ALICORNS EXPLAI-NAH

[Nixter 180]

I would hardly call Applejack bland!

Your story is actually quite cool. But earth ponies aren't boring, they just have talents that don't involve or require wings and horns. Applejack is a farmer, her talent is running sweet apple acers and she doesn't need a horn nor wings to do it. Infact, she is so good at it that she can do it without wings or a horn. Rainbow dash probably could, but rarity, fluttershy, twilight and pinkie pie would all have difficulty doing it without magic or wings. And in some cases even with magic and wings they would have difficulty. Applejack has a special talent in farming. She's a hot pot a rice ya don need no sidedish! In other words, her talent doesn't need wings or a horn. And she is not bland!

 

 

I was joking, I love me some hard workin' ponies! Haha, but yeah, everypony is great, really, but I was just poking fun at AJ because I can. Tehee.

[The Weapon 168]

Great idea for an episode! I'm not much of a writer myself, but with your permission, could I tell that to my friend? I'm sure she could turn it into an episode if you give her enough time.

 

 

 

I would hardly call Applejack bland!

Your story is actually quite cool. But earth ponies aren't boring, they just have talents that don't involve or require wings and horns. Applejack is a farmer, her talent is running sweet apple acers and she doesn't need a horn nor wings to do it. Infact, she is so good at it that she can do it without wings or a horn. Rainbow dash probably could, but rarity, fluttershy, twilight and pinkie pie would all have difficulty doing it without magic or wings. And in some cases even with magic and wings they would have difficulty. Applejack has a special talent in farming. She's a hot pot a rice ya don need no sidedish! In other words, her talent doesn't need wings or a horn. And she is not bland!

 

Imma paste this straight from another topic that I replied to.

 

Alicorns are definitely royalty, or are the overal power of Equestra. So, do you have to be an alicorn to be royal? But what does that mean for Twilight? Wait what? Twilight... royalty?

 

Twilight is Shining Armors sister.

Shining Armor married Cadence.

Cadence is royalty.

Cadence is now in-laws with Twilight.

Twilight is now in-laws with royalty.

 

*Plays music from Inception*

 

/semi-offtopic mind f**k

 

Alicorns are probably not immortal. However they do seem to age extremely slow. Celestia has referenced three events from the past, two of which went on for 1000 years and were seperate occasions. AND she has lived since before the Crystal Empire dissapeared, and it was gone for well over 1000 years. So basically... DAYUM DAT BEEECH BE OLD.

 

Also, if you were paying attention, Cadence was referenced as "The Crystal Princess" durring S3E2. So what does that mean?

*Plays music from Inception*

 

Also, if Celestia and Luna are sisters, and Cadence's aunt is Celestia... Then is Luna Cadence's mother? If not, who is? And who's the father?

*Plays music from Inception*

 

Who are Scootaloo's parents?

*Plays music from Inception*

 

Yes! I'd love to see someone pull off the Celestia Dies But Not Really move using alicorn immortality as an explanation.

 

Luna is Cadance's mother? If that was true, then why in Tartarus did she miss the wedding?! If, no, ESPECIALLY if it was a virgin birth kind of thing, that's REALLY bad parenting to miss your own daughter's wedding!

 

Or does Celestia have another sister?

 

Maybe it's the Blueblood-style connection. Cadance is probably from a side royal line founded by either Celestia or Luna or the original unicornian royalty, possibly before Celestia or Luna found out "Oh right, we're immortal or really long lived or something and therefore do not need to have children, especially because they're not immortal and already had family before they died."

 

And so, Cadance is Celestia/Luna's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandniece/granddaughter or something involving lots of cousins, a few disownings, lots of marriages, sociopolitical maneuvering, juicy historical bits that will never be shown on screen because of network restrictions and time limits, and a long and complicated saga worth making movies over that spans all of Equestria's history.

 

Dang, that would be epic.

[poniesforfun 716]

Something just hit me real hard while I was making theories on the Crystal Empire. What if the Alicorns are a result of the three tribes. Earth ponies, Pegasus and Unicorns merging together?

