S05:E20 - Hearthbreakers

[ElegantNerd 39]

MarbleXBigMac shipping!!!!

But they might be RELATED! Yikes. Moving on...

 

Anypony else notice how similar Maude is to Daria? (You all know Daria, right? I'm in my 30's). I totally think they were referencing Daria when Maude said, "Excuse me."

 

I refer to her as 'Daria pony.' I think she's awesome.

 

As for the episode, I loved it! It reminds me of negotiating how to spend the holidays after you get married, because you have your family of origin and your in-laws all wanting their traditions to be included. Then, you have new traditions that are made with your spouse and the new family dynamics that are created.

 

There's also a wonderful message about cultural sensitivity in this episode. Have an open mind and do your research first! There are reasons why different cultures do things differently.

Edited October 25, 2015 by ElegantNerd

[ggg-2 3,552]

I just noticed Big Mac's reaction to Limestone threatening Apple Bloom. It's a good thing she shut up when she did, otherwise things could've gotten ugly. You don't go and threaten a filly, especially if that filly happens to be the youngest sister of one of the strongest Earth Ponies in Equestria.

[Dark Qiviut 22,378]

I didn't care for the premise at all. I think it could be offensive to families who might identify in any small way with the pie family. To me, granny smith was making fun of them to their faces in a couple of scenes. I personally don't like it when one type of family or identity is portrayed as being sub-par. The pie family's traditions were clearly made drab, boring, and unacceptable which using that as a way to insult a fundamentalist type of identity (which is generally considered religious) is just a cheap shot. Even if the moral is that the Apples were in the wrong, it doesn't matter, the damage is already done. I think the writers should rise above that and have come up with better premise. Applejack certainly should have been ashamed and so should Hasbro and the writers. And the climax at the end having to do with the boulder seemed oddly placed and forced as the quick resolution of a new shared tradition.

1. If they do become offended, then they completely miss the point. Both the Apples and Pies have very different ways of celebrating Hearth's Warming Eve. The problem is the Apples didn't understand the Pies' method of celebrating. They shoved their own expectations on the Pies without respecting the sacred symbolism as well as understanding why Limestone was overaggressive. Consequently, they royally screwed up. They didn't write the Pies as subpar, but Applejack being wrong to discard sacred traditions in favor of a "real" HWE, when there's no such thing as a "real" HWE celebration to begin with. Each family celebrates their own way, hence the point in the prologue.

The "shared" tradition is merely a joke by Pinkie Pie to break up the tension.

Edited October 25, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[Vulcan 3,254]

Filly Pinkie Pie:

Happy Hearthswarming ma and pa!!!   

<hands them presents>

Igneous Pie: These are great pinkie ^__^

Filly Pinkie: Where are my presents? 0__0

Igneous Pie: Presents?? Uhmmm... uhhh..... We...

Quartz pie: hid them! we hid them! <nervous laughing>

Filly Pinkie: <Suspicious face> that...sounds..... :okiedokielokie: .....SO FUN

 

and that is how hiding presents on hearths warming became a pie family tradition

Edited October 25, 2015 by Vulcan

[NightWubs 11]

The Apples and Pinkie Pie are a pain to translate this season

Positive notes:
- Finally a new Big Mac ship which has sense
- Pinkie's family makes his true appearence in the show
- Limestone Pie

Negative notes:
- Story development kinda meh
- AJ
- The whole tradition thing

Rating: 6/10

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

I am surprised that so many people are shipping Big Mac with his possible cousin.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

This episode was just like the holiday it was about, heart warming. I loved seeing Pinkie and AJ grow closer, I was surprised by how well the two families interacted, Maud was as always a riot, and it went places I didn't expect.

 

"Pinkie Knows" was fun in the comedy sense and "Lost Mark" was pretty much laser focused on the feels, this kind of struck a good balance.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

Overall, this is another episode that I find boring, unrelatable, and a little annoying. The conflicts of the episode just seem contrived, and there are several scenes and lines of dialogue that were reptitive and pointless. I don't relate to the desire to share holiday traditions and get into the holiday spirit which drives a lot of the episode, and so I probably didn't enjoy this episode as much as others who are into that kind of thing.

