Dante Stargazer

"get ready for the beginning, of the end."

Dante Stargazer is the beginning antagonist and later deuteragonist of the Ancient Sins books series. he's revealed to be to be the physical vessel of The Nothing and was once Celestia's most powerful pupil. he was also Sunset Shimmer's best friend before she reformed. after he's dumped, he begins a crusade to destroy the heroes of Equestria and everything they stand for, but soon turns over to the heroes side to fight against The Shadow and later The Nothing.

Personality
Before gaining any magical power, Dante was a kind spirited and optimistic person. after he begins his road to villainy he becomes more sadistic and dark. all his villainous traits are actually revealed to be a ruse, a way of making the heroes fight him with everything they had. most of Dante's truly evil deed are revealed to be the Shadow's influence.

Dante always had a cynical disbelief in love, trust, and friendship. he only saw them as weaknesses that gives enemies the ability to hurt you. he begins seeing them as a good thing after he meets Midnight.

at one point he began perceiving himself as a god and constantly looked down on others. when he fought, he always expressed disdain at the heroes ignorance for challenging his divine power. when he actually became a god, this belief was heightened even further, right to the point where he simply sweeps his opponents away rather than fight them.

he is shown to have a spark of insanity, since he was able to destroy his body just to test a new power. this is further proven when he goes crazy during his fight with the other world mane six. he states himself that when intelligence and insanity mix they form a completely new form of thinking. he retains his insane tendencies even after he's freed from the Shadow's control.

Dante usually has a calm and collected attitude, but in certain moments he can explode with rage. after his freedom from the Shadow, he adapts a more detached and submissive attitude. after the Shadow is gone for good, he reverts to his old personality and become an optimistic person again.

after he's redeemed, he begins to sport a sillier personality. often making sarcastic comments or pulling cheesy one liners. he even uses a piece of this when he's not redeemed, pulling outrageous stances or strange movements in conjunction with his powers.one of his most notable moments was when he danced his way into the throne room of the crystal empire, while fighting off every guard. his newer personality even rivals Pinkie Pie's, but hers is still the more goofy of the two.

one of his most notable personality traits is his insecurity, which he has in any of his forms or phases. whenever he fights the main protagonists like the Mane Six, Sunset, or Celestia, he slowly reveals his deep repressed sense of inadequacy. he feels as though everyone who's abandoned him left him because he wasn't good enough and he even cries during his fight with equine Twilight after he had "killed" Celestia. when he's beaten for the last time, he finally breaks down in tears and screams at the heroes to tell him how they keep beating him. even after he's freed from the Shadow and everyone forgives him, he still has extreme guilt over his actions, but after The Nothing is defeated, he finally forgives himself.

during his final moments, he expresses the fact that his time with the Equestrians was the best time of his existence. he then resolves to finally rid himself of his powers, effectively making him mortal. when he finally sees his family again in the heavens, he expresses that he finally has found peace.

Appearance(s)
Dante goes through a multitude of changes, but his overall look stays the same.in any form he stands at 6'2 ft in height, while in his equine form, he's about 5 ft in height. in his base forms, he has black hair, the length and style varies between gender and form, and azure blue eyes. in most forms he has a slim, but extremely muscular physique. when he uses Rage Of Tartarus, his muscles grow massively. Dante also possesses elemental forms, each one effecting his body by changing his hair into that element along with his skin and clothes. he remains in his female form after being brought back and even states this can't be undone.

Two out of six powers affect his appearance in a still strange, but proportional way, which are Divine Fury Mode and when he attains Creation. in the first form, Dante summons all his training, knowledge, and uses the residual power of Creation to become a perfect warrior. in this form his hair and eyes become pure silver. in the second form, Dante's skin become pure black and hair turns rainbow colored. his eyes become solid white and a rainbow aura surrounds him.

Three of his more grotesque transformations are when his true nature begins to take control. in One-Winged Angel, Dante looks about the same except that one of his wings is black, while the other is white. his hair becomes half and half too and his eyes do the same. his body also becomes half way cloaked in darkness. in Dark Paladin, Dante gains a set of shadowy armor and his wings split into two sets of three black spider legs. he also turns back into his female form and his hair become fully white. in 99% Corrupted, his body becomes just a shadow that has the size and outline of his normal form. he also has one eye that's still fully white, representing the last bit of his current self.

Despite the other forms, Dante's most horrible form and most powerful form is '''Dark Transformation. '''in this form, Dante's fuses with his most powerful alchemical creation, turning him into a large hulking creature resembling a much larger colossus golem. unlike his golems, which were more smooth and life like, this form resembles an amalgamation of thousands of limbs and tentacles stapled, stitched, and sewn together. Dante's resides in the glass sphere in the creature's chest, acting as its heart and brain.

Before Ancient Sins
Dante began as the 1,451,497th incarnation of The Shadow's vessel, but due to his mind evolving over eons, he was remade as an infant. he was found by a married couple, which consisted of a pegasus father and unicorn mother. the two learned of who he really was and dropped him off at the Canterlot castle, believing that if anyone could lead him down a path of goodness, it would be Princess Celestia.

