Tim
7:47pm, May 29, 2012
[Edit]
[Delete] | Been meaning to make this thread for a while. Most of probably already know this decision and the reasoning behind it.
Short Version: Adulthood is age 13, Mane Six during the series premiere are somewhere in the age range of 13-17 (15-19 in chat time as late Spring 2012).
Long Version:
Okay, so it didn't really occur at the beginning of this thing how closely different characters' ages would impact each other. The math we're looking at here is, for chat canon, cutie mark acquisition age is pretty much 5-10. Apple Bloom just turned 9 (at the time I'm typing this, late Spring 2012), and we've very firmly established that the Apple parents were dead when Applejack (and, by extension, the rest of the mane six), got their cutie marks, with Bloom being no older than 1 at the time. Applejack was a bit of a late bloomer, in canon, but not so outrageously late as to bring it up without some thought, so we can reasonably assume all six of them got their marks within the typical age range.
So this means that the mane six all got their cutie marks about 8 years ago at this point in the chat timeline, which is about 2 years after the release and redemption of Nightmare Moon. So at the series premiere, the mane six had their marks for about 6 years. Assuming they were no younger than 5 and no older than 10 when they got their cutie marks, that means the youngest they could be at Nightmare Moon's release was 11 and the oldest they could be was 16 (13-18 at this point in the timeline). They probably run the full range. We know Pinkie Pie is a year younger than Fluttershy. We know Applejack was the last in her class to get a mark, so she was probably on the older end of the range. We know Rainbow Dash was the first in her class to get a cutie mark, so she's probably on the younger end of the range.
So we have what would be middle or high school aged characters in the real world holding employment, running stores, owning property, living independently, and pursuing higher education. They're clearly treated as adults, but very young adults. In most societies throughout Earth's history, 13 or thereabouts actually was the age of majority and was when a child was expected to take on adult responsibilities, whether that be helping in the family business or moving out to find their own way in the world.
Basically, it feels weird, and it does have an effect on our explicitly teenage characters (a pony's status as being dependent on their parents might seem weird if they're the same age as Rainbow Dash, for instance), but we're going with 13 as adulthood. The only other way to negate this "problem," which is only really a problem of perception, is to drastically alter established backstories or retcon the ages of every little kid character so that they're much older, specifically the age of our explicitly teen characters.
So, there we are. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are all right around 9, and all of the other little kid characters have their ages based around that. The Mane Six are all no less than 5 and no more than 10 years older than that (13-18 or 14-19, depending on if they've had a birthday this year or not). Actually, we should probably have them no younger than 15, just so we can say they were at least 13 during the Nightmare Moon event. Ponies 13 and up are legally adults, even if some such ponies have yet to find their own life and still live with their parents. That's the only way we can managed this without completely invalidating large swaths of established chat canon and character interaction.
Incidentally, this also establishes Spike's age as 8 at his next birthday, since he was born when the Mane Six got their cutie marks.
Any questions or comments should be directed to Tim.
Edited 7:47pm, May 29, 2012 by Tim, author. |
