As a point of useless information:

     The ancient Greeks used the letters as their number system, too, with a couple modifications.  And the letter "zeta" was their number "seven."

                             Mike

Did you just make Prince Blueblood James Bond?!

Image: http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j257/dire_geno/1230884668192.gif

Blueblood as the lead, and shipped with Rainbow Dash? Okay, I'll bite.

This may well be both unique, and entertaining!

This is why it pays to watch the Dog.  Your brilliant writing drives me to sweet despair.  I like the idea that Luna sees something of herself in Blueblood, and the recasting of Blueblood as competent but empty.  Might we even see some character growth?

(I would prefer that to have been broken in two chapters, because fimfiction doesn't have bookmarks - I need to read chapters all the way to the end once I've clicked on them and they're marked as read.  Didn't really have time to read 8000 words right now.)

"I would no such thing," => "I would do no such thing,"

Another James Bond crossover me like it

BlueDash ship? All ships must sail, faved for later.

I know that a story is promising when the first paragraph makes me snort and laugh out loud.

Having read this first bit - fantastic! I'm only sorry I haven't read your stories before now.

1. Well-characterized, Goddess of the NIght is well-characterized.

2. Chives doesn't rhyme with Jeeves. Minus 2 house points.

3. Coal Porter? I see what you did there.

4. MOAR!

Okay, one chapter in... And I'm VERY interested in seeing where you go with the characters.  +1 fave, +1 upvote

>>15533221553322

I strongly recommend Half the Day is Night.

Excellent idea!

I have to admit that I didn't think much of the set up (and the pairing) going in, but in a little less than 9k words you've made me a believer.

Bond's personality meshes very well with Blueblood's, not to mention how well the setting in which Bond moves matches to the air of nobility around Canterlot and the princesses. Sort of like MI6 without  the bureaucracy.

Luna as M was a surprise but much more fitting than Celestia, I have to agree, after her scene as top brass. That was awesome! It would be great if you gave a bit more development to Hyacinth in the future; while Moneypenny wasn't any major character in the Bond universe, she does save James' bacon more than once with the powers that be. On that note, will we get to meet Q's stand in? Who knows... Twilight might very well get roped into the role in the future :P I get the feeling she'd do great as a mad scientist.

One thing I liked a lot is how you've managed to wrap Bond's savoir faire around Blueblood's trademark obnoxiousness and make it work. That doesn't look easy but it manages to keep Blueblood being Blueblood and still come across as a real Double 0 agent.

I like the idea of Rainbow as a pairing a lot (and not just because she's my favourite) because the counterpoint she'll make to Bluebloods noble ideals and refined Canterlot digs will be hilarious, but I don't quite see what you plan to do with her. She's shown physical skills well above the average pegasus, and while that in itself is par for the course with her almost every time she shows up, the amount of emphasis you've put on this fact feels like foreshadowing. Will she be tapped for a double 0 agent? Those Wonderbolts can't just be stunt poines after all, that'd be a criminal waste of talent :P

I also loved how you've made Rainbow just be happy. So often is she portrayed as a tragic figure putting a good face on to cover up some great tragedy (real or imagined) that I've felt for a long time that such a thing doesn't do justice to the character we're shown in the show. Please keep her like that! Especially because I agree with Luna, Blueblood sounds so cynical and is so brazen in his affectations (no matter how true some of the boasts he makes may be) that to have him as a sort of warped mirror for Rainbow can only help her curb her natural boastfulness; not to mention it's bound to put some fun in Blueblood's life that does not necessarily imply property damage.

Great job! Looking forward to more of this!

Im looking forward to this, always been a 007 fan and its very uncommon to find a blueblood story not showing him as an a complete arse.

Well whaddya know! I think this story already has a soundtrack!

That was pretty entertaining.

Very interesting, I look forward to future chapters. I have a couple issues; the flow at the start seems a bit off, but smoothes out nicely once we get to Luna. The other is the seemingly random contractions from Dash, the couple you have are out of place with the rest of her speech.

