Most accomplished to least accomplished Pony out of the Mane Six.

[Azureth 686]

Out of the Mane Six how would you rate them in terms of accomplishments? I view it as such:

 

1. Twilight who is both an Alicorn and a Princess, no topping that.

 

2. Rarity who has three very successful high-end shops selling expensive quality outfits/dresses, two of which are in very prominent places in Equestria and also has numerous high-society clients.

 

3. Applejack due to the fact she has her own farm that not only feeds Ponyville but I am sure she feeds to other places but makes a decent living.

 

4. Rainbow Dash as she is now a WB and also helps with weather control.

 

5. Fluttershy helps with taking care of the animals and as we have seen is great with communicating with other animals to solve disputes.

 

6. Pinkie Pie while don't get me wrong does offer a great service with making parties and her work with the cakes, I think overall is the least accomplished, but still offers valuable services.

[stripper 252]

Rarity by far

 

She started off as just a dress maker in a small country town. And then she hit prestigiously big in 2 prestigious cities. She's famous in the capital of Equestria

 

 

Twilight Sparkle is the princess of friendship and she has royal advantages, but business > government. Also, what ruling does Twilight even do? She's not even the mayor of her own town. She's just a friend mentor now

[Luminance 2,182]

Fluttershy actually being the most accomplished pony for me. She's have this thing going on with her that I like, Its her personality the way she conducts herself and how she gets across things with certain grace and confidence. She my not be the most successful, glamorous, or even wealth by far but she emulates what a life without all of those commodities and in that, being the best pony that you can be regardless of where or what you come from. It's her spirits that shines and elevates the bar for me in that regard.

[Captain Sorzo 56]

Rarity > Dash > Twilight > Fluttershy = Pinkie (counting party planning) > Applejack > Pinkie (without party planning)

 

Rarity started as a regular citizen of a small, insignificant backwater and clawed her way up into becoming a renowned designer and successful entrepreneur.

 

Dash worked her way into an entry position in an elite pseudo-military group, which is fairly impressive, though undermined by the generally negative portrayal of the Wonderbolts.

 

For all the praise endlessly showered on her, Twilight's main accomplishment essentially boils down to graduating from college. It's nothing to sneeze at, but hardly worthy of the royal title and castle that Celestia and Plot Contrivance respectively bequeathed her, particularly since she went into her studies with the personal attention of the supreme ruler of the land and an unheard of degree of magical potential.

 

Fluttershy manages a small but respectable business (or government position; it's rather vague) that carries a good deal of responsibility.

 

Applejack works extremely hard, but ultimately just maintains the status quo of the family business she inherited.

 

Finally, Pinkie is a mere apprentice at a small business. Assuming her party planning is done for free, her professional accomplishments are easily the least impressive of the Mane 6. Factoring in her party planning, however, I'd probably put her on par with Flutters, considering it's something she developed from scratch that is quite popular with the entire town.

[Kamii 594]

I'd say Rarity is the most accomplished of them all. She had the dream of expanding her shop(s) outside Ponyville and now she has two successful shops in the most populated (most likely) cities in Equestria.

I wouldn't consider Twilight as accomplished as evolved. She definitely evolved past everyone's expectations, turning into a princess and alicorn. But, what were her objectives exactly? Know more about magic I suppose. I think we've noticed there's still quite a lot she doesn't know.

Applejack seems to be happy with her life as it is. I guess her farm is really successful and she's living with her loving family. I think she's quite accomplished.

Fluttershy is a lot like Applejack. She's happy, helping the animals around her and she seems to be living sufficiently well. Unfortunately, even after episodes like Hurricane Fluttershy and Putting Your Hoof Down, she's still a bit too cowardly in my opinion. I understand her frustrations, but it just seems that every single time she learns how to evolve, she goes back to her old ways...

Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt now.. right? I really can't seem to remember. I guess she's a noobie wonderbolt. Anyway, she's so close to becoming who she always wanted to be. I'd say she's accomplished alright.

Pinkie Pie makes everypony happy, and I guess that's all she can ask for right?

