Alicorns

Alicorns are pony characters in My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, My Little Pony: Pony Life, and other material, who have both a unicorn horn and Pegasus wings and, depending on the depiction, also have Earth pony power. They are styled as royalty. They are referred to as Princess Ponies in Hasbro's toy line, as Pegasus Unicorns in Little Brown's book Mini Pony Collector's Guide, and, once, as Pegasus unicorns on Hasbro's My Little Pony Facebook page. Meghan McCarthy, Friendship is Magic's head writer, says that the title of "princess" is one that is earned in Equestria.
The third season episode Magic Duel marks the first use of the term "Alicorn" in the series, and in Magical Mystery Cure the term is used for the first time to directly refer to winged unicorns, previously referred to as unicorns in earlier seasons' episodes Friendship is Magic, part 1 and A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1.
==The regal sisters==
 Princess Celestia and her younger sister Princess Luna are introduced in the first episode in a series of medieval-like drawings with a narration that says there were "two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land," and that "the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night." Lauren Faust commented that Princess Celestia was originally supposed to be Queen Celestia, the highest authority with no parents who outrank her. Her status was later changed to "princess" at Hasbro's request. Faust has stated that Celestia embodies the traits of all three pony kinds: Earth, Pegasus, and unicorn. In Enterplay's trading card series, Series 1 lists the sisters' pony type as both Pegasus and unicorn but not Earth, and Series 2 lists their pony type as all three and also refers to them as "immortal alicorns"; a writer and consultant for both series has stated that the inclusion of Earth was "an intentional improvement" they made on Series 2, "based on feedback and it being one of those 'could be canon' sorts of things that just plain makes sense." Faust has suggested that there is more to Princess Celestia than has been depicted of her in the series, and that she wanted Celestia to be "mysterious and hard to understand".
==Princess Cadance==
The first half of the second season finale, A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, introduces Princess Cadance. She is Twilight Sparkle's foal-sitter in Twilight's flashback, and she becomes her sister-in-law after marrying Shining Armor in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2. Various promotional materials, including a New York Times ad, Archived locally A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1's Hubworld, iTunes, and Netflix summaries, the back cover of the DVD Royal Pony Wedding, and the home page of Treehouse TV's Royal Wedding Contest site, state that she is the niece of Princess Celestia. A blurb on one of the toy sets featuring Cadance says that she and Shining Armor "lead the Crystal Empire together!" Indeed, Bright Smile proclaims her as "The Crystal Princess!" at the end of The Crystal Empire - Part 2. In Enterplay's trading card series, Series 1 lists her pony type as both Pegasus and unicorn but not Earth, and Series 2 lists her pony type as all three; a writer and consultant for both series has stated that the inclusion of Earth was "an intentional improvement" they made on Series 2, "based on feedback and it being one of those 'could be canon' sorts of things that just plain makes sense."
The books Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell and Princess Cadance and the Spring Hearts Garden and Amy Keating Rogers state that Cadance was born a Pegasus and became an Alicorn later.
==Twilight Sparkle==
 Twilight Sparkle is introduced in Friendship is Magic as a unicorn, and she even calls herself a "regular old unicorn" in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, to which Princess Cadance replies "You are anything but a regular old unicorn." According to Meghan, "princess [in Equestria] is a designation that’s earned, not freely given and though princesses have specific leadership roles in pony society, being one really means 'being a good pony who shares the gifts that they have been given with others.'" Twilight becomes a princess and gains wings in the episode Magical Mystery Cure. On April 14, 2013, McCarthy was asked "As an alicorn, will Twilight be immortal and forced to outlive all of her friends?" and answered "Twilight will not outlive her friends". However, on October 12, 2019, in response to Twilight not aging in The Last Problem while her friends are, Jim Miller said, "That was never said on the show. We don't know how long everyone lives, Twilight included." He then added, "We honestly never discussed it. Her friends have been exposed to a LOT of special magic over the years, so who knows how it's affected them?"
===Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell===
The chapter book Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell describes Twilight's new status in chapter 1, "A Crown Achievement": "Twilight had received her very own set of wings. Real Pegasus wings! She was officially a part of a special breed of pony called an Alicorn. This meant that Twilight was now able to harness the magical powers of the Unicorns, the flight abilities of the Pegasi, and the strength of a good, true heart of an Earth Pony."
