Theory A theory about why Scootaloo has trouble flying

[Mind Scape 45]

Let's state the obvious first. Scootaloo does not have parents that are really close with her. That might explain why she has trouble flying, because nopony taught her or encouraged her to fly as soon as possible. Her parents may have not even been both pegasi, so even when one or both parents were there they just couldn't teach her. When Scootaloo taught herself or had somepony else teach her later, it may have been much harder. It's just like learning a language. As a baby and toddler, I learned English from my parents by watching and listening to everything they said. I mimicked them. Year or two later I learned some Spanish by watching Dora The Explorer, and some words/phrases stuck with me because I was so young. Now as a teenager, trying to learn multiple other languages is harder, because the words and phrases don't stick in my memory as easily as when they did as toddler. There have been many studies about how learning how to do something at a really young age is much easier and than if said person tried to learn the same skill at an older age, the older the harder. A baby mainly depends on their parents/guardians to learn how to speak. Then comes TV shows/movies, other family members, friends...you get the idea. This could be the same case for Scootaloo's flying. Although, there may be a little hole in this theory. Pound Cake's parents are earth ponies, yet as baby he can still fly. Though I think it was explained in the show that a baby's magical abilities(including flying) go out of control at first as seen with Carrot Cake and Flurry Heart, and we have yet to see if/when they will be taught how to control their flying/magic. Or none of this is true for Scoot because she may be physically disabled. My 8 year old sister has a speech disability, so it's really hard for her mouth to make the certain consonant sounds needed for most words. But she is always singing her favorite MLP & FNAF songs and the songs from youtube videos meant for toddlers, she talks a lot too so each day she is practicing even though it has taken her a very long time to perfectly say a word, and she probably won't talk as fluently as an average person until adulthood. The same can go for Scootaloo if she is disabled also. She has been shown to fly before, so it may just take a very long time for her to fly perfectly like my sister and her talking. But another way Scoot could be disabled is this: for some people in wheelchairs, they can stand and even walk for a few seconds or a minute before needed to sit back down again because of their condition/disability. But sometimes no matter how hard they try to keep standing or to walk, their condition/disability doesn't let them improve. So maybe any of that is the same for Scootaloo but with her flying.

I hope that she will be able to fly, and if not, it needs to be explained why. An episode where Scootaloo's back story and who her parents are/were are shown is needed so much. It's one of the biggest questions about MLP:FiM. Maybe it will come in the upcoming episode Marks and Recreation, since that episode is about the CMC, or maybe it will be what Uncommon Bond is about. But I think it is more likely to come in season 8. It better.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Mind Scape
Scootaloo is not obviously an orphan as I first said. It's far more likely that she is just really distant with her parents, because of what she said about them.

[Hierok 11,829]

Scootaloo's parents must be shown sometime in the show. She is one of the mane characters who not have revieled her parents, same with Starlight and the princesses.

[cmarston1 5,952]

I thought the show staff already confirmed that she had parents and wasn't an orphan a while ago.

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

My theory is much-more mundane:

 

Late bloomer.

Edited June 19, 2018 by A.V.

[MAIKUN 262]

16 hours ago, Mind Scape said:

Let's state the obvious first. Scootaloo's parents have never been shown because she most likely is an orphan, abandoned as baby so she has no memory of them. That might explain why she has trouble flying, because nopony taught her or encouraged her to fly as soon as possible. When Scootaloo taught herself or had somepony else teach her later, it may have been much harder. It's just like learning a language. As a baby and toddler, I learned English from my parents by watching and listening to everything they said. I mimicked them. Year or two later I learned some Spanish by watching Dora The Explorer, and some words/phrases stuck with me because I was so young. Now as a teenager, trying to learn multiple other languages is harder, because the words and phrases don't stick in my memory as easily as when they did as toddler. There have been many studies about how learning how to do something at a really young age is much easier and than if said person tried to learn the same skill at an older age, the older the harder. A baby mainly depends on their parents/guardians to learn how to speak. Then comes TV shows/movies, other family members, friends...you get the idea. This could be the same case for Scootaloo's flying. Although, there may be a little hole in this theory. Pound Cake's parents are earth ponies, yet as baby he can still fly. Though I think it was explained in the show that a baby's magical abilities(including flying) go out of control at first as seen with Carrot Cake and Flurry Heart, and we have yet to see if/when they will be taught how to control their flying/magic. Or none of this is true for Scoot because she may be physically disabled. My 8 year old sister has a speech disability, so it's really hard for her mouth to make the certain consonant sounds needed for most words. But she is always singing her favorite MLP & FNAF songs and the songs from youtube videos meant for toddlers, she talks a lot too so each day she is practicing even though it has taken her a very long time to perfectly say a word, and she probably won't talk as fluently as an average person until adulthood. The same can go for Scootaloo if she is disabled also. She has been shown to fly before, so it may just take a very long time for her to fly perfectly like my sister and her talking. But another way Scoot could be disabled is this: for some people in wheelchairs, they can stand and even walk for a few seconds or a minute before needed to sit back down again because of their condition/disability. But sometimes no matter how hard they try to keep standing or to walk, their condition/disability doesn't let them improve. So maybe any of that is the same for Scootaloo but with her flying.

