Where are their parents?

[the musty book 156]

I remember an episode where Fluttershy said she was one year older than Pinkie Pie, and I saw somewhere that said Fluttershy is 15, so that makes Pinkie Pie 14. But, if they are so young, where are their parents? Why do they live alone? That shouldn't be allowed! I'm so confused.

[ReverseFaller 2,484]

We've seen Pinkies parents. They're on the rock farm. We've seen Rarity's parents. They seem to have let Rarity move off own her own, with Sweetie Belle. We've seen Twilight's parents too. They probably let her go off on her own to be Celestia's student. Applejack, I don't know. Granny Smith is good enough. I have no idea why they live alone. Maybe in the pony world a 15 year old is perfectly capable of taking care of themselves?

[Jadefire 2,798]

The actual ages of the characters have never been confirmed, the only thing that has is that they are "young adults". The 14/15 year old figure you read is just fan speculation.

 

That being said, everypony's parents are around somewhere. Fluttershy's were never mentioned, but Games Ponies Played showed a pegasus pony who's likely Rainbow Dash's father, who's presumably still in Cloudesdale.

 

Also, in real life ponies grow and age at a different rate than humans. Again, it's unknown if MLP ponies work the same way, except that foals mature as fast as real life foals do (the Cake twins being as developed as they are despite only being one month old).

[Throwaway19573639385 764]

Twilight runs the town library, Rarity has her own store, Fluttershy takes care of all the animals, Pinkie Pie is old enough to make cupcakes and other goods while also being able to work at a store full-time, Rainbow Dash has a responsible job as cloud control and Applejack is old enough to maintain her whole apple orchard, make goods AND is old enough to sell them on a market. ALL jobs can and are only allowed to be handled by adults, not young adults. 

 

That makes them a lot older than 14/15, using human years of course to make it less confusing.

 

Not only this, Shining Armor was around 14-15 when Twilight was 5-6, Shining married around the age of 25-26 or perhaps even later, which makes Twilight's current age 17 at the minimum. Twilight however is very responsible, so handling a job like the library is no problem for her as her interests already lie in books. Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie, making Pinkie around the same age as Twilight. Rainbow Dash must be around the same age as Fluttershy as they both went to Flight Camp. I think Rarity might be the oldest because she runs a shop completely by herself. Applejack might be a little older than Rainbow. Making the order of age from youngest to oldest:

 

Pinkie Pie / Twilight Sparkle - Twilight Sparkle/Fluttershy/Rainbow Dash - Rainbow Dash/Fluttershy - Rainbow Dash/Applejack - Applejack/Rarity - Rarity.  

 

Woah damn, that looks confusing.

 

Also, Pinkie might just be living with the Cake family, so that could give her a minimum age of 16, which might explain her being so full of energy.

 

Up until now the only parents we haven't seen yet is both Fluttershy's parents and Rainbow Dash's mother. We do know Twilight's, Pinkie's (If we include the comics) and Rarity's parents. We also know that AJ's parents are dead so that makes 3 missing parents. We have yet to see any of Fluttershy's family and I'm very much interested in how they are going to introduce them if they are planning to do so.

[pinkiefan1287 610]

Well because ponies gets their cutie marks at a young age, they work on their skills and abilities until they are good enough to do things on their own. Meaning a pony well be able to provide for themselves when are around 14 or 15. They are just seen as more adult at that age.

 

Also Pinkie Pie may not live with her parents. She lives with Mr. and Mrs. Cake and AJ still lives on the farm. Also Rarity's parents still live in Ponyville. So they aren't far. So only Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash live alone.

 

As for the families locations. Pinkies Rock Farm, AJ dead, Rainbow Dash Father is in Cloudsdale, Twilight Canterlot, Rarity PV, and Fluttershy unknown. 

 

Another thing is they develop much faster then us. Look at Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. They are only a mouth old and are still called babies, but they act more like they are in the toddler stage of life.

