Edit: Now it's the US's turn!
Well, now Australia's being all strange. The aired "Discordant Harmony" a few minutes ago, and they are airing "The Perfect Pear" tomorrow. As such, I'm going ahead and putting up the discussion thread for "The Perfect Pear" now.

I think I head this one was about how Applejack's parents met. Applejack's father is the notorious pirate Blackjack Pony, who terrorizes the high seas, in search of plunder and booty. One day, Applejack's mother is on a merchant ship he loots, and they fall in love. Now the two of them sail the high seas together, leaving Granny Smith to raise their children and staying one step ahead of the law ponies.

Okay, maybe I have no idea how Applejack's parents met. Pirates sure do come up a lot in the Apple family, though...

[

Anyways, you can discuss this here or discord, and I'll try to remember to bump it when Canada and the US air it.

--Sweetie Belle

5993539
Dear lord the maniacs really did it? Australians aired a new episode just like that? Madness!

And yes I too firmly support that AJ's parents are notorious pirates of the seven seas. After all why would Applejack own a boat and knew how to sail? Perhaps they were cursed to be unable to step on the land except once every ten years?

5993555
They did it, and I watched it. And they'll be doing this one tomorrow.

There are already some great animated gifs from "Discorded Harmony" up on derpibooru.

I'm hoping Applejack's parents were pirates. I'm not sure if the show writers are creative enough for that, though.

--Sweetie Belle

5993539
That synopsis is better than anything the writers could come up with for AJ's parents, I imagine.

No pirates.

Feels and a good song, though. And lots of flashbacks. This did turn out to be a Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco episode, too...

Think I'm gonna need to hunt up a copy of the song later.

Also:

--Sweetie Belle

Definitely good stuff.

Lots of feels, plenty of continuity Easter eggs, like the mayor's mane and the return of Goldie Delicious and Young & Hot Granny Smith. No Captain Kirk vs. Q in this episode, although Peter New gets to talk to himself.

Apple Bloom: Your name wasn't always Mrs. Cake?

Story nitpickers probably will gnash teeth at a re-hashing of the same story told in previous episodes with different characters, but it was spun a different way, so it was worth it, IMHO.

Now I have to get up for work in 3.5 hours.

That was a really good episode.

...is it available on Youtube or somewhere like that?

5994864
It's now up on Daily Motion http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5rh5nz_my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-s07e13-the-perfect-pear_webcam

Song:

Song!
--Sweetie Belle

Oh dear Lord, I cried. I honest to god cried at My Little Pony...

I think that's my new favorite episode of the series. It was beautifully done and nothing seemed out of place; it was like Mac's speech in "Brotherhooves Social" but extended full-length and yet keeping the same emotional feel throughout without feeling like it was manipulating you into feeling that way.

LOVED LOVED LOVED this episode! No doubt about it, it is now on my top ten favorite MLP:FiM episodes of ALL TIME!
So many tears, such a cute couple. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE! (As from the sound of it, them being dead is all but confirmed in word.) I hope we get to hear more stories about them in the future, but then that would probably be too much to ask for, wouldn't it?

5993539
A beautiful couple, and a beautiful episode...

While this episode neither confirms nor denies... it does give reason to believe that one of the Oranges is Bright Mac's sibling, since Granny had no problem letting Applejack go live in Manehattan.

This episode actually opens some AU possibilities: what if AJ had gone to Vanhoover instead of Manehattan when she was searching for her cutie mark?

The episode felt rather ‘telly’, but I guess that's unavoidable when the point of the episode is flashbacks. My major nitpick was when Pear Butter and Bright Mac meet as foals, but no attempt was made to make their voices match their age. That was hopelessly incongruous.

I think my favorite bit from this episode is that one of their parent's best friends is a previously introduced character; it was an excellent use of Mrs. Chiffon Swirl Cup Cake, and it helps the town's history feel tighter.

Young Granny Smith is adorable.

(Dinky spotted talking to young Granny Smith; obviously time travel is involved.)

5994856

No pirates.

