The Mane 6(minus Twilight) and the former TD contestants were all at the throne room talking about their trip to the Crystal Empire.

“Well, I think we should leave ASAP. I don't want to miss the Crystalling!” Rainbow Dash said.

“But shouldn't we wait for the invitation?” Zoey asked.

“Frankly, I'm not exactly clear on all the customs and traditions of the Crystal Empire, especially when it comes to a Crystalling.” Applejack replies.

“What’s a Crystalling?” Starlight asked walking in.

“Well, that's just it, darling. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's baby is due any day, and we're still not sure. The Crystal Empire was gone for a thousand years. A lot of their customs are a bit murky.” Rarity explained.

“We know it has something to do with Cadence’s and Shining Armor’s baby though.” Cameron pointed out.

“And a party.” Pinkie Pie said happily as she jumped in front of Starlight.

“And the Crystal Heart.” Fluttershy said.

“And a party.” Pinkie Pie repeated.

“And some kinda cool energy.” Rainbow Dash replies.

“And... a party.” Pinkie Pie repeated again.

“Hey is the Crystalling a party I don’t know if it is, no one ever mentioned it.” Noah snarked.

“Yes it has something to do with a party I thought I mentioned it already.” Pinkie Pie answered not knowing Noah was being sarcastic.

“Sarcasm is a foreign language to you isn’t it.” Noah said annoyed.

“I love parties.” Owen cheered “I can’t wait.”

“It's not hard to understand. Most things in the Crystal Empire aren't. Like how I'm a big hero there, for example!” Spike bragged as he shows up carrying a poster of him with the Crystal Heart.

“Wow you’re a hero, that’s awesome.” Owen said happily.

“Thanks Owen, plus I had to help Twilight research a lot of Crystallings.” Spike explained holding a jar with pictures on them “Whenever a baby is born in the Crystal Empire, the parents bring it before the Crystal Heart. They get the purest shard of crystal they can find, then pick a crystaller to present the baby to everypony who comes. Then they all share the light and joy they feel, feeding it into the crystal that joins with the Heart, and increases its power! And this is going to be a royal Crystalling, so pretty much the whole empire will show up. That hasn't happened in a millennia!”

“What do you mean it increases the Crystal Heart's power?” Sky asked.

“The energy it uses to protect the Crystal Empire, I guess.” Spike said.

“Protect it from what?” Starlight asked.

“I... didn't help Twilight with that part.” Spike explained.

Soon Starlight was seen walking around the castle hall, and then saw Spike, Cody and Noah talking.

“Seriously Noah, HumDrum has a lot of redeeming qualities, he isn’t that incompetent.” Cody argues.

“I highly disagree, he is that incompetent.” Noah said.

“Oh hey Starlight, something wrong?” Spike said concerned plus he was trying to break up the tension between Cody and Noah.

“I don't know, Spike. Twilight's figuring out what my first friendship lesson is, and I guess I'm not exactly thrilled with the options. Well... with one of them.” Starlight explained.

“Which one?” Cody asked.

“Reuniting me with my first friend.” Starlight answered.

“What’s so terrible about that, I thought you’d love to reunite with your precious Sunburst after making a cult because of him.” Noah snarked.

“Noah, be serious.” Cody lectured.

“I am.” Noah said “How come she’s so worried?”

Starlight sighs before answering “When we were foals, Sunburst knew everything there was to know about magic. He always knew just what to do. And he was always there to help me. I guess it's not surprising that Sunburst got his cutie mark in magic and... went off to Princess Celestia's school. But when he left...”

“You blamed cutie marks and stripped a whole village of theirs, and when Twilight and the others stopped you, you went back in time and almost destroyed Equestria.” Noah finished stoically.

“Shut up Noah.” Cody said annoyed.

“No Cody, Noah’s right, even if I never intended to destroy Equestria, but it’s still not exactly something I’m ready to tell Sunburst about.” Starlight explained “I mean, he's probably some big important wizard now, and... I can't even find my way around Twilight's castle.”

“Well, if Sunburst is that good at magic, maybe he'd appreciate your, uh... exploits.” Spike said trying to comfort Starlight.

“You’re kidding right?” Noah asked.

“You should talk to Twilight about it. I'm sure she'd want to hear what you have to say.” Spike suggested to Starlight ignoring Noah.

“I know. But I don't want her to think I'm not ready to learn or that I'm not grateful for everything she's doing.” Starlight explained.

“Spike come quick!” Twilight yelled happily from the balcony.

Soon Spike, Starlight, Cody, and Noah were at the balcony.

Twilight then was seen getting a snowflake invitation through the wind that opened by itself.

