Tails and Cosmo’s time in Equestria was going more peacefully than they could ask for, spending their time in Ponyville happily while trying to figure out a way home at the same time. After spending an afternoon at an interesting little picnic, the couple and Twilight Sparkle returned to trying to figure out a way to accomplish an interdimensional passage, all while trying to see what a certain zebra had said a few days prior. The three worked late into the night before Spike insisted they get some rest, and since the couple made an obligation to have breakfast at Fluttershy’s cottage the next morning, they called it a night.
The next morning came quicker than they all expected, waking up and going about their business. Having her own responsibilities to catch up on, the alicorn princess stayed behind, giving them instructions on how to find the yellow pegasus’s cottage-
“What you’ll want to do is go south towards the same direction as Rarity’s home. When you reach Sugarcube Corner, walk around it and make a left, going towards the town hall. Make a right there and cross over the bridge near the water reservoir and just keep following that path. It will take you straight to Fluttershy’s home, and hopefully you’ll just see her…”
The couple followed the instructions to the letter, walking their way to their friend’s home with ease. Having their strength and energy back compared to first arriving, it was very nice, and at moments romantic, to enjoy a nice walk together without having any preventions to stop them. They approached the quaint little home, standing in a beautiful little sanctuary of nature, and Tails knocked on the door. The top half of it opened to reveal the pony that was expecting their company.
“Oh, there you are, Tails and Cosmo. Good morning,” she greeted joyously, and opened her entire door to allow them to enter.
“Good morning, Fluttershy,” greeted Cosmo as the two walked inside.
“I hope it’s alright with you that I have tea and breakfast prepared outside,” Fluttershy said. “Unless you’d rather be inside, that’s alright. I knew I should’ve asked you yesterday, but my animal friends helped me so much that they prepared it all out back, and I just couldn’t let them down.”
“Breakfast outside sounds just fine to us,” Tails said to her. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
The yellow mare than said “Oh, well then that’s wonderful follow me.”
She led them through her home into the back yard, where a large group of more ‘wild’ animals were there enjoying their own morning. Rabbits, beavers, ducks, squirrels, even a full-grown bear, many kinds of animals were there, all to show kindness to the mare who has shown them more than anypony else. “Please, make yourselves comfortable,” she told them, pointing her hoof towards the table in front of them.
It looked like a wonderful morning spread of delicacies. A teapot holding a fresh brew sat in the center, surrounded by a bowl of freshly picked berries and small plates with biscuits and toast, with a butter tray and knife for spread. Each plate had eggs cooked sunny-side-up, made by some of the freshest eggs from the pony’s chickens. It looked like a wonderful spread, and all their growling stomachs led them to take their seats around the table.
Fluttershy was reaching for the teapot when Cosmo’s reach beat her to it. “Please, allow me,” the Seedrian said, and filled her friend’s cup first, then Tails’s, and lastly her own. The drink’s aroma lifted into the air for everyone to enjoy, and the host decided to raise her cup.
“Here’s to a good day with great friends,” the pony stated, and the couple raised their glasses to clang all three together lightly while the animals expressed their happiness vocally.
They then took the first sips of the tea, and it was a very delicious brew. “This tastes great,” Tails complimented. “Is this your own recipe?”
“Not exactly,” Fluttershy answered. “It’s a little recipe I made up of natural ingredients that my critter friends brought for me to use. I only make it when they ask for it or when I have special company.”
“Well it’s a wonderful brew, Fluttershy. I’d love to learn the recipe, and I’d be more than happy to share with you some that my clan has made for generations,” Cosmo told her.
“You don’t need to do that, but that would sound wonderful,” the mare replied. “As for now, if it’s alright with you, let’s enjoy our breakfast.”
The couple couldn’t argue at her kindness, so they passed around the berries, toast and biscuits, and began to enjoy their morning meal. While they ate, they enjoyed talks about topics of each of their worlds, but mainly focused on Fluttershy’s responsibilities when it came to the woodland creatures. She didn’t explain too much about it, just saying that she’s always there to help them as much as she can when help is needed. Intrigued to know more, they asked about what kinds of examples there were, to which she did so to a certain degree, but only general topics such as feeding or healing them. She did think of one little story that was worth a mention.
