well, Twi needed a push to make new friends, like a new filly at school being pushed by her momma :3

while Sunny was already a gregarious, friendly pony, who found friends she wasn't meant to like

also, without adopting Twi's perspective, we have Rarity and AJ being former friends, and Dashie and Flutters, and Pinkie, like Sunny, was always gonna friend everypony.

overall, I think both are pretty natural, but I do like that in both it is clear that the protagonist respects her friends as good ponies - she likes Izzy's creativity, Pipp's smolness, Zipp's brains, Hitch's good sense and caringness.

I agree. Sunny played a more active part in making everything happen – for Twilight, there were many events where it seemed things were destined to happen, starting from the way she became Celestia's protégé.

Along the same lines, I prefer the Student 6's friendship to that of the Mane 6 (controversial, I know). Like @North Star already said, Pinkie was obviously never really going to struggle at making friends. Even Twilight who "used to wonder what friendship could be" was later revealed to have had several friends before coming to Ponyville. The Student 6 came from very different backgrounds, some of them being from cultures where friendship wasn't valued, at least to the extent it is in Equestria. Some of them were viewed badly by ponies due to their past, Ocellus in particular had insecurities about this. They had prejudices about each other but learned to understand and appreciate each other and their differences.

The one thing I think you got wrong. 

That's not the only thing Gen 5 did better than FiM.  It's also plot-heavy, better at writing buildup for its villains, and actually had its first reformed villain change and grow with time instead of just being immediately redeemed after some conversing. 

1 minute ago, Misty Shadow said:

better at writing buildup for its villains, and actually had its first reformed villain change and grow with time instead of just being immediately redeemed after some conversing. 

Thank You! I forgot about Opaline being a actual villain who has stayed bad instead of being immediately redeemed. 

3 minutes ago, Misty Shadow said:

The one thing I think you got wrong. 

BOOOOO! JK. 

4 minutes ago, Misty Shadow said:

It's also plot-heavy,

I do like that Make Your Mark follows the (I don't remember what it's called. ) format where episodes all go together to form a full story. 

6 minutes ago, Misty Shadow said:

That's not the only thing Gen 5 did better than FiM. 

I also like Zipp Storm a lot more than Rainbow Dash because Zipp wants to be a detective and I love mysteries. 

the local alicorn celebrity has been introduced in the first movie and didn't wait three seasons to grow wings, and thank god the new one isn't royalty 

31 minutes ago, RDDash said:

the local alicorn celebrity has been introduced in the first movie and didn't wait three seasons to grow wings, and thank god the new one isn't royalty 

Local Alicorn celebrities wings appear and disappear thus making Local Alicorn more efficient. 

FIM's two-part pilot can't hold a candle to how G5 handled the formation of the Mane 5 (and eventual new Mane 6). Twilight didn't look at friendship with high regard at any point until the beginning of Part 2, largely in part due to how insular she grew up in under Celestia's tutelage.

As you wrote, Sparkle, Sunny knew at least one pony really closely before the Mane 5 united, and Sunny knew Hitch since she was a filly. Sunny and her late dad also believed in the Magic of Friendship's existence long after generations of ponies forgot about it. When Twilight read the philosophy of the Mare in the Moon, she put her full focus on that and Celestia's second half of her assignment second.

Additionally, the Mane 6 didn't really turn into a friendship until halfway during Part 2; its rushed pace made its unification feel largely hollow. Yes, Twilight had entertaining chemistry between the ReMane Five in Part 1, but we didn't see their chemistry blossom until FIM improved their slice-of-life episodes during Season 1. In ANG, the writers gave their eventual friendship time to build. Each of them lived under different backgrounds with different ambitions. Their talk around the campfire remains doubly important because they all realized how interconnected they almost all were from when they were fillies without realizing it. 'Twas at this point where Zipp, Pipp, Hitch, Izzy, & Sunny were all on equal ground and understood each other. Their friendship means something and feels like it truly matters.

What we've seen since ANG with TYT and MYM is a consequence of how their friendship began. Despite all the shenanigans they experience, we know they all care for each other at the end.

12 hours ago, Dark Qiviut said:

'Twas at this point where Zipp, Pipp, Hitch, Izzy, & Sunny were all on equal ground and understood each other. Their friendship means something and feels like it truly matters.

@Dark Qiviut

I love the Mane 6 but they have a very "Scooby-Doo-like" friendship to me (Why would Fred/Daphne hang out with Velma/Shaggy?)

which, makes the friendship between the Mane 6 feel very plot convenient but not believable.

Also, I know it was the pilot but I think the idea of Celestia setting everything up behind the scenes was a dumb choice.
Don't make Twilight a total introvert, make her apprehensive to meet new ponies because of past bullying or something relateable like that
because, to me, not wanting to go somewhere because Twilight wanted to stop some great evil force by herself makes no sense an evil force
that wasn't even a series-long villain!