The Golden Chain

I awoke to the sound of music coming from outside my window.  I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I got up and got dressed.  I knew not the piece being played, but I knew the pony playing it.  It was a musician of high esteem, Octavia.  You only ever needed to know her first name, as everypony in Canterlot knew precisely who you were talking about.  Today was her practice day.  Most ponies would lock themselves and their work away to work on it, but not her.  She practiced openly, letting the music flow through all those who could here it.  I practically danced to the tune as I gathered my things for today.  Then, all together, it stopped after a long note.  It seems she was done for the morning, but I knew she'd be at it again this afternoon, just as she always was.

I never knew this kind of luxury when I was younger.  Hearing a musical master at work was entirely out of the question, what, with me working all the time.  No, I never knew her works before I lived here in the castle... in fact, I'll tell you of the first time I ever heard such beautiful tones.

I looked at my customer with confusion. "It doesn't... sound right?"

She threw a look back at me. "All of zees pieces 'ou have created zound 'orrible!" she shouted at me. "'Ou should be ashamed!"

It had been quite a day, and I was prepared to close up shop when this last customer had walked in, claiming she wanted the best sounding piece of jewelry I had in stock.

She tapped it once. "Listen to those reverberations!  Zey are terrible!  I expected better, Monsieur Agate!" she said with a huff.

At this point, I was lost.  How was I supposed to figure out how to make a piece that sounded right?  Even if I were to try and fix it, I wouldn't even know where to start!

"Look, I'm sure there's at least one piece I might have that can--"

"No!  Eef you want me to take anything less than the most musically capable piece--"

At those words time just simply stopped.  A bright light shined from behind the counter.  I had remembered putting my saddlebag behind it, and when I looked back behind the thing, I saw it was the source of the glow.  I opened it only to be blinded by the light the flashed out at me.  I was in a world of white, where the map Celestia gave me was rolled up in front of me.  It unraveled, and I saw it mark a place on the map called "Horn River", with a strange gem floating over it.  The map floated closer and closer to me until it was inches from my face.  It flashed again, burning the words and image of the gem into my eyes and mind and throwing my body back into reality.

In all, the event couldn't have taken more than a few seconds, but there was seemingly no lapse in time.  I hadn't even moved an inch.

"'-- 'ou will be sorely disappointed!"

I smirked. "Now that I think about it, I believe I might have something right up your alley."

"Well, bring it here, then!" she exclaimed.

I rubbed my chin. "It will take some time for me to make it... give me a day or two, and I'll craft up the finest sounding piece on the face of the planet!"

"Very well," she replied. "I suppose that's understandable.  Two days.  No more, no less." She opened the door to leave.

"And, Monsieur Agate?" she asked.

"Yes?" I replied.  What more could she want?

"Eef I come back in two days and 'ou are empty-handed... I'll have zee nobles know how much of a failure 'ou are."

"Understood, ma'am." I said.  Then, I put on a fake smile. "You have a good day now!  Good-bye!"

She left the building and I let my smile fall into a disgusted frown.  It had been four days after the ball, and every day after it, the nobles have been testing my ability as a jeweler and as a secret gem-finder.  This was the first time I've had to use the map for anypony.  It was interesting how familiar the feeling was seeing that map... it was almost as if I'd already used it, a long time ago...

I shook my head.  No time to think about the map.  I had to seek out the gem.  I immediately made plans for tomorrow to take a train to this "Horn River" and discover its secret.

That map... I never did learn exactly what it was.  It certainly wasn't what Celestia had described it as.  It must've been some kind of ancient relic from a time when the racial wars were going on, and the unicorns had Star Swirled the Bearded with them.  At that point in time, however, it was nothing more than a resource, something for me to keep my customers content.

The trains in Equestria are a peculiar thing.  They run off of coal, and yet they are created using magic.  It's hard to say if there's any correlation between magic and science through this, but I'd like to leave that to the scholarly types.  As for me, I was simply going to my destination.

When I got to Whinnying Station, I was surprised by the culture that surrounded me.  This part of the country housed a large population of mules.  Now, I find mules equal to ponies in every way, but sometimes their faces catch me off-guard.  I mean, none of them seem to be able to keep their skin on their skull, which I will admit is offsetting.  However, they are such a mentally sturdy race, suffering what would be tons of taunting and hurtful words every day.  Or, at least, when there are those kinds of ponies around.  You know the ones.

None of them seemed to turn an eye in my direction, so I assumed they either didn't care for ponies, or simply didn't acknowledge the fact I was here.  I could deal with either one of those things.  My only purpose was to find that melodic stone.  I opened my father's guide and searched for the gem I saw in the map.  I found it, and read its legend.

