S02EP12 - "Family Appreciation Day"

[RarityDash]

Yes. That is brilliant...

All problems solved.

[accountdeleted]

I really liked this episode. Not my favorite of this Season (the dual pilot, Luna eclipsed and Lesson Zero), but defiantly a very enjoyable episode.

Granny smith is awesome: "waiting for what?".

I agree with it been likely that their parents are dead, but doubt whether it will ever be more than hinted at. Im not sure as to wether i liked the zapp apples, they just seemed off from a visual point of view; rainbows belong to Dashie, not apples. I was expecting them to be dark purple perhaps making weird stuff (flying pots?) happen, more mysterious and magical. I understand that they are kind of magical (hay, they zap you, have elastic stalks and vanish) but I would have preferd them to be more magical.

Ya, I'm complaining over apples not being cool enough.

I fixed your map, Brian! No need to thank me, I'm glad to help!

lol...

By biggest problem with the map (apart from Equestria now apparently having only 3 cities), is the distances. apparently, it is the same distance between Canterlot and the everfree forest, and cloudsdale is about twice the distance! oh, well.

[Snowshoe]

By biggest problem with the map (apart from Equestria now apparently having only 3 cities), is the distances. apparently, it is the same distance between Canterlot and the everfree forest, and cloudsdale is about twice the distance! oh, well.

I don't think it's only 3 cities. Note that not every map has every city in the world on it. Not only is it an old map, it's likely an old map of Ponyville + surroundings. I like our current map because we came up with things, but you're not going to see that much in an episode based around morals, and not adventures.

[Ashwood]

Ohmygosh, I just noticed something.

Applejack was the ONLY pony out of the mane six to show up this episode.

Imagine, if you will, an episode without ANY of the mane six. Because we're getting close to such an episode.

No letter to Celestia, only one pony of the main cast, the cutie mark crusaders in and it's my favorite episode of the season. Err, confusing... or perhaps the breath of fresh air is just welcome. For once we don't have the same old antics I don't complain.

It was great material for fanfiction, I'll certainly find something to use there.

[ChancellorPuddinghead]

In the end I don't think they will reveal the parents to have passed away - with how spread out the family is I'd say eventually it will be revealed they are away doing important work for X reason.

[accountdeleted]

I don't think it's only 3 cities. Note that not every map has every city in the world on it. Not only is it an old map, it's likely an old map of Ponyville + surroundings. I like our current map because we came up with things, but you're not going to see that much in an episode based around morals, and not adventures.

I agree compleatly with what you said, BUT I was saying that there were only three cities to show the map is unreliable. I really like the map on the site, the only thing that I dont like is the name of where the zebras come from.

[Tenkan]

This episode was epic!

I knew there was more to Granny Smith than the eye could see. I knew it!

I've been enjoying these Apple Bloom episodes, but I think this episode should be where they set the limit, because we've had many this season.

[HopeFox]

In other news, I noticed that other than Diamond Tiara, Twist was the only pony actually paying attention to Filthy Rich's presentation.

I noticed that too! It suggests that Twist is really interested in starting her own business, the way Filthy Rich did. That would be kind of awesome.

Also, this means that Diamond Tiara's family is the Rich family (Filthy Rich, Stinking Rich) rather than the Diamond family or the Tiara family, as most fanfics (including mine) assume. It's also interesting that the Rich family's money isn't all that old - Diamond Tiara's grandfather was clearly wealthy, but they don't come across as wealthy earth pony gentry like the Oranges. I'm glad that Filthy Rich isn't anything like his filly - he really takes Granny Smith seriously, both as a friend and as a business partner. Conversely, Diamond Tiara is even worse this episode than she was in Call of the Cutie, while Silver Spoon isn't so bad.

I honestly was not expecting this much backstory and fanon destruction from this episode - I think it's worse than Hearth's Warming Eve in that regard. And by worse, I mean better, of course. It's interesting to think of Ponyville as a third-fourth generation frontier town - it's come a long way since then. I've always written the Apple family as being fairly fundamental to the origins of Ponyville, but I never dreamed that they were quite so fundamental to it. Even the Rich family (at least, the Ponyville branch of it) wouldn't be where they are today without Granny Smith.

Did I hear correctly that Granny Smith referred to her family (i.e. her parents and siblings) as the Smith family? That implies that she married in to the Apple family (she can't be the progenitor of the entire family, it's too widespread) - presumably some Apple stallion came to Ponyville to get involved with this new "zapapple" thing and ended up marrying the mare responsible for it. I give it a week before somepony writes that fic.

