Technical Information · 11:59pm Sep 9th, 2013
This will help make some things clearer in my stories for when the time comes to explain/mention ages of the ponies in those stories.
This is my own head-canon and I cannot prove anything aside from the conclusions I made based on how most of the ponies act in the show.
EDIT: Due to the very interesting and well reasoned debate with Gwg, I am rethinking their ages, though the bit at the end about shipping remains the same.
EDIT edit: after reflecting on various aspects as well as the argument with GwG (as comments below) I will now be re-writing this so I can link it should anyone have issues with my stories.
First off, here is a rough (and I do mean rough) time-frame of when certain episodes happen (yes, I switched their order a little bit, but the original timeline was all over the place) that can be seen on this Calender. This also has the mane six's birthdays on it as well. It just doesn't make sense to me how they have the Running of the Leaves right after Hearth's Warming Eve and Day and still expect things to be in order for the year. So I figure that the first two, maybe three seasons are ones where they didn't plan out things chronologically.
About various types of romances (F/F, M/M, F/M, etc); I'm of the mind that if they can make it work and both parties are happy in their relationship, then who are you to tell them they can't be together? I had been neutral concerning this subject before, but after reading so many well written stories of same gender relationships I realized that it just didn't matter to me what their gender, it was their choice as it were. I like romance stories (I'm a romantic at heart and love seeing two beings together and happy) so when I write stories I write about couples that mesh well personality-wise, not whether they are different genders or not. While I'm sure some/most do not care about this, I have read enough comments on this site as a whole that show that there are people who are 'concerned about the amount of lesbian couples' on this site. So this is a disclaimer; I write based on how well they go together as well as how often they are seen together in the show. An example would be Lyra and Bon Bon (Sweetie Drops, whatever); you often see them sitting and walking around together so to me it makes sense if they were best friends to being a couple.
About the mane six's ages; this is a grayer area and while I'm not completely convinced about it (mostly due to this video by DigibronyMLP) I'm going to go with roughly between 22 and 23 years old but are rather anti-social when they first leave home (at 18) which is why they still have issues with friends (or that they just didn't have that many close friends and so didn't have to deal with the issues that come with closer/best friends). This list is in descending order, with Fluttershy as the oldest and Twilight as the youngest.
Fluttershy - 23 years old
Applejack - 23 years old
Rarity - 23 years old
Pinkie Pie - 22 years old
Rainbow Dash - 22 years old
Twilight -22 years old
While I kind of think Pinkie Pie should be younger, I have seen some silly adults who still act like kids (I am one of these adults at times) so I guess this works.
If I seem wishy-washy about these ages, it's because of my bias-ness. I work with Girl Scouts and meet really mature girls and adults and the only ones that have so much trouble with friends and how they act are the teens who sometimes don't know when to stop. That and DigibronyMLP pretty much summed up what I had thought about their ages and until I can convince GwG about it I'm going to have to stick to the Mane Six being young adults (because he made rather good arguments that I'm going to try and counter now that I have more ammo :D).
Oh and one last thing. I imagine that the years are counted since the fall of Discord since he would have really messed with the time stream and functions of the sun and moon, making it near impossible for anypony to keep track of the time to chronologue it.
When Luna got possessed by the nightmare creatures, it was three years after the fall of Discord; so when Twilight arrived in Ponyville for the first time the year was 1,003 A.D. (After Discord).
So are you saying that in Pitch Perfect, Pinkie Pie and presumably others are age 12-13???
that doesn't seem quite right
sorry didn't read all the way to the end. I still don't think that is right though.
but it is your head canon, your free to do as you please.
1339320 I've tried to think of it as if they were older, but it didn't make sense for how much trouble they were getting into when it came to the show. Even though I have seen some adults as hyper as Pinkie Pie and just as friendly, even they knew when to back off when confronted by someone who was determined to be cranky.
And like I said, I've seen some really mature teenagers, just as well as immature ones. I judge based on actions, not age, and if pressed to say ages, I'd guess for the mane six to be those. And since Perfect Pitch happens about 3 or 4 years before it, yeah, those are their ages. But like I said, I also think they are a touch more mature for those ages than we are in our current society. History wise though, it's not as far fetched. Even in Greek and Roman times, the young ones were mature and had duties to fulfill.
1339320 hmmm, thinking of how I phrased that, I'm sorry if it was a touch rude.
I only meant that we may or may not agree, and that I didn't mind if we disagreed... Sorry if it came across wrong.
I'm also a bit of history nut, so I don't always think of the current generation as the common action and behavior as per norm, which usually puts me in the good graces of older co-workers who also have issues with current generations for whatever reason...
No no not at all. If you knew me personally you would know that I enjoy arguments(two people debating opposite ideas, not yelling at each other).
I'm not one to say that actions and thoughts define age (I'm 21 and yet I've been to have an 'old soul' if that makes any sense) Like Twilight I'm a bit of a shut in(personal choice) and can be awkward and not knowing how to deal with social situations. Very few people the type of friendship that the mane six have developed and it may take some time to work out the kinks there. So the problems they come across is them adjusting to a new situation, not necessarily saying they are immature but rather inexperienced.
Pinkie example: if throughout your entire life you have always had people react positively to your hyperactivity; to have someone react negatively can be a new and upsetting concept. No matter how old someone gets, new and different things can be unsettling.
