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Solar Empire

The main opponent of the PHL and humanity as a whole, they are a corrupted version of the Equestria we know. Their cheery demeanor hides a deeply racist and xenocidal society led by their 'goddess' queen Celestia. While their warfare capabilites during the Conversion War amount to Newfoal rushes and outdated tactics (by human standards), their Barrier have proven to be more than a match for even the strongest of humanity's weapons.

    Queen Celestia 

HM Queen Celestia

The main antagonist of the story. Commonly referred to as the Solar Tyrant, the xenocidal alicorn despot of TCB Equestria is engaged in a crusade to "save" the Earth from humanity.

  • A God Am I: In sharp contrast to Princess Celestia, who makes an effort to be loved by her citizens through her own actions.
  • All Part of the Show: She attempts to prevent an alliance between Earth and Prime Equestria by claiming her fight with Luna is just an exhibition to show humanity just how outclassed it is against alicorns.
  • Big Bad: In contrast to Prime Princess Celestia being the Big Good.
  • Ax-Crazy: It's quite obvious that she is very psychotic. This side comes out more during her Villainous Breakdown.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: It's revealed that she has spies to keep an eye on her citizens. The totem proles are another method of making sure there's no dissent going on.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Where it usually takes a lot to get Prime Celestia to even narrow her eyebrows in anger (though she has been given ample reason to as of late), Queen Celestia's kindness is only skin-deep. Possibly even fur-deep, if we're being charitable. She is very quick to apply force when honeyed words fail to make things go her way. TCB Lyra even denounced her as an "unnatural brute" during her final speech.
  • Break Them by Talking: When Avatar Queen Celestia tries to prevent a human/Prime Equus alliance, she tries this. It almost works, except that Luna shows herself far more than willing to sacrifice herself, proving Celestia's words false.
  • Crazy-Prepared: She had a feeling the humans would have some kind of ace up their sleeves, so she sent a Mirror Pool clone of herself out to Boston.
  • The Dreaded: To all of humanity (that's not affiliated with the empire). Seeing her appear at the Sleepy Hollow Bureau they're raiding causes the PHL's raid team to have a collective Oh, Crap! moment.
  • Dystopia Is Hard: Though the Tyrant is by no means incompetent, her campaign is putting such a strain on Equestria's economy that pollution and poverty are growing out of control. At this rate, Celestia will soon be ruling over an empire of walking corpses and plain old corpses.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Played for Laughs, when it's revealed that she had TCB Blueblood turned to stone and smashed to pieces because even she couldn't stand his attitude.
  • Fallen Heroine: Queen Celestia, believe it or not, was once as genuinely kind and noble as her prime counterpart. And then she got corrupted by the Bag of Tirek until there was very little of her original self left. Her current persona is basically Tirek's puppet, out to kill all humans because Tirek was an Omnicidal Maniac who wanted revenge against them.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Still acts courteous and polite, but it's nothing more than a paper-thin mask for her cruelty.
  • God-Emperor: Princess Celestia is one too, of course, but the Queen puts a lot more emphasis on the "god" and "emperor" parts of the job description.
  • God Save Us from the Queen!: Promoted herself to queen after TCB Equestria took back the Crystal Empire, and she is an evil and horrifying being.
  • Humiliation Conga: Immediately before the battle of Boston, Trixie blows her up and traps her in a collapsing fortress. Then, the first thing that happens to her when she arrives in Boston is Stephan putting a dent in her magical force field with his claymore. Then Discord and Cheerilee both take turns at beating her into the ground, and Kraber obliterates her spine with a .50 BMG round. Subverted somewhat in that the humiliations were inflicted on a Mirror Pool clone.
    • Then, in Calm Before The Storm, she's caught up in an explosion courtesy of TCB Fancy Pants. Again. For the second time in about a week.
  • Immune to Bullets: Until the humans develop new, magical bullets. She can still regenerate very quickly, though.
  • Implacable Man: Even with the addition of said magical bullet. To quote Prime Discord:
    "On top of that, she's stronger than she has any right to be, thanks to our little 'friend' here! (conjures an image of the Bag of Tirek) I'm not convinced she's gonna die easily either. It took more missiles than I can count, two bullets meant to punch through armor that were modified with magic crystals, three beatings from me, a rune-enhanced earth pony and Lulu turning into Nightmare Moon, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and a gigantic enchanted sword just to get rid of a clone of her! (an Oh, Crap! crosses his face) Oh Mother, it would take a lot to kill her!"
  • In-Universe Nickname: She's called the Solar Tyrant and at one point, Corona.
  • It's All About Me: Prime Celestia and Enitan Adebayo suspect this of her. Honestly, it's hard to argue with them.
    Enitan: "Though personally, I suspect that ponies of Equestria do not rank much higher [than dirt]. That Celestia cares for nothing but herself... Think on it. If Celestia valued ponydom so much, would she send natives and Newfoals alike to die by the thousands? If PER are listening to this... think on that, would you? Think about how much Celestia would value your contribution as a Newfoal, to send you to murder children’s minds as they sleep in their beds. Think of how very much she values you to send you to die with no weapons besides potion vials."
  • Kill It with Fire: Comes with being a sun goddess. Her "Ashes of Solaris" spell is especially horrifying.
  • Knight Templar: Absolutely refuses to see the goodness in mankind while remaining stubbornly blind to her own sins. Then again, she was corrupted by the Bag of Tirek...
  • Light Is Not Good: It once was. Not anymore.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Whenever Luna questioned her decisions and actions prior to and during the early months of the war, Celestia immediately made her doubt herself by repeatedly asking her if she "feels like herself" or "needs to see a therapist." Given that TCB Luna at the time had only recently returned from her exile and been cured of being Nightmare Moon, it got her to doubt herself long enough to prevent her from impeding Celestia's warpath.
  • Meet the New Boss: The ponies of the Crystal Empire are forced to mine for crystals under her rule, and kept under media blackout to make them more afraid of the humans than her.
  • Mind Rape: Currently doing this on a global scale to mankind. Has already done so to much of TCB Equestria and the Mane Six.
    • The ultimate irony is that Queen Celestia was the first to get mind-raped by the Bag of Tirek. Prime Discord even theorizes that there might not even be much of her original self left anymore.
  • Moral Myopia: Accuses humans of being barbarians but is leading a hateful xenocidal crusade against humanity and calling it righteous.
  • Multiversal Conqueror: It's very clear once she's done ponifying all of humanity, she'll be targeting Prime Equestria next, and just keep going...
  • Psychopathic Manchild: A commentator on Last Train From Oblivion described her as "little more than a destructive child [...] using the Newfoals and Humans as little more than playthings [...]".
  • Smug Snake: Despite being the super-powered, immortal dictator of two realms, her biggest flaw is that she repeatedly underestimates her enemies' determination to stop her, much to her own detriment. Plus, she isn't even the true brains behind the xenocide of humanity...
  • Straw Hypocrite: No, she doesn't genuinely believe that humans are all monsters or that ponification will help. She was brainwashed by the Bag of Tirek into being his puppet, and is trying to destroy humanity because of Tirek's grudge against them.
  • Suicidal Overconfidence: To the point that it can probably be called her Fatal Flaw. Lampshaded by Fancy Pants in Calm Before The Storm.
    Fancy: "I thank the Maker that whatever it is that has possessed you is incredibly overconfident."
  • Tragic Monster: Not that you'd think it to look at her, but true nonetheless. The Bag of Tirek made its way to her and acted like the One Ring, corrupting her to the point where the original TCB Celestia is basically dead. What remains of her is Tirek's puppet, carrying out his revenge on humanity.
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: Her excuse for wanting to wipe out humanity, whom she sees as monsters.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: To the ponies loyal to her. Then again, she has brainwashed a lot of them.
  • Villainous Breakdown: As she takes more and more damage from Discord during the fight in Boston, Queen Celestia starts losing more and more of her original cocky attitude and becomes an unhinged screaming nutjob who wants to spread Discord's remains all over the city.
    • It's clear in Calm Before the Storm that the growing resistance mounting against her rule is really beginning to test her patience.
  • We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill: Or ponify, as the case may be, but there isn't a whole lot of difference.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Had no qualms with having children used as potion test subjects or killing Child Soldiers herself.

