Resolve

by Deft_Autumn

Rating: teen
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Luna, Drama, Original Character, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Main 6
Length: 3859

This is the story of Gilded Cross. A strong willed glory seeker in the Elcove guard who's reckless antics change her life, as well as the lives of those around her. She learns, that something needs to change.

This is the story of Gilded Cross. A private first-class in the guard of a village named Trottingburg. She always was strong willed, a trait that got her into the guard to begin with. But when her glory-seeking ways lead to the biggest mistake of her life, she must make a decision. Stay the way she was, or change for the better and be the catalyst for unification of the kingdoms of Elcove, and Equestria.

She just needs to show some resolve.

Published 2016-10-01 02:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-11 23:45:35 UTC

Prologue

Prologue...
Sounds of battle echoed through the field. Metal clashed and fire roared. Although the surrounding area was illuminated by the pockmarked flames that plagued the area, the two figures remained in shadow as they engaged in combat. Suddenly, there was a flash as the two figures clashed for a final time, and loud "Crash!" Sounding out before everything faded to black.

Twilight gasped as she shot up from her bed, the alicorn taking a few breaths before shaking her head, attempting to clear her thoughts.

"That was a weird dream..." She mumbled groggily, rubbing her eyes. "It was probably just me reading too many history books before bed..."
The Princess got out of bed an began her morning routines, pushing the dream to the back of her mind as she freshened up.

"I wonder what spike is making for breakfast..." She ruminated. Twilight stepped out of her room, her hoofsteps making audible "clip-clop" noises.

"Oh! Good morning Twilight!" Chirped Starlight Glimmer, the Unicorn greeting her teacher.

"Good morning Starlight, how are you today?" Inquired Twilight, giving her student a pleasant smile.

"Oh, well, i'm doing great! I have plans to visit the Crystal empire tomorrow to catch up with sunburst." Starlight told her mentor, who's smile widened.

"Great! I'm sure you'll have plenty to tell me when you get back. In the meantime would you like to come to fluttershy's picnic with me? It's in a few hours." She offered.

"Sounds great!" The unicorn replied. "Er... Is it a friendship lesson?" Starlight Inquired, gaining a giggle from Twilight.

"No, it's not a lesson, just a picnic." She assured. "Now, how about we see what spike is making for breakfast? It smells delicious!"

"Wow, Spike. I'm impressed!" Starlight Exclaimed, leaning back in her seat. "That was pretty tasty."

"Thanks! I've been trying some new recipes lately." He responded, taking the two ponies dishes and dumping them into the sink.

"Well, I think you're improving very much." Twilight praised, giggling as spike gave her a sheepish grin before beginning to scrub the dishes.

"So, anything we need to do before the picnic?" Starlight inquired, the alicorn turning towards her.

"I don't believe so." She replied, looking around. "How does some studying sound?" Twilight asked, starlight giving a good natured roll of her eyes.

"Sounds good."

A few hours later, the two ponies were sitting with their friends at Fluttershy's picnic.

"Oh, I'm so glad you two were able to come by!" Fluttershy stated happily.

"Who would miss it?" Rainbow Dash said, floating above the group casually. "I mean, you do make pretty good sandwiches." The mare took a bite out of her sandwich.

"Hehe, I'm happy you think so Rainbow." Fluttershy replied. "um... I did have a reason for invite everybody over though..." She murmured.

"Really?" Twilight asked. "Is there something you need to tell us Fluttershy?" the mare, walked over and sat closer to her fried, before Pinkie Pie hopped over and landed beside Twlight.

"Yeah! You can tell us anything!" She exclaimed, touching her nose with Fluttershy's.

"Oh! Um... Nothing too important..." She scooted back a slight bit as Pinkie pulled out of her face. "It's just that I've been having this same dream for the past few nights..."

"Oh fluttershy, dear, we all have reocurring dreams every so often." Rarity said, in an attempt to console the pegasus.

"Oh, I know, but this is different than my normal dreams..." Fluttershy sighed. "For some reason I keep having the same dream of two ponies fighting, it's really leaving me stressed out..."

"Hey, ah've been havin' that same dream myself!" Applejack exclaimed, taking of her hat and holding it to her chest. "Kinda weird tah have dreams like that after so much peace n' quiet, I normally just dream about the farm."

