Cassie was treading quietly to the Throne Room. As she peered into the endless halls, she realized her hooves were hitting the crystal floor louder than she would've liked.

She'd always hated Twilight's surprise visits to the Crystal Empire, but this time, she had a plan. She'd greet her aunt swiftly, then rush outside back to Twilight, where Shining Armor would probably be waiting. As long as Cadence didn't hold too long of a conversation, she'd be fine. Safe from the clutches of her wretched cousin Flurry-

"Hey, cous."

Cassie's breathing was cut abruptly short. Of course. She turned around slowly to the source of the voice, then forced a massive grin. "Flurry Heart! What a surprise." Her jaw was tight.

Flurry stood there for a moment, tall and calm, before giving her cousin a small nod. Her tail flicked lightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Twilight wanted to visit, I guess." Her body was tense. She opened her mouth to offer another statement, then closed it again awkwardly. Flurry gave her a small smile. How... sarcastic. Cas could feel her blood boiling.

"Calm down," Flurry's smile widened. She could feel the tension. "What, do you feel threatened? I haven't done anything to you Cassie." She chuckled.

Cassie's expression dropped. Was she really making it that obvious? "I'm fine." She snorted softly. "I'm just... tired. The train ride was long."

Flurry smiled again. "Sure, Cas. You know which room you usually stay in. You have my permission to retire for the night if you really want." She smirked. It took every molecule of magic in Cassie's body to keep her from strangling Flurry right then and there.

"Your... permission?"

"Come on, Cas, I'm joking. Lighten up." Flurry had been relaxed the whole time- a perfect composure. It was infuriating. "What's new since I last saw you?"

"Nothing, really." Her face was flat, and she felt the urge to yawn. "Well, actually-"

"Mhm," Flurry interrupted. "Cool. I'll go find Love for you. Getting a little bored just standing here." She stretched her wings, shook them out, then folded them neatly on her back.

"I- are you trying to start something? That's kinda low, even for you. You can pretend, you know. It's not that hard."

"I pretend every time you come here, Cassie."

The fur on Cassie's neck began to rise. It's like Flurry knew the exact buttons to press. She took in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "I'll never know why you hate me so much. I've never done anything to you, or Cadence. Not Love either."

Flurry's eyes rolled slightly. "I don't hate you, Cas. It's like ants- I don't hate ants. They're just... there, and they're annoying. Do I wish death on the ant species, though? No."

Cassie blinked. "That's what I am to you? A bug?"

Flurry looked at her momentarily before smiling again. "You know, this is a waste of my time. I'll probably see you at dinner, Cassie." She began to walk away, but Cassie stood rudely in her path. Their chests bumped.

Flurry scoffed, looking down at the shorter alicorn. "You know how easy it'd be to call my guards right now?"

"Of course you'd need a guard to save you. Why don't you-"

"Princesses have guards. Real princesses," she interrupted. "Of course, you wouldn't know."

Cassie took a step back. "I am a real princess. I just don't need guards to put their lives on the line to save mine."

Flurry Heart let out a short, genuine laugh. "That's because your life has never been on the line. I'm the one everyone's always after. Notice how you've never really been in imminent danger? It's because I'm the princess everyone wants- Did Sombra take you as a baby? Did you have to repair the crystal heart before the city you lived in turned to ash?"

Cassie stood there, listening. "Well, no, but-"

"I'm not finished. Have you been the target of calculated assassin attacks? A hostage to anarchists? I didn't think so. I need the guards to protect me, because I'm the valuable one." She was standing straight, her expression unbothered.

"You... You know that's not true. We're both princesses, whether you like it or not."

"Sure, okay. We were both born into the title- I'll give you that, at least. But I actually did something with it. What do you do? Sit around with the commoners of Equestria? Tell me you're not still running around with Discord's spawn."

Cassie's lips curled back into a snarl. She was finding it hard to hold her tongue. "Damon's a good guy. You don't even know him."

"I know that you're wasting your time, dear cousin. Do something with your life."