Imperial Forces

    The Element Bearers (TCB) 
Queen Celestia's six right-hoof mares, ruthlessly devoted to her cause.

  • And I Must Scream: Each of them is imprisoned within their own minds, and their bodies are used as puppets by dark personalities implanted in their stead. All the girls have been able to do is helplessly watch as they go around committing evil in Queen Celestia's name.
  • Bad Boss: TCB Applejack is known to be quite a slave-driver.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: TCB Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie still maintain their cheerful, happy attitudes despite the atrocities they commit.
  • Break the Cutie: All of them.
  • The Brute: TCB Rainbow Dash.
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: TCB Pinkie Pie takes a while to remember ponifying Kraber's kids, much to his anger.
  • Co-Dragons: Though TCB Twilight herself is most definitely still Queen Celestia's faithful student.
  • Death Seeker: The real TCB Twilight begs and pleads with Prime Luna to kill her and her friends to release them from their mental prisons. Rarity also attempted to kill herself when she momentarily was able to take back control of her own body. And from what Rockwell has seen, the rest of them are just as desperate to be freed from their prisons with the release of death.
  • Dark Action Girls: They're frighteningly competent fighters.
  • Domestic Abuse: Implied in "Sons of Legacies, Part 3", which states that TCB Twilight used her Newfoal husband, Stalwart Heart, as "little more than a toy." Doctor Fluffy has also said in the comments for the chapter that she made him give her a Rusty Venture, pointing out that thanks to him being a Newfoal, there's literally no way he could have said no.
  • The Dreaded: It's generally advised that PHL soldiers run like hell if any one of them is nearby.
  • Driven to Suicide: Rarity and Twilight (and by extension, the other four) just want to die. Too bad the homunculi that have taken them over won't let them...
  • The Evil Genius: TCB Twilight.
  • Expy: TCB Twilight is basically a pony version of Josef Mengele. Though it was not out of her own volition.
  • Fallen Heroines: It was not out of their own free will though.
  • Fighting from the Inside: According to Kraber, it seems like Rarity is able to do this somewhat, when she once froze in the middle of a collapsing building, while rubble was about to crush her.
  • Lack of Empathy
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: Certain later side-stories such as Shades of the Unsung operate under the assumption that readers are already familiar with the main story's chapter "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and its revelations surrounding the Element Bearers.
  • Mind Rape: TCB Fluttershy's Stare had evolved into being capable of this.
    • It's also what has befallen their real personalities.
  • Not Herself: TCB Big Mac describes Applejack as "a caricature that looks for all the world like her but has none of her soul inside". Justified in that it really isn't her- Applejack, along with the rest of the Mane Six, have been Mind Raped by Queen Celestia, who put artificial personalities designed to be her loyal enforcers in control of their bodies. The real Mane Six are currently trapped inside their own minds, helpless to do anything but watch their fake selves destroy everything they held dear.
  • Unholy Matrimony: Twilight was married to Marcus's ponified brother before his death. Rainbow meanwhile is in a relationship with TCB Lightning Dust.
  • Villainous Virtues: Zig-zagged. Each of them has retained their core traits (such as Applejack's inability to lie or Fluttershy's sweet-talking), but they've been so whittled down to their crudest form as to be essentially worthless.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Flashbacks show them to have no problem forcibly ponifying children. TCB Twilight also killed several children during her potion experiments.

    Weaver 

Weaver (Real Name: Unknown)

A personal assassin and spy of Queen Celestia's, charged with conducting "black ops" the Solar Empire considers too sinister for public knowledge amongst the TCB Equestrians. Though she's a devout follower of the Tyrant, there may be more to this unicorn than it first seems...

  • Anti-Villain: In that she's aware of the evil in her actions but believes it serves a great good.
  • Affably Evil: A polite, soft-spoken, humble lady... who will destroy you, your family and your species if given the order to by her goddess.
  • Appropriated Appellation: "Weaver" is a name first given to her by TCB Sint Erklass after she revealed she was a Dream Weaver.
  • Arc Villain: For Joy to the Worlds. Other than that, she serves as the most prominent antagonist from the Solar Empire apart from the Tyrant, directly or influencing some of the plotlines and having numerous mentions from multiple characters.
    • The Heavy: For Queen Celestia; she is a recurring antagonist, having had more direct influences on some of the side stories, along with the reasons mentioned above. Downplayed, as most of the Spectrum antagonists are limited to a side story/has little influence overall.
  • Aristocrats Are Evil: She is a Canterlot unicorn and a Knight of the Realm.
  • As the Good Book Says...: A rare example where the person quoting biblical passages uses them to support their own non-Abrahamic faith. For example, after she first brings down Sint Erklass, she compares the situation of the reindeer people (who, unlike humanity, are being straight-up slaughtered by the Empire) with Abraham sacrificing a ram in Isaac's stead.
  • Author Avatar: A running gag amongst Team Spectrum is that Weaver is one for VoxAdam, jokingly referred to as "FemaleEvilPonyVox", a term coined by co-author Sledge 115 in Joy to the Worlds. The truth of the matter has been met with Shrug of God, although the writer in question admits to basing some of her personality on his own experiences.
  • BFS: Her weapon of choice is an orichalcum sword that can magically split into thirteen shards.
  • Cultured Badass: Surprisingly knowledgeable about human culture, which she sees as a source of inspiration, even as the Solar Empire is busy wiping out all trace of mankind's existence.
  • Cursed with Awesome: Her personal inner demon makes her partially immune to Tirek's brainwashing... meaning she's doing this more or less of her own free will.
  • Depression: Suffers from melancholia, or clinical depression, which she calls her "black dog". In his final moments, Sint speculates this may have driven her insane and over the Despair Event Horizon, turning her into the murderous fanatic for Celestia she is now.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Weaver succeeds in killing Sint Erklass, the oldest living being on Equus.
  • The Dreaded: To the Equestrian Resistance. Even other Imperials are a little afraid of her, mostly likely due to her choice of attire.
  • Dream Weaver: Has the ability to create and control dreams, a fairly rare talent in Equestria since Luna's exile a thousand years ago.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Even she can't stand looking into Pineapple Cutter's thoughts for very long. Not helping matters is that Pina has a natural immunity to mind games.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Stephan Bauer and the Blue Spy.
  • Expy: A courteous, sword-wielding assassin who knows they can't live in the "better" world they want to bring about? Word of Vox confirms that Weaver is based in part on The Operative.
  • Implacable Man: No matter what Sint throws at her as they fight, she keeps coming back for more.
  • I Owe You My Life: Having lost her mask and cloak in the explosion, her face becomes known to Crumpit, the pegasus captain who saved her while she was falling. Rather than invoke He Knows Too Much and kill him off, she lets him go with a caution (though she may well have erased his memories afterwards).
  • Knight Templar: Her awareness that she isn't a good person doesn't stop her from seeing her cause itself as still just.
  • Lady of War: For a Canterlot aristocrat, she's very good at handling herself in a no-holds-barred duel.
  • Light Is Not Good: The color of her coat is white, and some of those who glimpse it describe her as "the pale mare".
  • Malevolent Masked Men: She wears a mask to protect her identity while committing her crimes. It's shaped like the upper half of a human face.
  • The Men First: Following the explosion of the "North Pole" mountain on Equus (which, admittedly, she herself caused), Weaver ignores her own wounds to provide treatment for the injured soldiers under her command. This sharply contrasts the lack of concern felt by most Imperials for collateral damage both times Celestia got caught in an explosion.
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: Whatever her personal feelings on the subject, this mare will carry out Queen Celestia's orders one way or another. Although sometimes, she does herself leave room for personal initiative.
  • Necessarily Evil: Sincerely convinced that Celestia is paving the way towards a brighter future for humanity and ponykind, yet also believes it will require sacrificing a lot, including her own soul.
  • No Place for Me There: She is well aware that she could never belong in the ideal world she seeks to create, and has already accepted that she will need to remove herself from the picture once the Empire's crusade is done.
  • Obliviously Evil: Played with. She sees herself as unworthy of continuing to exist once her work of "bringing harmony" to humanity is complete, yet seems willfully blind to the fact that her cause is in and of itself evil. She also doesn't seem to quite realize the horrible consequences the war has had on TCB Equestria itself.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Joy to the Worlds' narration never refers to her by name, except towards the end when she adopts the codename "Weaver".
  • Pure Is Not Good: Much to Sint's dismay, her genuine, untainted love for Celestia and the human race alike allow her to draw from the mystical zodiac atop the North Pole to power her magical capacity.
  • Red Baron: Some of the ponies she commandeers only know her as "Celestia's Sword". By the end of the story, she herself adopts the nickname "Weaver".
  • The Spook: Next to nothing is known about who she is, or her past.
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: Will kill anyone her goddess orders her to create a more harmonious world.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Briefly undergoes one when Sint calls upon the magic of the mountain to rebuff her attack, but she soon gets over it and accordingly adapts to the situation.
  • Villainous Valor: Chooses not to lie to the Tyrant about the escape of Sint and his grandchildren, knowing she will be punished for this failure.
  • Villain Protagonist: The Deuteragonist of Joy to the Worlds alongside TCB Sint Erklass.
  • Visionary Villain: She genuinely wants to create a better and more harmonious world for all.
  • Warrior Monk: Not part of any official order, but she worships Celestia as her god and leads a relatively ascetic lifestyle.
  • White Mask of Doom: Inverted in that she's a white unicorn wearing a flesh-colored mask.
  • Worthy Opponent: Unlike many Imperials, Weaver never shows any sign of hating mankind or pro-human ponies. While offhandedly mentioning Lyra Heartstrings to one of her subordinates, she even wonders if he'll notice the lack of scorn in her voice.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Disturbingly, she sees it as her task to do reprehensible actions like this precisely so other ponies don't need to get their hooves dirty.

