Gold's Rule ✔️

Chapter 13- 8 Years Ago

"Gold!"

"Gold, come on! Wake up and play with me!"

My heart gave a lurch at the familiarity of the voice, and I forced my eyes open. Standing in front of me, quite a few years younger than she had been, was Funneh. She had on a gigantic smile that nearly outshone the sun that was shining defiantly, just above her.

"Gold! Finally, you're awake."

"...Funneh?"

"Come on, let's go play!" Funneh shouted, dancing in a circle around me, throwing teared up pieces of daisies at my dress. My... dress?

Looking down, I could see my body covered in a white summer dress with little sunflowers designed across it, with a cream coloured bow sash around my waist.

Oh... I remember this day.

My body immediately seized up at the word 'remember'. Was this another memory bubble attack? But that made no sense. This memory was a happy one, full of joy. And I don't recall seeing Draco at all... in fact, I had a vivid memory of the sensation of being on a rollercoaster, the image of a dark, wicked smile dancing across my vision.

I frowned, rubbing my temples. There was something very important that happened... something I needed to tell my sisters... but I couldn't remember it.

"Gold! Stop being such a worrywart, let's go play!" Funneh was tugging at my arms again, looking up with her shining eyes reflecting off the sun.

"Alright, alright." I gave in, slightly surprised at how high-pitched and young my voice sounded.

Whatever was bothering me could wait; my sister is more important.

"Let's go visit Luna! I wanna see her foals again!"

Luna. Luna... who?

Seeing the confused expression on my face, Funneh gave a tinkling laugh. "Oh, Gold, you're so funny. Luna, the mare who gave birth to Brownie? Just last year?"

Oh! Right, Luna! The mother of Brownie!

"I was just joking with you, Funneh. Let's go visit Luna!" I said cheerfully, taking her hand in mine and letting her lead me towards the barn.

We arrived inside to a lot of neighed greetings. I watched as Funneh stopped to pet each horse who popped their head out of their stall's nose, whispering greetings to them. I was never a big horse person, and no matter how much Funneh tried to convince me otherwise, I think of horses as dangerous, rough animals.

"Hey there, Shine!"

"Looking' good today, Sprit!"

"Oh my, Emily, your fur is practically glowing!"

"Aw, sorry Dew, I don't have carrots for you today."

"Carrots, you look tired! I'll get Sean to clean you up."

I was, as always, amazed at how my sister, who could never remember the times table, or the periodic table, or any math formulas, could remember all these horses' names and personalities.

Not to mention it was useless. The horses aren't able to understand her anyway, so it really didn't matter what she said.

"Brownie!" A squeal of joy brought my attention back to Funneh, who has reach the end of the barn and has stopped beside a stall, where a foal, no more than 19 months, stood.

"Aww, did you miss me, buddy?" Funneh asked, reaching up to scratch his muzzle. Even at only 19 months, Brownie was taller than Funneh. He grunted happily and nuzzled deeper into her outstretched hand, asking for more. It was kind of adorable.

"Gold!" Funneh exclaimed suddenly. "I have an idea! Let's go riding today!"

Even though I knew this was coming, my younger body still jerked back in surprise. "Um... I hope by 'riding', you mean 'riding on a bike'."

Funneh laughed again. "Oh, Gold, you're so funny. It'll be fun! You can ride Luna and I'll ride Brownie!"

"Are you sure you can ride Brownie? He's only 19 months old, after all." I said, trying my best of discouraging her.

"Yup! I asked Sean, and he said you can ride Thoroughbreds as young as 18 months old!"

I sighed. "Fine. But if you get my dress dirty, I'm blaming you."

"Yay! You're the best, Gold." Funneh cheered, squeezing me in a tight hug before bolting off to the saddles closet. She knew the way to my heart, that girl.

I trudged behind her, wondering how I got myself into this mess again.

Funneh pointed out Brownie and Luna's saddles, and I grabbed my riding helmet. Even though Funneh and Draco were the only ones interested in riding, our parents still got personally tailored riding gears for each of us.

Funneh helped me saddle Luna up and taught me the correct ways to mount, and which cues made her walk, trot, and canter.

Then, too soon, I was following Funneh out the backdoor, on the back of Luna. She was a gentle mare, and obeyed my cues perfectly- when I gave her the right ones.

(We don't talk about how many times I ended up waking in circles)

Much to my surprise, the afternoon went by pretty fast, and we had lots of fun. We walked at first, then broke into a trot once we reached the trail. I might've imagined it, but I thought I heard my mother and father cheering as we trotted past the back balcony, their favourite place to... interact.

I must admit I was slightly disappointed when Sean, the stable keeper, came to fetch us for dinner. We brushed our horses and I fed Luna extra sugar cubes, patting her neck, and telling her what a good, good horse she was.

And to think I thought it was useless to talk to horses.

Even though I was covered in dust, horse hair, and sweat, I had one of the best day I'd ever had.

That night, after I'd devoured nearly 2 plates of ramen, I crawled into bed and immediately fell asleep, exhausted- but happy.

I heard a knock on my door and opened it to find Funneh, in her blue pyjamas and holding a stuffed animal, at my door.

"Wanna have a sleepover?" She asked with a mischievous grin.

And the amazing day continued.

Funneh, Draco, Lunar, Rainbow and I spent that night in my bedroom, telling funny stories and stupid jokes that we laughed at anyway. Of course we knew the guards outside, and the maids passing by, could hear us, but they didn't ask us to go to sleep.

I think, secretly, they liked hearing our jokes and stories too.

And then, suddenly, my siblings, the room, the moon, everything, vanished.