The Golden Chain

Ah, Canterlot.  A great place to be, if you ask me.  Being a jeweler, it's probably obvious I would say such a thing.  The rich always wanting, or should I say "needing", the finest pieces of jewelry for every occasion.  However, I am happy to provide.  Whatever brings me the thrill of a new adventure, that is what I pursue.

You see, a jeweler is nothing without his jewels, and their jewels are nothing without adventure.  Whether it is the legendary Stone of Dark Aura, found only in the pitch-black caves in the north's freezing tundra, or the simple Dewdrop Sapphire, which only appears in Spring during the pollination season.  Nothing will stop me from hunting down such artifacts to satisfy my customers.

"Shimmering, why do you do it?" you may ask. "Don't you know that it's dangerous to put your life on the line for nothing more than shiny rocks?"  Ha!  I laugh at your ignorance.  What good is it to sell regular old diamonds and pearls and whatnot, hm?  Where's the fun in that?  Not to be found!  But hunting down that one truly elusive gem after climbing so high and going so far just to reach it is just so very rewarding... especially once you put a price tag on it.

Of course, it requires quite a lot of effort, study, and the most perfect execution, but what more can I do?  I want nothing but happy faces at my shop.  Everypony wants that.

Still don't understand it, do you?  Well, maybe if I told you about my first adventure, you'll start to understand my business.  You see, it all happened when my father and I first opened this shop many, many years ago...

The shop was nothing but perfect.  Flowing over the top of the place was bright, golden lettering reading "The Golden Chain", followed by an actual golden chain, big enough to fit a giant.  The interior of the shop was small and quaint, but not confining.  The walls were painted the lightest hue of blue, but showed no trace of white.  The floor, covered with the most beautiful marble ever to be cut, stretching across the room giving the place a glorious shine, but there was no glare.  The glass cases sparkled with cleanliness, and the wooden frames around it shone with the most luscious shade of chocolate brown.  The place was to be filled with jewels, and as soon as it was, it would be the most heavenly spot on the face of the planet.

"It looks simply divine, darling! Just how did you afford it?" my mother inquired.  That was back when she was still doing her whole dress-making business.  My father laughed a hearty laugh, saying, "My dearest, you know I would never allow imperfection in matters such as this."  He had been in the jewelry business longer than I had been alive.  He knew the ins and outs of this like the back of his hoof to be cliche about it.

"It's looking at its very best, I have to say." I added.  I was younger then... much more agile and capable of handling things on my own, but also very naive. This was to be my first shop, the one in which I would sell all my fine jewelry crafted over the years.  My father was to be my guide, allowing his experience to pass onto me... at least, until he thought I was ready.  I didn't like the prospect; I thought I knew everything there was to know about this whole jewelry business.  There was no time for learning!  This is when and where I turn a profit!  However, no matter how I debated it with my father, his stubborn ways always won out in the end.

"Yes, so make sure not to scuff up the floors.  I don't want this place getting ruined on the very first day." my father ordered.

"Please," I comlained. "It's my place, and I'm not about to wreck it.  I have enough responsibility to keep it in order."

"We'll see about that, my boy." he replied, patting me on the head.  He always did that.  I always hated it. "Come on now, no time to waste.  Let's get your pieces all set up."

I had created some simple designs to show off to the public on opening day.  Some emerald earrings, a few pearl necklaces, and some very good diamond rings. Basically, whatever I thought would be good to sell was here.  They weren't good enough, looking back on it all.

The display case did look good, though.  The amount of jewelry filled every shelf, making the whole place shine with radiant beauty.  My father was impressed... for about two whole seconds.  Then he told me that we had to wait.  Patience was a part of any business like this; the first customer who comes in may arrive at any time with any request, and you had to be prepared to serve them as quickly and efficiently as possible.

And the first customer happened to be the most influential pony in Canterlot.

He came in not three minutes after the grand opening.  His name was Fancypants.  He looked so strange back then... he didn't have the monocle and mustache he has now.  However, his hair was still slicked back in that... that...  Well, I'm not a hairdresser!  I don't know the term for such things.

Anyway, he strolled into the shop, looking at every ware we had as he did so.  I walked up to greet him.

"Good day, sir.  How can I help you on this fine day?" I inquired.

"Fine day??" he asked, bewildered.  "It's hotter than ever out day!  Celestia must be punishing us for something, or it would never be this bad!"

I assumed he was joking.  It seemed very cloudy out.  At least, it was earlier that day.  Another look outside showed that the stallion spoke the truth.  The sun shone brighter than ever today.  Of all the thoughts to come to mind, I hoped that the golden sign wasn't blinding ponies as they might be walking by.

"I see.  Well, all the same.  Now, how can I help you?"

"Well, besides any water you could provide, I'm looking for an engagement ring for my finance, Fleur de Lis.  I heard you just opened, so I came running to see the selection.  I love to see an entrepreneur and his work."

I was astonished by the fact that he had already heard of this place.  High society ponies must be looking forward to our success if he was here.

