The next few days were a flurry of activity for the questors. They stayed at the Coiling Cobra, whose rooms were admittedly comfortable, if smaller than the ones they had stayed in at the previous town. While staying there, Emerald and the group were introduced to more Saddle Arabian cuisine, such as curry cakes, spiced vegetable stew, as well as a vast assortment of mixed fruit juices. There was wine as well, but Emerald found it a little too strong for her taste. Androula had told them it was made from fermented figs.
In the meantime, the group got together and brainstormed just what they might bring King Aldilu when they went to ask about the artifact in Saddle Arabia.
“Obviously, mere coin and treasure won’t do,” Posey had said. “A king surely has more than enough material wealth already.”
“Aye,” Emerald had agreed. “But we didn’t bring anything else with us that might be of value to a king. Surely he will be more inclined to help us if we bring a pleasing gift?”
“That makes sense,” Spectrum nodded. “So if it’s not gold and treasure, what can we bring?”
“We could buy something, maybe?” Honeygold suggested.
“Mnnn, getting somethin’ from the city is kind of… the easy way?” Apple Bean said gently. “Ah mean, since he rules the city anyway, it’d kinda be like givin’ him somethin’ that already belongs to him.”
“It would be like if someone bought an apple from you, then gave it to you as a gift,” Spectrum explained.
“Oh. Then yes, Ah see what you mean,” Honeygold acknowledged, looking a little deflated. “Makes it harder for us, though.”
It was true. And every day they wasted thinking of what to do was another day that Morn could spend catching up to them. Emerald had no illusions about what would happen if that came to pass, and she had no intention of letting the innocent people of Masyaf getting caught in the crossfire of their conflict.
“What if,” Light Speckle said slowly. “We made something for the king? That way, the gift would be unlike anything he has ever seen.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nightfall Gleam smiled. “After all, both of us are renowned inventors from the Mages’ Tower of Canterlot. Between the two of us, we should be able to craft something worth giving a king.”
“That’s a great idea!” Jewel Pin said, taking a sip of her fruit juice. “What shall the rest of us do in the meantime?
“We actually have an idea for that, too,” LightSpeckle said. “Inventors we may be, but anything we create still needs materials. You’ve got the bits, so me and Nightfall will put together a list of things we need. Then you can go out and buy them.”
“Buyin’ things without speaking the language?” Golden Nugget scratched his chin. “Ah dunno how well that’ll go, but we can give it a shot, eeyup.”
“We can ask Androula if there are any merchants that speak English, or if she can spare someone to help translate for us,” Posey said seriously. “How soon can you put that list together, mages?”
“We can have it ready as soon as we decide what we’re making. It’ll have to be impressive, so we can spare no expense when it comes to materials. Something big.”
And so it was agreed that while the mages drew out the plans for their big gift, that the rest of them would hit the market streets and see if they could find components for the two inventors.
“So we need some metal plates, several glass lenses, some adhesive, metal bands, and some metal rods?”
“What’s adhesive?” Spectrum asked as they left the Coiling Cobra.
“Glue,” Emerald replied, folding up the list and putting it in her pocket. She declined to mention that she had found out some years ago that glue in this world was made from horses’ remains.
They had spoken to the owner of the inn before setting out, and she had sent one of her serving girls along with them. Her name was Tahchin Sumac, and she had been working at the Coiling Cobra for six years. Emerald and the rest of her group were curious about how she spoke English, but she declined to answer. She spoke English with less of an accent than Androula, so Emerald surmised that she was not local, though she certainly looked and sounded it as she had gone around the inn. Fortunately there was not as much work at the Coiling Cobra that day, since the majority of the guests had left the city to go hunt the white dragon.
"King Aldilu is very outspoken about the safety of his people," Tahchin had told them as they neared the markets. "His rule over Masyaf and Saddle Arabia has been peaceful and prosperous. In fact, he once visited the Coiling Cobra and gave it his seal of approval."
“He sounds like a good king,” Emerald agreed, only half paying attention. “Let’s start with the glass lenses. Speckle and Nightfall were very particular about the quality of the glass that should be used.”
“Glass… Tahchin said, racking her brains to try and remember where they might procure such a material. “That you will not find in the market district. If it is glass of high quality you are after, we must go see the glass-blower’s in the artisan’s district. Follow me.”
Tahchin took off through the crowd of shoppers and sellers, leading them through a winding maze of streets and roads. They passed some people on camelback and horseback on their way, and Emerald took the time to note the differences between Canterlot horses and Saddle Arabian horses. The horses in this part of the world seemed smaller and lighter than the ones on the other side of the Coltcasus Mountains, and the former pegasus was certain that they would be fleeter of foot. Seeing how much Foxtrot ate in a day, it all made sense why Canterlot horses were bigger and heavier.
They passed through a public garden where citizens of Masyaf were relaxing and chatting in the shade, giving the group idle stares as they scurried past.
They finally arrived in a section of the city that was less crowded, but the people who were here were dressed more opulently, with fancy hats, turbans, and jewelry adorning them. There were shops here, not just ramshackle stands like in the market district.
