Characters / Codex Equus Alicorn Ascendancy

Here is a list of characters from the Alicorn Ascendancy, a secret unfettered organization dedicated to researching the secrets of divine Alicornhood, and its various spinoff factions.

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Alicorn Ascendancy

Symbol: Unknown

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Structure: Secret unlawful research organization

Leadership: Unknown

Power: Decentralized International Conspiracy

Scale: Global, focused in nations with pony populations and have an unknown number of hidden members

Status: Active

"What sacrifice could outweigh a golden Age for us all?"

The Alicorn Ascendancy (its entry here) is a secret, world-spanning conspiracy of underground scholars, sorcerers and scientists of Equestrian origins who are dedicated to the idea of uncovering the secrets of apotheosis (more specifically, the process of Alicorn ascension of Ponykind), in hopes of finding a means to streamline the process and one day ascending all of Ponykind to godhood, freeing them from mortality and limitations to bring forth a new, eternal golden age. The original founders put forth their proposal some time after Nightmare Night and the Equestrian Civil War, and upon securing official support of the Equestrian Crown, they set forth in pursuit of their goal with determination.

While originally well-meaning and modest, making great progress in their research, difficulties with understanding the fundamental nature of Alicornhood eventually caused their efforts to be stonewalled or dead-ended at every turn. Frustrated but undaunted, members of the group gradually resorted to increasingly unscrupulous means and unethical research in pursuit of their goal — which in turn became twisted into an unfettered obsession.

Things came to a head when a rushed field-testing of an experimental potion in the formula supply of the Canterlot Hospital led to the deaths of every filly and colt there. The atrocity and the callous response of the perpetrators led to immediate termination of the project by the now horrified Equestrian Crown, and the arrest of all their members afterwards. Rather than comply, however, the conspiracy rebelled and disappeared in the subsequent showdown that followed, scattered but not destroyed.

Despite being driven underground and being cut off from official support, the Alicorn Ascendancy nevertheless continued their work, now willing to make any sacrifice and commit any atrocity with their experiments if it would mean Alicornhood for all Ponykind. Disagreements between members caused schisms, creating several other conspiracies from the Ascendancy proper pursuing similar goals their own way, in the process magnifying the damage and suffering the Ascendancy would cause throughout the rest of its existence.

With the 'success' of Crystal Prism by two of their members in the Grittish Isles, the Ascendancy had become emboldened, acting more overtly and bringing them into opposition by modern day heroes and others. It is a risk they are willing to take, however — for now, with more examples of Ponies ascending and more opportunities to make headway, their twisted goal seems to be at last within reach...

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General

• Abstract Apotheosis: Invoked. This is what they're trying to reach with their research on Ascension and their twisted experiments. The Ascendancy members hope that they can streamline the Ascension process for everyone if they can crack its secrets, but in reality, it's much more complicated than they believe. Crystal Prism managing to become an Alicorn demigod made him a subject of great interest for the Ascendancy, and in turn made them driven in recovering what they see as their greatest "success".
• Alliterative Name: The Alicorn Ascendancy.
• Body Horror: Many of the Alicorn Ascendancy's work more often than not results in this trope as products of their abhorrent experiments.
  • Crystal Prism was turned into one himself — becoming a giant magic-eating blob monster — in the event that ultimately led to him ascending to godhood thanks to Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker. Ironically (and fittingly), they got their magic eaten out of them by their own creation. Many of their earlier experiments with animals and children also led to this trope.
  • Professor Binding Stitch's experiments with creating artificial Alicorns by sewing body parts together also lends itself to this trope, his most notable success being Patchwork, who would become the Coltic Pantheon's divine champion. Later, after having his body broken, Binding Stitch repeated his procedures on his own crippled form and became one himself.
• Creating Life Is Bad: Technically, they did create an Alicorn in Page Wheel/Crystal Prism, though his Ascension to demi-godhood occurred separately from their experimentation. It's ultimately played with; as Temnobog points out, while Crystal Prism is the result of the Alicorn Ascendancy's hubris and desire to "play god", his existence is not strictly evil, as he has potential to do good.
• Deity of Human Origin: Invoked. As indicated by their group name, the Ascendancy is dedicated to researching the process of divine Ascension so they can help mortal Ponykind become Alicorns, and usher in an eternal golden age. This stemmed from Princess Celestia's depression and loneliness following Princess Luna's Fall and corruption as Nightmare Moon, craving divine companionship yet unable to help Ponies Ascend naturally out of fear of other countries preying on a ruined Equestria should they find any sign of weakness. Unfortunately, the Ascendancy grew increasingly unfettered and extreme in their research, resulting in massive casualties and destruction that led to Princess Celestia trying to dismantle the organization in horror and disgust over what she created. It's been noted that many attempts to Ascend Ponies had ended in disaster until two Ascendancy members, Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker targeted a unicorn colt named Page Wheel, who would ultimately Ascend to demi-godhood as Crystal Prism thanks to their experiments. The success of Crystal Prism's Ascension has caused the organization to become more bold and daring, especially in trying to retrieve "the success", which in turn has caused benevolent factions and individuals to focus attention on the Ascendancy to make sure no harm befell Crystal Prism.
• Determinator: Deconstructed. They are absolutely, adamantly dedicated to achieving their goal of Alicornhood for all Ponies, and would not let anything get in the way. While they started off modestly at first, as time went on this led to them resorting to increasingly extreme means to achieve that end, performing horrific experiments on living beings and people to unlock the secrets of Ascension, with no regard to the death and suffering they caused. And when Princess Celestia, their founder and original patron tried to shut them down after they finally went too far, they defied her rather than surrender and scattered to the four winds, continuing on as a world-spanning conspiracy to continue their research.
• Fantastic Racism: No mention is made about what part to the other sapient races will play in their plans or what place they will have in the new, Alicorn-filled world they intend to create. However, one of the collaboration's authors had suggested the possibility that certain splinter factions from the main group might expand their transsapient ambitions to other races. The implicitly racist policies of the Ascendancy would disgust one of its members, Professor Bubbling Beaker, who was a victim of tribalism and bullying since foalhood, and he would clash with his more racist peers, making him very unpopular with many yet earning the respect and admiration of others who shared his beliefs.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Many experiments spearheaded by members of the Ascendancy turn out horribly, mostly ending with them being crippled and/or killed by their own creations. One notable case is Patchwork, a "pseudo-Alicorn" who killed Dr. Binding Stitch, his creator/"father", so his mad experiments wouldn't hurt any more foals. Another case is Crystal Prism, who rendered Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker completely powerless by draining them of all their magic during his stint as a monstrous, blob-like Magic Eater.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Done so collectively. They started out modestly and fettered in their research, but as time went on resorted to increasingly extreme methods and exercised less restrains on all levels to achieve results as their progress is repeatedly stonewalled and frustrated. Not helped by the fact that their original founder and patron Princess Celestia, the Sunraiser was unable to provide them oversight they should had received and even enabled them via permission to pursue dangerous routes of research — such as in Dark Magic — that further accelerated their slip into full-blown Mad Scientist villainy in pursuit of Alicorn ascension for all, which she deeply regretted.
• Lack of Empathy: The Alicorn Ascendancy doesn't care about what people think of them or the suffering they inflict on their victims — in their minds, if everyone can Ascend thanks to them, then it's worth sacrificing innocent lives.
  • When one Ascendancy member ended up fatally poisoning every foal in the Canterlot Hospital with a potion he concocted, he only focused on what could've happened if the potion succeeded in helping the foals Ascend to godhood, instead of the fact that he just committed child homicide. This shortly caused a horrified and disgusted Celestia to officially disband the Alicorn Ascendancy, scattering its members to the four winds.
  • Despite Crystal Prism experiencing severe psychological trauma from being experimented on and going through a rather traumatic Ascension, the Ascendancy members only treat him like a successful experiment and seek to retrieve him so they could learn how he managed to Ascend in the first place. In short, they respect Crystal Prism as much one would a piece of property.
• Mad Scientist: The entire organization consists of highly educated and talented scholars, scientists and sorcerers, all of them dedicated to finding a means to achieve Alicorn apotheosis for all Equinekind. All of them are also willing to resort to all sort of mad, twisted experiments to achieve this.
• My Greatest Failure: Princess Celestia considered the organization's existence to be one of her biggest mistakes. In a moment of emotional weakness, she gave the original members of the Alicorn Ascendancy her patronage and blessing to do their research on divine Ascension with Royal support. However, in her quest to find a cure for Luna/Nightmare Moon's madness and fulfill her craving for divine companionship, she failed to rein them in and give them oversight that could had prevented them from Jumping Off the Slippery Slope, all while enabling the Ascendancy's worst traits.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Prince Healing Song notes that like his young students, the members of the Alicorn Ascendancy try to fulfill an end-goal by cheating instead of learning how to do their work correctly, leading to sloppy mistakes that would surely get them in trouble later on. Prince Star Cut agrees with him.
  "It seems that Ascendancy group and most of its spin-offs have ONE thing in common with my students," Healing Song noted, before curling his lips in stern disapproval. "The tendency to cheat on their homework."
  
