(This was originally posted on my blog, but since not everyone follows me yet I thought I'd repost here because it's probably relevant to your interests. If you do follow me, nothing new here.)

What’s your idea of a romantic evening? A candle light dinner? Sporting match? Dancing? Curling up in front of a fire?

What about balancing the checking account and figuring out your work and chore schedules so the two of you have time to clean out the attic this weekend? Does that sound romantic?

If you can make that romantic, you’re in luck, because after a few years, that’s 99% of your relationship. Many couples can deal with those things by making sure they take time out for romance, but if you don’t have to worry about doing that you will be a very happy couple. Which is not to say couples like that don’t have problems, life tosses plenty of those, but a couple that can have a good time dealing with things that need dealing with is just more likely to come out on top.

The best ship for a true partnership like that is TwiJack.

In canon, Applejack and Twilight are both practical ponies. They enjoy organization and planning, and take pride in a good schedule or check list. Neither of them are likely to find this stifling or boring, if anything they’ll happily micromanage themselves into trouble, if they didn’t properly learn their lessons from previous episodes like It’s About Time and Apple Family Reunion. Both of them would probably be thrilled with a special somepony who would neatly tape their schedule next to her own, adding another dependable known quantity to her life. It’s a match made in anal retentive heaven.

Both of them are leaders, but Applejack happily steps into a second-in-command role for Twilight. While Twilight is obviously the leader of the mane six, and now Princess of Friendship, when she’s not around (in the beginning of Elements of Harmony, in Magic Duel, and in Princess Twilight Sparkle) it’s Applejack who steps forward as leader/spokespony for the remaining five. This makes sense because Pinkie Apple Pie tells us that she’s also manager around Sweet Apple Acres, so she has leadership experience that the other ponies don’t.

As a matter of fact, both of them lead shockingly parallel lives: They both come from close families, but were separated from their parents and raised the rest of their way by an older pony who required them to be self-sufficient, with younger siblings for whom they fill an almost parental role, and older siblings they’re seemingly close with (I might have hesitated there about AJ and Mac, but I think their interactions in Pinkie Apple Pie, Filli Vanilli, and Leap of Faith bear that out.) Applejack manages Sweet Apple Acres and the immediate Apple family, while feeling a sense of responsibility towards Ponyville as a whole. Twilight manages(managed?) the Ponyville Library and the mane six, while feeling a sense of responsibility towards Equestria as a whole.

At the same time, their differences compliment each other perfectly. Applejack is physical and relies on common sense where Twilight is mentally focused and relies on intellect, but they respect those traits in each other. Applejack clearly values tradition, but isn’t opposed to trying new ideas when it’s necessary (revamping the family reunion, getting Twilight’s help with harvesting apples in Applebuck Season or with the vampire fruitbats in Bats!.) While Twilight is naturally curious and innovative, she also understands the value of tradition (she was excited to try to do Winter Wrap-Up the earth pony way, and only tried magic at Spike’s goading, and even before she knew about the Crystal Heart she was willing to go with the traditional Crystal Fair as he best way to protect the Crystal Empire.)

Twilight and Applejack do have their fights, of course, especially because they’re both good at seeing where the other is going wrong and both can be stubborn when they’ve decided on a course of action But when the two of them do disagree, as in Applebuck Season or Winter Wrap-Up, it takes the form of stating their points until one of them sees reason, rather than bickering or escalating like some other ships. Neither of them are interested in poking the other just to get a reaction

So, Applejack and Twilight make a usually happy, well-oiled machine. This has given the ship an unfortunate (and incorrect) reputation for being boring. After all, what kind of stories do you tell about two ponies who are more likely to talk their problems out reasonably over a cup of coffee?

Any kind of story other than a direct romance. Other couples will take over the story, making it about their interactions, but Applejack and Twilight are perfectly capable of being romantic while working out a problem, solving a mystery, or working together on an adventure. Their romance is in a shoulder to lean on, an encouraging word at the right time, and, when all the chips are down and there’s nothing left, epic feats of patience and dedication that get the job done.

Which is not to say that it’s not about them as a couple, it’s just that the conflict there is more likely to be personal and internal: Am I what she want/needs?, am I/are we prepared for this?, where do we go from here?, etc. Questions like this will haunt the background of a TwiJack fic while the two ponies go about the plot. Am I what she wants/needs? is a particularly common one, since both ponies are so integrated in their own domains, but just about any plot where they work together will answer it with a resounding yes.

So to write a beautiful romantic TwiJack fic, all you really need is TwiJack, a plot, and a handful of nuzzles and “sugarcube”s. The plot can be whatever story you were writing anyway: in a slice of life fic they’ll go about their day to day business helping each other, or solve problems for other ponies, or argue about two equally logical plans. In a mystery Applejack grounds Twilight’s investigative skills, acting as Watson to her Holmes, and keeping her from missing the forest for the trees. On an adventure Applejack’s hearth wisdom, practical knowledge about the out of doors, common touch with other ponies, and physical prowess and quick reflexes are likely to balance out Twilight’s super-alicorn-powers and research knowledge. Really, any story with Twilight or Applejack can be made into really nice ship fic by adding the other and emphasizing how easily they work together.

As I mentioned above, the one place TwiJack falls down is the regular romance fic, which often relies on miscommunication or clashing personalities. Twilight and AJ’s personalities go together like chocolate and peanut butter, and getting either of them not to communicate openly and honestly takes a really good excuse. On the other hand, there is a very fairy tale feel about AJ crushing on Twilight, convinced for some reason that she shouldn’t act. You just need a reason there-- AJ convinced that Twilight loves someone else, or that she needs someone better able to deal with court (though AJ would probably do surprisingly well at court, with her straight shooting and lack of romantic notions to be disabused.)

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If you have to write the story in an entirely separate genre to ship these two, why wouldn't you nix the entirely vestigial romance?

I dunno, why not ditch the vestigal romantic relationships in:
Little Women
Star Wars
Every superhero story ever
Good Will Hunting
Clerks
Lord of the Rings
Harry Potter
Big Fish
Fight Club
The Matrix
Hamlet
A Christmas Carol
National Lampoon Vacation movies
Citizen Kane
The Lion King
... and hundreds of other movies and books? Romance is a part of life, stories are about lives. Sometimes stuff that's not a straight romance happens to people who are in love, or want to be in love, and that changes the way they react to it. And sometimes writers like to write about those things.

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Could they? Which ones?

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as has bin proven. to have a couple, you must have romance. but as has also bin proven. that romance doesn't need to be the central focus of the story. The Homesteading, as well as the examples above, have proven this. (I used the word proven too many times ).

3815366 I didn't read this before just for lack of time, but now that I read it, I give an applause. A really good explanation for this pairing ^^

Thank you! now I can slap people with this when they question why I like twijack. This is everything I always thought of twijack, plus one or two minor things that I never thought of before now, so this will make it that much easier to explain to people!

Well put. Reminds me why this ship just feels right to me.

3815366
And all this is why I feel Applejack would've been safe to make a princess. Next to Fluttershy, Equestria would actually survive with Twilight, AJ, and Fluttershy in charge.