SapphireLibra3 Rants: Alicorns are NOT gods! · 6:45pm Mar 4th, 2016
Okay, this is something that I think has been festering for a while, but after reading a series of comments from a particular story I finally hit my breaking point. The story, called Taken, takes place after the Friendship Games, where the Dazzlings kidnap Pinkie Pie in order to force the Rainbooms to open the portal to Equestria so they can go home. This story is heavy, as it's not played for comedy like so many other works where Pinkie Pie is focus. It's a genuine kidnapping, and I'm at the edge of my seat reading it.
In the latest chapter's comments, someone mentioned that the solution to the problem would be easy. Essentially, just let the Dazzlings go back to Equestria and then nuke them with Alicorn magic. I tried to defend the storys choice in trying to portray a realistic view of the situation, and so far everyone who has commented on my comment all agree that the situation is actually very easy to solve, and that Team Alicorn can just mop the floor with them.
First of all, this view makes the situation Pinkie Pie is suffering through seem very minuscule. She was KIDNAPPED! This is a VERY big deal in the story, and it can't just be solved by "giving the kidnappers what they want and then secretly leading them to the firing squad".
Second of all, and this is my biggest complaint, ALICORNS ARE NOT GODLY ENTITIES THAT CAN DEFEAT ANYTHING THAT COMES THEIR WAY!
First, let's look at the situation proper concerning the Dazzlings. Starswirl the Bearded, the strongest mage in all of Equestria, had to send them to another dimension just to stop them. This means that for whatever reason, killing them was not an option, and my guess is, they were too strong even for HIM.
Why do I bring him up? Because according to official lore, Starswirl was more than likely Celestia and Luna's teacher, and thus stronger than even they were. If he couldn't kill them, I doubt the Alicorn Princesses are going to fare much better.
Now, concerning the alicorn princesses themselves, there is evidence in official lore that also says that they're not invincible. Let's look at each one individually.
Celestia: I did an entire blog on her and how power I think the REALLY is, so I'll be brief here. Celestia's main magical ability is raising the sun. Now that IS a major feat, but according to official lore, this was done by Unicorns before, and the only reason she and Luna are able to do this now is because they're long lived entities, and the process of raising the sun and moon increased the aging process. Taking that into consideration, this means that Celestia's magic itself isn't necessarily stronger, but that she's able to use MORE of it without straining herself.
Luna: The same can be said for Luna, who's probably just as powerful as Celestia. In the case of Luna though, we see that she's able to fall victim to parasites like the Nightmare, and she wasn't able to take on the Tantabus alone (mind you, she was making the problem worse with her guilt, but we're not going to talk about that).
Celestia and Luna: Together, we see that these two have accomplished great feats, but those feats were done WITH THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! Celestia and Luna are not exceptionally strong themselves, otherwise I'm sure they WOULD be out there doing much more than we see them doing.
Cadance: I don't think I need to go too far with this one. Her main power is sending love waves. She can't really defend herself against enemies very well, as seen with The Canterlot Wedding and how Chrysalis was able to capture her and lock her up. She's resourceful, and can defend herself pretty well against normal foes (like in Three's a Crowd) but against THREE superpowered entities, oh hell no.
Twilight Sparkle: Now this is a tough one, as she IS very power, and one could say that she fought Tirek to a stalemate. Here's the thing though: 1) she had the magic of Celestia, Luna, and Cadance on top of her own, and 2) She was only able to get Tirek in a STALEMATE. We also see that she values her friends much more than her own life, as once Tirek threatened to kill them, she relented and gave up her magic. She's not going to risk doing something that only has a 10% chance of working when one of her friends' life is on the line.
Bottom line, Alicorns are not invincible, and they can't just single handedly take on any foe that comes their way.
So, bottom line, Alicorns are powerful, but they're by no means Gods. Discord would be closer to a god considering his ability to warp reality to his whims, and to a degree, Tirek, he summoned Twilight's friends out of nowhere with a click of his fingers much like Discord did, with all Equestrian magic absorbed, he was the single most powerful being in MLP we've seen to date.
