My Little Investigations: The Gemstone Godfather

by Metool Bard

Confrontation: Garble

"Alright, pony. This is as far as we take you."

Before I could open my eyes, Garble released me in midair. I fell to the ground with an unceremonious thud and gave him an angry glare.

"Yeah, thanks," I said sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm not a taxi service," Garble growled. "Now, you and your mom beat it. We've got work to do here."

"Actually, I'd like to ask you a few questions," I said.

Garble raised an eyebrow. "Do you have wax in your ears or something? I said beat it. Am-scray. Vamoose."

"Maybe we should do what he says, Ammy," said Derpy.

"I know what I'm doing, Mom," I said before turning back to Garble. "Listen, I just want you to clear up a few things on this Kohryu guy your boss keeps talking about."

"Well, why are you asking me? I've never met the guy," said Garble. "None of us have."

I blinked. "Wait, if you've never met him, then why do you follow him?"

"Because shut up," Garble snapped, sounding a wee bit defensive. "We don't have to tell you anything, pony."

"Well, what're you gonna do if I don't leave?" I said smugly. "Kohryu might not be too happy with you if you try to hurt me."

Garble snorted. "Go ahead, play that card. I don't care. What Kohryu doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Oh, really?" I said. "I was under the impression that he was always watching you."

Garble snickered. "If you think that, you're sorely mistaken. I know he's not watching me all the time."

"I don't believe you," I said. "If I was working with you guys, I'd always make sure to keep my eye on you."

"It's not that simple," said Garble.

"Then simplify it for me," I countered. "Because otherwise, I'm not leaving."

Garble clenched his claws into fists and gritted his teeth for a while before finally letting out a great sigh. "Alright, fine. But after that, you'd better scram. Got it?"

"Got it," I said. And yeah, just so you know, I was bluffing my flank off that whole time. It was risky, but I had a feeling that Garble knew something about all this. I had to take my chances.

"It's true that Kohryu usually oversees us through his stupid acolytes," said Garble. "However, it's not a perfect system. The acolytes work in shifts, and in between those shifts, we can do whatever we want. Trust me, if it wasn't for the fact that he's not a dragon to mess with, we wouldn't follow him at all."

Hmm. Not really the information I was looking for. I already knew that these dragons feared Kohryu on some level after overhearing their conversation earlier. I had to dig a bit deeper.

"So, you follow him because you're afraid of him?" I inquired.

Garble's eyes narrowed. "Give me a reason to roast you alive, pony. 'Cause I just might do it, Kohryu or no Kohryu."

I swallowed. "I-I'll take that as a 'yes,'" I said, trying to keep my cool. "Well, what do you know about him?"

"All I know is that he's the toughest pansy who ever lived," said Garble. "Sure, he says all life is sacred and whatnot, but if you make him mad, you're a goner. So, we don't make him mad."

"It doesn't change the fact that he's a prick," Fume growled.

Okay, I think I'm missing something here. If Kohryu claims that life is sacred, why is he telling Dodger Dragonvest to orchestrate a war against the Silvervest pack? I doubt Garble has the answer to that question, so I decided to focus on something else.

"What exactly do you do when Kohryu's back is turned?" I asked.

"Like I said, anything we want," said Garble. "Eat gems; raid phoenix nests. Y'know, dragon stuff."

"Uh-huh," I said with a nod. "Now, does that include attacking ponies?"

Garble stroked his chin in thought. "Well, it could. Which is why you'd better get a move-on right now. We don't have the time to deal with you."

I smirked and brushed the underside of my nose with my hoof. "Oh, I'll leave when I'm good and ready," I said. "Because right now, I think there's something you should answer for."

Garble scoffed. "Did you forget who you're talking to, pony? I don't have to answer for anything."

"Oh, yeah? Well, let me jog your memory," I said. "Two days ago, my mom here was attacked on her mail route. She was passing by this exact area when it happened. Not only that, but she was covered in burns. You see what I'm getting at?"

