Characters from Alicorn.

open/close all folders

Royal Family

In General

The Royal family of Canterlot consists of the sisters Celestia and Luna, and the recent addition of Celestia's daughter Rainbow Dash, also known as Aurora.

A Child Shall Lead Them: Celestia and Luna were sixteen and fourteen respectively when they took the throne. Luna muses in hindsight that this probably contributed to their falling out, too much power at too young an age. Rainbow is seventeen when she becomes princess, though her mother and aunt handle the ruling.
Divine Parentage: Rainbow is the daughter of the alicorn goddess Celestia and an earth pony, but Celestia and Luna are themselves only half alicorn; Their father was Atlas, an ancient pegasus king of Equestria.
Dysfunctional Family: They manage to be this with only three people. Celestia gave up her daughter shortly after she was born, Rainbow is deeply resentful of her for this and feels that she wasn't good enough for her mother, and Luna is caught between them, understanding both while trying to not take a side.
Family Eye Resemblance: Celestia and Rainbow both have magenta eyes, though Celestia's are a bit brighter.
Family Theme Naming: Canterlot's royal family all have names relating to the sky; Celestial means of or relating to the heavens, Luna is the latin name for the Moon, and Aurora is from Aurora Borealis/Australis, latin for the northern and southern lights. Even Aurora's prefered name, Rainbow Dash, comes from the rainbow, a weather phenomenon. Celestia and Luna's father followed the pattern, being named Atlas, after the titan who holds up the sky.
Generation Xerox: Celestia finds Rainbow yelling at her with her expression twisted in anger eerily similar to her aunt doing the same, a thousand years earlier.
Ideal Illness Immunity: Celestia and Luna have it because "goddesses don't get sick." Rainbow is not as lucky.
Last of Their Kind: Details are scant, but there were at one point more alicorns. Now there are just these three left. While Celestia and Luna struggle with the loss of their entire people, Rainbow has never lived in a world with more than two alicorns, not including herself, so she doesn't dwell on it.
Only One Name: Apparently a common traits of alicorns, or at least this particular family. Celestia, Luna, and Aurora (Rainbow Dash got that name from a different family), with no last names ever mentioned or used.
Out of Focus: Cadance is technically part of the royal family as a distant relation, but has so far only appeared a couple times and only interacted with Celestia briefly.
Painting the Frost on Windows: Celestia and Luna move the sun and moon, as is their special talents. Celestia does tell Rainbow, however, that they're not the only ones who can; Rainbow could hypothetically once she masters her magic, and even an especially powerful unicorn like Twilight could with practice.
Royal Blood: Alicorns, even half or quarter alicorns, have traits of all three pony species, and magical power far surpassing anything a mortal unicorn could ever hope to achieve. Alicorns are only born from other alicorns, making it a sure sign that the pony is part of the royal family.
Siblings Share the Throne: As in canon, both Celestia and Luna hold the Equestrian throne.
Thicker Than Water: Celestia and Rainbow's relationship starts out deeply broken on unspeakably many levels, but slowly, over time, they start growing closer. Not to anything resembling a normal mother-daughter relationship, mind you, but as Celestia starts actually spending time with Rainbow, always letting her set the terms of their relationship, Rainbow responds in kind by seeking out Celestia's company, talking with her about shared interests or asking for help with magic she's struggling with. Eventually, Celestia and Rainbow find themselves spending time together daily without resentment, though there is still tension that flares up in arguments whenever a sensitive subject is broached.
Winged Unicorn: All three major members are Alicorns, and unlike in the show, there is no ascension; The only way to become an alicorn is to be born that way. The fic explains that alicorns are actually born with only wings, and grow horns shortly after birth (except for Rainbow, who grew hers at age 17).

Rainbow Miriam Dash / Princess Aurora

The only daughter of Princess Celestia, not that she knew that until she suddenly grew a horn. Rainbow struggles a great deal with that her newfound royalty and species means for her future, not to mention her relationship with a mother she never knew she had.

