//------------------------------// // Chapter 36 // Story: Crown of Winter // by CartoonNerd12 //------------------------------// "Are you sure you're up to this?" Gem asked Screwball. "Yes. It's time to get on with my life, and I need to fix things between you and Seam." Gem gave her cousin a grateful hug. Screwy then rubbed her hooves, "Here goes nothing…" Then, in one bright flash, a colt appeared before them, looking confused. "Huh? What? How did I get here?" "Seam!" Gem wrapped her hooves around him. "Uh…" he slowly backed away. "I don't understand… You said you never wanted to see me again." Screwy spoke up, "That was my doing…You see, Seam, I hypnotized Gemstone. I was petty and jealous towards you two." "You… hypnotized her…?" he found it hard to believe. Screwy then went to his face and her eyes swirled around, causing his own eyes to swirl. "Now I command you to do a silly dance!" Seam complied and started to dance funny. "And… stop!" she commanded. He did and the spell ended. He looked confused again and said, "Did I just do something against my will?" Screwball said, "You did, and it's proof that Gem's actions were not her own. In fact, while I was hypnotizing her, she tried to fight against the idea of sending you away!" He looked at the mare that held his heart. "You did?" he asked in intrigue. "I tried so hard! I never wanted to send you away in the first place. I regretted it the moment it happened. I care too much for you, Seam…" "The truth is… even though I was heartbroken, I still thought of you and I never stopped caring about you. Maybe deep down, I knew something wasn't right… but I knowing now what really happened… I care too much to let you go, Gem…" Screwy hung her head in shame, "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness… but I want to say that I'm really, really sorry for ever doing this to the two of you in the first place…" Gem told Seam, "She really is sorry… and you'd be surprised how sorry… I already forgave my cousin, but it would mean a lot to me if you could do the same…" "Well… seeing how she came clean with the truth… and now that I have you back, I can look past this…" He extended his hoof to Screwball. She looked at it in surprise, but happily took it in the end as they shook. Jewel stared at the blank piece of paper in front of her and sighed, not sure where to start. Should she apologize? Should she ask him to meet her? Should she just go to him? With another heavy sigh, she just wrote. Asher, I know I'm the last pony you want to hear from, but I have to talk to you! Please reply. Jewel. She blew fire on it and waited. When nothing came, she felt it was a lost cause and decided to leave when a note came before her. It read: Look out your window… She did look and to her delightful surprise, he was there waving at her! She rushed out to the balcony and landed in his arms. They spun around for a bit before gazing into each other's eyes. Then with tears in her eyes, she confessed. "I thought you would never want to see me again…" "And I thought you never want to see me…" he admitted. "But I just had to come. I've been hiding out waiting for the right moment to show myself. When I received your letter, I was surprised." "Asher, listen to me closely: I have just been on a great adventure by going to a different timeline!" "What?!" "It's true, and in that world… you didn't exist…" He gaped at this information. "And there's a reason why in this world you do…" After what seemed like hours, Jewel finished explaining and said, "And that is why you and I were destined to be together, Asher. Without that tornado, we never would have been born and we never would have met… More than ever now, I want to be your mate, because I can't live without you, my prince. I hope that maybe you feel the same way…" After a long pause, he finally said, "I do feel the same way… Days after our fight, I found myself feeling miserable without you… Finally, after I talked to my mom, she told me to go ahead and end the family tradition." Jewel gasped, "Did she really say that?" He nodded, "She told me I should lead my own life. The only reason she did the Gauntlet when it was her turn was because she had a stricter upbringing, but she wanted me to feel free to make my own choices. She could care less if I mated with a pony. If your dad can do it, so can I." "Well… if you still want to do the Gauntlet, I won't stop you. All I want is our future together. That's all I ever wanted with you." He smiled and held her closer to his lips as he uttered, "I waited a long time to say this… My beloved mate, Apple Jewel…" They kissed, sealing their union. Back on Marendelle, LB had Rock Salt blindfolded as she led him somewhere. "Where are you taking me?" "Well, it won't be a surprise if I told you!" She saw a pole ahead, "Watch out. Pole in the way!" She helped him dodge it. Then she stopped in front of a dock where a collection of jewels was in front of them. "Here we are!" she removed his blindfold. He looked on in shock. "Lil, I know you want to reward me and all, but you don't have to do that!" "What? Can't a mare do something for her coltfriend?" "Coltfriend?" "Oh… do you not want…?" she sounded disappointed. "No! No, I was just surprised, that's all. I didn't think you would want to start so soon." "Rocky - Oh, I mean, Rock Salt…" "Tell you what? You can call me Rocky. I'd rather have my marefriend give me a nickname than any pony else." She squealed, "You are the best! I could kiss you!" She caught herself, "I could… I mean, I'd like to, may I? We may? I mean, may we? Wait, what?" He kissed her cheek, "We may…" She didn't waste a second. "Married?!" the parents gaped in the Canterlot throne room. "You want to get married?!" Twilight questioned the couples in front of her. Starling stared lovingly at Pen, "Yes, Mother. I cannot see myself with anyone else." Pen spoke, "Your Majesty, I realize it's too soon, but in Maretonia, it is demanded that a wedding takes place the moment the couple is affianced." Cannon nodded, "It's true, and my parents will want me to marry Cotton the minute we get there, but we wanted to do a wedding ceremony here for her entire family. It's the least I can do…" he smiled at his bride. She smiled in return. Applejack addressed her daughter, "And why didn't you tell us you were seeing someone already?" Jewel sighed, "I guess I didn't know how… and you seemed keen for me to meet other ponies that I didn't know what to say." Spike said, "Well… it's our fault for not asking what you kids wanted…" Twilight nodded as she looked at every one of their grown-up children in the room, "We've been thinking about what happened to you recently and we realize…" She glanced at her sisters, who nodded. "…that we cannot prevent bad things from happening to you. You've got take your own risks and live out your lives the way you want it to… It was a hard thing to admit, but we cannot stand in the way any longer. If you want to get married, then go for it!" she beamed. The couples and the other kids were shocked but happy to hear this. Then Pinkie started crying out of happiness. "Our baby is getting married, Cheese!" "I know!" he cried too, causing Cotton to comfort him. "Oh, Daddy… Mommy…" she hugged them. Spike and Applejack hugged their daughter as Spike told Asher, "You're lucky that we met before, because I don't trust just anyone with my Jewel. As long as you can make her happy, I won't hold anything against you." Asher smiled, "Don't worry. Dragons mate for life, so I know that we'll be very happy together." AJ started shedding small tears, "My little baby is all grown up…" "Oh, Mom…" Jewel hugged her mother tight. Flash, Twilight, and Fire Spark faced Star and her fiancé. "I will admit I'm surprised that you would want to marry that quickly," said her brother. "You were always the sensible one." Flash commented, "But thankfully, she's smart enough to know what colt is good for her. You have my full support, honey…" "Thank you, Daddy! That's means a lot!" She embraced him and her mother and brother shortly joined in. Then with Twilight's urging, they got Pen in the family hug too. Pretty soon, the entire room congratulated the soon-to-be newlyweds and were chatting away about wedding plans when a guard burst into the room and went straight to Twilight. "Your Highness! We have just received word that there's been some disturbance at the Changeling Castle." Twilight furrowed her brow, "What kind of disturbance?" "We're not sure, just that you have been requested to come immediately to check it out." "Very well." Screwball had heard this and saw it as an opportunity. She went to her aunt, "Aunt Twilight, may I accompany you on this trip?" Twilight felt unsure and found Discord and Fluttershy looking at them as they seemed unsure, too. Finally, she decided, "Alright, but your parents have to come with us."