//------------------------------// // On Alicorns and their Rarity // Story: Letters from a Fascinated but Frustrated Scientist // by Andoriol //------------------------------// To: Celestia, Luna, those assholes that don’t get what the word alicorn means, and to whomever else it may concern The Nature of Alicorns from a Genetic Perspective By Emeris Fillson This paper was drafted in response to the numerous times ponies seem to not understand the meaning of and misuse the word alicorn. As a preamble to the rest of this paper, I need to cover something rather important. Equestrian genetics appear to have six distinct layers of dominance which are as per follows: • Primary Dominance (PD): One copy of the gene will override all others and will be expressed • Secondary Dominance (SD): One copy of the gene will express itself over a pair of Partial Recessive or Full Recessive genes, but not over two Neutral genes. • Neutral Dominance (ND): Two copies of the gene will override a single Secondary Dominant gene and it will be expressed over secondary recessive genes unless there is a pair of SR genes. When there is a single SD and two ND genes, or one ND and two SR genes, their dominance balances out, and the two groups of genetics are expressed equally. • Secondary Recessive (SR): Two copies of the gene are required for it to be expressed at all, and these genes are normally only expressed in tangential ways, these genetics are rare and normally add traits such as a curve to a unicorns horn, or specific feather patterns in Pegasi. However, when there are no higher dominance genes, these genes may express themselves, leading to either considerable power, or considerable failure. The inbreeding of some Noble Herds has produced some of the most powerful ponies alive, but also some of the most deformed. The two are not always mutually exclusive. • Primary Recessive (PR): These genes will only express themselves when in a trio. Even a pair of matched PR genes will not override a single SR gene. The only way for PR traits to express themselves properly is if the pony has a full set. Two identical PR genes will normally express themselves over a single other PR gene, but this is not always the case, and I believe epigenetics may be the cause. These genetics are particularly rare however, and much of the information on them is theoretical. • Merger Genes (M): This is not a separate category in of itself, but an attached category. Genes that fall in this category will explicitly blend the expressed traits when paired with other genetics of equal dominance. 1 PD gene and 2 SD genes. 1 SD gene and 2 ND genes. 1 ND gene and 2 SR genes. Additionally, the ‘tribe’ of a pony seems to be determined by three sets of genes. Which is a total of 9 chromosomes. One set for enabling the expression of traits of each of the three tribes. As best as I can determine, the gene pool appears to have genes with the following dominance distributions: 3 PD genes, 2 SD genes, 2 ND genes, 2 SR genes, and 1 PR gene for each of these three triploid groups. The determining genetics for the expression of Earth pony traits may have one fewer PD gene and one more SR gene, the margin of error for this conclusion however is currently unacceptably high. With this information in mind, as well as the triploid nature of pony genetics, the following may be addressed: Alicorns. Specifcally, the definition of an Alicorn. According to my observations, there appear to be several kinds of entities which receive the designation, which I will attempt to classify and separate. • Hybrids: These are the main group which come close to alicorns, and is the most populous. Hybrids are ponies which express traits of more than one tribe. More than a few ponies in Equestria do so ever since the more profound mixing of the tribes in recent times. Hybrids can be classified into the following groups: o Imperfect Hybrids: These hybrids are a particular tribe, but express multiple traits from another tribe. Shining armor is an example of one of these kinds of pony, for despite being a unicorn (and a powerful one at that), he shows some of the disproportionate strength and stamina of an Earth Pony. These are the most widespread and easily found of the hybrids, and these are normally a unicorn or pegasus that expresses earth pony traits, but occasionally there is a unicorn that shows talent for what is normally pegasus exclusive magic, or a pegasus that shows a particular ‘artistry’ in their manipulation of clouds and lightning. These ponies only need a specific set of ND or SR genes in at least two of the three tribe genes. While uncommon, they are not exactly rare either, as these genetics are wide spread, and spreading more as the tribes intermingle. o Perfect DiHybrids: These are considerably rarer, and are a full expression of the traits of two tribes. Prince Blueblood is an example of this kind of hybrid, having the disproportionate strength, greater size of an Earth pony, but also the horn and full magical power of a unicorn. These hybrids can only be achieved by certain combinations of SR or PR genes in two of the three tribe genetics, and as such, are noticeably rarer, normally only found in noble lineages due to careful breeding. While a Winged Unicorn or ‘Pegacorn’ may be called an alicorn, I contest such a title. They are a hybrid, but as they do not express earth pony genetics, I do not believe it is appropriate to call them by the alicorn title, a title of magic and power. o Imperfect TriHybrids: These are ponies that fully express the traits of two tribes, but also some of the traits of a third tribe. These are the first ponies that can reasonably be called Alicorns. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is the most famous of these currently alive. She fully expresses both Unicorn and Pegasus traits (though her wings are weak by pegasus standards) and she expresses some earth pony traits as well. These can only exist if a combination of SR and PR traits in all three tribe genetics are achieved. SR genetics only yield a partially expressed trait, whereas PR traits yield full expression. As they express the traits of all three tribes in some fashion or another, their power is actually inherently a degree of magnitude greater than those of other ponies, most likely due to a sympathetic resonance of some kind. o Alicorns (Perfect TriHybrids): These ponies have full expression of the traits of all three tribes. To my knowledge, these are rare, but not unheard of. Such an expression requires a full suite of PR traits in all three of the tribe genes. Additionally, a full alicorn would be larger than the average pony, appearing more like the Princesses than the mean body type of Equestrians. A full alicorn would not be a being equivalent to the Princesses however, though they may be immortal unless killed, and their power two degrees of magnitude over that of an average pony. • Divine Alicorns: There are currently only the two Princesses in this category. Beings of immense magical power, masters of celestial bodies, immortal and ancient, weilders of unique magical power. How such alicorns come into being is unknown to me, and I make no attempts at discovering such. It is not purely genetic, as they share the same tribe genetic markers as a Perfect Trihybrid would. Divine Alicorns are separated from their non-divine counterparts by several factors, the exact nature of their mane, their cutie mark, and their size. While an Alicorn may have a flowing mane due to their raw power, it would lack the ethereal or mystical quality that those of the Princesses have. Additionally, the cutie mark of a divine alicorn directly correlates to their purview (I theorize that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza may, in fact, in time become a Divine Alicorn of Love, but this is unfounded theory on my part). And finally, Divine Alicorns are a full head taller than their non-divine counterparts. While the dominance of the tribe genes seems to be counter-intuitive to their expression, a full suite of PR genes appears to block the expression of the other tribes genetics if the enabling genes are not PD genes. Assuming an even distribution of genetics (this is false, there are a surprisingly small number of PR genes in the gene pool), the following is true: There are 10 possible genes for each of the three triploid groups. Only one of those ten yields an Alicorn, and even then, only when all 9 of the genes are one of these particularly recessive genes. 1/10 ^ 9, or one out of every billion. Considering that by the rough estimates of several historians, Equestrian society has only seen 89 billion ponies in its entire existence, this would put Perfect TriHybrid numbers at a mere 89. This is again assuming equal distribution of genetics, which is not the case. It is likely that only a select few lineages actually carried the gene for millenia, and only with the considerable intermingling of the tribes has it become more widespread. According to the Princesses, there have only been 17 true Alicorns in the entirety of their multi-millennial reigns. Aside: During my initial two years in Equestria I was what would be classified as a Divine Alicorn due to my mane, cutie mark, size, and raw power. However, this was not a natural state, and these effects were burned from me along with the curse that caused the warpings of reality about me. I retain the genetics of a Perfect Trihybrid, but due to the metaphysical excising of my pegasus nature, the genes have been suppressed almost to entirely. This is likely done through a combination of epigenetics and magic-particle interactions that I currently do not understand. However, the end result is the same. While I retain the genes of a Perfect Trihybrid, I am a Perfect DiHybrid, expressing the full natures of both Earth Ponies and Unicorns. No. I am not going to stud for the sake of ‘spreading the alicorn genes about’. It wouldn’t even work due to my epigenetics essentially rendering the genes useless so stop sending me bucking letters and invites. Best Wishes, Emeris Fillson