Applejack

Applejack is an Earth pony and is one of the main characters of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She lives and works at Sweet Apple Acres with her grandmother, Granny Smith; her brother, Big Macintosh; her sister, Apple Bloom; and her dog, Winona. She represents the element of honesty.

Production and development
Applejack is one of the only two members of the main cast who were part of the original My Little Pony cast in the 1980s animated series, the other member being Spike. While Lauren Faust, the show's developer, intended to use more characters from the first My Little Pony series, Hasbro did not maintain the trademarks to nearly all of the original character names and most names had to be replaced. Faust used the character's, abandoning the dark red color from the G3 toy line. During the 2012 BroNYcon convention, voice actress Ashleigh Ball cited country singers Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton as inspiration for Applejack's voice and dialect.

Name
Applejack's name and her nickname in Bridle Gossip are both alcoholic beverages. Applejack is a strong alcoholic beverage produced from apples, popular in the American colonial period and thought to have originated from the French apple brandy Calvados. Appletini, which was ostensibly given to Applejack by Spike for her diminutive size caused by the poison joke, is a cocktail containing vodka and an apple-flavored juice or liquor.

Applejack became the first pony to have her name abbreviated to her initials in Applebuck Season, where Twilight Sparkle called her "A.J.", a nickname that is repeated by Big Macintosh in Winter Wrap Up, by Twilight and Rainbow Dash in The Last Roundup, and again by Pinkie Pie in MMMystery on the Friendship Express.

Work ethic
"This is your sister Applejack - remember? The loyalest of friends and the most dependable of ponies?!"

- Applejack, talking to her brother

Applejack is a reliable and hard-working pony, although headstrong about doing things on her own. She tackles the annual apple harvest all by herself while her brother Big Macintosh recovers from an injury in Applebuck Season. Big Mac calmly expresses concerns over her intent to harvest hundreds of apple trees by herself, but Applejack snaps at him and his "fancy mathematics", and decides to try it anyway while still making time to help out her friends with various tasks.

After she diverts a stampede that was headed toward Ponyville, the townsfolk hold a ceremony in her honor, where her close friends exult her willingness to help anyone. She receives her trophy without much fanfare and goes back to her applebucking, dangerously exhausts herself, and repeatedly refuses Twilight Sparkle's many offers of assistance. She eventually faints at the sight of the scores of apple trees she still has to harvest, and finally looks past her pride and accepts help from her friends.

"Ho, doggies. If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride!"

- Applejack

Country mannerisms
Applejack speaks with a Southern American accent, a thick southern drawl, similar to the accent of the southwestern Missouri Ozarks, where there are a great number of apple orchards. Throughout numerous episodes, she refers to her friends as "sugarcube" as a sign of affection.

She seems to have no reservations about getting dirty or messy, much to Rarity's dismay when they attend a sleepover in Look Before You Sleep and Applejack is about to enter Twilight's library with muddy hooves. Applejack has said in A Dog and Pony Show, "Now I'm used to pickin' myself up and dustin' myself off, but Rarity won't even touch mud unless it's imported."

Applejack does not take particular offense at Rarity's opinion of the Sisterhooves Social when she says that the competition held at the Apple farm is "uncouth". Applejack simply tells Sweetie Belle that her big sister Rarity thinks everything is uncouth, but that she will come around in time. She gently offers Rarity advice on how to compromise and better get along with Sweetie Belle, which Rarity gratefully accepts.

Applejack dislikes things that are "too girlish", like the frou-frou dresses in Suited for Success, though Applejack describes in a flashback in The Cutie Mark Chronicles how she tried being a pony of elegance for a short time as a young filly by moving to Manehattan, but ultimately decided to return to the farm after she realized that it was not for her and she deeply missed her home. When Apple Bloom starts speaking French in The Cutie Pox, Applejack expresses her shock to Twilight through saying her sister is "speakin' in fancy".

She is almost always seen wearing a light brown stetson hat, which she usually only removes before sleeping, and is the only one of the six main characters to keep her mane and tail tied back in a "ponytail" instead of letting it fall loose.

