Points of Canon: S9x12 - The Last Crusade

In which we find out that Scootaloo is disabled, rather than an orphan. Which was my conclusion from Parental Glideance: she can be either disabled, or an orphan, but not both.

• Chronology markers: The School of Friendship does not make an appearance, and neither does the Friendship Castle or the Treehouse of Harmony, (The Student Six do, and they don’t get any lines) but the number of less obvious markers and references inside is substantial and provides upper bounds for a bunch of episodes:

  • Big Mac stands together with Sugar Belle, requiring Hard To Say Anything to have completed.
  • Terramar is present in the same crowd, which requires Surf and/or Turf to have completed.
  • Spike has wings, requiring Molt Down to have completed.
  • Skeedaddle acquires his cutie mark in this episode, requiring Marks and Recreation to happen prior. This could itself become a minor marker.
  • Mane Allgood mentions Sombra’s return and the destruction of the Tree of Harmony as having happened “lately,” requiring The Beginning of the End to precede and squishing the episode into the bookends of Season 9.
  • The CMC clubhouse contains a photo from The Cart Before The Ponies as well as a photo of Gabby from The Fault In Our Cutie Marks.

• The room of the Aunts contains the following notable things:

  • A kitchen appliance I cannot identify.
  • A calendar with a 5x5 grid, which probably doesn’t mean anything due to cartoon resolution, as it is the case with most other calendars – this one fluctuates between shots, as it has a checkerboard pattern in one and does not have it in the other. One of the days is marked with a heart.
  • A lamp with a pull cord – which would have to be electric, but the strange thing about this one is that it is hanging above the entry door and the pull cord is very short. This is strange because the other lamps in the house obviously have a rocker light switch, you can see this one on the wall.
  • An umbrella with a hook handle. Ponies are very rarely seen using umbrellas.
• “Knot-tying!” Skeedaddle now has a cutie mark in knot tying. Before you disparage the pursuit, consider knot theory. That said, I doubt the show crew even knows what that is.
• “Next, I tried fishing, like you said.” We have already known ponies fish, by the presence of fishing poles, but I think this is the first time the activity is acknowledged in speech. Notice that it was Scootaloo who suggested fishing.
• “So I used my fishing line to tie it back together…” That’s a mighty strong fishing line if you can tie an oar back together with it and it still works.
• “Leave it to you three to come up with more ideas than I’ve had in a year!” The options I have of interpreting this line either make Lofty an idiot or certify that she considers the CMC idiots. I don’t like either. Notice that in the end, what she makes is nothing like what the CMC described.
• “The Cakes will stay with you tonight. Then Rarity, and Rainbow Dash after that.” Notice that Apples are not on the list for some reason.
• “They’re coming home today!” So how long was the postcard in transit? I’m asking, because, if it could be delivered in a single day, what exactly would be the point of sending one? While if it could not be delivered in a single day, just how were they sure it would arrive before the appointed date at all?
• “The factory specializes in snow, rain, sunshine, and…” Wait. How the hell does the weather factory specialize in sunshine?! Do they send it around, bottled, or something?…
• “Why don’t we hold off on the lesson until after lunch?” Frankly, a very strange decision from Cheerilee. Is her school certified by EEA? Because I have a feeling it isn’t.
• “Wait. They don’t live here?” Snips didn’t know, which could be an important tidbit.

• “They travel to the farthest, most dangerous places in Equestria to study unknown plants and fierce creatures. And what they learn helps pony science and medicine.”

  • Unfortunately, neither Scootaloo nor her parents explain who exactly pays them for it, which would be very useful for understanding the off-screen Equestria.
  • Scootaloo spins the globe to point out an island far out in the indistinct reaches of the world, and still says “in Equestria,” perpetuating the confusion between Equestria the nation, Equestria the continent and Equestria the world.

