//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 
// Story: Crown of Winter 
// by CartoonNerd12 
//------------------------------//

Gemstone wore a simple light blue gown as she faced the mirror. She smiled at her reflection, figuring this would impress her date. Seam would be escorted here by a guard and would meet her parents and brother. Her first date started out good until the suitor decided to pull a fast one by trying to kiss her, and her second date wasn't as bad as the last one, but they didn't have a connection going. But once the day came for her and Seam to go out, she got excited and wanted to look her best.

She went down the steps where her intimate family was waiting and on cue, a guard brought in Seam.

Introductions were made until Dignity whispered, "Uh, sis…? Don't look now, but you got a rip on your skirt."

"What?!" She looked and gasped dramatically, "No! There's a huge rip on my dress!"

"But it's hardly noticeable." said Dignity.

"Hardly noticeable?! Any rip is noticeable!"

Rarity nodded, "Darling, I must agree with your sister."

Dignity glanced at his dad, who merely said, "When it comes to fashion, your mother is very focused. Same goes for your sister."

Seam spoke timidly, "If it pleases you, Gemstone, I can fix that rip…"

Her eyes gleamed, "Would you?!"

"Is there a sewing room nearby?"

Rarity pointed, "There's my old workshop on the second floor. There should be plenty of material there for you to use."

"Perfect." Gem said and grabbed Seam's hoof. She lead him upside while her family smiled at the sight.

Seam was in awe of the workshop and managed to find a needle and a thread that matched the color of the dress. As he started sewing with her standing still, she said.

"I must make a confession. I made this rip on purpose."

He stared up at her in disbelief, "But why?"

"Well… the last two dates I had were not so good and I thought they were colts I could like, but once they revealed their true colors, I had to make sure you as real as you appeared. So I decided to see if your skills with needlepoint were true and I was going ask when you suddenly offered. I was so touched and it proves you would never lie to me that you could actually do something."

"I would never lie to you. And I thank you for confessing because I want someone who would be just as honest with me as I would be honest with them."

She smiled at his words, "I promise to never deceive you again or I would be no better than those suitors that were pining for my affections."

"If there's one thing I learned from my parents' marriage, it's that honesty is an important factor. I can't tell how happy it makes me that you are being very upfront with me, Gemstone."

"And I can't thank you enough for being upfront with me, too. It made me feel attracted to you."

"Really?" his eyes widened and he blushed.

"Indeed. Once I met you, no other suitor was able to compare."

He was amazed and sputtered, "I-I'm speechless. No one has ever given me such a compliment."

"Well, it's time they do." She looked at the mended rip, "It's incredible. You can't even tell there was a rip! It's just like new!"

He kept blushing, "You're just saying that…"

"I am not! Seam, you are so talented! Now I have to ask you to design that dress for me!"

"You would?!" he was elated.

"Of course! And you can start right now!"

"At once!" he quickly grabbed a tape measure and started making measurements.

"While I'm standing here and you're designing, you can tell me what it was like growing up in Manehattan."

"Oh, it was okay. I had my parents and the friends I could make help me out. My best memories of Manehattan are that every year, my mom would put on the Midsummer Theater Revival and Dad and I would help out. She would sometimes let me perform. I don't like being in the spotlight, but those times on stage boosted my confidence."

"I'm sure it did, or else you never would have had the courage to come here."

"What was it like growing up for you? To live in a palace and everything?"

"Well, it certainly wasn't easy, what with the private tutors and learning royal protocol. But I had my cousins and brother as playmates, so it wasn't all bad. Most times, there are perks to being a princess, but other times… no so much."

"Would meeting suitors count as those other times?"

"Very much so." But then she gave him a warm glance, "Not that I don't regret meeting you. In fact, I'm starting to second-guess the proclamation. It couldn't be all that bad if it was able to bring in some good ponies."

He smiled at the heartfelt compliment.

They were unaware of a pony with swirly eyes watching them with worry and bitterness.




Star and Cotton had Cannon and Pen facing a blackboard that the girls brought into their suite as they were trying to give them "fun lessons".

Cotton quizzed them, "If you are holding a ball in your hooves, do you: A. Use it to knock another pony down? B. Throw it down? Or C. Throw it to another pony so they catch it, then throw it back to you, then you throw it back, and so on?"

The boys gave confused looks until Cannon said, "Um… A?"

Cotton face-palmed and Star replied with the right answer, "No, C."

Pen raised his hoof, "I do not understand how throwing a ball at first only to catch it back is fun. It seems redundant to me. What's the point?"

Cotton motioned, "There is no point! You just do it for the fun of it!"

Star magically held out flash cards, "Maybe to better understand the concept of fun, you should study these flash cards."

Pen magically took them and went over them with Cannon.

The boys were confused, but they thought they could figure it out.




Apple Jewel lied on her bed and stared toward the balcony as she remembered that awful night. She was having regrets, but at the same time, she was glad she told Asher off. If he was going to discriminate her just because of the possibility that the kind of offspring they would produce wouldn't be good enough for him, then she wanted nothing to do with him.

