Days passed, and around the end of the week Celestia summoned Spike and the Mane Six, plus their family (including Scootaloo and her parents), Flicker and his parents, and Twilight's Canterlot friends to the Crystal Kingdom. Even Luna and Discord were invited.

"Um, begging your pardon your highness but if Princess Luna is coming as well then who's keeping an eye on things in the castle?" Applejack asked after they all got settled in the train.

"Oh the other members of my court can handle things for a few days." Celestia smiled. "And if there's an emergency then they'll send me a message via Spike, I already taught them how to do that."

"Really?" Rainbow Dash smiled. "Does this mean Spike is a member of the court now too?"

"Not officially, since he still has to learn a few things and get used to the responsibilities, but I am allowing him to make some of the smaller decisions."

"Including helping my sister plan the Grand Galloping Gala from now on." Spike grinned.

"That's good, then it'll be easier to liven up the Gala without relying solely on me." Discord relaxed in midair. "Not that I mind, but I prefer livening up an event with friends than on my own."

"Just be a little less insulting about the jokes next time you do a stand-up comic routine okay?" Twilight frowned.

"All right all right...sorry if I did hurt your feelings, I was just trying too hard to get Fluttershy's attention back."

"Well everything did work out for the best. Tree Hugger now even really likes Discord, which is what I had been hoping." Fluttershy smiled. "She always was the type to base others on what's in their soul instead of their appearance."

"True. Still getting used to her mentions of auras and chakras and such though." Discord shrugged.

"I have a book on New Age Magic if you'd like to read it sometime." Twilight offered.

"Hm...I might take you up on that offer."

Once they reached the Crystal Empire's train station they saw Sunburst and Starlight standing there waiting for them.

"My goodness, you're Discord, the embodiment of chaos." Sunburst said as soon as he saw Discord leave the train. "Starlight told me about you but even so I wasn't expecting such a unique appearance."

"Yes I find it does take most ponies a while to get used to my presence." Discord smiled. "So, Sunburst right? Starlight said you were her foalhood friend until you got your Cutie Mark."

"Yeah. Didn't mean to lose contact with her but my parents rushed me to the School for Gifted Unicorns so fast I didn't have time to say goodbye." Sunburst said. "Then I ended up learning the hard way that I was better at studying spells than actually casting them. Obviously wasn't part of the popular crowd due to that, and the insecurity I got from that treatment prevented me from writing to Starlight for the rest of my foalhood. She was always better at casting spells than me, so I was too ashamed to tell her the truth."

"After he admitted this to me I ended up wishing that I had made the first move to contact him instead." Starlight added. "Not only would it have helped him cope with school life, but it might've even resulted in me not making the mistakes I made. Especially the time traveling one."

"That reminds me, what was Equestria like under my rule?" Discord turned to Twilight and Spike.

"Chaotic." Spike deadpanned.

Even Discord laughed at that.

"Touché." Discord had to admit.

They walked towards the center of the Empire, when they saw that the Spike/Crystal Heart statue had been slightly moved to the left. They instantly knew that it was to make room for something, because something huge that was covered with a sheet was on the statue's right (when facing the front of the statue). Realizing that this was why they were called in to the Empire, they stopped in front of it. Sure enough Celestia walked to the front of the statue and the sheet-covered something, with Shining Armor and Cadance being on her left with Flurry Heart and Luna being on Celestia's right. The crystal ponies surrounded the group whispering excitedly.

"Son, come here please." Celestia smiled.

Despite being a little confused, Spike obeyed.

"As you all now know Spike is my son. After my student Princess Twilight Sparkle hatched him when she was a filly I took care of him and raised him, later assigning him to Twilight Sparkle as her assistant." Celestia began. "During the many moons since then my son has made me very proud. He never let his true ranking affect how he treats others, he was always a good friend to everyone, he always stayed steadfastly loyal to those he cares about, and he always showed bravery whenever it mattered most. Because of this, and his growth in maturity and selflessness I have made a decision. I know that you had already titled him Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious, but since it is now time for Spike to fully accept his title of Prince and the responsibilities and duties that come with it I am going to knight him with a new title."

