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One thing I’ve been thinking about… ponies tend to have jobs that are closely related to their talents, right? Not always; Twilight is (was) a librarian, Rainbow was a weather worker, and I'm sure there’s many other examples. But it seems to be the most common way ponies pick their career, which, you know, makes a lot of sense. Why not try to make money doing the thing you have a talent for?

But my thinking was, does that apply to things like… being a leader? Diamond Tiara’s mark seems to suggest it’s very possible to have one. Now, in Equestria we have the Princesses who rule over everything, but we know there are positions like mayor. Which seems to be a position a pony is voted into? Can a pony have a mark for, like, being a politician? I’m not sure what Mayor Mare’s mark represents, it could be politics or maybe just paperwork or something. My point is, in a world where everyone in your species has a special talent which indicates that they are better at or at least more naturally inclined towards a certain task, how would you deal with someone with a mark that says they should be a leader? In Equestria it seems a pony like this will have to either be born into power, try to run for some office or become a manager/boss/etc at a business.

But what about other countries with ponies? (Which so far canonically, is like, only the Crystal Empire, I think). Where there isn’t an immortal being on the throne, would talents influence who sits there? Monarchies here are hereditary, but, then again, we don’t have magical destiny-symbols on our butts.

So I decided it was fun if I used all that in my headcanon for the Crystal Empire :D

—-

Before Sombra, the Empire was ruled by either an Empress or Emperor. This individual was the absolute monarch, and had the final say in all matters -though they did appoint others to act on their behalf in different matters, they could (and did) override their decisions if they disagreed. Their power was upheld through the Crystal Heart, which allowed them to use the harmony of their empire to protect against the harsh weather of the north, as well as directly wield its powerful magic. An Emperor/Empress wielding a fully activated Heart could go head to head with even a realised Alicorn or two in terms of strength.

There’s only one thing they could not change; the Rule of Succession.

Roughly, the Rule of Succession says that:

1. The Emperor/Empress shall be the Crystal Pony who has the talent for wielding the Crystal Heart.
1, Addendum: Such a talent shall be recognized by their mark. It must contain a single instance of the Heart, placed in the center of the mark. It may be surrounded by decorations, but such must be in service of accenting the Heart and thus be either smaller than it, or be symmetrically placed around it.

2. In the case there is more than one such pony, the title shall pass to the one who manifested their talent first.

3. In the case where more than one pony manifested at a time, or it cannot be proven which one was first, the title shall pass to the first born.

4. If no such pony exists, the rule shall be held by a pony declared by the late Emperor/Empress. This ruler will hold the title of Prince/Princess and wield the power until such a time a pony enters the succession.

-

The first part of the Rule is made just to determine who is eligible to enter the succession. The reason for the sub-rule is to stave off some controversy of who this does and does not apply to. The reason this is necessary is that the Heart is such an important and well recognized symbol of the Empire; it's surprisingly often featured as a part of ponies’ marks. So the point of this rule is to only find ponies where the Heart is the focus of the talent. For example, in my nextgen verse, Diletto would not qualify because the Heart is not centered, nor the largest icon featured, and Felicity would not because their mark has more than one instance of it. Flurry Heart does however, as the Heart is in the center of her mark, and the snowflake surrounding it is symmetrical and serves to accentuate it.

It is still not foolproof it never could be with so many ponies having the Heart on their flanks but it does sort out some ponies which might try to claim a place in the succession otherwise. Still, many many controversies of whether a specific pony’s mark is considered focused on the heart or not has happened during the Empire’s history, often ending in bloodshed.

It’s worth noting that while the Empire and its rules assume that if a pony has the Crystal Heart as their mark, it automatically means their talent involves/is leading the Empire and wielding the Heart. This isn’t true; the pony’s talent is actually usually something else, which is just expressed via the Heart as their mark. Like how Twilight’s talent is magic, expressed via the icon of Harmony as her mark.

So for example, an Emperor with a talent for teaching has this expressed as a glowing Heart. An Empress with the talent for enchanting gemstones, expressed as the Heart with magic swirls around it. Or Candence’s talent for spreading and reaffirming love, expressed as the Heart surrounded by golden decorations cradling it. None of these has anything to do with being a leader, yet the Heart is the main symbol of their marks. And so, they were crowned.

The second and third parts of the Rule simply specify who takes precedent in cases of dispute between who shall be the next Emperor/Empress.