    Head Warden Iustita 

Iustita

The head warden of the largest prison camp in the Solar Empire, located right next to the Crystal Empire. She maintains order in the prison along with the help of her Royal Guard subordinates and her newfoal lover New Bloom through especially brutal means.

  • Black-and-White Insanity: Is absolutely convinced she and the Imperials are flawlessly good and anyone against that is completely evil.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: If the dialogue from an in-universe interview with her is anything to go by, she actually was paranoid over the Crystal War and Celestia's policies for a while, only to wake up one day and "see the light and truth".
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: She's quick to anger, and when her newfoal lover New Bloom passes out from the strain of pushing himself to remember his human identity, she immediately singles Inkwell out as a suspect.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: It's clear she wears the pants in her relationship with New Bloom. Justified, as New Bloom, being a Newfoal and thus, is an Extreme Doormat, she kind of has to. Though it's also implied that she simply likes how passive and malleable he is.
  • Meaningful Name: Her name is one letter away from the name of the Roman goddess of justice Iustitia, AKA Lady Justice.
  • Tautological Templar: She's convinced everything she does for the Empire is in the name of justice.
  • Wardens Are Evil: Not only is she abusive towards the prisoners, but it's also heavily implied that she's abusive to New Bloom too.
  • With Us or Against Us: You're either on the side of justice (or rather, her twisted definition of justice), or you're her enemy. Heaven help you if she believes you're on the latter side.

    Prism Flash (TCB) 

Prism Flash

TCB Rainbow Dash's father, who's only appeared in Last Train so far. It has not been a good day to be him.

The Newfoals

    In General 
Humans transformed into ponies by the ponification serum. They are unflinchingly and completely loyal to Queen Celestia. They really don't have much in the way of individuality, personality, or brain function, so it's fair game to list them as a singular entity.

