Shards Of Sombra: Quartz · 2:53am Dec 18th, 2021
Artwork by the stupendous Magfen
[ QUARTZ ]
A shard of great artistic talent (though questionable color sense), Quartz is the living embodiment of charisma; he is posh without being a snob, and is a gentlecolt, through and through. When first encountered at his soiree` in Manehattan, Quartz greets Obsidian and Cupcake, not with an attack, but with a polite and eager personality that was not just open to conversation, but quite good at it too. However, in the end, he ended up being yet another tool for Amber, and had to fight Obsidian and company before being taken down by a certain smol pone.
After being put away in a cell, Quartz is next seen again when almost all the (living) siblings are brought together in a bid to fight for Amber's amusement, and is one of the first to step forward to gather everyone together when things go sideways for the mental mare. Eventually reuniting towards the end of Shards with his other siblings, Quartz now stands to become quite useful if Obsidian can get the anti-mind-control glyphs into his able and talented hooves.
[Story Notes]
Quartz is one of the line of siblings that Obsidian has to deal with during her quest to locate and meet all of them. It was my idea from the very beginning to make him the ritzy, posh one; I wanted someone who could fit within the high society types and would be at home among the like of Canterlot's elite. But I wanted him to have a sense of humility about himself, even as he bragged. Something that made him feel more like a fun uncle than a drab, rich cousin. And I honestly think that, should they have met, Quartz and Rarity would have gotten along swimmingly, darling.
Quartz's posts allowed me to fill in more of the Manehattan scenes with the upper crust, since I hadn't done much of that during Siddy's trip to Canterlot; I figured there should be a representation of those in the story, so I put them in here. Lucky for me, it seemed to have worked out well, and I enjoyed writing out his eloquent dialogue as it gave me a chance to flaunt a bit of the vocabulary I was so well known for in school.
It took a bit of getting into the story, but I eventually decided that HE was the one who started the 'Search for the Lost Sister' games; it would be just like him to try to find a way to help his siblings socialize more, and it felt like one of those light-hearted and innocent things colts and fillies would do... even as children of King Sombra. Quartz was always the chatty one, and I could easily see a younger Quartz, getting his siblings all worked up with grand tales of their unknown sister and her great power and deeds. Heh, yeah - kyoot.
His AWFUL sense of color is actually explained a bit further into the upcoming third book; he talks about why he chooses the colors he does, and what it means to him in terms of fashion. Trust me, when it gets to that part, you'll possibly see a side of him that's mostly only hinted at through the story... and I hope it not only makes sense, but also helps you appreciate his own sense of self and the world around him. That, plus the idea of a designer being so popular with such HORRID colors made me chuckle, and almost anything that makes me chuckle goes in.
And to think, THIS is the pony that designed and built King Sombra's armor... as I figured, since there wouldn't be much call for a tailor's touch in the Dark Crystal Empire, Quartz would have originally been a blacksmith. It explains how he can work for the long, arduous periods that Amber put him through. Plus, he's more of a fighter than he lets on until his duel with Obsidian; her mental grumbling about him being a 'harmless tailor' was one of the funnier parts of that chapter for me.
[Factoids]
Oh, yes - there would be no better song to represent Quartz (in my humble opinion) than that AC/DC classic, Big Balls; it's pompous and fun at the same time (even if a touch bawdy), and I feel it gives an accurate idea of how Quartz himself sees the upper-crust fops that tend to hang around him.
The suit in the picture above was beautifully executed by Magfen; I told him the 'garden of vomit' description, and he came up with the absolute gem you see above. I could not have better pictured it in my own head, I believe.
The scenes with him fencing with Obsidian were great, but my favorite ones with him are the ones near the end of Shards, where he and Aqua go back and forth a bit; sibling rivalry, but a touch of fun and camaraderie in it. Enjoyed those.
Quartz was inspired by Wesley/The Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride (especially some of the humour), a touch of Star Trek's Captain Jean-Luc Picard in his more jovial moods, and maybe a hint of the great Gatsby from the book of the same name.
[ SPOILER ]
Each one of these files will get a spoiler for the upcoming, unpublished story; read at your own risk.
Quartz's talent with protection runes ends up becoming an important part of the resistance against Amber's mind control... and he also finds love as well, from a most unexpected (yet not unwelcome) source.
He looks like he is wearing the sixth doctors coat but worse, somehow
static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sixth_4.jpg
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Or an even better comparison, he is wearing the skin of wutville
He looks to be wearing a very dapper and posh carpet and curtains.