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Description

So remember what happened to Amore….?

safe2267756 artist:andy price3817 idw22470 official comic7880 king sombra17836 princess celestia117018 princess luna121724 queen chrysalis44013 radiant hope847 alicorn335979 changeling69955 changeling queen25545 pony1700394 umbrum1685 unicorn581652 friendship is magic #3586 g42126899 my little pony: friendship is magic (idw)6567 siege of the crystal empire274 spoiler:comic13619 comic140537 female1909339 glowing horn31104 horn242063 magic101916 male585913 mare806306 stallion211365

Comments

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ichingdivine

@Starswirl
 
“And people say Dainn is overpowered. At least he went down to one knee when Celestia blasted him.”
 
Still a better conquest story than FoE.
 
Or is FoE a better conquest story than this arc?
Millennial Dan
Artist -

@Jades  
He was unable to take that form in at least a thousand years. I bet you’d make a face too in his place, being thus restored after all that time.
 
 
@dynamicv  
It always seemed to me that Cadence was the only thing powering that. Having the city provide some kind of amplification for her spell would make sense, but I didn’t notice anything that indicated that.
dynamicv

@dynamicv
 
@Jades
 
I looked at the episode:  
full
 
@Millennial Dan already made a compelling argument why he would covet the Heart. It’s not a stretch that he could use it to his advantage as long as he kept it away from the Crystal Ponies, in which case he would certainly expect it to help him.
dynamicv

was Sombra so surprised
 
I don’t recall him being surprised. I’ll have to look again.
 
The “light” comes from the Heart before it is recharged by the Crystal Ponies, so it’s not the same light that would destroy him.
 
Not all of Sombra’s magic is dark in appearance. Don’t you remember how Twilight had to open the door using a light spell?
Jades

@dynamicv
 
Then why was Sombra so surprised it restored him? Not only that but why does he get restored when the light shines down on him. There’s no way he knew that was going to happen.
 
Considering this why isn’t the Heart in the slightest bit corrupted? Unless Sombra can use it while it’s shiny which is stupid in of itself.
dynamicv

@Jades
 
Consider this:
 
The Crystal Heart is powered by the happiness of the Crystal Ponies.  
The Crystal Ponies have not been happy for over 1000 years.  
The Heart has therefore not been properly recharged for very long time.  
According to @Millennial Dan ’s theory, Sombra was probably using the Heart to channel dark magic before he was banished.
 
In short, before the Crystal Ponies restored their love and light into the Heart, Sombra was free to use it as a dark magic amplifier (which is what the main material it is composed of, Cosmic Spectrum, is capable of doing according to The Crystal Heart Spell chapter book)
dynamicv

What? Since when?
 
Since November 10, 2012. The Crystal Empire Part 1. Before we even learn of the Heart’s existence, the Empire is shown to have a shield that is powered by love and light. Cadance maintains it, but cannot do so for long.
 
I’m kinda surprised, that shield is kinda hard to miss. You must have last watched the episode a very long time ago to forget something that obvious.
Jades

I don’t think its even a bother to argue about the Crystal Heart functions. That thing is completely vacuous and is a complete fail at trying to make a mysterious powerful artifact. Remember this is the Heart that fucking reconstructed Sombra’s body for no apparent reason then destroys him next scene with no explanation whatsoever.
 
His backstory explains why the hell he got killed by light and love but it can’t explain the plot hole of why the fuck it gave his body back in the first place.
Millennial Dan
Artist -

The Empire has a shield it can use to repel stuff, and that was working even without the Heart.
What? Since when?
That’s like saying a gun is useless because you need to pull the trigger for it too work. Your gun doesn’t magically shoot people who try to steal your gun.
Amusing choice of words, since magic is exactly what we’re talking about here.
 
Sombra is just the sort of guy the Heart is supposedly able to deal with, but it didn’t. Why not? If the heart has to be “activated” in order to work, and leaves the city otherwise unguarded, then we have the further question of why there was nothing preventing any thief from simply waltzing up and stealing it, thereby leaving the city defenseless. Even Sombra had his silly stairs and doors to make that at least somewhat harder to do.
dynamicv

@Millennial Dan
 
You’re assuming there is a conundrum to solve at all.
 
The Crystal Heart’s function is to protect the Empire, and is only shown to do so when used properly. If it could perform this function under any circumstance, there would have been no need to place it back in it’s designated spot and to have the Crystal Ponies transfer their light into it.
 
There was never any indication that the Heart constantly repels threats when not in use.
 
more of a placebo than anything substantially helpful for repelling invaders
 
That’s like saying a gun is useless because you need to pull the trigger for it too work. Your gun doesn’t magically shoot people who try to steal your gun.
Millennial Dan
Artist -

@dynamicv  
Of course he stole the Heart. But his method for doing so is not a subject the show ever broached – and the comic apparently took a pretty lazy approach to this conundrum. If the CH’s defenses are so easy to defeat, then it was really almost more of a placebo than anything substantially helpful for repelling invaders.
 
