So, after a little break, Season Six has officially begun with a brand-new two parter, The Crystalling, and, well...
I didn't like this episode.
The whole thing, from character interactions to major plot points, just felt way too hard to believe. It was almost like watching a fanfiction brought to life. Here, let me explain...

To start, I'll get this out of the way:
I still don't like how Starlight's character changed so drastically at the end of the Season V finale. I mean, I like how she is now, I guess, but the change was just too quick and too drastic for me to actually believe.

In fact, most of my issues from this episode stem from that very issue--my suspension of disbelief was continually being broken, so i just couldn't get into it. And it wasn't just because of Starlight--but because of almost everything that happened in this episode.

First off, there was the baby. Like everyone, I already knew that Flurry Heart was an Alicorn, but that fact that Luna and Celestia said that "the birth of an alicorn is something Equestria has never seen" really bothered me. THEY were born Alicorns. Hasn't that been established in canon? I just feel like this statement was unnecessary, especially since that plot point was immediately dropped. (Although I'm sure we'll hear about it again in a future episode...)

Secondly, there's the Crystal Heart. The fact that the Crystal Heart could break so easily is simply ridiculous to me, especially considering what its survived in the past. It felt like the writers maybe couldn't really think of a realistic way to move the plot along, so they used baby-ex-machina again, like in Baby Cakes. This would upset me less if the Crystal Heart wasn't so important and powerful. I mean, it only takes one sob to shatter the heart, but it takes every royal in Equestria to fix it? That's just absurd! Why would they keep something so fragile and so important out in the open in the first place?? Especially when a decoy has worked before. Aah, whatever. Moving on.

Thirdly, there's the Two Sisters. It was nice seeing Celestia and Luna again...typically they're absent when Equestria needs them most, so it was a great change of pace to see them fly into action. However, the fact that they were easily defeated by weather really upset me. I mean, these two can move planets, but they can't fend off clouds? What? Even Spike has overcome more dangerous feats than that, and they mentioned them in this very episode.

Fourth, there's the whole "evacuate the city" plot point. THAT was just plain stupid. You cannot escape bad weather by plunging into its source, and the fact that they were taking a train is even more absurd. It wasn't even necessary, either. They could have just hidden in their houses.

Lastly, there's the character interactions. The pivotal conversation between Starlight and Sunburst felt really forced. Their outbursts didn't make sense in context, and felt really cut-and-pasted in, as though the writers knew that these things needed to be said, but didn't know where to put it.

Overall, the events in this episode felt very forced, and what's worse, the point they were forcing them towards wasn't even that rewarding. The plot felt scattered and unrealisitc, and although Sunburst made a cool character, all the rest of the cast felt like mere caricatures of themselves, edited to serve the story.

For me, the highlight of this episode was Shining Armour's first appearance. Never thought I'd say that.

I rate this episode 5/10. Although it didn't do anything over-the-top to upset me, the plot felt forced and poorly planned, and seemed to go against established lore.