"No, and I don't care," said Garble bluntly.

"According to a friend of mine who had a run-in with you guys, those flames were caused by dragon fire," I said. "Ergo, that means you and your motley crew are the only ones who could've attacked her!"

I half-expected Garble to attack me at that point, but instead, his eyes started darting around every which way. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, pony," he said. "W-we'd never do that. Kohryu said..."

"Ah, but you said you would attack ponies for whatever reason if Kohryu's acolytes weren't watching you," I said. "So who's to say you didn't?"

"Shut up! It wasn't us!"

Garble expelled a plume of flame from his mouth as he recoiled from my logic. Something was clearly making him uneasy.

"So, you deny that you attacked my mom two days ago," I said. "Can you prove it?"

"O-of course I can!" said Garble. "Clump and Fume can vouch for me, too! Right, fellas?"

Fume huffed. "You're losing your edge, Garble. We don't have to tell the pony anything. She can believe whatever she wants to believe. It's not like she can do anything about it."

"Perhaps not. But I can."

A slow, methodical voice came from off to the side. I turned to see that it was coming out of what looked like a large black rock. Four legs then slowly emerged from the rock, followed by the head of a tortoise with a scar across his eye.

"Oh! Hey, Genbu!" said Garble nervously. "Nice weather we're having, huh?"

"Do not change the subject, Garble," said the tortoise. "I am eager to hear the rest of your story. Please, do go on."

"So, wait. You can talk back to a fellow dragon just fine, but you're afraid of a turtle?" asked Derpy. "That's silly."

"It's not silly!" Clump blurted out. "That's Genbu, the Black Tortoise as cold as the frost! He can freeze us with a thought, and we dragons hate the cold! We're not messing with him!"

Normally, I'd be skeptical of such a claim, but let's face it. If a dragon says he's afraid of something, there's probably a damn good reason for it. Besides, a talking magical tortoise with ice powers isn't the weirdest thing I've seen in my lifetime. Again, I live in Ponyville.

"Let's get back on track, shall we?" I said. "You said that you could prove that you didn't attack my mom, correct?"

"That's right," said Garble, clearing his throat.

"Okay, how?"

"I know who did."

Now we're getting somewhere. "Alright then. Let's hear your side of the story."

"You got it," said Garble, nervously eyeing Genbu. I get the feeling that if that tortoise wasn't around, none of these dragons would be nearly as cooperative. I need to make the most of this and squeeze every last bit of information I can out of them.

"You said the attack happened two days ago, right?" said Garble. "Well, as it just so happens, we were here at that time mining for gems. We were being watched, so it couldn't possibly have been us. However, I did see a pillar of fire burst from the ground in the distance. It had to be that dragon who attacked the pony!"

"So, you saw this and you didn't do anything?" asked Derpy.

"H-hey! Kohryu told us to mine gems, so we were mining gems!" snapped Garble. "It wasn't our business!"

Derpy pouted. "You dragons are mean."

"And I'm sure they're really ashamed of that," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah. They should be," huffed Derpy.

I sighed. "Never mind," I said. Yeah, Derpy doesn't always pick up on sarcasm. But, enough about that. I had to clear up any ambiguity in Garble's story and see if he was telling the truth or not.

"Describe the event for me in detail," I said.

"Right, sure," said Garble. "Well, it was some time in the afternoon. We were all just digging around and minding our own business. Then, off in the distance, I saw it. A great pillar of orange flame just burst from the ground and hit something out of the sky."

"And you think that flame belonged to a dragon?" I asked.

"Hey, I think I know a dragon's flame when I see it, pony," growled Garble.

"But, I was under the impression that all of the dragons in this area were serving Kohryu," I said.

"Well, not all of them," said Garble. "For whatever reason, the Boss has just been recruiting us teenage dragons. It could've been some other dragon."

That didn't seem likely, and I think Garble knew it. I shook my head.

"No, it couldn't have," I said. "I think you're hiding something from me, Garble."

