A few days after Cranky's and Matilda's wedding Spike was at the local cafe having lunch, and talking to his waiter. "I didn't think that Cranky and Matilda would like my gift as much as they did." Spike told the waiter. "I mean, it was just some expired newspaper that expired a long time ago."

"Well, my guess as to why they liked it so much is that they're old and find anything old or expired a nice gift."

Spike nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, maybe you're right. It felt good to see them so happy."

Just then, the waiter asked a question to Spike. "Hey! Mind if I join you? It's not like there's a lot of customers today so I have some free time"

"Of course not," Spike replied with a smile. "Have a seat!"

As he sat down, he couldn't help but notice the warmth and familiarity of the café, reminding him of the Hearth's Warming Eve celebration he had with his family. "So, have you heard anything from the princess?" she asked.

Spike sighed. "Not really. She's been busy with her duties and dealing with that bugbear incident. But it's been kind of nice having some time to myself and hanging out with my other friends."

The waiter nodded. "Yeah, sometimes it's good to have a break and spend time with friends who appreciate you."

Their conversation was interrupted by a tingling feeling on Spike's head. He wondered what was making his head tingle like that. He got his answer when the waiter asked, "Um, why is your head glowing like an arrow to the local bar at night."

Spike instinctively reached up to touch his head, but the glowing sensation only intensified. He felt a strange mix of curiosity and mild panic.

"Uh, I have no idea. This is definitely new," Spike admitted, his voice tinged with confusion. He looked around the café, noticing that other patrons were now also staring at him. "I guess I should probably find out what's going on."

"I think that's a good idea," the waiter agreed. "Maybe you should head back to the castle or find Twilight."

Spike nodded, standing up quickly. "Thanks for the lunch and the chat," he said, leaving a few bits on the table before hurrying out of the café. The glowing sensation persisted as he made his way through Ponyville, attracting curious glances from ponies along the way.

As he approached the castle, he saw Twilight Sparkle and her friends just arriving back from what looked like a long day of adventuring. They all looked tired but immediately perked up when they saw Spike's glowing head.

"Spike! What's happening to you?" Twilight asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"I don't know! It just started glowing a few minutes ago," Spike explained, pointing to his head. "Do you know what's going on?"

Just then, Shooting Star came out of nowhere with a look of horror on her face. "HELP!! MY CUTIE MARK IS GLOWING AND RELEASING MORE CUTIE MARKS!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!!'

Twilight thought for a minute before smiling. I know what's going on. Both of you are being summoned by the cutie map for a friendship quest. Follow me." So everyone went into the castle and into the room where the cutie map was. That was when they saw it. They saw a small version of Spike's head and Shooting Star's cutie mark hovering over the map.

Spike stared in awe at the sight of his head and Shooting Star's cutie mark hovering over the map. The map, a magical representation of Equestria, glowed with a mystical energy that made the holographic images shimmer and pulse. The holographic images of Spike's head and Shooting Star's cutie mark started moving until both of them started hovering over a specific part of the map.

Twilight Sparkle, ever the scholar, quickly analyzed the map. "It looks like the map is sending you two to... Appleoosa!" She looked up at Spike and Shooting Star with a mixture of excitement and pride. "This is incredible! The map has never called a dragon and a pony together before."

Shooting Star, still trying to comprehend what was happening, took a deep breath. "What do we need to do there?"

"The map usually sends us to solve friendship problems," Twilight explained. "So, there must be some kind of friendship issue in Appleoosa that needs your unique skills."

Spike, despite his initial surprise, felt a growing sense of excitement. "Alright then, Shooting Star. Let's head to Appleoosa and see what this is all about."

Shooting Star nodded, determination replacing her earlier confusion. "Let's do it!"

Before they left, Twilight said to them, "Once the friendship problem has been solved, your head and cutie mark will glow again, so try not to freak out, ok?"

Spike and Shooting Star nodded in unison, the excitement of the adventure ahead beginning to overshadow their initial confusion. They quickly gathered a few essentials and said their goodbyes to Twilight and the others.