Adaptational Badass: Rainbow in the show is an accomplished athlete, Blood Knight, and element of harmony. Rainbow in this fic is all of that, and an alicorn princess with power greater than most archmages to boot.
Adaptational Name Change: In Mother Nearest, Rainbow's birthname was Freyja. Here, it's Aurora. She also gets Miriam added as her middle name, which is not the case in the show.
Adaptational Protagonist: She's a main character in the show, of course, but the fic essentially puts Rainbow Dash in Twilight's original role of central character - a fact that Twilight is not happy about.
Adaptational Species Change: Rainbow is an alicorn rather than a pegasus like in the show, though it was impossible to tell before she grew her horn in early adulthood. Her father was also an Earth Pony, rather than a pegasus.
Adoption Angst: Rainbow had no idea that she was adopted before Celestia suddenly reveals that she's her true mother, which needless to say comes with a great deal of emotional distress. She doesn't want to accept Celestia as her mother in part because it would feel like a betrayal of the ponies she sees as her real parents, who have since passed away, and she's resentful of the princess for having given her up for no good reason, which ties into her already extant fear of not being good enough.
Adoptive Name Change: Princess Aurora's name was changed to Rainbow Dash to coneal her true parentage when she was hidden away with a regular Pegasus family. She greatly prefers the latter name.
Afraid of Doctors: She prefers to say that she doesn't like them. She's had a lot of bones set in her life due to sprains and fractures, and as a result has been conditioned to associate doctors with pain.
Animal Motif: A small one with wolves. Rainbow bites when she's backed into a corner, and the narration in chapter 11 likens her to a savage and predatory wolf coming down on its prey.
Beleaguered Bureaucrat: In the first chapter, a shipment of rainclouds from Cloudsdale is delayed and she has to inform Ponyville's farmers - all of whom act like this is her fault and chew her out, not helping her headache.
Big Eater: After a couple weeks in Canterlot, she gets her first trip to a fast food restaurant and orders ten hayburgers with fries, a pineapple pizza, three burritos, a grilled cheese sandwich, egg foo young, guacamole, mashed potatoes with extra gravy, and a chocolate malt.
Rainbow: Look, you guys don’t know the kind of garbage they try to pass off as food in Canterlot! I’m hungry, okay?
Blessed with Suck: Rainbow has magical power beyond anything a normal unicorn could ever hope to achieve, and her position as Crown Princess makes her one of the most politically powerful ponies in Equestria. This means that no one will ever be able to see past her title and species to the pony she really is, and causes a massive split between her and her friends.
Blow You Away: When she gets pissed enough that Power Incontinence starts happening, it often takes the form of strong winds blowing all around her.
Book Dumb: As in the show, when Twilight tries to teach her magic, she runs into a wall because even though Rainbow genuinely wants to learn magic, she can't follow Twilight's theory-heavy method of teaching. She even has difficulties picking up the word "Telekinesis."
Bully Hunter: Rainbow used to be this as a filly, protecting the meeker Fluttershy. She's still not fond of bullies, though by now the bully she's dealing with is Captain Tristar.
Color-Coded Wizardry: Her magic, once she actually starts using it, is not magenta like her eyes or gold like her mother's, but pure white.
Competition Freak: Rainbow is extremely competitive, even against opponents she has no chance of beating like Celestia and Luna. At one point Twilight tells her to make peace, and a genuinely confused Rainbow asks how she can make peace if she hasn't won yet.
Deadpan Snarker: Or witty banter as they call it, a vital skill in Canterlot, especially for a member of the nobility. She gets more and more snarky as the fic goes on.
Rainbow: Why is the candle purple?
Whitehoof: Why are you blue?
Rainbow: I can think of a few reasons lately.
Disowned Parent: Rainbow makes it repeatedly clear that Celestia is not her mother, which remains true even after they start bonding.
Celestia: Please, why won't you just consider-
Rainbow: BECAUSE I'M NOT YOUR BUCKING DAUGHTER!
Divine Parentage: Rainbow is the daughter of the alicorn Physical God Celestia, and an unnamed earth pony father.
Do Not Call Me "Paul": Played with, since it's not the name she's gone by for most of her life but is her real birthname; Rainbow doesn't like being called Aurora.
The Dreaded: Rainbow becomes this to the castle staff after she loses her patience and blows up the dining hall. Most of the staff avoids her after that.
Fatal Flaw: Impulsiveness, recklessness, take your pick. Rainbow does whatever she wants whenever she wants, and damn the consequences. This is one of the many things that contributes to the growing rift between her and Twilight, as Twilight's patiences wears thin at Rainbow's refusal to think things through. It only got worse after she became an alicorn, since her life is now so out of control that doing things for the heck of it is the only control she has.
Forgot About Her Powers: In chapter 9, she complains about how hard it is to use scissors and how unicorns have it easy because of their horns. And then remembers that she has one of those.
Glowing Eyes: Her eyes start glowing when she's angry, at one point being compared to liquid fire or even burning stars.
Happily Adopted: She has fond memories of Nova and Blaze, her adopted parents, who despite poor health and lack of means, did everything they could to give her a happy childhood until they sadly passed away. Insulting them is a good way to get on her bad side, and her memory of them is part of why she refuses to acknowledge Celestia as her mother.
Hates Being Touched: Not normally, but she reacts very poorly to being touched when she's angry or upset.
Hates Their Parent: Rainbow's feelings regarding Celestia are complicated, but she certainly doesn't like her.
Heroic Bastard: She's the bastard daughter of Princess Celestia and a minor Earth Pony official with no noble blood. Captain Tristar dismisses her as a bastard unworthy of her position, but she herself is a very heroic pony - if a bit of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Her being a bastard only comes up in the aforementioned Tristar incident, and when she briefly describes herself as an illegitimate daughter of royalty.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: After failing repeatedly to figure out magic, Rainbow responds to Celestia's compliments of her cloud home that apparently clouds are the only thing she knows, since she can't figure out even the most basic magic that every unicorn foal knows. Celestia boosts her confidence by teaching her magic in a way that doesn't rely on book learning.
Hidden Depths: Both Twilight and Celestia are surprised at the beautifully fluid architecture of Rainbow's cloud house, which she not only built herself, but had to learn how to build from scratch with no teacher to influence her style choices.
Hybrids Are a Crapshoot: Alicorns are born without horns, but grow them when they're very young and the bone of the skull is still soft and malleable, preventing it from being too painful. Rainbow is only a quarter alicorn, and when she was born, not even her mother or Equestria's greatest archmages could detect a sliver of alicorn magic in her. For all intents and purposes, she appeared to be a regular pegasus. Then, out of nowhere when she is 17, she grows a horn proportionate to her adult body over a week-long process that is excruciatingly painful because it's not meant to happen in adulthood. Alicorn foals also tend to call out for their parents when they're undergoing Unity, which did happen to Rainbow, but it's unusual that she's still having dreams about her a month later. Luna herself says that Rainbow's situation is unprecedented, and she has no idea how it works.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Rainbow's overblown ego and self-confidence is in large part because she has crippling insecurity and is trying to prove to herself and others that she's good enough. Learning that her mother gave her up at birth worsens it considerably, to the point where "wasn't good enough" is nearly a Madness Mantra for her. In chapter 10, she also admits that her belief in herself is the only thing keeping her going despite how messed up her life has gotten.
Like Mother, Like Daughter: If there is one thing Rainbow has inherited from Celestia, it's a tendency to be damn scary when she's angry. Chapter 11 parallels Celestia chewing Tristar out for his insubordination with Rainbow ending her friendship with Twilight, both scenes focusing on the alicorns' eyes and how they make the person they're yelling at feel small and terrified.
Madness Mantra: "Not good enough," a phrase she repeats to herself whenever she's at her lowest. Sometimes it's in reference to her general fear of not being good enough and need to prove herself, but most of the time it's in reference to her feeling like she wasn't good enough for Celestia. Chapter 10 shows that it was the headline of an article that reported her original sonic rainboom as having been impossible.
Meaningful Appearance: Rainbow Dash's horn is a direct and obvious reflection of her struggle in the narrative. It is much longer than a unicorn horn and vaguely iridescent, resembling Celestia's. It is impossible to hide, and it irrevocably ties her to Celestia no matter how much she doesn't want it.
Meaningful Name: Rainbow Dash's birthname, Aurora, means "Light" in Latin, a rather fitting name for the daughter of a sun goddess, and is most likely a reference to the Auroa Borealis/Australis pattern of Celestia's mane that Rainbow partially inherited.
