Are Alicorns really all they're hyped up to be?

[ManaMinori 4,149]

 

I wonder, because it truly seems like they live boring lives and suffer from an Alicorn uselessness curse, in spite of all the magnificence and power they're perieved to wield. I've been sensing a pattern amongst the alicorns that started with Sunbutt....

 

Season 1- Sunbutt is unable to use the EoH or her own power to turn Luna back from NMM. Alicorn uselessness curse first spotted

 

Sunbutt arranges for the mane 6 to fight over Gala tickets, knowing spthat Twilight has more than 1friend, because it amuses her

 

Sunbutt invites all 6 to the GGG , expecting them to wreak havoc, because her life is boring and Gala needed spicing up

 

Sunbutt led Fluttershy to believe she had killed her pet, because Philomena is just as much a prankster as its owner. Because princess lives are boring, and she needed a laugh

 

Neither Luna nor Sunbutt posess the magical or diplomatic ability to move a sleeping dragon off their lands, and protect their citizens from hundreds of years of smoke inhalation.

 

Season 2- Sunbutt doesn't think something as powerful as EoH will be stolen, and fails to put a preventive spell on them, in spite of all her power and visions.

 

Sunbutt nor Luna can deal with mishevious chaos spirit through their own power

 

Neither sister protects Ponyville from a a rampaging adult dragon

 

Royal sisters unable to stop Chrysalis on their own. (Luna completey MIA). Cadance unable to defeat Chrysalis without Shining Armor. More alicorn uselessness.

 

Season 3- None of the 3 alicorns (Sunbutt, Luna, or Cadance) able to stop Sombra

 

Season 4- Alicorn uselessness curse allows Discord's plunder vines to ponynap Royal sisters, proving to be powerless and helpless, Even with all their magic. Cadance MIA. Alicorn Twi useless

 

Cadance admjts to her life being boring as a princess, and craves amusement and adventure to break the monotony of ruling an empire. In favor of Discord's mischief and wild errands. (like adoptive aunt, like niece)

 

All 4 alicorns MIA to stop Rarity's dark magic spree, until itts time to clean it up.

 

3 alicorns sacrifice power to Alicorn twilight, in spite knowig that she discovered the magic of friendship was the strongest magic. Alicorn Twi still useless, unable to eat Tirek without her friends, and friendship magic, knowing that thats what is strongest.

 

Season 5- Twi unable to stop Starlight Glimmer. 3 other alicorns MIA and useless, when cutie marks are stolen.

 

Continuation of GGG shenanigan, because Sunbutt is bored and needs a laugh to spice up monotony at the expense of endangering her subjects.. Alicorn uselessness curse card activated, making Smooze immune to alicorn magic of Twi and Sunbutt.

 

3 alicorns letting 1 overwork herself for 3 days, without intervening. Neither of te 3 alicorns able to stop Canterlot chaos from stupid dignitaries and chance accidents. (and surely one of the alicorns had to have approved te planting of the dragon sneeze trees, likely for no other good reason than a good laugh)

 

Luna suffers from Alicorn uselessness curse, unable to stop her own creation from threatening the waking world, without mane 6 intervention. Sunbutt, by extenstion proved useless again, being MIA to stop her own sisterr, and being the cause of Luna's emotional instability, in the first place.

 

All 4 alicorns unable to stop revenge-driven unicorn from bucking with timelines (Cadance, Luna, Sunbutt guilty by being useless and MIA). Twi proved useless when all her alicorn magic fails her, and has to convice Starlight to stop herself, in the end.

 

So yeah, given the evidence, it seems like alicorns aren't really as great and powerful as the fans, and Equestrian citizens cosider them to be. They're shown to be bored of their monotonous royal lives, to the point of needing to sabotage events dignified events for a good time, and seem to all fall to the curse of alicorn uselessness, when it comes time o protect the peace and harmony of the land, or their citizens on their own.

 

But what are you guys' thoughts on the usefulness of alicorns? Are they really canonically all they're chaocked up to be?

