Calpain said:
Granted, she hasn't had the best episodes, but I'd give her more credit than that. We know one of her traits is stubbornness as we've seen in Applebuck Season and we have seen that she really cares for her family given that her whole reason for going to the Gala was to raise money to help her kin. She's also rather dependable (despite what happened in Applebuck Season) as she made sure Fluttershy got up the mountain in Dragon Shy and saved Twi from getting crushed by a boulder in the same episode.
AJ already has the start of a good character, she just needs some great situations for her to shine in. Hopefully that will be resolved in the second season.
That's what all the workaholics say as they drive their spouses to move out and take the kids with them, and when the family's gone they say they work all day because they don't have any reason to go home.
Applejack controls virtually the entire food supply for her entire town. She appears to be the richest, most powerful Earth Pony in Ponyville. Unicorn and Pegasus Ponies come crawling
to her when they need food. But that doesn't satisfy Applejack because Unicorns can simply pay with their easy magic-based money. Not sure how Pegasuses pay. They probably have a sky-clearing union contract since long before Unicorns started moving in.
Applejack got her hoofs into her cousin Braeburn's business (that's why she was so in love with a tree she was giving away, she was dreaming of it's importance to her financial empire), and she hoped that by introducing her products at Canterlot she'd be able to get her hoof in the door in yet another town. First she gets in, then she steadily grows her business, and soon she controls the town. Silly pony. No amount of financial control over cities will ever make you a Unicorn, let alone a Princess. Also, Celestia controls the economy. She might find it cute and amusing when you try to rearrange the scenery beneath her tower to your liking, but when she gets bored with it she'll gracefully put you back in your place and you won't even realize what she did.
That's why Applejack's Gala ambitions were not really the absolute weakest.
Twilight - Spend time with Celestia
She's desperate for attention from a mentor who probably knows it and likes to mess with her.
Rainbow Dash - Prove I'm great
She's 120% bravado all the time, but deep down she's still hurt from childhood bullying and lacks real confidence, and needs her perceived ideal group to recognize and validate her (superficial) greatness, which won't actually help her much, she'll just start looking for something else to fill the void.
Pinkie Pie - Party = Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie = Party.
She's built her life around the philosophy of party, even falling into severe depression and madness when that's threatened, and somebody told her that a gala was a party on crack. She probably partygasmed the night before in anticipation. She definitely had the biggest letdown of the group. And then she washed it all away with a party.
Rarity - Meet her Prince
She's actually interested in guys? I thought they were just playthings to her. I figure she's not interested in any of the guys she knows around Ponyville, but she still believes/hopes that there are somehow "better" men out there, in high society where she can't see them. Probably speaks towards her desire to advance her career and get out of Applejack's hick town.
Fluttershy - Make new animal friends
Couldn't she just... pick a direction and walk? Animals generally cover most inhabited planets. Apparently Celestia collected various interesting and unusual species of animals though, like Phoenixes, and Fluttershy loves what happened there, and she wants to go through a lot more of it. Don't worry little Fluttershy, Celestia has much more where that came from.
Applejack - Sell some apples
If you believe that Applejack wants to spend a once-in-a-lifetime shot at really letting her hair down for an evening and having some limitless fun, doing her same old boring job that she does every single day one more boring time, then you must conclude that Applejack is a real pathetic loser. This wasn't about her pathetic apple stand. This was about what her pathetic apple stand could one day become if she managed to get her hoofs into that city.
