Was Princess Twilight Sparkle just one year after the series premiere?

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Seems like a lot of people disagree about this, so why not have a poll/discussion?

[MysticShine 529]

Seems like a lot of people disagree about this, so why not have a poll/discussion?

I don't really understand what you're asking.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

I don't really understand what you're asking.

I'm asking if the events of the first three seasons took place over one year, or if it took more than one?

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

Princess Twilight was actually 2 years and 4 months after the series premiere.

[Mesme Rize 15,681]

If the show says it's one year, then there isn't anything to talk about.

Edited March 3, 2015 by Hypnosparkle

[MysticShine 529]

Oh ok. I understand what you are asking. I would say it's about a year, maybe a little longer.

[Plageius 263]

Well, come to think of it, there haven't been 365 episodes, and it could be even different in equestria,it could be.

[Dulset Tarn 441]

Well, come to think of it, there haven't been 365 episodes, and it could be even different in equestria,it could be.

Maybe I should have been more clear. The idea is that we know Princess Twilight Sparkle is the second Summer Sun Celebration that we've seen (not counting Twilight's flashback). The disagreement is in whether this is truly the subsequent SSC after the premiere, or if other years have silently passed in between.

[Fluttershutter 2,120]

If the show says it's one year, then there isn't anything to talk about.

When did the show say that?

[Phoenix Flair 332]

It's got to be more than a year because Applejack's trees always have apples in them, except for the one episode it was winter.  Her trees should have been barren or blossoming if the episodes were staged year round instead of staggered throughout multiple.

[UnknownFry 169]

Definitely more than a year considering at least a hundred moons have passed as far as Apple Family Reunions go.

 

I am sticking with the idea of one season is equivalent to the passage of one year in Equestrian time.

 

What mucks things up though is the habit of episodes being aired out of order.

[Pastel 7,627]

Just one year, and maybe less(?). The ponies don't seem to age a lot throughout the seasons.. (especially the CMC)

Edited March 3, 2015 by Blobulle

[Arctofire 225]

If the show says it's one year, then there isn't anything to talk about.

 

They never actually stated that it was a year.

[Arctofire 225]

Just one year, and maybe less(?). The ponies don't seem to age a lot throughout the seasons.. (especially the CMC)

 

The CMC are the only thing holding me back from saying it's been a great deal of time.

[Prince Firemane 309]

I believe that it's only been one year. Listen to the way Celestia speaks about in the Princess Twilight Sparkle episodes. The way she speaks says to me that it is the first time in a very long time that Luna herself has been present for the Summer Sun Celebration.

[Buck Testa 5,503]

Their years may be different than ours considering the situation with the Sun and all. 

 

Also If Ash Ketchum can travel through and earn badges in the regions of Kanto, Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, the battle Frontier, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos as well as have all his side quests and 17+ movies and STILL be 10 years old (WHAT???) anything is possible. 

[Prince Firemane 309]

Their years may be different than ours considering the situation with the Sun and all. 

 

Also If Ash Ketchum can travel through and earn badges in the regions of Kanto, Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, the battle Frontier, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos as well as have all his side quests and 17+ movies and STILL be 10 years old (WHAT???) anything is possible. 

True, anything is possible when you also consider that Maggie Simpson has been an infant for over 25 years.

 

Their timing is off from our perspective, this is true. Their largest unit of measurement of time seems to be the ambiguous "moon". Thirty moons is treated as if it's a very long time, yet a family as, well, family-oriented as the Apples find it sufficient to have a reunion once every hundred moons. However, they're also keenly aware of the measurement of a seasonal year, and who knows how long that is.

[EquestriaGuy 1,074]

They certainly make it seem like it was only a year. It would help to dismantle the idea that no one ages (Like the Simpsons) and the CMC have been after their marks for 3+ years.

[Thespian 78]

Princess Twilight Sparkle takes place on the same day as nightmare moons return which is the Summer Sun Celebration. Using cues from the dialogue, we can determine it has only been a year because Celestia says she no longer has to feel bad about banishing her sister to the moon, but that she can be happy that she has her sister back.

