spoiler So it really has been (around) a year since the show began?

[mysticalnight 56]

i swear, im starting to scare myself with how well i know the show these days. used to be i knew little to nothing about it. lol

[Honsou 399]

Just try figuring out the whole "moons" business. I tried. It's a black hole trap of lies and deceit. 

 

As for doing other season math, I get the feeling there would be summer/winter discrepancies that'd throw you off. I'm content with general time estimates like "it's been a half or full year." 

A moon is a month. I think it's probably been around a year and a half since Twilicorn first came to ponyville.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

I personally like to think that there may be months between episodes. Twilight happily working in her library (Later coming to grips with her castle) Rarity designing seasons worth of clothing. Rainbow working at being a Wonderbolts reservist, Fluttershy tending her critters, Applejack running the farm, and Pinkie Pie doing whatever Pinkie Pie wants. I imagine them meeting up for lunch, having play-dates for their pets, and just generally living the pony life.

 

edit...

 

Although there is one glaring time inconstancy if you accept Rainbow Rocks as canon

(as I do)

 

Twilight defeated Sunset Shimmer, who then repented and became a good friend. The Dazzlings saw and felt that burst of magic. Twilight then went home through the portal and we had a whole season of adventures, ending with Twilight defeating Tirek. She was gifted her castle by the Tree of Harmony and moved in. It took the Dazzlings all that time to walk over to Canterlot High from the diner on the other side of town!  

Edited April 26, 2015 by cuteycindyhoney

[colt_following 169]

Time moves differently in the "psuedo-human" world.

 

But I kid, haha. I guess they do say it'll be exactly 30 moons which sounds like they'll correspond, but that doesn't nessecarily imply that time moves at the same rate (like planets that orbit at different speeds. Absurdly different speeds.)

 

 

I dunno. I'm an idiot, this is my grain of salt.

[Attack of the Pwns 894]

That would make sense, actually, you raise a good point.

But we didn't see a running of the leaves, or some fall time foliage in the past couple episodes to make that a flawless theory.

The Running of the Leaves for this year was incorporated into the beginning of the new episode. Since none of the mane 6 are competing, it didn't get it's own episode.

[Pastel 7,627]

I don't think there's a logic timeline in this show. I'm sure if they do a 20th season they'll be as old as in season 1 (just like cartoons like The Simpsons).

I think they're free to do whatever they want for plot convenience.

 

But we didn't see a running of the leaves, or some fall time foliage in the past couple episodes to make that a flawless theory.

There was the running of the leaves at the beginning of the episode. Edited April 26, 2015 by Blobulle

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

Okay let's talk time streams and continuity:

 

To steal from Doctor Who there are three definite fixed points in the MLP timeline: (there are arguably more but for simplicity's sake)

1) Twilight arriving in Ponyville (ie the pilot episodes)

2) Twilight's Alicorn Ascension (MMC)

3) The Destruction of  the Golden Oaks Library(Twilight's Kingdom)

 

So all of seasons 1-3 have to occur between 1 & 2 and in Princess Twilight Sparkle, it is implied that it is the next Summer Sun Celebration, indicating another summer solstice and therefore a year as we define it, yet I would remind everyone that ponies do control both the weather and the Sun as well as measure time in Moons generally, so they could very well measure time differently than we do, but I will go with the assumption that it is nearly exact to our timescale.  With that out of the way, all of the stuff with Unicorn Twilight could occur in any order, such as having May the Best Pet win happen after Hearth's Warming Eve even though the airdates are different, and the same goes for Winter Wrap Up and Fall Weather Friends, just so long as it begins with point 1 and ends with point 2.  All of Season 4 on the other hand is far more defined as the entire season is contained by points 2 & 3 as well as containing no major seasonal changes.  

The big problem though is ascertaining which episodes occur during the spring, summer and early fall.   For example, does the Grand Galloping Gala occur before or after winter?  As for my answer: MST3K motto: It's just a show, relax.  While the show has a great continuity, it has not had a serial tight continuity like classic Doctor Who or recent drama shows out ther more with one event happening right after another.   Basically the show can show different time segments and not be destroyed by continuity hiccups. I mean it's fun to dicuss but it's not going to break the show by a long shot (IMO) 

Edited April 26, 2015 by Sidral Mundet

[colt_following 169]

Uh-oh. Means it's time to start an entirely new project devoted to structuring each season so that everything works out on a perfect timeline.

 

 

 

Or enjoy the show

 

 

I like the way you outlined it with the DW context- three definite points, three eevents that we KNOW happened in a precise order, and between which other events are dispersed

[The Awesome One 1,314]

If that fall episode came after Winter Wrap Up episode then that would mean that two years have passed and even then they've had so many villains and not to mention Twilight turning into an Alicorn princess in that short a time period.

 

Also I was really hoping they would show that the Mane 6 had grown just a little physically, maybe even a subtle change in hairstyles or something.