Golden Delicious did use the phrase ‘thick as thieves’, though. And we don't know how they died. They could have become pirates later on, with their crewmates Chiffon Swirl and Burnt Oak. Once they found a stowaway on their ship after a raid; the other ship's young cook had climbed aboard in a foolhardy attempt to take back the stolen goods. Burnt Oak wanted to make him walk the plank, but Chiffon took a liking to this Carrot Cake, and he became a part of their ragtag crew.

They never talk about what happened to Buttercup and Bright Mac, but some say it had something to do with cursed treasure and undead skeleton pirates.

5994856

No pirates.

Well they didn't tell the story about what happened on their honeymoon*, now did they?

Also: Fuck yeah, William Shatner and Felicia Day!

*I can't back that up, I'm at work and can't watch the episode yet, so if they did tell about their honeymoon now I look like a complete dumbass,

EDIT: Snuck it in during lunch break!

Friendship is Magic first impressions review: The Perfect Pear (s07e13)
by Obake
(SPOILERS!)

I'm...genuinely surprised. This is the tale of how Applejack's parents met, something I was not looking forward to. Was Hasbro really making the Apple parents Romeo and Juliet style lovers, caught between family feuds? Yes. But despite the episode having a number of problems, it still mostly works.

Part of this may be because the perspective is different than most Romeo and Juliet stories. The couple's ventures are told in flashback, with the presumption that they have been gone a long time. Although death is not mentioned, it is one of those rare cases where that may actually be a plus. This is first and foremost a love story, with the implied tragedy left to the viewer's interpretation.

Applebloom is intrigued to learn of a long standing feud between the Apple and Pear families. Warned that Granny Smith never speaks about it, Bloom and her siblings go to various people to hear the full story. They learn of the rivalry between the families in the early days of Ponyville. Both were vicious competitors in the market place. Granny and Grand Pear even sold wares in adjacent concession stands, doing their darnedest to outsell one other.

One of Granny's foals, Bright Macintosh, fell in love with one of Grand Pear's foals, Pear Butter. The two grew up as secret friends, and as they grew older, their relationship blossomed into romance. When Bright decided to take Pear Butter's hoof in marriage, Grand Pear was furious, moving with the rest of his family far away. Granny Smith, having witnessed Pear Butter's heartbreak, warms up to her new daughter-in-law.

There is real emotion in this. Pear Butter's family not only disowned her, but made Granny Smith even more resentful towards them. How could a family leave their own child like that? The episode ends with Granny and Grand Pear finally meeting after years of resentment. They realize they have been foolish, and end the rivalry. This is a happy ending that not only fits the spirit of the show, but is well earned. Both have endured the weight of tragedy and secrecy, and deserve closure.

The episode is not without problems. Like Bright and Pear Butter's first meeting as foals. They have the same style of design as the Cake twins, yet inexplicably speak with adult voices. There is also the usual issue of unnecessary dialogue where silence and emotion would work better. I am also not keen on the ending of the Apple's and Grand Pear sitting to look at the trees Bright and Pear Butter planted. Yes, the apple and pear trees are twisted together in a symbolic representation of their everlasting love, but how come none of the Apple's ever noticed or mentioned it until now?

Honestly, this episode is a great surprise. Despite all of its problems, it manages to convey a heartfelt tale of the couple that would become the Apple parents. Oh, and feature guest voice William Shatner as Grand Pear, which is both strange and awesome.

I'm actually crying ;-; It got me gooood.

5993539
Wow. That was amazing. This episode has to get an award for writing and music. MLP really can be everything. We have funny and lighthearted episodes, action-packed adventures, and now something so emotional and beautiful. It's just wonderful. And while there have been great songs in this show, the love song in this episode is the one I want to listen to over and over again. It doesn't matter that this is a story as old as time once you strip the episode to its core, the wedding is as heartbreaking now as when you heard it first.

I'm reminded of the second half of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, and that's the last thing I expected out of an MLP episode.

You know a show is great when they can just throw in Captain Kirk as an afterthought.

