Recap / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S7 E13 "The Perfect Pear"

Love blooms like two certain fruits.

"If anything's gonna make it through, it's apples and pears."

— Applejack

Special Guest Stars: William Shatner as Grand Pear, Felicia Day as Pear Butter
Written by: Joanna Lewis and Kristina Songco

While shopping at the Ponyville Market, Apple Bloom is given a free jar of pear jam from Grand Pear, an elderly stallion who has recently moved from Vanhoover back to Ponyville. When she takes it home, Applejack and Big Mac rush to hide the jar from Granny Smith. Once Granny is out of earshot, Applejack warns Apple Bloom that there was a feud between the Apples and the Pears, but they realize they don't know the nature of the feud when Apple Bloom asks about it. Since Granny refuses to talk about it, they decide to visit their cousin Goldie Delicious in order to learn about this part of the family history.

Goldie shows the Apple siblings that before they were born, the farm next to Sweet Apple Acres was owned by the Pear family. Under Grand Pear's management, the Pears engaged in a fierce business rivalry with the Apples. The only two family members who saw eye to eye were the youngest, Pear Butter (Grand Pear's daughter) and Bright Macintosh (Granny's son). The Apple siblings recognize Bright Mac as their father's name, and Goldie reveals that their mother, Buttercup, was originally named Pear Butter before marrying Bright Mac. They're all shocked to learn they are half-Pear.

Goldie can't provide more details (partially because her cheetah is guarding the next volume of the Apple family history), so she suggests they talk to Burnt Oak, Bright Mac's friend when they were colts. Burnt Oak recalls that as they grew older, Bright Mac became smitten even more with Pear Butter, but Grand Pear discovered this and kept her away from him. Burnt Oak directs them to Mrs. Cake, who was Pear Butter's friend while they grew up. She similarly notes that Pear Butter was smitten with Bright Mac too, with Granny intervening in their relationship as well. Despite their elders' wishes, the two continued to see each other in secret, and they carved a rock showcasing their love for each other in the woods between the farms. The next day, Grand Pear decided it was time to move the Pears to Vanhoover under the pretense of having more space to expand their orchards, so as to put an end to the couple's relationship. Teary-eyed, Pear Butter told Bright Mac that she needs to stay with her family and prepared to leave with them.

Mrs. Cake takes the Apples to Mayor Mare, who explains that on the eve of the Pears' departure, Bright Mac had arranged for her to marry him and Pear Butter in secret, with Burnt Oak and Mrs. Cake as witnesses. To show their lasting love for each other, they planted an apple and pear seed at the base of the rock they carved before as part of their wedding vows. Grand Pear and Granny Smith discovered the marriage, and Grand Pear insisted that Pear Butter leave with her family. She refused, claiming that the Apples are her family now, too. And the two Pears confront each other one final time...

Grand Pear: Are you choosing to be an Apple over being a Pear?!
Pear Butter: [tearing up] Are you making me choose?
[Grand Pear pauses, his glare softening]
Grand Pear: Yes. I am.
Pear Butter: Then, yeah. I guess I am.
[Grand Pear rears back from shock and heartbreak... but lets his pride get the better of him]
Grand Pear: Fine!

Grand Pear then angrily leaves, leaving a teary and heartbroken Pear Butter behind to be comforted by Bright Mac and Granny Smith, who takes her in out of sympathy.

Both Mrs. Cake and Mayor Mare know their stories are harsh, and didn't know the best time to tell the Apple siblings, but Applejack believes that now is the time to reconcile the past bitterness. They first go to see Grand Pear, who reveals he really returned to Ponyville to make amends for the mistakes that have kept him from his family for years. The siblings readily forgive him and accept him as their grandfather, and then take him to see Granny Smith who, after a bit of hostility, realizes Grand Pear has put aside the feud. Recalling the stories they heard, the siblings realize that Bright Mac and Pear Butter did leave a legacy for their families to remember them by. They take Grand Pear and Granny Smith to the carved rock in the middle of the woods, where the elders are surprised to discover that the seeds that Bright Mac and Pear Butter planted have grown into two highly intertwined apple and pear trees around the rock. The five hug and remember the couple.

