Plot Bunnies for Last Crusade, or a Look Into How a Cracker Cracks His Plots

Okay, I want to start this off with a challenge: anyone commenting on this blog, try to do so without commenting on whether or not Scoot's parents were right or not. I saw the discussions way back when it aired first, I only today saw the episode itself, I have made my own mind up on the matter. Resist the urge to get your dopamine hit by trying to illicit a knee-jerk reaction. In fact, no comments on any of the season's quality or lack thereof. Got it? Good.

Anyway, general observation: artifact use is getting more common in Equestria. Noticed that in the episode before and after (Starlight's bracelet and the daychanging amulet,) have alluded to the option in the Enyalius story, and I have been rolling on that assumption for a few months now in the Bastion trilogy. So I am glad to see I can still kind of follow the trajectory of the show.

And why wouldn't it get more common? We've established with Cozy Glow's antics that artifacts are a good fallback when other magic fails. We have one character with authority and knowledge in the matter claiming it is where true pony magic lies. Having magical artificers in this world is a-okay by me, easy to adopt and work around. It also adds more meaning to the existence of rock (magic gem) and stick (magic wand) experts like Maud Pie and Mudbriar. It's all Texas sharpshooter calibre, yes, but it at least makes sense.

Anyway, where does this tie in to Scootaloo's parent issues? Well, here's a look into how story ideas tend to evolve for me:

-Scootaloo's house got sold. Someone bought it. What would be a good contrast to add? A colt moving in, Unicorn, being raised by his single uncle, because Scoots has her two aunts.

That's the basic concept. But that's not a story: that's a scene. Scootaloo goes to her old house to meet the new neighbours, there's some awkwardness now that there's a different foal in her old room, and there's even room for that awkwardness to lead into magic use, further establishing character (is he a conjurer, invoker, evoker, enchanter...) But what's the story?

-The Unicorn colt's not really a Unicorn at all: he's an Earth pony with a prosthetic horn on his head.

And this is the sort of idea that raises eyebrows. It could work, but again the story being about finding that out... it goes too far away from the original setting. You need to stretch it to fit the show, and we are trying to go for show look and feel here.

-He's not an Earth pony either: when Scootaloo pats him on the shoulder for a job well done, she feels the bumps of bone under his skin. He's a Pegasus... who's had his wings cut off.

This is actually the idea that came before the Earth pony one. It's even more extreme, and definitely doesn't fit. My early stories kept this sort of thing in (don't even ask about what my unpublished first story was going to be), but I've learned to filter out the more egregious stuff, I hope. I can make it work, sometimes. This is not such an occasion, so out it goes. Besides, I've already done Scootaloo contrasted with differing levels of handicaped foals, done it to death, even. There's nothing interesting here, no story. But it did lead to one other idea:

-the colt and his uncle are artificers. They use magic and items. These items require research. The colt quickly realises who Scootaloo is and, by extension, that he is part of the reason her parents are away so much: one of the things they're looking for is a cure for him and ponies who've suffered injuries like he has.

Cut out the handicap, though. It's not necessary for this idea to work. Boiling it down more:

-the colt and his uncle are artificers. They use magic and items. These items require research. Part of that research is learning how such magic is done in nature. These two benefit, albeit indirectly, from Scootaloo's parents being away.

We're still stuck on a setting, though. There is no story here, aside from maybe finding out this very obvious fact. What is the story?

-there's a new colt in town, a Unicorn artificer. He's living in Scootaloo's old room. He likes to tinker and make magical implements. One such implement, which he offers freely as a token of goodwill/friendship/experiment, is a set of propellers and wings for the CMC, so all three can now fly. Mixed feelings ensue.

-the girls keep running into problems. Little helpful colt keeps magic-ing up a solution for them right as Scootaloo is working on it. It's Spike and Owlowiscious all over again, in a sense.

-basic conflict: Scootaloo starts to feel like he's taking her place. Because he already has. Literally: that's her room he's sleeping in. Not to mention, now her friends are starting to get a good idea just how important her parents' jobs are. She's not second-guessing anything, but she thinks her friends might be.