The ponies all shifted uncomfortably. "So... I guess we've ALL had this same dream?" Twilight stated tentatively, gettign nods and affirmation from everybody, even Starlight.

"Wow, that's strange... What could it mean?" The pink unicorn spoke up. looking at Twilight.

"I don't know... Maybe I should contact the Princess... But I don't think a dream is too much of a concern." The alicorn responded. "Anyways, how about we wait till tomorrow to talk about it, if we have the dream again, we'll decide what to do next." She sighed. "Now! How about we enjoy the rest of Fluttershy's picnic?" Twilight proposed, a chorus of giggles sounding out.

Later that night, Twilight began to dift off at her desk. The calm atmosphere of her library always left her tired after a night of studying, and her eyes were heavy after the large amount of reading.

"Well... Taking a quick rest wouldn't hurt..." She mumbled, laying her head down on her desk as she passed out into sleep.

"Twilight...?" A familiar voice rang out, getting her attention.

"Huh? what?" Twilight glanced around, she was on a small patch of grass in a wetland area. A large willow tree was behind her, and standing in front of her was Princess Luna. "Princess Luna?"

"Yes, it's me, Twilight." She replied, walking over and sitting beside the smaller alicorn. "I've come to talk with you."

"...Is it about the dreams that me and my friends have been having?" Twilight asked, Luna giving a faint look of surprise before chuckling.

"Yes, that is why." She responded, sighing and looking up at the night sky held in twilight's dreamscape. "I should have expected no less from somepony so bright..." The mare's horn lit up, creating a small replica of one of the statues in the canterlot maze. "Do you know who this is, Twilight?" The princess asked.

"No, Princess." Twilight shook her head, looking closer at the construct. "But I've seen that staute before, it's the one with no plaque."
"Correct." Luna released the spell, the replica fading. "That statue was... a friend of mine. Her name was Gilded Cross."

"Gilded Cross? I've never heared of her." Twilight stated, looking up at the princess. "Was she important?"

"Yes, she was definitely important, she's one of the reasons that equestria is so unified." Luna answered the other Princesses' question. "But there is a reason nopony remembers her." She looked back to the sky.

"My sister, good intentioned as she is, didn't want the atrocities that happened during Gilded's time to be remember, as it may had risked a resurge in the same vicious cycle that Gilded work so hard to put a stop to."

"For this to be achieved, however, everything would have to be forgotten." She looked back down to Twilight. "There is a reason for that blank spot of history between the uniting of the tribes, and the reign of discord."

"So Princess Celestia had to let everything be forgotten?" Twilight murmured, a bit of sadness in her voice as she thought of someponies hard work being forgotten.

"Yes... But Gilded would have rather been forgotten than risk the lives of others for glory." She chuckled. "She was so serious at times..." The alicorn sighed. "...Would you like to here her story, Twilight?" The night Princess asked.

"Absolutely!" Twilight replied, looking at Luna attentively. "I'll be able to learn from Somepony who witnessed it first hoof!"

"Hehehe... Well, settle down." She sighed. "This is going to be a long story..."

Author's Note

This is my first ever attempt at a story! Friends told me that I should attempt writing a fanfic so I decided to try it out! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

--------------------------------------------------First Chapter-------------------------------------------------

"I'm getting tired of your reckless acts gilded!" Shouted her squad leader, commander Swift Strike, a vein pulsing dangerously on his forehead. "You constantly put yourself and the other patrol members in harms way!" Gilded Cross huffed, rolling her golden eyes, the stone blue mare was not listening one bit.

"Come on! Nobody got hurt, we did fine, no use getting so upset over a success!" She retorted, glaring at her commander. Swift Strike sighed, this mare didn't do anything wrong in her eyes.

"Listen, if you don't stop this glory-seeking, it's going to get you and the others killed, I don't want to do it, but if it requires a demotion to kee-" He started, getting interrupted by Gilded.

"What!? You can't demote me! I'm one of your best fighters!" She exclaimed, standing up in shock.

