The story begins in Ponyville, three weeks after the return of Flash and his friends from the Lost City of Faust. In that time, news of what transpired during their adventure had spread out all across Equestria. There wasn't a pony alive who didn't know about the heroic deeds of the group that defeated a cult of power mad ponies before they could try to conquer Equestria, or that there was a new alicorn in Equestria.
As for that alicorn, Shining Soul and her brother had really grown to like living in Ponyville, though they had been mainly interacting with their teacher's immediate friendship circle. This was to be expected, as the two had a lot to learn about the world before they could become proper members of society.
During the days the medical tests were being done, Flash and Twilight had talked with the princesses about what Heart and Soul needed to know before they were ready to begin their true lessons. It was agreed that the two should go to school, mainly so they could interact with ponies their own age, and knew they needed a basic education.
Despite being able to read perfectly, neither of them had ever really written a word. Their hoof-writing wasn't the best, though Soul had quickly learned how to make words readable since she enjoyed drawing and painting. However, Heart wasn't as good, though he found he could do math better than Soul.
This was followed by a crash course was Equestrian history. Both ponies found it quite interesting that they knew about the birth of the universe along with the rise and fall of the alicorns before Celestia and Luna's reign, only to now learn about the founding of Equestria. The forming of the Royal Knights and the Wonderbolts came next, soon seeing the amazing adventures that their teachers had done before meeting them. Both absorbed this information like a sponge, Flash and Twilight deciding they were ready to be their teachers after gaining this starting point.
As such, Twilight and Soul were now in the library. The two stood on either side of a table, which had a plastic cup in the middle. "Alright Soul, let's begin." Twilight said in a calming tone, "Just remember to be firm, but gentle."
Soul nodded, though she didn't really know how you could be both firm and gentle. Her horn began to glow gold, squinting her eyes as she stared at the cup. A magic aura began to form under the cup, making it slowly lift off the table. Twilight smiled at the sight, only to hear a crackling sound. "Careful." Twilight whispered as she saw part of the cup bend, Soul nodding back.
Her horn's aura began to spark, Twilight seeing a small sputter from the horn before the cup was suddenly crushed under the filly's magical grip.
"Ow!" she yelped as her horn quickly cut, the cup falling back onto the table. Her ears flopped down, whimpering, "No..."
"Don't worry, it'll be okay." Twilight responded while floating the crushed cup over to a bin. "You'll get it." She summoned another cup from a stack Pinkie had loaned them. "There's a reason we start this small. Just keep trying and you'll figure it out." Soul nodded and tried again, Twilight smiling as she saw her horn glow again before taking out a stack of papers. "Now for Starlight's first lesson."
Meanwhile...
The ex-villain was currently making her way through the many corridors of the large castle, looking for the library. "Is it in here?" She as she opened a door, "Nope." She closed it and tried another, a mop now falling on her head. "Nope." She then tried a third door, only to find a certain jakhowl.
"Oh," she said as he turned to her, "Sorry."
"It's cool," Springer replied before turning back to the eggs that were currently sitting on a table in their incubators. "Just looking after the eggs."
"Any uh...any idea when they'll hatch?"
"No idea," he took the glass off the blue one so he could rub it with a cloth. "Luna said every egg is different. Could happen today, could happen in a year."
"Well I hope I get to see it," she added before retreating out the room, letting out a sigh as she continued through the hallways. "Okay...I gotta find the library. Library...Library...where did they put the library?" She poked her head through another door, only to find it lead to another hallway. "You know, this castle looked a lot smaller from the outside." She sighed as she opened another door, only to find one Spike T Dragon currently brushing his teeth.
Spike noticed the door open and turned to smile at her. "Morning, Starlight!" He said in a muffled manner.
"Whoops!" She yelped as she shut the door, "Sorry, Spike! I guess I'm still trying to find my way around. You don't happen to know where the library is, do you?"
The door opened up, Spike's head poking out as he pointed, "Next door on the left!"
He then shut the door as Starlight replied, "Thanks!" She quickly trotted to the door and opened it, only to hear a moan of annoyance before needing to duck under a flying crushed plastic cup that soon hit a nearby trash can. She then saw Soul at a table, placing another cup on the table before turning to see her teacher at another table, looking over a scroll.
"Acceptance," Twilight hummed. "Altruism definitely...that's a good start." She then turned to the door, smiling as she put the scroll down. "Starlight! Good morning, please come in!"
"Sorry I'm late," Starlight responded while she trotted in, "I um...I got a little turned around." She started to blush as she continued, "I still can't believe you're letting me stay here...as your pupil...after everything I did."
"Well, I'm not one to dwell on the past, and neither should you. This castle is your home now, and as far as being my pupil goes, I was just trying to figure out what your first friendship lesson should be!"
She then showed Starlight the scroll. "Oh..." Starlight whispered as she looked it over, "Well, it um...looks like you're really narrowing it down!"
"Not quite. These are just the A's. After this, I move on to the B's!" Twilight giggled before pointing at another table, which had several stacks of paper covering it.
Starlight's face shined nothing but pure terror as she stared at them. She quickly shook her head next before going over and looking at one of the papers, "I know I'm just learning about friendship, but I didn't think there were this many lessons for anything." She turned back to Twilight, "How do we choose?"
Twilight took some of the papers, letting out another hum, "I know it looks like a bit much, but I know I can find something for you to start with." She turned back to Starlight, seeing the fear on her face. The alicorn quickly rushed to her side, placing a hoof around her shoulder. "Say, why don't you join the others in the throne room for now? They're planning our trip to the Crystal Empire when Shining Armor and Princess Cadance have their foal!"
"Throne room! Got it!" She spun around and ran to the door, only to see the trash can that was now currently buried in crushed cups.
