Codex Equus / Tropes M To N

Tropes for Codex Equus
Tropes A to B (Abusive Parents, Adaptational Badass) | Tropes C to D | Tropes E to F | Tropes G to H | Tropes I To J | Tropes K To L (Laser-Guided Karma) | Tropes M to N | Tropes O To P | Tropes Q To R | Tropes S to T | Tropes U To V | Tropes W To X | Tropes Y To Z

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Codex Equus provides examples of:

M

• Macro Zone: Giant Lands are a non-videogame version of this trope, due to wild magic making them spatially Bigger on the Inside and affecting the biology of those living in them to grow to fit the extra volumes. Some Giant Lands have areas equal to Equestria on small islands, while larger ones such as those in the Tauren Peninsula (where half of all Giantkinds could be found) have spaces measured in multiple megacontinents. Jotunnheim, home of the cervine Jotunns, is so vast no one has any idea how big it is.
• Made of Magic: Many such entities are mentioned. They are described as magical Boltzmann Brains, beginning their existence as formless entities created from random fluctuations of the magic field of the world, achieving order and complexity by sheer chance, followed by sapience and intelligence.
  • Elementals are magical entities spawned from natural events and processes, and are the most common magical entities in-universe due to natural processes being generally more energetic and frequent in occurrence.
  • Ethereals are magical entities spawned from magical patterns imprinted/reflecting the thoughts, feelings and emotions of mortal races. These ranges from tulpas and ghosts, to angels and daemons.
  • All the deities in the setting are essentially Pure Magic Being of divine proportions, and many start out as Elemental and Ethereal entities. The big difference is their magic is magic as a fundamental force of nature, undiluted and capable of effecting reality on a completely different level than mortals can.
  • It is strongly implied that the incorporeal souls of sapients in the universe are made of magic as well.
  • Tulpas are also made of magic, being created as living embodiments of the desires, emotions, beliefs, and thoughts of mortals. Their nature depends on what created them, but generally benevolent Tulpas exist, with the strongest of them being created by The Power of Love like Queen Fantasia. Evil Tulpas do exist, however, and people like the enigmatic Medicine Seller work as Tulpa hunters to exterminate them.
• Mad God: There are many deities throughout history who have fallen into insanity, with their behaviors varying as a result of this.
  • After being thrown into the 'Well of Eternity' by the Knowledgeable Sorcerer, Prince Varázsló is now somewhat insane. His vast knowledge makes him perceive things differently than even fellow divines, which makes him easily distracted and prone to going on odd, philosophical tangents at random. His psychic visions make it hard for him to separate them from reality, and it's very common for peopel to hear him muttering or screaming prophecies frequently. Being forced to bear a large portion of knowledge and magic of the universe also made him incredibly serious and stoic. What keeps Varázsló from becoming completely mad is his strong will, which is likely how he survived being in the Well of Eternity for an unknown time. Fortunately, both Kúzelník and Golden Scepter have been helping him control his powers, and Mentálne is helping him overcome (or at least control) his worst flaws and impulses.
  • The Codexverse version of Cosmos was once the Love Goddess of a destroyed pantheon who attempted to defeat the then-evil Discord by redeeming him through The Power of Love. Discord, who saw through the plot, turned it against her and corrupted her instead, driving her mad and turning her into a Draconequus hopelessly and obsessively in love with him, to the point of willingly destroying her own pantheon and joining Discord's side. When she made her return in the present day after escaping her sealing, she did not take Discord's genuine reformation and relationship with Fluttershy, the Kind Redeemer well, and tried to make him love her again and 'finish what they started', resulting in the 'Cosmos Incident'. While unlike the comics she was not evil enough to warrant redemption and was given the chance, she is still quite mad.
  • Caelum Filum, the corrupted form of Moon Ray Vaughoof/Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya, is a divine Eldritch Abomination who became completely stoned out of his mind after taking a very powerful divine drug. He is blissfully unaware to the damage and chaos his actions were causing, but once he is cured and restored back to normal, he gains awareness of what he did and strives to make amends for it.
• Mad Scientist:
  • King Metrinii Lyonesse is this, building all kinds of chemical weapons and devices. His finest creation, the Despoiler Toxin, is a notable example of his horrific work.
  • His brother, King Brachion Lyonesse, is this as well, specializes in creating all kinds of biological weapons, from abominable monsters to horrific pathogens.
  • Crazy Ant is a benevolent example. He outright admits he's a mad scientist, but is generally a good person who just wants freedom to build whatever he wants to without it being used for evil. That being said, he does not like anyone who starts veering into the bad side of this trope For Science!, with the worst offenders being permanently exiled and other countries being shown a magical list of the offenders' crimes, effectively blacklisting them. In his words, he's insane, not "a psycho".
  • Dr. Toxikon wasn't this trope originally, but after snapping he becomes one.
• Magic A Is Magic A: Each species has their own unique type of racial magic, and even two with similar magics have notable differences. Even if other species can cast simular spells, they won't be as effective. This comes into play regarding the development of certain enchanted objects and Magitek: racial magics require that race to have a hand in their creation in the first place. If a species goes extinct, their racial magic is lost, as is any method of replicating it barring a member coming Back from the Dead.
• The Magic Comes Back: Equus' magical and fantastical elements returned with a spectacular flourish during the Third Age of Known History, when the Background Magic Field of Equus (And implied the rest of the nearby cosmos) experienced a massive spike in energy levels, resulting in a highly wonderous age of highly magical civilizations and fantastical races old and new returning to Equus. Even in the current Fourth Age of Known History, there is still enough magic for a world where Physical Gods walk the earth, monsters and demons are common nuisances and threats, and mages work with scientists to solve the mysteries of the universe. While it is still implied these periods come and go in cycles, something occurring at the end of the 'Void Aeon' in the Second Age was a major cause of the Third/Fourth Age period of magic.
• The Magic Goes Away: Equus experienced one of this during the Second Age of Known History - the time of 'Tales Seven' - to the point the technological civilizations at the time considers sorcery and fantastical creatures as myths (And where they did pop out on occasion, analyzed them in non-fantastical terms). It was hinted that a decline was already taking place during the First Age, even though there were still plenty to go around for Megann and the Paradise Ponies. During the Second Age, most of the more fantastical races of Equus had retreated to neighbouring habitable planes and Pocket Dimensions. It is heavily implied that these periods comes and goes in cycles.
• Magic Hair: This is often a hallmark of divinity, especially for Alicorns, who are mortal ponies that managed to Ascend. As they grow "older", the Alicorns eventually develop so much innate magic that it starts leaking into their manes and tails, which makes them constantly ripple and changes so they develop the properties of (or are related to) what each individual Alicorn embodies. Elemental deities have hair that take on the properties of the element they embody.
• Magnetic Hero: Often justified, whether through exceptional social skills, a supernatural ability, or other means.
  • Prince Sparkling Wing is described as such in his entry. As a mortal teenage pegasus stallion, he was rather infamous for having an interracial entourage, which included Griffon and Yak nobles and princes, and an elderly commoner stallion named "Whizzbag". And after he became an Alicorn, he continued down this path, attracting people to him with his words and defusing conflicts all over Equus. Justified, as he had the social skills and silver tongue required to be this trope, and is also a natural empath.
  • Though the "Hero" part varies with each individual, Royal Changelings are known for an aura of charisma that could draw Common Changelings towards them and inspire their loyalty. It takes a considerable amount of effort (like being too much of a tyrant) to spoil it and turn the Common Changelings against them, something cited as one of the reasons behind ex-Queen Chrysalis' downfall.
  • Justified with Emperor Golden Scepter. His entry notes that as the Alicorn god of Leadership, he possesses a divine aura that attracts people to him and and inspires people to be their very best and show off their innate loyalty, courage, and mercy. He also possesses the power to magically boost morale with just a few words, which boosts his own great skills in public speaking. However, it's deconstructed during the Imperium era. As his traumas from the "Twilight of the Alicorns" conflict and other various untreated issues started catching up to him, Golden Scepter would suffer severe lapses in judgement as his worst traits were brought to the forefront. Eventually, he committed so many atrocities and mistakes, while influencing his subjects to do the same, that he became little more than a divine tyrant in the eyes of many of his subordinates; General Aurum Lupus kickstarted the "Aurum Apostasy" conflict by turning traitor and leading a coup in a well-meaning attempt to depose his leader. Once Golden Scepter was injured and put in magical stasis, his Imperium gradually crumbled in his absence (or perhaps because of it) until it was eventually destroyed by benevolent kingdoms and empires to end its threat to Equus. It's reconstructed when being saved and influenced by benevolent individuals, such as Luminiferous and Queen Dazzleglow, influenced him to become The Atoner and undergo a long process of Character Development by learning from the examples set by both mortals and divines. Receiving psychiatric help from Mentálne, the young Bogolenya Deer goddess of Mental Healing, helped heal his damaged psyche as well.
  • Princess Twilight Sparkle, now Princess Amicitia Sparkle Equestria, is described as Cultura as this. Even before becoming an Alicorn goddess, Twilight/Amicitia was a compassionate and friendly individual who was popular even among both non Equestrians and non-Pony races for her approachable nature. This, combined with her natural leadership skills, was what influenced Celestia and Luna to name her their successor. Her intelligence also attracted a good number of deities who are similar to her in both intellect and domains, like Princes-Regent Merula.
• The Magnificent: Many divine and mortal individuals in Codex Equus have titles that accompany their deeds and personality traits, with some being so infamous that they border on Red Baron. However, some do go without titles, either out of personal preference or because of the fact that they hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy.
  • Ruby Heart, a filly psychopomp, is known as "the Confessor" since her role is to literally listen to people confessing their sins. Alternatively, she's known as "the Redeemer", since her goal is to redeem repentant criminals and other lowlifes so they can have a happy ending.
  • Duchess Twilight Velvet, Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle's mother, is known as "the Vorpal Blade", due to her extreme skill in swordfighting and armament magic. Her epithet came from her weapon, a cutlass that is also named "Vorpal Blade" after an old bedtime story she used to read to her children as foals.
  • Golden Scepter is known as "the Radiant Emperor of Ponykind" due to his deep connection to sapient Ponykind and his tendency to rule benevolently over them, as he embodies both their worst and best traits. It's later revealed in a canonized Codexverse drabble that the "Radiant" part isn't figurative - he literally shines like a star in dark places due to his great power.
  • Many of Golden Scepter's sons have awesome titles of their own, thanks to their heroic deeds.
    • Prince Fanged Paw is known as "the Savage Wolf", due to using a ferocious and aggressive fighting style that has been compared to the hunting methods of a wolf pack. However, it's more of a Red Baron title, as his behavior in combat caused people to see and fear him as a "savage wolf".
    • Prince Crimson Star is known as "the Red Scholar", for being a red-furred pony (and later, an Alicorn demigod) who pursues higher learning and other intellectual pursuits.
    • Prince Steel Barricade is known as "the Unbreakable Architect", due to being a skilled builder, engineer, and technopath with an indomitable will.
    • Prince Written Word is known as "the Messenger of Faith", due to being a former priest who is both a badass demigod warrior, and someone who teaches people the value of "true" faith rather than blind religious faith that he himself unknowingly encouraged in the past.
    • Prince Red Blade is known as "the Master of Wrath", due to having taken control of his uncontrollable temper after realizing the consequences of letting his anger run loose, and repurposing it for beneficial uses instead.
  • Prince Stoltur Skjöldur, one of Pokhot's divine sons, is known as "the Shield of Perfection", due to being skilled with shields and creating barriers with his ice magic, as well as embodying the bad aspects of Perfection.
  • Prince Sparkling Wing is known as "The Royal Unifier" due to his background as a Prince, and his uncanny ability to unite hostile factions, countries, and even individuals with his natural empathy and silver tongue.
  • Queen Dazzleglow is known as "The Shining Queen of Kerajaan Cahaya", due to her being a very benevolent queen to her subjects.
  • Princess Stitching Time is known as "the Princess of Time", due to having great power and skill in time magic and, post-Ascension, being literally an Alicorn Princess whose domain is Time.
