It was about 1:30 when Twilight and her friends entered the platform of Ponyville train station.

"I must say everypony," Applejack said, "That could have gone better than expected."

"Definitely, it's one thing Sassy Saddles had to push our Spikey-Wikey away from such a grand occasion, but then she had to be in control of everything and make me do a hundred orders of dresses. ONE HUNDRED!!" Rarity added on.

"Well, he has to be here since we couldn't find him anywhere in Canterlot. I hope the poor guy is ok." Fluttershy added along with Applejack and Rarity. As they approached the castle, Twilight noticed the front doors were slightly ajar.

"That's odd," she remarked, her brows furrowing in concern. "I don't remember leaving the doors open."

Rainbow Dash flew ahead and pushed the doors open wider, her eyes widening as she took in the scene. "Uh, guys, you might want to see this."

The rest of the group hurried inside, their expressions shifting from curiosity to alarm as they saw the main hall in disarray. Furniture was overturned, the floor was scorched in places, and there were signs of a fierce struggle. In the middle of the chaos lay Solaris, Spike, and Shooting Star, all unconscious and badly injured.

Everypony reacted almost instantly. Pinkie's mane deflated, Fluttershy hid behind Applejack, she putting her hat over her eyes, Rainbow and Rarity held their hooves to their mouths while Twilight had tears running down her face.

"Spike!" Twilight cried out, rushing to her assistant's side. She gently shook him, but he didn't stir. "Oh no, what happened here?"

Fluttershy knelt beside Shooting Star, checking her pulse and breathing a sigh of relief. "She's alive, but we need to get them to the hospital right away."

Rainbow Dash moved to assist Solaris, carefully lifting him with her strength.

"What in tarnation happened here?" Applejack muttered, worry etched on her face.

"We'll figure it out later," Twilight said, her voice trembling. "Right now, we need to get them help."

Twilight put Spike on her back, while Rainbow Dash put Solaris on hers. Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy worked together to hoist Shooting Star up to carry all three of them to the hospital.

They all went out the doors, closed them and ran to the hospital. As the ponies made their way to Ponyville Hospital, a tense silence hung in the air. The urgency of the situation pressed down on them, and each step seemed to take an eternity. Twilight glanced back at Spike, worry etched across her face, and quickened her pace. Rainbow Dash flew just above the ground, carefully balancing Solaris on her back, while the others carried Shooting Star as gently as they could.

When they finally reached the hospital, the staff immediately sprang into action. Nurses and doctors rushed forward, taking Spike, Solaris, and Shooting Star from their friends and wheeling them into the emergency room. Twilight and the others were left in the waiting area, their hearts heavy with anxiety.

Twilight paced back and forth, her mind racing with questions. "What could have happened? Who would attack them like this?"

Rainbow Dash, her wings twitching with agitation, tried to offer some reassurance. "The jerk whoever did this is gonna pay. We'll find them and make sure they never hurt our friends again."

She then went up to hug Twilight. "I'm really sorry about Spike, Twi."

Twilight hugged her back and told her, "You didn't know that they would be attacked Rainbow. You don't have to apologize."

Pinkie pie, with her mane still deflated, said in a sad voice, "I really hope those 3 are ok."

"I'm sure they'll be ok. I know they're strong. Still, we need to send an urgent letter to Princess Celestia." Twilight said while she grabbed a nearby parchment paper. She then went over to the desk.

"Do you mind if I borrow a quill and some ink?" She asked the pony at the desk. The pony nodded and Twilight took the quill and ink and started writing on the parchment.

Dear Princess Celestia,
While we were in Canterlot, my castle was attacked. We don't know who would attack my castle, but he or she put Spike and his 2 friends in critical condition. If you have any information about this mysterious villain, can you give that information to us? Also, I think it's best that you come to Ponyville General Hospital... If you have time.
Yours truly, Princess Twilight Sparkle

After she wrote this letter, she rolled it up and put a purple seal of urgency to the princesses. She pressed the seal with her hoof and the letter turned into a puff of purple smoke and went out the window of the hospital. "I just hope they aren't too busy, this really is urgent."

Fluttershy, her eyes brimming with tears, nodded in agreement. "In the meantime, we just have to stay strong for them. They're going to need us when they wake up."

Spike was walking over to the castle right now. He was meeting up with his friends there. He walked past other ponies who had smiles on their faces. As he reached the castle doors, he pushed them open and entered the grand hall. The room was eerily quiet, and a sense of foreboding washed over him. Spike called out, "Solaris? Shooting Star?" but received no response. The silence was unsettling, and a chill ran down his spine.

Suddenly, the scene changed. The castle's interior morphed into a dark, twisted version of itself. The walls were covered in shadows, and the air was thick with an oppressive darkness. Spike's heart pounded as he saw his friends, Solaris and Shooting Star, lying motionless on the ground, their bodies battered and bruised.

"Solaris! Shooting Star!" Spike cried out, rushing to their side. He shook them desperately, but they didn't respond. Tears welled up in his eyes as he realized they were gone. His chest tightened with grief and guilt.

Before he could process his emotions, he heard familiar voices behind him. He turned to see Twilight Sparkle and the rest of their friends standing there, but their expressions were cold and accusing.

