Chapter 4 - Chapter 5

"Against your will?" questioned Twilight.

"That's right..." Emerald replied.

"Okay I'm confused now" said Rainbow Dash. "You try to kill Princess Celestia yet it wasn't in your intentions to do so?"

"Like I said earlier, I was forced into doing this." the imprisoned unicorn reminded her.  

"Can you explain to us why Lucifer's making you do this, if that's alright with you?" asked Fluttershy.

"This is important, Emerald" said Future Applebloom. "We want to know how you were able to meet with Lucifer."

"I'm ready to tell you everything but just so you'll know, it's a long story." Emerald informs them.

"Ooh I like long stories." said Pinkie Pie as she mysteriously takes out a bag of popcorn and eats a hoof-full.

Emerald takes a deep breath and starts to tell the gang her story. "It all began years ago at the town of Trottingham; where I grew up with my mother Garnet Gemstone, my father left us when I was just a foal so it was just me and her living together."

*Flashback*

Emerald as a filly was drawing something on a piece of paper, just as a bluish-grey unicorn mare comes in the room, with clear-blue eyes, a wavy mane similar to Emerald's only silver with a black streak across and a cutie mark that resembles three golden rings. Emerald looks over to her mother just as she finishes her drawing to show her; it was herself and Garnet with the background filled with flowers. Garnet smiles at the drawing and the two hugged each other. The scene changes to where Garnet was using her magic to create a silver necklace with three sapphire gems, Emerald helps by applying polish to give them a sparkling shine, they sold the necklace to a wealthy customer who gave them a bag filled with golden bits in return.

"My mother worked as a jewelry designer, since she designs high-quality jewelry like necklaces, tiaras and such, our home served as a jewelry shop." Emerald explained "The money she earned also paid my tuition to a school I went to study magic."

At school, Emerald was in class taking notes but as the teacher had her back turned, a paper ball hits her head. She looks back to see two snobby fillies snickering at her, Emerald growled a little before going back to taking notes.

"Even though I was doing good in that school, unfortunately I never made any friends there. Most of the ponies there were rich and snobby, I was the only "poor" pony there."

Later after school, Emerald arrived back home with her head hanging down, her mother was working on a bracelet when she notices Emerald coming inside but seeing her depressed like that, Garnet puts the bracelet down and goes to her.

"Emerald dear, what's a matter?" asked Garnet.

"It's those ponies at that school" Emerald sadly tells her mother. "They were picking on me because I'm not wealthy like they are."

"That's just awful" said Garnet. "you shouldn't let them get to you, Emerald."

"Mom, I know you want me to improve my magic but how could I do that when I can't make any friends?" worried Emerald.

"Listen, I'm sure you'll find some ponies to make friends with" Garnet comforts her. "It just takes time, that's all."

"You sure?" asked Emerald.

"I'm sure of it, Emerald." Garnet smiles and hugs her.

"My mother knew how to make me feel better when I'm down, even if we weren't rich, we still had each other. Weeks passed by and I still had no luck getting along with the other ponies, I learned that I didn't need to make friends with a bunch of shallow ponies. Improving my magic skills was my top priority and I got my mother to support me...but one day after I came home from school..."

"Mom, Mom, guess what?" Emerald came inside with her report card, looking really happy. "I passed my first test and I got a perfect score!"

"That's great, honey" Garnet smiled as she looks at her daughter's report card. "I'm so proud of you, Emerald. Tell you what, I'll make us something special for this occasion, does that sound good?"

"Oh yes!" said the excited filly.

Garnet leaves to the kitchen as Emerald held onto her report card with glee, but all of a sudden she hears the sound of a few plates breaking along with a loud thud coming from the kitchen, followed by utter silence.  

"Mom?" Emerald waited for a response but there was none. Now worried, Emerald ran to the kitchen to see her mother laying motionless on the floor with pieces of dinner plates scattered across the floor.

"MOM!" she ran to Garnet's side and shakes her in an attempt to wake her up but it was no use, something was wrong with her mother as the filly could do nothing but cry. Soon after, Garnet was taken to the hospital where Emerald waited anxiously in the other room, she saw the doctor coming towards her and judging by the grim expression on his face, it was not looking good at all.

"Emerald, I'm afraid I have some bad news about your mother..." The doctor tells her.

"W-whats wrong with my mom?" asked the worried filly.

"The doctor told me that my mother had been diagnosed with leukemia; lately I've noticed how tired and weary she had become, at first I thought it was because she was working too hard but I never thought the cause of it was from an illness. She must have had it for some time and was unaware of the symptoms. My heart sank when he told me that her illness was at an advanced stage and my mother wouldn't have much time to live."

