Scarecrow (Ready)

[StrongCopper]

Roleplay Type:

World of Equestria

Name:

Scarecrow

Gender:

Male

Age:

Stallion

Species:

Changeling (Unreformed)

Eye colour:

Dark Orange

Coat:

Black Carapace

Mane/Tail:

Dark Orange and fin like.

Physique:

An old school, unreformed changeling. Through one that is physically a little taller but leaner then the norm.

Residence:

Nomad

Occupation:

Scary/Urban Myth/Horror story villain.

Cutie Mark:

NA

Unique Traits:

Veteran Solder:

Much like the rest of the Changeling Hive when it was under the command of Queen Chrysalis, Scarecrow was trained in combat in order to be a useful solder during the Canterlot Invasion. Just because he has left the service of the Hive when the Queen was outest and replaced by King Thorax does not mean that the skills that were drilled into him have faded away.

 

Veteran Infiltrator:

Prior to the Canterlot Invasion and the mass conscript efforts of the Hive to maximize it's pool of Solders, Scarecrow was an infiltrator for the Hive. His profession was to select a target, if possible do a background check on said target to get an idea of history, personal relationships ect, replace the target, then either gather love or perform whatever task was required for his mission and get out with no one being the wiser. He was actually fairly good at this, to the point that he was actually deeply insulted that Queen Chrysalis replaced Princess Cadence herself rather then ask him to step up and do it. The fact that the Queen was terrible at pretending to be a pony beyond knowing how to use sexual appeal to her advantage only deepened the insult. She didn't even do a basic background check and got blind sided by a freaking future Sister in Law the Princess of Food foalsat!

 

Naturally Empathic:

While it might surprise many, Scarecrow is a natural empath. He is easily able to read the emotions of others and with a bit of time and effort can figure out the deeper causes of these emotions as well. Not only is this employed in adding him in the harvesting of various types of love, but he actively takes full advantage of it when he actively pursues his new 'profession'. 

 

History:

Prior to the Canterlot Invasion, most of Scarecrow's history can be summed up with a collection of mission reports for the Hive and harvesting the love of others. He was just another drone that was raised from a grub to serve the needs of the Queen and Hive, through even back then his natural inclination towards scaring his fellow clutch mates was noted and was seen as a good sign for his future. He didn't have friends since being on such good terms with other Changelings was a rare experience in those days, but he was respected by his peers.

 

Being introduced to Equestrian Society was an enlightening experience for the young Changeling when he was sent on his first operations out of the Hive. Ponies were so... different from the Changelings he had grown up around. They were so bright and colorful, but also so skittish around the dark places of their own homes and cities. This natural inclination to being afraid became a fascination for Scarecrow and he needed to learn more about it. Spare time when in the field was a rarity to be found, but where there is a will there is a way and Scarecrow was able to justify his little research project to those he reported to as a new security measure.

 

Changelings had benefited from Urban Legends before, even if it was more by happenstance then anything; Such myths tended to create relatively safe places where the Hive could set up outposts or safe houses for their drones in the field that ponies tended to actively avoid. Scarecrow's research into the matter not only allowed a more proactive method of locating these places, but also allowed them to be better defended by the Changelings themselves. By understanding the stories connected to a given location, it meant that the Changelings knew what monster to change into so that they could frighten off any pony with more bravery then common sense who happened to be exploring it... or alternatively what to stage so that a disappearing pony would be chalked up to a local legend.

 

Scarecrow's understanding of Urban Legends and what made Ponies tick grew to such a point that he could actually create Urban Legends if given enough time that would have just the right combination of weight and deniability that it would frighten off the locals while preventing an actual investigative group from looking into it. He was so good at this that for a time his primary duty for the Hive was to go into a location where they intended to set up future operations in order to create these urban legends so that outposts could be set up in advance. While this did provide Scarecrow with a degree of renown and respect from the Hive and his fellow Changelings, the truth of the matter was that he simply loved inspiring fear and all its wonderful forms in others and he had simply spun that passion to the Hive successfully.

 

Scarecrow played very little role in the Canterlot Invasion itself. With the Gem mines in the mountain largely forgotten and the Queen taking a personal (if ill advised) role in the matter, Scarecrow was simply another drone in the swarm that descended on the city... and was later ejected out of it again by the Princess of Food and her husband to be. This turn of events spurred an impulse decision, but one that Scarecrow didn't regret in the slightest. With the swarm scattered to the winds and regrouping back at the Hive in the Bad Lands, Scarecrow... simply never went back. His disappearance would just be attributed to having died, either during the Invasion itself or on route back to the Hive.

 

He didn't have anything against the Hive or the Queen, but the fact that his obligations to both always got in the way of him pursuing his true passion had long worn down his loyalty. The fact that the Queen had been arrogant enough to try and do his job better then he could and only got away with her terrible performance because ponies were kind of stupid was simply an insult to his craft too far. 

 

Since then he has enjoyed a rather fulfilling nomad existence. Without having to report to anyone by himself he was free to select his targets for food and 'play' at his leisure. He didn't have to take the love he harvested back to the hive to share, so not only did this mean he didn't need to harvest as much love as he did in the past, but the first time in his life he was full after his meals. He was also free to fully delve into the fields of fear and terror, with one of the only ways to track his progress traveling being a surge of belief in local legends and campfire stories as fresh witnesses and stories gave the old tales a new life... or even just the whole hearted creation of new ones.

 

Character Personality:

Even when he was young, Scarecrow had a fascination with fear. This was interpreted as a desire to be feared, which was a positive trait for a drone to have back in the days of Queen Chrysalis' rule and marked him as a natural 'go-getter', but while it did result in him getting favorable attention and more of the Hive's limited resources Scarecrow's interest was always in the emotion itself rather then having it directly focused on him. Fear by itself was an emotion that caused the body to surge with a new found strength, but when it was mixed with other emotions it heightened them... made them so intense! And everyone had their own unique blend! 

 

Once he encountered ponies, this interest quickly grew into a obsession. An addiction that he was able to find justifications and praise for as he channeled it into his work and the benefit of the Hive. While this was enough for a time, like all addictions it started to grow to the point where his duties weren't enough to cover his desire. Duty and loyalty to Hive and Queen were actively starting to hamper his research and efforts to enjoy his craft, through this wouldn't to a head until the the failed Invasion of Canterlot. Combined with Queen Chrysalis' somewhat insulting performance at his job, once the Invasion was cast out Scarecrow simply abandoned the Hive to freely pursue his own interests.

 

Scarecrow doesn't care about ponies beyond the fact that they are an easy source of food and entertainment for him. They are a prey species after all. That being said, he can still develop favorites both to encourage love in and haunt in a variety of ways. That being said, it is still rare for him to hurt a pony unless it is absolutely necessary; This is due to pure, logical pragmatism rather then traditional morality. Physical wounds tend to draw the attention of the authorities and give credible evidence that something happened to one of his playthings where psychological attacks can be excused as 'just in their heads'. 

Character Summary:

An Old School rogue Changeling with an obsession with the emotion of fear and a love of either playing the part of the 'Urban Legend' monster or outright starting new ones.

[SteelEagle]