Dammit! Moar! Please!

OH YES!

Now I can't wait for Rarity's face when she sees RD and Blueblood.

My only regret: No Bond-cars.

Oh yeah! Very much enjoying this. Looking forward to more.

Please keep writing, I'll keep reading!

>>15531991553199

Sorry about:

     The chapter lengths, but I could only come up with 4 ponified James Bond titles, so using one for the overall story left with me with three to use for the chapters.  So they each need to be about 8,000 words, I figure, to get the whole thing told.  If I can keep my usual pace, chapter 2, Octopony, should appear on or about Nov. 14th, and chapter 3, Thunderbow, on or about Nov. 26th.

>>15530111553011

>>15532041553204

>>15544441554444

     I hafta admit that I've never thought of myself as a James Bond fan.  And yet, as soon as the phrase, "The names's Blueblood.  Prince Blueblood" popped into my head, that was it.  No turning back!  

>>15540971554097

     At this point, this is a stand-alone story, and all the action for the rest of it takes place in Ponyville and the Everfree Forest.  So alas, no more scenes with Hyacinth nor do we get to meet Q, though Blueblood does give her a passing thought early in  chapter 1 as "that unkempt little minion of Aunt Celestia's" who showed him how to deploy his hang glider.  And thank you for your comments on the way I'm writing Dashie.  One of the things that makes FiM such a special show for me is the way the characters actually love the work that they do.  It may stress them out and sometimes drive them crazy, but a big part of their core happiness comes from having jobs they enjoy and believe in.

>>15535671553567

     Doesn't "Coal Porter" get me those 2 points back?  No?  Ah, well...  

>>15581871558187

     I'll give the contractions a look.  I spend my whole previous story, An Infinite Number of Pinkies, trying to us contractions as a way of delineating the various narrative levels, so I might still have some of that residue still floating around in my brain.

>>15629511562951

>>15691081569108

>>15753551575355

     More is on its way!  And yes, I'm really looking forward to writing the Rarity scene in chapter 3!  

                                   Mike

This Blueblood. I like it. ANOTHER!! Okay, all done with overused memes. Anyway, I have become rather fond of Blueblood lately, mainly due to InsertAuthorHere, and I like seeing him in a protagonist role instead of an antagonist.

>>15784561578456

Thunderbow. The pun has been DOUBLED! Ok, so I lied about overused memes.

Look for:

     Act III, "Thunderbow," on or about Monday, Nov. 26th!

                          Mike

Ohoho, he's devious! We're having fun alright!

Damn!!! This guy is just......damn

This got a lot more interesting.

Well this chapter upped the stakes quite thoroughly. Really looking forward to the next chapter.

Yaaay! *waits eagerly

I think this is my favorite fan-depiction of Blueblood; just as insufferable as in the canon, yet with hidden layers, and yet furthermore, and this is important, equally insufferable in his hidden layers as well.

Also, Dash is best Bond Girl.

>>16182041618204

>>16214341621434

>>16217441621744

>>16221021622102

>>16261641626164

I just hope:

     The conclusion with have a sufficient number of explosions to be true to the source material.  

>>16442631644263

     I'm a little chagrined by how easy I find it to write for Blueblood, actually.  Might be it says something about me I'd rather went unspoken.  

                              Mike

>>15547931554793

In all honesty:

     I have to admit that the music I've found myself humming all month while working on this--other than the standard James Bond opening stuff--has been the theme to the old British TV spy show "The Avengers."

     Because Diana Rigg, who played Tracy Draco in the film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," played Emma Peel on the show.  So there's at least a tenuous connection!

                              Mike

Princess Luna is best Bad Cop.

>>15540971554097

Obviously Q would have to be Discord somehow.

And there it is!

     A couple thousand more words than I expected, but, well, you can't have everything.  'Cause, I mean, where would you put it?

                                 Mike

Interesting, I haven't read this yet but I am about to. I have an idea that seems to be somewhat similar to this (Rainbow Dash with a 007 swing to it) I may write it, may not... But i cant wait to dive into this!

