Production and Development

Applejack is one of the only two members of the main cast who were part of the original My Little Pony cast in the 1980s animated series, the other member being Spike. Lauren Faust, the show's developer, was inspired to create Applejack by her childhood toy G1 pony Applejack.^[1] Faust intended to use more characters from the first My Little Pony series, Hasbro did not maintain the trademarks to nearly all of the original character names and most names had to be replaced.^{​[​citation needed​]​} Faust used the character's G1 color scheme, abandoning the dark red color from the G3 toy line. During the 2012 BroNYcon convention, voice actress Ashleigh Ball cited country singers Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton as inspiration for Applejack's voice and dialect.^[2] She shares some personality traits with the G1 pony named Starlight.

Name

Applejack is also the name of a strong alcoholic beverage produced from apples. In the episode Bridle Gossip, poison joke causes Applejack to shrink. Spike calls her "Apple Teeny," which is pronounced the same as appletini, an apple-flavored alcoholic cocktail.
Applejack is the first pony to have her name abbreviated in the show. In Applebuck Season, Twilight calls her "A.J.," a nickname that is used again by Spike in Boast Busters, Big McIntosh in Winter Wrap Up, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash in The Last Roundup, and Pinkie Pie in MMMystery on the Friendship Express.