 

During the Hearth's Eve there wasn't any mention of Luna and Celestia after all aren't they supposed to be the almighty rulers of Equestria but not the place they originated from? Because they would have had to been the ones to govern the three tribes but the three tribes worked separate from each other and only did business with one another.

 

When the three tribes came together and when a Pegasus Prince and a Unicorn Princess loved each other very much they had Alicorn babies. And this could of been the beginning of Alicorns. The Alicorns could of been born as the special child that fully united the tribes and possibly why they also possess great magic and can rise to a position like Celestia and Luna. The idea of a Romeo and Juliet story between a Pegasus Prince and a Unicorn Princess and with a happy ending and an Alicorn child being born sounds interesting for a MLP episode. Maybe that alicorn could be Celestia herself.

 

Maybe Cadence was one of these special children or maybe her alicorn ancestors that made Crystal Empire form? Which I think of as one of the first pony civilizations during the Hearth's Eve.

Edited November 23, 2012 by poniesforfun

[himanuts 165]

Celestia and Luna don't have kids. Why do people keep assuming them being somebody's aunt means they have to be blood or close relatives? You know, they could be more of "adoptive" aunts in Cadence's case.

[The Weapon 168]

Well, Blueblood's far enough away that any adoptions wouldn't make him feel like he's directly connected to Celestia herself and any claims to such would be shot down ASAP by other nobles.

 

Presumably Celestia or Luna had a family before NMM (Probably Celestia, because focus and age.), with a non-long-lived pony who had normal children, and eventually Unicornian royalty and/or Celestia's hypothetical family intermarried with Crystal Pony royalty... And bang, Cadence shows up from a lucky roll of Crystal and Alicorn genetics.

 

You know, Cadance's cutie mark DOES seem to have more Crystal Pony esque styling than the rest of Equestria. Note how the individual facets of the Crystal Heart element... Thingy... that's Cadance's cutie mark are shown, which matches the intricacy of Crystal Pony cutie mark style (Same way Zecora's 'cutie mark?' seems slightly differently styled than Equestria's pony populace, but that might be a speciesal difference rather than a cutie mark trait), Cadance's exact coat color, and hairstyle seem to match Crystal Pony genetics.

 

So yes, Crystal Ponies have alicorns. And might have invented specific rites in pony weddings according to a noncanon commercial for Cadance that implies Cadance was having the "first ever pony wedding". That brings us to: Do Zebra alicorns exist?

 

ANYWAYS, how do pony genetics factor into this?

[Vinstar59 59]

Hey everypony! Alright so I thought I'd give my theories on this topic and I'll try to cover what points I can.

 

Point 1: I believe Alicorns are no longer a species. I say no longer, because I feel that they did exist at one point in time, but have since then disappeared. Also, the rumor that Twilight may become an alicorn has reinforced this belief. This may sound really confusing, but hopefully that gets cleared up in...  

 

Point 2: Origin of Alicorns. This is highly speculative and probably not true, but could be an interesting possibility and could help explain how other ponies can become alicorns.

 

Alicorns originally were the only pony species in what will become equestria. A great war erupted between the alicorns of light and dark magic. The light sought to bring order through the mastery of the elements and nature using their knowledge to help pony kind master the world around them. The dark alicorns sought order by controlling other alicorns, hoping to bring from it eternal peace and combining all alicorn knowledge to achieve greater power for all alicorn kind. In the final battle, a massive event caused the elements of the alicorns to disperse and separate from one another not only creating things like the elements of harmony, the alicorn amulet, and the crystals of the crystal empire; but also the three pony types as well. Only the most powerful of alicorns survived the event intact. Too few were left to sustain the species, but one of the remaining alicorns did figure out, before dying, how to re-elevate ponies into alicorns. Only ponies deemed worthy are granted this gift of being "raised" or "restored". The knowledge has been past down to every succeeding alicorn since and has been given the task of granting this gift to only the most deserving of ponies. Eventually, these "raised" alicorns would became the rulers of equestria and have passed the trait and it's knowledge to each successor.

