A list of characters for Rites of Ascension.
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Main Characters
Twilight Sparkle
Princess Celestia's most faithful student, the Element of Magic, and the most powerful unicorn mare in Equestria, magic-wise. Twilight has recently been put under tutelage concerning Equestrian politics after certain revelations come to light.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: She loves anything and everything spicy, including cayenne pepper in her coffee and the meanest hot sauce the griffons can dish up.
- Calling the Old Woman Out: Gender-inverted. Just before banishing her to Ponyville Twilight calls out her mother, Twilight Velvet, on never being there for her and using her as a stepping stone for social climbing, including making it perfectly clear she would rather have had Celestia as her mother.
- Enemy Mine: With Prince Blueblood. She doesn't like him based on his actions at the Grand Galloping Gala, but she's willing to work with him because they both distrust the Inner Council and their political schemes.
- Must Have Caffeine: She needs plenty of coffee to start her mornings, preferably spiked with a bit of cayenne pepper, and nothing and nopony will stand in the way of her getting it.
- Purple Is Powerful: As the Element of Magic and a very learned unicorn mare. It applies even more when you factor in her status as an ascendant alicorn.
Spike
Twilight Sparkle's No. 1 assistant and a young dragon.
- Handshake Substitute: Frequently does this with Rainbow Dash, of the "Fist Bump" variety.
- Secret-Keeper: Becomes one after Twilight is revealed to be an ascendant alicorn.
Applejack
Element of Honesty and one of Twilight Sparkle's best friends.
- Secret-Keeper: Becomes one after Twilight is revealed to be an ascendant alicorn.
Rainbow Dash
Element of Loyalty and one of Twilight Sparkle's best friends.
- The Chains of Commanding: She faced this after becoming Captain of the Wonderbolts. She fulfilled her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt and being promoted to Spitfire's former position... until she discovered the hard way that being Captain or being a Wonderbolt was all that it's cracked up to be, and the stress from it all drove her to drink cider. The moment she receives orders from Celestia transferring her to the Royal Guard, she punches out the subordinate who brought the message, throws him through one of the bar's windows, and shatters all the others with a Sonic Rainboom as she exits.
- Groin Attack: Does this to a poor guard in chapter 27 when he is sent to wake her up with a bucket of water.
- Handshake Substitute: Frequently does this with Spike, of the "Fist Bump" variety.
Rarity
Element of Generosity and one of Twilight Sparkle's best friends.
- A Day in the Limelight: The sidestory Designing Intrigue is focused on her and her activities as Celestia's spy while she keeps up her public facade as a fashion designer (her day job).
- Apologetic Attacker: As soon as an enemy spy infiltrates her home and tries to interrogate her, Rarity outwits and defeats her and lethally poisons her, but she apologizes to the mare afterwards.
- Assassin Outclassin': She plays a bluffing game with an enemy spy looking to force vital information out of her and manages to outwit and defeat said spy and kills her with a deadly poison, Thanatos Tear, for which there is no antidote. And this was done in the very first chapter of her sidestory, no less!
- The Mole: Has secretly infiltrated the Majestics and maintained her cover by pretending to be under the influence of their geas. She's killed one member of the group and persuaded another to switch sides.
Shining Armor
Twilight's older brother, husband of Princess Cadence and co-ruler of the Crystal Empire.
- Barrier Warrior: He possesses magic powerful enough to produce strong and durable force-fields. He later passes onto Twilight his notes on how to make them, which saved her during a harrowing mission in Zebrica.
- Big Brother Instinct: He will do anything to protect his little sister. Even using the Royal Guard to set up a spy system of sorts so he can keep tabs on Twilight during her stay in Ponyville. He's also aware that Twilight's status as an ascendant alicorn will make age a problem, so he makes Spike promise to look after Twilight in his stead, as dragons are longer-lived than ponies.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: According to members of the Royal Guard and anypony currently serving in the military, he was this. Twilight, who only knew Shining's softer side, is incredulous and horrified that her BBBFF could be so brutal, but everyone had nothing but high praises for him because his training methods turned them into efficient soldiers.
- Promotion to Parent: He raised Twilight whenever their parents weren't available.
Canterlot Nobility/Royalty
Princess Celestia
An alicorn Princess who controls the sun and part of the Equestrian diarchy. She is the older sister of Luna.
- A God I Am Not: She never sees herself as a goddess; while she is immortal (only to physical aging) and powerful, she never lets herself be worshiped by anypony because it'll drive her insane and makes her subjects completely dependent on her.
- Berserk Button: Her's is tribalism; as an alicorn, she embodies all three pony races. Duchess Bismare and Twilight Velvet found this out the hard way after they voice racist opinions about "mud-ponies" in front of her.
- The Chessmaster: Is a natural one. She does admit that due to working on her own for a millennium, it is hard to counsel with other ponies, even her own sister. She even considers the current head of the Council to be excellent at this. This comes back to bite her in the cutie mark in chapter 20; Twilight calls her out on it in their next scene in chapter 22.
- Deity of Human Origin: She was an ordinary pony before she ascended into the alicorn she is today.
- Freudian Excuse: She doesn't trust anyone to help her in her plans, not even Luna, because she spent a thousand years ruling Equestria by herself.
- Like a Son to Me: A gender-inverted example. Because all true alicorns are biologically sterile, she sees Twilight as her own daughter. Twilight in turn sees Celestia as a Parental Substitute.
- Sole Survivor: She and Luna are the only living alicorns. There used to be 12 others, each reigning over a nation of their own, but none of them survived Discord's reign. (In this continuity, Cadence is a "winged unicorn" — a pegasus/unicorn hybrid, not an alicorn.)
