Remember how a few weeks ago I mentioned I'd like to get my niece into My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? Well, in a twist of irony (I've learned God likes those), I was able to spend some time with her and her sister this summer, and now they're fans of the show. So of course I had to draw them as ponies (along with their cat Fred, whom I have previously depicted as a dromaeosaur because why not).

I imagine their pony names are Cosmic Swirl (she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up) and Milky Puff (do not run out of chocolate milk when this toddler is around, or there will be terrifying consequences).

I've been on a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic kick lately, so of course I had to draw myself as a pony.

 I swear Twilight Sparkle is my actual spirit animal, and one of the reasons why I enjoy MLP:FiM so much is because fiction needed more egghead heroines who save the day through research, overthink everything, and have friends who help them get out of their own head and live a more balanced life.

I'd love to get my 7-year-old niece into FiM, but right now she's too busy obsessing over The Nightmare Before Christmas, zombies, and mummies. She's every bit as terrifying as her cousin in her own unique way.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic OCs! (Apologies that the poses are so samey; these are just rough concept sketches and I was paying more attention to design than composition.)

Argent and Titanium Twinkle came about when I wondered what the foals of Radiant Dawn and her husband Ironclad would look like. I thought it would be fun if they had a pegasus who acted like a unicorn and a unicorn who acted like a pegasus. 

Argent is introverted, thoughtful, and scholarly, and his younger sister's misadventures drive him bananas as he's always trying to be the responsible one. Also his wings don't work, which causes him no small amount of insecurity, but don't let his quiet demeanor fool you; he's received plenty of warrior training from his father, and will become quite the fearsome fighter when the need arises.

Titanium Twinkle, or "Twink" for short, is an impulsive and chatty young mare who doesn't put as much effort into her magical studies as she ought to, but due to her mother being a centuries-old alicorn, she does happen to know quite a bit about general magical theory off-hand. Her older brother's cautious ways test her patience, but working together they learn the importance of a healthy balance of calculation and risk.

Also, their respective coat and mane are actually silver, not gray.

As detailed in a post from about three years ago, I eventually made Equestria Girls versions of these two, and a few months ago I finally got around to writing the fic I was talking about in that post! I'll put it up here on the blog eventually. 

More pony designs! These are for my fanfic Radiant Dawn and the Pegasus Plot, which I will probably put on the blog after I'm done putting up all my Neopets stuff.

Red Tape is Princess Radiant Dawn's ever-helpful secretary who gets put in charge of running the kingdom of Daybreak while Radiant Dawn goes to help the pegasus city of Pelopponysus. Red Tape's special talent is bureaucracy, so she is a big help to the overworked princess.

Eclipse is a top officer in the Pelopponysian army. She has an interest in ancient Equestrian history, and is especially fascinated by alicorn magic. Éclair is a resident of Daybreak who runs a donut shop.

¡Viva Fiesta! (exclamation marks are part of her name) is a resident of Daybreak who is implied to be a distant relative of Pinkie Pie. If you're wondering why there's a running theme of pony OCs related to Pinkie Pie, all becomes clear in a subsequent fic. :)

 

Today's sketches are a journey in character development!

These are my concept sketches for my My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic OC General Ironclad of the city-state Pelopponysus. When Princess Radiant Dawn is summoned to Pelopponysus to help them uncover the leaders of a dissident movement, she finds a proud, militant pegasus community with a dislike of Princess Celestia and her namby-pamby peacemaker ways. Things get more complicated when one of their generals is assigned - against his wishes - to work with her to investigate the growing insurrection. Can Radiant Dawn convince him and the other Pelopponysians that life isn't just about discipline and martial prowess before it's too late?

(Spoiler alert: they end up getting married.)

Anyway, looking at these sketches, I think they present a good case study for how I refined a character design.

Here's my first try at Ironclad's design. I had the basic (vague) idea of what I wanted with his aesthetic: gunmetal-gray coat, silver mane and tail, general Greco-Roman military hardcoredery (real word). But I wasn't super pleased with the mane and tailstyle which I felt weren't distinctive enough, and the armor was likewise very generic.

So on to phase 2. I defined his facial shape a little better and gave him a beard, both for further visual distinction and to visually age him a bit better (he's in his mid-to-late-30's, so he shouldn't look like a young stallion). I also tried something different with the manestyle which was a step in the right direction--now he doesn't look like every other male pony out there with a shortish spikyish mane, he's got some cool warrior flow going. Plus, I defined the armor design for the Pelopponysian troops, moving away from generic Greco-Roman-ness and deciding on something more ornate, substantial, and original.

I still wasn't super pleased with his forelock, which was just kinda hanging out not doing much (on a visual design level), so I moved on to... phase 3! This sketch, I think, continues to push his design to a more refined level, as the forelock becomes more visually decisive and ties in better with the rest of his mane (which I also altered the flow of to add an extra level of flair). I also designed his cutie mark.

