so i’ve gotten really sick lately irl and cant really manage to draw stuff from scratch anymore (as much as my pony art tends to be referenced anyway to keep it show accurate) – but i realized there wasn’t really anything wrong with me exploring some AU ideas i had with the help of some bases! that way i can still exercise my creativity even though my hands are shaky and dedicating too many hours to stuff isnt as possible : )
 
some of them are modified heavily (and stygian is not from a base because i couldnt find one) and i did of course draw all the hair / design some of the cutie marks
 
the basic concept of this AU is that (most) major protagonist roles are swapped with characters which are antagonists originally, whether just episode antagonists or outright villains!
 
Element of Leadership (Magic) – Fizzlepop “Tempest” Berrytwist, personal protege of Princess Adagio who is especially skilled in unicorn magic but not initially especially skilled in connecting with other ponies.  
Element of Sincerity (Honesty) – Trixie Lulamoon, a stage magician unicorn based out of Ponyville whose greatest desire is to be noticed by the most famous travelling unicorn magic show in Equestria: the Illusions.  
Element of Empathy (Kindness) – Sunset Saffron, an earth pony with a talent for magic theory and potion brewing who lives in Ponyville to help run her family’s farm and garden, making extra bits by selling home grown herbs and potions on the side.  
Element of Trust (Loyalty) – Wallflower, a talented gardener whose earth pony magic helps her to better care for and grow plants; she lives on Sunset’s family farm in exchange for helping with their work.  
Element of Inspiration (Laughter) – Discordant “Discord” Rain, a pegasus with a penchant for throwing particularly wild and chaotic parties; the way Discord sees it, it’s not worth it if somepony doesn’t get to laugh about it. He uses a blend of pegasus magic and chaos-tinged party pony magic to spruce up the events he throws from time to time – which is where he got his cutie mark (which depicts a chocolate raincloud) from.  
Element of Altruism (Generosity) – Stygian, a small town author who hopes to help other ponies through his writing, though his books haven’t gained much attention as of yet.