Siege of the Crystal Empire (conflict)


 * The canonicity of this event is disputed, due to apparently contradictory events taking place in the Friendship is Magic animated series as opposed to the IDW comics.

The Siege of the Crystal Empire was a conflict that took place, as one might expect from the name, in the Crystal Empire, some time after the Return of the Crystal Empire and the Reformation of the Changelings.

Preceding events
The buildup to the conflict took place over a considerable period, beginning at least one thousand years prior to the Return of Nightmare Moon. The Umbrum, seeking to escape their confinement in the Shadow Prison, partially transformed Sombra into a foal in order to have him infiltrate the Crystal Empire. Sombra eventually succeeded in dethroning Princess Amore and stealing the Crystal Heart, but refrained from releasing the Umbrum as they had intended. Having been alerted to his actions by Radiant Hope, and  arrived in the empire to defeat him, imprisoning him beneath the Frozen North.

Due to a curse enacted by Sombra, the Crystal Empire disappeared and would not reappear for another thousand years. Despondent over this development and for what she perceived as betrayal of Sombra, Hope returned to the site of her former homeland. There she found the red crystal marking the entrance to the Shadow Prison and communicated with the Umbrum, who deceived her into thinking that they were a benevolent race of unjustly imprisoned. Hope was able to enter the prison, where she escaped the ravages of time as the thousand year period of the empire's absence passed and they awaited its return.

Trivia

 * The Siege of the Crystal Empire is one of a few events in the IDW comics to seemingly be directly contradicted by events in the animated series that took place after its publication; most notably, season nine's reintroduction of King Sombra as a villain after his reformation at the climax of the siege.