I've been browsing humanized pony art and I've always seen this consistent phenomenon of Rainbow Dash being on the small side. At one point, I saw her being drawn as so short, that if it hadn't been for the height numbers listed, she would have been mistaken for hobbit-sized.

It seems I'm the only one who imagines Rainbow as one of the tall girls in the group, if not, one of the tallest. Yet it seems that the people have settled on a consensus that RD must be short.

Just curious as to why this is so. Is it what people assume to be the most realistic height for Rainbow? Or is it an aesthetic choice that everyone seems to agree with?

6774550
Rainbow Dash is not short. She's compact

Jokes aside, it's probably because, being a pegasus and an athlete, people are prone to think she has a body without unnecessary mass, which translates to her anthro and human forms being often shorter than her friends (that's probably also why she's often depicted with small boobs, it means less aerodynamic drag or less hindrance when she runs). I personally don't imagine her excessively short, but neither as tall as some of her friends (for example, I can totally understand why AJ is almost always depicted as some kind of amazon due to her lifestyle and her genes - her brother and dad are big)

6774567
I was gonna add that dashie was flat as a board but someone beat me to it

6774567
She's not compact! She's fun-sized!

That said, I always imagined RD and AJ being the same height. AJ is usually stockier, while RD is more slender. I imagine that they're the go to gals when the girls need something from the top shelf.

6774577
Ha! Why would RD care about chest size when she can always dazzle with her ROCK HARD ABS!

6774550

This is my opinion. She is depicted as shorter because that is that much less body she has to carry around when she is flying, or as a human, running. The fastest kids in my class growing up were the shortest while the taller ones were more of average speed. Regarding her being depicted with small breasts or as I would see it, either flat or possessing more of male pectoral muscles, that is also because she is an athlete. Having much of anything on her chest, much less the giant melons I give Fluttershy (both anthro and human), would really hold her back and slow her down significantly.

6774585
ehhhh more of a leg man than anything else I mean have you seen fanart of rarity's they go on for days

6774550
She's also the most hot-tempered of the bunch. And you know what they say about short people.

6774597
I wonder if short people are just faster because we perceive them to be.

Speculation and theory aside, I believe a tall RD can still be pretty fast. My personal headcanon is that Lightning Dust, an example of a much shorter athlete, can still keep up with a taller RD because her body's tuned to be just flexible and efficient enough to go as fast as she can.

Height isn't the sole indicator of a person's speed, and other factors like hip flexibility and proportionality can have a major impact. Even two runners of the same height can have different stride lengths due to diferences in proportion and flexibility. We can then infer that short people don't necessarily run faster than tall people, and vice-versa.

Also it's important to remember that longer legs usually (usually!) means longer strides.

6774616
This may be true to an extent, but I've seen taller people fly off the handle just as much, so it may not be as clear cut as we've been led to believe.

Edit: Did some research and turns out some tall people are actually more hot tempered in some cases.

Link to article here.

6774550
Personally, I prefer a taller Rainbow over a shorter one. At least, the second or third tallest of the group with Applejack being the tallest and Twilight being the shortest (due to her hermit lifestyle). Rainbow tends to look especially beautiful with longer hair as well. But that's just my opinion.

6774550
In my mind's eye Rainbow Dash is 7' tall making her the tallest, though the figure she's portrayed with is spot on.

6774674

Longer legs may make for longer strides but that doesn't necessarily make the possessor of said legs faster, it could make them a bit more likely to trip. I've seen plenty of short people who are fast and that is why I think depicting her as short is fine.

6774958
That's true. I was just pointing out that both short and tall people can be equally swift if certain conditions are met.