  • Prince Arcaniss is known as "the Amethyst Guardian", due to being a divine amethyst-scaled dragon that embodies Nobility and Protection, and protects the innocent while nurturing their nobler qualities.
  • Princess-Regent Merula is known as "the Guardian Angel" due to her role as divine guardian and protector of the innocent, and a divine patron of those who pursue the same goals such as police, guards, and other like-minded beings.
  • Mitta, Ruby Heart's older sister, is known as "the Light of Everfree", due to a Guardian who helps lost people find their way out of the Everfree Forest with her divinely-blessed light magic, as well as protecting them from the dangers that lurk within Everfree, such as Grey Hoof and his zombified followers.
  • Because of Scarlet Bell's childhood actions in opposing Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker, two well-meaning yet morally and mentally bankrupt teachers who experimented on foals to mass-produce Alicorns, she became known as "The Whistleblower" in Pferdia. She would later live up to it years later when she would confront her former teachers as an old mare, and provoke Noble Grace into having a public Motive Rant about her intentions in her maddened, desperate rage, then punching Noble Grace in the face afterwards for what she did to Page Wheel.
  • Blue Suede Heartstrings is known as "the King of Music" or, alternatively, "the King of Rock and Roll". However, like his character inspiration, he dislikes being referred to as such as he believes in a higher power that's far more deserving of being called "King", and there are Zebra musicians/pioneers of Rock and Roll who also sing better than him, such as Black Domino.
  • Bossa Nova Heartstrings, Blue Suede Heartstrings' older twin brother, is known as "the Laughing Musician" due to his cheerful and joking character despite being a Death god, as well as being the Alicorn god of Music.
  • Sola Mors is known as "the Courageous Performer" due to being a divine performer who embodies Courage, and being a bold and daring person who isn't afraid to try new things and inspires people to do the same.
• The Maker: The Codexverse has 'Parental Deities', who either created their race or uplifted their chosen race into sapience.
  • Thorax actually Ascended into this, since he 'created' a new breed of purified Changelings by inspiring his hive-mates to follow his example in sharing love. However, he's a newborn infant by divine standards and hasn't yet got to the progenitor part yet.
  • Queen Tiamat and King Bahamut are the parental deities for all of Dragonkind, both divine and mortal. Many members of the Draconic Pantheon consist of their children.
  • Prince Arcaniss, a joint-member of the Draconic Pantheon and the Church of the Stars, is the creator of his own species of Dragons, the Manadrakes.
  • Terraton, a mighty Giant god in the Taurus Peninsula, is the creator of the proud and powerful Gigantes, one of the many Giant races of the land known for their honorable warrior culture.
  • Princess Jiniri, formerly Razzaroo of the Third Age, the "mother" of the modern Genie, and most of her children are benevolent wish masters.
  • King Equus responsible for creating all of Equinekind by giving them their sapience, hence his title "Father of All Equines". According to his first creations, the Thirteen Empyreans, Equus did this because being the first and only one of his kind was extremely lonely and he wanted not only companionship, but for his creations to seek it in each other. It is from him that the Thirteen Empyreans and their own children/grandchildren would help create various species of Equines.
  • Queen Amarelthea was responsible for the creation of the Unicorn tribe as it is known as in the modern day, as she was inspired by her experiences as a mortal to work with King Equus.
  • Satori, born Cha Cha, is the goddess of Llamas and is responsible for creating mortal Llamakind. Once she Ascended to godhood under Queen Mzazi's tutelage, she would uplift the Llamas by granting them sapience. Her entry states that she did so because she wanted beings of her own kind who can befriend and understand her.
  • Sultana Sahra', born Spunky, is the goddess of Camels and is responsible for creating mortal Camelkind. Once she Ascended to godhood under Queen Mzazi's tutelage, she would uplift the Camels by granting them sapience.
  • Upepo, born Creamsicle, is the goddess of Giraffes and is responsible for creating mortal Giraffekind. Once she Ascended to godhood under Queen Mzazi's tutelage, she would uplift the Giraffes by granting them sapience.
  • Emperor Golden Scepter is a god of Ponykind and is revealed to be the creator of the mortal Earthpony tribe, with Peachy (later Queen Rhodonite Mirror) and her husband Chestnut being the first sapient Earthpony mare and stallion, respectively. When Peachy and Chestnut had multitudes of children, he and his siblings would help guide their evolution until they formed other Pony tribes. This is where his title of "the Radiant Emperor of Ponykind" came from, but later changed it to just "the Radiant Emperor" after realizing its racist implications caused growing discontent among his mortal non-Pony Terran subjects.
  • Golden Scepter's triplet brothers, Platinum Crown and Diamond Mantle, are implied to have created the mortal Unicorn and Pegasus tribes, respectively.
• Making a Splash: Some mortals and divines have water-related powers, which is especially true for the latter if they embody Water, though they can still use water magic if it's symbolically tied to their domains and nature. Of note:
  • Pre-Eldritch Transformation, Moon Ray Vaughoof was an Alicorn god of Water and a very powerful water mage, with some of his more unique abilities revolving around healing and purification. With Pride and Joy, he can manipulate water on a finer scale by playing music. By his second entry, he became even more powerful, learning water-based psychic attacks under Golden Scepter's tutelage and developing hydromancy after manifesting his Prophecy domain. Later on, his Water domain turns into Fluidity when he transforms into Caelum Filum, then loses it permanently when he re-Ascends into an eldritch deity, his divine nature irrevocably transformed by a powerful divine drug he ate. While he gains completely different domains from the transformation, some of them still evoke his old Water domain in some way, such as purification through 'baptism', hydromancy, and healing springs that restore broken objects and cure illnesses/wounds.
  • As the Alicorn goddess of Mourning, Cloudy Brush can use water magic, which is thematically tied to the concept of proper grieving. It's noted that she has similar capabilities as Moon Ray, such as creating barriers of water, teleporting through water, and turning herself into an elemental entity made of pure water. However, Moon Ray is much more powerful due to embodying Water and being much older than Cloudy, and is a "prodigy deity" in addition. Under Moon Ray, she learned how to create drinkable water for herself by generating it whenever she's thirsty, which she admits is highly useful. She has also generated water for her painting.
  • As part of her vast magical knowledge, Noble Grace knows water magic; one of its uses is that she can use to manifest a water version of herself (provided there's enough water for it).
  • Thanks to his voracious study habits, Duke Night Light knows water-based spells and only uses them when in a pinch.
  • Prince-Regent Blueblood's specialty lies in water magic, which reflects his duplicious personality. He can generate and change water to ice/gas for various uses, such as creating scalding steam clouds, firing sharp icicles and large pieces of hail, and manipulating existing water sources to create gigantic whirlpools and/or tsunamis as a crowd-control method (though this tends to exhaust him).
• Mama Bear: Many female characters in the Codexverse won't hesitate to protect young children from danger, blood-related or not.
  • Scarlet Bell is one, even though she's an elderly maternal great-aunt. When she learns that Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker have moved to the same country as her by sheer coincidence, she promptly calls the authorities and tries finding Midnight Bell, who ran off alone to try save Page Wheel from them. And when she finds Midnight defending Page Wheel's cocoon from the same ponies, Scarlet doesn't hesitate to protect her grandniece and the cocooned Page Wheel from her former teachers, including punching Noble Grace in the face for all she had done. She would later state to reporters that she doesn't regret doing it after the fact.
  • Duchess Twilight Velvet is rather fiercely protective of her family, especially her children, and would go after those who threatened and/or insulted them. In fact, she's feared for it.
    • She went after those who treated Shining Armor like nothing more than a Baby Factory and "throne-warmer" for his wife, Princess Cadence, since the Crystal Empire is a traditional matriarchy that's ruled by Empresses and (recently) Princesses.
    • She does not tolerate displays of anti-Dragon racism towards Spike, whom she has welcomed into her family, and has been known to verbally cut down anyone who does so.
    • In an infamous incident, she was furious when she learned that the tribalist Children of Platinum faction nearly succeeded in assassinating Twilight Sparkle and Spike. During the assassins' trial, Night Light apparently had to drag her away from the courtroom to prevent his wife from attacking the perpetrators responsible. She was noted to be rather satisfied when she received the news of their final punishment.
      Duchess Twilight Velvet: If Prince Blueblood hadn't gotten to those tribalist nobles first, I would have GLADLY cut them down myself for trying to hurt my babies.
  • When Rhiannon, the Coltic Deer goddess of the Moon, heard of Trench Bull's extremely long history of abuse with the students of her boarding school, she went to the Terran Empire and visited her old friend, Emperor Golden Scepter, in a motherly fury. Reportedly, Rhiannon requested for him to transfer Trench Bull's soul to the Coltic Pantheon's jurisdiction upon the mare's death, so she could subject Trench Bull to a horrible fate as punishment for what she did. This means that Rhiannon felt grateful when Bossa Nova Heartstrings and Sola Mors cheered up the abused children.
  • After learning of Blueblood's emotional abuse at the hooves of his birth parents, Princess Celestia immediately decided to adopt him as her nephew. When said birth parents protested, s Celestia makes it clear that mistreatment of foals will not be tolerated under her roof, and not only had her Day Guards escort them out, she also rendered House Platinum itself Persona Non Grata in her court.
    Blueblood's mother: You can't just take our son!
    Princess Celestia: You're right, I can't. Or rather, I could, but I would never... but I can have the entire child services department do an in depth investigation of your parenting and little Blueblood's home life. And they have declared it, and I quote, an 'incredibly toxic and abusive environment unfit to raise any child.' There is a very long, detailed list of transgressions in their report, which I have read several dozen times to ensure I was not misreading it. My assistant will provide you with the complete transcript. A proper trial will of course happen, but with the evidence provided it has already been declared that Blueblood spending another moment in your home would be detrimental to his mental and spiritual well-being. I suggest you hire a good lawyer.
• Man-Eating Plant: Some are mentioned in the Exotic Wildlife section.
  • The Dangler Tree, which lures its prey into its vicinity with a scent that stimulates hunger, catches them with long, 'dangling' stalk-like carpels which secretes a strong adhesive compound and drags them into its flower-like feeding pods, within which they are digested. While extremely dangerous, they are still cultivated by the likes of Zebras and Changelings for both defense against intruders and harvesting various chemicals they produce for both medicinal and industrial applications.
  • The infamous Ya-Te-Veo is also mentioned in the entry as a distant relative of the Dangler Tree, found in Zebrica.
• Manipulative Bastard:
  • Emperor Blackthorn of the Changeling Summer Court is described as a consummate deceiver and masterful schemer, who had manipulated entire civilizations and even pantheons of gods for his own inscrutable agendas. His sons, the Changeling Kings are more or less chips off the old block themselves, with various places on the morality scale.
  • The entries also strongly imply the Changelings as a whole has this as their hat, for good (in the case of the Seelie Courts) or ill (in the case of the Unseelie Courts).
  • Propagare, being the God of Propaganda, is naturally this as part of his portfolio and very successful at it.
  • Blood Fang, Gleaming Shield/Radiant Primrose's Eternal Foe who's known as "The Dark Conqueror", has been known to manipulate the heroes numerous times to forward his goals of conquering Hyrule. On the other hand, quite a few villains get manipulated by him, too.
    • He turned Malus Tenebris into his pawn by appearing to him as a "god", and "blessed" Malus with great power so the evil usurper could conquer Hyrule and cover Equus in twilight... only for Blood Fang to betray him towards the end and leave him at the mercy of Gleaming Shield and his ally, then-usurped queen Onyx Flare, realizing that Malus's plans would have massive repercussions if they came to pass. This became Blood Fang's undoing, though, as Malus snapped his own neck in spite and despair, killing Blood Fang as well due to having established a magical bond to "bless" Malus in the first place.
    • During the Storm King Crisis, he approached one of the Storm King's generals who conquered Hyrule so he could make a request about a possible alliance, which was presumably accepted. Later on, the general realized too late that Blood Fang secretly set him up, resulting in his armies being utterly massacred and him falling to the combined might of Gleaming Shield and Radiant Primrose. When asked why he helped Hyrule instead of trying to conquer it as usual, Blood Fang responded:
      Blood Fang: Only a naive and mad fool such as the so-called 'Storm King' would try lay eyes on a territory that I called dibs on first.
