How old are ponies when they get their cutie mark?

[Disky Bolt 103]

    Normal would I think the answer as something elementary-aged.As the colts and fillies look so young and child-like,with most of them getting a cutie mark on such a young age.

However,once I found this on the mlp wiki,I started to doubt myself.

  "A "cute-ceañera" is celebrated by those who have recently gotten their cutie marks. The name of the celebration is a play on quinceañera, a celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America."

(http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/Cutie_marks)

   Which could actually make sense.Come to think of it,let's take a look at the fillies and colts.Seriously,what they do seems to exit what a real elementary-aged kids could.Like car-driving,making a car,etc.Also,not many people can learn their destiny within 12 years old,right?So could it be possible that our fillies and colts could be somewhat like,a young adolescence,middle-school aged?

  Now let's take a look at the mares and stallions.They may look like teens,but it seems that beside of fashion and mane-style tastes,teens and young adults sure don't share any differences.(We can see that in Call Of Cutie,Cheerlie don't much different in her teen years than recent.Tho the show didn't specify which stage of teen year was she in.

  The mane 6 may look teenish.But in fact,while Twilight being Celestia's student and in research,I could assume she's University-aged,or even on her stage to getting Master or PhD?Also the mane six all seems to have jobs,and it seems perfectly normal(Fluttershy's brother got blamed for not getting a job).It's obvious that the mane 6 aren't teens.

  It's is said that horses grow rapidly once they reach their puberty.Can we assume that ponies,also,are like so?Can we assume that the CMCs are actually teens,rather than children?And,thus,can we say that ponies usually get their cutie mark on teen ages?What do u think?

[Divine plywood 1,239]

I remember seeing this quote from one of the devs of the show concerning the age of the mane six. It could had been Lauren Faust or someone entirelly else, don't take my word for it... Anywho, the number in question was "between 19 - 22". At first I found it little weird that ponies would be this old, given that usually main characters in children shows are bit younger, still in their teens. But as you said, older ponies all have jobs and such, so that number seems somewhat right.

Fillies on the other hand... I guess they are indeed meant to be somewhat elementary aged, at least when CMC were first time introduced. At first they were just these typical childish little girls (so young that Fluttershy sang lullabies to them) and their role in the show was being vessels so that writers could tell different jokes.  But after several seasons these characters have began more and more familiar, and in order to keep them fresh and interesting, writers have changed them and made them more grown-up. Crusaders are now much more like teens than children. Age? ...idk, maybe 15?  Pupils in School of Friendship are definitely in their (late?) teens.

But of course, this is a cartoon, so it could be pointless trying to find logic and rules in it  I guess "cutie-ceañera" is just a funny joke and it shouldn't be taken too seriously. Ponies are as old/young as the story requires at each episode.

[DonMaguz 1,023]

The only times we've been told specific periods of time relating young ponies are:

- Sweetie Belle's 5th birthday party, big eyes design.

- Bright Mac's 131'456 hour anniversary, very close to 15 years, of calling Pear Butter "Buttercup" for the first time when they were foals still with small eyes.

So...

- Bright Mac and Pear Butter should have been younger than 5 years old when they first interacted and they were younger than 20 years old when Bright Mac crashed into the water silo, technically teenagers but physically full grown.

- We have also seen Applejack's teen design from the 'Where the Apple Lies' memory, which is clearly older than the CMC and younger than Pear Butter when the silo was broken.

- We know the CMC are late bloomers relating to cutie marks, and it has already been so long since they got them. Still, their designs are the same.

With this info (and assumptions)... I would say that cutie marks appear on pony's flanks when they're around 8 to 10 years old, late 10 years old (almost hitting 11) being an unusual older age.

