//------------------------------//
// Chapter 31 
// Story: Crown of Winter 
// by CartoonNerd12 
//------------------------------//

Starling woke up shivering in her bed. She didn't know how to even explain it. Her bed seemed warm and inviting when she got in it the night before. Then, all memory of the events from the last few days came flooding back.

She thought wearily, Oh, right. The Windigos' curse.

She mustered every bit of her strength to get out of her bed and to the mirror close to the door. Every bone in her body felt cold as if ice had somehow penetrated her skin and started growing in the deepest part of her whole self. She could definitely tell it was the curse progressing. When she checked her mane the night before, she found a small blue streak right next to her left ear. Even though the room was dim because some of her cousins were still sleeping, Starling lifted the piece of her mane that was next to her ear. To her shock, no trace of blue remained. There was now only white.

She heard Whirl's voice shiver, "Hey, who turned down the thermostat?"

Cotton quivered as she wrapped herself in her blanket, "Yeah. I'm as cold as a snow cone in winter."

Snow Pea said, "I don't think it's the thermostat. It might be the curse. It could be getting worse."

Skater groaned, "You're getting to be as bad as Zecora now."

Snow Pea pretended to ignore the remark and said as she got out of bed, "I'll go tell Uncle Cheese to put on the fire." She walked out of the room and found Cheese in the living room. She asked him, "Hey, Cheese? Can you get the fireplace going?"

Cheese said in surprise, "In the middle of summer? Look, I'd like to, but there's a chimney sweep working right now. There's been a problem with the flue for a couple of days. But I promise, I'll put on a fire as soon as he's finished."

Suddenly, they heard a scream and -

FA-WHUMPH!

Cheese and Snowy coughed from the cloud of soot before somepony said, "Well, the good news is I've fixed the blockage."

Snow Pea couldn't believe who she was seeing. The chimney sweep who had landed on his head was none other than Flash Sentry himself! She exclaimed before she could stop herself, "Uncle Flash!"

Cheese went to him in concern and asked as he helped Flash on his feet, "Hey, you okay, Flash?"

Flash coughed as he got up, "Yeah. *cough* Although landing headfirst wasn't part of the job." When he looked at Snow Pea, he said, "Oh, I didn't know you had a guest."

Cheese smiled, "Actually, it's more than one." He pointed to the group of visitors as they came into the living room on cue.

The cousins all gasped when they saw Flash Sentry as a chimney sweep.

Apple Jewel breathed, "Uncle Flash…"

Gem whispered, "Why is he so…dirty?"

Dignity said, "I didn't think he would get dirtier than the time he stumbled halfway across the Everfree Forest just to find Angel Bunny."

Fire Spark and Starling were just stunned to see their father like this. He was supposed to be a noble guard-turned-prince, but here he was a struggling chimney sweep.

Flash waved to the group and said, "Hi, everypony." He then asked Cheese, "Did you take it upon yourself to plan a party for these folks?"

Cheese explained, "They just…" He gave a wink to the kids as he said, "…dropped in and we became friends."

The orange Pegasus chuckled, "You make friends with everypony you meet."

"But this isn't your ordinary bunch of ponies, Flash. These ponies are special."

Flash joked, "What? Did they come from outer space?"

"More like outer time."

"Wait, what?"

Fire Spark stepped forth and said, "I'm Fire Spark. My cousins and our friend are from another timeline. This one was altered by accident. In the time that we lived in, you were married to Princess Twilight Sparkle and had me and my sister, Starling." He gestured for his sister to come forth. "I know this is a bit hard for you to swallow, but it's the truth."

Starling said, "We've been collecting mirror shards from an important day so we can restore the rightful timeline. We need to mend the bonds of our family to get more shards. That's where Cheese came in and now you. Will you please help us?"

Flash was unsure what to think of this new development, but he decided to give them a chance by testing them. He said, "All right, but only if you answer this question. It's a secret that only I know and no one else does. You ready?"

After Fire and Star nodded, Flash whispered the question to them. When they whispered their response to him, the sweep's eyes widened.

He faced them and said in an astonished tone, "I didn't really think you were going to get it." He looked at Fire and saw that the colt looked a lot like him. A small smile crept on his face and said, "You must be my children from another timeline! Give your old colt a hug!"

Even though the embrace was sweet and warm, Fire Spark couldn't help feeling guilty about everything that led to this alternate timeline. He thought, I wasn't there for any of them…My sister, my cousins, everyone. I gave up my birthright at the first possible chance and let Starling take all the weight of the world. I was so wrapped up with what I wanted that I neglected how the others were feeling. I want to fix this and apologize to everypony when we get back.

