Spike walked down the hall, the guards by the doors reflexively saluting before opening the door to the long council room. Spike didn't acknowledge the two reptilous guards as he walked on through. He had just finished a particularly sensitive visit to the ponies, and wasn't exactly in the mood for pleasantries. As he walked in, Spike noticed General Gylom and Glenn along with their colonels sitting in different, ornately made seats. He bowed his head and put his arm across his chest when his gaze fell upon Greyhield lying on his large seat. Greyhield nodded in turn, motioning with one of his massive claws towards a rather imposing seat whose back was wood carved in the shape of a shield with two swords crossing behind it. Spike sat it the hard chair, leaning forward, resting his forearms on the table's surface.
"Now that we have full representation, we may begin." Greyhield said in his usual deep, gravely tone. "As previously discussed, we shall continue to attack the pony towns that hold a certain amount of political, economic, or moral inducing importance." There was a general murmur of acknowledgement that Spike didn't share in.
"Our scouts have found a certain socioeconomic importance in the cities of Manehattan and Baltimare, among others." Glenn stated calmly, his head hung over slightly as was usual while his hands were folded together in front of him.
"There is reasonable belief that if we strike Manehattan that it will cause a significant uproar amongst the ponies, which will cause the fight to become that much harder," Gylom noted, "Not that anything ponies can bring to the table can't be beaten by our power; but it still would only serve to slow our progress on various fronts, making our conquest even harder, especially in this damnable winter weather."
"Our next target has been selected already, and so has the leader of the assault." Greyhield told the two reptilous generals. "I want both of you to put your full effort into training our newest general so that he is battle ready for when the day arrives."
"Of course my liege, who is being promoted?" Gylom asked, genuinely curious. Greyhield looked over towards Spike with a calm look.
"Spike shall become the new general of our army." Greyhield stated, to the shock of the reptilous. "I can sense the hatred that burns inside him towards the ponies of Equestria, and it would serve him well, as well as serve us well, if we let him fight in a role of prominence. Spike shall lead the armies of the riders."
"My liege, not to doubt you, but is Spike such a wise choice for fighting against the ponies?" One of the colonels asked. "He has no battle experience, and even after training, he has still lived with ponies his entire life until this point. No offense to him, but might that present itself as an obstacle to him during a fight should he meet a pony he might know, and find hard to kill even if he has been ordered to kill said pony?"
"Your concern is noted, but is unneeded." Greyhield said plainly. "Spike might have been raised by them, but the majority of ponies he knew are already under our power. Besides, he has already shown his rage to me when as soon as I gave him his strength, he attacked the pony Blaze, whom had lived with him for a rather extended period of time." The colonel nodded in response to the answer. "And as for battle experience, that is why I ask that Glenn, Gylom, and the rest of you do your utmost to train him to lead an army in battle."
"I shall be honored to train Spike to fight as a true warrior." Gylom replied with a distinct lack of facial expression or tonality accompanying his words to say what he meant by those words. Glenn nodded in silence, his presence still making Spike feel uncomfortable after his little run in with the reptilous' displeasure.
"Spike," Greyhield began again, drawing his attention back to the matter in front of them, "I do believe your time in the library and with Blaze has served you in some small measure to increase your knowledge of military tactics, but even so, I recommend asking one of the reptilous elders or the madrahciah for a roll on past tactics of great reptilous leaders along with notable tactics of other species." Spike nodded slowly.
"The madrahciah live in The Southern Gorge," Gylom explained as Spike turned to look at him as he spoke, "Ask any guard and they'll show you where it is." Spike again nodded, attempting to take mental notes of what was being said for future reference.
"This next attack shall strike a blow in the moral of the enemy." Greyhield said, breaking Spike's thoughts. "It is important that this attack be finished within a few hours of its commencement." Glenn seemed to shrink slightly at those words, the several day long battle of Stalliongrad still looming over him. "You must apply yourself diligently to your work if you are to become a general in the time left to us before the next attack shall take place."
"When exactly will it be?" Glenn asked cautiously. There was a general murmur of agreement at those words, showing all the other had the same question in their minds.
"I will not tell you." Greyhield stated. "If I told you, some of you might only take Spike's training seriously towards the end, but if I don't tell you there is a greater chance you will train him without reserve since he will be at the head of our next charge, and will need to be ready mentally and physically for said event. All I will tell you about when it is that it will be soon, and it shall be a day of great calamity for the enemy." The reptilous nodded in agreement, murmuring their support just low enough that it was hard to actually tell what they were saying.
