Family Appreciation Day

Dear Princess Luna...

Would appear to be another Apple family focused episode.

Applejack, Applebloom, and Bic Mac are woke up in the middle of the night as their Granny is running around yelling about timer wolves and zap apples. This is apparently a good thing.

Applebloom is eager to make zap apple jam with her granny, who apparently has elaborate rituals and ingredients for making it. I guess it makes sense, zap apples are some magic fruit, and since we have minotaurs, dragons, and well, magic, there is definitely some 'mystery' to the Ponyverse. Clouds appear, lightning arcs on the zap apple trees, and leaves burst out as the clouds disappear as quickly as they arrived.

A banker pony or a super wealthy pony and his daughter arrives. From what I can tell, ponies are given names before they get there marks, so this guy's parents named him Filthy Rich on a whim? Not only is his mark 3 money bags, he has a dollar symbol on his tie.

"Hah hah! My daddy's richer than your dad!" (This raises a good point, where exactly are the Apple patriarchs? Dead? Did they go down one of those Ponyville death ramps?)

 The Apple granny's name is Granny Smith. Anyways, the super rich pony has some standing order for 100 jars of zap apple jam. His daughter starts talking trash about Granny Smith's weird behavior to Applebloom, who doesn't seem to understand what she means.

"What's wrong with that? That happens all the time 'round here."

Applebloom is with Granny buying some ingredients. Filthy Rich's daughter's trash talk is clearly getting to her, especially as Granny is singing, biting pots, and talking to bees. Filthy Rich's daughter and her friend see Applebloom and Granny and start laughing.

"What's the matter Applebloom, got a bee in your bonnet? Now bee a dear and help me, honey."

Later at their school, Filthy Rich is talking about how his business became so successful, by undermining the competition. Next for Family Appreciation Day is Applebloom, she tries to say that Applejack and Big Mac will be too buy with zap apples to come, Filthy Rich's daughter helpfully suggests that Granny can do it. Filthy Rich's daughter is apparently named Diamond Tiara.

I don't really know the deal behind the marks and stuff, but they do tend to match the name, and as we see with Applebloom, they have their names before the mark. Maybe there is some kind of mystic that helps select their names?

So, is Diamond Tiara just a jerk or did Applebloom steal her cookies or something and Diamond Tiara has never forgotten or forgiven the incident.

Applebloom tries to beg Applejack and/or Big Mac to come to her school, but they can't since zap apples disappear after 5 days.The clouds come back and the sky darkens as tons of crows fly through.

I need the biggest seed bell you have... No, that's too big.

This is the third sign of zap apples, and the trees flower as the crows and clouds disappear once again. Applejack comforts Applebloom, telling her that Granny Smith has plenty of interesting stories to tell. That is no comfort at all to Applebloom.

Applebloom apparently has some kick-ass tree house for her and her friends.

Applebloom's friends, the Cutie Mark Crusaders (I guess because they all don't have their mark yet?) promise to help her and presumably are going to have Applebloom pretend to be ill.

Back in the kitchen, Granny is continuing her crazy zap apple jam rituals.

"When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize that instead of dirt it's the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you, you'll know what to do!"

Applebloom and co. try to make Applebloom look sick, but Granny doesn't fall for it. Wait, so next we hear that 'it's almost Sunday!' and that Granny was going to go in to school on Monday, so Applebloom was going to pretend to be terribly sick for two plus days? Yeah, that plan was probably going to work, girls.

Go figure, the Unicorn is the Evil Genius of the group.

The fourth sign, a meteor shower? arrives, and the zap apples have appeared, they are grey apples. This gives the Unicorn Crusader an idea. They plan to change harvest day if they can't change Family Appreciation Day. They try in vain to pick the unripe zap apples. Kicking the tree, like how they normally harvest apples on the show, results in the Unicorn Crusader getting electrified. Trying to pick it normally, by biting onto it, also fails, and the magic tree hurls them all into the pig sty.

Aww, the little Unicorn got out magic'd.

So, there are pigs in the Ponyverse, but they don't seem to be 'human.' I'm assuming they raise pigs for truffle finding or something, or do the ponies eat meat? Or do they raise pigs to slaughter and sell the meat to Minotaurs and things like that?

The Crusaders' next plan is to invite their teacher over and make a puppet out of the napping Granny Smith, to tell the teacher, Cherilee, that Granny won't be able to come. This plan also fails as Granny wakes up and confusedly answers Cherilee that she wouldn't miss going to Family Appreciation Day for 'all the tea in Canterlot!'

Somehow, the teacher didn't see anything wrong here, and she's in charge of these kids' future?

In the kitchen again, Granny's crazy zap apple jam antics continue, as she paint spots all around. Applebloom is stressed out, saying that Granny never wakes up from her naps, and Applebloom wants to just run off and hide. (I can't see why Granny woke up this time, I mean, she was only being made into a puppet, nothing major, and was smashed into the ceiling..) The Unicorn Crusader once again comes up with a plan, sinisterly hinting at 'sending Granny to Switzerland without shoes.' (Hmm, I could have sworn that phrase at the end there was something used in WW II to signify that the Gestapo had killed or abducted someone, not seeing it when searching for it)

Hmm, maybe Unicorns are just naturally vicious and it's not Twilight's fault for the rage-filled things she does...

Once more, the clouds return, this time as a vicious lightning storm. Once more, they leave and a rainbow is left in their place. Lightning arcs all over the trees, and the zap apples begin to gain colors. Rainbows shoot all over the place like lasers in some sci-fi flick. The zap apples are ripe and ready for harvest, now having rainbow coloring instead of grey, they also may have grown in size.

