"So, not only is the Crystalling unable to be performed...." Blueblood raised a wary concern as they all surrounded the Crystal Heart's splintered remains, "but we're all about to be frozen solid!!"
"Without the Crystal Heart's Thermal Barrier," Twilight woefully concurred, "the entire city will be turned into a frozen wasteland!"
"But- Wha' about when Sombra was evil an' rulin' th' Crystal Empire an' he'd hidden th' Heart?" brought up Applejack, "Th' city wasn't covered in ice an' snow then!"
"Technically speaking..." Sombra grimaced uncomfortably at any reminder of his past, "the Crystal Heart wasn't missing from the Empire, only that nopony knew where I'd hidden it. It was still in the castle, therefore the Thermal Barrier and the other magical protections remained in effect."
"I'm afraid Sombra is correct," Celestia added in concern, "And the storm clouds are forming even as we speak!"
She lit up her horn to open the curtains for everypony to see the violent storm a stirring as it began to loom overhead, with a foreboding crack of thunder.
"No prob, Soar, Thunder, and I can totally bust those puppies away," Rainbow Dash zipped up, ready to do some good ol' cloudbusting, only for the curtains to close.
"I wouldn't advise it, Rainbow Dash," Celestia warned, "Those storm clouds are unlike any you've ever come across."
"This far north, the weather has a will of its own," added Luna, "and now it will only grow stronger, enveloping everything in its path."
"Including the Crystal Empire!" Thorax cried out in alarm as he hugged Elytra.
"And us along with it!" added Midnight.
Meanwhile, back over at Sunburst's place, things... could have been going better.
"There's gotta be something!" Spike was going over the list, trying to find a step that would help the painfully awkward reunion going on between Starlight and Sunburst.
"I... know Princess Twilight is keen on the two of us rekindling our friendship, but it's been so long," Sunburst hesitated before he said towards Spike, "I don't see how anything on that list is going to help."
"i know, right? It's not like there's some spell that would magically compel us to pick up where we left off," Starlight agreed.
"Oh, actually there's several," Sunburst stated as a matter of fact, before he levitated several books from his MANY shelves, "Mistmane's Material Amity, Rockhoof's Rapport, Flashprance's Fellowship..."
He trailed off when he noticed the odd look Starlight was giving him before he cleared his throat and put his books back, "But I-I get the feeling that the Princess isn't looking for a spell."
Giggling, Starlight nodded, "Definitely not."
"Got it!" They looked towards Spike (who was a little tangled up at the moment) as he read, "'...and if all else fails, ask them to share an embarrassing moment from their past, maybe even something they regret'."
The two unicorns shared a stunned look of discomfort before Sunburst stuttered, "Duh- Uh, I... don't see how that would help."
"Uh- Yeah! We should just... get out of your mane," Starlight decided as she made towards the door, levitating Spike to follow her, "It's pretty obvious this isn't going as Twilight hoped, and I'm sure you have plenty of important work to do."
"What? Oh- Right! Yes," Sunburst chuckled nervously, "No rest for the wizardly."
"Come on, Spike," Starlight said as they stepped out the door, or floated while sighing in Spike's case.
Back at the Crystal Heart courtyard (or was it just a courtyard now?), Midnight asked, "Master! You created the Crystal Heart, is there any way it can be restored?"
"I..." Sombra trailed as he found himself stalling, trying to remember before he lamely concluded, "...don't remember."
"Sombra!" Celestia pressed urgently.
"Well- It's been over a thousand years since I created the Crystal Heart!" Sombra anxiously touched the tips of his hooves together before his eyes lit up as he recalled "But I do remember writing a notebook detailing everything about it, how I created it, what kind of crystal I used and where I got it, the properties, everything! I remember... yes, I remember storing the book in the private archives of the Crystal Empire's Library!
"And said library has an impressive collection of magical knowledge, so even if my notebook doesn't have the solution surely the library has something in it that can help!"
"We'll have to hurry, but what about the storm?" Twilight pointed out.
"We can hold it off for a time," Sombra volunteered, "but even together the three of us will succumb to the fury of the Frozen North."
"We will do what we can," said Celestia as she, her sister, and husband took flight, "but as Twilight stated, you must hurry. Time is of the essence."
The three alicorns boldly flew out to face the storm clouds and immediately got to work holding off the weather's advance. In the courtyard, Midnight stated, "There's no telling how long it will take to find a way to restore the Crystal Heart. So until then, we'll need some of you to direct the crowd to get inside and keep warm."
"And try not to mention the Crystal Heart," requested Cadance, "We don't want to start a panic."
"We got this," Thunderlane saluted before calling, "AJ, Dash, Soarin, c'mon!"
Watching the four ponies hurry off, Twilight looked to the rest still present, "I'm going to need the rest of you to help me research. The library is enormous!"
