Celestia’s dawn rose above the sea-stroked horizon, revealing hundreds of airships and many more warships below them, all heading west. On the frontmost airship, a pair of Griffins stood on the bow watching the sun light up the water and clouds in front of them.

The larger Griffin spoke first, “Gildalaria, My Daughter, My Pride, tomorrow is the day we take the first step. The first step of progress this Empire has seen in dozens of generations. Tomorrow, we make landfall on Fillydelphia, tomorrow we expand the Empire, and no creature will stand in our way. You, My Daughter, will help lead the charge. Earn your glory so that the bards may speak of you for centuries to come as ‘The Griffin who Conquered Equestria’!”

Chuckling, the younger Griffin responded, “Daddy, that honor will go to you. It was you who made all this possible. I look forward to tearing the ponies apart. After spending 10 long years with them, I want their blood on my hammer even more.”

“Good. The time will come for violence, Daughter, and that time is tomorrow. But for now, let us enjoy one of the final sunrises of their so-called Goddess.” The Emperor smiled as the two watched the sunrise.

A black dragon lounged in the sunrise air currents, glittering in the sky. Seeing the two Griffins staring, the dragon approached the ship and casually flew beside them.

The large Griffon spoke once again, “Enjoying yourself, Titan my friend?”

A small puff of smoke came from the dragon’s nostrils, “Not as much fun as crushing Equestria and taking their gold as my hoard will be.”

“Ha! Only one more day my friend. Then we both will drench our claws in the blood of those cowards.”

The new day dawned in Canterlot to find many ponies already awake and rushing around. All the ponies had similar thoughts, Today’s the Day. Today’s when the army takes the trains east.

Shortly after dawn Six ponies, Six Generals of the newly organized Equestrian Army, sat in front of a train. This train was going to Appleloosa, and only one of them was going on it.

Sniffling a little bit, Applejack stuttered out, “Ah...Ah jus’ don’t know gals. Ah know Ah need ta do it, but that doesn’t help none.”

“Its okay AJ,” Pinkie reassured, “I’m sure Big Mac and the rest of your family will help you!”

A Resounding ‘Eeyup!’ was heard from behind the mares. They turned to see a fully-armored Big Macintosh awaiting his Sister inside the train, “C’mon Sis, we best be goin’!”

“Eeyup, I’ll be right there,” Applejack answered as she went back and hugged each of her friends, even Rarity who was now crying slightly before getting on the train herself.

The train to Baltimare was the next one to roll up to the station. Pinkie’s hair straighten slightly when she saw the destination.

“Well, I guess it’s my turn,” Pinkie said as lightheartedly as possible.

“Don’t worry, darling. We’ll have the biggest Pinkie Party Ever when this is all over, ok?” Rarity reassured, hugging the pink mare.

Pinkie perked up slightly before saying, “Okie-Dokie-Loki!” Then, in a voice nopony could here, “Everypony be safe.”

The final train was the one bound for Fillydelphia. Nopony expected anypony going to Fillydelphia to come back alive. Everypony knew that the Griffons wanted that city the most, and that the fighting there would be the toughest. Even with the Wonderbolts and the full unicorn division heading there, there was little hope. The four mares left at the station held the largest smilies they could.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye. I wish I could have seen Spike one more time,” Twilight sighed morosely.

“Hey! Cheer up, with me there we can’t lose!” Rainbow Dash interjected into Twilight’s dejected thoughts.

“Besides Darling, its not goodbye, since we’ll see each other again right? I guess that makes it so long for now.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Rarity. So Long!” Twilight and Rainbow Dash called as they got on the train.

Fluttershy finally spoke up a few tears in her eyes, “So… So now what?”

“Now, my dear, we do our damndest to make sure they do come back,” Rarity cursed, surprising Fluttershy,who only nodded before they both returned to their stations.

,

Spike woke once again to a hoof booping his nose. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw that, once again, Gizo had come to wake him up, and that it was still dark outside.

Spike yawned as he asked, “What time is it?”

“It is early morning. You slept through all of yesterday, but now we finish the work we started.”

“Sounds good,” Spike said as he entered the forge once more with the stallion.

