(This picture belongs to the artist Lopoddity)

I know this idea has been done to death in this fandom, but nevertheless, I wanted to hear what other people think the mane six would act like if and when they became mothers.

If you would like to share your ideas on this matter, please leave a comment down below. Thank you.

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Pinkie is a parent by the time of The Last Problem, so that sorta settles that one. I imagine they'd all slow down a bit in order to care for their offspring.

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For Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow and Twilight, we should first look to their interactions with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Spike respectively.
Then factor than tone down some of parts of their relationships while increasing understanding of the world, maturity on the part of those four and such and it should give us a rough estimate of the kind of mothers they would be
For AJ, it would a more level-headed but still stern yet fair way of how she treats Apple Bloom,
Rarity, it would be more involved from day one, a little less condensing in appearance, etc way of how she treats Sweetie
Rainbow, less of the 'you're awesome, little buddy' and more... well honestly I think Rainbow would have the hardest time being a mom
For Twilight, a more thought out and less hands off of her relationship with Spike...
As for Fluttershy, she would be much more assertive then she would be with Angle Bunny, but maybe not as firm as she is with Zephyr, somewhere in-between the two
As for Pinkie... she'd be a fun mom, but we all know how she's like when she's serious.

Interesting art

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They’re mostly be good moms because they’ve had so much social training and they have an excellent support system. Mostly.

Canon mom Pinkie already learned her hardest lesson — you have to take care of them you can’t just play with them — in the Baby Cakes episode so she’d have an easier adjustment than most of them. Her family would be very loving and fun, if kind of intense. She might struggle with an introverted or special needs child but she’d learn.

Rarity: Nope. She’d do it, but she’d struggle. Her hatred of mess and chaos, her obsession with her career, her need to impress people socially would all work against her. As an artist and a parent I can tell you it’s a rough combo. Of course, if her child showed talent she’d love it, but that can have downsides: Rarity would be an awful stage mom.

Applejack: Already essentially is a mom to Apple Bloom and comes from a huge close knit family. She’d be a pro. Pop that kid out and be apple bucking with it strapped to her side a week later.0 I sure hope that kid likes farm work tho. :p

Early series Twi might’ve struggled not to treat a foal like a social engineering project, but friendship Princess Twi probably has enough of a clue not to try that. She’d read so many parenting books and interview experts and have like an exact well thought out theory of best parent practices and then be utterly flummoxed by the actually foal. She’d learn tho. It’s what she’s best at.

Fluttershy would be a kind and loving literal helicopter parent. Very young children aren’t that different from animals, and she’d be used to all the blood and poop and vomit that kids come with. She’d have next level mom anxiety and micromanage like crazy. And she’d miss her alone time. But she’d be so sweet and her children would want for nothing. Also she has the Stare for discipline so that’s useful.

Rainbow Dash would be the second worst Mane Six Mom. She’d love her kids like crazy, but she’d want to be flying and doing Wonderbolts all the time. If her kid wasn’t a jock she’d struggle to find things to do with them. And — like I don’t get the impression that being pregnant is anybody’s favorite thing but I think Dash would especially hate it.

7378883 They'd probably be fine, based on what we see of them in the show.

Like, they're all good people, they're all genuinely kind and caring, and they're all pretty stable (no horse pun intended). I'd rate Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity over Fluttershy and Pinkie, personally, but not by much. Applejack and Twilight are good at taking care of other ponies and non-ponies by default, and although they're not perfect, they're responsible and pretty safe choices for Good Parent^tm material.

I can see Pinkie and Fluttershy struggling as soon as they're outside of their respective comfort zones. We already know that Pinkie sucks with babies and that it's effort for her to deal with things that can't be fixed with enthusiasm, and I strongly suspect that even with her much hyped up Stare, Fluttershy is going to have trouble with any form of rebellious phase that lasts longer than five minutes. This is exacerbated by their choice of partners (going by the finale); Discord probably isn't going to be that much help with any kind of rebellion (he's more likely to equip them with magic items to make it even more explosive) and Cheese is pretty much the same as Pinkie, so there's not much help coming from there. Additionally, if their kids end up anything like myself, her bubbly attitude will grate very fast.