"Well, if you want to be ungrammatical about it..."

sequel please.

Oh yeah. That was awesome!

Don't know what plans you have, if any, regarding this story, but I certainly wouldn't be adverse to a sequel.

Sequel or no, I am definitely watching for what you write next.

Hrm. You know, secret agent Blueblood is actually coming pretty close to replacing my headcanon right now. Another story, and you might even have it.

I look forward to seeing what you write next.

Absolutely spledifferous

Seeing that ship I was a bit afraid that this might end like "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".

Thank you for not doing that.

If you write a sequel, remember to put in "You know what the difference is between you and me? I make this look GOOD." That line may not be Bond, but it is sooo Rainbow Dash.

B-b-b-b-baby you just ain't seen nothin' yet...

Admittedly; I've never seen a James Bond movie, but if they're all as good as this I should go pick up a DVD pack from Walmart of somthin'. If you ever think up some grand sequel to this, I'll read it in a heart beat.

Excellent ending, and let me join the chorus begging for a sequel.

I trust there will be more

Well, the resolution for this was awesome indeed. The fight was very nice and engaging and the pacing of the last two chapters was very well handled.

It was an interesting twist that the real threat to Equestria was the storm resulting from Briar's actions rather than the unicorn himself. Blueblood being assertive in the face of what had happened to him was also  a nice piece of character development, although I did end up feeling that he ought to have a little bit more time to showcase just why he's thought of as the best agent on the payroll.

Also on the department of things I didn't quite get, just how was the spell triggered in the end? Were they not out of its range when Blueblood freed them from their bonds?

Now, if I were a mature, sensible reader I'd say that ending where you did was the perfect place to do it as the story had already been told in full, all i's dotted and all t's crossed. That said, I will now proceed to my impersonation of a raving fanboy.

OMFG you need to make a sequel for this thing! It's great! What's going to happen with Dash in the service? Will she accept? What about Rarity? I don't care what she says, she sees Dash and Blueblood out one day and she's going to want a piece of that flank for herself or I'll eat my hat. If they get together and end up married, does that make Dash nobility? (poor, poor country).

Moar Luna! She had 3 pages in the story or thereabouts and they were great! She deserves more page :P

Great job man, looking forward to more of your work even if you decide to shelf this particular AU.

The heart-shaped cloud felt a touch heavy handed but that's the only tiny petty criticism I can level at this. Lovely as always. You perfectly captured BB and RD. Any chance you plan to do more in this universe?

>>16752351675235

>>16757191675719

>>16765851676585

>>16771511677151

>>16772561677256

>>16773651677365

>>16777051677705

>>16791661679166

Thanks, folks!

     Next up from me is actually a sequel to the story of mine that's so far proven to be the least popular here on FiMFiction, my nearly-clopless clopfic "Biology: A Romance."  "History: A Romance Continued" should take up most of my Pony writing time for the rest of the year (and will likely have even less clop in it than "Romance" does), and after that I might just see about writing the Princess Cadance story that Skywriter accidentally suggested to me last month.

     I'd definitely enjoy visiting this version of Blueblood and Dash again mostly to see how Blueblood and Ponyville react to each other.  Gotta get a good maguffin for it, though: some fiend that needs vanquishing or some important object that needs securing.  I always hafta start a story outline with "a person in a place with a problem," and in a spy story, well, that problem's always gotta be something world-shattering, doesn't it?  

>>16827991682799

     As for the Octopony spell, Green Briar has a Plan A and a Plan B.  Plan A uses Blueblood as its trigger, but Dash stops that one from happening.  So Green Briar initiates Plan B, the one with the dagger, at the end of Act II, and casts the spell that way instead.

     The chemistry between Luna and Blueblood really took me by surprise, I hafta admit, and pretty much forced me to add those two scenes between Celestia and Luna to dig a little more into what was going on there.  That's always a fun part of the writing process, the way my brain sometimes does things without running them by me first...  

