Darkest Darkness: Alicorns · 9:24am Jan 19th, 2014
Here's my headcanon for Alicorns, present in my upcoming story: "Darkest Darkness". Up next: My notes on Necromancy.
Alicorns
Alicorns are undoubtedly one of the most exquisite races ever to have lived in Equestria. While their origins remain unknown, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have agreed to answer most, if not all, questions regarding their race; from their culture and civilization, to their mysterious destiny-related cutie marks.
The earliest known Alicorn document is dated 670 B.D., approximately the time when Earth Ponies first encountered Alicorn structures. In fact, this document directly mentions "miniature horses with neither wings nor horns outside our gates". The gates in question led to the reportedly marvelous city of Canterlot - the only documented city of Alicorns.
The Canterlot that stands today was built in its likeness, but, admittedly, no mortal craftsmanship will likely ever be able to match that of an Alicorns. Princess Luna remembers, fondly, a large statue in the castle's courtyard of a red-maned, white-coated Alicorn depicted as an angel and staring determinedly up at the sky, as if in defiance of something.
Princess Celestia explains that the statues artist is unknown, but it had stood there ever since the city was built, and it holds a spot in Alicorn legend as being the creator of all. Unfortunately, neither of the Princesses have shown interest or had the time to paint or sculpt, so one of the most marvelous works of Alicorn art is likely lost forever.
When pried further about the Alicorn civilization, Princess Celestia explains that Alicorns had mastered the perfect form of government long before Earth Ponies had even begun to form tribes.
No word exists in the common language that can be translated from Xalian, the Alicorn's language, but it is best described as a monarchy with a cabinet. Alicorns were a very function-focused society, so, although they had arts and sports, there were no related positions in the cabinet. Instead, the monarch's cabinet consisted of the High General, an Alicorn who had total control over all of the Alicorn military, The Scribes, three usually incredibly old Alicorns who oversaw all that was written down as history, the Treasurer, whose purpose is quite obvious from the name, and "The Bearded", an Alicorn who deeply studied all forms of magic - even the magic that was banned from practice, such as Necromancy and Affectimancy.
While these members of the cabinet all had the ability to influence the path of Alicorn history, it was ultimately the monarchs decision.
Princess Celestia also, sheepishly, states that this form of government never failed in the Alicorn society due to their near-perfect nature. Alicorns had long ago ceased their petty wars and abolished greed and hate within their own society. But, this was not something that was achieved overnight, or easily. Despite her true age, Princess Celestia explains that Alicorns had existed for far longer than she has been alive. While Celestia declined to reveal her true age, she remembers great-great grandparents, and surviving records indicate her existence in at least 3 A.D. - nearly three and a half thousand years ago.
In stark contrast to her sisters words, Princess Luna is known in legends and ancient records to perhaps crave war. Not to diminish the good princesses name, but it can be said that nearly each time a conflict erupts in Equestria, Princess Luna is the first to respond with force.
Returning to the civilization of the Alicorns, we delve deeper into the mysterious and powerful Elements of Harmony. Neither Princess Luna nor Princess Celestia knew of their origins, but credit these powerful artifacts with the stable peace and prosperity that has fallen over Equestria for thousands of years. Scholars and scientists theorize that these artifacts are what caused the Alicorns incredibly peaceful nature to rule, perhaps by simply being near their powerful magical essence for countless generations, but it is still only a theory... Despite psychiatric surveys showing an incredible decrease in violent thoughts over the centuries, save for drastic instances.
In relation to the Elements of Harmony stands the Crystal Caverns; an expansive cave system within Canterlot Mountain that existed since the days of Old Canterlot, which few ponies have stepped inside, save for the highest ranking officers in the Equestrian Royal Guard, and the Princesses themselves. Although both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna decline to reveal all of what is stored in the caves, they do acknowledge that the Elements of Harmony were, at one point, kept their by the long-extinct Order of the Sun and Moon. It is interesting to note, however, that, during the Canterlot Invasion by Changeling forces under the command of their Queen, Queen Chrysalis, that the cave systems were used as a secret entrance and exit by the Changelings, in addition to the temporary prison of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza; heir to the Crystal Empire. How they knew of the cave systems in the first place, as well as how to navigate them, puzzles both Princesses to this very day.
Returning to the structure of the Alicorn civilization, we delve into the Alicorn's military. The Alicorn military's structure was copied by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna from surviving documents of the Canterlot Disaster. Records indicate that the most practiced military form of advancing Alicorn armies consisted of a standard magical firing line with three ranks of Alicorns, who would cast their charged spell, step back to the third line let the line behind them fire, charge their next spell as they enter the second line, and then fire their spell again in the first line, before repeating the process. Spells used by these magical firing lines generally had the initial line cast a paralysis bolt, the second line cast a flame line parallel to themselves on the enemy, followed by a perpendicular flame line from each rank of the magical firing line into the enemy. In case of the firing line being engaged, each Alicorn was equipped with a shoulder-mounted lance in which they would charge the enemy.
Typically, however, the magical firing lines rarely used their lances, as several Alicorns flying in a "flying-head" formation (named for the peculiar pattern which, when viewed from the ground, resembles a pony's neck and head.), lay waste to the paralyzed and burning enemies with their spears.
Where a magical firing line protected by a flying-head formation will not work, the Alicorns perfected the "wedge" formation: five to seven Alicorns in a standard "V" formation armed with spears and blinding spells that typically smashed through enemy lines. In rare cases, these wedge formations actually led charges into the enemy to make them easier targets.
