Spike lay awake next to Rarity, staring out the window as the sun slowly rose. He didn’t have the same comfort he’d had the morning before. His sleep had been sporadic. He’d constantly had short dreams of his castle as the royal dragon with servants delivering him gems to eat on his throne, and then he would wake up with a gasp, feeling terrified, like there was some other dream that would overtake the first, but which he couldn't remember. And each time he woke he remembered those words from Twilight.
Even if the gem could work twice on the same pony…
When she said it, Twilight had been busy, tired from a scattered sleep cycle. She could have misspoken. If so, then everything was fine. If she hadn’t, then what Spike had witnessed five nights ago didn’t make sense. If the gem only gave wisdom and insight once, then Rarity shouldn’t have felt any different on the second exposure. And that would mean Rarity was lying to him. And it would mean Twilight was lying, or at least not pointing out the obvious contradiction. And she would never do that, unless the gem had changed them in some way.
Each time Spike’s mind reached for that conclusion he batted it away, convincing himself it was crazy. If the gem had altered Rarity and Twilight to tell lies, then that meant that Celestia and Luna had been changed and manipulated too. Twilight had defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis. How could she and Celestia and Luna be tricked and controlled by...lemurs of all things? Those thoughts continued to spin around his head, and the only way Spike was going to settle things was to look at Twilight’s notes.
“Mmm, good morning Spikey.” Rarity shifted over and lightly nuzzled his cheek. “Could you make some coffee and more of those pancakes? It’s going to be a long long day.”
“Of course.” Spike smiled reassuringly. Doing something for Rarity helped settle some of his anxiety, and he was happy for the distraction. He walked over to the kitchen to get breakfast started while Rarity freshened up and soon they both had an ample supply of pancakes. Spike picked at his slowly, finding he didn’t have much of an appetite. Rarity ate ravenously, which for her still ended up being a very refined, slow pace. In between bites she went over the plans for the day.
“So Spike, as you know with the coronation, I’ll be busy all day making sure the alicorns and lemurs have their outfits fitted just right. I’ll be helping to manage their walk towards the stage and can’t sit with you during the coronation. Ohh but we’ll have a wonderful time at the ball afterwards. I managed to make some matching outfits for us. We’ll make such a dazzling pair.”
“Uh..yeah that sounds really great.” Spike picked at another piece of pancake that was now getting a little soggy from sitting in syrup too long. He looked up momentarily as one part of Rarity’s words caught his attention. “So, Twilight will be here most of the day for clothes?”
“Yes, they’ll all be here for the fitting and then we should arrive just in time to watch the play being put on by the children. Sweetie Belle is quite excited about that. She gets to be the narrator and important people from all over Equestria will be attending. Once you finish your Royal Dragon duties you can head back here and wait until then. Though I won’t be able to sit with you, the procession to the stage for the coronation is a bit like a runway and I’ve insisted on being there to make sure everything goes just right.
Spike nodded slowly, thinking over the most important detail. Twilight would be out of the library most of the day. “My duties might run a little long today. So I might just head straight to the coronation. And we can meet up after.”
“I completely understand. If you would be short on time any day it would be today.”
Spike worked through his dragon duties as quickly as he could. If his worst fears were correct, it would be dangerous to suddenly stop attending and raise suspicion. Thankfully he had the perfect excuse; he was in a hurry because it was coronation day. The word was like a magic spell. Of course Spike would be short on time today, who wasn’t? He settled for just a quick inspection of the steam room at the spa and wolfed down the confection Pinkie had prepared him. That had been the hardest thing to rush because she’d made an amazing ruby creme brulee. Thanks to his haste, he was able to get to Twilight’s library with an hour to spare before he’d be expected at the coronation.
Twilight had left for the fitting and the door was locked, but Spike knew the windows were always unlocked so Owlowiscious could get inside, though he hadn't seen the owl in the past few days. He climbed in through the nearest window with a little effort and unlocked the door from the inside as a precaution. If someone did walk in on him, finding him alone in a locked house would raise all sorts of suspicion.
Twilight’s notes were at her desk. The wooden chest that had been the gem’s home sat next to the desk, locked up tight, presumably with the gem inside. It was tempting to have another up close look at the gem, not that Spike could learn anything from it. Besides, there was no way to get into the chest without breaking it open and the whole point of this trip was to be discreet.