After she found him, Celestia began raising Dante as if he was her son and taught him many ancient and powerful magics. for his whole life, Dante loved and respected his mother-figure dearly and followed her orders like holy word. one day, though, he found the archives and discovered the event that led to the banishment of Princess Luna, otherwise known as Nightmare Moon and Celestia's younger sister. after Dante learned that Celestia used an ancient and powerful spell that could seal away a being's magical power on herself and sealed away half her magic, seeing it as the reason everyone in her life always envied her.

Dante was distraught over this, but continued to follow her. he later tried to use a spell that would have given him the ability to control time so he could go back and learn of who his family was. Celestia quickly stopped him, finally learning of what he really was, and forbade him from any further magic lessons. finally seeing Celestia as an arrogant tyrant, Dante stole back the scrolls that described the spell and secretly began the ritual. he was once again stopped by Celestia and the two clash in a powerful battle that shook the world, but even with all his abilities, Dante was defeated and turned into an infant by his former teacher, effectively erasing all his memories and knowledge of magic.

Celestia then took Dante to a world without magic and prepared to leave him there, but not before using the same spell that she used on herself to seal away all of Dante's magical abilities, making it to where even if he did find his way back to Equestria, he wouldn't be able to use magic.

Dante was then abandoned on the doorstep of an unnamed orphanage and was taken in by the kindly keepers. soon after he was adopted, but his new family were hateful, abusive, and all around bad. after nearly sixteen years of abuse and pain, he lost control and killed his so called "family". Dante then ran away and began a new life on the run. a while later, he met another runaway, named Sunset Shimmer. after a few weeks together, he had become good friends with the strange girl, who revealed who she really was and where she was from. instead of being shocked or calling her insane, Dante was amazed at the existence of a world filled with magic and mystical creatures, possibly due to the fact that he had dreams about Equestria.

Soon, Sunset stepped into her counterpart's life, but Dante never learned exactly where the counterpart went. he did some digging and found out that she killed her counterpart, but forgave it because of his own past actions. after Sunset enrolled at Canterlot High, Dante stuck around to make sure she didn't go too far with her antics. when she revealed her plan to bring magic into their world, Dante was excited and did his best to help her. when Sunset was defeated, Dante, already having a very low opinion of heroes, began to resent the Humane Six and their effect on others. he later tried to plot with Sunset to beat them, but she was now reformed and ended their friendship.

After he was abandoned again, Dante began to travel around and soon came across the Alicorn Amulet, which ended up in the other world after Midnight Sparkle messed with the dimensional barriers. he was then possessed by The Shadow, who spent the next year training him to use the amulet's powers and overcome its soul sucking effects. he later confronted Sunset and her new friends and easily beat them. he then placed a self destruct spell on the portal and entered Equestria before it went off on their side. when he entered this new land, he was met by Twilight Sparkle and he claimed to be a friend of Sunset's who was infected with Equestrian magic and wanted to understand it.

Obviously, Twilight accepted, mostly due to the fact that Dante appeared as an alicorn in this world. the two then set off on a magical tour of Equestria, but as they visited each powerful location, Dante took a piece of its power using the spectrometer Humane Twilight created. after they got to the Tree of Harmony, Dante revealed his true intentions and absorbed the tree's magic.

Ancient Sins
After Dante betrayed Twilight, the other five found the two and Dante introduced himself after changing back into his human form, with the addition of large, blue luminescent wings and a long glowing horn. he then explained his story and prepared to fight the Mane Six, who he resented just as much for their heroic status. after they try and fail to fight him, he reveals his possession of the amulet, but the girls were not deterred and power up using their Rainbow Power. they blasted Dante with a massive beam of power, but he used the spectrometer to absorb the energy blast and left the gather more power.

He later leveled a piece of Manehattan and created a throne of rubble. the Mane Six soon came and faced him. they offered him a huge amount of power in exchange for the safety of everypony and Pinkie makes him Pinkie Promise, which he does. they fire the spell, but it was meant to shatter the amulet, which was still intact. Dante then revealed that he knew about their plan and begins to berate them for their heroic nature. he then gets into a heated argument with them about why he should've trusted them and vise versa. after he reveals his past, Fluttershy convinced him to destroy the amulet. the others tried to get him to surrender all his power, but he sees this as them wanting the fame all to themselves. he then pours the captured power into his own body and exploits the loophole in his promise: to not harm any pony, but he never promised to no hurt any other creature.

he then goes and creature-naps all the non-pony students of the School of Friendship and lays siege to Canterlot, turning it into a temporary hostage base. he was oblivious to Starlight teleporting the students away and continued to hold down his base. he was then confronted by all the heroes and stated this would be their final encounter. he then fought all the heroes, minus the Mane Six, and could some how hold them all off with ease. he does start to be pushed back and soon they land a powerful hit that knocks him down.

Before the Mane Six can fire their spell, Dante reveals his final hostage: Spike. he orders the heroes to give him their gear and to power down. he releases the dragon and is about to set off, but he first traps the whole group in a painful energy spell. his attack is stopped by Spike, who consumed a piece of the amulet, and the two begin a powerful clash. Dante loses and passes out from the severe burns and bruises.