*"You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song" plays over the credits*

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Tropes:

• Accidental Declaration of Love: After Buttercup ends her anniversary present song to Bright Mac with the lyrics, "And you should not blame me too / If I can't help falling in love with you", she blushes and covers her mouth. Bright Mac reveals he had been planning to tell her he loved her soon after, but she beat him to it, easing her embarrassment and taking their relationship to the next level.
• Acting Unnatural: Applejack casually leans on the pile of dirt covering the jar of pear jam in the broken kitchen floor when Granny Smith enters. Granny hops on top of the pile of dirt and leaves without care.
• An Aesop:
  • Bringing up personal history isn't always so simple. The trick is to know when is the right time to share it.
  • Learning about family history can be a fulfilling experience. Applejack herself lampshades that learning about her late parents has brought her and the apple siblings closer than before.
  • Don't let a rivalry go on unchecked. No family feud is worth pursuing at the expense of your own family.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Bright Macintosh took to calling Pear Butter "Buttercup" after she successfully used a buttercup to make her chin glow during their first meeting.
  • After she and her siblings reconcile with Grand Pear, Apple Bloom asks if she can call him "Grand-Père Pear".
• Altar the Speed: When Bright Mac finds out that Pear Butter is going to move out of Ponyville, he secretly arranges for a wedding to happen that very same night so the two of them can be together.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • When Applejack and Big Mac make a huge fuss over the feud between the Apples and the Pears, Apple Bloom responds with a simple question that puts them at a complete loss:
    Apple Bloom: Why?
    Applejack: WHY?! [Beat] Well, uh... actually, I'm not really sure.
  • Pear Butter later poses a question to Grand Pear when he confronts her over marrying an Apple:
    Grand Pear: Are you choosing to be an Apple over being a Pear?!
    Pear Butter: [tearing up] Are you making me choose?
    [Grand Pear pauses, his glare softening]
    Grand Pear: Yes. I am.
    Pear Butter: Then, yeah. I guess I am.
• The Atoner: Grand Pear came back to Ponyville from Vanhoover to finally reconcile with his long-lost family and put the feud behind him.
• Babies Ever After: One point where the plot deviates from that of Romeo and Juliet is Bright Mac and Pear Butter have three healthy foals.
• Background Music Override: Instead of the normal credits theme, an instrumental of "You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song" plays.
• The Bard on Board: The episode is a Whole-Plot Reference to Romeo and Juliet starring Applejack's parents and their feuding families, but with a Bittersweet Ending rather than a Downer Ending.
• Berserk Button: The reason why Applejack and Big Mac couldn't get Granny Smith's side of the story about their parents is because she would get angry at just mentioning the Pear Clan or Grand Pear when she tries to talk about them. Even the sight of Pear products is enough to set her off on a tantrum that really scares Applejack and Big Mac. The reason is because Granny Smith was truly upset at Grand Pear for the act of disowning his daughter, Pear Butter.
• Big Entrance: After the Apple siblings knock on Goldie's door, it bulges outward and explodes in a mess of books, furnishings, and other items that had to fit in the cabin's Hammerspace. After the avalanche stop, a "cat"-amari ball rolls over the pile and lands at their hooves; the cats fly off to reveal Goldie sitting there.
  Goldie Delicious: Now that's how you make an entrance! Or was that exit?
• Big "WHAT?!":
  • Frequently used by all three Apple siblings, though the largest is when Apple Bloom comes over with a jar of pear jam in the opening, causing Big Mac and Applejack to panic.
  • It's also used by Granny Smith and Grand Pear when they discover their children are in love and about to marry each other.
• Bittersweet Ending: Bright Mac and Pear Butter succeed in defying their families' feud by marrying each other and raising a family of their own. The Apple siblings come to terms with the fact that they're related to the Pears, whom they had a negative impression of due to rumors of the Apple/Pear feud, and their grandparents are finally able to bury the hatchet after so many decades. However, both Bright Mac and Pear Butter are all but stated to have died, meaning they never got to see the end of the family feud, and Grand Pear never had the chance to reconcile with his daughter before she passed on.