"Aaaah!" Soul yelled as she destroyed the final cup, slamming her head down on the table.
Twilight trotted over and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll learn. It's all about persistence and patience."
Soul sighed as she mumbled into the table, "I wonder it Heart's having this much trouble?"
In the training room, Flash was now circling around his new student. The pegasus was bouncing a rubber ball on his wing while slowly trotting around the colt, Iron Core, Grand Hoof and Lightning Blitz sitting in the corner behind Heart.
"Alright Heart," he started, "As a Royal Knight, there are three rules you must always remember in any situation. If I manage to teach you anything, it'll be these three rules."
"Okay," Heart nodded while continuing to stand in battle ready position.
"Rule number one: Always be afraid."
The young pegasi raised an eyebrow at this, "What? Why would I wanna be afraid? Isn't that a bad thing?"
Flash shook his head, "No. Letting your fear control you is a bad thing...but not having any fear at all is even worse."
"But aren't you the Element of Courage?" Heart asked back, "How can you be scared?"
Flash chuckled at this, continuing to bounce the ball while circling him. "Courage is not the absence of fear, but acting despite being afraid. And as long as you have that fear, you'll remain alert, focused, and alive." As he said that, he bounced the ball high before spinning around and hitting it with his tail. Doing so sent it flying at Heart, the colt barely managing to duck under it before Grand caught it. "See?" Flash smiled as Grand tossed the ball back to him. "A true hero is one that listens to their fear and lets it keep them on guard, but doesn't let it decide everything for them."
"Always be afraid," Heart repeated as he stood back up. "Got it."
"Good." Flash started circling him again. "Rule number two," he once again batted the ball at Heart, the colt sidestepping it before Grand caught it again. "Never put all your focus on the enemy in front of you." As he said this, Grand batted the ball at Heart, hitting the colt in the back of his head.
"Ow!" He cried, rubbing it before glaring at Grand.
"You never know when another enemy might show up and try to take you be surprise."
"Got it..." Heart grumbled as Flash placed a wing on his back.
"And the third, which is the most important rule, is to always try your best, but also understand when that best isn't good enough."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Grand was the one to speak up, "Our goal as Royal Knights is to protect those who can't protect themselves. This means we end up facing many dangerous challenges."
Heart nodded as Iron continued, "And sometimes, the challenges we face are just too much for us to handle. The final rule is to understand that." Heart tilted his head at this, making him shake his head before pointing at the colt. "Let me give you an example. Do you think you could win in a fight against Sentry?"
Heart turned to Flash, the sight of the stallion standing over him making the colt slightly shiver. He glanced back at Iron, "Are you kidding?! With how strong he is, I wouldn't last five seconds in a fight with him!"
"Exactly. And let's say that in some crazy alternative world, Sentry was a criminal and you found yourself facing off against him."
"What would be the smarter option?" Lightning added, "Trying to fight him or trying to escape and get reinforcements?"
"I guess trying to escape?"
Flash nodded. "Exactly. Sometimes, you won't have a choice. You might find yourself trapped in a situation against an opponent you can't beat. That's when you need to be smart, but you also need to first realize your limits. Limits you can break, but require time to do so. An opponent you don't stand a chance against today won't stand a chance against you in ten years. It's just a matter of surviving those ten years."
"Huh. Okay...I think I get it."
"Good," Flash replied before walking over to the training room's control crystal. "Remember these rules you'll be fine."
"I will."
"Now, let's get started with your physical training." With that, he tapped the control crystal, causing a treadmill to appear. "First, we need to understand your limits. Get running." Heart nodded and jumped onto the treadmill as Flash switched it on, the belt beginning to move as he walked in place.
The others watched as Flash turned up the speed, Heart's pace increasing until he was running. After a minute, it was clear Heart wasn't having an issue. "Come on, I can do this in my sleep." Heart chuckled with a smirk, making Flash smile as he cranked the speed up, Heart matching the speed without issue. "Faster." Flash increased the speed again, "Faster!" Flash did it again. "FASTER!" Flash put it up to max, Heart managing to keep up...for about five seconds. "WHOA!" He yelped as his hooves were pulled out from under him, body-checking the treadmill before getting shot off the machine, "OW!"
The others flinched as they watched him hit the wall, the force causing him to be plastered while leaving a colt shaped indent. His eyes showed spirals before shaking his head and giving the group the pony equivalent of a thumbs up. "Nailed it!"
"Well, the colt can take a hit," Grand laughed as walked over to help pull him off the wall.
Back at the library...
Soul's eyes were squinting as her horn continued to glow. Before her was a floating cup, this one shaking in place despite not shifting in shape. "I'm...I'm doing it!" She turned to Twilight, "I did it!"
Twilight nodded back, "Good job. Now, the next part of the lesson is to have you hold the cup like that for ten minutes or more."
"What?! But that was hard enough!"
The princess patted the alicorn's shoulder, "I know, but this is how all unicorns start. Don't worry, after a little bit of practice, you'll have it down pat."
Soul grumbled at this, turning back to the cup as she made it float again. As she did this, Starlight trotted back into the room, "Hey Twilight, can I ask you something about the Crystal Empire?"
"Oh?" Twilight spun around with a smile, "Funny you should mention the empire." She took three sheets of paper in her magic as she continued, "Because I just narrowed your first friendship lesson down to three options, and one of them is in the Crystal Empire!"
"Really?" Starlight asked, a big smile adorning her lips.
Twilight nodded back. "Yes. You see, I found out that that's where the first pony you ever cared about lives!"
The smile quickly vanished, her eyes now going wide with a growing frown, "Sunburst?!"