Emerald breaks down crying upon hearing the grim news as a nurse tries to comfort the sobbing filly. The scene fades back to their home where Emerald was taking care of a bedridden Garnet; who looked very sickly and pale. The filly gives her mother a bowl of soup for her to eat, Garnet tries to lift the spoon up using her magic but it stops in mid air and drops down into the bowl, splashing some of the soup on herself. Emerald uses a napkin to clean up and eventually helps feed her sick mother.

"Because of my mother's condition, she couldn't make new jewelry so we had to sell what little jewelry we had left before she became ill and use the money for her treatments. It was hard for me to see mother like this, it became even harder at school as well...."

Emerald was silently strolling across the hallway when she walked pass the two snobby unicorns who were making life in school for her miserable, they stop talking when they noticed the depressed filly.

"Hey it's the poor pony." whispered the amber-colored filly with the silky golden-blonde mane.

"I don't know why she's even in this school, it surprises me that let some peasant like her attend here." whispered back the light-purple filly with the magenta mane styled in a ponytail.

"Tell me about it" said the amber filly. "Oh! You wanna know what I heard, that filly's mother who runs that jewelry store downtown came down with a severe illness so she can't make any more."

Emerald's stops at her tracks when she hears the two mentioning about her mother.

"If you ask me, I wouldn't wear any of those cheaply-made piece of crap she makes" snickered the light purple filly. "I would throw those in the trash if my dad ever tries to buy any from that place, you could say her becoming sick was the best thing to happen in Trottingham."

Their words struck a nerve deep into the green unicorn, her rage was building up like a spark igniting a forest fire. For them to talk about her mother like that especially when she's sick, it was like kicking mud to her face. Emerald turns around and glares fiercely at the two fillies.

"Take...that...back!" growled the angered unicorn.

"Oh what will you do? Run back to your mommy and tell on us, oh wait, she can't!" The light-purple unicorn laughed at Emerald; who finally snaps and suddenly tackles her tormenter to the floor.

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER LIKE THAT!!!" roared Emerald as she pummels the arrogant unicorn, with each strike causing significant damage to her face. The amber unicorn tries to pull the enraged filly off her friend but Emerald shoots a small magical blast from her horn that struck her in the eye.

"MY EYE!" screamed the amber filly as she held to her injured eye.

Emerald continues to beat down on the light purple unicorn until her hoof struck the horn with enough force to break the tip of it right off.

"MY HORN!" cried the unicorn when she see's her chipped horn on the floor. "YOU BROKE MY HORN!"

Emerald snaps out of her fury state and backs away from the injured unicorn; her face now riddled with bruises and sobbing over her broken horn. Realizing what she had done, Emerald ran away from her frightened tormenters and hid herself in the fillies restroom, where the ashamed filly curls herself in the corner. Later that day, Emerald left the school as she sadly walks back to her home, the sky darkens and rain poured down on the dishearten pony.

"I was expelled from school because of that incident. I didn't had the courage to tell my sick mother what happen that day, it would only break her heart to know that I was kicked out for starting a fight that resulted in breaking the horn of another filly. The way that they were talking about her really pissed me off, what heartless pony talks about one's mother especially when she's terminally ill? At that time, I was at my lowest point in my life..."

Once Emerald arrives back at home, the depressed filly came inside dripping wet from the rain so she heads to the bathroom to dry herself off. She goes to her mother's room to check on her only to see her sound asleep in bed, thinking about it, it was best not to wake her up especially at a time like this so she leaves to her own room. Emerald closes the door upon entering and drops to the floor as she cries her heart out; the thought of her hopes and dreams were now shattered and on top of that, her mother was going to die soon. Nothing could possibly get any worse...

"As I lay in my room knowing that my life was going to be over, then out of the blue..."

Suddenly the lights in the room shuts off, the crying filly lifts her head up to see shadows creeping around her room. Alarmed and filled with fear, Emerald quickly ran towards the door but by now, the shadows have already enveloped her room, she cannot escape and finds herself lost in total darkness.

"Mom! MOM!!!!" screamed Emerald.

"She cannot hear you, little one..." A mysterious voice echoes from the darkness.

"W-who's there?!" asked the frighten filly, looking around frantically to know where the voice came from.

Out of nowhere, she saw a pair of gigantic, glowing yellow eyes with slit pupils appearing from the shadows, followed by a sadistic-looking grin with rows of sharp, jagged teeth. Emerald screams and falls back seeing the horrifying face staring down at the terror-stricken filly.

"It's just you and me, Emerald." the face spoke to her.

"W-who...w-what are y-you?" Emerald stammers. "and how did you know my name?"

