How much time has passed in Equestria from S1

[Unity 332]

How many years have passed from 1 to 8?

[Lord Valtasar 12,691]

Hard to say.the fillies don't seem to have grown much so i'd say 3 years tops

[Guest]

We know it has been "years" at the very least because at one point in a later season Fluttershy mentions that they have been friends for "years".

[Quinch 1,120]

Welllll....

How long is a "year"? How much do ponies change over time, physically or mentally? If we go by the idea of one year being one season, the CMCs alone would be in their late teens by now. On the other hand, Granny Smith is officially over a hundred years old and still kicking, if with the occasional hip replacement.

So here's a better question - how much is a year worth?

[Steve Piranha 29,429]

We all know a mere year passed between S1 premiere's with S4's. However, there has been a Hearts Warming in each season afterwards, so I'd say a year passed in each. S8 may be the longest chronologically, as EIGHT MONHS already passed, BEFORE THE FIRST HALF

[Adderbane 121]

They're not particularly consistent with the passage of time.  Example: Rainbow is excited for her first winter with Tank in S5, implying that most of S2, and all of S3 and S4 took place in less than a year, and there was a Hearthswarming (i.e. winter) episode shortly after she got Tank.

[Twilight Luna 31,414]

I believe a year passed between the beginning of S1 to the end of S3. From there, it never really said. S1 and S2 were very weird with time frame because it goes from Winter Wrap Up (beginning of Spring) and two episodes later is Fall Weather Friends ( end of Fall). S2 had Nightmare Night (Fall) and then Hesrth’s Warming Eve (Winter). After that, it’s anyone’s guess but you can that about nine months passed from when Cadence’s pregnancy was announced to when Flurry Heart was born.

[Senko 459]

I will get back to you on this subject as I'm currently working through the series and comics to try and work it out for myself. So far here are my results . . .

S1
winter wrap up x 1
Running of the leaves x 1
Summer Sun  Festival x 1
Grand Galloping Gala x 1

S2
Nightmare Night x 1
Sisterhooves Social x 1
Canterlot garden Part x 1
Spikes Birthday x 1
Hearth's Warming Eve x 1
Cider Season x 1
Hearts and Hooves Day x 1
Cherilee's Birthday x 1
Arbor Day x 1

S3
Summer Harvest Parade x 1
Annual Sister camping trip x 1

S4
Summer Sun Festival x 1
Rainbow Dash's birthday and anniversary part (21 candles on the cake)
Ponyville day's x 1
Turkey Call x 1

S5
Winter x 1 first one since rainbow dash got tank in S2E7
Running of the leaves x 1 same episode as above
Grand Galloping Gala x 1
Nightmare night x 1

Comics
Summer Wrap Up x 1
Hearths Warming Eve x 2
Summer Vacation x 1
Chucklealot x 1
applecon x 1
Ponyville Day's x 1
Rainbow Falls Traders exchange x 1 + reference to princess cadence doing the year before.
Ponyville foal and filly fair x 1
crystal faire x 1
Boofyball cup x 1

? times a year
S1: Apple bucking day
S2E12: Zap apple Harvest x 1
S3 School for gifted unicorns royal high tea x 1
S4 Equestria Games x 1
S4 Apple Bucking Day
S4 Fashion week
S5 Grand Equestria Pony Summit

So far it's looking like we're getting 1-2 seasons a year. For purposes of this I'm allowing an interior seasons episodes can be aired out of season but not season to season. We have the summer sun festival in season 1 and 4 and a Nightmare Night in season 2 and 5. So my initial findings indicated that we start on the summer sun festival and then slowly proceed through a year to season 4 before we begin our second year heading through the end of 4 and into 5. Still as I said this is still in progress and I still need to work through to the current episodes and factor in the comics and once I've done that I'll get back to you.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Senko

[MangoFoalix 25,032]

If you want my take on it and don't this as canon because this is what I believe. I think that every season could be seen as a month. So in my eyes, it has been 8 months since the beginning of season 1. It's not too far fetched but maybe it has been longer than that.

[Lucky Bolt 35,070]

I like to say it's been as many years as the show's been running. So yeah, about 8 years in my mind. 

[MangoFoalix 25,032]

12 minutes ago, Lucky Bolt said:

I like to say it's been as many years as the show's been running. So yeah, about 8 years in my mind. 

This is honestly what I had in mind instead of it being 8 months. I'm actually not entirely sure which would would be more accurate.

[Senko 459]

1 minute ago, TheTaZe said:

This is honestly what I had in mind instead of it being 8 months. I'm actually not entirely sure which would would be more accurate.

Like I said I think we're looking at maybe 2 years so far depending on how things work out when I factor in the comics.

[Steve Piranha 29,429]

15 hours ago, Lucky Bolt said:

I like to say it's been as many years as the show's been running. So yeah, about 8 years in my mind. 

I don't think that's set in stone. A mere year passed between S1's premiere with S4's, but afterwards we have been getting a Hearts Warming eve in both S5 and S6, so I suppose a year passed between those. S7 lacked any annual celebration, so the time-lapse is more ambiguous. S8 seems to be heading for a year rather quickly, as 8 months passed before the first half of the season   

[Lucky Bolt 35,070]

34 minutes ago, Steve Piranha said:

I don't think that's set in stone. A mere year passed between S1's premiere with S4's, but afterwards we have been getting a Hearts Warming eve in both S5 and S6, so I suppose a year passed between those. S7 lacked any annual celebration, so the time-lapse is more ambiguous. S8 seems to be heading for a year rather quickly, as 8 months passed before the first half of the season   

I don't care imao. 8 years in my mind. 

[The Nth Doctor 663]

I think Season 1&2 have a little bit of Anachronistic Order in place, because it seems a little weird that we have the end of Winter in S1 (Winter Wrap-Up) and again in S2 (Hearth's Warming Eve)

Sprinkle Season 3 among that, and then from S4 onwards, it's roughly one year per season

[Senko 459]

4 hours ago, The Nth Doctor said:

I think Season 1&2 have a little bit of Anachronistic Order in place, because it seems a little weird that we have the end of Winter in S1 (Winter Wrap-Up) and again in S2 (Hearth's Warming Eve)

Sprinkle Season 3 among that, and then from S4 onwards, it's roughly one year per season

Depends on where you place those episodes. We know they aren't always in order take the episodes where Spike pet sits while the girls go to the crystal empire we see spikes side, several other episodes then the girls side even though they should happen in parallel. So if you assume winter at the end of season 1 (wrap up) and begining of season 2 (hearths warming eve) it does work.

That said I'm planning to fit in all the holiday's shown in the comics as well and we've had 2 hearth warming eve story's there in which case you can treat them as happening during the seasons we don't get them in the show. Which brings us back to your roughly 1 year per season with the comics being glimpses at other things happening that year if they were particualrly noteworthy. Going by the show its 1-3 seasons per year, going by both show and comics it may come down to 1-2 per year. Like I said though its a work in progress and I'll get back to you when done.

[EpicEnergy 23,222]

I have no idea, but I know that it's probably been a few years from season 1-season 9 due to the weather changes in some of the episodes.

[Splashee 28,566]

5 weeks and 34 moons (that would be exactly 9 years and 5 weeks)

[Ittoni 538]

I would say 6 years.

My reasoning is that they all seem fresh out of college or some school equivalent at the start of the series and by the end they all have successful and thriving careers which mirrors a bit the time where you are like 21 or 22 and start to get successful in your career and life nearing your 30s, 27 -28. But it's very inconsistent since a lot of time seems to pass but the baby cakes and the cmcs don't get any older at all. So egh... Let's say it's like 86 moons and call it a day.