Another old character I remember really liking (though I don’t think I posted any of the art I did of her) So I decided to revive her
 
In her original version she was a pony with a special talent for taking care of magical creatures, who owned a magic zoo/rehab-center (I’m pretty sure I got the idea from Paperiapina (www.deviantart.com/paperiapina), back when she first started posting about Simon’s zoo? You should look her up is you haven’t, she’s a really awesome artist ^^). She basically took care of any magical creatures who, for whatever reason, needed to be healed/rehabilitated and released. If they were being illegally kept as exotic pets, if ponies had expanded into their habitat, or if they’d got injured and somepony found them, etc, the zoo would take them in, fix them up, and release them into a fitting habitat far from civilazion. The animals that were unfit to be released (permanent injuries, being rasied by ponies and not knowing how to survive, thinking ponies are friends and wouldn’t run from a poacher etc) were permanently kept at the zoo and used to spread awareness and teach ponies about why owning one illegally is bad, what role they play in the ecosystem, and how civilizations spreading is harming their habitats and such. One of the original zoo-keepers, a griffon with a knack for taking care of birds, actually got kinda partially merged into Kinyume when I first made her
 
(EDIT: Looked through my computer and found an old sketch of the employees at the zoo! sta.sh/01n0vwmqf3dd It’s from 2014, but I don’t remember if that’s the first time I drew them. I’d forgotten most of these characters; apparantly a character with a metallic prosthetic leg is something I’ve been thinking of for a while. And Monster used to be a jackalope? I thought he used to be a wolpertinger; apparantly I cannot make up my mind and have a bad memory)
 
In this version she’s part of my next-gen verse, though she’s not related to any of the canon characters. She’s a hinny (?), named Dust Bunny (Bonus: Three guesses why her mom named her that, and the first two don’t count sta.sh/0cycrguzbvh) Due to her only being half pony, she does not have a cutie mark or special talent; some part-ponies are able to get marks and some don’t, and while it is more common for hybrids to get their mark later in life, she’s now an adult, so she’s fairly certain she would have gotten it at this point of she was able to.
 
The hare-looking creature in this image is her pet skvader (part hare, part wood grouse) named Monster. She kinda accidentally illegally got him when she was a filly; he was caught as a baby by a poacher who was trying to sell him to someone wanting a magical exotic pet, but got abandoned when the buyer realised how much work it was to take care of him. Dust Bunny found him, thought he was cute, and brought him home. And Bunny’s mom, seeing this magical animal that was almost sold as an illegal pet, decided that they should keep it as an illegal pet. (She didn’t actually know that you need a permit to own one, she just thought it was a cute pet to teach her child responsibility. Still, ignorance of the law isn’t an excuse and all) When Dust Bunny became a teenager and realised that having Monster is incedibly illegal, she sheepishly turned herself in to the police. However, since she was still a minor, her mom got the brunt of the legal ramifications, while Dust Bunny got the necessary courses and a permit to keep him. Her relationship with her mom is a bit tense after this.
 
As an adult, she realises that Monster should probably meet his own species and hopefully find a female; since skvaders are really rare, she thinks it wouldn’t be right to just have him as a pet without at least giving him the opportunity to father some more. Unfortunently, there hasn’t been any sightings in a long time, except at the edges of the Everfree forest.
 
Whelp, guess there’s nothing to do except venture into the huge and dangerous forest with no backup and without telling anyone where you’re going!
 
Dust Bunny is really brave, honest and loyal, but she’s not exactly the brightest bulb in the bulb-drawer when it comes to thinking ahead.
 
…
 
Don’t worry she’ll survive. She’ll eventually get out of the forest, meet the rest of my next-gen cast and become friends with Disco Inferno (because, of course she does) and Kinyume. I’m currently thinking that she’ll still eventually still start that magical zoo, since I really like the idea and it would let me draw fun creatures . I’m debating wether or not Kinyume’ll join as the main care taker of the magic birds there, or maybe as an on-staff vet? I know that she would at least visit there a lot, and probably bring her pet thunderbird for events and such there to promote it.
 

 
 

 
Geez, this took long to draw. It didn’t help that the new semester has started and is kicking my proverbial butt, so I’ve only spent a little time each day on drawing. Still, it’s really fun and relaxing to draw a bunch of details, even if it does take a lot of time, so I shouldn’t complain ^^