@Fwelin  
I accept you point of view but I don’t share it. The main problem is that the new writers never watched/read about the canon of the show. That’s why we get Celestia’s and Luna’s surprised comment about Flurry Heart, Garble and Ahuizotl being a good guys and other things like the grown up CMC episode.
 
Each member of the community can decide which part of the mlp universe stays canon, what gets non-canon and what an error is. To me, the books are canon because they came before the show and are made by the older writers. They know more about the world they created than new writers.
 
The whole “Pillars created the Tree” also is a continuity errors, because Celestia and Luna already had the Elements of Harmony more than 1000 years ago, while Starswirl thought the tree grew during these 1000 years he was away. This is another proof that the writer of that episode never watched all episodes of mlp like the one with Zecora’s potion that showed us the tree (season 4), but only one or two episodes for each character. We know that it’s true because of the leaks: They only watched one or 2 episodes for each character
 
I won’t go into details of immortality or other things because we have complete different opinions. To me, being immortal is a curse but you see it as something good.
 
Maybe we can agree that we both have different opinions but that we respect the view of the other side. There are many continuity errors and comments by the staff of mlp, so that we can never fit all the information we got as canon into one universe.
 
After all, we are one fandom and we shouldn’t fight about who’s opinion is the best or most logic one.

@Tirek  
The Journal used to be canon, but changing writers and story points in the show have made it noncanon, as show events have progressed since then in a way that have made it impossible in fundamental ways. For example, the line about Celestia and Luna not understanding a natural alicorn birth in The Crystalling, and Shadow Play showing that the Tree of Harmony (a major part of the book) did not exist at the time of the Journal.
 
There is nothing in the Cadance book that actually implies that Celestia ascended her. Cadance defeats the villian, wakes up in that strange realm, then there’s a small time skip. Nothing there implies that Celestia ascended her. Similarly, nothing in MMC even implies Celestia did anything to ascend Twilight, and indeed several things point very heavily against it. It was something else that transported Twilight to the other realm (the elements), the statement that Twilight created NEW magic (IE, the destiny-changing spell she finished that turned her into an alicorn), Celestia’s horn was not glowing when Twilight finished the transformation, and the fact that the magic thing came from Twilight herself. That’s not even counting the fact that if Celestia did the ascending, then Starswirl’s spell, which was emphasized SO MUCH… did nothing of note? That makes absolutely no sense at all.
 
You’ve got it backwards again; the fact that Big Jim is a writer makes her just as valid as her, and the fact that his statement is more recent means it overrides what she said. That’s not even considering the fact that “Twilight will not outlive her friends” is NOT the same as “Twilight is not immortal”, and that if Twilight really wasn’t immortal it’s very suspicious and strange that she dodged the question instead of answering the fan directly.
 
No, there isn’t some kind of fundamental difference between having friends die as you grow old with them or if you stay the same. People like you are free to not think immortality would be something you’d want, but that’s completely different from imposing your opinion on everyone else by proclaiming that “immortality is a curse, everyone (including Twilight) would hate it and it’s a horrible thing to happen!”
 
The cutie mark thing IS valid, because it’s pretty obvious in the show that it’s supposed to represent Twilight herself, not just her cutie mark. Twilight recognized it immediately, it’s almost certain that Twilight was destined to be the Princess of Friendship BECAUSE of that mark on the tree and was focused on Celestia because of that, etc. Just because it might be possible for different ponies to share the same cutie mark (it’s “might”, because background pony details are generally not canon unless they become a focus in an episode, or any such examples could just be plot holes) doesn’t mean that it doesn’t 100% refer to her specifically.
 
As an aside, Rainbow Power was used three times; twice in Twilight’s Kingdom, and once in Rainbow Rocks. While we don’t know why it was no longer used after that, it’s not a mistake or a plot hole that it wasn’t, as there’s multiple plausible reasons as to why it might never be used again.
 
I agree with the Garble thing being dumb, though.

