Firefly

Recruitment

Rarity sighed as she traced a single scale on her dragon's bare chest while she lay beside him beneath the white linen sheets of the hospital bed. The feel of his scales against her fur brought her comfort and warmth. The steady rise and fall of his chest brought her hope that he was going to be alright. Dragons were a tough breed of creature and could take more beatings than any pony could, but even they had their limits.

A pregnant silence permeated the room as Rarity looked around. Sitting beside of their little bed was Twilight, who sat curled around her girlfriend Rainbow Dash. Next to them was Princess Cadence, who was fast asleep. It brought a smile to her face that both his adopted sister and his adopted cousin cared enough for him to sit with her to wait for him to awake.

A soft kissed was placed upon his chin as she buried her head into his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. She found it funny to watch him sleep sometimes, as he would evidently breath out a few plumes of smoke that smelled actually sweet, like the wave of scents that would assault the nose when walking into Sugar Cube Corner.

Since his admittance to the hospital there had been several visitors, all of their friends, Princess Luna, who had said she would promise to visit at least twice a day, and Shining Armor. Princess Celestia was too busy trying to work with her guards and possibly other sources to find out who it was that was shooting at her adopted son.

Celestia's sunlight shimmered into the room in her absence, bathing them in its warm radiant tendrils that seemed to coil around them. It was as if the world eagerly awaited his return, the skies outside the clearest they had been in weeks, the pure unadulterated silence away from the hustle and bustle of Canterlot, and even the link that they now shared was flaring the longer that she lie there beside her dragon.

Another warm smile danced across her lips as the final thought hit her. Her dragon. Six years of waiting to admit her feelings, six years of pain trying to drown it out by dating other ponies, six years of being alone, unwanted, unloved outside of her family, six long years she had been waiting for her special somepony, and now, now he was hers. It made her feel dirty that she was having thoughts of greed about him, but was it really so wrong? She was mated to a dragon after all, shouldn't she feel protective of her mate?

In his sleep Spike rolled over in the bed, turning her with him. Instead of just lying back however, he slowly circulated his arms around her as he pulled her close to his chest, burying his nose in the nape of her neck. He inhaled her scent as though it was the last thing he would ever smell, before he placed a soft kiss upon her mark. “Please don't leave me Rarity...”

The silvery-white mare was almost in tears when she heard the pleading tone in his voice, and when she turned around to look at him, it was like the floodgates had been shattered. A few tears were rolling down his eyes while he was in his deep slumber. She placed a kiss upon his lips before whispering in his ear, “I'll never go anywhere without Spikey-Wikey.”

A soft click drew her attention to the door, watching as first a pink blur phased in, followed by an orange one, a yellow one, and another, lighter orange one. Gathering around the bed were their best friends in the whole world, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Sunset Shimmer. “Are y'all 'right sugar cube?”

Normally Rarity would be more dignified in her manner of speech, but she was so emotionally drained that she didn't even care. “Of course darling. The doctors said that he was fine, just needs to rest now.” A small chuckle escaped her when she thought about when the nurses came in to give him a bath to clean away the blood and she had nearly roasted them with fire. If there was ANYPONY that was going to wash him, to even see him without clothing, it was going to be her and only her.

By now Twilight was starting to stir awake upon hearing the chatter of voices, mainly recognizing them as that of her friends. Rainbow kept a firm grip on her while she stretched in the seat, their fingers soon finding each other and intertwining within a matter of seconds. They shared a quick kiss before turning to watch with the rest of their friends as they conversed.

Applejack tilted her head slightly to get a better look at Rarity's neck. Though it was a little scrunched up from where she was lying on the bed, it was still clearly visible that there was a mark on her neck, seeing as how it was red and slightly swollen. “What happened to ya sugar cube?” Rarity gave her a perplexed expression before it dawned on her where the farmer was looking. All of her friends watched as she twisted her head slightly to display her neck proudly to them, no hesitation in the movement, almost as if it was practiced.

Twilight didn't bother to look, only smile as she saw the shocked expressions on her friends' faces. Each of them in turn looked away, Fluttershy blushing, while the other three were more confused than ever. Applejack however grew more furious than anything when she realized that they looked almost like, fang marks. She was about to grab hold of the dragon until a magical barrier stopped her dead in her tracks. She looked over at Twilight feigning ignorance for a moment, set in hurting the dragon for hurting Rarity. “Applejack, please let her explain before you do something that you will regret.”