• Bluebird of Happiness: Kind-of, in a Somewhere, an Ornithologist Is Crying sort of way. The bird used by Bright Mac and Pear Butter to exchange messages in secret is a bluish-tinted black-capped chickadee, fittingly bringing much happiness to the Star-Crossed Lovers.
• Call-Back: When asked about the feud between the Pears and Apples and unable to answer, Applejack gets the idea to ask Goldie Delicious, the historian of the Apple family, first introduced in "Pinkie Apple Pie".
• Call-Forward: In a flashback, Granny Smith is seen reading a bedtime story to her trees, just like Applejack was seen doing back in "Over a Barrel". Grand Pear also tucks his trees in at night, which Applejack also does in the same episode.
• Cardiovascular Love:
  • Just in case their love isn't already obvious, both Bright Mac and Pear Butter are sometimes surrounded by popping pink hearts as they are making goo-goo eyes at each other.
  • The intertwined apple and pear trees they planted the day of their wedding now form a Heart Symbol in the empty space between the foliage.
• Casting Gag:
  • The episode utilized William Shatner's background as a Shakespearian Actor well by casting him in this affectionate retelling of Romeo and Juliet. He also happens to be an expert horse rider and breeder (i.e., an equestrian).
  • Felicia Day voices the romantic interest of a character in a series with Nick Confalone, Neal Dusedau, and Meghan McCarthy as writers. Why is that familiar?
• Character Development: Big Macintosh, while still somewhat laconic, is speaking in complete sentences more often. He's also interacting more with Apple Bloom, really playing the part of the reliable older brother after "Brotherhooves' Social".
• Chekhov's Gunman: Burnt Oak can be seen among the background ponies at the market in the episode's first scene.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Bright Mac and Buttercup first met when they were only tiny foals, and despite the issue of their Feuding Families they eventually fell in love, got married and had children.
• Connected All Along: Mrs. Cake reveals she was a close friend of the Apple's mother, Pear Butter, while Mayor Mare officiated Pear Butter and Bright Mac's wedding.
• Continuity Nod:
  • The moon in the flashbacks is sporting the "Mare in the Moon" spots since it is before Nightmare Moon's return.
  • When first shown in love with Pear Butter, Bright Mac has the exact same love heart bubbles over his head that Macintosh Junior will one day have for Sugar Belle.
  • Mayor Mare is shown with a pink mane in the flashbacks, reflecting the newspaper article from "Ponyville Confidential" that shows pink is her natural mane color.
  • Mayor Mare is also shown as the town record-keeper, as seen in "The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows".
• Cool Old Guy:
  • Grand Pear, in his old age, has mellowed out considerably from his anger. He still makes the best pear jam.
  • Burnt Oak, an old woodcutter who was close friends with Bright Mac, and a lover of telling stories.
• Creative Closing Credits: Instead of the Friendship Is magic theme, "You're in my Head Like a Catchy Song" plays over the end credits.
• A Day in the Limelight: Goldie Delicious, younger Granny Smith, Mrs. Cake, and Mayor Mare all play key roles after being Out of Focus in previous episodes.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Of all the parents of the Mane Six, Bright Mac and Pear Butter get more Backstory in one episode than anypony else and are parents that anypony could be proud of.
• Disappeared Dad: While this episode more or less solves the mystery of the Apple siblings' parents, Bright Mac's father is never seen. Neither is Pear Butter's mother. Possibly justified by The Law of Conservation of Detail. Most of the episode was characters that hadn't been seen until this point, and there was barely enough time to tell the story as-is.
• Distracted by the Sexy: As old Burnt Oak points out, Bright Mac could easily get distracted on seeing Pear Butter. That's how he once ends up smashing through a water silo on the Pears' farmland during a plowing race with young Burnt Oak.
• Doomed by Canon: While the show follows a Never Say "Die" mentality, we know from the start of the episode that Pear Butter and Bright Mac are nowhere to be found in their children's lives, with the heavy implication that they're dead.
• Double-Meaning Title: The title is both a reference to the Apples' relation to the Pears, and a pun on "the perfect pair".
• Early-Bird Cameo: Bright Mac and Pear Butter were briefly seen, sans faces, in Applejack's dream bubble holding a foal A.J. back in "A Royal Problem".
• Ear Ache: When Granny Smith walks on Bright Mac and Pear Butter secretly dating, she drags her son away by catching his ear with her mouth. That still doesn't stop him from smiling and winking at Buttercup.
