My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Characters/The Princesses

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The land of Equestria is not ruled by a king or queen, but by a pair of beautiful Princesses Rule. Celestia, the elder, is responsible for raising the Sun at dawn, and the younger Luna is responsible for bringing out the night at dusk. Together, they rule the land in harmony for all the different types of ponies.

Celestia also has a niece with the title of "Princess" named Mi Amore Cadenza, who prefers to be called Cadance. Her special talent is inducing romantic love between ponies, though she is quite young and doesn't seem to be as powerful as the ruling sisters.

All the princesses are Pegasus unicorns, also known as alicorns, which are rare among ponies and denotes their regal status (the only other ponies seen are Pegasi (winged ponies), unicorns (can wield magic), or plain Earth ponies).

For Prince Blueblood (the sisters' nephew) and Princess Platinum (one of the founders of Equestria), see the Celebronies page, and for Léon (a Canon Foreigner cousin of Celestia's and presumably Luna's) see the Canon Foreigners page.


Return to the character index here.

Tropes shared by Celestia and Luna

"Reluctantly the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony! Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since."

  • All Your Powers Combined: Word of God states that Winged Unicorns combine the natural abilities of Pegasi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: Compared to Celestia, Luna shows off her powers a lot more, and from what we see they appear to be impressive even outside of her Nightmare Moon incarnation. Control of weather with lightning galore seems to be one of her favorite tricks, but she also displays various other powers, such as turning toy spiders into actual huge spiders. However, it appears that Celestia is not one to be underestimated either: she is able to instantly revert all the effects caused by Twilight Sparkle's burst of wild magic and to dispel the Want It Need It spell from the entire population of Ponyville and facing off against Queen Chrysalis, not even getting into allegedly wielding the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon on her own.
  • Badass: Not only were they able to harness the greatest magic known to ponydom before the Mane Six, they used it to defeat Discord.
    • Badass Princesses
    • Bodyguarding a Badass: They both have their own guards despite possibly being the most powerful beings in the world. They seem to be there partly because it's traditional, and partly to handle to small stuff (they appear to be practically useless against real threats).
    • Retired Badass: Both of them. Back when they could use the Elements of Harmony, they saved Equestria together at least once and then Celestia had to save it from Luna/Nightmare Moon. Celestia is still pretty Badass but she lets Twilight and the rest of the Mane Cast do the world saving now. At least unless a threat to Equestria uncloaks right in front of her.
    • Badass Family: Luna and Celestia are both badasses, and their niece Cadance reveals herself to be Badass Princess in her own right. Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle became a part of the Badass Family thanks to Shining Armor's marriage to Cadence.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Both princesses give off a sparkle at all times.
  • Cain and Abel: While Luna was Nightmare Moon anyway.
  • Cool Carriage/Flying Carriage: It isn't as if they need them but Celestia and Luna use their own Pegasus-drawn carriages almost always when they need to fly to certain parts of Equestria. While Celestia's royal carriage is very beautiful and graceful, Luna's carriage looks like a funeral carriage, full of spikes, chains and pulled by two really sinister-looking Pegasi.
    • Luna's sinister carriage must have been designed that way Just for Pun since another name for a funeral carriage is "Hearse", which means that Luna (A winged unicorn) is a Flying Horse on a Flying Hearse.
  • Cool Crown
  • Creation Myth
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Celestia and Luna defeated Discord in ancient times with the Elements of Harmony, despite him being much stronger than them even then.
  • Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: It's hard to do most of the time but do not get them mad. They're both extremely powerful Physical Goddesses and are not to be taken lightly (except for Discord but he's on a higher plane than both of them and paid for it in the end regardless). This is clearer with Princess Luna, who is far less reserved in showing off her power.
  • Everything's Better with Princesses: Justified since they rule together and you cannot have two queens; also Enforced by the Hasbro execs, who wanted the rulers to be princesses since many young girls (the target demographic) still equate queens with evil.
  • Fish Eyes: In the toys, they both tend to suffer from this.
  • Fleur-de-Lis: The ornament on their hooves.
  • God Empresses
  • A God I Am Not: They're powerful immortal forces of nature but they'd much rather relate to their subjects on a personal level and forgo with protocol.
  • King of All Cosmos: Both princesses are Physical Gods who have their quirks. Celestia has a surprisingly mischievous sense of humor while Luna is quick-tempered and socially awkward.
  • Large and In Charge: They're considerably larger than most of their subjects with Celestia as the older sister being the larger of the two.
  • Light Feminine and Dark Feminine
  • Meaningful Names
  • Non-Standard Character Design: Along with Cadance, they're the only permanently winged unicorns (a.k.a. "Alicorns") to appear in the flesh on the show so far and they're noticeably more horse-like.
  • Older Than They Look: More noticeable on Princess Luna who looks younger than she actually is. A standing theory for this is that when Luna became Nightmare Moon, she stopped aging as Luna which explains why she became younger when she reverted back.
    • Of course Celestia was described as the elder sister so it's possible they always looked that different. We have no idea how many years (even centuries) she is older by.
  • Precursor Heroes: They were the wielders of the Elements of Harmony before the mane cast over one thousand years ago.
  • Physical Goddess: Operating on the planetary and stellar levels.
  • Princesses Rule: Word of God says Executive Veto is the only reason Celestia's not Queen. According to the execs at Hasbro, little girls now associate queens with evil and Princesses with good.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Both being over a thousand years old and part of the Creation Myth with Luna being the younger of the two.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Contrary to what was popular belief before "Luna Eclipsed," Luna is the Red while Celestia's the Blue.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Celestia is in charge of bringing forth daytime while Luna brings forth the night.
    • Besides attending her royal duties, Celestia regularly visits her people and goes to their aid whenever the need arises (such as a Parasprite infestation in Fillydelphia). She has also been raising and lowering both the freaking Sun and the Moon on a daily basis for a millennium after Luna's banishment.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Celestia represents the sun while Luna represents the moon. Also Celestia is rather more laid back, friendly and even-tempered than Luna though that might be a result of Luna's outdated ideas of royal protocol (although she's pretty hammy without them).
  • Supernatural Elite: Being both the rulers of Equestria and Physical Goddesses.
  • The Usurper: The season 2 premiere reveals that Celestia and Luna stole the throne from Discord and appointed themselves as the new rulers of Equestria after trapping him in stone. Of course this was a good change as Discord's reign was a never-ending nightmare of chaos and suffering which was the reason they rose up against him in the first place.
  • Too Important To Fly: See Cool Carriage/Flying Carriage above.
  • Winged Unicorns: The sisters and their niece Cadance are notably the only Winged Unicorns to appear in the flesh on the show (animation errors aside). What being a Winged Unicorn actually means in this setting is somewhat of a mystery, which coupled with their extreme rarity fuels a lot of speculation for fans.
    • What they're technically called is something of a debate. The show's storybook opening calls the sisters unicorns and a post on the official Facebook page called Luna a "Pegasus unicorn", however most fans, some of the show's staff, and WeLoveFine.com use the term "alicorn"[1]. A German term for them is "fliegendes Einhorn" (in one case misspelled as "fleiegendes Einhorn"), which the German and Swiss Nickelodeon and German Nick Jr. websites called Luna. Just know if you see "alicorn" or "Pegasus unicorn" floating around in My Little Pony discussions, they're talking about Winged Unicorns.
  • You Don't Look Like You: In the toys, Celestia is extremely pink (in earlier toys, at least), while Luna is closer to Twilight Sparkle's shade of purple and has Multicolored Hair.


