Season 7 episode discussion - non-leaked/early version

Great opening

Rainbow Dash’s mom is so cute.

I would say that Rainbow Dash’s parents are too supportive, but I would love that much support. I barely get any.

I’ve been racing against time  
Trying my best to find my way…
 
Might as well start watcing ten minutes earlier; It’s still in the same day and my schedule is not helping me.
 
Celestial Advice:9.2  
All Bottled Up:8.8  
A Flurry of Emotions:9.5  
Rock Solid Friendship:9.5  
Fluttershy Leans In:8.6  
Forever Filly:9.4  
Parental Glideance:9.7
 

 
This and the implications just made the episode even better.
 
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>>1430932p (merged)
 
Quoting from this guy:
 

 
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>>1430989t (merged)  
 
 
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I pity those who are no longer with us, for they couldn’t know such joys.

Very good episode. Honestly, I think the episode could’ve been better if it focused more on Scootaloo’s perspective.

God damn, what a great episode. Can’t remember the last time I enjoyed an episode like that.
 
1. Parental Glidence  
2. Celestial Advice  
3. Forever Filly  
4. All Bottled Up  
5. Fluttershy Leans In  
6. Rock Solid Friendship  
7. A Flurry of Emotions

This is really upsetting me: I need to know who the hell Scootaloo’s parents were/are. Now that she’s revealed in this latest ep that she didn’t get any parental support, I need to know the story. Was she just abandoned on the side of the road as a baby? I mean what the hell is going on?
 
I’ve never had anything in this show bother me as much as DHX not seeming to even care about explaining this.

Based on what other people said, I really thought this was going to be this really emotional episode that focused mostly on Scootaloo.

@Nightweaver20xx
 
Saving it up for a later episode, i suppode?
 
@Holofan4life
 
Well, it did focus mostly on Scootaloo, from what i’ve seen.

@Nightweaver20xx  
Odds are we’re never gonna find out. I doubt the show will go that far to talk about parental abuse, let alone death.

This episode was also really tightly written. Great job for a new writer.

@Mildgyth  
It was more focused on Rainbow Dash and her parents.

@Mildgyth  
I wouldn’t be surprised if they were setting up for a later episode with Scoots staring in it.

Are they seriously implying that Scoots has no parents or they’re just shitty?

@Applejack007
 
Her comments are vague enough to mean anything.

@Applejack007  
It is implying that Scootaloo never got to experience true parenthood, it was never explicitly stated that they’re dead.
 
My head canon is that the dad ran off and the mom didn’t want her.

@rdibp  
Jesus…

As an extremely introverted and reserved person, I have to admit that I would have been mortified as a kid if my parents had been that… exuberant in their displays of confidence. That said, they still made sure I knew they supported me, and I will always be grateful to them for having my back as much as they did.
 
There is a lot to love in this episode, continuing (as it does) the season’s trend of providing additional details on the lives touched by and those who touch the lives of our main characters. Rainbow Dash’s long absent parents prove a number of headcanons wrong by being, not just alive, but more deeply devoted to their daughter than almost any other family we’ve seen on the show thus far. So devoted, in fact, that it makes me wonder if that is part of the reason Scootaloo is the one to introduce them to the viewers. When they prove to be bigger fans of Rainbow Dash than even member/president Scootaloo could hope to achieve, it really makes the level of their dedication to her clear.
 
And perhaps a bit understandable why Dash is less than enthused about being on the receiving end of that affection.  

 
There are a few small moments that stand out. The motivational poster in Rainbow Dash’s old room (when the going gets tough, the tough don’t notice because they have hard shells) is definitely, as Scootaloo points out, very much a Rainbow Dash thing to believe. The door designed to open to a heavenly chorus is endearingly amusing, and scenes from Dash’s childhood also illustrate two things. One, that sometimes it only takes a minor background detail to add loads of backstory to a non main character.  
 
And two, that Rainbow Dash’s tendency (before making her Ponyville friends) to be a solo act might not have been entirely her own doing.  

