Crown of Winter

by CartoonNerd12

Chapter 16

They reached the hut and Screw Ball knocked on the door. When the door started to open, she expected to see the wise zebra. Instead, she saw to her horror…

"A changeling!" she gasped, giving off a scowl and pouncing the changeling with green eyes, cobweb hair, and had a taller height than regular changelings.

"Hey!" he cried out.

"What are you doing here?! And what have you done with Zecora?!"

"Get off of me and I will tell you!"

"You think we would trust a changeling? Especially one that looks like the queen herself?!"

His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the strange pony with curly hair and swirly eyes, which he found to be mesmerizing. "How… how did you know that?"

"I met her once."

"Look, I know my mom isn't Miss Popular with the ponies…"

"Your mom?!" the cousins gaped behind Screwy.

Screw Ball was surprised too, but it also made her distrust this changeling more than ever. "The Queen of the Changelings is your mother?"

He sighed, "Yes. She is…"

"So that would make you the Prince of Changelings…"

He scoffed, "I'm not the prince of anything… My name is Moth Ball."

"Moth Ball?"

Cotton exclaimed, "Hey! Just like your name is Screw Ball! What a coincidence!"

Dignity mentioned, "It is pretty uncanny."

Moth Ball said, "That may be so. Now can you please let me get up?"

"No way, not until we know where Zecora is!"

"She's out, all right?! But she'll be back with more ingredients for the potions!"

"Yeah, right! You're lying!"

"I am not!"

Fire pointed, "Screwy, why would he? Since he is a changeling, he could have easily impersonated Zecora and drain our love at this point…"

Star took over, "Instead, he remained his true self. So why would he lie if he's not even trying to hurt us?"

"I'm not!" Moth Ball insisted, "I don't feed on love!"

"Likely story!" Screwy lowered her face to him, "All changelings feed on love!"

A voice came, "Not this one. From the hive, he has run."

They turned around and saw, "Zecora!"

"That is indeed my identity, but how is it that you know me?"

Whirl facehoofed and sighed deeply, "Great. It's happening all over again…"

"Zecora ." spoke Starling, "We need your help. The Windigos took Snow Pea and tried to get her to erase Hearth's Warming. But when she destroyed the day of a tornado instead, we arrived here in an alternate universe. Since we knew you before in a different timeline, we just know you'll have the solution."

The cousins nodded heads.

Moth Ball questioned, "Are they telling the truth?"

Zecora grabbed a bottle, "We shall soon see, my effendi." She then put the green salve on each of the cousins. The ponies gave a strange look when the salve glowed. "Ah. What they speak is true, even though they came out of the blue. The clock now takes another chime, for we are in a different flow in the river of time."

Mothy gaped.

---

Once Zecora had them all sit for tea, she explained how she and Moth Ball met.

"Moth Ball was on his first hunt so clean as ordered by his mother, the queen. Over the forest, he did fly, and it was me he came by. When he did not want to feast on my affection, he knew he had to avoid the queen's detection. From the Hive, he would be shamed, and forever marred would be his name. I offered him a place to stay in mercy and appreciation and I helped him satisfy his appetite through my many potions."

Moth Ball said, "I can never go back knowing I was different from them…"

Screwy felt her heart leap all of a sudden. She knew exactly what he meant. Seeing how her cousins had found someone made her feel so different from them, and that included the rest of her family.

Zecora saw the white streaks in the cousins' and Rock Salt's mane, "And you have been cursed by Windigos, I see. Is this accurate, Snow Pea?"

Snow Pea solemnly nodded, "It's my fault…"

LB objected, "It's not! It's the Windigos' for even choosing you to begin with!"

Fire Spark mentioned, "But it was our fault that she was taken to fulfill the prophecy."

Gemstone pointed, "But it wouldn't have been if a certain pony had just stayed out my love life…" She glared at Screw Ball.

She glared back, but that caused both their manes to whiten some more. They also felt a prick in their hearts, causing them to yelp.