 

Point 3: Ageing of Alicorns. First off, it's been established that aging spells exist. While an extremely difficult spell, it would be expected for alicorns to be able to do such things. However, I believe the age of an alicorn is directly related to it's power. When Luna possessed the power of dark magic, she appeared as old as Celestia. Once dispelled of this power, she become about as young as Twilight and had probably, due to her exile, forgotten most of her knowledge of magic. The next time we see Luna, she has returned to her normal age, though still younger than Celestia, and has regained her magical abilities. Cadence was probably a recently "raised" alicorn in training during her time babysitting Twilight, explaining why she was "younger" then.

 

This explains how they reach maturity, but what about old age? I believe this happens with use of their power. If alicorns keep expanding their knowledge and understanding of things, they can continue to use their powers without ageing. However, with only a limited amount of knowledge in the world, there comes a point where their power starts to fail and dwindle, causing them to weaken till finally dead. It's very possible that Celestia is in fact nearing this or is at that point in her life, resulting in her power dimming. This would explain why Luna could finally escape the moon and how Discord escaped, Sombra escaped, and why Queen Crysalis may have been able to defeat Celestia after a 1000 years of peace had past. She may also be trying to reserve her power to slow the process, which may be why she tends to sit on the sidelines in every major event in equestria these days. Also, Cadence in Crystal Empire reflects these traits well as she uses her power to protect the empire but grows very weak during the process as she is not yet ready for such large feats of magic.

 

Point 4: Alicorn Relationships. This is tricky because I believe "raised" alicorns can't reproduce, side effect of the "raising". Becoming an alicorn is like becoming a guardian of equestria. Your life is dedicated to the protection of it and it's citizens by becoming one.Thus marriage for Luna or Celestia would just be pointless and distracting from their duties, and thus why they arn't married. Cadence is the only known married alicorn, so unless the Hub goes and makes an episode where Cadence and Shining Armor have a kid, thus destroying this point, I suspect this marrige only happened because Cadence needs love to achieve her full potential. She is like the crystals in that they reflect what is put into them. I believe only two true Alicorns could come together to bring forth an actual alicorn child.

 

It's getting late here so I'm gonna stop there tonight, but feel free to ask about anything. I've got a lot more theories bout alicorn related topics floating around in my head, still trying to piece it all together, but these are just my opinions on the subject, not facts. 

 

Take care everypony!

Edited January 3, 2013 by Vinstar59

[SOHCAHTOA 51]

Going to take a jab at it for fun.

It could occur due to codominance between alleles.

 

Dominant Allele: Most likely expressed

Recessive Allele: Expressed only when paired with another of it's kind or when alone (such as males).

 

X1: Horn (Dominant allele)

X2: Wings (Dominant allele)

X3: Recessive allele

 

In this sense Earth ponies are X3/X3 (female), X3/Y (male).

 

-Parents-

Pegasus Mom: X2/X3

Unicorn Dad: Y/X1

 

-Children-

Pegasus Son: Y/X2

Unicorn Daughter: X1/X3

Earth Pony Son: X3/Y

Alicorn Daughter: X1/X2

 

In case of X1/X2, neither is more dominant than the other and will be expressed together. And that's how Alicorns are made. This is also a reason why there were only Alicorn mares so far. XD

 

I saw something similar before. I'll attach it here.

 

My theory is that a thousand years ago (that was a busy year) there were lots of alicorns as a separate race. They were almost godlike and so lived higher than the highest mountains, and higher than the highest clouds, above all the other species, so removed from pegasus, unicorns and earth ponies as aliens are removed to us. After Equestria founding by the three tribes, and an undetermined amount of time, the Windigos, in hope of regaining their food, awekened Discord, to create chaos and strife. And Discord did just that. The ponies that weren't suffering, or causing suffering to others, were arguing, giving the Windigos plenty to feast. But Discord looked up, and he saw all those uppety snobs, and decided to mess with them too. Caught amidst the chaos, the Alicorns had no choice but to enter the conflict, joining the three tribes. Eventually, the two princess Alicorns, found the elements of harmony, Discord exact opposite, and used them to defeat him. But Discord had already killed most Alicorns, including the king and queen, with only the younger generations of the royal family surviving: Celestia, Luna, and their many cousins, and second degree cousins, and third degree cousins... you get the gist. The royal family's big.