The Pegasus Crusader is dressed like a, well, I'm not sure what that job title was called, Western Union messenger? and hands Granny a telegram. They've conned Granny into going to see their Uncle Apple Strudel on an all-day train ride. School starts, Applebloom starts explaining how Granny wouldn't be there, then: bam! Granny walks in the door.

Look at the sheer joy on Diamond Tiara's face, that girl's got problems.

Uncle Apple Strudel is also there, dressed in 'Oktoberfest' style clothing. (I can't remember the actual name for that get up) Diamond Tiara starts laughing about how she can't wait for Granny Smith's presentation, if she can remember it. =]

Things are off to a good start as Granny tries to sit in the chair Apple Strudel brought her, and immediately sends it reeling backwards and crashes to the floor. We see a 'map' of Equestria I guess, or just the immediate surroundings of Canterlot.

Ponyville seems like the least imaginative place around, who came up with that one, that Earth pony chancellor from Hearth's Warming Eve?

Oh, I guess 'filly' is used for 'girl' in the Ponyverse. Anyways, Granny is telling a story about how there wasn't a Ponyville when she was young (which rules out Chancellor Puddinghead as the one responsible for the name I suppose) and how her family were great seed collectors and one day made it into Canterlot and met Princess Celestia.

So Celestia has got to be older than Granny, yet Celestia looks about the same in the modern day, while Granny (and other elderly ponies) become these shriveled wretches. Hmm, I'm not trying to remember if we've ever seen elderly pegasus/unicorns, I don't think so, so maybe they are 'eternal youth' while Earth ponies have to suffer.

 So the Princess gave or just told them where some good land was that the Smith family could settle. (Maybe I've been erroneously calling them the Apples all this time?) They cut down trees, made their first house, but times were getting tough since trees and stuff needs time to grow. (And they aren't Unicorns with time altering magic) Granny decided to venture off into the Everfree Forest to find food for her family, which is apparently some giant death trap of evil that for some reason hasn't been purged, despite being so close to Canterlot.

Granny found zap apple trees and began to pick them, when she was set upon by timber wolves: magical wolves made from wood.

"Tonight. You."

She ran back to her home and 'did the only thing she could think of' which was to smash a pot against a kettle. Somehow, this scared off the wolves. Granny and her pa planted zap apple seeds, and their magic nature produced an instant orchard. Every year since, Granny paid attention to the signs of the zap apple harvest since being magical, it has omens that precede each step, along with the fact you have 1 day to pick them before they just poof.

Granny then mentions how zap apple baked goods were really good, and she eventually started making jam, and that that has it's own tricks to it. You have to be nice to the bees, so their honey is sweet enough. You need to talk to the jars, and, somehow, the zap apples like pink polka dots.

"And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paper hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler. Just like I'd shoot a snake!"

This zap apple jam was so good, ponies started coming from all over just to try some. It shows a line pretty much like in the cider episode, except the ponies are wearing some clothes instead of 99% 'nude' like in the cider line.

Considering  their farm is next to a death forest, that's a pretty good turn out.

So, it turns out Diamond Tiara's great grandfather bought? the jam from the Smith's (I'm assuming they were selling it) then resold it and that's how their family business started. His shop, the Smith's farm, and some other businesses that sprung up helped found Ponyville. So Granny Smith sort of single handedly caused the town they live in to be settled, and Applebloom had never heard this story? Odd.

Now we see why Diamond Tiara must hate Applebloom, as her mean little plan has backfired, since if it wasn't for Granny Smith, her family wouldn't have their Barnyard Bargains store(s). Applebloom defends her Granny after Diamond Tiara calls her a kooky old lady, saying her Granny is the most amazing pony in Ponyville.

"But..but..she's old, poor, and stupid! Why aren't you mocking her??!?"

Applebloom finally gets to make the zap apple jam with her Granny. Another huge line has formed.

Scumbag pony society has degraded to full 'nudity' Hmm, just me or are these actually the same pony models in the flashback scene? I took the screenshot almost the same place, and it looks like they are. Probably easier for the animators to just do it once, then remove/add the clothing bits to the existing lineup?

Do the Apples/Smiths just give this stuff away? It seems hard to believe they would, since they raised such a fuss about needing the cider money, but perhaps they consider the zap apples a 'gift' and want to share it with everyone. Although they are fine with the Rich family selling it for their own profit?

Anyway, Applebloom admits she forgot just how super special her Granny is. The gathered little kid ponies are offered to join Granny in 'singing to the water' which was also shown in Filthy Rich's first visit to the farm, and involves singing the ABC song in a rabbit costume. Diamond Tiara is forced to participate by her father, and Applebloom and Applejack laugh at her misfortune.

"I'll get you for this Applebloom, just you wait! Your Granny won't save you again!"

What I learned from this episode:

• Applebloom and her friends call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Considering I'm posting under the name 'Knight Templar,' gotta give props to that.
• Even though non-Unicorns can't use magic, magic can still use them. It had to be some kind of 'fate' that Granny and her family happened to be seed collectors, happened to be sent to that plot of land, happened to starve, etc. I guess the Zap Apple trees got tired of timber wolves and other evils of the Forest being the only ones to enjoy them.
• Before actually watching this series, I had thought the Ponyverse would be more light and fluffy. no evil, a true paradise. The more I watch, the more I see things are not nearly so cut and dry, and great evils lurk around the realms.
• Are the Cutie Mark Crusaders considered secondary 'mane' characters? There was almost no sign of the 'mane' characters in this episode, besides brief appearances by Applejack. Not even a meddling Twilight or random Pinkie Pie, that I noticed.