 

Perhaps the biggest issue with the episode is that most, if not all, of the conflict could have easily been resolved with a little communication prior to Hearth's Warming Eve, and a little common consideration and tact on the actual day. For example, rather than the Apples wrongly assuming that the Pies make the same dishes for Hearth's Warming Eve dinner that they do, why not make some basic dinner plans with the Pies? Why didn't the Apple family offer to make a few of their favorite dishes for the Hearth's Warming Eve dinner to share with the Pie family? That seems like a pretty common and nice thing to do (at least to us), and then they could have at least eaten some of their own dishes at dinner and made it less awkward. And of course, the Pies shouldn't have assumed that the Apples want to eat rocks if that's not a common thing in Equestria (and as far as we can tell, it isn't). And while Applejack and the Apples shouldn't have been repeatedly shocked and dismayed that the Pies' traditions were not exactly the same as theirs, the Pies should also have realized that the Apples weren't really enjoying, or even understanding, their traditional Hearth's Warming activities. This seems like pretty basic stuff that could have easily been figured out, and consequently, the episode comes off as contrived, annoying, and boring.

 

On a personal note, I don't relate to the desire shown in this episode to share family holiday traditions with friends and their families, or to get into the holiday spirit. My family has never made a particularly big deal about holidays, and there are several holidays on which my family doesn't do anything special at all. Consequently, my family has few holiday traditions, and we don't take those especially seriously. So the characters in this episode taking their holiday traditions a little too seriously or needing to explain their traditions to the other family or wanting to create new traditions together aren't things that I've really had to deal with.

 

Another thing I find annoying about this episode is all the talk about the Apples and Pies being related. Recall from the "Pinkie Apple Pie" episode that Applejack (and her siblings) and Pinkie (and her siblings) MIGHT be fourth cousins twice removed. So (1) this genealogical relationship between the Apple and Pie families is NOT confirmed, and (2) even if it were, it's so distant that it's effectively irrelevant - the friendship between Pinkie and the Apple family is far more important than their speculative genealogical relationship. So I think that the repeated harping on how Applejack and Pinkie (or Big Mac and Marble, for that matter) are "cousins" and how the Apples and Pies should be "one big happy family" is obnoxious and pointless, and I would be happy with the show never mentioning it again. And I found Applejack and Pinkie doing and saying things in sync, just because they "might be related", especially stupid and obnoxious.

 

Now for my other miscellaneous observations:

 

Since when did Twilight's castle have a fireplace and a chimney? Have we ever seen a chimney on the outside of the castle? And Twilight and Spike just chuckle at Pinkie falling out of their chimney, rather than asking what she's doing there or telling her that it's dangerous to attempt a stunt like that, considering the chimney might be too small, she could get stuck on the damper, etc.

 

Despite having soot on her, Pinkie doesn't get any soot on anybody else when hugging or touching them.

 

It's a little strange that when Applejack says "And tomorrow, we open presents!", Pinkie says "We do that too!", considering that Pinkie says later that her family usually doesn't find or get any presents.

 

Applejack asks "What if our families don't like each other?", and Pinkie simply asserts that they're friends, and after tonight, their families will be, too. But obviously Pinkie and Applejack being friends is no guarantee that all of their family members will become friends; Pinkie needs to give other plausible reasons why she would expect that to happen.

 

The specks of rock that Maud points out on Applejack's hoof apparently didn't come off while she was going about her usual business, and didn't wash off in the bath/shower - or Applejack hasn't taken a bath/shower since she went sledding.

 

Pinkie calls Marble her "baby" sister who will "always be a baby to me", but what kind of twin treats his/her twin brother/sister like that, just because of who came out first? That seems condescending and mean to me. My twin brothers and my family certainly don't act that way.