 

I also don't think all Alicorns are immortal, that's a characteristic unique to Celestia and Luna. Probably has something to do with their magic, as they seem to be constantly emanating magic, while Cadance who has much weaker magic ages normally.

[Brook 663]

I think it's like a magical power more-so than a race, like it's given to a princess if she's destined to rule, or it gets automagically passed down through generations to the next ruler of the land. If that's not true, then why are all the alicorns in the show are princesses or rulers? 

And if my theory isn't true, and if it IS a race that occurs on breeding certain species, why aren't there more alicorns? I mean if it's that easy, why don't more ponies try for a baby alicorn?

Edited January 3, 2013 by Brook

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

They come from pegasus mom and unicorn dad or vice versa. The traits must be dominant in order for this to happen. This breeding is quite rare. 

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

It is strongly hinted throughout the series that it has something to do with their skill in magic, I'm not sure what exactly the explaination is though.

[SOHCAHTOA 51]

I think it's like a magical power more-so than a race, like it's given to a princess id she's destined to rule, or it gets automagically passed down through generations to the next ruler of the land. If that's not true, then why are all the alicorns in the show are princesses or rulers? 

And if my theory isn't true, and if it IS a race that occurs on breeding certain species, why aren't there more alicorns? I mean if it's that easy, why don't more ponies try for a baby alicorn?

 

Because there are few Alicorns already, and two of the three known Alicorns "too important" to breed (both immortal, so they have no reason to breed, and having someone to take care of personally would just be unnecessary work).

 

They come from pegasus mom and unicorn dad or vice versa. The traits must be dominant in order for this to happen. This breeding is quite rare. 

 

As rare as it may be, I doubt this is it. There would be more known Alicorns, even within Ponyville. I believe Alicorn is not a thing where "they're both unicorn and pegasus at the same time". They're more than that, a unique race on it's own. While I believe no Alicorn parents might have Alicorn offspring, that's rare, like a mutation, and may even happen between two earth ponies. Also, I think there are unknown (at the time) male alicorns, and that, mutations aside, a foal can only be an alicorn if the parents are also both alicorns (so I don't think Shining Armor and Cadance would have Alicorn foals.)

 

It is strongly hinted throughout the series that it has something to do with their skill in magic, I'm not sure what exactly the explaination is though.

 

I think it is the inverse. They're so skilled in magic BECAUSE they're Alicorns.

[Brook 663]

Because there are few Alicorns already, and two of the three known Alicorns "too important" to breed (both immortal, so they have no reason to breed, and having someone to take care of personally would just be unnecessary work).

Then explain to me how those alicorns came to be, if you're saying that in order to have alicorns you require more alicorns, then where do those alicorns come from? And if you're explanation is that it takes a pegasus and a unicorn, then what I said in my first post still applies.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Brook

[Scootalove 10,689]

This is reminding me of when, royals get married and after they have well (intercourse). After, that when the child is in line for the the throne. He/She will be on the throne in the Royal family.

But when it comes to alicorns, I think the only way there would be a way for a filly to be made.

Usually Science can get involved, like the female having the egg but it needs the same species to make the filly or at least cross-breeding between species.

[SOHCAHTOA 51]

 

Then explain to me how those alicorns came to be, if you're saying that in order to have alicorns you require more alicorns, then where do those alicorns come from? And if you're explanation is that it takes a pegasus and a unicorn, then what I said in my first post still applies.

About the second part of what you said: You misunderstood what I said. For a Pegasus and a Unicorn to have an Alicorn foal is nigh impossible, and if it happened it'd be a mutation, something very rare. And since it wouldn't be a "true" Alicorn, it wouldn't have a the flying prowess or the magical capabilities of a real Alicorn. What I'm saying is, a Pseudo-Alicorn would basically be a normal pony with both a horn and wings, unlike the princess, with each having a unique body model.