==Queen Chrysalis==
 Queen Chrysalis, first seen in the episode A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 impersonating Cadance before revealing her true form in Part 2, was described in her debut episode's script as "a GANGLY BLACK PEGACORN with a gnarled black horn." This same description, "a gangly black pegacorn," is used in a comic version of the story featured in Signature Publishing's My Little Pony Annual 2013.My Little Pony Annual 2013 She and the other changelings were designed by Rebecca Dart, the main character designer for season two. Rebecca was inspired by the work of manga artists Junko Mizuno and Hideshi Hino, and after reading the name "Chrysalis", she "figured [Chrysalis] should be insect-like." The changelings are referred to as a different species in Friendship is Magic and also as ponies on page 53 of the guidebook The Elements of Harmony.
==Flurry Heart==
 Flurry Heart is an Alicorn filly born to Shining Armor and Princess Cadance in the season six premiere. Some materials title her the "first"Compare other promotional material titling her parents' wedding the "first ever" pony wedding despite multiple couples of already married pony characters being introduced earlier. Alicorn baby, with Gameloft's mobile game adding the qualifier "in all of time and space", though a So Soft Newborn toy of Princess Skyla, another Alicorn, was released years beforehand, and the book The Journal of the Two Sisters and Jim Miller suggest that Celestia and Luna, as well as other Alicorns, were born as Alicorns too. In The Crystalling - Part 1, Celestia comments, "The birth of an Alicorn is something Equestria has never seen!" Her horn and wings are larger than either of those of the Cake foals and of other baby ponies featured in Friendship is Magic and in other official material(s). When Twilight and her friends see Flurry Heart for the first time, they are taken aback by her unfurled wings.
==Cozy Glow==
 In The Ending of the End - Part 1, Pegasus filly Cozy Glow transforms into an Alicorn after absorbing the power of Grogar's Bewitching Bell. She briefly turns into a giant Alicorn with bat wings when she absorbs Discord's magic, but she quickly turns back when she is unable to control his chaos. She is reverted back into a Pegasus in Part 2 after her defeat.
==Sunny Starscout==
In the Generation 5 film My Little Pony: A New Generation, Earth pony Sunny Starscout manifests a magical, translucent horn and wings, giving her the appearance of an Alicorn, after she brings the three pony races together in friendship again. In subsequent G5 media, she can change back and forth between her Earth pony and Alicorn forms.
==Opaline==
In the hour-long special My Little Pony: Make Your Mark, an Alicorn named Opaline witnesses the return of magic in Maretime Bay. In the subsequent series of the same name, she is stated by a recording of Twilight Sparkle to have attempted to steal all of Equestria's magic in the past until Twilight stopped her by creating the Unity Crystals and erecting a magic barrier around Equestria. In the episode Have You Seen This Dragon?, when Opaline absorbs some of Sparky Sparkeroni's magic dragonfire, her horn and wings obtain a pale blue fiery glow. In the same episode, Opaline states "Equestria should fear and love their immortal rulers". In Sunny Side Up, Opaline claims to have lived in Skyros and to have known Celestia and Luna in her youth. In the My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale short Dragon Dad, Opaline refers to herself as a Fire Alicorn.
==Other winged unicorns==
 Friendship is Magic includes other Alicorns and crew members of the show have explained at least some of them as animation errors. These include "Princess Erroria" in Twilight's imagination having both wings and a horn in Lesson Zero, Archived locally. three royal guards in one of Twilight's flashbacks having both wings and horns in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, Archived locally. Neon Lights having wings in Rarity Takes Manehattan, Lemon Hearts having wings in Rainbow Falls, Rarity having wings in Pinkie Pride, "Princess Erroria" in Sweetie Belle's imagination again having both wings and a horn in Twilight Time, S05E01 Unnamed Pegasus Mare #4 having a horn in The Cutie Map - Part 2, Fleur de Lis having wings in Canterlot Boutique, Rose having both wings and a horn in Newbie Dash, Pumpkin Cake having wings in A Flurry of Emotions, "Rivet" and Steam Roller each having both wings and a horn in Grannies Gone Wild, "Mulberry Flowers" having wings in A Matter of Principals, Lyra Heartstrings having wings in The Washouts, and "Mulberry Flowers" again having wings in What Lies Beneath.
There is an illustration that shows an Alicorn princess mare and an Earth pony prince stallion in the book that the Cutie Mark Crusaders read in Hearts and Hooves Day.
 Pinkie Pie briefly dresses up as an Alicorn in the episode Magical Mystery Cure. In The Mysterious Mare Do Well, the masked Mare Do Well is shown to have a unicorn horn and Pegasus wings, convincing Rainbow Dash that she's an Alicorn. However, it should be noted that she is never seen with both her horn and wings at the same time.