He is then put on trial for his actions and is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in Tartarus. as he tries to break free from his cage, despite the objections of Tirek, and accidentally sends himself plummeting down into the dark abyss. there, he finds the true Tartarus and begins fighting his way through the hordes of monsters dwelling there, gaining a piece of their power and personality traits. after he conquers the underworld, he faces the three headed demon dog, Cerberus, who he quickly defeats and takes his collars as trophies.

he then emerged in Appleloosa and was greeted by the horrified Mane Six. he then explains how he used the residual power in his body to fight and take the magic of the monsters in Tartarus, but he also tells them he was there for a year. he then tells them that time passes differently down there and that he can finally continue his plans. the group then blast him with the stone spell, but it has no effect. he explains that since he has a piece of Harmony in him, he's immune to it's powers. he then sweeps them away with a massive amount of power and sets off to enact his plans.

he goes around Equestria and gathers numerous artifacts and relics to create a powerful tool to harness his magic. after he's gathered the items, he tries to bond them, but realizes since the magics are so different, he needs to physically combine the items and goes to the Dragonlands. he meets Garble and easily beats him and his gang. he commands the dragon to take him to Ember and when he gets there, he demands the dragon scepter. the dragonlord began to fight him, with the staff increasing her power immensely.

the fight continued, with Ember showing her full power and Dante unveiling a new ability. he easily beat the dragonlord and claimed the scepter. as the dragons bowed to his power, he dubbed himself "dragon god" and gathered all the dragons in one spot. he first ordered Spike to attack the heroes to insure they wouldn't interrupt and then placed all the relics on the rim of a magical volcano. he then ordered all the dragons to breath a collective blast of flame on the items and he added his own power to the mix. after the heroes broke Dante's control over Spike, he was finished forging his weapon, which he called the Heaven Staff.

He later retreats into the Everfree forest and tries to come up with a way to finally beat the heroes, but he can't think of anything. he then states that if they were never around then they couldn't have beaten him, which gives him the idea to go back in time and erase the events that caused them to become heroes. he remembers the unicorn, Starlight Glimmer, and how she created a spell that could be used to go back in time. he goes to Canterlot in an attempt to draw the heroes to him, which succeeds.

He confronts Starlight and Spike in the library, which he drained of all its knowledge. he offers her the chance to be a ruler of the land, but she refuses and the two enter a powerful fight. despite the magical mastery his opponent has and her sheer will power, Dante manages to steal the spell from her mind and sets off the create a time vortex. the group confronts him in the Castle of The Two Sisters and they engage in a powerful clash. the fight is almost won, but the heroes pull through and send Dante flying through the portal.

Dante emerges in the past, but not six hundred years, sixty thousand years ago. he then begins to train and hones his powers to unbelievable levels. he also crates a link to Midnight Sparkle and the two soon become lovers. after the years pass and Dante learns he was the one who created many of the important events in Equestria's past, which include: Luna's corruption, the windigos, and many other events, he's finally caught up to the present timeline. he watches from a far as the heroes celebrate his defeat and he states that they should enjoy their victory and remarks that they don't have many left.

He then goes off and creates a massive palace on the outskirts of Equestria and leaves to assemble all the villains both the Mane Six and Humane Six have ever faced, including his new girlfriend. after he brings the villains to his palace, and beats them when they attack, he convinces them to join him and fight the heroes. he and Midnight stay and watch the fight, while making jokes based on which villain attacks and how. after they are all beaten, Dante goes and shows his new powers to the shocked heroes, who he easily beats and reveals what really happened to him when they sent him to the past. he then leaves, preparing to wage a war on the heroes.

In The Past
After three weeks have passed, Dante's forces have taken over many influential locations in Equestria. he is later discussing with his allies about the progress of the takeover, which is going good. he later wonders if allying himself with failures was a good idea, but Midnight convinces him to relax. after the Las Pegasus team in beaten, he warns the Manehattan team that the heroes are on their way. after all the villains are defeated, Dante brings them back to the palace and severely reprimands them. as Midnight tries unsuccessfully to relax him, he begins to smell something. he then stumbles into a pool where he discovers all the unhappy souls the heroes have left in their wake. he then comes up with the idea to create new villains.

After Dante hears the complaints of the Diamond Dogs, he endows them with amazing power and sends them off to fight the heroes. Dante watches the fight with a skeptic Midnight and he remarks how this turned out better than he expected. even after they're defeated, Dante still calls this a win and states that if there was one group out there, then there must be more.

He then begins creating many more villains from both Equestria's nice inhabitants and its bad ones. the next villain was Triple Threat, who was made from the Cutie Mark Crusaders after they were angered by their older sisters' egos. next, he empowers Garble when his rage at the pony/dragon peace rises very high. after that he empowers Pip Speak after he has a nightmare and Luna doesn't save him. next, he empowered Flim and Flam after one of their schemes is outed by Applejack. after that, he empowers Trixie when her show goes off the rails.

Around the time Hearth's Warming comes, Dante confesses that he despises the holiday, saying it's nothing but a constant reminder of his tragic social life. he then tries to find someone who shares in his frustration, by no one in all of Equestria, not even the villains harbor any hatred for this holiday. he decides to turn himself into a villains and endows himself with the power to steal joy from others, which makes him more powerful. when he's defeated, Midnight and the other villains give him a gift to cheer him up. he then reveals that he also got them all gifts and as the crowd celebrates, Dante finally starts to enjoy Hearth's Warming.

