//------------------------------//
// Part II: Chapter 2 
// Story: Emerald Chronicles 
// by Dandereshy 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 2: News

"Well, it doesn't give off any negative energy, so I can't determine anything until we open it." Twilight was telling him as she examined the box. He'd brought the box over to her castle immediately after work later that evening, and she'd been enthralled by it. She'd blown through a hundred books trying to figure out what it was, and came up empty hooved. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were there as well on a whole different matter, but grew curious of the box when Emerald brought it in.
Emerald snatched it off the table and held it over his head. "Whatever's inside, I can hear it move around when I move the box. Maybe it's some really nice gems or tons of bits."
Twilight used her magic and took it from him, giving him a brief dirty look. "Or maybe it's an important piece of Ponyville history. After all, you said you found it half buried, right?" She set it down on the table again, looking closely at the keyhole.
Emerald walked up behind her. "Well, yeah, but I don't see how being an important piece of Ponyville history would be beneficial to me." After receiving another death glare from her, he added, "But it could be for all of us. Hehe."
"Or maybe it's some designs from ages ago on some marvelous fashion. Oh, that would be lovely, wouldn't you say, dear?" Rarity asked, looking up at Emerald and smiling while batting her eyes rapidly.
"Uh, I wouldn't know. Hey Twilight, you should totally open it. I'm really curious now." Emerald said watching her try numerous spells.
"That's odd… it's resisting all my opening spells. But I'm not sensing any magic at all from it. Maybe I should – "
Emerald cut her off by swiping the chest off the table and making his way toward the door. "Thanks for the help, Twilight, but not everything can be solved with magic, sometimes just some hard, physical labor is all you need to figure things out. Ask Applejack. She'll back me up on that matter. Anyway, see you all later."
"Be careful with that, Emerald!" Twilight warned him as he left. "Oh, something doesn't feel right…" She added under her breath.
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When Emerald got home, he could smell dinner as he came in the front door, shaking off the cold and snow and shivering. No sooner than when he set his suit on the coat hanger and the chest on the floor did he get tackled by Fluttershy in a warm embrace and get smothered in kisses. "Was I gone that long?" He asked with a chuckle. She climbed off of him and stood by as he got back up.
"What's that?" She pointed at the chest on the floor.
Emerald pushed it further out of the way against the wall. "Hopefully something cool. I found it in the Everfree forest today. It was half buried in the mud."
"What in Equestria were you doing in the Everfree forest? You know it's dangerous out there." She said sternly, giving him the same look.
They both went towards the kitchen. "The boss had me doing something. That's beside the point, hon. The point is we need to find out what's in that chest. It could be loaded with gems of great value. Or maybe some rare artifacts." He grinned widely. "Oh, I'm getting psyched just thinking about it!" When they got in the kitchen, Emerald nearly had a heart attack. "What the – what are you doing in here? Cooking for the whole town? That's an awful lot of food."
She ran over and began cleaning up some of the food left on the counters. There were two pots on the stove. "Sorry, I was teaching Discord how to cook today. It didn't go as well as I planned."
Emerald smiled, amused. "I can see that. What do you have cooking for us good lookin'?"
She looked in the pot to see how it was doing. "Nothing fancy, since Discord used just about everything I had earlier." She turned to him. "I'm just glad you're home. I, went to the doctors like you asked…"
Emerald came up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder gently. "…And?"
She looked away, blushing. "I really should tell you later. We should eat first." She pulled away to get the food off the stove. "So, how was work, besides the trip to the Everfree forest?"
Emerald shook his head and took the pot from her. "Nice try, sweetcakes. I want to know how your trip to the doctors went. You have me clinging on in suspense." He set the pot down on the counter and pulled some plates down out of the cabinet and put them onto the counter, looking into the pot and frowning.
She scratched the back of her head and chuckled nervously. "I kinda just mixed some stuff together. I'm sure it'll be good. I know how you like to eat just about everything, so I figured I could just put something together – " She stopped when she seen the look on his face that said, "Just tell me how the doctors trip went. You're stalling again." She sighed and took his hoof, leading him into the living room and sitting him on the couch beside her.
"Please don't tell me you're dying. If you tell me you're dying, I'm going to cry." He said, rubbing his hooves together nervously.
"Heavens, no!" She said loudly, appalled. She took a deep breath and continued. "The doctors ran a few tests and they determined that I'm not sick."
Emerald nodded but said nothing.
Fluttershy went on. "Now, he did mention to me after I told him how I was feeling that he already knew what was wrong, but he didn't tell me, or show me, rather, until after he did the tests."
"Of course, go on," Emerald urged her.
She took another deep breath, feeling her heart beating faster. "Well, the paper he gave me when he came back… said… that…I'm…well…pregnant."