"Yes. He lives there now, and that was one of my ideas of your starting point for friendship. Of course, we could also-" The rest of Twilight's speech was tuned out as Starlight's brain began to replay the day she lost Sunburst, leading to her backstory and shameful past. The very thought of seeing him against continued to send painful shivers down her spine, causing a single remorseful tear to appear in the corner of her eye. "Starlight?" She came back to reality as Twilight asked, "Is something wrong?"
"What?!" Starlight yelped before darting her eyes around, "O-oh, no, heh, those uh...all sound great!"
"I know!" Twilight cheered before looking down at the scrolls, "I guess you were right. It is gonna be hard to choose one!"
Starlight let out a nervous laugh as Twilight trotted off. "Yeah...real hard."
A little later...
Soul was now walking through the castle with the cup hovering in front of her without issue. She could now pick it up and put it down without damaging it, which was a marked improvement given this was her first real lesson. And as she turned a corner, she smiled as she saw her brother, "Heart!" She ran over to hug him, only to go wide-eyed before putting a hoof to her nose, "Whoa! You stink!"
Heart laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah...sorry. Knight training really helps you build up a sweat. How was your lesson?"
"Great!" Soul showed him the cup, "See?"
Heart raised an eyebrow, "It's...a cup?" Soul glared at him before purposely crushing the cup in her magic and throwing it behind her. The filly was about to explain, only to hear a loud crashing noise. Quickly walking over to it, they saw Starlight buried in brooms, mops, buckets and ladders. "You okay?"
"I'm fine..." Starlight grumbled as she shoved the stuff back into the closet before pushing it shut. She then opened another door, only to quickly close it and let out an annoyed cry. "Augh! I'm never gonna find my way around this place!" She walked away as Spike's head popped out the room she had just looked into, the dragon running after her.
"Gee Starlight, what's wrong?"
"You look like somepony let all the air out your favorite balloon," Heart added as he and Soul flew beside the two.
Starlight let out a defeated sigh. "I don't know. 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."
"Which one?" Soul asked.
"Reuniting me with my first friend."
This statement caused Spike and Heart to glance at each other while Soul spoke up, "That's Sunburst, right?" Starlight nodded back.
"What's so terrible about meeting him?" Heart asked next.
"Yeah!" Spike added with a nod, "Considering how close you used to be, I figure you'd want to see him really bad." Soul rolled her eyes, muttering the word 'boys' under her breath.
Starlight let out a sigh as she came to a stop, staring at the ceiling as the memories of a life long past flowed through her mind. "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." Spike finished, Heart and Soul both going wide-eyed as this piece of information had not been made privy to them.
"Not really stuff I'm super eager to tell Sunburst about," Starlight moaned before the two could ask anything. "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..." Spike cleared his throat, "Exploits."
"But maybe you should wait a little bit," Soul suggested while landing. "At least until you feel you're ready. Maybe after you've got some simpler friendship lesson under your belt, you'll be more confident about reuniting."
Starlight sighed and shook her head, "I don't think I'll ever feel ready."
Spike patted her on the shoulder, "You should talk to Twilight about it. I'm sure she would want to hear what you have to say."
"I know..." Starlight replied while looking away, "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." The others were about to respond, only for-
"Spike!" Twilight's voice rang out, "Come quick!" They all turned to the voice, quickly running toward it before getting to the castle's grand balcony. There they found Twilight, Flash and even his sister Scootaloo staring into the sky. But it was soon revealed they were staring at something flying on the wind, a piece of paper shaped like a snowflake. Twilight shined a big grin as she held out her wing and caught the snowflake, which then opened up to reveal writing in the center.
"It's a Crystalling invitation!" Spike cheered, the twins gasping as Heart asked.
"Does that mean-"
"Shining Armor's a father!" Twilight turned to Flash, hugging him. "I'm an aunt!"
Flash laughed. "I guess that makes me an uncle."
"Yeah!" Scootaloo jumped up and down, "And I'm a..." She stopped and showed a semi-frown, "Wait...what does this make me?"
The others laughed as Twilight turned to Starlight. "Well this settles it! We're going to the Crystal Empire!" The group cheered, all but Twilight and Starlight walking away as the princess put her hoof on Starlight's shoulder, "And because we're going to the empire, your first friendship lesson is going to be...reuniting with Sunburst! Isn't that great?!"
Starlight looked away at these words, Twilight quickly spinning around to go tell her friends. And as she left, Starlight stood there while looking like somepony had asked her to do six hundred impossible things at once. "Great..." She whispered, her whole body now shaking like a leaf.
An hour or so later...
The Mane Seven, Spike and the CMC were now on a train to the Crystal Empire. The rest of the defenders had been invited, but Springer polity refused since he had to look after the eggs while Iron and Lightning chose to stay so the town wasn't left undefended. (Flash had a feeling it was more like they were worried about being put on foalsitter duty) As for Grand, he had to head to Canterlot in order to get a proper gift for the newborn royal.
And so, Flash, Twilight, Heart, Soul, Spike, Starlight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and the CMC were the only members of the group who were currently on their way to the crystal empire. And as the surrounding area changed from grass to snow, Rainbow woke up and stretched on her seat. She then turned to Applejack and Apple Bloom, now spotting something nestled under a sheet between them. "Um, Applejack? What is that?"
The Apple sisters giggled as the older one replied. "Oh, just a little somethin' for the young'un." Apple Bloom pulled the sheet off, revealing a wooden crib with apple designs on it. "Made from genuine Sweet Apple Acres apple trees. We make 'em for all the Apples, and anypony related to Twilight is practically family."
Applejack smiled at Twilight, who had a touched expression as Soul got a closer look.
"Aww..." she responded with stars in her eyes, "It's so cute."
Apple Bloom nodded back, "Ah know, right?" She patted it. "Ah helped make this one myself."
"You sure you got the right cutie mark?" Heart asked her with a chuckle as Rainbow got up and flew around her seat.