• “Once, my mom had to wing-wrestle a wyvern, and my dad got trapped in a chimera’s cave for three moons!” Unless Scootaloo is exaggerating or misunderstanding,

  • Wyverns exist and are somehow distinct from dragons. Unless they’re a subset of dragons…
  • Chimeras live in caves.
• “You’re making that up. Nopony has that kind of job.” Snips didn’t hear this tirade before, but to me it looks like the rest of the CMC have avoided it as well until now, which is kind of strange.
• “Easy there, Marshmallow!” Notice no mention of lawsuits for reckless endangerment, etc. While this is a very dramatic introduction, one can’t help but wonder why was it allowed to happen in the first place if it wasn’t entirely deliberate.
• Snap Shutter’s cutie mark has a modern style photo camera on it, indicating that such cameras were already widely used at the time he got it – which would be something like 20-30 years ago.
• The cragadile consumed Apple Bloom’s desk entirely. Whatever she had in it – you can see in earlier shots that she does have something in it – is now lost, so I expect that now she has the perfect excuse of “cragadile ate my homework” for the next week or so. When the dust settles, Apple Bloom takes Scootaloo’s place instead, like nothing happened.
• “Everypony, meet my parents – Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood!” Notice that this is another rare case of mixed-tribe couple with known children, and this time it’s earth pony/pegasus rather than unicorn/pegasus.
• The cragadile is packaged into a cage at least two times small for it.
• “Did you get all my letters?” The implication is that Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood were on an extended expedition into the wilderness. How exactly did they receive these letters, I wonder?
• What’s the host of the escape room quest – still with his cutie mark of a lock – from Manehattan, from All Bottled Up doing serving ice cream in Ponyville?..
• “But with all that’s happened lately – Sombra’s return, the destruction of the Tree of Harmony – we decided our family should be together.” Beyond being a chronology marker, this would also require the destruction of the Tree of Harmony to make national news. Yet apparently, the existence of the Tree itself wasn’t national news, otherwise, Chrysalis in The Mean Six would have known a lot more about it. What gives?
• “We’re all moving to Shire Lanka!” Shire Lanka is yet another unmapped location. Presumably, the place where the elephants come from.
• “You can come back and visit ’em. Or they can take the train to us. There’s one every month.” For this to be possible, Shire Lanka does not exactly have to be on the same continent – there’s a route to Griffonstone, for one – but this schedule is itself rather interesting.
• “We’ve been together our whole lives!” Now, we know Sweetie Belle is exaggerating, but by how much exactly? At the moment Apple Bloom meets Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in Call of the Cutie, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are already hanging out together for an unspecified reason, but during the flashback to Sweetie Belle’s birthday in For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, there’s no sign of Scootaloo.
• “I now call our last ever Cutie Mark Crusader meeting to order.” Notice the photo of Big Mac with Cheerilee still on the wall, even though Sugarmac is already a thing, as the crowd in the end of the episode indicates.
• “We got to have some of those around here. Like, uh, Timberwolves!” Apple Bloom has a book that has marked up drawings of timberwolves, indicating that someone did make a thorough study of the creatures.
• “Dad knows all about those. And cockatrices and bugbears. They only study super rare animals.” The implication of this line is that timberwolves are not “super rare”, and neither are cockatrices nor bugbears. Think back on Slice of Life and wonder about bugbears again.
• “The tracks of the mysterious Everfree banshee beast!” So how did the ponies come by the word “banshee?”

• “There’s a lot to get ready before the house goes up for sale tomorrow.”

  • This is a rare admission that lodgings are an object of commercial trade, actually. Though I guess everyone assumed they are.
  • In the next shot, Scootaloo marks days on a calendar that has a very obvious 31-day month on it. Notably, while the house might be going up for sale “tomorrow”, two un-marked days are positioned before the circled one rather than zero, and Scootaloo marks off one of them, indicating that they put it up for sale well before they vacate it.
• Snap Shutter has a photo lab lit by a red light, but is working with color photos, which is pretty odd – never mind that he’s just about the only pony not using the self-developing film that we see. Notably, an enlarger is conspicuously missing from the shot – presumably, he already packed it, but why are the photos still drying, then?…
• “We’re sending them to the Pony Book of Records.” An obvious expy of the Guinness Book of Records, presumably an actual thing.
• “We’re the only three ponies in Equestria with the same cutie mark.” Really now?
• “It means we belong together forever.” Doctor Time Turner and Minuette beg to differ.
• “It’s a potion I mixed up from Zecora’s book.” Zecora has written instructions to mix potions, which is something we have avoided seeing to date, I believe.
• “On this potion, please depend. Any separation, mend. Friends together ’til the end.” Were I to read this description, knowing Zecora’s style, I would have assumed it is a glue. The results that actually happen – a virtual rope that binds three legs together – do not seem to have any reasonable legitimate purpose. What was this potion really for?…

• “We can’t miss tomorrow’s train. It’s the only one for a month.”

