//------------------------------//
//  For the Record 
// Story: Legion of Shadows 
// by Strythio 
//------------------------------//

"Keep going!" Sunset Shimmer shouted, panting inbetween breathes, "Stop for nopony!" 

Gilda did not seem to need this encouragement, for she was not only carrying Princess Cadance, but also a large shield that was nearly as large as she was. The fact that she was dashing at full speed and only a few steps behind Sunset Shimmer itself was a miracle. However, she was running out of breath, and responding to Sunset would have simply been too much. 

Through the hallways of the Crystal Palace, the duo raced against their pursuers, who were slowly gaining on them with every twist and turn. Gilda was practically dripping in sweat from her exertions. She wanted them to find the rendevous point soon, her burning limbs threatening to give out under the extreme stress that they were put under. 

Sunset eyed a wide open door, a cool breeze emaneting from it before two crystal guards stepped in front of it, spears levied at the duo. 

"Move it!" Sunset lit her horn and fired several beams of magic at the guards. Much to her surprise, they swatted the beams away with their spears, and slowly began advancing forward. With the guards behind them catching up, confident now that they could see that they had boxed them in, Sunset went through her head of her available options.

The forward guards were fewer in number, but they possessed enchanted spears designed to resist magic and other enchanted items. That included Gilda's shield, and in her current state, the griffon would not be able to best even one of the guards let alone two. With options running out, Sunset shouted back at Gilda, "Just keep running for that door!" 

With magic focusing in on her horn, Sunset let loose a small green ball, its ascension stopping just short of the ceiling. When it stopped, it burst, sending green light in every single direction, the crystal surroundings reflecting and refracting the light in ways that illuminated the entire hallway. 

Startled for just a moment, the sound of clanging armor and bashing heads resounded as the guards found themselves blinded by the flash bang attack. Sunset, recalling the location of the guards, once again fired two stun blast in their general direction. The sound of their spears dropping was a relief that the two had not thought to move location. 

Nearly tripping over the the guards, Sunset found herself in the frigid air of the room connected to the balcony. What room exactly that was was not important in the planning, but the fact that it led out to the open air where Lightning Dust could pick them up was important. "Gilda?" Sunset called out, her vision slowly beginning to focus in. 

Realizing that the griffon not calling out was probably a result of her running, Sunset chanced looking back for a visual confirmation that she was still right behind her. Gilda, though stumbling and having even more difficulty than before, was indeed behind her, blinking rapidly. However, she was almost entirely spent, and her speed decreased dramatically, her uncoordinated steps signalling imminent collapse. 


Using her magic, Sunset took the burdens of Princess Cadance and the shield from Gilda and levitated them towards the balcony, where a large grey cloud concealed much of the air beyond the immediate balcony area. "Lightning, we're coming in!" Sunset called, slowing to a mere trot so that she could focus on her levitation. 

The dark cloud opened to reveal a fluffy compartment of sorts, complete with cloud benches and a large circular space in the center. On the far side of this space sat Lightning Dust, hoove embedded into the very cloud and wings flapping energetically. The confused look on her face concerned Sunset. "What is wrong?" 

Lightning Dust snorted. "What's wrong? The Griffon Peacekeeping Forces are skirmishing with the Wonderbolts is what is wrong. That and I do not see Trixie with you two." 

None too gently Sunset hurled the princess and the shield into the cloud transport, diverting her attention to helping Gilda. With her weight greatly decreased, the griffon showed a renewed vigor, but so did the crystal guards nearest to the door. There was no time to wait for Trixie to show up. 

"We will have to pick her up at point B." Sunset rushed over to Gilda, using a hoof to support the exhausted griffon. "Get a move on Gilda." 

Gilda shot Sunset a murderous look, but indeed picked up the pace, her head turn allowing her to also notice the guards recovering from the earlier stun attack. Using magic, Sunset shoved Gilda the remainder of the way before hopping towards the cloud. However, rather than touching stable cloud, Sunset's hoof went through it, and for a few secondss, Sunset found herself weightlessly dropping into the dead cold air. Her descent was cut by a pair of talons wrapping around her tail. 

Facing the very long way down to the Crystal Palace's base, Sunset felt dizzy even as Gilda pulled her up into the cloud. Casting the cloud walking spell on herself, Sunset scolded her rather careless action, as it had almost cost her her life. The cloud then closed, granting an eerie darkness to the transport lit only by Sunset's horn light. 

"I could have sworn we brought some chains somewhere," Sunset murmured to himself, searching the transport. 

"Fuck it," Gilda breathily exclaimed, plopping down atop of the princess' back as if she were a cushion of sorts, still trying to fully catch her breath from before. 

"That'll do for now I guess." Sunset was not too picky on how the princess was secured, only that she was secured for the upcoming spell. "Where is Trixie?"

A part of the cloud opened up, a portion to Lightning Dust's left, letting in ample enough light and blistering wind to cause the duo to shiver. Looking down, Sunset searched the courtyard for any sign of Trixie. With no flare of sorts, Sunset bit her lip, it becoming apparent that the unicorn was not at point B either. 

"I guess we will have to meet her at C then," Sunset concluded, "That is the only reasonable option." 

