If things were different

Corona - The Castle Courtyard
Present Time

Cassandra was stunned. There, a few feet away lay Rapunzel, motionless on the graying ground.

Zhan Tiri was defeated, but at the horrible cost of Rapunzel's life. This couldn't happen, it should have been her, after everything she has done wrong Rapunzel shouldn't have taken the fall for her mistakes.

Cassandra looked up, and past her growing tears, through the blinding light of the stone she could see the whole kingdom cast in the darkness of decay.

At this rate, everyone was going to die.

No... This isn't the end.

With great effort Cassandra stood and walked to the floating stone, using her cloak of shapeshifting to shield her eyes from the blinding light as she reached out a shaking hand to grab it.

She could feel the waves of power push her back, invisible walls burning into her faded armor.

But she did not falter.

Through the intense burn of pain thrumming through her hand, she wrapped her fingers firmly around the gem and called upon its power, repeating the incantation she had heard before.

Rapunzel won't be the one dying today.

"No! What are you doing?!"

Cassandra glared at the source of the voice through the light.

In the bright haze was the familiar blue figure of Zhan Tiri, somehow looking furious and fearful at the same time.

Cassandra smirked at the monster's mixed expression and wrapped her other hand around the stone. "Following my TRUE destiny Zhan Tiri."

"NO! NOOOOO-"

Cassandra pulled on the power and ignored the screams of Zhan Tiri, with all her might she continued the song, restoring the kingdom with those words of healing, the stone burning into her hands all the while.

"Stop it! Stop it! I demand that you let GO!" The demon cried, her blue form flickering and twisting in rage.

Cassandra's owl picked himself off the ground, his strength returning as he looked at his friend.

Seeing Cassandra in pain Owl leaped into the air and flew to her, his claws outstretched and ready to tear the source of her pain out of her hands.

As the finale notes fell from her tongue the stone ripped itself from Cassandra's hands and latched onto her chest, burning with extraordinary power as it settled into the Moonstone's former place.

Cassandra coughed violently, blood dripping from her nose as her breath quickly began turn into ragged gasps as blood began to fill her lungs.

Owl raced through the air, his mind filled with worry as he saw golden cracks raced up her arms and expand from the gem's place on her chest like some sick form of kintsugi pottery.

Cassandra groaned between coughs, turning weakly with the last of her strength, she saw Rapunzel, her friend, one last time.

"You FOOL! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

She understood that the sheer power of the stone would destroy her body just like it did to that evil megalomaniac of a demon, only unlike Zhan Tiri, Cassandra wouldn't be able to save herself by binding her spirit to the magical gem.

But if anyone was going to die to save Corona it would be her. She was the one who caused this to happened and she would be the one to end it.

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US BOTH YOU MISERABLE-"

Cassandra sighed, It was with the fading sight of her best friend's teary face that she collapsed and fell into the cold clutches of unconsciousness with the sound of hollow shrieking echoing in her head.

Rapunzel saw Cassandra stumble and raced forwarded to catch her, but she was too slow, too weak.

A portal of bright yellow light opened just underneath Cassandra as she fell, engulfing her.

The portal began shrinking and Owl dived, just barely entering the portal before it closed.

Rapunzel stood stunned at what happened, her heart pounding with worry for her friend as she cried. "Oh Cassandra..."

A few moments later
Somewhere FAR away

The forest was quiet under the night sky. Birds, squirrels, and other small mammals slept soundly under the stars.

All was peaceful, all was quiet under the soft light of the moon and stars.

A soft breeze picked up, rustling the leaves of trees and rippling against a nearby lake.

The breeze turned to a fierce wind, disturbing the peace and ripping through the area, swirling surrounding clouds into a dark ring above a grassy clearing.

Branches rattled against each other, snapping and whipping through the whirlwind like spears.

Birds screeched as their nests were thrown into the ground, squirrels gripped the branches of their home to avoid becoming past in the dirt and deer ran for cover from stones that flew like bullets.

Blue light burst from the center of the mini-tornado, blinding the startled frightened creatures of the forest momentarily.

The light faded, revealing the dark form of a woman with bright, blue hair laying in the grass, a cloak was clasped over her neck and blanketed the ground below. A brown owl lay next to her, unconscious.

The wind dissipated quicker then it had appeared, leaving sticks and branches strewn across the now patchy green grass.

After a few moments, a squirrel hesitantly drew close, soon followed by a few birds and a mouse.

The women and owl lay in the long wavering grass unmoving, dead to their surroundings. Dry tracks of blood ran down from her eyes, nose, and ears.

More critters approached the edge of the clearing of the forest, intrigued by the newcomer and her unnaturally blue hair.

Something on her chest glimmered in the moonlight and a golden shimmer raced over tracks shaped like cracks in the armor.

A small grey bird flew and hovered over her, its eyes captured by the beauty of the swirling blue and yellow stone. The two colors twisted and spun hypnotically, entrancing the little bird.

The poor, poor, unfortunate thing.

Ignoring the wary chittering of the other animals in the clearing the bird landed on her dark prickly chest and pecked at the stone.

The gem flashed intensely in response and the bird became trapped in an aurora of blue and yellow.

Surprised, the little bird squawked and flailed as the light trapping it grew and stretched to capture the other animals fleeing the area.

The owl remained untouched.

Blue energy crackled and wrapped around the small forest animals and their movements began to grow sluggish.

With a finale burst of power, the light released the animals, leaving them dead on the ground, and after a moment they disappeared, crumbling into the ground as various piles of dust.

The women's pale skin regained its color, a flush of pink rushing to her cheeks and her breathing turned from shallow to even breaths.

The blood remained, clinging to her skin like a disturbing reminder.

The owl stirred, slowly moving to stand and steady himself, feeling drained of energy.

Looking over the area the owl's eyes landed on the women next to him and he began to panic. Blood was never a good sign, especially when it leaked from the eyes.

Shrieking, the owl griped her arm and began yanking with his talons, trying his best to wake her up.

The gem glowed once more, stretching its power into the earth it brought up blue spines with strange patterns to surround the women.

The owl refused to let go of her, watching as the blue spines of stone began to darken and curl around them, forming a crude barrier and separating them from the outside world entirely.

The grass around the stone began to wither and decay, the ring of death expanded from the stone and out to the edge of the clearing, its grey touch climbing up into the nearby trees and turning their leaves to ash.

The decay slowed down and finally halted, leaving a few trees and bushes half dead.

Tired, confused, and concerned for his friend, the owl laid down and draped his wings across his friends cold body, doing his best to warm her up.

A dark green pony sat at the end of the lake staring at the clearing with wide eyes.

With great fear and uncertainty for what the hell just happened, the old green unicorn took off, galloping into the darkness of the trees.

Whatever that thing was he didn't care, he had seen what it could do and wanted to warn the town.

The moon hung impassively in the sky, it's soft light glistening against the otherworldly rock as it pulsed blue and faded to black.

Awakening

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Sometime later

Cassandra woke up suddenly in a cold sweat, her mind pounding as a migraine forced her to wince and sit up.

She was cut short however, her skull slamming against something hard, causing her to hiss and press a hand to her head.

She cursed under her breath, her eyes slowly adjusting to the low blue and yellow light that glowed softly against a ceiling of black rock.

She raised her brows and blinked, seeing something wrong with her current situation. "What?"

Dark stone seemed to encase her, curling and forming a low ceiling that she could hardly sit up in. She noticed the small lines illuminated by the light weaved a pattern into the rocks.

Slowly she lifted a hand to touch the source of light coming from her chest. A familiar smooth stone of swirling color met her fingers.

She gasped quietly, eyes widening as she momentarily forgot her pain. "What? I- how am I..."

She reached up to touch her face, both hands skimming over intact skin and dried blood. "Am I dead?"

Her headache returned full force, making her grimace. "No, no definitely not dead."

She ran a hand through her hair, a thousand questions running through her head. "What's going on?"

This wasn't right. She was alive, not dead, and the Moonstone was back.

Did the Moonstone save her? But how? It didn't have any healing magic. Zhan Tiri said that the Moonstone represented power and destruction, not healing.

She looked down at her chest and saw the yellow and blue gem. Right, this isn't the Moonstone.

She quirked a brow, remembering that she and Rapunzel combined the Moonstone and Sundrop to defeat Zhan Tiri and that she used their power to save Corona and kill the demon once and for all.

She also remembered that she practically suffocated and fell unconscious.

"Huh, well..."

"Hoo?"

Cassandra twisted at the sound and tried to focus on the feathered form sitting on her leg. "Owl?"

Owl gave a small hoot in affirmation.

Cassandra blinked slowly. "How..."

She fell silent, staring at Owl intently as she tried to wrap her head around what exactly happened after she passed out.

After a few minutes, Owl hooted at his friend, concerned with her mental state.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts, suddenly remembering where she was. "Oh... Right."

Owl raised a brow at her very intelligent response.

Cassandra flushed slightly and reached out a hand to the black rocks, watching as they glowed blue as her hand came close, she could feel their connection to the gem on her chest. "Alright Owl, how about we get out of here and figure out what's going on."

Owl chirped lightly in agreement and scooted closer to her side.

Cassandra chuckled and moved to press her hand against the rock. "Well, we-"

She was cut off by her own screaming voice when she made contact with the rock, her mind overloading with information it could barely process.

She could sense EVERYTHING through the rock. There were images of bare trees, the sound of rustling grass, and the rippling nearby pond flooding her brain as a chaotic mess. Her mind burned with the pictures of caves and underground tunnels that seemed to stretch on for miles.

Owl watched with fear as she shrieked, wondering what was wrong with his friend. Her eyes were clouded over and her head rolled to the side.

The dried blood on her face didn't help his pounding heart.

He glanced at her hand pressed against the rock and quickly connected the dots.

Moving swiftly he pulled her hand away from the black rock, Cassandra's screaming stopped instantly.

She carefully pulled her hand away from Owl's grip, cradling it to her chest. "What the fuck."

This wasn't right. With the Moonstone she could use the rocks to feel what was around them and once to communicate with Rapunzel but she could never use them to SEE.

She looked down at her chest, seeing the yellow and blue gem on her chest.

Right. This isn't the Moonstone, it was something much more dangerous, more powerful.

She paused as she heard her stomach rumble loudly, practically begging for food.

She turned to Owl and saw his eyes filled with worry in the dim light.

Cassandra shook her head, pushing her growing questions to the back of her mind. She had other things to focus on, like WHERE EXACTLY she was and finding something to eat for the two of them.

"Well, -" Cassandra began, sighing as she raised a hand to the dark rock. "-let's try getting out of here."

She stretched her power against the stone, commanding it to retreat into the ground without touching it.

She really didn't want to experience 'seeing sound' again.

The rocks obeyed and receded into the ground, revealing the sun shining on grey grass and bare trees.

Owl quickly took off, making loops in the air as if to celebrate his freedom.

Cassandra smiled and looked around, standing up as her eyes narrowed at the area's state.

This definitely wasn't the castle.

The trees branches were bare and grey, the grass was dark and wilted. This looked exactly like the work of the decay spell.

Cassandra bent down and touched the ground, feeling how it crumbled like sand. This wasn't right.

She reached a hand under her cloak and touched the stone on her chest, sensing the power within. She could heal this.

Owl landed on her shoulder and tilted his head, sensing her discomfort.

Cassandra reached for the power of and stone and prepared to sing the incantation, but a flash of uncertainty washed over her, making her hesitate.

Neither one of the pair noticed how Cassandra's eyes took on a green tint, smoke softly wafting from her eyes.

A small voice nagged the back of her mind, making Cassandra think of the last time she used the power and consider the consequences of using so much so soon again.

What if this time the stone killed her?

She paled and let go of the energy, quickly hurrying out of the dead clearing. The more she thought about it the more she didn't want to risk using the stone again. Sure she would heal THIS place, but what if she hurt Owl, or even herself?

Cassandra shivered, thinking back to what Zhan Tiri did to Corona. She knew exactly what would happen if she overdid it.

Choking oh her own blood and passing out again didn't exactly sound all that appealing right now... Or ever.

Cassandra shook her self from those thoughts, the whites of her eyes quickly returning before she glanced at Owl. "Alright, you scout ahead, try to find the nearest town."

Owl gave a nod and leaped into the air, flying high above the trees.

She glanced up at the sun, it was evening and night would likely set in in a few hours.

Alone with her thoughts, she began to think back on what happened in Corona, how Rapunzel reached out to her with open arms even when she didn't have the moonstone to offer anymore.

Even after everything she did she had been welcomed back with open arms by her friend. She had no resentment for her, no righteous anger or bitterness for her.

'There is more to you.' Rapunzel told her. Cassandra smiled at her friends inspiring words. She was worth more than what others saw, more than a Maiden in waiting.

More then just a puppet for Zhan tiri.

Cassandra stood taller at the thought. She was so much more than that, no matter what everyone else saw.

She would return to Corona and fix what she had so carelessly broken, what she had been so willing to throw away.

A loud squawk resonated through the air, disturbing her mind.

Cassandra turned to the noise, watching as Owl dived down towards and calmly lifted her arm as he neared, smiling as he slowed down and perched himself on her arm. "So did you find a town close by?

He hooted an affirmative and gestured to her left, a small lake was settled between the clearing and the trees.

Cassandra strode forward, following her friend's direction. "We better get going if we want to make it before nightfall."

She would make things right, that was a promise she intended to keep.

As she passed the lake she glanced at her reflection, looking over her features. She had electric blue hair again, her eyes also glowed with the same shade of color, tracks of blood trailed down her eyes and nose.

Cassandra paused. Tracks of blood trailed down from her eyes and nose.

Owl looked at Cassandra, puzzles by her actions until he saw her staring at her reflection. She had noticed the blood.

Memories of the stone flashed in her mind, making her stare down at her hands. She could remember how much it burned in her fingers, how hard it was to breathe and how her hearing faded into nothingness.

Cassandra tried to remember more, feeling like she was forgetting something.

It had hurt so much, the burns, the screaming, the light...

Cassandra put a hand to her head, feeling her headache coming back.

It was horrible, especially the light.

She groaned and pressed her palms against the sides of her head, trying to soothe the growing pain.

Purple sparks slipped from her eyes.

Owl watched as his friend sighed and lowered her arms, breathing deeply through her nose for a moment.

Cassandra decided to ignore the pounding in her head and kneeled before the water, taking a closer look at her face. It would seem that blood also trickled from her ears.

She dipped a hand into the water to help rub away at the blood, repeating the motion to clean the rest of her face. It would be gross if she left it on.

Satisfied with her reflection she turned to Owl, raising a brow. "Did I get it all?"

Owl looked over her face, nodding in approval.

With a smile, Cassandra stood back up and continued her walk, quickly stepping out of the ring of decay. She could worry about what exactly happened later, right now she needed to find her friends.

As she walked through the trees she thought about her next course of action. Food took first priority of course, she could find some berries on the way. Second, she would need to enter the town and try to figure out where she was...

As Cassandra mulled over her situation a short blue lady with two buns of hair watched her from between the trees, her eyes flashing green and expression oozed malicious glee as she slowly faded away from sight, dispersing into thin air.

Huh Ponies...

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A few hours later
Edge of the forest

It was night by the time Cassandra reached the town, the full moon shined brightly through the dense trees as she slinked through the darkness.

She sat crouched behind the trees, peeking through an especially tall bush and into the town. Not a soul roamed the streets.

Cassandra watched the empty town with wary eyes, pondering her situation and options. She couldn't just walk on in, as far as the townsfolk knew she was still wanted for treason all over Corona.

Cassandra smirked and pulled on her cloak, its magic transforming her into a short old woman with a blue dress and white hair pulled up into a bun.

Yes, while Cassandra was wanted for treason, old lady Crowley WASN'T.

And besides who would question a little old lady?

She turned to Owl, whispering to him softly. "You wait here in the trees, I'll be back soon."

Cassandra stepped out of the bush and into the empty street, making her way to the town's center where she could find the news board with a map and a fountain where she could steal some coins for food.

She walked confidently through the dim street, tugging her cape close to avoid accidentally blowing her disguise.

After a few minutes of roaming through the streets, she reached the center of the town and saw a small stone fountain with glittering coins sitting at the bottom.

Bingo.

With a grin, she began filling her pockets for her journey to the capital, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to check for anyone approaching. While not many would bother an old woman they might not be too happy with her taking their wishing coins.

Satisfied with the weight in her pockets she approached the town's news board, several papers of varying sizes were nailed onto the aging wood.

Cassandra scowled once she stood in front of the board. Everything was written in a different language, the map didn't even resemble any part of Corona in the slightest. A particular paper seemed to be the mugshot of a horse with beaded curly hair? And paint?

She sighed. Of course, she wasn't in Corona, the universe wouldn't want to make things that easy for Cassandra now would they?

She frowned and pulled a coin out of her pocket, inspecting its surface for any recognizable image of this nation's royalty. Instead, she found a sun stamped onto one side with the moon stamped on the other. A peculiar blotch was indented under the crescent moon.

Well, that didn't help.

Frustrated she ripped the map off the board and marched away. She was farther from home then she thought, the coins only told her which nations she wasn't on, and not a hint as to where in the world she was.

"Hey! Where are you going!?" A young male voice spoke.

Cassandra froze, momentarily surprised by the voice before clearing her throat. "I'm going home, it's getting late."

The voice snorted and the sound of hooves clopped closer. "Didn't you hear? That old unicorn blacksmith said he saw a monster in the forest last night that used BLACK MAGIC! There's a town meeting, everypony's got to go!"

Cassandra froze again, stunned by the boy's words. A unicorn? That's also a blacksmith? Monster?

Cassandra chuckled at the thought. "Alright listen, kid, -" She started, turning to the kid as she spoke. "-I don't know what you've been... Drinking..."

Cassandra starred into the equally shocked face of a small yellow pony with a green mane and orange eyes.

For what seemed like forever nobody spoke, fearing that in doing so they would break the thin wall of sanity that stood in the air.

Cassandra took this moment to better observe her surroundings for any threats, now that she thought about it, it seemed like all the doorways and houses were a bit too small for the average person.

