History ComicBook / MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic

* CanonDiscontinuity: The episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E26ShadowPlayPart2 Shadow Play]]'' eventually showed a completely different flashback about how the Sirens were banished from Equestria. Later comics followed Shadow Play's version as well.

Immediately following the banishment of Nightmare Moon to the moon by Princess Celestia, Nightmare Moon wanders the surface and comes across a number of Nyx, creatures that are able to enter and manipulate the dreams of ponies to help chase away the nightmares. Nightmare Moon feigns friendship with Doran, one of the Nyx, hoping to learn how to use the dream-walking powers herself, despite warnings from the other Nyx that Doran should be careful about revealing their methods.

** Nightmare Moon notes she is back "again" - this relates back to the Nightmare Rarity arc of the main series (Issues #5-8) as well as to Issue #24 (Fluttershy/CMC/Discord) in which it is established that nightmare entities take over the creature's body (Luna or Rarity from previous cases), displacing the host's personality. Issue #24 establishes that Luna was not likely the first host of these.

* CanonDiscontinuity: The episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E26ShadowPlayPart2 Shadow Play]]'' eventually showed a completely different flashback about how the Sirens were banished from Equestria.

Sombra's first memory was being found as a colt by crystal pony guards, and knowing only a single word, which became his name. He was taken into an orphanage and taught to speak and read. Because of his lack of basic communication skills, the other young fillies and colts teased him, but one filly, Radiant Hope, found Sombra to be weird like her and the two became friends. Sombra soon was able to better integrate himself with the others, and he and Radiant Hope began to save up gems to spend at the upcoming Crystal Fair. On the day prior to the Faire, the two go to gaze upon the Crystal Heart and both have visions - Radiant of becoming a princess, and Sombra of becoming evil. He is scared off but runs into Princess Amore, who knows he shouldn't be frightened of the visions, and that they may not come to pass.

The next day, Sombra finds that his body refuses to move. Radiant Hope stays by his side, forgoing the Fair, but the next day Sombra is all well. They plan for the same the next year, but again and again, on the day of the Fair, Sombra's body gains a strange crystalization and refuses to move. One year, his body in this state begins to shatter, but Radiant Hope uses her magic to restore Sombra to normal, and gaining her cutie mark. She finds her magic is able of restoring nearly anypony back to health. Though this is a special skill, Sombra recognizes that it is the type of magic that would likely lead to Radiant Hope becoming a princess, and begins to fear the visions of what he would become. When Radiant Hope receives a letter inviting her to study at Canterlot, Sombra realizes his fate is sealed, and runs off into the winter lands outside the Crystal Empire.

Sombra returns to the Crystal Empire under darkness and tries to destroy the Heart, but Princess Amore is there, and warms him to stop. She explains she knew what his fate was, and hoped it was possible to change it, and knows he still can as she feels there is good in him. Sombra refuses and uses his powers to turn Amore into crystal. Radiant Hope arrives, aghast at what Sombra has done, and begs him to stop. He refuses, and in his power-hungry rant, shatters the Amore crystal. He is unable to do anything against Radiant Hope, who runs off to warn Celestia and Luna about his rise, during which he begins to enslave the Crystal Empire to free the umbrum forces, hide the Crystal Heart, and scatters the pieces of the crystal Amore across Equestia so they cannot be reassembled until he is powerful enough to stop her. Sombra intends to release the umbrum forces beneath the Empire to serve as his army, but knows he will not succeed before Celestia and Luna arrive, thus he resolves to get a long-lasting vengeance on the Crystal Ponies with one more spell he will cast before he is defeated.

* ContinuityNod: The reason for the Crystal Heart and the need for the Crystal Fair, and how Sombra figures all into it is well established by this story.

* MeaningfulName: Radiant Hope as the ManicPixieDreamGirl.

* MyGreatestFailure: Sombra says his one mistake was letting Radiant Hope, who he still loved, flee, which allowed her to warn Celestia and Luna and keep him from using his crystal pony slaves to release the army slumbering beneath the Crystal Empire. It's actually the first major mistake he's ever made in his career as a villain. The second comes in the Season 3 opener, where Spike ends up being the SpannerInTheWorks that ends up turning the tables on him.
** Made even more ironic since in his youth, he proclaimed... [[DramaticIrony "A Dragon could never defeat me!"]]

