Aug
27th
2017
Points of Canon: Legends of Magic #2 · 1:45pm Aug 27th, 2017
Onto the next.
Framing story
- It is not clear just how did the conversation about the Legends books start, but Luna is talking to Sunburst, in the throne room, and Celestia is out. And it’s day. Luna doesn’t get any sleep, does she?
- Luna recounts the story of Rockhoof as told by Applejack in Campfire Tales pretty much verbatim, though in one sentence: “Rockhoof was a pony so mighty that he dug a moat for a volcano to save his city, all with only the use of his shovel.” Notice, however, no mention of his miraculous transformation.
- “Do you mean Star Swirl the Bearded wrote a sequel to my favorite myth?” I.e. Luna, who is much closer to knowing for sure if the story is historical or not, considers it a myth.
- Luna sits on the throne and commands Sunburst to read the story aloud, in Royal Canterlot Voice. She relents immediately when the dazed Sunburst says “huh” and corrects herself: “I would very much appreciate it if…” I wonder if she has the legal power to issue commands like these, but from that scene alone, my guess would be no. It’s certainly okay for her to sit on the throne if Celestia is not around, though otherwise she usually does not.
- Luna is really excited to hear what was next. Uncharacteristically so, even.
Inner story
- The story of Rockhoof takes off exactly from the moment where the story in Campfire Tales ends: Rockhoof is being paraded around town for his heroism.
- The captain of the Mighty Helm is one “Steela Oresdotter” – which is an Icelandic naming pattern. There are no other “–dottir” around, however.
- Among things Rockhoof is offered are medals, jewels, a bag with a dollar symbol on it, and the key to the city. All of these are rather anachronistic for this kind of culture, except jewels. They’re rather irrelevant, though, since all Rockhoof wants is to be a guardsman. Notice the “–man” rather than “–pony.”
- Steela orders to fetch a helmet and sword, but instead of a sword, what Rockhoof is shown actually getting is the same polearm we saw in Campfire Tales – a wide spear. See Shrink Laureate’s comment regarding reliability of imagined visuals: It’s been obviously low throughout the last season.
- “Do you swear to uphold the laws of these lands and protect these ponies with your life?” Well, at least they have a code of laws…
- “Then wear you this helmet and take you this sword…” The grammar is strange. Does it reference anything specific? I don’t know.
- Nice touch: Rockhoof’s bed is obviously sized for his former, small stature.
- While the cutie mark on Rockhoof is a knot of unclear meaning, as FanOfMostEverything helpfully pointed out, the cutie mark on Steela is another abstract design: a triskelion.
- Mighty Helm guards use an obstacle course. With rubber tires. No comments.
- The guard that Rockhoof disarms has a cutie mark of a triskelion-derived heart. Guess he’s a lover, not a fighter.
- One other pony has a Futhorc ingwaz rune for a cutie mark – ᛝ. Which, I think, is the first actual rune in canon so far. Notice it’s an Old English rune, rather than an Elder Futhark rune. Another rune cutie mark is dagaz with an extra vertical line down the middle – ᛞ. On the other side of the frame is a pony with a ᛟ. No idea if their meanings match any of ours at all.
- A meal of oats is involved. Why exactly is it eaten from a boat-shaped vessel, complete with sails and other trimmings, escapes me.
- “We’ve got a table reserved at colonel Corn’s!” So wait, who’s a colonel?
- Corn is another meal Rockhoof is subjected to, and unlike oats, corn is a New World plant for us. Maybe it isn’t for ponies, but that is certainly strange.
- The last one is an asparagus inside what appears to be a hot dog style bun. Hot dogs could be really ancient, but I’m more inclined to label this entire continuation a classical period forgery, because it contains a large number of anachronistic artifacts. Alternatively, Sunburst knows zilch about this period of history and imagines nonsense.
- I mean, the mailpony in a Napoleonic era soldier hat with a Japanese style army banner? With a letter in an envelope?
- “Well, the baron thinks you’re the hero to investigate the volcano.” First mention of the title ever, I think. I wonder what tribe is the baron, but we never see who that is. In any case, the village does not appear to be independent.
- “What in Equestria?!” (sigh)…
- Rockhoof addresses the “cherufe” and apparently expects to be understood. We, on the other hand, see the speech of said creature as gibberish.
- Rockhoof trains, among other things, with a barbell.
- Logically speaking, in the time it took Rockhoof to get back in shape, either the cherufe baby or cherufe mother had to have completed digging through the upper crust of the solidified lava. But we threw logic out of the window long ago on this one, because it’s a morality tale.
Framing story
- Luna very explicitly sees the tale as a vehicle to impart moral lessons. She criticizes the incomplete story for not delivering them, and upon hearing the ending, labels them “acceptable.”
You can see why I’m doubtful about these, right? Any day now, someone’s going to tell me the pre-Exodus pony civilization had maize. 
...Yyyyyyeah... probably not a very accurate tale in the small details.
It didn't have a pony spontaneously age from a colt into a burly stallion in a matter of seconds, though, so it's already more realistic than the legend presented in the episode.
Huh. Sounds like some episode reviews I've seen.
Also, interesting to note that the cherufe does have a mythological basis, though one that's nearly on the opposite side of the world from Scandinavia.
I wonder who the Baron is here as well.
4649489 I don't think he aged, I think Oliver's theory that the earth pony magic was blocked and flooded through him all at once makes more sense. It reminds me more of Captain America than anything else.
I am going with, imagining nonsense. The actual myths are probably fairly sparse on details. Or at least Sunburst's exposure to them might be.
"Mighty Helm guards use an obstacle course. With rubber tires. No comments."
postapocalyptiquestria.
"colonel Corn’s!” So wait, who’s a colonel?" If (Lt.) Colonel Korn is here, where's Major Major Major Major? More importantly, where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?