After a few weeks pass, Dante is convinced to turn Midnight into an augmented villain. he grants her a wide array of powers, which make her current abilities even more powerful, making her the most powerful villain Dante's ever created. at first she's able to beat the heroes easily and he then asks her the big question, which she instantly says yes to. during this moment, though, she is killed by equine Twilight, which causes Dante to finally step outside his castle and help her. as she is dying, the two express just how much they mean to each other and Dante slides the ring onto her finger. after she dies, he tells the heroes he will assault them with every pain, violation, and agony imaginable. he then sends out all the villains to destroy Equestria, but he meets the Mane Six and Sunset on a very large mountain cliff. after he quickly beats them, he creates a massive bomb of power that turns all of Equestria into dust. after Discord reverses time and gives the surviving group a sword laced with a different kind of stone body spell, Sunset impales Dante while he's monologue.

as he's dying, Dante freezes time and begins chatting with Sunset. he tells her that he'll be back and that he knows about her dark secret. he reveals that when she told him about who she really is, then he began investigating and soon found the humane Sunset Shimmer, but she was just stone bits and pieces scattered throughout a forest. after he claims he'll return, he restarts time and whispers in Sunset's ear:"see you in your nightmares". he then falls off the cliff, but as he falls and petrifies, he smiles. his spirit later emerges from the pieces of his body after Twilight checks to make sure he's dead.

Reform
After five years of being a ghost, thanks to his soul piece idea, he finally gains enough strength to manifest himself before the terrified heroes. he manages to speak a few words and even recognizes Twilight, but soon disappears. he later returns when his body is reconstructed by the Philosopher's Stone, but with one major difference. he expresses relief at having a body, but soon notices that he's now a girl. he, now a she, quickly writes this off as a minor inconvenience and then explains to the mostly confused heroes that she used an ancient spell that allows a person to bond their soul to objects, which she did ten times.

After showing the heroes her new powers, Dante departs from the crumbling temple. she also absorbs the power of the stone and uses it to create six massive giants, and one colossus made from all six's remains, which the heroes are able to defeat by manifesting new powers. she dismisses the villains claim that this is bad, saying that you don't eat a cake until it's done, hinting at her plan to steal their powers. she explains that she learned of the ancient powers in the past, which were used by powerful beings to create the universe. she then tells the villains that the heroes all possess these power, except Nightmare Moon, who Dante takes the power of Darkness from. she later sets off to collect the rest of the powers and instructs the villains to go and keep the rest of the heroes allies busy.

She goes and battles Discord to claim his power of Chaos, but he proves to be more than a match to Dante's power. after a lengthy and hard battle, Dante defeats Discord and take his power. she later follows the heroes when they search for the secret library where they learn of the ancient powers and '''Creation. '''she's able to learn the spell to summon this power and goes off to collect the rest of the powers. she later destroys Cloudsdale as a warning for the heroes to stop, but this only incites Rainbow Dash to go and face her.

during their confrontation, Dante reveals that Fluttershy has been in love with Rainbow since they were kids, leaving her in utter shock. Dante shows Rainbow a true display of her power, which shakes the latter to her core. she later makes another appearance at Spike and Rarity's wedding, where she reveals that she made a deal with Spike. in exchange for unlocking the dormant feeling of love in Rarity's heart, Spike would cease his kind's involvement in the fight.

when the others destroy the last of her soul pieces, Dante begins feeling fear and resolves to thin the amount of allies the heroes have. she goes to the other world and begins to destroy all the portals leading to Equestria, but the Humane Six and Sunset fight her off. the six, minus Sunset, manifest newer and more powerful magic that let's them nearly defeat Dante, but she also reawakens her old magic. she finally destroys the last portal and ventures back to Equestria.

She then lures the mane six to her by creating a massive bomb and tries to erase their memories, but is instead mind wiped herself. she reverts to her male from and remembers everything from the time when he was Sunset's friend, but nothing else. during this time, Dante befriends the heroes and even defends them when they are attacked by one of his monsters. when the bomb he created can't be turned off, the group reluctantly tries to restore his memories, leading to Dante revealing all the trauma and pain he's been through in his life. he changes back into his female form and turns off the bomb, leaving to go and create the twins Oni and Nyx.

while the mane six are occupied with the twins, Dante goes and fights Celestia for the power of '''Light. '''despite having her full power reawakened, Celestia also regains her magic and puts up a powerful fight with her old student. they fight hard and long, all the while Dante reprimands her old teacher for her part in abandoning her and erasing her whole life. after a final comment of blame, Dante defeats Celestia, takes her power, and kills her in front of the Mane Six. she then burns Canterlot down after declaring it doesn't have meaning to her anymore.

After "killing" Celestia, Dante fights Twilight, who has attained the power of Hatred, in a fierce ad powerful duel. after exchanging earth shattering blows, Twilight gains the upper hand and starts to relentlessly pummel Date, who can now be killed. after regaining her senses, Twilight lets up, which allows Dante to fight back even harder. after Twilight calms down, Dante confesses that she hates Twilight just as much as she hates her. she reveals that this is because Twilight has lived the life Dante was meat to have, but was denied.

before the two can continue, a portal opens up and sucks Twilight in, leaving Dante alone. after being explained what's happened, Twilight meets a now powerless and older Dante chained in the base's basement. she tells her that when the two were fighting, Dante fired a fatal blast at Applejack, which made Twilight break down in anguish. using this moment, Dante corrupted her with darkness, turning her into Eclipse Dawn, but since Twilight is so broken, she was able to break Dante's control. she then tells Twilight, that she easily beat her and took all her powers, which made her even more powerful.