  • The sign that the CMC have chained themselves to appears to read, in mangled Latin letters, “SOLD” – which Snap Shutter confirms soon afterwards. Which would imply that the deal has already gone through and by succeeding, Scootaloo makes a lot of trouble for her parents.
  • Notice that they move their luggage to the train station now, but the train is only tomorrow.
• “You three inspired me to finish my quilt. See? It’s Cutie Mark Crusader-themed!” The recognizable cutie marks on the quilt belong to Big Mac, Tender Taps, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon. Now, Tender Taps is legit, and so is Diamond Tiara, but what are the others doing there and how did the CMC help them get the meaning of their cutie marks? There’s a story in it for someone.
• “I think the mailpony delivered your letter to my house.” A service the mail system in our world typically does not do without explicit instructions, and often, not even with them…

• “Sweet Celestia’s slippers!”

  • The ones she has glued on?
  • Snap Shutter belongs to the subset of ponies taking Celestia’s name in vain.
  • The crowd includes a lot of ponies and non-ponies who really shouldn’t have had a chance to get there in time – most notably, Terramar, Gabby, Babs Seed, Trouble Shoes and Feather Bangs. At the same time, many of the regulars are present who do not appear to owe anything to the CMC’s special ability, like Starlight, the Mane 6, the Student Six, etc.
• “In honor of all they have done and continue to do for the ponies of this town, I would like to present the Cutie Mark Crusaders with a three-handled Key to the City!” Key to the city is a fairly specific honor which requires walled cities to evolve.
• “Oh, I’m not sure you know just how important Scootaloo and her friends are, little brother.” Snap Shutter is Holiday’s younger brother.
• “Well, I’ll be a three-tailed bandicoot.” It is likely, but not necessary, that a three-tailed bandicoot exists. These are endemic to Australia in our world, just like Snap Shutter’s accent.
• “Lofty, don’t tease my brother.” Snap Shutter is not Lofty’s brother, certifying that whichever is the particular way they’re both Scootaloo’s “aunts,” they’re at least not sisters, since that relationship would be transitive.

Remember “The Many Secret Origins of Scootaloo”? Well, now’s a good time to read it if you still didn’t.

Comments

[Ponygon]

“I think the mailpony delivered your letter to my house.” A service the mail system in our world typically does not do without explicit instructions, and often, not even with them…

Yeah, but we all know that’s Derpy’s doing. Now the bigger question is: how does she still have a job?

[Oliver]

5074645

Does she? I mean, there’s no evidence she’s getting paid for it…

[howard035]

An ok episode, clearly more focused on establishing show canon about Scootaloo than the plot.

• “The Cakes will stay with you tonight. Then Rarity, and Rainbow Dash after that.” Notice that Apples are not on the list for some reason.

Also the Belles. Rarity is here, but Sweetie's parents are entirely missing from this episode. Is Sweetie Bell now the real orphan?

While if it could not be delivered in a single day, just how were they sure it would arrive before the appointed date at all?

We later learn the mail ponies did in fact screw up. So they may have sent it weeks ago. It sounds like the parents plan to deal with the inadequacies of the ponyville post system were to send an extra letter to the aunts, but they underestimated certain ponies incompetence.

Wait. How the hell does the weather factory specialize in sunshine?! Do they send it around, bottled, or something?

I was wondering that too. Maybe that's a fancy way for saying "cloud-clearing," but what does a factory produce that helps that process?

Frankly, a very strange decision from Cheerilee. Is her school certified by EEA? Because I have a feeling it isn’t.