Cheese then glimpsed at something in the fireplace and said, "Funny. That wasn't there before."

Fire Spark's eyes fixed on the fireplace and saw something shimmering. He picked it up and found that it was a mirror shard.

Flash remarked, "Wow. I guess this really isn't the right timeline."

Fire gazed into the shard and saw an event playing before his eyes. He saw his father as a young colt wandering the streets of an unknown town. A strong wind was blowing through the place and Flash could hardly walk through the tough weather. Suddenly, a flyer landed on his leg. He took it and saw that it was for enrollment in the Royal Guard. A smile spread across his face as he knew that it was his destiny.

When the image faded away, Starling asked, "What did you see, Fire?"

He answered, "Dad was supposed to find a flyer that led him to join the Royal Guard."

Flash said, "A guard? I'm supposed to be a guard?"

Star explained, "Before you married Twilight."

Flash nodded in realization, "Oh, I get it. But if you two are my kids, then why are your manes and tails white?"

Just then, the cursed ponies began feeling cold again. Some shivered while others almost crumpled to the floor.

Snow Pea explained, "Before the mirror was destroyed, Windigos placed a curse on them because of their cold behavior. Even if they don't feel resentment now, the curse will continue to progress until…" She could hardly bring herself to say it. "…they become ice statues."

Flash said, "Wow. That is bad."

Cheese said as he hurried off, "Don't worry. I'll get my emergency hot cocoa supply. I'd normally save them for winter, but this is a real emergency. And I really hope it helps."




Screwball woke up in her bed with a small shiver throughout her body. When memory of past events came back to her, she knew it was the Windigos' curse making her this cold. She barely got out of bed and went out into the empty hallway. She thought it was strange since Mothball was usually at her door when she woke up.

She called out, "Mothball! Mothball, are you there? Mothball! Ollie-ollie-oxen free! Mothball, this isn't a joke! Now, where are you?"

She knew something had happened to him, but she couldn't search for him at the moment. She was supposed to meet the group at the place where the tundra and desert met. After she grabbed the mirror, she accidentally bumped into somepony.

Twilight apologized, "I'm so sorry, Screwball. I didn't mean to bump into you."

Screwball said, "That's okay. Have you seen Mothball around?"

The unicorn shook her head, "No, I haven't."

Screwy fussed, "But he has to be around here somewhere!"

"Tell you what? I'll send some guards out to look for Mothball while you meet your cousins at the rendezvous point. After you take Cadance to the Crystal Empire, then you and the others meet us back here and see if Mothball has been found or not."

Screwball smiled, "Thank you, Aunt Twilight. I just hope he's safe."

"Well, I want to make sure you're safe. How else will you get home if you're not?"

The Earth pony smirked, "Don't worry. I'll find a way."

Just like that, she teleported out of view in a yellow flash. To her surprise, Screwball found that she was at the edge of the tundra…the wrong end!

Screwy muttered, "Oh, terrific. Now the curse is short-circuiting my powers. Looks like I'll have to take the long way. I just hope I don't freeze into ice."

Not wanting to risk levitating, Screwball merely raced across the tundra, though the cold was sapping much of her strength. One or two times she stumbled, but she always managed to get back on track. By the time she made it to Goati Desert, she was shivering violently from both the running and the curse progressing. She was so tired that she collapsed just where the snow ended and the sand began. She practically pulled herself into the warm desert as she tried to catch her breath. She checked her hooves for any signs of frost, but luckily found none.

A distant voice then called out, "Screwball?"

A feminine voice followed, "Screwball, is that you?"

Screwy turned her head to her left and saw two silhouettes emerging from the horizon. She thought, I really hope I'm not hallucinating. 

She barely lifted her head and chest up to see the figures rushing towards her. Much to her delight, it was Cadance and Shining Armor!

Cadance ran to Screwball's side and asked in concern, "Are you all right?"

Screwball weakly remarked, "I just ran a marathon through Elk Point Tundra. Why wouldn't I be?"

Shining Armor said to Cadance, "It's the curse. She used a lot of her strength just to get across the snow."

"Where are my cousins?"

Cadance said sadly, "They got carried away by a wind. We don't know where they are."

"But I was supposed to take you all to the Crystal Empire."

"How about this? I'll carry you while I'm flying across the tundra."

Shining Armor nodded, "I'll run until we get to the plains."

After Cadance used her magic to levitate a weak Screwball off the ground, she flew up into the air while Shining Armor began to trot across the tundra.

Screwball said weakly, "I really hope my cousins are safe."