"Yeah, it's okay. But it's no Cloudsdale mobile!" She suddenly pulled the item out of thin air, "Bam!" The girls all went 'ooh' at the sight of it, Pinkie even calling it pretty before accidently knocking one of the pieces off.
Applejack simply smirked, "Well, a mobile is real nice...as long as you have somethin' to lay in so you can look at it."
"And a fetching blanket to keep you warm." Rarity added as she replaced the one in the crib with one she had just finished.
Twilight shined the biggest grin at all of them. "I'm sure Shining Armor and Princess Cadance will love all our gifts."
Heart then turned to Flash, who was sat back with his hooves behind his head and his eyes closed. "What did you get them?" Flash's eyes shot open, a long frown on his face as his student stared at him, "You did get them something...right?"
"Uh..." Flash's face turned red while the others rolled their eyes.
"Don't worry about it," Twilight added, "Shining and Cadance won't care about gifts. They're more happy we'll be attending the baby's Crystalling."
"Ooh!" Pinkie cheered as she jumped up and down on the spot, "I can't wait to see all that light and love make the Crystal Heart even more sparkly and shiny!"
"Sparkly and shiny?" Heart asked, "I'm clearly missing something."
Scootaloo turned to him, "Weren't you listening when Twilight explained what the Crystalling is for?"
Heart opened his mouth to respond, only to close it as Soul laughed, "There's your answer."
Twilight giggled before turning back to her pink friend. "Actually Pinkie, the Crystal Heart is an ancient and powerful relic. Without its magic, the Crystal Empire would be lost to the Frozen North."
"Wow..." Starlight said in an overt way, "This Crystalling sounds pretty important, so I'd understand if you wanted to..." She rolled her hoof, "You know, wait to do a different friendship lesson when we get back."
"Are you kidding?" Twilight replied, "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." She then placed a hoof around Starlight's shoulder, "But I'm starting my new pupil off with the most amazing friendship lesson ever!" She pulled Starlight in close, "I can't wait!"
Starlight huffed before pulling herself free, a fake smile adorning her face. "Right...me neither..." As Twilight took out a foal book and started reading, Starlight turned to Spike. Both he and Soul sat side by side, Soul crossing her hooves while Spike gestured to Twilight. After a few seconds, she sighed before turning back to her teacher. "Actually uh...Twilight? I'm um...I'm a little worried about meeting Sunburst."
Twilight blinked at her words before putting her book down. "Oh trust me, I know what it's like to see old friends. But I'll be right there to help things along." She then pulled a scroll out of her saddlebag, "I've broken the whole lesson down into a few easy steps to ensure this reunion goes off without a hitch!" The scroll unrolled and began to unfurl...only to reach the door of the train cabin. This made Starlight give out a nervous chuckle as the conductor walked in and said they were coming up on the city.
Everypony grabbed their things as the train pulled up to the station, coming to a stop as Twilight talked to Starlight about her reunion schedule. "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 baby."
"You might wanna swap those steps." said a sudden voice, making them turn to see three ponies standing on the platform.
"Ruby!" Heart and Soul cheered as they ran over to the Crystal Knight and gave her a hug, the others turning to the two changelings standing besides her.
"Thorax!" Flash offered him a hoof, "Long time no see."
"Yes," Thorax nodded as he shook the hoof, "It's great to see you again."
"Hiveena," Twilight added as she shook the changeling's hoof, "How have things been here in the empire?"
"Good," Hiveena replied. "The ponies here haven't had any issue with us, so life's been pretty calm."
It was here that both Flash and Twilight saw something different about Thorax and Hiveena. The first was that Hiveena was no longer wearing the magic-suppression ring on her horn. But the most noticeable difference was on their backs, Flash pointing to them. "Hey, what happened to your wings?"
Their wings were now a bright blue, both having sparkles running along them as Thorax responded, "We're not really sure. They started changing about a week before Ruby came back."
"It's happened to me before," Hiveena added, "I don't remember when it started back then, or when it went away. But I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about."
"Well it's very pretty," Rarity complimented. "I'll have to remember how it looks for my next dress."
Twilight then turned to Ruby, "We weren't expecting a welcoming comity."
"Well, Shining Armor wanted to come, but with everything going on, I felt it was best somepony else come and get you."
Hiveena nodded in agreement. "Things have been pretty...hectic since the tyke was born. Your brother and the princess have been run ragged looking after the little hell-raiser."
Thorax did a small gulp, "The two looked so exhausted we were worried Shining might fall asleep on the way here, so we decided to come instead."
Hiveena grimaced at her own next words, "Plus, I'm not really a foal mare. If I stayed I might have gotten roped into foalsitting."
"I didn't even realize Shining and Cadance would be so overwhelmed. They probably need all kinds of help!" Twilight responded before turning to her pupil with an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry Starlight, but I guess combining your first lesson with this visit wasn't such a good idea."
Starlight shined a big smile, only to quickly try to hide it as she replied, "Oh uh...don't be ridiculous! You're an aunt now! That's way more important than some friendship lesson."
"Subtle..." Heart whispered to Soul as Spike finished rolling up the scroll.
"I just wish there was a way to do both," they then heard Twilight say, only for Spike to hold up the scroll.
"Maybe there is!" He turned to Twilight, "You've already done the work for Starlight's lesson with this list. All we have to do is follow it!"
Starlight face-hoofed while Twilight smiled down at her dragon assistant. "Spike, you're a genius!"
"Yeah..." Starlight grumbled while shooting Spike a death glare, "Genius."
"Then it's settled! The rest of us will head straight to the castle, and you two can head straight to Sunburst!"
"Aye-aye, Princess!" Spike saluted while Starlight let out a nervous laugh and nod.
"Wait..." they turned to the changelings, "Sunburst?"
