Who's stronger, Applejack or Rainbow Dash?

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

Apple Jack sure can buck apple trees. But RD can fly straight into solid rock and get back up. Maybe she can endure more than AJ

[Spartan 433]

Phyical strength, Applejack wins. Speed wise, Rainbow Dash. AJ works all day, well mostly, and RD doesnt do much manual labor like AJ does..

 

so in the phyical strength department, i can safely say AJ wins.. hooves down

[Zygen 6,065]

I really don't know, i mean I think Applejack would be much more physically strong then AJ, but Rainbow Dash beat AJ in hoof wrestling so I can assume she isn't totally weak for sure in that department.

 

Rainbow Dash flying is certainly much faster, and shes also pretty fast on the ground.

 

I guess flying is more physically exerting then you'd think, or she spends alot of time working out whenever shes not.. Sleeping.. .

 

AJ being an earth pony and how much she works should be more physically strong, Rainbow Dash is faster though.

[NavelColt 22,876]

Dash has been shown to have some powerful upper body strength. She beat AJ in hoof wrestling in the Iron Pony Competition, while other times the two were at a stalemate in it. It goes without saying that AJ's lower hoof strength outdoes Dash, as she's been kicking trees all her life. But as far as the rest of her body goes, Dash either excels or matches her. Dash is an athlete all around as a pegasus, so she's definitely worthy of that position of matching AJ at everything, if not excelling in some things, other than lower hoof strength. Those are my thoughts.

[Goose 181]

Applejack is more powerful at kicking with her rear legs due to her apple bucking practice, as shown in Mare Do Well and Fall Weather Friends.

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

They are both strong, just in different halves.  RD is strong with her wings and upper body, and AJ is strong in her lower body.  Each of them are rather active, (ex. Dash is an athlete) so it goes without saying they may be matched when it comes to strength.

[Chocolate 109]

If the various competitions they had are anything to go by then AJ is definitely the better athlete. If Rainbow Dash didn't use her wings AJ might have won fair and square. But it is as many have said before. AJ is better with her hind legs and Rainbow Dash is better with her upper body and overall endurance. 

[Stalliongrad 982]

Earth Ponies are always stronger than Unicorns and Pegasi. That's something thats often overlooked i think. The "connection" to the earth usually implies that Earth Ponies are always Farmers and involved with physical labor. Personally i think that the Unicorns magic and the Pegasi being able to fly are actually weaknesses.

[Shanks 10,811]

Earth ponies are usually physically stronger than pegasus ponies, due to her training and natural ability Rainbow Dash is a lot stronger than your typical pegasus. There is no question that they are both skilled athletes but in terms of sheer strength at least in lower body strength due to all the apple bucking Applejack has Rainbow Dash beat, but Rainbow Dash's speed is insane (sonic rainboom anyone?)

[RWB 229]

The series likes to state that AJ is stronger(at least in her legs), despite RD often showing more impressive feats.

 

But yeah, overall, AJ has stronger legs, but RD is overall stronger. Stronger in her upper body, and allowing her wings(which are not only part of her musculature but THE most powerful muscles she has in her entire body). This is one thing I really despised about FWF- "We are competing in who is more athletic, but using your strongest musculature is forbidden." I don't care for the "Wings are cheating"-excuse. Yeah, I can see them be a cheat in Long Jump, but not so much in other events. Pegasi spend a great lot of time not using their legs and instead using their wings.

 

As runners, they are pretty equal. AJ has a a slightly stronger sprint(seen in the Barrel race), but RD is slightly more agile. Neither stands a chance in the slightest against Pinkie Pie, who can match RD's general flight speed(which makes her run look sluglike).

 

 

See 0:41 for legit Pinkie running speed, and not her typical offscreen teleportation.

Edited February 3, 2013 by RWB

[Harmonic Revelations 8,833]

Fluttershy is strongest pony.

I'd say that Applejack is strongest manual labor wise. But Rainbow Dash's speed allows her to get quite a bit done. It's not really touched upon in the show itself very much.

[An Old Head 4,815]

Given the evidence that we do have, it's actually pretty inconsistent. Let me use an example; during the hoof wrestle, Rainbow Dash apparently has greater upper body strength. But during the press-ups competition they were both neck and neck - Dash only won with the help of her wings, which doesn't really count towards upper body strength. And then in the tug of war, where they were both using their front hooves (upper body) to pull the rope, Applejack was just about to win over Rainbow Dash before she used her wings again. So we have one count of Dash, one count of AJ and one count of neither. Hmm.

 

Oh, if the event where they chuck the bale of hay with their mouths counts as upper body strength, Applejack scores more superior.

 

Lower body strength is pretty certain. Applejack beat Rainbow Dash at both Test Your Strength, the football kick and the long jump (again discounting Dash using wings). She also generally uses her hind legs all the time at work.

 

Endurance wise, they're also neck and neck. Press-ups competition, actual Running Of The Leaves - both tied (discounting wings again).

 

I also wouldn't count running speed towards general strength. Speed is more of a technique thing rather than strength. They'd still both be neck and neck, Running Of The Leaves is proof of that.

Edited February 3, 2013 by Flipturn

[RWB 229]

There's really no way of cutting RD's wings out of the "strength competition" that is fair, because she has more strength in those than in the rest of her body combined.

 

Which is why it's asinine to do so.

 

Earth Pony Style Strength: AJ. Or quite possibly Pinkie Pie, but she's hard to gauge.

Full Physical Strength: RD by far.

 

 

As for Hoof Wrestling: Arm Wrestling is far less strength than it is technique.

