Webcomic / Motherly Scootaloo

Motherly Scootaloo (formerly Pregnant Scootaloo) is a Tumblr webcomic based on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, created by Sam Rose (AKA Jake Heritagu).

The webcomic is a cross between a Soap Opera and a Coming of Age story, revolving around a version of Scootaloo who unintentionally got pregnant from a classmate at the age of 13. As a result, she's had to grow up very quickly. She currently lives with her baby colt, Lightning Blitz, and her foster mother, Sandy Hooves.

The story is set in a Mundane Fantastic "Tumblr" version of Ponyville; that is, characters from other Tumblrs are able to show up whenever they like, and this isn't considered particularly strange by the local populace. Scootaloo has even met alternate versions of herself without incident. Crossovers with other Tumblrs are frequent and are worked into the comic's storylines.

Scootaloo (and sometimes Sandy Hooves) is also able to hear questions from the Tumblr audience; again, these are considered a normal part of how the universe works. Although prevalent in the beginning, the "Ask" aspect has now been largely phased out.

Since its inception in 2012, the comic has spawned two spin-offs: Ask Rain Catcher, focusing on Scootaloo’s ex-boyfriend Rain Catcher, and Lightning Blitz Answers, a cute/funny comic focusing on Scootaloo’s son Lightning Blitz.

Due to the comic's Soap Opera nature, there are a large number of unmarked spoilers ahead.

Tropes contained in Motherly Scootaloo:

• Alternate Timeline: Thanks to the Discord Doctor Whooves entering the Motherly Scootaloo universe, he brought in the bleeding that effecting the universe. In this case, Raincatcher's mother Clearwater is murdered despite Sandy remembering her still being alive
• Alternate Universe: Somewhat; the author says that unless something in the main continuity directly contradicts the comic's events, he will consider the events (from the show, comics, etc.) canon, since Motherly Scootaloo is meant to take place a few years later.
• Amoral Attorney: Subverted for Rain Catcher’s mother Clearwater, who, despite an Evil Lawyer Joke, seems significantly nicer than her son.
  • Apparently played straight with the Canterlot snob’s laywer, he’s apparently so bad, whenever Sandy finds an attourney, they drop the case!
    • It turns out to be Franziska.
• Angrish: Scootaloo can't quite deal with Diamond Tiara's inappropriate line of questioning.
• April Fools' Day: In 2013. Be warned, this is quite possibly the most Nightmare Fuel and Tear Jerker post yet... It has to be seen to be believed.
  • A subverted example is that the blog was meant to be a joke, but it caught on.
  • According to Word of God, the comic is based of something he did for April Fools' Day 2012 and decided to expand upon 2 days later.
• Ascended Extra: As this mod post points out, Sandy and Rain Catcher are actual background ponies from the main song of A Friend In Deed.
• Art Evolution: The art gets better as the story goes on, going from black and white to color as well.
  • Also, the way Lightning's eyes changes from canon MLP infant eyes to more like the other characters.
  • The author even lampshades it on this mod post.
• Art Shift: Occurs frequently as a natural consequence of the comic crossing over with so many other Tumblr comics. It's quite common for strips to be drawn by other artists.
• Awesome McCoolname: Invoked, Scootaloo chose Lightning Blitz's name because she thought it was awesome. If he had been a girl, she would have used "Spectrum Chaser" instead.
• Badass Boast: Here, after hitting her Rage Breaking Point when Upper Crust, after saying ‘’Scootaloo would be better off dead’’, continues to insult both her and Sandy, going as far as to call Sandy a terrible mother, complete with Red Eyes, Take Warning!

  Jet Set: You’ll be hearing from our lawyers.

  Sandy: Fine! Bring your lawyers! I won’t let you have that baby so long as I’m breathing!

  Warden: As long as you’re leaving, let me give you an express pass back to Canterlot! (Teleports the snobs away).