"Twilight, please! Help me! They're... they're gone," Spike pleaded, his voice breaking.

Twilight's eyes were filled with a mixture of sadness and anger. "Spike, how could you let this happen? You were supposed to protect them."

Rainbow Dash stepped forward, her eyes blazing with fury. "You failed them, Spike! Because of you, they're dead!"

Rarity's voice was laced with disappointment. "Spikey-Wikey, how could you? We trusted you."

Applejack's stern expression cut through Spike like a knife. "This is all your fault, Spike. You let the bad guy win."

Pinkie Pie, usually so full of joy, looked heartbroken. "You let us all down, Spike."

Fluttershy's eyes were filled with tears, but there was no sympathy in her gaze. "You weren't strong enough. You failed us."

Spike's heart shattered as their words pierced him like daggers. "No, please! I tried! I didn't want this to happen!"

Twilight shook her head, her voice cold. "You need to understand, Spike. You don't belong here. You're just a dragon who couldn't protect his friends."

Spike fell to his knees, his body wracked with sobs. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

The darkness around him grew thicker, and the voices of his friends echoed in his mind, taunting and accusing him. Spike felt himself being swallowed by the shadows, the weight of his guilt and sorrow crushing him.

Spike jolted awake, but in doing so, a severe jolt of pain travelled throughout his entire body. He groaned in pain as he felt it subside. It was then that he got a good look at his surroundings and saw that he was in a hospital room, a room that looks a lot like the one Twilight told him Rainbow stayed in a few years ago.

He then heard the door to his left open and saw that a white pony with a pink mane and tail, a red cross and some light pink hearts as a cutie mark and the same on her hat walked into the room. She looked surprised when she saw Spike awake and she walked over to him before stopping on his left side.

"Wow, you're awake already, you're stronger than you look." she told him with a smile.

Spike tried to shake off the nightmare and looked at her. "Thanks nurse." He then looked around, but to his dismay, he couldn't find his friends. He then looked at the nurse with a worried look, "Where's my friends? Where's Shooting Star and Solaris?" he started worrying more and started hyperventilating, thinking they were gone.

"Buddy, buddy, you need to calm down. Your friends are stable and are resting up." She reassured him.

He took some deep breaths and he calmed down, glad that they were safe. "That's a relief. So, where are they now?" he asked her.

"They're behind the curtains on either side of you, and before we go too far, my name is Nurse Redheart, one of the nurses." Redheart told him.

"Nice to meet you, Nurse Redheart." Before they could say anything else, both of them heard groaning on Spike's left. Redheart moved the curtains to see who was waking up and saw that Solaris was groaning as he was stirring.

"Solaris, are you ok?" Spike asked.

"Well, considering that we were attacked by a powerful creature, I should even count myself lucky that I'm even alive." Solaris said groggily while Spike nodded understandingly.

"It's good that you both are awake." Redhear told them while smiling. "By the way, you have some visitors if you want to see them."

"Are they Twilight and her friends?" Spike asked. Redheart nodded.

Spike sighed and nodded too. "Alright then, send them in."

Redheart then left the room and left them to their own thoughts.

In the waiting room, Twilight and her friends were waiting in the waiting room, hoping for anything good. Applejack was just sitting there, while Fluttershy was lying down on the bench, with Rainbow rubbing her mane, comforting her. Twilight was looking at Fluttershy and Rainbow together and her face started going a bit red. Ever since the dream she had a two nights ago, she wanted to feel Rainbow's touch again, see if it was as soft as it was in the dream.

While they were waiting, they heard trumpets coming from outside and a few seconds later, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped into the building. Everyone who saw this got up and bowed before their princesses.

"Please everyone, there is no need to bow, all of you may rise." Celestia informed, and everyone stopped bowing and rose up.

The princesses then walked up to Twilight and her friends. "Twilight, as soon as we got your message of urgency, we came as soon as possible. What happened?" Celestia asked.

Twilight began explaining immediately. "Yesterday, we were in Canterlot, but Spike had to go home early. So we let him go home, and we had to return home the next day, because Sassy Saddles made Rarity make 100 dresses for her new boutique." Twilight started tearing up at what she saw. "Once we got back, the castle doors were slightly open, which concerned us, so we rushed to the door and saw that the place was attacked and in the middle, Spike and his friends were battered and barely alive."

"We have no idea who in tarnation would do this princesses." Applejack told them.

Princess Celestia put a wing around Twilight as she tried to calm her down. "It's ok Twilight. I'm sure Spike will make it through this. In all the years I knew him, he proved to be a strong dragon, even in his baby form."

Just then, Nurse Redheart entered the room. "Well Twili..." she stopped when she saw Princess Celestia and Luna in the room. "Princesses Celestia and Luna!" She bowed to them.

"Please rise, fellow nurse. We're here to see Spike and his friends." Celestia informed.

"Yes, is Spike, Shooting Star and Solaris ok?" Luna asked. No one payed attention or saw it, but Celestia's face went a little bit pale at the mention of 'Solaris'.

