Where the Apple Lies

Where the Apple Lies
Season №:	6
Season episode №:	23
Overall episode №:	140
Original airdate:	October 8, 2016
Story by:	Meghan McCarthy and Dave Rapp
Written by:	Dave Rapp
Storyboard:	Kat Dela Cruz and Michelle Ku
Featured characters:	Apple family Filthy Rich Spoiled Milk
See also
credits • transcript • gallery • allusions animation errors • statistics • speculation
Episode guide
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Where the Apple Lies is the twenty-third episode of season six of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the one hundred and fortieth overall. The title is a reference to the 2003 novel and 2005 film Where the Truth Lies.

In this episode, Applejack shares the embarrassing story of how she came to value honesty after her lies almost jeopardized the farm's livelihood.

Production

In early August 2016, Jim Miller was asked if an earlier IMDb synopsis for this episode was true and answered that it was not.

The episode was originally scheduled to premiere on the United Kingdom channel Tiny Pop on October 5, 2016 at 8:00 AM BST (07:00 UTC), three days ahead of its scheduled airing on Discovery Family; however, Tiny Pop changed it to a rerun of On Your Marks, similarly to United Kingdom broadcast skipping The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, due to featuring cider.

In the Netflix version of the episode, all instances of "cider" are replaced with "juice" or "juicing", with some re-recorded lines and altered lip-syncing. However, Netflix subtitles maintain the original transcribing of "cider". The change can also be found on Disc 4 of the Season 6 DVD box set.

The scene when Applejack admits her lies reappears in Harvesting Memories.

Summary

A little white lie

The episode opens with Applejack and Big McIntosh giving Filthy Rich his yearly supply of zap apple jam as part of the arrangement between the Apple family and Rich's Barnyard Bargains. Inside the barn, Apple Bloom, eager to take on more responsibility around Sweet Apple Acres, has packed all of the cider to be sold during cider season in crates. However, the cider crates are identical to the zap apple jam crates given to Filthy Rich.

Apple Bloom gets busted.

Applejack asks Apple Bloom if she kept track of what went into each crate, and Apple Bloom nervously assures her that she did. When Applejack discovers zap apple jam in the cider crates, Apple Bloom's little white lie is exposed. After the mix-up with Filthy Rich is straightened out, Applejack asks Apple Bloom why she lied. Apple Bloom explains that she wanted to fix things before anyone found out.

Applejack says she knows from experience that lies only create trouble. Big McIntosh and Granny Smith support this by claiming Applejack was a compulsive liar when she was a filly and that her lies once landed the Apple family in the hospital.

Apple family flashback

Bickering siblings.

In a flashback to Applejack's youth, she and Big McIntosh argue frequently over who would run Sweet Apple Acres more efficiently—Applejack was more idea-oriented while Big Mac, being far more talkative as a teenage colt, valued physical strength. Granny Smith interrupts their arguing and tells them to go into town and buy more blight spray before a recent outbreak of apple blight ruins their entire apple crop for cider season.

As Applejack and Big Mac enter Ponyville, they meet Filthy Rich and his fiancée, Spoiled Milk. Spoiled is haughty toward the Apple siblings, but Filthy informs her of the close relationship between the Apple family and Rich family dating back to when Ponyville was first founded.

Applejack and Filthy Rich strike a deal.

Having inherited Rich's Barnyard Bargains from his father, Filthy has ideas that he wants to implement to bring the store more business, such as selling the Apple family's cider during cider season. Applejack is intrigued by this idea, but Big Mac says Granny Smith is a tradition-upholding stickler about Sweet Apple Acres being the sole cider seller in Ponyville. Because Filthy appreciates Applejack's ideas more than Big Mac, Applejack agrees to give him three barrels of cider to start out and to give him more if those sell well.

The first lie

When Applejack and Big McIntosh return to the farm with blight spray, Applejack informs Granny Smith of the deal she made with Filthy Rich, but Granny refuses to allow the Rich family to sell Apple family cider, noting the slower expiration of zap apple jam compared to cider. Having already made her promise to Filthy Rich, Applejack asks Granny to make an exception, but Granny still refuses, especially with the spread of apple blight dwindling the family's crop.

The invention of lying.

Applejack and Big Mac go to Filthy Rich's store, with Big Mac expressing "I-told-you-so's" along the way. At Filthy's store, Filthy has already set up a display to sell the Apple family's cider. When Applejack tells him that she has to back out of their previous arrangement, Filthy takes offense and chastises her for not keeping her word. He goes so far as to consider cutting all business ties between their two families.

Desperate to keep relations between the Apples and Riches stable, Applejack claims that Granny Smith is sick and unable to manage the farm as well as she normally does. Filthy Rich takes this into consideration and understands Applejack backing out of their deal.

Escalating lies

An unexpected visit from the Riches.

Later that evening, as the Apple family sits down for dinner, Big McIntosh has more harsh words for Applejack for making the situation worse by lying. While Granny Smith is busy in the kitchen, Filthy Rich and Spoiled Milk stop by to convey get-well wishes to the supposedly sick Granny. Before they discover the elderly mare is not sick, Applejack distracts Granny by having her go out to the barn and do inventory on the blight sprayers.

