This is a birthday gift for me drawn by mellowhen, depicting two of my MLP OCs: Tough Cookie and Syntax. Their story can be found here.
 
Tough Cookie is an artifact appraiser from Canterlot, and the current proprietor of the antique store, Curios. Bored of sitting behind a desk and appraising other ponies’ finds, she is eager to make her own discoveries, and thus takes it upon herself to search through ancient ruins and caves to find historical artifacts. Her signature spell allows her to determine exactly how old something is, and she takes her finds back with her once she’s appraised their value. Cookie can be a bit stubborn and hot-headed when in pursuit of her goals, but she’s otherwise friendly, in a tomboyish way, and is close friends with her partner, Syntax. She also has a rather large appetite, giving her a chubby build one wouldn’t normally think fit for an explorer. Tight squeezes are rather common for her because of this, but she always manages to get through in the end out of sheer stubbornness.
 
Syntax is Tough Cookie’s partner, a bookseller, linguist, and polyglot. His signature spell allows him to take written text and translate it into the language of his choice. As he is familiar with a vast number of languages, being able to read, understand, and speak them, his skills are invaluable when it comes to deciphering ancient texts found in his and Cookie’s explorations. Syntax is a taciturn, mellow, easygoing stallion, too well accustomed to the eccentricities of his partner to be too surprised by them. He does, however, possess a dry sense of humor, and his responses to Cookie’s eccentricities can be bantering and sharp-witted, though they both know it’s more friendly jesting than anything else. He doesn’t often admit it aloud, but she’s the best friend he has ever had.