 

If the flag goes on "the highest point", does that mean that Holder's boulder is taller than the Pie's silo? Earlier in the episode, it looked as though the silo was the tallest thing on their farm.

 

Where did Applejack get all of the things to decorate the Pies' farm her way overnight? And regarding Applejack's plans to cook up an Apple-style meal, if the Pies don't have all the necessary ingredients (and they likely wouldn't), then they would have to go out and get them. But wouldn't the stores be closed on a major holiday like that?

 

Even if there were a fault line coincidentally running through the Pie farm, we would hardly expect planting a flagpole on it to be enough to split the ground open and cause an earthquake. It would be more likely that the blasting or whatever the Pies did to open the mine on the farm would cause such things.

 

Finally, what's the difference between Maud's "singing" Hearth's Warming carols that she wrote and reading poetry that she wrote?

[pony.colin 156]

Hmm, okay so I originally thought that I wasn't going to say anything else on this episode because I'd figure I'll just keep it to myself, but I think I wanted to type this out because it seems I want to to have it typed and visible.

 

I already ranted my thoughts about Igneous in another thread so my rant is just going to focus on plot and AJ with this episode.

 

I honestly thought that the pole AJ planted, happened to fall on “fault line” was the most ridiculously contrived plot device I had ever thought about. I already knew they were going to try and make AJ the “one at fault” here for imposing her family values/traditions on the Pie family as soon as this was said: Applejack: [sighs] I know they have their traditions and we have ours, but I just want them to see how much better theirs could be. I could see the disaster that was about to come after those words, but I'm guessing many could probably see this coming way ahead with the main conflict of the episode before that line was even uttered. I just kept thinking, really? You're going to make AJ the one at fault here? Just AJ? I guess because its hard for me to feel and think that Applejack was going to be the “one with the problem” about this whole situation. I guess its because I would find this difficult to picture as AJ being the one to act like this. I don't have a headcannon with how AJ would act, but I probably was not expecting or thinking that she would act like this – acting in the concept of imposing your own family traditions/cultural difference/partial ethnocentrism on another group because you view your own traditions as being “better” or “progressive”. No, I'm not against those things, I'm just being cautious with them. I'd like to say, maybe I expected AJ to act a little better or that I feel it seems it was rather unfair to place the blame solely on AJ for the whole thing. It was putting her into the 'good moral character, but with bad or poor execution of methods' – I kept thinking, this seems like AJ was being set up for this rather than her thinking through about this on her own. But maybe I haven't really looked into AJ's character in previous episodes all that well that would make me think “this might be a plausibility with her character afterall”. It just felt really contrived for both the pole-fault line thing and that AJ would instigate the main conflict of the episode, but hey, I guess you have to pick some pony for the main conflict of a story and that I haven't looked into AJ all that very well.

 

I actually like how everypony (bar minor thing with Igneous that I mentioned in another thread) actually acted in this episode. I felt it was a bit weak for plot, but great character interaction and exchange overall.

 

Hmm, I'm going off on another random tangent again, sorry.

[Rawzy 1,302]

Marble Pie is now best pony ^~^

 

Why is she so goddamn cute? xD

[MovieLord101 140]

Just re-watched the episode. Applejack cries on the inside, MY ARSE! 

[roptiriolg 49]

I was to say - too many episodes of Applejack or the Apple family lately (from the 2nd half of season 5 too including CMC), but this one, I am glad what came out of it, I loved it! And I have a new favorite background pony! - Marble Pie! Her shyness combined with this emo look, I found very attractive and if I were a pony I would love to get to know her and hang out. Also what made the episode so interesting was to see the Pinkie Pie family, for once somepony else's family. But my, for Maud Pie we know, I am not reading lore, I wasn't expecting Pinkie Pie to have an all-rock family, it even looks weird to me, as if she doesn't belong there. Neither the mood, nor cutie marks or skills are close to that of Pinkie Pie. (I imagined Maud as an exception, while their parents to be also party ponies)

 

 

 

We should totally ship mah brother with your sister!!!

