Spectre of the Past

by Juntao112

Chapter 9

Good morning. This is the Voice of Equestria, with special guest host Sea Crest. We're scheduled to have an in–depth about the eruption of Mount Reindeer today, but there's some breaking news from the Crystal Empire you might want to hear first.

The Crystal Heart was stolen last night, and the culprits are still at large! If you have any information pertaining to the crime, please alert the nearest authorities. The Crystal Heart is intended to broadcast hope and love throughout the land, and the consequences of it falling into the wrong hooves can be catastrophic.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

---

The Thursday morning sun shone brightly over Canterlot, illuminating the mansions in the wealthy northeast district like something out of a postcard. Ace derived little pleasure from the view as he watched Bella Donna's mansion from atop a nearby hill. He sat in the back of a mail wagon Deadwood had procured from somewhere, while Stiletto did her best to deliver mail. It was going to be the neighborhood's worst mail delivery in quite some time, but that was not important. So what if a few letters went astray and a pound cake from somepony's grandmother was currently working its way through Deadwood's digestive tract? They had a crime to foil!

Deadwood was currently taking her turn spying on Bella Donna's estate while Stiletto was out delivering mail. "I gotta say, that mare deserves to be arrested for her crimes against architecture alone. I've been to bordellos with better taste."

"Too bad we're not the fashion police," Ace chuckled. "So, think of a way in yet? I don't think marching up to the door disguised as a postal worker is going to cut it. I'd normally be all for hopping the fence, but they've been getting guests all day, and we're sure to be seen."

Deadwood tossed him another bag full of mail. "You'd be surprised what you can get away with in the right clothing. I once got into a country club by convincing them I was a stripper and that my cake had been destroyed by an inept delivery driver."

"How about we make a tunnel?"

"Sorry, kid," Deadwood shrugged. "These hooves were made for digging, but not through solid rock. How about this: there was this one time I had to sneak into a mining company, so I boxed myself in a crate and had myself shipped in late on a Friday afternoon. The workers left my box in the warehouse and plumb forgot all about me."

Stiletto returned from her latest delivery debacle and stuck her head into the wagon. "There is no way that I am getting into a crate with you. We should just observe them and turn in a list of attendants to the guards so that they can investigate."

Ace frowned. "But you told me last night that Bella Donna's already paid griffons for a job they've done. If we wait for the guard to get involved, it may be too late!"

"Then what're we waiting for? I say we just go in a–whompin' and a–whoopin' everpony in sight until we find out what they're up to."

Stiletto whacked Deadwood on the nose with an envelope.

"Fine," Deadwood grumbled. "You want to teleport us in, darling?"

Stiletto shook her head. "Spells aren't my forte. There's a reason most of my magic consists of creatively applied telekinesis."

"Well, too bad we ain't all changelings, otherwise we could just sneak in."

"Well, we could always go looking for some royal jelly if you want to give it a try," Ace chuckled. "Of course, that might take a few weeks."

Deadwood looked mildly put off by the implication, while Stiletto turned her head towards Ace with a very curious expression on her face. "I heard that Chrysalis was researching some way of mating with ponies. Was that it?"

"No, she was trying to bypass the need for assimilation by using magic to directly obtain, um, 'genetic information'." He studied her closely. "Don't get any ideas. Pony assimilation is resource intensive, needs constant direction from a queen skilled in genetic manipulation, and there's a good chance it won't work anyways — even when it does, the ponies usually doesn't have a strong–enough force of will for their memories and personality to survive intact. It's only ever done when a hive has dire need for new genetic information in their pool."

"I was just curious because the terminally ill might benefit from it." Stiletto added hastily. "So hybrids aren't possible?"

Deadwood stuck her head between the two of them. "Ain't it a little too soon for you two to be thinking about foals?"

Stiletto pushed her out of the way as Ace stammered on nervously. "I, um, well, there was a rumor floating around the hive before I left that Chrysalis had discovered how the power of true love might override biological limitations on – why am I still talking? Why are you letting me talk? Can we change the subject?"

"Wait, how was she planning on even testing that out?" Stiletto asked.

"It, er, may have involved draining true love out of Cadance and seducing Captain Armor?"

Deadwood made a retching sound. "That just ain't right."

Stiletto looked rather queasy herself. "Well, that was certainly–oh look! Prince Blueblood's arrived!"

They turned to see the prince dismount from his carriage and wait around at the gate. After a minute of being unattended, he grew impatient and opened it himself.

