//------------------------------// // 10. Friendship is Magic? // Story: Ponies & Keyblades II: Return to Equestria // by GoneGuy //------------------------------// Ancient Library Castle of the Two Sisters, Everfree Forest Equestria "I think I've found something!" Twilight exclaimed, "I've been reading our journal, and there's something interesting about the sections Discord bookmarked. Applejack, do you remember when you had to tell everypony that the tonic Granny Smith bought from the Flim-Flam brothers didn't work?" "How could Ah ever forget? It was one of the hardest things Ah've ever had to do." Applejack replied, remembering what had happaned that day. "I hate to dissapoint everypony, but there's no way Granny coulda made that dive, because this tonic is a fake!" "But you gave it your stamp of approval! Are you saying you lied?" Applejack removed her hat and sighed. "Yes. Ah am. I didn't mean to, but everypony seemed so much happier, I couldn't bring myself to tell ya'll when ah found out the tonic wasn't real. Ah know it was wrong, and ah just hope with time, I can win back everypony's trust." Flim and Flam ran away from the crowd, as Silver Shill made his way over to Applejack. "Watching Applejack save Granny and then admit to lying,well, that made me realize I was making ponies believe in a thing that just wasn't so!" "Believin' in something can help ya do amazin' things! But if that belief is based on a lie, eventually it's gonna lead to real trouble." "Thank you, Applejack! I got this through dishonest means. That was a mistake I won't be making again. I'd like you to have it as a reminder of how you helped me finally see the truth." he said as he placed a bit in her hoof. "Well.... Ah don't know..." "Oh, don't worry. I'll track down the pony I sold that worthless tonic to and give him another bit to replace this one. Honest." "But in that moment, Ah knew Ah had to be honest, Ah just knew it. But what does this hafta do with openin' the chest?" "I found that each of you has had to face a situation where living up to the element of harmony you represent wasn't easy. Fluttershy, for you it was when you knew the way to show kindness to the Breezies was to force them to leave your home. "Oh, the looks on their poor little faces...." "Goodbye Breezies, I must go now." Seabreeze extended a flower towards Fluttershy as she began to leave. "To remember us by." As he stuck it in her mane, a tear shed down her cheek. "Thank you! I'll miss you! I'll miss all of you!" Seabreeze and Fluttershy hugged, and she returned through the exit with her friends. "But I knew that no matter how difficult it was, pushing them away was the kindest thing I could do." Twilight smiled, and continued. "Rarity, even after Suri took advantage of your generosity at Fashion Week in Manehattan, you didn't let it cause you to abandon your generous spirit." The door to the theater opened, and in Suri's assistant, Coco Pommel, walked in. "Mind if I join you?" "Sure. Come on down." Coco Pommel opened up her satchel and retrieved a small, glimmering object and extended it to Rarity. "This...this is the first place trophy for Fashion Week. W-with my name on it! But I thought I lost!" "You didn't. You won! Suri was hoping that if you didn't claim your prize, the judges would consider it a forfeit and first place would go to her. So, she lied to make you and your friends go away, and, well... I lied too. I've worked for Suri so long that I really started to believe it really is everypony for herself in this town. Until I saw how generous you were with your friends, and how generous they were with you. It made me start believing that there was something better for me out there. So... I...I quit. I brought you something to say thank you." Coco pulled a small wrapped box from her satchel and gave it to Rarity. "Hmmmm....I suppose you'll need a job now that you're no longer working for Suri. How would you like to work for my friend making all of the costumes for his next show?" "I simply couldn't have lived with myself if I didn't do something special for the friends who have always been so generous to me." Twilight's grin grew larger as she continued. "Rainbow Dash, you had the chance to fly with the Wonderbolts at the Equestria Games, but instead you chose to compete with your friends! "I know now who I should've been loyal to." "Good choice. Always stick with the winners." "Ponyville." Rainbow said, "because it's not just where I live, but it's where my friends are. The ponies who really care about me, whether I can help them win a race or not." "Are you sure that's the right decision?" Spitfire replied. "You lied to me about Soarin's wing just to get a better flyer! You may be a winning team, but you're still not the team I wanna be a part of." "Huh..." Spitfire began, "Rainbow Dash, you are something. Saw it at the Academy, seeing it again here. We could learn a lot from a competitor like you." "Think we already have." Fleetfoot concluded. "Sure, but being loyal to my friends was way cooler than flying with the Wonderbolts." As per the pattern, Twilight's smile grew again. "My turn, My turn!" "Pinkie Pie, you realized that seeing your friend laugh was more important than proving you were a better party planner than Cheese Sandwich." "Enough with the fuzzy stuff, you two. It's my birthaversary, and you've gotta throw me a bash!" "Yeah!" Pinkie shouted. "Let's go!" Cheese said. Later, after the party, Pinkie was writing in her journal, as Cheese approached, dropping a small wooden box in front of her. "Just a little memento of my visit." Pinkie opened the box, and saw Boneless staring right back at her. "You're giving me your special rubber chicken friend?" "Oh, he's not the only one. Well, Boneless Two, another job well done. But it's time we mosey along. Another town....another party..." he said as he walked into the sunset. "I never did get that pony's name." "Best party I've ever had!" Rainbow proclaimed. "It's clear we've all had our moments to shine, Twilight, darling, but I'm with Applejack. What does this have to do with the opening of the chest?" "Yeah, I'm drawing a blank too, Twi." Sora agreed. "All of you had touch choices to make. But when you made the right one and embraced your element, it helped somepony else make the right choice too. Each of you received something from the pony who's life you helped change. I know it sounds crazy, but maybe there's something special about those objects that could help lead us to the location of the keys." "Well, there are seven locks....one key for each of us, right?" Sora added. "Right. The chest is connected to the Tree of Harmony, the Tree of Harmony is connected to the Elements, and the Elements are connected to all of us! There must be a connection! I hate to admit it, but maybe Discord was trying to be a good friend after all!" Near the Tree of Harmony Everfree Forest, Equestria "I don't see anything on them that might lead us to the location of where the keys might be. They're just ordinary, everyday objects." "C'mon Boneless1 Give us that key!" Pinkie cried as she shook the rubber chicken, accidentally tossing it towards the chest. As Boneless reached the chest, a mystical energy surrounded it and transformed it into a key with a symbol of three balloons on it. When Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash moved their items closer, the same happened to each of theirs, transforming them into keys as well. Sora moved closer to the chest and felt an energy shoot through his body and into his heart. "The Keyblade must be my key." "There's still one key missing. The key representing the Element of Magic. My element." "Oh," Fluttershy began, "but if we've gotten our keys you will have to, Twilight." "Think darling, when have you completed a difficult magical task, and in doing so encouraged another pony to do the same?" "That's just it, I haven't. If I had, I'd have written about it in the journal." "Don't worry, Twilight," Spike said, "I'm sure you'll get your key eventually." With that, Spike burped and a magical green flame bellowed from his mouth, sending a scroll tumbling through the air to the ground. Twilight picked the scroll up with her magic, and began to read. "What's it say, sugarcube?" "That Sora and I are needed in Canterlot at once!"