“I think I mentioned this to you already, Tails, but before when my friends and I found you, I was actually helping a couple baby birds learn to fly off the ground after they fell out of their nest,” the mare said.
“Really?” asked an intrigued Tails. “Did they manage to learn to fly, or did you have to help them up?”
Two little birds then flew over to the table, circling around his head once, repeating the motion around Cosmo, and then each one hovered on a side of Fluttershy’s head. They chirped a couple delightful chirps, and showed the pony some caring affection.
“They managed to learn to fly after all. I think they’ve really been improving, haven’t you?” said the pony, directing her question towards the two birds.
It wasn’t hard to put two and two together, and Cosmo said “Are those the same two birds you helped?” Fluttershy just nodded with a delightful grin, and one of the birds flew back over to Cosmo, who held a finger out for them to stand on.
“They’re just adorable little things. You must be so proud of them,” she stated.
“I am, very much,” the mare stated. The bird closest to her rubbed its head against her, the little animal’s way of showing affection while still flapping its wings. “I’m proud of all the animals when they do something important. It’s wonderful to watch, and important to them.”
The two birds flew around happily a couple times before flying up to rest in one of the many birdhouses hanging in the trees. The three returned to their eating, barely leaving a thing left on their plates, saving a few berries for a few animals to share. While Fluttershy began to refill each of the teacups towards the meal’s end, she told them “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I’m sorry about Discord yesterday. I should’ve known he would’ve tried to do something after I told him you were staying with Twilight.”
“It wasn’t an issue for us. In fact, he reminds us of a certain ‘friend’ of ours back home,” Tails said, referring to a certain ‘eggs-cellent’ genius he’s known for many years. “You must be very close if he decided to just come out of nowhere after something you wrote to him.”
“Well, that’s because we are. To him, I’m his closest friend, and we have a wonderful friendship we share. We write letters to each other all the time, and I wrote about you two the day after the party we had when you two reunited,” Fluttershy said.
Recalling the slideshow the draconequus showed yesterday, Cosmo said “You were the first one to ever say you were friends, is that correct? We can understand how he would show interest in things that happen with you, just like what any friend would do.”
“Yes, I was the first,” the pony replied. “I gave him a chance nopony else would, and in turn, we get along with each other very well. I know he can be, well, eccentric, a lot of times, but it’s just who he is. He’s stopped by to visit me every so often in between letters, and it’s been, unique, to say the least.”
“Unique as if pulling tricks like he did yesterday?” Tails asked.
“Sometimes, but very mildly so that he doesn’t cause as much chaos and distress as he used to,” said the pegasus.
“Well if you’d like to write this to him the next time you make a letter, tell him he is, as you said, unique, but if he shows you nothing but respect, he’s someone we’d like to respect, too,” Cosmo told her.
The way the two were talking and asking about Discord was very pleasing to Fluttershy, having not hearing anything of the sort from her best friends. Where she understood why the other ponies were more closed-minded compared to her newest friends, hearing approval for her one friend’s behavior and individuality was very enjoyable.
“Thank you, Cosmo. I will make sure to tell him that,” she told her friend with a smile, and then took another drink of her tea.
“And thank you for this great meal. It was delicious,” Tails told her, taking the last bite of eggs from his plate. He then recalled something one of the other ponies mentioned when the group dispersed after the picnic. “Rarity said you two had an appointment today, didn’t she?”
“That’s right,” the pony replied, “but that’s not for another few hours, so I have free time before then. My critter friends were all taken care of this morning and didn’t need anything more, isn’t that right?” All of the critters nodded, except for a little rabbit named Angel, who was tapping his foot for a dessert-for-brunch treatment.