Modest Royalty: Not that "modest" should ever be used to describe Rainbow, but having been raised as a normal pony, she doesn't really have the high standards typically associated with royalty. She prefers a simple daisyburger to the fancy dishes the castle chef offers, and as soon as her cloudhome is moved to Canterlot, she goes back to cooking her own meals and doing her own dishes. She's also deeply uncomfortable with ponies bowing to or showing her reverence.
No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: In a nutshell, this is why she's so frustrated at the praise she receives for being an alicorn princess. While she's perfectly happy being praised and admired for how awesome she is and the cool things she's done, being Celestia's daughter isn't something she did, it's just something that was dumped on her. Being praised for something she had no hand in doing feels empty, and what's worse, being Celestia's daughter means that anything she ever accomplishes on her own will always be secondary to being Celestia's daughter, because ponies will only ever see her horn and wings.
No Indoor Voice: The Royal Canterlot Voice is apparently hereditary, though she only slips into it when she's really pissed.
No Sense of Personal Space: By her own admission, she thinks there's no such thing as "too close," so she doesn't have a lot of respect for personal boundraries.
Parental Abandonment: Rainbow was left by her biological mother Celestia to be raised by a regular pegasi couple when she was too young to remember. Learning the truth makes her deeply self-conscious and resentful of her mother.
Pinball Protagonist: Played for Drama. Ever since she woke up as an alicorn in Celestia's arms, Rainbow has had next to no control over her life. She had to move to Canterlot for safety, the royal guard treats her more like a prisoner than a princess, and there is nothing she can do to take her old life back. Even her attemps at lashing out to regain some control don't amount to anything, and she's more or less stuck drifting around with no control over where she's going.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Lampshaded. Rainbow is Crown Princess and heir to the throne, which she points out is utterly meaningless since her mother and aunt are immortal and will rule forever.
Plagued by Nightmares: Ever since she started growing her horn, she's suffered dreams of being ripped away from her mother as a child. Luna suggests that it might be linked to her broken relationship with Celestia.
Power Incontinence:
- Having grown a horn only recently, Rainbow is still very new to magic, and doesn't really know how to use it, especially when she's distressed. The first time she uses magic is when writhing in pain before her horn has even grown in, telekinetically throwing one of Zecora's wooden bowls against a bedpost hard enough to shatter it, and Luna lists it as one of the reasons she should come to Canterlot; Like a unicorn foal, she doesn't know how to use her magic and might lash out accidentally and hurt someone. Unlike a foal, Rainbow is very powerful, and the damage she can cause is a lot worse.
- Played for Laughs during her magic lessions with Twilight, when her attempts at levitating a book results in several entirely different books flying out of their shelves and hitting Twilight in the head.
The Power of the Sun: Rainbow tends to feel most at home and comfortable high in the sky, warmed by the sun's rays, implying that she's inherited some of her mother's affinity for the Sun.
The Prankster: The first time she smiles after growing her horn is while reminiscing about a prank she pulled on Fluttershy's brother as a filly when she told him that the coolest pegasi know how to echolocate, so he spent a week going around blindfolded while making clicks to impress her. It becomes a bit crying wolf when Rainbow's difficulties learning magic results in some slightly amusing incidents and Twilight mistakingly assumes she's doing it on purpose.
Princess Protagonist: She is the protagonist, and she is a princess. Notably, Rainbow Dash is a princess in the real-life meaning of the word - the child of a monarch - whereas Equestria generally uses "Princess" as a title for a reigning female monarch.
Puppy-Dog Eyes: She can pull them out if she needs to, even if it's not really her style. She uses them in chapter 9, combined with some verbal pleading, to get Celestia to help her prank Luna. Celestia, being utterly spineless in anything regarding her daughter, can't resist.
Really Royalty Reveal: Deconstructed. Learning that she's a princess only made Rainbow's life much, much messier, and she would have preferred to remain a normal pony. She has no training in how to handle herself like a princess, she hates being distanced (emotionally and physically) from all her friends, and it has made her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt all but unachieavable, since she could never be seen as an equal to her teammates.
Rebellious Princess: She doesn't even want to be a princess, and she does not follow royal etiquette, she is not interested in any matters of state, and she tends to run away from her guards more often than not.
Recurring Dreams: Rainbow suffers the same nightmare of being cradled safe and happy in Celestia's arms, before someone else comes and rips her away while she cries for her mother, again and again.
Related in the Adaptation: This story's version of Rainbow is Celestia's daughter, Luna's niece, and a very distant cousin of Cadance.
Shock and Awe: Rainbow's Power Incontinence, especially when she's close to clouds like in her cloud house, is frequently accompanied by small bolts of lighting.
Simple-Minded Wisdom: When Celestia idly wonders if Rainbow has any regrets, Rainbow says that she doesn't; Regrets don't help anyone, it's just mud in your feathers that drag you down and prevent you from moving forward. She thinks too many ponies spend their lives dragged down by regrets. Celestia, who carries a ton of regrets from a long life (most notably giving up her daughter), calls her one of the wisest ponies she's ever met in response.
Sneeze of Doom: Rainbow's sneeze might be influenced by her weather magic given that it throws Pinkie across the room.
Strong Family Resemblance:
- As soon as the truth is out, Pinkie points out that Rainbow and Celestia both have rainbow-coloured manes and reddish eyes.
- Strangely, she also bears a very strong resemblance to Rainbow Blaze, her adopted father.
- On a personality level, Celestia says that Rainbow takes a lot after her grandfather.
Super-Strength: Rainbow at one point smashes a hoof into a tree, causing cracks to form in the wood. It's unclear if this is a sign of her having gained Earth Pony strength due to being an alicorn or just regular pony strength (which is fairly inconsistent in the show itself).
Tragic Dream: Rainbow Dash has wanted to become a wonderbolt ever since she was a filly, and certainly has the potential for it. That is, until she is revealed as royalty, which forever puts that dream out of reach since she could never be an equal to her teammates, and even if they welcomed her, her being part of the team would only be seen as nepotism due to who her mother is.
Try to Fit That on a Business Card: When Sage Whitehoof greets Rainbow, he calls her "Her Highness, Princess Aurora. Scion of the Realm, heir to the throne, and long-lost daughter of Her Majesty, Princess Celestia," and "Rainbow Dash, captain of the Ponyville weather team, self-styled fastest flyer in Equestria, and the only known practicioner of the fabled sonic rainboom. Incarnation of Loyalty, Fifth of the Bearers of Harmony, and one sixth of the downfall of the usurper, Nightmare Moon." Somewhat ironically, she has more titles as Rainbow Dash the normal pony than as Aurora the crown princess.
Two Aliases, One Character: Princess Aurora, aka. Rainbow Miriam Dash. The former is technically her birthname, but is treated more as a regnal name used officially for the Crown Princess. Ponies who actually know her call her Rainbow Dash, though Celestia still uses Aurora whenever she's not around to hear it.
Unreliable Expositor: Played for Laughs in chapter 9, where the narration itself mentions that Rainbow's account of how she got into a prank war with Luna is biased, and Twilight has to restrain herself from correcting the inaccuracies.
Unskilled, but Strong: Rainbow has immense magical power due to her semi-divine parentage, but has difficulties learning how to actually use that magic in any way. It takes her util chapter 7 to even learn basic telekinesis, and before Celestia helps her figure it out, all of her attempts at levitating result in the object in question exploding.
Sage Whitehoof: (To Twilight) Rainbow Dash has far more magical ability than either one of us. Any comparison would be laughably tilted in her direction
Vengeance Feels Empty: Maybe not vengeance, but every time Rainbow screams and shouts and cusses out her mother, she only feels worse afterward.
Weather Manipulation: When Rainbow loses her patience, her alicorn power generally manifests as wind, lightning, and thunder.
What Is This Feeling?:
- While flying around Canterlot with Celestia, the first time they've spent time together without anger or resentment, Rainbow is surprised to realize that she's happy and having fun, plus some other feeling she can't put her hoof on.
- When someone starts criticizing Celestia for not having responded sooner to the Ascendancy attack, Rainbow gets angry and comes to her defense, leading to a rather big argument. In the middle of it she asks herself why she's getting so mad over Celestia of all ponies.
What's Up, King Dude?: She's Crown Princess of Equestria but she really hates all the formalities and reverence she gets as a result, and much prefers to be casual and on friendly terms with ponies. Except for Tristar, him she doesn't mind forcing to use her title.

