It was a few hours after the party ended, and everyone decided to go home. Shooting Star went back to Derpy and the Doctor's place to spend tonight and tomorrow with them. As the sun set over Ponyville, casting a warm, golden glow over the town, Spike and Solaris made their way back to the castle. The streets were quieter now, with only a few ponies still lingering after the party, chatting and enjoying the evening.

"That was a great party. Pinkie really does throw great parties." Solaris told Spike

"Yeah, definitely. And if I'm being honest, you being here is getting me invited to more and more parties as of late." Spike said with a sad smile.

Solaris saw this and put a claw on his shoulder. "I'm sorry that you aren't invited to a lot of parties. If it makes you feel any better, when your next birthday comes, I will throw you the best party ever."

"Gee, thanks Solaris. Also just to let you know, my birthday isn't for another 2 months." Spike informed him.

"Noted."

"So, do you have any idea on what to do tomorrow since Shooting Star is going to spend the day with Derpy and the Doctor tomorrow?" Spike asked.

"I don't know what to do tomorrow, but I do know what I can do tonight. I'm going to pull a prank." Solaris said.

"A prank? It's not going to be harmful to anyone, is it?" Spike asked.

"It's nothing harmful. I'm just gonna ask Luna to make a dream for Cyan and Twilight." Solaris explained. "In other words, I'm going to make Cyan cuddle Twilight in Twilight's dream and I'm going to make Twilight cuddle Cyan in Cyan's dream."

Spike's eyes widened in surprise and then he burst into laughter. "That sounds hilarious! But are you sure Luna will agree to it? After all, the dream realm is her place"

"I'm sure Luna will find it amusing. But to make sure, when she comes in through that door in a few seconds, I'll ask for her help." Solaris said.

A few seconds later, Luna came into the room and saw Spike and Solaris. She walked up to Solaris and Spike and gave Solaris a big hug.

"Thanks again for helping me forgive myself and stopping the Tantabus. If there is something I can do for you, then just tell me and I will gladly accept." Luna told them.

"Well, there is this one thing."

"What is it, old friend?"

"I need your help with a little harmless prank," Solaris explained, detailing his plan to create dreams where Rainbow Dash and Twilight would cuddle each other.

Luna chuckled softly. "That does sound amusing. Very well, I shall assist you. Consider it done."

"Thank you, Luna," Solaris said, grateful for her willingness to join in the fun. "I owe you one."

"Just make sure to let me know how they react," Luna replied with a smile in her voice.

"Noted."

"Anyway, I must get back to Canterlot. Celestia must be worried sick about me not coming back this morning." Luna told the duo.

Solaris' smile faltered a little at the mention of 'celestia' but this went unnoticed. "Very well, I shall see you very soon." he said while giving her another hug, her returning it happily. "Oh, and one more thing, please don't tell Celestia about me, I want her to see me for herself."

Luna was confused, but then she nodded in understanding. "Very well, and in that case, I shall see you all very soon." and with that Luna teleported back to Canterlot.

Just as Luna left the castle for Canterlot, Twilight came in and saw them, so she approached them. "I must say, this castle is a lot cleaner Spike. You did a pretty great job."

Spike smiled at the compliment. "Thanks, I was hoping it would be up to par. I did get some help, after all."

Twilight's eyes widened at the word. "By help, do you mean you made your help party do the work for you?"

Spike didn't know what to say. It was true that Solaris did all the work, but that was because he cleaned the castle with a snap of his claws. Thankfully, Solaris stepped in and said, "Don't worry Twilight, we all did our fair share."

"That's a relief, I just want him to learn how to clean so when he makes a mess while I'm gone in Canterlot, the Crystal Empire or wherever, he can clean it up."

Although Spike didn't show it, he was not amused with that excuse. Twilight is usually the one that makes messes, and he has to clean her messes up.

He was about to retort something, but Twilight asked another question. "And another thing that's on my mind, where were you guys when we were battling the Tantabus?"

Solaris had an answer for that. "We were trying to save Shooting Star. The Tantabus possessed her and made her into a nightmarish beast, so we had to fight her and try to stop the Tantabus from possessing her."

Twilight's eyes widened in shock. "The Tantabus possessed Shooting Star? That's terrible! Is she okay now?"

Solaris nodded. "She's fine now, thanks to our efforts. It was a close call, but we managed to save her."

"That's a relief," Twilight said, her expression softening. "I'm glad everything turned out okay. Thank you for helping Shooting Star."

"Of course," Solaris replied. "She's a strong pony, and she had us there to support her. It was a team effort."

"I'm glad you did the right thing. Anyway, I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow before Rarity's Bouqitue opens in Canterlot."

"Oh, that's right. Twilight, before you go to bed, do you think I can come with you tomorrow?" Spike asked.

Twilight thought for a second before saying, "Well, since you cleaned so well, I'll see if I can make arrangements."

Spike smiled at being involved for once. "Thanks Twilight. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Spike." So with that, she was gone.

"I'm going to bed too. Goodnight Spike." Solaris said

"Goodnight Solaris."

Dream Realm

Luna entered the realm of dreams and used her magic to spawn Solaris in. "Let's go find Twilight's door." he declared.

So Luna and Solaris wandered the realm until they saw a door with a big purple star and 5 other small white stars. Solaris opened the door and saw Twilight reading in a meadow with book birds. Solaris used his magic to spawn a Rainbow dash in and made it fly to her. Twilight smiled and waved at Rainbow. Rainbow landed next to her and pulled her in for a big hug, not letting go. Solaris and Luna could see Twilight blush as she was being cuddled by the rainbow, but after a minute, she then snuggled back.

