Why was Fluttershy so tall as a child?

[poni 2]

Why is adult fluttershy so short?? She looks tall when she was young

[Orchid_Fiore 199]

I think it's because she is older than the rest of the Mane 6, and we only saw her younger form during their cutiemark discovering.

[SharpWit 2,472]

I wouldn't say she's short as an adult, but the additional height would make her look and feel out of place. Throw that natural nervousness with a gangly body and you have a wonderful recipe for awkwardness. This is only multiplied if she is older, either from starting flight school late, or being held back, which work well on their own and together.

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

The more likely explanation is that they were inspired by bambi and the scene with the forest animals. And thus, they shaped the model of fluttershy to be taller and slender like a deer.
A shame, considering that the great majority of adult ponies tend to become almost a clone of each other. Besides mane, color and eye shape. It would have been nice for each of them to be more distinctive, physically speaking.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,809]

Fluttershy says she's the oldest of the group, and as @They call me Loyalty said, they were also inspired by Bambi to give her that shape, which really suits her. 

[Will Guide 21,325]

It's also possible that she went through puberty quicker than the others so she had a more unique full design compared to the rest of the other main six

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

She’s older than the others so I think that explains it.

[Evil Pink One 12,979]

what's weird is that that's the only time we see a mare in that age and state.... never again.

[dead account 2,703]

@Courageous Thunder Dash & @TomDaBombMLP Do you have a clip of a scene where this is stated? I only know she's one year older than Pinkie Pie (from the Gilda episode).

31 minutes ago, Kujamih said:

what's weird is that that's the only time we see a mare in that age and state.... never again.

I'm really wondering if this look is only unique to Fluttershy or if everypony will look like this at that age.

Different sizes for the characters would definitely be an interesting idea. Fluttershy could have looked more like Fleur de Lis as an adult. I suppose it's easier for them to make toys when most characters have the same shape and size.

[Tom Gallagher 33,521]

25 minutes ago, Sven Utacien said:

@Courageous Thunder Dash & @TomDaBombMLP Do you have a clip of a scene where this is stated? I only know she's one year older than Pinkie Pie (from the Gilda episode).

I'm really wondering if this look is only unique to Fluttershy or if everypony will look like this at that age.

Different sizes for the characters would definitely be an interesting idea. Fluttershy could have looked more like Fleur de Lis as an adult. I suppose it's easier for them to make toys when most characters have the same shape and size.

[bubbleteapony 583]

My impression (before they used that "older filly" model in later seasons) was that Fluttershy, on top of being a bit older than the other foals, was just a lanky young pony haha. It looked like they were going for the stereotypical awkward, skinny-legged shy girl you see in media (and irl, from personal experience). This kind of gets lost when they use the models on other ponies (AJ, and that one side character in Growing Up is Hard to Do) since they don't really fit that character stereotype, but still.

Also, if you were to line up Fluttershy's filly model with an adult mare, the filly would still be shorter. The disproportionately long legs just make it look like she'd be taller, but you can tell from this screenshot that it's just meant to be a preteen-ish filly

to summarize, I believe it just started as a unique body type for young fluttershy, but then they reused it for other characters. Guess we'll never know if the rest of the mane 6 looked like that as young fillies as well!

Edited February 11, 2022 by bubbleteapony

[Octavia Heartstrings 28,407]

They probably wanted to make her look physically awkward on top of her shy personality.

[Sparklefan1234 161,867]

Fluttershy ate her Wheaties and veggies. 

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

It's been said that she was the oldest of the mane six back when they were fillies hence her tall height in comparison.

[Splashee 28,537]

She used to be thin, but now she's fat........ Kinda like me

[Props Valroa 26,042]

I've always seen her as the tallest of the mane 6, so it makes sense.