Meet our disabled ponies - Scootaloo, Stellar Eclipse, Fizzlepop Berrytwist/Tempest Shadow, and Kerfuffle. And they are all celebrating disability pride. July is Disability Pride Month, and so it is the perfect time to celebrate the occasion. Disability pride means taking pride in your whole self, which includes your disability, accepting and honoring each person’s uniqueness and seeing it as a natural and beautiful part of human (pony) diversity, and that you understand your limitations, but accept and love who you are. Disability Pride is an integral part of movement building and a direct challenge of systemic ableism and stigmatizing definitions of disability. Disabled people (or people with disabilities) are sometimes framed by society as pitiable or helpless, waiting for a cure to solve any problems they may have. This view of disabled people damages confidence and self-esteem, especially since ableism (discrimination against people with disabilities) is so prevalent. But many view their disability as an integral part of who they are, rather than a flaw or something that should be separated from their identity.
 
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, along with its movie and special, gave us ponies with disabilities, and even though they’re mostly physical ones, these characters proved to us that despite their disabilities, they can still do anything and even find unique ways of achieving it. Our first and most beloved disabled pony is Scootaloo, daughter of an adventurer couple and one of the three original Cutie Mark Crusaders. Her wings are underdeveloped, so she can’t fly. It is also shown that when she grows into a full-grown mare her wings will still remain unchanged. Despite this, Scootaloo has found other ways for using her wings if not for flight. Her most famous use is to propel her scooter through the streets of Ponyville and perform stunts with it!
 
At one point, before the Equestria Games, Scootaloo had doubts about participating, and became obsessed with her difficulties flying, feeling that it made her unqualified to represent the Pegasi of Ponyville in the flag-carrying ceremony for the Equestria Games. However Rainbow Dash told her that this was not as important as she thought and that, regardless of whether she’ll fly or not, she’s still special in her own way. Scootaloo was thus inspired to tow her two friends to the Crystal Empire using her wing-propelled scooter, and they were chosen to represent Ponyville as its flag carriers! She now knows that her worth is defined by her talents and not by what she cannot do.
 
Our next famous disabled pony is Fizzlepop Berrytwist, a Unicorn with a broken horn. However, like many ponies who lost a part of themselves, she went down a dark path to have it mended. She was once a bright-eyed filly growing up with her best friends Glitter Drops and Spring Rain. She dreamed of one day living in Canterlot and attending Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns with them. But one day, while the three friends practiced their magic with a ball, Glitter Drops and Spring Rain accidentally lost it in a dark cave. Fizzlepop, the bravest of the three, ventured into the cave to retrieve the ball, but was attacked by a belligerent ursa minor, which cleaved off the top half of her horn and gave her a scar over her right eye. With her horn broken, Fizzlepop’s magic became an uncontrollable energy that burns and disintegrates whatever it touches. Cast into self-exile, she traveled to the harsh, egotistical lands south of Equestria to find some way to have her horn fixed. It was there Fizzlepop’s life would really take her down a dark and stormy road. She encountered the Storm King, an evil overlord who became impressed with her skills and erratic magic. So he offered her a Faustian deal: he would restore her horn… if she would bring him any source of magical power that would make him the most powerful ruler in the world. Fizzlepop agreed, and made a new name for herself - Tempest Shadow! Donning the armor that all of the Storm King’s minion’s wore, she became his lieutenant and led the siege of Canterlot to capture the four Alicorn princesses, in order to fuel the Staff of Sarcanas, the object of power the Storm King wielded.
 
