Why Luna is smaller than Celestia ?

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,049]

So I was wondering why Luna seems to be smaller than Celestia, since there are both princess and sisters. Even if Luna is born after her I thought they should have the same size plus there are like, reallly old so I think they'va finished growing.
And when Luna can back from the moon, she appears like, somekind of teenager, she is really small !
So, was she, I don't know, reborn or something ? It sound weird to me to see her so small but then later in the flashback she's not small ! At all ! So why in the all of sudden she have the size of a filly ?
 Ponies, help me on this one !

[FlareGun45 2,221]

Cause she's younger, I'm guessing? Maybe she wants to be that size cause she wants to be more adorable than her sister! :3 And it works well!

[Shattered Ice 30]

She hasn't had her 1,000 years growth spurt yet.  

[leonbrony17 1,216]

She's younger. I think that's THE answer of that question.

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,049]

Cause she's younger, I'm guessing? Maybe she wants to be that size cause she wants to be more adorable than her sister! :3 And it works well!

 

She hasn't had her 1,000 years growth spurt yet.  

 

She's younger. I think that's THE answer of that question.

Maybe ! But c'mon, I think they both are clearly around the same age and they certainly have reached their growth period !

And I still dunno why after comming back from the moon she looked so childish...

But, that trully make her more adorable 

[BlueStreak98 828]

Not all siblings end up the same size. She could just be naturally smaller.

 

But to be honest, I think it's because the Moon is smaller than the Sun.

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,049]

Not all siblings end up the same size. She could just be naturally smaller.

 

But to be honest, I think it's because the Moon is smaller than the Sun.

Maybe, after all, Celestia has the "most" important job as the comic seems to pretend she's always busy while Luna runs the night where nothing much happen...

[leonbrony17 1,216]

Because everybody needs sunlight to grow. Celestia IS the sun.

 

And luna is the night.

 

[Victoria Sponge 1,014]

After she was turned back into Luna by the mane six in the second episode she seemed to have reverted back to her youth:

Then off screen she got her magic back or something and gained her flowing mane, but if she lost a few years from being turned back then that explains her smaller size.

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

And luna is the night.

 

Does that make her Batmare, then?

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by A.V.

[DixonTheAdversary 1,631]

My theory on this question builds off what most people are saying: Luna is younger. So the Earth takes 24 hours to rotate around it's axis. Meanwhile the moon takes 27 days to rotate around it's axis. Luna was on the moon for 1000 years or 365,000 days. It would take 189 Earth days for one week. Now, we take this number, and multiply it by 52 which is how many weeks there are in a year. It would take 9,828 days for one full year to pass on the moon. On Earth, 26 years would have already passed, so Celestia had already aged 26 years, compared to Luna's one year. Assuming that it works this way (Because it is a cartoon, logic can be thrown out the window) Luna would have aged on the moon roughly 37-38 years, while Celesita aged 1000 years. So that means that Celestia is 963 years older than Luna. Which means Celestia had stopped growing, while Luna has been growing slower. I might have looked too deep into this, and of course I could have gotten my math wrong, but I think this is one of the most logical reasons (Other than the fact that Luna could just be shorter due to genetics.)

[TigerGeekGuy 4,659]

I'm gonna say it was done intentionally to create an obvious difference (in addition to their contrasting coat colors) between the sisters that the audience can catch on to. Like a subtle, subliminal message stating that Princess Celestia has a "more important" job and is "superior" to her sister. Given that when the show first aired, its target audience was little children, (yes, yes, I know about Lauren's family theme and such, but you can't deny the obvious appeal to children), Luna had to physically appear as a "little" sister. Perhaps the show staff and/or Hasbro thought it would make it easier for its target audience to understand.

 

Is there no canon explanation for this yet? Perhaps in the comics? (I have yet to read the comics, so I don't know.)

 

EDIT: I just realized, maybe it was done to make Luna more appealing and easier to sympathize with. She is meant to be the underdog character of the two sisters, after all.

Edited December 23, 2016 by TigerGeekGuy

[Fhaolan 4,468]

Given that Luna's appearance changed quite drastically from Season 1 right after she was de-nightmarified and her Season 2+ appearance, and yet any flashback for pre-Nightmare Moon shows her in her Season 2+ appearance, I get the distinct impression that this is not her 'natural' size or shape. Given that Luna has used shapeshifting magic before, it makes me think that both Celestia and Luna look the way they do because that's the way they *want* to look. Luna wants to look significantly smaller and younger than Celestia, yet still bigger and more powerful than any other pony. She might believe that it gives her some kind of social leverage/advantage to look that way.

