My Little Investigations: The Gemstone Godfather

by Metool Bard

Mother Knows Best

July 11, 10:00 AM
Everfree Forest
Northern Timberline
***

After I returned from the underground network, I started heading back to Ponyville and planning my next move. I didn't get far before I heard a voice calling out to me from above.

"Ammy~!"

I looked up to see Derpy Hooves flying around with her friend, Raindrops. Apparently, they were looking for me. I wasn't sure why, but I had a feeling that I'd find out soon enough. Before I could process this new development, Raindrops spotted me.

"Derpy, I found her!" she hollered. "She's over here!"

Derpy looked down at me and frowned. She then swooped in and touched down right in front of me, giving me a stern glare.

"Uh, Mom? What are you doing here?" I asked.

Derpy folded her forelegs. "Ammy, why is Dinky going around town asking about the jewelry shop being ransacked last night?"

Hoo boy, did I ever feel dumb. I sent Dinky on that investigation to keep her away from the Diamond Dogs. It never occurred to me that Derpy would find out about it. Hindsight's a bitch, ain't it?

"H-how much do you know?" I asked.

"'Drops told me everything that Dinky told her," said Derpy, her face clouded with concern. "Ammy, I'm worried about you. Is something wrong?"

She already knew the answer to that question, of course. She was just asking me to get the details. The problem was I didn't really feel like sharing. I couldn't bear to break her heart.

"I-I'm sorry, Mom," I said with a heavy sigh. "I-I can't tell you."

Derpy tilted her head. "Why not? Don't you trust me?"

"O-of course I do, Mom. But this isn't about trust," I said. "Y-you already have your own problems. I don't wanna..."

Derpy cut across me with a sigh. "Ammy, let me worry about that. Right now, I want to know what's wrong so I can help you."

She had me there. With a sigh of defeat, I took out the ransom note and levitated it in front of her face.

"Um, what's this?" Derpy asked.

"Read it," I said, averting my eyes.

All was silent for a time as I braced myself for the inevitable. The silence was broken by a gasp from Derpy, and I cringed.

"Ammy, wh-where did you get this?" asked Derpy.

"I-it was in front of the jewelry store," I whimpered. "I-I'm sorry, Mom. I..."

I was interrupted by Derpy wrapping her forelegs and wings around me, squeezing some of my tears out.

"It's okay, Ammy," Derpy whispered. "I'm not mad at you. I understand why you didn't want to tell me about this. But still, I'm glad that you did. Because now, I can help you."

I don't know how to explain this, but hearing her say that made me feel better and worse at the same time. On the one hoof, it was a bit of a relief to get that off of my chest, and well, I took a bit of comfort in knowing that somepony had my back. But that was all the more reason to worry about what would happen if this anonymous guy took that support away from me.

"Th-thanks, Mom," I said. "I-I really appreciate that."

"I know," said Derpy, releasing me. "So, what are you doing out here, anyway? Dinky said you were following up on a clue or something."

I told Derpy about my investigation thus far, including the bit with Mare-Do-Well. Derpy frowned and furrowed her brow.

"Well, I don't know anything about Diamond Dogs myself, so I can't really help you there," she said with a shrug. "But if you're going to see this Sykes Silvervest guy, I want to come with you."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "What about your mail route?"

"'Drops can substitute for me," said Derpy. "Isn't that right, 'Drops?"

"Huh? Oh, um. Sure," said Raindrops, twiddling her hooves. "I mean, maybe. I'll, have to check my calendar."

"Of course, of course," said Derpy with a smile. "You know I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with the Weather Factory, 'Drops."

Raindrops smiled back. "Right, of course," she said, brushing the back of her mane sheepishly.

I let out a muted chuckle. Besides being one of Derpy's best friends next to Carrot Top, Raindrops is known in Ponyville for being one of the town's most diligent weathermares. It's because of her hard work at the Weather Factory that she made it into the Wonderbolt Academy. However, she's also a bit wishy-washy. She just doesn't like treading on other ponies' hooves. I guess that's something she and Derpy have in common.

"Alright, fine," I said. "But don't tell Dinky about this, okay? I'm trying to protect her."

"I understand," said Derpy with a nod. "But I think you should tell her eventually. She's worried about you too, y'know."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll, think about it," I said. "Anyway, since we're here, I want to ask you a couple of things about what happened to you yesterday afternoon."