[Fluttershutter 2,921]

Twilight runs the town library, Rarity has her own store, Fluttershy takes care of all the animals, Pinkie Pie is old enough to make cupcakes and other goods while also being able to work at a store full-time, Rainbow Dash has a responsible job as cloud control and Applejack is old enough to maintain her whole apple orchard, make goods AND is old enough to sell them on a market. ALL jobs can and are only allowed to be handled by adults, not young adults. 

 

Pony society is a lot simpler. Human society has been scammed into believing that you need nearly twenty years of education to do anything.

We don't know how old the ponies are but they're younger than people in similar positions in human society would be.

[Scootalove 10,692]

I think we have seen Pinkie's parents, Rainbow Dash's parents, Twilight's parents, Rarity's parents, Applejack's dead parents represented as stars, and I think that's about it. We might see Fluttershy's parents.

[Fluttershutter 2,921]

One thing that's weird is I don't see anypony in the Apple family reunion pictures that look like they could be Applejack's parents.

[pleasedontcomeback 209]

TY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTSTY STOP LOOKING AT MY POSTS

Edited July 19, 2018 by PonyLover123

[Throwaway19573639385 764]

Pony society is a lot simpler. Human society has been scammed into believing that you need nearly twenty years of education to do anything.

We don't know how old the ponies are but they're younger than people in similar positions in human society would be.

 

Now that doesn't make sense at all. Although I do agree that degrees and diplomas hardly mean anything at all, though the education given before you achieve a degree or diploma is indispensable and perhaps not acquirable by any other means.

 

We can guestimate the age of the Mane 6 (Twilight Sparkle, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy) by reasoning. First off, Twilight Sparkle was enrolled into a University at a young age, we can assume maybe 12-14. Now since we don't know much about the school system, this point is pretty much void. However, we can conclude that Twilight Sparkle is a genius from the show's statement that Twilight has the most potential that Celestia has ever seen (Episode 23 Cutie Mark Chronicles) So as in any college or University, we can relate Twilight's mission in Ponyville about Friendship is very similar to traveling abroad in our school system. Therefore, we can reason out that Twilight Sparkle is about 18-25, an average age that humans go to college. And since the other Mane 6 ponies all have similar body structures and height to Twilight Sparkle, we can assume they are also around 18-25. The only true fact we know so far about their ages is that Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie Pie (Episode 5 Griffon the Brush Off) 

 

Also, this:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8VfOcLr_9YAOWY4ZTgxMDEtYjMxMS00YmZkLWExOWQtODAxNTlmNzgyOWQ5/edit?hl=en_US

 

One thing that's weird is I don't see anypony in the Apple family reunion pictures that look like they could be Applejack's parents.

 

Applejack's parents are dead. Lauren Faust said it herself in an interview.

 

To be more precise, this interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oz4svwM6hfc#!

 

I'm not sure when they're talking about it, but I'm a 100% sure that it's this one where she tells the viewers that AJ's parents are dead.

[Forlong 1,726]

Equestrian culture is very different from our own.  Obviously, ponies are considered adults some point after getting their cuttie mark, 12 maybe.  I mean, look at all the free reign the CMC get.  Isn't there level of freedom more like how we treat teenagers than the age they are obviously supposed to be?

[xblackrosesx 81]

Everybody's parents were pretty much introduced except for AJ's and Fluttershy's. 

And also, I think ponies are considered mature at a younger age than we (humans) are. 

[Dreadmallon 353]

We've seen Pinkies parents. They're on the rock farm. We've seen Rarity's parents. They seem to have let Rarity move off own her own, with Sweetie Belle. We've seen Twilight's parents too. They probably let her go off on her own to be Celestia's student. Applejack, I don't know. Granny Smith is good enough. I have no idea why they live alone. Maybe in the pony world a 15 year old is perfectly capable of taking care of themselves?

 

   In Pokemon, 10-years-olds are trusted to be capable of taking care of themselves. So sure, why not?

 

   Seriously, as ReverseFaller said, we've seen the majority of the Mane 6's parents, except Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack...I'm not sure of her parents whereabouts, but she seems fine w/ Applebloom, Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh. Fluttershy's parents I'm pondering about. You would think  they would've had a say in her move to the ground, or come for a visit.

