Crown of Winter

by CartoonNerd12

Chapter 15

THUD! KA-WHUMP!

The crash landing was harder than the ponies expected. After all, they had just gotten out of a wormhole. A really strong wormhole. Fortunately, they didn't attain much injury save for some bruises and scrapes.

Starling groaned as she slowly rose from the ground, "Is everypony okay?"

Whirl Wind waved his hoof in the air as he grunted, "We're okay. We're okay."

When everypony got up, Little Button embraced her sister and said, "Snow Pea, thank goodness we saved you!"

Rock Salt said, "I'm pretty sure she saved us."

Skater agreed, "Again."

Apple Butter asked, "But what about Equestria? Is it safe, too?"

Before anypony could respond, Gemstone said while pointing up to the sky, "Guys, look."

They all looked upwards and were surprised to see the sky being cloudy.

Snow Pea fretted, "Oh no, oh no, oh no! What if erasing that tornado wasn't enough to stop the winter from coming?"

Fire Spark said, "I was wondering exactly what day you erased. I knew you couldn't have just picked any day while knowing it could do great harm."

"Of course. Erasing that tornado might've saved many ponies and their homes."

LB smiled, "I knew you were all good, sis."

Roller Blade asked, "Yeah. Just one quick question: where exactly are we?"

They looked all around the wide, barren plain until Cotton jumped up and said, "Ooh! Ooh! It's the field where we always play outside of Ponyville!"

The cousins were agape as they realized she was right.

Dignity said, "You might be right, Cotton! I think it is the exact same field where we had picnics growing up."

Starling asked, "But why are there no flowers?"

Screwball asked while inspecting the dirt, "And why is the ground so…dry?"

Apple Jewel said, "But the snow hasn't even come yet. Why would the field be so dead if there's no snow?"

Fire Spark put a hoof to his chin and said, "Hmm…That's a very good question. Maybe we should head to Ponyville to find out."

The rest of the ponies agreed with him.

When they got to town, they couldn't help but notice that the atmosphere was a bit…dismal. The townsponies went about their day, but were less enthusiastic than usual. There was no lively chatter, only soft murmurs here and there. To the royals, everything seemed grayer now.

Whirl Wind asked, "Oh-kay, why is Ponyville acting strange all of a sudden?"

Gemstone said, "There's definitely less ponies here than there should be."

Rock Salt said as he pointed to something, "I think it might have something to do with those foreclosed homes."

The royals looked to where he was pointing and gasped. There were indeed many empty and boarded-up homes on every street.

When they all ran to one of the houses, Dignity exclaimed, "But I don't understand! Mother created a fund to save houses from foreclosure! Did something go terribly amiss that she never told us about?"

A grumpy voice then said, "I'll say somethin' went amiss!"

The ponies turned to see Cranky Doodle Donkey and his wife Matilda walking towards them. Cranky continued, "Everypony who lived in those homes couldn't pay the rent!"

Matilda pitied, "Oh, the poor dears had nowhere else to go after they were kicked out, so they left town."

Gemstone said, "But why? Mom started a fund just for ponies who were facing foreclosure!"

Cranky snorted, "What fund? There was no fund!"

The royals all exclaimed, "No fund?!"

Dignity said, "But Mom specifically set up a fund! Did it not go through this time?"

Cranky shot off, "'This time'? There never was a first time!"

Matilda calmed him, "Cranky, remember. Your blood pressure."

Fire Spark scratched his head, "But I don't understand. Those homes were lived in the last time we visited."

Cranky asked, "Last time? I reckon I never seen you in these parts before."

Starling went up to the donkeys and said, "Cranky, don't you remember us? We're Fire Spark and Starling, Twilight's kids."

Matilda said, "Twilight? As in Princess Twilight Sparkle?"

Fire Spark looked at his sister in confusion as he said, "Wait, 'Princess'?" He turned to the donkeys and said, "She became a queen 14 years ago."

Cranky shook his head, "Nope. The only queen in Canterlot is Celestia herself. That pony's never even considered steppin' down ever since five of her daughters got married and one of them went rogue."

Snow Pea asked, "Okay, so which daughter went rogue?"