 

 

No, we shouldn't.

 

I don't want to see shipping out of Big Mac-Marble pie just because of this episode, let's not burst into conclusions and probably all sorts of other things, unless future episodes really develop things that clearly show a new relationship. This is overreaction.. - I found nothing wrong if they got together eventually (incest - not really - just distant cousins if even that, not bro-sister) but I feel buzzed by this shipping reaction out of this very first episode with Marble Pie. In b4 the Mac-Marble meme storm.

 

---

Was the episode planned for Christmas? Maybe not, it comes before the Halloween episode, or their order was changed.

Edited October 25, 2015 by ImtR

[Batbrony 16,043]

No, we shouldn't.

 

I don't want to see shipping out of Big Mac-Marble pie just because of this episode, let's not burst into conclusions and probably all sorts of other things, unless future episodes really develop things that clearly show a new relationship. This is overreaction.. - I found nothing wrong if they got together eventually (incest - not really - just distant cousins if even that, not bro-sister) but I feel buzzed by this shipping reaction out of this very first episode with Marble Pie. In b4 the Mac-Marble meme storm.

 

Whether or not you yourself want to is up to your personal taste, but you can't possibly tell me that you don't get WHY people are.  For one single episode, the first in which this character is introduced, DHX was dropping some very shippy-hints pretty hard between Marble Pie and Big Mac.  Obviously I myself am not gonna say they're in a full blown relationship at this point, because they're not, but one certainly could reasonably argue that the writers set them up for a full blown relationship in the future after this episode alone.  This was undoubtedly unusual behavior for Big Mac in relation to ANY mare in the show, much less a new character.  Me personally, I wanna see it happen, and I'm not gonna complain about fan art of it coming out for the time being, no sir, I like, I like a lot. 

[S-brony 190]

I love marble pie and big mac together so cute!

 

 

Overall I really liked this episode 8/10

[OtakuBrony 349]

Howdy all!

 

I liked the episode.

 

Finally we get to see the Pie Family.

 

Lotsa sweet & touching moments (Twilight & Spikes scene anypony? )

 

Nick Confalone did a pretty good job writing the episode.

 

Great work by Ashleigh Ball (Applejack) & Andrea Libman (Pinkie Pie)

Fun to hear Ingrid Nilson back as Maud (and she voiced  the other pie sisters too) while Andrea voiced Cloudy Quartz (Ma Pie)

Mr EEYUP Himself Peter New not only voiced Big Mac but Igneous Rock (Pa Pie)

 

Fun episode all around.

 

See ya!

[EVBP 94]

'dawwwww!

 

Not a groundbreaking episode, but definitely heart warming. I know what it's like when different families meet for the holidays as I have spent lots of holidays with immediate (biological) family and distant (step-)family alike. Not everyone celebrates the same way, but what is important is that everybody tries to find joy in each other's company.

 

That being said, I absolutely LOVE the depiction of Pinkie's family! And I won't be at all surprised to see fan fiction that ships her baby sister and Big Mac! LOL

[Buck Testa 5,505]

It's nothing to do with "shipping goggles". Blushes alone might be ambiguous, but in this case, the blushes combined with the smiles kind of put it beyond doubt that it's an attraction reaction.

 

Deny it if you like, but it's pretty clear that's what they were going for in this episode.

I'm a shipper myself, and they certainly could take this into canon territory if they'd like, but it would largely be up to fan reaction to said ship before they tried it. Last thing they need is another Flash debacle. 

[Jangocoolguy 433]

 A fairly "Meh" episode with some nice moments sprinkled throughout.

 

It's one of those where there are things to like, but it's premise is really flawed. Maybe they wanted through in a moral about respected others' traditions& beliefs, but it doesn't carry much water.

 

Pinkie (and maybe Maud) has lived off the rock farm long enough to KNOW how different HWE is for everypony else in Equestria. Her rationalizing "different details, same thing" doesn't cut it. I for one find it rather inconsiderate of her not to give the Apples fair warning (to be fair, her consideration levels change from episode to episode).

