"Enjoying the reading material?"

Shadow let out a frightened yelp having failed to notice Valkardian's arrival nor that he was standing directly behind her looking down at the open page scanning it.

"Well you said the books were not in your office so I-..."

"I had the room unlocked just in case but forgot to mention where. After our little "chat" in Obiad it was clear you needed a little perspective."

"So you seriously tried to help my people and not be evil?"

"Oh no. I have always been "evil." Thestral's were the only race not immediately out to kill, maim, eat, enslave or do something worse to my person. Quite welcoming really, far more welcoming than the ponies and that never changed. Also isolation makes one very eager to find another to talk to now and then. Or at least listen to them. Helping them was sincere but also because living off one or two varieties of fungi and mushroom gets old very fast after the first century or two. "

"But there is so much life an-"

"That has not always been the case. I did a great deal of engineering to create what you have seen. Mind you a great lot did exist but little was edible beyond medicinal use."

"Like the cave wheat?"

"Yes. You will also find my strain of cave wheat is one of the oldest wheat strains on the planet unlike the so called "flour" used in Equestria now. Has more nutrition to it but alterations made it come out black instead of brown."

He leaned back with his hands held behind his back and walked away leaving Shadow to keep reading. Pouring over the rest of the tome it was clear he had lost patience and again gone into hiding but took a great deal of plantlife with him to experiment on.

Somewhere in the caves out there was a primary laboratory where he crafted the various flora of the caves, multiple levels carved from the stone by skeletal "gnolls" then smoothed and fleshed out with crude equipment.

Not all plants took to the caves but some did like the wheat while edible mushrooms from above did very well with some alterations. The flowers were a point of pride for him, sketches showed what they used to be before being altered into their new glowing form. Shadow recognized one of them as being an ancient strain of a long extinct flower above.

The more she read the clearer it was how many treasures were hidden down here, things long gone extinct still grew here but altered to survive. Not all experiments worked though. Chickens were a horrible failure so he settled on modifying cave lizards with some disastrous effects till he got it right resulting in large six foot lizards that laid eggs like a chicken but were not as... "Violent."

How he put that last part was interesting and made her wonder if he had eventually given up since there were no lizards of that size in the garden though eggs did make an appearance on the menu now and then. One part of her shuddered knowing where they came from but then again they were not all bad.

Cows were another failure, they could just not survive no matter what was done, always becoming sickly, pale and eventually dying. An amazing amount of effort was put into creating the world below and it made perfect sense why he did not want others trampling all over his creations.

Tapping on her shoulder brought Shadow's head up from the tome. A servant was waiting patiently and glancing at the time realized she had missed lunch and now it was dinner time. Closing the book and rising from her chair she followed it to the banquet hall and took a seat across from a mirror.

How and when had a mirror become a centerpiece of her table?

There was nothing remarkable about the mirror, tall and wide enough to see herself in clearly but was entirely out of place sitting there in the center facing where she sat. Servants brought the meal and laid it out and looking over everything found it rather simple and straightforward compared to what she had become accustomed to on vacation.

Eating with her eyes darting up to the mirror constantly it began to sink in as to what its purpose was. She could see ever bite made and the motions of her body as she masticated on the food. Shadow almost gagged once catching herself slurping up the soup and seeing it from another angle made her quite self conscious.

Was he trying to say politely that she needed to work on her dining habits? Slowing down and taking her time Shadow watched herself closely and changed a few habits. Meals at home had always been polite but also kind of a free for all as they dug in to whatever her mother had prepared.

This was something to bring up with Valkardian later but for now just focusing on not eating like her older brother was a task in itself.

After dinner a servant led her off to his private study where a myriad of crystals and papers were laid out with more coming and going magically as he sifted through books searching for something.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. Because of how events are shaping themselves I decided before we left to give you additional training. Still sorting everything out."

"Okay... So more weapons training?"

"Oh no nothing like that. Having you around gives me more options on forcing my enemies to bend how I want them too. Also having an extra on the battlefield who is trained in command and control will alleviate many problems and reduce the strain on myself."

Shadow's eyes grew a little.

"So you are going to have me command forces in the coming war?"

"If you pass then yes. However you will still have to complete all the training I am going to put you through and not only that but you will have many, many other duties before the war begins."

"Like what?"

"Later. Right now I need to warn you of some things before we begin tomorrow. First off it would take you a couple years, at least two in order to develop a true grasp of warfare and commanding my forces. As you already know... We do not have that long. What I have done and am still doing here is to compress everything down into six months, maybe seven or eight."

"Alright, that sounds a little... Intense."

"Impossible actually. Without magic that is. To cut corners and make things go faster I have to directly transfer the information required into your mind, while this is easy enough the sheer volume of information that will be transferred would probably kill you. So instead I am breaking it down into lots and every so often I will download more information into your head. This will probably hurt and be deeply disturbing but it is the only way, the alternate being two years."

