//------------------------------//
// Chapter 123: Readjusting the Lesson 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

(One month later)

Despite not hearing from Shining Armor at all (other than briefly being told that the baby had arrived and everything was going smoothly), Starlight stayed in the castle. Very rarely did she ever go out into town, and even then it wasn't for long.

But a month was hardly enough time to get used to the castle, and so it was that Starlight found herself taking a wrong turn yet again. This time, she was shocked to find Spike flexing his muscles in front of a mirror. Spike innocently waved back at Starlight, who just groaned and trotted off while saying. "I am never gonna find my way around this place. All these doors look the same."

Not one to just ignore a pony when they were looking down (largely due to what tended to happen to most ponies he knew when they got upset), Spike quickly approached Starlight and asked her. "Hey, what's wrong, Starlight? Something on your mind?"

Starlight only sighed. "It's nothing, Spike. Nothing you'd understand anyway."

"Look, we haven't known each other long, but I do know it's not going to do you any good to keep things to yourself," Spike advised. "Whatever it is, I won't judge."

"Well, if you must know," Starlight unhappily confessed. "It's Shining Armor's lesson, which he's more or less shunted off to Twilight now that he's not around. I get that he wants me to reconnect with Sunburst, and I don't blame him. But after the things I've done, after all the years of bitterness and self torment, I just don't know if I can really look Sunburst in the eye again. If he finds out the lengths I went to, just because I blamed a cutie mark for him moving away, pretty sure he'll want nothing to do with me. Heck, for all I know, he's that big, important wizard he always dreamed of being. And here I am, a criminal stuck with what might as well be glorified community service, when most would say I should be rotting in a cell somewhere."

"I think you're asking the wrong guy," Spike commented after a moment. "These are concerns you should be bringing up with Twilight, so she can tell Shining Armor. They're not mind readers, you know."

"But how do I go about that without sounding ungrateful, or like I'm not willing to learn?" Starlight asked with concern. "Shining Armor and his sister may have been generous in letting me stay here, but it was on the assumption that I'd abide by their terms. What if they think I'm going back on them, and throw me out?"

Spike shook his head. "I think you're overreacting, just a little. And if you're really nervous, you can always sugarcoat it as wanting to meet Sunburst on your time and terms. I know Twilight would have a hard time saying no to that."

"Speaking of Twilight," Starlight realized. "I should probably get going, she's expecting me in the throne room. Said it was something about a 'Crystalling'. In fact, that's where I was heading, if I could only remember where to find it."

"Better stick with me then, I've been in this castle long enough to know it like the back of my claw." Spike vowed.





Upon arriving in the throne room, Starlight noticed that Shining Armor's friends, as well as Twilight's friends, were all chatting about something.

"If you ask me, we should leave ASAP. I don't want to miss the Crystalling at all!" Rainbow Dash vowed.

"But we haven't gotten an invitation yet, and Spitfire will chew me out something fierce if I just take another day without reason," Soarin protested. "Especially since we've got that huge show in Ponyville coming up in a few weeks, we're gonna need every available hoof on deck."

"I'm not even sure I'm up for another trip to the Crystal Empire, even to see the little one," Big Macintosh commented. "None of us even really know a thing about their customs and traditions."

"And that there Crystallin' is the most mysterious thing of all," Applejack spoke up. "But Twilight says she's found some information that can explain it. Some old records that detail what it's about."

"Indeed I do!" Twilight beamed. "Princess Cadence was all too happy to give me access to all the information in the empire's library, and Spike was a big help with tracking down stray sources," She then noticed the presence of Starlight. "Ah, there you are, Starlight. Nice of you to finally join us."

"Sorry," Starlight sheepishly apologized. "I uh... got kind of lost, again. What exactly are you all talking about?"

Fancy Pants explained. "With Shining Armor and Cadence's baby having been born, there now comes an important tradition that's supposed to be carried out. But many of the empire's customs are a bit murky, being gone for 1,000 years means there's very few sources that can tell us things like 'What's a Crystalling?', and Twilight was just about to explain.

"It's actually not hard to understand," Spike boasted. "Most things in the empire aren't, like the fact that I'm a big hero there for starters. I'd be happy to tell you all the tale."

"Not now, my son," Twilight protested with a shake of her head. "There'll be plenty of time to discuss your exploits later. I called everyone here today to talk about the Crystalling. And this is what I found," Displaying a magnificent urn, Twilight spoke at length. "It's simple. Whenever a new baby is born in the Crystal Empire, the parents bring it before the Crystal Heart. They get the purest shard of crystal that they can find, then pick a crystaller to present the baby to everypony who comes. And 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 Crystalling is going to be a royal Crystalling, so pretty much the whole empire will show up. That hasn't happened in a millennia!"

"So, that's it, huh?" Starlight commented. "So then, what exactly is all this chat for?"

"Shining Armor's supposed to send an invitation of some sort, letting us all know when the Crystalling will be held," Twilight told Starlight. "But it's been weeks and we haven't heard a word."

"Yet it's terribly impolite to just show up uninvited, regardless of the circumstances," Rarity added. "Not to mention, some of us have 'obligations' to take care of. Business is booming, and I'm currently in the process of scouring locations for a third boutique, just to handle the workload."

"I'm just excited to see the new baby! I can't wait for her to get to meet her Aunty Twily!" Twilight happily beamed. "And hopefully a certain 'somepony' will be kind enough to give me back my old doll, so I give it a proper home."

Big Macintosh said nothing, he just whistled as innocently as he could.

"And the best part is, a new baby means there's gonna be an awesome party to celebrate her monthaversery!" Pinkie cheered, as a stream of confetti suddenly shot out from her hooves. "And you know I can't leave Braeburn out of the preparations for that."

"I'd be insulted if ya did, Miss. Pie." Braeburn nodded.

"But what about you, Starlight?" Twilight asked. "Is there something you wish to say about all of this? After all, we're gonna be so busy with the baby and the Crystalling, I'm not sure if we'll have time to squeeze in your lesson, not that we won't try."

Starlight opened her mouth, prepared to offer an objection, but then she changed her mind. Everyone was so excited about the Crystalling, and she didn't want to put a damper on the fun by complaining about her own problems. None of them probably even cared, they were still mostly strangers to her (a month was hardly enough time to get to know somepony, let alone an entire group of ponies). Instead, she just said to Twilight. "Whatever you think is best. I mean, you're the sister of my teacher, and he's trusted you with carrying his plan. Who am I to question his judgement?"





But just a half an hour later, Starlight would come to regret the fact that she hadn't spoken up when she had the chance. For Twilight proudly showed Starlight a snowflake, and inside it was something that looked like a letter. "It's the invitation to the Crystalling! We're going to the Crystal Empire! And you are going to reconnect with Sunburst!" Twilight happily exclaimed. "Knowing my brother, he's probably going to be there to meet us at the train station, and he may have some final advice to give. Or maybe he'll have even convinced Sunburst to be on the platform with him, won't that be a nice surprise?!"

Starlight just laughed and nervously replied. "Uh huh huh huh, yeah, great." In her mind though, she was thinking. "What am I supposed to tell Sunburst when he inevitably asks about my past? Did Shining Armor tell him, or does he want me to do it?"