Catching Up With The Show. · 12:02pm Oct 26th, 2016
As usual, I got way behind on the latest couple of episodes for various reasons. Now that I'm all caught up with the rest of the fandom, I thought I would jot down my impressions here since I would rather not resurrect old forum threads with my opinions, and also because I have nothing better to do right now.
There will be some spoilers, of course, in case you are somehow even more behind than I am. Anyway, without further ado:
Where the Apple Lies:
This was one of those cringy episodes I had some trouble getting through. I don't like cringing, my face is not made for it. I still forced myself to watch it, though, since it has a ton of valuable canon lore and I'm obsessive that way.
Over-all, I thought the moral was kinda off. It struck me as less of a lesson in why you shouldn't lie, and more of a lesson in why you shouldn't lie poorly. The whole problem was that Applejack was making up lies on the spot without being able to take the ramifications into consideration. If this is the reason she never lies, then I think it kinda weakens her character. It suggests that she isn't being honest to a fault because she believes in honesty as a virtue, but rather because she was mildly traumatized by that one time her careless, impulsive lying almost got her brother's leg sawed off.
It reminds me of something Mark Twain said: "A cat who sits on a hot stove lid will never sit on a hot stove lid again, but she won't ever sit on a cold stove lid either." That is to say: When we learn from our experiences, we should take care to consider what we learned or we may miss the actual point.
Anyway, it's not like Applejack was the only one to blame here. For starters, Granny Smith could have actually told AJ and Mac why they didn't let Rich sell their cider way the hell earlier, rather than just saying "It's tradition!" This was obviously an issue that had come up before. Secondly, and more importantly, not only did Filthy more or less manipulate an inexperienced kid into a business deal, but when she tried to back out of it, he actually threatened her. That is completely unethical, and everything Applejack did from that point on was actually justified, albeit misguided, because she genuinely thought she was protecting the farm.
Oh well. The great part of the episode was all the background stuff. Notably, we saw a fully grown 80s Cheerilee wander by in the background, and also a grown Derpy, which is very interesting because it gives us more insight on various pony ages. We know Cheerilee is roughly the same age as Rarity because they were in the same class at school, and since Applejack still hadn't reached adult size at this point, we can assume she is quite a bit younger than Rarity. We also know that Derpy and Cheerilee were both fillies at the same time as Pinkie thanks to the Cheese Sandwich flashback, so Pinkie is probably about the same age as them. Notably, Pinkie is a year younger than Fluttershy, who is almost certainly the oldest of the Mane Six.
This seems to kinda confirm my assumption that Applejack is the youngest of the six, and by a noticeable margin at that.
It was also interesting to see young Filthy Rich, since this makes for one of the few examples we have of an adult pony aging in a noticeable way. It's curious when compared to Twilight's parents, who are implied to be older than Filthy yet look like they are the same age as their children and haven't aged at all since Twilight got her cutie mark. Maybe it's a unicorn thing?
On the stranger side of things, this episode suggests that the CMC and Diamond Tiara are way younger than I thought they were, or at least that the age gap between them and the Mane Six is way wider. Mainly because Filthy and Spoiled were just engaged, and Diamond and Apple Bloom should be more or less the same age. I suppose they could still have had Diamond by then anyway, but still, certainly nowhere near as far back as I calculated. And if we assume Apple Bloom was not yet born at the time, it all gets really weird. Where the hell are her parents?
The context strongly suggests that they were already missing, since AJ and Mac were arguing about taking over the farm while Granny was obviously in charge. So... where in Sheogorath's name did Apple Bloom come from? The story could be set before she was born and her parents were still around, or after she was born and her parents died or whatever. But neither being around makes no goddamned sense. 
Finally, Filthy's grandfather Stinkin' was apparently still alive at the time. In fact, considering Granny, it's possible he's still alive currently. Now, I don't buy the fanon that Granny has been alive for several hundred years, but it seems ponies do get very old.
