Well, after the long wait between new sea-
what was that?
It was only 4/5 months?

Huh, that.. actually wasn't too long compared to the other hiatuses (especially the one between S4 and S5).
thx guys

Well, without any further ado, here's the Season 6 premiere, The Crystalling.

This review comes from the opinions of the poster himself. This does not reflect the opinions of the rest of the Brony community.
the baby is a alicorn?!1
Plot Summary:
Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's baby is born, so the Mane 6, as well as Spike and Starlight go to The Crystal Empire to celebrate the baby's Crystalling, but the baby ends up breaking the Crystal Heart, leading to a deep freeze for The Crystal Empire. Meanwhile, Starlight attempts to meet up with her old friend Sunburst.

So, to start off, in this episode, we are introduced to a couple new characters, Flurry Heart and Sunburst. Flurry Heart obviously being the baby that was hinted at in The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows, and Sunburst being Starlight's old friend that we saw in The Cutie Re-Mark. Technically, he was introduced in said episode, but this is pretty much the episode we first see him in action and doing stuff, and this episode also explains a bit of his backstory after he got his cutie mark and was sent to Canterlot to study magic and actually expresses more of his personality. It's easy for me to say that Sunburst was a pretty likable character with what was revealed about him in this episode, and the interactions between him and Starlight were also well-done. Flurry Heart, on the other hand, I'm a bit more.. apathetic too, I guess? I mean, I don't mind her myself, but I can understand why some people don't like her and she sort of reminds me of why I have no plans to have babies in the future

The characterization of this episode is really good. After being redeemed in The Cutie Re-Mark, Starlight Glimmer continues down that sort of path and this episode really helps to develop her character. In this episode, she has a role as Twilight's student , but when the thought about meeting up with Sunburst comes to mind, she's nervous about plus is worried that she'll let Twilight down, which in turn helps her growth and is natural for her character. To be honest, despite all the backlash she got after the S5 finale, I actually feel they're handling Starlight's redemption and character growth really well, with that continuing after this episode. Plus, I should also mention Spike's role in this episode, and add that he was characterized really well. He helps Starlight out a lot in this episode, especially with trying to reunite with Sunburst and the chemistry between him and Starlight is really well executed and well developed. I have to say Spike is an example of a character that usually doesn't have much luck as the main character in an episode, but is great when he's a supporting character and this episode continues to prove that thing. I've also heard some people say S6 has the chance of being Spike's best season and as long as they go down this sort of route and don't screw up with his main role like they did last season, then hopefully that'll be the case.

I have to say I did find the subplot with Starlight and Sunburst was the best part of the episode and was more interesting than the A plot, but at the same time, the A plot wasn't bad either. The characterization of the Mane 6, the princesses and Shining Armor were also really well done. The Mane 6 and the princesses seemed to interact well and work together to try and stop the deep freeze from hitting the Crystal Empire (even if the ReMane 5 didn't do anything TOO special in this episode) and I'm sure the way Cadance and Shining Armor had been acting after the baby was born was pretty relatable to many couples who have had babies, especially with Shining Armor being pretty stressed. And the way the 2 main plots of this episode come together in the end does feel really well executed. Also, Twilight's parents' talk for the first time in this episode, which is also pretty nice.

One flaw I did find with this episode was how the citizens of the Crystal Empire were acting when Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy were trying to get them to stay indoors, with them being stubborn and trying to stay for the Crystalling of the royal baby. Yeah, I understand that this is an important occasion, especially since the baby is an alicorn, but that would be like if there was an F5 tornado approaching my house, but I stayed in my room because Half Life 3 was about to come out (lol like that's ever going to happen). It made them look both stubborn and pretty idiotic considering they even reminded them that a giant snowstorm was about to hit them.

Overall Opinions:
Looks like Season 6 is alreadyoff to a great start, because this episode is very good. There are some minor flaws, namely the citizens of the Crystal Empire's idiocy, plus Flurry Heart was pretty "eh," but the characterization and character development really help this episode and I did find it pretty fun to watch. I'd still say I think The Cutie Map is the best season premiere yet, but this one's still really good and probably the 2nd or 3rd best premiere thus far.

9/10