 

As how alicorns came to be, I believe they used to be a race of many separeted from the main three, but Discord's rule affected them, and they had to team up with the other races. Discord wiped out most Alicorns, but the ones that lived after he was defeated became royalty.

 

Let's not forget that Equestria isn't even the size of the USA. Considering Blueblood and Cadance, I'd say Luna and Celestia have at least a few cousins who are Alicorns, as well as second-degree cousins, third-degree cousins... and the farther removed they are, the less Alicorns in the family.

 

Remember, just because we don't see many Alicorns it doesn't mean there aren't enough of them to populate a small town, it just means they're too far from each other, and by this point most of them are as "royal" as the Counts, Dukes and Barons that do exit today. Nothing more than rich people with titles passed down the family. I believe however, that Luna and Celestia are the only Alicorns (or ponies, for that matter) with immortality (or at least very slow aging) and the only ones with such power, as Cadance is a Alicorn but she was both shown aging normally as well as being far weaker (Power Of Love aside, but for that she needed help from her fiancee).

 

 

 

 

This is reminding me of when, royals get married and after they have well (intercourse). After, that when the child is in line for the the throne. He/She will be on the throne in the Royal family.

But when it comes to alicorns, I think the only way there would be a way for a filly to be made.

Usually Science can get involved, like the female having the egg but it needs the same species to make the filly or at least cross-breeding between species.

Note that there's no need for a sucessor to the throne. Celestia is more than a thousand years old, and unless she was in some kind of stasis in the moon, so is Luna.

Edited January 3, 2013 by SOHCAHTOA

[Brook 663]

About the second part of what you said: You misunderstood what I said. For a Pegasus and a Unicorn to have an Alicorn foal is nigh impossible, and if it happened it'd be a mutation, something very rare. And since it wouldn't be a "true" Alicorn, it wouldn't have a the flying prowess or the magical capabilities of a real Alicorn. What I'm saying is, a Pseudo-Alicorn would basically be a normal pony with both a horn and wings, unlike the princess, with each having a unique body model.

 

As how alicorns came to be, I believe they used to be a race of many separeted from the main three, but Discord's rule affected them, and they had to team up with the other races. Discord wiped out most Alicorns, but the ones that lived after he was defeated became royalty.

 

Let's not forget that Equestria isn't even the size of the USA. Considering Blueblood and Cadance, I'd say Luna and Celestia have at least a few cousins who are Alicorns, as well as second-degree cousins, third-degree cousins... and the farther removed they are, the less Alicorns in the family.

 

Remember, just because we don't see many Alicorns it doesn't mean there aren't enough of them to populate a small town, it just means they're too far from each other, and by this point most of them are as "royal" as the Counts, Dukes and Barons that do exit today. Nothing more than rich people with titles passed down the family. I believe however, that Luna and Celestia are the only Alicorns (or ponies, for that matter) with immortality (or at least very slow aging) and the only ones with such power, as Cadance is a Alicorn but she was both shown aging normally as well as being far weaker (Power Of Love aside, but for that she needed help from her fiancee).

My point still remains though, like I said before, how did the alicorns come to be in the first place? Not just the alicorns we see in the show, the alicorns that by your theory existed long before, where did they come from? And it doesn't matter how many alicorns there are, and now that I think of it, what you said makes my theory even stronger, because if the alicorns are spread around, they are more than likely there to rule over some land, and like I said, they have that alicorn blessing on them to be rulers.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Brook

[SOHCAHTOA 51]

... Evolution? Seriously guy, how did anything came to be in Equestria? I don't think the origin of the Alicorns was any different than that of the Pegasi or the Unicorns.

Edited January 3, 2013 by SOHCAHTOA

[Metatora 37]

If I recall, Spike made a throwaway comment in The Best Night Ever that Celestia has a Golden Apple tree. Didn't the golden apples (in some myths anyway) grant the eater immortality and/or immense power? I know it's a (very) long shot, but maybe that's the source of her and Luna's power? 

[Dashicorn 74]

I don't even think hasbro themselves have an explanation for this. A mystery never to be solved?  Hasbro created alicorns to be the rulers over Equestria, as far as where they came from … i got nothing.  Maybe not even hasbro knows   .