She looked back down on the now trembling horse, taking in his strange, colorful nature and unusually large eyes.

"Hey, Shine! Where'd you go!?"

This wall of sanity shattered the instant that the colorful pony began shrieking, undoubtedly attracting the attention of his friend.

"MONSTER! MONSTER, MONSTER, MONSTER!"

Another pony appeared around a corner, his eyes widening as he caught sight of Cassandra and the yellow pony. "SHINE, WATCH OUT!"

Cassandra fled immediately on instinct, her mind filled with a flurry of questions as to what the hell she just saw.

That tiny horse talked, both of them did. Not only that but they were able to display a sense of intelligence as they spoke. And somehow, she, a HUMAN, was the monster?

"GO TELL THE OTHERS YOU FOUND THE MONSTER, I'LL GO AFTER IT!"

Cassandra cursed under her breath, this was like Terapi Island all over again and instead of Lorbs treating her like a wild animal, it was HORSES of all things.

She glanced behind, seeing another pony joining the other in chasing her with a torch clasped in his hoof. How he was holding the torch she had no idea.

"RUBY CASE, GET OVER HERE!"

A red pony appeared suddenly from a street right in front of her, flying towards her with his hooves aiming right for her head.

Cassandra dodged the golden-maned pegasus and continued sprinting forward. It seemed the world was getting crazier by the minute, there was no way those tiny wings could lift that pony.

Another pegasus joined the chase, closing in on her.

Thinking fast she sprinted down an alleyway, leaping off a crate and onto the rooftops to prevent most of the group the following.

"IT'S GETTING AWAY!"

"NOT ON MY WATCH!"

The two pegasuses of the group followed, the stronger of the two zipping in front of her to use her momentum and kick her in the face.

Idiot.

Cassandra easily caught his hoof, pulling him forward she used his tactic against him and used his momentum to punch him in the face and throw him against a chimney, never pausing to stop.

She glanced behind for a second, seeing the other furious pegasus about to bite down on her hair bun.

The pony, unaware of her disguise, actually nipped her cloak and dispelled her disguise, revealing Cassandra's true, and much taller form.

The pony faltered, surprised by her sudden change in appearance, giving Cassandra the chance to pull farther ahead.

The pegasus growled and began pushing herself forward with her legs, trying to fly closer.

Cassandra smirked and summer salted over a gap between the rooftops, kicking her legs upward to nail the pony successfully in the jaw with a faint crack.

After landing back on her feet she turned and faced the pegasus, ready to catch her again with a left hook.

Instead, she saw the groaning crumpled form of the small purple pegasus on the roof cradling her jaw.

Nearby shouts drew her attention, prompting her to turn and continue her escape.

"YOU THREE GO AROUND THE LEFT, LET'S TRY TO CORNER IT!"

Cassandra glanced down the edge, seeing the group of ponies split off behind the building to the side.

Using the second group's momentary blindness to her location, she jumped to another rooftop, and then another, effectively leaving them behind.

Once she was out of the sight of the ponies she adjusted her cloak, shifting her appearance into a squirrel to lose their attention.

Cassandra followed the group out of the town and stood on the edge of the last house, watching as the groups of ponies as they ran into the clearing in between the town and forest.

"Where did it go?!"

"How did it get away!?"

"Did it use its magic?"

One of the stallions pounded the dirt with his hooves. "ALRIGHT LISTEN UP!"

The ponies paused their search, huddling around the apparent leader.

"I need you to split up in three teams!" The dark green unicorn began, pointing a hoof to one of the other ponies. "You and your brothers will search the left side of the forest while you-" He pointed to another pony. "-search the right side!"

The dark green unicorn faced the forest, narrowing his eyes. "Velvet, Seedy, you two come with me. We'll head straight and search the center."

Cassandra watched as the ponies disappeared into the forest, their shouts beginning to become fainter.

Now that she was no longer being chased she paused to question the absurdity of her situation.

So apparently pegasi and unicorns were real. She shouldn't have been so surprised, she did once meet a mermaid of all things.

And a sapient race of fish people, and a physic monkey, and a little girl who could turn into a werewolf, and a demon goat that wanted to destroy her country.

These things really shouldn't come as a shock anymore. Not after everything she's seen.

Really she would just come to terms with the idea that any and all myths were probably real while she was still sane.

After making sure the ponies were all gone she moved to slink away, quickly returning to the town square.

Cassandra pondered the young one's words from earlier. A town meeting huh? It could help her understand what she was dealing with, why they thought she was some monster.

She silently made her way into the town hall, sneaking in through the front door.

As she wandered the halls she could hear panicked voices just beyond a grey door directly in front of her.

She carefully approached the door, pressing an ear to the wood.

"Please everyone calm down! There is no need to panic!" An elderly feminine voice cried out. "Cast Iron and the others are patrolling the town as we speak, there is no need for fear."

Cassandra nudged the door open, peering into the room.

It was filled with what appeared to be mares and foals either crying or comforting their little ones. An older unicorn stood on a stage to the side, addressing the crowd on a pulpit.

Cassandra looked closer, it seemed that all the adults had some sort of tattoo on their flanks, some of the younger ones lacked a noticeable mark.

Weird.

"Silver lens and his brothers have been sent to the origin site to investigate Cast Iron's claims. We can't be afraid of something that might not even exist." The old pink pony said calmly.

One yellow mare spoke out against this. "How DARE YOU! My husband would never lie about something like this!"

Another stood up with her. "He's one of the most trustworthy ponies in town!"

"What if the mayor is lying?!"

"We should KILL IT! Before it kills US!"

"Where's Princess Celestia?!"

Cassandra scrunched her nose and began to turn away. These tiny horses sounded bloodthirsty, she would be better off leaving this place as soon as possible.

She only paused when she heard the mayor call out.

"Please!" The elderly unicorn cried. "Let us be calm about this matter, Princess Celestia shall receive our letter promptly and aid us in this situation. Nopony is going to die!"

Cassandra returned to the door, intrigued by her words. She could afford to listen a little while longer.

The pink pony motioned to someone behind the curtains. "Miss Heart Aid, if you would please share your information with our fellow citizens."

A pale yellow unicorn stepped out, light blue curls bouncing atop her head.

She paused in front of the table with the cage, clearing her throat. "Last night while I was looking through my medical records I came across Cast Iron's head injury from a few years ago."

Cassandra raised a brow. What did that have to do with anything?

"HEY, YOU CAN'T SAY THAT! THAT WAS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION!"

"Please if you would just let her explain you will understand!" The mayor asked, looking over the ponies carefully.

The ponies gathered began to whisper amongst themselves.

The unicorn rubbed her hoof against the floor. "Now normally I don't share medical records but later in the morning, Cast Iron came back to town hollering about something he found in the woods. Screaming about a creature with blue hair that has two long legs and hairless skin."

Cassandra glanced at the crowd, watching their mixed reactions.

The pony straightened. "I believe that his previous injury is beginning to take its toll on his mind, making him see things that aren't there."

The yellow unicorn gasped loudly. "HOW DARE YOU! My Cast Iron didn't come hollering about some ANIMAL IN THE WOODS, but about a MONSTER THAT USED BLACK MAGIC TO SUMMON BLACK CRYSTAL!" She shouted.

Cassandra felt confused. Black magic? They couldn't be talking about the black rocks, could they?

"Do you know who ELSE USED BLACK MAGIC?! THAT WRETCHED KING SOMBRA!" The mare screamed and pointed to the mayor. "I will NOT STAND FOR THIS STUPID IDEA THAT CAST IRON IS INSANE WHEN THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF A MONSTER CAN TURN PART OF THE FOREST TO ASH!"

Cassandra winced at the pony's words, she definitely could only be talking about the decay spell. But she didn't mean to do it! It just happened, it wasn't her fault!

The ponies gasped at the mare's words and turned to their mayor, waiting for her words of assurance.

The mayor stood shocked for a second before turning to Heart Aid. "T-that can't be right, can it? Any information on black magic was destroyed millennia ago!"

Heart aid merely turned away. "Silver lens is looking into the situation, we will know soon enough..."

Cassandra grimaced as her eyes began to turn a misty green, feeling the heavy weight of guilt tugging at her heart. She wasn't a monster, right? She never meant to hurt anything.

The mayor began to panic. "Where is my quill!? I have to send another letter to Prin-"

"MAYOR SERENE!" A voice shouted behind Cassandra, causing her to twist towards the voice.

She barely caught a glance at a small brown pony before he crashed into her, throwing the doors open and leaving her dazed on the floor with her disguise broken.

"ITS THE MONSTER!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

"EVERYPONY FOR THEMSELVES!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

She looked up from the floor, locking eyes with the unicorn Heart Aid for a second.

There was an unmistakable look of fear in her eyes, making Cassandra feel sick.

Cassandra picked herself up and booked it out the door, running as fast as her legs permitted.

"EVERYPONY UPSTAIRS NOW!"

"BARRICADE THE DOORS!"

"ICY! WHERE'S ICY?! WHERE'S MY BABY!!"

Cassandra quickly disappeared into the trees, leaving the town behind in a state of panic and chaos.

She never noticed how her eyes flared green before returning to their white color.

Once the screams of the village became nothing but background noise she leaned against a tree, trying to catch her breath.

This all felt crazy. She was in a nation filled with easily startled horses that probably wanted to kill her.

No. They definitely wanted to kill her. She didn't know who this Sombra guy was but apparently, he wasn't good.

Cassandra thought deeply about her situation. As far as she knew the only ones that knew about her existence were in this town. If she could find a ship out of here before the letter they mentioned made it to their Princess then everything would be okay.

This was fine, she knew from experience how slow mail was in Corona.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar screech of her trusted pet.

Turning to the sound Cassandra saw an owl zooming towards her with his talons stretched out.

Cassandra lifted her arm automatically, making space for Owl to land.

Owl slowed and perched himself on her outstretched arm, shifting his claws to get more comfortable.

Cassandra sighed. "We're in trouble Owl, it looks like this place is run by a bunch of horses, and I don't think there are any other people here."

Owl felt confused by her words, how could horses run a nation? They had hooves, they couldn't write.

Owl looked at her sad face and scooted up to her shoulder, nipping at her ear, trying to make his friend smile for a moment.

Cassandra chuckled and rubbed his neck. "Don't worry buddy, we'll get through this."

She pulled out the map from her cloak and looked at its contents, across the woods was a city that looked like it was sitting on clouds.

Eh, it was probably metaphorical for something.

"Alright we'll head over here, -" She pointed to the strangely pictured city. "There hopefully we can find some more information as to where we are and where we can find a boat out of here."

Cassandra glanced back to the forest before glaring at the town. "We're a long way from home Owl. How about we get going before they find us?"

Owl purred in agreement as she scratched his neck.

She put her fallen hood back up, changing her appearance to a raccoon. "Scout ahead for a place where we can sleep tonight, I'll keep walking straight."

Owl raised a feathered brow at her appearance but listened, flying off into the night.

A familiar blue figure appeared from behind the bushes, sneering at Cassandra as she walked away.

She had an idea.

Once the disguised woman disappeared from view she turned to the town and pressed her hands against the grass.

The blue woman growled as beads of sweat grew on her brow, as if she struggled with some heavy weight.

A bright red spine rose from the ground, spearing through the earth as it rose above the blue women's head, inching taller with every second.

Satisfied with her work the women with twin buns grinned at the town and disappeared into nothingness.

A small pale blue pegasus poked his head out of the bush, he had seen the red rock rise out of the ground by itself and was amazed by it.

Where did it come from?

He crept closer and gazed at it, his eyes reflecting the red glow.

What was it?

Slowly he raised a hoof and touched the rock, tracing its peculiar lines.

It was so pretty...

A loud snarl came from above, making the little one freeze.

Slowly he looked up and saw the open, drooling maw of a monster with beady black eyes, its lips pulled back into a snarl.

With a shriek he ran back to the village, racing to the town hall to find his mommy.

Discovery

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Canterlot Castle - Royal Night Cort
4 hours later

Luna frowned internally at the noble standing in front of her. He wanted power, physical power to be exact, she could see it clear as day. ~~Haha,~~ day

"Well?! I'm tired of constantly looking over my shoulder in case some imposter servant turns to stab me in the back! I have things to do, duties to fulfill. Surely you understand my Princess." The grey unicorn stallion said, his high head tilting down slightly as some form of a bow.

How annoying.

Princess Luna sighed secretly through her nose again, already feeling her patience for the night beginning to wear thin. It was barely past midnight.

Luna glanced outside.

Oh dear Faust, it was barely past MIDNIGHT.

Luna smiled serenely just as Celestia taught her, masking her urge to speed up the moon and go to dinner. Already she could hear the cake in the kitchens calling her name, begging to be eaten.

But here she was, listening to the complaints of this fat stallion. "I understand your concerns Brass Glass, but I can assure you that there is no need for you to have a squad of guards posted at your household."

"Well of course not Princess, I want a squad of guards to protect ME not my home."

Luna continued to smile. "My words remain, there is no need to worry. Thanks to Shining Armor's adapted spell there is no possible way for a changeling to enter Canterlot undetected and attack you in your household."

The stallion scoffed, making the stupid brown curl in his mane bounce annoyingly. "Famous last words I'm afraid Princess. I take no chances."

"And thanks to this spell, you won't." Luna reprimanded softly but not without a slight undertone. "Do you doubt my ponies capabilities Brass Glass? Do you doubt our Captain of the Guard, husband to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?"

Brass's eyes widen comically as he almost choked. "Of course not Princess I just-"

"Very good then." Luna interrupted, still smiling. Her sister was right, smiling can be a show of power. "I believe that is the end of this case, thank you, Brass."

The grey stallion nearly fell over his hooves. "Yes, enjoy your day- err, night Princess." He said quickly, bowing much deeper than earlier and rushing out the door before a guard could escort him.

Luna chuckled inwardly. Oh, the irony.

Luna watched as another pony stepped forward, and by the looks of it, she was another Nobel.

How wonderful.

The red mare bowed deeply, already Luna could see that this one was a brown noser.

"Greetings Prince-"

"PRINCESS LUNA!"

Luna turned to the guard that had burst through the doors, glancing at the envelope held in his magical grasp.

The red mare turned to the guard, face filled with fury. "Would it KILL YOU TO WAIT YOU SERVANT!? I HAVE THE FLOOR YOU KNOW!"

The sprinting guard faltered, nearly tripping over his hooves. Clearly, he was a rookie. "Uh, I apologize but this is-"

"Oh, you apologize HUH!" She shouted back, stepping forward.

Luna stood from her throne. "You are correct, he has apologized and I suggest you accept his apology."

The mare paused, turning to Luna with a look of fear as if she had forgotten she was there."Princess wha-"

"Enough!" Luna shouted, making the mare flinch. Perhaps if she had responded with a different set of words she would have allowed her to speak. Alas, her patience was already down to its last threads, close to snapping entirely. "I wish not to hear of your excuses young one, leave us at once, night court has been closed until further notice."

A loud groan echoed through the room, coming from the very upset ponies waiting in line outside the doors.

The mare looked between the princess and the guard before quickly trotting away, her green tail tucked noticeably closer to her flank.

Luna waited until the room was clear before addressing the guard, her face devoid of the joy in her heart for the interruption. "Now what was so important that you had to disturb my court and not wait for my dinner break?"

The guard began to sweat under the armor. "A pegasus from White Tail village came in carrying this letter, he said that it was urgent and that it should be for the Princess's eyes only."

Luna looked at him neutrally, still giving no sign to her relief at being free from court. "And this could not wait because?"

The guard began to perspire even more. "He came in all shakey and dripping with sweat! It was as if he was flying all night to get this message to you."

Luna narrowed her eyes and grasped the letter in her magic, her cheerful mood disappearing instantly as she scanned the envelope.

It was a request for aid in investigating certain events that were not disclosed on the outside of the envelope, making her raise a brow at the secrecy.

She then tore open the envelope and began reading, her eyes becoming more narrow by the second.

"Get my sister, inform her that I have requested her presence in the royal sister library."

"Royal sister library?" The guard questioned, unaware that there was such a thing in the castle.

Luna muttered under her breath before properly responding. "Yes, she will know where to go. I will be waiting."

Luna then disappeared in a burst of magic, leaving the guard behind with orders to wake her sister.

The guard looked outside and saw that it was hardly past midnight.

Oh, Celestia have mercy on his poor delicate soul.

Canterlot Castle - Celestia's private study
5 minutes later

Celestia appeared in the room with a flash, looking regal as always despite the fact that she just woke up less than 3 minutes ago.

"Luna?" She called out, stepping out from behind a bookshelf. "Where are you..."

Celestia stared at the piles of books strewn across the tables, many were left open or laying face down around the room.

In the center of it all was Luna, reading three books at once.

If Twilight ever saw one of her Princesses do this, she'd be proud and have an aneurysm at the same time.

"Luna, what is the meaning of this?" Celestia asked carefully, stepping over the books and approaching her sister.

Luna turned sharply to face her sister, lifting a letter in her magical grasp. "This is the reason sister. Quickly, read."

Celestia took the letter and began looking through it, her eyes widening with every sentence.

She read it through again before looking up at her sister. "Impossible, we destroyed any remaining books and tomes of black magic millennia ago. The only ones left in existence are in the forbidden library and only a few ponies are even aware of its existence."

Luna shook her head. "That's exactly it, this creature, should it prove to be real, must have existed for millennial in order to understand ANY sort of black magic."

Celestia glanced up at her sister. "But crystal magic is an art that only a few ponies could practice, let alone study. The last living pony who could perform crystal magic was recently defeated by Twilight and her friends."

Luna sighed. "It is very troubling sister, to know that there is a possibility that such another monster may exist, in our own lands no less! But all it takes it that one chance and based on that description, I fear that it may very well be real."

Celestia set aside the letter and began picking up books, searching their pages for any creature like the one described. "Then I shall assist you sister, once this being is properly identified we can begin our move against it."

"For now however, -" A blank scroll appeared in a burst of magic. "I will send reinforcements to support this village in what is no doubt a troubling time." She finished, writing in her scroll and sending it to her Captain of the Guard.