Princess Celestia

The Sun Princess, co-ruler of Equestria, and Rainbow Dash's biological mother who left her to be raised by regular pegasi. Now that Aurora's alicorn heritage has become apparent, Celestia has revealed their relation. Despite her best efforts to reconnect, their relationship is damaged, possibly beyond repair.

Abdicate the Throne: Downplayed, after Luna's exile she left the ruling to a regency and spent a few years in self-imposed exile due to her guilt. She returned to her throne eventually, though.
The Aloner: Celestia for a thousand years after Luna's banishment, but even before that she had grown distant to and alienated everyone she loved, Luna included. Rainbow Dash was the result of an "indiscretion" with the only pony who had made Celestia laugh in centuries. Afterward, she gave up her daughter because she was scared of opening herself up to and loving someone again.
Apologises a Lot: She's perfectly assertive most of the time, as she has to be to rule a kingdom, but she's so terrified of straining her relationship with her daughter further that she turns into a wet blanket with less backbone than Fluttershy whenever she's in the same room as Rainbow, apologizing for virtually everything. When she actually does stand up and make demands, it leads to very bad arguments between them, usually resulting in Rainbow calling her out for abandoning her as a child, at which point Celestia shuts down again.
The Chains of Commanding: She somberly explains to Rainbow Dash that, while she doesn't like the amount of reverence they both receive as princesses, she and Luna are powerless to stop it because it's what expected of them; Not fulfilling the role of a larger-than-life princess could have thrown the fledgeling nation into chaos when they were first crowned, and since then it's become even harder to do anything to stop it.
"We were the glue that held Equestria together. If we were anything less, then the nobility would've tasted blood and circled like sharks, the tribes would've splintered, and the country might have descended into civil war."
Death Glare: Celestia has a good one she uses when she wants her guards to listen with no questions.
Didn't Think This Through: Celestia tries to reduce the formality between her and Twilight by giving Twilight a personal summons to the throneroom. She admits in hindsight that this didn't exactly help Twilight feel at ease or comfortable.
Fantastic Racism: Rainbow accuses her of having given her up just because she wasn't born with a horn. It's not clear was born out of prejudice against non-unicorn races, but the fact that Celestia would go on to take a unicorn student does not speak well for her. She also dismisses Rainbow and Pinkie as potential threats in their prank war with Luna because they're a former pegasus and earth pony respectively.
Fatal Flaw: Wanting simple solutions. Celestia, being an immortal goddess with enough magical and political power to resolve virtually any problem with a wave of her hoof, longs for simple solutions, a few magic words she can say to fix the problems that are plagueing her. Sadly, with her relationship with her daughter, no such magic exists, and actually reconnecting with her takes hard work and effort that Celestia is not used to.
Friend to All Children: Friend might be a strong word given her relationship with her daughter, but Celestia clearly likes children, smiling when Twilight tells her about the cutie mark crusaders2E
Greater-Scope Villain: In a non-malicious sense, Celestia is this to the conflict between Twilight and Rainbow Dash, their relationships with her being the core of the conflict; Having treated Twilight with love and maternal affection all her life after giving Rainbow up to another couple means that Twilight is jealous of Rainbow being Celestia's actual daughter and resentful of her for not appreciating that, and that Rainbow is equally jealous and resentful of Twilight for being the one Celestia actually cared about.
Hero with Bad Publicity: After the Ascendancy attack, the newspapers have a field day attacking her for allowing this to happen and for being so late to arrive at the scene. Of course, Celestia did everything in her power to prepare for it and her being there at all is the reason there were no casualties, but good luck telling the press that.
Hidden Depths: Celestia is apparently a bit of a sportshead, enough to keep up with Rainbow's rambling on the subject at least.
Hypocrite: Celestia claims that she gave up Rainbow because she couldn't handle the responsibility of raising a child, but went on to act as a parental figure to Twilight who's the same age as Rainbow. Rainbow angrily calls her out on how she was apparently all too willing to be a mother to someone other than her actual child, and accuses her of having chosen Twilight over her because Twilight was born with a horn.
Insistent Terminology: She harshly reminds captain Tristar that he is to refer to Rainbow as Princess, which Rainbow usually doesn't like but Tristar is such a classisist jerk that it's very warranted.
Ironic Fear: Celestia admits that the reason she gave up her daughter was because she was scared of raising a child. Rainbow is aghast that Princess Celestia, God-Emperor of Equestria, was scared of responsibility.
It's All My Fault: Celestia blames herself for her sister's fall, saying that she was a horrible sister, even going so far as to calling herself abusive, and having apparently humiliated her in front of their subjects.
Like a Daughter to Me: Twilight was the first person that Celestia allowed herself to love after Luna's fall, a thousand years earlier, finding that she was the one who taught her about goodness and hope. She loves her like any mother would love her child, and apologizes for not having said so earlier.
Like Mother, Like Daughter: Like Rainbow, she has a love of flying and racing, though Celestia is more of a precision flyer than her speedster daughter. She also shows a surprising interest in sport and familiarity with the Wonderbolts, to the point that Rainbow notes that she's the only pony she's ever met who can keep up with her interest.
Mama Bear:
- When Celestia hears from Twilight that Rainbow is growing in her horn, she takes off from where she currently is in the Griffin Kingdom so fast that it creates a shockwave behind her.
- When she learns that Tristar took Twilight to Manehattan to talk to the Ascendancy cultists, she is beyond furious, going so far as to threaten to demote Tristar and remove his noble title for that alone, and puts him on guard duty for the Summer Sun Celebration as punishment. It's implied she might have other reasons than just protectiveness to want to keep Twilight away from them, though.
  Celestia: I needn't remind you that Twilight Sparkle and Princess Rainbow Dash are both likely to be present for the festivities. If. One. HAIR should come to harm, on either of their heads...
Master of Illusion: It's not generally something she's known for, but she can create phantasms (that is, tactile illusions) so realistic that even Luna can be fooled.
Mayfly–December Friendship: Celestia has watched a lot of ponies come and go, which is simultaneously why she's so scared of opening up to other ponies, and why she's desperate to mend her relationship with her mortal daughter. If she lets that chance go by, she will have to live with it forever.
Mentor Archetype: To Twilight, having trained her in magic since she was a filly. She also has much more success in teaching Rainbow magic than Twilight did by tailoring the lessons to Rainbow's interests.
My God, What Have I Done?: Celestia was already guilty over what she did to Aurora, but it reaches new heights after Rainbow spills her feelings to her in chapter 10. Celestia is reduced to tears in a way Luna has never seen her before, desperately apologizing for what she's done.
"L-Luna! What have I done? She’s broken! She’s broken inside, and I can’t help her! I’ve ruined her life! I’ve ruined EVERYTHING!"
My Greatest Failure: Leaving Aurora to be adopted by someone else is up there with banishing Luna as Celestia's greatest failure, and she's constantly dealing with the guilt of it.
My Secret Pregnancy: When she was pregnant with Aurora, she kept it secret and went on a sabbatical when it was time for the birth. Only her closest and most trusted advisors knew about it.
Not So Above It All: She's usually a dignified, honorable, larger-than-life princess, but she can't help but be a bit smug after helping Rainbow prank Luna.
Luna: You helped her.
Celestia: (smirking) There was no rule against it.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Celestia is usually the picture of calm serenity, so Twilight is deeply unsettled when she looks genuinely terrified when she hears Rainbow's screams. This is of course less because of Rainbow's pain (though she's not happy aobut that either) and more because this means she will have to reveal the truth of her parentage.
- Luna realizes immediately that something is wrong when she finds Celestia in a dark room, since she usually prefers light and warmth.
Parents as People: Celestia does genuinely love her daughter, but she is a very flawed pony. When Rainbow demands to know why she was given away, Celestia has no better answer than that she was afraid of daring to love someone truly and genuinely and risk the hurt and heartache again, and of messing it up and hurting her daughter. Of course, that just hurt Rainbow even more when she actually learned the truth, and Celestia is desperate to make it right again, but by this point there's nothing she can do to make up for her failings other than be there and wait for Rainbow to come to her.
"And… even though you might never look on me as a mother, I s-swear, you will always, ALWAYS be in my heart! I will NEVER forsake you again! If I could change the past, I would—b-but all I can do is promise—for every second I wasn’t there, I’ll love you ten times more! I’ll move the sun and sky for you, if that’s what it takes!"
Physical God: Celestia and Luna are repeatedly described as goddesses, a not inaccurate description since they do raise the sun and moon.
Playing with Fire: Part of her affinity with the Sun, though she generally only uses it when she's seriously pissed off.
The Power of the Sun: Of course, as the alicorn who raises the sun, her power is generally based on bright light and warmth, and her arrival in any given place is generally heralded by a sunrise.
Precious Photo: Celestia keeps a photo album containing pictures of Rainbow Dash throughout her life, sent to her by Blaze and Nova. She gives it to Rainbow Dash in chapter 10, and chapter 11 opens on Rainbow being so touched that she initiates a hug for the first time while crying tears of joy.
Related in the Adaptation: Rainbow Dash is her daughter in this story.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: The first time she's seen in the story, she's undertaking a spymission meeting with an informant in Griffi'la. She's also often seen doing governing stuff, though she's quick to shove it aside if her daughter wants to talk, and acts as both healer and warrior in the Ascendancy attack.
Story-Breaker Power: Celestia is effectively a god, and can easily put an end to any actual fight. In chapter 6, the only reason the fight went on as long as it did was because she was busy keeping the wounded alive. Once she actually does get involved, she cancels out the magic of the cultists and telekinetically slams them into the ground, while entering in a pillar of flame. The conflict comes more from things she can't solve with brute force, namely her broken relationship with her daughter.
When She Smiles: Celestia's smile generally ranges from "Customer Service" when dealing with her court, to "Extremely nervous and strained" when dealing with her daughter. In chapter 5, however, Rainbow realizes that it's the first time she's seen Celestia smile genuinely and carefreely, a result of getting to actually spend quality time with her for the first time.
White Mage: During the battle at Manehattan Central Station, the reason Celestia takes longer than Whitehoof and Tristar to appear is that she's busy breathing life into and healing those who were felled in battle, preventing as many deaths as she can.
Workaholic: Celestia throws herself into work to avoid problems she doesn't know how to deal with, namely her daughter, which Luna calls her out on. She also implies that not sleeping for a week due to being busy working is nothing unusual for her.

Princess Luna

The Moon Princess, co-ruler of Equestria, and Rainbow Dash's maternal aunt, recently returned from a thousand year exile on the Moon.