The Horn River Emeralds

These artifacts were created in the Post-Ponyplutian Era, when the Horn River was nothing more than a creek.  It is said that meeting between the first settlers, the mules, and the zebras happened here, but in that time, each spoke a different language.  They couldn't communicate verbally, and the two groups thought up ways of how they could communicate.  They tried drawings, sign language, and tried learning each others' languages, but it was no use.  The two couldn't understand each other no matter their efforts.  One day, by accident, one of the zebras got into the ponies' stash and found emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and many more valuable things and cooked them in a cauldron.  Strangely, this was the key factor to finding a way to communicate.  By simply tapping the cooked stones together in different patterns, formed a musical language (the most expensive one in history) in which was used for the next decade, until the zebras mysteriously learned the foreigner's language.  These emeralds are said to be the ones that started it all, but they were lost to time.  It is rumored that the gems still lie at the delta of the river, in "the place of honor and disgrace", as denoted by the zebra literature of the time.

I closed the guide. The delta of the river was no more than a mile off from where I stood.  If I could decrypt what was meant by "a place of honor and disgrace", I would be in the clear for this noble's request.

However, something about the story intrigued me.  This river, just a creek?  How did it get this large?  Usually, rivers start big, then get smaller over time.  It didn't make sense.  Perhaps I could find out more if I found the gem.  I made my way down the riverside, I began to feel quite thirsty.  So, I stopped to take a drink from the river.  Sooner than I'd known it, I blacked out.

What I hadn't known about the river was that the water was contaminated, not by pollution, but by magic.  I'm pretty sure that water was magically unstable poison.  I'm lucky that I survived... with some help, that is.

Now, I'll admit, I was a little scared to wake up right next to a big, frowning mask.  I scrambled away from it and into a cauldron, which got knocked over as I ran into it.  I hadn't the slightest idea where I was.  However, the zebra that was shouting at me in some uncommon language probably confused me the most.  I just sat there as this zebra shouted at me.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand you..." I said.  The zebra didn't seem to know what I was saying either.  Here we were at this standstill, unable to actually speak to each other.  It was incredibly awkward.  Then, the Zebra sighed and pushed her cauldron upright again, preparing to clean its contents from the floor.

Like an idiot, I said, "My name is Shimmering Agate.  What's yours?"  She didn't respond, she simply set everything in this place straight again.  The stew that was in the cauldron was completely ruined, but as for everything else, they were fine.  In fact, this place seemed like something else from what I knew.  Hung everywhere were masks, and totems lay on some of the shelves alongside bowls of herbs and what I could only assume was the flora of this place.

"What is this place...?" I asked.  The zebra turned to me, and I half-expected her to respond to me.  She, instead, moved me out of the way as she set some of the masks I knocked over back up.  I remained confused, but then realized I had no reason to be here.

"Well, I suppose I won't cause you any more trouble..." I said, heading for the door.  She cut me off from it, holding up the book on the page I had bookmarked.  She pointed at it and spoke some jumble of words that probably meant "I want in."

"The Emerald?  No, that's for one of my customers.  I can't let you have it, or I'll get in big trouble."

She tapped the picture twice and repeated herself.  I rolled my eye and took the book from her.

I pointed out the places and objects as I stated them, putting emphasis on the words I wanted to clarify.  "This is not for you.  I am going to go outside to look for this.  Understand?"

The Zebra looked outside then back at me and laughed.  I was confused almost ot the point of offense, but then she opened the door and waved me on.

"Thank you." I said with a bow.  Then, I left.  I trotted back to the river, which was still in sight, and realized I din't have eight hooves hitting the ground.  I looked behind me and saw the zebra following me.  She tilted her head, wondering why we had stopped.

"Ugh... fine, I suppose you can follow along." I said, moving ahead and waving her along. "C'mon."  She beamed with glee as I walked along, my head lowered at my situation.  It seemed ridiculous at the time, but that zebra was to be the most helpful non-pony I would ever know.

The delta of the river was a bit closer than I had previously thought, and we reached it in only a few minutes of walking.  Of course, one doesn't simply walk into the delta of this river; after all, it was a waterfall.  Looking down at the waters below made me wonder how bad it would be if I fell form this height.  The zebra was ecstatic.  I don't think she knew about this kind of wonder.

"Well, this is it." I said. "That gem has got to be somewhere in this mess.  Let's find it, shall we?"

When I turned around, I saw the zebra was watching a glowing butterfly.  I hadn't seen one of those before, either, but the way she stared at it... it was almost with some sort of admiration for the thing.  I rolled my eyes.  While some nature is to be appreciated, it is a waste of time to be distracted by it.  I noticed the thing as it flew down a side path I hadn't previously noticed.  And no, just because I was watching the thing doesn't mean I got distracted as well.

