3549306
Alternately, I suppose he could just be a conservative jerk instead of a flamboyant jerk. That would work too. :p

3549314
Still works as a foil for Rarity that way too, Generosity vs. what amounts to greed, even if for mostly practical reasons? She learns of his reasoning and makes it her mission of the week to get him to understand the joys of giving, the two possibly growing closer from it?

I can think of very few reasons to ship those two, but that might actually work out. If not, fun with Scroogeiness at the very least.

3549306
3549314

All the Hens Want Him

Blueblood, during a day in his youth, somehow performed a great deed that made him a minor hero in a province of the Griffin Lands. As such, he forgot about the details and really just moved forward with his life...

But...

At the eve of the Equestria Games, he finds himself being fawned over by one of the competing teams, and soon must come to terms with just how much he unwittingly endeared himself to their lives... even if it means *gulp* commitment.

3557852
Oh God... I can see him getting drafted into drinking some horrible swill that's a 'traditional Griffonian mix' like a Four Horsemen with his new "friends" (most likely by pouring it down some poor plant's flowerpot, complete with it wilting right after), and then trying to fend off the overly amorous and drunk chicks...

3558019 YESH!!!!! :D MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! MOAR!!

3558019 also, just imagine if Griffins treat him the way Crystal Ponies treat Spike. XD

3559950
As if his head needs to get any bigger!

... What if he doesn't actually remember what he did? Like, they keep telling him he did something heroic, but he can't remember what it was that happened?

3561554 More humor... He's a ego-centric rich guy, but he's an HONEST ego-centric rich guy.

"LAdies, I think you may have the wrong stallion..."

3561554

"Get him, girls!"

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

Blueblood broke into a gallop of fright, desperately trying to outrun the griffin athletes.

3561554
3549336
3549314

That there's no expansion further on this idea saddens me.

3576955
In my defense, there's a reason I put it in the "Orphaned Ideas" thread and didn't, you know, write a story about it.

3577054 I meant the latest griffin-related idea...

3576955
Sorry, Snow. It's a combination of new job and needing inspiration to hit at the right time! Rest assured, it's not forgotten.

3578048 Ah...

... Well, how would we expand on Blueblood being Benny-Hill-Chased throughout the Crystal Empire or Canterlot?

3579770
By showing Cadance and Shining Armor watching the proceedings from up in their tower.

"Look at them go."
"Yes. I've only once seen Be-Be run this fast, and that incident included an angry beehive."
"Well, he's not going to get stung at least. Maybe pecked..."
"Oh, they're passing the Spike statue again! I wonder what he thinks of that."
"I wonder when they'll notice they're running in circles."
"Probably a while. Be-Be is great at navigating an airship, not so much on the ground. At least not when he's being chased by some girl or two."

3580631 "Or twelve."

Prince Blueblood, the first and the second.

Everypony at the Gala saw the prince fall. Everypony saw him hit his head rather hard.
But only days later, he looked to be perfectly alright. He walked about, smiling, being friendly. Perhaps a little more friendly than usual.
It was after a few more weeks that the ponies closest to him noticed the change—he suddenly bore a completely different Cutie Mark. He would sometimes wear the new one, sometimes his old. Most brushed it off as a mere cosmetic fancy. It was anything but.
Blueblood's head trauma led him to develop a new personality. One with its own character, its own Cutie Mark, and its own plans.
Big plans.

3583305 While the concept of Pinkie/Pinkamena might have gotten old quite a while ago, I can't help imagining the two (four, technically) falling for certain sides of the other(s) over the course of Blueblood/Newblood's machinations, being together in madness for a while, and depending whether the tale ends happily or not, they might blend together into singular, functional personalities per pony, nopony listening to Cadence's cries that it was the power of love merging broken minds once the secret(s) is(are) out(in?).

Other than that, it really could go anywhere!

3583358
Newblood..? God, that's such a great pun! Wish I'd thought of that^^ The Pinkie idea is also nice!

Ooh, maybe the 'good' personalities have to band together to stop the bad ones, with the bad ones having fallen in love very quickly and the 'good' ones doing so slowly because they're forced to spend time together!

