MLP AU concept art

The first initial concept sketches I did a little while ago when I decided I wanted to try and tackle one of my many MLP AUs and make it into a full, complete story. This is for the Arranged Marriage!AU, otherwise known as the "sphinx au" since Twilight isn't full pony in it.

The AU will be getting a huge story overhaul to make everything more streamlined and cohesive, and I'll be doing some concept work for the characters and environments. This doubles as both a quick character design and style test, in my attempts in making things much more simplistic for my own sake. owo SO! Some quick design notes and some tidbits about each character's role:

-Shining Armor is about the size of your typical Sphinx; much heavier in overall build and taller than your average pony. Shining himself is full-blooded Sphinx so he doesn't share any of the pony traits his half sister does. In this AU, Shining was the one who originally was chosen to marry Rarity, but he eloped with the princess of the Crystal Empire before the wedding took place. Shining differed from his mother and father in that he had no issues showing Twilight open affection and was the only one who made an attempt to understand her, so protective of his baby sister that he even got into arguments with his parents over their treatment toward her. His abrupt running away leaves Twi feeling almost betrayed.

-Twilight in contrast is a middle-point in appearance: she looks more sphinx than she does pony, but there are very clear signs that she isn't full-bred. Twilight is larger than your average stallion but smaller than your average sphinx. She is the product of an "oopsie" between her sphinx mother, the Queen of Somnambula, and one of the concubines; the concubine in question happened to be a unicorn pony. As the child of the queen, Twi does have legitimacy as royalty, but given she isn't full sphinx nor is she the product of the official royal monarch pair, her claim to the throne is rather weak in comparison to Shining Armor. Originally, she was meant to be married off to some other royal child to a much, much smaller ally of the Sphinx, a country with no where near as much influence as Equestria, but when Shining bailed she is the only one left with any real legitimacy as an heir, so she was made to replaced him.

While they weren't outright abusive, the king and queen were generally dismissive and aloof towards Twilight, and were quick to lose their patience with her in comparison to how they doted on Shining. As a result, this Twilight is far more reserved, submissive, and unlikely to really put herself out there in fear of rejection.

-Rarity is about the size of your average mare, whereas something right below Twi's chin would be the average size of a stallion. However, Rarity's build is reflective of what's typical of the unicorn breed: light, slight, and elegant. Rarity herself is an exceptional example of unicorns and as such is often dubbed "Equestria's Greatest Treasure". As future queen of one of the most influential countries in all of Gaia, whomever is given the honor of marrying her would bring their home country more power in proxy. Somnambula's monarchy are the ones who managed to secure that spot by promising the crown prince Shining Armor to her, but that soon turned south when he bounced. It was quickly rectified when they promised their second born, Twilight, to her instead, but the whole debacle left a rather sore taste in many's mouths, even Rarity herself.

Nevermind the fact that there are still many racial tensions in Equestria the monarchy's trying to overcome (one of the many reasons for the arrangement), Shining running away and Twilight being offered in his stead says that the crowned jewel of Equestria is somehow not good enough for what Equestria perceives as a "lesser" country. To her shame, Rarity almost bought into that mindset... until she actually met Twilight. Despite her brief lapse in judgement and maybe even slight naivety, Rarity is intelligent, charming, and compassionate, and she does her damndest to make her newly wedded wife feel as welcomed as she can.