  Star Cut sighed, recalling all those times where he caught his own students doing the exact same thing.
  
  "Yes, I've noticed that, too..." But then, Star Cut perked up. "But there's no rule saying we CAN'T teach those Ponies that cheating is wrong," he pointed out to his blind peer.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: The Ascendancy as a whole wants Ponykind to enter a new golden age of immortality and power to rival the legendary Alicorn Civilization of yore, which they will achieve by cracking the secrets of Ascension and streamlining the process for all Ponies, by whatever means necessary. This has gotten them unwanted attention from factions/individuals who are disgusted with their methods, such as Emperor Golden Scepter, who publicly condemned their methods and has been helping the Equestrian Crown in investigating and flushing out the Ascendancy's membership.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Like many organizations and groups in real life, the Ascendancy is by no means completely united or monolithic. After they went underground, disagreements between various now wanted leaders of the conspiracy caused several different groups to split off from the Ascendancy proper, forming their own conspiracies such as the Abominable Alignment who pursue similar goals but differ in terms of applied means and ultimate ends.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Deconstructed. The Alicorn Ascendancy is a good demonstration of the proverb "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" — they desire to start a golden age by finding means to allow all of modern Ponykind to ascend into Alicornhood. But they are willing to do just about anything, no matter how horrific the deed or how bad the consequences, to achieve that end. The worst part is that even if they are utter monsters now, they really did start off with the best of intentions.
• Winged Unicorn: This is the Ascendancy's end-goal, as much of their time, research, and efforts are devoted to studying the process of divine Ascension. The fact that Crystal Prism Ascended to demi-godhood while so many others failed made him a subject of great interest for the Ascendancy, and he's referred to by them as "the success" because of this.

Dr. Binding Stitch

The creator/father of Patchwork, Dr. Binding Stitch is a Mad Scientist who is part of the infamous Alicorn Ascendancy, and thus is as dedicated as other members of the world-spanning conspiracy to finding the secret of ascension to Alicornhood for all Ponykind, no matter how horrid the means of doing so.

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• Abusive Parents: He was as abusive as one could get to his 'son' Patchwork, whom he saw as little more than an experiment. He didn't even give him a proper name, only calling him his 'creation'.
• Archnemesis Dad: By all intents and purposes, he is the "father" of Patchwork, having created him. That being said, he was a member of the Alicorn Ascendancy and an incredibly immoral Mad Scientist who only saw Patchwork as an experiment. Patchwork ended up fighting and killing him to protect innocent children from being subjected to his horrific experiments..
• Body Horror: What he specialized in with his corpse-patchwork-reanimation experiments, and became one himself after his creation/child, Patchwork, trashed his lab and grievously injured him. Building upon his own work, Dr. Binding Stitch grafted body parts of other Ponies onto his crippled form and reanimated them, turning himself into a Pseudo-Alicorn like Patchwork, albeit one even stronger and more refined.
• Evil Cripple: Patchwork's violent escape and destruction of his labs damaged his own body severely, such that he resorted to grafting body parts and repeating his reanimation experiment on himself to physically function again.
• Grave Robbing: Like Frankenstein and Herbert West (Whose Codexverse Ersatzs Binding Stich is explicitly compared to), he plundered cemeteries and graveyards to acquire body parts to which he used to sew Patchwork's body together for his reanimation experiments.
• Mad Scientist: Like his fellow Ascendancy members such as Bubbling Beaker and Noble Grace, he was this, and comparison had been made between him and similar Mad Scientist predecessors such as Erobern Falkensteen and Bright West, all of whom tinkered with Creating Life and Playing God via reanimation of corpses.
• Meaningful Name: His name of Binding Stitch fits with his forte of stitching corpses back together to reanimate as part of his experiments.
• Monster Progenitor: Created many flesh-golems using the same methods as he did Patchwork made from animal parts, which he used to kidnap children, try and capture Crystal Prism at one point, and defend his lair from the Grittish heroes and an angry mob when they finally found and cornered him.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Believes his and the Alicorn Ascendancy's own work to be important for the betterment of the world with their desire to achieve Alicornhood for all Ponies. His and his fellows' willingness to resort to horrific methods leaves much to be desired and their good intentions questionable at best.
• The Stoic: Is unnervingly calm and collected in his speaking and mannerisms, which highlights his lack of Equinity and empathy for others as a Mad Scientist. He only loses his cool when Patchwork manages to overpower him in their final battle.
• The Unfettered: Is willing to rob graves for body parts, kidnap and experiment on children, and commit just about every possible crime against nature, morality and decency to uncover the secrets of Alicorn ascension.
• Villainous Breakdown: He loses his cool and finally panicked when his creation/child Patchwork, the Living Tapestry gains a Heroic Second Wind from a lightning strike and overpower him, ripping his Pseudo-Alicorn wings and horn off with pure strength before moving to break his neck. He dies mid-sentence begging Patchwork not to kill him and ranting that the world needs him and his work, but Patchwork ignores him and threw his neck-broken body off the castle walls they were fighting on.
• Would Hurt a Child: He shows an utter indifference and disregard for children's welfare with his willingness to experiment on them for the sake of his research, going on two kidnapping sprees as well as openly stating his desire to (somehow) capture and experiment on the Alicorn demigod, Crystal Prism (created by two fellow Alicorn Ascendancy members), in hopes of uncovering the missing components needed to achieve Alicornhood. He also treated his own creation/child Patchwork, who is very clearly sapient and sentient, as little more than a 'prototype' creation to facilitate his end goals. This would come back to bite him later when his activities brought the attention of Patchwork as well as a few Grittish heroes/denizens, and enraged the former into pursuing and ultimately killing him.

Noble Grace

Character: Villainous

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Type: Well-Intentioned Extremist/Mage/Teacher/Criminal

Faction: Alicorn Ascendancy

"The ends justifies the means! And what greater ends is there compare to godhood for all?"

Noble Grace (her entry here) is a resident of the Grittish Isles and one of few people who played an important rule in Crystal Prism's Ascension.

Born in Pferdia to a wealthy Unicorn family, Noble Grace's privileged background and voracious desire to learn turned her into a magical and scientific prodigy. She was a beloved teacher and headmistress known for her graceful yet open, friendly, and maternal personality, and she encouraged her students to think for themselves and rise beyond their limits.

