One Golden Day

by Crystal Wishes

After

After her head cleared from panic—Velvet is having her foal today, I forgot that was going to be today, how could I forget something so important—Golden noticed the sound of hooves just behind her and she looked over her shoulder to see who was following.

Forest Shadow, despite his smaller frame, was keeping a good pace with her frantic, long-legged gait.

She almost stumbled over her own hooves in surprise at both the sight and her once-again forgetfulness. But his expression was determined, if a little bit winded, and she didn't detect any desire in his eyes for her to stop.

So, she returned her gaze forward and intended to keep going—and then the courier landed in front of her, forcing her into a very sudden and very ungraceful stop.

"Whoa, slow down, ma'am!" The courier shook out her wings as she laughed. "I don't get paid to do half a job. Your friend's at New Vale, and it looks like you're headed toward Bayhealth."

"Right." Golden frowned at herself. Her forgetfulness was exceeding her tolerance; she would deal with it later, though. "Thank you. Anything else?"

The courier looked at her expectantly.

Golden stared back.

The courier cleared her throat.

"She wants a tip," Forest supplied in a quiet voice at her side.

With a dramatic roll of her eyes, Golden held up a plaintive hoof. "I left my bit purse at home, I'm afraid. So sorry." After receiving a dirty look and watching the courier fly off, she huffed. "I have never understood the tipping culture."

Forest rubbed a hoof against the other leg, an apprehensive expression on his face. "Because it's nice to be rewarded for hard work?"

"Hard work is, in and of itself, its own reward." She turned away and started to trot at a brisk pace in the direction of New Vale Hospital. "If she wants to be paid more, then perhaps she should seek a different profession."

He didn't reply, and she felt the weight of his judgment as though her necklace had shrunk in size. She would make no apologies for the truth.

The rest of the hurried walk carried on in silence. That was, she thought, going to be the prevailing interaction between them: a lack of any at all.

When they reached the hospital, Golden couldn't make it to the receptionist before a familiar face swooped in to grab her by the shoulders and exclaim, "Velvet's having a baby!"

Golden's lips parted in an unbidden smile. "Hello, Nightingale."

The tawny brown pegasus giggled an almost manic sound. "Forget the pleasantries, you gorgeous oaf! Scream with me!"

"Please don't," a nurse said as she passed by, but a grin wriggled its way onto her face.

Nightingale giggled again and leaned in to wrap her forelegs around Golden's neck, then abruptly pulled back. "Oh, sorry, sir!" She tugged Golden with her off to the side. "Move, we're in the way."

"Oh, uh." Forest's voice huffed a shaky laugh. "I'm with her, actually?"

Golden's ear flicked back toward him, but she kept looking at Nightingale, who had an understandable amount of confusion on her face. "It's a long story. He is, indeed, with me."

"Huh. Well, okay." Nightingale shrugged it off and returned to squealing, "A baby!"

With a cool smile, Golden allowed her gaze to drift over the faces in the waiting room. Who was there for Velvet, and who was a stranger coincidentally there at the same time?

She wished she could say she knew what Velvet’s family looked like or who her friends were. But their own friendship wasn’t nearly deep enough for such intimate knowledge of one another’s lives.

"Who's having a baby?" Forest asked, sounding and looking as awkward as Golden was certain he felt.

Golden let out a sigh and put a hoof on Nightingale's chest to push her away. "Give me a moment or two, would you?" She flashed the smile everypony expected her to have.

"Oh." Nightingale glanced between them, then nodded. "Sure! We're just over here." She gestured over to where a group of ponies sat together before bounding off to join them. "Can't wait for the mama-to-be to get here!"

Ah. So those were her loved ones, then? Golden's gaze lingered longer than it should have. Velvet was blessed with so many of them.

In her mind, Golden drew the blanket tighter around herself.

Forest shifted, his movement drawing her attention back to him. "So, the mother-to-be is... your friend?"

Golden released a heavy sigh and inclined her head to gesture for him to follow as she turned and walked back out the doors. The gust of fresh air drew a stark contrast against the sterility of the hospital.

"I apologize," she said, standing with her back to the doors that swung closed behind them. "I forgot today was the day my friend is due."

"It's okay," he said, but she was certain his expression was one of disappointment. She wouldn't look at him to confirm it. "Who is she?"

Golden gave the slightest shake of her head. "She's not anypony you would know, I imagine."

"Oh." The surprise in his voice caught her off guard.

She finally chanced a glance down at him. "Oh?"