“Looks like somebody’s still hungry,” Cosmo observed, and picked a few leftover berries to give to the rabbit. She got up and presented the berries to him, saying “Here you go, little one.”
Angel responded by rudely kicking the berries like little soccer balls straight to other animals, a few of which who caught the incoming berries with their mouths and ate joyously.
“Angel, that was very rude,” Fluttershy said to her pet, scolding him with a particular look from her eyes. “No snack for you this morning. Go inside and I’ll get you your carrots before I go to the spa later.” The look she gave him just caused the little rabbit to hop his way towards and into the house without a sound.
“Impressive,” Tails said. “You really have a great balance of care and discipline for the animals.”
“Oh, no, it was nothing. I just had to know what’s best for Angel so he doesn’t act out in bad manners,” said the mare. She decided to take the conversation in a different direction and asked “Enough about what I have to deal with, what about you two and your work with Twilight?”
“There isn’t much to say about that,” Cosmo replied, her mood sounding more down than how she was prior to the question. “We’ve been doing everything we could, but so far we’re not that much closer to finding a way back.”
Feeling just guilty for what she said, Fluttershy responded with “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you about that. I knew you were still having trouble, I just wanted to know if there was any good news you had. I really need to watch what I say.”
“It’s fine, Fluttershy. It’s just how it is right now. I’m sure we’ll find our way back home,” said the fox, but even as confident as he kept himself to be, how it would happen still eluded him, his love, and their alicorn friend.
She asked if there was anything new they had learned about that could be helpful, trying to bring up more positive thoughts about the situation, to which the couple did start to explain about. They stopped when they offered to help their friend clean up from breakfast, who in turn offered to make one more round of tea to share inside before both parties had to separate for the time being. Even if there were some particular moments that could’ve been handled better on the pony’s part, in her mind at least, she still loved the time spent with the couple, getting to know them even more, and about the beautiful things other worlds could offer her to experience, such as lovely sights, and singing…
/)∞(\
Over in Sweet Apple Acres, business went on as usual as Big Macintosh worked around the farm and Applejack was spending the day at market selling apples. For the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it was perfect so that they wouldn’t catch anypony’s attention as they snuck extra food and drinks to their clubhouse for a certain pegasus pony that was staying there for a little while.
Snowstar, the blind filly who ran away from home, was allowed to stay there, but only for so long until she had gained some confidence and the trio would take her to one of the older ponies to discuss the matter further. Until that time would come, each filly would take turns during the day to stay with her, sometimes in twos or all at once. It was early in the afternoon when Apple Bloom, wearing a saddle bag, and Sweetie Belle came back to see Scootaloo and Snowstar hanging out and sharing a small laugh.
“Hey, you two,” greeted Apple Bloom. “What are you two laughin’ about?”
Noticing their arriving, Scootaloo replied “Oh, hey guys. I was just telling Snowstar about our talent show fiasco.” The blind filly tried to contain her laughter, but a chuckle escaped, attempted to be covered by her hoof.
“Oh yeah,” said Sweetie Belle, recalling the past catastrophe. She and Apple Bloom shared a little laugh before redirecting the conversation. “How are you doing today, Snowstar?”
“I’m doing alright, thank you,” the filly replied softly.
“We brought some more stuff for you to eat tonight,” said the yellow pony, and dropped her bag to unload its contents to share. “I’ve got apple juice, an apple fritter, and a whole bunch of apples.”
“Thank you very much,” thanked Snowstar, but her words and tone only masked her thoughts. As grateful as she’s been to the trio’s hospitality towards her, most of the food she was given were apple-based items. Since they were giving her so much kindness, she didn’t be rude and reject their kindness.
“Did you manage to sleep well last night?” asked the little unicorn, and was answered with a nod, but an explanation that strange howlings woke her up. “Those were probably some timberwolves. They’re dangerous, but they usually stay in the Everfree Forest, so I wouldn’t worry too much about them.”
“Besides,” Scootaloo added, “if one totally came out and after you, we’d get Rainbow Dash and she’d kick their wooden flanks easily!”
