Did My Little Pony Fail Applejack?

Most of you will be confused by this being on here, and understandably so. As such, here's a bit of backstory before we dive in:

Most of you will know that this franchise and I have had a bit of a turbulent past. The more insane elements of its fandom were among the first to start spamming my inbox full of demands for reviews, and then piled on the hate when I issued a basic response. This sadly pushed things over the edge, and I responded with a "review" which was more critical of how fandoms can drive away new fans than the material itself. This naturally only made things worse. However, after meeting some more sane fans (and someone who actually provided a review copy as I previously pointed out) I offered two olive branches in the form of genuine reviews of an episode and the first few issues of the comic.

So, why are we back here again, you might be asking. One of those fans, who will remain unnamed, re-read those reviews and made a request of me. Her main criticism of the show was it seemed to undervalue the character she enjoyed watching the most, and wanted a relatively unbiased outsider perspective to examine this. She didn't want me to approach with a demand of "Prove this!" so much as "Do you think this is an issue, and if so, how?" It's in the same manner that I had previously looked into the Iron Hands' problems. Yes, Ferrus Manus somehow equated My Little Pony. Who would have thought?

With the series coming to an end, there seemed no better time to ask this.

Still, I held to my same standards: I would only work for pay and/or a review copy. She promptly supplied both, including every episode to date and the film. It's hard to refuse someone when they ask for an unbiased opinion and then go the extra mile to offer you direct access like that.

To offer the short answer very early on - Yes, the show let her down, but it wasn't purely the fault of bad writing.

To offer a more extensive response, let's get into breaking this down piece by piece.

Hard Work And Confidence Rarely Makes For Good Writing

Among the various characters, Applejack is more or less the most down to earth character. She is supposed to be generally level headed and confident if stubborn Earth Pony, with few aspirations beyond keeping the farm she works on in order and her main strength being her hard work. She has the benefit of being one of the much more athletic members of the group and is associated with the trait of honesty. Also, her parents were apparently killed when she was quite young and she has a much stronger connection to her family than the other characters.

Now, this already shows one or two issues given the general archetype. It's not inherently bad in any way, and if the show had seen a general run of two or three seasons it would have been fine. However, every character needs to gradually progress in some way to avoid stagnation, and a few of these qualities could see her falling behind in one way or another. 

Let's just stick to the most obvious one - Her main strength is hard work and diligence, both of which are very appealing and it builds upon the everywoman charm of her role. However, when you look into almost any story, this rarely wins out on its own. One older trope among almost any story tends to be the hero or some grand figure completely standing out from the crowd based upon skill alone, or overwhelming their competition. This typically rapidly overtakes those who rely upon sticking to a tight regime, and earning their victories through constant small steps or focused hard work doesn't make a person quickly stand out. 

You can already think of a few examples of hard work rarely working I'm sure, but to offer a few obvious ones: Dragon Ball has been rife with it from the start, to the point where weaker but more dedicated fighters like Tien, Piccolo or (arguably) Roshi quickly fall behind the naturally more powerful Saiyans. The Wheel of Time's Egwene and Nynevae are cited to be naturally powerful channelers beyond measure, and start with an advantage beyond almost anyone else. Mass Effect is rife with such examples, even if you discount Shepard him/herself, where most of them started strong and only got better. It's also the message in Atlas Shrugged, but there is no way in hell that I am touching that thing. The point is that, by having this be her main quality in terms of general problem solving, Applejack was already a distinct disadvantage.

Ironically enough, when the show did delve into actually showing hard work pay off, Applejack's main quality once again worked against her. She was never selected to show this off or ever benefit from this, as the writers always seemed to select more visibly flawed or timid individuals to pull off such acts. Instead, Fluttershy typically ended up taking such roles, with an emphasis on building her confidence from Hurricane Fluttershy onward. When it comes to Applejack herself, typically this ability is treated as a background element or something which never comes into play thanks to the more noted abilities of other characters. None of this was to say that the episodes about Fluttershy were inherently bad, and their message was typically well delivered, but it left little room for Applejack to show off her most beneficial skills.

In fact, when Applejack is given the chance to actually build upon her strengths and shows them off, the series typically uses this as an opportunity to undermine them. This started with Applebuck Season, which featured a plot involving Applejack's overconfidence getting the better of her, and her hard work failing to overcome a task too large to accomplish. This led to her learning to accept help from others. This was then further compounded by The Last Roundup, which saw her promising to return with money in an event she was extremely talented at, only to fail spectacularly. She then needed her friends to talk her into returning and accepting her failure and walked home empty-handed. Both had great messages and were extremely well written in regards to character development and dynamics, but they seemed to set the tone for the character. Sadly, it also set the stage for the state of her stories from here on.

