//------------------------------//
// 159. Blueblood's Business Blues - Part 3 
// Story: Blaze the Pony Tale 
// by Wolven5 
//------------------------------//

“HHHHEEEERRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!”
“NNNNNNNNGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“You can do it, dude!”
“Don’t back down!”

Midnight had brought Big Mac, Thunderlane, and Soarin to his favorite lounge in Canterlot Castle. It was one of the few places where he’d been able to enjoy himself during the years he’d served as Celestia’s covert agent between his missions.

It was a round room with a rotunda ceiling painted to resemble the cosmos. In the center was a round table low enough for anypony to sit at with only a cushion to drop their rumps on. On one wall was a large TV and movie player, a cord to ring for room service, a door leading to a relaxing bathroom that was equipped with showers, lavatories, and even a Jacuzzi tub, surrounding the round table were circular sofas stuffed with pegasus down and made of the finest silk. Earlier, they’d ordered a pizza and though it was good they all agreed it just wasn’t the same as their favorite pizza parlor, Pepper Pony’s. 

At the moment however, Thunderlane and Soarin were cheering on Midnight and Big Macintosh as the two brothers had engaged in a hoofwrassling.

Midnight had been certain Mac was no match for him only to find himself straining and growling with exertion.

Sombra’s burns he’s strong!! Midnight was giving it his all, and he could tell Big Mac was doing the same but try as either might it proved to be a bitter stalemate.

“Ho-ho-boy! I can’t believe how well Mac’s holding against Midnight!” Soarin couldn’t take his eyes off the interlocked hooves.

“Well as far as I know, Big Mac’s always been the strongest pony in Ponyville!” Thunderlane brought up. “Even Bulk Biceps is no match for him in hoofwrassling, and that guy’s a workout-aholic!” 

“But still, Midnight’s an alicorn,” Soarin debated, “I think we know how this will end.”

“I dunno…” Thunderlane smirked with a raised brow, “Looks to me Mac’s getting his second wind.” 

Suddenly the doors to the roomed were kicked open with a BANG, and an angry Blueblood stormed in, hooves stomping on the floor and curses jumping off his lips. Everypony stopped what they were doing and stared, well everypony except Big Mac who took advantage of the pause to slam Midnight's hoof down on the table. The alicorn gave a hiss of pain and started rubbing his hoof, an annoyed glare aimed at his brother who looked away innocently.

Blueblood stomped around the room for a few minutes until it became clear to the group that somepony was going to have to approach him to find out what was going on. With a few mumbled whispers and some not-so-gentle shoving, Soarin was elected to find out what had happened.

Slowly the blue pegasus approached his friend, with a cautiousness to his steps as Blueblood continued to angrily rant to himself.

"Uh, Blue? What's going on? Did something bad happen at the summons?"

Blueblood gave a annoyed sigh and calmed himself down enough to talk to his friend. Seeing he had worried him, along with their other friends made him feel a little guilty, but his anger was still too high to fully squash.

"I apologize for my loud entrance but I am afraid that something very bad has occurred." the rest of the group approached, concern strong on their muzzles. Blueblood gathered his thoughts for a moment before continuing. 
"The board has made two very grave mistakes that could ruin this company. The first is to cancel the merger with Jet Set. They believe that allowing the merger to proceed will be a bad decision for the company due to the fact that Jet Set will placed in charge of day to day operations. They believe that having a long-time rival in charge could leave him to severely damage staff relations and allow for unprofitable or bad business decisions to take place. While there is some merit to this, they are very badly portraying Jet Set and trying to stop what is likely one of the most profitable decisions this company has ever made, let alone how the removal of our feud with Jet's company will increase sales by massive margin. They also risk increasing the rivalry with jet Set by cancelling the merger, which could severely damage the sales from both companies and hurt Canterlot's economy. It would cause massive lay-offs from both companies, putting lots of workers out of business and just further ruining the economy, as well as leaving hundreds unemployed."

Some of the group seemed a little lost, but Soarin and Midnight, the most intellectual of the group, could understand what Blueblood was talking about. Overall, Blueblood's plans with Jet Set would enable far greater growth for both companies in the long term, even if there were some staff issues in the short term. Still Blueblood had only told them one problem.

