Friends Forevah #26: Shining Armor and Bluedouche

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

Always, these guys make me think we've seem all in terms of FF, but they always come with some doozy   . Hope Bluedouche doesn't angers the yaks 

Synopsis

 

Shining Armor will have his hooves full when Prince Blueblood gets involved in a sensitive diplomatic mission. Will Shining Armor be able to make use of the Prince’s unique talents?

 

[Daring_Do 552]

Praise be to His Royal Highness! Great-great-great-great-great-great nephew of Her Majesty Princess Celestia. How many ponies can claim to have blood so blue?

 

...But dang, Prince Charles has it easy. Luckily I headcanon that Celestia's at the end of her lifespan, so unlike the last 50 generations of the Royal Family, we may live to see Blueblood's magnificent reign over Equestria.

Edited December 16, 2015 by Daring_Do

[Chara 1,565]

I totally want to see Shining Armor kick Blueblood's ass if I was to read that comic.

[Daring_Do 552]

I totally want to see Shining Armor kick Blueblood's ass if I was to read that comic.

He is former Captain of the Royal Guard, sir! Would you insult his honor by suggesting he would lay a hoof upon the glorious bloodline he swore to protect?

[Chara 1,565]

He is former Captain of the Royal Guard, sir! Would you insult his honor by suggesting he would lay a hoof upon the glorious bloodline he swore to protect?

But nowhere have they give us eligible proof that Blueblood was royalty of Canterlot or even Equestria itself, only that he is royalty and a Prince.

[Daring_Do 552]

But nowhere have they give us eligible proof that Blueblood was royalty of Canterlot or even Equestria itself, only that he is royalty and a Prince.

Well, he's Celestia's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great nephew according to Faust, so I assume that's where his title comes from. But I suppose Celie's family could be royalty of someplace else too. Royal families of different countries being related *is* a thing, after all...

Edited December 16, 2015 by Daring_Do

[Megas 27,564]

Every time I say a pairing that makes me go "wut?" and think they can't do one any more ridiculous, they always manage to surprise me

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

Every time I say a pairing that makes me go "wut?" and think they can't do one any more ridiculous, they always manage to surprise me

Yeah, while some team-ups are way too expected, they always manage to surprise us, like Rarity with Babsy or Gilda, BUT THIS?  . I've already expressed my surprise of unexpected pairing, this is no different, but what makes it more surprising are the featured characters:

-Shining Armor might be an important recurring character, but he hardly gets any spotlight compared to other recurring characters, like Coco Pommel, Zecora, AND EVEN BIG MAC  

-Blueblood: He had ONE speaking role, and he was demoted to a handful of BG appearances afterwards (I think Sweet and Elite and Equestria Games are the only chapters which had him as BG  )..... not to mention he's one of the most hated characters in the fandom  . 

Man, at this point I'm expecting Flashy with DERP 

Edited December 16, 2015 by Steve Piranha

[Daring_Do 552]

Actually, I have seen this pairing suggested before. Think about it, they're Equestria's 2 princes. I just didn't think they'd actually do it.

[Castle Bleck 19,326]

He is former Captain of the Royal Guard, sir! Would you insult his honor by suggesting he would lay a hoof upon the glorious bloodline he swore to protect?

 

He could always just make it look like a freak accident.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

So, we have not only Prince Blueblood and Prince Shining Armor here, but also it looks like Prince Rutherford is involved.

 

This should be QUITE fun! <3

[Castle Bleck 19,326]

So, we have not only Prince Blueblood and Prince Shining Armor here, but also it looks like Prince Rutherford is involved.

 

This should be QUITE fun! <3

 

Blueblood & Rutherford: *Are in the same room together.*

 

Edited December 17, 2015 by A.V.

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

Blueblood & Rutherford: *Are in the same room together.*

 

Yeah, they might as well display a loaded nuclear bomb in the middle of Manhattan and no security personnel   

[ggg-2 3,552]

Not sure how I feel about Prince Assface being here but more Shining Armor is fine by me!

[Castle Bleck 19,326]

Got to say, I was surprised more than once while reading it.

 

 

Blueblood being noticeably nicer and more competent than I ever expected, Rutherford being somewhat toned-down and more reasonable, that friendly female Yak who gave Blueblood his spa treatment, etc.

 

Edited March 19, 2016 by A.V.

[Daring_Do 552]

So, would any of y'all be interested in hearing an elaborate headcanon I've got re: Blueblood's lineage/status? (It includes the Word of Faust, but there's other stuff on top of that)

[weesh 690]

 

I was expecting it to be horrible...
but it was merely mediocre!

 

Got to say, I was surprised more than once while reading it.

 

 

Blueblood being noticeably nicer and more competent than I ever expected, Rutherford being somewhat toned-down and more reasonable, that friendly female Yak who gave Blueblood his spa treatment, etc.

 

 

Well Said!

It is so nice to see blueblood consistent with his old horrible character, but still competent at the task.  

 

I also liked that blueblood was willing to let shining armor mess everything up...that is, he deferred to Shining armor until Shining asked for help.  
He offered advice without being pushy, but when he was let off the leash, he took command and got things done.

 

It was interesting that he expected a TON from his entourage, but then treated them very well, and they were clearly loyal, so he must have a track record of such behavior.
I still hate him, but at least he isn't a shallow piece of shit anymore.    

 

The first page really made me laugh too.  I'm so glad to see twilight/shining time.  They are so at easy and loving to each other.  It really reminds me of my relationship with my sister.