So, here's my.. list I suppose:
Rarity > Rainbow Dash > Applejack > Pinkie Pie > Fluttershy > Twilight Sparkle
(Yes, Twilight is accomplished, but I think she's the one furthest from achieving her objective, since it's probably the most difficult one to achieve.)

[Sombra369 3]

Twilight and Rainbow are basically Superheroes/figureheads of the show, Twilight becoming godhood and royalty as well as the leader of the mares fighting any threat, Rainbow is a official hero and active guardian of sorts in a military air strike team tied to the royal goddesses. They just seem to be the focal protectors of Equestria and fighters, all the other girls are just regular career seeking ponies that are tied to a essential destiny and role. But twilight and rainbow are the two that make up the superhuman part of the six and by far the most important. Rainbow is basically Twilights second in command and maybe best friend of the two because she's basically a superhero(she was the towns main hero once) and the local action girl.

 

I wish she shared that role with AJ, Rainbow became basically the second main protag after Twilight as a role in the show.

[Sunny Fox 5,935]

1. Rarity - Known as a hot shot, up-and-coming designer by the first season (Pony of Pop had heard of her via magazines), now has three  very successful boutiques, two of which are located in major metropolitan cities.

2. Rainbow - Best Young Flier --> Wonderbolt Reserve --> Actual Wonderbolt (Even if the episode it happened in sucks)

3. Fluttershy - she helps others, managed to tame Discord, but as far as success as acknowledged in the wider world goes, she's lacking

4. Twilight - She is a princess, but that was mostly due to the rest of the Mane Six, and her accomplishments have a massive "Destiny Said So" aspect. Rarity and Rainbow worked for their successes. Plus plot armour.

5. AJ / Pinkie Pie - No real accomplishments, but then, they don't really care about that kind of shit anyway.

[cmarston1 5,954]

I would say that Twilight and Rarity are the most accomplished out of the mane 6 and Applejack and Pinkie Pie would be the least.

[Cleverclover 1,525]

Honestly, I don't think that any of the mane five can even remotely compare to Twilight in terms of accomplishment, and I honestly find that to be infuriating.

 

Throughout the series, Twilight is the only one who has had the luxury of not developing at the pace of a snail. Season after season, she has taken yet another massive leap, while the mane five have taken only a small step. Half of the mane five have remained in almost the exact same place from where they stated, and have only received growth as characters as it was apparently never deemed worth the effort that they develop any sort of goals or aspirations to work towards. 

 

Despite clearly being good enough for the Wonderbolts since season 1, and after having jumped through a ton of pointless and seemingly unnecessary hoops, one of which (Wonderbolts Academy) did not seem to have any noticeable affect whatsoever on her goal, Dash has only just joined their ranks in what was easily the most disappointing introductory episode I could have possibly imagined she'd receive. Compare the entirety Newbie Dash to the hyped up fanfare of Twilight's coronation in Magical Mystery Cure. Both feature goals being realized, and only one is remotely satisfying. And unfortunately, the satisfying one is not the one that has been built up over the course of five seasons. It's the one that the character in question never once showed ANY desire for whatsoever. 

 

Rarity has run a successful business in Ponyville for years, and in season 1, she was hoof-picked by a famous celebrity to be a personal costume designer, who had apparently learned about Rarity via a magazine she had been featured in. With that sort of measured success, it seemed as though Rarity could have opened up a new boutique as early as season 2. But instead, it wasn't until season 5 until she opened her first new boutique, and it almost surprises me that she opened up a third so quickly afterward.

 

Yet in the time Rarity has opened up two boutiques and Dash has realized her Wonderbolt dream, Twilight has gone from a supposedly "ordinary unicorn" (in her words) to one of the most respected and adored figures in Equestria, has had a moment where she briefly served as the unequivocal savior of all ponykind against a threat that the entire nation, including the princesses, could do absolutely nothing about, and has even taken on Celestia's former role as a mentor.

 

In short, Twilight is the epitome of "accomplishment" in this show. Meanwhile, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie are the epitome of "stagnation." 