"You can count on us, Twily," Midnight assured when the baby teleported onto Pinkie's face, which caused her to freak out and throw the filly off, making everypony flinch in abject horror!
Shining Armor dove to catch his daughter, only for her to FLASH away yet again and he bolted up, "WHERE'D SHE GO?!"
They listened and heard the filly's giggles and Cadance heard them coming from the door back into the castle, "This way!"
As they all hurried inside, Midnight cuffed Pinkie on the back of the head, "OW! What was that for?!"
"For throwing my niece!" Midnight snapped, making Pinkie sulk.
As they walked back towards the castle, Starlight sighed, "Well, Spike, looks like my biggest fear came true... I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight decides to give up on me entirely, and Midnight will probably have me sent to prison."
"Nah, it's not your fault... I'm the one who said we only needed this list," Spike replied gently before he gave the list a curt look before burning it to ashes.
"It's not the list, Spike. Or you, or-or Twilight!" Starlight explained despondently, "I'm the one Sunburst doesn't want to be friends with."
"I don't remember him saying he didn't wanna be friends," Spike debated.
"He didn't have to say it..." Starlight felt so down.
"Well, Twilight obviously thinks you're worth being friends with, and I do too," Spike assured while giving Starlight a hug he think she needed.
"Thanks, Spike. At least I have two friends," Starlight honestly did feel a little better, "Even if one of them has dragon breath."
Testing his breath and finally noticing the disturbingly low temperature, Spike fretted, "Uh, that's not dragon breath. It's freezing!"
Looking around, and finally seeing the snowfall and buildup of snow here and there in the city, Starlight realize,d "You're right! But- I thought the Crystal Heart was supposed to keep the cold weather out."
"It is! Unless... something's happened!" Spike worried before he ran off, yelling, "C'mon!"
"Young filly! Come back here!"
"Come on, sweetie, hold still for Uncle Midnight! Please?!"
Shining Armor and Midnight flew after the baby, wondering how a newborn could be so darn fast as the tiny alicorn laughed and whooped with delight, giving her daddy and uncle a real workout as they zoomed through the library. It wasn't long before Pinkie and Cheese and even Blueblood and Elytra joined the hullabaloo.
Everypony else was looking for anything that might be helpful. Thankfully, the archives did indeed have Sombra's original notebook on the Crystal Heart and Twilight was pouring through every page, honestly fascinated by all the work Sombra put into it. But she kept the urgency of the situation in mind and hoped that Sombra had written a solution to the problem at hoof.
"Anything up there?" Twilight called to Cadance, and Thorax who were checking a section on the floor above.
"Not yet," Cadance replied as she was beginning to develop a serious case of library-neck, "I'm not even sure how these are organized!"
"Ugh, I knew I forgot something in the memo last week," Thorax facehooved as he and Cadance converged towards an empty space on the bookshelf-
*FLASH*
The baby had teleported onto the empty space, and Cadance slowly tried to reach for her daughter when she noticed the filly on the verge of a sneeze-
*ACHOO/ZZZHHOOOM*
-and ducked in time to avoid a powerful energy beam, and the baby continued to fly around, everypony else trying in desperation to settle her down.
"Shining Armor, Midnight!" Cadance called, "I thought you were taking care of the baby!"
"We're trying!" Shining Armor responded as he chased after the baby around a corner.
The mad chase continued, the baby flying so happily fast and teleporting whenever somepony got too close, and becoming a menace whenever she fired magic beams at everypony, who dove for cover or ran for their lives. It was at this point that Starlight and Spike arrived and saw the chaos going on, of the baby chasing and the desperate researching-
"YOW!!"
They ducked just in time to avoid one of the baby's energy beams before Starlight finally asked, "What's going on?!"
"You want the long version or the short version?" asked Pinkie as she and Cheese were dragged by the baby happily clutching their tails.
"Uh, short?"
"The baby's an alicorn and she accidentally destroyed the Crystal Heart so Twilight, Cadance, and Thorax are looking for a spell to put it back together and save the Crystal Empire from turning into a wasteland of ice and snow," Cheese answered right off the bat.
"Oh," Starlight replied as she and Spike stood up and watched as Midnight tried to pounce on the baby-
*CRASH*
-only to land in a dazed pile of party ponies, the racket testing Twilight's patience as she snapped, "Do you mind?!"
Groaning, she continued to pour through Sombra's notebook when she turned the next page... and her eyes slowly lit up, "I think this is it! Sombra wrote a Spell of Relic Reconstitution in case the Crystal Heart was ever destroyed!"
"Oh thank goodness," Cadance sighed in relief as Twilight held the notebook open for her to see.
"It's a good thing he made such extensive notes, otherwise I don't know what we'd do," Twilight added when the baby FLASHED into existence beside her and flew over her head, Cheese hopping onto the table and leaping to pounce the baby to the floor.
