Emerald

“Twilight.” Rarity said after Spike had left with Emerald. “Can I talk to you?”

“Sure.” Twilight said as she shifted the pan over the stove. She had no clue what she was making, but it smelled good at least.

“Do you remember… the secret I told you sixteen years ago?” Rarity asked. Twilight looked briefly at Rarity before looking back at the pan.

“Yeah.”

“I… I feel guilty.” Rarity gulped.

“Well you should!” Twilight yelled. She looked around then looked back at Rarity.

“Well you should!” She repeated in a whisper.

“I know.” Rarity said while playing with her curls. “I should have before, but now I feel even worse!”

“Why?” Twilight asked and dumped the cooked whatever into a pot which she shut a lid over. “Why now of all times? You should have felt guilty long before all of this!”

“I know! I did!” Rarity loudly whispered. “But… I feel even worse now. Spike said that… kids should have a father. I didn’t give Emerald that.”

“So you think she’s going to be messed up mentally? If you wanted to fix that, it’s too late now. I think Emerald is going to be fine though; Spike turned out fine.” Twilight said.

“I know… but that’s not the only thing I feel bad about.” Rarity said and turned around to make sure no one was around. No one was there. “I cheated on him.”

“I know that already, remember? You told me.” Twilight said. “Oh and let me guess; you’re still not going to tell me right now who he was, are you?”

“No…” Rarity replied. “But I do feel bad…”

“So what?” Twilight asked coldly. “Not only did you cheat on him, you dumped him for your fashion industry job which I think was just an excuse so Spike didn’t find out the truth about you cheating on him! You made a perfectly fine profit over there at the Carousel Boutique! But you just had to make more bits! I was beginning to think that it was all about the money, but nope! You broke Spike’s heart!”

“I’m sorry…” Rarity sniffed. “I didn’t mean to break poor Spikey Wikey’s heart…”

“Yeah, well, you did.” Twilight growled. “You don’t even know what it did to his mental state. You broke his mind. Once he stopped crying, a year later I might add, he became some kind of grouchy monster! It’s only thanks to his little crush he formed for somepony else that I got him back to nearly normal! And I don’t need you ruining his life again! So stay away from him, got it? And he’s not your Spikey Wikey…”

“I’m sorry…” Rarity muttered.

“That apology should be said to Spike, in front of his face. I think you should also explain to him that you cheated on him, but I think, knowing you, that won’t happen.” Twilight muttered.

“He’ll hate me if I tell him!” Rarity cried out. “Hatred is worse than sadness. I don’t want to keep him in the dark, but I don’t want him to hate me forever.”

“He sort of already hates you.” Twilight said angrily. “And he hates everypony now! He hardly trusts us and he certainly can’t move on. He LOVED you. And you LEFT him.”

“I’m sorry that I hurt everypony. I’m sorry that I hurt Spike.” Rarity apologized. “But he can’t know. He won’t understand.”

Twilight only grunted and turned to the pot which was now steaming.

“You meant something to him.” Twilight muttered. “You were a piece of him. That piece was ripped from him a long time ago and it will never be given back.”

Rarity turned to leave. Obviously Twilight didn’t forgive her for breaking Spike’s heart all those years ago. She headed down the hall when she stopped near the doorway of a room. She could hear talking and even though she knew it was wrong, she inched closer to hear what they were saying.

“So you don’t wish you lived somewhere else?” Spike asked. Emerald sighed.

“Maybe sometimes. But I think I wish more that we lived in a different city. No matter where we go, ponies always treat me the same. I’m always alone or given dirty looks because I’m not normal.” Emerald said bitterly. “Sometimes, I wish whatever mom did for me to end up like this… I wish it hadn’t happened. Maybe for once I could be normal or accepted for being weird. I wish I was born differently.”

Emerald felt lonely? Rarity didn’t realized that perhaps because of the way Emerald was that anypony would be cruel to her. Emerald was a nice pony. But Rarity knew that the nobles of Canterlot and rich ponies of Manehatten wouldn’t see her this way. Rarity should have known her daughter was struggling in the world. Why didn’t Emerald say anything?

‘Why didn’t I notice as her mother?’ Rarity thought. ‘Am I really that bad of a pony?’

Rarity didn’t realized that Emerald actually regretted being a longma. She didn’t realize how many ponies or dragons she had hurt by her actions. She didn’t realize that her daughter was getting bullied or that Spike would never get over her. She put two of the ponies she dearly loved in bad positions. Not to mention that her friends and even the town were probably shaken up by her absence. Spike had also probably cut his trust and friendship with others in the town because of her. Rarity had hurt too many.

“Emerald darling! Where’s Spike! He simply must show me around this place!” Rarity called out, hoping for a distraction from the pain. She walked back out into the main room and stood there. She hoped her daughter would come quickly so maybe they could come. Instead, Spike lumbered out there slowly and stared down at Rarity.

“Um… Could you show me my room then take me to Emerald?” Rarity asked. “I’ve got to talk to her.”

Spike said nothing but turned around and began to walk down the hall in silence.

“So Spike, I don’t suppose that you’re married now, hm?” Rarity asked. “Anypony you’re interested in?”

Spike chuckled with deep throaty sort of growl mixed in. They stopped in front of a neat room and Spike turned to Rarity.

“Me married? Never.” He said and looked at the room. “But I do have my eyes on somepony.”

“Who is it then?” Rarity asked, but Spike smiled and walked back down the hall. He pointed at a closed door as he went by.

“Emerald’s room.” He said and left. Rarity watched him leave then headed down the hall. She knocked twice on Emerald door before entering.

“Darling?”

“Yeah mom?” Emerald was sitting at the desk, spinning herself around in the chair. “Come on in.”

Rarity let herself in and looked around. The room was identical to her, except it was much warmer. Emerald burned off a lot of internal heat when she was upset or angry. She smiled at Rarity who smiled back.

“What’s wrong dear?” Rarity asked, noticing the current dent in the wall near the window. The crystal wall had cracked and was deeply dented.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I needed to… cool down.” Emerald apologized and sighed. Smoke came out of her nostrils as she sighed. “Do you think that Twilight will forgive me on that one?”

“Yeah.” Rarity replied even if she wasn’t exactly sure. Twilight wasn’t in a very good mood when she left. “Hey, are you ok?”

“Yep.” Emerald said without even bothering to looked at Rarity.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine.” Emerald replied. “I just need some space.”

“Emerald, you can trust me if something is truly bothering you.” Rarity said. “I’m your mother; you can trust me.”

“Can I?” Emerald burst out. She looked completely angry and slammed a hoof into the desk which rattled under the weight. “Can I really?”

“Whatever do you mean, dear?” Rarity asked. Emerald stood up in front of Rarity.

“I wonder if I’m really your daughter. I mean, I don’t have a dad and you’re definitely not a dragon. I barely feel like I’m related to you.” Emerald said and turned to stare outside. “Maybe you just picked me up off the streets without knowing what I was and took me in. Maybe I was a lab experiment for some sick twisted game somepony was playing. I don’t know anymore, but… mom?”

Rarity had frozen. Emerald blinked.

Rarity was gone.