Spike sat at the desk and picked up the first scroll. Twilight’s notes were always well organized and incredibly thorough. Research notes were also in order of experiments performed, and there was no telling when Twilight may have examined ponies being re-exposed. The first two scrolls were all descriptions of the physical and magical properties of the gem, refractive index, weight, color, luminosity when the gem energized, and every other imaginable detail.
The next few scrolls covered her initial testing on how the magical field was generated. The gem seemed to channel magical energy into projecting its power. The periodic light incidents were from the gem absorbing the natural background magic that existed in nature. The gem could be made to shine on command when extra magic was channeled into it, but only alicorn magic was capable of turning the light into a magical field.
Only after those details were fully understood did the notes turn to the impact of the magic. There were comments bemoaning the lack of ponies that had not seen the light yet, but no reference to testing the light on already exposed ponies. Twilight had done direct examinations of ponies and other creatures. She’d discovered traces of the same magic from the gem existing inside ponies who had seen the gem or been in the magic field. The magical signature inside ponies had a strange periodic fluctuation, punctuated by the pony’s eyes temporarily turning green. Spike had seen the green shift happen a couple times in the past few days, but it had been very rare and was certainly not the strangest thing he'd seen magic do, even beneficial magic.
Next were five scrolls diving into the minor differences in the gem magic between earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. The periodic eye change seemed to happen more in unicorns than the others, and even faster in herself, Luna, and Celestia. Her best theory was all ponies were magically linked to the gem and the link was partially sustained by each pony’s magic so different levels of magic corresponded to different signatures.
In this section there was one reference to reusing the gem on ponies who had already seen it. It noted that the magical signature inside the pony didn’t seem to change at all. Could that be what Twilight meant? It was possible the magic signature didn’t change, but that repeated views could offer more wisdom and insight, and the night with Rarity would still make sense. If this was the only reference to reusing the gem on ponies, it would be a huge relief. Though right after the reference to unchanged magical signatures was a somewhat ominous passage:
Made spell that keeps track of my eye color shifts. The rate is slowly increasing along a linear curve. If this holds consistent, my eyes will be green one hundred percent of the time in approximately a week. Possible second stage to magic? Possible link to gem becomes superfluous?
There was a little graph where Twilight had charted the changes. The idea that eventually the alicorns or perhaps all ponies would have green eyes all the time made it seem a bit less like an odd rare distraction. Spike was about to reach for the next scroll when he heard the click of someone at the door sliding a key in. Spike quickly tossed the scroll back down, hopped off the desk and turned to look like he was staring at books on the shelf.
The door clicked again as the figure outside discovered the door wasn’t locked after all, and then opened. “Oh, ah, Spike. I didn’t expect you here.” It was Meerca, the ‘High Scholar’ that had been spending so much time with Twilight. He still had the black mustache that Twilight had created for him, making him easy to recognize. He currently was wearing a long white cape that draped about two feet behind him and a cylindrical hat half as tall as he was with several tassels along the top that fluttered around as he walked.
“Oh, hello. I was coming to check on Twilight. The door was unlocked, but I guess she isn’t home.”
“Yes, she is getting ready for the coronation. We are making some last minute adjustments to the Prince’s outfit and I came back to get some designs I left here.”
“Well, like I said, I was here to check on her.” Spike said with an innocent smile, “But if she’s off getting dressed, I guess there isn’t anything more to do here.” He stopped, hoping Meerca would just nod and turn around to leave him to the rest of the papers.
“Yes yes, that’s true. Would you like me to escort you to the coronation then, Spike? I know the Royal Dragon’s presence will help inspire confidence.”
Spike hadn’t finished his search of Twilight's notes, but there was no way he could insist he stay in an empty room without raising suspicion. He agreed and once Meerca had found the designs he sought, they were walking towards the mayor's building in the town square just like they had that first day he’d returned from the castle of the two sisters.
“You know Spike, the coronation has left us all very busy. Yes, quite strapped for time. But once everything is finished tonight we’ll have time to take care of certain oversights. We should talk more tomorrow about your role as the Royal Dragon. You’ll need your own castle with some servants eventually, of course.”
“My own...really?” Spike looked back at him, caught by surprise at the topic.
“Oh, definitely, definitely. It doesn’t do to have a title without all the rightful privileges. Tomorrow, how about we sit down and discuss possible designs for your castle, and if there are some ponies you believe would make good additions to it?”
“Uhhh, right. Sure. Tomorrow then.”