I hope that she will be able to fly, and if not, it needs to be explained why. An episode where Scootaloo's back story and who her parents are/were are shown is needed so much. It's one of the biggest questions about MLP:FiM. Maybe it will come in the upcoming episode Marks and Recreation, since that episode is about the CMC, or maybe it will be what Uncommon Bond is about. But I think it is more likely to come in season 8. It better.

Well it's true.

[MidnightFire1222 1,682]

She could have some sort of developmental problem with her wings that keeps her from doing more than hovering temporarily. As we've seen in the show, even Bulk Biceps, a pegasus with very tiny wings that shouldn't be able to fly (and that other female pegasus that looked like him in the buckball episode) can fly, albeit with some difficulty.

[ggg-2 3,550]

At this point, I think it's pretty clear that Scoots is handicapped, just as Lauren intended.

[Ganondox 899]

Stop it with the Scootaloo is an orphan nonsense, there has been absolutely nothing suggesting such, it makes zero sense. You want to know who actually is an orphan? Applejack. Just because we haven't seen Scootaloo's parental figures, whether they are her actual parents or not, doesn't mean they don't exist, and they obviously exist because Ponyville isn't just going to let a homeless filly run around. 

[Mind Scape 45]

8 hours ago, cmarston1 said:

I thought the show staff already confirmed that she had parents and wasn't an orphan a while ago.

When? Can you send me a link to where they said so? I had no idea of that.

[cmarston1 5,952]

24 minutes ago, Mind Scape said:

When? Can you send me a link to where they said so? I had no idea of that.

[Mind Scape 45]

1 hour ago, Ganondox said:

Stop it with the Scootaloo is an orphan nonsense, there has been absolutely nothing suggesting such, it makes zero sense. You want to know who actually is an orphan? Applejack. Just because we haven't seen Scootaloo's parental figures, whether they are her actual parents or not, doesn't mean they don't exist, and they obviously exist because Ponyville isn't just going to let a homeless filly run around. 

I never said Scoot IS an orphan, I said she most likely is. Is there anything suggesting that she DOES have parents(in the show besides the tweet)? She could just live in an orphanage (if it wasn't canon that she does have parents). Scootaloo said in the episode Parental Glideance: "You know, some ponies dream of having parents like that. Me. Growing up I'd never thought I'd be the best at anything, because nopony told me." She might have meant that her parents are very very distant relationship wise, making her feel like she doesn't have parents/parental figures making her almost like an orphan. I also thought that orphan meant just not having any parents in general, not necessarily dead, but turns out it means dead. But what other word could I have used? It's obvious that Scootaloo doesn't have parents that have a close relationship with her like parents usually do, making her feel as though they are absent.

11 minutes ago, cmarston1 said:

Interesting. I guess I have to edit my post then. I don't go on Twitter often.

Edited August 22, 2017 by Mind Scape
New info

[MidnightFire1222 1,682]

Tweets don't always mean they're canon. The creators of something like MLP could just as easily be saying stuff like that to appease fans. I wouldn't take those tweets at face value myself, but that's just me.