The train ride to Appleoosa was filled with eager anticipation. Spike and Shooting Star chatted about their previous experiences and speculated on what kind of friendship problem they might encounter.

"I wonder what kind of issue could be big enough to need both a dragon and a pony," Spike mused, staring out the window at the passing scenery.

"Whatever it is, we'll handle it together," Shooting Star replied with a confident smile. She decided to look out the window with Spike and looked at the scenery moving past them. "Wanna sing the train song Spike?" Shooting Star asked.

"Sure. Train, Train, Train, Train, Train, Train, Train, Train,"

When I'm on the train
Strangers are next to me (Train, Train)
When I'm on the train
A journey just for thee (Train, Train)

When I'm on the train
Faces are new and strange (Train, Train)
When I'm on the train
The world begins to change (Train Train Train)

Let's all sing the train song
I wanna sing it all day long
Let's all sing the train song
Lets all sing, the, train

Not long after they finished their song, the train arrived at it's destination. As the train pulled into Appleoosa, the two friends disembarked and were immediately struck by the vibrant and welcoming atmosphere of the town. The inhabitants went about their daily activities with a sense of camaraderie that spoke of strong community ties.

"I must say Spike, this is quite the welcoming town." Shooting Star whispered.

"Yeah, I've only been here once, but it's never lost that charm of a great welcoming atmosphere, not to mention it smells amazing." Spike replied, wafting in the scent of freshly baked apple pie.

Spike took a deep breath, savoring the fresh air and the scent of apple pies wafting from the nearby bakery. "Alright, Shooting Star, where do we start?"

Shooting Star glanced around, her eyes landing on a group of ponies gathered near the town's center. "Maybe we should start by talking to some locals. They might know something."

The two friends made their way to the center of town, where they were met by a familiar face. Braeburn, the enthusiastic and ever-friendly cousin of Applejack, spotted them and trotted over with a big smile.

"Well, howdy there, Spike! And who might your friend be?" Braeburn greeted, tipping his hat.

"Hi Braeburn! This is Shooting Star," Spike introduced. "The Cutie Map sent us here. Do you know if there's any kind of friendship problem around?"

Braeburn thought for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure about a 'friendship' problem, per se, but we do have a problem."

"Really? What's the problem? I'm sure me and Shooting Star can take care of it." Spike asked while puffing up his chest and doing a superhero stance like in one of his comic books.

This made Braeburn and Shooting Star giggle slightly, but afterwards, Braeburn put on his serious face again. "On Hearths Warming, Appleoosa was attacked. Weird dark monsters attacked with a fury not even the buffalo have. And just a few days ago, we got word the the weird dark monsters attacked the buffalo as well, we also know that one of the buffalo didn't survive the attack, so the rest of the buffalo are moving into Appleoosa until further notice."

Spike and Shooting Star exchanged concerned glances, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Dark monsters attacking a town and its neighboring buffalo tribe was far more serious than they had anticipated.

"Dark monsters?" Shooting Star echoed, her brow furrowing. "What do they look like?"

Braeburn sighed, his face etched with worry. "They're shadowy creatures, like living nightmares. They appear out of nowhere and vanish just as quickly. We've never seen anything like them before."

Spike, trying to piece things together, asked, "Has anyone been able to figure out where these monsters are coming from or why they're attacking?"

Braeburn shook his head. "We've got no clue. I only know of one other creature that knows about these monsters and where they came from, but he went missing on the very same day of the attack on Hearths Warming."

"Do you know who this creature is?" Shooting Star asked.

"All I remember is that he was a dragon, but that's all I know. We've tried everything to protect ourselves, but they seem to know how to get around our defenses. It's got everyone on edge, and now with the buffalo joining us, space and resources are becoming an issue too."

Spike and Shooting Star exchanged determined looks. The situation was dire, but they felt confident that they could help.

"We need to find out more about these monsters and why they're attacking," Spike said resolutely. "And we also need to help everyone here feel safe and secure again."

"Agreed," Shooting Star added. "Maybe we should start by talking to more of the locals and the buffalo. They might have seen something or know something that can give us a clue."