Orneriness
Though Applejack is normally kind and considerate, she sometimes lacks patience with aggressive or rude behavior and returns it in kind, especially with Rainbow Dash. In Look Before You Sleep, she lets her feud with Rarity ruin Twilight Sparkle's sleepover; and in Fall Weather Friends, she allows herself to become just as underhanded as Rainbow Dash in her attempt to win. In both of these situations, however, she eventually proves to be the better pony by being the first to apologize.

She is quick to argue with Rainbow Dash in Over a Barrel, making the tension between the residents of Appleloosa and the buffalo worse.

Despite the other ponies' lack of patience with Fluttershy in Dragonshy, Applejack is willing to take the long way around the mountain with her in order to help her up.

She frequently holds back Rainbow Dash by her tail when she is about to do something rash, as exemplified in the episodes: Friendship is Magic, part 1 and part 2, The Ticket Master, Dragonshy and The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000.

Honesty
"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of HONESTY."

- Twilight Sparkle

Applejack represents the element of honesty. Twilight Sparkle deduces this in Friendship is Magic, part 2, explaining that Applejack demonstrated her honesty when they faced their challenges against Night Mare Moon. Applejack finds it difficult to go against her natural honesty in Party of One when she has to lie about why she cannot attend Gummy's after-party. She sweats and grins nervously under Pinkie Pie's scrutiny despite having the most credible excuse, needing to buck apples.

After being corrupted by Discord's influence by hypnosis, Applejack becomes a compulsive liar, throwing hurtful and sarcastic jabs at her friends. When Discord corrupts her and she turns gray, her hat turns gray as well. Initially, her lies are not particularly convincing or malicious, but her lies grow more ridiculous and harmful. She is the first pony to have her corruption cured by Twilight, and one of the first things she does is apologize.

Athleticism
Applejack possesses extraordinary athletic abilities. She is both strong and dexterous. She and Dash often argue over who is more athletic, as seen in the Iron Pony Competition in Fall Weather Friends, where their various athletic feats draw a sizable crowd. She is also very skilled with the lasso, demonstrating her rope-work in Applebuck Season, Boast Busters, Look Before You Sleep, Bridle Gossip, Fall Weather Friends, and The Return of Harmony Part 2.

In The Mysterious Mare Do Well, Applejack refers to her left and right hind hooves as "Bucky McGillycuddy" and "Kicks McGee", respectively.

Cooking
Applejack is described by Pinkie Pie as "one of the best bakers ever" in Applebuck Season. As such, she is shown making several different kinds of foods and desserts, using apples as the main ingredient, and sets up a concession stand in The Best Night Ever. She is very business-minded, using her time at the Grand Galloping Gala to set up the aforementioned concession stand and use the money to benefit her family. In a previous episode, The Ticket Master, Applejack describes to Twilight how she wants to set up a concession stand at the Gala to raise money to fix Granny Smith's hip. In A Canterlot Wedding, she is asked by Princess Celestia to prepare refreshments for Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding reception, as well as their wedding cake, and can be seen working in the palace kitchen throughout the episode.

Herding
She is an accomplished herder, and she is Twilight's first choice when she is looking for a way to herd the Parasprites out of Ponyville in Swarm of the Century. She stops a cow stampede in Applebuck Season with only the help of her herding dog Winona.

Applebucking
Her skills at "applebucking", harvesting apple trees by kicking them with her hind legs, are superb: even when extraordinarily sleep-deprived, she is usually capable of knocking all apples off a tree with one kick while leaving the tree apparently intact in Applebuck Season. In comparison, the residents of Appleloosa only knock off several apples per kick in Over a Barrel.

History
Twilight Sparkle first meets Applejack and the rest of the Apple family when checking up on food preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. In the second episode, when Twilight Sparkle is about to fall off a cliff, Applejack convinces her to let go of her hoof so Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy can catch her. This action is later explained as representative of Applejack's honesty, in the rather contrived fashion of not telling Twilight Sparkle why she should let go, and simply asking Twilight Sparkle to trust her, possibly because Twilight Sparkle would have panicked otherwise.

Ponyville
Throughout the series, Applejack tells Twilight Sparkle about the way things are in Ponyville. She gets upset with Twilight for using magic for Winter Wrap Up, and tells her "That's not how we do it 'round here, Twilight, and especially not on mah farm." She explains to Twilight in Feeling Pinkie Keen that "those of us who have been in Ponyville a while, have learned over time that, if Pinkie's-a-twichin', you better listen."