Dante tells Twilight that after she ascended to even higher levels of power, she began to turn the world into a "perfect paradise" by freezing those thing she saw as good and destroying those she saw as bad. after her friends tried to stop her, Twilight's unstable mind leads her to kill them and she then unleashes a blast that annihilates all the world, leaving her to sit in the same spot and mutter to herself. after Twilight defeats Eclipse, Dante and Pinkie come and thank her for her help and wish her luck in fixing the past. Dante also apologizes for her actions and hopes Twilight can save her past self, but before she can go into detail about another thing, Pinkie quickly silences her, saying the past should never know about the future.

Dante then fires the fatal attack, but Twilight's able to stop it. when Twilight is distracted, Dante defeats her and takes to power of '''Hatred. she also takes the power of Harmony and departs to take the final power of Love. '''when she returns to the villains, she is more unstable due to killing her mother figure and orders the villains to kill the heroes. she is shocked and appalled by their betrayal and denounces love and friends as weakness and lies.

She plots a siege on the Crystal Empire, with all the heroes and their allies facing her. they take advantage of her inability to activate her powers without snapping her fingers and she is subdued. Dante breaks free and is destroyed by Humane Pinkie, while the others use a spell from the Ancient Library to get rid of Cadence's power. the spell works, but Dante is able to come back quickly and uses Darkness and Light to reverse time. she defeats all the assailants and enters the empire and finds Cadance with Flurry Heart. after a quick fight through the city, Dante takes the power of Love from Flurry and ascends to the level of a god. she goes off and realizes that she needs one last piece of Harmony from the Humane Six and creates a rift to the other world. she fuses it with Equestria and it becomes a twisted and bizarre landscape.

she is once again stopped by the heroes, but still manages to beat them all. she begins the process to erase the universe, but Sunset, after being imbued with the residual energy of Creation from the others, tries to appeal to Dante's humanity, but she solemnly says it's impossible before turning into a hulking beast of horrible appearance and size. she then battles Sunset across the universe, transporting between different times and worlds before they stop on a large building. after Sunset turns her back to normal, Dante forces Sunset to watch as her friends are erased, giving her the drive to defeat Dante once and for all.

she is blasted by a combined Creation blast from all the heroes and is reverted back to her original form and her male form. he admits defeat, but is forgiven by Sunset and he also forgives her. a large beam of light fills him and a spade shaped gem appears in from of him. Equine Twilight realizes it's an element of harmony; the element of forgiveness.

a few weeks later and the villains have been integrated into society, all except for one: Dante.

Eclipse
When he and Sunset are knocked down, the two finally admit their feelings and vow to always be by each other's side, which allows them to fuse into a being of unimaginable power. the others join them and they fight and defeat The Nothing, ending the universal cycle of destruction once and for all.

Epilogue
After 3 thousand years have passed and all the heroes of Equestria and the other world are dead, Dante journeys to the same cliff where he was first killed. he meets with Discord, who also expresses great sadness at their passing and says he misses them every day. Dante then explains that he came here to rid himself of his powers using a modified version of the Spell of Absolution, so he can finally die for real. he then manages to convince Discord that even f they did make new friends, it wouldn't be the same.

The two then use an ancient spell to get rid of all their collective magic and pour it into the staff. after Discord is amazed at the fact that he's fully mortal, even having a human body, Dante destroys the staff and all the magic pours out to find new users. the two incredibly old friends then jump of the cliff and after a moment of darkness, they arrive in a white city where they find all their friends having a picnic. Dante then says that he has finally found peace.

