How the Mane 5 Met

[FatPat 77]

I was thinking about how the other 5 met before Twilight came to town.

 

As far what we have to go on within the show there's only a few tidbits of information

 

1. We know that Rainbow and Fluttershy knew each other when they were kids in flight school.

 

2. Based on the fact that Applebloom and Sweetie Bell didn't know each other until they met at a party, I think it's telling that Applejack and Rarity didn't have much of a friendship, if any at all.

 

3. We know that Applejack and Rainbow are BBFs, as are Fluttershy and Rarity. Though we don't know 100% if that was prior to when they met Twilight.

 

Other then that there's not much to go on. I have a few ideas.

 

1. Maybe Applejack knew Fluttershy early on, as they both have animals to deal with. If this is the case then AJ and RD may have met through Fluttershy.

 

2. AJ and RD became friends, while Fluttershy and Rarity became friends. The four may have crossed paths a few times based on RD and Fluttershy knowing each other but were mostly acquaintances.

 

3. Pinkie Pie is friends with everyone and naturally knew all of them. Perhaps she was responsibile for introducing them to each other initially.

 

 

Anyone have more ideas?

[Nature's Spell 526]

I was thinking about how the other 5 met before Twilight came to town.

 

As far what we have to go on within the show there's only a few tidbits of information

 

1. We know that Rainbow and Fluttershy knew each other when they were kids in flight school.

 

2. Based on the fact that Applebloom and Sweetie Bell didn't know each other until they met at a party, I think it's telling that Applejack and Rarity didn't have much of a friendship, if any at all.

 

3. We know that Applejack and Rainbow are BBFs, as are Fluttershy and Rarity. Though we don't know 100% if that was prior to when they met Twilight.

 

Other then that there's not much to go on. I have a few ideas.

 

1. Maybe Applejack knew Fluttershy early on, as they both have animals to deal with. If this is the case then AJ and RD may have met through Fluttershy.

 

2. AJ and RD became friends, while Fluttershy and Rarity became friends. The four may have crossed paths a few times based on RD and Fluttershy knowing each other but were mostly acquaintances.

 

3. Pinkie Pie is friends with everyone and naturally knew all of them. Perhaps she was responsibile for introducing them to each other initially.

 

 

Anyone have more ideas?

Great thread! I agree with your first points based on canon and I'd also suggest that Applejack and Rarity didn't truly become friends until after Look Before you Sleep. Up till that point they just tolerated each other. I need to think about this some more. :-) Edited April 8, 2013 by Nature Spell

[silvadel 1,393]

Hmmm yes Flutters and RD go back the longest.

 

Pinkie Pie coming to town had to be a major event as there is a HUGE gap between not knowing anypony in town and knowing and befriending EVERYpony.  The segment where Pinkie meets Fluttershy probably has a lot in common with Pinkie meeting Cranky Doodle Donkey.

 

RD probably found AJ by flying into apple trees, lounging on or above apple trees, being a general nuisance, or maybe professionally for storm generation.  I would figure their relationship started out stormy.

 

Flutters I take as mostly a recluse until Twi came along having little contact with the other mane 5.

 

RD kind of bumps into the other ponies.

 

Rarity probably met AJ at something akin to a business owners meeting of sorts, town hall stuff where they probably took opposing positions on some things.  Otherwise, just the ponies buying things from her shop.

[FatPat 77]

Ah that's an interesting thought, that AJ and Rarity had previously run into each other at business meetings.

 

I realized something else that's within the show. "Griffin Brushoff" showed that Pinkie and RD didn't know each other very well.

 

I think it's pretty obvious that everypony else was aware of who Pinkie was, that crazy party pony who comes around every now and then. I doubt anyone knew her on a more personal level.

[Veylon 255]

I thought they didn't really "meet" until Twilight showed up. Sure, they lived in the same town, but they didn't really know each other or have reason to cross paths until they shared Twilight as a friend. Them getting to know each other was kind of a theme of the first season.

[Nature's Spell 526]

I thought they didn't really "meet" until Twilight showed up. Sure, they lived in the same town, but they didn't really know each other or have reason to cross paths until they shared Twilight as a friend. Them getting to know each other was kind of a theme of the first season.

 

Yeah I agree, it always seemed that it was Twilight that really brought them together as friends. Sure, they knew each other and clearly Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash grew up together, but Twilight became their common bond.

