Characters / Equestria At War Equus

Main Character Index | Equus | Griffonia (Herzland | Northern Griffonia | Southern Griffonia | The Riverlands) | Zebrica (Northern Zebrica) | Misc. Content

Equestria and Breakaways

Equestria

Full Name: Princessdom of Equestria

Ruling Party: Privy Council of Equestria

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony

---

• Balkanize Me: If the Lunar Civil War erupts, seven nations can break away from Equestria. While the War in the South will always be fought to the death, there's no guarantees that the winner of said war or the three other secessionists will be integrated again by the winner of the civil war.
• Civil War:
  • Conflict over the batponies can break down Equestria into a civil war between the government led by Princess Celestia and the Lunar Empire led by Nightmare Moon.
  • The civil war also sees the breakup of the Southeastern Equestria jungle region into an isolated secondary civil war (War in the South) between the Celestial State, the Disciples of the Night, the Baltimare Republic, and the Aztlan Free State.
  • If Celestia turns into Daybreaker in peacetime, Harmonists will band together under either Princess Luna or the Republicans and start a civil war to stop Celestia.
• Evil Versus Evil: It is entirely possible for both Luna and Celestia to turn to the path of evil. This changes the Equestrian civil war into a clash of the tyrants between Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon.
• Fake Longevity: The War of the South, which occurs if the Equestrian Civil War erupts, can last for up to 6-8 years without outside intervention due a combination of the jungle terrain and bad supply, resulting in the four-way war being waged at a snail's pace despite what the relative small size and duration of the initial focus trees would imply.
• Paper Tiger: Even though Equestria is the largest and most populous country in the world, it has not fought a war for a long time, and will be militarily incompetent against a major foe (like the Changelings, Sombra's Crystal Empire or a supremacist Olenia) until major government reforms are implemented to change things up.
• Police State: Equestria can be placed under martial law when the Changelings invade, or even have all-out militarized law, with total control of the press by the government and no freedom of speech. And that is before Celestia turns into Daybreaker.
• Space-Filling Empire: Encompassing more than half of the Equus continent, Equestria is both the largest and most populous country in the world by game start.

Princess Celestia

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Privy Council of Equestria

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: Time Immemorial

Biography: Myths and fables tell of two regal sisters who ruled together, creating harmony for all the land. The eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. While it is obvious today that the tales speak of the Royal Pony Sisters who rule Equestria, few, if any concrete facts are known about their history. Their achievements in defeating Discord, King Sombra, Lord Tirek and other terrors have become legendary.

Princess Celestia's role in maintaining a thousand years of peace after Nightmare Moon's banishment has been well documented. Responsible for raising the Sun, and until recently the Moon, she is perhaps the most beloved creature in the world, being a staunch proponent for peace, kindness and cooperation. With the recent return of Princess Luna to assist her in rulership, Princess Celestia continues to perpetuate the long, relative peace for all the ponies of Equestria.

In-Game Biography (Princesses Celestia and Luna) ^{Click to Show}The Princesses of Equestria, Celestia and Luna wield power over the Sun and Moon respectively. Despite the Diarchial power structure, Equestria has always been ruled by Celestia, leaving Luna to assume a supporting role. The recent campaign to welcome the Fourth Tribe into Equestria has changed this, and Princess Luna has now assumed a complementary role alongside her sister, working to realise the dreams of her subjects.

---

• Adaptational Villainy: Celestia may be played as a more ruthless ruler, especially as the war overwhelms her ability to protect her ponies. Should she fall far enough, she will transform into Daybreaker.
• Ignored Epiphany: At the very last moment before Celestia becomes Daybreaker, you have a final chance to dial back the extremism some notches. However, if the invisible Karma Meter is low enough, you won't even be given that privilege, and Celestia will turn into Daybreaker no matter your choice.
• Offered the Crown: In 795 ALB, Celestia was invited by the local aristocracy to claim Severyana's throne to resolve a political crisis.
• Slowly Slipping Into Evil: Warfare can force Celestia to gradually take more and more drastic measures to protect her country, which also takes a toll on herself, measured by the "Toll of War" decision. As her conditions worsens, and her actions become more and more radical, she can eventually break and become the evil empress Daybreaker.

Princess Luna

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Privy Council of Equestria

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: Time Immemorial

Biography: Myths and fables tell of two regal sisters who ruled together, creating harmony for all the land. The eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. While it is obvious today that the tales speak of the Royal Pony Sisters who rule Equestria, few, if any concrete facts are known about their history. Their achievements in defeating Discord, King Sombra, Lord Tirek and other terrors have become legendary.

Princess Luna, recently returned from banishment, remains somewhat of a mystery to the ponies of Equestria. While she is earnest in reintegrating towards modern society, and earning the adoration of her subjects, Luna rarely enjoys the attention her elder sister, Princess Celestia, receives. Her efforts in guarding the dreams of ponies are greatly appreciated, but what is Luna's greatest contribution today is leading ponies in the field, much like in the glory days of old before Equestria's unification. Her knowledge of strategies and military knowledge is unmatched, by the virtue of her age, and she might have been the one to originally place these concepts in a theoretical form.

In-Game Biography (Princesses Celestia and Luna) ^{Click to Show}The Princesses of Equestria, Celestia and Luna wield power over the Sun and Moon respectively. Despite the Diarchial power structure, Equestria has always been ruled by Celestia, leaving Luna to assume a supporting role. The recent campaign to welcome the Fourth Tribe into Equestria has changed this, and Princess Luna has now assumed a complementary role alongside her sister, working to realise the dreams of her subjects.

---

• Lunacy: As a Field Marshal, Luna has night-themed powers that provide buffs during night time.
• La Résistance: If Celestia becomes Daybreaker in peacetime, Luna will lead the Harmonists to rebel against the Solar Empire.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Luna can be chosen as a field marshal, and a fairly skilled one at that.
• Slowly Slipping Into Evil: Much like Celestia, she also has an invisible Karma Meter that is decided via the choices you make that determines whether or not she becomes Nightmare Moon again and form the Lunar Empire. In her case, it is the integration of the fourth pony tribe, the Thestrals, into Equestria. After the explosion at her Manehattan rally, she can choose to reject her darker impulses and become a co-ruler, or give in to them and become Nightmare Moon. However, if your Karma Meter is almost low enough, your attempt at resistance will fail and she will become Nightmare Moon anyway.
• This Is Something She's Got to Do Herself: Celestia can suggest something very much like this trope when Luna comes to her with concerns about the situation for thestrals. Whether it is true depends on perspective and random chance — the good ending to Luna-led reforms integrates thestrals quicker and at less cost than Celestia-led reforms, and comes with the added perk of Luna rising to the situation and becoming a true co-ruler with Celestia^note Mechanically replacing Princess Celestia as leader of the ruling Harmonist party with Princesses Celestia and Luna, with a slightly improved version of Celestia's trait, but this is also the route that can lead to her becoming Nightmare Moon again.

Prince Blueblood

Role: Field Marshal, Political Advisor, Head of State

Party: Three Tribes Supporters

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Prince Blueblood is a distant nephew of Princess Celestia and thus belongs to the royal family. He is widely known to be an arrogant and lazy snob, which is why it was a great surprise when he volunteered to join the officer corps of the Equestrian Army. No one knows his exact motivation, but he is already proving to be surprisingly competent, if a bit harsh.

In-Game Biography (Head of State) ^{Click to Show}A well educated and accomplished general from the Equestrian military, Prince Blueblood rode his popularity as a hero of Equestria and his traditionally inherited power as a prince through the elections and into his new role as the executive of the nation. His tactics as a general were strict, disciplined, and conservative, not to mention highly effective, and he carries those methodologies into his administration. Though not necessarily the most humble politician, Blueblood knows how, when, and what to say what the public wants to hear, knows what the public wants, and has the intellect to carry out their will efficiently. Finally, his knowledge as a general gives his pragmatic administration great insight into the military and the defensive needs of the nation, essential in the torn and chaotic modern world.

---

• Fantastic Racism: While not as prejudiced and extreme as Chancellor Neighsay, he is still leader of the Three Tribes Supporters and holds suspicion for Thestrals.
• Took a Level in Badass: Despite holding onto his arrogant, snobbish personality, Blueblood proves to be a capable field marshal against the changelings, and is considered a war hero if Equestria wins the war.
• War Hawk: Blueblood is the most hawkish potential leader if Equestria transitions towards a constitutional monarchy after the Great War, wishing to encourage military expansion overseas in Griffonia in order to spread Equestria's Harmonist ideology.
• We Have Reserves: Blueblood does not have any qualms of throwing away pony lives for the sake of fighting against the changelings.
  "Have you ever tried to win a chess match without losing any pieces?"

Twilight Sparkle

^{Sunrise Sparkle}

Role: Political Advisor (Equestria/Solar Empire), Monarch^note Head of State (ELF victory), Regent^note Head of State (Crystal Empire, Sombra executed the Mi Amore family), Governor of Crystal Province^note Head of State (Crystal Empire, Solar puppet state)

Party: Royal Family (Crystal Empire, Princess), Holy Sun Reign (Crystal Empire, Grand Inquisitor), Her Majesty's Most Loyal Coalition for Progress and Harmony (ELF)

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony (Crystal Empire, Princess or ELF), Tyrannical Magocracy^note Supremacy (Crystal Empire, Grand Inquisitor)

In-Game Biography (Political Advisor) ^{Click to Show}Princess Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn, the Element of Magic, and the Princess of Friendship. Despite all this, she remains humble and prefers to spend time with her friends and family, or reading books in her vast library of the Ponyville Castle. Her magical talent is extremely impressive, yet whenever she faced grave dangers and threats, it was friendship that saved her.

Her leadership and organization skills means she would do an excellent job at guiding the magical research department, and she is excited to take the job, even if it means she has to temporarily step down as the headmare of the School of Friendship.

In-Game Biography (Crystal Empire, Princess Twilight Sparkle) ^{Click to Show}The latest ascendant to Alicornhood, Princess Twilight Sparkle is the Element of Magic, former protégé of Princess Celestia and saviour of Equestria. Her meteoric rise to fame and success is attributed to her resolve in spreading the magic of friendship wherever she went, and in the process corrected many wrongs and even converted some former antagonists to the Equestrian cause. She is also one of the most brilliant mages of the time, having invented and perfected many spells and arcane methods. Yet Twilight Sparkle remains as humble as the day she first set hoof in Ponyville, preferring the company of her friends and family rather than dealing with the minutiae of bureaucracy. Recent events, however, have left her greatly saddened, and she has accepted the rulership of the Crystal Empire to honour her brother's memory. And even though there are many who dislike the Monarchy as a ruling system, very few ponies can say anything negative about Twilight Sparkle, who is the living embodiment of how much you can achieve with friendship and kindness.

In-Game Biography (Crystal Empire, Grand Inquisitor Sunrise Sparkle) ^{Click to Show}Freed from her former delusions, Sunrise Sparkle is now the Empress' most obedient and competent underling. Anything her mind becomes set upon, is done in the name of her Empress. From creating an improved spell matrix to cleansing, Sunrise Sparkle is the Empress' will made manifest. She obeys, she does not question.

---

• Being Tortured Makes You Evil: After the ascension of Daybreaker, Twilight can be "re-educated" into Grand Inquisitor Sunrise Sparkle and be placed in charge of the Solar Empire's Crystal Province. This is inverted if she loses to the Changelings afterwards as she wounds up getting tortured back into Twilight by the time Trixie rescues her in an ELF game.
• Fate Worse than Death: If the Changelings conquer Equestria, Twilight is captured by the Queen's Guard and put into captivity in the caves under Canterlot, where she is endlessly drained of her Alicorn-quality Love and given the bare minimum of food and water for survival.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: One of the most messed up examples possible. If the Solar Empire loses to the Changelings, her treatment is apparently so bad that it essentially tortured "Sunrise Sparkle" back into "Twilight Sparkle" when you save her in an ELF game. Summed up in this image.
• I Have Your Wife: As Sunrise Sparkle, when it comes to making the Crystal Empire submit to the Solar Empire, she can choose to kidnap her own niece Flurry Heart to force a submission. Her other options, which is negotiation or forcing a surrender, are somehow less evil than this.
• Sympathy for the Hero: In Pax Chrysalia, if Jachs, Marsilio, and Alcippe decide to investigate into the caves under Canterlot and find Twilight, Twilight is remarkably kind towards them despite her horrible experience under Changeling captivity. When Marsilio gives Twilight a cup of water, she notes that the three of them are demonstrating kindness and harmony, even though the three don't really understand Harmony and don't believe that they're capable of it.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: As a member of the ELF, Twilight gets her own button and GUI detailing her role as the new princess, which includes all of the titles she now officially has. The mod generates this list dynamically and adds more to the list as the ELF acquires important landmarks, but even without the added titles the list is already quite long at a bare minimum. It is implied Twilight herself isn't exactly fond of this ever growing list though.^{Full list part 1}Her Royal Highness Twilight Sparkle, First of Her Name, Princess of Equestria by the Grace of Celestia, Champion of Ponykind, Scion of the Sun and Moon, Warden of the Tree of Harmony, Bearer of the Element of Magic, Heir to Alicorns, Queen of the Unicorns, Commander of the Pegasi, Chancellor of the Earth Ponies, Head of the Commonwealth, Commander-in-Chief of the Ponies' Liberation Army, Protector of the Crystal Heart, Friend of the Yaks, Defender of the Buffalo, Guardian of the Everfree, Mistress of Books and Libraries, Faithful Student in Perpetuity, Princess of Friendship et al. ^{Full list part 2}Princess of Canterlot, Duchess of Manehattan, Duchess of Fillydelphia, Duchess of Bales, Countess of Vanhoover, Countess of Mareland, Viscountess of Stratusburg, Marquise of New Horseleans, Marchioness of the Three Boroughs, Baroness of Whinnyapolis, Baroness of Trottingham, Baroness of Las Pegasus, Baroness of Marechester, Princess of Ponyville, Patrician of Baltimare, Dauphine of Prance, Plenipotentiary to Cloudsdale, Landgravine of Acornage, Aldermare of Detrot, Sheriff Principal of Appleloosa, Constable of Hoofington, Lady of Sunset, Regent of Princessyn, Crown Prefect of Silver Shoals, Imperatrix of the Dragons, Provost of the Griffon Colonies, Sovereign of the Penguins, Chieftess of the Polar Bears, Ruhtinatar of the Olenian Deer, Tzarina of Severyana, First Citizen of Our Town, Princess of the Crystal Ponies, Princess of New Mareland, Vicereine of the Hauklands, Merchant-Princess of Skyfall, Autokráteira of the Minotaurs, Bibliothecarius of Prospero, Lady Protector of Griffenheim, Kaiserin of the Griffons, Empress of Griffonia, Strategos of Nimbusia, Queen of Wittenland, Grand Princess of Lake City.

Lunar Empire

Full Name: Lunar Empire

Ruling Party: Lunar Imperial Court - Hardliners

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Colourful Theme Naming: The Lunar Empire's War Plans to conquer Equus after defeating Equestria are called Red (Stalliongrad), Grey (the Southwest), Green (the Southeast), White (Vanhoover), Black (Changeling Lands), Blue (Yakyakistan), Gold (Nova Griffonia), Cyan (Polar Bears and Penguins) and Crimson (New Mareland).
• The Empire: If the Lunar Empire manages to defeat Equestria, it will begin a long conquest to put all of Equus and New Mareland under Nightmare Moon's rule.
• Lunacy: Just like her past self Luna, Nightmare Moon's Lunar Empire calls upon the power of the night and the oppressed batponies which gives her forces general bonuses to night combat.

Nightmare Moon

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Lunar Imperial Court - Hardliners

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: Time Immemorial

Biography: Myths and fables tell of two regal sisters who ruled together, creating harmony for all the land. The eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. While it is obvious today that the tales speak of the Royal Pony Sisters who rule Equestria, few, if any concrete facts are known about their history.

However, the one legend imprinted in everypony's mind speak of a dark nightmare who attempted to overthrow the fair Princess of the Sun, driven by her jealousy and hatred. They clashed in the old Castle of the Two Sisters, and their battle left the proud edifice desolate and ruined. Afterwards, the entity calling herself Nightmare Moon was banished, soon forgotten except in cautionary foal stories.

In what would be shown as a rude awakening, the Nightmare returned after a millennium in exile to bring once more eternal night and despair; but she was defeated by a group of six mares who wielded the legendary Elements of Harmony, revealing the long lost sister of Princess Celestia, Luna. Although Luna tried to reintegrate into the modern world, the strain of leadership, combined with the injustice towards thestrals, have let loose her old grudges and allowed the darkness to take hold again. Now she rules with an iron hoof, yet abandoning some of her more extreme stances in favour of cold, calculating measures.

---

• For the Evulz: A vengeful Nightmare Moon spreads nightmares for her own personal amusement and revels as terror and panic spread through her subject-victims.
• I Have Your Wife: To prevent the Mane Six from just zapping her with the Elements of Harmony post-civil war, she can choose to hold their families and friends hostage instead just making sure the Elements are kept separate from them.
• Internal Reformist: Once the Equestrian Civil War is over and she has time to actually look into what is going on over there, she sends instructions for Chiropterra to dial down their militarism, treat the natives better and rein in the Legionary Medical Research Department's acquisition of test subjects, potentially even ordering the Legionary Council to stand down so a civilian government could reform Chiropterra into the new age.
• Irony: The "weak" Princess Luna is a powerful Field Marshal. The "strong" Nightmare Moon isn't even one!
• A Lighter Shade of Black:
  • Compared to her sister Daybreaker, who at her worst can turn the entire nation into a cult and burn the Thestrals en masse while torturing Twilight into Sunrise, her simply not doing those acts already makes her less evil by comparison. And this is a mare whose worst possible acts include show trials and executing surrendering soldiers!
  • Effectively the difference between her "Merciful" and "Vengeful" focuses post-civil war. The former focuses on invoking Pragmatic Villainy to ensure long term rule while the latter goes full evil dictator who forces all of her defeated opponents into obeying her with guns to their heads and hostages. She even gains a trait that makes her more receptive to Harmonic diplomacy if the Merciful influence is bigger as a result of your choices, and while the country doesn't change ideology (and will cease to exist should it actually flip to Harmonic) she is added as the Harmonic leader.
• Morality Pet:
  • While initially started out as a prisoner, Rarity is eventually this to her as you go down the focuses. She spends all the time providing clothes for the thestrals and is one of the few ponies she trusts outside her court. When it is time to conquer the Crystal Empire, Nightmare Moon even trusts her to an envoy to get them to submit instead and even let her rule the place as a vassal!
  • The Thestrals as a whole. Their mistreatment combined with Luna's own insecurities and resentment has resulted in Nightmare Moon subconsciously arranging her return when dream walking, resulting in the events that influence her Karma Meter. When she comes into power, the very first thing she does is to integrate them into Equestria while securing their well-being.
• Morton's Fork: Rarity would be taken prisoner by Nightmare Moon regardless of your choices to prevent the Elements of Harmony from being used against her. If she is chosen as a fellow campaigner when Nightmare Moon was Luna, she will be taken into custody as one of the blast victims. If not, Rarity would just happen to be visiting her Manehatten branch of Carousel Boutique when the explosion happened, resulting in her being taken anyway in the chaos.
• Necessarily Evil: At the end of her merciful route, Nightmare Moon remarks that thestrals, her little ponies, deserved more than what the world had dealt them. When push came to shove, Celestia's Equestria had hated her thestrals too much, and thus had to be crushed, though she wonders if things could have turned out differently. While she does not regret what she has done, Nightmare Moon is vexed by how necessary it really was.
• That Man Is Dead: Downplayed. While she is still very much Nightmare Moon, her interactions with Rarity reveal that Luna is still in there somewhere, just buried deep inside. She sometimes even alternates between "I" and the Royal "We" when addressing herself.

Solar Empire

Full Name: Solar Empire

Ruling Party: Holy Sun Reign

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Civil War: If the Solar Empire is formed during peacetime, the eastern half of the nation will break away as Equestria under the leadership of Princess Luna in an attempt to stop Daybreaker, with the other breakaway states following suit. If the thestral problem is solved by Luna, this will not happen.
• Final Solution: In the God Empress route, the Solar Empire will declare that there is only one solution to the thestrals, and that is to "purify them with holy fire". What follows is a massive "cleansing" of the entire nation, where the imperial inquisition hunts down every single thestral and "do what must be done".
• Power of the Sun: Celestia draws upon the power of the sun and turns into Daybreaker to protect Equestria, turning Equestria into the Solar Empire. Daybreaker's very existence dramatically boosts heat attrition for other nations.
• Shout-Out: Some idea descriptions in the God-Empress tree, like "It is better to die for the Empress than to live for yourself" and "Suffer not the heretic to live", are references to quotes from Warhammer 40,000.

