Harmonic Origins
Music; a basic, yet complex form of happiness. It is used to start wars and create peace; drive ponies apart, but also bring them together. With music, so many things can be achieved, but not many ponies know exactly where it first originated. Well, wonder no more, for the answers have been found. Gather around, and the tale of music’s first origins shall be shared.
It was around a millennia or so ago, around the time when Equestria was first formed under the earth ponies, the unicorns, and the pegasi. They worked in harmony, and they worked together to help create vast settlements. New ideas sprang up like young saplings, which lead to new inventions that assisted the ponies in everyday-life. All-in-all, Equestria was prospering. But even with their success, there was still sadness and poverty that plagued many corners of the infant land. Now, as I said, this is around the time when music first originated, and if any of you remember what I said earlier, it is a basic form of happiness. So, why would there still be ponies who suffered? You see, there were songs and lyrics that many ponies sang on holidays and occasions such as Hearth’s Warming, but despite that, there was no melody; no harmony to accompany the words. So, after a while, the songs became bland and old.
A lot of these things may not be adding up right now, and I understand that. How can such an epitome of happiness kindle from a dying spark of sorrow? How could it be created when there was no happiness to create it from? All the answers will come in due time. Our story begins with Steel, a young pegasus blacksmith who lived in the mining town of Prosperity. As evident by the name, it was a very prosperous village, and was well-known for its reputation in mining precious metals and trading, as it was home to one of the largest markets in early-Equestria. Despite all of this, however, Steel felt that there was something missing from his life. This void made him bitter and irritable at times, but he still responded to many with a smile on his face. And through his sorrow and tribulation, this intelligent blacksmith would soon make a ground-breaking discovery that would change all of Equestria…
The rain fell in sheets that morning in Prosperity. Many ponies chose to stay inside their homes today due to the inclement weather, but those were mostly the mares who stayed home, the children, and the stallions who weren’t working today. However, that didn’t mean that there was no one on the streets at all. Many stallions were on their way to the mines to work until dusk, while there were others who were brave enough to trudge through the heavy rain to pick up a few things from the market, which was somehow still opened. One of these ponies was Steel, a lithe, slightly muscular stallion with a dirty black coat, a short-trimmed silver mane with a tail of equal length, and piercing orange eyes that resembled to that of a raging fire. His cutie mark was that of an anvil and a hammer, which meant that he obviously had a talent for working in a forge. He kept his head low as he trudged through the rain with his cart attached, the wind beating against his leather cloak as the ends flew freely like a flag. It was another day in Prosperity, and all he needed was the supplies he ordered, and then he could go back to the warm safety of his forge. He hoped that they were here today, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to finish the weapons that were for the soldiers that were stationed here.
Steel eventually reached his destination: a moderately-sized general store with a front porch and a crooked black door. He unhitched the trailer before propping a block of wood behind the tires so it wouldn’t roll away, then hurriedly raced into the shop. As soon as the door closed, he was greeted by the sound of laughter.
“You know, ponies typically like to stay dry instead of travelling two miles just to get wet.” The smooth voice came from the grey Earth Pony that sat behind the counter. Steel rolled his eyes and smile, flicking his head back so his hood fell onto his back.
“Good morning, Stone,” he said lightly. “How do you fare this day?” The pony behind the counter spit out the twig he was idly chewing on before answering.
“Well, a few miners came in today and placed a few orders for some satchels, a few kegs of lantern oil, and a set of new pickaxes. Which means you have some more work on your hands. But, it should be worth it. One of them said they stumbled upon a whole lotta’ bronze.” Stone scratched his blue-ish grey mane a bit. “We haven’t had any bronze around here in a while, so business with the merchants and traders should be picking up pretty soon if all things go well.”
“I agree.” Steel replied simply. “If anything, it will give me more resources to work with as well. I can use the bronze for armor and arrowheads.”
“Speaking of resources…” The pony said suddenly. “Erm… The price has gone up a bit…” Steel’s eyes narrowed, causing Stone to flinch slightly.