Spike shot to the side as Gylom brought his sword down towards him, the practice session testing Spike's endurance quite harshly. Spike swung his quarter staff out at Gylom, only to have the general knock it out of the way with his sword. Spike jumped backwards, but was dragged forward into the ground without warning as Gylom grabbed his staff and yanked it towards him, pulling Spike with it. Spike tumbled face first on to the hard stone ground bellow, feeling a cold bite of the steel of the tip of Gylom's sword on his back. Spike rolled to the side, leaving his staff behind with Gylom. Gylom quickly reacted, and swung his newly acquired staff down on Spike, who fell down in a broken heap as the staff struck the small of his back.
"Good fight, but you need to fix your technique. It might work against a villager who's wielding a pitchfork, but when you face a guard with it, it won't turn out well for you." Gylom said. Spike nodded, still on the ground. "Alright, get back up." Gylom said, offering him a hand, which Spike accepted, rising back to his feet quickly.
"I'm not sure I'm entirely cut out for this type of activity." Spike confessed, rubbing his back in pain. "For most of my life I've either been organizing or lifting book along with occasional cooking."
"Greyhield believes you have it in you to become a great warrior, so there must be something in you that is yet undiscovered that will allow you to become a true warrior." Gylom stated. "But I suppose you can take a break for now and go take a visit to the madrahciah." Spike nodded, limping away from the training area, happy to be away from the pain inducing workout.
As Spike walked along, he slowly came out of his limp, as the pain slowly dulled. He occasionally asked a passing guard where the madrahciah were as he continued to attempt to find them, remembering something about a Southern Gorge.
"Where are you heading, Spike?" Spike froze as he heard the voice of Glenn coming from behind him. "Aren't you supposed to be training with Gylom at the moment?"
"Y-yeah, I did that. He decided to give me some time to rest and go to the madrahciah." Spike replied, not turning to the general.
"That is quite odd; usually you'd have to spend all the time of training ordained with the teacher of that time period." Glenn said calmly. "But at least you are taking a break from one class to go to another." Spike nodded, starting off again, only to feel his shoulder being grabbed. Suddenly he was forcefully pointed in a slightly different direction. "The Southern Gorge is in that direction. Be sure to not waste any time. Remember, I your next teacher in line." Spike nodded holding back the urge to swallow loudly. Glenn gave him a shove in the direction, and when Spike turned to look at the general, the reptilous was nowhere to be seen.
Spike finally reached a stone archway that had the words 'The Southern Gorge' carved in the stone around it. Spike walked forward, only to freeze as he saw why it was called a gorge. Before with, the cave suddenly shot downwards, off into a massive drop, the bottom of which was invisible from where Spike was, though it was obvious that it wouldn't be pleasant if any creature decided to find out by jumping from this height.
The cavern was crisscrossed by multiple stone bridges, each looking to be extremely sturdy, starting out four meters thick at the cavern wall and decreasing to a meter and a half thick at the very center. Bellow, he observed several reptilous-like creatures crossing said bridges, entering the rooms carved into the side of the massive cavern walls, which bled light into the surrounding areas.
The creatures looked only vaguely like reptilous, mostly because of the scales and the general reptilian look, though they were slimmer in build, not looking nearly as strong as the reptilous. They had horn growing out of the sides of their head, which curved around along the side of their heads like a ram's horns. They also appeared to have different color variations than their reptilous brethren. While as reptilous appeared to have a majority of darker, more colors of the forest, as green, black, deep blues, among other such colors, and a few brighter colors, these ones seemed to stand out more, their scales in shades of bright red, rich blue, royal purple, with scarce greens or any dark color. Each of them wore a robe of some kind that had chain links sown into the cloth, along with a few metal plates that were fixed to the shoulders and chest. The robes themselves were white, though some had a touch of brighter colors, possibly a show of ranks or age.
Spike walked along, crossing one of the bridges that was build with a slight downward slant, descending into the closest room on the other side that was just barely bellow the floor on the other side. Spike entered the room, looking at the vast amount of scrolls that were stowed away in special shelves that reminded him of the shelves in a restaurant he had been to in Manehaten that Twilight had identified as wine racks. One of the creatures was stowing some of the scrolls away into one of the racks, not noticing Spike as he walked into the room. He wore a light gray robe that had some golden lacing about the sleeves and at the collar. Metal plates were fastened to his shoulders, as well on his chest, providing some protection of areas of importance. Its scales were a bright red, with its spines, that were poking through the robe through the cloth at predetermined points, were a dark gray.
Spike cleared his throat, attempting to gain the attention of the reptilous like creature, which seemingly ignored him. When the librarian had finished stowing the scrolls, it turned to Spike with a calm expression.
"You need something?" The librarian asked as he walked back to his desk that sat in the middle of the room. Spike slowly walked over, feeling a bit uneasy.
