Gabriel sighed as his armor was closed around him, the cold embrace bringing forth several small shocks as the armor connected to the odd holes in his body.

“We have managed to use several magic runes to allow you to remove your armor and put it on at will, Sergeant Gabriel.” Silver Touch explained, twitching slightly as Gabriel’s eye looked down at him. “Th-the runes work as delayed teleportation spells, which teleport your armor here to store it, or if it is in need of repairs. You simply need to select a word or phrase to activate the runes.”

“Thank you… though I doubt my armor liked being fiddled with in such a manner…” Gabriel said, examining his armor, which once more shone brightly in its red splendor.

“Oh please, Sargeant Gabriel. While quite advanced, it is still just a suit of armor. Suggesting that it possesses some sort of spirit would be completely ludicrous.” Silver Touch huffed, and Gabriel for some reason had the urge to hit the Mage. He resisted, however, and simply bowed.

“...Of course, Mage. Now, I must head out to my Company. We are going to begin our training as soon as I arrive.” Gabriel said, grabbing Godsplitter and moving towards the exit.

“Not so fast, Sergeant.” Silver Touch called, stopping the massive soldier. “Celestia has asked for your presence in her throne room as soon as you were equipped with your armor.”

“Of course.” Gabriel nodded, pressing his fist into his chest plate. “The God-Princess protects.” He said, before exiting the laboratory. Silver Touch scoffed, before turning back to his papers.

“The God-Princess? What religious foolery is that thing spouting?” He growled, examining several diagrams of Gabriel’s armor. “His armor is so ridiculously advanced, every other scientist was stumped on how some of the materials could even exist. But I will learn… and soon we will be rid of the need of such a horrid person.” He blinked. “No… that’s not right. Gabriel saved dozens of guards at a risk to his own life. He’s a hero… so where did those thoughts come from?”

”What secrets could lie inside of that impenetrable fortress of a mind that he is not sharing?” An echo of a thought crossed through his mind.

“Y-yes.. he could be a weapon against Equestria…” Silver muttered, unaware of the falling temperature in his workshop.

“Princess Celestia, I have arrived as requested.” Gabriel declared, entering the throne room and immediately bowing before her, as she sat on her golden throne. “And, your highness, this warrior has a request of his own to ask of you.”

“Oh? What is it you wish, Sergeant Gabriel?” Celestia asked, stepping off of the throne and approaching him.

“During the battle against that vile impostor Daybreaker, many of my fellow guards perished against her magic. The death of one of our own should never go unavenged.” He looked up at her radiant figure, the sun shining through the window panes just right for her body to be enveloped in a rainbow of colors. “I humbly ask of you to allow myself and my Company to hunt down Daybreaker and bring her to your justice.”

Celestia stood there, frozen for a moment, before giving a small chuckle. “Sergeant Gabriel, that was, in fact, the very reason I called you here. I was going to ask for you to hunt her down, but I see you’ve already made your decision.” She motioned for him to rise, and only now did Gabriel realize Sergeant Cliff Ryder was also present, standing quietly in the corner to the left of the Princess’s throne.

“As you are both aware, in the battle against Daybreaker, many lives were lost to simply wound her. We went in without information, without a proper plan.” Celestia let out a sorrowful sigh. “I take responsibility for these deaths, as it was my order that sent them to it. However, Daybreaker has wasted no time. She’s now near the city of Las Pegasus, leaving a blazing trail of destroyed houses and farmland as she goes. As the two of you have fought her before, I couldn’t trust anyone better to fight her and defeat her.”

“I thank you for the chance to avenge our battle brothers and sisters, Princess. I shall gather my Company at once.” Gabriel said, lowering his head.

“No, Gabriel.” Celestia said sternly. “We suffered grievous casualties the last time we sent our guards in without a plan. I have sent the order to evacuate Las Pegasus, and hopefully they will realize the grave threat she poses, and follow through.”

“Why wouldn’t they follow your command, Princess?” Gabriel asked, frowning at the thought.

Celestia sighed. “The nation of Equestria is rarely unified. Each city has its own form of government, its own militia, and its own rules. While Canterlot is the Capital, we still hold very little influence over the other cities. We can advise them, but it is up to them if they will listen.”

“... Understood, your highness.” Gabriel replied, biting back the heretical words trying to escape his lips. “I shall train my Company well, and prepare them for the next battle against Daybreaker.”

“I thank you, Gabriel. You and Sergeant Ryder shall work together to defeat her. I will even go to the effort to provide whatever resources you might require.” Celestia nodded, turning towards Ryder. “That goes for you as well.”

