Chapter 6: Only A Dream
Fluttershy and Emerald were enjoying his day off, the first one in nearly a month. Emerald had been working more often, skipping days off and working instead to help make more money to have for their fillies when they come. Emerald hadn’t told Fluttershy about him draining the savings account, so he’d worked overtime to help build it back up. A few days had passed since they’d gone to Sweet Apple Acres and discussed the new problem that seemed to be manifesting before them, and unlike before, where everyone else was worried about these strange stones he’d found in the Everfree Forest, the roles have reversed, and now he was the only one stressing over it constantly. Fluttershy was having a hard time keeping him sane, and so today, she made a suggestion that didn’t quite appeal to him.
“So, a pet? You want to help me get a pet? Why?” Emerald asked inquisitively. He and Fluttershy were at home, ironically, tending to the others’ pets, bathing and grooming them. Fluttershy was teaching Emerald how she grooms her friends’ pets when they ask for her assistance.
“Well, a pet is a wonderful companion. Plus, when we all go together and have our little pet day, you can come too. Don’t you want one?” She explained, finishing up with Opalescence.
“Uh, we already have a pet. Angel,” He pointed to the bunny on the couch reading the paper. Angel glanced up and frowned at him.
Fluttershy finished combing Opalescence’s hair and smiled at her job well done. Opalescence seemed to smile too. “I know, but I figured you’d want your own pet. Maybe one that can be like an assistant at work.”
Emerald sighed with surrender. “Alright, fine. You win. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, that’s the best part. You get to pick! Isn’t it wonderful?” She exclaimed, fluttering in the air in front of him excitedly.
“Um, okay…” He paused to think, with Fluttershy growing ever more excited as she anticipated his answer. He took a deep breath to respond. “I’m open to suggestions.”
She sulked. “Sure. Do you want something that flies? Swims? Digs? Crawls? Chirps? Purrs? What tickles your fancy?”
“Hmm…I really never thought about that…I’m not sure what I want. If it’s going to help me at work, it has to be able to deal with the stress I go through. And I go through an awful lot. How about something tough?” He asked warily. He went over to the couch and plopped his plot in the middle after he finished scrubbing and drying off Tank, who was shortly going to be entering his yearly deep sleep, so Rainbow Dash had asked Fluttershy to clean him up before he did.
Fluttershy hummed while she considered his options. She suddenly perked up with an idea. “I know! How about an Ocelot? They’re beautiful, smart, and very strong. Plus, they have a lot of patience, having to wait for their next meal all the time.”
Emerald chuckled. “So they’re doctors?”
Fluttershy frowned. “What?”
“Because you said they…have a lot of…patience…oh, never mind. But yeah, I suppose that would be fine. As long as it doesn’t rebel and rip my face off.”
It was her turn to chortle now. “Oh, don’t be silly. They’re the sweetest little wild cats you’ll ever meet. I’ll get one for you later. They’re all out hunting right now…I think.” She then smiled enthusiastically at him.
Emerald tried to resist the adorableness, but it was futile. He broke into an intentionally muffled laughter for a few seconds before he stopped and wiped the tear from his eye. “My, my…you are just the cutest.”
“Why? What’d I say?” She was utterly lost now, as the expression on her face conveyed.
Emerald hopped up off the couch. “Just accept it and move on. Hey, you ready to bring everypony their pets back?”
She looked around at all the finished animals and nodded slightly. “I suppose so.” So they gathered them up and headed out. It was warming up even further, now too warm even at night for it to snow. But based on the weather patterns and the busyness of the pegasi, it would return to the fall-like weather very soon, and this time, unabated.
Fluttershy calmly led the pets and Emerald to the owners. She held back a little to be walking beside him. “Um, what else do we have planned today, because, you know, the kitchen’s a little dirty, and our room is getting a little disorganized as well. I’m just suggesting these, if you want to do them later.”
As they continued on, Emerald didn’t even consider these. He had other things on his mind. “You know what, I’d actually like us to go to that movie theater in Canterlot. I know we’d be getting there late, but I’m off for the rest of the week, and I want to hit the movies with you. I think you’d like it.” After a few moments, an even better idea forced its way into his mind and excited him tenfold. “Actually, I think we’ll go to Manehattan. As much as I wanted to steer clear of that place for obvious reasons, I love you more, and I know a few very romantic spots there. If you think about it, we haven’t done anything truly romantic. And I believe we can do it there.”
“Sure. That sounds lovely. I can’t believe you’re willing to go back there after what happened with Bla – “
“Not going there, sweetheart.” He cut her off, sounding less upset because he was trying to be kind. “The conversation, I mean. But as for what you’re not believing, yes, I’m serious. I care more about you than my own feelings. Although, my feelings are what causes me to care, and so I guess I care about both equally. But then, that’s not true, because I’d rather…” Fluttershy cut him off now with a kiss and a chuckle.
“I get what you mean.” She said humorously. She turned back to her precious trailing animals and resumed guiding them to their first destination, walking backwards to keep an eye on them, even though Emerald was now behind them all, trailing along.
“When we get done with this, we should get our stuff packed. You know, to leave?” He recommended, looking to the sky and seeing that it was getting later.
Fluttershy hummed her reply. She was really focused on keeping the pets together as they neared the castle. “I’ll take Owlicious to Twilight if you’ll just wait out here for me with the other pets.”
Emerald gave a slight shrug. “Sure.”
When they got to the castle, Fluttershy went in and Emerald sat down near the front doors, looking around and deep in thought. Tomorrow’s the day. I’m gonna ask her. Oh, I hope she says yes… He shook his head. Of course she’ll marry you, genius. She’s having your kids. Why would she not? He sighed aloud. I really need to stop worrying so much…
“Hey Emerald? Can we talk…?” Rainbow Dash sailed up and landed in front of him, breaking into his thoughts.