"You said there were two grave mistakes. What was the second one?" Thunderlane asked, being the most confused by the business talk and wanting to focus back on Blueblood directly. This however just seemed to get Blueblood angrier as he gave a frustrated snort and started his pacing again.

"The second grave mistake is one that shames the whole company with its arrogance and shortsightedness. The company has decided to place me on suspension and lock me out of all business decisions for the foreseeable future. I am still the owner of New Heights Avionics, but in practice, my authority and power means nothing. They have taken complete control of the company from me, claiming that my 'Prince persona', of which they know full-well was an act, has caused massive harm to the business and has hurt fellow staff. Now I am fully aware that my persona wasn't a nice guy, but that was the point! How dare they use it against me to take control of my company! I have worked with New Heights since my father passed it on to me, and with hard work and determination I have managed to forge one of the greatest and most profitable businesses in Canterlot, and yet those fools have kicked me out and just expect that I will role over and let them! Well no way! I am going to show them they are wrong and have my lawyers get me back in and then I'll deal with the lot of them!"

Blueblood was shouting now, his face red with rage and a twitch in his eye that seemed very unhealthy. The guys all backed up a few steps in case things got out of hoof. They all looked at each other, shocked, worried and a little bit scared as they tried to figure out what they could do. From what Blueblood had just told them, he had been kicked out of his own company, but it seemed they had done nothing illegal or dangerous, so Midnight couldn't use any royal power to force them to let Blueblood back in. They honestly had no idea what to do. Helping out a friend in need was something every one of them would do in a heartbeat, but none of them, bar Blueblood himself, knew anything about how a huge company like New Height's was run, at least not completely. At this point, it seemed like the only thing they could do was to try and help calm Blueblood down before he had an aneurysm and then talk with him about what options they had.

"Well, Blue, from what it sounds like, they've barred you from business affairs but legally the company is still yours," Midnight brought up, "perhaps there's a way you can use that to your advantage."

"Perhaps, but it's not that simple," Blueblood huffed as he began to pace again, pondering a solution, "I need something to build my case against the board - They claim to have evidence against me, recordings of my persona's behavior. I only hope I can convince Jet Set that the merger will go on once I get back my power."

"If Jet Set was willin' to bury th' hatchet like ya said," Big Mac spoke, "Ah'm sure he'll give ye th' benefit o' doubt."

"Even so, this lock-out of my own company cannot be allowed to continue," Blueblood seethed, "Every moment those idiots steer the helm is another moment they steer it closer towards the proverbial glacier!"

"Maybe there's something else going on here," suggested Thunderlane. "When you spoke with your board, did they behave differently?"

Hearing that, Blueblood considered, "They behaved as they always had... But you are right - There were brief moments when they gave signs of being nervous, and their failing to come to me directly to begin with speaks for itself!"

"This could mean that their reason for looking you out is an excuse," Midnight added, "If there is some kind of corruption going on, we can dig something up and poke holes in the board members' case!"

"Then we must investigate this," Blueblood decided. "If my board has made some kind of deal that has turned them against me, I can use such evidence to take back control of my company and insure the merger goes on!"

"But how're we gonna do that?" Soarin asked.

"I have experience in digging up evidence for matters such as this," Midnight volunteered, "and make no mistake my friends, the most dangerous weapon in this world is money!"





Late that afternoon, Blueblood was speaking with Raven in the lounge while the guys were in the bathroom showering when in came Midnight, looking discouraged. Seeing his friend, Blueblood dismissed Raven and approached Midnight at the table.

“What did you find?”

Sighing, Midnight answered, “Nothing…”

“Nothing?! What were you doing these past hours?” Blueblood snapped angrily, “I thought you said you were experienced in this sort of thing!”

“I am! What I’m saying is that I found nothing because there was nothing to be found!” Midnight clarified, a little miffed by Blueblood’s words. “I looked into the bank accounts of each board member, going back six months. I checked, and double-checked, but none of the accounts showed signs of hefty deposits lately. If the board members are being bribed, they’ve covered their tracks carefully, probably with other accounts in different names.”