• Back Story: Sandy here. Sadly, it's on hiatus.
• Big Damn Heroes: Luna finally shows up.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: We don’t know much about it yet, but apparently most of Rain Catcher’s cousins on his second dad’s side are either crazy or in jail.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Jet Set and Upper Crust, as anyone who's watched their introductory episode in canon could tell you.
• Break the Cutie: Scootaloo is subject to this a few times but seems to be getting better and returning to some level of normalcy.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: This happens often with comments. Also, as these strips show, Scootaloo knows she's in a Tumblr, and seems to mainly think of the other Tumblr worlds as other dimensions. She can also usually tell when someone is from another Tumblr.
• Butt-Monkey: Apple Bloom has a shade of this when the CMC are out and about, seeming to end up on the short end of the stick a lot.
• The Cameo: Motherly Scootaloo appears in this Ask Bite-Sized Rarity post.
• The Casanova: Apparently, Rain Catcher’s stepdad had this mindset, even cheating on his wife and thinking of girls as “points”. He tried to teach this behavior to RC... which is what lead to Scootaloo’s pregnancy.
• Clean, Pretty Childbirth: Subverted. Though it may seem like it at first (as can be seen here and here), according to Word of God, the birth scene was rushed, with significant parts of the process cut out (both to hasten the plot and prevent a Squick situation from a birth fluid-covered Lightning Blitz and Scootaloo being sewn up from her C-section). The author ‘’does’’ feel that he could have handled that part of the story better though, and not rushed through it so much.
• Continuity Nod: Sandy refrences the Noodle Incident (s) that caused Scootaloo to come home covered in tree sap.
  • Ponyville Hospital is still using blue baby pajamas for male infants.
  • Ponyville Hospital still has Swiss-Cheese Security, even with guards!
  • In Sandy’s Backstory, one of the images clearly depicts Daring Do.
  • Also, the hospital food is still horrible.
• Creation Myth: The story of Astrum Satus, told here and here, presents a "Just So" Story of the creation of Equestria.
• Crossover: Lighting Blitz is now under the care of Miss Twilight Sparkle, in a different world, thanks to the technology of The Doctor from Ask Discord Whooves (since the comics take place in different worlds.
  • Earlier, we have Lady Derpy's Photos, Ask Chubby Diamond Tiara and Just Ask Rainbow Dash (really, it's a Tumblr comic, a cameo at the least is to be expected).
    • HERE and here.
  • This commission shows all the blogs that exist in the comic's canon (at least at publication time).
  • We also have various pages with other MLP comics (especially ones with Scootaloo), including the multi-crossover comic featuring 11 various versions of Scootaloo called The Coop.
    • As per Word of God, while The Coop strips have a separate continuity, all the other crossovers probably happened (just not necessarily in the order they were posted).
  • A Rainbow Factory Scootaloo one starts here.
  • This post is a parody of ‘’Danny Phantom’’ (with a follow-up Coop strip).
• Cuteness Proximity: Lightning tends to induce this. Apparently, even Rainbow Dash, who has shown incredible resistance to a Ridiculously Cute Critter on a prior occasion, isn't immune!
• Darker and Edgier: "The Birthing", due largely to the presence of Jet Set and Upper Crust, though it's become somewhat Lighter and Softer again after that.
  • The story in general is a somewhat darker than the source material (since the premise is a young pony getting pregnant, it’s to be expected).
• The Diaper Change: Here and here.
  • Referenced as a Noodle Incident that occured during Derpy’s time in maternity school here.
• Disappeared Dad: The father of Scoot's baby, Rain Catcher, left her after he found out she was pregnant. His adventures have their own Tumblr now.
  • Also, there has been no mention of Scootaloo's dad at all, even in flashbacks.
  • As of these few posts, Lightning Blitz and Rain Catcher have finally met face to face.
• Downer Ending: If you don’t win the Court case game and prove Scootaloo's innocents of murder, this is the end result.
• Dude, Not Funny!: Scootaloo bursts into laughter upon seeing Chubby Diamond Tiara first time. Diamond yells at her to stop.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Scootaloo gets them here and here after the Kick the Dog moment mentioned below. Luckily, she improves by the next time we see her eyes.