Princess Celestia

"I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart."

Don't ask us how she brushes that mane.

First Mention: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 1" ("Mare in the Moon")

Full Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 2" ("Elements of Harmony")

Voiced by Nicole Oliver

Ruler of Equestria. According to the Creation Myth, she governs both the sun and the moon though she originally commanded "merely" the former and only assumed control of the latter after a disagreement with her sister pony-goddess. A white winged unicorn with a multicolored mane, she is noticeably taller and more slender than her subjects. She appears, is mentioned, or is depicted in every episode of the show so far.

  • Berserk Button: Threatening her domain and causing trouble for her subjects do not please her.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Oh, indeed.
  • Big Eater: "Ponyville Confidential" caught her indulging herself on mountains of cake. Possibly justified in that she is over twice the size of most of her subjects.
  • Big Fancy Castle: An expy of Minas Tirith.
  • Big Good
  • Catch Phrase: "That's quite alright."
  • Characterization Marches On: Season 2 has been showing a more serious and strict side of Celestia, contrasting with her ever calm and relaxed personality from Season 1.
    • Now we get to see that yes, it IS possible to see Celestia being fallible, vulnerable and overwhelmed. She can also get scared, upset or even angry. Ohh boy, you don't want to see Celestia getting angry.
  • The Chessmaster: The pilot, the first season finale and the two-part season 2 opening though a rather benevolent version.
  • Color-Coded Wizardry: As of Season 2, her horn and objects affected by her magic have a bright yellow glow.
  • Cool Big Sis: To Twilight and her friends, to a certain degree. Being their goddess, they're in awe of her.
    • It's obvious Celestia adores Luna after she gets reverted from being Nightmare Moon and part 1 of "The Return of Harmony" confirms they were good friends before that (sharing the Elements of Harmony).
  • Cool Crown
  • Cool Pet: Her sickly pet bird Philomeena who is actually a Phoenix near her rebirth phase.
    • And a Troll appropriately enough given the later entry.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Completely averted by what we've actually seen, but some of her subjects (Twilight in particular, who should really know her better) seem to fear she will engage in this for minor infractions like looking after her pet without permission or missing a school assignment.
  • Eccentric Mentor: She's got a rather mischievous sense of humor for a Physical Goddess.
  • Ermine Cape Effect: While not to the tacky extreme seen in other girl shows, she is constantly dressed in impeccable finery and a tiara every time she appears. There's also her rainbow-colored gravity-defying hair.
  • For Happiness: And Friendship. And Magic. And cakes.
  • God Job: Bringing the Sun and the Moon up every day for a thousand years until Luna was redeemed and the Sun alone for some while before.
  • God of Good: While her overt role is being the goddess of the sun, she fills most other qualities.
  • Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Notable in that all of her accessories are gold.
  • Good Is Not Soft: She's a genuinely good pony who cares about her subjects and sister with all her heart. That said, she shows no mercy to a truly evil villain like Discord (twice) and was willing to seal her own sister away when she turned into Nightmare Moon.
  • Guile Hero: Despite being a hero, she's more than willing to resort to sneaky plans to lead the heroes to victory. And then there's masterminding Discord's defeat by simply sending Twilight Sparkle all of the friendship letters she'd sent the entire first season.
  • Hidden Depths: She comes across mostly as a formal and regal High Queen and it probably comes across stronger to her subjects. Now observe her mischievous side.
  • The High Queen: Most everypony around her treats her like this but it's implied she'd prefer a more relaxed approach.
  • Hot Goddess: She is drawn more aesthetically...more clean, shiny, "beautiful" and pretty...compared to the rest of the cast. It's implied that she is (or at least fits) the ideal for equine beauty in Equestria; for example, the beauty parlor in Ponyville has a picture of a pony with her tall and slender proportions.
  • 100% Adoration Rating: Her people absolutely love her.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness
  • It's Personal: While we don't learn exactly what he did, it's clear from how she reacts to Discord that she hates him with a passion.
  • Light Is Good
  • Lonely at the Top: She suffers a small degree of this though it may have been cured after her reunion with her sister.
  • Mama Bear: The Changeling Queen almost learns this the hard way when she reveals her plans to ruin the wedding.
  • Modest Royalty: Fits the personality associated at least. She is very social and prefers livelier more personal get-togethers over extravagant soirees. It turns out this is one of the major reasons she invites Twilight and her friends to the Grand Galloping Gala. She hates how dull the event usually is since she spends effectively the whole Gala welcoming guests and doesn't get to enjoy it and she's hoping the girls will liven things up a bit. They do.
  • Multicolored Hair: Rainbow pastels.
  • My Greatest Failure: It really tore her up when she exiled her sister to the moon and the entire plot of the pilot is to remedy this.
    • She also feels rather guilty about not realizing the seal keeping Discord imprisoned has been broken until it's too late.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: Her reaction to Discord's escape is pretty much this. She calls the Mane Cast in and outright tells them to use the Elements Of Harmony to take Discord out ASAP. Unfortunately Discord is more Genre Savvy but she earns points for trying. Justified as she was there the last time he'd been free and knows just how dangerous he really is.
  • One-Hour Work Week: Averted hard. In all her appearances, she is shown to be at work, giving work, going to work or being called almost immediately to work either directly to the government or trying to keep the very realm happy and safe.