Zapapples themselves are very interesting - it adds an extra helping of magic to the fun but mundane setting of Sweet Apple Acres. As Granny Smith says, "magic is as magic does". It's worth noting that Granny Smith figured out the entire ritual for growing zapapples and making them into jam by herself - and this is an hitherto unknown plant variety from the Everfree Forest. Anyone who says earth ponies can't do magic needs to watch this episode. Also, now we know where Apple Bloom gets her "walk into the Everfree Forest whenever I feel like it" gene from.

In general, hooray for Granny Smith being awesome! I mean, I don't think anyone over the age of 12 is surprised that she turned out to have an awesome backstory - everyone who's watched the equivalent episode of The Simpsons knows how this story goes - but I had no idea exactly how it was going to turn out. I'll admit that the first half of the episode felt a touch formulaic, but that's to be expected from an adult perspective on a children's show. Also, I honestly couldn't tell what was going on in the first few minutes - the combination of unfamiliar words ("zapapples"?) with awkward accents made an in media res opening difficult. Also also, there was the usual difficulty I have with characters being put through highly embarrassing scenes. These problems will probably go away the next time I watch the episode, as they usually do.

Overall, excellent episode. Now I have to go and relearn how to write about Ponyville.

[Davroth]

Before I get to my thoughts, I just want to say that Granny Smith apples are a type of apple, so are Macintosh apples. It's possible that given Granny Smith's age, being part of the first founders of Ponyville, Granny Smith is just her name, and she's not literally AJ and AB's grandmother, but more likely their great-grandmother perhaps. That's what I see it as being, and the voice actress for DT just misspoke (or in character didn't know the Apple family dynamic...assuming their parents are dead, perhaps the family just doesn't talk much about the family make up to avoid bringing up the subject?).

I know that Granny Smith apples are a type of apple. And as it is "granny" can be used for any type of grandmother and great grandmother. And sure, the voice actress might have just slurred her line and no one has noticed it, but really, by that logic you can refute a number of accepted fanon. Actually, pretty much anything that has only been mentioned once.

[Incantatious]

What a deeply magical episode. I shed a tear towards the end! I caught this episode after work and am so happy to have MLP in my life.

[Doc Hoof MD]

This was a fun episode. I didn't really enjoy it much until the 12 min marker or so but it picked up after that. I actually like GSmith a lot more as a character now.

[Davroth]

The Apple Family.

(Rainbow coloured apples? I wonder...)

[brianblackberry]

I'm not sure switching the forests positions with each other would be a wise solution. I know the proximity of the Whitetail Woods to Canterlot is something that's come up in multiple RPs of mine. I'm sure I'm not the only one either. Moving it out of the Canterlot region entirely might cause problems for a number of characters in the RP.

Flipping them has been deemed right out. One proposal is the is to have the Everfree swing around south of Ponyville amd Whitetail instead swing around north (all the way to Canterlot), so they be Southern and Northern respectively. Bare in mind this is just one proposal.

On the subject on the map: It does seem that Ponyville was founded either in, or pretty close to Everfree, and we see that they get wood from the forest, so it's entirely possible that there used to be parts of the Everfree Forest to the south east, but it just isn't there any more.

That is a distinct possiblity. The forest is shown to be very close, if not right next, to Ponyville in the show. One idea is that Everfree did at one time swing around the south of Ponyville, but that part has given away to farms and open fields over time because of the ponies of Ponyville. A radical idea was the Whitetail and Everfree were once one, and when the area to the south of Ponyville was cut down; this one grand Everfree forest became two, with the Whitetail becoming under pony control once it was sepearted from the "core" of the Everfree.

On the topic of the map: My heart goes out to you Brianblackberry. I don't know what all you're going to do, but I couldn't help but notice that if you rotate Granny Smith's map 90% clockwise, it matches up a bit better... and there's no North indicated on her map.

Although she is likely holding it correctly, it is appearent the map is not a true map of distance and accuracy but more of a "general relative" location map, as Canterlot and Everfree as shown as the same distance (which from what we have seen in the show, isn't remotely true). So I do have that going for me. Probably will move Cloudsdale in accordance to the map, as that would be pretty easy.

By biggest problem with the map (apart from Equestria now apparently having only 3 cities), is the distances. apparently, it is the same distance between Canterlot and the everfree forest, and cloudsdale is about twice the distance! oh, well.

Yeah I don't think it is an accurate distance map but more an iconic map simply meant to show relative direction of those places to Ponyville Nor do I think it is a map of all of Equestria, just what is around Ponyville, as we know there are otehr cities as they have been named (or in the case of Appleoosa and Manehattan, shown).

[brianblackberry]

I agree compleatly with what you said, BUT I was saying that there were only three cities to show the map is unreliable. I really like the map on the site, the only thing that I dont like is the name of where the zebras come from.