 
The real meat of the episode, however, is (surprisingly) Scootaloo. While her over the top reaction might wear thin in places, it is hard not to appreciate her overwhelming enthusiasm for the pony she idolizes most in all of Equestria. It also serves to make her eventual disbelief at Rainbow Dash’s eventual loss of patience that much more understandable. That Ponyville’s most extreme Rainbow Dash fanatic has dreams that (might always) outmatch her physical ability is nothing new, but the fact that her dreams come sans any sort of parental support is heartbreaking in implication. To see her hero brush off something she would have given almost anything for is a very emotional moment, and probably one of the few things that could properly get through Dash’s “hard shell”.
 
The ending is an excellent wrap up too. The Wonderbolts help Rainbow out in giving her parents an apology show, and Scootaloo finishes her report and gets something she too has likely always wanted.  
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All in all, a fantastic episode, and one that continues to make this one of my favorite seasons to date.

Decided to update my list a bit.
 
1. Parental Glidence  
2. Celestial Advice  
3. All Bottled Up  
4. Forever Filly  
5. A Flurry of Emotions  
6. Fluttershy Leans In  
7. Rock Solid Friendship

I wanted Rainbow Dad and Rainbow Mom, not a Scootaloo sob story.
 
It’s pretty funny how Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both have legitimate reasons for not mentioning their family before. Fluttershy’s is that Zephyr is an embarrassment, and Rainbow Dash’s is because they’re super overbearing.
 
Twilight, you still have no excuse.
 
Still, yikes.
 
Like, it got to bad Pinkie Pie levels of “Ooooh, this is gonna be hard to sit through,” It didn’t stay there, but it got there.
 
There are little things in the episode that work for it.
 
It wasn’t Newbie Dash or Equestria Games levels of awful, so that’s good.
 
The joke about the door playing music when it opens is probably the funniest thing this season. I was not prepared for them to explain the angelic choir.
 
There’s also the thing about the Wonderbolts being surprisingly chill with Dash’s parents. Sure they tease her a bit, that’s kinda expected, but they don’t fully antagonize her like I figured they’d do, being Wonderbolts and all.
 
AlsoSkyStingerandVaporTrailareinthisandtheyareadorable.
 
That being said, the downsides/questions.
 
Where did Scootaloo’s pictures even come from?
 
It’s not like Pinkie Pride where it’s a different angle of the event, this is straight up screencap grabbing.
 
Yeah, Rarity/Dash probably told her about Wonderbolts Academy and Rarity Investigates!, but that doesn’t explain where the pictures came from.
 
Also, Rainbow Dash has a legitimate point. It’s embarrassing and unhealthy to excessively celebrate your kid’s accomplishments, or lack thereof. It breeds arrogance and a crippling fear of failure when that praise suddenly stops.
 
Dash’s rage is entirely justified here. She shouldn’t have snapped at them like that, but she’s still got a point.
 
“Mom, Dad, I love you, and I know you love me, too. But you don’t need to celebrate for every little thing I do. I know you’re proud of me, but can you please just show it in a way that isn’t…too much?”
 
“Oh, look at you, giving us a friendship lesson like nopony else coul-”
 
“MOM”
 
And for that matter, Dash’s parents never admit that what they did was wrong. I mean it’s kinda implied, but it just seems like they’re channeling that unhealthy behavior towards Scootaloo now.
 
Granted, she’s never had someone cheer her on like that in her entire life, but come on, the parents have to learn something too.
 

@Miss Shy  

 
But it wasn’t a Scootaloo sob story. The focus was mostly on Rainbow Dash’s relationship with her parents.

@Background Pony #5981  
I liked seeing LD again but…why is she there? In Wonderbolts Academy it was cleary their first time meeting.

@Applejack007  

Funny story… when I was still in college, I spent an entire year completely oblivious to the fact that my RA was a friend I used to hang out with all the time way back before I started elementary school. My parents eventually pointed out who he was, but it was still a big surprise to me that this guy I had known really well was as unrecognizable to me as I was to him.
 
So odd as it may sound, I can believe Rainbow Dash actually didn’t know Lightning Dust. Given enough time apart, even a good friend can be difficult to remember. If LD is just someone Rainbow used to race against as a filly, she might not have the faintest idea who she is, despite having beat her.