Error: The used SELECT statements have a different number of columns - sql

Question

Why am I getting ERROR 1222 (21000): The used SELECT statements have a different number of columns from the following?
SELECT * FROM friends
LEFT JOIN users AS u1 ON users.uid = friends.fid1
LEFT JOIN users AS u2 ON users.uid = friends.fid2
WHERE (friends.fid1 = 1) AND (friends.fid2 > 1)
UNION SELECT fid2 FROM friends
WHERE (friends.fid2 = 1) AND (friends.fid1 < 1)
ORDER BY RAND()
LIMIT 6;
users:
+------------+---------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra |
+------------+---------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| uid | int(11) | NO | PRI | NULL | auto_increment |
| first_name | varchar(50) | NO | | NULL | |
| last_name | varchar(50) | NO | | NULL | |
| email | varchar(128) | NO | UNI | NULL | |
| mid | varchar(40) | NO | | NULL | |
| active | enum('N','Y') | NO | | NULL | |
| password | varchar(64) | NO | | NULL | |
| sex | enum('M','F') | YES | | NULL | |
| created | datetime | YES | | NULL | |
| last_login | datetime | YES | | NULL | |
| pro | enum('N','Y') | NO | | NULL | |
+------------+---------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
friends:
+---------------+--------------------------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field | Type | Null | Key | Default | Extra |
+---------------+--------------------------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| friendship_id | int(11) | NO | MUL | NULL | auto_increment |
| fid1 | int(11) | NO | PRI | NULL | |
| fid2 | int(11) | NO | PRI | NULL | |
| status | enum('pending','accepted','ignored') | NO | | NULL | |
+---------------+--------------------------------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+

Answer 1

UNIONs (UNION and UNION ALL) require that all the queries being UNION'd have:
The same number of columns in the SELECT clause
The column data type has to match at each position
Your query has:
SELECT f.*, u1.*, u2.* ...
UNION
SELECT fid2 FROM friends
The easiest re-write I have is:
SELECT f.*, u.*
FROM FRIENDS AS f
JOIN USERS AS u ON u.uid = f.fid2
WHERE f.fid1 = 1
AND f.fid2 > 1
UNION
SELECT f.*, u.*
FROM FRIENDS AS f
JOIN USERS AS u ON u.uid = f.fid1
WHERE f.fid2 = 1
AND f.fid1 < 1
ORDER BY RAND()
LIMIT 6;
You've LEFT JOIN'd to the USERS table twice, but don't appear to be using the information.