Friendship Charts · 5:21pm Jul 26th, 2014
Introduction
The Ponies are a gregarious species, even more so than is our own. Ponies normally have several friends, and tend to go Lone-Mad when entirely isolated from friendship for protracted periods. Hence, it is important when writing them to have a good sense of what friends they have, and how strong are these friendships. A good formal way of representing this is the "Friendship Chart."
General
Decide upon which Pony or Ponies the chart is to center. This will affect the organization, as the true complexity of the web of friendships surrounding any Pony is far too great for any practical two-dimensional diagram of one goes out more than a single level of connectivity. Each Pony is represented by a box with her name in it. One may wish to put other useful data in or near the name, such as a birth year or age, and possibly a physical description of the Pony, or even a picture of the Pony or her head by way of illustration.
One then draws lines between the Ponies to represent their relationships. The type of line chosen shows the intensity of the relationship. A single line is used for acquaintanceship. A double line is used for friendship. A filled-in line is used for love, of any variety. To distinguish friendly from romantic love, we put a little heart on the line. If the romantic love is unidirectional (a crush) show by an arrow which way the love flows.
This is the basic principle. One can also draw around any group of Ponies who fit within a family or clique a dashed line (perhaps of a different color ink than the linkages, and name that group -- "The Mane Six" or "The Rich Family" would be examples of such groups. Everypony within such a group is assumed to have a relationship of at least friendship with everypony else within the group; drawing all the lines here is optional.
Acquaintanceship (single thin line)
The two ponies know each other by name and some basic facts about each other; they have had some friendly conversations and other positive interactions with one another. If Romantic, they may be dating or be stepping out with one another, but aren't very serious about it; they probably aren't lovers unless they are fast-set; if it's a crush it's a fairly casual one. If this sort of relationship exists within a grouping, it indicates that these are "The Friends Who Never Hang Out Together" -- they don't really like one another much and are thus only acquaintances despite the fact that they are around one another frequently.
This is the sort of relationship which Pinkie Pie has with every Pony in town, unless she has a closer one. This is possible (for her) because of her vast intellect and memory; it would be impossible for most Ponies. It is most definitely unnecessary to indicate all Acquaintanceships; even on the most fundamental diagram (one Pony and her single level of connection), she would probably have a dozen or dozens of acquaintances -- even Fluttershy does.
Friendship (double line)
The two ponies know a lot about one another and consider one another friends. This sort of relationship exists within a group unless specified otherwise; in a nuclear family, this would be a rather distant emotional relationship. If Romantic, the two are starting to get serious about one another; they've probably progressed to sparking or petting and may be considering even more. In the fast-set, they are definitely lovers in the carnal sense.
Every member of the Mane Six and Spike has this sort of Friendship with every other member after the first few episodes of the show. Ponies would rarely have more than a dozen or a couple dozen Friendships at this level; most would have less. It isn't necessary to put every Friendship on the Diagram, but in the case of many Ponies it would be practical.
Love (solid thick line)
The two ponies care very deeply for one another and would probably die to save each other. This sort of relationship exists within a tight-knit group such as a nuclear family, and in the strongest bonds of any group. If Romantic, the two ponies are probably either married, betrothed or about to betroth; they may well be lovers in the full physical sense irregardless of subculture. Love is normal between parents and children, and between siblings.
Many members of the Mane Six Love one another in this sense after the first few episodes; because they are a very strongly bonded set. Such Love may also be found between all four surviving members of the Sweet Apple Acres family.
Example: My Mane Six
Drawing a diagram for my fanon Mane Six, we may start with Twilight Sparkle (why not, the show did). We see immediately that she has Love for Spike (her Number One Assistant and adoptive brother/son -- her own emotions are confused in this regard), Applejack (her second), Rainbow Dash (a reincarnate best friend) and Pinkie Pie (another reincarnate best friend); she has "merely" Friendship for Rarity and Fluttershy, toward whom she is a bit more distant than the rest of the group (this is an artifact of my three-tier system, as her Friendship with them is considerably stronger than most Pony Friendships). Twilight also Loves her immediate family, including her big brother Shining Armor, her mother Twilight Velvet and her father Night Light (the last two could be argued to be mere Friendship because she's always seemed a bit distant with them on the show). The emotion between her and her sister-in-law Princess Cadance is debatably between Friendship and Love; when they are first re-united they have drifted apart but they renew and strengthen their friendship during ths show.
I ship Twiluna, but by the end of Season Four their feelings for one another haven't progressed all that far, so I draw a Friendship line between them and put a heart on it to show Romantic Love. In fact, my version of Twilight and Luna is a classic of one type of Romantic Friendship. It also brings an issue of mutuality, in that by the end of Season Four Luna's emotions are much more sexually-tinged than are Twilight's.
Twilight also very much Loves Princess Celestia. Here there is no romantic overtone, so I draw a Love line with no heart.
Now we go to Applejack. In addition to Twilight (already drawn) she Loves Rainbow Dash (her best friend) and her nuclear family, consisting of Big Mac, Applebloom and Granny Smith. Applejack is also Friends with every other member of the Mane Six plus Spike. Also, since this is my fanon, I draw a Love line to Landscape Carrot (an OC) and put a heart over it. He's the only stallion with whom Applejack has ever had sex, and though he's been missing six years now as of Season Four, she considers him her Intended (just short of a formal Betrothal).