"Why, Princess Rainbow Dash, of course." The ponies – especially Whirl Wind – were shocked to hear this. Cranky continued, "She was the last pony you'd expect to bail out on her country. She was supposed to be the loyal one. Yeah, when she made her clean getaway, she showed everyone just how 'loyal' she really was."

Whirl Wind began to protest as he flew up, "That's not true! My mom –" He was interrupted when a couple of his cousins pulled him down from the air.

Starling whispered, "Shh! I think it's best that we kept quiet about who our parents are until we can figure what's going on."

Whirl hissed, "But my mom would never betray Equestria like that!"

Apple Jewel said, "We know that. Aunt Rainbow is always loyal to the family."

Fire Spark said, "But something weird is going on. Maybe we should find out what exactly it is."

The cousins turned to the donkeys and Snow Pea said, "Thank you for the talk, but we have to be going. See you!"

Matilda waved as the ponies went past them, "I hope you'll have a great time in Ponyville."

Whirl whispered to his cousins, "Yeah, in the Ponyville we know."

When they were out of earshot, Cranky muttered to his wife, "They're a weird bunch."

Matilda said, "They did seem a little odd, but it's probably because we've never seen them before."

As the royals and Rock Salt trekked around town, they found it strange that nopony acknowledged them or even gave them a casual greeting.

Gemstone said, "Doesn't it seem odd that nopony even recognizes us or told us 'Good day, Your Highness' or 'Hello, Your Highness'?"

Screwball said, "Well, we don't exactly have royal clothes on, do we?"

Dignity said, "But we never wear fancy clothes when we're here in Ponyville. And ponies would know who we are because we were born into the royal family."

Cotton suggested, "Or it could have something to do with Snow Pea erasing the tornado shard and altering time."

Fire Spark's eyes gleamed in realization and he exclaimed, "Cotton, that's it! Time is a fragile thing like a mirror or an ice shard. I've read all sorts of time and time-travel theories, and all sources advise against meddling with actual events in history. It could distort the whole time flow."

Snow Pea retorted, "So are you suggesting that getting rid of the tornado was a bad thing? Nothing good could ever come from a tornado!"

"Well, we don't know that for sure. There's the whole butterfly effect going on. I read a story about ponies going back to the past and accidentally changing one small detail. That detail may be insignificant at first, but that one change to the equation could alter everything in time and space."

Apple Butter said, "You don't really think that's what happened, do you?"

Snow Pea explained, "The Windigos wanted me to erase the first Hearth's Warming because it would bring about eternal snow. If what Fire Spark says is true, then erasing any day would be extremely bad."

Dignity asked, "But how does one erase an entire day just like that? I wasn't even aware that the Windigos had that sort of power."

"They don't. You know the story A Hearth's Warming Tail? It's real. All of it." Her cousins were shocked to hear this. Snowy continued, "The Windigos wanted Snowfall Frost to erase Hearth's Warming, but they were thwarted when she changed for the better. When she threw out the potion she was going to use to cast the spell, the Windigos froze it and formed it into a gem." She pointed to the green gem on her tiara, "The gem right on my tiara."

Skater asked, "Well, how come they never used it?"

"They needed a living being to do it for them. They're spirits, not actual creatures."

Fire Spark said, "But still, if they're out there, they're likely to come after you and force you to return to the time stream."

Roller Blade said, "Well, if they do manage to re-capture Snowy, we'll be right there with her. She goes, we go."

Snow Pea smiled at that. "Thank you all for thinking of me, but I don't want you to risk your lives for me."

Screwy said, "Hey, it's what family does for family, right? Now, come on. Let's get to the Everfree Castle to find some answers."

Rock Salt said, "For the first time since we arrived at Yaket Range, you're finally talking sense."

---

The mild grey stallion said, "Okay, I take back my previous remark."

The royals stood at the edge of the ravine in shock. The Everfree Castle was in ruins and a rickety rope bridge was where the stone bridge once was.

Once they made it across, Starling asked in surprise, "What happened here?! It wasn't like this the last time we visited!"

Screwball said, "That's what we would like to know, too!"

Little Button asked, "But who would just come here and trash the castle?"

Rock Salt inspected the plant life on the walls of the wrecked castle and said, "Whatever happened here, it couldn't have been recent. It looked like the damage happened a long time ago. I mean, a really long time ago."