“Then, Princess, I would request for more soldiers.” Gabriel stated. At their confused looks, he continued. “We are fighting nothing short of a Daemon mimicking your power, Princess. While not as mighty as you, she is still a dangerous threat, and a mere five to ten soldiers per Company cannot hope to defeat her. This would also allow you to reduce the number of Companies, thus also reduce the hassle of having such a large number of Sergeants and companies answering directly to you.”

Celestia and Ryder stared at the massive warrior for a moment, their mouths open, yet unable to utter a word. Eventually, however, Celestia managed to find her voice, speaking lightly.

“Sergeant Gabriel, would it be that you would wish for the Royal Guard to become less of a rapid response force, and more into an actual army?” She asked, leaning forward in her throne.

“Yes, Princess. Forgive me for speaking out of tone, but the current military force of Equestria is… ineffective.” Gabriel said, bowing again. “If the Griffon Empire were to actually declare war upon us, none of our militias or rapid response forces would be adequate to defeat them.” He looked up at her. “We require a unified military force, and a united Equestria. Otherwise, our differing military structures and tactics will be our destruction.”

“Hmmm…” Celestia hummed, leaning back into her throne, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “I shall put what you have suggested into consideration, Sergeant Gabriel. For now, you will have your wish regarding the Royal Guard. Though we cannot as of now merge the Eighteen Companies, we shall begin to expand our recruiting operations to the rest of Equestria. We shall, for now, double the number of guards within each Company.” She looked down at him. “Unless we have to expand our numbers before you fight her, will this be acceptable?”

The armored soldier ran the calculations through his head within an instant, and nodding. “I shall take what I can get, Princess. If that is all, I shall take my leave.” With a nod from Celestia, Gabriel rose, and left the hall.

“Are you sure it would be wise to make these changes, Princess?” Ryder asked once he was gone.

“It holds weight, Sergeant. Gabriel was right in saying that Equestria’s disunity would bring us to ruin, should we ever go to war…” Celestia sighed. “I wonder if he hails from the Griffon Kingdom, or perhaps another empire beyond theirs. Either way, his views are quite militaristic.”

“If he is from the Griffon Kingdom, it only makes me worried that we have put him in command of the Third Company.” Ryder sighed.

“We shall test him soon, Ryder. If he is a Griffon Spy, he will be stripped of his rank and sent to the dungeons.” Celestia stated calmly, her serene look gazing out from one of the windows.

“Third Company, assemble at the training field in thirty!” Gabriel roared, standing outside of the barracks. As he turned to head towards the training fields, he could hear the soldiers inside the barracks rushing to grab their gear.

Thirty minutes later, the seven survivors of the Daybreaker Battle had assembled, while the remaining three replacements for those who died had gathered more slowly.

“Soldiers of the Royal Guard’s Third Company!” He growled, marching forward, his massive size causing the three new recruits to shrink away, and his heavy glare only added to their fear. “The Princess herself has chosen us, along with the First Company, to hunt down the monster who killed our three brothers, and bring her the Princess’s peace.” The survivors eyes widened at this statement, likely recalling the battle.

“However!” Gabriel continued, walking along the line of guards. “We are not yet ready to face her once again. The Princess has given us time to train ourselves to fight her, and I shall make good use of this time. I have ordered two mages to head to Las Pegasus, where Daybreaker has been reported being seen, to observe her using stealth magic. They will learn her weaknesses, her powers, and anything else of importance, and send reports.”

“Permission to speak, Sir?” Shining Armor asked, breaking the heavy silence of the line.

“Granted, Guard Armor.” Gabriel nodded, stepping towards him.

“What about the people residing in Las Pegasus? Surely you don’t plan to use them as bait to better observe Daybreaker’s actions?” The blue-haired Guard asked, looking up into Gabriel’s eye.

“That would be a negative, Armor.” Gabriel said, before walking back along the line. “Princess Celestia herself has ordered the evacuation of Las Pegasus. It will be their decision on whether or not they will flee.”

He stopped in the middle of the lin, turning to face them. “Training begins now. For a warmup, I want you to run around the edge of the field fifty times, then you will do fifty push-ups! Once you all have accomplished this, I will tell you of your next training excercise.”

“That’s insane, Sergeant!” One of the new recruits exclaimed, and soon cowered underneath Gabriel’s glare as he towered above the upstart Guard.

