I had been… restrained over the last several weeks.

I let out a loud yawn as I got out of bed and sleepily walked to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. I decided on pancakes with butter and sat down in front of the TV, which was on the weather channel when I turned it on.

“…and so the cool weather from yesterday will continue on into the week, with the lowest temperature being on Friday.”

I was relieved to hear that. This way I could keep wearing clothes that covered my neck while this mark that she gave me clears up on my neck. After flipping through the channels and settling on an old nineties rerun, I finished up my breakfast and put my plate in the sink. Despite the fact that it was Monday morning, I felt really refreshed as I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a shower. After that, I got dressed and left the apartment to catch the shuttle to school.

When I arrived on campus, it was half past nine, and I made my way to the student lounge to meet up with Klaus and Maud at our usual spot. As I walked in they waved to me with smiles on their faces… well, I assumed that Maud was smiling on the inside, but then their expressions (yes, even Maud’s) became ones of concern instead of happiness.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I sat beside Klaus.

“Well, isn’t Nightshade usually with you when you come here?” the griffon asked.

“Yeah, and?”

“She isn’t with you today.”

I rolled my eyes. “What’s your point? We’re not attached at the hip, you know.”

Maud stared at me blankly. “Okay, what’s going on between you and Nightshade?”

My first instinct was to question her suspicion, but then I realized that this was Maud I was dealing with. When she senses that something is wrong, she’s usually, if not always right about it.

I let out a frustrated sigh and leaned forward, resting my cheek in my hand with my elbow on the table. “Nightshade and I broke up.”

“What!?” Klaus exclaimed while Maud’s eyes only widened slightly. “Broke up!?”

I winced at the griffon’s sudden increase in volume. “Could you keep it down? Not everyone has to hear you, you know.”

“Sorry…”

“I’m surprised,” Maud commented. “You two were practically inseparable.”

“That was the problem,” I told her.

“I knew you were getting fed up with her being so clingy, but I thought you guys would’ve been able to work it out,” said Klaus.

“When did you find that out?” the earth mare asked him with a raised eyebrow, “and why was I never told about this?”

“Well, we discussed it during our Guys’ Day Out.”

“And?”

It was at this point that Klaus chimed in. “There’s a stipulation of the Guys’ Day Out Agreement that any and all conversations and topics therein must not be discussed with any female peers, mutual or otherwise.”

“A stipulation that you just violated,” I quipped with an annoyed tone.

“Sorry…”

“Well, it’s all out in the open now, so what exactly happened?” Maud asked.

“Does it matter?” I asked. “It’s already over and done with, and I’m a lot happier, so it doesn’t matter.”

“You don’t seem happier to me.”

“Well, I was happier until I started getting interrogated.”

“Uh… okay guys, let’s just calm down…” Klaus said nervously.

“I’m perfectly calm,” Maud said with closed eyes and a shrug, and she was right. Despite her persistence, she had maintained her usual monotone throughout the entire conversation. I, on the other hand, was getting more frustrated by the second.

As much as I didn’t want to, I knew that there was no way that I would get Maud to drop the subject, so I gave in.

“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “When Klaus and I went out two days ago, I told him that Nightshade was being very possessive of me, and that she was started to get very combative with pretty much every other girl besides you that talked to me. Wherever I went, she always wanted to tag along, and convincing her to let me go out without her was more of a hassle than it needed to be. Even while we were out, she kept texting and calling me every five minutes, and it got to the point where I had to turn my phone off. There, happy?”

She shrugged her shoulders again. “Eh.”

“So how did you guys break up?” Klaus asked.

“We had a fight and she left,” I answered.

“A fight? But neither of you seem like the fighting type,” the earth mare stated with a matter-of-fact tone. “And she just up and left? Just like that? Do you know where she went?”

I shrugged. “I dunno, and I honestly don’t care. I didn’t bother looking for her.”

“But doesn’t it worry you that she didn’t show up today?”

“Not in the slightest. In fact, I’m glad. She’s away from me, and I’m away from her.”

“And it doesn’t bother you at all that you haven’t seen or heard from her since the fight?”

Klaus cleared his throat. “Maud, maybe you should let Noah tell you all this when he’s ready.”

“You say that like she’s been missing for days,” I told the mare. “It hasn’t even been a good twelve hours.”

She scoffed. “Excuse me for wanting to know how my friend is doing.”

I rolled my eyes. “I bet if you knew what she was really like, you’d want nothing to do with her,” I thought.

“Okay, why don’t we order some tea or something and just chill?” Klaus asked. “We don’t need to be-”

“I’m actually surprised at you, Noah,” she continued. “You normally aren’t this indifferent.”

It was at that point where I started to get fed up. What more did this mare want? I told her about the problems I had with Nightshade, I told her how and why we broke up, and she still wouldn’t quit it with the questions! Why did it matter so much to her!?