Luna hummed in agreement. "And shall you alert Twilight to this situation?"

Celestia set a book aside. "No, there are too many variables in this situation, I will not test my student on something she will have a slim chance at succeeding."

Luna raised a brow at her words, thinking back to all the dangerous situations she had put Twilight and her friends through.

If she could trust Twilight to take care of that tyrant Sombra and trickster Discord, and yet not believe that she could also overcome this...

"Sister, can this situation be so grave that you cannot depend on your star pupil?" She questioned.

Celestia sighed. "You forget Luna, I once had another star pupil who couldn't handle her challenges, so I lost her to her own bitterness for my decisions."

"Besides this is our nation, we are its protectors."

Luna stared at her sister for a moment, contemplating her words and trying to figure out if she was hiding something from her.

For a few moments she stared before returning her eyes to her books. She had time to dig for any secrets later. For now, she had ponies to protect.

Las Pegasus - the outskirts
11 hours later

Cassandra eyed the floating city above her, it would seem that the map was not joking when it pictured it above the clouds.

She sighed to herself tiredly. She had already seen many things that she believed were nothing but myths, she shouldn't be so surprised now, not after she already decided to just go along with it.

After a moment of considering how the hell she was going to get up there, Owl returned to her shoulder and pointed to her left.

There, about a mile or three away, was the outline of a building with what looked to be a large blimp to the side, another could be seen returning to the ground.

Cassandra looked at her owl. "You got to be kidding me, a blimp? Filled with ponies that could trip my disguise?"

Owl gave her a blank look and gestured to the blimp building again.

Cassandra looked at the blimp, and then back at the floating city, and then back to the blimp. "I'm so going to regret this."

Owl merely hooted in response, amused by her struggle.

Looks like Racism is universal

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Las Pegasus - blimp ticket center
20 minutes later

Cassandra sat on a low bench disguised as a pony with pale white fur, electric blue hair, and bright blue eyes. She had a black spine for A cutie mark.

~~Original, I know~~

She had sent Owl ahead to inspect the city and find a library or something to find a map.

Meanwhile, she stayed on the ground, watching as ponies of all sizes and colors purchased tickets from several different booths, the ponies selling them were all unicorns that would zap the ticket with magic before handing it over to the pony who purchased it.

It seemed that she wouldn't be able to hitch a ride if she just stole a ticket from a booth, she needed to rob someone.

And so she sat, waiting for her chance to snatch the ticket from a pompous fat stallion that stood a few yards from her, chatting with some gold diggers. He could always afford to buy another.

A break in the crowd opened up and she strode forward, shifting into a tiny filly when nobody was looking.

Using the fat stallions ego and self compliments as a distraction she snatched the ticket from his expensive looking saddlebags and vanished in the crowd, reappearing at her previous spot on the bench as a full-grown mare.

The blubbering idiot never even noticed, she'd have to thank Eugene later for teaching her how to rob someone blind.

She searched the area again, looking for the line to the blimp when shouting from one of the booths caught her attention.

"What do you MEAN I CANT BUY A TICKET?!"

The yellow unicorn huffed behind the counter. "Exactly what I said you griffin. I don't have a ticket for you, only PONIES. Why don't you go fly to Las Pegasus?"

The dark griffin fumed. "I'm paralyzed in the wings, you idiot!"

The brown maned unicorn scoffed. "Not my problem you can't fly griffin."

Cassandra frowned deeply, she had met several racists personally, and heard a few stories from her father about people who committed hate crimes. Back when she was traveling with Rapunzel, Lance had told her some of the things that people said to him during his life.

Everything about these types of people made her blood boil, how they thought they were better, their character, their fragile superiority complex, it was revolting.

But such people were usually easily tricked or appeased, making them easy to manipulate.

Cassandra smirked and adjusted her cloak, making her disguise's eyelashes darker and mane flawless in its waves. She could play him, she's done it before in Corona she could do it again in pony land.

Cassandra sauntered up to the stall and proper her hooves up on the counter. All she had to do was to pretend to be shallow and easily amused. "Hey there handsome, mind telling me how much a ticket costs?"

The female griffin next to her looked appalled. "Why you- I was here first!"

The unicorn stallion ignored her and leaned against the counter in a way that he obviously thought was attractive. It made Cassandra gag internally. "For you? Let's say 15 bits."

The griffin became red-faced, which was a feat in itself considering the plumage around her face was bright red. "Disgusting!" She screamed while turning away. "Absolutely DISGUSTING!"

Cassandra giggled and ignored the griffin as well. She could pretend. "How generous of you. You wouldn't happen to have the same deal for a griffin ticket too?"

The unicorn immediately frowned. "Well I'm not sure, why do you ask?"

Cassandra brushed her mane out of her eyes with a hoof, fluttering her eyes softly. "Well my dear friend Lilly is a wonderful griffin, she was just born with downy feathers and can't fly." She lied, twisting the story she had heard from earlier.

The unicorn's frown didn't disappear completely, but it did become softer. "Well if it's to help a friend of yours I wouldn't mind helping you with a discount."

Cassandra put 15 golden bits on the counter and slid them to the yellow stallion. "Then one griffin ticket, please."

He chuckled and handed over the ticket. "You know I'm on break in about two hours, how about you and I meet at the Golden Rose?"

Cassandra giggled and hid her face behind her mane. "I'll be waiting."

With the ticket in ~~hand~~ hoof, she walked away and tried to find the red and black griffin.

She spotted a dark feathered tail and followed it to its owner who was walking out the door.

Moving quickly she weaved through the crowd and walked beside her, extending her hoof. "Here, take it."

She paused and looked up at her with a frown. "I don't want your charity pony."

Cassandra snorted. "It's not charity, it's your ticket. That idiot was being a racist asshole, he had no right to deny you this."

She eyed the price of paper in her 'hooves' carefully. "Why should I trust you? You were just flirting with that- that- ughh, that infuriating pony!"

Cassandra chuckled. "Honestly? You can't trust me, you don't know me. But are you going to let that stand in your way? Besides the only reason, I didn't just steal it was because I needed him to zap the ticket with magic."

The griffin grabbed the offered ticket and smiled lightly, a weird thing to be able to do with a beak. "Really? You know what, your not that bad for a pony."

"Say, -" She looked up at Cassandra. "what's your name? Sprinkles or some shit?"

Cassandra laughed, recalling how weird the names were in pony land. I mean really, 'Cast Iron' was a horrible name. "Name's Cassandra, yours?"

"Anemone."

A loud buzz sound came from a small stage, a pegasus held something in his hoof to his mouth. "Alright everypony get in line, the blimp is ready for passengers."

Anemone began walking away. "Well, it looks like it's time to go." She glanced at Cassandra. "You coming?"

Cassandra smiled and followed her. Glad that she met someone that wasn't screaming in fear at the sight of her. "Yeah, I'm coming."

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! I'VE BEEN ROBBED!" A certain fat station shouted as he was dragged away from the blimp by rough-looking ponies, a pair of mares giggled at his situation.

Cassandra burst into laughter, making her friend glance at her. "What's that all about?"

Cassandra managed to stop her laughter and answer Anemone. "I'll explain on the blimp."

The two walked together and entered the blimp, sitting next to each other for the ride and enjoying conversation.

Once the blimp took off a group of royal guards entered the building and headed straight upstairs to the office, towards the manager's door.

The leader of the group knocked until a brown mare opened the door. "Can I help you?"

The guard grunted. "Yes you can, my team and I need to take the next flight to Las Pegasus."

The mare frowned. "This is a private company, I'm afraid you have no power to use our services without paying like everypony else."

"On the contrary, -" he began, pulling up a scroll with his magic. "I'm afraid a can."

The mare tried to rip the scroll from his magic, but he relented. "Can't you see the seal!"

The mare put on some glasses and saw the royal seal on the ribbon. "Very well, enjoy the next flight boys." She said roughly, pulling the door closed.

Satisfied the guards went back downstairs and waited for their next flight.

"I can't believe that worked"! One shouted, receiving a punch to his helmet.

"Shut up! Wait until we're in to celebrate, alright?!" Another whisper-shouted.

The next flight came 15 minutes later and the group quickly boarded, their leader bullying other passengers out of their seats.

Little did that group know that the mare was very aware of their little trick and was about to send a message to her boss. After all, a royal letter could usually only be opened by the pony it's meant for, and its ribbon didn't so much a twitch when she touched it.

Which could only mean that these stupid guards had no idea who they were messing with.

White Tail Woods - White Tail Village
Present time

Shining armor was not happy. He was going to be with his wife for once when Celestia sent him to check out some 'disturbance' in White Tail Village.

If it was so important then why couldn't they just check it out themselves?! It wasn't right that they could just TAKE his time with his wife away, as a Princess he barely got to see her anyway! Why for the love of Equestria, could they not just send somepony else!

Alas, here he was, in the middle of the woods, waiting at the train station for the mayor of the town to come great him, as per his orders.

She was late by thirty minutes, and that number was steadily growing.

Shining grumbled to himself. "If she's not here in the next 15 minutes we're leaving."

One of the guards next to him stared uncertainly. "Uh, Sir? But the Prin-"

"Oh, will you shut it! My wife's a Princess and I'm the Captain of the guard! Don't question my authority again!"

The guard immediately stood straight, looking fearful into the distance. "Sir, yes Sir!"

Yes, Shining Armor was definitely not happy. Perhaps if he wasn't so sleep deprived as well he would not have snapped so hard at the guard.

Honestly, could this not have waited until morning at the very least?

A mare who didn't fit his written description of the mayor came running down the road, tears running from her eyes and staining her pale yellow coat.

She skidded to a stop before the group and paused to catch her breath.

Shining narrowed his eyes. "Is something wrong? You look distressed."

The mare shook her head, taking in a huge gulp of air before answering. "No, I'm fine. Princess Luna is waiting for you at the town hall."

Shining raised a brow, surprised. "Wait, Princess Luna is here?!"

"Yes now, can we get going? The town's in a bit of a crisis..." She trailed off, staring directly behind Shining Armor.

Shining glanced behind him before starting at the mare with confusion. "Are you sure you're okay?"

The mare shook herself out of a trance and nodded, sweat starting to drip from her chin. "Just fine now follow me please, you'll understand everything shortly."

The group followed her down the cobblestone path, feeling uneasy with the mare's demeanor.

Shining Armor kept trying to ask what was wrong but she would just tell him not to worry, or that everything would be explained shortly.

It really set everyone on edge, it was almost like one of those horror stories. All they needed was for someone to start screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Oh no not another one..." The mare mumbled softly behind a hoof.

Yup, now everything was set, the guards were terrified and ready to run home.

"What do you mean 'not another one'?! What was THAT?!" Shining yelled, turning to the mare. It would appear that his stress began to fuel his discomfort with the situation.

The mare looked at him with sadness. "We have to hurry, come we must go to the town hall, she will explain much better than I can."

She moved to sprint but Shining stopped her, trapping her in a pink bubble. "No, I want you to tell me what going on NOW!"

She turned to him and began to shrink back, her eyes trained on something above him. "M-Monster..."

The guards glanced around and looked back at her, confused.

Shining Armor swallowed uncomfortably. "But there is no monster."

She lifted a hoof to the sky. "Monster. Monster! MONSTER! MONSTER!"

They watched with horrified expressions as she began to shriek, her pale coat and blue mane turning red, leaving her as a terrified statue.

Shining and his guards were stunned, starting at the frozen mare with fear.

What just happened?!

Luna suddenly appeared at Shining Armor's side. "I-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Everyone looked at the two guards that hugged each other, screaming at Princess Luna.

She merely raised a brow. "Well that is strange, you two should not have been affected yet."

Shining sputtered. "What do you MEAN? WHY are you here, WHAT is going on here, WHY did you make me come here?!"

"Ah, did you not receive the letter?"

"WHAT LETTER?!"

Luna smiled slightly. "I can see that you are very similar to your sister Shining Armor, you two almost sound the same when you freak out."

Shining lowered his ears. "Oh please, I'm not that bad."

Luna sighed. "Of course not. Anyways I require your assistance Captain, if you would follow me."

The group entered the town, each feeling sick at the sight of so many other ponies also dyed red and petrified like the mare who greeted them.

Luna looked solemnly on the scene, extending a wing to gesture at one pony in particular who did match Shining Armor's description of the mayor. "This is why you are here Captain, to help me investigate what is going on, why this is happening. And to make sure nopony leaves or enters."

Can't go home

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Las Pegasus - Landing zone
15 minutes later

Anemone laughed as she stepped off the blimp, wiping a tear from her eye. "So you just hit her with a frying pan? Remind me to never go to a wedding with you!"

Cassandra sighed, thinking back to her adventures outside of Corona. She had altered the story of course, she wasn't like Rapunzel who would offer her life story out to anyone that asked. "Oh yeah, that was a good day, you know aside from the whole 'one of my friends almost died' thing."

Anemone snorted, thinking back on her own experiences. "Yeah, I can relate."

Cassandra raised a brow. "Oh?"

Anemone paused, looking down at the ground. "Yeah... It's kinda personal..."

Cassandra gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It's alright, we are still kinda strangers."

Cassandra looked up as a screech echoed through the air, seeing Owl flying down for a landing.

"Hey look OUT!" Anemone yelled, ducking down.

"Relax, it's just my owl."

Anemone looked up at Cassandra carefully and quickly returned to her full height. "You brought your owl to Las Pegasus?"

Cassandra rubbed Owl's, smiling at his low purr. "Yup, he doesn't like it when I leave him behind."

She gestured to Anemone. "Owl this is Anemone, Anemone this is Owl."

Anemone snorted. "Quite the creative namer, huh Cassandra?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you got me."

Anemone chuckled and began walking away. "It was nice to meet you, Cassandra, later!"

Cassandra waved at her retreating form. "Bye!"

Still smiling, she began waking away as well. "So Owl did you find a Library?"

No response.

Cassandra glanced at Owl who shook his head and gestured to the area around them.

She stopped and looked around with wide eyes, strange contraptions and buildings filled her sight.

It would take forever to find anything.

She signed, feeling another headache coming on. It "Let's just start looking. The sooner the better."

White Tail Woods - White Tail Village
10 minutes earlier

Shining Armor felt sick. "So you're telling me, that all those ponies outside LITERALLY FROZE with FEAR?! And that there's some MONSTER with DARK MAGIC on the LOOSE?!"

Luna nodded sadly, she understood his anger, after all both he, his wife, and his sister had suffered from dark magic. "Essentially yes, you are correct. The reason I wanted you to wait at the train station was because I feared that you too would be 'infected' with this twisted virus."

"I understand." He sighed. "Our best course of action would be to round up all those affected and ask them some questions."

Luna shook her head. "I'm afraid that's not possible, once they are affected they become incoherent or do not remember what happened. Heart Aid was the last pony affected who could understand my words."

Shining Armor glanced up. "Who?"

"The pony who guided you here. I ordered the others to stay in their homes so that they would remain safe from this dark magic. The rest I put to sleep to ease their fear."

Shining paused. "These ponies who are affected, what do they do?"

Luna looked away. "They run, they hide, they attack, they do everything they can to get rid of their fear."

He stared at Princess Luna, piecing the pieces together. "They run? They RUN!"

He stood up and paced, forming an idea in his mind. "Have all the townsfolk been accounted for?"

She eyed him carefully, trying to follow his train of thought. "No."

"How about foals?" He asked quickly. "Are there any missing?"

Luna frowned. "Yes, there is one mare who has lost her child once the chaos began."

Shining paused his pacing immediately. "We need to find him, as a young pony he will be the easiest to distract from the fear and help us understand what happened."

Luna looked up hopefully. "Yes, you may be right! Now the question is where would a filly hide? My guards have been looking all over the place and haven't seen him anywhere."

"Under the bed of course."

Luna looked at him quizzically before nodding. "Ah yes, you should know from experience, I had almost forgotten you have a little sister."

Shining smiled sadly as he walked out, followed by Luna. "Yeah, she's not so little anymore."

Las Pegasus - Downtown
20 minutes later

Cassandra grumbled lowly as she walked down the sidewalk. Several times already her disguise as a pony had almost been ruined by some pony running carelessly through the streets, and she was no closer to finding a library or even a museum!

She had sent Owl ahead to search a few streets, after all, this place couldn't be all fun and games there had to be some books somewhere, all cities had them.

She slowly began to speed up, walking quickly past buildings. She had been searching the run down side of Las Pegasus, she figured that if entertainment was all anyone wanted then a library would be in the place no one wanted to be.

She began to take longer strides, becoming more frustrated as she passed sketchy stores and messy bars.

Sure the place wasn't as bad as some of the other cities she'd been to, but there was something about it that set her on edge, as if there was something just waiting around the corner for her.

It left her feeling uneasy, leaving goosebumps on her skin.

She practically began to sprint, glancing at everything except where she was going.

"Aw, I can't wait to see the ol' Golden R-"

Cassandra collided with a pony, tripping over the tiny being and crashing on the ground.

"Hey! Watch where you're- you..."

Her disguise flickered between multiple shapes and colors before returning to normal, making the group of golden armored stallions back away.

"Oh Celestia, Iron I think that's a CHANGLING!"

Cassandra swiftly stood up, checking her disguise, before glancing at the four matching ponies.

"What do we do Iron?!" One shouted while slowly backing away.

One of the ponies, a unicorn, stepped forward and raised his spear, a hateful grin split across his muzzle. "I say we take it in."

Cassandra chuckled nervously, eyeing the spear in his magic. "Now put that away, I'm a civilian you can't draw your weapon on me without proper cause."

"Oh, I think I have proper cause changeling." He snarled, leveling his weapon.

She had no idea what he meant by 'changeling' be it couldn't be good.

Cassandra reached out and grabbed the spear before he could react, quickly shoving him away with the blunt end and running down an alleyway.

He yelped as he fell, his buddies all rushed forward to catch him and crashed into each other, letting him fall to the ground.

"Sorry!" One of them squeaked, trying to pick him up.

The unicorn ripped himself out of his grasp, steam shot out of his nostrils. "You idiots! You were supposed to attack!"