Unbeknownst to all but a few, Noble Grace is secretly a member of the Alicorn Ascendancy and thus is devoted to replicate the process of divine Ascension. Together with her friend and colleague, Professor Bubbling Beaker, she lured her brightest and most talented students into participating in her horrible experiments. Unfortunately for her, she would fail twice in her endeavors. The first time, a young student named Scarlet Bell discovered Noble Grace's activities and confronted her to save her classmates. The ensuing fight created an explosion thanks to a misfired spell on Noble Grace's part, destroying much of her work, crippling Bubbling Beaker, and leaving Scarlet Bell with burn scars.

The second time happened years later after Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker fled to the Grittish Isles as fugitives. Midnight Bell, a young Earth Pony filly and Scarlet Bell's grandniece, tried enrolling tried enrolling in Noble Grace's school after being turned into a unicorn through a wish. Midnight Bell eventually admitted the truth, but attempted to save face by lying about her neighbor, a young unicorn neighbor named Page Wheel, being the "real" magical prodigy. Noble Grace had Page Wheel kidnapped and experimented on, intending to make an Alicorn that embodied Rebirth and Change. Aiding her at the time were the fugitive unicorn trio, Decepticolt, Zappityhoof, and Goldencap, who did so out of selish desire to make themselves gods, too. But the experiments failed, and Page Wheel became a magic-devouring monster. Karma would finally hit Noble Grace when she became one of Page Wheel's first victims, draining her dry of magic until she was reduced to an elderly, powerless mare.

Ironically, Page Wheel ended up Ascending anyway after he was killed in his corrupted form by Luminiferous and the Equestrian Alicorn Princesses during his rampage, as the magic he devoured healed and revived him, transforming him in the process. Despite this, Noble Grace and Bubbling Beaker were unable to celebrate this as Scarlet Bell called the authorities, who arrested and flew the two back to Pferdia to be tried for their crimes. In addition, Noble Grace, in her advanced age, would be hoofed in the face by Scarlet Bell for all the pain and grief she inflicted on her victims. The final nail in Noble Grace's coffin would be Page Wheel, now Crystal Prism, choosing to forge his own path instead of following the one she intended for him as the living symbol of a "new age" for Ponykind.

Despite her utopian ambitions, Noble Grace's moral bankruptcy proved that the road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions, as her horrible actions led to her downfall.

