//------------------------------//
// Part II: Chapter 10 
// Story: Emerald Chronicles 
// by Dandereshy 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 10: Lies

The party had definitely taken a turn for the worse. Everypony was staring at the five ponies standing face to face in the center of the room.  Twilight and Pinkie Pie were very upset, as the expressions of disgust on their faces depicted. Rainbow Dash looked like she’d lost her marbles, and Fluttershy just looked pissed.
“What?” Fluttershy repeated, sounding angrier, sounding betrayed.
Emerald gulped. “It’s not what it sounds like, I swear it wasn’t mutual.” His defense seemed to change nothing. Fluttershy did not look convinced whatsoever.
“You kissed my friend? That’s what’s been bothering you all this time? You cheated on me, and didn’t bother to tell me? How could you?”
Rainbow Dash burst into tears, flying into the kitchen. Twilight and Pinkie gave Emerald one last look of discontent and headed off to the kitchen to comfort her.
“I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me, I promise! I didn’t share a moment with her, she was jealous of you and me – “
“Now you’re blaming it all on her?” Fluttershy asked, glaring at him. “So you did nothing? She just did all this on her own? She made you keep this to yourself until today? I can’t believe you…”
This was going badly. “Fluttershy, you know I wouldn’t cheat on you. What does she have that you don’t?” Fluttershy looked away from him, at nopony in particular, just away from him. Emerald sighed heavily. “I didn’t kiss her, honest. I couldn’t do that to you…”
“Well, it’s apparent you did, so there’s no excuses.” She said sternly, but her voice was cracking. She was about to cry.
Emerald walked up to her, putting a hoof on her shoulder, which she startled him by shoving off. “Fluttershy, I – “
She looked back at him, tears in her eyes. “Rainbow Dash wouldn’t lie, to me or anypony else. She’s not like that. But you’ve lied before, and I’m sorry…I just don’t believe that you didn’t like it, or want it.”
“I told you I would never lie to you again, and I meant it.” He insisted, trying to defuse the situation. He was losing the battle, and fast. Nopony around him seemed to care about his reasons. It was easier to believe that the ex-liar was still a liar. “She kissed me, and I didn’t want it or like it, I promise! How am I supposed to prove it?” He thought for a moment. “Ask her, Fluttershy. Ask Rainbow if it was her kissing me or us kissing each other. She’ll tell you the truth, since that’s what you said. She wouldn’t lie.”
For a moment, she didn’t say anything or move, but then she turned towards the kitchen when Twilight, Pinkie and Rainbow came out. Rainbow dash was being comforted by her friends, and they came up to Emerald and Fluttershy.
“Okay, Emerald. I’ll ask her.” Fluttershy said to him, sounding a little calmer now. Emerald breathed a sigh of relief. “Dashie, did you kiss Emerald out of jealousy of me and him?”
Emerald felt a strange, uneasy feeling in his gut as Rainbow opened her mouth to reply. “No, he grabbed me and kissed me, saying that I was his original crush!”
“What?!” Emerald hollered, horrified. “No, no no no! That’s not what happened and you know it!”
The others mean-mugged him, not at all believing him.
“I’ve known Dashie all my life, Emerald. She wouldn’t lie about something like this. If you had feelings for her, why didn’t you just tell me before all these plans, before we got engaged? Before I got…pregnant?”
More gasps from the audience.
“You’re…pregnant?” Twilight asked incredulously.
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes. But now I’m not so sure it was a good idea for it to be his.” She gave Emerald a cold stare.
Emerald felt his heart sink. “No…you couldn’t possibly believe this. This is madness, I would never cheat on you, you know that!”
“No I don’t, Emerald! Stop saying that! I don’t know what you lie to me about anymore. You do it all the time, I’m sure. Is this the first time you’ve kissed somepony else since we’ve been together? Or are there more victims of your infidelity?” She asked, tears in her eyes.
Emerald was slow to answer, only because he was in shock at how fast this escaladed. It got out of hand too quickly, like it was…staged…”No, I swear by my father’s grave that I have never cheated on you, not with Rainbow Dash, or anypony else. Why won’t you believe me? Just because you’ve known her all your life doesn’t mean she’s never lied to you or anypony about something. Everypony does.”
“There you go again, calling her a liar. She’s never lied to me. But you have. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe you, Emerald. You…you…” She started crying, hard. “You’ve broken my heart!” She hurried out of the room, going into the kitchen.
Emerald’s heart was broken too, at that moment. The first time he’d made her cry like that in a long time. And once again, it was not his fault. He glared at Rainbow Dash. “What the hell is wrong with you? Telling them something like that? I know you like me and you’re jealous of what me and Fluttershy have, but lying to your friends, manipulating their emotions to get me and Fluttershy to leave each other? That’s just evil. We have two little foals coming, and all you can think about is you!” He pointed an accusatory hoof at her, causing her to draw back in surprise. “It’s not right to lie to others, especially if it’s only to benefit yourself. And look what you’ve done, you’ve managed to make my only love hate me! You are selfish, manipulative, and a liar! And it’s ponies like you that deserve to be alone!” Those last words hit home. He knew this because Rainbow Dash burst into tears, flying back into the kitchen with Fluttershy.