"If you must know, I am called Lucifer" the being introduced himself "and how do I know your name? the answer is simple; I've been watching you for some time now."

"Y-you have?" questioned the frighten filly.

"Oh yes, I can sense sadness and despair from you" Lucifer explains as his face reappears behind Emerald, starling her."Your dreams of learning magic trampled over and worse of all, your poor mother's life hanging by a thread. It's really a shame to happen to a pony such as yourself, full of potential. That is the reason why I am here to make you an offer."

"An offer? Emerald asked, interested in what kind of offer it was.

"I have the power to make your wish come true, like say getting rid of the illness that has stricken your mother" Lucifer stated. "It would be like she never had it in the first place."

"You would do that?" said the surprised filly.

"All you have to do is sign your name on this little contract here" said Lucifer as a scroll appears in front of Emerald and opens itself, along side was a black quill pen."But before you do, there's something you should know; after you sign your name on the contract, you'll have to do something for me in return."

"Like what?" Emerald asked curiously.

"That I cannot tell as you are too young" stated Lucifer. "But I will return in ten years when you are mature enough to perform this task, that way you can enjoy your restored life with your mother and hopefully your magic abilities will be stronger by then. So do we have a deal?"

Emerald stood silently as she thinks about this long and hard; her life was already going down the drain and her mother was near death's door, she couldn't let that happen to her. Her horn glows as she lifts the quill pen and signs her name on the dotted line. The contract rolls itself up as it and the quill disappears.

"You made a wise decision, Emerald." grinned Lucifer "I'll see you again in ten years..."

His face soon fades back into the darkness with his haunted laughter echoing through the young unicorn's mind. Then suddenly Emerald wakes up and finds herself in bed, she looks over to the window and see's that morning sun had already rise.

"How did I get in bed?" wondered the confused filly. "Was it all a dream?"

As Emerald gets out of bed, she hears the sound of whistling coming from the kitchen. She thought to herself "It couldn't be..." as shes run out of her room and to the kitchen. To Emerald's surprise, she saw her mother; now looking healthy and energetic as she whistles and making breakfast. Emerald was left speechless as Garnet notices her at the door way.

"Morning, Emerald" greeted Garnet as she makes a plate of pancakes for her daughter. "Care for some pancakes?

"Mom...are you okay?" asked the surprised filly.

"Of course I am, dear" Garnet replied "to be quite honest; I've never felt this healthy before, it's almost like if I was never sick to begin with, strange is it?"

A tear ran down across Emerald's cheek but this time, it was from joy as the filly smiles for the first time in a while. She goes to her mother's side and hugs her as tightly as she can. Garnet was a little surprised to see her little girl crying and embracing her as if she has missed her for a long time, without asking any further questions, Garnet hugs her back.

"After I signed that contract, the illness that my mother was suffering from had vanished. The doctor was completely baffled when they did another check up to find out she was no longer sick, my mother got me reinstate back to the school after learning the truth about my expulsion. The two fillies who bullied me were forced to apologize to me and they got punished instead. From then on, I felt like my life was going to be better this way."

Ten years later.

Emerald; now a grown mare with a cutie mark that resembles a book of spells, was working at a local library, she was busy stacking the shelves with books. Just as she finishes, Emerald spots a young colt trying to reach up the shelves for a book but it was out of his reach. She levitates the book down for the colt who happily takes it and thanks her as he leaves.

"After I graduated, me and my mother moved to Manehattan where I worked as a librarian. I love to read books about magic spells which I practice on my spare time. Everything seemed normal for a while but a week before then, I had an unexpected visit..."

At night, Emerald was working late at the library signing some important documents, just as she could finish with the last one, all of the lights in the library suddenly shuts off. Emerald uses a light spell from her horn only to see the entire place covered in pitch-black darkness; a familiar scene that the unicorn would never thought to see again. She turns only to see the huge golden eyes staring down at her.

"Hello Emerald" greeted Lucifer as his sickening smile appears. "Long time, no see."

"You...I remembered you!" Emerald stuttered. "Y-you're Lucifer!"

"Oh good, I was getting a little worried that you've might have forgotten about me" He said "After all, it has been ten years since we've last met."

"Wait...it hasn't been ten years already, has it?" questioned Emerald.

"I'm afraid so, Emerald" informed Lucifer "And since that you've have grown so much, now is the time to repay me."

"And..h-how would I repay you?" asked Emerald, worried about what it could be.

"As part of the deal to save your mother's life" the gigantic face leans closer towards Emerald as he whispered in her ear. "the task I want you to do...is to slain Princess Celestia."