  • OOC Is Serious Business: Her behavior in the season 2 premiere is at odds with her normally relaxed manner in the first season which serves to underline just how serious a threat Discord is. To compare, when dealing with Nightmare Moon, she just sort of lets Twilight stumble upon the answer. Here she gives the Mane Six the Elements of Harmony (or tries to anyway) and straight up tells them to take Discord out. This may possibly be subverted: in the first example, the elements wouldn't work at all until Twilight made friends who could wield them. In the second, they could already use them.
    • Also the season 2 premiere is the first time when Celestia is shown to be vulnerable and fallible: She is unable to wield the power of the Elements of Harmony, Discord manages to outsmart her by stealing the Elements under her nose and rather than resort to an alternate plan, Celestia's only reaction is to jaw-drop and stand there with an Oh Crap expression on her face. Yes; Discord is that much of a menace.
    • "Lesson Zero" also showed us the first time Celestia gets visibly upset for Twilight's irresponsible use of magic: the Oh Crap look on Twilight and her friends was worth a thousand words.
    • In "A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1," she's obviously pissed at Twilight after the latter confronts the fake Cadance at the wedding rehearsal. In part 2, she goes straight-up Lady of War on the revealed Queen Chrysalis...right before getting worfed.
  • Parental Substitute: Word of God mentions that Spike was raised by Celestia.
  • Peek-a-Bangs
  • The Power of the Sun
  • Princesses Prefer Pink: Averted Trope in-show as she has pink in her Multicolored Hair and has pink outlines but is mostly white. However the earlier toys based off her were Enforced Trope into becoming this, as toy retailers would only sell it in pink despite the fact that she's actually shown as white on the box (and in the commercials).
  • Reasonable Authority Figure
  • Renowned Selective Mentor: Is this for Twilight Sparkle.
  • Requisite Royal Regalia: Not really necessary, but she is always adorned with a golden tiara, a golden necklace, and golden shoes.
  • Rose-Haired Pony: The show's Storybook Opening depicts her as this.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: She maintains life in Equestria. Apparently, she also seems to be the source (or a catalyst) of many of the magical properties in Equestria.
  • Silk Hiding Steel: Celestia, granted, generally desires a less formal relationship with her subjects and has a rather puckish sense of humor, but she clearly is a mare of great elegance and refinement. At the same time, when the chips are down, the steel comes out as when she orders the Mane Six to do away with Discord.
    • She even goes horn-to-horn with Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings in order to keep her kingdom safe.
  • Socialite: Averted Trope. She prefers more casual reunions and is so bored by the biggest and most important social event in the country that she is ecstatic when the core group quite almost literally brings down half of her palace because it livens things up. She also enjoys very much the casual reunion in the small donut shop with her student and friends.
  • Standard Royal Court: Or more standard-ish than the rest of the incarnations. So far, there have been nobles, guards, a few royal positions and the Mayor as a model of government.
  • Stern Teacher: In "Lesson Zero", she gives Twilight an extremely stern look and an equally stern order for Twilight to "meet her in the library". Absolutely justifiable though considering the chaos Twilight caused and the fact that Celestia had to fix it.
  • Stop Worshipping Me!: Well...not literally but in many of her appearances, she's shown to be quite uncomfortable with all the genuflection and adoration (or fear) her subjects display. This could also explain why she takes so much interest in Twilight's lessons and letters and why she enjoys the meetings between her and the core cast so much.
  • Sweet Tooth: "Ponyville Confidential" and "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" both imply she has a weakness for pastries.
  • Teleporters and Transporters: "Lesson Zero" revealed that Celestia can teleport at will...possibly over a far greater distance than Twilight can. She implicitly came directly from her castle, a distance Twilight is shown to match only under extreme emergency, and that only once so far. This can explain why she literally appeared out from nowhere during season 1 to deliver her advice to Twilight and friends.
  • This Means War: The actions of Discord upon his return angered her. Until that moment, nobody even knew she could get angry. Her explanation of what happened over 1000 years ago and what we see Discord do in the present imply she has very good reason to hate him.
  • Trickster Mentor: She occasionally manipulates Twilight Sparkle in order to teach her a valuable lesson or encourage her to do something exceptional. Usually. See below for when it's for personal reasons.
  • Troll: Mostly according to Fanon, but "A Bird in the Hoof" and "The Best Night Ever" do show her engaging in a bit of lighthearted mischief at her subjects' expense.
  • Unmoving Pattern: The colors of her mane wave...just not in the same way that the mane itself moves. Might have something to do with her practically being a Physical God.
  • Woman in White: Emphasizing how Light Is Good.
  • The Mare Wearing the Princess-ly Mask: A far more benign example but Celestia shows a great desire to be in a closer and more personal relationship with her subjects instead of the adoration, noble politeness, praise and nervousness she causes wherever she goes and she holds extremely dear her informal relationship with her star student.
  • The Worf Effect: The Changeling Queen defeats her at the Royal Wedding, since the Changeling Queen had absorbed enough power from Shining Armor's love at that point. Though it should be noted, even with her massive power boost, Queen Chrysalis was visibly straining against Celestia's power, so she didn't lose that easily.
  • You Don't Look Like You: Celestia in the cartoons is white, but her earlier toy incarnations are pink.


