Darkness Scoots Monsters Page 1

The Boiling Pony:

A representation of Scootaloo's apparent 'need' to find her Cutie Mark.

At first, the Boiling Pony appears as nothing more than a shadow in the fog; a symbol of Scoot's insecurity about arriving in the alternate Ponyville. However, it is soon revealed to be a large pony beyond anything she has ever seen.

The monster is massive to show just how big of a matter the Cutie Mark quest is to Scoot. It is also covered in multiple cutie marks to represent all of the possibilities Scootaloo feels she has yet to try. They are abnormally shaped however, because she is afraid that she may end up with what she perceives as the 'wrong cutie mark'. They boil on the pony's hide as a sign of the agony that not having a cutie mark brings Scootaloo.

The monster frequently tears pieces of its skin off to represent Scootaloo's multiple failed attempts, only making the pain of the mark's bearer worse. The boiling marks on the skin have the ability to melt through whatever they touch though, to show just how much these failed attempts are 'eating' Scoot inside.

The boiling pony's tiny, beady eyed gaze represents Scootaloo's 'tunnel vision' when it comes to obtaining her Cutie Mark.

The Caged Ponies:

During her fall into the hole in the kitchen, Scootaloo sees many ponies in cages. While benign in nature, they are all suffering at the hooves of some unseen force, tormenting them behind the shadows. This is a direct relation to how Scootaloo felt when she lived with adoptive families.

While the first ponies who came to adopt her were all very nice and kind, they were overbearing and often felt that she was too weak and inexperienced to do anything for herself. She was constantly kept watch of, and wasn't allowed to leave her room except to go to school and use the bathroom, leading her to ultimately feel like she was trapped in a cage.

Every set of ponies who came for her all acted the same. They were nice at first, but ultimately wanted to treat her like the soft, innocent little girl they'd never had or had always wanted. The perfect little princess.

This caused Scootaloo much suffering, as is shown by the ponies, when she felt like she would never be free to do what she herself wanted to do.

At one point, a Caged Pony drags Scootaloo into its cage. From the implied conversations that are happening around her, we can assume that this particular pony is a manifestation of Scootaloo's first adoptive mother. Yet again in her bedroom, another pony leaves its cage to come and try to take her away.

The ponies in the cages are in suffering Scootaloo's rejection, feeling as though they've failed her.



Bloated Filly:

The bloated filly arrives as a symbol of how much torment Scootaloo is putting herself and her friends in by pursuing something that should come naturally.

The flanks and hind legs are swollen to immobility to show just how much Scootaloo is blowing the whole Cutie Mark obsession out of proportion. Because of this, the filly is forced to crawl, scraping its hindquarters along the ground, causing it intense pain.

It is blind, due to Scoot's inability to see that finding her Cutie Mark should come naturally, and that she is shunting her own special talent (her scooter and speed) out of the way in search of something that isn't truly herself.