 

I'm not sure if I just had sufficiently low expectations, or if it actually had good points in its favor...

 

 

Always, these guys make me think we've seem all in terms of FF, but they always come with some doozy    . Hope Bluedouche doesn't angers the yaks  

wow, that prediction was logical, but seriously funny compared to actual events!
Who'd have thought?

Edited March 28, 2016 by weesh

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

As someone who's always had a soft spot for Blueblood (because not even he could be without his redeeming qualities), I enjoyed his characterization in this. Yeah, he's still a bit pompous, but it's nowhere near how he acted in The Best Night Ever and here he also seems to be a bit oblivious at times. Though he did say some rather rude things about Cadence that Shining probably should have sucker punched him for, he's portrayed as a much more reasonable and charismatic figure.

 

Though, I'm more curious about what kind of catastrophe was going on during all this that required all four Princesses. Using the levels from One Punch Man for comparison, this must have been either a Dragon (danger to multiple cities or entire continents) or God (danger to the human race and/or planet) threat. Prince Rutherford is throwing a fit and meanwhile Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight are combatting some kind of Eldritch Abomination. 

 

Speaking of the Yaks, this comic has only increased my HATRED for these idiots. Their entire race (our at maybe just the stupid Prince Rutherford) are nothing but temper tantrum prone jerks who go to war at the smallest inconveniences. And, just like in their debut episode, they either hate their own culture or consider it so perfect that it is impossible to emulate and thus throw a fit when ever anyone tries to do so. Yeah, Shining was basically doing the same things as Twilight (which Blueblood pointed out) but that still doesn't excuse this.

 

You know, someone should take them up on their declaration of war one of these days. I give them ten minutes before their nuked off the face of the planet by everyone they've pissed off. 

[weesh 690]

As someone who's always had a soft spot for Blueblood (because not even he could be without his redeeming qualities), I enjoyed his characterization in this. Yeah, he's still a bit pompous, but it's nowhere near how he acted in The Best Night Ever

 yeah, they had to change him quite a bit, but not so much that it bugged me.  

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

I found this comic to be very enjoyable, and I really like what they did with Blueblood. Again I have to refer to Sketchy the Changeling who made the wonderful point that Blueblood isn't sympathetic; nor is he being redeemed. He is still the pompous and narcissistic ass from season 1, but it also shows him to be a little more three dimensional. The comics shows us he has talents in other areas; diplomacy in this case, and that he actually has something to contribute. The comic deserves some mad props for that.

 

Shining Armor was understandable skeptical and I enjoyed how he came around in the end, and I LOVED the yaks here. I don't know what it is, but I find them both hilarious and wonderful at the same time.

 

9/10

[weesh 690]

...I really like what they did with Blueblood. Again I have to refer to Sketchy the Changeling who made the wonderful point that Blueblood isn't sympathetic; nor is he being redeemed. He is still the pompous and narcissistic ass from season 1, but it also shows him to be a little more three dimensional. The comics shows us he has talents in other areas; diplomacy in this case, and that he actually has something to contribute. The comic deserves some mad props for that.

 

...and I LOVED the yaks here. I don't know what it is, but I find them both hilarious and wonderful at the same time.

 

Wow, the bolded section is very well stated.  That intent from the writers is perfect.  If they had tried to make us sympathise with Blueblood, it would have given readers whiplash from rapid turn around in his character.  Fleshing him out was enough to making him a more interesting character.  

 

Regarding the yaks, it is just nice to have a bit of multiculturalism.  It is to be expected that two cultures coming into contact with each other will clash, and I really liked the learning process.  Culturally, nearly all the ponies in the show are very similar.  we get different personalities, but that's about it.  The show has been doing a fine job of adding other animals like yaks and griffons to showcase other cultures, but they have not given us enough of them!

 

In addition, the yaks were not at all unreasonable.  They didn't expect much more than not being mocked, but they perceived Shining Armor's attempts to connect as mockery.  Once the strategy shifted not to copying, but to sharing culture, they warmed up immediately.  I like them alot too.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Wow, the bolded section is very well stated.  That intent from the writers is perfect.  If they had tried to make us sympathise with Blueblood, it would have given readers whiplash from rapid turn around in his character.  Fleshing him out was enough to making him a more interesting character.  

 

Regarding the yaks, it is just nice to have a bit of multiculturalism.  It is to be expected that two cultures coming into contact with each other will clash, and I really liked the learning process.  Culturally, nearly all the ponies in the show are very similar.  we get different personalities, but that's about it.  The show has been doing a fine job of adding other animals like yaks and griffons to showcase other cultures, but they have not given us enough of them!

 

In addition, the yaks were not at all unreasonable.  They didn't expect much more than not being mocked, but they perceived Shining Armor's attempts to connect as mockery.  Once the strategy shifted not to copying, but to sharing culture, they warmed up immediately.  I like them alot too.

 

Honestly; that's why I loved the episode that introduced us to the yaks in the first place. While it is an extreme example of culture clash, it's not out of the ordinary and I LOVE how the comics demonstrates that further. I love different cultures, and the yaks overall personality just accentuates that.

[Castle Bleck 19,326]

I especially liked Yakmina.

 

Levelheaded Yak was levelheaded.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

I especially liked Yakmina.

 

Levelheaded Yak was levelheaded.

 

Not only was she level-headed, but her conversations with Blueblood were particularly interesting, IMO. Whether or not he actually meant it on a personal level, it shows that he knows when to step out of his usual pompousness when the time calls for it.

 

Yakmina/Blueblood OTP?