Gabriel stood over the table, looking down at the militia commanders with slight dissatisfaction, though he did not show it. “And your scouts are certain that they found nothing in the forest? Nothing at all?”

“No, Sir. They flew over that forest back and forth, twice, and neither found anything of any interest nor did they encounter any resistance.” Stalwart Defender nodded, waving his hand a the map. “The Griffish Raiders are clearly masters at hiding their encampments, and aside from the spy you killed, we have had no contact since your arrival.”

“Perhaps it is simply that your guards are less competent in surveillance than they are fighting.” Gabriel stated bluntly, causing the commander to twitch.

“With all due respect, Sergeant, my men know this land more than anyone else. If something had changed, we would know about it.” Stalwart retorted, anger evident in his voice.

“And yet your men found nothing, when we know for certain that the raiders are situated in the forest.” Gabriel replied, as calm as ever. Shining Armor shifted at his side, looking at Gabriel curiously.

“Because we were-!” Stalwart almost yelled, but caught himself mid sentence. He relaxed himself, before glaring up at Gabriel. “Like I said, Sir, the Griffish Raiders must excel at concealing their bases. But I will not tolerate any more slander towards me or my men. If that is all…”

“Dismissed, Commander.” Gabriel replied steadily, betraying no emotion as the Militia Commander stiffly exited the Town Hall.

Once he was gone, Gabriel turned towards Shining Armor. “Initiate Armor, report.”

“It was as you said, Sir.” Shining Armor nodded, turning to the map. “Overnight, our scouts flew over the forest, and located a Griffish encampment exactly one mile into the forest. The scouts reported that they were repelled by arrows before they could investigate further, but now we know where they are.”

“Good. For now, notify our scouts to keep this information to themselves. It is obvious that our fellows in the militia are trying to keep us in the dark, so we must keep up the pretense that we do not know where the Raiders are.” Gabriel said, looking at the map intently.

“Sir, if I may have permission to speak freely…” With a nod from Gabriel, Shining continued. “Why did you try to anger Stalwart Defender? I couldn’t see any reason to saying any of that.”

“It is to gather information, Initiate.” Gabriel replied, rubbing his chin. “If I got him angry enough, I believed that I could gain insight into why they would hide information from us.”

“And did you?” Gabriel shook his head.

“We almost did, but he realized his mistake before he finished.” The armored giant gripped his hammer. “But it is no matter. Go to our scouts, and make sure they keep quiet on the matter of the Raider Base. Dismissed.” Shining Armor saluted, before rushing out the door. As he left, one of Bright Diamond’s house maids stepped in, bowing politely.

“Sergeant Gabriel, my mistress would request your presence at her manor right now.” She said, looking up at him with a slightly trembling and fearful face. “If you aren’t busy, of course.”

“It is no matter. I can meet with her immediately. Would you be so kind as to escort me there?” Gabriel asked, walking towards her.

“Thank you, Sergeant. If you would follow me.” She turned to walk away, waiting for the massive warrior to follow her before walking off to their destination.

Shining Armor sighed as he walked out of the bar, having just completed Sergeant Angelos’s orders. “I hope we deal with the Raider problem soon… Twily starts up her next year of magic school, right?” He shook his head. “Ugh, focus! I think it’s my turn for the watch…” He gripped his sword’s pommel as he walked through the town, easily spotting the wall surrounding the buildings. As he drew near, he spotted two guards arguing. One of the Third Company, and a militia soldier. The argument seemed intense.

“Look, you idiot! If we don’t go out there and find these bastards, they’ll just keep hitting us until we fall!” The Third Company Initiate growled, and the militia soldier scoffed.

“And I’m telling you that it’s far too dangerous to commit an expedition into the forest! There’s a reason we had scouts fly over, there are dangerous creatures constantly patrolling those woods!”

“Oh really? Is the poor little militia man too scared to go out there and fight a few animals?” The Third Company soldier scoffed. “What a joke you all are. The only thing stopping us from wrapping this job up is that your scouts haven’t found the damn enemy base!”

“Enough, Initiate!” Shining Armor called, noticing that the Militiaman’s hand had reached for his sword. As Shinin Armor drew closer, he noticed that the Third Company soldier was one of the newer recruits. That explained his haughty attitude.

“Oh come on, Shining Armor!” The Initiate rolled his eyes. “I know you are itching to go out there and crush these bastards. Why doesn’t Sergeant Angelos just send out some of our scouts? I’m certain our brothers would do a better job than these morons.”

“You take that back, you Canterlot Dog!” The Militiaman growled, drawing his sword and lunging at the Initiate.

There was a clang of metal, and the Initiate backed away slightly at the sight of Shining Armor in front of him, his own blade drawn and held firmly against the militiaman’s. Shining Armor shoved forward, knocking the surprised guard back and, with a solid side sweep with his legs, sent him crashing to the floor. As he got up, he found Shining’s sword pointed mere inches away from his neck.

“I apologize on behalf of this Initiate, but attacking a member of the Royal Guard will be met with a swift execution. If you try this again, I will kill you, is that understood?” Armor growled, and the now fearful militia guard quickly nodded. Shining Armor sighed, sheathing his sword back into its scabbard and letting the guard scamper away.