"Ha-ha!" Cheese held the baby triumphantly... only for her to sneeze and cast a beam of magic!
Rarity held up a mirror to reflect it away, which caused it to rebound towards Midnight who EEEK'd and dispersed his physical form into shadowstuff, passing harmlessly through him and towards Shining Armor, who cast a personal shield spell. Again the beam of magic rebounded, this time towards Starlight, who raised a Bubble of Mana around herself and Spike, and the beam reflected off it... and straight towards Sombra's notebook!!!
Twilight gasped in horror to see the notebook burned all the way through, meaning the spell was now gone! As everypony looked at the ruined notebook in shock, Cheese cringed as he squeaked, "Whoopsie..."
"That spell was the only thing we found in the library that was even close to what we needed!!!" Twilight fretted.
"I'm so sorry, Twilight!" Starlight apologized, feeling awful for her mistake.
"It's not your fault, Starlight," sighed Twilight as she opened the notebook to see if any notes survived but it was all just scorched and ash, "None of us were expecting any of this."
"Do you think you can remember the spell?" asked Cadance hopefully.
"I only read through it once!" Twilight remarked incredulously.
"Well, Twily, you've always had a great memory after reading something for research," Midnight tried to sound encouraging with a forced smile but even he sounded doubtful. Still, he cleared his throat and firmly added, "Just take a moment to think about the spell and do your best."
"I'll try... but I'm not sure how long it'll take," Twilight replied when a snowy chill blew into the library and they saw it coming from a hole that presumably had been blasted open by the baby.
"Is quickly an option?" Pinkie asked with worry.
"I'll help if I can," Cadance said to Twilight before she turned to Shining Armor and took the baby from him, "but we should evacuate the city just in case."
"Agreed, we'll have to lead the citizens to the train station before the tracks freeze over," added Midnight.
"Then let's do it," Shining Armor nodded solemnly before saying to Cadance, "But between you and Twilight, I'm sure you'll remember the spell."
"C'mon, everypony!" Midnight led the charge, Shining Armor, Blueblood, Rarity, Pinkie, and Cheese following, "It's already colder than a windigoe's balls outside!"
"I only hope this spell is the one we need," Twilight said to herself in worry as she took a fresh page of parchment, dipped a quill into an inkwell and got to writing as she wracked her brain to remember the spell.
"Is there anything I can do?" asked Starlight.
"I don't think so. I'm just sorry about your lesson," Twilight responded apologetically.
"That doesn't matter now," Starlight waved it off although her voice was laced with disappointment, but mostly in herself. "Sunburst and I have nothing in common anyway. He's a big important wizard, and I'm relearning everything I ever thought I knew..."
"Sunburst? I don't recognize the name, but if he is an important wizard you should bring him here," Cadance requested, "Maybe he'll know what to do if the spell fails."
Perking up, Starlight gasped, "Of course!"
She hurried off, Thorax and Spike following as the changeling said, "Hold on, we're coming too!"
As the princesses, changeling filly, and the baby were left alone, a roar of thunder made them shiver with worry as they gazed out the hole in the wall and saw the Royal Sisters and Sombra doing their best to hold off the storm, blasting gales and avoiding bolts of lighting but the tempestuous clouds continued to rankle and surge.
"Princess Cadance?" Elytra looked up in worry, "Are... are we gonna be okay?"
Seeing the little changeling filly she'd become so fond of scared, Cadance pulled her into a hug, "Whatever happens, we'll get through this.
Bursting through the door, Starlight, Spike, and Thorax shivered as the forced the door closed although a pile of snow did get in before they finally got it shut.
"SUNBURST!!" Starlight yelled to him, "Haven't you looked outside?!"
Alarmed, Sunburst dropped the books he'd been levitating and looked out a nearby window and saw the weather and something else getting into the empire, "Snow? That's... not right! The Crystal Heart-"
"Is gone!" Starlight answered, "The baby- Er, Shining Armor and Cadance's baby. It's an alicorn!"
Stunned, Sunburst pushed his glasses back up after they'd slid down his snoot, "Really?"
"Really! And her magic is a little berserk, and, well, I guess she destroyed the Heart!" Starlight elaborated.
"But Princess Twilight thinks she can fix it," Thorax added, "and Princess Cadance thought that you could help."
Sunburst flinched, his eyes moving between Starlight, Spike, and Thorax a moment before he found his voice, "Me?!"
"Of course!" Starlight smiled excitedly, "You're an important wizard here in the Crystal Empire, it just makes sense!"
"Right! right, right, right, right..." Sunburst got shifty-eyed and gulped nervously as he turned towards his book shelves and put the books he'd dropped away, "You know, I-I'd like to help. Really, I would, but I.... just have... so much, um, important wizard work to do around here."