So according to celestia it has been a year. The episodes might not add up canonically, but I think it is safe to say it has been a year. 

[Odyssey 5,713]

I would say it has been more than a year. In Magic Duel, Spike mentions something about last year's Winter Wrap Up and the events about what happened last time.

[Pastel 7,627]

The CMC are the only thing holding me back from saying it's been a great deal of time.

Actually none of the fillies/colts age, I think it's going to be like The Simpsons (as others mentioned): trying to calculate how many years have passed since season 1 is impossible. Edited March 4, 2015 by Blobulle

[Will Guide 21,325]

I am bringing this over from my post about Headcanons:

 

Summer Sun Celebration and the length of the Seasons 1-3

Put in a spoiler box for huge amount of text:

 

Speaking of the annual Summer Sun Celebration, we've seen two SSCs onscreen in the show. Some Bronies believe that all of the 1st 3 seasons took place in one year. I don't believe so. Nowhere in the Princess Twilight Sparkle episode did they ever said it's been a year since the last SSC. They just pointed out how it was on the SSC that Twilight first came to Ponyville and met the Mane 5. There could have been more SSCs that have happened.

As TVTropes Headscratchers pointed out: Celestia's exact words are:
"I must admit that it is wonderful to actually be looking forward to the Summer Sun Celebration. For my subjects, it has always been a celebration of my defeat of Nightmare Moon. But for me... it was just a terrible reminder that I'd had to banish my own sister. But now it has become a wonderful reminder of her transformation back into Princess Luna, and our happy reunion."
This does not say that it is Celestia's first Summer Sun Celebration with Luna in over 1000 years. The language can be interpreted to mean that is simply a relatively new state of affairs. Consider an ordinary person saying "It's wonderful to actually look forward to going in to work. My job has always been soul-crushing and I dreaded waking up every morning. But now, with my new boss, my job has become a wonderful opportunity to use my talents and creativity." Nothing about that statement implies it's the first happy day, simply that the now-happy days are a recent turn. Likewise for Celestia, especially considering her age, "now" could easily refer to the past five Summer Sun Celebrations.

Head-canon Summary: There were more SSCs than what we saw onscreen and Seasons 1-3 could taken more than a single year.

 

 

So until more direct evidence that it has been only one year has been stated, I'm going with the "More than one year" vote.

[TwilightDreamer 69]

The episodes might not be in chronological order so it would seem invalid but it could be at least a whole year since the whole show started on the very day Twilight began her journey of friendship on the same day as Luna's return as her alter ego and season 4 took place on the very day her adventures began.

 

As for the general subject, it's pretty much invalid since we probably don't know but it could be either 1 year or more than that. 

[sweetolebob18 724]

I've got a thread for the order of the episodes.  Part of it.

June, Year 1   June 20-21 the pilot.

August  Apple Buck Season IRL, apple harvest is mid August to late October, so this is then

In the USA school starts either early August or early September.  Call of the Cutie, the CMCs just met & AJ has time with AB.  So, I'm going w "before Apple Buck Season" & this is AB wasn't helping -she was in school.

The calendar says otherwise, but in the USA we consider Summer to run from Memorial Day weekend (last weekend in May) to Labor Day weekend (1st weekend in September).  Thus all of June is considered a Summer month.

June, year 2 One Bad Apple, the CMCs are building a float for the Summer Harvest Festival & school seems to be out (Babs spends, what, 2 weeks? there).

Magical Mystery Cure would be June 17 or 18 (assuming these events took 1 day)

Princess Twilight  T says it is 2 days to the Summer Sun Festival.  Celestia strongly implies, but does NOT specifically state that it is 1 year after Luna got released.

Apple Family Reunion.  Babs returns & talks of her new school.  So, at least August, year 2 (before the apple harvest) or possibly September or later.  Twilight is NOT in this episode (the others all have cameos, even Spike), so this is possible

 

So, AFAIK, it is physically possible, but damn tight timing

Edited March 24, 2015 by sweetolebob18