• Martyrdom Culture: The Codexverse is notable for portraying these cultures quite positively. Especially owing to some of the central themes of the setting, as well as Heroic Sacrifice being exalted in many entries. Some do take it to disturbing levels, even in-universe.
  • Thanks partly to the circumstances of their existence and their obsession with survival no matter the costs, the Changeling Courts possess a full-blown Martyrdom Culture that glorifies Heroic Sacrifice for The Needs of the Many, to the point that many individual Changelings seemed happy with the fact that they are nothing in the grander scheme of things and that they are utterly expendable for the good of the Hives and Swarms. After all, what is one Changeling's life compare to the Changeling race as a whole? It's casually mentioned that hundreds would volunteer to throw themselves down a chasm to build a bridge for the thousands of their fellow warriors to cross and win a war that could save millions of other changelings, utterly without hesitation, if that's what needs to be done.
  Changeling Philosopher Entomo: How many others on this world are willing to do the same with such determination and devotion?
• The Masquerade: The Changelings kept one for eons, but Chrysalis's mad quest for power and subjugation of all non-Changelings, and Thorax's action of seeking asylum in Equestria as well as his Ascension during his confrontation with Chrysalis, caused it to be broken. Thorax in particular is most notable since he has the potential to break their species-wide curse.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Codex Equus is home to both expies of a multitude of characters from numerous franchises, and straight-up ponifications of them (normally if they're Hasbro properties).
• Massive Numbered Siblings: Families with multiple siblings are extremely common, especially among divine families.
  • The Terran Empire's royal family consists of Golden Scepter and his nineteen demi-Alicorn sons, all whom were sired through his now-deceased mortal pegasus wife, Empress-Consort Blessed Skies. This is based on the fact that the Emperor of Mankind had genetically-engineered/produced twenty-one Primarchs, minus the two lost Primarchs. The fact that Golden Scepter birthed only sons had not gone without comment from Trixie Lulamoon, who once visited the Terran Empire and discovered, to her dismay, that the royal family contained only divine Alicorn stallions. The Radiant Emperor himself found her subsequent response so hilarious that he laughed in acknowledgement.
    Trixie Lulamoon: It's nothing but a SAUSAGE FEST in here!
  • All members of the Trimortidae are either siblings or cousins, usually adopted. This often results in the Trimortidae members' biological non-Trimortidae siblings (if they have one) being related to the Three Deaths as well. It also means that the adoptive members of the Trimortidae are related to any biological children the Three Deaths might have sired, such as Armr of the Hoyklan Deer Pantheon, who is the hybrid daughter of Flœrð and Audens Manes.
• Matriarchy: Zigzagged. While benevolent queendoms tend to be very common in Equus, with the rulers being benevolent deities or demigods, patriarchies and mixed-gendered governments/societies do co-exist with them.
  • The Spring Court Changelings are ruled by Empress Blackrose and her daughters, with the large majority of the latter being Queens. They are famous for being benevolent rulers, being the positive counterparts of the patriarchal Summer Court... however, some of them are also flawed, displaying haughty, patronizing attitudes (especially towards Autumn Changelings, who they tend to treat as ungrateful children for "rejecting" their love and protection). Most of them are also racist towards Dragonkind, being willing to shun and mistreat two of their sisters for having draconic traits, when they themselves are hybrids through Blackrose siring them with different races. Even Blackrose herself messed up in huge ways that got even non-Changeling deities calling her out for her wrongdoings.
  • Like in canon, Equestria is ruled by the Royal Alicorn Sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, with Twilight being added after her Ascension. They veer heavily into the Enlightened type, with the entire country being a Sugar Bowl, and stallions are just as important as mares in social and political standing. Notably, Celestia's adoptive nephew, Blueblood, is a Prince-Regent who is the head of the Equestrian Navy and takes over leadership of the country should his aunts be occupied or incapacitated in some way.
  • Kerajaan Cahaya and, by extension, the Glimmering Isles are ruled by Queen Dazzleglow, who is also aided by her sister, Princess Brightglow. Queen Dazzleglow is also the head of the Church of the Stars and its related pantheon, though she credits her father for having come up with the idea. However, the Church's priests and clerics, both male and female, also have a high standing in the kingdom, with Star Echo, the Head Priest/Cleric, having equal political power as Dazzleglow herself and is even magically linked to her.
  • Hyrule is famously ruled by Radiant Primrose, who is a Queen in some lifetimes. However, it's subverted since her predecessor is a King, her father; in lifetimes where she's a Princess, the kingdom is ruled by her father until she is of age. How well her father rules varies with each legend.
  • While Neighpon has been ruled by a male shogun in the past, he fell into insanity and corruption, influenced by one of his court mares and leader of the Hydianites, Matron Dākusutā. Currently, Neighpon is ruled by Empress Nadeshiko, who consistently proves herself to be a Reasonable Authority Figure.
  • The Nature Giants are ruled entirely by mares, with the eldest of them called "Garránbhean". This is because Nature Giants worship Gaea as their deity, which caused them to believe that Women Are Wiser, and thus the mares of their species serve as religious and political leaders in each Grove community. At the head is a Nature Giant Queen who is revered as Gaea's prophetess. Stallions can have political power, but only if there's no legitimate female candidates. However, Nature Giants are extremely distrustful and dismissive of "Tinies", assuming them to be foolish, uncaring pawns of Grogar, who once nearly destroyed Equus's ecosystem for his empire. Anyone who believes otherwise are either suppressed or exiled permanently from the Groves.
  • Prince Sparkling Wing of the Church of the Stars was born in a Third-Age kingdom that was strictly matriarchal, with a Single Line of Descent that only includes royal inheritance between mother and daughter. His mother, Queen Silver Clock, was initially content with having a son and encouraged him to learn magic, having high hopes for him as a potential Sorcerer-King. However, his subjects refused to accept a stallion on the throne and pressured Silver Clock into having a daughter, which resulted in the birth of Rising Sun, causing Sparkling Wing's claim to the throne to be automatically superseded in favor of the "true" heir. Following Rising Sun's death in a war against Griffons, the throne would be passed down to her daughter, Queen Obsidian Star.
  • Since its founding, the Crystal Empire has been a matriarchy ruled by benevolent Empresses, and the customs hadn't changed much despite its switch to the Princess rank system. Shining Armor, who is a Prince-Consort via his marriage to Princess Cadence, gets a lot of flak for being a glorified "throne-warmer" whose only real purpose as unicorn royalty is to produce female heirs for his Alicorn wife. Naturally, this would enrage his mother, Twilight Velvet, who doesn't take kindly to insults made about her children and went after those who spoke of Shining Armor in such a way.
  • Everqueen Naneth's side of Caearnar is an enlightened version. Her side of Caearnar in question is ruled by a long, hereditary line of Caearnarian Deer Queens whose position is passed down from mother to daughter, and all of their rulers are very benevolent in both morality and temperament. Despite this, they get along with the Caearnarian Deer Kings and even rule alongside them, echoing Naneth's co-leadership with her older brother, Naur.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: In the Codexverse, the inherent self-destructive nature of all things Evil and Villainous meant that no evil or villainy is sustainable in the long run, no matter how robust or how successful they are. The inverse however is also true for all things Good and Heroic, as they'll eventually fall to complacency and stagnation that makes them vulnerable to corruption and destruction, although it'll take much longer since they're not as inherently self-destructive. The only examples of evil and good that does not fall to this is when both heroism and villainy exists in a harmonious balance.
• Medieval Stasis: Generally seen in a negative light, and those that are stuck in them are viewed with contempt or pity, depending on whether they have it willingly or not, if not the cause of it altogether.
  • Implied heavily with the 'Desolation Cycle' Theory. The reason why the tech level of pretty much every sapient race in Equus has never advanced past The New '10s over 45,000 years of Known History (For comparison, the Sumerians who were credited as the first human civilization were only 5000 years old.) is due to Dragons constantly razing any advanced civilizations to the ground for their riches. How it works is that the more a civilization advances in terms of sophistication, advancement and enlightenment - and with it, wealth and prosperity - the probability of it attracting the attention of greater numbers of Dragons seeking to plunder it increases exponentially, which in turns increases the level and intensity of Dragon activity and level of association, until it reaches a tipping point where it all becomes certain apocalyptic hordes of Dragons will descend upon it and annihilate it and all other civilizations of the era in rapine and plunder, forcing everyone to start from scratch. The theory is already strongly hinted to be completely accurate In-Universe, as during the brief retreat of Dragonkind from the world by the start of the Second Age allowed Equus to progress to the Information Age and beyond, and the 'Time of Broken Scales' attempted genocide by the Summer Court Changelings is coincided with Fourth-Age Equus moving into the Industrial Age, giving both enough time to progress pass the point beyond the capability of singular or multiple Dragons to destroy them. This implies that throughout history, Dragons are responsible for long periods of stagnant and cyclic civilizations that never moved past the Medieval Era due to their greed. This may also be why Dragon Lord Ember and others like her, and the Free Dragons like Mina's folk, may be the best hope for Dragonkind in the Fourth Age as they have the ideals to avert this trope in the future for the sake of everyone.
  • In addition to the 'Desolation Cycle' theory, there are many other factors that had been attributed to the existence of a medieval stasis, from forces beyond anyone's control, various Vicious Cycles of conflicts among mortals and gods, to a simple lack of incentive.
    • It is heavily implied that the reason why the Dragons are stuck in a 'Stone Age' to 'Bronze Age' level of advancement is the result of the last one, along with a reverence for brawns over brains: Simply put, when they are individually powerful enough to plunder/destroy whole kingdoms and live for millennia with little to nothing to threaten them, what need is there for progress? It is clearly painted in a negative light as a toxic mentality that would eventually do both mortal and divine Dragonkind in unless they change, and they had nearly been screwed over several times because of it. It is implied that King Bahamut is secretly working on changing this with those in the know about his plan, so he could teach his mortal/divine children as well as his arrogant wife, Tiamat, that eventually, the strength of Dragonkind could no longer keep up with the rest of the world to the point where they are left at the mercies of those that were previously terrorized by greedy and cruel Dragons.
  • Ultimately averted for the series in general. Technological advancements are happening all the time, with the recent invention of what amounts to a Fantastic Nuke and resulting nuclear reactor. Equestria also recently constructed an advanced power plant called a T-Storm Reactor, using a contained, self-sustaining thunderstorm as a mass power generator.
• Mental Time Travel: Most forms of time travel create a Stable Time Loop, erases the present with all the lives involved, or create splinter timelines. The exception of this is 'True Temporal Reversion,' something Ourophion, the Time Primeval is the only Time Master on Equus powerful enough to perform. This works by sending the soul, rather than the body, backwards along the 'time axis' to a previous point, so they can make different choices this time around. This is hard capped at ten days, though this is because it's such a difficult feat that even a Grand Primeval can't do more than that.
• Mentor Archetype:
  • After leaving the music industries for good and becoming a globe-trotter, Blue Suede Heartstrings would become a mentor for many individuals, leading to them becoming great themselves.
    • He once served as some kind of mentor figure for Clover, a Second-Age heroine who was a member of the Tales Seven group and was known as "the Humble Seer". It's implied that she developed Humility-based Seer abilities similar to his because of his teachings. This is what partially led to Clover naming him the godfather of her son, Shamrock.
    • He would become one again for a few individuals in the Fourth Age. In regards to the Dazzling Divas, he has personally mentored them, including the previously villainous Shadow Song, which resulted in them becoming far stronger, more skilled, and more experienced by the time they confronted Ivory Towers for the final battle. In particular, he would even become a father figure for Sonic Song and Miracle Hymn. He also taught Three Leaf, a musical healer and former Sunnytowner who moved to Ponyville after breaking free of Pakak's curse, which led to her singing skills improving significantly.