"Wh-what?!"

Garble expelled another plume of flame as he recoiled from my logic.

"I-I wouldn't lie to you in front of Genbu!" he yelled. "He'd turn me into an dragoncicle if I did!"

"You said that all you saw was a pillar of flame spring from the ground," I said. "However, if a full-grown dragon attacked my mom, you should've seen a lot more than that. In fact, you wouldn't have described it as a flame from the ground at all."

"She has a point, Garble," said Genbu. "Would you care to counteract it?"

Garble swallowed. "W-well, there is one teenage dragon who's not with us," he said. "B-but it couldn't have been her!"

"Why not?" I asked.

"'Cause she's a goofy cross-eyed weirdo!"

Oh, he did not just say that. Out of morbid curiosity, I turned to Derpy. She was anything but happy. In fact, if looks could kill, Garble would've been stone dead by now.

"And what do you have against goofy cross-eyed weirdos, huh?" she snarled.

"Hey, I wasn't talking about you, okay?" said Garble, sticking his tongue out at Derpy.

And Genbu just sat there and did nothing while this was going on. I guess according to Kohryu, insults are allowed as long as they don't end up killing anything. Meanwhile, Derpy looked like she was ready to punch Garble in the face.

"Calm down, Mom. It's not worth it," I said, trying to defuse the situation.

"B-but Ammy..."

"Mom, he didn't know you were sensitive about that," I said. "Besides, we're not gonna get anywhere if we dwell on this."

Derpy paused for a moment, and then sighed. "Y-you're right," she said. "I'm sorry, Ammy."

"It's okay. I understand," I said, nuzzling her cheek. I then turned back to Garble. "Anyway, tell me about this dragon."

"Her name's Crackle," said Garble. "Like I said, she's a bit of a weirdo. But apparently, she had enough brains to make herself scarce when the Boss was starting to round up recruits. We have no idea where she is now. Either way, I highly doubt it was her. I mean, what would she be doing underground, anyway?"

That's a good question, but I think I have an answer.

"Maybe you guys aren't the only ones allying yourselves with Diamond Dogs," I said. "Maybe she got recruited herself."

"You mean by that Silvervest pack the Boss keeps going on about?" asked Fume.

"It's possible," I said with a shrug.

Garble stroked his chin in thought. "I suppose it is. I mean, if those Diamond Dogs have enough gems, they could certainly bribe a dragon to do their bidding."

"Hmph, lucky Crackle," grumbled Clump. "She gets bribed, and we get threatened."

"If you dragons considered the greater picture instead of your short-term gain, we would not have to threaten you," said Genbu sagely.

The dragons had nothing to say to that, so they remained silent. In the meantime, I had another problem. It was only a hunch, but it's possible that this Crackle dragon was hired by Sykes Silvervest in order to attack my mom. It still didn't explain the attack on the jewelry store or anything else for that matter, and I couldn't even prove that it was true. I think I might need to meet with Sykes again and ask him. I'm really not looking forward to that.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!"

My musings were interrupted by an all-too-familiar shriek that came from Ponyville. Anypony who has lived in Ponyville long enough knows that shriek. It's a shriek that could be heard for miles.

"That sounds like Rarity!" Derpy exclaimed.

Of course it was Rarity. There's nopony else in Ponyville who shrieks like that. Now, as I said before, Rarity is a drama queen, so she'd freak out over just about anything. But in this case, I couldn't ignore her. I still had that theory about her being blackmailed by the same guy who's blackmailing me. Maybe this would confirm it.

"Well, that's our cue," I said to Garble. "Thanks for the info; it was really helpful. Gotta run, bye!"

"Yeah, bye!" said Derpy.

Before Garble could respond, Derpy and I booked it back to Ponyville as fast as our legs could carry us. Part of me is hoping that Rarity just misplaced a spool of thread or something, but I highly doubt that's the case. This mystery hasn't been kind to me so far; why should it start now?