Snowstar paused for a moment, thinking about the name the orange pony mentioned. “Rainbow Dash…” she pondered aloud, “… didn’t she win the last Best Young Flyer’s competition? I heard she won after she surprised the crowd with a sonic rainboom.” Her face then fell with sadness as she added “I wish I could get to see one myself.”
The crusaders tried to keep their new friend from depression and tried to change the conversation back to Rainbow Dash, whose topic also brought up the town’s local royalty, and as well as the other ponies in the group of six.
It worked for so long, until an accidental mention of Sweetie Belle being related to Rarity, who also took part in the same competition Rainbow Dash had won, and the blind filly returned to her more depressed state.
“I remember hearing about that competition from my father, who went with his coworkers from the weather factory,” Snowstar said. “He told me that one of the contestants fell to the ground so fast that one pony, Rainbow Dash, raced down to save her and did the sonic rainboom. When I asked what that was, he said it was an old mare’s tale come true, when a pegasus pony flies so fast, they create a sonic boom that also creates a rainbow. Then I asked about rainbows… then colors… and, well, you know what I mean…”
“Yeah, I think we do,” sighed Apple Bloom, thinking about how this was another insult to her blindness. “You know, it’s not a big deal to see it or not. Knowin’ it happened is still fascinatin’.”
“Not to my classmates,” Snowstar argued. “When the competition came up at school, I tried to talk about it, but they all just laughed and said I didn’t know anything since I couldn’t see.”
Sweetie Belle then said “Listen, Snowstar, it may not be the same, but we know the feeling of being bullied like that. You shouldn’t let what others say make you so tormented.”
“Tormented? You are a dictionary,” Scootaloo said, slightly insulting.
“See? Just like that,” the little unicorn stated. “I’ve been called a dictionary a thousand times, but I don’t care. Learning so many words came from spending so much time with my sister.”
“But I think what Sweetie Belle’s trying to say here,” Apple Bloom started to say, continuing with the point, “is that the three of us are the Cutie Mark Crusaders for a reason – because we don’t have our cutie marks. We’ve been constantly teased about that, and about our families…”
“Not to mention not being able to fly,” added the orange pegasus, looking back at a more recent event.
“Or being able to use magic, too,” added the white unicorn, whose magical capabilities were almost nonexistent at the time.
“You see, Snowstar, just because we don’t have or do what everypony else can, doesn’t mean we’re not better or worse than them. You’re fine just as who you are, and nothin’ nobody can say should make you sad like how you are now,” said the yellow pony.
The blind little pegasus didn’t know how to react. She’s heard this from her family, her teachers, even their peers before, but it was never how these three fillies were doing it. This time, she was being helped and comforted, not just told to do so. She used her hoof to find the gemstone she always kept close to her, finding it just in front of her and thinking how they were treating her was similar to what the gem was doing for her – making her feel warm, and safe, and above all, making her happy.
“You say what I’ve heard so many times already,” she told them, picking up the gem and looking at it. “But this time, I hear it differently. Why do you sound like, that you care so much about me?”
“Because,” answered Sweetie Belle, “that’s what friends are for.”
This struck Snowstar’s heart, and deep. “Friends?” she asked, sounding confused at first. “That’s… that sounds so strange to me. I’ve never had friends before… never.”
“Well do you now,” Scootaloo told her. “We don’t care about all the bad stuff that you’ve tried to get away from, or the fact that you can’t see. You’re a cool pony, and we’d call you our friend any day.”
“I… I… I…” muttered the runaway pony, at a loss for words. What she couldn’t see was how the gem she held began to glow, which surprised the other fillies very much, but she could feel warmth in her heart that she never felt before. It began to overwhelm her so much, she began to cry, but not out of despair this time.
“I… I can’t…” She then jumped forward, managing to wrap her hooves around two of the other fillies to cry out “I can’t thank you enough. Thank you… for being my… my friends.”