Princess Luna

"You no longer have reason to fear us. Screams of delight is what your princess desires...not screams of terror."

The ensemble's dark horse, literally!

Debut: "Friendship Is Magic, Part 2" ("Elements of Harmony") (separate from Nightmare Moon)

Voiced by Tabitha St Germain

Princess Celestia's younger sister. She co-rules Equestria alongside her older sister. According to the Creation Myth, she used to govern nighttime, but grew jealous of her sister and wound up sealed away for a thousand years as the Mare in the Moon. After being defeated by the reformed Elements of Harmony, she Heel Face Turns and becomes Princess Luna again, resuming her nighttime duties. Her only appearances in the show so far are "Friendship is Magic, part 2", "Luna Eclipsed" (her only major role), "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1", and "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2".

For her "corrupted" form, Nightmare Moon, see here

  • 0% Approval Rating: Princess Luna's bitterness turned her into Nightmare Moon because she thought that absolutely nobody liked her. Ironically her actions as Nightmare Moon made sure that nobody liked her for real.
    • Her night wasn't totally lost though. The meteor shower scene in "Owl's Well and Ends Well" is a testament that ponies still do enjoy her night.
    • Word of God states that Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon was because of evil magic and may not have been entirely her fault or even choice. It doesn't really help that she seems to have a bit of a temper.
    • Quite a few ponies are still scared of her in the present day...mostly due to a thousand years of rumors that built up around Nightmare Moon's "Nightmare Night". She's working on her reputation.
    • Interestingly she agrees her Nightmare Moon self should be feared and hated.
  • Adaptation Name Change: The single-volume storybook adaptation of the pilot episodes refers to her as Selena; Word of God says "Her name was Selena for a short time, but there were legal problems with it. Guess the book writer didn't get the info."
  • Adorkable: When she starts moving out of her old princess mode, Luna is macabre yet cute and a bit nerdy much like a character escaped from a Tim Burton movie.
    • She's even Adorkable in her old princess mode.
    • Looking closely at the wedding reception near the end of A Canterlot Wedding Part 2 shows her rocking out to the music in the background.
  • All There in the Manual: Her collector card reveals that she "stays up late!" (It's unknown if this is referring to her guarding the night or if it means she stays up late into the morning.)
  • Art Evolution: Her old design in her brief de-corrupted appearance at the end of the second episode had her with a shorter, light-blue mane that looked quite normal, as well as matching hooves. Her current design as of "Luna Eclipsed", seen above, has a flowing mane and tail like her big sister with the texture of Nightmare Moon's smoke, as well as a slightly darker coat and silver colored hooves. Her old design is still used in many promotional materials, however.
    • Lauren Faust says that it represents her regaining her powers that she lost when she was defeated as Nightmare Moon, explaining that it took her time for her "good" powers...represented by her magic mane...to come back. She also admits that she just made that up on the spot and doesn't know how the new show runners would explain it. They don't so it's as good an explanation as any.
    • It might be accidental or not, but this explanation is actually supported in the show. Several shots of her show that a few locks of the mane retain the season 1 light-blue coloration
  • The Atoner: She tries to make amends for her stint as Nightmare Moon so her pony subjects won't be so frightened of her. On Nightmare Night granted which is probably not the best night to prove you're not scary but still she's trying.
  • Big Entrance: How she enters in "Luna Eclipsed". Also qualifies as an it's Not What It Looks Like moment for her.
  • Broken Pedestal: Helped save Equestria from Big Bad Discord and then maintain Harmony all over the land only to later turn into a Big Bad herself. After her Heel Face Turn, she's trying to deal with being a Broken Pedestal for a thousand years in her people's eyes.
    • And this is for those who even knew she existed before her escape from the moon; many believed she was just an evil cannibal spirit in an old fairy tale.
  • Characterization Marches On: Her brief initial appearance isn't much to go on, but definitely was not the Large Ham she showed up as later. Quite aside from the art shift.
    • Her appearance in A Canterlot Wedding parts 1 and 2 show that she's gotten much more used to speaking in what passes for a 'normal' tone of voice among modern ponies, and she uses more modern lexicon as well.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Despite riding a spiked chariot pulled by bat winged guards into town, Luna just wishes for the acceptance of her subjects once again.
    • Dark Is Evil: Out-of-universe, this trope is a key reason why she didn't show up again in season 1. Strangely, Luna is actually even darker (color-wise) when she returns, so they apparently got over it.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Apparent in Luna Eclipsed.

Twilight: Princess, I'm sorry it hasn't worked out how we wanted, but you have to believe me when I tell you that Nightmare Night is one of the most popular celebrations we have!
Luna: Yes. I can tell by all the adoring shrieks of the children as they run away.