 

   All I know is that these absences have caused some theories that their parents are dead. I don't know if I agree with them or not.

Edited July 15, 2013 by Alkryn

[Galen 1,354]

As most people have said, the learning and educational curve of ponies in Equestria's society seems much quicker than it is in our world, and I think that's mainly due to the society's focus on individual progression and self-identity over what you can learn to earn money in whatever way possible based on what options there are in the job market. Universities in Equestria don't even seem to exist (someone like Twilight definitely would've gone, but is instead entrusted to run Ponyville's library several years after she became Celestia's student, which should by itself indicate how much different Equestria's education system is already). Ponies learn based on their specialties, and school seems to have a focus on helping kids learn and understand themselves better in addition to what would be considered essential subjects like history, math, language (not gonna say English outright here ) and whatnot. So in terms of the ages of the mane 6, young adults could be anything between 16-22 in human years imo. It still makes sense, however, that they would be able to endeavor in what they specialize in on their own.

 

We already know or at least have some idea of where Twilight's, Rainbow Dash's, Rarity's and Pinkie Pie's parents are: Canterlot, Cloudsdale, somewhere and a rock farm respectively. Based on the fact both RD and Fluttershy attended flight school, Flutter's parents may also be still residing in Cloudsdale. Applejack's parents are a myster to me, but the two stars and their absence in Apple Family Reunion gives strong hints toward their passing.

[Sunny Fox 5,961]

We've seen Pinkies parents. They're on the rock farm. We've seen Rarity's parents. They seem to have let Rarity move off own her own, with Sweetie Belle. We've seen Twilight's parents too. They probably let her go off on her own to be Celestia's student. Applejack, I don't know. Granny Smith is good enough. I have no idea why they live alone. Maybe in the pony world a 15 year old is perfectly capable of taking care of themselves?

No, Sweetie Belle doesn't live with Rarity, she still lives with her parents. They had to drop her off to spend a week with Rarity in "Sisterhooves Social", and we've seen what appears to be Sweetie Belle's room in her parents' house in "One Bad Apple".

[ReverseFaller 2,484]

No, Sweetie Belle doesn't live with Rarity, she still lives with her parents. They had to drop her off to spend a week with Rarity in "Sisterhooves Social", and we've seen what appears to be Sweetie Belle's room in her parents' house in "One Bad Apple".

Sorry, looks like a I had a bit of a derpy moment there. I just don't know what went wrong. Anyways that means that Rarity's parents live in ponyville then, right?

[Forlong 1,726]

Here's where they are exactly.

 

Twilight's: in Canterlot

Applejack's: dead

Rainbow Dash's: in Cloudsdale, but likely dead

Rarity's: in Ponyville

Fluttershy's: in Cloudsdale

Pinkie Pie's: still in their rock farm

[Galen 1,354]

Here's where they are exactly.

 

Twilight's: in Canterlot

Applejack's: dead

Rainbow Dash's: in Cloudsdale, but likely dead

Rarity's: in Ponyville

Fluttershy's: in Cloudsdale

Pinkie Pie's: still in their rock farm

 

How did you conclude RD's are dead? Rainbowshine even made an appearance in Winter Wrap Up so she's defintely alive. There's also no reason to believe her dad died. Additionally, how do you conclude Fluttershy's parents are not dead? If you applied the same logic that most people gave for Applejack's parents, wherein their ongoing absence in the series suggests they're dead, I'm surprised you concluded Fluttershy's parents are not. Not that there's a reason to think they're dead either.

Edited July 16, 2013 by Freedan

[Sylentmana 271]

I always imagined that the characters were in their late teen/early twenties seeing as most of them live alone.  Twilight's parents are in Canterlot, Rainbow Dash's parents are likely in Cloudsdale if they're still alive, Pinkie's family still works a rock farm and even hired Trixie at one point. Rarity's parents live near a pond in Ponyvile and that's where Sweetie Belle lives.  Fluttershy's parents are probably in Cloudsdale and poor Applejack's parents are in Pony Heaven.