"Sorr-"

"SHUT IT!" He yelled, galloping down the narrow street. "DON'T LET IT GET AWAY!"

Two of the ponies quickly followed him, pulling out their weapons as they ran while the other took to the sky.

The three followed the blue tail of Cassandra, turning down into a dead end and skidding to a stop.

"Where did it go?"

"Is it under here?"

"Oh right!" The earth pony guard exclaimed, smacking his forehead with a hoof. "Changelings have wings! I totally forgot!"

The unicorn's ears began to whistle and his face became red. "You IDIOTS! THAT CHANGELING COULD HAVE GIVEN US A RAISE! AND YOU LET IT GET AWAY?!"

One pegasus guard rubbed his hoof on the concrete road. "We're sorry Iron."

"WELL, YOU BETTER BE!" He screamed, spraying spit on the others face. "Come on, you all owe me a drink."

The group exited the ally way, their leader fuming and cursing all the way.

Once the dead end became clear a brown crate shifted, changing color and turning into Cassandra.

She sighed and twirled the spear she stole from the unicorn guard. "Heh, that was a close one."

A hoot from the air caught her attention, making her lift her arm automatically. "Hey Owl, did you find anything?" She asked, dumping the spear into a nearby wooden dumpster.

Owl gave a positive hoot and pointed down the narrow street.

Cassandra adjusted her cloak, turning into a pale pony again. "Well, we better hurry, I wouldn't want to run into those four again."

The two walked out of the ally and headed straight to a rather old looking building, never noticing the pegasus that followed them from the air behind a cloud.

After entering the building the pegasus waited a minuite before taking off to the Golden Rose, ready to report to his captain.

Cassandra wandered the building and swiftly moved down the halls, telling Owl to search the back carefully and remain unseen. She doubted that Owls were allowed in the library.

Looking down the shelves of the large building she checked the marking tags for the image of a map or globe to help speed up her search.

It really hard to find a book in a library when you can't read the language.

"Hoo."

Cassandra turned to the voice, seeing Owl holding a small book with the picture of a compass on its cover.

Cassandra smiled and flipped through the book. It seemed to be a directional guide on how to use a compass. "Alright, where did you find this?"

Owl flew away, disappearing behind a corner with Cassandra following close behind.

They arrived at a small section with maps on display, each varying in size and color.

It made her heart sink.

None of the maps looked like anything she recognized, there were no familiar continents, no familiar outlines of nations.

Her eyes became tinted green.

She ran to the globes, spinning them frantically to try to find something different. But it was all the same, the only maps that looked different were the ones that were obviously older and less accurate.

Her eyes became greener and Owl noticed.

She slumped against the wall, trying the best she could not to cry. She couldn't catch a boat to Corona because there wasn't one. She could never see her friends again because she wasn't even on the same planet as them.

Her eyes began to waft purple smoke and Owl tilted his head, chirping to her softly.

She didn't notice.

She was all alone in a world that hated her, that feared her, that wanted to kill her.

The glow of green steadily began to brighten.

She was hated, she was a monster here, the only person who cared about her would never see her again. She was alone and would always be alone until the day she DIED.

Neither of them could see the grinning blue lady who watched with green eyes from behind the shelves, twisting her hands as light danced between her fingers.

Owl began to hit Cassandra with his wings, trying is best to snap her out of it without attracting attention.

Tears streamed down her face and the blue in her eyes slowly shifted to red.

she was alone, she was alone, she was alone, she was al-

He gripped her arm and began to yank a hard as he could, dispelling the pony disguise.

It seemed to do the trick.

Her eyes became white again and the purple smoke disappeared, leaving only tears behind.

"Owl?" She asked, her voice slightly hoarse.

Owl saw her pained face, how sadness and fear filled her eyes.

He cooed in response, rubbing his face against her chest to comfort her. He didn't want his friend to be scared.

She sobbed and hugged him closer, whispering softly. "I'm so, so sorry Owl. We can't go home, we're trapped here..."

The blue lady dissipated into thin air, grinning all the while.

Cassandra and Owl sat there on the floor for a few minutes in silence, wondering about what they would do next.

Eventually, Cassandra wiped her eyes and stood up, placing Owl on her shoulder. "Alright, we better go, I don't want to be here anymore."

She wrapped her cloak around her and disguised herself again, stepping forward to leave when a familiar voice made her pause.

"Alright Harpy, I got some very interesting news."

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. That voice, it almost sounded like-

"Is that so, Anemone?"

Luna's really good with kids.

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Las Pegasus - The Golden Rose
5 minutes earlier

Iron Hoof was very unhappy, despite the fact that the drink in his hoof was free.

Well, not free, he did make his subordinates pay for it but that wasn't the point. The point was that they saw a changeling, A CHANGELING, and they lost it!

Iron Hoof growled and downed his drink, slamming the empty cup on the bar counter. At least he wasn't on duty because if he was then Shining Armor would have his rank for this failure.

"Another round!" He yelled, pushing his glass away.

"Hey, why don't you slow down on the drinks alright?"

Iron Hoof growled and turned to the voice, seeing Frosted Tip, one of his pegasus subordinates. "And where were YOU when we tried to capture the changeling?" He asked lowly.

The bartender poured him a drink and started cleaning glasses, discreetly listening to their conversation.

Frost smirked. "Following it from the air of course ,Commander. I know where it is."

Iron Hoof snarled. "Are you paying games with me, private?"

"Not at all, Sir. Now I suggest you put that drink down, you wouldn't want to take on a changeling while you were drunk now would you?"

Iron Hoof grinned and pushed away his cup, feeling substantially better. "Well we better get going boys, we wouldn't want to miss our friend now would we?"

The earth pony of the group tilted his head. "But we aren't friends."

Iron glowered at the idiot and stood up. "Shut up, Brick."

"Hey! Aren't you going to pay for your drinks?!" The green bartender asked, yelling over the band.

Iron Hoof laughed as he walked out the door. "What are you going to do about it you old sack of bones?! Come on guys we got places to be."

The bartender wrinkled his nose as they walked away and ducked under the counter, pressing a button with his hoof he whispered. "Sir Ivory, you got a P.S.D. and U.T. heading over to the ring. Four guards."

The bartender let go of the button and resumed cleaning his glasses.

His boss would be hearing about this.

White Tail Woods - White Tail Village
5 minutes earlier

"Hello?! Icy Breeze?! We want to talk with you!" Shining yelled as he pushed open the door and entered the house.

They had questioned the child's mother earlier, asking for simple things like where her house was and which room was Icy's.

"Hello? Icy it's me, Princess Luna. I've come to chase your fears away!" She spoke, raising her voice lightly so the little colt could hear her better.

The two waited for a response, but nothing answered.

They headed up the stairs and followed the mother's advice, opening the first door on their right.

A little blue bed sat in a corner and picture frames hung from the walls, the grinning faces of Icy's family reflected the light pouring in through the curtains.

They could hear muffled sobs coming from under the bed.

"Icy?" Shining Armor asked. "Can we come in? We want to talk to you."

The sobbing stopped and icy poked his head out from under the long blankets dangling from his bed.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" He asked, his tiny voice cracking as he spoke. "I killed papa."

Luna and Shining Armor paused and exchanged a glance. They certainly didn't expect this response.

Luna strode forward, understanding his words. "Is that what you see?"

The little blue colt nodded and wiped his snout. "I hear him, I don't like his screams."

Shining Armor watched as Luna kneeled next to the bed. "I know, I don't like my father's screams either."

Luna leaned closer and Shining followed her lead, kneeling next to the bed.

"Can you tell me about what you see?" Luna asked gently.

Icy Breeze hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Well, I see trees, lots of trees and I see a lake. My papa always took me to the lake, that's where Cookie lives!"

The two older ponies smiled at his words, happy that they could help distract him from his pain.

Icy grinned briefly at the thought, then his eyes slowly let go of their innocence. "But then the lake turns black, and the stars disappear and papa... Papa gets in a fight with this bear."

Luna analyzes his words. As a walker of the dream realm, she has a good understanding of the difference between memory and symbolism. A lack of stars meant he felt alone and lost.

He whimpered. "Papa tells me to run but I can't. I can't run and I hate it. The bear tries to hurt me but papa stops him and he- he starts dripping red."

"And then everything goes black and the bear disappears. The only color I can see is on papa, but I don't want to look at papa."

Shining felt as though his heart had been ripped out of his chest and stomped on by a herd of yaks. This child shouldn't have to feel such pain, shouldn't be forced to relive such a traumatic experience.

Icy sniffed. "I try run back home, I could see the lights but then this... This red spike rises out of the ground and doesn't stop. No matter how much I run or fly I can't go around it."

He looked up at Luna. "Why did papa do that? Didn't he know that he would get hurt?"

Luna sighed and pulled him closer, wrapping him in blankets with magic and brushing his mane back. "Because he loves you Icy, and he always will. Even if he does something you don't want him to do it's all because he loves you."

Luna nuzzled Icy Breeze. "Do you want to know what I see?"

Icy nodded slowly, intrigued that Princess Luna of all ponies would be afraid of something.

Luna began to light up her horn and the room disappeared behind a deep blue sheet of stars. "I see a lovely young colt that runs away from the red spike. I see him twist and turn, not understanding that he can't go around."

Icy Breeze lowered his head. "That sounds an awful lot like me..."

Shining stared at Luna, surprised with her strange choice of words. He thought they were supposed to make him feel better, not worse.

Luna lifts his chin and smiled. "But that's okay because I see you learn and get wise, I see you understanding that you can't run from your fear forever, that eventually you have to face it. I see you breaking through the red spike and seeing your mommy and big brother, I see you beating up your fear because you are stronger."

Luna's horn glimmered again and the stars form the face of a pony, smiling serenely at the trio. "I see your father looking down at you with pride and with love. I see you standing in a world filled with color and life, feeling love for your papa because he also loves you."

Shining watched as Icy looked up at the stars with amazement. "You really think so?"

Luna lifted Icy Breeze and placed him gently in bed, sticking her tongue out and tickling him with magic. "Silly Icy, I know so."

Luna cast a sleep spell on the giggling colt, watching as he fell under with a smile on his face.

"Wow," Shining said intelligently, he did not expect that. "I didn't even have to do anything, you're really good with kids."

Luna walked out of the room and dispelled the 'star blanket', setting a certain picture of four ponies on the table sitting next to the bed. "I suppose I am. Now come, we have a red spike to find and destroy."

Las Pegasus - Library
Present time

Cassandra hid behind a bookshelf, feeling confused at what she was hearing. What was Anemone doing here?

"Shining Armor was pulled from his vacation, apparently something only he could help with came up in White Tail Village." Anemone informed the other voice quietly. "Luna sent him a letter regarding the matter but he never received it because somebody stole it."

Cassandra considered her words, it would seem that Anemone is an informant of sorts who spys on this nation's royalty.

"Really?" A feminine voice asked. "How scandalous. Do you know what's going on in White Tail Woods?"

Cassandra peaked around the shelf, seeing Anemone and another griffin sitting at a table. A large blue large stallion stood to the side, most likely a bodyguard of some sort.

"No, the Princesses have the place under lockdown, nobody but the guard can go in or out." Anemone explained. "I believe that Shining Armor was only summoned for his expertise in shield spells. Whatever the Princesses are planning could mean bad news for the Union Harpy."

Owl watched the exchange with uncertainty and cooed softly to Cassandra, urging her to leave.

Cassandra shushed him. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up with you."

Owl eyed her carefully but obeyed. Silently flying away and waiting for her outside.

Cassandra returned to the scene playing out in front of her.

The black and gray griffin hummed. "Yes, you may be right. Thank you for your service, I shall inform my father."

Harpy nodded at the pony next to her. "Obsidian."

The large blue pony next to her laid a brown briefcase across the table and Anemone placed it next to her.

Cassandra briefly wondered what was in the case. Most likely money.

"I trust that you had a pleasant flight?" Harpy asked.

Anemone snorted. "The flight was alright, the only problem was getting the ticket itself."

Harpy frowned and clicked her black talons together. "Problem?"

Anemone nodded, her red spotted crown feathers bouncing with her head. "The pony selling the interspecies tickets was a racist. He refused to sell one to me, I was about to call you when some pony bought a ticket for me by sweet-talking the bastard."

She scratched her head. "I think her name was Cassandra. She was a very nice pony, kinda blunt like Emerald. I think you'd like her."

Cassandra smiled, at least Anemone was honest about how she felt about her.

Harpy smiled. "I think you're right. Don't worry about the ticket pony, I'll take care of him."

"You'll take care of who, changeling?" A male voice asked, its owner stepping out from behind a shelf.

Cassandra frowned. It was the same group of guards that chased her from earlier.

Harpy narrowed her eyes and put her arms down on the table, both displaying her talons and blocking their view of Obsidian. "I think you caught the wrong crowd boys, it'd be best if you move on."

"Oh really? I'll have you know that Frosty followed it over here personally so I know that it's in this building alright. Don't you know that harboring an enemy of the state is a crime punishable by life?"

Cassandra cursed under her breath, it looked like one of the pegasus followed her. They must have thought that she was one of them.

"Don't you know that this building is privately owned? You need a warrant to search the place." Anemone shot back.

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm not here to look huh?" Iron chuckled at his own joke before grinning. "Brick! Frost! Sleet!"

Two of the guards stepped forwarded and leveled their weapons, blocking their escape while the third hovered in the air, gripping a spear.

Cassandra scrunched up her nose. These four were a mockery of guards, if her father ever got his hands on these four he would put them through the wringer twice before kicking them out.

"Just wait till Shining Armor sees this, Iron Hoof, bringing in three changelings." He said, puffing out his chest.

Brick glanced at him. "But we only have two pairs of cuffs and one magic neutralizer?"

Iron pulled out his dagger. "Who said we had to bring them alive?"

Cassandra froze and her eyes flashed green. This wasn't right, they were going to pay for her mistakes, just like Rapunzel.

A blue women appeared behind her, holding her hands on either side of Cassandra's head, sparks of magic flew between her fingers.

Cassandra clenched her fists as her eyes flared green under her disguise. No, not if she could do anything about it.

The blue women disappeared as Cassandra stepped out from behind the shelf, her pony disguise still in place. "You looking for me boys?"

The guards twisted to her, looking nervously between her and the trio. "Uh, Iron? This looks a lo-"

"Like the girl you ran into earlier? Yeah, that's me. I'll come quietly if you let them go, but try anything funny and I can't guarantee that you'll come out of this in one piece." She interrupted, stepping closer.

"Cassandra?" Anemone whispered, glancing between Iron Hoof and her.

Cassandra smiled sadly. "Hey, sorry we had to meet again like this."

Reversing dark magic

View Online

White Tail Woods - White Tail Village
Present time

Shining Armor had assembled the guards to search the area for this 'red spike', what Luna claimed to be the source of their troubles.

Now all they could do was wait.

Luna watched as Feather Flower,the mother of Icy Breeze, ran a hoof through her son's mane as her puffy eyes still spilled tears.

"Are you sure he's okay?" Feather asked carefully. "This dark magic isn't permanent right?"

Luna gave her a comforting look. "I can make no promises, but know that you have the strength of your Princesses and our knowledge of magic on your side."

Before Feather could voice her concerns a soft knock came from the doorway.

"Princess Luna, -" The guard whispered. "We believe that we have found the source."

Luna nodded to Feather Flower and walked away, closing the bedroom door behind her. "Very good, take me to it."

The guard saluted and marched away, leading Luna out of the house and into the woods.

After a few minutes, Luna saw the pink color of one of Shining Armor's shields through the trees.

Shining approached the two and glanced at the guard. "Go join the others in keeping watch, don't let anypony get by you."

The guard saluted and walked away, leaving Luna and Shining alone to talk.

"Well?" Luna asked, walking to the pink barrier that strangely, didn't allow her to see through it. "What can you tell me about this 'spike'? Are you aware of how it afflicts ponies?"

Shining sighed and rubbed his face with a hoof. "You can only be affected if you look at the spike, otherwise you'll be fine."

Luna paused, dreading the answer to her question. "And how did you figure that out?"

"One of my stallions found the spike and came back screaming, I asked him a few questions and put two and two together."

Luna stiffened. "Quite a nefarious strategy, wouldn't you think? To make all who bear witness slowly lose sanity and deteriorate from the inside out."

She tapped the dome of magic. "I only wonder, why would the monster place such a dangerous element here? In the forest? Surely it would be more effective out in the open?"

Shining frowned. "What are you suggesting Princess?"

"That our monster is intelligent," Luna said coldly. "By placing its weapon in the forest ponies would surely stumble upon it and unintentionally lead other ponies to look for the source and also go mad. Leading to a vicious never ending cycle."

She closed her eyes. "but it is not intelligent enough. Open the shield Captain, I cannot be affected if I cannot see."

Las Pegasus - Library
Present time

Iron Hoof chuckled. "How noble, a changeling willing to die for its friends."

He leveled his dagger at Cassandra. "Oh please, don't make me laugh. A changeling can never know honor. This is some sort of trick to escape isn't it."

Cassandra frowned and stretched her power into the ground beneath her, she could feel the stone's power grow with her anger for this stallion. "I believe the best lies are made from truth. Let them go, and I'll come quietly."

Anemone glanced at Iron's weapon. "Cassandra what are you doing?!"

"Yeah Cassandra, -" Iron drawled. "what are you doing? Don't you understand that I'm just going to kill you all?"

"Uh, Iron? I don't really feel comfortable with this." Brick said uncertainly, shifting nervously on his hooves.

The other two guards exchanged glances, feeling the same with the situation."

"I don't care about how you feel BRICK!" He yelled while ripping Brick's spear out of hooves. "If you won't help me then you're against me. So I suggest you leave before I finish off these four and come after you for insubordination!"

Brick looked between his leader and his friends, seeing that the two pegasuses trying their best to ignore his pleading eyes.

Cassandra stared at the earth pony as he ran, feeling a little less angry at them as a team and a whole lot angrier at Iron Hoof who was their piece of shit of a leader.

Harpy whistled as she watched Brick run away. "Wow, that's cold."