Braeburn nodded, appreciating their proactive attitude. "That's a good plan. You might want to start with Chief Thunderhooves. He's the leader of the buffalo tribe, and he might have more information about the attacks."

"Sure thing, do you know where he is right now?" Spike asked.

"He's on the outskirts of town, discussing matters with the sheriff. Follow me and I'll lead you there." So Spike and Shooting Star followed the southern pony to the outskirts, where the chief of the buffalo and the pony sheriff was.

As they followed Braeburn to the outskirts of town, Spike and Shooting Star couldn't help but feel a mixture of excitement and apprehension. The town of Appleoosa had always been a place of peace and harmony, and now it was facing a mysterious threat that even the Cutie Map had deemed significant enough to send them.

When they reached the meeting spot, they saw Chief Thunderhooves, a large and imposing buffalo with a feathered headdress, deep in conversation with Sheriff Silverstar, a no-nonsense pony with a stern expression. Both turned their attention to the newcomers as Braeburn introduced them.

"Chief Thunderhooves, Sheriff Silverstar, these are Spike and Shooting Star. The Cutie Map sent them here to help with our problem."

Chief Thunderhooves nodded solemnly. "Greetings, Spike and Shooting Star. We are grateful for any help you can provide. These dark monsters have brought much fear and sorrow to our tribes."

Sheriff Silverstar tipped his hat in greeting. "Glad to have ya both. We're at our wits' end trying to figure out how to stop these attacks."

"Do you guys know what these monsters are and why they're here in the first place?" Spike asked.

"We don't know anything about these monsters." Chief Thunderhooves explained. "They're just monsters, dark, fast and strong. They just attacked without warning on Hearths Warming, making us lose one of our best warriors."

Sheriff Silverstar added, "We've tried tracking them, but they leave no trace. It's like they're not part of this world. And with the buffalo joining us, our resources are stretched thin. We need to find a solution fast."

Spike and Shooting Star exchanged thoughtful looks. They had come to solve a friendship problem, but it seemed they were also dealing with a mysterious and dangerous threat.

"Alright," Spike said, determination in his voice. "We'll start by talking to the townsfolk and the buffalo to gather more information. Maybe someone has seen something that can give us a clue. And we'll also keep an eye out for anything unusual."

Shooting Star nodded in agreement. "We'll figure this out together. We're here to help."

Chief Thunderhooves and Sheriff Silverstar both looked relieved. "Thank you," the chief said. "We appreciate your willingness to help. The buffalo and the ponies of Appleoosa are counting on you."

As Spike and Shooting Star walked away, Spike was hugged from behind. He looked behind him and saw Little Strongheart hugging him. "Hi Spike, I'm so happy to see you again."

"Hi Little Strongheart. We're here to solve a friendship problem and solve the monster problem. Do you know anything about them?"

"All of them come in all different shapes and sizes. They can have 3 heads, others can have big meaty claws, others can even have their own magic. They are all vicious and absolutely horrible to deal with." Little Strongheart said.

Spike and Shooting Star stared in awe at those descriptions. The descriptions that were given to them made them look terrifying in their minds, but they didn't back down from the problem.

"Thanks Little Strongheart. Your descriptions were very helpful." Spike told her.

"You're welcome Spike. I wish you luck in your friendship problem." she said to Spike and Shooting Star, and with that they walked back into the small town to get more clues on the monster attacks.

Spike and Shooting Star continued asking around about the monsters until day turned to evening. Braeburn offered them a place to stay at his house, and they are currently eating an apple pie and ice cream dessert.

"So this is what we got from asking around today. The monsters are dark, fast, strong and come in all shapes and sizes." Spike started explaining.

"We also found out that somepony saw these monsters before the attack on Hearths Warming." Shooting Star continued.

"Do you guys know what to do to help?" Braeburn asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"Right no, we don't know what to do. But tomorrow, we will continue asking around, see if anypony knows anything useful." Spike promised.

