Trivia / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S5 E19 "Crusaders of the Lost Mark"

• Ascended Fanon:
  • In a Freeze-Frame Bonus in the final musical number, we see that, yes, Derpy is a mailmare.
  • It was a common fanon for "near future" fanfics that the Crusaders would eventually open up their membership and become dedicated to helping other young foals find their cutie marks as well. Not only does this exact thing happen in the episode (minus the membership part), helping others find/understand their cutie marks turns out to be the Crusaders' special talent and gives them their cutie marks in turn.
• Blooper:
  • During Diamond Tiara's run through Ponyville, we see her going past a group of socialites including her parents, as well as a well-dressed Sweetie Drops. However, right in the next shot we see an ordinary-looking Sweetie Drops again, and when Diamond Tiara reaches the school her mother is already here, partaking in a school board reunion that is implied to have started a while ago. The continuity could have worked if the socialite meeting was some sort of flashback or metaphorical scene, linked to the lyrics of the song, however nothing clearly suggests this is the case. Naturally, this can result in some Fan Wank. Like, although they look similar, the socialite has several minor differences in appearance, suggesting that perhaps it was her mother or some other close relative (she already received the fan nickname of Bonabelle Bonette). Or, judging by a previous episode, one of them is Agent Sweetie Drops in disguise. Or she could also be Bons Away, a background pegasus pony with the same color scheme as Sweetie Drops (since her dress could be hiding her wings and cutie mark).
  • During the pan shot across the school ponies as they notice the Crusaders' cutie marks, the tendrils on the mane of the foal next to Silver rotate for a few frames.
• The Cast Showoff: Chantal Strand, who is known for such singing roles as Molly O! in Generation O! and Starsong in the My Little Pony (G3) series, has several opportunities to show off her singing voice as Diamond Tiara. Her only previous singing in the series was her "Not Bad" couplet in the episode "Pinkie Pride".
• Fandom Nod: There's a lot of debate among the fanbase about what Diamond Tiara's cutie mark actually means. Turns out, she knew what it meant from the start (that she was skilled at getting others to do what she wanted, like a ruler), but was lost as to how to properly use it (having been encouraged to dominate others rather than guide them).
• Invisible Advertising: This episode got next-to-no promotion, not even a preview. Apparently it was done intentionally in order to keep the ending a surprise. Indeed, it ended up working out better for it.
• Milestone Celebration: This episode premiered exactly five years after the premiere of the first episode, which also saw Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo meeting for the first time (they're seen standing together when Nightmare Moon first shows herself, presumably as an oversight before the details of "Call of the Cutie" had been finalized).
• Recycled Script: The episode is very similar to "Magical Mystery Cure"; it's a Musical Episode, includes a reprise of the first song sung in the climax, features the dramatic transformation of a main character, and happens as a result of them helping a friend with a crisis.
• Spoiled by the Merchandise: A season 5 poster had circulated around the internet for some time, with some characters blacked out from the beginning and revealed as episodes aired. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had remained blacked out before this episode, suggesting that there was going to be a change to their appearance this season.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The opening scene originally had rhyming dialogue recapping what the Crusaders tried to get their Cutie Marks, but it was cut for time.
  • Spoiled Rich, Diamond Tiara's mom, went through many names with Married Rich being the first possible name and then Stuck Up Rich. The latter name was rejected for sounding extremely similar to the term "stuck up bitch."
  • Diamond Tiara had a verse in the final song, which was likely removed as it would have distracted from the emotion of the CMC finally getting their cutie marks, just to reiterate the same thing as her previous song.

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