[1 Hour Later] - Thorax's Garage

When Spike got to the repair shop, he drove his busted up bullet holed cab up to the garage and a slightly muscular colorful channeling greeted him. He wore a greasy blue mechanic jumpsuit, with black gloves, and black boots.

The changeling was one of Spike's old childhood friends, named Thorax, they've known each other since they were kids.

Just looking at the car gave the bug pony a shock. "Jesus Christ, Spy, what happened to your ride?"

Spike bit his bottom lip lightly, he didn't want to get his friend wrapped into this. "I was just caught in the crossfire of a gang war, Thorax, nothing big..."

Thorax circled Spike's cab kind of like how a pegasus was scouting an area in the sky. "One hell of a fight if you got this much damage..."

The reptile rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "Heh, yeah..." He watched the colorful changeling get on one knee to get a closer look at the bullet holes. "Ya think you can fix this?"

Spike’s childhood friend shrugged his shoulders, He slowly put his hand on the cab, feeling the cold metal of the car and running his fingers over some bullet holes. "I don't know, man...normally if I see something similar to this...I'd decline...but since you're one of my good friends, I'll take a look at it..." He stood back up and waved his hand forward towards his garage. "Bring her in."

Spike put the gearshift back on 'Drive' and slowly brought the car into Thorax’s garage. Inside was a lot of tools that mechanics usually had: like tires, tools, oil, headlights, and other stuff used to fix cars. The purple dragon got out of the car after putting it on 'Park' and grabbing the envelope AJ gave him.

"So...just by looking at it how much do you think it'll cost?" Spike asked, trying to make a short conversation as he backed up and let Thorax do his thing.

The changeling felt every inch of the car with his hands and looked at every nook and cranny that caught his attention from it, such as the broken windshields, a shit ton of bullet holes in the back and sides, busted headlights, and a few scratched here and there.

Spike was a little weirded out watching his childhood friend practically feel up his vehicle very questionably, but he knew that Thorax was always good with cars. He even remembered that Thorax fixed a sports car's broken engine all by himself when he was only 5.

Once he stopped 'groping' the car, Thorax looked at Spike again. "From what I've seen and felt here...it could take maybe around $1,000 minimum."

Spike felt like he was shot down out of the sky. "Shit...really?" When Thorax nodded, Spike dropped his head with a sigh. "Alright..."

The changeling put his right hand on Spike's shoulder. "Sorry Spy, trust me I would love to give you a 'friendship discount' but that’s business for ya..:"

"Ha, it’s fine..."

"Alright...look just sit down on the bench and you'll be back on the road in no time."

Spike did just that, he walked over and sat down on a nearby bench to watch his friend get to work. He still remembered that he didn't see what 'reward' AJ gave him from The Solaris Sisters as a thank you for saving her and Rainbow's ass. He looked up and saw that Thorax was too distracted with his busted-up car that it was like Spike was invisible, so he took the chance.

He gripped it tightly and opened it up, but when he did, his heart nearly exploded when he saw what was inside, A whole big pile of dollar bills. When he counted them, he could've sworn he felt his heart exploded again. He counted $5,000 in the envelope.

Spike had more than enough to pay for the car, he had a ton of spending money left, all he had to do was pay $1,000 and that would leave him with $4,000 left to spare on his own. He could barely contain himself, but he tried his best as Thorax went to work on the windshield.

Time Skip - 2 hours later

Thorax cleaned up his hands and walked over to a sleeping Spike, slightly shaking him. "Wake up, sleepyhead, your car's ready."

Spike rubbed his eyes and saw that his cab was as good as new, everything was put back together as nothing had ever happened. He gave the changeling a bro handshake. "Thanks, man, don't know what I'd do without ya."

"Now..about the payment..." Thorax began but Spike held up his hand and showed him a wad of cash. "What the?!"

"Got it right here, I counted don't worry." Spike reached over and put the cash into the bug pony’s front breast pocket of his jumpsuit. "Don't ask where I got it."

Thorax took the money out of the pocket and counted it fast it was exactly $1,000. "Spy...where did you get this kind of money?!"

"Like I said...' You don't wanna know' " Spike repeated, he then walked passed him and patted his back. "Thanks again, I'll see ya around."

The purple dragon hopped into his car and slightly sped off, leaving a speechless Thorax alone with a wad of cash.

[5 Minutes Later] Barbara Dragan's House

Spike sat in the guest room looking at the remaining money he had left, he was still speechless, he began to think while drinking a glass of wine. The purple dragon began to remember the conversation he had with AJ, which echoed in his mind like a recurring nightmare.

Spike started the car but was stopped by the orange earth pony again. "Hey, ya know if ya want, we can use skills like that in our organization, maybe we can get ya a job here. The money is good, real good. Plus, the Dons love recruits."

"Oh...sure, I'll get back to you on that, I gotta go...ya know to fix the car and stuff..."

"Alrighty, I'll leave ya to it. Just think about it, partner. Ah also hope this conversation is just between us?"

"Yeah sure, I got it," Spike replied, he then slowly drove away after AJ hit the top of the car with the palm of her hand two times.

The purple dragon kept thinking about what he should do, but he came to a rather quick conclusion, He wasn't gonna think about their offer anymore. He didn't want to join a gang of criminals even if they had all the bits in the world.

Before Spike went off to college, Barb told him, "You never know what God has in store for you."

So, Spike decides that as soon as he wakes up tomorrow, he's gonna forget the whole encounter as soon as possible.

It's better to be poor and alive than rich and dead, right?

Author's Note

I thought it be cool to see Thorax being some kind of car nerd.