"Y-yes, my name is Spike, and I was sent here to get some... eh, documents on military tactics." Spike stated. The librarian put a claw on a list of names, slowly running its tip down the length of it, looking at each name slowly.
"Ah yes, Spike, the soon to be general of the riders, it is splendid to know our newest general has no knowledge in the art of war." The librarian said with a hint of disgust, and a heavy dose of sarcasm.
"It's not that I have no knowledge. I just have limited knowledge in its application." Spike defended. The librarian looked up towards him with a questioning look.
"A lack of knowledge and a lack of knowledge of how to apply what has been learned is nearly the same thing, and in the profession you are lined up to take, should be considered as dangerous, if not more so." The librarian retorted before walking over to the massive amounts of racks, pulling out a few scrolls carefully, his claws never even touching the paper, so as to not damage it.
"If it isn't too much of a bother," Spike began, the librarian turning at his words, "What exactly are you?" The librarian grabbed one last scroll, setting the lot down on the table, giving Spike a stare that showed his disbelief.
"What you mean to say is that not only is our newest general not named according to traditional ways, has no military knowledge to speak of, and doesn't even know who he will be fighting with?" The librarian asked, completely dumbfounded by Spike's lack of knowledge.
"I'm not a reptilous, and I've only lived here for a week or two." Spike replied, attempting to defend himself the best he could. "I'm actually an adolescent dragon, not a reptilous." The librarian's eyes seemed to widen in understanding.
"You're the dragon plucked from the ponies. I see, I see, it all makes sense, having been named by ponies that had no understanding of the ancient naming traditions of both reptilous of dragons, it all makes such sense." The librarian muttered, just high enough to be audible.
"Yeah... I guess it does once you know that much about me." Spike said. The librarian nodded slowly, seemingly lost in thought, the look in his eyes reminding Spike of Twilight a little bit too much. "So these are the... scrolls I'll need to read?" Spike asked, pointing one of his claws at the bundle of scrolls. The librarian suddenly snapped out of his trance.
"Ah, yes, these are the basic scrolls, though there will be many others to read at a later date once you have the basics of formations and a general understanding of their practical applications and historical uses." The librarian stated, taking the scrolls up in a gentle hand, lifting up as he used his other hand to spread a cloth out, which he laid the scrolls on. "As for your question, I am a Madrahciah of The Third Order, also known as a reptishnamadrina or, simply put, a learned reptilous. I may abound on that matter later on, but you have other matter you need to attend to." The madrahciah said, folding the cloth around the scrolls, securing it with a strong cord.
"Gertroonius, the council is... oh, you have a visitor." A voice said from behind Spike. Spike turned to see another madrahciah, robbed is a slightly fancier robe than the librarian madrahciah behind him.
"Yes, Gangglish, his is the soon to be General Spike of the Riders. He is picking up some reading material for his enjoyment and betterment." Gertroonius replied.
"I see, well, at any rate, the Council of the Elder Casters will not be patient for too long, so I suggest removing all the unimportant parts of your conversation." Gangglish replied before leaving, walking back across the bridge that went deeper into the gorge.
"So your name is Gertroonius then?" Spike asked, turning back to the librarian.
"That is my given name of the order. My name of birth is Ganatlilin, but once I joined the ranks of the higher madrahciah, I gave up my name for another, more true to the order, as any other madrahciah has done before me, and as any after me will do." Gertroonius replied. Spike nodded, understanding what he had just heard to some small degree. "Well, as Gangglish said, I mustn't waste time. I shall see you at a later time, Spike." Spike nodded again, picking up the bundle with a gentle claw as he watched Gertroonius leave the room.
Spike walked up the bridge, back to the higher level, the small bundle of scrolls slung over his back, though he carefully monitored each scroll all the same, not wanting to return any of the scroll in any state that wasn't equal or greater than that which he had received it.
As he passed through into the caves that led back into the main body of the fortress, a heavy thud came from behind him, followed by a series of quick steps. Spike dropped the sack, turning quickly, ready for anything, only to find something hard striking him in the upper chest while another force smacked him back of his leg forward. He was slammed into the hard stone, sending his world into a whirl as he lost his sense of direction, though even that hadn't made him loose his sense of urgency as he sent a fist forward toward whatever had struck him, but his fist met nothing but air as the weight on his chest disappeared for a second, only to return with ten times the force as it smashed into him fully, without restraint, completely knocking the wind out of him.
"That would make for your death if I had any weapons at the ready." Glenn hissed into his ear. Spike would've sighed if it wasn't for the lack of air in his lungs. "Get up before I decide to follow through." Glenn said as he stood up off of Spike. Spike quickly scrambled to his feet, only bending over to pick up the scrolls, which were surprisingly still in good condition, much to Spike's relief.