Daybreaker

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Holy Sun Reign

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: Time Immemorial

Biography: Myths and fables tell of two regal sisters who ruled together, creating harmony for all the land. The eldest used her alicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. While it is obvious today that the tales speak of the Royal Pony Sisters who rule Equestria, few, if any concrete facts are known about their history.

For over a thousand years, Princess Celestia has safeguarded her ponies, and the land of Equestria. Doing it solely from the goodness of her own heart, she didn't ask for any compensation, nor demanded their absolute loyalty. Everything the Princess wished was for her little ponies to be protected. Contemporary times, however, are not kind to the ideals of friendship and harmony, with the onslaught of a merciless war leaving very little room for pleasantries.

Thus came the ascension of Daybreaker. Infuriated by the gall of her enemies, the former Princess, now Empress, wasted little time in reorganising the state to something far more totalitarian. Many ponies protest in the face of sudden, radical changes, but Daybreaker cares little for the complaints of a minority: all she needs is a devoted herd ready to give their all to protect Equestria.

---

• Awesome, but Temporary: Daybreaker as a Field Marshal grants extremely powerful bonuses that can easily turn the tide of a losing war. However, she only lasts a limited time before becoming unavailable, meaning that the player must make the best of the limited time she is available as a superpowered field marshal.
• Belief Makes You Stupid: The God-Empress path, which demands her subjects worship her as a literal goddess, comes with a 10% penalty to research speed, which no other path includes.
• Break Them by Talking: How Twilight became Sunrise. From the events that were shown onscreen during the focus, Daybreaker personally preached to her former student about how their current ways have failed them time and time again while the new ways will protect her family and friends, leaving Twilight with no argument to stand on while breaking her will.
• A God Am I: God-Empress Daybreaker fully embraces her incredible power and demands to be worshipped as a goddess.
• God Empress: The focus tree path of the same name has Daybreaker fully believing in her godhood, demanding worship from her subjects.
• My Beloved Smother: Empress-Mother Daybreaker acts as an overbearing mother to all of her little ponies, who must be protected from harm, disciplined when they go astray, and always under Daybreaker's watchful eye, regardless of if they want it or not.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Daybreaker herself is a terrifying, burning field marshal, with the special trait "Supernova" that grants extremely powerful bonuses.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Empress-Protector Daybreaker acts as an ultimately well-meaning Empress desiring the protection of all of her subjects, no matter the cost.

Fillydelphia Republic

Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony

---

• Conspiracy Theorist: Equestrian republicans, who are so few in number as to be completely irrelevant politically, find their conspiracy theories vindicated when both Princesses become evil, before joining the Republican rebellion.
• Defector from Decadence: The Republic begins life as an ad hoc rebellion consisting of ponies who hate Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon.

Vanhoover Commune

Full Name: Vanhoover Commune

Ruling Party: Vanhoover Socialist Party

Ideology: Communism

---

• David Versus Goliath: Vanhoover starts off as a tiny breakaway state with 5 divisions and very limited industry, and is a pushover compared to their much bigger neighbors like the Changelings, Equestria, or the Lunar Empire. Fortunately, Vanhoover can complete focuses or border wars that allow it to expand into Western Equestrian regions, giving them a better chance at eventually challenging Equestria.
• Luck-Based Mission: The possibility of Vanhoover expansion is dependent upon the Lunar Empire losing the civil war, as they always attempt to annex Vanhoover after winning the civil war.
• Stone Wall: Vanhoover has decisions that grant it high-level forts for its borders. They are very important for Vanhoover as they cannot easily fight an offensive war, and must fight a war of attrition against their opponents.

Dust Hoover

Role: Admiral (Equestria/Vanhoover Commune), Head of State

Party: Vanhoover Socialist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

---

• Commie Nazis: It's suggested by his focuses such as "National Communism" that he's not that far from Dark Wing or the Rozenkamps ideologically speaking.
• Dangerous Deserter: When the Equestrian Civil War breaks out, Admiral Hoover leads a contingent of the Equestrian and Lunar Navies in a mass mutiny and leads them to join with his fellow Communists in Vanhoover, declaring the city and the surrounding area a neutral party in the war. The winner of the civil war is likely to want their ships and land back.
• Dirty Commies: If he takes power in the commune, Dust Hoover implements a secret police, heavily militarizes the population, and centralizes power in himself, even gaining the dictator trait.

Strawberry Snowflake

Role: Head of State

Party: Vanhoover Socialist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

---

• Chummy Commies: At least compared to Dust Hoover, she emphasizes empowering workers and the unions over centralizing power in herself and the state.
• Oddly Visible Eyebrows: Her mane is completely transparent to her left eye and eyebrow.

Winter Turnip

Role: Head of State

Party: Vanhoover Socialist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

---

• Voluntary Vassal: Upon election, Winter Turnip turns Vanhoover into the Vanhoover Oblast, a far western outpost of Stalliongrad. Depending on the situation in Stalliongrad and the Changeling Lands, this may lead to either an early Stalliongrad entry into the Great War or be used as a base for a pincer attack on Equestria.

Confederation of Southern States

^{Flag of the Confederation of Southern States (Harmony)}

^{Flag of the Southern Loyalist Army}

Full Name: Confederation of Southern States, Appleloosian Protectorate (Changeling puppet state)

Ruling Party: Coltlumbia Party of Appleloosa

Ideology: Centrism^note Non-Aligned

---

• Deep South: The Confederation is made up of Southern secessionist ponies from the Equestrian region of Appleloosa, has a flag based on that of the Confederate States of America, and harbor all stereotypes of the American south.

J.D. Neighvis

Role: Head of State

Party: Coltlumbia Party of Appleloosa

Ideology: Centrism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born to one of the oldest monied dynasties in the South, Neighvis was practically destined for a life of comfort - that was, until his family fell on hard times following a series of poor business decisions. A young Neighvis was forced to watch as the home of his birth was sold to Northern up-and-coming businessponies, and that grudge has been nursed over the course of fifty-odd years of life.

Neighvis built his name gradually, bit by bit, through constant application to the art of letters, writing on a wide variety of topics until he eventually became a popular author. In his twenties he founded the Coltlumbia Party, a fringe group advocating for Southron independence. He is best known for his political essays about the uniqueness and importance of Southern culture as opposed to Northerner culture, which would sometimes rise to the point of screaming Jeremiads against Canterlot. Now that the Southrons are finally a free and independent people, Neighvis will go to any length to ensure that they remain that way.

---

• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: J. D. Neighvis, the pony responsible for declaring the Confederation of Southern States from Equestria, is clearly based on Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America during its lifespan.

Silverstar

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State (Elections)

Party: Harmony-Unity Party of Appleloosa

Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Silverstar, Sherriff of Appleloosa, wouldn't have been anypony's first choice for the leader of a political party. However, looks can be very deceiving. However, when the Harmony-Unity Party was founded, he was elected as chairpony specifically *because* he hadn't stepped up for the job, and was therefore considered more trustworthy than the career politicians who most felt were only in it for themselves.

Stubborn, honest, and uncompromising, Silverstar is hesitant about change in general. While he wasn't thrilled by the decision to break away from Equestria, now that the ponies have chosen it he will defend it with uncompromising grit and gumption.

---

• One-Steve Limit: Silverstar, Sheriff of Appleloosa and potential chairpony of the Harmony-Unity Party when the Equestrian Civil War erupts, is not to be confused with Silver Star, younger brother of Queen White Star of Wittenland and a member of Barrad's Pentarchy.
• Reluctant Ruler: When the Confederation secedes from Equestria, Silverstar is elected chairpony of the Harmony-Unity Party specifically because he doesn't step up for the job, and is therefore considered more trustworthy than career politicians.

Braeburn

Role: General, Head of State (Elections)

Party: Equestrian Brotherhood

Ideology: Democratic Monarchism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}A member of the ancient Apple family, Braeburn was just a humble farmer before Equestria's descent into chaos. When the South declared independence, he rose to prominence as one of the most vocal opponents of the Neighvis government. Though he felt a fierce desire to simply march over the border and join the Equestrian army, his family persuaded him that his place was here, in Appleloosa. Instead, he joined the Equestrian Sun Party and quickly rose through its ranks through charisma and sheer force of conviction. Now the leader of a nation he wishes didn't exist, Braeburn is sure to align the South back toward Equestria. Whether that means requesting re-annexation or just fighting alongside the Princess remains to be seen.

---

• Press X to Die: If the royalist Equestrian Brotherhood wins the first election, their Returning Home focus causes Equestria to instantly annex the Confederation of Southern States, ending the game for the Confederation player. Fortunately, there is an alternative path where they become a puppet instead of being annexed.

Rockfeller

Role: Head of State (Rockfeller takeover)

Party: Coltlumbia Party - Rockfeller's Faction

Ideology: Plutocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography (Confederation of Southern States) ^{Click to Show}Rockfeller's life has been one of catastrophic ups and downs. Born to a poor shoesmithing family, he fell into such destitution in his youth that he wandered into the desert to die. However, fate smiled on him as he uncovered an oil well, leading to the foundation of the Rockfeller business empire. His General Petroleum Company is practically the only oil business in southern Equus, and through years of graft and bribery he has amassed a powerful network of clients and patrons that runs through all of Southron society.

Now that that fool Neighvis is out of the way, Rockfeller is free to pursue his dream, of a South as rich and free as he himself. So what if a few eggs have to be broken along the way?

In-Game Biography (Las Pegasus) ^{Click to Show}A powerful business magnate from the South States, Rockfeller made his fortune from oil money as a young stallion, and established a wide network of patronage and clients throughout the whole south. His company, General Petroleum, is the primary supplier of crude oil and oil-based products to Las Pegasus, and his vast wealth has bought him massive influence in the workings of the city. Now that Pine Chest has been "persuaded" to appoint him as the new Mayor, he looks forward to expanding his influence even further. Nopony will stand in the way of this self-made stallion!

---

• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Rockfeller is the owner of the General Petroleum Company, and had amassed a strong network of associates in Southern society through graft and bribery.
• Corrupt Politician: As the leader of either the Confederacy or Las Pegasus, Rockfeller has no problems with bribes, sweet talks, and backroom deals to keep his powerbase strong.
• The Coup: Rockfeller can take direct control over the Confederation if the Coltlumbia party is elected to power and his powers are not restricted. With his extensive connections, he runs a slander campaign against current Coltlumbia party leader J. D. Neighvis and forces him to resign, making Rockfeller the new leader of the Coltlumbia party.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Rockfeller shares his name (off by one letter), job, poor birth, and penchant for capitalism with American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. The name of his company General Petroleum is also a variation on Rockefeller's Standard Oil.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Despite being Supremacist, Rockfeller is not motivated by some racial supremacist ideology. He just wants to make as much money as possible. When he leads the failing state of Las Pegasus, he feeds the starving citizens, rebuilds the damaged city, and can even make deals with Celestia, all to secure a city that can maximize its profits.
• Rags to Riches: Rockfeller was born to a poor shoemaking family, and wandered into the desert to die due to how poor he was. He got lucky and found an oil well in the desert, laying the foundations for his massive oil empire.

Las Pegasus

^{Flag of the Las Pegasus Commune}

^{Flag of the Equestrian Technocracy}

Full Name: Las Pegasus, Republic of Las Pegasus (Sugar Sprinkle), Las Pegasus Commune (Starry Plough), Equestrian Commune (Starry Plough, Equestria conquered), State of Las Pegasus (Supremacist), Equestrian State (Pine Chest, Equestria conquered), Equestrian Technocracy (Mr. Horse, Equestria conquered)

Ruling Party: Office of the Mayor of Las Pegasus

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• Asshole Victim: When the Lunar Empire conquers Las Pegasus, if Nightmare Moon is vengeful, the local high society ponies and oligarchs are dragged from their homes and shot in the streets as a warning to the rest of the city.
• Expy: In addition to being a Fantasy Counterpart Culture version of Las Vegas, Las Pegasus is also based on New Vegas from Fallout, especially if Mr. Horse becomes its leader.
• The Famine: Las Pegasus' secession brings with it a major food crisis, which will worsen over time and force all political paths to take focuses and decisions to manage it until it is mitigated. Except for Mr. Horse, who removes the food crisis instantly by opening his food vaults with a focus.
• Multiple Endings: Las Pegasus has a massive amount of political paths, rivaling the likes of New Mareland and Feathisia.
  • If the Harmonists win out the initial chaos, Las Pegasus ends up getting annexed back by Equestria.
  • If Mayor Rokenhar outwits his opponents, he will soon die of terminal illness (which has a lot of flavor varieties depending on the focuses done during his last year of life), and pass the office down to his assistant Sugarquill.
  • If the socialists win, they can either go with Starry Plough's syndicalist commune, or Sugar Sprinkle's social democracy (which is actually Harmonist in terms of gameplay classification). The player's decisions in the Trade Union Congress events will also decide which branches of the economy tree, army tree, and diplomacy tree will the player go down. Syndicalist foreign policy is proactive and takes the fight to their enemies, while Social Democrat foreign policy is defensive, and in Sugar Sprinkle's case, will also have Las Pegasus begin partial (or full) reintegration with Equestria.
  • If the Supremacists win, Pine Chest has three options for a new Supremacist mayor:
    • Himself, opening up a political tree where he prepares to topple Equestria due to perceiving Celestia as a crypto-communist.
    • Southern oil baron Rockfeller, who can annex the Confederation, get annexed by the Confederation, or choose a country to ally, either the Confederation, Equestria, Lunar Empire, or the Changelings. Or he can remain independent.
    • HorseCo CEO Trotbert Horse, who dismantles the PCA (Mr. Horse is actually Non-Aligned) and turns Las Pegasus into a city ruled by Technocracy, before waging a massive war to take over all of Equestria and declare a technocratic Equestrian successor state, and then go on to annex the Changelings and Stalliongrad.
• Press X to Die: If the Trade Union takes over, and Sugar Sprinkle's Social Democrats become the new leader with Social Democrat foreign policy, and Equestria accepts their reintegration proposal, the player can choose to go down "The Path of Integration", where Las Pegasus is annexed back by Equestria, ending the game for the Las Pegasus player.

Mayor Rokenhar

Role: Mayor^note Head of State

Party: Office of the Mayor of Las Pegasus

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Rokenhar had always been a competent civil servant, perfectly content with the repetitive, paper-pushing routine of his daily duties. He had risen to the position of Mayor of Las Pegasus, a position that, until recently, required very few actual skills beyond being able to make the occasional public speech. The enormous, entrenched, immovable inertia of the ancient Equestrian bureaucracy took care of practically all of the actual work.

Unfortunately for Rokenhar, the fat cat business interests that ruled Las Pegasus from the shadows reacted with irrational and short-sighted alarm to the Civil War. Fearing that their assets would be seized and nationalised for the war effort, or that the newly-overhauled bureaucracy would expose the mountains of corruption that they stood upon, they more or less forced Rokenhar to declare independence from Equestria.

Now, surrounded by enemies within and without on every side, this tired old stallion just doesn't know what to do. How is he supposed to deal with this?

---

• Apparently Powerless Puppetmaster: Rokenhar initially appears to be a powerless mayor who declared Las Pegasus' secession due to demands from the corporate elites of the city. However, in the chaos that followed, Rokenhar can proceed to play all the different factions in the city against each other, weakening all of them until he comes out on top.
• Modular Epilogue: The event where Mayor Rokenhar dies is a dynamic one. Each of the five paragraphs corresponds to one branch in Mayor Rokenhar's temporary tree ("Reinforcing the House of Cards"), those being military reform, industrial reform, legal reform, leadership succession, and family matters. Each paragraph has three options depending on how far did the player go in that branch of the focus tree. Since there is not enough time to do all the focuses to the very end outside of cheats, the ending will always be slightly imperfect.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Rokenhar appears to be a powerless puppet, but he is actually a fairly competent politician able to play his enemies against each other, and the player can make his efforts succeed.
• Playing Both Sides: In the midst of the post-secession political chaos, Mayor Rokenhar plans to have the Communists, Supremacists, and the Monarchists in Las Pegasus fight each other to death, while he comes out on top. In gameplay terms, if the player wants to go down Rokenhar's path, the player has to manage the early-game party popularities through focuses and events, so that the Non-Aligned party becomes the most popular party, allowing the player to take the "Checkmate" focus to secure Rokenhar's rule and begin the proper focus tree.
• There's No Place Like Home: One branch in his temporary tree deals with having Mayor Rokenhar go home and see his family one last time before his terminal illness takes him. This branch does not grant any bonuses to the country, but gives a happier ending to Mayor Rokenhar, who would otherwise die without meeting his family. If he did go to see his family, then they will come to see him one last time when Rokenhar is on his deathbed.
• Your Days Are Numbered: After securing his rule of Las Pegasus, Mayor Rokenhar's body has taken a toll due to the stress. One day, he collapses, and the doctors would diagnose him with a terminal illness that will kill him in one year. This puts a time limit on the things he can do, and the focus tree forces that; there are 15 focuses in his tree that can only be done if he is alive, each taking 20 days. Adding the dozens of days taken to get to that point in the focus tree, the player cannot do all 15 focuses unless console commands are used, and must choose which ones to do. Two of the 15 focuses are also required to ensure succession, as Las Pegasus would otherwise collapse into anarchy upon Rokenhar's death, resulting in a game over as the city is annexed.

Sugarquill

Role: Mayor^note Head of State (Rokenhar succession)

Party: Office of the Mayor of Las Pegasus

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}An unassuming advisor for most of her life, Sugarquill came into the confidence of Mayor Rokenhar after she played a key role in ensuring that the city survived the radical forces that sought to destroy it. Indeed, many suspected that she was the true genius behind the near-miraculous salvation of the City. Now that the venerable Mayor has passed from this world, Sugarquill rules the city that she helped to save. No matter what happens, she will not allow all that they fought so hard for to die.

---

• Girl Friday: Sugarquill is the hardworking and honest advisor to Mayor Rokenhar, helping the Mayor to secure the city in the Mayor's path. This is why she was picked as his successor.

Starry Plough

Role: Head of State

Party: Council of the Workers' Trade Unions of Las Pegasus

Ideology: Syndicalism^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Starry Plough has spent years struggling to protect and organise the working ponies of Las Pegasus from the rapacious capitalists that have always ruled it, with moderate success. The Princesses, monarchs though they were, at least made some efforts to help the workers, but with the secession of Las Pegasus all such efforts ceased, and now the workers have finally broken free from their bread and circuses. Finally, they hold destiny within their own hooves, and Starry Plough will guide and protect them on their journey.

---

• Antagonist in Mourning: While not a villain, Starry Plough, a Trade Union leader, has very good reasons to antagonize Mayor Rokenhar. However, if Mayor Rokenhar takes the industrial focuses in his temporary tree to the end, reconciling with the Trade Unions, then Starry Plough will come to meet Mayor Rokenhar on his deathbed, and give him a red rose pin, respecting the Mayor's pro-worker reforms.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: His name is a reference to the Starry Plough flag flown by James Connolly's Irish Citizen Army, and his overall character from his trade union support to his militancy are drawn from Connolly's actions in the lead up to the Easter Rising. His avatar, however, more resembles Pádraig Pearse.

Sugar Sprinkle

Role: Head of State

Party: Social Democratic Party of Las Pegasus

Ideology: Harmonic Socialism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Though Starry Plough is the most famous face of the socialist movement in Las Pegasus, his efforts would have amounted to little more than sound and fury had it not been for the grassroots networks of labor unions that were built up around him. Though Sugar Sprinkle was never as charismatic as Starry Plough, she was no less zealous in the cause of the workers, but she saw that trying to rebuild society from scratch was a foolish endeavor - trying to build something whose shape you don't even know is a recipe for failure. Instead, she advocated a reformed kind of democracy that could maximise the freedom and comfort of al. Now that the Congress has elected her as leader, her moderate policies will prevail, turning Las Pegasus into a shining island of prosperity in the sea of chaos around it.

---

• Full-Circle Revolution: While not evil or oppressive, Sugar Sprinkle's social democratic policies return Las Pegasus to a pro-Equestrian Harmonist position, just like the royalist monarchists that the workers' revolution expelled earlier.

