Season 9 Discussion Thread [Warning: SPOILERS!!!!!]

@Background Pony #C58D  
Sunset Shimmer caused the sunset in the last episode with the medallion that Celestia gave Twilight.

@PonyPon  
yea it would be haha

@Tirimsil  

 
Actually, their voices did change. And there’s more to the episode than Sweetie Belle being sexy

@UserAccount  

 
Non Canon. You know it. Also, the medallion is not meant to rise and sun down every day, Twilight Sparkle got it if Celestia and Luna wanted vacation or were not on duty - and used every time during the Summer Sun Celebration which has been turned into a celebration day for the two sisters. A medallion is not effective compared to Celestia’s ability to control the celestial bodies.

@Background Pony #C58D  
Sunset Shimmer does it whenever Twilight is too busy to.

@UserAccount  

 
Sunset Shimmer has not appeared in the TV show beyond a single time when Twilight Sparkle “looked back” in the song. Besides, Lauren Faust had wanted Twilight to succeed Celestia on the throne, not for Celestia to die just to leave the throne. For the throne of Equestria, there seemed to be more talk of the administrator role not unlike EQ Celestia who had worked as principal of Canterlot High School. Here, Twilight with her love of paperwork and bureaucratic efforts is almost perfect for her job as a ruling princess. We know there is a very large bureaucracy in Equestria that the princess had to deal with as an administrator, as it is a very large country with very many small communities and strong individual orientation among the ponies.
 
Celestia and Luna aren’t dead, simply because it’s not canon - and if they were, Twilight, like Applejack, is sure to have a constant reminder of these in everyday life. We didn’t see any of this. The writers had shown us that Granny Smith was dead by showing signs of this on Applejack.
 
Jim Hader had said that “no one lives forever” but is silent when it comes to the two sisters who are, after all, quite special in that they have god-like qualities. The IDW comics meant the immortality of the alicorns may be real, while the TV show neither confirm nor reject this. Twilight Sparkle has become a goddess in magic - and that was already decided when she was just a filly. For in Equestria - be careful what you say or want, because it will come true sooner or later.
 
Only one person knew the truth, and it’s Lauren Faust who is the originator of the possibly immortal alicorns.

@Background Pony #C58D  
“Jim Hader”! XD

@Background Pony #C58D  
Heh - I bet they didn’t think that implication of ending on a sunset through.

@Background Pony #8A54  

 
“Don’t know” when it comes to the two sisters. I think it’s because it’s outside his field, since Faust decided that Celestia and Luna should have a very long life, even immortality - and the dragons can live very long lives, this is canon. Anyone who thinks about the problem that Twilight will outlived her friends should also think of Spike who will outlived all his friends, by being born as a dragon.
 
We do not know how fast ponies age over time, as there are no time frames to rely on beyond “moons” and “years,” as the sun and moon orbit around the planet. But we know they are usually not immortal - with one possible exception in those that have very strong magical potency. Celestia, Luna, Starswirl, possibly Starlight and Twilight are in this group. Here you do not know if they just live long - or are immortal. And exactly this is not known.

From what we saw on the glass window, Flurry Heart clearly aged up in those 20 years. And if the cannon chapter book is anything to go by, Cadance aged up regularly despite becoming an alicorn at a young age. Twilight was just given a Celestia like model as a nod to Lauren herself.
 
Chances are alicorns aren’t immortal in the show’s cannon, just that Celestia and Luna are long lived. Though an explanation for their long life span has never been given.

@Background Pony #C58D  
How does that relate to what I said?

@TheRocketMan  
What does alicorns growing up have to do with them being immortal or not?

@TheRocketMan  

 
Just that; how long is a year?
 
We know that everyone ages - even alicorns - but as Luna had shown, one goes through several phases from the foal-like state that when she came out of the shell after Nightmare, it appears that there are at least two or three different “forms” of an alicorn. Twilight Sparkle was in “foal” condition when she got the wings and become an alicorn. This suggests that age is not just related to time, especially to those with very extraordinarily strong magical potency. There are only three alicorns that reach what we might call the “Queen” mode - Celestia, Nightmare and Twilight.
 
