@SeraphimDawn  
If by MIA, you mean the victims of some grave robbers, maybe…

I prefer to think they are MIA.

@Ping  
This, and the fact Derpygate proved that our fandom is highly unstable.  
Mentioning of death would trigger the Soccer Moms, leading to another of those events.
 

 
Better prevent than remediate.

Hmm, while we are on the topic of sad stuff being taught to children.  
Any one remember the dinosaur animated movie by Don Bluth, The Land Before Time?  
That show heavily dealt with Littlefoots mom being killed right before him by a T-Rex.  
But through out the movie the spirit of his mom keeps him going and pushes him on forward to the Green Valley.  
I think there were other such movies, like Bambi, although that movie was not as big for me as a kid like Land Before Time was.  
But didn’t that movie also deal with the main characters mom/parents dieing?  
Death is an important lesson for kids.  
But truth be told, death is every ware these days, aside from politics and money, death is the other biggest factor on TV news right now. What with all of the shootings and violence, maybe that’s why MLP:FiM hasn’t touched on it yet? There is just too much of it going on in the real world?  
Maybe they just want MLP:FiM to be a happy upbeat show with very little sadness in it?  
Maybe its better that way? I sure use it as a happy escape from real world drama my self…

I personally don’t think it needs be mentioned. Kid are smart enough on their own, least my 5 year old cousin was. While I do think it’s important to teach kids how to deal with things like loss and that, other people may feel differently. At least if it’s kept ‘up in the air’ people can believe what they want to believe.

@ArrJay.
 
The Rugrat’s Mother’s Day episode heavily implied that Chuckie’s mom was dead. Through the whole episode, Chuckie remembers a mysterious and nice woman and seeks a mom from other characters while his dad tries to hide all the stuff that belonged to her (including a photo). In the end, Chuckie finds the stuff (confirming the lady in his dreams actually existed) and decides to give it to his dad (as a gift to his dad whom is the closest thing to a mom). His dad gets sad and tries to hide the stuff again, but Tommy’s mom finally convinces him to talk about his wife to Chuckie. During the conversation, it’s mentioned she eventually had to go to the hospital.
 
They didn’t flat out say “she’s dead”, but the implications were strong enough that even my younger self got it.

@ThatGuyImpious
 
Here’s the thing. It’s not just the writers. If Hasbro says it’s a no-go, it’s a no-go. Between what Sibsy and Lauren Faust said last on the Everfree Network, Standards and Practices sometimes reject the weirdest things. They’re often not sure what materials will be allowed to get through and what won’t.
 
Come to think of it, I can’t seem to recall offhand if there were any children’s shows that dealt with legitimately dead parents.
 
…pondering that further, I don’t doubt that show staff would be able to handle it with extremely well. Lauren Faust did say something about an episode directly dealing with Applejack’s parents. I forget about the details, but I think it would be important for some kids that lost one or both of their parents. Lauren Faust said she lost her dad to cancer when she was 7 years old.
 
…I think it’s a matter of convincing everyone else that one can do such an episode and do it well, if that makes sense. For TV animation and for such a normally funny and light-hearted show it’s a challenge.
 
For now, though, I do think it’s a tasteful way to acknowledge AJ’s folks at all.

Bananaman was here.
 
Appleman is a loser.

Her parents have been confirmed as dead in a recent s article. http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/12/applejacks-parents-subtle-nod-in-episode.html?m=1 Now lets stop arguing. We are all Bronies here.

HER PARENTS ARE DEEEEEEEAAAAAD

Oh Niggo, why can’t I quit you

@Equine
 
That’s exactly one of the things that keeps me posting NLR materials :D

Pretty much what Splinter said.
 
Cute of you to have resorted to personal attacks, though.

Impious’ point is that AJ’s parents have never been mentioned. No family photos, nothing. It’s one thing to wangst over your parents dying, it’s another thing entirely to not even have a single photograph of them in your big ol’ family photo album.

@ThatGuyImpious
 
Don’t go throwing around shitty logic, then paint others with the same claim.  
The parents aren’t available, but their absence doesn’t affect anything, so by this point it’s an accepted notion that they’re gone. We got that. Two shooting stars is a good enough acknowledgement of their existence without having to outright spell it out.  
Instead of making the death of parents a focal point, and having that be a problem for the younger kids to think about instead of enjoying ponies, the rest of the clan is the focus for the lesson of family. This is far from lazy, as you would put; it takes some thought to be able to do this.  
If you want to blame avoidance of the subject, blame it on Hasbro instead of the writers who probably have their hands tied. Honestly, you’re such a whiny bitch sometimes.

Its, your logic is bad and you should feel bad.

@ThatGuyImpious  
Would parents who actually cared about you want you to dwell on their death for the rest of their life and be miserable about it?
 
Something prevented her parents from being at the reunions we saw in the album, and they’re dead now. Maybe they were the ones running it before Granny Smith and were behind the camera.

No, but family is.
 
And parents are pretty much super important, unless I’ve missed something crucial over the years.

@ThatGuyImpious  
“My Parents Are Dead” wasnt the focus of the episode, though. Unless you want Applejack be THAT pony.

@ThatGuyImpious  
Probably are saving that for later.

Yes, itsthinking, they do.
 
They’re supposed to be important figures in her life. Unless they abandoned her or something. They weren’t even in their photo album! When it’s that drastic, an explanation is necessary.

@ThatGuyImpious  
Do they need to be mentioned? Implicit explanations are often better than explicit ones.

It’s something that will forever be kept one of the Great Mysteries of the FiM universe. The stuff of urban legends.

I don’t care what other people say, this was an effective way to communicate the message.

Luna organises the shooting stars every hundred moons for this purpose.  
She really is the best pony.