This is Rarity as the Empress of the Crystal Empire, from my fanfic, Empress Rarity’s 250th Birthday.

Here is a small excerpt from the story about the Royal Regalia of the Empress.

Designed by Empress Rarity herself, the Regalia of the Crystal Empire left no doubt about her absolute rule, while still reflecting her natural generosity. It incorporated a three pronged crown and chest plate like the Alicorn Princesses of Equestria, but the greaves and purple cape were more similar to the ones worn by the ancient rulers of the Empire. Save for the cape, each element of the Regalia was made of platinum and socketed with gems, shaped in the pattern of the snowflake emblem of her Empire.

Huge difference off the back, I didn’t bother with the snowflake emblem of the Empire. I instead went with a slight knock off of the Element of Generosity, because it was easier.

Some quick background about this Rarity, in the story she had been fused with the Crystal Heart, after it had taken some damage. The Heart, in exchange for her becoming the Heart’s new carrier, granted Rarity immortality and access to it’s own crystal and emotional powers. Drawback on that is that Rarity get periods or intense pain. Her body is regenerative, but under constant pressure and stress from the power she has willingly forced herself to hold. In terms of “how does she scale against an alicorn”, alicorns would be considered goddess in the story-verse, and Rarity would be something more of a demi-goddess. I didn’t want an all powerful Rarity, or a rival to an alicorn.

In terms of creation, I don;t think I’ve had this much of a challenge for a while, where I was forced to go look up and study new coloring methods to get her crystal coat, as well as make her regalia shine. I know I still have things I can do to improve. I am grateful to have the Sketchbook app on my Samsung Tablet, but I can’t wait until I have a more powerful system so I can use the Manga Studios 5 that I bought last year.

I need a tablet and a good desktop computer.

Overall, I am pleased with how this turned out.