My Little Investigations: The Gemstone Godfather

by Metool Bard

Stepping Stones

July 13, 11:07 AM
Ponyville
Golden Oak Library
***

When you think of famous landmarks in Ponyville, a lot of different places come to mind. Carousel Boutique (as I've mentioned before), Sugarcube Corner, Sweet Apple Acres, Ghastly Gorge, and of course, the Everfree Forest. But there's one landmark that's almost never even called by name, and that landmark is Golden Oak Library. It's actually pretty strange when you think about it. Why, you ask? Oh, no reason. Just the minor factoid that it's run by the Princess of Friendship and her helper dragon. I mean, there's nothing noteworthy about that, amiright?

I kid, but actually, there is a reason for this. And that reason is that Princess Twilight Sparkle is perhaps the most humble princess Equestria has ever known. Yeah, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna aren't exactly stuffy nobles themselves; far from it as a matter of fact. But Princess Twilight somehow manages to take it a step further by insisting on being treated like everypony else. In fact, the only royal decree we've ever gotten from her was not to give her any special treatment just because she's a princess. A lot of ponies say that she's still getting used to her new title, and I can certainly buy that. But I dunno, I just find it strange that a princess would opt to live in a public library rather than a castle. Then again, Princess Twilight has always been known for her love of books, even before her coronation. So I guess it kinda makes sense.

And speaking of books, I mentioned before that Golden Oak Library has a pretty impressive collection. It might not look as big as the Canterlot Archives or the Manehattan Public Library, but it certainly feels as big when you walk in. I'm actually surprised that Princess Twilight actually managed to make room for her living space in this treasure trove of information. It's quite overwhelming at first, but it also means that it's very likely that you'll find what you're looking for. Okay, there's no guarantee, but your chances are still pretty good. Especially if you're looking for a book on obscure magic. Princess Twilight loves those.

I walked into the library with the emerald-ridden chunk of plaster in tow and found that Princess Twilight was simply going through her shelves and sorting her books. I had to remind myself not to bow before her when she looked at me (she doesn't like that). She gave me a friendly smile and nodded.

"Good morning, Sparkler," she said pleasantly.

"'Morning, Your Highness," I said. "Say, have you seen Dinky anywhere? She told me that she was coming here today to look something up."

"Oh, she's upstairs," said Princess Twilight. "Actually, she says that she's investigating some of these strange incidents that have been occurring in town as of late. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"You mean like the jewelry store being destroyed without anypony noticing?" I asked.

"That and Rarity's cat being tied to a tree without anypony noticing," said Princess Twilight. "I'd look into it myself, but I've been informed that it's already being taken care of."

I raised an eyebrow. "Who told you that?" I inquired.

"Just an old friend of mine. You probably wouldn't know her," said Princess Twilight with a shrug. She then sighed. "However, this is pretty hard to ignore. I just hope it's resolved before things really get out of hoof. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to take action."

Oh, man. She is not going to be happy when she hears about the ponynapping of Limestone Pie. That might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back, and then we've got an international crisis on our hooves. Come to think of it, I wonder if she knows that, and if that's the reason she's not investigating right now. If she does, well, your guess is as good as mine how she became privy to that information. She couldn't have gotten it from Rarity or Spike; I already told them not to tell her. And Dinky has no idea what's really going on, so I doubt she heard about it from her. Maybe it's the mysterious friend she mentioned, whoever that is.

Wait a minute. Could that mysterious friend be Mare-Do-Well? I mean, she told me from the beginning that involving a newly-crowned princess in interspecies politics was a recipe for disaster. Does that mean she knows Mare-Do-Well personally? How does that work?

"Amethyst? I thought you were investigating the rock farm. What are you doing here?"

A familiar voice from upstairs derailed my train of thought and snapped me back to reality. I looked up, and there was Dinky, holding a small tome with her magic. From her tone of voice, I think she was still bummed that she didn't get to accompany me to the rock farm. Not that I really feel guilty about that (I had a pretty good reason for not letting her tag along), but I think figuring out this new clue with her will make up for it. I gave her a smile.

