Darkness, and endless abyss, stretching on without end; void of meaning, unrelenting, unforgiving; fire, the essence of power, purified, refined, and made whole, without mortal constraint. Warring parties, advancing lines, blurred alliances, fleeting shapes. Darkness and Fire, a scream cracking the sky, the world collapsing under its own weight as its suffering becomes too great. Corpses littered as leaves, blood flowing as free as rivers of crimson, a lone figure standing without company.
Spike jerked awake, breathing heavily as his heart raced in his chest. His dream had been terrible, a nightmare far worse than any he had ever had. So how come he couldn't remember it yet know who terrifying it was? Spike shook his head, clearing his head before running his arm along his brow, a thick coating of sweat shining on his arm.
"Are you alright?" Galintrent asked as he entered the room with minimal noise. Spike looked up at him and shrugged before standing up. He had spent the night in the castle, sleeping in his old room while Galintrent had elected to take his quarters in Twilight's old room. The invasion of Ponyville, though swift, and generally without too much of a challenge for the invaders, had still been taxing on them, having stayed up the day before until the break of dawn the next day.
"Did you sleep well?" Spike asked as he walked over to a vanity that had a small basin of water on the top, resting before the mirror. "My sleep was plagued by forgotten horrors."
"I managed to sleep well enough in the bed provided." Galintrent replied. "I cannot imagine why ponies would need such large bed when they are so small." Spike again shrugged, dowsing a rag in the water before running it across his face. A knock suddenly sounded from the door behind Galintrent, catching both reptilous off guard before Galintrent opened the door, letting a pony in who pushed a cart filled with food into the room.
"T-the kitchen staff has prepared your breakfast as requested." The chef pony stammered. "We h-hope that it is t-to your liking." Spike lifted an eyebrow as he set the cloth on the vanity's top before walking over to the cart that was arrayed with several dishes arranged on its two levels. Spike looked over at Galintrent who gave a nod to the pony.
"Wait outside the room, you'll be able to return the cart to kitchen soon enough." He ordered. The pony nodded shakily and walked backwards out of the room, closing the door with a hoof. Galintrent turned back to the cart, removing one of the platter’s lids, revealing a large dish of scrambled eggs that contained a variety of spices, of which pepper slices were not the least.
"I suppose you think I'll be eating that?" Spike asked with a smirk as he approached the trolley. "I doubt you want to test your stomach against what pony chefs put in the food." Spike commented as he removed another cover, revealing a plate stacked high in what he had come to know as bacon in the reptilous camp. "Is this special request, or do we have some reptilous lowering themselves to cooking duties."
"None of them are directly cooking," The reptilous colonel explained as he took a strip and popped it in his mouth, "They are ensuring none of the ponies are putting poison into our food and while doing so also give them advice on how to prepare meals they wouldn't know of." He finished around a mouthful of the crunchy slice of meat. Spike shrugged, crouching down to see what was in the lower plates.
"Let's see here... toast and a variety of condiments, several types of juices and other drinks; I'll be honest, I never knew Ponyville had this much variety in food stuffs." Spike admitted as he took the pitcher of orange juice and poured a glass full into his metal cup. "We'll definitely be taking some of these for our next march. No offense to the customary diet of reptilous, but I also like some grains and vegetables in my rations." Spike stated, tossing an apple up in the air before catching it again and downing it in two bites.
"In reference to our next march, I have a letter from the capitol." Galintrent stated as he reached into his satchel that hung loosely at his side.
"Oh, we're calling it the capitol? We sound more and more like a nation with each passing battle." Spike commented as he took a strip of the crisp bacon.
"At any rate, Greyhield said he is pleased with the results and wishes to have us move to a new objective with all haste possible. He's hoping for another victory over the ponies to cement that we truly are the greatest addition to his army." Galintrent continued, tossing the scroll to Spike, who quickly caught it, unfurling it to read the contents.