Solaris and Luna smiled contently before closing the door and moving on to Rainbow's door. After a few minutes, they arrived at her door that had her cutie mark on it. They opened it and found her fighting changelings.

"She told me this was her favorite dream." Luna told Solaris.

"Well, let's give her something to consider." With that, he made the changeling disappear, leaving her confused. They were then replaced by one of King Naeus' monsters. Rainbow saw this and smirked cockily. She flew in to give it a swift kick, but it evaded and grabbed Rainbow by the throat. It was strangling her and making it hard for her to breathe. When she was about to pass out, Solaris spawned a Twilight and she used her horn to make the monster dissipate. Rainbow dropped to the floor, and Twilight followed suit, wrapping her hooves around the cyan pegasus. Rainbow blushed and after another minute, snuggled back.

"My work here is done. See you later." Solaris said before leaving the dream realm.

The next morning, Twilight, her friends and Spike were on the train to Canterlot. Spike noticed that Twilight and Rainbow were sitting apart from each other, unable to look each other in the eye.

Spike saw this and decided to ask why, despite already knowing the prank was a success. "Hey Twilight? I couldn't help but notice you're face is a bit red and you haven't been looking Rainbow Dash in the eye when you saw her and since. What's up with that?"

Twilight's face got redder at that. "Sorry Spike, it's just I had a weird dream in which Rainbow snuggled me and and I couldn't help but feel comfortable in her embrace."

"So it was a dream that got you like this?"

"Yeah, I would rather not talk about it." Twilight said.

Spike smiled. "I understand."

After thirty minutes, the group arrived in Canterlot. The group stepped off the train and into the bustling streets of Canterlot. The city's towering spires and elegant architecture loomed above them as they made their way toward Rarity's boutique.

"Oh darlings, this will be a great thing for all of us." Rarity said. "Although I wish that Solaris could be here too."

"I don't even know why he just straight up refused either." Spike asked. "When I asked him if he wanted to come, he just said no."

"That's weird. But anyway, behold, me new boutique." Everyone stopped and looked at the new building. Everyone looked at it in awe. It looked like more pristine than the one in Ponyville and felt more homely to the elite. Everyone went inside and looked around.

"I take it from your reaction that you like the boutique?" Rarity asked/

"It's lovely." Fluttershy said in her shy tone.

"Gosh Rarity," Applejack added. "I know hard work when I see it, and it looks like you worked yourself to the nub."

"Despite my hooves not being real nubby, I worked really hard. Although I couldn't have done anything in time without the help of my new manager, Sassy Saddles." Rarity introduced.

Just then, Sassy saddles walked in, and when she saw rarity, she smiled. "Bust my buttons Rarity, the ponies from Ponyville."

Twilight and her friends said hi and Sassy Saddles smiled warmly. However, her smile faded when she noticed Spike standing near the ponies, eagerly watching the introduction.

Sassy's expression turned sour. "Is that a dragon?" she asked, her voice dripping with disdain. "What is that doing here?"

Spike's face fell, and all eyes fell on Sassy Saddles. Twilight stepped forward, her expression one of confusion and concern. "Sassy, Spike is my friend. He's helped Rarity countless times and is a member of our group."

Sassy Saddles sniffed disdainfully. "Well, this is a high-class establishment, and I'm afraid a dragon just doesn't fit in here. I'm going to have to ask him to leave."

Rarity's eyes widened in shock. "Sassy, that's unacceptable! Spike is a dear friend and has done nothing wrong."

But Sassy Saddles stood firm, her expression unwavering. "I'm sorry, Rarity, but I must insist. The boutique's image is at stake."

Twilight, clearly upset, looked around at her friends for support. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all seemed torn, unsure of how to respond to this sudden turn of events.

Twilight sighed heavily. "Spike," she said, her voice filled with regret. "Maybe it's best if you wait outside for now."

Spike's eyes welled up with tears, but he nodded bravely. "It's okay, Twilight. I'll be fine." He turned and walked out of the boutique, his head hanging low.

Spike walked out of the boutique and to the train station where he got on a train and left to Ponyville, his head down the entire way.

On the train, he looked out the window and looked at Canterlot. "I knew it was too good to be true."

He travelled back to Ponyville and got off the train to go back to the castle. However, his head was down, so he wasn't able to see where he was going, and he bumped into a small pink filly with a tiara. She looked at him with anger and disdain.

"Watch where you're going lizard." she shouted.

"I'm sorry about bumping into you. I was just heading home." Spike told her

"I can guess, the princess didn't want you around her so she had to send you home, is that it?"

"No, she would have kept me around but sassy saddles didn't like me." Spike told her.

"If so then she would have defended you at least a little. She didn't want you around her, you lizard. Heh, like any princess would want you as a friend. You're so worthless that even your own parents abandoned you."

Spike's heart sank even further at Diamond Tiara's words. He didn't want to cry in front of her, so he quickly walked past her and headed back to the castle. The walk felt longer than usual, each step weighed down by the hurtful comments and the cold reality of Sassy Saddle's rejection.

When Spike finally reached the castle, he went straight to his room, closing the door behind him. He sat on his bed, staring at the floor, feeling more alone than ever. "What even did happen to my parents? Was Timor right? Did they really just abandon me because I was weak?"

Author's Note

Poor Spike. It's hard to be a dragon in a pony world.