"Yes, Spike and Solaris have woken up recently and Shooting Star is expected to wake up very soon." Redheart assured.

Everyone sighed in relief. "Can we please see them? Please Please Please?" Twilight asked.

"Of course, follow me." Redheart told them, and Twilight, her friends and the princesses followed her.

"Rock Paper Scissors" Spike and Solaris said in unison while Spike pointed out two claws to make scissors and Solaris made his claws into a fist to make rock. Solaris gently, touched Spike's 'scissors' with his fist and won the game.

"Hah, I win again Spike." Solaris said while doing a small victory dance on the confides of his bed.

"Dang it. Fine, you win. I'm either the worst player of Rock Paper Scissors or you're the best."

Solaris smirked at him. "Probably both if you ask me."

Just then, Redheart opened the door and walked in. "Your visitors are here." she then turned to Twilight and the others. "You may go in."

One by one, Twilight, her friends and the princesses walked into the room and up the the injured trio.

Twilight walked up to Spike and gave him a giant hug. "Oh Spike, I'm so glad you're ok.

Spike hugged back, albeit a little weakly due to the pain. "Thanks for coming."

Solaris smiled at the hug, but then his eyes landed upon Celestia, and his smile left his face. "I should have known you would show up."

Celestia smiled sheepishly, as if she was a little nervous. "Um, Hi Solaris."

Solaris sighed and looked away. "I don't want to talk to you." Celestia sighed and stepped away from him.

"Don't scare us like that again buddy." He heard Rainbow say to Spike.

Then the mood got serious as Princess Luna spoke up. "Spike, Solaris, I'm so glad that you two are ok, but you need to tell us, what happened?"

Spike then spoke up, "Yesterday, we got this note saying that me, Shooting Star and Solaris were to be at the castle at noon. When it became noon, everything turned dark in the castle before the doors to the castle burst open and a cold wind blew in. It was then that we were attacked. All three of us tried to fight him off, but he was too powerful for us and he knocked us out close to death."

They were horrified at this. "Do any of you know who attacked you?" Celestia asked.

Solaris, despite his reluctance to talk to the white furred princess, decided to speak up too. "We actually do, and it's not pretty. Princesses, I have a suspicion that, 'he' has returned."

That made everypony more concerned. "Are you sure 'he' is back?" Celestia asked

"I'm positive that 'he' is back. I saw him with my own 2 eyes, we all did."

"Wait, who's 'he'?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"'He' is someone that needs to be discussed by all four princesses. We need to arrange a meeting with all of us and the rulers of the Crystal Empire. And I recommend we do it in Ponyville at your Castle" Celestia informed everypony.

"But princess, my castle is a wreck. Furniture is flipped over, books are all over the place and some of the crystal is shattered." Twilight said

Thankfully, Solaris could solve that. "I can just snap my claws and clean the entire castle as quick as a snap of my claws."

Twilight was skeptical about that. "Are you sure Solaris? You're still injured and need to recover."

"I can just use healing magic and heal all 3 of us in a jiffy." After he said that, Solaris made his claws glow green and touched his forehead gently. The green glow then travelled all the way down his body until the glow subsided before disappearing completely. He then got out of bed and gently touched Spike's forehead. The magic began working it's wonders as the green glow travelled down his body and then stopped as it fully healed him.

Everypony was shocked. In a few seconds, Solaris and Spike were fully healed without incident. It was a risk to use alicorn magic for healing spells in Equestria, but this was an exception.

"How did you do that sugarcube?" Applejack asked Solaris.

"You can say that I'm a bit of a warrior and I can use magic more powerful than even Alicorn and Chaos magic." Solaris explained.

Twilight was going to ask something else, but then they heard somepony stirring and waking up. Every creature looked to their right and saw that Shooting Star was waking up. Spike and Solaris raced over and waited for her to wake up fully, When she did fully wake up, she saw Spike and Solaris smile at her and she smiled back. "Hello guys."

"Shooting Star, I'm going to heal you, you will be ok." Solaris told her. Solaris then did the same thing he did to Spike and himself. His claws glowed green and he touched her head gently. A green ring travelled down her body until it subsided and disappeared completely.

After Shooting Star was fully healed, she sat up slowly, looking around the room with a mix of confusion and relief. Spike and Solaris hovered nearby, watching her closely.

"Shooting Star, how are you feeling?" Spike asked, his voice filled with concern.

Shooting Star blinked a few times, as if trying to gather her thoughts. "I... I don't know what you did Solaris, But I feel really good, like I'm fully healed."

Solaris then explained. "I used healing magic on you, Spike and myself, so all of us are now fully healed."

"I'm so glad you're ok Shooting Star." Spike said happily while hugging her. Shooting Star hugged back and rubbed his scales. Every creature watched the sappy moment with smiles on their faces, even Rainbow Dash.

After a while, Spike and Shooting Star pulled away from the hug. Once they pulled away, she saw the princesses in the room with them. "Princess Celestia? Princess Luna? What are you 2 doing here?"

Princess Celestia walked up to her and told her. "That is something that will be explained in a meeting in the near future. We need you there because there are urgent matters at hand."

Author's Note

So now the princesses and the main 6 now know about king Naeus.