The last part is an attempt to stave off civil war and unrule which comes when no pony exists to take the throne. Most Emperors/Empresses ensure that they have very clearly stated and documented who they wish to supersede them should the situation occur, often as soon as they take the title. Since in the cases where it is unclear, the unrest that was attempted to be avoided happens in full force as ponies come out of the woodworks to claim that the late ruler actually wanted them to rule.

If an Emperor/Empress tried to ignore the Rule of Succession, well… it tended to lead to the forming a rebellion and civil war. This happened not an insignificant number of times in the Empire’s history -most often ending with the citizens… getting choppy… with their previous ruler. That isn’t to say the rulers didn’t get away with quite a lot of corruption on their end; the more intelligent ones managed quite often to get the ponies they wanted on the throne after they passed, by bending the rules and removing competition via unfortunate ‘accidents’.

-

(This is where I say that I don’t really like the official comic backstory of Sombra -not that I’ve actually read the comics, just based on what I’ve gathered from other people and from reading the wiki. So I’m gonna mostly ignore it, just pick out what I like, and do my own thing for my nextgen 'verse canon =P)

Then Sombra happened. Sombra, originally, was just an ordinary unicorn. Not a crystal pony, just a pony -there did live a few of them in the Empire, but they were a vast minority compared to their crystal cousins. Sombra was an orphan, abandoned as a newborn with no indication of who his parents were. Just left on a door-step. As a non-crystal pony, he was quite thoroughly bullied by other foals, and only had one friend, only one pony who he cared for; Radiant Hope. Even then, they could only meet in secret as her parents quite disliked her spending time with him. Life was difficult, and he grew angrier and angrier with the world he’d been brought into. But then he got his mark… and it was the Heart. Radiant was stunned, while Sombra was filled with glee at discovering that he was meant to lead the Empire which had shunned him all his life. So he donned a cloak, and headed for the castle’s open sessions.

At this point in time, the Empire was in a state of unrest. The previous Emperor had passed and none was in the succession after him. As such, the fourth rule came into effect. He had picked his daughter, Princess Amore, to act as ruler until someone came forth. She herself had a newborn son, named Teroso, who she was secretly hoping and planning would take the throne after her.

These plans were shattered when Sombra stepped forth. His mark was the Heart, and as such he should be crowned Emperor. Amore was displeased, to say the least. Especially that she had not found out about and disposed of him before he revealed himself in front of her entire court. But she would not abandon her plans, and fought back with a technicality. The Rule of Succession specifically mentions Crystal Ponies. Of which Sombra is, of course, not. They cannot even say that he is related to the Crystal Ponies! As such, he is not a true citizen of the Empire, and cannot possibly expect to rule it.

There was much fighting in the Empire over this, but when it came down to it; a Princess with many political allies and power over the government (and presses -let us not forget the power of propaganda) versus an orphaned colt. Sombra was banished, and managed to flee to Equestria, almost dying in the harsh winter on the way there.

He’d spend the next thirteen years of his life studying magic, trying to find some way to take his revenge. As his studies grew darker and darker, his power grew.

Eventually, he returned.

Under disguise, he then entered the castle during the next open session. Dramatically revealing himself, he overpowered and turned Amore to stone in front of her entire court.

Sombra claimed the throne after that. Those who had been loyal to the late Princess tried to attack him, but… it wasn’t much of a problem for Sombra. Nor were any of the other subsequent attempts at taking back the throne for him. Eventually the Empire settled down somewhat -many actually agreed with his taking the throne, as he does have the necessary talent. And those who disagreed with him, couldn’t do much. He closed the Empire off from the rest of the world, and killed anyone who tried to leave.

During this, he reconnected with Radiant Hope. She had grown up into a proficient healer, and was actually working in the castle as a royal physician. And as the only pony he still considered a friend or as close to a friend as he could see anyone at this point he was marginally kinder and more open to her than anyone else. As he squashed the remaining dissenters and cemented his place on the throne, he grew closer and closer with her. Eventually, he decided that, as an Emperor, he needs a Consort, and she agreed to marry him.

For her part, Radiant wasn’t stupid. She recognized that her filly-hood friend was not the pony she used to know. After he’d killed the Princess, the first thing Radiant did was smuggle the young Prince Teroso out of the castle and hide him away, not trusting that Sombra wouldn’t go after him. Once she realised that Sombra still valued her as a companion, she made sure to encourage those emotions -hoping beyond hope that she could somehow save him from himself. Yet, despite all her attempt at bringing back the Sombra she used to know, she could only watch as he cast himself further and further into his desire for revenge, and studies of corruptive magic.

