Beerus and Chronoa found Rainbow, Applejack, and Gale spending their time in the training area that had been set up on the outskirts of Ponyville, though that was where they, along with Whis, Shin, Goku, and Vegeta noticed that they were actually training the crusaders. Scootaloo was in the process of defending herself from the attacks that her friends happened to be throwing at her, though at the same time Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were definitely making it hard for her to attack them back, at least until she slipped through their defenses and hit them from behind. Beerus smiled at the sight, mostly because the girls were cheering on the crusaders and were offering them tips whenever they noticed one of them doing something wrong, indicating that, when he and the others left, they would do well adjusting to merging their old lives with their new lives. Even as that thought came to mind he was still pained by the fact that his girls were choosing Universe 13 over Universe 7, but his heart knew that they were making the right decision and both he and the others would support them no matter what.
A few moments after their arrival, however, Applejack called for the girls to stop, indicating that they must have been doing this for quite some time, though at the same time the crusaders smiled as they walked over to an area that contained some bags, which contained some towels and water bottles, meaning that someone had come prepared.
"Hey dad, what's up?" Rainbow asked, though at the same time she patted Scootlaoo's shoulder for a few seconds, indicating that the young crusader had done well in her training, while also letting her know that the real training would come soon enough.
"Oh, Discord told Sunset some news that she didn't like," Beerus replied, to which he held up a hand and stopped all three of his daughters from saying anything, as he had known that two of them would have spoken up since they knew that Discord was searching for the other displaced ponies, "Don't worry, none of the other ponies have been killed in their respective worlds or anything like that, rather it appears that Tirek has already destroyed one world... and might have left a trail for Sunset and the others to follow."
"Hopefully before he blows another planet to pieces," Applejack commented, knowing that Sunset didn't like people doing her job, especially since the planet in question was likely not scheduled for destruction in the first place, and that it would only put more on Twilight's plate when it came time for her to forge new worlds.
"Indeed," Whis agreed, because based on what they knew he understood that Tirek was a threat and needed to be eliminated, though he also admitted that the centaur was doing a decent job at hiding from Sunset and her allies, meaning that it would be some time before they found a trace of him again.
"I feel sorry for both Sunset and Discord, since they both lost friends when Nirn was destroyed," Shin said, noticing a look of shock appear on both Rainbow and Applejack's faces, indicating that they knew about the planet, before he shook his head, "You know, if Tirek is so terrible, why didn't anyone kill him when he first showed himself?"
"Because, back when he first showed up, his brother helped Celestia and Luna imprison him," Rainbow replied, to which Applejack nodded her head, showing Beerus and the others that what Rainbow was saying was correct, even if it was just a simple explanation, "I think that they intended for Tirek to stay in Tartarus for the rest of his days, but then some time ago the guardian of Tartarus, a three headed dog named Cerberus, left his post and Tirek escaped, where he carefully kept himself hidden until he made his move. We were only able to beat him by harnessing the power of the mystery box that the Tree of Harmony gave us, which we unlocked with six special keys that we had to earn.. it was an interesting experience to say the least."
"Tree of Harmony?" Chronoa asked, as that sounded like something important and wondered where it could have been hidden, since it appeared that it had taken the girls and their friends some time before they had figured out where the powerful tree was located.
"Yeah, it's located beneath the Castle of the Two Sisters," Applejack said, though at the same time she beckoned towards the Everfree Forest for a moment, to which Beerus and the others looked over at the forest, "Why don't Rainbow and I show you the way to the castle and the Tree of Harmony, while giving Scootaloo and the others some time to relax before we start their elemental training."
"Can we go with you?" Scootaloo asked, as she, Sweetie Bell, and Apple Bloom had heard the tale about the Tree of Harmony and how it's power had helped Rainbow, Applejack, and the rest of their friends defeat Tirek before he was able to put his terrible plan into action, and now seemed like the best time to do so.
"Scootaloo, you and the girls should stay here," Rainbow said, though at the same time she knelt in front of the young crusader and looked right into her eyes, letting her know that this was for the three of them, "I know that there's nothing in the Everfree Forest that Applejack and I need to worry about, especially since Applejack's got her Avatar of Creation that the animals bow to, but your training this afternoon is going to be tougher than what you just finished doing and you'll need all the rest you can get before that happens. Don't worry about it though, we'll take the three of you to see the Castle of the Two Sisters and the Tree of Harmony in the future, and that's a promise I intend on keeping."
