#mlp requests

Zecora:

-I gave her a more coily/curly hair texture than canon. I wish I could remember who the redesign I saw that inspired this was made by, but it didn’t come from me haha

-Her scarf/wrap garment is inspired by a research rabbit hole I went down about Indonesian wax print/Dutch wax print/Adire eleko fabrics, where some kind of resist is applied to the fiber to leave a design when it’s dyed. The ponies need to wear more clothes in general, or who is Rarity selling to??

-I also made her jewelry more colorful for my own benefit lol, in my mind’s eye she always has beads but her canon design doesn’t have any at all…? And I also could have SWORN she had green on her

-I’m not sure if Zebras can get cutie marks yet tbh, but her little sun design is still cute so I kept it

Apple Bloom:

-Apple Bloom has the matching piece to Zecora’s scarf, given to her by Zecora as a gift (and to help keep her hair out of the potions!)

-Since I made Applejack’s body patterns pie themed, Apple bloom is apple turnover themed! The white speckles were meant to be like powdered sugar, but I’m not sure if that reads properly.

-She shares the white hooves and pale ‘socks’ with Jackie’s design, but not a hint of green for her.

My AU:

Apple Bloom has a lot of stress about her cutie mark (canon to the show), which is probably worsened by her sister having a super-special cutie mark that connects to the elements of harmony! How is she supposed to live up to that? Worse, what if she’s a blank flank forever? Would her family still be proud of her?

When she asks, they all say stuff like “Don’t think about that, you’ll make yourself sick over something that won’t happen!” Which is well meaning, but it’s not a proper answer, is it?

Only after Apple Bloom tries (and fails) to get her cutie mark for potion making does she get her answer. Zecora tells her she doesn’t need a destiny to keep coming over and making potions, she’s allowed to just come do it for fun. Skills don’t matter any less when you have to work hard for them! It doesn’t matter to her if Apple Bloom burns the brew, or adds the wrong ingredient, or drops the bottle into the cauldron while she’s trying to fill it up. She’s learning, that’s ok. She can learn as long as she wants to, even if she never gets any better at it. It’s for her, not her cutie mark!