Chapter 6
Blue Blood Runs Cold
We arrived at Canterlot hours later. It was getting dark at this point and I wanted to make sure Blueblood couldn’t slip away. It was difficult getting Shinebadge to donate his forces to bringing this guy in. But after we showed him the proof he was more than happy to oblige his forces. His men set up a perimeter around the mansion and blocked off every street and skyway leading out of the place. Blueblood was trapped like a rat. Now it was time to send in the exterminator.
Twilight and I came to the door just as Luna sent up the moon to shine tonight. The workers would all be asleep at this hour so that meant Blueblood would be ripe for the picking. I slid on a bullet proof vest and Twilight had one as well.
I looked at Twilight “Alright, let’s bag this guy”
She looked at me “I’ve never used one of these before...” Twilight was talking about the .45 pistol she had levitated in front of her. Twilight was not as well versed in firearms as I was.
“It’s more for your own protection. I don’t expect you to suddenly become Bit Eastwood or anything”
“Bit who?”
“You really should watch more TV...” I said as I knocked on the door. “Open up! This is the Police!” When silence answered me I turned and bucked open the door.
The foyer was spacious and extravagant, something you would expect royalty would have. Twilight and I entered cautiously guns raised. We entered a study that was spacious and had bookshelves towering over my head. At the front was Prince Blueblood himself, he wasn’t happy to see us.
“What is the meaning of this?! Who are you and what are you doing in my house!?” He said in as much anger as his Canterlot accent could show.
I levitated my badge “Detective Private Eye! You’re under arrest for the kidnapping of Sweetie Belle and the hiring of a hitpony to kill Dustmane!”
“You break into my home and throw out these insane accusations!” He said getting up from his chair. “You’d better have proof!”
Twilight glared at him raising her gun to the prince. “We read Dustmane’s journal! We know he had a change of heart so that’s why you hired Grimwing to kill him!”
Blueblood glared at us “You are trusting criminals! You can’t put faith in what a stalker and hitpony would say!”
I smirked “You’ll find that a jury is willing to listen to a last testimony a lot more than any testimony. This amount of proof won’t allow you to worm your way out of this Blueblood!”
“That’s PRINCE Blueblood to you commoner!”
“Oh, was that supposed to scare me...?” I said darkly
“What are you talking about?!” He said indignantly
“It must’ve been so humiliating...there you were, at the top of the world. The star of the gala that any mare would kill their own mothers for, but here comes one mare more beautiful than any mare you’ve seen before...you thought you could get by on your looks and royal status to win her just like all the others”
“You speak of her....” Blueblood growled
“But she saw you for what you really were. One flying cake later it was revealed to the world as well. I believe her exact words were, ahem...” I imitated Rarity’s voice “‘You sir, are the most uncharming prince I have ever met! In fact the only thing royal about you is that you are a royal pain!’ did I get it right?”
“Every damn word....” Blueblood said his voice laced with fury.
“She ruined your reputation...nopony would take you seriously anymore. I talked to the griffon mafia and they said they closed off any deals with you after that night. You wanted to get back at Rarity for ruining you. So you had your butler kidnap little Sweetie Belle for ransom”
“But I myself did not kidnap her” Blueblood said grasping for straws
“Any other detective would’ve put the blame on your butler and left the case with one of the oldest clichés in the book. But you made the mistake of also involving one of Rarity’s admirers in the case. Dustmane was easy; you figured the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But Dustmane’s love of Rarity was too strong. He was going to send Rarity clues to find Sweetie Belle. So you had him how shall we say...taken out”
Twilight narrowed her eyes “You didn’t figure anypony would challenge you. But you also made the mistake of ticking off the boss of the hitpony you hired. And that ransom money? It was to pay off the hitpony”
I nodded “But you rode high on your victory so you decided to double cross the mafia. I’ll have you know Blueblood...nopony crosses the mafia if you want to keep your knees”
Blueblood smirked “Then I guess I have a full excuse to use this...” In the space of a minute he levitated a machine gun and started firing. Twilight and I leapt behind a nearby couch for cover. Bullets singed around my ears as they flew through the fabric of the couch and hit the wood inside. I levitated my revolver and tried to take a shot at Blueblood. I barely got out of that attempt with my head intact. Twilight was firing blindly with her own gun. Her bullets went wild and hit various places but not Blueblood. He kept firing and firing that machine gun. He had the advantage so long as he could keep shooting. I had an idea.
