With Chip leading the way, while also talking Dale's ear off on various random topics that make him want to tape his mouth shut, the two were able to find the oasis of the heart.
Which had turned out to be another tree, specifically a cherry blossom tree that had been sitting isolated at the edge of the pony world.
Strangely, just as Chip had correctly described it to be.
From there, the crystal cave was right below, through a hidden passageway underneath the stem of the tree as they proceeded the rest of the way, inside.
With the walk of the cave not as dangerous or dark as they had originally thought.
Seeing how the whole tunnel was lit up with glowing crystals to help guide them until they reached an opening that revealed what they have been looking for.
"There it is." Chip said as the two walked closer and sees the tree.
Which was structured into massive house with tree branches around it like a rib cage.
Almost as if it was a safe place to hide from the rest of the world.
"Woah. I don't believe what I'm seeing here. It's so...." Dale was about to say until he was interrupted quickly.
"Magical?" Chip asked with the biggest goofy smile you see in someone.
"I was going to say beautiful, but if you're really enjoying this, then sure. Magic. Why is it a house though? You said that it was tree." Dale said, rolling his eyes at Chip's comment.
"It's a tree house, now. The original tree was destroyed by the infamous King Sombra who wanted to harvest its magic for his own evil gain during the Great War involving royal sister ponies Luna and Celestia. After the tree's magic has been restored, it was then shaped into a crystal chest for safekeeping. With 6 special keys to unlock its powers. At which Twilight Sparkle and her friends used the power of friendship to unravel its core and form the special place into what would be now a house in a setting place of a tree." Chip explained in a very fascinated tone, with sparkles glistening in his eyes as if he was part of a fan club, who got to see the backstage part of a concert.
"Oh geez. This reminds me of the time when our old classmate Todd would be playing that dumb game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends in the back of the school's library. Ugh. I hated the game so much that it cringes for me to even think about it." Dale said, annoyed.
"Huh? Dungeons and Dragons? What's that?" Chip asked curiously.
"What?! So all this time, when your little 'memory' recovery was thinking about magical ponies, you seriously never thought about the number one role playing board game on the planet of the earth?! Even nerds like you would've loved that game." Dale emphasized in surprise, but was not too shocked.
Seeing where this answer would lead him to another conclusion.
"Eh. Role playing is for dreamers. I prefer the real live action of magic. Like the earth ponies, alicorns and pegasus." Chip said, excitedly.
"Oh boy. Well now that we're here, what exactly are we doing?" Dale asked, hoping to change the subject now before Chip gets into another crazy cosplay moment.
"Watch." Chip said simply before walking straight up towards the house!
"Woah woah. Wait a minute. Hold up. Are you seriously just going to walk inside the house like you own the place and snoop around in there?!" Dale asked while stepping in front of him to stop him from moving any further.
"Yeah. Why not? We're looking for these people right? And they could be in there if we just find the...." Chip tries to explain before he was cut off.
"No, this is ridiculous. I'm not doing this. If we get in trouble, Steckler would have it for our tails. And I'm not ready to face jail time, yet." Dale objected, shaking his head no.
"Okay then. You don't have to. But I'm going in there so if you want stay here then that's entirely up to you but I'm going to scope out the place and find them myself." Chip insisted as he tries walk past him for only a few more steps ahead, until he got stopped again.
"Ugh. Fine. I'll come join you. Just...don't do anything too crazy. We still have to make sure she's our main suspect or that she has the victims before we can report it to Steckler." Dale stated carefully.
"Great. Then we shall both see the truth now won't we? Come on. Let's go." Chip said excitedly before running with a head start to the house.
Leaving a now tired Dale behind in the race, like a parent whose kid has too much energy to handle.
"Sigh. Something tells me that I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?" Dale mumbled before catching up to his speed.
Once they entered inside the house, the two looked around what seemed to be just a normal house with sparks of magic around the furniture and books.
But as the search got deeper, they were able to find nothing but magical elements and spell books that have eventually led them to nowhere.
"I don't see anything. We're just wasting time." Dale said, shaking his head.
"We're not looking hard enough. For now, it'll only provide evidence, that Twilight Sparkle and her friends are too innocent for something like kidnapping until we uncover that severed door of hers. Which has to be around here somewhere." Chip instead while constantly searching behind her furniture and the room walls.
"That's because she is innocent. She's a guardian of her people for Pete's sake. And we've just now trespassed into her home. Who do you think are the criminals here, huh?" Dale asked, rhetorically.