  • She also had them after her mother died from cancer.
• Easily Forgiven: After the whole custody drama, Scootaloo names Upper Crust and Jet Set godparents to Lightning Blitz after being told they would never have gone with the murder charges if they were false, which it was. Subverted with Sandy.
• Eat That: At one point, Scootaloo says she'd rather eat her own scooter than apologize for kicking DT through the chalkboard. Of course, this happens.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Even though Jet Set and Upper Crusted wanted Lightning Blitz badly, they would have dropped the murder charges against Scootaloo if they thought they were false, which it was, and not cause an innocent filly to suffer.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Despite their Kick the Dog moments towards Scootaloo, especially when they say that she was better off dead, they seem unable to recognize their own hypocrisy, and how much they hurt Scootaloo.
• Fat Bastard: Subverted with Chubby Diamond Tiara's appearances in the comic. When she hears about Scootaloo's self-harming, she rushes over to apologize and convince her to make up with Apple Bloom.
• Faux Affably Evil: Jet Set and Upper Crust, who seem polite at first, but the facade is quickly dropped when Sandy was gone and when they just couldn't bother.
• Foreshadowing: Word of God has this to say about the Doctor Whooves crossover hints.
  • Since the URL for the comic has changed, here’s Link #1, Link #2, and Link #3.
• Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: See Medium Awareness.
• Funny Background Event: Scootaloo gets a wingboner.
• Furry Reminder: Rumble gets Scootaloo a bunch of flowers for his date with her. However, because they're ponies, this is actually more like giving a girl a bag of potato chips. Scootaloo sees it more as an attempted bribe than a romantic gesture.
• Gory Discretion Shot: We never see Scootaloo’s ruptured C-section injury, only blood and blood-stained hooves and bandages.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: In this strip, Scootaloo sneaks out of the hospital with Lightning Blitz ridiculously easy. You think they would’ve wised up after the last time something like that happened.
  • It isn’t even noticed until the next morning!
• Hammerspace: Here, due to The Doctor’s hidden pockets.
• Heroic RRoD: Scootaloo exerts herself too much after taking Lightning Blitz from the hospital, causing her C-section stitches to rupture, and is only saved by the timely arrival of The Doctor in his Tardis (though the Tardis is the one who brought him there), who bandages her and brings her to the hospital from The Everfree Forest.
• Impairment Shot: The strip directly after Scootaloo's scooter accident is presented entirely in Impairment Shots, complete with hallucinatory windigoes.
• Implausible Deniability: Even after this, which clearly shows that RC pushed Scoot on after she had second thoughts, he still blames her for getting pregnant (even if he does admit he did have a part in it here, he still pushes a lot of responsibility her way).
• Improbably Female Cast: According to Word of God, he made Lightning Blitz a boy to help even things out, as the major canon [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic' MLP:FIM]] characters are mainly female, saying “Equestria needs more stallions”.
• Infodump: At the start of season 3, the reader is supplied with an infographic strip to bring them up to speed on the Equestrian education system, which becomes important this season.
• In the Blood: Apparently, athleticism, competitiveness, determination and energy run in the family.
  • Very deep and sincere love between mother and child also seems to be a common trait.
  • Hopefully, becoming a single parent at a young age does not.
• Jerkass: Jet Set and Upper Crust, as seen in their Kick the Dog moment, and outside the hospital.
  • THIS world's version of Diamond Tiara.
  • Apparently, Rain Catcher’s stepdad as well.
  • There is some fan speculation that the author is this,thinking that he enjoys ruining his character’s lives and messing with his fan’s heads For the Evulz (or simply the lulz) (the fact that he sometimes acts like a Card-Carrying Villain when answering questions probably has a lot to do with that).
  • Not to mention the numerous times the readers have submitted hurtful or outright insulting statements about Scootaloo.