“W-wow… you old timers can kick some ass.” The Company Guard muttered, and Shining Armor turned to face him.

“Listen here, rookie. These people know these forests far more than you do. Until we are given a reason not to trust their word, we must expect that it is true. And disrespecting their honor in such a manner is something that I, and likely Sergeant Angelos, will not tolerate. They are our allies, and we must not cause a divide between us.” Armor growled. “You will treat them with respect, and if you don’t I will personally teach you the meaning of the word. Are we clear?”

“U-understood, brother…” the soldier nodded slowly, taken aback.

“What is your name, Initiate?” Shining asked.

“Th-Thunderfall…” He said nervously, averting his eyes from Armor’s glare. “I was part of last week’s recruits…”

“I will remember your name, Thunderfall. I’m taking over in your place on guard duty. Get your rear back to the barracks.” Shining Armor ordered, and Thunderfall rushed to comply. Shining Armor sighed, before finding his way to the stairwell, grabbing a bow and several arrows from a rack filled with them along the way. Once at the top of the wall, Shining Armor sighed as he took up the first empty post, eyes peeled to the forest seemingly staring back at him.

“This is going to be a long hour…” Shining sighed, realizing that he still agreed with some of what Thunderfall had said to the militia guard. He hated just sitting there, waiting for the enemy to make the next move.

He blinked curiously as something glinted between the trees in front of him, eyes widening as he barely moved out of the way of the arrow that almost hit him right between the eyes.

“Enemy attack! Call for reinforcements!” Shining yelled, pulling out his bow. The closest guard, a militiaman, turned to follow Armor’s, but was rewarded with an arrow cutting its way through his woefully undefended neck, the tip popping out of his front and heralding a wave of blood as he gurgled, falling to the ground below the wall as he grappled with the arrow, breaking his neck upon impact. Shining Armor drew up one of his own arrows, waiting for a moment before releasing it in the direction another arrow had just flown from mere seconds before.

There was a rustle in the trees, and a Griffish Raider fell from the tree, Shining’s arrow lodged in his undefended shoulder.

“Someone sound the alarm!” Shining growled, ducking behind the cover provided by the wall as another arrow found its mark in the arm of one of the Third Company initiates. Shining turned to his left and saw that several other guards had perished, and Shining even saw a few corpses in gold armor among the dead.

“Sir, the alarm bell has been tampered with!” One of the Third Company soldiers yelled. Shining Armor vaguely remembered that her name was Bright Luck.

“What?! How in Tartarus is that- agh, nevermind!” Shining Armor growled, deciding to worry about the alarm later. He racked his mind for anything he could do to signal the rest of the Third Company, and hopefully Sergeant Angelos.

“Sir, what are we going to do?” Bright Luck asked, rushing down next to him. Shining didn’t answer her, having thought of an idea. He focused his thoughts, tapping into the latent power within him and wrapping it around his hand.

“Sir, what are you-“ Bright asked, but was cut off as Shining launched his spell, sending a fireball flying up into the sky, before suddenly expanding when he clenched his fist. It looked as if a second sun had appeared over the sky, visible to everyone. And hopefully the Sergeant.

“I thank you for coming at my summons, Sergeant Angelos.” Mayor Diamond smiled, stepping out of her mansion walkway.

“You’re residence is quite impressive, Mayor Diamond.” Gabriel said, examining the manor before turning to look at the half a mile road between the manor and the village. “Though I must wonder why it is so far away from the rest of the village.”

“Oh, worry not, Sergeant. It is merely a precaution. Come, my servants have prepared some tea.” She said, though clearly avoiding explaining what it was she was worried about. Gabriel sighed, before following the mayor inside. As soon as Gabriel took a step into the massive manor, he took in his surroundings, noting possible escape routes or defensive points should he ever need to defend this place.

The interior of the manor was, as Gabriel had expected, over the top in its decorations. In the center of the room was a massive staircase leading up to the second floor, while brilliant paintings hung on almost every space available along the walls. In the spots that didn’t have paintings, there were small busts of many people that Gabriel had never met or heard of, their names embedded in gold beneath the heads.

“This is an impressive home you have, ma’am.” Gabriel lied, unimpressed with the vanity assaulting his eye.

“Why thank you, Sergeant Angelos! My family led this town for generations, and we’ve been here for even longer!” Diamond smiled, the act seeming warm to anyone else, but Gabriel only saw the coldness of someone who knew how to manipulate. “The dining hall is three doors down to the left. I need to go to prepare a few things.” She walked off, while some of her maids offered to escort Gabriel to the Dining Hall.

“No, I will find my way there on my own, if you don’t mind. I thank you for the kind offer.” Gabriel responded, walking past the maids and down the specified hallway.

Author's Note

UUUUGH! I was not at all satisfied with this chapter. I wanted to continue it, but I couldn’t think of a good way to write the upcoming scene!
I think I’ll have BP help me when I start writing the next chapter....

Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will involve some semi-politic-type discussions, and maybe an actual battle!