It was a happy reunion as the queen hugged her long-lost daughter, which she happily returned before turning to her twin. They touched hooves, realizing they felt that touch before and their connection as twins made sense. They went into a hug as they released tears.
The cousins, Moth Ball, and Rock Salt watched on with happiness before they gathered around to take out the mirror shards they had so far.
"Let's see if the pieces fit." said Star as she put down her shard.
Screwy did the same and so did Snowy. The others watched in anticipation as Snow and Screwball managed to fit their pieces together, but Starling couldn't fit hers.
"So far, two of our pieces go together. Now we have to wait for the others with theirs." said Fire Spark as they nodded.
"In the meantime," spoke Celestia, "it has been a long day for all of us. I must set the sun while you all prepare for dinner and then get some sleep."
They smiled in gratitude.
The next morning, the ship docked into Marendelle harbor and the twins and Apple Butter got off. They went into the village first and saw the many shops they grew up with, but then stopped at a particular one that they never saw before. The sign said Flim Flam Brothers Exchange Store.
Apple Butter slowly said, "Wait… I think I remember those names… My mom and dad told me about how two pawn shop owners used them to get to the Lost Treasure of Marendelle! They were arrested shortly after they helped assisted in Uncle Button's kidnapping!"
"But why are they here now in this timeline?" Roller questioned.
"Let's go find out…" said Skater as she went forward and the bell rang from the door.
The Flim Flam brothers then appeared, "Welcome to…"
"Flim…"
"Flam…"
They both said, "Brothers Exchange Store!"
Flim said, "How may we be of service today?"
Flam said, "Perhaps you like a pearl necklace…"
"…or this rare bowling ball!"
"Uh…" Apple Butter started, "If you don't mind, we would like to browse around."
Flim said, "Certainly!"
Flam gestured, "Take all the time you need!"
They did look around for a while until they overheard the brothers talking.
Flim held up a scroll that had the royal Marendelle seal on it. "Brother, did you remember to renew our business permit?"
"Oh, sorry, brother. I forgot."
"Well, we only have a day left! You know King Button Mash and Queen Babs Seed's new law requires Marendelle businesses to renew their permits or else they'd be forced to shut down!"
The twins and Apple Butter gaped and Skater uttered, "Did he say…?"
Roller finished for her, "Queen Babs Seed?"
Apple Butter addressed the brothers, "Um, excuse me, did we hear you right? But did you say Queen Babs Seed?"
"That's right," said Flam. "Years ago, she came on this island with several other princesses…"
Flim took over, "…to compete for Prince Button's hoof in marriage. Princess Babs won the contest in the end and they were married."
The trio glanced at each other and Roller whispered, "Boy, it's a good thing Snow Pea and LB weren't here to hear that."
"But that means Aunt Sweetie Belle isn't here and mostly likely our parents aren't either." said Skater.
Apple Butter said, "But if that's true, then… where are they?"
It was the afternoon in Canterlot as Gemstone, Screw Ball, and Moth Ball - who was in disguise as a unicorn stallion - went about the city.
Moth Ball's stomach growled then, "I'm getting hungry."
Gem beamed, "You're in luck! We're on Restaurant Row, so we can stop to grab a bite!"
Screw Ball noticed a place that was in an alley, "How about that place?" The restaurant was exotic-looking with a worn-out sign that barely read The Tasty Treat.
Gem was hesitant, "I… don't know."
Moth Ball went on, "It's worth a try." He had to get some food in him or else he was afraid he would accidently feed on the girls' love. Gem didn't have much since she was still feeling sad from losing the love of her life, but Screw Ball… Whenever she got close to him, he could feel the warmth growing towards him. It wasn't love yet, but that could easily change if her feelings grew stronger.
The thought made him blush. He had to admit he had odd feelings toward her, but for her to return those feelings… No pony or changeling had ever given him such attention before. He seen it in other pony couples and couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to feel the one thing that he was forced to feed on.
When they entered the restaurant, they noticed the strange décor, but took their seats anyway.
"Welcome to the Tasty Treat!" a mare with large poofy hair greeted them and handed them menus.
Screwy looked at the choices, "Hey, this looks good!"
The mare chuckled, "But of course. Our meals are made from the heart."
A voice then shouted from the kitchen, "Saffron! I just made a new recipe! Perhaps our customers would like to try it!"
Saffron said, "Well, I would certainly like to try it!" She asked the trio, "Would you?"
Screwball smiled, "Oh, sure! And we'd also like to try the grass sandwich, the rice soup…Oh! And the curried oat cake, for sure!"
Saffron chuckled, "Coming right up!"
Gem, however, was unsure, but once they tasted the food, she was amazed by the taste and enjoyed the meal.