  • Defeat Means Friendship: After the Mane Six defeat her with The Power of Friendship, she's accepted back into Equestrian royalty by both her sister and subjects. The subjects are apparently still somewhat scared of her, though.
  • Dramatic Thunder: Seems to be quickly becoming a signature feature of hers. The weather reflects her mood, or more precisely, her anger and excitement.
  • Establishing Character Moment: All thoughts of Luna being a mere Woobie are shattered when she makes her big entrance in Luna Eclipsed as PRINCESS OF THE NIIIIIGHT!!!
    • Doesn't prevent her from being a woobie though. It just gives her a lot more depth. Like, you know, everypony else on this show.
  • Face Heel Turn: Princess Luna turning into Nightmare Moon in the Creation Myth.
  • Fallen Heroine: Helped save Equestria from Discord before becoming so bitter (and corrupted by something) she turned into Nightmare Moon and took over the Big Bad role herself. Thankfully she's back on the good side now.
  • Fish Out of Temporal Water: Part of the reason Luna is received so poorly on Nightmare Night; while it seems to everypony else that she's still acting evil, in reality she's just presenting herself with outdated royal etiquette. Which just happens to involve using No Indoor Voice and Antiquated Linguistics. Being trapped in the moon for a thousand years makes it hard to keep up with modern trends.
  • Flowery Elizabethan English: She's been absent for 1000 years so her way of speech is completely archaic. Right down to "Thee", the "-st" and use of the Royal We.
  • Full-Name Basis: She always calls Twilight Sparkle by her full name.
    • In the case of single-named ponies, Luna goes around that limitation by calling them "Fair Applejack" and "Dear Fluttershy".
  • Gale Force Sound/Make Me Wanna Shout: Her magically-enhanced yelling (or even just talking) borders on this at times.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: Brings these out occasionally when she's being theatrical or feeling frustrated.
  • Good Counterpart: Her normal form as it turns out is remarkably similar to a non-evil version of Nightmare Moon, Large Ham, Dramatic Thunder and all.
  • Good Wings, Evil Wings: As Nightmare Moon her wings were somewhat solid and batlike. As Luna, her wings have a softer feathery outline like Celestia's.
  • Heavy Sleeper: Apparently slept straight through Queen Chrysalis' and the changelings' attempted takeover of Canterlot, explosions and all.
    • Failed a Spot Check: How she managed that, we have no idea.
    • On the other hand, she passed through the force field when relieving Celestia's watch duty. It's very possible that she doesn't reside within Canterlot.
      • This would also explain how she doesn't know anything about modern customs in "Luna Eclipsed."
      • Well, in Luna Eclipsed she very blatantly appears in a flash of light, and flies down from the moon. It seems she lives on the moon, despite her banishment to it.
  • Hero with an F In Good: Luna really wants to be liked and redeem her image in the eyes of the common-folk but she comes off as incredibly intimidating without even trying. One thousand years of scary stories about her being a Chaotic Evil harbinger of doom, and then of being a cannibal predator that must be fooled with disguises and placated with tribute, most likely did not help things.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade: In actual events, she was turned into Nightmare Moon due at least in part to some outside influence and simply wanted to bring everlasting night. In legends, she simply turned evil out of resentment and ate ponies.
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: She just really wants to be accepted but she comes off as rather intimidating.
  • Jekyll and Hyde: Luna/Nightmare Moon.
  • Large Ham: At times, during her visit to Ponyville. Some can be attributed as part of the royal Canterlot tradition of speaking, others as part of her actual personality.
    • Her hamminess could even be compared to that of Brian Blessed himself. Observe. "PETROL! WE'RE RUNNING OUT!"
    • This is taken further by the fact that she's far more assertive and liberal in her use of Royal-Winged-Unicorn-godpower than her sister. Thunder and lightning punctuate her sentences and she flies into the air when making her dramatic proclamations.
  • Leitmotif: Nightmare Moon's theme accompanies Luna's return in "Luna Eclipsed". A brief variation of it also plays when she relieves Celestia in "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1".
  • Lunacy
  • Modest Royalty: Much like her sister, she would rather have ponies just call her Luna and view her as just another pony.
  • Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Luna in her current form is trying to be friendly; unfortunately, she has somewhat macabre tastes, is gothic and sinister in presence and perpetually speaks in a booming echo of a voice. Nearly every pony is reduced to a trembling wreck before her.
  • No Indoor Voice: PRINCESS LUNA TALKS LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME because her (outdated) royal protocol says so. It takes her a while to realize she's scaring everyone to death before settling for a (much) softer, mellow voice but she quickly REVERTS TO TALKING LIKE THIS WHEN SHE GETS UPSET, EXCITED OR VERY HAPPY.
