Does Apple Bloom really consider other ponies her friends?

[ManaMinori 4,146]

Outside of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, I mean. Because in "On Your Marks", she doesn't go to Silver Spoon or Diamond Tiara, who the CMC called their friends, now. Nor does she go hang out with Twist, who she stopped hanging out with, after Twist got her mark in season 1. Bet you guys 20 bits that she'll never see or hang out with Tender Taps again, either. She just turns into a grouch the whole episode because the only ponies she REALLY cares about want to do things on their own. Hell with Twist, SS or DT. They're not really her friends, apparently.

[ponylaces 1,870]

I honestly don't know. Apple Bloom is such a confusing character to me. I find it hard to believe that she had trouble doing stuff on her own, I'm pretty sure she has done it in the past. It would've been great to see her kind of hanging out with DT and SS for a little bit. See them developing their friendship and all. Guess not.

[On-Locoweed 108]

Apple Bloom is a leader, an "independent" type, if you will. She has friends of course, but the CMC seem to function like one unit when together. They don't have the same kind of "all-around friendliness" dynamic that the Mane 6 have, for example. I would say she's more about personal fulfillment (finding out what to do with her cutie mark) at this stage and less focused on discovering the magic of friendship.

 

I might even go so far to say that AB is pretty analogous to a pre-Ponyville Twilight.

[Luminance 2,187]

For Applebloom, she has a special connection with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle as they were just like her. The CMCs grew up with each other, and accomplished getting their Cutie marks together. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle mean so much for Applebloom in that when the two returned, Applebloom can clear her mind and focused on helping Taps find his cutie mark. As for the other fillies and colts, they didn't simply see what's Applebloom is going through in the beginning and didn't care enough to befriend her and Applebloom simply just ignores them.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,942]

I feel like she will hang out with Tender Taps more, at least, I hope she does. Her being with Scoots and Belle for sooooo long, I think she was sorta in a comfort bubble. She did everything with them two and thus, she never thought of making more friends beyond them. That is where Tender Taps breaks that bubble and allows her to explore those possibilities. 

[ManaMinori 4,146]

I feel like she will hang out with Tender Taps more, at least, I hope she does. Her being with Scoots and Belle for sooooo long, I think she was sorta in a comfort bubble. She did everything with them two and thus, she never thought of making more friends beyond them. That is where Tender Taps breaks that bubble and allows her to explore those possibilities.

 

but Twist was her first friend (mind you, AB chose to drop her like a hot potato, when Twist got her cm before she did), and DT And SS. So it's not like she doesn't have ponies outside her clic, but she just doesn't treat them like friends

[Seraph 128]

​I think she does, it's just probably off screen since for a while we saw her exclusively look for her Cutie Mark or hang out with her family. Now that Crusaders are more independent of what essentially made their characters for several seasons, I think we'll see more interactions between her and others. Perhaps less, Being and Nothingness, Staring Applebloom Sarte than we saw in the last episode. 

 

To me, Applebloom seems to be a very static character, rather than a more dynamic one which is what I originally expected. A lot of what she does is in direct reaction to others rather than on her own. I don't want to say her character lacks agency because she clearly has it, but I don't know if the writers have her nearly as fleshed out as they have done with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

 

Edited April 13, 2016 by Seraph

[Buck Testa 5,505]

 Bet you guys 20 bits that she'll never see or hang out with Tender Taps again, either. She just turns into a grouch the whole episode because the only ponies she REALLY cares about want to do things on their own. Hell with Twist, SS or DT. They're not really her friends, apparently.

I'll take you up on that 20 bit bet! In fact I'll raise you 20 bits she's going to see him again by the end of THIS season. 

 

Out of all of them, Applebloom has the least going on despite how adorable she is. She doesn't really HAVE much in the way of hobbies, which is why they wrote her to join a dancing class. I think its healthy for them to start branching out while still being a close group, in fact their main talent encourages them to go out and meet ponies. 