Edited September 15, 2016 by Cleverclover

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

In terms of achievement, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are the biggest overachievers in the series. All three of them ascended to positions of great fame, power, and responsibility through work and dedication. Applejack and Fluttershy seemed content with where they were from day one. Why wouldn't they be considering they were already in positions that made great use of their skills? Even Pinkie Pie, who still rooms with the Cakes, is considered one of the best in the field of party planning. I would put it in that order, considering for all intents and purposes that the Mane 6 are decent achievers at the very least by the standards of our world (especially in the messed up economic and social situation we live in).

[bluseymoe 258]

I'd swap Rainbow Dash and Applejack on your list, but everyone else is about where I'd rank them. Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy have always seemed content with where they are in life since the beginning but the other three always strived for more.

[vanillapudding 44]

Hmm. Well there's a few major ways to measure success. (Disclaimer - this was going to be short. It really really was. But I can't keep things short. I'm sorry.)

 

If we're going based on an outsider looking in and only seeing their careers, it has to go Rarity - Twilight - Rainbow Dash - Applejack - Fluttershy - Pinkie Pie. 

 

I put Rarity above Twilight because, despite becoming a Princess, she hasn't actually done a whole lot of Princess-ing. She mostly just keeps on doing what she was doing before she got her wings - reading and saving the world. She has added being an actual teacher to her repertoire, but if not for actually achieving ascension she probably wouldn't be particularly high on the list. Twilight clearly came from a rather high in the social strata anyway what with a captain of the royal guard for a brother, a princess for a foal sitter and sister in law, etc, and really becoming a Princess isn't much of a leap for someone who was already basically part of the royal family. Rarity on the other hand had a goal and achieved it and went beyond it and if her parents were any indication, she didn't exactly come from a prominent family. She went from literally a no-name pony to designing wedding dresses for princesses, being the go-to for a prominent popstar, and having very prominent stores. If we look at it with a completely unbiased eye, she's gone the farthest. 

 

Rainbow Dash is third because she's also very visibly achieved some notable standings (from being in charge of the weather team in Ponyville, which can't be a non-existent feat even if it is kind of like being a manager at a McD's) to winning a very prominent competition to quite quickly rising from Wonderbolt trainee recruit thing to being a fully realized pegasus superstar. Applejack is next because she doesn't just run an apple farm - it seems she runs THE apple farm. And not only that, but her farm is a huge focal point for the entire town and her family plays a huge part in what keeps Ponyville together. But most of her accomplishments are just that: Family. She's just not a solo success.

 

Fluttershy though is questionably the town's pet therapist/natural healer/groomer/singing instructor? and clearly supports herself somehow even though most of her 'clients' seem to be the wild animals. Maybe they just pay her to keep the bear happy. Who knows. But she is above Pinkie Pie because she's entirely independent. The super party pony might be able to support herself, or she might not, we don't have any signs to indicate either way. If she charges for parties she probably does, but if she doesn't then most people (yes, humans out here not in the show) would probably categorize her true purpose in life as a 'hobby.' She's successful with her hobby sure, but that's like being a well known fanfiction writer. People don't tend to consider that a measure of success. BUT fret not! Because that's just looking at financial/conventional definitions. I have another list to present.

 

2. Success as measured by their accomplishments within their true callings (aka the reason behind their cutie marks). This has to go a different way: Twilight - Pinkie Pie - Fluttershy - Applejack - Rainbow Dash - Rarity

 

It doesn't get much more successful than becoming the world's ponyication of magic, and then going a step further to become a princess. Pinkie Pie does give her a run though. She's entirely the living embodiment of her passion. She wants to make all the ponies (and everyone else) smile. She wants to make their worlds better. She also almost always lives in a state of joy, aside from a few notable exceptions. She is her cutie mark. Her cutie mark is her. She doesn't need to be independent because living in Sugar Cube Corner and dedicating herself primarily to her hobby while her main source of income is probably no where near as lucrative as party planning (if she were to make that her career hooo-eeeee I mean just look at the wedding planning industry for an example) but she doesn't need a lucrative career. What she needs is happiness, to have it and to share it. And she has achieved that. Just not enough to ascend to become the Princess of Laughter. If that'd even be possible.