"Well, if you don't wanna lose your position then you'll stop being so ignorant!" He replied, Giving his subordinate a hard glare. Gilded gritted her teeth before huffing and looking aside from her boss, knowing that she'd be in even worse trouble if she kept on from this point .

"Whatever, I'm done." She grumbled, leaving the office room, an exasperated Swift Strike sighing as she slammed the door behind her, shaking the hanging lantern that lit the messy work space.

"She's going to regret her behavior, sooner or later..."

"Wow, chewed out by the boss again? That's, what, the third time this month?" Golden Grain ribbed, the wheat-colored earth pony looking at her fellow guard with amusement in her evergreen eyes.

Gilded huffed, "So? What about it?" she retorted, glaring at the mare.

"Well, it's just kinda strange. I mean, you claim to be so skilled, but all you do is put other ponies in danger." Remarked Golden Grain as she passed by Gilded, flicking the unicorn's chin with her tail, infuriating the mare.

"Do you wanna fight or what!?" She exclaimed, glaring at Golden Grain as she walked down the large unfurnished hall.

"Nope, I don't need to fight you, you'll demote yourself of your own accord." She huffed, laughing as she exited the building, a fuming Gilded left standing alone.

"Ugh! I can't believe her!" Gilded blurted in the bright green training fields, swinging her halberd as hard as she could, the weapon sticking in the wooden dummy with a loud thud. "She's no better..." She grumbled, ruminating on the mare's words.

"In fact... I think I know just the thing to show her up..." Gilded chuckled, a devious light growing in her eyes.

"Yeah, that'll do just fine." The unicorn made her way to the forest's edge, preparing herself for what would follow.

"Yeah, just fine." The mare pushing her way into the forest, her mind made up.

Gilded returned to the town hours later. While the mid-sized village had been bustling with ponies trading and doing chores earlier, it was now winding down with the setting of the sun. The merchants were closing their stalls and the last remaining stragglers from the tavern stumbled home, on their way to sleep off their drunken escapades.

"Looks like everyone's heading home, good, I didn't want to have to explain anything." Gilded muttered beneath her breath, slowly making her way to the barracks, contemplating her deeds.

"Everything should be in place, now I just need to wait." The unicorn chuckled lightly, getting a few strange looks from the remaining merchants, the ponies shrugging and getting back to their cleanup.

"Maybe I should stop thinking out loud so much..." She reprimanded herself, giving a hearty sigh before entering the barracks.

"Hey Gilded, where have you been all day? You smell awful!" Zephyr Greeted, the dark grey pegasus hitting her with a good-natured insult trotting up to the unicorn as she closed the door behind her, gaining a snort from the mare.

"Least I smell better than you did after latrine duty." She shot back at the stallion, getting him to flinch.

"Yikes, don't remind me." He shuddered.

"But seriously! You were gone for ages!" He pressed, a note of concern in his tone. Gilded rolled her eyes. "I was just training, okay?"

Her friend sighed. "You're always training." Zephyr shook his head. "Gilded, if something is wrong you can talk to me, don't bottle it up!" He told her.

"I know," She replied. "but I'm being honest, nothing's wrong."

The stallion sighed at her response. "I'll take your word for it. But, anyways." Zephyr gestured to a pie on the table. "Sis sent me another pie, wanna help me eat it?" He offered, getting a chuckle from his friend.

"Sure Zephyr." She replied. "All that work left me famished."

The next day Gilded was out in the fields with the other members of her squad. The only difference being that they were sparring while she was running laps as punishment. "This sucks." Thought the blue mare, sweat running off her brow as she started her 19th lap. "hmph, they won't have me running once my plan is in action."

"Hey Gilded!" Called Zephyr, breaking apart from the other ponies and fluttering over to the unicorn. "Cap said you can stop, he thinks you learned your lesson." He told her, Gilded immediately stopping and plopping down onto the dirt track.

"Oh thank goodness." she panted.

"he also said that you still need to do your sparing." He added gently.

"Can't I get a break!?" The unicorn exclaimed, throwing her front hooves into the air before falling onto her back.

"Ugh, fine, might as well take care of it now rather than have to clean the latrines later." She sighed, rolling up onto her hooves.

"So I assume I'm sparring with you?" She inquired, getting a nod.

