Equestrian Royal Military

The **Equestrian Royal Military** is the armed forces of the country of Equestria. Its main goal is to protect the Princesses of Equestria, the Equestrian Parliament, the Equestrian Ministries and the region of Equestria from any threats to their security and stability, both internal and external.

## History

The unification of Equestria saw the creation of a royal army to keep the power of the nations that made up Equestria in check and defend against potential military coups against the government, ensuring its independence.

Initially this army was synonymous with the Royal Guard and had a duty to protect the princesses and the members of the Council of the Tribes. These roles expanded to the protection of all branches of the Equestrian government and the region of Equestria.

Later on, new branches were added and consolidated under the Ministry of Loyalty.

## Branches

The Equestrian Royal Military has three branches: the Equestrian Royal Army, the Equestrian Royal Navy, the Equestrian Royal Air Force, and the Royal Guard.

### Equestrian Royal Army

The Equestrian Royal Army comprises weaponry, war vehicles and their personnel for waging war on land as well as the land, water or air vehicles used for the deployment of troops and the maintenance of supply lines.

The army is largely based on the Gaian military and as such, makes use of chariot warfare and construction of defensive structures.

#### Ranks and specializations

The Equestrian Royal Army has the following enlisted ranks. Note that the marks have an "X" in place of the symbol denoting the specialization.

The Equestrian Royal Army has the following officer ranks.

\* Six star ranks of the army, navy and air force are held by, and only by, ruling princesses. Uniforms for these ranks are rarely worn as they're only worn when performing the duties related to these roles.

The Equestrian Royal Army has the following specializations.

These specializations have existed historically, but have fallen into disuse.

Disused specializations of the Equestrian Royal Army
 Lancer |  | Lightly armored soldier which uses a heavy lance to attack. Bears a lance head mark.

Buffalian code talkers, who communicate secret messages by translating them to their native tongue, officially have the cryptographer specialization.

### Equestrian Royal Navy

The Equestrian Royal Navy comprises ships and their personnel for waging war on oceans, seas and rivers and maintain supply lines to these ships.

After the invention of the ironclad, these ships have come to make up the bulk of the navy as they are extremely resistant to cannonfire, although wooden barracuda ships remain in service, usually in non-battle roles.

Recent years have seen the creation of a new type of ship, the dreadnaught, which is larger than an ironclad and uses turbines instead of propellers to reach higher speeds.

Currently there are two dreadnaughts, the HMS Celestia and the recently completed HMS Luna, built as flagships for the pricesses. The HMS Celestia was constructed to replace Celestia's previous flagship, the HMS Sun, a barracuda ship which had become outdated after the last century's innovations in naval warfare.

The smaller one, the HMS Luna, was commissioned recently to celebrate the return of the princess. There's also a third dreadnaught, the HMS Twilight, currently under construction for the most recent princess, which is expected to be bigger and have more guns than the other two.

Despite being the flagships of the princesses they are often captained by fleet admirals as the princesses rarely get directly involved in battle.

Besides ships, the Equestrian Royal Navy also employs armored domesticated sea serpents, although these are less effective against modern steel-hulled ships than traditional wooden ones.

#### Ship types

Ship types of the Equestrian Royal Navy
 Barracuda | A long and thin ship with several sails which can travel very fast. Barracuda type ships used to make up most of the Equestrian Royal Navy, and while they are still in use ironclads have largely rendered them obsolete. They started to be built during the Qilinmania to protect cargo ships during the long journeys to Qilinia.

#### Ranks and specializations

The Equestrian Royal Navy has the following enlisted ranks. Note that the marks have an "X" in place of the symbol denoting the specialization.

The Equestrian Royal Navy has the following officer ranks.

\* Six star ranks of the army, navy and air force are held by, and only by, ruling princesses. Uniforms for these ranks are rarely worn as they're only worn when performing the duties related to these roles.

The Equestrian Royal Navy has the following specializations.

### Equestrian Royal Air Force

The Equestrian Royal Air Force borrows from both the navy and the army in its structure and functionality as it consists both of armed airborne vehicles as well as units consisting of flying soldiers (usually skirmishers).

The vast majority of members of the air force are pegasi as skirmishers need to be able to fly and the operators of airborne vehicles can use flying for carrying out their duties optimally. These skirmisher units and their tactics are largely based on that of the Icarian military.

#### Ranks and specializations

The Equestrian Royal Air Force has the following enlisted ranks. Note that the marks have an "X" in place of the symbol denoting the specialization.

The Equestrian Royal Air Force has the following officer ranks.

\* Six star ranks of the army, navy and air force are held by, and only by, ruling princesses. Uniforms for these ranks are rarely worn as they're only worn when performing the duties related to these roles.

The Equestrian Royal Air Force has the following specializations.

### Royal Guard

The Royal Guard still carries the same armor and weapons as when it was founded, consisting of golden plate armor and spears.

They still function as bodyguards to the princesses and key figures of the Equestrian government and are trained in spear fighting, although their role has become largely ceremonial and they don't participate in armed conflicts.