All three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders just surrounded her and hugged her in return, even though the glowing gem was still confusing them. Even so, they focused on how touched Snowstar was, thinking that steps like this would prove well to helping her further. “You’re welcome Snowstar,” Apple Bloom told her as they hugged. “Everypony deserves a friend, and we’d be darned if we couldn’t call you ours.”
For the first time ever, Snowstar understood and felt what it meant to have friends, and she never wanted to let that go. After a few more moments, the mention of being hugged too tight, and the sounds of lunch-hungry stomachs, caused the hug to break, and they sat down to enjoy the rest of their afternoon eating, playing whatever games they could, and talk about whatever conversation they could think of, and the blind filly did it all with a smile and joyous behavior. The more things went on, the more the three fillies were thinking of how much better she was doing, making their goal of helping her for the better another step closer.
/)∞(\
As per their weekly ritual, Fluttershy and Rarity met at the spa to relax and spend time together. They ordered their usual order and jumped from one treatment to another, eventually making their way to the hot bath. The conversation they shared this time around was about Tails and Cosmo, given the current circumstances revolving around the couple, and Fluttershy had just finished explaining about what she learned from them during breakfast.
“Right now, they’re working with Twilight to see if they can find this key of getting back home, and still researching portal spells for anything,” she said, concluding the summary.
“They must find something, otherwise they might not be able to get back home,” Rarity stated, sounding worried. “If only we could be more helpful to them, but alas, I’m not a pony who has vast knowledge of other worlds, let alone portal magic.”
“I know,” the yellow mare said sadly. “It must feel so terrible to feel how they must feel, stranded somewhere they don’t know much about, and don’t know how to get home.”
“But at least we can give them as much of a good time here as possible, Fluttershy, and that’s something good,” the white mare said.
After a quiet sigh, the pegasus replied “I guess so. They’re just so nice and cheerful, even when having to deal with such trouble like that. And from we’ve learned about their home, I can imagine that place being the same.”
“Oh I’m sure of that, darling. Cosmo told me so much about that Mobius world they are from and it sounds extravagant and beautiful,” Rarity said. “This might not be their home, but it’s ours and we’ve been doing everything we can to share it with them. Besides, even with the crazy events that can happen here, who couldn’t love the peaceful land of Equestria?”
Fluttershy just nodded gently and then leaned her head back to try and relax more. “You’re right. I know I couldn’t be happy without our friends, and all of us here in Ponyville together.”
“Exactly,” said the unicorn. “After all, you recall the visions we saw from that worst of worst days of theirs like the rest of us…” The two paused for a moment, thinking of what they saw the suffering their fox and flower friends had to endure that one dark day. “If they had to strength to overcome and repair what happened then, then they have the inner strength to persevere for the best, so as long as they have each other, much like the six of we have each other.”
The yellow mare’s mouth cracked a smile for the first time since the darker topics came up. “Of course, and just like you said, we’ll be there for them and share what we have with them,” she said, and then realized something. “That reminds me, Rarity, how are your outfits for them coming along?”
“Did I not say anything about those? I could’ve sworn I have,” pondered the white mare.
“I’m surprised you haven’t already,” Fluttershy stated, not insultingly as most would perceive it, but actually surprised. Her friend was the best of the best when it came to fashion, and would always find a soon opportunity to mention anything about that world of glamour and design.
Rarity then told her friend “Well, I must say that it’s some of my hardest work I’ve ever done. Their shapes, their attributes, and who they are overall, it has been difficult to get it all just right for them, especially since I’m not used to those with postures such as theirs. Sure I’ve made some clothes were Spike, but he’s much smaller and has only needed something for the upper body, but Tails, he’s got the height and figure to take greater measures for, especially for the trousers considering his two tails. And where do I begin with Cosmo and how her stories inspired me so much, not to mention that Seedrian Spirit Stone…”
“Well knowing how you put so much work into your designs, I’m sure they’ll just love them,” Fluttershy said with much respect to her friend’s craft.