3584858
The punniness only lasts as long as the new personality is fresh, I'm afraid.

I'm picturing mind-screws of epic proportions (unless things were adequately set apart, as I'll try to do below) if they were to switch personalities, and conversations, at the drop of a hat, all four of them practically talking at the same time, perhaps with Pinkie being Pinkie (the Pinkie Pinkie, that is!) a few times just to keep the discussion going.

"Miss Pie, is that you?"

"Rightaroony, Cap'n Bluey!"

"Good, good, now, we must-*twitch*-Abscond with the Elements of Harmony post-haste if we are to proceed with the course of action to which we were earlier inclined, eh wot?"

*Twitch* "Yeeaa, about that? The magic jewelry's a no-go, toots, unless all ya wanted was the shiny neck-flap parts."

"I say, whatever do you mean, my dear demented dove?"

"Well, it's like-*twitch*-heeheehee*snort*heehee! Sorry, what were you saying?"

"While I don't mean to impede on your mirth, I fear this matter is not a-*twitch*-warn Auntie, Luna, and the rest of your friends! If what Princess Twilight tells me about Sunset Shimmer is any indication, we cannot allow that fiend to take hold of the Elements!"

"Yea, that was really-I MEAN, Yes. The things I heard and do not have first-hoof experience of were very-*twitch*-the rocks IN the necklaces, the parts with all the rainbow-glowy-whatever, got stuck in the Tree when Twilight put 'em back. Unless you got a crystal crowbar?"

"What-*twitch*-you mean to imply is that we must either rearrange our combined collaborations to suit a scheme in which their power is not a key factor, or venture to the Crystal Empire in the hopes of finding an adequate burglary tool?"

*Twitch* "Sounds about right, Dr. Badblood!"

"I beg your par-*twitch*-are you talking about?"

Pinkie giggled. "Sometimes, I'm not even sure myself!"

---
I already have the headcannon that Pinkamena would refer to Blueblood, most likely kindof a dandy even
changed, with terms typically associated with females, like 'toots', just for that extra nugget of crazy. I might actually pick up this story some day, when I'm done with the other 7-8.

3585151
That is nothing short of delightfully insane

Bad Blood, Good Business?

The crystal caves beneath Canterlot are not truly abandoned, nor are they well-kept. The crystals that form there, a variety of gems in all forms and colors, are officially owned and mined by The Crown, though Celestia hasn't felt the need to have the shimmering resources in those caverns harvested in quite some time, not wanting to risk ponies' lives in the event of a mining accident and having more than enough gems to go around her country as it was.

However, since the wedding of Mi Amore Cadenza to Captain Shining Armor, some ponies, one in particular, have taken up an old duty of the royal family in tending to those mines, overseeing the crystalline harvest carefully with a small team of miners and certified professionals, ensuring that only the highest-quality stones reach the market for use!

His aunt said he was being silly, that gems are dug up in rock farms all over Equestria, that he really doesn't need to 'patrol the caverns' on the off-chance of thieves or foalnapping victims or soul-sucking monsters, paranoid, she'd called him! Nonsense, he only wanted to make sure that Canterlot, the Pony Pinnacle of Civilization, had nothing short of the best-cut gems he could help to provide it!

It helped that he was one of the few ponies that could navigate the twisting caves, special talent and all that.

But now this common mare, this Rarity, wants him to lower his standards, to let there be more gems circulating just because her usual provider ditched gemstones to chase his dream of being a balloon racer or whatever? He would not hear of it, he'd respond to each and every one of her letters requesting he change the way he managed the mines just to tell her no! As sure as his name was Prince Vladimir Blueblood!

---
(I acknowledge that this is kindof a messy intro to the idea, but that's part of the reason I'm not writing it myself. The gist is that those mines are owned by the royal family, which includes a prince that may or may not just be really fervent that nopony, like his adoptive, but no less cherished sister, ever get held captive down there again. Doing all things geological with the crystals down there at noteworthy profits, he's contacted, either directly or by letter, by Rarity, who could use the gems in her work?

Part of me really likes the idea of him being all stingy in addition to his snobbishness and her teaching him the Spirit of Christmas and all that, if only for herself at first.

Also, possibility of Maud in here somewhere, I guess we could cut out Rarity altogether and there might be something between them too? Maybe the Pie family were renowned for their incredible prowess in gem-mining, cutting, etc. back in the day, left for humbler jobs when the mines closed down centuries ago? A passionate scholar of family links and the history of the job, however, Blueblood might recognize the name? I guess this leaves room for Pinkie too, even Inkie and Blinkie if one were so inclined!)