  • No Social Skills: Luna's obsession with (outdated) royal protocol and brutal lack of tact are epic. (Of course, this is mostly Played for Laughs as she doesn't even knows the meaning of "fun.")
  • Not What It Looks Like: Pretty much everything she does in "Luna Eclipsed". She appears to be touting her old hammy evil routine but she's really just out of touch with modern etiquette. Her Big Entrance is of particular note. Pinkie Pie isn't helping matters of course.
  • OC Stand-In: Between appearances, Luna was the show's most common pony in fanfiction and mention of her hiding in her sister's shadow and cuddling with an abacus was treated as de facto interpretation. Now not so much.
  • Perky Goth: Luna is now devoid of malice, but her personal tastes still look like something escaped from a horror movie starting with her macabre royal chariot, her demonic-looking royal guards and the idea that animating a group of giant, hairy spiders would be "fun" for everyone else.
    • Ironically, it was realizing people liked being scared on Nightmare Night that let her win over her subjects.
  • Power Echoes: Whenever she's using her loud voice.
  • Power Incontinence: She exhibits a touch of this when she gets worked up, given the Dramatic Thunder and gathering stormclouds that kick in every so often.
  • Power Makes Your Hair Grow: In her "grown" form from Luna Eclipsed she has significantly longer mane and tail than immediately after she was rescued from being Nightmare Moon. Power also makes your hair ethereal, it seems.
  • Royal We: Her manner of speech because it's dictated by protocol. See No Indoor Voice.
  • Shock and Awe / Lightning Can Do Anything: De-corrupted, her magical beams take the form of lightning.
  • The Sacred Darkness: While Nightmare Moon is an example of the "corrupted" type of darkness, Luna is the "pure" type.
  • Took a Level in Badass: When she's not fresh off the Rainbow of Light and traumatized after a thousand years of exile, she's actually a pretty capable leader of mares.
  • Tsundere: Those mood swings certainly paint her as such, especially when only the audience (and then Twilight) gets to see how hurt she really feels.
  • Vague Age: Even though she's an immortal moon goddess and only slightly younger than her adult sister, her true form's biological age is pretty ambiguous. Made even more confusing as of Luna Eclipsed, where Luna's colors are slightly different and her mane flows like Celestia's, though Word of God has given an (on-the-spot) explanation as to how it could have happened.
  • Villain Decay: In-Universe. Nightmare Moon is a Mad God who tried twice to plunge the world into eternal night and presumably almost succeeded both times. Luna Eclipsed showed that the public perception of Nightmare Moon is that she's a cannibal who young ponies can placate with their candy.
  • Voice of the Legion: Her "royal voice".
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: She can assume her Nightmare Moon form at will though whether it's a true transformation or just an illusion remains to be seen. Interestingly despite these magical special effects, she still has to wear fake pointy teeth to replicate the appearance shown in Zecora's illusions.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: After powering down and being forgiven by her sister, the younger princess is embraced by Ponyville at large and taken back to the castle to live with Celestia. She doesn't show up again until the season 2 episode "Luna Eclipsed", and after that only gets short appearances in "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1" and "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2", which finally explain why she hardly ever shows up (she's apparently active at night and asleep during the day).
  • Woman in Black: Dark fur to contrast her sister. Again, Dark Is Not Evil.
  • The Woman Wearing the Queenly Mask: Of a different variety then her sis. She seems to think behaving in a grandiose, intimidating demeanor is how royalty is supposed to act when she's actually a pretty sensitive and empathic pony. Might have been so back in her day.
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: 1000 years ago, the ponies kept sleeping through her nights and enjoying her sister's days. We don't know how long this went on for, but it's clear by her words in "Luna Eclipsed" it convinced her they didn't love her like they did her sister. Her jealousy, as well as some dark magic, transformed her into Nightmare Moon and she tried to take over the world. Thankfully, she's gotten better.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy: Luna in a nutshell. Fortunately she gets reasonably better near the end of her debut episode.
  • Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Averted. She uses "thou", "thee", and "thy" only when addressing single ponies and "you" and "your" when speaking to multiple ponies. Also when speaking to single ponies, she attaches the "-est" suffix only to verbs where the listener is the subject.
    • She does slip up at least once in the episode of "Luna Eclipsed" when she awkwardly changes subjects mid-sentence.
  • You Were Trying Too Hard: She ends up coming off as far more forceful and intimidating than she realizes at first partly due to this. Once Twilight helps calm her down and make everyone more relaxed around Luna, things go much better.


