Happy Decemberween · 9:03pm Dec 3rd, 2014
Less than a week after my avatar upgrade, I have further enhanced it.
Derpsano Claus is here for all inquiring minds, good or bad.
Read on for me thinking too much about three year old cards and pony episodes.
Shortly after posting FiCG: Luna Eclipsed, I realized something: That episode first aired in October, 2011. The latest Magic set at that time was Innistrad, the first set of the Gothic horror block. An amusing coincidence, right? Well, there's actually a bit more here:
Cutie Mark Crusader Threats to Humanity! Yay!
The Crusaders' costumes are the "monster" races of Innistrad: vampires, werewolves, and zombies. (Geists may not be human, but some of them aren't actively trying to kill them. And yes, Frankenstein's monster counts as a zombie. Just look at the card.) Even more interesting is which Crusader was assigned to which monster, both generally and specifically. There are some dark reads on both the tribes and the Crusaders themselves to be seen.
The earth pony is a zombie, something typically presented as tireless, ubiquitous, and uncaring as death itself. A single zombie is a nuisance, so long as no one gets close to it. A group of zombies can be disastrous. They are not an opponent to confront but a force to withstand, a numberless horde whose numbers grow with every person who succumbs to their endless ranks. Driven only by a single instinctual urge, they cannot be reasoned with, only confronted.
The beehive and stitching indicate that Apple Bloom is the Bride of Frankenstein's Monster; not just a creature born of man's hubris and the quest for knowledge untempered by wisdom, but the second such creature. The mistakes of the past were blithely ignored and reality dismissed in the pursuit of an ideal that could never be. Unspeakable acts were performed to realize a twisted vision. And when she rose from the slab, she was horrified by her own existence.
The pegasus is a werewolf. (Well, hengstwolf.) Primal fear of the inhuman predator, anxiety over the animal lurking beneath man's thin veneer of civilization, and a humbling recognition of vast forces beyond our control, all wrapped up in a single deadly package. Humanity has feared and hated wolves for centuries, even as we made them our best friends. Becoming this nemesis, losing control and striking at everything one holds dear with the brute strength and low cunning of a beast because of the influence of nature itself, is a terrifying prospect.
The greatest distinguishing factor of Scootaloo's costume is that there is no distinguishing factor. She's just another member of the pack, nothing special. One among many, who might aspire to greatness, but whose efforts wouldn't even be noticed, much less recognized or successful. In time, she might to come to some level of standing, but only by default, those greater cleared away by happenstance and time.
The unicorn is a vampire. The legends of such creatures vary. Sometimes they are affluent manipulators of society, sometimes diseased pariahs, sometimes indistinguishable from their apparent peers until they start eating them. However, a few things remain constant. They are parasites, unable to support themselves without taking from others. They skulk in the darkness, whether out of preference or survival. They play at life, but cannot understand it. They posses wondrous powers. They are that most terrifying thing, a monster with a mind, but their minds are not like ours, prone to strange compulsions and aversions.
Sweetie Belle's cape and widow's peak peg her for the classic Lugosian aristocrat, a creature that hides her true nature behind an affectation of civility and charm. So long as the facade holds, she is content to deceive herself and others. When the mask fails, rage and panic are equally likely, as she must confront what she really is and the stark contrast between it and her warped self-image. She is willing to play her games for full lifetimes of lesser beings, changing only when doing so becomes unavoidable.
Thinking too much is fun. 
Quick, someone alter Huntmaster of the Fells into EqG-Scootaloo on the front side and Scootawolf on the back side!
... now that is the sort of over-analysis that I live for. And all so strangely fitting.
I want to write a fic where this is Celestia. I really do.
"Hengstwolf" pushes my happy linguist buttons.
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Now why would I use Huntmaster when there's a werewolf that practically has Scootaloo's name on her?
i171.photobucket.com/albums/u281/A_Hack/Scootawolf.png
(Image credits: left and right.)
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Yeah, sometimes everything just clicks. Sometimes it has to take a detour through card games to do so, but the end results are still fun.
And that does sound like a fascinating take on Celestia. There are few things more dangerous than a bored immortal.
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Credit where credit's due, I got that one off of the Derpibooru tags. Not sure who coined the term, but I'm happy to use it. Sounds a lot cooler than "horswolf."
2631783 Scootaloo: "Who you callin' a waif?"
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I'd have added the extra "u," but she is a minor.
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'Hengstwolf' is probably from Darkest Before Dawn. Although, as much as it pains my inner linguist to admit, 'marewolf' may be better all-around.
In Prance, of course, the term is loup-cheval.
Well, in response,
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I've also read it elsewhere as "marewolf" which would make it more similar to the human version of the word.
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Mine too.
I do like how they line up with the tribes and how they threatened Equestria pre-unification: pegasus is an organized, physical threat; unicorn's an indolent, parasitic noble (associated with the sun, albeit in reverse); and earth pony…well, one peasant revolting is a job for a sword. A revolution builds by spreading and is, as you say, a force to be reckoned with, "Driven only by a single
instinctual urge,ideology". Also, Puddin'-head cannot be reasoned with.4515129
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…I'm, uh, just going to leave this here.
https://twitter.com/baxil/status/859124666127892480
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So... what, you're saying you're neither a changeling nor a werewolf?
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Wait, the way the tweet is worded is unclear.
Is the fact that they're shape shifters independent of the fact that they're ponywolves? The world needs to know!
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Well, let's not go overboard here.
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I just figured that, while all ponywolves are shapeshifters, not all shapeshifters are ponywolves. I was assuming that they had some sort of secret battle for the fate of the Earth going on with other shapeshifter clans, kind of like the vampires vs. werewolves thing in Underworld (and/or virtually every dark urban fantasy fic).