"Son, go get the water." my father instructed.  I would never groan in front of a customer, but I did twitch my eye a bit at him to show him my displeasure of doing the small things around my own shop.

"But of course, father," I replied, stretching the last word as much as I could to get the message across.  As soon as I went to the back of the shop, I sighed and lumbered over to get some water from the sink.  I hardly thought tap water would be good enough, but if this stallion wanted better, he could visit a restaurant or something.  This was a jewelry shop, after all.

I came back, carrying the glass back to our patron, when I saw the look on my father's face.  He was looking very concerned.

"Not good enough?  Whatever do you mean by that?"

"I'm sorry, but it's just not enough.  The ring has to shine as brightly as she does, like a shimmering star in the midnight sky!"  I took this opportunity to give him his water. "Thank you, my good sir." he told me, taking a dignified sip out of the cup.

My father looked at him, then the rings, then back at him again. "Is that so?  Well, that simply won't do."  My father looked outside and smiled. "However, not all is lost.  Come back in a few hours, and I'll have exactly what you want.  You won't be disappointed."

Fancypants thought for a moment. "Fine, but if this proves to be a waste of my time, I'm not coming back here again.  I need a ring, after all, whether you provide it or not.  However, I have high hopes in your business, and I expect that you won't let me down."

"It's settled then," my father said. "We'll get you the perfect ring in the allotted time."  Fancypants left the shop, but not before finishing the water we gave him.  The glass was not returned.  Yes, Fancypants really was much ruder when he was younger than he is now.  It wasn't until after his marriage that he gained a consciousness and a respectable attitude.

"Well, son," he said to me, "this is where we go and do the fun part."  He began walking to the back room.  I followed, being very curious as to what he was talking about.

"Father, whatever do you mean?"  I saw as he gathered some unusual things together.  A rope ladder, a grapple, a book (of all things to bring), an many more things that I couldn't keep track of.  It was like he was packing for an expedition in the wilds or something.

"Just do as I say and everything will be fine," he replied.  He passed me a small vial full of a strange liquid.

"What's this potion for?" I asked him. "What are we doing?"

"Keep that potion close, as it will keep you safe.  We're going hunting, son."

"Hunting?  Didn't we just get a request from a customer?  Why in Celestia's good name would we go hunting at such a time?"

He said nothing as he trotted over to the front door.  This silence was really getting me angry.  I had to know what was going on here!  I supposed the only way to find the answers was to follow my father to.. wherever we were headed.

It was about a half-hour walk in scorching hot sunlight to get to the place my father was going, which was the center of town.  He took out the book and his pocket watch and sat, waiting for something to happen.

"Father, what are you doing?  First you say we're hunting, now we're sitting here in the heat doing nothing at all!"

He put a hoof over my mouth and silenced me. "Patience, my son.  Patience."

I had little patience for this nonsense.  The heat must've be driving him mad, I thought. "Let's just go back to the shop.  We can polish one of the other rings until it's bright enough, right?"

He said nothing, replacing the book for the grappling hook.  He looked at his watch, seemingly counting down the seconds.  Then, when the time was right, he swung the hook around once and tossed the grappling hook far up into the sky.  Surprisingly, I saw the rope attached to it go taut, as if the hook had caught onto the air itself.  I was in shock and awe; my father started climbing up the rope.  A minute or two later, the end of the rope ladder he had brought hit the ground in front of me.  Instinctively, I began to ascend the ladder, driven by curiosity.

When I reached the top, I saw the most amazing thing I had ever seen. A giant castle made made of... I had no idea what to call it.  A stone that shined brighter than diamonds in this light, that much I knew.  My father was nowhere in sight.  I had to find him, I decided.  Putting one hoof in front of the other, I trotted over... what was I walking on, anyway?  I looked down to see a cloud.  Okay then.  This was probably a questionable surface to be standing on...

It was then I realized I wasn't a pegasus.  Upon this realization, I fell through the clouds.  An Earth pony like myself had nothing that would help here.  Nothing at all...

Keep that potion close, as it will keep you safe...

As I fell, I searched for that little vial.  I knew I had it somewhere around here...  then I noticed it falling next to me.  I quickly popped it open and drank it ( which is really hard to do when you're free-falling to the ground.)

Suddenly, gravity disappeared, and I felt a weightlessness I had never known.  I was floating in midair.  It was an unusual feeling.  I got back to the rope ladder and climbed back up to the top, where I could now comfortably stand on the clouds.  I imagined what would've happened if I didn't take that potion.

"Well, I think that's enough of that," I said to myself.  Danger wasn't really something I like having around then, including in my mind.

Eventually, I reached the castle in the sky.  Seemed like a fairy tale, really, seeing such a thing.  I found my father rummaging around in the main room just inside the front door.

"Father, why didn't you tell me something like this exists?" I asked him.

He turned to face me.  "You made it up here?  Good.  Now, help me look for a lever."

"What?" I asked. "Why are we doing that now?"

"Because we're hunting," he replied.  I really didn't like his half-answers.

