//------------------------------//
// Chrysalis 
// Story: Legion of Shadows 
// by Strythio 
//------------------------------//

Sunset had wandered through the Canterlot Caves in search of Flash Sentry for quite some time before she finally stumbled upon him. In a large chamber filled with shattered crystal and the dim lights of crystal, Flash sat in the center in a contemplative state. Or so it appeared, from Sunset's point of view. 

Cautiously she approached, a nicking fear raising the hairs at the back of her neck. "Flash, I finally found you! What are you doing?"

Flash did not seem to respond to that, and as Sunset crept ever nearer, something in her told her that there was foul play involved. Just as it seemed Sunset would leap atop of Flash to find the answer, the stallion slowly turned, revealing a very deep frown. "Sunset. You are here. With the amulet."

"And you are here, with your armor," Sunset jested, "Gilda is in trouble-" 

"I know." Flash made eye contact with Sunset, the two locked in a gaze that Sunset could only describe as mesmerizing. At least, to her it was mesmerizing. "I know exactly how we can help her." 

Sunset smiled wide. "That is great! What is the plan?" 

"The plan is very simple," Flash explained, never breaking eye contact even as he approached, "You recall the creature that had been in the room when you stormed in?" 

Sunset nodded, but also put on a look of confusion. Indeed, she recalled the black and green creature, but how Flash known that it had been there? Had the two had some sort of contact since then? "I do recall. What about it?"

"She is going to help us." 

Sunset laughed, mostly out of disbelief. "One blast of magic sent that creature to the floor with Prince Shining Armor-" 

"Did it ever occur to you as to why you are also blamed for his death when you left very shortly after snatching Cadance?" Now the two were mere muzzle distance apart, and it was at this point that Sunset realized the detached manner in which Flash was slowly coming to his point. Indeed, the death of the Prince had been an unfortunate side effect, but Sunset had assumed that it had been crystal ponies whom did him in. 

"She has more than enough cause to help, if it in any way spites Twilight and Celestia," Flash explained, "The only catch, is that in order to do what we need her to do, she is going to need that amulet." 

"So that is what you were offering at before." Sunset blinked, for the first time noticing that the brief break of gaze had a strange effect on her mind, as if it aided her in thinking more clearly. Thus, she outright broke eye contact, looking to the side in thought. "Alright, where is she?" 

Sunset looked back at Flash, who smiled pleasantly in response to the question. "She will be arriving soon. There is no time to lose, so go ahead and take off the amulet." 

Though Sunset might would have hesitated before, she found herself removing the amulet as commanded. Commanded? Sunset realized the oddity in that choice of description regarding the request, up until she found her actions ceasing to coincide with her thoughts. Rather than merely taking it off, she placed the amulet on Flash Sentry, which under normal circumstances would be nearly pointless. 

Before she could protest, however, the weight in her mind crashed straight into the side of her skull, a splintering migraine replacing the resistant portions of her mind. It was now, and only now, that Sunset recognized a magic that she herself had once used before, though in a far different capacity. 

But that did not make sense. The only one here in the cavern that could affect her, at this rate and with this intensity, was Flash Sentry, and he was a pegasus, more or less incapable of such magical manipulation. Of course, when green flames seemed to burn off his very flesh, Sunset was only mildly surprised to find the black and green creature from before, her hole ridden body sporting an extremely long and jagged horn. 

Her green eyes were trained in on Sunset, and whether he liked it or not, she found it oddly inviting to give in to the now not so subtle manipulation. "Now, dear sister," the creature stated with a sinister grin, "It is high time we repay Queen Chrysalis for her efforts. It is high time for the changeling kind to once again see a glimmer of hope in its dismal experience, and to reclaim the land that was once theirs." 

Sunset attempted to retreat, but her body refused to obey her directions. Instead, at the beckon of the Queen, she nodded mindlessly. 

Chrysalis giggled, her horn brightly glowing an eerie green color. "Now with the alicorn magic of love, there is only one thing left to do..." 










Fleur dismally walked on stage, and much to Lightning Dust's dismay, she looked more than a little broken in spirit. Her eyes were heavily bagged, her entire body barely holding up her weight. If she did not know any better, she would argue that the unicorn had went back to her old occupation just to make ends meet. 

That was speculation, as she still seemed oddly clean for that to be the case. No, that was the sign of a mare in grief. What she was grieving over was beyond Lightning however. 

"Mares and stallions, today I am brought before you for a special purpose." Fleur spoke loudly and clearly, very contrary to her body language's signal of weariness and disrepair. "To describe the history of the Market, and of the Legion, so that all may know and understand it." 

"Dear Celestia kill me now!" Gilda bemoaned, much to the surprise of the assembly, "I did not skip history class with Rainbow Dash just to have to be tortured with it on my execution day!"

Some chuckles in the crowd were drowned out by Fleur's response. "This is not something you would have learned about in history class. At least, not in its entirety."

"This is going to take awhile," Lightning murmured to Trixie, "Come up with any ideas yet?" 

