//------------------------------// // Cassandra gets angry // Story: Cassandra's Tangled Adventure // by Acceptable_trash //------------------------------// Las Pegasus - Downtown A few minutes earlier Rainbow Dash knocked on the apartment door as fast as she could, excited to see the face that lives there. She had a three-day weekend vacation and decided to visit her old pal Free Fall who lived in Las Pegasus. A bright magenta face opened up the door, smiling at the pony waiting behind it. "Rainbow Dash! Oh, it's so good to see you!" She snorted as Free Fall hugged her. "Uh yeah! Who wouldn't want to see me?" Free Fall punched her shoulder. "Oh don't get full of yourself. Tell me, what's a pony like you doing in Las Pegasus?" Dash brushed her rainbow mane back. "Oh nothing, I just got A THREE DAY VACATION!" Free Fall giggled. "Oh please, you're one of the fastest ponies I know, every day is a vacation for you." "Well yeah obviously, but I wanted to hang out with you and check out the new rides!" Dash answered. Free Fall put a hoof to her chest. "How flattering." she grabbed Rainbow's hoof. "Well? Let's get going, the days already halfway gone!" The two raced out of the apartment complex, flying out into the streets. "Hey! Race you to the ferris wheel!" Free Fall shouted. Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You're-" "AAAAAAAAAAAAA-" The two pegasuses slowed to a halt, staring at the library where the scream came from. "That doesn't sound good." Free Fall said uncertainly. "Yeah, it doesn't." Dash agreed, flying down to the library's entrance. "Whoa, what are you doing?" Free Fall hissed, following her down to the ground. "I'm an Element of Harmony, Free Fall. I'm going to help." She responded, turning to her friend. "You coming or not?" Free Fall nodded, feeling guilty for her reluctance and entered the library after Rainbow Dash. "HARPY!" The two pegasuses quickly made their way to the back of the library and froze. There they saw a grey griffin bleeding out on the ground, dying in the arms of another, larger grey griffin. Three guards stood to the side, one had a crazed grin on his muzzle. It barely took more than second for Dash to connect the dots between the armored stallion and the bloodied spear embedded in the wall. what. Before they could properly react a white pony standing to the side suddenly exploded in a bright of golden light, leaving a tall, bipedal creature with bright blue hair in its place. The burning anger radiating from the creatures smoking green eyes paralyzed Rainbow Dash and her friend, leaving them unable to do anything else but watch with astonishment and horror after that. Las Pegasus - Library Present time Everyone looked at Cassandra with fear. What they once thought was a simple pale white pony with light blue hair was actually a furious bipedal being of dark armor with bright blue hair that burned like the sun and green eyes that oozed purple smoke and hatred. Her body seemed to light up the dark corner of the library, casting everything in various shades of blue. Everyone in the room watched with dread as Cassandra began to float off the ground and her cloak fluttered behind her with some unknown wind. They could catch a glimpse of something blue and yellow glowing on her chest with a swirl of color. Everyone but Owl cowered, only he knew what was happening and even he felt uncertain. An echoing voice boomed through the air, shattering anything made of glass in a half-mile radius. "FLOWER GLEAM AND GLOW." They managed to tear their eyes off the bewildering sight to see the bloody body of Harpy also rise into the air and towards the former pony. "LET YOUR POWER SHINE." The blood pouring out of Harpy began and to slow and disappear, the blood on the floor evaporating. "MAKE THE CLOCK REVERSE." Anemone watched with amazement as the hole in Harpy's chest began to stitch itself together, starting with the bone of the ribcage and ending with her black skin under her feathers. Nobody noticed how Obsidian's body began to shimmer, or how his eyes glazed over. "BRING BACK WHAT ONCE WAS MINE." Tears fell freely from Ivory's eyes as he cried, his gaze locked on the griffin floating in the air. "Harpy?" "WHAT ONCE WAS MINE." Golden light burst from what appeared to be cracks in Cassandra's armor as her hair became a bright blonde, the rocks caging Iron Hoof, Frosted Tip, and Sleet turned yellow. Harpy's body also began to glow, briefly turning a warm yellow before slowly descending to the floor. Obsidian's eyes returned to their normal state and his body no longer gleamed with a strange light. Iron Hoof watched as Cassandra lowered to the floor, standing on her strange two legs as her hair returned to its bright blue. "Ugg..." Harpy groaned, shifting her wings and clutching her head. "What..." Ivory rushed forward and hugged Harpy tightly, sobbing into her feathers. "Oh sweetie, I-I thought you were gone." Harpy paused, blinking her eyes slowly. "Dad?" Anemone, Obsidian, and Owl watched as Cassandra flicked her wrist, making the stone cage holding Iron Hoof stretch to lay before her. "Violence for violence is the law of the beasts." she spoke, the evil red in her eyes stretching out to consume the glowing green. Everyone turned to Cassandra when she spoke, feeling a pit of dread grow in their stomach. Frosted tip and Sleet Sheet stared as she reached out her hand and laid it on the head of the trembling unicorn that was their commander. "Sadly for you, I am a Monster." She broke Iron Hoof's horn off his head at the base with an audible snap, making him scream out in horrible agony as blood spurt out of the wound. The blue pegasus that stood to the side gasped while her friend tried to stop the bile climbing up her throat. "And I am going to do so much Worse." Cassandra gripped the makeshift bars of Iron Hoof's cage, a low