[Sugar Cube 4,843]

I think Pinkie Pie and Applejack have been friends for a while now. It makes sense, as they are both Earth ponies who are well-known in Ponyville. And in 'Feeling Pinkie Keen' Applejack says:

 

"I know it doesn't make much sense, but those of us who have been in Ponyville a while, have learned over time that, if Pinkie's-a-twichin', you better listen."

 

"Over time" says it all, really. How close they were prior to the first episode is another matter, but Pinkie is sure of Applejack's excellent baking skills as early as the fourth episode, so I think they've spent some amount of time together. They're both out-going, friendly, and beloved ponies in Ponyville, so they may have been buddies prior to forming the group, similar to Dash and Fluttershy's friendship.

 

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy have obviously known each other since they were fillies living in Cloudsdale. Because Fluttershy is so shy and doesn't like being around other ponies, it's possible that Rainbow was Fluttershy's connection to the rest of the group. Pinkie may have known Dash for a while simply because she knows everypony, but they couldn't have been very close because Dash saw Pinkie as a nuisance before Griffon the Brush Off. Rainbow probably spent more time in Cloudsdale than Ponyville before becoming part of the Mane Six.

 

Fluttershy isolated herself at her cottage where she spent more time with critters than other ponies. She may not have known any of them very well outside of Rainbow Dash before she joined the group. I do think she would have felt comfortable around Rarity, so maybe the two of them were connected. They seem awfully close in many season 1 episodes.

 

Rarity lives in Ponyville and runs a decent business, but she's not the type of pony who goes outdoors too often. It's safe to say she's known Pinkie for quite some time since Pinkie knows everypony. If Rarity knew Applejack for any length of time, it was only in passing, and they couldn't have been very close at all.

 

Pinkie Pie knew all of them in some way, so that's probably how they came to know each other. That, and a little bit of help from destiny too.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Sugar Cube

[Buttonmash1973 1,024]

I hope that Season four are going to show how the five ponies they have met each other in another flashback episode.

 

And how they got their pets.

[Rave Crocker 49]

2. Based on the fact that Applebloom and Sweetie Bell didn't know each other until they met at a party, I think it's telling that Applejack and Rarity didn't have much of a friendship, if any at all.

um hello episode 1 all 3 of the cmc were huddling together in fright of nightmare moon, so I'm not so sure that statement is true.

[hawkflame 3,310]

I agree with the sentiment that while they may have all had some general awareness of each other, they didn't really become true friends until Nightmare Moon returned.  there are several moments of the first season that seem to be devoted to them learning more about each other(Look Before You Sleep most obviously, but even moments of Griffon the Brush Off that suggests to me that most of them were acquaintances at best before the series started.  Rainbow Dash even refers to them as her "new friends" in Griffon the Brush Off.

 

But I do like the idea of Applejack and Dash having some kind of prior history, because it makes sense that them being the competitive athletes they are, that they would keep tabs on the other athletes in town. 

[silvadel 1,393]

um hello episode 1 all 3 of the cmc were huddling together in fright of nightmare moon, so I'm not so sure that statement is true.

 

Actually episode one was a very good example of pre-destination in MLP.  Just like how the rainboom connected the mane 6, Nightmare Moon connected the CMC before they even knew it.  They were destined to form a team and will have great things ahead.

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

We know that Applejack and Rainbow are BBFs

 

I doubt that honestly,

 

Maybe they're friends now, even though i hardly see them interacting () but i don't think they were friends before.

 

AJ seems busy with work and all, meanwhile, Dash's interests were always to "Join the Wonderbolts" and she probably spent her days training, and on the sky, they're friendship grew in the first season once they had a reason to be friends,. Remember back at season 1? AJ seemed to consider Dash lazy and arrogant back in "The Ticket Master." While she didn't say it, the show implied it, Rainbow being "Lazy" and AJ Hardworking, they didn't seem to get along that much at first.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Pinkazoid!

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,090]

um hello episode 1 all 3 of the cmc were huddling together in fright of nightmare moon, so I'm not so sure that statement is true.

 

Silvadel is right, there is no way that Apple Bloom knew Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle that well before she actually formally met them in "Call of the Cutie", because she wouldn't have been so gloomy about being a blank flank if she knew two blank flanks who were also in town.

 

I think it just so happened the CMC ended up all hiding under that table together but didn't really know each other.

