The Cost of Magic

by abfarmer76


Prologue

One day in the Crystal Empire, 8 mares (2 pegasi, 2 earth ponies, 1 unicorn, and 3 alicorn princesses) were waiting in a room by a mirror for a certain princess to return to their world with a certain purple dragon.
"When is Twilight going to be back? The portal is going to close soon!" A rainbow maned Pegasus said.
"Now ahm sure Twilight is doing just fine Rainbow. She'll be back before you know it!" An orange earth pony replied back.
"I agree with Applejack," a white unicorn commented. " I'm sure she is just saying goodbye to the friends she made in that world!"
"NEW friends?!" a pink pony stated. "We're we not good enough?! We're my party's not the best?! Twilight is going to forget all about us! Pretty soon all of us will be going our separate ways and I'll be left all alone!!!" The pink pony was on the edge of crying now.
"Oh!" A yellow Pegasus said while rushing over to the pink pony. "It's ok Pinkie. I'm sure Twilight didn't forget about us. It's probably just taking her longer to retrieve the crown, that's all". The pink mare brightened.
"Your sure Fluttershy?" 'Fluttershy' nodded.
"I'm sure". Just then, a dim light came off the portal, growing ever so slightly in size.
"GAHH!!!" Applejack screamed a she fell to the floor.
"APPLEJACK!" The 8 mares shouted after their friend.
"Applejack! What's wrong?" A pink alicorn exclaimed. Her name was Princess Mi Amora Kadenza or Princess Cadence for short. She was the Princess of Love and looked over the Crystal Empire. Applejack, however didn't reply for she was to busy screaming in pain on the floor. Suddenly, Fluttershy hit the ground in the same manner as her honest friend, screaming as loud as her lungs would let her.
"FLUTTERSHY!" the now 7 mares screamed. They turned around to be met with the kind Pegasus laying helplessly screaming on the floor.
"Sister! What's happening to them?" a blue alicorn asked. Luna was her name. She was the princess of the night. Alongside her older sister, Princess Celestia, they both ruled over Equestria. The white alicorn lowers her head. Her name was Princess Celestia. She was the Princess of the day and ruled Equestria with her sister, Princess Luna.
"I do not know Luna, but I"
"PINKIE!!" Princess Celestia was interrupted by Rainbow and Rarity screaming for their happy friend for, like the others, fell to the floor in agony.
"Not Pinkie too!!" Rainbow said.
"This is just awful! Their has to be something that we can do!" Rarity asked.
"I'm afraid not," Princess Celestia started.
"What!? Why!?" Rainbow Dash interrupted.
"Because..." Princess Celestia was interrupted again by the screams of another mare.
"RARITY!" Rainbow shouted and flew over to her generous friend. It was then that Rainbow started to cry for her friends. She slowly turned toward the 3 princesses.
"WHAT CAN WE DO TO SAVE THEM!?" She yelled so loud that it could be heard from Canterlot.
"Rainbow Dash, if you could just calm down then..." Cadence started.
"Calm down, CALM DOWN!? YOU EXPECT ME JUST TO CALM DOWN AT A TIME LIKE THIS?! MY FRIENDS ARE SCREAMING IN PAIN ON THE FLOOR AND AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she fell to the ground to join the rest of her friends in their screams of agony.
"Sister! We have to help our friends!" Luna exclaimed to her sister but before she could move, the sun princess extended her wing, blocking her sister from moving.
"I am afraid not dear sister" Celestia said.
"Why!? Can't you see they are in great pain?!" Cadence replied, a little annoyed.
"Because no kind of sickness would cause this much pain so suddenly and to only 5 out of the 8 mares in the room also, I can't sense any magic coming from them" Celestia stated in a calm tone.
"But their has to be something that we can do!" Cadence replied back. While Celestia and Cadence were talking, Luna turned back to the screaming girls, for it was hard to forget they were in the room, but when she turned back, she noticed something...