This kind of leaves Rarity and Rainbow in the middle. I can imagine them getting frustrated or struggle from time to time, but they're also fairly pragmatic and fast learners. They're clearly able to at least put up with their friends' differences in interest, so I doubt they'd struggle too hard if their child was very different to them. Rainbow also gets a bit of a free advantage, since as far as the finale suggests, her partner of choice is Applejack, which complements her own flaws quite well, adding a healthy dose of responsibility to the mix on top of her blend of 'work hard, play lazy' approach to life. Rarity seems to be going solo in the finale, which means she'd be approaching this single. I would foresee her getting endlessly frustrated, but if her evolving relationship with Sweetie Belle is any indication, she'd be able to handle it, and I think the values of hard work, ambition, creativity and independence would be good things to imbue into a child.

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I heard how this is common, although, have barely done something with the idea myself. But I did write a story in which Pinkie Pie sort of becomes a replacement mother for Brown Sugar and takes care of her for a while:

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/409410/wish-for-a-mother

I want to write more about Brown Sugar and Pinkie Pie, too, an anthology is planned for the longest time now (ever since the story has been released), but delays and life being a bitch has prevented that from happen, so far. I am sorting things out, though, and it's still going to come when everything is in enough order again with my writing.

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RD would have a son, in my opinion.

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Why not a son and a daughter?

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One thing I've noticed is that a kid will exhibit all of your worst tendencies.

How you deal with this determines what kind of parent you are.

For example: Dash's kid--whatever their skills are-- will be egocentric, highly competitive, and something of a swaggerer. How does Dash put a lid on that when she often can't do it for herself? This will be a learning experience (As in "Oh no--not another learning experience!")

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I've always liked the idea of Rarity being a doting stage mom. I could totally imagine her showering her foal with mounds of gifts and attention while she treats them like the center of the universe. I also imagine her demanding a lot of her friends when her child is involved. Her son and/or daughter has special needs that must be met or heads will roll! She always apologizes afterwards however for her boorish behavior.

To give a visual, this is generally how I imagine Rarity acting if and when she became a mother (let's assume the character she's forcing babysitting duty on is one of her employees, so Coco Pommel or Sassy Saddles):

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Cheers.

7378883 I feel like everyone who vouches for Applejack because of Apple Bloom is overlooking some key details. Applejack didn't raise Apple Bloom on her own, and I think that really shows. Applejack would've also had her big brother and her grandmother to help with raising Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith would have lots of experience with young ones due to having raised her own children and basically being tasked with looking after her grandkids all the time. We've seen canonical examples where Applejack isn't that good at being a parent to Apple Bloom: Failing to comfort her little sister or reassure her when she has worries, neglecting to do anything about her sister's bullying problem and keeping mum about another family member's problem, focusing more on participating in a rodeo than ensuring her little sister's safety in an unfamiliar town and reacting harshly to the notion of change.

Applejack would want her child to be exactly like every other Apple and wouldn't react well to the idea that her child might want to pursue a life outside the farm, a chance to live a life that isn't continuing the family legacy. Yes, there is a possibility Applejack could learn to mellow out later in life, but she has no real motivation to do so when she's perfectly content where she is and would probably prefer a partner more like her.

Twilight could always write to Shining and Cadence for advice, and she has her experience with Flurry Heart to understand what not to do. She'd also read up on what to expect and having moved past her tendencies to freak out she would probably settle into a routine in time. Pinkie Pie is canonically a mother, and we know she has the experience to be a good one, the real question is how much does she raise Lil' Cheese on her own and how much does Cheese Sandwich help?

Rarity would rather not be a mother if she could help it, but if she ended up becoming one she would slowly adapt to it and step up as needed. She wouldn't tolerate any uncouthness or bad behavior, she'd be a very controlling and demanding mother. Fluttershy would probably be more lax, but given her handling of Discord and Angel Bunny I think she's got ways to keep her kid in line if she absolutely has to. Rainbow Dash would probably much prefer being the cool aunt or big sis instead of the parent, assuming she did have a child she'd probably take a limited involvement and leave her partner to do all or most of the work.