We do not know what happened to Cadance, but her role as governing monarch in the Crystal Empire was obviously not politically stable as she was seated on the throne of Celestia after King Sombra was removed, which is why her daughter born in the Empire, Flurry Heart, was so important to the citizens - she had become their true ruler as “one of them”. Then it is natural for her to retire when her daughter was old enough to take over. It is obvious that there is a story behind the glass window.
 
The alicorns we don’t know much about, only that they are among the strongest magical beings in the known universe, surpassed only by a few like Discord, who had distinguished themselves by being very different in the magical field. The alicorns are at the top of “the magical food chain”. And we know the magic of Equestria is not always logical.

@Latecomer  
It means if they age at the same rate any other pony race would, they’re not exactly immortal.

@TheRocketMan  
Maturing to adulthood and ageing thereafter are distinct processes, especially in fiction.

@TheRocketMan  

 
Well … Luna was “adult” when she became Nightmare, and when she was saved by the Mane 6 with the harmony stones, she was a “filly”. It was only after her magic had completely returned that she became an “adult” - but not in the “Queen” mode as seen with Nightmare. Of all the alicorns, only she has three “forms” so far - foal, teenager / princess (for Twilight it is both) and queen - and it’s not related to age. Cadence is in the teen / princess form.
 
It is thought that the age of the alicorns is related to the magic these have in them. It meant that they could age, but not at the same rate as the other ponies because the extra magic in these meant they could achieve the same condition as the most powerful dragons which, after all, are the predators ‘counterpart to the herbivores’ alicorns at the top. Everyone saw this with Twilight in the latest episode where the age difference between her and her friends has been clearly highlighted to viewers.
 
We simply do not know if they are immortal or not. But that they can grow old as the dragons who could spend their lives for many centuries must be taken for granted. Faust had equated the alicorns and dragons in her drafts that formed the backdrop for the beginning of G4. And again, we don’t know how high the magic potential must be to live much longer. Celestia and Luna are clearly among the most powerful as they are linked to the Sun and the Moon, but can we say the same with the others?
 
Only one woman knew the answer, and she would not say anything as it is no longer her responsibility.

@Background Pony #C58D  
Actually, they could’ve lived forever, but they chose to give up their immortality. Twilight is surrounded by reminders of them, so they’ll live on in her heart for all eternity. Even though Twi is immortal, she too will give that up for another pony someday.
 
Even Discord might give up his immortality one day, since we clearly saw that Pinkie can use his powers. He might decide it’s time to let somebody else take over as the Lord of Chaos.

@UserAccount  
You should mention when it’s just your headcanon.

@Latecomer  
If there’s an alternate universe where MLP is real life, my statements have about a 99.9999% chance of being 100% accurate to that universe.

@UserAccount  
You see, all I see there is a fancy way of saying “I’m right and I don’t need to prove it”.

@Latecomer  
When scientists finish their multiversal travel device, I’ll be able to prove it.

@UserAccount
 
🙄

@Background Pony #C58D
 
Sunset Shimmer appears in Last Problem’s montage. She’s right behind Biglight’s head during her segment.
 
I didn’t spot her in the two-parter, which features Tempest Shadow and the cat guy, who also appear in the later montage.
 

 
@Wiimeiser
 
The most noticeable voice change is Sweetie Belle, who sounds different in exactly one conversation where they are speaking to an actual adult. All three of them sound identical to their contemporary filly forms in all other scenes, implying that they were proactively trying to sound more like adults in that scene.
 
Of course, the actresses actually did change from children to adults as the show went on, and Sweetie Belle is the most noticeable as she was the squeakiest one.

What are you guys talking about? Their voices did change when they got older. I think they’re usually pitch shifted and when they were adults, we heard it how it sounds in the booth.

@Tirimsil
 
The cat guy, Capper Dapperpaws from Abyssinia, is seen during the coronation ceremony where Twilight was crowned as ruling princess. Now he has been seen three times during the TV show. Sunset Shimmer is seen only once.