@Red-Supernova  
Took me a while to remember that idea since I forgot to write it down^^;  
Well, here comes a wall of text:
 
(BTW, this whole theory is based on what the writers were able to give us. Since they focused on the main characters, it’s only natural to ignore guards or the princesses. I just took was we saw and made a possible explanation)
 
As I was writing, we know that ponies (and artifacts and other creatures) can transfer magic from one pony to another. The princesses did that to hide the alicorn magic from Tirek, Tirek did that by absorbing magic and the Storm King did that with the Staff of Sacanus.  
I also agree with the fandom theory that the force…I mean magic is strong in Twilights family. However, is Shining Armor actually strong enough to cast a shield that can protect a whole city?  
>>153659
 
Moreover, this magic shield wasn’t just a common shield we know that only protects what’s inside; it was more like a security entrance: Those with bad intentions can’t pass it, everyone else can pass  
>>24836
 
This shield has not one but actually two layers and together with the security system, it would take a giant amount of magic to keep it up. It would have been easy for Celestia and Luna (they would have both most likely covered the whole mountain, Ponyville and more in that shield) but Shining Armor, despite having the gift of powerful magic, doesn’t really seem like an all powerful unicorn. I think we all agree that even unicorn Twilight was stronger than him.
 
So where did Shining got that magic from?  
My theory is that he borrowed as much magic as possible from his royal guards. A town like Canterlot should have hundreds of thousands of guards (impossible for the animators to do, despite having dozens of Changelings in that episode). I would say that maybe 70-80% of the guards might have offered to help by giving their magic to Shining Armor. The remaining 20-30% are inside and around the castle. Maybe those are the oldest or most skilled guards.
 
Where are the guards?  
Those guards who’re now more or less magicless are doing other jobs and preparing for an assault. Even without magic, they are still trained soldiers. They’re able to fight, protect the civilians, doing guard duties or helping preparing the wedding.  
So as soon as they noticed the Changelings outside of the shield, they knew what was coming next. Knowing Celestia’s top priority (protecting her subjects), it’s most likely that they had to follow the orders and instead of protecting the princesses, they prepared to evacuate the city. We don’t know how long it took the Changelings to actually destroy the shield or when they first appeared/got spotted, but from the background shots from the attack, we can assume that most of the civilians had been able to escape with the help of the guards.
 
Why the need for a shield?  
For some reason, Celestia saw the need to protect Canterlot. Maybe it’s one of those “better safe than sorry” moments or the pony intel agency (they are canon. BonBon and Lyra are members of it;-) ) got any information about an upcoming attack.
 
 
So to summarize the whole theory:  
For some reason, Celestia saw the need to protect Canterlot with a powerful shield and for some reason (other than the writer’s ignoring her) Shining Armor had to cast that spell. To make it the best possible protection spell without locking out civilians, he had to borrow lots and lots of magic from his fellow guards.  
Those now magicless later helped to evacuate the city. A “proof” is that we only saw a few guards and civilians during the invasion, not hundreds of ponies you would except for a royal wedding.
 
I know there might be a few holes in this theory but this is the best I was able to make right now^^

@Tirek  

 
Shoot away, I’d like to know.

@Background Pony #04EF  
Sorry, I don’t know where you can read it online. I bought the book a few years ago (like most of the other books)

@Tirek  
That’s an interesting information from this “Journal of two sisters”. Where I can find it to read it online? Any links?

@Fwelin  
Sorry, but imo you’re wrong. It had been Celestia who ascended Cadence and Twilight. If you read the canon book “Journal of the two sisters” you would know that Celestia and Luna are born alicorns (and they hadn’t been the first alicorns) and that they still had been blank flanks when they became princesses. Celestia got her cutie mark after raising the sun, Luna after raising the moon and thus their cutie marks represent their destiny.  
When a young pegasus Cadence defeated the pony Prismia (a unicorn who used a love-stealing spell by using a miniature crystal hear necklace) she was transported to a place only Celestia has ever been before. The same place Twilight was transported to after she solved Starswirl’s spell. If you watch the ascension scene again you can see that Celestia was flying and glowing with magic before she took a part of Twilight’s magic (most likely the combined magic from the Elements of Harmony) before Twilight transformed. To me it’s more than just implied that Celestia ascended Twilight and Cadence to alicorns
 