"So would I be correct that that was your method of beginning your training session?" Spike asked. Glenn didn't answer, but instead sent a fist into Spike's gut, knocking the wind out of his lung once again, and followed through by grappling Spike with his other claws before shoving him into the wall, and just when Spike thought he might be done, Glenn slammed his elbow into the small of Spike's back, sending waves of pain coursing through every fiber of his being.
"You can that this is my method of honing your reflex time, and by what you're showing me so far, you need it desperately." Glenn hissed in his ear. Glenn backed off from Spike, letting the dragon recover for a moment from the pain. "Even if you are the general of the riders, you'll still have to train to fit off of your mount. The enemy might be undertrained to an extreme, and might have no true battle experience, but luck does occasionally decide the flow of battle. So to counteract luck as much as possible, you need to have skill in every possible area."
"Alright, but can you do it without inflicting so much pain?" Spike asked, only to have Glen throw another punch, his he blocked by smacking it away with his left arm. Glenn's expressionless face suddenly had a small smile across it, much to the bewilderment of Spike, until he realized what he had just done.
"That is why I inflict such pain on you. It teaches your mind that if I can land a hit on you, that it will spell out extreme pain, and so your body will automatically begin to respond whenever I so much a flinch at you." Glenn stated, satisfaction showing slightly in his voice. Spike sighed, understanding what Glenn meant, and what it meant for how he'd be feeling in the next few minutes, and most likely how he'd feel for the rest of the week.
Spike had been right about how training with Glenn would make him feel. His training session had slowly shifted from honing his reflexes, to learning to fight through extreme amount of pain. His muscles screamed with every movement, and his bones felt as if they creaked with the slightest of movements. Spike felt a wave of relief flow over him when Glenn informed him that their training period was over.
Spike decided it best for his condition to take a rest and hope his muscles were in less pain when he woke up. Spike slowly made his way through the caverns and tunnels, heading towards his room, but as he did, his thoughts began drifting slightly, only to have his thought interrupted by the sound of a heavy object wearing metal jolted him back to reality.
"Gylom," Spike said as he continued walking, "I hope you aren't here to get me back into a training session." The bulky reptilous general shook his head.
"No, I'm not that cruel." Gylom replied with a smirk. "I know very well how Glenn makes you feel after training sessions. Attempting to train you after Glenn would be a fruitless endeavor." Spike nodded, rubbing his arm, wincing slightly as another jolt of pain shot through him.
"It is pain like this that might make a guy reconsider what he's doing with his life." Spike said in a joking tone.
"Pain should be no reason to stop trying." Gylom replied in a serious tone. "Glenn might be tough on his recruits, but he has good reason to do so. In my division of the army, you only need to know how to fight with a large amount of weight on you, but with Glenn, you learn how to fight with or without weapons while using terrain advantages, as well as pushing your body to its limits even when fighting an enemy nowhere near as good as you." Spike nodded slowly.
"I guess I understand, but he still really can hurt a guy. Even if it is for a good cause, it might dissuade rising soldiers." Spike commented.
"There's where you are wrong," Gylom said, "To even get into Glenn's division, you need to pass a test that is designed to be impassable unless you can deal with pain, hardship, and every other form of oppression, both physical and mental, all at once. That is where you lose all the fresh meat that is on the fence."
"Even so, I wasn't put through that test to even see if I was slightly able to deal with all of... well, this." Spike replied.
"Are you having doubts about where you've placed your allegiance because of how Glenn treats you during his regular training sessions?" Gylom questioned. Spike opened his mouth to give a quick reply, but he cut himself off as he thought a bit deeper in if he was questioning whether he was on the right side or not.
"I guess I've been having doubts ever since I came here." Spike confided. "I guess that even though I had an initial burst of zeal for Greyhield's cause, it has slowly died down to the point I'm not sure anymore."
"To be honest, if I were any other reptilous, you wouldn't have a connection between your neck and your head," Gylom stated, causing Spike to flinch, "But as I implied before, I'm not any other reptilous, and you can keep your head in its place for a little while longer."
"Thanks for that." Spike said with a strained chuckled. "But I still don't know what exactly I should believe in this whole thing. Greyhield offered me a way to escape a future of regret and torment, but now... I guess I'm not sure if that future would've ever happened."
"I can't tell you what to believe, but I can tell you that it is a good thing a question things on occasion." Gylom replied. "It shows you truly are a soldier, not just a mindless suit of armor with a sword. All I can tell you is that you need to consider thing carefully. After all, this decision will either make or break your future." Spike nodded slowly, the swirling maelstrom of doubts and questions in his head nowhere near a resolution, though it at least felt slightly comforted in the words of a reptilous that actually seemed to care for more than his own interests.