Pine Chest

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State (Military coup)

Party: The Patriotic Citizen Army

Ideology: Fascism^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Pine Chest has always been something of an eccentric sort. Born in Las Pegasus, his family moved around the world constantly, from Severyana to Bales to Manehattan, even spending time in Aquilea and Wingbardy across the ocean. It was during this tumultuous youth that he came into contact with the socialist movement as well as Beakolini's Fascists. One day, his father's office was firebombed by a Wingbardian Communist terrorist, leaving a permanent scar on the stallion's heart.

Returning home to Las Pegasus, Pine Chest became famous for getting into fights with trade unionists by the docksides, even gathering a group of like-minded followers to help him "break up the dens of treason", as he put it. At this time he had a fervent zeal for the diarchy, but when Celestia refused to go to war to prevent the secession of Stalliongrad, he had a crisis of faith, concluding that Celestia must be a crypto-communist herself.

Now firmly in control of the city, Pine Chest refuses to allow Communists and Communist sympathisers to destroy his homeland the way they did his father.

---

• General Ripper: Pine Chest hates communism like nopony else. His father's office was firebombed by a Wingbardian communist during his time in Wingbardy. This left him with a burning hatred of communism so strong, he believed that Celestia was a crypto-communist when she did not go to war over Stalliongrad's secession. In his focus tree, he eventually gets an annex war goal on Equestria itself to remove what he sees as the arch-socialist, Celestia.
• Military Coup: If the Supremacists in Las Pegasus have a high popularity by the end of the initial Las Pegasus tree, Pine Chest and his Patriotic Citizen Army will launch a coup against Mayor Rokenhar to install their own anti-communist rule.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Pine Chest, a rabidly anti-communist military dictator, is clearly named after infamous Chilean anticommunist dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Rockfeller

Role: Head of State (Military coup, Rockfeller chosen as leader)

Party: General Petroleum Company

Ideology: Plutocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}

See his entry in the Confederation of Southern States folder.

Mr. Horse

Role: Head of State

Party: Mr. Horse's Supporters

Ideology: Technocracy^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}A reclusive and mysterious figure, Trotbet Horse never appears in public, preferring to make statements through mouthpieces and newspapers. Even when he does need to speak in person, he does so through a computer screen, refusing ever to show even the possibility of a hint o weakness. Chairpony and founder of the prestigious Horse Co. computer, machine tools, and radio company, as well as the owner of a chain of successful casinos, most would not have thought of Horse as a capable leader. And yet, here he is, chosen to lead the city in its hour of darkness. Behind his screen, he grins slightly. Everything is proceeding exactly as planned.

---

• Democracy Is Bad: Mr. Horse thinks that democracies are inefficient and impede progress, and that they must be replaced by his technocratic rule.
• Emperor Scientist: Mr. Horse is a technocrat, and he rules Las Pegasus with scientists to maximize societal efficiency and technological progress.
• Expy: Mr. Horse is based on none other than Mr. House from Fallout: New Vegas.
• Last-Name Basis: Trotbert Horse is almost always referred to as Mr. Horse, his first name being mentioned only in his in-game bio.
• Secret Character: Mr. Horse's tree is vastly different from any other Las Pegasus tree, and the path taken to get him posits his tree as somewhat of a twist ending.
• Shadow Dictator: Mr. Horse is a mysterious and reclusive figure who never appears in public and prefers to appear through mouthpieces and newspapers.
• The Starscream: When Pine Chest officially puts Mr. Horse into power, he thinks that he himself holds the real power behind the scenes while Mr. Horse is just a puppet. Mr. Horse proceeds to pull the rug under him by taking over for real, gloat about him being the better chessmaster over the radio before putting a bullet in his brain.
• Take Over the World: Mr. Horse's ambitions are far beyond any other leader in Las Pegasus. His tree grants annex war goals on the Buffalo Chiefdom, the Confederation of Southern States, all four nations in the War in the South, Equestria and the Lunar Empire, AND the Changelings and Stalliongrad. If he succeeds, he will create a true successor state to Equestria based on the ideology of Technocracy, gaining cores on 174 provinces in one focus.
• Totalitarian Utilitarian: Mr. Horse wants to spread his anti-democratic technocratic rule across all of Equestria so that it can progress and prosper to its maximum potential.
• Withholding the Cure: A variation; it is suggested that Mr. Horse had a hand in orchestrating the food supply shortages in Las Pegasus, since his food vaults have enough food to instantly end the famine regardless of its severity. This means that Las Pegasus had always had enough food all along, it's just that Mr. Horse refused to reveal them until it's his time.

Disciples of the Night

^{Flag of Tzinacatlia}

Full Name: Disciples of the Night, Tzinacatlia (Moonspeaker coup)

Ruling Party: Lunar Loyalists

Ideology: Stratocracy^note Supremacy

---

• The Coup: After the Disciples win the War in the South, South-Eastern native thestrals tired of fighting can coup Marshal Stars Whirl and institute the rule of the native Moonspeaker Conclave. They declare the creation of Tzinacatlia, a natively-ruled thestral kingdom that is freed from the domination of both Celestia and Luna.
• Elective Monarchy: After overthrowing Stars Whirl and establishing Tzinacatlia, the Moonspeaker Conclave will elect thestral journalist Light Narrative as its Tlatoani, a ceremonial king serving as a popular figurehead, officially the king of all thestral tribes and interpreter of the Moon's will.
• The Good Kingdom: Tzinacatlia will make peace with the Neighua (who fear the thestrals), preserve democratic institutions, reconcile with Caballeron and Cricket Chafer, and create a fair (if isolationist) kingdom for the thestrals.

Stars Whirl

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State

Party: Lunar Loyalists

Ideology: Stratocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}A minor officer before the civil war, Stars Whirl was stationed in Saltmane when the fighting broke out. Despite not being a thestral herself, she has sided with Nightmare Moon and emerged as the most capable leader in the southeast. Stars Whirl's swift and decisive measures ensure that victory is achieved no matter the cost. Her drive has ensured the loyalty of the batpony subordinates, and the personal favour of the Empress.

---

• Bodyguard Betrayal: During the Moonspeaker Conclave's coup, Stars Whirl is roused from her bed at gunpoint and brought to the shooting range by the tribal batponies she'd been given as guards.
• Conscription: Stars Whirl forces thestrals and non-thestrals alike to serve in the military in a combat or non-combat role to provide ponypower for Nightmare Moon.
• The Generalissimo: If Marshal Stars Whirl keeps power after winning the War in the South, she rules the South-East as an army with a state dedicated to serving the Lunar Empire's war efforts.

Starry Glory

Role: Head of State

Party: New Lunar Empire Loyalists

Ideology: Ultranationalism^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Writer and occultist, Starry Glory has been infamous for his seditious speeches against the peaceful Equestrian order. The ordinary pony would have been much more sympathetic to the thestral plight if it weren't for his extremist rhetoric. Neither a ban from writing or a short prison sentence has deterred Starry Glory, although his influence waned as he became ostracised.

Fortunes have changed due to the civil war, which has given him the platform to propagate his thestral supremacy theory. The brutal war in the southeastern jungles has convinced the higher ups in the Lunar administration that drastic measures are needed to contain the natives, and Starry Glory was chosen to lead the new nation. He intends to transform it into a batpony paradise, which he personally calls "the Free Thestral Empire", although the name has yet found recognition within the wider populace.

---

• Fantastic Racism: Starry Glory is an extreme thestral supremacist who seeks to turn the South-East into an apartheid state, home to thestrals and thestrals only, while natives are legally discriminated against. For the same reason, he's barred from entering Chiropterra, since his racist beliefs conflict with Chiropterra's goal to convert everycreature to worship Nightmare Moon.
• Mandatory Motherhood: Starry Glory's Three Foals Policy mandates that every thestral mother should produce at least three foals.

Light Narrative

Role: General, Head of State (Appointed by Nightmare Moon), Monarch^note Head of State (Crowned by Moonspeakers)

Party: Lunar Dominionist Party, The Grand Moonspeaker Conclave (Crowned by Moonspeakers)

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy, Theocracy^note Non-Aligned (Crowned by Moonspeakers)

In-Game Biography (Light Narrative) ^{Click to Show}Having written for numerous newspapers, such as Baltimare Times, Equestria Daily, Manehattan Tribunal and even the Canterlot Inquirer, Light Narrative has made a name for himself in the Equestrian journalist circles by publishing divisive, yet factual articles on thestral rights. Despite his best intentions, the anti-batpony bias meant that he did not remain employed for long.

After another slump following his most recent discharge, Light Narrative traveled to the Equestrian southeast to research and report on the mysterious native tribes that inhabit its jungles. His investigation was interrupted by the civil war, which in no way did it interfere with his publishing, and he has sided with the thestral uprising to write about the successes of the Lunar garrison. Following the pacification of the region, Empress Nightmare Moon has recommended the intrepid journalist for the leadership role, believing that his moderate approach would ensure continued peace in the war-torn southeast.

In-Game Biography (Tlatoani Acazotic Huehuetlatolli I) ^{Click to Show}Having written for numerous newspapers, such as Baltimare Times, Equestria Daily, Manehattan Tribunal and even the Canterlot Inquirer, Light Narrative has made a name for himself in the Equestrian journalist circles by publishing divisive, yet factual articles on thestral rights. Despite his best intentions, the anti-batpony bias meant that he did not remain employed for long.

After an another slump following his most recent discharge, Light Narrative traveled to the Equestrian southeast to research and report on the mysterious native tribes that inhabit its jungles. His investigation was interrupted by the civil war, which in no way did it interfere with his publishing, and he has sided with the thestral uprising to write about the successes of the Lunar garrison.

However, a most unexpected surge of events has transpired. The native batponies have risen up against the foreign extremists in the service of Nightmare Moon, and declared their own independent nation. After the first Grand Conclave of the Moonspeakers, Light Narrative has been chosen as Tlatoani, the spiritual leader and inspiration for the ponies.

---

• Offered the Crown: If the Disciples of the Night win the War in the South only to get overthrown by the Moonspeaker Conclave, the Moonspeakers will choose Light Narrative to lead Tzinacatlia and crown him Tlatoani Acazotic Huehuetlatolli I.
• Token Good Teammate: Light Narrative is a well-intentioned journalist who writes about thestral rights, and the only potential leader of the Disciples of the Night who actually wants to create a fair and livable nation (in contrast to Starry Glory, a thestral supremacist, and Stars Whirl, who creates an army with a state dedicated to Nightmare Moon).

Celestial Resistance

^{Flag of the South-Eastern Imperial Domain}

^{Flag of the Equestrian Resistance}

Full Name: Celestial Resistance, South-Eastern Imperial Domain (Solar puppet state)

Ruling Party: Celestial Loyalists

Ideology: Liberation Movement^note Harmony

---

• Improvised Weapon: In order to deal with their lack of tanks, the Celestial State turns the tractors of local farmers into armoured battle vehicles.
• Private Military Contractors: The Celestial State can offer contracts to the many wayward mercenaries, bandits and smugglers who have gathered around Saltmane.
• La Résistance: The Celestial Resistance begins life as a resistance movement against the Disciples of the Night who takes control of the South-East after the Lunar Civil War erupts.

Daring Do

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State

Party: Celestial Loyalists

Ideology: Liberation Movement^note Harmony

---

• Anti-Mutiny: If Equestria turns into the Solar Empire during the civil war, Daring Do will remain loyal to True Harmony values and declare rebellion against the despotic Empress Daybreaker in addition to Nightmare Moon.
• Defictionalization: Invoked. When Nightmare Moon returns and civil war erupts in Equestria, A. K. Yearling takes on the mantle of Daring Do, the main protagonist of her The Adventures of Daring Do novel series, in order to help organise an anti-Lunarist resistance movement in the South-East.
• Reluctant Ruler: While Daring Do leads the Celestial Resistance during the War in the South in the name of harmony, actually leading a government after the victory is not her favourite job.

Aztlan Free State

Full Name: Aztlan Free State, Aztlan Federation (War in the South victory)

Ruling Party: Caballeron's Supporters

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Of the Nahuas, right down to their very name (Neighua), the name of their country (Aztlan) and its capital city (Tenochtitlan). They're also a jungle based civilization that unites into a federation of different peoples similar to how the Aztec Empire was comprised of three distinct city states. Their constant cycle of civil war prior to Dr. Caballeron's arrival also evokes the various conflicts between pro and anti-communist factions in Central America.
• The Federation: After winning the War in the South, Doctor Caballeron proclaims the creation of the Aztlan Federation, a federation that would unite the diverse people of Aztlan.
• Occupiers Out of Our Country: When the War in the South erupts, the jungle ponies rise up to free themselves from what they perceive to be Equestrian imperialism.

Doctor Caballeron

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State

Party: Caballeron's Supporters

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born in Puerto Caballo, Caballeron has long been a student of archeology, fascinated by the cultures, languages and history of southeastern Equestria. To fund his studies, he sold artifacts he found, sometimes to rather questionable individuals. This proved to be worth it as he eventually graduated with a Doctor's degree, despite Daring Do, his arch-nemesis, often trying to intervene and rescue the relics before he could sell them.

After the Equestrian Civil War began, Caballeron used the wealth he had acquired from the sale of artifacts to hire mercenaries and drove out the Lunarist forces from the region around Tenochtitlan. He claims to be defending the natives, though some doubt if his motives are truly honest.

---

• Adaptational Heroism: A generally villainous character in the shows, Doctor Caballeron is actually a good guy in Equestria at War. He makes a Heel–Face Turn, abandons his original goals of profit, and works to create a free and united Aztlan Federation, which is one of the best endings for the War in the South, as everyone in the South are treated as equals in the Federation.
• Bait-and-Switch Tyrant: Doctor Caballeron, given his somewhat shady background of funding his studies by selling relics, initially appears to be a bad guy who founded the Aztlan Free State to protect his profit opportunities while claiming to defend the natives. However, he really truly wants to defend the natives of the jungle, and the country he ultimately creates is a beacon of hope in a sea of chaos.
• Heel–Face Turn: Doctor Caballeron originally founds the Aztlan Free State in the name of profit, but eventually shifts his goal to truly defend the natives and their culture. After the War in the South ends, he proclaims a Federation to unite the diverse people of Aztlan, works closely with the natives to respect and celebrate their culture, and grants clemency to the leftists and thestrals, creating a truly united, peaceful, and free South.
• The Pardon: After winning the War in the South, Caballeron issues pardons to any and all thestrals that surrender peacefully to assure them that his promise to give them the same rights as any of the Federation's other citizens is not a trap.

Baltimare Republic

^{Flag of the Free South-East}

^{Flag of the South-Eastern State}

Full Name: Baltimare Republic, South-Eastern Socialist Republic (War in the South victory), Equestrian Socialist Federative Republic (Equestria conquered)

CAN: Free South-East, Free South Equestria, Free Equestrian Confederacy (Equestria conquered)

Lavender Berry: South-Eastern State, Southern State, The State (Equestria conquered)

Ruling Party: Popular Front

Ideology: Syndicalism^note Communism

---

• Anarchy Is Chaos: Inverted - The anarchist CAN path offers more stability than any other political path, the slightly decentralised TER path offers less stability, the explicitly centralised PON path gives small stability penalties, and the totalitarian IES path offers large stability penalties and a civil war.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: The CAN, TER, and PON are all well-meaning, but each is ultimately highly flawed in their dealings with the thestrals and/or natives, while the IES kills hundreds of thousands to quell rebellion, locks down the country to prevent dissent, and has no regard for individual liberties.
• Fantastic Racism: Towards the native jungle ponies and towards the thestrals, though to what extent depends on what route Baltimare takes in the government tree.
  • In the CAN route, in the absence of legal protections, many ponies declare open season on thestrals, who are widely despised as monarchists due to many of them supporting Luna. However, the CAN is the only route that can reach a full accommodation with the natives.
  • The TER route avoids wholesale slaughter, but legally discriminates against both thestrals and the natives, making thestrals legally second-class citizens and confining those natives who haven't assimilated to reservations.
  • The PON can reach an agreement with the thestrals and resolve tensions with them peacefully, but seeks to "educate" the natives, who the PON explicitly see as "savages", with the aim of annihilating their culture. The whole system is similar to the residential schools Canada and the United States established to "kill the Indian, save the man".
  • The IES gleefully carries out mass slaughter against both natives and thestrals and anyone else that is seen as a threat to Lavender Berry's rule.
• Foreshadowing: In Jorge Orellana's 1048, the nominally socialist totalitarian country ruling Equestria is called "The State". Should Berry take over the SESR and somehow conquer Equestria, the Equestrian successor state he declares is also called "The State".
• Historical In-Joke:
  • Cricket Chafer's South-Eastern Socialist Republic has an economic focus called "Maize, the Miracle Crop", where Chafer vastly expands corn farming operations. This is a reference to Nikita Khrushchev's extensive and memetic corn farming projects, as Chafer is based on Khrushchev.
  • Baltimare's final wartime focus, "To The Barricades!", is a translation of the title of the famous Spanish anarchist song "A las Barricadas", strongly associated with the CNT-FAI.
• Improvised Weapon: The anarchist and syndicalist military focuses describe building destroyers, cruisers, and fighter planes by converting fishing ships, merchant vessels, and mail planes.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed:
  • The anarcho-syndicalist faction of the Popular Front (the sole legal party in Baltimare), CAN-TER, is based on the famous Spanish anarcho-syndicalist organization CNT-FAI.
  • The competing Marksist PON faction of the Popular Front is based on the POUM, a Spanish Marxist organization which took part in the Spanish Civil War much like the CNT-FAI.
  • During the War in the South, a Griffon writer named Jorge Orellana from Sicameon arrives in Baltimare to assist in the war as a militia general, and leaves after the war finishes, writing either Homage to Baltimare (a personal account about the war and the revolutionary society created by CAN-TER) or 1048 (a dystopian book where Equestria is controlled by a nominally socialist totalitarian country named "The State") based on his experiences during the War in the South (and whether the libertarian socialists or the state socialists are more popular). Orellana is based on George Orwell, who participated in the Spanish Civil War as a militia, and the war influenced his views significantly. The two in-universe books are based on Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and Nineteen Eighty-Four respectively, the latter in-universe book even getting him sued by the New Mareland MARESOC party for slander.
  • Anarchist minister Nesty Mango is clearly named after famous anarchist Nestor Makhno.
• Sliding Scale of Libertarianism and Authoritarianism: Baltimare's civil war tree has them rapidly making societal decisions that favor either the libertarian or authoritarian socialists to take their place on the scale, which is then codified if/when they win the Southeastern Civil War and hold elections. The outcome, from most libertarian to most authoritarian, can be the CAN's complete anarchy, the TER's decentralized syndicalist democracy, the PON's centralized Marksist democracy, or the IES's totalitarian dictatorship.

Golden Delicious

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State

Party: Popular Front, Trades of Equestria for Reform (War in the South victory)

Ideology: Syndicalism^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Golden Delicious, commonly known as "Comrade Delicious" among the ranks of his militiaponies, is a member of the syndicalist TER organization and a military commander. Part of the vast Apple family, he has lived in Baltimare his entire life, working in its docks as a hauler of apple crates. Poor working conditions inspired him to join a labour union and he soon became active in politics, advocating for better rights for Equestria's working class. In recent years he has been part of Stalliongrad's secret military training program and has proven his skills as a capable, inspiring leader.

---

• Boom Town: Golden Delicious and the TER can engage in rapid, large-scale industrialization of the South-East, turning two rural region level states into dense urban areas with four times as many base building slots and four more into regular urban areas with three times the base building slots. Since this increases the states' base building slots, it is also affected by industry tech unlike the bonus building slots most such focuses give.
• Chummy Commies: Downplayed. Golden Delicious, leader of the TER, wants to create a democratic and syndicalist Southeast Equestria. However, he still legalizes discrimination against thestrals and forces them into reservations, so they clearly won't be part of his new state, and it's strongly implied that he personally holds racist beliefs against thestrals as a species.
• Internal Reformist: In the ELF post-war focus tree, Golden Delicious becomes the leader of the socialist party of Equestria, hoping to eventually bring his revolution through democratic elections and reforms.

Confederation of Communes

Role: Head of State

Party: Confederation of Anarchists - Nonpartisan

Ideology: Anarcho-Communism^note Communism

While not a character in the conventional sense, the Confederation of Communes, the collective decision-making body of the South-East, is the "leader" in the anarchist route, as nopony holds authority over any other.

