cherlock

how can two characters that spend 95% of the story entirely apart and unconnected be so specifically inseparable in who they are and what they do..... a love of lorule a love of each other a love of a future they believe they can have!! the fact that they make effort to choose each other, how ravio overcomes every fear for her, how hilda changes her entire belief and trajectory for him - they make each other better people, and without each other they crumble

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH. DO NOT SEPARATE THEM

I really dislike how only Canon Twilight became a princess; the irony of the Princess of Friendship becoming an alicorn, but not the friends that got her in that spot in the first place, really doesn't amuse me that much... So I wanted to give all the Mane Six their own arcs in order to earn their Ascensions !!

The idea is that, in order to ascend, one needs to push their Element and their Cutie Mark Talent to its absolute limit.

• Twilight: by casting an entirely new spell, on the Elements of Harmony, and completing it after rediscovering the "spark" of Friendship

• Applejack: by defying the Princesses', the Nobles', and the commonfolk's beliefs, to dig out the truth about a friend accused of a crime he did not commit

• Rainbow Dash: by refusing to stand down against a cursed blizzard, despite risk of losing her own wings, because giving up would mean risking losing her friends

• Fluttershy: by doing the kindest thing she could do: apologize to King Sombra and the Umbrum... Them destroy them with the Crystal Heart. The tragedy of the Umbrum is something I'll explain another day (in short: shadows of ponies who were oppressed, tortured, and hurt; coalesced into physical forms (Umbrum) and led by a king (Sombra) to get them the revenge they long for). Fluttershy knew they were made of hate and pain, so they couldn't be nursed to health nor redeemed; meaning that the kindest thing she could do was euthanize them, to release them of their lives of agony, and to protect the living ponies of the present)

• Pinkie Pie: by refusing to give up on a friend who sought to destroy himself (indeed; Discord had been willing to cause harm to everypony around him, intent on making them destroy him. It was a complicated situation. Pinkie Pie earned her wings and horn by essentially talking down a suicidal draconequus from,,, well.)

• Rarity: by being willing to sacrifice her career, her magic, and her freedom to save her friends (through luck and plot armor did she narrowly avoid losing her horn!)

★ ★ ★

Now, onto the designs: I actually put a lot of effort into giving each one of them unique traits !!

• Twilight: she's square. Heh. I specifically made Twilight as "rectangle" shaped as I possibly could, because it's supposed to reflect her personality. She's more serious than Canon Twilight, a bit more of a stickler, and has the vibes of a Headmare or Teacher, somepony used to wrangling rebellious students and keeping authority; but she is just as compassionate and strong as Canon.

• Applejack: my personal favorite, Applejack has the most earth-toned color palette of the Six, the bulkier build, and the most subtle of the Alicorn traits; I wanted her most eye-catching traits to be her mane and tail, her hooves or her cutie mark, because those are the Earth Pony parts of her. In fact, you'd need to squint to catch a glimpse of her horn...

• Rainbow Dash: of course, her wings should be the most eye-catching alicorn trait of hers, though her horn IS quite visible in its lighting shape. Fun fact! Her mane, tail and wings were so vibrant that I couldn't bring myself to give her any additional accessories. Methinks her mane and tail alone give her enough of a "pop", haha.

• Fluttershy: the daintiest of the Six, I wanted Fluttershy to look delicate as a flower, amping up the Disney Princess vibes. Not much to say about her. She's pleasing to look at.

• Pinkie Pie: I LOVE PINKIE PIE. Her mane is up in what I believe is an 80s look, she's got streamers on it (like Canon!), the cutest hooves (minor nod to her Earth Pony birth) and the most unique horn between the Six, meant to resemble her cutie mark.