"Sister?" Luna said, still looking at the ponies.
"Cadence, I told you, their is nothing we can do!" Celestia replied back, now with a more strict tone, completely ignoring Luna.
"Cadence?" Luna said, now having turned around toward the two princesses.
"But we could try to figure out what's going on! Right now we are just standing by while innocent ponies are getting hurt!" Cadence said back. Luna, having had enough of this interrupted the fight before it could escalate.
"SISTER! CADENCE!" Luna shouted over the 2 mares using her royal Canterlot voice. She managed to silence everypony in the room for a split second, for the elements of harmony were overtaken by pain again. Both alicorns turned their heads toward the princess of the night.
"I'd he to interrupt your conversation, but it seems to me like our 2 pegasi friends are losing their wings." The 2 alicorns, being baffled by this, turn o see Rainbow's and Fluttershy's wings becoming translucent.
"How...How is that even possible?" Cadence stuttered.
"I don't know" Celestia replied.
"So, we just wait?" Cadence asked.
"Yes, we wait"

For the next our, the 3 princesses watched helplessly as their friends screamed in agony on the floor. The screams died down as each of the 5 mares slipped into unconsciousness , twitching uncontrollably. Applejack was the first to recover, but the pain stayed.
"Ugh, Wh..a.t's ha..ppe.ni...n? she asked. "and.. w..hy d.o ..ah hur....t s...o m...uch?" she said through moans and grunts. The 3 princesses glanced at each other until Cadence spoke up.
"Um, starting with you, your friends and yourself fell one by one onto the floor due to high amounts of pain.". Applejack's eyes widened.
"My friends were involved in this too?" She asked while turning toward her friends the best that she could at the moment.
"Oh, w..h...a.t hap...p..e.ne..d?" a shy Pegasus asked from the ground. She tried to get up, but failed as the pain overtook her once more.
"Fluttershy! Are ya'll alright?" The orange earthpony asked as she attempted to limp over to her yellow friend, but fell on her face.
"I.'m n...o.t su..re..." Fluttershy responded through pain.
"I ca..n f...ee.l m..y w.i..n.gs bu.t no..t at t..he s.am...e t.im.e"
"Huh? What's....that sup..po.sed tah m..ea...n?" A confused Applejack responded. Fluttershy was about to reply but a pink blur started to sturr.
"Uhh, ever..y..thi..ng hurts..." She said.
"Pi..n.ki.e?" Fluttershy and Applejack asked together. The pink earth pony moved her head to see her friends, but quickly moved it back for the agony it caused.
"N.o sill...y, ....my...n..am..e ....I..s ...P..in...k....ie P...ie" she responded through grunts.
"Princesses, has Twi returned yet?" Applejack asked, a little worried.
"No, Twilight is still in the other world. I fear the worst, the portal is going to close soon" Luna replied, clearly not hearing the hint of worry in Applejacks voice.
"O.h ..my.." A white unicorn moaned from the floor.
"R.ari..ty.? Flutteshy asked. The unicorn's ears perked up. She slowly turned her head toward the voice, holding back the screams of pain.
".Fl..utt.ersh....y.?" Rarity asked back.
"Yes, it.'s m....e. A.ppl..ej.a..c.k and.. P.in.k.i.e... ar..e aw.ak...e t..o.o" Fluttershy explained.
"O.h,. w.ell .is .T...w.ilig.ht .bac.k y...et?" Rarity asked, trying her best to be polite under the circumstances she is in right now.
"No, Twilight is still in the other dimension and the portals time to close is soon" Celesta replied, not wanting to cause anymore pain to the mares
"I h..o..p.e. sh....e'.s. al..l r.ig.ht." The white unicorn commented. Everypony nodded their heads in agreement, with the elements holding back their screams. Then, what seamed to come out of nowhere, Fluttershy's translucent wings started to flap.