"Thanks guys. It's a shame that no one knows anything yet, but there's still hope. But for now, how about you guys get some rest. I'm pretty sure that today was a long day for you guys." Braeburn suggested. Spike and Shooting Star nodded before going up the stairs and getting into the bed and going under the covers.

"Spike?" Shooting Star started, "Do you really think the Cutie Map sent the right pony and dragon for the job?"

"I'm pretty sure that the Cutie Map wouldn't have sent us if the problem was too much for us. I still think we're the right ones for the job." Spike reassured her.

"I hope you're right." And so, Spike and Shooting Star fell asleep, resting up to continue their friendship mission the next day.

The next morning, Spike woke up from his nightly slumber. Spike tried to get up to get breakfast, but Shooting Star grabbed him in her sleep and held him close to her, thinking he was a stuffed animal. Spike felt very warm and uncomfortable at the situation at first, but then he started melting into it.

"I guess I can stay like this for a couple more minutes." Spike thought to himself. A minute later however, Shooting Star woke up and realized something was in her hooves. She looked down and saw that she was holding Spike in her hooves and he was completely conscious. She immediately let go of him, face red and looked down in embarrassment and shame.

"Sorry Spike, I don't know what came over me." She apologized.

"Heh, don't worry about it. It kind of felt nice, just a bit unexpected." Spike accepted. "How about we get out of bed and continue the friendship quest." She nodded and both got out of bed. They went down the stairs, but before they could get to the bottom of the stairs, they heard a high pitched, bloodcurdling scream coming from outside.

They sprinted over to the front door and what they saw horrified them. Lots of monsters attacking the town, and they looked a lot like the monsters in the locals descriptions. They looked strong, and they were definitely fast and looked like they were from the shadows. They saw all of the locals, and all of the buffalo try to fend them off but to no avail.

Spike and Shooting Star ran out, wanting to help however they can, but a monster with three heads and a spike as a tail blocked them. Having no other options, Spike used his fire breath to deter the monster and to get it away from them. It worked as the monster whimpered and disappeared from their sights.

"Nice work Spike, It's a good thing you have that fire breath. Now, lets try and fight off all of these monsters." Shooting Star said. Spike nodded and both Spike and Shooting Star went into the town that was completely overrun by monsters.

The fire breath must have caught the attention of the other monsters, because when they were in sight, they attacked Spike and Shooting Star head on. They tried their best to fend them off, with Spike using his fire breath, and Shooting Star using her combat skills, but there were too many monsters. It looked like that when one of the dark monsters was going to use their big meaty claws to hurt the dragon and pony, a loud slash was heard and the monsters scattered, leaving Braeburn in their sights.

"Thanks Braeburn. That was a nice save." Spike thanked.

"No problem Spike. Now come on, those monsters will regenerate soon, so we need to get away from this area." Braeburn said, helping the 2 up to their hooves/feet and running away from the area. They ran for a long while until they found themselves in an alley. They rested up for a minute and got back into the fight.

Spike saw a monster with a lobster arm and a griffon head, so he charged at it hoping to defeat it, but the monster was too quick. When Spike tried to use his fire breath, the monster dodged with ease. Shooting Star saw the monster's arm going to swat at Spike.

"SPIKE LOOK OUT!!" She yelled, but it was too late. The arm swatted at Spike and he was sent into the air and flung away from this town.

"SPIIIIIIIIKKE!!!!!!" Shooting Star yelled out.

Spike was in a state of panic. He didn't have his wings yet, and he knew that the impact would be painful when he finally began to fall down.

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" Spike asked himself over and over again. While he was asking what he could do, he saw that he was descending to the ground at a rapid pace. He braced himself hoping that the impact won't be too painful, and then he impacted. Thankfully, he landed in a large dune so there was not a lot of pain. There was, however a lot of sand in his mouth. Spike spit it out and began to look around.

After a bit of looking around, he saw a small cave in the distance. Spike smiled at this, thankful that there is a bit of shade in the scorching desert. He started walking towards it, and when he was close to the cave, he found what looked like a dragon that looked just like him, except that his scales were orange and his fins were red.