“Oh thank you, Fluttershy. You are truly the kindest pony anypony could know,” complimented Rarity. “Tell you what, after we’re done here we’ll go straight to the boutique and I can show you what I have done. By how things are going, they’ll be all finished by tonight.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that for me, Rarity. I can wait until you’re unveil them to everyone else,” the yellow pegasus said.
Not taking no for an answer, the white unicorn replied “Nonsense, Fluttershy. You’re more than welcome to see them for yourself. I could always enjoy the opinion of another pony with an eye for fashion like you, especially considering it would also come from a dear friend.”
Feeling as if she had no way out of her friend’s generosity, Fluttershy said “Alright, Rarity. I’d love to have a look.” The two continued to enjoy the rest of their spa day in enjoyment, getting just a couple more treatments before departing for the boutique.
/)∞(\
Everypony, and every Mobian and Seedrian, kept themselves preoccupied much like the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the Apple family, Rarity and Fluttershy. Mayor Mare had been trotting across Ponyville to assure everything was in proper order, Rainbow Dash did minimal weather jobs before going off to either practice her flying or take a nap, a home where two ponies were practicing their polarizing musical crafts, and Pinkie Pie going around making sure there wasn’t a smile unseen with her optimistic and outgoing ways.
Unfortunately, the day progressed into evening, and at Golden Oak Library, the combined efforts of the newest princess, intellectual fox and faithful flower continued to have no further progress of their work. What could be anything progressive was that Tails and Cosmo were getting to have a better understanding of reading and translating the written text in all the books, scrolls and notes there were to go through. Otherwise, they were still nowhere closer to finding a way home.
“Unicorn’s Guide to Spell Conjuring: Volume XIII… How Magic Takes Us Farther… Daring Do & the Vanishing Tomb…” Twilight said, going through books that they’ve gone through countless times already aloud. “The Magic Elite: Theories from Equestrian History of Unicorns… what? Power Ponies vs Trojan the Titan Horse?” The last one was not one of her books, but a comic book instead.
“Ahem,” said Spike, her faithful assistant, who had his claw holding the book. It would seem that his reading pleasure was not safe as long as he was in a room full of books within magic’s reach of her, and it got caught in her trail of books to see and look through again.
“Twilight, I know you’re busy and said I don’t need help, but do you mind…”
“Oh… sorry about that Spike,” she replied, and released her magical grip of the comic book. Standing opposite of them at the centerpiece/table, Tails and Cosmo cracked humorous smiles with sympathetic eyes.
“We’re sorry, Spike. If it weren’t for all the trouble we’re going through…” Cosmo tried to say, but saw the little dragon wave an open hand up to stop her.
“It’s alright. It’s not the first time it’s happened anyway. I just need to know when and where to read,” he said, both kindly to her but just slightly cold to Twilight. “Yell if you need me. I’ll be upstairs,” he announced, and walked up to read his comic in better peace.
Without another word about the topic to say, Twilight turned back to go through more books. “No… no… no… no… Ugh!” she growled, and dropped all books she had levitated onto the ground. “This is getting more ridiculous than I could imagine! Nothing about interdimensional theories or discovering keys. It’s starting to become that chest from the Tree.”
“We’re not happy about it either, Twilight, but we can’t just stop. Cosmo and I have gotten better at understanding your written scriptures, and we’ve already discussed so many theories from our world that could be possible here. It just needs us, to keep on going,” Tails stated, although his previous sentence lacked so much enthusiasm.
“I know, and I don’t plan to stop. It’s just annoying when I can’t find anything in any book. You’ve gotten to understand that,” the alicorn said.
Going back to what was mentioned just a minute ago, Cosmo asked “Twilight, what were you saying about a tree and a chest?”
“From the Tree of Harmony? Nopony’s mentioned about that with you?” Twilight asked.
“Not at all,” replied the fox, “but when you say ‘Tree of Harmony,’ does that have anything to do with those Elements Discord ran on about yesterday?”
