I like pandas.

Final doodle (for now), #28, Twilight Sparkle.

And we end the way we started, with Princess Twilight. I wanted to show my improvement over the past month (haha, “month”). Admittedly, this took me a while, as I had a similar problem to when I started.

Use references, people. They’re life savers.

I’ve never been sure how I feel about Twilight. When people rattle off their favorites, she always ends up somewhat middle of the road for me. Sure, I like that she’s a role model type for young children to aspire to (it’s cool to be smart, kids) but over the years, it feels as if she’s lost a bit of what made her special. I miss her snarkiness, her sarcasm, her preparedness, and quick thinking from years of study. And is it just me, or does she tend to forget just how powerful she is when it matters? She gets caught off guard quite a bit (c’mon girl, you can teleport!) Well, I suppose we can’t always be at our best. I’ll even give her a pass for season 5, since the writers made it apparent she was overworked and sleep deprived for most of it. Still, I’d like to see Twilight get back to her roots a bit in Season 6. She might not be Best Princess™, but she’s still our adorkable best bookhorse.

Doodle a day #27, Princess Luna.

Everybody* loves Luna. Maybe it’s because she’s the outcast, the awkward one, the angry, misunderstood soul. Maybe it’s because she’s just adorable, or because people gravitate towards the darker color scheme. Maybe you sympathize with her after her harsh punishment for just wanting to feel appreciated. Whatever your reason, you have to admit she’s undeniably the most developed of all the princesses.

It was such a nice change to see all of the citizens of Ponyville coming to her aid in Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, showing they no longer fear her, that she’s finally gained to respect and love she’d desired those thousand years ago. You go, Luna.

*Except a few, but those people are idiots. :)

Ninja Mod Edit: Now in her full, dark glory.

Doodle a day #26, Princess Celestia.

I want more Celestia. I need more Celestia. It’s sad that we’ve had 5 seasons of this show, and one of the most prominent, influential, and powerful characters in the show has barely had any backstory or development.

Luna is generally considered “best princess” (yeah, she’s my favorite too), but I believe most of that has to do with Celestia being an unknown. We know she’s a mentor and a matriarch with a bit of a playful side, and she loves every single one of her subjects. That’s nice, typically fairytale material. But what made Celestia, Celestia? What makes her tick? What kinds of songs get stuck in her head? How does she handle stress? What irritates her? Luna is the warden of dreams, what else can Celestia do besides raise the sun? We need answers, there’s so much potential.

I think if we got an episode about Celestia and Luna’s childhood, I would pop. Filly princesses? Yes please.

Doodle a day #25, Steven Magnet.

It’s still rather ridiculous that they actually chose to go with the name that the fans came up with, based on a Youtube auto-caption error. Well fandom, I hope you enjoyed your season, ‘cause there’s no way Hasbro lets them get away with these shenanigans again.

Anyway, I had no idea the ol’ serpent actually had fans in the first place, or enough clamoring for his return anyway. I suppose it would have been a waste to not use him again. For a one-off, he was rather flamboyant.

No “color” this time. Still easing back into this thing, just wanted to get something done.

Doodle a day #24, Scootaloo.

You thought she’d be on her signature scooter, didn’t you? But that would have been predictable. CMC daredevil (and president of the Rainbow Dash fanclub), Scootaloo is arguably the coolest of the Crusaders, even if her idolatry is a bit…misguided.

…fine, yes, I am biased. I already covered this. Moving on…

There’s a lot about Scootaloo that I wish we’d get more info on. I hope we find out more about her parents, or at least what her current living situation is supposed to be. So she’s got a house, and a room in said house. Is that it? I don’t want to go through another fly-by gut punch of a revelation like in Crusaders of the Lost Mark, where Applebloom’s parents are finally revealed to be…well, gone. And if Scoots’ non-flight is permanent, will they ever tell us? It’d be a good lesson on learning to deal with a disability.

Not that she lets it stop her, no sir. Those tiny little wings are still mighty powerful. She towed Applebloom and Sweetie Belle all the way from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire in a matter of hours, maybe less. Maybe her wings are just on sideways?

Doodle a day #23, Sweetie Belle.

The songstress of our CMC Trio, Sweetie can be a bit of a handful. With a golden voice (and the accompanying squeaks) and puppy eyes that can melt even the coldest of hearts, she’s often considered the cutest of the Crusaders, even if she’s a little bit of a manipulator. I wonder where she got that influence?

Her magic has gotten much stronger in Season 5. She struggled with moving a broom in Twilight Time, but by Crusaders of the Lost Mark, she could levitate Pipsqueak. I was impressed. I do enjoy seeing growth, and out of all the CMCs, she’s probably had the most development.

I dread the day we lose that signature voice crack we all know and love. Claire Corlett isn’t getting any younger, I wonder how long she can keep it up? Squeakybelle, we hardly knew ye.

Doodle a day #22, Nightmare Moon.

I was a bit underwhelmed with this character in the pilot episodes. Sure, she was a threat, but aside from a few illusions and traps, how big of one was she, really? I mean, besides the whole imprisoning Celestia in the moon and bringing eternal night part.

However, I VERY much enjoyed her return in the Season 5 finale. Even with limited time, they fleshed her out nicely. Was she truly a tyrant? It didn’t seem so. Just a powerful ruler that expected absolute respect of her subjects, and absolute control of her domain. Out of all the alternate futures, hers I would have minded the least. I’m sure she found a solution to the crop problem. How do you grow food without sunlight?

I decided to give the big bad of Season 1 a little more effort than some of the others. My hand is actually cramping a bit as I type this. Worth it, I think.

Doodle a day #21, Mayor Mare.

Looks like she’s out stumping for re-election. Which begs the question, with a name like Mayor Mare, what else could she do? Uh oh, is this the part where we’re not supposed to think too much about pony names?

Or maybe Mayor really is her title, and she has another first name no one ever bothers to say because–well, she’s the mayor. It’d be disrespectful.

Crusaders of the Lost Mark touched on politics a bit (you know, that whole part before the fandom exploded and wept joyfully for a week). Maybe they could get back to that in the future, in an episode where the mayor just isn’t the mayor anymore. Now what will you do? What would any pony do? As the Flim Flam brothers put it, “Guess you’ll have to find a new line of work that doesn’t match your names quite so…perfectly.”

Doodle a day #20, Sea Swirl.

I’ll level with you on this one. I have no idea what she’s all about. But her cutie mark is dolphins, so she gets dolphin.

Also, it’s kinda fun to look at the initial doodle and see the little things that changed along the way. I haven’t drawn a dolphin years, it’s amazing the difference a couple of reference images make.

For those that actually know when I’m drawing these, it might seem like it takes me a few hours to finish one. Nah, I’m pretty sure I just have a bit of attention deficit going on, I get distracted easily. Total work was about an hour. I’m getting faster, thankfully. Glad I started this little project.

Doodle a day #19, Derpy Hooves. (Or is it Muffin now? Eh.)

I love Derpy. Always working hard in the background, holding down multiple jobs, attending events all over. She’s the busiest mare in Equestria. And also adorable. 

Alright, so she makes the occasional mistake. Who doesn’t? I think she just has her hooves in so many things, it’s easy to make her a scapegoat. If anything, she needs a vacation. And a hug or two. Not in any particular order.