3594246
That's an angle I've never heard before. Sounds interesting!

And from me, some more for an idea already in motion...
.
.
.
Blueblood trotted towards Canterlot Castle with his head held high. He felt... good!
The date with this 'Lightning Dust' had gone down without any major hickups. Hickups such as an impromptu poetry slam by the living incarnation of a six year old's birthday party for her sister, the most monotonous mare in all of Equestria and ending with the only male member quite literally slammed through a table by an irate Griffon.

No, this time, he'd made sure to host only one mare at a time! And, if he did say so himself, he'd been perfectly charming. He could look forward to meeting tomorrow's date, a miss Bellatrix Lulamoon. What a unique name! Yes, things were finally looking up!
<><><>
"It's true, Princess," the guardstallion reported in a hushed tone. "Prince Blueblood is clandestinely meeting with individuals known to have a possible grudge against the Elements of Harmony."

Princess Celestia could hardly believe it. Her own nephew, plotting against the Elements?!
But the evidence was right before her: Gilda the Griffon, Lightning Dust, Trixie... her faithful spies even uncovered plans to get in contact with a now-disgraced designer from Manehattan, Suri Polomare. He was meeting with them, one by one, and trying to do so without her knowing.
"Oh, nephew..." she lamented quietly, "Where did I go wrong..?"

3594534 That's a setup for romantic comedy if ever I've heard one!
I'm not sure where the most chaos would come from, the individual dates, the confusion in the castle, the Element Bearers possibly trying to intercept his ambiguous plans at funny moments, or those he's meeting all learning of eachother and (whether they like him for his money or not) going from trying to intimidate eachother into backing off, to slap-fights, to a billowing dust-cloud brawl, to about half the town they meet up in pretty much rioting?

The havoc being assumed to be part of Blueblood's non-existent scheme, things might escalate to some kind of misunderstanding singularity!

3594599 And then Flim and Flam try to sell him on the latest and greatest invention ever! Blueblood pays them a visit... and finds them to be so slimy as to outright refuse to do anything with them. All the while Celestia sheds another tear as she learns of this meeting....

3594599
3594534

"... My Auntie-Is-Meddling senses just went off."

A guard, bewildered, tilted his head as he just... stared... at the Prince. "Pardon, Your Majesty?"

"Ah, yes... You've noticed a pattern of sorts, right, that those Auntie are involved with live much, much better lives? Well... I want to work for that, for once... Not have Auntie give me stealthy hand-outs as she often does." He smirked, giving a gentle jab to the guard's ribs. "I'm spoiled enough, wouldn't you say so?"

"... Sir, I cannot begin to fathom how to answer that your logic against hand-outs proves otherwise."

Clinging to the top of the moving train, the trio of Lightning Dust, Trixie Lulamoon, and Gilda were all snickering, sneaking under the Prince's nose and finding this... a bit sad and hilarious.

Blueblood's Little Black Book
The story so far...

Twilight: I have found documentation that Princess Platinum pledged to unite the families of the founders! And that never happened!
Blueblood: For the honor of my family name, I must fulfill that promise! Onwards... to love!
Celestia: He can't possibly be serious about that. He must be plotting something!
Ponies of Canterlot: Oh dear goodness this is hilarious. We don't actually care about the promise, but the drama..! We have to see how this ends.

And then factions start forming, and either try to "help" or sabotage Blueblood's dates...
The Gilda supporters try to distract Lightning Dust by pretending to be fans!
The Maud supporters slip catnip into Gilda's food!
The Trixie supporters try to get Maud drunk! (there is no obvious change in her behavior)
The Suri supporters send Trixie tons of stuffed Ursa Minor dolls and claim they're from Blueblood!
The Pinkie supporters shanghai Suri to the wrong parties!

Meanwhile, Celestia keeps stumbling over all these conspiracies centered around Blueblood, and thinks he's in charge of them.

3596093

This is sounding more fun all the time, but I'm pretty sure I'm over some kind of limit as it is.

3596105 Ooh, wait, one more!

The Bulk Biceps fans are a small, but vocal (YEAH!) minority.

