History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E9AppleFamilyReunion

* [[spoiler:BarnRaising: The Apple clan works together on raising the Sweet Apple Acres barn after Applejack inadvertently collapses it. It does wonders for family morale.]]

** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple Babs Seed]] is in a new school (which, considering the bullying she went through, is a relief), and [[spoiler:she's making progress on that Manehattan branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders]].

* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:Nopony's mad at Applejack for driving them to exhaustion, all but ruining the reunion, and then putting them to work fixing her mistake. She meant well and the Apples ''love'' barn-raising, so it all works out.]]

* FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler:Applejack's activities go from exhausting to dangerous when the colony of fruit bats cause the hayride wagon to veer off course and crash into the barn. The sad thing is, Applejack doesn't notice anything's wrong until it reaches this point.]]

* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:All the fun and games Applejack has planned become hard work for everyone, while an event which ''is'' work ([[BarnRaising raising a barn]]) brings the Apple family together and is fun.]]
* ItsTheBestWhateverEver: What Applejack plans for the Apple Family Reunion to be. [[spoiler: It goes downhill before Applejack turns things around and makes good on her plans.]]
** [[spoiler:WorstWhateverEver: Heartbreakingly uttered by Applejack before she turns things around.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Applejack:''' [[TearJerker/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic The only thing anypony's gonna remember about this reunion...is that it was the worst one we ever had]].]]
* LateArrivalSpoiler: This episode spoils the fact that "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple One Bad Apple]]" ends with Apple Bloom and Babs Seed on good terms, and that [[spoiler:Babs is now a Cutie Mark Crusader]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Applejack when she accidentally causes the hayride wagon to crash into and destroy the barn.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Applejack's decision to send the hayride through a fruit bat-infested orchard, and intentionally wake up said bats, marks the point where all her plans go downhill.]]

** Twice during the hayride: once by Granny Smith when she finds out they're being taken to see the fruit bats, and again by Applejack when [[spoiler:said bats begin attacking the riders]].

* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler:Seeing her barn in ruins reduces poor Applejack to tears as [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she realizes it's all her fault]].]]

* UpToEleven: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}; Applejack thinks that taking the family reunion activities UpToEleven will make things more memorable, but all it does is make everypony exhausted and [[spoiler:destroy her property]].

* WellIntentionedExtremist: {{Downplayed|Trope}}; Applejack's obviously no villain, and she clearly wants her family to have fun, but she does go overboard with the activities until the reunion becomes all work and no play. [[spoiler:She quickly turns things around when [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she realizes just how hazardous her activities are]]]].

** Then again... it could just be that they count EVERY time the moon changes phase as a "moon," which would make it actually be just under a year ago.

* [[spoiler:BarnRaising: The Apple clan works together on raising the Sweet Apple Acres barn after Applejack inadverently collapses it. It does wonders for family morale.]]

* WritersCannotDoMath: Granny Smith states that the last Apple family reunion was 100 moons ago. Since the phrase "moon" refers to a complete 28 day lunar cycle that would mean the last reunion was 2800 days (7.66 years) ago. But we saw the Apple family reunion in the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon pilot episode.]] So either its been seven years since Twilight first came to Ponyville or Equestria has a weird lunar cycle or Applejack mixed up the reason why his family was there in the pilot episode as she was overworked when she told Twilight about this and they were there for some other event.

* AmericanAccents: Naturally. Wherever there are Apples, there are going to be a wide range of these, including the two MinnesotaNice ponies making apple fritters.[[hottip:*:[[AllThereInTheScript Apple Dumpling and Apple Leaves]]

* WritersCannotDoMath: Granny Smith states that the last Apple family reunion was 100 moons ago. Since the phrase "moon" refers to a complete 28 day lunar cycle that would mean the last reunion was 2800 days (7.66 years) ago. But we saw the Apple family reunion in the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon pilot episode.]] So either its been seven years since Twilight first came to Ponyville or Equestria has a weird lunar cycle.