  • Big Stupid Doo Doo Head: Any insults they hurl out will amount to this, due to their Magical Profanity Filter.
  • Berserk Button: They may be Extreme Doormats, but they'll at least try to kick your butt if you insult Queen Celestia, harm one of the TCB Elements, or say anything negative about Equestria.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: They're unshakable fanatics for the Queen.
  • Cannon Fodder: Anytime they're out in battle, they'll ponify every human they see, and will often get used as meat shields. Queen Celestia plans to take it a step further by modifying the potion to turn them into an army of soldiers.
  • Creative Sterility: Newfoals can't get cutie marks. Unlike the "Dearth" of cutie marks suffered by native Equestrians, however, there is some In-Universe Fridge Brilliance for this: the Newfoals, by their very nature, are Extreme Doormats that are so utterly drained of any kind of free will that it's questionable if they even have any kind of higher brain function, so there's no possible way they'd be able to make that realization of their talents.
  • Creepy Child: Human children transformed into Newfoals have the same empty, glassy-eyed smiles and general creepiness of any other Newfoal.
    • In Starvation, it's mentioned that Button's mom hates working with Newfoal children. Acevedo even expresses disbelief that she had more patience for her obnoxious and accident prone son than she does for the zombie-like shells of formerly human children. Even Button is shocked by it. It doesn't help that the unicorns kept trying to stab her all the time, forcing her to get protective gear for herself.
  • Damage Sponge: A non-video game example, but they count as human forces generally have to hit them with ridiculous amounts of dakka until they finally drop dead.
  • Do Not Call Me "Paul": They hate being reminded of their former human selves, as shown with Stalwart Heart, who did not take kindly to being called by his old human name Jacob.
  • Elite Mooks: Certain Newfoals such as Stalwart Heart and Focus Ray seem to possess a slightly higher degree of cunning than the others. Later on, in Last Train From Oblivion, TCB Twilight makes a new ponification serum designed specifically to make these types of Newfoals. One result of this modified potion is Nepenthe.
  • Emergency Transformation: At first, many people took the potion as a cure for their medical conditions. Needless to say, the costs far outweigh the benefits.
  • Even the Dog Is Ashamed: Even several natural born Equestrian ponies (who have also been brainwashed, mind you) don't like them. Still, they don't talk about it lest they get sent to one of the Solar Empire's gulags or to a re-education center.
  • Extreme Doormat: They're so completely drained of any kind of free will that Acevedo actually wonders if they even possess any kind of higher brain functioning. Prime Twilight herself notes that the native-born ponies can treat them with utter contempt, and they wouldn't object. They'll also literally work themselves to death if they aren't told to take a break.
  • Fantastic Slur: While they're subject to many of the slurs that native Equestrians get, ("Geldos," "Merry-Go-Round Toys," among others) they're also infrequently referred to as "zombies" by characters such as Acevedo, Kraber and Rockwell due to their lack of free will and the way they descend upon the resistance in ruthlessly determined droves.
  • Feel No Pain: They can keep going in spite of their injuries, and during Zerg Rushes, they'll just keep charging at their human defenses, tripping over each other or even their own spilling entrails.
  • Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul: Exaggerated doesn't even begin to describe it. It's more like shattering the soul (literally) and then rearranging the pieces so that it looks like a smile.
  • Magical Profanity Filter: They also completely lose their ability to swear. Exploited by the fact that the PHL base's password to get in is "Fuck that Solar Bitch" and the failsafe code to stop the Yellowstone volcano nukes from detonating (if it gets to that point) is "Celestia is a cock loving whore".
  • A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: The complex lattice of spellwork governing their minds is apparently so horrifying to see directly that it left TCB Fancy Pants vomiting and suffering nightmares for the better part of a week when he went on a Journey to the Center of the Mind of one.
  • Mind Rape: The process of turning into a Newfoal. There's no human left inside, barely any brain function, and they're little more than automatons that praise Celestia near-constantly.
  • Mooks: When they're in the military, they're used as this. They're near-mindless, so they really can't be anything but cannon fodder.
  • My Country, Right or Wrong: Enforced. New foals are programmed to be loyal to Celestia, Equestrian, and natural-born ponies, in that order. They will always nigh-worship Celestia no matter what she orders them to do (like get killed in meat grinder Zerg Rushes), and will mindlessly follow native Equestrians' orders no matter the cost to themselves. They have no thought for themselves, only Equestria. Fleur De Lis's newfoal servants attack her in an attempt to force her to miscarry her child despite all she'd done to get them accepted along natural-born ponies, simply because it was the child of Fancy Pants, a "betrayer".
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Averted. Prince (briefly King) Charles Windsor of Great Britain got ponified and now spends his days singing the praises of the "One True Monarch".
  • Not Himself: The potion completely takes away the victim's original personality, effectively killing them. According to Case Files, the typical pattern is that they grow more and more distant from their human friends and loved ones, and eventually stop talking to them to the point it's like they never knew their old friends. And there's the fact that they constantly proselytize. "War March and Past Sins" delves into exactly why this is; basically, the human convert's soul is shattered to pieces and then "bound in chains" to Queen Celestia's and the Bag of Tirek's will. Even worse, according to the Elder Shaman of the Zebras, it is completely impossible to repair those souls with any medicine or magic; only Mercy Killing them will make their souls whole again and set them free. To quote one ex-HLF member:
    Andrew Silas: "We expected them to just be our friends and family with hooves and fur, we expected... I don't know what. The simplest way I can put it is that we expected it to be them. That they'd be something like the people we knew. Henry, though... you've heard this description a million times, but it just wasn't him in there."
  • Perpetual Smiler: Not only that, but their eyes are also a bit too wide open and rather glassy, making them just a little creepier.
  • Power Perversion Potential: An unusual (and really messed-up) example, because it's not caused by the transformation but more by what the transformation invites. Thanks to the Mind Rape, Newfoals are polite, happy, and helpful to a fault. And, as Doctor Fluffy pointed out in the comments to "Sons of Legacies, Part 3", there's literally no way a Newfoal can say no to a natural-born Equestrian... like Twilight Sparkle, for example. Just imagine the abuse they could be made to undergo... or, considering that we already linked to the Rusty Venture earlier, don't.
    • Taken further in the Calm Before the Storm side-story when aspiring Intrepid Reporter Inkwell sees a Newfoal brothel in Hoofington where they cater to the natural born pony clients' every whim.
  • Stepford Smiler: The only emotion they exhibit is a hollow happiness and the smiles are just always a bit too wide to look genuine.
  • Technically-Living Zombie: They're living, breathing beings, but they're completely drained of all free will, possess no survival instinct and only care to add other humans to their numbers, much like actual zombies.
  • That Man Is Dead: Newfoals don't take kindly to being reminded that they were once human.
  • Tragic Monster: To some extent, due to how the potion warps the minds of the converted, the Newfoals' original human selves are completely trapped in their mental prisons and the only way to free them is to kill them. Focus Ray is one particular case.
    The pain in the words was heart-wrenchingly real, and [Trixie] wondered if it was a scream from the golem that thought it was a pony, or the horror of a man pleading for deliverance from the nightmare he was living. She shivered in horror...
  • Transhuman Treachery: Justified and subverted – most of their original personality is removed so that they can't really do anything else, and there's not much left of their original selves at all. Certainly not enough to consider defection or remain loyal.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Queen Celestia. Anytime they're out on the battlefield, they can get shot at and still keep going, and they have no self-preservation either.
  • The Unsmile: When Canon Pinkie Pie sees pictures of them, she flips out over how wrong their expressions look.
    Pinkie: "They're not smiling! Whatever that face they're making is, it's not a smile!"
  • Was Once a Man: They were all originally humans given a transformation potion, which turned them into ponies and thoroughly brainwashed them.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Aside from happily ponifying human children (some as young as infants), there's also how one of TCB Fleur's Newfoal servants tried to crush her pregnant belly because she carried the child of a "Betrayer".
  • Zerg Rush: Given how badly mind-raped they are, this is about the only tactic they're good for. Normally, they're sent out in large numbers to crush the opposition under sheer weight of bodies, ponify any human they see, and serve as meat shields for the Royal Guard.

    Stalwart Heart 

Stalwart Heart (Real Name: Jacob Renee)

Marcus's brother and TCB Twilight's late husband, whom Marcus was forced to kill after Jacob turned into a Newfoal.

  • Cain and Abel: The kind where Abel slays Cain, and the latter wasn't responsible for their actions.
  • Cynicism Catalyst: Not that Marcus was ever much of an idealist to begin with, but killing his own little brother added another layer of trauma to his psyche.
  • Distressed Dude: If having his very soul broken and bound to Queen Celestia's will and being imprisoned in an alien's body doesn't qualify him as one, nothing will.
  • Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Averted. While his bedroom activities with TCB Twilight is one of the few things the story doesn't go into detail about, the Newfoals' lack of ability to say no to anything is treated as appropriately horrifying.
    • Doctor Fluffy wasn't above making a joke about how Twilight made Jacob give her a "Rusty Venture", however.
  • Elite Mook: Was a higher ranking Newfoal officer due to possessing a slightly higher degree of intelligence than average.
  • Flat Character: He's Marcus' deceased brother, worked for the Secret Services, fell to the potion, got claimed by TCB Twilight for her own, and... that's really all we know about him.
  • Our Founder: The Solar Empire, presumably to spite Marcus, advertises Stalwart Heart as an example of the perfect Newfoal.
  • Posthumous Character: Killed by his brother Marcus.
  • Praetorian Guard: Served as one of the U.S. President's Secret Servicemen.
  • Unholy Matrimony: Was briefly married to TCB Twilight.
  • We Can Rule Together: Makes this offer to Marcus during the attack on Washington D.C.; when he refuses, Stalwart threatens Cheerilee, forcing Marcus to kill him.

    Focus Ray 

Focus Ray (Real Name: Unknown)

While infiltrating the Castle of the Two Sisters, the Blue Spy encounters this tougher-than-usual Newfoal who nearly gets the best of her.

  • Affably Evil: Have no fear, he just wants to make you better...
  • Elite Mook: TCB Trixie is taken aback at the amount of resourcefulness he displays.
  • Fighting Irish: When he was a human. It carries over into his pony form.
  • It Can Think: He's a little more intelligent than the average Newfoal.
  • Tragic Monster: All of the Newfoals can apply to some extent, yet Ray more than most, since before he turned, he did live a hard life and participated in the violent troubles of Ireland as a member of the IRA, and now thanks the Solar Tyrant for "freeing" him from his violent past.
  • Villainous Breakdown: When Trixie manages to subdue him, he has a truly chilling one where he starts sobbing and begging for his "mother", Queen Celestia.

    Flower Pepper 

Flower Pepper (Real Name: Eun-Hee Lee)

A former reporter for KBS News who was among those attending the fateful press conference in Switzerland that ended with her and numerous other reporters forcibly ponified on camera.