It sounds like show and tell was always part of the lesson plan, Cheerilee just moved it up to burn off some of Scoot's energy. And I'm pretty sure Cheerilee is EEA certified, otherwise who's signing her checks? She ain't got that princess money.

• Unfortunately, neither Scootaloo nor her parents explain who exactly pays them for it, which would be very useful for understanding the off-screen Equestria.

Also, how exactly studying and trapping cragodiles advances pony science and medicine to the point where it's worth keeping parents away from their kids. Like, there was never any line where one of the parents said "and studying the scales of the cragodile helped us find a cure for the feather flu" or something.

Unless Scootaloo is exaggerating or misunderstanding,

Also I hate to bring it up, but how did Scoot's dad not starve after 3.... periods of time?

While this is a very dramatic introduction, one can’t help but wonder why was it allowed to happen in the first place if it wasn’t entirely deliberate.

Either they were so incompetent they let a giant cragodile escape from its pen right outside the schoolhouse, or Scootaloo's dad is an expy of the Crocodile Hunter and wanted to show off for his daughter. Also notice the cragodile smashed Apple Bloom's desk, she moves to another one, and the parents don't do anything to pay for the cost of a new desk.

• “Did you get all my letters?” The implication is that Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood were on an extended expedition into the wilderness. How exactly did they receive these letters, I wonder?

Probably the same way Tartarus does.

What’s the host of the escape room quest – still with his cutie mark of a lock – from Manehattan, from All Bottled Up doing serving ice cream in Ponyville

Escape rooms thrive in cheap suburban areas off of ritzy urban places like Manehatten. Plus there's a bunch of students in town with disposable income.

An obvious expy of the Guinness Book of Records, presumably an actual thing.

And a lame name one. Should have been the Griffon Book of Records.

We’re the only three ponies in Equestria with the same cutie mark.” Really now?

They lie a lot.

what are the others doing there and how did the CMC help them get the meaning of their cutie marks? There’s a story in it for someone.

Lofty might just be doing the cutie marks of ponies that the CMC have stories about. They did help Big Mac get together with Sugar Belle, just not help him find his cutie mark.

• “I think the mailpony delivered your letter to my house.” A service the mail system in our world typically does not do without explicit instructions, and often, not even with them…

If the Aunts spend half their time in Ponyville anyway, as it seems like they were doing, they could have had mail forwared to Scootaloo's house and then forgotten about it.

At the same time, many of the regulars are present who do not appear to owe anything to the CMC’s special ability, like Starlight, the Mane 6, the Student Six, etc.

Are they really going to miss a party?

“In honor of all they have done and continue to do for the ponies of this town, I would like to present the Cutie Mark Crusaders with a three-handled Key to the City!”

Also it's kind of ballsy that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell marched into the Mayor's Office and demanded an immediate holiday in their honor.

These are endemic to Australia in our world, just like Snap Shutter’s accent.

I am sure it would be Hosstralia.

Remember “The Many Secret Origins of Scootaloo”?

A classic!

5074645 I think it's quite possible that the Aunts had their mail forwarded to Ponyville and forgot. Also, she's quite possibly the mare delivering mail to whatever dangerous locale the parents are in, as well as Tartarus. Say what you will about Muffin's timing, or occasionally mixing up who gets what, but I doubt she has ever turned down a job because the locale is too dangerous or off the map.

[Oliver]

5074664

Maybe that’s a fancy way for saying “cloud-clearing,” but what does a factory produce that helps that process?

Nothing. Except, possibly, rainbows: We have no idea what practical use, if any, do those have.

Also I hate to bring it up, but how did Scoot’s dad not starve after 3…. periods of time?

The chimera was feeding him, obviously, it’s not a complete monster.

Either they were so incompetent they let a giant cragodile escape from its pen right outside the schoolhouse, or Scootaloo’s dad is an expy of the Crocodile Hunter and wanted to show off for his daughter.

Well, he is.

Escape rooms thrive in cheap suburban areas off of ritzy urban places like Manehatten.

And serving icecream helps him do that how?…

And a lame name one. Should have been the Griffon Book of Records.

Amen.