• Ear Worm: Invoked by Pear Butter singing "You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song".
• Everyone Has Standards: Granny Smith proved as much as she hated the Pear Family and as much as she was against Bright Mac marrying Pear Butter, she would've never gone as far as actually disowning her son. Which is why she's so shocked when Grand Pear disowns Pear Butter.
• Exploding Closet: When the Apple siblings knock at the door of Goldie Delicious's cottage, said door bulges outward and explodes in an avalanche of books and furniture entirely covering the front lawn. Furthermore, a ball of her cats rolls out and away.
• Feuding Families: The Apple and Pear families were in hostile competition against each other, to the point where members of each family were forbidden to talk with the others. As Apple Bloom learns, even bringing anything pear-related into the Apple household is a serious breach.
• Flowers of Romance: Bright Mac puts a flower (a buttercup, appropriately) in Pear Butter's mane during the picnic where they admit their love to each other. We see that she keeps wearing it, up to the day of their wedding.
• Foregone Conclusion: Bright Mac and Pear Butter obviously end up together despite their parents' meddling, and Grand Pear's kind treatment of Apple Bloom in the first scene shows he would outgrow his petty rivalry with the Apples. It is more subtly done with the fact that the Apple siblings never knew about their Pear lineage, which foreshadows the falling out between Pear Butter and her father.
• Foreshadowing: Overlapping with Meaningful Name, Grand Pear sounds a lot like "Grandpa", and even more like the French "grand-père", meaning the same thing. He is later revealed to be the maternal grandfather of Big Mac, Applejack and Apple Bloom.
• Framing Device: The story is framed by the Apple Family learning the backstory behind their parents.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus:
  • A rather grim one: At the end of the scene with Goldie Delicious, she accidentally falls a short height off the pile of stuff from her cabin. The cheetah, who has been lazing the entire scene, looks down at Goldie, stands up, and licks its lips at it seems ready to step down, just before the scene changes.
  • When Big Mac trots away from Burnt Oak, right before it cuts to the next scene, an eagle-eyed viewer can spot Twilight Sparkle hanging out with what looks like Aloe the spa pony in the background.
• Friend to All Children: Grand Pear appears to be such in the Cold Open, offering Apple Bloom a free sample of his pear jam and then giving her a jar of it for free after seeing she likes it. But then, we learn she is his granddaughter, something he was fully aware of, so he might have just gave it to her on account of being family.
• Gasp!: Pear Butter gasps when she learns that the Pears are moving away from Ponyville — and so do the three Apple siblings when they hear this part of the story.
• Gentle Giant: Bright Macintosh, absolute Nice Guy and as large as Big Macintosh.
• Girlish Pigtails: Chiffon Swirl had these in her youth, styled to resemble cupcake frosting.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: Both the Apples and the Pears are such huge rivals that it threatens to break apart Bright Mac and Pear Butter's relationship. In this case, the Apples are A Lighter Shade of Grey given that they easily accept Pear Butter as an Apple, while Grand Pear effectively disowns her as a Pear when she marries Bright Mac, though he redeems himself by reconciling with the Apple family later.
• Hammerspace Hair: A white cat emerges from Goldie's hair at one point, making it another trait she shares with Pinkie Pie.
• Hand Wave: This being a series where a pony's cutie mark tends to indicate his or her heritage, the Apple siblings are confounded over how they never realized their own mother was a Pear. Goldie Delicious simply points out that her cutie mark, a jar of fruit preserves, could easily be read as either a jar of apple butter or pear butter.
• Happily Married: Goldie Delicious speaks of Pear Butter and Bright Mac's relationship as being a "beyond the rainbow" sort of love that was so potent it made anypony near them feel happier.
• Hard Truth Aesop: If your family doesn't agree with an important life choice you're making, you may be forced to choose one or the other. Pear Butter was disowned by her father for marrying Bright Mac and they never spoke again for the rest of her life. She stayed Happily Married to Bright Mac and had three foals with him, but didn't get there without a bit of heartache.
• I Have No Daughter!: Grand Pear cut off ties with Pear Butter for marrying Bright Mac. He regrets it to this day, especially after his daughter's death or absence, redeeming himself by reconciling with the Apple family.
