History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E1TheCrystalEmpirePart1

* SuperOCD: Twilight Sparkle preparing for the "test" that she thinks she's been summoned to Canterlot for. She rushes around for quills, ink, books, flashcards, etc.

* OffModel: During the preview clip of the song "Ballad of the Crystal Empire", Twilight's horn doesn't glow when she levitates the book, then when the camera zooms out to an overview her horn is now glowing, but the book is not. The former error was not fixed for the episode version.
** In same song, the ponies' mouths can be seen moving during the fantasy moments; in the actual episode their mouths are frozen.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The double-belled flugelhorn is easy to dismiss as something from a Dr. Seuss book, but double-belled brass instruments saw some popularity in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

* CriticalResearchFailure: InUniverse, Twilight's "crystal heart", which she carved from a crystal block. See FailedASpotCheck below.

* SunglassesAtNight: Inverted. Pinkie wears NightVisionGoggles in broad daylight. [[RealityEnsues She quickly crashes into a lamp post]].

The Mane Six meet Princess Cadance, who is using her own magic to form a protective shield around the Empire that is keeping King Sombra out. However, she has grown weak due to the constant concentration required to keep it active. Twilight comes up with the idea to interview the Crystal Ponies, and the Mane Six set out to find a way to restore the Crystal Empire to the way it had been. They find that the residents--in a rather dull coloration for a bright kingdom--can't remember anything before King Sombra came to power, and don't ''want'' to remember anything about his reign. They head to a nearby library to look for information, and Twilight finds a book with information on the Crystal Fair, a festival that will unite the hearts of the Crystal Ponies. Central to this fair is something called the Crystal Heart, but as they do not have one, Twilight cuts one out of a crystal block to use as a substitute.

* LatexPerfection: Pinkie's Fluttershy costume.

* AnimationBump: Twilight's billowing mane and tail during the "Failure Success Song".

* PhysicalGod: Despite King Sombra being a Unicorn, both Celestia and Luna were needed just to seal him; and even then, he still managed to curse the whole Empire away for centuries. And despite his limits upon just escaping, all that Shining Armor (a very-strong Unicorn himself) and Cadance (an Alicorn like the aforementioned Royal Sisters) can do is delay him.

** When Cadance and Twilight do the sunshine dance, the music briefly resembles a ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' town tune.

* PhysicalGod: Despite King Sombra being a Unicorn, both Celestia and Luna were needed just to seal him--and even then, he managed to curse the whole Empire away for centuries. And despite his limits upon just escaping, all Shining Armor (a very strong Unicorn himself) and Cadance (an Alicorn like the aforementioned Royal Sisters) can do is delay him.

According to Princess Celestia, the Crystal Empire was ruled by King Sombra, an evil unicorn whose heart was black as night. Because the Crystal Empire reflects the nature of the ruler across all of Equestria--bringing light and happiness if the ruler is benevolent and darkness and sorrow if the ruler is a tyrant--the Princesses transformed Sombra into a shadowy cloud and banished him to the arctic wastes, but not before he cursed the Crystal Empire to disappear along with him. Celestia tasks Twilight and her friends with aiding Shining Armor and Princess Cadance in finding a way to prevent the Crystal Empire from falling back into Sombra's hooves. Celestia reassures her student that she will succeed, and will proceed to the next level of her studies upon her return. As she leaves, Celestia tells her that she, and she alone, must be the one to help Cadance and Shining Armor do what needs to be done.

Twilight, Spike, and the rest of the Mane Six travel to the Frozen North and are greeted by Shining Armor, who urges them to follow him quickly, as the Empire "isn't the only thing that's returned." As they cross the tundra, Shining Armor informs them that King Sombra has been attempting to invade the Empire. Twilight questions what point there is in finding a way to protect the Empire if it's already being protected when King Sombra, in the form of a shadowy mass, attacks and chases them. Shining Armor stays behind to hold King Sombra off while the others reach the Empire. He escapes but Sombra curses his horn, preventing him from using his magic.

* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: Both Twilight and Rarity when they express a loss for words, almost directly quoting ''Film/{{Contact}}''. Twilight's loss for words is [[RuleOfFunny at a library]].

!!Continued in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 "The Crystal Empire, Part 2"]].

* GenericDoomsdayVillain: King Sombra is built up as being a huge threat to the Crystal Empire, and is also revealed to have set up an intricate security system to prevent anypony from getting the Crystal Heart in the past, but other than that, his characterization is nonexistent, especially in comparison to the show's other villains, and there is barely any backstory for him to speak of. This isn't helped by him [[TheSilentBob speaking very little]] and not having any meaningful interaction with the other characters and spends most of the two-parter as more of a wave of blackness rather than an actual character. The show treating him more like a powerful malevolent force than a character in his own right. According to WordOfGod, he was intended to be more of a menacing and terrifying presence lurking over everything. In other words, ''fear itself''..