 

Basically, the reasons why the show creators decided to make Luna look that way, (it makes her distinct from her sister, gives her the 'the young one' excuse for her behavior, yet leaves no doubt that she *is* a one of the pair of ruling alicorn princesses), could be construed to be the way Luna *in show* is deciding to look that way. And given her abilities, there's no reason why she shouldn't look the way she wants to.

[~Sassy Dashie~ 712]

I think she's just simply younger.

Though there are other options, like perhaps she's just naturally shorter, I think she's just smaller because she's younger, and the show wanted to emphasize on that fact.

[Midnight Seashell 206]

It's probably due to the lack of food and water on the moon.

[cider float 2,535]

Maybe it's because she didn't have anything to eat for 1000 years.

[EmployeeAMillion 70]

I guess alicorns are as tall as they want to be. The reason none of them are superpony size is because

A) The macro community would go nuts

B ) If Spikezilla, Tirek, the Bugbear and Pinkie Pie's appettite have taught anything to the ponies of Equestria, it's that bigger =/= better.

Edited December 23, 2016 by EmployeeAMillion

[sweetolebob18 724]

My Head Canon is "It's a question of relative power"  Celestia is bigger because she is stronger.  This is why Luna was larger as Nightmare Moon & why she has grown since season 1.  She is larger than Cadance who is larger  than Twilight because of power levels 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,297]

Before, I always thought it could be because she was younger than Celestia, but now I really think that it could just be her maximum height. I think that is a pretty definite possibility. Alicorn height doesn't seem to be set in stone.

[cmarston1 5,952]

Does that make her Batmare, then?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26xxQcGDjxY

That could explain what she was up to during the events of A Canterlot Wedding.

Edited December 23, 2016 by cmarston1

[Bit Boss 213]

Not all siblings end up the same size. She could just be naturally smaller.

 

But to be honest, I think it's because the Moon is smaller than the Sun.

Aw dayum I never thought of that

(please don't think I'm being sarcastic, just because Starlight is being very sarcastic! )

My theory on this question builds off what most people are saying: Luna is younger. So the Earth takes 24 hours to rotate around it's axis. Meanwhile the moon takes 27 days to rotate around it's axis. Luna was on the moon for 1000 years or 365,000 days. It would take 189 Earth days for one week. Now, we take this number, and multiply it by 52 which is how many weeks there are in a year. It would take 9,828 days for one full year to pass on the moon. On Earth, 26 years would have already passed, so Celestia had already aged 26 years, compared to Luna's one year. Assuming that it works this way (Because it is a cartoon, logic can be thrown out the window) Luna would have aged on the moon roughly 37-38 years, while Celesita aged 1000 years. So that means that Celestia is 963 years older than Luna. Which means Celestia had stopped growing, while Luna has been growing slower. I might have looked too deep into this, and of course I could have gotten my math wrong, but I think this is one of the most logical reasons (Other than the fact that Luna could just be shorter due to genetics.)

I love it!! This would make Luna basically a child compared to Celestia

[Storm Flash 0]

On 12/23/2016 at 9:59 AM, cpl_dixon said:

My theory on this question builds off what most people are saying: Luna is younger. So the Earth takes 24 hours to rotate around it's axis. Meanwhile the moon takes 27 days to rotate around it's axis. Luna was on the moon for 1000 years or 365,000 days. It would take 189 Earth days for one week. Now, we take this number, and multiply it by 52 which is how many weeks there are in a year. It would take 9,828 days for one full year to pass on the moon. On Earth, 26 years would have already passed, so Celestia had already aged 26 years, compared to Luna's one year. Assuming that it works this way (Because it is a cartoon, logic can be thrown out the window) Luna would have aged on the moon roughly 37-38 years, while Celesita aged 1000 years. So that means that Celestia is 963 years older than Luna. Which means Celestia had stopped growing, while Luna has been growing slower. I might have looked too deep into this, and of course I could have gotten my math wrong, but I think this is one of the most logical reasons (Other than the fact that Luna could just be shorter due to genetics.)

That's... surprisingly satisfying. Holy shit that's actually a really good theory.

[PiratePony 8,473]

Because as fillies, Celestia would eat her spinach and Luna be like ewww gross.

 

Also Celestia's size fits her role of matriarch (don't gimmie the "she is one of multiple princesses" jigger jabber either Foo, she's the once and future ruler of all Equestria....unless Dusktime Shinypants takes her place in the finale.)

[DonMaguz 1,023]

Luna casted a spell on herself to be smaller and cuter than her sister, that's why when she became Nightmare Moon she was taller, turning evil suppresses the spell.

Edited June 1, 2018 by DonMaguz

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,152]

I would assume Luna is just at her natural height. I mean, not all regular mares are of the same height. Look at Fleur and Sassy Saddles; they both tower over the Mane 6, and I have to believe that some will just grow taller than others.