Abilities
For spells, see Powers and Moves
 * Shadow/Alicorn Physiology: Dante is both the 1,451,497th incarnation of The Nothing's physical form and was reborn as an Alicorn, which gives him access to powerful magic, immense strength, and all around god-like prowess. even after he had his powers sealed away, he still managed to regain them through training. this also gives him immunity to void attacks, which he can still be affected by, but won't be erased from.
 * Immense Strength: Dante possesses strength great enough to surpass fully grown alicorns and challenge the strongest of beings almost equally. his strength can be outmatched or rivaled by others, notably Humane Applejack, The Shadow, all the alicorns, and primordial beings.
 * Nigh-Invulnerability: Dante possesses great durability against harm and damage, with most attacks leaving barely a scratch on him. the only times where he is damaged are when he fights beings of equal or greater power. taking advantage of his resistance, Dante mostly takes the brunt of his opponent's attacks head on.
 * High Intellect: even before training his mind, Dante possessed great understanding of spells, equations, and many other things when he was younger. after his knowledge was taken, Dante still had a good mind, which allowed him to accept the existence of Equestria. after his training, Dante's mind grew to the point where his wisdom was borderline omni-science. the greatest example of his intellect was that fact that he outsmarted a being much older than him.
 * Master Manipulator: using his immense mind, and his rank as "the puppeteer", Dante is able to use subtle hints and the right words to make people act that way he expects. he mostly used this to make the heroes fight him all out and summon Creation to purge The Shadow from his mind.
 * Powerful Speed: thanks to his alicorn physiology and magical power, Dante is able to move at amazing speeds that outclass many other speed users. after his training, Dante gains the ability to move at speeds that make it look like he's teleporting from place to place.
 * Enhanced Stamina: Dante has stated that he's trained himself to be able to run at top speed for days on end, meaning he has the endurance to go on for a very long period of time. Whenever he looks exhausted or over exerted, he recovers almost instantly.
 * Acute senses: after his training, Dante gained extreme sensory power, which allows him to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste things at a very high level. he can also turn off his ability to react to certain things.
 * Master Tracker: using his high senses, Dante is able to find anything in his immediate vicinity using small things.
 * Indomitable Will: Dante possesses immense will power and determination, which allows him to go through things that most people couldn't imagine. this ability allowed him to travel through Tartarus, train in the past, and wait thousands of years to achieve his goals.
 * Pain suppression: after his training, and possibly before, Dante was able to completely rid himself of the ability to feel pain. he reveals that he can still feel pain, but only in massive quantities.
 * Mental fortitude: even before he gained any sort of powers, Dante had a very impressive resistance to mental problems and other neurological issues. when he gained magic, his fortitude was increased to the point where no mind reading, psychic, or telepathic powers could penetrate his mind.
 * Expert martial artist: when he doesn’t use magic or any special powers, Dante is able to fight hand to hand with unparalleled skills and mastery. his abilities in this field allow him to even fight every single hero at once with just his hands. the way he fights can sometimes look like he's dancing.
 * Extreme weapon proficiency: after his training, Dante became able to use any and all weapons with expert skill. his prowess in weapons is only matched by Humane Rarity.
 * Great Musician: Dante can use every type of instrument with masterful ability, but mostly uses a flute.
 * Vast magical power: due to his lineage and what he was reborn as, Dante possesses a vast amount of magical power which is so great that it literally radiates off of him. an example of this is when it's shown that his power imitates as a massive maelstrom of rainbow light that makes any who look at it break down in fear.
 * Intimidation: Dante radiates pure power, both literally and figuratively, which allows him to terrify anyone in his presence. this skill also makes him one of the few beings who are immune to Fluttershy's stare and he can also make one that's even more paralyzing.

Powers

 * Magic: Dante has the ability to use the creative force that fills and consumes all things, allowing him to preform many feats of impossible nature. Dante has shown to be immensely proficient with it and can do things other masters, who have studied for decades, couldn't even imagine. he states that the limits of magic are in the limits of the user's imagination, meaning magic itself has no limits.
 * Void Magic: Due to him being a creation of The Shadow, Dante can use magic that can erase anything. however, due to him believing he was a real person, he subconsciously locked this power away, along with any memory of his true nature. He does later learn how to use it without reverting to his shadow self, but to a lesser degree.
 * Alicorn Magic: after he was reborn in Equestria, Dante gained his Alicorn power. this power also embodies an essential aspect of existence, which is the balance of life as represented by the spade cutie mark.
 * Shape shifting: Dante can change into any creature or person. it’s revealed, though, that this process is extremely painful since he physically morphs into different forms, but he’s not affected by it.
 * Elemental control: Dante possesses the power to control the elements of nature. he mostly prefers fire, since it's feisty nature is similar to him.
 * Energy Manipulation: Dante can endow people or objects with magical power and can even take magical power from others and add it to his own.
 * Mind manipulation: Dante can warp the thoughts and feelings of a person, but this can be resisted if the individual is strong willed.
 * Alchemy: after absorbing the power of the Philosopher's Stone, Dante gains the ability to use the ancient power to transmute elements and control matter.
 * Object Manifestation: Dante has the ability to create objects from the energy his body radiates.
 * Storm of Arrows: a huge barrage of magical arrows, imbued with different effects.
 * Armor: Dante's magical aura can act as a shield, but can also be hardened to protect against physical attacks.
 * Weapons: Dante can turn the energy into a multitude of weaponry, but mostly has only summoned sabers.
 * Tentacles: Dante condenses the energy into multiple limbs and tendrils.
 * Nigh-Omnipotence: after absorbing all the ancient powers, Dante ascended to the level of a god and gained the power to reshape the universe.
 * Photo-Umbrakinesis: Dante trained all his life to use dark and light magic, to one day take on the role and raiser and setter of the sun and moon, and can use them very proficiently. after taking Darkness and Light, he gained much more powerful versions of these abilities. even after losing the two powers, he can still use the magics to a masterful degree.
 * Time Manipulation: after studying dozens of time spells, Dante gained a very hard grasp on time magic and can use it to a high degree. after combing Darkness and Light, Dante gained the ability to completely control time. even after he lost these powers, he can still manipulate time to a lesser degree.
 * Reality Manipulation: after combining Chaos and Harmony, Dante gained the ability to control the fabric of reality. after losing the two powers, he lost this ability all together.
 * People Manipulation: while already having this power, Dante gained a much more potent version after combining Love and Hatred. he still had the lesser version, even after losing these two powers.