"I've pretty much finished up my investigation over there," I said. "In fact, I managed to come across a pretty vital clue. I'm not quite sure what it is yet, but maybe we can find out together."

Dinky's face lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree, just as I thought it would. "That's terrific, Amethyst. I actually found some interesting stuff, too. Come on up, and we can compare notes. You don't mind, do you, Your Highness?"

"Not at all," said Princess Twilight. "Just let me know if you need anything."

"Sure, no problem." I said as I made my way upstairs. I'm starting to think that Princess Twilight knows more than she lets on, because she somehow doesn't find this odd in the slightest. Then again, she has her mysterious informant coupled with Dinky blatantly telling her what she's up to, so a bright pony like her could easily connect the dots. Whatever the case may be, she said she wasn't gonna get involved unless push came to shove, so hopefully, there's nothing to worry about on that end. At least, not right now.

***

"So, what did you find out, Dink?" I asked as we situated ourselves in the upstairs study.

"Well, it didn't take long for Princess Twilight Sparkle to find what we needed," said Dinky, holding the tome aloft. The title read: Mystical Gemstones and Jewels: A Reference Guide. "This lists every type of mystical gemstone known to Equestria. If some kind of magic was used to make it so that the culprit pulled off his crimes without being detected, we're sure to find it here."

"Sounds like exactly what we need," I said. "So, have you found anything yet?"

Dinky shook her head. "Not quite. I'm still not entirely sure what exactly what kind of magic we're looking for, and none of the gemstones I've found so far seem to be powerful enough to house such advanced magic. All I've seen are spells that correspond to different parts of nature, such as fire or ice. There's also a chapter on absorbing those natural elements with the gemstones, but it looks pretty complicated."

I nodded. "Well, I think I know how we can narrow down our search a bit," I said, showing her the cast Pinkie made. "This is a bit of evidence we gathered from the rock farm. It's a replica of a pawprint we found in the East Field. But that's not what got my attention."

"It isn't?" inquired Dinky, raising an eyebrow. "Why not? I would think that such evidence would confirm that the culprit is a Diamond Dog."

"That might be so, but look at this," I said, pointing to the emerald shards embedded in the cast. "From what I understand, mystical gems don't work unless they are treated a certain way. You have to whittle it down to the point where it doesn't have any sharp edges."

"That's what the book said, too," said Dinky, stroking her chin and looking over the shards carefully. "So, you think that this is a mystical gemstone?"

"I'm pretty sure it is," I said. "See this big wedge over here? That had to have broken off from a spherical shape, and that means the gemstone had to be treated. Plus, we didn't see these shards at all before we made the cast. That has to be some kind of magic. Now, all we need to do is look up emeralds in this book and do a cross-reference."

"I'm on it," said Dinky, flipping through the pages of the book. "Let's see. Emeralds, emeralds... Ah, here we go! 'Shroud Emeralds.'"

Just from that name alone, I think it's safe to say that we're on the right track. "That could be it," I said. "Let's see what it says."

"Right," said Dinky, clearing her throat. "'Shroud Emeralds are by far the rarest and most unstable of all the mystical gemstones known to Equestria. When used, the wielder and all of his or her activities cannot be perceived in any way, shape, or form for up to three hours.'"

"Wait, 'all of his or her activities?'" I parroted, raising an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"It says that if someone under the influence of a Shroud Emerald interacts with anything, no one would notice that interaction at first," said Dinky. "Everything would just appear to be normal until the spell wore off."

After those words sank in, I felt like the heavy mist around my mind was starting to clear up. We really hit the jackpot with this one.

"I do believe this is what we're looking for, Dink," I said with a smile. "Finally, things are starting to make sense!"

"I believe so, too," said Dinky with a smile of her own. "Now we know how the culprit managed to commit his crimes undetected."

"Yeah, but I feel like we're still missing a few things," I mused. "Keep reading."

"Sure," said Dinky, skimming the entry. "Hmm. It says here that because Shroud Emeralds are so unstable, they shatter after one use, and the shards become unable to be perceived."

"And yet I found them right here," I said, pointing to the shards embedded in the plaster. "What's up with that?"