>>16890381689038

     Dash punching a heart-shaped hole in the clouds was the very first image that came into my head once I had the basic outline of the story, to tell the truth, so I felt duty-bound to include it.  I'm a sucker for that kinda happy-ending stuff...  

                          Mike

>>16912171691217

Evil guy wants to spark a war between the Diamond Dogs and the Griffins.

>>16912171691217 *laughs* I totally understand you there, it wasn't really meant to be a big deal just  mior quirk. but it did make me groan and smile.

>>16912171691217

Eh, I think the best part of writing is when you realize your characters do things without bothering to ask your permission. Then, when you stop you look at the page and realize there is no way you can delete all those pages you just wrote and still be telling a story about those characters.

In regards to your future prospects, I will read your other work and see what you come up with. If this is the bar for your quality, the rest must also be well written. I may not like other stories as much as this, but good writing deserves to be read!

As to needing a someone, somewhere with something of a problem? I totally agree. That it needs to be world shattering? Not necessarily... Unlike Bond, Blueblood is not only a spy but a noble in and of himself. Who's to say he doesn't stumble onto some uncomfortable secret some other noble doesn't want to make public? No world ending there, but there's a lot of potential for personal discomfort :P.

Okay, that was a crack paring to be true, but also a fun read. Well done. I don't see many authors portray ol' Blueblood sympathetically without trying to "fix" him.

Edit: this story also agreed with my head-canon, where the princesses are grooming the mane six for duty to the nation...

>>16912171691217

Yeah, vanquish so we an watch!

Wait, that came out wrong...

Rainbow dash/Prince blueblood is a new one for me but I love it already since blueblood barely gets any pairings and when he does its with the great and annoying trixie.(no offence to trixie/blueblood shippers out there)  This was a very good story.

Nicely done.  A bit of That Escalated Quickly (not much, just a bit) on the pairup; part of me would have liked a shaky-but-hopeful end that would let us extrapolate to future adventures (even if you aren't planning on writing any).  But all in all, an excellent addition to my faves library.

>>17293761729376

I always have trouble:

     Writing romance 'cause I've never actually been involved in one.    But, yeah, the rules for the contest that put the initial idea for this story into my head stipulated that it must be ponies who don't have a lotta romance stories written about them and that they must end up happy and together at the end.  Still, if there is a second story, it'd hinge on the two of them realizing the practical difficulties of their relationship and working to overcome them 'cause, well, turns out I'm all about the "happily ever after" thing.

     A question, though, if I might.  The two strikes this story's gotten from the pre-readers at Equestria Daily have focused largely on its "awkward phrasing."  From the specific examples they gave me, I came to the conclusion that they didn't care for my use of absolute constructions, and since that's nearly my favorite thing in English grammar, I've spent the past several days rewriting a fair percentage of the story to eliminate all such sentences that I could find.  I'm curious if you recall anything that particularly tripped you up in your reading.

     Anyway, I'm glad you liked the story!

                       Mike

>>17307981730798

No particular examples leap to mind, although I must admit that the absolute construction has never bothered me much.

Love the adventure-y bits. As far as a secret agent fic using Blueblood goes? This is great. Character growth using said fic? Absolutely amazing. I think the story had some minor pacing issues towards the end of the first chapter; the elements you put into play were well orchestrated, and often when I found myself thinking "he could have done so and so", the next paragraph would show why you did differently. Very competently written, with one minor complaint.

And the problem, I think, is that I call it a "Minor" complaint. I speak of the romance bits.

If this fic didn't have a romance tag, if it instead fixed on Blueblood's changes (and they were excellent!), that'd be great, but the romance feels shoehorned. Take this with a grain of salt considering that I have particular tastes, but it felt like an attraction build on a relationship build on an attraction built on--what, exactly? When RD and BB both made comments on each others' physiques at their first meetings/sightings, I kind of had to stop and re-read it. I don't know if it was tone-breaking, but it felt very out of place, especially for Dash.