  • The Cameo: The Shades of the Unsung side story features a newspaper article/propaganda piece written by her.
  • Deadline News: Her and her fellow reporters' forceful ponification on live TV is what kicked off the war.
  • Flat Character: She was a news reporter, a friend of Yon-Soo's, was Porter's girlfriend, got ponified... and that's basically it.
  • Informed Attribute: She was friends with Yon-Soo (due to them working in the same TV station), but not a lot has been explored on that.
  • The Lost Lenore: For Porter Stanley. She can also count as a platonic example to Yon-Soo Park.
  • Meaningful Name: Word of Kizuna states the "pepper" part of her Newfoal name is a reference to how Korean food can often be quite spicy. Flower pepper is also an alternate name of the Szechuan pepper, which was suggested by a commenter.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her eyes turned bright red after she was ponified.
  • You're Insane!: She screamed at Queen Celestia that she can't force ponification on the humans. She gets subjected to A Fate Worse Than Death for her defiance.

    Nepenthe 

Nepenthe (Real Name: Rio Deneter)

Nepenthe is the newfoal form of Rio Deneter, the first in a line of Super-Soldier newfoals that goes on to give the crew of the CPX-9782 more trouble along their journey.

To see tropes specific to Rio, go here.

  • And I Must Scream: The ponification matrix has taken complete control over Nepenthe's mind. And she is capable of being remotely controlled.
  • Deader than Dead: Implied through magic-babble in "Lost In Dispatches II". Most Newfoals still have a fragment of the original human's soul trapped inside them, which hinders the magical output of unicorn Newfoals in particular. The Configuration Daemon overseeing Nepenthe, however, says that the soul fragments of what used to be Rio will erode completely within a week, implicitly resulting in Cessation of Existence altogether even if Nepenthe isn't somehow euthanized before then. note 
  • Fluffy the Terrible: Nepenthe introduces herself with the saccharine and cutesy phrase "Hi there! I'm Nepenthe, the Pretty Private!". This belies the fact that she's a Super-Soldier with a disturbingly wide sadistic streak.
  • Mook Maker: She can actually create potion on the spot by mixing samples of a potential victim's DNA with random stuff lying around.
  • Morph Weapon: As Nepenthe, her weapons can be dematerialized into liquid metal and reformed into another weapon.
  • Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Every appearance she has made so far is full of Nightmare Fuel and Mind Rape aplenty.
  • Rule of Symbolism: Word of God states that Nepenthe's cutesy greeting is intended to emulate a toy's "Try me!" phrase. This ties in with the repeated theme of Newfoals as toys.
  • Sex Bot: Her other function besides being an Elite Mook will be to serve as the plaything of the Royal Guards.
    • And just to rub extra salt into the wound, the potion also compels her to become a rapist herself, as John Birch learned the hard way.
  • Superpowered Mook: She and the other Pretty Privates are designed to be this. However, they don't appear to be very easy to control.
  • Tortured Monster: The whole point of Rio/Nepenthe's character is to showcase the horror of being a Newfoal.
  • Trauma Conga Line: Her life has been hellish enough that she actually wanted to become a Newfoal. Then she gets her wish granted and it only puts her through the wringer even worse.

    New Bloom 

New Bloom (Real Name: Jazmin Carter)

A newfoal stallion that plays an especially important role in Verity Carter's backstory, and the lover and partner of Head Warden Iustita.

  • Cynicism Catalyst: Seeing her mother turned into a stallion instead of a mare and calling himself disgusting for denying his "true self" led to Verity becoming the hardened soldier she is now and Michael becoming a revenge-obsessed hate-filled murderer.
  • Emergency Transformation: He took the potion as a cure for his Alzheimer's.
  • First Law of Gender Bending: Subverted for tragedy - the ponification potion only recognizes the biological sex of the human convert, and back when he was a human, New Bloom was a trans woman named Jazmin Carter, the adoptive mother of Verity Carter. Needless to say, his original self's family did not take the results very well.
  • Henpecked Husband: His lover Iustita clearly is the more dominant one in their relationship. It's implied at a few points that she also might be abusive towards him too.
  • Past-Life Memories: In one segment centered on him in Shades of the Unsung, he starts having random flashes of memories from his human life, mostly of a crying teenage girl that he feels the strong urge to want to go and comfort. As he pushes himself to try remembering her, the spellwork keeping his "programming" in check collapses and he ends up passing out from the strain.
  • Take That!: A completely unintentional one, but the circumstances behind New Bloom's ponification can be considered as one to Chatoyance. The potion only recognizes the biological sex of the human convert, meaning a trans person's Newfoal form would be that of the sex they were born with rather than the gender they identify as. New Bloom was a trans woman in his human life. Chatoyance herself is also a trans woman who has occasionally expressed Otherkin desires.

Ponies for the Ethical Treatment of Newfoals

A group of natural born ponies lobbying for better treatment of the Newfoals. Unfortunately, they operate using a viewpoint that has significant divergences from the actual reality.

    In General 
  • Condescending Compassion: They generally seem to believe the Newfoals' odd behaviors are comparable to overcoming a drug addiction and they shouldn't be prejudiced against for their former humanity or be exploited for their "eagerness to please", and should be treated with respect. However, it doesn't seem to occur to them that maybe turning these humans into ponies in the first place is unconscionable in itself.
  • Selective Obliviousness: As explained above.
  • Take That!: Their name is close to the infamous animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: They seem to think that they're in a straight Conversion Bureau story.

    Fleur de Lis (TCB) 

Fleur de Lis

The founder of the PETN and Minister of Newfoal Affairs, Fleur is a benevolent mare who is nonetheless loyal to Queen Celestia, unaware all the while of her husband Fancy Pants' illicit activities.

  • Defector from Decadence: After she's shown the true evil of the Solar Empire and loses everything she held dear.
  • Expy: Of French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot (minus Bardot's racism).
  • Foil: To Ambassador Lyra Heartstrings, another good-hearted pony who founded a group seeking to aid humans affected by the Solar Empire.
  • Happily Married: With Fancy Pants.
  • Hidden Depths: Being a socialite and written off as a trophy wife (though she and Fancy do legitimately love each other) meant that no one took her or her little PETN group seriously. She proved them wrong though.
  • Imperiled in Pregnancy: Just in case there was still any doubt in the reader's mind that Newfoals are no more than soulless monsters, the first thing one of her Newfoal servants does upon discovering Fancy works for the PHL is to attempt to kick her in the stomach and make her miscarry her and Fancy's child.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: She renounces the Empire after witnessing her Newfoal employees turn on her husband on the mere suspicion of him being a "Betrayer" and for trying to induce a miscarriage in her.
  • Someone to Remember Him By: Considering she breaks the news to Fancy the same night she discovers that he is a PHL informant and he goes down fighting to save her from the Newfoals that instantly turn against them, it's a miracle he wasn't also two days from retirement.
  • Spoiled Sweet: She's a fashionable socialite and married to one of the richest stallions in Equestria, and is also a kind and gentle soul who does activism work for the disenfranchised.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: Chooses to be Lawful, but only because she thought she was choosing Good. When Fancy makes her see that Queen Celestia was Evil All Along, Fleur rapidly switches sides.
  • Token Good Teammate: For all the Imperial ponies' claims that they want to help mankind, few are willing to treat the Newfoals as equal to natural born ponies, which moves Fleur to step in and try assisting their integration into Equestrian society.
    It would be something of a stretch to say Fleur De Lis was a bad pony. She merely had that unique combination of social connections, ignorance of the world at large, and good intentions that made her position more an unfortunate quirk of circumstance than genuine villainy.
  • Trophy Wife: Subverted. She and Fancy genuinely love each other.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: Genuinely thinks that Imperial Equestria is benevolent, until she herself almost falls victim to its cruelty.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: She believes that Imperial Equestria is still the flawed-but-basically good land it was in canon, and that Newfoals are sapient beings suffering from prejudice from the native ponies. In reality, Imperial Equestria is a total hellhole whose population has been More Than Mind Controlled into being evil fanatics for the princess, and Newfoals are barely more than robots programmed by the potion. She learns how wrong she was when her Newfoal servants discover that Fancy Pants was a PHL spy. Not only do they attempt to kill him, they try to induce an abortion in Fleur because the foal was the child of a "betrayer".