"Well, this just got interesting." Stiletto shoved Deadwood into the wagon's harness and drove her down the hill. They came to a stop across the street, in front of the cabs that had dropped off Bella Donna's other guests. The servants chatted idly amongst themselves as they waited for their masters to return, never noticing the mail wagon.

Stiletto tossed Deadwood her mailbag. "Deadwood, busy yourself. Ace, I'm going to need some of your mana."

Ace raised his eyebrows. "Ok, but what for?"

"We're going to eavesdrop." She gave the walls of the wagon a good pat. "You know how your eardrum experiences pressure generated by air waves and converts it into an electrical signals for your brain? I'm going to telekinetically grab onto one of Bella Donna's windows and feel out the conversation inside."

The wagon rocked as Ace bounced on a pile of packages in excitement. "Like a pair of tin cans on a string!"

"Exactly," Stiletto beamed. "Let's cross horns."

Their horns touched, and Ace felt his magic flow through his horn and mix with Stiletto's. She wove them together like a thread, then extended an impossibly thin needle of magic through the fabric of the mail wagon and across the hundred or so yards from their side of the street to touch upon the window of the mansion.

The window pane vibrated with the sound of ponies talking, which in turn disturbed her delicate telekinetic probe. The feedback traveled all the way to their horns and into their eardrums, whereupon a posh Canterlot voice made itself heard.

"The Crystal Heart has been stolen."

---

Prince Blueblood stepped into the foyer of Bella Donna's villa, noting with disdain how her servant had completely neglected to receive him. The mare herself was absent as well, and her distinguished guests lounged about in her waiting room in mild confusion over the breach of protocol. Indeed, the house itself seemed abandoned; Blueblood could have sworn that the waiting room had not even been cleaned since yesterday.

"I say, this is most irregular," he snorted to Jet Set. "I grant that she has some surprise in store for us, but surely it doesn’t take her entire staff to prepare?

"I agree,” Jet Set replied. “At the very least, a servant and some tea is called for. Whatever this is, it had better be worth it. My wife and I have better things to do than waste our time and money."

Prince Blueblood leaned in closer. "So, what do you suppose she has planned?"

Jet Set's adopted an insufferably smug expression. "Well, I just so happen to have heard on the radio that the Crystal Heart has been stolen. Now, I don't believe in coincidences, so I would say that our friend here has secured it for our sake."

"Better us than the changelings," Blueblood chortled. "I don't suppose we could go and take a peek? I think we've waited long enough for this."

"Normally, I would say it is quite rude to impose on a host's hospitality, but seeing as our reception was abysmal, why not?"

Jet set excused himself from the company of his wife and friends, and slipped out of the crowd with Blueblood. The rest of the house turned out to be as unkempt and deserted as the parlour. When combined with the neo–gothic architecture, it resulted in an oppressive atmosphere. Jet Set's eyes darted from shadow to shadow as he followed Prince Blueblood closer than proper decorum would have suggested. Whenever they paused, he could have sworn their hoofsteps echoed slightly longer than they should have, and there was always movement in the shadows out of the corners of his eyes.

The pair came to the wine cellar door, and Blueblood immediately reached out for the handle. "I wonder whether our surprise is inside?"

Jet Set quickly arrested his hoof. "You know, Prince, I am having second thoughts. Surely we should respect all the hard work Bella Donna has put into this event?"

"Come now," Blueblood scoffed, "Where's your sense of adventure? I'm sure Bella Donna would be gracious enough to allow for her guests to withdraw some of her wine to entertain themselves with, and if they happened to stumble upon a surprise, well, that's nopony's fault."

The prince swung the door open with a creak loud enough to wake the dead, and revealed a yawning black chasm.

Jet Set swallowed nervously. "After you, Prince."

Blueblood's horn lit up the cellar stairs, and they descend a groaning staircase to reach a basement with racks full of bottles and casks. Blueblood inspected the closest shelf and pulled out a bottle. He uncorked it and pressed it against Jet Set's chest.

"Here you go; a '33 De Grave, a very good year for Merdoc. Drink up."

Jet Set quickly took a draught of the wine. "Prince, we don't belong here. What do you expect to find?"

"Answers."

Blueblood's light scoured the cellar. There was a door on the far wall slightly ajar; he crept up to it and motioned for Jet Set to open it with his magic. Jet Set trembled as he channeled mana through his horn, and the door slowly opened up.