Starlight, Spike, and Thorax were aghast by Sunburst's words, Starlight furrowing her brows, "Sunburst, I get that you're busy, but did you not hear what I just said?!"
"Uh, I heard you, but-but like I said, when you're an important wizard, the work just... piles up," Sunburst kept rearranging his books needlessly, not turning to look Starlight in the eye.
"SUNBURST."
Hearing the urgency in her tone, Sunburst sighed and cleaned his glasses before saying, "Look, Starlight, I.... I want to help, I do! But, I can't..."
"What do you mean?" asked Starlight, hearing how ashamed Sunburst sounded when Thorax finally let out a groaning yell!
"Look! Starlight, Sunburst? the situation is getting worse by the second but the real thing that's wasting our time is you two!" Thorax snapped, "You're both hiding something from each other, I can sense your anxiety and trepidation! You're both so ashamed of what you're not telling each other that it's getting in the way of you two rekindling your friendship!
"Starlight, I heard about what happened, and as awful as you may think it is you'll never stop worrying about it until you come clean and tell him, and Sunburst? I understand you feel ashamed about what you're hiding, but it's better to tell the truth than perpetuate a lie!"
"A lie? Sunburst?" Starlight looked to her old friend, who was fidgeting uncomfortably.
He couldn't take it anymore and burst out with tears, "I LIED, OKAY?! I'm not an important wizard. I'm not even a wizard at all!!"
He ran into his living room to hang his head in shame, and Starlight felt like she was walking on eggshells as she slowly approached him, "Sunburst...?"
"I know it's hard to understand," Sunburst explained, sounding dumpy and self-deprecating, "but not all of us end up achieving greatness!"
"What? Why wouldn't I understand that?" Starlight sat down on the chair opposite his own as she looked at him from across his table.
“Really? You’re the protégée of the Princess of Friendship," Sunburst remarked with a 'whoopty-doo for you' tone, "I don't think she picks just anypony for that."
"Technically, she's more of a student than a protégée," Spike interjected when he noticed the stink eyes Starlight and Thorax both gave him... and he slipped under the table.
"Whatever. I'm sorry I'm not the big, important wizard you were expecting," huffed Sunburst as he slumped in his chair.
"Sunburst! I-I don't care if you're a wizard or not, I'm just surprised!" Starlight was confused, "You always knew so much about magic! I mean, look at all these books!"
"Yeah, well, reading about magic is one thing but you don't know what it was like at Magic School!" Sunburst recounted those days miserably, "To know so much and be able to do any of it! ...To not be able to be there and be able to help when a friend really needed you..."
Starlight was stunned by this revelation and realized she'd instigated it with her own assumptions about Sunburst, and yet the old hurt she felt burned with an animosity she'd all but forgotten as she responded, "Well, you don't know what it was like to be left behind! And then getting so bitter that you steal the cutie-marks of an entire village and then get defeated by Twilight and Midnight and their friends. So you travel through time to get back at them but they beat you again and teach you about friendship and hold you accountable for all your misdeeds and wind up getting an Inhibitor Ring locked onto your horn to limit your magic and worry day after day about making even one more screw-up and ruining the rest of your future!! Then you're so terrified that ponies will find out what you did and that you can't make any friends!!!!"
Starlight wiped her own tears while Sunburst looked at her so stunned he didn't notice his glasses slip down his snoot again.
...
...
...
Pushing his glasses back up, he asked, "Did you really travel through time?"
Spike popped back up while giving Starlight a friendly ribbing, "See? I told you he'd be impressed."
Sighing, Sunburst stood up and sad, "I'm sorry that we lost touch. Maybe... maybe if I'd reached out, you could have helped me at Magic School, and I could've helped you..."
"Not become totally evil?" Starlight finished it for him, and they shared a smile before she sighed, "Let's just say I know what it's like to have something you're not exactly proud of."
"You showed up, thinking I was a big wizard, and... I'm sorry. I should've just told you the truth," Sunburst replied.
"It's fine, at least we worked it all out," Starlight assured, "I think Twilight would be proud of us."
"Yeah, okay, I'm glad you've worked things out..." Thorax said in an urging voice.
"...but if you ever want to tell her about it, we should probably leave now!" finished Spike as he pointed out the window.
Gasping, Starlight said, "I forgot to mention - They're evacuating the city! You need to get to the train station ...unless you've got a spell here that will drive back the Frozen North and fix the Crystal Heart so the baby can have her Crystalling?"
!!!
"The Crystalling, of course!" Sunburst said in a tone of Eureka!
He hurried to his books and started looking for something, to the others' bewilderment.
High up, the three Alicorns were doing their very best but it just wasn't enough! They were getting colder and colder and running low on mana and becoming exhausted, as they shot beams of alicorn-level power at the storm in a vain attempt to hold it back. But it was like trying to dam a raging river with a box of toothpicks. It just couldn't be done!