---

• Awesome, but Impractical: The CAN can get a large bonus to jungle warfare, which is one of the hardest terrains to fight on, but by the time the focus can be taken, most of the world's jungles are already part of the Free South-East. Unless you plan on invading Asterion or setting up defensive lines behind your borders, there aren't many chances to actually use the benefit.
• Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: The CAN anarchists are quite radical, and in the path where they come to power, they will launch an anarchist revolution during the first SESR elections, burning ballot papers and vandalizing government buildings, until all government institutions are overthrown, creating the anarchist Free South-East.
• Decapitated Army: Simultaneously Exploited and Defied when they root out the Lunar Resistance in jungle warfare after the Disciples have been defeated.
  • Exploited in that the anarchist militias know full well that the Lunar Resistance has a rigid hierarchy and that by taking out a few leaders, the Resistance can be thrown into disarray. Not long after Stars Whirl is killed, the Resistance essentially ceases to exist.
  • Defied in that the anarchist forces themselves have no hierarchy and when the Lunar Resistance tries to break them by taking out leaders, they completely fail as there is no hierarchy to disrupt.
• Everyone Is Armed: The CAN supports universal possession of firearms so every last pony can be part of the militia and defend the South-East in times of need. This large militia allows the CAN to match the Extensive Conscription law while only ever having the Volunteer Only recruitment law.
• Free-Range Children: In the CAN route, compulsory education is abolished in favor of encouraging foals to actively seek out learning on their own. This turns out to actually work out pretty well.
• We Have Reserves: Double Subverted by an anarchist-exclusive branch of the military tree. On the face of it, the route gives a signficant 4% boost to conscription, but the anarchists can only ever have the "Volunteer Only" or "Disarmed Nation" conscription law, so the bonus puts them barely ahead of "Extensive Conscription". However, elsewhere, the anarchists can pick up as much as a 45% boost to recruitable population factor from ministers and ideas, which is multiplier on their overall population pool and their route encourages taking the Mass Assualt doctrine tree, which can give another 5% recruitable population. With Mass Assault, the route bonuses, and the other recruitable population factor bonuses, they can have 15.225% of their population as available ponypower, which is a level of conscription that normally requires significant industrial penalties.

Cricket Chafer

Role: General, Chief of Army, Head of State

Party: Ponies' Organization of the Nation

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Cricket "Pig" Chafer is a veteran of the communist PON party and has been its formal leader for many years. He has spent much of his life in Stalliongrad and participated in the Winter Revolution of 995/996. The rest he spent on his humble farm near Saltlickingham, secluded in the jungle which he has become familiar with. Working as a farmer, he fell in love with maize and now always advocates for its cultivation. He is a firm believer in the ideals of Steel Stallion and Caramel Marks, and distrusts the more radical and unorthodox anarcho-syndicalists. However, he also thinks communism can only be achieved with patience and compromise.

---

• Chummy Commies: Cricket Chafer desires to create a centralized communist state with a moderate level of democracy, with possibilities of opening up the democracy to non-socialist parties to appease some conservative parts of the country. His tree also does more overall to combat racism than the other three, though it's still imperfect, especially towards the native jungle ponies.
• Illegal Religion: If the PON takes power, they outlaw all religion.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Elements of Cricket Chafer are based on Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. This includes his portrait, which is based on a famous picture of Khrushchev holding an ear of corn, a crop Chafer shares Khrushchev's affinity for.
• Pig Man: A variation; a few events remark that Chafer kinda looks like a pig, thus making him a... pig pony?
• Please Select New City Name: As part of the "Cultural Revolution" focus, Chafer and the PON will rename the cities of Baltimare, Stableside, Tenochtitlan, and Mareida to Baltigrad, Konyushevo, Caramelgrad, and Kobylaida, respecitvely.

Lavender Berry

Role: Political Advisor, Head of State (Coup)

Party: Internal Enforcers of Security

Ideology: Revolutionary Dictatorship^note Communism

In-Game Biography (Political Advisor) ^{Click to Show}Lavender Berry is a former police officer, who has secretly been a member of the stallionist IES party for years. When the uprising took place and lunarists were driven out, he revealed his membership and betrayed his fellow officers, ensuring that the Baltimare police force was swiftly neutered. Afterwards he led a controversial repression of monarchists, republicans and lunarists, as well as innocent thestrals who were suspected of being sympathisers of Nightmare Moon. It is not known how many died, but eventually the Congress intervened and put a stop to his short-lived reign of terror. Of course, he is still happy to offer his services if we ever need them.

In-Game Biography (Head of State) ^{Click to Show}Lavender Berry is a former police officer, who has secretly been a member of the stallionist IES party for years. When the uprising took place and lunarists were driven out, he revealed his membership and betrayed his fellow officers, ensuring that the Baltimare police force was swiftly neutered. Afterwards he led a controversial repression of monarchists, republicans and lunarists, as well as innocent thestrals who were suspected of being sympathisers of Nightmare Moon. It is not known how many died, but eventually the Congress intervened and put a stop to his short-lived reign of terror. Now he has secured control of the government, and nothing stands in his way any longer.

---

• Asshole Victim: Should Berry lose the war with Ahuizotl, Ahuizotl will ritualistically murder Berry on a Tenochtitlan temple and carve out his heart. The jungle ponies all cheer at the sight of the gruesome death of the tyrant Berry.
• Be Careful What You Say: The description of the final focus in Berry's political tree, "Glory to the South-East", proclaims the South-East State to be the most stable, the most prosperous, and the most powerful country that is invincible and indestructible. The description is phrased as if the focus will let the South-East State go to war with Equestria and Lunar Empire. Instead, the focus spawns the Children of Ahuizotl and plunges the South-East State into a civil war.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Berry began as a police officer who was secretly a member of the IES, and betrayed his fellow officers when the Baltimare uprising began. In the path where he takes power, he betrays Golden Delicious and Cricket Chafer, assassinating one and forcing the other to retire, seizing power in what is effectively a coup against his former comrades.
• Dirty Communists: Berry is a totalitarian socialist, and seizes power by assassinating Golden Delicious and forcing Cricket Chafer to retire, before making himself the "temporary" leader of the country, assuming emergency powers, and purging the country of dissenters. He has no interest in implementing actual pro-populace policies, and his political focuses consist exclusively of policies that entrench his own totalitarian rule over the country.
• Dirty Coward: If the Aztlan Free State wins the War in the South and sentences Berry to death, he falls on his knees and starts incoherently begging for mercy, making up excuses on the spot and trying to shift the blame on others, before his life ends.
• Fluffy the Terrible: The only thing remotely scary about the name "Lavender Berry" is that it sounds similar to "Lavrentiy Beria", but Lavender Berry is among the most evil beings in the mod, with a reign of terror that reduces the country's population by a sixth and shuts down any personal freedoms and inspires a the in-universe equivalent of Nineteen Eighty-Four. This stands in contrast to how many other evil characters have suitably intimidating names like "Corpus Maledictus" or "Sinister Serov".
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Berry is a bespectacled tyrant who can create one of the most repressive regimes on Equus and engage in outright genocide.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Berry has a large scar across his left eye, and he is one of the most tyrannical rulers in the game.
• Kill It with Fire: Berry deals with the resistance hiding in the jungles with fire bombs and flamethrowers, causing countless civilian casualties in the process.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Elements of Lavender Berry are based on Soviet secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria.
• The Purge: Lavender Berry kills over a million thestrals, natives, assorted dissidents, other "undesirables", and ponies who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time in the span of a single year.^note Both of his "burn the jungles" focuses cuts 12500 ponypower in every owned state, which straight-up depopulates some of the smallest provinces. Given that the population of the South-East is just shy of seven million, Berry kills somewhere around 1 in 6 ponies in his Pol Pot-rivaling campaigns.
• Pyromaniac: Implied, with the oddly eager focus names for burning the resistance in the jungles ("Burn The Jungles", "I Said Burn Them!").
• Red and Black Totalitarianism: Berry's Arstotzka-styled flag for his totalitarian South-East State is made up of red symbols placed on a black background.
• Secret Police: Lavender Berry proposes the creation of the Military Investigation Service (MIS), a secret service consisting of members from his party that would investigate suspected traitors and apprehend enemy spies. If Berry becomes the new leader of the SESR, he will empower the MIS and give them more power to root out dissenters.
• Shout-Out: The South-East State created by Berry references Arstotzka in Papers, Please, as they both are totalitarian socialist states, have similar flags, and their slogan "Glory to the South-East" is directly based on "Glory to Arstotzka" in Papers, Please. One of Berry's focus is even named "Papers, Please", which is about limiting immigration and implementing strict border controls.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: The South-Eastern Socialist Republic before Berry takes over is a democratic socialist country. After he takes over, Berry locks down the country and turns it into a totalitarian dystopia.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Berry's tyranny causes all different rebels to gather under Ahuizotl, giving Ahuizotl a chance to rise up and create his fundamentalist Aztlan Empire, which is in all aspects far worse than Berry's totalitarian South-East State.
• Video Game Cruelty Punishment: Going down Berry's political tree will spawn the Children of Ahuizotl in the middle of the South-East State and plunge the South-East State into a very difficult civil war.

Children of Ahuizotl (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Full Name: Children of Ahuizotl, Aztlan Empire (Ahuizotl Revolt victory)

Ruling Party: The Huey Tlatoani's Court - Loyalists

Ideology: Authoritarian Theocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Evil Versus Evil: Ahuizotl is a vicious leader who creates a horrific Aztlan Empire built on fundamentalist traditional worship, involving massive amounts of pony sacrifice (with innocent civilians) and ruthless executions of suspected heretics by fire. His first enemy is Lavender Berry, a totalitarian tyrant who created a dystopian police state himself.
• The Fundamentalist: Ahuizotl's Empire is built upon fundamentalist traditional jungle worship, and is extremely eager to commit pony sacrifices.
• Human Sacrifice: Ahuizotl has access to pony sacrifice decisions, granting bonuses in exchange for big cuts in regional ponypower. One of his first focuses, "Purify Baltimare", launches a massive pony sacrifice in Baltimare, killing 200,000 ponies to "purify" the city.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Subverted. This nation starts out as an uprising against Lavender Berry's tyrannical regime, but once they take power they retaliate by committing their own massacres and launching an invasion of Equestria.
• Proud Warrior Race: The faithful native jungle warriors form the bulk of Ahuizotl's army and support. They are extremely eager to fight and kill for Ahuizotl, and show no mercy to their enemies. This also means that they are extremely eager to commit pony sacrifices.
• Walking Spoiler: The Children of Ahuizotl are never teased anywhere else in the game. They spawn under a very specific, very rare set of circumstances, as a twist ending to Berry's South-East State political tree.

Ahuizotl

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: The Huey Tlatoani's Court - Loyalists

Ideology: Authoritarian Theocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Adaptational Villainy: Going from a children's cartoon show to a Darker and Edgier war game, Ahuizotl became much more violent and insane in the process.
• Eviler than Thou: Lavender Berry is an evil dictator who murders hundreds of thousands dissidents with fire bombs. Ahuizotl kills Berry and proclaims a fundamentalist Aztlan Empire built upon pony sacrifice on a massive scale, and desires to topple Equestria and Lunar Empire to make himself the only god.
• A God Am I: After creating his Aztlan Empire, Ahuizotl can eventually declare war on Equestria and the Lunar Empire to destroy what he sees as false gods. After conquering all of Equestria, Ahuizotl declares himself to be the one and only God of Sun and Moon.

Southern Equus

Buffalo Chiefdom

^{Flag of the Buffalo Chiefdom (Supremacy)}

Full Name: Buffalo Chiefdom, Buffalo Empire (The Elder), Buffalo State, Buffalo Commissariat (Changeling puppet state)

Ruling Party: Thunderhooves' Supporters

Ideology: Tribal Council^note Non-Aligned

---

Chief Thunderhooves

Role: Field Marshal, Political Advisor, Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Thunderhooves' Supporters

Ideology: Tribal Council^note Non-Aligned

---

Elder Greyhorn

Role: General, Theorist, Monarch^note Head of State (Election)

Party: Elder's Supporters

Ideology: Ultranationalism^note Supremacy

---

Chieftess Strongheart

Role: Political Advisor, Monarch^note Head of State (Election)

Party: Strongheart's Supporters

Ideology: Tribal Federation^note Harmony

---

Gorick

Role: General, Political Advisor, Head of State (Election)

Party: Buffalo National Party

Ideology: Syndicalism^note Communism

---

Gentle Giant

Role: Head of State (Election)

Party: Buffalo National Party

Ideology: Democratic Socialism^note Communism

---

Puerto Caballo

^{Flag of Puerto de la Noche}

Full Name: Puerto Caballo, Puerto de la Noche (Lunar puppet state), Puerto del Sol (Solar puppet state), Protectorate of Puerto Caballo (Changeling puppet state)

Ruling Party: Partido Armónico de los Caballos^note Harmonic Party of the Caballos

Ideology: Democratic Monarchism^note Harmony

---

• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Puerto Caballo, an island nation that is dependent on its gigantic northern neighbor, where most of the industry is owned by their overlords and communist sympathies are very strong, is based on pre-Castro Cuba (although its name is a classic pony-themed pun of Puerto Rico).

Ponsé Cocktail

Role: Head of State

Party: Partido Armónico de los Caballos^note Harmonic Party of the Caballos

Ideology: Democratic Monarchism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}The son of Puerto Caballo's second President, Flower Cocktail. Ponsé hopes to return Puerto Caballo to the promised land that his mother sort to create. A nation of peace and harmony where everypony was happy and need not worry about money, health or wellbeing.

---

Roca Roja

Party: Partido Socialista Popular^note Popular Socialist Party

Ideology: Marksism^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born in Manezanillo in 977, Roca Roja co-founded the Coummunist Party of Puerto Caballo along with his friend Sandía Pip. In 1003, Sandía was assassinated while in Abyssinia attempting to organise a communist uprising against the monarchy. Roca Roja became the chairman of the communist party and has since rebranded the party as the Popular Socalist Party in an attempt to win over more popular support those among the working class who disapprove of revolutionary action and still support the Princesses.

---

• Internal Reformist: He is a strong supporter for democratic transition to communism, which led to a falling out with Bagasse Coltstro.

Buckio Buckista

Role: Field Marshal

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}The Captain of the Puerto Caballo Royal Guard, he is a diehard Equestrian loyalist and dangerous player in Puerto Caballo's Politics. With the full support of the mainland's elite behind him, he continues to ensure Puerto Caballo remains a haven for Equestrian tourists and tax dodgers.

Born in the town of Fardo de Heno in 970. He grew up poor on a farm and at the age of 16 he joined the Royal Guard.

In the year 1,000, as a sergeant he lead a coup against the corrupt President Quesadilla during the chaos of Nightmare Moon's return. He was hailed as a hero by the ponies of Puerto Caballo and promoted to the rank of Captain of the Guard. Since then he has been a master manipulator and negotiator. Having secured the backing of the Canterlot, Las Pegasus and Manehattan elite, he continued to dominate local politics, removing any President that he didn't see eye-to-eye with.

---

• The Man Behind the Man: Despite being only Captain of the Puerto Caballo Royal Guard, Buckio Buckista has dominated local politics, removing any President that he didn't see eye-to-eye with.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Buckista, who has ruled Puerto Caballo from the shadows for 7 years after overthrowing the corrupt President Quesadilla, is quite obviously based on Fulgencio Batista, who, after overthrowing Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada in 1933, controlled Cuba through various puppet presidents before officially becoming President in 1940.

Bagasse Coltstro

---

• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: He is Fidel Castro who never managed to ignite the flames of revolution following an attempt to seize governmental barracks.

United Dragon Lands

Full Name: United Dragon Lands, Dragon Protectorate (Changeling protectorate)

Ruling Party: Torch Dynasty

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

---

Dragon Lord Ember

Role: Field Marshal, Head of State

Party: Torch Dynasty

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

---

Crystal Empire

^{Flag of the Crystal Ponies' Republic}

^{Flag of the Crystal Empire (Sombra)}

^{Flag of the Moon Crystal Governorate}

Full Name: Crystal Empire, Crystal Ponies' Republic (Communist), Crystal Protectorate (Changeling puppet state), Moon Crystal Governorate (Lunar puppet state), Crystal Province (Solar puppet state)

Ruling Party: Royal Family

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony

---

• Civil War: The return of King Sombra plunges the country into a civil war between the government and Sombra's supporters.
• Deflector Shields: If the Crystal City is nuked while the Crystal Heart is standing, it will create a powerful shield over the City, resulting in minimal casualties.
• Satellite Character: Most events that happen in the nation usually involves it being influenced by outside forces or King Sombra.

Princess Cadence

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Royal Family

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 14th of February 972, near Vanhoover

Biography: Princess Cadance's humble origins belie her future as one of the royal alicorns of Equestria. The pegasus foal, who would later become known as Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, was found in a forest close to Vanhoover by her earth pony adopted parents. Taken to a nearby village, it was a peaceful, calm life until one day, a jealous sorceress named Prismia stole the love of the villagers using a malevolent magical necklace. The young Cadance confronted Prismia and turned her own magic against her, causing her to change her horrible ways. Afterward, Princess Celestia recognised her power, adopted her as her niece and elevated Cadance as the alicorn Princess of Love.

Thereafter, Cadance became a foalsitter for Princess Celestia's newest personal student, Twilight Sparkle. She would meet and fall in love with Twilight's older brother, Shining Armour. Their wedding day was going to be perfect, but unfortunately, the scheming Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings used the opportunity to impersonate Cadance and seize control of Equestria by guile. Despite the presence of a large changeling host and their empowered Queen, Princess Cadance and Shining Armour used the power of their love to cast the changelings out of the country.

When the Crystal Empire reappeared, Celestia sent Cadance to rule over it, knowing her to be a descendant of Princess Amore, its last ruler before Sombra's reign. Cadance made her stand there, defeating the nascent shadow of King Sombra that lingered after his banishment by using a mythical artefact called the Crystal Heart. With their success, she and Shining Armour have safekept the land ever since, siring a foal named Flurry Heart along the way.

---

Sombra

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Sombra's Rule

Ideology: Tyrannical Magocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: Time Immemorial

Biography: Sombra's origins are as mysterious as the mere mention of his name is unsettling. What is known, however, comes from the testimony of crystal ponies who were willing enough to speak. He is one of the umbrum — shadow ponies rumoured to be buried under the frozen wastelands of the Crystal Empire, waiting to be released. Some say it was loneliness and dejection that turned him bitter and jaded, striking out against Princess Amore, while others say that it was his only friend and companion, Radiant Hope, who turned Sombra to darkness.

What followed is known to everypony: the tyrannical King Sombra used dark magic of the umbrum to enslave the crystal ponies, using many for his personal experiments. His reign of terror only came to an end once the Princesses of Equestria banished him beneath the ice, only for Sombra to curse his land to disappear along with him. After a thousand years, his shadowy form made an attempt to take over again, only to be thwarted by the combined efforts of Princess Cadance and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

It is uncertain whether the most recent reincarnation of King Sombra is the same pony from the myths, but one thing is sure: The King is back.

---

• Ambition Is Evil: King Sombra desires to reclaim the past territories of the Crystal Empire, and fully control all those under him, even if it means enslaving them.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Numerous focus descriptions (almost all of which are presented as quotes from Sombra himself) show that King Sombra is fully aware of his villainous infamy, and takes great pride in it.
• Pet the Dog: Instead of a political marriage, Sombra can choose to propose to his loyal servant Radiant Hope, partially as a reward for her loyalty and partially out of genuine affection for her.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: After returning from his banishment, King Sombra enslaves his population through mind control and makes plans for aggressive expansion to reclaim his glory.
• Unholy Matrimony: King Sombra can offer an alliance and eventual marriage with Queen Chrysalis or Nightmare Moon. Or he can just declare war on them because he wants to be the only king in the end.

Twilight Sparkle

Role: Regent^note Head of State (Equstria defeated Sombra, Sombra executed the Mi Amore family)

Party: Royal Family

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony

See her entry in the Equestria folder.

Flurry Heart

Role: Political Advisor, Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Royal Family

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony

---

Hivesmarschall Trimmel

Role: Head of State (Changeling puppet state)

Party: Changeling Administration of the Crystal Empire

Ideology: Stratocracy^note Supremacy

See his entry in the Changeling Lands folder.