Both ponies screamed loud enough to rattle the wine bottles as they bolted out of the cellar. Jet Set tore through the villa until he came to the parlour and crashed into Upper Crust. All conversation in the room ceased as the ponies turned their gaze upon him.

"Everypony run!"

"What is the meaning of this, Jet?" Upper Crust gasped. "And where is Prince Blueblood?"

Jet Set bundled her towards the door. "It must have gotten him! We have to leave! Now!"

A panic swept through the group as each pony rushed for the door, leaving the parlour in shambles. They poured out of the villa and ran into the streets, past a grey mail wagon, and to their cabs. The entire street was clear within five minutes, except for Prince Blueblood's driver, who looked at Bella Donna's villa nervously as he waited for his master.

"Well, partners, it looks like we've got a delivery to make," Deadwood chuckled, as she pulled the mail wagon around the back of the villa.

The trio quickly vaulted over the wall and crept into the house. Deadwood followed Jet Set's panicked wine–spilt trail through the house and tracked it to the basement. They pressed their ears to the door and listened carefully. From within came the sounds of something scraping along the floor below.

"Well, this is it," Ace muttered. "Whatever's down there — whatever got Blueblood — we're going to have to stop it from attacking anypony else."

"Reluctantly agreed," Stiletto sighed. "Deadwood, would you care to do the honors?"

Deadwood kicked the door open and charged down the stairs. She landed on three legs, with her right foreleg held out to ward off attackers. She gasped. "Celestia's teats!"

Stiletto and Ace quickly joined her to see a crystallized unicorn standing close to the bottom stairs. The dark crystal that he had been turned into made it impossible to tell who he really was, but the horrified expression on his face was clear as glass.

Deadwood placed her hat over the pony's eyes. "Requiescat in pace, princeps."

Stiletto smacked Deadwood with her tail. "Keep your guard up, whatever did this to him is still out there. It's likely some sort of cockatrice, basilisk, or maybe even a medusa variant."

A silence descended upon the group as Ace and Stiletto shone light around the dark wine cellar. Hoof prints and scratch marks in the dusty floor lead them to a closet at the far end of the basement. Stiletto grabbed a serving platter as Ace and Deadwood approached the door.

She held the platter so that she could see the door in its reflection, as the great mythological hero Perseus had when he slew the Gorgon Medusa. "Open the door," she growled.

Deadwood flung it open to reveal the body of Prince Blueblood lying on the ground, with a bucket on his head.

"Oh! Um, you wouldn't mind lending me a hoof, would you?" He asked bashfully, pointing at the bucket. "I'm afraid this fell on me while I was searching for a cask of Amontillado."

Ace grabbed the bucket and pulled it off. "What were you doing down here in the first place?"

Blueblood shook his mane back into position and fluffed it delicately. "Why, I just told you, I was looking for some wine for the party!"

"Drop it," Stiletto snorted. "You went looking for Bella Donna with Jet Set. And judging by the scrapes on the floor, you were dragging that petrified pony out of here when we interrupted you. What have you been up to?"

Blueblood straightened up and cleared his throat. "Well, here we have a vigilante, a changeling, and an assassin. Can I trust you with a secret? I've been investigating Bella Donna on behalf of Auntie." He paused as they stared at him incredulously. "Don't look so surprised; you're a femme fatale, you feed off of love, and as for you, your uncle Dive Bomb did the exact same thing to me when I was investigating Nightwish for using mind control songs. Met me at a concert and pulled me into a closet in what was, in hindsight, an attempt at squeezing me for information."

Deadwood leaned in curiously. "Did you…"

Blueblood gave a wistful smile. "Oh yes. There was much squeezing to be had." It then changed into a frown. "He never returned my calls, and a week later, Nightwish’s enchanted necklace went missing. I suppose I should congratulate him at some point for having played me like a fiddle."

The foundations of the house shook as something rammed into it. "Ah, that would be Lieutenant Sentry, here to extract me from the claws of whatever dangerous beast Jet Set imagines to have caught me. Shall we show him into the parlour before he lowers the retail value of this estate?"

Ace and Stiletto exchanged glances and flanked Blueblood as he walked up the stairs, while Deadwood grabbed the crystallized pony and dragged him along. Blueblood strolled into the foyer to see a squad of Royal Guards led by Flash Sentry fanning out into the villa.

"Hello there!" Blueblood announced brightly, as several guards pointed their spears at him. "Lieutenant, there is no tea or cake to be found anywhere. Would you kindly prepare some so that we may discuss the latest news in the lounge?"