"How much pain?"

"Never done anything on this scale before. It will also require me to put you out at times but that is just the beginning. You must also put the information to practical use in field demonstrations to show you have absorbed it and can utilize the information properly."

"So surface again?"

"No. I have means of getting around that but another little requirement of mine will be that you become more "cultured" during all of this."

"You lost me on that part... What does that have anything to do with preparing for war?"

"Nothing at all. However it will serve to get you to relax in between training and allow your mind to rest and divert itself to other things. If I were to just force all of this you might snap under the sheer weight of how much is being dumped on you all at once."

"That mirror have anything to do with this?"

"Yes. Anyway I need tonight to get the rest sorted out and tomorrow we begin. Shadow, I am physically throwing you off the deep end here. It is very risky so you must be willing and not fight it or..."

Shadow nodded. The way he trailed off made no illusions that it could kill her if she resisted it and that meant accepting the pain not fighting it.

"Alright. I agree."

"Good. Go to bed and in the morning your first "lesson" will begin."

It took a good while before the anxiety died down allowing Shadow to fall asleep but morning came all too soon. The time from closing her eyes to opening them again was a brief instant and hurrying through breakfast she was brought to a room lined with very tall shelves cut directly into the stone and each bearing a small stone box.

Valkardian had two tables ready in the room along with a chair and having her lay down he also instructed her to remove the amulet for the time being. Placing it beside her on the table Shadow watched him open each box in the series and lay out a series of crystals.

"Alright, how this would normally work is one crystal every so often. However you are going to get the lot of them."

"What are they?"

"A creation of mine from long ago. Just in case I ever forgot anything or had the notion to teach another I stored information in the crystals. Took a great deal of practice and constant revisions but by the time I get done in a few months there will be very little you do not know about warfare."

Valkardian floated them over and ringed her form with them before putting her to sleep.

With a concerned sigh he began to transfer copies of the information directly into her mind. It was very slow going at first but began to speed up as the hours wore on and on as one lesson after another was directly implanted.

Shadow's body spasmed now and then but there was very little resistance which was a good sign. Breathing picked up after the first two and heart rate increased but showed no signs of deep stress.

Monitoring her carefully Valkardian continued on till the last crystal had been used and all were safely back inside their boxes. Three weeks of instruction had just been implanted and this was the smallest batch just to make sure she could handle it.

Tomorrow Shadow would have a headache but that would pass with the use of her amulet. Waiting on the information to take and sort itself out was another matter entirely and only time would tell. Currently the best way to see if it had worked was to have her use the basic information to do something without having been given instructions. The more she drew on it from instinct the better.

Sitting in his chair and watching her sleeping form the next phase of the plan came to mind and all the trouble it would entail. Doing such to a fully grown thestral was questionable but with any luck it would work.

There was a pounding pain in her head when Shadow lifted herself up slowly from the bed and looked around. She was alive so it must have worked but the idea of a steady stream of headache's made her wary of whatever came next.

Wary of what though? That drawing on the link she could potentially command hundreds of thousands if she formatted their ranks properly and bounced the signal off controllers or used command crystals to organize...

Eye's going a little blurry Shadow laid back down and wondered how she knew all that. It felt like her brain was a raging river tearing down a narrow chasm trying to get out all at once while she was desperately trying to control the torrent and sort it out.

Letting out a groan and holding her head she clenched her eyes and tried to relax and sort through it all.

"Time to get up."

Looking up there was no one present but the voice had been clear.

"Head hurts..."

"You will get over it. For now get up and openly recite whatever comes to mind."

Scooting to the edge of the bed Shadow lowered her legs over the side sat hunched over speaking whatever came to mind.

"Now focus on force details."

Shifting her attention and trying to remember anything having to do with what he had said numbers and names flooded her mind and she recited them easily.

"Good. Now lets continue..."

Never once had he been in the room speaking only across their link but it seemed clearer now, less hazy, like she could feel it and control it to some extent rather than it being just a background noise when drawn upon.

Valkardian changed subjects frequently and jumped back and forth constantly poking and prodding at her memory till finally stopping satisfied that it had worked. Unfortunately for her it would only get harder, these were just the overall basics. Inquiring if she would learn anything about magic he had said yes then dropped it.

Laying back down the torrent continued but after his barrage of questions it had seemed to calm down somewhat and closing her eyes the headache began to fade.

Having fallen asleep Shadow was awoken the next day and brought to the training area. Long gone now was here old armor and tower shield being replaced with plate armor and a kite shield. Valkardian assured her the armor and shield were again much heavier than what she would be wearing and training began all over again.