His ears perked straight up. "I mean, uh, not oh? Ah! Eh..." He scuffed a hoof against the cobblestone. "I don't know what I meant. I guess I just expected you to be friends with other famous ponies?"

"Famous ponies?" Her lips drew into a tight line. "Other models? Hardly. We don't befriend one another."

"Why not?"

Though she opened her mouth to reply, she had no answer. Why not, indeed? Because it simply wasn't that way. She didn't know why, but that was how it had always been, and how it always would be.

Perhaps it was because, under the layers of makeup and jewelry and gowns, none of them were real.

"I do have a famous friend," she said instead, returning her gaze to anywhere but his face. The last thing she wanted to see was his eyes light up at the mention of her name. She didn't want to hear about how good she was, how kind and selfless she was, everything that Golden wasn't. "Crystal Wishes."

There was a pause filled only with the bitter pound of her heart.

And, then: "Who?"

The question started a laugh out of her and she looked at him to see his expression was genuine.

Golden tried to not look as relieved as she felt. "Crystal is... a dear friend, now." The relief faded, taken over by a swirl of fondness and guilt. "It wasn't always so, but I owe her a great deal."

"And Velvet?" Forest asked.

Without a second thought, she replied, "Crystal's friend."

The blanket grew tighter before she imagined it more like a fortress, instead. Stone walls. A drawn bridge. Isolation. Safety.

"Oh." She watched as his brow drew into a tight knit before he smiled. "So you met her through Crystal."

"In a sense, yes. That is the gist of it." Golden shook her head and stood at her full height, angled to best capture her features in the sunlight. "I'm afraid I will have to part ways with you here."

He swallowed. "I—What?"

The words continued as if they'd been rehearsed. Perhaps, in a way, they were. How many times in her life had she made excuses like this?

"It's unfortunate, and I do sincerely regret the inconvenience, but I will see to it that you are refunded your bits." She forced the smile onto her face as she looked at him.

He didn't look back at her. He just stared at somewhere off in the distance, brow furrowed, lips pursed.

There was no need to drag him further into awkwardness, so she turned away and walked back into the hospital. Her day to play the role of a good pony was cut short. He would tell his friends about how she'd snubbed him, and word would circle back to her.

She forgot her own friend's labor.

Left him, not even halfway through the day.

Is anypony surprised, though?

Just Be Golden was just a publicity stunt, after all.

She stood there, at the threshold between the walkway and the waiting room. Nightingale sat with several other ponies who all looked her way as soon as she walked in.

Disappointment crossed their faces. They had been hoping she was Velvet.

Disappointment.

The walls of her fortress doubled in height, and the moat doubled in width.

Hoofsteps approached and, unconsciously, she mumbled an apology and stepped out of the way. She saw a forest green coat and, just as she started to shift her attention elsewhere, her gaze snapped back to get a better look.

Forest stood there, his head held submissively low, a shy half-smile on his muzzle. "Hi."

"Hel—lo?" She arched one brow. "Did you get lost?"

"No, I, uh." He shuffled his hooves, took a deep breath, and straightened up. "You seem like you need a friend?" His ears flicked back and his eyes went wide. "Not that—Not that I'm presuming I can be your friend! Just, you know, a friend."

Golden's nostrils flared as she snorted. "I have friends."

He took a stuttered step back. "Of course! Right! Yes, no, of course you do. It just sounded like." He swallowed audibly. "Like maybe you didn't right now."

Irritation twitched the muscles along her sides, and her tail lashed to try to flick it away.

I heard he took pity on her.

How sad! How embarrassing!

Poor little Au. No friends, so she has to turn to a stranger.

Well, dear, you can either have friends or not. It’s up to you.

"Fine!" she said, a little louder than necessary. "But this isn't a part of the auction. I'm here for Velvet, not to entertain you." As she walked away from him and into the waiting room proper, she felt a smile start to grow.

Forest scrambled to follow after her. "That's okay!"

Nightingale looked up as they approached and squealed. "A baby!"

"Yes, I gathered that," Golden said, sitting across from her. "Where is Velvet, anyway?"

An older mare seated nearby stopped mid-knitting to look over at them. "Knowing my granddaughter, she's likely being deliberately slow to annoy her mother."

"That's my girl," an old stallion gruffed.

Another mare raised her hoof. "I'm sorry, but are we just going to ignore the fact that Miss Golden is sitting with us?"

"Who?" The old stallion eyed Golden warily. "The posh one that looks like a magazine cover?"

Golden challenged his snort with a smile. "Thank you."