[Ganondox 899]

1 hour ago, Mind Scape said:

I never said Scoot IS an orphan, I said she most likely is. Is there anything suggesting that she DOES have parents(in the show besides the tweet)? She could just live in an orphanage (if it wasn't canon that she does have parents). Scootaloo said in the episode Parental Glideance: "You know, some ponies dream of having parents like that. Me. Growing up I'd never thought I'd be the best at anything, because nopony told me." She might have meant that her parents are very very distant relationship wise, making her feel like she doesn't have parents/parental figures making her almost like an orphan. I also thought that orphan meant just not having any parents in general, not necessarily dead, but turns out it means dead. But what other word could I have used? It's obvious that Scootaloo doesn't have parents that have a close relationship with her like parents usually do, making her feel as though they are absent.

Interesting. I guess I have to edit my post then. I don't go on Twitter often.

Doesn't matter if you said she is or not, you saying it's most likely like that she is is just as bad because it's just as untrue. Again, there is nothing to suggest that she is an orphan. You want evidence she has parental figures? She's going to school, foals who go to school have parental figures. It's not the sort of thing which needs to be explicitly confirmed. Of course she has parents, ponies don't come out of holes in the ground, and there is no reason to believe her parents are dead. Being an orphan means your parents are dead, not that they are absent. Just because her parents aren't heavily involved in her life doesn't mean they don't exist. 

[Mind Scape 45]

21 minutes ago, Ganondox said:

Doesn't matter if you said she is or not, you saying it's most likely like that she is is just as bad because it's just as untrue. Again, there is nothing to suggest that she is an orphan. You want evidence she has parental figures? She's going to school, foals who go to school have parental figures. It's not the sort of thing which needs to be explicitly confirmed. Of course she has parents, ponies don't come out of holes in the ground, and there is no reason to believe her parents are dead. Being an orphan means your parents are dead, not that they are absent. Just because her parents aren't heavily involved in her life doesn't mean they don't exist. 

Of course she has to have somepony to sign school paperwork if Equestrian schools were just like ours, but we don't even know for sure if that is what happens in the pony universe....and I never said they were dead, and of course she had to have parents to be born, and I already said what an orphan actually is and corrected myself.....I'm not stupid. 

[Violet Bookish 349]

15 minutes ago, Ganondox said:

Doesn't matter if you said she is or not, you saying it's most likely like that she is is just as bad because it's just as untrue. Again, there is nothing to suggest that she is an orphan. You want evidence she has parental figures? She's going to school, foals who go to school have parental figures. It's not the sort of thing which needs to be explicitly confirmed. Of course she has parents, ponies don't come out of holes in the ground, and there is no reason to believe her parents are dead. Being an orphan means your parents are dead, not that they are absent. Just because her parents aren't heavily involved in her life doesn't mean they don't exist. 

Scootaloos parents haven't been shown so it was just a simple theory of his because of that fact. There's really no reason for you to get so aggressive about his theory. He also said when he said orphan he didn't exactly mean her parents are dead and he also stated he excepted the fact that she may have parents and they are just not very close to her. Also, he stated he now understood being an orphan means your parents are dead so I do not understand why you are restating this fact. He further explained himself and meant that her parents could be dead or either just absent. Again, he stated he was open to the theory of her parents just being absent as it definitely could be a possibility. He never said they "don't exist" just that they could be either dead or absent, so I really don't get what point you're trying to make as I feel like his recent post basically cleared up any false impressions.

And, moving on to my other point, you can't say her parents being dead is untrue because you don't know. As for the tweets if you want to use that as an argument... well, looking at the tread Lauren even said she was kidding around and it shouldn't be considered canon and she's not a writer on the show anymore, so we really don't know what happened to her parents, all we can do is theorize and I personally find no issue with theorizing she's an orphan. If we're proven wrong we're proven wrong, but so far we haven't been proven wrong so it's no big deal to theorize it.

 

2 minutes ago, Mind Scape said:

Of course she has to have somepony to sign school paperwork if Equestrian schools were just like ours, but we don't even know for sure if that is what happens in the pony universe....and I never said they were dead, and of course she had to have parents to be born, and I already said what an orphan actually is and corrected myself.....I'm not stupid. 