Princess Cadance

"This day was going to be perfect. The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small."

The greatest foalsitter in all the history of foalsitters!

Debut: "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1"

Voiced by Britt McKillip[3]

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, better known as Princess Cadance, is a pretty pearl pink princess pony and niece of Princess Celestia (and probably Luna's). She had been acquainted with Twilight Sparkle as she was her foal-sitter when she was really small. It was also back then that she met the colt who would eventually become her husband, Shining Armor. Her main talent appears to be bringing love to others. However, she had not been acting as herself in the days coming up to her wedding...

  • All There in the Manual:
    • Her being Celestia's niece has only been mentioned in episode synopses and other promotional materials.
    • Her collector card reveals that she "loves tiaras."
  • Badass Princess: She vanquishes Chrysalis' brainwashed bridesmaids, dispels Chrysalis' brainwashing spell on Shining Armor, and together with him banishes the evil Queen and all of her changeling swarms far away from Equestria with a powerful magic blast.
  • Battle Couple: With Magic Knight and captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor. The first time we actually see the real Cadance with him as a couple, they kick Queen Chrysalis' flank.
  • Bridezilla: Everyone seemed to be assuming this is why she was being so unpleasant before the wedding.
  • Color-Coded Wizardry: Her magic aura is a bright cyan, the same color as the heart in her cutie mark.
    • An early indicator that the first Cadance is an imposter is that her magical aura is green.
  • Cool Big Sis: Was this to Twilight when she was a filly and Cadance was her foalsitter. She returns to being this when they're reunited. Then literally becomes this by marrying Twilight's brother.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Her eyes match part of her Multicolored Hair (the main part, judging by the color of its outline).
  • Damsel in Distress: Queen Chrysalis imprisons her under Canterlot until she's rescued by Twilight Sparkle. However, once freed she shows she can handle herself pretty damn well.
  • Dark Secret: Subverted in that the real Cadance doesn't have one, her impostor does.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Returns the favor to Queen Chrysalis for doing this to her aunt when she and Shining Armor's love is used to power a combined spell that defeats Chrysalis.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: She and Shining Armor were advertised well before their debut.
  • Everything's Better with Princesses
  • Foil: To Chrysalis. It is probably most apparent in their duet, "This Day Aria"
  • In-Series Nickname: Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is known throughout the kingdom as Cadance. It's such an established nickname that even Twilight didn't know it wasn't her real name. Justified, as it seems she personally prefers to be called Cadance over her full name.
  • Happily Married: To Shining Armor.
  • Heart Beat-Down / The Power of Love: Seems to be her form of magic. She even has a heart-shaped jewel as her cutie mark.
  • Heart Is an Awesome Power: Compared to commanding the sun and moon and the Physical Goddess level powers her aunts show, control over love doesn't seem that impressive. Then she weaponizes The Power of Love alongside her husband to give a Heart Beat-Down to the Big Bad even her aunt couldn't beat. Even though The Power of Friendship is the most powerful magic in Equestria, underestimating its close cousin is still a very bad idea.
  • Love Goddess: While never stated, this seems to fit her and is her special talent. In a flashback, she uses her magic to quiet an arguing couple and help them remember their love for each other. Then she and Shining Armor's magic was able to repel the changelings.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: Meta-example; she was showcased months before her relationship to Celestia was revealed, however, it's only mentioned in an episode synopsis and not the show itself.
  • Magical Nanny: Cadance and Shining Armor first met when Cadance would foal-sit for Twilight Sparkle.
  • Meaningful Name: "Mi Amore" is Italian for "My love".
    • Not quite. 'My Love' in Italian would be 'il mio amore' or possibly 'amore mio'. 'Mi Amore' gets the point across, though.
  • Modest Royalty: Doesn't even think being a member of the royal family is a big deal.