Below, Midnight and Shining Armor were leading the evacuation, using their own shield spells to try and keep the way clear while Rainbow Dash, Thunderlane, and Soarin did their best to fight off the storm even if it was only a little. Blueblood, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Cheese Sandwich were doing their best to keep the crystal ponies moving, helping any who tripped or got scared.
Dash, thunder, and Soar finally paused and were absolutely freezing, despite their natural resistance to cold weather. Ice was forming on their wings and other parts of their bodies, and they knew they couldn't keep this up. They landed below to join the rest in leading the evacuation as Applejack called, "JUST A LIL' BIT FURTHER, Y'ALL!! TH' STATION'S JUST AHEAD!!"
But then they saw four figures coming their way from the opposite direction, and as the frosty air cleared a bit they saw it was Starlight, Spike, Thorax, and Sunburst, who was carrying saddlebags with books.
"WE HAVE TO GO BACK!!!" Starlight shouted to the evacuees and her friends as Celestia, Luna, and Sombra descended to join them.
"I KNOW HOW TO STOP THIS!!" Sunburst added, and Celestia smiled to see one of her old students again, and that this time he seemed certain of what to do.
Before everypony turned around to go back, Sunburst made eye contact with somepony he hadn't seen in a long time. Midnight looked back... and nodded before turning around, and Sunburst gulped.
I really hope I'm right about this...
"Uh, I think that's everything...?" Twilight and Cadance were back at the Crystal Heart courtyard, the relic still in shards, and she'd just finished writing down the Spell of Relic Reconstitution to the best of her memory, which was saying something and yet she still doubted.
Cadance gave it a look, "It looks right to me, but there's only one way to find out."
She stepped back while Twilight took a moment, gathered her mana... and then cast it! She concentrated a beam of power to the pedestal where the Heart normally rotated above, and the energy drew in the shards like a magnetic field, causing them to slowly rise up above the pedestal. Cadance added her own mana to the spell, and the shards began to come together, forming the likeness of the Heart... until it was whole!
Albeit... still webbed with cracks. and for a moment the two princesses smiled in relief, only for the glow of the magic to suddenly snuff out and the shards fell back to the floor in splintery disappointment.
"The spell failed, I don't know what else to do..." lamented Twilight-
"An old student of mine believes he does."
The other princes and princesses, along with their friends, Thorax and Elytra, Starlight and Spike returned... accompanied by Sunburst, who Twilight vaguely remembered back from Magic School, even though she never knew him personally. Sunburst hurried forward to give the shards as look, "The baby did this?!"
"I tried putting it back together with this, a Spell of Relic Reconstitution by Prince Sombra," Twilight explained, showing the spell to Sunburst.
"Hmm, I'm afraid this won't do it," Sunburst scrunched up the spell in his aura and tossed it aside before he brought out his books, "The Crystal Heart's been around for millennia. Restoring a relic like this takes magic way beyond one spell. You'd need to combine it with something else, something unique to the relic itself, something that strengthens it and provides it with power..."
Sunburst's tone of voice was implying something as Twilight gave the book he was showing her a look, specifically the page he'd opened it to, before she finally realized, "The Crystalling!"
"Combining that spell with the light and love of everypony gathered for the ceremony, together with..." Sunburst brought out more books and showed the bookmarks placed to the choice spells inside them.
"Somnambula's Weather Abjuration to clear away the snow and..." her gave that one to Midnight.
"A little Fledgling's Forbearance for the parents," he gave that one to Shining Armor and Cadance while giving the baby a little tickle, making her giggle, "That should curb the little one's power fluctuations."
"You must be Sunburst," Cadance noted, "Starlight said you were a powerful wizard."
"Oh, I'm no wizard," Sunburst corrected, which was apparently an alarming thing to say as everypony gaped at him.
"But he's studied magic his whole life! you should see his house!" Starlight defended, "And since nopony has any better ideas, what do we have to lose?!"
Shining Armor and Cadance shared a look before they nodded and he took their daughter, "I had planned for Thorax to be our Crystaller, but I think, given the situation..."
He levitated the baby to Sunburst, who humbly took her into his forelegs and smiled, "I'd be honored!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Twilight urged, and everypony else ran outside to the platform for the ceremony while Celestia, Luna, Sombra, and Midnight remained in the courtyard, and prepared for their roles.
Remembering his Spell of Relic Reconstitution, Sombra cast his red mana to bring the shards of the Heart together while Celestia and Luna lent their own mana to the spell while Midnight added the Weather Abjuration to the mix.
Outside on the platform, Shining Armor and Cadance kissed their daughter's cheeks before they cast the Fledgeling's Forbearance, hoping it would indeed put a stop to the foal's out-of-control magic. The baby giggled as she gave off a radiance and rose up while Blueblood offered the purity crystal to Sunburst.