In the episode Sonic Rainboom, Rarity is given wings by a magic spell temporarily, made of gossamer and morning dew. These wings are similar to those of the flutter ponies from Generation 1.
Discord replaces his wings and antlers with giant pink wings and a giant horn to mock Twilight in Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1.
In the movie My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks, during the climactic battle between the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms, a giant spiritual Alicorn is summoned by Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, and the human counterparts of Twilight's Ponyville friends through the magic of friendship. The Alicorn blasts the astral projections of the Dazzlings' true siren forms to dust and shatters their power sources, stripping them of their powers and leaving them to flee in shame and disgrace from the furious students and faculty.
In Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, Big McIntosh turns into an Alicorn during Ponyville's shared dream.
 In The Crystalling - Part 1, two female Alicorns are depicted in portrait on a Crystalling vase, bearing resemblances to Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadance.
In Stranger Than Fan Fiction, one of seven doors in the inner sanctum of the Temple of Chicomoztoc depicts an Alicorn.
In Dragon Dropped, a sometimes-horizontally-flipped picture includes two Alicorns.
In the My Little Pony: Pony Life episodes Pie vs. Pie; Superb Six and The Shows Must Go On, Alicorn background ponies appear. When the unicorn Potion Nova first appears in Potion Mystery, she is shown with wings; other unicorns shown with wings include Trixie in Friendship Gems, Sweetie Belle in Dol-FIN-ale, and Rarity in Pony Surfin' Safari, Zound Off, and Sportacular Spectacular Musical Musak-ular.
In My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale#Clip Trot and sometimes My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale#Puphunt, Pegasus.
In the My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale (season 2) episode The Lone Alicorn, Sunny Starscout and Zipp Storm discover a tapestry depicting several Alicorns in the ruins of Opaline's castle.
===Storybooks===
The book The Journal of the Two Sisters recounts parts of Princess Luna's and Princess Celestia's diaries. Luna tells of "the Alicorns" who taught Luna and Celestia when they were foals. Celestia tells of Star Swirl the Bearded who is familiar with Alicorns, and how Alicorns age differently than other ponies, which is why Luna and Celestia remained without cutie marks well into adulthood.
In Beyond Equestria: Rainbow Dash Rights the Ship, Rainbow Dash explains to Captain Celaeno and her crew that the Good Fortune Garnet was given to the founders of Cloudsdale by a mysterious and powerful Alicorn.
In Ponyville Mysteries: Journey to the Livewood, Auntie Eclipse uses the Helm of Shadows to briefly transform into a Nightmare Moon-like Alicorn, dubbing herself "Eclipse Destiny".
===IDW comics===
In the IDW comics, an Alicorn mare appears on page 18 of , Sunset Shimmer sees herself as an Alicorn in the Crystal Mirror on page 3 of The Fall of Sunset Shimmer, an alternate universe Trixie is shown to be an Alicorn in a stained glass window on page 12 of , Star Swirl the Bearded is imagined as an Alicorn on page 20 of the same issue, Lyra Heartstrings appears as an Alicorn on page 3 of , Flash Sentry appears as an Alicorn on page 2 of , Princess Glitter Punch is shown from the neck up in a picture on page 9 of My Little Pony Annual 2014, Twilight Sporkle depictions appear in The Root of the Problem, Paper Hearts' silhouette is shown in a picture on cover RI of and sewn depiction is shown from the neck down on cover RI of , Goldcap, Decepticolt, and Zappityhoof use wings in , and making Alicorn eyes is mentioned on page 1 of . Regarding the fifth of these, colorist Heather Breckel stated on July 9, 2014 "Tony drew it, I just thought it looked like her" and "I have no idea if it was intentional or not, and was in the zone when I colored it so I didn't think anything of it. I just like putting Lyras everywhere :yay:", and editor Bobby Curnow stated on July 10, 2014 "That would be a mistake!"; regarding the sixth of these, colorist Heather Breckel stated on July 13, 2014 "I think the crowd should be nothing but alicorn Flash Sentrys bwahahaha" and artist Tony Fleecs stated in late January 2020 "I accidentally made Flash Sentry an Alicorn."
 features the legend of Queen Parabola, who is depicted as an Alicorn with zebra stripes. also features a depiction of Shadow Lock's ancestor, who has both wings and a horn but is also demonic in appearance. In , Pinkie Pie uses the magic of Discord's realm to briefly turn herself into an Alicorn. In , another Alicorn appears. In , yet another Alicorn appears. In , an Alicorn with Sunset Shimmer's mane style appears. In page 14 panel 9, Starlight Glimmer appears as an Alicorn. On 's B cover, Sprout has an Alicorn figurine.