"He would like to have us there within the next two or three weeks. We have reports that the ponies seem to be gaining a bit more hope recently." Galintrent stated, taking a tankard of the Manehattan Cider with a small smile.
"Baltimare... we should be able to arrive there in... twelve to fourteen days, sixteen at most." Spike stated before drinking down his orange juice in a few gulps. "The time tables provided are rather good for us, we can even take a day of rest and recovery to keep the troops fresh and still make it in decent time, allowing for another day of rest once we arrive." Spike calculated, rolling up and tossing the scroll back to Galintrent.
"I'll tell the troops to rest up then. We'll have a long march ahead of us by what you're saying." Galintrent said as he placed the roll back into his cloth pouch. Spike nodded, taking an orange in his claws, peeling it with ease with the sharp edges of his now elongated claws.
"Wait... no." Spike thought aloud. Galintrent stopped before reaching the door, looking back at his commander. "Have the supply wagon march today with the fourth and fifth for added security. Tell them to charge as fast as possible while still being able to maintain safety of the cargo today and tomorrow, and then to go at a slightly slower pace the next several days until they arrive at the target. There they can rest until we arrive." Galintrent had a look that clearly proclaimed how unsure he was about the plan that had been stated. "The cargo train will travel slower than the main body of the army on a fast day, and will cause our entire armies speed to suffer, but if they start first, we have a chance at arriving at the same time. Tell the rest of our force to rest up, we'll stay today and tomorrow." Galintrent nodded slowly and left the room to deliver the orders to the soldier, leaving Spike to enjoy the food on the cart before him in peace as he thought about the upcoming battle.
"Eh, excuse me... sir?" A voice asked, breaking him away from his thoughts. Spike turned to see the server pony standing in the doorway. "Do... do you want me to take the cart away now?"
"No, leave it here; I'll call for somepony to pick it up when I'm finished. Not to mention that my colonel hasn't exactly been able to eat any of said breakfast." Spike said. "You can continue with your other duties until further notice." The pony nodded slowly, taking a few steps back.
"E-excuse me again, sir, but, you aren't exactly reptilous, are you? If y-you don't mind me... I-I didn't mean to pry." the pony stammered, tripping over his own tongue as he fought in vain for the words to come out properly.
"You're right actually." Spike replied "I'm a dragon by birth, what tipped you off I'm not like the rest of my comrades? I thought my appearance was quite similar to theirs."
"You do look a lot like them, but you act near nothing like them... well, not exactly that harsh." The pony attempted to explain. "You act like them, but it really is just an act for you. It's almost like you're just going through the motions of a life you don't believe in, but are nonetheless forced to go through with. You also treat ponies differently, most reptilous would be shouting and showing off their claws by now." Spike chuckled slightly. The pony was right, no matter how much he might try, he truly wasn't a reptilous at heart, in body maybe, mind as well being a possibility, but his heart wasn't the slightest bit like a reptilous, and maybe that was good.
"I suppose that for your sakes, it is a good thing that I'm not like them in any great measure." Spike commented in a low tone. "I doubt they'd prisoners over corpses without my influence." The stallion nodded slowly. "I know this comes far too late, and that it's hard to believe coming from me since you've seen the things I've caused, but I want you to know that... that I'm sorry for what happened here. I never wanted this town destroyed, or any pony to be hurt..."
"But such is the way of war." The pony said with a sad smile. "I hope the war is kinder to you than what someponies might believe you deserve. I can tell you aren't the demon some make you out to be, you're just..." the stallion paused, searching for the next word.
"Misguided? Misunderstood?" Spike suggested with a smirk. Surprisingly, the stallion shook his head in refusal, his eyes turning dark as he looked at the dragon.