Too Few Victories

One of the show's best strengths (aside from finding stories which were not minded in strife or constant violence) was how it handled its characters. None of them were perfect, and it balanced many of them with enough shortcomings or outright failures to keep things interesting. It was ultimately a lesson show, but it nevertheless managed to execute that in a manner which was usually satisfying and rarely let the characters seem too perfect. In the case of Applejack, however, the writers always seemed to go too far in regards to her losses.

When you cover even the first season alone and break down her actions, most of the ultimately boil down to failing in some way in the long run. She does get a few victories, but when she does these are either quickly overshadowed by others or the episode itself ends up reversing them. In isolation, this does work in regards to her episodes, and the stories themselves play toward further emphasizing their message. However, when you look at it on a series-wide scale, this just leads to her falling behind the other characters. 

Let's just cite the two-parter pilot, for example, specifically the moment which displays each character showing their affinity for one Element of Harmony. In Applejack's case, it was convincing Twilight Sparkle to trust her after she let go and allowed her to fall over the ledge, allowing the two pegasi in the group to catch her. It works in of itself, but once the others come into play there is a more obvious problem: No other character requires this help during the pilot, and they typically overcome their issues on their own. The only exception to this is Twilight herself, and that's right at the end when the Elements are combined following a realization by her. Ultimately, this ended up showing the others surpassing and overcoming obstacles, while in Applejack's case it amounted to sitting aside and letting someone else do the rescuing.

The issue was only further exaggerated in the following episodes. The Last Roundup is arguably one example of this, but then you have even small moments which keep being effectively overruled. For example, Swarm of the Century featured Applejack seemingly having a viable way to deal with the current threat, with the help of the others. It was meant to fail, which is fair enough, but it could have been a chance to show that she was at least more adept in handling it than the others. The problem is that this was instantly followed by Rainbow Dash performing a far more effective means of dealing with it without the help of others, and then the episode closed out with noting that Applejack's method had only caused more problems for other towns. The same was true of Spike at Your Service, where Applejack is given a genuinely great victory for once; only for the episode to undermine it by the end by having another character defeat a much more threatening example of what she faced without breaking a sweat.

When a situation does arise where she can get any personal victories, nine times out of ten she will end up falling back on the others for help. The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 (yeah, I know) saw this, when it turned from Applejack and her family vs some potential rivals, to all of the characters vs some potential rivals. The Mane Attraction saw the same problem, where the ultimate resolution would have been impossible without a group effort despite it being an Applejack episode. Then you have others like Bats! where Applejack herself not only causes the problem of the episode, but when it comes time to resolve it the entire problem becomes a required group effort. This ends up carrying the unintentional message that she constantly needs others to fix her own mistakes.

The fact that more than a few of her victories keep coming from other characters taking over and solving them for her would be troubling enough. However, then you have all the ones where Applejack is written to be either irrelevant or actively detrimental to the entire situation. Made in Manehattan saw Applejack and Rarity effectively being tasked with fixing a problem, only for Applejack to end up doing little to nothing helpful and the problem ended up effectively resolving itself. The same was true of Sounds of Silence, which might as well have carried the message of "Fluttershy figures out everything instantly, resolves the problem, and Applejack gets in the way all the time" throughout its events. Non-Compete Clause was the same, to the point where the entire episode's theme was doing exactly the opposite of what she and Rainbow Dash attempt throughout the whole thing.

Then there are episodes where, despite there being a mutual problem among the characters, she is singled out as the only one at fault. This began, once again, in the first season with Look Before You Sleep, which sees Rarity and Applejack equally at fault causing trouble, only for Applejack to be presented as the one ultimately in the wrong and needing to apologize. Then, to twist the knife, it has Rarity fix the problem in a split-second despite previous efforts requiring far more effort from Applejack herself. 

If you think that episode might be an exception, then just look over the others from later seasons. You have ones like Hearthbreakers, where the problem stems from the fact that neither Applejack or Pinkie Pie's family celebrates their version of Christmas in the same way. However, even after Applejack makes the effort to celebrate the event in the way of the other family (and they equally refuse to accept anything besides their own version and expect the others to go along with it) the episode once again presents her being in the wrong by the end.