"WHAT?!" gasped the horrified unicorn. "You want me to murder the ruler of Equestria?"

"That's correct." said Lucifer. "A deal's a deal after all, so will you take this task?"

"No...." Emerald answered coldly. "I won't do it, I refuse to perform such a horrible act for you!"

Suddenly, Emerald felt her neck being grabbed by a hand coming out from the shadows with a vice-like grip, lifting the struggling mare off the floor and brought her closer to the monster's face.

"I like to remind you that when you signed that contract years ago, you are obligated to follow what order I give you when I return. In other words; I OWN YOU!!! " Lucifer yells at Emerald with malice in his voice.

"B-but this wasn't part of the deal" protested Emerald. "you never said that I would have to kill any pony for this, especially if it's Princess Celestia herself!"

"As long as I have that contract, you will do as I tell you and if you refuse to follow my orders; I will take your mother back to the Underworld with me!" Lucifer threatens Emerald who was now paralyzed with fear. "If that happens, I'll make sure that she will suffer a slow, agonizing torture that not even death would end her misery!"

Lucifer drops the terrified unicorn as the shadows around her began to fade away.

"You have about seven days to kill Princess Celestia or your mother will be mine for all eternity..." warned Lucifer as he disappears within the shadows, leaving Emerald completely devastated about his ultimatum.

"I was left with no choice but to follow Lucifer's orders, starting with finding a way to kill Princess Celestia. While exploring at an orchid field outside from Manehattan, I've made a stunning discovery of finding a couple of Silent Violets growing in a narrow crevice. I thought these flowers were eradicated by the princess after a terrible tragedy that claimed half the population of a small town years ago; everypony thought that it was caused by a mysterious plague but they later found out it was caused by the flowers that grew into their water supply. The worse part of it was that the poison of the Silent Violets is untraceable, so I took some of the flowers back home with me where I laced the blade of a dagger with it's poison, making it a perfect weapon for an assassin. This was not an easy task for me to do and to be honest; I hated every minute of it...But I hated the thought of losing my mother again, it was either the princess or her..."

The flashback ends with Emerald holding the poisonous blade and the scene fades back to the dungeon where she is now locked up.

"And that's the end of my story..." Emerald finishes her confession to the ponies.

"That's...one of the saddest stories I ever heard." said Twilight, who felt pity for the tragic prisoner.

"You poor dear..." said a stunned Fluttershy "we never knew that you've had such a rough life."

"I guess we jumped to conclusions a little..." Rainbow Dash said, feeling sorry for Emerald. "We're really sorry that we believed you were some heartless assassin."

"Same goes for the rest of us." Applejack sadly agreed along with Rarity and a crying Pinkie Pie.

"No, I should be the one who's sorry, for bringing the lives of every pony in danger because of my actions" said Emerald who started to cry. "I've made a terrible mistake in the past and now my mother is going to suffer because of me..."

"Don't blame yourself for this, Emerald." Future Applebloom tries to comfort the sobbing unicorn. "You were only a filly at the time and you had no idea that Lucifer was taking advantage of your misfortunes."

"You're from the future, right? I want to know what happened to me after I successfully killed Princess Celestia?" Emerald asked her.

"You won't like what I'm about to tell you but after you killed the princess, Lucifer disposed of you and possibly your mother as well when he decided that you were no longer any use for him." explained Future Applebloom.

"What....." uttered the shocked unicorn in disbelief. "H-he used me from the very beginning?"

"I'm afraid so, Emerald." Future Applebloom admitted "I'm sorry you had to hear that but it's the truth."

For a brief moment, Emerald silently held her head down. She never imagined that Lucifer had been using her as a pawn for his evil scheme this entire time, Emerald finally lifts her head up and looks at the gang with teary eyes.

"Can you ponies do something for me?" requested Emerald.

"What is it?" asked Twilight.

"It has been four days since I last spoke with Lucifer, I want you all to go to Manehatten and make sure that he doesn't get to my mother." Emerald pleaded with them. "I don't want her to suffer because of my mistake."

"We'll do it for you, Emerald." replied Twilight " and thank you for telling us every you know about Lucifer."

"It's the least I can do..." said Emerald.

Then they heard the prison cell doors opening as they saw Shining Armor standing by.

"Time's up." Shining Armor informed the mares.

"Thanks again, Emerald" said Future Applebloom. "We'll make sure your mother is safe and sound."

Emerald silently nods in response as she watches the gang exiting her cell, leaving the isolated unicorn by herself once the cell doors were shut.  

"Mother...I hope to Celestia that monster doesn't get to you in time." Emerald said to herself as a tear drops to the floor.

To Be Continue.

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