“It’s a Crystalling invitation.” Spike said happily.

“Shining Armor's a father! I'm an aunt!” Twilight said happily before speaking with Starlight “Well, this settles it! Since we're going to the Crystal Empire, your first friendship lesson is going to be... reuniting with Sunburst!”

Twilight and Spike then walked off leaving a nervous Starlight.

“Great.” Starlight said nervously.

Cody looked concerned for Starlight while Noah didn’t seem to care and left.

Soon the whole group was on the train.

Rainbow Dash stretched her hooves and turned over to Applejack.

“Um, Applejack, what is that?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously at the thing Applejack was covering up with a tarp.

“Oh just a little somethin’ for the youngin’ .” Applejack said before she removed the tarp revealing a crib “Made from genuine Sweet Apple Acres apple trees. We make 'em for all the Apples, and anypony related to Twilight is practically family.”

“Aw.” Zoey and Owen cooed.

“Yeah it’s okay but it’s no Cloudsdale Mobile, Bam!” Rainbow Dash revealed a mobile with rainbows and thunderclouds.

“Ooh.” Pinkie Pie and Rarity said in awe.

“Pretty.” Pinkie Pie said before touching it causing a thundercloud to fall off making Rainbow Dash glare at Pinkie who smiled nervously in return.

“Well, a mobile is real nice... as long as you have somethin' to lay in so you can look at it.” Applejack smirked as she pointed at her crib.

“And a fetching blanket to keep you warm.” Rarity said replacing Applejack’s blanket with one she made herself.

“I'm sure Shining Armor and Princess Cadance will love all our gifts. But I think they're more happy we'll be attending the baby's Crystalling.” Twilight said happily.

“Ooh! I can't wait to see all that light and love make the Crystal Heart even more sparkly and shiny!” Pinkie Pie bounced.

“Actually, Pinkie, the Crystal Heart is an ancient and powerful relic. Without its magic, the Crystal Empire would be lost to the Frozen North.” Twilight informed the group.

“Wow that sounds bad.” Mike cringed.

“Wow, this Crystalling sounds pretty important. I'd understand if you wanted to... you know... wait to do a different friendship lesson when we get back.” Starlight said with a nervous smile.

“Are you kidding? This trip is perfect! Not only do I get to see the baby and take part in the ceremony that helps maintain the magic of the Crystal Empire, but I'm starting my new pupil off with the most amazing friendship lesson ever! I can't wait!” Twilight said happily while putting a hoof around Starlight.

“Right... Me neither...” Starlight said nervously as she pulled away from Twilight, she soon looked at Spike who was gesturing her to talk to Twilight.

“Actually, Twilight, I am a little worried about meeting Sunburst.” Starlight confessed.

“Oh, trust me. I know what it's like to see old friends. But I'll be right there to help things along. I've broken the whole lesson down into a few easy steps to ensure this reunion goes off without a hitch!” Twilight said unfurling a long list making everyone look in awe while Starlight nervously chuckled.

The train then stopped while everyone else got off.

“Step one, head to Sunburst's house and get you two started on the right hoof. Step two, get to the castle with enough time to visit the ba—” Twilight began before bumping into Shining Armor.

“Shining Armor.” Twilight gasped happily.

“Twilight.” Shining Armor said tired before hugging Twilight.

“I didn’t know you were meeting us.” Twilight said.

“Of course I am! It's me, right here. Here I am. Why wouldn't I come meet my sister? Though we have met before, heh-heh...” Shining Armor rambled on.

“Are you all right?” Twilight asked concerned.

“Never better! Being a father is amazing! And wonderful, and amazing, and confusing, and amazing, but surprising too, you know? I mean, not that you'd know. You wouldn't know, I know... You know?” Shining Armor replied “Uh Twilight am I hallucinating or are those creatures real?”

“Oh you’re not hallucinating, these are the humans I was telling you about. Meet Owen, Gwen, Courtney, Cody, Noah, Cameron, Zoey, Scott, Mike, Shawn, Sky, Jasmine, and Dave.” Twilight introduced the humans.

“Nice to meet you Shining Armor.” Zoey waves happily.

“Sorry. I haven't really slept since Cadance had the baby. Come to think of it, she hasn't either. It sure would be great to get a break.” Shining Armor apologized.

“Oh, of course! I don't know what I was thinking! You two probably need all kinds of help.” Twilight replies with regret before turning to Starlight “I'm sorry, Starlight, but I guess combining your first lesson with this visit wasn't such a good idea.”

“Oh, uh, don't be ridiculous! You're an aunt now! That's way more important than some friendship lesson.” Starlight said trying to mask her relief.