Perhaps the worst example of all this was Buckball Season, where Applejack is presented as an experienced player of a specific sport and an excellent leader at it. The problem is, she not only ends up almost completely ruining their chances of winning, driving away players with her training regime and is shown to be utterly blind to her shortcomings, but her skills are undermined. She not only loses out entirely to the new players when they are pitted against one another - despite both being first-timers who have little athletic interest - but it's made clear that she would have lost herself if she had joined the actual match personally. Even when she is effectively handed something which it would only take a few tweaks to fix and show her in a beneficial light after so many losses, it opts to make her a failure.

This even carried over to the comics where, during an arc focusing upon her called The Good, the Bad and the Ponies, Applejack's "victory" is just getting Twilight to resolve everything. Another called Night of the Living Apples, despite taking place on her farm, sees Applejack pushed almost completely out of the story in favour of more or less everyone else.

Compare this to the other characters and you end up with a far, far more even spread of victories and failures. Non-Compete Clause, for example, might have been an episode where Rainbow Dash fails but it's followed up by The Washouts, which was a stunning personal victory for her and over a rival no less. Look Before You Sleep, even though it was less critical of Rarity than Applejack, was followed by A Dog and Pony Show, which has her escaping a hostage situation without assistance. Plus, even atop of this, the failures of these characters can often be attributed to other factors, such as Canterlot Boutique, where the demands of Rarity's manager is the source of trouble over Rarity herself.

The end result of all this is that you end up having a series of episodes which are largely well written but ends up making one character ultimately look worse than the others. While the show presents her as capable and generally skilled, there is rarely a moment where her abilities actually pay off. As such, intentionally or not, she is made to look like the weak link in the overall group.

The Impossible Rivalry

If the nature of Applejack's episodes didn't cause enough of a problem for the character, her rivalry with Rainbow Dash only exaggerates it further. It's easy to see why the two were designed for this role: They are equally athletic, have a competitive side to them, and are comparable in terms of interests without it delving into cliche. However, there's just one problem: Applejack herself is overshadowed and completely overwhelmed when the two are compared. Constantly. As in, there is honestly rarely a single moment where the two compete at something, and Applejack does not lose out.

This started with the previously reviewed Fall Weather Friends, and like a lot of things discussed thus far that seemed to set the dynamic from there on. The entire state of the story effectively amounted to "Rainbow Dash will beat Applejack without trying, unless she is held back", and it suffered from many problems cited in the previous section. While the rivalry angle would go on and off for a while, and would never go to quite the same lengths again, it ultimately draws a comparison between the two. A comparison which, to be blunt, does not work in Applejack's favour.

This section will largely tie into others, but the simple matter is that Applejack is never given a chance to catch up to Rainbow Dash. While the latter is given victory after victory, the former stays more or less where she is in terms of skill and prominence within the story. This might sound somehow exaggerated, but the following seasons have shown this from Rainbow Dash:

• She was responsible for every other member of the main characters getting their abilities.
• She can break the sound barrier with little to no effort, and then push herself to even greater heights.
• She can equal Applejack in seemingly almost every skill, then surpass her in most others.
• She has repeatedly joined events where Applejack was notably skilled at - such as the Sisterhooves Social - and typically wins at them, with the story finding excuses to remove Applejack from the picture.

Combined with a point we will get into below that Rainbow Dash has gone up in the world while Applejack has remained where she is, and a direct comparison only ends badly. It only serves to make a fan favourite already better, while it makes Applejack seem all the more flawed for not equally someone cited as her rival. For this to work, they would need to be on roughly equal standing, and this simply isn't the case. Going from their victories this is less Goku vs Vegeta than it is Krillin vs Vegeta. No matter how much you liked the character, the way the series has set them up makes it clear that one side will instantly win out.

None of this is to say that Applejack isn't talented in the slightest, it's quite the opposite. However, every time an episode might have had the chance to show off just why she was Rainbow Dash's rival, it would end in her failure. This move only made things worse, and the capabilities of the two seem all the more uneven.

Of course, it's a problem only made worse by their species.

All Of Their Weaknesses, None Of Their Strengths

If you're brave enough (or have a strong enough stomach) to look up original characters on DeviantArt relating to this series, you might notice a trend. More or less all of them will be pegasi or unicorns. The reason for this is simple: The series has never done anything to make Earth Ponies seem as if they can ever hold their own at anything compared with the others. You see, unicorns have a much better grasp on practical magic and have an almost universal capacity to use telekinesis. Pegasi can typically fly at extremely high speeds, control the weather than set up their own towns atop of clouds. Earth Ponies have a bit more stamina, supposedly superior strength to the others and allegedly have the skill to grow plants.