Fire Spark went over to him and also inspected the stones and vines. He told him, "You know, Rock Salt? You're right. These stones look like they've eroded away with time and vines and moss grew in place of what had been here before."

Apple Jewel asked, "So does that mean we're in the future?"

Skater put a hoof to her head and said, "Okay, now you're confusing me."

Screwball looked up at what turrets were still standing and noticed something was odd about them…or not odd. She asked, "Hey, guys? If we're in the future, then how come Dad's pinwheels aren't on the rods?"

The cousins gazed up at the bare turrets and knew that she was right.

Little Button shrugged nervously, "Maybe we're in the past?"

Whirl Wind said, "But that doesn't make any sense! We just saw Cranky and Matilda in Ponyville! Most of the residents we know were there."

Gem asked, "But why didn't they recognize us?"

Fire Spark said as he opened one of the double doors, "Let's go inside and hope we can find an answer."

As the ponies trotted inside, they saw that their home was unrecognizable with all of the holes, debris, and numerous cobwebs.

Apple Jewel remarked, "This place is so strange. I can't find anything in here that would make it familiar."

Gemstone pointed to a piece of patterned white material and said, "Look! I think that's one of Mother's doilies."

When she touched it, however, masses of star spiders crawled down the web and onto the floor. Most of the girls shrieked and got off the floor to evade the spiders. Fortunately, the spiders went past the ponies and disappeared into the darkness.

Gemstone added sheepishly, "Then again, maybe not."

---

They eventually got to the library, which was in serious disrepair. The ponies were shocked to find loads of books scattered around the vast room.

Starling breathed, "Who would have the gall to just throw books off their shelves?"

Skater said as she lifted a book in a pile, "Maybe they were looking for something."

Fire Spark said as he walked over to another pile of books, "I'll say." He looked at the books and found a common theme in all of them. "The books over here are written for spells and counter-spells."

Apple Butter said as she pointed to another heap of books, "So do these."

Little Button said as she stood over a third mound of books, "These, too!"

Cotton said as she held a book, "But what about this? This doesn't have anything to do with spells."

Starling looked at the cover and her eyes flew wide open. "Well, I'll be…This is the book of fairy tales our moms liked so much and thus read it to us."

Apple Jewel said as she grabbed a makeshift book, "Or how about this one? There are no words on the cover."

Dignity used his magic to grab the book and open it. He gasped and dropped the book.

Snow Pea asked, "Dignity, what's wrong?"

Dignity pointed to the contents of the book and said in shock, "The pictures. They're of our grandparents and our mothers when they were fillies."

The ponies then stood over the book and gasped in amazement. Dignity and some others took turns flipping the pages and finding more pictures of their mothers and grandparents.

Apple Jewel asked, "But I don't understand. Shouldn't they be in the royal scrapbook?"

Gem agreed, "Yes. They should be, not in this ratty old thing. Whoever crafted it had poor book-binding skills."

Star remarked, "Mom would be sorely ticked if she finds a book like this."

Snow Pea inspected the books in the piles again and asked, "Do you think whoever was rummaging through these books was looking for a way to end some kind of spell? I know I would just throw these books on the floor if I wanted to find a way to prevent the prophecy from coming true."

Screwball asked, "Did you try to find one before a few days ago?"

Roller Blade said, "You should see the library. It's chock full of new books now."

Snow Pea explained, "My parents and every attendant searched through every book again and again. When they couldn't find anything, they brought in new books. When that was unsuccessful, they borrowed books from other libraries and searched in those." She sighed, "Unfortunately, nothing could be found."

Fire Spark said as he pulled a chair to open the reading room, "Well, let's check the reading room for anything."

Rock Salt asked, "About what? Stopping the prophecy or finding clues about what's going on here?"

"Both."

When the two bookcases parted to reveal a doorway, the royals gasped at the sight before them. It looked like a pony was in the center of the reading room.

Little Button asked as she stepped up to the hunched-over silhouette, "Hello? Who are you?" She gasped when she got a closer look. She turned to the others and said, "Guys, it's not a pony. It's a statue made of dark crystal."

Dignity said as he inspected the statue, "But what would a statue be doing in the reading room?"

Rock Salt looked over the statue as he said, "Whoever made this must've been really good at their profession. I don't see any chisel marks."