Spike was confused, so he called out to him. "HEY YOU, YOU IN THE CAVE. CAN YOU HEAR ME?" That got the dragon's attention and he made eye contact with Spike. When he looked at Spike however, he suddenly looked nervous and began to run back into the cave.

"Hey wait." Spike called out as he began running towards the cave. When he got to the entrance, he looked around and saw just an empty cave. He decided to explore a little, hoping to find this mysterious dragon. After walking around and seeing nothing, he decided to leave, believing what he haw was his imagination, that was until he heard something in the center of the cave. He walked to the center of the cave and walked around.

"I know you're right there, just come out and show yourself." Spike said, looking at the center of the cave. To his surprise however, the dragon he saw from before became visible to him.

He looked at Spike with a nervous smile. "Hi, I guess you found me out."

Spike smiled. "I'm Spike. Are you ok?"

The dragon frowned and looked down. "I don't think you should be here. I don't want to hurt you."

Spike was confused by that. "What are you talking about? Is something wrong?"

"After everything I did, I don't deserve to be around others." the dragon said.

"What? You didn't do anything wrong. You just tried to hide."

The dragon sighed. "I suppose I should tell you. We met before, but I didn't even look like this. I did so many horrible things to you. I caused you so much pain, and I regret doing the things I did."

Spike thought about what he was talking about, before he realized what the dragon was talking about, and his face turned to horror as memories came back.

Spike started stepping back from him. "Wait, no. Timor? How are you here right now? I saw you explode. I saw the blizzard die down after I defeated you. I saw you gone. I thought I destroyed you."

"Spike, he-"

"STAY BACK TIMOR. If you try to harm me, Shooting Star or anyone else, I will not hesitate to use the elements on you again. And this time, I will make sure you never recover from that."

Timor was shaking in fear. "Please, hear me out, please don't hurt me."

Spike decided to listen. "I'll hear you out."

Then Timor explained. "I'm not the same evil creature you see me as anymore. I changed for the better. I don't want to hurt you or anyone anymore."

Spike continued listening. "Really?"

Timor nodded. "When you used the elements of harmony against me, I was blasted out of the castle at high speeds, and now I'm back to being the dragon I once was."

"So, if you're not here to hurt anyone, then why are you here?" Spike asked.

"After I was blasted out of the castle by the elements, I was flying until I landed in a desert. I was given a place to stay, but then the monsters and their leader came and ruined all of it. I thought I was the reason, but I swear I am not. I had to run, so I ran, until I arrived in this cave." Timor explained.

"Wait, leader? The monsters have a leader?" Spike asked

"Yeah. Do you remember when we were in the cave during Hearths Warming Eve and I told you my name."

"Of course. You said you were a being of darkness, insanity and evil and that you were created by somepony named King Naeus.

"He's their leader." Timor confirmed.

"WHAT?"

"On Hearths Warming, he came to that very town over there and started releasing monsters. I met him face to face on that day and many times before that. King Naeus is coming back to Equestria and he will do way worse things to every creature than I did to you on Hearths Warming Eve." Timor continued explaining.

"Is there something we can do to stop him?" Spike asked

"Please, let me help. I want to earn your forgiveness and I think helping you defeat those monsters and Naeus might be the way. And believe me, I can be a great help."

"Great, so now I have to team up with Timor." Spike said sarcastically.

"I don't want to be called that villain name anymore." He said.

"Then what do I call you?"

"My true name is Solaris, so call me Solaris." he said.

"Ok... Solaris. I still have a few questions, but that will have to wait. We have monsters to defeat." Spike said.

"Grab onto me. I can teleport us to Appleoosa and we can defeat those monsters in a jiffy." Solaris suggested. Spike was a little skeptical still about Solaris, but he had to learn to trust him if he really wanted to earn forgiveness. So he grabbed onto Solaris and with a snap of his claw, they were both teleported back to Appleoosa.

Back in Appleoosa, nopony was faring well. The monsters were attacking at a much more rapid pace than before and ponies were getting seriously injured. The attacks were so vicious, they couldn't even get the wounded out of the battleground and to safety.