The entire dynamic has been created as a supposed balance between them, and in terms of when it is set up and on a social level this isn't too bad. However, on an episode-by-episode basis, this just doesn't work out. It leaves the former two with a massive advantage over the Earth Ponies in problem-solving, basic abilities and general traits, with few to no disadvantages. To make matters worse, these episodes frequently overlook any physical edge that the Earth Ponies might have. In many events, when the group is shown as being physically exhausted or tired from running, no one has an edge over them. Each species is depicted as breathing hard or being burned out, and no one seems to have an edge over the other. The same is true of physical strength, as any contest between Applejack and Rainbow Dash seemed to have them on equal footing, if not outright favouring the latter. Writers will occasionally remember Applejack is supposed to be stronger, but like so many things this is never used to actually resolve a problem.

You are probably wondering if the plant growing angle might come into play at any point and, honestly, no it doesn't. There is nothing to further substantiate or display their benefits, outside of one or two episodes involving special crops by the Apples. Even then, it's not made clear if this is due to techniques unique to them, or any benefit based upon their species. This would already be a poor advantage, but the fact that unicorns are shown to be infinitely more adept at plant growing or farming via spellcasting ruins even this. At the same time, pegasi were then given the capacity to lift whole carriages into the air and carry several times their body weight in flight, further nullifying any possible Earth Pony advantage. While basic species traits certainly shouldn't purely define characters, when two have such a staggering natural head start over the others, the writers need to offer something to help even things out.

There were a few opportunities the series had to try and even out this disparity, but for one reason or another, it always avoided doing so. Fluttershy was originally intended to be an Earth Pony to further build upon a supposed connection to nature, but was changed to a pegasus. A move which, while detrimental to the species, was definitely very beneficial to her character. Then, there was an indication that Earth Ponies could use their tails in a prehensile manner, which would have been some benefit to some work. However, it was later established that this was a universal skill. As such, the end result of all of this is that two species have massive benefits to help them, while the third only has their weaknesses.

This hurts Applejack, naturally, but it's only specifically her among the main group. Pinkie Pie has more than a few unique quirks to fall back on, which allows her to effectively bend the laws of reality in relation to comic timing. As the only other Earth Pony, this leaves Applejack no natural abilities to ever fall back on. This could have been a chance to at least display how she could get by or keep up with the others despite a lack of those same advantages, but the series never finds any opportunity to do just that. As such, it's yet another area where she only loses out in the end.

Humble Beginnings Left Nowhere To Go

This is another one where, if the series had not gone on for quite so long, likely would not have been an issue. Why? Really, because it's part of Applejack's overall appeal. She is more or less where she wants to be in life, and she has her overall role decided for her. Whereas the others are more uncertain or are still developing, Applejack herself has ended up in a position of certainty very early on. As a character dynamic, this further helped to establish her as a more stable element within the group and offered a more established role within the community. Plus, atop of this, her close relationship with her family was one element which allowed for more stories to be told, and a secondary group of characters to exist alongside the main group.

So, if this is such an advantage, what disadvantage did it offer?

Simply put: Applejack stayed where she was, and the others developed around her. Because she was so well established in terms of location, lifestyle, and direction, little was ever done to fully build upon her further. This, unfortunately, meant that, while the others developed, she seemed to be stuck in a static position. Rainbow Dash achieved her life dream of joining the Wonderbolts, Rarity opened up a new business line, Twilight ascended to a throne, Fluttershy became more confident and understanding of her role, and Pinkie gained further self-awareness. With Applejack, no push was made to actually further build upon what was there. As a result, she seemed as if she was a secondary character in her own show.

There were opportunities to expand upon what was already there. Applejack could have taken further control of the business as her grandmother grew older, or taken it in new directions. It could have expanded upon its role, or something done to improve it in some way. However, rather than doing that, almost any story involving Sweet Apple Acres ultimately ended up with "Applejack is at risk of losing X" and the story would try to resolve that. So, while the others were building up further, any story with her was left depicting the character as fighting to hold onto anything she already had.

There is also something to be said for the secondary characters as well, in that they tended to also overshadow her. As most had more of a direction before them, their tales tended to be building toward something or they featured an angle which could not be accomplished with the main group of characters. This ended up only contributing further to the problems previously cited, even as it benefitted the show as a whole.

Honesty Denied

Finally, there is perhaps the most frustrating point involving the character and the show in general: Honesty. Each of the characters is supposed to represent some aspiring element, from Loyalty to Generosity, and their personalities reflect this in some way. It was a good basis for episodic stories, and allowed for messages to be more easily worked into the show. As with most things listed so far, however, it seemed to drop the ball with Applejack. That or, really, they just did not know what to do with her tales and this.