“Splendid, splendid. I’ll look forward to the meeting.”
They arrived at the town square, where a wide stage had been erected for the coronation. A wooden archway had been set up behind the stage holding up a black sheet. There were various pulleys and some stage lights hanging from the top of the arch that Spike assumed were for the upcoming play. It was still mid-afternoon and the play would be relying on natural sunlight, but it was obvious there were a few effects involved.
Rows of chairs had been set up in front of the stage for the audience, with a long aisle left open down the middle for Celestia and the others to use during the coronation. It seemed like most of Ponyville had already arrived in anticipation as very few chairs were still available. Luckily, up at the very front near the stage was a chair reserved for him, nearby representatives from Canterlot, Fillydelphia, and Manehattan. All were VIP’s, up front to witness the unification of Lemuria and Equestria. Spike was apparently one of them now, the Royal Dragon, important in his own way.
For the first time that day, he felt a little sense that maybe everything was going to be alright. He could look at the rest of Twilight’s notes, and perhaps he would be able to confirm that Twilight was just talking about magical signatures, and everything was actually fine. And then he’d be safe, and have a castle and servants, like he’d dreamed.
Wait…
More like exactly as he’d dreamed. Those had been his dreams the previous night. And suddenly the lemurs were telling him he was owed a castle all along. It seemed more likely they were reacting to his own desires. He’d never mentioned the castle to anyone, but Luna could have seen it in his dreams. To tell someone else about what he was dreaming about would have been a gross violation of Luna’s ethics. But if lemurs told her to, would she break that trust? And if she would do that, what request would ponies say no to?
Before Spike could ruminate any further, a horn blared to indicate the play was about to begin. Sweetie Belle walked up on stage, dressed in a costume to make her look like a lemur with light gray fabric and a fuzzy ringed tail slipped on top of her own. “Behold, I bring the words of the great Lemurian histories of ages past!” She cried out, projecting her words to the whole gathering, partially aided by sound amplification spells. “Tens of thousands of years ago, when pony-kind was still wild, sleeping in the open air, the mighty kingdom of Lemuria was the heart of civilization!”
Sweetie Belle moved to the side of the stage as various ponies in lemur costumes began to wander around holding hammers, hoes, and other assorted tools. Some of the actors with hammers and chisels moved to stage left and waved their tools vaguely around. In response, a wall of cardboard was pulled up in the background, painted to resemble a huge city with a giant step pyramid in the center. At stage right, the actors waved farm tools around and another cardboard backdrop rose up showing farmland and orchards.
The lemur-workers started to walk randomly back and forth as Diamond Tiara and Pip wandered onto stage, both also dressed as lemurs. Pip wore a paper-mâché crown painted yellow and Diamond Tiara had on a large cylindrical hat similar to the one Meerca had been wearing earlier.
“Oh my King Manna, is not Lemuria a beacon of peace and prosperity?” Diamond Tiara yelled out while putting a huge smile on her face, doing her best to chew up the scenery with every line of dialog.
“Yes, truly it is.” Pip replied with a slightly choppy delivery. “But it is too bad that we can not expand our civilization further, with such ravenous beasts at our borders. If only we could grant them the same peace we have made for ourselves.”
“Hmmm.” Silver spoon said at the top of her lungs. “I’m sure we can find something that can help us with that.” They both walked off stage and for a moment no one was there except Sweetie Belle off to the side.
She continued to narrate, “Hoping to spread their accomplishments, the greatest scholars and mages worked tirelessly until they had the answer, the Gem’s of Tranquility!”
Diamond Tiara returned on stage along with background lemurs doing more aimless wandering. She held up three cardboard cutouts painted to look like gems and covered in glitter. One was red, one blue, and one yellow. “Finally, with these gems, we can bring civilization to the whole world.” She set down two of the gems and held out the red one.
Another pony suddenly leapt onto the stage dressed in a tan brown costume with two giant fangs glued close to his muzzle. He leapt around growling menacingly, scaring the background lemurs away before staring at Diamond Tiara and approaching.
“Savage saber-toothed tiger.” Diamond Tiara declared, “Too long have you lived as a brute in the jungle. We can give you the gift of tranquility. From now on you may serve a higher purpose, guarding those who cannot guard themselves.” Diamond Tiara raised the gem up even higher. One of the stage lights shined on the gem in a tight focus, making the glitter sparkle for the audience. The saber-toothed tiger stopped growling and instead bowed to Diamond Tiara.
