Shards Of Sombra: Ruby

[Artwork by the astounding Magfen]

[ RUBY ]

Sweet and lovely, Ruby is the first sibling who shows anything more than contempt for Obsidian. Hiding out in disguise, she'd encountered Obsidian & company a few times during those first few days, though it was later discovered that she was a spy of sorts... but instead of mockery and threats, Ruby came forward with kindness and compassion, and might have switched sides right then - had Thunderclap Dash not butted in. Ruby's ultimate display of affection towards her sister came when she sacrificed herself to save Obsidian's life, dying in her forelegs mere minutes later.

However, Ruby's doing just fine - living in Siddy's dreams, where she seems to perpetuate regardless that her body died. She's been using this unpredictable new lease on life to help Obsidian, by cheering her up and helping her put together information that could potentially lead to the rest of their shared siblings... and what lies beyond. Ruby hopes that the Dark Princess can solve the riddle of their creations, and will continue to support her in every way she can.

[STORY NOTES]

Ruby was made to be the sweet, innocent one in this tale; it may sound cruel, but I intended her to die from the get-go. I'd wanted at least ONE of Obsidian's siblings to be worthwhile and wholesome - just so I could yank those (Lyra) heartstrings at the dramatically appropriate moment. It was when the story continued on that I got the idea that she was alive inside her sister's soul... because by that point, I missed her too.

When Ruby was separated from Obsidian by Luna's blockage of her dreams, I felt that the state of things should be reflected in Ruby as time went by. Effective, as she keeps seeming weaker and more desperate each time she flashes through the split-second of dreaming before being cut-off by the Dream Barrier. No worries - I had no plans to kill her a second time; I merely wanted to add a sense of urgency to deal with Amber quickly.

Her disguise was planned from the beginning, because I wanted it to flow well when the reveal came; I didn't just want a random background character in the role, but one who had plans for them & would turn out to be fun to re-introduce when the time came. It was also the only way Ruby could think of to get near her sister without causing an issue... though their first meeting __was__ totally by mistake, on Ruby's part.

There are a few times I actually engage in foreshadowing. One of my favorite examples is from Chapter 13 of Daughter, when Cupcake tells Obsidian: "I swear," Cupcake said, "it's like that mirror is a part of her!" That turns out to be COMPLETELY true before the end of the story, confirmed by the presence of Dark Ruby. A subtle one, but still a fine example of setup, as this was a roleplay originally; I like to think that Wungiel - though he's hard to catch off-guard - was genuinely taken by surprise when it happened.

The mane and tail thing came from a bottle of horse shampoo. I thought to myself, 'I guess horse manes need body, too', which eventually evolved into her concern for those things. Also notice the foreshadowing in that Ruby's disguise has a beautiful mane, and Dark Ruby has a lovely tail - evidence of their separation as well as their connection.

When I tell people she has stripes, they wonder if she's possibly part zebra - to which, the answer is no. I wanted something to break up the single-color sibs, so I chose to give her those stripes; they represent whipmarks, not zebra heritage. No, they aren't actual scars - the idea was for it to be a callback to Sombra's ways - and they're simply coloration to add to her physical impression.

[Factoids]

From the very moment I named her, I already had Ruby by The Kaiser Chiefs as her theme song. It has that hopeful, cheerful sound to it, and one could easily hear other stallions speaking the lyrics as they look at her. This was one of those cases where the song came before the character idea did.

It took Magfen and I days to figure out what her Cutie Mark would be; I wanted a fountain, and he thought vines or ivy would work. In the end, we compromised, so that it's a pool of clear water surrounded by hanging ivy. I approved wholeheartedly, and thus, her CM was born.

I did my utmost best to portray JUST the good side in Ruby's disguise, and JUST the snarky part in Dark Ruby; I was pleased at how well I blended those two halves together for the whole of Ruby's personality, once she was in Obsidian's dreams in Shards. Sweet, with a hint of snark - that's our Rubes, alright. };)

For Ruby's influences, I went with 90's teen high school cliches, with a touch of Elizabeth Liones from The Seven Deadly Sins, with a little bit of The Ghost Of Christmas Present from the movie Scrooged! and a dash of Sarah from Ed, Edd & Eddy for Dark Ruby.

{SPOILER}

Each one of these files will get a spoiler for the upcoming, unpublished story; read at your own risk.

A character with such a hopeful and determined disposition as Ruby's never stays dead for long. };)

Comments

[Truthseeker]

Ruby was such a sweetheart. I cried when she was murdered.