Well, most schools say you need a "legal guardian" when it comes to signing paper work. This doesn't necessarily have to be a parent so someone else definitely could have signed it so she doesn't necessarily need parents to go to school. I agree and i feel like you cleared up any false impressions in your last post.

[Mind Scape 45]

1 minute ago, ButterQuilt said:

Scootaloos parents haven't been shown so it was just a simple theory of his because of that fact. There's really no reason for you to get so aggressive about his theory. He also said when he said orphan he didn't exactly mean her parents are dead and he also stated he excepted the fact that she may have parents and they are just not very close to her. Also, he stated he now understood being an orphan means your parents are dead so I do not understand why you are restating this fact. He further explained himself and meant that her parents could be dead or either just absent. Again, he stated he was open to the theory of her parents just being absent as it definitely could be a possibility. He never said they "don't exist" just that they could be either dead or absent, so I really don't get what point you're trying to make as I feel like his recent post basically cleared up any false impressions.

And, moving on to my other point, you can't say her parents being dead is untrue because you don't know. As for the tweets if you want to use that as an argument... well, looking at the tread Lauren even said she was kidding around and it shouldn't be considered canon and she's not a writer on the show anymore, so we really don't know what happened to her parents, all we can do is theorize and I personally find no issue with theorizing she's an orphan. If we're proven wrong we're proven wrong, but so far we haven't been proven wrong so it's no big deal to theorize it.

 

Thanks for that, and I see you are new here. Welcome to the forums.

[Violet Bookish 349]

Just now, Mind Scape said:

Thanks for that, and I see you are new here. Welcome to the forums.

No problem and thank you so much for the kind welcome.

[Ganondox 899]

33 minutes ago, ButterQuilt said:

Scootaloos parents haven't been shown so it was just a simple theory of his because of that fact. There's really no reason for you to get so aggressive about his theory. He also said when he said orphan he didn't exactly mean her parents are dead and he also stated he excepted the fact that she may have parents and they are just not very close to her. Also, he stated he now understood being an orphan means your parents are dead so I do not understand why you are restating this fact. He further explained himself and meant that her parents could be dead or either just absent. Again, he stated he was open to the theory of her parents just being absent as it definitely could be a possibility. He never said they "don't exist" just that they could be either dead or absent, so I really don't get what point you're trying to make as I feel like his recent post basically cleared up any false impressions.

And, moving on to my other point, you can't say her parents being dead is untrue because you don't know. As for the tweets if you want to use that as an argument... well, looking at the tread Lauren even said she was kidding around and it shouldn't be considered canon and she's not a writer on the show anymore, so we really don't know what happened to her parents, all we can do is theorize and I personally find no issue with theorizing she's an orphan. If we're proven wrong we're proven wrong, but so far we haven't been proven wrong so it's no big deal to theorize it.

 

Well, most schools say you need a "legal guardian" when it comes to signing paper work. This doesn't necessarily have to be a parent so someone else definitely could have signed it so she doesn't necessarily need parents to go to school. I agree and i feel like you cleared up any false impressions in your last post.

It's not a theory of his, it's a dumb fandom meme. I don't care about his personal theory about the flight, I'm denouncing the fandom meme, and until you get that your response to my comment is completely irrelevant. People have been going on about it forever and it's always been a stupid theory. We haven't seen most ponies parents (especially before this season), so the notion that means it's plausible she's an orphan is ridiculous. It's like saying it's plausible Celestia poops out meteors just because we've never seen her poop. It made more sense to simply conclude pegasi in general didn't have parents then that Scootaloo is an orphan as for a long time we didn't see any of the pegasi parents, not just Scootaloo's. Sure, technically she could be an orphan, but there is no reason to believe such, and we all know that's not what people mean when they say Scootaloo is an orphan anyway. 

[Jedishy 3,542]

6 hours ago, Ganondox said:

Doesn't matter if you said she is or not, you saying it's most likely like that she is is just as bad because it's just as untrue. Again, there is nothing to suggest that she is an orphan. You want evidence she has parental figures? She's going to school, foals who go to school have parental figures. It's not the sort of thing which needs to be explicitly confirmed. Of course she has parents, ponies don't come out of holes in the ground, and there is no reason to believe her parents are dead. Being an orphan means your parents are dead, not that they are absent. Just because her parents aren't heavily involved in her life doesn't mean they don't exist. 