* NotQuiteDead: Princess Amore is not dead despite her crystal form being shattered (Sombra expects that she can be reassembled and restored). Writer Jeremy Whitley [[https://twitter.com/jrome58/status/583289792839847936 noted]] that the only thing Creator/{{Hasbro}} asked for his script was to make sure it was clear that Amore was not "dead dead".

* AllThereInTheManual: The story's writer, Christina Rice, [[https://twitter.com/christinarice/status/585815904899866624 considers Queen Haydon and Scorpan to be gargoyles]] in contrast to the centaurs that Vorak and Tirek are.

* MythologyGag: Young Tirek is seen with the bag that contains the Rainbow of Darkness, an element from the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials Rescue at Midnight Castle]]'' special. Tony Fleecs admits that he drew upon the original special for design inspiration.
** Similarly, the castle Tirek and his family inhabits here is a slimmer version of the titular Midnight Castle from the special.

* AnachronismStew: Justified, the Sirens and Star Swirl were so determined to beat each other they ended up creating new instruments and styles of music long before they appeared in our world.
** As for the gum Sonata was chewing at one point, AWizardDidIt, and the same is probably literally the case for Star Swirl's boom box.

* NoSell: Due to Canterlot having more sophisticated tastes than their previous concert sites, the Sirens' initial attempt to mesmerize the crowd does jack squat.

* BrokenWinLossStreak: From what we see, Princess Celestia was the first one to hand Chrysalis and her Changelings a decisive defeat during their conquests.

* LoveIsAWeakness: The changelings easily can achieve victory as long as their foes have some type of love for others that CANNOT be turned against them, it is when their foes lack love for others that the changelings struggle.

* LuredIntoATrap: Twilight blindly steps into Chysalis' thinking she's trying to help her.

* LoveIsAWeakness: The changelings easily can achieve victory as long as their foes have some type of love, it is when their foes lack love for others that the changelings struggle.

** When one of Chrysalis's helmet wearing cronies questions whether or not the TrojanHorse move is the best tactic to use, she says shell eat her hat if it doesn't work. When it's pointed out that she doesn't ''have'' a hat, she says her crown instead, to which he says that he always thought it was some kind of antenna (a sentiment shared by many fans for a while and an indication that some generations of changelings have passed since the Battle of Timbucktu). Chrysalis tells him to shut up at this point.
** After Queen Chrysalis' escape, the other Mane 6 [[SarcasmMode eagerly agree]] that Twilight should write [[AnAesop a letter to Celestia]] to let her know that she let Chrysalis out.

** The Changelings' appearance gets one. Those holes ''aren't'' natural, they're scars that Celestia inflicted on them when they first fought her in Trot and have seemingly been passed on through generations, becoming a genetic trait of sorts.

The inverse happens at the end of the story when Chrysalis finally achieves a decisive victory over Twilight and her friends... by escaping with her Changeling army through BatmanGambit.

** Back in the issue #4, the first story arc was concluded with Chrysalis and her minions getting off rather easy for what they had done by ending up trapped in the castle with [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment talking Pinkie costume]], the entire situation being played for laughs. In this issue, the situation is treated significantly more serious, where it is revealed they (or at least Chrysalis herself) have been sentenced to spend the next ''one thousand years'' in there as punishment, with the whole castle converted into a full-fledged prison with walls and guards, and her imprisonment having seemingly turning Chrysalis [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen weak and deranged.]] Worse, it was an act, Chrysalis was as dangerous as ever, and the comic ends with them escaping and flying off to lands unknown.

* ScrewDestiny: Princess Amore believed that ponies are capable of choosing their own futures, which is why she didn't do anything despite knowing what Sombra was.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Sombra wanted Hope to suffer the worst for what he saw as her betrayal. Hes created the spell that made the Crystal Empire vanish specifically to punish her.

* DisproportionateRetribution: While Sombra [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer had legitimate reason to]] [[TheResenter to resent the Crystal ponies]], the only excuse for the extent of his revenge (which included those who didn't do anything wrong to him) was his belief [[YouCantFightFate that was meant to do this all along]].
* DyingCurse: Literally. Aware he will be defeated not long after taking complete control of the empire and releasing the umbrum forces, and he cannot hope to defeat Celestia and Luna, he uses his final days to curse the Crystal Ponies to a thousand years of suffering as repayment for his horrible life among them.

* FriendlessBackground: Outside of Radiant Hope, Sombra had only himself for company as he grew up. The idea she might leave him finally drove him from the empire into the arms of the red crystal that awakened his true nature.
* FromASingleCell: The last panel of the comic shows Sombra's crystal horn falling down the steps and suggests that he can regenerate his pony form from the magic in it.