[The Weapon 168]

Great, so now we're buying into Tyrantestia or Politicalestia because golden apples of norse-style immortality?

 

Actually, that makes a little sense. Since Celestia/Luna seem to be vaguely based on Norse mythology's celestial-body-moving-horses (Minus the wolves and carts, we've been over that), and Norse gods had to use gold apples to stay immortal, who's to say Celestia/Luna's tree wasn't a distant relative or immediate clone of the tree in question?

[SOHCAHTOA 51]

Interesting. But I don't think Celestia would let even Spike see the tree if it really is the thing that granted her her powers. It probably just tastes better than regular apples.

 

("Interesting" seens to have become a catchphrase of sorts for me in this forum. Well, you guys are always saying interesting things, and I'm not much a fan of "Fascinating")

[Lateon 589]

My view on alicorns is heavily influenced by the lore of the Dragon Aspects of World of Warcraft, since, well, I personally like it that way, and it makes a decent bit of sense if you cross your eyes and think about it real hard.

 

Long ago, when the creators of the universe were out and about creating and shaping worlds, since that's their thing (like the Titans in the WoW universe), they created the planet on which Equestria is located...we don't know the name of it, but I'll just call it Equis. The creators always leave guardians behind to make sure everything is ship-shape and goes according to their designs (to a reasonable extent, not everything can be absolutely perfect if the creators leave), either because they had to come back to the planet and fix things later because the planet suffered some sort of systemic corruption (the Old Gods), or because they felt that guardians were necessary from the get go. In Azeroth's case, the corruption ran too deep to destroy the Old Gods outright; doing that would have destroyed Azeroth. Instead, the Titans imprisoned them deep below the planet's surface.

 

In Equis' case, these guardians, or Aspects, came in the form of alicorns, like Celestia and Luna. The guardians were based off of the eldest and wisest species on the planet at the time, and were originally normal ponies. Equis only warranted two Aspects (or three, I'll get to that later), since it only suffered the corruption of one Old God (or none, again, I'll get to it). Blessed with immense power, but still only a fragment of the creators' own power, the alicorns are immortal, and are the leaders of the species they are based on, just as the Dragon Aspects are the main leaders of their respective dragonflights on Azeroth.

 

When I say three Aspects, I mean that I think Discord may have been an Aspect that fell to some sort of corruption by an outside force. This would also explain his god-like powers. Whether this outside force was an entity akin to an Old God that drove Discord to madness and rename himself (much like Neltharion the Earth-Warder succumbed to the whispers of the Old Gods and renamed himself Deathwing the Destroyer), or something else, is unknown, since we haven't seen any indication that there are deeply ingrained, malevolent presences on Equis, nor will we, probably. For the fallen Aspect theory to work, the creators must have imprisoned an Old God like entity somewhere on Equis, or else Discord will have fallen for no reason.

 

That, or Discord is a parallel to an Old God. Chaos and madness are his thing, after all, and Old Gods are known to induce such things in the weak-willed and non-immortal in the WoW universe. Of course, things get funky if you think of Discord as an Old God, because either the creators believed their two Aspects could handle it on their own (implying systemic corruption occurred after the creators left), or the creators encountered Discord while they were shaping Equis, and decided to, for whatever reason, create Aspects to take him down. The royal sisters were the ones who defeated Discord the first time, right? If Discord is thought of as an Old God like entity, though, I'm not entirely sure why he was imprisoned on the surface, rather than deep within Equis. Maybe because the Aspects did the imprisoning, they didn't have the power to do so?

 

Anyways, back to alicorns as Aspects. Yes, I believe alicorns are immortal. However, I believe they can be killed through normal combat means, just as Malygos, Aspect of Magic, and Deathwing were. As far as how alicorns come to be, I do NOT believe it can happen accidentally. Alicorns are only created when a member of the pony species is empowered as an Aspect, and this may only occur if the creators make it happen (as in the beginning, with Celestia and Luna), or when an Aspect dies, and a new one is chosen to take their place. How the "choosing" happens could happen in any number of ways, such as the planets in the solar system aligning, or a solar eclipse, etc. (Kalecgos in the WoW universe was chosen to become the new Aspect of Magic after Malygos' death, but this could only occur when Azeroth's two moons eclipse each other. This event is known as the Embrace.)