A short while later, I did one last sketch to tweak his design just a bit more. I made his forelock a little messier to suggest someone who's just spent a long day drilling troops (or on the battlefield), bulked out his facial shape a bit (he is a large pony), and gave him a fuller beard (I am not entirely sure how equine facial hair works, it's a cartoon, just use your suspension of disbelief). I also designed the crest of Pelopponysus and decided on their state colors, black and gold. They stand for valor, discipline, unity, and being able to totally crush you in a fight.

 

Character designs for a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfic I wrote a few years back and will probably put on the blog once I'm done putting up all my Neopets stuff. It's the story of how a peculiar unicorn saved her small kingdom with the power of happiness, and fought for everyone's right to be happy and hope for a bright future. Because it takes place several centuries before the show, in a made-up region of Equestria, I got to create a lot of pony OCs and even a villainous creature, so it was a lot of fun. 

Borealis creates shimmering aurorae in the sky, although she also has a more practical job as leader of a group of exiled ponies who live in the woods. She has given up on the idea of ever being able to return to her home--can anypony convince her otherwise?

Birthday Bash is implied to be a distant ancestor of Pinkie Pie. He's exceptionally good at remembering absolutely everypony's birthday--and throwing them a fantastic party to celebrate.

Sundance and Moondog, pegasus siblings, create striking atmospheric phenomena around the sun and moon, respectively. They're not sure why that got them exiled, because it doesn't actually do anything important, it's just nice to look at. Curious.

Scooper Duper makes ice cream and has a real talent for creating new delicious flavors. He's got the color scheme of mint chocolate chip, my favorite ice cream flavor.

Queen Tanith is a lamia tyrant who has ruled over the kingdom of Daybreak for the past few centuries, working its ponies hard in dim factories to provide goods for other areas outside of Princess Celestia's jurisdiction. Anypony who tries to resist is promptly turned to stone by Tanith or her army of shadow serpents. Nopony knows why Celestia hasn't come to help them yet, but just about everypony has given up hope--except for Radiant Dawn, a unicorn schoolteacher who tries hard to keep her students hopeful and courageous despite the principal's criticism. Hopefully that won't land her in trouble one of these days... (ominous foreshadowing)

Concept sketches for my My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic OC, Princess Radiant Dawn. I wrote several fanfics about her, and I might put them up on the blog once I'm done posting all my Neopets fics.

And more concept art for The Spirit of Black Keep. Misty and Fenris are minor characters who show up near the end... they're also the main characters of the first thing I ever got into the Neopian Times. Here it is in all its horrifically bad glory, if you want to burn your eyes out with my awful teenage writing: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Anyway, when I was writing The Spirit of Black Keep and faeries got involved, I thought it would be fun to toss in SQUAD Squadron as an inside joke.

Concept sketches for a new My Little Pony fanfic idea I've been putting together! And by My Little Pony I mean Equestria Girls, because, gotta love canon alternate universes! It just opens up a whole new can of worms.

So, without giving away like the entire story, Radiant Dawn's and Ironclad's foals Titanium Twinkle and Argent travel to the EG universe for crazy human adventures. Except, this story takes place a hundred years before the show, so everything is Edwardian! Turns out when a unicorn-turned-alicorn and a pegasus get married, they have some oddball foals--Titanium is a brash, outgoing, spunky unicorn, and Argent is an introverted, thoughtful pegasus. Also his wings don't work in Equestria, which apparently translates in the EG universe into needing a wheelchair.

Nightwander is a freshman at Canterlot Senior High School who quickly latches on to the siblings, especially because Titanium Twinkle won't stop talking about a magical land full of rainbow-colored ponies and other fantastic sundry. Nightwander is a sort-of member of the school's fantasy club who wishes magic really existed in her world... and she'll go to great lengths to try to make it happen.

Well, I'm excited for this story, so hopefully it's something I can work on soon!

Guess who's working on another My Little Pony fanfic?! And this one actually features the main characters of the show this time! It takes place sometime during season 7, to be precise. While I won't spoil too much, it's about the MCs (the Mane Six plus Spike and Starlight Glimmer) journeying to Daybreak and meeting Princess Radiant Dawn. By this point, Prince Ironclad has built up an army of pegasi in order to defend the kingdom and his wife, and Westerly here is in charge of a squadron of border patrollers. The westerlies are mid-latitude winds that circulate closer to the poles than the equator, so I had fun giving the corporal a bit of an alpine theme.

Writing the main characters from the show has been really fun--their personalities are all so well-defined that they have strong interpersonal dynamics, and it's easy to gauge how they'll react to most situations.

Not sure when I'll be finished with it, but it's fun so far.