Which mane cast members have the best chemistry and which have the worst?

[Denim&Venöm 16,704]

With a show about friendships, it would make sense that two of the ponies/ humans/ dragon/ dog involved should be able to play off each other well. Interactions shouldn't feel forced or awkward or stale. And given we have our mane 6 plus two redeemed villains and a faithful assistant, we get interpersonal relationships that work to varying degrees. But who does it work best for? Who genuinely feels like they could be real life friends? And who feels like that maybe they don't quite work out well as being true friends, whether that's because they act more like siblings or as colleagues or just friends of friends? 

Example: Pinkie and Fluttershy don't strike me as being real friends. I struggle to think of an episode where they play off each other well. But in Backstage Pass, Sunset and Pinkie had great chemistry. We never really saw them together before but here they just gelled, without feeling out of character at all. 

What about you? Which Mane 6-9 pairings feel the most real and which ones just don't quite jive? 

[Megas 27,136]

Best - Twilight and RD, they really should have gotten more episodes together, the few episodes they had together were amazing and among the show's best(Testing 123, Top Bolt, The Washouts, as well as their Friends Forever comic). On a similar tangent, AJ and Fluttershy should have equally gotten more together as well

Worst - Pinkie and Fluttershy, I blame it more on the fact that they never really got an episode together. The most they got was Buckball Season and they got severely overshadowed by AJ/RD in that episode. I feel Andrea Libman voicing both characters in a focus episode would have been really fun for her

[Cagey 4,210]

The dynamics between the mane six are one of my favorite things about the show. That said, I didn’t find Fluttershy/Rarity and Fluttershy/Twilight to be very interesting. And yes, Pinkie/Fluttershy never had the chance to shine. 

[Lucky Bolt 35,009]

Applejack and Rainbow Dash have the best dynamic in the show. Both tomboyish and competitive but deep down have a soft spot for one another. I'm biased though. AppleDash for liiiiife!

 

 

 

[Tom Gallagher 33,534]

They all do because they're all the best!

[Miss 6,211]

Rarity and Applejack! (minus Honest Apple) like damn I was shipping them so hard throughout the show! Incredible dynamic. And even though Applejack and Rainbow got paired meh I'm not complaining, Rarity and Applejack dynamic is still my fav.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie also have a great dynamic minus that one weird pie episode (granted i still like that episode). Always lots of fun when those two are together. 

I think Twilight and Fluttershy have the worst, but that's just cuz when they're together it's not particularly interesting, like the McColt episode. Heath of Information they didn't really play off well of each other, Fluttershy dominated that episode on her own, etc.

After that there are some dynamics that are tainted by newer episodes. Rarity and Rainbow Dash with the end in friend, before that they had incredible episodes together. Applejack and Rainbow Dash with non-complete clause before that they were solid. 

[Stardust Live 43]

I was surprised at how much I liked the chemistry between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in Flutter Brutter. I think Rainbow really got a reality check in Hurricane Fluttershy that she can't bulldoze through feelings, and that Fluttershy needs a different approach.

There wasn't really that much chemistry between Fluttershy and Twilight, but on the other hand, they didn't bring out the worst in each other either, so that was great. Twilight was a good foil to let Fluttershy really shine in that episode.

I kinda wish we got more Fluttershy and Rarity, Rarity's gentle and kind words towards the shy pony in that Ponytones episode was such a contrast to Pinkie Pie's astonishing lack of tact that was so cruel it was OOC, even for a character I don't really like.

I kinda think Rarity mostly tunes out Pinkie Pie a lot of the time, since they are such opposites without much to really antagonise. Both like theatrics, but Pinkie can be A Bit Much

I don't like the Rarity and Applejack interplay, they are one of those pairings I think would be deadly enemies if not for Twilight's Official Friendshop Order(tm). It just seems like they needlessly like to irritate each other.

Applejack and Fluttershy were a hoot in the Las Vegas episode! I also liked the Kirin episode, but Applejack's refusal to listen to Fluttershy got on my nerves, and do we really need to talk about Bats! ?

Applejack feels like the odd pony out quite a lot of the time, like it's hard to see her just chilling since working is a primary motive for her. Someone get this pony some staff for the farm, stat! Even Rarity with her franchise looks like she'd go to the movies once in a while!

[Splashee 28,538]

Best: Twilight and Rainbow

Worst: Fluttershy and Rainbow

[n1029 224]

Dash has good chemistry with just about everyone in the show, probably why she's shipped so much

IMO, Spike and Rarity don't have any real chemistry. I suspect the writers had Spike canonically crush on her because that was the one they could most get away with in a kids show (especially since he doesn't interact as much with the CMCs or the more "youthful" M6 like Pinkie and Dash).