 

This essentially rules out Princess Cadence as an alicorn under the above assumptions, unless Discord was an Aspect to start with, and "being turned to stone, hopefully for good" is close enough to "He's dead, Jim" to warrant the choosing of a new Aspect. Of course, I'd rather just have Cadence as a winged unicorn, since how, when exactly, and under what conditions she was chosen under would then be up for debate.

 

Whew, that was a long post. Again, this is only my preferred headcanon, and I'm sorry if it sounds like I copped out with such heavy use of WoW lore, and with the lack of attention to Cadence. It's also got a LOT of assumptions and stuff that probably won't hold water very well under intense scrutiny. Mainly, I wanted this post to be like another theory among many.

 

Also, sorry if I sort of derailed the discussion on the Norse vs. Greek godhood thing, and the golden apple tree.

[SOHCAHTOA 51]

My view on alicorns is heavily influenced by the lore of the Dragon Aspects of World of Warcraft, since, well, I personally like it that way, and it makes a decent bit of sense if you cross your eyes and think about it real hard.

 

Long ago, when the creators of the universe were out and about creating and shaping worlds, since that's their thing (like the Titans in the WoW universe), they created the planet on which Equestria is located...we don't know the name of it, but I'll just call it Equis. The creators always leave guardians behind to make sure everything is ship-shape and goes according to their designs (to a reasonable extent, not everything can be absolutely perfect if the creators leave), either because they had to come back to the planet and fix things later because the planet suffered some sort of systemic corruption (the Old Gods), or because they felt that guardians were necessary from the get go. In Azeroth's case, the corruption ran too deep to destroy the Old Gods outright; doing that would have destroyed Azeroth. Instead, the Titans imprisoned them deep below the planet's surface.

 

In Equis' case, these guardians, or Aspects, came in the form of alicorns, like Celestia and Luna. The guardians were based off of the eldest and wisest species on the planet at the time, and were originally normal ponies. Equis only warranted two Aspects (or three, I'll get to that later), since it only suffered the corruption of one Old God (or none, again, I'll get to it). Blessed with immense power, but still only a fragment of the creators' own power, the alicorns are immortal, and are the leaders of the species they are based on, just as the Dragon Aspects are the main leaders of their respective dragonflights on Azeroth.

 

When I say three Aspects, I mean that I think Discord may have been an Aspect that fell to some sort of corruption by an outside force. This would also explain his god-like powers. Whether this outside force was an entity akin to an Old God that drove Discord to madness and rename himself (much like Neltharion the Earth-Warder succumbed to the whispers of the Old Gods and renamed himself Deathwing the Destroyer), or something else, is unknown, since we haven't seen any indication that there are deeply ingrained, malevolent presences on Equis, nor will we, probably. For the fallen Aspect theory to work, the creators must have imprisoned an Old God like entity somewhere on Equis, or else Discord will have fallen for no reason.

 

That, or Discord is a parallel to an Old God. Chaos and madness are his thing, after all, and Old Gods are known to induce such things in the weak-willed and non-immortal in the WoW universe. Of course, things get funky if you think of Discord as an Old God, because either the creators believed their two Aspects could handle it on their own (implying systemic corruption occurred after the creators left), or the creators encountered Discord while they were shaping Equis, and decided to, for whatever reason, create Aspects to take him down. The royal sisters were the ones who defeated Discord the first time, right? If Discord is thought of as an Old God like entity, though, I'm not entirely sure why he was imprisoned on the surface, rather than deep within Equis. Maybe because the Aspects did the imprisoning, they didn't have the power to do so?

