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The D.S.P.I.

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 1: Recruitment

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Recruitment

Thunder roared in his ears.

He panted as he held her in the rain, running through the muddy streets as the downpour continued to surround him.

It wasn’t enough to stop the blood pouring from her neck.

He cursed his tiny body as he ran through the tiny town of Ponyville, panic rising as the mare he loved slowly died in his claws. She screamed in pain, drowned out by the rain and thunder as she writhed in pain. Still, he waddled forward, towards the massive, crystalline tree-palace that stood on the outskirts of the town.

Twilight could help.

He knew Twilight could help.

Lightning flashed, and in that moment, the little dragon could see the blood staining her fur, dripping into the mud beneath them.

“Don’t die on me...don’t you dare die on me,” he whispered as he ran.

She could not hear him over the sound of the storm, and her own moans of pain.

“Twilight!” the tiny dragon yelled as he burst through the palace doors, his clawed feet slapping against the cold, stone floor. “Twilight! Twilight! Help!” He ran through the castle, shouting as the mare in his claws bled onto the floor. “Twilight! Twilight!” He ran passed the hundreds of doors that flanked the crystal hallways, screaming as he ran.

The mare’s screaming picked up, surging as a new pain began to flood her body.

“Spike?” A mare’s voice called, echoing through the halls, and the little dragon ran towards her.

“Twilight! Twilight! Help!”

He ran further and further into the palace, before bursting into the throne room. All six thrones sat around the magic, cutie-mark map, four of them dusty and unused, and just behind them stood the purple Princess of Friendship. “Spike?” she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes before she saw her friend in the dragon’s claws. “Spike! What’s going on?”

“Twilight!” the dragon called, holding the mare up to her, bleeding all the way. “Twilight, you have to help her!”

“I—” she began stepping back in shock as the mare continued to bleed.

“Twilight! You have to help!”

The mare was screaming, drowning out both of them as the dragon begged.

“I-I—”

“Twilight, please! You have to do something!”

“I-I don’t know—”

“Twilight, please! Help me!”

The mare kept screaming, pain flooding her mind.

“I don’t know if I can!”

“Help!”

The mare kept screaming.

“I-What—”

“Save her!”

“But I—”

“Anything, Twilight! Anything!”

There was a ring of magic as Twilight prepared a spell. “I don’t—”

“Just save her!”

And there was a flash of light.

===ᐁ===

Two hundred years later, and Spike could still remember that night. He could still feel her die in his claws. He never forgot. He could still hear her screams, even now, as he sat at his desk, working through more and more stacks of paperwork.

He quickly read through another report, his eyes darting over the paragraphs of legalese, before he quickly signed at the bottom, and moved on to the next form.

A mare, grey fur with a purple mane, took a step inside his office. “Sir, the new Team Gamma has arrived.”

“Good,” Spike said, signing another form. “Do they need their orientation?”

“They do, Sir,” she replied.

“Alright,” he said, signing yet one more form. “Gather them up, I’ll be there to give them the tour in a second.”

She nodded, but lingered.

Spike noticed. “Was there something else, Velvet?”

“Well…” she began, “Alpha team has failed to meet their check-in time.”

Spike sighed, before checking his calendar. “Three years, two months. New record. Steel Charge would have been happy.”

Velvet nodded. “He would have.”

Spike shook his head. “Alright...well...I suppose I’ll have to scout more talent.”

She nodded as Spike pulled a pack of cigarettes from his desk drawer.

He pulled one free, lighting it with a gust of flame. “Alright, Velvet, go lead Gamma team around, I have to take a walk.”

She nodded. “Sir, yes, sir.”

===ᐁ===

Silver Dust sighed.

Of all the posting in the entire Royal Guard, he had to get the most boring one. He stood just outside a door in the most boring hallway in the entire palace. His only orders were to make sure no one entered that door, although what lay beyond was still the biggest mystery among the guards.

Even the oldest guards there didn’t know what was behind the door that Celestia herself forbade anyone from checking inside. Likewise, it was her order that no one was to enter this door in this incredibly obscure hallway in the palace, and so, he stood.

Alone.

Bored.

He could have gotten the post by the front gate, he could have gotten the throne room, he could have even gotten the post in the Canterlot Server Rooms, and that would have been better. Sure, if they came under a cyber-attack, there wasn’t much the grey-coated unicorn could do, but at least there would be other ponies to look at.

He almost wished someone would burst through the hallway with ill-intent just so he wouldn’t have to stare at the blank, far wall for a change.