"Wasn't a compliment," he muttered.

Her smile didn't falter. "Nor was I sincere."

There was a pause before he snorted a laugh and grinned. "All right, I like her. She can stay."

Without missing another beat, the group eased back into their conversation as if Golden weren't there. Or, perhaps, as if she had been there the whole time.

In half an hour, Golden had memorized everypony's relation to Velvet, just on the off-chance it became important.

After an hour, High Horse arrived. Forest, for some reason, was able to notice the sudden tension in Golden's posture at the mare's arrival, and gave her an encouraging smile.

Golden didn't want to talk about it.

He didn't ask.

Strangely, that eased her nerves.

It wasn't long before conversations died out and uncertainty started to manifest as a palpable buzz in the air. The clicking of Berry Stitch's knitting needles marked each passing second. Nightingale couldn't stop assaulting every pony who walked by with squeals about foals.

Golden paced up and down the rows of chairs in the waiting room, each step landing to punctuate an anxious thought.

What if something had gone wrong?

What if the cart broke down?

What if Velvet had gone into labor right then and there?

What if—

"Hey," Forest's voice cut through the noise. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she muttered, pausing to look at him. "I'm trying to determine how soon after giving birth a new mother can be slapped for making everypony wait and worry."

"Why don't you, uh, tell me about her?" Forest gestured at the empty seat beside him. "To pass the time."

Golden rolled her eyes and resumed pacing. She was passing the time just fine on her own. She needed to get her steps in for the day, anyway.

Then, in a quiet voice, he asked, "Please?"

Her hooves stopped and she looked at him with open surprise before she shuttered her expression. "If you're bored, you don't have to stay."

With a wince, he pressed back into his seat. "Do you want me to leave?"

"That's what ponies do," she snapped before she could think better of it.

There was a pause, and then he straightened up and looked her square in the eyes, determination on his face she hadn't thought possible for him. "I won't."

You are in charge of your destiny.

Slowly, she stepped over toward him. The fortress didn't seem as inviting as having somepony to talk to. For a little while, at least.

"We went to elementary school together," Golden began in a low voice, glancing over at the group of Velvet's family and friends. "She made friends with Crystal, and I loathed the both of them." Her lips tightened into a thin line before she sighed. "The war changed things."

When she fell silent, he just waited patiently but intently.

She swallowed around a lump in her throat. "My father left under the belief that he should do good. 'Those who can, should.' He's always said that."

And, yet, it had never sunk in. Not like her mother's voice.

"But he's the only pony I have." She winced and dropped her head to avoid his gaze. "The only pony who believes in me despite all evidence to the contrary. Our last conversation was a fight, and—"

She sucked in a breath, trying to push down the tremble that had started in her right hoof. "It forced me into Crystal's company, and she forced me into Velvet's. But I'm not a fool. They are one another's best friends. My place is, at best, tertiary."

The trembling hoof shot out to gesture at the bedraggled group of tired and worried ponies. "Were I in her situation," she continued, bitterness rising into her voice, "I wouldn't have them. I wouldn't have anypony. Nopony would be here, waiting for me, worried for me."

"I don't think that's true," Forest said, his brow knit in a concerned furrow.

"Of course it is." She glared at him. Anger was easier than remorse. It was warm and safe, not cold and strangling. "I have pushed away every pony in my life purposefully. I can either have friends, or not, and I chose not."

Forest blinked a few times before he asked the question she knew he would, but hoped he wouldn't. "Why?"

The anger wasn't strong enough. It crumbled under the weight of so many lonely years coming back to her all at once.

"So that I can't be hurt," she replied with a slight tremor in her voice.

Logically, she knew it seemed illogical. One pony hurt her feelings when she was still a foal, barely a young mare. And, yet, it was more than that, wasn't it?

How many ponies had she let close to her, only to discover they were the source of the latest gossip stabbing her in the back?

How many mornings had she woken up alone after being told so many sweet nothings the night before?

How many times had she begged her father to reconsider going to war?

Nopony ever stayed.

Platinum, eventually, would leave her. He was too good for her, and every day was just another chance for him to see it.

When Crystal's husband came home, she would return to being a happy little wife.

And now that Velvet was going to be a mother, their outings would be cancelled and forgotten.

None of them would stay.

A blurry green hoof came into view, holding a tissue. She recoiled from it and looked up to see Forest Shadow with a soft, sympathetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said.

With a start, she realized that he had, despite her dismissal, stayed.

So she leaned against him and cried.