Scootaloo smiled as she hugged Rainbow for a moment, showing that she was happy to hear that they would be seeing the castle at some point in the future, before she headed over to her friends and started making plans with them, so that way they could be ready for when they headed into the Everfree Forest. Rainbow smiled as she stood straight once more, as it was nice to see the crusaders having fun again, before she turned towards Goku and Vegeta, who glanced over at her in return. Before she said anything, however, she waited for the crusaders to head back in the direction of Ponyville, where they could relax and unwind before they started their real training, though the instant they were a good distance away from the group she spoke up.
"Goku, Vegeta, I don't suppose you two would be willing to make sure they get back to Ponyville?" Rainbow asked, to which she quickly gestured to the crusaders, who were more interested in the promised visit than anything that they might overhear if they slowed their pace, "They have a tendency to do things they aren't supposed to do and I think they would benefit from some time spent resting for their training."
"Shouldn't be too hard to keep an eye on them for a while," Vegeta replied, though at the same time he already knew what was going on, since Rainbow, Applejack, and Gale likely knew that Beerus and the others had mentioned a schedule for visits and wanted to get the most alone time as possible before they had to depart, to which he beckoned for his friend to follow him, "Come along Kakarot, we have some girls that need to go home and relax... and maybe we should find Pinkie as well, since she's bound to know a way to keep them inside Ponyville."
The look on Goku's face told Rainbow, Applejack, and Gale that he was thinking about having a quick match with Pinkie, just to see how well he stacked up against her, though at the same time the girls and Beerus' group had to resist the urge to laugh as the two Saiyans followed the crusaders back towards Ponyville. Once that was done Rainbow and Applejack turned towards the Everfree Forest and beckoned for the others to follow them, to which they headed towards the ancient forest and started walking along the path that was in front of them. As they walked through the Everfree Forest the group heard the sounds of the animals all around them, along with some timberwolves, though to quiet the more aggressive noises Applejack merely shifted into her Avatar form and used it's power to sooth the animals all around them, allowing the group to have a decent journey as they headed towards the location of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Shin would have been surprised by such a thing, but since this was Rainbow and Applejack that he was thinking about, however, he knew that Applejack would be able to do such a thing with ease... making their journey much safer than it would have been otherwise.
Still, despite Applejack's powers soothing the animals around them, it took them some time to reach the Castle of the Two Sisters, which Beerus and the others found to be in a ruined state since they appeared to be falling apart, to which Chronoa asked why that was. She could have easily guessed or used her powers to find out, but sometimes it was better to ask questions than trying to figure out the answers without taking the easy way out of a situation, as that was also something that neither of the girls seemed to do. Applejack explained that the castle had once been the home of both Celestia and Luna, back when they had been ruling over Equestria a little over a thousand years ago, which was why there were two different colored banners everywhere. Of course that was before the eventual creation of Nightmare Moon, a tale that the girls would tell their parents about later, but at the same time the girls lead the way through the parts of the castle that they know they had been in before, thanks to their old memories.
As they walked through the castle the group came to a few rooms that caught their interest, though one of those rooms was the library where Rainbow and Applejack remembered Twilight mentioning a hidden room, one that only she knew how to open because of what was behind it. Chronoa and Shin were instantly taken by the small trove of knowledge, which was smaller than what was inside Twilight's castle at the moment, but at the same time Chronoa noticed that there were spots on the various shelves where a book used to be resting. She figured that Twilight must have either claimed the tome for future studies, after preserving it anyway, or it had been taken off the shelf and left on the table that was behind her, though from what she could tell there were history books, biographies, and a few tomes that contained magic spells inside them. The library had a book for everything imaginable, at the time it was created and being maintained anyway, but the knowledge that was here told her that Twilight was slowly digesting everything when she had spare time and would continue to do so until she knew everything that the library contained.
From there they continued around and explored the rest of the ancient castle, letting Beerus and the others see everything that there was to see, before they came to a room that contained a statue that almost looked like a strange contraption from far away, though at the same time they noticed that Rainbow and Applejack were staring at it with a look of remembrance in their eyes.
"This is where we found them all those years ago," Applejack said, envisioning the five stone orbs that had rested on the five outstretched sections of the statue, something that Rainbow was seeing as well, before watching as an echo of Twilight, as a unicorn, lifted the stone from their resting place and put them on the ground, "this is where Celestia hid the fabled Elements of Harmony, so that way when Nightmare Moon returned someone could save her sister from what had happened to her... and that someone happened to be six ponies, who were not yet aware of their destinies; Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and myself. Together the six of us, each representing one of the six Elements of Harmony, recreated the legendary artifacts and helped save Princess Luna... while also making all of us realize that we were friends in the process."