I stood up from my seat and glared down at Maud in anger. “Well, maybe if I was a little more indifferent, none of my problems with Nightshade would’ve ever happened!” I yelled as I stormed out of the lounge without another word, infuriated at what I had just been put through.

I mean, you’d expect your friends to have your back when you’re going through a tough time, right?

I let out a sigh. Maybe I just needed to be alone for a while. Besides, I shouldn’t have expected them to understand, anyway. I could only tell them so much about my problems with Nightshade, because they didn’t know that she was Nightmare. How could I expect them to see where I was coming from?

If they knew who she really was, they wouldn’t give two shits about what she was doing.

I shook my head and headed to my Calculus class. As much as I detested math, it would still be a distraction from all the drama. Not a nice distraction, but a distraction nonetheless.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as distracting as I had hoped.

As much as I tried to focus on the lecture the professor was giving, my mind kept flashing back to what Maud had told me.

“I’m actually surprised at you, Noah. You normally aren’t this indifferent.”

Indifferent… That word kept echoing over and over in my head. She was right, I was being indifferent. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find it in me to care about what happened to Nightmare after she left, but at the same time it didn’t really bother me that I didn’t care. Why should I care? Nightmare went from being a possessive burden to a dangerous threat to people’s lives, including mine.

I made the right choice ending my relationship with her. Aside from the fact that it was a relationship I never even wanted, who knows what would’ve happened if I stayed with her? She could’ve injured someone else, or worse, she could’ve killed them! And what if she ended up turning her aggression at me? What would have happened then? As much as she said that she’d never do anything to hurt me, I found it increasingly difficult to believe her. Who’s to say that she wouldn’t turn around and try to hurt me, or that she wouldn’t try to kill me in anger!

In retrospect, maybe I should’ve been more indifferent. If I had, I never would’ve invited her to stay at my house, and my relationship with her never would’ve gotten to where it was. If I wasn’t so damn nice and just cut her loose when I had the chance-

“What the?” I thought to myself as I felt a cool breeze pass behind me. I looked around the room and saw that all the windows were closed, and while the room did have central air, that breeze felt really unusual, like it went against the direction of the AC-

“Dismissed,” the professor said as he ended the class, and the rest of the class got up and filed out of the lecture hall doors.

“Great,” I thought. “I thought this class would keep me from thinking about Nightmare, but instead I spent the entire class thinking about her.” I left the lecture hall and decided to walk through the town just off campus in order to find a better distraction for myself. When I got there, I meandered through the shopping plaza, just to take in my surroundings and clear my head.

“Noah!” a voice called out of nowhere, and I turned around and saw Topaz approaching me with a plastic bag in one hand.

“Oh. Hey, T. What’s up?”

“Just doing some shopping for Golden Jade. Her doctor prescribed her some painkillers to help with her recovery, so I’m getting them for her while our grandma stays with her in her hospital room. I’m on my way back to the hospital.”

For a moment, my mind flashed back to when Nightmare attacked Jade and sent her flying into that wall, and I froze in place as the event replayed itself in my head.

“Noah?” said Topaz, “You okay?”

“Yeah… I’m fine…” I answered. “So how’s Jade doing?”

“Well, she doesn’t remember how the accident happened, but the doctor said that she can expect to go home in about a week or two. Grandma’s already told her school about her condition and they’re setting up online make-up courses for her.”

She didn’t remember anything about last night? That was a relief. I was worried that she or Topaz would somehow hold it against me that Nightmare blasted her into the wall.

“The doctor also said that she can have visitors now, so you can come with me if you want. You don’t have anything else to do, right?”

I hesitated to answer. “No, but… I don’t know, T.”

“Don’t be like that, Noah. I’m sure she’d be happy to see the guy that helped her get the care she needed. I told her that you were the one that helped her get to the hospital, and she wanted to thank you face to face.”

“Really?” I asked.

“What do you mean ‘really’? You say that as if what you did wasn’t important.”

“Well, I just did what any decent person would do,” I told her.

The pegasus merely chuckled. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, Noah, but most people these days would rather record someone getting injured than call for help. Trust me, she’ll be happy to see you. She owes you her life, after all.”

“Yeah, but if she hadn’t run into me, her life wouldn’t have been in danger to begin with,” I thought. I knew that it wasn’t my fault that Nightmare attacked her, but I still felt some degree of guilt.

Then again, if what Topaz said was true, and Jade didn’t remember anything from last night, then seeing her wouldn’t really be a bad thing. Plus it could do me some good to see her recovering from her ordeal. She may have been bedridden for the time being, but she was still in much better condition than she was in last night.

I let out a conceding sigh. “Okay, Topaz. Let’s go.”

The pegasus mare smiled and walked to my side. “Great. I’m sure Jade will be surprised to see you. C’mon, my car is parked near here.”

“Your car?”

“Well, my grandma’s car, but still.”