"Sunset, if we descend to get Trixie at the library now, we are not going to make it out of here," Lightning warned, "Once the griffons explain why they are here, which is likely not to pick a fight with the Wonderbolts, our little adventure here is going to be on the top of their list. Trixie can handle herself, we need to get gone." 

Noticing Cadance beginning to stir, Sunset cast a bolt of dark magic at Cadance. The suppression spell grew tiny dark crystals on her horn, preventing her from magically making an escape. Focusing on the decision at hoof, she weighed her options. She needed to finish the spell, but at the same time, leaving Trixie behind could open up problems for them later. If they all got caught, then there was no saving any of them, but if only Trixie were captured, they could at least rescue her later once they had recovered. 

"Alright, get us out of here," Sunset answered at last, "I will go ahead and start the spell." 

No sooner had Sunset spoke this did the cloud rock, nearly sending the unicorn through the opening. "It is going to be a bumpy ride," Lightning warned, "I hope that spell doesn't have a time limit on it." 

Sunset hoped that too, considering how high they were about to go into the sky. Taking off from the balcony, the opening closed, Sunset lighting her horn as she levitated Gilda's shield to the center of the transport. To the rhythm of Lightning's frantic wingbeats and panting, Sunset recalled the spell's final runes, the likes of which began glowing on the shield. 

With a blast of red magic, the runes reacted madly, the light illuminating the entire transport, warming up the interior to a more comfortable temperature. With this signal, Gilda dismounted from Cadance's back; the princess reared up, but red tendrils had already sprouted from the shield, lashing out and constricting the alicorn princess' limbs, wings, and muzzle. Levitating her above the shield, Sunset stepped back with a wicked grin. "Gilda, you have the jewel right?"

"It is in position," Gilda called out, lazily gesturing towards the blue heart shaped gem next to her. A golden chain was attached to it, making it resemble a necklace more than the object that it was about to become. 

Despite all the preparations being ready, Sunset hesitated. Here she was again, tampering with dark magic, messing with princesses and their magic. Was she really going to risk the inevitable consequences from what she was about to do? Draining an alicorn of their magic in order to create a relic was not explicitly written to be against the law, but no doubt Celestia would treat it as she did all such offenses. If they were caught that is. 

Noticing her hesitant, Gilda jeered, "If you are going to do it, sometime this evening would be nice. Otherwise, we can return the princess and only face jail time for kidnapping and conspiring to murder royalty." 

The sarcasm stung Sunset's ego, which could not believe that she was hesitating. After what she had went through to get to this point, now she was unsure of whether she would finish it? Still hesitating, Sunset was not encouraged very strongly by Gilda's words. 

Lightning, however, seemed to have a different approach, her face showing a mixture of determination and grim realization. "Trixie may or may not get rescued after this. If the worst should happen and we meet her in the afterlife a few years from now, do you really want to tell her that you didn't follow through despite her sacrifice?" 

"Mmmmph!" Cadance protested, no doubt speaking foul of the logic. 

However, this restored Sunset's resolve, and she looked up towards the alicorn with a bittersweet smile. With a flick of her horn, the tendrils turned into a bright pink color, absorption and sapping the alicorn of her magic. Her struggles started off strong, but with each passing second, they grew weaker and weaker, the mass of energy transferring into the gem at about the same rate as the tendrils sapped it. Before long, Cadance ceased to resist at all, and it was at this point that the spell ended. 

The gem shone brightly, and as Gilda's sparkling eyes suggested, it was not truly a gem to behold. It had underwent a color change though. Some of the remaining magic surged into Sunset Shimmer. Feeling a power that she had been denied long ago, Sunset smiled wide, a laugh coming towards the back of her throat. 

However, before she could celebrate for much longer, the entire transport rocked. This time, Sunset was very much so thrown from the cloud, with Gilda not reacting near fast enough to catch her this time. Startled, the unicorn found herself face to face with both the empty evening air and starry ground. Right on her tail was what appeared to be Princess Cadance, though she dropped like such a weight that Sunset highly doubted that the alicorn had rushed out of the cloud after her. 

Using her magic, Sunset levitated herself, slowing her descent, just in time for the starry ground to meet her. Literally, for a hoof lashed out, striking her first in the stomach. Breath knocked from her, Sunset flailed in an attempt to hit the intruder, but the next strike to her left cheek sent her spinning towards the ground. Disoriented, Sunset did not even have the chance to confirm whether the cloud transport had left without her before yet another blow came, this time straight to the base of her horn. 

Yelping in pain, Sunset attempted to let loose a blast of magic at her aggressor. She missed, and yet another blow struck her square in the back. Next came the ground, which was apparently closer than it first appeared. The ground kissed her harder than she had ever been kissed before, rattling loose any senses that remained intact from the aerial assault. Sunset blinked, realizing that she was staring at grey. This was not the ground, but yet another cloud that had somehow managed to break her fall. 

Since the spell had apparently not worn off, Sunset began to question how she ended up in this predicament in the first place when the beating resumed, the next strike hitting her right flank. Thrown from the cloud, the mare found herself completely at the mercy of her starry maned attacker, who seemed to be striking at her in a blind fury. Her cheek, her stomach, both flanks, anything that the attacker could get a hoof to was struck. Unable to defend herself, when the actual cold ground did greet her, Sunset barely comprehended it. She temporarily passed out as she rolled across the landscape, her attacker temporarily letting up the relentless assault.