I don’t really care for that explanation. Way too cheap.
dynamicv

@Millennial Dan
 
Even if you omit that comic, it is still true that Sombra took the Heart (unless you decide the show isn’t canon, in which case the discussion is pointless). Since he didn’t die doing so, logically the Heart must not have been turned on at the time he stole it. The comic happens to be consistent with the show on that point.
dynamicv

If it was functioning as intended, how did Sombra take over in the first place?
 
He could only have stolen it while it was not active. Therefore the Heart must only activate to defend the Empire when the Crystal Ponies want it to and while it is in it’s proper place.
 
In case you haven’t read FIENDship #1, Sombra took it at night while no Crystal Ponies were around, on a date several months after the last Crystal Fair. The Heart was not at full charge, but he still couldn’t touch it directly, so he had to bag it. So it does have a constant effect on him at close range or whenever it activates during the Crystal Fair, but otherwise he can approach it when no one is activating it.
Millennial Dan
Artist -

@dynamicv  
Oh, I wasn’t disagreeing that the Heart was used to defend against Sombra and other such interlopers, I was just saying I didn’t think that was Sombra’s motivation for hoarding it.
 
The defensive capabilities of the CH actually brings up something else that I’ve wondered about. If it was functioning as intended, how did Sombra take over in the first place?
dynamicv

Nope. I’m afraid it was not.
 
The Crystal Heart is explicitly explained as being the Empire’s primary defense by Amethyst Maresbury, who then followed up by expressing her hope that it was still strong enough to defeat Sombra. It’s obvious Sombra has a good reason to keep the Heart away from the Crystal Ponies, regardless of any other plans he might have for it.  
But Sombra did like to mumble greedily about “crystalllsssss”
 
That he did. But he was talking about the crystals he was using to spread his influence into the Empire, it doesn’t necessarily extend to any and all crystals, though you are right that it could.  
as Celestia said, it isn’t spreading “love and light”
 
Technically that “it” is referring to the Empire as a whole, which we know possesses a magic shield independent of the Heart. It could have other powers responsible for this function, but there is a good chance it’s just the heart doing that, which is a detail Celestia could not have known about anyway. The Twilight Chapter Book supports your theory that the Heart can channel darkness as well as light.  
That would explain the depressed state the crystal ponies were in, you know.
 
The only explanation given for this in the episode itself is: “King Sombra’s spell must be why their coats aren’t… crystally.” What that spell is exactly isn’t clearly defined, nor is it clear if it involved the use of the Heart or not. But considering it’s properties, it’s not a stretch that he could use it for that purpose.
 
In conclusion, with the exception of your first “nope” your post is a very solid theory about Sombra, the Heart and the Crystal Ponies.
 
It’s a fact that Sombra didn’t have the Heart on him when he fought Celestia, as it remained in the Castle and vanished along with the Empire. Was there some way he could have used it to his advantage in his fight? If there was, did he have some reason no to bring it with him?
Millennial Dan
Artist -

Wasn’t that explained in the episode? He locked it away from the Crystal Ponies to deprive them of the one thing that could protect the Empire from him.
Nope. I’m afraid it was not. But Sombra did like to mumble greedily about “crystalllsssss” and said of the Crystal Heart, “That is mine!” He clearly wanted it. It stands to reason that if, as Celestia said, it isn’t spreading “love and light”, it might instead have been used to reflect whatever was in his heart. That would explain the depressed state the crystal ponies were in, you know.
dynamicv

@Millennial Dan
 
Wasn’t that explained in the episode? He locked it away from the Crystal Ponies to deprive them of the one thing that could protect the Empire from him. I imagine since the thing was made specifically to hurt him he wanted to make sure it could not fall into the wrong hooves.
 
It would have made sense for him to destroy the heart right away as his people had asked, but he has not done so. Since he can’t even touch the thing unless he bags it, maybe he just hadn’t figured out how to do it and the sisters arrived to fight him before he could come up with a method.
Millennial Dan
Artist -

@dynamicv  
Your questions beg further ones. Why was Sombra so possessive of the Crystal Heart? The only thing we can reasonably infer is that he coveted its power somehow. It’s tough to say what use he got out of it.
dynamicv

@Millennial Dan
 
Why would him having the Crystal Heart help him fight Celestia and Luna? Isn’t it powered by the happiness and light of the Crystal Ponies? There’s no way it could have made a difference during his first fight against the sisters. Not to mention that it was locked away in his Castle at the time, while he battled them outside the Empire (this HAS to be the case, otherwise Celestia and Luna would have vanished along with it when they banished him).