Emerald Chronicles

by Dandereshy

Chapter 9(Revised)

Chapter 9

Emerald yawned loudly as he stretched in his bed, his alarm clock blaring its first warning that morning. He tapped the snooze and hopped out of bed. He went to the window and looked out at Ponyville, already alive with the morning commute. He smiled and went to his kitchen for breakfast. After he poured himself a bowl of cereal, he sat on his couch and ate it while planning out his day. While he was doing this, somepony knocked on his door. "Coming!" He set his bowl on the floor and went to the door and opened it. It was Twilight, Applejack and Spike.

"Well, howdy there. We came by to see if you wanted to come over to my farm for some work. I'll pay ya," Applejack said cheerily.

"Uh, yeah, sure. No need for the pay, though. Sounds fun. Give me a moment," he turned and ran to his bowl of cereal and polished it off. He went out the front door.

"You ready now? We've got a lot of work for you," Twilight said, turning with him and the others to walk to Applejack's farm.

"Yeah, I'm a lot better rested today than yesterday. I didn't toss and turn all night," he said, looking around at everypony going about their morning.

"It's because we're your friends now and you're not paranoid about that Black Flame guy. Right?" Spike asked.

Emerald stopped, as he noticed a pony staring at him from down the path near another stand. He looked familiar…

A pony got in the way, and when they moved, the pony watching him was gone.

"Emerald? Are you okay?"

He shook his head violently to get the image he was having out of his head. It's my imagination. That couldn't be him…could it? He felt a presence nearby and looked to see Twilight, Applejack, and Spike looking worried. "It's – nothing. I just thought I saw something impossible. I'm sure it was just my imagination, anyway."

Twilight glanced down the path in the direction of the stand. "Who did you see? Or thought you saw?"

"Well, Black Flame had his – minions, and I thought I saw his highest ranker down there, but they never work alone, so it was clearly my imagination," Emerald assured them. He took another look down the path and turned back in the direction they were originally heading. "Let's go do this."

They started down the path again. "So, you're sure it was not one of them?" Applejack asked, leading the way to her farm. They dodged ponies who were doing business at the various stands in the Mare-Do-Well Chase Zone.

"It did look very much like his cousin Dark Storm, but it couldn't…shouldn't be him. There's no way," he said, a million thoughts running through his mind now.

"Okay, but if it was, what would that mean?" Twilight asked him as they stopped at a place for garden tools. Applejack went off to buy something while the others stayed on the path and talked.

He shivered visibly. "It would mean Black Flame is here."

________________________________________

A few hours later, Emerald was hanging out with the three when Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stopped by. "What are you guys up to? Me and Fluttershy were just hangin' out today talking about stuff." She gave a noticeably long glance at Emerald, who acknowledged it with a shy smile.

"Oh, we're just hanging out, too. We just finished Applejacks barn. We were repainting it because she had problems with the paint on the edges of the building." Twilight answered, returning a smile.

"Rainbow Dash taught me to always pay attention to body language when – "Fluttershy yipped when Rainbow Dash elbowed her in the ribs. "Oh," Fluttershy understood the reason. "Sorry."

Emerald smiled to himself.

"So, I guess we're done if you wanna go home, Emerald," Applejack said, coming back from the kitchen with a drink.

Emerald stood up and stretched. "Alright then. I've got stuff to do today too. I'll see you guys later."

Fluttershy broke off from Rainbow Dash and followed Emerald outside.

"Hello to you too, Fluttershy," Twilight muttered, watching the two leave.

"Do you want to go for a walk through the path in the Everfree Forest? It's really beautiful." Fluttershy offered, sounding like she herself wanted to go.

"Yeah, of course. It's a nice day, so why not?" He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close as they walked down the path to the forest. "Is it a long walk?" He asked, looking up at the sun and squinting.

She nodded. "It's pretty long. But we've got all day, don't we?"

Emerald laughed. "Yes we do, hon. Yes we do."

They reached the edge of the forest and entered, watching the birds fly, and other animals flee or gaze at the passing ponies in wonder. The smell of the forest was a spicy, woodland smell, and the scent of late summer flowers acted as a perfume, appealing the senses.

"It is a beautiful day, isn't it?" Emerald remarked, looking around at the wonderful nature in awe.

"I figured you would want to see the forest since you did say you wanted a tour. This is part of Ponyville," she replied happily.

He gave her a quick squeeze. "Oh boy…what to do with you."

A breeze blew through, throwing leaves across them and the path.