chant began to flow from her lips as a beautiful melody that almost betrayed its dark nature. Almost. The loveliness of the song only served to make it sound all the more intimidating. "WITHER AND DECAY." The stone holding Iron Hoof turned dark. "END THIS DESTINY." Blood began to seep from his eyes. "BREAK THESE EARTHLY CHAINS." His screams became muffled as he began choking on his own blood, slowly suffocating in his own fluids as his lungs began to fill. "AND BIND THIS SPIRIT ETERNALLY." Mold raced across his coat and ate away at his flesh, letting his intestines spill from behind his skin before also deteriorating. "ETERNALLY." His screams became cut off as the muscle around his neck disappeared, leaving a skeleton trapped in the rock. The smoke wafting from her eyes dissipated and returned to their electric blue color. Frosted Tip and Sleet Sheet pushed themselves as far back as they could against the yellow stone cage, trying their best to avoid Cassandra's wrath. Owl was alarmed by her actions but flew to her anyways, landing on her shoulder when the crackling blue magic stopped jumping around her armor. Although she didn't show it, Cassandra felt shocked, even when she faced Zhan Tiri she never wanted to kill her, just stop her from destroying Corona. But this... She enjoyed this. She liked seeing the light fade from his eyes. And it scared her. There was no denying it now, she was a monster, she said so herself. "You killed him..." Everyone twisted to the voice, seeing the cyan pegasus with rainbow hair that interrupted the short silence. The purple mare next to her slowly backed away from the scene but the rainbow one didn't care. "You killed somepony. Y-You murderer..." She croaked, narrowing her eyes at Cassandra. "You monster." "HOW DARE YOU!" Ivory shouted, standing up and stepping over to Cassandra's side. "SHE SAVED MY DAUGHTERS LIFE AND AVENGED HER BY DECIMATING HER KILLER IN THE MOST PAINFUL WAY I COULD EVER IMAGINE!" Cassandra winced at his words, just because she enjoyed it didn't mean she supported it. He spat on Iron Hoof's skeleton. "I SAY SHE DID THE WORLD A FAVOR!" Anemone also stepped forward, followed by Obsidian. "Yeah! That guy tried to kill all of us! Even his own fellow guards!" Rainbow dash stepped back, surprised by their outburst. "But-" "She's a SAVIOR, not a MONSTER!" Harpy shouted at the shocked pegasus, finally getting up on her feet. "Like my dad said she SAVED MY LIFE!" "IT KILLED SOMEPONY!" One of the two burly ponies that came in with Ivory stomped his hoof. "WE DON'T CARE! HE WAS HARDLY A PONY IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Cassandra felt surprised, these creatures saw what she truly was and accepted her anyway, even after witnessing what she could do. She thought about why she was here in the first place. She wanted to find a way back home and felt lost when she discovered it didn't exist. But now? Perhaps she could find a home here. Rainbow Dash was about to shout back but relented and glanced behind her, as if to find support from her friend only to see that she was long gone. She then looked between each creature before her, searching their eyes to see for herself if they believed what they said. Their stubborn gaze said it all. Rainbow Dash finally locked eyes with Cassandra, trying to find a monster under her mask of unreadable emotion. Cassandra looked away, unable to look her in the eyes. Despite the support of the others she still felt horrible. Rainbow dash took her refusal to meet her gaze as a reason to attack. She flared her nostrils and scraped her hoof against the ground before lunging at Cassandra. Cassandra merely raised her hands to protect her face, she felt as though she deserved her anger. When nothing collided with her she lowered her arms. Anemone, Harpy, Ivory, and Obsidian stood over the struggling mare, snarling at her. "Let me GO!" She shouted, trying her best to escape. "It KILLED somepony that's NOT OKAY!" "And what are you going to do huh?! Are you gonna attack her?! You gonna hurt her, try to break her bones?!" Obsidian growled in a strange vibrating voice, finally speaking up for the first time. "Tell me how is that okay?! Explain how beating up someone makes you the better mare?!" Rainbow Dash froze, considering his words. She realized she couldn't answer. After a moment the four backed off but didn't stop glaring at the blue pegasus. "I suggest you leave before you do something you regret." Harpy said coldly. The whole group nodded in agreement. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes but listened, flying away and out of the building. She flew out the door and crashed into familiar golden armor, groaning as she cradled her snout. "Ow..." "Stand aside citizen, this area is under investigation." A rough unicorn stallion said, pushing her aside. "RAINBOW DASH!" Free Fall cried, tackling her friend in a hug. "Oh Celestia, I was so scared! Are you okay!" She grabbed her friend's head in her hooves, tilting it to check for damage. "Oh please tell me your okay!" Rainbow Dash pushed her off. "Stop it, stop it, just STOP!" Free Fall frowned, looking concerned. "What's wrong, Dash?" Rainbow Dash shifted her hooves as she watched the guards file into the building, feeling conflicted and confused. "I... I got to go." Fee Fall's ears dropped. "Dash-" "I GOT TO GO!" She shouted, regretting her tone when she saw her friends face. "I'm sorry." She said quietly before flying away as fast as she could. She felt so strange, so guilty. She needed to talk to her friends, maybe they could help her. Twilight was smart, she would probably justify her reaction and tell her she was right to attack. She agreed that killing anypony was bad. Free Fall watched as Rainbow Dash disappeared, tears slipping from her eyes as a guard escorted her out of the area. What did she do wrong?