===Toys===
The Glimmer Wings toys include a similarly butterfly-winged Rarity, packaged with a butterfly; according to this release's descriptions, Rarity "imagines having beautiful wings just like her butterfly friend."
An Alicorn called Princess Skyla is included in the So Soft Newborn toys. On April 1, 2013, Meghan McCarthy wrote on Twitter "Episode 404 is called “Meet Princess Skyla”." #brony #MLPFIM #MLPseason4" as part of an April Fools' Day joke. In January 2015, Jim Miller was asked "Hope Im not bothering but, will Princess Skyla ever be real? pic.twitter.com/Z5OpkGi0tu" and replied "Anything is possible! But no current plans." In November 2018, Miller was asked "Who is your favorite of the Alicorn princesses?" and answered "Skyla."
The Rainbow Power and Cutie Mark Magic Playful Ponies toys each include adult Alicorns called Princess Sterling and Princess Gold Lily, packaged respectively with Fluttershy and with Pinkie Pie. In mid-May 2014, M. A. Larson wrote on Twitter "Come on, two days into the hiatus and they've already spoiled Princess Sterling AND Princess Gold Lily?!? There go my first two episodes." On November 25, 2014, Jim Miller stated regarding the Rainbow Power package of Princess Sterling & Fluttershy "No spoilers there either, I'm afraid. Just a toy."
The Pony Life toys include two Alicorns sharing Twilight Sparkle's design; one of them is called Fizzleshake and resembles Fizzy, particularly G1 My Little Pony The End of Flutter Valley Part 4 error Alicorn Fizzy.
===Games===
In Gameloft's mobile game, magic wings of the same design as in Sonic Rainboom are temporarily given to any non-Pegasus for the flying minigame, including the unicorns DJ Pon-3, Fancy Pants, Flam, Flim, Forsythia, Joe, Lovestruck, Lyra Heartstrings, Magnum, Minuette, Prince Blueblood, Rarity, Shining Armor, Snails, Snips, Sunset Shimmer, Sweetie Belle, Trixie, Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Velvet, Twilight's Dad, Twinkleshine, Unicorn Guard, and Upper Crust.
The player-designed ponies in Adventures in Ponyville, who can only be mares, can be Earth ponies, Pegasi, or unicorns, and for the Rainbow Dash's Cloud Bump minigame, Twilight Sparkle uses magic to give a player-designed pony and an unnamed Earth pony each a set of Pegasus wings temporarily; thus, if the player-designed pony is a unicorn, she will be an Alicorn for the minigame. The player-designed ponies in PonyMaker and its Rarity's Bridal Boutique version, who can be of any sex, can be Earth ponies, Pegasi, unicorns, or Alicorns.
Gameloft's mobile game formerly included a Changeling assuming the identity of Fleur Dis Lee but pretending to be an Alicorn, who the game identified as the unicorn Fleur Dis Lee until an update replaced this Changeling with Fleur Dis Lee herself. A model sheet for the game includes "Sweetiebelle" as an Alicorn. The "Crowns and Chaos" event also introduced variants of several characters-notably including Shining Armor, Princess Amore, and Rain Shine-who appear as Alicorns with bat-like wings after being transformed by chaos magic.
===Merchandise===
In a French My Little Pony magazine story, Celestia has a cousin named Léon, a four-year-old Alicorn. The Haunting of Equestria features Princess Argent and Princess Solar, counterparts of Luna and Celestia from the Shadow Realm.
Leon in the French My Little Pony magazine cropped.png|Léon
DoctorHoovesTARainbow DashISshirtAlicorns.jpg|A Doctor Who weeping angels parody
GrownUpPonies.jpg|Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash with horns
WeLoveFine's merchandise designs have included several Alicorn depictions:
#"Rarity Fabulous Bag" and "Flight of the Ponies" also depict Rarity with wings of gossamer and morning dew.
#"Dr. Hooves Line", "Dr. Hooves", "Hooves Scribble", and "Dr Hooves" include Alicorn mares similar to Weeping Angels from Doctor Who
#"Grown Up Ponies" included Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both as Alicorns; "Engineered Alicorn" and "Steampunk Trixie" respectively included and include Twilight Sparkle and Trixie each equipped with steampunk wings; "All Dem Ponies" included six Alicorns, three of them mares and three of them stallions, with one of the stallions resembling Discord; "Iconic Print" included an Alicorn mare who is to appear as a unicorn in My Little Pony: The Castles of Equestria and who was originally created by Lauren Faust; and "We're All Doomed" includes Derpy as an Alicorn.