    Berry Punch (TCB) 

Berry Punch

Having quit Ponyville to move to Canterlot, Berry credits the Empire with helping her overcome her drinking problem.

  • The Alcoholic: Used to be, but she underwent a successful rehab, which she claims was inspired by the Newfoals' "overcoming" of their humanity.
  • Blind Obedience: She just believes every bit of propaganda thrown in her face.
  • Condescending Compassion: Gets upset with the Blue Spy for acting rudely towards Newfoals. It's sincerely well-meaning, yet it ignores the reality of how these creatures were created in the first place.
  • Holier Than Thou: Slips into this at the end of her argument with the Blue Spy.
  • My Beloved Smother: Doesn't want to acknowledge that it's abnormal for her daughter to still not have a cutie mark, despite Ruby being a teenager by now.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: She's not so much evil as taken in by propaganda.
  • Smug Straight Edge: She has major shades of a "dry drunk" - someone who has kicked their addiction but still retained some toxic behaviors. And she is quite the Holier Than Thou blindly obedient Empire denizen.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: She gets very huffy and defensive when TCB Trixie correctly points out that Ruby's lack of a cutie mark should be a real cause for concern.

    Diamond-Mint Jewelup (TCB) 

Diamond-Mint Jewelup

A PETN unicorn who's sent to regulate the exploitation of Newfoals at an Imperial military outpost on Earth.

Denizens of the Empire

    Princess Luna (TCB) 

HRH Princess Luna

Recently returned from exile on the Moon, Princess Luna was initially wary of challenging her sister again, but felt it needed to be done when she saw to what depths Queen Celestia had sunk.

  • Big Good: For the Equestrian Resistance (otherwise known as "The New Lunar Republic").
  • Brought Down to Normal: Or at least was very greatly weakened when her sister stole away her power.
  • Cain and Abel: In a reversal of their previous roles, Luna is the Abel to Celestia's Cain.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Or even that dark; her mane turned white after Celestia stole her power.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Her main goal was to bring Princess Cadance to Earth. When she realized Celestia was on their trail, she stayed behind to give Cadance, Lyra and Marcus time to escape.
  • Immune to Bullets: Even after being Brought Down to Normal.
  • Morality Pet: Subverted. Queen Celestia genuinely cared for her sister, but refused to let Luna make her see reason.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Celestia played Luna's insecurities over possibly turning into Nightmare Moon again against her, which made Luna unable to challenge her sister despite her doubts about the conversion bureaus and the war. When she finally gathered the courage to stand up to her sister, she was turned to stone for it.
  • Rebellious Princess: Tried to be one not long after coming back from exile for the last time, though for a far nobler cause.
  • Spirit Advisor: Last Train reveals she's still able to access other ponies' dreams, albeit to a much weaker extent. Luna takes it upon herself to mentor Prime Lightning Dust in the ways of dream weaving.
  • Taken for Granite: Celestia turned her to stone. Unlike when she did so to TCB Lyra and Blueblood, however, she didn't smash the statue.

    Spike (TCB) 

Spike

TCB Twilight's dragon assistant, who has developed a bit differently from in-canon...

  • Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Thankfully averted, but that was apparently Queen Celestia's rationale for making him suffer. Given that she could have simply brainwashed him, it was almost certainly just For the Evulz.
  • Break the Cutie: His friends and family were all corrupted by darkness, his home turned into a fascist hellhole, his species was all wiped out, and that's not even getting to the painful and awful torture he went through for trying (and failing) to save Rarity from the Bag of Tirek's corruption.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: Subjected to it on Queen Celestia's orders. The only consolation is that he's full-grown in the TCB-verse, so at least she wasn't torturing a child.
  • Distressed Dude: A rather nightmarish example, and cruelly ironic, given that he's, well, a dragon.
  • Last of His Kind: He's the only living dragon in TCB Equestria.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He tried to save Rarity from what was corrupting their other friends. He failed, and was imprisoned and brutally tortured for defying the Queen.
  • Parental Betrayal: Poor Spike saw Celestia and Twilight, the two people closest to him in childhood, turn into evil madmares. And then, not only did the Queen have him tortured for trying to escape her rule, but the six Element bearers came to visit and mock him.
    Spike: They saw me here, heard my cries, and laughed... Fluttershy threw me crumbs of bread while tittering at how 'spunky' I was... they weren't my... family, they were perversions, victims that had been... violated...
  • Rage Breaking Point: When he sees Prime Twilight and Rarity and mistakes them for their TCB counterparts. He tries to kill them, but Rarity is able to talk him down.
  • Ship Tease: In the TCB-verse, he and Rarity apparently did have something going on. When they found out what was happening to the other Elements, they tried to escape, but failed and were captured.
  • Walking Spoiler: Prior to "For Whom The Bell Tolls", the revelation of his fate is one of the darkest moments in the story.

The Unsung Ones

A small group of civilian ponies that were wronged by the Solar Empire, sentenced to rot in one of Equestria's largest prison camps. They refuse to accept their fate however, working from the shadows to topple the Empire.

    Inkwell 

Inkwell

A journalist pony from Canterlot and a former member of the PETN (Ponies for the Ethical Treatment of Newfoals) who tried to campaign for better living conditions for the Newfoals. However, his investigations lead him to discover the awful truth and get him into more trouble than he's prepared to take on.

  • Action Survivor: Is slowly developing into this, growing tougher thanks to the hard conditions of the prison camp he's sent to.
  • Audience Surrogate: As Kizuna and Jed R point out, Inkwell is a normal guy caught up in a horrible situation far out of his depths, and also happens to be a denizen of The Empire (but is also genuinely sympathetic due to not being malicious insomuch as he was taken in by the propaganda and just didn't know better).
  • Butt-Monkey: Things do not go well for this poor guy. His segment in Calm is even titled "The Worst Day of Your Life"! And it lives up to the name. The mistreatment continues in the prison camp, where the Head Warden has her eye on him, and his cellmate frequently belittles him.
  • Dying as Yourself: He chooses to be taken into one of the Solar Empire's gulags instead of a reeducation center, so as to keep his own thoughts and mind intact.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Despite his (initial) support for the ponification of humanity, he refused to report his beloved grandfather (who expressed discomfort with the Newfoals) to the authorities.
  • Heel Realization: The first part of his character arc revolves around him realizing that the Solar Empire is in the wrong. His imprisonment would've been a Heel–Face Door-Slam, but he's given a second chance thanks to being chosen by Rockwell and Soundstorm as someone to trust.
  • Intrepid Reporter: Wants to be one. It does not end well for him.
  • Iron Butt-Monkey: Slowly turning into one.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Utters this nearly word-for-word.
  • Nice Guy: Initially misplaced loyalties aside, Inkwell is a kind and amiable guy.
  • Obliviously Evil: He genuinely believed in and approved of the Empire's conversion of humanity and believed this was helping them, at least until he sees the full picture of the matter.
  • Supporting Protagonist: In Shades of the Unsung. He's the "Chronicler" of Rockwell and Soundstorm's stories.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: At first, Inkwell seemed to think of himself as some sort of brave whistleblower who would expose the cruel exploitation and treatment of the Newfoals that just wanted to come to Equestria for a better life and bring about change. Not only does he discover the picture is much murkier (as TCB Equestria is dreadfully unprepared to support a population numbering in the billions), but there's also the truth behind the Newfoals and the nature of the potion...

    Rockwell 

Rockwell

An earth pony stallion who becomes Inkwell's cellmate after the young unicorn is shipped off to a prison camp. Inkwell suspects the old stallion has some secrets.