“How much more?” He said in a low tone. Stone was starting to sweat a bit.
“Well, since we lost the first order, we had to order your supplies again, this time from Canterlot. And… Well, they asked for a lot. The price has gone up to… Two hundred…”
“Two hundred bits?!” Steel’s eyes went wide. “But… But that’s too much! I’ll have to take that out of my winter savings if I want to afford that! How could they charge one hundred and fifty more bits for metals and leather?!”
Stone sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you, friend. But I can say that prices have gone up for a lot of other imported goods from Canterlot. Fine silks, leather, spices, gold, and everything else that is exported from there, and that even includes goods from foreign lands that were imported through them. Whatever it is that is causing them to raise their prices, it’s affecting us as well. Because of this, there are a lot of ponies who are being forced to sacrifice more bits then are necessary. So, that’s why I have to charge you so much…” His gaze softened when he saw his friend fall onto his haunches, his face portraying nothing but utter shock and disbelief. “I’m sorry, Steel, but I don’t have a choice. I wish I could lower the price for you…”
“No…” He said softly. “It’s alright…”
The pegasus wordlessly paid the price for his supplies before stepping out of the shop with what he had come for. After exchanging farewells and securing his supplies, he hooked himself into the cart once again and trudged down the road, back towards his forge. Despite the heavy weight he was pulling, his load felt a lot lighter than it was supposed to be…
Stone arrived at his forge no more than an hour or so later. The rain was still pouring down, and not once did it let up for a second. His cloak had managed to protect him from the harsh elements, thankfully, so he wouldn’t have to worry about taking more than an hour to dry himself off again. And it was a good thing that he had arrived home when he did. For as soon as he had unlocked the door to his forge, lightning began to lash out across the sky, followed by the loud cracking of the thunder. The winds began to howl even more loudly and blew even more fiercely, which made closing the doors much tougher than it had to be. But once he had the door closed and the latch secured, all that he could hear was the soft popping and crackling of the hot coals inside the furnace. Steel took a deep breath and sighed. “Home sweet home…” He muttered as he removed his cloak and placed it on the side of his cart. The smell of smoke, ash, and molten metal never got old, even if it was apparently bad for his health. Along the stone walls were various different tools and weapons, as well as armor and horseshoes. Steel took pride in his job, and he spent every day taking care of his workplace.
Steel began to unload his supplies from his cart. Even if they had cost him quite a lot today, he still needed them nonetheless. A few stacks of iron ingots, some leather, and two ingots of decorative silver and gold, which was meant mainly for the handles of some of the General’s sword and a few pieces of guard armor. Usually it wouldn’t have cost him much, but apparently the traders in Canterlot were trying to cheat him yet again. It wouldn’t have been the first time they have done it, but it would eventually come to a stop if it kept happening; he would take care of it personally if it were necessary. Now, he still had leftover scraps of steel and other kinds of metal, but those were mainly for smelting into new ingots, or just small, thin lines of metal that weren’t really good for anything, like strings. But, even though they had no true value, that doesn’t mean that he still didn’t keep them. He could always melt them down into another ingot or even a small necklace.
Steel began to inspect his forge. One of the many responsibilities of being a blacksmith was to maintain proper care of their forge. If the furnace was dirty, it could result in a fire. If they stone was cracked, it could result in a fire. If anything was not perfect… It could result in a fire. And if the forge were to catch fire, then so would his entire home. Since he couldn’t afford to build one closer to Prosperity, Steel had to make his forge as an extension to his home. Sure, the fumes would be a little overwhelming at times, but they didn’t seem to affect himself or…
“Daddy!”
My daughter, he thought with a smile. Steel turned around just in time to see a young pegasus trotting towards him at full speed. She was small with a beautiful coat of white, and one of the shiniest manes of silver that could outshine even his own swords and armor. But the one thing that shined most of all was her eyes, which were the most beautiful shade of blue. She resembled her mother more than anything, but she still had his mane. Steel laughed as he caught her in mid-air.
