Discussion: Frustrations of writing friendships (Patreon)

Howdy. Maybe y'all can help me with an issue I've been having. Pandora, Cupcake, and Moondancer are friends.....or at least, they're supposed to be friends. But I think I dropped the ball there, despite some of my best efforts, a casual visitor to my gallery could easily miss the fact that these three are friends. Don't like that. So how do I flesh out their friendship? How do I show how close they were in their youth, before Moondancer went the edgelord route? This has been frustrating me for a while, I see I made a similar discussion post about a year ago. I'd sure appreciate some advice. What would you all like to see from this trio?

notes and random musings:

-All three members of the trios are social outcasts in one way or another, which is why they stick together. Cupcake doesn't stand out among her friendlier and brighter family members, and is often written off as dull, cold, or even creepy, what with her monotone voice and subdued emotional range. Pandora is of course a giant volatile chaos-engine full of terrible ideas and not enough brain cells. Moondancer is actually pretty normal and well-adjusted, but rather aloof and cold. With somewhat typical unicorn snobbery, he views friendship largely as a waste of time, and prefers to spend his time studying and dancing. He is often embarrassed of his friendship with Pan and Cupcake, but ultimately grateful for their company.

-Pandora is clingy af with her friends because she doesn't have many. She is not well-liked, and every relationship she has outside of family meant she had to basically annoy herself into a pony's good graces....even her friendship with Cupcake began that way. She is deeply afraid of losing the ponies she cares about, which means she's often willing to put up with being mistreated, or willing to contort herself into what she thinks ponies want her to be. Cupcake recognizes this desperation and earnestness in her friend and thus feels a deep sense of protection and loyalty to Pan. Moondancer too recognizes Pan's desperation, but is put off by it, and mostly views Pan as a sort of pity friend.

-Moondancer and Cupcake genuinely enjoy each other's company. That's not to say Moony doesn't also view Cupcake as a weird pity friend, just that he likes her okay. She reminds him of Maudie, and so he values Cupcake's advice and dry humor, even if her dogged attachment to Pan leaves him perplexed. Cupcake loves Moondancer and feels the same protective instinct toward him as she feels for her family and Pan, though she likes Moony best when he drops the conceited attitude and shows his sweeter, dorky side. Cupcake is very fond of dorks.

-Cupcake and Pan are best friends. Pandora's flaws humanize her to Cupcake, and Cupcake is drawn to her not out of pity, but out of a sort of kindred longing. Cupcake likes Pan's goofiness, her harebrained schemes, her wild energy. It's familiar to Cupcake and feels like home. Pan has always made an effort to include Cupcake, has always deemed Cupcake's ideas brilliant, is never not happy to see Cupcake....even if Cupcake is dull and not especially creative and unable to contribute much. Cupcake is grateful for this, and although she's not great at expressing the tender way she feels about Pan, she is unflinchingly loyal to her best friend, to the very end. 

-Dropped the ball demonstrating that Cupcake feels plain and uninteresting, especially next to Pandora. Considering retconnining Cupcake's baking abilities....maybe she can follow a recipe okay, but her treats always taste bland? Like they're missing something. That could contribute to Cupcake's dissatisfaction with her place in the world and her decision to become a royal guard...... 

- I think I got so caught up teasing goofy sexual tension between Pan and Moondancer that I forgot to actually give them a reason to be friends, or for Moony to even like Pan, OOPS. Pan of course likes Moondancer because he's somewhat tolerant of her, which earns him her undying friendship in her love-starved kitty brain. Moondancer likes Pan....because deep down, he admires her bravery. Yes she's loud and cringy and annoying, but she is rarely anything less than her unabashed self.....while Moondancer struggles to express his true self. Moondancer envies Pan not just for her power, but for her freedom to be goofy and weird and fun. Pandora is fun....and sometimes she can convince Moony to relax a smidgen and have a little fun himself. This is why he likes Pan. It's also why he comes to love her, and is conflicted af about that, because on one hand he looks down on Pan, and on the other, he secretly admires her. Basically he's just as dumb as she is but unaware of the fact

(I dropped the ball demonstrating the whole "Moony secretly looks up to Pan" thing. How do I fix that?)

-Pandora loves Cupcake and Moondancer and considers them her very best friends in the world, often dismissing Moondancer's aloofness, or making up excuses why he doesn't want to hang out. I can't stress enough that Pan genuinely deeply admires both ponies, and is their biggest cheerleader. She genuinely thinks Cupcake is the greatest baker in the world, and also funny, smart, strong, dependable, and also gorgeous (Wherever did Cuppy get the idea she was plain?). She thinks Moony is a fantastic dancer and capable of anything he puts his mind to. Moondancer views these sentiments as insincere, or even mocking, while Cupcake just flat out doesn't believe Pan, though she appreciates the effort. Both ponies would be immensely flustered to learn Pan really, really does mean what she says.

Pan is secretly in love with Cupcake, in a way that is slightly unhealthy (so love-starved), but also incredibly genuine and true. Too often I've made it seem like Pan is simply physically attracted to Cupcake, but its deeper than that, Pan can (and does) write sonnets about why she loves Cupcake. Pandora's feelings for Moondancer are more ambiguous and difficult for her to sort out (because Moony is an ass too often), but are likely noooot entirely platonic. Pan pursues neither of these relationships because she's terrified of messing things up with her dear friends (Pan still hasn't forgiven herself over how badly she torpedoed her budding relationship with Magnolia May).

Rambling aside, I guess I'm asking what y'all want to see out of this friendship? Do you have any suggestions about how to depict their complicated bond? What scenes would you like to see?