  • The Alcoholic: He drinks a lot of the prison camp's "home brew" which Inkwell describes as feeling like fiery sandpaper running down the throat.
  • A Day in the Limelight: "Rockwell's Travel Through Darkness", which explores his trips through the TCB Mane Six and Queen Celestia's mindscapes, his doomed attempts to save them, and his encounter with Tirek himself.
  • Bad Black Barf: Inkwell spies him vomiting up a black gunk that reminds him of the ponification potion. Turns out that he was exposed to the Bag of Tirek.
  • Cool Old Guy: While Vague Age applies here, Rockwell's at the least a late middle-aged version of this trope.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Besides the things he went through that led to his imprisonment, he's also revealed to have been bullied a lot in his foalhood and often felt small as a result, giving him his somewhat harsher outlook on life.
  • Defector from Decadence: Though he hasn't had the same luck as many of the PHL ponies who at least got out of the Empire when they still could.
  • Determinator: In spite of all the horrible things he's witnessed and experienced, he keeps soldiering on.
  • The Eeyore: He doesn't show it much, but it's made clear in "A Tale Be Told From an Earth Pony" that he's drowning in an ocean of sadness. For starters, he was forced to leave his wife and daughter on Earth to protect them, his Royal Guard brother is comatose due to Rockwell trying to prevent the Geis from corrupting him, and it's also revealed that he's related to both Applejack and Pinkie Pie and actually did try to save them, but failed.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: He's an Earth Pony who fulfilled his "true potential" - being stronger and faster, as well as being able to use a certain degree of magic.
  • Fantastic Racism: He frequently calls Inkwell and other unicorns "pinheads", a derogatory slur for unicorns. He also is shown to mutter about wanting to brutally maim and kill Newfoals in his sleep, but he doesn't have anything against humans themselves.
  • Grumpy Old Man: What he comes off as at first.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Given everything he's gone through, it's understandable why he's so hard-nosed. He is also shown to have a more caring side to him as well. Despite his frequent put-downs of Inkwell, he still shows care for the younger unicorn's well-being and it seems he only treats Inkwell this way to toughen him up.
  • The Old Convict: A far grumpier version, but he's generally well respected.
  • Nay-Theist: He doesn't hold a high opinion of Celestia, even before TCB Equestria's corruption. He accuses Celestia of favoring the unicorns to the detriment of the other ponies, particularly the earth ponies. He goes so far as to say that she's blind to just how rotten her "little ponies" can be.
  • Nerves of Steel: Bordering on Fearless Fool levels where a flashback reveals that before he was incarcerated, he mouthed off at Queen Celestia and the TCB Elements, and fearlessly called Stalwart Heart (the Newfoal form of Jacob Renee) a zombie to his face. He also isn't afraid to mouth off at the Head Warden of the prison camp and insult her Newfoal lover (whom he calls a sex slave).
  • Noodle Incident: No pony knows exactly how he ended up in prison (in between rumors that he's in for murdering someone with only his left hoof, robbing a bank with only a quill, or for smuggling Luna and Cadance out of the Solar Empire). Until Inkwell discovers that it was because he prevented his brother from being taken over completely by the Geis that took over the Royal Guards, defying Queen Celestia and his unusual abilities being of interest to TCB Twilight that got him in there.
  • Not So Stoic: When the flashback in "Rockwell's Travel Through Darkness" gets to the part where he ends up in Queen Celestia's mind. First, he storms into the castle, screaming at her and demanding that she better start giving him some answers (and growing even more frustrated when she ignores him). Then Rockwell encounters Tirek for the first time, prompting Rockwell to react appropriately with unparalleled horror.
  • The Stoic: Hardly shows any emotion besides annoyance and occasionally glee if he's able to get under Iustita's skin.

    Soundstorm 

Soundstorm

A pegasus mare working alongside Rockwell in the prison camp Inkwell gets incarcerated at. She too has many of her own mysteries and secrets.

    The Headmaster 

The Headmaster (Real Name: Spell Nexus)

An as-of-yet unnamed unicorn stallion working behind the scenes to stop the Solar Empire. He was also the former Headmaster of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and came into contact with Tirek's Bag as well, driving him to great lengths to save his beloved homeland.

  • The Atoner: He also came into contact with the Bag of Tirek, which forced him to carry it over to Celestia.
  • Badass Teacher: A retired one, given his former position.
  • Cloud Cuckoolander: Has some traits of this, mainly around Yon-Soo.
  • Cool Old Guy: Is clearly older than most of the main cast (with the immortals as the exceptions) but can keep up with the best of them.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: The Bag of Tirek used him to make sure it got itself to Celestia. Knowing the sheer power and darkness that relic possesses, it's little wonder the former Headmaster is probably a bit traumatized.
  • Defector from Decadence: He realized the horror that TCB Equestria would turn into and immediately got to working behind the scenes to dismantle it..
  • Double Agent: Only to a limited extent - he helps out every nominally heroic faction in the war, but is going it alone for the most part.
  • Humanity Ensues: He frequently shifts between using a human form and his natural unicorn form.
  • Mission from God: He's shown talking to Faust herself.
  • No Name Given: Is only known as the Headmaster.
  • Psychic Nosebleed: It's clear his constant trips between Earth and TCB Equestria, as well as his constant use of advanced magic is leaving some serious mental and physical strain on him, sometimes leading to these.
  • A Pupil of Mine Until She Turned to Evil: Just to rub further salt into his wounds, Weaver was his student as a filly.

    Sunset Shimmer (TCB) 

Sunset Shimmer

A unicorn that was once a personal protege of Celestia's before a falling out occurred between them, Sunset used a mirror that was a gateway to another dimension, biding her time to get payback on her old mentor. But then the Conversion War came calling on her doorstep, forcing her to put her old grudge aside.

  • Everyone Has Standards: She might not be very nice, but she's downright frightened by what Queen Celestia's planning to do.
  • Not in This for Your Revolution: Her main motivation to join the Headmaster is largely out of self-preservation (and to find a way to ascend to alicornhood herself).
  • Shadow Archetype: A heroic example to TCB Twilight, ironically enough. They were both personal pupils of Celestia's, but while Twilight learned to value friendship, Sunset did not. However, as Twilight fell to the same dark forces that corrupted all of TCB Equestria, Sunset is fighting against it.

The Equestrian Resistance

Another anti-Solar Empire faction, also known as the New Lunar Republic, its membership comprises of ponies and the surviving races of Equus who know well that Celestia has gone mad, and wish to restore Equestria's honor.

    In General 
  • Defector from Decadence: They are rebels against the Solar Empire fighting to bring TCB Equestria back to being a more harmonious and benevolent state.
  • Expy: They're based heavily on the German anti-Nazi group the Kreisau Circle, being patriots that love their home country but recognize their governing bodies have become horribly corrupt. They also have shades of the White Rose to them as well, due to their opposition to the militarization of Equestria and its establishment of a police state.
  • Fantastic Racism: Not prominently so; in fact, the group works with plenty of non-ponies on Equus. But their policy is very much "Equestria first", and some of them are fearful of getting on humanity's bad side.
  • Future Badass: Like their PHL counterparts, some of their membership comprises of side characters from canon having taken a level up in badass. This is thanks to training they've received from humanity.
  • Government in Exile: They're the only officially recognized governmental body of TCB Equestria by the governments of earth.
  • La RĂ©sistance: Being one with goals that primarily serve Equestria's interests and future.
  • The Mole: Aside from spying on the Empire's workings, they also have spies planted within the PHL, and vice-versa.
  • My Country, Right or Wrong: Subverted. They still love their home, and are determined to bring it back to its founding principles.
  • Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Their membership is comprised of intellectuals, the industrial working-class, students, political reformists, and peace advocates.
  • We ARE Struggling Together: Averted with the group's members themselves. Rather, it's more the fact that while they, like the PHL ponies, want to dispose of Queen Celestia and bring her to justice, they also care more for Equestria's interests than those of humanity. They're also less than enthusiastic about the prospect of human soldiers on Equestrian soil, fearing they will indulge in Revenge Before Reason after all they've been through.
  • Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: They fight to free Equestria from the Solar Empire's tyranny, but to the loyalists and even to regular civilians, they're thought of as terrorists no better than the PHL.

