• Published 12th Dec 2013
  • 1,880 Views, 152 Comments

My Little Investigations: The Gemstone Godfather - Metool Bard



Some jerk is trying to shake me down for gems, but he won't tell me who the buck he is. Why me of all ponies? I have no idea.

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Luncheon Logic

July 12, 12:18 PM
Ponyville
Sugarcube Corner
***

"Hi, Mama! Hi, Amethyst!"

I don't mean to sound sappy, but it always warms my heart to see a smile on a kid's face. Especially when that kid is Dinky Doo. And she was wearing a big one when she greeted us at Sugarcube Corner. After my meeting with Sykes Silvervest, that kind of joy was something I needed to see. The only downside was that it forced me to hold off on my Pinkie Promise. Hey, don't look at me like that. If you saw that adorable smile on Dinky's face, you wouldn't want to ruin her mood, either.

"Hello, Muffin," said Derpy sweetly. "You seem to be in a good mood."

"You bet! I found out a lot!" said Dinky. "C'mon, I'll tell you over lunch."

This, actually doesn't surprise me. Deep down, I think Dinky knew that we had her talk to Karat so that she would stay out of harm's way. But instead of getting mad about it, she decided to take the initiative and do some extra sleuthing elsewhere. It's very sweet that she wants to help me so much. I kinda wish she didn't though. You should know why that is by now, so I'm not gonna bother repeating myself.

Anyway, as soon as we walked through the door, we were greeted by none other than Pinkie Pie. There's a bit of a saying we have in Ponyville: Laugh and Equestria laughs with you; cry and Pinkie Pie will cheer you up. Seriously, it's almost impossible to be in a bad mood around Pinkie. I say "almost" because, well, she's also one of the nuttiest ponies in town (and in a town full of eccentric nuts, that's saying something). If you thought my mom was kooky, she's got nothing on the randomness that is Pinkie Pie. It's, hard to explain without some form of visual aid, so let me just say that detective kits aren't the only thing Pinkie has stashed all over Ponyville. I realize that it's very tempting to take that the wrong way, but try not to.

"Hello there, Derpy. Hi, Sparkler," said Pinkie. "Dinky reserved a table for you. Right this way."

Although she wore a wide grin, I felt as though she was reining her bombastic nature in a bit. Again, I wasn't surprised. Pinkie Pie makes it a point to befriend everypony in town, as well as keep herself informed about anything that's going on (she's even memorized everypony's birthday, if you can believe that). As such, she knew at the very least that I was going through some tough times. Once upon a time, she would've ignored that fact and proceed to try and cheer me up, anyway. But after a while, she learned to show more consideration for the feelings of other ponies. I doubt I'm alone when I say that I'm very grateful for that.

"Thanks, Pinkie," I said as she led us to our table.

"So, what'll it be?" Pinkie asked. "The usual today, or are you in the mood for something different?"

"The usual for me," said Derpy. "Lemon poppyseed this time."

"I'll have a plain bagel with cream cheese," I said. "And some mint tea."

"I'd like a crescent roll with strawberry jam and some mint tea, please," said Dinky.

"Coming right up," said Pinkie. With that, she trotted off into the kitchen.

"So, Dink. What have you come up with?" I asked.

Dinky took a moment to blow some bubbles out of her bubble pipe before answering me. "Well, I asked Mr. Karat about the attack on the jewelry store yesterday, just like you told me to. As I thought, he didn't have much to contribute to the investigation. He didn't know the store was broken into until yesterday morning. So instead, I continued to ask around town to see if anypony else found anything suspicious."

"And?"

Dinky took out her notebook and rummaged through it. "I was getting more of the same answers as yesterday. Out of everypony I asked, none of them saw or heard anything out of the ordinary during the night of the attack."

I tilted my head. "That's nothing new, Dink. I thought you said that you found a lot of clues."

"I was just about to get to that part," said Dinky. "See, after hearing the same answer so many times, I figured that there had to be a reason for it. And then, it hit me."

"What hit you?"

"The reason ponies never noticed anything has to be because of some form of magic."

That explanation was plausible enough, but I knew there was a catch.

"What kind of magic?" I asked.

Dinky's cheeks turned pink. "Oh. Um, I don't know," she said sheepishly.

Yeah, I figured. Dinky might be a whiz kid, but she's still just a kid. She only has a very basic understanding of magic and how it works, which is typical for a filly her age. Then again, maybe I shouldn't talk. I wasn't sure what spell to look for, either.

See, the basic concept of unicorn magic is that you make something you want to happen happen. Unicorn foals discover this rather quickly through magic surges. But if you were to ask any adult unicorn on the street (such as Yours Truly), they'd all tell you the same thing: It's a lot more complicated than that. If I wanted to, say, cast a protection spell, I couldn't just think of a forcefield and make it appear. There's a specific procedure to spell-casting, and each individual spell has a different procedure. And unless your special talent just so happens to be magic, it's not very likely that you're gonna know those procedures off the top of your head. That's why the average unicorn only knows two kinds of magic: Telekinesis (which comes naturally to every unicorn) and spells that tie in with their special talent (which in my case would be cutting and refining gemstones).