"Who would have thought that such a thing would have led to this moment?" Rainbow commented, though at the same time she chuckled as she remembered everything that happened after they first used the Elements of Harmony, and who returned home sometime later, "We went on to do a number of great things and helped take down some impressive villains of our own, even making one see the light of friendship, but even then Twilight managed to convince one person to change her ways and turn towards the light once more. If not for that happening Sunset wouldn't have become an alicorn, Discord wouldn't have sent her off world, and none of us would have been displaced by the mirror... we really do owe everything to the Elements of Harmony, don't we?"
"Regardless of how it happened, I am still thankful for all of this happening," Beerus said, causing the girls to turn towards him as they left their memories behind, though they were surprised that he was speaking, since he had been quiet since they arrived at the castle, "Rainbow, Applejack, before the two of you came along and entered my life I was experiencing a boring existence where all I did was sleep, eat, destroy whoever annoyed me or blew up some planets when I was angry, and then fall back asleep for an undetermined number of years until it was time to rinse and repeat. The only excitement I ever got was fighting someone powerful, enough to make me unleash more of my power than I usually did, and then I'd blow up the planet when I realized my opponent was a disappointment, leaving me to stuff my face and sleep until Whis found a new contender. I even treated those around me like trash, deeming them unworthy of my time, and caused my fellow gods to tolerate my existence since there had to be a God of Destruction and there weren't any replacements available.
Then one day you two crashed on my planet, remembering nothing about who you were and locked into a new body that you eventually grew used to, and at first I thought that fate was laughing at me, trying to torment me or something, but then you two called me 'dad' for the first time. I felt something stir inside me, something that I never even bothered to think about, and after a few days I was warming up to the idea of being a father, even though I had to undergo a massive personality shift in order to become the person I am today. I let go of the old feelings that I had towards the other gods, seeing them as mere pests, and I started anew, surprising many of them in the process since they figured that I would never be able to change, and yet I proved them wrong. In the three years you spent with me I learned so much and I changed into a more reasonable god, where I found out that there was actually someone that loved me and that I loved her back... and then, when we were watching you, I saw how you lived your lives and continued to change myself, to prove that the new me was nothing like who I used to be.
Rainbow, Applejack, I am thankful to whatever powers brought you two, and eventually Gale, into my life, because I am proud of everything you have done since you first woke up on my planet... and I will continue to be proud of all of you, regardless of whether or not I'm there to see it happen."
"It's also thanks to you two that Universe 7 is much safer these days," Shin added, causing the girls to look over in his direction for a moment, where he could tell that they were surprised by the fact that Beerus was so open about his past, which was another thing they had changed about the God of Destruction, "you two helped defeat Frieza back on Namek by fueling Goku and Vegeta's Super Saiyan transformation, you helped the Z Warriors take out Cell, you pushed yourselves to new heights when Super Buu was created and even distracted Kid Buu so Goku and the others could use the Spirit Bomb to erase him. Even after all that you helped Goku and Vegeta take their first steps into the world of the gods, reached the point where the two of you developed your own Avatar forms, and helped the newly revived Frieza take his first steps down the path of justice. Then you even helped two future warriors by risking everything when you fused with the Avatars of Creation and Destruction going, giving them the time to pull the spiritual energy together to kill Zamasu, even if we had to have Future Zeno-sama finish him off.
Even the Frieza Force, an army that many considered to be evil, has turned over a new leaf and is helping people out, liberating them from tyrants like the Saiyans used to do... and Frieza, the worst tyrant in the history of our universe, is spearheading the charge as an emperor who sides with the heroes instead of the villains."
"Even I have changed since you entered our lives," Chronoa said, though at the same time she smiled at Rainbow and Applejack, who were shocked by the changes that they had caused, as they were being made aware of the other effects their presence in Universe 7 has caused, "I know you don't remember me cooking much when you were younger, and I didn't really do much of it when you were around, but the truth is that when you two arrived I was a horrible cook that would never admit that she was bad at cooking. You want to know one of the first things I did after I helped tuck the two of you into bed that very first night?"
"What did you do?" Rainbow asked, as she was interested in what she and Applejack could have changed in their mother, especially after all of the things that they changed in both their father and the rest of the universe.
