AppleDash

AppleDash is the femslash ship between Rainbow Dash and Applejack from the My Little Pony fandom.

Canon
The series starts off with them having a previously established relationship as friends. In the second episode, they are shown to both represent Elements of Harmony, Applejack being honesty and Rainbow Dash being loyalty. Because of this bond, they grow closer than before and become part of the Mane Six.

Season 1
In Fall Weather Friends (S1E13), Applejack and Rainbow Dash are competing to see who's the stronger pony. To fairly judge this, they participate in an Iron Pony Competition. In multiple parts of the competition, however, Rainbow Dash uses her wings to make the events easier for her, since Applejack is an Earth Pony. Applejack points this out, and jeers at Rainbow Dash, saying she wouldn't be able to beat her. Rainbow Dash says that she could beat her with or without wings, so they decide to participate in the Running of the Leaves. In this race, Rainbow Dash has her wings tied to her side to make sure she can't get ahead using them. They start off in the lead, taunting each other and pushing each other lightly to get the other off-course. The race continues on, and as they near the finish line, they begin shoving more aggressively, to the point where Applejack accidentally rips off the rope that was holding Rainbow Dash's wings, which makes her try to fly off with Applejack very close behind. They cross the finish line and begin to argue over who came in first, only to realize that they both tied for the last place and that because of their arguing, they lost sight of the true meaning of the race, to bring down the leaves from the trees. They realize how unsportsmanlike they performed, and decide together that it's more important to do things together as friends than to win. At the end of the episode, they run back through the woods together to take care of the leaves that got left behind.

In Over a Barrel (S1E21) Applejack is delivering an apple tree named Bloomberg to Appleloosa, a town to the west where her cousin, Braeburn, lives. They travel on a train, with Bloomberg in the caboose, where Spike decides to take a nap. There is a stampede of buffalo who attack the train, frightening the passengers. Rainbow Dash goes on top of the train to stop one of the younger buffalo but is too late and the caboose of the train, holding Spike and Bloomberg, is left behind. Applejack is upset over the loss of Bloomberg, and Rainbow Dash tries to comfort her. She and Pinkie Pie later decide to go after the buffalo to rescue Spike and Bloomberg, and they learn that because of the trees in Appleloosa, they're unable to travel to their traditional stampeding grounds. Rainbow Dash is sympathetic, and she, Pinkie Pie and Spike return to the town to tell the other ponies about the situation. Rainbow Dash tries to make Little Strongheart, the young buffalo who separated the caboose, to explain the situation to Braeburn, but since neither of them speaks, it leads to Applejack and Rainbow Dash arguing instead. After the entire situation is resolved by a compromise between the buffalos and Appleloosans, Applejack and Rainbow Dash seem to be on good terms again, running side-by-side after the herding buffalo. In The Cutie Mark Chronicles (S1E23), we learn about how Applejack got her Cutie Mark. When she went to Manehattan to live with her aunt and uncle, she missed life on the farm, and one day she saw a gigantic rainbow leading back to Ponyville, and realized that's where she belonged. Later in the episode, we find out that the cause of that rainbow was Rainbow Dash when she performed her first Sonic Rainboom.

Season 2
In The Last Roundup (S2E14), Applejack participates in the Equestria Rodeo Competition. As the ten-time rodeo champion of Ponyville, the townsponies have high hopes of Applejack winning and bringing back prize money that can fix the damaged town hall. However, after a week, Applejack unexpectedly does not show up, instead leaving a letter saying that she would not be returning to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash is the first to express dismay, insisting that they go find her immediately. The rest agree, and they set off to Dodge Junction where she was last seen. They find her working at a cherry farm, and when asked why, she ambiguously replies that she wanted "a change of scenery". After much efforts at persuasion by the whole group, Pinkie Pie eventually manages to make her promise to explain everything, but Applejack breaks this promise the next morning, jumping on a coach and ordering them to run away. Determined, the group gives chase, with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy pulling the wagon and the rest on the wagon shouting at Applejack. When Pinkie Pie accidentally knocks herself and Rarity off the cart, Rainbow Dash refuses, and doggedly rushes after Applejack's wagon. The two pegasi fly the cart over a train, where they finally catch Applejack who has gotten off the wagon. Rainbow Dash unlatches herself from the cart and tackles Applejack to the ground, spilling an array of rodeo ribbons. They then find out that Applejack did not want to return because she was ashamed of not having won any blue ribbons, but the group comforts her; Rainbow Dash says that as friends, they wouldn't care if she came in fiftieth place. Later, Rainbow Dash quietly cries, saying, "Darn it! Now you got me acting all sappy!" In Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 (S2E15), Applejack's family is making their famous cider, which Rainbow Dash is extremely excited to try. However, when it finally comes her turn to get some, Applejack is all out, and cider season is over. Rainbow Dash is upset, and voices her despair over the lack of cider for everyone. This is when the Flim Flam brothers bring in their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, which automatically makes cider. Everyone is enthralled and excited to get more cider, but Applejack's family is upset that the Flim Flam brothers are stealing their business. They make a bet, that whoever makes the most cider gets the farm, and the war begins. Applejack's family takes their time with theirs, producing barrels much slower than Flim and Flam who produce barrels almost automatically. As Applejack's family begins to slow down, Rainbow Dash and the rest of the Mane Six help out, speeding up production of cider; panicking, the Flim Flam brothers turn off the quality check on their machine and begin pumping out barrels even faster. When the contest is over, the Flim Flam brothers win by a landslide and the Apple family is told to leave. Applejack accepts this, but not before Rainbow Dash flies in their faces threateningly. However, shortly after, ponies tasted Flim and Flam's cider and hated it. Ultimately, the ponies refused to buy any more of their poor-quality cider, forcing the Flim Flam brothers to leave. The Apple family makes a triumphant return to the farm.