 

Now, I'll go into the rest of them by saying this: They're all successful by defining their true callings. But I can't just say 'they're all number one' because that's cheating. So I had to make the hard choices when ranking them. Fluttershy comes next because she's very similar to Pinkie Pie. She probably wouldn't mind living in an animal shelter...oh wait, I take back what I mentioned before, she probably runs the town animal shelter. Anyway, if she wasn't the one in charge, she doesn't strike me as the kind who would have minded working for the pony who ran it no matter how little the pay. She finds her fulfillment entirely in her animals. Well, most. Big dragons still terrify the poor pony. So she hasn't quite achieved the level of Pinkie Pie. Applejack follows for much the same reasons: She's reached contentment. But she has an actual business and we almost always see her building up on that farm, so clearly she has some expansion goals that she hasn't yet fully realized.

 

Rainbow Dash follows because she wants to be best, has a need for speed, and she has broken speed records and has become among the best. But given the nature of wanting to be the best, she won't have entirely reached the epitome of success until she's the Captain of the Wonderbolts.  And last...Rarity. Yes, the most outwardly successful pony and my personal favorite still has the longest way to go. The fashion industry is a monster, as shown by the fact that she designed Princess Cadence's wedding dress and still isn't all ponies think of when they think of fashion. She's still clawing her way up, despite having three majorly successful boutiques. She has a lot of work still to do to become the epitome of the Equestrian clothing empire. 

Edited September 16, 2016 by vanillapudding

[Thrond 3,258]

1. Rarity has successfully expanded her fashion business into a small chain, with stores in multiple large cities with booming fashion districts. As is shown in "Spice Up Your Life," she also has clearly made a name for herself. By most measures, she's certainly the most successful of the mane six. 
2. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, is a bit more green in her profession, but it's pretty clear by now that the Wonderbolts are kind of a big deal. Becoming a core member of the team has always been her dream, and with time she might become even more famous and successful than Rarity. 
3. Twilight Sparkle is probably the mane six pony with the most fame and the highest social status, but her being a princess has never felt to me like the proper fruit of her accomplishments. To me, that's found in the beginning of "The Cutie Re-Mark," where she's giving a lecture on the magic of friendship. For all intents and purposes, that lecture is what her own ambitions have been leading up to, and it ain't exactly nothing. 
4. Pinkie Pie has established a name for herself, at least in her town, as the #1 source for all party planning. I'm not exactly sure how far along she is regarding baking - either she hasn't completed her internship, or she's comfortably employed by the Cakes - but the parties are more in line with her ambitions. 
5. Applejack grew up with the farm, and hasn't really had any improvements in stature or even any real ambitions to improve since the start of the series. It also doesn't seem like she has all that much disposable income even after all the apple sales, if her dreams of profit in "The Best Night Ever" are any indication, but running a successful farm is still impressive. 
6. Fluttershy had already figured out how to pursue her passion at the start of the series, even if the services she provides, as well as how she's compensated for them, are still fairly vague. Like Applejack and even Pinkie Pie, she's fairly content with her current occupation, which just happens to be the most modest out of the six. 

Compare the entirety Newbie Dash to the hyped up fanfare of Twilight's coronation in Magical Mystery Cure. Both feature goals being realized, and only one is remotely satisfying. And unfortunately, the satisfying one is not the one that has been built up over the course of five seasons. It's the one that the character in question never once showed ANY desire for whatsoever. 

My only disagreement with your wall of text is that I consider "Newbie Dash" to be infinitely more satisfying than "Magical Mystery Cure." 

Also not exactly sure where everyone's getting the idea that Sweet Apple Acres is an especially significant farm. Maybe in Ponyville, but that might just be because they're the closest apple farm to Ponyville. I find it difficult to believe there aren't others across Equestria.