Adaptational Deviation: Unlike in the show, Luna doesn't speak with a royal We, Flowery Elizabethan English, or the Royal Canterlot Voice. If anything, Celestia is more verbose than her. She apparently doesn't spend her nights dealing with the nightmares of her subjects either.
Celestia: Be that as it may-
Luna: Oh be that as it may my hoof!
Ambiguously Related: Cadance being related to Celestia through many generations would obviously mean she's related to Luna too. However, Cadance being specifically described as Celestia's niece would presumably indicate that she's actually a distant descendant of Luna.
The Archmage: Her mastery of magic is legendary, and she was considered the most talented mage in Equestrian history in her heyday. Even today, a thousand years behind, she is a force to be reckoned with, and Celestia remarks that an alicorn could spend fifty years doing nothing but study and practice and still be nowhere near Luna's level.
Attention Whore: Certainly not as bad as she used to be, but Luna still shows some signs of this. For instance, the new moon is her least favourite part of the month because no one can see it.
Black Cloak: Luna's first appearance has her wearing a black cloak that conceals her stellar mane and makes her look even more intimidating.
Brutal Honesty: Luna does not mince words with Celestia when it comes to the subject of her daughter, saying bluntly that Rainbow has no obligation to give her love, forgiveness, or understanding.
Commonality Connection: Luna empathizes with Rainbow's resentment of her mother, and frankly states that Celestia is an idiot and she knows well that there are reasons to hate her.
Cool Aunt: Compared to Celestia, Rainbow actually gets along pretty well with her aunt, once they get over the initial awkwardness. Luna is a lot less formal, which Rainbow prefers, and there is less tension because Rainbow doesn't have any reason to resent her like she does Celestia. The entirety of chapter 9 consits of an aunt-niece prank war which both parties are gleefully engaged in, though Rainbow is frustrated that Luna has the upper hand due to her magic. It helps that Luna genuinely enjoys being an aunt, and is overjoyed over having a niece.
She was rather coming to enjoy being an aunt. Canterlot Castle felt so much more like a home when it was filled with talking and laughter instead of the silence she’d come to know it for. And she was developing a real fondness for Rainbow Dash, the young daredevil.
Dream Weaver: She doesn't seem to use it as much as in the show, where it's her main occupation, but she can induce dreams in other ponies when she wants, using it during her prank war with Rainbow.
Fish out of Temporal Water: She's catching up pretty well, but she's still a bit behind on things that happened during her 1000 year absence, most notably that the nobility has less power (which they are happy to exploit) and indoors plumbing.
The Heart: Of the royal family. Luna doesn't have any strong emotional conflicts with the others, and is always there to lend a shoulder to cry on to support her sister and niece, understanding and sympathizing with both.
I Did What I Had to Do: At some point during their early reigh, Luna did something unspecified that Celestia describes as necesarry, but implies that it was unpleasant. The fact that she was punished and publically humiliated for this contributed to her growing resentment of Celestia.
It's All My Fault: Luna blames herself for not being strong enough to face the Ascendancy with Celestia.
Kneel Before Frodo: She doesn't do any kneeling, but remarks that she should, and she insists that the element bearers never have to treat her with any special respect.
Master of Illusion: Illusions are one of her specialties when it comes to magic. At one point she creates an illsion of a giant insect destroying a room so lifelike that two ponies caught up in the middle of it, one of whom is a powerful mage herself, can't tell it's fake.
Modest Royalty: She's fairly casual, especially compared to her larger-than-life sister, asking the mane six to just call her Luna and freely acting affectionate towards Rainbow. At one point Twilight walks in on her messily eating breakfast and getting a milkstache.
Mundane Object Amazement: Having spent the last 1000 years on the moon, Luna thinks that indoor plumbing and toilets are the real magic.
Mythology Gag: In chapter 10, Luna talks with Rainbow about her dreams and suggests that they might have a psychological component, a nod to her canon counterpart who specialized in that kind of stuff.
Not So Above It All: Luna acts the role of a dignified and noble princess all the way up until she and Rainbow are alone, at which point she pulls her into a bone-crushing hug while crying tears of joy. She also has no problems engaging in prank wars with her niece.
Older Than They Look: Rainbow is shocked to learn that Luna is only two years younger than Celestia. She didn't age the thousand years she spent on the moon, so physically she's 1002 years younger.
Physical God: Luna and Celestia are repeatedly described as goddesses, a not inaccurate description since they do raise the moon and sun.
The Prankster: Apparently it runs in the family. She mentions that she and Celestia used to play a lot of pranks when they were foals, and she's positively gleeful when Rainbow challenges her to a prank war, to the point where her excitement slightly unsettles Rainbow. She also has magic, which gives her a massive leg up on Pinkie (who's an earth pony) and Rainbow (who's own magic is far underdeveloped).
Related in the Adaptation: Since Rainbow Dash is Celestia's daughter, Luna is her aunt.
The Spymaster: Not during the events of the fic, but Celestia laments that she should have given Luna the Griffi'la mission because she's much better at it, implying that Luna used to serve this role prior to her baishment.

Royal Court and Castle Staff

Twilight Sparkle

A close unicorn friend of Rainbow Dash, element of Magic, and student of Celestia. Though she resides in Ponyville, she is soon recalled to Canterlot to tutor the young princess in magic, despite her misgivings.