"Shut it, changeling. I don't have to listen to anything you say." He snarled turning the spear in her direction while keeping the dagger trained on Cassandra.

Brick felt tears stinging at his eyes as he ran out the door, he knew that his commander as a jerk but he didn't think that he would threaten his life.

Brick failed to notice the owl that waited outside the building, he failed to notice said owl dive down to tackle him until he was too late.

He screamed as Owl's talons scraped across his armor and dig into his fur. "Oh please Iron don't hurt me! I'm sorry but I don't want to kill anyone!"

Owl paused his attack and watched curiously as Brick curled up into a ball. Apparently, he thought he was attacked because he didn't want to hurt anyone.

How strange.

A rough voice laughed behind Owl. "Well well, would you look at that."

Owl flared his wings and turned to the newcomer, seeing another being that looked much like Anemone with a pair of big ponies at his side. "I thought solar guards were supposed to be tough shit, ain't that right boys?"

Brick slowly looked up and let his ears fall back. The grey griffin smirked and gestured to him with a claw. "Take him, Ash. We'll handle the rest."

A large shadow blocked out the light where Brick sat, making him gulp and look up slowly with a whimper.

A tall dark griffin dragged the squealing form of Brick away, leaving Owl to watch as the grey griffin and his two ponies approach the doors to the library.

"Come on boys, we got some heads to smash."

"Yes Sir, Ivory!" The two ponies spoke at once, following him in.

White Tail Woods
A few minutes ago

Shining Armor let his jaw drop, shocked by her words. "Are you serious? It might not just be eye contact, any contact could affect you too! It's my job to protect you!"

"I am an alicorn Shining Armor, I was born to handle much more than any of my subjects. I require no such protection."

Shining hesitated but closed his eyes and opened up the shield, feeling worse with every passing second. "Very well, Princess, do what you must."

Luna steeled herself and stepped forward, feeling the energy from the red spike grow as she approached. "Close the shield Captain, I can release myself."

Shining was about to protest but Luna beat him to the punch. "That's an order."

Shining held his tongue and obeyed. "Yes, Princess Luna."

With the dome whole once more Luna drew power from her horn, focussing a powerful purification blast at the rock before her.

As a being that reflects the light of the sun, she would not be affected by the blast, but the ponies outside in the village who have been corrupted by the dark magic would.

That's why she ordered the shield to be closed and why she was weaving a second shield of her own for further protection for her ponies.

With a loud cry, she released a powerful beam of magic unto the red spike, feeling its magical essence plummet sharply and fade away.

She released her spell and cut off her beam, reaching out with her mind to sense if the darkness before her had truly been purged.

She felt a presence, but a distinct lack of any dark power.

Carefully she opened an eye and peeked down at the ground.

A yellow spike of rock poked through the earth, standing higher than herself.

A warm feeling began spread in the back of her mind.

"PRINCESS LUNA! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

Luna snorted and then chuckled, and then slowly began to laugh.

"LUNA?!"

Luna fell over and laughed hysterically, she couldn't help it, something about the stone just made her feel so giddy.

The pink dome opened and Shining Armor stepped through, tilting his head at the sight before him. "Uh, Princess Luna?"

She wheezed. "Shining Armor, I believe the problem has been reversed. Quite literally."

Shining blinked And glanced at the tall spire of yellow rock. "Oh..."

A giggle bubbled in his throat and steadily began to grow, in a few moments he found himself also lying on the floor dying with laughter.

One of the guards heard the strange sound and approached the dome. "Princess Luna? Captain?"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA-"

Las Pegasus - Libary
Present time

Cassandra scanned the area, mapping out the layout, and creating a plan of action in her head.

Harpy laughed at the armored pony. "I can say whatever I want JACKASS."

The three guards slowly advanced forward, pushing the trio into a corner.

"Now for my proposition Cassandra. You put these cuffs on-" he threw a pair of metal handcuffs at her feet. "-and I only kill two of these changelings, I'll even let you pick which ones."

Cassandra stepped forward, menacingly. "Not on your life."

"I agree with the little lady."

Everyone turned to the voice, seeing a large griffin with gray and black plumage step out of the shadows. "Now I suggest you put your weapons down nice and easy or else I'll kill your little friend outside."

The two pegasus guards flinched at his tone and considered their options.

Frost dropped his spear and Sleet slowly lowered to the ground, also laying down his weapon.

Iron Hoof snarled as he saw his men surrender. "Traitors of the crown, that what you all are!"

With a burst of magic, the spear and dagger went flying towards Harpy and Cassandra.

Cassandra managed to dodge the thrown blade and summoned a wave of black rock towards the guards, trapping the three in cages of unbreakable stone.

Harpy was not so lucky.

Anemone and Obsidian cried out as they saw the spear drive through Harpy's chest and fly out the other side.

"HARPY!" The grey griffin shrieked, flying over the mess of dark stone and towards the fallen griffin.

Nobody noticed how Cassandra's eyes burned green, or how thick tracts of purple smoke poured freely from her red eyes.

Cassandra stared intensely at the fallen griffin, not noticing the weeping form of the other pressing his claws in vain against her fatal wound.

No, to Cassandra, Harpy did not fall, Rapunzel did. Her father did, Owl did, Eugene did, she saw everyone she cared about die in the span of a few seconds.

Underneath the stone burned brightly under the cloaks disguise, burning with emotional magic.

The cloak's pony disguise fractured and exploded, making everyone turn to the terrifying figure of a VERY PISSED OFF WOMAN."

Cassandra gets angry

View Online

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?

Rainbow Dash feels conflicted

View Online

Las Pegasus - Library
Present time

Everyone turned to Cassandra and Owl when Rainbow Dash left, looking up to her with a strange sense of unease, waiting for her next move.

She had just saved one of them, she wouldn't be violent to them... Right?

Cassandra glanced at the two other guards she had caged in rock earlier, watching as they flinched back at her gaze. They were absolutely terrified, their large colorful eyes turned to pinpricks as they tried to back away.

She felt her heart grow heavy, those two were probably horrified by her, afraid for their lives.

Anemone cleared her throat and stepped forward, breaking the silence. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Cassandra felt a cynical chuckle creep up her throat, thinking back to the fact she couldn't go home. "I don't know. I just found out that I can never go home, Anemone. What am I supposed to do?"

Anemone hesitated and looked away. She didn't know how to answer. She blinked and glanced back up at Cassandra. What did she mean by that? Why couldn't she go home?

Cassandra raised her hand and lowered the yellow stone back into the floors of the library, releasing the two pegasus guards.

They shrunk back down against the floor, trembling as they awaited their fate.

It made her feel sick.

"Go," Cassandra said softly, not wanting to spook them further. "leave, I have no problem with you."

They hesitantly raised their heads and glanced at each other before booking it out of the building, running as fast as they could, forgetting they had wings entirely.

Everyone returned their attention to her, watching as she moved to also leave.

"Wait!" Obsidian yelled as he galloped to her. "Please, your power can heal my people! Since you have no place to go I beg of you, please, come with us we will help you in any way we can!"

Cassandra turned around, looking down at Obsidian with confusion. "What do you mean?"

Obsidian swallowed nervously. "I- I am a changeling. My kind do not eat to live like most creatures. We feed off emotion and recently we have suffered a severe shortage of it. Ivory and the rest of the Union are trying their best to help my hive but it's not enough to heal our starved and wounded."

He looked up at her, his eyes brightening visibly. "But you can change that! I have felt your power and it has filled me with enough strength to restore 12 of our afflicted to full health!"

Cassandra considered this, if Rapunzel was here she would immediately try to help him. Rapunzel was always a better person than her.

Owl hooted quietly to Cassandra, asking her to consider the offer. Some real food and a bed sounded nice for once.

"Fine." She agreed. "I will try to help you in any way I can."

Cassandra turned to Anemone and Harpy. "But before I do anything, I want you to tell me why you are spying on the Princesses and what this whole 'Union' thing is about."

Unlike Rapunzel, Cassandra didn't blindly trust people, she would need some answers first. For all she knew they only wanted to try to steal her power, and she knew firsthand how dangerous that could be.

Ivory stepped forward, followed by Harpy and his two ponies. "You saved my little girl, I would be honored to repay you in any way I can."

Cassandra softened her gaze at his words. She couldn't dismiss the honesty of his tone, how he reminded her of her own father...

Perhaps she could afford to at least give them the benefit of doubt.

"Sir! There appear to be signs of a dis..."

Everyone turned to the stunned armored unicorn, his voice trailing off as his eyes landed on Cassandra.

"Signs of what lieutenant?" Asked another stallion who approached the stunned unicorn.

He followed the gaze of his frozen subordinate and yelled at what he saw. "All units! converge on my positi-"

He was cut off when Cassandra summoned a wall of rock between them. Effectively keeping them out and trapping them inside.

Harpy cursed. "How did they get here so fast?!"

Cassandra shifted her feet and reached out to the stone again, preparing to rip a hole in the floor and create a path looping back up into an anyway behind the building.

"This way!" Ivory shouted while pulling a book on the shelf, causing it to slide open and reveal a secret passage. "Hurry!"

She paused, releasing her grip on the stone's magic. Perhaps a secret tunnel would be the best option.

Everyone rushed down the hall and Ivory closed the entrance behind them, locking it to prevent anyone from following.

Strange gemstones imbedded in the walls lit up the pathway, allowing Cassandra to see the numerous doors of tunnels branching off the one they were moving through.

It reminded her of the secret passages under the Castle, making her think back to all the times she had to chase Rapunzel down those dark hallways to drag her back to her boring royal duties.

Cassandra sighed at the thought, those times were long gone.

As she followed the group she thought deeply about what she knew. Apparently Obsidian ate emotions to live, and that his fellow citizens were slowly starving because nobody wanted to help them.

He was also what those guards called a 'changeling', a being capable of shapeshifting and an enemy of this country.

But why? Could Obsidian hurt someone by feeding off of them? How would that work? Were his kind frowned upon purely because of this diet?

Then why would this 'Union' help others like Obsidian if it was potentially damaging? Were the ponies of this land so incapable of kindness that they can't help out a race that's intelligent just like them? Especially when a shapeshifting population could be such an advantage to them?

Cassandra watched as Ivory moved to walk with his daughter. She knew she just had to be patient, she would get her answers soon anyway.

Whether or not their answers were true would be something she would have to figure out on her own.

Ivory paused at a door and pressed his claw against a brick next to it, never bothering to touch the handle. The stone glowed and the door swished open, allowing the group to pass.

Once through the door, Cassandra was greeted with the sight of a wide room with beautiful chandeliers filled with tables and chairs of various sizes.

They approached a table that was actually tall enough for Cassandra to sit at, making her wonder briefly just exactly what they would need such large furniture for.

"Well, -" Harpy began, glancing at her father. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions, so let's begin."

Ponyville
40 minutes later

Rainbow Dash could tell that she was close to breaking down, she couldn't get the sight of the royal guard dying out of her mind. She couldn't stop seeing those hate-filled green eyes that burned into her very soul, couldn't keep her dreadful voice out of her ears.

And yet... she couldn't forget the warmth of her voice as it healed the dead griffin, or how the others defended it with such determination. Somehow in their eyes this creature was not wrong in killing the guard, not wrong in lashing out with dark magic of all things.

No, in their eyes she was wrong for trying to stop the creature, for trying to avenge the pony, for trying to bring it to justice.

To them, justice had already been paid, and that the guard's death was merely the consequence of his own actions.

Rainbow Dash zoomed through the air and dived down towards Twilight's door. Perhaps her friend could help her sort out her emotions before she started crying, everything about this situation clashed with what she believed, made her question what she thought was right.

Rainbow dash burst through the front door. "TWILIGHT!"

Twilight yelped, dropping the book in her magical grasp. "NO!" She jumped down from her chair and picked up the book, searching for any damage. "Rainbow Dash! Look what you made me do!"

She shook her head. "It's just a book! Now I-"

"RAINBOW!" Twilight shouted. "It's not just some book, it's one of Starswirl's personal JOURNALS! And I BENT A FEW OF THE PAGES!"

"I'm SORRY!" Rainbow Dash yelled back, her voice cracking slightly, holding none of her usual confidence. "I'm sorry Twilight but right now I need your help."

Twilight hesitated, taking in her friend's unusual tone. "What do you need help with?"

Rainbow closed the door behind her and sat down, taking deep shaky breaths. "Twilight, I... I saw somepony die today."

"WHAT?!" Spike shrieked just as he entered the library, dropping the half-eaten ruby in his claws.

Twilight just stared with shock, unsure what she heard was right. "I'm sorry what?!"

Rainbow nodded. "I was hanging out with my old pal Free Fall in Las Pegasus when we heard screaming coming from inside this old building. So we go in to try to help out when we see a griffin lying dead on the ground, killed by one of the royal guards there."

Twilight and Spike gasped. That couldn't be right, royal guards were trained to only use deadly force in the most extreme situations! They didn't even kill any changelings when they attacked Canterlot!

"And then there was this white pony that just... Exploded and turned into some weird two-legged creature with glowing blue hair and green eyes..."

Dash looked up at the two. "Twilight, its eyes looked just like Sombra's, I think it was using dark magic."

"But that's impossible! Everything about dark magic was destroyed centuries ago!" Twilight exclaimed, a single hair jumped out of place in her mane.

Spike nodded. "Yeah even Celestia doesn't have any books of dark magic, you'd have to be an immortal to know any of that stuff."

"But that's the thing! It brought the dead griffin back to life with some weird golden magic!" Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes with a hoof, trying to fight the tears pricking at her eyes "And then it killed the guard by making him... Makeing him decay while he was alive. It... I couldn't do anything..."

Rainbow dash looked up and saw Twilight frozen, her pupils were shrunken and another hair popped out of place.

Spike sputtered. "But necromancy magic was banned over millennia ago! Only the Princesses would even have an idea of how it works!"

"EXACTLY!" Twilight yelled, finally breaking out of her stupor. "The fact that you saw such magic means that this thing is probably well over 3,000 years old and could be a big threat to Equestria!"

"Spike take a letter we have to tell Celestia!"

"Already on it!" Spike replied, pulling a quill and scroll out of a nearby drawer.

"NO!" Rainbow yelled, making Twilight and Spike stop and turn to her with surprised expressions.

Rainbow Dash tried to calm her nerves and sighed. She didn't mean to yell like that. "Look I came here because I thought you needed to hear this, and because I thought you could help me understand."

"What's there to understand?" Twilight asked, already ideas of several different disasters ran through her head. "We have a monster on the loose that kills ponies with DARK MAGIC! We have to tell Celestia!"

"BUT IT SAVED SOMEPONY TOO!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the two, her emotions beginning to take their toll. "I wanted to take it down but the others there stopped me. They said that the guard wanted to kill all of them and that the creature was only defending them."

She hiccuped. "Twilight I wanted to hurt it, I wanted to bash its head in but one of the ponies asked me how that made me the better mare, how I was the good pony by attacking it and I don't know the answer. Beating up bad guys is what we always do, so why do I feel so bad now?"

Twilight considered her words, pausing her several trains of thought and focusing on her friend. "We only take down threats to Equestria. If this thing was just trying to help the griffins then you should let the authorities handle it. They would know what to do."

Rainbow looked away, feeling significantly worse. What is she messed up? What if the creature went on a rampage because of her?

"But that doesn't mean that what you did was wrong." Twilight quickly added. "It killed somepony and that's a very bad thing to do, you were right to try and take it down."

Rainbow Dash recalled how the creature reacted to her accusations, it didn't attack her, it hardly tried to defend itself.

What if it just lost control of its anger for a moment? Feeling outraged because its friend was hurt? What if it felt like how she was right now? Regretting it's action after the moment passed...

"But how do you know that?" She asked quietly, hating how she felt uncertain. "This pony was going to kill them, all of them, even another pony! Celestia, he already killed one when we got there, what if it was just trying to stop him?" She asked, her eyes becoming watery. She never believed in punishment by death, but she also believed that a pony could never do such a thing.

But Sombra was a pony just like them... Who's to say that the guard wasn't like Sombra?

Twilight glanced at Spike, seeing that he felt as conflicted as her. "I don't know Dash, this is all too complicated I think only Celestia would know what to do."

She walked over to Rainbow Dash pulled Spike along with her magic. "If you feel that what you did was wrong then maybe you can set it right. Let's write the letter together so that Celestia has all the information and can make the right decision, okay?"

Dash looked over at the paper, thinking to herself carefully. If she could help Celestia understand then maybe she would see that this creature could be misunderstood, or that maybe it was evil. Either way, she would be helping it or Equestria, and that's all she wanted to do.

Dash smiled sadly and wiped the growing tears out of her eyes, never giving them the chance to roll down her cheeks. "Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Twilight."

Twilight and Spike brightened at her answer, glad to help her feel better.

"Anything for a friend," Twilight said gently as she pulled over a chair. "now let's get started."

Rainbow Dash thought about the strange creature, how it brutally murdered a pony to avenge what could have been its friend. She knew that if it ever came to it and her friends were in danger, she would very well do the same, no matter how she felt about death.

Anything for a friend...

Twilight had no idea how much that was true.

A lesson in history

View Online

White Tail Woods - White Tail Village
Present time

Luna stood over her ponies from a distance, watching as her squad of royal guards carried the last of the petrified forms of the frozen townsfolk to the base of the large yellow spire.

Luna and Shining Armor had come to the conclusion that the now 'reversed' stone could restore the frozen ponies, and by the looks of things, they were right. She had escorted the little colt Icy Breeze to the stone herself, making sure his fear had been cleansed thoroughly.

Even now she still felt this strange giddy feeling fill her body whenever she even glanced at the stone, it made her feel warm... Even though she could sense its power dissipating.

The now unfrozen mayor of White Tail Village was standing next to her, doing her best not to tremble at what exactly the presence of this stone meant.

"So it's true then, there is a monster in these woods that can use dark magic.". The mayor whispered, shifting her eyes back and forth between her citizens and the forest.

Luna hummed. "Yes, it would appear so. I suggest you prepare your ponies for evacuation. Until the threat is properly neutralized this area is to be locked down and thoroughly searched."

