The next day, Moon was practically bouncing off the walls with how excited she was about the party. It was all she could talk about.

“My first college party!”

“It’s gonna be so much fun!”

“I need to look my best for this party!”

I know it seems pretty annoying, but to me, it was kinda funny. A mare that’s over a thousand years old was as giddy as a schoolfilly over this party, and it was a stark contrast to my initial impression of her.

Moon was really embracing her new life as a regular college student.

It was seven PM, and the party started at eight-thirty. Pete’s house was within walking distance from our apartment, and we would meet Klaus and Maud there. Everything was planned out…

Except for what time we would get to the party.

“I’m telling you, Moon, no one arrives at a party at the exact time that it starts,” I told her.

“Well if they don’t then it’s stupid!” she argued. “Why would you arrive late to a party?”

“The first thirty to sixty minutes of the party is always the most boring part. Everyone’s still getting there, the good music hasn’t started playing, and no one has really gotten into the atmosphere yet. It takes time for a party to actually get started, and that doesn’t happen until after that thirty to sixty minute period. It’s called being fashionably late.”

“But Noah, it’s my first college house party!”

“Exactly. Do you really want to be known as the overenthusiastic mare that actually showed up to a party the minute it started?”

Moon gave me a cross look, but then she let out a defeated sigh. “You know what? Fine. We’ll do things your way.”

“Good,” I said as I slumped into my couch and turned on the TV.

Moon stood in the hallway, idly swinging her arms back and forth. “Sooooo… when are we going to the party?”

“Klaus and Maud are gonna be getting there at nine-thirty, so we can just-”

“Whaaaaaaat!? But that’s such a long time from now. I understand everything you said about arriving fashionably late and what-not, but can’t we go a little earlier than nine-thirty?”

“No, Moon.”

“Please?”

“No.”

The alicorn lit up her horn and disappeared into thin air, only to reappear right in front of me, on her knees in a begging position with puppy-dog eyes.

Which was ironic, considering the fact that her eyes were very cat-like.

I gave her a straight face, not at all phased by her little act. “I said no, Moon.”

She let out a frustrated groan and fell to her back with her wings unfurled. “You are way too dramatic,” I told her.

The alicorn scoffed as she sat up. “I am the ex-princess of the night, Noah. It is in my job description.”

“Yeah, sure,” I said sarcastically. “Look, just relax, okay? The party isn’t going anywhere, and will have plenty of time to experience everything it has to offer.”

“Speaking of time, when does the party end?”

I shrugged. “Eh, house parties don’t really have a set end time.”

“So basically whenever we feel like leaving?”

“For the most part. People usually start to leave around one in the morning, and then the host usually starts kicking people out around two or three.”

“So if we’re getting there at nine-thirty, and most others leave around one AM, that only gives us… three and a half hours!?”

“Will you relax? Trust me, those three and a half hours will feel like at least six.”

“You had better be right about that,” Moon pouted, and she laid back down on the ground, only to sit back up not ten seconds later. “There will be food there, right?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Have you not been to a party before?”

“During my tenure in Princess Luna’s body, I hadn’t been to many parties… unless you count royal balls as parties.”

“Barely.”

“Then no, I haven’t been to a party before.”

I sighed. “Look, Moon. I understand how excited you are, but just chill. Most real-life college house parties are nothing like the ones you see in movies and on TV.”

“If you say so…” she conceded.

For the next hour and a half, Moon and I killed the time by watching TV and playing a video game or two. Throughout that time period, the alicorn was really fidgety and I noticed that she would keep glancing at the nearest clock to see what time it was. When the clock struck nine, we decided that we should at least get dressed since Pete’s house was a fifteen-minute walk from our place. We had already showered earlier that day, and for the time being I was keeping Moon’s clothes in my closet.

“I already have my clothes picked out, so I’ll just change in the bathroom while you figure out what you want to wear,” I told her.

“Sure, thanks,” Moon smiled as I took my clothes and left my bedroom.

My “outfit,” if you could call it that, was really just some random clothes I picked out: an orange long-sleeved shirt with a dark blue down vest, dark blue jeans, and orange sneakers with blue accents.

I didn’t realize how well my random picks matched until after I got dressed.

With that taken care of, I walked into the living room and started to turn all the appliances off since we’d be leaving soon. I decided to have a glass of water before leaving, and I leaned against the kitchen countertop as I drank. The sound of hoofsteps reached my ears, and then I heard Moon’s voice.

“Ta-da!” she exclaimed.