“Amazing!” Pip said, staggering onto the stage from the left. “You have tamed the ferocious tiger!”
“Yes,” she replied happily, “With the magic of the Gems of Tranquility, all may be given the same gift. For each gem we can bring peace to another people.”
Now Scootaloo appeared on stage, dressed to look like a griffon. She began to growl and jump around in much the same way as the saber-toothed tiger, scaring the background lemurs. Diamond Tiara picked up the second cardboard gem, this one blue.
“Greedy griffon, too long have you cheated and stolen your way through life. We give you the gift of tranquility. From now on you may serve a higher purpose, tilling the soil and working for the greater good of all.” The stage lights made the gem glitter and Scootaloo moved next to the saber-toothed tiger and bowed.
Another pony came on stage. Their costume consisted of a mask of a bearded creature with a flat broad face and nose along with two extra appendages that looked like the arms and hands of lemurs but were designed to look bulkier. Spike wasn’t sure what the creature was supposed to be. This third pony did the same as the ones before, growling and running around.
“Wild centaur! Too long have you roamed without purpose. We give you the gift of tranquility. From now on you may serve a higher purpose, transporting others where they need to go.” Diamond Tiara held up the yellow gem-prop and the third creature bowed before her. Then the tiger moved to stand beside Diamond Tiara, while one of the background lemurs handed Scootaloo the griffon a trowel for farming, and two other background lemurs walked up and attached a prop-cart to the back of the centaur so it could give people rides. The background lemurs put down the rest of their tools and all shouted ‘hurrah’ together.
Diamond Tiara put the three gems on a pedestal brought out by two background lemurs while Sweetie Belle continued her narration. “And so the lemurs gave peace and civilization to all creatures they found. Over time, more gems were made to give the gift to every creature the lemurs could find. With each new gem the power and peace only expanded. Until one day…”
Diamond Tiara was now alone center stage admiring the gems. Pip entered from the left, running up to Diamond Tiara. “Oh High Scholar,” He said, “We have brought peace to so many creatures since your great great great grandfather made the first of the Gems of Tranquility. But still there is one creature we have never been able to give this gift to.”
“Yes, the winged demons.” Diamond Tiara replied, “They are the most dangerous and evil race there is. They are more savage than a saber-toothed tiger, more greedy than a griffon, more wild than a centaur. But I am sure we can grant even them with tranquility. All it takes is time and research. I will begin to make a new gem right away.”
Both walked off stage and Sweetie Belle continued narrating. “But the winged demons learned of what the lemurs were trying to do, and they brought their evil wrath.” Background lemurs suddenly started running across the stage in fear and the stage lights shined purple on the backdrops as a new cardboard cutout began to drift across the background, showing vague winged figures.
“Noooo,” Diamond Tiara cried out as she appeared on stage, “The demons have come to stop us. Their evil power rains down from the sky!” Small fireworks began to go off from the winged figures, giving puffs of blue flame. Red puffs of flame rose up from the bottom of the city backdrop and the whole city backdrop slowly lowered away, indicating the city was destroyed. The creatures continued to move and the farmland backdrop shared the same fate.
Finally the three cardboard gems on stage were ripped in half while the sound of glass shattering was heard from the background.
“Noooo, they have destroyed everything.” Diamond Tiara wailed, “The gems, our city, all civilization has been ruined.”
The rest of the crowd oohed and ahhed with the pyrotechnics, but Spike sat silently with the bottom falling out of his stomach. Winged creatures raining fire from the sky? Why call them demons? It was obvious they were dragons.
A new backdrop was pulled up, showing only rubble and wild trees with yellow-orange fruits. The dragons had apparently blasted the lemurs back to the stone age. Diamond Tiara stood alone at center stage. “Oh woe, we only wished to bring peace to the world. We have instead found ruin. Without the sacred texts, we cannot even remake the Gems of Tranquility. All is lost.”
Forlorn looking lemurs wandered around the stage with their original tools, waving them ineffectually as Sweetie Belle resumed narration. “And so the demons destroyed all the great works of Lemuria and for thousands of years, there was great suffering as all tried to rebuild, but nothing could ever reach the greatness of Old Lemuria.” Sweetie Belle paused, letting those words hang in the air for a few seconds. “But not all was lost!” She cried out.
One of the background lemurs waved a pick-ax around, and then stepped back in mock surprise. “What is this?” A green gem slid up from the backdrop into view.