  • Multicolored Hair: Interestingly, it's pretty much the same colors as that of toy-exclusive Earth pony Cupcake/Sugarcup [dead link], another pink mare.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: Besides being a Winged Unicorn, she has gradient wings.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname/Some Call Me... Tim: Her full name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but she's known as Cadance; it must be easier to remember. Twilight, who has known her from childhood, never knew her real name until Shining Armor told her in "A Canterlot Wedding Part 1".
  • Pink Girl, Blue Boy: The pink to Shining Armor's blue.
  • Princesses Prefer Pink: She's one positively pink pony princess. Her toys are just as pink as Pinklestia, if not moreso.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: She and Shining Armor saved Canterlot from Queen Chrysalis with a love-powered magic spell!
    • When she was a teenager, she babysat Twilight even before Twilight became Princess Celestia's student.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Both "Cadance" and "Cadence" have been used multiple times by multiple sources. "Cadance" tends to be used in newer promotional media (The Hub's homepage, back when it listed the name, used "Cadence" at first but later switched to "Cadance"), while "Cadence" is how it's spelled by the script of "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2" and how it tends to be spelled by the show's crew; Jayson Thiessen has said "I personally use 'Cadence' but it may be debatable." Based on the evidence, it seems that the official spelling was changed from "Cadence" to "Cadance" late in the game. Looking at the two spellings, it's hard to tell because "Cadence" as a proper word would fit the show's pattern of meaningful and/or punny names much better and be a more obvious derivative of "Cadenza" (which is basically just Italian for, yet again, "cadence"), yet on the other hoof "Cadance" apparently does exist as a proper if uncommon female first name in real life. The jury may still be out.
  • Spoiled Sweet: implied to be this. Even though Cadance is a princess, she still foal-sat Twilight Sparkle and thoroughly enjoyed doing it. And Twilight has very fond memories of her, which is why her cold, superior attitude upon meeting her again immediately sets off some alarm bells in her head. She's right - that Cadance is not the real one, but a Changeling imposter.
  • Stealth Pun: Her full name is Italian, and since Pegasus unicorns are sometimes called alicorns, this would make her an Italicorn.
    • Celestia looks after the day, Luna looks after the night, and Cadance looked after Twilight (Sparkle).
  • Tuckerization: Named after Cadince, the daughter of a Hasbro Studios executive.
  • Unkempt Beauty: Despite being locked and dirtied in a cave for Celestia-knows[4] how long, she still quite the stunner when she is found.
  • Unmoving Pattern: When she performs a Power of Love-fueled spell with Shining Armor, her mane begins to flow just like Celestia's for a short time, only to settle back into a solid form when it's all done. That sort of flowing mane might be an indication of power among Winged Unicorns.
  • What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Despite being a royal Alicorn, Cadance's magic is very weak and limited (Twilight's magic is more powerful and versatile than hers) plus her special "love" talent cannot create love, only rekindle and amplify the one already present between couples. This trope is subverted at the end, as Cadance's love power is what allows Shining Armor to perform once again his barrier spell, this time supercharged with Cadance's own power.
  • Wing Pull: Justified. Being in an underground cave, her wings aren't much use, and are kept tucked in close to her sides while escape attempts are made. But when Twilight and her aren't going to make a long jump, they finally come out in full force.
  • Winged Unicorn: She seems to be a garden variety one compared to the Physical God princess duo. Flashbacks demonstrate that she's about the same age as Shining Armor is.
    • Cadence was originally going to be a regular unwinged unicorn, but it was changed somewhere along the line.
  1. ↑ note that technically "Alicorn" is actually the material that makes up a unicorn's horn. Why it's used by most fans is probably because it sounds cooler. Also the term alicorn is often used because they're not just a cross between Pegasus and a Unicorn but a mix of all three races.
  2. ↑ Justified perhaps since she's one of very few full-size horses in the series
  3. ↑ according to this tweet by Jayson Thiessen, this tweet by Daniel Ingram, and this interview with Ashleigh Ball
  4. ↑ Not really; she didn't even know her own niece had been replaced by an impostor.
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