He was so different from them… While the other dragons were ganging up on me and my dad, he came to my side and told me not to show fear… He taught me to show the dragon within me… All those letters we wrote… He really cared about me… It wasn't until last summer that he wrote and said he actually loved me… I, in return, told him the same thing… Only for him to back out now… He's hesitant to mate with me due to my looks… I was always taught that appearances didn't matter when it came to love… I see my parents and Aunt Fluttershy and Uncle Discord and I know that to be true… Why does it have to be so different for us?




Asher was in his cave room sulking. He looked in the corner to see the many letters that he had received over the years from Apple Jewel. He wished he could just burn them so he could forget all about her, but his heart prevented him from doing so. He felt so frustrated. He loved Apple Jewel, yet he worried about the kind of kid they would have. Would it be a pony or a dragon? Jewel may have been half-dragon, but she looked like a pony. He was a full-blooded dragon and with her being half… Could that work with their child to be more dragon than pony? But he had doubts.

It was a risky gamble he didn't want to take, not when so much was at stake since generations before him had won the title of Dragon Lord. Long ago, after the very first Dragon Lord passed on without a successor, the Bloodstone Scepter was created so that dragons would compete for it in order for a new Dragon Lord to be named. Asher's ancestor won the title and it was a tradition that started every time the Dragon Lord would step down. New dragons would compete in the Gauntlet, but Asher's ancestors would win every time. That was why he needed a capable heir to carry out this huge tradition.

He could take another dragon for his mate, but it wouldn't feel right. Jewel was the only being who ever caught his eye. For a long time, he planned on making her his mate, but when he realized his family's tradition, he became wary. Another option for him would be to marry Apple Jewel according to pony customs while having a dragon mate according to the dragon mating law. But that was a horrible idea. First off, he didn't want a mistress, and second, his wife would certainly be upset, given their history.

He felt so confused and conflicted.

"What do I do?" he asked himself and hoped that the answer would come to him soon.




Seam angled a drawing for Gemstone to see, "What do you think? Do you like it?"

"It's gorgeous! Simply gorgeous!"

"It'll take some time to make…"

"That's fine. In fact, I'll help you! My mother taught me how to sew and how to be fashionable!"

"Great!"

"And while we're working together, it'll give us a chance to get to know each other more."

"I look forward to it." he smiled.

She returned it.

Someone pinch me! I just may have found the colt of my dreams!

Someone did pinch her and she woke up, realizing she was dreaming about last night before she told Seam 'goodnight'. She looked to see Cotton standing over her.

"Cotton, what is the meaning of this?! You just woke me from a beautiful dream!"

"Sorry, cuz, but you weren't waking up and it's time to get down to breakfast. The others have already gone." Then, she had a sly grin, "So… what or who you were dreaming about?"

"None of your business!" she pretended to be cross before giving out a smirk, "Oh, all right… I need to tell someone…" She let out a small squeal, "I think I'm in love!"

"What?!" Cotton was between surprised and happy.

"I know… It's foolish of me to think so - with it being too soon - but I can't help it! He's everything I could ever want in a colt!"

"Gem… that's so amazing!"

"You're not angry? I know we all agreed we wouldn't let any of these suitors get to us, but Seam is not like those phonies we met. If it wasn't for the proclamation, I don't think we would have ever met…"

"I think I know what you mean… If Prince Cannon Fire didn't have business with Aunt Twilight, then I don't think I would have met him any other time."

"Prince Cannon Fire? But I thought you hated him."

"I was wrong about him and his friend Pen Pusher. Star would agree with me. We learned the truth about why they were here and we felt just awful for the rude things we said to them. Now we're helping them trying to understand fun since they couldn't have that while growing up."

"That's terrible!"

"It's a slow process, but they'll get there. After all, they're going to be here a while."

"How so?"

"Aunt Twilight and the advisors are having long discussions about how to go about what Cannon and Pen Pusher are suggesting. So, in the meantime, we're making them feel right at home, along with helping them to loosen up a bit."

"I'm also helping Seam by making a dress he designed just for me."

"Cool!"

A sly grin came on Gem's face, "So… does this mean you have a crush on Cannon?"

Cotton blushed and protested, "No! I mean… that stuffy prince? It'll never work out between us! I'm too chipper and he's too dull!"

She said in a sing-song tone, "But you know what they say… Opposites attract…"

"If that's true, how are you and Seam opposites?" Cotton challenged.

Gem smirked and replied, "He's recluse and I'm outgoing, but we are quite similar in just about everything else."

Cotton was taken back and blinked in bewilderment.

"Perhaps you could find something similar in Cannon Fire?"

Cotton gaped and asked quietly, "Do you really think I could?"

"I don't see why not. After all, he's not a suitor pursuing you. You could pursue him instead."

A smile slowly crept on her face and suddenly shouted, "OH. MY. GOSH! You're right! You're so right!" She jumped while squealing and zoomed out of there while Gem just giggled, glad she was able to help her cousin out.