[Goat-kun 2,502]

Twilight and RD, and Flutts and Rarity share some common interests and are thus seen hanging out here and there. The rest are just acquaintances in a loose Ponyville social network. Friends? Not by a long shot. I'd say Pinkie has the worst chemistry with others, AJ comes in second cause she just doesn't' care, Rarity comes third due to her being a bitch.

[Early Sunsets 2,106]

I said it once, and I'll say it a million more times: Applejack and Rainbow Dash have terrible chemistry. It just doesn't work. They work great as friends, but go past that and they start butting heads way too much. Characters (or people) who are that similar very rarely work in a serious relationship. I don't really like any mane 6 x mane 6 ship, but that's by far my least favorite.

Rainbow and Fluttershy have pretty decent chemistry imo, Twilight works at least okay with basically any character, and (season 9 finale spoilers below, I guess. Just finish watching the show already, the finale aired almost a year ago)

Spoiler

I refuse to ship Pinkie with anypony other than Cheese Sandwich since they are canonically married. Unfaithful ships are terrible, it doesn't matter that they're just characters, end of story.

If we're including Starlight as a mane character, I've always been torn between Trixie and Sunburst. I feel like her chemistry with Trixie is better, but she has that whole foalhood friends thing going with Sunburst, and I'm an absolute sucker for that kind of thing.

Edited August 24, 2020 by Booker

[Dark Qiviut 22,195]

Best: Non-Compete Clause aside, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had really great chemistry over the seasons. Both of them have egos and eccentric personalities that not only really work in tandem, but create tension as well. When Dash gets too confrontational and headstrong, AJ's grab of her tail straightens her out. When AJ needed to replace her barn, Dash's Sonic Rainboom helped destroy it in one swoop. They know how to make us buy into their interactions.

(The most consistent, though, was Dash and Twilight. When they shared the spotlight together over a thorough period of time, DHX made it work. From their introduction in Ponyville to their dynamic in TT123 to Twilight's wisdom to Dash in The Washouts, they succeeded as a duo.)

Worst: Pinkie and Fluttershy for the reasons @Megas stated above, but I'll add one more. They had very little sustained interaction with each other, yet when they had their co-dominant episode, AJ and RD overshadowed them, and the dialogue throughout sucked.

[Sparklefan1234 162,430]

On 8/17/2020 at 5:09 PM, Megas said:

Best - Twilight and RD, they really should have gotten more episodes together, the few episodes they had together were amazing and among the show's best(Testing 123, Top Bolt, The Washouts,

 

Agreed. I found Twilight's teacher to Rainbow Dash's slacker dynamic hilarious.

Plus it helped both of them find out something about themselves when it came to how they both approached situations.

 

As for worst, I feel like Pinkie Pie & Fluttershy were like oil and water. Which, is funny because they're both voiced by the same actress.  

[Thrond 3,257]

Best: Ooh, there's a few really good ones to choose from. I'm really partial to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, whose rivalry only seemed friendlier and friendlier over time, except for that awful season 8 episode. The mane six have very different personalities that are always at risk of clashing, so I've always found it appealing to see them bond over their similarities, which these two were at the forefront of. 

That said, I've also really enjoyed when characters get along in spite of their differences, or even find unlikely common ground. Every time that Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are geeking out about Daring Do is great; the season 5 Rarity/Rainbow Dash episode is delightful in large part because we get several scenes of these two very different people being close friends; the season 2 Rarity/Applejack episode is their only good episode together because they bond over the experience of being sisters.

The friendship between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash is probably the exemplar of that: I don't think they have a single interest in common, but they bring out the best in each other. Rainbow pushes Fluttershy to be more courageous, and Fluttershy inspires Rainbow to be more sensitive. It's a shame that, by the time Fluttershy episodes started being about things other than her fears, the two stopped hanging out as much. 

Worst: Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy is probably the right call, in large part because the episode the two shared was so disappointing. They don't spend a whole lot of time together, and their most memorable interactions - "Filli Vanilli," for instance - are clearly negative. To be honest, I wish we got more of these two so we could get a better sense of their friendship; of every mane six pairing, they're the only two whose relationship I don't feel I know much about. 

Then again, the fact that they spend so little time together leaves room for imagination, whereas Applejack and Rarity hang out all the time even though they bring out the worst in each other. A lot of the time, it seems like the two of them don't really respect each other; people sometimes cite "Honest Apple" as an outlier, but every Rarity+Applejack episode plays that way to me. They always seem actively annoyed by each other's tastes and interests. I've never really understood how they could be friends if that's how they treat each other. Rainbow and Twilight sometimes come across that way to me too, by the way; "Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3" has a lot of those two disrespecting each other.