A-ha! bet you thought Cereal would be doing this followup, didn't you? Well, not today, faithful EQD viewers. Not today. I return from the depths of EQD once again to bring you this lovely...
Wait, an Applejack episode? I thought those didn't exist. Is this really...? Huh. It is. Alright then, I guess I'll be going over Apple Family Reunion today!
In all seriousness, this one was pretty fun. We got some nice continuity with Babs and other returning characters (BRAEBURN YES), and a few... unexpected ones. You'll see. Not only that, but we got an Applejack song! This is what I've been waiting for since the show started, and now I've finally got it. Man, it was great to hear Ashleigh Ball really sing.
But I digress. Let's get to the meat of it then, in this weeks followup!
Right off the bat, we've gotten a new pony saying: "Gesundhoof." I'll be expecting this phrase in fanfics from now on, so don't disappoint me. And believe me, I'll know. I'll know.
Let's go over all of the locations listed in this segment. Yonderhill, Hollow Shades, Galloping Gorge, Foal Mountain, Fillydelphia, Tall Tale Tail, Appleloosa, and Manehatten. Out of all of those, Hollow Shades seems the coolest. Have you seen that on the map of Equestria? If not, look it up.
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| Woah. |
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| Check out that sitting pose! Now we know how it works, without Lyra's help. |
HRNG. Wow baby Applejack is cute. I mean, just look at her big eyes and tongue stuck out and the way she says "I'm Appleja- HBNfrhrgbhdbdf.
Alright, I'm okay. I'm good. Just had a minor heart attack for a second there, no biggie.
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| Oh ho ho ho, I'll get to this later. |
This scene had some nice sisterly bonding between Applejack and Apple Bloom. She even gave up her bed for her littler sister! That's super cute, and really shows how much Applejack cares about her family and how she tries to do what's best for them.
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| Okay Cereal, here's your one scene of Rarity. Enjoy it. |
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| AUGH NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES! AAJHGHHA THEY'RE IN MY EYES! MY EEYYYEEESSS! |
Haha, that gold sugar dust came back, and now Applejack looks just like her blindbag wave 4 Special Edition counterpart. Subtle marketing, ho!
Spike is certainly turning out to be quite an all-purpose dragon, isn't he? Messaging service, pianist, announcer, jewel finder, chef, sarcasm engine, proxy Element of Loyalty, and now a lighter. He's really racking up the accomplishments.
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| More airships are never a bad thing. |
Yay, Babs is back, and so soon! I'm glad to see this bit of continuity, because a lot of times, characters like that will be a one shot and never heard from again. It's good to see her still recognized as a pony, and even moreso that Apple Bloom is excited to see her. Also, if you look closely, you'll notice that Babs is a bit bigger than Apple Bloom. I didn't notice this the first time around in One Bad Apple, but it's pretty noticeable here. I like the varying body types!
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| APPLEJACK. WAT R U DOIN? |
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| APPLEJACK. STAPH. |
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| How haven't they passed out ye- |
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| *WILHELM SCREAM* There it is. |
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| You know you've done this before. Don't lie. |
It's interesting to note that during the entirety of this scene, that brown pony on the right is constantly eating fritters. Also, the two ponies speaking in the beginning sound so Canadian. Right? You can back me up on that, right?
I can only imagine the amount of takes this scene took. I can't even think that line, let alone say. Peppy pony picked... a... uh... Yeah, see, I already forgot.
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| AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA |
Ooh, here's something new to add to your bestiary. Fruit bats! Literal fruit bats. I'm constantly surprised and the creative creatures they fit into this show. I mean, I know a lot of them are taken straight from Greek mythology and the like, but this kind of stuff is neat.
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| Welp. |
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| Aw, she doesn't want anypony to see her cry. She's too proud. |
Applejack song! Applejack song! Applejack so- Wait, Cloud Chaser? What are you even doing there? Cloud Chaser, you're drunk. Go home. You are not an Apple.
Let's just all take a moment to appreciate both the skill of this fiddle player and the animation that went into it. The motion is so smooth and graceful, and the way the hat moves! Good work, animation team.
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| Just had to slide in laying down, didn't you? |
I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was super happy to see Braeburn pop up again, even if he didn't talk. Look how adorable they are! Two cousins working together and having a good time. Beautiful.
And this is just cute. Look how tough they think they are! I love the CMC more and more.
Now then. The big one. You knew this was coming. You tried to avoid it. You tried to tell yourself I wasn't going to cover it, but I didn't forget. Oh no, not at all.
I'm sure a lot of us were thinking the same thing when this happened during the episode. Judging by the post about it, our suspicions were confirmed: These stars are meant to represent Applejack, Big Mac and Apple Bloom's parents.
Personally, I like that it's a subtle nod to Lauren's original intentions with Applejack as a character. As far as I know, she was never really planned out to have living parents. It's most certainly a very dark and serious subject to touch on, which is why this will probably be the only hint of it for the rest of the show. However, it's all we need. We can infer everything we need to from this short scene and the explanations that came from higher up afterwards. As tragic as it is, I feel it was a necessary loose end to clear up.
All in all, this was a decent episode. We saw a lot of familiar faces and got some new ones to boot, all while watching Applejack learn about the importance of spending time with family. And come on, Applejack song! Finally!
With that, we reach the end of our followup. Thanks for reading, everyone! Cereal will be back with you next week.
