Concept Art: Grace & Glory · 6:51am Nov 24th, 2015
Just a quick little something for folks, what with Grace's recent appearance. First a couple of things I should clarify publicly:
1. Grace and Glory are not going to be making more appearances in this narrative.
2. However, they might be making appearances in other fics in this same universe. Among the ideas I'm batting around are an origin story and something exploring Bon Bon's time with the RMCA and a few other half-baked concepts I'd like to develop, but we'll have to see where it goes.
And so, here is my illustrator's original sketch for Grace and Glory before their final version.
I liked some things he got down with it, like Grace's serene expression and both their cutie marks. However, other things in the design process I could see didn't really work as well as I'd hoped. Grace's habit was too similar to real world nuns and made her look too modest. Her kneeling position wasn't quite right either (I wanted her to look relaxed, but this made her look subservient). Glory changed from being a unicorn to an earth pony (and why not, his physical prowess is what really defines him). He also got a LOT bigger. I wanted his size and brute strength to counter Grace's smaller stature and mental ability. He also got a meaner look.
After working together on it, we got their current look. For comparison:
And thus we got two of our antagonists. One physical; one mental. One will break your body; the other will break your mind.
Next update is still going to be a little ways off. Still trying to get something done for National Novel Writing Month and I'm doing a lousy job on it. 
Once that's done, I intend to resume my "once every two weeks" schedule. 
Wow. It's always amazing to see how works of art adapt and evolve for a character. I know this from experience.
I'm also intrigued by their characters, and I would like to see an origin story, especially Grace's relationship with Bon-Bon. But I'm still looking forward to more with Tge Iron Horse, whether or not they're in it.
Good luck with the novel writing too!