Do you really think orphans dont go to schools? That kids that live in group homes don't go to school? Really? That is just patently not true. The Orphanage acts in loco parentis in such cases. I mean really if you are going to chew someone down about something at least have correct "facts"

 

I personally believe that her inability to fly is either trouble with her wings for some reason or psychological based on her statement of  Nopony ever told her she could be best at anything

Edited August 23, 2017 by Jedishy

[Mind Scape 45]

2 minutes ago, Ganondox said:

It's not a theory of his, it's a dumb fandom meme. I don't care about his personal theory about the flight, I'm denouncing the fandom meme, and until you get that your response to my comment is completely irrelevant. People have been going on about it forever and it's always been a stupid theory. We haven't seen most ponies parents (especially before this season), so the notion that means it's plausible she's an orphan is ridiculous. It's like saying it's plausible Celestia poops out meteors just because we've never seen her poop. It made more sense to simply conclude pegasi in general didn't have parents then that Scootaloo is an orphan as for a long time we didn't see any of the pegasi parents, not just Scootaloo's. Sure, technically she could be an orphan, but there is no reason to believe such, and we all know that's not what people mean when they say Scootaloo is an orphan anyway. 

We all get it that you don't agree the "Scootaloo is an orphan" theory/fandom meme. You've already made that clear. It is just only a theory even if it has little or no evidence, and the theory became a meme so it's both. If you hate it and disagree with it, that's fine. You've already explained why you felt that way. You can believe whatever you want, but you need to just let others believe what they want instead of trying to prove them wrong. Just accept that unless you believe the tweets to be reliable, it is unknown about Scootaloo's parents. I can theorize whatever I want, and you don't have to repeatedly tell me that I'm wrong. I know that I could be wrong, but I don't care. This. Is just. A theory. Okay?

[Ganondox 899]

20 minutes ago, Jedishy said:

Do you really think orphans dont go to schools? That kids that live in group homes don't go to school? Really? That is just patently not true. The Orphanage acts in loco parentis in such cases. I mean really if you are going to chew someone down about something at least have correct "facts"

 

I personally believe that her inability to fly is either trouble with her wings for some reason or psychological based on as her statement of  Nopony ever told her she could be best at anything

I said nothing about orphanages or group homes, but orphanages tend to be fairly rigid places, it's extremely unlikely Scootaloo would be able to engage in the antics with the CMC if she lived in one. Fact is it's much more plausible that she has living parents or at least adopted ones than she lives in an orphanage, and it's much more likely than she lives in an orphanage and has some parental figures than that she's just living on her own in a hole somewhere like many Scootaloo-orphan theorists suggest. It's dumb theory that needs to die because people act like there is evidence for it, but there isn't. 

14 minutes ago, Mind Scape said:

We all get it that you don't agree the "Scootaloo is an orphan" theory/fandom meme. You've already made that clear. It is just only a theory even if it has little or no evidence, and the theory became a meme so it's both. If you hate it and disagree with it, that's fine. You've already explained why you felt that way. You can believe whatever you want, but you need to just let others believe what they want instead of trying to prove them wrong. Just accept that unless you believe the tweets to be reliable, it is unknown about Scootaloo's parents. I can theorize whatever I want, and you don't have to repeatedly tell me that I'm wrong. I know that I could be wrong, but I don't care. This. Is just. A theory. Okay?

The only reason I'm coming down so heavy on it in the first place was because you initially claimed that it was "most likely", which is simply false, and now you and others keep being so defensive even after admitting it wasn't, so I'm going to keep pushing back, responding to all the replies which are missing the original context. The fact you edited your post makes my reaction look much less reasonable than it actually was, so shame on you. 

Edited August 23, 2017 by Ganondox

[Jedishy 3,542]

Just now, Ganondox said:

I said nothing about orphanages or group homes, but orphanages tend to be fairly rigid places, it's extremely unlikely Scootaloo would be able to engage in the antics with the CMC if she lived in one. Fact is it's much more plausible that she has living parents or at least adopted ones than she lives in an orphanage, and it's much more likely than she lives in an orphanage and has some parental figures than that she's just living on her own in a hole somewhere like many Scootaloo-orphan theorists suggest. It's dumb theory that needs to die because people act like there is evidence for it, but there isn't. 