"Citizens! May I present the newest member of the Crystal Empire!" he declared while raising his hoof up at the baby.
The crowd cheered, the parents and their friends smiling happily at the filly, and then, one by one, every citizen of the Crystal Empire bowed to honor and celebrate the heir to the Crystal Throne, and their light and love lit up the streets beneath their hooves! The energy spread from every crystal pony, until it lit up all the main streets of the Empire, and Sunburst quickly floated the purity crystal down to the street so it could siphon the energy. Once that was done, he hurried back to the courtyard and willed the purity crystal into the relic as the alicorns continued to hold it together... before it shined and span and dimmed just enough to show the Crystal Heart was whole once again!
Everypony smiled before the Heart gave off a pulsing flash and spread out, everypony gaining the crystalline appearance and glow while the snow and ice that had been freezing everything over was quickly vanished away, as was the storm clouds, leaving the Crystal Empire as bright and warm as it was before. Perhaps even brighter, as everypony in the streets shouted and cheered and whooped in celebration.
The parents held their daughter as she floated down to them, and nuzzled her warmly, relieved that everything was once again alright.
Midnight hurried over to his friends and family while Starlight commented, "For a pony who isn't great at magic, you did pretty well, Sunburst."
"Indeed."
They looked to see Celestia, Luna, and Sombra approach as the Sun Princess said, "I'm glad to see you've found a way to share your unique gift, Sunburst."
"You may be a more of a wizard than you think," complimented Sombra with a wink.
The two old friends shared another smile when...
Sunburst...
He jolted a little in alarm, hearing that voice in his head... and looked towards the others as they celebrated with Shining Armor and Cadance, but only Midnight was looking his way.
You have done a great deed today. Before you make any important decisions henceforth, I would like to have a word with you later.
Sunburst gulped and nodded in response, a tad nervous of what Midnight wanted to say.
Hours later, everypony (but the Royal Sisters and Sombra, who had all already left) had gathered at the train station to greet Twilight and Shining's parents, Night Light and Velvet, along with Midnight's mother and little brother, Faerie Tail and Twinken.
"You would not believe the crazy weather that delayed our train," chuckled Night Light, "Came out of nowhere."
"But it was all worth it to come and see this peaceful little angel," Velvet added as she took a closer look at her granddaughter, "Aw so sweet, come to your grandma!"
The baby cooed and reached out to Velvet with a heart-melting smile while Applejack commented, "Yeah, peaceful now anyway. Ow!"
Thunderlane elbowed Applejack for her lack of tact and added, "Looks like that spell really did the trick for her mag-"
He stopped and they all flinched to see the baby on the verge of a sneeze...! They all cried out and ducked for cover-
"Achoo!" The baby settled down but everypony was relieved to see nothing happen.
"We have Sunburst to thank for that," commented Shining Armor.
"I hope he accepts our offer," Cadance added, "He'll make a wonderful Crystaller and magic advisor for the baby."
"Cadance, dear," Faerie Tail gently took the baby in her aura and held her, "Are you going to tell us the little darling's name or are we just going to keep calling her 'the baby'?"
"Yeah! What's my new niece's name?" Twinken reached up to touch the little one's tiny hoof and she giggled at the colt. "She... is my niece too, right? Midnight's her uncle, so.... doesn't that make me her uncle too?"
"Heh-heh, yes, Twinken, you definitely are her uncle," Shining Armor chuckled while ruffling the colt's mane.
"And we were thinking of calling her..." Cadance began-
"Princess Corazón y Alma!" Midnight stepped in with excited drama, all eyes turning to him as he smirked and added, "Princess Cora for short!"
The baby squealed with delight and flew over to her older uncle, who laughed as he held her and tickled her belly, while Shining Armor and Cadance shared a look.
"Cora..." Cadance mused, testing the taste of the name in her mouth. "I like it!"
"Heh, and we were thinking 'Flurry Heart' to remember the occasion," Shining Armor joked.
"Oh goodness!" tittered Rarity, "How could anypony forget?"
"I think it's lovely," Twilight smiled softly as she and Midnight kissed their niece, Cora, on both of her cheeks, little Cora laughing while reaching for her auntie.
At that moment, at the end of the train platform, Starlight was talking with Sunburst, joshing him as she said, "Well, looks to me that you're a big, important wizard whether you like it or not."
"Oh, I'm not sure if I'll have time for any wizarding. Princess Cadance has asked me to be the Royal Crystaller, it's a big responsibility," Sunburst replied, feeling a tad embarrassed by Starlight's praise.
"Are you going to accept? Because I can't think of anypony more qualified," Starlight assured.
"Maybe? It's just that... Prince Midnight-" Sunburst tried to explain when...
"Sunburst!"