The upcoming Apple Family Reunion is nigh, and it seems to be the biggest one yet: ''everypony'' in the Apple family, from [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E21OverABarrel Braeburn in Appleloosa]] to [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple Babs Seed in Manehatten]], will be showing up at Sweet Apple Acres! Normally Granny Smith is in charge of the reunion festivities, but Applejack offers to host it this time around so her granny can get a chance to enjoy herself. In fact, odds are not everyone will make it to the next reunion, so she swears to make this one the most memorable reunion yet.

** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple Babs Seed]] is in a new school (which, considering the bullying she went through, is a relief), and [[spoiler:she's making progress on that Manehatten branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders]].

*** This is the first and so far only episode where Spike is present but Twilight Sparkle is not.

With a little help from her friends and family, Applejack gets the entire reunion set up just as Apples from all over Equestria begin coming over. Everypony starts catching up with each other, but Applejack is eager for the ponies to enjoy all the exciting activities in store for them--''too'' eager, it seems, as Applejack's gotten a bit carried away by turning a simple seven-legged race into a full-fledged obstacle course, replacing the granny ponies' rocking chairs with noisy sewing machines so they can finally finish the never-ending quilt, and running the apple fritter-making like an assembly line.

With her plans wrecked along with the barn, Applejack tearfully thinks she's hosted the worst reunion ever. But as Granny Smith points out, everypony's still here and there's still time to make some great memories. Inspired, Applejack announces one last activity for everypony: raising the barn together so they can take the traditional family photo in front of it. Everypony has a blast, and they all head back home at the end of the day with a family reunion to remember--for all the ''right'' reasons. As she and her family fondly look over their new photos for their album, Applejack writes out her letter to Princess Celestia:

* AbsenteeActor: Applejack is the only main character with a prominent role in this episode. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike only get brief cameos (with only Pinkie getting a speaking role), while Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy are nowhere to be seen.

* {{Adorkable}}: Granny Smith when she was young.

** This is also notably the second (and last) episode of the season someone actually mailed the aesop to Celestia (on-screen, anyway), not since the events of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E3TooManyPinkiePies Too Many Pinkie Pies]]"..

* [[spoiler:BarnRaising]]

** A pony is [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple once again]] covered in the same glitter [[NoodleIncident Rarity apparently uses on her emergency edible boots]].
** Rainbow Dash [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon once]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E23PonyvilleConfidential again]] bounces on a cloud to make it rain and drenches the pony beneath it (in this case Applejack). Said pony also ends up getting [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E14TheLastRoundup charred by lightning]].
** [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple Babs Seed]] is in a new school (which, considering the bullying she went through, is really something of a relief), and [[spoiler:she's making progress on that Manehatten branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders]].

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Remember when Granny Smith didn't speak in coherent sentences and could hardly move? Not so much in this episode, where she's sharp as a knife mentally and does a lot of physical labor without any visible complications.
** Maybe she finally got that hip replaced.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Apple Bloom, to a point, who's pleased as punch that every RSVP came back to affirm they will be there. AJ and Granny are more than a bit worried.

* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: Though not to great extremes, Granny Smith isn't entirely fond of the photo taken during her first failed attempt at adding a patch to the Apple family quilt.

* FurryReminder: The 7-legged race being the equivalent of a human 3-legged one.
* GonnaNeedMoreX: When Granny Smith when she realizes [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters how many Apples]] are coming to the reunion:

* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:All the fun and games Applejack has planned become hard work for everyone, while an event which is actual ''work'' ([[BarnRaising raising a barn]]) brings the Apple family together and is fun.]]
* ItsTheBestWhateverEver: What Applejack plans for the Apple Family Reunion to be. [[spoiler:Of course, it goes downhill before Applejack turns things around and makes good on her plans.]]

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Kinda inevitable for a show about an Apple family reunion. Though on the other hoof, for a show supposedly about Applejack, there are a lot of ponies who ''aren't Applejack'', and we spend a lot of the episode with them.

* NewNeighboursAsThePlotDemands: Hayseed Turnip Truck is apparently a member of the Apple Family, and with the most un-Apple-sounding name. (Granted, Aunt and Uncle Orange are also present, so having an apple-based name/cutie mark/talent is not likely a fixed trait).