"I made some pudding and tasted it," Chronoa replied, though at the same time she chuckled, as she remembered what had happened after she had attempted that, as it had set the tone for one of her future decisions, "I gave myself a stomach ache that would have put even Beerus out of commission for a few hours, though when I thought about serving that to either of you I came to the decision to improve my skill in cooking. I improved over the three years that you first spent with us, though even after we put you in that enchanted sleep I continued to perfect my skills until I reached the point you're more familiar with now. Another thing you two changed was that I became more confident over time and eventually asked the question that had been bugging me for some time, which opened a connection, a true connection, between Beerus and I... and that eventually allowed me let go of the opinions I had on my alternate form, because now I'm growing to love something that I once was annoyed by."
"And what about you, Whis?" Applejack inquired, as everyone else had said something about what they had changed about them, or in Shin's case the entire universe, and knew that their father's teacher and friend had to have some sort of changes, even if they were minor.
"I am much happier than I have been in years," Whis replied, though as he spoke he noticed that his scepter was blinking, but instead of answering it, since it wasn't the Grand Priest, he simply banished the scepter and turned his attention to the group, "Beerus is content with his life for the first time since I became his teacher, the other gods have changed to adapt to his new personality and have become more cooperative in case he asks for anything, and the universe has benefited from the emperor of evil becoming an emperor of justice. I'm proud of what you two were able to do over the years, even attempting that risky fusion against Zamasu, and I know that you'll do Universe 13 proud once you start helping Sunset and Twilight with their duties."
"Awesome!" Rainbow said, as she was happy that their father and the others were proud of them and were happy with the changes they had brought to Universe 7, though at the same time she remembered the scepter for a moment and wondered what was going on this time around, "So, did the Grand Priest want something? Or was it one of the Angels for the other eleven universes?"
Whis opened his mouth to say something, though before he could speak a ripple passed through the air around them and caused all of them to look up into the air, where they spotted Goku and Vegeta flying around the area above the area of the Everfree Forest that the Castle of the Two Sisters was resting in. That was before they spotted Pinkie following after them, along with the straight haired Pinkie, who they had learned was called Pinkamena, flying beside her, where the two pairs of combatants continued fighting each other above the forest. From what Celestia had told them, back when they asked about why there were two Pinkies at times, the group knew that the fluffy haired Pinkie was using Light Eco while the straight haired Pinkie was using Dark Eco, though this was an ability Pinkie possessed and used when she fought. It also explained why they had seen the two Pinkie's sparring with Sunset earlier, but at the same time the group decided to remain silent as they watched Goku and Vegeta face off against Pinkie and Pinkamena.
They all knew that this fight had likely been because Goku wanted to see how strong Pinkie was, somehow resulting in Vegeta and the other Pinkie getting involved, though at least they were considerate enough to fight in an area that no one was supposed to be in. That, of course, made them wonder where the crusaders were, since the two Saiyans were supposed to be watching them at the moment, but at the same time they considered the fact that the trio might be nearby, watching the fight with their front row seats. It appeared that Goku and Vegeta were using their basic forms instead of their Super Saiyan Blue forms, but at the same time the group saw that they were actually enjoying a small fight between them and the two Pinkies, which caused the top of the Everfree Forest to shake every now and then as their powers collided... though Beerus, Chronoa, Rainbow, Applejack, and Gale gathered together and stared at the sky, where some of them were silently rooting for Goku and Vegeta while the others were rooting for the two Pinkies.
Whis smiled as he looked at the scene in front of them, as Beerus and his family were enjoying themselves like an actual family and weren't worrying about the universes or what was happening with Tirek at the moment, though he knew that, despite the pain the separation would cause them, they would always remain a family and overcome everything that the multiverse threw at them... and he would happily watch them do so, along with all the friends they had made in both Universe 7 and Universe 13. He knew something was coming, he could practically feel it, but he also knew that they would overcome whatever he was feeling, and the two universes would prove that they weren't as weak as the other universes thought they were... but he kept his mouth shut and happily watched the family, as he couldn't bring himself to interrupt them at the moment, not when they were enjoying themselves.
He and Shin would take Beerus and Chronoa back to Universe 7 soon enough... but right now it was time for them to act like a family and enjoy themselves, to which he joined them and watched the fight as well, allowing time to pass at the same time, knowing that it would be the last time this happened for awhile... but Whis knew that Beerus and the girls would be reunited sometime after a short break, and looked forward to seeing that happen in the future.