Why do fans need the main six to be in their 20s?

[Sarah The Pegasister 22]

If you look at a previous discussion I had with someone, you'll see that there was an idea referred to as, a brain fart, on the writers behalf

Regardless though it IS canon. I mean I see nothing wrong with Granny Smith having lived for that long. . . It's not like Equestria has magical creatures or anything =P

[SharpWit 2,762]

It just complicates things to throw in outlyers so why do so

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

Lauren Faust stated that the Mane 6 are on a teenage level in terms of maturity, however they were afforded adult freedoms and responsibilities. The latter yields more opportunity in terms of story. It's much easier to write for characters that are given freedoms above what's normally considered for their age level.

 

Analysts, most notably Tommy Oliver, state that this is possible in Equestria because of the fact that ponies can get cutie marks. Once a pony finds their special talent, they continue to devote the rest of their life to it. They also seem to get out of school when they are proven ready, not like in our world where you get out when the System says you're ready (I use a capital S because it's a deficient system set up by corporate interests, but that's a completely different topic that's too political to be discussed here).

 

Tl;dr, Equestria is set up in a way where adolescence is basically wiped out and talent is cultivated to develop naturally. Ponies become "adults" when they're ready, not when they're told.

 

If you force yourself to believe that the ponies are older and more mature than they really are, you're really thinking in terms of our reality too much, and not the one presented in the show.

Edited February 20, 2014 by pegasusexpress2010

[Ianpiersonjdavis 513]

I don't need or feel like they should be, but...

 

Originally I believed them to be in their late teens, but Dash's cake had 21 candles during 'Pinkie Pride', but that hasn't kept me from keeping them around that age in my headcanon as that evidence is admittedly debatable due to Cheese and Pinkie's eccentricity.

 

With that said, I think it might be best if the ages remain relatively ambiguous as Equestrian society is different from ours as someone else has mentioned they seem to age differently than real world ponies.

Edited February 20, 2014 by TimeLordRainbowDash

[Shift 4,274]

I actually think of them in their early twenties or late teens, due to them actually just looking around that age.

 

Also, RD's cake had 21 candles.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Shift

[Denim&Venöm 19,595]

People, Dashie's cake had 21 candles on one side! Two sides to a cake would mean that Rainbow Dash must be at least 42. 

 

Back on topic, the mane six don't seem to act like teenagers to me, but then again most of the teens I knew were in high school, where no one is ever who they are or who they act like. Perhaps being free from our society's low views and expectations, as well as the hostile environment of school, maybe teens could act more mature and self confident, just as the mane 6 do. 

 

It just seems that their behavior and demeanor, as well as the skill in their professions and the fact that Rarity and AppleJack are business owners, Pinkie Pie is a hired party planner and apprentice baker, Fluttershy runs an animal shelter more or less, Rainbow Dash was accepted into military training, and Twilight runs a public library and is a member of Equestria's ruling government, are things that lend themselves into being in their early to mid twenties. Everything mentioned above are things teens rarely seem to have the maturity, desire and skill required to perform.  

 

I have yet to meet teens like the mane 6, but I do hope they are out there. 

[RBDash32 6]

I think it's hard to assess given the behaviors of the Ponies are so much more evolved than typical human interaction.  That said, they're still maturing through normal emotional development.  So you've got a situation that you can't really compare against in real life (at least anywhere I've ever seen.)

 

Anyways, don't we all know some 18 year-olds who act as mature as 40-year-olds, and some 40-year-olds who act as immature as 18-year-olds?

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http://www.votable.com/tv-show/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic

[SanityNotIncluded 335]

Well, if you're talking about the need as opposed to the reasons for, then I would offer the following:

 

• It allows certain aspects of the story (e.g Twilight being in quasi-university) to make more sense
• It makes the characters more relateable to an older demographic
• It makes it less of a 'little girls' show' for people who're concerned with that sort of thing
• ... It probably makes Cloppers feel less guilty. There I said it.

[Adente 1,000]

This always kind baffled me.

 

Why?  Now I don't wanna pull out the "it's for little girls card."

I don't.  it's an evil, ugly card that should be banned,

 

and it's suppose to appeal to the parents of those little girls as well so they can watch it with them,

 

soooooooooooooooooo why couldn't the cast be around 16?

 

It seems like a brony crusade to keep the cast as far away from high school age as possible.

Even thought in equistra there seems to be no high school.

You can go off to a specialty school, (wonder bolts achedmy and the like).

So that said why couldn't flutters, rarity, pinkie, dashie (specially dashie),

and apple jack not be doing all those same things at younger ages?