• The "I Love You" Stigma: Averted. Pear Butter lets it slip during her song and tries to pretend it didn't happen, but Bright Mac is all over it. In fact, Bright Mac is playfully upset because he had a big fancy plan to say it first, and Pear Butter beat him to it by accident.
• Insult of Endearment: After reconciling, Granny calls Grand Pear "Prickly Pear", and he in turn calls her "Crabapple", but it's all good-natured.
• Irony: Applejack was replaced by a Changeling that ate a Pear in "To Where and Back Again – Part 1". While it was originally intended as a giveaway of the impostor's true identity, this episode now makes it look like Applejack is now okay with eating Pears.
• Jerkass: Both Granny Smith and Grand Pear did not like each other or their families when they were younger, and frequently went off whenever they saw their kids together. They both got better, Granny Smith far earlier.
• Jerkass Realization: Granny Smith does this after the wedding, accepting Pear Butter/Buttercup when she states that the Apples are part of her family. Grand Pear takes a little bit longer, but he reconciles both with his long-lost family and Granny Smith by the end.
• Kissing Discretion Shot: Used a few times until Bright Mac and Pear Butter get a successful on-screen kiss during their hidden wedding.
• A Lighter Shade of Grey: While neither Grand Pear nor Granny Smith are sympathetic due to their extreme rivalry, Granny Smith ultimately accepts Bright Mac and Pear Butter's marriage while Grand Pear refuses.
• Like Parent, Like Child: During the various tales of their parents, the Apple siblings learn they each gained an attribute from their parents: Applejack got Bright Mac's honesty, Apple Bloom gained Pear Butter's intuition on what a pony's special talent is, and Big Mac got the couple's combined humble and sweet-tempered nature. Both Big Mac and Applejack got their musical talent (singing and song writing, and guitar playing, respectively) from Pear Butter. The three siblings, on varying degrees, also got Bright Mac's carpentry skills, while Apple Bloom alone inherited his clumsiness. Applejack also inherited the habit of wearing a hat at all times from her father.
• Loophole Abuse: Pear Butter doesn't want to leave Bright Mac, but she can't leave her family. Then, when she marries Bright Mac and her father finds out, she says that the Apples are now her family too. Since the secret wedding was Bright Mac's idea, it was probably invoked on his part instead of hers.
• Meaningful Background Event: After Grand Pear disowns his daughter and the scene switches back to present day, Big Mac can be seen comforting Apple Bloom while Applejack complains about how things went to Mrs. Cake and Mayor Mare.
• Meaningful Name: Grand Pear's name is a rough homophone of the French word "grand-père" (grandfather).
• Meaningful Rename:
  • We learn that Mrs. Cake was originally named Chiffon Swirl before marrying Mr. Cake.
  • Also, Pear Butter starts going only by her previous nickname of "Buttercup" once she becomes an Apple. In this case, "Buttercup" represents the nickname that Bright Mac gave her after seeing her for the first time in a field of buttercups.
• Mondegreen Gag: A visual variant. Goldie Delicious misreads "Feud with the Pears" as "Feud with the Bears". Her eyes aren't as good as they used to be.
• Morton's Fork: Pear Butter is presented with this: move to Vanhoover with her family and lose Bright Mac, or marry Bright Mac and lose her original family. When Pear chooses to stay with Bright Mac, Grand Pear disowns her on the spot.
• Must Make Amends:
  • Grand Pear's choice to return to Ponyville years after Pear Butter leaves the family is so he can bury the hatchet with her surviving relatives.
  • When Bright Mac accidentally wrecked Grand Pear's water silo, he spent several weeks worth of breaks from chores to make a new one.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Grand Pear's expression when he meets with the Apple Siblings and explains his regret over his mistake makes it clear he's long since had this reaction to disowning his daughter.
• Mythology Gag: Bright Mac's design is a slightly altered version of G1's Tex.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: Grand Pear disowns Pear Butter when she chooses to stay with Bright Mac and doesn't come back until long after the Apple parents are dead or gone. He is, however, able to reconcile with the Apple siblings.
• Never Say "Die": Downplayed. In all but exact words, this episode confirms that Bright Mac and Buttercup/Pear Butter are dead. Several characters tear up when reminiscing about Bright Mac and Pear Butter, and Apple Bloom even comments that their parents left them the rock and intertwined trees to "remember them by".
