Sakura and Pearl Tide, with Kimono's permission, had broken from the rest of the group, who were returning to the orchard to refill the empty carts.
"Why can't we go with 'em?" Apple Bloom asked.
"You want to go with them!?" Twinkle Twirl exclaimed. "Why!?"
"There's something about Pearl," Kimono answered, "No pony ever does anything without a reason. Something fueled Gem's anger. Pearl probably knows what it is. Gem is one of the closest ponies to Pearl. It's painful for anyone to reveal secrets to someone close to them." She paused, and added, "I know Sakura. She's always there to lend a hoof to a friend in need, even if they're not a friend. She's an apprenticed zen master. Pearl Tide is emotionally troubled. Sakura's youth will help ease Pearl."
"But why should we care?" Scootaloo asked.
Kimono pondered for a good few minutes before saying, "That's a good question. Why do we care about anything? Why do you care about your friends? Or your family? Or your cutie mark, for that matter?
"For all I know, we could simply live like western dragons, only caring about what we have and nothing else. Yet we don't. Why?
"In my eyes, we are all bound together by the elements of harmony. All of us, from dragons to timberwolves. We can either disregard the bond, or we can play our part in maintaining it. And Sakura and I are playing our part by helping Pearl. It's not just the duty of a zen master; it's what I personally believe. And that, Scootaloo, is why I care. At least that's what I think. There's an arbitrary concept to everything. You may think that no one should care. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You just need to find yours."
And with that, Kimono walked up to a coconut tree. She began to tap on its trunk.
"Why are you doing that?" Sweetie Bell asked.
"I'm capable of breaking through 5-inch slate. I don't want to hit the tree too hard." After a few more taps, Kimono looked satisfied. She quickly reared up, spun slightly, and kicked the tree. Hard. Tremors shook through the branches, but the tree remained rooted. But every single coconut fell.
"How did ya get to be so good at karate?" Apple Bloom asked, "I tried it once and failed miserably."
"Well," Kimono said, "It's a combination of natural talent and practice. My teacher saw great potential in me, so she trained me."
The ponies continued to refill the carts until Grove said that they had enough. They made their way to the Sweet Shoppe.
"Hey, guys!" Treat said, waving at them. She rushed up to help them unload.
"We're making a slew of food!" She said, "I'm glad that Minty arrived to help."
"Minty's here!?" Grove exclaimed. She was answered with a cheer from inside.
"Coconut Grove!" A pony called from inside. The group went into the kitchen and saw Sweetberry kneading at a huge mound of bread dough with a sea green pony with a mane and tail with varying shades of pink. She had three peppermints for a cutie mark.
"And hi to all of you!" She said to the other ponies, "I'm Minty! Sweetberry told me about you all." She ran from the table with the dough to give her friend a hug, but tripped on her own hooves. She nearly fell but stopped herself in the nick of time.
Grove embraced her friend, and Pinkie began to cry.
"It's touching to see old friends reunite." Her tears then stopped, "I wanna join in!" She bear hugged the two, abnormally stretched out her arm, and pulled the other ponies into the hug.
................................
"So how has Canterlot been?" Cream asked Minty as she started helping with a batch of cookies.
"Really good!" Minty replied, "I'm actually really enjoying my job at Joe's donut shop. Although Joe tends to be a bit full of himself, he's not a bad pony, considering the other jobs I've had."
"What other jobs have ya had, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, helping to prepare a set of surf-n'-turf seaweed-sweetgrass sandwiches with Rarity; AJ washed the leaves while Rarity arranged and cut the sandwiches.
"There are so many, I honestly can't think of one off the top of my head," Minty said, "But every boss I've ever had has never liked me. I have a condition of some sort that makes me clumsy, so I could never get the job done the way they wanted it done. I was always fired within the first month. But Joe's different. Maybe it's because his business is smaller, but he actually payed attention to my condition. He set me up with the jobs that I could handle the most. As I got better at them, he moved me on to more advanced jobs. And when Hearth's Warming Eve comes around, he always goes to me for advice with the limited edition flavor!"
"That's awesome!" Rainbow Dash said.
An hour later, much of the goodies were ready.
"Thank you for your help!" Sweetberry said.
"You're welcome," Grove said, "But now we ought to help out Sunny with the decorations."
"I'll see you around!" Minty said.
"Bye!" Everyone replied.