"AhhHHHHHHHH!!!!" Fluttershy started to scream with another certain pegasus. Fluttershy's screams died down after a few seconds, but the blue Pegasus's screams continued.
".R..a.i.n...b.ow D.ash.?" Pinkie asked, hoping to calm the Pegasus down, but the screams made it so it was only a whisper. Finally, the mare stopped screaming the same time her wings stopped flapping.
"Why....do..oe.s tha...t k..ee.p hap.p...en..i.....ng? She asked between grunts of pain.
"Wh....a.t? T...he ..pa..in or t.....he w..i...n.g thi...ng? Pinkie asked in a similar manner as Rainbow.
"Bo.th" the Pegasus managed to get out. Celestia stepped up.
"I'm sorry to say, but we don't know the answer to either question. Princess Twilight would know....."
"NO!" Celestia was interrupted by the blue Pegasus, who immediately went back to the ground for the more pain she has cause upon herself.
"What Why?" The majority of the mares in the room asked.
"Cause Twi..ahhhhHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The brave Pegasus fell to the floor once mores as the agony overwhelmed her and like last time, her wings started to flap again.
"What was she going to say?" Cadence asked.
"I believe I know" Celestia replied. All the mares turned toward Celestia that weren't screaming of pain, although some of them wanted too.
"Ca.n y..ou ...tel.l us.? T.h...a.t is, i.f. y...ou. w.an.t. to.o." Fluttershy asked the sun princess. Celestia nodded and cleared her throat.
"I believe Rainbow Dash was going to say that Twilight has had a lot of stress on her shoulders lately and that she doesn't need this on her shoulders as well. I for one agree with her completely" There were a few seconds of silence, well as silent as it can be with screams in the background but close enough.
"Ya. ..kn.o.w, .sh...e. d.o.e..s... hav.e .a .p...oi.n.t. t.he.re..." Applejack started.
"But what about the pain and agony you all just experienced?" Luna stated. "Their could be a new threat against Equestria and their getting rid of the elements of harmony so tho cannot be defeated?" All the ponies turned to Luna and gave her a weird look.
"What? It could happen" Celestia turned toward he sister.
"Dear sister, I am sure that isn't happening right now and for not telling Twilight, she has had a lot of stress on her right now and I would hate to add more stress, don't you agree?"
"But..." Luna starts, but is stopped by the princess of the sun.
"These 5 mares would do anything to keep Twilight happy and healthy and part of that is not having to much stress. They are willing to take the pain and agony for Twilight" Celestia said in a calm tone.
"Oh, ok" Luna gave in. Celestia turned away from her sister and out towards the mares in pain.
"We all agree to keep this a secret from Twilight until her stress levels have gone down?" she asked. All of the ponies gave a signal of agreement except Rainbow Dash, who was still screaming on the floor. Then, all of the sudden, the glowing light from the portal that nopony notice disappeared and the pain the mares had washed away. They all rose from the floor, much to the princesses surprise.
"Yay! The pain is gone! This calls for a party!" Pinkie cheered as she hopped around the room.
"I can't believed I laid on a floor for a hour. Oh what that could have done to my mane!" Rarity said from a crystal pillar in the room, looking at her reflection. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash made her way over to Fluttershy.
"Hey Flutters?" she asked. Fluttershy turned her head..
"Yes Rainbow Dash?"
"I was wondering, did you get tat feeling in your wings, like somepony else was using them?" Fluttershy stared at Rainbow for a moment, then replied.
"Yes, it was the scariest thing I have ever felt" She mumbled, but Rainbow, being friends with Fluttershy for so long, has become accustom to hearing soft sounds.
"But that makes no sense" Rainbow began to pace in the front of the room with the others watching from behind.
"How could somepony use our wings and cause us so much pain? Why would we only have pain and not the princesses? Why woul..." Rainbow was interrupted by a purple pony emerging from a mirror.
"TWILIGHT!" The 5 mares screamed, completely forgetting their current situation which might be their biggest mistake of their lives.