5994979
Granny Smith always sounded 80 years old too.

It's like how Patrick Stewart was born as a 12-inch figurine of Jean Luc Picard.

5994883
I thought it was a little strange that even Big Mac knows almost nothing about their parents. I guess they were always away from the farm, probably doing business on behalf of the farm in other parts of Equestria.

Something else that bothered be was where all the other Apples and Pears went. I guess they spread out all over the place, but why this generation in particular? It seems there had always been many Apples in Ponyville until recently.

5993539

Cute episode, nice to finally get to know a bit about AJ's folks. The Romeo & Juliet plot wasn't exactly groundbreaking but, eh, it worked pretty well.

Looking back at it, it seems to me that the implication was that Granny's "gets so mad she can't even talk" reaction to the Pears being brought up was less about their feud (which seemed like more of a standard rivalry than a serious vendetta) and more about Grand Pear effectively disowning his daughter simply for marrying an Apple, though this was never said outright. That's actually surprisingly subtle for this show.

Also, just like with Hard To Say Anything, it's nice to see that the show doesn't shy away from telling genuine love stories once in a while.

Finally, this episode more or less confirmed my headcanon on how pony names work: There are no actual surnames, but ponies occasionally change their names to thematically match their spouses or talents. Chiffon Swirl straight up changed her name to Cup Cake, so "Cake" is not actually a surname. Meanwhile, it seems Pear Butter kept her original name, but started going by her nickname full time so even her kids assumed Buttercup was her actual name.

The fact that Bright and Buttercup never showed up in any of the other flashback episodes where Apple Bloom wasn't present still don't make any goddamned sense, but I guess this episode at least didn't make that issue worse.

5995662

5993539
We also have some concrete numbers on pony age.

The song was at their 131456 hour anniversary. That works out to 15 years. Considering they met as toddlers, they were 17-18 years old in that scene.

5995703

Nice observation.

5993539
Yeah yeah whatever p😡

5994979 Yeah, that's the one complaint I have about the episode too. Those voices coming from foals appearing to be the age of Pound and Pumpkin was a bit off.

Otherwise, it was a great episode.

5994996
Goldie Delicious. Golden Delicious is actually a different pony that appeared in the reunion that took place on the Summer Sun Festival in the first episode.

I liked how Bright Macintosh was basically Big Mac with Apple Bloom's color scheme and a mane style a little more like Applejack in the front.
And AJ got her mom's mane color as her coat color and her dad's coat color as her mane color...

5996766
It's a shame they already blew the "Applejack has hundreds of identical hats" gag, because... that's her dad's hat. (Although given her father's larger build, you could argue that his hat wouldn't fit her, but then how do you fit a hat on a horse anyway?)

5996795
My own headcanon is that she keeps her dad's hat somewhere safe and just has lots of duplicates to wear on a day to day basis.

5996795

how do you fit a hat on a horse anyway?

Carefully, approaching from the front in an open space. And you should be quite familiar with the horse to begin with.

Wow, I did not even realize that Grand Pear was voiced by William Shatner... I just looked it up.

5997152
I knew it as soon as I heard it - but only because I'd been anticipating it all season. (Shatner announced that he'd voiced in an episode before the season started). It was a suprisingly understated performance, actually. With how softly spoken Grand Pear is, it's hard to tell that it's Kirk.

5997074
So that's where I've been going wrong!

"The Perfect Pear" is the highest-rated MLP episode on IMDB, at 9.8/10.

5997650
And it's based on a reasonable number of reviews too, not just a handful.

5993539 The second part of the episode was alright, but the first half dragged on a bit. The animation wasn't well matched with voice acting which was kind of jarring (foals with adult voices, emotional Grand Pear with serious laid back voice).

All through the episode I couldn't help but wonder, why didn't they just go talk to the Grand Pear? They'd rather risk a whole day and their lives to travel to the cat pony than go to the center of Poniville? It makes no sense.

And why did Granny Smith hold a grudge against the Grand Pear? She did exactly the same thing he did at the wedding. The only difference was that it wasn't her family falling apart.

