It was a normal day in Ponyville at first, but Twilight and her friends; plus the special some ponies of those that had them minus Fancy Pants though; were boarding a train to the Crystal Empire.

"We're just about ready to go. Spike, are you sure you and Smolder will be fine watching over every pet while we're away?" Twilight asked.

"It'll be fine. Though I have a feeling the CMC and White Flame's Gang will probably show up at some point. They all are still trying to get their cutie marks after all." Spike said. "And if that happens, I guess we'll just have some extra hooves to help." He added.

Suddenly Discord showed up. "Excuse me, but did some pony just mention White Flame? I guess it'd best if I stayed here to keep an eye out." Discord said. "I mean, after all, you are all heading to--" He was suddenly cut off by Pinkie Pie who hit him with a sign that had the word "Spoilers" inside of a red circle with a red line going through the word diagnally.

"...Sometimes, Pinkie Pie's antics both confuse AND amuse me." Twilight said.

"Is that supposed to be some sign meant to be anti-spoiler?" Flash Sentry asked.

"Yes it is. Thanks for asking~" Pinkie Pie said.

"...And suddenly I feel confident in what we're planning to do." Flash Sentry said.

Once the group arrived in the crystal empire, they were quite surprised to find Fancy Pants waiting for them there.

"Fancy Pants? What in equestria are you doing here?" Rarity asked.

"News that the Equestria games starting soon, and a location being decided drew me here. Since this place hasn't been seen for over a thousand years, I figured that I might as well have a look around the place." Fancy Pants said.

"The wonderbolts already toured the place a couple of weeks ago, but I guess a noble like yourself would become interested with such a place." Soarin said.

"You never told me that the Wonderbolts were here." Rainbow Dash noted.

"Wasn't supposed to. In fact, nopony besides Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor were supposed to know we were even here. We were on vacation, and we didn't want to risk getting mobbed by fans here." Soarin said.

"Oh trust me, you wouldn't have gotten mobbed if the Crystal Ponies knew you were here." Rainbow Dash said. The group soon found themselves in front of a giant crystal statue of Spike & Smolder both holding a replica of the Crystal Heart. "Especially since the crystal ponies have two specific dragons they would sooner mob then you guys." Rainbow Dash concluded.

"Huh. So that's what that dragon sister of yours looks like. You simply must introduce me to her at some point." Fancy Pants said. "I know all to well what Spike looks like, so the other dragon being depicted must be Smolder." He added.

"So can any pony tell me why's there a statue of the two draconic lovebirds?" Soarin asked.

"Well they were the two who delivered the Crystal Heart to Cadence." Twilight said. "So I'm guessing the Crystal Ponies revere them in that way." She added.

Fancy Pants opened his mouth to correct Twilight, then remembered something: Twilight's brother was Shining Armor. "Something the matter Fancy Pants?" Rarity asked him.

"...Just being reminded that one of your friends has a brother who's married to one of the Princesses." Fancy Pants said as most of the group went on ahead.

Soarin and Rainbow Dash didn't follow right away though. "So, about the whole, Wonderbolts being here on vacation thing in secret..." Soarin started.

"You're lucky I understand that you were worried that you'd get fan mobbed, but honestly you had nothing to worry about." Rainbow Dash said. "Just don't hide things like this from me again." She added.

"Well actually, the fan mob wasn't the only reason why I didn't tell you. I was worried that if Spitfire found out about us, she'd find a way to just shut down everything. And I mean everything." Soarin said. "And I know how much being part of a team that inspires others like the Wonderbolts is supposed to stand for means to you." He added

"Oh." Rainbow Dash said, getting it right away. "I guess in that case, I can really overlook this since you were looking out for me. Sometimes, you really just make the best gestures. Come over to my place once we convince the Equestria Games inspector that this is the place for the games; I'll give you a reward." The cyan pegasus then went to catch up with the others with Soarin close behind.

Sometime later that day, Rarity had Fancy Pants over for some tea. But what was most notable was that Fancy Pants looked like he was writing a few things. "Fancy, I don't mean to pry but...why are you writing things down?" Rarity said.

"Beats me. For some reason, I feel like I should remember this and make sure I remember this right. My sister always jokes about how I will be writing things down when I should remember them correctly. But I always tell her that I've always felt like it's best to have two sources of information: The stuff you memorize, and the stuff you write." Fancy Pants said.

"That's actually not silly at all. I suppose the more information you have to yourself, the better." Rarity said.

Little did either unicorn realize, Fancy Pants's writing of information would play a part in a few days time...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Note

I know I basically reused the same intro for both of these chapters, but I figured that since these episodes took place at the same time in cannon, the best way to do that with this two parter would be to have the same exact introduction happen and then the episode plays out from there.