How was Flurry just... standing there? So calm and collected, as if she hadn't just insulted Cassie's entire existence. Meanwhile, Cassie's wings were flared up defensively, her fangs exposed. "Shut up, Flurry. Just shut up! It doesn't mean anything to be a princess if you act like this. You-"

"Oh, spare me from your boring friendship lecture. I really couldn't care less."

"Stop interrupting me. I've earned my spot just as equally as you have. I've done my royal duties, I've done the charity work, I've loved the people and I've been nice. That's more than you'll ever be."

Flurry scoffed. "You're pathetic, you know that? Come on, Cassie. Look at you, and then look at me. You don't even look like a princess. If Equestria was facing a threat, who do you think ponies would turn to first?"

Cassie didn't even notice the hot, wet tears streaming down her face until Flurry lifted her hoof to wipe one away. Cassie backed away from her touch.

"Wow. I really do get to you, huh? At least you know the truth now. How everyone truly views you, for the fraud you really are." Flurry smiled down at her, almost... lovingly. "Stop crying."

Cassie opened her mouth to make another remark, but her voice cracked and she could barely even make a sound.

"Like I said before. See you at dinner." Flurry strolled away, leaving Cassie broken and alone on the hard, cold ground. Her tears had begun to land on the floor, her hooves soaking them up. What had she done to deserve that?

• This isn't their last interaction. Twilight loves visiting her big brother in the Crystal Empire and usually takes Cassie and Tempest along with her. They turn it into a road trip sort of thing, and it's supposed to be fun. As Cassie's relationship with Flurry evolves over time, things become much more bitter and, in some cases… even violent

• They have a sort of... "alicorn rivalry." It's biological and hasn't been observed in many years, but a pretty good example from history is the competition between Luna and Celestia pre-Nightmare Moon era. They shared this same alicorn rivalry out of an unconscious need to become the best, most superior member of their rare species (alicorns)

• Flurry is taller than Cassie because Cadence was a more developed alicorn than Twilight was when she gave birth. This gave Flurry purer alicorn traits. Both of them are still considered False Alicorns, but Flurry is... "less false" than Cas, and she doesn't let Cassie forget this fact

• Flurry has had royal training, so her overall composure is very picture perfect. She’s had language training so that her speech will flow nicely and so she’ll avoid stuttering, and she’s been taught to stand upright whenever she can.

• Flurry's not usually like this. In her normal home situation, she feels threatened by her little sister Love Letter, who never had to undergo any of the royal training that Flurry did because Love was just… born perfect. It wasn’t fair. Love naturally outdoes her without even trying, so Flurry clings onto the fact that she’s the alicorn, the "chosen one," to convince herself she’s superior

• It’s probably noticeable but Flurry's very insecure. She’s trying to prove something to people who never doubted her in the first place. It's why she picks on Cassie so much. Cassie falls for it basically every time so she’s honestly just an essay target

• All four parents (Twilight, Tempest, Cadence, Shining Armor) are aware that the two don’t exactly get along, but they’re not aware to what extent. Cassie's closer in age to Love Letter, who’s actually really nice to be around in comparison to Flurry. Sure, Love is a lil dry and kinda weird, but she’d prefer Love over Flurry on any day. When they do visit the Empire, Cassie tries her best to stick with Love and avoid Flurry as much as possible

• It's a little hard to tell but Cassie is fluffing up her wings here to make herself look bigger. It's her attempt to show dominance, but it’s really just a defense mechanism that’s evolved over a few millennia. She doesn’t really feel dominant in any way, she’s just trying to convince Flurry that she’s not bothered, but it has the opposite effect in this case

• Flurry's acting all formal with Cassie as a sign of disrespect. Family members speak freely to each other. Flurry's being all proper to annoy Cassie as much as she can

• Cassie thinks about this interaction for basically the rest of her life. Flurry did bring up a good point. What was she the princess of? In the Crystal Empire, Cadence is the queen of love, while Flurry is the protector of the crystal heart. She even has a special connection to that crystal. Cassie is just… the daughter of the friendship princess. She realizes she doesn’t really have a claim on anything individual, she’s just going to inherit her mother’s title one day…

• Cas is like 16 or 17 here, Flurry's maybe in her early 20s