Then it just sort of kept happening. Let me jump to the end here before I sound way harsh; Blueblood's thoughts about RD before he left the library were very, very good, but they could've just as well fit into a friendshipping framework. Everything else before that felt very baseless, and I just sat here thinking "why?"

I love shipping, I love adventure, and I absolutely do not believe that you need a long list of "why pony X loves pony Y". Furthermore, I feel a physical attraction relationship fits well with something secret agent-y. It just feels like you never really declared for a side on the romance aspects, and the result is me tilting my head everything something happens - like the little entendre during their first forest walk.

I don't say this because I would rather it wasn't a shipping fic, I just feel as it stands it's a great adventure fic that does BB, character growth and suspense credit, burdened by a slightly clumsy romance subtext that detracts from it. Lots of things I loved about it, and if I may say so (mostly to your comment above); I personally don't mind absolute constructions at all. I love the way it fits the theme here, and it plays into it.

>>18062071806207

Thank you:

     So much for the comments!  They pretty much parallel my own thoughts on how things turned out here.  Because, see, every time I start a story, I like to try something new with it.  Whether it's the sixth in the series I've been selling to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword & Sorceress anthology or my first My Little Pony novel, I just enjoy stretching myself toward things I'm not sure I know how to do.  So when my first thought after stumbling over TAW's contest announcement was, "Oh, that's romance.  I can't do that," well, I pretty much sealed my own fate right there.

     I know I learned some things from writing this, and I'm definitely enjoying going through the other entries.  I'll be reading and rereading them with a mind toward seeing what techniques I can pick up.  

                             Mike

In my opinion, I love 007 as much as the next guy, but this seems... not quite right. Phrases like "double O Zeta" don't exactly roll off the tongue. To me, this is a scrambled mess of 007 references and puns slopped on a page with a couple of ponies copy-pasted in. After reading, I'm not even sure what the plot is.

Please do not take this personally. It's just my opinion. There are some good things about it ^^ It's just not my cup of soup

>>19121331912133

Mmmmm:

     Soup...  

           Mike

I would really, really like to a sequel to this epic fic

I'm very glad to see this finally got a post-it from the other pre-readers. Welcome to the small cadre of Blueblood authors! This story made me laugh and smile, though funny enough I prefer the grittier Bonds and Bond movies, and this was quite carefree. But when you have a fun, quick read that leaves you wanting more, there's no cause to complain. Maybe the next one could be a spoof of the Bourne series? hahaha

>>19164851916485

I'm not sure:

     But I think I may have stumbled across a title for a possible sequel the other day.  I need to think about it, but it's a definite possibility at this point.  

>>19333641933364

Thank you!

     Y'know, I was thinking about it, and I'm pretty sure I haven't seen an actual Bond film since Moonraker was first released.  As I mentioned somewhere further upstream in these comments, this story ended up drawing a lot more on my memories of the old British TV series "The Avengers" with Patrick McNee and Diana Rigg than anything else.  I haven't seen any of the Bourne films, either, but the concept fits so nicely into the possible title I've come up with for a sequel that I'm beginning to smell the hand of Destiny here...  

                           Mike

I skipped this story when it popped up on EQD because of the pairing. After reading Chris' review on OMPR, I decided to give it a look, and I'm glad I did. It's a very enjoyable story and if anything could convince me that Bluedash could conceivably happen, this would be it. Thumbs up.

Ok, so I'm really loving this so far. Your characterization is spot on, and this is excellently written (so far as I can tell, anyway). I've never seen this combination of characters done before, either, which is a pretty amazing feat considering the amount of stories on this site.

I particularly like your portrayal of Rainbow Dash - she's just the right amount of cocky, capable, and fun-loving without any one trait being over done or neglected. Also, even though he's clearly douchey, I can't help but like your Blueblood at least a little bit, too. Oh, and really nice descriptive language - I admit, I'm kinda jealous of your ability to set a scene with just the right amount of detail. Well, I think I'm done gushing for now - onward!