A display, used at EAG International 2015, has included Pony CreatorNot to be confused with PonyMaker. artwork of an Alicorn mare with a similar color scheme to Starlight Glimmer and the non-siren forms of Aria Blaze, named "Evening starlite", made by Dana Reynolds. In mid-February 2015, Jim Miller was asked regarding Evening starlite's resemblance to Starlight Glimmer and replied about him having no idea who Evening starlite is and them being not the same as far as he can tell.
==The Alicorn Amulet==
The Alicorn Amulet is an amulet which features the image of an Alicorn. In the episode Magic Duel, Trixie uses it to become a "highest level unicorn", gain immense magical powers, and antagonize the citizens of Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle finds out that only the wearer can remove the amulet and tricks Trixie into removing it with a fake amulet of her own in a magic duel.
==Other examples==
LF pony sepia.png|Original sketch by Lauren Faust of the Alicorn who later appeared on a WeLoveFine T-shirt.
Rarity's wings S01E16.png|Rarity with magic wings of gossamer and morning dew in Sonic Rainboom.
Cadance walks away S02E25.png|Queen Chrysalis disguised as Princess Cadance in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1.
Spike sees an alicorn horse statue S4E03.png|An Alicorn horse statue in Castle Mane-ia.
Big McIntosh becomes an Alicorn S5E13.png|Big McIntosh as an Alicorn in a dream in Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?
Watermelody painting an Alicorn EG3.png|A painting of an Alicorn in Photo Finished.
Pinkie, Twilight, and Rarity proud of themselves EGDS1.png
Las Pegasus hot-air balloon port S8E5.png|"Rivet" and Steam Roller as Alicorns in Grannies Gone Wild.
Twilight showing artifacts to the students S8E15.png|"Mulberry Flowers" as an Alicorn in A Matter of Principals.
Rarity watches Spike leave the room S9E19.png|Horizontally-flipped picture in Dragon Dropped.
S5 animatic 94 The townsponies.png|"Redwood Oak" as an Alicorn in a storyboard of The Cutie Map - Part 1.
Princess Skyla Toy.jpg|So Soft Newborn Princess Skyla, a toy-exclusive Alicorn.
Rainbow Power Princess Sterling & Fluttershy.jpg|Princess Sterling, a toy-exclusive Alicorn.
Rainbow Power Princess Gold Lily & Pinkie Pie.jpg|Princess Gold Lily, a toy-exclusive Alicorn.
MLP Annual 2013 Alicorn Sunset.png|Sunset Shimmer as an Alicorn in the Crystal Mirror.
Comic issue 64 credits page.jpg
My Little Pony (2022) issue 6 cover B.jpg
Queen Parabola ID Gameloft.png|Queen Parabola, a pre-Equestrian Alicorn, in Gameloft's My Little Pony (mobile game).
Flying minigame score MLP Game.png|Twilight Sparkle with magic wings in Gameloft's mobile game.
Fleur Dis Lee Alicorn MLP Mobile App.png|A changeling disguised as Alicorn Fleur Dis Lee in Gameloft's mobile game.
My Little Pony mobile game - Master file 3D model renderings.jpg|Alicorn Sweetie Belle in the 3D master file of Gameloft's mobile game.
Leon is introduced in the French My Little Pony magazine.jpg|Léon, an Alicorn foal, in a French My Little Pony magazine.
Chrysalis the Dark Queen art print WeLoveFine.jpg|"The baby in egg is... alicorn. And maybe... male alicorn?"
==Galleries==
:Princess Celestia image gallery
:Princess Luna image gallery
:Princess Cadance image gallery
:Queen Chrysalis image gallery
:Twilight Sparkle image gallery
:Flurry Heart image gallery
:Cozy Glow image gallery
==See also==
*Wikipedia:Winged unicorn
*
*Earth ponies
*Unicorns
*Pegasus ponies
*Crystal Ponies
*Foals
*Forum:Speculation/Alicorns
==Notes==
==References==
de:Pegasuseinhörner
es:Alicornio
it:Unicorni#Alicorni
id:Alikorn
pl:Alikorny
pt:Alicórnios
ru:Аликорны
sr:Alikorni
sv:Bevingade enhörningsponnyer
Category:Alicorn ponies
Category:Royalty
Category:Featured articles