"You know him?" Flash asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hiveena huffed. "Yeah. Thorax and I have been getting invites from him since he first moved here. He keeps questioning us about changelings. How we're born. How we extract love. All that stuff."
"I've been over to his house a few times," Thorax added, "He's pretty nice, though a little awkward."
"So you know where he lives?" Twilight asked, the changelings nodding back, "Great! Then maybe the two of you can show Spike and Starlight the way."
"Um...I guess that's okay," Thorax responded.
"Beats babysitting," Hiveena huffed before gesturing to the other two. "Follow me and try not to get lost." The two nodded as the four headed off while Ruby turned to the others.
"Come along. I'm sure you're all excited to see the newborn." They nodded back before following Ruby to the castle, Heart and Soul in awe at the sight of the Crystal Empire. "Beautiful, isn't it?" They both nodded again, "Perhaps you'd like to have a tour? I should be free later, and can show you around before the Crystalling."
"Awesome!" Heart cheered.
Flash chuckled at this, "And since we're here, I should probably show you the Hall of Knights."
Heart turned to him with a raised eyebrow, only for Twilight to suddenly exclaim at the sight of a certain unicorn stallion that appeared to be asleep standing up. "SHINING ARMOR!" Her brother shook, his eyes going wide before turning to Twilight with a tiny smile.
"Twilight!" He replied, his eyes going off in two different directions. The group now saw that he was super frazzled, his mane a mess and his eyes half closed. The siblings quickly embraced one another into a hug, Shining looking behind her and seeing Flash. "Hey bro. How's....how's....what was I about to say?"
Twilight pulled away and looked him over. "Are you sure you're okay? Ruby and the others told us you were having...issues."
"That's an understatement," Ruby whispered as Shining did a weak nod back.
"Never better!" He cried out, his eyes now spiraling, "Being a father is amazing! And wonderful, and amazing, and confusing, and amazing, but surprising too, you know?"
Everypony just stared at him like he had grown a second head. "Did anypony get any of that?" Heart asked.
"About every third word or so," Flash replied as Shining scratched the back of his head.
"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."
"That's why we're here," Twilight responded, "Don't worry. We're happy to help while you and Cadance get some shut-eye."
"Though I might suggest hiring a nanny for when we leave," Flash added as Shining lead them into a castle.
"We already had a nanny lined up," Shining replied, "But she quit after her first shift. Something about being too stressful." This statement caused everypony to share a glance, frowns on every face.
"I constantly babysit two foals," Pinkie pointed out. "Sure it's hard, but its not worth quitting over."
The others nodded as they arrived at the room, Shining turning to his sister. "Before we go in, I should probably tell you this: Seeing the baby might be a bit of a shock."
Twilight simply smiled back, "Come on, big brother. I've met babies before." She pushed the doors open, "I expect meeting this one won't be any different." As they headed inside, they spotted not only Cadance, but Celestia and Luna as well. Blinking at the sight, she walked over to get a look at her newborn...she had no idea what it was. Upon closer inspection, she realized the baby was a unicorn filly with pinkish-white fur, her mane being a combo of purple and blue. She was wrapped up in a blue blanket and her horn seemed longer than most other unicorn babies.
Twilight's heart melted at the sight, Flash stepping up and mirroring his girlfriend's look. But that look turned to confusion when he saw something move under the blanket, only for the cloth to pull apart to reveal a pair of wings. Twilight gasped while Flash blinked, the knight being the first one to say it. "Alright, wasn't expecting that."
Everypony else continued to stare at the baby, who was cooing and flailing her legs around like a newborn usually did before Twilight broke the silence, "The baby is an Alicorn?!"
"It looks that way," Cadance nodded back.
Flash's gaze moved between the baby, Twilight and then Soul. "Geez. First you, then Soul, and now this. You alicorns are suddenly coming out of the woodwork. It's a good thing I turned down becoming one. Ponies would think anypony can jump onto the alicorn bandwagon."
"What's the big deal?" Heart asked with a raised eyebrow.
Rarity turned to Heart. "The deal is that alicorn wings have to be earned by accomplishing some great, princess-worthy deed!"
"Yeah!" Applejack added, "You're not just supposed to be born with 'em!"
"But aren't Celestia and Luna natural born alicorns?" The others turned to the princesses, remembering the day Flash and his friends returned from their mission and the movie they all watched.
"That's right," Soul chimed in, "Alicorns can be born from other alicorns. It just stopped happening for some reason."
"Well, Cadance is the first alicorn to give birth in like...two thousand years," Flash continued, "I guess it would make sense she'd have an alicorn."
Ruby nodded in agreement, "Cadance was a pegasus before she ascended, and Shining's a powerful unicorn."
"If the two of you have some earth pony heritage, it's possible your DNA could mix to form an alicorn." Celestia added as she stared at the foal, "Even so, the birth of an alicorn is something Equestria has never seen!"
"It is beyond even our understanding," Luna finished.
"That's not very reassuring," Fluttershy whispered to Rarity before Pinkie popped up infront of them.
"Wow!" She cheered, "So she could be a super-strong flyer and have crazy baby magic?!"
"Not to mention earth pony strength," Flash added, "I wouldn't be surprised if she could lift a fully grown pony."
Scootaloo let out a huff, "Is it bad that I'm starting to get jealous of somepony that isn't even potty trained?" She took this moment to spread her own tiny wings, comparing them to the baby's, which were at least three times the size of her's.
"I bet she'll get her cutie mark way sooner then we did," Apple Bloom sighed while Sweetie nodded, the others rolling their eyes at the fillies.
"Eh, it'll be fine. I know all about super-strong flying!" Rainbow did a loopy-loop. "I'm sure I can keep her under-wraps if she tries to make a break for it."
