Fic Cancellation #4 - Characters

Party Members

Lightning is the main character of the story. She is a pegasus, even though her father is a unicorn and her mother is an earth pony. This is because one of her ancestors from before the war a pegasus; she is the first pegasus in her family line since then. Lightning is quite an introverted pony, preferring the keep to herself, not having had many close friends before. She is typically a very nice and helpful pony, always willing to do what’s right, but sometimes it has to be dragged out of her because she’s unused to dealing with others. She likes to approach situations logically, quickly being able to deduce what the odds of actually succeeding versus the threat to her life, and not risk her life needlessly. For example, if she were to find a survivor of a raider attack that was in bad condition and left for dead, she would immediately give them a healing potion, since, she’s not about to let someone die if there’s something she can do about. However, if that person then told them that some of her friends were captured and taken to a place nearby, she would just as quickly refuse to do it. While she isn’t going to let people die if there’s something she can do about it, she’s not going to just risk her life in an impossible situation for somebody she doesn’t even know. She’s also smart enough to realise what she can’t do and doesn’t risk everything an impossible fight, choosing not to wipe out a group of raiders, which she absolutely hates, because she’s injured and likely wouldn’t stand a chance against. Lightning has no allusions of being a hero, and explicitly doesn’t want to be one, because she knows exactly the kind of mistakes that heroes usually make. This also makes her quite genre savvy, and she applies this knowledge to avoid making such mistakes herself.

Blitz is an old friend of Lightning’s father. Both of them were born in Mareland, and have been friends for years, and were both on the scavenge team together. After scavenging one day, and Lightning’s father met her mother, he then got a transfer to the trade team. Blitz thought about transferring as well, but decided to stay on the scavenge team. Because he was used to scavenging out in the wasteland, he was talented in using firearms, especially talented with a sniper rifle, which he got his cutie mark for, though he’s also quite proficient up close with an assault rifle. He prefers using firearms instead of energy weapons. He also knows about the different areas of the Trottingham wasteland from his years of salvaging. Around the start of the story, before the slaver attack, he was planning on transferring to the trade team, and has become very good at bartering in preparation, serving as the team’s primary trader. He is very protective of Lightning, as she’s the daughter of his best friend.

Dawn is a second generation changeling. Her main disguise is an earth pony mare, with a bright pink coat, and a fluffy white mane. She wears a stetson hat, and speaks in a sudden drawl. Because changelings who were born while their parents were in pony form are also born in pony form, Dawn chooses to live as an earth pony because that’s the form she was born in, which she feels most comfortable with. While she spends most of her life as an earth pony, she’s still a changeling, and thus doesn’t have earth pony strength, but she can be as stubborn as one sometimes. Dawn works with a trading caravan for her hometown. She uses a zebra sword for her main weapon, using her mouth to wield it, instead of her magic. Dawn is a very kind mare, and always tries to be honest with everyone, despite having to lie about what she is. She doesn’t hold a grudge against those who hate her for what she is, and she is always willing to help. As the story goes on, she and Blitz develop feelings for one another and eventually start a relationship. Her main job as a caravaneer is a guard, though she does want to learn to become a better barterer, so that she can become a real trader. This is something that Blitz helps her with and contributes towards their growing relationship.