Pinkie Pie as noted Loves Twilight Sparkle, she also Loves her best friend Rainbow Dash. We also draw Love-Lines to "The Pie Family," referring to her mother, father and four (in my fanon) sisters. She gets a romantic Friendship with Cheese Sandwich. Pinkie is Acquainted with everypony in Ponyville, but there is no need to attempt to draw this. For her we leave off a lot of Friendships, because in addition to this she actually does have dozens of Friends and charting this would be impossible save on its own chart.
Rainbow Dash Loves Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo. She has Romantic Love for Fluttershy, and (if we choose to import him into fanon) a Romantic Friendship with the Changeling Azure Sky (from Phoenix_Dragon's fanon). Let's import the ling -- I have my suspicions about his insurance premiums, being in the Beta Couple in a Love Across Battlelines kind of story -- and at least honor his memory. Rainbow Dash certainly would, though she'd try not to get too mushy about it. She is also Friendly to Acquainted with every Pegasus in the Ponyville Weather Patrol.
Proceeding around my diagram, we go to Fluttershy Wind. Her two best friends, whom she Loves, are Rarity Belle and Rainbow Dash. We've already drawn the thick line and little heart between her and Rainbow Dash. She also Romantically Loves Bulk Biceps, and has what is at present a Romantic Friendship with Discord. (The problems with such a situation are the main topic of Divine Jealousy and the Voice of Reason).
Now we complete the Mane Six with Rarity Belle. She has Love for her best friend Fluttershy Wind and her sister Sweetie Belle, either Love or Friendship for her parents Magnum Bell and Pearl Sweetie, and Romantic Love for Spike. The situation with Spike is too complex for this sort of diagram: they are most definitely best friends, and romance is in the picture, but (mostly because of Spike's age) they are neither lovers nor considering betrothal. For now.
Spike himself, in addition to Loving Twilight Sparkle and Romantically Loving Rarity, is a particular Friend of Sweetie Belle's and somewhere between an Acquaintance and Friend of the Cutie Mark Crusaders in general. We're not going to complicate matters by drawing this, but obviously the Cutie Mark Crusaders are a group who Love one another; they are a good example of another "circle of friends."
Rarity is also a Friend of Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis, and I bothered to draw in her acqaintanceship with Queen Vespid (the leader of the friendly Changeling Hive at Canterlot) because I like Ardashir's fanon in this regard. I also put it in to remind me of Rarity's connections here.
Now this is only a single level diagram -- showing the Mane Six and their connections -- and it's already pretty darned complicated. If one goes out another level or two it will get very complicated -- far too complicated for anything like completeness.
Conclusion
Friendship Diagrams can be very useful writing aids. They let one tell at an instant just what resources in terms of friends a character has if she encounters a problem; or, alternately, just what problems she can be dragged into by her friends. They should be used more -- both in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfiction, and in fiction in general. They are an important complement to the more well-known Family Trees.
I don't do this, but it's probably because I usually only have two main characters--Pinkie and Cheese--and everyone else is secondary. It's not that the others of the Mane Six (or the Humane Five) aren't important; I'm careful to suggest that they each have different kinds of nuanced friendships with each other. But since I haven't (yet) branched out too much, I don't have to worry too much about it.
I probably will eventually, though, because of Cheese's family, and because of Cheese's relationship to Braeburn and Pinkie's relationship to the whole Apple family, and whether or not to bring Ponyacci's family back in; stuff like that.
Sometimes I wish I devoted as much attention to world-building as you do, and then I think that I have enough difficulties with the stories I do have and decide to leave well enough alone.
Very interesting and neat. Thanks for the insight
Huh. This reminds we of a food web, except with relationships instead of prey and predator. Though, to be fair, that is a relationship. This one is a sapient relationship. That's the only word I could think of to descrive it.
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I didn't start doing this until I had created a complex enough fanon in my stories, especially regarding the personal lives of my characters, that I realized I needed to keep track of this. For instance (to list the purely-romantic issues) that Twilight's life is complicated by the fact that her liege's sister is courting her, that Applejack always keeps an ear up for any clue of Landscape's fate, that Rarity is fighting a losing battle against her growing attraction for Spike, that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both love each other and have come to love others, that Pinkie is falling for Cheese, that Cheerilee now regrets that she dismissed Mac's adolescent crush on her and is falling for him, and that Trixie is concerned with impressing Piercing. And that's leaving out all the larger issues of the actual Shadow Wars.
It's getting complicated.
Now this is a very interesting and useful essay for writing in general. Seriously, I'll have to remember this. It makes me wish there was a group on the site that could assemble articles on writing like this and post them in a single spot for everyone to go ad read through for hints and advice.
Oh, and thanks for the shout out on Rarity's relationship with Queen Vespid. That relationship plays a rather large role in the story I'm currently posting, Manehattan Madness. It also deals with her relationships with Fluttershy, Applejack, Flleur, and Fancy Pants. As well as the Manehattan Spring Fashion Show, vengeful griffin models, and oh yes, the discovery of a new Changeling Queen in the city/ One who does NOT want to be found.
And I've got to post links to your work in a journal entry here, I want to point them out to people and I keep forgetting. Argh!
Careful, Jordan. This way lies madness. Or, at the very least, hyperdimensional friendshipping, which is arguably a form of madness.
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I've actually read the preview of that, and am awaiting the appearance of the cleaned-up version. I liked it a lot.
A major theme in my Shadow Wars is the Reconciliation; the emergence of the Changelings and their assimilation into Equestrian society. So that's pretty relevant.