"As you said, we have plenty of time," Trixie noted, eyes never leaving the stage, "They are probably stalling till the mare of the hour shows up." 

Sunset Shimmer. Lightning gulped, hoping that they did not decide to execute her somewhere else. At least they would have a chance at saving Gilda either way, but until some of the attention of the guards was focused elsewhere, making a move towards the hogtied Gilda was going to be a matter of dice rolling. And Lightning was not a huge fan of luck. 

"Patience," Lightning spoke, mostly for her own sake, "Something will no doubt happen to make this easier on us." 

With no further interruptions, Fleur cleared her throat and carried on, the watchful eye of Celestia no doubt boring a hole somewhere in the unicorn's body. "The Market began during the chaos that was Discord's rule over Equestria. It was a merchant's guild intended to maintain trade despite the unpredictable nature of life. Nopony could predict the weather, no griffon could chart the seasons, and even dragons had lost their taste for gems. Naturally, with hardly anything, not even the currency, being reliable, the Market often had to trade goods other than money-" 

"Stop!" The shout brought all attention to the skies, where a blur of random descended from the heavens. It landed onto the stage in a puff of smoke, revealing none other than Rainbow Dash. 

Gilda squawked in surprise as Rainbow Dash swiftly freed her. Rather than fly free or even move entirely from the floor of the stage, Gilda found herself pinned by Dash, the no doubt stiff griffon in dire need of a good stretch. 

"What did you do in the Crystal Empire?" Dash demanded, "What?" 

"Err, princess...?" the guards did not immediately act, much to Lightning's surprise. Celestia shook her head to them before approaching Dash on stage. 

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" 

Dash looked towards Celestia, bowed, and quickly began to report, "Twilight sent me here ahead of the news. The corpse of the stallion found in the Crystal Empire did not match Shining Armor, which means that he is still missing!" 

"That is hardly surprising," Celestia pointed out, "The Crystal ponies insisted that Sunset Shimmer had taken the body with her. Twilight must have pieced something else together." 

"She wanted me to question Gilda on what they did in the Empire!" Dash stated, "She thinks that the same ones who have been dropping foals off at her library are the same ones who were behind the incident in the Empire. If this is true, she thinks it could mean that half the guard is a threat!" 

Some of the royal guard pegasi had looks of incredulity on their faces. The unicorn members, however, seemed more uncomfortable than in disbelief. Princess Luna, high in the clouds, came onto the stage with a presence that rivaled that of Dash's earlier entry. Her face spoke of urgency. 

"Sister, Sunset Shimmer has somehow freed herself!" she reported, "The night guard is already beginning to lock Canterlot down. Additionally, Trixie and Lightning are in the crowd, so I suspect they may be up to something." 

As if they were the plague, ponies shifted very quickly away from Lightning Dust and Trixie both, the latter standing out by the alicorn amulet she wore. Lightning frowned yet again, as her hooves had not been near fast enough to blend in with the crowd. Trixie too was taken completely off guard, and within seconds, royal guard pegasi had surrounded them. 

"Trixie called it." Trixie shot a look to Lightning, whom was less than pleased to have blame pinned on her. 

"Great, that means we can get all the answers!" Dash cried out as Lightning and Trixie were escorted upstage, "So out with it!" 

"Rainbow Dash, I think we will take it from here." Celestia actually had a small, smug smile on her face. As if this were going exactly as planned for her. As far as Lightning was concerned, that was a very real possibility. 

"Lightning Dust, Trixie," Celestia greeted, "Why am I not surprised that the two of you are here?" 

"Because she wanted to watch Gilda's head roll!" Dash accused, pointing a hoof to Lightning, "Evil traitor-" 

"Rainbow Dash, that is enough." Celestia stated this more firmly, and with a look to match, caused Dash to finally back off to the back of the stage. Celestia turned back towards Lightning Dust and Trixie, still smiling all the while. "Now then, I expect Sunset Shimmer to make her appearance within the next five minutes or so, and maybe Antoine Bellamy as well if we go ahead and actually begin Gilda's execution."

"I doubt Antoine is going to come here himself," Luna pointed out, "He would more likely hire Lightning Dust to go in his 'stead." 

"Gilda, you already mentioned that you and Sunset never even met Shining in the Empire, despite the fact that he no doubt was there during the attack," Celestia noted, "Trixie attacked the barracks, drawing the attention of much of the guard. You also claim that you left without Shining Armor, a report that contrasts with that of the crystal pony account-" 

"Wait," Luna interrupted, "Shining Armor was there with Cadance during the entire process, there is no way they could have kidnapped Cadance without running into Shining Armor. They were in the same room." 

"Well, we never actually met Shining armor," Gilda clarified, "We just stepped over him and this black and green pony with holes in its body, clocked Cadance over the head, and made a break for it." 

"Wait, what did you step over?" Celestia had tuned into something specific, and based on that description, Lightning was beginning to build a mental picture of what they could have potentially stepped over. After all, there were not that many dark grey and green creatures affiliated with the married couple.