    • In the Third Age, he became the mentor of sisters Melody, Muse, Jazzy, and Rocky after they caught his attention through their musical talents, leading to the quartet becoming extremely proficient in music. It is believed In-Universe that he Ascended Melody, Muse, and Jazzy to demi-godhood with his own Primordial Quintessence during the Third Age's end when they tried defending their country, Mousikós, together from its enemies, the Oceanaiads. After the Oceanaiads were finally defeated and the existence of Mousikós was finally revealed to the global public, both Blue and other benevolent deities took interest in training Muse and Jazzy (who became Princesses Mese and Nete respectively) so they could finally Ascend to true godhood like Melody (now Queen Aoide)
    • He would also tutor Bossa Nova in using his Music domain, resulting in his older twin brother becoming more powerful than before despite not being a "prodigy" deity like him.
    • Shamrock's entry notes that in the Second Age, both Blue and a then-recently Ascended Brightglow tutored him, which factored into his eventual Ascension into Alicornhood. By Shamrock's admission, he didn't think he would be able to do such a thing, and fainted when he realized he actually succeeded.
    • He would take in a young and then-mortal Healing Song as his student after being impressed with the latter's humility and musical potential. By his own admission, Healing Song became incredibly nervous and panicky upon realizing who Blue is, as he worried over how to properly behave in front of the King of Music, though he relaxed once he looked past Blue's divinity and got to know him better. It's noted that Healing Song benefited from Blue's tutelage immensely, as not only his own music-playing skills increased, he got to awaken his long-dormant Earth pony magic in full, which helped him navigate through busy streets more easily in place of his natural senses. It also inspired Healing Song to become a mentor for many musicians himself, and he would continue teaching long after he Ascended to godhood, even becoming an Alicorn god of Teaching.
  • Much like Blue Suede Heartstrings and Luminiferous before him, Prince Healing Song would become a mentor himself for many individuals after discovering his own love for teaching while under Blue's tutelage.
    • During the Second Age, he taught many aspiring musicians to develop their talents and careers, though he would also regularly check up his students to see how they're doing. This led to many of his students becoming his friends, and when he Ascended to godhood, he would embody Teaching as a concept.
    • He would become a mentor for Prince Golden Ash, an ex-Alvslog Deer demigod of Protection, Renewal, and Community. After Moon Ray Vaughoof foresaw Golden Ash as the divine leader of a racially diverse forest realm in a dream, Healing Song approached Golden Ash with an offer to become his mentor, but was initially refused. But after Golden Ash found at his doorstep a group of Alvslog Deer who followed him to Kerajaan Cahaya out of loyalty and gratitude for his good deeds back home, he changed his mind, talked things over with Healing Song, and became his student. Golden Ash's entry notes that unlike the toxic and hypocritical Irminsul, Healing Song is far more open-minded and willing to teach his student things that Irminsul was either unable to or refused to teach; what makes it ironic is that Healing Song is physically blind, while Irminsul can see yet willingly blinds himself to his own flaws and mistakes.
  • Luminiferous, despite his frightening appearance, has been known for nurturing quite a few people who end up becoming gods, or are in the process of turning into one, such as Queen Dazzleglow, her sister Princess Brightglow, Thorax, and Ember. A large part of this is because he's genuinely interested in the potential of all races, and seeks to bring it out.
    • He personally mentored the Glow sisters, who are also his biological sisters as they share a father in the evil Morning Star.
    • Dazzleglow and her three sisters were his students, and all four ascended and became royal founders of their own kingdom, and powerful Alicorns themselves.
    • He took great interest in the newly-Ascendant Changeling King Thorax, and Dragon Lord Ember, because they are willing to cast aside their elders' racial blood feud and become best friends, and thus they have more potential to become full-blooded divines than any of their respective peoples. He has even empowered them twice with divine power, the first time being against Princess Apertus, where he would give Thorax and Ember their future potential to fight evenly with the rampaging hybrid.
    • At one point, he took in a very young demigod, Crystal Prism, to help recover from his traumatic experiences and Ascension, and to help him grow into his own potential. This is mostly because he felt guilty for causing Crystal's death instead of finding a way to save him from his corrupted form, and wanted to make up for it.
    • In the Third Age, he mentored both Princess Jiniri, back when she was the mortal mare Razzaroo, and Prince Sparkling Wing, a royal pegasus who was cast aside by his subjects in favor of his younger sister because his sex barred him from his family's matriarchal line of succession. Jiniri would become the Alicorn of Miracles and Wishes and the Mother of modern Genies, while Sparkling Wing would become the Alicorn of Peace, Unity, Leadership, and Weather.
    • He would also influence Golden Scepter, an ancient Alicorn Emperor from both the Alicorn Civilization and the Imperium of Ponykind, into undertaking a long process of Character Development despite the latter being much older than him, so he can break free from his own mistakes and the mistakes of the other Alicorns. By the time they would reunite in the Fourth Age, Golden Scepter has become a much kinder stallion, and they would ironically become friends.
    • Ascending Dawn, his mentor, would compliment him on this, pointing out that he's probably done more to increase the Alicorn population than some of the leaders of the Alicorn Civilization had.
• Merger of Souls: One theory about Emperor Golden Scepter's origins proposed in-universe by tabletop game writers is that he's the collective reincarnation of various Pony mages, wizards, and sorcerers, which explains why he embodies Ponykind. Golden Scepter reportedly laughed his head off and praised the game writers' creativity.
• Merging Machine: The Chimaera Machine is a device designed for fusing living organisms together by teleporting them together ala "The Fly" (and is in fact inspired by an Expy of Seth Bundle and his teleporter experiment from the Second Age, seeing his accident as a useful FEATURE rather than a horrific flaw). It is considered a piece of forbidden technology on account of the risks of horrific, grotesque results, as well as it being a creation of the unscrupulous, immoral Abominable Alignment faction who ruthlessly sacrificed hundreds of test animals and test subjects just to perfect their machine.
• Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: There are many reasons and ways by many individuals of questionable morality and sanity to try and destroy the world. A few, unfortunately, nearly does so completely unintentionally, thus demonstrating the sheer difficulty the heroic faces in breaking the 'Cycle' dooming individuals, civilizations and races throughout Equus' history.
  • Ambassador 'Screaming' Ninny from the Diamond Dog Underhold of the Rex Dynasty proved to be such a inconceivably stupid, inept and bigoted jerkass that he nearly started a world-devastating conflict between Dragonkind and the Diamond Dog races by insulting the heck out of an unamused Dragon Queen Tiamat. His track record up to that climatic moment REALLY has to be seen to be believed in terms of just how much damage he caused just by existing.
• A Million Is a Statistic: Subverted hard with the Changeling-Dragon Conflict. Despite the sheer scale of the blood feud, involving almost the entirety of the two races/civilizations, many individuals of Changeling and Dragonkind suffered terribly throughout the aeons-long, generations-spanning grudge, demonstrating the horror and costs of the Cycle of Revenge on a personal level. Some of these individuals - Xestobium, Apterus and Toxikon among the most prominent - would end up becoming tragic villains and monsters who would wreck terrible vengeance upon both races, becoming living symbols of the conflict's ultimate consequences.
• Mind over Matter: There are two types of telekinesis shown in the Codexverse:
  • The first type is arcane telekinesis, most commonly used by species capable of channeling their inner magic through certain appendages that allow them to manipulate objects, such as Unicorns and Deer.
  • The second type is psionic/psychic telekinesis, which come entirely from the mind. Anyone who can learn Psychic Powers is capable of this, though some deities are granted this ability through certain domains, usually ones of mental nature such as Intelligence, Mental Healing, etc.
• Missing Mom:
  • Justified with Empress-Consort Blessed Skies, the mother of Golden Scepter's demi-divine sons. Blessed Skies was a mortal pegasus mare, and the fact that her husband and children are both immortal meant that she would eventually be outlived by them, even with life-extending technologies. This would contribute to Written Word's initial Crisis of Faith and increasing feelings of Broken Pedestal towards Golden Scepter, as he believed his father could have helped her Ascend and grant her immortality, yet didn't.
  • Justified with Diamond Bell, Midnight Bell's mother. She was absent for a majority of Midnight Bell's life because she secretly had her daughter transferred to the Grittish Isles, where she would live under the care of great-aunt Scarlet Bell. She and her "common" husband remained in Equestria in the meantime, working until they had enough money to move and reunite with their daughter.
  • Justified with Overmare's mother, as she died giving birth to her. While her father never blamed her for it and raised his daughter with love and care, Overmare - then named 'Velika Volja' - blamed herself for her mother's death and carried that regret for the rest of her life.
• Mix-and-Match Critters:
  • As shown with Discord in canon, Draconequui in general are a divine mishmash of traits from various creatures that usually pertain to their personalities and abilities. How they're created is unknown, but it is possible for mortals to turn into one upon Ascension, such as Pinkie Pie, an Earth pony (though it's heavily implied she's a very distant descendant of one of Pakak's Draconequus daughters), and King Ibrida, who started out as the first Pony-Griffon hybrid Miracle Wing.
  • Though not as obvious as the Draconequui, Alicorns contain a mishmash of traits from various Pony tribes in their true forms, due to them being physical and magical embodiments of Ponykind, and can manifest them individually at any time. However, traits of Pony tribes like Musical Ponies and Sea Ponies are lesser-known to modern Alicorns. This includes traits of the Flutter Ponies, who have since become extinct, with the arrival of the last surviving Flutter Pony, astronaut Star Flower, on Equus after spending years being trapped in space.
• Monster Progenitor: Many powerful monsters and other beings have created their own lineages and races in their own image either incidentally or deliberately.
  • Empress Blackrose and Emperor Blackthorn are this for the Changeling species, the former spawning all the Changeling Queens and the latter spawning all the Changeling Kings. It's later heavily implied that the Changelings were once Flutter Ponies, a Pony tribe long thought to be extinct until the arrival of Star Flower from space, but the 'Love Poison' Blackthorn used to seduce Blackrose transformed them all into Changelings.
  • Many Count Dracoltas throughout history became the first of their own vampiric kind and often also the creators of their own lineages of vampires.
• Morality-Guided Attack:
  • Pakak, being the Draconequus god of Karma, can convert people's good karma into blessings or bad karma into curses. The more of it they have, the more powerful a spell he can perform.
    • Despite Discord being far stronger than him, Pakak managed to rip out one of his fangs with Discord's own evil in the fight that saw Pakak get sealed away.
    • He used the Sunnytowners' sin of murdering an innocent filly to fuel a curse that transformed everyone involved in the crime to become zombies for eternity, forced to repeat the day of their cursing every year until they break their cycle of fear, and accept Ruby Heart and her Cutie Mark. Those who don't repent are stuck that way until the potential end of Known History and Time.
  • Malus Manes, being the God of Death representing the deaths of the wicked, has the ability to turn the evil of souls he's claiming against them, either by increasing in strength, or creating chains forged from their own evil that weight them down proportionally to how much they have performed.
  • Eephus, the Griffon God of Cheating, Poor Sportsmanship and Trickery, can launch powerful baseball attacks which homes in on honourable and fair opponents, battering them and zapping them of their will to fight. One of the many ways the chatty cheating cat-bird fights dirty in battle...
• Morality Kitchen Sink: Black, White and everything in between are represented. Characters often have a variety of complex motives and traits which make them straddle the line and blur the definitions between them. Absolutes are often seen in a bad light, as it implies either a shallowness in moral character or a detached nature that makes them hard to sympathize.
  • Both Temnobog and his surviving children, the Four Terrors, are firmly and unapologetically evil, swathed in darkness... but he's doing this for a constructive purpose, working with his brother to balance good and evil, challenging good and noble to prevent stagnation and complacency, while weeding out the morally weak and corrupt whom he only 'blessed' to be used to pawns to preserve the balance, whom he would punish in the afterlife once they had outlived their usefulness...
• Morality Pet: Many individuals would become these for amoral or even villainous characters over the course of history, often ending up humanizing them in the end. This is justified as one of the themes of Codex Equus is morality, and how people can be influenced by certain people and circumstances.
