Could the Mane Six have even been friends?

[Stardust Live 43]

Sometimes the friendships in MLP really don't make too much sense to me. I know friendship is magic, and it's possible to have friends with wildly different tastes ... but sometimes it really feels they were thrown together, and would either not talk to each other or be enemies otherwise.

Rarity and Fluttershy = I see being friends, though meeting would be a lot different. I really liked Rarity taking the time to reassure Fluttershy and understand her nerves and feelings, and their trips to the spa are lovely.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy = I didn't see being friends AT ALL but the backstory at Flight School and the time spent dealing with Zephyr Breeze throws a different light on it, it was a better look than Hurricane Fluttershy and Dragon Quest at least. So, childhood friends, with some meetups.

Rarity and Pinkie = both like a social event, but have wildly different ideas about it. I think Rarity would find Pinkie a bit much, and Pinkie would find Rarity quite stuck up

Rainbow Dash and Applejack = OOF, rivals! If they did meet! I can even see arguments over the weather schedule! 'It can't rain today, ah just planted mah newest saplin's! Your darn rain will wash 'em clean away!"

Rarity and Applejack = the shipping in this couple really makes no sense to me! Deadly enemies!

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash = classic jock vs. nerd sometimes, and I can see them looking down on each other, it was like that for a lot of Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

Pinkie and Twilight = Twilight was visibly annoyed at Pinkie, and Pinkie's loud personality would clash with early Twilight's reserved and borderline hostile nature. I see Twilight avoiding her whenever possible, and wrongly thinking she's empty-headed

 

That's just some off the top of my head. What are your thoughts? I genuinely think most of them would NOT be friends with each other outside of the plot

Edited June 4, 2020 by Stardust Live

[Lucky Bolt 34,964]

Rarity and Rainbow Dash. That's the weirdest friend duo to me, they have like zero common interests. They're both also completely different from each other.

[Cagey 4,209]

I don’t know, I’ve had some petty weird friendships with people with whom I don’t see eye to eye. Maybe we’re rivals or “frenemies” but I think it can work. 

[AppleButt 8,669]

I think they could work.  I’ve had friends before that weren’t much like me. 
 

Friendship is about being nice to each other, not being just like each other.  

[TotallyNotNyx 15,563]

51 minutes ago, Lucky Bolt said:

Rarity and Rainbow Dash. That's the weirdest friend duo to me, they have like zero common interests. They're both also completely different from each other.

Nothing wrong with that. I mean, you're completely different to me and I count you as a friend 

[Fluttershyfan94 5,738]

You'd be surprised, sometimes friends can be polar opposites. Usually friend groups like this one could actually become a group of friends by one of them knowing each other. So although I get what you mean I have had friends being the complete opposite of myself I am high energy, having been friends with people who don't want to do anything while still always having something in common in their case common experience I would say.

[Lucky Bolt 34,964]

6 minutes ago, Princess of Luck 🍀⚡🔥 said:

Nothing wrong with that. I mean, you're completely different to me and I count you as a friend 

That’s true I suppose. 

[Stardust 640]

As long as you listen to each other and respect each other I think it can work. I mean they work as a group even though individually some combos seem very different. I could see rarity and rainbow dash as a couple tho hahhaha

I always though pinky pie and rainbow dash are close.

Apple jack and rainbow dash are good rivals. 

I see twilight as sort of the mediator and good with everyone.

Sometimes it's hard to see who fluttershy is close to but I think they all look out for her really ;P she is shyyy

[Stardust Live 43]

1 hour ago, Lucky Bolt said:

Rarity and Rainbow Dash. That's the weirdest friend duo to me, they have like zero common interests. They're both also completely different from each other.

Oh my goodness, THIS!!! I can't think of a single interaction outside the mane 6 and that one time RD agreed to help Rarity pìn a dress, but made it super clear she hated being still

[Goat-kun 2,500]

Yup. They're not even behaving like a group of friends. They're more like a bunch of coworkers at the Friendship office.

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

One thing to think about is that the Mane Six's friendship was essentially formed in a dangerous situation. Their Princess gone, a villain threatening their kingdom with Eternal night, the six of them heading off on a journey into a dangerous forest together to protect their home, family and friends. Having to put their trust in each other, even when it comes to their own life possibly. People always mention the "Destiny" part of the elements but they never really think about that. That's the kind of thing that easily can make quick friends out of very different people, and keep in mind they had to keep doing it repeatedly over the course of the show.