Angel was born in the Republic, and was good friends with Life Bloom. Growing up, she hated violence and killing, and always strove to be nice and kind to everyone, even if they didn’t like her in return. She studied to become a doctor, and is also good with old world technology and science, and has a lot of knowledge on a lot of subjects. She can also speak Ancient Unicorn (Latin). When it was discovered that she and Life Bloom were gay, they were banished. The two of them then started travelling the wasteland together, using their medical knowledge wherever it was needed and helping ponies. They eventually made it to Tenpony Tower, where they both became doctors to help out. It was later discovered that Life Bloom was connected to the Twilight Society, and he was offered a permanent position. However, because Angel wasn’t connected to them, she was not offered the same. After a while, Angel found Tenpony Tower too exclusive and she wanted to help everypony. She then said goodbye to Life Bloom and set off again. She eventually made it to Trottingham, making it to the town of Clinic, which is built around an old Ministry of Peace clinic that was left relatively untouched by the megaspells. Angel’s medical ability was a big help to the town, and she was also able to get several of the clinic’s old auto-docs working again. After this, she became the main doctor in town, helping everypony who came to her in need. Angel’s special talent is healing, which applies mainly to her skill with medicine, but also includes her skills in speech, using her kind words, and her science skills to restore the wasteland as a whole. Angel always tries to be as nice as she can, though sometimes her judgement can be tilted towards the needs of the many over others, which afterwards ends up hitting her hard, and she tries hard to make up for it. It’s hinted at during the story that Angel likes Lightning, but she’s not gay, so it’s an incompatible orientation. After Lightning and Clover begin their relationship, Angel is sad despite the fact that Lightning isn’t gay, but in the end, she’s just happy that she’s happy.

Snowbelle is a unicorn filly, and member of the main group. The group doesn’t let her use guns because she’s too young, and a time when she did use it to save Lightning’s life, by blowing the guy’s head off, she felt sick. She is talented at handling explosives, however, since she can either set them up ahead of time, or use them from a distance, so she won’t have to see the gore. She’s also very talented in repairs despite her youth, serving as the team’s mechanist. This is what she eventually gets her cutie mark in. She is quite serious for a filly, having lost her parents at a young age and having to grow up fast in order to survive, though her childish naiveté does get the best of her at times.

Growing up, Pumpkin Cake showed a remarkable talent for magic. She attended Luna’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and graduated the year before the Littlehorn Massacre. After she graduated, she returned to her family’s bakery in Ponyville, while working on joining the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. One day, while working at the bakery with her mother and brother, the family receives word that Mr. Cake was killed on the front lines. Mrs. Cake becomes inconsolable after this, and Pumpkin is incredibly upset as well. That night, while Pumpkin is asleep, Pound Cake thinks about how he has acted since the war started, in comparison to everyone else. They were working on ways to help, while was still acting like a kid. He then decides that it’s about time he grew up. He then leaves that night to join the army, leaving a note for his sister and mother. With Pound Cake gone, Pumpkin puts her plan to join the MAS on hold, to take care of her mother. As the war reaches a close, her mother finally passes away. She then hears word about a special project up at Maripony, so she closes up Sugarcube Corner and heads to Maripony. Pumpkin is at the facility when the zebras attack it, and like Twilight, she survives the bombing, but ends up trapped in her room. After the Goddess absorbs Twilight and becomes fully formed, she then grabs Pumpkin and converts her into one of the first artificial alicorns. During the transformation process, a piece of Twilight inside of the Goddess recognises her, and she imprints a piece of her soul on to her. Aside from that, however, the transformation is a success, and Pumpkin becomes a blue alicorn; a slave to the Goddess’ will just like all the others. Her new given name is ‘Drone 22A’ meaning that she’s the twenty-second subject in the first line of alicorns. Trixie noticed that Twilight did something to her, so she explicably made Pumpkin a blue alicorn, which had her powers, just to show that Twilight didn’t get her way. She also loses her cutie mark in the conversion. She spends the next few decades mindlessly serving the Goddess, as one of her elite bodyguards. Decades later, Pumpkin is the first alicorn that the Goddess sends to Canterlot to retrieve the Black Book; however, as soon as she gets there, the Goddess’ telepathy cannot penetrate the pink cloud, so Pumpkin is freed from the Goddess’ control. The piece of Twilight that’s already inside of her then helps her to regain her senses. She is then able to permanently break off the Goddess’ connection, and is able to safely leave Canterlot. She does, however, do everything she can to avoid any other alicorns, so that the Goddess doesn’t discover that she has freed herself from the Unity. Once she’s free, she then travels to the Trottingham wasteland. She knows that her brother was stationed in Trottingham during the war, so she wants to find any trace of him, to find out what happened to him. She knows that he’s dead and doesn’t hold any allusions that he might still be alive, but she just wants to know what happened to him. When Pumpkin first meets Lightning, her Enclave armor and her attitude reminds her of her brother. Sometimes, when her life is in danger, she is unconsciously able to channel Twilight’s spirit that’s inside of her. When this happens, her eyes glow, Twilight’s cutie mark appears on her flank, and her magic becomes a lot stronger. Pumpkin chooses to forego traditional weapons, instead using powerful spells that she remembers from her old life. She is also proficient in hoof-to-hoof combat, with her size giving her an advantage. In the rare instance when the group battles alicorns and she takes part, she is able to use her shield spell and ram into other alicorn’s shields and destroy them both. While she is no longer connected to Unity, she still remembers the spells that she obtained when she was converted, including the alicorn shield and her inherent talent for invisibility; and she also remembers the spells that she learned from back when she was a unicorn, like teleportation. Her teleportation isn’t as strong as a purple alicorn, but she’s still strong enough with it to teleport several ponies short distances, and she’s able to absorb radiation to make longer leaps. Like other alicorns, she knows a heart attack spell, but she refuses to use it because she finds it too gruesome.