Knowing what happens during a knighting, Spike then kneeled. Sure enough Celestia opened a box near her and lifted out a sword.

"I now knight you Prince Spike the Selfless." Celestia tapped his shoulders with the sword. "And of course, a true prince deserves a crown. And a true hero deserves a medal."

Celestia then lifted a medal and crown out of the box, first placing the medal around Spike's neck and then the crown on Spike's head. The medal was silver, with a diamond in a golden sun in the middle of it. The crown however was gold, and had diamonds along the wide part. It took a moment for most ponies to notice, but the diamonds on Spike's medal and crown looked awfully similar to the diamonds that made up Rarity's Cutie Mark.

"You may now rise my son." Celestia smiled.

Spike did, obviously happy and moved. Then the sword that Celestia had knighted him with was placed into his hands, and a gold belt was put around his waist via Celestia's magic.

"I thought a sword might come in handy in the future, especially since you're so willing to risk your life for others." Celestia smiled.

Spike smiled back and put the sword back in it's hilt, which of course was attached to his new belt.

Luna then looked behind her and nodded, and the sheet was suddenly pulled off the huge something...which turned out to be a statue of Spike's new form. Decked out in his new sash, crown, belt, sword, and medal no less. Even more surprising, there was a statue version of Rarity next to him wearing the outfit she wore on their first date in Canterlot.

"After I saw your sash and Rarity's outfit I sent an image of both to the Crystal Ponies so that they could include them in the statues." Celestia explained. "I asked them to include Rarity because Cadance and I both have a good feeling that you two will be together forever."

"You two aren't the only ones...come to think of it, neither are Spike and I." Rarity smiled.

"What do you mean?" Cadance asked.

"The Castle of Friendship...it moved Rarity's throne next to mine the day of our date in Canterlot." Spike smiled.

Those who didn't already know about that - meaning the entire Crystal Empire along with Celestia and Luna - were stunned enough to drop their mouths open, slightly or otherwise. Luna then smiled.

"Well, that is a very good sign indeed." She said.

"Hmm...sounds like the Tree of Harmony is wiser and more sentient than even I expected." Celestia mused.

"Begging your pardon your highnesses, but..." A little colt hesitated, not sure how to form his question.

"Oh of course." Twilight facehoofed. "We never explained this before, sorry. Um, the Castle of Friendship, where Spike, Starlight, and I live, used to be the Tree of Harmony from the Everfree Forest near Ponyville. The Elements of Harmony came from that tree, and when my friends and I had to sacrifice the Elements to save the tree it later rewarded us with a rainbow power that later helped us defeat a villain named Tirek. The Tree then moved to just outside Ponyville and formed itself into a castle which we named the Castle of Friendship. You know, since I'm the Princess of Friendship."

"Oh." The colt smiled.

A little filly then approached Rarity.

"You are so lucky, winning the heart of Prince Spike the Selfless." She smiled.

"I know dear, though I didn't know it at first. I confess his baby dragon form prevented me from returning his feelings right away. My little sister Sweetie Belle had to...well, 'sing' some sense into me." Rarity then giggled.

"Yeah, actually I'm glad I've gotten more confident at singing in public." Sweetie Belle admitted. "I always did find singing fun after all."

"Oh you're a singer?" A mare smiled.

"Not professionally, but yeah, sometimes."

"Come on everypony, this occasion calls for a party!" Pinkie Pie suddenly cried.

No one could argue with her, so they decided to party.

Oh, and when Twilight, Starlight, and Spike returned home they got further proof of the Tree of Harmony's sentience, because Spike's throne had changed again. It now had the image of his medal near the top where a pony's Cutie Mark symbol would be.

No one had any idea whether this would mean that Spike would get Friendship Missions like the others or not, but truthfully Spike hoped that he would. Now that his true rank had been revealed he had decided to take his ranking more seriously and start helping others, for the ponies of Equestria were no longer just Celestia and Luna's subjects. They were now his subjects as well.