Eventually she grew to realise that it was too late for her to be able to help him; at least, not in this place and this moment. And when the rest of the Empire was settling and accepting, albeit begrudgingly, him as their ruler, she was understanding with growing horror that it was not over. At this point, Sombra could not be happy with what he’d gained, he would always crave more. Even if he could somehow be satisfied with his revenge, he was too deep into the dark magic at this point; that is what it does, why it’s called dark magic. It’s parasitic — while it is more powerful than other magic, it warps your mind and makes you want to cast more of it.

So eventually… She accepted his offer of marriage. All the while planning different ways of making herself a widow.

But, it failed. Only resulting in him growing more frenetic in his desire to quash whatever forces were behind the attempts. So, she had to accept that it was over. And when she could not change him nor defeat him, all she could do was flee. Using the last of the tricks she had up her sleeve, she managed to grab her trusted friends and allies, Teroso, and as many other foals she could, technically, kidnap from the orphanage -as she feared that would be the target of Sombra's next quest for revenge. They left in the middle of the night, and headed through the storm, towards the safety of Equestria and its two powerful Alicorn protectors.

After arriving, they implored the Sisters for help, but it was too late. Sombra had already managed to use the Heart to form a shield around the Empire, which the Sisters could not break using conventional means. Radiant Hope begged them to try more, but they refused; from their point of view, a neighbouring Kingdom had just had one ruler be overthrown and replaced with another. That was not an uncommon occurrence at all at that time. It was concerning how Hope described his use of dark magic, but it was sadly, and quite frankly, none of their business. They only offered the refugees a place in their Kingdom and posted more guards along the border.

The Sisters would later grow to regret this decision. But as it was, Sombra reigned for several years, spiraling further and further down all the while. He managed to twist the use of the Heart enough to wield it, and were thus practically unmatched in terms of magical ability. The Heart operates on Order and Harmony, which is usually achieved by the crystal ponies working together towards a shared goal, feeling love and happiness towards each other. But Order and Harmony in and of themselves are neutral. All ponies feeling miserable and depressed is just as orderly and harmonious as when everyone is happy. And so, Sombra wielded the Crystal Heart.

Once he had gained control over it and it’s great magical power, that is when his true atrocities started. The worst one was… there’s a reason the vast majority of Crystal Ponies are earth ponies currently, while there used to be both Crystal Pegasi and Crystal Unicorns. Pegasi could manipulate weather and thus escape through the winter storms, while Unicorns could potentially overpower his own magical abilities. His subjects escaping him was unacceptable, as was the possibility of being deposed, so… in the end, earth ponies were the only ones allowed to live. As his need for control grew greater and greater, his citizens became more and more subjugated. Until the point we see in the episode, where they were little more than slaves. Marching in unison, powering the Heart with fear and sorrow.

Celestia and Luna were unaware of all of this, until one day a single pony managed to somehow escape and make their way to Equestria. And as the Sisters heard of the horrors, they only allowed a moment of regret, before putting everything they had into breaking into the Capital at this point, most of the surrounding villages had been abandoned as Sombra ordered them into the heart of the Empire. The Sisters had refused to before -they could not risk Sombra getting his hooves on them, back when they thought he’d just seized the government but now brought the Elements into play.

It was rather quick after that. The shield fell, the Castle stormed. But right before they could actually reach Sombra, he revealed that he had one last trick. The Crystal Empire, and all the ponies in it, disappeared into thin air. Celstia and Luna would have met the same fate, were it not for the Elements still around their necks, protecting them.

-

Thousands of years later, it reappears, and the story from then we’ve seen. The remains of Sombra were banished, and Cadence took over the throne. It was not the plan originally; she and Shining had only intended to stay and protect it from the storm until the Crystal Ponies could get back onto their hooves. But then they all started calling her Empress, much to her confusion. The Rule of Succession was explained, and how her mark showed her destiny for ruling them -she wasn’t a Crystal Pony, yes, but at this point the Empire didn’t much care. An Alicorn had come bearing the mark of the Heart, the outcome was obvious. Candace disagreed -it felt a bit too much like Equatria conquering them when they were at their lowest. Eventually they compromised, and she agreed to follow the fourth rule -acting as their ruler with the title of Princess until such a time one of their own entered the succession.

To her surprise, this will eventually be her own daughter. While not biologically a Crystal Pony, Flurry Heart is definitely seen as one of them by the population. Most of whom are thrilled to have an Alicorn, bearing the mark of the Heart, who was also born and raised in the Empire, on the throne. Whether Flurry actually wants this or not is another question.

Upvotes at import: 33 | Stars at import: 22
Posted previously at: 2020-09-12T02:24:33 | Posted previously by: zero two