 

Anyways, back to alicorns as Aspects. Yes, I believe alicorns are immortal. However, I believe they can be killed through normal combat means, just as Malygos, Aspect of Magic, and Deathwing were. As far as how alicorns come to be, I do NOT believe it can happen accidentally. Alicorns are only created when a member of the pony species is empowered as an Aspect, and this may only occur if the creators make it happen (as in the beginning, with Celestia and Luna), or when an Aspect dies, and a new one is chosen to take their place. How the "choosing" happens could happen in any number of ways, such as the planets in the solar system aligning, or a solar eclipse, etc. (Kalecgos in the WoW universe was chosen to become the new Aspect of Magic after Malygos' death, but this could only occur when Azeroth's two moons eclipse each other. This event is known as the Embrace.)

 

This essentially rules out Princess Cadence as an alicorn under the above assumptions, unless Discord was an Aspect to start with, and "being turned to stone, hopefully for good" is close enough to "He's dead, Jim" to warrant the choosing of a new Aspect. Of course, I'd rather just have Cadence as a winged unicorn, since how, when exactly, and under what conditions she was chosen under would then be up for debate.

 

Whew, that was a long post. Again, this is only my preferred headcanon, and I'm sorry if it sounds like I copped out with such heavy use of WoW lore, and with the lack of attention to Cadence. It's also got a LOT of assumptions and stuff that probably won't hold water very well under intense scrutiny. Mainly, I wanted this post to be like another theory among many.

 

Also, sorry if I sort of derailed the discussion on the Norse vs. Greek godhood thing, and the golden apple tree.

Don't worry 'bout that, there wasn't much of a discussion on the subject to be derailed. You at least stayed true to the thread's name.

I don't think Alicorns are gods, deva or anything like that, myself. They seen to be very powerful, but mortal, with Cadance as the best example. Only Celestia and Luna fit your description, but they still show very "human" traits (in this case pony traits). In Luna's case a desire for love and acceptance, while in Celestia's case, a very casual and laid-back personality.

 

What I'm saying is, I don't think there's anything supernatural about the Alicorns (not any more supernatural than the rest of the Equestria). However, this is still my opinion, and I realize that by no means what I said disprove your headcanon.

[Lateon 589]

I agree that Celestia and Luna can and should show "human" traits. A lot of things can be immortal, have immeasurable power, and still have the flaws of a non-divine being. Hell, they can even be evil. The most common example of "lower" immortality would probably be any instance of elves, or, if you're feeling dramatic, the undead. 

 

Do you guys think that alicorns simply have extremely long lifespans, like Equestrian dragons do? Longer, shorter?

[SOHCAHTOA 51]

I agree that Celestia and Luna can and should show "human" traits. A lot of things can be immortal, have immeasurable power, and still have the flaws of a non-divine being. Hell, they can even be evil. The most common example of "lower" immortality would probably be any instance of elves, or, if you're feeling dramatic, the undead. 

 

Do you guys think that alicorns simply have extremely long lifespans, like Equestrian dragons do? Longer, shorter?

 

As Cadance seem to age normally, I'd say that immortality or long life span, that's a trait unique to the sisters. Regarding being almost divine, Celestia and Luna still do it different then any deity in fiction. In fiction, Gods that are as laidback as celestia tend to not care about the mortals, while Celestia seens to dislike her royal duties and likes when, at the end of The Best Night Ever, she just joins her student and her friends in the donut shop for chit-chat. While deities in fiction who want attention tend to have either a more Nightmare Moon approach, or just desire attention in the form of people believing in them, because believers make then stronger. On the other hand Luna genuinely wants others love, and doesn't depend on them for her powers.

[The Weapon 168]

Bringing up elves is actually a good point. Celestia/Luna have LOTR-styled elf-like immortality, and the majority of alicorns either left the planet or were killed somehow. Plus, that classical elflike superior-to-average-species stuff.

 

The divinity-thing is a side effect of moving the sun and moon and implied feats like the Elements of Harmony and sealing Discord, who is either a legit divinity, something eldritchy and wrong like a certain WMG about Derpy, an extreme force of non-nature, or a dark-elf-ish member of a species which got corrupted by power (Yay for lesser draconequi causing minor chaos deep in everfree resulting in the forest being self-naturey.), etc. etc.

 

Ponies trusted them, and said "Surewhynot, they fit close enough, put 'em there." to all the god-level acts.