Though there's blame to go around with the Pies thinking everyone had the exact same traditions as them. Twilight's scene was kind of indicator right off the bat things were gonna get awkward.

 

All it would've taken was a conversation on the train ride to sort everything out (though then there wouldn't have been much of a story).

 

To reiterate: some fun moments here and there, but a mediocre episode overall

 

(Also, anyone else appreciate Ignatius asking what's up with Granny's name?)

Edited October 26, 2015 by Jangobadass

[Truffles 2,033]

Perhaps the biggest issue with the episode is that most, if not all, of the conflict could have easily been resolved with a little communication prior to Hearth's Warming Eve, and a little common consideration and tact on the actual day.

 

I do agree that it wasn't realistic to have the two families come together without any sort of pre-planning, and it does appear contrived for setting up the episode's premise. The Apples are already shown to be very good at planning big events, and this should have been no different.

 

I suppose it's possible the Pies are so "backwater" that they don't even receive mail on a daily basis and Pinkie couldn't get the coordination squared away with her family before they arrived.

 

Applejack asks "What if our families don't like each other?", and Pinkie simply asserts that they're friends, and after tonight, their families will be, too. But obviously Pinkie and Applejack being friends is no guarantee that all of their family members will become friends; Pinkie needs to give other plausible reasons why she would expect that to happen.

 

Yeah, this was another quibble I had with the episode. There has already been a clear lesson for Pinkie about assuming everypony will be great friends when they get together, and that would be "Maud Pie". Pinkie should have known better by now that her family is, well - weird! She shouldn't expect all of them to get along just because they may be related.

 

I suppose this might be explained by the notion that Pinkie doesn't seem to pick up on body language all that well or even take hints. She's like an overly obsessive fan of "togetherness" and she doesn't let anypony else ruin her headcanons until the facts are right in front her muzzle... 

 

 

Quartz pie: hid them! we hid them! <nervous laughing>

Filly Pinkie: <Suspicious face> that...sounds..... :okiedokielokie: .....SO FUN

and that is how hiding presents on hearths warming became a pie family tradition

 

Wow... This makes total sense and is perfectly in character for Pinkie's parents and her reaction to it! 

 

 

I did kind of have a slightly sour feeling for the whole episode, though, because it annoyed me that either family was so uptight about traditions in the first place

 

The first time I watched it, the Pies (well, the parents and Limestone) kind of annoyed me because they seemed suspicious the whole time and indignant once AJ changed things. When I saw it again they didn't bother me anymore, mainly because I now saw how AJ was being just as stubborn as they were.

 

Another noteworthy thing of note is that they're obviously planning ahead by jumping us through time.  This episode was suddenly winter, and next will be Nightmare Night, which means we will have skipped through at least a whole season in one episode.

 

This episode was supposed to air when "Rarity Investigates" was shown, so technically everything was written in the proper order. (Except "Tanks for the Memories", which is way out of order no matter how one tries to explain it...)

 

We probably won't get any confirmation as to how much time has passed this season until next season, if and when we see a character makes a reference to the passage of time like we had not long ago. (It being a year since the last Summer Sun celebration.)

 

So I'm still somewhat optimistic they'll show an expectant Candace before the birth.

 

Too bad Twilight didn't come with the Apples.  She could have lifted Houlder's Boulder like nothing.  Example #267894 of how everything in this show could instantly be solved with magic!

 

I was wondering why the Pies were having so much trouble moving that boulder. Maud had no problems tossing a huge boulder and causing nuke-level destruction in her premiere episode. Even Pinkie in "The Cutie Map" could lift huge boulders with no problem, so all of them put together should have been able to roll it back up the path without the Apples' help.

 

Unless there's something inside it so dense that it weighs much more than it appears. 