  • Luminiferous would serve as a positive, humanizing influence for Emperor Golden Scepter after the latter's reemergence in the Second Age, teaching him kinder and more benevolent ways of interacting with his mortal subjects and making him realize that his then-current behavior was toxic and high-hoofed. This is justified in that Golden Scepter had been subjected to a tragically unfortunate combination of war-related PTSD, untreated psychological issues, and immortality-based loneliness before the Known Ages, so when he reemerged in the Second Age, he was essentially a very broken stallion. Luminiferous's compassion would gradually rub off on him and reawaken the best parts of himself, influencing Golden Scepter to atone for his past crimes and seek therapeutic help from Mentálne, the young Bogolenya Deer goddess of Psychology. He would also, because of Luminiferous, ease up on his Fantastic Racism towards Synthetic Automatons and develop a respect for the heroic Automaton, Corona and his sister, Aurora.
  • Justified with Mentálne, the Bogolenya Deer goddess of Mental Healing. Due to her being an adorable young fawn, people who are otherwise evil and/or mentally broken often show their softer sides to her. Notably, Cosmos, the mad Serpent of Obsession, began showing a kinder and more playful side when around her. Of course, since she's the goddess of Mental Healing and Psychology, Mentálne is instrumental in helping her clients heal from mental and emotional traumas, turning them into better people. It was also because of her that Temnobog was able to get the help he needed in dealing with his fawnhood emotional/physical abuse, and that his hostile encounter with his former Elternteil peers was prevented from devolving into a full-blown fight.
  • During the "Temptation Unbound" event, Crystal Prism would form an Odd Friendship with Katastrofa, Ispita's youngest son and child. Because his foresight only lets him see bad outcomes, Katastrofa's normally quite apathetic and nihilistic, believing that he's only good at causing destruction. However, when around Crystal Prism, he would display a kinder, and more creative and intelligent side. This is justified, as it is believed in-universe that Katastrofa's domain of Creation is similar to Crystal Prism's domain of Rebirth, so naturally they would hit it off.
  • Justified with Blue Suede Heartstrings. He serves as one for his friend, Prince Stoltur Skjöldur, because their domains and natures are complete opposites of each other - Stoltur embodies the bad sides of Pride and encourages it to weed out the wicked, while Blue embodies Humility and encourages it to save/redeem prideful people. Blue can also produce an empathic aura that ebbs prideful feelings, making him a very relaxing presence to be around for beings like Stoltur. This is something that Stoltur himself greatly appreciates.
• Morph Weapon: Shift Weapons, a Third Age creation. Each hit converts some kinetic energy into mana and once it builds up enough, it can transform into another, stronger form. Some have a third form they can assume if the charge is built up again. While they died out at the end of the Age, Twilight and Crazy Ant reinvent them in the Fourth.
• Morton's Fork: One of the Central Themes of the Codexverse is that despite attempts made by both mortals and divines to escape the consequences brought about by immutable aspects of the world and sapient nature, they would sometimes end up with the same undesirable outcome. In other words, there are no easy ways out of many unfortunate situations, and not even the Magic of Friendship can solve everything.
  • Princess Luna explains to Crystal Prism in a conversation that the reason why she and Celestia can't just get rid of their reactionary, incompetent and corrupt nobility that's holding Equestria back from much-needed reforms is because of this trope. Even though they're goddesses who can move celestial bodies, they can't rule Equestria alone, so they must hire middle-ponies to carry out their orders and balancing the interests of many without sinking into tyranny. Inevitably, sapient and structural weaknesses in the sociopolitical order means increasingly less worthy elites with greater influence would inevitably have their interests trump everybody else's. This locks Luna and Celestia in a stalemate: if they try steamrolling through their nobility to pass their reforms, the nobility will decry the Princesses as "tyrants" and try to overthrow them, thus leading to more corruption and incompetence if their thrones are successfully taken. A similar outcome will also happen if they let the nobles do as they please in vain hope that at least one or two of them will try improve an increasingly hopeless situation, as according to Luna, genuinely benevolent and principled nobles are becoming a very rare breed with each generation. When Crystal Prism despondently wonders if it means they'll have to put up with selfish, entitled, and tyrannically cruel elites forever, Luna assures him that it is possible to fix this and build a better system that would last longer and work better... though Luna, unlike her sister, is personally willing to use more extreme ends to achieve this result, such as forcibly purging the nobility of its more crueler and incompetent members.
  • Trying to break out of the "Ragnarok" cycles is a horrific example - if you try deviating from the Shadowed Ones' planned cycles in any way, they will receive a Cruel and Unusual Death. If you try not doing anything... you still get a Cruel and Unusual Death, because a few members of the Shadowed Ones, as well as their allies, have a special ability that curses their victims to a very grim fate no matter what they do. This was the state of the Nine Realms (including Cervidia) for thousands of millennia as was decreed by the Shadowed Ones, who relied on the "Ragnarok" cycles both for survival, and to get sadistic amusement from watching their mortal and divine victims die over and over again. Fortunately, their gradual complacency from being unchallenged, as well as various factors that they didn't plan for, would play a huge part in their Karmic Death at the hooves of those they tormented.
  • Upon finding out that a royal Terran chef with Autorist ties, Gilded Stove, intended to kill him with poisoned spaghetti, Emperor Golden Scepter is so disappointed by the pathetic and unoriginal assassination attempt that he presents Gilded Stove with two options: Either tuition under his nineteen demi-divine sons (who are all very angry with Gilded Stove for trying to murder their father) to do a better job, or "do the right thing" by turning himself in. Neither options are good, but Gilded Stove doesn't want to face a horrible death at the hooves of Golden Scepter's sons, so he picks the latter option by surrendering and turning himself in.
• Mono no Aware: A rather prominent theme in the Codexverse, especially considering the time-frames involved. Even across Known History, countless mortals and gods, heroes and villains, civilizations and pantheons both common and great had come and gone, rising and falling across the ages. While victories, infamies and legacies could last for a long time, sooner or later it would be distorted, forgotten and erased by the march of time. All of this contributed to a tone of transience and impermanence throughout the setting. The intro narration of the 'Final Ragnarok' arc sums up this nicely:
  "Someday, even the highest mountains would crumble. Even the largest continent will sink into the waves. Even the greatest empires will fall and highest gods become forgotten."
  • This is not portrayed as particularly good or bad thing, however, and more an inevitability. Indeed, as the narration above continued, while all that is Good would fail and fall apart, this impermanence also ensures that whatever happens, so too, in the end, Evil Will Fail. Some heroic-minded or even villainous type individuals and factions, meanwhile, are fighting tooth and nail to defy inevitability and leave behind constructive, meaningful legacies that would stand the test of time.
• Monowheel Mayhem: Eastern Griffons developed giant 'Battlewheels' in the 'Fourth Age' as their primary form of armoured military vehicles, which despite the unusual design they managed to use to devastating effect during the 'Griffonnian Continental War'.
• Muggle Power: Zigzagged. While in some scenarios beings with supernatural powers clearly has an overwhelming advantage, in other situations Muggles often showed they are not to be underestimated, being able to take on more powerful forces through determination, ruthlessness, cunning and ingenuity to make up for disparity in powers and abilities.
  • Overmare, widely considered the greatest supervillain of the Second Age, is notable for being able to take on her Arch-Enemy Metamare - widely considered the greatest superhero of the Second Age who at the recorded height of her power is effectively a Flying Brick Physical God - despite being by all accounts a mortal Pony with her incredible innovative genius, strategic cunning, a country's worth of resources and sheer, ruthless determination. And she still has time and effort to spare trying to Take Over the World while at it.
  • During the 'Great Wars Era' of the Second Age, a Strigoi from Strussia somehow managed to find its way to Ponyland and began terrorizing a town preying on its inhabitants. Unfortunately for the Strigoi, a working-class Strussian émigré member of the Vampire Hunter group which went after and eventually ambushed the savage vampire brought a Hooviet-made KPV-series Heavy Machine Gun along to deal with the bloodsucking bastard.^note For reference, those things fire 14.5x114mm rounds size of fists which can absolutely shred people and kill light vehicles at a range of up to 4-8 km at 600 rounds-per-minute The Strigoi didn't stand a chance.
• Multiple-Choice Past:
  • Crazy Ant has done this, rightfully knowing that not informing the Spring and Summer Court of his origins is in his best interests. Exaggerated with the fact he made his autobiography a Choose Your Own Adventure story. And even then, no one is sure if any past it details is his real one.
  • Cosmos, the Serpent of Obsession, has once notably announced that if she did have a past, she would rather have it "multiple choice".
• The Music Meister: The Great Song Bird are a species of this. Their song compels anyone who hears it into spontaneously bursting into song when they try to talk, and are rather mischievous. The only way to get one to leave is to beat it in a singing duel.
• Must Make Amends:
  • Elske Titanna, the Jotunn goddess of Love, loves eating sinful realms and kingdoms, but she always makes sure to evacuate the children first. She knows that the children had homes and families in the places she devoured, so she makes up for it by adopting them and letting the kids grow up in her divine realm, where they are immune to all harm.
  • Part of the reason why Luminiferous took in the newly-ascended Crystal Prism as his student is because, back when Crystal Prism was a unicorn colt named "Page Wheel", both Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses worked together to destroy a magic-absorbing monster that was rampaging in the Grittish Isles. None of them knew that the monster was a transformed Page Wheel until after they killed it, and they deeply regretted not looking for a way to restore Page Wheel back to normal.
  • Phoenix King Naur felt responsible for his family's horrific mistreatment of Blue Suede Heartstrings and his own failure to free the Alicorn from his wrongful conviction. To make up for this, he would apologize to Blue Suede and offer him to join the Caearnarian Deer Pantheon, feeling that his own people would appreciate some lessons in humility. Blue would refuse to join the pantheon, but he nonetheless appreciated Naur's efforts to help him out and forgave Naur. It's noted that afterwards, Blue Suede became a welcome sight in Caearnar whenever he visits.
• Mutants: Genetic mutations even get their own entry, with it being noted throwing magic into things makes things a lot more complex.
  • Dreadmares are rare mutated Boogeymares. Dread was a mutant Dreadmare, dubbed a Dreadmare Emperor, with pony-level intelligence and much stronger than normal.
  • In Changeling cultures, mutants are referred to as 'Deviants', and is often looked on with fear and rejection by the rest of their kind due to how unstable the Changeling genetic structure is. Chrysalis in particular hated them due to her racial supremacist views and had decreed their extermination during her reign. Thorax was one due to his ability to shapeshift into inanimate objects, something he hid from the rest of his hive until his and his hive's Purification. His hive ended up gaining it as well, and his brother Pharynx is also a mutant with his natural combat form.
  • As it turns out, Rainbow Dash is one. She's a Rainbow Pony, a mutant with a genetic mutation that lets her metabolize light into energy and mana, which are know for their super speed. However, even by their standards she's extremely fast, though she is unaware of everything the mutation would allow her to do. Luminiferous is interested in bringing out her potential so she could perform the legendary "Rainbow Warp".
  • Applejack, Fluttershy, and Zecora are also mutants, though of a much less phenomenal degree than Rainbow. They possess the very common "Happy Tail" gene, and thus have Prehensile Tails. Happy Tail mutations are also very common in Equus.
• Mutual Disadvantage:
  • Due to being two halves of the same being, Belyolen and Temnobog will never be able to beat the other if they fight. If one gets the edge, the other spontaneously powers up to even the odds. However, when working together something different happens.
  • Powerful artifacts of Harmony, Order, and Chaos like the Elements of Harmony cancel out if used against each other. This is because they're counterbalancing forces to one another: Chaos and Order are polar opposites with Harmony in the middle, while Chaos also represents Destruction and Harmony Creation, with Order in the middle as Preservation. This also applies to the three Cosmic Sovereigns, who created them in the first place.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • In Crystal Prism's backstory, both Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses reacted in horror when they killed a dangerous magic-eating monster that was rampaging through the Grittish Isles, only to discover too late that they killed a transformed foal when they found the body of a unicorn colt, Page Wheel. Fortunately, Page Wheel survived when his magic revived and Ascended him by incubating him in a magical cocoon, but the damage was done. Part of the reason why Luminiferous took Crystal Prism in as his student is to make up for his mistake.