3596120
This could be a fun little thing in and of itself!

Applejack's supporters risk getting bucked in the face by Big Macintosh.
Vice versa for Big Macintosh supporters.
Inkie and Blinkie's (Pinkie's other sisters) only fans are their parents. Blueblood does not know they exist, despite probably being his sanest options.
Cheerilee's supporters need to write a report on Puddinghead's lineage, she's not even related to her!
Fluttershy's supporters (some don't care about the whole family obligation thing all that much) are asked not to make a big deal of all this, if that's ok with them.
Twilight's supporters are all going around having breakdowns and panic attacks over whether or not they'll end up together.
Rarity's supporters (much to her chagrin) say being single is going out of style.
Mayor Mare's supporters say being related to Puddinghead would explain the pink hair.

And of course, Ditzy Doo's supporters just don't know what went wrong.

3594599
3596093
3596105
3595767
That all sounds so ridiculously awesome, I don't even!
I don't know which idea I like more—things happening more or less in secret (for example, if Blueblood found out about the promise first and decided to get ahead of everything without telling his Auntie) or if things go completely batsh*t insane out in the open.
In either case, one scene could have Twilight's friends planning to sneak a spy into this 'conspiracy': A jealous cousin of Applejack Apple, Lady Applejewel of Manehattan. Complete with little crowns painted over each apple in her Cutie Mark.

3597580 lol! Oh, my sides!!

I wound up getting something of an idea earlier today. I'll try and outline it.

The Mane Six gets invited to a large party/ball/ceremony in which Blueblood is also present. Rarity is still upset over the Grand Galloping Gala and decides she wants to get back at him. Twilight advises against it, telling her to take the high road. When she walks off however Rainbow Dash eggs her on into humiliating the prince. Eventually she decides to try it out.

Exactly how she humiliates him I'm not sure, but when she does he retreats off somewhere. Unknown to Rarity another pony follows after him. She finds them behind a door/curtian and moves to expose the Prince to the ponies at the party...

What she didn't know is the pony that chased him was Octavia, who for this for would be an old classmate and close friend from their youth. And the Prince's lover who he keeps secret for fear of what the other nobles would think, suspecting that it could cause a scandal; that the elite would deride the relationship for him stooping down to a 'mudpony's' level and the commoners sniffing at them thinking she's a 'apid for whorse betraying her art for gold'. Rarity herself feels awful about it since she did direct harm to her friend.

And the scandal Blueblood fears hits, as he admits to Rarity that he behaved poorly around her and other would be suitors to drive them away to dodge why he hadn't found a marefriend. Rarity feels doubly horrible as her friend looses commissions/work over the 'Prince's Whorse' scandal while Blueblood is treated as a laughing stock. Rarity makes one or more attempts to fix it and fails... Only to have Celestia step in with a big speech about how wonderful it was for her nephew to find love, how she had been waiting for so long for the nobles and commoners to come together as equals, and what a good image the pair are setting pretty well ending the scandal and making them envied.

Because Celestia said so.

Of course there would be more trouble from then on out; a Unicorn supremest group trying to discredit/do harm to Octavia, an Earth Pony group calling her No True Scotspony Earth Pony and trying to make Blueblood look bad.

And political rivals.

And love rivals/stalkers for both of them...

And Luna is looking at this common Earth Pony think she's not worthy of her Great-(Several More Greats)-Grandson.

And Candace is trying to make the romance bloom more.

And Shining Armor gets stuck with the job of ensuring that the couple stays safe when various ponies want to see the worst happen to them...

And through it all Celestia sips her tea.

While trying to teach Twilight the art of Trolling.

3602154
I'm picturing Blueblood resorting to music instead of booze to drown his sorrows, taking an especially frequent interest in jazz, (get it? He's got the BLU-*shot*) over which he and Octavia bond a little further? Might be how they first met, too, him having walked into the right music hall just to be more or less alone, hardly anypony else attending that night, where she was doing one of her first public performances. He listened to her for a while, they talked, cue long-held secret?

3602154
3602495
"Oh Twilight!" The fashionesta put a hoof to her forehead. "Whatever am I going to do?! In my quest for retribution, I injured a good friend! Now her reputation is in shambles, her career on the brink of ruin, and ponies think me some kind of tribalist bigot!"