We both had a little laugh as we walked to the car and left the shopping plaza on our way to the hospital. The drive was silent, though, and I could tell that the lack of conversation was getting to Topaz. She was always a talker during our high school days.

“So Noah…” she said as she drove, and I could tell by her tone that she was about to wander into touchy territory.

“Yeah?” I answered, wondering if I should be worried about what she’d say.

“How have you and your marefriend been doing? Nightshade, right?”

Of course she’d ask something like that. It seemed like everyone wanted to know what she was up to today.

“We broke up,” I answered dryly. “I didn’t like how she treated other mares.” My eyes then widened in fear. Had I said too much? Would she suspect something? I really should’ve stopped after “we broke up”.

“Well, I didn’t want to say anything,” said Topaz, “but I was a little intimidated by the way she talked to me when I first met her.”

“Yeah, we had a fight when we went home that day, and that led to the breakup,” I half-lied.

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “Don’t be. It wasn’t worth being with her if she was gonna act like that.”

We soon arrived at the hospital and found a space in the parking lot. Once we walked in, we got our visitors’ passes and headed to Jade’s room. When we reached her door, I started to become nervous again, so much so that Topaz noticed.

“Want me to go in first?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah… I’d like that.”

She smiled and opened the door, walking into the room to address her sister and grandmother. “I’m back, you guys.”

“Hey, little sis,” I heard Jade say, and I could hear the weakness in her voice. “Did you get any snacks on the way back? I’ve only had one meal here and I’m already sick of the slop at this place.”

“Well, I didn’t bring food, but someone is here to see you.”

“Really? Who?”

That was my cue. I took a deep breath and slowly walked inside. I saw Jade lying in her bed, with Topaz and their grandmother sitting in chairs towards the wall. The injured mare’s eyes brightened up when she saw me, and a smile adorned her face.

“Noah?” she asked in disbelief.

I gave her a timid wave. “Hi, Jade.”

“Grandma, this is Noah,” said Topaz. “He’s a friend of mine from high school.”

“Oh yes,” said the older mare as she stood up. “My name is Opal. I think we met at Topaz’s graduation.”

I nodded. “I think so, yeah.”

“Well, my granddaughter tells me that you were the young man that called the ambulance for Golden Jade. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’re really grateful.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said, a little embarrassed.

“I really owe you one for this, Noah,” Jade chuckled softly. “I’d hug you right now if my back wasn’t killing me.”

“Already got you covered,” Topaz chimed in as she took out some of her sister’s medicine and gave it to her.

“Thanks,” she said as she took the pills and gulped them down with a swig of water.

I ended up spending the next few hours with the three mares. We watched TV, cracked jokes, and listened to some of Grandma Opal’s stories from when Topaz and Jade were fillies. Eventually, visiting hours ended, and we had to leave poor Jade all by her lonesome.

She smiled as we got up to leave. “It was nice having you guys here.”

Opal smiled back at her granddaughter. “That’s what family’s for, dearie. Sleep well, okay?”

“Okay, Grandma.” Jade then looked at Topaz. “See ya tomorrow, sis.”

“M-hm,” she nodded as she waved goodbye.

“And Noah,”

I looked back at her. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for coming to see me. It really means a lot.”

I blinked and looked at her blankly before regaining my composure. “No problem,” I said as I left the room.

Topaz and Opal were nice enough to give me a ride back to my apartment complex, and I thanked them as they drove off. Looking back on it, while today did have a rough start, it surprisingly turned out to work out for the better. I didn’t think that seeing Jade would help to brighten my day, but it just goes to show you how things work out sometimes.

When I got to my hallway, I went over to my mailbox and took out the mail that came in today before going to my apartment. Once inside, I sat down on the couch and looked at the mail I had received.

“Okay, we’ve got a greeting card, some pointless ads, an issue of Comic Junkie Monthly, a subscription renewal notice, and…” I looked at the last piece of mail with a perplexed expression. “What’s this?” I asked myself as I examined the envelope.

There was no return address, and my address wasn’t written on it, either. All that was on the envelope was my name written in dark blue ink with elegant calligraphy. I curiously opened the envelope, wondering just what could be inside, and I was surprised to find a handwritten letter, written in the same blue ink that was used to write my name on the envelope, and I almost dropped the letter in shock.

While I didn’t recognize the elaborate handwriting on the envelope, there was no mistaking who wrote this letter.

I continued to look at the penned note in disbelief and said one word.

“…Nightmare?”

Author's Notes:

So we have our first chapter where Nightmare doesn't appear at all... or did she?

Anyway, so we see that Noah obviously doesn't like it when others bring up his ex, considering the fact that he flipped out on his best firends. Klaus and Maud might have to be careful of that.

And what the hell is in that letter. You guys will just have to wait and see. Let me know your thoughts in the comments and I'll catch you guys later.

I'm gone!