How Cruel Is The Golden Rule?

by TLC

9. "Theme" (Alternate Title "Déjà vu In The Form of A Friend")

9

Theme

Cherilee walked down the road from her house to the park. She suspected that Golden wouldn't be home and be at that bar. Cherilee hated that place. She thought the name didn't deserve such a home on some place so filthy, the whole building would have to soaked in bleach. The bartender was nice though. He made her laugh a lot of the time when she was there, and when she was there, it was because Golden drank too much again and needed to be taken home. Cherilee sighed. Golden...

Cherilee got to the gate of the park and heard a crowd through a small patch. She got closer. 'It is a crowd!' She thought. 'But why?' As Cherilee came closer, the more she felt a bad feeling, like this had happened before. She saw some ponies trying to peak through the crowed to see then looking away with a pale face. 'What's going on?'

Rainbow Dash was hovering over the crowd and spotted Cherilee. She flew down and grabbed her.

"Rainbow!" Cherilee yelled as she was pulled away from the scene. "What are you doing?! What's going on?" Rainbow looked at her, then the ground. She whispered something, but Cherilee couldn't hear it. "Rainbow. I can't hear you. Have you seen Golden?"

Rainbow almost broke out in to a sob, but kept as much of her cool as much as possible. She looked at Cherilee for a few seconds then pointed at the scene. "She's...she's over there."

Cherilee looked over and saw a carriage pull up to the crowd and several white ponies came out. They were carrying a stretcher. She didn't believe it until she saw Dash shaking her head. Cherilee ran towards the crowd and fought her way through. This isn't happening! She yelled in her head. This isn't happening! Not Golden-

Her thought was interrupted as she broke through. The bartender. Jacky D, sat next to the body of...

"GOLDEN!!" Cherilee ran to her body. She laid facing up with balled up napkins behind her head, soaked in her friend's blood. Cherilee held her in her arms, she felt a dark sense of deja vu in the vacant lifeless expression on Golden's face. Her eyes flooded with tears and she sobbed over her friend's body. The crowd could only look at the two. Jacky laid a hoof on her shoulder.

"She was a little drunk...And was telling Dash off, she mentioned her sister and froze." Her looked at Golden's face for a second before continuing. "She fell back and hit her head pretty hard."

Cherilee could only respond by crying, her head was on Golden's chest. Her heart was still beating, but faintly. She looked at Jacky with red, teary eyes.

"This is my fault. I brought her here." She looked back at her unconscious friend. "If only I told her..." She stopped to chock down tears. "...She might not make it out of this."

"Hey, hey. No need to think like that, lassie. Gold's a tough mare. If anypony can make it out of something like this it's her." Jacky whispered. "What were you going to tell her?"

Cherilee grew silent. "I was...I was going to tell her...That I lo-"

"Ma'am! I'm gonna have to ask that you step aside. This mare has lost a lot of blood needs to be transported to a hospital." A white stallion told her, interrupting her confession.

She clutched Golden's body. "Can I stay with her? Please, she's a close friend."

"Of course! Just move aside please." The stallion said. Three other stallion's held a stretcher on their backs and lowered it by Golden. "Can you help us move her?"

Cherilee nodded. She pushed Golden on to the stretcher and placed her arms to her sides. The stallions lifted her and took her to the carriage, with Cherilee close behind. She turned to Jacky. He moved his hooves in the motion that read Go ahead. She got in with Golden and the carriage began moving. Golden's eye's fluttered and she started to mutter things.

".....my...head..." Cherilee place her hoof on Golden's chest and smiled.

"I'm here Golden. Just stay with me." Saying that brought a tear to her eye. She couldn't take losing her. She wouldn't be the same, and she wouldn't be able to tell her her feelings. She bent down and nuzzled her cheek, letting out a small gasp at how wet her cheeks were, like she was crying.

Cherilee laid down on the floor of the carriage to be near her. She kissed her on the forehead. "I wanted to tell you something...For a while. And I think you deserve to know..."

"I love you."

~*~~*~~*~

"I love you."

"Cherilee?"

