The next day, Spike was finally discharged from the hospital and was on the first train back to Ponyville. Pinkie, of course, hurried home ahead of everypony to set up a "Spike's Coming Home From the Hospital" party. Unfortunately, due to the situation in Dragonia, Celestia and Luna had to stay in Canterlot just in case any more information came out. Spike was bummed out by this since he wouldn't have to chance to find out what Celestia was dreaming about that caused her to cry last night.

On the train, Spike sat next to Fluttershy who wrapped her arms around his. The two were looking out the window and quickly noticed that the train was slowing down for some reason; Twilight and the others noticing it as well. "I wonder why we're slowing down?" Twilight asked.

"Probably something on the tracks." Rainbow suggested. "I'll go check it out." Rainbow headed for the door just as the train came to a complete stop and flew out. She was gone for only a few seconds before returning. "Um, guys, we may have a bit of a problem." she said.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Come with me." she said.

Everypony exited the train and were shocked to see a massive herd of cows in front of them. They were everywhere; all over the tracks, around the train, some even making their way inside the train. They were surrounded. "Where in Equestria did they come from?" asked Starlight.

"Is there some kind of cow farm nearby?" asked Rarity.

"Whateva' the case, we best be roundin' these varmints up." said Applejack. Right as everypony started to get to work rounding up all the cows, Spike was suddenly engulfed in a purple aura; unable to move.

"Seriously, Twilight?" he said.

"Sorry, Spike, but you're just getting out of the hospital, and I don't wanna run the risk of you possible getting hurt again." she said. Without giving Spike a change to argue his case, Twilight waved her hand and sent the dragon floating back into the passenger car. Once inside, the purple aura disappeared and Spike groaned in aggravation. "Hate it when she does that." he said as he crossed his arms. Spike stayed behind in the car and waited for them; knowing that if he ventures out again, Twilight would just teleport him back inside. He had no way to defend himself from her magic once she uses it on him. Everytime that happens, he has no choice but to let it run its course. Spike sat there for a while before heading over towards Twilight's bag and looking through it. He pulled out a pen and paper and wrote a letter to Luna; telling her that he wishes to talk to her later on once she's free. His plan was to talk to her about Celestia's dream last night and if she knows anything about it.

An unknown about of time passed before Twilight and the others returned. "Well that took up and unnecessary amount of time." Rarity said as she took her seat. "Ugh, and don't get me started on that farmer."

"What happened?" Spike asked.

"The cows belonged to a farmer who claims the railroad runs through his land, and therefore we're on his property." Starlight explained. "We tried to explain to him that if it were true then he should take it up with Celestia, but he refused to hear it."

"Took us forever to convince him to let us through." Twilight said as she sat next to Spike. "Tomorrow, I have to look through the property line and see if the railroad was illegally placed on his land or not." Moments later, the train started to make its way towards its destination; much to the delight of the mares. The faster they get to Ponyville, the better.

****************************

After the train pulled into the station, everypony was confronted by Pinkie Pie who had an annoyed look on her face. "Where were you?!" she half yelled. "Everypony's waiting!" With no chance to respond, Pinkie grabbed Spike's hand and took off running with him at full speed; kicking up a huge pile of dust in the process. Pinkie ran through the town with Spike's flying behind her before coming to a stop in front of Sugar Cube Corner where everypony greeted him. The entire town of Ponyville was here; cheering Spike's name as the poor dragon tried to shake off the dizziness after the ordeal with Pinkie. When he finally got his head right, the first thing he noticed was the massive array of all of his favorite foods in front of him. With his mouth watered, he moved like a being possessed and quickly began stuffing his face; everypony amused at his antics.

A few minutes passed before Twilight and the others finally arrived and joined in on the celebration. Music, dancing, and laughter filled the entire town all day as everypony celebrated their town finally be whole again with Spike's return. The party lasted until the sun began to go down, and it was time to start cleaning things up. Spike wanted to help, but since he was the guest of honor, he was forbidden to do so. Instead, Mrs. Cake gifted him, with a huge plate of his favorite cheese filled pretzels. How was he gonna say no to that? Spike was about to start eating, but was stopped when he burped up a letter. It was from Luna; telling him to meet her at the Friendship Castle.

Making himself scarce, Spike left the party and headed over to the castle. It took him a while, but he finally got there; entering it and seeing Luna standing in the hall waiting for him. She headed over to him and hugged him before breaking away. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked.

"It's about mom." he said. "Last night she was crying in her sleep, and wondered if you knew what it was she was dreaming about."

"Oh...that." Luna said as lowered her head a bit. "She's been like this ever since she brought you to the hospital two months ago. Celestia has been reliving all the past events that's happened to lately and she blames herself for not protecting you like she should've."