With a heavy sigh, the farmer took a step back, watching as the silvery-white mare in question slowly pulled herself a little from the grasp of her dragon. “It was Spike, but I wanted him to.” Applejack was still furious, but now she was as confused as the rest of their friends, except for Twilight of course. “You see, dragons are built differently than we ponies are. In their society, the females have a sort of 'innocence' that their male will take when they... mate.” She paused to gauge the reactions of her friends. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash she could see were understanding where she was going, it seemed that Pinkie, Applejack, and Sunset still needed more explanation. “Well, when dragons mate, there are a series of, courtship rituals that they do, and Spike, being a dragon, knows them by heart. The first of which, is the initial coupling, which usually takes place during the courtship flight, but since he agreed to wait till later for that, we chose to instead do the one thing that could compensate, I let him claim me.”

Applejack started to blush, as did the rest of their group, as they realized what it was that she had just said. “Part of this courtship means that I bare a mark. It means that I am taken, that no other drake or stallion could ever have a glimmer of hope at a chance with me. I gave myself fully to my dragon, and I don't regret it. I've been waiting too long for this.”

The silvery-white mare slid back down into the comforting arms of the dragon. His soft snoring was like a kitten's purrs to her ears, and it seemed to want to lull her to sleep. If not for the fact that she had just woken up only a few hours ago, she would be more than delighted to join her dragon boyfriend in the safety of dreams.

Once more the door to the already small room opened, giving way to a regal princess as she walked in. Her white dress dragged along the floor, the gold trim reflecting the sunlight in the room, making her look like a goddess, while her flowing regal rainbow mane reflected the colors mainly of the open skies above Canterlot. Beside of her walked the beauty of the night, a princess with velvety smooth fur colored a deep blue, with a translucent mane that reminded any of the shimmering night sky, garbed in a regal dress wrought of pure silk dubbed a deep midnight blue and wearing a pair of bracers colored the same, with the royal symbol of the moon engraved into the cuffs.

Behind the royal princesses walked Shining Armor, sporting his most regal royal guard armor, a small smile on his face as he walked steadily towards his wife.

Celestia paused when she reached the foot of the bed, looking down upon her sleeping son and feeling her heart well up with sadness. Her throat constricted as she fought with her voice to say something, anything to her son. In the pit of her stomach she somehow felt that it was her fault that this happened, that if she had been there more, then maybe this wouldn't have happened. She felt that she had failed as a mother, that she didn't know who her son was anymore.

Tears fell from her eyes as she looked away from him, unable to bare the sight anymore. Seeing his torso wrapped up in bandages, a pool of blood coating the bed sheet beneath where he had been on his side, his left wing all wrapped up in a cast, and his eyes closed, seemingly forever. It was all too much for the princess, and she felt her heart starting to shatter just looking at him.

Celestia started as a hand was softly placed upon her shoulder, making her turn around to look once more at her son. Luna smiled as she pointed out to the side of the dragon, where both sister's could see the dragon wrapped protectively around a silvery-white mare, the very same that they had seen him trying to chase for years. Luna watched with interest as the mare seemed to be very lax, as if she were happy to be in his arms.

Princess Celestia was known around Canterlot for many things, she loved to eat cake, she loved all of her subjects, she cared deeply for her family, she was a strong fighter, but nopony had ever seen the celestial mare shed a tear of happiness except for the day that she had adopted Spike as a hatchling. When Rarity shifted to see the two mares who had entered the room, she was shocked at first, but she calmed down when she saw the joy in their eyes. It was more evident when she slightly exposed her neck, and they could see his fangs marks.

Twilight was now standing beside of the bed, one hand on the metal railing lining it, the other hand holding her girlfriend's. She was ready to defend the couple if either his 'mother', or his aunt objected. What happened however, none of them were prepared for. “When were you going to tell me that I was going to be a grandmother?”

Luna was shocked at the bluntness that Celestia displayed, but she let it slide when she saw the radiant smile, and blush, that Rarity sported. “I was waiting to tell him first. Wanted it as a sort of surprise.”

“It's a good thing that he isn't awake yet then.”

“I don't understand Princess, how do you know that she's pregnant?” Twilight wondered as she eyed her former teacher.

“The fang marks around her neck are no longer leaking blood, and look more like scars. If Spike had been awake they would have healed faster, but they look alright so far. Have you asked a doctor to look at it yet?”

“ Well, no. Why would I need to do that your highness?”

