@ArkyNoid  
Seems linked to the group in terms of their wanting to be a ‘high intelligence’ group, but nothing occult… Still, you do make a few good points ^^

@ThePonyTheorist
 
Dunno why they mentioned Bohemian. I mean yeah the club is “occult” in the sense that it’s a secret meeting but probably nothing supernatural. The owl itself is an old icon of wisdom nevertheless.

@ArkyNoid  
Interesting. And the Bohemian Club is related to the occult in some way?

@ThePonyTheorist
 

 
Someone thinks it did. I can’t remember this scene so I’m not asserting its authenticity and it could be a fake. But this is out there.

@Lurks-no-More  
Yikes. That makes a lot of sense, and is somewhat terrifying… inb4 that appears as the season/series finale. He could alternately have been using it to power some rediculously OP spell, but to what end? (if sheer spamming of power on an individual could ascend ponies, then the Crystal Empire would already be capable of doing so)

@ArkyNoid  
I don’t think Moloch was written on one of Spike’s books. The text in Equestria is mostly undecipherable (and i’ve tried, at length xD The best I could come up with was a vague connection between various symbols and meanings, but they haven’t shown up anywhere else, other than Starswirl’s name meaning ‘magic attained’, which seems fitting)

Crystal Empire being a huge geomantic engine for channeling and distributing the power of love? Yeah, makes perfect sense. And we know that the crystal castle in the center is a huge antenna, transmitting all that love and friendship across Equestria.
 
Now, consider what Sombra did to the place: turned it into an engine of oppression, squeezing fear and pain out of the enslaved Crystal ponies. And he removed the Crystal Heart: was it just to keep it safely out of the hooves of any would-be heroes, or was it also to make room for another focus?
 
We further know that when Luna and Celestia overthrew Sombra, the whole of Crystal Empire was banished along with him. This suggests a sort-of Fisher-King relationship between the tyrant and his city.
 
Put all of this together, and what do we have? An unusually powerful unicorn wizard, a master of dark magic, taking control of the biggest geomantic capacitor-amplifier in the world, and using it to channel all those negative emotions that power dark magic. I believe what was going on was Sombra trying to brute-force an alicorn ascension, or a negative version of it, powered by fear and terror.

@ThePonyTheorist
 
Well for one thing Twi’s cutie mark is a hexagram. (often somewhat over-simply called the “Star of David” even though that’s not the only usage. One occult example is a seven rays diagram in theosophy and other disciplines). Maybe that’s why the mane six is sometimes sort of a mane seven if you include Starlight, Spike, or Sunset lol. I don’t know that with certainty though, just saying the coincidence.
 
Sun and the moon, though as simple and obvious to be the representatives of the ruling power as they may be, think of duality as seen in plenty of mystery school teachings.
 
See the eye of providence here at 12 seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqT7u19ezg Internet meme culture has sure || fucked || any serious look at that with hur dur luminaty confirmed.
 
Moloch the wise owl (on a book Spike was reading in another) has seemingly appeared according to some web searching I’m doing but I can’t personally remember what episode or if someone’s embellishing this.
 
There’s more but off the top of my head I’d have to think long.
 
This’ll be written off as anime or internet culture references by most anyway, so no harm.

@ArkyNoid  
Where else?  
SPEAK! :D

Hmmm well MLPFIM always had bits of occult symbolism. Surprising (to me) even that some people might not have realized it. People do the comfortable thing I guess and associate it with their anime. I mean yeah it could be a reference to that too.
 
And occult does NOT mean “satanism and devil worship ohmagersh”

Wonder what the fundie-conspiracy blog, “The Open Scroll” would think of this.

for me it’s Fullmetal Alchemist reference not the city layout

@sargesprinkles  
Eh. ^w^

@thps48  
well there’s one right there in the picture  
and i’m sticking to it

@sargesprinkles  
I barely recall the Star of David being present in other societies and mythologies. <w<

my theory  
the Crystal Empire is one giant synagogue

@Background Pony #F86F  
Ahhh.
 
Giving a read of the wiki… Yeah, looks somewhat like Xerxes xD Minus the death. It feeds on the emotions of the inhabitants instead… Note that the energy does not come from the unicorns’ horns. This may confirm a body-pervading energy which is involved in the magic process…
 
…I’m gonna have to watch that scene again. But i’ve uploaded enough theories for now xD Tomorrow, probably! If not in a few hours.

@Dreamsicle  
Does this make Sombra the Drawf in the Flask?

@ThePonyTheorist  
Full Metal Alchemist.

@FanOfMostEverything  
My theory is that the rune-network acts to ‘suck in’ magic to the center (and the crystal heart) - the crystal heart then spins rapidly, throwing off a vast amount of (friendship magic/equiv) in every direction via centrifugal force, which spreads the energy around the area.
 
And for some reason this hurts Sombra. Guess he’s just THAT far gone into dark magic xD

@Dreamsicle  
I don’t get the reference

Headcanon wholeheartedly accepted. Indeed, that rune matrix could be designed to focus and channel the Crystal Heart’s energy to cover the entire city-state.

So it’s Xerxes then?

Good point

Oops, forgot to put the orange lines in each point of the Celestial Advice rune’s pentagram… Eh, the point goes across anyway!