 * Immortality: first, Dante just had an infinite life span, but after creating the soul pieces, Dante was able to keep living even after his body was destroyed. after he was cursed by The Nothing, he became fully immortal and could be not be killed by anything, even other immortals.


 * Regeneration: after attaining the power of Alchemy, Dante could heal his body or build a new one when his was destroyed as long as his soul was still in the mortal plane. this condition was later removed after he used Creation again and he became fully immortal.


 * Dream traveling and control: because Dante's mind is so evolved, he can both control his dreams and travel to new ones.

Relationships
Sunset shimmer: the two were best friends, due to there shared history of running away and having to fend for themselves. as their friendship grows, they begin to feel attraction towards the other, but never admit it. after she's reformed, however, the two break up and Dante begins to grow hatred for her and heroes in general. he then spends five years training with the amulet for the sole reason of being able to beat her and her superhero posse. throughout the story, he continues to hate her and constantly berates her for trying to be a hero by bringing up reasons she's cold hearted. one time, he even tells her he knows about her dark secret: that she killed her humane counterpart to assume her place. in the new reality, the two are still friends, but she later remembers their real lives and continues to fight Dante. when they are fighting as the universe is being erased, she finally rebuffs all Dante's claims by saying that she is better now and that it's not her fault that he's become what he is. after Dante reforms, the two work to rebuild their relationship. when he's killed, Sunset is intensely devastated at the lose of her best friend. the two even fight together against The Nothing when they regain Creation and fuse into one being. afterwards, the he finally admits that he loves her, which the latter also admits. the two become intimate and even after she's dead, Dante still remembers her fondly and is over joyed to see her again in the heavens.

Celestia: she was Dante's mother figure and the one who first taught him magic. they developed a real mother son bond and grew up happy. when Dante tried to use a spell that would give him control of time, she refused him the knowledge, which was the first time she ever did this. this argument escalated to the point where the two fought and Celestia banished him from Equestria, but not before turning him into an infant and sealing away his powers. he forgets her and his past, but after he finds the amulet and reconnects to his magic, he remembers everything. he then holds great rage towards her for abandoning him like everyone else has and he even kills her, but this is revealed to be a ruse. he reveals, that he understood why she did what she did and still cares about her. after he's reformed, the two try and rebuild their relationship, but after she is killed, Dante is among the utterly devastated. when The Nothing is defeated, Dante morns for her and even calls her "mother" for the first. Dante is happy to see her again in the after life.

Discord: despite getting off on hard terms, the two eventually become great friends and even work together to train the heroes. they soon reach the point where they'd willingly die for each other and try to defend the other in battle. after all the heroes have passed away, the two remain close and soon meet after millennias to preform their final magical ritual.

Equine Fluttershy: she at, first, is kind to Dante, but after he's become a real villain, she grows to dislike him. when she once again feels helpless because of her inability to fight, Dante turns her into a angry monster that gets stronger and bigger the more she's hit. when Dante joins the team and reveals his true history, she forgives him and welcomes him. she tries to help him get along with others and he like-wise helps her gain a more tough and heroic attitude. he's happy to she her again in the afterlife.

Equine Twilight/Eclipse Dawn: she was the first person Dante met when he entered the world of Equestria. at first, the two got along well, until Dante revealed his true colors, making Twilight feel betrayed and hurt. the resentment between the two continues to grow when Dante continuously threatens and destroys her home. Dante also grows to hate her just as much, not just when she kills Midnight, but after he gets his memories back, he realizes that she got everything he was denied. after Dante "kills" Celestia, her rage finally erupts and grants her the full power of Hatred, which allows her to fight him at his current-at-the-time full power. she still harbors some anger at Dante, even after he reveals his possession. when he's killed, she is visibly heartbroken and immensely happy when he's revealed to be alive. when Celestia is killed, he comforts her. he is happy to see her again in the afterlife. he does hold great distain for her future counterpart.

Equine Rainbow Dash: at first, they have no personal interaction, but after Dante destroys Cloudsdale, she goes to face him herself. Dante does hold some respect for her warrior-like attitude and fighting ability, but hold great disdain for her immense pride and self image. she actually shows fear towards him because of him making her feel weak and helpless, which is a feeling she's never had before. after his defeat, he tries his best to apologize for his actions, but she still holds both fear and hatred in her heart towards him. after he's killed by The Nothing, she shows sadness for both his death and her inability to forgive him when she had the chance. she's immensely relived when he's revealed to be alive and he's happy to see her again in the afterlife.

Equine Pinkie Pie: when the two first meet, Dante remarks on how his actions are like a party about to begin, which offends Pinkie. he later makes the unbreakable oath(Pinkie Promise) to not harm the ponies of Equestria, but uses a loophole to attack the other creatures that aren't ponies. unlike the others, Pinkie does hold slight hope that he can be redeemed and when he is, she accepts him almost instantly. she later helps him, alongside Applejack, to get in the people's good graces. after her antics cause a failure in a mission, Dante benches her from fighting, but when he asks why she's always so silly, she reveals a very shocking secret that no one else even knows. after Dante is killed, Pinkie is one of the more devastated ones and is super-duper happy when he's revealed to be alive, even by her standards. he is happy to see her in the afterlife.

