IDW Main Series #93 (Season 10, Episode 5) · 5:48am Feb 13th, 2021
It is still a relatively new development, but the IDW comics have decided to go ahead with an official "Season 10". The start of it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and related shutdowns, so we didn't get our first taste of it until well into 2020. The first four "episodes" were devoted to Zecora returning to her homeland alongside a couple of other characters. Without spoiling too much the "episodes" were good in some aspects but rather troubling in others. So after that, they decided to do a self contained and stand alone story that's basically a sequel to "The Last Crusade", which was one of Season 9's most contested episodes. Was this comic able to prove that IDW's "Season 10" was a good idea, or just prove that the show was right to stop at nine seasons? Well, let's find out.
The story begins with a narrator explaining that Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood live by a simple rule: It's dangerous to go alone. That's why they work together. And yet they never lose track of what's really important, family. It turns out that Aunt Holiday is telling Scootaloo this story, and the comics are definitely playing around more with the idea of her and Lofty being lezbians (if not for the chapter book "Ponyville Mysteries: Riddle of the Rusty Horseshoe" we would've probably never known they were a couple given how "The Last Crusade" didn't seem to acknowledge their relationship). It sounds like the premise for the comic is being set up, Scootaloo showing her parents around Ponyville and them finding life there rather boring compared to their many adventures. However, that's not the case.
Instead, the premise largely involves Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood deciding to get Scootaloo interested in the family business (seems a bit late to be doing it when she's already got a life and a promising career path as a problem solver). To that end they take her to a conservation society in Canterlot, most noticeable for not being accompanied by a train ride full of exposition (the show seemed to love using that trope, to the point where the Friendship Express could be called the Exposition Express). Snap and Mane do reveal that they got into their respective careers when they were about Scootaloo's age, but they also reveal that they're aware she already has kind of developed her own interests. But they still press on with trying to show her what their life's work involves. This results in a montage featuring a bofugrin, a mulwarf, a phoenix and even a roc.
Then Snap and Mane have the "brilliant" idea to have their daughter assist them in wrangling a cragadile. What's odd is that although they're standing in water in the comic, the way the art style is set up it kind of looks like they're floating on the water instead. Anyway, Scootaloo is naturally horrified of the idea of trying to tame a cragadile and breaks down in tears. Her parents accompany her back to Ponyville but mention that they're staying at a hotel (meaning Holiday and Lofty bought the house. I kind of got that impression from "The Last Crusade" but then again it was vague whether or not that's what actually happened). Scootaloo walks home by herself and breaks down in tears again in front of her aunts. They comfort her and reassure her that she is family, encouraging her to tell her parents the truth about how she feels.
The next morning, Scootaloo asks her parents if they can go get ice cream instead of heading back to Canterlot. Snap isn't sure, but Mane uses a sort of mom logic to justify it by mentioning that it has eggs and milk. While at the ice cream parlor, Scootaloo tells her parents that she just isn't in to what they do even though she likes it when they come to visit and likes hearing about what they do. Then she offers to show them around town as Snap and Mane give her a hug, reassuring her that they do love her. This results in Scootaloo showing off the CMC's clubhouse and demonstrating her water skiing skills. Snap and Mane are impressed and promise Scootaloo that they'll love her no matter what she becomes. Then the story ends with Snap water skiing while holding up Scootaloo as Mane flies along behind him (no clue who's driving the boat though).
And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Well, how much you enjoy it is going to come down to how much you enjoyed "The Last Crusade" and more specifically Scootaloo's canonical parents Snap and Mane. If you didn't like them I can't imagine you really getting much enjoyment out of this issue since they're front and center. This really is just "The Last Crusade" but without the other CMC members. And I think that makes the story stronger since Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle really couldn't contribute to something that Scootaloo needed to work out within her family. Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty are enjoyable, the comics probably have more free range to have them do things the show wouldn't have been allowed to do with them without giving away that they were a couple. But as Silverquill mentions in his "After The Fact" video on this comic, this issue is basically repeating a lot of similar beats as "The Last Crusade". And I feel like they had a much better set up in mind with Scootaloo showing her parents around Ponyville and them struggling to adjust since it seemed boring compared to their constant adventures. I still think we get to see moments when they're at their best, but stuff like this does make it harder to defend them and I really hope that if they ever pop up in the comics again they can get a role that isn't indirectly antagonistic. If you want to pick this comic up you can, but for now I can't imagine it being hard to find or worth paying more than a few bucks for.
Holiday and Lofty were never my favorite characters from the show. It was mainly because their inclusions hardly made sense and they felt shoved in at the last minute when “The Last Crusade” came around. Scootaloo’s lifestyle within her family was also something that didn’t make sense to me, such as her parents never being around to actually get to know their daughter and Scootaloo being watched by various ponies all at once.
All in all, Scootaloo’s depicted family life in “The Last Crusade” and this comic was something I couldn’t make heads or tails of, which is why her aunts and parents are some of my least favorite MLP characters.