Pre-War Characters

Sunset Shimmer

Flash Sentry

(Flash and Sunset’s son)

Pound Cake

Side Characters

Clover is a male pony, of crystal pony descent, living in Clinic, as Angel’s assistant doctor. Clover is an incredibly likeable pony, having a talent for instantly becoming friends with anyone he meets. Clover’s attitude is at first a contrast to Lightning, who is normally quite closed off, and even she comes to like him very quickly. The similarities are furthered by the connection that Lightning and Clover are a pegasus and crystal pony respectively, both of which are rare pony types in the wasteland, because their ancestors from before the war were as well. Lightning thinks of Clover over the course of the story, and he’s at Tenpony Tower when she’s afflicted with killing joke, to help her get better. The two eventually realise that they like each other and start a relationship.

Lightning’s father, Evening Star is killed off before he is properly introduced. Information about his character is revealed throughout the story by other characters.

Star Paladin Mustang

Paladin Hawkeye

Knight Havoc

(Enclave Soldier) is a member of the Enclave, who Lightning first meets while on her mission to steal the Vertibuck schematics. They meet each other while under Lightning’s false identity, telling her all about the Enclave and the pegasi above the clouds in general, and they become friends. She is confused and a bit sad at first when Lightning disappears after her mission, but later, after she learns that Lightning was a ‘surface spy’, she becomes angry with her, thinking that her new friend betrayed her. Lightning gives her a fake name when they first meet, and in future meetings, even after learning who she is, she still continues to call her by that name.

Dawn’s parents are the leaders of the trade caravans in their hometown. Her father, McDonut is the mayor of the town.

Xolcm is a zebra colt that lives in the same town as Dawn, and a close friend of hers. Growing up, the two of them were close friends. He was the one who gave her her zebra sword when she became a caravan guard.

(Pony leading the discrimination against the zebras in Dawn’s hometown.)

Red Cross is a scientist that lives in a small town nearby, in his lab. He is extremely genre savvy and manipulative. He is very condescending, talking down to others a lot, though he is also very intelligent and knowledgeable, knowing about the two generations of changelings and the differences between them. Despite his behaviour, he is not a bad person. As a scientist, he approaches situations very logically.

A filly in Dawn’s hometown named Luna.