Basically, while Alicorns may be quite powerful, they are not OP
3791179
3791180
Yes, actually. You got the point I was trying to make. I'm sorry, but whenever I see this in stories I get very annoyed.
When it comes to using Alicorns in battle, I prefer to only use them when the opposing side is powerful enough to warrant them. To just default to the "nuke the Tartarus out of them the moment they come through the portal" tactic is cheap and short sighted. And we've also seen that the Elements of Harmony are more powerful than even an Alicorn (or at least Celestia), otherwise why did she have Twi and co. go after them after being defeated by Chrysalis? Let's not even talk about Rainbow Power at this point, that's a whole other level. An Alicorn can't wield every Element, as seen by the battle of Celestia and Luna vs Discord, so while Alicorns are powerful, it seems to me that Elements are even more so.
Really Alicorns are more of a figurehead, like a president or king, one with more glamour and illusion than power. The real power is held by six mares from a country town next to the most dangerous forest in Equestria. No wonder the Dazzlings kidnapped Pinkie, that insured that the Elements of Harmony wouldn't be used against them.
Someone who shares my view on Alicorns? What is this sorcery.
I can't disagree with anything said in the above blog, because it pretty much sums up my view on Alicorns as well. I do not consider them all powerful goddesses. Sure the Ponies have shown themselves to swear by Celestia occasionally, but I don't see that as considering them as gods but simply just use a name of someone they know is good and powerful.
I actually have a similar theme going in my own original stories where one species tends to swear by the names of individuals of their species that have made a big name of themselves.
Anyway, back to the Alicorns. I see Luna and Celestia as long lived and powerful sure, but not gods. The show has made it pretty clear to me that these are not the immortal deities many of the fans like to portray them as. It's already a pretty magical land and as you pointed out, normal unicorns used to lift the moon and the sun before Celestia and Luna took over. They are really powerful and Twilight is pretty strong with the force, but no those are not gods as far as I'm concerned.
3791193
Fair enough. But still, they may not be gods, but making them angry is NOT smart.
3791193 I mean, in my headcanon, the original Alicorns, spirits/Angel-like beings serving the maker, are even more powerful than ¨ascended¨ Alicorns, since they can never truly die, as they are not corporeal entities. Alicorns like Celestia, Luna, and whatnot, who, while being immortal Alicorns, are corporeal, and thus, can be killed. They are basically demigods, and quite powerful, but no where near the original Alicorns, or the Maker, who is basically God.
Except for the fact that the Dazzlings are not all powerful anymore and that Celestia, Luna, Cadence, AND Twilight all could obliterate them. It wouldn't take away the realism in the human world but that is their just deserts. They want to go back so bad? Then how about they do get back and are greeted by four VERY pissed Alicorns who then sentence them to dehydration. It's not that the Alicorns are immortal in that story but right now? They're more powerful then the Dazzlings so I get that this broke you but look at the story a bit longer. Not to mention Discord with his full Chaos powers could torment them.
3791210 In the story, the Dazzlings managed to convince the Rainbooms (with Sci-Twilight's help) to create new pendants for their magic, so they can feed on negativity again. Essentially, they're as powerful as they originally were in the story.
3791207 I like that headcanon.
Do not be surprised if I use that.
3791215 Yes and love TOTALLY won't poison them and there isn't an Alicorn of Love-oh hi Cadence. On top of that do I need to restate that the other side has DISCORD as an ally?
3791218 Go ahead in use it,
Let's not forgot Starlight and Twilight fight at the end season 5. I like to think alicorns are like jedi and keyblades. Power people for sure but not all powerful. You can defend them if find out their weakness.
3791310
Not gonna lie, that's actually really brilliant. You may have given me something that I can use.
Darn it I would have loved to read that story it sounds so amazing!