Thanks! Curious, what do you not like about the name?

I've always written the Apple family as being fairly fundamental to the origins of Ponyville, but I never dreamed that they were quite so fundamental to it. Even the Rich family (at least, the Ponyville branch of it) wouldn't be where they are today without Granny Smith.

It could be the Apple family itself has a minimal impact on the beginning of Ponyville. Granny Smith's family may be a different family, given that neither her parents, nor her brothers had apple related cutie marks. It could very well be that Granny Smith married into the Apples and that is how the name came associated with that first farmstead that started Ponyville.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Although she is likely holding it correctly...

I've got a news flash for ya' smart cookie. The Earth is round, there is no up or down. (kidding, kidding.)

Also, I'm not sure if I say this enough, but William Anderson really does a great job with the music. I watched the episode again and I realized that at one point the music during one of the "signs," had sent a chill down my spine. (so to speak.) Really top not stuff.

[lordbrony]

I know that Granny Smith apples are a type of apple. And as it is "granny" can be used for any type of grandmother and great grandmother.

I consider it clever wordplay on the part of the show's writers

Anypony notice the big push towards family names as canon in MLP?

[starswirlthebearded]

I consider it clever wordplay on the part of the show's writers

Anypony notice the big push towards family names as canon in MLP?

It has been there since ep 1 with the introduction of the Apple family. They are just making it more obvious lately.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

From what I've noticed, it seems like Earth Ponies are more likely to use family names than other kinds of ponies. Maybe they all have them and don't use them regularly, but you've got the Pies, the Cakes, the Riches, the Oranges. Meanwhile, Unicorns at least at one point in history had a tradition of adding character traits after their name instead, like Starswirl the Bearded, or Clover the Clever.

[weesh]

The Earth is round, there is no up or down

Even as a joke this hurts the engineer in me! I'm currently working on a square building in which the original architects decided to put north down on their drawings. Every project since has been forced to follow suit to maintain consistency, and it is painfully confusing. Every time I talk to a contractor I have to rider my statements. "The door on the west side of the building, and the right side of the drawing..."

Speaking of engineering, I bet you could make a killer trebuchet out of zap apple trees. Did you see how far those three ponies went after the slip?

And now I know the construction material for the catapult that RD built in "Applebucking Season".

[starswirlthebearded]

hi hi

From what I've noticed, it seems like Earth Ponies are more likely to use family names than other kinds of ponies. Maybe they all have them and don't use them regularly, but you've got the Pies, the Cakes, the Riches, the Oranges. Meanwhile, Unicorns at least at one point in history had a tradition of adding character traits after their name instead, like Starswirl the Bearded, or Clover the Clever.

Very interesting observation. I do recall the examiner referring to twilight as miss sparkle though, suggesting that as her familial name.

An interesting thought though... perhaps family names are used only to reference the family and not used in names. Let's face it Apple Jack Apple sounds awkward, but Apple Jack of the Apple family seems to fit better.

[Kilmarnock]

My goodness... a honey stand in the center of Ponyville, but the pony running the stand is never shown? Ambrose is now canon!

Ooooon a more serious note, I saw this episode at Bronycon, and I had dragged my girlfriend along with me. She seems to only be a real fan of Big Macintosh, so it was something of a stroke of luck that this episode seemed to feature him. A very good episode to have in order to keep her hooked.

[FlameLoneWolf]

Now one of my favorite episodes!

[Boss_Hoss1]

Finally found this thread which I missed during my illness.

I have to wonder what this does for how we think the ponies age, given that GS was there before Ponyville at Apple Bloom's age. Hmmm, the IRL limiter for how long horses live are their teeth with the record being 52 years iirc.Since the ponies have access to dentures, geriatric care and advanced surgeries (new hips anyone?) this does beg the question fo how old she really is.

At least the map she had drawn up is a good match for the board's map if you put it on it's side so no earthmoving for the mods to do

[Dessa]

But don't humans apply all that medical care to horses? I can imagine most past a certain age are euthanized since they can no longer work, but good ol' sentimentality has surely inspired some preserved ponies.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Such well cared for horses are relatively rare. if a procedure is expensive for humans, its astronomical to do it to horses.

(A large part if this is because horses are not a part of Joe average's life since the 1930s, so not as much demand for developing widespread longevity care)

However, the racing industry has been making great strides in keeping million dollar horses alive and as close to racing fit as possible to make money attracting money for (and actively producing) million dollar foals.

I cant recall hearing of horses getting new hips so far, but that case in the last few years of a horse getting a prosthetic leg is a step in the right direction on the horse longevity front. (no pun intended)