• Nice Guy: Bright Mac particularly stands out, fully owning up to accidentally knocking over the Pears' water silo and fixing it for them so Pear Butter wouldn't pay for his mistake. He's also Sickeningly Sweethearts with Pear Butter and is the one to initiate contact, never saying a bad word about either side.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Burnt Oak seems to be a pony caricature of Sam Elliott. He's even first seen with Jeff Letrotski, referencing Elliott's role in The Big Lebowski.
• Obligatory Joke: In a story about the Apple siblings' parents, it would have been quite surprising to never hear the expression "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Apple Bloom obliges, about Applejack sharing Bright Macintosh's honesty.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Pear Butter was only ever referred to as Buttercup so her kids didn't know her real name or her relationship to the Pear family.
• Outliving One's Offspring: It's all but stated Bright Mac and Pear Butter are deceased, and thus this is the case with Granny Smith and Grand Pear respectively. Even more tragic in the latter case, as he didn't even get to make amends with his daughter.
• Parting-Words Regret: Pear Butter is heavily implied to be dead, with her father Grand Pear disowning her for marrying Bright Mac being the last time they met. Come modern day, it's clear Grand Pear decidedly regrets it.
• Pride: The main failing of both the Apples and the Pears; neither side was willing to accept the relationship between Bright Mac and Pear Butter because family pride and the business rivalry mattered more than potentially bridging the gap.
• Relationship Reveal: A couple, actually. Not only are the Apple siblings all half-Pear, but Mrs. Cake used to be their mother's best friend.
• Seasonal Baggage: "You're in My Head Like a Catchy Song" features a montage of all four seasons passing by while Pear Butter and Bright Macintosh walk side by side.
• Serenade Your Lover: Pear Butter made a whole song to profess her love for Bright Mac.
• Series Continuity Error: For one scene of Pear Butter and Bright Mac's courting, we see Sugarcube Corner, looking like it does on the present day, despite being set before any of the Mane Six were born. However, the first alternate timeline of "The Cutie Re-Mark – Part 1" showed it looking like a plain bakery, implying that without Pinkie Pie coming to Ponyville it wouldn't have gained its gingerbread house appearance.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Chiffon Swirl is fully supportive of the relationship between her best friend and Bright Mac. Burnt Oak was implied to be this too; both of them are even shown in attendance at the couple's secret wedding, likely as witnesses to the union.
  • The bluebird Bright Mac and Pear Butter use to send messages to each other is this as well, smiling as Pear Butter looks at the picture Bright Mac drew of her.
• Shout-Out:
  • Jeff Letrotski is in a bathrobe and has a cart full of room-sized rugs.
  • During the song, Bright Mac and Pear Butter drinking a milkshake with straws leads to an Accidental Kiss, in a clear reference to Lady and the Tramp.
  • Bright Mac and Pear Butter's seeds at the wedding growing into entwined trees is a nod to Greek Mythology, specifically the myth of Baucis and Philemon. They were an elderly couple who, when granted a wish by Zeus and Hermes after hosting them disguised as mortals, wished that they would die together so they would never be apart. Upon death, their bodies transformed into an oak and a linden tree intertwined with each other.
• Shown Their Work: By law^* though it varies by state in the USA, it is required of private weddings that two witnesses be present to validate the marriage, which is fulfilled by Burnt Oak and Chiffon Swirl/Mrs. Cake.
• Skip to the End: Grand Pear and Granny Smith interrupt the wedding of Bright Mac and Pear Butter, but Pear cues Mayor Mare into finishing the ceremony by pronouncing them husband and wife immediately before Grand and Granny can stop them.
• So Much for Stealth: As Chiffon Swirl is spying on Pear Butter and Bright Mac having a date, she betrays her presence by walking on a dry twig. Both lovebirds are rather jumpy and worried since their families wouldn't approve of them seeing each other, so they are relieved when they see the friendly young mare.
• Spaghetti Kiss: Bright Mac and Pear Butter have one when they’re sipping on a milkshake.
• Spiteful Spit: When Granny Smith catches Bright Mac with Pear Butter, she spits on the ground right after yelling that "[they] do not fraternize with Pears!"
• Split-Screen Reaction: Granny Smith and Grand Pear get one for their Big "WHAT?!" when they learn Bright Mac and Pear Butter are in love.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Bright Mac and Pear Butter, complete with the feuding parents and private wedding à la Romeo and Juliet. Unlike most examples, it ends with them successfully raising a family together.
