"Crusaders of the Lost Mark" · 2:47pm Oct 12th, 2015
That certainly was an episode wasn't it? You can just smell all those fanfics and headcanons burning.
Oddly enough, the episode actually canonized something I wrote.
Naturally, that something was part of a crackfic.
(For context, this is in the middle of time travel shenanigans. Pre-season 5 Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon meet a grown-up Apple Bloom, at which point:)
Apple Bloom—this unmistakably grown up Apple Bloom—scooped Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon into her arms and gave them a big hug.
“Noooooooooooooooo!” The more they cried, the tighter Apple Bloom hugged them. Her grip was like iron.
“Why, if it weren’t for these two scamps, I’da never met Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo! And I wouldn’t’ve earned my cutie mark, either!”
“And what a cutie mark it is!” Luna chimed in. “Truly worth the wait, wasn’t it, Apple Bloom?”
“You betcha!” Apple Bloom hugged the fillies even tighter.
—Diamond and Silver's Excellent Adventure
The show taketh away, and the show giveth.
It confirmed my headcanon about Diamond Tiara's talent, which was nice. And, of course, confirmed dead Apple parents.
3464491
<insert obligatory pedantry here>
The funny thing is, after "Apple Family Reunion", my contrarian answer the Apple parents question was: Maybe they aren't dead. Maybe they just did something horrible and the rest of the extended Apple clan disowned them. But the latest episode put that particular hypothesis to rest. Applejack clearly wishes Mom and Dad could be there for Apple Bloom's big moment, which doesn't make much sense if they've been cast out.
Which is great, because that hypothesis was way too depressing.