Spike and Sweetie Belle goof around while Twilight attempts to enlighten them on the wonders of classical arcane theory. Twilight loves the subject more then the listeners and is the type of teacher to lose herself in it and forget to teach.
For Spike's design I went with the half-grown Spike in "Secret of My Excess" for my guardsman Spike. But he's still about a head shorter then your average anthro pony. Most of the pictures of Edo period guard types wear those head protectors made famous by Naruto though of varying size and shape, so I gave him one. As a side note, I found out where the Naruto head-band protectors came from! The more you know! I'm still not sold on Spike's design, I'm working on it!
Twilight's mouth is questionable due to the position it the head is in, not sure I did that right. And much like when working with her abacus, when Twilight is around her scrolls her body loses it's form.
And most of Sweetie is hidden by the scroll. This was not because I was lazy! And the scroll is not a excuse to not draw more of there bodies! Not very happy with the colors in this one, or even the picture in general but it is what it is. Could have used more defined lines.
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Spike heads, these were drawn today! Just quick heads, the happy one is missing a nostril.
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And a picture of a fantastical random adventure in progress! Featuring my pony OCs, Medusa Pony, Citrus Tree Pony, and Male Egyptian Sphinx Pony! And one of my favorite Pokémon! Tropius the flying long neck dino plant thing.
They're trying to figure out were to go for the magical plot device, but none of them know how to read maps! Tropius, Sphinx, and Citrus are too happy-go-lucky to worry and they trust Medusa to figure it all out, leaving Medusa under a lot of pressure. Though she likes to think she's the brains of the operation, she's only smart by comparison. Their trusting, innocent eyes looking at her are putting her on edge. In the end it's up to Medusa's tail snakes to figure things out and save the world.
But will they be able to figure out how to fold the map back up?!
Link
I dunno, the art block was awful and I needed to do something.
I had fun with experimenting with bolder/thicker lines and shadows so yay? Also sitting ponies are hard. The Tropius is off-model mainly because of the shape of the leaf headgear. I wanted it to look more like a helmet, like he was a superhero or somethin'. Should have added a Kamen Rider scarf.
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A Samurai-Equestrian blurb on Twilight Sparkle,
Twilight is intelligent, anti-social, and has self-esteem issues, but is also caring and responsible.
Spoiler
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Though born into a peasant family, Twilight always seemed to have a natural interest toward education and learning. Her family recognized this and sent her to the village school when they could afford it and after she learned to read and write they tried to supply her with a regular supply of books. Twilight's parents hoped that she would become a village school teacher and earn a modest income, teaching children to read, write and basic arithmetic.
However, as time went on Twilight began to have much higher ambitions for herself, she hoped to go to the capital and pass all of the imperial examinations and become an official scholar first rank. Then she would spend her days learning advanced magical techniques and the latest theories and philosophies from brightest minds and perhaps even, she dared hope, contribute some of her own ideas.
When she was of age (around 16-18ish) she found no steady job for a budding scholar around her hamlet and, despite her parents' misgivings, she left for the cities to find work to earn enough money for the examinations.
Twilight has been to two different cities before landing in Ponyville, she messed up her job in a print shop and the less said about her experience teaching a certain family's brat, the better. But it was Ponyville where she hit finally hit gold and was hired by Rarity to teach Sweetie Belle. It was the perfect match.
Rarity had been growing somewhat worried about her sister's education. While she could teach her everything about etiquette and fashion, Rarity was ill-equipped to teach her anything about history and the mundane and magical sciences. Also, even though she would hate to admit it, Rarity hopes that a more rigorous education might lead to Belle having less... odd moments of mental vacancy. Tutors have been hired and dismissed, either because they could not stand Sweetie Belle or, in many cases, live up to Rarity's high standards. The Rarity Belle family can only accept the crème of the top of tutors, after all. They may be a just a merchant family with a few underworld connections now, but this family is going to move up in the world. Yet most scholars who could fit her high standards would rather just tutor some noble's child, rather then the child of a somewhat wealthy merchant family. Enter Twilight Sparkle, a well educated and intelligent pony, yet who has not passed any of the official examinations and thus no noble family would dream of hiring her, leaving her without a lot of options.
Overtime, Twilight's position in Rarity Belle has grown once Rarity learned of her other abilities. While her main job is still tutoring Sweetie Belle, she is now the family's accountant and general steward, and at times, a powerful fighter. Even if reluctant (she hates violence).
Despite her social awkwardness or because of it, Twilight has become somewhat a constant companion to Rarity, who drags her along to a few social events and lectures her on proper fashion and social norms. "Life is all about connections, Twi dear, you won't get anywhere in life without them!" For better or for worse, the ever generous Rarity has taken Twilight underneath her wing to show her the wonders of having a social life. Twilight just puts up with it the best that she can.
It has been three years and Twilight has finally earned enough money to go to the capital and pay for the exams. Everything has gone according to her plans more or less, her time in Ponyville just a stepping stone on her quest for academic glory. She should be happy to leave and put Ponyville behind her. Rarity is pushy and pretentious, always dragging her along to social events and trying out new fashions on her. Sweetie Belle is a tiring student, dreamy and vacant, with her mind on everything but what's in front of her. The guard Spike's verbal jabs and ideas of humor can be annoying at times. And yet, for the introverted Twilight, these ponies (and dragon) are the ones she's bonded with the closest outside of her family and the closest to, dare she admit it, friends.
Twilight has written her letter of resignation to Rarity twelve times and ended up burning each one, unable to think up a good way to break the news to Rarity that she'll be leaving. Maybe she'll break the news to her after her wedding with Fancy Pants. After that, she'll have plenty of options for a tutor and steward and she will be easily replaced.
Growing up amongst largely uneducated ponies has caused Twilight to keep to herself, most of her neighbors found her hard to relate to and much of her academic knowledge of little use. This has lead to her social skills being somewhat lackluster, and she is no stranger to social anxiety, often avoiding and at times even dreading social events. In her relationships with other ponies she often feels anxiety when even the most minor conflict arises. Yet this is only because she cares. When tutoring or settling Rarity Belle's accounts, she over organizes everything to OCD levels, but that is just because she is responsible and wants everything to turn out the best. Twilight is the type of pony who gets absorbed in her work and studies and leaves little time for anything else.
Despite her great intellect and knowledge, Twilight Sparkle has self-esteem issues, outside of her academic talent, she does not place much value on herself as a mentor or friend. She beliefs and hopes that when she gets to the capital she will finally be recognized and appreciated for her intellectual talents and be amongst ponies who can relate to her. This is a problem, after all, her friends in Rarity Belle do not love her only for her knowledge, but mainly as a caring and responsible friend, qualities she doesn't recognize in herself. Does this mean she doesn't value their friendship?