I gulped down the last bit of water in my glass as I set it down on the counter and turned around to look at her. Moon was approaching me with the same black leather jacket that she tried on at the store yesterday as well as the necklace that I got for her, but instead of the low-cut white top that she was wearing at the time, she wore a medium blue top that was cut just as low. She was also wearing a black miniskirt instead of jeans.

“Well? What do you think, Noah? I look quite fetching, no? I think the necklace really ties it all together.”

“You look… nice,” I said passively, trying not to look at her chest. I turned around to put my glass in the sink, but then I felt some kind of force surrounding me and forcibly turning me around to see a frustrated alicorn glaring at me.

“You know, you could at least try to show some concern,” she grunted. “I actually want your opinion.” She walked over to me and put her hands on her hips, and then she leaned forward a bit and looked right at me.

Last time, her eyes looked cute, but this time, I was beginning to fear them again. They were absolutely livid!

“I’m gonna ask you again, Noah. How do I look?”

Fuck, I was in a tough spot. Because of how close she was to me, and the fact that her magic was holding me in place, I had to either endure looking into her piercing eyes or look down at her cleavage. Damn! Why did they have to be so huge? It’s like she had stuffed her bra with a pair of big black water balloons!

I decided to go with option three: close my eyes.

“You look very nice, really,” I said to her.

“And how am I supposed to believe that when your eyes are closed?”

“Could you just not be so close to me?”

“Why?”

“Because your boobs are right in my face and I don’t want to make you mad by staring at them!” I admitted.

Moon blinked, and then she raised an eyebrow at me. “Is that it? And here I thought you were just being stubborn,” she said as she released her magical hold on me and shook her head. “Noah, I’m not gonna be mad at you if you happen to stare at me from time to time. You’re my best friend as well as my roommate. We’re around each other all the time. Combine that with my admittedly intimidating appearance and it’s not really a surprise that you’d stare. Just relax. I know you’re not doing it with a lecherous intent.”

I sighed. “I guess I am being a little paranoid.”

“You always have been the type to get unnecessarily flustered,” she chuckled. “It’s cute, though. C’mon. Let’s get to the party.”

Moon transformed into Nightshade and the two of us left the apartment to head to Pete’s place.

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” she cheered as we walked. “I wonder if this Pete is going to have any drinks at this party.”

“Most likely,” I answered, "but you can’t have any."

“What? Why not?”

“Unlike in Equestria, where the legal drinking age is seventeen, in the US, the legal drinking age is twenty-one. As far as everyone else knows, you’re only twenty, just like me, Klaus, and Maud.”

“You have got to be kidding me. Can’t I just say I’m twenty-one? It’s a house party, so it’s not like there’ll be someone to check my ID.”

“That may be true, but I can’t risk you getting drunk at the party. You’ll probably end up turning back into your true form and revealing your identity.”

“What? You think I can’t handle my alcohol?”

“I’m not saying that, but I’m not willing to take the chance, either.”

Nightshade huffed and folded her arms. “Fine.”

“And be careful, too,” I told her. “Sometimes guys like to take advantage of unsuspecting girls at parties.”

“Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? Even with my magic weakened, if any man or stallion even tries to take advantage of me, I’ll blast them into oblivion!”

“If you say so,” I shrugged. As much as I’d like to believe her, part of me felt that I should still keep an eye on her. The last thing either of us needed was for someone to find out who Nightshade really was.

On the other hand, I kinda liked that cocky attitude of hers. There was something that I found very attractive about reformed villainesses.

We met up with Klaus and Maud at Pete’s house and knocked on the door. We could hear the music that was playing inside.

“Looks like we came at the right time,” said the griffon.

I nodded in response as the door opened, revealing a tall, bearded man with a beanie on his head and a drink in his hand.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Klaus Stormcloud and Noah Ashburn. How’ve you guys been?”

“Pretty good,” I answered.

Pete then looked at the two mares behind us. “Ah, I see you two took advantage of the plus-ones I gave you and invited some lady friends.”

“Nice to meet you, Pete,” said the unicorn. “I’m Nightshade.”

“You remember me,” the earth pony said blankly.

“Who could forget you, Maud?” Pete laughed. “C’mon in, the party ain’t out here!” He let the four of us into his house, which was pulsing with music. There was a good amount of other guests, and a lot of them were dancing.

“I’m liking this place already!” Nightshade told me as she took in the scene.

“There’s some coolers in the kitchen with some drinks and there’s a table over there with some snacks on it,” Pete told us. “I made sure to get some non-alcoholic beverages for you young’uns.”