“I just wish there was a way to do both.” Twilight sighed.

“Maybe there is! You've already done the work for Starlight's lesson with this list. All we have to do is follow it.” Spike suggested.

“Spike you’re a genius.” Twilight said happily,

“Yeah genius.” Starlight said whole secretly glaring at Spike.

A lightbulb went off in Cody’s head as he got an idea “I'll go too, I’d like to help Starlight.." Cody said.

"Me too, I wanna meet Starlight’s friend." Owen said jumping for joy.

“Then it's settled! Shining Armor and I will head straight to the castle, and you four can head straight to Sunburst's!” Twilight instructed the group.

“Aye-aye Princess.” Spike saluted as he, Owen, and Cody began leaving along with Starlight who nervously chuckled.

“Alright big brother let’s go see this amazing baby pony.” Twilight said before she saw Shining Armor was sleeping standing up.

Shining Armor then woke up yelling “Ahh, the baby.”

Spike, Starlight, Owen, and Cody began walking to Sunburst’s house.

“I know you're a little worried about this reunion, but I'm sure Twilight's got everything covered.” Spike said.

“Everything except how I'd rather do absolutely anything else.” Starlight replies annoyed.

“Well I bet she’s already taken that into account too, it’s all in the lesson, trust in the lesson.” Spike said pointing to the list.

“Right.” Starlight rolled her eyes before seeing a statue of Spike, she then got a scheming look on her face.

"Is that you Spike?" Starlight asked pointing at the Spike statue.

"Oh yeah-" Spike said before getting cut off by Owen.

"OMG that looks so awesome what did you do to deserve this wonderful honor?" Owen asked happily while touching the statue.

"Man-child." Cody muttered to Starlight who somewhat giggled.

"Spike the brave and glorious saved us all from King Sombra." A crystal pony explained.

“And then again at the Equestria Games.” A second crystal pony added.

“Really?” Starlight said curiously.

"Really, Big fan" another crystal pony said shaking Spike's claw.

"Aw it's no big deal." Spike waves off.

A bunch of crystal ponies showed up and praised "It most certainly is."

"That's it we're not going anywhere until I get the full story." Starlight stated while levitating a bag of popcorn to her.

Owen was listening to Spike's story in awe while Cody smirked at Starlight and tapped her on the back gaining her attention.

"You are so stalling, I understand you need time before you meet Sunburst so I won't say anything." Cody said.

"Thanks Cody.” Starlight said gratefully.

"Before we go in, seeing the baby might be a bit of a shock." Shining Armor warned.

"It's an alicorn isn't it?" Noah asked annoyed.

Shining Armor was shocked that Noah figured it out so easily and began speaking.

"How did you know?" Shining Armor asked.

"From what I read about Equestria’s biology, DNA of a unicorn and alicorn is likely to make an alicorn or a unicorn so I took a guess." Noah explained as if it were obvious.

As everyone went inside, they all saw the baby girl which was an alicorn.

“Called it.” Noah smirked.

“The baby is an alicorn?!” Twilight asked in shock.

“It looks that way.” Cadence said tired.

“The birth of an alicorn is something Equestria’s never seen.” Celestia informed everyone.

“Then again it is the first time an alicorn has ever given birth.” Luna pointed out.

“Wow! A unicorn, and a pegasus! So she could be a super-strong flyer and have crazy baby magic!” Pinkie Pie said excited.

“Well I know all about super strong flying.” Rainbow Dash said doing a loop in the air.

“And I can help keep tabs on her magic!” Twilight smiled.

Soon the baby alicorn sneezes making her blast the roof which opens a hole in it.

“It appears her magic is more powerful than that of a newborn unicorn!” Celestia said concerned.

“Uh guys, don’t wanna alarm you but it looks like crowds have started to gather.” Gwen stated looking through the window.

Pinkie Pie soon blows a balloon and ties it with a rope and holds onto it as it begins floating “This Crystalling is gonna be some party!“

The balloon pops making Pinkie Pie fall down.

“That’s not the point Pinkie.” Noah said rolling his eyes.

“Do you think we should call it off?” Cadence asked.

Rainbow Dash soon flew up to Cadence and began speaking “Um, we've all faced a lot worse than baby magic.”

“I can't imagine cancelling such a beautiful and important ceremony.” Courtney told everyone.

“In light of the little one's abilities, this Crystalling might be more important than ever.” Celestia said before turning to Cadence “Perhaps you should address your subjects and remind them of that.”

Cadence then kisses the baby’s head before leaving the room with the royal sisters. Twilight then began walking up to Shining Armor who was leaning on the crib asleep and began tapping his back.