Of course, that's unicorn magic. So far, my only suspects have been Diamond Dogs and dragons. I have no flipping idea what kind of magic they use, or if they can use magic at all.

"So, you came up with this theory that magic was used when the jewelry store was attacked," said Derpy. "What did you do then, Muffin?"

"Well, I thought I could learn some more about the subject, so I went to the library," said Dinky. "Princess Twilight Sparkle wasn't there, but Mr. Spike was. And actually, he told me something very interesting."

"Oh? What's that?" I asked.

"He thinks that you were attacked by dragons, Mama. Mean teenage dragons who were pranking you."

That was the same theory he told me when I had brunch with Rarity yesterday. I knew it wasn't exactly true, but I had a feeling that Dinky was going somewhere with this. "So, did you ask Spike any other questions?"

"Of course," said Dinky. "I asked him if dragons could use magic, but he said he didn't know of any who could besides himself. He explained it's because Princess Celestia enchanted him so that he could send letters. And then, I had another idea."

"Another idea?" parroted Derpy.

Dinky nodded. "Based on what Mr. Spike told me, wild dragons probably don't use magic because they don't need it. However, the same cannot be said about Diamond Dogs. So, my theory is that the dragons were pranking Mama, and the Diamond Dogs used their magic to destroy the jewelry store."

I rubbed the side of my head. "I dunno, Dink. We still don't have a motive for the Diamond Dogs to do that."

"Well, that's why we're comparing notes," said Dinky. "Speaking of which, how did your investigation go, Amethyst?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Derpy give me a look. I knew what it meant. She was expecting me to tell Dinky everything. But, I just wasn't ready.

"Well, we found out quite a bit, too," I said. "Here's what we know, Dink..."

I then told her about my meeting with Sykes Silvervest while Pinkie brought us our lunch. Once again, I neglected to mention the ransom note. Derpy gave me a look of disappointment that caused me to wince. Dinky didn't seem to catch it, as she was too focused on processing the story.

"So, there's a Diamond Dog who's leading a gang of dragons and waging war against this Sykes Silvervest guy?" said Dinky.

"Yeah," I said. "Actually, I might've seen him yesterday."

"Oh?"

"After meeting with Rarity, I wanted to talk to the Redvest pack again," I explained. "But before I could see them, they were attacked by a gang of dragons who were led by another Diamond Dog. I wasn't sure what he was talking about at the time, but now I know that he's after his former boss, Sykes Silvervest."

"I see," said Dinky, taking a bite out of her crescent roll. "Is there anything about that Diamond Dog that stood out?"

That question sparked something in my mind. Even if we couldn't figure out what spell was used, Dinky did figure out something important.

"Yes, actually," I said. "He was fiddling with something in his paw. When he left, he raised it into the sky and summoned a phoenix out of nowhere. The phoenix blinded us all, and the Diamond Dog and his dragons got away."

Dinky smiled. "Now we're getting somewhere. I was right. Diamond Dogs can use magic. So maybe this Diamond Dog who led the dragons is our culprit!"

At this point, that's a good possibility. However, that's all it is: A possibility. We still needed concrete proof before getting the princess involved. And there was only one way I was gonna get that proof.

"Dinky, I have a new assignment for you," I said. "After lunch, head back to the library and see if you can find any books on Diamond Dogs. There might be something about how they use magic."

"Will do," said Dinky. "What are you going to be doing in the meantime?"

Something very stupid, was what I wanted to say. But instead, I said, "Mom and I are heading back to the northern timberline to ask about the dragons. Maybe there's something we missed."

Dinky frowned. "You've been going into danger a lot lately, Amethyst. I know you want to solve this mystery, and I know you've been lucky so far. But still, please be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Don't worry, Muffin," said Derpy, patting Dinky on the head. "Mama's not gonna let anything bad happen to your big sister. I promise."

Dinky's smile returned. "Thank you, Mama. I know she'll be safe with you."

And visa-versa. My mom might be tough, but I'm gonna be watching her back just as much as she's watching mine. And apparently, Mare-Do-Well is watching all of us. Speaking of Mare-Do-Well, I wonder what she's up to. I haven't seen her since yesterday.

Oh, well. I suppose she just pops up whenever she wants to, anyway; she'll probably drop in when she has found something. In the meanwhile, I think it's time I paid Dodger Dragonvest a visit.

...

Hey, I told you I was gonna do something stupid, didn't I? Heck, I never would've mustered up the courage to face him alone. But I don't care what Sykes Silvervest says; I'm not weak and helpless. I'm fighting against this protection racket for as long as my inner strength holds out, and nothing's gonna stop me.