"You look tired, Twilie," Dawn remarked as they hopped off the train. "Are you alright?"
"Just a little sleepy," she answered, her eyes visibly droopy.
"You could have slept on the train - it was certainly," Dawn stepped aside to let another passenger by. "(Pardon me, ma'am.) It was certainly quiet enough for you to nap."
"My mind was racing. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I tried."
"That's not what your eyes say."
Twilight sat and rubbed her eyes, violently shaking her head immediately afterward. They no longer appeared tired. Her vision came into focus as she saw the reassuring grin of her husband.
"Now then. Do you want to go see your friends?" asked Dawn.
Twilight shook her head. "No. I want to go home: see if there are any books on ponies like us in my library."
"Very well."
The couple ventured through Ponyville, Twilight hoping to not run into any of her friends along the way. Fortunately for her, she did not. When she got home, however, she did run into Spike.
"Twilight! Dawn! Glad you're home!" he exclaimed, hurrying down the stairs.
"Thanks, Spike," she greeted calmly.
"Is something wrong, Twilight?"
Twilight shook her head. "No, I just miss my horn is all."
"Oh, yeah...your horn's artificial."
Twilight propped her head up. "But, luckily, Dawn and I believe that with a little research, we may be able to get some intell on other ponies like us."
"Wow! That sounds great, Twilight!"
"The only thing is...I don't know where to begin."
"Hmm...well, you could start with...uh...ah-hah!" Spike snapped his fingers, raced to the back of the Library, fetched the ladder, and slid it over to his desired destination, where he promptly proceeded to climb the ladder and retrieve an old-looking book from its shelf. Remembering that Twilight had no magic, he knew he could safely descend the ladder without being yanked from such a height by a magical force. He outstretched his hands towards Twilight. "It might not be exactly what you're looking for, but I think it's a good place to start."
Twilight read the cover aloud. "Perplexing Pony Plagues? Say, isn't this the same book I used when Apple Bloom had the Cutie Pox?"
"Yes, yes it is," Spike affirmed confidently. "A unicorn without magic is like having a disease."
"I guess...put it on the table for me, since I can't."
Spike did so, Twilight and her husband proceeding behind him. Twilight opened the book and flipped through the pages with her hooves, finding the activity as irriating as it was insufficient compared to the time-saving activity of using one's horn.
"Uh...let's see...okay, here's something: there's a disease here called magaria, a disease in which the infected pony is unable to cast spells from her horn, assuming said pony is a unicorn. Eh, that wasn't very helpful...let's see...auh...hmm..."
"Anything I can help you with, Dear?" asked Dawn, positioning himself next to his wife.
"No, sorry," Twilight answered, still flipping through pages.
"I understand."
Twilight decided to go to the back of the book to the index, where, in fact, some helpful information could be found. She scanned the section which had page information on various unicorn diseases, most of them caused by agents, but, to her sheer luck alone, Twilight found a page number for a certain "disease" which was actually caused by physical damage to the horn.
"Here we are! Hornioporosis!"
"You found something!?" exclaimed Spike.
"Hornioporosis: the inability for a unicorn pony to cast spells or perform magic of any kind due to physical damage done to the horn. This disease currently has no real cure because scientists have been unable to figure out how to repair any damage done to the bonelike organ that is the horn of a unicorn pony. Simply gluing or taping the horn together or wrapping it in bandages does not allow the magic to react.
"A pony's horn is like a channel. Any unicorn - with or without her horn - is still magical. The horn acts as a passageway to project the magic embedded within the pony to externally cast spells and perform other magic tricks. If a horn is damaged, broken, cracked, or filled with holes, the channel is broken and thus, the pony is unable to use the magic she possesses."
"That's very interesting," remarked Dawn. "And actually quite helpful."
"It says here that unicorns who could no longer perform magic were called Nubs, since a majority of them had their horns broken off, leaving nothing but a nub on their heads."
"Sounds just like you, Twilight!"
"I'm sure that is no coincidence."
"Nor is it very flattering," Spike added.
"I agree: the term Nub is very insulting...but...I don't understand...if- oh."
"What? What is it?"
"I think Dawn and I got lucky with our horns: we had Princess Celestia perform magical surgery on our horns so they would look normal even though we cannot perform magic. I have a feeling that other ponies like us were not quite as lucky."
"So, what? They went the rest of their lives with nubs for horns?"
"That's what the book claims."
"What a pity," Dawn remarked. "It makes me feel worse for other ponies like us than I did when I first heard of your disaster, Twilie. I wonder if there's an equivalent to pegasus ponies."
"There probably is: here, lemme see if I can find something."
Twilight flipped back to the index, once again scanning the entire page for anything helpful. This time she was not quite as fortunate. "Well, there is this: flightlessness."
"That's it? Just flightlessness?"
Twilight flipped to the page number she located. "Flightlessness: when a pegasus pony experiences wing damage, either permanently or termporarily, and thus lacks the ability to fly." Twilight gasped. "Rainbow Dash had that disease not too long ago, when she took a nose-dive during one of her flights and injured her wing. That's the incident which got her into The Adventures of Daring Doo...I guess she was lucky to have recovered. Apparently most pegasi don't."
"That's a shame," Dawn said.
"It is, but...does this mean there really are ponies like us, Dawn?"
"I'd say so." He pointed to a sentence in a book. "What does that say? I can't read it from here."
"It says that pegasi who can't fly are called Fwaps."
Spike shivered. "Sounds even more insulting than Nubs. Is there a reason why we haven't seen any of them?"
"I don't think this book will mention that. But, since we know the vocabulary, I think a history book of Ponyville will give us the answers. Spike if you will, please."
"Yes, ma'am!" Spike saluted Twilight and retrieved a large, brown book from across the room. He swapped the original for the new one.
"Now let's see...Nubs and Fwaps, Nubs and Fwaps...ah-hah! Here we go! Nubs and Fwaps refer to ponies who can no longer perform magic or fly, respectively. Many new Nubs and Fwaps were reported every day in the early days of Ponyville, and even today, there are still occasional reportings of them. Most ponies found these 'acting earth ponies' as inferior. This started when the first wave of Nubs and Fwaps experienced severe cases of Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome and went totally crazy and beserk because they could not longer pursue their special talents, for they happened to only be possible in relevance to their magic or flying abilities. They became violent savages, and were kicked out of Ponyville. Many fled to the Everfree Forest, never to be seen again. Those who didn't killed themselves."
"Pony suicide?" asked Dawn. "Woah, that's intense!"
"Nubs and Fwaps have been bullied ever since. They say every day, another Nub or Fwap can be found fleeing to the Everfree Forest, hoping to seek freedom from the scorn and torment they received in town. Those who decided to stay hide for their lives in the shadows of Ponyville."
"And because you're so respected, even if you resembled a Nub, you would not have been bullied?"
"Most likely," Twilight answered. "I did save Equestria from King Sombra, after all. And I am Princess Celestia's most faithful student. But you," Twilight looked up to Dawn. "If you resembled a Nub and weren't married to me...I'm afraid your fate would be like the thousands of other Nubs who lived in Ponyville."
Dawn chose to refuse that statement; he did not want his thoughts to start dreaming of a life in which he was not married to Twilight Sparkle, nor respected and honored as a world-class painter...at least in his past.
"Well, the book does say that there are Nubs and Fwaps still living here in Ponyville, yes?"
"That's what the book says."
"Hmm...Twilie...I have an idea."