Her time in the south hardened Tempest’s heart and increased her strength and skills to overpower those who got in her way. Of course, Tempest found that her unstable magic could be useful at times, like electrocuting anycreature who got in her way and destroy vessels. But she would still not rest until her horn was repaired, and perhaps to punish the world for her tragic past. Even the Storm King had a sneaky feeling about her ulterior motive. It wasn’t until Tempest succeeded in capturing Princess Twilight Sparkle to have her magic stolen, was she betrayed her beastly superior, and then rescued by the pony she spent the entire day hunting down. Tempest then realized that, unlike the Storm King, friendship never betrayed her. And her new amity for Twilight gave her the courage to sacrifice herself and destroy the Storm King forever. Twilight welcomed Tempest Shadow - Fizzlepop Berrytwist again - back into Equestria as a friend once more. Not only that, but even though Fizzlepop’s horn would still be incomplete, she can still use her magic. Turns out her horn is REALLY good for making fireworks!
 
There are two other ponies with disabilities, and although they appeared only once in the series, they are also popular. First, there is Stellar Eclipse, a Pegasus stallion trader from Rainbow Falls. He gets around in a sort of wheelchair cart not so dissimilar to walkin wheels for dogs. It is most likely that he has spinal muscular atrophy type III (just like his VA). In spite of this condition, Stellar never lets that impede him. Plus, he has a pretty cool steampunk-stylized wheelcart. And then there is Kerfuffle, a Pegasus mare fashion designer from Hope Hollow. Like Fizzlepop, she lost a limb, particularly her left hind leg. However, she replaced it with a woodcarved prosthetic leg. Despite that, her real hindrance was that she was too self-conscious about putting her original works on display at her boutique, and instead used Rarity’s designs as inspiration for her own. This, unfortunately, became an additional reason for hopeless magic to cause Hope Hollow and its citizens to lose their colors. Fortunately, when the Mane Six came for the Rainbow Festival, Rarity took Kerfuffle on as an assistant designer for the event, and the Pegasus managed to create some dazzling festival accessories for Rarity and her friends to wear. With newfound hope in her abilities, Kefuffle’s colors were restored, just as every townponies’ hope and colored were returned with the Rainbow Festival. Hope Hollow definitely has the best fashion designer. And besides, even with a prosthetic limb, there’s nothing she can’t do.
 
Despite having underdeveloped wings, a broken horn, a genetic neuromuscular disease, or missing a leg, these four ponies have always found a way to get around despite their disabilities, and even discover new ways to use those disabilities to leave their mark and make the world a better place. Scootaloo and Fizzlepop both struggled with their conditions and became obssessed with them, whether giving up on being something they believed they were never meant to be or making poor decisions and making dark deals. But through the magic of making friends and by discovering that they are special in their own way, they are complete in more ways than one. And both Stellar Eclipse and Kerfuffle have found ways to adapt, and never let their disabilities hold them back. These four ponies are anything but weak and helpless. They are strong, creative, and unique. So let us have them remind us that despite our own disabilities, we should be proud. I have autistism, a neurodisability, but I have no total shame in it. It’s what makes me ME. So if any of you have disabilities, whether it’s physical, mental, or neurological, never be ashamed. Be proud!
 
 
This was quite a project. Besides Scootaloo and Fizzlepop Berrytwist, I had to make vectors of both Stellar Eclipse and Kerfuffle. Stellar was easier than Kerfuffle (that doesn’t mean he was easy altogether), and his walkin wheels were kind of fun. Despite appearing in only one episode, it was a good thing I found full-body screenshot references, as well as a screenshot reference of his head at a quarter angle. Kerfuffle, meanwhile, turned out to be the toughest character to work on. What kept me from making a vector of Rainbow Roadtrip characters was due to a combination of sparse references since it aired only once on TV while it’s still not available on DVD, streaming services, or on Amazon, and since the special is in style of the movie. However, there are some Brony vector artists who made very great Flash-style vectors of the Hope Hollow ponies, and I thought of turning to them for help. cheezedoodle96’s vector of Kerfuffle provided inspiration for mine. At first I almost considered doing a different pose, but since it took hours to make her, and I wanted to get this done as soon as this is the middle of the month, I stuck with it.
 
As for the background and title, they’re both based on two different disability pride flags; the background is based on this flag, and the colors in the title are based on the stripes from the flag designed by Ann Magill. It really works.
 
Happy Disability Pride Month!!!