  • This trope is both invoked and played straight with Golden Scepter.
    • After Luminiferous showed him the ruins of the Imperium of Ponykind, Golden Scepter realized that he became no better than Morning Star or his fellow Alicorns during his Imperium-era rule, which convinced him that he was a "monster". However, Luminiferous points out his ability to feel remorse towards his actions proves that he's actually not a monster, and that there's still hope for him to redeem himself and break himself out of the Vicious Cycle of greatness, stagnation, and corruption. This led to Golden Scepter becoming The Atoner and started a much-needed process of Character Development, becoming much kinder as a result.
    • Golden Scepter also invoked this reaction in a Fourth-Age group of Pony Autorists that attacked his empire by making them feel the tormented emotions of their victims. Those who genuinely regretted their actions and surrendered were let go with a gentle yet firm warning, while the leader was noted to be severely punished after she continued to indulge in her hatred and twisted ideas of supremacy.
    • After learning that three of his sons (Fanged Paw, Death Shroud, and Red Blade) ganged up on Crimson Star and left him near death with a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, Golden Scepter was furious, and proceeded to show his sons the sheer emotional torment their brother was going through after he was blinded in a carriage accident. This trope was shown to have been invoked with Fanged Paw, who felt guilty over what he had done that he didn't protest when he got called out by those of his brothers who didn't like how he treated Crimson Star, or when he got exiled from the Terran Empire by his father as punishment.
  • After going through a particularly brutal Trauma Conga Line, Blue Suede Heartstrings would get into a heated argument with his record manager, "Colonel" Hollow Note, which ended with him snapping and delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to his manager for exploiting and controlling him for years throughout his entire career. However, once he calmed down, he was so horrified by what he had done that he quickly fled the scene. By the time Record Beat found him at home, he was crying and fervently praying to the "King in Heaven" for forgiveness.
    Blue Suede Heartstrings: (praying) ...Dear King in Heaven, forgive me, for I have sinned... Please, give me a sign... grant me salvation... let me make up for what I had done...
  • Bossa Nova Heartstrings, Blue Suede Heartstrings' older twin brother, would have this reaction twice.
    • He was so obsessed over connecting with the twin brother he could have grown up with had he not died prematurely that he accidentally subjected Blue Suede Heartstrings to a brutal Trauma Conga Line trying to help him, and ended up neglecting both his duties as a Psychopomp and his loving adoptive family. And when he finally completed his goal, he ended up resenting said twin brother for having something to look forward to while he did not, something he initially kept to himself. Blue confronting him about it and forcing his brother to reveal his hidden feelings made him realize that he screwed up majorly with everyone on both sides, causing him to break down repeatedly apologizing. Blue forgave him, and his encouragement to make amends motivated him to go back home and apologize to his adoptive family for neglecting them in favor of his biological family.
    • He would have another moment of this when Blue finally confessed his lingering trauma over "Colonel" Hollow Note's exploitation and emotional abuse, causing Bossa Nova to realize that despite their empathic twin bond, he still remained ignorant of his brother's suffering due to knowing little of the long-term consequences of emotional abuse and Blue hiding his pain extremely well. In Bossa Nova's words, he assumed that things would be fine once Hollow Note was Dragged Off to Hell for his crimes by Malus Manes. He resolved to make things up to Blue by promising to help him more and be more attentive to Blue's needs and problems.
      Bossa Nova Heartstrings: (to Blue Suede Heartstrings) You've been hurting all this time... I thought it was 'cause of me or something else... or maybe I was just imagining things. I just didn't realize that it was my 'brother's instinct' telling me that something was seriously wrong! I'm really sorry for not helping you when you needed it, Blue. I thought things would be fine once that abusive bastard died and was dragged away to Tartarus in chains by Uncle. I didn't know things like that can still hurt... From now on, I'm going to help you as best as I can. If you need somebody to lean on or talk to, don't hesitate to come to me, okay?
• Mysterious Past:
  • Because Emperor Golden Scepter is an incredibly ancient Alicorn god, his early life remains a mystery - it is speculated in-universe that he was the son of an even older deity, the collective reincarnation of various mages, wizards, and sorcerers according to some tabletop game writers (which apparently made Golden Scepter laugh and praise the writers' creativity), a member of a group of undying immortals who acquired godhood and great powers, or simply an Ascended mortal. Another theory is that he is the "Parent Deity" of mortal Ponykind, just like how Equus is the "Parent Deity" of all Equine races, including the Alicorns themselves, which would make him the biological father of Golden Scepter; however, the latter has stated that his domain is likely figurative as Ponykind existed long before he did... though he's not too sure himself.
  • In-Universe with Prince Written Word, Golden Scepter's thirteenth demi-divine son; the biography based on his adventures noted that when he arrived at the very Pony kingdom he would end up saving, its inhabitants made a few theories based on what Written Word, then an anonymous traveling stranger, was willing to tell them. The fact that his family consisted of "a father, many brothers, and a long-deceased mother", and that he came from a far-away land, caused some to speculate that a terrible crime or a heated spat caused him to leave. Hilariously, it turned out they were only half-right.
  • The Medicine Seller's past is a mystery, yet he'll always deflect questions about it with the answer of being a simple medicine seller. Given that his true form is a black Alicorn, it's implied that he's an Ascended mortal, and has been around for a very long time.
  • Due to the complete lack of any information about his identity, everything about Lord Grimgard the Latest and his past is still ambiguous and unknown. Some speculated from his conduct he might had been a Fallen Hero, or one who lost his memory and was unwittingly roped into playing the role by minions desperate for a master. Because of this, Princess Luna's Night Guards and the Changeling agents from the Spring Court are actively investigating his background.
  • No one knows where the malicious digital spirit, "CreepEntity513", came from — it's speculated that it's either the vengeful spirit of either the dead brother of the stallion that created it, or a colt that was drowned and revived possibly by a cult, or just a demonic entity that's the child of Ispita the Deceiver with an unknown entity.
  • Due to being an Alicorn god who was born very early in the Second Age, Blue Suede Heartstrings' origins have been subjected to ambiguity — he's speculated to be either a distant descendant of Ponies sired by "Visitors (especially by the Celestial Ponies), a former royal who discarded his status, or an Ascended demi-divine son of Amareros, the Love Primeval. One theorized backstory in particular depicted him as an apathetic and selfish god who was transformed/reincarnated into a amnesiac mortal and forced to live on Equus as punishment for constantly eating populated worlds. He gradually grew to care for his fellow mortals after coming into frequent contact with a single Pony mother and her young son, and chose to stay on Equus despite having his memories restored. Princess Stitching Time notes that this backstory was published as a What If? issue by Mare-vel Comics.

N

• Never My Fault: Deconstructed, as it's a sign of personal delusion and refusal to take personal responsibility for one's actions.
  • The Kraken and Dracozilla incidents were caused by the Clovenists' Mana Bomb tests. While it seemed like they genuinely didn't anticipate the consequences of such actions, the Clovenists grumbled how Equestria is eager to make them their scapegoat for everything once evidence of the kaiju attacks were traced back to their Mana Bombs, very much displaying this attitude.
    Shchi Kasha: Let me guess: This is somehow OUR fault, again. I suppose it’s only natural that the foreign bourgeois would scapegoat us for all their problems. At this rate, I won’t be surprised if we’ll end up being blamed for milk getting spoiled...
  • The unicorn trio, Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap has this trope as one of their main flaws, aside from laziness and Lack of Empathy. They refuse to believe that their expulsion from Celestia's school was their own fault, or acknowledge their selfish laziness and improve themselves by actually working to become Alicorns. They also blame other Alicorns and accuse them as being entitled pricks who keep the secrets of Ascension to themselves so they could enjoy the power and freedom that comes with being an Alicorn, instead of teaching Ascension to more "worthy" individuals such as themselves, never realizing that it's their selfish laziness and lack of empathy that's keeping them from being Alicorns. This understandably enraged both Twilight Sparkle and Crystal Prism when faced with such accusations, while Luminiferous gave them a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
  • This is what separates Tyrantlestia, a "False Deity"-type Tulpa, and her real, good counterpart, Celestia. Tyrantlestia sees herself as above responsibility, and either tries to justify her horrible actions or pin the blame on someone else, while Celestia seeks to make amends any mistake she has made during her long lifetime. This is what partially causes her epic Villainous Breakdown when Celestia calls her out for being a "one-dimensional bully" who constantly plays the victim. Crystal Prism also notes (based on personal experience and what Mentálne told him) that if someone makes a mistake and they don't feel sorry about it, there must be something wrong with them, which there was.
  • Noble Grace firmly believes that both she and her colleague are in the right because the end-results of their experiments will be benevolent to Ponykind. Therefore, anyone who rightly opposes her actions as moral bankruptcy are in the wrong because they're ignoring the potential good she might do for them, as exemplified by her blaming Scarlet Bell and her grandniece, Midnight Bell, for screwing up her and Bubbling Beaker's work in a Codexverse exchange.
  • During his Insufferable Genius phase, Prince Crimson Star believed that the only thing he was "guilty" of is the pursuit of knowledge in general, while brushing aside any other wrongdoings he had done whenever people brought them to attention. He got better after he was blinded in an accident, shattering his inflated ego.
    Prince Crimson Star: If I am guilty of anything, it is only the pursuit of knowledge!
  • Double-subverted with High King Irminsul. While he knows that he has made a lot of mistakes deep down, he is unable and unwilling to fully acknowledge this because that requires him to acknowledge that he is flawed, which his pride makes him reluctant to do. To compensate, he convinced himself that he's always right because of his successes as a ruler, and thus everything he has done is done with the best of intentions. In his mind, if there's anything that should be blamed, it's all things 'dark' and 'evil', and the 'impure' non-Deer 'interlopers' who ruined both his family and his people in the past. It's ultimately deconstructed as his stubborn refusal to take personal responsibility for his actions contributed to his failures as both a ruler and a father, as many of his children suffered for not fitting his impossible standards, and his people suffered disasters that could've been prevented if he had just swallowed his ego.
  • Moon Ray Vaughoof felt bitter and resentful over dying right after he became sober and had a career revival, when his impulsive decision to board a helicopter in bad weather (and ignoring his older brother's advice not to do so) was a huge factor in his early death in the first place. Fortunately, he wised up after participating in the 'Applewood Rescue' event, having seen the harm such attitudes can inflict on others, and acknowledges that his death was his own fault. He also apologizes to his older brother, Sunny Field Vaughoof, for ignoring his advice that fateful day.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Temper Trolls are nigh unkillable by conventional means, as their Healing Factor is powered by the very emotions felt when trying to kill them. Chieftan Maul in particular was so pumped up from the conflict around him that even when not being fought with those emotions, he healed faster than Mistmane and Flash Magnus could harm him. The only way they could kill him was tricking him into sending himself falling off a cliff. The only thing capable of flat out killing a Temper Troll in combat is another Temper Troll.
• Noble Bigot: Generally deconstructed. Regardless of one's heroism, holding toxic and intolerant beliefs can still be harmful to others and, ultimately, the one(s) holding said beliefs.
  • Blue Goldstone was one. While he's undeniably a good person and emulates Blue Suede Heartstrings' example in humility and kindness, Gold initially shared the same homophobic attitudes as his neighbors that were common in the early Second Age, which partly contributed to his feelings of disillusionment when he learned that Blue Suede decided to fall in love with a stallion, Record Beat. It's deconstructed in that, during a long heart-to-heart with Blue in Audens Manes' Heaven-Realm, Gold realized how bad these attitudes were and apologized to Blue Suede for reacting that way, after which Blue Suede forgave him and encouraged Gold to become better. This change of opinion led to Gold becoming more open-minded and tolerant, as he is supportive of Prince Shamrock and has protected the Alicorn god many times from people who demean him for being asexual.
