| Scootaling | |
|---|---|
 We'll never see the light til we step into the dark... | |
| Scootaling tumblr | |
| Owner | TDarkchylde |
| Blog type | Ask/Story/Grimdark (Drawn) |
| Status | Active |
| Date Created | October 10, 2012 |
| Main Character(s) | Scootaloo |
| Supporting Character(s) | Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Queen Chrysalis, Princess Luna, Zecora |
| Connected With | Ask Lowball |
"Everything you see is a deception..." - Former banner tagline
Shortly after the events of A Canterlot Wedding, this blog follows a changeling version of Scootaloo, changed by Queen Chrysalis as the start of a plan not just to take over Canterlot, but all of Equestria.
Plot[]
Act 1 - Fallen Crusaders[]
(Spoilers abound)
Scootaloo introduces the audience to her current existence as part of Chrysalis's hive of changelings. Her task is unclear to her but soon becomes apparent as the two other Cutie Mark Crusaders soon appear in conversion pods. This brings Twilight Sparkle and Applejack into the story as they look for the missing fillies. They are soon greeted by an ambush, however, as Scootaloo reveals her new form to them and the other two Crusaders also appear, also converted.
The two older ponies are used for sustenance by the Crusaders, but not before Queen Chrysalis works her magic to twist Twilight's mind, making her believe her relationships with Princess Celestia and her other friends in Ponyville were all lies. Broken by the mental torture and constant draining of love, she submits to Chrysalis's will, essentially becoming her slave.
However, not all is well between the changeling Crusaders as it turns out they were both converted wrong. Apple Bloom has been stripped of all memory of her family, and Sweetie Belle is initially incapable of speaking anything except the Changeling language. This causes Scootaloo to feel personally responbisle for their transformations. Sweetie's speech is soon brought back, apparently by Twilight, and after an argument with the other Crusaders, Sweetie Belle departs to go warn Ponyville.
As Sweetie Belle encounters her sister in Carousel Boutique, though, Chrysalis assumes direct control over Sweetie's body and drains all the love out of Rarity, leaving her for Rainbow Dash to find, completely incapacitated. Sweetie is nowhere to be found.
Act 2 - Slaves To Evil[]
Two months after Rainbow Dash found Rarity, the scene shifts to Appaloosa in the dead of night. Ponies are peacefully sleeping until a mind control spell sweeps over the entire town, forcing the ponies in town to gather to be taken to the hive by invading Changelings. Queen Chrysalis is seen to be leading the assault personally, with her new secret weapon standing behind her: a brainwashed and physically altered Twilight Sparkle.
Appaloosa falls without a fight and the fate of the ponies that were there is grim: the adults will be used for food and put to work in the hive until they break, while their foals will be converted into more troops for Chrysalis.
Back in the hive, Apple Bloom drains Applejack of love until she is mentally and physically broken, at which point Twilight Sparkle begins to apply some of the same mental editing that was done to her and the Crusaders. Her fate is as yet unknown.
Soon after, Scootaloo tells the audience just how she came to be in the situation she is in. Rainbow Dash is presented as being abusive towards her, using the filly's unwavering adoration to prop up her own fragile ego. This led to her skipping the wedding in Canterlot and instead riding her scooter through the Everfree in order to flee the abuse. She is apparently killed as she breaks the fall of Queen Chrysalis, who along with her kind were forcibly ejected from Canterlot.
Scootaloo then comes to in a conversion pod as Chrysalis makes her an offer in thanks for saving her life - be reborn as one of Chrysalis's changelings, and Chrysalis will help her to take revenge against not only Rainbow Dash, but against every pony that ever used, mistreated and abandoned her. The offer is accepted without hesitation.
The flashback ends as Scootaloo lands in Cloudsdale, soon to be followed by Twilight Sparkle (now sporting changeling wings) and an army of changelings. The city falls, but Rainbow Dash arrives before Twilight and company can depart. Twilight presents her with a sadistic choice in order to facilitate an escape - a commander is shown levitating Scootaloo (transformed into her former pony appearance) and Spitfire, both with their wings and legs bound and their mouths resined shut. The two are sent flying in opposite directions, with the intention being for Rainbow Dash to only be able to save one.
She manages to save both while Twilight and the changelings escape with most of Cloudsdale's populace in tow. However, the entire thing turned out to be a no-win situation for Dash. Not only does Scootaloo reveal herself and attack, but it also turns out that Spitfire was nothing more than a changeling in disguise. As a helpless Rainbow Dash taunts Scootaloo into a blinding rage, Scootaloo responds by devouring her love.
As this occurs, Scootaloo begins to experience Rainbow Dash's memories, which don't mesh with her own. Conflicted and confused about everything that's happened in the past, Scootaloo begins to experience a rise in power and a mental break of sorts. Her link to the hive is severed and she uses this power to blast the changeling away that was formerly impersonating Spitfire. Now in an appearance of a changeling but with her former pony coloring, she saves Rainbow Dash and swears to take her someplace to be helped.
That place ends up being Zecora's place in the Everfree Forest, but not before encountering an emaciated Sweetie Belle, driven to despair by draining Rarity and willing to sacrifice herself to destroy Scootaloo, who she sees as responsible for her changeing state. A fight is averted as Scootaloo forcibly feeds Sweetie more love than she can handle, triggering a similar transformation to the one she herself underwent before. It is not without cost, though, as Scootaloo ends up unconscious.
