In not too long, the sun will begin to set, and with it it’ll mark the end of another unsuccessful day. I always hated the moon that Princess Luna brought forth, it was just another reminder of the end of another period of time in which I have made no new progress with my life. Every day is the same. I wake up, travel to the outskirts of the town to find what precious stones I can, I return to the store where I cut and polish them and have new stock ready by noon… which is usually more than enough for the ponies who actually come in and keep my business afloat.
There may be the one pony who stops in, new to the area and looking for something to bring home to a lover. For every one of those ponies who do purchase a gift for their special somepony, there are several who turn around and leave. Maybe I have three or four regulars. Most of them just walk around like idiots, ogling over what they can’t have, every day asking for the price of the same necklace. Are prices negotiable, can you maybe knock off ten bits? I hate the lot of them, wasting my time.
And then there is her. The blue earth pony, her name is Sonata Dusk. Every day she’s in here, wasting away pretty much every bit she owns on jewelry to attempt to show off for her pathetic excuse for what she calls ‘concerts’. It’s really just her singing on a stage in a field out in the open, not too far from town hall. Perhaps I should be honest, it’s not that she lacks the talent, no quite the opposite, it’s just that there’s never been an audience. And there never will be. If she was smart, she would have quit many moons ago. Whatever. More bits in my saddlebag. I’m not going to coach her on how she should be wasting her life.
Speak of the devil. The door chimes, and guess who walks in? “Hey Dagi!” She says in a sing song voice, as she trots up to the counter. Always so cheery and optimistic. I genuinely have no idea how she can keep this up for that long.
“I told you how much I hate that nickname before. And I’m closing soon. You should have been here hours ago to pick up your order.”
“I’m so sorry! I was getting ready for the big show tonight! Really, thank you so much for doing this for me. Your work is incredible. And I know this will just give me the last touches I need to really make my performance stand out tonight. Thank you so much.”
“Yeah. Sure.” I reach under the counter, and place the wrapped up parcel on the table. “It’s three hundred bits.”
“Three hundred? Oh. Uh, right of course, I’m sorry.” Sonata fiddled through her bag before placing a pouch of bits before me. I empty it on the counter and it’s just a mess. It’s mostly in small coins, with the bulk of it mostly made up of fives and tens. “That’s a little bit more expensive than what it usually is.”
“Not only have you never commissioned something from me before,” I say as I begin to count the coins, “you dragged me all the way through the caves at the outskirts of the village to find that specific rock that you wanted something from. That took a lot of time and effort.”
“Right, hehe. Thank you Dagi, you’re the best! This really means a lot to me.”
I finish counting out the bits, everything’s there. So I return them to the pouch, and I place it in my safe. “Shouldn’t you be saving up your bits though?” A question merely to quench my curiosity, it’s not as if she can get a refund at this point. Sonata lowered her head, and rubbed the front of her left hoof.
“I… know. I’ve had to dip into the last of my savings to get this. I’m not sure if you knew or not, but, well… I haven’t had the best of luck with the past few concerts I’ve put on…” Well if that isn’t the understatement of the year I don’t know what is. I nearly have to cut myself off from laughing, it’s unbelievable somepony can be this oblivious. Sonata picked her head up, it was almost if she had a glimmer of hope visible in her eyes. “But… I know this is going to be what I need. When I saw that gemstone, I knew there was something special about it. And I just know that if I can just look good enough, it’ll finally attract the attention I need to become successful!”
“Good luck with that.” If pretty stones were all I needed to be successful, I’d have been out of this dump a while ago.
“Hey, Dagi?” Sonata’s face blushes up a bit. If she’s about to say what I think she’s going to say, I better start thinking up an excuse now. “Would you, maybe, come to my show tonight? I’d really appreciate having you there.”
“I’m so sorry Sonata. I would absolutely adore being able to. But I need to go out and find more gemstones for tomorrow’s stock. I’m sure once everyone sees what you have, they’ll want something like it and they’ll come right over here, so I need to be prepared!” As if that’ll ever happen. “Besides. I’d absolutely hate to take up space at the show, space that could be occupied by a brand new fan of yours.”