Equine Applejack:

The Humane Six: at first Dante was a friend of these six, but after becoming dark, he resented them for separating him and Sunset. it’s shown that Dante is attracted to the other twilight’s alter ego, Midnight sparkle. they were the first people to actually challenge his power, which makes him have partial respect for them. after he’s defeated he makes peace with them, but they both remain wary of each other. they are also saddened by his death, but are relived when he's alive. he sees them again in the after life, but doesn't speak with them.

Starlight glimmer: Daniel tried to get her to join him because of her amazing magical abilities, but she was able to counter his mind control spell when she refused. throughout the story, they meet as enemies, but both hold a small degree of respect for each other because of their abilities. after he's defeated, Dante teaches her along with the rest of the heroes how to use more powerful magic. he sees her again in the after life, but doesn't speak with her.

Midnight sparkle/ Eclipse Dusk: after Dante created a link to her within humane Twilight's mind, they fell in love. he shows on multiple occasions that he cares deeply for her and the very thought of harm coming to her makes him worry. his love for her extends to the point where he proposed and she accepted. as she's dying, he shows a very rare side of himself where he's emotionally destroyed and begs her not to go, singing along to a song that the two wrote, which states that she means the world to him and that he'll always love her.

Subordinates/ Followers: Dante treats the people who follow him and work with him with much respect, but at the same time he demands that they follow his orders and thoughts. later in his villain phase, Dante begins treating his followers more like servants rather than equals and even fights them when they fail or disobey.

The Shadow: when he was possessed by her, his indomitable will prevented her from controlling his mind, but he managed to convince her that she was doing something. through their time together, Dante despises every second of his time with her, but unwittingly grows attached to her. after she reveals what he really is, Dante grows to hate her even more and vows to kill her. when he finally destroys her for good, he feels like a piece of him is gone.

The Nothing: Dante displays the same level of hatred that he had for The Shadow towards it, but still feels a very small attachment to it due to it being his creator.

Dark stardust: she’s a representation of Dante when he was possessed by the Shadow, but they soon reach an mutual peace.

Equipment
Alicorn amulet: a necklace that endows its holder with amazing power, but it also sucks out their rationality. Dante's indomitable will and mental fortitude was able to overcome this effect, though.

The Heaven Staff: a staff made from tons of equestrian relics, which endows it with hundreds of capabilities. an unforeseen side effect of its immense power is that it can only be wielded by beings who are either very strong or truly worthy. it is later destroyed in order to get rid of Dante and Discord's powers.

Philosopher's stone: an ancient relic crafted by the centaurs that harnesses the pure power of Alchemy, which allows it's user to transmute elements and even create life.

Element of forgiveness: a spade shaped gem that can harness the power of harmony, this is later destroyed.

First soul piece: his old study journal(location: Canterlot archives).

Second soul piece: a picture of him and Celestia when he was a kid(location: Dante’s old room in the castle).

Third soul piece: a ring he made for Sunset(location: Sunset’s room).

Forth soul piece: a necklace, which is revealed to contain a memory of Dante and Celestia playing a game of chess, which was their favorite pass time.(location: around Celestia’s neck).

Other six soul pieces: the elements of harmony.

Eleventh Soul Piece: Sunset Shimmer.

Quotes
"'Oh good, the others have arrived, now we can really get this party going.' Dante's first words to the group.""'Behold the relic of pure power, a divine tool of destruction, I present the Heaven Staff!' Dante, after forging the Heaven Staff.""'Enjoy your victory girls, because you don't have many left.' Dante after returning from the past.""'I will parade you with every violation imaginable, I will rain down every pain possible on your cold dead corpses, and feed your souls to the vilest beasts of Tartarus, that is my promise to you all!' Dante, after Midnight is killed.""'See you in your nightmares.' Dante after Sunset impales him with the stone spell sword.""'I will not be defeated! I'll unleash all my power, in a single unified shot, blasting you and this world straight to hell!' Dante about to fire his etherno spell.""'My rage comes from a life time of pain and suffering, that's not something you can erase with words of sentiment! all of that garbage is easy for you to believe, because when you change, you get better, but I've only ever gotten worse. i started out as being not good enough! not good enough for my parents, not good enough for Celestia, and even not good enough for Sunset!' Dante during his fight with Twilight.""'I can feel the power of the universe coursing through my being, gaze at my form in awe and worship me mortals. me the almighty, the perfect, the everlasting, the all knowing, and invincible. all hail Dark Stardust.' Dante after he attains Creation.""'you dare to challenge me, mortals, a god?!'Dante to the heroes after they power up to fight him.""'I want to believe you and I want to believe I can have a happy ending, but She can't be stopped. Dark Transformation.' Dante subtly revealing his possession and becoming a pure monster.""'I may die, but they will never give up. no matter what, they will always win, because...they...are...heroes!' Dante before the Shadow kills him.""'may you rest in peace, mother.' Dante morning Celestia.""'wow, I guess friendship really is magic.' Dante remarking the scene where all of the universes come to his rescue.""“Maybe we could make new friends,but it wouldn’t be the same.they were different,they made us better,they changed us in ways no one else ever has.you didn’t even know who you really were until you met them.” Dante trying to convince Discord it's impossible to start over."