I thought I'd get a feel for why people are as drawn to this ship as I am. So, why do you like Appledash as a ship the best?

Not just because it's hot, I mean, why do you think AJ and RD work best as a romantic couple?

Because the rivalry makes for great relationship dynamics.

Plus they're both butch.

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But do you like the pairing in like a "angry hateful sex" kind of way or one of genuine passion?

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They're not hateful, they're just rivals.

I'm commenting on why them having a close relationship works in fiction. The romance element can be whatever you like.

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Opposites attract, and the two do have great character dynamics excluding a certain episode in season 8. (Yeah, just no on that one.)

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Wait. How are Dashie and AJ opposites? I can see that for Rarijack, but Dash and AJ... the only thing I can think of is that Dash's work ethic isn't always strong, but that isn't the case since she became a Wonderbolt because she loves to train.

Rainbow and Applejack compete alot, that's a known fact, sure it can get annoying at times but one thing I like and can get about Appledash is that thay boath respect each other, they know what it's like to be the only Tom-Boyish ponys in the groop, the elements Honesty and Loyalty work together in a way simmaler to Appledash, you need to be Honist and Loyal in a relationship, they know each other well enaugh to get each other, that is why in my opinion thay make sutch a perfect couple

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Yeah, that episode was terrible from start to finish.

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Applejack is humble, hard-working, and prefers not to be the center of attention. She approaches life with a "Slow, but steady" mentality.

Rainbow Dash is cocky, brash, impulsive and craves to be the center of attention. She's adventurous, but foolhardy at times.

I like how well they seem to mesh when they are together, the balance they provide each other and their competitiveness.

Also, honesty and loyalty are probably the two biggest factors in any kind of relationship and the fact you can't have one without the other

Bookplayer has a great writeup answer to this question here!

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They're competitive towards each other, but still remain buddies all the way. Applejack's humble, slow, old-fashioned personality seems to contrast Rainbow Dash's proud, speedy, outgoing self pretty well and they may help each other. There was also that one scene from when they went to the Castle of the Two Sisters. And that other one which was the final memory Applejack thought back to when she broken from evil Discord's influence.

I feel like it's for a couple reasons. One, yes they are competitive, this would allow them to push the other to be the best they can be. Two, they work well off each other. Let's be honest Rainbow Dash is egotistical but with good reason, she's an athele who's worked hard to achieve her dream of joining the Wonderbolts. Applejack on the other hoof is very much a down to earth pony (pun possibly intended) and can level out Dashie' s ego or even boost her spirit if Dash somehow fails. That's just my two bits though

AppleDash I love it because they always take everything like a challenge but their best friends and what’s not to like about those two

I absolutely adore this ship <3333 And here are my reasons for it!!

- I love competitive dynamics, and I like that with Appledash, it's made clear that it's meant to be a friendly rivalry and it gets criticized when it goes too far. They have such an entertaining dynamic, but they both clearly are best friends.
-I imagine them having all sorts of sass and flirting and I love it
-The Element of Honesty and the Element of Loyalty being a couple just screams relationship goals to me!!!
-Though they are very similar, they have their differences that balance each other out. (Dutiful Applejack/Lazy Rainbow, Individualistic Rainbow/Familial Applejack, Humble AJ/Arrogant RD).
-Also they are such a power couple!! With a fiery dynamic and sexual tension~

6737672 Um

Because speaking as a scientist

It's like, the best ship.

There's a lot of material to work with. I'd argue that pretty much any one of the main cast has an awful lot of potential conflicts to work with, but in my opinion, Applejack and Rainbow Dash have a particularly interesting dynamic, both on their own and as a pairing. Their differing ambitions make for some pretty interesting stories, but more importantly, I think their vastly different reasons for their respective shared traits, and their different insecurities, can make for some very compelling romance stories.

For two characters that on the surface seem very similar, their motivations could not be more estranged, and I could go on an absolute wall of text about both their characters (and have), but to summarise, I think that their insecurities and characters are frankly more grounded than a lot of the others; Rainbow is dominated by personal insecurities whilst Applejack has some serious baggage relating to taking care of her family. Making each of these very different conflicts fit in amongst one another can lead to highly engaging stuff.

Whilst just about any main cast pairing has some strong material to swing about, the rather unique brands of selfishness displayed by both characters is particularly fun for myself (and, presumably, other AppleDashers).

When I finished watching all there was to watch of MLP at the time (it was just before the first EQG movie), I dived into the fanart and fanfiction like I usually do when I finish a series. I hadn't heard of FiMFiction yet so I went to the pony section on Fanfiction.net. It just so happened that the most recently updated fic was an Appledash one called Hail Mary (FimFic link here). I clicked, I read, I fell in love. It's been my MLP OTP ever since.