Act 3 - Chasing the Third (Current)[]
The reverberations of Scootaloo's outburst of power is felt all the way in Canterlot, by Princess Luna. Ceding control of the moon to Celestia, Luna embarks on a journey to the world of dreams to discover what is happening. While there, she is confronted with a manifestation of Nightmare Moon and forced to tap into her darker magics to vanquish the illusion. This leads her to discover a captive pony manifestation of Scootaloo - which is only one portion of the filly's mind.
At the same time, Scootaloo wakes up in a dark place, being berated and manipulated by a darker part of her own personality, dislodged from her mind when she transformed. Before the two can rejoin forces, though, they are stopped by Luna - now trapped in the form of Nightmare Moon, as well as by Scootaloo's own equinity.
This leads to a brief tour down Memory Lane as Scootaloo's equinity reveals to her the truth of how she came to become a changeling.
Once Scootaloo is aware of the truth, after some hesitation, she reunites with both her equinity and her changeling side, triggering yet another transformation as she awakens.
Before Luna can depart the Realm of Dreams, however, she is confronted by an ancient foe...
When Scootaloo awakes, she is confronted by Rainbow Dash, who should not be awake. It turns out that Twilight Sparkle put a false life spell on her, embedded with a message and a mission - free her if they can, destroy her if they can't. Once the message is sent, Rainbow faints.
A short time later, a Lunar Guard is sent to the Everfree to retrieve Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle at the same time that Apple Bloom is brought to Chrysalis. Scootaloo and Sweetie are told by Princess Luna of an impending threat in the Crystal Empire, as Queen Chrysalis tells the same story to Apple Bloom. Ancient ties between the Changelings and the Crystal Ponies are revealed by both the Princess and the Queen.
Act 4 - Senzafine (Working title)[]
Coming soon
About Scootaling[]
Appearance[]
As initially presented, Scootaling is shown to be a small changeling just like any other in Chrysalis's hive, but retaining her mane and tail styles. Like other changelings, the lower parts of each leg have holes in them, along with her mane and tail.
Interim changes restored her former coloring as a pony and "filled in" the holes that were in each of her legs and her tail and mane. Her magical aura also changed from a green one like any other changeling to a violet one.
Her most recent changes have altered her form even further. She now partially resembles a Changeling Queen as her eyes and wings have changed shape and her body has partially matured.
Personality[]
Scootaling's personality is somewhat different to that of the Scootaloo from show canon. She is very quick to anger, prone to lashing out, and her morals have been completely twisted. Some things that would repulse a normal pony are seen as no big deal to her, such as using other sentient creatures as a source of nourishment. Also, up until recently, instead of devotion towards Rainbow Dash, Scootaling instead regarded her with intense hatred and loathing. She even threatened once to go after every Rainbow Dash on Tumblr and lovedrain them all in a brief fourth-wall breaking moment.
She, however, has some misgivings about what she is doing at times and sometimes experiences deep regrets. She also feels great remorse for her friends being converted, explaining that Chrysalis only took them so she would better adjust to her new life. Formerly, Chrysalis would use the hive link to suppress these emotions as they would flare, but it's not known how Scootaling will react with her link now being severed.
Abilities[]
As with all other changelings, Scootaling is capable of flight, as well as some magical effects such as blasts of energy, telekinesis, and the ability to drain other creatures of their love. Her magical level and prowess is directly proportionate to the quantity and quality of love she consumes. Stronger love, especially that directed at her, can cause overpowering results when consumed.
Scootaling can also change her appearance at will to that of any other pony, including larger ponies. (She is shown transforming into Rainbow Dash at one point, but it's unclear as to whether that is her upper limit in size.) Also, like all other changelings, Scootaling is capable of producing a durable, sticky resin that is nearly unbreakable except by magic.
As well as using the love taken from others to fuel her magic, it is also the only thing sustaining her life force.
Unlike other changelings, after devouring Rainbow Dash's love and transforming, she appears capable of feeling and generating love herself instead of having to harvest it from other ponies. Her magic is vastly increased due to being able to generate love herself. It is not yet shown if there are any drawbacks to this new ability.
Tumblrverse[]
Aside from noncanon follower specials, Scootaling has few to no canon interactions with other Tumblr ponies. One exception is made in the sixteenth comic, as Little Orphan Scootaloo drops in to pay Scootaling a visit and give her a hug. As the comic is numbered, the appearance is canon in Scootaling itself. Tryp, from the AskChangeling blog, also made a pair of appearances in the 29th and 30th comics, but this is made clear that these appearances aren't canon to Tryp's home blog and that the Tryp in Scootaling is an AU version native to the Scootaling setting.
Scootaling also appears in The Coop, but these appearances are non-canon to the main blog. In this blog, she apparently knows a few things about retro gaming, has consumed the love of Soothaloo, and keeps a baby Metroid as a pet.
Relation to Show Canon[]
Seasons 1 and 2 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic are considered canon in Scootaling. Season 3 appears to be being introduced into the comic right now, though justifiably altered by the canon in the first 50 comics. Seasons 4 and beyond have so far been ruled noncanon by the artist, though individual elements of those seasons such as settings and characters may appear, isolated from show canon.
As an example, Princess Luna's ability to navigate dreams, introduced in Season 3, is introduced in the 40th update.
Scootaling Re:Vised[]
This is an ongoing project by the artist to bring the older comics forward to the most recent style of art used. The first through sixth comics have already been redone, and all of the comics up to the twentieth are slated to be redone, as the twenty-first is the first to use digital inking.