Pretty simple, what do you like the most about this ship or find appealing about it?

Opposites attract.

Classic "rivals turned lovers" take on things - there's a reason Fall Weather Friends was the episode that really threw the ship into the limelight.

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And the best thing about Appledash is that beyond the surface level "opposites attract" you realise they're both actually extremely similar. Both are incredibly competitive, both have problems asking for help, both can be a little arrogant, both are extremely protective of their friends, and both of them often display the other's element. They both see the other as the only pony who can keep up with them.

7970709 It's just real comfortable, man.

Depending on your story you can kinda spin any ship however you want but AJ and Dash both like similar things, but in different ways. They don't have a lot of drama attached to them like a Princess or a very romantically oriented pairing, so the angst they feel in stories is usually of their own making. They can talk about the same topics and understand each other, whilst also adding something different to one another's playstyles.

When AJ angsts about being able to provide for her family and needing to be tough on herself to do it, Dash gets it, because Dash also understands pushing herself to be better all the time. When Dash angsts about the expectations she perceives others have for her, AJ gets it, because she also is very family focussed. And they don't 'get it' in the way that they understand intellectually what the other is going through; they get it, since beneath the radically different backgrounds and life goals, they're similar in a lot of ways.

They're also I think the only characters in the show to have started out as friends in season 1. Not gonna lie, going back to season 1 is crazy since it seems that the cast, after beating Nightmare Moon, kind of sit down and realise that hot damn, they don't actually like each other outside of that one near-death experience they shared to connect them, and have to learn how to behave around everyone. Dash and AJ aren't like that though, and were just playing games together to pass the time just 'cause. Even Pinkie and Dash's love of pranks was something they went out of their way to discover.

This means that when the comfortable, no-drama vibes of a good post-AppleDash fic hit, it's like watching an unexpected power-couple that not only is there for each other, but is fully equipped and able to help one another too, not as a chore but because they find existing in each other's orbit (with a few hiccups) to be a fun way to pass the time.

I'm not saying that they can't have drama either, but let's be real, if you want drama you really probably want to add a princess or a Rarity to the equation. The vibes these two kick off without even really trying, though, is cosy.

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Well, RD had also been friends with Fluttershy at the beginning of season 1. But yeah, I definitely see what you mean.

7970838 Sure but, like, nah, not the same way.

RD knew her, sure, in the same way I know folks from primary school, and they probably even kinda got along, but they have zero common interests and I don't buy that they didn't fall off majorly after flight school.

Contrast the opening of Fall Weather Friends, with RD and AJ chilling out and playing a game they are both mutually invested in, with the opening of Sonic Rainboom, where RD is barking orders at Flutters; to RD this is business, not pleasure, and the opening alone contrasts how different they are.

There is a majorly different vibe going on. One is of two folks who genuinely just get along enough to want to play games together to hang out, and the other is of two radically different individuals who, yeah, at this stage of the game respect one another and are invested in helping the other out when they need it, but do not have that same comfortable co-existence going on.

I might be slightly goalpost-shifting, but I still maintain that AJ and RD were the only two to genuinely seem like they had a bit of an established friendship, or at least a solid acquaintaince-ship, as that first season hit.

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You make an excellent point.
The other girls were just acquaintances at best prior to meeting Twilight, and even after she initially moved. But Applejack and Rainbow Dash definitely had the most history or seemed to have the most established relationship .

7970862 I don't want to make it sound like there is no possible way for RD or AJ to be friends with any of the others (the show itself is basically all about disproving that) but at least that's how I see it in the early days, which is I think the most unfiltered look at how they'd behave in a vacuum, with none of the shared experiences they gain as the series goes on.

Normally I'd also give Pinkie an honorable mention due to how quick her and Dash vibe over pranks (which on rewatch takes me by surprise to be honest; it kind of seems like the show forgot how insanely well Dash and Pinkie just clicked once they had that shared interest), but considering that immediately before that Dash was breaking records trying to get away from her, I'm not convinced Dash had the finest opinion of Pinkie before the show started.

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Oh, definitely not.

At best, Rainbow saw Pinkie as that next door neighbor that you tolerated, but steered clear of. At worst, she saw her as a nuisance and the town weirdo.

Superficially, the color combo is nice.

But I do also like their dynamic. I don't know if it is anything I can put into words.