Without Power

by G_Satsu

The Adventure Begins

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville, the sun was shining high and bright in the sky without a cloud to be seen. It was as though summer’s warmth was enveloping all of Equestria in a blanket of heat. It was a shame that nopony could appreciate it, seeing as they were too busy panicking.

A mysterious phenomenon was sweeping the land, affecting only unicorns and pegasi. Some called it a disease; others believed it to be a curse. Whatever it was, it stole from the ponies their horns and wings, taking away their ability to fly or cast magic. The world was in chaos as the ponies scrambled to find a cure. A clear example of this chaos could be found in Ponyville's library.

"Spiiiiike! Where's that book on 'Exotic Equine Diseases' I asked for ten seconds ago?"

"Hold on Twilight, this book's heavy!"

Twilight Sparkle sat among piles of books, papers and pens floating about randomly, graphs and machines measuring and monitoring various different things, chalkboards covered in notes and equations, random telescopes shot out of every window, everything shining with a light purple glow. It was if a high school had snoo-snoo with a science lab, then the offspring had been sick in the middle of the library. Twilight's face was frantically shoved in book after book as they hovered in front of her for only brief seconds before being discarded, deemed worthless for her purpose.

"Hold on? How can I hold on when my horn could vanish at any moment? This is urgent, Spike! We are in a crisis, and I need to do my part in finding a cure!"

Spike was about to respond, when a knocking on the front door suddenly interrupted him. He walked over, unlocked the door and no sooner had he pulled the handle than a white coated, purple maned pony barged in and dramatically yelled while swooning,

"Twilight! Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the worst possible thing!"

Rarity was a mess. It was clear that she was distressed, her usually perfectly styled mane was wild and unkempt and her coat splashed with bits of mud. The most notable difference, however, was her missing horn.

"Oh no Rarity... Not you too!" Twilight's voice was deep with concern, as she saw one of her dearest friends without her magic.

"I just woke up, and looked in the mirror, and it was gone! Oh Celestia, what ever am I to do? I'll never be able to make another perfect dress, or cut a diamond, or style my mane properly! It's terrible! You have to help me Twilight! Surely you've found something, anything, that can fix this?"

Rarity's eyes grew wide and teary as she pouted, pleading.

"I'm sorry Rarity, but out of all these books, the closest I've come is a disease that only suppresses magic. I never thought I'd see the day when my books would fail me in my hunt for knowledge!" Twilight sighed, almost breaking under the stress. "I swear, I'm trying my best to find a cure."

"Twilight, what am I going to do? How am I supposed to live without magic? Please, you have to help me!"

"Uh, this is a disease, right? Like a plague or something?" Spike blurted in.

"We don't know Spike. I think it's a virus or something, that's somehow managed to spread throughout Equestria, and we don't know what it is, how it works, how we contract it, or how to stop it. Others think it's something as silly as a curse" replied Twilight distantly, her face buried yet again in another book.

"Well, Zecora knows a lot about diseases, curses and stuff, right? Couldn't we ask her and see what she knows?"

The pages of the book in front of Twilight's face froze mid flip. The purple glow faded and it fell to the ground, as hope dawned on her face.

"Spike! You're a genius! Aaargh, how could I have forgotten? I was so focused on books that I totally forgot about her! We have to go see if she knows anything about this; there's no time to waste!"

"Do you think she can re-grow my horn?" Rarity asked hopefully.

"Maybe. Hopefully. We'll see when we get there." Twilight said as she levitated her saddlebag onto her flank, filling it with spare sheets of paper, inkwells, quills and other miscellaneous supplies. "Spike, I need you to stay here and clean up this mess."

"But I want to go and-" He was cut off by Twilight's piercing stare. "Fine. I'll stay."

”Thank you Spike, you’re my number one assistant!” Twilight said with a smile, patting him on the head.

As the two mares exited, Spike began to pick up and sort out the piles of books strewn about on the ground.

"I never get to go out on stupid adventures..." he muttered to himself.

___________________________________________________________________

Twilight and Rarity galloped through Ponyville, making extreme haste to reach the Everfree forest.

"Hi Twilight! Hi Rarity! Where are you guys going so fast? Is it to a party? Parties are fun! I love parties, they make everypony happy, but nopony has had time for my parties lately, they're all panicking over this curse thingy, but I'm not affected, since I'm an Earth pony, and I-"

"Not now Pinkie! Please, we can't waste time talking, we need to go see Zecora about this epidemic as fast as possible!"

