As shippers, essentially what we do here is explore the way two personalities interact with each other under a given (romantic) set of circumstances. This week, I'd like to open up a discussion on how Pinkie and Applejack's personalities interact and play off of each other. What are the similarities between them? What are the contrasts? What happens in the way they behave that can only happen when the other is around?

These questions are important to building a unique and relatable romance between them. Let's talk Apple Pie.

Well, to understand how they interact, you have to know how they act. Below are attributes I gathered and attributed to applejack:
Stubborn routine honest (obviously) hardworking moral supportive wary superstitious easygoing dependable

And these i attribute to pinkie:
carefree cheery easygoing vaguely spiritual (not in any specific ritual or doctrine.)
supportive dependent

There might be a few more i could list, but this is more than plenty to work with. Now i'll list the way these behaviors intersect and in whether they clash or compliment.

Dependancy and dependability. These attributes compliment.

Pinkie's dependancy i attribute to her need to be friends with everyone and her meltdown in party of one. Applejack, being a pony of great strength and character could easily act as a rock for the more fragile pony.

Stubborn/routine/wary and carefree. These clash.
Applejack like routine, she likes the usual, she likes counting on everyday being another beautiful day, though she certainly isn't afraid of a challenge. Pinkie however is none of these things. By her very nature she will baffle and confuse Applejack, and through the course of a story, Pinkie can show Applejack that sometimes its good to cut loose and let life come as it may.

Superstitious and vaguely spiritual. These cut both ways.
They can work like above where Applejack is initially distrusting of Pinkie and her strange abilities and senses, or Applejack might secretly admire or be curious about the pink pony's antics and abilities.

supportive (both ponies). These compliment.
This is a fairly generic attribute that can go to most any pairing, but it's worth covering. There's nothing quite like having a solid rock by your side, or knowing you can act as one for someone else. both of these ponies fit this role extremely well.

Moral and carefree. clash.
While i wouldn't imagine Pinkie doing anything outright morally bankrupt, if you're looking to add an element of the old homophobia, (tastefully done i hope) Pinkie is a good partner to show her that Ponies should be with whoever they love.

And those are the main ones i can think of off the bat. There are many more attributes you can assign these ponies and when you factor in history their pairing potential balloons, but this should wet your beak.

Remember, there's always a line that can be drawn between to ponies, you just might have to draw around a few issues though.

starlitomega

One of the things for me is that they are both hard working mares (in their own ways) who both work with food. Pinkie would have the time for her random appearances though.
Baking/food is to me a major that the two share and is one of the things they could easily do to spend bonding time together. Also both mares have strong family ties (the cakes with Pinkie and the Apple family for AJ) And ties to the places they work. They also seem like the two ponies most likely to spend their lives in Ponyville and happily so too.

And like Flutterdash, my fave ship, where RD is Fluttershy's protector/tries to get her to be brave and at the same time, Fluttershy helps her mare with her insecurities, I can see ApplePie having a similar thing with AJ helping Pinkie through her sometimes rather public bouts of insecurity while in return, Pinkie would help AJ liven up a little and be a little less serious. Also the fact that AJ being the physically strong mare, she could literaly carry Pinkie when/if its ever needed and in such times I can see Pinkie returning it by offering moral support. Although Pinkie is high maintenance, and lets face it... out of the mane 6 she is by far the most high maintenance pony in the group.... AJ is the kind of hard working pony who would put in the efforts to maintain the high energy mare while also keeping a level head. I think she is the best suited for tackling Pinkie in such ways.

Although they would have many a day of both being too busy with work to see each other, as well as all the personality clashes between hyperactive and miss down-to-earth, there is an odd sense of balancing each other that I think a lot of people miss.

Although I've shipped these two almost as long as Flutterdash, I've never really explored why I do so as the two have little in the way of shipping fodder in the series (at least compared to RariJack in season 3 and Flutterdash all over the place) because of this, im writing my first ApplePie story "Pie For Two" to help me find out why I ship the two.

790047
I would argue that Rarity would have a higher level of maintenance than Pinkie.
Pinkie, while insecure, would probably need less waiting on hand and foot than Rarity, not to mention Rarity in a relationship would probably have a sense of entitlement than she already does.

And i think while they both might have demanding jobs, they would probably make the time to see each other, even if they have to have late night rendevous to do so. I have a story in the works that is about just that, AJ and Pinkie meeting up with each other late at night and spending time together.

790113 Im going to have to give that a read then and I agree about them finding time to be together. Late at night sounds good too... I think I might use that in my ApplePie story too.

791327
Hey, feel free to use whatever you want. It's like i tell people, ideas arent anything special. They might be the same seed, but the tree always ends up different. I can't wait to see what sprouts from it.

792084 Well have you checked out the first chapter for starters?

I see Applejack, in some ways, as a safety net for Pinkie Pie. For instance, in Wonderbolt Academy, Applejack is the one who tries to get Pinkie to leave the mailbox first. She never makes Pinkie stop doing her thing, but she's always there to make sure Pinkie knows that what she's doing might be a bit strange or unnecessary.
You can also tell that Pinkie trusts Applejack to tell the truth and be there for her. In Party of One, Pinkie has a much harder time believing Applejack's lies about the surprise party than anyone else in the group. Similarly, in Applebuck Season, Pinkie trusts Applejack's baking ability to the point where she doesn't think to check the recipe that Applejack is helping her with and ends up poisoning Ponyville with the Baked Bads. It's pretty clear to see (with your ApplePie glasses on) that Pinkie respects Applejack and looks up to her in the things she knows how to do best.

Pinkie Pie, in regards to Applejack, is a fun-loving jokester. The amount of work that went into painting the Acres' apple crop in various patterns of plaid in Griffon the Brush-Off is astounding when you stop to think about it. Compare that prank to itching powder, invisible ink, or a squirting duck... the others don't compare. But that work was worth it, because Applejack smiled. In The Last Roundup, Pinkie once again tries to help out Applejack in the orchard while blubbering on about who knows what to fill the awkward silence. It was as annoying as all get-out, but probably would have gone smoother if Applejack were in a better mood.

And Applejack, although she definitely doesn't understand Pinkie's little quirks, at least expects them to be there and trusts them to work how they normally do. In Feeling Pinkie Keen, Applejack ducks under a wagon at the first hint of Pinkie's tail twitching. She allows for Pinkie's odd habits while doing her best to watch out for Pinkie in certain things (again, Wonderbolt Academy).

Anyhoo, Pinkie makes sure Applejack has some good chances to lighten up, because she knows how serious Applejack can be. And Applejack makes sure Pinkie will be alright in the midst of her silliness and accepts that silliness as par for the course. They balance each other out fairly well and look damn cute while doing it.

Hope this helps!

On the matter of honesty, I think it is also important to note the dessert mystery episode. Not only was Applejack one of the few friends that DIDNT eat her cake...But Pinkie never even had the suspicion. Even with the temptations, AJ would never eat something that important to Pinkie. When it is important to the party mare, it is important to Applejack.