[Mitch H]

Wait. How the hell does the weather factory specialize in sunshine?! Do they send it around, bottled, or something?

I was wondering that too. Maybe that's a fancy way for saying "cloud-clearing," but what does a factory produce that helps that process?

Producing 'cloud solvent'.

[Mitch H]

Also I hate to bring it up, but how did Scoot’s dad not starve after 3…. periods of time?

The chimera was feeding him, obviously, it’s not a complete monster.

Nobody likes their soup with stringy meat. Best to feed the pony to get that proper marbling.

[Seraphem]

but I think this is the first time the activity is acknowledged in speech

I don't know in speech, but we've seen ponies activly fishing before. Rarity and Sweetie Belle's dad in Bad Seed, and Big Mac in...... brain not working... AJ's Key episode in S4.

The options I have of interpreting this line either make Lofty an idiot or certify that she considers the CMC idiots.

Or she was being hyperbolic.

So how long was the postcard in transit?

Exactly as long as it needed to be, such is the power of the Derp.
Or they sent it not being sure if it would reach Scoot's before, and they just lucked out.

How the hell does the weather factory specialize in sunshine?!

Ummmm.... Using atmospheric moisture to create a lensing effect to focus the sunlight on areas that need it more?

Snips didn’t know, which could be an important tidbit.

Or him being an idiot.

Wyverns exist and are somehow distinct from dragons.

General fantasy beast lore is that in cases where Wyverns and Dragons exist and are not the same thing, is that Dragon have six limbs, as we see in the show, four legs and a set of wings, while wyverns only have two, hind legs and wings. And they also tend to be smaller and not as smart as dragons.

When the dust settles, Apple Bloom takes Scootaloo’s place instead, like nothing happened.

It's Ponyville, they've learned to accept random monster attacks without even flinching.

How exactly did they receive these letters, I wonder?

Derpy will NOT allow ANY letter to go undelivered!

this would also require the destruction of the Tree of Harmony to make national news. Yet apparently, the existence of the Tree itself wasn’t national news,

Yeeeaahh, that one is odd. Could be a case of they knew about it through Scootaloo's letters.

We’re the only three ponies in Equestria with the same cutie mark.” Really now?

Cue picture montage of all the hour glass adorned flanks.

I would have assumed it is a glue

That's what I expected too.

A service the mail system in our world typically does not do without explicit instructions, and often, not even with them…

Eh, mail gets sent to the wrong place all the time.

[Samey90]

Frankly, a very strange decision from Cheerilee. Is her school certified by EEA? Because I have a feeling it isn’t.

Well, I have doubts teaching is her special talent ever since she was introduced...

When the dust settles, Apple Bloom takes Scootaloo’s place instead, like nothing happened.

Another proof that ponies are just used to such things. Especially Apple Bloom.

How exactly did they receive these letters, I wonder?

Well, post in Equestria delivers to the weirdest of places. Like Tartarus or Discord's domain...

derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/5/16/897488.png

Though I guess not anymore.

[DannyJ]

“You can come back and visit ’em. Or they can take the train to us. There’s one every month.”

Oh, now long-distance travel is a problem? Convenient.

[Fylifa]

I like This origin for scoots

[Shrink Laureate]

• “It means we belong together forever.” Doctor Time Turner and Minuette beg to differ.

He/she has his/her own special circumstances.

These are endemic to Australia in our world, just like Snap Shutter’s accent.

I am sure it would be Hosstralia.

Not Thestralia?

[Scottbert]

It's been too long! I guess I'm just not hype for new episodes of pony anymore! On the other hand, that means sometimes this season I'm being pleasantly surprised!

"We're at MYYYY hooouse!" Well that's one question we've been wondering for eight years, answered in less than two seconds.

Who names their kid Skidaddle?!

So the aunts are confirmed. I'd heard about this before the episode.

So that's it. Your skill is tying knots. I guess you can do some pretty cool stuff with knots, so he's not quite obsoleted by glue.

I thought Auntie Holliday was going to say "Because you all believed in him, he believed in himself" but no

"MY PARENTS!" Okay, this I didn't know was coming.

