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How Does Age Work in MLP?


Nye

How does age work?  

26 users have voted

  1. 1. When does you think a pony is no longer considered a filly?

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I have been wondering for the past few days how age works in the show. For instance, Spike is a baby dragon, yet he was born when Twilight got her cutie mark. (Long time ago). 

At one point I compared ages between Equestria Girls and Friendship is Magic. The CMC seem to be freshmen. While all the Mane 6 are clearly Seniors, the first movie would be the fourth year Sunset Shimmer would have gotten the Prom Queen status. So that is that, but then that would mean Spike can't be older than three years old. At the same time, Twilight has been in Ponyville for at least 2+ years. Because she has been there for three Hearth Warmings and whatnot. So if it is a three year difference, that would explain the way age works in Equestria Girls. Still, that would make the ponies at the schoolhouse adults by now. So my big question is, how does age work in this show? What is your opinion? Let me know down below! 

My other big question is, what makes somepony considered a filly? Because in Twilight's BBBFF song she starts with the words "When I was just a filly" but the Flim Flam brothers call Applejack a filly in The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. 

Maybe age works like cats where it changes depending on how many human years have passed.

Edited by Nye
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Okay, let's see...

First of all, i'd say that time works differently in the MLP universe and the EQG universe: time flows more slowly in the EQG universe, so a young adult pony in Equestria(like, say, Twilight and her friends) is still a late teenager in the human world, while ponies in their late teens(as i imagine the CMC would be by now) are early teens in the human world and so on. The only exceptions being the alicorns because they're immortal, thus their EQG counterparts reflect their apparent age rather than their actual age. 

As for when a pony stops being considered a colt or filly, i'd  say it's much more dependent on physical appearence rather than age: they stop being considered a filly or colt once they have all of or at least most of the physical characteristics of an adult pony.

As for The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 scene, i'd say Flim and Flam called AJ that just to be condescending.

This is based mostly on assumptions, thought, so it's very possible that i could be wrong.

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18 minutes ago, Nye said:

I have been wondering for the past few days how age works in the show. For instance, Spike is a baby dragon, yet he was born when Twilight got her cutie mark. (Long time ago). 

At one point I compared ages between Equestria Girls and Friendship is Magic. The CMC seem to be freshmen. While all the Mane 6 are clearly Seniors, the first movie would be the fourth year Sunset Shimmer would have gotten the Prom Queen status. So that is that, but then that would mean Spike can't be older than three years old. At the same time, Twilight has been in Ponyville for at least 2+ years. Because she has been there for three Hearth Warmings and whatnot. So if it is a three year difference, that would explain the way age works in Equestria Girls. Still, that would make the ponies at the schoolhouse adults by now. So my big question is, how does age work in this show? What is your opinion? Let me know down below! 

My other big question is, what makes somepony considered a filly? Because in Twilight's BBBFF song she starts with the words "When I was just a filly" but the Flim Flam brothers call Applejack a filly in The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. 

Maybe age works like cats where it changes depending on how many human years have passed.

okay, according to Lauren Faust, ponies age the same way that humans do. The mane 6 are somewhere in the range of 17-19 years old. Dragons on the other hand, age very differently. They typically live a very long time so their aging process shows that. Dragons normally stay considered a baby (like Spike) for several hundred years before advancing to teens (like Garble and Ember). They spend a long time as teens and when they finally become adults, they can stay that way for thousands of years. After all, in "Dragonshy" Twilight did say this, "Equestria simply can't survive a thousand years in a dark haze." A thousand years. If they take thousand year naps, just think of how long they live! Also, in terms of theory since Spike was not born like normal dragons, he might not age the same as them. As he was hatched from Twilight's magic, he may have been affected.

