May the muffins be forever in your favour."The Last Crusade" Review: Cutie Mark Crusader Appreciation Day! · 1:17am Jun 16th, 2019
So, now we know Scootaloo's parents. After years of theorizing that Scootaloo is an orphan until Lauren Faust said she has parents in 2016 and after a few more years of theorizing why her parents are never around, we have finally seen them. And, wow, do I hate them!
First, they are never around for Scootaloo and only care about their job of monster-hunting all around the world. To the point that Scootaloo mourned how she doesn't have parents who told her that she is the best at something and had to admire Rainbow Dash's parents instead ("Parental Glideance", Season 7).
They could have taken Scootaloo with them on their monster-hunting trips, despite their claims that it would be "too dangerous for her". Scootaloo is a badass, she could deal with the stress and the uncertainties of a life on the road and with the occasional risky situation. And when she was younger or while they were hunting a monster that is vastly bigger and stronger than Scootaloo, they could have left her in whatever house (they had to sleep somewhere during these trips, after all) and maybe hired a nanny to take care of her in the meantime.
Then they could have done all their monster-hunting, could still have returned home to Scootaloo each evening or at least every few days and Scootaloo would have seen them a lot more often. There were safe ways for Scootaloo to come with them, but they didn't take her anyway. They didn't leave Scootaloo behind in Ponyville because it would have been too dangerous, they did it simply because they didn't want her to be there with them.
They wanted to be daring and badass monster hunters without their daughter getting in the way of that.
Then, years after years of letting that be the horrible status quo for Scoots, during which she sort of accustomed to the fate of seeing her parents maybe once every few years, they finally realized what they did wrong with Scoots. Guilt started to kick in and they wanted to fix their parental relationship with Scoots by taking a stationary job and finally living together with Scoots like they should have always done it.
So far, so good, they at least realized their mistake and vowed to make it better for Scoots from now on..... right? So they returned to Ponyville after all those years and after Scootaloo has built herself an own life there that's independent from them and found a new family there with her aunts, with Applebloom, with Sweetie Belle and with Rainbow Dash and they tried to take Scootaloo away from all that.
They suddenly returned out of nowhere and wanted to rip her away from everything she holds dear; from everypony she loves in Ponyville, from her destiny, from her job, her familiar environment and from her friends and her real family, after they had never been there for her and never really cared for her. And Scootaloo showed them multiple times how sad leaving Ponyville makes her, but they insisted on it and tried to convince her with half-baked reassurements, without ever really listening to her or paying attention to her feelings.
They didn't want to do that because they thought it would be "the best" for Scoots, they only wanted to do this to quench their feelings of guilt, to feel better about their yearlong neglect of their only daughter by suddenly playing happy, perfect family.
After so many years during which they never gave a flying fuck about Scootaloo, they suddenly claimed her for themselves and were willing to ruin her life and everything she has built up for herself.
And even when they finally let her stay, they still didn't get how Scootaloo would lose her friends and the life she's familiar with if they would force her to come with them, because the only reason they allowed her to stay in the end, was so that she could continue doing her job in Ponyville! They still didn't give a fuck about her feelings even then and only let her stay because they started to think that Scootaloo is just as obsessed with her job as they are.
Even the first plan by Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to keep Scoots with them in Ponyville revealed how they only care about their job, but not about Scoots. Because when there suddenly was a rare monster roaming the Everfree Forest, forgotten were the moving preparations to finally live together with their daughter. Then hunting a monster was suddenly more important than their daughter again. It's disturbing how quickly they switched from "Let's finally be a real family for our daughter!" to "Oh, hey, a shiny monster, let's hunt it!".
Their behavior at the end when they finally let Scoots stay showed that they haven't learned anything from the entire ordeal. Scootaloo's parents are both gigantic jerks who only care about themselves. I'm SO GLAD that everything worked out, Scoots is really better off without them.
If it weren't for Spoiled Rich, I would have to say that I've never seen such downright careless and selfish parents like Scoots' parents are before. They make me completely furious.
That needed to get out of my system. And with that out of the way, let's talk about other aspects of the episode..... This episode is the most tragic and sad episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ever. I was dreading it with a large amount of anxiety ever since I read the synopsis of it weeks ago. And it was just as hard as I feared it would.
Being confronted with Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle getting separated by something out of their control is just as much a nightmare for me as it is for them. And I cried alongside them when watching this episode.
I've never seen them so disconsolate and shedding so many tears before. Scoots was even lying sprawled out on the floor and cried an entire puddle (!) of tears and they hugged each other constantly, Scoots fell into their arms in desperation and they had an extremely high desire for comforting body contact.
With how long they are friends now and with how strong their bond is, with all the things they went through together, their reactions were just as intense as it was to expect for a situation in which they are threatened to get separated. They truly can't live without each other. The expectation of getting separated even made them so desperate and saddened that they couldn't even think of solutions, even though they fought difficult situations before, and they probably would have spent the entire day crying in their clubhouse if Rainbow Dash hadn't shown up.
And then, on top of that, Scoots' words about how Applebloom and Sweetie Belle have to keep being the Cutie Mark Crusaders and how they have to keep helping blank flanks even without her and Applebloom and Sweetie Belle answering that there is no one like her.
These words cut deeply, even more so than the tears, and I feel shattered from seeing them in such a distraught state. MLP: FiM has reached a new dimension of tragedy there.
The end of the episode was wonderful. Despite Scoots' parents still being jerks, it was wonderful. Everyone has come to help Scoots to stay in Ponyville and to honor them. Literally almost everyone they've ever helped, either with their cutie marks or with something else, has come, safe for Cozy Glow (for obvious reasons), Rumble and Kettle Corn.