Stalliongrad

^{Flag of the Stalliongradian Autonomy}

^{Flag of the Greater Equestrian Union}

^{Flag of the Severyana Protectorate}

Full Name: Severyanian Soviet Socialist Republic, Socialist Union of Equestria (Equestria conquered), Stalliongradian Autonomy (Dark Wing), Greater Equestrian Union (Dark Wing Supremacy path), Severyana Protectorate (Changeling puppet state)

Ruling Party: Severyanian Communist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

---

• Commie Land: Stalliongrad is a socialist state in a former Equestrian province, which had a revolution due to food shortages and broke away from Equestria. Stalliongrad is currently under Equestrian sanctions and is attempting to collectivize its economy, which is causing further food troubles.
• Egopolis: The cities of Stalliongrad, Petershoof and Caramel Marks are named after Steel Stallion (the leader of the Winter Revolution that established Stalliongrad as an independent socialist state), Tsar Peter (the mythical ruler of pre-Equestrian Severyana) and Caramel Marks (the author of Social Justice Party Manifesto, the book that would come to be the ideological basis for communism).
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Stalliongrad, the predominantly Russian-speaking home of the World Socialist Revolution, is unambiguously based on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Before the revolution (and especially in pre-Equestria times), old Severyana bore more than a passing resemblance to Tsarist Russia, as can be seen from the exiles currently living in Tobuck.
• Please Select New City Name: Princessyn, the capital city of Severyana, was renamed Stalliongrad after the Winter Revolution. If Stalliongrad is conquered by Equestria, the Lunar Empire or Novaya Severyana, they can rename the city to suppress its communist history. Available options are Solargrad, Colitsyn, or Trottersburg (for Equestria); Lunargrad or Princessyn (for the Lunar Empire); or Princessyn alone (for Novaya Severyana).

Altidiya Revoltsova

Role: Head of State

Party: Severyanian Communist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

---

• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: As noted below, Altidiya cannot hold onto power for long due to her health. As a result killing her political opponents only ends up placing Dark Wing in charge, whose personality to say the least is deeply unstable.
• The Purge: In the political path where Altidiya prevails, Altidiya seizes the Supreme Soviet building by force and forces Vasiliy's faction into exile.
• Sore Loser: Altidiya is perhaps too eager to hold onto power, as she refuses to step down from her General Secretary position if Vasiliy prevails. If she prevails, she is willing to seize the Supreme Soviet building militarily to make sure that she stays in power.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Altidiya is not well, and despite her attempts to hold onto power she is soon forced to retire from her position for the sake of her health.

Vasiliy Wheatin

Role: Head of State

Party: Severyanian Communist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

---

• Chummy Commies: Vasiliy is a strong believer in a non-despotic form of communism and the peaceful spread of communism. He does not like the fact that other party members are ignoring the ideals of communism to stay in power.
• Enemy Mine: Vasiliy is a more moderate candidate for the General Secretary, and can come to the aid of Equestria during the Changeling War due to their aligned pony interests.
• The Purge: A rare positive example; in one of the political paths, when Altidiya refuses to step down from her position despite Vasiliy having earned the support of the party to become the new General Secretary, Vasiliy uses the rules set in the party codex to kick Altidiya and her faction from the party.

Sinister Serov

Role: Head of State

Party: Severyanian Communist Party

Ideology: Revolutionary Dictatorship^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: March 15, 971 ALB, Konzan

Biography: Hailling from the city of Konzan, the life of Sinister Serov (or Sinnie to friends) has been one constant of restructuring and inventing. Born into a family of workers, and before that, peasants, Serov, despite being an earth pony, would take an active interest in magic and in the technological uses of it. First in his family to attain technical education as a machinist, a chance meeting between him and a friend would change the trajectory of his life.

Recruited into the NELP in the summer of 995 by his friends, he would join the underground cell as their weaponsmith, a talent appreciated by his comrades, not so much by their enemies and would advance in the grades, managing the militias in Konzan during the revolution. Following the Revolution, he would rise through the ranks within the party, going from rank-and-file bureaucrat to member of the Supreme Soviet by 1001 as part of his promotion to a member of the People's Commissariat of Economic Development. A promotion to the Central Committee in 1003 would soon follow, striking up a friendship with Vasily on the way to the current day.

---

• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Should he be chosen for General Secretary, Stalliongrad's color on the map will turn to a darker hue of red.
• Egopolis: Sinister can rename Koznan to Sinistergrad.
• Ironic Name: "Sinister" means "left", but his policies largely abandon Stalliongrad's left-wing ideals and drag it significantly towards the economic right by instating limited capitalist markets.
• Warhawk: Sinister desires to actively spread the revolution into Stalliongrad's neighbors. He will not collaborate with Equestria and his tree gives easy war goals on Stalliongrad's neighbors.

Dark Wing

Role: Head of State

Party: Severyanian Communist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism, Harmonic Socialism^note Harmony (as a puppet of Equestria), National Communism^note Supremacy (Greater Equestrian Union route)

---

• Commie Nazis: In the Greater Equestrian Union route, Dark Wing declares the creation of a new "National Communism" ideology that is effectively fascism with a thin layer of red paint. Its icon incorporates both a horseshoe and a fasces, and it is classified as a subideology of Supremacy instead of Communism.
• Conscription: Dark Wing conscripts a massive portion of the Greater Equestrian Union population to fuel his conquests.
• The Coup: Should Dark Wing decide to have Vasiliy and Serov assassinated, this will backfire, and Nestor Lunin will try to launch a coup.
• Cult of Personality: Dark Wing as Supreme Leader of Greater Equestrian Union creates a cult of personality so extremely powerful, the focus for it calls it a fandom for Dark Wing. Dark Wing even directs, produces and writes his own TV show called "The Dark Wing Show", starring himself.
• Dirty Communists:
  • Dark Wing can resort to some dirty tactics to secure the position of General Secretary, such as a false flag arson attack on the Supreme Soviet building and assassinating other major party members that might threaten his position. His loyalty to the communist ideology is also questionable, being totally willing to bow down to Equestria.
  • And in his Greater Equestrian Union route, he becomes a totalitarian dictator that centralizes all power to himself, and declares a radical "National Communism" ideology (which is categorized as Supremacist) and begins to actively conquer other nations.
• I Surrender, Suckers: He turns Stalliongrad into an Equestrian puppet, restoring Celestia's authority over the region and ending the revolution. In the Greater Equestrian Union route, he then secedes and declares war on Equestria when the time is right.
• It's All About Me: In the Greater Equestrian Union route, Dark Wing becomes an immensely powerful dictator and declares the state to be an extension of himself. He refers to the state as "his body" and uses other biological metaphors to refer to his subjects.
• Lethal Joke Character: In the majority of games where Dark Wing is elected General Secretary of Stalliongrad, all he will do is turning the country into an Equestrian protectorate which is later annexed. In the secret route, on the other hand...
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Named after the Trope Namer. This trope is invoked and quoted word-for-word in the route where he declares war against Equestria.
• Number Two: Dark Wing is Altidiya's number two. In the path where Altidiya holds onto power, Dark Wing automatically succeeds Altidiya after she retires due to illness. In the election path where Altidiya's faction was not purged (Compromise path), Dark Wing's campaign platform is built around him being a true successor to Altidiya's ideals.
• The Purge: Dark Wing can decide to use his agents to assassinate Vasiliy Wheatin and Sinister Serov so nobody can ever challenge him.
• The Quisling: Turns Stalliongrad into an Equestrian puppet if elected, abandoning communism for harmony and ending the revolution. Subverted in the secret route.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: While Dark Wing's tenure as General Secretary initially follows the path of Equestrian collaboration, when the Greater Equestrian Union route begins and Dark Wing backstabs Equestria, he will dissolve the Politburo and the Supreme Soviet, and declare himself the Supreme Leader of the Greater Equestrian Union. He becomes an immensely powerful dictator and prepares for an all-out war to conquer Equestria.
• Voluntary Vassal: Dark Wing voluntarily approaches Equestria to reintegrate Stalliongrad into Equestria as an autonomous puppet state called the Stalliongrad Autonomy. If things stay this way for a long time, Equestria will get to straight up annex Stalliongrad back.
• Walking Spoiler: Dark Wing has a mildly spoilery path where he cooperates with Equestria and eventually turns Stalliongrad into an Equestrian puppet. However, he also has a totally secret path that turns the situation upside-down, and is not even remotely hinted in the focus tree.

Our Town

^{Flag of the New Hope Commune}

^{Flag of Our Town (Burlap)}

^{Flag of Our Stalliongrad}

^{Flag of the Republic of Labor}

^{Flag of Our Stalliongrad (Burlap)}

^{Flag of Our Equestria}

^{Flag of the Grand Republic of Labor}

^{Flag of the Worldwide Equalist Republic}

^{Flag of the Severyanan Black Site}

Full Name: Our Town, Our Stalliongrad (Stalliongrad conquered), Our Equestria (Equestria conquered), Severyanan Black Site (Changeling puppet state)

Ruling Party: New Equalist Party

Ideology: Equalism^note Communism

---

• Black Site: If the Changelings conquer Our Town, they'll turn it into the Severyanan Black Site, which is described as an intelligence agency with a state.
• Land of One City: Our Town is a commune in the middle of nowhere, independent from neighbouring states.
• Small Role, Big Impact: "Big impact" may be something of a stretch, but Our Town is utterly insignificant on its own and much like Tannu Tuva in the unmodified game, exists mostly to be annexed by its much larger communist neighbor. However, their society has spawned multiple Equalist parties in New Mareland and even among some of the griffons in Blackhollow, which can do far more than Our Town ever could if they come to power.

Double Diamond

Role: Head of State

Party: New Equalist Party

Ideology: Equalism^note Communism

---

Spymaster Trochanter

Role: Spymaster^note Head of State (Changeling puppet state)

Ideology: Surveillance State^note Supremacy

---

Kingdom of Olenia

^{Flag of the Kingdom of Olenia (Harmonic)}

^{Flag of the Deer's Republic}

^{Flag of the Olenian-Changeling Commonwealth}

^{Flag of the Olenian Protectorate}

Full Name: Kingdom of Olenia, Deer's Republic (Communist), Olenian Rike (Supremacy), Olenian-Changeling Commonwealth (Thorax-Velvet union), Olenian Protectorate (Changeling puppet state), Olenian Governorate (Lunar puppet state)

Ruling Party: House Helzek

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• Civil War: Going down the communist or the harmonist path will most likely trigger a civil war against Johan's government. Equestria and the Changeling Lands (if led by Thorax) can also sponsor a harmonist coup in Olenia, triggering a civil war themselves.
• David Versus Goliath: The Changelings will always invade Olenia, sooner or later. They are superior to Olenia in all respects, and standing up to them as Olenia is a task of making a good defense plan early and micromanaging it well.
• Sacrificial Lion: Despite being considered a major nation, Olenia is not very strong. The Changeling invasion of Olenia (which usually results in a Curb-Stomp Battle) will serve as the prelude to their invasion of Equestria, demonstrating that the Changelings are dead serious about conquest.

Johan Jelzek

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: House Helzek

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

King Johan, the illegitimate son of the King Aldar II seized power after his father's sudden death.

---

• Bastard Bastard: Johan is both the illegitimate son of King Aldar II, who usurped power from his half-sister Velvet, and a tyrant who brutally suppresses any dissent to his rule.
• Corrupt Politician: After getting into power through backdoor deals with the Olenian oligarchy, corruption had run rampant under the rule of Johan as bribery becomes the new norm in Olenian politics.
• Meaningful Name: "Djävulen" is Swedish for "The Devil".
• The Usurper: Johan, the illegitimate son of King Aldar II, usurped the throne from the rightful ruler Velvet after Aldar II died under mysterious circumstances.
• Voluntary Vassal: Johan is the only leader of Olenia allowed to take the "Approach Chrysalis" diplomatic focus, which lets Olenia voluntarily submit to the Changelings in exchange for peace and maintaining most of their independence.

Velvet

Role: Monarch^note Head of State (Civil War victory)

Party: Velvet's Supporters

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

Queen Velvet, the only child of King Aldar II, is respected and beloved by the deer of Olenia.

---

• Abdicate the Throne: If King Johan is overthrown by communists, Velvet renounces her claim to the defunct throne and returns to Hjortland to work as a nurse.
• Expy Coexistence: Velvet from Them's Fightin' Herds was meant to be an Expy of Rarity; both of them now exist in the same world, although this Velvet's vanity and bad attitude are much toned down.
• Interspecies Romance: If both Thorax and Velvet take over the Changeling Lands and Olenia, they can establish a personal union between the Changeling Lands and Olenia, eventually forming a more permanent union.
• Rightful King Returns: Velvet, the legitimate daughter and heir of King Aldar II currently living in exile in Equestria, can be restored to the throne of Olenia if her supporters defeat Johan's in the civil war.
• Shout-Out: Velvet is clearly inspired by the character of the same name from Them's Fightin' Herds.

Kullervo Sirola

Role: Head of State

Party: Deer's Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

---

• Composite Character: Kullervo Sirola's name is a combination of Kullervo Manner and Yrjö Sirola, two major Finnish communists.

Allsherjargoði Jurva

Role: Head of State

Party: Aärimviiki Peurkonto

Ideology: Authoritarian Theocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Human Sacrifice: The Allsherjargoði's followers sacrifice the blood of prisoners to Ukko, the king of the gods and god of warfare, in exchange for his blessing.

Vidkun Hjortsling

Role: Head of State (Puppet state)

Party: Collaborationist Administration

Ideology: Ultranationalism^note Supremacy

---

• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Vidkun Hjortsling, the collaborator who leads Olenia on behalf of the Changelings after they conquer his country, is modeled on infamous Norwegian collaborator Vidkun Quisling.
• The Quisling: Literally named after the Trope Namer.

Northern Equus

Changeling Lands

^{Flag of the Free Changeling Hives}

^{Flag of the Changeling Occupation Authority}

^{Flag of Vraks/Greater Vraks}

Full Name: Changeling Lands, Greater Changelingia (Equestria conquered), Queendom of the Changeling Lands (Equestria conquered), Free Changelings Hives (Thorax), Changeling Lands Military Administration (Lunar puppet state)

Ruling Party: Queen's Leadership

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

An aggressive race of pony-like insectoids that feed on love, the once-divided Changelings were united by 988 under the ambitious Queen Chrysalis of Vesalipolis, who launched an ill-fated plot to conquer Equestria in 1002. After the humiliating defeat, Queen Chrysalis crafted a new plan to take revenge on Equestria: total war. Through rapid industrialization and militarization, the Changelings have created a war machine hitherto unseen on the continent, and threatens the continent with its greatest crisis in all of its history.

---

• Balkanize Me:
  • If the Changeling Lands are invaded and defeated by the Kingdom of Winter, its territory will be divided into two pieces. Ditrysium, Vesalipolis and Lyctida are unified under the Triune Kingdom, and the rest of the territory (that is not annexed by the Polar Bears) is administered as part of Greater Vraks.
  • If Equestria defeats the Changeling Lands in the Great War, it will establish a military mandate in the borderlands and turn each hive into an independent dominion of itself so the changelings could never again be a unified threat to Equestria.
• Big Bad: The Changeling Lands are the primary force of aggression on Equus, and generate significant world tension through their invasion of Equestria.
• Civil War: An early focus allows the Harmony supporters led by Thorax to start a civil war inside the Changeling Hives.
• The Empire: The Changeling Lands is a belligerent, expansionist dictatorship that wages a massive war of conquest to take over Equus.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: The focus icon for Vesalipolis (the Changelings' capital) prominently features the North Korean Ryugyong Hotel. The tower is Queen Chrysalis' personal residence and the center of the Changelings' government. Essentially a counterpart to the Nazi Volkshalle, it is constructed via a series of decisions, granting bonuses upon its completion.
• Monumental Damage: During Pax Chrysalia, the Changelings strip Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns of all of its valuables (including all of its decors) and demolish it with flamethrowers.
• Multiple Endings: At the end of the Pax Chrysalia storyline, you need to prevent the assassination attempt on Queen Chrysalis while at the same time choose the moral choices over the ones that help you "win". After that, you unlock a hidden focus tree about a week after. Even the hidden focus choices will play into which ending you get.
  • Everfree defeated and Poison Joke: After picking the Poison Joke flowers and mixing with the Heart's Desire to create artificial cutie mark potions, subjects who started to use them got the talents they sought after beyond their wildest dreams...only to die shortly afterwards in freak accidents. The project's 100% fatality rate caused its funding to be moved to other projects, practically leaving it dead. Finicus who was Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life after becoming CEO resorts to asking Marsilio for a cutie mark in painting. If you choose to give, the former will die shortly afterwards from drinking coffee that was accidently mixed with toxic paint flecks. Alcippe, who is distraught at the loss of her friend while hitting a dead-end at making life better for the Equestrian heartland, requests a reassignment to Manehatten, hoping for better luck with Lilac and leaving behind a saddened Jachs. If you choose not to give, Finicus decides to just accept his lot in life and not toy with destiny, in which the story ends.
  • Everfree defeated and Seeds of Truth: The search of the seeds yields no results due to the bombing destroying their growing sites. Poison Joke was chosen as the alternative instead. After that, the events play out like above.
  • Everfree won and Poison Joke: The search of Poison Joke takes a tragic turn in where Marsilio loses his life to a partisan ambush. This causes the project to be cancelled while both Alcippe and Finicus request reassignments out of grief.
  • Everfree won and Seeds of Truth: The search of the seeds yields no results due to the bombing destroying their growing sites like the above. Since the Everfree wasn't tamed, the changelings also run into Zecora leading the partisans in a devastating ambush that left only Alcippe, Marsilio and Green Hoof alive. They manage to convince Zecora that they come in peace while seeking a way for both races to co-exist peacefully while changing their way of life. This convinces her to give a bag containing the seeds they are after. After making four potions from them and saving the rest of the seeds for possible future growth, it is only used on the changeling quartet in where they see horrifying visions of what they might have been like if they never became friends. This gives them a new direction to take in the next step of making the occupation better for everyone. Finicus starts employing pony workers with no restrictions. Marsilio relocates his head office to Canterlot to escape the eyes of the cruel higher-ups while making artificial love that wouldn't need any draining of any kind. Alcippe teaches the newest officers being assigned to Canterlot, advocating kindness over oppression. Jachs focuses on building ties between pony and changeling while restoring the city. Soon after, he receives a package from Second Wind which is a surviving copy of the Friendship Journal in where he stores in a locked drawer for future reading, ensuring that the magic of friendship and the legacy of harmony still lives on.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: Downplayed. While they do put on the reich, believe in Changeling supremacy over Ponies, and wage a massive war of conquest, the Changelings are quite pragmatic in their management of Changeling-Pony relations after conquering Equestria, and generally never do not share the fanatical genocidal racism demonstrated by the real Nazi Party, or even the Reformisten on Griffonia.
• Putting on the Reich: Unlike the show, the Changelings in the industrialized setting of Equestria at War have clear Nazi German influences. The Changelings here speak German, wear German uniforms, and use German armament. In the lore, it is a consequence of the Changelings taking a lot of pointers from the Griffonian Empire, which is a stand-in of the Holy Roman Empire.
• Smash the Symbol: When they try to demolish to the Castle of Friendship to show that friendship is dead, it becomes a hilarious farce in where they tried more and more extreme measures to damage it to practically no avail, to the extent that even Queen Chrysalis decided to give up before the military is reduced to a laughing stock. In order, they tried standard demolition, standard demolition but with many more charges, a blast from their version of the Schwerer Gustav, a full-scale bombing run that destroyed half of Ponyville before finally resorting to charging Queen Chrysalis with love harvested from thousands of subjects/prisoners and have her personally demolish the place. When all of that failed to even remotely damage the castle, she ordered for the place to be sealed in concrete so that it looks like a standard Changeling building instead, stating "Out of sight, out of mind". Even that failed when the concrete fell apart overnight in a few months, so Jachs decided to just have a giant blanket draped over the place while not reporting the failure to Queen Chrysalis, who is sick of her temper tantrums hindering his efforts to restore order.
• Secret Police: The Vesalipolis Office of Public Safety (VOPS) is the official secret police agency of the Changeling Lands.
• Villain Team-Up: When the sirens turn their attention to Equestria after taking over Hippogriffia, they can approach the Changelings, since they both desire the fall of Equestria and Harmony. However, this alliance is one full of distrust, with both sides competing with each other over the spoils of Equestria.
• Won the War, Lost the Peace: Should they win the Great War, the management of the conquered lands of Equestria proves at least as difficult as defeating the Equestrian army in the field, with widespread resistance, the Everfree Forest itself resisting, and numerous other issues throwing the Changeling occupation into chaos, not helped by the fact that the Changelings didn't really plan much about what they'd do if they won beyond feast on love harvested from ponies.

