Big and tall, short and small

Completely revised 6 March 2022 in light of additional tidbits of information.

Originally Ms. Faust intended each of the Mane Six to have a unique model, but the staff’s grueling work load and the relentless pace of production scotched that plan in favor of using a single model for all. Alas, to my knowledge Ms. Faust never has described the individual models she had in mind, leaving us fans to speculate and develop a plethora of different ideas. Like everyone else, of course, I’ve developed my own vision of each character, drawing on the few indicators FIM and EG provided over the years, along with public utterances by various staffers.
   Following are my rough estimations of the characters’ relative heights, builds, and ages, along with text descriptions laying out my reasoning for those values. As always they are subject to change based on new information.

Height: tallest to shortest

1. Applejack is quite tall and clearly would have had the biggest model.
2. Fluttershy is about the same height as AJ, give or take a little, per her tall skinny filly model in “The Cutie Mark Chronicles”.
3. Sunset Shimmer is somewhere between AJ and Rarity, if a little closer to the latter.
4. Rarity comes closest to average or typical.
5. Pinkie Pie is of medium height or a little less, near the middle of the group by default.
6. Twilight Sparkle is rather petite, based on AJ’s line in “Winter Wrap-up” describing her as “awfully strong for such a li’l pony”. Starting out so small adds an interesting nuance to her role as leader and focus of the group. Too, it makes her gradual enlargement since becoming a princess all the more impressive. (She and Sci-Twi start out the same, but Pri-Twi would end up taller as an adult.)
7. Rainbow Dash is short and compact, according to some studio scuttlebutt that’s crossed my path.

Build: bulkiest to slightest

1. Applejack being the brawniest seems self-evident.
2. Pinkie Pie is zaftig but solid and fit thanks to a furnace-like metabolism and constant activity.
3. Sunset Shimmer is not so athletic as AJ or RD, but more so than any of the others.
4. Rarity works to maintain a svelte weight and curvy figure, the classic “orders a salad for every restaurant meal” type except when she’s stress-binging on ice cream—then, of course, she works twice as hard afterward.
5. Rainbow Dash has a rangy track-star physique, speed and finesse where AJ is power.
6. Twilight Sparkle is slim and delicate, again per AJ’s line in “Winter Wrap-up”. (Pri-Twi grows to be elegantly willowy, while Sci-Twi remains angular and rawboned.)
7. Fluttershy is skinny as a rail, the epitome of the gawky shy girl.

Age: oldest to youngest

1. Sunset Shimmer is “like a senior who was held back a couple years”, according to a tweet from Ishi Rudell.
2. Fluttershy is “a year older than” Pinkie Pie, as stated in “Griffon the Brush-off”. I would bet money both sets of counterparts, pony and human, are the same ages. That would put Fluttershy right at the maximum age for a given school year and means the whole group (other than Sunset) has to fall within that age range.
3. Rarity is not far behind, based on pony-Rarity’s nineteenth-century–style business ambitions, though I admit this is more tentative.
4. Applejack too is toward the older end, based on maturity, though again this is more speculative.
5. Twilight Sparkle is near the median age for a school year, which is pure guesswork.
6. Rainbow Dash is somewhat on the young side, which also is kind of hand-wavey.
7. Pinkie Pie is youngest, again per “Griffon the Brush-off”, putting her right at the minimum age for a given school year.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

There's an interesting story idea here: a series of vignettes as Twilight goes through her post-ascension growth spurt, done from either her perspective or those of her friends as she reaches and surpasses each one in height. This may bear further consideration...

[Rose Quill]

Would love to see the original ideas. AJ as tallest makes total sense considering her background.

I think being small is a unicorn trait since they don't need a lot of muscle mass in their lives. So maybe Shy, Rarity/Sunset/Starlight, RD, Pinkie, AJ, and Twilight?

[Dave Bryant]

4627131
Doooooo eeeeeeet.

[jqnexx]

4627131
Palpatine says “Do it.”