"The factory specializes in--" It specializes in WEATHER, Cheerilee. It's a WEATHER FACTORY.

"You're makin' that up." Oh snips, it took you eight years but you finally learned skepticism.

Who let a cragadile near the school, that's endangering children

So is Scootaloo's dad Pony Steve Irwin

Is it just me or is it jarring that dad uses big mac's model? I notice mom seems to have a slightly more customized one.

Are her parents going to ask her to leave Ponyville
Although, intriguingly, since it's the last season she COULD without it just being 'writing her out of the show'.

CALLED IT. They're moving to Pony Sri Lanka, huh? I know as much about Sri Lanka as your average American so I have no idea what kind of place it is. If we actually see it I half expect to see it depicted with jungle native tropes, though.

"But... my friends are in Ponyville!" Scootaloo, you can go from Ponyville to Aeris multiple times in a day, I'm sure Shire Lake-a is nothing. In fact, shame on you for not visiting your parents sooner!

"...Or they could take the train to us" I WAS KIDDING is there anywhere the train DOESN'T go?!

"...there's one every month" oh.

Girls if you actually take a job at the school then Twilight or Starlight will just have to teleport Scootaloo to work and back, easy peasy

It's Rainbow Dash! How fast can she fly to Shire Lake-a and back?

"No way! Scootaloo belongs here!" You're not her real mom, Rainbow Dash. Speaking of which, now that we know what her parents do no wonder they were cool with Scootaloo joining Lightning Dust's stunt crew.

"What if we get them a job here instead?!" There it is! Hijinx are ensuing, people!

So are unicorn magic auras actually visible or are they just there for the audience's benefit?

I hope photo developing fluid doesn't taste bad.

Three ponies with the same cutie mark isn't rare at all! Hell, three of the same PONY isn't rare at all!

Dad with the logic.

Playing with potions with incomplete descriptions again. THIS will end well. Does it glue them together, or fuse them into one pony?

"And nothing and nopony is gonna move us!" Okay, that was funny, but why did that random guy mess with them? Or maybe he was trying to be helpful.

At least Scootaloo's finally being honest with her parents instead of trying to trick them.

"Rarity won't be mad!" "Applejack neither!" Eeeeee-nope.

"It's... still a work in progress" That disappointment! Poor Auntie Lofty.

Yeah when you try this argument on your dad I think he's gonna say 'Or, by bringing one of you to Shire Lanka, you can help ponies there AND in Ponyville. Now get on the train."

Wow they got the whole town in on it.

Someone's OC has Twilight's haircolors in reverse

Twist's face is weird.

I feel like this is unrealistic, but it was cool to see anyway.

So does this mean Scootaloo's aunts bought her parents' house...?

---

this would also require the destruction of the Tree of Harmony to make national news. Yet apparently, the existence of the Tree itself wasn’t national news,

I assumed that Gallus spread the news... somehow. Remember those tourists that came to the middle of the Everfree?

Mail mixups are rare but I've gotten other people's letters a few times in my life -- usually neighbors or someone who lived in the same neighborhood, though. The only thing odd about it is that we already had a mail mixup plot in recent memory.

Frankly, a very strange decision from Cheerilee. Is her school certified by EEA? Because I have a feeling it isn’t.

It's Ponyville. I don't feel like ponies will mind her taking a half-day, even unscheduled, all that much, it's not like we get the impression she slacks off all the time. A monster in her classroom was too much. Foals whose parents are out working will go to their friends' places or something, I guess.

[Oliver]

5080106

I hope photo developing fluid doesn’t taste bad.

There are actually a minimum of two fluids depending on the particular process, of which there are a considerable number, except for the self-developing film, which is special.

One of the widely used grayscale process fluids happens to be an antidote for cyanide and carbon monoxide poisoning and is very bitter. Supposedly it also causes vomiting.

Most other chemicals used don’t have well studied health effects, but technically, you can develop photos with coffee and other known-food-safe compounds, although few people do it seriously.

I assumed that Gallus spread the news… somehow. Remember those tourists that came to the middle of the Everfree?

Which makes me wonder about his sales pitch, is all.