I’m aware this topic is... touched upon frequently, but I was l lying down late last night (or this morning, as it was in my timezone), and I found myself questioning why I ship the ships that I do. Why do I adore seeing Applejack and Caramel together? Why can’t I resist a good SpikeDash? Why is it that I can’t decide who Pinkie Pie’s other half would be?

To answer these questions, I’m going to ask a different question first: why do we ship? For me, shipping allows me to explore the side of a character which isn’t explored in the show itself. To explain my point let’s look at Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

Applejack is a down-to-earth earth pony. She’s determined, hard working and proud, and she values honesty and her family. She’s a pony who is happy with her life, loves what she does, and loves who she does it with. In my personal opinion, her personality is no more complex than that. She’s got what she wants out of life, and that’s really all there is to it. She’s not harbouring any inner fears or doubts, and if she did she’d tell someone about it.

Ever wondered why there’s so few episodes about Applejack? It’s because her personality is already as developed as it could possibly be. She is, by far, the most mentally mature of the mane 6. She’s grown up learning the morals. What would she write in her letter to Princess Celestia?

Oh, yeah.

So, bearing this in mind, what would Applejack be looking for in a partner? The reason why I like to ship her with Caramel is because I think Applejack would find someone who shares her values in hard work and determination attractive, although Caramel’s personality is open to interpretation, of course.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, is a brash and highly competitive pegasus. She’s determined, daring and cocky, and she values loyalty and speed. She’s a pony who always aims for the best - anything less isn’t good enough - and being the element of loyalty, we can assume she’s the most loyal pony in Equestria.

This is Rainbow Dash’s personality at face value, so what would she be interested in? Speed, agility and competitiveness, of course, and this is clearly where all the common Dash ships have sprouted from: SoarDash, DashLane, etc.

But does Dash’s personality run any deeper than this? I like to think so, and I consider this factor when I ship her. I don’t think Rainbow Dash could run purely off of her own steam, so to speak. There are multiple occasions in the show where Dash’s has revealed her vulnerable side, and where she’s revealed her affectionate side. Although she might wear a mask, that side of her is still there.

Don’t get me wrong, just because it’s a mask doesn’t mean it’s fake, neither does it mean that the pony behind the mask is weak. I’m trying to suggest that there is more than one dimension to Dash’s personality, and that she acts differently depending on who she’s around. We, as humans, do the same. It’s unlikely any of you act the same around your family as you do around your friends, and again around your partner. That doesn’t make the way we act around the different people a false facade, but, rather, we carefully consider our appearances and how we come across to people.

So, what is Rainbow Dash like underneath that mask? Well, looking at what little we see of her past, I think she has a strong sense of justice when she stands up to Fluttershy’s tormentors. I think she has high expectations of herself, but that when she doesn’t meet those expectations, she needs someone to be there for her.

When I ship this Dash, I ship her with someone who can be dependable and loyal. After all, when you’re the most loyal pony in Equestria, who do you depend upon? Who can you rely on to be loyal to you?

I think this is one of the main reasons why AppleDash is such a huge ship; Applejack is one of the most mature and dependable ponies in the show, and I can see why the two would make a really good couple...

*Ahem*

BUT, this is the straight shipping group so we’ll have none of that!

So, why SpikeDash for me? Again, it depends upon how you portray Spike’s character. Me? I like to portray him as dependable and loyal, surprise surprise. When Rainbow Dash doesn’t meet her expectations, when she’s vulnerable and needs someone to lean on, Spike’s there for her.

And that, my friends, is why SpikeDash is my favorite pairing / OTP.

As a side note I thought I might mention: Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie is a curiosity. We see in the show that there’s more than one side to her - Pinkamena, anyone? - but that other side seems to be as emotionally incapable of a relationship as the mare herself. If you were to ship Pinkie, you’d need to portray a side to her that hasn’t been explored in the show at all.

Even now, I couldn’t be sure how I’d portray what’s under the mask, and that’s why I wouldn’t be sure who to pair her with. What do you guys think? Who do you think the Pinkie Beneath the Mask is?

Additionally, here's a video by Bronycurious if you want a full explanation on Applejack.

989640 Yep, you gotta love
Can't do AppleDash, though, too many bad memories.

989640 Why do we ship?

1) We care for these characters. If you care enough about someone, you want them to be happier than what they already are. And most people would say that the love of their life makes them as happy as can be.

2) A good story. Whether or I care about a particular shipping, I still have the curiosity within me to find a story where an author can make the pair work w/o sacrificing personality. Though I may read a gay ship fic once in a blue moon, I'm still generally curious at how the author portrays their relationship. This is why I'm going to read "University Days" once it's complete, despite it being about two females.

3) (Not gonna lie) It's fun. I'm being serious, interpreting how a couple can work w/o them really being together is fun. You can have them fight in wars and have them fall in love, you can have them search for a missing treasure and have them fall in love, or you can simply have meet on the street and fall in love at first sight. Reading into a pairing and interpreting their relationship together can be one of the most entertaining things to do!

