First Personal Review · 6:59pm Jun 22nd, 2015
I don't know why, but BB has always been a source of entertainment for me to read about. The snobbish prince comes off to many as a true villain in many aspects and everyone usually holds him in contempt. It's not a rare scenario to see Blue here as the overall antagonist or a pawn of the real mastermind. That's the main reason why I've decided to review this story, for once he's not a complete prat that does everything wrong.
We see the rise of a young colt into a well educated stallion who feels so distant from everypony as he grows older. Starting off as a troubled child even in his school years, he becomes well adapted in discerning truths with his swift tact. This earned him his cutie mark when he was able to breakdown a case revolving around a possible illegal mining operation. While well thought, one thing I felt off during the overall discussion in that particular chapter was how all of the facts were laid out. Part of me felt that the overseers of the national park should've been able to figure out the situation due to how many dots were already connected.
Blueblood interacts with all of the cast that we've come to know in the show and gives each one an ounce of respect. Twilight and Blueblood seemed to hit if off right from the bat. Quick responses and being complete opposites with their hobbies make me feel that there may have been something hidden beneath it all. Cadence acts more like a sister, despite being the adoptive daughter of Celestia, as the two knock heads over everything. Making the two interact in non-violent ways but still retaining a small gap of indifference was a plus here. Was this proven in canon or was this just speculation? Part of me hopes it is. Celestia often dotes on Bluey as a mother, wanting him to grow up into a proper gentlecolt. In a way, he does but maybe not entirely as she had planned. She guides him along but lets him chose how to live his life, which has been a frequently, heated battle in the fandom. Celestia is frequently portrayed as the Chess-Master, pulling invisible strings to lead everypony to (her) an ideal future.
The clincher for this story was a deeply rooted flaw in Blueblood. A rare genetic disorder that prevents him from manipulating any form of magic. This was what got me. BB falls into a downward spiral of depression when he learns that he's imperfect. The ramifications of which is how ponies will look down on him, his social peers surly using this as leverage against him in the future. It does become a profound turning point as his self worth tanks.
A few key things I feel need to be said here. One, why is there a comedy tag on this story? I felt this was more of an Adventure or Sad tag with the dark atmosphere, which to me, seems to the biggest reoccurring theme. This brings me to my second point, why does everything bad happen to Blueblood. I guess the answer to that is that he is the main focus (Duh) but what I'm getting at is how Murphy's Law is kicking his butt. Loss of loved ones, unable to use his natural born talent of magic and going through a case of depression that makes him lash out violently. It does it to a point that it kind of became expected to see what new curve ball that the universe could pitch at him.
Final Verdict: 8/10. Definitely a story worth sitting down to read the whole way through.
I've noticed this story, and have been considering reading it for a while. I might look it up soon. The thing about Blueblood is that he makes for an easy antagonist to use. He's already included in canon, and what little information we have on him make him out to be kind of a dick. This makes it easy to exagerate these traits and create an easy villain for political stories.
Again, thank you so much for the review! It actually told me a good deal about my writing. I'll change the tag; I thought this was going to be a funnier story than what happened. I'm surprised you found it dark, I thought I'd balanced the tone more. In any case, I'm glad to see what I did right. Thanks again.