Queen Chrysalis

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Queen's Leadership

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Ruler and despot of the Changeling Hives, Queen Chrysalis was the first of her race to unite them under one banner. From her hatching in 930, she has proven to be an exceptional individual. Being the only child of the dead Queen of Vesalipolis, she was raised with extreme care and given the best possible education, which made her spoiled and arrogant, but also intelligent, determined and firm. She was crowned in 945 and fended off an attack from Vraks with her army. Soon after, the Vesalipolis-Ditrysium axis was formed, and it would be the embryo for united Changeling Lands.

Under her leadership, other hive queens either joined her voluntarily or were forced into submission. She became the sole absolute ruler of her species in 988, but her ambitions only continued to grow. She plotted to coup and invade Equestria, and executed her plans in 1002. Chrysalis herself replaced Princess Cadence and had fooled nearly everyone, and had even bested Princess Celestia. It was by mere fluke that her victory was snatched away from her grasp and her people banished to the frozen North. Clearly infiltration alone is not enough to reclaim what is rightfully hers, and Chrysalis recognizes the need for a powerful and modern military. Any opposition and protest to her despotic reign is swiftly crushed as she prepares to redeem her honour, or die trying.

The feared and powerful Queen of the Changelings, who seeks to conquer Equestria so that they can drain the ponies' love. Previously failing to accomplish her goal by means of impersonating Princess Cadance back in 1002, she has crafted a new plan that will guarantee her triumph over Equestria: total war.

---

• Ax-Crazy: Even moreso than in the show. Chrysalis becomes less psychologically stable regardless of the outcome of the war, regularly massacring ponies and even her own changelings. Even if the Changelings conquer Equestria, it is regularly shown that many Changeling leaders question her sanity and wish to remove her from power.
• Bad Boss: While her lack of empathy and care for her own changelings is often portrayed in the show, it is taken even further here. One instance has Chrysalis gas the Changeling city in Vraks in desperation, killing tens of thousands of her own subjects.
• Comically Missing the Point: In the Pax Chrysalia storyline, after watching a war propaganda film made by her military high command who were hoping that they could get more competent officers and resources to help out with stabilising the occupation, she failed to get the hint and instead promotes every general they have to field marshal. This proceeds to utter wreck the chain of command, as every former general no longer answers to their immediate superiors and turned every meeting they have into a shouting match of opposing ideas.
• Evil Is Petty: Chrysalis, after conquering Equestria, tries to humiliate the ponies as much as possible by trying to destroy all of their landmarks, force their elites to bow down to her, and have POW processions during her military parades.
• Revenge: Queen Chrysalis is itching to take revenge for her first defeat, and show the world the might of the Changelings.
• Sore Loser: After her first attempted takeover of Canterlot by replacing Princess Cadance ended in failure (the events from the show), Queen Chrysalis only became more hateful, and refocused her efforts onto uniting the Changeling hives and building an unstoppable army to conquer Equestria.

Thorax

Role: Head of State (Thoraxian Revolt)

Party: Thoraxian Party

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}An outcast among the Hives, Thorax is one of the first supporters of Harmony among the changelings. His belief that love can be obtained with friendship and peaceful trading with their neighbours has been slowly catching on among the despondent drones, who feel their lives are being thrown away in pursuit of militaristic expansion. Nonetheless, Thorax's ideas are a minority in the Hives and he is mostly despised by the Hive Queens, who see his vision as detrimental to the changelings as whole. That has changed after the Changelings' defeat in the Great War, and now Thorax leads the reformed nation into a bright future, hoping to show the world that they're not all monsters.

---

• Big Good: Normally, Thorax will seek to join Equestria's alliance, but if Equestria no longer exists, he can instead take the initiative to form an alliance to protect harmony in northern Equus, reigning over the most powerful harmonist country left on Equus (especially if the Olenian-Changeling Commonwealth has been established, though that potentially allows Velvet to take the lead).
• The Good King: Thorax's goal is to turn the Changeling Lands into a harmonic monarchy, where the monarchs and royals are beholden to common law and accountable to the people.
• Interspecies Romance: Thorax can marry Velvet of Olenia if she becomes queen or wage war on Olenia to instate her as queen if she hasn't become queen, and establish a personal union between the Changeling Lands and Olenia, eventually forming a more permanent union similar to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and getting cores on Olenia.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Thorax is a Harmony-supporting Changeling, and is the leader of the Harmony supporters in the Changeling Lands.
• Nintendo Hard: Thorax's revolt is widely considered to be one of the most difficult civil wars in the entire game, as Thorax starts with a massive industrial disadvantage, and the bad terrain makes it extremely difficult to go on the offensive.
• Offered the Crown: Even if he doesn't or fails to rebel against Chrysalis, Thorax can still be installed King of Vesalipolis if a Harmonic country successfully defeats Chrysalis (which irritates the other hives' queens to some degree, since a mere drone is now their equal).
• The Usurper: Thorax, a changeling with harmonic sympathies, seeks to overthrow Queen Chrysalis and replace her as King of the Changeling Lands.

Hivesmarschall Trimmel

Role: Field Marshal, Theorist, Head of State (Crystal Empire, Changeling puppet state)

Party: Changeling Administration of the Crystal Empire (Crystal Empire)

Ideology: Stratocracy^note Supremacy (Crystal Empire)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Born: 17 May, 973 in Gardis

Rank: Hivesmarschall

Biography: Born to a low level administrator of the Hive of Gardis, Trimmel Eugen Heydrich Zu Gardis has always been destined for service to the state. Second born to his parents, he was generally viewed as the spare and allowed to choose his education as he saw fit, whereas his older sister was groomed for inheriting their dynastic position. Thus with such freedom in choice Trimmel chose the one thing he excelled at: War. At age 18 Trimmel joined the local 124th Infantry Regiment as an ensign, in 992 he was moved to begin studying at the Officer Cadet School in Vesalipolis. He graduated in November 993 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in January the following year where he was posted to various locations in Equestria after being assigned to 46th Infiltrator Brigade. Serving with distinction in the Winter Revolution of Stalliongrad along with the rest of the Changelings supporting the nascent communist revolt, his first combat experience was on 22 December 995 as a platoon commander near Severokholm, when – catching the Equestrian Royal Guard garrison unprepared – Hauptmann Trimmel and three of his infiltrators opened fire on them without ordering the rest of his platoon forward. For his actions throughout the Winter Revolution, Trimmel was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class alongside the medals his Severyana persona had acquired such as the Medal "For the Defence of Petershoof" and Medal "For Battle Merit". Shortly before the end of the conflict he falsified his persona's and infiltrator platoon's death in service to Stalliongrad and returned to the Changeling Lands to be promoted to Oberst and quickly being reassigned back to Equestria to take take over another disguise as an agent in the Equestrian General Staff for the invasion of Equestria in 1002. Whilst his actions severely hampered Equestria's capabilities to respond to Chrysalis' lighting assault on the capital, failure was nonetheless tasted that day. Upon the demotion of Hivemarshall Synovial, Trimmel received his position from Chrysalis as one Oberst who had 'not failed her miserably'. Since then he has reformed the military to adopt his and Chrysalis' image of fast and heavy hitting mobile military force capable of crushing all those who oppose the Changelings.

---

Generalmajor Jachs

Commander of the Changeling 96th Infantry Division, and the Governor of Canterlot following the Changelings' successful conquest of Equestria. Promoted due to his shining record of capturing Canterlot, Jachs is a disciplined commander with a strong sense of morals, a trait that will be challenged by the necessities of governing an imperialist occupation.

---

• Foil: Jachs' pragmatic position on ponies is contrasted by the hardline positions taken up by the Queen's Guard, who are fanatically dedicated to Queen Chrysalis, extremely callous and cruel against the ponies, and are borderline genocidal.
• Heel Realization: In the more idealistic ending to the Pax Chrysalia storyline, Jachs, during a conversation with Alcippe in the Denouement events, recognizes that Changelings like them, who tried to be reasonable and kind to the ponies, were still upholding an unfair status quo that they are benefitting from. But Jachs hopes that their actions can inspire future Changelings to eventually create a better future where Changelings and Ponies can coexist in harmony.
• Internal Reformist: Jachs believes that he can use his powers to build a better occupation regime for both the changelings and the ponies by preventing Chrysalis from indulging in her gratuitous cruelties and working closely with collaborators.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Jachs is willing to use a more lenient hand against the ponies as it means more of them will be willing to submit to Queen Chrysalis' rule.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Jachs is genuinely lenient towards the ponies, both because he thinks it's pragmatic, but also because he's just not into cruelty like Queen Chrysalis or the Queen's Guard.
• Talking Down the Suicidal: During the coronation of Queen Chrysalis, Second Wind will snap and attempt to kill Queen Chrysalis in a suicide bomber attack. Jachs finds out and attempts this trope on him. Should Jachs make the wrong choices in handling the Equestrian POWs in various prior focuses, Second Wind will not listen and go ahead with the attack, forcing Jachs to intercept and foil his assassination. If he made the right choices, Second Wind will stand down and the coronation will be a success. The event being a success is one of the actions needed to unlock the better endings to Pax Chrysalia.
• Villain Protagonist: While Queen Chrysalis is still the ruler of the Changelings, the Pax Chrysalia story events focuses on him and his fellow soldiers' efforts to bring stability to the occupied Equestrian heartland from Canterlot.

Generaloberstabsarzt Marsilio

The Surgeon-General of the Changeling Heer under Pax Chrysalia, assigned to the Canterlot Commissariat to oversee all all Love extraction operations in Changeling-occupied Equestria.

---

Oberstleutnant Alcippe

The loyal second-in-command to Generalmajor Jachs.

---

Finicus Vesali

Head of Main Hives Industries, a leading Changeling military industry firm. Under Pax Chrysalia, he joins the Canterlot Commissariat to represent Changeling business interests in the occupation government.

---

Kommandant Second Wind

A former medium-ranking officer of Celestia's Royal Guard, and the captain of the reorganized collaborationist Canterlot Guard under Pax Chrysalia.

---

• Les Collaborateurs: Second Wing had little luck in climbing the ranks of Celestia's Royal Guard as he wasn't from a noble family, and he detested the aristocratic unicorns. As such, he became a collaborator under Pax Chrysalia, as the change in leadership gave him an opportunity for upwards advancement.
• Regretful Traitor: Despite being a collaborationist, there are still some lingering doubts in Second Wind's hearts about the Changeling occupation of Equestria.

Gloriosa

The mysterious masked hostess of the Cornucopia Society.

---

• Master Race: Believes that unicorns are as such. It is revealed in the Denouement that working with the Changelings is just a means to an end to eventually place unicorns back at the top of the totem pole.

Nova Griffonia

^{Flag of the Republic of Nova Griffonia (Communist)}

^{Flag of Nova Griffonia (Supremacist)}

Full Name: Nova Griffonia, Republic of Nova Griffonia (Harmony/Communist), Nova Griffonia™ (Skeiron), Western Griffonian Empire (Northeastern Equus conquered), Nova Griffonian Administrative Zone (Lunar puppet state), Nova Griffonian Protectorate (Changeling puppet state)

Ruling Party: Nashanal Administratyon Kamiti^note National Administration Committee

Ideology: Republicanism^note Non-Aligned

Formerly the Griffonian Empire's Crown Colony, the empire's collapse 30 years ago abruptly ejected the 200-year-old colony into independence. Without the Empire's support, Nova Griffonia struggled to form a standing army, and its economy quickly collapsed. Worse, the colony, long a dumping ground for political dissidents, has become a hotbed of political radicalism, greatly destabilizing the country. Presently, the country is only held together by the sheer will of Governor Teafeather. If he were to die, then the country will surely descend into chaos.

---

• Tyrant Takes the Helm: There are several different tyrants that can take the helm of Nova Griffonia. First Marshal Erwin Highhill can take over in a coup and become a military dictator, then he can potentially get replaced by either Griffon supremacist Reyhard Ironclaw or ruthless industrialist Skeiron Goldfeather.

Governor Teafeather

Role: Head of State

Party: Nashanal Administratyon Kamiti^note National Administration Committee

Ideology: Republicanism^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Scion of minor Imperial nobility far from home, Governor Teafeather made his reputation as a capable, charismatic leader of the Griffonian Colony. But for all his talent, he could not prevent the economic collapse caused by the Empire's downfall, and he keeps struggling to keep the nation together ever since. Fortunately for him, the public opinion is firmly on his side, and the extremist elements are marginalised. He yearns for the day the colony can stand for itself again, leaving him free to retire and return to his family in Brantbeak. With his newly developed economic plan, that day is set to come very soon.

---

• Plot-Triggering Death: When Teafeather is assassinated, Nova Griffonia loses the last person holding the colony together and falls into chaos, opening up its political tree.

Erwin Highhill

Role: Field Marshal, Military High Command, Head of State (Highhill's coup)

Party: Junta fun Nashanal Ishueh, Keyserish Lige^note Imperial League (Western Griffonian Empire)

Ideology: Military Government^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Marshal Erwin Highhill has led a storied life before assuming complete control of the griffon colony. Once, he was a general in the Griffonian Empire's army, back in the day when it was still a unified, but quickly crumbling force. He quickly became infamous for routinely ignoring orders from the high command, always complaining that his strategic genius was being undermined. Erwin was too connected with the nobility to be forcibly relieved of his duty without a hassle. Instead, the high command offered Highhill the position of supreme military commander of the Griffonian Colony. Eager for glory, he accepted without pause.

Unfortunately, he quickly realised that his "promotion" was but a derogatory reassignment, from which he couldn't turn back, and furthermore, as the Empire collapsed, things turned all the more sour. Stuck in a foreign land, he could do little more but annoy Governor Teafeather with demands for increased military budget, while instilling a sense of personal loyalty in his troops.

Some say he had a claw in Teafeather's assassination. It matters not what anygriffon says now, for Marshal Highhill has finally achieved his dream - undisputed authority.

---

• Ambition Is Evil: Highhill is a very power-hungry griffon. His bio says that others suspected that he assassinated Governor Teafeather so he can take power in the aftermath. If his leadership continues unchallenged, he will eventually crown himself Emperor.
• Kicked Upstairs: Originally a general in the Griffonian Empire, Highhill routinely ignored orders from the high command due to his ego, endlessly complaining that he was being ignored. He was offered a "promotion" to supreme commander of the Nova Griffonian military, which he accepted eagerly, not realizing that Nova Griffonia is a craphole.
• Military Coup: Highhill attempts a coup on the Provisional Government following the assassination of Governor Teafeather. The coup can either succeed or fail.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: A stand-in for Erwin Rommel.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: As part of Highhill's "promotion", he was reassigned from the Griffonian Empire to Nova Griffonia, thus getting him out of the hair of the rest of the Empire's high command.
• Secret Police: Highhill establishes a secret police called the Owls to keep watch on his subjects.
• Shout-Out: One of the focuses in his side of the tree is "The Griffon on the High Hill".

Skeiron Goldfeather

Role: Political Advisor, Head of State

Party: Talon Gunworks Inc.

Ideology: Corporatocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Founder and CEO of the Talon Gunworks, Skeiron Goldfeather has always been notorious for his unhealthy obsession with wealth. It was his greed that led to his exile from the capitalist haven of Skyfall. While stories vary on what exactly was the reason, all can agree that he crossed a line, and the Iron Chancellor himself was involved in his swindling scheme. Taking what assets he could, he made his way to the crumbling colony, sensing a business opportunity in the wreckage - there were no major weapon manufacturers in the country, which ensued him a monopoly on firearm sales, as the other companies could not compete with his unscrupulous tactics.

War is profitable regardless of who is involved, and in the chaos after Teafeather's death, he made an even greater gain funding both sides in the civil war. With the strife coming to a close, he requested one final meeting with the victorious Marshall Highhill. It is anygriff's guess what occurred, but afterwards, Goldfeather found himself in charge of the war-torn nation. His rivals quietly left the country, their pockets full of Skeiron's blood money. He now leads the radically reorganised colony as one of his company's subdivisions - focused entirely on financial interest.

---

• Anarcho-Tyranny: The stereotypical evil anarcho-capitalist, Skeiron removes all state regulations, giving corporations the liberty to ruthlessly exploit Nova Griffonia.
• Arms Dealer: Skeiron runs Talon Gunworks Inc., which has a monopoly on firearm sales in Nova Griffonia.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Skeiron privatizes all governmental functions like healthcare, military, and education, and completely deregulates all corporate laws allowing the companies to run rampant and endlessly exploit the nation. He even allows unethical experimentation and privatized nuclear weapons just so he can profit as much as possible.
• Greed: Skeiron is motivated purely by greed. He was so greedy that he was exiled from Skyfall for crossing a line, a city already notorious for having lots of greedy merchants.
• One Nation Under Copyright: Skeiron's "party" is actually his company Talon Gunworks. After he comes to power, he allows the corporations of Nova Griffonia to completely take over the country and run it to the ground.
• Privately Owned Society: Skeiron reduces state control on society but replaces it with corporations. Skeiron privatizes Nova Griffonia's healthcare, education system, military, and even nuclear weapons.
• Private Military Contractors: Skeiron's tree allows the player to enact Private Military contract decisions, sending volunteer divisions to other countries in exchange for civilian factories.
• Tradesnark™: After Skeiron comes to power, Nova Griffonia gets renamed to Nova Griffonia™ ^note rendered in-game as Nova Griffonia(tm), showing the absolutely ridiculous level of privatization in Nova Griffonia.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: After coming to power, Goldfeather turns Nova Griffonia into a capitalist dystopia, where workers are functionally enslaved by large corporations and business ethics are completely thrown out of the window in the name of profit.

Reyhard Ironclaw

Role: Head of State (Coup)

Party: Fartey fun Interesn fun Grifon

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Reyhard Ironclaw, a colonial native, did not show interest in politics until he was given a series of books on the conquests of Grover the First. Being an avid reader, he was entranced by the books' historical content - the strength of griffons, a vast united country, a single undisputed ruler. It became clear to him that the colony's dilapidated state was the result of it lacking all these qualities. With that, he founded his reliable Falcons and has spent a great amount of time trying to convince the populace of his vision. Unfortunately, his ideas were in a minority as most griffons simply saw no need for such a drastic change of leadership, nor did they agree with his demeaning comments on ponykind.

Clearly, he benefited from Teafeather's demise. With the nation shattered in a brutal civil war, he opportunistically allied himself with Marshal Highhill's coup, then disposed of him once the marshal was past his usage. Ironclaw always regarded Highhill as an uninspired stooge, lacking his grand vision, one that is now set to become a reality in the reformed colony.

---

• Asshole Victim: Erwin Highhill kills a lot of good people in his rise to power. Reyhard Ironclaw is not one of them, and Highhill's contempt for Ironclaw's racist, supremacist intentions is made pretty clear.
• The Coup: Immediately following the civil war, Reyhard Ironclaw and his Falcon paramilitary can seize the Nova Griffonian capital and arrest Erwin Highhill, putting Ironclaw in charge of the whole colony.
• Master Race: Reyhard Ironclaw is a Griffon supremacist of the highest caliber, and looks down on all non-Griffon races, being totally willing to conquer and enslave them to serve Griffons.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: A stand-in for Reinhard Heydrich.
• Penal Colony: After establishing a widespread system of labor camps for political criminals, Ironclaw conquers Haukland to use the islands as death camps where the undesirables work themselves to death.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Ironclaw enslaves non-Griffon populations to force them to serve the Griffons of Nova Griffonia.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: While Erwin Highhill isn't exactly the most noble Griffon, his non-racist pragmatism almost makes him look like a Reasonable Authority Figure in contrast to Ironclaw. Ironclaw is a massive griffon supremacist that actively conquers and enslaves non-Griffons and forces his political opponents to work themselves to death in labor camps.

Griffon Frontier

^{Flag of the Virgilian Empire}

Full Name: Griffon Frontier, Virgilia (Virgil), Virgilian Empire (Virgil, conquered Nova Griffonia)

Ruling Party: Colonial Administration

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

A sparsely populated mountainous region to the West of Nova Griffonia's formal borders, its unimportance and isolation has allowed the region to gain a reputation for rugged frontier independence. During the empire's fall, numerous bandits, dissidents and (for some unknown reason) cannibals settled in the Frontier. This made the tough life there even tougher. In a worse state then its parent nation and in complete chaos, Governor Muck desperately pleads the higher-ups in Nova Griffonia for help. Whether they send aid or not remains to be seen.