“I say, this district looks quite refined,” Jewel Pin remarked, examining a beautiful woven tapestry that hung in the front of one of the shops. It depicted a man and a woman dancing under the moon at the edge of an oasis. “Tis magnificent! It’s good enough to hang in a palace on its own.”
Emerald rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Nothing dampens your spirits, does it?”
“As an artist myself,” Jewel Pin left the tapestry and returned to the group. “One must find the beauty in any situation. That way, we can portray all the different facets of the human spirit. Or in my case, make just as fine an outfit for a wedding as for a funeral.”
“You really put the ‘fun’ in funeral,” Spectrum cracked. Now Emerald wasn’t the only one rolling her eyes.
They followed their guide a little further, to a shop that stood at the corner of the street. It had colorful glass windows and there were other glass ornaments hung up outside the main door that tinkled with tingly music as the wind stirred them.
“This is the glass-blower’s shop,” Tahchin announced. “This shop is the supplier for most of the glass goods in the city, so if you need glass made, this is the place for it.”
Taking the list and specifications out of her pocket, Emerald pushed open the door to the shop and entered. Inside was a rainbow kaleidoscope of colors, with the light from outside streaming inside through the multicolored windows and striking an impressive collection of vases, jars, windchimes, and dozens of other glass objects to spare. It was also warmer inside this building, though Emerald couldn’t tell why.
Tahchin had followed her inside. She called out in Saddle Arabian, and there was some sound of movement from further back inside the shop.
A short, skinny man wearing a leather apron and a sooty brown tunic and breeches appeared from a side door. He had a curled brown moustache and his similarly colored hair was held back with a strip of cloth. He caught sight of Emerald and Tahchin and his face broke out into an easy smile.
He said something in Saddle Arabian and bowed to Emerald and Tahchin, who bowed back to him. Then he and Tahchin began to converse in the Saddle Arabian language.
“This is, ah…” She struggled to find the appropriate equal in English before deciding that was impossible. “His name is Zujaj. He is one of the most skilled glass-blowers in the artisan district. He will be happy to make your order.”
Emerald took out the sheet of instructions and passed it to Zujaj while Tahchin explained what needed to be done. Thankfully, despite not speaking the same tongue, their numbers were the same and Zujaj seemed to understand what they meant very quickly.
He spoke to Tahchin and pointed to the diagrams a couple of times. Then he rolled up the instructions and nodded with a smile.
“Zujaj says he can get right on it, since he has no other orders today,” Tahchin replied. “He says it will cost about fifty bits per lens. So that’s one hundred and fifty in total.”
Emerald counted out the bits and handed them over to Zujaj. Her wallet was getting a little light, but she figured that all the treasure from the Baba Yaga’s lair and the rest of their funds would be able to get them through the rest of the adventure. Celestia help them if it wasn’t; finding a job here would be a total nightmare.
The glass-blower put the bits into his strongbox, and after telling Tahchin something else, he hurried to the back room of his shop to get to work.
“He says that the lenses will be ready by tomorrow at this time. In the meantime, what else did you need to purchase?”
Emerald took out the list as they left the glass-blower’s shop and rejoined with her friends outside. “We need some metal plates, bands, and rods. As well as some glue.”
“Glue you can get from any good carpenter’s,” Tahchin nodded. “As for your metal, we will need to visit a smith’s. Where would you like to go first?”
Emerald glanced at the sun. It was still relatively high, meaning they had at least six hours of daylight ahead of them. “Which place is closer?” The former pegasus asked.
“The carpenter and the blacksmith’s are in the same district,” Tahchin explained. “But I suppose you don’t want to be carrying a bunch of metal around while getting the glue, so we can go to the carpenter’s place first.”
They set off down the main street, passing other artisan shops and others who were weaving, painting, or even making pottery out in the daylight. Emerald marveled at the various works of art as they went, noting how they were similar, yet different to the kind she had seen back in Canterlot. She breathed in the slightly dry air and adjusted her hood. She hoped that whatever the mages were making would be impressive enough to curry the favor of the king.
“This is perfect!”
Light Speckle and Nightfall Gleam beamed at the rest of the party as they looked at all the materials. On the next day, Emerald had gone to pick up the glass lenses from the artisan’s district, carefully wrapping them in cloth and placing them inside a wooden box for safe transportation.
The lenses, as well as the rest of the metal, glue, and other miscellaneous items now lay on a wide table in the basement of the Coiling Cobra. Androula had allowed them to use it as a workshop, so long as they stayed out of the way if anyone needed to come down here and get more food and drink.
“We’ll get to work right away,” Light Speckle rubbed her hands together. “Ah, I have missed working with my hands.”
“What’re ya going to make?” Golden Nugget asked, rubbing his chin. “Y’all musta had some idea if ya knew what to send us out for.”
“Well, take a look at this,” Nightfall took out her collapsible spyglass and extended the device to its full length. “We are going to build a bigger version of this. It will allow the king to look over his kingdom in greater detail, as well as see other faraway things up close.”
“Hopefully it will be unique enough to help sway him to our goals,” Light Speckle nodded, taking out a length of leather with numerals marked along its span. “You have all done splendidly. Now it is up to us to assemble the gift.”
“That’s great!” Honeygold, Spectrum Song, and Guard Streak all raised their hands and slapped them together. “What’s it called?”