His answer clearly didn't improve Blueblood's mood, but he managed to rein himself in before he lost his temper. 

"Okay, okay... Well, if they haven't received any bribe money into their accounts, then they must be being influenced with something else. Unfortunately, short of cornering them all or ransacking their homes, I see only one method we can use to try and obtain the necessary evidence!"

As the rest of the group emerged from the room, Blueblood took a firm stance and gave a nod to himself to confirm his choice.

"Gentlecolts, we are going to break into New Heights Avionics!”





"Blueblood, I'm really not sure about this." Thunderlane muttered nervously as the group carefully snuck towards the large corporate building, sticking to alleyways and bushes, being shore to avoid the lampposts lighting the darkened Canterlot streets. 

All five stallions had donned black suits to hide their colors, with Blueblood even going so far as to don a black wool beanie to cover his mane.

Blueblood had explained that due to the company still legally belonging to him, he had full access to it. However, if the board were trying to hide something from him, any direct evidence would be kept out of the public eye and hidden within the building in areas he couldn't access without drawing suspicion. Therefore the group was going to break in and find the evidence themselves. However, while Blueblood may not get in too much trouble legally for breaking into his own building, it would certainly hurt any case he could present in court, so the group had to be stealthy and avoid security.

"Would you quit worrying, I already told you, this will work perfectly. I know all the security system layouts and passwords, and I know the guard schedules. We will be completely fine getting in and out. The only hard part will be finding whatever they don't want me to find. Now stop complaining and help me get inside!!"

Thunderlane flinched back at Blueblood's harsh tone, a frown slowly spreading across his face. The rest of the group also seemed troubled, but it was Midnight and Soarin who seemed the most disturbed by the behavior. As they grew close to the back entrance of the building, the rest of the group fell back a little to talk in private.

"Hey guys, I know this situation really isn't going well for Blueblood, but don't you think he's being a bit mean? Here we are doing something of very questionable legality for him and his ripping our heads off for it!" Thunderlane whispered, his eyes shifting about in case Blueblood turned to find out what they were all talking about. 

Luckily the unicorn prince stayed focused, his horn flaring as he stared hard at the building, most likely trying spot all the security wards and detection spells.

"Ah agree. He's obviously upset but Ah think we should keep an eye on his behavior. Ah really don' want `im t’ burst a blood vessel `r somethin’ if he gets too angry, an’ even friends can only take so much undeserved anger." Big Mac seconded. 

The rest of the group nodded as well when Midnight added his own say.

"He's upset right now, so let's just stick with him and make sure he doesn't get in over his head. Once we're finished we'll take him back to the room and have a talk with him about his behavior and get him to calm down a little. Until then, let's stay focused." 

Everypony gave agreement to Midnight's plan and they all moved up to join Blueblood, who had stopped in some bushes right of the building's rear entrance.

Blueblood gave raised his hoof to his lips to signal for silence, and then began pointing about to show where all the security wards and detector spells were. The spells had been cast around the building in specific areas to alert the guard if any intruders stumbled in. However the spells caused a significant drain on the average unicorn, so there were only so many, all of which had been placed in very key positions to cover more area. Blueblood pointed to random points around the building, like a seemingly harmless tree and a window on the second floor.

After the rest of the group nodded, Blueblood slowly cautioned them forward, performing an odd combination of trotting, rolling and crawling in a bizarre zig-zag pattern until he reached the back door. The group copied his movements, with Soarin almost losing his balance midway. Midnight managed to catch him with his magic, but it didn't stop Blueblood from giving the pegasus an almost murderous glare. Soarin gave a nervous smile as an apology before catching up with the guys until they had all reached the back door. Once they were all in position, Blueblood summoned his magic to unlock the door and the group quietly stepped inside.

Having already been briefed on the security by Blueblood, Midnight cast invisibility spells on them all but thanks to a tweak in the magic they would be able to see each other. With this advantage, they made their way through the building a little quicker, Midnight bewitching a couple guards into thinking they needed to be elsewhere, allowing the five stallions an easier time sneaking through the rooms and hallways.