A quick glance around revealed that nopony was on his side still, just by seeing their facial expressions. Applejack stepped up to him. “I know its bin’ a bit rough the past few months fer’ ya, but blamin’ other ponies for your insubordination is jus’ wrong. You should be ashamed of yerself.”
“But…but…” He stuttered.
Applejack shook her head and left him standing there. Within a few minutes, the room had cleared, as everypony had left. Fluttershy and the others went Celestia knows where, and it was now only Emerald, left in solitude. The lights had been turned off, leaving him in the dark to cry his pain away.
He abandoned Sugarcube corner an hour later, his face moist from all the tears he’d shed while sobbing in misery. He didn’t know what was going on, but it sure felt like he was going to lose Fluttershy. He walked all the way to the outskirts of town, near the Everfree forest. The spot he made his way to was the very first picnic he and Fluttershy ever shared. It was not far from the river, as Fluttershy liked to come here with Discord on occasions so they could discuss new problems he was having. She’d eventually made this her and Emeralds spot, due to its isolation. And its beauty. There was a small bridge over the river, and Emerald decided to just stay here for a while. Maybe he could think of a way to convince Fluttershy that he was telling the truth. And that would mean proving that Rainbow Dash was lying.
But why did she lie, anyway? What did she hope to achieve by lying to her own friends? Jealousy is a cruel mistress, but not cruel enough to warrant the use of manipulation, especially of one’s own friends. If she wanted Emerald, lying and getting everypony mad was not the best plan of action. Was she deliberately trying to destroy their relationship? Was her motive, if she couldn’t have him, nopony could? Did she have something far more sinister in mind? He rubbed the side of his head, wincing. He was getting a headache from all this. He just needed to let Fluttershy calm down, go to her, and explain things a little more in detail. But what was that feeling he’d gotten just seconds before Rainbow lied? For some odd reason, he remembered his eyes being drawn to her stone draped around her neck.
Out of curiosity, he held his up to the light of the moon…and gasped.
The inscriptions that were engraved into the stone were glowing a vivid green. “What the hell…?” On top of that, the stone felt…warm. Things were getting weird, he thought. Maybe it was time to get serious about these innocent little rocks. He turned and headed back to Fluttershy’s cottage, hoping that she would be there and willing to listen to him.



“So, you expect me to believe rocks are to blame for all this? That’s low even for you, Emerald.” Fluttershy said, folding her arms. Emerald had gone back to find her crying on the couch, and he’d somehow convinced her to let him explain himself, which now didn’t seem to be going as well as he’d imagined.
“Fluttershy, please. I’m not lying to you. Look, you see that yours is glowing as well, correct? So there’s evidence that I’m not lying right there.” He said, pointing at hers.
She looked down at it, grabbing it gently and holding it up for a better view. “Even so, how are these responsible for you kissing Rainbow Dash? Are you trying to blame something else again, instead of just admitting the truth to me? I would forgive you if you’d just tell the truth.”
He sighed in frustration. “I’m not talking about that, I’m talking about how she lied at the party. That’s not what happened, and she knew that. She admitted to me the other day that she was jealous of you and me, and that she was just letting off some steam she’d been building up since you and I got together. I think these stones had something to do with it, though. I just feel it.”
Fluttershy was clearly losing patience with him. “Emerald, how can these be in any way responsible for that? Even if she was lying, how in Equestria could they make her do it?”
“I’m not saying they made her lie, I’m saying maybe they had a hoof in it. Can’t you see? These things are bad news. But for some reason, I don’t want to get rid of mine.” He said, feeling ashamed.
“Okay, well neither do I. And blaming your mistake on them and Rainbow Dash is just too much for me to handle right now. Why can’t you just tell the truth?”
“Because it is the truth!” He yelled, louder than he intended. Fluttershy was alarmed by his anger. “I mean…I’m trying to tell you that I’m not lying to you. I haven’t been. But for some reason, you won’t believe me. I have this feeling that these stones are the culprits. But I don’t know why…or how. But please…you have to believe me. What do I have to lose?”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “Um…everything? You said it before…I’m everything you’ve got. So if you actually meant that, maybe you should tell me the truth and stop playing games. And blaming inanimate objects for what you’ve done.”
Her coldness was abnormal. Emerald could sense that something was definitely fishy about these stones. “Okay, that’s what I’m trying to do, but every time I offer up my explanation, you bite my head off about how I’m lying. If you’d just consider for a moment that maybe I’m not lying, but that maybe there’s more behind these stones than we see. Maybe – “
“Would you stop with these stones!” She shouted, making it Emeralds turn to be surprised. She’d never raised her voice, not at him or anypony. “I’m not buying that some silly stones are what’s causing all this, except maybe that they’re your excuse for everything lately. If you want me, fine. But you aren’t going to lie to me ever again. If you don’t love me, than…just…leave. Because my heart can’t take anymore.” She stood up, leaving him sitting there with a muddled look on his face. “You can sleep down here tonight. I need to think.” Then she went up the stairs without another word.
Emerald buried his face in his hooves and started crying. “What’s going on…? Why is this happening to me?” He murmured, sniffling constantly. Wiping away his tears, he lay back on the couch and closed his eyes. He didn’t fall asleep that night, but instead formulated a way to prove that these stones were the cause behind all this trouble. He would do that the next day. For now, he would wallow in self-pity, as he’d done many times before.