Spike woke in Twilight's bed, upright. The book still sat within his claws, now closed. His head throbbed, pain gripped his skull like a vice. As he lowered the book, into his sight came the large burn mark left by his struggles with the book. The entire experience with the prince faded from his mind, and the sight of a very disappointed Twilight took its place. He began to pace back and forth atop Twilight's bed.
"Oh no... Twilight's gonna kill me! She'll force me to move out, and...and...", tears started welling up in his eyes. The combination of tears, post-Apocrypha headaches, and elevated position eventually led to Spike misplacing a step, and tumbling down off her bed. Spike landed head-first on the oak floor.
The collision rattled his senses, it was as though his body had been restarted. Thankfully, his fearful stupor did not carry over to his new position. Righting himself, slowly, his gaze once again drifted to the burn. His eyes surveyed the pattern on the comforter...blank. The comforter was a blank, uniform color. Spike's eyes lit up. If he could just exchange out this one for another similar one, surely a tipsy Twilight wouldn't be any the wiser. He began un-doing the magically fitted bed, grumbling all the while at the convenience of unicorn magic.
It had worked, he was safe, for now. Spike ran a claw across his brow in a gesture of finality. The bed was made, albeit a bit messily, and the book was hid safely beneath his basket. Not a moment too soon either, as a large yawn exited the little drake's mouth. He dropped down to all fours, and slinked into his basket, allowing the blanket to cascade over him. It was paradise.
He closed his eyes, and...nothing. He had been so tired just a few minutes ago, and yet here he was, not asleep. He relinquished himself to his pillow, and simply allowed his mind to wander. Naturally, his thoughts drifted back to Apocrypha. Was that all just a dream? It certainly didn't feel like one, then again neither did any of his other dreams. He was much too terrified, however, at the prospect of it not being a dream, that he dare not open the book again. Eventually, the drake's nigh-infinite supply of energy finally ran dry, and he slipped into a gentle sleep.
Standing back upon the cursed cobble, his gaze focused on an infinitely far away concept. The wailing had returned. His gaze cast upon an impossibly tall tower, styled similarly to Canterlot Castle. A very humid wind past over him, carrying with it the stench of moldy paper. Immediately before him, a large, intricate petal of iron sat above the black liquid. The drake took a step over the sea of black, then another, and another. This pace increased until he was fully committed to walking the length of the petal. Looking ahead, he spotted the entrance at the bottom of the tower.
Unbeknownst to the small drake, he had wandered close to the edge of the petal. He was made ware of his surroundings by the splashing of a long, black, vine slinking out of the black. His instincts took over, and he launched himself back, away from the edge. The vine, seemingly acting on instinct, slammed the ground where he was, before slinking back into the depths. In the distance, he could see another stone platform. With great intensity, he ran for the platform, inadvertently admitting to the vines his location. In front of him, to the right of the path, a vine rose and prepared to attack. In the split second he had, Spike's mind was flooded with the language imposed on him by the prince.
The fear left his body, and a deep breath he took, "FUS!".
He was once again awoken, this time however, was due to the force imparted onto Twilight's bed, specifically by his skull. Despite the darkness, his dragon eyes granted him sight. That of which, was not what he expected. The side of the wall across his basket which he usually faced was in shambles. Alongside that, Twilight's bed was now greatly perverted, exposing the untrodden wood beneath.
His head, already throbbing, now addled, allowed for a brief respite in the form of a quickly dissipating numbness. He weakly stumbled to his feet, all the while keeping his claw on his head. As his senses returned to him, the situation began to fully sink in. Forget a small burn on the blanket, he had just destroyed half of their room! There was no way Twilight and the others hadn't heard this. There was no more hiding it. He fell to his rear, and a salty liquid began to form in his eyes.
However, as he waited, and waited, nothing ever happened. Nopony came to the door, there was no spontaneous teleportation from Twilight. There was simply, nothing. Eventually, he worked up the courage to open the door. Nothing, not even the sounds of a party. He glanced back at the destroyed room. Guilt welled up within him, if only he had never opened that accursed book. He had to leave, if not to avoid their wrath, then to avoid damaging his home any further. He gently walked down the stairs, pausing at the last step.
There, in all their glory, were the Elements of harmony, absolutely plastered like drywall. Rainbowdash was splayed out on her back in the middle of the floor. Rarity had procured the counter as a makeshift fainting couch. Applejack was sat back in a chair with her hat over her face. Fluttershy was cuddled up with Owlowiscious. Most fittingly perhaps, was Twilight, muzzle-deep in a book, completely out cold.
On any other day, Spike would have rejoiced in the hilarity of the situation. The current climate, however, was just too unstable. He daintily planted one foot onto the ground floor, expecting some kind of retaliation. None ever came. The stroll to the font door seemed to extend with each step. Finally, he reached the entrance, his hand reached out to grasp the handle. As he did, a thought came to his mind, where was Pinkie Pie? In his attendance taking earlier, he hadn't noticed the pink pony. His heart caught in his throat, an he turned to find her. Oddly, however, no matter how much he looked, he never saw her. That is, until he looked up, and saw her, hanging from a bundle of balloons, asleep.
The tension within his body left through a thunderous exhale, and what replaced it was an intense embarrassment. He flung the door open and stepped outside into the chilly night air. The first flakes of snow had just begun to fall, and the ground was collecting wet patches. His eyes took in the landscape of Ponyville, many houses still had their Nightmare Night decorations up. Despite the festival of the eyes, none of it felt a safe refuge. His friends were all in his house, and he wasn't quite sure the residents of Ponyville had forgiven him for the Dragon Greed event, not enough to take him into their home unannounced. No, odd situations require odd solutions. His head turned to the end of town, and there he saw, the entrance to the Everfree Forrest.