• Kick the Dog: Done by Jet Set and Upper Crust HERE.
  • Diamond Tiara does it here, and it's mentioned that she was one of the worst of the ponies teasing Scootaloo when she got pregnant.
• Killedoff For Real: Clearwater, mother of Rain Catcher, who was murdered. Or should she have been killed?
• Kissing Under the Influence: Happens in this strip after Apple Bloom treats the girls to some cider on the day she comes of age.
• Last Request: Firefly had two she asked Sandy to make sure Scootaloo went to a good home, and she asked Scootaloo to never give up on her dreams.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After basically saying that they wouldn’t let Scootaloo see Lightning Blitz, it is very clear that Scootaloo cares deeply about her son) (and they ''admitted she might have post partum depression), they get a dose of this when Sandy hears them insult her and Scootaloo, even saying that "Scootaloo was better off dead" (crossing even MORE lines), causing her to deny them the adoption (though Upper Crust actually had the gall to be indignant about it!).
• Lethal Chef: Whoever makes the hospital food isn’t this, but they come close.
• Long-Lost Relative: In a Mythology Gag to the third generation of the series Cherilee is Scootaloo’s older half sister, something neither of them is aware of.
• Mama Bear: Sandy towards Scootaloo, though she's a Parental Substitute. Jet Set and Upper Crust learned this the hard way.
• Medium Awareness: Scootaloo (and others) answering questions. Also, Scootaloo is aware that she is in a tumblr, see Breaking the Fourth Wall.
• Mind Screw: The glitchiness that's overtaken the blogs briefly.
• Missing Mom: It's revealed in a flashback that Scootaloo's birth mother Firefly died of cancer, and that her daughter was taken in by one of her friends.
• Mythology Gag: Scootaloo's birth mother was Firefly, a Generation 1 pony who starred in the very first My Little Pony animated feature in 1984 (and who was the inspiration for Rainbow Dash).
  • The idea of Cheerilee being Scootaloo’s older (half) sister is a reference to G3, in which she and Scootaloo are siblings.
  • The idea that pegasus foals can walk on ceilings was first seen in the show episode "Baby Cakes".
• My God, What Have I Done?: Sandy in "The Birthing", big time, after she .
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A lot of the story could have been resolved with a lot less struggle and trauma if Sandy hadn't put Lightning up for adoption (to Jet Set and Upper Crust at any rate), or at least tried harder to work out a solution that allowed Scootaloo to see him regularly to start with (though to be fair, as she says here, she was more concerned with making sure the baby went to a good home than focusing on the location of said home, bur did hope the home would be in Ponyville, and she seemed remorseful even then), see My God, What Have I Done? for Sandy when she realizes at least some of her gigantic goof.
  • Discorded Whooves' dimension hopping has caused several other Tumblr universes to "bleed" into the Motherly Scootaloo universe, ultimately culminating in Sandy unknowingly being sucked into a universe where Scootalooo murdered Clearwater in cold blood.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: If Upper Crust hadn’t said that ‘’Scootaloo was better off dead’’, they might have easily gotten Lightning Blitz.
• Nightmare Sequence: Scootaloo's windigo dreams, which always end with something bad happening to her.
• Noodle Incident: Sandy refrences the events that caused Scootaloo to come home covered in tree sap.
  • Scootaloo’s cravings. Beside chocolate, we hear that Sandy keeps the kitchen stocked so she can experiment, but we never see or hear of anything specific.
  • Derpy references one here:
    Derpy: The first thing I had to learn, is that the diaper doesn't go on the baby's head.
• Pet the Dog: RD here.
  • Here as well. The Doctor saving Scootaloo also counts.
• Photo Montage: Here. Also a CMOH.
• Piggyback Cute: A non-romantic example with Scootaloo and her son [[here]].
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: In a Continuity Nod to the theme of the canon episode Baby Cakes, Lightning has a blue set of baby pajamas, courtesy of Ponyville General Hospital.
  • Also, a number of the furnishings of his room are blue.
  • He also has blue eyes (like his father (who has a blue coat as well) and his mom (due to a color-skewed screenshot, has more pink in her mane than her canon counterpart, who can be seen with her more purple mane here).
