Spike was in his quarters of the HMS Pinafore, when he saw his necklace glowing and picked it up to see his mother, "Mom, I suppose you heard that Marleybone is our ally now."

Celestia nodded, "Yes, but that's not why I'm calling. Do you remember the man who was arrested during Aurora's festival?"

Spike nodded back, "Yes, some grumpy bastard trying to scandalize me."

Celestia explained, "It turns out that man was your cousin Blueblood."

Spike's eyes widened, "Ugh, great, the prodigal asshole. But that's beside the point, you wouldn't be calling me about this if it wasn't important. Let me guess, he escaped prison?"

"Yes, I've placed guards at every dock and train station in Canterlot, plus I put out a 500,000 reward for any information that leads to his arrest."

Spike thought for a moment. He didn't need the money, but he knew his cousin was smart. He told his mother, "I'll return to help look for him. Knowing him, he'll bribe somebody to get him out of Canterlot."

Celestia raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure you're not just trying to claim that reward I put out?"

Spike chuckled, "Trust me mother, people can be gullible. When the HMS Pinafore's crew arrived in Skull Island, I tricked them into giving me 50K in exchange for information of my whereabouts."

Celestia giggled, "I have to admit, that is pretty funny. But if you want to join in the hunt, I won't stop you. Just be careful."

"Always am mother, always am." before heading up to the decks and telling Twilight, "Twilight, we're returning to Equestria. My royal asshole of a cousin escaped prison, and my mother has put out a reward for information leading to his arrest."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Is this like the time you tricked us out of 50K for information of your whereabouts?"

"Not in the slightest. I may be a pirate, but I'm not low enough to trick money out of my own mother."

"Fair enough, next question, what was your cousin Blueblood doing in prison? He may be a jealous prick, but he's hardly a criminal." When Spike explained the situation, she grumbled, "That's low, even for him. He can't even be happy for his family."

Spike nodded, "Why do you think my father wrote him out of the will?"

And so, Twilight steered the ship back to Equestria. Lucy walked up to Spike on the deck of the ship, "So, I heard we're going back to Equestria? What happened to that treasure hunt of yours?"

Spike explained, "My cousin escaped from prison recently, and we're joining the hunt before he escapes Canterlot. I'd like it if you stay back at the castle. I'm going to need to use some shady connections to help find my cousin, and I don't want you getting hurt."

Lucy smiled, "That's very sweet of you, but I know how to protect myself. Despite my mother's protests, my father taught me how to fire a pistol when I was 14. I can stay safe with you by my side."

Spike smiled lightly, but didn't argue, "Ok, you can come with me."

Meanwhile in Equestria...

Blueblood was hiding in a small tavern, "Unbelievable, auntie Celestia put out a reward for my capture... I'm not going back to that filthy prison! They have no idea how horrible it was! Especially with that drunk!" shivering just from the thought.

Celestia had sent out Garble, to act like his former self before his discharge from the Dragoons. Her plan was to try to see if Blueblood would seek out Garble in an attempt to trick him into talking about his plans to another person who supposedly disliked Spike as much as he did.

Garble walked into the tavern and sat at the bar, "Give me a scorpion shot." before being handed a shot glass of tequila with a dead scorpion in it, which was a common drink in dragon culture.

Blueblood noticed Garble and recognized him from his childhood when he bullied his cousin Spike. He sat in the stool next to him and asked, "What's a Dragoon doing in a shallow place like this?"

Garble chugged his shot down and crunched the scorpion in his teeth before saying, "I ain't a Dragoon no more, since the brat discharged me."

Blueblood smiled lightly, "So, the royal family betrayed you too?"

Garble nodded, "Yeah, and I'm willing to do what I need to do to teach the runt a lesson."

Blueblood took a sip of his drink and said, "In that case, perhaps we can come up with a deal. My idiot of a cousin is unworthy of the crown. He's gone low enough to become a lowly pirate instead of a classy sophisticate."

"I'm not exactly the classy type either, but I think I can help. The brat is coming home for a while. I can talk to the guards, they're good friends, I can sneak you to the royal docks."

Blueblood smiled, "Deal. We'll be in contact." before stepping off his stool, raising his hood, and leaving the tavern.

When he left, Garble contacted Celestia with his necklace and told her, "It's set up, he'll be at the royal docks by the time the prince returns from Port Regal."

Celestia smiled, "Good job Garble. You've really redeemed yourself. Perhaps I'll consider reinstating you as a Dragoon, perhaps even a promotion."

Garble smiled back, "Thank you your majesty."

Later that night...

Blueblood had been sneaked onto the private docks to see Spike's ship just arriving. As Spike disembarked the HMS Pinafore, he feigned tiredness, trying to trick his cousin into believing he was easily beatable. Blueblood took his glove off and slapped his cousin across the face with it, "I challenge you cousin! You're not fit to be king!"

Spike growled, but kept up the tired act, "Fine, it's your funeral. But you know I've trained with the best since I was a toddler."

The two stepped away from each other and Blueblood thought to himself, "What a fool, he's too tired to defeat me in a proper duel."

Spike chuckled to himself as he stepped away from his cousin, ready to duel. When they had made their final steps, Blueblood drew his fencing sword and Spike said, "For the record, this is how a pirate fights. Auntie Luna's lessons taught me this." before using his pistol hand to knock Blueblood's sword out of his hand. "We fight with our fists, no weapons, and I won't use my artificial hand."

Blueblood was shocked, not only was his cousin fully rested, but he also had a built-in pistol in his hand. He straightened his tie and said, "Very well, let's settle this like gentleman!" before walking up to his cousin and shadowboxing, trying to frighten his cousin, "Have at thee!"

Spike was getting annoyed by his cousin, "Ok, this has gone on long enough." before kicking his cousin in the groin, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

Blueblood fell to the ground, screaming in pain and holding his groin in pain, "For the love of Faust! You're no gentleman, you're just a mindless brute!"

Spike rolled his eyes, "I am no brute, you're just a stuck-up prick. You don't even understand you were never royalty. My father wasn't king, he was the husband of the Queen, you being his nephew meant nothing. Guards!"

The guards came out and arrested Blueblood once more, the captain saying, "This time, we're not taking you to the local prison, you're heading to the castle dungeons."

Blueblood was unable to fight back, still in pain from Spike's kick. "I'll get you for this cousin, if it's the last thing I do!"

Spike grumbled, "Well now that that's out of the way." before walking to his tower, and on the way, he smiled as Garble came up to him. He told him, "Thank you for your help, Garble. We couldn't have done this without you."

Garble smiled back, "Thank you your majesty, it was a privilege to help arrest Blueblood."

And so, with the help of Garble, Spike has brought his cousin back into custody, but this time he's heading to the castle dungeons, from where nobody has ever escaped. With Spike's bothersome cousin out of the way, he can return to his own life, not just the war, but his adventures as a pirate as well. What will his next adventure be?

Find out next time!

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