The pink mare bounded happily along the two unicorns. (Well, technically one, anf former unicorn.) She effortlessly bounced along and kept pace with the two.

"Oooh, can I come!? I always love going to see Zecora, she's really nice, even though I thought she was an evil enchantress who did evil dances, and that when you look into her eyes, she’d put you in trances, but she didn't, and we were wrong about her, and she-" Pinkie stood abrupt, and her tail twitched.

"AAAAAH!”

Pinkie screamed as she was interrupted by a cyan blur that had fallen from the sky right onto Twilight.

"Nooo! My wings! My beautiful wings!" Rainbow Dash screamed, crying, as she lay on top of Twilight.

"Ow! Rainbow... You're hurting me..."

"I bet it doesn't hurt as much as not having wings!" she sobbed.

"Please, get off of me" Twilight said as she struggled to escape.

"Sorry..." Rainbow apologized, sniffling then rolling off of her. "It's just without my wings, I'm nothing! What's a pegasus that can’t fly worth?"

"Rainbow! Don't talk like that! You're our dear friend, and the element of Loyalty. Even if you can't fly, you'll always be that, and that's worth more than a million sonic rainbooms, or barrel rolls, or whatever it is that you do." Rarity said, consoling her flightless friend.

"Thanks Rarity..." she sniffled "We need to find a way to fix this. Anypony got an idea?"

"Well we were going to Zecora's, because she's totally NOT an evil enchantress, who does evil dances, and..." Pinkie's voice droned on and on.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "We’re hoping Zecora will have a solution, so we're headed to her house."

"All right, sounds cool. Mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all, but we really need to get going. We can't afford to waste any more time!"

"Then let's move!"

Rainbow Dash set off on a gallop, closely followed by Pinkie, then Rarity and Twilight.

___________________________________________________________________

As they made their journey to the Everfree forest, a voice exclaimed in distinct southern accent "Twi! Ah need your help!"

For the second time, the group slowed to a halt. "For the love of Celestia... What is it, Applejack?"

"Mah apple trees, they’ve come down ill wit somethin'. Ah was hopin' yah'd have somethin' from all yer fancy books and the like. Ah think it might be related to this whole plague thingermajigger too!"

"I'm sorry AJ, but we really don't have time for this. We need to get to Zecora so we can ask her about this disease. If you come with us, maybe she'll be able to tell you what's wrong with your tree."

"Good idea, Ahm sure she will."

And so, with another companion, the group set off for the forest.

___________________________________________________________________

As the five ponies continued their gallop, they finally neared the edge of the Everfree forest.

"All right girls, it's going to be dangerous in there, especially since two of us have lost our abilities. I want you all to stay sharp, stick together and be careful!"

Twilight spoke with concern and purpose, making sure the four other mares understood her loud and clear.

She turned to face the dark forest, and started "We have no more time to waste, we've had enough delays. Let's get moving!"

Pointing her right hoof high into the air adventurously, she began to take the first step.

"Uhm, Twilight? Could you spare a few minutes? I mean, if it's not any trouble or anything..."

Caught off guard by Fluttershy, Twilight fell face first into the dirt.

"Oh no, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! I really didn't, honest! I'm so sorry Twilight, are you okay?"

Face still in the dirt, a very annoyed Twilight responded "It's okay Fluttershy. I'm sorry, but we're on an important mission! We can't waste any more time, we're busy trying to cure this disease. I wish I could help you, but I have to go see Zecora. We're behind schedule!"

She rose from the ground, dusting off her coat with a soft purple glow from her horn.

"Oh, that was what I was going to ask you about. You're the one in charge of finding a cure, and I thought maybe you'd found something, because you see, some of my birds' wings have just gone and they can't fly! Can I come with you? I won't be a bother or anything, don't worry..."

Fluttershy's voice trailed off until it was inaudible, as usual. She stared at the ground and gently kicked a pile of dirt, as she awaited Twilight's response.

"Of course you can come! We'll actually need you if we encounter any wild animals, now that I think about it... And it'll be great to have somepony who can fly too."

"What do you mean? I'm not the only pegasus here, Rainb-oh.." Fluttershy stopped, noticing Rainbow Dash's lack of wings, red eyes and generally disheveled appearance. "Rainbow, I'm so sorry! Your wings were so important to you... And Rarity! Your horn! Oh no, this is so much worse than I thought... We need to help you two! In fact, I promise I won't rest until we cure this!"

Fluttershy stomped the ground, determined.