"I'm sure they don't, Rarity." said her princess friend. The Unicorn sniffed dismissively in turn.

"Oh, really? I'll have you know that I've been delivered a hoofwritten invitation to be Skum."

Twilight blinked. "What?"

"Oh yes!" Rarity nodded. "The Society for Keeping Unicorns Monotribal. Have you never heard of it?"
.
.
.
"Do you really think Twilight can talk these nutjobs out of harassing Octavia?" Applejack asked her companion, Spike the dragon. The latter nodded.

"You don't know her like I do. When she was in Celestia's school, she took several debating courses. Really, Twilight is a total master debater!"

Applejack almost stumbled over her legs.
"W-what?"

"Yeah!" Spike's enthusiastic tone never let up, too busy was he to notice Applejack confusion. "Twilight used to master debate all the time! Mainly when she was alone, or when she thought she was, heh. Though she did say sometimes she would've liked to master debate with some of the colts in her class..."

3614235
Another proud memory for the newest member of the royal family...

I figure few would openly mock/harass any of the 6 heroines, one of them a princess, but then, I figured they'd offer said princess a cab, too.

That's right Cab Guy, we all rememeber you!

3614262
Oh, SKUM isn't harassing Rarity. They think she did Equestria a great service!
Kind of like getting endorsed by the Klan. /shudder

Also, for added drama...

Octavia couldn't believe her eyes.
"Vinyl?! You're a member of SKUM?!"
The DJ shrugged. She stood her ground, even if she looked a bit uncomfortable.
"Well, yeah." the Unicorn said. "It's not really fair, y'know? We both hung out with Blue back in the days. Cello lessons and all that horseapples. We both hung out with him, but then you just nabbed him. You just... took him. And you never told anypony. Worse, you never told me." She let out an indignant sniff.
"What, d'you think I'd be unhappy about that? I damn well am! But I would've accepted it if you just told me.
You never trusted me, Octi. So I says to myself, if she doesn't trust me, might as well go for broke. Show her what it's like to have your trust betrayed like that."

3614449

Of course if Vinyl is ever exposed as SKUM she might see a drop in ticket and album sales...

Of course this all leads to a Unicorn lynch mob forming (Torches only, Pitchforks are an Earth Pony thing after all) with our favorite DJ forced to either A) help SKUM or B) hide Octavia.

Meanwhile, back in Ponyvillie Rarity replies to her invitation to SKUM in an open letter published in the newspapers telling them in no uncertain terms that they're the, well, SCUM of Equestria. Bonus points if she adds a long winded apology to Octavia and Blueblood in it.

3614449
3615608

Vinyl is often portrayed as the anarchist, I suppose.

*pause*

... and then Gilda steps in, because author has one-track mind.

In seriousness, though, this is a mistake I can't see Blueblood ever forgiving Rarity for, even if he does admit his faults.

... Also, what if it was someone else instead of Octavia? Say... someone whom requires quick hooves and a strong back! XD

In TRULY all seriousness, Octavia at least has association by class and home. ... I have to wonder how the situation would escalate of when just find-replace "Octavia" in the "Rarity gets even, and doesn't like results" scenario with "Miss Harshwhinny". How she, being 'professional', would escalate it after her colt-friend has just been publicly defaced by a petty mare.

3619391
3615608
The editor turned towards a waiting Rarity, levitating the latter's script while reading.
"Well, miss Rarity, your open letter is all ready to be published!" She paused, biting her lip. "There... might just be a small problem."

Rarity blinked in surprise.
"What is it? I thought I kept within your paper's framework?"

"Yes, you did. It's, er... it's the spelling of the group. You spelled them with a 'c'."

Rarity let out a dainty laugh and leaned across the table to lay a hoof across the editor's.
"Darling, I think we both know what they truly are."
The editor, herself married to a Pegasus, slowly broke into a wide grin.
.
.
.
"Come in!" Blueblood called to the door. His expression turned dark when he saw who it was.
"Oh. It's you."

Vinyl winced.
"Come on, Blue. Don't be like that, please."

"Be like what? Cautious?" He turned away from the DJ, crossing his arms and huffing. "Excuse me for keeping my distance from the mare who made Octavia's life even more miserable than before."

"Please, Blue!" she cried, "Don't do this! You up and vanished for ten bucking years! Why didn't you ever try to contact me? Dammit, we were friends!"

