witch hat atelier ponies! here come the magic dads and their adopted children. all of them have trauma! (i know we didnt get that tetia backstory yet but have you seen this series? id be more surprised if there wasnt a sad backstory hiding in that voluminous pink hair)

since im pretty happy with this one, have a wall of text about cutie mark reasoning, some headcannons and other random ramblings below

- first off, the doodles on the left show how witches of each pony tribe draw the seals; earth ponies have retractable ink wands, pegasi use wingtip wands. unicorns pose a bit of a problem here given theyre already magic horses, so WHA unicorns can only perform the most basic magic there is in mlp canon ie object levitation. we will conveniently ignore the question of how they hide their seal drawing when theyre not really wearing any clothes. the ratio of each tribe in witch population is 60:30:10 unicorns:pegasi:earth ponies. due to this unicorns are generally viewed as best witches (where classical unicorns are held above regular ones); then pegasi, then earth ponies, however, this is more a matter of stereotypes than inherent biology traits.

- im gonna go character by character, left to right, note some titbits if i have any about them, and add in my reasoning behind each cutie mark. i am sticking to only one set of character names, if you read a different translated version and are used to another way a name is written…. look agott alone has like a dozen of them, im not writing them all out okay? okay good lets go

olruggio: him and his disaster husband have complimenting designs; i opted to go for that fire and water duality with them, rather than just black and white. so olly has dark red coat against qifrey´s light blue. admittedly, making him a pegasus wasnt all that deliberate decision, he would probably make a good unicorn just fine, but i figured making them all unicorns is predictable and boring, so why not have some fun? he can have some flying, as a treat (we will omit sylph shoes existing in case of this crossover). his cutie mark is a contraption tool inside a flame; both pretty obvious choices, he is an inventor and the one character with an entire monologue about a fire.

qifrey: correct me if im wrong, but i think qifrey is juuuuust a tiny bit taller than olruggio in the manga, so the drawing reflects it. his cutie mark is a water drop creating ripples in the water surface; the water aspect in him is clear. his decision to take coco in is what jump starts all the events that unfold, and his relentless pursuit of brimcaps show he is not someone to, pardon the awkward pun, let the waters stay calm.

- agott: ah. she. my favorite, best character right here, prepare for me going off. unlike everyone else, agott´s ears are perpetually folded (she is one serious and a little bit grumpy child after all), but that doesnt necessarily mean she always feels grumpy or sad. she just prefers using words to emoting, which is entirely fair. i hear all zero of you asking, why isnt she a unicorn? surely the arklaums would all be fancy unicorns (yes, really, i think akrome is the most spread around version of her surname, but like i said im sticking to the translated version i prefer because like, again theres at least five different ways this surname is translated), given theyre one of the original houses, shouldering that legacy. reason is twofold: one, being born an earth pony, the one with a runaway gene (here´s where i point to the cake twins as canon mlp example), enhances her status as the family outcast; gives one more reason for her desperation to prove herself to her family. two, it gives her another connection to coco, something she despises at first but then accepts and even cherishes later as she gets to know coco. and because angst is the fuel that keeps me afloat, here´s a fun twist: do yall remember chapter 23, where iguin starts tattooing a forbidden spell on agott´s lower arm but doesnt finish it? i remember. now, kamome shirahama the series´creator doesnt, as far as ive noticed at least, keep this unfinished spell on agott´s arm (granted its like, just one long line canonically so maybe i just missed it), but to me its way too intriguing of a concept. so pony agott has an incomplete seal on her hoof where you can tell its a seal, and boi does it cause problems to both agott´s psyche and bring unwanted outside attention (you bet there was at least one confrontation with knights moralis over this). she generally hides it under a bracer if theyre away from the atelier. now, her cutie mark is the one im most proud of; a book and a purple bird (specifically a phoenix) in front. the book symbolizes both her personal goal to become a librarian in the tower of tomes, and her main strength as a witch, that is technique derived from studying and hard work. the phoenix symbolizes a cycle of change, of rebirth. she was rejected from house arklaum only to find herself in qifrey´s atelier; a second chance to prove herself. the endless cycle of changes in her life, and she does her best to keep rolling with them. and in her own words, she always strives to become someone better, never content to be as she is now.

coco: as mentioned, coco is an earth pony, an obvious choice for the regular-person-thrusted-into-magical-world characters. she is actually really stoked about agott being an earth pony as well, since agott being so skilled with magic gives coco hope she will be great in her own way one day. brushbuddy enjoys being carried by coco, ponies are fluffy. her cutie mark is a wand, but the tip is a painting stone; a link between her old-new calling of magic finally given a chance, and her past as daughter of a seamstress and her ability to draw perfect straight lines. longing, working towards a future where she can both keep her magic and return her mom from petrification.

richeh: now, like qifrey, i made richeh a unicorn, but unlike qifrey, she is a classical unicorn; that means sligtly tilted ears, longer and curvier horn, and a leonine tail. her trademark deadpan stare is of course included. her cutie mark is an ink wand changing into one of her crystal ribbons, a symbol of her originality and the way she wants to keep her spells her own.

tetia: she has a habit of pronking instead of walking, fitting given she´s the most pinkie pie-esque character in WHA. and also im still terrible at drawing pegasi in flight, but we dont have to talk about that part. her cutiemark is rather simple, a cloud and a rainbow. rainbow for her general disposition and her focus on gratitude, and the cloud for her proficiency/interest in cloud magic.

thats about it! i talked way too much about this, i´ll probably end up drawing some more stuff for WHA.