Anti-Mentor: Twilight is assigned to train Rainbow in magic, but her book-heavy method of teaching doesn't mesh with Rainbow's way of learning, and leaves them both frustrated, made worse by Twilight's resentment caused by Rainbow being naturally more powerful than she could ever be yet seemingly not willing to put in any of the effort Twilight has.
The Archmage: Magic is her special talent, and some believe that she could even rival princess Luna in skill. As a child she was already recreating spells that had been lost for centuries, and as an adult she invents new spells on a whim.
Claimed by the Supernatural: Bedlam immediately sees something of the Nightmare in Twilight, and asks if it speaks to her in her dreams.
Complexity Addiction: Twilight develops a spell that can remove the black char from burned toast by rewriting its "metaphasic field" to convince the toast that it's actually bread, causing it to reject the bits of it that are burnt. It's an impressive work of magic, and also absurdly overdone for such a simple task.
Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments, like when she finds Rainbow packing her bags with "just the essentials" and one of the things she packed is a book full of foals' stories.
Twilight: Branching out from Daring Do?
Designated Driver: She calls herself designated teleporter after getting just ice tea when drinking with Tristar.
Deuteragonist: Rainbow Dash is the central character in the story, but Twilight comes in a close second, having a lot of time dedicated to her point of view and her emotional turmoil is on par with Rainbow and Celestia's.
Dramatically Missing the Point: When Tristar points out how unfair it is that Celestia has a school for gifted unicorns and not pegasi or earth ponies, Twilight dismisses the idea as ridiculous because why would pegasi and earth ponies need a special school just for them, failing to realize that thinking like that is exactly the problem Tristar is talking about.
Emotion Suppression: After Shining Armor is hospitalized, Twilight insists on keeping her emotions in control and not have a breakdown, while her internal monologue is screaming swearwords.
Narration: She was in complete control of her emotions.
Twilight's internal monologue: Buck this weather! Buck this week! BUCK EVERYTHING!
Narration: Complete control.
Fatal Flaw:
- Jealousy. Twilight struggles a lot with her jealousy of Rainbow, who had everything Twilight could ever want dumped into her lap, and doesn't want it. She knows that it's unfair to treat Rainbow differently because of her own issues, but she can't help but let some of her envy bleed into their interactions, and it causes a rift between them.
- Arrogance. While Twilight would never outright boast about her skill or superiority over other ponies, she has a tendency to view whatever she's most interested in as inherently superior to anything else, and anyone who doesn't pursue those interests with the same dedication as her as beneath her, even if she doesn't realize it consciously. Shining points out that this is why she never made friends before Ponyville, because she thought her studies were much more important than whatever other ponies might be interested in.
Foil: Twilight herself notes that she and Rainbow really couldn't be more different. Twilight is patient and careful, Rainbow is rash and careless. Twilight is a scholar, Rainbow is an athlete. Twilight is a unicorn raised in Canterlot, Rainbow was a pegasus raised by regular townsfolk. Twilight has a very close relationship with her family and especially brother, Rainbow's adopted parents are dead and she's an only child. Within the events of the fic, Twilight is not related to Celestia but views her as a mother figure and spent much of her childhood under her tutelage, while Rainbow is Celestia's daughter but didn't know until she was an adult and their relationship is all but nonexistent. They do have similarities too, however, as both have difficulties dealing with failure and are often too stubborn to admit when they're in over their heads or listen to other ponies.
Hypocrite: Tristar accuses her of this. Twilight compares Rainbow Dash negatively to herself, thinking that she worked for her power while Rainbow was just born with it. Tristar points out that Twilight herself was born into a situation which allowed her to develop those powers, making her just as privileged as Rainbow, if not more, since Rainbow spent the first 17 years of her life without a shred of privilege at all.
Hypocritical Humor: In chapter 4, she tells Rainbow that "Un-awesome" isn't a word. In chapter 6, she herself uses it to describe Rainbow, and denies having ever said it isn't a word after Rainbow points it out.
Insufferable Genius: A little bit. With the exception of Celestia, she tends to assume she's the smartest person in the room, and acts a bit arrogant when other ponies aren't as quick to pick up on things as she is which is doubly ironic when she's wrong about something. Case in point, she rolls her eyes at Applejack not picking up that Celestia is just pretending to be Rainbow's mother to reassure her when Applejack is the one who correctly assumed Celestia is Rainbow's mother.
I Resemble That Remark!: When Rainbow accuses her of being way too obsessive over minor details that don't matter, like the spoon being on the wrong side of the fork, Twilight insists that she's not obsessive... After correcting Rainbow that the spoon is supposed to go next to the knife, not the fork.
I Warned You: In chapter 9, she warns Rainbow Dash against sitting in Luna's chair. Rainbow refuses to listen, and promptly suffers the consequences, giving Twilight a chance to gloat.
Twilight: Told you soooooo.
Rainbow: [Death Glare]
Lonely Among People: Twilight is miserable in Canterlot, despite it being the place where she grew up and she has both friends and family there. She misses Ponyville, to the point of calling the letters from Spike keeping her up to date about the goings on there the only thing that's keeping her sane, and it's not made better by her deteriorating relationship with the two people she's closest to in Canterlot, Rainbow and Celestia.
Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: Played for Drama. After being told by Whitehoof that Rainbow is far more powerful than her and she might as well just accept that she will always be in her shadow, Twilight spitefully gives Rainbow an assignment that even Celestia thinks is a bit too advanced for a novice, since an alicorn like her should be able to do it easily. In hindsight she realizes that it was needlessly cruel to put so high expectations on Rainbow.
Motivated by Fear: Due to her great fear of disappointing Celestia, Twilight doesn't want to tell her about her fears of being replaced by Rainbow Dash because she sees those fears as childish and immature and thinks Celestia would be disappointed if she knew. She also accepted the assignment to teach Rainbow Dash magic despite knowing that it wouldn't end well and refuses to admit that she finds the assignment impossible again because it was given to her by Celestia, and admitting that she can't do it would be another failure, so she instead doubles down. This fear of disappointing her mentor figure is exasperated by her more recent fear that Rainbow Dash has replaced her in Celestia's eyes, so she has to do her best to not be cast out in the cold.
My God, What Have I Done?: In chapter 11, she reads a letter from Rarity to Rainbow which gets her to realize that she's been completely blind to Rainbow's mental state ever since she moved to Canterlot, and a later speech from Shining about the little tests one is put through in life - tests like empathy and compassion - has her fully realizing how callous and dismissive she has been of Rainbow's issues due to being too caught up in her own jealousy and arrogance.
Obsessively Organized: Same as in the show, Twilight is a stickler for the rules and regulations, and consider things like proper table manners to be vitally important. This often causes her to clash with the more freespirited Rainbow Dash.
Plagued by Nightmares: Ever since she was recalled to Canterlot, Twilight has suffered recurring nightmares of being in the throne room of the old castle, the elements of harmony falling around her, a silverglinting edge in the darkness, and a pool of red. The part that always makes her wake up is a slitted purple eye.
Psychological Projection: In chapter 6, after her brother is hospitalized due to injuries sustained in the line of duty, Twilight is furious at Rainbow for ditching her guard entourage because they are there to protect her, clearly projecting her worry for her brother onto Rainbow.
Replacement Goldfish: Whether Celestia sees her as this or not, it's hard to deny that there are elements of it in their relationship. Celestia took Twilight on as a student very shortly after giving up Aurora, they are very similar ages, and Twilight feels that she was tossed aside as soon as Rainbow and Celestia reconnect. Notably, Twilight was born with a horn, while Aurora was not.
The Resenter: Twilight's feelings towards Rainbow grow into this over time. Twilight has always viewed Celestia as a mother figure, so seeing one of her best friends suddenly be declared Celestia's daughter overnight - far closer to the princess than Twilight could ever hope to be - makes her seethe with jealousy, which only grows once it becomes clear that Rainbow does everything she can to reject what Twilight has desperately wanted her entire life. It's not made better at all that Rainbow being an alicorn means that her natural magical power - the thing Twilight is supposed to be the expert at - is leagues beyond anything Twilight could ever hope for, leading her to be even more resentful and jealous.
Self-Made Lie: Twilight fashions herself a Self-Made Woman who developed her magical power through hard work and determination. It's true that her magical power is the result of long training, but she naïvely assumes that it was all it took. In reality, Twilight only had the chance to develop her magic at all because she was born a unicorn, in a unicorn-dominated society, got to attend Celestia's school of gifted unicorns, and was tutored by Princess Celestia herself, the greatest sorcerer in Equestria.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: She tends to use a bit overly fancy words, like "Vituperative" instead of angry or crass. Rainbow pokes fun at her for it, while she thinks there's nothing nerdy about having a good vocabulary.
Tele Portation: Celestia remarks that Twilight has always been good at this, and she's definitely skilled enough to teleport multiple people to and from a moving vehicle.
True Sight: Twilight has a spell to this effect, allowing her to see into the ethereal plane and study magical spells directly.
Undying Loyalty: Twilight is deeply loyal to Celestia, almost to the point of hero worship, and gets angry when someone criticizes her within earshot.
The Unfavorite: How she feels in regards to Celestia. Despite having been close to Celestia since she was a child, Twilight feels like Celestia doesn't care about her anymore because she has Rainbow Dash. The irony, of course, is that Rainbow feels the same way.
"Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Celestia isn't her mother, but she is a mother-figure and Twilight deeply craves her approval and love, agreeing to things she's personally not comfortable with when Celestia (or Luna by extension) asks it of her.
It was the need to prove herself to her dearest mentor and teacher. To lift herself up in the eyes of the princess. To show that she was dependable, that she was worthy, that she was good enough.
The need to be near and dear to her heard
The need to be cherished.

Sage Whitehoof

The unicorn headmaster of Celestia's academy, an old teacher of Twilight Sparkle, and trusted ally of the princesses. Though initially meant to be Aurora's tutor, he turned down the assignment in favour of Twilight.

Ambiguously Evil: The fact that his communication spheres can apparently be used by the Nightmare, and how he gave Rainbow advice that seemed tailor made to ruin her friendship with Twilight, raises a lot of questions about how trustworthy Whitehoof truly is.
The Archmage: He's the headmaster of a magical academy, the one Celestia entrusts with her daughter's tutelage in magic, and can cast extremely powerful magic both in and out of combat.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: A kind and fatherly mentor who whispers in Rainbow's ear to play up her anger and resentment towards Twilight, advicing her to cut her out of her life because she doesn't need jealous hangers-on, just as Twilight was attempting to mend their relationship.
Brutal Honesty: When Twilight comes to him to lament that Rainbow is impossible to teach magic, Whitehoof quite bluntly lays it out that Rainbow is more powerful than Twilight will ever be, and even if she resents that fact, there is nothing she can do about it.
“Not everypony can move mountains, Twilight.”
Canon Foreigner: One of the original characters created for the fic.
Cool Old Guy: Whitehoof is a cheerful and friendly old guy who understands Rainbow's impatience and frustration with the royal court, manages to explain its history in a way she can wrap her head around, and isn't above playing pranks on self-obsessed nobles who deserve it, especially if it keeps Rainbow out of trouble. He also acknowledges Rainbow by her preferred name and knows about all her accomplishments aside from being Princess Aurora, which makes her feel more at ease. And he doesn't like Tristar, which is another point in his favor.
Counter Spell: He has some spell that cancels out the powerful shield used by an Ascendancy cultist.
I Need a Freaking Drink: After having a discussion with Twilight about the things he's not allowed to tell her, particularily the Ascendancy, and the many bad memories he has accumulated over his long life, he grabs a bottle as soon as she's left.
Magic Staff: He uses one the rare time he goes into combat. Not to cast magic, he has his horn for that, he just hits people with it.
Manipulative Bastard: He knows how to play ponies so they'll do what he says. When Twilight is uncertain about taking the assignment to tutor Rainbow Dash, Whitehoof remarks on how it would be a shame to disappoint Celestia, and lets Twilight's desperate need for approval do the rest. When Twilight is about to mend her relationship with Rainbow, he stops that from happening with just a few words whispered in Rainbow's ear.
Mentor Archetype: Sage Whitehoof is the headmaster of Celestia's academy and a teacher to many a young unicorn. He was initially intended to tutor Rainbow Dash in how to use her magic, though he suggests that Twilight might be better suited for the role since she and Rainbow are friends.
Stealth Hi/Bye: In his first meeting with Rainbow, he disappears from a balcony across the hall, and shows up right behind Rainbow a few seconds later, only to leave again before she can ask him a question.
Troll: When providing Tristar with magical artifacts for communication, he waits until Tristar has already embarassed himself yelling at the inert orb to tell him that he needs to touch it first.
Virtuous Character Copy: Of Saruman the White. He's a Wizard Classic, his name is essentially a synonym for "White Hand" which is Saruman's symbol, and he has developed communication devices that resemble Palantíri. Unlike the fallen istari Saruman, however, Whitehoof is a good guy, if slightly shady at times. His communication devices causing Twilight to see a horrible eye when she touches one makes the comparison even more blatant, and puts the "virtuous" part of the trope into question.
Wizard Classic: He has the staff, he has the magic, he has the long white beard. Only thing he's lacking is the hat and robe, but ponies generally don't wear clothes anyway.

