Cutie mark: [link]
Friendship Is Magic: The Next Generation begins thirty years after the birth of Princess Flurry Heart, and the story is… a bit darker and more complicated than My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic before it. It delves into the backstory around Alicorns, where they came from, why Discord is the only Draconequus, and who is the prisoner in the deepest darkest cell of the cosmic oubliette that is Tartarus…
(And admittedly, FIM:TNG does take some liberties with the events of MLP:FIM, mostly in regards to Equestria Girls and all episodes after and including The Cutie Re-Mark. That will become more apparent when it comes to the character bios for Sunset Shimmer, Flash Sentry, Starlight Glimmer, and others.)
Now, I have done this for years now online, but I think it deserves attention here: whenever I discuss a couple, I always use an ampersand "&" between their names, whereas with platonic pairs/groups, I use the word "and" instead. And also, I think we all take it for granted that same-sex couples in Friendship Is Magic headcanons can have kids. I mean, magic is a thing in this universe, and it's not ENTIRELY written off that sex-changes could happen with magic. Or just, you know, other options with the magic to allow two mares or two stallions to have children together. Anyway, moving on.

Here we are with Skystar, the first member of royalty I officially have drawn for FIM:TNG. She is the Princess of Hippogriffia and a Duchess of Equestria. Her age puts her close to fifty by the time the story begins, but she looks and acts like she's only half that age. The reason behind that is the same reason she is apparently an Alicorn here: she is the daughter of Queen Novo & Princess Celestia.

Skystar's special talent is to brighten up whatever room she enters and to crack even the deepest sadness in anyone she meets. Her cutie mark came about later during the same party in My Little Pony The Movie that celebrated the Storm King's defeat. Pinkie's squeal about how amazing Tempest Shadow's original name was drew in Tempest's foalhood friends, Glitter Drops & Spring Rain, who had since become a couple (and the former of whom had transitioned from colt to filly). The ex-commander hesitated on connecting with her old friends, but Skystar interjected because she also caught wind of Pinkie's cry. Having grown up with no friends herself (having little contact with her cousins Silverstream and Terramar), she urged the three to think past the falling-out they had and to look back to happier times together, no matter how small. "Because one small thing can make a big difference." The figurative ray of light she brought ended up drawing out a confession from Glitter Drops that she felt guilty about Tempest losing her horn, and Tempest reconciled with them. Then there was a flash of light, and the Princess of Hippogriffia got her cutie mark… despite apparently being a full-blooded Hippogriff. Upon hearing her daughter's mixed excitement and confusion about getting a cutie mark, Queen Novo decided that now was as good a time as ever to introduce Skystar to her other parent: Princess Celestia.

Skystar, as a half-Hippogriff and half-Alicorn, has the ability to shapeshift between any of her alternate forms without the need for the regal Pearl of Transformation. Growing up on Mount Aris and then in Seaquestria, she never saw any reason to transform into a land pony because she always assumed that her other parent was a Hippogriff or Seapony of high stature. But when Novo summoned Celestia to her side to introduce her to Skystar, she told her daughter to envision her form as a pony. Initially perplexed, Skystar did as her mother said… and before she knew it, she had four hooves instead of two claws and two hooves and a muzzle like her Seapony form… and what she initially thought was a 'shell' on her forehead. Queen Novo smiled proudly, "Skystar, my baby girl, meet Princess Celestia, your OTHER mother."
Skystar refers to Celestia as New Mom and Novo as Old Mom. (This causes Novo eye-twitches. Celestia likes to rib her with that name.)
The sea-shells Skystar wears in this picture take their colors (from left to right) from Twilight Sparkle, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, Pinkie Pie, and Princess Cadance.

Princesses Celestia and Luna are not the only immortal rulers in the world, nor the only ones with magical control over tangible substances. While Celestia moves the Sun and Luna the Moon, Novo the immortal Queen of the Hippogriffs and the Seaponies controls the seas to the east of Greater Equestria. (Her cousin King Leo of Aquastria controls the seas to the west.) During a particular period of melancholy after banishing her sister, Celestia acted as welcoming ambassador to Queen Novo and emissaries from Mount Aris. She sought counsel from Novo, and they kept in contact after the Hippogriffs returned to their kingdom. Some decades later, they went on what you could call a 'date', but it would seem more like a honeymoon to us. They spent a romantic fortnight together before returning to their own capitals. It was happier than Celestia had ever been since she banished NightMare Moon. She needed somebody to be honest and who would talk back to her without fear, as her little ponies were already growing fearful of contradicting or disappointing her. Meanwhile, Novo found Celestia's behind-the-scenes jubilance and passion very charming. These honeymoon-dates happened every few decades between the two of them, with plans to eventually marry the next time they met after NightMare Moon's defeat. As it happened, the Storm King drove all of the Hippogriffs from Mount Aris before Princess Skystar's tenth birthday (and when Silverstream and Terramar were still practically hatchlings), and his assault on Canterlot hastened the need for Novo's Pearl of Transformation. Of course, that ended up not being needed. But upon realizing that their… ahem, 'shenanigans' had conceived a child on her last date with Novo, Celestia opted to begin preparations for a union between herself & Novo.
"You sure your cooks baked a big enough wedding cake, Celestia?"
"Hmm? What makes you say that, Novo, my love?"
"I just wonder if there'll be enough for the rest of the reception once you've had your fill."
"Ohh? And what do you mean by that?"
"I mean that we know down in Mount Aris whenever you've sat down after eating cake because of the earthquakes."
(smirks) "Shut your beak, darling."
"Make me."
"Ohhh? Is that a challenge?" (shoves her tongue down Novo's throat)

This union constituted an expansion of Equestria's boundaries to include Hippogriffia, which expanded the Map in Twilight's castle…
But then, everything changed when King Sombra returned and the Alicorns vanished.
It happened all at once. A resounding crack of thunder echoed through the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Heart vanishing from its place under the Crystal Castle. The four Princesses of Equestria similarly seemed to fall off the face of the planet. And with nobody else to stand up to him, King Sombra who reconstructed himself conquered the Crystal Empire. The King of Shadows took many Equestrian and Crystal Ponies under his possessive thrall and began a path of conquest southward into Equestria.

Having been a Hippogriff at the time that the Crystal Empire fell once more to King Sombra, Skystar was not affected. As a Duchess and the daughter of Princess Celestia, though, she ends up serving as Acting Princess of Equestria. She finds it interesting that her mother, Princess Consort Novo, technically is further down the chain of command in Canterlot than she is, although she admittedly passes much of the paperwork along to her mother, because… well, she finds herself once again in isolation from friends at the peak of Equestrian society. Also, losing 'New Mom' Celestia really robbed Skystar of her spark, leaving her as Stepford-y as she was in Seaquestria when she first appeared in My Little Pony The Movie.
"I'm sorry I can't be your shining star anymore, Mom. I just… I miss New Mom!"
(Novo embraces Skystar, the latter sobbing and the former with a morose expression)
"I miss New Mom, too."

MLP:FiM © Lauren "fyre-flye Faust / Hasbro
FIM:TNG © me