---

Prince Blueblood reclined in Bella Donna's couch as he sipped on a cup of tea that Flash Sentry had just brought in for him. "Ah, hot Earl Grey; undoubtedly my favorite tea. It has a distinctive citrus flavour due to the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange,"

Deadwood took a taste of her cup and promptly spat it into a nearby potted plant.

"Well, it is an acquired taste," Blueblood shrugged. "So, what are you three doing here?"

Ace straightened up in his seat. "Doing what we can to help uncover the conspiracy that's trying to drive me and my friends out of Equestria."

Flash Sentry rolled his eyes. "Did it occur to you that you could simply tell the guard about your suspicions?"

Stiletto promptly facehoofed in the background and drank her tea in silence as Ace blushed. "Well, I wasn't sure if you'd listen…"

Flash Sentry frowned at him. "Ace, you were the victim of a dark magic attack which left two others catatonic, one being an official representative of House Argent. We would have listened."

Prince Blueblood shrugged, "Nevertheless, it does not seem that they have done anything illegal–"

"Actually, I received reports last night from the Cavallo that–"

"Innocent until proven guilty." Prince Blueblood said firmly. "And since nopony is even pressing charges, I suggest we continue operating under that assumption." He waited for Flash Sentry to contest the point, but when no such challenge was issued, he resumed his speech. "I believe that they may be valuable assets to the investigation, especially considering that the Crystal Heart was stolen last night."

Ace produced a scroll from the pocket of his mailpony uniform. "We found a letter from Bella Donna, about paying griffons for some job they completed."

Flash Sentry snatched it out of Ace's grasp. "This is addressed to Furioso! So you three were–"

The letter glowed and flew into Blueblood's hooves. "I am confiscating this letter on behalf of the Internal Security Service, as it pertains to our ongoing investigation into a criminal conspiracy." He ignored Flash Sentry's outraged expression and tucked it into his tuxedo. "This letter matches up very nicely with Bella Donna's property in the Crystal Empire. I am beginning to get an idea of what has happened, but there is one last matter to address."

He pointed to the petrified pony in the corner of the room. "It appears that Bella Donna's servant has been cursed for unknown reasons. Evidently, our suspect is versed in dark magic, and I would like to know the exact nature of the threat we face. I suggest we find Auntie and ask her to cure him."

Ace raised his hoof. "Can I give it a shot? I learned a counterspell for this due to all the cocatrices in the Everfree Forest."

Prince Blueblood looked at Flash Sentry, who waved Ace on.

"Go Go Gambit Depetrification!"

A wave of green magic washed over the crystallized servant, and left flesh and blood in its wake. Siegfried gasped for air as he returned to consciousness, his eyes darting around in terror.

Deadwood grabbed him before he could bolt in fright. "Hang on there, darlin', we're tryin' to help."

"Danke," he breathed. "Mein gott, Bella Donna, she is…she has gone mad! The last thing I remember was purple energy leaking out of her eyes, and her horn, it was... deformed by some disease!"

"So that was why she kept wearing those stupid hats!" Blueblood finished off his tea and handed the saucer to Flash Sentry. "Siegfried, come with me. The evidence that I have collected, along with your testimony, will be enough to convince a judge to issue a warrant for her arrest. Lieutenant Sentry, you and your men will take these three amateurs to the Crystal Empire. I believe you will arrive by nightfall, which will be an excellent time to conduct a raid." Prince Blueblood gave the others a curt nod. "Gentleponies, I wish you the best. May we all see each other again at the Gala."

Flash Sentry saluted Blueblood as the prince and Siegfried walked out to his carriage, escorted by two guardponies. "Insufferable git," Flash muttered under his breath.

"Oh, I agree," Stiletto grinned, "But you can't deny that he has style."

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

Hah, I was right about Blueblood...though I guess everyone else saw that coming as well. At least Siegfried wasn't brutally murdered, that's a good thing.

Also, will the whole 'Chrysallis trying to create a hybrid' come into play in another story in the future?

[Juntao112]

5398885

It might get touched on, but there won't be any changeling daughters of Shining Armor running around. (Though there is at least one good fic with that premise should you be interested. I believe it is called The Foal in the Basket.)

[nocara]

Oh a few of the fics i have seen that makes Blueblood more than a brat

[Bobbin]

More than a brat...but not by much. He's a useful brat. With style. Insufferable, but not totally an arse.