I'm serious.  I didn't.  I swear on it.

...

I've got four thousand bits for anyone who says otherwise.  A master jeweler like me always stays on task.

Anyway, that zebra kept following me as I entered some hidden caverns underneath the waterfalls.  Inside, there were glowing mushrooms and  bugs everywhere.  It disgusted and intrigued me at the same time.  I had expected the emerald to be somewhere out of sight, possibly in a place that had a hidden entrance.  If it was truly lost to time, it could be anywhere, but if somepony hid it, it would probably have a special place set for it.

This was a special case.  The story said that it was both lost to time, yet it had a special "place of honor and disgrace" for it to be held.  I went with the assumption that perhaps one of the higher-ranking zebras got greedy and stashed it away, making it a pace of disgrace for one so honored.  It was the best guess I had to work with.

Eventually, as time passed, I lost myself in the twisted tunnels beneath the waterfall.  I couldn't hear the water crashing down, and when I did, falling the sound lead me around in circles.  The zebra stayed right behind me the entire way.  Eventually, she spoke up in her unfamiliar language, possibly to ask what I was doing.  I tried explaining it, but as anypony knows, she didn't understand me.  It was so frustrating!  I thought to myself: "If only I had that gem!"

The zebra started poking a round a bit, examining the glowing mushrooms around the cave before plucking them from the wall and putting them in her saddlebag.  I rolled my eyes at her, as collecting such a thing was for lesser folk.  Not that I considered her that; It's just that I didn't want to have to consider her that.

I didn't know how far into the cave I had gotten.  I could feel the place breathing, its cold air swooping by me like the cold of winter.  I had learned about this when I was young, but I had forgotten the details of what exactly that meant.  The one thing I did know about it meant that there was an exit of some kind nearby, and that seemed illogical, as there was no other entrance to these caverns.

The zebra felt the cold wind and a smile appeared on her face.  She jumped around me happily and shouted something in her language that sounded quite exuberant.

"What's gotten into you?" I asked, partly laughing at her display.  She looked at me and pointed down on of the halls of the cave.  She said something which I could only assume meant "This way".

Then, she suddenly started galloping away where she pointed.  I quickly picked up my hooves and followed her.  I could barely keep track of her!  She rushed ahead and very nearly left me in the dust a few times.  I could only see her wild, striped tail as it trailed behind her as she zipped around corners.

"Wait!"  I shouted. "Where are we going?"

I could hear her yell something, but I didn't understand it.  I don't know why I bothered trying to communicate this way.

"You know, you could always slow down!  We're in no rush!"

I saw her just ahead, stopped in her tracks just outside an opening in the cavern.  I slowed down to a trot and stopping next to here to catch my breath.

"Why have we stopped, now?" I asked, as if I wasn't just asking why we were moving a second ago.  Her eyes were glued to something in front of us,  I turned my head and saw it.

A huge door, standing at least the height of three ponies, stood only few yards in front of us.  Many symbols were cared onto the door, but they didn't make any sense.  They were ones of ponies dancing, then singing, then crying, then laughing.  I wondered what it meant.

The zebra must've known immediately what it meant, because she took one look at that and her face lit up.  She walked up to it and gestured me over, a giant smile on her face.

"What is all--" I tried to asked before getting pulled off my hooves and into some strange dance.  She had put her hooves against mine and started bouncing around to some unheard beat.  Eventually, I joined in, trying to keep up.  I hadn't even noticed, at that point, the door's carving of the dancing ponies lighting up.

This dance... in any other culture, it would seem erratic, spontaneous, and disorganized but right now, with just the two of us, it was meaningful.  I looked at the zebra and saw she was blushing, and I saw that this dance must have some deeper meaning than I knew.  She started some nervous laughter and she started singing in her language, some song which made a shiver go up my spine and amazed me.  She had a beautiful singing voice...

I wanted to join in, but my voice was no good.  I couldn't sing if I tried.  So, instead, I listened to her lyrical voice, and felt as the dance slowed down to a slower pace, and her voice turning a lot more somber as she did so.  I may not have known what she was saying, but whatever it was, it made me shed a tear, and she let a tear drop from here eye as she finished her song with one long note.

We stood there for a moment, crying over the same song, over hooves still together.  All of the sudden, the door, whose carvings had all lit up, now shook the entire cave, rumbling slowly open.  Behind the door, I could see the light shining off of not one, but two emeralds.

My dancing friend and I approached them cautiously.  I picked one up and tapped it with one hoof lightly.  The sound reverberated around the room.  I didn't understand it, but at the same time, I didn't want to.  I got what I came here for.  It looked exactly like the picture int the book.  A snail-shell shaped, green and translucent stone.