989645
I like Applejack!
She's the normal one of the group!

989772

Shipping is one of my favorite pastimes, and I agree wholeheartedly with all of your points. Thank you for raising them.

989778

Applecest.................

989640

Personally, I think the reason AJ is written rarely has to do with the writers not being able to explore a central event in her life -- the death of her parents. It would have been AJ at her most vulnerable, damaged time, and she knew some of the others at that point IIRC. (I do also think there's a subtle anti-southern bias in the writing staff, but it's hard to avoid shit like that.)

So AJ's written as absurdly mature compared to everypony else, because she had to be that way, to keep her farm afloat and keep her family together. The matriarchal structure's pretty clear; Granny helps in the role but clearly isn't commanding that sort of respect, nor capable of that sort of organization.

If you grew into late adulthood overcoming massive grief and keeping a farm together, you'd be damn mature too. In a sense, that's AJ's mask -- early maturity. (And what you said about Dash-mask is just as true here, the mask isn't invalid or a lie, it's simply part of herself used as a defense mechanism as well.)

Anyway! On to the actual question: Pinkie's under-self.

Pinkie's got a driving, obsessive need to feel loved, IMO. When she thinks she's lost her best friends, as far as she was concerned, the world might as well have ended. When she finds out she was wrong, everything's right again.

There are elements of possible mental illness in that -- say, bipolar disorder (I'm given to understand some bipolar sufferers are primarily manic, and that could fit Pinkie rather well.) It's also what codependency can look like.

Pinkie under the mask is the little filly who never grew out of having imaginary friends, who seems perpetually sad or angry. I mean, we saw her in canon -- Pinkie, alone, at her worst.

The real question in my mind is -- what does Pinkie getting rejected romantically look like? Or rejecting someone? I'd love to see a fic that's about Pinkie getting shot down and slowly coming into a somewhat more balanced outlook about things, maybe even healing and finding love in somepony else. (Shit, I might write it. So there's that.)

989814

You raise very fine points about Aj (although I don't think there's any subtle bias over in the writing staff, so I'll disagree with you on that one). I'm aware of the loss of her parents, but I feel she kind of got through all that with the help of her siblings and her friends. She's very eager to consider her friends her closest family, and, although she might still miss her parents, I don't think there's any scarring.

Who knows, perhaps there could be? I've read some mighty fine fics on the subject.

Onto Pinkie.

I love your idea.

I'd simply adore a fic like that!

989799
Ha ha ha

989814
That's exactly how I picture Pinkie.
on the outside
on the inside.

989844

989870

It's a good analogy, as long as one remembers that the mask isn't fake, it's just an aspect of self she had to develop explicitly.

Some people with depression or trauma in their lives become comedians, and it's precisely because one comes to value laughter and happiness very highly when they're deprived of it. Pinkie's like that. (I like to think that the best-case-scenario with her is that the rock farm was really as much of a shithole as she said, or even worse -- so she had every reason to be depressed, and it wasn't biological in nature. That way I sidestep the 'overcoming mental illness' issue and the 'fillyhood trauma' issue neatly. It does seem overconvenient, but romances frequently are.)

989645 Damn, talk about a serious point, I would have never thought of any of that with AJ....wow, the things you learn and the more you know

989640 i'm sorry, but when i think of RD's mask, all i can think of is Naruto.

yaknow, how he acts like a loudmouth prankster but is really an ultimate badass, who is really, really depressed?

989640

Personally: I do shipping because I care enough about the characters to want to seemingly make them happier but at the same time make it a story worth reading, also whenever I have an idea about an OC that would actually go well with somepony I like to try it out hence why Silver is a stallion similar to Pinkie, he has a darker side to him which isn't due to his choice but because of his past, but all he really just wants to have fun but treated like a adult. Inkwell on the other hand is like an older brother/father to Silver, caring for him but still making time for his love of books, but when Silver gets into trouble or is in danger Inkwell will always be for him, almost like Twilight is for Spike.

Each have similarities and differences to their ship partners which makes for a nice story to tell, and this is why I ship

990752

This is good. You should mention Silver when Musketeer moves onto Pinkie Pie on his OC shipping threads.

I think It would be pretty hard to ship Pinkie Pie. She loves everyone so what I'm basically saying is that she's too lovable to love.

Oh and I +. Just so you know.

990809

Where is this Muskateer and where can I find him?

Also am I the only one of us who laughs when one of us replies to the other because of the ever so slight name difference?

991081

He's the admin doing the OC threads in the forums. You should check them out; they're pretty awesome to read. The current one is the Twilight Sparkle thread.

991006

Why wub woo!

991097

will do, I'll talk about it after I add this next chapter (its just being edited atm) because it shows why Silver has a bit of a dark side