Blueblood made sure to point out various statues and paintings that were actually transmitting surveillance footage via the eyes and ears of the statues and the figures the paintings displayed. Even though they were invisible, they hadn’t made themselves sound-proof, so they tiptoed past the surveillance sentries, as they were called. 

Once they were out of the sentries’ hearing range, Soarin whispered, “Why sentries and not cameras?”

“Because ponies like us, breaking and entering, would be expecting cameras…!” Blueblood hissed irritably, prompting Soarin to back off and keep his distance, an upset frown plastering his muzzle.

Finally, the five reached the door that read ‘Monitor Room’, Blueblood whispering, “Inside this room is a wall covered with monitors that enables the security guard to observe everything the sentries do. We need to locate the footage the board members have they could use against me, but we should also look for any documented foul play on their part. If the board members are being bribed and since there’s no records of change in their bank accounts, there has to be a paper trail!”

“Mac and I will look for the documents,” Midnight volunteered.

“Hopefully this time you won’t come back emptyhooved,” Blueblood responded sarcastically and waved them off, Midnight and Macintosh sharing a disgruntled look but nodded anyway as the group gently opened the door, being quiet so as not to alert any guards inside. 

They were in luck, finding that the only guard present was snoring away in his chair, leaving the monitor display completely open to them. Blueblood moved towards the terminal while Midnight and Mac approached some filing cabinets stacked towards the sides of the room. Thunderlane and Soarin remained near the door acting as lookout in case any guards passed by.

Unfortunately, what had seemed like a solid plan led the group to over an hour of wasted time, as the surveillance footage showed no behavior on Blueblood's part that could be considered bad enough to legally vote him out. Midnight and Mac could likewise find no paperwork, indicating either bribery on the part of the board members, nor any documented evidence of transgressions on Blueblood's part. This certainly didn't help Blueblood's rising anger any, and the group had to keep reminding him to be quiet, lest he wake up the dozing security guard (whom Blueblood was still up in hooves about having his pay docked. They may have been breaking in, but that was no excuse for sleeping on the job!). Finally, after going through the filing cabinet for the third time, Midnight decided it was time to call it quits.

"Blue, I really don't think there's anything here. Either the board is outright lying to you about evidence on their part, or they are keeping it to themselves pretty tightly. I really don't see what more we can do here other than go back to the room and prepare some letters to your lawyers."

Blueblood however had decided on another course of action however. Completely ignoring the security guard, Blueblood turned to his friends with a grimace, "No Midnight, there is in fact one more move we can make before we take your approach and just give up. The board may have this evidence kept on their private residences for safety. We are going to go to each of their houses and search the place while they are at work to find something!"

This declaration shocked the whole group – Blueblood breaking into his own company was one thing, but breaking into other pony's homes, in broad daylight too, was about as criminal as it could get!

Blueblood had started typing away at the monitor controls to delete any evidence he had used it, when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. He turned to see that Midnight was staring down at him with a confused look, somewhere between anger and sad. The look was on the faces of all the group, whom were standing right behind Midnight.

"Blueblood you need to calm down. We agreed to help you break into your company, despite our own misgivings, but we only did so because you made it clear that it wasn't a completely illegal act. What you are proposing is both morally and legally wrong right now. We aren't about to help you break and enter into somepony's home, regardless of what evidence they may or may not have on you. Please let this go and come back with us to the castle. We can form up some letters for your lawyers and make the board let you back in without having to become the bad guys here. We need to do the right thing."

Midnight gave a smile, hoping that his message had gotten through Blueblood's anger. The blond maned unicorn stared at Midnight, letting his words sink in. After saying nothing for a few minutes, he gave a tired sigh, letting the rest of the group relax.  What happened next though left them all shocked.

Blueblood turned to Midnight, a sharp glare crossing his face, and his slapped Midnight's hoof away. The alicorn backed up, confused and worried, as Blueblood turn to face the group, his posture held rigid his eyes fierce.