“Pfft! ‘Young’uns’, he says. You can’t be that much older than us,” said Nightshade.

“True, I’m only twenty-two, but I can still drink legally!”

“How very mature of you. I’m sure we can enjoy ourselves without alcohol.”

“You weren’t saying that on the way over here,” I interjected.

“Whatever.”

Pete laughed and left us alone while we went to get some sodas. The party was actually pretty fun, and Nightshade seemed to be enjoying herself, too. Despite that, though, I made sure to stay close enough so that I could make sure that she’d be okay.

“Why am I being so protective of her today?” I thought to myself. “I don’t really remember feeling this way about her before. Is it because I don’t want her secret to be revealed, or is it because of some other reason?”

My thoughts were interrupted as I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Nightshade looking up at me with a smile.

“This is really fun!” she told me over the music. “I just got through playing darts for money and I just won two hundred bucks!”

“You didn’t cheat, did you?” I asked.

“No, they were watching my horn to make sure that I didn’t, but I guess I’m just that good!”

“How modest of you to say that.”

Nightshade giggled and looked at the mass of people and ponies dancing to the music. “Check it out,” she chuckled. “Klaus and Maud are dancing together.”

I looked into the crowd and spotted the griffon and the earth mare dancing with each other to the upbeat music. Klaus was looking particularly uncomfortable, and he looked at me and Nightshade with a pleading expression. “Help me,” he mouthed as he danced with Maud. Speaking of a certain grey-coated mare, Nightshade and I were surprised to see that she was actually a really good dancer. She shook her back and hips and twisted her arms in rhythmic fashion. She was pretty amazing, but the truly baffling thing was that she did all of those wondrous moves while wearing her usual straight face.

“Did you know that she could move like that?” the unicorn beside me asked.

“Not at all,” I answered. “She’s pretty damn good. Her neutral face is throwing me off, though.”

“Yeah, it makes it look like she isn’t putting any effort into it,” Nightshade said in awe as she watched, but then a smile grew on her face. “Would you like to dance with me?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you wanted to dance with me.”

“Ehh… I’d rather not. I’ll look like a trainwreck in there. Besides, do you even know how to dance at a modern-day party?”

“I think I’ve picked up enough from watching the other ladies on the dance floor, especially Maud. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me in against my will.

“I don’t remember accepting your offer!” I told her.

“I don’t remember caring!” she said back as we got into the crowd and she started dancing. As she said, she seemed to have learned from watching the other partygoers. “C’mon! You have to move, y’know!”

I gulped and did a simple two-step, bopping to the beat of the music so that I’d look like I was dancing without drawing attention to myself.

“I guess the best I’m gonna get from you,” she muttered. I didn’t really hear her all that well because of the music, but I heard most of it. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders as she danced with me, shaking her body rhythmically as she stayed close to mine. As she moved, she looked up at me with lidded eyes and a smirk. She then turned around and backed up against me, her butt bumping against my groin.

“I think you learned a little too much,” I told her.

“Oh, lighten up, Noah. Have some fun!” she answered as she kept dancing.

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve been incredibly uncomfortable, but for some reason, I wasn’t. It could’ve been the fact that most of the other females in the room were dancing like that, or the fact that no one was really paying attention to us, but there was something about the carefree nature of the party that made me, well, not care.

When we were through, Nightshade and I left the crowd and got some more sodas. “Man, what a rush!” the mare said as she took a sip of her cola. “I can really get used to these kinds of events! I’m gonna go back in. Wanna come with?”

“Not this time,” I sighed. “That was enough dancing for me.”

“Fine, I won’t force you this time,” she shrugged as she set her drink down beside me and went back into the crowd. As I watched her, I couldn’t help but smile. Nightshade, or Moon, rather, was having so much fun. She really was embracing her life as a regular mare. You’d expect an ex-princess to long for her crown back, but she was an exception. As I watched her, I made sure to keep track of her drink, making sure that nothing bad would happen.

It was a good thing I kept an eye out.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a hand go over Nightshade’s cup and drop some kind of pill into it, and then it grabbed the cup and picked it up.

“The hell?” I thought as I looked up. An earth pony stallion had dropped something into Nightshade’s drink and was taking it to her. I followed him at a distance as he made his way into the crowd and tapped the mare’s shoulder. Nightshade turned around curiously and looked up at the stallion, who put on a kind face as he handed her the cup.

“Here you go, miss.” he said. “You left your drink back there. You really can’t take your eye off your cup these days. Someone could’ve spiked your drink.”