They looked to the other side of the platform and saw Midnight looking straight at Sunburst as the other knights, including Shining Armor, summoned their swords and held them straight.
"Step forward," bade Midnight, and Sunburst shared a nervous look with Starlight before he approached, passing the knights and noticing the nods and smiles of respect from each of them. Midnight summoned his own sword, its steel, black and shiny like obsidian yet edged with the silvery-blue glow of the moon ringing, as he ordered, "Kneel."
Sunburst did as he was told and Midnight declared, "For stepping forward to use your knowledge to help save the Crystal Empire from certain disaster... By the right of the Council, by the Magic of Friendship! Sunburst, you may rise."
Sunburst did so, noticing the knights all salute him before he asked, "I-I don't understand! What does this mean?"
Midnight smiled solemnly as he explained, "It means you are now one of us! A Knight of Harmony."
He raised his sword, the others doing the same, and everypony watched in awe as each knightly sword came alive with different colored radiances that gave off vaporous mana that suddenly swirled together before collecting in front of Sunburst... and forming a new sword for the new knight. It was a fine blade colored the soft orange-yellow of the sunrise while the guard matched the colors of Sunburst's cloak.
"Hail, Sir Sunburst, Scholar of Sorcery, Savior of the Crystal Heart!" cheered, Midnight, and everypony present likewise shouted, "HAIL! HAIL! HAIL!!"
"Wait-wait-wait!! Hold on!" Sunburst yelled over all the shouting and once they were paying attention, he exclaimed, "I can't be a knight! I already told you all, I'm not a wizard and I'm certainly no warrior!"
"Sunburst, being a knight doesn't mean you have to be some big important wizard or that you even have to fight," Midnight assured before he explained, "It means stepping up to do the right thing, especially when you know you have a solution that can help solve a problem. Because a hero isn't somepony who goes out and fights evil villains or accomplishes fantastic feats. A hero is one who steps forward to offer a helping hoof simply because they know it's the right thing to do.
"Which is why I have to do the right thing right now. Starlight, please come here."
Starlight was confused but approached, standing beside Sunburst as they gave him bewildered looks, everypony looking on in wonder... that turned to utter shock as Midnight got down on his knees and pressed his head down in penitence.
"Words cannot express how sorry I am..." he stood back up, looking deeply ashamed, "to both of you."
"What are you talking about?" Starlight didn't understand... when she noticed a similar look of shame on Sunburst's face. "Sunburst? Do... do you know what he's saying?"
"It's alright, Sunburst," Midnight sighed, "I release you from your gag order."
"Gag order?!" Starlight echoed, "What is going on here?!"
Sunburst grimaced before he took a deep breath and started, "Starlight... there's more to my earlier confession. As I said before, I went to Magic School, and I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. At least, not practically. Back then, I aced written exams because I was able to soak up what I read and researched from books so well, and... Somepony saw my grades on the written exams, and... thought they saw something worthwhile."
"Who?" asked Starlight.
"My father, Ignitus Enflame, who was Captain of the Royal Guard," answered Midnight, who sighed before he explained his own part in this, "I became an alicorn when I was only ten years old, but due to... a lot of circumstances at the time, Princess Celestia had to keep my ascension a secret from the world. I was sent away from Canterlot to a country estate, where I was to begin studying and training for my future. I was given multiple teachers for different subjects and disciplines, but... It was lonely and miserable.
"So... my father spoke with Celestia and they decided to give me some... fellow trainees, I guess you could say. Colts my own age to train alongside me, and for me to lead in order to learn to become a leader. One of them was Shining Armor, another..."
He looked to his old friend and confirmed, ."...was Sunburst."
"But... what does this have to do with... whatever this is?" asked Starlight.
"Like I said, I wasn't doing as well as I'd hoped in Magic School," Sunburst went on. "I felt so pressured and afraid of disappointing my family, despite my grades on written exams. Midnight's father, Ignitus, saw my grades and mistook me for... a prodigy in magic. So, he arranged for me to be one of the colts to train alongside Midnight. I wasn't allowed to send or receive letters for the duration of the training... that's partly why... why I didn't stay in touch with you, Starlight."
Starlight was stunned, uncertain of what to say. So Midnight went on.
"A few years passed during our training, and when I was fifteen, something terrible happened... One of our fellow trainees, a pegasus named Flash Sentry... He was murdered right in front of me. By Catrina."
Starlight flinched to hear that witch's name again, though Midnight kept going.
"I was devastated... Helpless to stop her, and I was so ashamed that I'd failed a friend and comrade I loved like a brother. Because of what happened, I dismissed my team and told them all to go home. My father issued them all a gag order, forbidding them to reveal anything regarding their time training with me. Including my existence."
"Flash's death was terrible, but... the way Midnight turned us all away," Sunburst added, "I felt like... he blamed us for what happened."
