Nestled safely in the ruins of the Castle of the Two sisters was a place that had come to mean a lot for a very special group of youths. The Crystal Tree, born from what remained of the Tree of Harmony, served as a testament to their friendship, and also as a place for them to all come and spend time together. And spend time they did, as they had something particularly interesting to do with each other today. The kids looked on with awe at the spectacular creature now resting upon Silverstream's foreleg. Each of them had at least heard of a cockatrice in their time, but this was their first time ever actually seeing one. Yona and Smolder were right up to it of course, showing no fear, while Gallus and Ocellus, though not exactly fearful, weren't quite as close. All of them were utterly enamoured with the animal though, but none more so than Silverstream herself, who took a single free claw and gently stroked the front of Edith's chest. The result was a cooing sound that was simply delightful to hear, and Silverstream naturally giggled to it.

"Isn't she just the greatest thing ever?!"

Smolder chuckled.

"Yeah, she's something alright."

Ocellus, by contrast, looked to her pink friend with more worry.

"You shouldn't have gone to the Everfree by yourself, Silver. What if you'd gotten hurt?"

Silverstream sighed to this.

"I know. Looking back I realise it was a pretty silly thing to do, especially after the last time we came across animals from that place."

The group all shivered at that memory of being attacked by spikey critters, but Yona soon perked up afterwards.

"Yona no think it bad idea. Friend Silver come out with great new pet!"

Silverstream too smiled to this, beaming at her feathered friend and nuzzling her affectionately.

"You're right about that, Yona! Edith is just the most wonderful little cockatrice in the world! I can't wait to show my family back home!"

The group continued to be happy at having this cheerful-looking creature here, but their focus on her was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Sandbar into the Crystal Tree. He'd been absent from this gathering so far, but now he was here, and carrying a plate of delicious-looking cupcakes to boot.

"Alright, guys, I'm here. Sorry, it took me so long, but when you said we had something important to see I just had to..."

But his happy demeanour was soon brought to a screeching halt when he finally locked eyes on Edith. While the cockatrice herself was still as cheerful as ever, Sandbar reacted with the same amount of terror one normally would when faced with an animal with this kind of reputation.

"GAH!!! COCKATRICE!!!"

He immediately covered his eyes, and in his fear he'd also thrown up the plate of cupcakes, much to the horror of the other kids. Luckily, Gallus flapped his wings hard, launching himself forward and managing the catch both the plate and the following confectionaries with extraordinary finesse. Though pleased he'd saved the snacks, he was less pleased with his pony friend.

"Dude! You nearly ruined the grub!"

But Sandbar, still with his eyes covered, waved with his free hoof towards the others.

"Guys! You gotta get away from that thing! You'll turn to stone!"

The others weren't concerned, not even Silverstream, and after looking to one another, they all started to laugh together. Sandbar, for his part, started to gain some understandable confusion, and eventually poked his eyes out from under his hoof. Here, he looked into the smiling face of Yona, who took said hoof and gently guided him over to Edith.

"Sandbar no be afraid. Edith is nice cockatrice!"

Sandbar remained uncertain, but trusted his Yak companion. Getting closer and closer to the bird, Sandbar saw the enthusiastic look on Silverstream's face, and was able to put two and two together without even a single word on her part. Hesitation plagued him, but he nevertheless stretched out his hoof towards Edith. Edith herself, perhaps anticipating what was to come, lowered her head, and after just a moment more of worry, Sandbar finally petted her. Edith let out another cooing sound, and Sandbar, though full of disbelief, cracked a smile, chuckling nervously.

"Hehe...this is...this is great!"

Silverstream squealed with joy.

"I know, right?!"

Then the earth pony looked to her with confusion.

"But...how'd you meet her?"

Silverstream blushed a little, scratching the back of her head.

"Er...I might have come to the Everfree Forest alone at night while trying to finish one of my friendship assignments?"

Sandbar looked to her with shock, though Yona soon alleviated his stunned state by patting him on the shoulder.

"Sandbar no worry. We already talk about it."

