“Ma’am, your hospitality is to be commended.” Gabriel nodded as Mayor Diamond entered the dining hall. He noted that she had changed into a more formal dress, which he noted was seemingly covered in a wide assortment of fanciful decorations, and even some jewels.

“Oh why thank you, Sergeant!” She smiled, carefully taking the seat across from him as one of her maids brought some tea. “Would you like some? We imported this from Saddle Arabia. It is quite delightful.”

“No, thank you.” Gabriel said, eyeing the seats and deciding that they would most likely break under the immense weight of his armor. “So, what was the purpose of summoning me? The threat of the Griffish Raiders is still quite prevalent.” He turned and stared out of one of the ten windows, observing the small town.

“Oh, do not worry, Sergeant!” He noted a momentary hesitation in her voice. “I just wished to get to know you better.” Gabriel turned, raising an eyebrow. “Oh fine, if you must know, some of the militia have been voicing their… complaints, regarding their treatment at the hands of your Company.”

“Really? I may have to discipline my soldiers once we are done here. If you would please enlighten me to the details of these complaints.” Gabriel asked, keeping a neutral expression as he looked down upon her as she sipped from her teacup.

“Well, the biggest complaint so far comes in regards to you, from our Militia Commander.” Diamond said slowly, gauging Gabriel’s reaction. He didn’t even twitch. “He was quite angry at you because you had, as he put it, questioned the competency of his militiamen.”

“He spoke the truth.” Gabriel replied. “The Griffish Raiders have a base of operations somewhere in the forest. If they can’t locate something large enough to house and supply the numbers we’ve been facing so far, then I would call into question just how well they searched. I will be sending some of my own scouts to locate the Raider camp by tomorrow and, once they have been discovered, we will swiftly eliminate them, and be done with this mission.” Gabriel noticed she had shifted slightly when he stated his intent, but left it be for now.

“I-I see… you are very, uh… direct in your speaking.” Diamond said, likely unsure how to respond. “Your Company is free to look through the forest, but please be mindful of the wildlife.”

“I thank you. Now, the other complaints?” Gabriel nodded.

“Actually, Sergeant, I wanted to ask you something.” Diamond said, trying to look up at his face. “What do you think of Princess Celestia, and of her reign?”

Gabriel paused. He didn’t exactly expect such a question to pop up, but he would give an answer. “I put the Princess in high regards for all things. She is the ruler of Equestria, and commands my utmost respect and reverence. Her reign is a just one, if a bit loose, and I would gladly give my life to preserve what she has created.”

“I see.” Diamond seemed almost… disappointed in his answer. “Well, I am glad to hear that her majesty’s Royal Guard put their duty to Equestria in such high regard. Perhaps you would-“ The sound of an explosion cut her off, and the two moved to the window looking over the town. A massive burst of magic had exploded over Dodge Town, destroying most of the shadows in the town. Gabriel’s enhances vision spotted figures fighting at the walls, and he immediately grabbed Godsplitter.

“Forgive me, Mayor Diamond, but I must cut our meeting short. It appears that the town is under attack.” Gabriel grunted, rushing towards the door.

“What? No, that big magic blast in the sky is just… part of a local festival we have here, celebrating Celestia’s reign!” Diamond said quickly, moving to block Gabriel’s way.

“We were not informed of any festivals occurring this month.” Gabriel stated, pushing her out of the way. “And besides, I could see my brothers fighting Raiders at the wall.”

“What? But we’re miles away! That should be impossible!” She grabbed at Gabriel’s cape, but was forced to let go when she was pulled to the floor when she tried to hold him back.

“I shall return when the town is safe.” Gabriel exited the mansion, moving with as much speed as his armor would afford. How did he teleport when facing Daybreaker? He needed that ability now, but whatever has granted him that power seemed to be dormant.

“How did I do it before?” He asked, searching his memories as he all but marched towards the town. He had been too far away to help, yet… he had been trying to get between Daybreaker and his battle brothers and sisters…

Gabriel stopped in place, before trying something. He concentrated on the top of the hill in front of him, imagining himself being there. He felt energy spark around him, machines whirring to life within his armor, and then…

“Dammit, we can't lose the wall!” Shining Armor cursed, stopping another raider dead with an arrow to the heart. The Militia defenders were almost completely off the wall, leaving only the shining gold of the Royal Guard to hold the line. And even they were close to breaking, with now ten of Armor’s brothers dead, and few left. The Raiders were now beginning to scale the walls, and it was only a matter of time before the Third Company would be completely overrun. Reinforcements had yet to arrive, and the battlements were dark red with blood.

“Shining Armor, we can’t hold the line much longer! We need to retreat into the town!” Initiate Red Haze cried out, laying low as he crawled towards Shining.

“No! We wait until the Sergeant gets here, or we die holding this wall! They’ll butcher the civilians and raze this town if we don’t!” The pale soldier growled, a Raider jumping up onto the wall before getting Armor’s sword jammed in his throat.