Fighting in the old suit had been simple since it mostly protected the chest and shins but fighting in full plate was another matter. She had gotten sick of falling down so many times not used to the weight but each time he had told her to get up and try again. It was like being back in that cave with the stick skeleton all over again.

One thing she liked though was the kite shield. Her old one had been made to protect the entire body but this was not allowing for her to more easily make lower cuts and stabs without having to lift the entire shield up while ducking low.

Also being able to hit something with the shield to break bone was a nice addition, Valkardian had instructed her to use the end tip to stab down into a leg to break the knee or use the edge to crack bone. It had so many more options than the old one but at the expense of greater protection.

He had even lined up a few soldiers and had her get used to the strengthened link she now shared with them. Before there had been some hesitation between commands and carrying them out but now it was perfectly fluid. Explaining it as a lack of understanding and also having never given her a strong link to begin with Valkardian drilled her over and over again.

"Today will be a second lot. You have had one week to recover so you should be back to normal. Ready?"

"What will it be this time?"

"Historical overview of ancient military tactics. Normally divided into epochs you are going to get the lot of them rather than one every week for three months."

Laying her head down and closing her eyes it began all over again.

With Shadow out he could now begin the second phase, Shadow had taken very well to the procedure which meant there was little risk now of causing harm when he tampered with her.

While she was indeed strong and capable Shadow would need a greater boost to survive and carry out what he had planned for her. Magic would only go so far and sometimes would cause more problems than it solved so that left directly modifying her body.

Scanning her had been no issue and now that she falsely believed that upon waking there would be three months instruction downloaded it left him room to work. It was a blatant prevarication but necessary, to tell her might cause problems later. Best to just make the modifications now and allow her to believe training was the cause.

Focusing on her resting form he took aim at the first problem that would prevent further modifications: Celestia's magical tampering. It was a very slow process but soon the ancient limiter was removed not that he really had to, still it was necessary in his own mind. Shadow had long broken free of it but removing it made him feel a little better.

Now came the delicate part. Checking her one last time Valkardian began the next modification that would hopefully safe her life if needed but with any luck never be needed. Doing this to a thestral was quite different compared to the modifications made to his own body which had been far more painful since he had to remain awake to carry them out.

This would be a long day.

Sitting upright in bed quickly the first thing she noticed was the pain in her head was still there but fading faster and to be honest with herself it felt as if a small weight had been lifted from her. Nothing had been all that scary but now she had to wonder why it had made her so unbelievably scared to begin with.

Hopping from the bed his voice returned and began to drone on and on with questions while she shot back long strings of answers about ancient historical events. In a way this was a little fun compared to the first set.

Closing her eyes she could actually see the ancient battles and skirmishes taking place between the original masters of the continent and how they slowly evolved their tactics and armaments. Then again it was also frightening seeing what they used their new tactics and weapons for: not just to kill each other for dominance but also enslave any they could get their scaly claws on.

As the events drifted through her mind Shadow found herself poking holes in their tactics and ways finding little things that could be their downfall had anyone preyed upon their overbearing arrogance.

Shadow hoped that future lessons would be this fun and entertaining as the images of a large pitched battle between reptilian forces played out in her mind. This was not studying history, she was living it.

It had been a few days but now Shadow found herself sitting in front of an elegant dress. At some point a servant had placed it on a stand for her while she rested from the days training before possibly continuing before dinner.

The note in her hand said otherwise however, tonight she would be joining Valkardian at dinner and with any luck becoming a little more cultured for it. Looking the dress over she marveled at its deep red color and flowing design and striking pattern' woven directly into the fabric.

Putting it on took a little doing but once she had it on Shadow looked herself over in the mirror and smiled at the reflection. It fit perfectly and stepping into the hallway made her way to his private dining room.

Valkardian was not dressed in his usual robes but had dawned clothes that looked more ancient and made him appear somewhat more intimidating than normal with its use of fur and metal clasps.

Nor did she have to seat herself either, acting the gentlestallion he pulled a chair out for her to his right that had been added at some point before seating himself. As to which was more concerning: his acting like a gentlestallion or the dress she was uncertain.

"Do you know why you are joining me tonight instead of serving?"

Shadow shook her head.

"One, it serves as a chance for me to teach you a little more, test your knowledge and also allow you to learn some social etiquette and maybe rub off on you some of your peoples true culture."

"So you did not just invite me to dinner and have me dress up because you want the company of a beautiful mare hm?"

"Only makes the experience more enjoyable."

"And the dress?"

"Rather unique wouldn't you agree? It is a later design your people came up with long ago and I had one commissioned."

"Commissioned? Must have been busy running around to the surface and back again while I slept to pull that off."

He remained silent on that matter though and turned their attention to something else.

Carefully he explained how and why everything was laid out the way it was and what utensil was for what and when. He admitted it was tedious and boring even to him but it never hurt to learn such things just in case it might be needed.