Sonata gave me a very big grin. “Oh don’t you worry, I’ll direct everyone that comes by to you tomorrow!” She took the parcel from the counter, and placed it into her bag. “I should really go and get ready. Thank you, Adagio, for everything. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
I give Sonata an empty smile as she leaves. I can’t say I’m not curious what her reaction will be tomorrow when she finds tonight is no different for her than any other night. With Sonata gone, I think it’s time to close in for the day. Sure it may be a tad early, but what’s the point. I pull up the safe and count today’s earnings on the counter. Four hundred and forty eight bits. That includes Sonata’s, or rather I should say what were formerly Sonata’s, bits. Enough to cover a bit of rent, and at least it’s slightly more than I usually take in.
I lock the door, and head upstairs, to my home. Of course there’s no need for me to waste time going for gems, especially not now. Perhaps I should even do myself a favor and skip going out in the morning, if there’s not really a need for more stock, I can really just sleep in.
I look outside the window to see Princess Celestia’s sun being lowered and replaced with the moon of Princess Luna. I suppose right about now Sonata is wasting away her time in front of nobody hoping for adoration she’s never going to get. Though I guess it’d make me a hypocrite to complain. It’s all any pony really wants anyway, isn’t it? I can’t lie and say I’m an exception. Some of us just know better than to appear desperate for it.
I can hear some ponies are shouting outside. I can’t even make out over what, nor can I see where it’s coming from. Idiots.
I hate the moon.
Sleeping in ‘til midday always sounds like a fun idea until you actually go through with it. My mane’s an absolute mess, and I feel just absolutely groggy. And those ponies need to stop banging on my shop door downstairs, I can hear them all the way up here-
Wait. Something’s not right. I’m not supposed to have anyone come over today, I paid my rent for the month, and I don’t think I have any licenses expiring soon. And I know for certain it’s not that dreadful time of year where ponies beg for money and tell that stupid story about the “windigos”. Well who knows, maybe they came early this year. I cast a minor spell in order to adjust my appearance as I quickly trot down the stairs.
Finally getting a good view to the door, there are actually were three ponies waiting to get inside, looking around. Two pegasus ponies and a unicorn. Now, their expressions, those were the interesting part. They looked as if they were very needy, almost awestruck. No one ever seemed to feel that way about things here before.
I make it over the door, and crack it open a smidge. Don’t want to let them in if they’re just beggars. “Can I help you?” I say.
The three of them went silent, until the pegasus in the center jumped up. “Are you, um, Adagio? Adagio Dazzle?”
“Yes.” Wait a second. I think
“And, um, are you open now? We were really hoping you were, we’ve been waiting all morning.”
I cocked my eyebrow a bit. “Well, by all means,” I open the door completely and step aside, watching the ponies as they enter, paying close attention to their gaze as they looked around. They seemed agog, captivated by some desperate desire. I’ve seen quite a number of ponies through the years, but none of them acted like this. They’re either cheap, or in and out, but these ponies, they almost seem like…
“Excuse me, I’m sorry, how much for this wonderful piece here?” I turned my head only to see it was one of the pegasus ponies, pointing to a display case of rings for unicorn horns.
“Those are all-”
“Whatever the cost is I’ll pay double!” It was a unicorn on the other side of me who shouted that, slamming her hoof into the ground.
“That’s too bad, I was here first, I’m getting them, and I’ll buy the whole case if I have to!”
“You’re not even a unicorn, what will you do with them?!”
“More than you ever will!” The pegasus looked back to me, reach into her saddle bag and threw a large, studded pouch onto the table. “There’s over one thousand bits in that pouch, you can have it all for just that row of rings there, and when my daddy comes home I’ll bring the rest of the bits for everything else there.” Before I could grab it, a pink magical aura threw the pouch to the ground.
“You don’t want bits from her, she’s a commoner!” The unicorn slammed her entire saddle bag onto my counter, with a sickeningly smug smile. “I brought nearly five thousand!”
“You tart! How dare you call my bestie a commoner!” The second pegasus jumped into the debacle, eyes nearly lit ablaze. “Come on Merry Ways, we don’t need to take this, we’ll pool our bits together and show her!”
I took a step back from the growing chaos, as the three ponies continued to yell at each other. I suppose the right thing to do would be to break it up, but this is rather fun, I’ve never had anything quite like it happen here. Though, as I take a step back, if I were to squint my eyes I could see a very faint green aura surrounding the ponies. That’s not my magic, and the lovely little unicorn here displayed a pink aura, not a green one. So where…
“Dagi!” The room fell absolutely silent, and with it, the green aura traced back to the pony in the doorway. I was left in the same shock as the three others, staring at her.