[Yufery 205]

Imo, I'd imagine that her and Twist sort of went their own ways after they got their own friend groups (I'd imagine Twist has some more friends now, too)

 

As for DT and SS, well she probably is friends with them nonetheless, but I imagine that since she was so distraught over 'losing' the CMC, she just didn't think of heading to her other friends. After all, she completely misinterpreted their message, so we saw how she was incredibly sad and was just wandering around Ponyville, trying out any new things she saw without really thinking.

[mars 4,863]

Lol, in that sense... She's kinda like me. She has tons of friends but doesn't hang out with them, only hanging out with a few very close friends. It doesn't mean Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and Twist aren't her friends, but they're like... Her school friends. It's sort of like work friends- you know, friends you have in a certain setting but don't hang out with outside work/school/etc.

[Carl Poppa 464]

I understood her completely in this episode. Before forming the CMC she had lots of trouble fitting in and making friends. Twist and Applebloom went their different ways because that kind of thing just happens. I feel like AB is kind of withdrawn in some ways, and she has difficulty going outside her comfort zone and she doesn't like change.

 

I can relate to all of this a LOT. And guess what? When my close friends stopped spending as much time with me, I ended up in the same rut. I have other friends, but I don't know them as well, and I'm not as comfortable with them. I feel like they have others they'd rather be with, and I'm assuming Applebloom sees it similarly, aside from the fact that the CMC were always together since getting close. Like myself, her main hobby has been doing things with her close friends. She can't do that alone.

 

Yes she needs to learn how to reach out to others and to enjoy things on her own more, but the way she acted in this episode made sense for her character and is entirely understandable. It doesn't mean she doesn't consider others friends, maybe she just isn't comfortable intruding on their normal activities. Or maybe she feels lost now that the one constant in her life has changed. What she's used to and what gave her comfort and joy is different now, and suddenly she's supposed to somehow enjoy herself without the ones who are most important to her. That's tough for some people.

[Scootalove 10,689]

I believe she does. AB can be a prime example of sticking to your small circle of friends because she chooses to do so, I'm sure she wants to hang out with other ponies but sticks to Scootaloo & Sweetie Belle like glue.

[ManaMinori 4,146]

I understood her completely in this episode. Before forming the CMC she had lots of trouble fitting in and making friends. Twist and Applebloom went their different ways because that kind of thing just happens. I feel like AB is kind of withdrawn in some ways, and she has difficulty going outside her comfort zone and she doesn't like change.

I can relate to all of this a LOT. And guess what? When my close friends stopped spending as much time with me, I ended up in the same rut. I have other friends, but I don't know them as well, and I'm not as comfortable with them. I feel like they have others they'd rather be with, and I'm assuming Applebloom sees it similarly, aside from the fact that the CMC were always together since getting close. Like myself, her main hobby has been doing things with her close friends. She can't do that alone.

Yes she needs to learn how to reach out to others and to enjoy things on her own more, but the way she acted in this episode made sense for her character and is entirely understandable. It doesn't mean she doesn't consider others friends, maybe she just isn't comfortable intruding on their normal activities. Or maybe she feels lost now that the one constant in her life has changed. What she's used to and what gave her comfort and joy is different now, and suddenly she's supposed to somehow enjoy herself without the ones who are most important to her. That's tough for some people.

ok. I can get that. And while she does need to branch out, I just feel a major opportunity was missed with the other ponies I mentioned mot even being brought up by the other crusaders, at the very least.

 

"Didn't you try dong anything with your other friends, Twist, or Diamond Tiara?" Just one sentence could've confirmed, at least, that they were still implied to be her friends, and provided continuity to incorporate them in later episodes

[cider float 2,539]

If you remember when they were all blank flanks, Apple Bloom's central character revolved around being a blank flank looking for her cutie mark. Scootaloo had her passion to fly and emulate Rainbow Dash as well as riding a scooter and having a cocky attitude, Sweetie Belle displayed the annoying younger sister brat that struggled within the shadow of Rarity. Apple Bloom's episodes feature the cutie pox, fear of never getting her cutie mark, fear of getting cutie mark but being separated from her friends, getting a cutie mark that she really didn't want, as you can see Apple Bloom centered episodes were almost all based on cutie marks.