"All night, you have all been trying to get me to stop and go back to the castle. To give in and let my board kick me out and ruin my company with their short-sightedness. Well, I'm sorry my non-supportive friends but I refuse. I am Prince Blueblood, Head of House Polaris, and owner of New Heights Avionics, and I will not be cast aside and ignored like a piece of garbage! I am a Prince and I will not let them get away with this! If I have to break into their homes to gather evidence then so be it! I will not be halted, I will not be pushed aside and I will not bend to my 'friends' cowardice! If none of you have the balls to get this done then leave me be! I will do this myself and win back my company!"

Midnight and the rest of the stallions, just stood there, unable to say a word. Blueblood had insulted them, called them cowards, despite everything they had done to help him. He was even going to go ahead with his criminal actions to ensure the board had nothing to lock him out of his company. They all looked at each other, a hurt frown shared on their faces. There was nothing else to be said. Nothing else to be done. They all gave Blueblood one last stare before turning and marching out of the room, not caring if they were spotted by security or not, leaving the Prince and his ego alone.

Blueblood growled before turning back to the monitor, only to hear a slight cough and turn his head. The lone security guard stared at him, unsure of what to say. Blueblood's glare ensured his silence.

"Not a word of this!" he warned while poking the guard roughly in the chest, "To anyone!!"

With his job concerned, the guard nodded his head rapidly then fled from the room.





Celestia had just started raising the sun over the horizon as Midnight and the rest of the stallions glumly stomped back towards the castle, a bitterness sticking to them like glue.

"I can't believe him! Shouting at us like that after everything we had done to help him!” Soarin huffed. “We were only asking him not to break the law and be sensible and he calls us cowards!"

"Ah agree! We done stuck our necks out for him, an’ he goes all 'Princey' on us, actin’ like he's all high n' mighty!" Macintosh added.

The ranting went on for a while before Midnight decided to put an end to it.

"Look guys, I agree with you completely. Blueblood has gone too far here, but right now he is just too angry to listen. I think we should all go grab some breakfast, take a little while to calm down, than track Blueblood down before he does something stupid. He won't be going anywhere soon as he'll need to deal with the security systems and delete all evidence we were in the building. Let's just get our heads straight and then give him a serious talking to"

The rest of the group agreed and they started making their way over to a nearby café. However something caught their attention in one of the cafe's windows. Just inside, the group could see a large table, with seven ponies seated at it. One was hidden by the window pane, but his hoof was in view, and the remaining six ponies were all talking to them. What was strange was that all of the six visible ponies were the board members from Blueblood's company, the guys able to recognize them from the photo Blueblood had shown them yesterday. Sensing something was up, the guys carefully snuck up alongside the window to listen to the conversation.

"... I can't believe you are making us do this to Prince Blueblood. He has been nothing but an inspiration to New Heights Avionics, and he has led it brilliantly."

"I highly doubt that, but if you wish to believe that so-called Prince Blueblood is really far more than an egotistical fool that is your business. So long as you hold up your end of the bargain, no bad press will affect New Heights Avionics, nor will your jobs be imperiled. The merger must not occur, else it will spell doom for Jet Set and his wife Upper Crust, and I will not see them crash and burn because of Prince Blueblood's pompous arrogance."

"You are making a mistake. The merger will improve both companies, and your opinions of Prince Blueblood are misplaced. He has portrayed an arrogant appearance on several occasions, but it is purely an act. He is truly a very good business pony, and a decent stallion."

"I refuse to believe that, and I will not let my friend's reputations be endangered regardless of your opinions. Now I must be on my way. Ensure the merger does not go through and the Canterlot Gazette will not shame you and your company. Good day to you all."

Midnight and the group realized the conversation was over, and the mystery stallion was leaving. They were all outraged to learn that the board members weren’t the bad guys in this scenario. They were being blackmailed into locking out Blueblood and stopping the merger. Whoever the stallion was, he was threatening to shame the company with the Canterlot paper, which with fickle nature of Canterlot nobles, would severely hurt the company. Whoever this stallion was, the group needed to learn who he was right now and put a stop to this.

They watched as the café doors opened, only for them to gasp in shock.

Exiting the shop stood a stallion of great wealth and a sterling reputation as one of the kindest and most popular nobles in Canterlot.

Fancy Pants.