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• Adaptational Badass: Madam Mumblechook is a powerful spellcaster considering she's the headmistress of a magical college that's attended by witches. Here, Noble Grace's arcane capabilities are expanded on — not only does she have all the powers and skills Mumblechook has, but she is also a magical prodigy skilled in other schools of magic not shown in canon, like transmutation. Notably, she's skilled in age manipulation magic, a highly coveted yet extremely difficult skill to master among Unicorns. She was also responsible for creating the animal hybrids found by Mary in Mumblechook and Doctor Dee's laboratory in canon.
• Adaptational Karma: Played with. In Mary and The Witch's Flower, both Madam Mumblechook and Doctor Dee had their lab destroyed by a transformed Peter, who absorbs all of Mumblechook's magic and leaves her powerless, and in the end she and Doctor Dee are both surrounded by the enraged animals she previously experimented on. Here, while the circumstances of her depowering was were more or less the same, Noble Grace was instead arrested, punched in the face by one of her former students, and transferred back to her home country to be tried for her crimes. The authorities tasked with juding her notably refused to let the jury take matters into their own hands, as regardless of what she did to her victims, extrajudicial punishment would make the jury no different from her.
• Adaptational Villainy: In Mary and The Witch's Flower, Madam Mumblechook was once a kind teacher who became corrupted by her greed and obsession for the Fly-By-Night flower, leading to her experimenting on not only animals, but also her own students. Here, while her actions were more or less the same, she's secretly part of the Alicorn Ascendancy, an entire organization dedicated to performing cruel, horrific experiments on innocent people in the name of godhood. The Fly-By-Night being Adapted Out means that she wasn't a Fallen Hero who became obsessed with a magical plant, which also means that her more insidious aspects were ingrained in her to begin with. She's also tribalist, as shown with her calling Midnight Bell an "imposter Unicorn" after learning the truth, which came from her upbringing.
• Adaptational Wealth: Madam Mumblechook was the respectable headmistress of Endor College, a school where witches learn magic. Here, in addition to her job as a teacher and headmistress, she was born to a wealthy Unicorn family. Then she loses it all when her crimes are exposed and she is arrested thanks to the actions of Scarlet Bell and her grandniece, Midnight Bell.
• Adaptation Species Change: Madam Mumblechook was a human witch. Here, she's a Unicorn.
• Affably Evil: She's graceful and poised due to her wealthy background, and she's very nice, friendly, and open-minded. She's very popular among her students for encouraging them to think for themselves and rise beyond their limitations. Even while performing horrible experiments on young Pony foals and teenagers, she genuinely believes she is helping Ponykind reach a new age where they are Alicorns living in a divine utopia that's not unlike the Alicorn Civilization of yore. However, it's deconstructed — her niceness, however genuine it is, still does not justify her abuse of her students' trust or the harm she inflicted upon them, and a huge reason why she was able to get away with her crimes for so long is because of her natural charisma keeping people from thinking twice about her darker aspects. Even out-of-universe, BrutalityInc, the head writer of Codex Equus, agreed that she's an insidious, hypocritical, and morally bankrupt mare.
  BrutalityInc: (in response to Randomfan11's question) I like how insidious she is in both character and goals. You see her flaws in her personality and beliefs at first, but then you see how she seems to be not so bad in those flaws and had redeeming qualities. It disguises the inherent moral and mental bankruptcy behind everything she stands for and makes the hideousness of her actions when revealed have all the more impact in terms of the contrast. At the end of the day she's still a rotten villainess whose deeds can never justify her good intentions. And her knowledge and versatility in magic makes her truly dangerous.
• The Archmage: Due to her wealthy background, higher education, and voracious desire to learn, she's an incredibly powerful Unicorn sorceress. In addition to age manipulation magic — described as being a highly-coveted yet extremely difficult magic to master among Unicorns — she knows a variety of elemental spells such as fire, water, earth, and air. This, along with her Affably Evil behavior, is what makes her a truly dangerous person, since she wouldn't hesitate to attack and destroy anyone who opposes her and her beliefs despite her genuine friendliness. Notably, one of her former students, a then-young Scarlet Bell, understandably feared getting injured or killed by her during a confrontation, but still did it anyway because her desire to save her classmates was stronger than her fear.
• Asshole Victim: Affably Evilness aside, she still abused her position as teacher and headmistress by luring talented students into participating in her cruel experiments, all while persuading them to believe in her good intentions. When her original experiments went belly-up thanks to a young Scarlet Bell and her own temper, she fled to the Grittish Isles to try again, kicking off a series of events that not only led to the complete draining of her magic, but also her arrest and imprisonment. Even Luminiferous agreed her fate was appropriate, and during his visit to her cell, he lambasted her for squandering her own potential by ruining the potential of her victims. However, this trope is played realistically, as the Pony judge who tried her refused to let her victims decide her fate, as extrajudicial punishment is as deplorable as letting her go unpunished.
  Pferdian Pony judge: Considering how many animals and ponies she and her colleague had experimented on, the popular choice would have been to let the victims decide her fate. But cases like these is why we have the law - to bring justice to those who have harmed the innocent without resorting to measures that would make us no better than the criminals we punish.
• The Bad Guy Wins: She succeeded in turning Page Wheel into an Alicorn who embodied Rebirth and Change as she originally intended, as it was her experiments that created a series of events that led to Page Wheel's Ascension. Even Page Wheel — now Crystal Prism — bitterly lampshades how she got what she wanted despite being exposed and arrested for her crimes. However, it's subverted as she doesn't get to enjoy the fruits of her labor because she was prevented from retrieving his cocoon by Midnight Bell, hoofed in the face by Scarlet Bell, and arrested by Grittish authorities (in that order).
• Blind Without 'Em: She had vision problems even as a filly, so she always wears a pair of red glasses to help her see.
• Brought Down to Normal: Her ultimate fate — after Page Wheel was corrupted and turned into a monster by her and Bubbling Beaker's experiments, he turned her into one of his first victims by completely draining her of magic, leaving behind an elderly and completely powerless Unicorn mare. Even Luminiferous agreed that it was an appropriate fate for her after all she had done in the name of godhood.
• Children Are Special: Her main targets were pony foals and teenagers because she believed their bright and curious minds meant they had greater potential compared to adults. She attempted to experiment on several of her own students for this reason, which motivated Scarlet Bell to stop her when she was a filly. Years later, she would kidnap and experiment on young Page Wheel after falsely learning from Midnight Bell that he's a Child Prodigy. The fact that he ended up in a magical cocoon after turning into a magic-eating monster was proof to her that he had "so much potential! So much power!" Fortunately, Scarlet Bell put an end to her plans by literally preventing her from making off with his cocoon, and punching her former teacher in the face.
• Create Your Own Hero: Twice.
  • Noble Grace's actions in causing several students to disappear are what drove a then-young Scarlet Bell investigate and oppose her after the latter discovered what she was doing to her classmates. Years later, when Scarlet Bell learned Noble Grace had escaped to the Grittish Isles — the same country she moved to — to continue her experiments in secret, she immediately calls the authorities and confronts her former teacher, preventing Noble Grace from retrieving Page Wheel's cocoon and punching her in the face for all the pain and grief she caused.
  • Noble Grace also technically succeeded in turning the mortal Page Wheel into the demigod Crystal Prism, as it was her experiments that created a series of events that led to Page Wheel Ascending. However, instead of heralding a "new age" for Ponykind as she intended him to, Crystal Prism would choose to forge his own path and help promote rebirth and change in a positive way, ensuring that Noble Grace's plans for him are all but destroyed.
• Deity of Human Origin: She seeks to invoke this by replicating the divine Ascension process, so she could turn all of Ponykind into Alicorns and bring in a "new age" for them. According to police and investigators, this is why she wanted to create an Alicorn who embodied Rebirth and Change. She would technically succeed with Page Wheel/Crystal Prism, but Golden Scepter and others encouraged him to break free of his intended role and forge his own path instead.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite being an unreprentant and morally bankrupt mare willing to perform horrific experiments on young Ponies, she was genuinely disgusted and horrified when she learned the full scope of Trench Bull's evil and why Trench Bull's then-young niece, Honey Bee, was hoofed over to her for experimentation.
• Evil Teacher: She's a very nice and well-meaning teacher and headmistress who encourages her students to think for themselves and rise above their own current capabilities. She also participates in horrible experiments with the purpose of turning Ponykind into Alicorns, and had lured many of her own students into said experiments by persuading them to believe her good intentions.
• Expy: Of Madam Mumblechook. Both are very powerful sorceresses who know a large variety of magic, and are very nice and maternal teachers/headmistresses of magic schools where students are encouraged to be the best they can be. However, they are also morally and mentally bankrupt, and will not hesitate to experiment on young children for a greater good - Mumblechook seeks to turn everyone into godlike witches with unlimited magic, while Nobel Grace goes even further and seeks to create gods for a "new age".
• Fantastic Slurs: She would angrily call Midnight Bell an "imposter unicorn" while scolding her for lying, after she found out how she became a unicorn and acquired her magic in the first place. She would regret this, and later admitted that had she known about the potential of Earth pony magic and pegasus magic, she would have gladly let Midnight Bell enroll in her magic school.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: She wears red glasses all the time because of the vision problems she had, even as a filly. She's also a morally and mentally bankrupt person whose genuine kind and maternal personality makes her actions all the more striking once she's exposed.
• Green Thumb: Implied, as her entry describes her as knowing plant magic.
• High Collar of Doom: It's mentioned in her entry that she wears a classy, high-collared wizard’s cloak to show off her power and prestige as a headmistress of magical schools. However, she's a morally/mentally bankrupt mare who, while genuinely well-intentioned, was also willing to experiment on young foals and teenagers for a greater good.
• Hypocrite: Oh yes. This is what makes the inherent mental/moral bankruptcy in all that she does and believes in all the more striking once exposed.
  • She encouraged her students to think for themselves, when she persuaded them to participate in her well-intentioned yet cruel experiments by making them believe that ultimately, her actions would result in something good in the end.