From there on, it's a simple matter of figuring out what cutie mark problem the CMC's are dealing with that might require them to get flight, and what message you really want to go for. Is it the old survivorship bias message? That's always a cool one, especially with magic in the mix. Is it a hopeful message about technology solving problems, yet at the same time cautionary about the problems it can cause? Or is it about what makes someone special, how 'donnable' is one's identity? If your identity is all about not being able to fly, what happens when everyone including you starts flying? All of those are possible ways for it to go, or ways for a trilogy to evolve. There's a potential moral regarding the consequences of automation, too, if we're using conjuration magic. Mickey and Master Yensid and all that jazz.

One other idea I've toyed with is having Scootaloo get into artifact magic as well, after Neighsay and the EEA start promoting some competitions thereabouts.

See, one of the issues with the 'give Scootaloo mechanical wings!' concept is that she wants to compete and perform like Rainbow Dash. You can do the performing, but the competing will run into muddled messages. Giving her mechanical wings and letting her do the regular races against flyers like Rumble would be equivalent to letting someone do a triathlon with a rocket-powered wheelchair hovercraft... thing. At the end of the day, you have to have an even playing field. So, maybe make aided flight a separate competition, then, add building the vehicle as part of the challenge. Neighsay would have several reasons to encourage such a thing, and it'd be a chance to flesh out the EEA by showing off a Pegasus-focused colleague.

Minor update to the concept. Let's troubleshoot this thing some more. Colt's name is Brass Tack, his uncle is Upshot. Both are meaningful names, meaning they get to the core of things, easy way to establish family ties. How do you get Scootaloo and Brass to get into a competition, have Scootaloo learn how to do this new thing, and do the competition all in one story? How do you get Scootaloo into artifact magic at a competitive level in a single 'episode', or three, max? How do you get her to learn it without bogging it down, and how do you make the competition fair?

Make it a duo competition. Neighsay and the EEA want more young blood in the hobby, the few foals in it are partnered with newbies, and the designs are two-pony crafts, so it's new to all contenders. Skill gap doesn't matter as much, because every pair will have a new and experienced member. The scene where Scootaloo learns to build becomes one where they both learn to build together. Thematically closer to the show vibe, this is. Oh, and what's Brass Tack's character? Just straight-up lifted from the Theros DnD sourcebook, he's a follower of Purphoros. That's an easy reference point.

This is the kind of squeezing and optimising scenes I've learned to do as time went on. Earlier stories don't have it that much, but my later ones sometimes establish major backgrounds, consequences, or ideas just in one sentence. This isn't killing your darlings, not always, but optimising and improving them.

And to wrap up: there is one other solution to the episode's conflict, one that would let Scootaloo's parents stay in Ponyville. I've already sent this plot bunny elsewhere, but it bears exposure to the masses.

There is, technically, an endangered species that's hanging out in Ponyville from time to time.

It's very rare, one of a kind, and its magic is very powerful but unknown and not well understood. More than that, it's been getting in trouble, almost getting itself killed and endangering the surrounding areas in the process. It needs supervision, and help.

So Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood decide to adopt it, keep it around the house for study. Scootaloo gets to stay with her parents, and she has a new housemate.

Which animal is it? Well, you've already guessed, I'm assuming.

It's called a draconequus.

Discord becomes Scootaloo's adopted brother.

Send that to the Unusual Pairings Group, whydontcha. Doubt I'll write any of it myself, though: I'm kinda done with the character, and still need to get the other stuff written anyway. You're gonna love Fluttershy talking to herself, by the way.

Edit: for now, that is. We'll see, in the future, updates and upgrades pending.

That may be the birthday booze talking, though. I did mention in an earlier comment I'm falling back to bad habits? Clearing my mind has become difficult, for years now. Meditation doesn't cut it anymore. And bad drinks don't do it, either. Too much sugary stuff recently, not a high enough fermentation.

Bit of wine's doing the trick just peachy, though.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Always fascinating to see someone else's creative process in action. These ideas definitely have legs. (And the second one lead to another interesting concept: If Scootaloo's aunts can't move to Ponyville full-time, what if Discord volunteers to house her himself? A belated thank-you for helping free him.)

Definitely looking forward to seeing where these go.