Now it was Celestia's turn to eye her former pupil, who simply blushed and backed away a little under her piercing gaze. “It seems that my former student left out some important parts about your newfound life.” Rarity gulped as Celestia cleared her throat. “You see, when a male dragon well, 'mounts', the female, he of course bites her neck. Normally, he coats it in a thick layer of his saliva, which I am willing to bet that he did.” The silvery-white mare blushed again, feeling dirty in front of her best friends as her first and thus far only night with Spike went.

“Um Princess. Could we not talk about, that, here?” She whispered.

Celestia giggled, “Quite right my little pony. As I was saying, the saliva acts as a healing compact, but it also acts as a sort of, coat. It's where his scent comes from on you. Any drake could walk by and smell him all over you, not only from you two being together all the time, but also because of his saliva coating the wound. It also prevents the scar from ever fully healing over, not that it hurts or anything.” She gave a wink to Rarity, who once more shied away from the blush that turned her normally white cheeks a nice tint of rosy red.

Rarity sat up in the bed when the blush faded away. “That doesn't explain how you are able to tell that I may or may not be pregnant.” Silently in her mind she wished that Princess Celestia was only thinking that she was, in her heart however, she knew that it was possibly true. She hadn't heard yet from the doctor when she asked him last night to test for it, and she hoped that he would at some point today.

Celestia smiled as she turned towards Shining Armor who handed her a small slip of paper, which caused all eyes to go wide in shock. Rarity herself forgot her manners and let her jaw drop as the princess cleared her throat. “Pregnancy Test for one Rarity Azure. Final result.... Positive.” All eyes turned towards the silvery-white mare, who couldn't contain both the happiness, and the shock that rocked her body. In one fluid motion, she just lied back on the bed and looked towards her dragon, thinking about how she was going to tell him. On the inside she was leaping around for joy, but she wasn't going to let her friends and future mother-in-law see it.

Luna knew how happy the mare was, for it was the same way that she felt when she found out that she was pregnant with Cadence. Eleven months of pregnancy, eighteen years of raising, and she turned into a very beautiful Princess, and made friends with a wonderful family, which she later became a part of. She, like her sister, was going to be a grandmother in less than ten months.

“Rarity, are you alright?” Her breath caught in her throat as she heard that familiar voice, the very same voice that she had missed for nearly a month. A soft kiss was placed up her cheek, making her jerk her head to look at him. Without even giving much thought to it, she rolled over on top of her dragon and brought him into a deep, passionate kiss. Most of the ponies turned away for a few moments to give the couple their private moment.

After a few minutes they broke apart to look back to their friends. “Mom? Aunt Luna? Twi? Shining?” He glanced around the room as he named off each of his friends, confused as to why they were looking at his like a ghost. Looking around once more, he realized that he was in the hospital. That's when it all came flooding back into his mind, the murder, the shoot out, “Rarity!”

Spike brought the mare into a bear hug, refusing to let her go, even when she was struggling for a breath. “Oh Rarity, tell me that you're alright..”

She finally managed to wiggle out of his grasp, looking at him crossly. “First of all..” She scooted over a little on top of him, letting him feel her heat down below, “Secondly, I'm fine.” She leaned back so that he could see her body, no bandages, no bullet wounds, nothing. He did happen to glance at her neck, smiling when he did so, but also growing perplexed.

“How long was I out?”

Everypony looked everywhere but at him, either trying to seem interested in something else, or in Applejack's case, whistling a tune. “Almost a month.” Shining Armor stepped forward. “Princess, as much as I want to let him recover, we need to ask him what he saw.”

Celestia sighed, “I know Shining, I would think that you would want to spend some time with him before we pursue this line of questioning.”

“Normally I would Princess, but I want to catch the bastards that did this more.” The snow white stallion gritted his teeth as he thought about all the things that he wanted to do to those miserable ponies.

Celestia looked to all of the other ponies that were in the room. “I'm afraid that I have to ask you all to leave us for a while.” With reluctance, the six friends hurried to obey, leaving only Spike, Rarity, Celestia, Shining Armor, Cadence, and Luna.

When the door closed the princess looked to Shining Armor. “Very well, seeing as how you were the lead pony on the case, I'll leave you to your work.” With practiced ease, the princess stepped away from the dragon so that she could assume her royal part as she awaited the pony to finish.

“I'm sorry Spike to rush this, but do you remember anything about the ponies that attacked you.”

Spike sighed as let Rarity slide from his arms, but not his wings, as he sat up in the bed to address his brother, groaning when his aching muscles that hadn't been used in a month finally stretched out. “There was one that I saw, he wasn't a pony. His eyes were slits like mine, and there was a deep, rough edge to his voice that only an older dragon could have. I recognized his voice from somewhere, but I'm not sure where. There was something about him that seemed familiar too, but I couldn't put a claw on it.”