“Not all the gems had been destroyed.” Sweetie Belle declared, “One remained, lost for a thousand generations.”
Diamond Tiara and Pip returned to the stage again. Diamond Tiara gave a stage gasp at the sight of the gem. “Surely this is one of the gems made by my ancestors so many thousand years ago. Yes, this gem was meant for the distant creatures known as ponies. We could bring this to the land of Equestria and bring them the tranquility seen in those ancient days. And perhaps, one day we can bring peace to the whole world!”
“And so Prince Lemma, High Scholar Meerca, and Sir Rington began their quest.” Sweetie Belle cried out. The backdrop fell away to indicate the play had ended and all the ponies cheered while clapping and stomping their hooves. The actors all came on stage to bow, as well as Apple Bloom who had been in the back managing the backdrops and special effects.
Spike stayed in his seat, crestfallen. There was no need to go recheck Twilight’s notes. The play had put together too many pieces. He remembered the book with draconic text sitting back in Twilight’s library. What message about lemurs would a dragon want to write down for others? Perhaps ‘warning, these creatures tried to enslave the world once, be wary.’
Music began to play to officially begin the coronation ceremony. There were cheers as people in the back of the audience saw the alicorns and lemurs approaching down the aisle. Spike looked back towards them and his jaw dropped.
Celestia, Luna, and Twilight trotted slowly towards the stage in single file, hooves in sync as they went. Celestia led the group with Prince Lemma sitting on her back. Lemma was dressed with a huge golden crown that looked like it couldn’t be worn for more than five minutes at a time. His chest was covered in a puffy coat with red satin. He sat on a gold colored saddle strapped around Celestia’s chest. The base of her tail was wrapped in gold ribbon, and she kept it slightly elevated as she trotted forward. Her usual shoes had been replaced with new ones that ran up to cover her hooves and then followed up with more gold ribbon that spiraled up her legs and linked lightly to the saddle. Prince Lemma held the straps of a golden bridle. The straps were gold chain and dotted with citrine crystals. The chains led to a set of blinders and a golden bit held firmly in her mouth. The blinders kept Celestia looking only forward and hid her eyes. Each blinder pad was decorated with sun opals in the shape of Celestia’s cutie mark. Finally, the tip of her horn had been capped with gold, holding a small bell that jingled softly with her steps.
Luna’s outfit was nearly identical, but the gold had all been replaced with silver, citrine with glittering platinum orbs, and her blinders sported moon opals in the shape of Luna’s cutie mark. Sir Rington was on her back, dressed in mock armor made of silk and dotted with flat plates of silver.
Twilight’s outfit was a blend of the other two designs with violet ribbon to match her coat. Her bridle straps were made of both gold and silver linked together. The bells on their three horns all jingled together and for a while it was the only sound in the whole crowd as everyone remained deathly quiet watching the procession. The three alicorns trotted up onto the stage then lowered themselves down close to the floor to make it easier for the lemurs to hop off. Prince Lemma smiled and waved out to the crowd and was instantly met with enthusiastic cheers.
Meerca walked up and began to speak of Lemurian traditions. Celestia, Luna and Twilight remained kneeling on the stage. Once Meerca finished speaking he motioned to Celestia, who stood and walked over to the Prince. Celestia bowed in the same way the actors in the play had. The bit in her mouth gave her voice a slightly odd inflection, but didn't make her any harder to understand. “I, Lady Celestia, offer Equestria to you, Prince Lemma of the wise lemurs. May your wisdom grant us tranquility and prosperity as the King of Equestria.”
The rest of the coronation was a blur of speeches, pronouncements, and signing of documents. Spike had to wait and sit through them all. The whole process felt like it took well over an hour. At the very end, a different golden crown had been placed on Lemma's head. Celestia smiled and spoke out. "May I present King Lemma, ruler of Equestria!" Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all bowed to him and the whole audience followed suit. He waved his hands a moment later to bid them all to stand.
"My precious subjects, thank you for allowing me to guide you to prosperity. I have been told we have a great party planned to celebrate my coronation. There will be food and drink and fireworks and much more. Of course we can't enjoy fireworks properly with the sun still up. So as my first pronouncement, on this day of my coronation, sunset shall occur two hours early."
Celestia simply nodded and the sun began to accelerate and vanished behind the horizon. The moon rose soon after. Lemma motioned and Celestia knelt down to allow him up on her back. "Now everyone get ready for the party and enjoy tonight to its fullest!" Lemma called out.
