Applejack, one of the “Mane Six” from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, is an earth pony who lives on Sweet Apple Acres, the Apple family farm, with her siblings, Big McIntosh and Apple Bloom, and their Granny Smith.
A close-knit and loving family, with endless cousins and extended family members making appearances throughout the series, the absence of Applejack’s parents stands out more and more as the show goes on. So what did happen to Applejack’s parents? Why don’t they live with their children on the farm, and where are they now?
What happened to Applejack’s Parents?
Applejack’s parents are a pair of earth ponies named Pear Butter and Bright Mac, who fell in love despite the longstanding rivalry between their families. The two met as children, living on neighboring farms, and, to the disapproval of Granny Smith and Grand Pear, swiftly became friends.
As they got older, friendship turned to love, even as their families tried to keep them apart, and they got married just before Pear Butter’s family planned to leave town, so they could stay together. The Pear clan weren’t willing to accept their marriage but the Apples were and so the two of them lived on Sweet Apple Acres with the rest of the Apple family and eventually had three children.
This should have been a happy ending, except by the time we meet Applejack in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Bright Mac and Pear Butter are nowhere to be found. While it’s never explicitly stated on screen it has been confirmed by multiple people working on the show that both ponies died some time before the series began. However, we’ve never been given any details about their deaths, probably because the subject was seen as too dark for a children’s show.
There are several clues that the two ponies aren’t just missing or traveling scattered throughout the show that older viewers are likely to pick up on. These include the the pair of shooting stars that appear during the Apple Family Reunion episode and Big McIntosh’s statement in Crusaders of the Lost Mark that “If Mom and Dad were here, they’d be so proud of ya,” which is probably the closest the show comes to openly acknowledging their parent’s deaths.
