@Background Pony #B475
Applejack was the only one of the Mane 6 that had already achieved her life goal: being a farmer on Sweet Apple Acres. This makes it difficult to write character-growth stories.
The writers could have giving her a ‘start a family’ goal, but the age demographic probably made that a difficult story-arc to sell.
Another option might be to have her start her own farm, but that would pull her off an already established scene AND give her a goal too similar to Rarity.
Other story ideas might use her strengths to make her a villian of sorts. Imagine if Applejack were in conflict because she believed PP’s constant party attitude was impractical and pointedly argued that Rainbow Dash’s work ethic was the main factor holding her back from achieving Wonderbolt recognition, (or that RD harmed the town through negligent weather monitoring)
Could Applejack be more likeable with these changes?