@stargrazer  
I’m gonna finish it as is anyway. I’ve written too many words and killed too many ponies not to finish it now! :)

@Red Cedar  
That’s pretty much what I said lol

Well, crap, that ruins the fanfic I’m writing. :)

@Evowizard25  

That and The Seed Scene are all we’ve got on the subject so far, and they both had their marks and princessy regalia when they rocked Discord. It always sounded to me like the two of them were already in charge of Equestria but had no way to deal with Discord when he showed up, so he kicked them out of Canterlot and took over, leaving them to search for ways to defeat him until they figured out the Elements. Given that Celestia’s “eternal” was obvious hyperbole, there’s no real way to tell how long they were off the throne; might have been centuries, might have been a few days that felt like an eternity. I lean towards no more than a few weeks, because it just doesn’t seem likely that anything would be able to continue or rebuild after a prolonged reality unmaking; maybe she said “eternal” because that’s what it felt like for them to not be able to move the Sun and Moon around.

So, does this mean the age spell loses signifgance?

@Lawful Girly  
fomr the sounds of it they aged more slowly period…… imagining they were cute litle foals for far longer than any nanny ever wanted to deal with.

“Because Alicorns age at a different rate than the rest of the pony races”
 
“immortality” blues Twilight all over again.

@Background Pony #311B  
Something like this?

oh dear this DOES confirm that, well, the aging rate of Cadance and Twilight is slower too. though perhaps not AS slow as them. they are true alicorns through and through, even if they were not born as alicorns. perhaps the earlier you become an alicorn the slower you age?
 
I could also gues they did not truly become alicorns until they got their cutie marks etierh………..  
maybe there is a way to find a Dormant alicorn.

@Background Pony #3654
 
So Tweets by AKR count as Word of God, but an entire book written by her (an episode writer) doesn’t?

@Background Pony #3654  
I would assume it would be supplementary canon, like the comics. Canon until otherwise contradicted by the show’s canon.

@soundtea  
It won’t be canon anyway so it doesn’t matter.

@Background Pony #B8D6
 
What I like about the tree symbols being there before their CMs, it does also give some claim to why Celestia was treating Sunset as her special student, because her mark is also, at the core, a 6-point star, and thus possibly tying her with the tree of harmony.

@stargrazer  
I would have liked it to go the way you thought it would.
 
That would have been really nice. Give us a better frame of reference for how it happens.

@Evowizard25
 
from the book
 
Celestia:
 
“To be completely honest, I’d like it to be a place where to get away from everypony. A sanctuary, someplace where we can have our private ****. *** is that a bad thing for a princess to want?  
Probably, but even a princess wants some ****** right?  
Anyhow, as we continued our search, Star Swirl told us about a place in Equestria called the Everfree Forest. “
 
“It’s such a fascinating tree, and ***  
On it are three markings: a sun, a moon and a star. I’ve asked Star Swirl what these stand for, but he seems to have no idea.  
I don’t know why, but I feel like the sun image is calling to me. Is that weird?  
Luna and I are both so draw to the Tree of Harmony that we decided to build the Castle of the Two Sisters above the ravine. Star Swirl agreed, saying that having our castle built near the Tree of Harmony would give us strength and help us protect Equestria.”

So, they were princesses before they got their marks? Hmmmm, so does this mean they’ve already defeated Discord, or was that during their rule? (Twilight’s vision could have easily projected Luna and Celestia’s appearance onto their previous selves. It would explain why the old castle was empty except for the two sister’s in the flashback.)

@PonyPon  
As in?

@stargrazer  
That’s unsatisfying.

Damn, this invalidates my headcanon that they were turned alicorns just like Cadance and Twilight.  
Meh, my fic is AU already.

That whole “50 years of puberty” thing sucked too.
 
My headcanon is the ageless status is for those born as alicorns as opposed to those who ascend. Hopefully the book addresses that.

@Background Pony #1FE7  
At some point, I guess?

@Background Pony #1FE7  
Who knows. I have a feeling this book will raise more questions than answering them.

So… Princess Celestia and Princess Luna still will die ?

@Background Pony #11D4  
But*  
the whole thing*
 
(darn it)

!derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/12/17/499181__safe_solo_animated_derpy+hooves_image+macro_reaction+image_mind+blown_epic+rage+time.gif!
 
Bur seriously interesting. Can’t wait to read to whole thing.