The mayor finally settled her gaze on the forest. "Yes, I believe that would be for the best. I would hate to have a repeat of this situation or..." She tore her gaze from the trees. "Or have anything worse happen to my fellow ponies. I shall arrange a meeting, we would all be ready to evacuate by tomorrow at noon."

Luna looked off into the distance, staring at the royal castle settled on the faraway mountain. "Shining Armor shall stay here and watch over this place as everypony gets ready to leave, I must return to Canterlot and inform my sister of this situation."

And explain to Cadence why her husband wasn't back on break like he was supposed to be.

The mayor's ears fell at her words, feeling a whole lot more afraid without the presence of the Princess, but she understood. "Do what you must, we are grateful for your help in this situation Princess Luna."

Luna nodded wordlessly and spread her wings, about to take off when a loud beat of sound echoed through the air, making her twist to face the yellow stone.

Only the large spire of stone was no longer yellow, nor had it returned to its dreadful red, instead it was pitch black and was rapidly sinking into the rumbling ground.

Its magical signature had finally ceased to be.

Luna took off, leaving the shocked pink mayor behind and darting to the disappearing stone.

It seemed that all the petrified ponies had all been restored and were trying to flee to the town, screaming and hollering all the way.

She landed and Shining Armor appeared at her side. "What's going on!"

The ground shook more violently, making everyone around the stone stumble.

"I know not! Vacate the area! I shall deal with this accursed stone of darkness!" She shouted, slipping back into her old speech habits as she ignited her horn, preparing to blast the rock to smithereens.

The stone pulsed an electric blue as lighting raced up its sides and stretched out to Luna, striking her horn and paralyzing her body.

A blood-curdling scream tore from her throat as her magic was sapped out from her horn and into the greedy pits of the stone, draining her of her powerful magic.

Shining turned to the sound, twisting as the other guards hurried the townsfolk out of the clearing. "NO!"

He rushed to his Princess and tackled her, disrupting the connection to her horn and cutting it off with a powerful shield spell.

The blue glow of the stone faded as it sunk, turning black again before disappearing underground from view.

Its dark essence returned suddenly before dissolving again, only... It didn't feel evil or even remotely negative.

It felt empty, devoid of any magic again.

"Luna are you okay?!" Shining asked, hoisting Luna back onto her hooves. If the ponies returned and saw their Princess down for even a moment it could cause more unnecessary panic.

Luna stood shakily and held a hoof to her head, groaning in pain. "I will be fine captain. Return to your duties, I must leave for Canterlot immediately and share these past events with my sister."

Luna lowered her hoof and squinted at the large hole in the ground. "In the meantime, I need you to have your guards recover pieces of this stone, and discretely deliver them to the castle for proper analysis. Use no magic on the stone, I want you to break it apart with tools."

Shining Armor saluted. "Consider it done Princess Luna, shall I escort you to the train station?"

She shook her head. "That will not be necessary captain, only my magic has been drained, I am in perfect physical condition." She lied, ignoring the pounding In her head and the weakness in her limbs.

She spread her wings and took off onto the blue sky, heading straight for the castle. She could worry about herself later, right now she had a plan to create and ponies to protect.

The stone and its magical nature was disturbing. Surely it's creator must be as twisted as its magic.

Luna never saw the tiny blue colt that tried to catch up to her.

Icy breeze had run through the crowd to get to the Princess, only to see her take off, flying so swiftly he could only hope to catch up to her in his dreams.

Icy watched as she disappeared into the distance before glancing at the hole where the tall spire once stood intimidatingly.

He hung his head and dragged his hooves forward, one slowly after the other. He had run away from his mother in hopes of talking to Luna before she left, to ask her some questions he felt too shy about earlier.

But she was gone, just like his brother, just like his father...

Icy suddenly lifted his head and stared into the forest with his grey eyes, peering past the trees. Cookie wasn't gone, he was still living in the lake out in the woods, waiting for him like the faithful friend he is.

Icy smiled and took a running start, launching himself into the air and speeding into the forest on his light blue wings, making his white mane blow wildly in the wind.

Cookie the salamander would listen to him, would talk to him, and never abandon him. Why didn't he think of seeing him earlier?

Icy dashed through the trees, playing his little game of 'race through the branches without touching them', forgetting that he left his very worried mother behind with no idea as to where he was. Again.

Las Pegasus - The Meeting Room
40 minutes earlier

"First off, " Cassandra began, sitting down at the table and clasping her hands. "the Union, your spying. Explain."

Ivory dismissed his two ponies, leaving only the three griffins and changeling at the table. "Alright, you want the short version or the long version?"

"Long, I want you to start from the beginning." Cassandra said bluntly, setting Owl down on the table.

Harpy glanced at her father as she sat down, taking his nod as a sign to speak. "I should warn you, you may not like what you hear."

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "And why is that?"

"Because the Equestrian kingdom is a corrupted one. A kingdom that is so self-righteous it believes that the genocide and eventual extinction of three different races was justified in their conquest of power." Obsidian spat.

Cassandra blinked, taken back by his words. There was too much emotion in his voice for it to be a lie. Then again he was a being that fed off emotion, so she couldn't be sure. "Is that so?"

Ivory clenched his jaw and looked away. "The ponies have done many things to our nations in the past. Genocide is just one of their many crimes."

Cassandra hummed. "Then tell me. I want to hear everything and then I want you to give me proof."

Cassandra knew she wouldn't be able to understand their books but she didn't tell them that. It would be better for them to feel pressed to tell the truth than to believe that they could lie.

It wasn't that she expected them to lie, rather she was just a firm believer in the phrase 'better safe than sorry'.

Anemone shifted uncomfortably at her demanding tone, remembering her show of power from earlier. "Well, our books are all held in the storage. I could go bring a few if you want."

Cassandra flicked Owl's tail feathers, silently commanding him to follow her. "Sure, while you do that I want you three-"

She turned to face the two griffins and changeling with her sharp blue eyes. "to tell me what I want to know."

Anemone glanced between them, feeling unsure for a moment before leaving, followed closely by Owl. She didn't believe that Cassandra was the type to go around hurting everyone she disagreed with, but she didn't know enough to be sure...

Anemone shook her head, dismissing her negative thoughts. She knew that Cassandra wouldn't hurt her friends, what she did for her at the ticket booth proved that. Cassandra didn't like racists and bigoted creatures, she would definitely side with them when she heard of Equestria's past.

"So, -" Cassandra started, leaning back against her chair. "Why was the Union formed? what exactly has this Equestria done?"

Harpy peeked at the stone under Cassandra's cloak before glancing at Obsidian. She and her father were doing this to help him and his hive she reminded herself. She could only hope that Cassandra found the truth to be acceptable. "You said you wanted the long version right?"

"I did. Don't skip over anything."

Harpy swallowed. She didn't believe that Cassandra was unreasonable, but she couldn't stop the pit of fear in her stomach from growing. "About a thousand years before the founding of Equestria there was a King who ruled the unicorn tribe. His name was King Solaris, and like any unicorn he wanted land and power. After enslaving the Earth Pony Tribe and forcing the Pegasi into compliance he began to explore and conquer other lands."

Obsidian's face turned into a snarl at her words. "You mean he attacked Dream Valley, executed the current changeling Queen, and shattered the heart of the hive. Leaving those left of my kind to starve and go into hiding. And after that he destroyed the Diamond dog cities and sent his bitch of a niece to conquer the Dark Empire of the North, wiping the Umbra out of existence."

Cassandra raised a brow at his bluntness and choice of words.

Obsidian grunted at her expression. "You said 'don't skip over anything'."

Cassandra smiled slightly. It would seem that Obsidian was someone who got straight to the point. An admirable trait, and a one that was generally honest. "I did, didn't I. Please, continue."

Harpy hesitated. Well if Cassandra wanted the details she might as well share them, at least she was taking it well so far. "After driving the Umbra of the Frozen North and the Reptilian tribes of the south to extinction and nearly wiping out the Changeling and Diamond Dog race, Solaris began sailing to find more land to conquer."

"You said he wiped out three races, which was the third?"

"The Sirens." Obsidian answered. "Although they weren't destroyed until a few years after the fall of the Dark Empire I think."

Despite the fact that Cassandra looked very different from anything she had seen Harpy could tell that she was listening carefully, this encouraged Harpy. Perhaps she would understand, if she could show her just how much wrong Equestria did them then maybe she would do more then just heal the changelings.

With the help of a being as powerful as her maybe the Union could finally make their move.

Harpy cleared her throat, reminding herself that she was the one who owed her. She couldn't expect anything from Cassandra, it fact it was the other way around. "Anyways, the underwater Empire of Aquaria warned the Griffin Kingdom of the approaching danger, and so the Union was formed by King Honoris and his wife Queen Plumaria to prevent King Solaris from conquering their lands and slaughtering their citizens."

"That's why the Union was formed, -" she said firmly. "-to stop King Solaris and the unicorn tribe from committing mass genocide across my home and our allies. And if we could, we would set the enslaved earth ponies free, letting them live amongst ourselves in peace and often moving them to live with our allies to prevent their slavers from trying to take them back."

Harpy clicked her talons against her chair, still feeling nervous. "With the strength of seven nations we drove out the wicked ponies, following them back to Equestria to finish the job when Solaris revealed a magical superweapon."

Ivory frowned. "The Alicorn amulet, capable of granting its user the strength of the three tribes and excessive amounts of dark magic."

Harpy nodded. "In order to avoid any further bloodshed we backed off and began to work in secret. Watching Equestria's every move and infiltrating their ranks, spying on their royalty, trying to remove this weapon of power."

Harpy straightened. "We managed to take Solaris's wife hostage. After a few interrogations, it became clear that Queen Star Dust had no idea that her husband had been murdering sapient beings for six years. We released her when she agreed to assassinate her husband and tried to make amends, for two years she created a tight web of laws to promote equality amongst the pony tribes and stop the lawful slaughter of other beings."

Harpy's expression turned sour. "But Empress Amore, the pony who wiped out the Umbrum and took over the Dark Empire, didn't like what she was doing and accused her of treason. With the help of the unicorn tribe, she executed Queen Star Dust and sent her son to take over, leaving the two original heirs of the throne in an orphanage."

Harpy steeled herself and looked Cassandra in the eye. "We took her children from there, raising them and their children to be better then Solaris. Ever since then we have tried to overthrow Equestria. For the last thousand years we have watched and listened, taking in any other races wronged by Equestria and waiting for the day when we could finally avenge our dead. Once we take over we will free any of the good-hearted ponies left from Celestia's corrupted rule and put the true royal hairs back on the throne."

The room was silent for a moment, as everyone watched the human carefully.

Harpy nearly held her breath. She was telling the truth, she knew the books supported her story. But she also knew that Cassandra had every right to be suspicious or even refuse to help, she could only hope that Cassandra believed her.

"Who is currently ruling Equestria?"

Harpy blinked, not expecting this response. "Uh, Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna rule Equestria with Princess Cadance ruling the former Dark Empire now known as the Crystal Empire."

Cassandra folded her hands and leaned forward. "How long have they reigned? Have they been peaceful?"

Obsidian gave the Griffin a look before answering. "Around a thousand years, Cadance only became royalty around two years ago. They... The only thing they did was throw the changelings out of Canterlot after the attempted invasion lead by Queen Chrysalis."

A thousand years... Cassandra could hardly believe her words, but Harpy said them so casually she had to assume that this was common knowledge.

"They also imprisoned Prince Tirek And they executed Ebony and the Sirens after they tried to remove Solaris's weapon." Ivory added, finally speaking up.

"And these Princesses are descendants of Empress Amore?" Cassandra asked.

"Yes, all three. There's a fourth but she doesn't rule anything. She just controls the nations 'new' superweapon, the elements of 'harmony'." Harpy confirmed, wondering where she was getting at.

Cassandra thought deeply. She was in another world, trapped in a land that was ruled ponies who had a horrible family tree and despite being peaceful for their thousand-year reign, were still defined by the actions of their ancestors.

The only time they ever did anything objectively wrong was when their nation or power was threatened.

It reminded her of herself, of her mother...

Obsidian finally spoke up. "So, will you heal my hive? Will you help us bring justice to those who have wronged so many?"

Ivory coughed before speaking. "You could help the Union out greatly, help restore peace to our lands."

The griffins and changeling stared at Cassandra carefully, hoping with all their heart for a positive answer.

Cassandra held Harpy's gaze for a few seconds before turning away with a sigh. "I will help your people Obsidian..."

He smiled widely, feeling absolutely overjoyed with her words despite having no idea what 'people' were.

"But I want no part with your Union."

Perspective

View Online

Las Pegasus - The Meeting Room
30 minutes earlier

Harpy felt confused. Why didn't Cassandra want to help the Union? She had just learned how horrible Equestria has been to the other nations, even to its own ponies! And yet, even after Anemone spoke highly of her sense of justice, she didn't want to help them.

Ivory discreetly laid foot on top of her own under the table, trying to stop his daughter from speaking out against their guest. "We understand, this is not your problem, you... You have done more than I could ever repay you for, and have agreed to help a race most turn their backs on. We are in your debt."

Harpy relented. Her father was right, Cassandra owed them nothing and was obligated to do nothing, no matter how she felt.

How could she argue with someone that saved her life? Saved her friends and her father?

Obsidian however deflated visibly and looked away from Cassandra. "I... I know it is not my place to ask but... Why? Why not help us? You are probably the only being other than Discord that could face the Princesses and their Elements of Harmony. Anemone told us of your disgust towards injustice, do their crimes not make your blood boil like it does to mine?"

Cassandra sighed and closed her eyes. She knew that despite their politeness that all three of them felt the same, disappointed and confused.

But they also grew up in a biased environment, were probably taught to despise the ponies from youth. Cassandra knew that making them see reason and decide for themselves what was right would be a process, one that she would likely not stay around long enough to complete.

She had more important things to do, like figuring out where to go and what to do in this strange new land. Specifically, find a way out of this country full of tiny horses that wanted to kill her for using 'dark magic' or whatever.

Killing that guard in a blind rage probably didn't help her case. Man, what a mess.

"So, did you still want to look at the books?" A soft, hesitant voice spoke.

It was at this moment that Anemone was noticed by the group with Owl sitting on a cart of books. Her eyes were wide and her claws gripped the handles tightly.

Cassandra eyed the cart before shaking her head. "That can come later, please sit down I know you four probably want an explanation."

Anemone watched as Owl flew ahead of her and settled down on the table before following. Cassandra was right, she did want to know why the one being kind enough to help her out against a racist was unwilling to fight the leaders of a nation filled with racists, especially after she saw one murder her friend.

Cassandra waited until Anemone had sat down before speaking. "I understand that the things Equestria has done in the past are unforgivable, that your nations have suffered because of their past leaders."

Cassandra leveled her eyes at Harpy. "But that's exactly it, it's all in the past. You can't blame the Princesses just because they're related to Solaris, you can't blame someone solely on blood relation."

Harpy stood up, opening her mouth to retort before promptly closing it again.

Owl flared his wings at Harpy, a clear sign of a warning.

Everyone watched as she stood over the table, her dark crown feathers raising subconsciously as she tried to find the right words.

Cassandra didn't miss how Ivory glared at his daughter.

Harpy's talons dug into the table as she turned to scowl at the wall, finally speaking. "You don't understand. These ponies are the source of the worlds pain, someone needs to pay, justice needs to be served for our dead."

Cassandra scratched under Owl's neck feathers, making him calm down and lower his wings. "I am the daughter of the Captain of the Guard from my country, I grew up learning about the law and morality I think I have a good idea on what's right and what's wrong."

Ivory titled head at this, a place filled with other beings like Cassandra? Were they all as powerful as her? Why had he never heard about her kind then?

Cassandra released Owl and clasped her hands together. "I've listened to many cases of many crimes, even help in quite a few myself, and you know what? Most of these crimes are not always what they seem, you need to dig deep to find out if someone's actually a bad guy, or really just a desperate person just trying to survive."

Harpy wanted to argue, wanted to make Cassandra see just how horrible the ponies were but her father made her pause by grabbing her hand.

"That's enough." Ivory growled, feeling all the more anxious, he certainly didn't want to accidentally fall on her bad side, not when she was the friend of a powerful Crown. "Sit down."

Harpy struggled internally for a moment before she ripped her claws out of his grasp. "NO! I literally just DIED today! All of you saw me DIE, and you're okay with it?! With letting this go?!"

She turned on Cassandra. "And I'm NOT THE FIRST ONE! Stella was MURDERED just over a month ago! By PONIES!"

"This isn't just about what happened millennia ago! It's about what's going on Right NOW! Murder, Discrimination, and RAPE!"

The room fell quiet after that, save for the heavy, angry breathing from Harpy.

Cassandra lowered her face and closed her eyes, her hands still clasped together on the table.

"I know."

The temperature noticeably dropped a few degrees and everyone felt their mouths go dry.

"Well, really I just assumed after my experience with the ticket pony and the guard that this was true. I wouldn't believe it if someone told me there was a place where there was no crime or a government without some sort of corruption."

Cassandra lifted her head and opened her eyes, they burned a bright electric blue, their glow cutting through the powerful magical candlelight drifting from chandeliers above.

Slowly Cassandra twisted to face Anemone, giving her what was supposed to be a comforting smile.

It only made the red griffin feel very nervous.

"Tell me, do the Princesses benefit from these things? Do they encourage it? Or better yet, are they in charge of it?"

Anemone broke into a cold sweat, feeling an invisible vice wrap around her tongue compelling her to tell only the truth. Not that she would ever think to lie about something as serious as this. "N-no, Celestia and the other Princesses are unaware of most of the crimes since they are usually disguised as accidents or suicides, and nobility work with the press to keep any messy murders out of the newspaper."

She swallowed harshly. "Discrimination usually goes unnoticed because most businesses have a right to refuse service to anyone, and here everyone has freedom of speech..."

"They... They don't support any of these things, but they can't exactly stop it either, not without major backlash and possible riots. Even with all their power, they are too busy managing their nation and playing nice in the courts to actually see what goes on in their walls."

The intensity of the glow lowered a bit. "So then, the Princesses can be considered innocent of this. But like every nation, they have a few... shifty characters that the world could go without."