[TBlaze 158]

That's exactly what I think about 'em. I've been a zealous fan of alicorn world-destroying abilities for a long time, and I'd like to be one now, but after noticing everything you just listed, I eventually came to a conclusion that they are just overrated by fans. I wouldn't even be surprised if princesses suddenly turned out to be like 3 regular unicorns with their magic. Of course it does not sum up when we look at Tirek's vs Twilight's power level, but what in this show really sums up in this aspect? I'm under heavy impression that ponies' magical and other power changes constantly

[yeet 2,027]

It's probably because it was so long since something happened that needed strong magic, that they haven't used it, and so they're weaker. Not everyone can be over 9000.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 42,202]

his is one of the many reasons to why I loved that Twilight became a princess. Alicorns are more powerful, we all know that, but the overall hype that the FiM world had for alicorns has dropped considerably since then and I think that is a good thing. Before thye were treated as these type of gods and that got old.

[Midnight Seashell 206]

They probably grow weaker with age or they would rather let the younger generation deal with all the problems, I mean what better way to solve a problem then letting someone else deal with it?

[silvadel 1,393]

Or it could be that like most ponies, the alicorns are best in their domain, and the only thing they have going for them beyond normal ponies outside of it is the amount of time that they have lived.

 

It isn't like Celestia has a magical cutie mark.  She has a sun cutie mark.  She is good at raising and lowering the sun.  This has surprisingly little utility at other times of the day.

[Untitled Goose Q 5,138]

Is it because Celestia/Luna are not as powerful as everyone thinks... or is it because they don't want the ponies to rely on them forever, and are moving some of the responsibility to other shoulders?

[Slashy 101]

I think as we have seen with other ponies having the ability to do all sorts of things doesn't mean you'll necessarily be the best at it. We already saw Sunburst being way more knowledgeable about magical theory than Twilight, and Starlight Glimmer, despite being a unicorn, seems like a far better spell caster. We have seen Rainbow Dash be a far better flyer than pretty much any other pony in the series.

 

This is to say nothing of other non-pony species who we have seen some serious feats from. I mean look dragons, they are durable, most can fly, and they can breathe fire. There is even some evidence that they have some ability to cast spells as well. The only things alicorns have over dragons is a more control over nature (namely they can grow food?) and a greater spell casting ability, but this cost comes at being far less durable. Oh and they're not useless, as Spike is nearly tied with Twilight for the number of times Equestria has been saved, and he doesn't need a macguffin to do so.

 

This is to say nothing that due to the loose nature of the lore and the world, as well as applying some real world concepts to the mix, that alicorns couldn't be bested by some new concept that raises the power ceiling or renders their capabilities pointless.

[Fractured 2,684]

So yeah, given the evidence, it seems like alicorns aren't really as great and powerful as the fans, and Equestrian citizens cosider them to be. They're shown to be bored of their monotonous royal lives, to the point of needing to sabotage events dignified events for a good time, and seem to all fall to the curse of alicorn uselessness, when it comes time o protect the peace and harmony of the land, or their citizens on their own.

I think you're asking two different questions, with two different answers. Are they powerful? Heck yes, they are. Does that translate into function? No. Would that you could solve every one of your actions by blasting them away, nuking them with magic, or using complicated and arcane spells to deal with threats. But, as princesses, they ascended to a higher job than just solidly Equestria's defenders, and stepped into another playing field. One where politics and the world view dictates your actions, and they no longer can simply be "blow everything around you to smithereens," or "take time off to solve everyone's problems." Yes, even for something as big as "one unicorn has taken over Ponyville"; they have trust others to be able to handle those situations while they're out making sure Equestria proper is still standing. Because they're simply not able to donate enough time for all these issues. (And that's provided they even know about these problems before they're finished; Equestrian communication is notoriously crapshot, to say the least).

 

Second notation: being a princess sorta sucks. Twilight pretty got the best of both worlds in that she's ruling over a town that didn't need one to begin with, but it's not all laser fights and going out to stop mystical deities. It's hours and hours (and hours) of paperwork, meeting with dignitaries and business owners, and dozens and dozens of everyday menial tasks you have to do to prevent your nation from falling apart. Having said that, of course they're bored; at least Celestia and Luna have been doing the same work for a thousand years straight (not like you get a break from ruling a nation). If they want a little amusement, there's no problem with that; it'd probably be a much worse thing if they were completely detached from any form of personal desire, all things considered. It shows that they're still alive, in the metaphorical, emotional sense. Amazing, after all of the garbage they've been through thus far.