“Sonata Dusk… it’s so wonderful to see you here,” the unicorn said, her upper class sense of self-righteousness seemingly vanished from her voice.
“Well of course I was going to come here! I told you all you would love it here, wasn’t I right?” Sonata giggled and nudged the unicorn. She recognizes her, but is she even half aware of how utterly mesmerized she is by her very presence. Even I have to admit that. There’s just something about her now that is drawing in the attention of everyone around her. Was she the one who caused them to act the way they did? Why? Does she know what she’s doing?
“Dagi, I really need to thank you.” Sonata’s words snapped me out of my temporary trance. I need to figure out what’s happening. “I knew you would make it work.”
“Well I’m so glad everything went so well for you, you absolutely deserved it.” I put my hoof on Sonata’s shoulder, and she gives me a smile.
“Dagi, thank you…” I hate that name so much. But anything if I can appear on her good side now. “Well the concert last night. The start of it wasn’t the best, but after I began my act, it just drew in a crowd.” Her words were directed towards me, and yet all she could do was stare down at… her necklace. The one she bought last night, the one I made. “I think it finally worked. I think they saw what I was wearing and it was finally that last bit of attention I needed to finally take off! And now I was asked to do another one next week!”
“Yes, yes, that’s wonderful. Great to hear.” I don’t get it. Is she telling the truth? Of course she is, she’s too much of an airhead to know to do otherwise. But was it really all she needed? Maybe it was just a stroke of pure luck? “Now, do you know these ponies?”
“Yeah! They were in the audience last night! They, and a bunch of others, came up to me and asked me where I got this lovely amulet from! I told them about you! There’s even going to be more ponies-”
The sound of bits scattering across the floor interrupted Sonata’s statement. It was the unicorn, she threw her bit purse into the face of the second pegasus. “You talentless mule!” She shouted. They must have picked up their quarrel as Sonata stopped accepting their adoration.
“Get-”
“How dare you!” Sonata completely cut me off, and stepped in front of the unicorn. Her posture dominated over the unicorn, who quickly reverted to a submissive, meek position, as if a pet was receiving a scolding from its master. “How dare you make a mess in my friend’s store! Get out!”
“Yes Sonata Dusk.” Without another word, the unicorn lowered her head and left. The two pegasus ponies began to yell at the unicorn as she left. Yet again, as they shouted, the green aura reappeared on the ground by their hooves, and it was moving. It was being pulled into… Sonata’s necklace.
“So!” Sonata said, as she turned back to me as if nothing just occurred, with a smile beaming on her face. “You hungry for lunch yet?”
I stare down at my new creation, the red jewel of the necklace glistening as the sunlight shed its light onto it. I did my best to recreate what I had previously done for Sonata, taken from the very same stone. It would have been unwise of me to try to take Sonata’s amulet, unaware of the true power it holds, who knows what could have happen if I separated it from her. It was a much safer choice merely to construct my own. She appears to still be able to harness magic from it, and yet at the same time, she's completely oblivious to it. Unfortunately, this leaves me unaware of how I can do the same. The best I can do is attempt to mimic what I did the first time. Honestly that was the easy part. When I retrieved the rock from the caves, there was enough that I was able to fashion Sonata’s original amulet, as well as my own. Unfortunately, I had to use up what was left, and would be unable to produce another. But no matter, I certainly shouldn’t need to make another for someone else. As for Sonata, she will at least be a meaningful asset for now, until I have no use for her. But I’ll see what the future has in store.
My horn illuminates, and I bring the pendant around my neck, closing it up. The gem stone touches upon my chest, with an icy burn as if it was made of a chunk from the frozen north. I step back, and lift up the gem from my fur. It’s odd, for a brief moment it’s almost as if I could see a white, faded outline of a beast, that whisked away as soon as it was seen. There is power in this stone… The question is what is it, and how do I bring it out.
What wonderful timing, two Earth ponies just walked into my shop. Exactly what I require, test subjects. Both of them female, one with a light green fur coat and the other with a pink one, both of them seem to be… lower class. I suppose it’s safe to assume they’re both here thanks to Sonata. If there’s one thing I must give her credit for, it’s the fact that my establishment has been booming recently. Maybe she’s not a total idiot.