  • She wanted her students, as well as Ponykind in general, to tap into their inner potential and rise above their current capabilities, but her experiments have possibly injured and even killed many foals and teenagers who took part in them, dashing their potential before they got the chance to fulfill it.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Twice.
  • She and Bubbling Beaker tried replicating the divine Ascension process by experimenting on their own students, wanting to allow Ponykind to become Alicorns. The disappearance of several classmates would motivate a young Scarlet Bell into opposing them despite her fear of getting killed in the process, and the ensuing fight would result in a great fire that destroyed their work and forced them to flee to the Grittish Isles in secret.
  • Years later, she would try again, this time with a young unicorn colt named Page Wheel, after Midnight Bell, Scarlet Bell's grandniece, lied about him. This time, however, her actions ensure that she would lose everything, including her own magic at the hooves of a corrupted Page Wheel, leaving her a very elderly and completely powerless mare by the time she's arrested and tried for her crimes. In addition, she would be punched in the face by Scarlet Bell, now an elderly mare, and after her arrest, she would be visited by an enraged Luminiferous, who chewed her out while showing her the potential she had squandered.
• Life's Work Ruined: She and Bubbling Beaker "created" Crystal Prism because they wanted an Alicorn who would serve as a symbol for a coming golden age for mortal Ponykind, who would no longer have to worry about their own potential for greatness being stifled by various factors and/or individuals. Unfortunately for them, a string of failures caused by the interference of their old student Scarlet Bell (and later her grandniece, Midnight Bell) would not only leave them unable to enjoy the fruits of their work, but completely drained them of their magic when Crystal Prism went on a rampage as a magic-eating Blob Monster. The final nail on the coffin would be Crystal Prism receiving encouragement from benevolent individuals to carve his own future, influencing him to discard his intended purpose and help promote rebirth and change on his own terms.
• Mad Scientist: Double-subverted. While she initially didn't fit the "mad" part due to being a graceful and poised aristocrat, she spearheaded many horrific experiments in her quest to create an Alicorn that embodied Rebirth and Change - one of these experiments consisted of taking non-sapient creatures and using transfiguration magic to change and/or combine them to create fantastical and horrific hybrids. She also experimented on countless foals and teenagers, including a young Page Wheel, but it wasn't until Page Wheel that she finally created the Alicorn she wanted, at least indirectly. Repeated failures, intervention from Scarlet Bell and Midnight Bell, and the complete loss of her magic would make her increasingly unhinged and desperate to get her results, ending with her being arrested and her once-beloved reputation going down the crapper once her actions were exposed.
• Making a Splash: As part of her vast magical knowledge, she 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).
• Motive Rant: Seeing Scarlet Bell oppose her again after so many years made her have an emotional breakdown, and she proceeds to indulge in this trope after her former student gave her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
  Noble Grace: You don't understand, Scarlet! Bubbly and I wanted to bring a FUTURE for Ponykind! One where everypony can live freely without fear of having their potential dashed by those who seek to kill or enslave them to their whims! And yet, YOU and that interfering FILLY of yours ignored our good intentions, only focusing on how 'wrong' our methods are! Now get out of my way! I need to see that cocoon!
  Scarlet Bell: Not so fast, you old prune. You're not going ANYWHERE near Page Wheel, or my grandniece for that matter. Not while I still breathe.
  Noble Grace: Please! It's extremely important for our research! I don't know how that colt ended up like that, but if he landed in such a state, that must mean he has so much potential! So much power! With a bit of tweaking, he's going to bring our people's salvation!
  Scarlet Bell: A salvation built on the bodies of the foals and teenagers you ruined... You disgust me.
• Never My Fault: She 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.
• Older Than They Look: Justified. It's noted in her entry that she's skilled in age-manipulation magic, an extremely difficult yet heavily-coveted skill among unicorns, making herself look far younger than her actual age and allowing her to continue staying in her prime. When a corrupted Page Wheel made her one of his first victims and drained all of her magic, she was reduced to her true age: An elderly and completely powerless unicorn mare.
• Playing with Fire: Her entry describes her as knowing fire magic.
• Purple Is Powerful: She has a deep purple mane and tail, and she's an incredibly powerful and intelligent sorceress, so much that Scarlet Bell, her former student, feared getting injured/killed in a confrontation with her. It's later averted; after a corrupted Page Wheel devoured all of her magic, she was reduced to a elderly and completely powerless mare.
• Pyrrhic Victory: She would lose everything twice because of interference from the Bell family, specifically Scarlet Bell and her grandniece, Midnight Bell, because they opposed her well-meaning yet horrific actions - she lost the resources and notes to continue her experiments, lost the magic that kept her young and was also one of her greatest assets, and would end up being exposed as an untrustworthy and villainous adult in the eyes of the public because of the harm she had caused. And while her experiments did result in Page Wheel becoming an Alicorn, she would never be able to enjoy the fruits of her labors with her arrest, and her intentions of heralding a "new age" for Ponykind will ultimately be for naught as Page Wheel, now Crystal Prism, was encouraged to forge his own path and now encourages Rebirth and Change through helping people deal with stressful situations and improving themselves.
• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: She and Bubbling Beaker were mistakenly believed to be dead, after a fight with one of her students, Scarlet Bell, led to a misfired spell that created an explosion and fire. In reality, they both moved to the Grittish Isles to evade the law and continue their experiments, something that wouldn't be discovered until years later.
• They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: In contrast to the various divine and/or supernatural threats in Equus, she's just an ordinary, albeit magically powerful unicorn mare who has a day job as a teacher/headmistress of magic schools. What makes her so insidious and dangerous as a person is her staunch belief that what she's doing is ultimately for the greater good of Ponykind, and uses her students' trust and admiration of her to persuade them into believing her and participating in her cruel experiments. BrutalityInc sums up her character as a very insidious and mentally/morally bankrupt character who counters these flaws with positive traits that make her seem not so bad, making her actions much more horrific once they're exposed. Ultimately, she would be arrested and tried when Scarlet Bell called the police on her after the latter realized her former teachers were in the same country as her, and have harmed more foals, her neighbors' son, and possibly her own grandniece as well.
• Villain Has a Point: Fantastic Slurs aside, her reaction to Midnight Bell lying about being a unicorn and magical prodigy was understandable, and she scolded her for it. However, the fact that she covered up her own misdeeds and atrocities for years ultimately made her a Hypocrite once publicly exposed.
• Villainous Breakdown: According to witnesses, including Luminiferous and the Equestrian Princesses themselves, seeing her former student, Scarlet Bell, oppose her again after so many years caused her to have an "emotional breakdown", her rage bordering on madness. And after Scarlet gives her and Bubbling Beaker a well-deserved "The Reason You Suck" Speech, she goes into a Motive Rant about how she and her colleague wanted to give a "future" for Ponykind, and blames Scarlet Bell and her grandniece, Midnight Bell, for only focusing on the cruelty and moral bankrupcy of their methods and screwing up their plans. In short, she revealed herself as an insane mare who still clings to her own good intentions and uses them to justify her horrible actions in pursuit of a lofty goal.
• Villainous Legacy: It's stated in her entry that the legacy she and Bubbling Beaker left behind lies in Crystal Prism, who was intended to be their herald of a "new age" for Ponykind, and was left incredibly traumatized by the experiences he went through. Fortunately for him, various divine and mortal individuals would help him recover and encourage him to forge his own destiny.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Before her magic-draining and arrest, she was a very beloved teacher/headmistress who was a maternal figure for her students, and encouraged them to think for themselves and tap into their inner potential. She was also a member of the Alicorn Ascendancy, and she secretly performed horrific experiments in a well-intentioned attempt to give Ponykind divinity. But because she's so beloved by the education communities, no one took notice of her more unsavory activities until Scarlet Bell, and later her grandniece, Midnight Bell, would oppose and expose her.
• Visionary Villain: She believed in giving godhood to Ponykind, so they could rise above their current capabilities and change the world by doing great things. Her actions in achieving that goal, however, were horrific.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Deconstructed. She's a very nice, friendly, maternal, and encouraging mare who wants nothing more than her students, as well as Ponykind in general, to grow into their potential and rise above their current capabilities. She also joined the Alicorn Ascendancy because it would provide her opportunities to allow Ponykind's potential to foster - too many times she had witnessed great potential be stifled and ruined by racial, magical, and social barriers, as well as cruel and tyrannical authority figures. Unfortunately, her beliefs are so strong that she's willing to conduct horrifically cruel experiments to ensure that Ponykind enters a "new age" as Alicorns (with one of her victims being Page Wheel, now Crystal Prism) and makes people gloss over her wrongdoings by using her affable demeanor to persuade them in believing in the good that will ultimately come out of her actions. This makes her hypocrisy and insidiousness all the more striking once she's exposed as the rotten villainess she actually is.
• What the Hell, Hero?: She would angrily scold Midnight Bell for lying to her after the latter caved under stress and revealed the reason for her unicorn appearance and magic. While she did have a point, what didn't make it okay was her use of tribalist slurs like "imposter unicorn", which would contribute to Midnight Bell's low self-esteem. To Noble Grace's credit, though, she would later regret letting her own anger influence her after Bubbling Beaker called her out on it, and stated that had she known about the potential of Earth pony and pegasus magic, she would have gladly let Midnight into her school regardless of her tribe. This would ultimately ring hollow, however, as she was willing to hurt Midnight for getting in the way between her and a cocooned Page Wheel.
• Would Hurt a Child: Many of her victims were pony foals and teenagers because in her eyes, they are brighter and hold much more potential than they do as adults. Years ago, she experimented on a young Scarlet Bell's classmates, motivating the latter to try save them from her despite her fear of getting killed by her own teacher. In the present day, after moving to the Grittish Isles, she would experiment on a young Page Wheel, leading to his Ascension as Crystal Prism, though ironically it wouldn't be the experiments that did it. She also tried harming Midnight Bell for trying to defend Page Wheel from her while he was cocooned, but thankfully Scarlet Bell intervened at the right time.