Edited October 2, 2018 by DonMaguz

[SharpWit 2,611]

I remember asking myself this for the first time when I was coming up with pony designs for my family, and when I got to the eldest of my younger siblings I wasn't sure whether or not to give them a cutie mark. Most people have a few skillsets or passions that make them somewhat unique, so you can usually come up with a few cutie mark designs but I was stumped for them. They simply weren't particularly skilled in anything and the things they enjoyed a lot tended to be phases of a few months so if I came up with something it wouldn't be accurate for very long.

I think this had to do in part with age although quite a few years have passed and they're still very much the same. There's no set time for receiving a cutie mark and sometimes you find what you're good at very late in life, other times your born right into it. I think for a more generalized age group, Middle Schoolers are the best option for when you'd get your cutie mark. You're still very much a kid but you're in your early teens so you're given more responsibilities and I think this is when a lot of people begin to define who they are as well. Many people also seem to hit their growth spurts towards the end of this or in the beginnings of high school so that works out for sizing issues.

[Brony Number 42 10,068]

I wouldn't take the quinceañera reference literally. It is about getting a cutie mark, not about being a specific age. Also, maybe the ponies age at a rate different from humans. I'm sure someone can do the math, reference shows, and figure out how old certain characters are, and then infer ages for others. But that's too much work for me.

Instead I think if we map the psychological maturity, then I would say CMCs were about 10 in early episodes and 15 now. This takes into account the cartoon law that says characters don't age unless they have to.

Also, can ponies never get a cutie mark? What is the social stigma on that? 

[Disky Bolt 103]

New info:in Pinkie Pride,it was revealed that RD was 21 years  old,as there was 21 candles on her b day cake.So the mane 6 are by no doubt young adults.

[Van123 29]

someone are teenagers and others are kids and adults

[Senko 459]

I figure 9-12 depending on the pony in question.

Yes the main 6 are all young adults but that's not when they got their cutie marks. Rainbow Dash got hers at the Summer Flight camp as did Fluttershy, Twilight when she was trying to enroll at Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, Applejack when she'd run away but she obviously was too young to live alone as she was staying with relatives (and stated she was the last in her class to get hers), pinkie pie was working on the family farm and Rarity was at school putting on a play. They were obviously not 19-20 when that happened unless pony aging is very, very different to human aging. They'd be about 19-20 when they first meet at which point Twilight's still a student, Dash is working weather control, Rarity is running her boutique in a small town still trying to make a name for herself, Applejack is busy on the family farm, Pinkie is working for the cakes but doesn't have as much responsibility as she does later on, Fluttershy is ?.

Same with the CMC's they meet at Diamond Tiara's Cute Ceneara so she must have only just gotten hers and they're all in school as well plus young enough that on sleepovers they're being told to go to bed significantly earlier than the adult supervising them.

In addition to which we see a certain degree of working at their job (counselling) while still attending school with the CMC's. There are adults asking their advice on their foals cutie marks implying a lot of trust and respect for their knowledge and talent but they're still living with family and attending school. So I can see the progression happening. As they reach the end of their pre-teen years they discover their special talent. Over the next few years they tend to focus more on improving and developing it eventually starting to work. To use the CMC's as an example as we've seen them.

Late bloomers 12ish when they figured out they're talent was cutie mark advice. Over the next few years while still attending school they started to help other ponies and learnt lessons in what worked and what didn't part time while their families still took care of them. Then they moved into starting to do it as a part time job with actually running a camp for large numebrs of ponies to come for them to help and being given honary degrees in her friendship school by Twilight. They're around 15 as was said but they're getting more and more involved with their talents rather than other intersts Apple Bloom struggling to think of the last time she did something that wasn't involved in cutie mark advice and help for example.

Obviously for jobs like Doctor's/nurses/police where more knowledge and training is needed they'd do more schooling.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Senko

[Kadeda 178]

I think the main 6 are in their late 20s now but 9-12 seems pretty on point. I would probably put rainbow a bit younger maybe because she was really really small in the flashback but not by much...

And i agree the CMC... are minimum like 15 by now. It's been like at least a year or two in season 8 alone. 

Edited October 5, 2018 by Kadeda