My Little Investigations: The Gemstone Godfather

by Metool Bard


An Impossible Ultimatum

July 11, 8:30 AM
Ponyville
Golden Harvest's House
***

The next morning, I have to say I was kinda surprised. After Derpy's, incident yesterday, I thought she wasn't going to be able to get herself out the door. But no, she was actually considerably better. She was a lot less cheery and still in a bit of pain, but she was still better. My mom's always surprising me like that.

"Now Derpy, I know we're not going to be able to convince you to stay home," said Carrot Top. "But I still think you should see a doctor."

"I'll go see Dr. Horse later," said Derpy. "I've got something to deliver to him, anyway."

"And don't forget to tell Princess Twilight about what happened," I said.

"I won't, Ammy," said Derpy with a nod.

"And don't push yourself too hard," Dinky pipped up.

Derpy smiled and nuzzled Dinky. "Okay, Muffin. I'll try not to," she said softly. She then gave us a salute and took off into the sky.

"That Derpy. She's always been quite a trooper," Carrot Top mused wistfully. "Well, good luck today, Sparkler."

"Thanks, Carrot Top," I said. With that, Dinky and I headed out. While we were walking, I noticed that Dinky was lagging behind a little.

"What's the matter, Dink?" I asked.

Dinky yawned. "Sorry, Amethyst. I-I couldn't sleep last night."

That was understandable. I had trouble nodding off myself. I couldn't help it. I was just so, worried and confused. I'm sure Dinky was feeling the same way.

"Well, if you're too tired to help me, you can go home and go back to sleep," I suggested.

Dinky shook her head. "No, it's fine. You need me to keep you company."

"Dink, I really..."

"You say you don't, but I don't believe you," said Dinky, cutting across me. "Work is a lot less stressful if you're with a friend."

I sighed. It's not fair when she resorts to the Zen of Dinky to win an argument.

"Alright, fine," I relented. "But don't start dozing off on me, or I'm sending you straight home."

"Deal," said Dinky with a wide grin.

We continued walking in silence. I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves.

Okay, Amethyst. You can do this, I thought. Just don't think about Mom, and you'll be okay.

"What the buck happened to my store?!"

An exclamation from Karat snapped me out of my meditation. We were still quite a ways away from the jewelry store, but I think half the town heard that.

"That can't be good," I muttered half to myself. "Dinky, I'm going ahead to see what's up. I think you should probably go home."

"But..."

"No buts, Dinky," I said firmly. "This could be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'm not a baby, Amethyst," Dinky said with a pout. "I can take care of myself."

I know from experience that her statement is, kinda true. But the big sister in me remained steadfast.

"I know you mean well, but Mom would have a fit if she knew you got into trouble," I said. "Go home, Dink. I'll be alright."

"I promise not to get into trouble," said Dinky earnestly. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

That's, not really something you can guarantee. But at this point, I realized that it was impossible to reason with her. I firmly believe that she inherited her stubbornness from our mother.

"Okay, okay," I said. "But I'm holding you to that. Now c'mon."

With that, we galloped off to the jewelry store.

***
July 11, 8:48 AM
Ponyville
Jewelry Store
***

When we arrived at the place, my jaw simply dropped. It was a mess. The windows were busted open; glass and gemstones lay strewn all over the ground; everything was in disarray. No wonder Karat was so upset.

Speaking of Karat, he was standing outside and surveying the damage. He looked like he was still in shock. I decided it was best not to talk to him right this second. Also, there were a lot of other ponies just standing around and staring at the mess. None of them really knew what to make of it.

"Omigosh," Dinky gasped. "Wh-what happened?"

"I-I-I dunno, Dink," I said, feeling utterly astonished myself. "I-I-I really don't..."

It was as if my greatest aspirations had all gone up in smoke. I was so excited about this. I was going to get some more responsibility at my job; hopefully proving myself to Karat, and what happens? The store is ransacked before I could even open shop. Life had just bucked me over royally. What did I ever do to deserve this? Heck, what did Karat ever do to deserve this?! I was just about to start crying when I felt Dinky tap my leg.

"Amethyst, look there," she said.

