The Sun We Served

by Shocks

For the Sun

Princess Celestia.

A being of divine beauty, grace, and benevolence. A being who could do no wrong, who could offer only the utmost kindness. A being that served her little ponies with the love of a mother. A being that raised the sun day in and day out, so her people could bask in its warmth. A being whose guards were paladins of light, protectors of the very god that ruled over them. They were her right hoof, at her beck and call at any moment. To see this glorious being protected by royal guards of divine justice only increased her glorious public image.

And thats all it was. An image.

Because if the Royal Guard was Celestia's right hoof, then we were her left.

Where the guard knew of the beautiful goddess they protected every waking hour, we knew of a being entirely different. Where the guard saw extreme kindness, raw compassion, calm understanding, and above all else humility, we were well aware of other things. For the Sun we served, we knew of quick calculations, unyielding resolve, strength through power, and above all else, a cold determination. We saw not a goddess, but a ruler.

A ruler who knew what it took to achieve success, by any means possible.

That is how we came about, we, the Solar Cross. We started small. Her most elite and loyal guards carrying out orders above and beyond the common pony. At time passed on, more and more joined the ranks of her elites. To rectify the growing numbers, she merged us into what we are known as today. We became the Solar Cross, no longer were we guards, bound by our need for honor and procedure. We were the Princess's covenant, a group dedicated to following her orders. Orders that to this day, if revealed, would throw all of Equus into upheaval. All for the Sun we Served.

'The Sun's light finds all those in dark', our glorious motto, to which we would pledge undying loyalty to her highness. We were her operatives. She was the wielder, and us, her sword.

We were assassins. An upstart griffon general with amazing tactical skills? Died peacefully in his sleep. A Canterlot noble who's mouth ran to much? Silenced. A Minotaur leader who claimed that ponies we nothing more then cowards? Enlightened.

We were revolutionaries. The griffons could rarely keep a king for long. I wonder why? The coup against the Crystal Empire? The leader, Sombra, took to the role a little to well.

We were thieves. Equestria low on funds? Donations found. Inventions that were too incredible for the average pony? Lost blueprints. New magic research kept secret? We received a copy of course.

We were enforcers. Ponies attempting to start revolts? Eliminated. Diplomacy not on the table? We fixed that. Nobles not in line? Straightened .

All for the Sun we served.

We were loyal. We followed orders without question. At the wave of her hoof, we were dispatched. A small signal, and we moved.

We were betrayed.

We should have known it would have come to this. Maybe it was our loyalty that blinded us to this fact. The Princess decided that we knew too many secrets, and she was more then willing to fix that. Invited to her throne room, the entirety of our order was gathered in there. Perhaps that should have been the first warning sign. Never in our order's history were we gathered together in one place. We didn't have homes. We operated in several nations at once, and were constantly on the move. Her orders kept us busy.

Perhaps, it should have been when she wished to congratulate our years of service and loyalty. Our perhaps when she said that our services were no longer needed?! Decades of devotion, years of blood, sweat, tears, all that loss, all that, simply disregarded.
She moved quickly after that. Her guards burst into the room seconds later, armed to the teeth.

Her loyal.

Her obedient.

Her trustworthy guards.

Then, in flash of teleportation, she was gone.

The elders of our order reacted first, arming themselves instantly. We all carried hidden weapons, she knew that. Yet she threw her guards at us, well aware we could fight back.

How motherly.

In moments, the room was a bloodbath. Unicorns traded fire, throwing their devastating spells with little concern. Pegasi through themselves at each other, a dance of death in the air. Earth ponies clashed, muscle to muscle, bone to bone. Unfortunately, the truth became evident. We would not win. For every guard that fell, another replaced him. For every one of ours that fell, the battle tilted in the guards favor.

I made the choice then. Bounding through the air, I unleashed my hidden blades, cutting down any pegausus in my way. I saw my destination ahead. Tucking in my wings, I braced for the impact. I plowed through one of those precious stained glass windows,
I didn't really care which one. Unfurling them instantly, I glided away from the fight. I looked back once.

A few of my brothers and sisters followed my lead, and were bounding out the windows, but many were being cut down before they could get far. I got lucky, I was the first, and only to make it past the castle walls. That was hours ago.

Now, I sit here in this alley, spending the rest of my limited time writing this, as the blood loss is getting to me. What, you expected me to escape unharmed? The gash along my side begs to differ. I can hear the guards looking for me. Pegasi check the skies above while unicorns and earth ponies patrol the ground. I'm trapped. Theres no escape. I know that. My brothers and sisters knew that.

This will be my end. I write this, in hopes that someone will find this and know our story. Know of what we did, know of why we did it, and know who we did it for. We did it all for the Princess. We killed, we stole, we lied, we cheated, we did it all for her.

For Princess Celestia.

For the Sun we served.

Author's Note:

This came from an idea that I had that Celestia had to of had some type of elite order to carry out some of the more, unsavory, tasks of the crown. One the royal guards didnt fit. So boom. Solar Cross.

Comments

[SomeRandomMinion]

Well THAT was depressing...kind of a waste of a perfectly good idea, too.
Black-ops group that answers ONLY to Celestia herself; pulling nasty jobs for a (hopefully) greater good; etc....and then BAM, Celly just murders them all.
The End.

[Nugget]

So you have an elite group of bad-a** ponies under your wing... and you KILL THEM.

For you:

i.imgur.com/NyCDHT3.png

[Shocks]

4777807
4777715

Ya, I did that didnt I? To be honest, I just wanted to do a one shot. I feel I write better in one shots.

Also, many of you probably didnt consider this, but the story is stated as a written document. I didnt say he was dead. I implied it.

[Tailgate]

I like it, you could actually continue this by having someone either A. Find note and conspire with others or B. Have him be rescued by someone. Regardless, good job.

[SomeRandomMinion]

4777844 Perhaps, but most (if not ALL) of his comrades are dead, and Celestia likely has a library's worth of contingency plans for some of the Solar Cross surviving and coming after her looking for payback.

It just seems...redundant, to have all that build-up of how ruthless and cool these guys were, and then wipe them out in the last few paragraphs.

[Shocks]

4777940 I wouldn't be opposed to writing a separate story revolving around their missions with celestia not killing them , but I would put a an AU tag on it. Honestly I didn't realize people would really take a liking to the Solar Cross. Guess I wrong wrong on that.

[Shocks]

4777917 Thanks, glad you liked it.

[WS]

4777715 agreed.

[Kaelzoroden]

4777715
Basically this.

Cool premise, but a bit of a letdown to only see them as the order came to an end.
That said, I'm faving this in the hopes that you do eventually write a more full story about the Solar Cross- I'd love to read it!

[Shocks]

4778242 I'm starting to see a pattern here. Stay tuned, I think this deserved a blog.

[Silver Reader]

Futher proof that the Sun Tyrant is unfit to rule. Luna will save us from the end that Celestia would surely bring if she is left in power. Join the New Lunar Republic and end The Solar Empire. FOREVER!

[dragonridergoku]

4780770 All hail the Lunar Republic

[NobleValor]

4777917 There is a 'C' possibility. Possible children from some of the others, or loved ones who knew about the 'Solar Cross.' And what of Luna? Surely she had a word or two to say about this? Much more could be made of this plot, me thinks. There was one error: the word 'throne' was misspelled.

[Shocks]

4785367 Thanks for catching that mistake. Its fixed now

[BlabideeblahMLP]

I unleashed my hidden blades

...Assassin's Creed much?

#Kenway

[Rye Snoot]

The story is short but it's good.