“Do you know who the gryphon was that was killed?”

“No. I saw him, but it was only in glimpses.”

“His name was Wydle, he was the nephew of Chief Adviser Thoreck to King Ragneran of the Gryphon Kingdom. They have agreed to give us seventy-two hours to find out who killed him before they march their own troops in here to dig around.”

Celestia stepped forward, clearing her throat. “Chief Thoreck has agreed to give us more time, if we allow you to spearhead the investigation. His respect for dragons has no bounds, and since you were targeted for witnessing his his nephew's murder...”

“Is he here?”

Almost as if on cue the gryphon stepped into the room. He was a tall gryphon, even by their standards. His eyes were colored a deep amber that seemed to glow both strength and wisdom over years of serving his king. He was garbed in the royal suit of a golden shirt with a blue cape, the back of which was stamped with the king's symbol, and sporting golden trousers that ended in black boots that had silver spikes protruding from the toes. Even in his royal attire he looked menacing. There was no doubt in his mind that if Fluttershy was there she would more than likely be over in a corner shaking.

“Young dragon Prince Spike. It is an honor to meet you at last.” His voice was gruff, but it sounded sweet as well. It was almost like he was trying to hard to put up a front for this occasion.

“The honor is mine.” Spike slipped away from Rarity to stand on his feet, surprising them all when only a minor grunt escaped his pursed lips as he bowed to the gryphon. “I'm sorry that I wasn't able to save your nephew sir. If I could do it over again, I would trade places with him.”

Rarity was about to speak out in protest when the gryphon spoke, “There would be no need for that young dragon. My nephew always lurked around in the wrong places, and though his death is hard on mine family, maybe it was what he had coming.”

“I don't think so sir.” Shining Armor approached the chief. “Wydle was killed execution style. Only the mafia with something to hide would do such a thing.”

The gryphon looked perplexed as he turned to the pony. “What are you saying Commander Armor?”

“I'm saying that your nephew got into something that he wasn't supposed to.”

Sighing, the gryphon turned back to Spike. “What do you think?”

“I don't really know. My brother has spent his life investigating crimes and tracking down missing people, so I trust his judgment in the matter.”

“Would it matter then that he wasn't doing what you think he was?” With that, the gryphon turned tail and left the room, leaving behind nothing but a smug grin as he left the room. Shining Armor was left at a loss for words as he tried to think about what the gryphon has said, but kept drawing a blank.

“Why did you need my friends out of the room mom?” Spike turned to look at his mother, wondering what her real motives for this meeting were.

She sighed, looking at the floor. “Shining Armor proposed a new division of the guard to me a few years back, but I never thought about it until now. We never really needed it, but with something this big, we may not have a choice.”

Finally, the snow white pony was able to regain his barring and look at his younger brother. “What Princess Celestia is talking about is a new undercover unit, whose sole purpose is to go in to become say a gang member, or a drug dealer, or something else to operate outside the law. They are still Canterlot Royal Guards, but they only carry a weapon and badge, nothing more. They would set up a big time drug dealer with his product or something, and then they would arrest them on the act, so to speak.”

“Why me though?”

“We thought that, with you being Celestia's adopted son, that you would have an easier time getting in than say one of my guards. Any members would be happy to have you, and you would be able to help us take them down. Right now, you would be the only member of this new unit, seeing as how you are still young and in high school.”

“Spikey, we are not going to force you to do anything that you don't want to. I just know that you always talked about that when you assumed the throne with me, that you were going to clean up Canterlot and put a stop to crime. This is the first step, one that I think you are more than ready for.”

Spike looked away from his family and back to the mare that had captured his heart. “I'll do, so that we can live in a better Canterlot...”

Luna's moon shone down upon the massive capitol of Equestria, the radiant glow low enough to not keep those who wanted sleep awake, but just bright enough to see a few feet in front of you. For Spike, it wasn't the moon that was the most beautiful thing in the night, it was the stars. As he sat atop the roof of the hospital, all he could think about was Rarity, and what she was doing back home at her Boutique.

His eyes darted from star to star, seemingly as though he knew the exact placement of each one and wanted to make sure that they were all there. He sighed as he leaned back, wishing with all of his heart that Rarity was there with him, but he knew that she had her work to get back too. His mind was plagued more with worry than anything else, thoughts of how safe Rarity was going to be when this all started. There was nothing in the world more important to him that Rarity, and now that they were a mated pair, by dragons standards, he would lay his life down to protect her from even himself. As long as he lived, no harm was ever going to befall her.