As you said, Jim didn’t said if she was immortal or not however Meghan McCarthy (co-executive producer) said that Twilight will not outlive her friends and I’m sure her opinions is more canon than that of a new writer: https://twitter.com/mmeghanmccarthy/status/323513777427468288  
The part about Celestia and Luna being alicorns is above;-)
 
There is a difference between outliving your friends because you’re immortal or growing old together with them. If I would be an alicorns, then I would give up my immortality to grow old with my friends and lover (canon or not, I highly doubt that Twilight didn’t find love between episode 25 and 26)  
I’ll just skip the part with the horrid writing since I’m not a fan of the writing of season 9. The part with the cutie mark doesn’t even work out in Equestria since we already saw different ponies with the same cutie mark. So it wouldn’t be surprising if there was/will be another pony with Twilight’s cutie mark. Sadly we’ll never know the truth since, as Big Jim said; the team never thought of it and left answering those questions to us.
 
 
However, in the end I respect your opinion although I don’t agree to it. There are many things the show never explained and that are, even with the books, are unclear. Moreover, there also are many plot holes and mistakes in the show as a result of switching writers between the seasons (like never using Rainbow Power again or saying that Garble, a dragon who willingly tried to murder baby phoenixes, was always a good guy)
 
So it’s only natural that there are different opinions about the show and what’s “canon” or not. I, for example, see the books as canon while others never read them^^

Good place to live but their retirement still meh to me…

@Tirek  
Celestia didn’t ascend anyone; the Tree of Harmony ascended Twilight (via Star Swirl’s spell and the Elements of Harmony), and the love artifact ascended Cadance. Celestia was just there to greet them as they were undergoing the process.
 
Also, Jim’s post doesn’t imply anything about whether Twilight is immortal or not, though the show itself heavily implies that Twilight is at least very long lived in the final episode. There’s also the fact that it’s nearly outright stated that Celestia and Luna became alicorns in the same method that Twilight and Cadance did, so their aging should work the same as well. It’s pretty damn clear what the intent is, even if the show writers understandably don’t want to alienate their fanbase.
 
I’m not sure why people are so willing to throw Celestia and Luna under the bus; if Twilight being immortal is supposedly such a bad thing because she’ll outlive her friends (hint: outliving your friends is a common thing even in real life without immortality, and it’s entirely survivable), then that just implies that it’s okay for Celestia and Luna to go through it as well, AND go back to the burden of ruling Equestria FOREVER (minus a few decade break every millennia or so). Given just how much emphasis they gave on Twilight being their true successor (the Tree of Harmony showing Twilight’s cutie mark, for example), it’d be pretty horrid writing to just go “oh, Celestia and Luna will be back on the throne in 60-100 years or so, too bad for them”. That’s not even counting the fact that Spike is 100% super long-lived either way, so that just shifts the supposed horrible fate to him.

@Red-Supernova  
It might be possible. We never got a real explanation how Celestia ascends other ponies to alicorns but to me, it makes sense if she gives them a little of her own magic. (When they die, that magic would return to Celestia of course.)  
Especially when you take a closer look at Cadence: It’s canon that she was a pegasus pony (because of the books) but as an alicorns she is now able to cast a shield around all of the Crystal Empire. We also know that it’s canon that a pony can give its magic to another pony (like the princesses gave their magic to Twilight). So where does Cadence magic came from? Despite all ponies having magic (f.e. growing plants -> earth ponies or walking on clouds ->pegasi) no Pegasus would have that much magic
 
I know, Luna’s fans are everywhere;-)
 
Thanks^^  
While writing this, I had another idea that could explain Chrysalis’ first invasion and why so few guards fought back.

@Tirek  
So Celestia had to take a very small piece of her overall strength to help Twilight ascend? Also, watch where you are when you say that Celestia’s overall strength is stronger than Luna will ever reach. :P
 
I like your theories.