"The Horn River Emerald..." I said to myself. "To think it was used to communicate at one point..."

"It still is."

The voice came out of nowhere, and I swear I damn near hit my head on the 12 foot high cavern ceiling when I heard it.

The zebra had taken up the other emerald.  She tapped it once more and spoke.

"I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to frighten you." she said.  I sighed in relief, but noticed that her lip movements didn't match what she said.

I tried doing the same thing, tapping the emerald I held, then speaking.

"I'm sorry for messing up your place."

I heard my voice speak, but as my voice passed over the gem, it changed into something else entirely.  Her language, I assumed.

"How does it do that?" I asked.  The zebra laughed.

"Nopony knows," she told me.

There was silence that followed, but it was  calm one, one that spoke to me and said, "Agate, this is it.  You're going to show those nobles!"

"This is amazing!" I said, laughing.  then suddenly, a question came to my mind. "What were you singing about before?  Why did you sound so somber?"

"It was an old song, one passed down through the ages.  It's called 'Honor and Disgrace'."

At the sound of that, everything finally made sense.  This wasn't a place that represented honor and disgrace... it was simply a reminder that to open the door, one would need to know this song.

"It's a beautiful song." I noted.  "Where did you learn it from?"

"My mother.  She sang to me when I was very young."

Another random question appeared in my mind, which I asked her immediately. "What's your name?"

She put down her stone. "Zecora."

I set down mine. "Agate."

We sat there for a moment, letting the moment sink in.  Then, I did something stupidly awkward.

"Well, I need to get going." I tapped my emerald on every word to make sure the message got across.

"So soon?  But we only just got to know each other!" Zecora said.

I lowered my head. "I'm sorry, I just--"

"No, don't speak.  I understand." she said, staring down at the emerald in her hooves, then at the emerald in mine.  At that point in time, I took her words at face value: I had to go, and she understood.  I was an idiot then.

I left with only slight hesitation.  The emerald in my hands no longer glowed as bright as it did it that room.  I don't think ever has since.

The caves seemed less of a maze now, and more a straight path homeward.  It was strange... no matter how far one goes from their place of origin, somehow, like messenger pigeons, they find their way back somehow.  The train ride was long and agonizing.  I kept questioning myself on that situation, and I know what I did was wrong.  I should've offered to take her back to her home at the very least, but instead, I ruined the newly-created friendship we had.  I didn't know anything.  I was an idiot.

I returned home in the afternoon hours of the second day, and out of my boredom I had drawn up plans for the setting I would use for this emerald.  It took no time at all to gather up what I needed, for this piece was to be set in wood instead of gold or silver.  For some reason, it just said more.  I created the piece with minor efforts, eventually making it into the necklace with the emerald placed in the front, showing off its full glory.  I tapped it once and tested it, and hearing that marvelous tone again, I sighed.

It was only an hour or two after completion of my work that the snooty noble came into the shop.

"Monsieur Agate.  I trust you have the piece I ordered?" she asked, sauntering up to the display cases.

"Yes, it's right here." I said. Take it and choke on it, I thought of adding.

"Let's see how well 'ou did on 'our work," she said, expecting failure.  She tapped the emerald and heard that tone, to which made her surprised.

"Eet's... BEAUTIFUL!  MAGNIFICENT!  MARVELOUS!" she shouted boisterously. "I've never heard a gem so beautiful!  You do some amazing work, Monsieur Agate!"

"You make sure to let the rest of the nobles know that, too." I told her.

"Oh, trust me, I will!" she said honestly.  I knew I had succeeded right then and there.  Whoever had come up with this challenge owed him some money, because they just lost this bet. "I will make sure everyone I meet knows the name 'Shimmering Agate'!"

"That's good.  Now, let's discuss the price of that little beauty.  I do have a business to run, you know."

She, of course, gave in immediately, and we agreed upon the substantial amount of 220,000 bits.  Not bad for a pendant such as that one, but I could've bartered for more.  However, I feared that would make her speculate that I was a penny-pincher, and I didn't want to be seen as that.

I never saw that gem, that customer, or the zebra that helped me get it  ever again, but I will never forget those days for as long as I live.

It's the late afternoon now, and I can see over the horizon that the sun is setting.  Octavia has picked up her bow and has started playing another one of her pieces, with long, emotion-filled notes of a minor key.  It did not help me feel any better after writing what I wrote, but it wasn't meant for me.

No new requests came in today.  It seems ponies are distracted with other business today, in which only now I think might be because of him.  I'll check tomorrow to find out what is going on, and hopefully, it won't kill me to do so.