• Posthumous Character: Scootaloo’s mother Firefly.
  • Also, Rain Catcher’s favorite cousin, Arrow.
• Recurring Dreams: In season 3, Scootaloo starts having regular nightmares. Although the content of the nightmares changes, they always feature windigoes, and they always end with Scootaloo suffering some horrible fate.
• Retcon: An earlier post made it seem like Motherly Scootaloo's Diamond Tiara was actually Chubby Diamond Tiara, who is much nicer, but a later post revealed that they were two different ponies and that world's Tiara is still a huge jerk.
  • Another one happen with Derpy; the first Derpy was from Photo Shoot Derpy who is a model for Photo Finish and is dating Warden. Later it was change to Out of Work Derpy, who was fired from the MLPFIM show and takes odd jobs. Which makes this more noticeable is that the first Derpy was seen in a plot point of Sandy finding a steady job. Of course since these two retcons happen post Discord Whooves entering the Motherly Scootaloo's universe and brought in the bleeding, it might make more sense.
• Rule of Cool: The in-universe reasoning behind Lightning Blitz’s name.
• Separate Scene Storytelling: The story of Astrum Satus is told in two standalone strips. (Strip 1, strip 2)
• Shout-Out: This commission is one to Sherlock Holmes and Juno. Also, apparently Juno helped inspire the comic.
  • This mod post is one to The Fairly Oddparents.
  • You shouldn't have done that. in the April Fools' Day for 2013.
  • This mod posts’ base image is, according to the author, taken from Attack on Titan.
  • In Sandy’s Backstory, one of the images clearly depicts Daring Do (complete with a Sapphire TARDIS), with Sandy dressed like Mega-Man and an image from Moonstuck.
  • Apparently, the court case will be one for CSI Miami.
    • Although, it ends up like Ace Attorney in the end.
  • A panel in this strip parodies the Fat Joe/Lil Wayne music video "Make it Rain".
• Simultaneous Arcs: Averted, according to Word of God, the temporal settings of the main blog and the spin-off do not match up, (and which one is farther ahead could vary), and if there is a crossover between them, it’ll take place in the present of both.
• Sleep Cute: This occurs after Scootaloo’s fourteenth birthday party with her and Lightning, in the non-canon Mother’s Day strip with the moms of the strip, Lightning with his mom and dad in this fanart, this pre-trial scene, Lightning and Lily Bloom in this request for the artist of Ask Street Scootaloo, and this little adorable scene with Lightning and Rain Catcher after the Doctor fixes the world-altering holes (for now at least).
• Spin-Off: Ask Rain Catcher is run by another artist, featuring Rain Catcher, Scootaloo’s ex-boyfriend and father of her son.
  • Spin-Off Babies: Lightning Blitz eventually gets his own blog, called Lightning Blitz Answers, focusing on cute/funny scenes with a donation based update system.
• Swiss-Cheese Security: Ponyville Hospital still has this, even with guards!
  • It isn’t even noticed until the next morning!
• Take a Third Option: Here, when The Doctor takes Lightning Blitz to an alternate Twilight to keep him away from Jet Set and Upper Crust.
• Tears of Joy: Multiple times during Scootaloo's birthday party, among other times.
• Teen Pregnancy: The entire story is based off Scootaloo getting pregnant, starting when the pregnancy is largely over.
• Tempting Fate: While performing scooter tricks in an attempt to get her cutie mark, Scootaloo thinks: "This doesn't feel as bad as I thought it would...". No prizes for guessing what happens next.
• That Came Out Wrong: RC at Arrow’s funeral.
• There Are No Therapists: Subverted. In fact, Scootaloo has to see a therapist as part of the evaluation to allow her to see Lightning Blitz.
• Time Skip: The story takes place a few years after the canon show.
  • Also, the two month hiatus was translated to a 2 month Time Skip in-story.
• Timey-Wimey Ball: This explanation of why The Doctor couldn’t just stop the entire chain of events before it started.
  • These posts elaborate a bit more, in case you needed some clarification.
  • Also used to explain this as not necessarily the future.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • Jet Set and Upper Crust had a Jerkass Realization after the trial and apologize to Scootaloo for their harsh words earlier.
  • After the Cosmic Retcon inducing holes in reality result in his mother's murder, Rain Catcher has his own Jerkass Realization and manages to make up with Scootaloo.