And then suddenly the door opened.

Silver almost jumped as the door swung silently into the hallway, and nearly swore as a purple and green dragon walked out.

He was just a bit taller than Silver himself, especially if you were to count the great scale crest at the top of his head, but his emerald green eyes were fierce, and vicious. He stood on his back legs, and his forearms hung loose by his side, next to a large leather belt with a strange-looking flint-lock at his side.

He absentmindedly chewed the cigarette in between his lips, as his eyes danced over the guard.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you before,” the dragon said, simply.

Silver blinked, and tried to stay still, facing straight ahead. Indecision was filling his head. Is this dragon supposed to be here? Yes, no one was supposed to enter, but Celestia had explicitly never said anything about anypony leaving. Even when she was asked about it.

“What’s your name, soldier?” he asked.

Silver stayed silent. The dragon had no authorit—

“Authorization code C3-42,” the dragon said with a sigh.

Silver blinked again. “S-sir, Silver Dust, sir.”

The dragon nodded. “Thank you,” he said, before he began to circle the guard, looking him up and down as he did. “Standard-looking guard,” he muttered to himself. “What was your class position?”

“Sixth, sir.”

“Sixth?” Spike said, nodding. “Not bad. Not good, but not bad.”

Silver regarded the dragon carefully as he continued to circle. The emerald green eyes seemed to weigh him, analyzing him and comparing him.

And then the dragon said just one word. “Maybe.”

And then the dragon walked away, as though nothing had ever happened.

Silver watched him go from the corner of his eyes, blinking wildly, and still unsure if this dragon was supposed to leave.

By the time he came to a decision, the dragon was already gone.

===ᐁ===

Spike moved through the castle, and headed straight to the Canterlot Server rooms. A flash of his badge at the ponies guarding the door, and he was inside. He walked among the great, six-foot tall computers that were heart of the very first wired communication system.

Spike still remembered the day when this was all the pet-project of one of Celestia’s students in her school for gifted unicorns. The idea of using an electronic medium to store data was an old one, and even when Spike was young they had video games in massive arcade cabinets. The idea of connecting them, however, to type up a document on one terminal and send it to another, was mind-blowing when it was first proposed.

After receiving a royal grant from Celestia herself, that stallion went to work to build the first computer network in this very room. It worked, and ever since, private servers began popping up, nodes in the giant, nation-wide network that now connected almost every computer to each other.

Now if only Spike could remember his name.

But Spike did not come here for either that stallion’s name, nor for Network access.

He came here for something else.

Beyond all the servers, and all the maintenance consoles, sat a single terminal connected to the wall. It booted up quickly, taking Spike to a log-in screen in white, block letters against a black screen.

“WARNING: ACCESS OF THIS TERMINAL WITHOUT PROPER AUTHORIZATION WILL LEAD TO IMMEDIATE INCARCERATION WITH NO CHANCE OF PAROLE.

PLEASE LOG IN:

USERNAME:

PASSWORD:”

Spike quickly logged in, ignoring the warning as he accessed the secret Royal Archives. The information of every pony in all of Equestria was stored here in the digital archive, relations, birth certificates, social security numbers, anything and everything for anyone to assume the identity of any citizen of the kingdom was in there, and as such, Celestia made sure it could not be accessed through the network, nor through any other means but physically being there.

The words “WELCOME, COMMANDER SPIKE” greeted him, and the dragon ignored them as he opened his own personalized search engine. He entered his parameters, and saw with interest that one of the many names in the list was none other than Silver Dust.

His interest peaked, Spike accessed his file, and quickly read through it. No parents, no known associates, young, spent most of adult life in the guard.

Spike nodded.

Maybe indeed.

Still, that was one, eight more to go.

===ᐁ===

Silk Star sighed.

Her little singing act just wasn’t bringing ponies in anymore, and that was not looking good for her paycheck.

“Twenty bits! You’re paying me twenty bits?”

“One for each pony you brought in, Silk,” her boss said, cleaning a mug as they argued over the bar.

The pegasus flared her wings. “I can’t live off of twenty bits!”

“You should have thought about that, when you signed the contract, babe,” the large earth pony said, looking through the bottom of his glass.

“How am I going to make the next two weeks on twenty bits?”

“Not my problem, babe.”

Silk growled, before swearing.

A lot.

In fact, if it weren’t for the signing of on her coworkers, the entire club would have heard her screaming.

And all the while, her boss just shrugged, as if nothing was wrong at all.

