Rainbow Dash: That’s it! We’re leaving!
Scootaloo: Just because I look up to you doesn’t mean I have to be you! But based on your definition of what makes somepony great, I have bad news. I’ll never be the best of the best or a Wonderbolt, because I can’t fly! Is that what you wanted to hear? But not being able to fly doesn’t mean I can’t do something awesome! Like strapping my scooter to a multi-stage liquid-fueled rocket and jumping 22 stage wagons lined up in front of a roaring crowd!
Twilight Sparkle: That was awfully specific.
Lightning Dust: That’s ‘cause it’s what she’ll be doing in the show tonight. Half off for princesses! Bring your friends!
Well its also notable no adult dragons showed up either (except possibly in the background) and none are seen participating in the challenge, leading me to think that Torch only summoned dragons of a certain age range (perhaps its required that the new Dragon Lord be a young dragon). And given how few dragons showed up overall it seems likely that Spike may actually have been the only dragon his age around at this time (perhaps there are other dragons still in the baby wingless stage but too young to have fallen under Torch’s call).
No argument here.
Either way, I hope we at least get some answers. I’d like some closure on this.
I agree.
Or, conversely, what is preventing her from currently flying, and how would she get over it?
Eeyup. Scoots probably really will never be able to fly, but what would the writers’ reason be?
Not necessarily.
It would all depend on the execution either way.
@infinita est lux Solis
Agreed. She can be a great athlete and an awesome pony, even without being able to fly. I think doing that would be a pretty good message.
@Brony kaiju soldier
I can’t speak for Infinita but I can’t blame you guys for wanting to see that. It’s just not the direction we want them to take with her as a character.
I guess so, yeah.
No. It’d just be better storytelling.
Good point. But seriously, can you blame those of us who want her to fly?
Edited
Her goal is to impress her adoptive sister, she can still do that even if she can’t fly, and her actually doing that when she physically can’t fly would be infinitely more powerful.
Maybe.
I still prefer it if she can’t fly, it would make her entire character infinitely more interesting.
Me neither.
I think you’ll fly someday, Scoots. Maybe you’ll get the right motivation to spur you into flying; it could happen in the season 8 finale where your friends are in trouble, and you get the motivation to start flying.
I’m fully aware of the difference, but as far as points of reference go, I don’t think we have anything better to work with, so it’s what I’m going with.
@SmolderTheDragon
Up until “Molt Down”, I thought Smolder was the same age as Spike.
Speaking of which, is it just me or is it kind of weird that no other dragons Spike’s age showed up when Dragon Lord Torch put out his call, which presumably reached all dragons (I mean, it reached Spike in a cave under Ponyville, ffs). The dragon migration I can buy the other young ones being further ahead (or behind) on the journey, but for them not to be seen responding to the Dragon Lord’s call seems an odd omission.
@SmolderTheDragon
Exactly. This is one of the most important unanswered questions of the entire series. With FiM ending after Season 9, it’s starting to get close to the “now or never” mark, and I hope DHX realizes how much an answer would mean to many of us.
@SmolderTheDragon
I’m in favor of this. If nothing else, it’d reassure me that Scootaloo’s condition won’t turn into some horrible degenerative disease that spreads to other parts of her body. (I know, I know, that probably wouldn’t happen anyway, but still…)
Right, but you can see how Spike not having wings just wasn’t the same as Scootaloo’s inability to fly. No other wingless dragons have been shown, but come to think of it, had we ever seen another dragon who was the same age as Spike? Come to think of it, we haven’t really seen that many dragons at all in this show. We still know very little about them, and I’ve been cherishing every bit of lore we’ve gotten from Ember and Smolder since they joined the cast. Scootaloo, on the other hand, is a pegasus pony - a species which appears in practically every episode of the show. The difference is that unlike Spike, we have seen, and at least one character has even explicitly pointed out, that there are ponies younger than Scootaloo who have already been flying for a long time.
As for allowing Scootaloo to seek treatment, one of my hopes for the show is for them to give closure on the issue of whether Scootaloo can fly. Resolve it one way or the other, instead of leaving us in limbo speculating. Maybe this could be an episode where Scootaloo goes to the doctor or something, or meets another pegasus pony who can’t fly. I dunno.
Edited because: change wording
True, but there was no reason to suspect this was the case until the episode where Spike got his wings, it doesn’t change the fact that no other wingless dragons have ever been shown, and back in “Dragon Quest”, Garble specifically picks on Spike for not having wings, so it might still not be normal to take so long. And just because the writers decided to say “oh, this always happens, we just spent eight seasons not mentioning it” doesn’t change that its practical upshoot is to remove the difference between Spike and other dragons.
@SmolderTheDragon
I honestly feel like part of not letting your disability define you should be that you don’t have to embrace it, and you’re not obligated to be inspirational about it. At the very least, I feel like Scootaloo should be allowed to seek treatment, even if it just turns out there’s nothing that can be done.
Edited