"Dale, you're so pessimistic. You know, it wouldn't hurt for you to just be positive for a change." Chip said as Dale turns his head sharply around to him, who was not irritated up to the brim!
"Well Mr. Fantasyland. You wanna know what I think when I say that you're..." Dale was about it retort back at him before they both suddenly heard a strange noise nearby and looked at each other with a worried expression.
Rumble rumble
"What was that?" Chip was about to ask right as the two suddenly got sucked into the pink portal like a trap!
"Ahhh!!!" They yelled out before transporting to a room where they were not only front of Twilight Sparkle but also her ruler Celestia and their friend Captain Steckler all in the flesh!
Twilight must have known that at some point they were going to sneak into her private stuff and called the authorities along with her mentor before they could even attempt to make an escape from the whole operation.
"I'm so glad I caught you boys in there before things got a lot more hectic than they need to be. But now that you're here, can you both tell me who are you exactly? And don't lie to me this time because I can sense your deception" Celestia said in a serious tone with her eyebrows raised up like they were being interrogated.
Dale knew then that they had to be honest before more trouble arises and spoke up for the both of them.
"I'm sorry that we weren't honest with you from the beginning, ma'am. We're just private detectives." Dale explained simply.
"Dectectives you say? But why on earth would you guys be doing sneaking around this world and pretending to be my new janitors for the school?" Celestia asked in confusion.
"Well we....had some suspicion that one of your students was the culprit in our case." Dale added on while looking at Chip and nodded his head in a language that told Chip he believed him for now.
"Well, I never! Surely there must be some mistake! My students would never do any such harm, whatsoever." Celestia said, who was very much insulted by their accusation.
"I'm so sorry about that. But I can assure you that they really do have good intentions at heart. They just wanted to know what happened to some of our prominent politicians along with many other ones who went missing 2 weeks ago." Captain Steckler explained while looking over at Dale with a 'you should know better' look on her face.
To which, Dale could see that she was disappointed in them both and lowered his head down in guilt.
"Ah yes. I heard about that on the news. I'm sorry that you're all going through a rough time right now and I do hope that you find your people soon, too. But that doesn't make it okay for you two to snoop around without some kind of warrant or proper permission to enter. These kinds of investigations have to respect some boundaries you know." Celestia informed them all.
"Of course. And I can promise you that it won't happen again without proper procedures, first. Right boys?" Steckler said before asking Chip and Dale with a stern look on her face.
"Yes..." Dale was about to say before getting cut off by Chip in a frenzy.
"No! Queen Celestia, you have to listen to me. Your protégé right there is a criminal! She has kidnapped the most important people in New York City. I'm telling you, it's her. And we can prove it if you just give us a chance." Chip insisted as Celestia then turns to Twilight Sparkle, who blank expression showed nothing.
"Twilight, is this true?" Celestia asked with a concerned look.
"No, your highness. I would never do such a thing to harm a living soul." Twilight Sparkle assured her with a smile while Celestia studies her expression before giving out a comment of her own.
"She's not lying. She doesn't have your humans." Celestia said, straight up shaking her head as if she could read her mind, instantly.
"What?! She's clearly lying to your face." Chip objected in an outburst.
"Young man. I have known Twilight Sparkle since she was a little girl and there hasn't been a day since then where her honest trust was ever broken. Her heart is loyal and just as pure as it was when we first met so unless you have absolute proof that she is your suspect detectives, then I suggest you leave this place this instant and go back to New York. I may be open minded but the other ponies around here may not take too kindly to your accusations." Celestia warned them, firmly.
"And we can assure you ma'am that it won't be a problem here. Come on, you guys. I'll take you both back home before they change their minds about letting you go so easily." Steckler said sternly.
"But...." Chip tried to say before getting cut off.
"Chip, that's enough. We're leaving now." Dale said, his tone angered from the embarrassment of it all, but was not too harsh for his sake.
"You too?" Chip asked, flabbergasted.
"Trust me. It's best for us to play along for now." Dale insisted as the two followed Steckler to her police car.
Not knowing that there was something truly fishy about Twilight, after all.
Whose smile now haunts them from the back of their minds from a far distance in victory.
As it turns out that Twilight does have a secret special power that even her own majesty was not aware of, a mind shield.
Meaning, that she can keep her mind blocked from any foreign powers from intercepting the deepest core of her brain.
Where all the memories and truth would lie there.
And with that, she once again got away with everything.