She threw the cheque back at him, furious, before she began to storm off, only to be stopped by the sight of a dragon staring at her. “Miss Silk Star, I presume?”

She hesitated a second before her anger returned with her courage. “Look, buddy, if you want an autograph, then—”

“Actually, miss, I’m here to offer you a business opportunity,” he said, before taking a long drag on his cigarette.

The smoke smelled...odd.

“What, what do you want, then?” Silk asked, still incredibly annoyed.

“Sign with me, and you get free room, free board, free utilities, and anything you want at the drop of hat,” Spike said with a smirk.

Silk blinked. “What’s the catch?” she asked, cautiously.

“You might die,” he said. “Very quickly.”

She blinked. “That’s...that’s…”

Spike sighed. “The direct way almost never works. Come on, let’s find a table, and we’ll talk about the specifics, alright?”

Silk followed, curious and just desperate enough to try.

===ᐁ===

Spike stepped down into the dungeon, ready to make a deal.

“Um...sir?” one of the guards said, shifting nervously as the dragon stood next to him.

“Yes?” Spike asked.

“Are you sure about this?”

Spike took a long drag on his cigarette. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

The guard nodded, but he was definitely not put at ease.

“Just open the cell,” the dragon said, “if he get’s rowdy, I’ll take care of him.”

Hesitantly, the guard obeyed, opening the heavy iron door as he keyed in the proper password for the digital lock.

And Spike stepped in without a moment’s hesitation.

The cell was cramped, not nearly tall enough for a pony, much less a dragon. Still, Spike managed, before coming upon a set of stocks. A pony-sized platform, covered in iron arches with thick, heavy chains and manacles, held tight to a lone, furless figure.

Large holes were in his legs, and his long, gossamer wings were bound as well, leaving almost no room for the poor creature to move.

“Hello Changeling,” Spike said, addressing the creature as it’s large, luminescent eyes centered on him.

“Who are you?” the changeling asked.

“Despite my best efforts some two hundred years ago, your best and last hope.”

“What do you want?”

“Why don’t we start with a name?” Spike asked. “Start simple and all that.”

“Why should I? Why should I trust you?”

“Well, for one, I offer you freedom,” the dragon said, and he smirked as the changeling raised an eyebrow.

“Now, for the second thing,” Spike said, sitting down, “let me tell you about my friend Thorax.”

===ᐁ===

Silver Dust sighed as he returned home that evening, and hung his helmet on the coat rack.

His shift had been awful. Other than the dragon showing up, nothing interesting had happened, and while he would normally love the interruption from the most boring post in the castle, he couldn’t help but worry that perhaps, he had made a terrible mistake letting him go.

The paranoia of failing the Princess’ direct order was filling his mind even after he threw off his armor and slumped in his couch.

He just hoped that he’d still have a job in the morning.

With his armor off, his coat went from grey to its natural white, and the swirl of silver dust on his flank was almost impossible to see. He sighed as he slumped deeper into his couch, his grey mane spreading messily across the armrest.

“You know,” a voice said, and Silver shot up as he searched for it’s source, “this isn’t the worst apartment I’ve seen.” Spike stood in Silver’s kitchen, flipping through mail as Silver gaped at him. “But it’s still pretty bad.”

“What are you doing here?” Silver yelled, leaping to his hooves.

Spike didn’t even look up. “I was sure that a guard’s salary could pay for more than this,” he said, separating a letter from the others. “Ah, wait. That’s why. Is there a reason why your bills are astronomical?”

“What are you doing here?” Silver asked again.

“No, seriously, you should probably speak with your landlord.”

“Get out!” Silver roared as a stun spell shot from his horn.

It slammed into the wall directly behind where the dragon was a second ago, leaving a smoking scorch mark on the wall.

Silver blinked, shocked.

Y-you can’t dodge a stun spell. They move at supersonic speeds. That...that shouldn’t have happened.

Spike, who now stood a foot to the left of where he had been finally looked up from the mail, eyebrow cocked, and face unamused. “You know...I have seen more powerful unicorns refuse to face weaker dragons. Now luckily,” he said, placing the letters back on the counter, “I’m looking for that kind of stupid bravery, and that’s mostly why you’re still alive right now.”

Silver took a step back, still terrified at the dragon’s horrifying speed.

“So, let’s start again, shall we?” Spike asked.

Silver said nothing.

“Look, I’m not going to mince words, your life isn’t really going anywhere here. A glance at your bills is enough for me to know that.”

“Hey, my life is fine, thank you,” Silver said.