Edited February 3, 2013 by RWB

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

I say AJ, I imagine Pegasi have a weaker, more flexible, frame that allows them to fly at such speeds. As for Earth Ponies, I think they're more built to withstand manual labor, and other such, I couldn't  even imagine RD doing all the stuff AJ does xD

[Reversalx 129]

Being technical-

Their strengths have been pretty inconsistent, as stated above. Also to mention, they've hoofwrestled twice; the first being pretty much a tie, but the second, Rainbow dash coming out on top. In my book, they're both becoming stronger as the show goes on.

 

AJ may have the vastly superior leg strength(her 1-leg buck completely outmatching RD's 2-leg buck), but RD has her wings so they're pretty much equal in my opinion I also agree with the aformentioned; Pinkie is strongest pony (i mean c'mon, shes just as fast as RD and can defy the laws of physics XD).

 

Unrelated- Big Mac could effortlessly move houses in "Hearts n Hooves Day", but struggled with the cake in "MMMystery on the Friendship Express". loool.

 

Discussing ponies is fun^^

[Rainbow Dash Loyalty 1,274]

RD is the athletic type of pony so she strong all-round and possibly more flexible when it comes to flying around. While AJ has been apple-bucking for years so it's no question that AJ beats RD in lower body strength seeing that she broke the 'test your strength' target in the Iron Pony games. 

I'll say RD wins upper body strength, AJ wins lower body strength so it's a 50/50 tie

[Brook 663]

I'll do this by categories for better measure.

 

Strength - Applejack, as proven many times with apple bucking

Speed - Do I even need to say?

Endurance - Applejack, she can withstand fatigue much better than RD

Impact resistance - Rainbow Dash, as proven in Spike At Your Service

 

So make your own what you see from this.

[poniesforfun 716]

Applejack has greater endurance and strength. She spends her time pulling cattle with her lasso, bucking trees and carrying apples. Something tells me Rainbow Dash would be better in short-burst activities in which you just let out an explosive amount of energy in a short amount of time to accomplish a task.

[Miss Light Diamond 2,801]

RD is more athletic but if it were to come down to a strength competition Applejack would be stronger. But if we're talking about a race or something...Rainbow Dash would win.

[RoseLaflesh 38]

Both ponies are strong, fast and stubborn (which may or may not be considered as endurance). When they compete they are fairly neck and neck, and I'm pretty sure if they didn't get caught up in trying to sabotage each other, they probably would have tied in the Running of the Leaves (or it would be very close).

 

Each do have their different strengths that really can't be compared to each other, but over all, Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack are fairly equal.

 

Of course, it I were to compare accomplishments based off their skills in comparison to other earth ponies and pegasi (that's the plural of pegasus, right? I can never remember). Apple Jack in "The Last Roundup" got a few second place ribbons, and many third, forth and fifth place ribbons. While Rainbow Dash in "Wonderbolts Academy" was one of the best fliers at the academy. While she technically was second to Lightning Dust (Only beating her because Rainbow Dash thought about more than just going faster), she was still the best flier in the academy, beating all the others in every aspect of flying.

 

So with those in consideration, I'd say Rainbow Dash.  

[Wingnut 6,733]

From Fall Weather Friends and Mysterious Mare Do Well, we see that Applejack has a clear edge in the lower extremities and a slight edge in total body strength (AJ would've won the tug or war if RD didn't use her wings).  But RD does have an advantage in foreleg power.  If RD were to train more for power than speed, they might be totally even. 

[Betez 1,734]

Well, I feel like RD's strength is mostly in her wings. She's an amazing flyer, and probably has very strong wings. However, AJ's an Earth Pony, and I feel like Earth Ponies have adapted to the Earth, and have more overall body strength than Pegasi. So, I guess it depends on what kind of strength we're talking about, but I'd say AJ.

[Scootalove 10,684]

Well since, Applejack has the strength factor with her ability with bucking trees and hoof wrestling. Rainbow Dash has factor of her amazing flying skills and Wing strength. Earth Ponies have a very overall technique of strength, have to say Applejack.

[Bright Honor 2,411]

I say it is a tie. Obviously, Applejack has far superior lower body strength. Upper body I would say RD, even though hoof/arm wrestling is more technique than strength. I say AJ has more lower body strength and is more durable, but RD is faster and has more upper body strength.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

I think the consensus is that Applejack is the stronger and more physically imposing of the two. Having bucked many apple trees in her life all the blood, sweat, and tears eventually paid big dividends to her physique and lower body strength. It was demonstrated quite clearly in the Iron Pony competition where she shattered the strength contest and sent the weight flying virtuoso of just her leg power. This isn't a knock at Rainbow Dash, of course -- her physicals aren't to be underestimated, and her status as an athlete allows her to do a variety of things even without her wings. Her style, so to speak, is to use her speed and god-gifted agility as techniques to assist her strength. Dash is the more technical one of the two in regards to this, which doesn't make her scrawny -- it's just a reflection of what else you can use to make yourself more powerful.

 

The best analogy I can provide is comparing an NFL outside linebacker to a defensive end. The faster and more agile of the group is the linebacker, but don't be fooled by the speed - they're very strong! Likewise, the defensive end is even stronger but slightly slower, although they're not snow as molasses, using their stature to overpower and bulldoze past blockers to get to the ball-carrier.

I say it is a tie. Obviously, Applejack has far superior lower body strength. Upper body I would say RD, even though hoof/arm wrestling is more technique than strength. I say AJ has more lower body strength and is more durable, but RD is faster and has more upper body strength.

 

Not a tie. One hallmark never outweighs another in this case. Pure strength is something you gain from training (be it whatever) and differentiates a lot from technique-based styles that Rainbow Dash uses. See the text above this.