"Of course! You tend to be a bit... aggressive, when it comes to anypony else." He replied, his friend snorting.

"Ah, whatever. Their fault for being such jerks." She chuckled. "Besides, what's the point of sparring if you don't get a little rough?" She asked a grinning Zephyr.

"That's the spirit!" He cheered, leading away from the track.

"So, we using wooden weapons, or blunted?" Gilded quizzed. "Blunted, Captain decided he wanted us to get used to the weight while in combat with other ponies." Zephyr answered, getting a scoff in response.

"As if we aren't already used to it." Gilded responded, she picked up a standard halberd in her magic, the golden aura lifting the weapon off the rack, While Zephyr chose for himself a pair of glaives, the blades attaching to the sides of his hoof guards. "Ready?" Gilded inquired, deftly spinning the halberd in her magic. Zephyr nodded, getting into a battle position.

"Let's do this!"

Chapter 2

"Let's do this!" Exclaimed the two friends, dashing towards eachother as they began their sparring match. Gilded opened up with a foward thrust, using the spear-like tip of the halberd. Her attack was swiftly side-stepped by Zephyr, the pegasi using his wings in conjunction with his movements to make himself more agile.

"Heh, nice dodge!" Gilded complimented, pulling a grin from Zephyr before he dashed forward, flinging out a quick right hook to hit her in the chest with his glaive. The blade, however, was blocked. The unicorn had quickly thrown up her halberd, the long handle of the weapon stopping his glaive with a metallic clang.

A few of the newer recruits noticed this display from a distance as the metallic clangs continued ringing out in stark contrast to the thud of the wooden weapons their associates were practicing with. "Hey Boss." Called one of the recruits, an oak-colored stallion named Willow Bark. "How come she's not using any sort of magic like you and the other unicorns?" The other recruits looked at their superior, Amber Wave, their expressions echoing the question, causing the mare to shoot them a mirthful grin at their curiosity.

"Gilded Cross, The mare you see fighting, is a bit of a... special case." The lieutenant explained, the appropriately orange colored mare responded, her deep blue eyes turning to the newbies. "Unlike other unicorns in the guard, Gilded isn't able to harness her magic for directly attacking or defending, at least not to an effective level." She levitated a decent-sized rock before hitting it with a blast of air from her horn, the stone sailing off and away from the group.

"But, then how is she able to fight? Unicorns aren't strong or quick like earth ponies or pegasi!" A small pegasi mare named Whisper Wind piped up, her voice anything but a whisper.

This garnered a chuckle from the lieutenant. "That may be true. But remember, I said direct which implies something similar to the wind spell I just demonstrated." She gestured to the pair of sparring partners. "Watch for a second and tell me if you see anything strange." She requested. The group turning back to the match.

Gilded was now on the defense, desperately moving her halberd to block the rabid strikes of Zephyr's glaives. Sweat dripped off of both of them, not from exertion, but from the intensity of the match. "Is it just me," Gilded panted. "Or have you gotten a l-" A strike came dangerously close to hitting her, the mare gasping before hopping back a few feet, the bottom of her horseshoes throwing off a few ribbons of golden light as she made the movement.

"Maybe you should stop talking and do more fighting!" Zephyr taunted, getting an angry scowl from Gilded.

"And maybe you should be careful what you wish for!" She retorted, dashing towards him faster than before, the same light appearing once again.

'Wait, what's with that weird light under her hooves?" Whisperwind blurted.

"That's one of the ways she uses her magic." Amber Wave explained. "That light is an enchantment, since she can't use her magic directly, she uses it indirectly by enchanting her gear." She sighed and shook her head. "She's practically a genius with enchanting but her head is already big enough that nobody says anything."

The fight continued as they spoke, though it was apparent it was coming to a conclusion, as both combatants were panting and drenched with sweat. Gilded decided it was time to end the match, the end of her halberd begain glowing before she took a swing once more. Zephyr, exhausted as he was, didn't notice the light, stepping back out of the range of the halberd, rather than sidestepping it, resulting in a strong gust of wind roughly with the same force of her weapon hitting him square in the chest, knocking him over with thud, ending the match.

"Uuuugh, I hate when you do that." Zephyr groaned, Gilded laughing hysterically.