I looked at where Dinky was pointing. There was an envelope lying in the rubble. Curious, I walked up to it and levitated it off the ground with my magic. I had no address on it, and overall looked very plain. I opened it up and found a letter inside. It read as follows:

Amethyst "Sparkler" Star:

You have a very nice life, you know. A good job; a loving family; a roof over your head. It would be a terrible shame if something were to, happen to all of that. Don't you agree, Ms. Star? Of course you do. After all, without all that, you'd have nothing.

So, here's what I want. I want you to pay me a gem tribute. Nothing major; just a little something every week or so to show me that you're serious about preventing these horrible things from happening to you. I've already given you two warnings. I'll delay the third one for five days, just to show you that I'm not such a bad guy. But three strikes, and you're out.

This is an offer you can't refuse. If you try, I'll make you wish you were never born. Otherwise, have a nice life.

~Anonymous

I just levitated the letter in front of my face, reading it over and over again. I-I couldn't wrap my mind around it. W-was someone trying to blackmail me? Why? And furthermore, why me specifically? I'm just a small-time apprentice. Wouldn't it make more sense to go after somepony more well-known? Not only that, but who would do such a thing? With all the craziness that happens in this town, the last thing I'd expect from anypony living here is, well, this. The freaking Princess of Friendship lives here, for Pete's sake!

Then something else hit me. If I don't know who this guy is, how the bucking hay was I supposed to pay this stupid tribute?! There was no way I could! As if threatening my family and livelihood wasn't bad enough; now this prick had to toy with me, too! What, was I just supposed to guess who to pay the tribute to?! Maybe that would make sense in Discord's twisted reality, but he's reformed now (or so I heard)! This wasn't so much an offer I couldn't refuse as much as an offer I couldn't possibly accept!

"Amethyst, are you okay?" asked Dinky.

I think she knew the answer to that question. I was far from okay, that much I knew. But I wasn't entirely sure how to feel. Half of me was very frightened; teetering on the edge of despair, even. But the other half wanted to go out and tear this cocksucker a new dock-hole. I was kinda torn both ways.

"Maybe we should go home," said Dinky. "You don't look so good."

Something else hit me right then and there. Was this, thug going to rope Dinky into this? She's just a filly. She shouldn't be a part of this. It isn't right. None of this was. As I slowly recovered from the shock, I felt a stinging sensation in my eyes and an angry inferno building up in my chest. But before I could release it all in one big tantrum, I heard another voice.

"Amethyst."

I looked up to see Karat standing before me. He looked pretty mad, but I knew that I had nothing to do with it. Well, not directly.

"I'm very sorry about this, Amethyst," he said somberly. "I, really don't know what happened."

"N-neither do I, Mr. Karat," I said. Yeah, I know that was only half-true, but I really didn't want to make this situation any worse than it already was.

"The worst part is I can't reschedule my appointment in Trottingham," Karat grumbled. "Amethyst, do you think you could do me a favor and let Princess Twilight know about what happened here? She should have the necessary resources to investigate this."

"Y-yessir," I said, hiding my face.

"Good. I leave this in your hooves then," said Karat. He then sighed. "I know you were looking forward to having more responsibility, Amethyst. Again, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Mr. Karat," I said.

Karat simply gave me a nod and went on his way, telling everypony to clear out and assuring them that the princess would handle it as he went. I sighed. In a way, I kinda felt responsible for this. I realize that I had no way of knowing this would happen, but still, this prick was hurting ponies that I care about just to get to me. I couldn't simply ignore it.

"C'mon, Dink. Let's go," I said, getting to my feet.

"Are we going to Golden Oak Library to tell the princess?" asked Dinky.

I shook my head. "No. We're going to find out what happened here."

Dinky blinked. "What? But Mr. Karat told you to..."

"Mr. Karat is leaving things in my hooves," I interrupted. "I don't want to let him down."

"When somepony tells you to do something, you need a good reason not to do it," quipped Dinky. "So, what is that reason?"

I bit my lip. I wasn't ready to show Dinky the letter. It would break her heart.

"It's a good reason," I said curtly. "That's all you need to know for now."

Dinky raised an eyebrow, obviously not buying that explanation. "Hmm. Something is rather fishy here," she mused. "Hang on, I need to get something. I'll be right back."

Before I could say anything, she trotted off. I wasn't sure what she was getting, but I didn't really care, either. All that was on my mind was getting to the bottom of this before anypony else got hurt. Unfortunately, I had a bad feeling that this was gonna be something easier said than done...