Captain Daedalus Tristar

Pegasus Captain of the Royal Guard, who Luna assigns to keep Rainbow safe.

Anti-Role Model: In-Universe. While giving Twilight advice on how to keep her emotions controlled and not let people like Bedlam get the better of her, he responds to Twilight's accusations that he's the worst person to teach that lesson by suggesting that she use him as a good example of what not to be like.
At Least I Admit It: Tristar hates Rainbow and has no issue admitting it, but at least he's not supposed to be her friend, unlike Twilight who's resentful of her for hypocritical reasons completely beyond her control.
Berserk Button: Do not imply that he has to take orders from Rainbow Dash.
"I WOULD SOONER PLUCK EVERY LAST FEATHER FROM MY OWN TWO WINGS THAN TAKE AN ORDER FROM A SNIVELING LITTLE-"
Bodyguarding a Badass: Downplayed. Tristar is a good soldier and is no doubt better at fighting than Rainbow. But Rainbow is still an alicorn and the fastest flyer in Equestria, and gives him the slip more often than not.
Broken Pedestal: His reasons for hating Rainbow turns out to be rooted in this; When she performed her sonic rainboom as a child, he saw her as a source of inspiration for all pegasi, a demonstration that they can do things thought impossible. That admiration died down as she repeatedly failed to repeat it despite insisting that she could, and it turned into full on resentment after she did do it again, only to shortly after ascend to alicornhood. The girl he thought would be an inspiration and exemplar for all pegasi turned out to not be a pegasus at all, and her greatest accomplishment was just "alicorn hocus pocus."
Canon Foreigner: An original character created for the fic.
Does Not Like Magic: He's not shy about saying it either, calling Whitehoof's communication orbs black magic. His dislike is based on the omnipresence of magic in Equestrian society, and how it puts unicorns at the top of the social hierarchy while slowly pushing pegasi and earth ponies out.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Not evil so much as just a jackass, but despite being an elitist jerk with some racist tendencies, Tristar is shown to care deeply for his wife and kid, as well as have a genuine friendship with Shining Armor.
EvilCounterpart: To Shining Armor, though more Jerkass than evil. Like Shining, Tristar is a respected and capable captain of the Royal Guard. Unlike Shining, who's a Nice Guy, Tristar is an elitist, racist jackass who acts like the circumstances of his birth makes him better than everyone he views as beneath him. He also has strong personal feelings towards one of the mane six who shares his race, but while Shining is nothing but doting and loving towards his sister, Tristar and Rainbow mutually hate each other, and are not related.
Family Business: His position as pegasus captain is hereditary, and his line stretches back a long while.
Famous Ancestor: He's a descendant of Commander Hurricane, one of Equestria's founders.
Fantastic Racism: At least part of his contempt for Rainbow is because she's the daughter of an earth pony, and he freely admits that he dislikes unicorns (though there he at least gives a reason for his resentment).
Good Is Not Nice: He's solidly on the side of good and a loyal soldier of the crown, but he's also a huge jerk with serious classisist and racist tendencies.
Hidden Depths: For whatever reason he keeps a pair of orange-and-green polka dotted socks in his office, which implies a rather unique fashion sense.
Jerkass: Tristar is a short-tempered jerk who treats Rainbow with nothing but contempt, calling Rainbow's adopted parents "lowlife" and dismissing her as the impetulant bastard child of a lowborn earthpony who doesn't deserve her royal title.
Jerkass Has a Point: He's a colossal jerk, but he does make some good points;
- His deconstruction of the way Equestrian society has unicorns on top is accurate, and it's very understandable that he would be concerned and resentful over living in a world that preaches harmony between tribes while still giving one of them a leg up on the others.
- He gives Twilight a vicious "The Reason You Suck" Speech about her blindness to her own privilege as a unicorn raised in Canterlot, and her hypocricy in resenting Rainbow for the circumstances of her birth while being blind to the circumstances of her own, both of which clearly hits Twilight hard.
- While being admonished by Celestia for having taken Twilight to Manehattan, he rightfully points out that leaving Twilight in the dark about everything has just left her to fester in her own resentment and frustation.
Karma Houdini Warranty: While he gets reprimanded for his rough treatment of Rainbow, he doesn't suffer any serious consequences because Rainbow refuses to let Celestia punish anyone on her behalf. Eventually though, he does cross a line Celestia considers unacceptable and is reprimanded harshly.
Large and in Charge: He's described as towering over the soldiers under his command.
Meaningful Name: He's a pegasus named after Daedalus, a craftsman famous for crafting wax wings. He's also a soldier, and Tristar Arms is a weapons manufacturer in real life.
Mirror Character: In many ways he is one to Rainbow Dash. Both are (or were) pegasi who have a great sense of pride in that fact and love flying, relieving stress by taking flight, both are of noble birth, both have a dislike of magic, Rainbow because she struggles with it and Tristar because he just doesn't like it, and both prize loyalty highly. The main difference between them is that Tristar is a lot older and more cynical, and is a much bigger Jerkass than Rainbow, not that Rainbow is any saint either.
Nerves of Steel: If there's one thing that Tristar doesn't lack, it's courage. Not only does he charge headfirst into combat with no hesitation, but he stares down and lectures a furious Celestia, only losing his courage for a brief moment when she fixes him with a Death Glare.
No True Scotsman: Tristar thinks Rainbow is unworthy of being called a pegasus because he sees her as cowardly, selfish, and dishonorable, in contrast to the Proud Warrior Race the pegasi are generally characterized as. This turns out to be a bit more than just elitism; She's not a pegasus, so her succeeding in the impossible and performing a sonic rainboom is not an inspirational tale of a pegasus doing something thought impossible, it's just "alicorn hocus pocus."
Proud Warrior Race Guy: Tristar embodies the pegasus racial hat as honorable warriors and soldiers, holding any pegasus who doesn't embody the ideals of honor, sacrifice, and loyalty in contempt.
Sergeant Rock: A tough and serious captain in the Royal Guard, though one that's loyal to the crown despite being an overall jackass.
The Social Expert: He's an interrogator, so part of his job is to know what makes ponies tick. In a slight twist on the trope, this does not mean he employs those skills to be likeable, and he makes no attempt at hiding his dislike of Rainbow Dash or Twilight.
Undying Loyalty: Luna claims that there is no soldier more loyal than Tristar, despite his rough demeanor. Rainbow Dash doubts it, though, since he has very little respect for her. He gets to demonstrate it in chapter 6, refusing to leave the scene of a battle until everything is cleared up despite suffering from a head injury, and obeying Celestia's orders to escort a civilian and his daughter across the country without question.
Ungrateful Bastard: Even after Whitehoof saves his life, Tristar sneers at the hoof he offers to help him up.

"Caretaker"

A strange old pegasus who looks after the Canterlot gardens.

Canon Foreigner: An original character created for the fic.
The Confidant: While they barely know each other, Rainbow is comfortable enough around him to vent her grievances with how messy her life is, even things that she wouldn't say to Twilight. This is largely because he's one of the few ponies in the castle who doesn't judge her, and doesn't push any unwanted royal etiquette on her.
Cool Old Guy: Unlike every other member of the castle staff, the Caretaker doesn't fall over himself with unwanted respect for Rainbow's title, and knows that she prefers to be called Rainbow even when she introduces herself as Princess Aurora. He also hands out genuine, if a bit cryptic, advice, and sympathizes with Rainbow's annoyance at the overenthusiastic staff.
Eccentric Mentor: A strange old caretaker who manages to be on the same wavelength as Rainbow Dash, providing her sage advice and encouragement that genuinely helps her a lot of the time.
Ice-Cream Koan: He certainly says a lot of sage-sounding and meaningful things, but since he's mostly talking to Rainbow Dash, most of it just comes across as nonsensical to her.
No Name Given: He refuses to say his name, so Rainbow nicknames him Gardener, which he laughs at and thinks is a rubbish name, since he's more of a Caretaker than a gardener.