“Hello, my beautiful daughter.” He rubbed her nose against his, eliciting a giggle from her. “How was your day today?”
“It was good. I went to visit Mama today.”
Steel smiled sadly. “Were you going to give her some flowers?” She nodded, and he stroked her mane. “But the rain got scary, didn’t it?”
“Yeah…” Her ears drooped down, but then she smiled. “But I did something else while you were gone! Come and see!” She jumped down from his hooves and ran out of the forge. Steel laughed as he followed her through the house.
“Slow down, Silver!” He walked through the main foyer of the house, but then he stopped, right in front of an open door. To his left and right were two more doors; to the left was his room, and the one to his right was Silver’s. But the one that he now stood in front of was one that he had not opened in a long time. This, was his wife’s room. “… Silver?” He slowly entered the room, taking in his surroundings for the first time in what felt like ages. The bed sat at one corner of the room, its sheets clean, pristine, and a little dusty. There was a nightstand next to it, where there was an old candlestick, a dusty book, and a small pendant. Above the bed was a small painting of a pegasus mare. Steel stepped forward to observe it more closely. The mare had a white coat and blue eyes, similar to that of his daughter’s. Her mane, however, was a solid blue instead of silver. She was sitting down, staring at something in the distance with a smile on her face. Seeing the picture again almost brought a tear to his eye when he suddenly heard his daughter’s voice coming from behind him.
“Daddy…” She said quietly.
Steel turned around to see his daughter in another corner of the room. She was sitting next to… something; he didn’t know how to describe it. It looked like a small wooden frame with six lines of metal inside. The lines were thin strings of metal, and they ran horizontally across the frame, connecting to these strange knobs on one side. Silver was smiling bashfully, staring at the floor.
“Silver…” He said quietly. “What… is that?”
“I saw it in my dreams.” She replied, tracing circles on the floor with her hoof. “I don’t really know what it is, but it looked so cool! I saw you doing something with it in my dream.”
Steel tilted his head at her daughter. “What was I doing with it?”
“I, uh…” She opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped. “I don’t remember… I’m sorry, Daddy…” Her ears drooped down, and her gaze fell back to the floor. Steel smiled and sat down in front of her.
“Hey…” He brought his hoof to the underside of her chin and gently pushed up so that they were looking into each other’s eyes. “It’s alright if you can’t remember. It was a dream, after all. I am just amazed that you were able to create something this amazing, and without my help, no less. Whatever it is, I’m sure that your mother would be proud of you.”
Silver tilted her head curiously. “You really think so?” When her father nodded, she smiled and hugged him tightly, nuzzling into his neck. “Thank you, Daddy. You’re the greatest.”
Steel smiled and returned her hug. “Thank you, sweetie…” After a moment of silence, he let her go, chuckling. “Now, how about we get you something to eat? I’m pretty sure you’re pretty hungry.” The smile on her face melted his heart as she ran out the door.
“Yay! Food!” She squeaked happily, eliciting a small laugh from her father. He slowly made his way out of the room, but not before taking one last look at the strange contraption his daughter had made, then at the portrait hanging on the wall. It was then that he realized that it had been five long years since he had stepped hoof into this room, and he had always believed that he had done so as to not disturb his wife’s final resting place. Two years after Silver was born, she fell ill with a strange, unknown disease. Steel had searched far and wide for a cure of some sort, but he never found one. His wife survived for another year before she finally passed away. He was distraught, and blamed himself for her death. But as he stood there in the dusty room, he finally realized that he had been too hard on himself. This room was practically her shrine, a place that he dare not enter lest he wish to anger the vengeful spirit of the mare he failed to save. But now… He could finally forgive himself. Steel smiled as he stared into the mare’s unmoving eyes.
“Oh, how I wish that you were here with us, my love.” He whispered longingly. “You could see how much our daughter has grown now…” And with that, he stepped outside and gently closed the door, careful not to make too much noise.