Just then, Spike and Solaris entered the town and saw the horror unraveling between them. Buildings were destroyed, ponies and buffalo were injured and the monsters were gaining the upper hand. Solaris looked at it all and smirked.

"Hey Spike, watch this." Solaris lifted his claw up into the air and summoned projectiles that looked like swords. They launched at a monster and when the swords hit it, the monster exploded.

Spike was in awe at the spectacle. That awe didn't last long when the monsters started coming at Spike and Solaris, ready to attack. Solaris wasn't fazed by them as he blew a bit of fire, which then turned into a giant phoenix, which was shot at the monsters, decimating 10 of them at once. The last remaining monster tried to attack, but it didn't even get the chance to since Solaris encased it in an impossible to get out of box and shrunk it to where it looked like a speck of dust.

The town was silent, absolutely dumbfounded about what just happened. But that silence didn't last long as everyone started cheering, for their heroes have saved them from the monsters.

Shooting Star bolted at Spike and squeezed him into a giant bear hug. "Spike, I was so worried about you. I'm so glad you're ok."

Spike hugged back and said, "It wasn't just me, but my new friend did most of the work in defeating the monsters."

Shooting Star looked at Solaris and gave him a smile that said 'thank you'. Solaris in return gave her another nervous smile

Then Sheriff Silverstar entered the fray and said, "Not to be a debby downer, but what are we gonna do about the wreckage and the wounded?"

Solaris gave a confident smile and said, "Leave it to me." And with another snap of his claw, everything was fixed and all of the wounded were healed. "Now, everything should be fixed and every creature should be healed."

Everyone was dumbfounded, but they cheered that everything was fixed and that they didn't need to send a letter to the princess for help. Shooting Star walked up to Solaris and asked, "Who are you?"

Solaris looked down and sighed. "That is something I want to discuss with you and Spike privately." So Solaris teleported them to a private room in one of the buildings. He looked at Shooting Star and said, "What I'm about to say to you won't be easy for you to hear."

"It's ok buddy, but who are you?"

"I'm just gonna come out and say it, you know me as Timor."

Shooting Star gained a look of horror, then a look of anger. "You, you tried to kill us all. You little bu-"

Before things got too escalated, Spike decided to intervene. "What he meant to say was that he used to be Timor, but when I blasted him with the elements of harmony, he turned into a good guy now."

"It's true." Solaris said. "And I want to do everything I can to earn your forgiveness."

"And I can see you were genuine in your efforts, I can see you really want to be a good guy, so I'll forgive you and maybe help you be better." Spike smiled at Solaris.

Shooting Star smiled at him too. "I forgive you too Solaris, I'll help you become a great friend to others."

Solaris smiled warmly, grateful for their forgiveness. "You guys are so kind."

"Well, since I'm every element of harmony, kindness is in my veins." Shooting Star giggled at this. Just then, Spike and Shooting Star started feeling tingly again like when they were summoned by the map yesterday. They looked at Solaris and asked, "What's happening?"

Solaris said, "It looks like the fins on your head and your cutie mark are glowing."

Spike and Shooting Star smiled. "We did it Spike, we solved the friendship problem." Shooting Star said happily.

"I think I know why we were picked. It was because of you Solaris." Spike said, getting Solaris' attention. "When you confessed who you used to be, I was able to listen. If you confessed that to anypony else, you would already be dead, but we gave you the chance to prove yourself and you took it, knowing you want to be good."

Shooting Star smiled. "How about we go home Spike, I'm pretty tired from today."

"I agree with you Shooting Star. Let's head home." Spike said while standing up. He looked at Solaris and offered, "You can come home with us too."

Solaris' fins perked up. "Really?

"Of course, we said we were gonna help you, and we'll stick by that. Come on and come with us." Shooting Star offered. Solaris walked up to them and said thanks. The three of them walked into the town, said goodbye to the townsfolk and made their way to the train station, where a train was waiting for them to take them home.

Author's Note

So Spike found a new friend in Solaris. Once his enemy, now his friend.