---

• Cannibal Clan: A bunch of cannibal clans have somehow settled in the Griffon Frontier, which really messes up anyone's attempts to govern the Frontier.
• Luck-Based Mission: The Griffon Frontier's success as an independent country is entirely dependent on whether Nova Griffonia gives them aid when they beg for it. If Nova Griffonia sends aid, the Frontier will inevitably progress towards getting annexed by Nova Griffonia. It's only by not getting funding and instead having to work out their problems on their own that the Frontier can persist as an independent county and pursue their future on their own terms.
• Press X to Die: If the Griffon Frontier gets their funding from Nova Griffonia, the tiny "Griffonian Funding" side of the tree will open up, which will let Governor Muck clean up the frontier and eventually apply for statehood. Completing the final focus in this tree will result in Nova Griffonia annexing the Griffon Frontier, ending the game for the Frontier player. Therefore, the only way to actually do anything meaningful as the Griffon Frontier is if Nova Griffonia does not give them their money, opening up the much larger "Up a Creek Without a Paddle" side of the tree, which thankfully happens far more often.
• The Wild West: The Griffon Frontier is a mountainous region to the West of Nova Griffonia that Nova Griffonia claimed but struggled to rule. After the Empire began to decline, they shipped their dissidents and exiles to Nova Griffonia, who then fled to the Frontier. The Frontier by the time the game begins is a lawless place, with emboldened bandits, conspiring revolutionaries, a bunch of cannibals for some reason, and a powerless governor.

Muck

Role: Governor^note Head of State

Party: Kolonyal Administratsye^note Colonial Administration

Ideology: Oligarchy^note Non-Aligned

---

Virgil

Role: Chief of Army, Military High Command, Head of State

Party: Virgil's Raiders, Keyserish Lige^note Imperial League (Virgilian Empire)

Ideology: Kleptocracy^note Supremacy (Virgilia), Autocracy^note Supremacy (Virgilian Empire)

---

• Egopolis: If Virgil seizes power, he renames the Griffon Frontier to Virgilia. If he subsequently conquers Nova Griffonia, he proclaims the Virgilian Empire.
• Enemy Mine: Virgil wants to take on Nova Griffonia and rule all Griffonian territories on Equus, so he works with Heinrich Redtail, a communist revolutionary who also wants to defeat Nova Griffonia.
• King of Thieves: Virgil is the leader of one of the biggest bandit gangs in the Frontier, and has ambitions to take over all of Nova Griffonia for himself and crown himself Imperator.

Heinrich Redtail

Role: Chief of Army, Military High Command, Head of State (Red Guard overthrowns Virgil)

Party: Mayrevdik Griffonyan Sosyalist Fartey

Ideology: Marksism^note Communism

---

Kingdom of Yakyakistan

^{Flag of the Yakyakistan Federation}

^{Flag of the Yak Council Republic}

^{Flag of the Red Sun Yak Army}

Full Name: Kingdom of Yakyakistan, Red Sun Yak Army (Yngvar), Yakyakistan Protectorate (Changeling puppet state)

Ruling Party: Yaki Royalty

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

---

• Civil War: By game start, the yak species is divided between the Kingdom of Yakyakistan, a coalition government of socialists and harmonists, and Jaki-Clan, a reactionary coalition seeking to oppose Equestrian and Stalliongradian influence. They cannot reconcile and the only way for the country to be united is for one side to defeat the other in a civil war.
• Strange-Syntax Speaker: Their speech patterns incorporate Third-Person Person, Hulk Speak, and You No Take Candle.
  Bradford's treason tore nation in half! And Yürkid clan love him! Meanwhile Stalliongrad and Equestria both meddle with yak affairs rather than helping. Prince Rutherford need all help possible now! No choice but talk with Karsakag Ghenikhan communist madyaks. If not see eye to eye, we SMASH them!

Prince Rutherford

Role: Political Advisor, Military High Command, Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Yaki Royalty

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Beyond the Crystal Mountains, Prince Rutherford leads a proud nation of Yaks. Prince Rutherford is the disputed ruler of the traditionally isolationist Yaks and has only recently begun to enter the global scene. This entry resulted in a nearly disastrous diplomatic event, which almost brought the underdeveloped nation of Yakyakistan into a war with Equestria. Luckily Pinkie Pie - Equestria's own Element of Laughter was able to step in and prevent the situation from spiraling out of control. Since the incident, Prince Rutherford has become committed to bringing his kingdom out of its current dark ages, and into an age of prosperity. Rutherford is willing to do just about anything for his people, provided it does not come at the expense of the Yaks' pride.

---

• Abdicate the Throne: Thyra's path begins when she organises peaceful protests in the capital and convinces Prince Rutherford to abdicate, turning Yakyakistan into a republic.
• Sibling Rivalry: Prince Rutherford and his brother Bradford are rivals, the former seeking to modernise the yaks and the latter preferring to remain isolationist.

Thyra

Ideology: Marksism^note Communism

---

• Defector from Decadence: During her time in Stalliongrad, as Thyra believed that Steel Stallion's once-brilliant leadership disintegrated after his death, she was distraught and decided that the vanguard party could not be the basis of communism.

Yngvar

Role: Head of State (Election)

Party: All-Yak Invincible Smashers

Ideology: Revolutionary Dictatorship^note Communism

---

• Elite Army: Yngvar prefers quality over quantity and wants Yakyakistan to muster the absolute best troops available.
• Kangaroo Court: Yngvar's junta deals with assorted reactionaries by holding show trials for them.

Jaki-Clan

^{Flag of the Khanate of Yakyakistan}

Full Name: Jaki-Clan, Jakistan Protectorate (Changeling puppet state)

Ruling Party: White Council

Ideology: Tribal Chiefdom^note Non-Aligned

---

• Civil War: By game start, the yak species is divided between the Kingdom of Yakyakistan, a coalition government of socialists and harmonists, and Jaki-Clan, a reactionary coalition seeking to oppose Equestrian and Stalliongradian influence. They cannot reconcile and the only way for the country to be united is for one side to defeat the other in a civil war.
• Strange-Syntax Speaker: Their speech patterns incorporate Third-Person Person, Hulk Speak, and You No Take Candle.
  Brother Rutherford crazy! He opened borders after hundred moons of isolation, and let ponies trample all over yak traditions! Now some yaks even want to abolish clans and make communism like in Stalliongrad! We say no! Yak way best way, forever and ever! We SMASH Equestrian and Stalliongradian influence and protect Yakyakistan.

Prince Bradford

Role: Field Marshal, Military High Command, Head of State

Party: White Council

Ideology: Tribal Chiefdom^note Non-Aligned

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}To the East of the internationally recognized country of Yakyakistan, Prince Bradford holds claim over a clan of Yaks whom call themselves the 'Jaki-Clan.' A long-time rival of his brother, Prince Rutherford of Yakyakistan, Bradford simply wishes for his Yaks - or Jaks, depending on who you ask - to be left alone. Unfortunately for Bradford, with tensions rising with the Changelings to the West, the griffons to the East, and Prince Rutherford practically breathing down its neck, the Jaki-Clan finds itself in a precarious position.

---

• Sibling Rivalry: Prince Bradford and his brother Rutherford are rivals, the former wishing for the yaks to keep to themselves and the latter determined to modernise the country.

Polar Bear Communities

^{Flag of the Confederation of Polar Bears}

^{Flag of the Polar Bear-Penguin Confederation}

^{Flag of the Northern Confederation}

^{Flag of the Kingdom of Winter}

^{Flag of the Glorious City of Mathair Fearainn}

^{Flag of the Endless Wastes}

^{Flag of the Great Polar Bear Realm}

^{Flag of the Realm of the Frozen Sea}

^{Flag of the Princessdom of Polaria}

^{Flag of the Democratic Ursines' Communities of Polaria}

^{Flag of the Northern Protectorate}

^{Flag of Hyperbearia}

^{Flag of Greater Soryth}

^{Flag of the Primordial Changeling-Bear Queendom}

Full Name: Polar Bear Communities, Democratic Ursines' Communities of Polaria (Communist), Northern Protectorate (Changeling puppet state), Hyperbearia (Northern Protectorate independence)

Ruling Party: Clan Scyfling

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• Civil War: The Second Unification War erupts a short time after game start, as various clans rebel against Paw Wellington's rule. This is not an actual war in gameplay terms: the country remains nominally unified and the war is fought entirely through focuses and events.
• Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity: Large axes have traditionally been the weapon that any proper polar bear warrior would carry as their primary armament until the last few decades.
• Healing Hands: Polar Bear armies are accompanied by both medics and elder shamans, who wield the energies drawn from the northern winds to treat the wounds of warriors.

Paw Wellington

^{King Jorik I}

^{Iron Captain Jorik}

^{Lord Jorik of the Endless Wastes}

Role: Admiral, Chief of Navy, Head of State

Party: Clan Scyfling

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned (Despotic path), Republicanism^note Non-Aligned (Republican path), Autocracy^note Supremacy (Iron Captain path), Kleptocracy^note Supremacy (Lord of the Endless Wastes path)

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Paw Wellington has been many things in his life: wanderer, mercenary, unifier, and now despot. He fought in the Republican Revolution as a mercenary, where his warband distinguished themselves with excellent combat performance, if somewhat tainted by political unreliability and looting. When time came for his payment, his employers lacked the funds to pay him, so they gave him an ancient battleship, which sparked his long-running interest in the navy.

Paw led the Unification Wars from 1000 to 1002, where he exiled the clans of Rosensverd and Tordenstjerne and subjugated the rest. For the past five years, he has tried to modernize society, purchasing rifles from Nova Griffonia and attempting to form a truly united polar bear nation. By foreign standards, he is a firm but fair ruler, interested in the well-being of the polar bear race as a whole. But by polar bear standards, he has been a mad tyrant making absurd demands of the clans, who are rapidly getting sick of his inept pretentiousness and ridiculous ambitions. In his own mind, he feels he is ineffective and not powerful enough. Grover I, Grover II, and Kemerskai tolerated no defiance. Why should he?

With his five-year anniversary of rulership approaching, only time will tell how he fares in the changing situation on Equus.

---

• Arranged Marriage: As King of Winter, Jorik can arrange a marriage between himself and Eira of Clan Volsungr, using her image for her benefit while removing her as a threat to his rule.
• Cincinnatus: In his Despot with a Soft Paw path (only accessible after having peacefully subjugated all other clans), Paw reforms the Polar Bear Communities into a true republic by establishing a constitution, parliament and proper instutions of law. After a transitional Guided Democracy phase, he steps down and allows the Confederation's citizens to elect their President.
• Conspiracy Theorist: After Clan Scyfling is subjugated by Svartpels and Jorik becomes Torben's Number Two, he goes through the Svartpels archives and discovers that every Changeling push into the North for the last 3 centuries seemed to have coincide with attempts from griffons. Even the lands that such expeditions seemed to claim were of similar size. With griffon agents returning from Nova Griffonia reporting the purchase of changeling tanks, Jorik comes to the conclusion that the bug and avian bastards had sapped the strength from bears for centuries.
• Cool Crown: When he proclaims himself King of Winter, Jorik dons a great crown forged from steel, with motifs of beasts and visages of war, surrounded by ten blades, each of which could serve as a proper sword for a pony or a griffon.
• Founder of the Kingdom: Any description of modern ursine society must begin with Paw Wellington, uniter and despot of the Polar Bear Communities.
• Hero-Worshipper: During his time in Griffonia, Paw heard many stories about Alexander Kemerskai the liberator, who never faltered in his dreams for a republic despite countless setbacks. In his Despot with a Soft Paw path, Paw finds inspiration from Kemerskai's republican principles to overcome his leadership struggles and establish the Confederation of Polar Bears, and pays a visit to the Griffonian Republic to cement their ties.
• Land of One City: Invoked in the Iron City path, where Iron Captain Jorik decides that the polar bears must retreat, concentrate and become an unbreakable bedrock. Population, resources and assets are moved from all across the Polar Bear Communities to the capital city of Mathair Fearainn, which is massively expanded and fortified to accommodate everycreature. In gameplay terms, while the Glorious City of Mathair Fearainn still controls all polar bear territories, the only place that is actually inhabited is the capital.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Upon winning the Second Unification War after having welcomed the exiles back home (which forces him to exterminate the rebellious clans, leaving infrastructure in ruins or abandoned), Jorik blames himself for having buried the future of his species, but is still determined to guide the realm of polar bears again, this time without opposition, without question.
• Never Found the Body: If Clan Scyfling is exterminated by Clan Svartpels, the latter could never find Paw's body in the carnage.

Torben of Clan Svartpels

Role: Head of State

Party: Clan Svartpels

Ideology: Kratocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}To those outside polar bear society, Torben would seem a walking paradox. The mightiest warrior in the entire Polar Bear Communities, he is also a brilliant scholar and historian. But this fails to understand the vital link between his mind and his body. He perfects the physical to nurture his mind, and perfects the intellectual to guide his body. He has devoted his life to studying the past and ensuring it is upheld in the present. He clashed with the Wesslandians and Old Clan Volsungr, before they fell to harmonist weakness. He battled raiders from the Frontier who came seeking a mythical city of gold. And he was the first to join Paw Wellington in the First Unification Wars, and stood by him until changeling subversion welcomed exiles home.

He cares deeply for tradition and history, and it is this passion that drove him to rise from warrior to Thunder Lord to leader of the clan and now the entire polar bear race. He dreams of the entire North united, with the perfidious changelings punished for the countless crimes they have committed and the imperialist griffons shown their place. With all the polar bears now under his guidance, such dreams may be within reach.

The bears will retake their lost lands and restore their honor. All their enemies will be defeated and punished. And the North will stand strong and free for a million years more.

---

• Genius Bruiser: Torben is both the mightiest Polar Bear warrior and a brilliant scholar and historian.
• Large and in Charge: Torben, Thunder Lord of Clan Svartpels and potential Overtyrant of the bear species, is also one of the largest specimens of his species.
• Master Race: Torben believes that polar bears are the strongest race in the world, superior to all others due to their strength and long, storied history. It is their natural right and duty to be a protector over the North, including all creatures that live there: yaks, penguins and griffons.
• Modest Royalty: As Despot and Favourite Son of the All-Father, Torben rejects the grand ceremonies common among ponies and griffons. There would be no need for a crown or other symbol of power that would prove Torben's ascension to power—the evidence was the path of blood carved across the frozen wastes to bring bearkind together for the second time.
• Public Execution: After conquering Nova Griffonia, Torben installs an execution rack in the central square of Weter, where Nova Griffonia's leader and randomly chosen griffons are put to the sword.
• We Used to Be Friends: If he chooses to exterminate Clan Scyfling, Torben finds it painful that his clan has to destroy their old friends and greatest allies, not that they had a choice.

Eira of Clan Volsungr

Role: Head of State

Party: Clan Volsungr

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}A curious leader among bear elders, Eira is a stark outlier to the normal brutality of ursines due to her past as an exile. At a young age she was cast out from Clan Volsungr and bear society itself for her ideas aligning with that of the weak ponies from the south, and left for the land of Equestria. She traveled there for many years, studying pony society, culture and their way of life. The knowledge she gained only grew her fascination of Harmony as an ideology, believing that the Equestrian way was not just something for ponies, but also something ursines could achieve as well.

However, not everything learned was positive during her time in Equestria. For no matter where she traveled, the signs of the industrial revolution and its consequences presented itself for her to plainly see. Factories overtook nature as ponykind asserted its dominance more and more over the land, sometimes with little regard for the local flora and fauna. The ecologists she did meet gave her hope, however, and she swore to herself that should she ever get the chance, she would ensure that the same would never happen to her bear homeland.

That chance presented itself with Paw Wellington's return to the North and his takeover of the clans, as her former home of Clan Volsungr was decimated and on the brink of complete collapse. She returned to offer her help to the place that once exiled her, and they were forced to accept, bringing in thousands of former exiles like Eira herself and changing the clan forever. With her new and now popular ideas among the young and even some of the elders, Eira's leadership came swiftly, until the pivotal moment when she was forced to openly fight back against Paw Wellington's leadership.

Now, having become the new unifier of clans, Eira leads polar bears to a newer, Harmonic future, though how that future will look remains to be seen.

---

• Arranged Marriage: Eira decides that a Princess needs a consort to rule together—and among the bears, there are only two worthy candidates: Paw Wellington and Torben of Clan Svartpels. However, since Eira doesn't have feelings for any of them, she can also decide that marriage requires love, and her true Prince will come some time in the future.
• Foreign Culture Fetish: Eira's time in the far south had changed her into a devout Harmonist espousing the values of Equestria, which many bears view as insane.
• Praetorian Guard: Eira creates a Royal Guard, made up of the best warriors of all the clans, to serve as both honour guard and models that all bears can strive to be.
• Princesses Rule: As ruler of Clan Volsungr, Eira takes the title of Princess much like the alicorns to the south, and keeps it in her idealistic path as leader of all bears.
• Puppet King: If Eira chooses to marry Torben of Clan Svartpels after winning the Second Unification War, he's able to work with Paw Wellington to strongarm her into submission and implement the ideas described in his book The Pyramid (which justifies a hierarchy as harmonic if the bears who lead it are, and which terrifies the Equestrian delegation). In terms of gameplay, while Eira remains nominally head of state, the Princessdom of Polaria's ideology changes to Kratocracy.
• Requisite Royal Regalia: Princess Eira wears an elaborate red-and-gold dress full of jewellery and embroidery, something associated with weakness by most bears.

Chairbear Icebear

Role: Chairbear^note Head of State

Party: Arbeiders Parti av Polaria^note Workers' Party of Polaria

Ideology: Self-Reliance^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Icebear is a myth, a legend, a god. It is said he has the strength of twenty bears, and has torn apart tanks with his claws. He is wiser than the greatest scribes of Svartpels, more compassionate than the kindest Volsungr, and more powerful than the avalanche. He challenged Queen Chrysalis to a duel and she turned and fled. His military acumen and raw power singlepawedly saved the bears from the changelings. When a changeling spy tried to assassinate him, the bullet ricocheted off his skull, leaving him unharmed and killing the spy instantly. Every bear in the nation adores him, and aspires to be like him in whatever small way they can. Glory to the Great Leader!

---

• Cult of Personality: Icebear is the subject of an important cult of personality hailing him as the greatest creature to have ever graced the Earth and is reinforced by the spreading of many incredible stories of his accomplishments.
• Dead Guy on Display: After Icebear's death, his daughter has his corpse mummified and laid peacefully behind a thick glass screen, so everybear could come to pay their respects to him.
• Military Coup: Icebear launches a coup and seizes control of the Polar Bears if he's appointed chief of the army, navy and airforce at the same time.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: In addition to being an adherent of Juche (or rather Selvstendighet, since the Polar Bears speak Norwegian), Chairbear Icebear's ridiculous personality cult, declaration that Selvstendighet (Juche) lies 'beyond' Stallionism (Marxism-Leninism) and the claim that he was born under a double rainbow, as a brilliant new star appeared in the daytime sky are based on Kim Jong-il as he's often depicted in Western media.
• Short-Lived Leadership: Chairbear Icebear does not get to lead the DUC Polaria for long before he's assassinated, leaving the country in the paws of his daughter.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Icebear's killer assassinates him with an anti-tank cannon, ensuring that no amount of medical treatments would be enough to save his life.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Icebear acquires a long list of offices and titles after taking power. ^{Full list}Chairbear of the Central Committee of the APaP, General Secretary of the APaP, Premier of the Cabinet of the DUCP, President of the DUCP, Chairbear of the National Defence Committee of the DUCP, Supreme Commander of the Ursine People's Army, Navy, and Air Force, Sun of the 11th Century, and Eternal Leader of Selvforsynte Polaria.

Chairbear Snowbear

Role: Chairbear^note Head of State (Icebear succession)

Party: Arbeiders Parti av Polaria^note Workers' Party of Polaria

Ideology: Self-Reliance^note Communism

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Snowbear is a beloved young luminary, a wise scholar and kind soul. She outsmarted the assassins that murdered her father, and butchered them with her own paws. She is determined to do her father proud, and ensure that DUC Polaria will endure for centuries to come.

Shockingly, a few crypto-harmonist traitors claimed hereditary rule was contrary to communism and the Selvstendighet ideal. These traitors were swiftly dealt with, and all bears now embrace the newest heir of the Divine Bloodline. Glory to the Dear Leader!

---

• Cult of Personality: Like her father, she is the subject of an important cult of personality making her second only to him in everthing.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Snowbear, like her father and predecessor, has a long list of offices and titles as leader of the polar bears. ^{Full list}General Secretary of the APaP, Generallissimo of DUC Polaria, Secretary of the Central Committee, Chairbear of the Central Military Commission, Deputy to the Supreme Peoples' Assembly, Sun of the Selvforsynte Future, Shining Star of the North, and Eternal Chairbear of the National Defense Commission.
• You Have Failed Me: Snowbear's first act after succeeding her father is to purge his former associates. The insignificant members lose their jobs, those in moderately notable positions are imprisoned for life, and the highest-ranking ones are executed, for the crime of incompetence that led to her father's assassination.
• Young and in Charge: Born in 991, Snowbear is only 16 at game start. If her father takes over the Polar Bears, she'll likely be just barely out of adolescence when she succeeds him as head of state.