  • Prince Sermo Machina was also one in his mortal youth. Because he grew up being taught from a young age that being racist was okay, he ended up condoning the horrors that racism brought. The fact that he and his parents were religious devotees of the 'King in Heaven' made it worse. What snapped him out of this was being exposed to people who actively opposed racism like Blue Suede Heartstrings, and watching as people abused/murdered others for being 'different' and controlled public thought through news media. The final straw was learning of how Blue Suede's manager, "Colonel" Hollow Note, psychologically abused him for years, among other things. He now feels deeply ashamed of his previous ignorance, and has been trying to make up for it by following the true meaning of the 'King in Heaven''s teachings and being honest in his newscasting.
• No Biochemical Barriers: Subverted. The fact the Sparkle Ponies may be hybrids of the Visitors and Equestrian ponies is noted as causing much scientific upheaval if true, as it'd mean there would have to be some kind of connection between the two species for it to be biologically possible.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed:
  • Colton Marentino, the brutish movie director who abused famed actress Helga Greywing and essentially kept her prisoner in her own trailer, is a nastier version of Quentin Tarantino. Marentino eventually gets his comeuppance when Polistes "kidnaps" Helga, who eventually "escapes" (after doing rehearsals with Polistes for it) to expose her director's crimes.
  • A canonized Codexverse quote made by the Fourth-Age Shadow Sentinel/Captain Umbra Wing takes a potshot at one Gilded Screen, who's based on Zack Snyder, known for both making Darker and Edgier films and his own cynical views on superheroes in general (such as Batman using guns).
  • Blue Suede Heartstrings, the Alicorn god of Music, Humility, Performance, and Love, is based on Elvis Presley, who's often called "The King of Rock and Roll", and is one of the most recognized musicians and cultural icons in history. He even has many of Elvis' traits and mannerisms, such as his humility, his Big Eater tendencies, his preference for pompadours, and his religious beliefs... except here, he's definitely alive and healthy, not to mention that he's an Alicorn god.
  • Black Domino, a famous Zebra musician from the early parts of the Second Age, is based on Fats Domino, being that like him, he's mentioned as being one of the first pioneers of the Rock and Roll genre, and has "Fats Domino" as his stage name. And like his character inspiration, Black Domino was also idolized by Blue Suede Heartstrings, who is based on Elvis Presley, with Blue himself believing that Black Domino sings "better" than him and hates how much of the praise Black Domino deserved went to him instead.
  • A canonized Codexverse drabble mentions a Second-Age Bitish musician, Colton John, who is based on Elton John. In one incident, Blue Suede Heartstrings played a well-received live piano cover of Colton John's "Tiny Dancer" for a concert, with an accompanying ballet performance by his godson, Prince Shamrock. According to one of the Codex writers, she wrote the drabble because she loved "Tiny Dancer" (as well as its cover by Florence + the Machine).
  • Another canonized Codexverse drabble mentions a tailor and store owner named Measured Sleeve, who was responsible for dressing Blue Suede Heartstrings in his iconic outfits throughout the latter's entire music career. Measured Sleeve is based on Bernard Lansky, who served as Elvis Presley's tailor up until the latter's death. However, since the circumstances have changed in the Codexverse, it is Blue Suede Heartstrings who eventually outlives his tailor after he Ascends to godhood, not the other way around.
  • Prince Healing Song, the Alicorn god of Music, Potential, Teaching, and Psionics, is based on blind Canadian jazz/blues musician Jeff Healey. Like Healey, he was born in Caneighda (the Second-Age equivalent of Canada), adopted by loving parents, and blinded during infancy when doctors surgically removed his eyes to prevent further infection by a rare ocular cancer. And like Healey, he proved himself to be a musical prodigy by developing a rather unorthodox way of playing the guitar from an early age (though he has played the trumpet at one point), and has played both blues and jazz music. He even has "Healey" as a nickname. However, the difference here is he's friends with Blue Suede Heartstrings (who is essentially the divine equivalent of Elvis Presley in the Codexverse) and he himself managed to Ascend to godhood on his deathbed, saving him from being taken by cancer like Healey was.
    • On a related note, one of Healing Song's bands, the Healing String Groove Band, is based on the Jeff Healey Band, while his bandmates Steel String and Tempo Groove are based on Jeff Healey's bandmates, bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen, respectively.
  • Prince Healing Song's entry mentions a Hoofstep Sways, whom he filmed with for a movie called Road House (1989). Hoofstep Sways is based on Patrick Swayze, who filmed Road House together with the Jeff Healey Band, whose members provided a huge portion of the movie's soundtrack.
  • Moon Ray Vaughoof is essentially a ponified version of Stevie Ray Vaughan, his life and accomplishments being more or less a parallel to the latter. This includes growing up with an alcoholic father and going through a period of drug abuse during his music career. A few of his songs, both original and covered (like "Look at Little Sister" and "Life Without You"), were adapted in to the Codexverse. However, things diverge after he dies in a helicopter crash, first with him becomeing an Angel of Death, then turning into an Alicorn god after learning the importance of forgiveness and balance.
    • Moon Ray's band, Double Trouble, is based on... Stevie Ray's band Double Trouble. Specifically, Double Trouble's band members Fret Pick (bassist), Whipper Snare (drummer), and Key Tap (keyboardist) are based on Tommy Shannon (bassist), Chris Layton (drummer), and Reese Wynans (keyboardist).
    • Moon Ray's entry also mentions several other individuals based on real-life celebrities - Zebra musicians Smooth Neck, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, River Rush, and Double Helix are based on Albert King, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Jimi Hendrix, respectively, the latter whom Stevie Ray Vaughan idolized. Ham Hock is based on Bill Ham, ZZ Top's manager, and Sunshine Cream is based on Eric Clapton.
  • Moon Ray's older brother, Sunny Field Vaughoof, is based on Jimmie Vaughan, the older brother of iconic blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan. Much like Jimmie, he was close to Moon Ray and was responsible for inspiring him to take up music as a career choice. While he became a famous blues musician in his own right and had a career that far outlasted that of his younger brother's, it's noted that he was devastated by Moon Ray's death in a helicopter accident and never really got over it since.
  • Rhiannon's entry mentions a Fourth-Age Grittish band named "Fleethoof Mac". For bonus points, one of their songs is named "Rhiannon", which in the Codexverse is an In-Universe Alternative Character Interpretation of Rhiannon as a mysterious, seductive, elusive, and mystical female figure. Rhiannon herself found it "pretty amusing".
  • "Colonel" Hollow Note is based on "Colonel" Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley who ruthlessly exploited his client throughout the latter's entire career. Unlike Parker, however, Hollow Note is much nastier, being a paranoid, sociopathic Control Freak who was psychologically abusive to his client, Blue Suede Heartstrings. Blue Suede eventually broke away from his manager partially thanks to interference from his older twin brother, Bossa Nova, but his manager's behavior led to Blue Suede suffering from lingering trauma long after Hollow Note's death. Blue Suede's Stepford Smiler tendencies didn't help, either.
  • Venerable Grace Heartstrings is based on Priscilla Ann Presley, Elvis Presley's wife who is both an actress and business magnate who turned her husband's estate, Graceland, into a tourist attraction. Though here in the Codexverse, due to things turning out differently, she's portrayed as Blue Suede's first wife, as Blue Suede would end up courting both male and female partners after becoming an Alicorn god.
  • Stellar Dreamer is based on Steven Spielberg, a renowned American film director.
  • Heroic Island, the Alicorn god of Gaming, Misdirection, and Worldbuilding, is based on Living Legend and talented game developer Hideo Kojima, known for creating the Metal Gear franchise and trolling his fans. What furthers the connection is Heroic Island's name being a translation of Hideo Kojima's name, his clashes with the video-game company that psychologically abused him and sabotaged his career, and his founding of his own video-game company, Heroic Island Productions (based on Kojima Productions).
  • Spiraling Yarn is based on Junji Ito, a horror mangaka who is one of Hideo Kojima's close friends. Like Junji Ito, he is a horror manegaka who is friends with Heroic Island, and once collaborated with him on the creation of Silent Hills before it was cancelled. Spiraling Yarn's name is also an onomatopoeia - 'Spiraling' was taken from Junji Ito's manga, Uzumaki (whose title translates to 'swirl'), and 'Yarn' is a transliteration of Ito.
  • Protecting Bull is based on Guillermo del Toro, a renowned movie director and author. Like Spiraling Yarn, he also collaborated with Heroic Island on the creation of Silent Hills before it was cancelled. Protecting Bull's name is based on a translation of Del Toro's name - 'Guillermo' means "protection", while 'Del Toro" means "the bull".
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Generally deconstructed, as doing this to people, even your enemies, tends to have negative repercussions in Codex Equus.
  • Prince Steel Barricade would deliver this to people who deserved it twice in his life, but it not only messed him up in a huge way, it also became a sign of mental instability on his part.
    • After years of putting up with the arrogant cruelty of his tyrannical foster-father, the King, and the city-state's local nobility by repressing his emotions, Steel Barricade would eventually get so fed up that he lured everyone to the royal dining hall under the pretense of hosting a lavish "party", only to finally unleash his rage after he arrived last by turning his victims into bloody mush with a large mace. When his anger finally cooled down, he realized the sheer horror of what he had done and was later found suffering an emotional breakdown by his servants, "sniffling and sobbing and hiccuping". While the incident did break his ego and made him realize the value of having empathy for others, it would also mess him up emotionally and give him a few psychological issues that would haunt him for a long time, such as becoming The Stoic whenever he gets anxious and/or upset. It's because of this that Mentálne, the young Deer goddess of Mental Healing, became his therapist, helping him come to terms with his actions and experiences so he can learn how to forgive himself.
    • He would deliver one to a Scion of Hurricane for targeting the pegasus inventor, Fiery Flight, and others like her for "robbing" the pegasi of their "rightful dominion" over the skies, as well as calling him a "disgrace" to the pegasi tribe in general for Ascending and supporting Fiery Flight. This would make Steel Barricade snap, as evil reactionaries is one of his Berserk Buttons, though it's deconstructed in that while many people claimed the Scion deserved being beaten up Steel Barricade's brothers had to pull him away before the situation escalated. Golden Scepter was also rather disappointed in his son for losing his temper, despite having no love for the Scions of Hurricane or tribalists in general himself.
  • It's revealed in a Codexverse drabble that Prince Fanged Paw and his brothers, Prince Red Blade and Prince Death Shroud, teamed up to deliver one to Crimson Star to punish him for being an Insufferable Genius, even after Crimson Star was blinded. It's deconstructed in that Crimson Star fell into such a severe depression following his loss of sight and his Jerkass Realization that he willingly turned himself into a Silent Scapegoat so everyone, including his own brothers, can retaliate against him as they saw fit, not caring if he'll possibly end up dying or not. This made his brothers' retaliation against him at this point rather disproportionate and petty, something that would earn them the wrath of their father, who proceeded to psychically show his three sons the torment Crimson Star was going through, and the cold shoulder by those of their brothers who didn't agree with them. Fanged Paw in particular felt so guilty over what he had done that he didn't object to being called out or exiled from the Terran Empire, and initially suffered hallucinations and nightmares over it.
  • Deconstructed with Blue Suede Heartstrings. After getting into a heated argument with his record manager, "Colonel" Hollow Note, he snapped from the tremendous grief and emotional stress he was under, and proceeded to beat up Hollow Note in retaliation for exploiting and controlling him for years. Once he calmed down, he was so horrified by what he had done that he quickly fled the scene. He was later found at home by his coltfriend/husband Record Beat, crying and fervently praying to the "King of Heaven" for forgiveness. Even years after his manager's death, the trauma of losing control of himself during a moment of vulnerability still lingers, and Blue still feels guilty for it to a degree.
    Blue Suede Heartstrings: (to Changeling Queen Ithomiini) By this planet, I WANTED t' hate 'im, ma'am. Even after all this time, I WANTED t' hate Hollow Note and NEVER forgive him, EVER. But I... I couldn't let myself get loose again. Not after I threw 'im all over the place like a sack o' potatoes when I snapped.
• Non-Ironic Clown: Arlequin, the Goddess of Pranks, Enthusiasm, Optimism with a clown motif, right down to having a clown nose as a biological part of her face. She's a lighthearted prankster and clown who genuinely uses her divine power to make people happy and is a muse of clowns and bards.