"Gotta watch out for stuff like that Zephyr!" She lauded, setting her weapon back on the rack as she trotted over to her friend, offering the pegasi a helping hoof.

"Yeah, yeah..." He grumbled, taking her hoof. "I still think it's unfair, I'm always used to unicorns blasting stuff from their horns during sparring matches, not their weapons."

Gilded grinned. "Aw come on, it's not that hard." She replied, Zephyr giving a defeated chuckle.

"Whatever, what do you say we get some grub after we clean up?" He offered.

"Sure, sounds good to me." Gilded accepted, the two continuing their conversation as they walked back to the barracks.

"I'm telling you, it was bigger than my hoof!" Zephyr exclaimed to Gilded as that sat in the busy tavern, eating their food and telling stories. Gilded scoffed.

"As if, spiders like that stay in the forest, they hate being around ponies!" She countered, trying not to show her amusement.

"Serious!" He replied, sighing in exasperation. "It bit for hoof while I was on patrol, it's why my guard is so dented." He lifted the offending guard, the metal was scratched and dented on the tip.

"Hey I told you to watch where you were going." Gilded chuckled, sipping her drink. "Phew, glad it wasn't one of the bigger ones..." She thought in relief.

Suddenly, the door to the tavern slammed open, grabbing the attention of all those sober enough to care. "Emergency!" Yelled the village crier, a Pegasus who's brown bangs covered his eyes. "There's been a sudden uprising of the local Tyrantula population!" This caused the tavern-goers to gasp. Tyrantulas were a particularly vicious species of giant spider, though they generally stayed deep in the forest and kept out the larger threats, they were still a great threat themselves, as the matriarchs could grow to the size of a small house, and the average ones were big enough to carry off ponies.

"What!?" Zephyr responded, slamming his hooves on the table. "Gilded, we have to go report to the captain, now!"

he got a nod from the unicorn, the pair of friends heading off to the barracks as the other villagers retreated into their homes, a few panicked screams could be heard as the market was emptied. A few other guards joined Zephyr and Gilded as the swiftly ran towards the barracks.

As they reached the barracks, they saw the familiar faces of their fellow guards, whom were being addressed by lieutenant Amber Wave. "Listen up guards!" She shouted. "We need to make sure the tyrantulas don't Get out of that forest, if they do we may very well lose the town!"

The group of guards murmured and shifted at that. the newer recruits gulped, they hadn't built up the nerve that came with the line of work yet. "As of now I'm ordering that you all set up a barricade at the forest's edge! If the containment party fails we'll need to be ready to stop those beasts from tearing apart the town!" The mare huffed in stress. "Any volunteers for the party?" She called out.

"I'll go!" Exclaimed Whisperwind.

"Me too!" Proclaimed Willow Bark, the stallion puffing out his chest as he spoke.

Gilded and Zephyr looked too each other, nodding and turning to their commanding officer. "We'll go as well!" They pitched in, stepping forward.

"Guess that means I'll have to go to keep anything bad from happening then." Huffed Golden Grain, stepping out form the crowd and shooting a glare at Gilded before turning to her Amber Wave.

"Okay! That should do it, if the party is too big we'll have a harder time taking care of things!" The unicorn mare announced, turning to her volunteers. "Head to the barracks and get your gear, practice weapons aren't going to cut it." She ordered, the five ponies saluting as they ran into the building and began putting on armor.

"Finally! My time to shine!" Thought Gilded Cross, a small smirk appearing on her face as she lifted her armor onto her body, laying over her chain mail poncho. "Let's hurry!" She exclaimed, getting Golden Grain to roll her eyes.

"If you do anything stupid during this mission, it won't be just the spiders you'll have to worry about." The earth pony spat, getting a growl from Gilded.

"This isn't a time to be fighting." Stated Zephyr solemnly, stopping the two before it could escalate. "Just get ready, we need to work together."

The two mares huffed and turned away from each other. Zephyr sighed. "These two are so similar that they can't stand each other." He pondered as he exited the building, the four other ponies soon following.

"Are you ready?" Amber Wave inquired, getting a nod from the group. "Good! Let's move out!" She shouted, the containment party elading the rest of the guards. towards the forest and out of town.