"Wait, what?!" Midnight gaped at Sunburst, "Sunburst, that's not true! Yes, I dismissed you all, but I didn't blame any of you for what happened! I blamed myself, I felt like I'd failed! And... I couldn't bare to fail any of you like I did Flash. I just... didn't want any of you to get hurt because you were close to me."
"Really?" Sunburst was stunned to hear that, "I-I thought- Well... I kinda felt like the fault was mine, not just because you dismissed us. But because I'd failed to imbue our gear with that forewarning ward or-or-"
"Sunburst," Midnight raised his hoof to gently shush him. "What happened wasn't your fault. Or mine, as I've recently come to accept. We were trainees, kids! None of us could have known what was going to happen, and none of us were prepared for who attacked us."
"So then... part of the reason Sunburst fell out of touch with me," Starlight realized as she looked to Midnight, "was because of you."
Sighing shamefully, Midnight nodded, "It is... and I am sorry, Starlight. If Sunburst hadn't gotten involved with me, then maybe he and you would have stayed in touch, and you wouldn't have... well, you know."
"Well, I also didn't go home after Midnight and his father dismissed me," Sunburst pointed out. "I was so ashamed of my failures and not living up to my cutie-mark I just couldn't face going home..."
"Which was still partly my fault and the fault of my father," Midnight affirmed "Believe me, I know how much it can be suffocating when you're held up to really high expectations, whether your own or somepony else's. Which reminds me..."
Then Midnight surprised everypony when he lit up his horn and unlocked the Inhibitor Ring on Starlight's horn, removing it as he gently said, "I don't think we'll need this anymore."
"I... I don't know what to say," Starlight was at a loss as Midnight made the ring vanish.
"While we're all still ultimately responsible for our own actions, I believe we shouldn't forget that sometimes our actions result from the actions of others," Midnight stated before declaring, "Starlight, you are no longer on probation. You're a free mare and I wish you luck in wherever your future may take you."
"...Thank you, Midnight," Starlight gave him a respectful bow and smile. "Well, I guess it's just about time for us all to home?"
"Not quite..." Midnight smirked before he turned to Sunburst again, "I know Cadance and Shining Armor have made you an offer, to be their Crystaller and magic adviser."
"Earlier, you told me not to make any big decisions before you had a chance to talk to me," Sunburst brought up.
"I did, which leads me to the second thing I want to talk to you about," Midnight confirmed before he asked, "Sunburst, I would like for you to be my apprentice!"
"WHAT?!" Sunburst, Starlight and some of the others who were still watching all of this unfold shouted.
"Me? Apprentice under you?!" Sunburst flummoxed, trying to make sense of this unexpected development, "Well- Uh, I- Wha-"
"It would mean coming to live with us in Ponyville," Midnight went on, sounding hopeful, "but if you would rather stay here in the Crystal Empire and serve as Cadance and Shining Armor's magic adviser, I understand."
Sunburst suddenly found himself with a big decision to make, as he looked from Midnight to Shining Armor and Cadance, who both shrugged, meaning they weren't going to persuade him one way or another. He looked at Starlight, who looked ecstatic at the idea but then she gave it a thought and said, "I would be thrilled to have you with us in Ponyville, but... I think you should go with whatever will make you happy."
Sighing, Sunburst gave it a thought. On one hoof, it was a real honor to be asked to serve as Royal Crystaller and magic adviser to the rulers of the Crystal Empire, but on the other, he couldn't help but find himself excited by the notion of training under Midnight. Granted, he knew way more about magic than the sapphire alicorn did, but he knew there was plenty of things his old friend could teach him.
Everypony leaned in, waiting for Sunburst's answer until finally he said, "I lost touch with my oldest friend and... it didn't exactly turn out well, for either of us."
Starlight stifled a gasp, not daring to think-
"So... sign me up!" Sunburst smiled excitably before turning to Starlight and pulling her into a hug!
"We wish you the best of luck, Sunburst," said Shining Armor.
"Although I wish you'd stay," Cadance added, "I think we all deserve to make the decisions that we feel are right for ourselves."
"Welcome to the group, Sunburst," Midnight smiled as everypony rushed in, giving Sunburst and Starlight hugs and friendly punches to the shoulders and saying all kinds of nice things when Midnight felt a tap on his shoulder and looked to see it was his Twily.
"I'm proud of you, Midnight," she smiled tenderly at her husband.
"For what?" Midnight was confused.
"I know that you and Starlight haven't been on the best of terms since she moved in with us and became my student," Twilight explained, "but the way you just humbled yourself before her and Sunburst, and finally gave Starlight your forgiveness..."
She nuzzled up to her stallion, and he nuzzled her back as she whispered to him, "It just makes me think of how I love you so much."
"And I love you," Midnight said back, wrapping his wings around his wife, just enjoying the moment.