“Oh she was right, this is a lovely establishment…” The green one said as her eyes wandered around.
“Oh I know, everything’s so beautiful… she was right. We need to see her again!”
“I do believe her next show is tonight! We should get there at an early enough time for certain, why it may be packed.”
“Is there something I can help you mares with today?” I only needed to catch their attention for just long enough. The pink one approached the counter.
“Why yes, my name is Rosy Love and my word! That is a lovely necklace you have! Why it almost looks like the one Ms. Sonata Dusk wears.”
The green pony nodded in agreement. “A pony with such a good sense of style like herself knows what to wear!”
Alright, enough of this. I should be the one receiving this praise. My mind races for a moment, attempting to figure out what happened yesterday when I saw the amulet’s magic in effect for the first time. I raise my amulet up to her, meeting her eyes. “You like this, don’t you?”
“Why yes very much so!” Excellent, now to make sure it works…
“Now, I want you to…empty your bit bag onto the counter.”
The pony continued to stare down at the amulet and looked back to me. She reached into her bag and…
…she pulled out a small mirror and adjusted her mane before putting it back away. “I’m sorry, what did you say miss?” Her expression was that only of confusion.
I don’t understand, I could even feel the very power of this stone just by looking at it, how is this not working? If some half brain like Sonata can do it, why can’t I be able to control it? Perhaps it was eye contact and not merely just staring at the stone. I lock my eyes with the pony. Let’s try that again, maybe now she can be a bit more open to suggestion.
“I would like you to empty your bit bag onto the counter.” My expression remains straight, yet the Earth pony looks away from me, almost unsure what to say.
“Well, I’d be willing to do such a thing if you were to sell me something, but I’m not quite sure what you mean at all.”
This is ridiculous. I turn around from her to look at this accursed rock myself. I know there was some power in this gem, I saw it! Why isn’t anything happening? I made it, I made it the same way as I did for her, what could she possible be doing that I don’t have, what am I missing?
“I’m just going to… come back another time.” The pony backed away, nudged her friend and they turned around and left my store. Fine, get out of my face, I have no use for you. You’re simpletons anyway.
I remove the necklace, and place it before me on the table. Staring deep into the crimson stone, I can see my own reflection in it, staring back at me with such intense eyes. Perhaps I was imagining things? In hindsight, I suppose it is ludicrous to believe that a rock could hold the potential to sway others in a direction that would benefit one such as myself. Even if it did work, what kind of things would I have possibly done with it? It’s all just one big joke, I was most likely just imagining things. I’m just making a fool of myself.
My moment of deep thought was interrupted by the chime of my door charm ringing. Quickly I threw the necklace under the counter and looked up to see none other than the rising talk of the town herself… still looking as absent-minded as ever.
“Dagi!” Sonata cheered, jumping up for a moment, waving her hooves around like an idiot. I swear if this ever works the first thing I’m doing is putting an end to that nickname.
“Sonata, how wonderful it is to see you again.” The words rot me from the inside out having to say that. At the very least, if I can keep on her good side I can keep up this newfound popularity at my store, until I can figure out exactly what’s going on. She still wears the amulet around her neck, I don’t think I’ve seen her take it off just yet.
“I didn’t see you at lunch today, is everything okay?”
“I’m sorry,” Sorry I don’t have the patience to watch you stuff your face like a pig, “but I had to handle today.
“Oh, well, okay.” Sonata paused for a moment, looking as if she was trying to lead into something. I can probably guess. “Were you able to finish… whatever it is?”
“There are some things I need to finish with it.” Best to leave it open so I may keep an easy exit.
“Well, I wanted to to ask…” Sonata’s easy darted away from me, her face blushing up as she rubbed one of her front hooves on her legs, I should know what’s coming, again. “I have something else coming up tonight, in a little bit… do you maybe… maybe want to come to this one?”
I pause, taking a moment to consider my options. On one hoof, if something out of the ordinary is occurring I suppose this is where it’s happening. I need to figure out exactly what’s going on, and if it’s not from here, I’ll have no clue. On the other hoof, if none of these even matters, then I’m just wasting my time. But… I do need answers. And this may just be my chance.