"Huh. The book doesn't seem to say," said Dinky, turning the page. "Oh, wait! Here we go. *ahem* 'It should be noted that the Shroud Emerald has no effect on substances that are a combination of liquid water and earth. This includes mud, clay, cement, quicksand...'"

"And plaster," I said. "Of course! That's why the plaster caused the shards to appear when we didn't see them in the pawprint before!"

"That seems to be the case," said Dinky. "But we still don't know who the culprit is."

"Maybe not, but we've certainly narrowed it down," I said with a smirk. "The books says that Shroud Emeralds are incredibly rare, right? So whoever has ready access to those things has to be the culprit. It's just a matter of finding out who that someone is."

"I don't think it's going to be that easy," said Dinky. "I know that you're excited about this progress we've made here; I am too. But overconfidence is just as bad as doubt."

And once again, the Zen of Dinky demonstrates just how insightful my little sister can be. I swear, she's gonna have a philosopher's Cutie Mark or something when she grows up.

"You're right. It's just that this is the first thing about this dumb mystery that actually makes sense," I said. I then smiled and mussed up Dinky's mane. "Thanks for helping me out, Dink. You really came through for me."

Dinky smiled back. "I'm happy that I was able to support you, Amethyst. Is there anything else you'd like me to do?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact," I said. "I want you to tell Carrot Top about these Shroud Emeralds. She might need to know about them."

Dinky raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"With all of these weird attacks going on in town, we can't be too careful," I said with a shrug.

"Are you sure that's the reason?" asked Dinky.

I gulped. The stern look Dinky was giving me reminded me of the Pinkie Promise that was still hanging over my head. I-I still couldn't bring myself to tell her, but I didn't want to lie, either. How the heck am I gonna get out of this one?

"Th-that is a reason, yes," I said.

"But not the only reason," said Dinky.

"N-not really, no. I-I'll tell you later, I promise."

Dinky paused for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay, but I'm holding you to that, Amethyst. I really want to help you, but I can't do that if you're not open with me."

Oh, thank Celestia. She's letting me off the hook. For now.

"I know, Dink," I said, giving her a hug. "And trust me, if you let Carrot Top know about this, it'll help me lots."

"Okay," said Dinky, although she didn't sound all that convinced. I think she's starting to catch on. "I take it you'll be going to see the Diamond Dogs in the meantime."

"Yeah," I said. "Don't worry, Dink. I'll be careful."

Dinky looked up at me and smiled. "I know you will, Amethyst. After all, Mama will be looking after you."

Yeah, that's right. I'm supposed to meet with Derpy so that we can go see Sykes Silvervest and Dodger Dragonvest. She should be done with her route by now.

"Right," I said. "And I'll be looking after her, too."

"Of course," said Dinky. "Good luck, Amethyst."

"Thanks," I said. With that, I gave my regards to Princess Twilight and made my way to the northern timberline to meet Derpy. Now, you're probably wondering why I told Dinky to let Carrot Top know about the Shroud Emeralds. Well, it wasn't just to get her out of the way. It's because I have a feeling in my gut that this bastard is gonna strike my home next, and while Carrot Top is prepared for that, she needs to be even more prepared. I'm not taking any chances with this guy, whoever he is. If he thinks he can attack my family and get away with it, he's got another thing coming.

Comments

[Mystic Deadman]

Why do I get the feeling that Dodger is missing a gemstone or two? And they happen to be green?

[Themaskedferret]

Very cool stuff. The shroud emeralds sound really fascinating. Kudos on coming up with such a cool concept.

[Ri2]

An invisibility stone? Neat

[KiaraGate]

Well, I had an inkling as to who the culprit was last chapter, but now I think I know for certain.

[Antiquarian]

And once again, the Zen of Dinky demonstrates just how insightful my little sister can be. I swear, she's gonna have a philosopher's Cutie Mark or something when she grows up.

Dinkstoyevsky. Dinkfucious. Sun Dink. Thomasa Adinkus. Dinkastotle. Dinko. Augusdink. A.G. Dinkalingus. G.K. Dinkerton. C.S. Dinkis. Joan Dinke.