@Backround Pony 004caf  
I know that; I was saying the edit is better.
 
@Background Pony 001515  
If only what’s in the show counts as canon, then the cards don’t count either.
 
Really, though, the merch is very low on the totem pole of canonicity. Just look at Pinklestia, female Big Macintosh, the seventh Element of Harmony, and so on and so forth if you want to see what I mean. The merch and the show are made by two entirely different teams, with two entirely different goals: to sell toys and to make a good story, respectively.

I reckon if they hadn’t been twins then…  
…They wuold have had a single alicorn baby instead!  
Someone draw grown-up alicorn Pound plz.

Earth-pony genes may be what give the princesses horse proportions. This is not as far-fetched as it sounds; ligers are enormous for a similar reason, having a lion gene for growth but lacking another that keeps it in check. This implies that the Cake twins might look like Fleur-de-Lis when they are grown.

>>39928 is an edit; these are the official cards: >>29501

Actually, since two parents produce a foal, their lineage will always be a fraction of a power of 2. The division can approach 1/3, but it can never get there.

well, after princess “_Mi Amore Cawhatsit” I got to thinking that maybe an alicorn is what happens when their genetics line up to about 33% of all three races, which would explain the rarity of alicorns, because that kind of matchup is… I forget the exact odds of it happening, but it makes sense that there’s only three alicorns in one relatively large country

The trading cards are still official (plus they weren’t entirely fan-made anyway), and it’s listed consistently by all four of those cards (so it isn’t just a one-or-two-card mistake).
 
And Faust herself has stated that “if it’s not in the show, it should not be considered canon.” Since the show hasn’t specified whether or not the Princesses are part Earth pony, the trading cards are the closest thing we have to canon.

Statements made by Faust when she was on the show are canon.

@BP  
The trading cards were fan-made, and have several other mistakes.

That quote is from back when Lauren Faust was still the showrunner. Much more recently, the trading cards have listed Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Nightmare Moon as all being Pegasi and unicorns but not Earth ponies. Hasbro’s Facebook page once called Princess Luna a Pegasus unicorn, and even the show’s script has used the term “pegacorn” (Queen Chrysalis is described as “a GANGLY BLACK PEGACORN with a gnarled black horn”).

@Dr. Outback
 
It seems silly from our perspective, because on Earth all races are physiologically equally (despite what some might tell you) but the three pony races are fundamentally different. The same argument comes up in superhero comics: if every member of a population group can all fly or have super strength, is it really wrong to consider them superior?
 
So, from a biological standpoint, the pony races are different from each other, and it makes sense only a combination of the 3 could rule equally.

… So they have three parents? Because I’m going to totally figure out a way for that to work.

I think it’s awesome that she did, though. The current team would go back and retroactively edit the show to make sure no one is offended.

I like the idea of Alicorns being a core race in which all others originated.

am I the only one who find it kinda sad that Lauren had to clarify that all the races are treated equally?

ok. So?

No DUH!

 
I don’t give a fuck.