"Shining Armor! Do you have everything you need for the ceremony?" Twilight asked softly.

Shining Armor stirred himself awake before panicking and roaming around the room "Oh, no! I still have to interview the honor guards, and choose the purity crystal!"

Twilight then patted him on the back before speaking "Alright, take it easy. Pinkie and Courtney can stay here with me and keep an eye on the baby."

The alicorn baby is seen on Pinkie Pie's smiling face while Courtney tried to remove the alicorn from her face.

"And we'll all help you with everything else." Zoey reassured Shining Armor who fell asleep on the floor again.

"That is, if you can stay awake long enough to tell us how." Noah smirked a bit earning him a few glares.

"...and that's how we found the Crystal Heart, defeated King Sombra, and saved the Empire." Spike said finishing his story on how he defeated King Sombra which Owen, Cody, and Starlight all enjoyed, Starlight even had a bag of popcorn.

The Crystal Ponies began cheering happily.

"We love you Spike." One Crystal Pony spoke.

"Yeah. Tell the one about the Equestria Games!" Another Crystal Pony requested.

"Well, as much as I love reliving my heroic deeds, Starlight and I have an important lesson to do, by order of the Princess of Friendship!" Spike said grabbing a scroll.

"Oh right we need to go do that." Owen said giggling "I almost forgot with all the excitement."

The foals were seen dejected by this but Starlight tried to get Spike to talk about his heroic deeds "Aw, come on, Spike! I want to hear about the Games too."

"I know you're nervous about seeing Sunburst, but it says right in step 3, to, uh, 'Deal with your fears by facing them, not by putting it off.'" Spike said.

"Ugh. Let's go get this over with." Starlight said throwing her bag of popcorn away.

Starlight was soon seen about to knock the door of Sunburst's house but Spike stopped her.

"Wait!" Spike commanded in fear.

Starlight then turned around confused "Huh? What?!" she asked.

"Knocking on the door isn't the next thing on the list!" Spike explained.

"Seriously?" Starlight and Cody both asked annoyed.

"I know Twilight can be a little nitpicky, but this is your first lesson as her pupil, and it's important that we do it right!" Spike said.

"Fine. What's the next thing on the list?" Starlight asked walking up to Spike.

"Before they see each other, be sure to highlight the importance of the meeting." Spike read seriously.

"I'm pretty sure we can skip that." Cody said nervously, hinting that they shouldn't do this.

"I agree." Starlight quickly said raising her hoof.

"I don't know... I mean if we skip it, the whole lesson could go south! And then you might end up taking a giant step backwards instead of forwards! Maybe you'll never be able to learn anything about friendship at all! It's almost like your whole future depends on this moment." Spike said pressing his and Starlight's faces close together.

"That's ridiculous you'll do great." Owen encouraged giving a thumbs up.

"Highlight the importance of the meeting – check! I can't believe you wanted to skip that!" Spike said with a smirk.

"Asshole." Cody muttered angrily.

Starlight then walked to the door nervously and knocked it.

After a while Sunburst opened the door and saw the creatures and was a little unnerved.

"Can I help you all?" Sunburst asked.

"Sunburst it's me Starlight we used to be friends." Starlight reminded shyly.

Sunburst thought a bit before remembering Starlight and was suddenly joyful.

"Starlight my goodness it's been a long time what have you been up to and who are they?" Sunburst asked curiously.

"Me? Oh! You know, some of this, some of that, different... stuff. Right now, I'm sort of Twilight Sparkle's new pupil and these are humans Owen and Cody they're friendly don't worry." Starlight said pointing at the two humans.

"The Princess of Friendship? That's a huge honor." Sunburst said shocked.

"Heh... yeah... that's actually kind of why I'm here. I mean, I know you're probably very busy." Starlight said nervously.

"What do you mean?" Sunburst asked confused at what Starlight meant.

"Well, I figured after magic school, you'd go on to do important wizard work, but..." Starlight began before Sunburst cut her off.

"Oh. No. Y-Yes! Uh, y-yes, that's me, yup. Important wizard! Really busy with lots of, uh, wi-wizarding... stuff. Right. Uh, well... good to see you." Sunburst quickly said before shutting the door.

"That went well." Owen said encouragingly to ease the tension.

"Huh. Maybe we should have skipped highlighting the importance of the meeting after all." Spike replied.

"No, really!" Cody sarcastically commented, angry at the dragon.

"Okay fine maybe I put too much pressure on Starlight, I'm sorry Starlight." Spike apologized "But you gotta at least try again, and at least explain what Twilight wants."

"Alright Spike, I'll try again." Starlight said before she began knocking the door again.