 

As for the topic, this is a really good one and one I've thought about before on many occasions. I'd say that even though Rainbow Dash has known Fluttershy for a while, she hasn't really started hanging out with her and connecting with her until recently. It just seems like one of the situations where they've known each other but weren't best friends until recently. I could be wrong, but it just seems that way since Rainbow Dash has gained much more of an understanding of Fluttershy over the course of the show rather than from the very beginning.

 

I feel like Rarity probably knew Fluttershy the most out of the others, although I think she could've known Applejack pretty well. I know  it was mentioned that since Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle didn't know each other Rarity and Applejack likely weren't good friends before meeting Twilight, but also remember that Sweetie Belle doesn't live with Rarity so the chances of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hooking up through their older sisters is very much decreased.

 

As for Pinkie Pie... everypony knows her, but I feel like she didn't know the others very well on a personal level until after meeting Twilight.

[GrooveBroove 680]

I hope that Season four are going to show how the five ponies they have met each other in another flashback episode.

 

And how they got their pets.

Another flashback episode would be great. Could easily be them at a party and twilight asking how they all met before she showed up.

[Forlong 1,725]

Here's something that should interest you, if you ignore Fluttershy's letter to Celestia, you could call "Putting Your Hoof Down" a prequel episode.

 

Anyway, my thoughts on the matter.

 

Rarity and Applejack lived in Ponyville their whole lives, so I'll start with them.  Rarity and AJ went to the same school, so they knew each other.  AJ said that she was the last of her class to get her cutie mark, which is still true.  Rarity got her's the day after the sonic rainboom, and AJ got hers when she returned home (probably a trip that took a few days).  As for why they didn't from their own CMC, AJ said that she was younger than Applebloom and her friends when she left for Manehattan.  Presumably, she spent months there and was a bit older when she returned.  Rarity's statement before telling her cutie mark story backs this up: "for the longest time, I couldn't get mine."  Likely, there were still plenty in the class that didn't have their cutie marks when AJ left and got them while she was gone.  Only one of Rarity's classmates has a visable blank flank, though that might be an animation error.  They did not share a lot of interests, thus were not friends.  This is made evident in "Look Before You Sleep".

 

Fluttershy likely moved to Ponyville shortly after leaving flight camp.  Concidering her lack of asertiveness (it is TOO a word), she likely needed Rarity's help getting established.  "Green isn't Your Color" backs this up, as Rarity and Fluttershy regularly meet at the spa so often that being late is rare for either of them.  Chances are high that Fluttershy modeled for Rarity earily on, but eventually stopped when Rarity saw that she wasn't comfortable with it.  This also would be why Fluttershy knows a bit about sewing herself, as seen in "Art of the Dress".  Rainbow Dash was likely not far behind her.  While she isn't as insecure as Fluttershy, "Sonic Rainboom" makes it apparent that she was deeply effected by all the bullying.  It is safe to assume that she was friends with Applejack, not so much with Rarity.  This would be for the same reasons Rarity and Applejack weren't friends.

 

Pinkie Pie is much harder to get a bead on.  How well she knows everypony can't tell us how long she's been there, because she has an eidetic memory.  However, the fact that "Applebuck Season" was the first time she ran Sugarcube Corner herself says that she was still early in her apprenticeship there.  Obviously the "Pie Rock Farm" is a long way from Ponyville, as Rarity has to find jems and diamonds herself.  Rainbow Dash made it clear in "Super Cider Squeezy 6000" that she and Pinkie had been in Ponyville for years, or at least enjoyed cider there.  Maybe Pinkie and her sisters regularly visited Ponyville to sell jems and she eventually moved there because it felt like where she belonged.  "Magic Duel" implies that she's still on good terms with her family, so the "ran away from home" theory goes straight in the bin.  It's easy to assume how Pinkie became friends with everypony, though an episode about how she befriended Fluttershy would probably be very interesting.

[Buttonmash1973 1,024]

 

I doubt that honestly,

 

Maybe they're friends now, even though i hardly see them interacting () but i don't think they were friends before

 

 

Now that we are talking Applejack and Rainbow Dash together both Fimfiction and DeviantArt had been fiilled up the last two years with RD and AJ pairings.

[Scootalove 10,685]

Well how they all met, was when they were all in different scenarios in which resulted in them all knowing that they were destined to all be best friends. But, we all have noticed a lot of pairings of them in fan fictions and other forms of art.