He glared at her. “About what, Rainbow Dash? About you’re crazy actions that night we went to the Wonderbolts show? I’d rather not talk to you at all.” He turned away from her and folded his arms.
Rainbow Dash sighed with guilt. “I know. But I’m here to apologize. I was just…so jealous. Of you and Fluttershy. I want to admit, I had a crush on you ever since I first met you. But you got Fluttershy before me. And I guess I was just…letting off some steam. I’m sorry…”
Emerald turned to her. “Okay, that I understand. But seriously, you could have told me about your feelings in a less awkward way.”
“But it was just a peck. It wasn’t that bad.” She protested.
Emerald rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Okay.”
Rainbow threw her hooves up. “Hey, it was a friendly kiss.”
“Dash, that wasn’t friendliness, it was straight debauchery. You can call a kiss anything but that, especially if it’s coming from a friend.”
“But it wasn’t a kiss-kiss, it was a quick peck. In all fairness, there wasn’t even any tongue…” She said, her voice intentionally trailing off.
“For Celestias’ sake, Rainbow Dash, you grabbed my face and forced your lips on mine. A kiss is a kiss. But it already happened, I can’t change that. However, I can say, there will be no more of …that… in the future. Am I correct?” He asked, although it was more of a command.
She grinned innocuously. “Hehe…yeah…”
At that moment, Fluttershy was coming back out of the castle. She smiled when she seen her blue Pegasus friend. “Hey, Dashie! What are you doing here?”
She returned the friendly smile. “Oh, nothing. I was just saying hi to Emerald. I’ll take Tank with me.” She grabbed Tank by his shell. “See ya later, guys.” She flew off before Fluttershy could say anything else.
Fluttershy looked confused for a split second before she turned to Emerald. “Ready to go take Gummy to Pinkie? She loves it when he’s fresh from a grooming.”
Emerald nodded and herded along the animals with her. “Then we really should get our stuff packed. There’s a travelling zoo headed to Manehattan tomorrow evening and the day after and I didn’t want you to miss it. I set this up a while ago just for this cause.”
She tilted her head and smiled appreciatively. ”That sounds amazing! Where did they come from? What kind of animals do they have? I’m so excited now. Let’s hurry up and bring the rest of these pets back.” She began hovering now, moving faster, so Emerald had to do the same to keep up.
“I’m glad you’re as excited as I am.” He said, relieved to hear her tone change. She hadn’t sounded so enthusiastic earlier. Too bad I can’t tell you the best part until we’re actually there…
After they’d finished delivering the pets, they rushed home to get ready to leave. Emerald told her they’d be getting up real early, perhaps around five in the morning, to catch the train there. It was hard for Emerald to pack the bangle, because Fluttershy was in the room, and they were packing all of their stuff into one bag. So he decided to just carry it around on him in his saddlebag. He’d need to have quick access to it anyway.
Angel watched them carefully, seeming unhappy that they were leaving him there alone.
“It’s only for a few days,” Fluttershy assured him, hugging him briefly before hopping in the shower.
Emerald sought this opportunity to go over his proposal lines. They sounded cheesy, but he didn’t think Fluttershy would care. If it was romantic, she’d love it.
When Fluttershy finished, Emerald went next. After that, they went to bed early to make up for lost sleep in the morning. Emerald kissed her goodnight and soon drifted off to sleep.
“How could you Emerald? I thought you loved me?” Fluttershy shouted at him. She was furious when she learned about the kiss he and Rainbow Dash shared at the Wonderbolts show.
“I already told you, it was an accident.” He said defensively.
Fluttershy turned away from him. “That’s not what Dashie said. She told me you kissed her on purpose.”
Emerald couldn’t believe his ears. “What? What are you talking about?” He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “Clearly she’s lying to get you and me to argue. She’s just trying to get us worked up. You know I love you.”
“Huh. I don’t think you do. Not anymore. Apparently my friend is sexier than me.” She said defiantly.
Emerald drew a blank on that last comment, not knowing how to respond to such crazy talk. Just then, Rainbow Dash showed up, looking smug. Emerald immediately confronted her, poking her violently in the chest with his hoof. “You did this! I should have known you’d try to break us up.”
She looked around and shrugged innocently. “I didn’t do anything. You shouldn’t have kissed me.” She then turned to Fluttershy. “Come on. Let’s leave this lying cheater to do what he does best.”
“Oh, no you don’t, you traitor!” He attempted to grab her arm, but his hoof went right through, like she was a ghost. He went pale.
“Bye, Emerald. Too bad you never loved me…” Fluttershy called out to him as they faded away into the darkness. He tried to chase them, but somehow they were still faster. They disappeared into the oblivion. Emerald fell to his knees and began sobbing…and that’s when he woke up.
“Emerald, are you okay sweetie?” Fluttershy was leaning over him, an alarmed look on her face. She gently placed a hoof on his cheek when she realized he was crying.
He sniffled and wiped the tears away. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bad dream again…” He took her hoof in his as she lay back down. She turned over and they lay there, spooning. “Come on. Back to sleep. We’ve only got two hours before we have to get up and go.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? I worry about you. This isn’t the first time I’ve shaken you awake because you were screaming or crying, you know. You must be having some awful dreams…” She asked, not convinced that he was okay.
He nuzzled the back of her neck, sending a chill up her spine and she giggled quietly. “I’m fine, honey. Now get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.”
“Okay…”
But as he lay there, closing his eyes to head back to sleep, he knew this dream wasn’t a dream.
It was a warning.