“Oh! Thank you,” she said as she gratefully took the cup. “I really should’ve been more careful.”

“Well, don’t sweat it. I gotta say, though, you’ve got some moves, miss.”

“Please, call me Nightshade.”

“Well, Nightshade, you should really take a sip and cool off. Can’t get exhausted, y’know.”

“Shit!” I thought as I tried to get through the crowd.

“You’re right. I am feeling a little winded,” Nightshade said as she put the cup to her lips, but I was able to stop her before she could take a sip.

“Don’t drink that!” I yelled as I snatched the cup from her. I let out a relieved breath as I held the cup in my hand.

“Noah? What’s the matter?” she asked innocently.

“I saw this guy slip a roofie into your drink.”

“What!?” the stallion said, offended at what I had just said. “That’s a serious accusation, don’t you think?”

“Are you sure, Noah?” Nightshade asked. “That is a pretty big claim to make.”

“Trust me; I made sure to watch your drink while you were dancing,” I told her.

“Look, man. Do you even have any proof that I did this?” the stallion asked.

“I don’t need any proof when I saw you!”

Just then, a nearby dancer bumped into the earth stallion, and something fell out of his jacket pocket.

Namely, a plastic bag with several pills in it.

“But I guess if you really want proof, then there it is,” I scoffed.

“What?” Nightshade said, appalled. “You tried to drug me?”

“No, no, no,” the stallion said as he clumsily picked up his bag. “This is just… medicine! I have to take it every three hours, which is why I carry it around with me.” He put on a smile and approached the unicorn, stroking her mane. “Just relax, sweetheart, your little friend is being paranoid.”

“Don’t touch me!” Nightmare yelped as she swatted his hand away. “And don’t call me ‘sweetheart,’ either.” She grabbed my arm and tried to walk away. “Let’s go, Noah. I want to get as far away from this creep as possible.”

Just then, the stallion grabbed the mare’s arm firmly and pulled her back. “Where do you think you’re goin’!?”

“Let me go!”

“Not a chance!”

I tried to pry his hand from Nightshade’s arm, but he pushed me to the ground and continued to pull.

That’s when I saw the fury in Nightshade’s eyes. She glared at the stallion as she lit her horn. “Why you little…!” she growled as her horn grew brighter, until it fired a dark beam at the stallion, hitting him square in the chest. I scrambled to my feet, hoping that she didn’t kill him, and when I saw the result of the blast, I was in shock.

Nothing. The blast did nothing. The stallion merely staggered back a bit, his shirt barely singed by the magical energy. Nightshade’s efforts hadn’t succeeded at all.

The only thing she succeeded in doing was ruining the stallion’s shirt and making him mad.

“You little bitch! You know how much this shirt cost!?” he yelled as he stomped toward her. “I oughta-”

“You oughta what?” someone said as they stepped in front of Nightshade.

I looked and saw that Klaus and Maud and gotten in-between the aggressive earth pony and the frightened unicorn.

“Go ahead,” said the griffon. “Tell me. Tell me what you oughta do.”

By now, most everyone was looking at the scene that was unfolding, and the earth stallion raised a fist at Klaus, only for Maud to catch it as he brought it down.

“I wouldn’t,” she told him bluntly as she squeezed his fist, making the poor guy squeal like a filly.

Maud gave him a blank stare as she continued to squeeze, bringing the other earth pony to his knees. “Okay! Okay! Let go!!!”

“What’s going on here?” Pete said as he showed up to the scene. His eyes widened when he saw the stallion on the floor. “Brickstone? How’d you get in here? You causing trouble again?”

“N-no, Pete! This isn’t what it looks like!”

“Let go of ‘im, Maud. I got this,” Pete said as Maud let go of Brickstone’s fist. The stallion was then held up by his collar. “Y’know, you’re really startin’ to annoy me, man. You have a really bad history of stirrin’ shit up at my parties, and I’m gettin’ really tired, so unless you want me to lose a foot in your ass, you’d better get outta my house, you understand!?”

Brickstone nodded his head pathetically as Pete dropped him, and the earth stallion ran out the door with his tail between his legs.

“I’m really sorry about all this, you guys,” he said to my friends and me.

“It’s okay, Pete,” I sighed. “At least no one got hurt.”

I turned around and looked at Nightshade, who had her hands wrapped around herself, shaking like a leaf.

“I… think we’re gonna head home,” I said to Pete. “She needs some rest.”

“Good call,” he said as he turned around to address the crowd. “Nothing to see here, people!”