"You are misguided, nor are you misunderstood. You know who and what you are, and so does everyone else, they just reject what they see and paste their own farce of you on top of what you truly are." The pony stated almost harshly. "You are lost within yourself. Everyone but you knows who you are, but few see you for just that. No, you need to choose which one is the farce, and which is the truth. Discern the mask, and you know the true face, but choose wrong, and you'll remained lost." The pony finished, closing his eyes with a sigh. Spike's mouth was agape in absolute shock. He had never met a pony who spoke so freely of what others seemed to tip toe around. "Now, if you'd excuse me, sir," The pony said, breaking Spike from his shock, "I must return to my duties." Spike nodded absentmindedly, his jaw closing as he watched the pony leave the doorway, closing the door behind him as his hoof steps trailed off down the hall.
"Discern the mask..." Spike muttered, starring at the mirror in the corner of the room. He knew what he had been, what he was once, but he knew he wasn't that anymore. He was a new, more ferocious version of that baby dragon that seemed to be so distant. Or maybe he wasn't ferocious at all, maybe he was just older and had sharper claws and there was nothing more to it than that. Having weapons didn't always mean one intended to do harm, and not having weapons didn't always mean one didn't mean to do harm. Yet it almost seemed a given that being strong meant causing harm to the weaker, and that striving to be stronger meant you wished to harm many more than you could reach in the present.
Spike groaned, resting his head in his hands. He knew he needed to find who he was now, but the truth just seemed out of reach. As if he were about to catch it, and as he reached out, it flittered away just far enough to evade him, in an ever frustrating, ever extending game of tag, in which the longer he played, the more he needed to finish it, for his own sake, if not the sakes of others.
The bulk of the army arrived to the plains within sight of Baltimare, the supply train having been overtaken earlier that afternoon. The whole group had decided to slow down to a singular pace, taking frequent breaks as they approached their goal. The army had finally stopped within a few minutes ride, tents and pavilions set up in a long arc around the southern side of the large city. Spike stood in the entrance of the largest tent, looking out over the many tents in front of it towards the rising spires that towered over the already high rising city. Spike turned and entered the pavilion, the guard saluting as he passed.
"Give me a full report on their defenses; what are we up against this time?" Spike asked at the amp that lay draped over a chalk board. "I need troop numbers, armor and weapons and general positioning." The reptilous nodded and shoved a box full of reports from scouts and spies to the young general.
"The Equestrian army has just arrived in the city in nearly full force, and the local militia isn't too shabby number wise either." The reptilous began taking a stick out, smacking against his hand as he went on. "All in all, around twenty or so divisions against our technical two and a half, though that is simply number based as you very well know we only have one division present." The reptilous smacked the rod against the map and traced a wide circle along the south west side. "Ten or so divisions appear to be stationed in this area, though we only guess this by how many tents and different flags we can see seeing as they had some rather well organized lookout posts surrounding the camp which made undetected infiltration an impossibility for our units. No doubt Glenn could have made it if he was here, but he wasn't sent with his division to suppress rebellions in Stalliongrad." Spike nodded slowly, looking over the map slowly.
"I suppose there are depots in these locations?" He asked, taking his own stick and pointing at a few locations on the map in areas that had a cliff or a small forest on one side of their placement.
"Yes, depots and major guard postings are in those areas as well as here and here." The reptilous replied, point out locations to the north and west which seemed to have little defensive power to them. "The rest of their forces are camped out between each of them. From what we can tell, each message is delivered in three streams at once to prevent elimination of their communication in the event of interception or attack. Our spies report they actually are impressed in the security of their communication system, with three guards carrying the same message as the messenger protecting the pony. It took quite a few reptilous sacrificing themselves to find this out, but I believe it was quite worth it in the end." Spike nodded and looked over the battle scheme, concocting a plan to take advantage of that system.
"The best way to get a victory out of this is for us to employ a delayed three pronged attack plan." Spike stated, pointing out to locations quickly. "We drive a wedge in each of these locations to hopefully cut the lines off from the area between them. The message is sent to send troop towards the conflicts to help suppress the attack, and since there's a section in the center of both points of conflict, they'll be the one suffering greatest from the effects of being stretched to help close the gaps. We'll let the fight carry on for a bit to ensure all the troops that are going are already at the scene."