Well, I gotta say, I loved this. Maybe its because Blueblood isn't a character I usually read about (ok, I really don't at all) but I found this whole thing pretty unique and very entertaining. Aaaand now I like Bluedash. Stranger things have probably happened.

I really liked the bit at the end with Luna displaying her sneaky orchestrator skills - it was adorable. Personally, I don't feel like the romance was shoehorned in or anything. Could the story have existed without it? Yeah. Would I have enjoyed it as much? Probably not. Blueblood falling in love quickly - or at least thinking he's in love - makes sense, considering he's never really had any meaningful interaction before this point. Anyone who went out of their way to help him out for him, and not because he was ordering them to do it would probably have a much larger affect on him than on someone who may be more well adjusted to the reciprocal social scene.  

Anywho, thanks for a super fun and entertaining read. If a sequel ever happened to pop up, I'd definitely read it

So I really liked this and want to just make a few points:

1) I know everyone is saying the romance feels off, which makes me wonder "Have you never seen a Bond film?" From the start, I knew there had to be a romance angle to it - bond after all - and given that it wasn't going to be a deep romance. honestly given that I think you covered it well enough. As for escalating quickly...again, ever seen a Bond movie? He's in the pants of every girl he meets within, like, a minute. I think getting smooch-face with RD at the end is just fine (honestly I like it better as it seems less shallow)

2) I like stories like this that have two characters that bring out the best in each other, whether they are overall similar (such as BB and RD here) or radically different (like in "Fancy That" with Pinkie and fancy pants). I like that because...that's how it is (or should be). A couple should bring out the best in each other, compensating for the bad and multiplying the good. That sort of interaction gives me the warm fuzzies.

3) I absolutely love Luna in this story. She is wonderful. Especially her interaction with BlueBlood, especially after it was tempered by seeing her love for her subjects, including the one she just terrified.

4) The only issue is that sometimes it got hard to get what was happening. Especially at the castle. I was confused about the ritual blue blood did (less how it worked and more "what's happening"). Also ti was left ambiguous whether the spell was actually affecting the princesses. I got the impression that the spell was less what the princesses did to gain power, and more a short cut to alicornism some power mad mage thought up, and really had no impact on the princesses.

>>19664041966404

>>20018062001806

Thanks!

     The whole point behind this one was to write an unusual ship, and I'm glad folks can get past the rancid smell of Blueblood's initial impression to give it a try.  There will definitely be another story in this sequence--having Discord available now to be 'Q' in the Clandestine Corps is too good an opportunity to pass up, after all!  

>>20589752058975

     Yeah, with the spell at the castle, I kind of wanted things to be a little confusing especially since it turns out that the spell doesn't do what Green Briar thinks it's going to do.  Blueblood then pretty much improvises a spell out of the bits that Green Briar left behind and uses that spell to break the first one.  So no one knows what's going on, but everything turns out all right in the end.  

                              Mike

This was pure, unrestrained genius. It not only gives credibility to a crackship, but it does so with wit, humor, and a very well planned story. In fact, as far as shipfics go, I'd say it is second only to "It is always sunny in Fillydelphia", being slightly lower simply because their love comes a little too strong for two ponies that didn't really know each other before (not that strange considering it is Dash, but still).

But the story is the real stand-out here. X Pony is a secret agent has been done before, but certainly not with this level of writing. It is like Ian Flemming channeled Wodehouse, and I loved the creative word play, the clashing descriptions, and just about everything here. Maybe the action (what little there was) could have been a bit sharper, but that is more of a nitpick than anything, and certainly didn't impact my enjoyment.

I can't wait to read more on this continuity, so thank you very much for the great read.

>>25256142525614

Well, thank you right back!

     The sequel will be called "PieFall," by the way--I don't know if I've mentioned that anywhere yet--and will start up once I finish this whole Cadance thing I'm currently knocking together.  Before the end of summer, I'm hoping!

                                Mike