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29 minutes ago, BlueBook said:

okay, according to Lauren Faust, ponies age the same way that humans do. The mane 6 are somewhere in the range of 17-19 years old. Dragons on the other hand, age very differently. They typically live a very long time so their aging process shows that. Dragons normally stay considered a baby (like Spike) for several hundred years before advancing to teens (like Garble and Ember). They spend a long time as teens and when they finally become adults, they can stay that way for thousands of years. After all, in "Dragonshy" Twilight did say this, "Equestria simply can't survive a thousand years in a dark haze." A thousand years. If they take thousand year naps, just think of how long they live! Also, in terms of theory since Spike was not born like normal dragons, he might not age the same as them. As he was hatched from Twilight's magic, he may have been affected.

I would have to agree with pretty much everything that's been said here, though I do think that the mane 6 are a bit older than 17-19. A lot of people (including myself) believe that the mane 6 are in their early to mid twenties, usually people will also say Applejack is the oldest of the mane 6 due to how mature she is and sounds, though it's still up for debate. The only concrete evidence we have of the mane 6's ages is the fact that in the season 1 episode "Griffon the Brush Off"  Fluttershy mumbles under her breath that she's a year older than Pinkie Pie after being annoyed by her.      

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I've often thought about this.In this world, horses are considered foals from the age of one to four. However, as for how one ages in Equestria and in and in the human world of Canterlot High seems a bit different. The sirens alone hint at a different time passing the world of Canterlot High. That is unless the sirens really are over a thousand years. However, we also have the CMC to compare to. The pony CMC seem to still be in elementary school, but it also seems to be the only school in Ponyvile. Then there is Canterlot High where the CMC is also students. However, the question here is how many grades does Canterlot High cover? is It a more traditional 9-12 grade school or is it a less common but not unheard of 7-12 grade school. This may even explain if Sunset Shimmer remains at Canterlot High for a few more years if she first arrived in the 7th grade. Which would mean she would entering the 10th grade after the adventures at Camp Everfree. However, Camp Everfree felt more like a senior trip more than anything.

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45 minutes ago, BlueBook said:

okay, according to Lauren Faust, ponies age the same way that humans do. The mane 6 are somewhere in the range of 17-19 years old. Dragons on the other hand, age very differently. They typically live a very long time so their aging process shows that. Dragons normally stay considered a baby (like Spike) for several hundred years before advancing to teens (like Garble and Ember). They spend a long time as teens and when they finally become adults, they can stay that way for thousands of years. After all, in "Dragonshy" Twilight did say this, "Equestria simply can't survive a thousand years in a dark haze." A thousand years. If they take thousand year naps, just think of how long they live! Also, in terms of theory since Spike was not born like normal dragons, he might not age the same as them. As he was hatched from Twilight's magic, he may have been affected.

Actually it was 100 years the dragon was going to take his nap in Dragonshy, NOT a thousand.

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17 minutes ago, King of Canterlot said:

I would have to agree with pretty much everything that's been said here, though I do think that the mane 6 are a bit older than 17-19. A lot of people (including myself) believe that the mane 6 are in their early to mid twenties, usually people will also say Applejack is the oldest of the mane 6 due to how mature she is and sounds, though it's still up for debate. The only concrete evidence we have of the mane 6's ages is the fact that in the season 1 episode "Griffon the Brush Off"  Fluttershy mumbles under her breath that she's a year older than Pinkie Pie after being annoyed by her.      

If the mane 6 were in their early/mid twenties, why would they be seniors in high school though? I'd say that their ages are somewhat similar to this:

Applejack: 19, almost 20. The oldest.

Twilight: 19, almost 20 but younger than Aj by a few months

Rarity: 19, almost 20 since she already owns a sucessful business

Rainbow Dash: 18, almost 19 she's a tad less mature than the others

Fluttershy: 18, almost 19 just a month or two younger than Dash

Pinkie: just turned 17, due to her very childlike nature she has to be the youngest.

15 minutes ago, WiiGuy2014 said:

Actually it was 100 years the dragon was going to take his nap in Dragonshy, NOT a thousand.

Whoops XD my bad! However, my point still stands. That's a long nap which means they probably live a very long time.

