The main streets of the Crystal Empire were packed on the first morning of the Equestrian Games. It was no surprise, as every tourist and most of the residents wanted to see the opening ceremony. The rumors that Spike the Brave and Glorious was going to be part of it spurred many of the latter group to come, and made the rest of them even more excited to see it.

This included Ballista, who had avoided the crush of the crowds by taking a few shortcuts in the alleyways. While she certainly commanded more presence than a few years ago thanks to her growth spurt, she was still smaller than almost every grown-up she knew, so she figured it was safer that way. Plus, she could gallop her way there, not only potentially getting better seating for her and her friends, but also providing a bit of fun. There was still a little filly in her heart, though it was sometimes a bit embarrassing to indulge it.

She stopped at an intersection and looked down a dead end at the house with the wizard hat roof. The curtains were drawn, but that was the case since the day Sunburst moved in. It wasn't a sign that he wished to be left alone, as she had visited plenty of times to borrow and return books of the future from his personal library, and he always spoke in a polite, if awkward tone that she quickly learned was not the norm for Modern Ponish. She had asked him about it, but all he said on the matter was that he wanted his privacy.

She went up to his door and knocked. Knowing him, he'd forgotten what day the Games started (he didn't even know it was being held at the Empire until she offhoofedily mentioned it last week). The excitement of seeing them made it hard to stand still and made the wait seem longer than it probably was.

After a short eternity, the door finally opened, and Sunburst stepped out. "Good morning?" he said, rubbing a hoof over his eye in a daze before he saw her. "Ballista, why are you here so early? Aren't you usually at work or the remedial school the guards set up?"

She rolled her eyes, half wondering how he didn't know. "Today's the opening of the Equestrian Games. I came to see if you wanted to watch it, since you, you know, didn't know about it until recently."

"Oh. I don't plan on going."

Ballista stood in silence for a while, trying to decide if she was surprised or not. This was the biggest event in Equestria and associated states, but the unicorn wasn't interested in sports or any physical activities, really. She figured he kept his physique stable by accidental fasts more than anything else.

Not getting any response, he continued. "I'm trying to get as much information that I can get my hooves on about the Crystal Heart, and that involves digging through as many library books and writing anything interesting as I can. I have to return them, though, so I can't waste any time!"

"...Shouldn't you take a break from that at some point? The Games are a perfect opportunity."

"No. Compared to what life I had before, spending my days delving into magical mysteries is practically a vacation," he answered, capping it off with a grin.

Ballista gave him a judgmental look while her mind tried to make sense of what he said. Several words came to mind, but the one that seemed the most fitting was one she had recently read in one of those new-fangled novels, 'weirdo'.

She shook her head to get everything back on track. "I best be going now; I'd rather not have the best seats taken by the early morning rush. How did it go... see you later?"

Sunburst nodded, confirming her phrase to be correct. "And I'll see you later as well." As Ballista quickly left, he shouted, "Have fun!"

She galloped to the stadium, putting the matter of the Scholar behind her, both physically and mentally. While she knew the alleys better than the fronts of her forelegs, moving down them so fast took some concentration. Not enough to keep her mind from wandering, though.

If she got really, really lucky, she might even find Spike the Brave and Glorious. Assuming the rumors were true, that is, and he didn't head to the stadium early to prepare for the opening ceremony. And also that he wasn't being swarmed by other crystal ponies, since he was a big deal.

It would be amazing if she got his autograph. It would be even better if she convinced him to, as future ponies put it, 'hang out' with her. He ought to have a cool personality, all the heroes in the stories do. Even if she-

Ballista narrowly dodged a lamppost she was about to run into. She blushed and looked around, thankfully not seeing anypony around that could've noticed that.

Sunburst idly marveled at how quickly Ballista's Modern Ponish had developed (even if she was a little iffy on some phrases) before returning to his studies.

The Crystal Heart was fascinating, as it was already more than a thousand years old before Sombra's time displacement curse kicked in. While it technically didn't age since then, it still had the earliest creation time of any surviving pony artefacts. It was so long ago that the original documents on it have long since vanished, and any information about it was scattered throughout many old tomes. It would take a massive research effort to compile all the known information and identify where future studies on it lay. And he was enjoying it immensely.

He was so enthralled by it that he had forgotten many things in the process: eating, sleeping, and the occasional shopping trip, though the latter wasn't exactly unusual. More vexing was that he couldn't quite recall why he embarked on his studies of the Heart in the first place. It probably wasn't all that important, since he should remember if he needed to.

Now, back to his studies in earnest. There was ancient knowledge to be had.

Author's Note

Just a little something to tie together the Sunburst in Act 3 and the one in Thorax's debut episode and the upcoming epilogue. And also worldbuilding, one of my favorites. I really can't help myself with that. After all, if Luna's banishment and Sombra's first defeat were anywhere close together temporally, then the crystal ponies needed to have learned modern speech just as Luna did.