“Twi! Knock down a bookshelf!” I shouted over the symphony of bullets.
Twilight nodded and her horn glowed. A nearby bookshelf fell and fell in front of the coach. It didn’t hit Blueblood but it was better cover than the couch. I slid out and pressed myself to the bookshelf which Twilight made sure would land on its side so I had cover. Blueblood kept firing madly. Suddenly I heard a click as his gun ran out of ammo. I pulled out of cover to aim. I telekinetically pulled the trigger and the bullet hit the prince in the left front leg. He screamed in agony.
“Give it up Blueblood! I have cops surrounding the building and they’ll be there to meet you even if you get past us!” I shouted from behind cover.
“Not if I give them a reason not to!” Blueblood shouted and suddenly I saw a bright flash of light first in front of me, then behind me. I turned to find Blueblood holding Twilight at gunpoint with a pale white magic. She squirmed in his grip but took note of the gun pointed at her head. “Did you forget I am a unicorn!? I was quite adept in school. Particularly when it came to teleporting”
I pointed my gun at him “Put her down Blueblood!”
He smirked at me “Or what? The minute you shoot me my magic will break and your little girlfriend still dies. My magic is holding the trigger so even if I die she will get a bullet in her brain anyway”
“You really are a filthy coward!” I shouted
“I simply know when to use a shield when it’s available...now put down your gun and if I see either of your horns glow even a little I will shoot her...”
Twilight squirmed in the grip of his magic “Don’t listen to him Private! I’ll be fine! Take the shot!”
I wanted to...I had every reason and right to shoot Blueblood between the eyes. But I knew that if I did he would still shoot Twilight in his dying moments. I couldn’t risk Twilight, She may be nosy and a bookworm...but I couldn’t risk her getting hurt if I could avoid it. I deactivated my magic and my gun clanked on the marble floor.
“Kick it away...” Blueblood said cocking the .45 aimed at Twilight’s head. I kicked away my revolver. I hated being helpless but I had no choice. Twilight looked at me, tears starting to fall down her eyes. “I’m glad we can be reasonable gentlecolts...now call your policemen and tell them to back off...”
“Rarity was right about you" I said venomously "You're not prince, you're just a cowardly snake who can’t face life so you put shields in front of you”
“I wouldn’t test me detective...once I get out of here Rarity will have a little accident...and you will look the other way...”
“OVER MY DEAD BODY!!!” I heard a voice shout and suddenly a purple streak came out of the door and hit Blueblood the gun he was holding misfired and missed Twilight by a hair. Blueblood was wrestling with none other than Spike. I used this moment to activate my own magic on Twilight. I yanked her to me and away from the gun. I looked up to see Spike get knocked away from the prince. “You will not hurt Rarity!” Spike growled getting up and facing Blueblood.
“Oh isn’t this rich...if it isn’t Rarity’s little lap dragon...” Blueblood said raising Twilight’s pistol to aim at the baby dragon.
“I should warn you Prince Blackblood! You play with fire you're likely to get burned!” Spike said boldly.
“Brave words coming from a dragon who knows he doesn't have a chance at Rarity...” Blueblood said sinisterly.
“Shut up! I don’t care if Rarity never returns my love! I will still fight and protect all of my friends with every fiber of my being!”
“Won’t do you much good in the next two seconds...” He aimed the gun at Spike. Twilight and I shouted for Spike to duck but he just held up his arms. Blueblood fired the gun and the bullet flew at Spike. Only instead of penetrating Spike’s tiny body...the bullet bounced off. It went wild and Twilight and I ducked behind the bookshelf for cover. I looked up to see Spike get very close to Blueblood then opened his mouth. A torrent of green fire hit the gun. The gun became so hot it caused the gunpowder inside to explode. When the dust cleared there was Spike standing over an unconscious Blueblood.
Twilight ran to Spike and hugged him tight as I ran to check Blueblood’s vitals. I looked over at the hugging friends. “He’s still alive, just knocked out and he’ll have a few burns on his face for a while...”
Twilight looked at Spike after he was done squeezing him “The bullet...Spike you could’ve been killed!”
