Golden was sitting to my left and cuddled up to me. But I barely noticed it. My mind was elsewhere, so I barely felt her touch. Which felt so real…

Was this all just imagination? Was Golden actually nothing more than a pony made up by my mind? She appeared when I felt down and lonely. Every time I called for company, she just magically showed up...

But can it really be that the pony who became my best friend and later even my lover was just imagination? All the feelings and moments we shared were nothing? Never happened? Were never real?

“Spring what is wrong?”, Golden asked me and stopped the cuddle.

Goldens words brought me out of my thoughts for a bit. I shook my head and looked around a bit. It was a hot late spring day here in Maren. After a short stroll I and Golden had decided for a little break, and we had chosen to sit on a bench in the middle of the plaza. Around us were foals playing and adults talking to each other.

I turned my head and looked directly in Golden’s deep blue eyes. She knew something was wrong. She knew me too well...

Of course, she knows that something troubles me. She always does. It is like she could read my mind. But then, what if she was just made up by my mind?

“Spring, what is distracting you? Your mind has been somewhere else all day.”

I gave a deep sigh.

“I had a dream last night. You remember how you told me yesterday that you want to visit Hono one day?”

Golden gave a nod.

“Well… last night I dreamt that after some time passed, we two went to Hono”, I started to tell. “It was all going well. Sure, you were uncommonly nervous, but all in all it was a great trip. It all felt very real… And when we got to Hono, the place with all my kirin friends, nokirin was able to see you. You were just an illusion, made up by me.”

When I finished, Golden looked at me in silence. I could kind of see the gears in her brain turning…

“And you think that this was all real? Or better said, that I am not real. That I am just a pony made up by your own imagination?”

I gave another deep sigh and looked away shamefully.

“I know this is stupid. Of course, I know that was all just a dream. But still… it does have something to it, doesn’t it? You moved in as my new neighbour when I felt depressed and lonely. We instantly understood each other, became friends and even more. Kind of a very lucky coincidence, isn’t it?”, I questioned.

Golden rubbed her chin as she was thinking, she didn’t seem angry or disappointed. It seems like she kind of understood me.

“Okey I understand. But what about the tea we two drunk? Do you think that tea we two drunk. Do you think that tea disappeared on it's own?”, Golden pressed forward.

“Maybe this was also made-up fantasy. That my brain automatically imagined an empty teacup because you drunk it”, I explained, “I cleaned the cups afterwards so how could I have known later? The same can be said about the food or anything else.”

To my surprise Golden then started to laugh.

“Oh dear Celestia, you have a really creative imagination then”, Golden laughed. “Fine, I give you that with the food and drinks. But I bet you remember the pizza and vinyl player I once brought to you. You said you have never seen something like that before, right?”

“Yes?”, I answered a bit unsure what she meant by it.

“Now you could've guessed that these items exist, and are very common in equestria. So your mind automatically came up with these were items on its own that you have never seen before but still exist?”

And this time I had to admit she was right. Golden taught me so much pony culture. She showed me products, traditions and history which all have been proven as true. They couldn’t just be made up by me.

“And what about all the ponies around here? Don't you think that somepony would have noticed you talking to somepony who wasn't there? Whether it be today or any other day we were strolling around and chatting with each other?”, Golden continued.

“But that is the point! You know how the inhabitants here are. They like to stare but are always too shy to talk to somepony. Maybe they always found it strange how I'll talked to thin air, but they never came and questioned me about it”, I said.

“Okey, I give you that point. But I think I can prove right here and now that they are able to see me”, Golden said and placed her front hooves on my cheeks, forcing me to look her in the eyes. “But first tell me, do you think that all the nights and love making we spent together were just your imagination?”

“No”, I said without hesitation.

And with these words Golden took me into a kiss. And by the flames what a kiss it was. She pressed her tongue inside and used her hooves to keep me in place. Trapping me completely and making me accept the deep kiss. Golden gave some lustful moans into my mouth and after a short eternity she let go of me. But still holding on to my cheeks and looking at me to show that she still had control over me.

“Golden… others are watching…”, I said blushing.

And indeed. From the corner of my eyes, I could see how everypony on the plaza was looking at us. Not just some glances. They all had their head turned in our direction and were watching the spectacle. Some blushed, some quickly hid the eyes of their foals but most were shocked and disgusted by the fact that a couple had started a make out session in middle of public.

“And?”, Golden said casually. “If they have a problem with a very real mare kissing her very special somekirin, then they can come over here and say so.”

And without seeming to mind the stares and whispering complaints in the background, she kissed me again. And this time, I returned it.

“I guess you've never been inside here. As far as I remember you told me once that your neighbour, who lived here before me, was also a little shy towards you”, Golden said to me.

We were standing side by side in front of Golden’s house. It hadn't changed since the day I moved here to Maren, and it also didn’t after Golden became my new neighbour. From outside the house still looked the same. And even though it is just next to mine, the idea of entering it now felt so… unreal.

“Saying that pony was a bit shy would be like saying fire is a little warm. I can’t even say who used to live here because that pony was even too scared to just open the door for me. I tried to introduce myself, multiple times, and always got ignored”, I huffed.

Golden then turned her head away and guiltily rubbed her front leg.