1339436 Indeed, I like a good debate as well, and tend to get a bit talkative when it comes to certain ideas.
I know an 'old soul' as well, she's one of my best friends and helps to keep me in line because I tend to be immature or unknowing at times. So I know and acknowledge that there are some to a good portion of people who do have some inexperience with friendships, but they have some knowledge or at least know to go to someone else for help if need be. It feels like the reason why the ponies don't ask for help from others is the kid-ish reason of no tattle-telling and trying to act grown up by taking care of the situation by themselves (at least, it does to me, and I have done similar things in the past, believing that most things would just get me in trouble (even if they wouldn't) and didn't tell grown-ups much due to this).
And considering the kind of town Ponyville is, they surely would have come across some of those friendship situations before if they were older and/or lived in Ponyville a longer time? Perhaps not all of the same kinds, but similar ones, like sharing friends, or keeping secrets when you should really just talk to the other party, or being too prideful? (the only one I'm not going to go into for why she is so young is Fluttershy, right from the get go she has always been a special case and if she hadn't stated that she was 'a year older' than Pinkie pie, I would have a harder time guessing her age)
Being such an open town (aside from different species of beings, 'cause they were all kind of nuts when it came to Zacora at first
) you would think they would have had made some more friends at least in town. While yes, the show follows the six interacting with each other, it almost seemed like they had only just recently settled in themselves (maybe a year or two before Twilight came) and were just getting relaxed into the environment.
1339552 well it seems to me as this: Applejack and Rarity are the only two who have been in Ponyville their entire lives; Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash moved from Cloudsdale, presumably after flight school; I doubt Pinkie Pie actually moved directly to Ponyville but rather found herself after a time. So Four out of the Six moved to Ponyville, presumably later in their lives. Applejack thinks of herself as the functional head of the family(only answering to the matriarch Granny Smith) and often would feel like she can do everything on her own(it isn't good for the head of the family to show weakness). Rainbow Dash having achieved so much in such a short time is bound to have an inflated ego, with little consequence to keep it in check. Applejack spends nearly all of her time on the farm with her family, and Rarity probably prefers to stay at her shop most of the time. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy before Twilight probably only stuck to themselves, and though Pinkie claims to be friends with everypony, this is probably the first time that she (or any of the mane six) has had such meaningful friendships. I'm not saying that it isn't strange that they haven't dealt with these lessons but it isn't improbable. To quote Sherlock Holmes: when we remove all that is impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
1339602 how they got there does sound rather plausible, but if they stayed like that for more than a few years (even if they were 20 or so, at least two or three years living like that) they would have been really lonely and possibly seem anti-social to most of the others in Ponyville.
Also, they must have had some kind of schooling, and even if they were still very much on their own (your reasoning sounds right for them as to why before Twilight they didn't have very many close friends) but in a school setting, they would have learned something from being with or at least near others? Twilight being the exception, since she, after whatever basic and perhaps intermediate schooling, went into a private tutorship with Celestia. Though I wouldn't be all that surprised if Pinkie Pie was home school (life on a rock farm looks rather boring).
(the exception to all that being Fluttershy and Applejack, since one is extremely shy and the other's entire life is tied to the farm)
1340219 Again we are saying that the mane six are learning these lessons through significant friendships; Rainbow Dash really only had Fluttershy and Gilda for friends, and before Twilight I don't consider the relationship between rd and fs to be one of extreme change, they accept each other. Rarity before Twilight I can imagine was similar to diamond tiara if only in a lesser form but learned to become more generous with other ponies, her original attitude would have prevented her from making significant friendships. Pinkie Pie like I said before made plenty of friends but none of them significant until after twilight. Just because they were educated doesn't mean they made significant friendships. Applebloom only did so after meeting Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, I imagine that the mane six only had friends like Twist
they are friends but there isn't alot of development there.
1340341... you make too sound of argument. While I wasn't saying that they did or did not have a good deal of schooling (we never do see the in between stages for schools), upon reflection I realized that I am a little bias.
I work with Girl Scouts and I either see rather mature teenagers or slightly immature ones (no one is really bad off, otherwise they wouldn't be helping with whatever) and very mature adults who all seem to be young based on how much energy and how they act. Then I realized that I actually know very little of how my own age group (I'm 23) acts
, since right after high school I went to work (though I did a little of college) and at the age of 22 bought my own house with a close friend of mine. So I am use to 'adults' being rather mature (even the mid-20 adults usually have little kids, making them have to act more mature for their children) or teens having trouble. And it was during high school that I learned a lot of the very similar friendship lessons that the mane six did, so I based my personal experience with what they were going through and figured that they couldn't have been all that much other than 18. 
As a recap... You make very good points.
I guess a lot of 'new adults' may face similar issues. It doesn't sit right with me, but again, I've lived a different kind of life compared to most so far and I'm use to the Girl Scout way, which is that even 6 and 7 year olds can do a lot of things and that by the time they are 13 should be doing pretty much everything on their own.
Thanks for the interesting and good debate.
Haven't had a nice one like this in a while. 
1340386 this has indeed been fun
I would have liked to have seen other perspectives on this but I assume no one else is really going to get into this. The Boy Scouts expect that we can handle ourselves when we are young as well, and I have dealt with the really mature and the really immature in equal doses. I also hung out with a group of shut ins so I understand the personalities of the out going and the socially awkward. I guess what I'm getting at is that the lessons in friendship can be elusive to those who haven't experienced the situations in which they are learned, no matter the age or how you are brought up. Some people mature quickly while others are slapped by reality later down the line.
Good luck with the scouts.
1340413 Mwahahahahaha, another brony agrees that the ponies are younger!
DigibronyMLP has sounds arguments, though I didn't know about that whole 'certain hours to get to mastery of something' thing before; I had just felt that since foals got their talents at such a young age, they would be out in the world much sooner.