* HumanPackMule: Well, Dragon Pack Mule... Spike gets to carry Rarity's usual LotsofLuggage.

** And Sombra himself goes OneManArmy against the Empire.

* GenericDoomsdayVillain: King Sombra is built up as being a huge threat to the Crystal Empire, and is also revealed to have set up an intricate security system to prevent anypony from getting the Crystal Heart in the past, but other than that, his characterization is nonexistent, especially in comparison to the show's other villains, and there is barely any backstory for him to speak of. This isn't helped by him [[TheSilentBob speaking very little]] and not having any meaningful interaction with the other characters and spends most of the two-parter as more of a wave of blackness rather than an actual character. The show treating him more like a powerful malevolent force than a character in his own right. According to WordOfGod, he was intended to be more of a menacing and terrifying presence lurking over everything. In other words, ''fear itself''.
* GenreSavvy: Twilight notes that the memory of King Sombra's oppression must be why the Crystal Ponies' coats aren't [[BuffySpeak crystally]].

-> ''Princess Cadance needs our help, [[ThePowerOfLove her magic]] will not last forever.''\\
''I think we can do it, but [[ThePowerOfFriendship we need to work together]].''\\
''We have to get this right, yes we have to make them see.''\\
''We can save the Crystal Ponies with their history!''
-->--'''Twilight Sparkle'''

Twilight, Spike, and the rest of the Mane 6 travel to the Frozen North and are greeted by Shining Armor, who urges them to follow him quickly, as the Empire "isn't the only thing that's returned." As they cross the tundra, Shining Armor informs them that King Sombra has been attempting to invade the Empire. Twilight questions what point there is in finding a way to protect the Empire if it's already being protected when King Sombra, in the form of a shadowy mass, attacks and chases them. Shining Armor stays behind to hold King Sombra off while the others reach the Empire. He escapes but Sombra curses his horn, preventing him from using his magic.

The Mane 6 meet Princess Cadance, who is using her own magic to form a protective shield around the Empire that is keeping King Sombra out. However, she has grown weak due to the constant concentration required to keep it active. Twilight comes up with the idea to interview the Crystal Ponies, and the Mane 6 set out to find a way to restore the Crystal Empire to the way it had been. They find that the residents--in a rather dull coloration for a bright kingdom--can't remember anything before King Sombra came to power, and don't ''want'' to remember anything about his reign. They head to a nearby library to look for information, and Twilight finds a book with information on the Crystal Fair, a festival that will unite the hearts of the Crystal Ponies. Central to this fair is something called the Crystal Heart, but as they do not have one, Twilight cuts one out of a crystal block to use as a substitute.

'''''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 TO BE CONTINUED]]'''''

* CaptainObvious: When the Mane 6 enter the Crystal Library, which has three floors of enormous bookcases filled to the brim with various tomes:

* DownerEnding: Par for the two parters. It turns out Twilight was wrong and they needed to find the Crystal Heart instead of making one, resulting in Cadance's power running out. King Sombra's shadow form washes over the Crystal Empire as the field fails.
* [[HumanPackMule Dragon Pack Mule]]: Spike gets to carry Rarity's usual LotsofLuggage.

* [[DullEyesOfUnhappiness Dull Coats of Unhappiness]]: The crystal ponies have washed out color schemes to go with their depressed voices. Even when they're happier at the prospect and events of the Crystal Fair, their coats don't gain the incredible sparkling lustre they should have, instead simply looking like regular (though still fancy) Earth Ponies.

* [[FacePalm Face Hoof]]: Rainbow Dash does this after a Crystal Pony she's interrogating tells her she doesn't remember anything about King Sombra's rule.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Celestia tells Luna that if Twilight succeeds in saving the Crystal Empire they will know she is that much closer to being ready for something, but doesn't say what.
** At the end of Part II, Princess Luna conjures a book that would later be crucial to the plot of the season finale.

-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' I don't think there's anything in any of my books ab- \\

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Applejack implies King Sombra placed a spell an amnesia spell on all the Crystal ponies so they couldn't remember anything about life before he came to power.

* [[ThePowerOfHate The Power of Fear]]: King Sombra specialized in using fear-based magic to rule his empire. Princess Celestia deomonstrates this power herself.

* WellIntentionedReplacement: Twilight was confident that her magically carved crystal heart was enough to serve as the centrepiece of the Crystal Fair. It wasn't.