"Jagged horn, insect wing, some natural body armor of sorts that made it hard to knock and keep it out of the fight," Gilda carried on, "A blast from Cadance after a swift shield drop from yours truly finally did the trick. Shining only took one hit to stay down for some time." 

"Sounds like Queen Chrysalis was there." Celestia concluded with a worried expression, "If that is the case-"

"Then perhaps we should be doing identity checks right about now," one of the guards suggested, "We do have a large number of creatures gathered in one place."

"Would not do much good," Fleur pointed out, "It is not unheard of for changelings to be members of the Market, their ability to disguise themselves seamlessly a very useful ability in the occupation. If Chrysalis really is involved, you will only find her by her own design." 

"Thanks, your encouragement inspires us all," Gilda dryly stated, " How about telling us something useful for a change?" 

Fleur might would have smacked Gilda had the griffon not gotten to her fours. Lightning realized that what had been an execution setup was in fact turning into an opportunity. Chrysalis no doubt would provide more than enough of a distraction for herself and her team members once she showed up. Presuming she showed up, more like it. 

No sooner did this thought settle in did an explosion rock the surrounding area. The gathered spectators scattered like zebras noticing a pack of hungry lions in the grass, while many of the royal guards gathered around Celestia and Luna. The explosion had come from the castle, and by the looks of it, someone was on a mission. 

In this brief interlude, Lightning swiftly gave a signal with her wing; Trixie and Gilda both noticed it, and immediately followed her off stage. Despite the temporary madness caused by the explosion, several royal guards were still attentive, and swooped in to attempt to stop them from leaving. Trixie handled the unicorns with a few blasts of fireworks while Lightning and Gilda took on the pegasi guards. The vast majority were too busy defending the princesses to care that the prisoners were escaping, and both Princesses were in the midst of discussion. 

It didn't matter to Lightning. She had one mission, and one mission only at this point. The guards' spears were very ineffective up close, so many had abandoned them once they had gotten a few hooves to the face. While this made it significantly more difficult to escape, Trixie's timely reinforcement sent the pegasi careening off-stage. 

From there, the three made a break for it. Out of the corner of her eye, Lightning noticed the that the attacker seemed to know where they were going, which further strengthened the thought that Chrysalis had provided the much needed distraction. After all, she had attended the wedding of Cadance and Shining Armor as an alicorn, so she no doubt would have had access to areas normally quite off limits to other guests. 

The crowd had dissipated rather quickly, and just as it seemed that they were in the clear, Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry dashed past them, heading straight for the stage. Coming to a screeching halt, Lightning turned to see them charging straight for the Princesses. Celestia burst from the stage and flew towards the castle, while Luna broke from her guards to challenge Sunset and Flash. 

"Don't even think about it Lightning," Gilda warned, "She has the amulet, she will be fine." 

"Actually, Trixie notices a distinct lack of jewelry on her," Trixie pointed out, "Where is the amulet?"

"I gave it to her," Gilda said, "What she did with it after I gave it to her is a mystery. Maybe that's the changeling queen?"

Lightning did not really care about the amulet. She cared more about getting them out of Canterlot. "Sunset, what are you dong?" Lightning called out, "Are you mad? Luna bucked your flank once already." 

It was too late, for already Luna had landed in front the duo, the two staunchly refusing to back down. Finding Sunset's lack of return call, or speech at all for that matter, rather unnerving, Lightning looked to Gilda and Trixie for a possible solution to the problem. 

"Princess, look out!" Trixie shouted, causing Lightning to turn back to the confrontation. 

Luna, either due to Trixie's warning or from a sixth sense, dodged a few spears that had been lunged at her from behind. Somewhat startled by this development, Luna remained distracted just long enough for Sunset to fire a beam of magic at her. Though it hit her dead in the chest and sent her sprawling to the ground, the confused guard began fighting amongst themselves, each believing that the other had made an attempt on Luna's life, or was a co-conspirator all the same. 

With Luna temporarily down and chaos the order of the guards, Lightning dashed over to Sunset, even as she seemed to be charging up another attack. "We need to get out of here, now, before Luna gets back up." 

Luna already was back on her hooves, brushing off the small dark spot that had been Sunset's spell with a scowl on her face. "You are going to regret that move Sunset." 

Sunset did not respond to either Luna or Lightning, and it was growing increasingly clear that Flash was in the same stump that she was. It did not make any sense, but Lightning was through attempting to negotiate with Sunset. If she wanted to stay and fight Luna, that was her business. Turning back towards the remainder of the group, Lightning had opened her mouth to announce that they were leaving without her. 

She closed it once she noticed that both Trixie and Gilda had stepped up to flank Sunset and Flash. 

Luna took note of her increasing opposition and flicked her ears. Eight members of the night guard immediately came to her side, looking far angrier than their Princess did. Lightning sighed, recalling her own words from earlier. 

No guts, no glory. And with that in mind, she stood next to Trixie and took a deep breath. Why couldn't things ever just go according to plan?