Golden awoke on the cold, hard ground. All that stood before and around her was darkness. It appeared to be moving, like smoke or ooze. She stood and tried to look through it, but saw more darkness.

"Hello? Cherilee are you there?!" Golden shouted. There was no reply. The silence was eerie and dragged on. A faint voice whispered in her ear. i

"Hi, Carrot." Golden jumped back and screamed. She saw nopony, no mouth, nothing. The voice came again. "Don't you recognize me, Carrot?"

She did, but didn't believe it. "Yeah...Who are you? And where am I?" The darkness began to disperse and Golden now stood in a flower patch. The same one... from..."No...No, that-You're not-"

"Yup!" The voice said from behind her. She turned towards the voice and turned pale. Her sister stood before her. Autumn. But..that was impossible. Unable to deal, Golden broke out into soft sobs.

She ran towards her sister and hugged her tightly. She felt so real, and she could remember the smell. It was too weird, but Golden didn't care. She pulled away to look at her.

She looked exactly like she did before the incident. Her faded lime coat and darker green mane. Her sanguine eyes gleamed. This was Autumn. Her sister giggled and stepped back.

"Missed you too, sis!" She stopped and looked serious. "Golden, you are standing on the brink of life..." She pointed at the sky. "...and death." The patch around them suddenly caught fire, causing Golden to scream. The fire died down. "Your life has been hanging on by a thread since I died. You drink, relentlessly. You let your garden die, leaving you without a job. And the secret that you keep has been drifting you away from your friends." She moved closer to Golden as she talked. "Your uncontrolled emotions have led you to almost killing yourself."

"Not you, too!" Golden groaned. "Look! I'm still here!" She lifted her hoof and saw through it. She squeaked and looked to her sister. "W-W-what's happening?!" She stammered.

"Like I said, A thread!" She smiled. "You're going to be fine, though. You have to tell somepony, anypony, about me and what happened. The fact that you've kept it secret this long is causing your mind to cloud with dark thoughts. That song, 'Letters To Celestia', made them come into light so that you would come to me." Autumn leaned in and hugged her sister. "We thought you needed to hear it from me so you see how important this is."

"We?" Golden asked in confusion. Suddenly a white cloud flew down from the sky, then shined a bright light. Golden shielded her eyes as a figure came into view. She looked closer at it and her jaw dropped. A beautiful mare stood before her. Her hair was the same as Golden's, but straight, her coat was a lighter gold, her cutie mark was a gardening hoe and her eyes shined a bright yellow.

Golden fell to the ground and wept at the mare's hooves. "Mom!" She cried. "Mom, I missed you!"

The golden mare lowered herself to the ground in front of Golden and kissed her muzzle. "Yes, Golden. I missed you, too." Her voice was so calm and soothing, it matched Celestia's. "We hate seeing you in so much agony. Don't you see where you leading yourself?"

Golden's voice cracked as she spoke. "Y-you don't understand! I can't tell anypony, because It hurts so much!" She cried. "I'm only this way, the drinking, the bitterness, because it keeps me from coming back here..."

Autumn laid next to her sobbing sister. "Carrot, this is killing you!" She reminded. Golden didn't care, she just wanted to be with her sister and mother forever. Her mother held a hoof to her daughter's face and tilted it to look her in the eyes.

"Won't you miss Cherilee if you left?" She said with concern.

"Yeah..." She said with a sore voice.

"Don't you love her?" Her sister added.

"More than anything." Her mother and sister giggled at her. She looked up to them and blushed. "Hey! I can't help it!"

"Then tell her," Her mother said. "and tell about the incident. She won't shun you. No pony will. It wasn't your fault." She glared down to the soil of the garden, hate brimming in her eyes now. "It was your damned father's."

"Yeah!" Her sister stomped at the ground then turned to her sister. "I saved you! I did it so you could live. It isn't your fault. I still love you, sis. Sure, maybe I didn't want to die...Maybe I didn't wanna go, but I did what I did, because I loved you too much to meet the fate as I did. You had no control over the situation." She kissed Golden on the cheek. "He did."