"Alright... hunting it is." I replied, rolling my eyes.  My dad had clearly lost his marbles, or so I led myself to believe.  "What are we hunting?"

"Only the best, my son."

"Why are we hunting it?

"Because I said so, and I'm your father."

"I don't understand!" I shouted at him.

"Good!  That will help." he said.  This nonsense was driving me up a wall!  What in the wide world of Equestria were we doing here?

His hoof hit something and he put on a smile, saying, "Found it!" I heard the clanking of mechanics as he pulled down a hidden lever, creating a huge staircase leading to the top of the place.  He ran up it so quickly, I hardly had time to catch up to him.  At the top was a normal door made of wood.

He turned back to face me. "Son, now is the time.  Go through that door."

"Now hold on just a second!" I objected. "Why should I do that?  Why aren't you explaining anything to me?"

He sighed and checked his pocket watch. "Son, there's not enough time.  You have to find it.  Just go through the door, now!"

He pushed me through the doorway, and the door slammed shut behind me.  I tried reopening it, only to find it was locked.

I turned around to see where I was now.  It was a long, dark staircase going up.  I slowly ascended the steps.  It lead into a long hallway.  At the end of that hallway, something was glowing with intense light.  As I drew closer to it, I shielded my eyes to avoid blindness.  It turned out to be a bright, translucent stone in the shape of a raindrop, sitting on a stone pedestal.  I quickly snatched it up and examined it.  This thing had to be more valuable than anything else in the world!  This must've been what my father was talking about!  This was why we were here!  The shape was so refined, yet so natural.  So bright and shiny, but yet also so full of color...

I noticed as the world around me turned red.  The floor started to fall down into nothingness.  I ran back to the entrance and rushed up the stone stairs.  I could see the exit now, but the ground was dangerously close to collapsing.  I wouldn't make it.  I still gave it my all, and as the last stone beneath my hoof threatened to fall, I jumped to the exit and...

Missed.

I flailed my hooves out in front of me, desperately trying to grab onto something.  I feel into the abyss, sure I was dead, but just when all seemed lost, a rope wrapped itself around my rear leg, and I was suddenly thrown in the opposite direction.

I landed on the other side, watching as the exit door slammed closed and burst into flame, turning to ashes in mere seconds.

All was quiet and still for a moment as the adrenaline drained from my system.  My father started to laugh hysterically, "You made it!  Hahaha!  I can't believe that worked!"

I was not so happy. "Why did you make me do that?!  I could've died in there!"

"Yes, you could've... but you didn't!  You survived, just as I planned!  And with the Tear!"

"The Tear?" I asked him.  Then I looked at the object in my hoof.  It did look like a tear all right... "You mean this thing?"

"Here, look," my father said, pulling out the book.  He flipped it open to a page showing an illustration gem. "Celestia's Tear, they call it.  They say that when our fair Princess sent her sister to the moon, she wept tears of sadness.  But she could not be mournful forever.  She closed off all emotions she had to regain control over herself, and the tears that she cried turned to stone.  As if to hide the proof that they ever existed, she hid them all across the land.  The one we found in only one of many others, and is actually very small compared to the rest."

"Small?!" I asked in surprise. "Others?!"

"This is only one of the many Tears in existence.  They are supposed to be locked away in places where thieves cannot go, for if they know of its existence, the room will crumble, as you saw, and destroy the Tear as well as anypony else with it.  That is why the greatest amount of trust is needed to obtain it.  Although the gem is small, it does shine as brightly as our customer requested... Perfect for a wedding ring, if you ask me."

Then he checked the time and became quite alarmed. "I'm afraid if we don't hurry up, we won't be back in time to prepare the piece for Fancypants.  Come on, son.  Let's get back to the shop."

I smiled and followed him out of the castle in the sky having high expectations for the future as well as high hopes.

Little did I know that those high hopes would become a reality someday... however, that's for another time.  I have yet to wrap up this story.

Upon our return, I fashioned one of the best rings I'd ever made... of course, I went on to make better ones, but at the time it was pretty good.  I had to use a durable alloy to protect the gem it held, as it turned out the the Tear was very fragile.  The whole process took an hour to complete, and that was before the detailing, which took even longer.

Fancypants returned three hours past the last time we saw him, just as we planned.  The finishing touches on the ring had just been completed moments before his arrival.  I didn't know how my father had so much foresight.

When we showed him the ring, he claimed he couldn't believe his eyes.  He said many other compliments, most of which I had go through one ear and out the other.  I don't much care for praise, you see.  Eventually, we got down to pricing the piece, which rounded out to a nice 110,000 bits.  Quite the profit for just the first day.

I am very displeased with this story, as it is the most boring one of them all.  So simple it was to get such a priceless item... it almost made me sick to my stomach.  I'd rather do paperwork all day than recall that memory.  The show, however does not end here... oh no, my friends.  In fact, it hasn't even begun.

You see, I had to mention Fancypants at some point, just to give credit where credit is due, and sooner was better than later.  For after our business, word spread like wildfire throughout all of Canterlot about my shop.  And that's when the letter came... the one that was sure to change my life forever.