Harpy resisted the urge to bury her talons into the table again. "The Princesses aren't entirely innocent. The whole damn place is a cesspool of crime that needs to be wiped away. And that's exactly what we're gonna do."

"And who said you could be Judge, Jury, and Executioner? Are your nations so perfect that you get to decide who lives and who dies? Are your kind without any murderers, racists, or rapists? Are your countries free of any crime?"

Harpy faltered and quickly looked away. "Well, no but-"

"Then you have no right do decide the fate of thousands." Cassandra's voice interrupted, her voice dropping an octave or two. "I won't pretend to believe that the Princesses are blameless. My own King even risked the safety of the world by trying to save his wife, it would be easy to blame all my troubles on him."

"Easy, but wrong."

Cassandra finally unlaced her fingers and laid her hands flat against the table. "A thousand years of peace could also be seen as a thousand years of opportunity for the ponies to continue their expansion. In fact, the only reason your Union hasn't already attacked is because Equestria is more powerful than you."

"Think about that, these Princesses have never raised a hand against you themselves, and yet you hate them with a passion for no other reason other then someone told you to. You would be willing to restart a WAR just for 'revenge' against a group that never did anything to you."

"But someone has to pay, right?" Anemone finally asked, feeling incredibly unsure as she spoke. "There are families right now that will never have closure until we take over Equestria and put the guilty nobility on trial. The Union has tried to sort out these problems in the royal court but our evidence is usually destroyed or ignored, and most witnesses and judges are bribed under the table."

The expression she received wasn't angry, but rather, disappointed. "Then that is a problem, one that with the power of seven nations you should be able to fix." Cassandra spoke, her voice returning mostly to normal.

The room became quiet again, only this time they were silent in consideration, not unease.

The glow slowly faded as well, leaving behind the strange light blue eyes.

It was Ivory who disturbed the silence. "Well, what would you suggest that we do? Even if the Princesses may not be our enemy there are other ponies who are."

Cassandra gave a small, sad smile. "It doesn't matter, does it? Your Union is made up of seven nations, even if I could change your minds I doubt I could change all of theirs. I've dealt with zealous people before, they're a stubborn group."

Cassandra locked her gaze with Ivory. "But like you said, you're a member of their council. Whether you pass this discussion on with your friends is not my problem, but if you do I have somethings I want you to share as well."

Cassandra straightened her back. "The Princesses are not like their ancestor King Solaris, they are not tyrants or slavers, they are not on the warpath and do not attack everything they see like Solaris or this 'Amore'. Whatever you decide to do, please, consider their reign of peace, have mercy on them, they are not the ones you want revenge on."

A dull ache began to throb in her head, almost making Cassandra wince. "I know that I'm just an outsider looking in, but in court, outsiders are used to judge two sides without bias towards one group."

"Of course, judgment can never be perfectly executed without plenty of evidence and both sides of the story."

Cassandra stood up, ignoring how her brain began to pulse painfully. "Now If you'll excuse me I'm really tired, I assume you have a room where I can sleep?"

Ivory nodded slowly. "Yeah, uh- Obsidian could you show our guest to a room? I got some paperwork to finish..."

Obsidian stood from his seat and shuffled awkwardly to Cassandra, watching was Owl flew from the table and onto her shoulder. "Right, uhh- follow me please."

Cassandra cast one last glance at the griffins sitting around the table, they all seemed to visibly struggle with her words.

Good. Cassandra thought to herself, following after Obsidian. I know I don't want to get involved with the politics of this world while I'm still new here but...

Cassandra looked back on her experience with the group. Back on the blimp ride, she had a wonderful conversation with Anemone, she was willing to look past her pony disguise and see a friend In her, someone she could enjoy company with.

If Anemone could accept the fact that not all ponies are bad, then maybe Cassandra could help others in the Union see that the 'Princesses' aren't as bad as they are made out to be, that like her own king, they weren't perfect like everyone expects them to be.

The idea made Cassandra smile. Maybe I'll at least stick around and try to help them learn, to try to look at both sides of the story and resolve their problem without anyone else getting hurt needlessly.

It's what Rapunzel would do, after all, I could always work on what I'll do next later.

Together the three walked down tall hallways, making their way to the guest rooms for the bigger creatures that would happen to stay there.

They stopped in front of a tall wooden door and Obsidian opened the look with a spell from his horn. "There's a key on the desk and the bathroom is on your left."

Cassandra stepped inside and looked around the room. It felt calming, familiar, It almost reminded her of her old bedroom back at the castle.

Another burst of pain flared up in her head, this time succeeding making her wince.

Obsidian stepped past her and shot off another spell, lighting the candles in the room. "Make yourself at home. I think we'll be having dinner soon."

He quickly stepped back out and stood in the doorway. "Would you like for me to wake you up for dinner?"

Cassandra rubbed her temples, making Owl abandon his perch on her shoulder and land on a nearby stand. "Thank you Obsidian, dinner sounds nice."

The changeling hesitated in closing the door. "Um, could I ask you something?"

Cassandra unclipped her cloak and set it down on the bed next to her. "Sure."

His question danced on the tip of his tongue, practically begging to be let loose.

"What can you eat? I don't exactly know what you are and I want to make sure we give something you can actually eat." He asked, chickening out of his original question.

There was a paise before she answered. "I can eat a lot of different things. Vegetables, fruits, and meat as long as you cook it first."

She gestured to Owl. "He can have some meat, cooked or raw."

Obsidian blinked, forgetting instantly what she had just said. "Oh, okay I'll go tell the chefs."

He gave a short bow and reached for the door, cursing himself internally for his cowardness. "Thank you, sleep well."

Cassandra watched as he closed the door, waiting to hear it click shut before cradling her head in her hands.

This migraine hurt like a bitch.

With a groan she laid down and pressed her palms against her eyes.

I really need to make that 'pain-killer' Varian made, that potion is a Godsend.

Cassandra froze and pulled her hands away from her face, narrowing her eyes at her thoughts. Who was Varian again? She didn't remember reading a book about alchemy.

Another wave of agony washed over her mind, making her forget what she was confused about.

Owl didn't notice how his friend's eyes turned green, he was too busy preening his feathers.

What was I thinking about? I can't remember...

Cassandra grabbed a pillow and pushed her face into it. If she couldn't remember then it probably wasn't important, she had bigger things to worry about like suddenly waking up suddenly in a new world filled with cute tiny creatures trying to overthrow a monarchy filled with tiny, murderous ponies.

Cassandra gave a short sigh and decided a power nap should fix things.

She tossed the pillow back on the bed and face planted into it, not bothering to remove her spiny armor, not even the shoes.

Owl stared at his friend for a moment, unamused.

He returned to preening his wings. Oh well, if Cassandra tore up the bed with her armor it wasn't his fault.

Anemone watched as Cassandra left with Obsidian, feeling as if her heart was torn in two directions.

She had met several ponies in her time at the castle who were decent beings, even a few of the nobles.

But the good was heavily outweighed by the bad, like an ink stain on a cloth, the disgusting lack of morality spread from generation to generation, leaving only spoiled brats who believe the world is theirs.

And their Princesses did nothing to clean this stain, they only gave a slap on the wrist and sent the bastards on their way, spreading their darkness as they left. She would know, she had seen it herself at the royal courts.

Anemone felt her thoughts being pulled to the earlier conversation with Cassandra.

She had brought up a good argument, it wasn't right to blame someone for something that happened before they were born.

For the longest time she had tried to ignore the kindness of the Princesses, tried to stomp down their conversations and words as nothing more than lies and false promises. That all the times one of them rebuked another pony for their crude comments was just a setup to look better, that the one time Luna joined her at a ball was to simply ask questions and not because 'she was fun to talk to'.

A scrap against the floor pulled her out of her mind, making her look across the table. She hadn't seen Ivory leave.

"Well, -" Harpy began while pushing her chair back in. "that was... Different. I..."

She sighed. "I got things to do, I'll see you at dinner."

Anemone blinked as Harpy turned away, hit with a sudden realization that something very important was missing.

"Hey Harpy?" She asked nervously

Harpy turned and raised a feathered brow. "Yeah?"

"I forgot the briefcase."

"...Oh Boreas-"

A blue woman stood to the side, watching as the two griffins rushed out of the room, worried about some forgotten 'briefcase'.

Nobody had seen her listen in on their conversation, they simply couldn't, it wasn't possible.

Not for them anyway.

The gem resting on her forehead glowed softly.

Everything about this situation, about this 'Equestria' and 'Union' felt so familiar to her, hitting just a little too close to home for her liking.

It reminded her of what had happened that dreadful night, the slaughter that happened over millennia ago.

They had attacked without mercy, leaving behind nothing but burned down houses and bodies. Bones were broken and limbs were severed, most had only stumps left of their horns and empty eye sockets as they were harvested for their 'healing properties'. What horrible lie that was.

Her people had put up a fight, the thick residue of spent magic and shattered spell bottles was evidence of that... But in the end they had failed, and the humans tore down the palace, murdering her family for no reason other than their fear of what was different.

The gems strung around her head also began to glow, joining the blood-red centerpiece.

She was one of only six survivors of the town and she hadn't seen the fight, rather she was out in the enchanted forest practicing her magic with her teacher.

The only thing left behind of the attackers was a golden sun painted onto a purple cloth, the flag of her enemies for centuries to come.

Two blue buns of hair began to twist into horns and her waist began to stretch and narrow, her dress splitting and parting into multiple tendrils.

It had taken many years to master her gifts, to prepare for the day when she, along with the others, would exact vengeance for her people.

But then he had appeared, a human, smart and kind, eager to learn about what was different, what was strange.

Her form twisted into that of an intimidatingly tall beast, with several tentacles for legs and broad shoulders for thickly muscled arms, her fingers tipped with razor-sharp claws.

She should have known better than to trust a human, one who even took part in massacring her family.

She growled, her beastly form making her voice thunder deeply, her lips pulled back into a toothy snarl.

Cassandra was simply another human, speaking nothing but lies, defending the actions of these murderous equestrians just like him.

She had made a promise that day, she had no intention of abandoning her word, not as he did.

The intensity of her necklace disappeared and she felt a shudder run through her body.

The human was remembering.

Her body burned brightly and began to shrink, leaving behind the original form of a short young woman she usually possessed.

She closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her hands together before reopening them, her eyes casting a sickly shade of green.

It was hardly a problem, she could make the human forget.

Slowly the green light faded from her eyes and a grin split across her face.

She wouldn't fail, not this time, already her plan was in motion, all she had to do was wait and let the pieces fall into place.

Perhaps the humans could be destroyed later, these 'ponies' certainly sounded like they desperately needed a lesson or two...

Author's Notes:

What's this? A vague backstory on the 'blue lady'? How interesting...

Now some of you may be thinking 'hey AC, I think Celestia would know if ponies went around killing griffins and whatnot, so why are you saying otherwise?' But here's the thing, Celestia has really only faced non-pony threats and likes to think the best of her citizens, and since she isn't all-knowing like some ponies believe it's reasonable that some shady rich ponies hide things from the government. Believe me, I am trying to stay as realistic as possible while maintaining the plot, that's the reason why these chapters take so long to write.

Anyways I apologize for the late chapter. I know it's not actually late but I had every intention to post it last Thursday but I couldn't get the conversation right. Honestly, I wrote that first part at least four times with different scenarios and dialogue but ultimately I think this was the best one. Still, I feel like this was posted prematurely so I might edit this later idk...

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment below!

The letter

View Online

Canterlot Castle - Day Court
Present time

Last night Celestia had spent hours agonizing over books cataloging any and all creatures, even extending her search to tales of mythical beings and the religious figures from far off lands. She had come across many strange bipedal creatures in these books, most were pictured as monstrosities of evil.

Celestia repressed the urge to frown in disgust. Those griffins certainly knew how to create a terrifying image with words, and knew how to paint a nightmare-inducing picture even better.

The scattered innards and bloodied broken bones filling the picture of a particular beast seemed a bit unnecessary. Their description of it's eating habits was enough to get the point across.

Celestia leaned forward in her throne a bit, keeping up the appearance that she was wholly invested in what the stallion in front of her was saying.

With the rising of the sun, the day had torn her from her search, whisking her away to a sea of responsibility that was her royal duties without a care for her research.

So here she was in day court, smiling down on her subjects, losing precious hours in order to put up the facade that all was well in the kingdom, that she could afford to spend time solving the troubles of her subjects herself.

But even as time slipped past her hooves she was not idle in her work, with the centuries had come the wonderful ability to multitask while maintaining impossibly perfect awareness of her surroundings.

It was an ability that she was currently putting to use, analyzing everything she had gathered from her late-night reading, connecting and combining pieces of information that swarmed her thoughts as a chaotic cascade of knowledge and experience that would even make Discord look twice.

"It's just unreasonable to require us farmers to use nonlethal force when dealing with vermin! Already we have to maximize spell use against parasprites making us have to spend a fortune just to protect our crops! And what we get back from our sales is hardly enough to support us without jacking up the price another five bits!"

Celestia nodded as she continued her thoughts, assuring the plump earth pony that he held her attention.

Bipedal creatures were a rarity in the known lands. While they were large in number they only had variety within a species, like the cats of the west and the dragons down south. Each could be remarkably different from the other but they still fall into the same race.

Dragons were dragons and cats were cats, no matter the difference in fur length or size. But they could still be broken down into subcategories based on appearance or ability much like ponies.

Dragons that could only produce fire fell under the 'normal dragon' category while dragons with magical properties like Spike fell into the 'enhanced' category where their traits were further broken down.

At least, that was what she had gathered from her books which apparently held everything except what she wanted to know.

Centuries of discipline kept an annoyed groan from her lips, millennia of accumulated knowledge, and not one scrap of paper had what she needed to know.

Not one picture matched her description, few papers listed bipeds capable of harnessing magic and most couldn't use dark magic without total deterioration of their bodies.

Celestia smiled as she looked down at the rounded orange pony. "Your worries have been noted, do you have anything more to say, perhaps your input on how this should be resolved?"

The stallion flicked his tail. "The only option I see is to lower the royal tax on crops. Already we are up to our ears in laws taking our hard earned bits from our hooves, lower the taxes and we will be able to comply with using nonlethal force against pests while maintaining a profit."

She nodded. "Thank you Celery Branch, I shall see what I can do. This case is adjourned."

The stallion harrumphed and turned away. "See that you do, cuz I'll be back if you don't."

Celestia brushed off his brash attitude and waited for the next case when a telltale tingle ran through her horn, interrupting her mental symphony of notes and observations.

A familiar scroll appeared in her magic and she lifted a wing, making her guards pause in bringing in the next pony.

There was a purple seal on the royal red ribbon, the mark of her faithful Twilight.

Perhaps she could use this to excuse herself and return to her search.

"Court is canceled for the day, I have something to important attend to." She ordered while stepping up from her throne and stepping out of the room.

While unexpected, this letter couldn't have come at a better time, making her contemplated the exact contents. Was it something important? It wasn't time for another friendship report.

Once she exited into the hall she teleported to her private study, leaving the guards behind to wonder after the Princess and clear out the courtroom.

She appeared in her study and picked a few books off the unread pile on the floor, glancing over at their titles.

These looked promising...

Celestia sat down and set the books on her table.

First things first, the letter.

She unrolled the paper and scanned the contents.

"Dear Princess Celestia. Today my friend Rainbow Dash..."

Celestia read quietly, smiling as she continued. Twilight had written her about Rainbow Dash's experience in Las Pegasus clearly this was an early friendship report.

Celestia began to put the letter down on the table, her eyes still scanning its words as she began to push it away, planning on reading it later.

That is until she came across a certain sentence just as she was about to turn away.

"There she saw the terrible sight of a dead griffin, murdered by a guard..."

What...

Celestia furrowed her brow and read the words more intensely, creases of worry began to grow across her forehead.

"Exploding in golden light and transformed into a biped with bright blue hair and pale skin..."

This was the description of the monster, the very one sighted in the White Tail Woods.

Celestia pulled the letter off the table with her magic and held it closer to her face.

"Revived the griffin with the use of either necromancy or incredible powerful healing magic..."

"...Bright bursts of golden light accompanied by a song that could not be remembered..."

Necromancy...

Such an art had been long forgotten, mostly disregarded as an exaggeration of the past. The only ponies who knew better were those who were enrolled in her school for the gifted in magic, and even then the subject was only ever mentioned and not taught, making many forget that such magic was even real before graduation.

She disregarded the possibility of light magic, such a craft could only be harnessed by pure beings. This creature could never hope to use healing magic, not without being consumed by the light and bursting into flames.

This 'golden light' must be an illusion, a trick, nothing more.

"The possible use of dark magic, specifically that which was used by Sombra marked by the familiar characteristics of green eyes which ooze purple smoke, red pupils, deep voice..."

"Active use of crystal magic and alteration in appearance linked to the switch between magic usage..."

A confirmation of her previous thoughts, necromancy was the only possible way to restore life without the application of light magic. And the presence of crystal magic acted as further proof in showing that this was a skilled being in darkness.

"...Death by decay..."

Celestia resisted the urge to cover her mouth with a hoof, stifling her gasp under her tongue. One of her ponies was dead, murdered in front of Rainbow Dash.

Oh, the poor little one, she was brave yes, but one could never be ready to see the death of another, to watch as the light fades from one's eyes.

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment. One was never ready for death, she would know...

It took all her years of self-restraint to stop her from releasing her fury onto the paper. To think, that one of her ponies died in an attempt to apprehend the evil creature only further cemented her beliefs that that, whatever it was, was a danger to her subjects and needed to be banished from this plane of existence and destroyed If possible.

"...Followed by the defense of the three griffins and pony..."

Celestia tried to stamp down her anger, least she accidental set the room on fire with the wrath of the sun.

How could one of her subjects defend such a monster? Such a blatant creature of darkness?

"Since the defeat of Chrysalis, there is no changeling left capable of such magic, leaving me to believe that it must be some other creature capable of shapeshifting..."

"Rainbow Dash has suggested that this creature could simply be misunderstood..."