“I have to say I feel bad now. After you invited me over for tea so many times it just started to feel so natural to come over that the idea of inviting you over to my place never crossed my mind”, she said.

“No worries, I also never thought to ask you if I could come over for once”, I waved off.

“Still, I should have brought you over at least one time then we wouldn’t have had the discussion we had earlier today. Just bringing you here inside would have proven to you that I am your neighbour. That I am a real pony living next to you”, Golden said with a hint of shame in her voice.

“Oh don’t feel bad about it. At least I got rewarded with a very good kiss”, I laughed and slapped my flank on hers.

“Don’t get used to it, hotshot. I normally don’t do such make out sessions. At least not in public”, Golden said and playfully stuck her tongue out. “Now, shall we?”

Golden opened the door to her home and invited me inside. As soon as I passed the doorframe, I could immediately tell how similar her home was to mine. Or better said, the basement was similar. The walls had the same colour, the rooms were placed the same with the living room left, the kitchen straight ahead and the stairs to the right. And all built out of the same materials of course.

But what was different was the furniture. While my living room for example had a mixture of pony and kirin culture, Golden’s was fully in pony style and very modern. A large sofa, a glass coffee table, metallic floor lamp and stuff like that.

“You know that the locals here will now all talk about this? Soon everypony will know that you are together with me. You won’t be able to go anywhere without everypony knowing you as the mare who loves the kirin…”, I said, still thinking about that love filled moment we shared in front of everypony in the plaza.

“Should they”, Golden waved off. “It would surprise me if they didn’t already know. And even if, it won’t change anything. It’s not them who decide who I love. It is myself.”

With these words Golden gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Now come, let me show you the bedroom”, Golden said and headed to the stairs.

I followed her upstairs and she led me into the bedroom. Unlike the rest of the house her room was a bit messy. Filled with personal valuable belongings from Golden. The smell and aura of her was all around this room. It was clear that these four walls were Golden’s fortress. And it meant a lot for me that she had allowed me inside.

Next to the bed was a closet with clothing inside, another one with personal items, to, a dresser that was used as more of a place to stack papers and a lot of posters on the wall. All of them showing famous musicians.

One of them stood out to me. It was the largest one right next to the bed. A grey earth pony with a long black mane who wore a bow tie around her neck. She stood on a stage and was playing a cello while all lights were on her. She was pretty but what got my attention was her expression. She had her eyes closed and was deep in her music.

“Who is that?”, I asked without taking my eyes from the poster.

“This is Octavia Melody. She is a cello player and a huge inspiration to me. Less because of her music. More the way she plays it. She doesn’t play the cello. She is one with it”, Golden explained and then looked with me at the poster. “I only build and repair instruments. I am not a musician. But I still adore music. And if I see somepony being so much together with music, with her instrument… It really triggers a feeling in me. I am sure, whoever made this cello for her, is very proud now.”

“Who knows, maybe one day she'll come to you if she needs her cello repaired”, I said and looked around a bit more in Golden’s room.

“Ha, as if. I bet when she needs her cello repaired, she goes to somepony she really trusts. I doubt that she would even give me her instrument if I would ask her. This would be like a random mare asked me if she could kiss my special somekirin”, Golden laughed.

But I could still tell that she would like the idea. (The idea of repairing Octavia’s cello. Not the idea of another mare kissing me.)

I turned away from the poster and continued to check out a shelf with some of her more important important belongings, like a group photo with her and, what I assumed, were her friends in Manehattan. Golden, for her part sat down on the bed.

“You know, it makes me realise something”, Golden then said. “Whenever we two… spend the night together, we always did this on the sofa and fell asleep on it later.”

“We also had other places for our activities”, I said casually.

“Yes, I know, hotshot”, Golden said, and I didn’t have to turn to her to know that she was rolling with her eyes. “What I mean is, I also have never been in YOUR bedroom. And I kind of wonder why now.”

I turned around from the shelf and looked at my golden maned pegasus. Indeed, I had never shown her my bedroom. It had never really crossed my mind.

“You’re right”, I admitted. “The thing is my bedroom is for me a bit like yours here. It is a place for me to retreat and where I can be myself. It is my little fortress. Just like this bedroom is for you.”

I paused to think a bit.

“But I guess… I can show it to you. Not only because you invited me into your own personal place”, I said and pointed with my hoof around the room, “but also because I trust you enough to know, that you will understand the meaning of my bedroom.”

Author's Note

Thank you all for reading.

Now, I want to give some information about chapter 17 (the preview one).
When I have an idea of a story, I already know everything what will happen in it. Maybe I change some little things or add something small. But when I started to write the story, and came to the part where Golden String appeared, I started to realise how… unreal she seemed. Spring falls into a lonely depression and then, out of nowhere Golden came and they became good friends.

So, the idea that Spring got Schizophrenia did not only make sense but it also would have been the prefect plot. In my opinion, this would have led to the way more interesting ending and I was even so far that I wanted to change the whole ending of the story. But I just couldn’t get myself to do it. No matter what kind of amazing plot I just give up, I wanted to give Spring an ending he deserves. So, instead I added the whole Schizophrenia idea as a dream chapter. Saying, that there could have been a different ending.

Maybe some are a bit disappointed that this whole thing just had been a dream. And I can tell, that I feel with you. But in the end, I want to finish the story in a way I am happy with.