Now the purple pony was beyond blown away. She could’ve sworn those topics were told about at some point by her or any of her friends during the week, but as she looked back at her time with them, they haven’t. What a certain draconequus said about them was the first and only mention about them as of then, so she said “I can’t believe it. I really thought we told you about the Elements of Harmony. Well, let me see…” She thought of back to that one faithful day when her life changed forever – more specifically, the day she moved to Ponyville, and met all her friends.
“When I was still Princess Celestia’s student, I began researching about the Elements of Harmony that tied with an occurrence involving the return of Nightmare Moon, a pony who wanted the night to last forever. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna first discovered the six elements – Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic – from the Tree of Harmony in the Everfree Forest, and used them to turn Discord to stone when he first ruled over Equestria. They were only used a couple times, the last by Celestia to imprison Nightmare Moon in the moon itself, and since then, were left in an old castle that once housed Celestia and Luna.
"A thousand years after that was when I began to research the Elements, where at the same time did Nightmare Moon escape her prison and try to put the land in everlasting darkness again. It was at that time when I knew the Elements of Harmony were needed again, and my friends joined me to do so. It’s funny for me to say that, because when I first moved to Ponyville, I didn’t care for making friends in the first place…”
The couple took in all the information from what their friend was telling them, with Tails asking “So you came here looking for these six Elements and not friends, but if I can guess correctly… you found both?”
Twilight continued to tell the story of discovering the Elements of Harmony – how she and her friends each represented an element, Nightmare Moon’s defeat, briefly discussing using them again against Discord, and so on. She then explained the best she could about how using an unfinished spell by Star Swirl the Bearded had chaotic consequences, how the Elements and their friendship corrected it all, discovering new magic, and becoming a new Princess of Equestria as a result. When she reached the point of history when the Tree of Harmony was discovered dying after having so much of its magic drained, she explained what was lost, but left in its place…
“To save the Tree of Harmony, and keep Equestria safe again, we gave the Tree the Elements of Harmony back. It was hard to do, to sacrifice something that brought us so close together in the first place, but it was done for a greater good. The Tree was revived and Celestia and Luna were saved, but then the tree sprouted a plant that opened up to reveal a closed chest. None of us know what’s inside, but requires six keys to open, and we have yet to find any of them to open the chest. And that, Tails and Cosmo, is the story of the Elements of Harmony.”
After Twilight concluded her story, the amazement the couple saw was both nearly unexplainable, but seeming completely relatable at the same time. Two things stuck out about the entire story, and Cosmo was first to address it by saying “That’s amazing… just, amazing. We’ve been starting to see something more about the bonds between you and your friends, and now we see it. Friendship here, it’s a magical thing, beyond magical compared to so many other worlds we know.”
“That’s a main reason why Celestia had me stay in Ponyville in the first place, to learn and better understand friendship, and to report to her what I would discover. Some may not see it the same way we do, but for the six of us, there’s something much greater and more meaningful with friendship that makes us better, and helps us become more important to each other than we could probably realize,” Twilight said.
“What were the other reasons?” Tails asked.
Twilight looked at the two with a happy smile to say “Well, I discovered what it truly meant to have friends for the first time, and I didn’t want to leave it behind. My friends, they became too important for me to just up and leave so soon. They meant so much to me then, and mean even more to me now.”
The touching sentiment was something Tails and Cosmo felt in their hearts very strongly, and could more than relate to what their princess friend was feeling. At the same time, the genius fox began to compare the six ponies to those he and Cosmo knew back home for so long, to those they’ve known from Station Square and through Team JAG, and the Elements of Harmony…
“You know,” Tails began to say, “The way you talk about the Elements of Harmony, they remind me of special items from where we’re from. These items, however, could be used for harmony, or just the opposite, depending on who would use them…” He paused and thought more carefully.
“You seek keys to open a chest that is filled with an unknown anything, and now, Cosmo and I seek a ‘key’ to find our way back home. Maybe… just maybe… our way back is something that comes from our world…
“The Chaos Emeralds,” Cosmo said, reading her beloved’s mind perfectly.