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I've always liked the idea of Rarity having a son, rather then a daughter personally
I know the majorty of the fandom would assume that because feminine their for it would be a girl, but it think the opposite would be more interesting and creative. I like the dynamic of her having a son who she babies all the time and extremely over protective off then a daughter.

I can see where you're coming from, but you clearly have neither read the book nor seen the movie Fight Club, have you?

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The more that I think of it, Both Fluttershy and Rarity seem like the type of women who don't won't to have children, but rather be Surrogate aunts.

While that might be true, that misses the point of the discussion. I have to agree with you at least with Rarity, jury's still out with Fluttershy

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Counter example

And she was concern about Apple Bloom's safe when they were in Appaloosa during the whole Troubleshoes incident, you might want to re-watch the episode, also to assume Apple Bloom is unfamiliar with Appaloosa ignores the fact that they are there for family, as for Babs Seed and DT, 1) Apple Bloom never reach out to Applejack concerning Babs, 2) what is Applejack to do concerning DT, other than to tell Apple Bloom that she'd have to ignore DT's taunts? Serious when the largest most consistent purchaser of the Apple family wares is Flithy Rich?
Also Applejack has been shown to that she will consent to change, while we debate about the execution, which I will concede could have been done better, 'The Cart Before the Ponies' shows that Applejack will at the end give and made the cart Apple Bloom wanted, granted Apple Bloom should have asked Big Mac (Brother Hooves Social anyone, I remember it, clearly Ed Valentine didn't)
Also while 'Somepony to watch over me' has much to be desired, it shows that Applejack does care about her family.

7379506 There are examples of Applejack doing the right thing for Apple Bloom, but the bad examples do still stand out and raise concerns. Again, she didn't raise Apple Bloom all on her own, and that combined with her stubborness and aversion to change doesn't exactly give me hope she could be a good mother unless the child was exactly the way she wanted it. I mean, what would she do if her child was a pegasus or a unicorn? Would she accept them into the family willingly?

Rainbow also gets a bit of a free advantage, since as far as the finale suggests, her partner of choice is Applejack, which complements her own flaws quite well, adding a healthy dose of responsibility to the mix on top of her blend of 'work hard, play lazy' approach to life

... I am not too sure, given their competitive nature with each other, odds are AJ and RD would end up devolving into shouting matches given their conflicting personalities, not a concussive environment for raising children, in either same sex or heterosexual couples, and given that female same sex(gender) couples are the most domestically abusive relationship, at least by the stats... yeah their children would be Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo Echo Delta Uniform Papa (I believe everyone can figure out what I said) beyond any help from a Rainbow of Mass Reformation... that would require something far more powerful, like a moment with Dr. Wolf.... maybe a few sessions at least

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Not necessarily, given that the foal will grow up hearing all the thing RD did, they might have an inferiority complex because they will never be able to get out of their mother's shadow and that would really be frustrating to RD, because she can't grasp what it's like to be in somepony else's shadow

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I know a guy, he was practically a member of the KKK, I don't remember which of his children did, but one of them had an interracial marriage, he was well on the way to disown his child until he held his, at the time, newly born granddaughter for the first time, and to this day he will do whatever it takes for his 'mixed' grandchild.
And given that AJ is close friends to two pequases, one unicorn, a unicorn-turned-alicorn, a dragon, and has accepted Sugar Belle into the family, why would she reject her own foals?

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Also the bad examples of AJ as a 'bad' big sister are from the earlier seasons, she has been shown that she, like an apple tree, grows, slowly, but she still grows

7379515 With Sugar Belle her brother and her little sister were already supportive of it, and Sugar Belle herself was willing to settle down on the farm with Big Mac. What would Applejack have said if it had been the other way around and Big Mac was being asked to move out to the village to be with Sugar Belle? And as much as she may consider her friends family she doesn't seem to consider them family enough to really help out around the farm, no matter how much of a difference they might make. Even in "The Last Problem" she's lecturing Rainbow Dash about not doing the chores the right way.