For all it was worth however, he knew that he couldn't be everywhere at once, and he couldn't always keep an eye on her. He had to trust that she could take care of herself, lest there be a few less ponies in the world. He chuckled as he mused over how to slowly roast any ponies that decided it would be fun to mess with his girlfriend, his mate.

During his deep comatose state he had dreamed of their wedding. He had dreamed of their many children that he hoped to have. Sometimes he dreamed of nothing but that night that they admitted their feelings for each other and became one. When he woke up, he was so happy to see that she was alright, it was like any fears that he could have thought of just seemed to vanish.

Sitting alone on top of the roof brought him in to a new light. He had already mated with Rarity, so in the world of dragons he was alright, but he still didn't feel alright. He felt like it was all too quick, that any day Rarity would get mad at him, or she would just stop loving him. It hurt to think about, but she wasn't a dragon, she was a pony after all. Though his mother and their friends were accepting of it, he knew that deep down it would cause problems for her in the future. Ponies didn't take too kindly to couples outside of their own. They were more likely to support two mares or two stallions before they supported a dragon and his pony, at least, in Canterlot anyways.

Looking out to the fields beyond the last city gates of Canterlot, down the mountain to where the farmers worked, and even beyond, he was mesmerized at the distant horizon. There stood the small town of Ponyville, where only his dragons eyes had ever been, where his beloved Rarity and the rest of their friends had moved from to attend this prestigious high school when they learned that they were bearers of the elements of harmony. Though they were hailed as heroes on numerous accounts, and his sister was fully inaugurated as a full fledged princess, they were still last weeks news.

The slow creaking of a rusted metal door quickly drew his attention as somepony walked upon the gravel surface of the hospital. He thought it to be another nurse coming to tell him that it was time to come back inside. Instead, his head snapped around as quickly as a viper strike as the slow, steady sweet scent of vanilla wafted into his nose. “Rarity...”

Whirling around, he was met with his mare jumping into his arms and wrapping herself around him. “I missed you too much to leave you alone here all night darling.” She pressed her lips against his, silencing his worries, at present.

When they broke apart he was once again smiling, but she could tell that there was something on his mind by the way that he looked past her and to the distant moon. “Rarity, you know I love you, and I hope that you love me too, but is this going to last?”

“Whatever do you mean Spikey-Wikey?”

“Last month, the night that I almost died, we made love as ponies call it. For me, it meant that we were going to be together forever. I know that we said things, did things so fast, I just want to know that if we slow down, that things will still be the same between us. That even though we are together, we are still going to be best friends. No amount of fighting will ever make you leave me.”

She could hear the hurt in his voice, see the pleading in his eyes to know that tomorrow morning, she was going to be there. Ever so slowly like that of a frozen river, she tilted her head and pulled down the collar of her dress a bit to show him her mark. “If I wasn't going to wake up beside of you everyday, then I wouldn't have let you do this. I know what this means to you Spike.” His smile never faltered as he looked into her eyes, knowing that she was telling nothing but what her heart said. “If I didn't want our child, I would never have let you finish in me.” His eyes went wide as he did a double take.

“W-what?”

Only once had she seen him so shocked, and that was when he accidentally made a fool of himself on his birthday party before her. “You are going to be a father Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity nuzzled into his neck as she let him process what she had said. Now that she had said it, he leaned back a bit to look at her stomach, and he could see that it was slightly swollen.

“Rarity...” She followed his gaze with a soft smile. She gently placed a hand over her stomach, letting him feel the bulge.

“That's our baby Spike. Whether it be a dragon, a pony, or some combination in between, I will love it like I love you. I am proud to be pregnant, with 'your' child.” She placed a kiss upon his lips, which he immediately gave in to. He was a mess of emotions in his mind at the moment, but he could sort them out later. What mattered more than anything was the mare with him, his girlfriend.

Tears were streaming down his face when they finally broke apart, desperate for air. “W-When did...”

“Today, when everypony else found out from your mother.”

A blush crept onto his face. “She only read what he doctor gave her pertaining to my pregnancy, nothing else.” She giggled.

She once more buried her head in his neck. “I'm worried Rarity, about you, about everypony else, and now our baby. This is all happening so fast, I just want it to slow down, at least for a little while.”

“I know Spikey-Wikey, I know.” She rubbed his cheek with her palm. “There's nothing that we can do about it now though darling. All we can do is roll with the punches as they say...”