He still seemed unsure, but the general mood of calm and quiet in the Crystal Tree made it clear that this was not an occasion for panic or fear. So, he let out a long sigh, resuming his smile and giving Edith another pat. Silverstream, of course, continued to be as enthusiastic as ever about all this.

"Oh my gosh, you guys! I can't believe I have a new pet! All I ever had back home were a few fish!"

She grumbled under her breath briefly.

"And they never came when you called."

Sandbar chuckled.

"I know what you mean. Pets are awesome."

Silverstream's head snapped in his direction, and she practically had stars in her eyes.

"Oh! You have a pet?!"

Sandbar looked to her, his expression a very distinct one of nostalgia.

"I did, when I was younger. A little mouse."

Smolder snorted, folding her arms and raising her eyebrow.

"A mouse? Really?"

Sandbar, unconcerned with her sarcastic tone, beamed.

"Yep! I called her Mrs Squeakers."

Gallus slapped his own forehead.

"Of course you did!"

He chortled soon afterwards.

"What, did you make a little bow for her to wear or something?"

But Sandbar simply shrugged.

"Yep. She really liked it too."

Gallus smirk faded, replaced instead by a more annoyed look.

"You...you are just impossible to mock, you know that?"

Sandbar shrugged again.

"What about you?"

Gallus was taken aback by that.

"What, a pet you mean?"

Sandbar nodded, and Gallus thought on that for a while before answering.

"Well, I never really had a family, as you know, but I did have this one little thing."

All eyes were on him now, much to his slight embarrassment, but he eventually managed to get an answer out.

"His name was Beaks. A crow. He'd follow me around, always begging for a little bit of whatever I was eating."

He chuckled.

"I eventually sort of got him trained. Heck, I even raced against him while flying a few times. It was awesome!"

Ocellus walked beside him, smiling.

"That sounds really nice, Gallus. I did the same thing with my pet once."

As expected, this led to the young drone now being the centre of attention, and after blushing slightly, she perked up with more enthusiasm.

"Her name was Spots. A ladybug."

Like before, Smolder snorted.

"Don't tell Headmare Twilight about that. She'll either flee in terror or try to make a kite out of her."

Then the young dragon looked away, confused by her own words.

"Yeah, what is up with her on that anyway?"

Ocellus, ignoring her, got back to her story.

"I found her when I was really little, and I've had her with me ever since."

Then she looked a bit sadder.

"Well, I have to leave her at home when I come to school, but I make sure to bring her back an extra nice treat every time I go back."

Yona smiled to her friend, patting her on the back.

"Leaving pets at home is hard. Yona know this."

Silverstream looked to her with curiosity.

"And your pet, Yona?"

Yona's chest puffed out with pride.

"Yak pets are best pets of all! We have snow-dogs!"

All of her friends blinked, and Gallus sighed.

"Let me guess...you make your dogs out of snow?"

Yona frowned to him.

"Er...no? Dogs fur just white, like snow."

Embarrassed, Gallus developed a fierce blush, clearing his throat in a deliberate way.

"Um...right, that's what I meant to say!"

Though Yona didn't believe him, she regained her smile when she started talking about her pet.

"Yona's dog is Roughhouse. He friskiest puppy in world! Always licking Yona's face when she come home. And Roughhouse best stick-catcher ever! One time, Yona throw little stick, and he come back with whole tree!"

The others stared at her with disbelief, with Sandbar being the only one to comment on her story.

"Well...he certainly sounds, determined, I'll say that much."

The group all laughed together, with Yona hugging Sandbar for his remark. Silverstream, smiling happily at her friends, looked back to her own new pet, giving Edith another affectionate nuzzle.

"Yeah...pets are amazing."

Sandbar looked to her.

"Just be careful to show her around Professor Fluttershy. She might take some getting used to her."

His remark earned him the gaze of all the others, with Silverstream in particular looking confused.

"Professor Fluttershy? But she loves animals! Why would she have trouble?"

Sandbar took on a knowing smile.

"Oh, have I got a story for you."

Much like with the earlier "She's All Yak", I'm glad this season is giving us episodes to flesh out individual members of the YS, even if it wasn't to the same degree as Yona