“Insane, Initiate?” Gabriel asked, and the Initiate fell back. “We are fighting a deadly opponent that nearly destroyed three Companies, soldier. We fight to protect the Princess and Equestria! If you can’t handle my training routine, then you have no business being here.” He turned to the other guards. “And if any of you make needless outbursts, then I will personally throw you off the side of Canterlot! Get moving!”

The guards looked to each other worriedly, before nodding and beginning their run. The one who had spoken out whimpered, giving Gabriel a somewhat disdainful look, before following in their steps.

“I only hope the next ten will be less spineless than that fool.” Gabriel glowered, watching them run. Observing them for weakness.

“Good!” Gabriel growled, looking down on the group as the last few Initiates dribbled in. The survivors were tired, each of them panting under their breaths. However, the replacements were absolutely winded, one of them falling to the ground as he attempted to catch his breath. The other two were in similar states. “Warm Up is over, Initiates. Next will be combat training.” He took a sword out of a nearby sheath, the blade a standard for the Guard. “This is your weapon. This is what will decide whether you will live or die.” He tosses it behind him, the sharp end stabbing into the ground.

“However, the enemy we will fight has shown herself to be capable of melting them. This means that your life expectancy will dramatically decrease if all you know how to use is the sword.” He began laying down several different types of weapons, ranging from knives, different variations of sword, bows, and a few others. “So, you will be trained to use these.”

Shining Armor ducked under the guard’s swing, bringing his knife to bear as he jabbed it into his side, causing the guard to cry out and stumble to the right.

“Good, Initiate Armor. You’re learning to use that knife well.” Gabriel said, stepping forward as the other duo’s continued to fight. Gabriel took the wooden replica of a knife from him, examining the fake weapon. “However, there was a way to defeat him early on that you missed.”

Shining Armor glared up at him, panting. “And… what would that be, Sergeant?” In response, Gabriel flipped the knife around, before launching it at the recovering guard Shining had just defeated. The knife flew true, and it’s blunt tip smacked him right in the head, causing him to stagger and fall in surprise.

“Sometimes the best way to engage an opponent is at a distance. Now, if this was an actual one on one fight, you will likely die if all you use is just a knife.” Gabriel stepped forward, retrieving the knife and handing it to Shining Armor, before also handing him a wooden blade. “If all you use is a knife, your opponent, who will likely have a sword, will have longer reach, and you would endanger yourself by getting in close. And Daybreaker won’t let you get even fifteen meters from the distance required. You’ll melt long before that.”

“Then why are we training with these to fight her if we won’t be able to get close enough to use them?” Shining Armor asked, gripping the wooden blade tightly.

“You aren’t learning how to fight her with these. You’re learning how to fight the enemies of Equestria once we defeat Daybreaker.” Gabriel stated. “Like I said, we currently don’t know how to fight our opponent. You cannot fight an opponent and win if you don’t know what they are capable of.” He looked around at the guards who continued to fight around them, unaware of the others. “Knowledge is power, Initiate Armor. Guard it well.”

“Right…” Shining sighed, before turning back towards his opponent, and they resumed. Gabriel nodded, returning to his previous observation point.

Las Pegasus territory, later that day

The two mages’ arrival came with a burst of bright blue light, their bright white robes shimmering in stark contrast to the green plains surrounding the city as the sun began to set behind it, bringing dark shadows that loomed across the land.

“Right… you’ve got the journal, Starblast?” The mage to the right asked, and her partner nodded, his robes parting as he pulled out the bland brown book, before quickly returning it beneath his robe.

“Invisibility spell, or just camouflage spells?” Starblast asked, and the other shrugged.

“Sergeant Gabriel recommended anything that would keep us hidden… so I guess invisibility?” The first Mage shrugged. “Just remember, she destroyed two whole companies. Be careful.”

“Right, right… guess we should use the Detect Magic Spell to find out where she is?” Starblast asked, extending his hand, which began to glow brightly, before he completely faded from sight.

“Or we could conserve our mana reserves and follow the burning trail she left behind.” The first one pointed to the north, where a pillar of smoke rose, with several other similar pillars rising into the sky.

“Oh. Right…” the voice of Starblast said, and the first mage sighed, before casting her own invisibility spell, and vanishing. “Good luck, Bright Flare.”

“You too, Starburst.” Bright Flare nodded, before rushing towards the smoke.

Author's Note

And that’s the end of the chapter!

Gabriel has begun his rise through the ranks, and will soon fight the mighty Daybreaker! But, will he defeat her? Find out in the next chapter! (Or next few)

Also, please, PLEASE point out any spelling errors or flaws in the story so far that I have made. I cannot improve if no one points out the mistakes I make!

I’ll see you all in the next chapter!