Edited October 26, 2015 by Truffles

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

This episode was very "heartwarming" lol, but seriously this was a very good and enjoyable holiday episode and it was nice to finally see the Pie family and Maud again. I loved the overall moral and lesson in this episode and I loved Pinkie's sisters especially Maud and Limestone. The references and jokes shown and mentioned were hilarious too. I didn't really like Applejack acting the way she did in this episode, but I think it was because she was unaccustomed to the Pie's holiday traditions. Overall a great holiday episode 9/10!!
 

 

Also loved the Home Alone and Planes, Trains & Automobiles references.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[takai 1,060]

Really really liked this episode. Especially because it was Pie family based! I always wanted to see Pinkie's sisters and more of her parents.
 
i love Limestone Pie. I like the mean and angry ones. Marble Pie was adorable, she; may be even shyer than Fluttershy! I'd love to see an episode about Flutter and Marble! It's too bad she didn't talk though.

 

So wait, Pinkie and Marble are twins? That's pretty crazy, I didn't expect that at all.
 
I find it odd that they aired a Christmas themed episode before Halloween.  I wouldn't mind another Halloween based episode. Regardless, I think this may take top spot for best Christmas episode. It was waaaaayyyy better than Hearthswarming Eve, but I'm not sure if can stand up to the legendary Winter Wrap-Up.
 
I really liked Pinkie and Applejack's chemistry this episode. It finally feels like their friends, rather than Pinkie being the manic comic-relief and AJ being the voice of reason. Because those are their primary roles in the show, see them get a long and laugh together is a great step forward for their development.
 
All in all, loved the episode.
 
I'd also love to see a Pie Sisters episode. Oh please make it so.
 
More Pie family please!
 

Also loved the Home Alone and Planes, Trains & Automobiles references.
 
007.png

 

I didn't catch those! Very nice!

Edited October 26, 2015 by takai

[CM Pony 30]

I liked this episode a lot although it wasn't my favorite.  I was happy to get two Pinkie episodes in a row.

 

In regards to Marble and Big Mac being possible cousins, Pinkie stated that it was "fourth cousin twice removed by a fifth cousin" which is completely nonsensical to begin with.  "Removed" simply means they are from different generations.  Fourth cousins have the same great great great grandparents and fifth cousins have the same great great great great grandparents.  Regardless of any of this, the relation hinted at is so distant that the term given to it is so nonsensical to imply that Applejack and Pinkie are only as likely related as everyone on this planet is to each other anyway.  If you want to get REALLY picky about genetics, everyone who gets married is marrying their distant cousin http://phys.org/news/2013-08-dna-earth.html

 

Also, to people saying how disgusting this is: although I don't approve of cousins marrying, my parents were second cousins.  They didn't know each other growing up and only met slightly before the time they got married.  I am a PhD in psychology with a successful research practice, so I didn't turn up "disgusting" or "Inbred" or anything.  I can understand you disapproving of such relationships as I don't approve of them myself, but when you call them "disgusting" you are in basis calling my family, my parents and my very existence "disgusting" and that is NOT appreciated at all.

[cider float 2,537]

This episode was disappointing. This was the first time I wanted a MLP episode to end quick.

[CheekyBoy 31]

This episode was disappointing. This was the first time I wanted a MLP episode to end quick.

Why? I find this episode kind of enjoyable though.

[Truffles 2,033]

If you want to get REALLY picky about genetics, everyone who gets married is marrying their distant cousin [url=http://phys.org/news/2013-08-dna-earth.html]http://phys.org/news/2013-08-dna-earth.html[/url

 

Thanks for that link, it was very interesting!  Knowing how prolific the Apple family is and that they founded Ponyville, Big Mac is probably doing better by being smitten with Marble than being smitten with somepony in his own town!

 

 

So wait, Pinkie and Marble are twins? That's pretty crazy, I didn't expect that at all.

It occurs to me they did this to make it very, very, very clear Marble was the same age as Pinkie so no one would accuse Big Mac of falling for some underage filly, since both the sisters look small compared to Maud.