How old are the ponies?

[bwrosas 252]

When one thinks about, we don't really know who's the oldest to the youngest is.  @MLPSilverQuill mentioned in a video he did last year, That Rarity was the most mature one of the group, (along with the immatureness she shows at times) .  And in Equestria Girls, we know that the EG versions are at least 16-17 years of age, and possibly juniors-seniors in High School.

 

But if we look at the pony equalvenlt of it, how old are the Mane 6 prime versions. well if you use online age calculators (like this one :  http://www.age-converter.com/horse-age-calculator.html) the assumption you could come up with would be 6yrs = 18 years.  Now as far as the Mane 6 go, my guess would be Rarity and Fluttershy are at least 6yrs old (18yrs), Applejack would be right behind them at 5 1/2 (around 16-17yrs) , Twilight is/could be about 5yrs (15-16yrs) , Pinkie is probably about 4 1/2 (13-14yrs) and Rainbow Dash is probably right there with Pinkie at 4 1/2 (13yrs)

 

But again that's just assumption on what their ages could be.  This may help explain the whole Spike x Rarity, Spike's age could be around 18-20 according to this (http://aminoapps.com/page/wings-of-fire/3030570/dragon-years-to-human-years), plus if you take into account the 3 Hearth-Warming Tail episodes we got, which equals to about 3 moons, than yeah, (as complicated as it sounds), this would justify the reason this ship gets teased by the show and comic book writers and supported by a decent portion of the fanbase,

Sparity shipping aside though, do you think I may have a point as to what the ages may be of the Mane 6 and Spike. Or Am I way off.

Let me and everyone else know, down below.

God Bless.

 

Edited August 9, 2017 by bwrosas

[Guest]

I believe Lauren Faust said they were young adults, so somewhere in the range of 18-20ish?

[cmarston1 5,959]

I just assumed that they were between 16-18 years old.

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Judging by personality and occupation, I would say that at the beginning of the show they were in the 17 - 21 range.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight seem to be the younger ones, Fluttershy and Rarity seem to be the older ones. Applejack seems to be the most mature of them, but she probably had to grow quicker for the sake of the farm and her sister, I'd say she's younger than Pinkie.

[Clod 8,294]

Well in any calculation keep in mind that Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie. That's all we really know.

[Oleks 1,993]

Here is what Lauren Faust said on this matter:

Note that "maturity level" is not exactly age, and "young adults" probably means that they were 20+ during the first two seasons.

[Hierok 11,831]

I think Twilight, who is the youngest, is 19 and Fluttershy is 23 in season 1

Edited August 9, 2017 by Hierok

[Steve Piranha 29,415]

I think they where 17 at the youngest and 22 at the oldest back in S1, but now, four years should have passed, so they should be all in their mid 20s  

[bwrosas 252]

12 hours ago, bwrosas said:

When one thinks about, we don't really know who's the oldest to the youngest is.  @MLPSilverQuill mentioned in a video he did last year, That Rarity was the most mature one of the group, (along with the immatureness she shows at times) .  And in Equestria Girls, we know that the EG versions are at least 16-17 years of age, and possibly juniors-seniors in High School.

 

But if we look at the pony equalvenlt of it, how old are the Mane 6 prime versions. well if you use online age calculators (like this one :  http://www.age-converter.com/horse-age-calculator.html) the assumption you could come up with would be 6yrs = 18 years.  Now as far as the Mane 6 go, my guess would be Rarity and Fluttershy are at least 6yrs old (18yrs), Applejack would be right behind them at 5 1/2 (around 16-17yrs) , Twilight is/could be about 5yrs (15-16yrs) , Pinkie is probably about 4 1/2 (13-14yrs) and Rainbow Dash is probably right there with Pinkie at 4 1/2 (13yrs)

 

But again that's just assumption on what their ages could be.  This may help explain the whole Spike x Rarity, Spike's age could be around 18-20 according to this (http://aminoapps.com/page/wings-of-fire/3030570/dragon-years-to-human-years), plus if you take into account the 3 Hearth-Warming Tail episodes we got, which equals to about 3 moons, than yeah, (as complicated as it sounds), this would justify the reason this ship gets teased by the show and comic book writers and supported by a decent portion of the fanbase,

Sparity shipping aside though, do you think I may have a point as to what the ages may be of the Mane 6 and Spike. Or Am I way off.

Let me and everyone else know, down below.

God Bless.

 

 

[Sparklefan1234 169,615]

I know Applejack is in her mid-thirties & that Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie Pie.

 I'm not sure about the rest.

Edited August 10, 2017 by Sparklefan1234

[DonMaguz 1,023]

7 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I know Applejack is in her mid-thirties & that Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie Pie.