"Oh. That," said Derpy nervously. "Um, I honestly don't know how that's gonna help. Like I said, a lot of it was a blur."

"Just tell me what you remember," I said.

"Well, okay," said Derpy with a shrug. "I was out here just minding my own business, when all of a sudden, something hit me and caused me to crash. I don't know what it was, but I do remember the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well saving me from it and helping me home."

"Hmm," I said, knitting my brow. "What were you doing here, anyway? Did you have a package to deliver or something?"

"Well, yeah. I did," said Derpy, blushing profusely. "But I, kinda got lost on my way back from Fluttershy's cottage. Besides, that package was destroyed by whatever hit me."

If you're wondering how a mailmare in a town like Ponyville can possibly get lost, don't. There are actually two reasons for this. One, Derpy doesn't have the best sense of direction in the world. I mean it's not terrible, but she'll sometimes end up going the wrong way (this actually isn't that frequent, which is why she managed to keep her job). Two, Fluttershy's cottage is at the edge of the Everfree Forest, and quite frankly, anypony could get lost in that place. Seriously, only a select few ponies know their way around in there. So really, that wasn't a whole lot to go on.

"Is there anything else you remember?" I asked.

"I remember it being very, hot," said Derpy thoughtfully. "The rest is just blank."

And that wasn't a whole lot to go on, either. Still, if the attack on Derpy and the ransacking of the jewelry store were connected (which I'm pretty sure they are), I could use this information later.

"Just one more question," I said. "Where's Dinky?"

"Oh, I took her home on Derpy's insistence," said Raindrops. "She said she found everything she could, so she didn't mind. Although if I were you, I'd probably tell Mayor Mare or Princess Twilight about this."

Derpy stroked her chin. "I dunno, 'Drops. Ammy seems pretty determined to figure this out herself."

Raindrops blinked. "Wait, why? I was there when Karat discovered that his shop was wrecked. He told Amethyst to see Princess Twilight."

"'Drops, we can't go to the princess for everything," said Derpy. "She's still getting used to her new title."

"Okay, you have a good point there," said Raindrops. "But, are you sure it's alright for Amethyst to investigate on her own?"

Derpy gave me a quizzical look. I knew what it meant. She was asking me if it was okay for her to let Raindrops in on the secret. I shrugged, indicating that I wouldn't mind either way. I wasn't sure if Raindrops could help, seeing as she had her own stuff going on, but I understood that Derpy would want to share this kind of thing with her best friend.

"It's, kinda tough to explain, 'Drops," said Derpy. "I don't want to trouble you."

Raindrops raised an eyebrow. "Sounds to me like you're being a bit of a hypocrite, Derpy."

"W-well, I can get away with it because I'm Ammy's mother, and she knows to do as I say and not as I do. So nyah~!" said Derpy, sticking her tongue out at Raindrops.

I groaned. It's, hard to get a fix on how mature Derpy is. Sometimes, she's incredibly wise and knowledgeable. Other times, she's like this. I chalk this up to the fact that she is, well, a bit of a ditz. But that doesn't mean she's stupid; not by a long shot. There are just a few times when she forgets to use her brain. It happens.

Raindrops chuckled. "Okay, whatever you say, Derpy," she said. "But remember, if you need my help, you can just tell me."

"Trust me, 'Drops. I can never forget that," said Derpy with a laugh of her own. "Well, I'd better get back to my mail route. Seeya, 'Drops! Seeya, Ammy!"

With a salute, she took off into the air and flew back towards Ponyville.

"Yeah, I'd better get going, too," said Raindrops. "I'll see you around, I suppose."

With that, she took off after Derpy. I decided to head back to Ponyville myself. I still had to meet with Dinky and see what she found. I was hoping that she was luckier than I was, because all I had was a lead I couldn't capitalize on and some information that didn't do me a whole lot of good at the time. Plus, there was that whole matter of keeping things from her that I had to get over. While I did Pinkie Promise to tell her everything, I still didn't want to do it.

...

But the funny thing is that I didn't really like lying to her, either. Talk about your catch-22s.

Comments

[Ri2]

Very hot? Wait…waiiiit…SPIIIIIIIIIIKE!