"It's a bit windy today." Fluttershy noticed.

"Yeah, it wasn't like this earlier. Maybe a storm's moving in."

The sky was clear, but that didn't mean the weather would be stable.

They came up to a fork in the path, and a small wooden sign pointed to the left one reading, "Loop to Ponyville", and the other pointed to the right and read, "Winsome Falls".

"Let's go see the falls, huh?" Emerald said, leading her down the path to the right.

"Oh yes…it's really pretty, especially on a bright and sunny day like this." She replied, hugging him briefly.

"I can already see a few pretty things," He said.

"Oh, like what?"

He chuckled. "Well, one of them is not part of the forest."

"Oh, how sweet. Maybe Black Flame will find it amusing, if you're lucky." A voice said mockingly.

Fluttershy and Emerald gasped and stopped dead in their tracks.

In front of them were Blade, Dark Storm, and Grudge.

Emerald overcame his fear with protectiveness and put Fluttershy behind him. "What are you doing here? How'd you find me?"

Blade stepped forward. "That's not your main concern right now. I'd be more afraid for your safety. It's – in jeopardy."

"You became a pest, Black Flame needs you out of the way, and that's our job," Grudge added.

Dark Storm pushed his way in front of both of them. "Shut up, you idiots." He glared at Emerald. "You and I have a lot to talk about, Emerald. And unfortunately for you, you won't be going anywhere until we're done."

Emerald lowered his upper body to the ground and gave them a warning stare. "I don't have time for this. You have to leave. Look, I don't know what you want, but if you want my money, I'll be glad to give it all to you. I'll take you to a bank and – "

"I don't give a damn about money! It's you who Black Flame wants dead, and I intend to fulfill his wishes ASAP. And now that I have you, alone -" he looked back at Fluttershy. "– for the most part, I will get my assignment done."

"Wait, I thought Black Flame told us not to - " Grudge stopped mid-sentence when he received a deadly glare from Dark Storm.

"I have my own revenge to attend to."

"No! I want no part in his or anypony's violence! I'm living a different life now, and I won't have anypony screw it up!" Emerald nudged Fluttershy to get her to move back a little more.

Dark Storm grinned portentously. "Have it your way." He lunged at Emerald, catching him off guard and knocking him on his back.

"Ahhhh!" Fluttershy screamed in terror and jumped into the woods to hide.

Emerald got back up and glared at Dark Storm, who smiled mockingly at him. "Well?" Dark Storm goaded.

"I'm not doing this, not now."

Dark Storm gave him a dirty look. "You'll change your mind." He flew up in the air above Emerald and dived down on him, pushing him into the ground.

"Ahhh!" Emerald cried out in pain. He grabbed Storm and threw him off, and Storm stopped himself in midair to turn and deliver a kick into Emeralds face. Emerald recoiled and fell back, tasting blood.

Storm landed on the ground nearby and stared down at Emerald. "Want to protect yourself yet?"

Emerald struggled to his hooves. Once he was up, he wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He looked down at it and yelled in anguish. "You piece! I won't stand here and let you kill me!"

Storm bum rushed him, tossing him a few feet away into a small tree trunk. "Then do something, you meandering fool!"

Emerald stifled a cry and forced himself to stand up. He stood on shaky legs and gave Storm the meanest look he could muster. "No, violence solves nothing. And I refuse to…" His speech was cut short by a punch from Storm, right in the mouth.

"Fight back!" Storm kept punching, relentlessly. "Fight back, fight back, fight back!"

Emerald finally struck out, knocking Storm on the ground with an uppercut. Storm was smiling cruelly. "It's about damn time, you puss."

Emerald wiped his face and mouth, panting. "I'm leaving, and I won't be coming anywhere near you or your friends again. So back off!"

Storm pulled himself up. "Not gonna happen, Son of Prince Shield."

Emerald stood still, not understanding. "How did you know who my dad was?"

Storm started to laugh. First it was quiet, but gradually it built to a loud, maniacal bellow. "You're even more foolish than Black Flame made you out to be."

"What are you talking about?" Emerald demanded.

Storm took a step toward him. "Don't you see? Or are you just too dumb and naïve to notice?"

Emerald gave a snarl. "Get to the point!"

Storm smirked. "Your dad didn't die in an accident – he was murdered."

Emerald froze. His life screeched to a halt. Thoughts of the times spent with his dad and the final moments of his life flooded his mind as he realized where this was going. "No…"

Storm stepped forward again, his face only inches away from Emerald's.

"That's right…I killed your father."