 I'm not sure about the rest.

How exactly do you know that about Applejack?

I've never heard about it.

[Sparklefan1234 169,615]

@DonMaguz

Headcanon because, Applejack was originally a G1 pony. 

Edited August 10, 2017 by Sparklefan1234

[DonMaguz 1,023]

8 minutes ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

@DonMaguz

Headcanon because, Applejack was originally a G1 pony. 

Ohh, so you're implying they are the same pony?

I never saw G1, just curious. This actually gives me a good reason to check the earlier gens.

[Sparklefan1234 169,615]

1 minute ago, DonMaguz said:

Ohh, so you're implying they are the same pony?

I like to think so because:

1.  They both have the same name
2. They're the same color 
3. They both share a Cutie Mark

Edited August 10, 2017 by Sparklefan1234

[sweetolebob18 728]

This is complex.  First, the question is "So, how long has the series been?".  Hasbro says "The first 3 seasons take place over 1 year."  So, IMO, Dash would have joined the Wonderbolts as soon as possible.  Thus, she was 18 at the time of Wonderbolt Academy (S3) & 17 during the pilot.  I'm fairly solid on this.  The rest is "if this, then that".

The next major question is "how long ago was the 1st Rainboom?" (the events in The Cutie Mark Chronicles S1 E23).  I'm going with "10-12 years" This makes Dash 5-7 years old when she "is the 1st in her class to get her Cutie Mark" (ICR which 1st season episode she said that).

Some of the ponies in Junior Flight Camp already had their Cutie Mark, so they must have been older than Dash.   Fluttershy was older than Dash when she got her mark.  However, if they became friends, she probably wasn't more than 1-2 years older than Dash (I was 2 years older than my best friend in High School & he was the youngest in our group.  IMO, that's normal.)  That makes Fluttershy 18-19 during the pilot

Griffon the Brush Off, Fluttershy tells Pinkie "I'm a year older than you" (IMO, give or take a few months, perhaps).  That makes Pinkie 17-18 during the pilot (perhaps even a few months younger than Dash)

Spike hatched during the Rainboom, so he is 10-12 during the pilot.  (IMO, Secret of My Excess was his 12th birthday).

During the Chronicles, when Applejack heads to town her parents aren't around.  IMO, this implies that they had already gone wherever they went.  If so, Apple Bloom must have already been born (perhaps she was napping in her crib).  If you assume that the Crusaders are all about  the same age, then they are probably about a year older than Spike.

IMO, the Ponyville school is first to eighth grade (That's another thread). So, ages 6-14.  Rarity was costume designer for a school play, so she was in school 10-12 years ago.  In the pilot, she has her own business.  In Dog and Pony Show, Saphire has heard of Rarity,  but Rarity is surprised by this. This shows that she has done SOMETHING -but not much.  IMO, Rarity is 20ish. (Chronicles shows a pony who looks like a young Cheerilee in the play.  It's possible & she could be as old as 26) 

Twilight was applying for Celestia's school. So the question is "Which grades does the school cover?".  If Kindergarten, Twilight would be 4-5.  First grade, 5-6.  High School, 14-15.  So, during the pilot Twilight was either 14-17 (depending) (This would mean Twilight started her career about the same age Joan of Arc did) or 24-27 (& possible the oldest of the Mane 6). 

 

Applejack  In Apple Buck Season, AJ says the Apples were having a family reunion during the pilot.  In Apple Family Reunion Granny tells Apple Bloom

1 Reunions are every 8 years

2 Reunions are always at Sweet Apple Acres

3 This is Apple Bloom's first reunion

I don't see any way that they can both be right.  Since Bloom was in the pilot & she'd remember if that was a reunion, I'm going with "Granny was right, AJ was wrong" In Apple Buck Season AJ makes other mistakes, including forgetting how big her own orchard is.  This would probably make Bloom either 3 or 4 during the last reunion.  IMO, she was either away or so young she forgot.  Granny got a little muddled & also forgot.

They show some baby pictures of AJ at an earlier reunion.  She looks about 1 year old.  2 reunions back, about 17 years makes her 18 in that episode, 17 during the pilot & 5-7 when she left for Manehatten.  Seems pretty young to be allowed to go solo hitchhiking so far.  3 reunions back, add 8 years to everything.  That makes her by far the oldest of the Mane 6 (We're talking 5+ years here), unless you assume Twilight was about that age, too.

 

Edited January 7, 2018 by sweetolebob18
mostly grammer corrections, minor editing

[Brainstorm 4,106]

I don't usually think about it, but, most likely they're either half the age of their Mirror counterparts. I'm only guessing.