My teeth clench, and my lips curl back. “Of course, Sonata. When would you like to leave?”
It didn’t take long to reach where Sonata was holding her… ‘concert’. It’s a ridiculous name for it still. We’re out in a field and it’s just a wooden platform with two torches on stage for light on both sides. Well that’s certainly not a fire hazard. If she was a unicorn she could just light the stage herself. But she isn’t, and here we are.
I adjust my saddle bag on my back, as I watch as the sun sets behind Sonata, as she stands on her ‘stage’, fiddling through some notes on the floor, with her right hoof holding her necklace close to her chest. I look around, and unsurprisingly, there’s nopony here, and yet she’s set to begin in a few minutes. Sure, there’s some ponies who pass by, but there’s only one other pony here at the moment. So, does this confirm it was just luck for her that one time?
To the right of me stands the only other pony here; a lavender pegasus with a dark purple and mint green mane. She stares intently at Sonata on stage, almost analyzing her. I glance at her cutie mark, it’s that of a silver star with a curved line through it. I can’t fathom what that would make her talent, or why she’d be here for someone like Sonata.
“I can see you staring at me. Quit it.”
I cock an eyebrow at that remark, she’s clearly a feisty one. “Excuse me?”
The pegasus pony’s glance shifted towards me. “I can see you staring at me. Why don’t you stop?”
“What’s got you so wound up?”
“Something I need to concentrate on, now are you dense? Stop staring at me!” She darted her eyes back to Sonata. I take a moment to think of a response, but no matter. It’s unlikely I’ll ever see her again. As I turn back around, my saddle bag nearly slips from behind me. Darn thing, piece of junk. I shouldn’t have even brought it, the only reason I bothered to take it was so I could have my own amulet with me, to see if there would be any sort of connection between the two of them.
“…And I would like to thank all you wonderful mares and stallions for showing up!” Wait, how long was Sonata talking? ‘All you wonderful mares and stallions’? There’s maybe, five mares here tops? Sure, there’s a handful of others walking around but they don’t seem interested, they’re not going to stand by.
Sonata, still holding her amulet to her chest, raised her hoof to the night sky, and then-
“Aaaaaah~” That... that noise! Instinctively, I immediately do what I can to drown it out, I shut my eyes tight and my teeth clench, trying to focus on anything else. Anything else aside from that… that wail, that screech. It pierced through my ears, like the cry of a windigo. And yet… it sounds so beautiful… I must…
Focus girl. What’s going on? You’ve heard Sonata sing before, that’s not what her voice sounds like at all. I open my eyes, still trying to drown out the noise in my own voice, my gut tells me I shouldn’t listen to it. I look behind me to see the ponies initially just walking by are now standing in place, mesmerized. Some of them even approach her on stage. I can even see a slight green aura around her, I was right! There is something! What is she… what is she…
The song! Her voice! That’s the driving force behind it, it’s her singing! I need to cover one of my ears as her song continues, the faint echoing of her voice shaking my brain. My own necklace, that might just be my chance. My horn illuminates and I retrieve my own amulet from my bag, and I pull it to the front of me, to feel it shaking and pulled slightly towards the stage in my own aura’s grasp. Quickly I bring it around my own neck, and I feel a wave of relief sweep over me. The ringing of Sonata’s voice ceases, aside from a faint wail in addition to her normal noise of a voice. A wail, that if I’m not mistaken, appears to echo in my own gemstone. This is it! This is what I was missing!
I check around me, there must be at least twenty ponies now, all of them have their eyes glued to Sonata.I need to get out of here. I adjust my bag once more and sidestep my way through the suddenly-appeared crowd, and once free, I run back as fast as I can to my shop. My mind flashes through the possibilities this can open, the attention I can receive, the adoration! I don’t have to spend my time in a dump village like this, I can be with the elite! Why, maybe even the Princesses themselves will see what I deserve! Everything I want is now in my hoof’s reach!
The run home wasn’t a long one, despite feeling longer with the various thoughts running through my head. As I finally made it to my own door, I step inside and reach to place my bag… my bag! What, but how, when-
“Hey! You dropped something.” I turn behind me to see the lavender pegasus from the concert, landing from the air on my doorstep, holding my saddlebag in her hoof. “Now, how about you let me in so I can return this to you, and you and I can get to know each other? My name, is Aria. Aria Blaze.”
