Alicorns

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Immortal
What have been commonly reffered to as alicorns by both humans and ponies is the naturally occuring winged unicorn. The Keepers are the only immortal Alicorns to have existed. Stories and legend abound of normal ponies being elevated to the status of alicorn through some fantastic feat of magic or as a boon for deeds rendered to the Cosmic Matriarch Herself.

The Keepers are created beings, brought into existence for a specific purpose. As of now, the Keepers are fractured; Mudan was corrupted, leading to the loss of Animio in the realm of Asteria. Had Animio been a "natural" alicorn, his banishment would have killed him. His purpose had not yet been met and so he survived, though his body was destroyed. The Evermind, as he is now called, experiences death but upon rebirth and then awakening, he can remember his past lives. Physically, he could be considred 'mortal' but, p hilosophically, the ability to remember his time as a whole in existence makes him an immortal.

Reproduction
The ability to reproduce has always been afforded the Keepers. In the begining there was no need for this. Harmony flourished and the creatures inhabiting Sebbia required little in the way of management. After the Millenium of Misery, this changed. Harmony was in upheval, the land could not support the ponies or any of the other creatures that relied on Harmony. Eventually, Celestia and Luna were able to restore order in a small area of the land. Thier influence was limited, for they needed to physically be in a place in order to manage the thrashing leylines in the wake of Discord's abuse. How the Sisters Royal discovered that one of their blood has the same effect on Harmony is a mystery. At around the hundredth year of the Triad Era, Celestia and Luna began to take on mates who later became known as Sires.

The Sire that either of the Sisters took was crucial to the outcome of the mating. If the Sire were an earthpony the foal would always be an earthpony. The same holds true for a pegasus. However, should the Sire be a unicorn, there is a one in three chance that the foal would be an alicorn. The children of the Sisters Royal had the blood of alicorns in them and could stabalize the leylines of Spectra by virtue of being in a place. An alicorn born of the Princesses enjoyed a prolonged lifespan and a few other perks in addition to being far more influential on the leylines as well as the ability to control them to an extent.

The infusion of Alicorn blood into the general populace of ponies augmented their ability to use magic. So much so that eventually they had full mastery of at least one form of magic that became a part of their race. For more information, see Harmony and The Ponies.

Mortal
Mortal alicorns are the offspring of either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna and a unicorn. Every mortal alicorn has an innate form of magic attuned to them and them alone. This means that an alicorn like Princess Cadence, has a special ability that only they can control. In the case of Cadence, her ability of promoting love as a remedy to strife is one of the gifts of being an alicorn. Mortal alicorns are also more resilient, less likely to succumb to illness, stronger, faster, taller and more hardy compared to the average pony. They can go longer periods without food and water and can operate on less rest for a longer time. Depending on who their mother is, they can enjoy the sustaining influence of the sun or moon.

Their lifespans are generaly two to three times that of a normal pony. They age at a fairly normal rate up until their twentieth year. This means that they would grow and develop at the same rate as an average foal, from foalhood to adolesence and young adulthood. Past that point, they age considerably slower.

Generally, an alicorn is female. Nopony is certain as to why this is. There have only been four alicorn stallions born in the whole of Equestria's history. Two by Celestia and two by Luna. The first was called Azimuth, son of Celestia. Two hundred years after Azimuth, Luna gave birth to Sinaidos. Several hundred years later, Radiant and Crescent were born to Celestia and Luna respectively. Radiant was twenty years older than Crescent, but the two became close friends.

Reproduction
Mortal alicorns also have the ability ot reproduce though they will never produce another alicorn. For the alicorn mares, the type of pony the father is determines what the foal will be. For alicorn stallions, the mother determines the type of pony the foal will be.