Again, it's possible she'd mellow out in her later years. But why would she when she's perfectly content with her life as it is and sees no reason to want to change her ways?

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Well first, I'll link the thread I did for this last year (which was not the first either, I'm sure).

As for my own opinions...well, there's how likely and how good.

Twilight might defer motherhood due to her various responsibilities (especially now that she's ascended the throne), out of worry about the destructive potential of alicorn foals, or just for lack of a suitable father. If it did come to her, she would no doubt approach it in the same way she does everything - lots of preparatory research and checklists. Sadly, I think she might be one of the ones more likely to have a distant or strained relationship with offspring, between being busy a lot and having quite rigid ideas of childrearing when she is present. Of course the right other parent could help mitigate this, and Uncle Spike may also be a great help.

Applejack at first glance seems like an obvious mother, both in her commitment to her family legacy and in her temperament. But on the flipside, she's so obvious it makes the show's refusal to include such plots work against her - it seems like she might be content as an maiden aunt. Any kid she did have would benefit from Apple Bloom serving as a partial "trial run" and would probably be in good hooves.

Pinkie, as we've seen with the Cakes, has her strengths and weaknesses, but as with AJ, the "trial run" will help. A lot hinges on how similar to her the kids are - a shy or introverted one could be a big challenge. (Although Cheese - who was pretty shy and quiet himself - might be able to help with that.) And she's definitely going to be The Most Embarrassing Mom Ever at some point, but what parent isn't? Pinkie just does it with style.

Rainbow is one of the less obvious candidates - certainly, I doubt she'll be down for anything as aerodynamically compromising as pregnancy any time soon. She's another one who might struggle with a kid unlike her - although I think ambition and drive might be more important than athleticism - but I do wonder if she might struggle with a kid too much like her, too. Notably, she's the only Mane without any experience with young children.

Fluttershy is probably the one where her capability to raise a kid is a lot bigger than her chances of having one. After all, she's no doubt raised countless baby animals... a pony couldn't be that much harder, right?... right? Of course, Discord might be a spanner in the works for this, whether it's as father or "godfather".

Lastly, Rarity is probably the least inclined to actually bear young, at least without a royal marriage to motivate her - a baby sister was trouble enough. Far better to just lavish gifts on one's nieces and nephews. If she does end up with kids, adoptive seems more likely - an act of generosity that also lets her skip over some of the messier stages.

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Why not both? (I mean, besides the unlikelihood of Rarity wanting to go through it again?)

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Do you think ponies can choose the sex of their foals in the womb?

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And it's a problem when they go out of balance - like, say, a kid as lazy as Rainbow but without the ambition to make up for it.

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We've seen canonical examples where Applejack isn't that good at being a parent to Apple Bloom

Like I said, trial run. She generally learns her lesson by the end of the episode, doesn't she?

Applejack would want her child to be exactly like every other Apple and wouldn't react well to the idea that her child might want to pursue a life outside the farm, a chance to live a life that isn't continuing the family legacy.

Would she? Remember, she dreamed of Manehattan once - it didn't work out for her (and she might assume any non-apple based aspiration was the same way), but she also knows Pinkie, who for all she loved her family could never have blossomed without leaving them. Heck, is Apple Bloom even going to stay in that box? I doubt it.

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Hmm... actually an interesting idea, since Rarity herself clearly considers them quite ugly (as mentioned in Dog and Pony Show). But that was Season 1 Rarity, so she's had a lot of time to grow... and can make all new mistakes instead!

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Some species can, so it's a possibility.

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One of my favorite ideas on the topic of Rarity adopting a child is Rarity adopting a diamond dog puppy. It would play well to her generosity and forgiving nature, and I believe it would be fun to imagine her trying to make a diamond dog, a rather crude and unkempt race by nature, into a gentle stallion.

Also there's a few examples of this already in the fandom:

(OC: Smokey Quartz created by inuhoshi-to-darkpen)

(OC: Ritzy the unicorn and Jasper the diamond dog created by PitterPaint)

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Another interesting possiblity. Perhaps especially with a Sparity pairing, but even without, he can be used to highlight themes of intercultural adoption and it's issues.