Professor Bubbling Beaker

Character: Villainous

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Type: Well-Intentioned Extremist/Teacher/Criminal/Scientist/Gifted Pony

Faction: Alicorn Ascendancy

"Failure is progress. And that progress will help us become something greater than ourselves."

Professor Bubbling Beaker (his entry here) is a resident of the Grittish Isles, Noble Grace's assistant, friend, and colleague, and one of few people who played an important role in Page Wheel's Ascension as Crystal Prism.

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• Adaptational Backstory Change: Unlike Dr. Dee, he grew up in a heavily tribalist kingdom where he was constantly bullied and looked down upon for being a "mud pony", and after his parents made enough money to send him to a prestigious boarding school, he was looked down upon by his richer classmates for being poor. Growing up suroundedb y poverty and discrimination for much of his life influenced much of his personality, including a drive to succeed at all costs.
• Adaptational Badass: Dr. Dee was a brilliant scientist and chemist, but he often floats around in a hovercraft while his partner, Madame Mumblechook, is shown wielding magical power. Here, he's a scientist and a 'Gifted Pony'/Geo-Archmage with advanced earth magic and metal manipulation.
• Alliterative Name: Bubbling Beaker.
• Close to Home:
  • He really hates Fantastic Racism because as a colt, he lived in a kingdom where tribalism was common, and he was bullied and looked down on by pegasus and unicorn foals for being a "mud pony". He harshly punished students who engaged in racist/tribalist behavior, and he was disgusted with the implicitly racist policies of the Alicorn Ascendancy, clashing with his more racist colleagues. When he learned that Noble Grace threw harsh tribalist insults at Midnight Bell for dishonesty, including temporarily turning herself into a unicorn, he called his old friend out on it by bluntly stating she'll become no better than those who dash people's potential if she doesn't control herself. This made Noble Grace regret her actions and brief lapse in anger.
  • He also hates discrimination in general. Besides being a target for tribalist bullies, he also spent much of his young adulthood being looked down upon by wealthy students of a prestigious boarding school he attended, due to being a commoner. His reasons for joining the Alicorn Ascendancy and performing horrific experiments on his victims mostly come from his desire to increase mortal sapientkind's intelligence and awareness of their own flaws so they would stop discriminating against each other.
• Expy: Of Dr. Dee. Both are incredibly intelligent, and are respected teachers and scientists. But they are also morally/mentally bankrupt people who wouldn't hesitate to perform cruel and unethical experiments for a greater good - Dr. Dee seeks to turn everyone into godlike witches with unlimited magic, while Bubbling Beaker goes even further and seeks to create gods for a "new age".
• Handicapped Badass: After his right foreleg was severely injured in a school fire to the point where it was rendered beyond saving, he had to have it amputated and replaced with a mechanical prosthetic leg. However, he's still a very intelligent scientist and prodigy Geo-Archmage who can do advanced things like manipulate metal through its earthy impurities.
• In-Series Nickname: Noble Grace calls him "Bubbly".
• Life's Work Ruined: He and Noble Grace "created" Crystal Prism because they wanted an Alicorn who would serve as a symbol for a coming golden age for mortal Ponykind, who would no longer have to worry about their own potential for greatness being stifled by various factors and/or individuals. Unfortunately for them, a string of failures caused by the interference of their old student Scarlet Bell (and later her grandniece, Midnight Bell) would not only leave them unable to enjoy the fruits of their work, but completely drained them of their magic when Crystal Prism went on a rampage as a magic-eating Blob Monster. The final nail on the coffin would be Crystal Prism receiving encouragement from benevolent individuals to carve his own future, influencing him to discard his intended purpose and help promote rebirth and change on his own terms.
• Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: He and Noble Grace were mistakenly believed to be dead, after a fight with a student, Scarlet Bell, led to a misfired spell that created an explosion and fire. In reality, they both moved to the Grittish Isles to evade the law and continue their experiments under new names and glamours, something that wouldn't be discovered until years later.
• Villainous Legacy: It's stated in Noble Grace's entry that the legacy they both left behind lies in Crystal Prism, who was intended to be their herald of a "new age" for Ponykind, and was left incredibly traumatized by the experiences he went through. Fortunately for him, various divine and mortal individuals would help him recover and encourage him to forge his own destiny.
• Visionary Villain: He believed in giving godhood to Ponykind, so they could rise above their current capabilities and change the world by doing great things. In addition, he believed that the experiments would result in enhanced mental capabilities, allowing Ponykind to make advancements in society. His actions in achieving that goal, however, were horrific.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Much like his friend and colleague, Noble Grace, he also believed in helping Ponykind grow into their potential, and hoped that their experiments would result in enhanced mental capabilities that would give Ponykind higher intelligence and allow them to do great things.

Talisman

A former student of Celestia, Talisman is apparently a major figure among the Alicorn Ascendancy. He has recently focused on reacquiring the 'success' - Crystal Prism - whom he and his peers thinks held the key to unlocking the secrets of ascension.

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• Affably Evil: Remains respectful of his mentor despite their fall-out, although one wonders how much of it is genuine and how much is a scornfully sarcastic act.
• Age Without Youth: He has lived far longer than he supposed to have for a Unicorn, but as Celestia noted he didn't age quite gracefully.
• Cards of Power: His signature magical forte - he can perform incredible feats of magic with enchanted cards, from teleportation, animating illusory false bodies to making demon-summoning spell-circles.
• Insufferable Genius: Implied, given he was apparently very talented and brilliant in his magic and studies as a student of Celestia. After their falling-out, he had the audacity to call his former mentor's morals 'old-fashioned' and treat Crystal Prism more like a lab-rat than a Pony being, which if nothing else hints presence of considerable ego beneath his genius and Affably Evil exterior - one haughty enough to dismiss the feelings, sensibilities and even the lives of others in pursuit of his goals. This may be partly why he ended up turning on his mentor and fully committing to the Ascendancy.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: Much like others in the conspiracy, Talisman called Crystal Prism the 'Success' and wants him returned to the conspiracy with the same respect as someone might have for property, or an escaped lab animal in the Ascendancy's case. Prince Shamrock found this attitude and him personally appalling.
• Lack of Empathy: Like his peers in the Ascendancy, he harbors a profound lack of compassion for the Ponies his organization experimented on, believing that discovering the key to Ascension is worth sacrificing innocent lives. Notably, he doesn't care that Crystal Prism suffered incredibly under the hooves of his "creators" and treats the young Alicorn demigod like a successful experiment to be studied. Prince Shamrock was rather appalled by this degrading attitude and became determined to protect Crystal Prism from the Ascendancy.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Talisman was one of Celestia's faithful students before disagreements over Alicornhood drove them apart and he fully devotes himself to the conspiracy.
• Really 700 Years Old: Is noted to have lived far longer than most Unicorns had and still look fit and well (though not that well). Celestia does NOT want to know what he did to keep himself that way, which Talisman admitted that no, she REALLY doesn't.
• Seriously Scruffy: As Celestia observed, he looked like a complete mess when he resurfaced for the first time in ages. He snidely agreed and noted that if he knew she would be there to confront him he would had tidied himself up first.
• The Unfettered: He calls Celestia's moral standards 'old-fashioned' and like other Ascendancy members is willing to use any means to uncover the secrets of ascension.
• We Used to Be Friends: Was once Celestia's faithful student, before disagreements over the Alicorn Ascendacy's goals drove them apart. Now he doesn't hesitate to call her morality 'old-fashioned' and sic demons on her to make a getaway.

Ascendency Allies/Associates

King Hamis and Queen Teves

The ruling royalty of the monarchy of Fekvőlovakia, King Hamis and Queen Teves were a pair of 'Alicorns' who adopted Cozy Glow from the Orphanage of Fear she spent her early years in. While seemingly benign in character and beloved in their kingdom, they and the royal family and court of Fekvőlovakia proved to be much more sinister than they appear, least of all because of their association with the Alicorn Ascendency, which contributes significantly to Cozy Glow's development into a devious child mastermind.

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• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Both King Hamis and Queen Teves were this to both Cozy Glow and the world. While seemingly loving parents to Cozy Glow and benevolent rulers at first, they were ultimately not only emotionally manipulative and psychologically abusive to Cozy Glow in their own way, but also up to no good with their royal family's association with their patrons the Alicorn Ascendency. It is implied that Cozy Glow's attempted takeover of Equestria was part of a plan they and the Alicorn Ascendency were up to.