Star squinted at the statue and said, "Does this statue look familiar to you guys?"

Gem said, "Now that you mention it, it has a stark resemblance to Grandpapa!"

Screwball pointed out, "But he doesn't have a curved horn like this guy does."

Gem glared at her and said, "I said it had a stark resemblance to him."

Suddenly, all the ponies gasped.

Screwball pointed to Gem's mane and said, "Um, Gem? Don't look now, but you have a streak of white in your mane."

Gem gasped, "I do?!"

Dignity ran over to a drawer as he said, "There's a mirror Mother always kept in here ever since she was little." He pulled out a compact mirror and held it up to Gem's face.

His sister shrieked when she saw the streak of white in her blue mane. "What's happening to me?!"

Snow Pea fretted, "I think it's the curse. The Windigos cursed you all because of your attitude towards one another. I don't know how long you'll have, but eventually, you'll all turn into ice. Hating each other will only hasten the process."

Fire Spark glanced at the book on the podium and said, "Maybe we can find something in here that can tell us how to at least stall the curse for a while."

He opened the book and flipped through the pages. Just then, a slip of paper fell out of the book.

Star used her magic to lift the paper as she said, "Wait a minute. What's this?" She read aloud, "'You have to understand that I had to do this. Since the curse could not be lifted, I did not want to endanger anypony should my powers get out of control. I am losing strength every moment I hold off the darkness within me. I have turned myself into crystal so I would no longer be a threat. Should you find this note, tell my sweet, sweet girls I love them ever so much and that I shall never forget them.

"'Forgive me, but this is the only way it could be. I'm so sorry, my love, but please do not let my deed be in vain. Everything I did was for you and the girls. Don't ever forget that. I shall love you always…'"

Star's eyes widened and she unconsciously dropped the note.

Fire Spark asked, "Star? What's wrong?"

Tears furiously filled her eyes as her voice trembled, "It's Grandpapa. He…he wrote it. He wrote the note."

As Star began weeping softly, the others looked at the note on the ground. Sure enough, Sombra's name was written at the bottom of the paper. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Apple Jewel breathed, "So that means…the statue is Grandpapa. He turned himself into crystal."

Cotton wept, "Grandpa…"

Most of the girls cried while the rest shed a few tears.

Whirl Wind said in a voice thick with emotion, "But I don't get it. Why wasn't the curse lifted?"

Dignity said, "Don't you remember? Our mothers broke the spell by proclaiming their love for him."

Fire Spark said, "But he wouldn't have left his castle if our dads hadn't convinced him to save our moms." When they realized something, he continued, "Except he didn't. Not this time."

The last two words he spoke sparked something in Snow Pea's mind. She said, "'This time'? Are you saying that we could be in an alternate timeline?"

The ponies all realized that she was right.

Gemstone exclaimed, "That makes complete sense! Why nopony recognized us, why the Donkeys claimed there was no foreclosure fund, and why Grandpapa is now a crystal statue!"

Starling said, "Exactly! Something must've happened to our fathers! If they didn't come to the castle to see Grandpapa, then where are they?"

Fire Spark said, "Since we don't know exactly where our dads are, maybe we should turn to Zecora for help. She might not recognize us, but perhaps she can help us."

The ponies' eyes flew wide open again and Screwball said as she pointed to Fire Spark, "Maybe in more ways than one."

Gem said, "You have a white streak in your mane, too!"

Fire Spark then said to all of them, "And so do all of you!"

At that moment, a white streak appeared in everypony's mane but Snow Pea's. The ponies gasped and fretted in worry.

Snow Pea turned to Fire Spark and said, "Lead the way."

Comments

[Skye Mist]

Tornado... tornado... if you excuse me, I'll be re-reading 'Midnight Dance' for details again...

[Godslittleprincess]

7352282 I've read this series about 5-6 times over, and I don't remember anything about a tornado.

[Skye Mist]

7352380 Well, now ya' tell me!

[Mythic Eithne 597]

So do the ponies have to perform an act of true love to thaw their frozen hearts?
Interesting, so in an alternate timeline Rainbow has gone rogue and Sombra has turned himself into a statue. So I suppose that the mane 6 didn't get together with their husbands, and got married off to protect them from Chrysalis in the end? Ooh this is good!