You claimed that her going to school was proof of her having parental figures. That implies that those without such figures do not go to school. Wrong. Those in group homes or orphanages do not have what we would consider true parental figures. Yet they still go to school. Also, they are not as rigid as you might think. Lots of kids and little funding means lots of neglect in most cases. 

Basically again if you are going to leap on others for lack of evidence and "stupid claims" or missing facts. Please have your ducks in a row first. You have no more evidence than they do really. Thus you are mad over nothing more than an idea you dont like and treating people poorly over as a result. 

[Ganondox 899]

Just now, Jedishy said:

You claimed that her going to school was proof of her having parental figures. That implies that those without such figures do not go to school. Wrong. Those in group homes or orphanages do not have what we would consider true parental figures. Yet they still go to school. Also, they are not as rigid as you might think. Lots of kids and little funding means lots of neglect in most cases. 

Basically again if you are going to leap on others for lack of evidence and "stupid claims" or missing facts. Please have your ducks in a row first. You have no more evidence than they do really. Thus you are mad over nothing more than an idea you dont like and treating people poorly over as a result. 

Yes, and if she was at orphanage and well adjusted she would have parental figures there. Neglect means kids don't end up going to school because no one makes them at best, or it isn't even provided for them. While her parents apparently aren't the most supportive around, they also clearly aren't neglectful, you can see the signs of neglect and Scootaloo does not bear them. 

The problem is that you are acting like I need more evidence for my claim than you do. Burden of proof is on your to show that Scootaloo is an orphan, not that she isn't, as the null hypothesis for kids is that they have parents. It's a ridiculous theory, deal with it. 

[Jedishy 3,542]

Just now, Ganondox said:

Yes, and if she was at orphanage and well adjusted she would have parental figures there. Neglect means kids don't end up going to school because no one makes them at best, or it isn't even provided for them. While her parents apparently aren't the most supportive around, they also clearly aren't neglectful, you can see the signs of neglect and Scootaloo does not bear them. 

The problem is that you are acting like I need more evidence for my claim than you do. Burden of proof is on your to show that Scootaloo is an orphan, not that she isn't, as the null hypothesis for kids is that they have parents. It's a ridiculous theory, deal with it. 

Let's see you can see signs of neglect eh? How about developmental issues? ( A pegasi that can't fly ) and clear psychological ones ( No pony ever told her she could be the best at anything and she would kill to have a particular set of parents) and neglect does not mean you dont go to school. I grew up in an uber neglectful home and went to school for a sense of normalcy and connection that I failed to get at home. 

Just because you can't see what others do and operate from terrible "facts" and misconceptions does not make others wrong. Oh and need more proof for my theory? What that she has physical or psychological issues? Funny I dont even think she is an orphan I just see how others could. Please read the things that are posted if you are going to use them as counter points. 

If you could make your disagreements civil and not treat others poorly I would not even have bothered to respond. But if you not only treat others badly but do it using really bad logic and faulty facts its just too easy to shoot your ideas down. Civility goes a long way and anger clouds your judgement young skywalker 

[Mind Scape 45]

15 minutes ago, Ganondox said:

I said nothing about orphanages or group homes, but orphanages tend to be fairly rigid places, it's extremely unlikely Scootaloo would be able to engage in the antics with the CMC if she lived in one. Fact is it's much more plausible that she has living parents or at least adopted ones than she lives in an orphanage, and it's much more likely than she lives in an orphanage and has some parental figures than that she's just living on her own in a hole somewhere like many Scootaloo-orphan theorists suggest. It's dumb theory that needs to die because people act like there is evidence for it, but there isn't. 

The only reason I'm coming down so heavy on it in the first place was because you initially claimed that it was "most likely", which is simply false, and now you and others keep being so defensive even after admitting it wasn't, so I'm going to keep pushing back, responding to all the replies which are missing the original context. The fact you edited your post makes my reaction look much less reasonable than it actually was, so shame on you. 

Shame on me? So it's wrong to admit that I was wrong about something and changed my thinking to something more reasonable? That's the only reason why I edited my post. Not to make you look bad.