"And I can help keep tabs on her magic!" Twilight assured Cadance, only to hear the baby begin to breath weirdly. The less baby-conscious ponies in the room feared she may be choking, only to see she was about to sneeze. And sneeze she did. When the reaction occurred, a blast of pink magic exploded out of her horn, striking the ceiling.
The force of the blast made everypony brace themselves from her shockwave as the floor shook. And when the magic subsided, everypony looked up to see that the beam had cut a hole not just through the ceiling, but through several more ceilings above it. "Wow..." Soul whispered, "And I thought I had trouble controlling my magic." It was in that moment a crystal pony looked down from the next floor up, her mane having a large hole blown through it that was smoking.
Celestia began to stroke the filly's head. "It appears her magic is more powerful than that of a newborn unicorn!"
"You think?!" Flash yelped, "We're lucky a smoking skeleton hasn't dropped down!"
"The crowds have already started to gather," Luna added while looking out the window, only to turn back and see Pinkie inflating a balloon.
"This Crystalling is gonna be some party!" She smiled while letting the balloon carry her into the air, only to pop and make her fall down.
"Do you think we should call it off?" Cadance asked her husband while her daughter began sucking on her hoof.
Shining opened his mouth to reply, only for Rainbow to speak up, "Um, we've all faced a lot worse than baby magic."
Rarity nodded in agreement, "I can't imagine cancelling such a beautiful and important ceremony over something so potentially adorable!"
She leaned down to the foal with a smile as the others gave their general agreement. Celestia then turned to Cadance, the alicorn of the sun offering her sage wisdom. "In light of the little one's abilities, this Crystalling might be more important than ever. Perhaps you should address your subjects and remind them of that."
Cadance nodded and gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead, the baby gargling happily as she watched her mother leave the room with Celestia, Luna and Ruby. Once they were gone, Twilight turned to her brother and found he was leaning against the wall...asleep.
"Shining Armor?" She patted his shoulder, making him stir, "Do you have everything you need for the ceremony?"
"Huh?" The former captain let the question sit for a moment, only for a look of panic to appear on his face. "Oh no!" He jumped off the wall and began pacing back and forth. "I still have to interview the honor guards, choose the purity crystal, and pick a crystaller!"
He fell to his flank, looking like he was about to cry. "Geez," Flash whispered, "I haven't seen him this worked up since his first date with Cadance."
"Alright, take it easy." Twilight patted his shoulder, "Pinkie can stay here with me and keep an eye on the baby." Everypony turned to Pinkie, now seeing the baby clinging to her face and laughing every moment.
"And we'll help you with everythin' else." Applejack assured as they turned back to him, only to see the unicorn flat on the floor asleep.
"That is, if you can stay awake long enough to tell us how," Rarity pointed out.
Flash turned to his apprentice, "Heart, go find somepony that works in the kitchen and tell them the prince needs the strongest coffee they have." Heart saluted and flew out the room, Soul following after him as Flash moved over to Pinkie and reached into her mane. "Where do you keep your funnels?"
"They're in there deep. Third drawer." Flash nodded and reached into the mane until his shoulder was in there. "No, no, no, that's a bicycle, no, HA!" He pulled his hoof out, which was now holding a plastic drinking funnel with a long tube. "Perfect." He turned back to Shining. "By my oath, this crystalling will go off without a hitch." The others nodded as Twilight quickly smacked Shining awake before Rainbow and Applejack dragged him out of the room, Flash, Fluttershy and Rarity following him.
Twilight then switched her focus on her niece, "Let's have some fun and find out what else you can do so we don't have any more surprises." The baby laughed and giggled, clearly thinking this was some kind of game.
In another part of the city...
Starlight was now laid out on a beach chair with a bucket of popcorn, Thorax and Hiveena besides her. Thorax had a look of interest on his face while Hiveena looked bored. A crowd of crystal ponies were also there, everypony listening to Spike as he retold the tale of how he saved the Crystal Empire from the former tyrant known as Sombra.
"And that's how we found the Crystal Heart, defeated King Sombra, and saved the Empire." He finished as the crystal ponies cheered, screaming their love and admiration for Spike.
"Wow," Thorax added, "I had no idea Spike was so brave."
"He's missing out a ton of details," Hiveena deadpanned, "Like how Sentry and Scarlet were the ones that held the guy back so they could find the Crystal Heart."
"Tell the one about the Equestria Games!" A young crystal pony yelled while Spike pulled out the scroll he had been previously sitting on.
"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!" The crystal ponies all moaned, Starlight's face now morphing into a look of pure terror.
"Aw, come on, Spike! I want to hear about the Games too!" Spike shot her a knowing look as he signed an autograph, then unraveled the scroll.
"I know you're nervous about seeing Sunburst, but it says right here in step three, to, uh, 'deal with your fears by facing them, not by putting them off.'" He smiled at her while Starlight moaned and threw her popcorn away.
"Let's go get this over with." She mumbled as she jumped off her chair, Thorax leading them through the streets.
"So what's the big deal about meeting this one guy?" Hiveena asked. "You almost look scared about meeting him."
"I'm not scared," Starlight replied, "Just...nervous."
"Why?"
Starlight sighed and looked away, "It's a...long story." The four then turned to head down an alley-like street, Thorax now pointing at a house at the very end.
"That's Sunburst's house."
"Alright..." Starlight took a deep breath, "Wish me luck."
She stepped up to the door, raising a hoof to knock-
"Wait!" She pulled her hoof back, turning to Spike.
"Huh?! What?!"
Spike looked down at the scroll, "Knocking on the door isn't the next thing on the list!"
"Seriously?!" Starlight asked while the changelings blinked at the dragon.
Spike shrugged back, "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!"
"Fine," Starlight sighed in defeat, "What's the next thing on the list?"
Spike cleared his throat, "Before they see each other, be sure to highlight the importance of the meeting."