“You’ve had two disciplinary actions in the past three weeks,” Spike said, unimpressed. “Both related to unruly behavior towards a fellow guard.”

“I...th-that’s…”

“In fact,” Spike continued, ignoring the unicorn’s protest, “those little actions have been what’s led you to your current, boring post. The ol’ Captain is hoping that sticking you in empty hallway will cool you off.

“Now, here’s the thing. One more disciplinary action, and you’ll get a free shrink visit, but I’m willing to bet I can figure you out without even so much as a couch and notepad,” Spike said with a grin.

“Like to see you try,” Silver grumbled, his anger re-gathering as he glared at the dragon.

“You joined the guard,” Spike said, pulling his cigarette from his mouth as he began to talk freely. “You joined young even. You waited to hit seventeen before joining up saying that your birthday was going to be a few months, against your recruiter’s better judgement.”

Silver blinked.

“Don’t be too impressed, all of that is a matter of record,” Spike said. “No, the trick is figuring out why you joined. Why does a seventeen-year-old orphan with his whole life ahead of him join the Royal Guard? Well, with a look at your record, a few of your issues with your other guards, and all of this, I’m going to take a guess.”

The dragon smothered the butt of his cigarette into the fake stone of Silver counter. “You want to do more. You joined the guard to help stop crime, save ponies, you wanted to be a lone defender of good and justice against the darkness of this world and the next. That’s what you wanted to be, and instead, you got to guard hallways and send loiterers on their way.”

Silver was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“You didn’t get what you wanted, and now you feel frustrated. It’s not quite bloodlust, but it almost as bad. The frustration of not being able to defend ponies when that was all you wanted to do, drives you crazy. You want to help, but you can’t. And that makes your life an absolute hell. Sound right to you?”

Silver said nothing.

Spike smirked, before sending a jet of green flame into the butt, and sending the butt and ashes away, off to some unknown place. “Well, then do I have an opportunity for you.” He reached back into mail, and pulled out a letter. “These are your discharge papers. If you want, you can turn these in the next day to the Captain, and you’re free to come to me. Once you do, I will give you what you want. I will make you that sentinel of light that you’ve always wanted to be. You will be that hero that constantly faces death and danger to protect the innocent ponies behind their safe little walls and homes.

“Come to me, leave all this behind, and you’ll get what you want,” Spike finished, sliding the letter forward. “That’s what I offer you, Silver Dust. I offer you your dream.”

Silver stared at the letter, mouth dry and eyes wide.

His discharge letters sat before him, the ultimate out to all the crap in his life. And he just...stared at them. He wasn’t sure when the dragon left him, but when he finally grabbed the letter in his magical grasp, he was alone.

Just him and his ticket out.

If he took this, there was no way he would be able to get back in, but if he didn’t then he would be stuck here for a long time.

He had to come to a decision.

And his stomach was doing flips the entire time.

===ᐁ===

“Present arms!” the voice barked.

Silver stood at attention, his spear up and at the ready as the Captain of the guard made her inspection for the morning. A short, white mare wearing purple armor strode down the line, giving her best glare as she walked down the line. Captain Gleaming Armor, despite being almost five inches shorter than any of her recruits, could and would still beat the living daylights out of any of them.

And she made sure they knew it.

“Soldier! Do you call that armor polished?”

No answer came.

“There’s a scratch a down the entire flank! You will sit down and polish that thing until you can see my face in it, understand?”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” the soldier answered, before she came down to the end of the line, and gave Silver Dust a long, hard stare.

He said nothing.

“You know your patrols today. Get to work, Celestia be with you.”

The line began to disperse, and the guards were beginning to get to work, but Silver remained behind.

“I was afraid you would do this,” Gleaming said, frowning as she saw the single guard. She stood before him now, staring up at Silver with a frown on her face.

Silver said nothing.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked. “That dragon could sell cloud to a pegasus, so I need to be sure that you’re sure about this.”

Silver still said nothing.

“Anyone who’s gone with him has never come back,” she warned.

Still nothing.

“It won’t end well for you,” she said.

Up came the envelope.

Gleaming shook her head. “This is a mistake, Silver,” she said, offering her last warning, before he handed his papers to her.

And, with a sigh, she took them. “Turn in your equipment to the quartermaster. I’m sure the old drake will find you.”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am,” he replied, before he began to walk away.

“And Silver,” she called as he walked away.

He looked back towards the Captain of the Guard.

“Good luck,” she wished. “You’re going to need every ounce of it.”

Next Chapter: Orientation Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 16 Minutes
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