The rest of the day progressed rather normally after that. He worked in his forge mostly, and Silver being the little helper that she was, assisted him with a couple of his projects. Soon, the day came to a close and the storm outside stopped, and the sun made way for the moon to take its place. Steel tucked his daughter into bed and went back to work. But fortunately, he didn’t stay on-task for long. Not even half an hour later, a couple of familiar ponies came to his door, one of them being Stone, and another being one of the local Earth Pony miner mares, Coal. Her name was rather ironic to her appearance due to the fact that her mane was a golden-yellow with pink tips, and her coat was pure white. Perhaps it was the fact that her father wanted a son rather than a daughter, but no one really asked, and that was probably because they were too afraid that she might crush their ribs with her impossibly strong legs.
So, the three ponies enjoyed the night with a keg of Griffic ale in Steel’s forge. They talked and laughed about work, as well as the increasing prices of Canterlot goods. It was then at that point when the pegasus decided to bring up the topic of his daughters creation. They seemed rather intrigued, so Steel left for a moment to bring them the item in question. At first, they only stared at it in bewilderment, but that was quickly replaced with curiosity.
“Well… What is it?” Stone asked first.
“I’m not quite sure.” Steel responded. “At first, I thought it looked like a little washboard, but I know now that this is not that kind of item.”
“And you said that Silver saw this in her dreams?” Cole piped in. “If she did, then the dreams must have been very detailed.”
“I agree. I took a closer look at these lines, and look at the ones on the top…” He pointed a hoof at the slightly thicker strings. “She took one thin line of steel and then wrapped two more around it. I just… I don’t understand what the purpose of it is. Is it supposed to be some sort of thing for ponies to hang their tools from?” He brought his hoof back down, but he bumped the first string, producing a strange, deep noise. The room fell silent almost immediately, everyone’s eyes fixed on the contraption with bewildered gazes. “… What…?” He brought his hoof back up, this time plucking the second string. The noise this time was similar to the first, only it took on a slightly higher pitch. What kind of magic is this? He brought his hoof down on all of the strings this time, and the noises rang out in an even more pleasant way. It was… amazing.
“Do it again.” Cole said quietly, and Steel complied. She seemed entranced by the dissonance, almost as if it were hypnotizing. “… It’s… It’s beautiful… I’ve never heard anything like it…”
“Neither have I…” Steel began to pluck the strings again, only this time he plucked them in a certain order: first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, then repeat. It was the strangest thing, but it suddenly felt so… natural, almost as if he had done this before. While he experimented with this new contraption, the three ponies were unaware that Silver was watching from the doorway, a look of awe plastered onto her face.
“… And that, is how music first began.” Silver Chord looked around the campfire to see the curious looks of the colts and fillies around him, all smiling and grinning. “The end.” He closed the book he had in his lap and then set it to the side. At first, there was only silence, but that silence was broken by a familiar orange pegasus with a purple mane.
“It kind of sounds like Steel and Silver were based off of you.” She said suddenly, causing the others to murmur amongst themselves. This caused Silver to chuckle as he shook his head.
“I get that a lot, Scootaloo,” he replied. “But let me tell you a little secret…” He leaned in close to the campfire, and then said this as softly as he could: “I’m related to them.” Everyone gasped.
“Wow! You’re related to the first founders of music?!” Rumble exclaimed.
“That’s right. I get my looks from my great-great-great-great grandmother. She was the one who helped design the first string instruments that you see today.” He motioned a hoof to the guitar leaning against the stump next to him. “Just like the guitar and the cittern. You see, kids, Grandma Silver saw all of these things in her dreams because she saw the future through our eyes. When her mother passed away, she saw everything. This doesn’t mean that my family is the most famous in all of Equestria, but I don’t think my ancestors would have cared. Because the whole purpose of music isn’t about acquiring glory or fame; it’s about bringing ponies together and spreading love and joy.”
“But… But what about the drums? And the piano?” Scootaloo asked again.
“That story is for another time. But first…” The silver-haired pegasus pulled out a bag of fluffy white cylinders, and everyone smiled. “Who wants marshmallows?”