    Miss Harshwhinny (TCB) 

Bittersweet Harshwhinny

The no-nonsense leader of the Equestrian Resistance.

  • Big Good: For the Equestrian Resistance. It should be noted, however, that she is a lot more morally grey than many of the other Big Goods in the series (i.e. Ambassador Lyra Heartstrings, Miss Cheerilee Cherry, President Jack Davis and Princess Celestia).
  • The Chains of Commanding: She leads the Resistance, is seen as the head of the New Lunar Republic (and thus is the closest thing to a diplomat humanity has for TCB Equestria), and has killed and fought in the shadows as well. Not helping is that she's also a fugitive and is held in the same regard as Lyra, being seen as a traitor to the crown).
  • Cool Old Lady: A late middle-aged version of the trope.
  • Embarrassing First Name: It's "Bittersweet". Who Names Their Kid Bittersweet?
  • The Exile: Albeit one still living (and hiding) in her home country.
  • Expy: Of Charles de Gaulle.
  • The High Queen: Fills in the role quite aptly as leader of the Resistance. That said, Harshwhinny is taking the long view, and she's concerned about whether TCB Equestria's future should lean towards a republican democracy, or a constitutional monarchy under Princess Luna.
  • I Did What I Had to Do: If it came down to only either Equestria or humanity can be saved, she'll opt for the former.
  • Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Zigzagged. She doesn't mention TCB Lyra during her talk with Cheerilee, yet her organization's perception of the Ambassador ranges from token respect to pitying scorn. Needless to say, this is problematic given the PHL's hero-worship of Lyra.
  • Perpetual Frowner: Always has a sour frown on her face.
  • Shadow Archetype: To TCB Cheerilee.
  • Undying Loyalty: To TCB Luna.

    Maud Pie (TCB) 

Maud Pie

TCB Pinkie Pie's sister, who knows a lot more than she's letting on.

  • Big Sister Instinct: For Pinkie Pie.
  • Double Reverse Quadruple Agent: Has played every side just to advance her goals.
  • Foreshadowing: In a Freeze-Frame Bonus during Last Train's chapter "Altered Status", one empty shelf at her apartment is marked "Meetings With Celly's Ward", which sounds mnemonically similar to "Celestia's Sword".
  • Knight Templar Big Brother: It's implied that the lengths she went to so she could save her sister from the Mind Rape had terrible consequences for all involved.
    Cheerilee: She sold us all out. Just so she could rescue her sibling; even if Pinkie's salvation meant leaving the world to burn, she would have done it so long as she and her sister were left to roast marshmallows in the flames.
  • The Stoic: As in canon.
  • Wild Card: Her only real goal is (or was) saving her sister. Everything else... didn't matter.

    Cheese Sandwich (TCB) 

Cheese Sandwich

A former party planner turned Resistance member and spy.

    Coco Pommel (TCB) 

Coco Pommel

Former assistant of fashion designer Suri Polomare (now deceased), this once soft-spoken pony is now an assassin and spy for the Resistance.

  • Beware the Nice Ones: She's now a ruthless assassin.
  • Undercover Model: A variation on this - Coco was originally a fashion designer and continued to be Suri's assistant during the war. However, she's also a Resistance member and a trained spy and assassin, so she uses her social connections to get inside information on anything useful.


Beings of Equus

Adlaborn

The land of the reindeer, wiped off the face of the planet by Weaver and a regiment of natural-borns.

    Sint Erklass (TCB) 
The "Spirit of Hearth's Warming and Bringer of Gifts" who meets his end at the hooves of Celestia's Sword

  • The Cameo: Appears aboard the Great Equestrian airship during a flashback in Last Train.

    Elsa Erklass (TCB) 

    Edmund Heavensky and Lucie Heavensky 
Two of Sint Erklass's great-grandchildren, whose entire family is murdered before their eyes.

Others

    Discord (TCB) 
As in the show, the Lord of Chaos broke free from his prison after a thousand years, but unlike the show, he found a nasty surprise waiting for him in the shape of Queen Celestia...

  • Admiring the Abomination: Either inverted or played straight, depending on your perspective. Discord admires mankind for how it "thrives on chaos and order in equal measure".
  • Defiant to the End: Fought Queen Celestia until his death.
  • Never Hurt an Innocent: Downplayed. Apparently, Discord sees Mind Rape as acceptable, but letting innocent bystanders die is where he draws the line.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Saves a bunch of palace servants from falling rubble during his fight with the Queen.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: See Thanatos Gambit.
  • Thanatos Gambit: It's implied he placed a small part of himself into TCB Twilight's mind so that he could use her to send Marcus to Canon Equestria, ensuring humanity would get allies to turn the tide of the war in their favor and that his own death would not be in vain.
  • You're Insane!: A rare, mild example from one villain to another. He warned Queen Celestia that antagonizing humanity is a bad idea, because humans operate on levels of insanity well beyond either of them.

    Spoiler Villain 
As seen in the My Little Pony TV Specials, Tirek is an evil centaur (formerly an alicorn) defeated long ago by a human, Megan Williams. Now he wants revenge, and through the use of his Bag (which contains his very essence and all of his powers), the modern Equestria will help him achieve that goal.

Because of his nature as a Walking Spoiler, there are no spoiler tags for this entry.

  • Artifact of Doom: His Bag, which is essentially like his version of Sauron's One Ring.
  • The Corrupter: The Bag will corrupt anyone that comes into contact with it, no matter how pure their hearts are, by preying on their weaknesses, insecurities, and taking their noblest aspects to horrifying and dark directions. Aside from turning TCB Celestia into a murderous tyrant, it is also heavily hinted that the Bag might have also corrupted Luna into becoming Nightmare Moon to bring about The Night That Never Ends.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: The attack on humanity is Tirek's revenge against the entire human race because one single human (Megan) defeated him a thousand years prior.
  • The Dreaded: Even Discord is terrified and disgusted by Tirek and immediately puts his vendetta with the Alicorn Princesses aside to help stop him. In fact, hearing his very name will instinctively strike fear into the hearts of all ponies.
  • Evil Is Not a Toy: How Tirek's Bag works on its victims. It worms its way into their minds by offering them their greatest desires, preying on their insecurities and ultimately whittling their personalities away into nothing.
  • For the Evulz: Topped off with a truly massive case of It's All About Me, according to Discord, who calls the pain and suffering caused by the war "the most colossal act of self-gratification ever seen".
  • It Amused Me: Turns out that he's doing all this not just for revenge, but because he gets off on the pain and suffering left in the wake of the war.
  • The Man Behind the Man: According to King Spykoran and Prime Discord, Tirek is using TCB Celestia as his puppet to carry out his will.
  • Mind Rape: Did this to TCB Celestia and the TCB Elements, and pretty much all of TCB Equestria. And of course, he's inflicting this on humanity too.
  • Misplaced Retribution: Turns out that the Megan Williams of the Earth he's attacking went to a different Equestria (as in Prime Equestria) altogether.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: As the embodiment of the Element of Magic (or Em) puts it:
    Em: There shall be nothing but Tirek, and he will die alone in a lifeless multiverse of rusting automata, and rejoice in that death...
  • Satanic Archetype: To contrast the Light Is Good Faust, Tirek is a red and black centaur.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: He's this through his bag, which holds his power and will.
  • Walking Spoiler: It's difficult to talk about this character without spoiling some very major details about the plot and the other characters.

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