* NegativeContinuity: The flashbacks to Granny Smith's story in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E11FamilyAppreciationDay Family Appreciation Day]]" show she is a full-grown mare when she and her family first settled onto the land that would become Ponyville, yet she appears as a filly in a family photo showing the framework for the barn at Sweet Apple Acres.
** Quite possibly an error on the animators' part.
* NeverSayDie: Granny wants to make this reunion the best one ever, considering that not everypony may make the next one. This is followed by Applejack looking up at the [[StarsAreSouls shooting stars]] with a thoughtful look on her face. Applejack then quickly averts this, commenting that everypony may be too busy to be able to make the next one.

* NoodleIncident: Granny Smith alludes to one, exclaiming as some Apples arrive via blimp that "this is more exciting than when it rained frogs".
** There's another during the granny ponies' conversation:

* [[OnceAnEpisode Once a Season]]: Applejack's barn gets destroyed.

* RunningGag: [[FalseTeethTomfoolery Something always seems to cause Aunt Applesauce's teeth to fall out]].

* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler:Seeing her barn in ruins reduces poor Applejack to tears as [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she realizes]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero it's all her fault]].]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: {{Downplayed|Trope}}; Applejack's obviously no villain, and she clearly wants her family to have fun, but she does go overboard with the activities until the reunion practically becomes all work and no play. [[spoiler:She quickly turns things around when [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she realizes just how hazardous her activities are]]]].

* StarsAreSouls: WordOfStPaul says the shooting stars at the end represent Applejack's parents.

The upcoming Apple Family Reunion is nigh, and it seems to be the biggest one yet: ''everypony'' in the Apple family, from Braeburn in Appleloosa to Babs Seed in Manehatten, will be showing up at Sweet Apple Acres! Normally Granny Smith is in charge of the reunion festivities, but Applejack offers to host it this time around so her granny can get a chance to enjoy herself. In fact, odds are not everyone will make it to the next reunion, so she swears to make this one the most memorable reunion yet.

** This is also notably the second episode of the season someone actually mailed the aesop to Celestia (on-screen, anyway), not since the events of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E3TooManyPinkiePies Too Many Pinkie Pies]]"..

** The brief scene where Pinkie drinks honey from a beehive and then spits out a bee when she burps is possibly a ShoutOut to old WinnieThePooh shorts.

* NegativeContinuity[=/=]ScifiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: The Apple Family Reunion apparently happens once every 100 moons, which is eight point three years (assuming one month in Equestria is one full moon cycle). However, the last reunion we actually see happens [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon in the very first episode]], which can't have been that long ago. Adding to the confusion is that the lunar cycle is completely artificial, so how long a "moon" is is muddied, and possibly even variable. [[MST3KMantra Best not to worry too much about it]].
** Actually, the first episode showed that Applejack's family was in charge of the catering for the Summer Sun Celebration, and that's why they all got together; it was a special occasion, completely independent of their normal family reunions, and in fact, by Applebuck Season, AJ tells Twilight that all her relatives are back to their own farms and only came to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration.
** The flashbacks to Granny Smith's story in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E11FamilyAppreciationDay Family Appreciation Day]]" show she is a full-grown mare when she and her family first settled onto the land that would become Ponyville, yet she appears as a filly in a family photo showing the framework for the barn at Sweet Apple Acres.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: This episode spoils the fact that [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E4OneBadApple One Bad Apple]] ends with Apple Bloom and Babs Seed on good terms.
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the episodes in season three that aired prior to it, especially the Crystal Empire storyline.

** I think you meant to say "[[RunningGag died of heart attack]] upon seeing."
** Behold! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlbeQxBBrJE

'''Big [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Macintosh]]:''' Eeyup.

'''Big [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Macintosh]]:''' ''(looking in the distance)'' Eeyup.\\

** This is also notably the first episode of the season someone actually mailed the aesop to Celestia (on-screen, anyway).

* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The fruit bats, like the parasprites before them, are adorable but destructive.

* ShoutOut: Applejack proclaims, "[[LarryTheCableGuy Git 'er done!]]"

*** Applejack demonstrates the "Bobbing for Apples" game by stuffing her mouth full of apples, as in [[PonyDotMov APPLE.MOV]].