Spike knew that dragons could survive swimming in lava. In fact, many dragons enjoyed doing so, but he was still nervous about molding his new armor straight onto his living body. Nevertheless, the duo proceeded to mold the armor with light and careful hammer falls, slowly wrapping the dragon in black metal. Spike noticed the heat, but it wasn’t terribly bad. Almost like a hot bath.

Hours of this passed as they made each piece fit perfectly, even the wing coverings. When the duo finally finished the molding of the armor, they heated it as a set and tempered it with oil before quenching in water.

Gizo spoke as the first rays of sun, and first other ponies, began entering the forge, “Now, for the most important part of Dragon armor, the gem slots.”

Spike nodded as he watched the stallion slowly draw white lines on the largest piece of armor. Realizing that Gizo was indeed drawing upon the, leylines Spike remembered a particular book Twilight had him read, Magical Leylines: Their Purposes and Placements, so Spike began to also draw leylines on the smaller pieces, eliciting a smile from the stallion.

It took a full hour for the drawing to be finished then Gizo spoke once more, “Now for the words of power we shall imbue it with. What shall we put on you armor Dragon Spike?”

Spike remembered the etchings from the stallion’s previous work, and quickly wrote three words that resonated with him on the armor: δύναμη. ελέγχου. αυξάνουν.

“Hmm. That is a good start, but for you more must be added,” Gizo responded placing more words on the armor:

φωνή. ανάπτυξης. μαγεία.

Spike nodded in response, before both of them started to write the words lining the treeroot-like leylines upon each piece of armor.

Another hour passed before Gizo handed Spike an orichalum knife to start carving out the lines.

Two hours of carving followed, before Gizo brought a large sack from the corner of his forge. Opening the sack revealed a glittering pile of green and purple gems.

“We shall line the carvings with emeralds, and put amethysts in the center,” Gizo said as he placed the first of the crushed gems into the carvings.

The pair worked quickly, placing the crushed gems into the armor. Continuing their work they finally placed the armor into the same still that they had used in Ponyville.

“Now, we wait. Go, enjoy your last day before you march to war. I fear the trains will be all gone, so you will have to fly to the sea to join your friends. I suggest that you practice your flying,” Gizo advised as he turned back to the forge ,a small frown lining his face as he was now unsure of what to do.

Spike left the small forge, stretching his wings. Each was as large as he was. With a single powerful flap, he rose into the air. The feeling was beyond anything he had ever felt before. Now I know why Rainbow Dash likes it so much. He continued to flap, gaining altitude, reveling in his ability to fly.

His thoughts began to wander as he thought of his home, his friends, and the war he was about to become a part of. On some level, he didn’t think he was ready, and resolved to practice with Gemini before he left. But on a deeper, primal level, he wanted it. He wanted to fight, to crush those enemies that threatened his hoard.

He landed at an empty training ground. With the sun nearing the horizon, Spike withdrew his Gemini. Gizo had called them The Twins. In Gizo’s stories, many things about the weapons forged by Hephaestus were said. Most of these things had to do with their name gave them power, more so than any other name.

Experimentally, Spike used both swords and slashed a griffin dummy into pieces with ease, but somehow . . . it felt wrong. The next time, he set one sword down, but instead of feeling it drop to the ground, he felt it in his right claw. But that couldn’t be possible, the other blade was already there.

His vision blurred slightly, then becoming sharper than before. Looking to his left, he stared at a perfect duplicate of himself, as though he was looking at a mirror. He froze in shock, not sure what to do.

Looking closer and stretching his muscles, Spike realized that their were now two of him. Somehow, both copies of himself were joined by mind through the swords. Grinning now as he realized he had discovered the power of the Gemini, Spike practiced as late into the night as he dared, attempting to use the Gemini to their full potential.

Tired now, it occurred to Spike he had nowhere to stay within Canterlot. He’d always slept outside, and he realized he actually enjoyed the cool night air on his scales as he slept. Quickly flying back to the forge, Spike laid down once more, staring at the stars, wondering what tomorrow might bring.

Author's Note

Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I promise the story will pick up next chapter. And thanks again for reading, see ya'll later.