5998050
The difference between Grand Pear and Granny Smith, at the wedding, was that Grand Pear essentially disowned his daughter, and Granny Smith immediately after went up to try and comfort Pear Butter. He was willing to split his family apart, she was willing to add to hers. Pretty big difference to me. And that kind of betrayal of family is probably something Granny Smith remembered.

Also, the point of the Apples not talking to Grand Pear is that there's a bit of a feud, and for a while they don't know why, so they'd rather go to their own family first to be safe.

The best MLP episode I've seen in a while. Don't get me wrong, season seven is good, but this episode was great for me. Heck, the song is even stuck in my head. It usually means I like it. This does not happen a lot for me when it comes to MLP songs (excluding the smile song and Hearts Strong as Horses).

5994979
5995216
5996317
5998050

Regarding the toddlers talking like adults, keep in mind that the scene was related by Goldie Delicious, presumably based on an account by Bright and/or Butter many years after the fact. (Since nopony else were around to witness their first meeting.)

So it's possible that was just how Goldie or the Apple kids imagined it, and they used Bright and Butter's adult voices because they had no idea what they sounded like as young foals. Given their age at the time, it's possible (even probable) that the real conversation was quite different. In short, it's unreliable narration.

I mean, I agree it was a somewhat odd choice. Just playing a bit of devil's advocate.

5998603
I like the viewpoint of translated baby/toddler babbling.

Sis, if we hate pears so much then why is mom's grave a pear tree?
I don't know, but whatever you do don't let Granny Smith know she's buried here. You know how pears trigger her.

5998050

And why did Granny Smith hold a grudge against the old Pear? She did exactly the same thing he did at the wedding. The only difference was that it wasn't her family falling apart.

She held a grudge against him since the day he was born.

5998454>>5998658 Granny Smith didn't have to deal with her child going away. The opposite was true. Her family just grew bigger by one more member. Who knows what she would have done if Bright McIntosh decided to move with the Pears. She wouldn't be so accepting then, I imagine.

5999143
Given how quickly she accepted Pear Butter, I think she would have been more accepting. Certainly not to the level of moving away and leaving him behind.
5995216
5998658
In retrospect... yeah, I know Granny doesn't get out into the orchard much, but... did the younger Apples never question why that obviously-symbolic trees were there? Who put them there anyway?

5999182

Certainly not to the level of moving away and leaving him behind.

The move away was already set before the marriage. If the two wanted to be together, they'd either have to move away together or stay together. If Bright McIntosh said he was going to move along with the Pears, Grany Smith might react the same way Grand Pear did. What I'm saying is Grany Smith had it easy because her family wasn't falling apart and was, in fact, getting bigger.

Grand Pear did nothing wrong. The move was already set, so there were only 3 possible scenarios at play:
a) Pear Butter and Bright McIntosh go with Pears
b) Pear Butter and Bright McIntosh stay with Apples
c) Pear Butter and Bright McIntosh separate

Grand Pear essentially said, "The move is still on. If you want to stay behind, it's up to you." If anything, he should be commended for not forcing Pear Butter to go with him against her wishes.

5999185

Grand Pear essentially said, "The move is still on. If you want to stay behind, it's up to you." If anything, he should be commended for not forcing Pear Butter to go with him against her wishes.

Given that he effectively disowned her and never came back until the present day, I don't see much logic in commending him for doing the lesser of two evils when he could have done something good, like visiting or supporting her or being a part of the lives of his grandchildren. I really don't see anything to commend him for.

5999209
If this is the first time he's been back to Ponyville, that also means that he didn't even come to his daughter's funeral. Feud or no feud, Granny Smith isn't so cold not to send a letter telling him what happened to Butter Pear, which means he chose not to attend. Sure sounds like grudge material to me.

5999209

he could have done something good, like visiting or supporting her or being a part of the lives of his grandchildren.

Pear Butter didn't visit him, either.

5998658

why is mom's grave a pear tree?

Wasn't that the tree they planted at their wedding?