Bjornling

Role: Lord Protector^note Head of State (Changeling puppet state)

Party: Changeling Collaborators and the Northern Queen's Guard

Ideology: Esotericism^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}A Rosensverd dilettante, Bjornling was exiled with the rest of his clan by the despot Paw Wellington for their collaboration with changelings. Far from dissuading him from further cooperation, this was a turning point for the young Bjornling, as he came to realize that only the Changelings themselves could save bearkind from decadence, weakness, and Harmony. Through endless fawning and flattery, he managed to stoke Queen Chrysalis's ego enough to earn the coveted prize of rulership of the Northern Protectorate.

With her backing, he was installed as Lord Protector and given vague directions with generous autonomy in their implementation. The North will be reunited in a Third Unification War, the Four Stage Plan will be enacted fully and completely, and all bears will learn to love their Queen and their Lord Protector.

Now that he has secured power, only a rare few have any idea what he plans to do with it, but all know that his reign will be a horrific one, for Bjornling plans to let nothing - not morality, not the clans, not the Equestrians, not even the laws of reality itself - stand in the way of his dream.

By bullet, napalm, and gas, Hyperbearia will be restored. No matter the cost.

---

• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: When the Changelings invade the Polar Bear Communities, Bjornling betrays his country to serve as Lord Protector of the Changeling Hegemony's Northern Protectorate. When the Changelings start losing the Great War, he backstabs Queen Chrysalis, declares Hyperbearia's independence and reaches out to Equestria to secure a place in the winning side. Soon after defeating the Changeling Lands and replacing it with the Primordial Queendom, he has Exuvia declare war on Equestria, proclaiming that the Equestrian regime has marred harmony, merely using it to mask their own imperialist ambitions.
• Dragon with an Agenda: While Bjornling collaborates with Changeling invaders, he doesn't view himself as a subordinate to Chrysalis; instead, the Polar Bears are their own mighty nation with great goals.
• Enemy Mine: In the Great War, after backstabbing the Changelings, Bjornling tries to normalise relations between Equestria and Hyperbearia against their common foe.
• The Quisling: Bjornling serves as Lord Protector under Queen Chrysalis after the Changelings subjugate the polar bears and turn the country into the Northern Protectorate.
• The Starscream: If his overlord Chrysalis starts losing the Great War against Equestria, Bjornling has the option to backstab the Changelings, declare the independence of Hyperbearia and secure himself a place among the winning side.
• Unfortunate Names: Bjornling's birth name was Svíkja, meaning cheater and defrauder, given to unwanted cubs that were abandoned by their fathers to Clan Rosensverd, whose rituals often proved deadly. He endured persistent scorn thanks to his name, forcing him to turn to trek far-off mountains and ask shamans why the All Father had treated him this way. Ultimately, while his rule is brutal and nightmarish, those he cheats and defrauds are the Changelings as much as his fellow bears, since he betrays them during the Great War to establish Hyperbearia.

Exuvia

---

• Mad Scientist: Exuvia has a particular fondness for mad science. One of Bjornling's focuses gives her an entire city full of test subjects for her to play with.
• Offered the Crown: Exuvia, a minor Changeling princess exiled from her native Soryth, can be crowned the official ruler of the Northern Protectorate to pacify fears that Bjornling is unreliable or plans to betray the Hegemony.
• Puppet King: While Exuvia is Queen of the Northern Protectorate, all power still lies with Bjornling. Her main role is to legitimise his rule among sceptical Changelings. Exuvia herself cares little; her interests lie in mad science rather than government and she is content to be a puppet if it lets her indulge herself instead.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: One day, Exuvia irritated Chrysalis to the point that she was sent to the Northern Protectorate to get her out of the way.
• The Usurper: Though Exuvia is only eighth in line to the throne of Soryth, she can come back home and be crowned Queen if her friend Bjornling betrays the Changelings and conquer Soryth, despite her sisters' protest.
• Villainous Friendship: During her time in the Northern Protectorate, Exuvia comes to befriend Bjornling due to their shared interest in mad science.

Kingdom of Pingland

^{Flag of the Pinguin Republic}

^{Flag of the Democratic Republic of Pingland}

^{Flag of the Black and White Storm}

Full Name: Kingdom of Pingland, Pinguin Republic (Harmony), Democratic Republic of Pingland (Communist), Black and White Storm (Supremacist), Arctic Empire (Supremacist, Northern Equus conquered), Polaria Secundus (Lunar puppet state)

Ruling Party: Isdynastin^note Ice Dynasty

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• More than Meets the Eye: The penguins' reaction to the Star Father's declaration of war against all avians implies they know more about the truth to his insane religion than it would seem.
• The Purge: No matter who succeeds King Lolo, they'll have to purge the old king's council, either to get rid of corrupt schemers (for Hindrik Aberg) or of political dissidents (for Orvar Njordin).

King Lolo

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Isdynastin^note Ice Dynasty

Ideology: Despotism^note Non-Aligned

---

• We Hardly Knew Ye: By game start, King Lolo is nearing the end of his lifespan, and must choose a successor before his time is up.

King Hindrik Aberg

Role: Monarch^note Head of State

Party: Vennskap Parti^note Friendship Party

Ideology: Benevolent Absolutism^note Harmony

---

• The Good King: King Aberg is a idealistic leader who will lead his country towards prosperity and democracy after ascending to the throne.
• Internal Reformist: King Aberg reforms Pingland from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one, with the King's council becoming a democratic legislative body.

Orvar Njordin

Role: Monarch^note Head of State (Lolo succession)

Party: Frozen Throne

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Cult of Personality: Njordin starts a propaganda campaign to show all of his citizens how much they owe to his great and wise leadership.
• The Gulag: Orvar Njordin establishes work camps in the Talamh Árd Massif, where political prisoners are sent to mine iron.
• Warhawk: Njordin militarises his country in preparation for a conquest of the Polar Bear Communities, Nova Griffonia and the Griffon Frontier.

Ragnel Dahlin

Role: Head of State (Communist coup against Njordin)

Party: Arktis Kommunistiske Parti^note Arctic Communist Party

Ideology: Equestrian Socialism^note Communism

---

Theo Malmkvist

Role: Head of State (Monarchy abolished)

Party: Vennskap Parti^note Friendship Party

Ideology: Harmonic Republicanism^note Harmony

---

Pax Chrysalia

Manehattan Protectorate

Full Name: Manehattan Protectorate, Manehattan Autonomous Protectorate (Autonomous), Dominion of Eastern Equestria (Independence)

Ruling Party: Changeling Administration for Manehattan and Eastern Equestria

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

---

• Asshole Victim: If Lilac fails to placate the rebels and they end up revolting, she ends up purging Collaborationist members of the government. Amongst the members purged there is Wind Rider, a smug pegasus supremacist who decided to work with the protectorate to flaunt the superiority of the pegasi over the other ponies, and even Lilac is glad that she doesn't need to work with such an asshole anymore.
• Les Collaborateurs: Many ponies end up working for the Changeling protectorate, some because they were basically forced at gunpoint, some out of fear of losing those they cared about or what little they had left, and some out of simple hunger for power and opportunism.
• Dystopia Is Hard: Lilac's despotic rule of Manehattan can easily go up in flames if she isn't extremely careful in her decisions. She starts out with multiple debuffs caused by resistances and civil unrest, and she also has to meet a love tax deadline set up by Chrysalis while taking care of that. And if she fails hard enough, a civil war will erupt against a very powerful pony resistance faction.
• Life Drain: It's possible to apply a "Punitive Tax" in the decision menu when collecting love. Doing this will result in many pony citizens being drained to death for their love, leaving only their charred corpses behind. It even results in the total ponypower available being decreased!
• Mechanically Unusual Class: The Protectorate has a unique mechanic in the form of the Love Tax, which is collected from the pony citizens through the decision menu, and later, an Active Focus that is unlocked on the tree. The Love Tax collected is calculated from the number of units present on Protectorate territory, and the collection gives a temporary penalty to stability, in exchange for being able to invest the love collected for various bonuses available. Later decisions in the independent Manehattan focus tree allow you to create a lighter version of the Love Collection that causes less stability decrease for the same amount of Love in a single harvest.
• Paranoia Gambit: The Protectorate creates a gigantic amount of propaganda talking about the "Spyeye program", involving ambiguous information warning the ponies that they are being watched and having the collaboration governent give vague hints on what the program is. As the event reveals, the Spyeye program doesn't exist, and it's just a gambit to force ponies into submission by driving them into paranoia of being watched by non-existent observers.
• Persecuted Intellectuals: Professors and researchers who criticize changeling rule are quickly silenced by Lilac, who assures that the dean from one of pony universities has taken a prolonged vacation in the south.
• Player-Exclusive Mechanic: Certain gameplay elements are disabled for an AI-controlled Manehattan; the game notes that if the player wants to play as Manehattan, they'll have to tag switch immediately after forming the Manehattan Protectorate, instead of doing so later.
• Shout-Out: The "Resistance Are Us" focus event describes the Changeling infiltration of a resistance reunion, and the text accepting the event at the end has Lilac call the Changeling Infiltrator The Absolute MadBug, a reference to "The Absolute Madman" meme.
• Token Good Teammate: If Lilac ends up going independent and is successful at her social reforms, the Protectorate maintains a formal alliance with the Changeling Lands while providing a much fairer treatment towards their pony citizens, to the point where by the end of the focus tree both changelings and ponies are respected as equals.
• Written by the Victors: Said almost verbatim in one first focuses available, "Historical Revisionism". History is written so that the changelings are presented as heroes who liberated Equestria from Celestia's despotic rule. This is presented in a game show where one of the pony contestants is asked how Canterlot came into changeling rule, and after she answers that "You invaded us!" she is "corrected" by the changeling contestant, who says that the Canterlotians overthrew the Equestrian garrison so the changelings could save them from the tyrant Celestia, before taking the contestant away for "reeducation".

Lilac

Role: General, Protectress^note Head of State

Party: Changeling Administration for Manehattan and Eastern Equestria

Ideology: Autocracy^note Supremacy

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}Trained at the prestigious Vesalipolis Military Academy, Lilac was nevertheless relegated to administrative duties working on the Queen's General Staff during the Great War against Equestria. Whilst her classmates achieved glory for the Changeling Lands on the battlefield, she was stuck in Vesalipolis kowtowing to Chrysalis.

Her service to the Queen seemed to have paid off, though, as she was bestowed the title of Protectress over the exalted metropolis of Manehattan following its conquest.

In-Game Biography (Military Commander) ^{Click to Show}Trained at the prestigious Vesalipolis Military Academy, Lilac served on the Queen's General Staff during the Great War against Equestria. As the Protectress of Manehattan, Lilac finally has the chance to command her own army on the field in the absence of a native officer corps. Her officer's uniform may not be as glamourous as the ceremonial evening gowns befitting her rank of Protectress, but on campaign with her troops is where Lilac feels most at home.

---

• Batman Gambit: If she hits a dead end in placating the populace, in which reflected in gameplay means that you couldn't advance further down the focus tree, the decision "Lilac's Gamble" is the only way to continue playing. If you choose that option, you would unlock a small focus tree that would essentially plunge the region into chaos when completed. This ultimately hinders the ELF when they, just as she predicted, would take the bait and rise up in the chaos openly but with multiple maluses thanks to her efforts, allowing the overall Hegemony to crush them quickly. The final focus in that tree is appropriately named "Rebellion on our terms". The game even worries for her sanity in this! In an ironic twist, this decision is what you need to do in order make her defect to the ELF.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • In the independent Manehattan route, Lilac ends up growing attached to her pony citizens and goes independent from the Changeling Lands, creating multiple social reforms that brings equality to pony and changeling citizens, gets rid of the censorship laws and rebuilds the city of Manehattan back to its pristine pre-war condition, to the point where pony citizens are (grudgingly) willing to thank and follow her as a respected leader.
  • She can also end up defecting to the ELF in very specific circumstances, hiding out as an office-worker named Lily Merrimare before accidentally getting drafted into working at the head office (becoming a minister).
• Hypocrite: Focuses regarding Celestia have Lilac call her a despotic ruler who never cared for democratic values in spite of her Harmonist teachings. This is coming from someone who is an underling to Chrysalis, who is an imperialist tyrant that suppresses any negative opinions of her reign, and is herself enforcing the tyrannical, oppressive subjugation of a people her faction subjugated.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Lilac is willing to work towards building a "good" image of her towards the ponies, creating music festivals and building new infrastructure in Manehattan to appease it's population. After all, the less they hate her, the more likely they will pay their love tax without rebellions or questions towards her other decisions. In one event where she deals with Celestia's image with the population, she quickly dismisses one of her advisors' ideas of painting Celestia as a dystopic ruler who fattened herself with cakes and never cared about the population. Not because she admires Celestia, mind you, but because she knows that the pony population would never buy into such an absurd caricature of her. Indeed, if the player chooses to go with this propaganda anyway the ponies will go into outrage and reset the collaboration progress to zero, whereas if Lilac drops down the slandering they will lose a bit of political power, but suffer no further problems in their suppression.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: In the event of Manehattan independence, Lilac becomes a mostly benevolent and liked leader by her subjects, but is still classified in-game as an Autocrat and rules it uncontested by anyone else, and is still willing to use lethal force to deal with the rebels. She also denies any accusations of "growing soft" by her generals.
• Related in the Adaptation: She is apparently the mother-in-law(?) of Ocellus when the latter is assigned to the Protectorate as an Ost-Kommando. She even calls her "Occie".

Equestrian Liberation Front

^{Flag of the Equestrian Commonwealth}

Full Name: Equestria Liberation Front, Equestrian Commonwealth (Equestria liberated)

Ruling Party: Everfree Coalition - Democratic Harmonist

Ideology: Harmonic Socialism^note Harmony

---

• David vs. Goliath: The ELF might not be as small as Romau but its enemies are even bigger, with the Changeling Empire having a much more expansive territory and absolutely dwarfing them in starting number of units.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: When starting out, the ELF barely has any land and is in a precarious situation with enemies on all sides, and Starlight Glimmer herself mentions that their chances of winning are incredibly slim. If they prevail against all odds however, they beat back the changelings, rescue Twilight Sparkle from her captivity, create a new constitutional monarchy that guarantees the rights and freedom of all citizens, and build a new Equestria where hope may once again flourish.
• Purposely Overpowered: The ELF has multiple focuses that give it incredibly overpowered bonuses and cabinet members that would be broken when playing with any other nation. Given that you're fighting against the changelings, who are in control, at this point, of 2/3 of the Equus continent, and possibly even more countries depending on the focus path taken by them, it makes sense why these overpowered bonuses exist: the player wouldn't stand a chance without them. On top of this, the ELF is only playable after tag switching from the Changelings, meaning that you now have to fight the very army that you once refined and commanded.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The ELF is an incredibly versatile and loose group that is united by a single wish: liberate Equestria from changeling hold. This include earth ponies, unicorns, thestrals, pegasi, former citizens of Stalliongrad and worker communes, monarchists and everything in-between.
• Timed Mission: After it is revealed that Twilight has been captured, you need to seize four locations throughout occupied Equestria searching for her. After that taking over the last location, you only have 90 days to make a break for Acornage, which is at the northwest Equestria border, to save Twilight. If you fail to reach there on time, Duty Price will be Killed Off for Real saving Twilight.

Starlight Glimmer & Trixie Lulamoon

Role: Military Commander, Head of State

Party: Everfree Coalition - Democratic Harmonist

Ideology: Harmonic Socialism^note Harmony

In-Game Biography ^{Click to Show}When Equestria fell, Starlight Glimmer was a reformed cult leader and Trixie Lulamoon a less than scruplous travelling magician, and yet it was these talents that saw them rise to become the leaders of the Equestrian Liberation Front. Having worked since the first days of the occupation, they used misdirection, deceit and - at times - simple ruthlessness to contest the changeling occupiers. Unlike their erstwhile (and in Trixie's case, reluctant) mentor, Twilight Sparkle, they had no notions of fighting fair. Still, Equestria needs whatever heroes it can get, and if they are what is available, then that is what they must be.

Though their friendship is a tempestuous one, it has remained steadfast, and they have learned to play off each other. Starlight Glimmer has established herself as the strategist and the planner whereas Trixie has become (in)famous as an able tactician and guerilla commander. Their unorthodox backgrounds have informed their methods, and they managed to carry their efforts this far through these tricks.

It takes more than just tricks to lead a rebel army, however, and beyond the trickery and creativity stands two mares who, when all other heroes seemed to have failed, saw themselves called to step up and take over the fight. If they should fail, they know that other ponies will step up as well, because that is the Equestria they remember and will fight for.

---

• Frontline General: During their mission to save Twilight from her prison, Trixie joins up with the rebels and takes out a fair number of changeling Jagers herself.
• Rebel Leader: Starlight and Trixie are co-leaders and founders of the ELF resistance group, and lead the change against the changelings together.
• Unscrupulous Hero: They both have good intentions (liberating Equestria from changeling tyranny), but don't think for a moment that they will be nice while doing it. Some of the Protectorate events show that they are willing to use what is essentially terrorist attacks against civilian locations in order to spark a revolution, and they keep dealing with the Changelings and group in-fighting during the war with similar ruthless ways.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Starlight and Trixie fight each other a fair number of times while disagreeing on their methods in different situations, but at the end of the day they stay together no matter what in their war against the changelings.

Twilight Sparkle

Role: Monarch^note Head of State (ELF defeats Changelings)

Party: Her Majesty's Most Loyal Coalition for Progress and Harmony

Ideology: Alicorn Rule^note Harmony

See her entry in the Equestria folder.

Zecora's Resistance (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

Ideology: Harmonic Libertarianism^note Harmony

---

• Defiant to the End: If Zecora's resistance is defeated, the unlocked focus that deals with hunting her down shows that it requires Queen Chrysalis herself to act as the vanguard for the clean-up, otherwise her and the surviving partisans will make short work of the rank-and-file Changelings sent to hunt her. Even then, she manages to separate Queen Chrysalis from her army and toss a vial of Poison Joke at her face before fleeing to the deepest part of the Everfree where no one ever enter. The effect? Queen Chrysalis spent many days being treated for burns on her face and it is implied from the event afterwards that she permanently lost the ability to transform while being stuck as a perfect imitation of Cadence as a result.
• Failure Is the Only Option: The idealistic ending you get depends on whether or not you beat the rebellion. You need to lose to obtain the better variants.
• Geo Effects: The Everfree Forest states inherently have effects that give them tons of resistance and attrition, but once the resistance spawns, the forest gains a new trait with enormous maluses that basically kills every enemy division walking into it (their own divisions however are specifically unaffected by this effect).
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Zecora's resistance cannot be capitulated like a normal HOI4 nation; any Changeling units walking into an Everfree Forest tile will immediately lose all of their organization and die when a resistance unit touches them. The resistance can only be defeated by completing the relevant narrative focuses and making the right decisions, which turn off the instant death trait. Even then, you must occupy every tile in the forest to capitulate them, since occupied tiles will constantly switch back to being resistance-controlled.
• Readings Are Off the Scale: The attrition malus granted in their special state trait "The Everfree Forest Rampant" is listed as —REDACTED—, suggesting that the attrition level is so high, the game literally cannot display it.
• Satellite Character: Zecora's Resistance is not a playable country, and only emerges in a Pax Chrysalia playthrough as an obstacle for the Changeling Lands.
• Timed Mission: Zecora's rebellion in the Everfree Forest has her make the forest in question go wild, inflicting massive crippling debuffs in the areas affected while having her own forces be immune to them, ensuring that trying to stop her the conventional way is nothing short of tactical suicide, no matter how advanced or numerous your armies are. You need to complete the focus tree unlocked along with making the right decisions during the event to successfully tame the forest and stop Zecora. You only have 60 days to tame the forest, otherwise Zecora will turn the state back into Everfree Forest, which is a Detached Nation while signing a white peace, making you permanently lose a few provinces.
• Walking Spoiler: Zecora's rebellion is guaranteed to appear in a Pax Chrysalia playthrough, but there is no hint about their existence (aside from maybe the odd inherent terrain effects of the Everfree Forest) until they suddenly appear about a year into the occupation.

---