@Red-Supernova  
I think alicorn ascension is like maxing out the possible unicorn abilities + adding a piece alicorn magic to it. In other words: unicorn Twilight at her max level would still be weaker as alicorn Twilight at her max level. It’s possible that Celestia is moving a tiny fragment of her magic to the new alicorn to increase the power to become stronger than any unicorn. Starlight was a special case but there always are talents who’re stronger/better than others
 
We can only assume how powerful Celestia really is. Despite all the “Celestia was beaten/useless” memes, it only was Celestia who was able to move the sun & the moon. The sun is 400 times bigger than the moon so even if Luna is way more powerful than just moving the moon, I think that Celestia’s max power is beyond anything Luna is capable of.  
So losing a tiny fragment of her magic by ascending a pony to an alicorn wouldn’t actually make a difference for Celestia.
 
Nah, I don’t think Twilight “died”. It was just a teleportation spell. Maybe Celestia added a bookmark spell (a canon spell used in “Rainbow Dash and the Daring Do Double Dare”) to the scroll with Starswirl’s spell. So as soon as Twilight (or anypony else) figured out how to fix Starswirl’s spell, the bookmark spell would activate an teleport the pony to the ascension room.
 
Those are my theories ;-)

@Tirek  
Sounds about right. Did she also grant Cadance the ability to use high level magic or did it come from Cadance’s inner strengths?  
Remember that whole claim that Twilight “died” and was reincarnated into an alicorn? Imagine if Cadance experienced the same thing.
 
Yeah. But that’s up to us to decide.

@Red-Supernova  
Well, it could be possible. Cadence was a pegasus, so Celestia’s spell had more or less changed Cadence skull and brain so that she could get a horn and being able to use it.  
Same with Twilight except that it might be easier to just give a pony some wings than changing the brain and skull.
 
So the spell might have changed their DNA enough so that their bodies got those additions.
 
 
At least for the following 20-40 years, if she still is mortal (what she most likely is since no one said thst Meghan was wrong)

@Tirek  
Cool. So that spell affected Cadance’s DNA?
 
They’ve worked very hard and whether or not they do return to the throne, at least Twilight is keeping everything in good hooves.

@546 Horsepower  
Well, we never got an answer why Flurry is an alicorn but we know that it’s semi-canon (because of the official books) that Cadence was a pegasus pony who, after saving a town from an evil pony, was ascended to an alicorn (Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell).
 
My head-canon is, that Flurry got affected by that spell, so that she also was born as an alicorn. However, that’s only my head-canon^^
 
@Red-Supernova  
Yes, that would work better. The princesses are finally having some time to relax and after maybe 20-40 years, they’ll just defuse the crown so that they’ll be the rulers again

@Tirek  
I can live with that.

@Tirek  
Flurry’s not going to be happy about what that entails for her, unless Cadence being ascended disqualifies her.

THEIR RETIREMENT IS BULLSHIT AND POPPYCOCK!

@546 Horsepower
 
Q: I just…i can’t live with Twilight outliving her friends. Didn’t Meghan Mccarthy confirm in 2014 Twilight wouldn’t outlive them? Why backpedal on that?
 
A: That was never said on the show. We don’t know how long everyone lives, Twilight included
 
From here: https://www.equestriadaily.com/2019/10/big-jims-q-on-friendship-is-magic.html?m=1
 
To me it sounds as if Twilight might not be immortal and will still have her unicorn lifespan despiite having a power-up.  
Let’s not forget that Celestia and Luna are birn alicorns and Twilight and Cadence ascended ponies
 
 
@Background Pony #B623  
I usually did that but especially the older games had been a nightmare D:

Looks nice maybe that’s why they went there now I want to know what happened to the princesses during there retirement

@Tirek  
If he really said (or heavily implied) that, it’ll make me feel so much better. Hopefully you can find the quote.

@Tirek  
Why didn’t you just use the combo of Hypnosis and Shadow Tag?

@Background Pony #B623  
Only if they have a masterball;-)  
but I think they are like any legendary trio: Using teleports (or similar stuff) to escape
 
….all those pokeballs I had to use to catch legendaries D: So many balls ….

And then a Pokemon Trainer caught them.