"'Were' being the central word here."

Vinyl bit back the rush of tears; she took a shuddering breath and set her face in a determined expression.
"Doesn't matter. This can still work. I just need to do one more thing."

Blueblood shook his head before facing her again.
"And what, pray tell, are you mmMMMGH?!"
The prince's mind shut down as he suddenly found himself lips-to-lips with the DJ. The kiss was rushed, hot, messy, and entirely unwelcome. She took the opportunity and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him even further into her hungry embrace.
After what seemed like hours, she finally released him with a wet smacking of lips. She had a dazed grin on her face.
"Awesome..." she purred. When he tried to speak she put a hoof to his mouth. "Shhhh, just let us pretend, okay?" The hoof went lower to stroke along Blueblood's chin. "Let Vinyl show you what you could be having..."

3619991

Blueblood, however, had none of that. Not after what Octavia had been put through. He retreated his chin from her hoof, feeling violated by his former friend's touch. "Get out."

3620003
3619991
"But... But..." Vinyl stared at him, hooves still wrapped around him.

"Get out. I thought we could at least talk, but clearly, I just don't know you anymore." The prince's voice shook, even as his gaze remained steady. "Vinyl, what happened to you? Turning on your friend like this, joining a bunch of tribalists, throwing yourself at me?! What happened?"

"You did!" Vinyl buried her face in his barrel, already crying. "You happened, you big, dumb...jerk..." She trailed off with a sniffle and a hiccup.

Blueblood, stunned speechless, reflexively hugged her and patted her back.

"You... you were just always so, so cool, when we were foals, and and and then you left and I never heard from you and I could never bring myself to write, and I thought, I thought I was over it, but then! Then! I hear about you and Tavi! And not from either of you, like, like, you couldn't even be bothered! It just... It just..." Vinyl broke down into another round of sobbing, weakly punching the prince in the chest.

"Oh, Vinyl..." Blueblood whispered as he held her.

3620095

No, no instant make-up because excuse, that I can see. She bucked-up. She dug her hole, and she must lay in it.

3620097 It should be less 'lay in the hole' and 'dig herself out, no matter how much dirt she pulls down onto herself.

3620516 no, lay in it. She chose a path of bigotry and hypocrisy over love and tolerance or happiness for her best friend.

3620097
Oh, I wasn't thinking of easy forgiveness. I just wanted the situation fraught and complex.

I figure Blublood holds her for a few moments more, trying to figure our what to do, when he notices she's started kissing his throat. He pushes her away and says something along the lines of "I don't hate you, but I can't look at you right now. You still need to go."

Vinyl leaves, crushed because nothing has gone right, in the past or now.
Blueblood stews, torn between what's just happened and knowing where it came from, and the memories of them together as foals.

My guiding tenet is that no one is really evil, and ponies are naturally inclined to forgiveness.

Still, no reason not to make 'em all suffer, eh? :D

3620692 exactly.

Hm... *one-track mind, smooshes BB and G plushies together*

3620692 Pretty much.

Oh, she'd still have to earn her forgiveness and happy ending, but she does at least need to get the chance. Maybe even have Vinyl, after a SKUM meeting where one of their leaders delivers a massive hate speech she fully gets what she's gotten herself into and wants out and to fix this mess, maybe even teaming up with Rarity to repair the situation. And letting people in on some of the... odder rituals of SKUM.

Meanwhile, back at the palace Octavia meets Blueblood's family for dinner. With Cadence supportive, Twilight taking notes, Luna snipping and bad mouthing her. And Celestia.

"Oh, I am so pleased my nephew has found somepony... Even with these issues flying around." The Princess said, having pulled the cellist aside.

"Thank you, your majesty." Octavia replied, the elder mare's good nature relaxing her. "I know he's well above my station, but I do love him and wish to see him happy."

"Oh, I am sure, I have no doubts on that." She said before leaning in to whisper. "One thing though. If you bring him any harm...." She said before to a softer, but more chilling, tone. "To the moooooooooooooooooon...."

The Earth Pony responded by sitting up straight, looking as if her blood had suddenly been replaced by ice water.

3621101 Oh, and Cadance... Cadance is Alicorn of Love...

If Blueblood is merely disappointed, Cadance would be FURIOUS!!