Babs Seed, Trouble Shoes, Pipsqueak, Diamond Tiara, Snowflake (Bulk Biceps), Tender Taps, Petunia Paleo, Blue Note, Gabby, Chipcutter, Zipporwhill, Feather Bangs, Skeedaddle, Tulip Swirl, Mocha Berry, Cucumber Seed and Terramar. All of them have come to help and thank them.
Seeing them there brought up so many memories and it made me cry a second time. They have changed the lives of so many ponies and creatures and helped them, all of them coming together to give them something back by helping them in their time of need was the most touching moment I've ever seen.
At the same time, though, this also felt like this episode is a goodbye episode for Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, like DHX wanted to remind us on everything they did to help others before we will never see them again, and I really hope that's not what it is.
Saying goodbye to them will be hard enough already, it would be horrible if this is the last Cutie Mark Crusaders episode ever. I really hope we're going to see them again in at least one other episode for them before Season 9 is over.
It was really wonderful! But it won't stop my headcanon. And I hope the same's for you
5075041
What headcanon?
5075441
I like quite the idea when some fans had of Scoots father being in the Royal Guard
5075442
I see. But when you say "headcanon", you only mean that you will keep her dad being a royal guard in your fics, right? Because the show has obviously disproven this theory now.
5075449
Exactly. I mean, technically, all our stories exist in our own universe, which is the headcanon.
And this episode was also the reason I asked you about what's your option about headcanon being "override" by the actual canon.
5075451
Good. You understand the difference between "headcanon" and "theory"! Bronies rarely ever get that.
Except for my stories, for which this isn't completely true. I always like to tie what I write in my stories closely together with what is seen in the show. For example, "Aunt Millie" tells the story of who that mare who we saw covering Dinky's ears when Fluttershy said a "swear" is and how she fits into Dinky's life even though she isn't her mother and I directly incorporated that moment in the fic because I wrote the fic to expand on that moment and to explain what happened exactly.
I like it to tie-in like that, it demonstrates that Equestria is one big world and that everything is connected with it, even fanfics.
5075458
A very good attitude. And as I mentioned in the PM, it helped me
Franky, I don't get it why people give up their headcanons just because of one episode
5075459
Well, see, even though they have different fics with certain theories that didn't become true, they have to eventually. They can still finish the fics with those theories, and they should because altering them in hindsight would be dumb as it breaks the immersion when the plot suddenly changes, but for future fics, they'll have to accept it as the reality looks different then.
The only way to still write their theories without their new fics feeling inaccurate would be an Alternate Universe story, which is what the tag is there for.
And while I'm saying this, I feel really glad for it that this can't happen to "Princess Flurry Heart, Destroyer of Worlds!" and "Aunt Millie". The former is set years in the future and the only way it could become affected by actual events is when Generation 5 keeps the same universe and Equestria and shows us the future of it (though, I really hope it does, I'd readily sacrifice the plot of "Princess Flurry Heart, Destroyer of Worlds!" for a Generation 5 that ISN'T a reboot!), and the latter, it's unlikely that Millie will get a big role in the show any time soon (or ever) so it can't happen that we, for example, see that she's actually a really nice aunt and therefore completely different than the way my fic portrays her. So my sequel ideas for "Aunt Millie" will always be safe.
And now that I think about "The Last Crusade", I wonder if I should give Scootaloo's aunts some kind of role in one of the sequels. I need to ponder that.
5075463
It would be with a try.
Me, I don't have to worry, as all my stories are pony on Earth, they're technically alternative universe already
5075477
That's the first time I see you using an emote here.
5075485
Actually, I use them a lot, you might have overlooked it.
If it wasn't for the Student Six, maybe the CMC would've get more episodes. :/
I hate this whole School of Friendship idea.
5076652
First off, it's a terrible logic to hate certain characters or something seen in the show with the reasoning that other characters you love could get less screentime. I love the Mane Six just as much as the next brony, but I'm realistic enough to see when they have run their course as ponies who have roles in the show because we already know enough about them. The Student Six bring in fresh air as a new, potential primary manecast (if Season 9 weren't, sadly, the last one) and with the low potential of the Mane Six these days, they are sorely needed for the show.
And I love the Cutie Mark Crusaders much more than the Mane Six and the Student Six, but I love the Student Six as well. And I'm not going to blame them or anypony/creature for a potential lack of Cutie Mark Crusaders episodes in Season 9.
Second, the Student Six have only gotten two episodes this season, so far. One of the episodes revealed yesterday could be another one, but it could very well be also a Rainbow Dash episode with the Student Six only having secondary roles in it.
The bulk of Season 9 episodes are rather old-fashioned Mane Six episodes, right now, so if anything is to blame for it if "The Last Crusade" is really the last Cutie Mark Crusaders episode, then it's the amount of Mane Six episodes.
Which is something the Mane Six still aren't to blame for, as the writers made that decision while discussing the season's production.
And third, we don't know yet if "The Last Crusade" is really the very last Cutie Mark Crusaders episode. It would be a perfect choice for their last episode, yes, but the fact that it's only Episode 12 and that it would be so early for their last episode speaks volumes against that.
We still don't know what Episode 14 is, they seem to hold back on preview material for it just like they did with "Frenemies", and after Episode 18, we still have eight episodes (six if we substract the Season 9 Finale) left for Cutie Mark Crusaders episodes.
I'm not giving up my hope to see them and hear them sing one last time.