* GoodHurtsEvil: Even before his power awakened, Sombra was hurt and paralyzed by the Crystal Fair, and after his awakening is vulnerable to it to the point that it would destroy him.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Learning of his origins causes any jealousy and insignificance Sombra felt towards the Crystal Ponies to explode into full-blown madness. Interestingly, the umbrum crystal may be responsible for the madness itself.

* MyGreatestFailure: Sombra says his one mistake was letting Radiant Hope, who he still loved, flee, which allowed her to warn Celestia and Luna and keep him from using his crystal pony slaves to release the army slumbering beneath the Crystal Empire.

* AscendedMeme: Some of the crystal pony fillies tease Sombra as "Sombrero", which has been a fandom meme since the Season 3 opener.

* BrokenBird: Learning about his true heritage messed Sombra up, and then turning Princess Amore to crystal made it worse.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: This is expected of all of the stories to some degree, but Sombra in particular is a normal pony who "[became] one of the most feared ponies in Equestria's history."

* VillainEpisode: This series will explore the origins of five of the show's villains; the only major villains at the time left out are [[MadGod Discord]] (although he does have a cameo in Tirek's), Sunset Shimmer, who had her origins explored in the 2013 Annual, and Starlight Glimmer, who was introduced in the TV show when this was running.

* NoNonsenseNemesis: Sombra, just like in his debut on the show. Here, upon completing his StartOfDarkness -- he invokes LiterallyShatteredLives on Amore after only a brief argument (and somehow scatters the pieces throughout Equestria, just to be extra sure), and his signature curse on the Empire is revealed to actually be a preemptive DeadManSwitch before Celestia and Luna even show up.

* NoNonsenseNemesis: Sombra keeps this from the show when invoking LiterallyShatteredLives on Amore after only a brief argument, then later readying a backup curse before Celestia and Luna even reach him.

* ThenLetMeBeEvil: After years of enduring AllOfTheOtherReindeer from everypony but Hope (and arguably Amore) and GoodHurtsEvil from the very Faire he'd wanted to attend for so long, he finally snaps and accepts DarkIsEvil.

The main covers for the series was done by Amy Mebberson, who [[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/01/22/my-little-ponys-fiendship-is-magics-covers-are-based-on-the-borges/ based them on famous Renaissance paintings]], and variant covers are done by Sara Richards, with each of the mane 6 in Day-of-the-Dead style makeup.

* CanonDiscontinuity: The episode ''Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E26ShadowPlayPart2'' eventually showed a completely different flashback about how the Sirens were banished from Equestria.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Perhaps the darkest G4 comic to date. Highlights include the BodyHorror of Sombra's transformations, his shattering of Amore after turning her into Crystal, and the StarCrossedLover story between Sombra and Hope. In contrast to the usual comics and show, the is very little humor in Sombra's tale, it's pure tragedy.

* BrokenStreak: From what we see, Princess Celestia was the first one to hand Chrysalis and her Changelings a decisive defeat during their conquests.

* ScarsAreForever: We learn that the holes that Chrysalis and the changelings have are a result of a powerful spell cast by Princess Celestia at the battle of Trot. In the time shortly after these were made (the volcano scenes), one can see see the holes are rough-edged and cracked, but by the time of the story's present, they have smoothed out but still persist, which could mean they have actually been passed on through their generations or that they partially healed if we assume that changelings do not breed but instead all of them are nigh immortal like Chrysalis.

*** Either a genetic trait, or an implication that changelings are in fact nigh immortal and simply all of them remember the fight with Celestia.

* {{Badass}}: The Sirens, who were so powerful by the time they reached Canterlot that Star Swirl was unable to stop them.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Sombra, just like in the show: He preemptively curses the Empire before Celestia and Luna even reach him, just in case they defeat him.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Sombra, just like in the show--he knows Celestia and Luna will beat him, so he preemptively prepares to curse the Empire.

* ScarsAreForever: We learn that the holes that Chrysalis and the changelings have are a result of a powerful spell cast by Princess Celestia at the battle of Trot. In the time shortly after these were made (the volcano scenes), one can see see the holes are rough-edged and cracked, but by the time of the story's present, they have smoothed out but still persist, which could mean they have actually been passed on through their generations.

** Emperor Incitatus resisted Chrysalis' influence because [[{{Narcissist}} he only loved himself]], and forcibly draining that love ''did not'' give her the power to beat Celestia (while Shining Armors love of Cadence did).