[Kadeda 178]

As far as age is concerned... By season seven they would have to be in their mid to upper 20's. Maud got her Rockterate so i think it's safe to say she's 26. Pinkie is younger but she can't be to much younger than that. Fluttershy is one year older than pinkie but she has a brother slacking in school. I think it's safe to say he's 22-24ish... which I think how old Rainbow is. Rainbow loves cider and had a birthday cake with 21 candles in season 4 so I would say she's 24 in season 7. This means that Fluttershy in turn can't be younger than 24 or older than 26. This in turn means that Pinky is 23-25.

Now... we know Apple Jack and Rarity are the oldest in the group. Rarity age is pretty high because she was shown as a fully grown pony when sweetie bell was five. Now... consider that applejack parents didn't show up in her flashback then that means that her sister is already born. There no real way to say how long it's been since they all gotten their cutiemark but let's say it's been 10 years. That makes Applejack sister 10 at the beginning of the show and Sweetie bells the same. At minimum that means she was around 16-18 when Sweetiebell was 5 and 21-23 when the show started.  I think it's been about 5 years since the start so i would say she is 26-28. Applejack has to be either slightly older or younger because she says she was last in her class to... referring that Rarity was not in the same class. I would guess older though so 27-29.

Now Twilight is the hardest to guess at all. She seem to act a lot older in the later seasons and was giving seminars in what looked like a college at the end of season 5 so i would say she's older than 22 in season 5. Season 5 - 7 is huge time jumps compared to the first four. I want to say it's about 3 years. Twilight is at least 25 in season 7.

Starlight seems to be younger than them and older than them at the same time. When she was a villian... she seemed older. When she turned good... she seemed younger. I will go with younger since the show seems to point to it more. She thought her friend was a powerful wizard and super important at that point by then so she would have to be the age completely out of school... which is usually 18-22... but she's twilight pupil... and treated younger than her which would put her under 25.

Here are the ages I personally think they are. 

Twilight 27 

Pinky 25

Fluttershy 26

Rarity 28

Applejack 29

Rainbow Dash 24

Starlight Glimmer 22

 

Mind you... this is all head canon. I had to make up most of it for it to even make since but i went with how the show make me feel how old they are.

[RDDash 19,160]

hard to tell because they are ponies, so young adults sounds about right

[Latecomer 439]

On 1/6/2012 at 8:35 PM, SBaby said:

Most of the theories on this topic can be attributed to a tried and true equation.

 

The Theory of Pony Age Equation:

 

The Average Age of the Ponies => The Age of the Person Theorizing It

 

ie: The older people are, the older they tend to think the ponies are/should be.

 

In truth, they are probably in the realm of 14 to 16 (which is the average age range for characters in these kinds of shows). Keep in mind that in alot of fantasy settings, it isn't all that uncommon for people that age to be independent. I don't imagine Equestria would be that much different.

 

On a lighter note, I did learn that the ponies in FiM likely average around 30 to 34 inches tall (not counting Celestia or Luna).

So reverse engineering this theory... you were about 12 when you posted it? 

[Latecomer 439]

As for my own take - it's a pretty standard one of the Manes being 19-24 at the start of the show. The question is "how close and what order" - within a few years would probablly make most sense, but my autism made me assign each one to a year. So I went in ascending order: Twilight (19-year-old genius), Rainbow (20-year-old prodigy), Pinkie Pie (21-year-old apprentice). Fluttershy (a year older than her, so 22) and AJ and Rarity being as toss-up for the top spots. I had the Rainboom (and therefor Spike's birth) about 11 years prior, with the CMC ranging from 12 (Apple Bloom, seen with markless AJ in Season 9 flashback) to 10. Starlight I'm not sure about.

[O-78 28,605]

Early to mid 20s, I'm guessing. With Rarity and Applejack being the oldest, Rainbow and Fluttershy in the middle, and Pinkie and Twilight being the youngest.

[Latecomer 439]

2 minutes ago, LyraLover 💙 said:

Early to mid 20s, I'm guessing. With Rarity and Applejack being the oldest, Rainbow and Fluttershy in the middle, and Pinkie and Twilight being the youngest.

At the start of the show?

[Pinkdasher7 27]

ID SAY' depending on the content they where created for, however i believe twilight is 24 and never gets a day older.

[Tom Gallagher 33,581]

Rarity and Applejack are definitely the oldest. For the others I don't really know. It's never really clarified apart from Fluttershy saying she's a year older than Pinkie early on. 

I always thought of Fluttershy as being slightly older. I'm going to assume Pinkie is the youngest and Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are somewhere inbetween. 

[Splashee 28,563]

I'd say 12 years old. 13 is an odd age, they start growing body parts, you know? 13 would make them all look like Luna