Ranking the Families of the CMC · 4:44pm Jun 15th, 2019
Now that "The Last Crusade" has aired here in the U.S., I think I can officially make this list without spoiling anything truly major. Now that we've FINALLY gotten to see Scootaloo's parents (and her aunts), this list had to be made. Much like the Mane Seven Families list, this one is accounting for not just how good they are as characters but also good they are as actual parents/family. There aren't as many to include here, but I think you'll be surprised by some of the rankings, which like all my rankings lists are the result of my personal opinion so please respect it.
4. Hondo "Magnum" Flanks and Cookie "Pearl" Crumbles (Sweetie Belle's parents)
Why they're on the bottom: I don't think it surprises anyone to have these two in dead last on this list. Outside of their debut we have never really seen them as actual parents to Sweetie Belle. And even in "Sisterhooves Social" the most we got was them dumping Sweetie Belle onto Rarity and that was it, they're gone. We have only seen them twice since, and not in a speaking role. They appeared alongside Sweetie Belle for a blink and you'll miss it cameo at the beginning of "Inspiration Manifestation", and they were seen giving the CMC a sleigh ride at the beginning of "A Hearth's Warming Tail" (and I think they were singing with Sweetie Belle at the end of the episode). Like I said on my Mane Seven Families ranking list, it feels like they were created solely to dispel the insanely popular headcanon that Sweetie Belle was actually Rarity's daughter that she had conceived in secret. I'm hoping that the second half of Season 9 will actually do something with them as actual parents, but I'm not holding my breath.
3. Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty
Why they're not on the bottom: It was hard to decide the three other couples that were on this list, there were a lot of factors both for and against them. Ultimately, I feel like these two as parental figures are nice but we've seen very little of their actual parenting style. We got a little bit of it during "The Last Crusade", but even in the Ponyville Mysteries chapter books they only got lines for one chapter in the third book and then that was it. They were mentioned again, but we never got to see them. I'm not counting their appearance in the third Ponyville Mysteries comic, since not only are their designs contradictory to the show, but they were again only briefly seen at the beginning and the end. I like the idea that they were in the Filly Guide together, but the Ponyville Mysteries comics in general were a waste of time. They had nothing that connected them to the chapter books of the same name. We still don't know what exactly Holiday and Lofty's professions are. Lofty seems to be more of a home maker (baking and sewing), but it seems like those are details the fandom will have to fill in (and I like two headcanons that popped up when the aunts first got mentioned: Holiday runs her own travel agency and is an artist).
2. Bright Macintosh and Pear Butter a.k.a Buttercup
Why they're not on the top: I did consider putting them in the top spot, they're fantastic characters and the flashback in "Going to Seed" for all its continuity wrecking mistakes finally let us see them as actual parents. But that's the thing, it's taken us until now to even get that. After seasons of pretending they don't exist, and a flashback episode focused on how they fell in love, the show still barely did anything with them. They seem to have been good or at least decent parents all things considered. As characters they're fantastic, but as actual parents they feel barely developed. It feels like Granny Smith all but raised their children by herself, and due to using the wrong models in "Going to Seed" their flashback of them as parents ended up raising more questions than it was trying to answer. So ultimately, I felt like they couldn't quite make the top spot.
1. Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood
Why they're on the top: I wasn't sure where exactly to put them, even now that I've seen their debut twice. Not only is Snap Shutter an adventurer, he's also a photographer and apparently he had his own dark room/photo studio set up in the house. Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood do make a good couple, some people are saying they were based on the Irwins but I have no idea if that's true or not (Snap Shutter seems to more closely resemble the fictional "Crocodile Dundee"). It's vague how long they've been away (they have to have been gone since the start of Season 4 at least) but we know they kept in touch via letters. Ultimately, even considering some of the things they did (in particular not asking Scootaloo before they decided to take up a new job and move away from Ponyville), I feel like they're good parents. They meant well, and they most certainly weren't abusive (they don't seem particularly neglectful either, but they could've done so unintentionally despite all the accomadations to ensure their daughter was well cared for in their absence). They never blew up at Scootaloo and even gave her time to say goodbye, while pointing out that she could always come back to Ponyville and keep in touch with her friends. I feel like they just edge past the competition simply for being actual on-screen parents and actually having a noticeable parent/child dynamic that we got to focus on. Which is why I'm putting them in the top spot.
And there you have it, come back a week from today when we'll look at how the first half of Season 9 compares to the first half of Seasons 1-8 (or rather, the first half of Seasons 1 and 2, and then 4-8, and all of Season 3 since Season 3 didn't get a second half).
Good attitude. As I said, only because Scoots now has canon parents, doesn't mean Dizzy Twister has to end
I agree entirely
5074663 Good point.
I don't think I'll be using either them, or the aunts in any of my own stories, though.
That they decided to move away from Ponyville and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle (her best friends), to say nothing of her adoptive big sis, Rainbow Dash, irks me to no end.
Yes, they're her parents and they have that right, but that they hit her with that is unconscienable to me.
So no, I will not be usin' 'em, per my stories wise.
Gonna stick with my headcanons for both her and Dash.
(And no, I don't like Bow Hothoof or Windy Whistles, either.)
5074745
In any case, I look forward to reading them all once you get them up.
5074748 Cool, thanks.
5074753
You're welcome!
5074761
Interesting... However I also haven't seen "Their Last crusade" yet. (The best way, for me anyway as a blind viewer, is waiting for the iTunes copy to show up as I get full quality sound for SD video[/I[)
I'd have thought Scoots' parents would fall-in last. They missed A LOT of major life moments for Scoots. Even Lofty and Holiday were not there. It's like all had better things to do. This, to me, was really emphasized in "Parental Glidance".
Rarity's parents definitely don't have much to show. Or, in the least, much in the show. I never thought of sweetie Belle being a potential 'secret child' of Rarity's. However I can see how that head canon could be seen. There's plenty of things shown and done to imply how Sweetie, if we never did see her parents, could've been a child of Rarity's that had to be kept hush-hush for sake of saving face.
Pear Butter and Bright Mac were, well, average, in my opinion. The "Romeo & Juliet" thing was an interesting touch but, of all the parents, they seem to be the most average, except for the whole dying together for some reason. *Shrugs*
Oh, one addition. I came across an audio comic where it was suggested that Scootaloo was actually Fluttershy's foal. She, being so shy and naïve, got pregnant very young and decided on putting her up for adoption.
This head canon would be believable. Rarity and Fluttershy seem very likely, given their backgrounds, to be potential for getting into some situations that may not necessarily allow for proper choices. I suppose Pinkie could, too. However she seems to have a lot more understanding of things than she lets on to really ever be taken advantage of.
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Pear Butter and Bright Mac have been dead for so long that people question the idea that they're Apple Bloom's real parents. That they still legitimately earn their runner-up position and have a legitimate argument for the gold says something about the competition, namely that they had the best reason for near-complete failure at onscreen appearances and/or mentions while the others were about as successful at that while in most cases allegedly still being part of their foals' lives. (2/3 is "most" by the dictionary definition)
Gonna have to disagree. I found Scootaloo's parents off-puttingly cold and completely negligent of Scootaloo. Bright Mac and Pear Butter win by default.