• No-Sell:
  • Choice cannot be bound, captured, or enslaved and any attempt to do so will fail, even by beings as powerful as Discord, due to being the God of Free Will. The only exception is if it desires to be captured and can escape at any time.
  • It's mentioned in his entry that as an Alicorn, Golden Scepter could use his Earth pony magic to enhance his natural endurance. His antediluvian age and experience allows him to tank most attacks that would injure and/or kill semi-divines, or even younger full divines.
  • Much like Choice, Prince Red Blade, Golden Scepter's sixteenth son, has the ability to escape from any attempts to restrain and/or imprison him. His entry explains this as being granted innate psychic knowledge of what or who is currently holding him, allowing him to figure out how to free himself.
  • It turns out this was the reason Celestia sent for aid from the Hippogriffs specifically: they're immune to most types of poison due to their hybrid biology. This extends to venomous magic, and thus they can shrug off the Obsidian Orbs.
• Nostalgia Filter: Deconstructed, mocked, and criticized. Longing for the glorious past is considered partly responsible for the Vicious Cycles holding the world back. Various characters having this attitude are portrayed as being deluded reactionaries whose efforts to return the world to the 'good old days' are guaranteed to fail miserably, or, in more sympathetic examples, portrayed as troubled people who are unable to let go of the past thanks to being products of an abusive social/cultural environment.
  • As a goddess, Queen Krásná Tradice embodies everything that defined the super-reactionary Alvslog Deer Herds of her fawnhood, such as Tradition, Order, and Sovereignty, and thus deeply understands what it's like to cling to the past where Deerkind reigned supreme and lived harmoniously with nature without evil to trouble them. However, she has no delusions that the Alvslog Deer Herds' nature-based societies are "better" than the progressive ones the other mortal Deer Herds have developed over time, because in her youth, she grew up in an Alvslog Deer kingdom that was at its worst and suffered personally for it. Even after moving into a more tolerant environment, she continued clinging to her society's traditions because that's all she knew, until she met people who sympathized with her and encouraged her to overcome her bigotry. Much of her punishments in her hell-fief revolve around giving traditionalists and reactionaries exactly what they wanted, being put in cruel parodies of the civilizations and past time periods that they fondly looked back upon.
  • A huge part of Cunabula's stagnancy is its refusal to move away from the past, including its social and cultural admiration of the original Knights of Patriotism. Their admiration is such that the (ex-)royal Danu dynasty and its associates practiced centuries worth of Royal Inbreeding and indoctrination to keep succeeding generations physically and mentally close to the Knight they resembled. As a consequence, the current Knights of Patriotism proved to be psychotically fanatical that Cunabula's own Tree of Patriotism outright rejected them as Bearers of Patriotism and renamed them the "Knights of Tyranny". Cunabula's corruption was so deep that only a Civil War, both on a mortal and divine level (as Cunabula's own pantheon was deeply corrupt, too) could wipe the slate clean. By the civil war's end, a new King was crowned, new Patriotism Bearers were chosen, and the old traditions done away with so Cunabula could finally let go of its past and never be corrupted to that level again.
• Not Afraid of You Anymore: This happens a lot, as part of the process of letting go of grudges and reaching Forgiveness often includes confronting one's abusers.
  • After being freed from her own mind and witnessing the death of Mr. Penguin in a Heroic Sacrifice, young Rosy Dreams finally gathers up the courage to stand up to 'The Chaser', who frequently trapped, terrorized, and abused her since his creation, and kills him with a burst of psychic energy.
  • After spending his entire mortal life and much of his post-life existence fearing his violent drunkard father, Moon Ray Vaughoof finally gathers the courage to confront Sunny Mane's damned spirit in the Hell-Realms thanks to the Trimortidae's encouragement, and forgives him. He even makes it clear to Sunny Mane that he's only forgiving him because he wants to be free of his father's influence. This moment is what allows him to Ascend to demi-godhood. However, it's subverted as while he may have forgiven Sunny Mane, he still holds lingering trauma from his foalhood abuse, such as his fear of being yelled at. Fortunately, he would get over this thanks to his adoptive family and Mentálne.
  • When Prince Healing Song confronts a resurrected War Rock (who abused, gaslit, and raped him as a mortal in the Second Age) during the 'Dark Ages Crisis' to save some hostages (including his friends), he's understandably terrified and is initially frozen in place out of fear while War Rock taunts him. But when War Rock offers to spare him in exchange for becoming one of his "brides", he is roused enough to give a light-coated hoof to War Rock's face, sending his tormentor flying and leaving a burn mark where he hit him. Then, when War Rock calls him a "weak little cripple", he angrily declares that he refuses to be a victim any longer, completely restoring his sickly physical divine form and becoming powerful enough to force War Rock into a retreat.
    Prince Healing Song: (roaring) I am not weak! I am not a cripple! I am PRINCE HEALING SONG! And I won't be your victim ANYMORE!
  • Blue Suede Heartstrings was so beaten down by Hollow Note's abuse that despite breaking free of him, he never really recovered from his ordeals until well into the Fourth Age. After recovering from his PTSD and becoming a Prince, however, Blue Suede visited Hollow Note's damned shade in Malus Manes' Hell-Realms just so he could give his ex-manager a "The Reason You Suck" Speech for being the pathetic, greedy, and cowardly wretch he truly is, and left Hollow Note frothing at the mouth in sheer rage. When Hollow Note comes back as a Wraith in the 'Dark Ages Crisis' thanks to Mistletoe Dreamer, Blue Suede has become completely willing to kill his ex-manager (and actually does so) to prevent him from killing his younger self during Mistletoe's Time Crash.
  • Due to enduring horrific abuse and indoctrination at the hooves of Godly Brand, Hol Horse feared for his own life to the point where, after betraying Godly Brand, he had a panic attack over the thought of fighting his ex-boss and losing. However, thanks to the Stardust Crusaders' encouragement and support, Hol Horse not only survives Godly Brand's attempts to kill him during the Final Battle, but also uses time magic for the first time by temporally freezing his ex-boss, and stripping The World of its own time-stopping power after awakening his memories of his true divine self, robbing Godly Brand of his biggest advantage. Even better, he calls Godly Brand's depowering his "payment" for his services as a Tarot Assassin.
    Godly Brand: Wha- What the hell?!
    Hol Horse: Y'know, it’s funny how evil Stand users often talk a big game moments before gettin' their flanks kicked... Guess ye ain't an exception after all.
    Godly Brand: What are you doing?! Hol Horse!
    Hol Horse: Godly Brand, real name Dio Brando, Ah'm takin' The World's time from ya as payment fer mah services! OUR CONTRACT IS OVER!
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore:
  • The Breaking of the Masquerade, the moment the Changelings revealed their entire civilization and dropped their secrecy, was this. Not only was it a major upheaval for the world as a whole, it broke the Changeling's status quo that had been in place for aeons. This not only completely changed Changeling society as it was up until that point, it began a domino effect that pushed the more toxic aspects of their culture (such as their unfettered obsession with survival, their Martyrdom Culture, their Fantastic Racism towards Dragonkind, and the Royal Changelings' borderline imperialistic entitlement to the right to rule over mortal Changelingkind) into the light, forcing them to be addressed by the world at large. Also, as a sign of her finally moving on from her Dark and Troubled Past and toxic behaviors, Blackrose starts going by her original name, Rosedust, revealing to both readers and the world In-Universe that she is (possibly) Queen Rosedust of the Flutter Ponies from G1.
  • A major one comes in a canonized drabble: Empress Blackrose confirms she and Blackthorn are the Princess and Prince from the Hearts and Hooves Day myth. She then reveals recent events have lead her to realize the two of them have never really moved on or accepted that, or for that matter hardly, if ever, acknowledge it even happened. Blackrose then admits she wants to one day be willing to forgive him, wants to change herself for the better, and most earthshaking of all, admits Blackrose was just a mask she wore to hide from her pain. She's not Blackrose anymore, she never was: she's Rosedust, Queen of the (formerly) extinct Flutter Ponies. This is followed by her later doing the unthinkable: Forgiving the dragons and their divine Progenitors for participating in/condoning the Burning of Amora.
  • After much consideration, Emperor Golden Scepter decides to adopt Temnobog as his son on Hearth's Warming, feeling the latter deserves a much better father figure after being horrifically abused for his 'evil' since fawnhood. This not only makes the entire Bogolenya Deer Patheon an extension of the Terran Royal Family, but also has social repercussions for both the Erobreseg Deer Realms and the Terran Empire itself. Many Erobreseg Temnoist cultists immigrate to the Terran Empire following Temnobog's adoption, resulting in the Terrans dealing with higher levels of crime and corruption.
  • Princess Twilight Sparkle eventually Ascends to true godhood during the 'League of Domination Crisis' by realizing that friendship is essentially 'magic' itself, allowing her to connect with Mana Equus, the Thirteenth Empyrean, and officially become both Mana Equus' Reincarnation and successor. Following the crisis' end, Twilight would inherit the throne from Celestia and Luna following their abdication as Princesses and change her name to 'Amicitia Sparkle Equestria', marking her new position as both the new sovereign of Equestria and the Top God of the local Equestrian Pantheon, ushering in a new era.
  • After turning into Caelum Filum for a month thanks to a powerful divine drug he ate, and then being in constant agony once he's cured, Moon Ray Vaughoof/Prince Canticum Lunae Cahaya falls into a coma, where he meets (and is chewed out by) a furious manifestation of his Prophecy domain. During the conversation, Moon Ray/Canticum Lunae realizes how much he screwed up and that no matter what he or others do, they will always make mistakes in an endless cycle. This, and his resulting reconciliation with Prophecy, causes him to re-Ascend into a benevolent, eldritch Alicorn who is now physically as old as the Thirteen Empyreans themselves, and whose nature and powers are determined by certain cycles. He's also the only member of the Trimortidae to achieve such a feat.
  • As of his second entry, Blue Suede Heartstrings has gone from a traumatized god of Humility who didn't want to be worshiped or made royalty out of fear, to a proud Prince and a member of the Equestrian Pantheon, changing his name to Prince Caerulus Melodia Equestria. He also marries his long-time friend, Prince Stoltur Skjöldur, the infernal Deer-Draconequus god of Pride. As of his third entry, Caerulus decided to move to Corporatum after accepting/overcoming all of his flaws, leading to him being crowned King of the Corporate Pantheon and changing his name to Caerulus Melodia Equestria-Corporatum. He also, like Twilight/Amicitia before him, becomes a Reincarnation of Mana Equus alongside his twin brother, Bossa Nova Heartstrings/Prince Rubeus Stella Equestria, though as reincarnation "aspects" who, due to reincarnating as the same goddess, help tether Mana Equus' soul to the mortal planes.
  • After spending many years a bachelor out of devotion to the memory of his deceased mortal wife, Empress-Consort Blessed Skies, Emperor Golden Scepter reconciles with one of his old lovers, Midday Messenger, and starts dating her. They are soon joined by another ex-lover, Prince Stella Fictor Cahaya, after Golden Scepter offers to rekindle their old relationship with him as well. The three Alicorns enter a polyamorous relationship, which has huge ramifications on not only Golden Scepter's family, but the larger world as well.
  • The resurrection of the Tales/Virtuous Seven as Alicorn demigoddesses in the Fourth Age, as detailed in their second entries, is a huge source of shock for everyone In-Universe and out. Not only does it mark the first instance of people coming Back from the Dead through Ascending as something other than Death deities narrative-wise, it also creates In-Universe concerns among certain facitons that with the return of various renowned heroes from past Ages, the Balance Between Good and Evil will be severely upset. Vicearch Iniquitous is especially concerned since it presents the possibility of her rival/counterpart, Virtuecrat Fairytale, gaining allies in her quest to replace evil with 'True Good'.
• Nuclear Mutant: Both Dracozillas and the second Roedan are mutants created by the Cloven Mana Bomb tests and waste dumps. Significantly, the Clovenists refuse to take responsibility for these incidents, instead blaming the Equestrians and other detractors for turning their nation into their scapegoat.

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