Crystal Ponies: Lore, Head Cannon and ideas

The mysterious Crystal Ponies of the Crystal Empire have never been fully expanded upon. It is disputed between many fans whither they are a sub set of the Earth Pony Tribe or that they are entirely their own tribe. Apart from their crystal sheen and hexagonal irises, the crystal ponies share the same basic anatomy with the Earth Ponies. I’m unsure if they also share their strength, but I would assume the Crystal Ponies to have a set of unique traits entirely their own.
I prefer the idea that the Crystal ponies are their own tribe, however, I would imagine that they do also have an ancestral connection with the Earth Ponies.

Magic is yet another trait, which I’m unsure about. To have built a crystal city in the middle of a frozen wasteland would certainly require fast sums of magic to maintain. I am of the belief that, although the Crystal ponies aren’t gifted with individual magic, collectively the Crystal ponies give off this magical force which powers the protective ward of the city. Crystal is also universally seen as the main storage material for magical energy, which ties in to the crystal ponies building their city out of crystal, and may also hint at how they got their crystal sheen coat.

From what I can remember from the MLP series, the Crystal ponies are a very traditional people (they were stuck in the ice for at least one thousand years, so like Luna they would still retain some old traditions) we see the annual festival of the Crystal Heart (shown in the season 3 premier), Flurry Heart’s Royal crystaling, we even see Princess Cadence get her mane done in the traditional style. This may only be a brief list, but it does show us that the crystal ponies were their own people with their own culture, and may lend support to the theory that the Crystal Ponies are their own tribe.

The festival of the Crystal Heart showed us something of their sporting traditions. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy are seen jousting in the season 3 premier. It seemed like an aggressive sport for ponies that need the magic of love to survive. But, this may hint at their (possible) former military prowess, or perhaps some dark part of their history. However, I doubt that it’s connected to Sombra, since all of the Crystal ponies seem to shudder at those ancient memories. Strong empires are built on the backs of strong militaries. It would make sense for them to have renounce violence, only to then be conquered by a single evil shadow unicorn King.

I still can’t escape the troubling idea that the Crystal Empire, after its reappearance, seems to have been annexed by Equestria (all be it with some autonomy) Princess Cadence and Shining Armour (Two foreigners to the Empire) assumed the role as the Crystal Empire’s Leaders. Cadence is a Princess of Equestria and is referred to as the warden of the Crystal Empire. All four alicorn princesses congregate there for meetings. I’m pretty sure the Crystal Empire isn’t an empire in its own right any more. Although, emerging from a thousand year sleep after you've been enslaved to the personification of shadow can’t have done any good to the political structure of the Crystal Ponies (look what happened to Luna). So, it would make sense if they allowed a foreign power to assist them.

This is really all I’ve come up with for the moment. But, if anyone has any other ideas, head cannons, or disagreements with what I’ve written here, then I would like to hear them.