[DarligPegasi 315]

Here's my theory

Fluttershy and Rainbowdash attended the same school as they are the same species so they probably grew up together. (Until Fluttershy fell from grace--Haha just kidding, I've been watching Supernatural)

 

Rarity has a cat and she also seems to be a lot kinder to Fluttershy then anyone else. So maybe she brought Opal in for a check up or maybe her and Fluttershy met by chance and just hit it off. She also seems to be a bit protective so she may have seen Fluttershy being intimidated by someone and stepped up to play hero support.

 

AppleJack is a hard worker who has business all over town, (apples are a main source of nourishment to ponies apparently). So I'm guessing RD may have noticed her working/racing/etc and they became friends through challenging each other. Or RD bough something from AJ and they hit it off.

 

Pinkie pie sells confectioneries and pastries and whatnot, and Sugarcube corner seems to be very popular and one of the main businesses in Pony ville, so most ponies must know her. Also she probably know AJ through business as some of her cupcakes probably require apples. They also may have collaborated because they both make pastries.

Fluttershy probably knows her because she might have bought something or maybe the animals can eat pastries as well. Pinkie Pie also has Gummi so she might have gone to Fluttershy for advice.

Pinkie Pie could have seen RD in the sky, and seeing as she also defies the laws of pony physics, she could have caught Rd's eye. She also could have met Rainbow through association by AJ.

 

Seeing as the Carousel boutique and Sugarcube corner are both very popular, both shop owners/workers would know each other. So that explains Pinkie and Rarity.

 

I feel like I've missed something here...

Oh Rarity and AJ! Probably met through association. Maybe AJ broke her hat and Rarity fixed it.

 

Same for RD and Rarity and anyone else I've missed.

[pinkiefan1287 610]

That has something I have always wondered from time to time.

 

We know well the Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy knew each other because of flight school. But when Fluttershy left I feel like they became descent from one another. Fluttershy then just stayed in Ponyville and learned about the animals. Maybe even meeting AJ and Rarity.

 

I feel like AppleJack and Rarity know each other seeing as they both live in the same town, but wort friends.

 

Pinkie most likely came into Ponyville after getting her cutie mark and just go to each of them.

 

Most of the times I feel like the 5 did not know each other that well until the element of harmony thing. Seeing as RD did not know Pinkie like pooling pranks, AJ and Rarity wort that close, and who know when Fluttershy and Rarity started going to the spa together.

[FatPat 77]

Lauren said recently in one of her twitter responses that the 5 were friends before Twilight showed up. Nice to have that cleared up, I suspected they knew each other to some degree in the past.

[SasQ 1,355]

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy knew each other for sure as early as from their childhood spent together at Cloudsdale. It is shown in "Cutie Mark Chronicles" episode.

[NavelColt 22,877]

I'm actually surprised I've never seen this topic pop up anywhere before, actually. It's certainly a staple of the entire show.

 

Dash and Fluttershy knew each other first obviously, as they've been friends since Filly Flight Camp. If we go based on relationships, that would mean that, sometime after Fluttershy fell to the ground and decided to stay there instead of in Cloudsdale, she ran into Rarity, who probably began her boutique in Ponyville as soon as she was old enough. Fluttershy probably met her in town while grocery shopping or something, perhaps Rarity insisted on making her a fancy dress because she loved her mane, and they bonded from there. Their regular spa thing probably came up later on as a suggestion from Rarity on helping Fluttershy relax. Fluttershy helping Rarity with Opal would only be a plus for them becoming closer.

 

Meanwhile, I have a rather humorous head canon of Rainbow Dash often deciding to sleep in Applejack's orchard trees (as she's done a few times in the show), and has always done this, from a young age. She finds them shady and quiet, plus she can grab a quick snack whenever she wants. Applejack would always get PO'd and yell at her, resulting in Dash blowing raspberries and flying off before AJ bucked her clear out of the tree. Despite the apparent dislike of one another, they grew on each other as frieniemies, and would constantly try to outdo one another in strength or speed. They just naturally became classic, competitive tomboy friends over the years.

 

As for Pinkie, everyone knows her, and she makes it her business to know everyone else. However, as we know, Dash found Pinkie to be rather annoying at times until episode five with Gilda, and they actually started to hang out and bond through pranking. So, overall, I assume she moved to Ponyville not long after gaining her cutie mark, started working for the cakes, become known through that, and her personality, and slowly became integrated in with Rarity/Fluttershy and Applejack/Rainbow Dash.