Season 5
In Tanks for the Memories (S5E5), Rainbow Dash is sad about her pet tortoise, Tank, having to hibernate during the winter. When her five friends find her sobbing on her bed. Twilight Sparkle envelopes Applejack in a magical aura and telekinetically pushes her to her side. Applejack is awkward in her consoling, but she tries her best.

Season 6
In Buckball Season (S6E18), Rainbow Dash and Applejack train Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie for an upcoming buckball game against Appleloosa. Determined to defend their town's honour by having the Ponyville team win the game, the two employ tactics like reminding them constantly about what was at stake, and how much Ponyville expected of them, placing immense pressure on Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who they themselves preferred to play the game just for fun. When Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie crumble from the stress and withdraw from the competition, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are confused over why they would act the way they acted, until they realised that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were different from them and would thus react differently to the pressure Applejack and Rainbow Dash relished. Working together, they pretend to take Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie's places in the buckball team and convince them to play a practice round with them, which helps them regain their confidence and rejoin the buckball team.

Season 8
In Grannies Gone Wild (S8E5), Rainbow Dash wants badly to try the Wild Blue Yonder, a well-reputed rollercoaster at Las Pegasus, before it closes down for good. She asks Applejack to cover her classes, and Applejack agrees, on the condition that Rainbow accompanies her Granny and her friends during the trip. Rainbow doesn't like the idea of chaperoning these slow, elderly ponies, but desperate, she agrees. Throughout the trip, she is paranoid about following the instructions Applejack has given her, even having a "phantom" of Applejack nagging at her in various instances. This causes her to go to the extreme with Applejack's rules, which accidentally ruins the fun for the grannies.

In Non-Compete Clause (S8E9), Applejack and Rainbow Dash compete for Teacher of the Month at Twilight Sparkle's Scool of Friendship. In order to win the favour of their students, they take them on a combined field trip in an attempt to teach them about teamwork. When their initial methods clash and result in the students not enjoying their field trip, Twilight Sparkle wants to call off the field trip, but the two decide to change tactics and instead start agreeing with everything the other says, resulting in difficulty trying to come to a consensus on anything. In the end, an unexpected twist leads to the students saving their teachers from a predicament, and the students are impressed at their teachers' "genius technique" of teaching them teamwork by showing them exactly the opposite, thus nominating them for Teacher of the Month. Applejack and Rainbow Dash still privately admit that their shenenigans throughout the trip was for obtaining the title after all.

Season 9
In The Last Problem, the last episode of the series, the two ponies were implied to have a relationship more than a friendship between the both; they enter the castle as a pair and bicker lightheartedly about chores, giving the interpretation that they lived together and/or worked together. At the ending scene of the episode, Rainbow Dash also places her hoof on Applejack's head. Following this, several staff from Hasbro have confirmed it on social media, including director Mike Myhre, voice actress of the two Ashleigh Ball, and the show writers. However, the staff have also made it clear that they do not speak for Hasbro and that it is still open to interpretation. Hence, nothing can be stated as 100% canon, but it is certainly heavily implied.

Fanon
One of the main reasons this ship sailed was because there was a lot of chemistry between the two. They have similar interests, such as a shared drive for and athleticism and competition. They are both not afraid to get down and get rough, and are both characters with straightforward and upfront personalities, leading to them being very good friends and thus, popular ship candidates. At the same time, they are not without their differences, with Rainbow Dash being more ambitious and adventure-loving, while Applejack is more down-to-earth and practical. Despite this, the two have similar-enough thinking patterns to understand the other, so conflict between them is usually easily resolved, like by turning to a petty competition, and they hold no long-term grudges against each other.

In the early days of the MLP fanbase, AppleDash was well known because they were two of the few characters that could be interpreted as in some kind of relationship. Although the two have a close relationship with Rarity and Fluttershy, the outcome of the relationship is different in Equestria Girls as Applejack pursues Rarity and Rainbow Dash pursues Fluttershy, which implies shipping fluidity.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Applejack/Rainbow Dash on FanFiction.Net
 * Applejack/Rainbow Dash on FimFiction.Net
 * Applejack (EG)/Rainbow Dash (EG) on FimFiction.Net
 * Applejack (EG)/Rainbow Dash (EG) on FimFiction.Net

FAN ART

 * Appledash on DeviantArt
 * Appledash on Derpibooru.org

Trivia
In the My Little Pony: Magic Princess app, there are two info boxes for future Rainbow Dash and future Applejack. Applejacks says she likely has a "loving, loyal relationship", while Rainbow Dash's says she would likely have a "good, honest life", referencing each other's Element of Harmony.