Sunburst answered the door again and Starlight gave a shy smile.

Soon we see a crowd and the princesses except Twilight on a podium, soon Cadence begins speaking " Dearest citizens, I am sure you are all just as thrilled and ready for this Crystalling as myself and Shining Armor."

The crowd is cheering as Shining Armor is seen looking in from behind the curtains, he then begins acting frantic "I'm not ready!"

"Take it easy! Just pick whoever looks the most like honor guard material." Rainbow Dash said holding out two helmets.

"Right… right." said the prince, levitating the two helmets. He really wasn't thinking much and just randomly picked the first two the helmets landed on…backwards and in their faces. The two chosen, tumbled backwards due to the helmets shielding their visions and the other guards whimpered as they backed away.

"I'm sorry. Fatherhood is way more stressful than I ever thought." Shining Armor sighed in remorse.

"I can only imagine." Fluttershy spoke comfortingly.

Rarity then levitated a velvet box before Shinning Armor, opening it to reveal five bright blue crystals. "Now, I know choosing the crystal of purity is a very important decision. So I have gone through the trouble of arranging them in order from incredibly pure to outrageously pure."

"Um, Rarity, don't they all sort of look the same?" Dave asked, looking at how disturbingly similar the jewels all looked.

"Oh, well, to the untrained eye, perhaps. What do you think, Shining Armor?" Rarity levitated the opened box towards the prince, who began to stammer incoherently, his eyes increasing in size once more and his body trembling in anxiety.

"I don't know!" Shining Armor cried out before lowering down and covering his face while the others only looked on in pity.

"I hope the others are having better luck with the baby." Cameron whispered to Mike.

"Well… at least she's having... fun!" Pinkie beamed as she tried sustaining the child who flew around the room, shooting magical beams everywhere.

Twilight managed to keep the magical beams from blasting anything by countering them which magical beams of her own.

"Oh boy babysitting is a lot of work." Courtney said hiding behind the baby's crib.

"Pinkie, hold her still!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I'm tryiiiiiiing!" Pinkie cried out, her back-hooves screeching across the floor as she held onto the flying baby.

“So... the Princess of Friendship wants you and I to be friends again?” Sunburst asked confused.

“Heh, I know. Weird, right?” Starlight asked awkwardly.

"Uh, I don't understand. Did something happen to you after I left for magic school?” Sunburst asked curiously.

“What? N-No No! I-I don't see what that has to do with anything. W-Why would you even ask that?” Starlight asked nervously pouring a lot of tea in her cup which was noticeable to everyone in the room.

“Did something happen to you after you left for magic school?” Starlight asked, trying to change the subject.

“What? No like you said I am an important wizard.” Sunburst answered.

Meanwhile Owen, Cody, and Spike began talking to each other in private.

"This is a disaster, they're acting very awkward around each other." Cody whispered to Owen and Spike.

"Well they did just reunite, give it a chance." Owen said trying to defend the situation.

“Well I just hope Twilight is doing better with the Crystalling.” Spike said in hope.

Back at the palace, Rarity was brushing Shining Armor's mane as he was breathing in and out.

The door opens and Cadance walked out with the royal sisters behind her. Cadence's mane was brushed and there were no frazzles anymore.

"Okay. I chose the honor guard, picked the purity crystal, got my suit ready, and we've already chosen our crystaller. So, all we need is…" Shining Armor said before rubbing his chin in thought.

"The baby?" Cadence said, stating the obvious.

Shining Armor's eyes widened and his lips pouted in shock.

"We're here!" Courtney called with her hair frazzled, making Shining Armor breath a sigh of relief. Twilight kept the baby contained within a magenta colored bubble, which she kept on flying around it, with Pinkie Pie holding on tightly onto her little torso.

"She's a really strong flyer." Pinkie Pie said.

Soon Cadence got the baby out of Twilight's bubble by putting her in Cadence's own bubble separating her from Pinkie Pie.

The alicorn baby was downtrodden by being separated from Pinkie Pie and began crying loudly.

A sonic wave came from the baby's powerful cry making everyone cover their ears, the Crystal Heart stopped spinning.

The Crystal Heart soon cracked before... it shattered.

Everyone in the room was shocked but the baby soon nuzzled in Cadence's arms.

Applejack approached the broken pieces. "I'm guessin' that's gonna make it harder to do the Crystalling."

"It's worse than that." Twilight said, worried "Without the Heart, the Crystal Empire's about to be buried under a mountain of ice and snow!"

Everyone soon looked worried as the baby started cooing.

To Be Continued

Author's Note

Man this took days to write, hope you enjoyed because this was hard to do.