Twilight Sparkle groaned as she sat down with her morning cup of tea. “Spike,” she said, “you have no idea how sore I am.”

“Nope! I don’t.” Spike placed a plate of pancakes on the library kitchen table. Twilight glared at him, then served herself.

“It was like the blind leading the blind,” she recalled. “And pretty literally, with how bright the streets were.” Twilight paused, the fork in front of her mouth. “How did you not think a spiked stone book was bad news?”

Spike shrugged.

Twilight rolled her eyes and put the piece of pancake in her mouth.

The table became silent, excepting the sounds of eating and the clock ticking.

“Spike,” Twilight finally said, “I’m curious. What were the words of the spell, exactly?”

Her assistant scrunched up his face in thought. “"From in the...the head to out in the world, every thought to action. Hold close this book and through its spell, you'll start a...chain reaction. Projecting forth whatever beauty you see. Only when true words are spoken will you finally be set free.” He burped.

Twilight was about to admonish Spike for burping, but she fell silent as a green tendril wrapped itself around Spike, who looked at the pancakes with new interest. With the sound of little bells, and Spike’s eyes glowing a bright green, the pancakes became gems. Spike popped a few into his mouth.

“What?” he said, seeing Twilight stare at him.

“Did you just‒?”

“Use the same spell Rarity used? Yes.”

When Twilight said nothing, Spike’s eyes turned bright green again, and a gem cage appeared around the alicorn and her chair.

“Don’t bother using magic,” Spike said. “I thought of a magic-repellent gem cage, and there it is!”

Twilight sighed.

The library door creaked open. "Twilight?" a small voice called. "Ah need t' borrow a book fer school." When nopony replied, Apple Bloom peeked in. "Twilight?"

"Kitchen!"

Apple Bloom shut the door behind her and walked into the kitchen. "Twilight? Why're you in a cage of gems?"

"Spike's fault."

"How?"

Twilight sighed. "You know how the streets were blinding gold yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"The same dark magic that caused that has somehow infected Spike, and he created a gem cage so he..." She paused. "Come to think of it, I don't know what his intentions are. I fell asleep soon after he created the cage. Regardless, I need to get out."

Apple Bloom's eyes lit up with an idea, and she turned, readying her stance like Applejack would.

Twilight tapped a single gem, and the whole cage fell apart. "Huh. We'll wha'd'ya kno‒ Ow!"

The farm filly had tried to buck the cage, but it came seconds late and hit Twilight on the side of her head. "Ah'm so sorry, Twilight! Ah didn't mean to!"

“It’s okay,” Twilight said, rubbing the side of her head. “Your legs were already in motion.” She stood, dispelled the dark magic gems, and looked across the table. “Darn it!”

"What?"

“Spike’s not here.”

“Yeah…?”

“Who knows where he could be?!”

The door flung open and a pony skidded in, stopping just before crashing into the bookshelves. “House...gem...ponies...trapped,” he panted, and collapsed.

Twilight answered her own question, saying, “We do now.” She ran outside, and Apple Bloom followed seconds later, closing the door behind them.

They didn’t have to go far before they nearly literally ran into Spike, who was licking his lips.

“Spike, where are the ponies?” Twilight asked.

“They were in the way of the gem, so I ate around them,” he said nonchalantly.

Twilight’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Stay here!” she yelled to Apple Bloom over her shoulder as she galloped away.

“So, uh…” Apple Bloom felt her bow become heavy. She put her hoof on it. “Hey! Turn mah bow back int’ a bow! I don’ appreciate having it turned int’ a gem!”

Spike shrugged. “Suit yourself.” His eyes grew bright green, and the bow was light again. "And it looked so tasty, too."

It was ten more minutes before Twilight came back. “You’re lucky Cadence and Princess Luna were still in town,” she told Spike. “Otherwise it would have been a lot longer.” She levitated him onto her back. “C’mon, Apple Bloom. We’ll go back to the library and get you your book.”

They didn’t get more than thirty paces before a large gem erupted from the ground. “Spiiike!” Twilight complained.

“Sorry, Twilight,” Spike said, jumping off, “a dragon’s gotta eat.”

As he started gnawing at the gem, something popped into Twilight’s brain. Only when true words are spoken will you finally be set free. “Spike?”

He turned to face her. “Yeah?”

“You are being selfish and you will eventually get out of control.” When nothing happened, Twilight groaned. “Why didn’t it work?!”

Spike pointed to his belly. "The book's being digested, so the magic associated with it may be going away as well, and the magic knows it."

"Of course!" Twilight began to pace. "The gastric acids are dissolving the book, and the magic properties of a dragon are breaking down the bond between the book and the magic!" She stopped pacing. "But the spell itself is what causes it, not the book, from what you've told me."

Spike shrugged. "It's connected to the book, maybe as a source. All I know for certain is that it didn't work because the magic is going to dissipate regardless."

"Ah have no clue what just happened," Apple Bloom said.

"Apple Bloom, why don't you go home," Twilight said to her. "We'll get you the book you need tomorrow. I have no idea how long this process is going to take."

"Alrighty, Twilight. See ya tomorrow!" Apple Bloom trotted in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Something shook Twilight awake. She mumbled, “No, Mom, I’m sick. Don’t make me get up…”

“Twilight.”

That’s not my mom’s voice. Blearily, Twilight opened her eyes. Where am I? She stared up into the face of Spike, and it came rushing back to her. She got up from where she laid on the ground and looked into the night sky. “Spike, what time is it?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Twilight, what am I doing out here?”

Twilight spun around. “You don’t know where you are?”

“No.”

“Quickly,” Twilight said excitedly, “think of something.”

“Okay.”

A few moments went by, and nothing happened. “Yay!" Twilight cried, scooping Spike into a hug and spinning." You’re back to normal!”

"Normal from‒" Spike suppressed the urge to vomit. "Normal from what?"

"The spell!" Twilight stoped spinning and levitated Spike in front of her. "Oh, it was all my fault. I'm the one who made you say the spell. It's a good thing nothing overly awful happened."

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike pointed behind her. She turned to see a small group of twenty or thrity ponies coming towards them with torches and angry expressions.

"This can't be good."