• Stealth Pun: During the song, Bright Mac and Pear Butter use a black-capped chickadee to ferry messages back and forth between each other. They're tweeting each other.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Bright Mac's body type and eye color went to Big Mac, while his mane and coat colors went to Apple Bloom. Applejack also got Pear Butter's freckles and Bright Mac's eye color, and Applejack's coat/mane coloration is a reverse of Pear Butter's.
• Sweetie Graffiti: Bright Mac carves a heart into a boulder with his and Pear Butter's cutie marks instead of their initials. It serves as an important place for both of them, marking the time Pear Butter breaks the news about her and her family's move, and later as the site of their wedding.
• Tell Me About My Father: The Apple siblings are interested in learning about their parents once the secret comes out. Unlike some cases of this trope, which are done by the remaining parent, they have to go to more distant relative Goldie Delicious and to their parents' best friends to get the story.
• That Poor Cat: Just before the door of Goldie's cottage bursts out, we hear an offscreen crash as well as a cat's yowl. No surprise here since she's a Crazy Cat Lady, and as we see afterward she tends to be a bit oblivious to her poor cats' welfare.
• Token Good Teammate: Bright Mac and Pear Butter for the Apples and the Pears of the previous generation, respectively. Apple Bloom takes a downplayed version of this for the present day, being the only one who doesn't have any misgivings about Grand Pear whatsoever while the other siblings are initially still against the Pears, though it's implied that Applejack and Big Mac are only like that because of Granny's temper towards the whole thing.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • Granny Smith in her younger days was much more arrogant and foul-tempered due to her rivalry with the Pears. But when Pear Butter announces she looks at both the Pears and the Apples as her family due to her marriage to Bright Mac, she drops it entirely, accepting Pear Butter as family herself and even comforting her when Grand Pear disowns her.
  • Grand Pear has also mellowed out significantly since the days of his family's feud with the Apples. In the past, he forbade his daughter from even looking at Bright Mac and eventually disowned her for marrying him; in the present, he willingly gives a sample of his pear jam to Apple Bloom, his half-Apple granddaughter, and then gives her a whole jar of it for free after seeing how much she likes it.
• The Unreveal:
  • This episode doesn't divulge what exactly happened to Bright Mac and Pear Butter in the present, but comments from Apple Bloom allude to them being deceased.
  • Despite Apple Bloom asking why the Apple and Pear families hate each other so much, there really isn't any specifics given outside of them always being rivals. The most we get is a vague "Their rivalry had gone back decades" with no mention of what specifically triggered the feud in the first place, unless it was just egotism that escalated way out of hand.
• Vocal Dissonance: In the first flashback, Pear Butter and Bright Mac first met each other when they were just baby foals, but sound almost the same as they do as adults aside from a slightly higher pitch.
• Wham Episode: Big Mac, Applejack, and Apple Bloom learn in this episode that they're half pear.
• Wham Line: Delivered by Applejack when she recognizes the names of the only Apple and Pear family members who didn't hate each other:
  Applejack: Bright Mac and Buttercup? Those are our parents' names!
• With Us or Against Us: Deconstructed. Grand Pear's ultimatum that Pear Butter must choose one family over the other implicitly convinces her to go through with her wedding and join Bright Mac's family, the "against us" option.
• Young Love Versus Old Hate: Bright Mac and Pear Butter's love versus their families' feud.

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We're far apart in every way
But you're the best part of my day
And sure as I breathe the air
I know we are the perfect pair

On a prickly path that goes on for miles
But it's worth it just to see you smile

And I cannot be pulled apart
From the hold you have on my heart
And even if the world tells us it's wrong
You're in my head like a catchy song

The seasons change and leaves may fall
But I'll be with you through them all
And rain or shine, you'll always be mine

On a prickly path that goes on for miles
You're the only one who makes it all worthwhile

And you should not blame me, too
If I can't help fallin' in love with you...

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