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4 minutes ago, BlueBook said:

If the mane 6 were in their early/mid twenties, why would they be seniors in high school though?

Time just moves a bit differently between the two worlds is all, the mane 6 still being in their teens makes no sense as they are living in their own homes with their own jobs. Most teens are still living at home and sometimes have a job, sometimes not. Also if their still in school in the human world and your implying that their ages are the same, then shouldn't the pony versions of themselves also still be in school? As we know the pony versions of themselves are not in school, also some in the group like RD who grew up in cloudsdale seemed to be living on their own in Ponyville for some time even before Twilight arrives in town, them still being in their teens just doesn't make any sense.     

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4 minutes ago, King of Canterlot said:

Time just moves a bit differently between the two worlds is all, the mane 6 still being in their teens makes no sense as they are living in their own homes with their own jobs. Most teens are still living at home and sometimes have a job, sometimes not. Also if their still in school in the human world and your implying that their ages are the same, then shouldn't the pony versions of themselves also still be in school? As we know the pony versions of themselves are not in school, also some in the group like RD who grew up in cloudsdale seemed to be living on their own in Ponyville for some time even before Twilight arrives in town, them still being in their teens just doesn't make any sense.     

It would if the legal age at one is considered an adult is different in Equestria. In school, our English class is currently reading a book where the adult age is 12. 

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1 hour ago, Nye said:

For instance, Spike is a baby dragon

I think this is a relative therm, with Spike being a "baby" just because he's so early in the long dragon lifespan. He's old enough that he can talk fluent English, which means he can't be a baby by horse or human standards. Admittedly, season 1 was kinda weird about this. 

1 hour ago, Nye said:

At one point I compared ages between Equestria Girls and Friendship is Magic. The CMC seem to be freshmen. While all the Mane 6 are clearly Seniors, the first movie would be the fourth year Sunset Shimmer would have gotten the Prom Queen status. So that is that, but then that would mean Spike can't be older than three years old. At the same time, Twilight has been in Ponyville for at least 2+ years. Because she has been there for three Hearth Warmings and whatnot. So if it is a three year difference, that would explain the way age works in Equestria Girls. Still, that would make the ponies at the schoolhouse adults by now. So my big question is, how does age work in this show? What is your opinion? Let me know down below! 

I don't think the Equestria Girls characters are the same age as the pony mane six. I mean, if Tirek is a fictional character there, then who knows what else is different? I don't know why Twilight turned into a teenager crossing the mirror, but maybe it just reverts you to the form of your human-world counterpart.

Sunset might have crossed the mirror as a teenager, and I think time might move more slowly in the human world than in Equestria, so it's hard to say how long ago that was. I don't think she and Princess Twilight are the same age. I do think she crossed the mirror before Twilight even applied for the school, as the way Celestia talked about her gave me the feeling it had been years since Sunset vanished. Therefore, I don't think Sunset's age has anything to do with Spike's age. 

As a side note, are the terms "freshman" and "senior" ever used in Equestria Girls? Maybe Canterlot High was modelled after a 3-year school.It's hard to say, because it's never mentioned what year of their education the Girls are in. As a side note, those terms seem to be a distinctly U.S. thing; are they still used in American high schools which are only three years? 

I have no idea why the CMC are apparently closer to the mane six in age in the human world, but maybe they were always that close, and they're all just older. It would help explain why they don't go to school very often anymore. 

1 hour ago, Nye said:

but the Flim Flam brothers call Applejack a filly in The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. 

I agree that this was probably just condescension. 

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11 minutes ago, King of Canterlot said:

Also if their still in school in the human world and your implying that their ages are the same, then shouldn't the pony versions of themselves also still be in school?

Lauren Faust has actually said that there is no high school in Equestria. That's why they aren't in school. Just because a pony is a teen, however, does not mean that they need to be in school or living at home. Who knows, maybe the pony culture is different from ours. Maybe most ponies only stay with their parents until they become teens, then go out on their own.

4 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

I don't think she and Princess Twilight are the same age.