"We then have the third prong smash in and take the section out, reinforcing the sides while plunging deeper into the city allowing for the rest of the army to enter after it." Galintrent guessed as he entered the tent. Spike tuned to his colonel with a smile.
"That is half true. The third prong will hit hard, but it won't be a singular blow." Spike explained. "It will have to be another delayed action three pronged action since they will probably still contain a substantial amount of troops to guard the area. Once the sides are in the center will strike between them, and them diverge to help bolster their strength and sandwich them, and then effectively sandwich the rest of the center area, relieving the pressure on the original side so that we can have the main force drive further into the city, taking the majority of what will be their highest rated defensive positions."
"More complicated version of what I said basically." Galintrent replied with a smirk. "The one problem we'll face it what we do when we enter since for the most part we are most effective on our mounts. We can fight without them, but we've done extensive training on maneuvers while riding." Spike thought for a second, making a plan up as he went on, but just before he could open his mouth, a massive figured lumbered through the tent's entrance. On reflex, the soldiers drew their weapons and prepared for battle, but were surprised the figure was quite a lot larger than a pony.
"Gylom, is that you?" Spike asked, sheathing his sword while walking up to the obviously winded general. The reptilous nodded, attempting to catch his breath as he walked further into the tent with Spike as support.
"Urgent... news..." He sputtered as he took a few shaky steps, "Ponies have some... sort of new... weapon." He choked out before sitting down with a large clang. "I-it's far more devastating... than anything we've faced before."
"I suppose you ran all the way from the village you were attacking to tell us this after it crushed your ranks." Galintrent asked in an almost snide tone as he passed the general a cup of water, which the general drank greedily.
"I think I might be... a bit more excused than usual for not achieving victory this time." Gylom snapped back at the colonel. "Remember, I talking about a weapon that is new to this entire world. I doubt there are any fighters in this world that could beat odds like those on the first try without having at least some slight clue about them. So be grateful I'm even bothering giving you a heads up, because I could just as easily not tell you and watch your military career fall apart in your second major battle, and trust me, there are some in our ranks that would do such a thing to gain from your misfortune."
"What type of weapon are we talking about, Gylom?" Spike asked, helping the weary general to a sleeping bag that lay in the corner of the room.
"It's like their cannons in a way, except much smaller." He explained. "And even with it being so much smaller, small enough for one pony to use in an efficient way, it is far more powerful than any cannons that have fired at me or my ranks before now."
"What exactly do you mean by it being more powerful?" Spike asked, lowering the massive reptilous into the softer embrace of the cloth.
"The cannons at Stalliongrad would fire grapeshot at us, and the rounds would barely pierce my shield, much less my chest plate. These new things, they not only make it through one of my soldiers shields, but also the chest plate, the reptilous inside of the armor, and punch through the other side, and still have enough power to make a dent in whatever is right behind the first target." Gylom explained. "I'm afraid that you're soldiers will be a lot more trouble by this development."
"By what you're saying, it sounds as if we can put on armor and have the round hit our ride first we'll be alright." Galintrent said with a shrug.
"You don't get it, do you?" Gylom shot at the colonel. "They can pierce through one of my shields, my heavy metal plate, my chainmail, my thick cloth undergarment, and then me, and then through the previous elements all over again, and then leave a bent in whatever is beyond it. If you wear armor and ride a beast and the beast gets hit first, I certain you won't be alright."
"He's right," Spike muttered, "If they new weapons can not only pierce through his armor and him and then cause a good bit of damage to what's behind it, then it will doubtlessly tear through our stead, us, and then possible kill the stead of the next rider, if not hit and kill the rider right off the bat." Spike turned towards the map once more, silence falling over the tent for several minutes as he thought. “
I have a plan that might work out for us.” Spike said finally. “But the success rate isn’t exactly promising by what I’m coming up with in my head.”