 It's probably not the kind of thing you think about too often since it's a kids show and you know everything is going to be okay in the end, and it's rather tame compared to our reality or even most other shows out there, but the Mane Six are putting their lives in potential danger all the time and having to rely on each other, and considering they're a small team that's going to build up bonds for sure, no matter how different they might be otherwise. When you're regularly risking your life together that's just going to happen.

The Mane Six's friendship is definitely idealized to an extent, but I don't think it's completely unrealistic, especially when taking what I said above into account. Plus, I think it's a good thing for a show like this to have a variety of personalities and to show that friends can exist even despite major differences.

42 minutes ago, Stardust Live said:

Oh my goodness, THIS!!! I can't think of a single interaction outside the mane 6 and that one time RD agreed to help Rarity pìn a dress, but made it super clear she hated being still

The entirety of Rarity Investigates is just Rainbow and Rarity. Not to mention the End in Friend, though that's not the best example since they spend most of it arguing. They actually do have some substantial things in common when you think about it, despite their totally opposite personalities. Of the two Mane Six they've easily been the most ambitious since day one, Rarity's always dreamed of opening more boutiques and expanding her business and Rainbow's always wanted to be a Wonderbolt. That, and of the two Mane Six they're the ones who care the most about their appearance and reputation, in totally different ways, since Rarity tries to appear fashionable and high-class while Rainbow wants to be seen as "Awesome", but it's the same desire at the end of the day. I could see them relating to each other on these once they get past their differences.

[Prince Doopliss 2,350]

Yes they could be friends. No matter how opposite they, they need someone opposite to prevent their own egos from inflating and bringing down back to earth. Would it be difficult to be friends? Yes, and the show proved that it is difficult for the mane 6 to be friends. However at the end despite their differences it is all but a side and they become closer friends rather than enemies. That is the whole point of the to begin with.

[Evil Pink One 13,233]

As starlight has proven...nope. without the rainboom they wont

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

59 minutes ago, Kujamih said:

As starlight has proven...nope. without the rainboom they wont

That's kind of a different situation though. Like, if you went back in time and changed the timeline thus causing me and my best friend to not meet, or meet in a different way and not become friends, does that disprove our friendship? Like, Twilight and her friends as the Elements of Harmony have a unique impact on the world, yes, but you could theoretically erase any friendship with time travel, that doesn't invalidate it.

Edited June 4, 2020 by BastementSparkle

[Splashee 28,538]

Lauren Faust forced friendship. They are all so different, and they seem to not have time for each other's interests at all. Making it most unlikely they would be friends to begin with.

[Evil Pink One 13,233]

Thus fate thus rainboom thus my point still stands thus thus thus thus

[Goat-kun 2,500]

On 6/4/2020 at 5:07 PM, BastementSparkle said:

One thing to think about is that the Mane Six's friendship was essentially formed in a dangerous situation. Their Princess gone, a villain threatening their kingdom with Eternal night, the six of them heading off on a journey into a dangerous forest together to protect their home, family and friends. Having to put their trust in each other, even when it comes to their own life possibly. People always mention the "Destiny" part of the elements but they never really think about that. That's the kind of thing that easily can make quick friends out of very different people, and keep in mind they had to keep doing it repeatedly over the course of the show.

 It's probably not the kind of thing you think about too often since it's a kids show and you know everything is going to be okay in the end, and it's rather tame compared to our reality or even most other shows out there, but the Mane Six are putting their lives in potential danger all the time and having to rely on each other, and considering they're a small team that's going to build up bonds for sure, no matter how different they might be otherwise. When you're regularly risking your life together that's just going to happen.

The Mane Six's friendship is definitely idealized to an extent, but I don't think it's completely unrealistic, especially when taking what I said above into account. Plus, I think it's a good thing for a show like this to have a variety of personalities and to show that friends can exist even despite major differences.

Let's be honest here: if you erase the first two episodes, would you be able to tell they went on an adventure together?

 

Idealized friendship? More like idealized office work

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

I think they should have mainly focused on how the Mane Six becomes closer friends after time.

The early seasons worked well because the premise was that Twilight just started to know them. Even Pinkie and Rainbow didn't get each other.

Later on, they all acted like they know each other very much, but it felt a little far fetched. They didn't go through everything for that level of intimacy. They just moved on as the show gets 7,8,9 years old. Their intimacy wasn't earned by writing, it was earned by meta circumstances.

Edited June 5, 2020 by Sepul-Coloratura