You are very right in this matter. If Twi and Sunset were the same age, we would have seen them be schooled together. As Sunset was Celestia's first pupil, we can assume that she is older than Twi. How much older, who knows. I personally think that she's a full grown adult to Twilight's young adult.

7 minutes ago, AlexanderThrond said:

 

I have no idea why the CMC are apparently closer to the mane six in age in the human world, but maybe they were always that close, and they're all just older. It would help explain why they don't go to school very often anymore. 

I think that there is a certian age where ponies just stop going to school and start working in the "real world" and that the CMC have gotten very close to that age.

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13 minutes ago, BlueBook said:

Lauren Faust has actually said that there is no high school in Equestria. That's why they aren't in school. Just because a pony is a teen, however, does not mean that they need to be in school or living at home. Who knows, maybe the pony culture is different from ours. Maybe most ponies only stay with their parents until they become teens, then go out on their own.

I don't think Lauren Faust's original vision for the world is entirely accurate to the show as it is today, but I don't actually know what's in the show bible the writers supposedly work from. Anyway, that's kind of a strange concept to me - not the least because the show doesn't bother explaining it - but alright, it's the best we've got. 

16 minutes ago, BlueBook said:

I think that there is a certian age where ponies just stop going to school and start working in the "real world" and that the CMC have gotten very close to that age.

They seem a fair bit younger than 18, and that seems like an awfully young age to stop your education and enter the full-time workforce, but it's not like the show's offered a better explanation. 

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Major Mare existed before Applejack even born, she had the same body shape like young Granny Smith and now, Granny is very old and Major Mare still look the same... The aging system in Equestria is a mess.

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When I think about the ponies' ages, I imagine them aging like humans, the Mane 6 being 18 to early twenties at the start of the series. I might be completely wrong, though. :lol:

As for Applejack being called a filly, I will again make a comparison to our world. While the words "girl" and "boy" are more likely to be used in reference to kids and teenagers, they are sometimes also used in reference to adults – maybe "filly" and "colt" are used similarly in the MLP universe. Other examples of this are found in the phrase "fillies and gentlecolts" (used in several episodes) and in the Equestria Girls ad where Pinkie uses the word "fillies" in reference to herself and the rest of the Mane 6 ("Our bronies hang out too 'cause they know we're awesome fillies").

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this one boggles my mind whenever I think of ages in MLP.

First off, being horsey person, I kinda go for the "how old would they be if they were real horses?"

but the fandom seem to stick with them having human ages. So surely its a matter of, when do you stop calling a child a child, and when is teen an adult?

In MLP i would like to think it goes like this (in human years)

Foal: 0 - 3 years

Colt (boy)/Filly (girl): 4 - 13 years

Young pony (teen): 14 - 18 years

Adult pony: 19+

Elder: 60+

I would put the CMC at 11 - 13 years old and the mane 7 within the 20 - 25 age range as of S7. As some just seem more mature than others. Plus we know Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie at least. I would place Spike's age at 13/14. We know that dragons hoard to actually grow, but Spike has the mentallity of a young teen for sure. He's actually quite mature and smart, but the fandom doesnt give him much credit for it.

 

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I believe ponies are referred as foals up to their 14s, and mares/stallions if older. Can't be sure, because, surprisingly, there have been few young teenage ponies in the show. I only Remember Fluttershy and AJ using that teen, but still not adult body shape 

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Coming back to this because of what I saw in the episode I am watching. Cheerilee was teaching pre-calculus to her class, that seems like a high school type of thing.

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5 minutes ago, Nye said:

Coming back to this because of what I saw in the episode I am watching. Cheerilee was teaching pre-calculus to her class, that seems like a high school type of thing.

I don't think the writers really take the age thing very seriously. There are just too many inconsistencies in how they construct the time dimension in the show.

Basically, it's all just for fun.

And besides, ponies are a lot smarter than humans, so they could probably start hitting pre-calc by 10 years no problem.  :D
 

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