Spirit One: Cassandra
Rainbow Dash stared at the bear in front of her. She remembered what this bear had told her, what it did to the sword she had found. She was worried, stealing her shoulders Rainbow Dash walked forward saying. “You still have a purpose. Even in this place.”
“And what is that?” the bear asked a mixture of curiosity and doubt. Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her shoulder saying. “Teaching me, apparently. I mean did you see how awesome you were? You threw a boulder at me with a single paw! I’ve only seen dragons do that. You also took the time to show how I couldn’t wield a large clunky sword and turned it into an awesome one! You’re just the bear who isn’t afraid to hold back on voicing your opinion. So I could go to you showing my awesome tricks!”
The bear stared at Rainbow Dash before giving an eye roll. Rainbow felt both offended and impressed with the action. She rocked back and forth on her hooves before saying. “So my name is Rainbow Dash. Is there something I can call you besides Bear?”
“My name….” the bear looked at the ground, her brows furrowing. “I can not remember it.”
“We’ll get there.” Rainbow told her, she found her first challenge while she was here. “So, why don’t you like this place?”
“I… I was hoping to move on after I died. Yet something happened, one I thought was my….” the bear shook her head at the mix up correcting herself. “A companion of the Inquisition, in desperation he killed us. Some believe it was so we would not have to face the horrors of what he was going to do.”
“What do you think?” Rainbow Dash asked, tilting her head back to look at the green and yellow sky. The bear walked to stand beside her. She was quiet before saying. “I am not sure. I do believe he did what he thought was right, but in his desperation ignored all else. He wanted the world he knew back, I would have done the same and I almost had it for a time. Until I found out the truth of my world, that what I was… was a lie. He told me to determine which parts of myself to discard and which to keep. I guess in the end he could not decide to keep the world he was in at the time or bring back the world he had sealed away in anger.”
“He… killed you?” Rainbow Dash her eyes widening in horror as she tried to process that. “He was your friend!”
“Yes, I was angry at first too, but I remember what he had told me. It was like he did not want me to turn out like him. Desperate and starving for something that was no more. I think by instinct I just wanted to move on. To let myself fade and just become a spirit who helps others,” the bear shook her head once again. “Instead I was somewhere in between, lost but not malicious. I am not a demon nor the spirit I wanted to be.”
Rainbow Dash frowned before attempting to wrap her wing around the bear’s back saying. “You’re something better. You are you and I wouldn’t want you to change.”
“We just met,” the bear pointed out dryly and Rainbow Dash laughed. “Yeah! I know! But becoming friends doesn’t take years, it takes those few short moments to realize. ‘Hey this person is pretty awesome! I want to become friends with them.’ Plus you were a commander of sorts, so that makes you similar to a lot of my heroes. Why wouldn’t I want to be friends with my heroes?”
The bear let out a small chuckle before hiding it. Rainbow Dash laughed as well before flying in the air. “I get that the past hurts to remember. But burying it deep inside doesn’t help either. It just causes the wounds they cause to grow and become more… uh….”
“Festered?” the bear offered and Rainbow Dash bit her lip as she tried to think of the word before saying. “I was going to go for gross, festered works too.”
The bear couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore causing Rainbow Dash to grin. A large paw tapped her back lightly, the force causing her to stumble a bit. She looked at the bear once again who coughed. “Apologies, I should have expected those words to come from you. Yet it was still refreshing all the same. Thank you Rainbow Dash.”
“No problem.” Rainbow told her, unsure as to what part was funny but glad she got a laugh. It didn’t suit the appearance of the massive bear with spikes. Rainbow Dash found she couldn’t care less. Despite the grumpiness and rough exterior of the bear she had a kind heart. She was honorable and honest, loyal to her friends and her faith, had a buried sense of humor, and did not hold back on her comments apparently. Rainbow smiled, if she worked at this one she knew the bear would become a great friend.
“Well do you remember anything else?” Rainbow Dash asked and the bear frowned, wrinkling a bit. “I was once known as a Seeker of truth, a commander, a warrior. I did what I thought was right, only to find out that the organization I worked for had fallen. I committed horrors in the name of justice and peace. She was there for me though, the Inquisitor, she understood what I was going through and listened. Despite how rough she was she would stand beside her friends and just be there for them. She reminded me that I did not serve the Seekers, I served the Divine, I followed my faith, I was more than what they were. She encouraged me to do what was right in the end.”
“This Inquisitor sounds like a cool person… why isn’t she here?” Rainbow asked and the bear looked away shaking her head responding. “We do not know. We searched this place for her, high and low, yet there has been no sign. Even Fen’Harel looked.”
“Is Fen’Harel the one who…” Rainbow Dash didn’t want to finish that thought. Yet the bear’s brow furrowed again as she said. “I do not remember, he has always been here. Always watching over us but never approaching. Well except for one. Apologies, I still cannot remember their names.”
“Take your time.” Rainbow told her before sitting down. “Fen’Harel is the giant wolf hanging around Twilight, right?”
“Twilight is the light purple colored one with the wings and the horn?” the bear asked and Rainbow Dash nodded her head. “Then yes, that is Fen’Harel.”
Rainbow made a little humming sound under her breath pushing some dirt with her hooves. The bear sat down next to her deep in thought. The silence wasn’t awkward as it could have been but it was still odd. The bear looked up at the sky whispering. “Seeker… he would always call me Seeker, but that wasn’t my name.”
“What was that?” Rainbow looked at the bear who stood up saying. “Seeker was a nickname as well as a title, the nickname was given to me by… someone. It always annoyed me, however it struck a name. A name familiar, one that I went by.”
A large grin spread across Rainbow’s face as she also climbed to her feet as the bear finally remembered. “My name is Cassandra Pentaghast.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Cassandra.” Rainbow Dash tapped the bear’s shoulder with her hoof. “I’m glad to have you by my side.”
“As am I, Rainbow Dash,” Cassandra replied with a nod of her head. “We have many more memories to uncover and I have a lot to teach you.”
“This might be the first time I’ve ever said this, let the learning begin! What’s my first lesson?” Rainbow Dash asked and Cassandra looked at her saying. “Discipline.”
Rainbow Dash felt a pull as she groaned, hanging her head. “Really?”
“Yes, though that will happen later, now it is time for you to wake up,” Cassandra said as Rainbow felt herself get pulled back into reality.