//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: The War 
// by SpikeisBest 
//------------------------------//

Forty-Five  minutes earlier 
As soon as the base was in sight Spike, not wanting to be mistaken for the enemy, dropped to the ground and walked the rest of the way there. When he approached the gate one of the guards, a new one, thought that he was an enemy. The guard grabbed his bow and shot at Spike before his companion could stop him. The arrow hit Spike in the helmet causing him to jump back, extend his claws, and shout "Seriously! I landed on the ground and everything just so I would't get shot at!" As he walked past the guard at the gate he continued "Good thing I wear a helmet." To which the guard just scoffed.

When Spike made it past the gate he went straight to his private quarters. Most ponies have to share a barracks, but since he was an officer he got a private room. Besides, nopony wanted to share a room with a dragon. On top of that, his room was just a shed that he had to make due with. While he wasn't as large as most dragons, he was still twice as large as a pony. He was only able to keep up with and even surpass the other dragons in strength because he was imbued with magic from when Twilight hatched him. As soon as he entered Spike walked to the far wall which had a board full of pictures, names to go along with those pictures, and captions of what the creatures in the pictures did. Most of the pictures had X's on them. All except for one, that one was a picture of Blacktalon, which he marked out now. He let out a frustrated growl and sat down on a chair that was facing the wall. While he studied the wall he could not help but feel angry. "All of this work and it leads to a dead end!" 

That was when he noticed it. All of the pictures had connections to a creature named Greenhorn. He quickly grabbed a a sheet of paper and, not knowing in what the dragon looked like besides having green horns, jotted down a question mark. He labeled the paper Greenhorn and pinned it on the wall. There were two things about the name that stuck out. One, the creature, whatever it was, probably wasn't actually a greenhorn, for it had to be  really skilled at its job to be in contact with all of his other targets. Two, he had seen reports of pony squads being butchered by a dragon that was named Greenhorn. He remembered the name because the dragon actually had green horns which was rare for a dragon. Spike had green spines but not horns. He knew that he would eventually have to hunt the dragon down, but he also knew that it would be best to wait for more information.

Spike was contemplating trying to get some sleep because he was exhausted, but he didn't like sleeping because he always had dreams of her. Then Spike decided to go the mess hall, but he realized it was raining, so he opted to close the windows and simply wait for the rain to go away. He didn't mind the rain that much, but he disliked seeing what it left behind, because it also reminded him of her.

Eventually the rain cleared away, and after waiting a few more minutes to make sure that he could not see it Spike went to the training field. He deposited his war hammer onto a weapons rack that was exclusively his because all of the weapons that he used were to large for ponies to use. He decided to practice using a mace and shield that he picked up from an opponent a while back.

He remembered that fight like it was yesterday. He was using a halberd and his opponent was using the previously mentioned mace and shield. Spike vividly remembered the moment that he sliced his halberd then his opponent, a dragon with a very rare black-and-yellow scale pattern, block it with his shield then it into the ground and proceed to snap the shaft into several pieces by stomping on it. He remembered the worry that he actually might lose the fight. It was moments like that when he truly felt alive. It was as if a switch had been switched inside of him. He remembered the thrill of the moment when he pried the blade out of the ground and threw it at the other dragon only for it to be blocked by the very shield that he now held. He remembered... He remembered that he used the words he remembered a lot when telling this story. Anyway, Spike ended up winning the fight by grabbing the dragon's wrist when he swung next and squeezing it until the dragon dropped the mace. After which he used the spikes on the mace to rip the shield out of the dragon's grip and then deliver one very powerful swing to its head, instantly killing it.

Spike then suddenly snapped back into reality and noticed that it had been around twenty minutes. He finally started training by perfecting his swings with the mace. Next he used a movable training dummy to practice blocking and parrying at the correct moment. He started to get a little winded after switching between the two excersices for about ten minutes so he returned his gear. After he returned the equipment he turned around and saw his squad approaching. "Well it took you long enough" he said.

"Where is your sword?" Shining Armor called while slowly ambling towards him.

"Well hello to you too. As for the sword it... well it kind of... it broke." replied Spike. He said this in a calm enough tone, but on the inside he was worried that Shining Armor, being the kind of pony who cared for ceremonies and the like, would be mad at him for breaking the sword.

After this Spike saw Spitfire give Shining Armor a few bits. Spike, not even wanting to know, just shrugged it off.

When Spike finished closing the distance between him and his squad he said "I have a lead. All of our previous targets have had connections to a dragon named Greenhorn."

"Isn't that the dragon that was leading the others in the Everfree Forest?" Spitfire asked.

Spike nodded in reply and said "we are going to track him down."

"You mean right now? We just got back." said Shining Armor

"I want to get this done as soon as possible." said Spike.

"You should get some rest." said Spitfire. 

"Eyeep" Agreed Big Mac. 

"Sleep is the last thing I need." When they all stared at Spike he finally said "Fine." 

After returning to his quarters Spike laid down and had a dream about the day war was declared on Equestria... and the last day that he saw her.