Diamond Flash is Sunset Shimmer’s father. He is still alive at the time of the story, as a Canterlot ghoul. He is one of the oldest ponies still living, having been a fully-fledged member of the Royal Guard back before Luna got back from the moon. He continued serving during the war, choosing to forgo the new technological improvements, in favour of the traditional gold armor and spear. He was near Canterlot on the Final Day, being turned into a Canterlot ghoul, fusing him to his armor. He later made his way to the ghoul settlement of Necropolis in Trottingham. He takes great pride in being a Royal Guard for so long, and diligently as a protector. After living for so long, he is terrified of the thought of dying, but this fear is over-ridden by his pride as a Royal Guard, which still allows him to fight, even in a situation where he might die. He is very skilled with a spear, having almost three hundred years of experience.

Daisy, who is still alive as a ghoul. She lives in Necropolis in the Trottingham city centre. She is upset that her special talent is tending flowers, and there are none left in the wasteland or capable of growing. She has one daisy in her room in a potted plant, which she has managed to keep alive because of her special talent, since there is nothing else to use it for these days.

Little Strongheart, now just called Strongheart, is still alive as a ghoul, and has been the tribal chieftain for the last two hundred years. While almost all buffalo have a dislike for the other races for their actions during the war, while the buffalo didn’t do anything but still ended up suffering, Strongheart knows that ponies aren’t all bad, having been married to Braeburn before he died. She tries to keep the other buffalo from acting harshly against ponies.

Shining Armor, who is still alive as a ghoul.

Tank

Homage

Watcher

Antagonists

Major Hurricane, unlike the rest of the Enclave, knows that they can’t stay isolated above the clouds forever, and should work on reclaiming the surface. However, also unlike the rest of the Enclave, he doesn’t believe that surface ponies are weak, but actually possibly stronger than them, since they have survived in the wasteland for two centuries, saying that that’s strength to be respected. Although, like the rest of the Enclave, he still sees surface ponies as savages, and believes that in order to repopulate the surface, they should wipe out everypony living down there, but knows that even the full force of the Enclave might not be able to do that. During the story, he eventually learns about the megaspell sealed away in the MAS Hub in the region, and believes that it’s the key to his plan, which would simply move everypony on the surface somewhere else, and works towards obtaining it somehow. His plan is to use the megaspell to simply take everyone on the surface and push them somewhere else. When he later finds out about the radiation that’s released upon using the megaspell, he is slightly worried, though he’s confident that with a little research, they can overcome that little flaw. The main problem he faces is that the area the megaspell is located is completely surrounded by lethal levels of radiation. With the information that he has access to in the Enclave, he learns about the project’s inception, when it was started, and by whom. He also learns eventually that Lightning is a descendant of the pony in charge and works on capturing her. He is a high ranked and respected member of the Enclave, with a lot of pull amongst the pegasi, and control of one of their strongest groups, second only to the Wonderbolts; though like Mustang, he still makes sure to keep quiet about his plans to repopulate the surface until he’s ready, since it goes against the Enclave’s views. Despite his methods being very genocidal, he is doing it in order to ensure the survival of the pegasus race, as, despite his respect for surfacer’s strength, he still sees them as lesser beings, like the rest of the Enclave, and sees his plans as a necessary means of survival.

Cipher is one of Red Eye’s highest ranking generals, and a Stable 101 survivor. He is the one in charge of all of Red Eye’s forces in Trottingham. He has cybernetics which replaces the whole left side of his face, which allows him to take control of nearby security systems, like turrets. He is fanatically loyal to Red Eye, willing to carry out all of his orders. He is also very intelligent, being able to read a situation closely, and coming up with clever plans that others wouldn’t think of.

Lightning’s mother, Ruby Rose, real name Rose Thorn, who is later revealed to be Cipher’s daughter, and that she sold out her family because she believes in Red Eye’s plan. After her betrayal is revealed, she receives cybernetic implants, getting four new hooves. She wears her mane in a ponytail, which Lightning always loved about her and was what eventually caused her to adopt that look as well. After her betrayal is revealed, she doesn’t wear her mane in a ponytail anymore.