[Forlong 1,726]

How did you conclude RD's are dead? Rainbowshine even made an appearance in Winter Wrap Up so she's defintely alive. There's also no reason to believe her dad died. Additionally, how do you conclude Fluttershy's parents are not dead? If you applied the same logic that most people gave for Applejack's parents, wherein their ongoing absence in the series suggests they're dead, I'm surprised you concluded Fluttershy's parents are not. Not that there's a reason to think they're dead either.

First of all, Rainbowshine is not Dash's mother.  When Rainbow Dash walked into the cloud plant, where she was working, she paid her no mind.  She was also the one to suggest that Rarity enter the Best Young Flier's Competition, against Rainbow Dash.  If you want to believe Rainbow had the most unbelievable bitch of a mother ever, that's your own business.  However, I find that notion rather ridiculous.

 

Speaking of the competition, wouldn't Rainbow's dad have shown up for that?  Now you can make excuses, but that's why I used the word "likely".  While it is likely they are dead, it is not impossible for them to be alive.

 

As for Fluttershy's parents, there is no evidence either way.  They are just as likely dead as they are alive.  Hence the different wording.

[Galen 1,354]

Maybe you're right about Rainbowshine. Or maybe she knows about Dash's competitiveness and thought perhaps her daughter would like it even better if she could compete with one of her friends i.e. an unintentional oversight on her part that a lot of mothers might do. Good point on her not really showing much attention in her direction. As for her dad, the reason he didn't show up at the young flier's competition is the same reason why Twilight's parents didn't show up at the gala or more importantly at Shining Armor's wedding: the writers didn't pay attention to those details. That's why I wouldn't consider that so relevant. There's really no hints that RD's parents are dead.

[Sunny Fox 5,961]

Twilight's parents were at the wedding:

 

 

Here they are in a screenshot I captured literally a minute ago.

 

I also think the absence of Dash's parents at the Young Fliers Competition does not imply even slightly that they are dead, at least no more than it implies they just didn't know about it or were too busy for some reason to be there.

Edited July 16, 2013 by Full Spectrum

[Midnight Blade 80]

Their age isn't really specified but they are at an age where they can live on their own but still have things to learn.

There were different interviews with the scriptwriters and in some of them litteraly said that they were planning on showing more of the main six' relatives. Most likely Fluttershys parents or Dash' parents. Maybe a backstory about what happened to AJs parents.

[Fluttershutter 2,921]

Now that doesn't make sense at all. Although I do agree that degrees and diplomas hardly mean anything at all, though the education given before you achieve a degree or diploma is indispensable and perhaps not acquirable by any other means.

 

 

 

 

 

Applejack's parents are dead. Lauren Faust said it herself in an interview.

 

To be more precise, this interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oz4svwM6hfc#!

 

I'm not sure when they're talking about it, but I'm a 100% sure that it's this one where she tells the viewers that AJ's parents are dead.

There was a time when most people DIDN'T go to college and they still managed to do all kinds of jobs. Sure you need some extra education to be a doctor or engineer but you can run a farm or a store just fine with basic math and literacy skills and enough experience.

 

I know they're dead but I was looking carefully for them in the older reunion pictures. I didn't see anypony that might have been them.

[Red Diamond 549]

We've seen Pinkies parents. They're on the rock farm. We've seen Rarity's parents. They seem to have let Rarity move off own her own, with Sweetie Belle. We've seen Twilight's parents too. They probably let her go off on her own to be Celestia's student. Applejack, I don't know. Granny Smith is good enough. I have no idea why they live alone. Maybe in the pony world a 15 year old is perfectly capable of taking care of themselves?

Infinite upvotes.

 

Yeah, a 15 year old would be capable to take care of themselves, and get a decent job(if the city allows 15 year olds to work).

 

I guess this still applies in the pony world.

 

Also, I am guessing a 15 year old in the pony world is an adult.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Red Diamond