She is one of several ponies humiliated by Trixie in Boast Busters.

Cutie mark
In Call of the Cutie, Applejack tells her sister Apple Bloom that she was the last one in her class to get her cutie mark, a trait that seems to run in the family. In The Cutie Mark Chronicles, she tells the Cutie Mark Crusaders the story of how she got her cutie mark. It begins with a young Applejack leaving the farm to live with her upper class relatives, the Oranges, in the big city called Manehatten (a play on words based on a real city, Manhattan). Once there, however, she finds it hard to fit in and becomes terribly homesick. The rainbow left in the wake of Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom leads her to return home to the farm. Once there, she realizes that she truly belongs there, and finally gains her cutie mark.

Apple Bloom
Apple Bloom is Applejack's little sister, who is introduced in the series' first episode. She is more prominently featured in Bridle Gossip, where she decides to befriend Zecora, who all the other ponies fear. In one scene, Applejack hushes her by saying "let the big ponies talk", and Apple Bloom replies under her breath that she is a big pony. Later, when Applejack shrinks under the influence of poison joke, she tells Apple Bloom to take orders from her big sister, to which Apple Bloom replies that she's the big sister now.

Their sisterly bond is prominently featured in Sisterhooves Social, when Sweetie Belle witnesses their playfulness and the various activities they share, noting that when they do chores, it looks more like they are playing.

Hasbro.com description
''Having grown up working hard to keep her family's famous apple business growing, Applejack has come to be known as the most down-to-Earth, resourceful, and dependable Earth Pony this side of Ponyville! A proud pony to the core, she's not afraid to get her hooves dirty and to her, there's nothing a little horse-sense and elbow grease can't take care of. Incredibly honest, Applejack would never stoop to tell a lie and this makes her a beacon for those seeking advice. Applejack has impeccable ability to break a situation down to its core and fix it fast, and usually topped off with a wacky country anecdote told with a charming of country twang.''

Hubworld description
''Applejack is a country pony who grew up on her family's apple farm. She's down to Earth and dependable, and she's not afraid to get her hooves dirty. To her, any job can be done with a little horse sense and hard work. Applejack has a knack for figuring out how to fix a problem -- fast!''

Teacher for a Day description
''The apple of most farmers' eyes, Applejack is one hard-working pony! Dependable and down-to-Earth, she isn't afraid of jumping in with all hooves and getting the job done!''

''A real problem solver, and incredibly honest, she is the go-to pony for advice. Charming to the core, this country girl is a friend indeed!''

My Little Pony magazine description
Applejack is Ponyville's resident farm gal! Never afraid of getting dirty, she loves to play outside and would never hurt another pony's feelings.
 * Playful
 * Practical
 * Honest

Appearances

 * See also: Character appearances

Quotes
"YEE-HAW!"

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"Soup's on, everypony!"

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"Are you alright, sugar cube?"

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"Whoa there, Nelly!"

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"Now listen here. What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe."

- Friendship is Magic, part 2

"Oh wait, I think I stepped in something."

- Friendship is Magic, part 2

"Gee, Twilight! I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey, but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship."

- Friendship is Magic, part 2

"Oh yeah? Well I challenge you to a hoof-wrassle. Winner gets the ticket."

- The Ticket Master

"Don't you use your fancy mathematics to muddle the issue! I said I can handle this harvest and I'm gonna prove it to you. I'm gonna get every last apple out of those trees this applebuck season all by myself."

- Applebuck Season

"I said I'm sorry! I should'a listened to you when you noticed where this here branch would end up. Yer annoyin' attention to detail woulda saved us from this whole mess. But right now, ya need to stop bein' so dang fussy pickin' up all those little things and help me move the one big thing in here that actually matters! Please!"

- Look Before You Sleep

"Chocolate milk!"

- The Return of Harmony Part 1

"That's right. You couldn't break apart our friendship for long."

- The Return of Harmony Part 2

"My sister's speakin' in fancy!"

- The Cutie Pox

"It's not the Rainbow Dash show."

- Hearth's Warming Eve

"Dear Princess Celestia, I wanted to share my thoughts with you. [clears throat] I didn't learn anything! I was right all along!"

- The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000

Gallery

 * Applejack image gallery