Now, these stories would often feature the characters either learning to appreciate the value they represented more, or they would be given a chance to impart messages to others. This worked out well for the most part, but with Applejack, she seemed to be the one always learning rather than imparting such values. Beyond the first episode where this fully came into play, Sisterhooves Social, there were few moments where she would attempt to use this to an episode's advantage. In that one, it at least helped to highlight inner clarity with someone and gain further understanding in a sibling who was becoming distant to them, but after this point, it featured less with each passing season. 

The few times that Applejack's honesty was utilised, it was typically in a manner which any other member of the group could have done themselves through simple common sense. Viva Las Pegasus and Sounds of Silence were both notable examples of this, as in one she was little more than a means to an end with that quality soon forgotten, while the latter had her simply getting in the way at every turn. Worse still, even in those episodes, writers continually played up her stubbornness until it got in the way of this supposed quality.

This habit of having Applejack learn of honesty only helped to further throw her relationship with the Element into question, and few stories seemed to reinforce the point that she was worthy of it. In fact, a multitude of others that would have been perfect for actually examining or even addressing the idea of how honesty could be regarded were constantly handed to other characters. If there was an investigation story, typically it would be given to either Pinkie Pie or Rairty, such as with MMMystery on the Friendship Express and Rarity Investigates! respectively. If it required speaking with those in power or distant, Twilight would be handed it, while issues of honesty between comrades typically ended up with Rainbow Dash over anyone else. 

Even in situations stemming from pride and stubbornness that Applejack would have been perfect for thanks to her past growth - such as Not Asking for Trouble and The Hooffields and McColts - but it's never brought up. The second of those two would have been perfect in every regard, and could have been taken in almost any way, but instead, it ended up with Twilight and Fluttershy taking the spotlight. 

Yet even in situations where she could be of viable help, or a direct benefit to the story, she ends up being treated as a hostile factor in it. Appleoosa's Most Wanted featured a character who was not only misjudged but also could not be honest with himself. Despite being unable to properly understand his skills or even what life had set for him, it instead became an Apple Bloom plot, with Applejack only believing a falsehood until the end. The same was true of P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View) - a Rashomon style story about perspectives - with multiple characters blaming one another for a failure. You would think that Applejack might be able to coerce them to talk to one another, or even as a lesson to show how easily opinion could sway views or influence an honest account. No, instead, she's treated as the worst of the bunch when it comes to outright lying.

This only came to a head with a prequel episode called Where the Apple Lies. This effectively showed that Applejack was once the complete opposite of her current self, and was willing to lie about any event to get her own way. Now, this is something of a fan favourite and I can see why. It's a look into the past of a character, it deals with fleshing out their history and it comically well timed throughout a multitude of jokes. 

Furthermore, the argument could be made that it is an indication that she overcame her nature and traveled a much more difficult path than the others to arrive at her place. It's a move which could be respected, but the episode handles it in a manner which is irksome, to say the least. Rather than showing the desire for improvement, it comes across as Applejack failing so hard over and over again that she cannot help but be honest to avoid it. While that is just a personal perspective, when it follows on directly from P.P.O.V. it seems to only further emphasize that she isn't the best person to represent honesty at all.

Final Thoughts

Just to reiterate on previous points - None of this is to say that the individual episodes were poorly handled. The series as a whole (with a few exceptions) is remarkably well rounded and maintains a high standard of quality both in animation and storytelling. It sidesteps many of the issues which would plague long-runners like The Simpsons and never avoided a chance to change things up for characters once a status quo had run its course. As stated multiple times, when viewed in isolation or even just on a one-by-one basis, the episodes discussed work perfectly fine.

However, in regards to how characters were depicted and handled, I can also easily see why someone who liked Applejack would take issue with the creative choices. There have been far more spiteful or ill-handled moves in many franchises (just look up Karen Traviss), so I am hesitant to say that this was entirely intentional. However, the fact that the other characters are handled so well - and so many perfect episodes kept being made at the expense of Applejack herself - is eyebrow-raising. Even going into this with an open mind, it was hard not to notice how she kept losing out in terms of its overarching structure.

Still, this is the viewpoint of an outsider more than anything else. Most of my writing involves technicolour genetically engineered psychopaths more than magical horses. As such, someone better connected with the fandom or even with a better understanding of the show might have another viewpoint. Yet from the perspective an outsider who just watched it all through from start to finish, I really do have to wonder if someone in writing department was playing favourites over the course of its seasons.