"Gem, Screwy!" Apple Jewel proclaimed, "Don't fight! If you fight, then it will get worse!"

Zecora said, "It is true for both of you. The spell the Windigos cast will freeze your hearts very fast. But that's only if you have a grudge that is very difficult to budge. When fed by hatred, the ice will grow from your hearts and completely freeze you if your bonds are still torn apart."

Star asked, "What can we do to stop the freezing and how can we set the timeline right again?"

"Pardon my pun, but get to the heart. When did this resentment start?"

Cotton gestured, "Well… I think it all started when our moms made the proclamation…"

The Canterlot cousins each explained their side of the story while the Marendelle cousins, Rock Salt, and Moth Ball listened in.

Rock whispered to the twins, "Man, your cousins got some serious issues to work out."

LB overheard that and whispered intensely, "Hey, you don't see me criticizing your family…"

"Good thing, too. I don't have any siblings or cousins. I like being on my own. So I'm glad I don't have to deal with this kind of family drama every day."

"I think you're jealous that there's a lot of us and only one of you." Her mane grew white and so did his.

"Oh, great…" he sarcastically said.

Zecora took that to notice, "It would seem that your habit to offend started long before the curse happened." She addressed all of the cousins, "Since some of you don't feel as bitter as others do, you have a better chance at delaying the curse from coming through. But to those who are still feeling bitter, I suggest you keep away to calm yourselves and hopefully solve the issue. As for resetting the timeline, scatter across Equestria to find the mirror shards so fine. You must find the key to how the tornado fits your family's destiny. Once you find the shards connected to each family member, you must repair the mirror that was dismembered."

"But how will we be able to do that?" Snow Pea asked. "When I was forced to break the mirror that showed the first Hearth's Warming, nothing would be able to fix it. That's why the Windigos wanted it to be destroyed."

"Ah. But that's because that mirror was tied to ponies who have long since died."

"But who was connected to that mirror?" Rock Salt asked.

Zecora smiled, "The founders of this country, as held in history. But since you are connected to the shattered mirror, through only you can the rightful timeline be restored."

"But that's only if we find the reason for the tornado?" Whirl asked.

"Yes, no less."

"Looks like we're going to have split up in order to cover more ground." said Fire.

"Where do we even begin to search?" Roller questioned.

"Our parents. We need to see how this affected them."

"Grandpapa is a dark statue." said Cotton, "And… Cranky said Grandma Tia was still the queen of the land, and Aunt Rainbow went rogue. What do suppose he meant by that?"

Whirl stated, "Okay, let's think about it. Grandma Tia sent out that proclamation for our moms to marry other royalty because she didn't want them to fall in love and have Chrysalis track them down."

Moth Ball scoffed, "Well, that plan totally failed on Mom. Now that there's no love in the kingdom, she and her changeling army are starving." No matter how much he wanted to despise his mother, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for her.

Apple Jewel asked, "But where were our dads?" There was a stunned silence in the room until she repeated more quietly, "Where were our dads?"

Zecora said, "An excellent question, my young friend. You see, time is like a web with delicate odds and ends." She turned to Moth Ball and said, "Moth Ball, a visual aid so that the point will be made."

After he nodded, he began forming a cobweb out of green goo.

The zebra continued, "One event can start a chain reaction like gears. It can have influence that extends to years. Everything that happens from one moment would still be tied to that crucial event." When Moth Ball finished his web, Zecora said, "But rip even one thread from the web of time, and soon everything will unravel on a dime."

Moth Ball pulled out a gooey thread and the whole web collapsed.

Roller Blade asked, "So you're saying that was our timeline when the day of the tornado was erased?"

Little Button remarked, "That tornado must be pretty special."

Suddenly, more white streaks appeared in the ponies' manes except for Screwball, Gemstone, Little Button, and Rock Salt.

Snow Pea, growing ever more urgent about the situation, said, "We need to hurry! If we don't find those shards soon, you're all going to freeze to death!"

Moth Ball asked as he pointed at her cutie mark, "But you have snow powers, don't you? Why can't you lift the curse on the others?"