In the rare instance where a platoon or company of Alicorns became surrounded, the aforementioned units adopted a square formation, dubbed the "Infantry Square". This formation was usually composed of three to four ranks, with the first rank fending off ground attacks in melee combat while the second rank supported them with spells. Depending on the enemy forces, the third rank either fended off aerial attackers with spells, or adopted a firing line technique with the second rank. If a fourth rank is present, they, generally, are reserved for aerial attackers.
Upon Princess Luna and Princess Celestia's rise to power, they adopted several of the Alicorn military formations into their own army, and were incredibly successful as a result.
It was Princess Luna, herself, unsurprisingly, who constructed Equestria's first true military; distinguishing itself from those of the united Earth Pony kingdoms of the olden days with regiments of golden armored ponies under Princess Celestia's peace-keeping command, and the fear-inducing onyx armored ponies of Princess Luna's Elite Guard, who not only serve as her personal protectors, but also as the backbone of Equestria's military.
Despite the golden-armored presence in nearly every city, Princess Luna's Elite Guard is the actual fighting force of Equestria, while Princess Celestia's Royal Guard acts as its police force and national guard. Each commander in either armies has personally spared with both Princesses before attaining his or her title, in duels that last for hours on end.
Despite the records indicating Princess Luna's Elite Guard as a phenomenal opponent in battle, due to the era of peace that Equestria is currently experiencing, the Elite Guard has been reduced to a peace-keeping force, like Celestia's; with both sides serving during their respectful Princesses' time.
Returning, now, to the other cabinet members in the Alicorn government, we turn our attention to that of "The Bearded", a title which, Princess Celestia explains, is actually a playful joke, on account of how there is so much magic to study that Alicorns in this position usually forget about petty things such as their appearance, and generally grow rather incredible beards during their lengthy role.
Princess Celestia explains that much magic has either been lost to the ages or is unfit for non-Alicorns to preform, such as advanced Abjuration (specifically, the banishing of mortal beings to another dimension/plane of existence), Evocation in general, and advanced Transmutation, to name a few schools of magic that are known to pony-kind. As such, the surviving records and spell tomes of these ancient magics have been locked away from all except the Princesses and "The Bearded".
After the fall of Old Canterlot, Princess Celestia continued the tradition of appointing a head-mage to her cabinet. Throughout her period as joint-ruler of Equestria, several prominent unicorns have been blessed with the title of "The Bearded", including the ever-famous Starswirl, who reportedly wore a fake beard as a result of his title. The tradition ended, however, when a head-mage began actively practicing banned magic on the public in secret, and the position of head-mage has been empty ever since. Now, Unicorns seeking to learn advanced magics can be enrolled in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Although very few instances have occurred, it has been reported that Princess Celestia takes interest in a few studying Unicorns now and then.
On the subject of cutie marks, Princess Celestia reports that Alicorns are born with cutie marks. Princess Celestia also explains that Alicorn cutie marks aren't necessarily talent-related, but more in-tune with their personal destiny. The subject of Alicorn cutie marks is one of hot debate among Markologists, as what destinies Alicorns could possibly have that were big enough to warrant a cutie mark existed, although Princess Celestia calmly explains that most Alicorns did not have such a large impact on the world, such as her sister and herself. Rather, most Alicorn cutie marks pertained to small fate-based interactions. For instance, Princess Luna recalls an Alicorn mare whose destiny it was to attain the title of High General. A mass celebration was held when she reached her destiny, as it was foretold by her cutie mark, in addition to the fact that she had earned such a high position in the Alicorn society, but her life did not end there. Princess Celestia adds that Alicorn cutie marks do not tell all that one will amount to. Rather, it foretells what will happen in relation to the pony, no matter what. Until the point in an Alicorns life where they fulfill their destiny, nothing can alter their path to fulfilling that destiny. After that, they are free to do as they please. For instance, Princess Luna adds, the High General could have resigned at any moment to pursue a life of music, or sculpting.
On a final note, the study of the Alicorn language has been an uphill battle fought by linguists for centuries. Despite the Princesses being able to read a few records here and there, they both have reported forgetting their native language and adopting Equestrian after their parents absence and their eventual adoption by the Order of the Sun and Moon. All surviving instances of Xalian are kept in the back vault of the Canterlot Royal Archives and are available to the public, with a reward of one hundred thousand bits to whoever can decode the puzzling language of the long lost Alicorn civilization.
Necromancy. Do it naow.
...And what about Cadenza? You even mention her but without explanation. she seems to be significantly younger (and faster aging) than both Celestia and Luna. She has to come from somewhere, right? Also, there are those alicorn guards, probably animation errors, so I take it you ignore them. Yet, some take those as evidences that being an alicorn is just a rare coincidence granted by genes. And that, with both wings and horns, Luna and Celestia were somehow elected to rule over Equestria as the most perfect representatives.
1734764 That's actually going to be explained in the story, during the time Twilight gets wings. My head canon is that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza isn't a true-blood Alicorn, meaning she underwent some advanced ritual/spell that made her an Alicorn.
The same thing happened to Twilight.
All will be explained in the story.
1735439 Set teasers to kill.
1736016 If you'd like, I can give you the link tot the story a bit early~
1736860 Of course I'd like you to do that. A fiction that explains a lot and contains necromancy? That's relevant to my interests.