Once they were almost done eating, a stallion entered the restaurant wearing a blue jumpsuit. Gemstone looked up and gasped at who it was.
"Father!"
Screwy and Moth Ball looked back and saw Fancy Pants making his way to Saffron Masala, "Do you have anything that's needs cleaning today, Miss Masala?"
"The windows do need some washing and our sign could use some new paint. But here, have some leftover bread."
"Thank you, Saffron, but I should get to work."
Gemstone couldn't believe what she was seeing, "He's… he's a janitor…"
Fancy overheard that and addressed the mare, "I prefer the term 'Custodial Arts Practitioner'." He went back outside to start washing the windows.
Gem uttered, "My father… He was so regal and refined… but destroying that tornado really messed up his destiny! I never should have been so mad at him and Mother when they forced us to fulfill the proclamation… I understand now how important it is to listen to your parents. Even if something doesn't seem right, your elders tend have the best advice to give."
Suddenly, a shard appeared before her. She looked into it and saw her father as a young colt trying to make his way through strong winds until a torn-page from a book landed on his face. It showed a picture of a butler serving classy ponies. His eyes lit up in wonder and he ran on, feeling inspired.
"So that's how he decided he would be a butler… He told me himself how hard he trained for the day he could be hired into the palace. Luckily, his wish came true and met Mother…"
Moth Ball commented, "Sounds to me he got a pretty good deal out of all that."
Gem nodded, "He certainly did. I'm sure he never realized that by going to the palace, he would find the love of his life and become actual royalty."
Screwy mentioned, "On the plus side, we got another shard, which means we're getting closer to finding all of the pieces."
"At least Grandmother and Aunt Twilight have invited all of the aunts back to the palace to see if we can get any more shards, though it will be difficult tracking down Aunt Rainbow Dash…"
"At least we know now she didn't go rogue on purpose."
Gem questioned, "Where do you suppose she is?"
The changeling and pink mare shrugged.
Dragon Town was bustling with dragons, but three ponies stuck out like sore thumbs. As they near the edge of the entrance, Cotton said to Jewel.
"So Uncle Spike knows everything about us now?"
"He does. It was a shock, but the more we talked, the more he realized how alike I was to him. It made him convinced about the timeline being out of order. He promised he wouldn't say anything until everything gets fixed."
"Like anyone would believe him anyway." said Dignity.
"Come on, let's get something to eat!" Cotton went on.
Jewel commented, "As much as I can eat gems like the other dragons, I know you guys need to eat pony food." They then entered into the pony neighborhood of Fillydelphia.
Once they finished eating at a local diner, they were about to head back to Dragon Town when three thugs blocked their paths.
One of them - presumably their leader - addressed them. "I don't suppose you got enough bits for the rest of us?"
The other two held a crow bar and a baseball bat, looking menacing.
Dignity scowled, "Now see here, you uncouth brutes! Get out of our way or we'll call the police on you!"
The thugs laughed and the leader said, "Looks like we do this the hard way…" They slowly approached the cousins as the latter group was about to defend themselves.
Just when Jewel was about to use her fire breath, some pony suddenly flew in and fought off the thugs. The brutish ponies got scared and ran off.
The mysterious pony shouted out, "That's right! You better run! And I better not catch you around here again or I will do far worse next time!" The figure looked back to the cousins, much to their shock realizing who it was.
Cotton exclaimed, "Aunt Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash had a (the Sombra timeline haircut) and her coat was messy like it hadn't been clean for some time, "Aunt? I'm not an aunt and how the heck did you know me? I'm supposed to be undercover."
The trio glanced at each other and shrugged. What had they got to lose?
Cotton took a deep breath and quickly spoke at a fast pace, "We're from an alternate timeline where we're your nieces and nephew and you have a son and a husband that you love so much that you didn't need go rogue in the first place. The Windigos wanted our cousin to destroy the first Hearth's Warming, but she instead destroyed a tornado that happened to destroy your destinies as well and now we're looking for the missing mirror shards to restore the proper timeline where we can live happily ever after!" She put on a cheesy grin.
Rainbow gawked at this mare's explanation.
Jewel approached her, "Yeah… more or less. It's crazy and just plain weird, but it's true."
"That's nuts!" shouted RD, "You're nuts!"
Dignity pointed, "And yet you saved us from other nutcases. If you don't believe us, that's fine. But the fact remains that we know you're Princess Rainbow Dash of Canterlot!"
"Shhh! Not so loud! You want to blow my cover?!"
"Just why did you go rogue?" Cotton asked.
"I didn't go rogue… I escaped… which is more than I can say for my sisters…" She had a guilty look, "I didn't want to leave them… but they kept insisting for me to go that I had no choice…"
The trio glanced sadly as she told them the story.