"And thus dinner is served."

Now that their dinner was laid out Shadow understood finally what all those extra utensils were for and began to eat while he popped a question now or then but as the meal wore on she had some questions of her own.

"May I ask why so much is missing from your journals?"

"I prefer to keep those events to myself. What tipped you off?"

"First you never spoke about before you came here and avoided heavily some of your earlier mistakes. They all seemed rather petty so I guessed you decided to glance over or ignore them entirely."

"True but I will not fill in the gaps for you. That will remain one of my secrets."

The way he said that was almost sinister as if thinking about those events brought up dark memories. Shadow decided to change the subject.

"While the lesson included what they were... Who exactly were those reptiles and when did all that happen?"

"Some eight thousand years ago perhaps. Maybe seven. Maybe longer as I have no idea how long it has actually been. It is all a guess on my part. They were the first rulers of this part of the world and partially of another continent, Vsali were what they called themselves. Vile. Evil. Wicked creatures. This planet was not always harmonious, they conquered and slaughtered out an empire for themselves before turning on each other."

"Ponies and thestrals came later?"

"Oh no. All the other species were already present just not... "Evolved" enough yet. Your species evolved a little bit faster since they lived in the safety of caves but the others were not so lucky. Pegasi did poorly as the dragon's back then found them to be a tasty snack."

Shadow gagged a little at this revelation.

"So dragons used to eat ponies? Why not anymore?"

"Honestly I have no idea. You would have to find an ancient dragon and ask them but since they have been killed off so heavily that would be near impossible."

"Oh. So what happened to the Vsali?"

"Millennia of war broke out between three factions and they nearly wiped themselves out and tried to drag the world down with them. For me it was one of the greatest harvests there ever was. Millions of skeletons and bodies to experiment on... Good times."

"They never noticed?"

"Oh of course they did but one crazy man was not worth their attention. Worked for me. Their end came when they... How do I put this... Shadow. How many times has the world ended?"

"Not yet."

"Once. That I know of."

"You survived the end of the world?" She was deeply skeptical of this lofty claim.

"When Celestia talks about harmony there is far more too it, whatever power or powers watch over this world have a tolerance level. Now so long as some degree of harmony is kept it keeps itself at bay but if you tip the scales..."

"It lashes out?"

"Lets just say the ball is thrown out of the court. Slavery is a harmony of its own, absolute order and peace enforced with iron rule. The Vsali however not just rocked the boat with their all out war but began to sink the boat and whatever is out there put its boot down on them hard."

"Wiped them out huh?"

"Not entirely but it goes without saying the Vsali ceased to exist and are now relegated to the anals of long forgotten history."

"So they still exist?"

"On the southern end of the continent their empire did begin and still remains buried deep, deep within the earth under the shifting sands it has become. Once upon a time a vibrant jungle covered that whole area but it was blasted away. Currently the devolved, slow witted reptilian inhabitants that still reside there in scattered settlements are all that is left of them. Just looking at them you would never guess they once walked upright like us with slimmer, powerful frames and keen intelligence."

"So their destruction allowed ponies to evolve finally?"

"Pretty much. Also all that blasted wasteland gave me many an opportunity to solve my own problems."

"I do not understand, what problems? You already had access to their bodies and skeletons."

"Soil."

"How could soil be a problem? The caves are full of it."

"Not always so. Used to be very precious and sparse but after the Vsali died off that left a portion of a continent with rich soil waiting to be used."

"How did you... Wait you seriously moved the entirety of this continents southern soil down here?"

"Finest moment. All those skeletons put to use hauling soil non stop for a millennia and dumping it out over the length of the caves allowing life to truly take root."

"I can only imagine what that looked like. How many servants do you have then?"

"Oh they are long gone, the constant toil took its toll on them and they broke down over time becoming fertilizer themselves as the bones were ground up and added to the soil to make it a little richer. From above I imagine it would have looked like long trails of ants scurrying around day and night shoveling, packing and carrying off the soil."

"That must have been an almighty undertaking."

"Oh it was. But worth it! Made living down here not only bearable but also possible for your own kind to make settlements if you recall. "

"You willingly shared space with them then even after things went badly? You must really hate being down here alone."

"Whatever you may think of me I do not run around slaughtering others for no reason. Now while I have said that before I remind you that the only and I mean the only race that ever remotely had anything to do with me outside of trade is the thestrals. Also I do not hate the caves, never have. In fact I love them dearly and everything about them both good and bad."

"So is that why you spared me? Because I am not a pony?"

"That had something to do with it yes."

"So they had something to do with you for what reason? That you tried to help or were they just more accepting?"

"Never knew or cared to ask. Be grateful for what you got."

"That is one way of looking at it."

When they finished eating both went their separate ways but not before he made one last remark: Next time it was her turn to answer his questions.