"I'm pretty sure we can skip that."
"I don't know," Spike replied, "I mean if we skip it, the whole lesson could go south! And then you might end up taking a giant step backward instead of forward! Maybe you'll never be able to learn anything about friendship at all!" Starlight did a small gulp at this, only for Spike to grab her by the cheeks and pull her down so they were nose to nose. "It's almost like your whole future depends on this moment." Spike let her go as her eyes went wide, the dragon smiling as he ticked the scroll. "Highlight the importance of the meeting, check!" He turned back to her, "I can't believe you wanted to skip that!"
"Ponies are weird," Thorax told Hiveena.
"You're only just figuring that out now?!" She barked back as Starlight finally knocked on the door.
She waited for a few seconds, only for no response. The unicorn turned to Spike, getting a shrug from him while Thorax looked like he was expecting this. Then, the door opened a tiny amount, Starlight looking into the crack and seing a pony-shaped figure hidden in the shadows. "Sunburst?"
"Yes?" The pony responded before stepping into the light, revealing an orange unicorn with a red mane, beard and glasses. "What can I...do for you?"
"It's...It's me, Starlight. We used to be friends?" The unicorn blinked at those words, slowly opening his door as his brain put the pieces together. And as the door fully opened, he was revealed to be wearing a Starswirl styled cape.
"Oh, of course! S-Starlight! My goodness, it-it's been a long time!" He then noticed the others, "Thorax?"
"Hello Sunburst," the changeling waved.
"And Hiveena. Did you finally accept my invite?"
"No," Hiveena flatly replied, "We were just showing your friends where you lived."
"I see..." Sunburst frowned before turning to Starlight. "So what uh, what have you been up to Starlight?"
"Me?" Starlight responded while doing a small gulp, her eyes darting around, "Oh! You know, some of this, some of that, different...stuff." Sunburst raised an eyebrow at this, "Right now, I'm sort of Twilight Sparkle's new pupil." Sunburst's eyes went wide at hearing this, both shock and awe on his face.
"Really? The Princess of Friendship?"
"Heh...yeah." Starlight slightly nodded, "Yeah...that's actually kind of why I'm here. I mean, I know you're probably very busy."
"What do you mean?"
"Well..." Starlight looked away, rubbing her hoof, "I figured after magic school, you'd go on to do important wizard work, but..."
"Oh," Sunburst said without thinking, "No." He then went wide-eyed before gulping, "I mean yes! Uh, y-yes, that's me, yup." He let out a nervous chuckle, "Important wizard! Really busy with lots of, uh, wi-wizarding...stuff." He adjusted his glasses as they all just stood there, the changelings feeling the cringe fill the air. "Right..." Sunburst started to backpedal, "Uh, well...it was good to see you again." He then jumped back inside and pushed the door close, Starlight turning back to the others.
"Huh," Spike looked down at the list. "Maybe we should have skipped highlighting the importance of the meeting after all."
"Well, I guess that's that!" Starlight yelped before moving away from the door. She shined a half smile, only to see Spike glare at her.
"Starlight," he pushed her back, "Come on! We have to at least explain what Twilight wants!" Starlight let out a groan before turning back to the door, knocking again before Sunburst came back to the door.
And after a minute of small talk, Sunburst let them in and Starlight headed inside. At the same time, Spike turned to the changelings. "You all don't have to stay anymore. I'm sure you've got plenty of other things you'd rather be doing."
The door then closed as Thorax turned to Hiveena, a smile on the changeling princess's face.
"What are you thinking?"
"There's no way I'm missing this train-wreck." She suddenly morphed into a fly, "Come on." With that, she flew toward the door's keyhole, Thorax sighed as he morphed into a fly to follow her inside.
"This isn't gonna end well," he buzzed.
Back at the castle, Cadance was addressing her subjects out on the main stage. Behind the curtain that had been put up to block the castle entry way from view, Shining, Flash, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Heart were watching as Cadance spoke. When the crystal ponies began to cheer, Shining stepped back from the curtain.
"Shining?" He yelled out in surprise, turning to Flash as the pegasus stood in front of several crystal pegasus guards. "You okay?"
"I'm not ready!" He cried, once again pacing in a mad panic.
"Maybe we overdid it with the third pot," Flash commented as Rainbow flew up to Shining carrying a pair of helmets.
"Take it easy!" She told him before offering the helmets, "Just pick whoever looks the most like honor guard material."
"Right...right." he nodded before taking the helmets in his magic and turning to the pegasi in line, "Here." He threw the helmets forward, accidently hitting the chosen guards in the face and blocking their vision. The others looked terrified as they watched their squad-mates struggle to remove them, all retreating back with scared whimpers.
"Get back here!" Flash yelled as he chased after the guards while Shining let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry," he turned back to the girls. "Fatherhood is way more stressful than I could ever believe."
"I can only imagine," Fluttershy nodded as Rarity walked up to the prince and showed him a box.
"Now, I know choosing the crystal of purity is a very important decision." she opened the box, "So, I have gone through the trouble of arranging them in order from incredibly pure to outrageously pure." The others glanced into the box, seeing each crystal. While they were all beautiful, each looked identical.
"Um, Rarity," Fluttershy spoke up. "Don't they all sort of...look the same?"
"Oh well, to the untrained eye perhaps." Rarity held the box out to her fellow unicorn. "What do you think, Shining Armor?" Shining stared at the box, trying to pick one, only to shake in place at the choice.
He let out several incoherent stammers before yelling, "I DON'T KNOW!" He fell to the floor and appeared to get close to the fetal position, covering his face with his front legs while constantly shaking.
"I hope Twilight and Pinkie are having better luck with the baby!" Rarity whispered to Fluttershy, Flash and Heart nodding in agreement.