Captain Shining Armor

Unicorn Captain of the Royal Guard, and Twilight Sparkle's brother.

Barrier Warrior: Shining's ability to create magical shields is legendary. Twilight, while trying to teach Rainbow how to cast magical barriers, laments that Shining would've had a much easier time teaching her that particular subject.
Brutal Honesty: When Twilight worries that she's putting herself above other ponies, Cadance immediately reacts by insisting that she doesn't. Shining Armor, on the other hand, does not mince words and tells Twilight that yes, she does, and she's had that problem since she was a child. Not that she's not a good person, but she has flaws that she should be aware of.
Cool Big Bro: To Twilight, of course, shown when they cheerfully greet each other and make lighthearted jokes poking fun at each other. Twilight absolutely adores him, calling him her Big Brother Best Friend Forever and is overjoyed to get to spend time with him.
Dork Knight: He's the Captain of the Royal Guard, one of the most powerful military commanders in Equestria. He's also a dork who loves hanging out and joking with his sister and is an avid tabletop roleplayer.
Geeky Turn-On: He took Cadance on their first date to an Ogres and Oubliettes convention, and says nothing is more romantic than a critical success after a failed save. Somehow, she found his dorkiness endearing.
Good Counterpart: To Tristar. They're both in the same position as captains of the Royal Guard, but while Tristar is an elitist jackass with a stick up his butt, Shining Armor is a kindhearted and friendly guy who drops the strict attitude when he doesn't need it.
Nice Guy: Shining is pretty much the nicest pony you could ask for. As a young cadet, he'd arrive early to help take care of things around the training field, and he'd work extra late to get money to take care of his little sister and earn a little on the side for dates with Cadance. When one of his friends fell on hard times, he worked extra to earn money for him too until he could get back on his feet. Apparently this was the traits that made Celestia pick him for captain of the unicorn guard.
Testosterone Poisoning: Cadence accuses him of having his, since his apparent reaction to being in a coma for three weeks is to have bragging rights. He isn't really, though, being a relaxed and nice guy.

Domo

A unicorn steward in service to the royal family.

Canon Foreigner: An original character created for the fic.
Comically Missing the Point: She enters Rainbow Dash's room while she's half-asleep and doesn't understand Rainbow's muttered orders to leave. After repeating herself multiple times, Rainbow loses her patience and gets up... and Domo is glad that she was awake. Rainbow facehoofs.
Literal-Minded: When Rainbow tells her and her maids to let her sleep without watching her, they just turn towards the wall, much to Rainbow's exasperation.

Other

Pinkie Pie

An rather unorthodox earth pony, element of Laughter, and close friend of Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle.

Big Eater: Pinkie was apparently left behind by the train in Canterlot in chapter 9 because she was eating their snackbar out of business.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Wouldn't be Pinkie if she didn't treat the fourth wall like swiss cheese. When Twilight asks how she showed up in Canterlot out of nowhere, she responds that she's the main special guest star for the chapter. Later in the same chapter she remarks on the formatting used to indicate scene change.
Cloud Cuckoolander: Well, she is Pinkie, and she has some very interesting thought processes and ideas. At one point offscreen she experimented with nitroglycerin in baking.
Electric Joybuzzer: She tries one on Luna in chapter 9, but she sees through it.
The Prankster: She's the only pony Rainbow trusts to join her prank war on Luna (after Twilight refuses), and is gleeful at the prospect.
Special Guest: Pinkie stars in chapter 9 as a special guest star (in her own words), bringing her Pinkie-ness to the fic for a bit of a Breather Episode.
Verbal Backspace: In chapter 9, Twilight asks her how she got to Canterlot. She responds that she's the main special guest star for the chapter, then corrects herself to saying she was left behind in Canterlot on the way to Vanhoover.

The Ascendancy (Unmarked Spoilers)

A cult worshipping something called the Nightmare, which has existed since Celestia and Luna's childhood. They have been working in the shadows until they reveal themselves in an attack on Manehattan Central Station. So far the only named cultist is Bedlam T. Buster.

Color Coded Magic: The Ascendancy cultists' magic is pure black, possibly because they were "buffed" by dark magic prior to going into battle.
Cult: The Ascendancy is a group of fanatics willing to commit horrible crimes for their god.
Embarrassing Middle Name: Bedlam T. Buster claims that the T stands for Triumph. Tristar checks his file and finds that it's actually Thomas.
Tristar: Why’d you have to go and tell lies to me, Tom?
Geas: Prior to the attack on Manehattan, all cultists were put under a Blood Magic geas that binds their voices and prevents them from talking. Bedlam, the "blood warden," is the only one who can talk, and the others are bound to his will.
Madness Mantra: As he's being led away after being interrogated by Twilight, Bedlam yells again and again that "She doesn't love you," refering to Celestia, claiming that she's only using and manipulating her subjects to discard them when they've done what she needs them for.
Mask of Sanity: Bedlam acts perfectly friendly, if a bit lecherous, right up until Twilight dismisses him, at which point he turns into a raving lunatic rambling about how Celestia doesn't love them.
Meaningful Name: Bedlam T. Bustle, one of the cultists, has both a first name and a last name that references chaos and pandemonium, which is what they inflict on Equestria.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Celestia implies that the Ascendancy are responsible for bringing Luna back from the moon, since doing so would also bring back the Nightmare.
"Not So Different" Remark: Bedlam claims that he has seen their goddess' truth - and that he thinks Twilight will too.
Red and Black and Evil All Over: The Ascendancy cultists have pitch black magic and dress in red cloaks.
Status Buff: Prior to going into battle, the cultists were all buffed with all manners of dark magic to enable them to cause as much damage and death as possible. Twilight even uses the term "buffed up," borrowing it from Spike's O&O game.
13 Is Unlucky: The cultists that attacked Manehattan and shattered any sense of safety for all of Equestria were thirteen in number
Villainous Crush: Buster wastes no time in flirting with Twilight, calling them "compatible." She's disgusted, and it's unclear if he did it to unsettle her, or because he senses something of his mistress in her.

The Nightmare (Unmarked Spoilers)

A viscious, murderous thing that predates Equestria, once coming like a storm of death and destruction, until it was defeated but not destroyed. It came to Luna when her anger and jealousy was at its worst, turning her into Nightmare Moon. Now, it seems to have its slitted eye on Twilight Sparkle.

Ancient Evil: A force of darkness and evil that dates all the way back to Celestia and Luna's childhood, if not older. In Luna's words, it is a manifestation of the dark in everyone, a thing that is drawn to anger, hatred, and jealousy, even more bloodthirsty than the windigos of old.
Body Motifs: Eyes. The dreams Twilight has of it always ends with a horrid eye with a slitted pupil, much like Nightmare Moon's, and she sees the same eye when she touches Whitehoof's communication orb.
The Corruption: After it was first defeated, the Nightmare slipped away into the Everfree, using its beasts as host. The Eldritch Location it is today is just a remnant of that corruption. When Luna and Celestia started breaking apart, it turned to Luna as a host, using her anger and jealousy to turn her into a monster. Now, it seems to have its eye on Twilight.
Dark Is Evil: Luna herself, usually a representative of Dark Is Not Evil, likens it to a darkness that abhors the light, both literal and metaphorical. The whole Eternal Night thing was apparently its idea.
Expy: It's an ancient evil that was once defeated, returned to act as The Corruption, then was defeated again, and is now returning a second time. Along with its appearance being an eye, the parallels to Sauron are clear.
Greater-Scope Villain: While the core conflict of the fic is interpersonal, The Nightmare is the closest thing it has to an overarching villain. Some kind of nebulous force worshipped by the Ascendancy, it's implied to have been responsible for Luna becoming Nightmare Moon, and Celestia reminisces that it attacked her family and killed her mother when she was very young.
Walking Wasteland: Luna describes it as coming like a storm, bringing death and destruction. Given Celestia's recount of how her mother died to a force that ripped the roof from their home, calling it a storm seems to be entirely literal.

Characters / Alicorn

Royal Family

Royal Court and Castle Staff

Other

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Alicorn

Edit Locked

Royal Family

Royal Court and Castle Staff

Other

Previous

Index

Next