• Meaningful Name: Both Hamis and Teves are different Hungarian words for 'False' or 'Fake', fitting their deceitful and manipulative natures as fake Alicorn royalty who are secretly up to no good. Fekvőlovakia itself is derived from Hungarian for 'Lying Horses'.

Abominable Alignment

General

• Alliterative Name: The Abominable Alignment.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When a few Alignment members tried going on a Motive Rant to justify their horrible experiments and actions, Prince Ferreus Malleus proceeded to shut them up with a Shut Up, Hannibal! speech that included three armor-piercing questions about the role of flaws in general. No one was able to answer them.
  Prince Ferreus Malleus: Why did the ancient Alicorns, the greatest children of the Great Maker, lose their once-great civilization despite their benevolence, power, and divinity? Why did many 'good' kingdoms, empires, and realms still fall into the same trappings of stagnancy and corruption, despite their attempts to remain completely good? And most importantly, why do we continue to rise and fall, despite all our promises and attempts to ensure our own failings and flaws would not be repeated by future generations?
• Bad People Abuse Animals: Much like its parent organization, the Alicorn Ascendancy, the Abominable Alignment will not hesitate to perform cruel experiments on non-sapient animals if it means that mortal sapientkind will truly be able to overcome their physical and mental flaws someday. This led to an incident where, during a raid on one of the Abominable Alignment's strongholds, Prince Fanged Paw would find and free all the captured animals (including a non-sapient Wyvern) after experiencing their psychic suffering.
  Prince Fanged Paw: ...You've been hurt very much by those scientists, haven't you?
  Wyvern: Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
  Prince Fanged Paw: ...Don't worry. I'm gonna get you out of here.
• Bio-Augmentation: Part of their forte owing to their overall goals of transsapient uplifting, dabbling with sorcery and science alike to achieve those ends.
• Body Horror: Does this as much as the Alicorn Ascendancy, if not more so since they are more focused on Bio-Augmentation.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: The Alignment does not exclude other races, and sees it their goal to uplift all sapient races, including Ponykind. This does not make them or their goals any sympathetic, however.
• Expy: The Abominable Alignment may be inspired in part by the Mesan Alignment of the Honor Harrington series, who have roughly similar goals and shares half the name.
• Fantastic Racism: Defied. Part of the reason why the Abominable Alignment broke apart from the Ascendancy is because the latter believes only mortal Ponykind is worthy of godhood. It's noted that many respect Bubbling Beaker for speaking out against the Ascendancy's racist policies, though he chose not to join the Alignment since he believes it's better to focus resources in one place rather than spread themselves thin.
• Humans Are Flawed: The Abominable Alignment sees this as the case with mortal sapientkind. Because mortal sapients have doomed themselves with Vicious Cycles perpetuated by their own mistakes and failings, the Abominable Alignment believes that the only way to stop this is to get rid of everything that makes mortal sapientkind imperfect so they could become "better" people and eventually (if possible) fulfill the Alicorn Ascendancy's original goals of divine Ascension. However, as incidents have shown, their way of doing this has led to many atrocities on their part, including copious amounts of Body Horror and many innocent people being killed or permanently scarred - all for the sake of perfecting what makes a creature sapient. Prince Ferreus Malleus, who once behaved like them, proceeded to call out members of the Abominable Alignment for thinking that the transcendence of limits came from the absence of flaws, not because of them.
• Hybridization Plot: Their desire for transsapient enhancement of Sapientkind led to some cells of the Abominable Alignment creating the Chimaera Machine which could do so but deliberately inducing a controlled Teleporter Accident ala The Fly (1986). This came at a horrific cost of hundreds of test subjects they fed to the machine and left grotesque fused 'failures' just to refine the process.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: At least compared to the Alicorn Ascendency, being less implicitly racist and more inclusive, wishing to biologically enhance all Sapientkind. They're still quite abhorrent, however.
• Mad Scientist: Another conspiracy of them (Along with mad engineers and mad sorcerers), focused on Transsapient Bio-Augmentation of sapients and uplifting of creatures. Justified since the Alicorn Ascendancy has many of them as members when they split off.
• Merging Machine: Members of the Alignment know the tragic story of 'Second Age' Professor Set Bundle's disastrous Matter Teleportation experiments... and saw its nasty tendency of confusing and fusing creatures and objects on a genetic/molecular level as a positive feature rather than a negative detriment, seeing an improved version of the process as a means of streamlining bio-fusion/hybridization procedures that could enhance beings with traits and powers of other entities and creatures. The culmination of their efforts to emulate Set Bundle's experiments with Fourth Age magic and technology was the 'Chimaera Machine', which can tele-hybridize any biological creature to create chimeras and hybrids - much to the apprehension and disgust of both Equestrian and Terran authorities who later discovered the basement of failed subjects that they fed to the machine in hundreds of test just to refine the process.
  Prince Crimson Star: (on the Chimera Machine) There are times I wish I didn't embody Knowledge and History. THIS is one of them.
• Motive Rant: At least one member of the Alignment had made one which summarized the reason he and his particular group were attempting to create a 'New Sapient Being', although it could be extrapolated to explain the general motivation of the Abominable Alignment as a whole.
  Alignment Scientist: As the ancient sage Wise Lamb observed, "Utopia cannot precede the utopian. It exists the moment we are fit to occupy it". You called us foolish for trying to improve sapientkind, but history had shown time and time again it is precisely because we refuse to reduce our weaknesses and multiply our strengths that we doom ourselves to faltering before the same obstacles, and being undone by our own flaws and failings. If we are to transcend the limitations imposed upon us by reality, we must first transcend limitations imposed by our own forms. Anything less condemns us to recurrence, and eventually extinction. With such stakes, we can only ask ourselves: What is the cost of progress compare to the price of failure?
• No Transhumanism Allowed: These guys represents the worst side of transhumanism (here called Transsapienism) to the point of parody. Out-universe some writers raised the possibility that the atrocities these guys perpetrate may eventually horrify people enough to turn Fourth Age civilizations against the idea of Transsapienism, leading to this trope.
• Perfection Is Impossible: One of the main issues plaguing the Abominable Alignment is the nature of flaws - they believe that the absence of flaws will make benevolence and survival possible for sapientkind, rather than because of them, and will do anything to improve the sapient condition by any means necessary. When members of the Alignment tried justifying their actions after their capture and arrest, they would get called out by Prince Ferreus Malleus, who once had beliefs similar to theirs but eventually saw the error of his ways. No one could come up with an effective retort.
  Prince Ferreus Malleus: And yet, it is our own flaws that motivates us and pushes us to transcend beyond our normal limits. In my arrogance, I once thought that perfection lay in the absence of imperfection, that beauty lay in the absence of ugliness. But we are not the precious minerals we shape and refine in our forges. We are not the weapons we temper with hammers and flame. No, we are creatures of a higher breed and a more complex state of mind, with the ability to develop a moral compass based on what we see, learn and experience.
  