Spike tapped his arm “Dragon Scales...practically bullet proof. Did I do good Twilight?”
Twilight shook her head “But I thought you were with Rarity! How did you get here so fast?”
“You know how my fire can send letters to Princess Celestia? Well I figured I could get myself to Canterlot by setting myself on fire. Once I explained the situation to the princess she teleported me here. Then I came here and saved you guys. Did I do good Twilight?”
“Spike...that has to have been the stupidest and bravest thing you’ve ever done for me” Twilight said in both a chastising and proud voice.
“Hey, anything for you guys...” Spike said tiredly.
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“Ya certainly know how to bag em Private” Shinebadge said as Blueblood was led into an armored magic proof carriage. Taking careful measure to make sure nopony saw his now burned face.
“I can’t take all the credit. You have this little dragon to thank for catching Blueblood” I said putting a hoof on Spike’s shoulder.
“Aww quit talking Private you're making me blush!” Spike said rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
Badge looked at me “Well Blueblood is going away for quite a while. We’ll let the courts take it from here. Good work Private, a lot of my boys miss having a closed case like this”
“Just doing my job Shinebadge” I said nodding. Badge went to join the uniforms. I then saw a white unicorn push her way through the onlookers. She pushed her way through the crowd and ran straight for Spike. Rarity hugged the young dragon tightly tears running down her eyes.
“Oh Spikey Wikey...I was so worried you would hurt yourself after you vanished. I heard about what happened! I’m glad you're okay” She said sounding genuinely worried.
Spike blushed in Rarity’s grip “Anything for you Rarity...”
I couldn’t help but smile at the pair. Twilight came up to me and I smiled at her. “You alright?”
“I’ll have some stiffness from being held in magic for so long but I’ll be okay” Twilight said stretching out her leg.
Rarity then let go of Spike and looked at me “So, Blueblood is going to prison?”
I nodded “By the looks of it. I’ll have Badge hook you up with some protection detail for the next couple of weeks in case anypony tries to take vengeance for him”
Rarity smiled and nodded “If it means Sweetie Belle and I can have a few moments peace I’ll take what I can get” It was then I noticed a large package sticking out of her saddle bags.
“Rarity, what’s in the package?” I said curiously
“My gift to you for helping me and my sister” She said smiling. She levitated the package out in front of me. I slowly unwrapped it. It was a trenchcoat, but made of fine material and was a solid grey instead of a mottled brown. The color matched my hat almost perfectly.
I looked at Rarity confused. “What happened to my old coat?”
Rarity frowned. “That drab old thing? It took me forever to simply fix a pocket! Besides the color looked just terrible on you! Made you look like a criminal rather than a heroic detective”
“So you started completely from scratch?” I said examining the coat.
Twilight smiled “Rarity knows what she’s doing, it’s better to let her have her way when it comes to design”
“Well I would’ve suggested-” Twilight stuffed a hoof in my mouth
“He loves it Rarity” Twilight said smiling innocently
“Wonderful!” Rarity said smiling at me in turn “It’s the least I can do for all you’ve done detective. Working on that coat is what’s kept me sane throughout this entire thing”
I got Twilight’s hoof out of my mouth “Anytime Rarity, I hope you and Sweetie Belle will keep out of trouble from now on”
“I will detective, I’m heading home. Sweetie Belle and I have a lot of catching up to do”
“I’ll come to” Spike said walking beside Rarity “Who knows if Blueblood has goons or something looking to take you out”
I smiled a little “Alright, Spike please escort Miss Rarity home”
Spike saluted and the two walked off deep in conversation. I smiled as they left then Twilight looked at me “Never would’ve pegged you as the romantic type”
“Ahh, I have a thing for routing for the underdog in these kinds of situations” I said smiling. “Spike just reminds of me when I was younger”
“You served a mare hoof and hoof?” Twilight said smiling slyly
“Something like that, guys do that kind of thing all the time when they are hopelessly in love”
“Anyways, you promised me you were going to tell me why you’re so poor but were born into old money when we were done with the case”
“I did promise that didn’t I...” I said my smile fading.
“So tell me” Twilight said her violet eyes meeting mine.
“I think it’s better if I just show you...” I started trotting away
Twilight followed me her eyebrow raised “Where are we going?”
“Manehatten” I said simply