"Shy, you don't have to do that. If you can, just don't mention my wings. I'm still trying to cope, and constant reminders aren't helping."

"Me too…" Rarity echoed sadly.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-"

"Girls!" Twilight shouted, annoyed by the delay. "We have a crisis on our hooves, and you're just talking?! You can sit here and chat all day, or we can work toward a cure! I'm leaving now, you can follow me or not. I can't wait any longer!"

Twilight huffed, then turned and stomped into the woods, soon disappearing into the dark shadows cast by the leaves.

"I think Twilight's angry" Pinkie said.

"We should go catch up with her 'fore she gets lost. C'mon girls!" Applejack said, leading the ponies into the forest after Twilight.

___________________________________________________________________

"Silly conversations... Time wasting... Absolute disregard for schedules and deadlines..." Twilight muttered under her breath, as she trotted down the path to Zecora's house. She cast an illumination spell and a bright light shot out from her horn which helped light the dark path ahead, although it was still very dark.

"Twi! Wait up!"

She stopped, looking back and seeing her friends on their way.

"Twi, you can't just up and leave us like that. We're friends, and we've got to stick together if we're gonna get through this."

"I'm sorry Applejack, it's just that I want this to be over so bad!"

"So do we, but ya just need to take it a bit slower. Ya don't need to rush everything. Relax a bit, don't be in such a haste."

Twilight sighed. "Fine, but I can't just sit on my flank while ponies lose their magic, or flight!"

"Ah understand, Twi. This whole thing's been stressin' us all out. But ya gotta slow down a bit. Have patience."

"Okay, I'll try."

"Good, now let's get movin’."

The six mares delved deeper into the forest; thankfully the journey was uneventful. Eventually, they saw the traces of light from Zecora's hut through the thick foliage.

"Finally! I hope she has some answers."

Twilight trotted the last steps of their journey, and lightly tapped the front door with her hooves.

The door opened, to reveal a smiling zebra. "Twilight Sparkle, what is it you need? Perhaps a spell book, or a magical seed?"

Twilight levitated a quill and some parchment in front of her, ready to take notes.

"Hello Zecora, it's actually none of that. There's actually been a strange phenomenon going across Equestria, taking unicorn horns and pegasus wings, even some species of birds have been affected! Have you ever heard of anything like this?"

Zecora's face turned grew pale upon hearing her words. "This is dire news, if your words are true. If so, the spirits are loose, and are coming for you!"

Pinkie pie interrupted "Spirits? What do you mean? Like Evil ghosties? Do they like parties? Maybe we could inv-"

Applejack shoved a hoof in front of Pinkie's mouth. "Pinkie Pie, could you please be quiet for just a bit longer? This is serious."

Her curly mane deflated slightly, as she apologized and stared at the ground.

Zecora recovered from the outburst, continuing, "The spirits of mischief, they come from the gate. To steal your powers, and spread about hate!"

"What gates?" Rarity inquired.

"From Tartarus they come, the spirits of theft. They will keep stealing until no wings or horns are left."

"There has to be a way to stop them, and get my wings back!"

"To stop them, closed the gates must be, your things retrieved or lost forever, you see."

"You're telling us we need to go down to Tartarus and fight the hordes of evil creatures down there, trap the spirits, retrieve the stolen wings and horns and then somehow seal the gate forever?"

Zecora simply nodded, a grim look upon her face.

Twilight's quill snapped, covering a large portion of the parchment in ink. She groaned, saying "And I thought this was going to be easy..."

Comments

[Blaze Spectrum]

Great story so far.

MORE!

[Regret]

Seriously, the birds aswell? Thats new.

I shall await the next chapter. Keep the awesome coming!!

[Xenonic]

Oh no...*sob*...poor birdies...*sniffle*...I can't believe that I'M THIRD FOR ONCE! >:D

[FanOfMostEverything]

So, into the Hellmouth then? This should be interesting. I hope you put earth pony magic in the spotlight. After all, without an obvious external focus, it could be a secret weapon against these kleptogeists.

[Discorded Q]

It would be superb if the cure was a spell...

[IraqLobstah]

i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/290/106/e6d.gif

[Totally Not A Pony]

I take it nopony has thought of checking whether Discord is still stoned the way he's supposed to be yet? I mean, seeing how taking away horns and wings was exactly one of the first tricks he pulled on the Mane Six in the show, you'd think he'd be topping the list of suspects...he certainly was the first thing to come to my mind once I'd read the premise.