"But it's not her fault." Spike said. "Everything just sorta happened."

"I tried telling her that, but the nightmares keep coming." Luna explained.

"What if I were to convince her?" Spike suggested. "Let me into her dreams tonight, and i'll help confront whatever nightmares she's facing." Luna smiled at Spike's request, but was unsure how he would be able to help. Still, better the two of them than just her.

"Okay, Spike, tonight whenever you go to sleep, i'll bring you over to Celestia's dreams." she said. "Maybe seeing you there, will bring her some peace of mind." With that agreement, it was time for Luna go and prepare; telling Spike that she'll be waiting for him. With a flicker of her horn, the princess of the night vanished; leaving Spike to his own devices. As he started to leave, a saddening thought entered his mind. Eventually, he was going to have to let Luna go just like he did Pinkie. Not only was she his aunt, but she was also his mate. It would be a real scandal if the nobles of Canterlot ever found it. Maybe he could get away with Celestia seeing as how she's was always all over him even before all of this, but Luna would raise suspicion; at least that's what he thought. "Maybe I should let them go, it would spare their reputation at least." he thought. At that point, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Just thinking about releasing Celestia and Luna was causing him to feel heartbroken and depressed. The feeling worsen as thoughts of Twilight and the others started to plague his mind as well. He started to uncontrolably imagine all of them leaving him for somepony better than him; somepony who could actually give them foals. It was then that Spike was given a horrible reminder, that he could never give them children. Who would want to be with somepony who couldn't give them that? He could hear them cursing his name and laughing as one by one they left him alone.

He heard a voice calling to him. It was feint, it sounded familiar. The voice continued to call out to him; getting louder and louder until he lifted up his head and saw Twilight looking down at him. "Spike, are you okay?!" she asked.

"Huh, w-what?" Spike said as he looked around. He quickly noticed that he was on the floor and his face was wet from the river of tears streaming from his eyes. He moved to sit up just as Twilight kneeled down to confront him. "What happened, Spike?" she asked. "It was all those pretzels wasn't it?! UGH! I knew letting you eat all those was a bad idea!" Twilight encased Spike within a purple aura and levitated him up from the floor. "I'm taking you to bed." she said as she started walking with him.

"W-Whoa, Twilight wait!" Spike protested, but his voice fell on deaf ears.

****************************

Spike groaned as he suddenly found himself within a blue void where he was surrounded by multiple projections of ponies in weird situations. "I'm must be in the dream realm." he said. "Dammit Twilight, you didn't have to force me to drink that whole bottle."

"What bottle?" came a familiar voice.

Spike looked up and saw Luna descending down in front of him. Spike moved to his feet, albeit a bit wobbly, to greet her. "Oh, Twilight thought I had a stomach ache and forced fed me some medicine." he explained. "As you can see, it knocked me out."

Luna chuckled. "Well, you can't say she doesn't look out for your best interest."

"Yeah, well, sometimes I wish she didn't." he replied. The two of the shared a chuckle before their attention was grabbed by a projection that showed Celestia standing in the middle of the throne room. Luna and Spike looked at each other and nodded before going through. The pair landed within the throne room right around the same time Atomsk appeared. The Dragon Lord released a powerful roar before blowing a large wave of fire at the princess. Celestia quickly put both hands up and created a barrier; blocking the attack.

"I told you before, Celestia, all of this happened because you failed to raise that dragon properly!" he said before releasing another wave.

Y-Your wrong!" she countered. "I raised Spike the best way I could!"

At that point, Goliath and Amethyst appeared on the side of Celestia. "Apparently, your best wasn't good enough." Goliath taunted.He couldn't even tell that Amethyst was taken, and because of that, got what he deserved."

"S-SHUT UP!" Celestia scream as she unleashed a wave of magic that caused the two of them to disappear. However, appearing right behind her, was none other that Stargazer. Celestia turned around only to have him grab her by the neck and hold her up.

"Like I told you, you should've left him alone to die on that rock you found him on." he said. "We all would've been better off for it."

*POW*

With no warning, Stargazer was sent flying as Celestia fell to her knees. She coughed for a while; catching her breath before looking and seeing Spike standing in front of her with the deadliest glare he could muster. Spike was in full protective mode now; ready to fight to defend his mate's honor. Stargazer stood up and looked at Spike with a smirk. "Speak of the devil." he said.

"I won't let you hurt her." he growled.

"Then i'll just hurt you instead." Stargazer replied before launching himself towards the dragon. At that point, Luna blasted the unicorn into the wall and moved to her sister's side.

"On your feet, sister." she said.