Nightshade and I walked out of the house, with Klaus and Maud following close behind. “You guys leaving, too?” I asked.

“It’s hard to stay in the partying mood after all that just happened,” said the griffon.

“We’re heading back to the school. Look after Nightshade, okay?” Maud asked, her usually neutral face showing an incredible amount of concern and worry.

I nodded my head as we parted ways, and as we walked home, I could hear Nightshade’s uneven breathing. I put my hand around her shoulder and pulled her closer to me, hoping that the gesture would calm her down some. Thankfully, it did.

Plus, it felt really good to be of help to her.

By the time we got home, it was quarter to midnight. I turned the lights on and went into the kitchen to get Nightshade a glass of water. When the glass was poured I turned around and saw that she had turned back into Nightmare Moon, but the distraught expression on her face still remained.

“Here,” I said as I handed her the glass.

“Thank you…” she whimpered as she gingerly took it from me and sipped as she sat on the couch.

“It’s okay, Moon,” I told her as I rubbed her shoulder. “Everything’s okay. It’s over. You weren’t hurt, and Brickstone was taken care of. You’re gonna be fine.”

The alicorn shook her head. “No I’m not,” she cried, tears falling from her face. “I was hurt, Noah. My pride was hurt. I tried to defend myself with a spell and it ended up doing nothing.”

I had never seen Moon like this; Her face was going through several emotions: sadness, fear, helplessness, anguish, frustration, and anger.

“You just underestimated him,” I consoled. “I know you would’ve taken him out if you weren’t holding back.”

Moon didn’t respond. Her hands merely shook violently. “No, I wouldn’t have,” she sniveled.

“What do you mean?”

She turned her head and looked at me with an emotionally mixed face, her eyes staring right at me.

“Noah, I put every ounce of magic I had into that blast, and he just brushed it off like it was nothing. If you weren’t around, I wouldn’t have had any way to defend myself. How do you think that makes me feel?”

I had finally realized why she was so upset. She used to be one of the most powerful ponies in Equestria, and all this time she had been building up her magical strength and learning more powerful spells, but after nearly three years, she still wasn’t strong enough to beat a regular guy.

“The whole time we walked home, I kept thinking about what would’ve happened if you and the others didn’t help me. I didn’t even know that he slipped a roofie in my drink. I would’ve been putty in his hands.” Moon began to shiver violently as more tears fell from her face, and she grabbed me and held me close to her. “I’m completely helpless on my own! I can’t even depend on myself to solve my own problems!”

I shut my eyes and hugged the sobbing alicorn, and her whimpering began to slow down.

“You’re not helpless, Moon. Everyone slips up and needs someone to catch them. That’s why you have friends to look out for you… That’s why you have me to look out for you.”

“Noah…” she said as she held me, her chin resting on my head. “If that’s true, can you promise me something?”

“What is it?”

Moon loosened her hold on me a little and looked down at me. “Promise me that you’ll always be there for me, and in turn, I’ll promise to always be there for you.”

I nodded and rested my head against the trap of her shoulder. “I promise.”

Moon and I sat there holding each other, taking comfort in each other’s warmth.

“I… I don’t want to sleep by myself tonight,” she whispered. “Could we-”

“Sure,” I answered before she could finish. We both stood up, Moon holding my hand, and we walked down the hall as she stayed close to me. When we got into my room, I took some of my sleeping clothes out of my closet while Moon used her magic to change into hers. I looked at her nervously as I held my clothes.

“Go ahead,” she said as she closed her eyes. “I won’t look.”

I quickly changed into my sleeping clothes and tossed my old garbs into the laundry basket. By the time I had gotten changed, Moon was already in the bed, tucked under the covers. I climbed onto the bed myself, tucking under the covers, too. Once I got in, the alicorn shifted a little and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me towards her once again. I became enveloped in her warm embrace, her obsidian coat feeling soft and smooth against my skin. Her body was so soft that I felt like I was melting; it was as if I was sinking into a mare-shaped water bed with extra-large bumps.

“You’ll keep your promise, right?” she whispered.

I wrapped my arms around her and nodded.

“I will.”

Author's Notes:

Looks like Nightmare Moon hasn't regained as much strength as she thought she did. She's pretty lucky to have her friends around, huh?

Sorry it took me so long to write this. Been busier than usual these past few days with school ending and all. Since I have no other stories that I'm working on at the moment, the next chapter of this story should come sometime within the next week.

Until then, let me know your thoughts on this chapter in the comments!

I'm gone!