"Relax," the knight replied, "This is Twilight we're talking about. Looking after a baby alicorn can't be any harder then looking after a baby dragon."
"And they've got my sister there with them," Heart added. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
Meanwhile...
"Take cover!" Soul screamed as she leapt under a table to dodge a blast of baby magic.
She peaked out from the table, her eyes shrinking as she saw the foal flying around the room in a mad frenzy. Flash's theory about her possibly being able to carry a grown pony had been proved correct, since Pinkie had grabbed hold of her and was getting pulled along for the ride.
"Well at least she's having fun!" Pinkie screamed as the baby took a sharp turn, firing a blast of yellow light at the same time.
"Pinkie!" the princess cried, "Hold her still!"
"I'm tryiiiiiiing!" Pinkie yelled as she grabbed the baby's back legs and pushed hers into the floor, only to get dragged along.
"Soul, a little help!"
"What do you want me to do?!" Soul yelped as she dodged another beam from the filly.
"ANYTHING!"
As the two flew past her, Soul leapt out and grabbed Pinkie around the waist. She then used her own wings to fly in the opposite direction to the baby, causing the three to stop in one spot. "Hurry!" Twilight took this chance to engulf Pinkie and the baby in the bubble of pink magic, Soul letting them go and falling over. "How did my old home not get destroyed everyday?! Baby alicorns are walking...flying disasters."
Twilight did an agreeing nod, "No kidding. I just hope Starlight's having better luck."
At the other side of the empire....
Starlight, Spike and the two transformed changelings were still in Sunburst's house, which was basically one giant book fort. Every wall either had a bookshelf or was covered in piles of books, the four knowing they wouldn't be surprised if the walls were made of books. Spike was watching the two unicorns from behind a book tower, seeing them sitting at opposite sides of a table with awkward stares on their faces.
The dragon's eyes darted between the two as Sunburst broke the silence, "So...the Princess of Friendship wants you and I to be friends again?"
"Heh, yeah." Starlight let out a nervous laugh, "I know. Weird, right?"
"Uh...I don't understand. Did something happen to you after I left for magic school?"
"What?" Starlight yelped, knocking the table and almost causing a tea pot to fall over. "No!" She quickly grabbed the tea pot and started pouring the liquid into a cup, "I-I-I don't see what that has to do with anything. W-w-why would you even ask that?" Sunburst's reply was to look down at her cup, Starlight now glancing down to see the liquid overflowing, "Sorry! I mean, did something happen to you after you left for magic school?"
"What?!" Sunburst yelled before looking away, "Um...no. L-l-like you said, I'm a..." he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, "I-I-important wizard."
The two once again fell into an uncomfortable silence, Spike gulping as he grabbed the scroll. "I'm sure there's something on Twilight's list that can help here."
He then saw a fly land on top one of the smaller book piles. "The tension between those two's so thick you could cut it with a spoon."
"Hiveena?" Spike asked as he inspected the fly, only to see another one land beside her.
"Sorry Spike," Thorax's voice came from it. "I couldn't stop her."
"Shush! I wanna hear the next part." The males rolled their eyes as they turned to the unicorns, Spike letting out a gulp.
"I hope Twilight's having's better luck with the baby."
Back at the castle, the group had finally gotten Shining Armor to calm down. Rarity was currently brushing his mane as he took deep breaths, doing whatever it took to keep himself from going nuts with worry. And as Rarity finished, Cadance, Celestia, Luna and Ruby walked off and moved behind the stage.
"Alright, it's getting about that time." Ruby spoke up, "Is everything ready?"
"We think so," Flash nodded as Shining was talking to Cadance.
"I chose the honor guard, picked the purity crystal, and I know exactly who I want to be our crystaller. So, all we need is..." He came to a stop, unable to say any words as Cadance gave him an 'are you serious' look.
"The baby?" Shining's eyes went wide before they heard Twilight's voice.
"We're here!" They turned to see Twilight and Soul trotting out of the castle, Twilight pulling a magic bubble behind her that contained the baby flying in circles while pulling Pinkie around.
"She's a really strong flyer!" The party pony told the loving parents as Cadance sparked her horn, causing the bubble to split in two with Pinkie in one and the baby in the other. However, the foal didn't appear to like being separated from its playmate, now sniffing with tears filling her eyes.
"Oh no..." Flash gulped as he the baby began to whine, the defender covering his ears. "SHE'S GONNA BLOW!"
And true to form, the baby started crying at the top of her lungs. In the worst possible scenario, she had also inherited the Canterlot Royal Voice as her cries were so loud that it could give Banshee a run for her money. Everypony else covered their ears to keep their drums from blowing, the force of her cries so strong that it caused Cadance's bubble to burst. The scream flew across the courtyard, hitting the Crystal Heart. Vibrations from the sound hit the artifact, making it stop from spinning. While this happened, the baby came to a stop as a new sound filled the air. The noise of cracking.
Everypony turned to the source as they saw millions of cracks appear across the ancient relic before finally shattering, the pieces falling to the floor. They all gasped as the foal's tantrum had tired her out, causing her to slowly float down and land in her mother's outstretched hooves. The group then gathered around the shattered remains of the crystal, Applejack being the one to break the silence. "Ah'm guessin' that's gonna make it harder to do the Crystalling."
"It's worse than that." Twilight yelled as she ran over to the curtain and pulled it open. "Without the Heart, the Crystal Empire's about to be buried under a mountain of ice and snow!"
Flash's eyes went wide at her words before taking to the air, staring at the edge of the city as they saw a bunch of dark storm clouds beginning to gather in the distance. A long sigh followed this, "Just once, can we go to a big event and not have our lives put in jeopardy?!"
The group knew that they were in serious trouble, now seeing that the entire Crystal Empire was in danger. Only time would tell if they could fix the Crystal Heart and save the day.