“Sir, the Sergeant went to the mayor’s mansion! It’s miles away!” Another of the Initiates said. Initiate Bright Dusk, if Shining Armor remembered correctly.

“That doesn’t matter. We will hold the line.” Shining Armor grunted, ducking down to avoid several arrows. He had used a spell to increase his battlefield awareness, and was glad to see that it was helping. “Our duty is to Equestria and her citizens, and we are all prepared to lay down our lives for them! I won’t let anyone else die!” There was a flash of lightning, a thunderbolt impacting the ground before the wall.

“Good words. Now take action!” A familiar voice growled from within the dust cloud that rose from the impact zone, and a familiar hammer lunged out, shattering a raider’s skull as it passed. Fresh reinforcements rushed to help defend the walls as Gabriel strode out of the dustcloud, arrows pinging off his armor as he strode into the battlefield like a war god, crushing everything in his path under the weight of Godsplitter.

“Sergeant Angelos!” The other Initiates cried, hope rekindled in their hearts. They began to fight back with renewed vigor, and the Raiders began to waver in the face of Angelos’ wrath. Any who got inside of the reach of Godsplitter found their weapons breaking upon his armor, and soon received a blow that shattered their bones and sent them flying back. He was untouchable, and the Raiders began to flee, much to the disdain of their apparent leaders.

They didn’t last long on their own.

As Gabriel stomped back to the wall, every heavy footfall followed with the squelch of blood and mangled corpses, the Third Company cheered, and Shining Armor rushes to greet his Sergeant.

“Sergeant Angelos, thank you for the timely rescue. We’ve lost many good men…” Shining Armor began, but faltered at Gabriel’s look.

“What happened here? Why was the alarm not raised?” He asked, looking down at the body of a fallen Guard.

“Sir, the alarm was sabotaged. We sent one of the Militiamen to get reinforcements, but they never arrived until you showed up.” Shining explained quickly, following Angelos as he strode back into town.

“A saboteur… it was possible that a Griffonian Spy had snuck in, but somehow I doubt that.” Gabriel mused, moving over to the alarm bell. He knelt down in front of it, examining every detail. “Someone was in a hurry when they destroyed this…”

“If you don’t think it’s a Griffonian Spy, then…” Shining Armor paused, shock and horror beginning to show upon his face. “One of us?”

“No, not one of us.” Gabriel stated, standing back up. “I have reason to suspect that the Milita Commander, or even the entire town itself, have turned their backs to Princess Celestia’s reign.”

“What?! Sir, that’s ludicrous! If they were traitors, and helping the Raiders, then why would they be under attack by the Raiders?” Shining Armor asked, appalled.

“Because that’s the perfect cover,” Gabriel began to walk back to the barracks. “For a trap.”

Later that night

As the night arrived, and the night watch took to their posts, so too did three hooded figures as they slipped through the shadows, eventually meeting in a small, unnoticeable alcove between two buildings. None of them said anything for several minutes, waiting to see if anyone had been followed, before one spoke.

“Your people promised us that the Royal Guard would be easy pickings!” One of the hooded individuals hissed, his voice low and agitated.

“And they were, until that accursed Sergeant of theirs showed up!” The second of the individuals, another male, growled. “I did as you asked and destroyed the alarm bell. The plan was supposed to be perfect! Perhaps your people are just terrible at killing guardsmen?”

“I will cut out your tongue if you disrespect my people again!” The first one growled, pulling out a stone knife from his robes.

“Gentlemen, If all we met for was to argue and threaten, then perhaps you should have done so on the battlefield.” The third individual spoke up, this one female. “We didn’t anticipate how much of a problem the Sergeant was until now. But now that we know, we can plan accordingly.”

“But how can we kill him? His armor is nigh impenetrable!” The first one growled. “Many of my brothers lost their lives trying to pierce his armor, and there wasn’t a single scratch!”

“Do not worry about that, I have a special plan for dealing with Angelos. As for his Royal Guards, I trust that I can leave them to you two.” The female replied calmly. “They can’t stop our plans, it is already far too late for that.”

“If you are certain.” The second male nodded. “I must go to my post. The men will be ready to strike when you ask.” He then slipped away, keeping to the darkness.

Once he was out of earshot, the other two turned to each other. “You are sure he isn’t aware of our… agreement?” The first one asked.

The female scoffed. “If he did, don’t you think he would have confronted us about it?” She asked. “I’ll deal with Angelos, but I expect to be handsomely rewarded for my efforts.”

“Yes, yes, I will hold to our agreement. Now go, and try not to be seen. I shall prepare our brothers for the next battle.” And with that, he was gone. The female sighed, before heading back to her home.

Author's Note

FINALLY! I am terribly sorry for the wait. I’ve been dealing with serious writer’s block (and still am) but I’ve managed to fight through it and produce this chapter! (It probably isn’t my best.)

I dunno when I’ll upload the next chapter, but just know that I am not going to give up on trying to write! I’ll keep trying to bring you guys the stories that I have been making for years!

I hope you all enjoyed, and I will see you in the next chapter! I’ll be trying to update a few of my other stories as well!