Once Granny is kept occupied, Applejack compels Filthy and Spoiled to leave, stating that Granny is too sick to see visitors. Unfortunately, she is almost caught in her lies a second time, and she distracts Granny further with old family anecdotes. Applejack goes on to tell Filthy and Spoiled that Granny is suffering from apple blight—an affliction thought to only affect trees—and has been admitted to the Ponyville Hospital.

If you don't have anything nice to say...

Filthy Rich and Spoiled Milk suddenly leave to go visit Granny Smith at the hospital, making the situation even worse. To counter this development, Applejack convinces Granny Smith that she is needed at the hospital because ponies have started to become afflicted with apple blight and the doctors need her expertise on how to cure it. Before Big Mac can say anything in protest, Applejack stuffs an apple in his mouth.

Panic at the hospital

At Ponyville Hospital, Applejack brings Granny Smith inside through the back door to avoid being seen by Filthy Rich and Spoiled Milk. She then dresses Granny up in a hospital gown and surgical mask to "protect" her from the apple blight outbreak. At the front desk, Applejack meets with Filthy and Spoiled, who are unable to find Granny's hospital room. Applejack gives them a series of convoluted directions to keep them distracted further.

Applejack's lie spirals out of control.

Returning to Big Mac and Granny Smith, Applejack tries to get Big Mac to pose as Granny in a hospital bed so Filthy and Spoiled can see her quickly and leave. Fed up, Big Mac tells Applejack that the situation is spiraling out of control and goes on a lengthy and emotional rant. Applejack, equally fed up with Big Mac's "I-told-you-so's", tells him that she's no longer concerned about realizing her ideas and just wants to preserve the relationship between the Apples and Riches. Reluctantly, Big Mac agrees to go along with Applejack's lie and keep silent.

Before Filthy and Spoiled discover the non-sick Granny again, Applejack shoves her into a supply closet. She then takes Filthy and Spoiled to visit Granny in the room where Big Mac is posing as her, but by this time, one of the doctors has wheeled his gurney away. Applejack tells Filthy and Spoiled to follow the gurney while she retrieves Granny from the supply closet. As she searches the hospital for Big McIntosh, she comes across a surgery viewing room, and Granny is mistaken for a doctor about to perform surgery on Big Mac.

Applejack confesses the truth.

Granny Smith believes she is giving a presentation on apple blight, and she mistakes Big Mac's hooves for rotted tree branches. Before she amputates Big Mac's hooves with a saw, Applejack puts a stop to everything and confesses her lies. She explains that she made promises to Filthy Rich that she couldn't deliver and told lie after lie in order to maintain the Apple family's business ties with him. Big Mac accepts some of the blame for being more of a talker instead of a listener, and he and Applejack reconcile over their earlier arguing.

However, after everything that has happened, Granny Smith is certain she'll be in charge of the farm for a long time, and she warns Filthy Rich not to cut any ties with the Apple family or else she'll inform his grandfather.

Epilogue

Celebrating honesty over a glass of cider.

The flashback ends, and Apple Bloom is surprised to learn how much of a liar Applejack was when she was younger. Though Applejack is not proud of the incident, it did instill in her the values of honesty, which Apple Bloom also now appreciates. With everyone in agreement that Granny is the one who really runs Sweet Apple Acres, Granny tells her grandchildren to get back to work...

"...Right after we have a glass of cider."

— Granny Smith

Quotes

For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.

Applejack: Tellin' lies won't fix anything. Trust me. I know.

Apple Bloom: What could you possibly know about it? You've never told a lie in your whole life!

Big McIntosh: [laughing]

Granny Smith: [laughing]

Young Big McIntosh: [laughs] Applejack, Applejack, Applejack, ideas are all well and good, but you can't plow a field with 'em. I don't know how many times I've told you that.

Young Applejack: Too many!

Young Big McIntosh: I think we all know my position on good ideas. You can't—

Granny Smith and Young Applejack: "Can't plow a field with 'em."

Young Big McIntosh: Ee... right.

Young Big McIntosh: Now, now, the thing is, Rich, it ain't really up to us. Y'see, Granny's—

Young Applejack: Uh, sick!

Young Big McIntosh: [sarcastic] Look, sis. Our good friend, Mr. Rich and his fiancée... are here. Oh, and they brought flowers! For Granny! On account o' she's sick! Like you said. Ain't that sweet?

Young Big McIntosh: This is spinnin' way out of control, Applejack! Now I know you thought sellin' cider in Filthy's store was a good idea, but it ain't worth lyin' to him about Granny bein' sick and needin' to go to the hospital, or fibbin' to Granny about them wantin' her come here to talk about the blight, or—

Young Applejack: Big McIntosh, please just listen to me for once!

Young Applejack: I'm not sure if I was worried that nopony was listenin' to my ideas or just nervous that I wouldn't be the one to end up runnin' the farm, but... I promised somethin' to Filthy Rich that I couldn't deliver, and I was too embarrassed to admit it.

Young Big McIntosh: Maybe if I paid more attention to what you had to say instead of talkin' all the time, none o' this would've happened in the first place. I just need to... talk less and listen more.

Granny Smith: And don't you go gettin' any ideas about cuttin' ties with Sweet Apple Acres, or I'm goin' right to your grandpappy. Get me?

Filthy Rich: [stutters] Um, yes, ma'am.

Gallery

Where the Apple Lies image gallery

References

v • e Episodes, films, and animated shorts