 

I could see someone saying "oh twilight would need to be older for all her magic spells.."

 

and that's her.  That's a reasonable perspective.

but even than if you told me she was a prodigy would you go "that's not possible."

 

Its a simple explanation really. If you look at a distribution of the ages of bronies, the mean probably falls between 18 and 24. Since we like characters we can find some way to relate to, most bronies try and find a way to relate to the Mane 6. Obivously the similarities between real people and cartoon ponies are lacking, so an easy commonality is age. Since there's no way to definitively prove the Mane 6's ages, (although some nutty over analyzers have tried to do just that) its an easy one. Add to that the odd fact that (ugh) many bronies are attracted in varying degrees to one or more of the Mane 6, and obviously they want their romantic attraction to be to a character that is near their own age, and BAM, you've got a bunch of bronies insisting the Mane 6 are around 18 to 24. 

 

So in a nutshell, it makes the characters more relateable to fans that are around that age, and it eases the clopper's consciences. (ew)

Edited February 20, 2014 by Windy Runner

[CharmingStallion 63]

Honestly I've always thought of the young "non-cutie mark" ponies as being gradeschool age and the mane 6 as being middle to late teens. For example I compare Apple Jack to Big Macintoch and he seems in maybe his late 20's by comparison. But this is all guessing on everyone's part unless the authors pony up and flat out tell us. 

[Everleaf 541]

Actually i don't see them (all) in their 20s Pinkie being youngest as far as i remember around 16/15  Rarity is likely around 21 since shown by the filly flashbacks Cheerily (however you spell XD) and Rarity are the same age  Fluttershy seems likely the oldest even as a filly she seemed pretty tall around 23 to 29 or something like that Rainbow Dash likely second oldest likely around 20 to 22 well 23 now since that new episode XD but if you think about it Pinkie did say in Griffon the brush off that she was a year older than Fluttershy putter her second and Rainbow Dash behind Applejack seems around just 20 she must not be younger for one drinking cider any younger would be pretty well you know and Rainbow Dash has drinking problems shown is Super squeezy 6000 but leaving Twilight maybe she is second youngest not so sure but it seems  very possible (you have no idea how long that took me  to headcannon  XD (well actually it was only posted here soo...anyway most of them seem around there 20s but then again not all of them...

[Sir Cal Stonehoof 596]

I wouldn't call it a need, more like a desire really. I mean we don't know they're real ages in terms of our measuring of time (e.g., Is a year in Equestria equivalent to our calendar year?). But they must be close to the same age, because they were all fillies in "Sonic Rainboom".  However if this is the case, then they could be in their early 20's or even their early 40's. In "Pinkie's Pride" we see that Dashie has 21 candles on her cake, and logic would dictate that there would be 20 candles that we couldn't see on the other side. So its still debatable on the ages of the Mane 6. We do know that Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie, but that's about it.

 

Here's how I range the ages of the Mane 6 from oldest to youngest.

 

1. Rarity (I would say later 30's or 40's)

 

2. AppleJack (Late 20's early 30's)

 

3. Fluttershy (Mid to late 20's)

 

4. Pinkie Pie (Early 20's)

 

5. Rainbow Dash (Early 20's)

 

6. Twilight Sparkle (Late Teens to Early 20's)

 

This is just my preference really.

 

Looking at it with the whole fandom in mind..it may come down to some type of subconscious desire to be able to relate to these characters. I find it easier to relate to someone who is closer to my age, than older or younger in real life. Or maybe the reason is simpler..maybe some fans want the characters to be older is because they don't want to feel weird when it comes to clop, or like its borderlining an unspoken taboo (even if its an implied one). 

[Shine 166]

I believe the ponies don't age at the same rate as humans and therefore don't keep track of age the way we do.

 

However, it makes sense to assume that the Mane Six are adults because (with the exception of Pinkie Pie) they all live on their own, have jobs that allow them to support themselves, and generally behave in a mature fashion.

 

There is also the theory (which is heavily implied in the comics, or so I've been led to believe) that the cider the ponies drink is somewhat alcoholic, yet we see all of the Mane Six drinking it without any negative consequences.  

 

Plus, the foals look up to them for advice, which (I assume) would be more realistic if they were adults rather than just older kids.

 

 

Of course, there are instances in the show in which members of the Mane Six are referred to as "fillies," which would imply that they are not yet adults; however, this could just be a slang use of the word.  After all, in the real world, women are often referred to as "girls" even if they are in their 20s or 30s.

 

That's just my thoughts on the subject.  I used to have a list of what I age I thought each character was and why, but I've since decided that it didn't quite fit.