Canterlot Is Corrupt



""You ever seen a pegasi supremacist group beat a unicorn till he was whimpering and gurgling? His only crime was having a bit of bone coming out of his forehead. Talk to me then, when you've seen something like that. All ponies are equal.""

- Scoops Inkstain

Canterlot is Corrupt is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan webcomic in the "ask pony tumblr" style. As the title suggests, it is about corruption in the capitol city of Canterlot and other aspects of crime in Equestria. The tumblr's central character is an investigative journalist named Scoops Inkstain, an earth pony who was recently fired from a local paper after writing an "inflammatory piece" about the princess. He now spreads his message as a freelance writer on the internet. Middle-aged, single, and unemployed, his frequent smoking and drinking belie chronic depression, although he denies this; it's likely that seeing too much of the dark side of Equestria has gotten to him, and his recent termination didn't help.

Scoops' journalism has revealed many elements of crime in Equestria, ranging from the Equestrian mob to schoolyard hate crimes. Though the internet is less restrictive about what he can report, Scoops has knowledge of Equestrian mob overlords that he refuses to share for fear of death, though he revealed in a personal message to Dream Baker that one of them is called Glitz. The Equestrian mob mostly deals in prostitution, Cloudsdale gang-warfare sweeps up innocent victims, a pegasus supremacy cult savagely beats unicorns, racism against donkeys is widespread and rampant, and Scoops Inkstain has only begun to divulge the shady side of Equestria to his hungry Internet readers.

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 * Art Evolution: Though the first few entries' depiction of Scoops fluctuates a lot (probably the author figuring out how they wanted to draw him), he was, at the beginning, generally cuter and pudgier and slightly more in line with the visuals of the show he's based in. The art's steadily been moving away from that, though some of that may be the character's declining health. Compare this early image to this later one.
 * Art Shift: Occasionally. Usually used as Rule of Funny or Rule of Drama.
 * Big Beautiful Wo--er, Pony: Scoops apparently sees Mrs. Cake as one of these.
 * Call a Rabbit a Smeerp: Besides the typical Friendship is Magic conventions of "everypony," "somepony," et cetera, Scoops also seems to use "sun" in place of "god" (most commonly seen in the expression "sundamn"). A recent entry also had an utterance of "what the moon."
 * Clint Squint: Sometimes.
 * Darker and Edgier
 * Fantastic Racism: Apparently donkeys and mules are treated as second-class citizens, and there have been a few mentions of "pegasus supremacist groups."
 * Funny Background Event: In an entry taking place at a bar, a bar fight appears to start behind Scoops just as the entry is ending.
 * The Insomniac: Type B, probably. Only implied so far, but the nature of Scoops' archetype and the heavy bags that are always under his eyes make this likely. (Alternately, given that he's stated as 'middle aged,' this may simply be an age indicator.)
 * The Mafia
 * Meaningful Name: Well, it IS My Little Pony after all.
 * Peek-a-Bangs: From certain angles.
 * Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes: So far Scoops seems to mostly be a Type II.
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Leans cynical, for sure, but there's definitely lighter moments and bright spots.
 * Smoking Is Cool: Although recent entries haven't seen as much smoking happening (as opposed to the earliest entries, where he was nearly always lit up or in the process of doing so). Scoops may be trying to quit again, or just hasn't been smoking on-camera.
 * This Trope Is Bleep: Used visually in the form of a censor bar over the f-word. All other swearing is left unbleeped or falls into Call a Rabbit a Smeerp (see above). Whether Scoops censors himself, or the Equestrian internet has a profanity filter, we don't know.
 * Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Towards the end of the 'Drunk Arc.'
 * What the Hell, Hero?: An Advice Dog style meme called "Hypocritical Scoops" seems to exist mainly to point out instances of this.