- Unskilled, but Strong: Celestia is more powerful than Luna in regards to magic, but she doesn't have anything in her arsenal other than "burn everything in sight". Case in point - a powerful sun spell she used against Discord turned an entire area (ponies and all) into shiny glass. Luna calls her a "one-trick" pony in this regard.
- Wham Line: Spouts the biggest one in chapter 1:Celestia: Twilight Sparkle, welcome to the alicorn race.
- You Know I'm Black, Right?: The reason why Celestia is unhappy with the term 'mud-pony'. Alicorns embody all three tribes - unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. It's not really played for laughs either time that Berserk Button has been hit (aside from the audience laughing at an idiot getting their comeuppance).
Princess Luna
An alicorn Princess who controls the moon and part of the Equestrian diarchy. She is the younger sister of Celestia.
- The Ageless: Is immune to physical aging as a full alicorn, but is still susceptible to injuries and sicknesses as anypony.
- Dark Is Not Evil: As the alicorn of the night. She's a bit of a hard-ass and her true form is the terrifying "Nightmare Moon", but she is benevolent all the same.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Has been frequently kept out of the know regarding Celestia's long-term plans, much to Luna's extreme annoyance. It had gotten to the point where she ruins Celestia's plans to turn Shining Armor into a populist voice by inducting him into the Night Guard as its High Cardinal (i.e. leader), just because she had gotten very tired of being left in the dark.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Luna pulls this on Celestia after Shining Armor is fired from command of the Royal Guard by inducting him as the leader of her Night Guard, to allow him to secretly continue investigating the conspiracies. Celestia had seen the attack on Shining coming and had been grooming him as a populist voice in the courts, which was central to most of her near future plans, but she didn't tell Luna because they always ended up butting heads over long-term strategy and she didn't tell Shining so he, and their enemies, would believe he was no longer a threat. Not only does Celestia's plan go up in smoke, but she worries that the relatively unsubtle Shining will be caught doing more than is strictly legal for the Night Guard, at which point Luna's crown and authority (and Celestia's own, if she steps in) would be pretty much bucked. Celestia's setup of all this also means that she played this trope on herself, but since Luna acknowledged Celestia might well have a plan but was tired of being left waiting in the dark, she really has no excuse.
- Watch Out for That Tree!: According to Celestia in chapter 3, Luna up and flew into a wall when she started experiencing the mental side of alicorn ascension, which caused her to be extremely distracted.
- Weak, but Skilled: While Luna is far from weak herself, she doesn't have the raw power that her sister Celestia possesses, and instead has actual combat experience and lots of ways to use her own magic to fight her foes without causing collateral damage.
- Willfully Weak: Her "Nightmare Moon" form is her true form. Her canon appearance from Season 2 onward was a glamour seal to keep her own power restrained and prevent ponies from freaking out and thus losing whatever little reputation she had since the Lunar Rebellion.
- You Are Fat: Throws this kind of joke in chapter 3 at Celestia after the latter gives Twilight Sparkle permission to ask any question she wanted.Luna (to Twilight Sparkle): Quick! Ask her how much she weighs!
Princess Cadence
The Princess of love and co-ruler of the Crystal Empire. Her husband is Shining Armor, Twilight's older brother who rules with her. They preside over the "Duchy of the Lost," acting as Council representatives for ponies who lack a formal political voice due to their situation in life.
- Aroused by Their Voice: She's apparently turned on by Shining's new and deeper voice after Luna inducts him into her Night Guard as its High Cardinal.
- Happily Married: With Shining Armor, 'nuff said.
- Parental Abandonment: Both her's and Bluebood's parents died in an airship accident when they were young. Both of them believe that the incident that claimed their parents' lives was planned, even though they don't have proof.
Prince Blueblood
A white unicorn stallion who is the nephew of Princess Celestia.
- It's Personal: It's implied that he chose to preside over Foible Plinth's trial because many of the extremely shoddy and hazardous buildings Foible Plinth built happened to be occupied by children, many of whom were orphans like Blueblood.
- Kangaroo Court: Holds one for Foible Plinth, a mobster who built shabby orphanages and schools. The entire trial only lasted five minutes, at that.
- Parental Abandonment: Both his and Cadence's parents died in an airship accident when they were young. Both of them still believe that the incident that claimed their parents' lives was planned, even though they don't have proof.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He angrily rips into the Inner Council for voting against Shining Armor during his trial despite the latter saving Equestria numerous times.
Charlemane
A member of Canterlot's Inner Council.
- I Did What I Had to Do: A minor version in Chapter 26. As bad as his interrogation of Shining Armor was, other members of the Council had wanted to do even worse, and so Charlemane was "as gentle as [he] could be without leaving an opening to allow another to take [his] place."
Other Characters
Lucid Dream
A unicorn stallion and father of Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle.
- Affectionate Nickname: He often calls Twilight Sparkle "Night Light."
- Funetik Accent: He speaks with a German accent since he comes from Germaney.
Twilight Velvet
A unicorn mare and mother of Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle.
- Gossipy Hens: She's an infamous gossiper among the Canterlot nobility, so much that she makes Rarity, a gossiper herself, look like she took a vow of silence in comparison.
Trixie Lulamoon
- Take a Third Option: Trixie ruins the illusionists’ plans for her; whatever they are; since instead of continuing to run or surrender to them, she surrendered to Twilight Sparkle who the fake news said wanted to arrest Trixie.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Trixie won't say to Twilight Sparkle that she loves her because she thinks Twilight is straight. She also thinks that with Twilight being a future alicorn, Trixie herself is not good enough for her.