Luna and Twilight also knelt down and waited for the lemurs to get on their backs. Then all three trotted away the way they'd arrived, marching in the exact same disciplined fashion. They must have practiced it at some point. As soon as the former princesses had made their full exit, everyone began to walk in crisscrosses to their homes to prepare for the night party, which was to be a much more casual affair than the coronation.
Spike got up from his chair and started to maneuver his way passed the countless ponies milling around. Before he got far, he heard Rarity call out. “Ohhh, there you are Spikey. Wasn’t that just an incredible event?” She ran up to him and beamed. “Now, let’s go back to my place and get dressed for the occasion.”
“You don’t have to pretend.” Spike said with a sad tone. “I know you don’t really love me. The lemurs told you pretend you do.”
“I, but….Spike no no, that isn’t how it is at all!” She protested. “The lemurs explained that we’re meant to be together; and while yes I may have confessed those feelings prematurely, I know that I’ll grow to love you very deeply. Arranged marriages are a venerable tradition, you know! Many people wouldn't even meet until their wedding day but would fall in love soon after.”
“Enough!” Spike turned and ran away, dodging past a few other ponies. Rarity tried to follow him, but the crowd was too chaotic and she soon lost sight. She called out his name several times, but there was no answer.
Spike soon arrived at Twilight's library. It was still empty. With any luck, Twilight had been trotted straight off to the party. Spike had to climb in through the window again because Meerca had locked the door on their way out. The gem chest was still there. Most likely the gem was inside. It was firmly locked and Spike wasn't much for lock picking. He considered burning it open, but there was no telling how much dragon fire would be necessary, and he might accidentally set the library on fire. Finally, he tensed his claws and ran them over the top of the chest. He left three shallow gashes in the wood. It was definitely strong material, but with a little patience he could break through. He started to dig into the top of the chest with both hands. Splinters and sawdust started to tumbled down from his hands as he clawed faster. He was making progress.
Five minutes passed and he was nearly all the way through the wood. Soon he'd be able to simply reach inside. That was when Twilight returned, Meerca on her back. She had changed into a more casual party gown instead of the coronation uniform. She gasped as she entered and ran closer. “Spike...what are you doing?”
She knelt down as Meerca hopped off her and waddled towards Spike. “Don’t damage the chest, that is very precious.”
“I’ll damage more than that.” Spike muttered before continuing to claw at the chest. One of his claws made a tiny hole. Each swipe widened it.
“Spike what’s going on? Rarity found me and said you were acting strange. What's gotten into you? Please, stop this.” Twilight moved closer and Meerca scrambled, trying to grab Spike’s shoulders to pull him away from the chest..
Spike shoved Meerca away and scraped again, opening a hole wide enough he could fit his hand through, but not enough to pull the gem out. “The gem isn’t giving you wisdom, Twilight. It’s controlling you; it’s controlling everyone!”
“Spike, that’s crazy. How could you think that?” Twilight said plaintively.
“Stop him, he’s gone mad! You can’t let him damage the gem!” Meerca yelled, trying to get back up, but became caught in his own cape and stumbled back to the floor.
Spike finally had a hole in the chest large enough and pulled the gem out. “I have to do this Twilight, I have to save you.” He opened his mouth and chomped down on the gem, but his teeth closed around air. The gem had blinked away and reappeared floating next to Twilight, who looked distressed. “Please Spike, you have to calm down, you aren’t making any sense. Let me help you."
Spike walked closer. “You’re being tricked, controlled, that’s what the gem does, that’s what the lemurs do.” Spike got closer. “Please Twilight, I’m your friend, you have to trust me. Give me the gem.”
“But you don’t trust me?”
Spike moved closer. “You’re the one who has strange magic inside you. You said it yourself in your notes."
Twilight took a step back. "Stop Spike...don't come any closer."
"Think about it. What if the magic doesn't give you insight, what if it takes control of you? You've been the one acting strange, doing whatever the lemurs want, letting them rule Equestria, turning into nothing but servants for them. You've always been able to study things. Does any of that seem rational at all?” Spike reached out for the floating gem.
“I said stop!” Twilight yelled. A magenta bubble encircled Spike and floated up into the air. He instinctively ran his claws against the bubble in an attempt to escape, but knew it wouldn’t help. He recognized the spell, nothing could pierce through it. Twilight gave him a pained look before placing the gem back into the chest and using a patch-up spell to repair the damage Spike had done. "I'm sorry Spike, but you didn't leave me any choice. We'll figure this out, I promise."