She sighed, "The Windigos' magic is much more powerful than mine. I may have gotten my powers from them, but they are still mighty foes dangerous to even face. They're not like you and me. We're living. But the Windigos are spirits, forces of nature. There is a way to destroy them, but I'd have to destroy time, too."

Zecora asked, "Are you sure for the prophecy, you have to follow it to a T?"

"Yes. Olaf the Great prophesied that for the Windigos to be gone forever, I'll have to strike my hoof three times and destroy time. Those were his exact words."

Screwball nodded, "It's true. We were there."

Zecora said, "Your point I see, but know this, Snow Pea. Prophecies like yours have hidden meanings. They might be worded one way, but what if they mean other things?"

Snow Pea said, "That's what Olaf told me, too!"

The zebra winked, "Then I suggest that you please take his advice and mine for ease."

Suddenly, Apple Jewel began to glow. Moth Ball asked uneasily, "Umm, why is she glowing?"

Jewel grunted as she scratched herself, "It's…the dragon…call! The Dragon Lord…is summoning…every dragon to *ergh!* the Dragon Lands! Must be another Gauntlet!"

Screwball and Little Button grinned nervously at Moth Ball and Rock Salt, "It's a long story."

Zecora asked, "If I am correct, you are a halfling, I suspect?"

Apple Jewel answered, "My dad's a dragon. He was…found as an egg and…taken in by our mothers and Grandma Tia. Do you know of anyone named Spike?"

"You won't like the answer you'll get, but it is 'no', I regret."

Moth Ball said, "Same here."

Apple Jewel sighed, "That's okay. Now I know that tornado had something to do with it."

Dignity suggested, "How about this? I'll take you to the Dragon Lands while the others look for the shards?"

Cotton Candy jumped up and down, "Ooh! Ooh! I'm coming with you!"

Gemstone said, "Maybe it's best that I should. Besides, I need to keep away from Screwball to calm down my resentment towards her."

Zecora held up her hoof and said, "Perhaps I was mistaken before. Being apart from each other could fuel hatred more. I think resolving matters with each other is the better path." She turned to Moth Ball and said, "Moth Ball, perhaps you could accompany the two girls just so they don't build wrath."

Moth Ball said, "Okay. Whatever you say, Zecora."

Gem and Screwy glared at each other. Thankfully for the others, no further white appeared in the girls' manes yet.

Author's Note:

CN12: I'm back! I wrote this chapter with K5's help on Zecora's lines. I love her character but... *Bangs head on table* Always... with... the rhyming! Sighs... And a special thank you to DisneyFanatic2364 for allowing us to use her character: Moth Ball. You really are the best, DF!

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

You couldn't bring yourself to pair Screwball with somepony else, could you?

[CartoonNerd12]

7352548 Nope. I really couldn't. Long live ScrewMoth!

[Godslittleprincess]

7352557 ScrewMoth aka Love at First Beatdown.

[Skye Mist]

Haha! Screwy couldn't be paired up with anyone else bc OTP is obviously ScrewMoth.

Seriously, though, I want to see how that tornado was so important.

[Godslittleprincess]

Wait. Hold on. In this alternate timeline, the changelings are free to travel. In the prime timeline, all of them, or at least the ones we know of, are imprisoned, which begs the question of how Screwball and Mothball are going to meet in the prime timeline. Is Mothball going to be hiding over at Zecora's place in the prime timeline?

[Mythic Eithne 597]

7352548
To be honest, I really don't think I could imagine Screwball with anyone else now. Even if someone else came up with a new ship for her, I really don't think it will be as well received, ScrewMoth is just a great ship overall.

But yay glad he's here although I kind of wonder how this is going to work if and when they finally set the timeline right, I suppose Screwball's going to have to go out searching for him in her own timeline or something?
I'm waiting for that moment where this timeline totally screws with their relationships, like are the boys' marefriends just going to totally rebuff them if they run into each other on the streets of Canterlot?
Really enjoying this looking forward to seeing where this goes