  As Father often taught us, without flaws, we would not know and remind ourselves of the difference between Good and Evil. If my brothers and I did not have any imperfections to speak of, we would all be grasping at straws in our quest to become wiser in the ways of the world. I know that the necessity for Evil to coexist with Good is a difficult concept to understand, but ask yourself: Why did the ancient Alicorns, the greatest children of the Great Maker, lose their once-great civilization despite their benevolence, power, and divinity? Why did many 'good' kingdoms, empires, and realms still fall into the same trappings of stagnancy and corruption, despite their attempts to remain completely good? And most importantly, why do we continue to rise and fall, despite all our promises and attempts to ensure our own failings and flaws would not be repeated by future generations?
• Pragmatic Villainy: Members generally see themselves as more 'realistic' than the Alicorn Ascendancy, as while their parent organization wants to focus completely on achieving divine Ascension, the Abominable Alignment instead focuses on refining and uplifting the sapient condition first. In their minds, mortal sapientkind must be better prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually so they could survive extremely harsh conditions, and break free of the mistakes and failings that doomed their predecessors.
• Renegade Splinter Faction: Of the Alicorn Ascendancy. Shortly after they were officially shut down and scattered to the four winds, a disagreement broke out between the major leaders of the conspiracy that led to several groups splitting off from the original. The Alignment's main reason for leaving was seeing the Ascendancy's goals of achieving Alicornhood for all Ponykind as 'unfeasible' without further knowledge and should focus on more realistic goals like the general improvement of sapientkind. They also disagreed with the faction's implicitly racist focus on Ponykind, believing they have no right to leave other races out to dry, especially since much of their work was achieved with knowledge and help from other races such as Zebras.
• Transhuman: Trans-SAPIENT, in this case, as they don't discriminate against other races. They represent some of the worst aspects of this trope, of course.
• Übermensch: At least some of the members seeks to create this through various means, their goal being the 'New Sapient Being' that would transcend all the 'flaws' and 'imperfections' of sapientkind, and thus not only thrive in this unforgiving reality but also free themselves and civilization from endlessly-recurrent Vicious Cycle of death and restoration that so blights the setting. Terran Prince Ferreus Malleus, who used to have similar beliefs but had since come around, fimrly disagrees with their end-goal and calls them out on their folly.

Neo Sapient Army/Empire

General

• Final Solution: They believe the best way to uplift sapient kind is to kill off anyone who doesn't show genetic 'progress', as well as seeing themselves as superior to 'normal' creatures.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: One of their members, Herculean Shadow, ended up using Gliding Butterfly in his plans...which resulted in him becoming a hero who ultimately ends up destroying their organization. They'd have been better off if they'd just let the Terran Princes find him as they were on the way to do.
• Irony: Psykers are persecuted for being unnatural aberrations by many non-Psykers, especially by those who believe themselves to be a Master Race and sees them as a threat to their existence and superiority. Despite having every reason to hate the Autorists and Tribalists for this, the Neo Sapient Army/Empire takes themselves after them with their beliefs of being a Master Race and seeing other non-Psykers with their 'unprogressive' state of evolution to be inferior and a threat to the potential of sapientkind.
• Master Race: Believe their Psychic potential and also their own biological 'progress' makes them superior to normal non-Psykers and those who are biologically 'stagnant' and 'regressive'. They intend to kill off the latter group to facilitate the uplifting of sapientkind to greatness even faster and further.
• Mirroring Factions: While Psykers had been persecuted by non-Psykers, especially Autorists, it has been observed that the Neo Sapient Army is no better than the Autorists with their beliefs of their own superiority over non-Psykers and persecution/purging of anyone who doesn't demonstrate potential for genetic 'progress'.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: It's noted by their nemesis Gliding Butterfly that they're not so different from the Autorists. They view themselves and those like them as inherently superior to normal ponies and their main motivation is a eugenics plot to be carried out by exterminating anyone who isn't likewise genetically 'superior.'
• Renegade Splinter Faction: It's one of another Renegade Splinter Faction. They split off from the Abominable Alignment and are even more extreme.
• The Social Darwinist: Openly practices eugenics and a twisted form of natural selection in order to accelerate biological 'progress' and uplift sapientkind to greatness. In Gliding Butterfly's eyes, hey're no better than the Tribalists and Autorists who target even those of their own kind for not fitting their standards of racial purity.
• Super Supremacist: They are Psykers who believe their powers and associated genetics makes them superior compare to ordinary people, and seeks to use heinous means to accelerate Equuskinds' 'progress' towards greater perfection and supremacy, such as wiping out those who are 'genetically stagnant/regressive'. This is considered extremely ironic since many other supremacist factions persecute Psykers for being unnatural aberrations with equally unnatural powers.

Dr. Herculean Shadow

Advent Arcana

General

• Alliterative Name: Advent Arcana.
• The Archmage: The higher-ups of the Advent Arcana are generally talented, powerful, and/or experienced spellcasters, owing to an existence that lasted hundreds of years the Alicorn Ascendancy's founding and the eventual splintering into multiple offshoots. The Grand Magisters, the leaders/founders fo the Advent Arcana, are the most powerful if their titles are to go by.
• Deity of Human Origin: Like the Alicorn Ascendancy, the Advent Arcana believes in obtaining godhood for all, though their preferred method is through various sorcerous spells, artifacts, and lore that would help people break their limits. Unfortunately, they're unfettered enough to conduct some very cruel and horrific experiments without regard towards their test subjects.
• Meaningful Name: "Advent" refers to the arrival of a notable person, object, or event. "Arcana" refers to secrets or mysteries. The Advent Arcana organization specializes in uncovering and researching various sorcerous artifacts, spells, and other related lore so they can help people obtain godhood through magic.
• Would Hurt a Child: Much like the Alicorn Ascendancy and its fellow offshoots, the Advent Arcana as a whole is very much willing to perform extremely cruel and horrific experiments on young children. One of their victims is Professor Breaking Dawn, who was transformed into a living embodiment of the morning dawn, and was heavily suspected to have all her memories regarding her early foalhood wiped to provide a 'blank slate' and to prevent local authorities from finding her.

Arch-Sorcerer Arcane Nexus

A powerful, immortal mare and the head of the project that created Professor Breaking Dawn.

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• Laser-Guided Karma: She turned a young Breaking Dawn into her test subject, robbed her of all her memories, and subjected her to extremely cruel experiments. Years later, she would track down and recapture an escaped Breaking Dawn (who Ascended to demi-godhood by this point), restraining her with ancient Alicorn Civilization-level artifacts so she wouldn't escape again while intending to dissect her in order to learn how Breaking Dawn Ascended. This brings her into conflict with the various deities Breaking Dawn is connected to, and she shortly loses everything in quick succession:
  • First, she loses Breaking Dawn when her attempts to resume her experiments pushes the latter's desire to escape to such desperate levels that, against all odds, she breaks herself free from her restraints despite being a mere demigoddess. Breaking Dawn proceeds to buck her straight into a wall in retaliation before fleeing, allowing her to be found by Prince Rubeus Stella who's looking for her.
  • Second, her attempts to fight Princess Amicitia goes badly when Amicitia realizes she is powered by her connection to Equus' life-force and severs it. This not only robs of her immortality, aging her into an incredibly ancient mare, but also reduces her magic levels to what they originally were, weakening her severely. She's weakened even more when Amicitia, using her magical signature, tracks her location and sends elite Mage-Inquisitors after her to wear her down.
  • Third, she's confronted and cornered in a ghost town on the fringes of Equestria by not only Breaking Dawn, but also her friends, adoptive family, and the huge number of divine/mortal allies. Breaking Dawn Ascends to true godhood in front of her by shutting her self-serving rhetoric down, while her biggest inspiration, Celestia, arrives and sentences her to rot in the Terran Empire's dungeons. After that, everyone watches her final fall from grace as she's arrested and dragged away by Prince Night Shade and his Night Lords, kicking and screaming.

Artifice Assembly

General

• Alliterative Name: Artifice Assembly.
• Evil Counterpart: To Prince Ferreus Malleus and his Iron Hooves chapter, specifically regarding their beliefs on how to transcend physical, mental, and moral limits.
• Renegade Splinter Faction: Of the Alicorn Ascendancy.

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