Make Your Mark Theory

I've hardly talked about Generation 5 in these blog posts, haven't I? Well, maybe I should change that. I just finished rewatching Friendship is Magic Season 5, and I haven't put The End of an Era Part 3 - Chapter 3 together yet, mainly because I wanted to mull over something that's been on my mind for a long time now, and has been growing as we've received more information on the matter. So, here's what I want to talk about for a bit.

When Make Your Mark Chapter 1 first came out and gave us that stinger with the villainous alicorn, whom we now know is named Opaline, her dialogue, and just the interest in seeing a true alicorn still arond in this modern Equestria, made me take a dip in the waters of speculation. My guess was that she was the creator of the Unity Crystals, and not Twilight Sparkle as the stained-glass windows shown at Zephyr Heights in A New Generation implied.

Not long after, the IDW comics gave us background on the fall of Equestria narrated by a certain reality bender which quickly jossed that whole idea, though hopefully, that's just the IDW comics doing their own things that are totally inconsequential to the rest of the G5 media, as the Friendship is Magic IDW comics were for that show (until they started to throw a few elements from the comic in, but even then, nothing pointed to them being canon, and they never would be if Sombra's comeback in the Season 9 premiere was anything to go by).

Anyway, that aside, we come to the sleepover episode of Make Your Mark Chapter 2, which gave a simplified telling of how the G4 era Equestria fell to pieces, leading to the creation of the Unity Crystals, and it came in two forms, one more centered on Twilight and the crystals, and the other more focused on Opaline and her power. However different they were from each other, there was one visual they shared. One that was conveniently focused on a lot. A heart. The symbol of the love and trust between ponies that died, and then took generations to be revived; so it might only seem. Why would it be in the darker version told by Misty? What does a wholesome little image like that have to do with this ancient, immortal embodiment of evil who oversees the activity of our friendship-loving heroes? Well, that's where I start to think this sinister possibility.

What if the Unity Crystals, all together, weren't always three pieces of a powerful whole? What if at one point they were a singular crystal, and it belonged to Opaline as a part of her, not just as her magic, but as her heart?

I mean, for one thing, it'd explain why conflict between the pony clans unleashes some apocalyptic power from the crystals. As has been stated in Friendship is Magic, which G5 is a sequel to, magic can't just disappear. It has to float around somewhere, even in the thin air, or be kept in something. So, my guess that Opaline gathered all of the earth pony, pegasus and unicorn magic, she corrupted it, then bound it to her heart with a forbidden spell, turning it into a crystal shell. As a result of this, the magic was locked inside. Even using the magic of friendship that always wins to shatter the shell wouldn't set it free; it'd still be locked up, just in millions of pieces, and that'd only make it more unstable than it already would've been by Opaline's corruption. Twilight's next move would be to take the one crystal heart from her enemy (possibly other student, maybe relative), split it into the three Unity Crystals representing the pony clans so it could be given back to each of them, and use her own spell to not only stabilize them, but also make them into something else i've speculated about these items. An idea i've had since A New Generation.

That the Unity Crystals aren't just power sources for the magic of Equestria, but inhibitors as well. A countermeasure put into place to make sure that in the event earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns completely shut themselves off from one another and became enemies, their powers would disappear, so they could never use them to contemplate attacks and go to war. Once the fighting got more direct among the clans after the magic was just restored after so many moons, and the Unity Crystals joined together for what may have been the very first time, the dark magic they were first crafted from strengthened.

But what about Opaline? How could she live without her heart? Well, her alicorn immortality would show it's more cursed side and not allow her to die. Hence the suggested idea of her now living as a shadow of her former, powerful self. In short, Opaline's not only heartless figuratively, but literally, and she wants the literal part back in her body at any price. More importantly, she did have a role in the crystals' creation after all.

What do you think, though? Personally, I think everything I talked about here is going to be proven totally wrong by Make Your Mark's episodes to come and i'll have done nothing here but made myself look like a blithering fanboy.

Now that i've done this, I can get back into the typing groove and continue with my giant rewrite. Look forward to that (or not, your choice) and have a nice day. Here be ol' Stache Hand the Clutcher, out and about!