Top Bolt
A fairly decent episode - it's always fun to see Twilight and Rainbow team up. The conflict was also rather complex for this show, and the character dynamic between Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail was pretty different from what we usually get.
The weakness of the episode, I guess, is that the problem basically sorts itself out on it's own with just some gentle nudging. Still, we did get some nice minor characters out of the whole thing.
To Where And Back Again:
Okay, before I go on, know that I went into this almost completely blind. Not because I go out of my way to avoid spoilers - goodness no! I simply hadn't been paying attention, so I basically had no idea what the season finale was going to be about.
At first, I was kinda doubtful - I wasn't really sure where they were going with the whole thing, and the start seemed kinda lackluster.
Then it went and turned seriously awesome.
Like, holy shit. Conceptually speaking, I'm not sure I could have written a better second changeling invasion story myself. This might actually be my favorite season finale so far. I even liked Discord's part, and I usually don't care much for Discord. And it had Trixie in a major hero role! In a finale! I sure as hell didn't see that coming, and it's amazing!
So, I guess the changelings are a bunch of cute good guys now? It's going to be really interesting to see what the fanfiction community does with that. Oh, and King Thorax is a goddamned pimp.
Man. So awesome.
And that's really all I have to say on the matter.
With regard to Filthy's aging, consider his wife and daughter. He probably has a lot more stress in his life compared to Twilight's parents.
But yeah, the temporal anomalies in that episode are very peculiar. I suspect more than a few details were glossed over to keep the story straightforward.
I am totally riding that "it weakens Applejack's character" argument for why I put that episode on the bottom of my list, now. :V Thank you.
4271858
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turned out Apple Bloom is either adopted, or actually the daughter of Applejack. Because at this point, that is pretty much the simplest explanation.
If they are sisters, then we're dealing with some spooky shit. This is the second flashback where a story is told to Apple Bloom from a time she was either too young to remember or not actually born, and her parents are missing in both of them. And they are clearly at least a couple of years apart.
If Apple Bloom was an infant or not yet born in this recent flashback, then her parents have to have been alive during the Cutie Chronicles flashback. Yet they didn't show up to say goodbye when their daughter left for Manehattan.
It's as if the Apples can't actually remember those two, and doesn't realize their memories make no sense. Like Mr and Mrs Apple were erased retroactively through some kind of Doctor Who bullshit.
4271858 4271906
Honestly, Applebloom not being present seems more like an oversight by the show staff than an indication of some grand Apple Family conspiracy. All they really needed to do was include a shot or two of the family taking care of a still-in-diapers Applebloom and that'd be that. It also isn't hard to envision that they did intend to include something along those lines, but ended up cutting it for whatever reason.
... Yes, I know it's more fun to drift into crazy headcanon analysis territory; I'm sorry for trying to spoil your fun,
Oh shit, I always thought the latter was the rule about lying. Maybe I should stop taking life lessons from mobsters that look like Johnny Depp.
4271906
At this point, I'm beginning to suspect that all three Crusaders simply manifested out of the æther. Rarity's parents seem to feel no particular bond with their younger daughter, Apple Bloom's a walking paradox, and Scootaloo's parents are stuck in a box with Schrödinger's cat.
4271950
Damn right. Shame on you.
4271972
I was actually thinking about bringing this issue up in a possible sequel to The Second Tiara. Basically Diamond v2 has been hanging out with the CMC for a while, and goes: "Doesn't it bother any of you that non of this is adding up?"
4271906 Maybe her mom died in childbirth and her dad abandoned the family?
4495467
That's not the point. When would that have happened?
Because if it happened just before the flashback in Where The Apple Lies, then they would have been around to see Applejack off in the Cutie Chronicles flashback.
And if it happened just before the flashback in The Cute Chronicles, Apple Bloom would have been around during Where The Apple Lies. She would have been a couple of years old, and constantly looked after by the rest of the family.