Meerca finally managed to get himself untangled and quickly danced over to Twilight’s side. “That was too close, too too close. Everything could have been lost."
"It's alright, Meerca. Spike is safe inside the bubble. We can talk and see what's wrong."
"No! We can't take that risk. What if he pretends to be reasonable and goes after the gem again?" Meerca gesticulated with his arms in panic. "There must be some spell that would prevent him from ever even thinking about harming the gem. Didn't that unicorn you mentioned have those kinds of spells, the Sombra one?"
Twilight paused and frowned at Meerca. “Sombra had spell books with...mental domination spells that could do that, but we locked those things away after he was defeated. Those kinds of spells are dangerous too, using something like that on Spike could cause permanent damage."
“Would you ever do that Twilight?” Spike asked, “Would you hurt me if a lemur told you to?”
“Oh Spike…” Twilight bowed her head sadly. It took her a few seconds to look Spike in the eye again. When she did her eyes briefly flashed green. “Don’t make me have to make that kind of choice. I don't need to hurt you. For now I'll cast an amnesia spell and erase the last day. Whatever has you so confused and upset...you'll forget about it. You'll wake up in Rarity's bed tomorrow morning and everything will be back to the way it should be." She offered him a soft smile. Then her horn began to glow and a gold ring of energy formed and slowly floated towards Spike.
“I should have realized what was happening sooner.” Spike said sadly. “I was too stupid and too distracted by Rarity and being told I was special for being a dragon."
"You are special, and you'll realize that again soon, and eventually I'll figure out to make a gem that works for you, and you won't worry anymore."
Spike sighed. "I’m so sorry, Twilight.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for, you’re just confused Spike.” The halo floated just above Spike's head and began to descend.
“No, for this.” Spike let out a huge plume of fire that filled the entire bubble. Twilight yelped in pain and crumpled to the ground wincing. The bubble and the golden halo both fizzled away. Spike recognized the bubble spell, and knew it was linked to Twilight’s senses, like an extension of her body. It couldn't be physically broken, but the fire was just as painful as if he'd blown fire at her, too painful to allow her to concentrate on complex spells.
Spike tumbled to the ground and hopped to his feet. The gem was back in the chest, fully repaired and Twilight was only caught by surprise from the burst of pain and could trap him again in seconds. There was no other choice. He had to run. But first he turned towards the bookshelf and fired off a tight stream of flame.
Twilight looked up just in time to see a row of books catch fire. “My books!” She dashed towards the shelf, ignoring Spike as he ran out the door. She was too distracted using her magic to stop the fire to notice Meerca’s screams to follow Spike.
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Later on, Twilight held a meeting in the library. The coronation party was still going on with Pinkie Pie in charge, and Rainbow Dash had gone with a handful of other pegasi to see if they could track down Spike. The remaining four paced around the library, looking at the scorched bookshelf and waiting for Rainbow Dash to return.
"I just don't know what happened to him." Rarity said with a downcast expression. "Was it something I said? He seemed a bit distant this morning but after the coronation he was just so angry. I couldn't understand it at all."
"The lemurs had warned me about this, that creatures the gem doesn't work for can become irrational. I just never expected it would happen to Spike." Twilight sighed.
Rainbow Dash arrived soon after with news. “No one’s seen Spike anywhere. He’s found a hole or something to hide in.”
“Or he went into the Everfree Forest.” Fluttershy noted.
“A little thing like him going into Everfree at night?” Applejack tilted her head. “I know Twilight said he was sounding crazy but do you think he’s that crazy?”
“Ranting about evil lemurs? Yeah I think he’s pretty out there.” Rainbow retorted.
Twilight walked into the of the group. "Whatever has happened to him, we have to help him somehow. King Lemma has insisted the coronation party can't be interrupted, so nothing but the patrols happen tonight. Tomorrow we’ll plan more searches, especially of the Everfree Forest. Until we find Spike and figure out what’s wrong with him, the gem is going to remain under constant guard, with at least one alicorn standing watch.”
“But what if we never find him?” Fluttershy whispered.
“We will find him.” Twilight said firmly. “Spike is our friend and whatever has gone wrong with him we’ll find a way to fix it. You know he’d do the same for us.”