• Tomboy: Scootaloo was this initially.
  • Tomboy with a Girly Streak: As the author lampshades in this mod post, as a result of her motherhood and subsequent Character Development, she has accepted more of her feminine side without letting it detract from who she was (which is what she thought would happen). This is shown by her new hairstyle, and her excitement about getting spa passes for her birthday.
• Trauma Conga Line: Scootaloo. Oh GOD, Scootaloo. The story starts off with her pregnant. Then we find out that her mom died several years back, and she ended up being taken care of by a friend of her mother who promised her Scootaloo would go to a good home, causing her to act because of an unconscious hope that that would cause her to return. We also find out that the father of her child left her when he found out (not to mention that there was a lot of teasing, mainly by Diamond Tiara) and Sandy (the previously mentioned foster mom), put her unborn child up for adoption, despite Scootaloo wanting to keep the foal. Then Scootaloo has an argument with Apple Bloom, and smashes her head into a mirror (luckily, Rainbow Dash agreed to watch her along with Fluttershy, giving her and Apple Bloom a chance to make up). Then, during "The Birthing", she gets a MAJOR Kick the Dog from Jet Set and Upper Crust, who Sandy had been thinking of as adoptive parents for Scootaloo's newborn son, Lightning Blitz, causing her to take Lightning from the hospital just so she can be with him, which causes her C-section wounds to rupture, nearly killing her (and according to Word of God, she would have if rescue hadn't come when it did). Thankfully, when the Jerkass couple says to Sandy that Scootaloo would be better off dead, she has a My God, What Have I Done? moment (after giving the couple a Shut Up, Hannibal! speech) about this, which leads to Lightning being taken into a sort-of foster home by a friend (since they don't have the money to take of him at the moment) and Scootaloo gets clearance to visit him relatively quickly (following a subversion of There Are No Therapists), and Sandy officially adopts Scootaloo, and their relationship has seriously improved, causing the story to take a turn for the better.
  • Then the custody trial begins, which turns into a murder trial in which Scootaloo is charge with the murder of Clearwater, Raincatcher's mom. She is proven innocent though. But the bad ending, in which Scootaloo is found guilty, she gets hanged. And Wordof God say this is canon in an alternate-universe sense.
• Undisclosed Funds: Jet Set and Upper Crust.
• Webcomic Time: The author actually does a pretty good job avoiding having a lot of this, the most notable example being when the approximately 2 month hiatus is translated to a 2 month Time Skip in-story.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Despite the arguments between them early on, Sandy cares for Scootaloo, and was only doing what she thought was best for the baby when she put it up for adoption, even hoping Scootaloo could visit (and she is horrified when she realizes what her actions had resulted in).
• Wham Line: I’d like to be your mom.
• Wham Shot: The final panel of this strip.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The unicorns that tried to kill Sandy as a filly are never heard from again, and no mention of their comeuppance has been brought up in spite of it being attempted murder.
• Would Harm a Child: In this case, the justice system would kill a child. In the interactive trial game in which Scootaloo is charge with murder of one person, and if you lose, they executed her by hanging. And she is only thirteen when this happens.
• Why Did It Have To Be Magic?: Sandy gets along just fine with unicorns, but their magic, on the other hand, she has a phobia of (as seen here). Lampshaded in this strip.
  • This strip implies that her magic issues at least partly stem from her frustration over the fact that there's no time travel spell that she can use to save the life of Scootaloo's mother, Firefly.
  • This strip of her Back Story shows that she apparently didn't have this problem when younger.
• Worth It: Said here by an alternate Scootaloo who touched the main Scootaloo’s belly while she was pregnant.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: The therapist Scootaloo sees gives her a speech to that effect after her Heroic Self-Deprecation here. CMOH anyone?