Celestia instinctively fought the urge to scowl. Of course, it's entirely possible that this monster not only works in darkness but also alters the light, confusing the minds of her poor subjects and twisting them to its side.

"Unknown if the other two guards escaped the same fate, Rainbow Dash had left before she could find out..."

Celestia couldn't blame the pegasus, if she had been in her hooves, a simple pony facing a dark master, she would have made a tactical retreat as well.

"...Dash asks that the 'benefit of the doubt' is given to the creature. We believe it is possible that such a being may simply never have been educated in proper morality..."

"...Referring to Discord..."

"...Struck out in anger..."

"...Much like the dragon phrase 'An eye for an eye'..."

Celestia narrowed her eyes. A being over thousands of years old had plenty of time to learn what is right and what is wrong. Discord was a very different subject and even he was currently treading on thin ice.

"Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

Celestia set the paper on the table and gave a tired sigh.

Oh Twilight, if only she could be as innocent as her. Trusting and believing wholly that anypony could be better, that she could trust her Princess and believe she had an all perfect ruler who always knew how to make things right.

To have peace of mind, the cost of immortality.

Her poor Twilight, she would have to watch as that innocence fades away, as it did to her sweet Sunset Shimmer...

Oh, how bitter she became...

Celestia quickly wiped away at an eye and frowned. No, she would not allow this to continue. A plan of action had to be made and quickly.

She was a Princess, ruler of Equestria, and protector of her ponies. Daughter of Queen Sunrise and King Dusk, encourager of peace, and embodiment of the sun.

She had sheltered her ponies for these last thousand years, from war and suffering. She would make sure that this threat would be taken care of before it became a problem as large as the invasion of Canterlot.

A sharp knock sounded at the door before swishing open, revealing a tired Luna.

"Sister, we have much to discuss." The dark Princess began.

Celestia nodded and pulled up the letter from Twilight, a look of seriousness on her face. "Yes, we do."

Las Pegasus - Guard Station
Present time

Frosted Tip clutched onto the blanket wrapped around him like a lifeline, trying his best to assure himself that he was safe, that the bars of his cell were not made of evil crystal.

He was free, he was safe, the cell was merely a precaution.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

They were safe, nopony was going to die.

The Officer outside the cell looked at the pad in his hooves with unease. "Are you sure that's it? Your commander went crazy and killed some griffin who came back to life before he was magically murdered by a strange bipedal creature?"

Sleet sheet nodded, staring blankly at the wall.

"And you have no idea where your comrade is."

Frosted Tip sighed. "No, he just ran away... No idea where he could have gone."

The officer quickly jotted down something before tucking the pen on his ear. "Alright I'm going to give this to the boss, somepony should be here soon to pick you two up alright?"

Frost nodded and tucked the blanket closer, praying that this was all just a dream, that he had spent his break with his family instead of Las Pegasus and that he would wake up back in his bed.

Sleet sheet turned to stare at Frost, watching as a small smile curled up on his lips and how tears spilled slowly down his cheek.

Frost was the lucky one out of the two of them, he had a family to go home to, a mother that was proud of him and a brother that looked up to him.

Sleet sheet looked away and felt his own tears pricking at his eyes.

All he had was his friends and two graves in the dirt.

And one of his friends was missing.

The Badlands - The Changeling Hive
Present time

Chrysalis paced inside her chambers, feeling restless after being forced to lay still for days on end.

She probably had the worst injuries after the invasion of Canterlot. At least... She had sustained the most damage without outright dying.

The changeling Queen growled and stomped against the ground with her undamaged hood.

They had been so close, the elements had been captured, the Princesses rendered helpless and most of the guards and civilians contained.

The city was theirs, her kind would never have to go hungry again. They would finally have a secure future, a life without constantly scavaging for scraps of love.

But then victory was ripped from their hooves. Blasted away at point zero of the spell she crashed into a few towers before being launched into the dirt, leaving a bloodied crater in her wake.

That was where her changelings found her, unconscious, broken, and on the verge of death.

An ache in her wings flared up suddenly, making her hiss and walk over to her temporary bed, a green cocoon hanging from her wall.

For months after she was dragged home, she had stayed in this cocoon, healing from her near-fatal wounds.

She had been the only one in that room who survived the blast, the only reason she was still alive was because she had been standing at the window and wasn't crushed to death and vaporized against a marble wall.

Just thrown against several towers and burned horribly.

She had only recently been brought out of the healing pod, and only because her body needed to be shelled to remove the damaged outer husk and to stretch.

Chrysalis stood before the cocoon and huffed. How pathetic, she couldn't even molt correctly without assistance, not while she stayed in this pod.

Her self loathing was interrupted by a buzz in her horn, a request to speak to her.

She groaned and opened the channel, praying to whatever forsaken God out there that another one of her subjects did not die.

\Queen Chrysalis, I believe I have some good news for you.\

She blinked, surprised by the very idea that some god might have answered her prayer.

Or perhaps this was a coincidence, she really didn't care.

\Really, what kind of good news?\

\I have come across a being of great power, a defier of death, and an incredible healer. And they are willing to heal our hive.\

Chrysalis felt her jaw drop. This couldn't be true, such magic has never been heard of, not since...

Not since the fountain of dream Valley, the jewel of the once proud changeling kingdom lost over millennia ago.

\Impossible, get rid of this imposter at once and wipe their mind, they speak nothing but lies.\

\No, my Queen, you don't understand! I have seen their power myself, felt it even! Within me runs enough magic to heal twelve of our most wounded, I speak nothing but the truth!\

This time she stopped her jaw before it fell on the floor.

12 of their most wounded...

Willing to help...

She trusted her changelings, believed in them with all her soul, and they in her. Even if they spoke of the impossible she would trust them.

After all, she had seen the impossible the day of the invasion when that Princess and her fool of a husband bested her with nothing but love. The very energy she lived off of!

She prayed one more time, that this was no lie, no dream, and no trick.

\Very well, but be quick. Every day the death toll rises and I cannot stop it. Bring this 'death master' as soon a possible.\

As much as she hated it they needed help. And if this was the solution to her problems than she would take it.

\Yes my Queen. Signing out.\

The channel closed and once again Chrysalis was reminded of her agitated wounds.

But even the pain couldn't stomp down her hope.

Carefully she climbed into the pod and summoned one of her handmaids to assist in sealing the cocoon.

The young changeling entered the room and began stitching together the green mass.

The healing properties of the goop began to lull her to sleep, blanketing her mind in a peaceful fog.

"My Queen?"

Chrysalis opened a sleepy eye and opened a channel to her. Young ones couldn't send hive mind messages yet but they could receive.

\Yes?\

She hesitated before speaking. "Your aura feels different, why?"

Chrysalis closed her eyes and smiled, for the first time in a while. It felt as strange as ever.

\Because I am hopeful youngling, our future may not be as bleak as it seems.\

Revelations

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White Tail Woods - White Tail Village
Present time

Shining Armor stood stunned as he stared at the spire of dark stone sunken before him, feeling his unease of the crystal grow with every passing second. Earlier he had left a group of his guards behind to break apart the stone while he spoke with the mayor, leaving a powerful shield spell around the area to prevent any civilians from harm should the stone attempt to drain any more ponies of their magic.

After the incident with Princess Luna he didn't want to risk anything. Which is why he had ordered his guards to work strictly without magic around the dark crystal. After all the only reason Luna was even able to walk away after being drained by the stone was because she was a alicorn, she could handle things like this. But if any of his guards were to go though the same thing, he wasn't sure if they would make it out okay.

However, when he had returned one of his guards had informed him that all of their efforts were ineffective, that no matter what the crystal wouldn't break. It was a strange thought, he had remembered that the dark crystal Sombra had used was fairly easy to take down with the right tools, how was this any different?

After observing their efforts for a while he had ordered Spear Tip, their strongest earth pony guard, to try and break the stone. Perhaps more strength was all they needed.

After about thirty minutes, Shining realized he was wrong, brute force wasn't getting them anywhere closer to at least chipping the rock.

Faced with only a few options, he then decided that enchanted tools were their next best bet despite his worry of how they would react with the stone. And so the next few hours had consisted of all his guards attacking the crystal with everything they had, varying from unified ponies attacking with a variety of magically enforced physical attacks to with with enchanted tools and even swords.

Time and time again the stone had remained resilient, unbreakable, and unresponsive, making Shining question just what exactly this dark crystal could be made of. It couldn't be the same kind of crystal Sombra used, again, those could break pretty easily with tools. No, this had to something very different, something more than just a vessel for fear magic.

Hence why Shining Armor felt so uneasy, because not only was this an evil dark crystal it was an unbreakable dark crystal that could possibly be an even larger danger then he originally thought.

How wonderful.

Shining Armor resisted the urge to shudder. When the earthquake happened and Princess Luna was attacked by the evil stone he was afraid for the Princess, fearing for a moment that the worst had happened. But thanks to his quick thinking he cut off the connection to the evil crystal and prevented any more damage, allowing Princess Luna to be well enough to fly to Canterlot and inform her of the situation.

How a shield of magic cut off the current that was stealing magic was beyond him but he didn't want to question the logic.

It had worked, and should the need arise he could only hope that it would work again.

None of this still gave him any sort of clue as for what he should do. Yes, the scientists in Canterlot could probably figure out what this stone is and how to completely neutralize it. But that was the problem, they couldn't send the stone to Canterlot, the scientists would have to come to the stone which was in an area where the monster was, making the place a disaster just waiting to happen.

And if the scientists had to come to the stone then that meant that he had to not only protect a bunch of civilians but also search the forest for a monster skilled in dark magic at the same time.

Shining Armor sighed and turned away, walking towards the town hall. Of everything that could have interrupted his vacation, he wasn't expecting this.

Cadance was NOT going to be happy, maybe a bit understanding but NOT HAPPY.

Celestia have mercy on his soul.

Shining Armor frowned. Wasn't she the one who sent him here in the first place?

Ugh, somepony have mercy on his soul.

Canterlot Castle - Royal Study
Present Time

Celestia watched as Luna read the letter, taking note of her changing expressions. From what she could see she was perplexed and distressed with its contents. A reassuring thought, to know that her sister was coming to the same conclusion she did.

The night Princess continued reading as her sister observed, unaware her face was betraying her emotion.

Luna felt as though everything she knew was turned upside down. The very idea that one of her peaceful ponies killed a griffin in cold blood was like being splashed a bucket of water while half asleep. It was a shock, even she in all her years had never come to the point of killing her opponent in cold blood. And the thought that one of her captains, sompony who was chosen for their integrity, murdered another out of spite?!

She may have not have been around for the last few centuries but she was certain that killing in any situation was highly frowned upon and taught as unnecessary in the guard. That was the reason why there had been no casualties in the invasion of Canterlot, because lethal force was only in the most extreme of circumstances and the changelings were only aiming to capture, not kill.

And then down came the other horseshoe, the fact that not only had one of her ponies slayed another, but that this creature brought back the dead and also killed the attacker in such a horrible fashion that words could never hope to properly convey the image.

But then there was the fact that this creature never made the first move. Based on her report of its appearance in White Tail Village and the letter held in her magic, this being was never the one to lash out first. The phrase 'An eye for an eye' Twilight had written was possibly the best description of this creature's character so far, and the idea that a being of such a strange appearance had also possibly grown without a moral compass like Discord also helped to further explain its behavior.

Unlike Discord however, it had apparently made friends, otherwise why would it bother with helping out another? Why would it enter such a fury that it would do such a thing against one that wasn't itself? When the ponies of White Tail had struck our first, hunting it down like an animal the moment they learned of its existence, in its eyes, the use of fear magic could be considered an appropriate punishment.

Luna, despite her anger for the effect of fear magic on the innocent like Icy Breeze, could understand it's behavior. She remembered how much she wanted to strike down the hippogrif nobility when they regarded her as a attack animal held back by her sister.

She also remembered how she once wanted to cast eternal night on equestrian just because she had felt that she was alone.

She could sympathise.

The use of dark magic, the very thing that had cemented the idea of evil also presented the possibility of misunderstanding. When she herself had fallen into the darkness when she felt alone could this creature also have done the same? Could it have accepted the lies of the only other being that didn't immediately attack, but instead sympathize so as to trick the creature?

Luna knew the answer, she had faced the same problem herself.

If this was true, then the rationality of this creature would soon run out and it will become a pawn to the darkness, a simple tool in the destruction of everything it approaches if the growing evil is not quickly purged. Luna had also nearly been lost entirely to the darkness, lulled in by its sweet words of honey, and nearly ended the world in an eternal night.

Luna closed her eyes briefly and sighed. Were it not for her sister she would have succeeded and also brought fear into the hearts of little ones. Ironic, how a protector of dreams could become a source of nightmares.

After a few moments of continued silence Luna finally lowered the scroll and sighed. "This is... troubling to say the least, we need a plan of action and we need it now. Before any more damage is done."

Celestia nodded. "I agree, never before have we faced such a demon so willing to kill innocents. It must be defeated before any more of our little ones perish at its hooves."

Luna raised a brow, resisting the urge to tell "are you serious!". "Did we not read the same letter? The creature only attacked out of anger after one of its own was slain without mercy. The best course of action is to use the elements and purge this creature of its darkness the same way I was."

Celestia blinked at Luna, faint wrinkles of a frown slowly forming at the corners of her lips. "There is nothing to purge, this is a being of complete darkness, I will not let this monster come anywhere near my dear student."

Luna didn't bother to hide her own frown. "I trust Twilight and her friends. If they believe that this being could be a misguided soul like I once was then I shall trust their judgment."

Celestia allowed the frown to shift into a full scowl. "They are young Luna, they know not of the monsters of this world, even Twilight acknowledges that she cannot judge this situation."

"And we can?" Luna growled. "You once believed that I was so beyond reach that you banished me to the moon for millennia with the elements, and yet when Twilight and her friends used them I was restored."

"You twisted the elements to your will and imprisoned me in my own sorrow, but Twilight used them to free me. Why should we not let harmony decide the fate of this creature?"

"Because we have no understanding of what it is!" Celestia almost yelled. "For all we know, this demon could be a parasitic force like the plunder vines, it could drain the elements and render them useless forever!"

"There are too many variables, sister! Too many unknowns! Only the most powerful light magic can be used against such a beast, least we accidentally grant it a boon of power like Amore once did to Sombra!"

"Are you suggesting we destroy it?! Twilight and Rainbow Dash are asking that we consider friendship and you wish to obliterate one like I once was out of existence!?"

"NO!" Celestia shouted, standing up suddenly and looming over her sister. "I am saying that we rid the world of a monster that had dared to lay a hoof on one of our ponies, I am saying that we do what is right!"

Luna snarled and also stood up. "IT ONLY ATTACKED IN RETALIATION! OUR PRECIOUS PONIES HUNTED DOWN THIS CREATURE LIKE A DOG FOR NO GOOD REASON OTHER THEN ITS STRANGE APPEARANCE AND MURDERED A GRIFFIN FOR LESS!"

"THERE CAN BE NO FRIENDSHIP! NOT WITH A MONSTER! NOT WITH CREATURE OF DARKNESS! NOT WITH ONE WHO SLAYS OUR PONIES!"

"HE DREW BLOOD FIRST! BASED ON THIS LETTER THE CAPTAIN WASN'T EVEN AWARE OF WHAT THIS CREATURE WAS BEFORE ATTACKING BLINDLY! LEADING TO THE DEATH OF ANOTHER! HE CAUSED HIS OWN DEATH!"

"ENOUGH!" Celestia flared her wings and ignited her horn, standing over Luna as she glared down at her. "YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THIS SITUATION!"

Luna flinched back slightly before her eyes narrowed. "I know nothing? I, who was once in the same place as the creature. I, who once also embraced the darkness because it was the only one who stayed with me, I, who was also willing to kill another pony for nothing more than simple anger?"

"I, who was once a creature of darkness myself?"

Celestia softened her gaze lightly, tucking away her wings and cutting off the magic in her horn. "That isn't true. I was there, I love you, Luna. I always have."

Luna chuckled darkly and stepped up on the table, standing eye to eye with her sister. "Oh? I never realized that the words 'get over it' were words of love, sister. I never thought that pushing me aside and banishing me instead of reaching out was love. I was alone, Tia. I was always considered second best, always the spare, the runt, second in power, and one who could never be your equal."

"Luna-"

"And you never told me otherwise, never assured me that my fears were false, I had to find love in darkness for it was the only one who acknowledged me. And yet you tell me that I know nothing? That I cannot sympathize with someone who is also cast out? That I cannot understand someone who is alone and afraid, that I share no similarities with another that has reached out to the darkness when it was the only one who would welcome me with open arms?"

Luna snorted. "You say that you know what is right, and yet is was Twilight who saved me. You say you know what's best, and yet Twilight is the only one who sees through the changeling Queen's disguise."

Celestia opened her mouth to retort but was cut off.

"You never even apologized to dear Twilight after the wedding, did you? Never bothered to ask forgiveness after cutting her down so horribly."

Celestial nearly took a step back, her sister was right, she had made many mistakes, nearly all in haste without looking at the evidence.

"Well then what do you suggest, Luna? We still can't rush in without more background knowledge on this creature and we can't let it run rampant amongst our little ones."

Luna smirked and stepped off the table. "We already know plenty. We know that this creature has bonded with darkness and only attacks in retaliation, and we also will soon know of its magic type once a sample of the stone is delivered to our laboratories for analysis. All we need is to wait for the results and assemble the element bearers."

"And of course, finish reading these books in case they have anything of use." Luna added as she walked away, presumably to another part of her library.

Celestial sighed wearily. "Luna?".

Her sister paused. "Yes?"

"I... I apologize for not recognizing your pain sooner, I should have been a better sister."

Luna didn't turn to face Celestia. "Thank you. Now start reading we're wasting time."

Cassandra's Tangled Adventure

by Acceptable_trash

If things were different

Awakening

Huh Ponies...

Discovery

Looks like Racism is universal

Can't go home

Luna's really good with kids.

Reversing dark magic

Cassandra gets angry

Rainbow Dash feels conflicted

A lesson in history

Perspective

The letter

Revelations