And Applejack spends the journey first really being excited about seeing them again, then being nervous, considering how long they've been away, then being furious, considering how long they've been away.

I don't know what the circumstances would be, but I can only imagine Applejack exploding into a rant about them before they finally reach them, and then exploding into another one when they finally meet face to face.

Again, they could just have left a long time ago. Applejack doesn't bring it up, because everyone there already knows; they've been gone so long that... well, everything's been said already. A wistful wish on a pair of shooting stars that they might deign to show up for the biggest reunion in forever is about all there is to it anymore.

edited 22nd Dec '12 3:34:42 PM by Enlong

They might have been presumed dead...but they were just captured by pirates or something...

no, it was ninjas

@Enlong I prefer that over dead parents. I'm not sure if I even accept Word Of God on this mater, only in episode evidence (but I will not like it, they need to do something really good for me to like it)

And fact that they didn't appear or were mentioned during reunion is not proof because they didn't appear /were mentioned during previous reunions.

.....yeah, because they are dead, or presumed dead, and the show simply doesn't want to go that dark or depressing.

@Seraphem: No reason to believe they wouldn't. We just don't see them because Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are both old enough to live on their own.

Or they effectively abandoned Applejack and Applebloom.

Which might actually be more depressing than them being dead.

Or, to be a bit less depressing, they left them in Granny Smith's care to chase their fortunes/dreams a long time ago.

edited 22nd Dec '12 3:39:05 PM by Enlong

It's an interesting dynamic, her parents being dead. As said before...that she's strong despite it is a positive.

I'd probably lean towards dead. It just feels like it meshes with the setting better than abandonment would.

AJ's parents are alive and well, and were at the reunion... AJ just doesn't care about them. She recognizes their existence and little else. someone slap me real hard if this is too emo, because this is roughly a character element in my blog(which is going to be a bit more story-driven probably when it starts back up). Dumbbell's father abandoned the family after Bell's twin younger siblings were born. Bell took it hard at first, but eventually got used to it. when his dad came back later in Bell's life he was willing to forgive, but the fact of the matter was he hadn't seen his father in over a decade and had moved on by that point. They're on fine enough terms but they hardly ever speak and when it comes down to it Bell just doesn't consider his father that important.

@JT: Maybe that could be true with RD and Fluttershy, but how do you explain the abcense of Scootaloo's parents {And any other possible family members apart from any siblings since we know that she doesn't have those}? See, the more episodes with her that we don't see her parents or anyone else from her family, the more that I start to think that the "Orphan Scootaloo" fanon might actually be true, or that the writers are just teasing us.

edited 22nd Dec '12 3:58:27 PM by marston

Applejack is adopted. She just showed up under a table one day eating all the fritters at a reunion and Granny Smith adopted her. Her dad was the table. Her mom the table cloth.

Can you do that? Can you explode and then expldoe again?

@marston: The absence of Scootaloo's family isn't that weird. The show doesn't have so much running time that they can shove in additional characters just because they're related to characters we know. We barely get to see any family of the mane cast, with the exception of AJ, and the only reason we know about AB and SB's families is because they're related to the mane cast. Scootaloo has only had one episode, and it was focused on her relationship with RD, throwing her parents in there wouldn't have really added anything.

little baby applejack you can have all the apple fritters.

so, I'm watching wizard of oz, and I of course started thinking about ponies. specifically, a crossover. The beginning of oz is like canon material to crossover with any verse you want.

I'm kinda surprised it hasn't been done already.

AJ's parents are Force Ghosts.

so Fluttershy would be the lion Trixie would be the wicked witch Pinkie Pie the scarecrow?

edited 22nd Dec '12 4:31:57 PM by HeroShepherd

Trixie would probably be Oz actually. He is great and powerful after all.

edited 22nd Dec '12 4:33:31 PM by Crowfall

Re: [1]

That's pretty good! It's not the best quality, but it's cute nonetheless.

I... I just don't know what to say about this.

The Dread Pirate Roberts?

Methinks it was the other way around, in some ways.

---

You know, it's interesting how we're still having a debate about Applejack's parents' deadness. They're like... Schrodinger's parents?

All of the parents are dead.

Clearly, Trixie would be the mare behind the curtain. Pinkie and flutters sound about right, but who would be the tin man?

edited 22nd Dec '12 4:51:32 PM by Blissey1

In all seriousness I do find it curious they chose to be a bit ambiguous with Applejack's parents. The reason we all expected an answer is because her family is the most detailed in the show, even more so than Twilight's, and yet not a single mention of her parents. Even Lauren Faust admitted her team couldn't come to a decision when she was still on the show.

If they are dead, I don't see what's so taboo about directly saying so. As most of us know, you can't do a Batman cartoon without bringing up murdered parents at least once. How many Batman cartoons have there been? Yes, completely different franchise, but the fact remains that the people who make Batman cartoons think the hero having murdered parents is kid friendly. Not just dead, killed by a guy with a gun! Some of these cartoons even do a flashback to said killing! Seriously, it amazes me how many Batman cartoons have been allowed to exist as oppose to other superheroes with less dark/tragic backstories, but that's getting off topic.

The thing is those Batman cartoons aren't aimed at little kids. Obviously Batman: The Animated Series pushed the envelope in that area though Batman: The Brave and the Bold managed to get away with it as well. On the other hoof I've seen every episode of the old Adam West 60's version (I think) and Bruce's parents are never brought up at all. Back then it was probably of the thought that you can't do that in a show aimed at kids. The question becomes; how far along the sliding scale of Idealism vs.Cynicism is FiM? Are there any other kids shows that actually have dealt with dead parents?

edited 22nd Dec '12 5:21:26 PM by WillKeaton

Evening everypony. Sadly, I can't tell you if AJ has any living parents.