"L-Luna." she said as she slowly stood up. Right then, Amethyst and Goliath appeared right in front of Spike. This caused the dragon to have all kinds of negative flashbacks to that dreadful night, however, Spike was able to shake it off and focus on them. They weren't real, just images in Celestia's head, which means he can do this. With a deep breath, Spike blew the biggest wave of fire he could at them. Seeing them engulf within it before fading away was satisfying to Spike, however, that wouldn't last long as Atomsk appeared right behind him and grabbed him by the neck.

"SPIKE!" Celestia yelled as the Dragon Lord confronted her.

"Look at him, Celestia." he said. "Instead of being a fierce dragon, he's a weak scrawny lizard with no real future. He would've been better off with his own kind, at least with us, all of the horrible things that's happened to him would've been prevented."

"Y-You're wrong!" Spike objected. "She gave me a home when I was thrown out like trash, cared for me when others didn't, raised me when my so called birth parents refused to do so! So what if I was betrayed and attacked by your daughter and Goliath. She might not have been able to prevent it, but when I needed her she was right there for me! SHE'S DONE MORE FOR ME THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!" Spike's speech caused something to snap inside Celestia, and before anyone knew it, she standing right in front of Atomsk with a hand around his neck; her anger reaching levels she never thought possible.

"Let go of him." she growled. As she squeezed his neck, Atomsk was forced to release Spike so he could attempt to get away from Celestia's grasp; to no avail. Celestia's eyes started to change color to a black hue as her pupils started to glow yellow; her rainbow flowing mane and tail changing to resemble that of fire. It was like she was a whole different pony; one that shocked Spike. This was the second time he'd seen her like this the first being way back when he was small. He doesn't remember much of what happened that day; all he knew was that Celestia was beyond terrifying. For Celestia, this was the third time she'd taken on this form; with the most recent time being after Spike's attack when she melted the ice caps. A fiery aura began to surround her body as she and Atomsk rose into the air. "I may not know much about dragons, and I may not be the perfect mother to Spike, but I will NOT allow you to hurt him!" In one move, Celestia threw Atomsk across the throne room just as Stargazer appeared before her. She didn't give him a chance to do anything. With a snap of her fingers, Stargazer was engulfed in flames, just like he was at his execution, and fell to the floor writhing in pain. With him out of the way, the princess turned her attention towards the two dragons that caused Spike the most pain; Amethyst and Goliath. Spreading his wings, Goliath charged at Celestia who readied for a counter attack, however, that was plan came to a halt as Atomsk appeared right behind her and grabbed her.

Just as Goliath was about to attack, Spike came up on side of him full speed with a steel baseball bat forming his claws. Putting everything into his attack, Spike struck Goliath in the head; sending him flying off and giving Celestia enough time to break free from Atomsk's grasp. The Dragon Lord was quickly encased within a purple barrier by Luna then pulled away. Spike stood looking at Goliath with a satisfied smile on his face. "This may not be accurate, but call that payback." he said.

Having enough of this, Celestia used her magic to gather all three dragons together in one spot while preparing for a final attack. Looking up, Amethyst had one final thing to say. "You ponies are doing more harm than good." she growled. "You know damn well that no amount of pony magic can allow you to procreate with a dragon. What pony would want to be with someone who can't give them children?!" Celestia, unable to keep it in any longer, unleashed a powerful wave of fiery magic upon them; their screams of agony filled the entire room as they faded away.

Celestia reverted back to normal and turned her attention towards Spike. She immediately went over to him and held him tight; naturally burying his face between her boobs. His speech earlier turned out to be the reassurance she needed. Yeah, she still felt terrible for not preventing all of the bad things from happening to him, but at least he's here and he's okay. Moments later, the entire surrounding started to change and the trio found themselves standing in the blue dream void. "Oh, Spike, I love you." Celestia said as her embrace tighten. Spike could only give out a muffled response, but Celestia knew what he was saying. Luna walked up behind her sister and placed a hand on her shoulder; causing her to released the hold. Spike inhaled, then exhaled loudly. By now, he was used to having his face buried between those pillows of hers; knowing that it wasn't gonna stop, ever. Celestia won't be having any bad dreams for a while, but there was something in the back of her head that was telling her something else was wrong. She looked and Spike and realized that though he didn't show it, he was upset about something. What that was, she had no idea, but before she could say anything, Spike started to fade away.

"W-What's happening?" she asked with a worried tone.

"Fear not, sister, Spike is just waking up." Luna explained.

Celestia moved closer to Spike and planted a small peck on his forehead. "We'll see you soon, honey.....and.....we'll do something...."special".....together when we do." she said softly before he completely disappeared. After he was gone, Celestia turned towards Luna. "Spike, he appeared to upset about something." she said.

"I've noticed it too." Luna replied. "It would seem that you aren't the only one who needs help."