//------------------------------// // Chapter 42: The Mistaken Identity // Story: The Cassandra Chronicles // by CassandraMyOCisBestpony //------------------------------// The Mistaken Identity The ponies went to the Crystal Empire to plan for the Equestria games. "Cassandra! Twilight! How are my two favorite ponies doing?" "According to my book on salutations, the correct response to your query is 'fine thank you'" said Twilight "She doesn't get out much does she?" murmured Cadence to Cassandra. "We help her where we can." said Cassandra back. "Well thank you for helping my sister in law" said Cadence, "to express my gratitude, I'll give you some practice kissing later." "Won't Shining Armor get jealous?" asked Cassandra. "Nah, s'cool, brah," said Shining Armor, "I don't mind if it's just chicks. 'Sides Cass, if I was gonna be jealous of you for anything, it'd be that you're so much better than me at being Captain of the Guard." "Let's get back on topic," said Cassandra. She was embarrassed that one of her flaws had been revealed, namely that her beauty often distracted other ponies. "Right" said Cadence, "we need you to pick up Mrs. Harshwhinny from the train station. But don't worry, I figured out a way for you to know who she is." She beamed proudly, "she has a floral print bag." "Cady, sweetie," said Cassandra, "I know you must've worked really hard to get that information, but we need a little more." "God, do I have to do EVERYTHING around here?" whined Cadence "You kind of do" said Cassandra, "you're the empress" "Oh. This leadership thing is a lot more difficult than I thought." "Well, you're pretty and that makes up for some of your shortcomings." Cadence was happy because a compliment from Cassandra was the best thing anypony could ever hope for. “Let me show you my trick for staying calm” she said. “You just breathe deeply and do this.” She extended her right hoof outwards and upwards. “Whoa there Cadence, I wouldn’t do that if I were you” warned Cassandra. “What, this?” said Cadence, raising her hoof into the air. Zecora was passing by, and she was none too pleased with what she saw, “Your pony racism makes me pissed! You need to go watch Schindler’s List!” At the train station, a southern pony with a floral print bag got off the train. "Is that her?" asked Twilight "She has the floral print bag, so she fits the bill." said Rainbow Dash. "Yeah, but she looks like a chicken farmer and not an event official." pointed out Cassandra. The ponies gave her argument some thought, and ultimately decided to ignore her advice. "Hello there" said Twilight, "how are you today?" "Why ah'm happier'n a pig at a Vegan convention! They were givin' away free floral print bags ta everypony on the train!" "Let us show you the reasons why you, the olympic official, should choose the Crystal Empire to host the Equestria Games," said Twilight. "This is the Crystal Colosseum. It was built in the 1st Lunar Century. The condemned would fight to the death for the Empress's amusement, and most of the time the winner got fed to the lions. Over here we have the lodgings for visiting nations. We had to tear down five city blocks to make room for it, and spend the entire year’s fiscal budget on construction expenses, but it's worth the trade, I mean this is the Equestria Games after all." "This is all very fascinatin' but ah'm gunna stretch mah legs fer a mite." said the pony. "Something about her seems off" said Cassandra, "she's not really behaving like a games official." "Yeehaw!!!" cried the pony as she barreled into a pack of guards carelessly. "She seems pretty legit tah me." said Applejack. “Duuuude that mare’s bogus!” said Shining Armor, “You totally should’ve listened to Cassandra, you got the wrong pony there!” “But that’s impossible! Her name must’ve up at least once during our conversation” said Fluttershy. “Nope, it did not” said Cassandra, who used her level 99 memory skills to confirm this. As a consequence of the ponies not listening to Cassandra, Mrs. Harshwhinny was left at the train station, and was very angry with the ponies and the town. However, they still won the right to host the games, because all the other bids were from zebra and griffon cities. Harshwhinny's mood improved considerably after the Equestria Games committee bankrupted over 50 small businesses with trademark infringement lawsuits. Cassandra returned just in time to fix Cadence's mane, which Rarity had mangled with her lack of fashion skills. The infastructural consequences of hosting the Equestria Games did more damage to the Crystal Empire than King Sombra in his thousand year reign. But Cassandra fixed it all.