Emeralds face remained impassive for a moment before the news he'd just received hit him like a freight train. "You're… pregnant…? Oh…" He nearly fell off the couch, but Fluttershy grabbed him and kept him on the couch.
"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned.
Emerald wiped the sweat that was now dripping down his face with a hoof and nodded. "Yeah… it's just… wow… this is incredible!" He hugged her suddenly, carefully. When he pulled away, he began babbling. "So, what are we going to name it? I mean, if it's a girl, I want to name it something after your name. If it's a boy, something along the lines of both are names together, you know? Something manly, though. I don't want the other colts think he's soft when he gets into grade school. Of course, I've seen names worse, but I don't our son to be named that. And if – " Fluttershy covered his mouth with a hoof and giggled.
"I'm glad you're so excited about one, but… it's… twins…" She told him, causing him to fall silent.
"…Twins? Oh, this is just… so… fast. So, do you know if they're two boys? Girls? One of each?" He shot the questions at her rapidly. She laughed and hugged him.
"He told me that I was far enough along to say that he's pretty sure it's one of each."
Emerald screeched, startling her. "Sorry, I'm just so excited. I can't believe this. It's everything I've ever dreamed of…" He looked down into her eyes and nearly fell apart, seeing her eyes glitter, her cute little smirk, feeling her holding him. "I love you…" He leaned down and kissed her with a brand new sense of passion. Something entirely new, something that sent a shiver up his spine.
She pulled away to smile at him. "Can we have dinner now?" They both broke out into laughter.
"Sure, my love. What exactly is dinner, by the way?" He helped her off the couch and she stretched her legs out, inciting Emerald to growl at her like a cat. She winked at him.
"Well, like I said, I just threw some veggies in the pots for us from the garden. Discord used everything else I had. He's trying so hard, but at least he's making progress." She led him into the kitchen and dished out some food for the two of them.
Emerald took his plate from her and they both started upstairs. "If anypony can make that nut a better person it's you. You made me a better pony without even trying."
"Better? How so?" She asked interestedly as they got into the bedroom. Emerald helped her into bed and held her plate while she climbed under the covers. He hopped in after her, pulling the covers up to their chests and handing her back her plate.
"Well, I don't like dwelling on it, but you do remember our walk through the woods that one windy afternoon, when we encountered Black Flame? You called me a liar, mostly because I kind of was. Anyway, because of your hurtful words, albeit true ones, I decided to never hide anything like that from my friends ever again. See? Changed." He explained. All he got back from her was a blank stare. "Um…"
"I remember that. But how did I change you? You changed on your own." She said, taking a bite and chewing it slowly.
"Well, you see, because of… oh, never mind. It isn't that important. Have you told anypony else about this yet?" Emerald asked casually. He took a bite of his food and gagged. "Blech. What's in this?"
Fluttershy smiled. "Garden vegetables, remember? But I guess too many." She took his bowl from him. "No, only Discord knows because he found my papers. But he promised not to tell anypony. I believe he won't. I'd like until I'm closer to actually showing before we tell everypony."
He coughed, trying to get over what he'd just tasted. "I agree. But I doubt Discord will keep that a secret." He reached over and flicked out the lamp when she set her bowl down on her nightstand. "Now, let's go to bed. I'm beat." She snuggled up against him, spooning him.
"Okay."
"Sleep well, my angel." Emerald whispered and kissed the back of her head.
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Emerald tossed and turned most of the night, so he got up, careful not to wake Fluttershy. He quietly went down the stairs and over to where the chest sat up against the wall.
He looked left and right to see if anypony was watching him, then he took the box into the kitchen, tripping over a half-eaten carrot and nearly dropping the chest as he went in. "Angel, I presume." He muttered, setting the chest on the kitchen counter and fumbling for the light switch. He flicked it on and dug around the kitchen for a knife. He found the chef's knife in the sink and rinsed it off. "This should do the trick." He said to himself, bringing it over and jamming it into the lock space. He jiggled it around for a while until he heard a satisfying metal "clink".
He quickly set the knife down and forced the lid open. A cloud of dust blew up in his face, causing him to cough loudly, so he shoved his face into his arm to muffle it. When he looked inside, to his disappointment, it was just seven stones, carved into random shapes.
A balloon, an apple, a diamond, a star, a butterfly, a lightning bolt, and a 5-sided polygon.
"Hmmm…" They had no color besides grey, and looked slightly worn. They meant nothing to him, except the polygon. For some reason he felt drawn to it. Taking a quick look around, he took it out of the box and looked at it closer under the light. A strange inscription ran across every side of it. Not a language he knew, either. "Eh, I'll keep it and show Twilight tomorrow."
He closed the chest and went back upstairs. Fluttershy was still asleep, so he climbed into bed and stuck the stone under his pillow. "Man, I'm tired all of a sudden…" He whispered and cuddled with Fluttershy again.
He fell asleep moments later.