"I love you, too, Autumn." Golden looked at her sister through a blurry vision. "Yeah...You're right." She stood and looked to her mother. "You're both right. How do I, uh....Get back to..Ugh! My head!" She held her hooves to her head. She pulled them away to see that blood covered them. "Oh. Right."

"You diffidently took a heavy hit, dear." Her mother said lifting a hoof to her head. "You're arriving at a hospital as we speak. When you wake, promise me, and your sister, that you'll do what we asked."

Golden gave her mother a confused look. "Tell her what?" Autumn laughed out loud at her sister's ignorance.

"Tell her about me!" She said. Then she giggled. "...And that you love her!"

She looked down and smiled, as the world around her, and her family, began to vanish. "I will..."

"We're always with you, Golden!" Her mother shouted from a distance.

"We love you, Carrot!" Her sister yelled after.

~*~~*~~*~

The darkness didn't come back. Though it was bright, I knew where I was. In a hospital bed, surrounded by machines. The I.V. wire stuck out from my arm, which lead to a computer. There was a faint high pitched beeping in the room. I felt bandages around my head and could feel my legs. So I wasn't paralyzed, thank Celestia! I did feel something next to me though, and it was breathing. I looked to my left and saw her.

Cherilee, sleeping next to me in a chair leaning on my neck. I smiled and nuzzled her. She stirred and slowly woke up. I panicked a little, thinking whether or not I should tell her. No. I promised. She opened her eyes and then they widened. She reached out and touched my face in disbelief.

"G-G-Golden?!" She squeaked. She shook her head and rubbed her I eyes. I still laid there. She grabbed me and hugged me tightly. I embraced her and felt her tears on my neck. She really does care about me. I patted her on the back and whispered to her.

"Shh, I'm alright. I'm happy you're here, 'Lee. Look, I'm sorry I left this morning. And..."

She wiped her eyes and pulled away, only so that our muzzles were only centimeters apart. I blushed a little, but continued. "...I,uh...have to tell you something." She nodded with her eyes gleaming, they no longer shed tears and where half closed. Her smile was warm and grew only more as she drew closer and I felt her breath against my face. It smell sweet and had a hint of honey. I lost my train of thought. Where was I?

"I...Um...I, sort of, uh...kinda..." I'm pathetic.

She got up on the bed and laid next to me and put a hoof to my cheek.

"You love me?" She asked grinning, pushing hair out of my face. I laid there shocked and my mouth hung open. I had no idea she would know that and I shivered a bit. She giggled and placed my jaw back into place. Before I could blink, if I could, she pressed her lips against mine, pushing me on my back as she crawled on top of me. My mind was racing and went into shock when I tasted her tongue as it pushed it's way into my mouth. I didn't fight back, I only laid there and enjoyed the moment that I've been waiting for for so long.

The kiss lasted for a few more moments before she broke it, gasping for air. I lost myself in her eyes, they called out to me. I hadn't felt like this for her in all my life. The joy I felt could've defeated Nightmare Moon alone. She breathed heavily and place her hooves on my chest. I sat up and kissed her lightly on the lips then pulled away to tell her.

"I love you, Cherilee." I whispered.

"I love you, too, Golden. I always have." She whispered back. She laid back on me and continued kissing me. Making my the dream I had, just the night before and the one that I thought was a terrible lie, a reality.

Comments

[ArmourFox]

YEAH! LOVE IS SO POWERFUL MAN! Oh gods now I'm sounding like a hippy!

[neighsmith]

<-- describes what I'm feeling right now than any words

[keenan]

would be funny if then she just woke up in her bed, but i think this needs a epilogue.

[Barry From Mars]

And that's the power of love. *cue music* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NMph943tsw

Sorry, It's appropriate. Anyway, I'm glad Golden is OK and I look forward to the next part!

[articunos bitch]

177364 No no. Don't be sorry. It's a great song that should get much more love than it does.
If this fandom has a non-pony related theme song, this is it. Someone made it and footage from A Canterlot Wedding into a music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR3CQpFecEQ
I have been meaning to finish this for a while. I am glad I did. Great job. Scootaloo is happy