Aye, lamented that myself to Ted, but the script was delayed twice, so the whole team was kinda pressed for time in this issue. I wanted to populate the streets with more background ponies too but I had to work 16 hour days just to hit my deadline as is. I am sure it was the same for Ted. And I am still pretty happy myself about the end result. And adding AJ's parents might've faced even more changes on Hasbro's end, in that tight timetable it likely was too risky to venture into.